Villa La Angostura

We arrived in Villa La Angostura on Tuesday, April 17^th. We will be here for one week. We drove into Angostura excited. We had a good time in Bariloche, but we were ready for a little change. Villa La Angostura is a relatively new town, less than 80 years old, it's much smaller than Bariloche, in addition, we were told that it caters to the wealthier Argentines. From my research, Angostura, is supposed to have some awesome mountain biking as well! We arrived in town and found a place to stay, Cabana Akermann. This place is beautiful. See the pics…The service we received at the cabana was truly exceptional. I’m all about the little things that make the difference. Cabana Akermann included those little things, ie. Special hand soap, Listerine, personal coffee bags, candy on our pillows and most importantly they remembered how much dulce de leche to have on the table for Jen and Payton at breakfast.

Wednesday I made a new friend, his name is Marcos. I met him when I went to Pegaso bike shop in Angostura. This shop has the typical upper end athletic clothes and bike rentals. I initially went to the shop inquiring about mountain bike single-track trails. After a couple of translation problems, Marcos decided that he would take me out on a ride. As I was leaving, one of other employees informs me that Marcos is an X-terra participant. Oh shit! Angostura, just had the Panamerica Xterra race 1 month prior. We left that afternoon in the pouring down rain. Let’s say that Marcos is in great shape. He has a single suspension bike that is geared for racing. On the other hand, my Yeti dual suspension bike is made for x-country with an emphasis on downhill. Marcos kicked my ass on the hills (on the road/dirt, not on single track) but technically, I was better. Much has to do with the bike I’m sure, but I’ll credit my skill and ability as well. After an amazing ride doing the Panamerica circuit I had one broken chain, bent hanger (rear derailleur) and my rear tire started to leak. All in all, hell of a fun day. What’s better, is that we are planning on going riding again later in the week.

The weather hasn’t been the best for us while staying in Angostura. One of the good things however, is that Payton found a friend. She is the granddaughter of the owner, her name is Martina and she is 3 1/2 years old. They have played a few times so far and Payton’s loving the time running in the parquet around our cabana. Thursday, we drove the Seven Lakes drive to San Martin de los Andes. It was a beautiful drive, despite the rain, which I do recommend if you have the extra time. Otherwise, if you have limited time in Argentina, there is more to do and see than this particular route. Oh well, it gave the Kangoo another day of driving on dirt and adding another layer of filth to the car. We haven’t washed the car in nearly 3 weeks. I should add, we haven’t vacuumed the car since we purchased it back in January. Very unlike us! The biggest reason we haven’t taken care of our car is the lack of accessibility to public car wash/vacuum.

Friday, another amazing ride with Marcos and his “triathlete specialist,” friend Caesar. Once again we did the Xterra circuit, but this time we added Cerro Bayo to the ride with amazing downhill. I tried to take pictures to show everyone the trails, but my camera battery died. I will always have my memories. Caesar reminds me of my friend Matt, lean, fit, and even handles the mountain bike in technical terrain the same. Caesar, again like Matt, knows how to push pedals. Unfortunately, Caesar isn’t as comfortable on his mountain bike as he is on a road bike, he took a pretty nasty spill attempting to climb a ladder bridge and fell backwards onto a jagged log. He ended up with his pride and nasty bruise on his left iliac crest.

Saturday we reented a bike for Jen and we all went on a ride to Parque Nacional Bosque Arrayanes. I pulled Payton in the Chariot. It was a little steep at first, but the 26 km round trip excursion was well worth it. Payton slept most of the way to the Bosque Arrayanes and back. We had lunch on the pier and enjoyed our time mesmerized by the views. We followed our biking adventure with a hike Sunday to Cerro Bayo and walked to the same trail I went biking on Friday to enjoy the views of Villa La Angostura, the lakes and mountains. Despite the weather, it was a good uphill climb with worthwhile views. I think it was easier riding my bike up the trail than carrying Payton in my arms. Oh, we also washed the beast, the Kangoo, on Sunday. We washed away the layers of dirt and borrowed a vacuum from the owner of the cabana to clean the inside too. It is like a new car again!

Monday, I was feeling a little under the weather. The worst thing, I had to tell Marcos I couldn’t ride with him today. I hate cancelling, mainly because I hate when people cancel on me. We exchanged emails and salutations. I will miss riding with Marcos. Hopefully he will be able to go to the states and stay with us some time to ride. I told Marcos that we have Xterra in Central Oregon. He appeared excited at the offer. Before we pulled away from the shop in our vehicle Marcos ran over and gave me a bike jersey with the logo of the bike shop, Pegaso! I feel awkward receiving gifts! That’s just me. It was very nice of Marco to give me a gift. I had thought about giving him my Deschutes Brewery jersey prior to going to the store, but I didn’t think it would fit Marcos.

We rented a car and left Tuesday morning for Chile. I am very excited about leaving Argentina and experiencing a little taste of Chile. We initially plan on going to Osorno, Frutillar and then to Pucon. We will have to wait and see how it plays out. You never know, we might not like Chile. Which in the long wrong would be better. It's supposed to be more expensive.

Pampa Linda

Saturday: Woke up early to get the day started. We had to reach the Park entrance before 1015 (1 hour away) because the single lane road will change directions at 1115 at the entrace to Cascadia Los Alceres. With a few delays we showed up at the parque entrance a little behind schedule. However, we decided that we could make it to the end of the road to see the cascades before the direction of traffic changed. (No worries, we were told by many Argentines that they do not abide by laws, they just do want they want!). We made it to the end of the road without complications. The falls were beautiful. Payton enjoyed the water and walking around. As we returned to the parking area from the falls at 1200, we saw a single car pull up the parking area. Jen and I both looked at each other in disgust. These people drove the opposite direction for nearly 1 hour to get to the falls. On our way back out to Los Rapidos (junction for Cascadia Los Alceres and Pampa Linda) we only came across one vehicle driving the opposite direction!) We were told it took 3 hours from Bariloche to Pampa Linda; more like 2 hours. We were lucky to miss the tour buses and the dusty roads. (Once again, it has been raining for days) We arrived in Pampa Linda extremely happy to get out of the car and enjoy the surroundings. It is beautiful there. The Hosteria Pampa Linda in the parque is very nice and the food is delicious. The portions our huge. I mean huge. (I can eat. I think anyone that has eaten with me could agree) I couldn't finish my plate and in my household where I was raised, that was not appreciated. After lunch, we drove out to
Glacier Negra. It is a huge glacier coming down a lower elevation mountain and terminating in a small lake. The reason the glacier is black is from the debris from surrounding decomposing rock. The glacier itself, however, beneath the superficial distinct black markings are white as could be. The lake that the glacier terminated in had numerous floating icebergs within it. I decided to remove my clothes and take a seat on one of the floating icebergs. This has become my tradition, the colder the water the better. IT WAS COLD! Not too much shrinkage and the clothes came back on. Afterwards, Payton was trying to get in the water "Like Daddy." Throughout our time in the valley, we could hear calving from the glaciers. It was a startling sound, similar to thunder that would make you jump up and look for a falling section of the glacier to appear.
After our little Glacier Negra excursion we drove up a little way farther to see some more waterfalls. It was a short hike through a rocky valley. The area reminds me a little of Yosemite because of its rock formations and the carving of the valleys by previous glaciers.

We took some good photos and Payton played with some snow before heading back to the hosteria. We didn't get far from the waterfalls before the girls in the car were sleeping. After waiting in the car for over 30 minutes after arriving at the hosteria and both girls were asleep I decided to go indoors and relax by the fire. Selfish I know, but I wasn't going to sit in that car another minute awake. After another 45 minutes the girls and a sleepy cat (sleeping on the hood of the car) awoke and entered the hosteria. We met a very friendly family from London who were in Argentina for two weeks traveling. They had 3 boys (6,8 & 10). Must have been trying for the girl. Payton enjoyed playing with the children. I think most of all, she enjoyed the fact that the children could understand what she was saying. We had them watch Disney's "Cars" on the laptop (the other children haven't seen it) and it was cute, it was the first time I ever saw Payton quoting movie lines to the other children while the moving was playing.

After a night filled with little sleep (Payton had a rough night) we left around 0900 with the Park Rangers recommendations (or words of precaution) toward Refugio Otto Meiling. It was a very nice fire road trail covered by beautiful forested trees for nearly 2 hours. The last hour involved traversing a steep hill with the Chariot. We were very happy to be able to take the Chariot as far as we did. We stopped on a slippery slope with 1/2 inch of snow and packed Payton out of the Chariot and started on the remainder of the trail. We knew that the snow was going to get a little thicker once we got out of the forested covered area, but we were feeling refreshed and had plenty of time to spare. I was carrying Payton in my arms for another 45 minutes before we stopped for lunch. We enjoyed the views and the sun that was beating down on the white snow. We wished that we hadn't forgotten our sunglasses in the Chariot down the hill at this point. Oh well!, We walked for another 20 minutes before we decided that the snow was getting pretty deep and the snow drifts from the wind on top of the mountain near the refuge started to resemble clouds encompassing the mountain. Without the proper gear for snow trekking nor a true understanding of where the trail resided (the trail markers were covered by the snow), we headed back down the mountain. We had a great hike and Payton truly enjoyed it. It was a good day for me on my Birthday.
Payton was not in the Chariot for the river crossing, Jen was carrying her when I took the Chariot across the river to wash all of the horse poop off the tires. After the river crossing Payton walked a little more than 1 hour before she got back into the Chariot (our doing) since my feet were wet and cold from the river crossing and we needed to get back to the car. She must have walked about a mile. We arrived back at the hosteria at 5:00pm. (The hosteria was closing the following day for the season - we stayed at the hosteria with only the other family from London. The entire 50+ bed hosteria was virtually all ours.)
We drove back to Bariloche and ended the night with Chinese food and Apple pie. It was truly a nice day! Thanks Jen!!!

Second Week in Bariloche

After celebrating Easter with Payton and Jen, I decided to go on another bike ride before the weather started to turn for the worse. I was told by the owner's son of Plaza Patagonia, Santiago, about a hiking trail to Refugio San Martin. He stated that he rides out on the trail all the time. I got dropped off by Jen and Payton and started my ride. After 1 hour into the ride, (although beautiful, was not technical at all) I decided to turn around and head back to Cerro Catedral and ride the Refugio Frey trail to Lago Gutierrez. I had so much fun last time, why ride a boring trail. This time, however, I had to ride up the hill up to Cerro Catedral. It wasn't as bad as I thought. The resort itself lies at 3280 ft above sea level. I think the climb up to the resort was 1500ft. I started my ride on the Refugio Frey trail excited, but that quickly diminished the more I rode down the trail. It was one of those days on a bike where my tehnical riding abilities were that of a 1 year old attempting to walk for the first time. I don't know where my mind was, but it wasn't on biking. After a couple of near falls, I started to take things a little slower than usual. I was able to complete downhill, forward somersault with a half twist. I think the diving coaches would have been proud. After that particular fall, I got back on the bike and decided to focus on the trail and the bike. After the downhill was completed I realized my rear derailer was skewed. It started phantom shifting to random gears. At one point, my nice 24 speed bike became a single speed. It made the climb back a little more difficult, but well worth it. I came back to the house and drank 1 liter of beer and started barbequing. We had a great steak dinner, complete with sausages for Payton. Payton remains to amaze us with her eating abilities and love for meat. We might have to start our own ranch to ensure we can afford Payton's meat consumption.

Monday was the big day! I say this because we have been having problems with our Renault Kangoo for nearly two weeks now. I know we haven't mentioned it in the blog, mainly because it would only elicit more concerns than needed. What's wrong with the Kangoo you ask. Well, simply put, it doesn't like to start first thing in the morning. In the beginning when we were experiencing problems with the Kangoo, we came to realize that it doesn't like the cold and only would start if it was warm in the morning. We actually waited till after 1100 one day to allow the sun's rays to heat the engine before we started our day. To get the car started, we would have to push the Kangoo and clutch start the car. For any one that has peformed this duty, well you know that a downward hill is ideal for a push start. After the car is clutch started, it is fine for the whole day. We were starting to feel pretty "white trash" for pushing our car and having to clutch start it every morning that we gave each other some trashy names ie. Duke and Crystal. The car problem was going on for so long, that Payton would yell "Yeah, the car started, good job daddy!" The only thing is that we do not get any extra attention or help offered when we are pushing our car in Argentina, because a lot of people down here do this all the time. The most embarrassing moment was the morning we stayed at the other cabana in Bariloche (before Easter); the road was flat and gravel. We had four different failed attempts in clutch starting the car. The whole time two young 8-10 year old boys watched us, speaking to us in Spanish. I was trying to be as polite as I could, until I told them to get out of our way in my best Spanglish possible. These kids were on their bikes in the middle of the road (where we were attempting to clutch start). That got old pretty quick.
Redirection: Why didn't we take the car to the dealership earlier you ask? First, when this occured in El Bolson, there was only a sales portion of a Renault dealership and not a service department. We had to wait till we got to Bariloche, then we had to wait to make an appointment after Easter Week. We didn't want to be without a car while we were farther from town. We took the amazing Kangoo into the Renault dealership. I should note, that before we took our car to the dealership we replaced the oil & filter, (we have 8000km on the motor, replaced the fuel filter, drove with the gas tank full for a week and put diesel fuel additive in the gas tank). We wrote everything down in Spanish on a piece of paper and dropped off the car. After 36 hours of no phone call, we took a taxi to the Renault dealership and found out that our car needed 4 spark plugs!??? I'm not mechnically inclined, so if anybody could enlighten me why a brand new car needed 4 spark plugs, please send me an email. The funniest thing during this ordeal, was the fact that the dealership actually looked throught our registration and insurance information for the car. We could only imagine what they were checking or why!

I forgot, Jen finally took a spa day for herself. I have been telling her to get a massage or take some time out for herself. I guess she feels that everyday is spa day when she doesn't have to work, cook or clean.

Tuesday after picking up the car we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around downtown and shopping. It was truly fun! (Sarcasm. I really do not enjoy shopping, but I do it because Jen tolerates my bike rides).


Wednesday: Going stir crazy. We finally drove out east approximately 1 hour near Confluencia. Apparently Ted Turner owns 10,000 acres near there. We took some pictures of some rock croppings and enjoyed the scenery and the beautiful rivers. Haven't done any riding/running/hiking in three days. Its been raining for days now. We have been on the internet searching for new homes/property and potential jobs. Tomorrow I'm out of here.

Thursday: I attempted to go on a bike ride near Lago Mascardi. Weather was crappy. Raining with the snowline creeping downwards. After 40 minutes of riding I came to a gate and saw an elderly gaucho. I asked him for permission to ride the road (fire road, didn't need permisson, but I asked anyway) he granted it, however, he stated that there was snow a little farther up the road (Spanish). I decided that was enough. The trail (road) wasn't much fun anyway. All uphill and didn't appear to get any better. When I was looking at the map for alternatives the gaucho started walking up the hill and put his gun back in the holster and strapped it down. Talk about the old West. I came back to the cabana and went on a run instead. After that we drove out near Colonia Suize and planned on hiking to Refugio Lopez. We got about 30 minutes past Negro Roca (1000 ft elevation gain from the trailhead) and turned around due to weather. We were walking in snow and had another 1100 feet of climbing to do. I could see the refuge through the trees and it was surrounded by snow. The waterfalls around this mountain were beautiful. The adjacent photo to the left is of Payton and I,
we were obviously disappionted that we could not climb any farther up the hill













Friday: The power went out. We laid around the cabana after visiting downtown. In the afternoon, we went to the best hotel in South America, LLao LLao. It truly is beautiful. We ate at a small outside bar area (covered) with amazing views of the lake and golf course. We drank our 5 USD coffee and our overpriced pastries and enjoyed our time relaxing in the wonderful hotel. The service was amazing. I think every table had their own waiter. We were there for a couple of hours (3?) before heading back to the cabana planning our day to Pampa Linda. Waiting to talk to my parents regarding their plans, which in turn will affect the outcome of our plans. Will divulge more later...

Bariloche

Bariloche

We arrived in San Carlos de Bariloche Thursday morning, 3/29/07, after leaving El Bolson. When we first visited Bariloche last week to check out various lodging options we were very disappointed in what we saw. Why? From the information we had read, ie. Blogs and guide books, we expected Bariloche to resemble Lake Tahoe. Well it doesn't. It’s a little run down, there is graffiti on popular monuments, and there is a glorified outside shopping mall. In addition the cabanas that we looked at were significantly overpriced. Therefore, we were a little frustrated and disappointed. Bike trails were limited (minimal single track) and lots of fire roads. The biking options are similar to Tahoe. I’m not a big fan of Tahoe’s restrictions in terms of mountain biking. Futhermore, Bariloche is really touristy.

When we arrived in Bariloche, to stay for 2 weeks, we went directly to our cabana. After some internet time we came across Plaza Patagonia. Plaza Patagonia was exactly what we needed. A break from our dreary, dark and old cabana in El Bolson. This cabana, Plaza Patagonia, was constructed only 2 months ago. Everything is brand new and clean. Let me clarify, most places are clean, but they are old. Once again, Argentines work very well with what they have, however, they do minimal improvement or work when it comes to maintenance or improvements on properties. Nidia, the owner of Plaza Patagonia, is so personable and friendly. She makes us feel like we are at home and she speaks very good English. It has been a pleasure to talk with her and to stay at her cabana.

We decided while we were in Bariloche that we would act like tourists and do the excursions that typical tourists do. We were going to do the ski lift rides to the top of the mountains, boat trips and go out to dinner more. We knew that we had to visit a few of the breweries we have been reading about. One of the first things we did was to eat at the first and only Mexican restaurant we have found in Argentina. Let’s say the steak fajitas were great. However, the beans and rice need a little help. Unlike restaurants in the states or Mexico, we were served bread with salsa, instead of chips with salsa. Who would have thought of bread with salsa.
In the afternoon we went to take a gondola to Cerro Otto. On top of the mountain is a revolving restaurant. Apparently it’s the only one in the world on top of a mountain. In addition, it had an exact replica of Michelangelo’s David. Payton definitely had some questions regarding David’s penis. I believe even the Spanish speaking Argentine’s around us understood what Payton was asking. There sure were a lot of people laughing and giggling when we were having our picture taken and Payton was staring at David, or rather, David's penis. With all of the images of Disney characters down here, one would have thought Disney was an Argentine company. Oh yeah, I forgot, Walt Disney visited Argentina back in the early 1950's and ever since then, Argentine's believe that Walt Disney has based Disneyland from Republica de los Ninos and used the Arranyano forest(in the Lake District) as the basis for the "Enchanted Forest" in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

During our reading, we discovered that there are a lot of hiking trails around the top of Cerro Otto, and that you could walk down the mountain to the gondola station. After spending significant time on top of the mountain and having a little snack, we followed a German group down the road of the mountain. The dirt road headed down the north section of the mountain. Jen and I kept talking about the fact that we should be heading the other direction, but figured that the road would end down at the base of the gondola where we viewed the road from our ride to the summit. We questioned our present course, but decided that if we were to turn around and go back to the summit that it would have been too late to take the gondola down. More than an hour later, we landed at the base of the hill more than 4 km from the base of the gondola. It was getting dark and we had limited choices. (We were actually in an area I was told previously not to be in after dark). I flagged a remise (taxi) down and paid the 5 pesos to get back to our car. We thought it was comical that the remise driver didn’t tell us the gondola was closed until we got to the gondola station. Luckily, it didn't matter since all we wanted to get was our car.

The following day during Payton’s nap I rode part of the Circuito Chico. It’s approximately a 35km loop from Bariloche to LLAO LLAO and back. I wanted to visit a few sites I had read about in an Aventura magazine (Argentine version of National Geographic’s Adventure Magazine.) Aventura is actually a pretty nice magazine with lots of activity information. We will buy the next few months editions to help us with additional activities in the areas we will be visiting. The loop was pretty uneventful, found some single track and there were a few creek crossings and dog encounters. The trail actually terminated on Military property which is Argentina’s Mountain Army training facility. It looks a little outdated. In front of the facility there is a mono-snomobile and an old snow cat. I was very hopeful after riding, finding out that there is actually single track in Argentina. Later in the day we drove out to Llao Llao and went on a nice hike. The worst part, Payton took a bad fall half way down the hill. Initially after the fall she wanted to go back to the car and end the hike, however, after a few minutes she asked, “where we going?” We told her and she said "no" and let us know that she wanted to go back down the trail. We ended up at Lago Moreno which is a very pretty lake with minimal boats. The lake seems to be used mainly by fisherman.

The following day I went on a bike ride to Lago Guetierrez, specifically, Cascada de los Duendes. There was some great single track around here. Multiple uphill climbs and amazing downhill. I ran out of time and went back to the cabana to tell Jen and Payton about the waterfalls. We decided to drive out to the waterfalls so that they could see them too and we went on a short hike and took some photos. The cascades are pretty, however, with the end of summer the flow is sluggish.

We have been enjoying our mornings at the cabana and we are back to our own Buenos Aires ways. We are eating lemon bread and drinking coffee late into the morning. Of note, we found the best lemon bread that we have ever had. It is a couple blocks from our cabana in a small mini-market. Apparently, the lady that makes the bread only makes it for this store. So I guess we are lucky to have found the bread.

The next day we drove to Cerro Camperando. Apparently, it is rated the 8^th best view in the world by National Geographic. Basically, it’s a ski lift up to the top of a mountain near Llao Llao. It truly is beautiful. We took many photos. Unfortunately, we had the big lens on the Canon camera. We met some people from Vancouver, Canada and they liked the fact that we were wearing our Arcteryx jackets since Arcteryx is made in Canada. Once again, Payton LOVES ski lifts. We will be buying a ski pass when we get back to Bend, Oregon.

The following day, I went on one of the best bike rides I have ever had. I only wish I could have ridden this with some friends. I
started at Cerro Catedral, the largest ski resort in South America
. The trail was awesome! If you’re a mountain biker, you will appreciate the pics. If not, well, you’ll you probably could stop reading the remainder of this blog entry. There were plenty of technical options ie. Rocks, hills, ladders, mud…My goal was to reach Refugio Frey. Approximately 1 mile from the refuge I hit a point in the trip where I couldn’t ride the bike anymore. It was a hike-bike section. I made it to the top with a lot of peculiar looks on everybody’s faces. A few people tried talking to me, however, language barrier! I spoke to one person who was amazed that I was up there. I must have been one of the few bikers to go to the top. The refuge was very nice and impressive. I might have to come back during the winter season to check it out. On my way down I met a girl from Corvallis, Oregon. Her name was Meg, and her sister was the owner of Cup of Magic in Bend, Oregon. We had a good conversation. I could tell she was home sick when she looked at my Deschutes Brewery biking jersey and said Aah, Mirror pond! It felt good to talk to someone from home…The ride down was amazing. Going to fast to stop and take pictures. Trust me, plenty of technical options with a little too much speed. It doesn’t get much better!

Wednesday, April 4, 2007 we performed our morning routine and went to a local park where Payton played. It was nice, walking around town and enjoying the scenery. Afterwards, we went to a local bar, The Map Room, and had our first Argentine Nacho experience since arriving in Argentina. I guess I got caught up in the moment (I love Nachos) because I over did it on the picante sauce.

Thursday, we left our cabana (rented out for Easter weekend) and drove south to Nidia's (owner of Plaza Patagonia) friend Sylvia's cottage. It was older and nice with a good size back yard. The only thing wrong with it, it smelled like cigarette smoke. Oh no! The more we looked at it, the more we realized that it was superficially clean, but not clean. The bottom of our socks would be brown from walking around in the cabana with no shoes on. Jen appeared to like the cabana at first, but I think the more time she spent there the less she liked it. I left for a bike ride during Payton’s nap before all of Jen’s true feelings/thoughts were revealed. Needless to say, my bike ride ended short, I was stopped by two gaucho men, 45 minutes in my ride, taking supplies up to the refugio jakob. I wasn’t going to argue with them (a local guide (Nidia’s son) informed me of this trail on the map I had and told me it was o.k. to ride it). What it comes down to is that you need to be able to speak the language to defend yourself and not play out the American way of charging through things blindfolded…

Friday we decided to spend the whole day away from our cabana. After Payton’s nap, we went out to Cerro Llao Llao and climbed the mountain. We met a few Americans at the summit. It was nice to talk to people from the States. The views from the top were amazing. The hike wasn’t bad, a few hundred meter elevation gain. Once again, Payton was amazing. She walked up almost the entire hill. She is becoming quite an outdoor enthusiast and hiker. We ended the day eating at some wannabe brewery in downtown Bariloche. This restaurant actually advertised itself as a brewery, but didn’t produce any of its own beers. After eating our meals, we didn’t think they made their food at the restaurant either.

Saturday morning Payton had Easter egg hunt. We decided on Saturday, because it had more opportunities to hide the eggs. we experienced our first guided tour in 3 months. We toured some lava caves outside of Bariloche. Its hard to be nice here. Bend, Oregon has many lava tubes (one lava tube measuring nearly 300+ feet in length) therefore; it was hard for me to be enlightened by a cave that is merely 20 feet in depth and 30 feet wide. There was one lava tube that I wasn’t able to see because Payton had her first breakdown climbing through this narrow entry to a lava tube in the side of this mountain. It was the first time we couldn’t complete our initial goal since we started our trip (not bad!!!!) Jen was able to go inside and took some photos. Apparently, there was a water source at the end of the tube. We finished the day climbing the rest of the mountain and having fun. We (Jen,Payton and I) are always the loudest in the area. I guess it's not only us because everytime someone asks us where we are from, they immediately respond before we can answer USA. My conclusion, Americans are just loud, period.