February 25, 2014 Tuesday - Bariloche, Argentina

FEBRUARY 25, 2014 - TUESDAY

BOTTOM LINE:
Took chairlift up the snow ski line to hike and have a picnic then at 9:30 pm torch lit dinner at camp ground

NOTEWORTHY: 
The Cathedral Ski Resort is the largest in South America.   It is a little larger than Heavenly Valley at Tahoe and the snow quality is about the same.   There are other smaller resorts on the dry side of the Andes that have snow like Utah or Colorado.

BACK STORY:
After packing a picnic lunch, we headed out the the adjoining ski resort to take a chair lift up to the top of the mountain that our resort was at the base of.  The cost was $9 each, round trip and the view was worth a million bucks!  There was an enclosed lift followed by an open chair lift.  People that were traveling to go down the mountain were bundled up with hats and jackets on.  They looked cold, but luckily I didn't share their sentiment.

Chair lift up from our resort

We thoroughly enjoyed the vista as we ate our lunch, but I didn't feel satisfied.  Walking to the other side of the building we found a fairly steep hike to the very tip top.  I told Bruce that I was going for it.  He said that he was satisfied with what he had seen.  I told him that I wanted to see what was on the other side which could only be seen from the top. He said that he would wait for me.

Rock formations

Territorial vista

View of resort, Bariloche and lakes

With walking stick in hand I started the climb s-l-o-w-l-y  remembering that we were at about 10,000 ft.  About a third of the way up I heard a familiar pounding of feet on the rocky ground.  With a, "did you call me?" I whipped around to see my buddy Bruce smiling.  We hiked the rest of the way together and enjoyed a spectacular view of the Andes Mountains with snow capped peaks and beautiful blue lakes dotting the lower valleys.

Hike to top of Cathedral

Our descent took about 90 minutes by foot and another 30 minutes on the chair lift.  From there we drove to a lake that we will be kayaking on Thursday.  Stunning, clear water surrounded by tree lined mountains reminded us of WA, OR and some of the Sierra lakes near home.  We are so very thankful to enjoy this beauty in Argentina, but know that we lack none of it in the US...and most all of the roads into our lakes are PAVED!

About 40 people met in the reception area of Hotel Cathedral at 9:15pm to car pool to a remote campground for a gourmet, torch lit dinner. Two sisters from Buenos Aries volunteered to ride with us.  The older one (20 yrs), Manuela spoke very good English.  Her younger 16 year old sister spoke as much English as I did Spanish...so we laughed a lot and listened for interpretation.

Thankfully our caravan of cars stuck close together because it was very dark outside, we were on gravel/dirt roads with no signage and at one point we had to cross a good sized creek, which one person stalled in and somehow got a flat tire!  There is definitely security in numbers.

When we arrived to the campground and parked our cars, we all stood in a circle to get instructions about the evening.  People would be given stick torches to walk with that would light our pathway. We would hike across a bridge and up into a wooded area where we would enjoy and evening of food, games and laughter.  We let the girls carry the torches for us.  We actually had packed our headlamps (once a Girl/Boy Scout, always a Girl/Boy Scout) just in case!

crossing bridge to dinner

dinner and entertainment site

Upon our arrival to the designated dining spot, we found tables completely set up with cloths, beverages and appetizers on wooden planks. Lanterns were lit illuminating the boundary so no one would wonder off into the river!  A huge crackling fire was burning in the center.  People randomly chose a table to eat food from and socialize.  Wine, a micro brew, soda and water were offered...as much as you wanted.  I elected myself the designated driver so I stuck with the soft stuff.

Once everyone had their fill of food, the games began.  I really couldn't even say what they were other than everyone was laughing and we had a good time.  At that point I figured it was over and time to pack up, but oh no, we were about to have the main course...a traditional Argentinean stew.  There were two kinds and enough for each person to sample both...a venison and a fish.  The stew was very hot, hearty and full of veggies and protein.  I had the fish as people were making comments about Bambi, which Argentina claims the animated Disney film was to have taken place in.

One final game and then a campfire story were shared before packing up to leave.  The leaders who had lead us to the location were staying back to do cleanup, so oral directions were given to the drivers.  We set our GPS as a back up. At one point half the people went beyond the first turn off.  We luckily made the turn, but once we went through the creek we made a wrong turn.  We realized it when the road began closing in on our car and we got temporarily stuck in some dirt.  Thankfully we were on a hill and were able to roll backwards and correct the error.

We melted into bed at 2am...Great time with great people!