Day 8 – 29th November . First Snow

San Martin de Los Andes – San Carlos de Bariloche 230 kms (98 kms Track)

Total Distance So Far: 1,801 kms

I spent the first hour or two hanging about my hotel waiting for the rain to stop. It was the longest breakfast I had ever had. Eventually it thinned to a drizzle and I set off, leaving fond memories of that lamb behind. My route today was over/through a couple of mountain ranges CerroAlto (2,123m) and Cerro Cuyin Manzano (2,219m). I had the choice to do 320kms by road (having to retrace my steps backwards past Junin) and avoid the mountains, or take the route through them, which the reception staff at my hotel said was ok for 4x4 vehicles. The tracks sounded fun to me, and anywhere a 4x4 can go so can I!

20kms out of San Martin and climbing into the Cerro Alto the drizzle became rain so I put on my wet weather gear. What a fag that is. It’s like putting on a straight jacket. And no sooner did I force myself into it and strap up, I needed a waz! A Unimog driver pulled over to see if I needed any help. Apart from trying to get my old boy back into the warm I told him I was fine. I asked about the route ahead. He tried his best to give me advice about the route ahead. There was snow and ice on his truck. I tried to get some info about the surface (soft mud, mud hard-pack, stoney hard-pack or soft stone). The only surface that bothered me was soft mud, as that gives the greatest risk of the bike getting stuck. My Spanish was not up to it - it was impossible.

I decided to plough ahead and if the rain got too heavy or their was an abundance of soft mud I would return and do the now 360 kms by road. Literally after a few more bends the tarmac stopped and turned into wet slushy mud! Great I thought. I was sliding all over the place. I let some air out of the tyres and gave it another go. Slightly better (will need knobblies in Bolivia for sure). The scenery by the way was incredible, misty, cloudy, snow covered mountains, and deep green pine forests. Waterfalls and gushing streams everywhere. The bike handled better with less air in the tyres and I soon got used to it slip-sliding. I kept climbing and 20-30kms later the rain turned to snow and hail, as the temperature gauge read –3 degrees. This was all fine, and a good test to see that I stayed warm. I used leather Gortex lined ski gloves and they worked a treat, my boots also kept my feet warm and dry. The only problem I had was because the temperature was not very cold, the snow hit my visor, and the bikes visor and turned to slushy ice. It was impossible to see through it. If it was warmer - zero or higher it would have stayed as rain, or if it was colder, say –10 or more then the snow would have blown off. I soon got the hang of it slowing down and pushing it off every few hundred meters but it was a pain. I made a note to pick up some ski gogs in Bariloche. After another 30 kms the snow stopped and the sun made an occasional appearance.

I realise that I need to reduce the weight. The bike is just to sluggish fully laden. I will have to go through everything possible to leave in Bariloche. To make a real difference in weight (10 kg) it needs to be the camping gear but without that I am a bit exposed if I can not make towns with a place to stay. It's a dilema. If it stays dry in Southern Patagonia then I'll be fine, if it's wet then it will be far more difficult with such a heavy bike on trail tyres. To add to the weight for the next leg I'll need an additional 10 litres of fuel as there is one section where we have 515 kms between gas stations, plus I need to take 6 litres of water which is 4 more than I have taken so far, so we have an extra 14 kg of liquid to factor in.

I passed a few vehicles, mostly 1960’s Unimogs and Land Cruisers, and unbelievably a cyclist pulling a trailer. I stopped to make sure he was fine. He introduced himself as Sean from Dublin. A lively chap, he was on a two-year mission that started at Puerto Madryn on the east coast in August. So far he had covered about 1,000kms mostly into the wind, and up hills, so he was averaging 10-15kms a day only. He said once he’d crossed over the Andes that things will get easier in Chile. It did look painful when I first saw him, he was grinding the bike up a step hill doing no more than walking pace. He is on a two-year mission planning to arrive in Columbia some 10,000 kms later. I told him about the snow 20-30kms up the road, but he said he was only planning to do another 5 kms then camp for the night. It made me realize what a ‘walk in the park’ my own mission is. Thank goodness for petrol engines I thought. I wished him luck and moved on.

Coming out of the mountains the temperature warmed up to 4 degrees, and the drizzle returned. It made little difference as I sped along the road which hugged the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi for the next 95 kms all the way to Bariloche. The views across the lake were awesome . I got the first real gusts of the Patagonian winds today, and noticed it managed to produce waves up to 2 meters high.

Now checked into the swankiest hotel in town for two nights, Bariloche will be my last chance to get things sorted before heading south. I like the feel of Bariloche, it’s very smart and very busy, like a cold oasis in the mountains. The airport here serves the town and the ski resort 10 kms away. Apparently the Swiss founded it a hundred years ago, so it has patisseries and chocolate shops on every corner. I can recommend the patisseries as I’m now sitting in one updating the blog. The tart tatin is excellent – nice thin and caramelised!