We had to wait a couple of days at the end of the world - Villa O´Higgins for our ferry and when the day dawned we were both itching to get going again.
The ferry crossing was a reasonably straight forward affair and we were both glad to simply be on the go again and have the knowledge that once we were across the lake we were drivers of our own progress again and would not have to rely on the whims of ferry companies... the joys of cycle touring.
On the southern side of Lago O´Higgins we were stamped out of Chile together with 5 other cyclists and Argentina bound we went. The 4-wheel drive track on the Chilean side was pretty straight forward but the track on the Argentinian side involved pushing our bikes through ankle deep mud, a few small portages of the bikes and gear and ended up being very wet. It would have all been great fun on a mountain bike (without gear) but was a bit of a slog with a fully laden touring bike. Nevertheless, we descended to a small lake in one piece, got stamped back into Argentina, surprised a boat load of clean dry tourists when all 7 of us slung our bikes onto the stern of the boat and shredded wet smelly layer after wet smelly layer inside.
The rain actually did a pretty good job of cleaning our bikes as the boat chugged the 30 minutes to the other side of the lake and freezing to death, we made short work of the few kilometres to the nearest campground, hot showers and great hospility by the young guy who ran the campground and didn´t mind us all cramming into his cabin to defrost extremities and cook our dinner.
The next day Tina and I went for a short walk up to a nearby glacier and then hit the road towards the touristy town of El Chaiten. It was to be our first experience of the famed Patagonian winds. Luckily behind us, they still managed to nearly clean us out on a few exposed corners as we tried to find the correct balance between viewing the tall ice sculputered mountains all around and concentrating of the rough ripio road.
We made it in one piece though; to a campground that looked as though it was been smashed to pieces by a hurricane. It was actually quite comical seeing tents bend to the ground as the wind continued to increase all day long. We found ourselves a tiny bush which afforded some shelter and apart from the noise of the thing thrashing around all night, it stood the test and appeared to survive its first Patagonian thrashing.
The next day, the wind was horrendous. Tents sat flat to the ground where they had been abondoned during the night and every thing that was removed from a bag, pocket or pannier had to be extracted with care, as one small fumble and it would have been whisked away to some other land. You could barely walk and the thought of riding was a joke - we wouldnt have lasted a second. With not much to do we made full use of the cafes around the strange town - seemingly constructed overnight and bided our time until we could see the mountains again and either a) go for a walk or b) go for a ride.
The next day dawned calmer. We doned the hiking shoes and hiked the famed trails up to view points of the towering Cerro Torre and Mt. Fitroy with huge icefields and glaciers spewing forth down into the valleys below. By the time we had returned to camp and lined our stomachs with grub, the wind was finally abating and we hoped that the following day we would be able to make some progress.
The wind again died down in the morning but by the time we got going after another short walk for one last look at the towering peaks it was increasing. We wern´t overly concerned by this fact as we were heading 90 km east (with the wind). We cruised it in the easiest 90 km touring I think I have ever done with the wind physically pushing us and all our gear up the hills. I broke my 7th (maybe 8th) spoke of the trip. My rear wheel on this trip - despite being new is a lemon. Luckily we have managed to source spokes at many towns along the way, in fact I have just purchased another 5, which I hope will be enough to get us to the end! Anyway, after 90km the right swung directly into the wind. We were both dreaded it, but we were still not prepared for what hit us. We went from barely pedalling and cruising at 35-40 km-hr to nearly nothing. At times I struggled to make 5 km-hr as Tina attempted to draft but the worse was the controllability of the bikes, they were all over the place. Luckily the road was quiet and after we both threw a few tantrums we turned again and had a brief respite. But the worse was still to come as we hit the side wind and at times rode at such an angle I wondered if our panniers might not hit the ground. It was with much relief to find an estancia (farm) that had a small campground were with no hesitation we hunkered down for the night and hoped things would be much calmer in the morning. Stats for the day: First 3 hours = 90km, second 3 hours = 20 km!
The day dawned calm, with not a breath of wind and we were on the road early to make the most of it. The landscape was dry and desolate, such a change from the towering mountains and their wetness we had experienced in the last few weeks. As the day wore on the wind picked up and we struggled the 30 km into El Calafate, but compared to yesterday it was literally a strong headwind, not quite of hurricane proportions.
So it was then, that yesterday we set off for Puerto Merino glacier, one of Argetina´s most popular tourist spots. Again we left early as we were heading west (into the wind) but again our early morning start payed dividends as we had a quiet ride out to the glacier. In fact, the sky´s cleared and it turned into a stunnung day, the wind seemed to forget to come out at all. It is a testamount to how far south we are though, to what I was wearing. The sun was actually baking hot yet I wore to flecces as I rode as the wind was bitingly cold. Whenever I stopped, I actually took clothes off and had to put them back on again before we left, a strange thing I reckon as usually it is the other way around.
The Puero Merino Glacier. Wow. I´ve seen a lot of glaciers on this trip but nothing even comes close to this one. The face, at 60 m high and 5km long is viewed from above and directly in front as it actually splits a lake in two and on a small peninsula, a road twists its way down to this junction. As the day wore on, the blues of the ice came out in force and we watched chunks of ice peeling their way off in the sun. We were both in awe at its force and it is definately one of the most amazing natural wonders I have ever seen.
Happy to have made the 200km detour to see it, we started pedalling back to El Calafate and spent the night camped out in the forest before making the rest of our way back to El Calafate in driving rain and cold this morning, very glad to see the hot showers of the campground as snow fell just a few hundred metres above the town.
So from here, we will head back to Chile, to Torres´De´Paine National Park. Hopefully the weather will be conducive to some walking before we set off on the final leg to the bottom of the world - Ushuaia, a few days holiday if we lucky and our flights home.
Ciao, Tim
Amazing stuff. The wind sounds insane!
ReplyDelete