Refugio Frey

I'd been lazing about Bariloche for several days and not taking advantage of the great outdoorsy stuff in the area.  Once it was clear Sarah's health was on the upswing, I decided to do a hike to Refugio Frey - an alpine hut not that far from the local ski hill (Catedral).  The guide books all describe it as an overnight hike, so I was looking to rent a sleeping bag and buy food - until someone at our hostel said it actually wasn't that long and they handily did it as a day hike.  (And apparently the hut was jam packed with rowdy teens, with only floor space to sleep on...)  So I set out on a day hike, though snow was predicted for above 1600m (the top/hut is at about 1750m).

Waiting for the bus up the hill

Ski hill and its parking lot.  Lots of tourists come up in buses to... well I'm not sure.  If you aren't hiking, then there's nothing to do but buy a snack at a kiosk and then head back down the hill now that ski season is over

Trailhead is on the right.  Trail winds gently around the base of the mountain to the left

Apparently this is a popular trail - well signed.  Even a cool sunglasses-wearing wooden hiker to see you off

All the signs say that the hike is 4 hours long, as do our travel guide books.  But the start of the trail was flat, wide and nicely maintained.  I expected I'd get up slightly faster.

Nice and easy at the start

Bluffs and burned trees

Apparently there was a fire on the mountain about 18 years ago, yet these tree skeletons are still standing

After a lot of mostly-level hiking, you turn a corner and start heading up a gentle ravine into the mountains.  The clouds parted and I zoomed in with the camera for a brief glimpse of the spikey peaks to come.  Sweet.

Far-off needle-like peaks

After hiking for 1:05 with sore-ish knees, I hit the 2:00 hour point of the hike.  Apparently "4 hours" is quite conservative.

A rough little hut built into the side of a massive boulder - but pretty spartan inside

Refugio Frey sits just out of sight on the other side of this pass.  It started getting quite breezy and a lot cooler at this point from the wind whistling over the pass

View across the valley, to the right of the pass

And further down the valley I hiked up

Here we are!  A quick dash across some snow to the refugio

They perched this place right on the lip of the pass, in the path of the strongest winds.  Nice view, but terrible weather exposure

That's some strong wind - sustained speeds of 50+ km/h I'd say

The kitchen of the refugio.  It was nice to get out of the wind and have my lunch

After lunch, I took a little walk around the refugio area.  It would have been nice to head up and over the next hill for another view, but it was snowy, the lake was half frozen and there was no way to tell where one should go.  So I took a brief walk above the hut instead.  It started snowing harder, and the wind picked up - regular gusts of 70-80 km/h, and one that I'm pretty sure hit 100 km/h as it almost made me stumble.  At this point I was LOVING my newly warranty-replaced Arc'Teryx gore-tex jacket - despite the icy wind, all I had on underneath was a T-shirt and a light sweater, and I was totally comfy.  Unlike the late-teens Israeli group in the hut, who were full of bravado until they stepped outside and started screeching like toddlers in the cold wind.  OK, I admit it, sometimes I'm a snob about my Canadian cold tolerance.  :-)

The payoff view.  It was still quite wintry, and the weather was closing in, so I decided against finding a path over the next pass

The Great White South!

A wind break for tents, but you'd be crazy to camp outside in this kind of wind regardless.  The sound of the tent flapping would be deafening

Looking back down at the refugio.  Wind was blasting fine snow towards the left

Whew, that was a strong gust!

I set off down the trail, and the winds died down to reasonable speeds within several hundred metres of the pass.  I rode the leading edge of a weather front all the way down - a bit of rain and such, enough to cool things off nicely.

Looking towards Bariloche

Catedral ski area village

Another quick hello with my wooden hiker friend

At the bottom, I marched across the ski hill parking lot in a cold rain, wearing only a T-shirt while the bus tourists dashed between kiosks wearing 17 layers of insulation.  Yes, my cold weather snobbery was still in effect, though I felt it was at least a little deserved.  A nice hike, and not counting lunch at the top it only took around 4:15.  I'd call it a must-do when in Bariloche - very accessible, not too challenging, and nice views.