If you read our post Chaiten: The first Patagonian outpost, you should already know that about a decade ago the town was completely wiped out by a volcano eruption. Since then, everything has been gradually getting better and better but Chaiten is still far from being a modern up-to-date tourist destination along the Carretera Austral 7.
Everyday at 12.00pm the town’s alarm rings loud and clear. People just don’t care, don’t notice it or simply got used to it over time but not us. As outsiders, your mind immediately thinks the worst “Great, we’re here for the second eruption. We gonna die…” or even worst when your un-survivalist photographer instinct kicks in “Imma take amazing pictures of the eruption!”. Thankfully – even though those days are not too far off in the past – people has nothing left but vague memories and a loud sirene to remember.
But if you had such a (in-) famous volcano nearby, would you not take advantage of it? And that’s what the townspeople have been doing in recent years. Nowadays, hiking the Chaiten Volcano is not just an activity is THE activity to do if you’re planning to visit town. Kids, seniors or fit youngsters it doesn’t matter: the volcano – allow us the joke – warmly welcomes everyone.
Entrance fee
Free, as mentioned above it’s not exploited yet.
Bus to Caleta Gonzalo
Getting there
Public bus: This option only works on the way TO the volcano and not on the way BACK. Everyday there’s a public bus leaving for Caleta Gonzalo at 9.30am (1100CLP) which can drop you off in front of the entrance of the volcano path. Easy peasy. To get back you have three options which are (1) Hitchiking, (2) Going back with one of the vans of the tourist agencies that did guided tours to the volcano that same day or (3) wait until 3.30pm for the Kemel Bus that does the P. Montt to Chaiten itinerary.
Tourist agency: The easiest option yet most expensive is to take a guided tour from Chaiten which obviously include transport to/back. At Natours you can find it for 15’000CLP/pp, Chaitur for 10’000CLP/pp and Ruta Patagonia 7 for 10’000CLP/pp. If you wanna save some pennies, Chaitur also offers only transport to/back for just 5’000CLP/pp. It’s double the price of the local bus but half the price of a guided tour. Not a bad deal, uh!
What we did was to go with the 9.30am bus making sure that Chaitur had free places to head back to Chaiten and after we finished the hike we simply waited for the Chaitur group to finish to join them. A one-way trip with Chaitur (only transport) to the volcano funnily enough costs only 2’000CLP.
Marta at the beginning of the path
The Hike
Easy, well marked and terribly rewarding. No other way to describe it. We arrived at the beginning of the path to the volcano at around 10am and it took us a little less than 2hrs to get to the top. We did take breaks on the way up but very short ones and no more than three times. So yeah, nothing hard. The trail starts flat but after a while it just turns moderately steep until the very end of the volcano. Once again, nothing difficult even though you could possibly described it as “challenging”.
On the top, saying the views are stunning would not be giving it enough credit. Your jaw will literally drop on the floor. The green of the trees perfectly bonds with the emerald blue of the rivers and creates a surreal landscape deserved to be called Patagonia. Meanwhile, the volcano and its constant smoke just sits in the back reminding everyone that it’s not done yet.
The way down is much easier and it took us only 1h15min to get back at the starting point, without any sort of break (a break to take a picture of a hummingbird doesn’t count, right?). Once back, make sure to wait for your drive a little away from the road cause cars speed by really quickly and you don’t want to breathe in all that dust!
Have you done trek? Did you enjoyed it? Got any news about recent changes in transport? Let us know in the comments!!!
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