12/26 Merry Christmas! This year was pretty quiet… spent Christmas Eve hanging out for a bit with a girl from Belgium who is hiking solo down to Ushuaia and her friend, a guy riding a motorcycle around South America. Christmas Day I hung out at a hosteria in Villa Mañiguales. There’s a Casa de Ciclista there but no one else was around and the beds were all sitting in the middle of the living room area so it would have been kind of weird (for me at least). I’m also a little sick with something I probably caught from one of the other cyclists I ran into on the road. Quarantining myself might not be a bad idea for a few days.
On kind of a whim I turned around after passing the entrance to Ventisquero Colgante (glacier in Queulat) and decided to go check it out. That was a mistake. I almost left when I saw that foreigners have to pay 2x what Chile people do ($8 US for me). That just pisses me off to no end. Do they charge foreigners in Canada or the US double? No, everyone gets ripped off equally. Just kidding. The major parks in my homeland(s) can at least justify the prices by having brochures in 14 languages, park rangers/guides, etc. Oh and they have actual wildlife whereas here they have cows and goats.
Knocked out the big pass in Queulat National Park. It wasn’t bad at all and I think they might have smoothed out the gravel a bit because everyone else said it was like a riverbed. Amazing views from the pass down into the next valley. It might have been the first time I thought, “Wow” after seeing mountain scenery. Growing up next to the Rocky Mountains might have set the bar pretty high for me.
On one of the paved(!) climbs to Villa Armengual I passed the 2 Japanese riders and the girl from Belgium. Lot’s of Belgium folks out traveling the world. Grabbed a room in a hospedaje for 4000 pesos.
The ride from Villa Armengual to Villa Mañiguales was all paved which was a surprise. Great scenery along this stretch. The next day into Coihaique was also paved with a big climb which included a very dark tunnel. I’m staying at the Residential Monica for 3 nights (wifi, big room, priv bathroom, 10000 pesos). There’s some bad weather coming mid-week and it’s New Year’s so maybe I’ll stay for a week. Not sure yet.
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Merry Christmas.
Love,
Uncle Paul & Aunt Leta
I am following in your tracks Scott, but still a couple of weeks behind. I will celebrate new years in El Bolson, because I love hippies.
Happy New Year and see you in 2012.
/Hanna
Maybe I’ll still be in Coihaique. They just closed Torres del Paine until February.
Heading south from here might get tricky if the fire spreads.
hurry up scott, we miss your update’s we check your blog often. Hopefully the horse track wasn’t to bad. Stay warm and dry Hugs karin and Marten
Those are some awesome pics man. Looks great. I cant believe you are still going. What are you going to do when you get to the tip? Maybe you should try and catch a ride with the Sea Shepard to OZ.
Pedro and I just completed the Disney World Marathon (me for the 2nd time, and Pedro for the 1st time and last as he says). Hopefully next year I will be doing both the half and full. Who knows. Just looked at my training watch and I am over 1,000 miles running so maybe one day I will reach the 10,000 mile mark who knows.
Hey! Still finalizing plans post-SA. I saw your pics on FB from the run. Very impressive!