Man oh man, where to begin. It’s been 1 month (crazy!) since we touched down in Chile and so much has happened. I’ve started about three of these ‘trip update’ posts only to be distracted by something and want to start over with all the latest and greatest news. So here it goes, a general recap of one month on the road heavy in sarcasm and photos and light in the Spanish vocabulary I’ve learned so far.

The roads of Chile have been a joy to drive. I expected the tollways to be decent but even many of the backroads have been as smooth as what we’re used to in the USA. I mounted a camera on the dash a week ago because I wanted to be able to capture the views I see while driving without pulling over. Especially with the motorcycle in the foreground. I ran a remote shutter cable from the camera to my lap where I can push it easily while driving down the road. It’s not perfect since it’s shooting through often bug splattered glass but it’s much safer than trying to take photos while driving with hand controls. It actually gives a good feel to the roads we are on.

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The campsites we’ve found using iOverlander, an app for vehicle camping, have for the most part been tremendous. We’ve had a few so so area’s with lots of trash and whatnot but we’ve also had our fair share of jaw dropping, pinch me, “photos don’t do justice” spots. I obviously still gave it a shot- yes pun intended.

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The towns seem to be a mix of working class and extremely wealthy. I’ve been surprised at some of the houses and cabins I’ve seen out in the countryside. We’ve passed many absolutely gorgeous places that would be millions of dollars in the US. There’s BMW’s, Land Rovers, and definitely more money here than I had expected. That being said, it seems that most people live much more modest lifestyles than what we’re used to in the states yet are more content in doing so.

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We met up with one of Claytons friends, Benjamin, who has been driving south from San Francisco for 11 months now. He mentioned how great it is to be around other English speakers though I feel like we haven’t been on the road long enough to feel that relief. We decided to try a road outside of Púcon that surrounded the volcano. We learned a lot on this day so I figured I’d write it down while it’s still fresh.

The day started like any other with the camp departure routine. This includes putting everything away and strapping things down/storing things in a way that they won’t get thrown all over the van while I’m bouncing down a 4×4 road. This is completely underrated. You’d be surprised how much stuff shifts when you’re driving if it’s not secure.

We had chosen to try and drive around the Volcano on a road through Villarica National Park. We had heard of some hot springs and after 6+ days without a shower we were a bit excited.

The road started as a nice gravel path. Winding through thick trees, occasional houses and flowing creeks. I pulled over to air down the tires a bit to help with the bumps.

As Clay and Ben went ahead, the road narrowed and terrain became a bit trickier. The van was doing great until one spot where the trail narrowed and was washed out pretty severely. The van was too tall and wide to hug the one side where others drove and didn’t have enough ground clearance to take the alternate route but I was way to far up the trail to turn around.

“Hey Clay,” I radioed up, “I think I’m going to need a little help here.” I though I could maybe make it with a slotted but was is a precarious spot.

“I’ll walk back down,” he replied, “but there’s a truck going down right now. I tried to stop them but they went right by.”

Hearing this on the other end of the radio prompted me to inch a little further along which is right when I felt the front wheel start to slide. Uh oh, I thought. I may be getting stuck here.

As fate would have it, I also noticed a car in my rear view coming up the trail behind me.

“Clay, I need you!” I said through the radio with a little more urgency in my voice, “I’m pretty sure I’m stuck and there’s starting to be a line of people needing to get through.”

By the time Clay made it to me there were a bunch of Chileans who had gotten out of their cars and were eager to help. It was at this point that I realized a few key things:

1. Nobody could tell I was in a wheelchair and was therefore confused why I wasn’t getting out of the car to help.

2. My Spanish is not sufficient enough to explain that I’m in a wheelchair nor how to get a vehicle unstuck nor seemingly anything else for that matter.

3. All the recovery gear (including the winch remote) were buried in a cabinet that requires removing the bed because we doubted we would ever need it 🙄🙄 Rookie move Kirk.

4. I had not gone over how to properly winch with Clay prior to this situation assuming he had used one before.

On top of it all, my power door jammed and wouldn’t shut properly along with the power step not retracting because the door wouldn’t shut. Everyone kept insisting they had the best solution and asking for the remote to use the winch. Clay and I were communicating the best we could as fast as we could but it was chaotic and I was certainly embarrassed. I just wanted to get out of there! These are the most powerful learning experiences.

We eventually decided to back down the long narrow trail, step hanging out and door partly opened until we could find a place for everyone to get by. It seemed the quickest way to get us out of the predicament with the least amount of communication possible.

Once we made it out of the way I finally remembered to take out my camera and snap a few photos.

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We continued to stay out of the way while the two wheel drive sedan that was behind us atempted the hill itself. Thank goodness it didn’t make it or I’d be very upset with my driving abilities.

As the sun began to set, our stomachs were growling and hangriness was setting in so we decided to take the night to repair the door and reset. I was annoyed with the situation and myself so decided taking a night to reset was well worth the time. Within a couple hours we had fixed the door and step and with food and beer in our bellies we were level headed again.

The next day after Clay had an experience of his own trying to scout everything, we decided to give it another go. I had explained winch rescue 101 and pulled all recovery supplies we would need out from their stupid hiding spot. Unlike the day before, only one or two cars that passed us and the five hours we had been up. We literally must have been trying to go through the spot during rush hour!

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To my surprise the original spot I was stuck in the day prior seemed much better. People also gotten stuck there and spent some time trying to make it a little more passable. That being said, the van still had at the very last point so we pulled out the shovel and dug what we needed to to get out. We ended up not needing the winch after all!

The rest of the road, though technical at times was absolutely beautiful. There were these amazing Dr. Seuss looking trees but only grow in this region of Chile. We never saw another vehicle on the trail and eventually made it to the geometrica’s hot springs that were worth the effort to get to.

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