After few days in San Pedro de Atacama (and some in Calama), I had what I thought would last a good 25+ days and was ready to head over to the Argentinian Puna. 19L water capacity when needed but the whole bike felt like a tank. For the first several days I’d need to ride with a backpack as well.
at a lowly altitude of 2300m, the road went up along the mountains and it was very hot. Water was too warm to drink and I settled for an earlier camp and hoped for a cool evening. The backpack and the brooks saddle were a bad mix. I will need to find a way to put everything on the bike tomorrow while the roads are still good.
Another hot day until I gain some elevation, the wind was so strong at the evening that my camp near a roaring pumpstation was a rather quiet escape from the gusts.
in the morning I catch up with the guys at the construction camp, it seems that some large aqueduct project is underway with multiple wells and water going down (i think?). They are all a friendly bunch and ask me to stay for lunch but after that strong cup of coffee I dont think i can stay in one place. They load me up with cookies and fruits and apparently they must have let the word out on the radio that there is a hungry cyclist on the road because there were cars coming down with windows open and fruits or cookies hanging out. Another pickup reversed to hand me a full bottle of diet coke.
The heat was more manageable as I reached 3000m and the railtrack detour was at 3400ish. I heard a train passes every now and then and well, that is why this border crossing is manned but it didnt seem to have any fresh signs of a train. The narrow cutouts along the tracks and blind corners were making me very nervous… but I had high hopes that a train, if going here would blow its whistle.
at 4, I was a little bit too enchanted by a small train station and an empty - reasonably wind sheltered cart to keep going. I set up camp for the night with a view of Volcan Socompa across. I dont mind throwing out organic garbage but in such dry place it is perhaps best to make sure it is buried as decomposing might take a bit longer. These tangerine shells were rock solid!
I slept in late wondering why on earth did I think riding with such a heavy backpack would be okay. Having ridden the Canol Trail before mostly with a backpack I thought it would be fine but somehow the discomfort was easily forgotten. I decided to take another short day for acclimatization and to eat more of my food, there was a great water spring at the next station and I left some water bottles in the sun for a bit for a warm shower!
Still no trains so I took more of the rail track to the pass, about the only moving thing there was me and some Vicunas that looked at me with more of a surprise than fear and sometimes communicated between eachother with that high pitch rubber duckie sound.
At the border the policeman looks at me weird and tells me I need to get my stamp in San Pedro de Atacama.
Maybe he was the new guy because somebody else comes out and says its okay and they just need to call immigration to confirm.
Getting immigration on the phone, is another story so I just hang out with the 4 border dogs for few hours
The guys periodically come out to check on me and hand me cookies, yoghurt and REAL chocolate!
At 6 they finally get through and stamp me out, the guy asks if i want cookies, I nod and he comes back with 4 packs of lemon cookies. Label puts them at over 800calories per pack. This will be good
I spend some time wondering where the Argentinian border posts is amongst the ruins of the train station. I hear somebody singing while walking around and look through a window, ha! a person!
The Argentinians dont have a 70 inch TV like the chileans but they have wifi and offer me a room for the night
I opt for more train tracks in the morning, the wait on the Chilean side threw my planing off for one of the waterless stretches so I am thinking of a shorter day. The Argentina tracks are much smoother and not nearly as narrow, if a train is to come I can see it from far away
Around a corner, bam - another train station. Its truly odd to think of the old days when these were thriving, lively places. People, trains and Puna. With a spring nearby and wind cover it is hard to say no to this.
Loaded up with 19L of water, it’s time to stop “roughing it out” on the rail tracks and go do some Puna! First I want to climb a volcano so I head on that way
Wind is howling by 11am and its truly something else. Pushing your bike on flat ground and pedaling downhill is the norm. At 3, I head toward some rocks wondering if I could possibly find any other decent wind protection for the day
On my phone I scroll through the partly downloaded page of the pikesonbikes who did this route a while ago. No mention of wind, infact they have a photo of a camp right on the road. Hm, i wonder when they went. I’d take -20C over wind any day.
I watch the clouds gather in the distance and stroll around the rocks and the flowers nearby
Vicunas sure like to sleep in but I was up and out and after noon I found a good rock to stash my extra food and continue to the mountain on bike for today
I found a reasonable campspot by 5 and I was still unsure about late travel at this altitudes, while I was in the Puna last time, 5-6pm was about when it gets unreasonably cold with the wind. From my hidden spot I could observe the little sun-kissed creaters go on about their feeding. I have never seen Vicunas feed before, they go around the edges of each grass patch, perhaps eating the younger, baby grass stems. Who would have thought that such fuzzy and cute animals could be BABY EATERS!!!
I leave the bike at 5000m and continue on foot. The slope is a mix of rocks and sand and smaller rocks, soft enough to slow you down. This makes stepping on rocks important and I find myself hoping from one to another. The Pikes had found a decent camp at 5900ish meters so I shoot for that, looking oddly at the ice gulley up top and wondering if I can make it without any special gear. Wind is blowing at full force at 11 and really worrysome in terms of keeping warm.
I reached the spot, 5960 by my gps. Well sheltered but over the last 30 minutes I got one hell of a headache. I set up my tent and just lie in there for few hours, not asleep but wondering why that headache is so strong. Would it go away? At 5pm I come out to look around and as I went up 20 meters, oh boy. Projectile vomit. That tuna lunch was not nearly as good coming out as it was while eating it… With the headache and that I decide that its best to go down and pack up as fast as I can and start walking down. Around 5300m the headache eases. I push on to my old camp with the howling wind (luckily from the back) and set up there at 4800m. No point dropping to my food cache at 4500 as there is simply nowhere to hid from the wind there.
In the morning I ride down, grab extra ice for water and pack up. Descend to about 3900 and then I decide to shoot for another 4600 pass since its still kind of early and there are rumors of a nice quiet place to stay in an old mine. The wind does not cooperate and I spend 4 SOL hours against full force south wind (which slowly turns to more western at the top o the pass). Even when its tailwind, I could not describe this as pleasant. I had to stop few times on the descend to warm up my hand enough so that I can squeeze the brakes, at one cross section I almost went off the road with the gusts. I dont know how other cyclists handle the wind but covering your ears is important. I seem to just drift off and time kind of disappears but I think if i had headphones, music would help. With the wind and the bland sunny colors it just doesnt seem like such interesting place, I wonder too how the next video will turn out as I just dont film as much as in say, the lush valleys of peru and bolivia. Nontheless, its an experience like no other but I need to find a way to beat the wind!
I note the mining camp on top and an odd white line climbing the ridges all the way to the chilean border. I dont think much of it at the time but as I come down I notice the remains of an old cable car. The white line, would be just blown from the whatever cargo they were carrying. The mine looks pretty big and gloomy.
I roll down to the old church and set up inside. The wind is howling out and I bring out the 700gram can of chili and instant mash potatoes somebody brought to chile from me. Thank you Todd!
In the morning I met the two resident dogs which did not look too well, maybe from the water. I wonder if dogs would not drink water that tastes funny and go to another spot where it doesnt. They enjoyed some peanut butter and tortillas and a full portion of rice.
while rambling the mine in the quiet morning, I think I got it all figured out. I just need to stop and camp before the wind starts. Ride time early in the morning can equal 2, even 3 times more than walking your bike in the afternoon..
Part 2 to come soon! 9 days to here.