after the last big leap into the snow, i had some time off to start feeling my toes again and fatten up for the way south. Great catching some real sun and hanging out with the little critters near Talca while being on one of the fastest internets i have ever seen. Some new gear was also in order and Matt also managed to sneak into chile a 20pack of idahoan instant mash potatoes.

back in Pucon I had few days to wait for the right weather window before heading into Argentina and to hang out with the dogs and humans :)

and so I was off to Argentina in hopes of drier weather…

While going to a restaurant can be a risky business in Chile, going to a bikeshop can be risky too. At $70 CAD, i got a new noname brand bottom bracket and they out it together with a spacer missing… and tied it very hard. They also did me a favor of replacing that nail gear on my derailleur and tied it to the point that it does not turn. Like if you are fixing your bikes in Pucon.. dont go to bicileteria el pelao. Not even showing on google, otherwise i´d yelp that zero stars :)

I rode out till it got pretty cold, failing to find a good pasture to sneak onto, i went to the school and was let to camp in the gym area, really cool sustainable built place with wine bottles (well its chile) and old tv screens. Arming up the new tent for the first time. Not the best quality but it will do the job till Ushuaia

in the morning the kids arrive and one of them asks me if I have been around during the first world war. The first one… not even the second… i need to cut my hair soon

going over the border was a breeze, quite literally as it had this great tailwind blowing from behind

When i asked how much camping was at the park, the argentinian ranger said its free. they would rather people camp here than elsewhere. Hmm, CONAF could learn a thing or two from their neighbours :)

the way down was splendid with tailwind although a bit too cold.

I always admired how well the argentinian army does with farming and such, if war were to broke out - imagine a frozen cow dung on fire flying toward your fortifications. that would do some serious damage.

I got a room in Junin for (with the current exchange rate) a very reasonable price but before going to bed I discovered some key info on a section i was hoping to packraft at some point and pretty much stayed up all night trying to figure out how it will work out and fit in the grand-ish plan which would likely involve the iditarod or something of that sort before going to europe.

also cached sat images and topo along the trail i hope to do - huella andina

I headed in full on headwind into the clouds and the rain, wondering if this wasnt the thing i was trying to get away from in the first place

then i got to the lake, there was a bell, i rang it and some guy came over to row me to the other side. it was all happening pretty fast, i was still quite cold from the downpour and asked if i can camp. they said yes but then i should stay inside because its too cold and they had this big barrel stove that was very warm.

i spoke to the señor while munching on my morning oatmeal (and i must have looked just like that horse) and he said that i shouldnt go and that he wont let me go on the main reason being what if i have to camp and there are no people/houses. I sadly dont think people here trust gringos to survive out in the cold and after the amount of rain i witnessed pour down at night, maybe i wasnt too keen to do a repeat of episode 33, knee deep in snow, getting rained on and constantly being wet.

i headed on back, tail between my legs. maybe i dont need to push closer to the mountains/divide, i am sure i can find great riding further out east and to be honest i´d really enjoy some dry weather and less fences.

so i went back and down the ruta 40… maybe there will be a better way soon…