But back to the hike- we made it to the sanctuary which was obscured by cold, wet, fog. A perfect day. We all joked about changing the name to La Caña which is chilean slang for a hangover which a few of our compadres were.
The beginning of the hike was basic and the scenery reminded me of New Zealand (green hills, rocks, sheep?). The trail started to get steeper and steeper and we all started struggled. Red in the face, de-layering, and breathing hard while our guide (hey, he had trekking poles!) waited patiently. Max and I played a game of who could find and devour the most wild blackberries (moro) on the trail before the other. We finally made it to a refugio for lunch. Though the vegetarian sandwiches are always lacking (cheese and bread), there were also apples, bananas, and chocolate! I don't know why chileans have yet to hear of putting vegetables on sandwiches. The break at the refugio was sunny and enjoyable but the fog soon crept up again.
The two most excited for the trek: Jess and Max
Jac, the inventive one, making a hobo sack to carry her stuff when she couldn't enlist any of the backpack wearers.
The national flower of Chile- copihue
A little side story: One of the girls, Erin had brought something up to one of the guys, making fun of him, and he swore to get her back for it. At one point he got a sparkle in his eye and said "Erin, I know my revenge. It's not rude, but you're still going to call me an asshole at the end." Now, Erin had been carrying Rob's bag up the pack (at this point we were a 1/2 hour into our 2 hours up to the refugio) due to most of her things being in it. Rob borrowed it to get some water out and as she walked ahead, he decided to add a little weight to it. As in a huge rock. Max and I were privy to this information due to proximity. The rest of the way up to the refugio, Erin unknowingly carried this rock as Rob kept subliminally hinting at it: singing songs about carrying rocks, asking Erin if the bag was too heavy for her, etc. We get to the refugio and it's time to get her lunch of the bag. Knowing what is about to happen I grabbed my camera:
Alright, so after an enjoyable lunch, to our dismay we headed farther UP the trail to a lake. The view higher up would have provided us with the gorgeous site of the multiple volcanoes nearby, but the fog was persistent. Nevertheless, the trail to the lakes was nowhere near as steep and very pretty.
Crossing a rope bridge. Never mind the water was puddle deep and there were planks for easy crossing.
HARDCORE ALWAYS
The first lake...sure it's pretty, but we're ready to head back to our comfortable bus. But wait we're going to another one too?!
Araucania tree
The second lake was pretty. We got a group picture (minus 4 who hadn't come) and yes, drank some mate.
Left to right: Jahni, me, Todd, Max, Stefan, Erin, Jess, Desmond, Sarah, Natalia, Jac, Kris
Bottom: Rob
Soon, it started getting cold and we headed back down. Fortunately the walk down was quick and much less painful since it was all downhill. However, we had to walk right back through all the fog.
After the hike, it was time to head back to Valdivia. However, myself and a few others decided to stick around another day. Some of the boys stayed to hike Volcan Villarrica the next day while the rest of us just took advantage of already being out of town to enjoy another place. Pucon is a great place. It has gorgeous scenery and is a popular spot to vacation in the summer. I wouldn't be opposed to taking a note out of Jess's book and working at a hostel here.
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