Volcan Lanin - This is what I look at each day - Increíble!
Feliz Domingo! It has been a gorgeous weekend here in the Andes! Yesterday, Tay and I headed North to explore a little visited part of Parque Nacional Lanin by bike. It was a gorgeous ride alongside the Río Pulmari which connects a series of lakes en route to Chile. It was MUCH greener up there with mountains rolling over mountains and red rocks jutting out of nowhere at random intervals. I felt so delighted to be seeing and exploring the area. I never stop being delighted, really. The beauty is overwhelming and never-ending. And the big accomplishment of the day? I properly prepared and served maté while en route - i.e. pouring loose tea leave and boiling hot water into a small cup over and over again while bumping along a windy, poorly maintained road. I gave myself an A+! (No need to worry about low self-esteem here!) Oh, and as far as cooking goes. It´s still in the works, although I did help make a pretty freakin´awesome pumkin/sweet potato/carrot/potato puree last night! Small steps. Very very small steps.
Hanging out by the río after a gorgeous bike ride!
Anyway, I want to tell you about the big adventure of last week....
Wednesday, I got up early and headed to the bus station to take the early morning bus to nearby Parque Nacional Lanin to do a 7 hour hike to the base of Volcan Lanin. It was a beautiful, clear blue sky day - a little chilly, but such are the mornings here in las montañas, so I set out with only a long sleeve t-shirt knowing that by the time I got to the mountain the sun would be hot hot hot. I got to the station to buy my ticket and was informed that there was no space for any of the return trips. Hmmm.... I would not be discouraged! No passes back, you say? Fine, I will just hitch hike back. So with my ticket in hand and a backpack full of fruits, veggies, bread and water, I hopped on the bus and we set off for the 60 km dirt road leading deep into the park. And half-way into the 60 km journey, we rounded a corner to set our eyes upon Lake Huachulafquen, a beautiful body of crystal clear glacial run-off - beautiful - and EXTREMELY choppy. I looked behind me to see clouds - lots of clouds - rolling in. Uh oh.... By nature, I am (thermodynamically speaking) a very cold person. I am wearing 4-5 layers long before the next person even thinks of putting on a sweater. I KNOW this about myself. I am ALWAYS prepared. In fact, my bag would probably be 10 lbs lighter if not for all the warm layers I have had to bring. But this day, I left the house with only a light long-sleeved shirt. WHAT was I thinking? And here come the wind and clouds.... Bueno, I would still not be discouraged. Not every day can be a perfect weather day. And so what if I was cold all day? True, I may spend the next 8 hours feeling less than content with my situation, but I certainly was not going to die. So while part of me wanted to beg the driver to just take me back to town, I decided I would suck it up and take whatever was sent my way.
And the first thing to be sent my way - after the wind and clouds, that is - was a nice whopping entrance fee some 3.5 times that of the Argentinians with whom I was bumping down the road - grrrr. But theoretically my enormously inflated fee is going to go to do something good for this place, right? At least that is what I tell myself.... The next issue arose further down the road when I failed to get off at the right stop - no well-marked signs here in the middle of nowhere. But due to the fact that I am an extranjera - further helped by the fact that two other people (also foreigners) had made the same mistake - our driver was ever so kind enough to take us back to the proper point of disembarkment. So I hopped off the bus, signed in with the park guard, and as I headed off on what was to be a solitary 24 km hike deep into the bosque, I struck up a conversación with the other two extranjeros - Pablo from Bolivia and Justine from France, as well as another guy who was also traveling solo - Hernan from Buenos Aires. We started talking and soon the four of us were off on this journey together - 4 people from 4 different countries united by a common desire to see the beauty of this area - this is what I love about traveling solo. You think you are headed off alone, but you are NEVER alone!
So over the course of the next three hours as we hiked along a river canyon deeper into the forest, I learned each person´s life story - I am totally and completely my father´s daughter when it comes to the art of cross-examination! Luckily, the clouds had yet to make their way to the volcano, so the sun was still quite fierce - no freezing would take place afterall! - and we had a nice view of the volcano much of the way up. As we battled the last 2 km which involved a steep 45 degree climb up a very slipperly dirt path, we were there to cheer each other on as we huffed and puffed our way to the base.
We made it!
And it´s a good thing we arrived when we did - we had just enough time to snap some fotitos and rest on our laurels for a few minutes before the clouds completely enveloped the volcano and the wind arrived with such force that it nearly knocked us down. No big deal though because Pablo and Justine had a bus to catch at 3 PM in order to get back to town - they were luckier than I in getting tickets. However, it was 1:20 already, meaning we would need to make the 12 km return trip in 1 hour and 40 minutes. True, it was downhill, but 12 km is still 12 km and we had already just about kicked our butts on the trip up. And although Hernan was camping at the trailhead for the night and I knew I wouldnt be able to take the bus, we wanted to stay together, so without giving it much more thought, the four of us were off running - RUNNING! We slipped and skidded down the steep part and then hopped and skipped and jogged and jumped and ocassionally stopped to breathe and check in with each other as we made our way back to the trailhead. And as we got closer and closer to our destination, the clouds got thicker, the wind picked up, and it started to rain - very cold rain. Now I was experiencing the cold temps I feared earlier! But, of course, running has the positive effect of making you feel very warm, hot even!
And, just as is so often the case in movies, we popped out at the trailhead at 3:03 PM just in time to see the bus pulling away from the bus stop. Pablo yipped and yelled and hollered with all his might, but the bus just kept on its merry way. Weeeeeeeell, SHOOT! I guess that would just meant that I would have two companions thumbing it back to Junín with me... Unfortuantely, when I decided that "thumbing it" would be my method of getting home, I did not take into account how few people would be traveling on this road, and how even fewer of them would actually be making the trek back to town as many were staying the night. So with Pablo and Justine hiding in the bushes (we thought it would be easier to get a car to stop for a single female and then, upon realizing they had space for more, spring upon them the other two pasajeros) and the saddest, most pathetic face I could present to the world, I stuck out my thumb and stood shivering as the rain fell harder and harder as my one long-sleeved t-shirt no longer provided any source of comfort from the cold wind and rain. After who knows how long, a car FINALLY stopped. A car FULL of 5 family members, plus camping gear, food, and clothes for a week. They told me they only had space for one person - maybe two - but, yet, somehow, after shifting around the kids and the coolers, we all piled in and - ¡Gracias a Dios! - were headed back to Junín unable to fully express our gratitude for this family. And then, only 10 km from Junín, we had one of those "everything happens for a reason" moments, when they got a flat tire (Im refusing to believe that it had ANYTHING to do with our added weight!), and Pablo was able to help the dad battle the wind and rain to change the tire while Justine, mom, grandma, and I held true to our proper female roles and cheered them on!
Tire changed, warm in the car once again, we bumped down the road to Junín where after thanking the family a million times over we celebrated our safe and successful return with warm drinks and the yummiest sweet potato pastry Ive ever had! Justine and Pablo invited me to join them next month in Bolivia for Carnaval - hmmm, should I go?! - before heading onto the next town for the night. I headed back to the warmth and comfort of Tay´s house and sat in the bathtub scrubbing myself clean of dirt and thanking my lucky stars for having such a delightful place to return to! Not the most perfect weather or scenario, but still a gorgeous hike, great company, and just a few more reasons to love this country, the people, and the journey I am on! VIVA!
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