When one thinks of the city of Bariloche, there are a number of typical postcards that come to mind. In them we can see the Cerro Catedral with its ski center, the imposing Nahuel Huapi Lake, its Civic Center surrounded by countless chocolate shops. But this summer I discovered that there are many more things to do, and if you like hiking in the mountains, the options expand even more. Until then I had not heard about Bariloche's mountain refuges, and being in good enough shape to hike for miles without getting tired made me want to check some of them out. That was the case of the Laguna Negra Refuge, one with a privileged location 💕.
Cuando uno piensa en la ciudad de Bariloche, hay una serie de postales típicas que se le vienen a la mente. En ellas podemos ver al Cerro Catedral con su centro de ski, al imponente Lago Nahuel Huapi, a su Centro Cívico rodeado de innumerables chocolaterías. Pero este verano descubrí que hay muchísimas más cosas para hacer, y si te gusta la caminata en las montañas, las opciones se amplían aún más. Hasta ese momento no había escuchado sobre los refugios de montaña de Bariloche, y estar en un buen estado físico como para caminar durante kilómetros sin cansarme me hizo querer conocer algunos. Así fue el caso del Refugio Laguna Negra, uno con una ubicación privilegiada 💕.
When I was in El Bolsón I met my friend Benji, with whom we shared many hikes. Together we organized a small getaway to Bariloche, where we would take the opportunity to do those long treks that can't be done during a family vacation. We had three full days to walk around, and the first day we took the opportunity to walk to Refugio Frey. We chose to go there first to "acclimatize our legs", and it's true because it didn't take us that long to get there. For the second day, we scheduled the most intense hike 😃.
Cuando estaba en El Bolsón conocí a mi amigo Benji, con quién compartimos muchas caminatas. Juntos organizamos una pequeña escapada a Bariloche, en donde aprovecharíamos para hacer esos trekkings largos que no se pueden hacer durante unas vacaciones familiares. Teníamos tres días completos para pasear, y el primero lo aprovechamos para ir caminando hasta el Refugio Frey. Elegimos ir primero ahí para "aclimatar las piernas", y es verdad porque no nos costó tanto llegar. Para el segundo día, programamos la caminata más intensa 😃.
Getting to Refugio Laguna Negra takes a little longer than it takes to get to Frey. The distance is the same, almost 11 km in total, but the stretch with an 800 meter difference in altitude is much longer. The signage says it takes about 5 hours to complete this trek, but we have come to believe that this is an overestimate. What was not exaggerated at all was the difficulty of the terrain, as on the way we came across a lot of mud, rocks, roots and bridges of dubious safety 😅.
Llegar hasta el Refugio Laguna Negra toma un poco más de tiempo que el que lleva llegar al Frey. La distancia es la misma, casi 11 km en total, pero el el tramo con desnivel de 800 metros es mucho más largo. La cartelería dice que se necesitan unas 5 horas para completar este trayecto, pero nos acostumbramos a creer que están sobreestimados. Lo que para nada estaba exagerada era la dificultad del terreno, ya que en el camino nos cruzamos con bastante barro, piedras, raíces y puentes de dudosa seguridad 😅.
In my opinion, the worst part was the last part which lasted about an hour and a half. It was the final slope before reaching the goal, and it consisted of a "snail" shaped path. To climb without suffering so much, this road was all tight curves, with a terrain full of stones. Even reaching the end we had to help ourselves a little with our hands to avoid slipping. At that point, my friend and I separated because I did not want to go so fast and injure myself, so we met half an hour later, already in the refuge 😃.
En mi opinión, la peor parte fue la última que duró como una hora y media. Se trataba del desnivel final antes de llegar al objetivo, y estaba formado por un camino en forma de "caracol". Para subir sin sufrir tanto, este camino era todo de curvas cerradas, con un terreno lleno de piedras. Incluso llegando al final hubo que ayudarse un poco con las manos para no resbalarse. En ese punto, mi amigo y yo nos separamos porque yo no quería ir tan rápido y lesionarme, así que nos encontramos media hora después, ya en el refugio 😃.
On this day I remember that it was very hot all the way up, but once we got to the top, a freezing wind started to blow. That wind that you feel it cuts your face, even in summer. While the scenery was beautiful, you couldn't stay outside for long, so I barely had enough time to get a few shots before my hands froze. Besides, I had told Benji to take a coat because it would probably be cold in the shelter, but he didn't listen to me and didn't even have a pair of long pants. Men 😅.
De este día me acuerdo que hacía muchísimo calor durante todo el tramo de ida, pero una vez que subimos, empezó a correr un viento congelado. Ese viento que sentís que te corta la cara, incluso siendo verano. Si bien el paisaje era muy hermoso, no se podía estar mucho afuera, por lo que apenas me alcanzó el tiempo para hacer algunas tomas antes de que se me congelen las manos. Además, le había dicho a Benji que se lleve abrigo porque seguramente en el refugio haría frío, pero no me hizo caso y ni siquiera tenía un pantalón largo. Hombres 😅.
This refuge, actually called Italia Manfredo Segre but better known as Laguna Negra because of the body of water at its feet, was one of the most expensive we visited. Being in such a remote place it is understandable that everything is expensive, but just to give you an idea, camping was free, but sleeping indoors cost $30, a plate of hot food $10, can of beer $6, package of cookies $4. Luckily, our idea with my friend was just to go up and down in the day, so we took our humble boiled rice with egg and tomato. Of course, at the refuge they lent us cutlery and didn't charge us 😅.
Este refugio, llamado en realidad Italia Manfredo Segre pero mejor conocido como Laguna Negra por el cuerpo de agua a sus pies, fue uno de los más costosos que visitamos. Al estar en un lugar tan alejado es entendible que todo sea caro, pero solo para que se den una idea, acampar era gratis, pero dormir puertas adentro costaba $30, un plato de comida caliente $10, lata de cerveza $6, paquete de galletitas $4. Por suerte, nuestra idea con mi amigo era solo subir y bajar en el día, así que llevamos nuestro humilde arroz hervido con huevo y tomate. Eso sí, en el refugio nos prestaron cubiertos y no nos cobraron 😅.
As in El Bolsón, there are several mountain refuges in Bariloche and some of them can be connected to each other in multi-day trips. From what I read, the connections between them are often difficult, so most people just go there and back in the day like us. If you can afford it, you can also stay overnight there: I'm sure the stars must look amazing from this place ❤️.
Al igual que en El Bolsón, existen varios refugios de montaña en Bariloche y algunos se pueden conectar entre sí en travesías de varios días. Por lo que leí, las conexiones entre ellos suelen ser difíciles, por lo que la mayoría de la gente solo suele ir y volver en el día como nosotros. Si el . presupuesto te alcanza, también podes quedarte a dormir ahí: estoy segura de que las estrellas deben verse increíbles desde este lugar ❤️.
I think it was a good idea to choose to go to Refugio Laguna Negra on the second day, because it is true that it was more challenging than Refugio Frey. Between one and the other I couldn't choose my favorite because both were beautiful and I liked having had the chance to visit both. Coinciding with an adventurer friend was one of the best things of this summer: I don't know if I would have gone alone to a place like this, so having a companion made it more entertaining ❤️.
Creo que fue una buena idea elegir ir al Refugio Laguna Negra al segundo día, porque es cierto que era más desafiante que el Refugio Frey. Entre uno y el otro no podría elegir a mi favorito porque ambos eran hermosos y me gustó haber tenido la posibilidad de visitar ambos. Coincidir con un amigo aventurero fue una de las mejores cosas de este verano: no sé si hubiera ido sola a un lugar como este, así que tener acompañante lo hizo más entretenido ❤️.
❤️ Hope you liked this post! Thanks for reading. ❤️
❤️¡Espero que les haya gustado este post! Gracias por leer. ❤️
Lau 💕.
📸 Portada creada en Canva. Todas las imágenes son de mi propiedad 💕.
I’m sure the expense is because they know there’s no place around to get such things. For people who have no choice, they definitely will have to pay for them.
Anyway, that water body is beautiful. I’m glad your trip is going well.
Thank you very much! In these refuges everything is always expensive, so it's best to carry everything in your backpack so you don't spend so much money 😅.
You’re welcome
Oh okay
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Benji turned out to be a great hiking companion, great that they went to visit this beautiful paradise like Bariloche. It's good that you were in good shape and have seen these beautiful places.
I didn't know that in the middle of summer at the top of the mountain it was so cold, luckily you brought a coat.
Thank you very much dear friend @lauramica for telling us about these shelters
have a great day
Benji is a genius, I was delighted to meet him :) This was a great ride with him❤️
Hiya, @glecerioberto here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Honorable Mentions in Travel Digest #2258.
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STOPBeautiful nature
Absolutely 💕
I passed a lot of times by the entrance of the start to go to the black lagoon refuge but I never had the opportunity to make the trip. When you started to talk about the terrain and the winds you brought back a memory that when we were with some friends in a row on one of the summits came a wind so strong that made us all fall to the ground, I had never been aware of the strength of the wind until that moment.
The wind is very treacherous haha. And here the wind was also quite strong, but luckily it didn't blow us away 😅.
Está muy hermoso todo ese paisaje y usted también es muy bonita le deseo mucha salud y éxitos
Muchas gracias 😃
Me arriesgo a decir que Bariloche es de las mejores ciudades de Argentina para visitar. Muy buena caminata hasta ese refugio. Valió totalmente la pena.
Saludos!
Absolutamente :) Bari es hermosa 💕