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The ride back down the mountain was great because we could see the expanse of the world below us more clearly.

Off in the distance you can see Lago Nahuel Huapi, and near the center of the 3rd frame you can see the Club Hotel
Catedral, where we stayed in September of 2001. It is between spring and summer now, but in September there was
still quite a bit of snow which added a beauty all its own. It was great seeing Bariloche in these two very different seasons.

Here is a photo of Club Hotel Catedral as it looked when we stayed there. It was beautiful in its white coat of winter.

I know that heights always seem much higher when you are up there looking down. My feet hanging out in space
was not a very reassuring sight as I looked down. I suppose if the chair lift cable did break, we would probably
survive the fall. In any case, it was unnerving when they stopped the cable because someone at either end had a
problem getting on or off the chair lift.

This map shows just how immense Lago Nahuel Huapi actually is. The RED line
shows our Short Circuit route we took on our second day. A few photos are in Part 1.
The BLUE line shows the long circuit we took with Russell to Villa La Angostura on our 8th day, but that is yet to come.

We are back in the enclosed gondola for the second leg of our trip down the mountain.

We approach the end of our ride, we descend below the tree line. The valley floor is covered with lupin. As we
drive back to our hotel, all along the highway, on both sides of the road, they are covered with Scotch Broom.

We arrive back at the hotel and see that there is still nobody using the pool. We stop for some necessary groceries,
such as wine, rum, orange juice, among other things. That evening we go to a restaurant suggested by Russell.

Inside the restaurant it was quite nice, and the fondue we ordered was excellent. What's not to like about hot cheese
and bits of ham, sausage, bread and potatoes. We were in heaven, and could return here any time. Thanks Russell!

The next day we decided to go on the boat trip to Victoria Island. It was a fairly nice day with patches of blue sky.

There was quite a bit of wind last night so the waves on the shore were larger than usual, and there were white caps
as far as you could see. We drove to Puerto Pañuelo where both of our lake trips began. The boat behind Pete was not
our boat, but the Cau Cau was, and it was a very nice boat indeed.

This map of the lake shows our route of travel from Puerto Pañuelo to our first stop at the beautiful and exotic Bosque de Arrayanes.

Ten years ago when we visited this place, our guide told us that it was this forest that gave Walt Disney the inspiration to create the movie Bambi. In our walk through the forest I asked our guide about that, and he said, yes there is a legend to that effect, but it is not true. I should have used Snopes.com before mentioning it. ;o)

We are on our way to the Bosque de Arrayanes now, and are being followed by several seagulls, or do they call them lake gulls here? They must like it here because in following the tourist boats, they get a steady diet of crackers, and get their photo taken as well.

The upper deck was roomy, but also quite windy, so few passengers ventured up here when the ship
was moving, especially since we were headed into the wind, which made it even more miserable.

We have arrived at the park. Those trees with the light brown bark are unique to this area. The huge evergreen is
called a Coihue. That almost sounds Hawaiian, but I believe it is a local indian word from the Nahuel Haupi tribe.

The forest certainly looked like something out of a Walt Disney movie. I expected to see a trail of bread drums dropped
by Hansel and Gretel as they walked through the forest, so they wouldn't get lost. Fat chance they had, with the birds.

This certainly was an enchanted forest, and the Forest Service did a fantastic job of providing a great trail for us to pass through it.

We've made it almost back to our starting point and could see the boat from the trail. I don't remember what
our guide said about this cabin, but it may be a Forest Ranger's residence. Don't quote me on that. ;o Soon
we will be on our way to Victoria Island, and will see an amazing forest there, one not created by nature, but
by Argentine horticulturists experimenting with trees to see which ones will thrive in this climate.

But our visit to Victoria Island will be covered in the next episode. I hope I'm not boring you too much. At least you can enjoy the photos. ;o)