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→Season 2023/24
==Season 2023/24==
*2024 Apr 10th to Apr 18th / 7 hiking days & 1 zero day / Eastbound / Hiking / Villarica Traverse (Opt 4 + Opt 2 + RR + Var A + Opt 1) / Michael and Kasia
TL:DR The Villarrica Traverse was one of our favorite sections this season; we were really happy we did it in the fall because the color change in the leaves was really beautiful; going eastbound it definitely gets more beautiful as you progress; we had less trouble finding water than we anticipated given previous reports; we caught a hitch all the way to the ski center and so did not pay an entry fee, and we also did not encounter any guardaparques during the 9 days in the park.
Camp points
Night 1 - (-39.39748, -71.96793)
Night 2 - Estero Nilfe (-39.45876, -71.97840)
Night 3 - Rio Pichillancahue (-39.46861, -71.85707)
Night 4 - Camping Chinay (-39.45898, -71.83026)
Night 5 - below Quetrupian (-39.50221, -71.76620)
Nights 6 and 7 - Laguna Azul (-39.54443, -71.74855)
Night 8 - after river (-39.334752, -71.393837)
Water points - we found water often in this section. Around Volcan Villarrica we would sometimes see just a faint trickle across the path, but by going above or below the trail just a few meters we would find pools of clean water.
Day 1 April 10th
We left Pucón around 09:00. It was sunny, but pretty windy. We walked to Camino Al Volcán since it was more likely that cars on that road would be going to the park. It took two hitches, the second took us all the way to the ski center ticket office. This bypassed the CONAF office which is located at the bottom of the hill, so we did not pay or register. The ski center was closed and the road from the ski center ticket office to the beginning of the trail is gated off to cars, so it was about a 2 km road walk on a dirt road. Right at the entrance to the trail to the left are two buildings, one looked like a garage, the other a kitchen/dining room for the ski center workers. There were some people there working. I stopped and asked if they could fill a bottle of water for me and they did. We started on the trail, but the wind was very strong. We got about 1.5 km into the trail before we decided that we wouldn't make it very far since we were spending almost as much time standing and bracing ourselves against the wind as we did walking. We backtracked to (-39.39748, -71.96793), where we had spotted a somewhat wind-protected spot in a small forest. The site can accommodate 1 tent, and is a little on an angle, but not too bad. Wind protection wasn't amazing, but much better than being out in the open. We found water a little further on the trail. It looked like just a trickle coming across the path, but 3 or 4 meters above the trail there were a couple of pools of clear water deep enough to ladle out water with my mug. It was a cloudless night and a really amazing, long lasting sunset, and we could see the red glow of the volcano reflected in the smoke coming out
Day 2 April 11th
A sunny, windless day. There were nice views of the valley below and it was a walk through a classic volcanic landscape, up and down the various zajons, and through some forests. Overall a beautiful day. We also collected a lot of chaura, the little white, pink or red berries. I called them foam berries because they have a kind of airy consistency, but they were sweet and enjoyable, vaguely apple/strawberry flavored I guess. They aren't really filling, but we enjoyed eating something novel and wild harvested.
We camped at (-39.45876, -71.97840) at Estero Nilfe. There was a flat space big enough for one tent. It just barely fit our Durston X-Mid 2, but we managed to squeeze it in. The sunset view was absolutely amazing. The water in the estero was nearly gone for the season. I had to walk about 25 m up the gulch until I found a trickle like a faucet that wasn't fully turned off, and it was still cloudy. I would recommend filling up at (-39.45497, -71.98195) for drinking and cooking before heading there. This was our favorite campsite of the section, not necessarily because of the site itself, but the views. Highly recommended, but also recommended to get there early if going in high season.
Day 3 - April 12th
We had a nice sunrise in the morning. The landscape for the day was almost entirely volcanic until the end. Kasia was very taken by it and enjoyed it a lot. We had a very interesting experience as well. At about 14:00 we crossed a dry river bed at Estero Tralco. We were standing part way up the hill on the far side. We were listening to a sound that we couldn’t tell if it was wind or water. We were looking up the river bed and finally, about 30 m up we saw running water. We kept watching and the water started getting closer. Within 10 minutes the water had gone past us, and the river bed, which had been dry when we crossed it just minutes before, suddenly had a stream probably a meter wide and 6 cm deep. It was very impressive to see a stream just appear before our eyes.
The path down to Rio Pichillancahue was in the forest, steep but in pretty good condition. We camped at (-39.46861, -71.85707). There were flat spots with space for two tents above the path and another one or two below, with decent river access. There is a sign that says “No Camping”, but it obviously had been a campsite at some point. We arrived nearly at dark so no one was around.
Day 4 - April 13th
We had a slow start. A few hikers passed by as we were wrapping up camp. I was surprised when we arrived at the road. I had anticipated a road that was too damaged to drive on, but there were a variety of vehicles parked or driving on the road throughout the day (it was a weekend). There were also a fair number of hikers along the road as well.
At (-39.46156, -71.84584) we encountered a wooden cross standing in a clearing just off the side of the trail. It was unclear if it was a religious thing or art. A little further back there was a short path going down and a water spigot that worked. The water seemed good, though I would probably filter it.
We camped at Camping Chinay (-39.45898, -71.83026). There were 10 or 12 campsites with picnic tables and benches. There were also a number of buildings, several of them clearly intended to be bathrooms. There is no running water, but the river is just a short walk back toward the main path. I'm not sure what happened there, but my best guess would be that it was a concession that started to build a campground and went bankrupt and just abandoned the project. It was a good spot for the night.
Day 5 - April 14th
We passed the CONAF office around 7:30, we didn't see anyone there. We filled up water at the first river crossing. It was a cloudy, still morning. The trail up for the first few km was in good condition and easy to follow. There were a few more water points on the way up. The one marked with a sign saying ”Water 20 m” was the last one we saw until we camped that night. We didn't need water, but I went down to check it out. The path down was very steep and there wasn't really easy access to the stream which was piled over with blow downs. A mug or something small would be helpful to ladle water out. There was also a huge araucaria that had dropped a ton of piñones there and we spent nearly an hour collecting. It was the only really good piñones score that we encountered during the section.
Immediately after that were a few problematic blow downs. The trail went into and out of forest sections with some amazing views in between. By the time we reached the pass it was mostly clear. The pass had an almost 360 view, and from one point we could clearly see to the east Lanín and Quetrupian ahead of us, to the north Volcán Llaima in PN Conguillio just to the west of GPT13, to the west Volcán Villarrica behind us, and to the south Volcan Coshuenco and Volcan Mocho in RN Coshuenco adjacent to GPT18. We had lunch at the pass.
The route down was very steep in some parts, and at times felt a little sketchy until we were back in the forest. I would not want to be doing it on a windy day, and I would definitely budget a little extra time. There were some tricky blow downs on the way down as well. We arrived at a water point at (-39.50221, -71.76620), a stream, and decided to camp next to it. There was a clear, flattish spot and the remnants of a past campfire. There was one more possible campsite 100 m or so on that we saw the next day.
Day 6 - April 15th
We awoke to Quetrupian completely covered in fog. We got a slow start hoping that it would eventually clear, but it remained that way throughout the day. We passed by the Volcán Quetrupian camping spot and were glad we had stayed where we did the night before. It was completely barren and exposed other than a couple of low rock walls. It started to get windy as we made our way down to Laguna Azul. We had seen on the weather that it was supposed to start raining that evening and rain the whole next day, so we wanted to get a good campsite to sit it out. The Laguna was very pretty, but the camping area is, as others have mentioned, kind of trashed. Additionally it was not so easy to find a good spot. Most of the flattish areas were essentially the bottom of a bowl that would accumulate water fast, and there was a lot of cold wind coming directly off the lake. We found a spot around (-39.54443, -71.74855) near a small beach on the way towards RR going south that was more wind protected. We set up two ponchos to have an outdoor cooking and eating area and did some extensive trenching around the tent and built a low rock wall on the water side.
Day 7 - April 16th
Rain, wind and fog all day. The trenching turned out to be very useful. The rain was heavier and lasted longer than the weather prediction, and the trenches filled multiple times throughout the day. Some water found its way into the tent, but not too much. We managed to stay dry overall. We spent the day cooking and peeling piñones in the outdoor area. It was very wet and very windy, but we were grateful to have a fairly protected spot.
Day 8 - April 17th
There were clear skies and sun in the morning. We took extra time getting the wet gear as dried as we could, anticipating that we might not have a good opportunity later. Ford [36.6/1652 ] was dry foot crossable. The water was milky. On the way down to the branch in the trail toward Laguna Blanca there was a good, clear stream that looks like a permanent feature given all the plant growth around it. We dropped the packs and walked to Laguna Blanca. Kasia liked it very much. It didn’t do much for me. There were some great views on the way up to the passes.
Once over the second pass and back into Chile, there were absolutely stunning views in the evening light. The whole valley had a magical quality. Along the route down much of the landscape is essentially wetland, so it was a little slow going to not get our feet wet. We camped at (-39.334752, -71.393837) just on the other side of the river. The spot was above the path tucked away in the trees. It was a fairly large clear spot, though on somewhat of an angle. Going back out to the path, we had an exceptional sunset view over the mountains.
Day 9 - April 18th
We had an amazing sunrise in the morning. The route down continued to be wet and boggy in many places, requiring careful choice of footing. There were great views on the way down with the fall color. The trail through the woods above Laguna Las Avutardes was better, though there were some blow downs. We did not make the detour to the lake. There was a very nice forest further on with some very large trees. We hiked down to the highway and tried to hitchhike from the rest stop just across the street from the cafe, which was closed when we were there. After a bit with no luck we started hiking the highway down. After about 30 minutes a Mapuche man in a truck stopped without us even trying to hitchhike and offered us a ride to Currarehue which we gratefully accepted. He dropped us off on the main street in town and we caught a bus a few minutes later to Pucón.
*2024-Mar-24 to 2024-Mar-28 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / 04 02 RR B / Matthias de Austria