Go back to Los Arenales.
Mendoza – pretty charming.
We set off on our trip a few days before Christmas and almost immediately ran into the standard American Airlines bullshit at DFW. Our flight to Santiago was delayed by over two hours due to “technical issues” (déjà vu from two years prior) which really slimmed down the transfer window in Santiago meaning that one of our bags would only join us in Mendoza some 12 hours after our arrival. Our first of eight days allotted for climbing thus got burnt. On the upside, Mendoza is the epicenter of Argentinian wine production and so it is not the worst place to wait things out.
.
Los Arenales car camp.
Reunited with all of our gear and well stocked up on food (including 8 excellent Argentinian salamis) and 10 liters of box wine, we left Mendoza the following morning for a ~3 hour drive south to Los Arenales. An Argentinian border checkpoint (close enough to Chile to warrant one I guess) and short sections of rough road (still doable in a small sedan) guard the Arenales trailhead a few kilometers beyond. We were hoping to car camp and not have to shuttle our supplies to the refugio some 20 minutes up canyon. Sure enough, we found a great little campsite right next to the river at the trailhead and spent the afternoon setting things up and taking in the scenery.
Photos
On our way to the Carrefour to pick up the food stuffs for our 8 days in the mountains. Mendoza, Argentina (Dec. 2016).
Tree lined streets of downtown Mendoza – pretty charming (Dec. 2016).
An old man feeding pigeons in a Mendoza park (Dec. 2016).
Yeah, Mendoza is a good place to wait for your misplaced climbing gear (Dec. 2016).
Friendly driving in this mid-sized town (Dec. 2016).
Random street sights in Mendoza (Dec. 2016).
On the drive down to Tunuyan, we saw this chicken truck with a huge megaphone (Dec. 2016).
A strip mall (with decent Mexican food among others) and the last non-camp food for a while (Dec. 2016).
Drinking beer in a wine country – a travesty…
Argentinian gauchos?
El Manzano Historico and the end of the paved road on the way to Los Arenales (Dec. 2016).
Shirley scoping out camping options at the trailhead (Dec. 2016).
There are two spots (large enough for a couple tents each) near the trailhead. We were lucky enough to get the better one (Dec. 2016).
Pasion Argentina – Linea Premium.
Shirley studying up at camp (Dec. 2016).
Go to Patricia.
Go back to Los Arenales.