Jessica, Jill, Laura, and I set out at 7:30a. This was to be an 8-hour adventure. We would hike to an elevation of 2,400 meters, or about 8,000 feet. We were told the last hour would be above the tree line. We wanted to get there early, so we could head down before the high temperatures hit later in the afternoon. We told Natalie to have Pedro pick us up at the drop off point at 4:30p. We were told there was no cell phone reception where we were hiking. I was a bit nervous wondering how well the trails would be marked, but I figured we are four smart women, we will be together, we will be okay. The previous day Pedro was able to drop us off at the ranger station to start our short hike, but this morning we weren’t so lucky. Before our hike even began we had to make it up the road a few kilometers to get to the station to check in. They gave us a map, some average times between various points, and we paid our six pesos each to gain entry into the Reserve. 

We weren’t sure of our exact distance, we were told about 4 miles each way. I didn’t realize until I was downloading photos from the cloud for this post that at point 2, if we had paid attention, it said we still had 10 kilometers to go. The scenery was beautiful, the weather was cool, there was not a cloud in the sky, and on the way up we only saw two other hikers – one on a mountain bike, with a woman following behind.

Finally we hit the right turn to Enladrillado! We hit all “6 points”, I remember thinking, not much more to go, we are almost there. Little did I realize at the time, we still had the hardest part of the hike in front of us, and the distance would be longer than we thought. The hill was steep, breathing was starting to become more difficult. We were lucky to still have shade from the trees over us. We were taking more rest breaks. Calling out for one another if we got separated. Then we eventually made it above the tree line. Woo hoo! We did it, one hour left to go. So we thought.

Above the tree line the sun was getting warmer. I didn’t want to burn, so I decided to keep on my long sleeve running shirt. It’s a bit heavy, but the protection from the sun was much more important. It was very rocky on this part of the trail, and the remainder of the way up. Every now and then one of us would trip thinking we were coming up to a loose rock that actually wasn’t loose at all, but firmly planted in the ground. Laura kept asking how much further. I wasn’t feeling great, but I figured we were so close, I couldn’t stop now. We only had 20-30 minutes left to go. Surely we can make it. Then we saw “the sign”… 1 hour to Enladrillado. I could feel the life being sucked out of me. It can’t be? I looked up, and saw this long trail going up the incline towards the top of a rocky peak. It can’t be? It was. It was the trail we had to take to reach our destination. We continued to hike, encouraging each other as we slowly made it up the final portion. With a little over a kilometer left to go, Laura said she just couldn’t go any further. We didn’t want to push her, she knew she just couldn’t do it. At that point I thought about stopping. I would climb a bit, then stop to catch my breath. Each time I felt like I was going to be sick. It actually felt better to turn back around and climb more. I called up to Jill when I didn’t think I could make it, and asked what was beyond the rock. She and Jessica encouraged me to just keep trying, once I reached them, it would be flat to the finish. I didn’t want to stop, but it was slow climbing to reach that point. I was within 15 feet of them, and still had to stop for one last second of rest before I climbed the final steps to meet them. I did it! We all looked at our hands, our fingers were swollen like little sausages, I knew I had to drink more water.  Finally we were walking on flat land to our destination. We could see it about 300 yards away.