We packed up to leave Bariloche and decided it best to rent a car to head back down to El Bolson and hit up the best little "feria" we'd seen. The only thing left on our Bariloche list (except the snowboarding bit) was the Seven Lakes tour; a drive from Bariloche to San Martin de los Andes, passing through Villa la Angostura and then back. Since we wanted to cross into Pucon, Chile just north of S.M. de los Andes, we decided to cut the return drive and ditch the car in San Martin. Thankfully, the weekend weather was forecasted to be sunny and beautiful.Friday morning we loaded up in the car and said goodbye to Bariloche for good. Since we had the whole day to make it to Bolson, we planned to visit Mt. Tronador (the black glacier) and Cascada Los Alerces (waterfall) as detours along the way. We got pumped riding the amazing little VW Gol we rented down the dirt path, passing the park closed sign without thinking twice because they make you pay in the summer. Unfortunately, the road had actually flooded over from the lake and there was no way we could pass in our little Gol that was only 6 inches off the ground! We backtracked a bit disappointed, wondering what to do the rest of the day! We turned off the main road just before reaching Bolson to check out a small pueblo nearby. El Maiten is also known as "La Trochita" because of it's history with steam engine lines or something (ask Aaron if you're really interested). The drive turned out to have amazing views, so we decided to suck up the 50 km dirt/gravel/stone road. An hour later we were once again stopped by an overflowing river that had litterally taken over the road! Unreal!
The river road to La TrochitaWe turned back and enjoyed the dune buggy ride back in our unstoppable little Gol! We of course returned to the Casa del Viajero in Bolson, hoping to have the little house to ourselves. Much to our surprise, there were two french girls staying in the house and two other americans! It's truely a small world when you run into two random people speaking english in a small artesania store, who also happen to be the two americans staying in the house with you, that actually already know who you are! Karl and Liz had met Drew in Bariloche, the guy we had road tripped down to Bolson with just two weeks before! They'd all decided to head skiing in Esquel since there was no snow in Bariloche. After hearing Drew's stories about our awesome trip there, they headed up to Bolson to check it out! Crazy small world! The feria on Saturday was even better than the last time; more people, more booths and more sun! After spending way to much money and having some delicious waffles, we started back north to do the Seven Lakes tour. Needless to say, the views were amazing! Even caught the sunset!
Doesn't even look real!We drove past Bariloche and around the lake to Villa la Angostura where we spent the night. The next day we woke up to do the most scenic leg of the trip, typically closed in the winter due to too much snow. The mountain pass connects Villa la Angostura to San Martin de los Andes and takes you right by the (more than) seven lakes along the way! The morning was cold and everything in sight was covered in frost. Gorgeous!
Patagonian frostAfter turning down a dirt path away from Lago Nahuel Huapi, we reached Lago Espejo, rightfully named "Lake Mirror." Next was Lago Correntoso, where we were abruptly stopped by a man on the side of the road waving his hands in the air for us to stop. Thinking he wanted us to take a picture, we pulled over and got out. The man and his son were running along the side of the road looking down into the woods. They had just seen a puma run cross the road. We chased after them and for one amazing moment, Aaron saw the puma's entire body with his face turned towards them in a clearing! Then in an instant it was gone! We continued on passing Lagos Escondido, Villarino, Falkner, Hermoso, Machonico, and finally Lacar, whose shores line San Martin de los Andes. We decided to stay an extra day to explore the town and hike to the mountain lookout points. San Martin is a relatively large mountain town, that maintains a small, rustic, mountain lodge vibe. A true Patagonian feel.. but it was on to Chile next!!
