El Bolsón

We spent a week in El Bolsón and wish to someday come back, possibly during the fall when all the trees are red. There are so many outdoor activities nearby, and we did many of them, but there are still more that we are leaving for next time.

The first day it poured rain the entire day. We didn't know what to do with ourselves, so we mostly slept. It was probably good for us to sleep since most of the rest of the trip will be non stop hiking, and Jeff was also getting sick with a cold. The hostel we stayed in (La Casona de Odile) was just as nice as we thought it would be. It has a very nice big backyard on the river filled with weeping willows and birches and many hammocks for resting in. And also includes a nice breakfast of homemade wheat toast and strawberry jam and cereal. (We are still getting used to small breakfasts!) The only downside is that it's a few miles outside of town, but this luckily kept most of the annoying hippies away. (:

On the second day (Monday) we began a three day trek in the mountains. We did not bring a tent on this trip, but most wilderness areas in Argentina have refugios, little cabins out in the middle of nowhere for eating and sleeping in. It was a somewhat expensive taxi ride to the trail head but we split the cost with an older Argentinian man (César) who was also staying in our hostel. Over the three days we hiked a little with him but not the whole time. He was pretty cool, told us a lot about plants along the way and other interesting facts about Argentina.

A story I found particularly interesting was about these obnoxious flys that buzz around your head when you hike here. They are called Tábanos and César says that the water here (rivers and lakes) is so pure that it doesn't even contain salt, so these flys want to land on you and have some of your salt. That is easier said than done though as they are quite scary looking and you instinct is to swat them away. If you let them have your salt they won't bite but if you hit them you better make sure they're dead César says or they'll come back to bite you! About 15 years ago the Argentine government introduced yellow jacket (bees), which are carnivorous, in an attempt to get rid of Tábanos. The Tábanos are still here and now the yellow jackets are also around as pests who attack families during their weekly barbeque parties because they too want a share of the meat! (:

Our trek started with a crossing of this rickety suspension bridge over the Río Azul. It is such a decrepit bridge that only one person can go at a time and you feel that the boards might snap under your feet! Throughout the 3 days we crossed over several more of these. One safely across, the hike was mostly steep up hill and a bit unpleasant because we wasted about an hour being lost climbing up over and around fallen trees, which was exhausting. We made our way back to the bridge having no idea how we missed the big red and yellow arrow stating Refugio this way! From there the trail was easily followed by the red and yellow painted lids from canned foods! We had expected the hike to take 7 hour but were most pleasantly surprised when we arrived after only 5 hours. The closer we got to the refugio, the prettier the forest got, it mostly consisted of lenga, and type of beech and was draped in lichen. The lenga trees have the most perfect arrangement of leaves for creating shade, each branch makes a perfect fan of leaves. The whole day had been cloudy and a tiny bit sprinkly which made the hike more bearable because it wasn't too hot.

The Refugio is called Hielo Azul (Blue Ice) and was built by the Andean Mountain club. It's a little log cabin in a pretty forested valley next to a clear glacier stream and it sits at the base of a horseshoe of rocky cliff like mountains, which still have snow on them. A short but steep hike from the Refugio is a glacier. We waited until day two to see it. The sleeping area in the Refugio is very basic, on the second story of the cabin is a big room with thin foam mats, you bring your own sleeping bag. There must have been at least 40 or more people in there, since it is a refuge the policy is they don't turn anyone away. Many people camp in the yard. They also have hot showers and flush toilets, homemade beer, bread, pizzas and meals. The showers and the cabin are both heated by wood stove. The food and beer was very good. All of it is brought up by horses or on foot by the people that work there! We were pretty amazed by this place, as we have never seen anything like it in the US!

On the second day we did the extremely steep rocky hike up to the glacier. The trail follows closely to the meltwater stream, with many falls along the way. It took us an hour to get up, we spent an hour up there (exploring the area where the water falls over the cliff) and an hour getting down. It wasn't a very big glacier and was very different than any I've ever seen, I suppose because it looked white instead of blue even though it was cloudy. (Glaciers appear more blue on cloudy days). It was surrounded by rocky peaks and and a lovely blue green lagoon, as well as many rocks of interesting color, yellow, purple, brown and rusty red orange. It was a rather taxing hike, but we continued on to the next refuge afterward.

The hike from the Refugio Hielo Azul to the next destination (Refugio Cajón del Azul) was about 5 hours. We had 30 minutes of flat and then a steep uphill for 30 minutes to another refuge that we didn't even know was there, Refugio Laguna Natación)! It was located in a wide flat meadow and surrounded by more of the rocky snow capped mountains that seem to be so common in this area and right on a calm glassy lake. We briefly considered stopping there, but it was so early in the day still and the lady at that refuge told us it was all downhill to Cajón del Azul. So we kept going. We didn't really believe it could be down hill the whole way, but it was! For the first hour or two we had a nice time walking through the forest, but then we came out onto an exposed cliff with excellent views of the Río Azul valley. The clouds were beginning to clear and it was a little hot out and the plant life quickly changed to prickly desert plants, and the downhill was horrendous! So steep and narrow and rocky that there shouldn't have been a trail there. It killed my knees and we were quite exhausted when we finally arrived to the Refugio! Cajón del Azul refers to a narrow canyon which the water from the Río Azul (Blue River) must pass through. At the narrowest it's only about three feet wide and probably 100 ft deep. At this point the trail crosses over it via a rickety log bridge. The Refugio was just on the other side of the river. And as the name suggests the water of the river is a pretty turquoise blue. This Refugio blue te other one out of the water! It was way cool. The guy that built it has lived out in the forest there since 1980. He has fruit trees, including apple and cherry, he grows vegetables, including lettuce and tomatoes and also has sheep for weekend barbeques! It is a big log cabin, much larger than the Refugio Hielo Azul, with a huge dining area. The food was amazing, we had homemade beer, t bone steaks with rice and homemade bread and salad from the garden as wells as salsa and tomato relish from the garden. The sleeping area had real mattresses still shoved into one big room but far more comfortable than the thin foam mats at the first place. Sadly though the bed bugs had a feast on my arm while I slept. I had at least 40 bites when I woke up. It was pretty hot in the place so I slept with my arms exposed and outside of my sleeping bag. :( I have determined that it's been bed bugs biting me all along, it was never a rash. Now I am paranoid that we may be carrying some with us in our backpacks! Jeff is lucky and either doesn't get bit or has no reaction to the bites, some people don't get a reaction, while others like me are allergic!

Despite the bugs we slept very well. Jeff was unfortunately sick with sore throat, cough and fever through out our trek. The clouds really helped us by keeping us cool the first two days. But on the last day hiking back out to the road it was very hot and we were void of energy from that super steep downhill hike the day before. Every muscle in my legs hurt! We passed by many more Refugios, there must have been at least 5 of them along the trail. We had nice shade for awhile but soon we were on a exposed dusty dirt road, which they use to take supplies to the Refugio's along the Río Azul valley. It was three hours out, and towards the end we practically ran trying to catch the bus, which somehow came early and we ended up missing it and taking an expensive taxi back to our hostel. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging.

I have probably made this trek seem awful but it really was an interesting enjoyable experience, just rather physically taxing, especially with Jeff sick.

The day after we got back we decided to visit the craft market in town. The town is full of hippies, it's where they all escaped to in the 60s and 70s when Argentina was under military rule. At the time Patagonia was sparsely populated and the military didn't care to bother people so far outside of Buenos Aires. Three times a week they have a market here, which is an interesting sight to see. All kinds of handmade crafts items and foods from local farms for sale. There were tons of people lounging in the grass, bands playing and even a trapeze circus show going on. And all the craft stuff was so cool, I wanted everything! They had handmade wool elf shoes, tie died hippie pants, jewelry boxes made out of leaves, and all kinds of cool things carved from wood!

Yesterday we had big plans to see more of the outdoor offerings in El Bolsón. We wanted to visit Lago Puelo National Park and also climb Cerro Piltriquitrón, the tallest mountain in the valley. The mountain is home to an area that was burned by wild fire and local artists came in and carved up all the dead trees into cool statues, bringing new life to the forest. Sadly we saw neither of these as Jeff's illness has now been passed to me and we were just too tired to do anything. It was also over 90 degrees out, so we laid in the hammocks by the river all day. The bright side is now we have in more of a reason to come back. And in the fall the temperatures should be much more enjoyable!

We are now on a bus to Esquel, 2 1/2 hours South of El Bolsón. We may take another rest day and then visit Los Alerces National Park, which is full of very rate and old Alerce trees.