So, the life has been just as amazing as always the last few days. No internet for 3 days, just straight fun out and about in Chile. First there was rafting, then there was kayaking and on the 3rd day, an epic hike up an active volcano to see lava erupting down below. Ill write about that one for now. At an internet cafe using a keyboard to type better than on the phone, so Ill be dealing with a Chilean keyboard, which shows all of these words as mispelled, and my punctuation shall be lacking. Never fear, I still know how to type!
Im in Pucon now, an awesome town surrounded by lakes, volcanoes, forests, hot springs, rivers and pure amazingness. Lots to do here, full of action sports and chill vibes. The highlight is definitely the Volcan Villarica, high above the city, smoking all the time, quite active and the centerpiece of all the events. Rafting happens every day by the numerous tour companies, but the accension of the volcano is only when the weather permits. As I saw Wednesday to be the best weather day this week, it had to be then, and after being turned down by several tour companies who were full, I scored a spot with Sur Adventura. Great tour company and they got me all sized up for my gear.
We met up at 6:30am, to gather gear and load up. The van needed a jump start as the battery was dead, but that was really the only hiccup on the trip. At the parking lot was a chair lift that people could take up to start an easier hike, but I went with 5 others and 2 guides by foot. Cant pass up climbing by foot as much as possible.
The first 2 hours was through rock, with epic views above and below. Then we hit the snow and put on the crampons and got out the ice axe. Time to walk zig zag up the rest of the volcano. Super icy and crunchy, and we walked pretty much sideways going upwards. Lots of people were climbing through other tour companies, with around 200 total for the day, all hiking around the same time.
After another 2 hours or so of zig zagging, it was time to drop the backs, put on gas masks due to the amount of gas coming out of the volcano and head to the crater. Before the gas mask was on, we were already coughing a bit, so the mask was definitely necessary.
We could hear the lava brewing and in the 15 minutes around the crater, it exploded 5 times, with teh highest being 15-20 feet high. My guide, Grace, happened to capture the above shot with me and lava shooting up. Just amazing. Its the only photo that has lava actually flying up in the air, which makes it the best picture of the day.
To get down, we strapped on "ass protection", pretty much super thick canvas that allows you to slide down the mountain without ripping your pants. A natural sled! You sit down and slide down, using your ice axe to slow down, and can get pretty darn fast, sometimes with snow flying all around, and you not able to really see. Crazy fun and we had 5 such slides, with the longest being at least 4 football fields long. Epic!
Then it was sliding down loose stone to get back to the bottom. The group of 4 of us, with Grace were the fastest out of our van, so we had time to wait for the others, have a celebratory beer and take a little nap. Quite the day! Heres a few more photots:
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| Styling suit! |
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| Old ski station that an avalanche and rock slide took over |
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| People sliding down the snow to the rocks |
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