מסלול עד שבוע בצ'ילאן ”Trek Puyehue“

This trek includes climbing the volcano Puyehue, hot baths and geisers.

The start of the trek is at a farm called El Caulle. You get there with a bus from Osorno to Anticura and ask to get off at El Caulle. There are busses every day at 10:30 and 15:00 from the market (not from the bus terminal!). Another option if you come from Argentina is to take a bus from Bariloche to Osorno and ask to get off at El Caulle. 

Across the road from the entrance there is a hospedaje with a very nice señora who loves Israelis, she also sells bread and empanadas. There is no supermarket so you have to buy food for the trek in Osorno (the supermarket Lider near the bus terminal is recommended!), or also in Bariloche but then you can`t pass fresh food in the border.

When you enter the farm you have to pay 7000 pesos per person. The start of the trek is a difficult climb from altitude of 500 meters to 1500 meters where there is a refugio, this takes about 4-5 hours. From there you can climb the volcano til you get to the crater which is covered with snow. From there you have a great view of the mountains around, like volcan Osorno, the Tronador and the Villarica, and of lake Puyehue. 

Part of the way down you can slide on the snow. Bring warm clothes and something to slide on (for example a storm suit). If you arrive to El Caulle in the afternoon, sleep there and start walking early next morning, and you`re not exhausted from the climb to the refugio, you can climb the volcano the same day. If not you can climb it the next day. Anyway you sleep at the refugio.

Next day you walk to Los Baños - where the river forms a few pools heated by geothermal activity. It`s supposed to be a 4 hour walk but when I was there there was a lot of snow (out of season...) so it took me 6 hours. A hot bath after a day of trek is really one of the greatest pleasures of life. :) You camp for the night at the baños.

From there there is a walk of 4 hours (round trip) to the geisers. These geisers don`t really spray water, only vapor. On the way there is also a beautiful lake.

From there you have 2 options - to continue north to Riñiahue (2 days walk) and there take the bus to Osorno, or to return the same way to the farm. I`ve been told that the part from the baños to the north is not interesting so I walked back. From the baños to the refugio it takes the same time to return, and from the refugio down to the farm it is much faster on the way down - about 2.5 hours, so there is no problem to walk from the baños to the farm in one day. The bus from there to Osorno goes at 12:00 and at 16:00 every day.