Home » Chile » Valderi, Valdera...some people call it a higher plain

I could just about crack it for a few bars of “The Happy Wanderer” Is it just the lack of oxygen? I don’t think so, there must be something more….but everyone is so cheerful! Along the road the road workers grin and wave, a gaucho herding some horses along the river bank waves his hat, I almost expect him to pull out a colt 45 and fire a few shots into the air, backpackers waiting patiently by the road wave and smile, call out greetings, cyclists nod or wave, depending if they’re on the ascent or descent, at every stop along the way people wave and smile…it goes on and on…<br /><br />

Valderi, Valdera...some people call it a higher plain

Bill Shum
2006-03-24 21:16:36

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seeming to have found the perfect pace,, just one step after the other, breathing at a fair rate but not hurting, I went thru a couple of pain barriers on the first couple of stages, now just head down and do it! We are he lead group for our mob I think, and I can look back and see many of the young and fit struggling with the climb. Ha!

We stop for a lunch break and I dig into some chocolate and fruit, some of the truly dedicated, in the tradition of the triathletes, break out several bags of hi-energy stuff and chaw down on mouthfuls from each bag, they even have 2 or 3 different drinks..

Onwards ever upwards, its getting severely steep and we criss cross back and forth and even some directo uphill bits that strain everything...a bit of vertigo cutting in as the bozo in front of me slips back and nearly takes me out...aaarrgghhh, slippery icy snow all the way to the rocks below...at the next break I get in front of him but still its a steep edge and the footprints are dicey to follow.

From time to time the call goes up..'piedras' or 'rocas' as a lava rock, dislodged by something or someone higher up, comes thundering past!...gathering a collection of smaller rocks on its way...like a prophet surrounded by his accolytes all hurtling into the abyss.

Well, to cut a long (6 hours) trip short, we got there. Then up to the actual crater, man oh man, craggy edged and a steep slope down to the devil’s lair, the crater is about 200 metre across and 100 deep, at the very bottom a small vent in the rocks gives out a red
glow, there’s the sound of venting, bubbles of molten rock, your real porrige of lava, great bubbles of molten rock, unbelievable... then a bit of a roar, smoke rushes out and then a mighty spit of lava bursts out of the vent, up and outwards, great gobs of lava, glowing red hot, splatter over the rocks and quickly cool to grey, I can feel the blast of heat from up on the edge….that’s pretty impressive, well, worth the trek! The big spits are every 3 or 4 minutes and unlike the glacier calves, these are pre-announced by the roar and the rush of smoke.....kaplooie, a monster spit blows bits of magma up to our eye level..sheeee-it!! As the bloke next to me says, it would only take a little bit of that to spoil your whole day!

The guide tells me that it blew bigtime in 71, killed 23, again in 84, killed 30, now I'm oing the maths...hmmm the ods aren't good, I gingerly move back from the edge..hehehe

After an hour or so of watching the fabulous views and the eruptions we head down, putting on the waterproofs and into the fun zone! We are led to these slides where
On the Mountain Passseveral earlier bums have made tracks down. Another brief safety note to hold ice pick a certain way to slow down! Ha…I sit and start to slide down, totally out of control, this is insane, a real St Moritz bobsled thing but without the bobsled or the safety rails and down this gigantic mountain..aarrgghhh…soo fun, and with stops every few hundred metres where everyone slams into the first arrivals if they don’t get out of the way in time!!..ice picks flailing, snow and derision all over, laughing like fools, then on to the next one.

So that’s it..one day watching glaciers calve, another watching the lava blowing out, what a life!

Ah, the sense of achievement, ah the stiff muscles this morning, ah time for a coffee and I’ve found a WiFi at the pub on the corner….pix to with any luck…

I’m good, hope you all are too..

I love youse all…still!

And Happy Stralya Day!!