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