South of the Border, West of the Sun: Cerro de la Silla

As anyone who knows me can easily attest, when I travel I look for two things: bodies of water and big, tall things to climb. I’m kind of simple like that, but it’s the kind of simplicity that has kept exceptionally happy on the road. In Monterrey, though, a good half of the equation – namely the water – is missing. This desert city does have its share of mountains, however, and as part of my wanderings I decided yesterday to try and climb the most famous of these: Cerro de la Silla. I learned my lesson from my aforementioned Chipinque misadventure – actually, now that I think about it, it actually rains a lot here – and checked the weather report carefully before setting out. I even brought a map, of sorts, and a couple of friends.
Unfortunately, even if my Spanish is improving, my ability to use the metric system remains questionable. Actually, that’s not a hundred percent true. I use it with accuracy and ease – I don’t really have a choice do I? – but I also use it to lie to myself. So yes, I knew when I checked the weather report that 40 Centigrade is the same as 104 Fahrenheit. But it seems so much lower in Celsius, right?! Completely bearable and everything. [By the way, the same thing works in reverse with distances: the ten kilometers to the top and back seemed impossibly further than the six or so miles it actually was.]

So, to make a short story long (as per usual), it did not rain. Much the contrary, actually, and although we started with six people at 7:30am the heat stopped half of them dead in their tracks before we even made it halfway to the aptly named Antenna Peak. I persevered with two francesa - Julie and Ervyn, who, I kid you not, sang La Marseillaise intermittently the entire way up [adorable!] – and together we finally made it to the 1820 m (5970 ft) summit and back after about seven hours. The view was stunning, and the few pictures I have of trek don’t do it justice. As you face south atop the mountain, to your right is civilization in the form of Monterrey’s urban sprawl.

To the left, though, are the Sierra Madres in their full glory. The mountain’s four peak usually hide this backdrop so well that I had no idea this ecosystem even existed. Beautiful, serene, and replete with bids of all kinds this was a side of Monterrey I had never seen before and it was breathtaking.

I’m beginning to think I could just about live here.