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| Orsono volcano seen across Llanquihue lake from Puerto Varas |
We are surrounded by volcanoes here. The Los Lagos region is a north-south string of lakes, matched by a north-south line of volcanoes, all overseen of course by the north-south spine of the Andes. We can see at least two from the town, Osorno being the most majestic, but its friend Calbuco looms ominously, reminding us that it was only seven years ago that it last erupted. That eruption spewed ash, led to an evacuation and left up to 60 cm of debris covering the ground as well as a disruptive cloud all the way to Argentina.
We have been somewhat hampered since arriving here by on and off rain and persistent cloud. Neither the weather nor the threat of eruption detered us from visiting these vulcanological wonders. Our Airbnb host had provided us with two lovely hiking maps of the area. Our first trip was to find one of the marked trails on the flanks of Calbuco but this ended in failure in the parking lot of a technical college from where the road did go no further. We salvaged the day with an unremarkable walk in the bush and fun at the playground. Round two was more successful as we drove to the ski station on Osorno, up through the black rock lava fields. This volcano last erupted in 1867, which was the blink of an eye ago in geological time. It has the classic, pefectly conical shape topped off with a crowning snow cap.
We hadn't fully considered the elevation, and were a little surprised by how cool it was at 1200m. It was also damp and windy! The chair lift was closed so we went for a short hike up before diverting off around a small crater where we also saw a lone fox prowling the desolate landscape. We didn't get to see the top but we did have great views down into the valley, the lush green making a striking contrast to the barren black.
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| Heading up the moonscape (there is a path too) |
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| The red crater, very cool |
Once we'd driven back to warmer altitudes we noticed on the map the Saltos del Petrohue. When we showed up it was busy and there is a huge visitor centre. We assumed this was all for a waterfall and duly parked, walked to the entrance, paid our entry fee, and joined the party. There were a lot of people enjoying the concrete boardwalks, smoothed igneous rock, and creamy blue rushing water of the Petrohue river. Not too sure if this was it, we headed back and noticed a sign for the "lovers trail". Off we headed and our excursion quickly picked up speed and interest. This trail took us right down to the river, past some creeks and lagoons, and finally to a beach. The kids spent ages here playing with rocks in the bubbling river, we saw a hummingbird, and just marvelled at powerful beauty of this spot. There were plenty of other people there but the noise of the water gave the impression of seclusion and a little people watching is always fun.
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In their elements
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Spot the hummingbird
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| All green (for now) |
Our final stop on the volcano tour took us back to another trail on Calbuco. We arrived to a big bold sign that said danger, stay out! We were the only people there but we could see the waterfall in the distance over the river flood plain. Soon a group of three Chileans arrived, we had a conversation that no one understood and they took off up the trail. Good enough for us. Again, low cloud but this time a spectacular waterfall and just a small handfull of fellow wanderers.
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Just after the parking spot we had to cross the river which was not easy to do if you wanted to keep your feet dry
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Just a beautiful composition of water-worn rock, nourished vegetation, a pefect pool, and a mesmerising torrent
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Have river, will play
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The pool, one more time
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| Lichen, one of nature's unsung marvels |
We had planned to visit the food trucks at the end of the waterfront after Calbuco and we were blessed with a beautiful warm sunny evening with the surrounding hills showing off their glory. It was a really lovely reward after a pretty soggy week.
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There it is! After a week of hiding behind the clouds
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| Beautiful little food truck spot |
Finally, a few pictures from the rest of our week in Puerto Varas:
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The volcano is everywhere. I tried to translate the message beside this mural and got something along the lines of: "Wallmapu (name given by some to the region historically inhabited by the Mapuche) belongs to us. Genocidal state out"
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| Ibis, very common around these parts |
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| We went for a walk up Cerro Philippi, overlooking Puerto Varas |
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| We found some paper fish while walking around town |
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| The view from our balcony, down towards the lake, and with what I believe may be the snow capped Cerro Tronador, a 3491m extinct volcano on the border with Argentina |
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