Bariloche, Argentina

November 20 - 24

Bariloche is a town in the Patagonian Argentina Lakes region in the foothills of the Andes.  We decided to rent a condo on Nahuel Huapi Lake in Bariloche for a few relaxing days before heading back to Chile.  The town of Bariloche looks a lot like Switzerland with Swiss chalets, chocolate shops, and a ski town atmosphere.  

The condo we rented had an amazing view overlooking the lake and the Andes mountains that surround it.  It also had a great kitchen, so we spent half our nights cooking dinner and enjoying eating on our balcony overlooking the beautiful scenery.  

This is the view from the plane as we make our descent into Bariloche.  That's one of the nearby volcanoes (Osorno or Pucon).

These were the views from our condo balcony.

We rented bikes the next day and biked around the Circuito Chico, a 28 km circuit around the mountain ranges and lakes in Bariloche.

This is the view from the highest point on the circuit, the Panorama 

Lake Moreno, one of the beautiful lakes passed along the circuit

Small trail leading to the "hidden lake"

After returning our bikes, we hiked up to the top of Cerro Campanario where there's an incredible lookout with views of Bariloche and the surrounding lakes and mountains.

That evening, we went back to our condo and cooked a delicious dinner and ate on our balcony overlooking the lake.  (I've obviously missed cooking!)

The next day, we went horseback riding through the Cerro Campanario area.  Our guide, Nacho, didn't really speak any English, so it was a good way for me to practice my Spanish.

Some of the views we passed during our trail ride.

Here we are with our horses at the end of our ride.

On our last day in Bariloche, we slept in pretty late.  I decided to take the bus to Cerro Catedral and hike to Refugio Frey, one of the best day hikes in Bariloche.  Gene decided to stay close to the condo and walk around the downtown area of Bariloche, checking out the shops.

Here are some pictures from my hike on the Refugio Frey trail.

Passing the alpine valley on the way up to the Refugio

Finally, I reach Refugio Frey (6 miles later).

Here's the view from the camping area looking down into the alpine valley.

Beautiful lake behind the refugio.  The wind was extremely strong - you can see the white caps from the waves in the lake.

My one picture of me using my automatic delay-shot timer on my camera :)

The clouds started to clear up a bit on the way back down, so I got some really amazing views of the mountain range in the distance and the nearby towns.

This is the main ski area in Cerro Catedral 

(completely empty aside from a couple of other hikers).