Monday, February 21, 2011

Volcan Villarica, Chile

The main attraction of Pucon is Vulcan Villarica, one of Chile’s most active volcanoes. Roughly translated, it’s name means rich village or place of wealth, and the local adventure travel companies would agree. An active snow-covered volcano is not my idea of a walk in the park but for 35,000 pesos (about $70 USD), anyone can summit the volcano. Seems like a good idea, right?

We leave at 4:30 am, packing into a collectivo with a Swiss couple and eight Israelis. It is 2800 meters to the summit, and there is no guarantee that we will get to the top, as the climb is highly weather dependent. Dressed in our ghetto neon yellow mountain gear, we begin our climb in the dark. I stumble through the hike for the first hour or so, barely awake and trying not to trip over volcanic rocks. And then the sun began to rise.

We start our climb on snow and receive instructions on how to use our ice axes and to kick our toes into the snow to keep our footing. We climb in a line like little gortex ducks, carefully following the steps made by our group leader.

The weather up to this point has been relatively cloudy, but suddenly the wind picks up, causing the clouds to shift dramatically. We then began to hear the sound of wind rocketing ice pellets on the ridge above us and our guides instantly get on their radios, checking the weather conditions and discussing the best plan of attack. Soon enough, the wind hits us and we are forced hunker down. I am unable to move as the wind tosses my helmet and flying snow stings my eyes. And this about the time I started thinking those deep thoughts. You know, like the time I read Into Thin Air and realized that people who climb mountain are slightly crazy. And how we were told there would be four guides but only then only two showed up. But most importantly, how amazing it is to travel and all the stuff you can do outside of the US, like climb active volcanoes. Stuff like that.

Anyways, we make it through the rough patch and then kick our toes into high gear. Villarica regularly spews toxic, smelly gases and the strong winds blow these fumes directly into our faces. Good thing I’m not a scientist, because what you don’t know, can’t hurt you. (Right?) Our guide informs us that he will be spending 3 minutes at the top and then he will be going down. We can stay longer, but he will be leaving regardless. Um, gee, thanks? We cover our noses, take two pictures and then proceeded to head down.

After 5 hours of hiking, the only thing we want to do is slide down on our butts. And that’s exactly what we get to do, literally (Ricky Gervais accent).

They gave us an extra covering for our bums, some instructions on how to use our ice axe to steer and then we go down one by one, giggling hysterically while all the other groups of hiker are still making their way up.

Moral of the story, all’s well that ends well, and it was an amazing experience.

Traveler’s tip: I would not recommend the company we went with, Backpacker’s Pucon, the equipment was not in good condition and they forgot to give me gloves. Maybe spend a little more and make sure to check out the equipment first!