Hiking in Huerquehue National Park

Anni had been suffering from a heavy cold for 3 days, but the Termas seemed to have worked its magical cure, and so as we checked out of our hotel,we decided to spend the day hiking. We drove 30 minutes out of Pucon into the Huerquehue National Park. We were by now completely familiar with the pot-holed gravelled roads, but this one added a new twist - sharp, ascending, hairpin bends on loose gravel that needed to be taken in 1st gear. Undaunted we arrived at the Ranger Station and signed in. We were told the walk to Los Lagos (the lakes) was 2 hours up and 2 hours down. I calculated we would just have time to do this and still make our evening flight from Temuco, 130km away. The map at the Ranger Station showed the walk as medium, but, this evening, as I am writing my report, I notice my guidebook classifies it as "a serious 5km (3 mile) climb". The guidebook was right!

Huerquehue National Park is beautiful, and we had a perfect day to see it. There was not a cloud in the sky, and the temperature climbed steadily to a pleasant 17 degrees, ideal for walking. The ascent was unrelenting. In the more difficult parts the Rangers had built stepped wooden walkways, and as we climbed higher, groups of men were improving the path, removing tree roots, carving out steps, and building hand rails. With so much activity there was no likelihood we would be attacked by Pumas that are known to inhabit this region. The dappled sunlight filtering down through the trees, some of them hundreds of years old, produced a wonderful sight that no photograph could hope to capture, whatever the quality of the camera. Finally, after 2 hours of hard slog, and at an elevation of more than 1600 metres we reached the first of the Lakes. It sparkled with an iridescent green-blue hue, and the limbs of the fallen trees around its edge were picked out in stark relief by the clear mountain light. This proved to be the most beautiful of the Lakes. Anni made the right choice, staying to enjoy it and recover her breath, whilst I rushed on another kilometre to view Lago Verde.

We completed the descent in 90 minutes and both collapsed in to the car, exhausted by our efforts. I made the airport with 30 minutes to spare. This had been my perfect day. Not a moment wasted

!