January 5, 2018
Hornopiren: A tougher day than we had planned
Last night we had a simple but enjoyable dinner provided by the hostess and spent some time chatting to her with the help of her two French assistants. We slept warm and soundly and woke up to a slightly drizzly morning. The sight of a Black-faced Ibis a few meters from the tent tempered the grey start somewhat - it was a good omen with respect to some of the good birding we would have later on in the morning.
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We started off soon after half past nine in a slight drizzle but the road was easy and we had some good birding views along the way. Best of these was a pair of Black-necked Swans with a signet - guaranteed to tug at the heart strings. After eleven kilometers we reached the ferry at La Arena and bought some empenades as a second breakfast - first breakfast being a simply a packet of coconut biscuits. Lack of good eating would come back to haunt us later in the day. The short ferry ride produced some great birding - Magellanic Penguins and a Southern Giant Petrel meters from the shore were some highlights.
Once off the ferry the road climbed but the going was fine on the good surface. After the crest of the first big climb and at the start of another small climb, the road changed to ripio, the infamous unsealed road surface of Patagonia. To complicate matters, this section was under construction and also very wet. We spent the next nine kilometers dragging our bikes up slippery stony climbs and hoping that our momentum would carry us through the muddy sections. Once back on the sealed surface we enjoyed some great downhills until we hit another section of ripio. This second section section carried on for about twelve kilometers to the village of Pichicolo, ending in a steep and rocky downhill that was pretty scary to cycle because of the egg sized stones that dominated the surface. Most of this section had a similar surface and made cycling quite demanding. Halfway through it I suddenly ran out of gas and we stopped for a break so we could scoff our emergency energy food to allow me to refuel.
We had hoped to find accommodation in Pichicolo because we were both pretty knackered but the place we had thought to be a hospedaje was now only a mercado. The option was to carry on to Hornopiren. The ride to hornopiren was actually quite easy because the climb through the National Park was all sealed road and of a moderate grade. The downhill into Hornopiren was a great reward for a tough day and provided great views of the snow covered moutains that seem to dominate photographs of Patagonia - a pity we didn't stop to take some of our own. We took a little while to find the Hostal Cahuin which is still under construction but provided an adequate if not pricey stop for the night.
Today's ride: 71 km (44 miles)
Total: 136 km (84 miles)
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