Sunday, March 23, 2008

Trip to Bariloche - Part 2

We departed early following breakfast. Plans had changed due to weather since it was supposed to rain—making it a perfect day to hike (sarcasm). We got to the mountain, as it drizzled, and started climbing. It was a steep climb for about the first 800 feet, but it got easier because the terrain changed from rocks to dirt and vegetation. The only problem was that it continued to rain for longer periods.

See the nasty rain clouds. They're awful.

We got to the first vantage point and it was only misting, therefore I was able to take a few photos. Then we started up the next bit, as it progressively begins to rain more. Keep in mind I wasn’t equipped for this trip since I didn’t have a jacket appropriate for hiking nor hiking shoes—just sneakers and a t-shirt. Also keep in mind that with every 500 feet the temperature reduces half a degree or so, therefore I was starting to get quite wet and cold. Also I was very worried that the rain would ruin my camera. The camera bag I bought is supposed to be waterproof, but I still was concerned. Luckily the guide told me that I should put my camera in his waterproof hiking backpack—what a godsend.

The guide was really nice. I told him of my interest in plants, therefore he was pointing out to me some species that weren’t indigenous to Patagonia. I also found out that Argentina doesn’t have many government enabled programs to preserve forest land. This struck me as kind of strange when it seems to be a huge priority to preserve/maintain green spaces in the cities. I’ll go back to my new catch phrase, “Es Argentina / It’s Argentina.

At the second vantage point the view really wasn’t that good because of all the rain clouds. The rain would come and go for the next two hours as we ascended up to the third and fourth vantage points. Eventually the group came to easier trail, while it also started to pour cold rain. Of course it put everyone in a certain foul mood at this point. This part of the trail didn’t have tree cover; all of the rain was coming down directly on us.

At the second vantage point the view really wasn’t that good because of all the rain clouds. The rain would come and go for the next two hours as we ascended up to the third and fourth vantage points. Eventually the group came to easier trail, while it also started to pour cold rain. Of course it put everyone in a certain foul mood at this point. This part of the trail didn’t have tree cover; all of the rain was coming down directly on us.

We got to the top of the mountain eventually where we were supposed to eat our lunch. At the top was this large pink house/shelter. All of the COPA students when in there, but the lunches kind of stunk. We had these pretty awful (now soggy) milanesa sandwiches and some little thin sandwiches—very popular in Argentina—that tasted awful. We were there for an hour and a half as it continued to pour outside the building. The guides confirmed with the weather report that it was going to continue to rain. Just at the point that most of us were warming up, they decided to take us down—only this time it was raining harder and it was freezing.

Our ascent was about 4.5 hours. Luckily going down the mountain went faster—we made the trek in less than 2 hours. In my humble opinion, it was because we all wanted to get out of the rain.


This picture is when the sun was coming out at the last vantage point.
The sun was shining to brightly that it hurt your eyes to look at it.
When we finally got down to the first vantage point, the rain decided to cease—praise God! However we were still very wet. The last part was the hardest to come down since it was also the steepest part—it was miserable. It’s good that I have been maintaining a state of fitness because several people on the trek suffered exhaustion. I was very good until I twisted my ankle, thusly jerked my knee. I still have lingering problems with steps sometimes. I think I twisted something.

The guides were worried that the buses wouldn’t be there when we got to the base of the mountain since the hike took about 5 hours instead of the intended 8 hours. We got to the base of the mountain and stood under a roof at a Pancho (hot dog) stand at the base of the mountain and luckily someone had called for the buses to return early. We were all wet, hungry, and miserable. It was good the buses were there—it avoided a coup d’état.

Apparently rain isn’t very typical for this part of the year in Bariloche. Usually it only rains 1 or 2 days per month during the dry season. Obviously we got the short end of that stick.

All in all the day of hiking kind of stunk, but I’m glad that I went on the trek. It was a good experience. There’s nothing like returning to the hotel soaked, leaving your mucky sneakers at the door, and ringing your soaked underwear out in the hotel shower, to wake yourself up to the reality of nature.

When we were cleaned up—and dry—we went into town to eat. The group split up into groups and went to different restaurants.

My group went to a great Swiss restaurant that had local trout. They also had lamb, fondue, and beef. Sadly it was a tough decision for lamb or trout. I decided on the trout with roasted almonds because it sounded good and the waiter assured me it was very tasty—“Es muy rico”. We ate in table and shared a bottle of wine. The deserts were amazing, too. I had a chocolate mint mousse that was amazing. It was a good meal and a lot of fun. After hiking for as long as we did, I believe anything would have tasted good, however.
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