Trip Report Five:
Southern Chile Volcanoes
February 6-25
see pictures from this trip report
Trip Report Five:
see pictures from this trip report
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February 6 - Rest day in Puerto Montt.
The seafood is cheap and good here. I eat curanto - a big plate of mussels
clams, potatoes, pork, chicken, and other great greasy stuff.
February 7 - Hans leaves me for Santiago
and the United States. His taxi to the Puerto Montt airport leaves at
11:00 AM so I get a late start and depart at noon along the southernmost
section of the Pan American Highway. The Pan Americana is flat allowing
fast progress. Osorno and other pretty volcanoes are visible off to
the east. Unfortunately traffic is heavy and it is hot. Nevertheless,
pavement, and low wind make for very easy biking and it is my longest
day yet. I camp in the town of Los Lagos in the backyard of the restaurant
where I eat dinner. Total distance 197 kilometers.
February 8 - I am eager to reach my friends
in Pucon and neglect (forget) to put sunscreen on my forearms. Once
again it is hot and sunny and I burn my arms enough that it hurts to
shower later in the day. This is unfortunate because I could really
benefit from a long shower with lots of hot water. I cycle the Pan Americana
for about 100 km before turning east along paved roads towards Pucon.
Midway between Villarica and Pucon I meet with Jeff Witter and Taber
who are driving in the opposite direction. They make me put my bike
in the back of the pickup, make me shower, and make me drink some beer.
Later on, we join some of their friends (mostly Villarica climbing guides)
for a bar-b-q and wine. Total distance biked 136 kilometers.
February 9 - A rest day in Pucon. Taber makes me go kayaking on the Bajo Trancura River (class III). I end up swimming for my first time ever on a river. I try to convince myself that my spray skirt popped open filling my boat with water, but deep down I am not so sure. February 10 - Jeff Witter, Taber, and I try to drive to the Argentinian border to climb Lanin Volcano but the Chilean carabineros (90 km from Pucon) decide that we donīt have appropriate papers to pass in the rental car and they send us back to Chile. Since we already have camping food, we discuss alternative volcano climbs. It is at this point that Tabers makes the now legendary suggestion: "Why donīt we just cut our losses and go to the Pucon beach for some eye candy." Jeff Witter and I responsibly outvote Taber and we opt to walk up Quetrupillan, a 2000 meter volcano halfway between Villarica and Lanin. February 11 - It is a long boring walk
to the crater of Quetrupillan but there is good boulder trundling to
be had on the upper snowfields. I have a low-grade fever by the time
I get back to Pucon.
February 12 - I still have a low-grade
fever, but Taber insists on my visiting the Playa Pucon. It is a scene.
Thousands of Chileans are packed together on the shores of Lake Villarica.
Many of them are teenagers in tiny bathing suits chatting on their cellphones
to friends on the other side of the beach. I have no cell phone, but
I possess the best farmerīs tan on the entire beach.
February 13 - With my fever fading, I decide
to join Jeff Witter and Taber on one of their science-collecting trips
to the summit of Villarica (about 2800 meters). Too stingy to pay for
the ski lift, I walk to the beginning of the climbing route. The weather
is great and there may be as many as 200 guided hikers from many different
countries. Unfortunately, the lava lake is now hidden from the crater
rim. It was visible until late January but has since retreated into
the conduit. The glissading down to the chairlift is very good. Later,
we eat dinner at the OVDAS house used for volcano monitoring. I meet
Gustavo Cifuentes and Paula who are single-handedly in charge of seismic
monitoring for the southern Chilean volcanoes. They show me seismograms
from Villarica and I make plans to meet them later in Temuco to view
seismograms from other regional volcanoes which have been active in
the last couple of decades.
February 14 - I spend the day lamenting that my Valentine is far away in the United States and I do some bike repair to prepare for a departure the next day to visit more volcanoes. February 15 - Taber rents a bike so that he can accompany me for a half day on my (attempted) departure. I plan to travel north for a week-long jaunt by skirting the east side of Lake Villarica and then continuing on backcountry roads and hiking up a whole bunch of volcanoes. Unfortunately we discover that the northeast side of Lake Villarica is occupied by a few exclusive properties which don't appreciate trespassers. We make it about 15 km (as far as the waterfall - El Salto de Los Novios) before learning about the road restrictions. It is already late by the time we finish eating and swimming (and Taber gets his eye candy) so I give up on the day and backtrack to Pucon for one more night of debauchery. After the obligatory socializing, I make a point to go to bed early (3 AM) so that I can depart at a reasonable hour the following day. February 16 - I finally escape Pucon at 10:00 AM. The normally crowded Pucon-Villarica is deserted at this hour (vacationing Chileans do not awaken early). After 30 km of pavement, I turn north onto hilly washboard and dust. Another 40 km and I head east through farm country and more washboard. I finally make a camp in a small grove of trees on private property. My tent is nestled snugly between cow patties and a barbed wire fence. I am about 12 km shy of the community of Melipeuco and just south of Volcano Llaima. Total distance 113 km. February 17 - There are 16 km of butt-rattling
washboard before I turn north towards Llaima National Park. The packed
volcanic tephra road (1994 eruption?) is fun to bike and easy on the
butt. The scenery is magnificent. Lava flows and araucaria groves are
everywhere. I decide that aracauria trees may very well have been the
inspiration for Dr. Seuss's truffula trees (The Lorax). After reaching
the park headquarters near the roadīs highpoint (about 1350 meters),
I convince the park authorities that I am fit enough to climb to the
summit of Llaima. They naively ask my previous volcano climbing experience
(in an attempt to dissuade some visitors) and I bore them with a half-hour
long monologue of every single volcano I have ever set foot on. I head
up Llaima as night is falling so that I can bivy up high and escape
some of the heat the following day. I lay my sleeping bag out at about
2200 meters and watch shooting stars before dozing off. Total distance
biked 50 km.
February 18 - After cramponing up to the
LLaima summit (about 3000 meters high) I spend some time trundling precarious
blocks of lava into the precipitous summit crater. It is several hundred
meters deep and venting malodorous sulfur which is offensive even to
me. I descend by foot and bike (2500 vertical meters total) in a northerly
direction to the town of Curacautin where I eat lots of junk food. My
next target is Lonquimay Volcano which erupted spectacularly on Christmas
of 1989 from a parasitic vent producing a long basaltic lava flow. I
am told that there are some facilities at the Lonquimay ski area which
is a 4 km spur road off the four wheel drive track I plan to use when
I continue my march to the north. I make my way by paved and then gravel
road towards the volcano. It is 11:00 PM and it has been completely
dark for two hours by the time I finally arrive at the abandoned ski
area -- three derelict buildings and a pommel lift with a vertical rise
of 120 meters. Though there is not a drop of water to be had, I eye
the snowfields halfway up the mountain. I resign myself to drinking
the next day. Total distance biked 77 km.
February 19 - To protect my bicycle from
thievery, I decide to stash it and my cycling gear in one of the abandoned
sheds. As a deterrant to would-be thieves, I leave a large bowel movement
at the entrance to the shed. Instant karma gets me immediately as I
discover that the bike shed is filled to the brim with toilet paper
and old dried-out shit. Nevertheless, I am satisfied that my bike will
be untouched. It is a thirsty 600 vertical meters to the lowermost snowfields
where I melt and immediately drink three liters of burnt snow. It is
another 700 meters to the summit (about 2900 meters) which has a fantastic
view of volcanoes to the south (Tronador, Lanin, Villarica, Llaima)
and to the north (Antuco, Collaqui, and Copahue which erupted last summer).
I can also see about 30 km of my intended bike route which winds its
way through open ash-strewn slopes. While I am on the slopes of Lonquimay
(about 5 hours) I do not see a single vehicle pass on this road. I later
discover a possible reason - the road sucks - when I finally get back
on my bicycle. Loose volcanic tephra and dust forces me to walk and
push my bike for about a kilometer on the way up to the height-of-land
(1850 meters). The descent is rideable, but barely because of the deep
sand and dust. I descend from 1850 meters to 700 meters with my brakes
on full and without ever exceeding about 15 km per hour. The scenery
is magnificent though as the Navidad crater and lava flow are off to
my left, in places damning up the river. I pass through the Funda Lolco,
a remote farming community without a single store of any kind. When
I ask a local farmer where I can buy bread, he shakes his head and offers
me dinner later that evening. Unfortunately I need to move on and decline
the offer. I continue for another 400 meter ascent and descent along
a four-wheel-drive suitable road until I arrive at the upper Bio Bio
River and a small community (comuna de Contrato) that is able to sell
me bread, Sprite, and biscuits. I camp near a metal bridge which crosses
the Bio Bio River. I see no vehicles in motion today. Total distance
biked 52 km.
February 20 - As the crow flies, it is
only about 25 km from the metal bridge to Collaqui (the volcano to the
north which I hope to climb today). However, it is about 60 km to the
base of the volcano over atrociously bad four-wheel-drive track and
I have no hope of getting there and climbing also. A 500 vertical meter
ascent requires continous bicycle pushing for about 4 kilometers. Many
of the inclines are so steep and dusty that I am barely able to push
my bicycle and trailer to the top of the rise. The map says that the
road goes through to the north, but there are no vehicles and I am not
sure. Finally, I encounter a local farmer who assures me that the road
goes through and tells me that vehicles pass by frequently -- at least
once each week. Amazingly, I encounter a long-distance cyclist coming
the other way just after cresting the most horrific incline. He is a
lone Chilean who is walking his bike in the opposite direction who tells
me that it will take me at least 6 days to reach Los Angeles (the nearest
city)! I begin to despair because I had hoped to reach Los Angeles in
two days including the ascent of Collaqui. Fortunately after some discussion
and inspection, I realize that I need not be quite so concerned. In
addition to enormous panniers, the cyclist is wearing a backpack and
large camera draped over his neck. He has a pot-belly and no map. In
fact he asks to look at mine and we realize that he took an unnecessary
30 km detour (a two-day detour for him) over horrendous roads. I manage
to avoid his mistake by asking several locals for the shortest route
to the community of Lepoy and the north. Sure enough, there is a secret
route which involves passage over a non-drivable footbridge. I finally
escape the four-wheel-drive track and arrive at the good gravel road
at Lepoy after another 6 hours. After another 30 km, I arrive at the
Termas de Avellano. Though it is only 7:00 PM, the thought of hotsprings
and a campground are compeling. It is filled by Chilean campers and
despite my dust-covered visage, I am befriended by a Chilean family
from near Santiago who feed me a dinner of good greasy, meat products.
Total distance biked about 60 km.
February 21 - It is time for a rest day,
so I lock up my bike and climb Collaqui Volcano which has a steaming
dome visible from the campground 2600 meters below. I ask Gustavo, a
teenager from the Pehueche Indian family that operates the campground,
to lead me to treeline. He assures me that he has been to the top of
the volcano many times before and he would be glad to help me. En route
to the treeline, he looks under every rock outcrop for burial sites.
He asks me if I want to excavate with him and find some gold. I tell
him that I would prefer to climb the volcano. When we get to treeline,
I give him a tip of a couple thousand pesos and tell him that he is
free to head back down. He shakes his head increduously when he finally
realizes that I intend to summit the volcano. In his mind, climbing
the volcano means going about halfway up. He tries to dissuade me by
telling me that no one has ever climbed it before and that I will surely
die. I convince him that I will survive and after Gustavo heads downwards,
I head up over low-angle lava flows, talus slopes, and snow-slopes to
the summit (about 3100 meters) where I inspect the smoldering dome and
the impressive view of a dozen other volcanoes. The descent takes longer
than I expect (bushwhacking through Aracauria forest and bamboo is hard
work), and I arrive at the campground about a half hour before dusk.
I decide that the 2600 meter ascent and descent is enough work for one
day and the fetid hot spring water (too many people, too little water)
is again comelling. My Chilean family is happy to see me and feed me
again and I am content to remain at the Termas de Avellano for another
night.
February 22 - It is time to get back to my friends in Pucon, so I get an early start and bike all the way to the Pan Americana and bus station in Los Angeles. The first 25 kilometers follow the damned Bio Bio River, then it is another wonderful flat paved 86 kilometers all the way to Los Angeles. On this stretch of road a trucker passes me on a small incline and stops at the top. When I reach him he has poured me a glass of Coca Cola. He tells me that I looked like I could use a cold drink. He chats a while then he is on his way. I reach the Los Angeles bus station at 6:30 and catch an 8:30 bus to Pucon. Total distance biked 129 kilometers. February 23 - I sleep at Maurizioīs house (a Villarica climbing guide) and organize my climbing gear for the bus ride to Santiago that night. Taber and Jeff Witter are finished their field work and it is time to get ready for a mountain climb. February 24 - I reach Santiago and visit with my squash partner Rene and his family. Rene is a graduate of the University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences Program and is now a professor at the University of Santiago. February 25 - Rene and I play squash and
go for a bike ride in Santiago. I waste a lot of time doing email. Also,
Taber and I make preparations for the Aconcagua climb. We are off to
climb the hijo de puta tomorrow. Departure is 8:30 from the Santiago
bus station. We intend to bypass Mendoza entirely until after the climb.
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