October 14, Day 13: Gobernador Gregores to Las Horquetas
Today's route was mostly northwest which is an invitation for the Patagonian wind to cause trouble, because it usually blows from that direction. I made an early start to try to get as far as possible before the wind appeared. Got some breakfast and a sandwich from the bakery and was on the road around 8, but there was some headwind even on the way out of Gobernador Gregores.
Today was just hard work. Find a good gear for the headwind, make progress. The route turned away from the wind but it was the start of the climb, up and over the pass. That wasn't bad though, no headwind! So I cruised up the mountain, enjoyed a bit of downhill, had the sandwich, the road got back down to the valley floor and turned back to the northwest...
From left to right: departure; this is the first day I’m going without the fleece Gobernador Gregores street as I leave. The road out - headwind not visible. The scenery. Me at the top of the mountain pass. Having lunch on the way down.
This was about the halfway point: the entire second half of the day is northwest, with a difficult headwind. I was doing about 10km/h and with 60km left that means another six hours. Not good.
The forecast said about 30km/h winds; I don't know if that's accurate but it definitely wasn't as bad as other days. I was able to make reasonable progress and wasn't getting blown off my line, so it wasn't as severe as other days. It's just going to take all day...
The other potential problem was where I would stay tonight. The route from Gobernador Gregores to Baja Caracoles is hopefully the last difficult section. There's nothing along the way - except maybe for an inn halfway along. Maybe. iOverlander has a checkin from someone 9 months ago. It doesn't appear in Google Maps. On streetview it's an abandoned building, but the images are from 2018. In satellite images there's a new roof and some cars in the carpark, from 2024. So it looks promising, but it's unclear. Maybe they haven't opened up for summer yet? If it's not open, I'm going to have a problem...
But for now, there's still 60km of flat roads with a headwind from directly ahead. The road is so flat and straight that it disappears into reflection; cars and trucks fade in with four headlights, reducing to two when they get closer. On the horizon are some clouds. If the road ever points at the center it'll make a good picture.
And the cars are friendly today. When it's quiet I wave at them as they approach, sometimes they flash their lights and occasionally they even honk in response. Guess there's not many cyclists out there.
Is the headwind getting stronger? It's not going away. Sometimes there's a lull and I can take it up a gear; then it comes back and I have to change down. I start to imagine arriving at La Horquetas but they're full, and trying to negotiate space to sleep in the storage closet. (This is preseason so the chances of it being full are about zero.)
The clouds ahead have risen further above the horizon: they're shrouding a mountain chain. The Andes, and probably similar to where I'm going. I look forward to complaining about climbs and rain instead of headwinds.
The road behind now ends in a reflection as well. I stop once an hour for a quick snack and to refill my drink bottle. Not much is changing. The kilometer count is coming down slowly. I'm doing about 13km/h, about half what I'd do if there was no wind. I'm finishing off the raisins, hope I can get more in Baja Caracoles but raisins and dried fruit aren't in the supermarkets I've seen recently.
Five kilometers left, last stop. I see a sign advertising the Hospiteria La Horquetas, with a big "Abiento" at the bottom. I'm so happy I take a photo of it. I arrive and am given a lovely welcome! The rooms are clean and tidy and nice ... except there's no water. Or power. And therefore no Wifi. It's fine! This is probably the last pre-summer hotel I'll be in. I eat a big dinner (after checking that I'm not depriving them of their meal!) and wash with a bucket (ugh) and go to bed.
From left to right: neat looking plant. The road with reflection in the distance. Andes from a different angle. Me looking a bit downcast after all this straight road. Hostel is open! View from my window.
Not sure if the forecast was accurate, but it seemed like the wind was over 30 most of the day.
I don't have Wifi so I can't get a weather forecast but the proprieter thinks there'll be less wind tomorrow. Sounds good to me.
