The Elvish Forest and the Magic Lagoon

Amber posts:

VIEW FROM THE BOAT, MT. TRONADOR, 3400M

CLOSEUP OF TRONADOR

(Picture: Boat to Peulla.)

On Saturday morning, we took a boat to from a dock near the tiny Petrohue to Peulla. Despite the thick fog, the sky opened and weather cleared up! We could see so many volcanoes and mountains all around the long, skinny lake we sailed through: Volcan Osorno, which we had skiied and slept on (see previous post), Volcan Calbuco, which we saw while skiing, and Monte Tronador and the absurdly pointy Volcan Puntiagudo. We finished the day by taking a 3 hour walk to the farm (llamas, baby sheep, pigs, deer, ducks, and chickens) and the local cemetary.

(Picture: Dad in front of Osorno volcano, flag of Chile.)

(Picture: Volcan Puntiagudo.)

(Another view from boat.)

AMBER WITH THE OSORNO VOLCANO IN THE BACKGROUND

(Picture: At the farm)

(Picture: Baby sheep!)

That night we stayed in a hotel. Splurge! Our first hotel! Hot shower! Little packages of shampoo! I was so excited. It was a nice break from the snorers, but I like youth hostels more; you get to meet more people.

Woke up this morning to a wonderful breakfast. Warm rolls, jelly, cereal, yogurt, fruit salad, juice, tea, and miscellaneous cookies and such. In Chile and Argentina many people like the taste of sweet for breakfast.

AMBER AT BREAKFAST AT LOVELY HOTEL PEULLA

At 8:30 we left for a long hike up to Laguna Margarita. Last night Dad talked to one of the hotel receptionists about our intended trek, and he wanted to come too! So we made a new friend, Gonzalo, who came along and led the way. Without him we NEVER would have made it.

The trip to the lagoon was easily the most difficult hike of my life. (Dad said it was one of the hardest he´s ever been on, too.) The entire route was uphill, but it was more than walking; many times the path would slope straight up, and you´d use roots and young supple bamboo to help pull yourself up. Logs blocked the path, so you either had to climb over or under them. Several times there was a rope tied to a tree to help you climb a particularly steep patch. The path was mostly soggy dirt, watery mud, and later snow!

(Picture: Amber and Gonzalo in Elvish forest)

We went uphill for 3 hours this way, Dad and I panting and sweating the whole way. Meanwhile, Gonzalo is practically sprinting up the path, gracefully leaping over the logs that Dad and I clunk over. At one point we reaced a difficult river crossing, a mossy, snowy log stretching across the river. Unafraid, Gonzalo walked across it like it was a normal bridge, stopping to take a picture of the waterfall behind it. A few minutes later, I crawled across it and Dad straddled it like a horse and inched himself across. There were several awesome waterfalls on the way up partnered with several difficult river crossings, but watching Gonzalo effortlessly find the best way made it a lot easier.
STREAM CROSSING ON SLIPPERY LOG

After 1 hour, we were in a very old part of the forest full of alerce trees. It felt JUST like the forest in Lord of the Rings, Gonzalo noticed, and by the end we were both whistling the soundtrack. I could feel the old silence of the majestic Alerce trees, dripping with pale green moss, fallen logs crowned with yellow twisting mushrooms.

CHECK OUT THE CONDITIONS ON THE TRAIL IN WINTER

At the 2nd hour bits of snow started to appear on the trail until suddenly the trail morphed into winter. You had to be careful where you stepped or you´d be up to your thigh in snow. Luckily a few hikers came through yesterday and we had some tracks to follow. Up there was another enchanted forest, completely different from the last one. Only three colors: the blinding white of the snow, the glowing golden brown of the trees, and the threataning grey of the thick, clouded sky.

Finally we reached the lagooon. Dad and I were exhausted, but Gonzalo was ready to run around the lake. Laguna Margarita was frozen solid with a pure layer of snow across it like icing on a cake. A huge rock loomed behind it, the deep gray of it framing the lagoons purity. (In the summer Gonzalo climbs the rock. He brought his ropes but didn´t have time to use them.)

NEAR THE TOP IN THE MAGIC FOREST

(Picture: Amber and Dad at Laguna Margarita.)

I wish I could stayed there for a few hours to sketch and take more pictures. I want to go back in the summertime, Gonzalo says there´s no snow and it´s beautiful in a completely different kind of way.

We left the lagoon at 12:30 after resting and admiring for about 20 minutes . Gonzalo said it would only take an hour and a half to get back the way we came. We thought he was crazy, but as soon as we started slipping down the steep slopes we had climbed up just a few minutes earlier we understood. Dad and I let Gonzalo run ahead after he led us back to the main trail, he had to get ready to work at the hotel.

GOING DOWN THE STEEP PARTS BACKWARDS IN THE MUD, OVER ROOTS AND SHRUBS

2 hours later we were back at the hotel (¨Oh rats! Civilzation!¨was my first reaction) smelly and with wet boots. We changed socks and shirts (Dad ripped a big hole in his!) and were ready to leave when Gonzalo the chamelion shows up at the reception desk, looking totally presentable and handsome. (Did I mention he was handsome?) We wrote him a nice note, and I said he was the Chilean version of Survivor Man, he liked that a lot.

Dad said our hike was 4000 feet of elevation, the same elevation as from sea level to the top of the Los Padres mountains.

The boat ride back to the dock was foggy and Dad and I wrote in our journals; we were blessed to have seen the mountain views clearly on the way there. Once we got to the port, we were in a bit of a predicament; it was 10 miles to Ensenada, and it was raining and windy. We were told there was a bus coming soon, but it never came. However, we only had to wait in the miserable cold for a little while because another guy wanted to get out of there, too, and he phoned up his friend to come pick us up! They dropped us off in Ensenada and we waited in the general store (its a TINY town) and ate some warm empanadas. The last bus came, and one hour later here we are in Hostel Compas del Sur in Puerto Varas.

I just took a luxuriatingly warm shower and am totally happy and warm. Dad just made us some tea. So many contrasts in one day!

Love Amber
GONZALO, OUR HANDSOME MAPUCHE CHILEAN SURVIVORMAN GUIDE

PS: Gonzalo´s parents are Mapuche indians native to the region, and he taught us how to say hello in Mapuche: Mari mari! (I can remember it because it sounds like Nari!)