Michael: Indigenous Trails

Ascending into
The mountainside fog is like
Walking into sleep.

Friday, July 1, 2016

In the Santa Monica Mountains in Los Angeles most of the public trails are either old ranch roads or single track trails natives or early explorers created. Most of the trail system is now mapped out and much of it is marked. That’s not quite the way it works here in the highlands of Panama.

Yes, most of the trails come from similar roots as what I’m use to in L.A. but here the farm truck trails probably lead to working farms and the single track trails are still used by indigenous workers to get to the fields. They are not mapped out or marked at all.

Thankfully, that’s where Felipe of the Volcan Hiking club comes in. He’s a Garmin whiz and with his help I’ve been able to hike and run on some very beautiful and little known or used trails.

In L.A. I could go online, look at a map, strap on some trail shoes and be pretty confident that even if I got lost eventually I’d run into a sign or somebody and figure my way out. But doing that here on anything but the few well known tourists trails, with my lack of skills would be more terrifying than liberating.