Our first full day in Northern Patagonia in the city of Bariloche, we took the advice of a park ranger and caught a colectivo (public bus) to a trailhead 45 minutes outside the city. We climbed Cerro Lopez (Lopez Hill), which felt like much more than a hill by the end of the day.
Fresh start at the trailhead
Interesting rosemary/bamboo-like plant
"Respect the signs"
When we reached "the top," a bright pink refugio building where people can picnic or stay the night, our sense of accomplishment was challenged and king-of-the-mountain syndrome kicked in. We cut lunch short and decided to keep climbing up the steep ridge behind the building. This turned out to be a near-vertical rock scramble that required all fours and took over an hour. The sun beat down and we had long ago left the treeline, so we were thrilled to find a hose spurting potable water from a glacial-melt puddle above and filled our empty waterbottles. (On the way down I also doused my head in the water.)
On top of Cerro Lopez - more than a hill!
"Is that a bee? Yikes!"
We rafted down a gentle, class I and II, clear blue river that serves as the border for the national park. At one point, we stopped on the river bank to swim, and then walked up river several hundred yards, waded out as far as we could go before the current grabbed us, threw ourselves backwards into the rapids, and floated down the wave train to our boat below. Fun stuff - we did it twice! 
El Tarquino, a beautiful restaurant built around several living trees, where we had another fabulous steak and homemade ravioli.
The waitress told us it was like "Lord of the Rings" - we think she meant Lothlorien?
Fresh start at the trailhead
The first part of the trail was pretty miserable as we climbed through piles of dust at least a foot thick straight up the mountain (they really don't believe in switchbacks here). But the views were fantastic as we quickly ascended over the lakes below.
Interesting rosemary/bamboo-like plant
"Respect the signs"
When we reached "the top," a bright pink refugio building where people can picnic or stay the night, our sense of accomplishment was challenged and king-of-the-mountain syndrome kicked in. We cut lunch short and decided to keep climbing up the steep ridge behind the building. This turned out to be a near-vertical rock scramble that required all fours and took over an hour. The sun beat down and we had long ago left the treeline, so we were thrilled to find a hose spurting potable water from a glacial-melt puddle above and filled our empty waterbottles. (On the way down I also doused my head in the water.)
At the real top, we were blown away by the sudden 360 degree view of the Andes (including a huge snowy peak that had previously been hidden from view), all the surrounding lakes and the city of Bariloche in the distance. As we sat down for a well deserved rest, an enormous condor flew right over us, coming within 30 feet above our heads - so close that I instinctively clung to the nearest rock in case the giant bird intended to pluck me off the top of the mountain. Then it dipped sideways so that we could see the striking white feathers on its back, and I thought, how incredible to see the top of a condor soaring above a peak in Patagonia?
On top of Cerro Lopez - more than a hill!
When we finally stumbled down the through the piles of dust at 5:45 pm, we were exhausted, disgusting and incredibly eager to catch the bus back to town. Unfortunately, we made the mistake of assuming that the bus would pick us up in the same place it dropped us off, and we were tipped off by a friend we had met on the mountain top as he ran down the road for the actual stop. We all missed it, though, and as this particular bus only runs once an hour, our friend managed to hitch us all a ride from a local van driver to a more frequented bus stop, where we caught a number 20 bus that mercifully brought us back into Bariloche. Shower at last!
On Saturday, we took the 1/2 day "clásico" rafting trip suitable for families with small children rather than the full day, adults-only extreme trip. We were a small group, only joined by a young mother from Buenos Aires with her 10-yr-old daughter and our guide. The daughter was amazing, well-behaved, no-nonsense - during the van ride to the river she actually killed a bee that was freaking me and J.B. out with her bare fingers! (We were slightly shamed.)
The rafting trip turned out to be a Spanish-only adventure, so I translated as much as I could for J.B., and we both learned some new rafting vocabulary. The seven A's:
"adelante" - paddle forward
"atrás" - paddle backward
"alto" - stop
"alto" - stop
"adentro" - get down inside the raft
"arriba" - get back up
"abeja" - bee
"abrigo" - jacket (for protection against bees)
"Is that a bee? Yikes!"
We rafted down a gentle, class I and II, clear blue river that serves as the border for the national park. At one point, we stopped on the river bank to swim, and then walked up river several hundred yards, waded out as far as we could go before the current grabbed us, threw ourselves backwards into the rapids, and floated down the wave train to our boat below. Fun stuff - we did it twice!
El Tarquino, a beautiful restaurant built around several living trees, where we had another fabulous steak and homemade ravioli.
The waitress told us it was like "Lord of the Rings" - we think she meant Lothlorien?
Beautiful place and amazing food.
Sounds like you're having an amazing time! I just got back from Vegas. Roxanne, Christine, and I want to make it an annual trip. You'll have to join us next time!!
ReplyDeleteRespect the Signs!! Hahaha I laughed out loud at that photo. The bee story is pretty great too. Who kills bees with their bare fingers?!
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