I arrived to Puerto Montt at midday from Santiago and as an added side trip we headed south to Parque Nacional Alerce Andino. The most hiking I've done in a while at over 11 km total; it was a nice change from the sedentary lifestyle I'd had on planes, transfers, and hotels the couple of days prior. Highlights, beyond the lush temperate rain forest we were hiking through included a 3000+ year old local species of tree (the oldest known to be in the area), a waterfall and Lake Chaiquenes (the halfway point of our hike, picture in the previous post).
Puerto Montt as a town had very few highlights for me beside the large dinners with wine. The city's mainstay is Salmon farming, which over the past 20 years has more than tripled the population to more than 300,000 people. The town and area has a large German influence due to a large number of immigrants. Much of the local buildings reflect this influence with intricate wooden siding.
The remaining two days in the area were spent on day trips - one to Chiloe Island to the south and one to Orsorno Volcanoe. Chiloe was a marathon of a day, taking in the towns of Ancud and Castro, and also the Penguin colony on the west coast of the island (the highlight for me with breathtaking scenery along the coast).
Snow-capped Orsorno (picture in previous post) also has a ski resort, although closed for their summer, it still offers scenic chairlift rides up a rickety double chair at half speed. We opted for the equivalent 40 min. hike instead. Another lake (Emerald) and waterfall ended our day trip to Orsorno.
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