Maipo (the Canyon and the valley)

An outing to the Cajon del Maipo is difficult to plan. There's not a ton of information available online (most of the Trip Advisor stuff tries to sell you group trips). We settled on a hike to Monumento el Morado. The other hikes—the rumoredly stunning Embalso al Yeso—would’ve required a 4x4. The Monumento was beautiful, not for the glacier and lake combo I’d grown accustomed to but for the rockier mountains facing us on the way back. One looked positively rainbow-ish. It was just good to be back in the mountains after days in the city.

It was a gorgeous day. At one point, Alex said he thought it was windy. Jason and I looked at each other and almost simultaneously said, this is what we who've been to Torres del Paine call a light breeze. We hadn't noticed it at all.

After that, not-so-hot hot springs (mineral springs, though).

The next day, we intended to vineyard-hop but without reservations we basically only hit one (and had lunch at another that offered samples with lunch). We learned more about the different conditions that inform the grapes, about how those conditions are different even just across the Andes in Argentina. Our guide told us about the time an earthquake destroyed a lot of wine that was in the process of fermenting, and the ill-smelling contents of the breached barrels flooded the streets. We loved everything we tried, and the guide was super informed and passionate.

It wasn't a bad way to enjoy our last day in Chile.