Lake Huechulafquen

The journalist that covered the Plesiosaur expedition in 1922, sent by the Buenos Aires magazine Caras y Caretas interviewed a Mr. Goicochea who had lived in Minas (central Neuquén province) about other sightings. Below is what he reported in issue 1229 (April 1922).

The Plesiosaur in Lake Huechulafquen

The text in English is the following:

Mr. Goicochea said "I remember, when I was the Secretary of the Court in the Department of Minas, hearing many times, [from] respectable neighbors something similar to that... and they were not young fellows... I will cite their names: Mr. Cecilio Gerio, merchand in Junín de los Andes, Mr. Mendaña, old rancher of those regions, one of the first settlers in the Cordillera... Another: "Fair" Bagual, which is his nickame, but is really named Rodriguez... Well, this Rodriguez was a soldier in the expedition to the desert. He deserted and then obtained his retirement and now owns a small ranch over there... All of them have said many times that in the lake Huachi-Lauquén [sic] at sunset, an animal often appewars on the surface of the water, with more or less the same features of the one they say they have seen in Esguel [sic]. Very long neck, head of a lizard, the body that must be enormous, because when it submerges, it produces like a boiling in the water

Huachi-Lauquen is Lake Huechulafquen, and Esguel, is a small lake close to the town of Esquel in Chubut.

You can read the original Spanish text here

Huechulafquen is a large lake, 30 km (19 mi.) long and up to 5 km (3.1 mi.) wide, it covers an area of 78 km² (30 sq. mi.), and is very deep.

Lake Huechulafquen and Lanin Volcano by the northeastern tip of the lake

In the 1960s, Gregorio Alvarez casually mentions among several other strange mythical animals which he calls zoomorphs, a “cow at Lake Huechulafquen.”Unfortunately, he did not describe the beast, so its appearance is a mystery.

In March 2009, a tourist named Jorge Salcedo, while on an excursion in a catamaran, photographed what looks like a set of three waves that look more like the wake of some boat than the back of an animal swimming just below the surface. The media quickly reported it as a lake creature and named it “Huechulito.”

In 2023, a tourist filmed some strange waves in the calm lake (Source). Below is a still from the video (video online).

2023 sighting Huechulafquen.

A plausible explanation could involve otters or even gas bubbles surfacing in the lake because there is plenty of geothermal activity and hot water springs in the area as it is located beside the Lanin volcano.

Lanín is a stratovolcano, that is 3,747 m (12,293 ft.) high, it has a conical shape and its summit is covered by glaciers. It last erupted around 1,500 years ago.

Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2025 by Austin Whittall © 

Lake Huechulafquen changed color

 
I came across an interesting article [1] at the Argentina's government Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (National Council for Scientific and Technical Investigations), published a few days ago (Sept. 3, 2010).

Facts

It says that about ten days ago (around Aug. 25), Lake Huechulafquen's color changed and is no longer colored deep blue but instead it is turquoise. Locals are worried and asked CONICET to investigate the matter.

Some neighbors have said that a similar phenomenon happened in the 1970s after an earthquake in the area. Yet other locals have said that they never saw anything like it before.

This change in color has not affected two small lakes (Paimún -see my post on its Lake creature- and Epulafquen) which are joined to Huechulafquen's main body (they are actually two long fjords or arms of the main lake.

This lake is home to a Lake Cow and a lake monster known as Huechulito.

Explanation

Samples taken from streams that flow into the lake show normal parameters. In my opinion they are looking in the wrong place.

Perhaps the cause of the strange color is volcanic activity by Lanín volcano, which stands over the lake with its beautiful cone. Though inactive, it may be belching gases into the lake's bed. There are hot water springs on the southern side of the lake, close to Lake Epulafquen.

A little googling shows that volcanic lakes take on a turquoise hue due to minerals in the water that reflect / refract light differently to pure water causing it to shift color. An example of this is Lake Poas in Costa Rica.

Furthermore another article clearly states that: "One feature of volcanic lakes influenced by subaqueous fumaroles existing at lake bottoms (called active crater lakes) is the remarkable color of their waters: turquoise or emerald green."[2]

Lets hope that these changes (i.e. lower ph due to increased acidity) do not harm the local fauna and especially the cryptids.

UPDATE - Sept. 20, 2010

The CONICET experts have said that their preliminary findings indicates that the color of the lake may be due to sediments from the lake's bed blending into the water due to recent earthquakes in Chile. They are going to analyze samples taken from the lake which may take some time.


Sources
[1] CONICET
[2] Ohsawa Shinji et al. (2010) Color change of lake water at the active crater lake of Aso volcano, Yudamari, Japan: is it in response to change in water quality induced by volcanic activity? Limnology. 2010, vol. 11, no3, pp. 207-215

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall © 

Huechulafquen's "lake cow"

 

Lake Huechulafquen (39°46' S, 71°23' W) is located in the Andean region of Neuquén province. I have already posted about its lake creature, Huechulito which was sighted in 2009, and also posted on a very old sighting (before 1922).

The 1922 sighting describes it as similar to the "Black lake Plesiosaur":

many times I heard respectable neighbors of Junín de los Andes say […] that in the Lake Huachi-Lauquen, at dusk, an animal often appears on its surface, which has more or less the same features of the one that is said to have been seen in Esquel. Very long neck, lizard head, body that must be enormous, because when it submerges it produces a sort of “boiling” in the waters.[1]

This weekend I came across another reference on this creature. It is a very short comment by Argentine folklorist Gregorio Alvarez in which he casually mentions among several other strange animals which he calls zoomorphs. This animal is the "cow at Lake Huechulafquen".[2]

Unfortunately Alvarez gives no description of the beast and I have not been able to find any other articles or books mentioning this creature.

Bibliography

[1] Juárez, F. Historias patagónicas. Online.
[2] Alvarez, G., (1968). El tronco de oro. Neuquén: Ed. Pehuen. pp. 114.

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Patagonian Monsters Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

Map with several lakes

 

Map of Nahuel Huapi region lakes. See Footnote [*]

Map showing several lakes mentioned in our posts: lakes Nahuel Huapi, Nonthue, Lacar, Lolog, Todos los Santos, Huechulafquen and others that we will mention in later posts such as Maihue, Ranco

[*] Footnote.
Map adapted from: Nuevo Atlas de la Argentina © Cases i Associats S.A. 1995. Published by Clarin. Edición especial para la Secretaría de Turismo de la Nación 1996. ISBN 987 9153 00 6.

Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

My personal experience with Patagonian lake creatures

 

The first time I saw the Patagonian mountains and lakes was in 1971. My parents decided to give up the beaches and the sea coast and drive down 1.600 km (1,000 mi.) to Lake Huechulafquen in the northern Patagonian province of Neuquén. We camped there for nearly three weeks and on our boat we trolled the lake fishing trout and enjoying the scenery. I still remember the apprehension that the incredibly beautiful cone of Lanín volcano caused. It was right beside us, all 3.776 m (12,380 ft.) of it.

We camped again in '72 and '73 at Lake Correntoso, and between '74 and '77 we lodged at Eddy Duport's bungalows in Puerto Moreno, Bariloche, on Lake Nahuel Huapi. Then we moved in to our log cabin at Villa Campanario, Bariloche.

With my father, we fished on many lakes, on a daily basis, riding in the family boat at dawn, noon and dusk, trolling along shady coasts, deep waters by sheer cliffs and shallow bays with sandy beaches.

We saw red deer swimming in the lake, we caught big (5 kg - 10 lb.) rainbow and brown trout, we saw the eery shapes of submerged trees and puma tracks on lonely beaches.

We heard the woodpeckers in the forests, saw condors flying overhead. We were visited by boars and puma at our camping sites.

We rode through tough waves swept up by the incredibly strong Patagonian winds. We fished under persistent drizzle or under a sharp bright sun on a calm, mirror like lake.

We saw crystal clear lakes and others whose water had a green milky tint due to the glaciers that drained into them...

But not even once did we see any strange lake creatures.

I recall old Eddy Duport telling us incredible stories about Bariloche in the 1940's and 50's, his adventurous life that had brought him from Vaud in Switzerland to Bariloche.

I heard about the lake's 1960 tsunami during the earthquake at Concepción, Chile, that washed away Bariloche's port, I heard how his small boat building shed burnt down; about his pioneer days in the forest by Mount Tronador...

But not once did he mention lake creatures.

I have been at my family's log cabin many summers and winters, I have trekked the forest trails, visited countless lakes (Espejo, Correntoso, Lacar, Lolog, Paimún, Epulafquen, Machónico, Falkner, Villarino, Traful, Frias, Schmöl, Frey, Mascardi, Gutierrez, Jakob, Hermoso, Puelo, Rivadavia, Menéndez, Futalafquen, Epuyén, Buenos Aires and Argentino...) and even though I have seen icebergs floating on some of them...

I never saw any strange creatures.

So perhaps I have not been lucky. Or I am too skeptical and explain everything in a rational manner, or maybe the creatures are not seen very frequently as there are few of them.

Who knows. But I am sure of one thing; that the magic of Patagonia has cast a spell on me that will not wear away even if I live one hundred years.

Iceberg at Lake Argentino. Sept. 2007. Spegazzini Glacier is at the back.
Copyright © 2007 by Austin Whittall

Copyright 2009 by Austin Whittall ©

Patagonian Monsters

Huechulafquen Lake Monster - "Huechulito"

 

Huechulito.From: www.diariouno.com.ar (22.May.2009).

This lake, is set at the foot of the Andes in southern Neuquén Province, Argentina.(39°46' S, 71°23' W). It is quite large, as it has a surface area of 104 km² (40 sq. mi.). An extinct volcano, Mount Lanín (3,776 m - 12,380 ft.) high overlooks the lake.

Here, in 1922, Emilio Frey reported -during the Plesiosaur Expedition- that:

many times I heard respectable neighbors of Junín de los Andes say […] that in the Lake Huachi-Lauquen [sic], at dusk, an animal often appears on its surface, which has more or less the same features of the one that is said to have been seen in Esquel. Very long neck, lizard head, body that must be enormous, because when it submerges it produces a sort of “boiling” in the waters.

Recently, a tourist named Jorge Salcedo while on an excursion in a catamaran in March 2009, photographed what looks like a set of three waves that look more like the wake of some boat than the back of an animal swimming just below the surface.

This site has all the photographs, a comment by Mr. Salcedo and the location of the sighting on a map.

The media quickly reported it as a lake creature, and named it “Huechulito”. And the locals recalled that “about 20 years ago some border patrol officers shot at a gigantic reptile that got into the lake and managed to escape”.

You can also see my post on the "cow" at Lake Huechulafquen.

A plausible explanation could involve otters or even gas bubbles surfacing in the lake (there is plenty of geothermal activity and hot water springs in the area).

The reptile resemblance makes it similar to the creature reported in the Bio Bio River in 1914.

Bio-Bio River "reptile"

This "reptile" was sighted at this Chilean River by the town of Santa Bárbara (37°39’ S, 72°01’ W). The creature was described as a “reptile or similar animal”. Its lair was on an inaccessible cliff by the river. This “kind of lizard, enormously thick, three or more meters long, of a light gray color” left a track “close to a meter wide and similar to that of a snake dragging itself”. It hunted sheep and calves.

It also resembles the "Culebrón" myth of the Mapuche natives, which we will write about in another entry.

Further reading:

El Dia La Plata. 20.05.2009. Monstruo del Huechulaufquen: ¿mito o pura realidad?
Diario Uno. Mendoza. 21.5.2009. Crece el mito del Huechulito.
Gröthe, S. Reptil en el Rio Bio Bio – 1914. Bestiario de lo cotidiano y extraordinario. (14.11.2008) Citing: La Prensa. Curicó, Chile. 28.03.1914. pp. 4.

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Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia

2010 International Year of Biodiversity Copyright 2009-2010 by Austin Whittall ©