Beautiful Bariloche and the Nahuel Huapi National Park

Barriloche

First off pretend that it is still 2008 and we are just arriving in the beautiful lakeside city of Barriloche, Argentina. As we exited the bus, in which we had just spent the last 22 hours, we looked out over the clear blue water at the foot of giant snow capped mountains. After finding our hostel we set out to explore the city. The city itself has a very unique feel of an alpine village one might find in the heart of Europe, but yet it is still distinctly Argentine. In addition to the impressive architecture, mountains, and brandy toting St. Bernards, the city is also considered the chocolate capital of Argentina which we were able to sample a bit.

After getting situated with the city and our hostel we began to make plans about an expedition into the mountains we had viewed in awe when we first arrived. After visiting the national park office, we were given a map (which was primative to say the least) and advised on a route that would take us through the mountains and to 2 refugios (log structures with bedrooms, kitchens, etc. for hikers) located along the path. As we boarded the bus on the first day of our departure we were very excited about finally getting away from the city life and into nature.

Part 2
The Wind Blows and the Flies Bite

As the bus came to a stop we all filed out and looked around for a while for the trail marker. We met up with an English guy who had moved to Buenas Aires and was exploring the area as well. As we began our trek up the hill we we all in high spirits. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and a slight breeze was blowing, perfect for hiking. About 15 minutes in Steve stopped to pee and promptly set his pack down on a hidden ant hill. By the time I (Rob) noticed what was happening the ants had swarmed the pack and we had to beat them off for 5 minutes. Needless to say this was a great start to our trip.

As we continued up the mountain we remained in a pretty good mood, stopping every so often to take in the beautiful scenery. We had been told that the trek to the first refugio would take around 3 hours, so we had planned to do a few day hikes once we reached the top. However, to our surprise those 3 hours were spent more or less completely climbing straight up. When we finally reached the refugio at the top we were to exhausted to even think about ¨day hikes¨. As we looked for a good spot to set up the tent we noticed that much of the preexisting sites were surrounded by handbuilt rock walls to one side. We decided to use one of these but noticed that the tent was too tall for the wall and stuck over a couple feet. Thinking nothing of it we went on to cook dinner and take in the beatiful mounaintop lake we were beside.

That night we became very aware of the purpose of those rock walls as the mother of all windstorms came bearing down upon our hapless tent. As if the defening howl of the wind was not enough we soon began to fear that the entire tent would soon fly away, or at least the rain cover leaving us totally exposed to the savage wind. At one point the top of the tent was bent all the way down to where it almost touched our faces. The entire ordeal reminded me of a family camping trip in which a huge storm came just as my dad was cooking supper outside. As the wind shook the sides of the tent my little sister (no more than 4 or 5 at the time) kept screaming ¨the wind blows, The WIND BLOWS¨ thinking that our dad was going to be blown away as well. Recalling this memory would have been quite funny except for the fact that we were scared out of our minds.

The next day, with little more than a few hours of sleep, we headed out for the 8 hour trek to the next refugio. Looking at the map we saw that the trail appeared to run straight out of the back of the valley. We thought for sure this couldn´t be the case and there must some gradual path up. Of course we were wrong and the path did in fact go straight up the mountain. After scaling the valley with some difficulty we were delighted to see that yet another climb lay before us, this time over a snow covered path with slide marks where other trekers had slid back to the bottom. After finally reaching the top of this climb we were rewared with one of the most stunning pannoramic views any of us had ever seen.

After all this climbing now came the fun part (or so we thought) going back down the other side. Apperently the notion of gradual switchback descents are nonexistent in Argentina because the red dots marking the ¨path¨ led us straight down. After climbing over larger boulders we hit a bunch of small rocks and proceded to slide down the rest of the mountain like skiers. Althouhg the sliding was pretty enjoyable we couldn´t help but be a little worried when we saw even the larger boulders were begining to slide with us.

After making it down the other side we crosses a large valley and forrest that lay between two mounains. The whole time we were secretly hoping to follow the valley back down, but no. We were greeted by yet another mountain which we once again went straight up one side with only shear rock to climb on, and straight back down the other. At the top of the mountain we saw the next refugio down below and thought that it wouldn´t be more than an hour or so to get to. About 3 hours later we came stumbling down over the loose rock that covered the entire path swating and the relentless flies that attacked and attacked the entire trek. Not to worry though as I (Rob) was able to take down quite a few (54 to be exact) in the process.

Are original plan had been to stay at the refugio for one night and hike to a campground the next day. However, after waking up and barely being able to move we decided to stay another night. All in all the experience was one that we will remember (for better or worse haha) for the rest of our lives, and we were rewarded that night (new years eve) with an amazing bbq at our hostel that we felt we had truly earned. Happy 2009!

Until next time,

Rob
Noodle
Stevo