Family Adventure in Patagonia

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29. december 2021
Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Arrival in San Martin de los Andes
29. december 2021, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F
Today is the real start of our multi-sport trip with Erin, Nick, and Nick’s parents, Mark and Terri. The previous two days were travel from the U.S. and an overnight in Buenos Aires.

We arrived in the afternoon to San Martin, our home base for the next 5 days. This town could be Truckee or any other small multi-season tourist town. It is very picturesque, with lots of restaurants and shops. There is a ski resort nearby, but since it is summer, fly-fishing, biking, rafting and kayaking are the activities on offer. It will be a nice place to end each day after our multi-sport activities.Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Hike to the base of Lanin Volcano
30. december 2021, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F
This was the first day we set out with our AndesTrack tour guides, Patricio and Liz. Our destination today was to the base of Lanin Volcano, one of the highest peaks in Patagonia. The Chilean border runs through part of the mountain.

We were driven in a comfortable Sprinter-type van to the trailhead, nearly 2 hours away (some of it over bumpy gravel road!). The scenery along the drive was beautiful, a bit like the Wild West—rocky buttes and mesas and scrub brush, but less dry, with some lakes and rivers, and occasional views of the volcano.

Our hike started through the forest and followed a river with little streams that we had to cross — with bridges and without, but no one got wet feet! We learned about the Araucaria tree, a conifer that is native to this part of the world and produces pine nuts larger than the ones we are familiar with. Monkey Puzzle tree is a common name for it, and we do have them in North America.

We are in late spring, so we walked among wild roses, sweet peas, large-flowered thistles and orchids near the top!

Lanin Volcano has long been dormant and features a glacier and permanent snow covering on the south side (remember, we’re in the southern hemisphere).

We had many glimpses of the volcano along our mostly gradual ascent, although the last 45 minutes was quite a steep climb — on a good trail. The view at the end of our hike was worth it — volcano and glacier in one direction and lake views below.

By the end, we had hiked 13 miles, longer than any of us had done before!

Check out this really cool ‘slide show’ that Patricio put together for us. The app auto-corrected WALL to WALLET 😂
https://www.relive.cc/view/vE6Jpk8pgxv?hl=enLæs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Rafting the Chimehuin River
31. december 2021, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F
We drove north again along the same route as yesterday, but not nearly as far on the washboard road. Our river guide, Javier, met us and got us suited up into wetsuits and lightweight jackets and helmets. Sadly, Nick wasn’t feeling well this morning and wasn’t able to join our rafting adventure.

The first thing we noticed was how incredibly clear and turquoise the river water is. Last winter was a drought year, so the water level is down from normal years. It was still exciting with some class 2-3 rapids and some short flat areas where we could stop paddling around rocks and admire the scenery.

At one point, we pulled up to a safe eddy in the river, where we were invited to jump off a rock, swim out to a calm spot, then ride the current to shore. The days have been getting a little cooler since we’ve been here and Darryl and I didn’t feel like getting that wet. Mark, Terri and Erin were willing to take the plunge, though!

We saw a native kingfisher, but no other wildlife, really. Lanin Volcano came into view for us, though! After a total of a couple of hours on the water, we landed at a grassy sunny spot where we could change into our dry clothes, relax and enjoy another excellent lunch prepared by AndesTrack’s chef, Jorge.

As we drove back to town, we stopped at Junin, a small, less-touristic town (more for the locals), just so we could buy some special Argentinian cookies called alfajores. They are a sandwich cookie with dulce de leche filling and a chocolate coating. What was unique to Junin about these cookies is that they are made with pine nut flour. The shop owner was happy to talk to us about the process of harvesting and grinding the flour and to tell us more about the Araucaria tree. Very special!Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Mountain Biking—Laguna Rosales to Town
1. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ 🌧 48 °F
Feliz Año! This was a great way to start off the new year. We and our mountain bikes were driven about 20 minutes out of town to a lake (Rosales). We set off with our guides, Julian (owner of AndesTrack) and Erica, through the trees for a 3-4 hour bike ride. The soil is very sandy because of all the former volcanic activity in the area (Lanin is not the only volcano around). That loose soil made it a little tricky at times but we got used to it. Nearly everyone had a fall, but nothing serious.

The weather was a bit rainy and it is always windy here, but with our workout, we were comfortable in the 50-ish degree temperatures.

We rode on mostly single track trails, never meeting another soul. Sometimes we took off through a scrubby meadow. Yellow alstroemerias were in abundance, as were purple thistles. We ended by winding our way back to town through a pretty residential area that reminded us of the Berkeley Hills neighborhoods (but with unpaved roads). Everyone was a bit challenged on this adventure, and we all had a great time!

We have lots more photos from the day, but they are on Julian’s phone, so check back later.Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Kayaking Lago Machónico
2. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 48 °F
Another day, another sport. Today we drove south about half an hour to kayak in a lake and river. We’ve included a screenshot of a map that shows how we started in the big Lake Machónico (windy!), then paddled down a quiet river to Pichi (small) Machónico lake, which was less windy, but not altogether calm. A delicious lunch spread was waiting for us on the shore. After a nice break, we paddled back the way we came.

On the way back, our driver, Julio, suggested taking the old road back to San Martin so we could get a view of town on the shore of Lácar Lake.Læs mere
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RejsendeBeautiful! Awesome video!
05.01.2022Svar
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Rainy Day Hike and Drive to Bariloche
3. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ 🌧 50 °F
Today was a transportation day from San Martin to Bariloche on Route 40 (iconic road like Route 66). We traveled a particularly scenic portion, the ’Ruta de Siete Lagos,’ but with the rain and mist, much of the scenery was hidden from us.

Still, we stuck with the itinerary and after an hour’s drive we took a hike to Ñivinco Falls. We had to remove our hiking boots to ford the stream in two places along the way. The rain let up a little to allow us to have a tea break by the riverside.

Continuing on for another hour we arrived in Villa la Angostura, a small picturesque tourist town, for lunch. We asked our new guide for the day—Martin—and our driver Julio to join us at a great pasta restaurant. Some of our selections included fresh trout, or ravioli with trout or deer meat (farmed, not wild) with a choice of sauce, Delicious!

The storm was pretty wild as we arrived at our hotel on Lake Nahuel Haupi (a native Mapuche name). The lake had big waves and white caps. Toward evening, we were rewarded with some rainbows across the lake.Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
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Biking the Limay River Valley (sun!!)
4. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F
Wow, today was another really special day! Guido, our mountain bike guide, met us in the morning at our hotel. The sky was clear, the wind was minimal and the temperature was comfortable.

Today’s ride was on a wide dirt/gravel road, kind of a nice change from the single-track on our last ride. We followed the Limay River over rolling hills for a couple of hours. We saw a few condors and at least one kingfisher. In the distance we could see some cool rock formations, a bit like Monument Valley, but surrounded by grassland and scrub brush.

At the most prominent of the rock outcroppings lay our lunch spot, a beautiful estancia (ranch) on the river, where a traditional Argentinian BBQ was prepared for us, with Mendoza wine.

We liked how they had matching dogs and cat—all very friendly! We could have stayed there for days!Læs mere
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I have a photo from Theodore Roosevelt national park that looks just like that! [Lora]
09.01.2022Svar
Diane and DarrylCool! We’ll save ourselves the airfare next time 😄
09.01.2022Svar
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Hiking Cathedral Peaks
5. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F
We started the day with a new guide, JJ (Juan Jose), and a driver who took us to the Bariloche ski resort. There we took a gondola, then a chairlift up to the trailhead. There’s no snow here this time of year, especially since they had a severe drought winter.

After admiring the view of the surrounding mountains and lake below, we set off uphill toward the craggy ridge. Darryl was in his element on the ridge, where all his Altadena rock climbing/scrambling came back to him. The rest of us found it terrifyingly exhilarating. There wasn’t much danger of falling (too far down at least!).

The ridge traverse took about an hour and a half. After that, we found a nice lunch spot with a view (everywhere had a view!). However, after lunch, we still had about 7 more hours of hiking ahead of us! It was a long, tiring day—11 miles of mostly downhill hiking. The water was so clean we could fill our water bottles from the lakes and streams—no human habitation up there, and not really any wildlife either. All of the varied views were worth the hike!Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Rio Manso Rafting, Farewell to Bariloche
6. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
We left Bariloche town and our hotel by the lake to take another rafting trip AndesTrack arranged for us on the way to our next lodgings.

The Rio Manso flows across the Andes, into Chile and to the Pacific. No passports were required for our two-hour traverse downstream.

We almost didn’t get to go on this rafting trip because of a wildfire that had raged in the area for most of December. Downed trees had made the river impassable once the fire got under control. Our river guide, Manuel, was among the people working tirelessly to create fire breaks, sometimes having to sacrifice 150 year old trees to keep the fire from spreading further. It already had jumped the river. In fact, today was the first day any groups were allowed back out on the river. Fortunately, there were plenty of trees and scenery in abundance along our rafting trip, which included some class 2 rapids and calmer sections.

The river is the dividing line between Nahuel Huapi National Park and private land. At the end of the paddle, we pulled up to a family’s property where we could enjoy yet another delicious and filling boxed lunch by the riverside.

Finally, we were driven a couple of hours to spend the next three nights at the family-owned Hotel Tronador within the national park on the shores of Lake Mascardi. This is the warmest and sunniest it’s been yet, and the views of glacial mountains and the lake are so beautiful!Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Mt. Tronador Paradise - Kayak, Swim…
7. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
This is a very special place here at Hotel Tronador, nestled at the end of Lake Mascardi among mountains and small rivers.

The hotel has been continuously operated since 1931 by the descendants of a Belgian doctor who came in 1907 as the first doctor in Bariloche. Not long after, his son became the first settler in this valley of Mount Tronador, while in search of grazing pastures. The family began welcoming visitors so often, they eventually opened a hotel. Once the National Park was established in 1934, the Vereertbrugghen family was allowed to keep their land and lodgings.

This is a family-friendly destination, and there are several families here with young children (as it is still the holiday time). All seem to be Spanish-speaking. Visitors can enjoy kayaking and other lake activities, hiking, rafting, horseback riding, fishing and “rural tourism” (ranch life); not to mention just sitting on your balcony relaxing and enjoying the peace and quiet and breathtaking scenery.

After a full breakfast served on the porch by the lake, we borrowed kayaks and explored the lake and river running into it — milky green/blue glacial water coming from Tronador.

We forgot to mention that on this trip we’ve seen several Andean condors—one particularly close to us up at Cerro Cathedral (the tough ridge hike 2 days ago). While out on the lake today we saw a few condors soaring high above us.

We take all our meals here at the hotel because there is nothing else around. That’s fine with us, as we are on our own, having left the excellent care of AndesTrack. Plus, the food is excellent.

After lunch and a siesta, some of us walked to a nearby waterfall viewpoint looking out over the valley to the snowy mountains.

After dinner (which is quite late here), we went out to check out the stars (with sundown at nearly 9:30, stargazing is a late-night activity), and Erin spotted first a chain of satellites known as the Starlink Train. It is eerie to see and moves really fast.Læs mere
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Beautiful! I could stay there for a while! [Lora]
09.01.2022Svar
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Exploring around Tronador
8. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
This morning we were ferried across the lake in a small motorboat, first with a stop to drop off a cooler of food and beach chairs(!) for our picnic lunch later. Then we continued on down the lake to be dropped off at a trailhead. This trail was originally built by the pioneering grandfather of our hotel hosts, for the purpose of driving his cattle to market in Bariloche.

We walked a lupine-lined trail through the forest, following the lakeshore for about 2 hours, with frequent glimpses of Tronador through the trees. When we arrived at our lunch spot, the chilly lake water was beckoning us on this warm and sunny day. Adventure levels ranged from full plunges to toe-dipping.

We enjoyed our steak sandwiches and potato quiche (made with French fries—it felt like we should have been in Pittsburgh!), fresh fruit and lemon bars in the shade.

After our respite, the four Ziters headed to some pools and a walk around the lake back to the hotel, and we hiked up to Castillo (castle) Rojo, an outcropping of red rock with a view over the valley that was spectacular. At the far end of the valley was our old friend Tronador, which means ‘thunder,’ named for the sound of falling glacier. No thunder while we were visiting.

With the radio provided to us, we called for our boat shuttle when we arrived back down from the climb.Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Moving on to El Chalten
9. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 52 °F
Today we had to leave our warm and sunny lake paradise for wilder, windier and cooler terrain. Our afternoon flight from Bariloche was less than two hours, but we spent about five hours on the road today, between the 2-hour mostly gravel road transit from Hotel Tronador to the airport, and the 3-hour paved route from El Calafate airport to El Chalten.

Our driver from the El Calafate airport to El Chalten, Jorge, pointed out features along the way — guanacos (llama relative), Mt Fitz Roy and another mountain spire, Cerro Torre. The peaks were uncharacteristically clear of clouds, according to Jorge. He stopped at his favorite spots to let us take photos, and even he was snapping away.

El Chalten is a very small town, dedicated to backpackers, climbers and day explorers like us. We were told the town has only been in existence since 1985. I guess before that it was only camping? There are many good restaurants, bakeries, and lodging options — from hostels to
cozy guesthouses to pricey hotels. It is very windy here, which is characteristic of Patagonia.Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Hike to (near) Laguna de los Tres
10. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
Our small hotel (Hosteria Senderos) offers a simple but filling buffet breakfast of fresh croissants and other baked goods, fruit, cereals, and ham & cheese. A good start for a day of hiking.

Our guide, Sebastian, met us at our hotel and we drove in a small bus shared with other hikers to the trailhead — about a half an hour out of town. Rain was expected today and the peaks were not so clear, but the day started off promising with a full rainbow as we started our hike.

The plan was to do a 13-mile trek up to a high lake honoring three early explorers in the area (hence, “Laguna de los Tres”), one of which was Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince. Because of the iffy weather and tricky trail conditions, we cut out the last 2 miles and 1,500 feet of elevation gain (no one was too disappointed!).

The rain mostly held off, and we had natural blow-drying for the light rain we got. We had fantastic views of Piedras Blancas glacier, we had lunch at Laguna Capri, and our trail followed the Rio Blanco on the way up through the forest, and on the way back to town we followed the braided Rio Viedma.

Sebastian is a trained mountain guide (3 years of school), and had lots to share about glaciers, trees and animals—all in a very conversational way, not like a lecture. We learned things about him, too, like how he has just opened a bakery in town, which we visited as we returned from our hike.Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Huemul Glacier lake, Bike to El Chalten
11. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 52 °F
We woke up to a cloudless sky and nearly windless conditions—perfect for a bike ride facing Fitz Roy and its sister peaks. This was an activity we arranged on our own, so Sebastian wasn’t with us. The ride organizers drove us about an hour and a half on a gravel road and pointed out landmarks we would see on our way back down by bike.

Upon arrival at Lago Desierto we were given our bikes, a map and instructions to return from the 23-mile ride by 7pm. The first highlight of the trip was a hike to Huemul glacier and it’s turquoise lake—stunning! The trail to get there was pretty, too, following a rushing stream from the glacier.

Once we returned to our bikes we rode on the gravel road we drove up on, which meant we had some very occasional traffic. The views of FitzRoy and the surrounding peaks were spectacular. Eventually, the rigors of the rugged road made the trip less fun and something to be ‘gotten through’ — not fine gravel, but softball-sized rocks and smaller, plus MANY potholes and washboards. We all were thoroughly shaken by the end. But there was a nice waterfall near the end to walk to and get a break from the road.Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Hiking toward Loma Del Pliegue Tumbado
12. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F
We were all pretty worn out from rattling along on our bike ride yesterday (and probably the accumulation of activities!), so we opted for a shorter hike for our last day with Sebastian.

The overcast weather had returned, so we weren’t going to get clear views of the mountain spires even if we did hike higher up. Instead , we had a pleasant, though steadily uphill, hike through rolling grasslands, low scrub brush and some forest. The varied shades of green and yellows contrasted nicely with the rocky mountainsides above us.

After about 3-1/2 miles of hiking (in the wind, of course!), we found a protected spot in the forest for our packed lunches. Sebastian brought his mate and showed us way to prepare and drink this beverage. The mate is the infusion that is prepared with Yerba mate leaves, as well as the name of the vessel for drinking from. Most mate “cups” are made with wood or a pumpkin gourd.

In non-COVID times we might all have shared the beverage as all Argentinians do, but we were mere observers this time.

After lunch, we returned the way we came, looking down to El Chalten in the valley. After an afternoon snack at Sebastian’s bakery (which only opened 3 weeks ago), a driver came to take us back to El Califate.Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Perito Moreno Glacier Kayaking & Walking
13. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ 🌧 50 °F
Both El Chalten (where we left yesterday) and El Califate, where we are today, are within Los Glaciars National Park. El Chalten is known for the dramatic spires of the Fitz Roys and its colorful glacial lakes and rivers (as we’ve seen!). El Califate, while it does have some other interests, is most visited for its proximity to the Perito Moreno glacier.

The Perito Moreno glacier is part of the Patagonian ice field, which is fourth in the world in size behind the ice fields of Alaska, Greenland and Antarctica of course.

When we arrived at the National Park, we got suited up in special thermal “onesies,” dry suits and booties to go out on a kayak paddle in front of the glacier. We discovered that “in front of the glacier” is a subjective description. Although the photos of the activity showed kayakers paddling among floating ice near the glacier’s terminus, we were quite a ways back from the glacier. With the slightly windy and increasingly choppy water, it was the prudent thing to do, we suppose. It was still exhilarating (and slightly exhausting) to be out there on the blue-green water in front of that massive ice shelf. Every now and then a chunk would calve off into the lake.

We did have a front row seat for one unexpected experience as we returned to shore—a large piece of an iceberg almost next to us calved off and the iceberg began to tilt. So impressive!

After squirming out of all of our layers, we had lots of time to walk along the catwalks (called balconies here), to see the glacier from multiple perspectives and to read the informative signs.

The glacier’s leading edge is 3 miles wide, with a height of around 230 feet above the surface of Lago Argentino. On average, the glacier advances 6 feet per day. What’s interesting is that the glacier is in a steady state. The loss of ice we watched from the viewing areas is compensated by the ice building up from behind.

The popping and cracking preceding a rupture is as eerily exciting as the thundering fall of one-ton sized ice blocks. There were many calvings during our visit, which was an amazing experience!Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Hasta Luego to Patagonia and Family
14. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F
Today, we said goodbye to Erin and the rest of the Ziters as we headed out on a day-long flight sojourn to the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Aerolineas Argentina airline has been changing flight times frequently, so what was to be a 5-hour flight for us turned into 5 hours plus a 4-hour layover. Meanwhile, the Ziters had the rest of the day to explore El Calafate before heading to Buenos Aires and home.

We’re headed to Iguazu Falls, which rivals Niagara in size. With no real activities today, here’s a photo from the plane of the irregular farming plots in Paraguay.Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Iguazu Falls!
15. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 93 °F
Our hotel is inside the Iguazu Falls National Park, so we were able to easily walk over and check out the different viewpoints for the falls. It is very hot here (high 90s), so the section where the spray covers everything around like rain was particularly refreshing.

Iguazu Falls is said to be the largest waterfall system in the world. Stretching approximately 1-1/2 miles along the border of Argentina and Brazil, the falls are made up of roughly 275 different vertical drops, with heights varying from 200-250 feet. This makes the Iguazu Falls taller than Niagara Falls and twice as wide. Niagara Falls emerges as the winner in flow rate, though. According to one source, about 2,400 cubic meters of water flows every second at Niagara Falls as compared to around 1,700 cubic meters of water every second at Iguazu Falls.

It is pretty crowded here, but the many different pathways and modes of viewing (walking, boating and by helicopter) kept it manageable.Læs mere
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Family Adventure in Patagonia Diane and Darryl
Iguazú Day 2; End of Patagonia Adventure
16. januar 2022, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 95 °F
Another option for viewing the falls is to take a boat on the river where they give you some dunkings in the “smaller” waterfalls. With temperatures in the high 90s, the water didn’t even feel cold. Later, we explored the rest of the pathways with still more viewing options of the falls.

Unfortunately, our planned continuation on to Chilean Patagonia isn’t going to happen. Darryl tested positive for COVID on the tests we needed before entering the country. He’d had mild cold symptoms. So after 5-6 days of isolation in a very comfortable Marriott hotel in Buenos Aires, we were able to come home.

We cherish the fun adventures we had with Erin, Nick, Mark and Terri in Argentina and look forward to picking up the rest of our trip another time.Læs mere
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22. januar 2022