Volcan Lanin - 2-day summit walk - 3776m

We hiked to the summit of Volcan Lanin in March 2015 by ourselves.

This is not a walk for beginner but it is relatively affordable for used hikers and a good way to reach a 3500+ summit. A lot of people choose to get a guide to do it and I would recommend it if you're not used to hike (we met a group form Buenos Aires with a guide that never did overnight hiking before). You still need to be relatively fit.

To access to the walk, you will need: walking poles, crampons, ice axe, vhf radio,... The list is at the bottom of the volcano map they give you at the visitor center. You can rent all this equipment in San Martin de los Andes or in Junin de los Andes
At the start of the walk, you need to register in the park office and they check that you have all the necessary equipment. They make sure your vhf radio works and they ask you to contact them at the end of the first day as well as when you reach the summit if you're hiking without guide.

The first day, you walk up to one of the 2 refugios (Military or Caja). The trail is well marked, the climb is relatively easy with beautiful view. Just make sure to take plenty of water because you don't cross any stream to refill (we did the hike in March and most of the snow/ice had already melted).

The second day, you start before sunrise (around 4/5 am) and start walking towards the summit. This is the most challenging part as the trail is not well marked and you climb up in the dark. We reach the summit around 9am. Then you just go down for the rest of the day and it is a looong way down. Unless problem, you're not allowed to spend 2 nights on the volcano and need to be back down at the end of the 2nd day.

Views are breathtaking, sunset and sunrise amazing and reaching the summit felt like a big achievement. Definitely a must-do in the region