Nahuel Huapi Circuito Chico

Aw.... Do you have an owie on your little piggy?

After two treks in Patagonia under my belt, I felt I had everything dialed in. I was going to attempt the small circuit in Nahuel Huapi. The first stop was Laguna Toncek which is a climber´s paradise. I arrived at Catedral and hopped on the gondola to take me up to the ridge. After that, I had a two hour traverse scrambling over boulders over looking cliffs into the adjacent valley. The route was not for beginners. After the traverse, the path dropped into the valley containing the lake. The descent was sketchy at best. My only though was that I would have to climb out of this valley the next day with 15 kilos on my back. My effort was well rewarded with great views surrounding the lake. I found myself a nice protected campsite away from the wind. Just like at Torres del Paine, I found a nice rock on which to bake myself. It was so tranquil watching the clouds shoot past the spiny peaks in the distance. The evening was cold and still. However, I was glad there was no rain to speak of.

The next day to Refugio San Martin would be the most challenging day. I woke up to a sunny day with no wind. The lake was like a mirror and I was able to take some great photos before packing up. I walked towards the ascent that I nearly killed myself on the day before. On the way, I teamed up with an Israeli kid hiking by himself. Up and down we went. Into, across, and over two ridges and three valleys before arriving. The descents (each over 300 meters in scree) just killed my feet. Never the less, we arrived at a reasonable hour and I was able to do a little day hike around the area. The facilities at Refugio San Martin are top notch. The camp sites are well maintained too. The next morning I hiked up to a small lake which had these great polished limestone rocks next to it. The rocks were worn down from years of glacial activity. The result were these smooth contours which happended to conform nicely to your body if you wanted to lay back in the sun. It also provided a good backdrop for some photos I would take later on in the morning.

The descent out of the mountains was 18K. Add to that the extra 6K down the road to the bus stop and you have a very long day. I bombed the switchbacks Heather Poyhonen style, running the curves and tap dancing off rocks. My knees and toes were aching, but I pressed on wanting to get back to buy my bus ticket to Pucon. It was really hot that day and I ran out of water at 18K. By 24K my body was so fatigued and dehydrated that I jumped out int he middle of the road to flag down the next car. Lucky for me, there was room in the car for one more person and a giant backpack. The family drove me back to Bariloche (much better than waiting for the bus). My feet felt like two fire balls when I arrived back a Pudu. There were blisters on top of old blisters. I smiled with a small sense of achievement. I would have liked to do the entire traverse, but it would have been much safer to do it with a partner (well maybe next time).