Bariloche

Bariloche was far more wonderful than I imagined. In the winter it´s ski resorts are packed and in the summer is a beautiful lake side retreat!

I met two girls at my hostel who invited me to tag along on an ambitious hike of Cerro Lopez. I readily agreed, realizing I needed to break in my new hiking boots and do a little conditioning for our fast approaching 5 day trek in Torre del Paine. The hike was hard and far more vertical than horizontal. But the views and sense of accomplishment were well worth the pain! We made it all the way up to the first Refugio (at 1,620 km). Looking at the lone pink structure way, way, way up the mountain I had my doubts that we would make it that high. But it was a great feeling when we finally did!

From Bariloche I´m crossing the border and heading to Puerto Montt, Chile where I catch the Navimag down to Puerto Natales, Chile in Patagonia. Luckily, Chile this far south was only shaken up a bit by the earthquake but suffered no permanent damage.