Cerro Tronodor, Nahuel Huapi National Park, Argentina

To get the heart of Nahuel Huapi National Park we knew at some point we'd need to rent a car. We had been deeply annoyed in El Calafate when our Hertz reservations went sour, leaving us to scramble for transportation so I wasn't feeling the rental love. Luckily, Budget had our back and made everything easy. We were given a 200km range to, leaving a 20 km cushion to get us to, from, and lost around Cerro Tronodor, an extinct volcano/mountain peak shared by Chile and Argentina. The guide book promised multiple waterfalls and 8 glaciers, including the Black Glacier (aka: Ventisquero Negro) which is covered in volcanic ash and dirt, thus making it a dirty looking glacier. Which it did. But the concept was pretty cool. 

I'm so glad we rented a car because had we used our own, I'd have wimped out due to the 90 minute long potholed dirt roads. I'm equally glad we didn't take a tour bus, I'd have barfed. A lot. Deets too probably. The loud drive notwithstanding, our first view of Cerro Tronodor stopped us in our tracks (actually it was the lumbering tour bus that suddenly hit the breaks on the one-way road but I digress.) From there we drove even deeper into the park past Pampa Linda, a popular trailhead and camp ground and finally into the parking lot where we could hear roaring water.  I waited for my teeth and butt cheeks to stop chattering and scrambled after Mark and the kids into the Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat).

We hiked to the trail's end point and picnicked in the blazing sun, watching tides of glacier water free fall into the creek. Hiking back down we stopped to cool our feet in the water where the kids played for over an hour and watched glistening shirtless people amble across the slick rocks. Somehow these yahoos didn't burn, yet I did. Two matching shoulder stripes near my backpack. What is this? Amateur hiking? 

We could only exit the park via the one-way street after 4pm, which in truth wasn't enough time. We wish we had planned to camp or hotel up in Pampa Linda for another day to savor it all. An hour and 30 minutes later we washboarded our way out of the park and onto civilized asphalt back to Barlioche.  All good things must come to an end. Besides, I was running out of clean underwear so maybe it was time to go. 

Cerro Tronodor

Deets and Mark leading the up Garganta del Diablo.

As far as we could go.

Collecting volcanic rocks. 
Which promptly were taken away 
by airport security: "weapon threat"

Waterfalls. Check.

The Black Glacier dumping into Lago Manso
Manso: meek, mild, gentle, tame.