Nahuel Huapi Lake, Argentina

 
Nahuel Huapi Lake

Nahuel Huapi Lake (Spanish: Lago Nahuel Huapí) is a lake in the lake region of northern Patagonia between the provinces of Río Negro and Neuquén, in Argentina. The tourist center of Bariloche is on the southern shore of the lake. The lake depression consists of several glacial valleys carved out along faults and Miocene valleys that were later dammed by moraines.

Nahuel Huapi lake, located within the Nahuel Huapi National Park, has a surface of 529 km2 (204 sq mi), rests 2,510 feet (770 m) above the sea level, and has a maximum measured depth (as of 2007) of 1,437 feet (438 m).

The June 2011 eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcanic complex, in neighboring Chile, caused parts of the lake's surface to be blanketed in volcanic ash.

During the Last Glacial Maximum of the Llanquihue glaciation the lake basin was wholly occupied by a glacier.

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Nahuel Huapi National Park

Nahuel Huapi National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi) is the oldest national park in Argentina, established in 1934. It surrounds Nahuel Huapi Lake in the foothills of the Patagonian Andes. The largest of the national parks in the region, it has an area of 7,050 km2 (2,720 sq mi), or nearly 2 million acres. Its landscapes represent the north Patagonian Andean Zone consisting of three types, namely, the Altoandino (with perpetual snow above an altitude of 1,600 metres (5,200 ft)), the Andino-Patagónico (in the lower reaches of the hills) and the Patagonian steppe. It also represents small parts of the Valdivian Rainforest.

The park and the reserve lie at an altitude of 720–3,574 metres (2,362–11,726 ft), and are designated under IUCN management categories II (National Park) and IV (Management Reserve). The park is completely protected while the reserve is partially protected.[4] The national park is dominated by the high mountain chain of the Andes, many lakes, rapid rivers, waterfalls, snow-clad peaks, glaciers and extensive forests. It is bordered by Chile on its western side.


Etymology

The park derives its name from the lake which it surrounds, namely the "Nahuel Huapi". In the Mapuche language, nahuel means "jaguar" and huapi means "island."

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I recall reading one time, although I forget the details, of some large forest in Eastern Europe discovered by the Germans of the early 20th century. Fascinated by the powerful image of the rugged and ancient forest, they proclaimed it--perhaps metaphorically--as a "primeval German forest." When I first saw the current Windows 10 image of Nahuel Huapi Lake, I thought it like something in the nature of a primeval Gaulish-Cisalpine lake. Staring at this particular photograph, feeling almost like I can feel the cool evening air against my face, or that I could place my hand in the cold water, and smelling the scent of the shoreline and mountain shrub. In addition, feeling the deep primitive craving for the wild; or quite frankly, a craving for the feeling of almost not being completely safe. Perhaps that image jogs something from my ancestral memory of a place like Lake Garda and its surrounding mountains; huge, primordial, powerful, dark, wild, harsh, beautiful, and eternal.

Nahuel Huapi Lake, Argentina images

Patagonia, Argentina images

Patagonia

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Mountains are cathedrals: grand and pure, the houses of my religion. I go to them as humans go to worship...From their lofty summits, I view my past, dream of the future, and with unusual acuity I am allowed to experience the present moment. My strength renewed, my vision cleared, in the mountains I celebrate creation. On each journey I am reborn. -- Anatoli Boukreev

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