It took a couple of years of planning, hundreds of kilometres of riding and maybe just a couple of pisco sours along the way to carefully hone H+I Adventures latest tour to Chile and Patagonia. Having finally realised this dream destination this blog follows the experiences of the first intrepid adventurer to take on this bucket-list ride.
Bienvenidos a Chile!This is my first time in Chile and to say that I’m excited is something of an understatement. We arrived in Temuco a couple of days ago to recover from the long journey and adjust to local time in preparation for the big adventure ahead.
On the first morning of our Chilean adventure Ernesto, our local guide is itching to get on the road to share all his favourite trails in the Lakes and Volcanoes region of Chile – his home. We load up the van and get going at 9 am to our first destination, Conguillío National Park, about 90 minutes drive from Temuco.
The drive to Conguillío is gorgeous, and we arrive at our forest lodge accommodation, even more eager than before to start mountain biking. However, we have the small matter of bike building and pre-trip briefing to deal with first, so we settle down to a light lunch, over which Ernesto talks us through all the details of our Chilean mountain biking adventure. After lunch, we swiftly build bikes and saddle up for our very first ride in this region.
We set off from our woodland retreat onto the vast lava flow of Volcano Llaima, which is like riding on the moon, with black sand and rocks, rising up to meet the snow-capped peak of the volcano itself.
We ride for a few hours exploring the lava flow doubletrack and delving into the singletrack along the banks of the turquoise glacial waters of Lake Conguillío that delivers an untold number of photo opportunities and what has to be an all-time top-5 snack spot. As we arrive back to our woodland accommodation, we deal with any small tweaks needed on our bikes, grab a quick shower and gather in the dining room for our first evening meal together around the huge fireplace, with jazz music quietly playing in the background. As warm-up days go, this has got to be one of the best I’ve ever experienced!
On our second day in the Lake and Volcanoes district, we leave Conguillío behind and head for Pucón. For the first part of the day, we load the van for a short shuttle out of town and into Villarrica National Park. Once we’re all ready and raring to go, Ernesto casually informs us that we’ll be starting off with a singletrack downhill – which makes for a welcome change from a climbing start!
After a 1.5km descent, we take a sharp left turn uphill alongside an enormous, charred lava flow, covered in soft green mosses, which illustrates the first of many such juxtapositions we would encounter in the natural landscapes of Chile. As we continue to climb this singletrack trail, we suddenly become aware that we’re being followed by a wild fox. His inquisitive nature keeps him coming closer and closer to us and then as soon as the cameras come out he puts on a performance that any A-list star would be proud of!
We continue to climb through further rugged landscapes for another hour until we reach the Villarrica ski resort, before embarking on our descent back to the valley floor, and our small, friendly hotel in Pucón.
After a quick shower and a change we depart, feeling refreshed, on a short drive to a local Mapuche community, where we learn all about their history and culture, including ancient herbal medicines, clothing, music and celebratory customs. We round off the evening by joining the family for a traditional meal round the fire, an integral part of Mapuche life.
Today we leave Pucón behind and start our ride on the incredible ‘Transvolcanic trail’ which leads us across a high level pass, and gives us our first sighting of the indigenous araucaria, sacred to the Mapuche people. We then take a singletrack trail to the head of Pichi Llancahue glacier. This glacier is covered in volcanic ash from the March 2015 eruption of nearby Volcano Villarrica, so it looks quite different from how you imagine a glacier, making it all the more astonishing.
After admiring the glacier we commence our descent to the valley where the thermal springs are awaiting our arrival. I can’t think of a better way to relax after a day of hard mountain biking, and these hot springs are some of the best in the world, set sympathetically into the natural surroundings and giving us plenty of privacy to relax in the pools of varying temperatures to suit all tastes.
We arrived late last night to the Huilo-Huilo reserve, so today we get our first glimpse of the area we’ll be calling our home and playground for the next few days. We ride straight from the accommodation along the river to an old logging way, that signals the beginning of our climb. This is a mix of doubletrack, singletrack and ancient paths that crisscross the forest. When we reach this morning’s high point at the wide open plains of Pampa de Pilmaiquén, we have stunning views over to the Mocho-Chosheunco volcanic ridge.
This route takes us all the way to the border with Argentina and our extra special transfer back to the village of Puerto Fuy, on the other side of the mountain range. As we return, the evening light is golden, the sun is just dipping behind the snow-capped volcanoes, giving us an incredibly serene light in which to ride the last 2km back to our cabins.
Our second day in the Huilo Huilo region again begins by riding straight from the cabins. This is a really tough climbing day, so we have the support vehicles within easy reach to assist with the ascent should we need it (and, yes, I did need it for the last steep kilometre!). I have to say, though, this climb, big as it is, is worth every bead of sweat and turn of the cranks. When we leave the tree line that sits just below the highest point, our breath is genuinely taken away. There are 360° views over six volcanoes and countless mountains, all the way to Argentina.
Of course, this has to be our lunch spot and we spend an hour or so taking in the view and making sure we get ‘that’ picture for the photo album. Once we’re all fed, watered and photographed out, we start the descent which features about 1000m of singletrack and some doubletrack.
We leave Huilo Huilo the next day and continue our southwards journey to Puyehue National Park where we shuttle up to the Antillanca Ski resort, to begin our ride/hike-a-bike to a total height of 1,600m on Haique Hill. From the top we have more outstanding views over volcanoes Osorno, Puyehue and Puntiagudo, which make us forget the climb we’ve just done (what climb?!).
We ride off the back side of the mountain to be met with wide open volcanic ash slopes, where we choose our own lines leading into thick forest that gets warmer and more humid with every 100m we descend. From the sparse, wind-swept summit, down to the dense, humid forest below, I feel something of a sensory overload by the time we drop out into the sunshine at the bottom of the trail!
The next morning we awake with Osorno volcano towering over us and watching our progress as we make the short drive to the start of our final ride of our adventure. Today’s trails offer up plenty of variety, from double track climbs to wonderful, technical singletrack descents to the shores of Lake Petrohue and our beautiful lakeside hotel, complete with emerald glacial river and volcano views from the bedrooms. We spend the evening enjoying a traditional asado of local lamb and vegetables, accompanied by some of the world famous Chilean red wine, as we share pictures and laughs around the fire into the wee small hours, to celebrate the end of one chapter of our adventure and the start of the next.
First thing the next morning we pack bikes back into their boxes, say an emotional farewell and thank you to Ernesto for an unforgettable week of biking, and head to the airport to fly south to Punta Arenas and Patagonia. On arrival at Puerto Montt airport our bikes are sent to the freight department and shipped to Santiago for our return from Patagonia, and we board the plane south.
The next chapter of our adventure begins in earnest as we arrive at Punta Arenas airport where our local Patagonia guides are waiting to transfer us to EcoCamp, our home for the next four nights.
The van journey is about six hours, but infinitely picturesque and accompanied by many sightings of native wildlife, like the majestic guanaco, ñandu, hares and grey foxes. When we arrive the sun is almost gone, so we only get a short glimpse of the famous granite towers before retiring to our cosy tented domes for a great night’s sleep.
After breakfast we load into the van for our first hike in the National Park. We are tackling the Lazo Weber trail today, which is a great introduction to Patagonia and a worthwhile acclimatisation hike after being in the volcano region where the temperature can be vastly different, even in summer. The hike delivers 360° views over the entire landscape and Torres del Paine massif, and on a clear day you can even see the ocean! It is a 5-hour hike, so nothing to be sniffed at. When we arrive back at EcoCamp our legs are tired and satisfied and we’re ready for a relaxing evening, which is just as well, as they have a glass of Pisco waiting for us as an aperitif.
Yesterday was a good day for stretching and using our leg muscles in a different way, and today we get to sit down and work the arms. Our goal today is kayaking at Grey Glacier, which runs off the Southern Ice Field into Grey Lake, a truly breathtaking and emotional place. Photo opportunities start as soon as we arrive at the lake and see the aquamarine icebergs drifting on the surface. We then board an ice-breaker boat that will take us one hour up the lake where we abandon ship at a small hut to start our mesmerising kayak trip to the glacier itself. The scale, power, cold, wind, sun, blues, greens, blacks and sounds are almost too much for us to handle, in this unbelievable natural theatre.
The following day we have a tough, 9-hour hike, that will stay at the forefront of my memory always. I can’t really put into words what it’s like to be there, actually in the images I’ve dreamed of for so long, so I’m not even going to try. You have to experience it for yourself to really feel what it is to be in Patagonia.
When we arrive back at camp, we’re greeted by the crew, who show us into the dome where the fire is glowing and the Pisco is flowing! We wash up and get the party started, as the next morning we have to commence the long journey home to our respective countries.
On leaving Chile and Patagonia I have mixed emotions. I feel utterly privileged to have had this incredible experience; I feel delighted to have shared it with such a wonderful group of people, whom I feel very sad to leave; and I feel a slight pang of grief to be leaving this mesmerising place, but at the same time determined to return again. Well, I did rub the Indian’s toe in Punta Arenas, and they say that if you do that you will return. Who am I to argue with Chilean folklore?!
MENTIONS:
@HI-Adventures
www.mountainbikeworldwide.com
Thank you guys for share this amazing trip!
Wish I was in the worlds top % that could afford to vacation like that.
2. The people on this trip paid somewhere between $5-6k USD to attend. I looked into the website.
3. That amount of money is substantial in a world where over 30 million people are enslaved, and around 800 million are malnourished and without access to clean water. No you can't just freely move country to country to make opportunity. Look at all the displaced refugees who are in the news right now. But it's easy for us to say that people who are oppressed are so because of their own pathetic lack of ambition. They should find better jobs and cheaper rent so they can afford this vacation.
You can support Donald Trump, it's your right.
Refugees are supporting evidence to combat your claim that we are all directors of our own lives. It's probably the only thing you've said I actually don't agree with. It fails to take into account that variables such as where we are born, who our parents are, when we are born, and where we are born. Honestly any of those variables that our outside out control will impact who we will be. It's wrong to think that someone born into slavery in North Korea is the director of their own life and is at fault for not making themselves a path to betterment. People are oppressed.
Obviously I'm talking globally here and it might not apply to you or I or anyone on this site for that matter. The point is that you taking $3000 CAD vacations every year makes you well off by the global standard. The two sentence comment I made was qualified with that standard.
I did misrepresent myself in not including myself in that group. Could I afford this trip? Yeah, but I've got other things I've prioritized for my $5k. I wish I had a larger excess and then I could take trips without having to budget for them. That's all really. I'm jealous. The trip looks cool.
And in closing, I have trail forks. My Spanish can use some work and I am a pussy.
Xoxo