Huerquehue National Park

After 2 days of driving and flying we decided that we needed some exercise so this morning we drove into Huerquehue National Park for the Los Lagos trail hike located about a 45 minute drive from Pucon. We gained about 700 metres of elevation before reaching 3 lagoons allowing panoramic views. One could see Mt/ Volcano Villarricia in the distance but it remained elusive shielded by surrounding clouds. I really found the vegetation very interesting. There was bamboo ground cover and many large trees which I thought were Douglas fir but when I researched things they are actually a tree known as a coihue (nothofagus dombeyi) tree indigenous to Argentina and Chile. Correct me if I am wrong Mark. Around the lagoons there were araucaria trees ie monkey trees and on the slopes of the mountains above the lagoons one could make out groves of araucaria trees. It was really neat. The lakes opened up views of the surrounding mountains. We had lunch beside one of lakes and on our way down we saw a Magellion woodpecker which was about the size of a Paletted woodpecker that we have in Edmonton. We took the wrong path on the way down as we distracted by some friendly Chileans who had engaged us in conversation and took the wrong path down to a pretty spectacular waterfall before realizing our error and back tracking to the main trail.We were both pretty tired when we got back to the trail head and had a drink at a rustic cafe before driving back to Pucon.Read more