Valley to Peak

It took us a total of two days to hike the 7 miles up the sloping mountain to the Refugio, getting very steep towards the top.   The hike up the mountain was probably the hardest part.

We left the center of El Bolson around 11:30 am and got up to the refugio around 5.  Along the hike we came to the Bosque Tallado...a carved forest on the side of the mountain about a mile from the refugio. We were so exhausted, but the view is what really took our breath away.  You could see the entire valley and all of El Bolson and the surrounding mountains.  We watched the sunset behind the Andes from the refugio while eating pizza and chatting with the refugio-keeper. We crashed pretty early.  I went to sleep looking out of an upstairs window, El Bolson illuminated in the valley below.Our hike towards the mountain

After the trail curved around, and became more narrow, we made a sharp turn arriba and there was this tiny little cabin surrounded by snow when we got to the Bosque...the carved forest.

 Bosque Tallado

There were all different types of carved sculptures in a dried out forest on the mountainside.  Most of them were made by local artists in the Bolson area...a few from Chile, Peru and Brazil.

We were greeted at the refugio by a dog and cat who started rolling around in the grass outside of the cabin.  We went to an overlook to recuperate and to catch our breaths.  Check out this dog!  haha!

The sun rays were bursting through the clouds shining down on El Bolson in the valley below.  A tranquil energy just bursting through the sky...

In the words of my sister 'It was a sight I'd seen'

We woke up early the next morning to tredge through the snow, scramble the rocks and may our way to the summit!  Glorious!