22 Km from Amenguel: A big climb that wasn't on the days plan

January 14, 2018

The day started off with the idea that we would only cycle to Queulat National Park about twenty kilometers down the road and camp eitrher at the National Park or at another campsite a few kilometers further on. Queulat National Park is known for its hanging glacier. I had never seen a glacier before so this would be my first. With such a short ride planned we didn't rush to get going and were almost the last folk to leave the campsite. The ride to the National Park was easy and on good asfalto. It was interupted by a short ferry ride to bypass a landslide which happened six months earlier and in which two tourists lost their lives. While on the ferry we had a long chat to a Dutch guy of our age. He had previously worked in Chile and had ridden the Careterra Austral by car. He was full of dire warnings about the road and our lack of spares, backup etc but was nonetheless good company.

The landslide which resulted in the ferry ride (and worse).

We stopped in at a little area just outside the park and had good, if distant, views of the glacier. With it being so earl;y in the day, the question was wether we booked into the National Park and walked to the foot of the glacier or take the views we already had and continue down the road until we found another place to camp. In the end we decided to carry on feeling sure that we would find a place to camp before the big climb that we knew lay ahead. This would then hopefully give us an easier day tomorrow.

Ventisquero Colgante, the hanging galcier in Queulat National Park.

Well, the place to camp never arrived.

The road turned to ripio soon after the National Park and the road got quite busy with a lot of dust being kicked up. By the time we got to the foot of the climb we knew our only option was to carry on to the other side. We took the climb slowly and despite the rough surface we got to the summit at almost six hundred meters feeling OK. After the summit there were a few short downhills followed by steep climbs and these were enough for us to realise we had done enough for the day. The descent was steep, rough and chilly and we donned our jackets soon after we started downwards. At the bottom the road split with the left fork heading towards Villa Amengual and Coyhaqui. The asfalto also resumed at this point, which was a relief for our tired legs.

Despite the tough ride, the views were still rewarding.

Once back on the asfalto, the views were still good.

After about sixty kilometers we found what we thought would be a good enough place to rough camp for the night. After hauling our bikes up onto a rise abopve the road where we would be slightly hidden from view, I checked my mobile phone and noticed there was a campsite about five kilometers further on. So we dragged the bikes back down to the road and gingerly setoff to look for the campsite. We would have missed it (it has no signage) if there wasn't a woman standing at the gate. Yes, we could camp there at 5,000 pesos each, and use the bano and ducha in the house. A bit of a ripoff but a hot shower after the dusty ride could not be ignored. So after initially turning her down and cycling a few hundred meters further on, we turned around and set up camp in her field.

Today's ride: 66 km (41 miles)
Total: 421 km (261 miles)

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