good morning good morning guys morning guys day trip time a trip time I am so
pumped for this one today we are going from Esquel to Piedra Parada a
piedra parada literally means standing rock and it's just this random rock in a valley
basically the landscape is gonna be completely different from yeah this area
I'm yeah here it's mountains and trees over there to more like a desert kind of
yeah yeah exactly yeah so we've joined the tour they're packing
a lunch and a new snack for us I think the coolest thing about this too is that
it was a bit of a surprise we just researched about this like maybe what 24
48 hours ago yeah we're like oh we gonna do this man and we weren't even sure if
we could join a tour Renta cart or whatever but we organized something and
now we get to do all of it and yeah super pumped about it worked out really
well so now we're just waiting for a bus it should be showing up any minute now
and we'll be on our way
Piedra parada is a natural protected area that's located about 130 kilometers east
of Esquel and it makes for a fun and easy day trip we organized a tour
through merakisur food in town and they came to pick us up from our
accommodation the next morning it was about a two and a half hour drive to be
piedra parada during which time we bid farewell to forests and mountains as we
ventured further into the Patagonian steppe
alright guys so we have arrived in Gualjaina it's a small little town of about
seven thousand it's built right on the shores of a little creek and let's go
the only it's the only town in this area really yeah it's the only real bathroom
stop of the day yeah have to go again it's gonna be out in the bush yeah it's
been a fascinating drive so far so we started on paved roads and then we
turned off onto a dirt road and this is really the first sign of people living I
mean there's been a few remote properties but that's it yeah
fascinating drive so far so yeah toilets and maybe some space I'm
holding back for this hungry little one
Gualjaina is located 90 kilometres from Esquel and it was the last service area
before reaching our destination we drove another 30 kilometers from this point
before we spotted piedra parada rising like a giant monolith in the
middle of the valley
well guys we have made it to piedra parada standing rock it is cold and
windy today oh my they told us to bundle up bring a warm comfy clothes but I
wasn't quite expecting this but I've got to see this piece of rock is pretty
spectacular wait till you see the size of it the other piedra parada sticks out like
a sore thumb in the valley of the chubut River its origins are volcanic since
once upon a time this very area would have been the caldera of an ancient mega volcano
bulk a know it would have first erupted some 60 million years ago way before the
Andes were even formed so this rock right here has witnessed a whole lot it
stands over 200 metres tall and it's an it destination for rock climbing
drone flight time time to fly in the sky
after a guided walk around piedra parada we returned back to the van
where they had set up a nice picnic lunch for us
there were empanadas mini pizza sandwiches pigs in a bun and more it was
all homemade and delicious and really who could complain with these views
we then drove across the Chubut River towards Cañon de la Buitrera which
literally translates to the vultures Canyon the walls of the canyon stand
around 150 meters tall and it was a beautiful place for a hike we even
spotted vultures
you guys we found a chin she'd own which is like a giant chinchilla a giant
squirrel it's so cool my sister Arielle would be so proud because she keeps them
as pets well guys know that we've had her lunch
we are hiking into the canyon it's gonna be about four kilometers total salsa
windy here we are currently in gondola we thready that's the name of the place
we've seen some rock climbers so scenic so beautiful here and we saw chin she's
honest giant chinchillas
our guide led us up to the ‘aleros’ which are small refuges in the rock
almost like caves these would have been used by the pre-Tehuelches and Tehuelchess
who inhabited this area in a seasonal manner up to 5,000 years ago we also
learned about how they would have store their guanaco meat on the ground under
layers of salt to help preserve it there were lots of info boards up here so it's
worth the hike if you make it to the area
there are so many rock climbers in the park today and I don't know if you can
really see in the rock but there's sections where you can see like the
handprints the talcum powder the little trails so cool so as we've
already mentioned this is a really popular rock climbing destination and
you really notice this once you enter the vultures Canyon this place was
really put on the tourist map back in 2012 when the Petzl brand which is known
for organizing rock climbing gatherings chose piedra parada
destination of the year now this canyon draws climbers from all over the world
and we got to see them in action
well guys we completed the walk yeah and we're now on our way back out of the
canyon let's quite the walk a lot well it was impressive I mean it's just it's
such a it's actually quite a long walk isn't it
two kilometers each way to Columbus I guess that's not that much but we've
just been like zigzagging all over the place getting different vantage points
and like climbing up into little caves yeah check out how people lived you know
I think one of the most interesting things was just seeing all of the
different climbers at different various watch so many rock climbs so many rock
climbers they're very brave I don't think we'll be doing that anytime soon
but um it's impressive to see that yeah and also it's just the other thing I
really liked about this place too was that it wasn't crowded there's a lot of
sections that you just have to yourself yeah it just made Fairly could you just
feel like you're kind of exploring discovering a place as opposed that's
very true there aren't too many hikers lots of rock climbers not too many
hikers and this place kind of reminds me of the Grand Canyon except no River a
little bit like Petra - yeah Canyon twice now and once we went kayaking a
long long time this is cool it's like we're hiking down this beautiful red
Canyon we've really enjoyed it yeah agreed
highly recommend coming here and also you've been just a drive to come here
was fast yeah and now once we reach the end of
the trail merienda merienda time I'm ready for it afternoon snack teatime
back at the van our driver was already waiting with tea coffee and a selection
of pastries so we were very happy hikers we then hopped back in the van and drove
back to esquel
and that was their day trip to piedra parada we hope you guys enjoyed
following along and we'll see you soon with more videos from Patagonia
Argentina