
Puyehue National Park
Chile
Puyehue National Park is divided into 3 sectors, each with their own highlights. Reading the online reviews, it seemed that everyone recommended visiting the waterfalls in the Anticura sector. It was a long way to detour off the highway for a short walk to some cascades, so instead we headed towards the Antillanca region, where Casablanca Volcano awaited us. It was also quite a deviation off our route, but it felt like it would be a more rewarding experience.
Casablanco Volcano
Distance: 9.8 km
Hiking Time: 3:13 hr
Ascent: 640 m
During winter, the hills around Casablanca are a popular site for skiing, but they are mostly deserted in summer. There was still plenty of snow around in the summer months though, which was part of its attraction for us. We commenced our trek underneath an immobile chairlift before turning up to an access road. Along here the surrounding trees suddenly disappeared, and from now on we were completely exposed to the sun.
The road led to the edge of a crater, a tourist attraction at other times of the year. Here we had our first view of Casablanca, a brown-and-white patchwork of rocks and snow. Both of us had read reports about the steepness of the terrain near the summit, but from here it was impossible to tell just how difficult the route would become. We had no idea how far we would get.
After crossing the flat crater floor surrounded by a swarm of horse flies, we scaled the vertical scree rim on the opposite side. Turning around, we could see a wide range of icy mountains and volcanoes behind us, giving us the motivation to climb higher.
Snow appeared across the path at the 3 km mark, but thanks to the sun melting the top layer, most of it was easy to walk on. This alternated with patches of sharp, jagged rocks with little level ground to place our feet. Over time, it eventually became all snow.
On the way up we ran into 2 other hikers, both wearing crampons and a helmet. Clearly they were prepared for something we weren't. Closely following their footsteps provided us some traction on the increasingly steep slope. We then decided to cut across to a narrow strip of rocks running up the hill that offered us more stability. When this ran out, we were stuck. We attempted walking on the ice but found we slipped repeatedly. Despite our numerous efforts, we ultimately decided it wasn’t safe to continue on this route, especially with 300 metres of ascent still to go and the incline not easing off. Everything we read online said to bring poles (which we did), but nothing was mentioned about crampons, which were clearly necessary. We took photos of the beautiful but obstructed view around us then made the smart decision to descend.
Going down wasn't anywhere near as treacherous as we expected. The ice had turned slushy, which prevented us from slipping all the way down the slope. Danny tried to slide down on his rain jacket, but as the surface was now partly melted he couldn't gain any momentum. Once we reached the flatter section, we turned around to discover that there was a more gentle route to the top around the side of the mountain (we had gone straight up the middle). It was disappointing we didn't have time to tackle this path and make an attempt for the summit. Instead we continued down, taking the snowy sections as much as possible to avoid the painful pointed rocks. In the end, the adventure wasn't quite what we expected, but we still had loads of fun and managed to glimpse a few decent views along the way.


