Day 226 - Refugio Viejo Tronador

(Ursula) It was a cold morning. We reluctantly got out of our warm bed. The hike started at 7:00 AM, and we were grateful for the underlayers and warm sweaters.

We had already reached the tree line an hour later, and the mountain world opened above us. More and more snow-covered peaks appeared at each turn of the trail. Then the first rays of the sun warmed us up. Now the trail leads over a swampy plateau with low bushes and patches of snow left-over from the past winter. We tried stepping on rocks as much as possible to avoid our shoes getting wet. The ones we wore were not meant for mountain hiking.

The views already looked pretty good from up there. Nothing but mountains all around us! After three more uphill hours, mostly over snow fields, we reached the Refugio (hut). It consisted of a single room intended as an emergency shelter.

Inside, we met three young Argentineans from Buenos Aires. They had just returned from the Tronador summit and were packing to leave. Heinz fired up the wood stove and brewed coffee with our sausage and bread sandwiches.

Then we hung our shoes and socks to dry and took a nap. Later we sat outside on a sunny rock, sheltered from the wind, and enjoyed the incredible views. We realized we were sitting in the middle of the Andes, surrounded by 2,000 and 3,000-meter peaks. It could as well have been in the Swiss Alps; only this range appeared much more massive.

There isn’t much to say about our descent except that our knees started hurting because of a lack of training. We were glad to arrive back at the car, where Büsi happily greeted us. I guess he was hungry. After a wonderful bath, we put our feet up, munched on gingerbread, and relaxed. Heinz got the camper ready for the next day while I washed a few clothes. Later, we opened a bottle of wine and ate a light dinner. We happily cuddled into our cozy bed.

What a wonderful day!Read more