Up the Volcano

The main attraction in Pucón is the Villarrica Volcano (or Rucapillán in Mapuche), which last exploded in 1971.  It's still very much active though, and every day at noon, the volcano alarm goes off in the centre of town to signify midday. Apparently, this is done to ensure that everyone knows what the sound is in case it should ever go off due to exploding lava.  Then again, when it went off at 1 in the morning, no one came to my hostel room with a plan of action.  I jumped out of bed, poised for flight in my pyjamas but with no clue of how to proceed.  Turns out they were just calling the firemen for some other problem.  Looking back, maybe I should have been more concerned.

You can take a guided tour up to the top of the volcano, and sometimes even see some lava jumping around.  Chloe and I weren't sure if climbing the volcano was in our budget, but after 3 days in Pucón and hearing everyone talk about it, we felt we had no choice.  And what a good choice it was.  The day started early at 6:30AM when Philippe and Eduardo picked us up from our hostel and decked us out with hiking boots and a backpack filled with snow gear (ice pick included). After a forty minute drive up to the base of the volcano, we had the option to take a chairlift up the first bit (for an extra 7000 pesos).  We all opted to walk.

 I'm normally terrible at walking uphill, but my love for hiking usually overcomes my problems when I can recover on the flat parts or downhills on a hike.  Unsurprisingly, hiking up a volcano means you hike straight up for 5 hours.  Soon, our group split into the fast hikers ahead and the slow ones behind (at least I wasn't alone).  The first third of the hike was up gravel and hardened lava, but before long we had to take our ice picks off our packs to use on the endless snowy steps carved into the snow to get to the top. 

On top of my inability to climb uphill, I also was battling the recovery of Christmas fitness levels (where you sit, eat, and then continue sitting, followed by eating more).  This made it a difficult trek for me, and the constant pressure of the guides to go faster was unhelpful.  But somehow, I eventually got to the top.  The views of the area below had been impressive the whole way up, but after a while I had stop admiring them to just put my head down and keep one foot going in front of the other.  At the top, I could stop, breathe, and take in the landscape of 4 more volcanos, lakes, and pure beauty in all 360 degrees.  We walked part way around the volcano and when the wind blew in a certain direction, the sulfur made it nearly impossible to breathe.  The colours in the crater were amazing, but there was no lava to be seen.  I'm inclined to say that is a good thing. 

Our lovely guides were on a tight schedule, and we were quickly told to gear up using all the things in our packs.  Snowpants, jacket, gloves, helmets, butt protector, and a small plastic disk similar to a crazy carpet that attached to our front belts and tucked between our legs.  We were ready to descend by toboganning.

We hiked a short distance down the volcano and got a quick lesson on sliding down a volcano using our icepicks for brakes.  I didn't make time to go sledding in Edmonton before I left, but I have to say, exhausting yourself on a hike up a volcano then toboganning down in snow gear before returning to plus 32 degrees and a cold beer is just fantastic.