Bariloche On top of the world!!

I roll into Bariloche and its got a pretty weird vibe to it. I thought I was in Argentina? It seems I have been transported via 21 hr bus ride to Switzerland. The City Centro is very quaint with the buildings made of log and stone. There are Saint Bernards runnin around everywhere for the way too many tourists to snap photos of. A chocolatier on every corner and 2 more in between makes this a fat kids paradise! Then there is the deep blue lake with the backdrop of picturesque mountains. It is quite amazing. I walk around the city for a bit and after a bit grow tired from the bus ride. I take a small nap back at the hostel then jump on the internet. I overhear a guy talking of a day trek hes looking to do and I jump in and tell him Im lookin to do the same. The blokes name is Willy and hes from England. We chat for a bit then head out to get provisions for the hike and decide to cook up some steaks for dinner. After a bottle of wine and a few beers at the local boozer I head off to sleep for the alarm will ring at 7. Its 3 AM!! I think the sun went down an hour ago...7 am comes EARLY...not that oh I got to go to work its early early...I mean the I just went to sleep leave me the hell alone early. I kinda hurt but damnit I really cant take another day in town. I get up and we make some eggs and sandwiches and get ready to roll out. We grab one of the two buses that head out to the trail head. The return bus is only at 5 45 or 8 10. We were told it would be 5 hrs up and 2 hrs down to The Refugio Lopez so we plan on makin the 5 45. We get there and notice the sign says 4 hrs. Sweet a nice easy pace and we will be kosher. We start walkin up the trail and come to a kinda dead end..Then we look up..Is that the trail?? We start going up. Then up some more and up some more. Loose rocks, sand and flies the size of volkswagens make the thought of the way down horrifying. We keep pluggin along without a break because said flies like to bite...Hard! Bastards!! Waving my hat to shoo them away for a second before they come back buzzing. We were walking about an hour when we see the refugio up on top of the hill. It looks crazy bein way up there in the middle of nowhere. We keep trekking and make it there in just under 2 hours. Now I dont think Willy and I are world class athletes but 2 hrs ahead of time seems quite odd. So we sit there have lunch and talk of how the bus will arrive in apprx 7 hrs. I suggest we continue on and Willys a bit tired but is game. We will just go for a little more. We take a look at the trail up and its steep. It looks scary but we decide to go for it. We get to climbing..No longer are we walking or trekking we are climbing stone through waterfalls and snow. We run along 2 Isralea girls and they say its 2 hrs to the summit. I dunno if we have enough time to get the bus. We then ask them how long it took them to get to the refugio and they reply with to our amusement 4 hrs. Shit we got this!! We get to climbin and scramblin up rock faces and cliffs. If my mom woulda saw me she would freaked out. We make it to the snowline and we are thinkin we are almost there so we start climbin quicker. We´ll make it in 45 min we think. Then there's another peak behind the one we´ve been climbing. We keep going pulling ourselves up the rock. Damnit there is another peak. We got plenty of time for the bus as Willy keeps me updated on the time every 20 min. We then run across some friendly Argentines who are on their descent and they tell us to cross a road of snow then up a quick climb and we are there. We have 3hrs 25min before the bus. The whole way up the path was marked with distinct arrows in red paint. When we made it across the snow road there was a line...not an arrow not a pointer just a line going across. So I tell Willy and we make a decision to go to the right. A rocky, jagged cliff face that immediately says...Don´t go this way! Of course we do. Willys leadin the way and all I hear is Be careful here loose rock kinda scary! We warned each other back and forth the whole way up of certain dangers. I get goin and my fear of heights all of a sudden jumps into action. The rock is loose...we are hanging off the side of a mountain and all you see around is blue sky, lake and trees miles down. It felt like I was going to fall all the way down to sea level even though the ground was only 200 ft down. Falling definitely meant you wouldn't be making it back for supper...ever! This sucks says Willy...Fuck I say!! What the hell are we doing...Then Willy breaks out onto the summit and is like get over the hump and you made it... A couple more steps and I break the summit and its the most amazing view I have ever seen. I dunno if it was that I almost died 3 min ago or what but it was frickin awesome. Willys screamin out and Im just smilin...a big high 5 and its all good. We decide to take a few quick snaps and head back down...Bus in 3 hours. We start headin down and forget all about the arrows. I mean its the way down right. Thinking the hardest part is over we carry on walking down the mountain. Next thing we know we are going down 85 degree rock without foot holes. Just our upper body holding us up. Were on the side of rock squeaking by narrow passages between rock and snow that looks like it would eat you alive. Dying of thirst I take a nice long drink from the mountain stream praying I wouldnt regret the decision later. After plenty more cursing, some slipping and lots of rocks tumbling we make it back to the refugio 1 50 until the bus. We grab a quick drink and start heading down the jeep path Willy thinking we have plenty of time. I feel we should start taking shortcuts and start taking paths that cut through the switchbacks. We then run into the Argentines that we met at the top of the mountain and started walking with them..Now walking and chatting Im thinking we´re never going to make it. Then they say...Hey were taking a shortcut...It was kinda the same path we took up..Lots of loose dirt and rocks and this guy Fransico and I decide to bomb the hill. We gotta make the bus cause I dont wanna sit around until 8 waitin for the next. We start running down fast! We are haulin ass down this mountain over roots and drops...huge rocks and cliffs are also a challenge. Laughing our asses off and the occasional Holy Shit or I almost died there were all that was really said but we made it down in a bout 15 min. 20 min till the bus. I grab a couple beers at the cafe at the bottom and we soak our feet in the water. Where the hell is Willy. I get half my beer down and Willy comes around the corner. 7 min he says. We cruise out just in time to grab the bus and make it back to the hostel. I go out and treat myself to a nice trout dinner and head to bed early. Today I just relaxed and kicked it around town. Gotta plan something for tomorrow!