We started with Bariloche and arrived on a surprisingly wet and windy afternoon. This wet weather set the scene for the rest of the afternoon and most of the following day. It did however give us a chance to catch up on a bit of reading and planning for the next few weeks.
Once the rain had let up we set off in to town to see what all the fuss is about. Bariloche is another of those two season cities, frequented in the winter for skiing and summer for the outdoor activites. The centre is dominated by chocolate shops and outdoor clothing stores. The city is quite heavily Swiss dominated and it shows in the wood and stone chalet styled buildings, chocolatries and restaurants serving fondue.
After a couple of nights in town we left for the nearby national park and the heights of the Cerro Frey. With sleeping bags and some food stashed in our packs we set out for the very modest Refugio Frey. A tiring hike up the mountain saw us detour to the playa on Lago Guitterez and climb over 1,200m in altitude. On the way up we encountered another long abandoned refuge built under a huge rock, and hoped that ours would be a bit more stable and at the very least be able to accommodate us!
A steep scramble for the last hour or so put the refuge in sight, with just one more obstacle.... The previous days rains had left the small fjord a little more treacherous than usual.
With some careful steps and the waterproof hiking boots paying for themselves we arrived at Refugio Frey. The refuge is about the size of a small detached house, with a kitchen and some tables downstairs and the upstairs littered with mattresses on the floor, and more on a second 'shelf' as oppose to any actual beds. Still it was quaint enough even if on arrival we found out we would be bunking down with 15 burly military men out on a training exercise. All in all there must have been about 30 people crammed around three tables in the warmth of the refuge, and then 20 of us later trying to the sleep on the cold second floor! By cold it was full clothing layers and hat on before wrapping up in the sleeping bag.
The following day we hiked back down and spent the day relaxing in Bariloche, enjoying the lake and chocolates on offer. A warm and relaxing afternoon after the almost sub zero temperatures of that night. Bariloche itself is spread along the Nahuel Huapi Lake and the next day we took the bus 25km along the lake to the Llao Llao Municipal Park. More of a stroll in the park than a hike in the mountain had us taking in the greenery and seeing yet more lakes!
In June 2010 a volcano several hundred kilometers away across the border in Chile started spewing ash into the sky and the Pacific winds have been bringing it Bariloches way ever since. We've met people along the way who have been to Bariloche to find the place coated in a thin layer of ash. For us however it had no real effect. The exception being the day we left when the ash created a haze in the sky that made it impossible to see across the lake and restricted visibility to what looked like a cold winters morning fog.
Leaving the ash behind we made our way north to the small quaint town of San Martin de Los Andes. The town is situated on one end of the Lácar Lake with a small beach. You can however see less than 5% of the lake from the town so we took a short walk up to the local Mapuche village for some stunning views of the rest of the lake and San Martin. A very nice and small town that was celebrating it's anniversary (Feb 4th) on the day we were there with a triathlon for the men (and a few brave women) and a small fiesta in the plaza.
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