Where The Lava Meets The Snow

On the 26th we drove a few hours east from Valdivia to Pucon. It is located on Lago Villarrica and right at the entrance to the Trancura Valley. Volcan Villarrica stands as a  beuatiful backdrop to the small town known for it's adventure tourism. We had been told that hiking Volcan Villarrica is one of the best things to do in pucon - so hike we did.

We decided to attempt the hike the day after we arrived  just incase we had to reschedule the trek due to certain circumstances such as cloudy weather (you can't take any pictures our hardly see anything), if it's too windy or if the volcano is smoking too much...

Acorrding to the "Volcanic Alert Traffic Light" we had the green to go up the mountain early the following morning. It wouldn't erupt on us.

We lucked out. Sort of. We had beautiful weather with no clouds. But the wind was another story. There are two parts to the hike up Villarrica. First the scree field - which is a steep section of the volcano covered in loose rock. Once past that you begin hiking in the snow.

When we signed up for the hike there were two options. You can choose to take the chairlift over the scree field and start your trek in the snow. Or you can choose to hike an hour longer on the unstable rocks. Chair lift for me please!!!

But on that particular day no one was taking the chairlift -too much wind. They thought about postponing the hike altogether - but luckily we were able to trek on. I'd rather suffer through the scree and make it to the top than not go at all!

 The views were beautiful but all a little hazy due to the ash in the air from Volcan Puyehue not too far away.

The snowy part looked so close! Yet so far....  

 If you look closely through the haze you can see Lago Villarrica.

  

Happy to be outta the scree!

In total we hiked 5 hours to reach the top of the volcano. Whew it was tiring but of course beyond worth it. And I thought I was tired - Axel chose the option to ski down (instead of slide down on his butt like the rest of us) but this involved carrying not only his skis to the top but also ski boots in his backpack. (About 30 pounds of extra weight)

Only an hour and a half left from here! 

On the far left was one of our guides. He holds the record for one of the fastest times ascending the mountain in just an hour and a half! Crazy right?!

 You can see Axel just behind Henry with his skis strapped to his backpack. 

YAY! We made it!

From the top of Villarrica you can see 7 other volcanoes in the distance.

At the top we walked to the edge of the crater where you could only stand for about a minute before the fumes and toxic gases began to burn your nose and lungs. It is after all one of the most active volcanoes in Chile. 

 Yukon Cornelius. 

The hike up was a challenge but reaching the top leaves you with an incredible feeling of accomplishment. We were pinching ourselves at the realization that we just climbed a volcano in Chile. But my favorite part of all - going down on a little piece of plastic under my butt through chutes carved out the the snow. You have your feet and a small ice pick as a brake and down you go!

 Some parts were a bit steeper than others. The guides made us go down on just our butts without the plastic sometimes so that we wouldn't get going too fast. 

 Yahoooo! It felt a little bit like real life mario kart. 

Adjusting the foggy lens. 

 Walking over a little scree to get to the final chute. 

 We didn't want it to end!

John on the top left (with a slow lady in front of him) and Henry on the right. 

Then there was me. Thanks to Chris for wearing the gopro on his helmet and getting all the shots. 

Each of us were grinning ear to ear like children on this playground for adults. The ride down was a blast and my knees were saying thank you for not having to hike back down for 5 hours. 

If you ever go to Chile, go to Pucon and hike this volcano. It is incredible.