I got a little taste of Patagonia when I went to Pucón a few weeks ago. The small resort/adventure travel town is roughly 600 miles south of Santiago, about a 10 hour bus ride. The mountains, rivers, hot springs, waterfalls and lake were all breathtaking. But perhaps the most amazing experience I had in Pucón was climbing Volcán Villarrica. It took about five hours, but I made it all the way to the summit. It was very exhausting but I’m so glad I did it. In the experience of climbing the volcano, I learned a valuable lesson about wearing sun block in Chile (unfortunately the hard way). Here are some of my favorite shots from the trip.

Dense forests surround the volcano, very different from the arid north of Chile.

Natural hot springs, with many pools of all different temperatures, crop up around the volcano.

It's just the end of spring here, so flowers are everywhere.

Snow at the summit of Volcán Villarica.

Summit of Volcán Villarica

Snow plow seen climbing the volcano.

Colorful kayaks on Lake Villarrica

And a couple of panoramas: