Monthly Archives: March 2015

Beautiful semi-desert – even in the pouring rain.

This past week has been full of wonderful riding in the dry semi-desert country of Norte Chico on lovely back roads, both paved and otherwise.  I have to say ‘semi-desert’, since the truly dry desert is still to our north.  After a few days of enjoying the cactus-strewn ‘semi-desert’, the torrential downpours began.  That’s right, downpours. In the desert!  Unfortunately, it’s not all storm rainbows and desert blooms.  The storm has caused the worst flooding in 80 years, and many people have died or are missing.  The flooding has caused a great many roads to be covered up by landslides or swept away entirely.  We feel lucky to be safe and dry, even if the floods have drastically altered our plans.  Before I write more about the floods, however, there are a few tales to tell about the rest of the riding from this past week.

Bidding farewell to a faithful tent.

Bidding farewell to a faithful tent.

We spent a day riding along the rugged coast and past many a million-dollar vacation home.  In the little town of Papudo we said goodbye to our faithful tent.  My cousin had brought us a new one since the old one’s zippers were completely broken and the rain-fly had begun to fail.  We had a little ceremony and left our tired tent where someone might find it and give it a second life as a weekend only tent.

Jason pays his respects to our old home.

Jason pays his respects to our old home.

 

 

 

 

Million-dollar beachfront homes.

Million-dollar beachfront homes.

Big shoulder on the main highway.

Big shoulder on the main highway.

We left the coast and headed inland, where we had to ride for most of a day on Chile’s main highway.  Surprisingly, it was just fine. All the same, we were incredibly happy when we turned off that road and turned inland towards the dry hills.   There were bone dry valleys, big cacti, and winding roads up and over so so many hills.

Mar22_003 Mar22_004

We completed our first big dirt desert pass  at this time, and it was beautiful.  En route we wentMar22_006 through the national chinchilla reservation.  This is the only place in Chile where the chinchilla ((a really cute rodent) lives in in the wild.  Jason was super excited about the chinchilla warning signs.

Mar22_007

 

 

 

 

 

The pass topped out at 5,500’, and was a long climb that looped all over the desert hills.  We spent all day going up and up and up in some of our lowest gears.  At times the dust was over 3” thick and we had to push the bicycles.  All the same, we were very happy as there was good scenery all day and traffic was essentially non-existent.

Mar22_014Mar22_016 Mar22_018

Desert sunrise

Desert sunrise

That night we wild camped in the desert, where we had to clear rocks away to make room for our tent.  During the night our brand new tent got attacked by ants!  The damage is very minor (luckily!), but for whatever reason the ants chewed through the rain-fly where small water droplets had accumulated.  We were a little bit upset, but nothing that a beautiful sunrise couldn’t help.

After a day of riding through desert vineyards, we entered the big city of Ovalle.  We slept in a family run hostel in a room made of plywood.  In the morning we awoke to storm clouds, and as soon as we left our room the sky opened up and the thunder rang through the valley.  It absolutely poured for a few hours, and we had to resort to walking the bikes to avoid the brown-colored run-off on the roads.  Luckily for us, the rain let up as we rode up yet another beautiful valley towards the small town of Hurtado.  It started again in the afternoon though, and by the time we reached town the road was pure mud.  Because the only hostel in town was full, we managed to rent a room in an old lady’s house.

One day: severely depleted desert reservoir.

One day: severely depleted desert reservoir.

The next day: torrential downpour

The next day: torrential downpour

You can see why we walked the bikes on the sidewalk for this section.

You can see why we walked the bikes on the sidewalk for this section.

The street outside our window.

The street outside our window.

That night, the storm hit in force.  It was pouring rain most of the night, and at times there was hail and incredibly loud thunder.  We were so so grateful to have a roof over our heads.  The next day dawned to… more rain.  We knew we weren’t going anywhere, since the next bit of riding was over another dirt pass, which had been closed because of the flooding.  We spent a whole day in the tiny town of Hurtado, enjoying the hospitality of our host and watching the rain fall down.  It kept raining all day, until the evening when the clouds finally began to clear.

Main street of Hurtado.

Main street of Hurtado.

 

A soggy new friend.

A soggy new friend.

Big rain puddles!

Big rain puddles!

Mar26_013The next morning was clear and crisp, so we hurried out of town on the only road.  We  turned  towards the pass and began to climb.  It was a great climb, since there were absolutely no vehicles on the road, the scenery was wonderful, and we were constantly kept interested by the damage to the road surface from the downpour.  Once over the top we started to see another storm system moving in, and we hurried to get down off the mountain.  As we entered the next town of Vicuna the storm hit, with thunder, lightning, and rain.  It was so sad to see the farmer’s crops being ruined by the relentless water.

Mar26_009 Mar26_003 Mar26_004

More storms as we approach Vicuna.

More storms as we approach Vicuna.

Insane mud and water flow coming into Vicuna

Insane mud and water flow coming into Vicuna

The road to the north has suffered severe damage.

The road to the north has suffered severe damage.

Now we are in Vicuna for our second day.  It has been a tough time for us, as all our plans must be changed.  That 15,000’ pass we were so excited about?  Closed because of massive mudslides.  Even the primary north-south route of Chile has been closed because of mudslides and wash-outs.  We have decided to go north anyways, into the driest desert on the planet.  This same desert has gotten 7 years worth of rain in the past week, so maybe we’ll even see a plant or two.  The cities in the north, however, were hit badly by the storm.  We don’t know what to expect, and we don’t know if even basic services will be available.  For this reason we have stocked up on a week’s worth of food and given the bikes a little bit of extra love and cleaning.  Here are a few pictures (that we didn’t take) of the flood damage preventing us from moving forward as we planned:

The pass we planned to be riding right now.

The pass we planned to be riding right now.

The mudflows make the giant machinery look like toys.

The mudflows make the giant machinery look like toys. 

If you don’t hear from us for a couple of weeks don’t get too worried, it’s just that services like internet might be unavailable as we go into the flood zone.

Now, as usual, a few more photos that didn’t make the cut for the narrative above.

Mar25_001

Our host in Hurtado gave us a special Chilean sweet made from a fruit that is like an apple-pear. It’s called ‘membrillo’.

Mar25_008

Our host in Hurtado also gave us grapes from her own vineyard. We ate them all.

Mar24_021

The sign read ‘ rough and winding road next 30 km’. Perfect!

Mar24_018

A beautiful old chapel built from mud-bricks.

Mar24_013

Yet another wood house that caught my eye. Take note Xiomara!

Mar26_006

One of my favorite sunglasses pictures ever!

Mar24_009

Lots and lots of mines are here.

Moving north through Chile

MAPYYou might be wondering why it has been so long since we last updated.  Well, the reasons are two-fold.  First, we were travelling through comparatively dull scenery and we couldn’t imagine filling an entire update with the following:  Tree farms and traffic.  Eventually the tree farms and traffic ended, but then we found ourselves in an internet void for many days.  Now, we’re back on the interesting back roads of Chile and tonight we have internet!

Let’s see, though.  Last time we updated we were just heading towards the coast.  As we neared the Pacific we began to see more and more plantations of perfectly lined up Eucalyptus and Oregon Pine trees.  The coastal road was rarely actually along the coast, and mostly wove through the hills a bit inland.  We did spent a few nice nights in campgrounds near water, listening to the crash of the waves.  The ocean here is not for swimming, but many people come here to surf.

Those trees are in perfect lines...

Those trees are in perfect lines…

Way too much chaotic construction like this.

Way too much chaotic construction like this.

Finally, a couple trees that escaped the clear cuts.

Finally, a couple trees that escaped the clear cuts.

Yep, that's me pushing!

Yep, that’s me pushing!

One of our favorite days was mostly accidental.  We had planned to take the coastal road, but were low on gas for our cookstove so decided to take an inland route because we knew we’d find a gas station.  We bit off more than we could chew with this route!  There was a very steep, mostly unexpected hill.  Even though it was paved it was still too steep to ride and we had to resort to pushing.  The descent was just as steep, and we even saw a truck at the bottom with crazy smoking brakes.

Mar11_013

Mar11_017We ended up at this really charming town full of artisans and government buildings.  We also met a hilarious Australian kid of about 12 who was living there for a year.  He told us he was taking care of his grandparents there for a year, and that the town had a lot of legends about witches.  He informed us that he just tries to live his life without worrying about witches.  He also wanted to know if we had been to his favorite American city of… wait for it… Miami.  Obviously, this kid was a riot.Mar12_013

We spent a night in the surfer town of Pichilemu, which was most interesting for its super-scary grocery store donkey ride (see picture) and its 6-way intersections.  It seemed that at every stoplight we could turn most anywhere, but the road straight in front would be one way the wrong way.  After Pichilemu we headed back inland for a couple of days, and we were really happy we took this route.  From not-so-exciting and kind of busy coastal road we went onto a beautiful, low traffic roads through arid scenery that we call ‘Scenic Western Country’.

Mar14_007

On this beautiful road we spent one of our scariest nights of the trip.  Near the end of a day’s riding we entered a valley with a forest fire.  It was a pretty sparsely populated area, so there were no hotels or camping areas.  We asked about a safe place to camp at the police station, and they told us to just ask a local.  There was a mini-market next store, so we got permission from the family running it to camp next to their house.  That night the wind changed direction after dark, and blew the fire towards us.

Left: Firefiighter blue. Right: Forest fire.

Left: Firefiighter blue. Right: Forest fire.

The entire neighborhood came out to watch the smoke and flames near their houses.  The fire reached the hills directly behind us, within a 10 minute walk.  We could hear the firefighters yelling, see the flames, and our eyes burned from the smoke.  The ash fell like a bizarre snow.  The young son of the family stood with us to watch the fire, and he was so sweet and scared that he talked non-stop for about an hour.   Luckily for the whole neighborhood (and us!) the fire stayed up on the hill and didn’t venture into the valley.  Even so, it was a restless night.

Mar13_017 Mar13_016

Mar15_006We spent a peaceful couple of days with my cousin in the surprisingly secluded valley of Tunquen.  It is so secluded (and internet free) that we actually couldn’t find him!  No worries, we camped on the beach, watched the sun set, and drank the bottle of wine we had brought him.  The next day we headed into the big city to drop off our bikes at a shop and finally met up with my cuz.  We had such a super-relaxing time that we neglected to take photos… oops!

Restful cabin where we spent a few peaceful nights.

Restful cabin where we spent a few peaceful nights.

 

 

 

Now, we are once again heading into the unknown.  Right now we’re in the semi-desert hills and mountains to the north of Santiago.  We’ve got a few more days of ‘small’ climbs (6,000′) before  we’ll be tackling our first high altitude pass into Argentina.  The pass is gravel, and tops out at over 15,000′.  Neither of us have been that high in our entire lives, and now we’re going to pedal our bikes up that high!  We’ll keep you informed – the scenery promises to be absolutely stunning.

A lot of photos didn’t make the cut for the narrative above.  Here are a few:

This kitten really wanted to share our meal.

This kitten really wanted to share our meal.

Our bikes got some new parts at this bike shop on the coast.

Our bikes got some new parts at this bike shop on the coast.

A nice bit of riding.

A nice bit of riding.

There was dirt too in this section.

There was dirt too in this section.

A typical Chilean snack: mote con huesillo.  It is some sort of soft grain with peach and syrup.

A typical Chilean snack: mote con huesillo. It is some sort of soft grain with peach and syrup.

Of course, puppies.

Of course, puppies.

Loops on gravel: discovering Chile’s backcountry

CaptureAs we said in the last post, riding through the gentle farmland and along the pretty lakes was just a bit too… easy.  For this reason we looked at the maps to see what we could do to spice things up a bit.  There were a couple dashed lines around and through some national parks in the mountains, so that’s where we decided to go.  There were more direct (and more paved!) routes through this area, but none of them called to us in the same way.  Into the mountains we went!

We set off from the tourist town of Pucon.  You may have heard of this town because it’s been in the news recently.  One of the big, iconic volcanoes we rode past erupted just a few days after we were out of the area, and all the town’s residents were evacuated.  Here is a picture (that we didn’t take) of the dramatic eruption:

Volcanic-eruption

The same volcano a few days earlier.

The same volcano a few days earlier.

So we set off from Pucon heading due East, towards the Chile-Argentina border.  There is a town there that is mostly composed of Mapuche people: the original inhabitants of the area.  It was a really lively town, with tons of Argentine tourists and a lovely plaza.  When we stopped to ask for directions the folks at the municipal building warned us that we would need a four-wheel drive vehicle.  They laughed when I told them we were on bicycles.

Feb26_011

Jason on the bridge over a deep ravine.

Jason on the bridge over a deep ravine.

After the pavement ended we began to climb up a steep river valley.  At times the river was a deep canyon, and various bridges crossed it to connect small farmsteads.  We ventured out onto the most impressive of these bridges, and it was terrifying.  We didn’t even make it halfway across before we were too scared to continue and gingerly made our way back to firm land again.

A section of incredibly steep road.

A section of incredibly steep road.

 

 

 

 

That night we found a great camping spot: in a cow field next to the river.  As we cooked dinner various cows and horses wandered by to check us out, but nothing bothered us.  It was one of the quietest nights we’ve had in a long time, in spite of the little dog that barked at our tent around 2 am!  We were grateful to the dog though, since when we went out to chase it off we saw the most spectacular stars.

View of the river at our wild campsite.

View of the river at our wild campsite.

Feb27_005The next day we climbed up and up into the mountains.  We went three hours without seeing a car, and it felt like our own private nature preserve.  I (Daisy) found an insane beetle stuck on its back in the middle of the road.  Once I flipped it over I could not believe how awkward it’s giant mandibles made it.  We later learned it is called a ‘ciervo volante’, or stag-beetle.  Jason found a Chilean tarantula just down the road.  Around here they call them ‘little chicken spiders’ because they are known to be calm and friendly.

Feb27_009 Feb27_010

This little lizard was about half the size of the spider!

The lizard was half the size of the spider!

Feb27_013

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the more macro vistas we saw on this day:

Feb27_008

Feb27_014 Feb27_017 Feb27_019

Ominous clouds as we start into the national park.

Ominous clouds as we start into the national park.

After this great loop in the mountains we spent a day on pavement to get to our next gravel road.  This one ran through a national park containing a massive volcano and its lava flows.  It was only a day’s worth of riding, but it was beautiful.  It was surreal to climb up black lava dunes, eat lunch overlooking a green lagoon, and ride through a high forest of Araucana trees.

Mar01_007

Mar01_003 Mar01_008 Mar01_012 Mar01_015Mar01_016

 

Mar01_019We reached the top of the climb and began to descend.  At this point the road surface deteriorated and it was full of loose rocks and corrugations.  When a car came to pass us I moved over to give it some space, but I hit a loose spot and fell down while moving quite quickly.  Luckily I didn’t fall into the truck, but I did fall on top of a sharp rock that dug a deep gash into my knee.  It was only about a centimeter long, but it was full of little volcanic rocks.  The cleaning process was awful!  We had to use our water filter to squirt clean water in as we attempted to flush out the rocks.  When that didn’t work all the way I resorted to picking the rocks out with tweezers.  Yuck.

In retrospect, I am insanely lucky that this is the worst injury I’ve had on this entire trip.  Jason’s worst was the sting ray.  In both cases, we had less than a day’s worth of pain / discomfort before being back on the bikes at full strength.  Now, you probably need cheering up, so here’s some pictures of a couple more puppies we met this week!

 

PUPPIES

 

Since the volcanic road we have been on pavement, climbing over hills and mountains on our way to the coast.  Not too much exciting has happened – we are just trying to put in the miles to get to another family visit and then on to Northern Chile.  Oh!  One more milestone to mention: 11,000 miles!

Mar03_007

Interlude on the lakes and rivers of Chile

Back on some pavement

Back on some pavement

Where we've been in Chile this past week.

Where we’ve been in Chile this past week.

We love Chile. You might think by now that we just love everywhere, but that isn’t exactly true, since we didn’t love the Yucatan very much at all. Anyway, back to the positive: we love Chile. It is home to a grand variety of landscapes, and after spending a month in the forbidding Patagonia on rough gravel roads we were ready for a bit of a break. We planned a route through the famous Lakes and Rivers Regions, and hopped among huge inland lakes for most of a week.

We finally discovered some of Chile’s famous fresh produce, and we rode gentle hills through bucolic farmland. We also got kind of bored from how easy it was, and for that reason we have taken a turn towards the Andes where we are once again bouncing along the gravel backroads and climbing among mountains. We’ll talk about these latest mountains in the next post though. For now we’ll focus on the giant sparkling lakes and the volcanoes that tower above them.

Our first big lake was called Lago Llanquihue, which is quite a tongue twister. This lake’s perimeter is quite developed for tourism, and it was a hopping place for vacationing Chileans. A neat aspect of the tourism here is that they are actively promoting cycling, so there was a designated bicycle path along the road for many miles. The nearly perfectly conical volcano overlooking the vast lake provided a perfect backdrop too!

Riding towards Volcan Osorno

Riding towards Volcan Osorno

Ut-oh, Daisy fall down!

Ut-oh, Daisy fall down!

The glorious moment when we realize that the gravel ends and pavement begins.

The glorious moment when we realize that the gravel ends and pavement begins.

Field of wheat with a big sky

Field of wheat with a big sky

After that came Lago Puyehue after yet another stretch of bumpy gravel road. We had expected gravel for about 45 miles, but after a mere 20 there was a sudden, wonderful section of brand new pavement. We call this unexpected treat ‘bonus pavement’. We got more bonus pavement on the way to the next lake, Lago Ranco.

Morning riding through gravel and roadwork.

Morning riding through gravel and roadwork.

Daisy makes some new friends

Daisy makes some new friends

Daisy makes yet another new friend!

Daisy makes yet another new friend!

Right before our bonus pavement was a man-powered 'ferry' (raft) crossing. The two guys used metal hooks to grab the rope and then walked the length of the raft.

Right before our bonus pavement was a man-powered ‘ferry’ (raft) crossing. The two guys used metal hooks to grab the rope and then walked the length of the raft.

In Lago Ranco we stayed in a funny campground where the owner met us wearing teeny tiny black shorts and nothing else. The place was crammed with kids and dogs and barbecues. We snagged the very last site crammed between a young family and the playground. We were in for a long night, especially since the town fireworks show unexpectedly began at 11:30 pm.

A view of a lake

A view of a lake

Fields with lines of corn

Fields with lines of corn

Farm with a view!

Farm with a view!

We started to see fields of wheat, blueberries, and corn. Fruit and vegetable stores are found in every little town, and at night we often have so many veggies in our dinner that we can barely eat it all. We even discovered a brand new fruit: the sweet cucumber. Inside it has thick flesh that tastes like a fragrant sweet melon.

Sweet cucumber, locally known as 'pepino dulce'

Sweet cucumber, locally known as ‘pepino dulce’

Fruit and vegetable market - it is wonderful to be in the land of fresh produce!

Fruit and vegetable market – it is wonderful to be in the land of fresh produce!

Daisy and volcano

Daisy and volcano

The weather started to get hot – in the 80s or even 90s. Because of this heat we decided to take a rest day in the small tourist town of Lican Ray on the banks of yet another large lake. This one was situated beneath the Volcan Villarica, and was home to a black sand beach that was packed with Chilean tourists. We found a backyard campground at the edge of town and settled in. Rest days are full of chores and very little rest. There are blogs to update, clothes to wash, families to contact, routes to plan, shopping to do, bicycles to repair / clean. On this day I (Daisy) had work to do on a statistics manuscript as well.

Black sand beach of Lican Ray

Black sand beach of Lican Ray

This pig loved the trash pile across the street from our campground.

This pig loved the trash pile across the street from our campground.

Our safety vests got a much-needed cleaning.

Our safety vests got a much-needed cleaning.

The laundry water was nasty!

The laundry water was nasty!

One more day of riding brought us to the edge of the mountains again, although we spent one more day camping on a lake. We had tried to stay at a cheap campground away from the shore, but the power was bizarrely out and it was closed down. Instead we stayed at a much pricier place, but it had a bonus kitten that happily drank the milk we offered and settled in for a nap on my lap. Bike touring certainly has its advantages!

Daisy feeds the kitten

Daisy feeds the kitten

Next up, we hit the mountains again on one-lane gravel roads. Spoiler alert: we found a giant beetle and a Chilean tarantula!

The tarantula we saw crossing the road...

The tarantula we saw crossing the road…