Cajon de MaipoCajon de Maipo

Published on October 6, 2019 ⋅ 4min read

The jagged peaks reared above us like stallions, bedecked in snow. The sky, a brilliant hue of blue, an almost-plain canvas painted with a wash of wispy clouds. Below, the cold, harsh terrain gave way to rugged scrubland, where a herd of horses grazed peacefully in the isolation of El Morado national park. Birds flittered about merrily, tweeting to their heart's content; an unorchestrated symphony of birdsong. There was naught else but the distant rush over glacial meltwater down the valley to break the otherwise eery silence of the mountains.

Our third day we rose even earlier -- we must have been getting used to the timezone change already! The plan for this day was to head up the Maipo canyon valley to Baños Morales, where our first mountain hike would begin. Due to the infrequent departure of the buses, we allowed ourselves several days to make it there and back, as we didn't really know how easily we'd be able to get there.

Turns out, it was actually not that hard!

We got off the metro at Bellavista de la Florida and followed the signs to Conexión Intermodal, where the buses would be. The bus we needed was there waiting and we bought a ticket to San José de Maipo for $1200 Chilean Pesos (about €1,50). No sooner had we boarded the bus, did it start leaving. We couldn't have timed it better! An hour and a half or so later, we found ourselves out of Santiago and well up the valley. At San José we had to wait about an hour to catch the next bus to Baños Morales, which only had limited departure times per day. The bus came shortly after 1pm and after a very bumpy journey, an hour later we found ourselves at our destination.

Baños Morales is small. I don't even think village would be the correct term, it's more like a hamlet. Nestled under the mountain peaks, it's not hard to wonder why anyone would live here, let alone want to live here.

We discovered we were too late to start hiking in the national park, as they had a cut off time of 1pm. We'd have to attempt it the next day. Instead, we pitched our tents in the campsite nearby and took a walk further up the valley, making the most of the setting sun to get some photos of the surrounding area.

Once the sun set behind the mountains, it became really cold. Dad, being the pyromaniac he is, didn't hesitate to start a fire. We boiled some water for our 3 minute noodle dinner and augmented the noodles with some salami and leftover mushrooms. Mmm. Delicious! It's quite likely that this will be our standard fare for many a night to come. After finishing our dinner, the cold drove us to the warmth of our sleeping bags and with little else to do in the dark, up in the mountains, we tucked ourselves in and called it an early night.

We awoke to a brisk morning. With shivering hands, we packed away our tents. We were pleasantly surprised to discover the entrance to the park was free of charge due to the weekend being an environmental awareness celebration, so that saved us $6000 pesos.

The track started off rough. The first 1.5km was incredibly steep. Just up and up and up. Within 5 minutes my legs were searing with pain. It didn't help that I had over 20kg on my back -- but that was going to be the reality for the rest of the trip! I was quite concerned about how exactly I would manage the 1200m altitude climb during the Torres del Paine trek later... After 3km, the ground levelled out for a while. We reached a nice meadow, where a herd of horses were grazing peacefully, and behind them we had a clear view of Cerro El Morado, the tallest mountain in the park. We continued onwards, the flatter ground once again giving way to a steady rise.

The ascent took us just over 2 hours, a total of 550m altitude gain. The Laguna Morales was at an altitude of 2400m, which is the highest I've ever climbed thus far. It was only a small lagoon, formed from glacial meltwater. I must say, after the initial steep climb, by the time we'd reached the lagoon I was much more confident about being able to manage the 1200m pass. Once my legs had warmed up and I got a good stride going, it became easier.

We stopped for a brief brunch of cereal, biscuits and nuts, and snapped a few photos, before starting our descent.

We were concerned about missing the return bus to San José, so we powered down the hill. What had taken us over 2 hours to climb only took 1.5hr to descend! While easier on the legs, it was much harder on the feet. By the time we reached the bottom of the track, the balls of my feet were beginning to feel a little raw, but fortunately no blisters had formed.

We needn't have worried about the bus -- we ended up having to wait 3 hours at the bus stop! The downtime wasn't all bad though, we took off our packs, relaxed, stretched, and absorbed the mountainous scenery one last time.

In San José, we once again set up our tents in a campsite near the town's edge. I roamed about the site, collecting firewood and kindling while Dad prepared the fire. Once again, we had our delicious noodles and an early night.

I'm already over the noodles.