Bariloche pt 2

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Friday afternoon, school finished and onward bus tickets booked we jumped aboard the collectivo (local bus) heading for Colonia Suiza. This time we jumped on at the bus terminal, having learnt how difficult it was to get seats, so congratulated ourselves for bagging a comfortable 40 minute ride out.

The first walk was straight uphill to Refugio Lopez. It took about three hours with the view opening up all the way, by the top we could see the whole of Lago Nahuel Huapi, Bariloche, plus a scattering of smaller lakes, peninsulas all laid out beneath us, whilst behind the tops of mountains rose vertically. We swam in the ´infinity pool´ and ate a delicious steak watching the sun set through a panoramic window.

Breakfast was taken sitting outside, legs hanging out over the valley. It was quite quiet! This was to be the longest hike we´d do, although with so much sunlight there was no rush and we were able to take our time to enjoy the scenery. We even climbed an extra peak - for no other reason than to see the mountains on the other side. Some fairly cheeky descents down steep scree slopes later we stopped for lunch on a large, flat, sun-warmed rock and watched a couple of fell-runners speed past, poles clicking madly away and barely a drop of sweat on them. A couple of hours later we were even more humbled to pass a school-group of about 50 kids, probably about 13-14 years old, with all their camping kit. Lighter is definitely better, but what a cool outing!

As we came off the third peak of the day, Refugio Italia came into view, sitting on the lip of the crystal clear, deep-blue, glacial Laguna Negra. We dropped down in teh afternoon sun and the lake became more and more inviting. There was no question but to dive in as soon as we reached it. And almost to walk on water to get back out! Refreshing was an understatement! Having warmed back up in the sun, and forewarned, the second time was better. We scrambled along the path and around the rocks to the refugio, dripping cold water and swatting away the flies. After 8 hours of walking we arrived at about 5 and there was at least 5 more hours of light to enjoy. It was mostly spent swimming, lying in the sun and finally wolfing down a delicious 3-course home made meal whipped up by the incredibly friendly, and ever-active Refugiero.

In the middle of the mountains, with no other houses let alone villages visible, the stars were magnificent. A great band of the milky way, the rest of the sky lit up right down to the dark silhouettes of the surrounding peaks, the occasional satellite passing overhead...

It was almost dissappointing to walk back down the next day. For breakfast we had a by-now slightly fruity salami and cheese sandwich before dropping down the switchbacks, alongside a waterfall, past a ´land-that-time-forgot´hanging valley and into the trees. A pleasant hike along a flat and sandy path that at times felt like parts of southern england found us back at the start point. From then it was just a bus to town, shower, good (late) lunch, obligatory icecream and off on the next overnighter to Puerto Madryn.

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Comments

[jessy]

beard!
beard is coming along beautifully! love reading about your adventures, and the pics are fabulous xj