In and around Bariloche

To all my faithful readers, accept my apologies for completely neglecting this blog over the last couple of weeks. Between the arrival of my very dear friend, Joanna, and the call of the mountains, it was hard to justify spending any time in front of a computer. But now I begin...

I'm so glad I chose to go back to Bariloche for the final part of my journey. Not only is the backcountry around Bariloche spectacular, but I found a really nice place to live. I rented a room from Marta in her home. Also, I met many people who were sticking around Bariloche for the full ski season, adding a nice stabalizing factor to my friendships. One of the most difficult parts of traveling is meeting really amazing people and then having to part ways a couple days later.

In mid-July Joanna showed up. Joanna and I met at summer camp when we were in 7th grade and have remained close friends ever since. As she went to university on the East coast, I hadn't seen her in two years. It was so great to reconnect and share many wonderful, days, adventures and outings with her.

Below is a pictoral glimpse of my life in Bariloche...

Me waving good bye to Bariloche. Joanna and I hiked up Cerro Otto one last time before getting on the bus to leave.

Me just after sitting down on the bus. Although I was still smiling, it was a hard good-bye.

"Happy Travels" from the City of Bariloche

Out at South Bar on the night before I left with some friends

The road leaving town. Joanna and I had nice front row seats on the bus.

The moon watching over Bariloche

Pierre, who was also living at Marta's house, and Joanna enjoying a good bottle of wine with dinner. The view of Bariloche from Cerro Otto
Me with Marta's grand-daughter, Agustina
The view out my bedroom window on a snowy day
Me and Mike, who also rented a room for a time from Marta, enjoying a bottle of wine with dinner (on a different night than the one above... the wine here is really amazing and really inexpensive!)
Sunset over Bariloche

Julian and Andrea, who we met at Refugio Neumeyer, invited Joanna, Stephen, Melanie and I over for an asado. It was delicious!
Me and Andrea
Sitting down to enjoy the asado
Joanna and I went for one night to El Bolson, a nearby hippie town. We stayed in an adorable, hand-built log cabin. Unfortanetly (for Joanna), they didn't take tall Americans into account when they built it.
The view from El Bolson
Joanna and I sitting down to our favorite lunch: avacados on toast and bananas and peanut butter. We went through the jar of peanut butter that Joanna brought down in a little more than a week.
Joanna and I in my favorite cafe, Cafe Antigua. I didn't even have to order there after a while. The waitresses would just look at me and ask, "cafe con leche?"
Joanna
We went for afternoon tea at a really nice hotel called Llao Llao. Talk about luxury and delicious sweets.
Mount Tronador. This is my favorite mountain in all of Argentina. It's absolutely spectacular no matter what angle you view it from.

Neumeyer hut

For a long weekend, while in Bariloche, Joanna, Stephen, Melanie and I headed up to Neumeyer hut. There wasn't much in the way of good snow, so instead of skiing, we passed the time hiking, playing frisbee, sledding, doing beacon searches, star watching, cooking good meals and basically having a good time!!!

Melanie throwing the frisbee Stephen and Joanna hanging out in the refugio
Stephen with a cup of coffee. The coffee press in the bottom right of the picture ranks up there as one of the best items I've brought with me to South America.
The view before we headed down on the one day that Stephen and I took our skis out
Joanna and I sporting the moss fallen from the lenga trees. The moss is aptly named Old Man's Beard.
We do look hot, if I may say so myself

What can I say, Joanna is a trend-setter
Heading up toward the peak of Chalhauco
The view from the top of Chalhuaco
Group shot on top of Chalhauco. Me, Melanie, Stephen, Joanna.
Me and Joanna up on top

Frey trip

Shortly after Joanna arrived to Bariloche, we set off for Frey hut. Due to the complete lack of recent snow fall and the plentitud of high winds and strong sun, the snow was bullet proof. Our packs weighed quite a bit-- food for four days plus all the gear we needed to camp out in the snow. It was Joanna's first time using skins to go up a mountain and first time skiing in a couple of years. All added up, we had quite the adventure.

It took us a full 12 hrs. to reach Frey on the first day. Since we didn't get on the trail until about 1 p.m. (complications with gear rental), a good majority of the climb took place during the night. Fortunately, it was the night of the full moon and the skies were perfectly clear. It was actually a really beautiful to be out!!! When we finally did reach the hut, we ate a bit of food and then fell asleep exhausted.

The following day we hung out at the hut, made a good lunch, practiced self-arrests, did beacon searches and took a short hike.

We really wanted to do some winter camping, so after two nights at Frey we descended into the forest and set up the tent... we also built a pretty fancy kitchen area in the snow! This night was particularaly memorable for the long conversations and hot chocolate we made with milk and actual chocolate... melted, of course.

Joanna showing off the kitchen we built in the snow

Joan, Joanna and I eating a really delicious lunch. The cat seems just a bit jealous.

The view from Frey

I can't help it, I dig the self-portraits

Joanna making her way down the mountain-- quite the balancing act given the pack on her back

Joanna and I just after arriving to Frey around 1:30 a.m.

Joanna became quite the expert at lifting herself up off the snow. The best part is that she always did it with a smile!

Joan and Joanna checking out the slope below on day one

Joanna

An attempt to cross over the log in an obstacle-course-like section of the trail resulted in a spill backwards. It just so happened that Joanna landed in quite a comfortable position-- back proped up on her backpack and legs proped up on the log. In not to long I had the tea and cookies out and we both took a break.

What a wonderful moon!