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My apologies for the delay in getting back to this travelogue. Other more pressing things got in the way.

Now to complete our trip up those 700 steps to see the Cascada de los Cántaros. The name translates to "a large pitcher", or "to rain cats and dogs", both of which are pretty descriptive. It certainly is a huge flow of water coming down the side to the mountain.

I found myself wondering if there were any trout, or perhaps salmon in the cascade.

The foaming cascade in the background was so bright that the camera couldn't do such a great job in the Auto mode.

Just off hand, I'd say that this is not a great place to bring your kayak, nor to do any white water rafting.

There were many viewing platforms along the trail up the mountain so we had plenty of photo ops

The cascading water empties into Lago Cántaros. Below, the two guys on the observation platform gives a
little better perspective as to the massive size of these falls. I certainly wouldn't want to slip and fall in. ;o(

Below is a link to a YouTube video which will give you a better flavor of this adventure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycAKkIJ2j3w The videographer is speaking Spanish, but for those of us who don't, he doesn't say much, and it is still a fine video to watch. Enjoy!

In the video the walkways look very much like they did when we were first here in September of 2001. We didn't have the rain these kids were experiencing, but it was certainly very cold. The replacement of the boards the entire length of the trail made the climb much easier than it was back then, when you really had to be careful of where you put your feet.

At this point we are on our way back down, and I'm ready to get back to the boat. My dogs were barking!

That evening we ate at a restaurant, which was a very short walk from our hotel, and there were no stairs to climb. I was pretty much walked out.

We had an excellent meal, beginning with a morcilla for a starter, which we both love.

For my main course I ordered a sort of spinach salad, but it also had some pasta and beans. It was perfect for my appetite.

Pete ordered the trout, and the serving was so big that he had to share some with me. It was excellent.

All in all it was a wonderful day. The next day we decided to drive up to Cerro Catedral and take the cable car and a chair lift to get to the top. Cerro means "hill" and catedral is Spanish for "cathedral". The peaks are very sharp and they seem to be reaching up to the heavens like the spires of a cathedral, hence the name Cathedral Hill.

We arrived at the ski village and found it practically deserted, except for a hawk perched on a light pole. We made our
way to the cable car for the first leg of our journey up to the top of the mountain. We had not gone far in the gondola when it began to snow. We didn't count on that, especially since we knew the next leg would be in an open chair lift. Yuck!

Half way up the mountain our cable car ride ended, and we walked out into the snow. There was a restaurant at this
level, and I use that term rather loosely. We went inside and decided to wait out the snow storm developing outside.

Here you can see why I used the term restaurant loosely. We ordered a couple of empanadas, but they were deep fried.
The chicken sandwiches we ordered came with enough bread to sink a battleship. I wondered if we should not have
waited until we got to the top for lunch, as it may have been a better restaurant. One never knows. After lunch the
snow did stop, so we made our way to the chair lift, hoping that the snowing was done for the day.

After "Lunch" we headed for the chairlift since the snow had stopped. We sat side by side, and Pete was grinning
like he was enjoying it. I felt kind of like I was hanging out in space. There was a tiny bar to rest our feet on, and
it was a long way down to the ground. I was glad to reach the end and be helped off by the guys at the top.

The restaurant at the top was much nicer, and we both ordered an Irish Coffee. Boy, did that ever hit the spot. It was
freezing at this altitude, but warm inside the restaurant. I wished we waited until we got here to eat lunch. The guy
leaning against the bar was our waiter. It seemed like a lonely job on top of this mountain, but what else do skiers do
when there is no snow? ;o( I could have sat here for hours, but we felt the urge to get back down the mountain (hill).

We certainly had the sensation of being on top of the world. Except for the patches of snow, it was like a lunar
landscape. But I knew that gravity was not as it is on the moon, and if the chairlift cable broke, we were doomed.

I will finish our decent in Part 4, and tell of our evening at dinner.