First Trek in Patagonia - Lake District

February 5, 2008

Day One, Nahuel Huapi National Park

(Matt)

We got up just before our hostel stopped serving breakfast and finished packing. During the two days we stayed at the hostel, I had confirmed several times with the lady who owned it that, even though she did not have a room for us upon our return from the hike, we could leave two bags with her during the hike. Each time I broached this subject, she assured me that this was not a problem. Usually, there is a storage closet or something at the hostel or hotel where all the bags are kept during a hike. After presenting my bags to her at checkout, she directed me to place the bags in the hall of the hostel behind a chair, where they were clearly visible to anyone who cared to take them. I would have been really uncomfortable with that had we not been traveling with PacSafes. For those not yet hip to the Pacsafe(http://www.pacsafe.com/www/index.php), it is the greatest invention of our time (for a backpacker). It is a metal web that surrounds the backpack and additionally allows you to lock the backpack to stationary objects. In this case, I locked the bags to metal bars that were over some windows in the hallway behind the chair. So the bags were perfectly secure, but I still think that this was a very odd place to store left luggage...in the hall, away from the hotel office, out of the view of the owner, behind a chair.

After breakfast, we caught the bus to the ski resort, ate a delicious hot dog ("un pancho") and a German sausage on a bun, and started the hike.

The first few hours of the hike were extremely hot, like Texas in late May...but not June, July or August. In other words, it was still hot enough to be oppressive in direct sunlight while carrying a heavy backpack, but not actually hot enough to kill you outright. Because there had been a forest fire that killed most of the trees in the first part of the hike, it was a scorcher. It felt like one of my Big Bend desert hikes for a while, and it got worse towards the top of the mountain, where the trees were replaced by scrub brush and rock slides.

If there was one thing that summarized our experience in the Nahuel Huapi National Park it was the dichotomy between the hot, dry, dusty, Martian-like mountain tops and the moist, cool, crisp, green forests of lenga (a tall deciduous species of southern beech tree) in the valleys of those same mountains. In the photographs we took, I think you can see the differences. These Patagonian forests are sometimes referred to as the "cloak of the mountains." That is a very accurate description of what it looks like.

The first day was pretty exhausting, and when we rolled up to Refugio Frey, we were pleasantly surprised to find Laguna Tonchek, an adorable lake surrounded on all sides, like a bowl, by very high mountain walls. From the Laguna, which sits at 1700 meters, you can see the craggy spires of Catedral Mountain. It was amazing. We felt that we had finally arrived in Patagonia, which is legendary for great scenery.

After we caught our breath, we started talking to another American named Jordan, from Brooklyn, and Anna, his Czech wife from Prague. They arrived at the Laguna at the same time we did. We then pitched our tent on the shores of the lake and went for a swim. It was nice to soak the feet.

Then we decided to eat. I broke out our new, state-of-the-art titanium mugs and began to boil water. I waited and waited and waited.....I began to suspect that something was wrong with this new cup when it took almost 20 minutes to boil a cup of water that should have taken about 3 to 5 minutes. After it boiled, I told Amber that I thought we were going to have a problem with the new cups, that they didn´t appear to transmit heat to the water. I was still calm at this point, but I was hungry and a little concerned about having enough fuel to cook for three days, since it took 20 minutes to boil one cup of water.

I poured the boiling water into Amber´s dinner of freeze-dried spaghetti and turned to my freeze-dried dinner of chili mac. I started heating the second cup of water, attempting to make it boil, with my forty-dollar titanium mug from REI that, incidentally, was supposed to be a big improvement over my three dollar stainless mug from Academy. After adding boiling water to Amber´s freeze-dried meal and stirring it, she had to wait about 10 minutes to eat. I stared at the cup and fiddled with the heat, trying different theories of convection. I stacked rocks all around trying to avoid perceived interference from the almost nonexistent breezes. Then I noticed that Amber had long since finished her meal and was laughing at me. Noticing that I was experiencing some form of hypoglycemia, Amber attempted to stuff a Cliff Bar into my mouth against my will. I refused.

Right around that time, I became somewhat delirious and began ranting about this titanium mug and its apparent inability to boil water, which was the only reason we were carrying the mugs in the first place. I had been trying to boil one cup of water for about half an hour, and I was so hungry that I kind of lost my mind. Our new friends, Anna and Jordan could hear the whole affair from their tent. In the time it took me to boil one cup of water and warm another, they had successfully cooked a fine meal, cleaned up their dishes, and turned in for the night. Because I actually had assured them earlier that we had everything under control, that all we needed to do to eat was to boil water, we all had a good laugh about it after they supplied me with a pan to boil my water. As it happened, the titanium cups were double-walled to keep heat in, but in the case of our camp stove, it kept the heat out.

Anna and Jordan really saved us. They let us use their pan for the rest of the trip.

(Amber)

The next day, we got up, ate a croissant, and headed to the bus stop. We got on a bus that took us about 30 minutes to the tiny ski resort of Villa Catedral. We ate a GOOD hot dog and started a trek that would turn out to be one of the most beautiful...and the toughest....of my life so far.

Day one´s hike was 5 hours and was mainly through a forest that had burned. It boasted amazing views of a brilliantly blue lake. It was mostly uphill and was extremely hot. The great news is that there are water sources everywhere, so we could easily stop and filter water for our Camelbacks. This makes hiking here so much easier than hiking in desert heat and having to carry all of the water you´ll need. We arrived at the designated camping area, and it was stunning.

Camping is free, but they tell you which basically square mile you have to camp in. Our site sat on the shores of a beautiful little lake that was sandwiched in high, rocky mountains. We went for a swim, watched some incredible birds, and just enjoyed the view. The stars were brighter than any I´ve ever seen in my life. The night was windy, but we slept great....and late.....we didn't wake up until after 9am for day two.

Click here for day one photos: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AatmbZk0ZtFG1Q

February 6, 2008

Day Two, Nahuel Huapi National Park

Day Two

(Amber)

When we woke up on day two, I packed up while Matt cooked. We definitely have already devised a division of labor. One sets up camp while the other cooks, and it works well. Breakfast was coffee and the most horrendous freeze dried eggs you can imagine. They remind me of kitchen scrubbies cut into squares, soaked in hot water, and called breakfast. Really, really bad. Anyway, we ate, packed up camp and headed off....and UP.

Since our campsite was in a valley, we knew that we had to climb a high, rocky mountain first thing. In Patagonia, there aren´t really trails in most places. There are splashes of paint on certain rocks to keep you on track, but really you just have to figure out the best route up the mountain while staying basically on the route so that you end up in the designated site to camp. So we climbed, looking back at the most amazing vistas on Earth I imagine.....steeply up and often on loose rocks. But the flowers, birds, waterfalls, and views of lakes and snow capped mountains made it all worth it. And even with all o our gear, we fared well.

After a few hours, we got to the top of the first pass and stopped to eat lunch...which was just a PowerBar...with the most incredible views of lakes and mountains I´ve ever seen.

We were taking our time, taking lots of photos, and stopping to enjoy the scenery....in large part because we had severely underestimated the time it would take to reach the camping area. We wouldn't realize that mistake until about 9:30pm.

After lunch at the first pass, we descended the first of what would be two really treacherous downhill portions of the trek. Treacherous for two main reasons. The terrain was mostly scree, which is just loose rock and gravel. And it was incredibly long and steep. This, I thought at the time, would be my least favorite part of the hike. I had no idea that a steeper, longer scree section was waiting several hours ahead of me.

After more falls than I can count, we made it down the first scree slide section....but not before we saw two Andean Condors circling overhead. In a way, it was so much better than when we saw them in Peru. In Peru, we were at a lookout with probably 30 other people. In Argentina, it was just us and the Condors....for what seemed like probably a million miles.

At the bottom, we stopped to regroup, count my wounds, and have some water.....and we were immediately surrounded by lizards that sat on the rocks and ate the large flies....who had followed us all day, biting with a sting akin to a bee sting. We loved those lizards for eating our archenemies and took several photos for our friend John, who will no doubt be able to identify them for us.

After a short lizard break, we continued walking. Past incredible views, deep in high mountains, feeling like it was just us and the Earth....

Before the end of the day, we would go through dense forests of large trees in the valley and climb one more large pass.....before descending down the granddaddy of all steep scree slides into our camp.

I have immensely enjoyed these hikes. They have tested me physically and mentally, and I´ve loved every minute...even if I didn´t know at the exact moment that I loved the minute. But the steep slide after 9 hours of hiking.......and probably 30 falls and counting.....began to wear on me. It was long, steep, and so treacherous. Matt hated it too, but he didn´t complain and certainly didn´t cry. I did.....just a couple of times. And it wasn't an ¨I'm tired and bratty¨....it was a guttural Â¨I believe I will die in scree¨cry...and one that was fueled by the fact that we had hiked over many high mountains, climbed rocks, navigated a different steep downhill slide, been walking for hours.....with only kitchen scrubbies and PowerBars in our bodies to fuel us. So I had my cry, wiped my face which instantly was caked with mud created by clouds of dust sticking to my sweat and tears, examined my wounds, listened to Matt assure me that he hated it too and that we could do it, looked at the heavenly view before me.....and got down the mountain.

A side note - an Israeli girl who we briefly talked to on the way up the final pass had been badly injured...her ankle.....on the first scree slide. She was ultimately air lifted out on the morning of day 3. So I wasn´t the only one falling! In fact, not a single person I talked to didn´t fall at least once.

Eventually, more than 9 hours after leaving our first camp.....muddy, bruised, and slightly bloody.....we got to camp number two.....which sat in a fertile valley in the most remote, amazing corner of the Earth that I can imagine. On the way to set up our tent, Matt said ¨Let´s count our blisters tonight. I bet I have more than you.¨Like it´s a contest.....

We ate a heinous dinner of freeze dried mac and cheese and chicken and rice and collapsed into our tent.

At the first campsite, we struck up a conversation with a couple who we really hit it off with. A guy from Brooklyn and his wife from Prague....who not only became friends who we celebrated with in Bariloche upon our return.....but who saved us with their generosity. They stepped in when our new pots wouldn't boil water, which is critical....because without boiling water, we had NO food. And they loaned me sunblock when mine ran out. These gestures may seem small, but they were as big as you could get in our world at the time. The sun and I don´t mix....especially for 12 hour days in the elements. Thanks to the generosity of strangers...who became friends.....we were able to eat...and my skin is still virtually intact.

Sleep at camp two was less peaceful. For the first time in our hikes in South America, my body was really feeling it. And when I woke up the next morning, I could hardly move. My knees, thighs, and feet fared the worst. I blame it on my enemy....the downhill slides. Getting out of the tent and going to get water to cook with....I must have been a sight. I came up to a slight step in the mud and had to think about how to navigate it with my poor, poor body. And we had another six hour hike ahead of us......

(Matt)

The second day, we started by climbing out of the large bowl of mountains that surrounded Lacuna Tonchek. Often on this hike, on the rocky tops of the mountains, there was not really a "trail," but there were red dots of paint on rocks to tell you the direction you were to aim while walking.

We found a large red dot on a stone at the bottom of the Northwest side of the Laguna Tonchek, and we walked up ¨scree¨or ¨talus,¨which is fancy talk for rock slides and gravel (people love terminology), and arrived at Laguna Schmoll, a smaller version of the lake we camped next to the night before. At this point in the day, everything was cool. After all, our Lonely Planet guide book, Trekking in the Patagonian Andes, stated that day two was merely 3.5 to 5 hours of hiking. It was for this reason that we rolled out of bed late and  pack up our camp that morning at a leisurely pace.

We reached the top of the pass and took in great views of Cerro Catedral and Cerro Tres Reyes. We took our time at the top, taking pictures and whatnot. On the way up, due to our short hiking day predicted by Lonely Planet, we took lots of breaks and lots of pictures. Then we started down the other side of the mountain, or actually stated falling down. We were ¨screeing¨ down the mountain trying not to break an ankle or twist a knee. It really was not fun. Amber fell constantly. The more she fell, the more cautious she became, which made her fall more. She was cussing up a storm. Plus, we were in direct sun light, and there was no vegetation to offer shade until we arrived in the valley below. It was just one big rock slide.

I got to the bottom, and Amber was probably 200 yards up the rocky mountain side. I had just taken off my bag to rest when I heard a different sound, a scary one. Amber yelled out in a way that let me know that she had taken a spill, and I was really worried about what I would find when I turned around.

She had fallen head first down the mountain and rolled one full revolution before coming to rest feet first on her back after sliding several more feet. She was upset, but when I walked back up the mountain to her, it turned out that she only had some minor scrapes and bruises....and her shoes were filled with sand. Otherwise, she was in good shape.

We took a break and watched some lizard eat the biting flies that had been eating us for the past two days and continued down into the cool forest, thinking the worst was behind us.

After a couple more hours, we ascended Paso Brecha Negra. At this point, we were really questioning the Lonely Planet´s time estimates. We were well over 6.5 hours at this point and had stopped making unnecessary stops long ago. The view from the pass was fantastic, as it overlooked a valley containing Laguna Jakob, the largest lake we had seen on the hike. It was also our destination. We camped in the valley near the lake, which seemed very close from the top of the pass.

As we began to descended into the valley, it became clear that our camp site was very far away. We were separated by a very tall ¨scree slope¨ that was worse than the first. Amber almost immediately began falling. She fell so much that, from a couple hundred yards downhill, all I could see of her was dust from her most recent fall. She was a trooper though. I fell down a few times too. It was hard to stay upright. especially after seven hours of hiking. It took a terribly long time to get down. Both of us were tired, and our feet were blistered from trying to balance on the downhill scree fields. We rolled into camp exhausted. Amber was scraped up, bruised and dirty, but she really stayed positive. I was proud of her. I don't know too many people who would have gone through that, falling thirty or more times, and then signed up for more hikes in the same environment. But she is still in.

That night we discussed Lonely Planet´s time estimates with Jordan and Anna. We took the longest at 9 hours, but they took 8 hours, and the CAB map estimated 8 hours.

Anna introduced us to milk and honey, which is awesome.

In all, it was a beautiful hike. I think we could both do with less scree though.

DAY THREE

(Amber)

The hike on day three was beautiful and much less demanding.....but I felt it seriously because of the toll taken on days one and two. It was largely on dirt...instead of rocks....and mostly flat or downhill along a crystal clear river in the valley floor. We passed through gorgeous forests, wildflowers galore, and clean clear water.

We finished the hike after about six hours and sat on a dirt road hoping for a bus to come by. After about 45 minutes, it did....and we hobbled into Bariloche looking for a shower and food. We found both....and are infinitely better for the experiences we had in the Lake District of Patagonia.

(Matt

All I will add about day three is that my feet were so blistered from the scree on day two, that it was agonizing to walk. I did a lot of damage to my feet, and I really didn´t take a step during our 6 hour hike on day three that I didn't at least think about my feet, though it was very beautiful. I need to toughen my feet up.

FINAL THOUGHTS

(Amber

A few things I figured out...

It´s amazing how much you learn about your preferences on long hikes. Rocks vs dirt.....up vs down....shade vs sun....every combination of these along with the order in which they occur completely dictate your experience. On this hike, the sunny rocky downhill was rough. Not being able to trust that the Earth will stay still when you step, especially when you´re on a steep mountainside with an endless drop....messes with your mind.

And this one I should have known....bodies need food to really hike up mountains in the sun all day.

We are going to revamp breakfast, because boiled scrubby doesn't cut it for me. Breakfast is becoming my responsibility, and I´m thinking oats....I will keep you posted as I perfect it. We are also going to add a hot milk and honey regimen. Jordan and Anna, the new friends, offered us this at the end of day two at camp ....and after what we had been through, it was heavenly. All you have to carry is the dried milk and a small amount of honey, and it really is a treat at the end of such a hard day.

I will also never leave without enough sunblock or lip balm.

MVPs of the accessories on the hike was my sarong and our Camelbacks. The sarong, which I bought nine years ago in Asia, starred as a table, a shirt to protect me from the sun, a towel, a dress, a swimsuit cover.....just to name a few. The Camelbacks really kept us hydrated on the long hikes in the sun. It´s amazing how much more you drink as you go when you have a hose right by your mouth....much more than when you have to pull out a water bottle.

I was raised camping and have always loved being in nature. But Matt really introduced me to trekking, one of his real loves in life and something that I don´t think he could be happy without doing. He calls it ¨talking to the animal¨and it´s really a part of who he is. And from the bottom of my heart, I just have to thank him....for showing me the mind boggling beauty of the world from as high as we can get wherever we are. And for the blisters and bruisers that he swears are making me a better person.....thing is, I´m starting to think he´s on to something.

(Matt

Lakes District has the greatest diversity of plants and animals found anywhere in Patagonia, and this was evident during our hike. We saw many types of birds, including Andean Condors, and so many varieties of plants and trees, none of which we had ever seen before, that it felt like we were exploring a new planet.

Also, Amber is the real deal....she is tough.

Day one: http://share.shutterfly.com /action/welcome?sid=8AatmbZk0Zt FG1Q

Day two: http://share.shutterfly.com /action/welcome?sid=8AatmbZk0Zt FG2c

Day three: http://share.shutterfly.com /action/welcome?sid=8AatmbZk0Zt FG3Y