When one drives around Lake Llanquihue, of which our visit to the Petrohué Falls was part, the Osorno Volcano is almost always visible.
It does sit right out there next to the lake, after all.
Let me remind you of the area by showing this map again.
The Area North of Puerto Montt
(Click on it for details.)
Lake Llanquihue is the large lake in the upper left, and Osorno sits just to the east, rising to 8,701 feet above sea level. Since the lake sits at 230 feet, the volcano really shows itself.
We drove around the lake in a counterclockwise direction, so the southern shore was first. I rather like this shot, taken from the moving car, with a cloud layer just below the snow line.
Volcán Osorno
Approaching the town of Ensenada is a nice scenic overlook, so here you can see Alan and me with our heads in the clouds.
At the Scenic Overlook
I’ve also stitched together a broad panorama.
Panorama
(Click for the larger version. If you look carefully you can probably see the software stitch lines.)
That gap to the right of Osorno is the valley that leads up to Petrohué Falls.
There’s a long, winding road that leads partly up the side of Osorno. In another moving-car shot, we’re looking back across the bay at the scenic overlook from the previous pictures.
Looking Back
The road up the volcano goes up to about 3,500 feet. Here’s the picture Alan took of the rest of us, also overlooking the same bay.
On the Volcano
The surface there was a very interested texture, and not the easiest to walk on. In a comment to my blog entry, Orongated, when Machi and I hiked up to the top of the volcanic Ranu Kau, barefootbrian noted:
I’m not sure how you dealt with the volcanic soil, but in El Salvador I had to resort to flips once in a while… the grit is something I’m just not used to. After a week, I was more used to it, but on a hike at the volcano at Alegria, ES, I again had to cave…
The stuff on Osorno was probably similar to what he was talking about. Here’s a close-up view of it.
Volcanic “Soil”
This surface is not at all similar to what we encountered on Ranu Kau, which had eroded way down.
The volcanoes on Easter Island have been extinct for at least 100,000 years. Easter Island itself sits on a hot spot near a Pacific spreading zone, which you can see in this picture (Google satellite). I’ve marked Easter Island.
Easter Island, Chile, and the Hot Spot Track
On the other hand, Osorno sits on the subduction zone, which is still very active. The Osorno volcano last erupted in 1869. While this stuff probably isn’t from that eruption, it is certainly much freshed than anything on Easter Island.
There was a trail leading along the side of the volcano that I would have liked to explore a bit, but by then we were running a bit late, so I had to be satisfied with looking around and taking a few pictures.
On the Volcano
(Photo credit: Alan Bruens)
So, here’s Osorno (we got a little bit of clearing) from the parking lot at the top of the road.
Things are Looking Up
There’s a ski lift that heads up the side (used, I bet, a lot more in the winter).
We could also see another valley heading off to the southeast.
The Southeast Valley
This leads to Lago Cayutué and the town of Cochamó on the Reloncaví Estuary, which is an honest-to-goodness fjord. (Do you want to know the Spanish word for “fjord”? fiordo.) We never made it there on our trip; if I ever make it back there again, that’s something I’d really like to see.
If you look at the terrain map at the beginning of this entry again, you can see Mt. Tronador to the east, on the border with Argentina. We also saw it on our way down the side of Osorno.
Cerro Tronador
Mt. Tronador has an elevation of 11,453 feet, so it really sticks up there (the snow-covered peak in the back). The valley below is the one with Petrohué Falls along it.
I will write about our lunch on the western shore of Lake Llanquihue when I continue this, but for now, let me finish with this picture, one of my favorites, of Osorno.
Osorno Across the Lake
We’re looking practically due east (maybe 15° south) completely across the lake.
How’d you like to have that in the background while eating lunch?
Ahcuah 
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