The wind was already pretty strong, and to get out of town it was a crosswind. But, once we made the turn, it was back to tailwinds.
The scenery was still Pampa.
But there is a lake over there.
And the ocean on the left.
We saw the usual amount of guanacos.
Guanacos in clover. Fun fact…guanacos can drink salt water when fresh water is scarce.
At about 10:00, we stopped for a break. You didn’t realize how much the wind was blowing until you stopped. Then it is always the challenge to find someplace protected.
Alex and Markus sitting in a hole out of the wind.
After the break, we only had 25k to go, but there was more crosswind. Still, we made good time.
Notice what is different? Trees!
The planned destination was a wild camp spot on the Rio Ewan Sur. When we arrived, a guy came out to greet us. He looked a bit the worse for wear, but was super friendly. He gave us the scoop on the camping, letting us know we could probably get water from the police station that also happens to be located here. Alex and Markus took the dromedary bags and filled them up.
The hillside protects a little bit from the wind.
Ruta 3 over there. The police station is out of sight to the left. The green roofed building is shelter.
Photo courtesy of Markus.
After getting back with the water, we had some lunch. When the sun is out, it’s quite warm. While we were eating lunch, several vehicles pulled in. The first two seemed to just be taking a break, and letting the kids run around. They left after a short time. Then a few more arrived. It seems that some of them are planning to stay. We moved further along the dirt road, and found a better spot to set up our tents.
Those people appear to be camping too.
Our spot.
The river. It’s not recommended to get water from the river as it comes from several estancias upstream. If we had to, we could filter, but better if we don’t need to.
This place seems to have once been a campground. There are a bunch of concrete fire pits. Now it is free spot to stay. Unfortunately, as is common, people leave their trash behind. Otherwise, it’s a pretty good spot.
See all the concrete fire pits?
Alex and I went for a little stroll around the area. We saw this pair of birds. They seem to be some sort of bird of prey. It was clearly a male and female.
The male.
The female
Male in flight.
Female in flight.
Then we were sitting in our chairs when I happened to glance over on the other side of A&M’s tent. A fox was walking by!
It headed down the road. Later, it came back with what appeared to be a sandwich in its mouth. It went partway up the hill, then stopped and ate it. Then it came back down and went searching for more. We saw it once more as it went back up the hill (empty mouthed this time).
Markus worked on a couple of unfinished spoons. They were from a tree in the part between boat rides from Chile to Argentina. Of the three spoons, two had cracks. He was going to throw them away. I said I would take them. He finished this one. The other one he didn’t want to put more time into it, but I took it anyway.
You can’t even tell where the crack is unless you know where to look. I think it’s a really cool spoon!
See the heart?
The unfinished one.
Tomorrow is a short day into Tolhuin. I’m glad we stopped early today. My legs are telling me they haven’t ridden any significant distance since coming into Rio Gallegos. And, I would rather do consistent shorter days, than a long day followed by a day off. But, I still remember when we thought more than 60kms was a long day (and that was even before we got to the gravel part of the Carratera). Of course, tailwinds make all the difference…
Here’s a parting shot of my dinner tonight.
Couscous with tuna that included peas, carrots, and corn. I cooked it in oil with garlic salt, chicken bouillon, and a bit of curry powder. It wasn’t terrible.
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