22nd January 2020
I left Chos Malal around 9am, an early start for me; I was finding it very difficult on this trip to get going early. Of course, in a campsite it’s a bit easier, as you get woken by the sun, noise etc fairly early. Fabian was up before me, and by 8am was heading off for some fishing, his little bike packed with his massive bag containing all his gear perched on the back. I packed up, and rode down Ruta 40 to La Lajas. The road was starting to look more interesting, with hills on both sides of the road. After about 40km, I came across another shrine beside the road. This looked far neater and better built than the shrines I had been seeing for Gauchito Gil, so I decided to investigate. It turned out to be a shrine to Difunta Correa (Deceased Correa) , another semi-pagan saint-like figure. According to legend, in 1840 a woman tried to reach her sick husband, who had been abandoned by the Montenaras (partisans) in the deserts of San Juan, north of Mendoza. She died when her supplies ran out. A few days later, some gauchos came across her dead body. Feeding from her still full breasts was a baby. The gauchos took the baby with them. Some time later, they erected a shrine to the deceased mother, Deolinda Correa. The shrine to her in Vallecito is still visited by pilgrims. Her devout followers believe her to perform miracles and intercede for the living. They leave offerings of water, which can be seen in the photo. The Catholic Church refused Deolinda Correa sainthood, as she only performed one miracle, and the Vatican requires two.
I left Ruta 40 at Las Lajas, heading on RN 242 towards Pino Hachacdo, on the border with Chile. Just before Pino Hachado, I turned off onto RP23, the road Matias from the Chill Inn in Mendoza had recommended to me. I could immediately tell why he liked it so much. The road follows the Rio Latran, heading south. It’s a dirt road, not in great condition, with ruts and rocks, but it’s one of those roads you don’t want to rush anyway. The scenery was fantastic, hills on my left, the river meandering along on my right. Araucaria trees commonly known as monkey puzzle trees, decorated both sides of the road, and there was absolutely no traffic. I liked it so much that I decided to stop early and enjoy the scenery. iOverlander mentioned a track leading down to the river to a nice place to camp, so I kept my eye out for it. I’m not sure if it was the track mentioned, but after about 20km, a small track led down to a ford in the river. In the distance on the far side I could see a small farm. I didn’t cross the river, instead turning right and following the river for about a km until I found a beautiful spot to camp, under some arauacaria trees.
Camp
After stripping off my bike gear, and setting up camp, I walked down to the river. It was by now about 2pm, and pretty hot, so I found a pool, stripped off, and went for a swim. Absolute bliss! The water, which I presume is glacial melt, was freezing, but very invigorating. I washed some dirty clothes and lazed around inthe sun by the river for a while. I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around, taking pics, drinking tea, and did a bit of work on the bike.
There was no phone signal, so I sent a few messages to Jackie on the Garmin InReach. I then got out my Lixada wood stove, for he first time on the trip. I found that the cones from araucaria trees made the perfect fuel for the stove, so spent a while collecting them. Soon, the kettle was on the go, and I made some mate tea. The Lixada stove is a brilliant bit of kit. It cost me £12 from eBay, and will burn twigs, pine cones etc.
Cooking dinner
As it started getting dark, I cooked a meal on the fire of pilchards with pasta. It was actually pretty disgusting. I cleansed my palate with a small bottle of cheap whisky, and sat by the fire until my cones ran out. It was quiet save for the sound of the river, some strange bird calls, and the inevitable occasional dog bark in the distance. I sat in the starlight thinking about what I wanted from the trip. The original plan of riding Ruta 40 end to end was now not really an option, unless I backtracked to Las Lajas. And, of course, I’d missed about 30km of Ruta 40 on the very first day, when I had taken an unnumbered road after leaving the start of RN40 at La Quica. And for a week, Ruta 40 had been a bit of a drag most of the time. Endless tarmac straights, intense heat, long boring plains, with the Andes just a movie in my peripheral vision, way off on the right. South of Gobernador Costa, I knew from cyclists I had met that it would once again be miles and miles of boring tarmac. I wanted more dirt. Of course, I was now getting into the cooler areas, but, as far as I knew, I had only another 80km or so of tarmac on the rest of Ruta 40. And what is Ruta 40 anyway, beyond the myth? It’s a road that was conceived by a bureuacrat in an office in 1936. It’s exact route is constantly in flux, as they tarmac it and deviate it to feed new mining towns. In the end, it’s just a number. And my lucky number has. always been 7
It didn’t take me long to convince myself. Fuck RN 40. I’m off to Chile to ride CH-7- Otherwise known as the Carreterra Austral.
Daniel and his daughter
Beemer with a flat
Great roads, if a bit sandy
Where I came off. I thought I took a pic of the bike, but can’t find it.
