I climbed an active volcano...

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The beauty of travelling on your own is the flexibility to change your plans and do things that you never even thought of before. This what I did last week, while on the bus from Bariloche, Argentina to Puerto Montt in Chile. My plan was to catch the ferry the next day to the island of Chiloe. However, I got talking to two English girls called Natalie and Charlotte, who were also heading to Chiloe but travelling there the same day. So I changed my plan and went with them to Chiloe.

We decided to stay in the town of Ancud and getting there from Puerto Montt was pretty easy, a simple case of catching a bus that went direct there. To cross the strait, the bus drove on to a really small ferry. It was the strangest sensation sitting on a bus, which is in turn on a ferry.

When we got off at the bus station, we were greeted by this sweet lady, holding a copy of the lonely planet guide book. She was there to advertise her hostel (Hospedaje Austral). It turned out that the hostel was one of the two that the girls were interested in, so we stayed there two nights. We got to meet the whole family while I was there, including the 88 year old grandmother. As I was the only one who spoke any Spanish, she spent most of the time trying to talk to me. I just about followed what she said, except when she started talking about the Second World War. Perhaps the funniest comment she made, was when she said my hairline was receding because I was too sensitive!

We stayed two days in Chiloe. It was very pretty - at times you could see the mountains of the Andes in the background. It was very also quiet and rural - too quiet for Natalie and Charlotte. The shops seemed to be selling strange stuff, made in the seventies that no one would really want.

The Girl’s next planned stop was the town of Pucon, in the Chilean Lake District. They wanted to go there to climb Volcan Villaricca. For some reason I thought this sounded a good idea and should give it a go. The day we arrived in Pucon, we went around all the travel agents trying to find the best deal for the excursion to climb the volcano. In the end the company we went with weren’t any cheaper (it was still 35,000 pesos - 35 pounds) but the couple running the company were incredibly friendly and helped put me at ease. We then got to try on all the gear they were lending us for the day. We had to borrow walking boots, ice axes and full waterproof clothing.

The next morning we were at the office for 7am, got our stuff and met our guide, named Tobias, who was originally Swiss but now living in Chile. We left the office in a car, thinking we were the only ones to be going on the excursion when we left, but five minutes from the office, Tobias got a phone call and another French guy would be joining us. So we had to pick him up and take him to the office, so we could get his stuff.

Charlotte and Natalie had one request for the trip: that they we take the chair lift, which would save the first 800 metres of climbing. However, when we got to the foot of the volcano, Tobias indicate there the chair lift wasn´t operating, as it was too windy. The Rough Guide to Chile recommends people take the chair lift as climbing this part is the hardest, and they were right. This part of the climb involved walking on volcanic ash and it was just like climbing a giant sand castle.

It took five hours to climb to the top; two of those involved climbing on top of a glacier. This generally wasn’t too bad, as footsteps had been carved in the snow from all the previous trekkers. I also used my ice axe to help balance. The worse bit for me was on the edge of the glacier, where it was icy instead of snow and I fell over a couple of times. There was at loads of other people climbing in other groups, at least 40 others.

Once we got to the top, the view was stunning, there was steam rising from the rocks around us. The crater itself was a yellow colour, from all the sulphur and there was strong sulphur odour, which at times made me cough. Looking down into the crater we could see a small pool of molten lava. From the top we could see down to the lake and all the volcanoes around.

I was most scared about coming down the volcano, but it was pretty easy. Most of the route down involved sliding down cuttings in the snow, as a sort of human toboggan. There was five sections involving sliding and we had to walk between them. The walking down on ice i found pretty difficult and spent most of my time lying on the ground becuase I had fallen over!

The next day to relax we visited one of the numerous hot springs around Pucon. Where we spent five hours enjoying hot pools and I even got to take my first mud bath.

I said goodbye to the Girls on Sunday and I am now in La Serena, six hours north of Santiago. Last night I visited the Cerro Mamalluca public observatory. The tour was fascinating and I got to see stars, the moon and Saturn through the telescopes there. Apparently around here is the best place for observatories because over 320 days a year are cloud free.

Tomorrow, I travel to Santiago and I’m finally going to Easter Island next week.

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Photos

Volcan Villarricca
This the volcano I climbed, as viewed from the nearby town of Pucon. Its 2840 metres above sea level!

At the top...
Charlotte, Natalie and Me at the top of the volcano. Note the steam rising from the rocks...

Comments

[rrruss]

Regrets?
I really wish I had done it. Great report on the climb. Thanks for sharing it.