12/6-Cycling Through a Sea of Lupine

So far, here in Chile, it has been beauty overload. Everyday the views are unbelievable. The photos don’t even do it justice. Today, in addition to all the snow-capped mountains, we cycled the entire day with lupine lining the road. And, with the Firebush and, yes, even the scotchbroom’s yellow, the color explosion was hermoso!

We didn’t have much in the way of climbing today. The climbs we had were fairly short. 

This rock was massive!

A lupine photo stop. 

Bumble on steroids! These buggers are huge! If a regular bumblebee is a 737, this one is a 787 Jumbo Jet! How it flies is a mystery. 

Our lunch spot among the lupine. 

Lupine lupine lupine!

A nice little double track lined with lupine. 

Sitting amongst the lupine. 

We also hit the 500km mark today!

🎶And I would ride 500 k, and I will ride 500 more. Just to be the one who rode 1000 k, and then I’ll go and ride some more!🎶

Ooo…that’s a pointy one!

Long straight with a tailwind and…lupine!

We rolled into Villa Mañihuales, and stopped for some jugo. We had a look to see which of the camping options we liked best, then headed to Borderio Camping. On the way we stopped at a minimercado so I could get some more food. 

Borderio is, as you might guess, near the river. It has all the amenities needed. 

And a nice view too. 

This is the WiFi casa. 

Oh, we met two guys from Colorado, Jackson and Harrison. A third guy went by (while we were eating lunch), but didn’t stop. Here at the campsite, we have Thomas from Germany. His English is good so I can talk to him. He’s a young guy riding a full suspension Mtn bike, heading north. It was Alex’s wish that another cyclist would come tonight. Wish granted! 

We have two more cycling days to Coyhaique. The weather is supposed to be good until we get there. But then, it’s only a couple of days of rain. We’ll spend a couple days exploring Coyhaique anyway.