Well we made it! Sunday morning the weather was perfect and the smoke had cleared in Buenos Aires, although we hear it has come back again, and we made it into Patagonia without any problems. The first views of the Patagonian Mountains come as we approach our hotel. We are on a peninsula in the Lago Nahuel Huapi and have some very fine views from the hotel, Alderbaran – a small 8 room hacienda of stone and wood and cement. A beautiful place.

Our first day here we awoke to a heavy overcast and threat of rain and storms. The kind of day which can turn into some magnificent light and clouds to work with, or be very boring. We drove into Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi about 60 kilometers on a dirt road to a mountain called Tronador, which is one of the largest ones around at 3,478 meters and contains about 6 active glaciers.

The road ends near the bottom of the Black Glacier, so named for the dirt and rocks it has pushed down the mountain. But a small part of the road continues on up to a point to start hiking and we go there first. A short hike up the mountain and you can walk along one of the many streams pouring out of the mountain. While I stopped to make images, Dana walked on. We plan on meeting at the car at a specified time. The landscape reminds me a bit of Alaska with its short trees and clear rocky streams. But I have not seen this many waterfalls on the side of one mountain before. I count about 7-9 which I can see – all very big!

Back at the bottom of the Black Glacier I find some very interesting shots of the edge of the glacier and the ice in the lake below. It is fascinating to me how this all pushes down the mountain and yet has been doing so for thousands of years. And hopefully will continue to do so. The shapes of the ice and dirt are wonderful to work with. Trying to capture the essence of the place.And every so often you hear a section break off – we never saw any start – but we saw the clouds of snow billow up high up the mountain side. Once – just before I was ready to click the shutter a small piece fell into the water with a small splash right in front of me.

Not wanting to take the dirt road back in the dark we headed out as the light began to fade. I knew of a spot we had stopped at on the way in where we did our first shots of Tronador. I was hoping to be able to shoot there as the sun light up the clouds at sunset – if it would break just right! We pulled up at the side of the road just as the sun began to light up the clouds. Perfect! What a show as the light changed over about 15 minute’s time! And now for the drive back, in the darkness.

On our second day we drove back into Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi and headed for a place called three lakes. It is a series of three lakes all several hundred of feet below each other which you can see from the top of the ridge as you drive down in. As always, it is a dirt and gravel and rock filled road, making travel at 40 kilometers the fastest you can travel, and more likely at about 10-15 kilometers. As we descend through the forest the trees are incredible. Big trunks, lots of a cane which resembles bamboo covers the forest floor. It is fall here and many trees, especially the Poplars are in full bloom. After making a few river crossing in our trusty Chevy Cobalt we get to the first lake. It is a clear mountain lake where you can see the bottom as if there was no water! Dana begins his hike around the edge of the lake as I begin to photograph. I play with the reflections on the water and the mountains up high above us. Then some geese float by and I take several dozen shots of them! After spending what turns out to be several hours there taking it all in we decide to head south once again.

We end up at Parque Nacional Lago Puelo in the late afternoon. This park is small in size compared with the others and seems to be more like a state or city park back in the states. Parks here are not like in the states, here they encompass cities and towns as well as the natural areas. And there are no real ranger areas it seems. But this park is clearly bigger than what we see in front of us, when you look at the maps. It also shares the border with Chile and we discover we are only about 1 kilometer or less from the border now. Tonight’s drive home is on paved roads. But that does not stop us from stopping for some evening shots!

To see more image use this link to go to a web page: www.mackphoto.com/blog/Argentina/Patagonia1/index.html