JAC and friends head south

``I'm hoping to go down south (not too far, just far enough).  No real plans, except I'm curious about Pucón.  Anyone want to go?!!! '' 

One short email to my Fulbright friends, and in a 24-hour span plans were made for a weekend getaway from Santiago to Pucón, a small (touristic) town situated among several volcanoes and national parks.  Southern Chile had been calling me, and I was intrigued by what I had heard about Pucón in several recent conversations with friends.  I knew that winter was coming, and with winter comes rain and difficult weather for traveling in the south, so this weekend seemed the perfect opportunity.

We loaded up our Chinese rental car (the brand was called JAC) on Saturday morning and began the 8-ish hour drive south, stopping on the way in Chillán to pick up a friend-of-a-friend who had been backpacking through Patagonia.  Jamming to Kyle's iPod, eating Chris's nutella, discussing our roles as peanut butter missionaries, the weekend was off to a very comforting start as we drove into the night, towards greener, hillier pastures somewhat reminiscent of Vermont at times. 

Is the ground smoking?!

The Volcán Villarica is a steaming volcano that looms over the Lake Villarica, and the towns Villarica and Pucón, and seems to be the dominant feature and destination in the ''IX Región de la Araucanía''.  I would have liked to climb the volcano, but with the inclement weather and snow at the top, we may have waited several days for conditions to cooperate.  Instead, we took JAC as far as we could, to a small ski area (yes, you can ski on the volcano in the winter), and hiked the perimeter of the volcano from there.  As we hiked, we stopped along the way to feast on Chaura berries, and before turning back we had a picnic lunch, with a demonstration of Elliot's clever soda-can stove.  Actually, the clouds mostly cleared, and we had a fabulous vista of the lake below, sometimes a view of the volcano summit, as we hiked along the beautifully-colored autumn tree-line.  

Back at the hostel, we cooked a big, family-style pasta dinner accompanied by garlic bread and nice (cheap) Chilean wine.  A midnight trip to the Termas Los Pozones (natural hot springs) was the perfect post-hike venue, and we relaxed beneath a cool, clear southern sky.  Los Pozones are the first in a chain of hot springs heading towards Pucón, and several pools have been built of large rocks in a rustic style, with the rushing river passing nearby.

The next day threatened rain, but we weren't about to let that stop us.  We headed to the Cañi Sanctuary, an old-growth Araucaria forest (the Araucaria Tree, or Monkey Puzzle Tree, is an evergreen which produces pine nuts) and one of the first privately protected land areas in Chile.  A sheep farmer directed us to park our JAC beside his land, and we headed by foot into the hills.  About half-way up (it seems) the rain became much stronger, and we pushed upward until we decided that if we didn't turn back then, the entire trip down would be a giant muddy slip-and-slide (not a totally bad situation, but maybe not the best before the long car ride home).

Looks like VT :-)

In dry clothes, we stopped in Pucón at a rustic café (and chocolate shop), which we chose because of its grand, cozy fire place.  Content after a comforting lunch of delicious food (I had a sweet crepe with ice cream and a brownie!) and warm drinks (aromatic loose-leaf tea), we embarked on the long journey home in the night, the stars in the Southern Cross (the constellation in the south that points to the south pole) visible out the rear window as the rain stopped, and the skies cleared towards Santiago.