Been To Mendoza/villa La Angostura/bariloche In November?

[GMXam]

Hey GS, we'll be coming from the South, so South and West are good for us. Thanks for the heads up about the roads and winds from San Martín de Los Andes to Mendoza. I'll message ya for some more detailed questions. Thanks!

I used to run motorcycle tours out of Mendoza. Going north there wasn't much to see before Catamarca. Between Catamarca and Jujuy/alto plano is excellent. The best of Mendoza is West and South. Go West to the Chilean border. Take a full day out, stay in Penetentes, and a full day back. Lots to see along the route in way of sweeping vistas, old deserted mining towns, mountains, kayaking, etc. South of Mendoza is the great Tupungato wine country. Great for day and overnight trips. Once you get south of Malargüe it is wind and gravel until you get to San Martín de Los Andes. Once past Bariloche it's wind and gravel until Rio Gallegos.

Have fun!

 

[ajoknoblauch]

I used to run motorcycle tours out of Mendoza. Going north there wasn't much to see before Catamarca.

Have fun!

So, you rode blindfolded past Ischigualasto and Talampaya?

 

[lucha54]

Lucha, I love ya for this.

For Mendoza, We may have to skip Chile this time, but next time!

Bariloche: Quila Quina looks promising. Hopefully, it's warm enough when we are down there for swimmimg/kayaking. Thanks for the heads up about the road between SMA and Bariloche (and the pee ahead of time warning ). Others have told us the same things about Ruta 7 Lagos. We'll save the cycling for some other promising areas less traveled by cars. Exhaust and flying rocks does not sound fun at all. Also, circuito chico and the Llao Llao Peninsula are on the list.

Villa La Agostura's boat to the Bosques Arrayanes is on my list. I'll check about the trail route before we leave the port. Boating there and walking back sounded like the better route over walking there and boating back.

El Bolson: I ran out of room in the title but we plan to visit while we're in Bariloche. We'll have to check out Los Alerces Nat'l Park, too.

We're taking a car for a few reasons: we're a party of four (bus tickets each leg and for as much as we're planning to see can get pretty costly), we'll be deciding based on the weather what we'll do so last minute get up and go is easier with a car, and we can choose to be high maintenance or not if the mood arises (just kidding about that last one, maybe). We'll likely bus or walk around the cities/towns we visit, unless it's more cost effective to take the car.

Thanks so much for the info! I'll get with you for more detailed questions.

GMXam - note that Quila Quina is not in Bariloche, it's in SMA area. And be careful where you stop to pee- we stopped at a big hotel/lodge that was the site of a strange American right wing Christian association with lots of strange people, and a woman named Mary Beth from Georgia telling us how she came to Argentina to bring Jesus into the lives of the Catholics... this was funny in hindsight but we thought we might be in a Rocky Horror Picture Show situation....

Circuito Chico is not just equally (if not more) beautiful to everything else in the area, but it's RIGHT THERE down the road from Bariloche. There's a ton to see and do. We only went for 1 day! But that's why I'm going back for several days in Feb!!

If I could do it again, I would just get the round trip boat ticket from V Angostura to Bosque Arrayanes. The tip of the peninsula in Arrayanes has a little loop trail (30 minutes) so you can see allll the pretty trees. The 12km back is nothing special unless you really like hiking or are just up for a challenge. Note you can also visit B. Arrayanes from Bariloche with a boat tour that stops on Isla Victoria first and starts and ends at the port near Llao Llao.

 

[mmoon]

The most boring drive ever until the last two hours or so. LOTS of Pampa! Loved Villa la Angostura and driving around the lakes, especially in the off season. Driving from Bariloche to the Lake District of Chile and the Pacific Ocean is awesome.

 

[GMXam]

Thanks, Lucha! We'll be stopping in San Martín de Los Andes, too, so Quila Quina works out for us. We were actually hoping to stay at that lodge!

Kidding, of course!

Thanks for all the tips. We're looking forward to our time there more and more.

GMXam - note that Quila Quina is not in Bariloche, it's in SMA area. And be careful where you stop to pee- we stopped at a big hotel/lodge that was the site of a strange American right wing Christian association with lots of strange people, and a woman named Mary Beth from Georgia telling us how she came to Argentina to bring Jesus into the lives of the Catholics... this was funny in hindsight but we thought we might be in a Rocky Horror Picture Show situation....

Circuito Chico is not just equally (if not more) beautiful to everything else in the area, but it's RIGHT THERE down the road from Bariloche. There's a ton to see and do. We only went for 1 day! But that's why I'm going back for several days in Feb!!

If I could do it again, I would just get the round trip boat ticket from V Angostura to Bosque Arrayanes. The tip of the peninsula in Arrayanes has a little loop trail (30 minutes) so you can see allll the pretty trees. The 12km back is nothing special unless you really like hiking or are just up for a challenge. Note you can also visit B. Arrayanes from Bariloche with a boat tour that stops on Isla Victoria first and starts and ends at the port near Llao Llao.

 

[GMXam]

Thanks, Mmoon, we heard that, too. Hopefully, our sing-alongs will keep us entertained the whole way! I wish we were making the drive to Chile this go round...gotta save something for a reason to come back.

The most boring drive ever until the last two hours or so. LOTS of Pampa! Loved Villa la Angostura and driving around the lakes, especially in the off season. Driving from Bariloche to the Lake District of Chile and the Pacific Ocean is awesome.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Thanks, Mmoon, we heard that, too. Hopefully, our sing-alongs will keep us entertained the whole way! I wish we were making the drive to Chile this go round...gotta save something for a reason to come back.

Make a stop at Parque Nacional Lihué Calel, in La Pampa province. Nice hiking to granitic summits, and I saw a puma in the campground there one night.

 

[GMXam]

Hmm, never been a cat person, and seeing one at night at a campground means I likely am vunerable to peeing my pants. I'm sleeping in the car and not drinking anything past 4pm.

Make a stop at Parque Nacional Lihué Calel, in La Pampa province. Nice hiking to granitic summits, and I saw a puma in the campground there one night.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Hmm, never been a cat person, and seeing one at night at a campground means I likely am vunerable to peeing my pants. I'm sleeping in the car and not drinking anything past 4pm.

I'm not a cat person either, but pumas are exciting. There was a family from Córdoba having an asado and, when I told them a puma was watching them from a short distance away, they didn't believe me (when my headlights struck it, the puma ran away into the monte).

The puma is highly unlikely to attack a group but, if a small child had wandered away, it could have been tragic.

Foxes are abundant, but no real threat.

 

[GMXam]

They are, only kidding. Although, once, when camping at Pedernales Falls in Texas, I had to go in the middle if the night. I snapped on my headlamp, grabbed the toilet paper, and trekked out to the wooded area to find a place far enough from camp yet close enough so someone could hear me if for some reason I needed help. Squatting and mid-stream through what seemed like a forever fountain, I heard foot steps coming up behind me. I couldn't turn around because I couldn't stop the flow. When I finally could, the steps were pretty close behind me. I turned around and not 10 feet from me was a huge buck; I couldn't count the points on the antlers but this enormous guys was maybe a few feet taller than my ~5.5ft self. I let out a half gasp-half scream sound and it took off. I'm now in the habit of cutting off all access I have to liquids at 5 when camping. Not that I don't enjoy the wildlife; I just prefer to voluntarily pee and in the comfort of solitude.

I'm not a cat person either, but pumas are exciting. There was a family from Córdoba having an asado and, when I told them a puma was watching them from a short distance away, they didn't believe me (when my headlights struck it, the puma ran away into the monte).

The puma is highly unlikely to attack a group but, if a small child had wandered away, it could have been tragic.

Foxes are abundant, but no real threat.