Montañistas De Washington Helps Spanish Speakers Connect with Nature
Founded five months ago, the grassroots organization is dedicated to removing barriers for people of all ages to enjoy the great outdoors
Faviola Ruiz, 58, has been hiking in the Wenatchee Valley for 25 years, and over the course of nearly three decades she has inspired friends and family members to join her.
“I am very active,” she said with a laugh. “I do hiking in the mornings, Tuesdays and Thursdays at 5 am, Saddlerock with friends. We have to work so we go early.”
Sometimes 30 or 40 people will hike in the mornings or on the weekends with her.
Marcos Bueno and his wife Alicia Tapia live in the Seattle area and have hiked and climbed for years. They have also known Ruiz for years. So after they started a group called Montañistas De Washington she reached out to them to get involved. She and a man named Luis Duarte are leaders of the Wenatchee Valley chapter of the group.
Montañistas De Washington is a grassroots organization of outdoor enthusiasts who want to create opportunities for folks to get out and enjoy activities like hiking, rock climbing and mountaineering. Most of the members are Hispanic and Spanish speakers, but the group is open to anyone who wants to join and it’s free, Bueno said.
He said they established the group about five months ago with their friends Gladys Almánza and Héctor Tito Hernández and since then interest in it and attendance at their events has been growing rapidly. A Facebook group they started to help organize hikes and other activities has 4,000 members, and they are also on Instagram and YouTube. They even have their own corrido, which is a traditional Mexican folk ballad.
Last month, some of them went on a trip to Alaska to see the Aurora Borealis, go snowmobiling and experience what it’s like to ride a dog sled.
Next month, another group will go to Arizona to hike parts of the Grand Canyon, Bueno said.
“Our slogan is: Be the change of the community and for the community,” Bueno said.
Bueno and Tapia live in the Seattle area and coordinate with Ruiz and other leaders in Chelan County to organize group hikes and activities that people of all ages can accomplish.
“Kids and families and people who want to learn don’t want to do it alone,” he said. “I think that is a part of this success.”
Removing barriers to entry is also one of their goals. Many outdoor sports have traditionally been the purview of affluent white folks. Equipment can be costly, he said, and so can transportation. But Montañistas De Washington can provide coats or jackets, radios, and other equipment if needed, and they organize carpooling options so everyone who wants to go on an outing can make it happen.
Last weekend 33 members of the group from the Wenatchee Valley carpooled to Wallace Falls in Snohomish County for an 11-mile hike. Ruiz and the group brought some youngsters with them.
“The youngest one was eight years and he made 9.6 miles,” she said.
You can watch a video recap of that outing here.
For Ruiz and Bueno being outdoors is therapy – it reduces stress and anxiety while increasing fitness and cardiovascular endurance. Ruiz said she wants to show younger generations how hiking can be good for your mental health.
“A lot of kids, they are depressed, so this is why we want to help to invite them to go out,” Ruiz said.
You can listen to my interview with Ruiz here.
Bianca Samaniego is a relative newcomer to hiking, and took it up in the last five months. She lives in Wenatchee and said that when she walks in the forest her stress falls away. She said Ruiz is very encouraging and she admires her energy. If Ruiz can do these hikes at nearly 60, then she can too, Samaniego said.
“Three or four days a week we try to hike in difference places,” she said. “It’s crazy but we start at three o’clock or four o’clock in the morning.”
Ruiz and Samaniego said anyone is welcome to join them on their hikes, and Ruiz invited folks to a community hike at Squilchuck State Park on Sunday, March 17. She said the hike will start at about 8 a.m. and a BBQ lunch will follow.
Bueno said the next step for Montañistas De Washington is to apply for non-profit status and connect with leaders in other communities who want to establish their own chapters. A chapter in Sunnyside is in the works and there’s already a another chapter in Mattawa. There the members take their children to the orchards with them to show them where fruit really comes from, Bueno said.
If you would like to learn more about the group, you can find them on Facebook here. Bueno said folks can also reach out to him personally on Facebook if they would like to get involved or learn more.
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