New Year's Eve

Very rudely awoken by someone else's alarm! Fair enough really for rustling around the night before.  Quick trip to the bus station to get a ticket to Puerto Montt for the journey South.  Got the bus to Villa Catedral, obviously geared for the snows of winter, when it is a bustling skiing village, not so much for the summer. We decided to take the longer, but gentler route up to refugio Frey.  The other option was to walk up under the ski-lift, not so scenic.  The skies were clear and blue, very blue, and shade was non-existent.  Almost immediately we had a mob of buzzing, biting things following us, not pleasant. Had great views of Lake Gutierrezdown to the left, deep blue in the middle and lighter blues and greens around the edges with the occasional yellow beach.  Could see where we were climbing the day before, and route 40 stretching off to Bariloche. Our route took us through the 'burnt forest', the white and occasionally charred trunks and branches of tall trees appearing out of the low green shrubbery.  As we turned up the valley towards refugio Frey we had a glimpse of the Catedral peak, very impressive and a long way up! Had lunch at an unmanned refugio, part rock part wooded structure, lovely and quiet and also a short break from the buzzing things.  The path began to get steeper and hard going in the sun, any bit of shade was pounced upon!  We were passed by a trio of horses and dogs, plus riders of the horses, taking supplies up to the refugio. This answered the occasional pile of manure in the middle of the path.  One of the guys stopped to chat for a couple of minutes, the lack of teeth and a strong accent didn't help Heather when trying to talk to him! Seemed to think he hadn't seen many British people since the Falklands, or thats what we thought he said.  A bit further on we were overtaken by a man and his dog, with a very nifty carrying set up.  Obviously the dog had to carry his own food up the mountain too!  As we let them pass, a flash of red combined with a rat-a-tat-tat caught our attention, it was a red-headed woodpecker.  We stood and watched these birds hop around the trees for a while, amazed a the noise and speed of the tapping.  The plod up the hill continued and gradually more rocks came into view and we could see coloured blobs perched seemingly precariously on the mountainside. As we got closer these became tents and small ant creatures climbing up the rocks became people.  After a damp river crossing we arrived at the refugio.  The best location you could ask for. On the edge of a lake with high rock walls 3/4 of the way round, topped by pointy rocks and scattered with snow patches, some reaching down to the lake.  Turning around you can look down the green valley we just walked up. IT was a great feeling to be there.  We had a vey warm welcome including a cup of juice, very much needed.  The next challenge was to find where to put the tent.  Frey is very popular amongst the climbing community and more so at New Year, the flat areas were few and far between.  Each pitch was protected by a stone wall, however we did not have enough energy to build our own, so we went a bit futher afield and found a spot.  After a day walking in the heat, it was too good to pass off a swim in the lake.  The sky was clouding over and there was distant rumblings of thunder but the clouds were happily passing us by.  The best swimming pool I have been in I think, complete with giant tadpoles!  Had a cup of tea and sat on a rock to take in the views, it felt very surreal to be in such a beautiful place.  We took our dinner of soup and pasta to took next to the refugio, hoping to be a bit more sociable.  Great atmosphere, people sitting chatting with the strumming of a guitar in the background.  Gradually it got dark and the asado bonfire got going sending sparks up into the starry sky.  There were so many stars! The party began and the asado was served, we could only watch though, it was very expensive!  New Year in England flew past without us noticing, realising at 10pm Argentina time that we had missed it! I think Argentina New Year lasted for 10 minutes or so as there was much confusion as to when it actually was, but the champagne was uncorked, mostly sprayed over people and 2011 began.  We were included in the cake and champagne rounds that followed, a lovely way to celebrate.  Very happy times :)