We departed early that day from Mauro's
eco-camping Tsonek, we were supposed to show up at the boat at 8.15
because the boat departed at 8.30. So at 7 am we were ready to do a
night ride of 8 or so kilometers towards the southernmost point and
the end of the Carretera Austral.
The riding went quite smooth despite
the fact we didn't see a shit of where we were going. A bit before
our destination the sun rised in the sky and the light revealed the
amazing O'higgins lake and the small and expensive boat that would
take us to Candelario Mancilla, a small carabineros spot were they
would give us the permit to leave Chile and enter Argentina.
After unloading all the load and
getting the bikes on the boat we were ready for a sail of 4 hours
surounded by a group of noisy Argentinians that were on their way to
a glacier. Despite the noise, the weather was damn marvelous, and the
color of the lake plus the mountains made it an amazing picture,
almost no cloud in the sky and no wind made it the perfect day for
crossing the lake and seeing the glacier.
After the 4 hours, at 11 am, we reached
our destination, and in a hurry by part of the crew of the boat we
got our panniers and our bikes, I got everything I had, and so did
Seba, or at least that was what he thought. We said our good byes to
other bicycle tourers who were on their way to the glacier and to
Mauro and Julie, the guys from the Tsonek eco-camping. After a couple
of pictures and good byes, the captain of the boat yelled the “all
on board” call and the boat started to leave. Right when the boat
was about 20 meters away from the pier and turning around to take
point towards the glacier, Seba said; “I forgot my tent on the
boat”, wait what?, really?. Yeah, he did. He forgot his tent on the
boat and the boat had already left the pier and despite the yelling
and the waving we did nobody from the boat saw us and the tent took
destination towards the glacier to come back 6 hours later with the
rest of the people that would do the crossing towards Argentina. Some
police officers, a.k.a. carabineros, were on the pier with us and
laughed at Seba's missery but at least gave a bit of a hope, they
said they had a radio up in the border station where we could call
the boat and ask some of the other cyclists if they could bring the
tent to Argentina so Seba could continue with the riding for that
day, we would share tent if we were able to call the boat.
We went our way to the Carabineros post
which was 200 metres away from the pier but uphill all the time. The
road from now on got sooooo bad that most of the way towards the post
we were forced to push the bike because riding was impossible. On the
way up, some clouds started to show up and a light rain started to
fall. Weather can change pretty fast at this latitudes. Right at the
carabineros post the bad news arrived. The radio communication with
the boat was a lie, or at least that was what a carabinero there told
us. He also said that there was no point in calling the boat as they
wouldn't come back for a tent and that we had to wait. Despite we
explained 3 times that the goal of calling to the boat was for asking
if other cyclists could take the tent with them, the carabinero kept
telling us the boat wouldn't come back because of the tent. I wonder
what language you have to talk to these guys so they understand what
they are being told. Seba told me he would wait for the boat to come
back then, that meant, waiting for 5 hours and loosing the day. I
didn't want to wait that much as the weather still looked good
despite the little rain so I did the paper work to cross towards
Argentina.
After doing the paper work and having
some lunch, I got ready to start the 22 kilometers pedaling-hiking
towards Laguna del Desierto, where I should be before 6 when the only
boat of the day departs towards the road that leads to El Chalten.
When I was about to leave, another Carabinero showed up and looked up
at the mountain and said the unexpected; “it snowing up there, are
you going to go uphill now? You should think about it, a storm is
coming”. A storm is coming, it sounded like Winter is Coming. It
was 1 pm and still I was at the carabineros. After a small chat I
decided I would just face the storm and try to make my way towards
the Argentinian border and the Gendarmeria, how bad could a storm be
if it was so clear and bright in the morning?. I said goodbye to Seba
and agreed on meeting 2 days later at El Chalten, took my bike and
left.
The riding began pretty well, but after
around 100 meters I was forced to go down the bike and start pushing
for what it would be 5 kilometers in a really bad road going uphill.
After something like half an hour the rain became snow and rain and
temperature started to drop as I was going upwards. On the way up I
started to meet people who were coming towards the Chilean side, all
of them cheered me up because I was about to reach some more flatty
area. When I got to some rideable part of the rain and snow became
only snow. Huge snowflakes would fall and would start covering the
landscape around me really slowly. I started to meet cyclists who
were coming towards the Chilean side, all of them told me that with
such a weather it was not recommendable to to the Argentinian side,
which was a trekking next to the bike. The so feared trek everybody
spoke about. Once again, people would tell me to think about doing
what I needed to do in order to reach Laguna del Desierto.
The snowing got thicker and at some
point I would not see further than 10 metres away. At least I was
able to see the road. I don't think I have seen snowing like this in
years, probably since I was in norway. Despite everything, I was
having such a fun under the snow that I kept with the pedaling till I
entered a forest where the snow wasn't that thick anymore. It was 3
pm and I still needed to reach the Argentinian border and then the
Gendarmeria which was 15 kilometers away.
Finally, at 4 pm, I reached the border,
good bye Chile, hello Argentina, fucking Argentinians man!!. The road
I was riding till now, was something we can call a road, a 4x4 would
be able to ride over that, but what everybody spoke about in the
Argentinian side, was actually that, a trekking trail in which it was
impossible to ride the bike. Also, there was no more snowing but a
clear sky with a shinny sun going down. It's amazing the power of the
Andes when controlling the weather. At one side a snow storm and at
the other side clear blue sky.
I started the 7 kilometers hike towards
the Argentinian Gendarmeria that would give me the approval to enter
the country and towards the boat that would cross me through the
Laguna del Desierto. It was 4 pm and I had 2 hours to do the hike
with my bike. 7 kilometers in 2 hours, quite doable I thought so
after the obvious picture I started the hike.
I was expecting a trekking trail, but I
wasn't expecting a trekking trail in so bad conditions. After 15
minutes of the hike I faced the first problem. A small creek with a
bridge made for hikers, not for bicycle tourers. The only way to
cross the creek was go down, cross the creek, and go up again risking
getting stuck in the mud. No other way to do it but to go in and so I
did, and so I got stuck in the creek. I tried pushing the bike once,
twice, three times, four times, and no success at all, it got stuck
in the mud and water and all the load wouldn't help to take it out.
The steep climb after the creek wouldn't help either. Damn hell, and
the time still ticking. It was 4.30 and I hadn't even walked a
kilometer. I had to do what I didn't want to do, take out all the
gear from the bike, carry it over to a flat area, take the bike,
carry it to a flat area, put all the gear on the bike, start the trek
again. This took me 10 minutes. I kept on walking through uphills and
downhills, trying to avoid branches on the ground, logs that would
block the way, small stairs like parts that would menace with
breaking my spokes and the racks and more small creeks with shitty
bridges that were meant for hikers only.
I got stuck here. |
It was 5 pm and I was 4 kilometers away
from the Gendarmeria and the boat that would depart at 6 pm. Shit I
had to rush it. I would keep on through the trekking trail avoiding
more logs and branches till I reached a full mud zone of around 20
meters long. What, seriously?. Clearly some hikers had passed before
me during that day, their track were still fresh on the mud and it
was noticeable how someone fell while trying to cross that part. How
the hell was I supposed to cross that with the bike and the 40 kilos
over it?.I asked for guidance to the old gods and tried my luck. The
old gods clearly forgot about me in that moment as I got mud till my
knees and the bike got stuck having half the wheel under the mud.
Seven hells! The bike is sinking!!! Abandon the ship! Wait, abandon
the ship my ass, all what I have is over the bike. Making inhuman
efforts and getting mud almost to my balls I managed to get the bike
out of the mud. Gladly, (gladly?) there was a small creek after the
muddy part where my shoes would get cleaned and fully wet too. A bit
of the bike would get cleaned too, at least.
Mud to the knee, half the bike deep in mud, the heck man!!! |
It was 5.15 and I hadn't advanced much.
I was still 4 kilometers away from destination so I decided I would
start trying to ride some parts in order to advance faster. All the
way now was mainly downhill so it would be easier to ride over so
many obstacles and so it was. The only problem with riding now, was
that I had to use the brakes on all times in order to not fall or
gain much speed that would certainly make me crash against a tree or
fall down the hill. Slowly the trekking trail turned into a trench of
around half a meter deep with walls that were quite comfortable for a
hiker, but once again, not made for a bicycle with front rack and
panniers. It was impossible to walk beside the bike on the same level
and really difficult to pedal without damaging the panniers. Also
most of the way was downhill and my brakes were not responding for
some unknown reason at that moment. 5.30 pm and I was still 3 k away
from destination. Shit, will I make it? I thought, the advancing was
really slow but at least I was advancing way faster than before.
Suddenly, another creek and a nice
steep unrideable down and up through the creek pretty similar to the
one where I had gotten stuck before. 5.40 pm and I started to think I
wouldn't make it to the Gendarmeria. Shit, I would have to wait for
tomorrow's boat doing nothing the whole day, damn. I went down the
creek and started to try to push upwards. Once, twice, three times.
Once again, stuck. Hell, get the gear out of the bike once again!?.
Somehow, I didn't have to, slowly, but with a lot of physical effort
I managed to push the bike out of there to keep on over the trench
like trail. 5.50 pm and still 2 k aways from gendarmeria, ah fuck it,
I missed the boat man. I started going downhill and forgot about my
not working brakes, suddenly when I needed to brake I couldn't and I
almost fell to a steep cliff that ended up in a small creek down
there, somehow I managed to regain control of the bike and with my
feet on the ground I stopped the bike and me from falling to some
painful end.
Finally 6 pm, and I missed the boat, I
was still 1.5 k aways from Gendarmeria and probably the boat was
starting to leave at that right moment. Fuck it, the thought of the
boat leaving made angry for a moment because all that effort to reach
the place on time was wasted. I took a small stop of 5 minutes to
look around the place and take a couple of pictures. I kept on and
the trail kept being the same till I got to see the Laguna del
Desierto and back there the Fitz Roy. A really amazing picture full
of autumm colors and what's that tiny spot on the lake? Ahh the damn
boat that already left. From here on, I took it really easy as there
was no point in rushing it to reach the gendarmería. I kept on going
through the hellish trekking trail which started to get better and
better. A sign that I was approaching to some sort of civilization.
Finally, at .6.20, I saw a sign stating that Gendarmería was 200
meters away. From there I could see the Gendarmería post the beach
and a boat on the lake, way closer than what I had seen before and on
direction towards the Gendarmeria. Could it be that the boat that did
the crossing?.
Fantastic view of Laguna del Desierto |
As I got to the Gendarmeria post I got
a better view of the lake and the beach and I spotted some people
that I had previously seen on the boat crossing Lago O'higgins. Heck,
we were supposed to take the same boat to cross the Laguna del
Desierto. As they saw me approaching they started to jum in the air
and make signs towards me. I entered the Gendarmería and made the
paper work for entering the country, I asked the Gendarme when was
the next boat to cross the Laguna del Desierto and he told me it
hadn't arrived yet so I had to go to the beach and wait there, he
hand't seen the boat coming yet. Woah, I couldn't really believe it.
I got out the place and went to the beach right when the boat got to
the pier. All the other hikers there started cheering on me and asked
how did I make it to get there right on time for the boat. I didn't
know what the hell was going on.
After all the people boarded I placed
the bike on the boat and asked one of the crew at what time the boat
usually left. He told me that they would leave usually around 6 but
depended much on wind, weather and if there was a football match or
no. Mmmmh, ok. I took a sit being still confused and the boat shipped
from the pier leaving behind the Gendarmería post.
After around 10 minutes I realized that
I had managed to take the damn boat to cross the Laguna del Desierto.
All the effort, all the swearing, all the mud and dirt had not been
in vain and for some unknown reason the boat got late. The other
hikers noticed how I realized the situation and started cheering
again and I just laughed at everything that happened that day. They
gave me some candies to celebrate the sharp arrival to the
Gendarmería and to the boat.
After 20 minutes, we were at the other
side of the lake, were I found an awesome camping spot with view
towards some glaciers. I said good bye to all the hikers and moved on
before night because I was in need of a good fire to dry my shoes,
get warm and cook after so much effort for a day. All my body ached
and I needed to rest.
Such a day, with so many unexpected
things. Awesome weather, rain and then thick snow, hell of trekking
trails, downhills with no brakes, mud to the knee and half the bike
stuck in the mud, and despite having lost all hope to get to the boat
on time, I still got to the place right on time and did the crossing
of the Laguna del Desierto. I ended up doing a huge fire and having a
great meal at a fantastic camping spot. Everything was awesome at the
end of the day after so many things.
I think it's days like this what makes
bicycle touring an amazing way of traveling. You never know what will
happen and how you will end up at the end of the day. After all,
there is to go everywhere with some faith.
Until then.
Cheers.
Thank you for sharing, good read! Thank you also for the pictures!
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