18-Feb Refugio Jakob to Laguna Negro

I ate breakfast in the Refugio with Alexis while the hut warden explained the route and showed us photos.  The route between Refugio Jakob and Laguna Negra is very difficult and is reserved only for experienced trekkers and climbers.  We needed a special permit from the Park Service (who quizzed me on my experiencia) to do this section of the ¨trail¨.  We were joined by a couple from Seattle, Katie and Jake with the idea that there is safety in numbers.  Right.  Katie and JAke are Thru-Hikers (they did the Appalachain Trail, the Great Divide Tr and are heading for the Pac Crest Trail this summer.  As a result, there backpacks were very light and I was envious.

Refugio San Martin (Jakob)


The day started with what was supposed to be the hardest, most technical part- a low 5th class scramble up some exposed rock above Laguna Los Tempanos.  We calmed eachothers nerves by talking our way through it.  The moves weren´t that hard, but there was a lot of air underneath us and it would be a long way to fall.  The biggest challenge for me was the heavy backpack.  When my backpack shifted, it threatened to throw me off balance.  But, we survived! And, as it turned out, this was not the hardest part of the day.

Jake and Alexis flash a smile after getting through the morning´s crux moves on low 5th class, exposed rock.

Next we headed up the ridge, traversed our way around and up through a pass.  We followed this with a traverse up to Filo (ridge) Navidad (pictured below).  We took lots of photos on the summit of Cerro Navidad with Mt Tronador in the distance.

View of the route traversing Filo Navidad



A well-deserved break



On the summit of Cerro Navidad with Mt Tronador in the distance

View back over to Cerro Catedral- still impressive

Next came the hard part- descending the gully from hell.  At first it was easy scree followed by some snow, but then the gully narrowed and became steeper.  There were sections we had to downclimb faced in.  I had trouble in one spot because my pack was throwing me off balance.  Jake helped me out by grabbing my pack and lowering down to Alexis.  Yes, safety in numbers.  Next, there was a nasty traverse above a cascade on very narrow, wet footing.  I was the first to go and I inched my way across breathing deep yoga breaths. Whew!  What next?

Alexis descending an easier section of the gully

The heinous descent and traverse from hell

We were so happy to reach the trees in the lush little valley, and spent a lot of time in the brush and bog hopscotching back and forth across the river.  It was time consuming, but not difficult except for trying to keep our feet dry.  But our oddessy was not over yet.  There were more steep, scary sections to come as the valley turned into a gorge. 

We finally reached the junction with the trail from town signalling the final push up to the Refugio.  The final 400m of elevation gain was a sheer pleasure even though I was tired.  It was on a trail!  I kept saying ¨Me gusta el sendero!¨on the top of my lungs because I was so happy to be on a trail, even going uphill with a heavy pack.  I think that I must have pissed off a lot of people who were huffing and puffing their way up.

I shared a celebratory beer at the refugio, but decided to forgo dinner in the refugio in favor of lightening my load.

Alexis photo of our descent route down the horrible gully just left of the peak.  It really was scary awful..