We were woken by a storm that had peaked during the night, resulting in snow right down the lake shore. Trevor was concerned in case he would have to put snow chains on the car to drive to Bariloche. Fortunately, it just wasn’t cold enough for the snow to settle around the lake, so no snow chains required.
The drive from Villa La Angostura to Bariloche was about one and a half hours, skirting around the lake of Nahuel Huapi. Not long into the drive (around 60 kms) the landscaped changed quite dramatically, from lush temperate rain forests to a more arid environment, with no trees, just little bushes and grass. The topography remained rugged with the mountains but there was very little snow here.
Outside of Santiago and Mendoza, Bariloche is the biggest town we have visited on this trip, which was a completely different feel to the little ski villages we had been to earlier. When we arrived, although the weather had cleared there were high winds and the owner of our AirB&B advised us that all the ski lifts weren't operating. Having nothing else to do, we drove up to the resort anyway to check it out. Seems like they didn’t get anywhere near the dump of snow that we had seen just across the other side of the lake.
Next we decided to take the scenic drive around the lake. We stopped at the Patagonia Cerveceria (brewery) which sat on top of a high point above the lake with beautiful views.
Patagonia Cerveceria Bariloche from Trevor Angst on Vimeo.
