Our first day in Pucon was spent hiking the Villarrica Volcano. It stands 9,340 ft tall and continuously emits smoke, and sometimes lava. This volcano is one of the most climbed mountains in all of South America. Many people are forced to turn around due to bad weather and toxic fumes, and some have even died attempting to summit, but our lucky-streak continued with great weather! Once again, due to lack of equipment, we had to take another guided tour. Most people chose to take a chairlift up the beginning section, and since we're not lazy, we were one of the very few who walked. Walking this section put us behind all the other groups, but we met up with 2 German girls and a cool guide who marched us all the way to the top, passing at least 100 people, and summiting a half hour before the next group.
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| Reaching the summit. The fumes were so toxic, they made our nose and throat burn. |
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| Because we summited 1st, we were able to hike down into the crater, which most guides don't allow. The gases were too thick so we were unable to see the magma lake, which sometimes spews out lava! |
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| Suited up in our rental gear for the ride down. |
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| It took 3.5 hours to summit and only 45 minutes to slide on our ass all the way down :) |
Nice work on the blog so far. It's been fun to follow your adventures.
ReplyDeleteWe'll miss you at the party tomorrow night.
Don't inhale too many toxic fumes.
Fitz