Drew Lund's Mexican Adventures: Adventures in the Mexican Wilderness

Drew Lund's Mexican Adventures: Adventures in the Mexican Wilderness:
In several of my previous posts I've mentioned hiking in the hills behind the ranch. I feel like it's time to shed a little bit more light on the difference between that and the hiking I'm used to back home in Washington.

Washington has a lot of beautiful places to hike. With these beautiful hiking trails come lots of regulations and rules about where to hike, how to hike, and when to hike. You can only hike in certain areas so you don't hurt wildlife, you can only use the trails during specific times of the year, and you can't bring certain items or build fires and things like that. You also sometimes can't go hiking for a few days after a storm has hit because the trails will be to muddy. Down here in Mexico, none of that is a problem.

At the ranch, if you want to go hiking, you go hiking. If you see something that looks cool and you want to get closer, you get closer. If you see a rock you want to climb, you climb it. There basically aren't any trails in the hills, so you don't have to worry about following any specific paths. If you want to go somewhere, you take a machete and slash and smash your way through the dry, sharp bushes until you get there. As long as you aren't afraid of a few scrapes, scratches, bumps and hard landings, you can do it.

I have yet to complete a hike and come back unscathed. I never wear pants, so my legs consistently have so many scratches and cuts that there isn't a patch of skin showing that isn't red or bloody (if you can even see my skin through the layers of dirt that cover me by the time I'm finished). But don't worry, there's usually a good dose of internal pain as well. I always have a couple days of aching in my ankles and knees from the hard landings and falls received while rock hopping (the hills here covered in massive boulders).

All that said, I love hiking at the ranch. It is such a blessing to be able to walk for 15 minutes and suddenly have nothing in sight but beautiful, un-developed rolling hills. The weather is almost always nothing but amazing and sunny. There's no better way to get exercise, fresh air, and a chance to take in God's creation, all in my own back yard. Whether it's slowly hacking my way through painful bushes, carefully climbing on boulders, or recklessly sprinting downhill and destroying my legs with scrapes and bumps, it's a great feeling to hike at Rancho Sordo Mudo.