Day 16, Antofagasta to Somewhere in the Middle of the Atacama Desert (actually the place had a name "Los Vientos" - which means The Winds). OK, this a tale I would like to tell. My strategy was to bolt as deep into the desert on this initial day as possible. I had studied the map intimately and I had thought I knew the geography rather well. As it turned out the first "posada" (small store) at km 63 had been abandoned several months ago. Woops. Should have talked to a few truck drivers before I left. I soldiered on. Just a little low on water that´s all. At about km 100 ran across "Posada Rosario" which was a true oasis and saved my dehydrated skin.
After re-fuelling at Posada Rosario I continued to bike deep into the heart of the desert. I was planning on calling it a day around km 130 or so but I caught a nice tail wind! Hoo-haw!! Rode that wind for about another 50 km of so.
The final stats for the day were a record day ..... total distance 183 km, total time 10 hrs 36 min, ride time 8 hrs 35 min, elevation gain 2,315 m, elevation loss 400 m.
What I never expected was to be camping at close to 2000 m. The wind really whipped up and I constructed a small wind break out of rocks in order to help keep the tent standing. Was a little low on water. Had to ration the remaining water carefully. No urine drinking though!
Day 17, "Middle of the Atacama Desert" to Posada Bahía Taltal
Total time 5 hrs 50 min, ride time 4 hrs, distance 104 km, elev gain 480 m, elev loss 1,670 m. By the end of this day I was out of the worst of the desert. I used the rest of this day to clean my bike, clothes and body. It took a while.
I forgot to mention that one of my favorite "passtimes" is to open pop bottles after they have been shaken up after rattling in my bike all day. Makes for a mess. Sometimes they leak out inside my panniers. Super fun!
Day 18, Posada Bahía Taltal to Playa Flamenco
Total time 9 hrs 30 min, ride time 7 hrs 36 min, distance 151 km, elev gain 1,270 m, elev loss 2,040m. I wanted to put in a big day in order to try to make it to Copiapó the following day. Had a great beach side spot to camp but didn´t have the energy or courage to bathe in the ocean. Hmmmm, come to think of it I didn´t bathe at all.
About three quarters of the way through the day I "dropped down" into the Chilean coastline.
Day 19, Playa Flamenco to Copiapó
Total time 7 hrs 23min, ride time 5 hrs 56 min, distance 134km, elev gain 1,110 m, elev loss 750m. A long ride as far as distance goes but I was helped by a nice tail wind for about half of the day. Got a pinch flat (hit a small stone pretty hard) with only 18 km to go! Only the third flat so far. Front tire this time.
And now ... a REST DAY. The gas tank is a little low and my motivation level is somewhere between "teeny tiny" and "zilch".
Footnote:
The city of Copiapó has about 160,000 habitants, is about 50 km inland, and has a nice main plaza.
After re-fuelling at Posada Rosario I continued to bike deep into the heart of the desert. I was planning on calling it a day around km 130 or so but I caught a nice tail wind! Hoo-haw!! Rode that wind for about another 50 km of so.
The final stats for the day were a record day ..... total distance 183 km, total time 10 hrs 36 min, ride time 8 hrs 35 min, elevation gain 2,315 m, elevation loss 400 m.
What I never expected was to be camping at close to 2000 m. The wind really whipped up and I constructed a small wind break out of rocks in order to help keep the tent standing. Was a little low on water. Had to ration the remaining water carefully. No urine drinking though!
Day 17, "Middle of the Atacama Desert" to Posada Bahía Taltal
Total time 5 hrs 50 min, ride time 4 hrs, distance 104 km, elev gain 480 m, elev loss 1,670 m. By the end of this day I was out of the worst of the desert. I used the rest of this day to clean my bike, clothes and body. It took a while.
I forgot to mention that one of my favorite "passtimes" is to open pop bottles after they have been shaken up after rattling in my bike all day. Makes for a mess. Sometimes they leak out inside my panniers. Super fun!
Day 18, Posada Bahía Taltal to Playa Flamenco
Total time 9 hrs 30 min, ride time 7 hrs 36 min, distance 151 km, elev gain 1,270 m, elev loss 2,040m. I wanted to put in a big day in order to try to make it to Copiapó the following day. Had a great beach side spot to camp but didn´t have the energy or courage to bathe in the ocean. Hmmmm, come to think of it I didn´t bathe at all.
About three quarters of the way through the day I "dropped down" into the Chilean coastline.
Day 19, Playa Flamenco to Copiapó
Total time 7 hrs 23min, ride time 5 hrs 56 min, distance 134km, elev gain 1,110 m, elev loss 750m. A long ride as far as distance goes but I was helped by a nice tail wind for about half of the day. Got a pinch flat (hit a small stone pretty hard) with only 18 km to go! Only the third flat so far. Front tire this time.
And now ... a REST DAY. The gas tank is a little low and my motivation level is somewhere between "teeny tiny" and "zilch".
Footnote:
The city of Copiapó has about 160,000 habitants, is about 50 km inland, and has a nice main plaza.
6 comments:
Hi mek;
just got back from europe this week and am stoked to hear and see your progress. What an epic trip! I look forward to more updates. You mentioned something about winetasting in your original post, have you had a chance to sample any? We were in Avignon for a while, the heart of Cotes du Rhone, where we sampled much of the local product. It sits in the shadow of Mt. Ventoux one of the epic tour de france stages where Tommy Simpson died on the ascent in 1967. He was full of amphetamines, what sort of doping are you employing? My parents are off to Machu Pichu next week, too bad that you aren't in that part of the continent to show them around.
ski hills opened this weekend.
have a safe rememberance day
peace
pod
Hi Pod, nice to hear from you Homes!! You folks with LOVE Machu Pichu. Please remind them to acclimitize carefully. Cuzco is around 9000 feet (or so). They should putz around for a while until they feel comfy. Machu Pichu is actually a lower elevation than Cuzco. Glad you had a good trip to Europe. I guess I just missed you before you left. No wine tasting yet. The heart of the wine region here is just south of Santiago (which is about 2 weeks ago). Glad that you got linked up to the blog!!
Bien hecho D!!
Mucho animo y fuerza, las fotografias estan increibles, que bueno saber que estas bien.
Hasta pronto amigo,
E.
I didn't know the significance of the Atacama Desert until I did some research - please see below.
Glad to hear that you were able to get through the desert with sufficient H2O.
Atacama Desert (from Wikipedia)
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The Atacama Desert is a virtually rainless plateau in South America, extending 966 km (600 mi) between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It is created by the rain shadow of the Andes east of the desert. Its area is 181,300 square kilometers (70,000 mi²), in northern Chile. It is made up of salt basins (salares), sand and lava flows, and is 15 million years old and 100 times more arid than California's Death Valley.
Driest Desert
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The Atacama Desert is one of the most dry places on Earth, and is virtually sterile because it is blocked from moisture on both sides by the Andes mountains and by coastal mountains. The average rainfall in the Chilean region of Antofagasta is just 1 mm per year, and at one time no rain fell in the entire desert for 400 years. Some weather stations in the Atacama have never received rain. Evidence suggests that the Atacama may not have had any significant rainfall from 1570 to 1971. It is so arid that mountains that reach as high as 6,885 metres (22,590 feet) are completely free of glaciers and, in the southern part from 25°S to 27°S, may have been glacier-free throughout the Quaternary — though permafrost extends down to an altitude of 4,400 metres and is continuous above 5,600 metres. Studies by a group of British scientists have suggested that some river beds have been dry for 120,000 years.
Good stuff Mek. Are you now ahead or behind schedule? Lookin' pretty lean in the photos. I think those dogs had the right idea in taking a nap when it gets that hot. ride at night when its cool.
I might have found you a job. We can talk offline but it could be a big deal. Argentina. Apparently they have oil there too. and need some gringos to help them recover it.
Hope you got thru the earthquake ok! The house is doing fine, plants watered etc. I put a light on a timer and will shuffle that around between rooms. Have fun!
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