January 9, 2020
Rio Murto (Wildcamp at 1st Abandoned House)
We woke up to the a freezing morning. The mountains and hills around us were covered in fresh snow and an icy westerly wind was blowing. We knew that we had over fifty kilometers of dreadful ripio into the strong headwind ahead of us and we would just have to grin and bear it.
Within a few kilometers we passed a Swiss couple on a tandem. We would leapfrog each for the next couple of hours until we finally saw them enjoying a meal halfway up a rockface! About the time we caught up with them was also when the sealed road came to an end and from now on it would be ripio for the next few weeks.
Just before the well known Rio Ibanez wild camping spot major roadworks started and woulkd continue for the next fifteen kilometers. The site on the Rio Ibanez has been taken over by the road construction crews and it is now longer possible to camp there. From here until the start of the climb over the Rio Murto was pretty much hell on earth with dreadfull road conditions and an icy headwind.
We eventually started the climb out from thee Rio Ibanez and at a short stop, one of the construction pick-ups stopped and a fellow came to warn us that they would be blkasting with dynamite a kilometer up the road in an hour's time. We were given the option of turning back to the valley or carrying on immedietly. So we pushed on. We stopped for a late and leisurely lunch about four kilometers after the blast site and then pushed on to the top of the climb. On the way we suprised the road block on the southern section of the route where an enormous queue of cars and trucks were waiting for the road northwards to be cleared.
Then it was a slog to get to the first of the abandoned houses on the banks of the Rio Murto. Last time we stayed at the second in the company of Jackson and Elizabeth, a couple from Boston, with whom we had also camped at Cerro Castillo and the Rio Ibanez wildcamnp. The first house has been kept pretty clean with some clear instructions written on one of the doors to make sure that cyclists know the rules.
With the rain starting to fall, it was a case of early supper and early to bed. We are both knackered.
Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 804 km (499 miles)
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