Lake District
Trip Start
Sep 28, 2005
1
43
103
Trip End
Jun 24, 2006
Pucon,
Chile
Friday, January 13, 2006
We're up at 7:30am and pile on some layers to fight off the cool wind. Hmmm, I wonder how may layers we will have to pile on in two weeks when we get to the bottom of S. America? We pack up camp and get on the road to Pucon at 8:36. Wow, only 6 minutes after the planned time. This group has their act together at the beginning of the trip. The closer we get to Pucon the greener the landscape gets and the more mountains appear. About an hour outside of Pucon we can see this beautiful conical snow covered peak in the distance, Volcano Villarica, 9300 feet high. One guy on our trip mentioned that he tried to hike it a few years ago but never could make it to the top due to weather conditions. A few others on our trip said that they were going to hike it tomorrow. I thought they must be pretty extreme hikers or crazy to do that. After getting to Pucon we spent the afternoon walking around the cute (but tourist) town nestled in-between the mountains and next to Lake Villarica. They call this area little Switzerland. Not only does it have the beautiful picturesque scenery, it has all the western amenities including a North Face shop and large supermarket (this is definitely a step up from our conditions in W Africa). As the day went on and the more I looked at the huge peak in the distance, the more I had a desire to go climb it. That night we then found ourselves the outdoor adventure center trying on gear and realized that we were going to be some of those crazy people. (For those of you that know me, Anna, would think I was crazy knowing how well my body reacts to altitude)
