I like volcanoes, a lot

I got all excited in my last post and started writing about my trip to the Lakes District without including the second view of the little map that I had made. From Punta Arenas I flew to Puerto Montt, and spent about 3 nights and 4 days in the region trying to cram in as much as I could.


View For the folks back home... in a larger map

Anyway, back to volcanoes...My first experience near an active volcano was Volcan Arenal in Costa Rica. I still remember the trip we took up there at night in a jeep, trying  to snap photos of the lava bubbling over the top at night with a crappy camera that could barely capture anything but a tiny red dot, followed by some swimming in the natural hot springs. What's not to like?
As predicted, when I arrived on the shores of Lago Llanquihue, I like many others I could not stop snapping photos of the beautiful Volcan Osorno. Since the Lakes Region experiences a lot of precipitation, Osorno maintains its perfect snow-capped peak. It has released pressure through side vents and craters such as La Burbuja, so it won't lose it's perfection like some of the other volcanoes with misshapen peaks. See the difference...

Volcan Osorno

Volcan Calbuco

The crater, which has guys waiting right there with equipment in case you want to scale down and check it out

I'll speak more in a later post about avoiding expensive tours, but for now I'll say that I did take a tour to Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales to see the Saltos de Petrohue, to stop by Lago Todos Los Santos, and to reach the top of Osorno, all things that would have been difficult to do on my own without a rental car.

Los Saltos de Petrohue...

Lago Todos Los Santos

And now to the top of Osorno. It's a pretty technical hike that requires a lot of equipment for the ice, so I climbed up the easy way, on the chair lift.

I think next time I'll bring my skis and check out the beauty of this place all covered in snow