Friday, February 26, 2010
Bariloche Trek: The end of Day 2 and Day 3
Note: For Day 1 and Day 2 of this trek please see Cyndi's blog and Doug's blog.
Day 2: After a very long day with two arduous climbs and slippery descents we are all more than a little tuckered out. We were also suffering from grunger (grumpy-hunger) so severe we were functioning at the level of four year olds which should have precluded us from using matches let alone a temperamental and wholly unreliable camping stove . . . but it didn't. After fumbling with the stove for a while, and by a while I mean at least an hour, we finally got some water boiling.
Our plan was to make what we fondly refer to as "Sh** in a pot" or "stuff in a pot" depending on who is saying it. What this means is we probably collected a number of different canned items (in this case lentils and peas) some sort of carbohydrate (brown rice), meat (tuna), and some form of seasoning (a chicken and vegetable bullion cube) and cook it all up together in the pot. Well, the other times we have tried it, this has actually turned out pretty good. Unfortunately, the can of tuna we used was about the fishiest thing I have ever experienced, and I've spent countless hours at aquariums and gone scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef so that's really saying something.
It pretty much single handedly ruined dinner and if it weren't for the fear of starvation I think we probably would have thrown it out. In order to try and make it edible we doused it in chimichuri seasoning which didn't make it tasted good but it did make it swallowable. I ate only enough to stop the pain in my stomach. Doug and Cyndi tried to eat a second serving just to get rid of it and both gave up part way through. At least it was enough to let us fall asleep.
Day 3: There are only a few photos from this day. Mostly because we just wanted to get out of there and find some food. This is sad because it really was a beautiful day. Our exit included lovely waterfalls, a river crossing with rope and rock hopping, and leapfrogging with another group that included some of our friends from Hostel Patagonia. We walked down through a lovely valley along a clear blue river carrying the glacial waters down to the lakes of Bariloche. Some of the forest was beautiful thick pine and some was light bamboo with paper thin leaves (no pandas). Our bad attitudes and need to complain kept bringing us down and we really weren't enjoying our hike down. Everything we did was about getting us out of there and were losing sight of the experience.
It was getting extremely hot and we were becoming very uncomfortable. At one point, climbing
slowly down a sandy and dangerous slope Cyndi glanced over the edge down towards the river and said "Let's jump in." Now some of you may not know this but Cliff Jumping is becoming a clan tradition among the three of us so as soon as she said it we knew we had to do it. Our first jump (to right, that little pink blot in the waterfall is me) was the summer we met in Ecuador, during our visit to the cloud forest town of Mindo. Our most recent was this last summer when we took an expedition to Emerald Pools near Truckee off I-80 outside Sac-town. As usual, Doug went first after I headed down to scope out the depth of the jump zone (that's right, I'm the safety inspector. Yes, we have one of those. We're not entirely crazy). There are no photos of this jump because we had no bathing suits so we jumped in our skivvies. Needless to say, this family tradition never fails to bring us closer together and wake us up to the amazing world around us. And that water is soooooo cold!!!!
The rest of the hike was much more manageable after being cooled off by the river. This did not prevent us from getting lost at the end of the day when we could not find the town where we were supposed to come out. Tensions rose as we became more confused after happening upon an unmarked road. We reverted to our hot and whiny state. Luckily, we were able to hitch a ride in the back of a pick up to the nearest bus station back to Bariloche proper. While waiting for the bus we made a daring road crossing to get to a little Kiosko that sold cold water and Popsicles and we felt better after that.
All in all it was a very successful trek. You can check out my photos in the Bariloche and Trekking album on my shutterfly account through the slide shows I post every now and then. Another post coming soon regarding all the goodness that has gone on since that first trek . . . including a trip to the end of the earth, a failed trek, what is possibly the most beautiful park in South America, and a whirlwind adventure back to the Windy City, Chicago, my first grad school acceptance (woohoo!!!), and my first grad school rejection (UCLA can kiss my bum).
Loves!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
NOT DEAD
Greetings Readers,
I do apologize for my extremely long absence. I am alive and well. I promise there are some serious postings and photos to come . . . most likely tomorrow. I will explain everything . . . maybe. In the meantime, please just accept my apologies and don't give up on the blog yet.
Hearts,
Morgan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)