A: There is no such thing as "too many" mountain adventures.
That's why one week or so after going all the way to the summit of Piltri, we faced the awesome challenge of climbing a higher mountain and camping there for 4 days.
As usual we drove to the base with my dad and sisters, talking nonsense and listening to all kinds of very shuffled music. Then they walked us down this rocky road to a valley that is the proper base. I told Chey "Remember, this will be the hardest part of coming back".
That valley is the confluence (that's a word, I looked it up) of two rivers:
Encanto Blanco and
Azul. From there you can go to many different "refugios". We went to the hightest one because that's how hipster we are.
*Note: Not real hipsters.
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| "Confluencia" of the rivers. |
Before going up we stopped for a while, enjoying the view and having a beer to gather our strength. Then we were slightly tipsy for the first part of the hike, which was fun.
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| Chey, beer, and our backpacks: Stina Violeta and Apollo XIV |
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| Very helpful and informative sign. |
This climb was heavier than Piltri, even though it was less steep, because it lasted almost five hours.
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| The view, one hour into the climb. |
At some point we passed a horse carrying down some gear
for some lazy gringo tourists, and to get out of the way I fell on my back -with my backpack on- over a bush, like a pathetic turtle, but other than that we did pretty well.
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| Behind the horse you can spot a very embarrassed me, trying to get up. |
We arrived to the refugio with time to look at the surrounding scenery, have some mate and find the most perfect camping spot to pitch our tent. Seriously, it couldn't have been any more perfect: soft grass, a few big rocks to make a fireplace, and a ring of trees protecting it from possible stalkers.
*Note: we don't really have any stalkers.
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| Refugio Cerro Natación |
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| First night got super cold after the sun set. We clearly don't care. |
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| A perfect camping site |
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| Refugio-made beer by the fire |
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| Chey thinks about the great mysteries of life. |
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| Camping site during the day. |
The time we spent up there proved again what a good camping team we are. We cooked yummy camping meals, explored all around, killed many march flies, had a few "refugio-brewed" beers, read Harry Potter in front of the lake and built cozy campfires.
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| A lake on top of a mountain |
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| In the forest: Kate Moss. |
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| A bridge fresh out of Lord of the Rings. |
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| Refugio "Hielo Azul" |
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| The refugio cat, being adventurous. |
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| Right by our camping spot. |
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| Mate and Harry in front of the lake |
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| A cool lizard |
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| Cauquenes |
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| At some point we entered a Disney movie. |
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| Magical creatures of the forest? |
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| Chey exploring |
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| A huge tree root, and happy us. |
A few times we used the refugio kitchen, although I much preferred our little gas cooker under the stars, We also got to use the
shower (a little wooden structure without any kind of roof, with a hose hanging over it which sprays you with fresh mountain water). And possibly the creepiest toilet ever, *
See note at the bottom
Finally, the time came to go back. I can honestly say that the way down was harder than the way up (now with a 437% MORE march flies!!!), and as I predicted the little rocky road to the car park was the most accurate depiction of hell I've ever experienced.
Luckily, my wonderful dad was waiting for us at the start of the vehicle road , and when we got back to town we had a very welcome real shower and a delicious ice cream at Jauja.
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| Creepy toilet, exhibit A |
*
A small note on Creepy Toilets
Ever since we traveled to North Queensland, Chey and I have started this tradition of rating public toilets based on creepiness. There are many categories, but the main are:
-darkness
-bug-friendly corners (extra points if there are actual bugs)
-axe-murderer-friendly corners (extra points if there is an actual axe murderer, which luckily never happened so far)
-dirt
-how much it looks like a set for the movie "Saw"
We actually thought about starting a website on creepy toilets only, like "the travellers' guide to the galaxy('s public toilets)", but then we forgot about it,
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| Creepy toilet, exhibit B |
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