REGION AROUND PUCÓN (PART I)
The first set of these pics are area around Lago Villarrica and Volcán Villarrica, both near Pucón. For pics in the mountains east of Pucón, go to Part II.

First, views of Volcán Villarrica (9340 feet above sea level) from the town of Pucón...







The obligatory "palm and snow" pic from Pucón (though the palm wasn't actually in the snow at the time)...



A "Hope" sign in Pucón, but in this case, not for Obama...instead, this is for a candidate for Diputado (Chile's "House of Representatives"), Andrés Jouannet...



And, right behind that...a cultivated chestnut (probably Chestnut castanea, the American chestnut)...



Click here for more pics of chestnut trees around Pucón.

Now for views on the volcano...



Up in the snow (this is late November, equivalent to late May in the Northern Hemisphere), with still-leafless southern beeches (probably Nothofagus antarctica). This appears to be around 4500-5000' above sea level...





An evergreen shrub (Drimys winteri var. andina, a shrub form of the canelo tree) beneath the southern beeches (surrounded by snow)...



View of Lago de Villarrica from the slopes of the volcano...



Volcan Llaima in the distance...



Panoramic mountain view (with Llaima to the left)...



A smaller sub-peak on the north slope of Volcán Villarrica (with both evergreen and deciduous southern beeches). The evergreen beeches are probably coihues (Nothofagus dombeya)...



Another view, with lots of deciduous southern beeches just beginning to leaf out...



A close-up view of the peak (yes...those are climbers you see)...



Now...along the lake shore of Lago de Villarrica (near Pucón)...



Lake shore houses...



A very common tree across south-central Chile...the Chilean firebush (Embothrium coccineum)...



Now...on the southwest side of the lake at the town of Villarrica (the previous day when it was cloudy)...



And finally, the outlet from the lake, the Río Toltén...



Want more around Pucón? There's more in Part II (the mountains to the east).

All of the above pictures on this page were taken in November 2009 by Brandt Maxwell.

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