When we arrived in Pucon, we had plans to take part in all the outdoor activities the area had to offer; namely, hiking, biking and kayaking. Two solid days of heavy rain prevented us from doing much more than wandering around the city. On Wednesday, Claudio, one of the men that worked at the hostel (and owned the adventure company next door) approached Mark and I and told us that he'd be leading a group up Volcan Villarica, the active volcano that towers over the town. Many companies in the town offer this tour, but Claudio is our kind of crazy because he starts his tour at 4:30am (instead of the normal 7:30am) so that his group can be the first, and only to climb at that time. We hadn't really considered this trek until that point because it was expensive (relative to free hikes in the national parks), but his enthusiams had us curious. We did a bit of research and found a video on youtube that had us convinced.

The weather for Thursday looked sunny and clear and Burrill and Courtney were on board so we signed up, packed a lunch and tried to get to bed early. We got up at 3:30am the next morning to that we could make a big breakfast and check out of our hostel. When we met with Claudio and the rest of our group, we were fitted with water and wind proof jackets and pants, big hiking boots and a backpack full of gear. We threw our water and lunches in the packs too and set off. A winding gravel road brought us to the base of the volcano where we would start our hike, in the pure darkness of the night. There was a giant full moon to help light our way. In the darkness, you could see the top of the volcano smoking and occasionally it would glow red, which our guide explained was the reflection of the lava on the smoke.

The light in the sky increased as we walked and we got to see the sun rise about an hour or so into the hike. While spring is just beginning in Chile, our entire climb was done in the snow and it was all fresh. We were given ice axes to help with the climb. The base of the volcano has a ski hill and after about 2 hours of gentle uphill hiking, we found ourselves past the chair lifts and beginning the steep climb to the summit. The ascent was starting to get challenging but it was so great being up there, just our group of 12 - Claudio and 2 other guides, along with 9 hikers.

The further we climbed, the stronger the wind got and the steeper the angle of the mountain. And the more the ice axes became useful to dig into the snow to keep our footing. We climbed in a single-file line behind Claudio, who chose his path and footing very carefully. Mark swears it was an 80 degree angle we were climbing, and I would be hard pressed to disagree! As long as I set one foot in front of the other, I was ok. If I chanced to look to the sides or down, eeek! I thought we might be crazy for attempting this with no real experience!

Little by little, the peak was within reach. At times, it felt like we were crawling up the hill, we had to move so slowly because of the icy snow and the strong wind. But, after just over 5 hours of climbing, we reached the top! Because the volcano is active and because it was such a windy day, big clouds of billowing smoke were being blown at us and the sulfuric acid in the smoke burned the throat and lungs. We walked around the edge of the cone to get out of the path of the wind, but only were able to stay at the top for a few minutes because the gas was so strong.

As we started climbing down, the slippery, icy surface was hard to navigate an I was starting to wonder how we'd get all the way back down. When we left in the morning, we were given little plastic toboggans to strap onto our packs but we figured we'd have to climb to the ski hill part before pulling those out. Wrong! We descended the volcano in a series of toboggan runs! Claudio knew the mountain well so he would go first, make a path, and we would all follow, one by one. When we got to the end of his trail, we'd get up, walk a few or more feet over to the next run and slide down further. It was amazing! It would've been such a difficult climb down but instead was tons of fun and very quick! It took me awhile to shake the feeling that I might just toboggan off the side of the volcano, but it was fairly well controlled and they taught us to use our ice axe as a brake. I ended up a giant, living, moving snowball more than once, but I definitely wasn't the only one.

When all was said and done, we were back in Pucon by 2pm. We celebrated with some patio beer and spent the afternoon out in the sun, trying to warm up. We caught our bus at 8:15pm, and I think both Mark and I were soundly sleeping before 9pm.

We arrived in Santiago this morning and checked in to an amazing hostel near the downtown core. A beautifully restored building with high ceilings, and a gorgeous back patio with a swimming pool! It is delightfully warm here! After a quick breakfast at the hostel, we headed out to buy Mark's birthday present - tickets to see Chile and Paraguay play in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night before we leave for New Zealand. And a Chile futbol jersey to wear to the game.

We spent the afternoon just wandering around, getting a feel for the city. Santiago is gorgeous and just has a great, vibrant feel to it. We're going to try to visit Valparaiso (a nearby city on the coast) sometime this weekend, but Santiago will definitely take more than a day to explore.