The hike to the observation platform up in the hills makes my heart pound in my ears. I follow the google maps directions and walk up the street Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez; the first set of stairs is easy going and lovely with its terraced gardens providing some shade. A few workers are painting the outside of a building and set up a long extension ladder on the steps… there is no way to avoid walking underneath that ladder — here’s hoping that the superstitions learned in childhood don’t still have an effect on my reality.
Already, I can see the ocean from a different height through the jungle-like garden on the steep hill. After a moment of rest, I keep walking up the hill and start cursing myself for wearing sandals and a long dress that keeps me warmer than I’d like; so much for the weather forecast — it is not as cloudy as I had expected. After lifting up the dress by hand for an extended period of time, I just tie a knot on the side of my thigh that keeps it shorter and more airy.
Next I encounter a street where the sidewalks are severely raised; stairs lead up to them, and I take the one on the left because the one on the right is loaded with a heap of garbage bags. When I get to the end of the block, however, I discover that there is no stair leading back down… two very nice young ladies resting at that spot tell me they’ve made the same mistake. It’s an easy error to make since the sidewalks throughout the city are raised to varying heights and steps lead up and down the inclines — it was not apparent in any way that this sidewalk would be different, and I wonder what the reason for its construction was. The ladies explain that they climbed down by sliding on their bum; I am hesitant though since I’m not wearing jeans but a thin dress. They offer me a helping hand, but in the end, it turns out to be easier (read: less scary) to climb down like a rock climber with my hands gripping the edge of a rock tightly and stepping on slight protrusions of the stones — the first adventure of the day.
We all laugh at the absurdity of it, and a young man joins the club shortly after me, though he is having a much easier time climbing down the “rock face”. I soon keep walking and hit the next set of stairs; as I take a moment to have a sip of water, I turn around and see the three compadres waving at me, yelling that I need to go one street over to get to our destination. Well, I have a bit of a stubborn streak and do not want to walk all those stair back down; also google sent me this way, so why wouldn’t it work… my curiosity wins and I keep going upward, ignoring the friendly advice from far below, and soon I see vindicating hand-drawn signs with the word Mirador and an arrow leading up a path that avoids me walking through the locals’ backyards. The path leads straight to a construction site with a lot of rubble, and another small sign points me to an unofficial path through shrubbery and over protruding roots and rocks — another small adventure.
Soon I emerge from the illicit path onto the street where I see the young guy coming up smiling, “you found a path,” he says. “Yes, there is always a way,” I respond with a grin on my face, which is wiped away when I see the next set of stairs that don’t seem to have an end; I take a deep breath and another swig of water and carry on. There is a funicular train car, but it’s not in operation, and to be honest, taking it would feel like cheating anyway, so I take a moment of rest here and there to let my heart calm down and continue marching upward.
It is such a rewarding feeling when I get up to the top and turn around to see the view. I’ll be honest, this hike was not as strenuous as the El Faro hike in Mazatlán and it’s not even close to experiencing the Grouse Grind in Vancouver, but it still got my heart pumping and my lungs complaining. I can see the cross on top of a concrete pedestal that marks and names the viewing platform Mirador el Cerro de la Cruz, and there is also a two-tiered concrete viewing structure for some additional height.
I spend a little time admiring the view on all sides and find a lot of mountainous nature with lush vegetation adjoining Puerto Vallarta which is built down the slopes and all the way down to the ocean — a lovely landscape and setting.
On the way back down, the many steps and very steep streets are not as hard on the heart but much more on the calves, and so I stretch my calves many a time, alas it does not prevent some serious knots by the time I get back down to Centro, and I confess that my legs are shaking a little when I reach the bottom. As a reward I visit the malecón for some ice cream and hot chocolate which I enjoy sitting in the shade while watching people and reading a little.
Nice! Looks very relaxing! Glad you are enjoying it. Seems weird to leave this post.
C