Puerto Montt, Chile Part 1

Osorno Volcano Hike and LLanquihue Lake

January 27, 2020

Continental Chile is a long narrow country lying on the southwestern flank of the South American continent.  Sometimes called the "stringbean" of South America due to its long, narrow shape, it is the longest country in the world stretching a distance of 2,700 miles from North to South.  To give you an idea of its length in more familiar terms, Chile is equal to one-tenth of the earth's perimeter, or the distance between Ketchikan, Alaska and the southern tip of the Baja California Penninsula.   In contrast, her average width is 110 miles with the widest point at 217 miles.

Not only in latitudinal length is Chile unique, she is also extreme in altitude with the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere located in the Andes Mountains.  Her length and height gives her a great variety of climates and natural environments from the hyper arid desert in the northern regions, a Mediterranean-type climate in Central Chile, the cold and snowy weather of the high Andes, and the cool and rainy climate in the South.  In total Chile has 16 different climate types with a corresponding diverse flora and fauna.

We began our trip in the Santiago-Valparaiso region which is located a bit North of the halfway point of continental Chile's length.  The climate type for Santiago is Semi-Arid Steppe with Clear Skies while Valparaiso it is considered Warm Temperate with a 7 to 8 Month Dry Season, Winter Rain, Coastal Fog.  It was dry indeed during our visit to these cities in the summer season but surely not as arid as most of the country to the North.  As we headed South to Puerto Montt, we entered another climate type - Rainy Temperate with Mediterranean Influence.  Alerce Andino National Park is considered a rain forest and is located in this region.

Puerto Montt is situated on the Western Coast of Southern Chile and is considered the gateway to Northern Patagonia and known as the Lake District.  The city was founded in 1853 after government-sponsored immigration brought in Germans to populate and develop the remote region.  By 1912, a train linked Puerto Montt to Santiago, opening up trade and transport with larger cities and bolstering the economy.  Less than an hour North of Puerto Montt is Chile's second-largest lake, Lago Llanquihue watched over by the snowcapped volcanoes Osorno and Calbuco, creating one of Patagonia's most picturesque vistas.  On the lake's shores sit the German-flavored villages of Puerto Varas and Frutillar with their charming Old Europe architecture.

First volcano sighting from the water

We awoke to partly cloudy skies with temps in the 50's and a predicted high of 64 degrees.  Puerto Montt is not a port situated on the Pacific Ocean like Valparaiso but is on an inland waterway fairly protected from all wind directions but South.  After our rocky offshore passage the previous day it was nice to barely feel any ship's motion.

An all day private excursion was planned with Andres Oyarzun Gonzalez, a local fellow born, raised and residing in Puerto Varas.  Although he has his own company and website now, I found him through Tours By Locals.  He came highly rated, trained and experienced.  We were anxious to make the most of our time ashore and wanted to be on the first tender.  So noting the meet time for the first Viking shore excursion, our group gathered at 7:45 AM near Guest Services requesting passage.  Sure enough Corrine, the Assistant Cruise Director, put us on the first tender along with the Viking tour where we snagged the last six seats available.

Viking Jupiter with Two Tenders Alongside

Sometimes cruise ships dock near the San Angelmo Market and sometimes they anchor and must tender their guests.  As we approached the floating tender pier, my question of why we didn't get to dock was answered.  The tidal range is extreme in these parts and, instead of the water lapping the rocky beach, a long stretch of rocky seaweed bottom was exposed and some small boats were high and dry.

Guide Andres has his own company now at
PatagoniaSouthernLandExpeditions.com

Finding a tour guide that says to meet him at the terminal can be nerve wracking when you've never been to the terminal nor met the guide.  We stationed look-outs at each possible meeting point we could see and soon enough Andres appeared.  It helped that I confirmed both our disembarkation timing as well as his driving schedule by texting him through What's App before leaving the ship. We found this app very valuable as a communication tool with the free WiFi aboard the Jupiter.  We knew for certain that he was on his way.



We had a quick drive through the port town of Puerto Montt  choosing to head for the more spectacular scenery of volcanoes, lakes, rivers and waterfalls


We drove along beautiful country roads with lush greenery, farms, and forests.






Before long we were driving along the huge Llanquihue Lake where we made a roadside stop for photos of our first destination, Osorno Volcano.

No clouds above Osorno Volcano in the morning.  The top of Osorno is glacial.

The Osorno Volcano sits at 9,450 feet towering above the lake.

Across the street were llamas eagerly awaiting their photo to be taken.

We turned off the lakeside highway and headed up a narrow road with many switchbacks and no traffic this early in the morning.  At each turn we had a spectacular view of the lake below with distant mountains or of our Volcano destination.  We were heading to The Volcan Osorno Centro de Ski y Montana at about 4,000 feet and from there would have a nice hike.

 Our drive up to Osorno Ski Center with view of Llanquihue Lake and Calbuco Volcano in the distance.

Calbuco (meaning blue water) at about 8,600 feet last erupted in 2015.  It also presides over Llanquihue Lake.  The Osorno and Calbuco volcanoes are among the most active volcanoes in Chile.  However they are currently rated at Level 1 with Level 5 the highest rating.  Calbuco's once snowy peak is now a crater.

When we arrived at the Ski Center, there were few parked cars, no buses and the center wasn't quite open yet.   We gathered our packs, cameras and poles and set off across the moon-like landscape.

No one has arrived yet.  Great for us!

Osorno Volcano Ski Center

In the photo below you can see the Llanquihue Lake as well as the Petrohue River

as the lighter blue line at the base of the mountains.  Yes, ski lifts too.

The trail was steep and composed of loose cinder-like rock and volcanic ash.  It was difficult terrain for walking, and soon it became apparent that the trail was not for the hip and knee joint hopeless.  I walked as far as comfortable to get some higher viewpoints, then I bid the hardy trekkers onward and had some time to myself.  I could probably walk it, albeit 3-4 times slower than my travelling companions, but rushing beyond ones ability can cause injury.  Contrary to my opinion of the trail's difficulty, my friends claimed it was not too steep and was, in fact, an easy trail.  They said the altitude made it more difficult.

Tom is the dark dot about a quarter up the far trail having a Zen moment while Ray is further up stopping to take some photos.

My stop had some very special moments as I had the time to closely examine the flora, contemplate the view and enjoy the amazing silence.

It was so quiet I could hear people talking on the distant hill in photos above and below.  The crunch of my shoes on the volcanic rock broke the silence.  We were fortunate to have no wind and such a clear day.  Andres told us on most summer days the peaks are cloud covered and this clear weather occurs only a dozen days during the season.

I had a brief visitor as this fellow smelled his was up the hill and he went off exploring on his own.

Time for a selfie above before heading back to the Ski Center below.

As it turned out, the trekkers returned much quicker then I had anticipated and appeared just as I was heading back to the Center.  "Was the walk that quick" I asked?  "No" they replied.  When given the choice of returning on the long loop or short one, they chose the short loop.  Ray thought the guide was disappointed but...

Here are some of Ray's photos from their amazing hike.  (Actually most of the photos are from Ray's Nikon Camera although my cell phone takes pretty darn good ones too.)

Calbuco means Blue Water.

Several other volcanic peaks were visible while hiking, however, I can't tell you 

what is which or even if they are all visible in these photos.  But thanks to Andres,
 I can name them:  Tronador, Puntiagudo, Yates, Hornooiren, Osorno and Calbuco.
A total of six volcanos and I believe the snowy peak on the left is Tronador.

Tronador (Thunder Mountain) rising to 12,100 feet is considered an extinct volcano

You can see the lava flows in the next two photos.

As in the high Andes outside of Santiago, an incoming moist weather system passing over the venting steam from a volcano creates the hovering cloud.  When Andres saw the cloud forming above Osorno, he warned us that changing weather would arrive sometime in the afternoon.  Sure as his prediction, it arrived that evening after we sailed away from the port.

Rocky, dusty volcanic ash terrain.

Volcano Tronador is the cloud hovering snowy peak seen in the next photos.

Farmland can be clearly identified from above.

The path well traveled.  Crossed over on the hike but apparently not part of the trail.

A break before heading down.

Bill & Sandi below.

Standing on top of the world.  Tom, Jack, Sandi, Bill and Ray.

Going down anyone?

On our way back down in the van, everyone dug into their bag of snacks provided by Andres.  We were happy to have had the area mostly to ourselves encountering only a few small groups of Spanish speaking visitors.  During our drive down we squeezed by at least 5 large buses heading up the narrow road.  What a different experience it would be in a crowd!  Would we be as fortunate at the popular Petrohue River & Falls?  Watch for Part 2 of our day out of Puerto Montt.

A preview shot of the Petrohue River in Vincente Rosales Perez National Park