hello hello. glad to report we are alive and well here in el calafate. glad to be back in civilization after 11 straight days of camping and riding. we left puerto natales i think on the 21st of february and we arrived in el calafate yesterday, the 3rd of march. on this past leg of the trip, we surpassed 1000 km on our bikes. we need 1600 km to equal 1000 miles.
ok so let me begin by breaking down this leg day by day. bear with me on this. feel free to take breaks as you work through this particularly long entry :P
first day we left natales the wind was blowing pretty good. i lost my rear fender somewhere in natales. bummer haha. we rode out of town with a strong side and head wind and ended up camping near a lake about 50 km out. apparently, in chile, the law states that no one can own the shore of a lake, or the ocean, so we were free to camp there. we were able to see the peaks of some of the mountains as we drew closer to the park. that night we made the sausage sandwiches again.
the next morning we left under sunny skies, the day was going great. then maybe about 2 hours out, after some great vistas of the torres, it clouded over and we got caught in an hour long downpour. i was soaked, and at the end of a super long climb, was feeling pretty miserable. at the top it cleared up and we were able to dry out. the view of lago del toro was amazing. the truest of turquoises i have ever seen. we rolled maybe about 40 km that day, about 8 km from the park entrance, and camped on an estancia near rio serrano. we bought cordero, and cooked it over a fire that night. the views of the torres were amazing.
the next day we only had 8 km to the park entrance, but the side wind was atrocious. during the 8 km we had to ride we all fell about 5 or 6 times. it took us much longer than expected to get there. we paid 15,000 pesos and entered the park. once inside, we bought groceries from a small posada and headed out for lago grey, where we would hike 3 km to a free camping site near rio pingo. that wasn´t to happen. we only got about 1 km down the road before we decided to hunker down for a few hours to see if the wind would die. we measured the wind at 75 km/h, but it was probably much stronger as we could barely stay upright. the wind didnt die down and before we knew it, it was too late to make it to lago grey. we camped behind some trees, illegally haha. oh well, no one knew. the following day we decided we were making it to lago grey no matter what.
we rolled out, the wind wasnt bad. we only had 18 km to ride that day and we were making great time. a motorcyclist passed us down the way a little ways out. and while we were stopped, grabbing a quick snack, discussing how the wind wasnt very bad, the motorcyclists were returning. they stopped and told us up the way a short ways there was a canyon with incredibly strong winds. they couldnt make it up. haha we thought, whatever, we´ll just walk our bikes if necessary. no problem at all! yeah right. we didnt know what we were in for. a short ways down the road we hit fierce winds. gravel in our faces, it was tierra del fuego all over again, except 10x worse. we had to get off our bikes. i stopped to see where jacob and thomas were. thomas had lost a raincover in the wind and he was running after it. i started giggling to myself when all of a sudden a super strong gust came up and blew me off balance. i ended up falling backwards over my trailer, cutting my elbow and laying sprawled out in the middle of the road. we measured the wind that stretch and we hit 100.7 km/h! wow i never thought i´d be out pushing my bike through wind that strong, but that was nothing! the next portion of the road put the first to shame. we could only walk 10 feet before we had to stop and brace for a strong gust. eventually the wind slowed a bit and we wondered if that was it. was that the canyon the motorcyclists were telling us about? nope. up ahead we saw a hill and we started up it. it wasnt long before the wind was gusting and we could barely stand upright without getting blown over. about halfway up we measured the wind and we hit 122.7 km/h! incredible! equivalent to something like 75 mph. i almost fell over several times. eventually a car pulled over and he drove super slow so we could follow him up over the top without the wind. really nice people. in my opinion that is the only way we could have made it up without getting blown off the top. on the other side we thanked them, and rolled down to hotel grey where we took some coffee, cerveza baguales, and some food. it was great to be sitting inside, out of the wind. after that we rolled 1 km to the ranger station and we were up at camp pingo in 30 minutes. the river was a cloudy turquoise. good times there. the following morning there was little wind. the mosquitoes were out in full force and jacob was bitten about 16 times. thomas and i escaped unscathed. i guess they don´t like how i taste.
that day we were leaving lago grey and the pingo river to head across the park to lago pehoe. we would have a slight tailwind so that was nice. we returned to the posada for more groceries then headed out for the lago. really nice views of the torres. every km we rode, the view was different. we took lots of photos, and enjoyed the sunny weather. we stopped at hotel explora, which thomas says is one of the top ten places to see in the world. super expensive with amazing views, we found out it was equivalent to $5000 US, for 4 days of touring, eating, and lodging, everything covered. the ride that day was incredibly hilly. most days within the park i was struggling to make it up the hills. the roads were pretty bad. potholed and bumpy, surprisingly our trailers held up the entire time in the park. camping at lago pehoe was great. 4000 pesos for a campsite, firewood, and hot showers, which was amazing. we had so much dirt and dust and gravel in our hair from the day before. it was good to take a shower. the following day we would ride up to las torres. which was a campground to the east of the cuernos.
that day began sunny and cloud free, but quickly progressed to overcast and drab. the views were amazing and we got very close to the mountains. that day was very hilly and again i was struggling off and on all day. eventually we got to the campsite and just in the nick of time because the rain started falling. we got the tent up just in time. we were the only ones outside in the rain that night, cooking potatoes over the fire until 11 pm. we ate fried potatoes, asparagus, and for dessert we ate fruit cocktail. it was a great time, and we made the most of a bad situation. it ended up raining all night until 9 am when the sun came out and we climbed out into the morning to let our stuff dry out. that day we would be riding to laguna azul to camp for one last night within the park and then head out for cerro castillo.
while we were leaving, the view of los cuernos was obscured by clouds, which is unfortunate, but right after riding out, the clouds filled the valley and dropped rain. luckily we managed to evade the rain all day. that day riding to laguna azul was enjoyable. at the end it was a long climb to a steep descent to the campsite at laguna azul. im sure the views would have been spectacular of los cuernos, but they didnt show through the clouds. we drank beer and calafate liqueur that night while eating ramen and minestrone soup.
we rode out for cerro castillo that day. it was approximately 60 kilometers to the pueblo. halfway there we met a couple from switzerland and for motivation we learned of a bakery/pizzeria there. that was good enough for me. it spurred me on until the end. near the end there was also a paved section of road about 15 km long, which was great since we´d been on less than ideal gravel roads since leaving out of natales. i felt great that day on my bike, which is something that hadn´t been true for some time. all throughout our rides through the park i was struggling. it was good to be feeling good again. at cerro castillo we camped at a expensive hotel named los pioneros for 3000 pesos. the next day we´d be crossing the border into argentina to make a run for calafate. we were shooting for a 2 day crossing, but had enough provisions for 4.
that day we crossed the border, and encountered pavement 7 km out. it was great. with the wind at our back we were able to ride at 35 - 40 km/h for a good portion of the day. that day i felt great again. we rode about 75 km that day, which up until that point was the most in one day. we also surpassed 1000 km! great accomplishment for both of us. we have a photo commemorating the milestone. the road returned to gravel again and we ended up stopping to camp in a low gravel pit for the night. that night we enjoyed a traditional dish from jacobs homeland of holland. sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, sasusage (sub hot dogs for sausage) and raisins. it was quite good. perfect to cap the day off. more fruit cocktail for dessert. the next day was quite eventful.
to begin we met a french couple, traveling by bicycle for a year all over the world with their small son and next we encountered a german couple, traveling since october from lima, peru. they told us of 2 more groups of cyclists. a lone japanese cyclist, who simply waved when we passed, and a couple from switzerland. we talked for a bit, and progress that day was slow until we made it through the other cyclists. that day the landscape changed. our goal was cerrito, 55 km away. once there we figured we would have about 50 km into calafate, but that wasnt the case. the maps are not very good down here and once we got back onto pavement, realized we had 92 km to go. i was hoping to be in calafate in one more day. we would have to push hard to do so. and i was ready. for dinner we ate spaghetti alfredo and took peaches for dessert. we had 85 km to ride into calafate. it would be a long day.
we awoke early, at 745 to try and get on the road before the winds picked up. after chowing down on a breakfast of cream of chicken soup, mashed potatoes, and green beans, we left camp at about 945 with calafate on our minds. the morning was hard. it was cold, and we were all stiff. we took breaks at 20 km. after the first break we had a hard going until we reached a super long 8 km descent and that pepped all of us up until we reached calafate. we could see lago argentino and calafate was near on the southern shore. we pushed hard from that point on and we made it to calafate by 330. amazing! it felt great to reach our destination. we found a hostel, took showers, went out for pizza and some brew (as is customary) and relaxed at the hostel.
today we are doing laundry, writing in our blogs, posting photos, taking care of business. tonight im not sure. probably find a place to have a beer and listen to some good tunes and maybe chat it up with some ladies. tomorrow we might head to perito moreno, by bus, not by cycling haha. perito moreno is an amazing glacier about 80 km from here. it costs $60 argentinian pesos for entry and there is no camping within the park. after that we part ways with jacob and we head out for el chalten and mount fitz roy where we´ll begin riding up the carretera austral. thats pretty much it. youre all up to date. congratulations if you read all of it and thank you for reading! i´ll post photos in a minute, so stay tuned for that! there should be some good shots! hope everyone on the homefront is doing well, we´ll be in touch! chao!
zach
