“Beautiful, but harsh,” is how a resident of the area described Patagonia this time of year. Indeed we have found that to be true. While we were elated to have arrived in the mountains after a long stretch in the Argentine desert, we knew that the fall weather could spell the end to our cycling.
Indeed a storm spell rolled in and set up shop, sleeting and snowing, leading us to our decision to end our trip. We only had a couple hundred kilometers between us and Puerto Montt where we have bought return tickets to fly out May 2, but given the conditions we decided not to ride those kilometers.
Mark and Noël and I are all processing the end of our trip differently, but we all agreed that it did not make sense to ride anymore. Mark and I gave our bike to a bike shop in Villa La Angostura, and packed up all our belongings into our panniers.
Leaving the bike behind, we were finally forced to take a bus. Attempt number one to Puerto Montt was a bust. The pass was closed due to snow so we got turned back to Villa La Angostura. We landed in Bariloche, where we have decided to spend a few days before giving the bus another try.
Thanks for reading
-Nic
Congratulations, decisions made and there’s always next time!