Refugio in Patigonia

note: all but the first of these photos were taken with a cell phone camera. Sorry for their poor quality

We discovered one of the coolest things on our trip yesterday. I know, I know, we have said “the coolest thing on our trip” so many times now that its lost its superlative weight but it was cool. We are in Patagonia, el Bolson to be exact, the self-declared ‘non-nuclear zone,’ like Berkeley, California, and home to a bunch of organic beer, organic ice cream and organic jam making hippies. So we heard about these refugios up in the mountains where you can hike to without reservations and stay the night in rustic accommodations. We are staying in a small four or so room bed-n-breakfast minus the breakfast type place in the valley with tall mountain ranges to the east and west. When we got to our B+B(-B), a British traveler, who was just returning from a hike, tells us of a refugio she just visited, and points to it from the backyard of our accommodations.

view from our Bed and Breakfast of the hill we climbed (refugio circled and arrowed)

The next day we had our morning coffee and croissants, hit the three-times weekly hippy street market for supplies and headed up the hill, about a seven or eight mile hike, straight up of course, from our accommodations. A beautiful hike with perfect mountain weather – cool breeze and strong sun – plenty of spring wild flowers along our path. We climbed and climbed, passing a typical looking, horse-riding gaucho (Argentine cowboy) with the bombachas pants (baggy trousers if you will) and beret style hat, being followed by three dogs. We also walked through a sculpture garden where various artists had carved dead trees into various objects such as pumas, sleeping unicorns, abstract objects and of course naked women. A very steep final 30-minute assent brought us to a beautiful green and yellow dandelion drenched field where we saw two small wooden houses and an awesome view of the westerly mountain range that forms the boarder between Chile and Argentina.

two cabins that make up the Piltriquitron refugio in a sea of dandelions

Though the view was mind-blowing, the wind was fierce, so it didn’t take long for us to enter one of the houses. The interior was rustic; could not have been made better by a well-paid Hollywood set designer. All wood and stone with glass windows, a large black wood stove in the center, a ladder leading to a whole in the ceiling leading to the stark sleeping quarters upstairs, three simple tables with tree stump seats and a simple kitchen. Maps, dried flowers and animal antlers decorated the walls. The only difference from the stereotypical Hollywood log cabin was the young Argentine guy with dreadlocks playing Latino hip-hop. Nacho, as I guess he spelled his name, warmly welcomed us, quickly produced a liter bottle of beer without a label and shared his bread, butter and boysenberry jam with Alex. We found out the very tasty beer, the best I have had in my three and a half months in South America, and the bread was made there in that cabin. The jam was homemade as well but we are not sure it was made up there in the refugio.

Andrew and Alex, cold, with Chile in the distance behind them

We wanted to continue from the refugio, elevation of 4,620 ft, to the summit at 7,458 ft but the wind was strong and the sun was setting. We said good-bye to the two young men at the refugio, their three dogs and horse and started our quick decent, getting back to the village of el Bolson, which sat at 990 ft at 8pm (it is summer and we are very south so the sun stays out late). The whole round trip took seven hours, a decent stroll that made me realize that I am now in much better shape than when I left my desk job four months ago.