El Calafate and Peurto Moreno Glacier

I took 2 days to fly to El Calafate and back with one purpose in mind.  I was going to walk on a glacier.  My friend Greg gave me the [very good] advice to take the Big Ice tour, and sent me pictures from his trek a few days earlier.

I ended up running into a very nice French girl on the way to the airport, and we wandered around the little town of El Calafate with what was left of daylight.  It's a barren, windswept town that ended up being pretty cute.  We found a random and huge playground on the edge of the lake, and sat there enjoying the view and the freedom on the edge of the world.

The tour all-day affair that is run by only one tour company.  They picked me up very early in the morning, and I ended up sitting next to a girl on the bus named Megan.  She may be my Yankee doppelganger (blond, from NYC, got out of a crushing work schedule after 10+ years of work, could be mistaken for much younger, and backpacking and trekking for 5 months).  We stuck together all day, giggling in amazement that "We just walked on a glacier!!"

The pictures say much more than words ever could.  Such a massive sheet of ice is impressive enough that hundreds of visitors just come to see it.  We were lucky enough to walk around for hours on top, passing rivers, ravines and lakes wholly encompassed by the glacier.  It's awe inspiring.  

This is as close as most people get to the Puerto Moreno glacier

A view of the center and northern face of the glacier
The glacier actually divides two lakes

Then a boat ride to see the southern face of the glacier
To the dock where we'll depart for the trek to the glacier

Putting on crampons for the treck

Standing on the glacier
The shades of blue are out of this world
And my shoes are not recommended . . .

I'm walking on a glacier!!

A "small" river valley

Next to a lake in the middle of the glacier

A mini cave :)

Magnificence All Around

A bigger cave 

The beginning of a new river

A cheers at the end of the adventure, complete with glacier ice
We just walked on a glacier!

Next Stop:  Back to Bariloche (and then on to the Route de Siete Lagos)

Bariloche Part 2

I spent a day in Bariloche sleeping (finally), wandering around town, trip planning, and prepping for my trek back to the Lake Region.  I rented a tent, a sleeping bag, and bought a sleeping pad for under the sleeping bag, all for about $35.  Another $20 at the supermarket and I was set for 3 days.  

Bariloche resembles a Swiss town

complete with St. Bernards . . .

Bariloche is also known for their chocolate and microbrews

The itinerary was to hike to Refugio Frey, stay the night, hike from there to Refugio Jakob, then hike back to Bariloche.  I got a late start on day 1 because I tried to participate in my brother's Open Defense, which was scheduled for noon Argentina time.  Although I didn't get to join due to technical difficulties, I am still so proud of Dr. Briley!

So when I caught the 1:15 bus to Catedral, it was well after most people set out for this hike.  There was only one other trekker on the bus usually crowded with backpackers.  He was obviously headed to Frey because he was carrying this humongous pack.  We made it approximately 300 yards into the trail before striking up a conversation.  Pablo doesn't speak English, so I got to practice my broken Spanish during the 4 hour trek.  By the time we topped the hill to the Refugio, we had less than 2 hours before dark and were already good friends.   

Halfway up the hike to Frey

Birds everywhere!

Pablo Sebatian and Julie

A view of Refugio Frey
from my tent
The face popular with
Rock Climbers is
in the background

Refugio Frey sits on Lake Toncek and is extremely popular with rock climbers.  It's also a popular day trip, but by the time we arrived, only the campers were still there.  The cold cold water of the lake felt amazing and cures almost all ills for sore feet and legs after climbing for hours with a full pack.  We also got an amazing sunset in the mountains.

Lake Toncek

A view of the mountains at 9:30PM

Pablo turned out to be the most extroverted person I have ever met in my life.  This really came to light at the Refugio, where everybody shares the big common room during dinner.  Everybody at Refugio Frey that spoke Spanish was his friend by the end of the night, and I got pulled into most of the conversations just by association.    The refugios ended up being a cross between a hostel and a restaurant.  I like the refugio culture a lot.  There was a public kitchen where you could cook your own food, or the tiny refugio kitchen would happily serve you homemade pizza or a lentil stew for a price.  (I saw one of the refugio guys kneading a massive roll of dough the next morning). Everybody eats together and we even found a couple of card games stashed in the corner.  It turns out Cards Against Humanity is really hard to translate.  

Card games with Artentines and 1
German

The common room in Refugio Jakob
The entire room was full of
Argentines at dinner time

I turned in early, mostly because my brain can only handle so many hours of non-stop Spanish.  I was playing with my Stars app, when Pablo wandered outside and we saw the most brilliant shooting star I have ever seen - it burned on forever.

Pablos's extrovertedness picked us up two more backpackers early the next morning.   Jan and JuanChi are two twenty year old long time friends.  The four of us were inseparable for the next two days. 

Pablo, Julie, Juan and Juanchi

We hiked up and down two mountains to get to Refugio Jakob, taking much longer than average because of our tendency to stop, admire the views and take water breaks.   I actually really enjoyed the part of the hike through the forested valley in between the peaks.  The views from the top of both mountain passes were amazing!  But in my humble opinion, they were not worth the 9 hour slog or the 3 hours spent sliding (literally) down sandy scree on the back side of both mountains. Plus, we were speaking Spanish all day.  By the time we reached Jakob, I was both mentally and physically exhausted.  Good thing Lake Jakob is crazy beautiful.  Again, cold water cures most ills with feet and aching legs and we celebrated the last minutes of sunlight by basking in it along the lake's edge.  Dinner was simple, and we happily compared pictures from the previous 2 days before turning in for the night.

Refugio Jakob sits on the right of
this lake.
This view was the pay off for
climbing the 2nd mountain

This is the rest of the view that
was the pay off for
climbing the 2nd mountain

Lake Jakob at sunset

Relaxing by the lake

The next day, we woke early to clouds and packed up as fast as possible to beat any rain.  The clouds eventually parted though, and we enjoyed a warm and easy-going 5hr trail back to the road.  The return trail from Jakob followed the river sourced from the lake, and it yielded waterfalls, bubbling rapids and cool, inviting pools all day long.  We finally made it to the road, 5km from the closest public transport, and again lucked out with hitching a ride.  Argentinians really are very nice people.  

One of the
many waterfalls

A view of the valley
we "hiked" down

Our lunch spot

The four of us parted ways, exchanging WhatsApp numbers.  After 3 days on the trail, the simple things in life feel so good . . . like a proper shower and proper bed  and hot empanadas served with a cold beer. That night was spent prepping for my trip to El Calafate the next morning.  

When I returned from El Calafate, I took in one more day of hikes around Bariloche, that ended up giving some of the best views of the lakes (versus the mountains).  The short trecks to Cerro Llao Llao and Cerro Campanario were undemanding and I ended up relaxing by the lake on my own for the first day in a while.  

My view while relaxing at the lake

The view from Cerro Llao Lloa reminds me of Norway

Surveying the Lake Region from Cerro Campanario

Next Stop:  El Calafate / La Route de Siete Lagos

Observations on Argentinian Culture

I like Argentina.  It is a place I would consider moving to permanently.  But there are a few things that are . . . unique about their culture.

Juan holding his mate
cup and thermos at
Regugio Jakob

1)  The entire country is obsessed with Mate (pronounced Mah-teh).  This herbal tea is a very social affair, and you will see Argentinians carrying around thermoses of hot water and cups for Mate EVERYWHERE.  The tradition is that the person with hot water pours the water over the tea leaves and passes the cup to their companion, who drinks it and passes the cup back to be refilled for the next person.  Sarita and I saw people hauling Mate thermoses around Iguazu Falls.  My fellow hikers trekked up and down mountains (spoiler alert) with a thermos and Mate cup.  Normally backpackers in backcountry count the weight of their equipment in ounces but. . . there were a lot of Mate thermoses at the refugios, and it was hard to find room for a pot on the stove in the kitchen because there were so many kettles for hot water.  My teacher in Intercultural perpetually had a Mate cup in hand.  It is everywhere and, depending on who you talk to, it can cure all your ills.



2) Argentinean women love platform shoes.  I cannot figure out why.  I've discussed this with Sarita, my very stylish friend who traveled with me for the first 10 days in South America, and with Eric, my resident gay expert in Argentina.  All of us are clueless about the appeal.

Dulce de Leche
and chocolate ice-
cream: 2 things
Barlioche does well! 

3) Argentina loves dulce de leche.  It's a flavor in almost all the pastries.  It makes for darn good ice cream.  It is also what you eat for breakfast.  A typical breakfast in Argentina is coffee or tea with crackers and a pot of dulce de leche. (Much like you would see us with toast and jam).   That's it for breakfast:  Coffee and caramel.

4)  You can't count on the banks here.  You just have to accept that you will have to try 3 ATMs before you find one that actually has cash, and works with your debit card.  Different banks have different limits on how much money you can withdraw at once, but they all have limits.  I saw locals waiting in line at the bank every morning on my way to school in Mendoza.  Maria told me some people haven't been gotten their paychecks from November.  On top of the money access issue, inflation of 30% to 50% happens frequently and without warning.  No wonder most people stash their savings and do business in US dollars if they can.

Girls hitchhiking alone . . . something
you just don't see in the USA.

5)  The people here are the nicest people I've ever met, even including Thailand.  And they are generally very laid back.  My head almost exploded when I had to wait in line over 20 minutes at the supermarket express lane  . . . but everybody else was having a good time talking.
The men are also super polite.  I'm pretty sure one of the Argentinian guys was into me on our hike based on a couple of off-hand comments he made.  But you would never know it from his behavior.  The obvious overtures in both America and Europe just don't exist here.  The result is that my antenna for men's intentions are out of wack.
Everybody has time for everybody.  (See Mendoza's post for a previous description of Argentine hospitality).  Hitchhiking is common and is apparently very safe in this country.  I've benefited from it twice while in the Lake Region.  Pablo shoved people out of the way so a guy on the public bus who was feeling feint could sit down, and then gave him some of our water and food.  People care about each other in a way that restores my faith in humanity.  For all it's uniqueness, I love Argentina.

Bariloche Part 1

The Argentinian Lake Region.  It's a big reason I chose to come to Argentina at all.  Over a year ago, at the reception of a quinceanera, the Argentinian pastor told me the Lake Region in Argentina was as beautiful as Switzerland, but with less people.  For those of you who have traveled with me, you know Interlaken, Switzerland is one of my favorite places on Earth.  Bariloche is the gateway to the Lake Region of Argentina and so was on my must-do list of places to visit.

The bus to Bariloche was 3 hours late.  During those 3 hours waiting in the bus terminal, I made friends with another American girl named Shawn who was also headed to Bariloche, and 2 English guys who would continue on to Esquiel, further south.  I had paid the extra $15 to get the good seats downstairs for my 18 hour bus ride from Mendoza, and slept like a baby. 

I arrived from in Bariloche to architecture that could have come from Switzerland.  It turns out this is the region that the Germans fled to after the WWII.  I believe this place is actually more beautiful!  These mountains are just as dramatic as the Rockies and the Alps, but they are dotted with hundreds of lakes.  Some lakes are huge, and some are tiny.  The town itself sits on the huge Lake Nahuel Huapi. 

Shawn and I parted ways to our respective hostels in Bariloche and then reassembled with two of my friends for dinner.  Greg (from previous posts) and Jason are traveling together in Argentina for several weeks and we would all overlap for approximately 36 hours.  That was enough time to grab dinner and desert at one of the many chocolate shops, absorb all the traveling advice from them, and for 1 full day of hiking together.  Jason and Shawn chose the Lloa Lloa hike (and apparently enjoyed the beach there with a bottle of Malbec).  Greg and I elected to take the big day-long hike: Catedral.  It was hot, dusty, and spectacular.  Here's just a few pictures to give you a feel for the day.  I enjoyed it so much that I went back 2 days later, this time with a tent.

Wildflowers everywhere

Views of a branch of Lake
Nahuel Huapi from early in
the hike

Views from about halfway up

At Refugio Frey, halfway done with the hike
The water was COLD.
We hiked over the ridge to the back and right of this picture.

Hiking out of Frey to Lake Schmoll

We're on the moon!

The view from the moon - Lake Schmoll

We just topped the ridge.  Downhill from here

Views from the top.  The lake is in the distance.

Views from the top.  Mt Tronador is in the distance.
I would hike through this valley and over the ridge in the
back of the picture 3 days later.

We took so long that we got to see the sunset over the lake

Missing the last bus meant we hitched back to Bariloche
in the back of a truck along with 2 mountain bikes

Thanks to Jason for doing the research.  Thanks to Greg for joining me for a full, great day.  And thanks to the 5 guys who let us climb in the back of their truck to save us the 30km hike back to Bariloche.