Puerto Varas

   

Volcán Osorno and Lago Llanqihue as seen from a cow pasture on the lower slopes of Volcán Calbuco

Fuschia Magellanica.  We were happy to find that Kristen’s favorite flower from Butchart Gardens is apparently indigenous here.

Osorno floating in a marine layer that formed over Lago Llanqihue

We planned only 1 night in the Lakes District of Chilean Patagonia, which probably wasn’t enough.  The Lakes District looks like the Pacific Northwest of the US, with a series of densely packed volcanoes, lakes, and dense forest.  We stayed at an amazing place – Casa Ko, a small B&B about 40km outside of Puerto Varas – and by the time I realized we wanted more days in the Puerto Varas area, they were full.  Too bad.  I’d like to think we made the most of the time we had there, though.

Casa Ko is in the tiny village of Ensenada, on the lower slopes of Volcán Calbuco, with gorgeous panoramic views of the 3 local volcanoes and Lago Llanqihue.  It’s run by a young French couple (Raf and Pauline) who cook delicious meals every night, and who have built a hiking trail from the B&B to the summit of Volcán Calbuco.  They (and their guests) appear to be the only people who know about the trail.  You can’t really reach the summit without Raf guiding you, but he made a hand-drawn map for guests to find their way to the secluded Tepu waterfall and viewpoint about 3,000ft up.  So of course we had to do the hike.

The map was fantastic.  It was like being a pirate searching for buried treasure.  It had landmarks and instructions like “turn left at the big tree with roots”.  I loved it.  The first half of the hike worked its way through cow pastures (which was an experience for Kristen, since she’s a little bit afraid of cows).  They were mooing their asses off all day, because it happened to be the time of year when the calves are taken from their mothers.  The second half of the trail wound its way through a dense native forest, which looked not unlike the Hoh Rainforest in Oregon (though maybe a little less damp, and with the smell of rosemary added to the sweet smell of decay).  Eventually we emerged above the tree line, and scrambled up to an exposed viewpoint at the edge of a cliff.  Below us was a canyon with a small river and nice little waterfall, and all around us was an amazing view of the surrounding landscape.  A marine layer had developed over the lake, which gave the impression that Volcán Osorno was floating on the clouds.  Amazing.  We ate our lunch up there while the clouds shifted quickly.  On the way back down, the clouds parted and we had views of the lake from our cow pastures.  And we didn’t see a single person (save for one gaucho herding horses near the B&B) all day.  What a great hike, and a great day.