Volcano Climbing, Bike Riding, and Hydrospeeding...Oh My!!

Loving life
Bike ride to the waterfall
Pre Hydrospeeding
Volcano Villarica
Volcano shot

If getting attacked by dogs is cool …consider Elias Miles Davis. Despite Elias’s run-in with a 150 lb Newfoundland dog our weekend was a success. A group of 11 of us (mostly from Bridge) traveled 10 hours south to Pucon this weekend. Pucon is the adventure capital of Chile. In 4 short days we were able to ride bikes to a waterfall, climb an active volcano, go hydrospeeding, relax at the hot springs, and drink coronas by the beach. Not too shabby. The 11 of us arrived to Pucon early Friday morning after a 10-hour night bus. I am proud to say that I slept through the entire ride. This is quite the feat and not everyone in our group was so lucky. We decided to take Friday relatively easy and go on a “leisurely” bike ride. Not so much. The bike ride was 40 kilometers of what seemed like never-ending hills. The bike ride led to a beautiful waterfall where we were able to relax and regroup for a bit. Several injuries, 2 lost shoes, a flat tire and a short hitchhike later we made it back to our hostel just in time to barbeque and watch Elias get mauled by a dog. Our hostel and home for the weekend boasts 2 very large bearlike dogs. Apparently when we checked in the owner forgot to mention that the larger of the 2 doesn’t take kindly to men getting in his face. Elias learned this lesson like he learns most other lessons …the hard way. He made it out of the fight with just a scratch on the nose and in true Elias fashion was back to playing with the dogs (minus the getting in his face) in no time. Saturday morning 6 of us got up bright and early to climb the active Villarica volcano. I’m not going to embarrass myself by saying that I found it extremely difficult and can’t remember my legs ever hurting so bad. So I will just say that it was incredible. Anything that calls for full winter gear and an ice pick is fine by me. The climb took us about 4 hours. Despite the beautiful day on the ground, the winds were treacherous on the volcano. I spent most of my time singing the Rocky theme song to myself because it was that extreme. By far my favorite part of the volcano was sliding down. We were given mini sleds and literally got to sled down the entire volcano. The rest of our Saturday was spent day drinking and going to hot springs with our entire entourage of 11. Dare I say it was the perfect day? Sunday was spent doing next to nothing. We woke up, we drank, we ate …a lot, we drank a bit more, and then we drank on the beach. Just a little something I like to call “Perfect Day Round 2.” 1/2 of our crew went back to Santiago Sunday so we were down to 5. The remaining 5 of us spent our last day in Pucon hydrospeeding. This is like white water rafting in your own styrofoam boat. It’s not exactly street legal in the states…which officially makes us badasses. Nevermind that I practically had to have my own guide because I couldn’t control my “boat.” If a video of us hydrospeeding put to Snoop's “Nothing but a G-Thing” doesn’t scream harcore…I don’t know what does. After hydrospeeding we indulged in a huge dinner before our 10-hour bus ride back to “reality.” I don’t even think I know the meaning of that word anymore.