Cerro Lopez day hike (Day 33)

I woke up pretty tired today. There´s a really obnoxious group of people in the hostel who basically had a party in the middle of the night, waking me and most of the rest of the sleeping lot. Not cool. But, after a little mate, I was feeling much better :)

Britton is heading south today, so we parted ways. She has been a lot of fun to hang out with- I was lucky to join up with her for the mammoth hike and every luckier to find another hiker who matches my pace and stubbornness so well! We had some great laughs and quite an adventure.

I headed out to Cerro Lopez today, a mountain to the far west of Bariloche. This hike came as a suggestion from Britton and since I have the whole day, I figured I should check it out. I had been warned that the trail was pretty steep and loose, so I was curious to see how I would hold up.

The collectivo bus ride was a good primer- it weaves all through the lake area around Bariloche and whets your appetite for what the trail holds. The sun was out and it was actually really warm. Since I had sent all my clothes in to the laundry, all I had left to wear to hike was rainpants and my long-sleeve wool shirt. Hmmm. Not the best choice for hiking, but the need to rid myself of seriously smelly clothes would be worth a little uncomfort for today.

Britton wasn´t kidding. The trail was some steep, right out of the gate.

This part isn´t even the worst, but the steepest part was so much that I was afraid to get out my camera because I might not get going again. But, the steepness kept you really high above everything else and gave a stunning lookout vantange of almost everywhere. Now I know why they call this area the Lakes District.

The trail eventually pops you out at Arroyo Lopez, a little lodge with a patio that looks out so you can have your beer and food while enjoying the panorama.

The trail then meets up with a road (for restocking the lodge and refugio I think) and finally tames down a bit. There was a bamboo section (on NO!), but it was short. And the whole time, the little gecko-lizards are scurrying away in front of you. I guess they look more like salamanders, but they definitely like the sun spots.

The path continues at the edge of the mountains and winds around until you can soon see Refugio Lopez high above.

Once I reached Refugio Lopez, I found out that there is a path (sort of) that you can scramble up to the very top of Cerro Lopez (black top). So, of course I went.

As I set off, I spotted this huge bird sunning itself in the tree. I couldn´t understand what people were calling it, but they were pretty excited to see it. Maybe a juvenile condor?

The path was pretty primative, with the odd red marker to make your way. And it wasn´t so much of a scramble and full-on climbing. I love this stuff, but I can see how it might put some people off.

The path takes you around a little glacier-fed lake that the refugio uses as a water source. It´s also a good reference point since once you get up there, it´s all peaks and hard to know where you came from.

You have to head over one peak, then drop down it´s sharp back (a little wild) before you can make your way up the last bit towards the black bits of the top of Cerro Lopez. But, the view from way up here is wild. I took a video, since it doesn´t even begin to come close to the photo below, but it didn´t turn out so well. Believe me when I say that this view is impressive- I could see all the way back to Tronador and all the secondary mountains and lakes in between.

The way back down was a little intense. I had sort of neglected to realize how high up I actually was. The refugio (pink) was now a long, long way below.

I didn´t end up going down quite the same way I came up (oops), but I did make it down safe. When I got back to the regular trail, I had some time to make up in order to get back down to the bus pick-up area. Not to worry. If the way up was steep, the way down was a total knee-buster.

What took me 3.5hrs to climb up was a quick 1:10hr to get down. Yeah, that´s steep. No sliding or rolling (although the thought did cross my mind), just a knee-blasting tear downward. I made it down with plenty of time to catch the bus and head back to town.

This park has been a treat. Funny that you really only hear about the trekking in Chalten (Trekking Capital of Argentina), but almost nothing about Bariloche. Granted, the level of hiking here is really intense- some of the most intense I´ve ever done- and definitely not suitable for everyone. But, the grind is more than paid for by the sights. And, with all this hiking under my belt, I´m fit and although looking forward to a short rest, I can´t wait for more.

Sidebar: I forgot about my "funny" story about two English couple who showed up in the wee morning hours at Refugio Jakob. They had set out at 1pm the day before for an 8hr "day hike"to the Refugio. Having never ever hiked anywhere before, they figured the 8hr timeline given by the park staff was probably generous. Better still, they figured their Puma fashion shoes were fine for the haul and that they really didn´t need a light or a waterbottle for that matter. Oh dear. They spent the cold night on a rockbed about 200m from the refugio since they could no longer see enough to remember where they had seen it from the ridge above. I can´t believe they didn´t die. I guess this is why the park doesn´t advertise a lot of their hiking routes .