Episode 72: Trekking, or as Gringos Like to Say, Hiking

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Ian: Hey everyone, you're listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I'm Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And I'm Paige Sutherland.

Ian: And today, we're going to talk about one of my personal, favorite activities—something that's popular in the United States, as well as here in Chile, and that is trekking, or also known as hiking, depending on who you're talking to. So, we're going to talk all about that today.  Places in the US where we like to hike, places here in Chile, any kind of funny stories, you name it. So, remember if you get lost, go online and check out that transcript and vocabulary guide. Okay, so, Paige, where did we go this weekend?

Paige: We actually did go trekking. I don't remember the name of it so you're gonna have to help me out.

Ian:  Sure. So, this last weekend, Paige and I and a few friends, we went hiking or trekking—either way, we can say either one—we went to a place called Quebrada de Macul, that’s here in Santiago, Chile. And it was really nice. It's one of my one of my favorite parks to go to here in Santiago. It's located in the city, kind of up in the hills a little bit—they say hills here. For me, they're more mountains. But yeah, it's located just like, you know, within an hour of the city center. Easy to get to, good hiking trails, a nice little river you can swim in. So, we had a good time, yeah?

Paige: Yeah, I guess we should have recorded this live while we were trekking.

Ian: I know, we could have.

Paige: Missed opportunity.

Ian: We could have captured the nature sounds and everything.

Paige: I had to carry Ian. He was really out of shape…

Paige: Exactly, I was huffing and puffing just a few minutes in so, good to have that help. Have you been trekking to a lot of places here in Santiago or Chile, in general?

Paige: Yeah, I don't do it enough, because, I think, I don't have a car so it's always easier said than done to wake up and take a train to a bus to an Uber, to get somewhere—to the trek. But now I've done probably, like, five or six hikes around Santiago and then in March we did Torres del Paine, so we did lots of hikes on the “W” there, which was amazing. I think what I like about the hikes here is you can, kind of, have a lot of variations. Where you can hike up a hill—which is, like you said, feels like a mountain—where it's, like, intense—just like total incline. Or you can do what we did the other day where you're like hiking up a hill, but it has, like, a waterfall and a river and it's flat and chill too. So, you can have all different variations, which is nice. And I will say, I grew up in Boston. So, like, we're very close to New Hampshire and Maine where there's tons of national parks—lots of hiking to do—but I've never owned hiking shoes. You know, I’ve hiked back in the day, like, once or twice a year, I would just use my running shoes. But here, I invested in a pair. And I will say, very good decision.

Ian: It's a game changer, for sure.

Paige: Especially here because a lot of the hikes around Santiago, we're in a desert climate, so it's so dry. Like, we hiked Manquehue when we first got here, wearing our running shoes, and we were just slipping. We were like ice skating down the hill,

Ian: Just sliding on the dirt—all the dry soil. Yeah, it's not the easiest to climb on if you don't have the right footwear. So, it's definitely a game changer going from having, just even, running shoes with the flat bottoms to something that's got a better grip on it. It's definitely a difference.

Paige: Yeah, it was funny we just moved here and we're, like, ice skating down Manquehue and, like, Chileans were just, like, laughing at us like, “what are you wearing?” Like, “Okay, we're gonna buy some shoes…”

Ian: Yeah, “you guys don't do this much, do you?” That’s probably what they thought.

Paige:  Absolutely, yeah. We've been hiking definitely a lot more, for sure. It's hard not to here.

Ian: Right, exactly. That's like I said to you, that's one of the things I love most about Santiago is, you know, you can find different places with different difficulties, different scenery, all within public transportation of the city if you really try. It's, kind of, a chain of transportation sometimes, but it's really nice that even exists. In other cases, and other places, you have to go outside the city, maybe stay the night somewhere, go camping somewhere, which isn't always convenient.

Paige: What's been your favorite hikes?

Ian: That's really good question. So, I've actually been on a lot of hikes here. I have a hiking group here in Santiago, a group of friends, that most weekends we pick one day on the weekend and we'll pick a spot around the city and we'll go and do it. I'd say a month ago, we did, probably the hardest summit that we've done so far. It's called Cerro Carpa, which is in La Dehesa, which is really far north in the city. So, it takes a little while to get there. And then once you get there, there's two different peaks—there’s Conchali first, and then there's Carpa. To reach Carpa, the summit and then the descent, it's ten hours total. So, it's a long hike, as you can imagine. So, we're all in pretty good shape, we're used to hiking, and this was one where when we got to the top, we were pretty exhausted. And especially once we reached the bottom. So, I'd say that one. I'm not sure if that was absolutely the most fun but I think it was the most challenging. And I felt like was the most rewarding.

Paige: Did you know going in that it was gonna be ten hours?

Ian: Yeah, we had read that it was going to be close to that, so we were preparing for it. But, yeah, truly it was a long, long hike. And fortunately, you have the reward of having an amazing view every time you reached the top of somewhere. And this view was incredible. We could see all of the, the snowcapped mountains on the cordillera, the mountain range between Chile and Argentina on the border. You could see all of Santiago. It was just a beautiful 360 (degree) view of the whole area. So, while sometimes when you're getting up, sometimes you wish you were already at the top or you hadn't come at all. If it's early in the morning and you want to sleep or whatever, it's always worth it in the end. Having that amazing view and the feeling you get being out of the city, having fresh air. For me, it's always it's always worth doing.

Paige: Generally, always the hardest part is waking up. It's, like, a weekend, you know, you have a rough week, you just want to sleep and relax. You don't want to wake up at 8am, 7am to go on a hike. But no, it's, it's definitely, totally worth it.

Ian: And especially to have the discipline to not go out the night before, which, you know, so it's a whole thing. But it's, I feel like it's always rewarding. And then afterwards, I always feel amazing too. I always feel super relaxed and, like, I've used a lot of energy. My body just always thanks me after having a nice long hike. I think it's good for the body.

Paige: And if you are good about it, like, you wake up early, go on the hike, you can get back and you still, you know, can, like, rest and then go out. Or, like, you can still have a Saturday.

Ian: Sure, exactly.

Paige: So, it’s nice, if you do it right, it's like, “Wow, I’ve gotten a lot exercise and feel good. And now, I can go out, eat shitty food and drink a lot.”

Ian: That's great too. Anytime you do a hike, you can justify the eating and drinking afterwards. It's great.

Paige: And quick reminder, don't forget if you want to advance your English more, learn more, go online to dynamicenglish.cl where can take private classes, you can take group classes, you can even now take classes online.

Ian: When I first moved here, the Andes are very big for me, you know. I'm from the Midwest in the US where it's pretty flat –we don't have a lot of mountains. So, it's funny for me coming here, I tell the Chileans, “Wow, the mountains here are so big! How incredible.” And they just gave me response like, “Yeah, whatever.” For them, they're nothing—they're like hills, you know. But for me, they're huge. So, it's funny to hear people refer to, for me, what I would consider mountains, as “cerros “or hills here. So, it's funny it’s all relative too.

Paige: True. Did you hike much when you lived back in Missouri?

Ian: Yeah, so, good question. Yeah, I mean, ever since I was little, I've always done a lot of hiking. Our family has been pretty into it, I guess. Not so much now. But yeah, when I was little, I would do a lot of hiking with my grandpa or my cousins, with friends. So, it's always been one of those activities that's been in my life, yeah. What about you? I know you said, growing up, you know, the Boston area, there's some good areas to do it. But, you and your sisters, or you and your family?

Paige:  We were a very active family, but we would go more skiing than hiking, because we grew up in the summer on a lake. So, we were just kind of lake people. But my sister actually, probably in the past six years, fell in love with hiking. She hikes, probably, twice a week—always hiking and she does long hikes. I mean, she'll go for twelve hours—she's hiked every peak in Maine, New Hampshire, everywhere. So, like, whenever I spend time with her, usually, we go for a hike. She has, like, a stoner personality so, she's very, like, “Yeah, like, we'll wake up when we wake up and we'll hike when we hike and we're just gonna no plan.”

Ian: Just go with the flow.

Paige: And I'm not that. We're, like, very opposite. I'll be like, “Okay, like, we’re going hiking? Like, let's do this.” And she’ll be like, “Yeah, yeah like in a little bit.” We'll go to this place, she doesn't tell me any information, like, how long the hike will be. And it's, like, a seven-hour hike. We started at four, we’re descending while it's pitch black out, no flashlights.  I'm like, “What is going on?” It's always an adventure when I hike with her. Because of her, I've definitely gotten more into hiking and, yeah, it's amazing. But yeah, we're different hikers.

Ian: That's what it sounds like. That’s funny.

Paige: It's funny too, when I first got here, how they started saying “trekking.” Like, to me in the US when you say, like, “I'm going trekking”, it's, like, you're hiking the Appalachian Trail for two weeks.

Ian: Exactly.

Paige: Trekking is like a journey.

Paige: Yeah, where here it’s like “I’m going trekking.” And it could be an hour walk in the woods.

Ian:  Exactly. Yeah, that was something I had to get used to, also. Because, you know, in the United States, it's more common to say “hiking”, using this verb. And so yeah, I felt the same way. When I hear “trek”, I imagine this long, arduous journey—you know, weeks, traveling from one place to another—not just an afternoon. You know, go to the park kind of thing. So that's something I've had to adjust to, even just with my English.

Paige: Do you have any funny stories from your past hikes, whether here or at home?

Ian: That's a really good question. Let me think, let me think. One thing that's always a concern, especially when you're hiking a new place, is not getting lost. So that's something that’s happened a couple times to me here. My group, we've gone to a new hill or a new area to do trekking, and sometimes we’ll be getting really close to sunset. And there was one time, in particular—I can't remember, exactly which hill we were at—but it was getting pretty close to dark. And we couldn't find the trail, the right trail back to where we came. And so, we went down one path and maybe after a few minutes, we realized this wasn't the right path. So, then we had to hike back up the trail. So, you're also expending a lot of energy, right?  So, it's not just that you're losing time, but you're also losing energy. So, we hiked back up the trail, tried again, went down another trail—wrong trail—had to go back up. And at this point, a couple people in the group were starting to get a little bit nervous, because it's really no joke. You know, hiking in the dark or losing a trailhead when it starts, you can really get lost and you’re in trouble.

Paige: Did you have flashlights?

Ian: we had cell phones was nothing, nothing to be able to really prepare us for the night. And so, a couple of people were starting to get a little nervous and we really needed to find the trailhead and things like this. Close to sunset, we were finally able to find each other all at the bottom, but these are kind of scenarios that you don't want to get yourself into. But they usually happen if you go to new places or if you aren't exactly familiar with the place that you're at.

Paige: And that is kind of a fault of nowadays that our phones are everything, that we rely on them too much. Where normal people, like, before, like, pre smartphones, you would bring a flashlight when go hiking. Or that, you know, our cell phones. But it's like you're out of service, your phone's gonna die

Ian: Right, and that happened too—both of their phones were dead. We had no way of calling them even if we wanted to. It's just not an ideal situation. Yeah, so many interesting things can happen on the trail. You can get lost, you can find interesting things, you can get exhausted—anything can happen, anything can happen.

Paige: But fun things too.  

Ian: Yeah, usually fun things. Yeah, so if you haven't had the chance to get out and check out some of Santiago's hikes, you should definitely go Google them. There's a lot of really good ones nearby. And like we said, different difficulties too. If you want to take your kids out to certain ones, there's plenty. If you want to, you think, you're a professional and you want to really test yourself, there's that, as well—all close to the city. So, if you're in Chile, take advantage of the amazing hikes that are around, okay. And do yourself a favor, get a nice sweat, get a nice view and enjoy the outdoors, okay. So once again, thanks for listening and check out that transcript and audio guide, if you are lost, okay. So, thanks for listening,

Paige: And we'll see you next time. “Coffee with Gringos” was brought to you by Dynamic English, where you can learn English, simply by using it. If you're interested in taking classes, or just want to learn more, go to our website at dynamicenglish.cl. Thanks for listening.

Key Vocabulary, Phrases and Slang:

1.     out of shape (,adjective,phrase): to be in poor physical condition.

a.     She couldn’t run the race because she is too out of shape.

2.     trekking (noun—UK): to walk or move from one point to another, usually in nature.

a.     John enjoys going trekking on the weekends.

3.     hiking (noun—US): to walk or move from one point to another, usually in nature.

a.     Mark and his family love to go hiking at the park near their home.

4.     huffing and puffing (verb): to breathe heavily and with difficulty.

a.     He was huffing and puffing as he made his way up the mountain.

5.     incline (noun): a surface with a high or steep angle.

a.     The hiking trail was an incline that left us very tired.

6.     chill (adjective, slang): relaxed, easy.

a.     My friends prefer to hike trails that are fun and chill.

7.     to invest (verb): to spend money in order to receive a benefit from something’s use.

a.     I invested in a good pair of hiking boots which has made it much easier.

8.     game changer (noun): something that significantly changes something else.

a.     Learning English is a game changer for traveling and communicating with other people.

9.     slipping (verb): to not be able to balance or stay in one spot comfortably, usually results in falling.

a.     She was slipping on the ice when they went skating.

10.  soil (noun): dirt, earthly material.

a.     The desert soil makes it hard to trek in the mountains.

11.  grip (noun): firm hold

a.     She had a good grip on the bat as she played baseball.

12.  summit (noun): the highest point of a hill or mountain.

a.     The summits in Santiago are very tall.

13.  descent (noun): action of moving down a hill or mountain.

a.     The descent was long since it took us five hours to reach the bottom.

14.  exhausted (adjective): very tired, without energy.

a.     I felt so exhausted after the long trek we did yesterday.

15.  challenging (adjective): difficult, not easy.

a.     The hike yesterday was very challenging. 

16.  snowcapped (adjective): covered in snow.

a.     The snowcapped mountains are so beautiful.

17.  discipline (noun): self-control and behavior.

a.     She has a lot of discipline to wake up early every morning.

18.  shitty (adjective, slang): bad quality, unhealthy

a.     Her dad is fat because he only eats shitty food.  

19.  peak (noun): the pointed top of a mountain.

a.     The peak of the mountain looked so far away.

20.  stoner (noun, slang): person associated with nature, relaxed personality, often known for smoking cannabis.

a.     My friend has a stoner personality and is always relaxed.

21.  pitch black (adjective): completely dark.

a.     The pitch-black sky made it hard for us to see anything.

22.  Appalachian Trail (noun): a long mountain range in the eastern USA, known for its famous hiking trails.

a.     My friend hiked the entire Appalachian Trail after he graduated from college.

23.  journey (noun): act of traveling from one place to another, usually a long distance.

a.     She went on a long journey to find her family.

24.  arduous (adjective): long and difficult.

a.     The arduous trip took the group more than one month to arrive.

25.  to expend (verb): to spend or use.

a.     She expended so much energy reaching the summit that she had none left to go down the mountain.

26.  plenty (pronoun): a large amount of something, enough of something.

a.     There are plenty of trails to hike in Chile.