Climbing Vulcan Casablanca, 16-18/1 2026

16 January — Friday

To make my way to Osorno I took the bus from Puerto Fuy to Panguilli, where they recommended me to take a local bus to Valdivia and then another bus to Osorno. All said and done I arrived in Osorno in the evening. 

17 January — Saturday

When waking up I felt terrible, my feet are hurting from just standing up, and my right hamstring is extremely tight. I decided to continue with my plans anyways, for now. 

Unfortunately there is no (or few) buses going to Lican or Anticura. Instead I took the bus going towards Agua Calientes, and jumped off a few kilometers before the bus’s destination. From there I started walking on the tarmac towards Lican, about 15 kilometers, but I’m hoping to hitchhike. However, after 7 kilometers of walking I had been passed by hundreds of cars and none stopped. And my hamstring is not improving, on the contrary, it is getting worse. 

After much self debate I took the disappointing decision to not continue with my plans, thereby, avoiding coming home to Sweden completely wrecked. I have to save some energy for the possible long distance ice skate season that seems to coincide with my homecoming given the current weather forecasts, fingers crossed. 

I walk the 7 kilometers back from where I came, still no cars are stopping. I guess it is because of the border and the people traveling here are not the friendly locals living in the countryside that I have previously hitchhiked with. No, these are ordinary big city folks. Being back from where I started I walked another 4 kilometers to Agua Calientes where I planned to stay for two nights and relax. 

You know you have come to a tourist location when they accept payment in USD. All the tourists were also sort of a give away, and the camping prices, whoa. But the camping comes with its own hot spring in which the rest of the day is spent. 

But you know what, I’m really bad at relaxing, and in the evening I’m already bored. Oh well, volcano climb tomorrow it is then, it is only 45 kilometers with 1700 meters elevation. Much as that might sound I will be hiking with a small day pack and tomorrow will be, unless something weird happens, a much easier day than most of my days on the trail.

18 January — Sunday

It turns out the Bertin trail I wanted to hike to reach Antillanca, from where I would make for the Volcano Casablanca summit, was closed. That means I had to hike 20 kilometers on a dirt road instead. At least I made quick work of that. 

In Antillanca I took a bit of a freestyle route, summitting from the northern ridge, extremely windy, hard to stand tall at times. But amazing views all around, so many volcanoes. I could clearly see the GPT19 surroundings, and I got many good views towards Argentina. 

Going down the summit I took the regular route, which was much easier as it is hiked by many people. It is a good thing I did not pursue GPT19, even if part of me regrets it, I’m tired. Not physically tired in the sense that I cannot perform. I’m tired on a deeper level, everything I do comes with internal resistance. 

I took a short break at Antillanca ski center before starting walking back on the road. After about 5 kilometers a man stopped and asked whether I wanted a ride back to the campsite. Sure why not. Made my day easier. 

That concluded my last South American adventure, hopefully, I would prefer not to have an adventure on my journey back to Sweden. Overall, I have had a blast! A summary and some reflections to follow on my last and final South American post (for now!). Stay tuned for next week.