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.


















Almost there and feeling good!


Now tell me how you really feel...






Refugio Frey! We made it!









The mist rolls in and Jay plays us a tune









Some chocolate calienté before turning in for the night






We watched people climb this face all day, from the comfort of our tents :)









Was he Slovak or Slovenian? I can't quite tell...






Sunset



Time to head back down; ciao, Frey!



one at the time!!


Great times in Bariloche! Now, onward, southward, to El Bolson!

Mina Clavero, Way Better Than Carlos Paz

... or at least, that's how we think their tourism slogan should go ...




After the extreme disappointment of Carlos Paz, the Ocean City, MD of Argentina (with all the jet skiing, teenagers strolling the waterfront and souped up cars whining past at all hours) we decided to only stay the one, stormy night and then head over the Sierras to the smaller, riverside vacation town of Mina Clavero.

Knowing I'd never make it through the hills, not to mention my disabled hands, the boys saw me off at the bus station and we planned to meet on the other side... But what hills they were! Snapping pictures out the bus window of the rocky, rolling Sierras Chicas and then the bigger mountains (Sierras Grandes), I got more and more worried about their chances of making it up and over in only one day; two would have even been pushing it! There are national parks in those mountains with names like Los Gigantes and Los Condors, and neither of those conjures up mental images of "small hillocks" or "easy second day of biking" so I'm not sure what we (they) were thinking.




I was off the bus and relaxing with a cafe con leche at the terminal's cafe when Jay rolls up around 6pm to my sheer and utter disbelief. Jake was just around the corner paying the cab driver he had decided to call when they realized the enormity of the task they had allotted themselves. Even Jay admitted it would have been "tough" to do in one day ... or maybe impossible.




Not wanting a repeat of last night's Spanish party music camping experience, we asked around for the "mas tranquilo" campsite and headed out a soft sandy road littered with signs of the country (read: horse droppings. Yay, caballos!). Camping La Siesta was right beside a huge sandy bend in the river, surrounded by horse-filled fields as well as the last stop on a dead end road. Muy tranquilo, indeed!













After a night not quite as quiet as we'd hoped (mating season for wild pigeons? Who knew?) we spent the next day exploring the rocky paradise of Rio Mina Clavero, bouldering, taking pictures and getting burnt.

























All in all, we ended up staying almost four days, relaxing, catching up on laundry, enjoying the river and trying to decide what came next. With me unable to ride and my hands not showing any immediate improvement, we had to rethink our already rethought plans.
















Eventually Jake and I settled on taking a bus down to San Carlos de Bariloche, the lakeside switzerland of the Andes, where we would wait for Jay, who decided to continue the bike-quest and pedal his way south through San Luis, Nequen, Zapala, San Martin de Los Andes and Villa Angostura. We were bummed to not be joining him for the adventure, but wished him luck and sent him off with the iPod Touch and promises of updates!

Vamos, hermano!!