Villarica Volcano Trek (Pucon)
Villarica Volcano Trek
Pucon is a small city located deep into the Chilean Andes that is best known for its adventure tourism. The major attraction here is the Villarica volcano, which is a perfect conical-shaped volcano, that imposes itself in the city’s backyard. It is a picture-perfect volcano, the one you always imagined when you were a kid: perfectly conical-shaped crater, standing alone, 2,840 meters high, and snow-capped!!
There are many activities and adventures that can be done in Pucon, but this blog is dedicated to the mother of all adventures here…the volcano trek!!
This volcano is one of the many active volcanos in Chile’s ring of fire region (last eruption: March 2015), yet it is the only one that you can hike up all the way to the volcano’s crater! However, to hike-up the volcano, you have to do it with a certified guide i.e. tour company. I know that this might sound not as independent as we all wish, but still there are a lot of planning and preparation you need to do, On Your Own, for this tough adventure. SO LETS START!!
Going to Pucon from Santiago is easy; but, as a budget traveler, I opted for the bus option. There are several buses operating along this route that are very comfortable and modern (click to request info). The journey takes around 10 hours from Santiago! But don’t be discouraged, there are night buses with sleepers that are very comfortable and saves a lot of time and, above all, money:)
If you are going to Pucon only for the volcano trek, it is recommended to spend, at least, a complete full day in the city before your ascent to enjoy the city, rest, and relax before this tough adventure.
Arriving at Pucon in the early morning, check in at your hostel and grab a good breakfast, then it’ll be time to pick your tour company. I assume by now you already did most of your homework on this and, at least, narrowed-down the many available companies to a couple of options. Basically, all the companies offer the same services, same timings, and equipment; they only differ in the size of the group, some luxury amenities that you can do without, flexible logistics, and of course…price! I, personally, narrowed-down my options to two companies before arriving which I can both recommend (click to request info). I waited to chose when I arrive because I wanted to meet the people and inspect the equipment, myself.
Hopefully, you’ll be done with selecting your tour company early-on to relax and stroll around the city (I don’t recommend to do another activity on the day before the hike as the hike will be very tough so you’ll need to take it easy and sleep early). So now to the hike itself:)
The day will start very early, normally you meet your guides and the rest of the group at dawn in front of the company’s office and then they’ll transport you, by a mini-bus, to the national park and the base of the volcano. At this point the guides have to make a decision about whether it’ll be possible to ascend the volcano or not, depending on the weather, which will hopefully be favorable. If not, they will transport you back to the city and you won’t pay anything, but once you started hiking…you’ll pay! In my case, the weather was not that favorable and the guides told us: it is a 50-50 chance of being able to reach the crater…so some decided to do it, obviously me:) while others went back.
Since I did this hike in the off-season (May), the cable cars at the base to the first stop were not operational so we started the hike from the base. The entire hike is very steep, but the first part was the least of them and with no snow on the ground, so it was moderately difficult till reaching the upper cable car’s station. By this point, the weather cleared and it was sunny:)
From here you’ll start walking in deep snow which will make this hike much much tougher. Our pace got slower and slower, and I was getting tired but the reward waiting for me kept me going.
Unfortunately, it won’t get easier from here and the weather up at the top of the volcano was very different from the base…It was cloudy and windy. Here the guides told us that we won’t be able to see anything from the top, but we can continue if we wanted. So we decided to do it and the last section was as steep and strenuous as a hike I’ve ever did in my life and with the snow…100 times tougher!!
As the guides said, we reached the top and could see nothing from the clouds; moreover, we couldn’t stay up because of the wind… so, yes, we didn’t get a clear view of the crater, but the sense of achievement and the views while going down made it up, somehow, for us!
The way down is much more fun. The guides will give you slides to sit on and you’ll slide your way back to the base, very fun and lively activity! Clearly I was enjoying it in this picture:)
When reaching the base, you’ll be transported back to the city and depending on your plans, you can have time to shower and eat. All in all, Pucon is a touristy city, but going in the shoulder season was pretty and peaceful; and the volcano trek is a must do for any adventurer.
N.B: There are some other adventure activities that you can do in the area surrounding Pucon as a day trip, but I, personally, didn’t have enough time to do any; albeit I planned for them in case the volcano trek was a no-go. So if you need any suggestions, just drop me an email and I’ll be happy to assist (click to request info)
