Summer Adventures in Patagonia: Chaiten and north on the Caraterra Austral

After getting back to Coyhaique after fishing, I hopped on a bus and had a days travel north passing all the spots up the Caraterra Austral that Lucy and I had biked earlier on the trip. It was pouring with rain, quite a change from the sweltering days we had enjoyed and I felt for the cycle tourists we passed as the rain pelted down.
I had two days in Chaiten waiting for the ferry to get to Peurto Montt and spent these exploring the Parque Pumalin and the caldera of the Chaiten volvano that blew up in 2008. The town was pretty messed up after the eruption with a lahar bringing a meter of ash and mud down the river and flodding a lot of the houses, many of which have now been taken over by the government and apparently there is a debate going on as to whether the town should be abandoned or rebuilt.
It is in a good spot and some great people trying hard to make a living, so hopefully it survives.
The volcano walk was terrific, it was a bit of a climb to the rim of the old caldera where one could look across to the new rhyolite dome that is smouldering and steaming. The old rim was heavily forested and now it looks more like a world war 1 battlefield, with all the tree´s either blown over or snapped from the force of the eruption with all the bark on the side facing the volcano stripped off and the wood full of pockmarks from the pyroclastic debris, while the side of the tree´s away from the volcano retained its bark and some are now starting to regenerate, you so you get these half green trees.
The area is quite beautiful and lush and in the Parque Pumalin we walked to a few waterfalls and also to see the ancient Alerce tree´s which are up to 3000 years old.
I caught the ferry north to Peurto Montt on friday, got in very late and then hit the seafood market the next morning. It was good, but not much chance to eat much except for mussels, clams and fish...although their were one or two interesting little critters for sale raw.
Now the plan is to head across the border to Bariloche via one last national park, Puyehue, and if the clouds lift I might get a two day walk in before flying home.....