January 2, 2000
Day 72 Leaving Torres de Paine: Somewhere on a private road
In the morning we pack up and ride back to Refugio Pudete for the short hike. At the Refugio we meet the "French cyclists" we have heard about from Jake and Kim in Chonchi. They are traveling super low budget, but already made it from Alaska to Ushuaia and are now on their return to Santiago. They tell us that the private road that runs from the south side of the park to Puerto Natales is not to be missed. We knew about it, but had decided to take the longer official route via Cerro Castilo. They make us change our minds.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
But first the hike to a viewpoint over Lago Nordenksjold. This trail takes you closer to the mountains but the views are less than from the campground last night. It's a bit overcast today, no dramatic lighting. The hike itself takes us an hour each way and is beautiful, through scrub and full of flowers, mountains and lakes in the distance.
We eat lunch at the Refugio and talk with the French and their Hong Kong travel companion. Then we head back to camping Pehoe and on towards the administration center at the Southern end of the park. We are happy that we didn't miss this part, it follows a nice fjord and has several good vistas. At the center we buy some supplies at the posada and visit the exhibits in the visitor center. While we are here the wind picks up very strong from the Northwesterly catches us from the right side of the final 7 km to the Rio Serano.
At first it makes riding impossible and can hardly keep the bike up straight. We walk a few km before the road turns a little and the wind calms down. At Rio Serano we find the reason the private road cannot be used by cars the bridge is out! Over a distance of about 50 meters a wooden bridge sitting on railroad rails pounded in the river bed, spans a fast flowing green river. Way too deep to wade, but the two or three boards that are left of the bridge deck are not inviting either.
Patrick walks on to test it and only the reassurance of the French gave us did Patrick continue. Because of the wind it is not possible to roll our loaded bikes over. Instead, we put on our hiking boots, unload the bikes and carry everything across in several crossings.
Quite the adventure!
On the other shore we reload the bikes and head out. Patrick sees a mile marker of just over 60 km. The road rises and dips sometimes the surface is so bad and the steepness of the hill makes riding difficult even for Patrick, and impossible for Rachel. The French had said the first 20kms are the worst. The road winds around Lago Del Toro and we have beautiful views of the mountains. We leave the bridge at 4:30pm after taking us 1/2 hour to get across.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
At 7pm we had done about 10-20kms, 2 trucks had passed us going toward the park. This was unexpected to see anyone else. We reach a high point and start a descent and Rachel rounds a curve and see Patrick talking to 2 cyclists! They were setting up camp. They tell us they are heading North and had been looking for over an hour for a campsite for over an hour. We too had been looking for a place to camp.
Patrick sees another spot for a tent and asks if they would mind sharing their site. No problem, so we set up camp. They are Swiss and cook over an open fire and asked us to join them by the fire. We eat as they fix their supper, they share their wine, and we share our whiskey. The trucks return and see us all camped together.
Today's ride: 32 km (20 miles)
Total: 2,861 km (1,777 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |