Pure nature in Chile’s lesser-known Patagonia

While Patagonia, the vast region that makes up most of South America’s tail and is shared by Chile and Argentina, has become increasingly traveled and celebrated, this area is one of its lesser-known corners. Queulat National Park opened in 1983 — after the Carretera Austral highway finally reached here that year — so the park’s 600 square miles of mountains, forests, rivers and glaciers are still pristine. The journey started with a flight to Balmaceda airport, about 2½ hours south of Santiago and about three-quarters of the way down Chile’s long stretch of 2,700 miles, and then it was a five-hour drive north on the Carretera Austral. Rodrigo Hernandéz, the group’s guide, explained how early explorers once thought that there were monsters — Patagons — here at the bottom of the world, hence the name Patagonia. There was a full ceiling of stars across the clear night sky as we crossed the calm waters and docked at the small jetty. The lodge, which can only be reached by boat, is popular for its volcanic hot springs — which we hoped would ease our post-hiking aches during the coming days. In the morning, I opened the curtains to see the completely still fjord with a light mist rising from it, and the snow-topped Andes silhouetted by the orange glow of the rising sun, perfectly mirrored in the water. Behind the lodge was dense forest and enormous nalca plants (Chilean giant rhubarb); the only sound was of running water in the distance — the hot volcanic waters making their way down the hill to the springs. “When a Mapuche dies, they can live again in the tree, especially in the silver part of the leaf,” said Rodrigo, as I quietly examined a few silver leaves for any signs of life. Back across the fjord, we drove north for 20 minutes to the tiny village of Puyuhuapi to visit historian and author Luisa Ludwig, who lives in a large yellow wooden house that is also a guesthouse, Casa Ludwig. Luisa’s German father, Karl, was one of the three original founders of the town in 1935, when the Germans came here looking for a place to settle to escape the economic woes in Europe. At the start of the 20th century, the Patagonia area was so sparsely populated, the government offered free land to lure people to live here. Like much of Chile, the area is on an active fault line, and there’s a volcano nearby, which could go off at any time. Near Los Gnomos Lagoon (Lagoon of the Gnomes), a glacier bowl with a huge lagoon of ice at the bottom, we sat on a rock with our picnic lunches and took in the scene, listening to the sound from the immense waterfalls. On another trek, after crossing the wobbly bridge in Queulat National Park — being careful not to test the “maximum capacity” — we followed the 2-mile, mostly vertical trail, climbing uphill over branches and following the mud path through the trees. [...] we reached a view of the Hanging Glacier, a spectacular mass of blue-white ice that, like other hanging glaciers, terminates at the top of a sheer cliff. Suddenly one of the waterfall streams split into two as the glacier calved a car-size ice block, which plunged into the valley, followed by a thundering rumble as the crash of the impact reached us. A night at Puyuhuapi Lodge and Spa costs $130 to $160 per person (sharing) and includes breakfast, hot springs, boat shuttle and parking. Guided hikes to the Enchanted Forest or Hanging Glacier cost $58; a guided hike on the Chucao trail walk is $15; and kayak rental from the lodge is $9 per hour.