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Hanging loose for the night in Villarica

By the time we got in the river, the clouds had formed overhead and it had started to rain. This bade ill for the volcano trip I was planning. That morning, I had agreed with a company called Sol Y Nieve to meet with them at 8:00 that evening to get my gear together for a walk up the volcano the next day. But it was apparent by the time I got back to town from rafting that this trip would probably not go. In fact, there had not been a hike up Villarica Volcano in 4 days. That morning, groups had started out and had had to turn back due to weather, while on other days it was raining in the morning so they didn't bother. Here the consensus seemed to be that the next day would be an off day for mountaineers.

So I hopped a bus back to Villarica, where I strolled around town not finding much of anything and ended back up at my hotel for a meal of veal wrapped in ham and cheese and omelette with mashed potatoes and a good Chilean wine. It wasn't a great meal, and I was driven from the restaurant by smoke from the patrons who had gathered to watch the soccer game on TV. With all that going on downstairs, the TV blaring, the sound of my neighbors, I still was so worn out that I managed to sleep only to awake in the middle of the night to the sound of a secret snorer and rain beating on the roof, reconfirming the cancellation of my volcano hike. So I let myself sleep well past 6:00 when I would have had to get up. And when I awoke at 8:00, I looked outside to an almost sunny day.


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Last updated: November 12, 1997