After the very pleasant afternoon ride out of Cholila the
next town of any size is Epuyen. We try not to be focused on towns as goals as
we would rather primitive camp but it takes a bit of effort not to think that
way when you are looking at a map and planning your route. In this case Epuyen
was in a valley that as we rode up to it I thought it looked like someplace I
would like to spend some time. We could have ridden more but now without having
to any goals to check off like making it to the far south before it got too cold
or trying to somewhat gauge our progress against other riders on the Carratara
Austral, we are enjoying the freedom really leisurely touring. When you are
heading south and the weather keeps getting colder and colder you become
unconsciously uneasy about your mission. Now that we moved north about a season
warmer and are continuing to head in this direction we are more comfortable
with the mission whatever that is.
Anyway even though we could have pressed on we were looking
down the valley into Epuyen that we knew nothing about previously and decided
we wanted to go down to the lake to camp. The town and lake are a bit off the
road so there is a little commitment. At the tourist information kiosk on the
highway we heard some puppies crying and decided to see what their situation
was. They were crossing the highway and were very frightened especially one
yellow lab mix one that was shaking with anxiety. We got them some water that they drank a lot
of and tried to calm them down by petting them which helped a bit. We decided
to take them into town and at least get them off the highway. Once into town we
got them some food and after more petting they calmed down quite a bit. Being
on our bikes we could not really help them much more but took them over to a
school yard with some bones in hopes that someone would fall for them. They
maybe had a lesson that some people can be a source of support and to seek them
out.
From there we headed down to the lake and ended up in a
camping place owned by a couple in their sixties from France who had lived in
Argentina for most of their adult lives. They had spent many years as ski
instructors in Bariloche. On their farm
by the lake they had apple, peach and walnut trees all of which happened to be
in season.
The seasons here in Patagonia are quite a bit off what they
are in the US. In the US peaches and blackberries are a mid-summer crop, at
least they are in Hood River. It is now what would be about the middle of
September in the US. People still have
lots of flowers blooming in there yards like roses and irises even. The walnuts on the farm here were so good
they almost tasted like pecans. The
owners did not have any problem with us helping ourselves to the peaches and
apples. They had camping and a room inside the main house but we opted for the
room off the barn where you had to supply your own sleeping bag and we could
store our bikes. They had a new little puppy that was being raised as a country
dog in the barn but the puppy decided it really liked the curling up to people
in down sleeping bags. It went in and out of the barn at will but cried to get
back up on the bed. In the morning we went for a canoe ride on the lake before
leaving.
One thing you get used to here is that pretty much anything
goes. If you want to rent out a room in a barn well that is your business.
Houses are clearly not built by licensed tradesman of any sort. If there is a light bulb socket right over
the shower head you shower at your own risk. If the toilet is not attached to
the floor then you just can’t lean over very far. If there is a wall heater
that faces a cabinet in a corner that gets real hot then you probably better
not hang clothes in front of it. I read where recently in my home town they
were going to pass a law that food carts had to have a certain number of parking
spaces and some sort of sewer drain. That seems laughably absurd compared to
here where if you wanted to start a chainsaw store that sold hard liquor and
toys next to a campground well you never know what might feed a family so go
for it.
The road out of Epuyen was on route 40 which is the main
north south road on the east side of the Andes. The traffic was a bit heavier
than the day before. Laurie, after having been hit by a car two day ago was
sticking to the side of the road like glue. We both much prefer touring without
much traffic no matter what the scenery looks like. We followed the populated mountain
valley into the next town of El Hoyo and decided to take a detour into Lago
Puelo National Park on the way to El Bolson.
Lago Puelo has a view of Tres Picos that we admired from the south in
Cholila. The town of La Puelo is very touristic with about a mile long strip of
dining and logging right up to the border of the park. We decided to forgo that
and hopefully camp inside the park. The camp inside the park after a short kilometre
or two ride was disappointing in that it was huge and had no view of the lake
or mountains. We walked along the shore
with all the no camping signs until we got to the river delta where the sign
said there was no more law enforcement so we forded the shallow fork in the
river and camped as stealthily as we could in the willows of the delta. We were
glad to take the risk to have a view of the lake and Tres Picos that evening
and the next morning. Luckily the weather was clear so camping without propping
up the tent and hiding behind some driftwood worked out ok.
The next morning we had a nice short low traffic ride on
pavement into El Bolson. We passed one dapper old guy dressed in sort of cowboy
clothes and a neatly trimmed moustache several times as he stopped to tinker
with his ancient Renault to keep it going.
Here are more pictures with captions
Here are more pictures with captions
