Cerro Castillo – December 2nd 2008
A dog as soft pillow.
The day out of El Calafate is on paper one of toughest stages in Argentina. It’s not only on paper a difficult stage, also in reality. 162 kilometers in total. 90 kilometers on a beautiful paved road with a lot of tailwinds followed by more than 70 kilometers on a gravel road, mainly with strong head- or side winds. The distance is far above our daily average of hundred kilometers, but there is nothing in between to shelter or trees to break the Patagonian winds. Only rolling fresh grassland with a lot of healthy sheep. Sometimes you spot emus in the distance or flamingos in one of the little lakes. All cyclists take it the way it comes and they reach Tapi Aike after more than 8 hours on the bike. Except Andre, who has subscribed for a seat in the Patrol, especially the second half of the day. Tapi Aike is after 162 kilometers the first proper location to camp. It’s nothing more than a petrol station, a shop and two farms. We make our kitchen next to the road and can put up our tents in a field with grazing cows. No one complains and retires to one’s tent right after dinner. These days we get 16 to 17 hours daylight and it’s getting more and more if we further head south and come closer to December 21st. Not a lot of people witness the stunning sunset, everyone falls asleep soon after a hard working day on the bike.
The next day to the border town of Cerro Castillo is fortunately a lot shorter; only 57 kilometers and it feels almost like a rest day. We cross once more the border of Argentina and Chile. We are welcomed in Chile by a group of condors in the air and a shop with refreshments right after the customs. Most of us go for an “energy” drink - let’s call it “beer” - at noon and make it to camp not much later. Some roll out of the establishment after a several hours and after a handful of beers. The bottles are 1 liter each!!! That’s 5 liter of beer!!!
Mick, Sean, Bene, Tomas, Ewald and Andre drink if they already reached the finish in Ushuaia. The atmosphere is euphoric and everyone has a great time. Sean, Tomas and Bene are the “winners” and stay as longest. Sean is try to find his way to the campsite but ends up in the ditch. Tomas is passing a bit later and catch a glimpse of a cycling jersey in the grass. It’s Sean laying and sleeping next to road. After a wake-up call they make it together to camp ( don’t ask me how, but they made it ) and fall asleep in front of the dishwashing table. A friendly dog is used as soft pillow…
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Torres del Paine – December 5th 2008
Superlative of beauty.
In Cerro Castillo we are just 50 kilometers from Torres del Paine; one of the most well known national parks of Chile, probably of South-America, and maybe of the world. It’s indeed majestic. We are already rewarded with beautiful panoramas and awaited by hundreds of guanacos tens of kilometers before we enter the park. The park is the superlative of beauty!!! Coloured lakes, huge glaciers, cascades, all kind of flowers and birds, guanacos, and of course the granite pillars which dominate the scenery. Unbelievable. God exists… Allah, Vishnu or Buddha can also have a part in it.
We cycle 25 kilometers through before the park before we arrive at the campsite in the middle of the National Park. We had already many beautiful rides in “The Andes Trail”, but this is definitely a price winner. It’s one of the most wonderful rides we have done. The weather conditions are outstanding, it’s springtime, all kind of flowers are blooming, guanacos are crossing the roads, flamingos stand in turquoise lakes and the birds are whistling in the bushes. Photo time. Every curve in the road surprises us with new splendid views. Magical.
The campsite is located at Lake Pehoe. Time for a dip. An ice cold dip. With ten of us we go for a dip in the freezing cold water. Some conviction is necessary to get them all in. It’s always good to relax the tired cycling muscles, but when the estimated water temperature doesn’t reach the 5 degrees Celsius, you can ask yourself if it’s still relaxing. “Savage” is more a word with pops up in our minds when we stand in ice water of Lake Pehoe. The Torres del Paine National Park is a paradise for hikers. Two rest days are planned. The credo is “No biking, but hiking”. All of us go out for one of the many hikes in the park, ranging from a few hours to a whole loop of seven days. Everyone does the one day hike to the “Torres”. It’s a marvellous trail of 3 to 4 hours one way ( according to the maps ) with walking over rolling paths, along high waterfalls and climbing over huge rocks. A few do the trail in less than two hours!!!
The end of the trail is outstanding; we are finally surprised and rewarded by a marvellous view over the granite pillars which reach two kilometers vertical in the sky. There is no vegetation at all; only stones, granite, fields of snow and a milky blue lake in the foreground. It’s hard to imagine that the peaks are that high. It’s like skyscrapers of 600 storeys!!!
The “Torres” are probably one of the most outstanding natural wonders in the world. No one regrets the tough hike, although the bike muscles are ruined by the hike muscles the next day. Everyone jumps on the bike the following day with stiff legs, but with a strong tailwind we fly out of the “Torres del Paine” National Park.
