Carretera Austral Day #9 Vista Hermosa to Lago Cofré
January 4, 2020
Vista Hermosa to Lago Cofré 102.7km
Ride Time: 10:30
Pedal Time: 8:15
Tour Total Pedaled 726 Km
I slept well in the cow pasture. I managed not to step on any cow pies, but I did accidentally drag my sleeping bag liner over one.
There were low lying trees alongside the grass, and there were large stumps everywhere. This area had once been forested. A meandering creek ran through the pasture. I used it to clean my cooking equipment.
I woke up at 7:30am and fixed myself coffee and wallpaper paste with raisins.
Our tents were not wet from condensation, indicating perhaps a different climate here, or maybe it was because of the wind.
I packed up, and edited yesterday’s post while Scott tuned his derailer.
We walked over to the red wooden gate and passed our bikes and equipment over. We hit the road at 10:15. It was still windy.
I rode passed the field where I had seen llamas the night before. I had hoped to take photos, but they were no longer there.
It was chilly, and I was wearing my leg warmers, shoe covers, sweater and rain jacket as a wind shield. The sky was overcast.
I took off my rain jacket, and then put it back on again. I was passed by a lot of southbound buses today, some of which I assume were taking tourists to the marble caves. 
A headwind combined with an uphill is not a good combination when you’re having gear shifting problems. My rear derailer was tough to down shift unless the front derailer was on the largest chain ring. Rather than fussing with it, I worked out a new way of shifting.
I entered the Cerro Castillo National Park and was excited because of the pictures I’d seen.
We stopped at a stream to get some water, and I used my purifier wand.
I passed 12 foot markers alongside the road that indicating how much snow this area gets in winter. I passed a campground after 7 km, proving that the map was correct after all.
The road was still tarmac and had a nice wide shoulder. There was a a good amount of motorized traffic today.
The ice cold headwind was so severe that I had to peddle and even downshift to get down a major hill. I rode through a narrow valley following a stream. I had on my rain jacket including the hood underneath my helmet, and I was still freezing.
I noticed several warning signs about deer, which are called huemel. I haven’t seen a single one.
I was passed by a male and female northbound cyclist team.
I’ve been thinking about what a struggle this trip has been, and relating that to my mom’s life and her life struggles, as well as my own. I think that overcoming difficulties defines a person. It builds character. It’s important to set difficult goals for oneself and to undertake risks. We’ve had a lot of difficulty on this trip overcoming obstacles and meeting hourly challenges. It’s been an extraordinary adventure.
Scott has a theory that wind always blows up stream. We had been following a river downstream and were battling a headwind. We took a sharp left turn to follow a smaller creek upstream and sure enough the wind shifted to my back.
The issues with my derailers makes me nervous because they’re both really tight and difficult to shift. I’m afraid that I’m going to snap a cable.
I passed a southbound cyclist on the side of the road who was wearing a parka and snow pants. He was towing an overloaded bob trailer.
The terrain shifted from yesterday. Narrow valleys returned as well as streams and water coming out of the hills.
We began our descent over the pass on a nice downhill with crazy curves and a strong headwind. It was freezing cold.
The snow covered mountains of Cerro Castillo are spellbinding. The pinnacles resemble gothic cathedral spires. It was enchanting and straight out of Game of Thrones. A dragon could have flown overhead, and I wouldn’t have blinked.
At the overlook, I took photos for a Chilean family, and we surveyed the twisty serpentine highway that lead down to the town.
Villa Cerro Castillo was smaller than I expected, and there was no phone service. We spotted a diner converted out of two buses in the center of the town, where we stopped. I had a chicken sandwich and I split a steak and egg sandwich with Scott. To drink I had two strawberry fruit juices and a large Fanta. We talked with some French travelers, who couldn’t believe our stories and thought we were very brave.
It was extremely cold and windy when we returned outside. I had on my shoe covers because my feet were cold. It was 120 Kilometers to the next town.
There was newly poured concrete pavement for several kilometers. I was delighted to see dog paw imprints running down the shoulder for several hundred meters.
I had asked our server at the diner if it was always this windy and she said that the weather was always changing around here. She said that it wasn’t cold for the season, but then I pointed out that my weather app called for snow tonight in nearby Rio Ibáñez. There were numerous road signs warning about extreme wind. We had 40 mile an hour headwinds as we tried to climb back up into the mountains. It was pretty tough.
I passed two northbound male cyclists who seemed to be enjoying their tail wind.
The pavement ended 14 km after Villa Cerro Castillo. Those end of pavement signs can feel discouraging.
Gray foreboding clouds hung in the horizon and I started feeling rain drops.
I passed a road sign that read Puerto Rio Tranquilo 107km.
1km down the road I passed another road sign that read Puerto Rio Tranquilo 88km. When discrepancies like this arrive, I always choose to believe the better of the two.
At a certain point the wind died down and I had a pleasant ride along the river. I encountered the construction zone that Tim had mentioned. There was massive excavation as new cuts were being gouged from the mountains. Crews were burying drainage pipes and shoveling fresh gravel and dirt. The route shifted back and forth from the old track to the new. Heavy equipment including large dump trucks full of gravel were busy around us.
I encountered a smooth section of dirt that had just been steam rolled.
We stopped and took a break at 81km. It was 6:45pm and my toes were cramped. I enjoyed some peanuts while I sat on a pile of wood planks.
It was getting cold. The rain had stopped, but it was still cloudy. I believe that the route has been changed. I could see an orange suspension bridge that was no longer used. The route now cut through the mountains instead of along the river, as shown on the map. I could see that trees had been recently been cut and the barbwire fencing was brand new.
The construction zone finally finished at 712 km. The ripio was smooth dirt. We were at 2000’ elevation and circling around massive glacier fields that couldn’t be seen, but were indicated on the map. After heading west for a considerable distance we passed Lago Cofré and began heading south once again. There was no way we’d make it to Santa Julia tonight.
We started looking for places to camp. At the bottom of a series of downhills I crossed a raging stream. I wanted to camp as low as possible. I was surrounded by snow capped mountains and glaciers. The clouds were low.
As soon as the climbing began, we called it quits. We set up on the side of the road in the grass by a curve. I had large tree stumps to use for preparing dinner. My pasta was amazing and nothing stuck to the pot tonight. I had 1 liter of water remaining for breakfast tomorrow.
It was cold with slight drizzles. I brought my rain pants and down vest into the tent with me just in case.
I haven’t showered or changed my clothes since Coyhaique.
Vista Hermosa to Lago Cofré 102.7km
Ride Time: 10:30
Pedal Time: 8:15
Tour Total Pedaled 726 Km
I slept well in the cow pasture. I managed not to step on any cow pies, but I did accidentally drag my sleeping bag liner over one.
There were low lying trees alongside the grass, and there were large stumps everywhere. This area had once been forested. A meandering creek ran through the pasture. I used it to clean my cooking equipment.
I woke up at 7:30am and fixed myself coffee and wallpaper paste with raisins.
Our tents were not wet from condensation, indicating perhaps a different climate here, or maybe it was because of the wind.
I packed up, and edited yesterday’s post while Scott tuned his derailer.
We walked over to the red wooden gate and passed our bikes and equipment over. We hit the road at 10:15. It was still windy.
I rode passed the field where I had seen llamas the night before. I had hoped to take photos, but they were no longer there.
It was chilly, and I was wearing my leg warmers, shoe covers, sweater and rain jacket as a wind shield. The sky was overcast.
I took off my rain jacket, and then put it back on again. I was passed by a lot of southbound buses today, some of which I assume were taking tourists to the marble caves. 
A headwind combined with an uphill is not a good combination when you’re having gear shifting problems. My rear derailer was tough to down shift unless the front derailer was on the largest chain ring. Rather than fussing with it, I worked out a new way of shifting.
I entered the Cerro Castillo National Park and was excited because of the pictures I’d seen.
We stopped at a stream to get some water, and I used my purifier wand.
I passed 12 foot markers alongside the road that indicating how much snow this area gets in winter. I passed a campground after 7 km, proving that the map was correct after all.
The road was still tarmac and had a nice wide shoulder. There was a a good amount of motorized traffic today.
The ice cold headwind was so severe that I had to peddle and even downshift to get down a major hill. I rode through a narrow valley following a stream. I had on my rain jacket including the hood underneath my helmet, and I was still freezing.
I noticed several warning signs about deer, which are called huemel. I haven’t seen a single one.
I was passed by a male and female northbound cyclist team.
I’ve been thinking about what a struggle this trip has been, and relating that to my mom’s life and her life struggles, as well as my own. I think that overcoming difficulties defines a person. It builds character. It’s important to set difficult goals for oneself and to undertake risks. We’ve had a lot of difficulty on this trip overcoming obstacles and meeting hourly challenges. It’s been an extraordinary adventure.
Scott has a theory that wind always blows up stream. We had been following a river downstream and were battling a headwind. We took a sharp left turn to follow a smaller creek upstream and sure enough the wind shifted to my back.
The issues with my derailers makes me nervous because they’re both really tight and difficult to shift. I’m afraid that I’m going to snap a cable.
I passed a southbound cyclist on the side of the road who was wearing a parka and snow pants. He was towing an overloaded bob trailer.
The terrain shifted from yesterday. Narrow valleys returned as well as streams and water coming out of the hills.
We began our descent over the pass on a nice downhill with crazy curves and a strong headwind. It was freezing cold.
The snow covered mountains of Cerro Castillo are spellbinding. The pinnacles resemble gothic cathedral spires. It was enchanting and straight out of Game of Thrones. A dragon could have flown overhead, and I wouldn’t have blinked.
At the overlook, I took photos for a Chilean family, and we surveyed the twisty serpentine highway that lead down to the town.
Villa Cerro Castillo was smaller than I expected, and there was no phone service. We spotted a diner converted out of two buses in the center of the town, where we stopped. I had a chicken sandwich and I split a steak and egg sandwich with Scott. To drink I had two strawberry fruit juices and a large Fanta. We talked with some French travelers, who couldn’t believe our stories and thought we were very brave.
It was extremely cold and windy when we returned outside. I had on my shoe covers because my feet were cold. It was 120 Kilometers to the next town.
There was newly poured concrete pavement for several kilometers. I was delighted to see dog paw imprints running down the shoulder for several hundred meters.
I had asked our server at the diner if it was always this windy and she said that the weather was always changing around here. She said that it wasn’t cold for the season, but then I pointed out that my weather app called for snow tonight in nearby Rio Ibáñez. There were numerous road signs warning about extreme wind. We had 40 mile an hour headwinds as we tried to climb back up into the mountains. It was pretty tough.
I passed two northbound male cyclists who seemed to be enjoying their tail wind.
The pavement ended 14 km after Villa Cerro Castillo. Those end of pavement signs can feel discouraging.
Gray foreboding clouds hung in the horizon and I started feeling rain drops.
I passed a road sign that read Puerto Rio Tranquilo 107km.
1km down the road I passed another road sign that read Puerto Rio Tranquilo 88km. When discrepancies like this arrive, I always choose to believe the better of the two.
At a certain point the wind died down and I had a pleasant ride along the river. I encountered the construction zone that Tim had mentioned. There was massive excavation as new cuts were being gouged from the mountains. Crews were burying drainage pipes and shoveling fresh gravel and dirt. The route shifted back and forth from the old track to the new. Heavy equipment including large dump trucks full of gravel were busy around us.
I encountered a smooth section of dirt that had just been steam rolled.
We stopped and took a break at 81km. It was 6:45pm and my toes were cramped. I enjoyed some peanuts while I sat on a pile of wood planks.
It was getting cold. The rain had stopped, but it was still cloudy. I believe that the route has been changed. I could see an orange suspension bridge that was no longer used. The route now cut through the mountains instead of along the river, as shown on the map. I could see that trees had been recently been cut and the barbwire fencing was brand new.
The construction zone finally finished at 712 km. The ripio was smooth dirt. We were at 2000’ elevation and circling around massive glacier fields that couldn’t be seen, but were indicated on the map. After heading west for a considerable distance we passed Lago Cofré and began heading south once again. There was no way we’d make it to Santa Julia tonight.
We started looking for places to camp. At the bottom of a series of downhills I crossed a raging stream. I wanted to camp as low as possible. I was surrounded by snow capped mountains and glaciers. The clouds were low.
As soon as the climbing began, we called it quits. We set up on the side of the road in the grass by a curve. I had large tree stumps to use for preparing dinner. My pasta was amazing and nothing stuck to the pot tonight. I had 1 liter of water remaining for breakfast tomorrow.
It was cold with slight drizzles. I brought my rain pants and down vest into the tent with me just in case.
I haven’t showered or changed my clothes since Coyhaique.
Comments
Post a Comment