Not a good start to the day for me..overnight I got really sick & woke up with terrible headache, dizziness, extreme weakness & no appetite. But the day was to be very different…we were to ride horses to the top of the mountain above the lodge while 2 horses carried our bikes…then its nothing but downhill. So I mustered up enough energy to get on my horse..his name sounded like “Tornado” so I wasnt psyched about that..but Hoolie said he is really docile. Enrique, who helps out around the lodge, led us out on the trail up the mountain. None of us are horsemen/women so we were all taking it a bit slow. Mine did like to take it a little slower & trailed in the back but we got him moving when we had to. The trail starts easy with wide, gentle uphills but then is very narrow & steep most of the way up. “Tornejo” was really sweating & at a little break there was some serious steam coming off him. At one steep step up he took a little trip/slip and went down on this front leg…I just hung on tight & he bounced up & continued…thankfully. After a few hours we made it to the top where there is another Refugio for hikers/backpackers. By this time I was feeling pretty bad…really weak & sore from the ride. So I grabbed a soft spot on the ground in the sun & laid down. Everyone else had lunch, I could only muster a few small bites of empenadas & part of a cookie. The rest of the group took a hike up the hill & were gone for a while…I crashed out in the same spot I was in.
Rusty! no its really Tornejo
They finally got back, the horses with our bikes arrived & it was time to head down. I could barely open my eyes & saw a couple of the local guys who brought the bike horses up..I said “hola” very weakly, one guy replied, “cansado?”…to which I then responded “cansado y inferma” which got a bit of a chuckle out of the guys.
my postion at the Refugio
view I missed
anyone want the rest of my empanada?
About the last thing I wanted to do was get on a bike but we were losing the sun & I couldnt stay up there forever. So we hopped on & hit the trail. Most of it was very steep, very narrow, very rocky & very root-strewn. But there werent too many uphill sections so I just needed energy brake, hold on & manage the turns. At one point I almost fell into a small, rocky creek along the trail but held on.
the culprit behind my Patagonian Lizard Flu?
The last 15 minutes is my favorite part of the trail. It opens up a little wider, is not as steep & has sections of grass or dirt with way less rocks. So you can bomb down & cruise thru turns. After about an hour we were back at the lodge & I had only enough energy to walk upstairs & plop on my bed. Again at dinner I could only eat a couple bites. Speculation as to my affliction was either dehydration or what I will now call Patagonian Lizard Flu…the day before on our hike I caught a decent sized lizard & he latched on to me with his mouth while I held on to him…obviously this did no damage but seemed like a weird & funny enough diagnosis for all of us.
Not much at dinner for me & then we all watched Wedding Crashers to end the night.
Hope you are feeling better -pretend that you are in Vegas & drink lots of fluids & leave the wildlife alone. Sounds like you are still having fun. Take care of yourselfs so you can enjoy the rest of the trip. mom
By: Mom on April 8, 2011
at 8:50 pm