01/13 Rode 40 miles out of Cochrane, passed a couple other cyclists and found a spot off the road in a river valley. One of the guys was fixing his front rack which had broken off the frame at the eyelet. He was about the 10th person I’ve met that had that happen. The other guy was Stefan (German) and I ended up running into him again later. Rain most of the day and it was cold–low 40s and no sun. It was hilly (2846 feet of climbing) but the hills weren’t as steep. The clouds hid most of the mountains but when they broke up a little the scenery was pretty spectacular.
After another 40 mile ride I made it to the ferry terminal at Puerto Yunguy. The road was up and down again but the only huge climb was right after the junction with Tortel. Rain again all day. While warming up over a cup of hot coffee at the cafe next to where the ferry boards Stefan rode up. When we were getting ready to board some little kid came up to me and said in broken English, “You’re awesome!” It was kind of cute. We left for Rio Bravo at 6pm and it took about 45 minutes. It was free which was a surprise. The ferry picked up the last load for the day and headed back leaving the place completely deserted. The only thing there besides the dock was a shelter so we threw our sleeping pads on the floor and slept there.
No break from the rain the next day either. After 41 miles and 3098 feet of climbing we found a place to camp. The wind kicked up which I was hoping would help dry my clothes that have been wet for 3 days but it was too humid. The clouds parted to show a little blue sky. Saw a lot of condors flying around and one came right over us but my stupid camera washed out the colors so it looks like any other big black bird. There was a cool little frog hopping across the road too. Scattered around the area we camped are bushes with these tasty blue-colored berries (not actual blueberries). There’s no 911 down here so I stopped after 4. Wish I knew what they were since they would have been good in the oatmeal.
The last day into Villa O’Higgins was a breeze. Knocked out the 23 miles in no time. It was pretty flat except for a little hill before the town. No rain today! I almost miss it because for the last 3 days there were no horse flies. Ferry tickets for the crossing tomorrow set me back 40,000 pesos (US $77). Need to be on board by 8:30am tomorrow. Then the fun hike to Argentina begins.
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