Cerro La Campana (The Bell Mountain) is a prominent peak in the coastal range in Chile close to Valparaiso. This is the main attraction of LA Campana National Park which also has numerous trails around the base and several camping areas. I learned about this mountain a couple of years ago and had planned on checking it out being close to Santiago but never had the opportunity. Now, on vacation, we finally were able to do it. Since we were staying with my aunt in Concon, we took a cab early on the morning for the hour drive to Sector Granizo, one of the park entrances were the trail to the summit starts. Once there, we got our permits, geared up, and started our climb. From the beginning, we could see, far up, our destination. We walked first thru part of the camping area following a creek bed that was completely dry. Soon after that, we started climbing thru coastal forests. Even though we’re used to coastal forests here, this one looked different. Being dryer and warmer, the predominant vegetation is Peumo and lower shrubs. Still, it provided plenty of shade we were sure to miss further up. For most of this first section, the views were very limited. We only saw little hints of our destination and Olmue behind us.
Much of the same with little vegetation changes continued while we passed a couple of rest stops and until we reached Sector La Mina (The Mine). At this point, the trail crosses the Granizo Service Road used only by authorized vehicles. We stopped here for a quick bite while enjoying the first real open view of the hike. From this point, the views extend west towards the coast and the ocean which you can see on clear day. We weren't that lucky as a grey haze was hovering over the coast. The other interesting things in La Mina, was the actual mine shaft. There were no signs or information about it just a big shaft that, from the looks of it, it seems it’s been used for nothing more than a bathroom. We didn’t go in investigating as we knew we still had a ways to go to reach our goal. The other interesting or even weird thing, was the cow. Yes, a cow drinking water from a water spigot and then resting in the shade of a small tree. Weird. After that, we started and took the first wrong turn. Instead of following the trail, we followed the service road and learned quickly that we were on the wrong path. We backtracked to the mine were we found the cow now resting in the mine’s entrance, passed it and continued on. As we gained elevation, the vegetation started to thin out and get lower. Little by little the views were getting better. Not only the rock formation were pretty spectacular but expansive views towards the coast were phenomenal. Ahead of us we could see the big rock wall that, at some point we would need to go around. Just at the base of the wall, we got to Darwin’s Memorial. He explored this area and summited La Campana for the first time in 1834. This memorial commemorates that expedition. Then the trail got rocky. We started following the side of the wall as we continued to gain elevation under the shade of the huge rock wall. Looking back or up almost made you dizzy. We noticed that there must be a lot of rock climbing activity in this area as some of the rocks are marked with routed going straight up. After passing a big rock field, the shade was over and we were under the blazing sun. Little by little we continued up thru rock fields and a winding trail as it climbed the base of the rocks to the East end and opening new views of the Andes. Finally the trail made a big turn north and then west again to aim straight to the summit going thru giant boulders. Far up ahead our destination popped into view identified with the Chilean flag. Close to the summit we has our second wildlife encounter.
This time with a little fox. At first we though “cool, wildlife” but then we realized this poor thing was very used to human activity and probably has been fed by visitors. Instead of running away from us or being scared, he started following us from a distance with the recognizable look of “where’s the food”. I have to say that, it was nice to see a fox n such proximity but sad that he’s been fed and not scared of humans any more. We wondered if he would be able to survive without human intervention. At the summit we sat and had lunch while we admired the 360 degree views. To one side we had the Andes, to the other the Coastal Range and to the other the coast. You’ll notice though something very disappointing and I must mention it. If look closely, all the rocks have graffiti painted on them. For reasons I do not understand, In Chile it’s very common to deface or damage natural surroundings with Graffiti. Looking at the writing on the rocks, you can see they have been there for several years so it’s not something that gets washed out with the rain. It certainly explains a lot about the Fox as well. The outdoor culture doesn't seem to exist there.
After relaxing our legs for a while, we started our descend following the same path down. It was a long way down to get back to the trailhead, but out hike didn’t end there. Since we had taken a cab to the park, we didn’t have transportation out of the park. After using the restroom and changing, we continued down on the road to a bus stop were we took a bus down to Limache were we would meet my uncle and aunt – not before having a tasty Chilean empanada
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