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Published: February 3rd 2007
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The Road into Lago 4
This was a view as I was traveling into the valley of lago 4 and 5 and a couple of rivers I was going to fish. This area if 10 times more virgin than anywhere else I had fished up until this point. So I took off again heading south down to meet my new friend from the internet cafe, not really knowing what to expect. It was much better than the other option of going down there blind. I got to this tiny town of Rio Pico late at night and that is where I attempted to download the pictures of the last blog and almost punched out the computer. I ended up finding a nice street in town to make my campsite where I parked the tatoo for the night. The next day I had to wait until around 11 for the gas station to open before I took off to find AugustinĀ“s cabin. The service down here is terrible and they have no sense of urgency with anything. I think they would rather just lose business than put any effort forth what so ever. I guess since there is very little tourism in this area they have not adapted to the change yet.
It ended up being like a 30 min drive to his house. As I pulled up he walked out with his some fresh bed head and a big smile on his face. I think he was pretty
My own Cabin
This was my cabin on Lago 4. It was teh only cabin for rent on the lake and very solitary. I loved it. After sleeping in my car the last 5 days it was a pleasent change. suprised I actually came. Right away we went over to miguels house to get my cabin lined up. It was a prett nice pad and only 40 bucks a night. You could have up to 5 people in there too. That afternoon, Augustin took me down behind Miguels house about 30 min to the Rio Pampas. On the way he showed my all of the wild strawberries all over the place. There really tiny, but really tasty. When I ws done fishing I took a break and eat like 100 of them. The fishing was great and all on dry flys. The fish werent to big, but it was a geourgeuos setting and a pleasent day to be on the water. On the way back I ran into Miguel herding up some calves which I refer to in the pictures. That night I went down to the lake by my cabin and tried casting for some trout right before dark. I didnt manage to catch any fish, but I was able to break the tip of my fly rod it typical fashion. I always seem to break these things on all my fly fishing trips. Its like a curse or
Miguel the Gaucho
Miguel was teh real deal. Unaffected by the influece of technology this guy lives old school. When I was coming back from fishing him and his two dogs were rounding up cattle. I accidently bumped the whole herd and messed him up, but then I got to see the dogs and him chase them down. It was a good show. something.
Augustin is the local chef and has his own restaurant which made my meal situation really convienent. I woudl just rool by the house after fishing and he would have a nice dinner already prepared for me to take back to my cabin and eat by the fire. All day I was thinking about starting up that fire. God how I loved that fire. Its such a nice feeling to be literally in the middle of nowhere with that fire as your only companion. As it crackles through the night and the warmth puts you right to sleep.
The next day I slept in a bit and met up with Augustin around 10 as we headed off to the Rio Pico. It was a much larger river and way more remote than the Pampas. We had to cross the pampas in his truck and go down a very rough trail for over a hour. This area is remote fishing in argentina at its best and most of these streams arent fished more than once a week. We caught quite a few fish again, but mostly around 8 - 12 inches. Nothing to call mom about. This area
Me Reed..Me make fire
Oh how I miss sitting by that fire at night. I was a real treat. Every night I would stoke her up as I eat dinner and read short stories by Ernest Hemmingway. is just starting to be discovered by more and more tourists, but they all come with guides. Augustine has lived here for 5 years and he said I am the first non argentine he has ever seen come down here to fish or travel without a guide. He said all locals got a good kick out of seeing me and hearing that I came down there alone. Stuff like that makes me feel good. I love going into situations you arent suppose to and prevailing in the end. As we were fishing on the river we came across a family grilling out and having some beer. They invited us over and we had a beer or two with them as we shot the shit. On another day we met up with the owner of the land and one of the guys that was grilling out on the Rio Pico that day. We went in hsi house and he had a huge Russian Boar head on the wall which immediatly struck my interest. It turns out that there is a lot of wild ones in the area along with mountain lions. They hunt them in the winter going out on horseback
Fishing on Lago 5 with no Gas
After taking a 1 hour drive to get to this lake the boat there had no gas. I wasnt really suprised as I have some to expect things like that down here. I did manage to catch this one nice rainbow in out 15 minutes of fishing though. for days with dogs. At first the hunting with dogs thing didnt amuse me much until I asked what type of gun he uses to kill them and out of his belt he pulled out a huge knife and showed me what they really killed them with. Now I was into this type of hunting. I guess while the dogs distract the boar you jump in and stab the thing and try and not get nailed by there 6 inch tusks. Can you imagine what a rush that would be. I gotta try it. He told me he would take me anytime I would like. I may have to plan a ski and boar hunt down here this july.
When I was fishing the Arroyo Pescado I ran into that guide named Larry and he gave me that pack of winstons for his buddy Quito on Lago 3. When Augustin had to go to work around 5 that day I thougt it woudl be good to go track this guy down and give him the cigs. After about a hour drive I found some cabins that said lago 3 and started knocking on doors and asking if anyone knows
The Rio Pico
We tried to fish this river one day and ended up catching a bunch of small trout. There were salmon in the river but really tough to catch this time of year. In december you can catch salmon 40 pounds plus and be like the only guy fly fishing on the whole river. Quito. Now keep in mind no one speaks any english in this area except for Augustin so ever conversation is a experience in itself. I ended up being directed to a cabin where I found the old man named Quito. I gave him the winstons and he gave me a really perplexed look as I tried to explain to him who they were from and what they were for. The words Larry the Gringo seemed to do the trick as he erupted laughing and happily took the cigs. The next thing I knew this guy took me in his cabin with his two grandsons and we put down 4 bottles of wine and they fed me dinner. It was a great time even though the conversation was difficult, but fun. One of the kids went and got his guitar and busted out the song by greed day called wake me up when september ends. Its pretty funny...these kids know no english but they sure can sing the american songs perfectly. I ended up stumbling out of there around 11 and made it to the cabin at 1230 and for once didnt bother to light the fire that night as I
The toughest baby I have ever seen
This was AugustinĀ“s son. Here was one of a lind let me tell you. I saw him take numerous diggers in the gravel out side and I was just waiting for him to start balling everytime but he never did. It was pretty funny to watch him chase to two cats around the house. He would grab them by any apendige possible and drag them over to the milk bowl and try to make them drink. Suprisingly the cats dont bite or scratch him. Im sure his time will come with them. needed no help getting to bed.
The next 3 days were spent fishing with Augustin and waiting for the wind to die down so we can finally fish the lakes that I came here to fish. The fish in the lakes average around 3-4 pounds and 20 inches and 5 pound plus are very common. I guess this time of year the wind blows hard one of 5 days, but during my stay it blew everyday. The last day we went out on lago 5 anyways and ended up having to troll with my fly rod which is rather embarassing from a fly fishermans point of view but fun none the less.
This was an amazing 5 days where I made some great friends and experienced a very vergin part of patagonia that people rarely see. Theres no doubt I will be back here some day to visit my friend and his family once again. After the last morning of fishing I was anxious to hit hte road again and try the most difficult and desolate part of my drive down route 40. The worst stretch has around 600 miles of rough gravel road with winds around 60
Putting my cooking skills and ingenuity to the test
Here is a meal that I prepared in the cabin. I ended up cooking the steak over the fire Gaucho style. I had to jimmy rig a couple board and the stoker to hold the meat above the flames. I cant say it came out perfect but it was edible. mph consistantly. I was getting pretty arrogant in my argentine driving skills as I have driven many gravel roads up until this point with no problems what so ever, but I had another thing coming on this one and never would of imagined what the next 2 days would bring for me and the tatoo.
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Jane
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enjoying your adventues
We are back in Roch as Chucks mom died. We will leave for Tx Wed. Tim is on his was to BC,Canada Purcell Mountain Range to heli board. Between the two of you no wonder I have grey hair. Love you, Take care.