Hiking in Santiago: Cerro Pochoco

Man, I thought Pochoco "Hill" was supposed to be easy. AndesHandbook.cl said Cerro Pochoco is a "good place to exercise, take a family hike, or a moderate Sunday walk." Whatever the bitch completely destroyed me. The cab driver said I'd be up to the top in half an hour. After at least 15 minutes this was only a sixth of the way:



Huff, puff. I thought I'd made it. I thought this was the end of the trail. I was dizzy and felt like I'd tumble down the mountain at any point. But while snapping a few photos, I noticed two dudes hiking up, where the red line is broken by a circle in the above photo. I also noticed they'd thought to put on hiking boots. (My running shoes were already slipping in the fine volcanic trail dust). Apparently, the point was to go to the top (almost 6,000ft).

I asked if I could hike with them and they were cool, one of them knew the way and anyway it's much better to hike with other people because when I'm alone I get songs stuck in my head and paranoid about mountain lions, spiders, and cows. They even waited for me while I took pictures.



Near the top a couple huge condors sprung forth from somewhere and fluttered about for a bit:



Next shot is of an easy stretch but as you can see I fell back to take pictures and catching up winded me, then it was non-stop exertion to the top we were soon practically scaling vertical rocks up to the summit, okay it was a path and no skill required but vertical and I was like way out of breath. "Family hike" my ass.



Here it is, the Summit baby.



That alien-looking plant on the right is Flor de Chagual:







Whew! Of course, I was not looking forward to the hike down because it was already almost dark and I knew my shoes weren't gonna serve me and I'd be sliding on my ass the whole way, I did a lot of ass sliding especially toward the base of the trail every time I tried to stand up I'd slip and fall and my legs were shaking - for a second I thought they'd given out on me completely - I just went super slow till the sun hid itself behind the mountains. Maybe I'm out of shape. Make sure the "family" is in good shape.

Back at Plaza San Enrique I found myself slumped over a bar downing some muscle relaxant (Pisco Sour). Apparently nearby Provincia, a 9,000 ft elevation hike you can get to the base of via Camino Farallones, is where it's at, even more entertaining hike than Pochocho. I was plenty entertained at Pochoco, but Pochoco is a hike that I could begin at about 6PM without major problems, I think Provincia is an all-dayer.

Anyway, here are some essentials to hiking Cerro Pochoco:

Directions
Go all the way up Avenida Las Condes till you hit Plaza San Enrique (in Lo Barnechea) . Take a right and head up Camino el Cajon. Follow the signs to Observatorio Cerro Pochoco which is the base of the trail.

If you don't have a car and you're coming from the center of town take 406 to Cantagallo, get off and switch to the small orange "liebre" bus number 01 or 05 from Cantagallo to Plaza San Enrique (or just take a cab it's $2 or less if you share with somebody). From the plaza you can walk up Camino el Cajon and hitchhike for a ride, or just take a cab from the plaza.

Equipment
Hiking boots, plenty of water (essential), food, sunscreen, hat & sunglasses.

Happy hiking.

UPDATE 2: Another couple view of (not from) Cerro Pochoco can be found among these pictures of the Andes foothills