| Dec 27, 2005 - Pucon, Chile
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 | | show all 41 | | Villarica volcano that overlooks Pucon | | Distant volcanos from the base of Villarica | | The base again, looking up at our day's climb | | |
| Pucon is the central and most touristy town in Chile's lake district, and is thought of as the gateway to Chilean Patagonia. Two 10-hour bus rides may seem like a bit much for just 2 days in Pucon, and normally it would be, but this was Harris' lone vacation for the year, he wanted to get at least a taste for Patagonia, and we were able to get night buses both ways, so we went for it. In a lot of ways Pucon resembles the smaller ski towns of North America with its beautiful natural surroundings, wooden architecture, and overall vibe. In the winter time people flock here for the slopes, but in the summer there is a range of various activities from hiking, water sports, biking, and climbing. The town is surrounded by many crystal blue alpine lakes, but the most dominant natural structure is the volcano Villarica, a towering, snow-covered, active volcano looming not so far off in the distance. This was our main draw. I had heard from many travelers that climbing this volcano was a very worthwhile and unforgettable experience.
The first morning however, after arriving at about 8am, we checked into our hostel and went for breakfast. We strolled the few streets that make up what is considered the heart of the town, and went to see the two separate lake fronts. We also booked our Volcano climb for the next day after bargain shopping a bit, but still had plenty of time to spare. So, to add another adventure into the mix, we signed up for a rafting trip departing in about an hour, and chose the "upper river", the rougher and more exciting stretch of the two on offer. The ride itself was excellent, with a continuous sequence of fun rapids. It was not the wildest of rapids I have ever been on, but the lack of down time kept everything very exciting. Harris and I were in one boat with our guide, and another guide from Australia who was not working that day but came along for experience. The other boat had another guide, and a family of 5 from Sweden. At one point we had to stop, get out of the rafts, and portage around a waterfall in the river. While the guides are busy hooking up the boats with ropes and getting them down the waterfall, the Australian guide, although off-duty, walks us down a trail through the woods on the river banks to where the we will get back into the boats. We stopped mid-way to go out onto a rock and watch the guides deal with the boats, and while we were there, we all noticed that Harris was missing. I assumed he had gone to the bathroom and was just behind us, but after a few more minutes passed and he didn't show up, we realized we'd have to go search for him. To make this quick, it turns out Harris didn't see us turn off to go out to the rock, and he was in the back of the line. So he kept on walking down the trail, and only after a significant while, and passing numerous should-be obvious signs that we were no longer ahead of him, he started to turn back. In the mean time we were walking on ahead in a large group screaming his name to the trees, and the Australian girl taking us on this bit was getting rather frustrated that she had to deal with this. We eventually met back up, got back into the boats, and finished the rafting portion of the day. Back in Pucon, Harris and I dined on some tasty burgers and had out first taste of Kuntsmann, Chile's best national brew. We went to the supermarket for some sandwich fixens since we had to bring lunch on the climb the next day, and then just turned in early to save our energy for the volcano.
Volcano day. What an experience! There is a very typical routine and trip to the volcano provided by a number of tourist outfits in town for varying prices. The day starts with a 30 minute drive out to the volcano, and getting suited up in your gear and ice axe for the day. They also supply you with cramp-ons but it is very rare that you will need to use them. The first part of the climb is steep and goes over rock, but you have the option of taking a chairlift instead to the start of the snow, since this volcano is also a ski hill in the winter. Cheaply, and true to form, I convince Harris to take the more strenuous option. The real climb begins at the top of the lift, and follows a very stamped-out, single-file, zigzagging path up the side of the volcano. It is much more difficult to break new snow every time, so all the tour groups go the same way, which produces a massively long stretch of possibly over a hundred people trudging up slope. Overall the climb takes about 4 hours, but it is very tiring in the sun and the heat, and even with the footprints snow is not the easiest thing to hike on. We take many breaks along the way, including one significant stop for lunch. All along the way you are treated to views of your final destination, the peak of the volcano, as well as the town and lake way below beneath a smattering of clouds, and two more volcanoes off in the distance. As we approached the top the smell of the gases from the volcano become detectable, and increasingly more invasive and repulsive as we got nearer. Pretty soon I was coughing and wheezing and these gases had brought on a slight bought of asthma. I did not have my inhaler with me, but luckily our guide had a 1st aid kit with him, an in it was an inhaler that expired 4 years ago, but it worked well enough to let me enjoy the peak. The views back down and off into the distance were incredible, but nothing matched the sensation of looking down into the mouth of a volcano and seeing to small bright red-orange pools of bubbling lava. We snapped a couple of pictures, but the smell was so intense you could not stay at the lip of the volcano for too long. So next came the descent, the most fun part of the day. Rather than simply retracing your steps down the volcano, the guides instruct you to sit on your butt, and slide down these trough-like runs that have been created by so many people doing the same thing prior. It was a much easier and faster way to get back down, and what a rush! At times you would have to walk along flat parts connect one sledding area to the next, but for the most part the descent took place sitting down. Some of the hills were steeper than others, with a few of the tracks being very quick. You are supposed to use your feet and ice axe to slow you down if necessary, but at the fastest of these tracks nothing would help you. You are simply at the mercy of gravity shooting down in a cloud of snow and ice being kicked up by your feet. It rocked, and, sadly enough perhaps for the amount of money we paid for this climb, was potentially my favorite part of the whole trip. Back at the bottom we changed out of our gear and rode back into town with soggy and cold rear ends.
At this point Harris and I had just enough time to shower and go eat dinner, and then it was time to board the bus heading back up to Santiago. Our mini Patagonia vacation-within-a-vacation was complete, but we were proud of ourselves and the amount of adventure we managed to pack into such a small amount of time. |
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