A day in Potrerillos (Day 38)

Yesterday, Emilio had been trying to talk me into going on what sounded like a spectacular (and physical) glacier hike today. But, he slept in (I think his liver had a serious workout last night) and so I decided to take it as a sign to head off back to Potrerillos with my eye set on getting to Valle del Sol by the end of the day. Catching the bus back from Puente del Inca was an experience. I was told three different times by three different people. As it was, the buses were all running anywhere from 0.5-2hrs late with nearby road construction and just general Argentina time delays. But, believe it or not, the bus I was looking for arrived within 10min of it's scheduled time (when I finally pegged down what the correct time was supposed to be) and I was off.



One the way out of Puente del Inca, I had a chance to see the Pentitentes ski area. I had been chatting with the manager last night and he was trying to sell me on coming back in the winter to coach their kids' program. It did sound tempting, with a vertical of 4000-ish metres and looked like it had some pretty decent steeps! Dad, maybe you should come and check it out :)



When I got back to Potrerillos, the next bus to Valle del Sol wasn´t supposed to be until morning, so Marcello suggested I get to Piedras Blancas for the night and then make my way back to Valle del Sol tomorrow. So, spent the afternoon chatting with Marcello (my new Potrerillos buddy) and hanging out with Frederico, who was so cute that I was tempted to smuggle away in my pack :)



It was actually really nice to just chill a bit. The sky was clear and the view in Potrerillos is beautiful- right on the water, surrounded by Sierras and a clear blue sky. I also realized how tired I was, so Frederico and I had a nap in the sun.


I eventually made my way down to the bus stop for Piedras Blancas and was soon joined by a very nice man that I had met earlier in the day at Marcello's store. We got to chatting and I told him I was heading to Piedras Blancas and hoping to find a camping area before dark. He suggested instead that I go see one of his co-workers who ran Camping Las Vegas, the town before my ultimate destination of Valle del Sol. Super! He even wrote down all the info for me, including his cell phone number in case I got stuck and then put me on the bus. I love nice people!


Half way through the bus ride, the sun had set and I couldn´t see a thing. So, I decided to take the nice man's advice and just settle for camping at Las Vegas and make early tracks in the morning. I found his co-worker and his wife hand-pìcked a nice campsite for me. It was the warmest night that I've camped yet in Argentina and the stars were out in full force. Life is good :)