When I first got down to Patagonia, I emailed Ueli, a Swiss guy Hana and I had a great time trekking with in Nepal, and told him how excited I was to be here. Ueli emailed me back (he´d traveled southern Argentina and Chile before) and the last line he wrote was: "Have a good time and enjoy the southern sun. There will be wind and rain too:-)..." In my first days of summer sun in Patagonia, I brushed off the "weather warning." However, it was only a few days later that I realized how right Ueli was! He knew that even though the sun was shining for a moment, there would soon be wind, rain, (and snow!), too.
I´m currently back in Bariloche, after two nights in the mountains. I was trying to do a traverse, over a few passes, but the weather turned bad the first night I was out. It was actually a great introduction to the unbelievable ability of the weather to change around here at a pace unknown to me (and I thought the weather changed fast in Colorado! Patagonia takes it to a whole new level). I hiked up about 12km, and set camp around a lake, near a refugio where there were other people, and a bunch of climbers, hanging out. The afternoon was all sunshine, but towards evening, the wind and rain picked up. When I went to bed, it was raining. When i woke up..hahaha...i thought "Oh, it´s quiet out. So nice. The rain must have stopped." But then i heard soft touches on the roof of the tent...tk tk tk tk...and thought, uh oh, that´s not rain! Unzipping the tent, and getting powdered with snow in the process, I also found about 4 inches of whiteness outside... Really, it was beautiful, and I love camping in the snow. But not with summer-like clothes! I didn´t ha
ve the right equipment to continue an icy/snowy scramble over the pass alone. So, instead of heading down the mountain (what would I do down in the city I couldn´t do up in the mountains?) I decided to stay and hung out with some people. I drank the day away with coffee and mate (Argentine tea, passed around between friends), and reading a bit as well. It ended up being really p
leasant. However, the second night I found myself curled up in my 32 degree bag in definitely less than 32 degree weather, wearing everything I had on. In the middle of the night, after dumping my back out, I curled up on top of in search of anyway to insulate myself from the ground (oops...didn´t have a sleeping pad). The following morning after a leisurely breakfast of rice noodle soup (I definitely learned that in Laos), I headed back down the mountain to Bariloche, admits the freezing rain and wind (this is summer...hahaha...).
The hostel I´m at is pretty sweet - it´s filled wit
h lots of super chill Argentineans and Chileans. I was planning on taking off today for El Bolsón, but I decided to hang out and read a bit, cook dinner again with some Argentineans, and catch up on the "administrative part" of traveling (i.e. this blog). While I´m not trekking through the wilderness at the moment, I am connecting to local travelers, which fits into what I´d hoped to find in South America. Headed south...more to come (soon).
My original plan was to trek the "circuito grande" with a guy from Canada; however, plans changed at the last minute and I started and ended the circuit alone. Along the way I enjoyed talking with some cyclists from England (taking a break from cycling, trekking instead), Argentine and French friends I met in Ushuaia, a handful of people from Spain, and another cyclist from the U.S. But, during the day, I walked alone, stopping frequently to take in the grandeur of the Andes, and listen to the wind whip through the grass and the trees. I thought a lot about past trips (High Road in Wheaton, Spain with Katie, Central America with Ben J., India and Nepal), when certain smells and sights brought back great trip memories from the past. My mind also wandered to a lot of friends and family, wondering what everyone was doing, and also thoughts about the future, getting back to the US in a few months, and pending plans. I valued the time and space to think, and how physical movement is often so helpful for freeing the mind to thinking through life as well. 
