The trailhead.
Today’s walks were simply spectacular.
This morning’s walk was on the slopes of the Osorno volcano in the Vincente Perez Rosales National Park. We started through an ancient part of the rain forest that is protected by a ridge from lava flows and the corresponding burns. It was incredibly dense foliage and very atmospheric. A number of tiny white orchids were spotted along the way. In areas that had burned the vegetation was much lighter and the forest had a much more airy feel. [I call it the “young forest” below.] Just amazing.
The peak of the volcano had been buried in the clouds that seemed to congregate there. As we walked through the lighter areas of the forest, views of the peak would present themselves and the clouds were dispersing. We got a number of photos with the emerging peak in the background.
After about an hour or so on the trail, we reached a lahar. A lahar is the residual rock and cinders of a “flow” down the sides of a volcano. It does not necessarily require an eruption, but can be spawned by heavy rains, melting snow and the like. It can be caused by a volcanic eruption or other activity by melting the ice pack/glacier at the top of the mountain. The water mixes with the volcanic cinders and rocks creating a cement-like mix that wipes out everything in its path as it flows down the slopes of the volcano.
Crossing the lahar was a challenge in the sense that this rocky/sandy field constantly changes as sandbars due to all the rain (remember the 100 inches of rain?). Charlie and Ingrid had certain landmarks they used to locate the trail on the opposite side of the lahar.
The hiking trail through the park was well-trod, it was not difficult to follow, but the lahar was in a sense a desolation that wipes out all trails and doesn’t support maintenance of permanent trails due to the changing landscape (or moonscape).
The trailhead.
Heading into the ancient forest.
Deep in the ancient forest.
A view back towards Lago Llanquihue.
A wild orchid.
Posing in front of the volcano.
Along the trail in the young forest.
More of the young forest.
Orsorno.
Osorno and Jonathan.
The walkers start across the lahar.
More 'moonscape'.
Looking up the lahar at Osorno.
Looking down the lahar.
Looking down the lahar zoomed.
Once the trailhead at the other side was located, the trail was again easy to follow, and ended at the road adjacent to a second lahar, where the bus was waiting.
Most of us walked about 0.5 – 1.0 miles up the road to the Saltos de Petrohué (Falls of the Petrohué river). This is an impressive set of “rapids” that cut through what appears to be volcanic rock. The water is a bluish green that we were told is the result of its glacial origin. Someone suggested it could be algae, but despite the color, the water was very clear.
From there we went to lunch at the Hotel Ensenada – a Victorian era establishment that once served the steamboats that ran on Lake Llanquihue between Puerto Varas and Ensenada on the road to Argentina. Teddy Roosevelt visited the hotel once on his journeys – it’s not clear if he had overnight accommodations.
The afternoon walk was on a private farm. The main point of this walk was to show the difference between the forest that was native, and forest that had been exposed to grazing. ‘Twas much more open in the latter as we crossed cow paths. Didn’t enjoy it as much as the old grove forest earlier in the day. We didn’t walk terribly long in the woods before we walked through the hilly field of the farm.
I got a belly laugh from Jonathan, suggesting to him that all we needed to complete the scene were nymphs, centaurs, and Beethoven’s Third Symphony. (Think Fantasia.) Other folks suggested a guest appearance by Julie Andrews was appropriate.
Saltos de Petrohué (Falls of the Petrohué river).
More Saltos de Petrohué (Falls of the Petrohué river).
And more Saltos de Petrohué. The yellow plant is gorse, an invasive plant introduced by German settlers.
Jonathan in front of the falls.
And yet more falls.
Osorno shining over the falls.
Folks on the walkways over the falls.
Just to prove we were there … together.
Starting across the fields.
Looking back over the lake.
'The hills are alive…'
Checking the camera with Russ watching.
We descended the fields back to the house of the landowners, a Chilean husband and American wife. They run their home as a bed and breakfast and had prepared “onces” (elevenses or tea) for us. The highlight was the sopapillas – deep fried dough that one spoons honey or preserves over (to hell with Atkins!). After that, a number of our group decided to opt out of dinner later that evening.
After returning to the hotel, we showered and got presentable for dinner. Dennis managed to cover my pisco sour – again. I’m going to have to do something nice for him.
Dinner was at a restaurant run by EcoTours. It’s more like a catering facility as it isn’t really open to the public. It was a wonderfully rustic setting with a smokehouse (where dinner was cooking) and a firepit. Like the previous night’s dinner we started with pisco sours. The feature of the meal was the chicken that was cooked in the aforementioned smoker. It was so moist and flavorful – the best meal so far.
Afterwards, Jonathan ventured outside with Charlie to see if he could identify any of the southern stars. Unfortunately, the sky was about two-thirds covered with clouds which made it hard to identify any constellations. By the end of the star gazing, we had all our fellow walkers out in the cool breezy night. The wait staff brought cordials out to us in the dark, and I sipped pisco (no sour this time) under the stars. Hopefully we’ll get some clearer skies sometime during our stay.