Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A Hike Through the Woods



Today was short and somewhat tiring.  We slept in late, and I completed some work that I had to do before we left the hostel.  This took us until noon, and made me even more tired and stir crazy to get back on the road.  Before we left town however, we decided to eat lunch.   We had planned on driving through a national park with no towns and quite a few camp spots.  We did not know if there would be any food options in the park so decided to stay on the safe side and eat a big lunch in Esquel.  We also wanted to buy some groceries just in case we needed them later on.  After eating an average lunch and stopping by a grocery store we were back on the road towards the park.

After about an hour of driving we crossed into Parque Nacional Los Alerces.  A friendly women at the visitors center told us about a hike only a couple minutes drive from where we were.  This hike lead up to two big and beautiful waterfalls about thirty minutes from the trailhead.  We drove to the trailhead and began the short walk.  Two of the coolest things about the hike were the bamboo and the trees.  For the first part of the walk we passed amazingly large trees about seventy meters high and with trunks of about three meters in diameter.  Many of the trees we saw were at least a thousand years old, based on a labeled tree stump at the visitors center.   I had a great time trying to climb one, but I did not get very high.   For the last part of the walk, we hiked through a tunnel of tall, skinny and yellow bamboo, the tops of which, barley in view, shined and glimmered in the evening sun.  The waterfalls were beautiful too, but I liked the scenery on the walk better. 

The Top of One of the Two Waterfalls on the Hike

We have finished up the day at a cozy camp site near the park entrance.  We have set up our tent and are ready for a peaceful night.  I am excited for tomorrow and hope we see even more cool scenery!

FIND HARRY (IF YOU CAN....HA HA HA!!!!)
A Branch of the Great Monkey Puzzle Tree

Thank you for reading Rohan Geographic! 

  




































 

5 comments:

  1. What a lovely park. Are those Harry's feet hanging from the top of the tent?

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    1. Nope.. No Harry on the roof! Look for the top of his head!!!

      Tim and Cat

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  2. Rohan, I love following your adventures, both on the water and on land. Our travels are less extensive, but we too have been fortunate. We drove almost 3,000 miles from Ashland to Buffalo Wyoming and back through wintry mountains and managed to miss blizzards and other dangerous sorts of weather. Saw your Uncle David and Kalia and Devin in Davis on our way home. Thanks for the words and photos that let me keep abreast of your great trip and escalating kayak skill. Love to you and your Mom and Dad, Grandpa Morgan

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  3. I like the how the white spot on the horse's head lines up with the white cross in the first pic. The puzzle tree shot is very cool, too.

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    1. Chopper, Thanks for the compliment! I thought both those shots were good too.

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