PowerCycle

12/02 Took a little detour off Hwy 40 and rode through Parque Nacional Laguna Blanca. The park was created in 1940 to help protect the black-neck swans, of which I saw none. I did see some flamingos but they were far away. There’s a haze in the air that obscures just about anything. I thought it was dust the other day but now I think it’s from a volcano in Chile that’s been spewing ash for months.

The climb up to the park was easy and it was up a little more until a nice drop down to a bridge where there’s a communications station (33.5 miles after Zapala). I heard the guy will let people stay in a spare room but it was only 1pm when I got there. There was a little kiosco selling water/soda/crackers and most importantly, beer. I grabbed one for that night (should have grabbed two). There’s a long climb after the river up to the pass at 5172 feet and then an equally long ride right back down again. Great scenery on the way up with lot’s of snow covered mountains and a big valley heading west into the Andes. The only wildlife I saw was a bunny but it was squished.

I hit 54 miles for the day and 2742 feet of climbing. Camped under some trees (on grass!) along Rio Catan Lil. Happy to say that the water in this river actually tasted normal. I was tempted to jump in but it was freezing. Lot’s of fire ants along the shore. Haven’t had to deal with them for a while. Some guy walked by and said hi. Not sure where he came from since there were no houses nearby. Finding a spot was tough because everything was fenced all the way back to the park. I never would have guessed Patagonia was all private property. What a major disappointment. There were goats, sheep, cows and horses everywhere, even in the national park.

The next day the pavement stopped at the junction for Las Coloradas which is right before the long climb to Paso de Los Pinas Que (4986 feet). The gravel road wasn’t too bad. Up at the top there were some neat looking trees and snow poles to mark the road during winter. The pavement started again at the bottom of the switchbacks. It was very hot down in the valley with the temperature hitting 108 F.

There’s nothing in Rahue except a closed up Hosteria and a tourist office of all things. I was kind of tired and was going to camp there but the place they directed me to had a no camping sign. The spot wasn’t great anyway so I left. Gravel again leaving Rahue with a fair bit of sand for the next 17 miles. I finally found a flat patch of ground along the river that wasn’t fenced in. Stats: 45 miles and 2021 feet of climbing.

Big climb off the Rio Alumine. Hit some pavement at the junction for route 23. In Junin I found a room at the Residencial Marisa. Stats: 40 miles and 2237 feet of climbing.

GPX track