March 20, 2000
Day 150 San Juan River
There is ice on the bags when we get up. It’s a beautiful morning, the sun is just climbing over the ridge behind us. We pack, eat our cereal and push the bikes back to the road.
The road traverses the hillside, climbs over the saddle, and then drops down for the next 15 km to Pelca. We get very nice views of farms and hillsides patched with fields. Patrick gets a flat tire, but that doesn’t slow us down much. Pelca is the halfway point to Potosi. We buy some bread and drinking water and eat before heading on. It’s also the lowest point at about 3300 meters. From here it’s uphill the rest of the day, but there are plenty of nice views to reward us.
At about five we reach a highpoint at about 3900 meters and then drop about 300 meters to a wide valley. The San Juan river has carved a very narrow scenic canyon. The river isn’t more than 3 meters wide and about 50 cm deep, but it's fast flowing clear water through a narrow canal with vertical banks. The canyon is just wide enough to accommodate the stream, road and some nice green pasture on which llama’s are grazing.
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Where the road drops down into the canyon and follow it upstream, the river makes a ninety degree turn and flows into a side canyon. The walls are steep and heavily eroded with strange pinnacles spires and ridges. Patrick jumps over the stream and walk into the canyon to see whether there is a suitable camp spot.
We had planned to go a bit further, maybe even to a residencial in Porco, but this is such a beautiful place. Walking along the river we encounter a man rounding up his llamas. We wait a while until he is out of sight before wading our bikes through a shallow spot and claim our campsite behind a large boulder that shields us from view. We wash in the clear cold water, eat crackers with peanut butter, and finish off our snicker bars and whisky. At duck we pitch the tent and get warm in the sleeping bags.
Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 4,884 km (3,033 miles)
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