We left Mendoza with heavy bikes, loaded down with 10 days of food for a side trip to trek in the Cordon del Plata. For a week we had this range pretty much to ourselves and manage to climb up a couple of smaller peaks as well as the highest mountain in the range, Cerro Plata. We found it hard coping with the cold though (-15C and windy on summit day) and decided to head north to warmer climes as soon as possible.
This took us through the beautiful Uspallata valley, where we spent a night following in the footsteps of el viejo, looking at the stars at the observatory in El Leoncito, and the following few days looking at the Mercedario and Ansilta ranges and making plans to return in summer to climb in them.
In San Jose de Jachal in the north of San Juan Province we ran into one of our cycling inspirations and heroes, Janne Corax, and after a few days hanging out together decided to try and follow him to the Puna de Atacama for some high altitude adventure. We took with us 15 days of food, and heady ideas of making it up to Laguna Brava at 4,200m and spending some time trying to climb some of the large, non-technical peaks in the area. This plan assumed ideal weather conditions however.
In the event, we climbed for 3 1/2 days from 1,100m up to the pass at 4,380m, just short of the lake, amidst beautiful wild scenery, most of the time with only the wind, guanacos and vicuñas for company. By the time we reached the pass we’d already been pushing our 60kg+ bikes for over an hour up the steep ripio road into a strong headwind, and were tired. There was a refugio 20kms away, but with clouds on the mountains indicating there was a storm on the way we doubted whether we’d be able to reach it, and didn’t fancy taking our chances camping out in an area known for its extreme weather. So we descended, and, after waiting a day at a lower refugio to see if the weather would improve, descended in the snow to civilization. This turned out to be one of the best decisions we ever made – Corax (who’d made it to the pass far before us and carried on to the refugio by Laguna Brava) later told us that the weather had been bad for pretty much a whole week up there – hurricane force winds, lots of snow and temperatures that fell to -22C.
Cycling stats:
Days getting from Mendoza to Chilecito – 29
Distance – 1,104km
Time cycling – 75h24
Cycle days – 18
Snowy cycle days – 1
Maximum speeds – 65.5kph (H), 53.0kph (N)
Unpaved roads – 301km
Longest day – 110km
100km+ days – 2
Punctures – 2H, 2N
Total amount climbed – 11,487m
Maximum altitude reached – 4,380m
Most climbed in one day – 1,273m
1000m+ climb days -3
Steepest climb – 16%
Number of cycle tourists we met – 3
Accommodation – 9 beds, 2 camps, 18 wild camps
New Argentinian beers drunk – Salta Negra
Trekking stats:
Days of trekking -6
Distance – 49km
Ascent/Descent – 6,095m
Peaks we climbed up – Cerro Plata (5,962m), Adolfo Calle (4,269m), Stepanek (4,114m)
Photos
