Los Perros

Every place I visit I am accompanied by hundreds of furry four legged friends.  Though some are aggressive, bark loudly, chase cars, and even attack people, most are very nice.  Some stare lovingly into your eyes while furiously wagging their tails.  Others give a simple “hola” sniff and saunter off down the road.  Many just roam the streets searching high and low for the necessary food to make it through the cold nights.  A few have escorted me back to my house late at night and barked at anyone or anything that came too close.  During the day I have seen them relaxing and soaking in the sun in all necks of the Chilean woods.  They are found near the ocean, in stores, around farms, and in cities throughout the country.  I don’t know, since I haven’t asked them, but I feel that there is a certain charm to the life of a street dog.  Here are a few of my friends I have encountered on my journey. 

El Enladrillado: Alien Landing Site

           Against the recommendations of 20 people, my friends Riley, Helena, and I went backpacking in Chile in a beautiful location called El Enladrillado.  None of the people denied the beauty of the mountains; they all did, however, question my intelligence of hiking in late fall.  While I do value the concerns of others, I understand the inherent dangers of camping, as that is what I love to do. I tried to explain that I had gone camping and survived a night at the beach and in the mountains without a sleeping bag, pad, or tent before in colder weather.  I also explained I slept in a snowcave another weekend… all of which was futile.  After 2 weeks of semi-convincing everyone I knew, some very kind professors, neighbors, family, and friends, all contributed the necessary gear to help me venture into the unknown.  And we were off.

The Enladriallado is in a beautiful park is known for being a UFO (OMNI) landing zone.  After rushing to the terminal with backpacks 15 pounds too heavy were pleasantly surprised to see a bus full of other fools with large backpacks.  Apparently it wouldn’t be just the three of us Americans abducted this weekend.  After standing on the bus for an hour on the drive over, we finally arrived in Vilches to begin the journey.  We met an English professor from Michigan right when we arrived and felt a bit inadequate when he informed us he would be running the trail we would be hiking.  At 10am the journey began, or at least the first 2 kilometers up to the entrance to the park. 

As with most hikes, the first few steps are the hardest as you are trying to get your backpack adjusted and your body used to the idea that you are a pack mule.  At least the first few steps are the hardest until you are in the middle of the hike and then at the end.  I guess I know understand why everyone considered hiking such a “silly” idea; most people don’t deliberately like putting themselves into pain.  However, the three of us together were loaded with 4 pounds of trail mix, 14 pounds of water, 7 sandwiches, chocolate, and a battering ram size chunk of salami, an orange, hotdogs, tuna, and a slew of other goods, we swiftly arrived to our camp-site.  After a “quick” Chilean lunch and we made a side trip to a mirador “lookout” that looked down into the river valley and up to two volcanoes rising over 13,000 feet.  This spot was truly breathtaking.

We returned back and cooked up some homemade completos before a nice cold night outside.  At 6:30 am the next morning we heard the hustle and bustle of our neighbors and by eight, breakfast in our bellies, we were off to the Enladrillado.  The only thing in our way was 500 meters vertical and the wonderful force called gravity.  Ten seconds in I was looking for the chairlift… that was nowhere to be found.  The walk up was beautiful as we traveled through different shades of red, orange, yellow, and green trees until the only thing around were rocks.  Finally about two hours later we made it to the top.  This is what we saw…   

On top we met new friends from all over the world, who seemed just as interested in taking pictures of us, the three gringos, as we were of the scenery. We continued our walk through moonlike landscape to a beautiful mountain lake. With only a few minutes to enjoy the serenity we began our decent to the bus… hopefully... waiting for us 10 kilometers below.  As we descended, so did our sanity.  For an hour we played a game where you say one word and the next person says the first thing that came to mind… lets just say I felt bad for Helena.  For the first time in Chile there were more guys than girls.  Safe, but practically delirious, we finally arrived at the bus with time to spare.   

   

This was a wonderful trip. I really enjoyed being outdoors and in the elements, and am glad I could share this experience with two great friends.  This trip convinced me to return to Chile in the future and go backpacking down south in Patagonia.  My pictures are beautiful but can’t even give the location justice.  Everyone up north hope you are enjoying that summer!