March 27, 2016
Two Lakes And A Long Climb: 30km before Entrelago to 10km short of Argentina.
First thing after breakfast I clean the camera, taking off the lens and cleaning inside, as I keep noticing spots on pictures with a lot of light colour such as sky. I don't know how long me cleaning it will have effect, because as I clean it quite often, there will invariably be new spots on sky pictures within days. When I've screwed the lens back on, I take a test photo from the tent, the middle sky where there is an annoying big spot on one of yesterday's photos. The test photo shows it has gone.
I don't break camp and get on the road until eleven when the sun is well up, though it really seems a lot earlier, perhaps no more than half nine. It was a good place I'd camped and the road continues flanked on either side with a mix of eucalyptus plantation and natural woodland with gateways and tracks into the forest at regular intervals, meaning if I hadn't had camped where I had, there would've been plenty of opportunities further; until, gradually, the woodland thins out to open fields, vivid green having been cut for hay with a fresh aftergrowth and rows of white plastic rapped round bales along the fences from which there's a pungent fruity smell of fermenting grass. And electric fence pasture dotted with dairy herds with an indigenous tree in the shade of which, the black and white cows congregate.
Then from being level the road descends sharply and bottoms out with a large lake on the right. The view across the water of distant pale blue outlines of the Andes mountain range with the conical volcano I saw late yesterday still prominent. Then an equally steep climb out of the hollow away from the lake.
My rear hub is running very rough today. The cones are loose yet again. And together with the amount of play there is in the wheel and having worn sprockets, means I've to play around with the gear-lever to get the chain to engage without skipping while climbing.
I reach the next place, Entrelagos, timely for lunchtime, as the name implies, by another large lake not far to the north of the first large lake I passed. Here route 215 which I'll turn right upon passes through from west to east to the border with Argentina, but first I need to eat.
It is a one street town as far as the commercial heart goes. There's a restaurant, a few shops and a petrol station. One of the shops has a signboard outside for homemade bread and empanadas, which is what I need, so I shop here and afterwards lunch in the small plaza on a big meat empanada and bread spread with a soft mushy avocado. Then before going further fill up on water at the petrol station.
The afternoon is on said route 215 eastward through a deep wooded valley with the second lake below the road on the left for much of it. There's many sharp steep inclines and descends until nearing evening and I start the climb to the "Cardinal Samore Pass" I come to the Chilean border complex earlier than expected. I'm in and out with an exit stamp within minutes and its another 20kms to the actual border, or Limit International. From here on it is all steep climbing closed in on either side by rocky and stunted dense mountain woodland rising to the right and falling away on the left. Not a few metres of level exist wherewith to pitch a tent.
Eventually though I come to a widened compressed gravel apron to the side used by road maintains reaching about ten metres or so into the woodland on the left and level. It is open to the road, but soon there is no traffic as the border has closed for the night.
Now having finished dinner of pasta, it has got too cold to remain outside the sleeping bag, perhaps due to altitude.
Today's ride: 94 km (58 miles)
Total: 7,339 km (4,558 miles)
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