3-9 December 2006
On 2 Dec, we took an overnight bus from Puerto Madryn to Bariloche - another 15 hour bus ride. Yee haw! On the 3rd, we arrived in bariloche in the late morning, dropped off our things at a youth hostel, took a local bus about 30 km West of Bariloche and walked in an area of woods near a famous hotel called Llao Llao - gorgeous views of two lakes called Moreno and Nahuel Huapi.
A few things to mention - we´re in the mountains and it is MUCH colder than out East or in Buenos Aires - we´ve been wearing long sleeves, pants, and when the sun is not shining, fleeces, jackets, and hats. Also, it is just incredible to be in the mountains again - we haven´t been in mountains since Bolivia. Here, everything is green and flowering - there are lupine everywhere and other flowers I have never seen before. We´ll try to include some of these in the blog. Also, there are many snow-covered peaks - interesting because some are only at 2000 meters - it is spring here and I think the best comparison for climate and ecology are the Colorado Rockies or the California Sierras.
On 4 Dec, we took a boat to Isla Victoria and walked around. We then visited Los Arrayanes National Park which covers the Quetrihué Peninsula on the shore of the Nahuel Huapi Lake. The park is full of arrayán trees - they have red, peeling bark and are quite beautiful to be amongst.
5 dec - We took bus out of Bariloche, and did a 15 mile hike to Cerro Catedral. We crossed stream after stream, lost Michael along the way (to a good book)... But Andrew and I (Leigh) made our way up to a wonderful snow covered bowl where a few people were rock climbing. There was evidence that others had been snowboarding here as well, but we decided to save that for another visit.
On 6 Dec, we decided it was time to stop relying on public transportation so we rented a car (okay, does a Fiat pass as a car?) and drove to Lago Mascardi (about 40 Km south of Bariloche). We found a gorgeous campsite on the lake and set up out tents. Andrew and I ( walked into a creek called Llodconto - oh, and Andrew caught a few little trout... (If you want to see pictures of the trout, you may have to be patient and wait for Andrew's blog regarding the trout in this region.)
7 Dec - We drove out to the base of Monte Tronador and viewed some of the 7 glaciers that cover the mountain. We first saw the Ventisquero Negro (the black glacier), then the Glaciar Castano Overo. Though the glaciers were incredible, I would say the most exciting thing was that four condors flew just over us and continued to climb higher and higher above our heads. Unbelievably, they didn´t flap their wings once in over a half hour of observation. After returning to camp, Andrew walked up the creek again and caught a few huge trout.
On 8 Dec, we drove out (past Lago Hess) to Los Alerces National Park where there are three waterfalls in a row. From this location we could walk a boardwalked path to see the first cascade - and the gorgeous rainbow produced by the mist and sun. We then drove a nearby National Guard station where we picked up a trail that went to the second falls (not as impressive as the first), but there was some good fishing to be had - andrew caught a few gorgeous trout.
9 Dec - We went for another hike up Llodconto creek and fished (Leigh 2, Andrew 9). We then hustled back to Bariloche for a final meal with Michael before he hopped on the bus back to BA for his flight back to the States on the 10th.
