Day 34 - 36 Here comes the rain
December 19 - 21, Hornopirén, Chile to Chaíten, Chile, and back again
The next day, we got up early to make it to our ferry from Hornopirén. We were the first people in line, and had plenty of time to relax and have a cortado doble when the cafe at the landing opened. We sat outside enjoying the early morning light, eating oatmeal using hot water from the cafe and making honey and cinnamon pitas.
The 3.5 hour ferry ride through Chilean fjords was beautiful - blue sky, blue water, green and tall mountains. It reminded us of British Columbia.
We transitioned over a short strip of land before getting onto another smaller ferry that lasted less than 1 hour, where most people stayed in their cars.
We drove off the ferry and almost immediately entered Parque Pumalin. We headed to Cascadas Escondidas, which when we first arrived was completely empty except for one car that was doing the 2 hour hike to a series of waterfalls. We set up our tent then hiked both the Alto and Bajo trails, the views of the waterfalls were tremendous.
The facilities at the park were basic, but extremely nice. The bathrooms were clean, the soap dispensers were even loaded, and there were (very cold) showers. Outside of the bathrooms they even had sinks for washing clothes and doing dishes! This is high class camping!
As the evening rolled in, we met several groups of people at the campsite, and two of them were hitchhiking. They later asked us if they could get a ride to a 9 hour round trip hike to a volcano they wanted to do. We both winced because of the size of our rental car. We told them we'd promise them two seats (hoping they would be able to hold their packs on their laps. They agreed.
We cooked a delicious Mexican fiesta, onion and red peppers, mexican rice (chilean's version), black beans, topped with avocado.
Rain poured down that night and into the morning. We packed everything up in the rain, utilizing the picnic shelter as a dry haven. The couple walked over to tell us they weren't going to need the right anymore because they were going to skip the hike with the rain. Our plans were also altered as we originally wanted to do a much more mild 3 hour hike around a smaller volcano before heading into a town called Chaíten for a potentially hot breakfast. With the rain, we decided to flip flop - hot breakfast in town, then hike, hoping we could wait out the rain.
Chaiten was a small town, destroyed only a decade prior when Volcan Chaiten erupted, surprising the residents and forcing an evacuation. After a few years, the government supported a move of the town to a near by village, but the people of Chaiten said Heck No, and rebuilt the town right where it was.
Many places in Chaiten noted an 8:30 or 9 AM open on their doors, and yet 9 AM rolled around and nothing opened. There was no movement anywhere. We felt like it was ghost town, with only a congregation of smokers outside of one hospedaje.
We figured it was a lazy morning - dreary and rainy - we could just read a bit in the car and wait for things to open.
Nothing budged.
By 11 AM, we found a place called La Puerta (The Door) which was basically an unmarked restaurant down an alley. We got eggs, toast, and some tea. Better than nothing!
Despite the promise of continuous rain, we continued on to the south end of Parque Pumalin, Amarillo. The entrance has a grass airstrip for small planes. We were astounded by the lack of maps. The park was mystery and a maze. We drove around the park, and again were astounded by the beauty and lack of people in the park.
We took a 4x4 only road to the areas with most of the camping, Evan promising we'd turn around if it got bad. We came across a beautiful meadow with views of mountains in every direction, obscured by the rain clouds. There were nice camp shelters and again a nice bathroom - camping in style! Our camp shelter even had room for us to put up our tent underneath, ensuring protection from rain.
We explored a bit when the rain took breaks, played cribbage, and cooked - onion, red pepper, tomato soup, couscous and curry powder - random but delicious combination.
We got up the next day and drove more on the super 4x4 road to get out of the park. The ferry was not quite as enjoyable in the rain as we were forced to sit inside. We made couscous and avocado pitas to enjoy and shared with our hitchhiker friends. We drove through rain all day to get back to ferry and head North. Rain and wind the whole time. Super soft roads, giving our Nissan March a run for it's money.
We debated about staying in a park just north of Hornopiren, but rather than choose to camp in in the rain, we continued on to Puerto Varas, driving all the way back and arriving at 10 PM. We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast run by the sweetest family. Wonderful hot shower and breakfast in the morning?! Yes please!!!
We topped the long day off with a late dinner at La Jardinera, salmon with shrimp risotto for Chelsea, and beef brisket for Evan.
Today was the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere, which is Chelsea's favorite day of the year - the longest! Unfortunately we didn't get to watch the sunset due to rain clouds, but we enjoyed every hour of daylight!
The next day, we got up early to make it to our ferry from Hornopirén. We were the first people in line, and had plenty of time to relax and have a cortado doble when the cafe at the landing opened. We sat outside enjoying the early morning light, eating oatmeal using hot water from the cafe and making honey and cinnamon pitas.
We transitioned over a short strip of land before getting onto another smaller ferry that lasted less than 1 hour, where most people stayed in their cars.
The facilities at the park were basic, but extremely nice. The bathrooms were clean, the soap dispensers were even loaded, and there were (very cold) showers. Outside of the bathrooms they even had sinks for washing clothes and doing dishes! This is high class camping!
As the evening rolled in, we met several groups of people at the campsite, and two of them were hitchhiking. They later asked us if they could get a ride to a 9 hour round trip hike to a volcano they wanted to do. We both winced because of the size of our rental car. We told them we'd promise them two seats (hoping they would be able to hold their packs on their laps. They agreed.
We cooked a delicious Mexican fiesta, onion and red peppers, mexican rice (chilean's version), black beans, topped with avocado.
Rain poured down that night and into the morning. We packed everything up in the rain, utilizing the picnic shelter as a dry haven. The couple walked over to tell us they weren't going to need the right anymore because they were going to skip the hike with the rain. Our plans were also altered as we originally wanted to do a much more mild 3 hour hike around a smaller volcano before heading into a town called Chaíten for a potentially hot breakfast. With the rain, we decided to flip flop - hot breakfast in town, then hike, hoping we could wait out the rain.
Chaiten was a small town, destroyed only a decade prior when Volcan Chaiten erupted, surprising the residents and forcing an evacuation. After a few years, the government supported a move of the town to a near by village, but the people of Chaiten said Heck No, and rebuilt the town right where it was.
Many places in Chaiten noted an 8:30 or 9 AM open on their doors, and yet 9 AM rolled around and nothing opened. There was no movement anywhere. We felt like it was ghost town, with only a congregation of smokers outside of one hospedaje.
We figured it was a lazy morning - dreary and rainy - we could just read a bit in the car and wait for things to open.
Nothing budged.
By 11 AM, we found a place called La Puerta (The Door) which was basically an unmarked restaurant down an alley. We got eggs, toast, and some tea. Better than nothing!
Despite the promise of continuous rain, we continued on to the south end of Parque Pumalin, Amarillo. The entrance has a grass airstrip for small planes. We were astounded by the lack of maps. The park was mystery and a maze. We drove around the park, and again were astounded by the beauty and lack of people in the park.
We took a 4x4 only road to the areas with most of the camping, Evan promising we'd turn around if it got bad. We came across a beautiful meadow with views of mountains in every direction, obscured by the rain clouds. There were nice camp shelters and again a nice bathroom - camping in style! Our camp shelter even had room for us to put up our tent underneath, ensuring protection from rain.
We explored a bit when the rain took breaks, played cribbage, and cooked - onion, red pepper, tomato soup, couscous and curry powder - random but delicious combination.
We got up the next day and drove more on the super 4x4 road to get out of the park. The ferry was not quite as enjoyable in the rain as we were forced to sit inside. We made couscous and avocado pitas to enjoy and shared with our hitchhiker friends. We drove through rain all day to get back to ferry and head North. Rain and wind the whole time. Super soft roads, giving our Nissan March a run for it's money.
We debated about staying in a park just north of Hornopiren, but rather than choose to camp in in the rain, we continued on to Puerto Varas, driving all the way back and arriving at 10 PM. We stayed at a lovely bed and breakfast run by the sweetest family. Wonderful hot shower and breakfast in the morning?! Yes please!!!
We topped the long day off with a late dinner at La Jardinera, salmon with shrimp risotto for Chelsea, and beef brisket for Evan.
Today was the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere, which is Chelsea's favorite day of the year - the longest! Unfortunately we didn't get to watch the sunset due to rain clouds, but we enjoyed every hour of daylight!
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