The most wonderful day

Hello all,

Today was one of those beautifully perfect days that you have to remember exist when everything else seems to be grey. We woak up early and navigated our way on to a very crowed city bus and found our way out of town and to the base of this hike called Laguna Negra which means the black lake. It was about a 14 km hike to a glacial lake near the top of a mountain. The day was perfect. It was hot and the sky was brillantly blue and totally cloudless. The air smelled sweet like pine mixed with mint and lemon. The hike followed a river up a valley and finally climbed steeply via switch backs to the top. The beginning of the hike was smooth and shaded. The forest was lush and the trees were big, a real treat after patagonia. There were a whole bunch of new plants I haven´t seen including some kind of bamboo. The river was beautiful falling over the rocks crystal clear. There were a whole bunch of little waterfalls. We passed a bunch of cattle at one point, hanging out in the shade chewing their cud. We climbed up the switch backs in the shade of the mountain which was really nice because the sun was hot on our backs. We finally reached the lake after about three hours on the trail, much faster than we thought. There was this amazing rough little cabin built on one side of the lake that was nestled between three peaks. The cabin is there to sleep in and you can buy some food and drinks there that I guess are brought up on horse back. There was the cutest little kitten that lives up there with the loudest purr you would ever believe. We jumped in the lake the minute we got there and basically jumped right back out, it is glacier fed and none too warm. We proceeded to feast on the food we brought, we didn´t skimp on fresh fruits and veggies after our last camping experience and we brought a whole bag of amazing chocolate. After lunch me and Lorena hiked around the lake and up the saddle between two of the peaks and looked out over an amazing valley with a huge volcanic mountain in the distance. We could see all the way to Chile. We then hiked back down and swam in the lake again. This time we managed to stay in for about 10 - 20 minutes. The lake was so clear you wouldn´t believe it. Swimming around it felt like flying. All of the water on these hikes has been so clear and refreshing to drink. We then headed back and picked up anna who had spent her time reading and sun bathing. We stopping in the the hut again and said good bye to the kitten and met the park employee who worked at the hut. (most likely the hansomest man I have ever met in my life he didn´t speak english so it was only a short meeting.) then we hiked back down. Stopping to hang out with our feet in the river for a while. We eventually reached the end of the hike and were sitting on the dusty road waiting for a ride when two older german men that we had met on the hike arrived and offered us a ride back to town. We first went and got a beer, the germans love their beer, at a small resturant in the middle of the forest. It was amazing they had built this huge porch out of big logs from the area, it was incredible. There was also a pet baby llama that we got to pet and feed milk. After this we drove back into town exchanging hiking experiences with the germans, one of them only starting running marathons when he was 56, he gives me hope that I will be hiking for some time to come. Finally more than 12 hours after leaving we reached the hostel just in time for their free dinner which was tasty to begin with but was also flavored with hunger and now we are off to bed to hike again tomorrow. It is nice to know that days like this exist!