Lago Negro

I “Doc Chey’d” it today and showed up two hours early for my ferry ride from Hornoperin. A “Doc Chey” is slang for showing up stupid earlier for something and coined by my dear friends Betty and Ernie. Ernie loves to get places early and he convinced Betty to show up for a running race many years ago sponsored by the Atlanta restauranteur Doc Chey hours before the start. They got there so early there wasn’t anyone in the parking lot and they ended up helping the organizers set up the check in table. So it became a “Doc Chey”. Betty has her own vocabulary in fact – nutballs, jing janging, two cupping – just to name a few. I was the first one to the dock at 8AM but I spent an easy morning having a coffee and watching the sunrise over the bay. The ferry showed up around 9:45AM and so did the rest of the drivers and riders eager to get this long journey started. This ferry is a whopping five and a half hours long but I spent the time well by meeting a few fellow cyclists and it was good to let my legs (and butt) rest after that big first day.

We pulled into Caleta Gonzalo at 3:30PM and they let the cars and trucks off first. I mention that because the next twenty five miles or so was a very dusty and rocky dirt road. It was pretty chaotic as the cars passed us on bikes and we made our way up and down the rolling terrain – but I was having a blast. This is what I came here for. Great gravel riding down remote roads, stopping to pull cold water out of mountain streams and being introduced to all of the new beautiful birdsongs. The topography is radically different here as compared the first day. It’s a beautiful mix of snow capped volcanoes and dense tropical forests. It’s early spring here so the snow is just starting to fill the rivers with electric blue water that tastes amazing.

I decided to make it a short day today and stopped for camp at Lago Negro after a ride of just 10 miles. The campsites each had nice gazebos, running water and toilets. The highlight was an amazing half mile trail that leads to the lake. After setting up my tent and making dinner, I walked down the short trail and it was such a peaceful experience. The trail was carefully built with an elevated walkway to keep you out of the mud (I hope you are reading this New Zealand!) and there was a nice platform at the end looking over the lake. What made the trail so special was all of the birds singing along the way. I took a short video below to share the moment.

I camped next to a sweet couple in their 60s from Switzerland that have been riding from Columbia since January. They were in remarkably great shape, loving their journey and still married after all of the time in a tent together. I was truly impressed with their accomplishment and told them as much. It’s so great to meet kindred spirits like them and it was great to hear some of the stories from their ride.

After a great nights sleep, I set back out onto the dirt road for my ride to Chaitan for a resupply. Chaitain is a small town but they had about a half a dozen supermercados. Don’t get too excited about the name – they were all super tidy but very small and I’m not used to what they have here so picking up trail food has been a challenge. I picked up a few essentials and set back on the road for another thirty miles or so of spectacular riding.

A few early observations about the riding in Chile. Its all awesome. Either really fun dirt roads or silky smooth pavement with incredible views of mountains and rivers all around. The towns and countryside are really well maintained and I’ve seen locals picking up debris everyday that I’ve been here. The roadsides are clean and the drivers are super friendly. I am not seeing many cars but the ones I do give me a ton of space, a friendly toot on the horn and a wave. I truly feel welcome here. I stopped for lunch and had a delightful time in a quiet restaurant in a small town. It was just another fifteen miles to my overnight spot and it went by quickly with a nice tailwind.

My apologies again for the lack of miserable tales of survival in the wilderness. It just doesn’t seem like it’s going to be that kind of trip. To make you feel better, my campsite tonight doesn’t have hot water but I did take an amazing dip in the cold lake overlooking the glacier filled mountain valley. How’s that for barely making it through alive! Hang tight, I’m sure something harrowing will come my way but in the meantime I hope you can tell how much I’m enjoying this place, the people, the food and the riding. The only downside is that I’m 1/4 of the way done after just 3 days. It’s going too fast! I’m headed into thermal springs territory tomorrow so I’m going to start taking more breaks to hike into those and soak. I know, this isn’t getting any edgier.