Vagabonders: Jay arrives and we do epic sh*t!

... yeah. Yeah!

Jay made it to Bariloche on a Sunday afternoon, and luckily Jake and I were sitting in the common room of our hostel by the windows because, while we knew he was close, we had no idea he would be rolling into town that day! As we were discussing whether to walk into town to the music festival Jake glanced outside and exclaimed "there's Jay!!" and dashed for the door to chase him down.

It's tough to chase someone cruising downhill on a road bike when you're wearing flip-flops.

Eventually (7 blocks later) he caught him and they walked back to the hostel where Jay chowed down on a loaf of fruitcake. We decided to show him the town and check out some folk music, then force him into the shower and early to bed after such an epic ride.

I got some earrings to wear at my cousin's wedding!

Alerce trees are so prehistoric looking!

Wild boar stew con spatzel - omg <3

Apfelstrudel mmmmmm

We gave him a rest day on Monday and then hired a climbing guide to show us some sweet spots near town. For $125, Martin picked us up at the hostel and took the three of us up onto Cerro La Ventana (Window Mountain, because of the squared natural arch on one side), carried all the gear besides our shoes and set 6 lead routes of increasing difficulty on some sweet overhangs.

Awesome day, despite everyone's decreased climbing strength after such a long break! AND we topped it off with our first taste of true "Parilla," (pronounced pa-REE-shah) which is a big sizzling platter of all different cuts of meats, sausages and innards served on a raised plate over a bed of coals. AHmazing.

After another rest day we packed up and headed to Villa Cathedral, one of the biggest ski resorts in the Andes, just outside of town. It's a bit of a ghost town in the summer, but a lift or two take sightseers to the top for the views.
We locked up the boys' bikes and headed up the mountain to the locally famous Refugio Frey, refuted to be in the most beautiful setting atop Cerro Cathedral.
Well the hike was hot but not too hard, and then we turned the corner of the mountain and it headed up, up, UP through the woods. We rested briefly and snacked on some crackers with the last of our local jam at a small hobbit-hole of a refugio in the woods and then pushed on to crest the mountain just as the sun dipped behind the jagged crags surrounding the surreal lago beside our destination.