Lake Gutierrez is sublime, but before that…
Rapa Nui is not the only artisanal chocolatier in town, so today Christi and I have brunch at another den of chocolate sin, Mamuschka. Christi even finds another dog to pet (there’s no shortage of them in South America), although this time it costs a buck to play with a St. Bernard. Bariloche has a very up market alpine feel – the Aspen of Argentina. Consequently, prices aren’t cheap and it’s not long before we’ve spent our daily budget and can only drool over the gourmet confectionery on display. Hiking on the other hand is free and healthy. We begin by taking a cable car to the top of nearby Cerro Otto, (makes me think of the movie, A Fish Called Wanda!) where we have fantastic, albeit ferociously windy, views over Lake Nahuel Huapi.
From there we follow a poorly marked trail to piedra de Habsburgo. We have the trail virtually to ourselves, which is great. The path is still partly covered in winter snow (this being the southern hemisphere), the trees that are bereft of leaves, but sagging under the weight of long beards of Spanish moss, while the horizon is full of snow-capped peaks. We even bring a picnic with us (lots of cheap empanadas plus coca cola), but it’s too cold to dilly-dally for long. The end of the trail is a massive granite outcrop, with simply spectacular views of yet another lake; this one is called Lake Gutierrez. Surrounding the lake on three sides are more snow-capped mountains making for a picture-postcard landscape.
Back in Bariloche we eat trout for dinner. We then weaken terribly and return to Mamuschka for dessert. Later we make friends with a few of the town’s stray dogs by handing out empanadas left over from our picnic.
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut-wrenching, heart-wrenching, laugh-wrenching tale
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