Tres Amigos en el Sur (pt. 2)
Alright. I got my act together and finally I am completing this saga (two weeks after the fact).
Well the next day, it was the day forecasted to have the best weather, we awoke, had breakfast, packed up, and set out. The prior night I stayed up very late copying a map of the park, Huerquehue National Park, from a book I borrowed from our new friend Jörgen, a Dane that has lived in Temuco for over a decade working as a tour guide. He was fun and had some top-notch advice; shame I didn’t take his photo. Anyway, we head out in our rental car towards the park. We tack up a hillside to get to the entrance and on the way I ask Jeff to stop and we get out and have a Sound of Music moment in a field on the hillside. Gorgeous.
We arrive at the park entrance, pay (I got the Chilean rate, thank you very much sir), and park. Immediately, as it would be, two dogs from a nearby restaurant/lodge run up and follow us in to the park. We thought after a while they might turn back, but they did not. We decided to call them Rapa and Nui (look it up, if you want to know). Well Nui, the larger dog got scared by some workmen sawing some posts, but Rapa continued on. He was this odd mix, short dog. He honestly must have been an angel guiding us, because he was with us all the way up and back.
Jörgen and the ranger at the entrance both had warned us that there would be snow prior to arriving to the first lake on the hike. Well, after ascending for about an hour, possibly less, we started coming across patches of easily-passable snow on the path. Eventually the amount grew, the trail was buried, and we had to carve our own way. We almost turned around at the worries and pains of one of my fellow hiking companions, but with the spurring of the other and Rapa forging ahead we followed. An it was worth it. We arrived at Lago Chico. Oh it was gorgeous, but very different from the previous visit, due to it being laced and partially covered by snow. Still the water was as clear and still as before.
We continued on, more snow, brief glimpses of the path, and made our way to Laguna Verde and Lago Toro. Oh it was exhilarating. One of the things I love about this park are the Araucaria trees, the national tree of Chile, that fill the forest at higher altitudes. We returned hiking down. Jeff and Mark had a few falls. I had a close call, but we all got back to the car safely and headed back to Pucón. We had dinner again at Café Fresia. Oh so good hummus.
The next day was cold and wet. We walked down to the shore of Lake Villarrica, followed, yes, by more dogs. These were strange dogs - they kissed. We did some shopping; I got a copy of the book Jörgen had let me borrow and the three of us purchased a wheel of locally made cheese. Yum! That evening we walked through the light rain to the bus station and caught our ride back to Santiago. I slept much better this time around. We arrived around six in the morning and the trip came to an end.
