Mountain of Thunder.

View from look out of Mount Tronador.
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pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brianandkim/sets/72157603250252105/

True to our title, the gringos perdidos got a little bit lost leaving Bariloche, but eventually we stumbled upon Ruta Nacional 258, and commenced our first South American Roadtrip!  With Brian as pilot, and Kim as copilot and navigator, we were bound to find the 'scenic route.'

Tronador Glacier.
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We did manage to find the Park, 90km from Bariloche, passing Lago Gutierrez, and followed the train of minibuses up the winding mountain road sucking dust the whole way.  Fortunately all of the buses pulled off the road at a mirador (lookout point) and we cruised on by.  The traffic system was interesting to say the least.  Uphill traffic was allowed from 8am until 2pm, when the road closed.  Then from 4pm until 7pm only downhill traffic was allowed to pass.  After 7pm, they figured, 'what the hell' and the one-lane gravel road that clung to the mountainside opened up to two-way traffic just in time for dusk and nighttime.

Lake view.
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At the first major pull-out, we stopped and saw the 'black glacier!'  It was dirty, and we can see why they call it the black glacier.  All of a sudden, we heard what sounded like a peal of thunder. We were hearing the noise that gave this mountain its name 'Mount Thunder'.  Avalanches falling from the glaciers at regular intervals.  It was pretty incredible.

We hopped back into Foxy to do a little hike to a lookout point, and after about 50 meters, came to a sign that said, you guessed it, 'Trail Closed.'  We sidestepped the sign, and headed up through quite a bit of snow to the lookout point for a game of cribbage and lunch.  We were the only ones up there, and got to see quite a few mini-avalanches coming off the vertical walls of the mountain.  Tronador didn't disappoint.

The muddy road ahead. Fonck Chico here we come.
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We also had our first chance to pick up hitchikers, and not just one, but six!  Brian and I stopped to walk back to a small waterfall while we waited for the road to open.  A group of people who appeared to be our age approached us and asked us how far it was to the glacier.  'A 10-15 minute drive,'  we responded. Their faces fell.  They had been on a tour of the glacier and mountain, and their bus had left them there!!  There were 15 in the group, and here were a third of the group standing in front of us, not on their bus.  That guide didn't do a very good head count!  We offered to give them a ride back to their bus.  Can you say clown car?  Two of the guys were as tall as Brian, and they really insisted that I come along for the ride as well.  I politely declined, as 8 people in a VW FOX wasn't my idea of a fun way to spend the next 15 minutes.  I let them settle for 7 people in the fox, plus luggage, and started to walk to the waterfall.

Our next challenge would be to find a suitable place to pitch our tent for the night.  At 4pm when the road opened, we headed down the mountain to check out some waterfalls along another 'time sensitive' road that had just opened.

wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tronador