I’d come into Argentina to see the los Alerces national park. With the fires around El Bolsón, I’d decided to skip the Lago Puelo area and this was my chance of camping near the lakes and enjoying some nature. Of course there was now also a fire here, but it was under control. It did mean the park rangers were very careful and had closed all the longer and harder hikes including the one I had planned. On top of that I found myself a few days into my time in Esquel and looking at a sad weather forecast. So what do you do? Skip it alltogether? Go just for the day?
The evening before I told Marie, a French girl in my hostel, I’d decided to go for the day, despite the rain that was forecasted in the morning. She decided to join. The next morning someone else was waking up early. Mica, a girl from Argentina, was also getting ready to head into the park. So the three of us walked to the bus station together. The small bus got surprisingly full and set course to Trevelin and then the national park. It covers quite a big area and we decided to go to the further lying part at Lago Verde. When we’d started in Esquel the sun was shining, but it got greyer the closer we got to the park. There were massive rainbows in the sky, hay bales in the fields underneath it. It was beautiful.
Yet when we arrived it was still very rainy and there was no place for shelter. Dressed in rain gear we set off to the mirador. First, the trail went alongside a fence and very close to the road, but soon we felt like we were a bit deeper into the forest. There were incredibly tall trees of all kind. “But which one is actually the Alerce?” I should have probably looked that up before. The trail slowly went up, but I didn’t realise we’d gotten quite high above the lake. Suddenly we were at the mirador. There was a sign that once upon a time gave some information about the view. Right now it was mostly white, with a few words remaining. We joked: “How accurate is this sign. All we see is white. How did they know?” The clouds were whirling around above the lake and making their way up. We saw nothing for a moment and then it opened up again. Lago Verde was quite dark today, with grass at its edges. In the distance we saw the start of another lake.
We went back the same way and at first we missed the next trail. Going back we discovered the opening in the vegetation along the dirt road. The sign had fallen over. This trail went up and down alongside the lake and provides some good views. It even seemed like the sky was getting lighter. Or was I imagining that? By the time we reached the Pasarela Río Arrayanes we were soaking wet. A ranger told us there was a shelter further down and we made our way there via another mirador. We’d hoped there would be a warm cafetaria, but we’d had to make do with a window where we could buy a snack and hot drink, which we had to drink outside. We stripped off our wet jackets and pulled more clothes out of our bags. Turned out my waterproof bag was not that waterproof anymore. Note to self: buy a real brand next time. At least we shared our misery in a very Argentinian way. Mica had brought mate to drink and we passed the cup around. Then we received cookies from the people at the other table.
Slightly dryer, we packed up our things again. The rain had stopped! It felt great to feel some sun on our faces as we crossed a bridge. The river beneath had a stunning color and was so clear. Several streams got together here, creating interesting currents throughout the water. There was a loop trail with river and lake views. One tree had started growing towards the ground and then suddenly realised the sun was the other way. There was a sharp bend and then it reached for the sky. There were also trees that reminded me of these big, pale snakes. It was like it didn’t have bark. It was orange, yellow and salmon pink and stood out among the other trees. Many branches would playfully reach up, like snakes. And finally there was a labeled alerce, or fitzroya tree. He was labeled as grandfather. When we arrived at a jetty, a very special bird was sitting on the wood. I love the Spanish name: Martín Pescador, aka kingfisher or ijsvogel in Dutch. A bit later I saw another one. He had just caught a small fish. It was still writhing in the beak of the bird. But resistance was futile.
On our way back we saw cherries on the ground. Where did these come from? High above us the tree top was full of ripe cherries! Further on was a bush of raspberries. Time was ticking away and soon our bus would come. We crossed the bridge again and went up the steps towards the road. Luckily we came a little early. The bus actually left before the scheduled time! And we’d been joking it would probably be late. If it’d come at all, because we had some engine issues on the way to the park. The way back was smooth though and it stayed sunny. Could I now recognise an alerce tree? No. But I have a better idea of it.
Back in town we took off our wet boots went to a bar in our hiking clothes. Later, after a shower, we went for dinner at the appropriate Argentinian time of 10pm. We shared a bottle of wine to accomoany our Italian dishes. It had been an unexpectedly fun day, that could have been very different if I’d been alone. Grateful I closed my eyes that night.
