Thanks for the Memories: Hike to the Volcano

We came back for the big hike to the volcano all prepared with food and water.

Dave estimated that the hike would be about 10 miles long.

As soon as we took this turn toward the city of Challupen we were on our way.

We found these seeds dropping from the trees.

We also found a bunch of the seeds opened up like this. I'd like to think that these were enjoyed by those little marsupials that live here called Monito del Monte.

It is fun to see the kids enjoying the outdoors so much.

Here is BJ again with a cute pose. He loves to get his picture taken.

Up and up we hiked and the higher we climbed, the smaller the trees became.

We were surprised that there were yet more mushrooms that we hadn't seen yet. These ones were intesting in color and in shape.

Those bamboo sticks sure came in handy on our long journey.

Higher and higher we go.

Finally, we broke out of the trees into a clearing that allowed us to see just how high we had come.

We discovered that we were standing on a field of black lava rocks.

Leave it to BJ to come up with the idea of making a lava angel.

We had been hiking for so long that we were beginning to lose hope that we would ever see the volcano. We were wondering if perhaps we had taken the wrong path. We began to worry that we would run out of time and have to turn back in order to make it home before dark. We decided to hike to the next ridge and see.

But, we got a little distracted when we spotted this crazy bug on the trail. Dave, of course, scooped it up to get a closet look at it.

What an amazing specimen.

Luckily over the next ridge we were able to see the volcano. Yeah! We were going to make it. All we needed to do was cross the river and go up one more hill. There wouldn't be time to make it to the base of the volcano, but we felt like we had made it far enough.

The Haviland Family at Villarrica Volcano, Chile

Villarrica is one of the world's most climbed stratovolcanoes. Guided hikes to the crater are offered from the town of Pucón by several enterprises, but may ascent might be suspended due to cloudiness and in periods of seismic or increased volcanic activity. Helicopter sightseeing services offer flights over the crater as well. In the winter (July-September) a ski resort operates on the northern slopes.