A Crazy Week Around Bariloche
If it´s any indication of craziness, before I posted this entry, I unsubscribed my parents from my blog.
Anyway... the last week has been pretty jam packed and crazy. Kris arrived on Sunday night in Bariloche without his luggage, which was still trying to catch up with him, so we spent our spare time over the next 4 days when we weren´t busy trying to call and email various airlines and the airport to try to reunite him with his bag.
Thankfully, after my soggy hike to Laguna Negra, the weather started improving daily in small increments. Folks around here tell me it´s been unusually cold for even a Patagonian summer-- very windy and overcast. The first couple of days, we had to bundle up in our fleeces and jackets. I was feeling terribly guilty that I had convinced Kris that Bariloche would be more fun than the warm, wine country in Mendoza, which is further north.
His first day here, we went for a very short walk up Cerro Campanerio for a nice view of the lakes. I´m sure it´s more enjoyable on a less windy day, but the views were certainly dramatic with the menacing clouds and intermittent rays of sunshine.
The next day we took a day trip to El Bolson, a little town that is nestled in the mountains about 2 hours from Bariloche. It´s supposedly a hippie town, but honestly, maybe since I´m from SF and work in Berkeley, I didn´t really notice. There´s a handicrafts market there 3 times a week, so it was good to get our first glimpse of sunshine while buying souvenirs and eating belgian waffles with raspberries and cream.
CATEDRAL HIKE TO REFUGIO FREY (or THE "I´M TRIAL RUNNING BECAUSE I HAVE TO SO WE DON´T MISS THE LAST BUS BACK" HIKE)
Since I did my last hike in much less time than the official projection, I assumed that the same would hold true for the rest of the hikes. I convinced Kris that we could have a leisurely morning and catch the 11 a.m. bus to Catedral (which is a mountain and a ski resort), which we did. By the time we rode the gondola to the top of the mountain, it was around 1 p.m., but I still wasn´t worried that we would have enough time to do the (I´m guessing here) 18 km hike and go to the airport before it closed to see if Kris´ luggage had arrived. Sometimes I think I have poor time management skills...
The hike was beautiful. There was a valley on one side that reminded me of Yosemite Valley and a view of the lake, but the trail itself was mostly boulders and stones, which made for slow going.
After about 3 hours, it became clear to us that we were on pace with the official estimate and that we weren´t going to get back in time for the airport. We also started wondering if we were going to make it in time to catch the last bus back at 7:45 p.m. A little after 5 p.m., we made it to Refugio Frey, which was located in a lovely green little valley. It´s the little speck at the far end of the lake in the photo below.
What I learned that day is that people are terrible at estimating how long it´s taken them to get from Point A to Point B. Since we were so worried about the time, we kept asking people how much longer it was to the Refugio or to the base. A number of people told us it was about 20 minutes to get to places that ended up taking us an hour, even though we were hiking very quickly!
We had just over two hours to do the last 10 km, which was officially estimated at 3-4 hours. Needless to say, the last 10 km were a combination of trail running and power hiking, which was all pretty stressful. After a full day of hiking, we arrived with 10 minutes to spare! Phew...
The next day, we decided to rent a car, drive to Villa la Angostura, which is a cute little town about an hour out of Bariloche, continue on the Ruta de los Siete Lagos (Seven Lakes Road) to San Martin de los Andes, which is another cute little town about 3 hours away. Then we´d check out Lanin National Park the next day. That was the plan, and everything started out well.
We stopped for lunch and a hike at Villa La Angostura.
But the Ruta is not all paved, and on the gravel, we lost control of the car. I´ll let the photo speak for itself:
Those of you who know me well know that I´m a screamer, but I was very silent. Kris said I screamed once. All I remember is closing my eyes when I felt us skidding, and then opening them up again to find myself suspended in the air, clutching my camera. It was very quiet. I saw my lens cap in the dirt of our broken window, which I picked up and dusted off. I noticed Kris´ glasses in the dirt and pointed them out to him. I felt strangely calm.
Neither of us was hurt, and nothing was damaged except for the car. A number of cars stopped to help us right the car, and a family from Buenos Aires in a minivan offered to drive us to San Martin. So we piled into the minivan with Grandpa, Grandma, their daughter, and three grandchildren. Grandpa was quite the jokester. "Oh, so your friend is here just for a week? He came just to get you into an accident!" Ha, ha.
I thought it a good sign that our hotel in San Martin was literally right across the street from the hospital. Just in case.
The next morning, we bought our bus tickets back to Bariloche. It seemed like we should probably deal with the rental car people as soon as possible. Unfortunately, it seems that we had a transportation curse on us because the bus had some kind of overheating problem and had to stop a dozen times for the driver to fill up water from the river or police station or construction site we happened to be passing and dump it on the bus´ innards.
The upside? I´m happy to be alive. And I´ve learned all sorts of helpful vocabularly in Spanish, like the words for "deductible," "car parts," "body and paint shop," and "rollover", which were much used over the next few days.
Since we came in much later than expected because of the extended bus ride on the overheated bus, it was too late to get to a grocery store and make reservations for the shuttle to Pampa Linda, the trailhead for our next planned hike. We wanted to do an overnight at Refugio Otto Meiling, which is at the base of Mt. Tronador, and located on two glaciers, Glaciar Castano Overo and Glaciar Alerce. With a few minor glitches (I´ll save that for another entry), we managed to get ourselves on the shuttle and to Pampa Linda.
It was a relatively easy 14 km up to the Refugio, taking around 5 hours. The last part was quite windy and cold, as we were above the vegetation line, but with fantastic views of the valley below. There was an interesting mix of folks on the trail and at the Refugio. Some hard core climbers with their ice axes, ropes, and heavy boots, but also families with young kids. There was one Argentinian family with three little girls from ages 7 to 10. This was the second refugio we had seen them at. The father told me that they are good hikers, but often ask how much time is left. I think that´s a universal kid thing. He said that since they don´t quite understand the concept of hours yet, he tells them in terms of movies- like "one movie" or "two movies" of time left. Very cute.
The setting where the Refugio was located was stunningly beautiful. It was right on the edge of the glacier with a a fantastic view of Tronador from the Refugio windows. I would say one of the best returns in terms of time hiking relative to magnificence of destination. They build these Refugios in some of the most gorgeous places.
We hiked around on the glaciers before our dinner of beef and beer and then got ourselves settled for bed. You´d think that forty people and one bathroom with one sink and two stalls would be a disaster, but there was hardly ever a wait. Forty mattresses spread on the floor, end to end- it was like one big slumber party. It was one of the best nights sleep I´ve had so far.
I have to admit, I love to backpack and camp, but I LOVE refugio hopping. What´s better than a hard day of hiking to a gorgeous spot, with a hot meal and hot drinks cooked by someone else awaiting you! We had an awesome time. What a fantastic way to start the new year!
Anyway... the last week has been pretty jam packed and crazy. Kris arrived on Sunday night in Bariloche without his luggage, which was still trying to catch up with him, so we spent our spare time over the next 4 days when we weren´t busy trying to call and email various airlines and the airport to try to reunite him with his bag.
Thankfully, after my soggy hike to Laguna Negra, the weather started improving daily in small increments. Folks around here tell me it´s been unusually cold for even a Patagonian summer-- very windy and overcast. The first couple of days, we had to bundle up in our fleeces and jackets. I was feeling terribly guilty that I had convinced Kris that Bariloche would be more fun than the warm, wine country in Mendoza, which is further north.
His first day here, we went for a very short walk up Cerro Campanerio for a nice view of the lakes. I´m sure it´s more enjoyable on a less windy day, but the views were certainly dramatic with the menacing clouds and intermittent rays of sunshine.
The next day we took a day trip to El Bolson, a little town that is nestled in the mountains about 2 hours from Bariloche. It´s supposedly a hippie town, but honestly, maybe since I´m from SF and work in Berkeley, I didn´t really notice. There´s a handicrafts market there 3 times a week, so it was good to get our first glimpse of sunshine while buying souvenirs and eating belgian waffles with raspberries and cream.
CATEDRAL HIKE TO REFUGIO FREY (or THE "I´M TRIAL RUNNING BECAUSE I HAVE TO SO WE DON´T MISS THE LAST BUS BACK" HIKE)
Since I did my last hike in much less time than the official projection, I assumed that the same would hold true for the rest of the hikes. I convinced Kris that we could have a leisurely morning and catch the 11 a.m. bus to Catedral (which is a mountain and a ski resort), which we did. By the time we rode the gondola to the top of the mountain, it was around 1 p.m., but I still wasn´t worried that we would have enough time to do the (I´m guessing here) 18 km hike and go to the airport before it closed to see if Kris´ luggage had arrived. Sometimes I think I have poor time management skills...
The hike was beautiful. There was a valley on one side that reminded me of Yosemite Valley and a view of the lake, but the trail itself was mostly boulders and stones, which made for slow going.
After about 3 hours, it became clear to us that we were on pace with the official estimate and that we weren´t going to get back in time for the airport. We also started wondering if we were going to make it in time to catch the last bus back at 7:45 p.m. A little after 5 p.m., we made it to Refugio Frey, which was located in a lovely green little valley. It´s the little speck at the far end of the lake in the photo below.
What I learned that day is that people are terrible at estimating how long it´s taken them to get from Point A to Point B. Since we were so worried about the time, we kept asking people how much longer it was to the Refugio or to the base. A number of people told us it was about 20 minutes to get to places that ended up taking us an hour, even though we were hiking very quickly!
We had just over two hours to do the last 10 km, which was officially estimated at 3-4 hours. Needless to say, the last 10 km were a combination of trail running and power hiking, which was all pretty stressful. After a full day of hiking, we arrived with 10 minutes to spare! Phew...
DISASTER ON THE RUTA DE LOS SIETE LAGOS
The next day, we decided to rent a car, drive to Villa la Angostura, which is a cute little town about an hour out of Bariloche, continue on the Ruta de los Siete Lagos (Seven Lakes Road) to San Martin de los Andes, which is another cute little town about 3 hours away. Then we´d check out Lanin National Park the next day. That was the plan, and everything started out well.
We stopped for lunch and a hike at Villa La Angostura.
But the Ruta is not all paved, and on the gravel, we lost control of the car. I´ll let the photo speak for itself:
Those of you who know me well know that I´m a screamer, but I was very silent. Kris said I screamed once. All I remember is closing my eyes when I felt us skidding, and then opening them up again to find myself suspended in the air, clutching my camera. It was very quiet. I saw my lens cap in the dirt of our broken window, which I picked up and dusted off. I noticed Kris´ glasses in the dirt and pointed them out to him. I felt strangely calm.
Neither of us was hurt, and nothing was damaged except for the car. A number of cars stopped to help us right the car, and a family from Buenos Aires in a minivan offered to drive us to San Martin. So we piled into the minivan with Grandpa, Grandma, their daughter, and three grandchildren. Grandpa was quite the jokester. "Oh, so your friend is here just for a week? He came just to get you into an accident!" Ha, ha.
I thought it a good sign that our hotel in San Martin was literally right across the street from the hospital. Just in case.
The next morning, we bought our bus tickets back to Bariloche. It seemed like we should probably deal with the rental car people as soon as possible. Unfortunately, it seems that we had a transportation curse on us because the bus had some kind of overheating problem and had to stop a dozen times for the driver to fill up water from the river or police station or construction site we happened to be passing and dump it on the bus´ innards.
The upside? I´m happy to be alive. And I´ve learned all sorts of helpful vocabularly in Spanish, like the words for "deductible," "car parts," "body and paint shop," and "rollover", which were much used over the next few days.
STARTING THE LUNAR NEW YEAR ON A GOOD NOTE AT MT. TRONADOR AND REFUGIO OTTO MEILING
It was a relatively easy 14 km up to the Refugio, taking around 5 hours. The last part was quite windy and cold, as we were above the vegetation line, but with fantastic views of the valley below. There was an interesting mix of folks on the trail and at the Refugio. Some hard core climbers with their ice axes, ropes, and heavy boots, but also families with young kids. There was one Argentinian family with three little girls from ages 7 to 10. This was the second refugio we had seen them at. The father told me that they are good hikers, but often ask how much time is left. I think that´s a universal kid thing. He said that since they don´t quite understand the concept of hours yet, he tells them in terms of movies- like "one movie" or "two movies" of time left. Very cute.
The setting where the Refugio was located was stunningly beautiful. It was right on the edge of the glacier with a a fantastic view of Tronador from the Refugio windows. I would say one of the best returns in terms of time hiking relative to magnificence of destination. They build these Refugios in some of the most gorgeous places.
We hiked around on the glaciers before our dinner of beef and beer and then got ourselves settled for bed. You´d think that forty people and one bathroom with one sink and two stalls would be a disaster, but there was hardly ever a wait. Forty mattresses spread on the floor, end to end- it was like one big slumber party. It was one of the best nights sleep I´ve had so far.
I have to admit, I love to backpack and camp, but I LOVE refugio hopping. What´s better than a hard day of hiking to a gorgeous spot, with a hot meal and hot drinks cooked by someone else awaiting you! We had an awesome time. What a fantastic way to start the new year!
thanks for the news and the beautiful picks. Sorry about the car thing :( but that's great that you're picking up new vocab as a result... we miss you, love YT
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