Weekender
Frisbee in front of the puesto and the circus tent.
This past weekend, for our predictably unpredictable días libres, a few other volunteers and I slept for two night at a puesto (whose name I’ve forgotten), near the Tomango National Reserve in the south of the park. We arrived in the late afternoon on Saturday, cooked dinner and had a bonfire with some wine. On Sunday morning, after some mate, we headed down the creek towards Lago Cochrane. The trail, when we could find it, was lined generously with sharp flora which failed to heed the supposed protection of my work pants. A little less than three hours later, we arrived on the rocky shores of the lake, only slightly worse for the wear, and ate lunch.
Beach day in Patagonia.
After lunch, James headed off with his fly rod in search of trout, returning a bit later with a large rainbow and I undertook the disturbingly arduous task of putting the fish out of its misery. Resilient to the end, the trout withstood multiple knife wounds to the brain before finally departing for warmer waters.
Not dead.
With clouds threatening, we dove into the thorns to get back to the puesto. On the walk, the rain caught us while James caught an armadillo. Sunday night, we cooked the trout, which was delicious, and went to bed early. The next morning we awoke to rain and spent the day alternating between mate, cards and books. We were in the late stages of cabin fever when the trucks finally came to pick us up.
