Argentina

November 6-29, 2009

November 20: Ruta de los Siete Lagos: Ruta de los Siete Lagos

The Ruta de los Siete Lagos ("Seven Lakes Route") is one of the top things to see/do in Argentina. It is a scenic driving route through Parque Nacional Naheul Huapi, connecting San Martín de los Andes to Villa La Angostura and Bariloche. It passes through forested valleys and gives access to many more than seven wild lakes. It is now mostly paved but there is still an unsealed section which can get pretty bad for driving in bad weather.

The seven principal lakes from south to north are Nahuel Huapi, Espejo, Correntoso, Escondido, Villarino, Falkner and Machónico. Just outside of Villa La Angostura, the road crosses Río Correntoso, a famous fishing spot and, at barely 250 m long, one of the planet's shortest rivers.

We tried to stop at each of the lakes to take pictures but the weather and driving conditions were really quite depressing which made the much-hyped scenic drive quite a disappointment.

The sign for Río Correntoso - The shortest river in the world.

View from both sides of the bridge over Río Correntoso connecting Lago Nahuel Huapi to Lago Correntoso.

Rubby getting out snacks for the kids at Río Correntoso. Lago Nahuel Huapi is in the background.

Lago Nahuel Huapi.

The sign for Lago Nahuel Huapi and the view from the side of Villa La Angostura.

Improvements are being made along Ruta de los Siete Lagos including making parking for viewpoints and widening the roads. All these retaining walls are made by manual labour, placing each rock by hand.

It's a wet, wet day.

At 20km/h through all the construction and bad roads, the drive was slow going for most of the day.

The road winds along lakes and mountains... on a good weather day it would have been gorgeous.

A pace car is handy in judging the depths of potholes before you hit them!

Lots of little waterfalls everywhere from all the rain runoff.

Crossing a river.

What was rain down in the valley was surely snow up on the mountains.

Another river crossing...

...another lake.

Wait, what's this... This waterfall wasn't mentioned in the guidebook or indicated on the map so it was a nice surprise.

And since there was proper parking and a lookout, we all got out to stretch our legs.

There was even a moment of sunshine!

A zoom-in on the waterfall.

Brrr... the snow on the mountains makes it feel extra cold!

It's amazing how a patch of blue sky can make everything look more beautiful.

Rubby has officially declared blue his favourite colour now!

The snow line looks alarmingly close today!

Beautiful view from the Mirador Pil-Pil to Lago Lacar.The forest in the valley Pil-Pil is mixed ñire and coihue and pil-pil is the name of a vine that grows in the forests of this region.