Colonial Suiza, Argentina
March 12, 2007
S 41°05.770
W 071°30.267
We had a perfect day today—the skies were blue, we went on a great hike, had a nice little picnic next to a stream with waterfalls flowing and finished it off with a fine Argentinean microbrew (Cerveza Gilbert). We woke up to bright blue skies as the sun was rising over the lake; there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We figured today was the best weather we’ve had since Santiago—one month ago. Of course, we spent the majority of the past month pretty far south, and got the weather that should be expected.
Marc was out of the tent by 7:00 AM to give another shot at the trout which provided us a very tranquil way to start the morning. The wind died down during the night and the lake where we are camping was like glass—very pristine.
Marc spent the first hour or so fishing in what appears to be another over fished lake. Little minnows were jumping near the shore, but they were only 3-5 inches long (like bait). Fishing season begins in December and goes until April 1st and every restaurant in the Lake District serves trout; with exception of the ice-cream shops (hmm, Helado de Trucha… that could be a hit!). Obviously, everyone is getting their fish from the surrounding lakes and it seems everyone caught their limit this year.
Since the fishing sucked, we decided to day hike to what we thought was another lake. We reviewed the map and figured the trip was approximately 6 km—perfect, we thought. After hiking for almost two hours we took another look at the map. The trail we were on was at least 12 km and we weren’t headed to a lake, we were actually headed to a Lagoon. There might not even be fish there!
We continued for at least another hour before hitting a steep ridge with a beautiful waterfall. We passed a local who told us the refugio and lagoon was at the top of the ridge. We opted to turn around and enjoy our picnic lunch on a sunny beach just downstream from the waterfall.
The ingredients for our lunch were purchased at a very cute Molinari-esque deli in Bariloche. So far, we’ve been lucky enough to find one of these little delis in every city in Argentina. Since we were camping we purchased items that didn’t need refrigeration: salami, cheese, olives, bread and miniature pickles. The lunch was perfect… we washed it down with a liter of ice-cold water right from the stream.
The hike ended up being closer to 20 km roundtrip, but it made the beer at the end of the day taste even better. Local micro-brews seem to be very popular in this area of Argentina; today’s beer was made and bottled right in Colonial Suiza. The label had a handwritten lot-number and an expiration date. It appeared the handcrafted beer, Cerveza Gilbert, has a three month shelf life and was bottled just weeks ago.
The beer was a perfect end to a perfect day. I am sure we will have more days like this as we head towards our next village, El Bolson.
S 41°05.770
W 071°30.267
We had a perfect day today—the skies were blue, we went on a great hike, had a nice little picnic next to a stream with waterfalls flowing and finished it off with a fine Argentinean microbrew (Cerveza Gilbert). We woke up to bright blue skies as the sun was rising over the lake; there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We figured today was the best weather we’ve had since Santiago—one month ago. Of course, we spent the majority of the past month pretty far south, and got the weather that should be expected.
Marc was out of the tent by 7:00 AM to give another shot at the trout which provided us a very tranquil way to start the morning. The wind died down during the night and the lake where we are camping was like glass—very pristine.
Marc spent the first hour or so fishing in what appears to be another over fished lake. Little minnows were jumping near the shore, but they were only 3-5 inches long (like bait). Fishing season begins in December and goes until April 1st and every restaurant in the Lake District serves trout; with exception of the ice-cream shops (hmm, Helado de Trucha… that could be a hit!). Obviously, everyone is getting their fish from the surrounding lakes and it seems everyone caught their limit this year.
Since the fishing sucked, we decided to day hike to what we thought was another lake. We reviewed the map and figured the trip was approximately 6 km—perfect, we thought. After hiking for almost two hours we took another look at the map. The trail we were on was at least 12 km and we weren’t headed to a lake, we were actually headed to a Lagoon. There might not even be fish there!
We continued for at least another hour before hitting a steep ridge with a beautiful waterfall. We passed a local who told us the refugio and lagoon was at the top of the ridge. We opted to turn around and enjoy our picnic lunch on a sunny beach just downstream from the waterfall.
The ingredients for our lunch were purchased at a very cute Molinari-esque deli in Bariloche. So far, we’ve been lucky enough to find one of these little delis in every city in Argentina. Since we were camping we purchased items that didn’t need refrigeration: salami, cheese, olives, bread and miniature pickles. The lunch was perfect… we washed it down with a liter of ice-cold water right from the stream.
The hike ended up being closer to 20 km roundtrip, but it made the beer at the end of the day taste even better. Local micro-brews seem to be very popular in this area of Argentina; today’s beer was made and bottled right in Colonial Suiza. The label had a handwritten lot-number and an expiration date. It appeared the handcrafted beer, Cerveza Gilbert, has a three month shelf life and was bottled just weeks ago.
The beer was a perfect end to a perfect day. I am sure we will have more days like this as we head towards our next village, El Bolson.
1 comment:
I'm enjoying all your updates... sounds like you are really taking it all in.
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