We debated whether or not to sidetrip to the Palguín hotsprings. Lonely Planet claimed it was 3.5km by road one way. That would mean 7km total IF we couldn’t find a ride with a vehicle.
The walk was actually about 8km one way. AND the one hotspring we paid for was not particularly hot. I did enjoy the menu of the day, however.
A first for me – burnt sugar cubes.
Happily we were able to get a ride back from the hotsprings to the trail, paying a staff person a few dollars for the lift.
Our first hassle on this trip. Burrs. 😦 It’s difficult to avoid them at lower altitude.
In fact, the Traverse is two hikes separated by the road walk we took yesterday. Theres no real reason to walk them connected. The start of the second half is here.
It was a steep climb to get back up to the Traverse.
The Monkey Puzzles kept me moving.
We were steadily leaving Villarrica behind.
Here’s one of the highlights – Mirador los Volcanes. We could see at least 6 from one spot.
What you don’t see in the photos are hordes of horseflies (called tabanos here) even up at that high altitude in the wind. Later we learned that south central Chile doesn’t have many mosquitos, but they do have horseflies in January. I’ve never seen them so aggressive.
From the Mirador it’s a long, interesting ridge walk.
We walked quickly, swatting flies.
When we finally reached the Lonely Planet recommended camp all we could do was jump into our tents to hide out until dark. The flies were that bad.
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.
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