Images are infamous for failing to indicate gradients correctly and the steepness of roads is often hidden. A living proof:
As we rolled downhill we each got here to the conclusion these uphills might be arduous to barter in an RV or a closely loaded van like GANNET2.
Partly it’s the gradient which was steeper than it appears to be like, on dust and at 15,000 ft the place the engine loses numerous energy.
We had been glad we had come up the Argentine aspect and solely needed to go downhill right here.
Michaelangel caught as much as us right here coming slowly down the hill.
The place I ended to take some footage.
We adopted him down.
And down, a good distance down.
A pleasant little bit of washboard on the best way to make GANNET2 tremble a bit.
And a sudden burst of wind throwing a mud storm in our face.
I needed to cease for a couple of minutes to let it subside.
After which like that it was gone.
Oh look, a brand new member of crew misplaced. Michelangel took the higher street however I ended as a result of I used to be fairly positive we wanted to descend. Finally he agreed and in reality rotated and cane again. I noticed a diversion signal within the valley and I feel this aspect street was a zig zag street for uphill site visitors to keep away from the excessively steep components we had been driving down.
He stopped to say goodbye as he needed to get to the police publish to report a motorcyclist he had met earlier on who had two flat tires and was caught by the aspect of the street someplace again in Argentina.
We had been under 13,000 ft right here and it bought a bit extra comfy.
A short lived summer season pen with some goats and sheep sheltering in it.
Slim pickings on their summer season trip at excessive altitude.
The Chileans paint mile markers each few hundred ft.
The solar was heading to the horizon as we slowly descended. We deliberate to sleep round 10,300 ft the place oxygen ranges ought to be comfy.
The lake was our purpose for the evening. 10,300 ft with a number of spots marked to fiend the evening. We had been about 5 miles from pavement and twenty 5 miles from Chilean customs. And boy, had been we drained.
It was windy in fact.
If you concentrate on altitude an excessive amount of it’s going to drive you nuts. At this level we had been larger up than Leadville Colorado which is the very best city within the US and we’ve camped round there within the nationwide forests. But right here we had been glad to be this low for the evening.
Accomplished!
There was a grader parked simply off the street and we pulled up subsequent to it. It wasn’t the best campsite however it was simply accessible and there could be no site visitors at evening and the sheep pen on the head of the valley was unoccupied. Adequate for 2 drained vacationers and one energetic canine.
Michaelangel by some means solely caught as much as us right here and waved as he rode by. I bought a message later he made it dwelling in good order.
Layne sorted out our to go meals from the Argentine restaurant which we dropped at reheat for a straightforward dinner whereas I pulled out our window covers.
Window covers: test.
They’re an insulated set from an organization referred to as Dusk they usually make all of the distinction. The inside turns into a cave however we hear no noise and really feel neither chilly nor warmth inside.
Within the morning ing water puddles had been frozen however after we ran the engine for twenty minutes we had sufficient warmth to see us comfortably into mattress.
I added some air to the tires as pavement began in half a mile. I double checked the stress within the morning to make it was proper.
His tireless majesty needed a stroll.
His want was my command.
However I didn’t stroll all the best way to the water with him to benefit from the birds.
Argentines should have come this manner as there’s a hearth ring to grill their meat.
We had been drained however we had a lot coca the in our system we neither of us slept very effectively. “Are you awake? Me too,” all evening was the refrain over the basso profundo snores of a canine, exhausted finally.
