12/16-Ripio!

It was a chilly one in Chile this morning, but we were climbing right away, so we warmed up (although my feet remained cold for most of the day).

Now, prepare for a photo dump, because the scenery today was amazing!

The Rio Ibañez 

Looking back to see blue sky!

More views to the Rio Ibañez. 

We had a 6km climb first, that wasn’t too bad. On Komoot, it looked worse than it was. Then we had a short 1.6km climb. That one was a doozy! It got up to 13% grade. I was really happy to have the 15.9” gear. Just after finishing the steep climb, we saw these signs. 

Billy is ready for some ripio (gravel)!

And there you have it. No more pavement until Villa O’Higgins (photo courtesy of Alex)!

The ripio wasn’t too bad. It was more sandy than gravelly. There were some potholes, and some washboard, but with Billy’s front suspension, it wasn’t too terrible. We started down the first descent. I looked to my left and saw this. 

Just look at that color!

We continued down a steepish hill. I had to stop again for this view. 

If you look closely, you can see the road along the valley floor. 

After the descent, we didn’t have any more significant climbs until at the end of the day. 

Lupine in all different colors!

Riding along the river. Markus flew the drone for awhile. 

Sun on the snow sure brightens it up!

The beginning of the last climb. We didn’t do the whole thing. There are bus stops along the way. 

We had taken a break earlier in the day in another bus stop. An elderly woman was waiting in the bus shelter. We weren’t sure if she was waiting for a bus, or for someone to give her a ride. She lived nearby. 

We did about a third of the climb. 

Another nice view to the valley as we climbed out of it. 

Almost to the campsite. 

Cool erosion on the other side of the road. 

The camping place was not much further. It’s called Rio Cajón. Basically, it’s a farm with some camping facilities (building with baños y duchas, kitchen, etc). We are renting behind the building. 

Not a bad view, huh?

There are all manner of farm animals here. 

Horses

This little calf. 

Lots of sheep. 

Chickens (including some babies)

Even a Turkey. 

The farmer also has at least 5 border collies. We watched them herd the sheep into another pasture. There’s a puppy too. 

Coming back from herding the sheep. The guy is very proud of his dogs (as he should be). It was fun to watch them do their thing. 

The afternoon has been really nice with warm sun. We should be heading into a sunny and warm week. The wind wasn’t too bad, but it made it colder. Tomorrow, the wind is supposed to be less. 

That’s all for today from Patagonia! Stay tuned as we continue on the ripio tomorrow!