From Pucón we decided to take a taxi up to the Park gates. Much easier than hitchhiking.
The Ranger opened the Villarrica National Park office for us. He’d formerly worked in a Canadian National Park. I chatted with his wife who’s from my hometown, Calgary.
CONAF charges an entrance fee of Ch$5000 to Chileans or Ch$7000 ($10) to foreigners (2016) for using the “Villarrica Traverse”.
Happily we were able to hitchhike the final 17km up to the (ugly in summer) ski resort, the official start of the Traverse.
Slightly overcast (as it often is in the morning in Chile) we quickly headed off into the great blue yonder.
At this point we were literally traversing the volcano. The landscape bleak and blasted. I’d met Victor and Pedro, 2 Brazilian music students, while hiking further north. They decided to join up with me for this BIG and HIGH walk.
My lunch for the first few days was cheddar and buns.
Navigation is very easy on this adventure. Follow the stakes. 🙂
Sadly I still managed to get us lost for perhaps 90 minutes. 😦 When we finally found our way back to the correct route we moved and replaced stakes so nobody else would make my mistake.
Finally the clouds blew off and we got our first good close-up look at Villarrica 2847m. It’s the most climbed volcano in Chile.
Water is a concern. Anything close to the volcano is dirty with ash.
Whenever you find clean water, load up.
Still, water is life. Vegetation regrows only with water.
The Monkey Puzzle treesare a great highlight of this hike. They are the national tree of Chile.
Footing is often difficult in volcanic scoria. Don’t fall.
With so much exposure to the sun, it was always a relief to reach shade.
We camped at the spot recommended by Lonely Planet. Can’t complain about the view. 🙂
Victor, Pedro, Rick
I didn’t like the water, however, so walked back to a tarn for perhaps 30 minutes. We did treat a lot of water on this hike.
At the end-of-the-bus-line marina, you need pay a couple of dollars for a boat to get you across the river.
This woman runs one of the dirty, crowded unofficial Petrohue camping areas. The toilets are awful. 😦
Cats, chickens and dogs run (and crap) everywhere.
This kayaker stayed two nights here as the wind was too high on the lake to continue.
We’d met Molly from London on the bus. She and I immediately scrambled up the steep slope above camp.
The river mouth empties into lake Todos Las Santos.
Here’s why Petrohue camping is so popular. The view of Osorno.
I crashed early.
Next morning we packed up as quickly as possible so we could to go do something on the volcano.
Unfortunately the big mountain was cloudy.
At Conef across the river I was convinced to do a relatively easy hike called Desolation, part way up the mountain.
The rest of the group – 6 others – wanted instead to climb as high as possible from the ski resort. So we started walking the road.
After about 6km we managed to hitch a ride (all 7 of us) to the junction. Then we caught another ride to the top of the ski hill.
First stop was the restaurant for coffee.
From here we had the option of riding an expensive cable car. Or ascending on foot.
We walked.
These guys were walking their bikes up. Riding down.
A zip line is in operation. But we didn’t see many people using it.
Up into the clouds.
It was clearer below.
Most visitors hike only to this crater.
We were having fun.
What are these women doing? 🙂
Pedro and Molly were keenest to climb as high as possible, despite cloud.
The ski lift stopped for some reason. A guy climbed up to fix it.
The snow line. This is where I stopped.
The vista was great from there.
Some kept climbing.
An 18yr-old swiss hiker was lost and died here. I left a Summit Stone at his memorial.
There were several other memorials.
The rest of us started to descend, assuming the peak would not get any clearer. We were wrong.
Back down to the restaurant, we celebrated. Then checked the parking lot for a ride down the mountain.
It turned out to be a great day. 🙂
In minutes we caught a ride for 7 people down to the crossroad.
After walking 2km we (eventually) determined that the bus was no longer running that late in the day. So, instead, hitched a ride for 9 people with the patriarch of our campground.
Back across the river, we ate and celebrated until dark. 10pm. 🙂
From Petrohue camping you can see Volcán Puntiagudo (“Sharp-pointed volcano”). There’s no end to intriguing hiking possibilities in Chile.
I had a long way to go today. But it was mostly downhill.
Back past Laguna Ánimas, busier than when I had camped here.
Two large water birds seem to spend their nights here.
The easy way to descend snow fields.
Though I’m afraid of riding horses, Chile is ideal country for cowboys.
Back to the green. And some shade.
Impressive Bolsón was packed. This great weather had inspired more folks from Santiago to takes some time off work.
This day I did see two large hares, the only indigenous mammals I found.
Surprisingly I saw no sign of snakes or scorpions. Or rodents. My principle companions were tens of thousands of these guys.
On the trail the only language I heard was Spanish. Foreign hikers do not seem to get here much. It’s another Chilean secret. 🙂
Catching the Parque Inglés bus back to Molina, a tranquil town of about 40,000. I (eventually) found an inexpensive and interesting place to stay in the small town. With a BIG swimming pool.
Hostería Suichi (Suisse + Chile) run by Robert, a (now jaded) Swiss expat.
Robert gave me good information. And cooked up a beef soup typical of the region for me.
In the evening I ate ice cream and hung out in the plaza. As everyone does.
On the street late night I bumped into a Chilean couple on holiday who ended up staying at the Hostería. Next morning we had breakfast together in the popular restaurant. 🙂
Meeting new people is one of the great highlights of travel.
Sunburn was my biggest worry at this point. I had plenty of No-Ad Sport Sunscreen slathered on, but this sun is unrelenting. I was wearing socks on my hands as they were most burnt, so far.
I made one last climb up to the “corner” of the valley to see if it looped back over a pass in the direction I wanted to go …
The cows thought I was crazy.
I was crazy. Odds were slim that it would work. I turned back here.
It was a relief, actually, to finally know where I was going.
River crossings are a big issue here. There are no bridges. Happily this was the most difficult I crossed. Not bad.
Descending to the hot springs, the group had already vacated. I had the place to myself. 🙂
One last look back up my side valley.
Mid-day I took the shade and studied Spanish for 90 minutes or so. Then resumed my high traverse of the massif.
Today the two condors came to check me out.
I was clinging to life yet. 🙂
People curse slogging through ash. Personally, I like it. Very soft on the feet. The best screeing surface possible.
I was surprised to come across 4 Chilean hikers in the afternoon. They had put up the tents and got directions from me to the hot springs. Two had just been married. This was part of the honeymoon. Both were just about to move to Montreal for work. Small world.
One of the guys asked me if I knew the way back to the Pass. Of course I did. I’d just come from that direction.
How could I get lost? 🙂
I got lost. 😦
Things truly do look completely different when walking the opposite direction.
My good camera had broken, the telescoping lens mechanism wrecked. 😦 I wasn’t in much of a mood to take photos in any case. 😦
My audio book – Red Rising by Pierce Brown – kept me going.
I was first diverted for about 2 hours. Then about 30 minutes. (Several times I considered backtracking to the honeymoon party tents. I could have walked out with them next morning.)
But – finally – I found the way back to Ánimas. I set up my tent above the lake at this junction of alpine meadow and desert. My best campsite.
It would be an excellent idea to enjoy the massive and impressive Mt. Decapitated vista from here. And turn back.
Laguna Mondaca
I dropped down to the other side crossing this field of snow and ash.
Laguna Mondaca looked too great a descent for me. I’d really rather not drop down that far and have to climb back up.
A high traverse trail on the right looked much more tempting. Quickly I decided to stay as high as I could. Returning by the same route if that trail didn’t loop around back to Valle de Indio.
I LOVE this kind of brutal & extreme landscape.
Surprisingly, it’s quite easy to find water here.
Wildflowers were still thriving in January.
The unofficial trail was excellent. I stayed as high as I could.
Laguna Mondaca
Though I could see for miles in every direction, I’d seen no wild mammals at yet. Goats were grazing very high up, circled by two very interested condors.
I tried to find some shade to take a siesta mid-day. This was one of the best.
I set up the tent to keep flies and wasps away.
This was a long but comparatively easy day, mostly gradually downhill. I decided to enter a side valley hoping it would loop back to where I started. (My GPS did not work and I had no map, so this was wild speculation.)
Entering the valley I smelled sulphur. I’d stumbled on to one of the many natural hot springs in the area. But a horse group was already camped there. I decided to wait until next day to have my bath.
I set up high and out-of-sight since there were cattle and people in this valley.
There’s a reason Bolsón is so popular. It’s a pretty alpine meadow, a green oasis on the edge of a volcanic wasteland.
Most who make it this far stop and day hike from here.
But I was determined to see – if not climb – Mt Decapitated. I’d have to get past that spiky peak in the distance to do so.
On the other hand, I took it easy today ascending steeply up to the next obvious campsite. Past that the next recommend camp is Laguna Mondaca, too far for me with full pack, I was thinking.
The trail is clearly signed up to Valle de Indio, another lush alpine meadow. It’s gets more volcanic after this point.
Despite the heat and intense sun, snow crossings were frequent. Early season would require an ice axe.
Footing is either bad up here. Or volcanic ash. I used the “instagator” system with my socks.
In South America you can expect to see at least one religious pilgrimage site every day.
The higher I climbed, the better I liked it.
I arrived Ánimas before 3pm. With at least 5 hours of sunlight left, I was tempted to risk it and climb higher.
Instead I cooled my heels. Listened to my Coffee Break Spanish lessons. Walked the perimeter of the tarn.
Not many carry tents up here from Bolsón, but there were a few groups with me at the lake.
Just above my tent is the trail I’ll take in the morning.
Descabezado Grande (also Cerro Azul or Quizapu) is a stratovolcano located in … central Chile. It is capped by a 1.4-kilometre-wide ice-filled caldera and named for its flat-topped form, asdescabezado means “headless” in Spanish. A smaller crater about 500 metres (1,600 ft) wide is found in the northeast part of the caldera, and it has active fumaroles. …
That’s 103km if I had done the whole thing. Plus the optional full day climb of .Descabezado. The trek is challenging enough without that scramble.
If that serious off trail adventure was impossible, Rangers recommended the somewhat easier Circuito de los Condores. (Condor Circuit)
But due to a series of problems I ended up doing something easier. An out and back from Parque Inglés.
What problems?
GPS did not work as I needed it to. Topo maps were sold out at the Ranger station in Parque Inglés. Scorching sun burned my weak Canadian flesh. My good camera broke. 😦
But I had a fantastic hike anyway. 🙂
Descabezado and its nearby brothers have devastated the Andes here. The last major eruption was 1932 – Quizapu, 6km south of the main crater. It’s stark and beautiful.
___ day 0 – Santiago to Parque Inglés
Though it’s only about 250km south of Santiago, it took me all day to get there via public transportation.
Hostel > Santiago bus station (University of Santiago metro station) > bus to Molina > bus to Radal Siete Tazas National Park.
Happily in high season (Jan/Feb) buses go all the way to the CONAF Ranger Station. (The rest of the year they stop in Radal, 10km short.) It’s a bad, bumpy road up into the mountains.
On the bus I’d met Pedro and Victor, Brazilian music students who were on the road on a break from school. In fact, they carried a copy of On the Road by Jack Kerouac.
… slightly more expensive than the other options but includes free entry to the park and some hidden ‘pozas’ (water pools) that people don’t usually get to see. It’s also much quieter …
It cost us 7000 Chilean pesos each rather than the 3-4000 asked at the cheapest campgrounds, but we agreed Valle las Catas was worth it. 🙂
This was the first time they’d sleep in their new tent.
I’d slept hundreds of times in my own.
Their first meal on their new camp stove.
The campsite has a cute restaurant and shop. I ate pizza there.
We finished up the evening drinking my red wine, hanging out at the big campfire with anyone else who wished to socialize. The only language Spanish.
“… Arguably the best hike in all of middle Chile, the full-day Sendero Enladrillado takes you to the top of a unique 2300m basaltic plateau with stunning views. …”
– Lonely Planet
Descabezado volcano
How could I resist? 🙂
I reached Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay from Talca bus station, 65km west of the Park. A sunny summer Friday afternoon, my Buses Vilches contraption headed to the mountains was packed. I was lucky to get a seat, one of the few perks of having grey hair.
From where the bus drops you off after 90min it’s around a 2km walk uphill to the Conaf administration building. Open even though it was after opening hours.
An older gentleman checked me in but – for some reason – charged me double for Park entrance. 10,000 rather than foreigner’s rate of 5000 pesos. I assumed the extra 5000 was for camping. At the time.
I was given a simple map and instructions on the best hike. A counterclockwise loop seeing all the highlights over about 8 hours.
It was dusk by the time I walked uphill another 2km (in crocs) to Camping Antahuara, also run by Conaf. The boys at the campground – after seeing my two Park entrance receipts, did not charge me for camping. Gracias.
Conaf’s Camping Antahuara is an excellent campsite. And I actually had electricity!
I listened to audio books, Spanish lessons. And got to sleep early.
Morning dawned bright and sunny. Again. It was a summer heat wave in Chile.
By 8am I was started up to Enladrillado carrying only a day pack. It felt easy.
This is a popular hike. I saw nearly as many people as lizards.
It’s steep in places. I recommend you hike right to left, climbing more gradually to the Enladrillado, descending from the Laguna viewpoint.
Enladrillado is great. But if you’d climbed all the way up here without seeing Descabezado (“decapitated”), you’d be disappointed. This is a hike for good weather. Phone the Ranger station (71) 220 9517 to check on he visibility before heading up.
It was getting hot.
I hid out in the shade dreaming of hiking all the way to Descabezado base camp. And climbing. Some day.
Cerro Azul
Starting here and continuing to Parque inglés is called the Circuito de los Condores. (Condor Circuit)
That’s what I should have done this trip. 😦
Next I started looping back towards Camp across the dry plateau.
Up high I saw only 3 small water sources. It’s not easy for flora or fauna to live up here.
Some cloud was rolling in down in the valley. Rangers had warned that a “little rain” was in the forecast for the weekend.
Here’s the viewpoint overlooking the laguna.
It’s a lot further down than it looks.
Though all kinds of signage makes clear that camping is not allowed, it appears the rule is not enforced. Many hikers up here were carrying sleeping bags.
This large group did not get to the top of the plateau until 1:30pm. Sadly the clouds were climbing higher. They’d likely miss the views.
I was back in camp before 4pm. The only highlight on my return this fox. In Spanish you can call him “El Zorro”.
I’d seen his cousins in Patagonia (10yrs ago) brazenly rob tents. I resolved to be more careful hiding away my camping food in Chile.
Enjoying the campground, I decided to stay another night rather than bus back to the city. It rained all night. 😦 I missed the morning bus by 2 minutes 😦 delaying my exit by about 5 hours.
Still, I highly recommend Sendero Enladrillado in good weather. I’ve added it to our list of best hikes in South America.
The best guidebook I’ve seen is Trekking por Chile 40 Rutas 2015 (Spanish). It’s available in larger bookstores in Chile.
besthike.com 