Sin Represas

28^th Jan, Refugio Rio Nadis to Wild camp Quarry, junction Tortel road (44.6M)

The rain continued overnight, but the flooded river level had definitely dropped almost back to normal. After breakfast we walked up to the house. Unfortunately Rosendo’s wife was still away and so horse trekking was still not possible today. We both felt that we didn’t really want to hang around waiting especially when the weather seemed potentially threatening and changeable at the moment. So with regret, as this is such a beautiful and peaceful refugio we packed up our tent and loaded up our bikes again. We retraced our tracks from a couple of days ago and headed back to the Carretera Austral. This area is under threat of being flooded by a proposed damming and hydroelectric project. It would be such a shame as the landscape and scenery are beautiful. There are countless livelihoods that would be affected and the numerous resulting electricity cables if the hydroelectricity project went ahead taking power from this area of Patagonia to Santiago where it is needed would drastically change and spoil the landscape. Everywhere on the Carretera are signs up ‘Sin Represas’ (No dams), but it is here in the places that would be lost underwater that you actually realise what a tragedy it would be.

We continued onwards and southwards along the Carretera Austral. We soon realised we were following some other cyclists tracks and later in the day we met a french Polynesian cyclist and later a German couple on a recumbent tandem bike, all heading south. Another couple of cyclists heading north made this our greatest cyclist spotting day to date! It’s great being part of the cycling community, it feels special. We all have something in common and have many stories and experiences from the road. The hardships and beauty of cycling can be shared and fully appreciated. 

'Just married Germans on a funny sort of bike...

We had a good days cycling, our legs felt rested and the sun was out most of the day after the initial drizzle and we were keen to cover the miles. However the weather changed and called the end of our days cycling slightly earlier than planned. Just before we left the Rio Baker and began the climb over a small pass we could see a 'wall of greyness’ approaching up the valley. There was an OK wild campsite close to the road so we opted to go no further today and get the tent up as quick as possible. We just about managed it before the rain set in. Good call, as we’d remained relatively dry and the rain then continued relentlessly through the night.