Summer Trip South: Cochamo and Termas del Sol

When we got to Cochamo, we stayed at a private campground next to the Cochamo River. Drew and I were leaving the next day for a two-night backpacking stint in La Junta up the Cochamo Valley, which is the Yosemite of Chile. The Grandparents graciously agreed to watch the boys in our absence, as its an 8-mile hike into La Junta, and we wanted to do an even harder hike from there. Looks like the boys and Grandma and Grandpa had alot of fun while we were gone.

The campsite was right by a river, so the boys got to play around.

Nothing like a campfire in the great outdoors.

And s'mores, of course!

On day 2 it rained ALL DAY, but the boys seemed to make the most of it. Luckily it wasn't a cold rain.

Waterfall hike with their new adventure backpacks. Adventure's out there!!!

Drew and I left around 8am on Friday, Dec. 19th. Our goal on Day 1 was to complete the 8.5 mile hike from the trailhead up to the meadow of La Junta, or "The Junction," where the Cochamo River and the La Junta River join together. The hike we were doing was originally a cattle crossing over the Andes into Argentina. La Junta is a spot about a third of the way to the pass that has these towering granite peaks all around, giving it the name the "Yosemite of Chile." It is very well known for climbers to go there, and hikers too. 

The hike up to La Junta was super interesting. It did not have a ton of elevation gain. But you could see the paths where countless cattle have been herded down the mountain side, wearing down the clay into these serpentine paths through very dense forests. It felt like you were hiking through the trenches of WW2. It was all well and good when the bottom of the trench was dry, but many times there was tons of muck churned up by the horses that now go up and down from La Junta packing in goods and packing out trash. So to avoid the muck, you'd have to hike up on the sides of the trenches, which at times was easy and at times was not. It was not a hike you could just turn on autopilot and cruise onwards. You were constantly evaluating your footing and deciding if you needed to do a little hop, skip, and jump on rocks to reach the next firm surface, or if you needed to abandon ship altogether and jump out. Fun really. 

The granite peaks surrounding the meadow were stunning. Well worth the effort.

The house in this picture looks to be the original homestead here, still in use. But the family that lives in this meadow built a modern house just up the hill from the original one, and it looks amazing, like something you'd find on Nantucket! No idea how they got the building supplies up there, maybe by helicopter? 

This wooden structure was specifically for all the campers. One half was a dining room (basically just picnic tables with a roof) and some sinks, and the other half was the "fogón" or a room with a fire in the middle of it and benches all around. We became quite familiar with this room as on Day 2 it rained all day. Our original plan was to hike up to the lake at the base of Mt. Trinidad, but that simply wasn't possible. So, we spent the day relaxing, which was nice in itself with no kids. 2 hours reading, two hours in the fogón warming up and shooting the shit with other campers. 2 hours reading, lunch time. etc. The hike out was even more fun as there was twice the amount of muck. Drew and I ate it a combined total of 3 times. But no one got hurt, it wasn't cold, and we had fun. Definitely want to go back.

The next day, as a treat to ourselves for Christmas, we spent the day at some hot springs called Termas del Sol. I'm so glad we went, because they were the nicest hot springs we've ever been to. There were 10 pools, ranging from 36 degrees C up to 45 degrees C, and all the pools were surrounded by nature in this really lovely way. It was super relaxing, and I'd go back in a heartbeat. And in a few weeks they are opening up a Spa! Girls' trip, anyone ?!?!?

Summer Trip South: Puerto Varas

After Frutillar, we drove around the south western corner of Lake Llanquihue to a place just outside of Puerto Varas. One of our Bradford Dad friends has a friend who lives in Puerto Varas and is a fishing guide, so we decided to go meet a local. His name is Felipe, and he had two kids aged 12 and 10. This map shows Lake Llanquihue. You can see Frutillar on the west side, and Puerto Varas on the south. We stayed nights three and four at the red dot, just a few minutes east of Puerto Varas. Puerto Montt is just south of us on an inlet that heads out to the Pacific Ocean. There is an airport there that connects to Santiago if anyone wants to fly in here for future travel!

                     

We were able to park the vans in a field next to this gentlemen's house, which the boys loved to run around in. It was hilarious, because they'd be running, then they'd eat it, either accidentally or on purpose, and they'd fall down and disappear completely from sight. Like a corgi jumping through the snow. 

We arrived on Tuesday night. Wednesday morning it rained non-stop, so we cuddled up and hunkered down for several hours. Luckily having the two vans is nice for the boys to get a change of scenery. A couple of hours here and a couple hours there. Around 2pm, the rain stopped, and we were able to get out of the vans and go for a walk-about. The house was up on a hill, so we had a really nice view of the surrounding farms and the lake.

Walking straight down the hill took us back to Lake Llanquihue, so we spent some time enjoying the late afternoon sunshine. 

Thursday morning, Drew and his Dad were going fishing with Felipe as their guide. On our drive to the river, we passed a lookout for the Osorno Volcano, and it blew me away. We finally had a sunny day and, man, was it spectacular. 

While the guys were fishing, me, the boys, and Grandma spent the day at a private park. It had a cafe, bathrooms, a pump track with bikes for rent, and a playground. What more could you want! We spent the morning here, had lunch, and then hiked 3 miles to the river which was the takeout point for the guys. I wished we had gone to the river sooner, because it was also stunning. Same crystal clear waters. Mountains all around. 

Pics from Drew and Brian's fishing day. Drew ended up catching 5 fish! All catch and release trout. The horse flies were bad on this river, hence the face mask Drew is wearing. 

After reconnecting with Drew and Brian, we drove on to Cochamo, which is where we will be staying for the next several days. The drive from Puerto Varas to Cochamo on a sunny day is one of the most scenic drives I have been on in a long time. I could easily spend a month here. 

Summer Trip South: Frutillar

Today's the day! The sun is shining, the tank is clean! (Finding Nemo joke). We're officially heading out for a 10 week road trip through the South of Chile! The van is packed, and we're ready to go!

My in-laws, Brian and Karen, are accompanying us on this journey in their own slightly smaller camper. Anyone else have in-laws who are this adventurous?  I didn't think so.  We're so glad they're coming, as the boys love all the Grandma and Grandpa time. It also gives Drew and I a bit more flexibility to leave the boys in their care and go do some harder hikes that wouldn't be possible otherwise. And, finally, to be frank, I'm not entirely sure Drew and I have the camping cred to pull this trip off on our own. Brian did an incredible amount of work on both campers ahead of time to get them trail ready. Plus, these two are super experienced, with two trips from Michigan to Alaska under their belts, and another summer spent throughout the Western US. We needed their know-how, and they graciously came along, making this whole thing possible. Big shout out to them. 

We're on the road again! I can't wait to get back on the road again!

The first day was a travel day. We drove 9 hours from Santiago to a little town just south of Temuco called Quepe. If you were in a car, this drive would only take about 7 hours, but we are not winning any land speed records in our vans. This little town has a nice sized central square with a police station right there and public restrooms, so it was a good place to stop for a night's rest. I found it using iOverlander, which is a website documenting both official and unofficial camping spots for campers, tenters, etc. Most of the places we'll be staying at on this trip I found using iOverlander. It was perfect for the night. Because it was a Sunday (I wanted to leave Santiago on a Sunday as that's when traffic is low), there was even a little market going on in the park when we arrived, so we got to stock up on some local produce. 2lbs of cherries for $1.50, anyone? It was a very quiet place, except for the handful of people driving around the town honking their horns and celebrating after Kast won the Presidential Election that day. But they stopped early, thank goodness. 

On Day 2, we drove 4 more hours to a town called Frutillar. It is a German heritage town, settled by 50 German families in the 1850s. What are Germans doing in the South of Chile, you ask? Apparently Chile gave these German families lots of fertile land in exchange for their agricultural and technological know-how. The land needed settling, and the Industrial Revolution in Europe was making life as a farmer more difficult there. So the Chilean government created a program to lure the German farming families here (mainly from Hamburg), and it worked!

The town is very quaint. It is set right against Lake Llanquihue, which is the 3rd largest lake in South America. The water was crystal clear and cold. Lots of old, German style buildings. They even had a Biergarten where we had lunch!

On the other side of the lake is the Osorno Volcano. We really only got to see it kinda one time, as the weather so far has been very erratic. Hot, cold, hot, cold. Sun, rain, sprinkles, sun, clouds. Everything. But, we were warned about this. The weather in the South of Chile is a complete 180 from Santiago's hot hot hot summers. Here it is more like Alaska summers. But getting to see the Volcano when we did was pretty spectacular. On a clear day, when they do happen, it must be jaw dropping. 

Frutillar is also known for its music scene. It's even considered a UNESCO Creative City of Music (Did you guys know there was an UNESCO designation for that?). It has a huge music festival one week every summer, and it has a gorgeous theatre right on the water for its events.  The town is itty bitty, so the fact that it can support a music venue of this size is impressive. 

Art piece in town that captures Frutillar's vibes!

The German influence of course means there were many bakeries selling German cake, or kuchen. We, of course, had to try some. Didn't disappoint. 

There was a playground right on the lakeshore, so the boys had a great time playing in all forms. 

Emerson mainly, but also Avery now too, is starting to really get into chess. They've been watching Drew play alot the last couple of years, and Emerson got to take a chess class at school last semester. Now they both play alot, so they were thrilled to find this giant board in the center of town. 

Frutillar, in addition to the quaint German houses and the yummy bakeries and the music, has a flower scene that is out of control. I have never seen such lovely flowers. This climate must be treating them right, because, wow, they were putting on a show. I felt like my Mother. Have you ever seen THIS MANY hydrangeas on one bush? Have you?!?!? It was outrageous! I'm definitely getting old if I'm using the word outrageous to describe flowers. Jajaja

I've never seen dark pink hydrangeas like this before. And to see pink, purple, and blue all on one bush!

On our second day in Frutillar, we went to the German Heritage Museum to learn all about what the German settlers' lives were like. They had a water wheel powered grain mill, a blacksmith shop, and a bunch of old tools and machinery. Plus the grounds were really lovely. Worth the $3 admission for sure. 

Anyone ever see an orange bumblebee before? Maybe that's the secret to these gorgeous flowers. The giant, hardworking bumbles. 

While in Frutillar, we camped in the overflow parking lot for the theater. It was actually perfect because it was walking distance to town, it was free, and there were woods right next to it, so the boys ran amuck every chance they got. That's always their favorite part of any camping trip we take. Running amuck in the woods. 

Here is a map of the distance we covered from Santiago down to Frutillar. We've basically passed through the entire fertile region of Chile, and after this, we're transitioning to fjords, and inlets, and lakes. 

This map puts where we are in perspective in Chile as a whole. After this, it will be much slower going.