Wonderful rivers

We saw so many wild and inspiring rivers and streams in Argentina and Chile (Northern Patagonia).

I thought we lived in the land of waterfalls, mountain streams and wonderful rivers, but these were remarkable.

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More waterfalls

 Waterfalls are on my mind; not only did we see a lot of them over winter break, but my gardening companion is currently sending off his talk descriptions for scheduled programs about waterfalls and wildflowers (hmm, I always get to "review" them before they go).

Here's the same amazing waterfall (with feral Colorado lupines in the foreground) with my gardening companion.  Maybe it'll be a publicity shot?

TS with waterfall

The light on this one was better, but taken unawares.

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More along the Ruta de Siete Lagos

views along the road - amazing

kite-surfing in the brisk Patagonian wind

Digitalis (a European species) --self-seeding, but lovely

San Martin de los Andes (from an overlook above the town)

The Ruta de Siete Lagos (Route of the Seven Lakes) was a great circuit to start our exploration of the Argentinian Lake District.  Wonderful lakes, landscapes, and views, and good hiking.

We stayed overnight in San Martin and then returned back, staying in Villa Angostura (north of Bariloche).

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Ruta de Siete Lagos

All of the seven lakes were perfectly blue.

After flying to Bariloche, we headed north on the Ruta de Siete Lagos, a truly breathtaking circuit.

Argentina is a (VERY) large country -- it was a two hour flight to Bariloche from Buenos Aires.

The first lake was amazing. My companion had to take a swim (in the very cold water).

The surroundings were quite arid, but filled with interesting plants.

The cushion plants were really interesting (to us botanists, at least).

unusual cushion plants (adapted to arid/alpine conditions)

The first waterfall of many!

Part of an alternative route took us over gravel roads, just a taste of what was to come.

My traveling companion

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