Sunday, December 3, 2023

12/3-Goodbye La Junta, Hello Puyuhuapi!

Well, we’ve gone and done it! We finally left La Junta! We only had 44 kms to Puyuhuapi, so we didn’t really need to get an early start, but we were still on the road before 9:00. Now, we didn’t exactly leave La Junta directly. No, we did a final tour de La Junta in search of pan. Since it is Domingo, the panadería close to the cabaña wasn’t open neither were two of the other supermercados. We decided to just leave sin pan. Oh, but one more possibility at the Copec (gas station). Nope, but there was another panadería near by that was open. So we went there. I stayed out with the bikes as I didn’t need anything (or had any place to put it).

Success!

There was this horse just grazing on the grass next to the road. 

At last we were heading out of town. As we were riding along, we started being passed by several (I counted 12) cyclists. They weren’t carrying any gear. Turns out they were a tour group made up of Brits and Americans. I talked for a moment with Maryann (she was from England). They were also headed to Puyuhuapi. 

The scenery was awesome as usual. It was more foggy than cloudy, and the sun eventually burned off most of the fog, leaving a partly cloudy day. 

It was still pretty chilly. 

Tres cascadas. A bunch of the tour group cyclists were stopped. I looked to the left and saw these three waterfalls. 

The tour group got ahead of us, and we were back on our own. 

We didn’t go over this bridge, but I thought it was cool. 

Some more ever-present mountains. 

Heading uphill. 

Markus wanted to fly his drone, so we stopped where there was a bit of a flat spot. As we pulled over, we saw a guy hiking toward us. Alex said, “I wonder if that’s Ollie?” She has been following him on Instagram. Sure enough, it was!

He is from Wales, and is walking all the countries in South America. He is walking for mental health. Super nice guy! He does 40kms/day!!!

We parted ways, and Markus got out the drone. 

Alex and I rode ahead, and Markus set the drone to follow him. We were riding next to Lago Risopatrone. It’s a pretty big lake. 


Markus caught up to us, and we continued on for a few more kilometers. We came to a pullout, with only about 6kms to go to Puyuhuapi, but we were hungry. We stopped and fixed our lunch. 

Not a bad view for lunch. 

Today I reconfigured my chair situation for easier access at lunch (strapped outside the orange bag on the top cradle). It was much better. 

After lunch, Markus said we now had downhill all the way to Puyuhuapi. Of course, the first thing we did was go uphill! Alex and I had to make some comments about that! I said for a downhill, it sure seemed like an uphill! Then there were a few more of those “downhills” masquerading as uphills. Finally, we hit the downhill into Puyuhuapi. Since the weather is decent, we planned to camp. Ollie had told us about a camping ground on the “lake” (actually, it’s not a lake, it is a fjord). We are not sure if we came to the exact one, but there is a panadería right next to it, which Ollie said there was one. 

All the comforts of home!

We have individual covered tent spots. 

Mine even has a “carpet”!

Baños y Duchas (somewhat primitive, but nice hot water). 

After setting up our tents, and showering, we went in search of something hot to drink, and as always, some kuchen. The first place we went to, the waitress told us there was a better place not far (for coffee and kuchen) than that place (more for meals). So we went there. 

Coconut with manajar (like caramel). It was delicious!

We roamed around Puyuhuapi some more. Here’s some photos. 

That way to the ocean!

Festive looking boat. 

Lots of murals. 

We’ve seen this on other cyclist’s pages. 

Mosaics in the plaza. 



They even have recycling!

Puyuhuapi was founded by two Germans, Otto Uebel and Ernesto Ludwig. The big house in the photo above was Otto’s. The house in the photo below was Ernesto’s. 



The Catholic Church. 

We returned “home”, and cooked our dinner. There is another German kid here who is hiking. His name is Kasper. He’s not too sociable. 

With tomorrow being my birthday, we had planned to go to the Hanging Glacier in Queulat National Park. Unfortunately, the trail to the glacier viewpoint is closed tomorrow and Tuesday. Instead, we will just continue on toward Coyhaique. There might be a hot spring along the way. We’ll see…regardless, I’m sure tomorrow will be a great birthday ride!










No comments: