Please allow me to tell you about one of the simultaneously best and worst experiences of my life: summiting Villarrica Volcano in Pucon, Chile. This post is not meant to dissuade any reader from taking on this amazing hike, nor will it, for as will be shown, most of my wounds were self-inflicted. But I am getting ahead of myself, so first a little background information for anyone wanting to visit Pucon.
Heather and I decided to visit Pucon to see our friends Nick and Harri, whom regular readers might remember from our odyssey through the salt flats of Bolivia. Such bonds that are created over mutual suffering seem to harden quickly and last a lifetime. Nick and Harri were in Pucon for a month doing a workaway https://www.workaway.info/ at Chili Kiwi Hostel http://chilikiwihostel.wixsite.com/chilikiwi, which is generally regarded by travelers as the best hostel in Pucon. (Side note: For those readers that are not familiar with workaway it is a great way to travel cheaply by getting free room and board in exchange for typically 4-6 hours work per day at a hostel. There are other work options as well, ranging from farming and maintenance work to teaching English or being an au pair.) Heather and I were huge fans of the hobbit holes and treehouse rooms (literally in a tree), which are private rooms in the backyard. Chili Kiwi also has an exclusive agreement with one of the local excursion companies for summiting the volcano for around $80 USD per person, which is a very competitive price compared to the other excursion companies in town, so we booked through the hostel.
Now, this is all taking place in mid-October, when the weather can be very hit-or-miss in Chile’s lake district. We had planned about an 8 day stay in Pucon, so we could just relax and be stationary for a little bit. This is probably more time here than the average traveler needs, but despite our extended stay, there was only one good day of weather to climb Mt. Villaricca. The tour companies won’t go in the rain and it rained every day but one while we were in Pucon. So, we signed up for the Monday excursion with 20 other people. The company caps the excursion at 24 people, but always keeps a 4:1 climber to guide ratio, so that if you need to go a little slower than the group, a guide can peel off and stay with you, if your pride allows for such a thing.
At this point, an observant reader might wonder why I specified the day of the week we did our excursion. Well, if the excursion is on Monday, it makes the day before is Sunday. So, what would yours truly be doing on any Sunday in October no matter where in the world I am? That’s right, watching NFL football. And what do you drink while watching football? You see where I’m going with this, right? But, while I am no good at gymnastics, due to a general lack of balance, strength and coordination, I am really good at mental gymnastics. For example: “If I just drink during the early games and stop by 4pm, I’ll be fine for tomorrow.” Or, “It’s only a one day hike for like 6 hours and we get to slide back down. We just crushed the Inca Trail like it was nothing.” Oh, and did I mention I was a little sick too at this time. Like I said, the wounds were mostly self-inflicted due to stupidity.
Six am on the day of our excursion came really early and was made to seem more so, since I didn’t fall asleep until 3 am. Still, I’m not worried, because in my mind, I can suck it up for a day and power through. After gear and packs were passed out, we bused up to the mountain and walked up the road to the ski resort, now closed for the summer. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and halfway up the bunny slope, about 45 minutes into the hike, we stopped for water and to put our crampons on. At this point, my cold, lack of sleep and hangover haven’t quite started to catch up with me, but the crampons were the straw that damn near killed me. Remember I mentioned that Heather and I felt the Inca Trail was easy? Yea, that’s because it was at the beginning of our trip and we had trained for it extensively by hiking back in Washington. A month of drinking wine, not running and generally being lazy were about to catch up to me, all at the same time. The weight of the pack I was carrying and the additional weight on my feet from the crampons caught up with me quickly. By the time we stopped for lunch I was physically and mentally exhausted to the point where I tried to lay down and sleep in the snow. Death would have been a welcome respite.
As previously mentioned, the guides would stay with you no matter what pace you were going and a few people in our group had fallen back. This would have been a great option for me had my ego not gotten in the way. However, I was determined to stay with the lead group, even if it meant my heart rate was consistently in the upper 170s. As you might imagine, the last couple hours to the top were slow torture, especially when the guides joke with you about how far the “false summit” is and how much longer it will be. Five hours and fifteen minutes after we left the ski resort, we arrived at the top to incredible views and the strong stench of sulfur emanating from the crater, requiring the use of gas masks.
This was the hardest hike I have ever done, but the views at the top made it the best. Looking down into the crater of Chile’s most active volcano was a really cool experience, until it scares the hell out of you by trembling and making noises like it’s about to blow. The guides all reassured us saying, “At least it’s not spitting rocks at us today,” which somehow didn’t make me feel any better. The good news from this point is that we got to slide, instead of walk, back down the mountain on little plastics discs (think Clark W. Griswold in Christmas Vacation, but with slightly more control). The guides were awesome and gave me food and water when I ran out, helping me to feel a little better. I somehow survived the experience and now had a long list of things not to do before future hikes.
All-in-all this hike was one of the most memorable things Heather and I have done in our four months in South America. Pucon is a fun little resort town with lots of shops and good food, although things can be a little pricey. I do need to give a shout out to my favorite coffee shop in town, Madd Goat Coffee Roasters, for their delicious cappuccino and allowing me to hang out and do some writing in the afternoons. If your travels are taking you to Chile, we highly recommend Pucon and hiking Mt. Villaricca. Just don’t do it the same way I did.
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