One of the most incredible things about Santiago is the amount of hiking you can do within a short drive. The locals call them cerros, which means hills, but those of us from altitude-impaired places would certainly call them mountains.

Check out this lovely view from Cerro Alvarado, showing off the bright green only available in winter, the snowcapped mountains, and the city.

Nature like this would be the crown jewel hike of most cities, but here it is an afterthought. Indeed, encroaching development has closed most public access to this cerro. Think giant fences and barbed wire, so often found marking territory in Latin America.

There’s one remaining legitimate entry point, at least there was until last week. I’m not sure what happened, but it looks like a car hit the gate and mostly destroyed it. (And likely got off scot-free. They should be forced to pay to repair it. Cars, the scourge of cities, strike again.)

Another complication: there are wild horses on this cerro, which need to be penned in.

To fix the fence, someone wrapped the remaining gate up with wire, so it’s impossible to get in. Maybe it was a huaso, a local cowboy who may work with the horses. Or maybe it was actually a cuico, a spoiled rich person who has one of the new condos on the hill and doesn’t want hikers looking down on their fancy terrace pool.

But you can’t keep a Chilean naturalist down for long, as someone cut the wire to re-open the gate. But it was wrapped back up with wire within 24 hours. The battle continues, as it so often does on cerros across the city.

Where’s the local government of Lo Barnechea in all of this? Supposedly they promised an official entrance. Years ago. Most likely, they want the tax revenue and it’s easier to push off hikers to somewhere else. Which means, every year, there’s a little less hiking to be had. One fewer majestic view.