Over and out
Trip Start
Mar 01, 2006
1
322
551
Trip End
Dec 01, 2007
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Pucon,
Chile
Sunday, April 15, 2007
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After 4 days of bad weather, without even seeing the volcano, this sunday was meant to be a slight possibility of hiking up there, followed by another 4 days at least of bad weather. There is a huge storm on the Pacific sending waves of clouds to the continent.
Saturday night, I went to see a volcano climbing operator, to check out what was feasible. The idea was to get organized, and then decide in the morning if it was a go or a no. The guy refused to organize the trip: Too uncertain, and therefore not worth going with such a high chance of having to abort the climb.
There were other operators going, but the one I was talking to told me they generally wait for an established good weather (2-3 days) before organizing anything. I have no problem understanding that, being acquainted with the combination "ocean west coast + mountains".
So I stayed tranquilo, Jessica cooked a typical spanish tortilla con papas, and we ate with our host familly.
In the morning Eric woke me up: the volcano was visible! What a great sight, the cone covered in snow.
We could also see that the smoke coming out from the crater was taken away immediately, meaning that the wind must have been pretty strong up there. I have heard horror stories of people getting as close as 50 meters from the top, on a clear day, but having to turn back because of the wind. Overall I do not regret not having gone, as it was a reasonable choice (given that just trying to go still costs some 50 euros), but it was very frustrating to see the volcano on a big blue sky...
Just as a reminder, the problem is not to see or hike the volcano: there are plenty other volcanoes. No, the reason why I waited four days in Pucon to try to have a chance to get up there is that there is lava inside, and smoke, and noise, and the snow around...
Well we just went for a stroll in town, I got a chance to see the lake, with its volcanic sand beach. That beach is a popular summer spot that can get as crowded as any riviera beach!
I really don't know what to do next, even though I have been thinking about it all this time. I will definitely move on. There might be good weather in a week time. If that was the case and if I did not get too far by then, I could return to climb the Villarica.
The climbing operator told me that if I was around for another few months, the best time to go up there would be winter and spring, when they go almost everyday. And come down skying...
I do have my round the world ticket, and my flights on this continent are really bothering me, I prefer to go overland. BUT... I could change my ticket and come back during winter in this region for a couple of weeks, during the rainny season in the northern hemisphere tropics... Well well well, I have to think about that....
For now, I could go to San Martin or Bariloche, in Argentina: They are a little bit protected from the bad weather, by the natural barrier of the Andes, but they still have a pretty bad weather forecast for the whole week.
I could also start going back to Buenos Aires, stopping on the way to Neuquen in search of dinosaurs at a paleontologic research field. That would mean coming back later in the lake district, possibly in winter, where the combination "blue lakes + snow-capped volcanoes + clear skys" seems very attractive.
I wanted to leave today, but Elie is cooking a chop suey tonight, and I still have internet work to do, so...we'll see tomorow, in which bus I end up!
