A short flight but a late evening arrival in Bariloche led to the quickest car rental I think I have ever had. We drove down (Katie loves it when I describe a direction as down or over) to our AirBnB which turned out to be lovely with views of one of the lakes from our balcony.
We battled some rain the next day but nothing really hard. We had ponchos on for a short while but mainly just raincoats. We did a lovely 6.5 mile hike in Llao Llao which had spectacular views of the lakes and the Andes despite the cloud cover. We completed the circuit Llao Llao in the car with more beautiful sites and a fox just standing on the roadside!
We picked up food for a couple dinners at home which we haven’t had for a month.
Still intermittent rain the next day so we walked around San Carlos de Bariloche stopping to have a Gin and Tonic in memory of Paul.
The following day brought sun and we were up early. We repeated the circuit Llao as the views are spectacular.
We then stopped at a chair lift that takes you up to the top of Cerro Centenario, a must do if you are here. It seems to be a small cinder one that rises up enough to see the surrounding lakes and mountains in a full 360 degrees. The downside was the temperature and wind. The wind chill was reported to be 22 degrees F at lake level. I’m thinking it was close to zero at the top. I couldn’t feel my fingers after briefly looking through the binoculars.
We drove on looking for the gondola to the top of Cerro Otto but after a number of false stops we found the base but it was closed for maintenance. So, we drove up the dirt road to the top of Cerro Otto. Actually not as bumpy as the road to the Stanislaus. We then hiked the Sendero Piedra de Hapsburg which turned out to be otherworldly! Fall colors mixed with trees covered in hanging moss.
At the end of the trail there is a Refugio which is placed at the top of a prominence with gorgeous views of the surrounding lakes and mountains. It was not open now but you could see the bar with its taps thru the window. It must be a fantastic break on a summer’s hike. The Piedra (stone) was a massive stone overlook of the Lago Gutierrez. Eagles were flying above us as we looked out at the jaw dropping scenery.
We managed a swim in the pool back at our AirBnB, then out to dinner at Stags which is perched over the Lago Nahuel Huapi. Wonderful Tenderloin steaks and Malbec wine.
We went off on a drive the following day, following the Circuit of the 7 Lakes on Ruta 40. The drive out was limited on views as it was SNOWING! We had good laughs along the way and jumped in and out of the car in record time at viewpoints. We were surprised by a very friendly hawk at one pullout. He jumped right on the hood and watched the windshield wipers go back and forth.
When we turned around, some 2 hours out, lo and behold (does anyone say that anymore?), Sunshine. We now had snow capped mountains and beautiful lake views.
Katie has had a little stomach issue so we napped the rest of the afternoon. We still rolled out for steak downtown. As usual delicious Beef, this time sold as Bife de Chorizo. Not that this is sausage. They say chorizo to describe an elongated steak. They also use it for wiener dogs calling them chorizo.
checkout was today so we packed up but managed a 3 mile hike out and back to Duendes Falls and beyond. A gorgeous day tempting us to stay if w3 could.
