The Vagabond Hiker

Hiking, trekking, and climbing the world

A Smorgasbord of Chilean Walks

Following our five days in Rapa Nui, Maggie and I embarked on a south-to-north journey in Chile, from the Lakes region to Araucanía and then on to the Atacama Desert. Chile being such a long, thin country and limited to about two weeks, we flew rather than drove the 1500 miles between Pucón in Araucanía and San Pedro in the Atacama. The photos that follow highlight our hikes and walks, starting at the Lakes Region just north of Patagonia.


Shoreline of Lake Llanquihue, Puerto Rosales. Volcan Osorno can be seen in the background left. Our AirBnB cabaña in this small community was a great alternative to the touristy Puerto Varas six miles away.
With Maggie at Lago Llanquihue, Puerto Rosales. As the tide came in, the walk along the pebbly beach became somewhat problematic.
Lago Llanquihue and Volcan Calbuco from one of the many trails above the Volcan Osorno ski lifts. Volcan Calbuco last erupted in April 2015, three months after my first visit to the area.
Variegated lava and Volcan Osorno’s summit. The summit climb was not on our itinerary that day.

Driving about four hours north from Lago Llanquihue, one arrives at the outdoor capital of Chile, the town of Pucón on Lago Villarrica. We opted once again for an AirBnB cabaña outside of this bustling town. The temperatures skyrocketed during our three days in the area. With usual maximum daytime temperatures of 77F (25C) in the summer, the Lago Villarrica area is a hiker’s paradise. Instead, we faced afternoon temperatures of about 99F (39C). With electricity off throughout the region for more than a day, we were fortunate to have a backup diesel generator for our cabaña. One day we made an early start and did an amazing hike up through the forest to a series of lakes.

Forest view, Huerquehue National Park. If you visit one park in the Pucón area, Huerquehue should be it.
Maggie provides scale for one of many rather large trees in Huerquehue
Volcan Villarrica from Tres Lagos Mirador, Huerquehue. This hike had it all: amazing forests, spectacular view points, and five lakes.
An Araucaria (monkey-puzzle) tree in Huerquehue. The region of Araucania is named for this iconic and threatened tree.
Araucaria forest bordering Laguna los Patos, Huerquehue
A metallic green-blue lizard in Huerquehue. We saw many of these lizards, but none so bold or colorful as this guy.
Flowers along Lago el Toro, Huerquehue

Leaving the extreme heat of southern Chile (!) we flew to the Atacama desert, one of the driest places on earth. At the airport in the mining town of Calama we were told that the road to the picturesque town of San Pedro where we were staying was closed due to flooding. Fortunately, the road had just been reopened and the waters were not so high as to impede our journey. Not so fortunately, our lovely cabaña a few miles outside of San Pedro was solar powered. As there had been little sun in the prior couple of weeks, there was no electricity, which in itself was not such as big deal. More critically, though, there was no water since the pump required solar power. After one night the kind hosts relocated us to a hotel nearer town for the next four nights where (at least most of the time) we had both electricity and water.

Volcan Licancabur seen reflected in runoff water on the road south from San Pedro. This area is a part of the Salar de Atacama, the largest salt flat in Chile. Several miles south of here the road was closed due to washouts, so we were not able to get to the laguna with the flamingos.
Another view of Volcan Licancabur, this one from Tulor archeological site outside of San Pedro.
Rio San Pedro, almost always dry, had burst its banks a few days earlier. Sixty people in the area lost their homes from the flooding, the first since 2001.
The desert route and the Quitor archeological ruins north of San Pedro de Atacama were closed
Valle de las Muerte, San Pedro. This was a great, though short, loop hike. Fortunately we got there before they closed it later in the day because of lightning threat. The Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) was also closed, so we missed one of the more amazing sights in the area.
Lightning storm looking toward Valle de la Luna, San Pedro. I took a dozen photos from this roadside view point, but only this one showed a lightning strike.

While my plan originally had been to spend another month at the solar-powered cabaña in the Atacama, the weather made me rethink my options, so I booked another flight for Santiago and headed to the coast north of Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, to the town of Concon, for a month of walking, swimming, and kayaking on the ocean.

Concon night vista from my balcony. Concon is along the Pacific coast north of the resort town of Viña del Mar.
Concon coastal view. I did a number of coastal walks in Concon and on the miles-long beach just out of town to the north.
A Concon house I saw on one of my walks. An absolutely amazing property.
A pond at the Jardin Botanico Nacional outside Viña del Mar. While not a great botanic garden, the miles of paths were very peaceful on a Monday morning.
A cormorant drying its wings at the Jardin Botanico Nacional
Cerro la Campaña summit block from the Sendero Andinista. Campaña National Park is located in the coast range about 25 miles east of Concon.
Vista towards the Pacific Ocean from the slopes of Cerro la Campaña. The hike to the summit was only 7 km, but gained about 1500 meters in elevation, 600 m of this in the final 2 km scramble to the summit.
The Vagabond Hiker on top of Cerro la Campaña (1880 mslm). The Pacific Ocean is in the background.

Currently I am back in England. I leave Monday for my next adventure: 11 days on the island of Madeira, Portugal, most of which will involve walking in the amazing landscape. Until then, enjoy the spring!

The Vagabond Hiker

Comments

  1. Yay! Another post! And, wow! That lightning picture! It looks a little close!

    Once again love the pics and learning about areas I may never get to.

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