Bariloche and the Slovenian

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After four days in the car on the infamous Ruta 40, I was itching to get back into the mountains and decided to do the 5 day Nahuel Huapi Traverse, connecting 4 refuges in the mountains outside of Bariloche. On the first day I hiked up to Refugio Frey, which is well known to climbers around the world. The refugio was located on the edge of a very shallow alpine lake that reached up to mid shins, making the act of bathing an interesting sight I will not further describe. I pitched my tent and enjoyed the company of an 18 year old from Buenos Aires on his first backpacking trip. The next day´s hike over to Refugio Jakob was incredibly trying, partially because of the aggressive topography and partially because of a cold I was developing. When I finally arrived, after setting up my tent, I enjoyed a long nap in the warm sun...something particularly lacking up to this point in my trip. I wanted to especially rest up for the following day, which was supposed be a technically difficult traverse between refugios Jakob and Laguna Negra. Unfortunately, the following day I woke up even more under the weather, only to peer out and see snow and sleet falling around me. Sleet at that elevation meant the pass over to Laguna Negra would be closed, so the only prospect was to go down the mountain, hitch along the road, and climb back up.

However, back down at the road, having been helped down by David from San Diego, I decided to head back to a warm bed in Bariloche. Being peak season, however, I was unable to find a place and ended up camping in the back yard of a sweet, 83 year old, Slovenian immigrant with scoliosis so bad she stood 4 foot 8 inches tall. When the rain started early that evening, however, she took pity on me and let me stay in her fancy guest house for free. After a modified bath in the bathroom´s bidet I slept well that night...

Later in the week I met up again with David, this time dry and feeling a little better, for an asado at the youth hostel.

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Photos

View from Refugio Frey
One and a half foot deep glacial tarn.

Refugio Frey
This is the cooking section of Refugio Frey, which is famous among climbers.

View from Refugio Jakob
After a difficult day of steep climbs and decents down skree slopes, I finally arrived at this beautiful view.

tent
This little tent held up well under the sleet and snow that would fall later that evening.

Asado
This is of a Friday night asado, or barbeque, at a youth hostel in Bariloche. Since coming down here I´ve started to eat meat on occassion...for cultural reasons only, of course...