This Adventure Called Life: Leaving Antuco, celebrating my birthday, and walking to Community Puente Ingles and San Fabian

Louise, Neon and Fidgit leaving Antuco

Fidgit walking along above Laguna Las Lajas

The (late) morning of January 1st, 2017 (how did that happen?!) Fidgit and I packed up and hitch-hiked back to the trail. We got a ride with a kind couple who were only going a short distance and dropped us at a bus stop a few kilometers past their turn off. We then were picked up by a guide/engineer, Louise, who was heading to the same place we were for a day-hike. Louise ended up walking with us most of the day, excited to have company as well as share his knowledge of the area with us. We parted ways late in the day when our paths diverged. Fidgit and I headed up a steep rocky area to continue Jan's GPT route along Laguna Las Lajas, and Louise hiked to a lake nearby before returning to his car. We hiked a few more kilometers up and found a campsite near the ridgeline. Tired from the hike and so much socializing in the past couple days, I fell asleep quickly after dinner.

We woke up to a chilly morning, packed up and walked along the ridge most of the day, sharing company with some condors floating lazily above us. Though the ridge-walking was mostly water-less, the route dropped down for a short time to a water source before climbing back up and continuing its march along the ridge. We spent the evening dropping steeply down the northern end of the Laguna and were able to find a lovely place to camp near a meadow speckled with horses and cows.

Fidgit checking the GPS above the Laguna

In the morning, I woke up to Fidgit having sneakily decorated the tent while I slept. It was my 32nd birthday, and she had found some decorations in town. I'm very lucky to have such a compassionate hiking partner, and usually wish that I could be so thoughtful. We hiked on, through a windy valley that led to a low saddle between some peaks, and we dropped down to an old access road. At the road, we decided to push to see if we could make it to a marked hot springs by evening. Music in my ears and road walking made the kilometers go by faster and we made it to the hot springs around 8 p.m., just in time to be invited to have dinner with the caretakers, Yoanela and Miguel. They were so kind, and even took part in Fidgit's idea to sing 'Happy Birthday' to me. After we agreed to join them for breakfast the next morning, Fidgit and I went to sleep near 1 a.m. - far past my bedtime.

We made it to hot springs for Neon's 32nd
birthday!

After a lovely breakfast the next morning, we decided to stay a day, rest, and learn more from Yoanela and Miguel. They shared much information, including their family history of coming to these springs for generations. Their passion and knowledge for the area was evident and we discussed them often as we continued our hike northward along the cordillera.

We valley hopped a couple of low saddles and then began our climb to Volcan Chillán. Up a steep, well-used horse path we went for 5 kilometers to come over a crest to the view of the volcano with some horses staring at us in the foreground. We then crossed a high valley to some more natural hot springs! We unfortunately didn't get to spend as much time at these springs as the last ones, though we were able to enjoy them for a time.

As we crested the next saddle along Volcan Chillán, we heard something that sounded like a rock slide. Looking toward the noise, I watched a large plume of smoke rise from the mouth of the volcano. I had assumed that most volcanoes were dormant or aggressively active; as it turns out, some are minimally active. We watched the smoke travel across the sky and cover the sun above. A short while later, ash began raining down as we made our way down the valley. We sped up and made quick time getting down to the river at the bottom of the valley.

The hot springs caretakers with some
of Manuel's wood work

After crossing the river and not seeing any more smoke being burped out of the volcano, we stopped to eat some lunch before heading up to one last pass before town. Over the pass, we came down to a valley and were able to follow a well-traveled animal path to a road which then led us into the community of Puente Ingles.

Staring horses at the pass near Volcan Chillan

We arrived in Puente Ingles on a Saturday which wasn't convenient for catching a bus into the nearest sizable town of San Fabian, but was convenient for hitch-hiking into town. Even then, it took a while for someone to pick us up, as most of the vehicles that passed were stuffed with people and things. We were finally given a ride by a local man out with his son for the day. He told us about many things on the ride, including the large dam that is being built along Rio Nubles that, once built, will flood the community of Puente Ingles. We arrived in San Fabian and found a hostel run by a kind woman named Angelica. She welcomed us in and helped us with more information about the town, including where the internet was(the town square) and where to find food (which markets had what) Thanks to the locals, we were able to make the most of our time in town.