Introduction

The cone of Descabezado Grande (descabezado means beheaded in Spanish) dominates the mountain range visible from the Central Valley, between Curicó and Linares. Reachable from Talca via the route to the Pehuenches international pass, Descabezado Grande is the highest point of a vast hiking territory.

Neighboor to Cerro Azul, which has a typical pyramid shape, and of Quizapú, which is just the crater of a very active volcano which lost its cone, many must have wondered how did Descabezado look like when it still had its head. Today, its summit is a huge summit with a diameter of more than a kilometer. It is possible to reach it from various locations, but no in less than three days, and crossing an extraordinarily changing landscape, which goes from bright greenness of the river at 800 meters above sea level, to the desolate volcanic desert.