We entered the Lake District of Chile yesterday, an region filled with volcanoes, crystal lakes, lush forests, and thermal springs. Into the town of Pucon, where adventure devils delight in the vast array of outdoor activities surrounding this tiny mountain town. Whitewater rafting, trekking, canoying, kayaking, volcano climbing, and more are offered here. The highlight, at least for me, was Villarica Volcano (2847 meters). The 200 meter wide crater of this active volcano holds a lake of lava at a temp of 1250 degreesC. The peak is covered by 37 square km of permanent glacier. It is the most active volcano in South America with 59 recorded eruptions, and if I was lucky, as the guide said, I might see it explode.

So today I scratched 2 things off the ¨Do Everything List¨. 1) Climb an active volcano, this I would absolutely do again..amazing, and 2) climb a mountain in the winter with crampons and icepick.. and this I am happy to have done but not do again. Mother Nature was definitely the better woman in this competition.

We started at 6am just as the sun was rising, and with a last check of the weather and some extra layers (it was really cold), started the 5 hour ascent. The views on the way up were amazing, and this is when my pictures were taken. About 400 meters from the top the sky suddenly changed and the wind started whipping snow in our faces. Our guide said we might need to turn back if it got worse, and 10 minutes later we did. The sulphuric fumes were strong and we would have to use our gas masks if we continued, but with the weather not looking good they decided to turn back. By then you couldn´t see anything, or tell you were on a mountain, as it was covered in a blanket of clouds and snowing. The way down was hard, our muscles were exhausted and we didn´t get to stop for our 45 minute lunch break on top of the volcano. All you could see was the feet of the person in front of you, and all we could hear was ¨Dig chicos, Dig!¨as they reminded us to thrust our crampons with every step into the glacier as we crossed it. We zigzagged down for an eternity and were tired. As I lifted a foot to make a turn a gust of wind knocked me down (I was wearing a 30 pound backpack), and I started sliding down the ice past my group. Like it had a mind of it´s own my icepick moved quickly and dug in just as they showed me, anchoring me, and I manage to roll onto my belly and dig my crampons in to get back on my feet. I stood up and a turned around to see Sebastian, one of our guides, behind me as he had slid down after me to catch me if I didn´t stop. He grinned and yelled ¨Yeah Chica, you beat it!¨. I might have cried if he didn´t do that but instead I laughed and we continued, finally to make it down 4 hours later. At the bottom we looked back up at the volcano, drank a beer, and Ruben another one of our guides taught me an ancient Inca prayer word Apachekta, which is used when one climbs a mountain and arrives safely.

Later we headed for the riverside thermal pools called Termas Los Pozones for some much needed hydrotherapy at the base of the mountain. Great day!