The video was taken on the road after leaving Argentina for Chile. The first couple of takes are from the border to the Carratera Austral, the rest is from the Carratera on the way to Puyuhuapi and onward to Coyhaique, the biggest town in this part of Chile.
Once
in a while I don't feel like getting on the bike. Sunday was one of those days.
The rain showed up in Coyhaique as forecast, which didn't elevate my mood. It isn't a long
ride to Rio Tranquilo, just 130 miles, but I dragged my heels in a bit of a
grumps and with a sense of foreboding for some unknown reason.
Snow began to fall while crossing the 'high' pass prior to the Puerto Ibanez turnoff, I watched the temperature drop from the upper 30's to a couple of degrees above freezing. The road is paved at that point, while it was only wet I was mindful of ice forming and began to contemplate turning back. As the temperature hit 34F the road began to descend and the temperatures began to rise. I pressed on and am glad I did, by the time I neared Rio Tranquilo the precip had stopped and so did I, to shoot a few pictures.
Snow began to fall while crossing the 'high' pass prior to the Puerto Ibanez turnoff, I watched the temperature drop from the upper 30's to a couple of degrees above freezing. The road is paved at that point, while it was only wet I was mindful of ice forming and began to contemplate turning back. As the temperature hit 34F the road began to descend and the temperatures began to rise. I pressed on and am glad I did, by the time I neared Rio Tranquilo the precip had stopped and so did I, to shoot a few pictures.
Lake General Carrera a it is known in Chile (Lake Buenos Aires in Argentina) is the second largest lake in South America after Titicaca and is in a much more spectacular setting.
I
arrived mid-afternoon, dumped my gear off at Hosteria Costanera (not cheap, but
nice) and made arrangements to go out on the lake to the marble caves. Others
had posted about the beauty of the caves, they were right. Late afternoon proved to be perfect timing, a relatively calm lake and blue sky appearing.
These caves are unique and exist nowhere else in the world. Formed from the shells of prehistoric sea life, compressed to different densities and then thrust up as the Andes were formed. The large lake has significant wave action at times, up to 10 feet high, which causes the erosion. The marble also dissolves in the slightly acidic lake, 1mm removed every 100 years. Quite astonishing. Quite beautiful.
And the sun came out as evening neared.
Monday promised a return to Argentina, leaving the Carratera Austral for good and turning east onto Routa Provincial 265. About 100 miles of unmade road to the border, then 47 smooth ribbon like miles of blacktop in Argentina.
RP265 made it into the top 5 rides of this entire trip; a perfect riding day, stunning scenery, cliffside roads and a couple of challenging surprises along the way. Time now to work on that video.
See you soon.
T2
it's not important how you start the day...it's important how you finish!!! … awful weather is tough but it makes the sun shining even more… as well as the spectacular caves… keep going T2, you are on track !!!!!!
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