February 4th
Where it was forecast for 50% chance of rain today, I decided I would drive up the gravel road 37km to the end … to Lago Del Desierto. Although this drive was quite scenic, I ran into a few obstacles. First, I came to a bridge that looked like it was collapsing and the planks we're not in place. I moved the planks to line up my car tires to drive across.
The next obstacle was water from the lake had started to flow across the road and I didn't know how deep it was, but I was up for the adventure and took a chance. I got around the corner and it was deeper. Coming back in the afternoon it was over the bumper I was worried the car would stall in the middle of the water. That would not have been fun, especially where is was glacial water. LOL
The other challenge was all the rocks and potholes a long the road and there were some sections of road that were quite narrow. However, I finally made it and talk about a treat. I asked the two gentleman at the end of the road if it was okay that I took pictures of the area. They said no problem and pointed of in a direction to get some scenic shots of the lake. I looked up the lake and could see how hard the wind was blowing. The wind was making spray right off the lake and hit the side of the mountain. It was making its way down to my side of the lake, so I decided after taking a few pictures it was time to go.
I stopped at quite a few places to take a variety of shots.
I got back to the point where the water was running across the road and decide I would video tape it while crossing. I didn’t realize until half way across that it was a lot deeper now then when I crossed in the morning. I was so glad the car did not stall in the middle of the water-covered road. I got close to town and stopped at the Chorrillo del Salto waterfalls that was marked on the map. The hike to the falls was only 40 minutes (one way) and they were very nice to see. This was the 4th set of waterfalls that I stopped at along this road even though Chorrillo del Salto was the only waterfall marked on the map.
As the day progressed, the windier it got. I got back around 4:30 to my room and found out that the power had gone out because of the wind. The power came on around 6 o'clock and I'm back in action. I will spend the rest of today trying to get my photos downloaded and get caught up.
February 5th was a rainy, cold day and I decided to stay put and work on my photo’s for the day. I have booked a long hike in the morning. The shuttle picks me up at 8am and drops me off about 18km away. Looking forward to the hike! I say that now. LOL
The hostel that I am staying in have been very supportive. They helped to organize the shuttle to pick me up at the hostel and drop me off.
Thank you to the owner, Patricia.
I found out that the hostel has a special on … beer and two pieces of homemade pizza for 150 Argentinian pesos ($10.00CDN)!!!
This is the cheapest I have seen a meal anywhere in South America so far! Does it ever look good!