Leaving El Chalten
As Dennis mentioned in yesterday’s blog, we had decided to go to the view point to photograph Mount Fitz Roy this morning, as last night the sun had been completely in the wrong position. Sadly when we arrived there, the view was rather disappointing. In the winter, if the peak had been covered in snow, maybe it would have been more impressive, but the view when driving into El Chalten had actually been more spectacular.
We stopped in El Chalten for a coffee. It is like a large, very touristy, village. Mainly cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops and accommodation. We needed to refuel and there appears to be only one small gas station on the outskirts of town. Quite a long queue when we arrived, but when we drove in we discovered there were two queues. One was for petrol and the other for diesel. The long queue was the petrol queue. There were only two ahead of us in the diesel queue.
On the Road
We had to retrace our steps on the road out of El Chalten, back to Route 40. The first section to Tres Lagos was uneventful and the scenery is quite monotonous. It is about 13.00 when we reach Tres Lagos so we decide to stop for lunch.
We found a place to park beside a stone wall to try and shelter from the wind. The wall has been erected at the start of the town and bears a sign welcoming you to Tres Lagos. It isn’t much of a place! The wall doesn’t have much effect and Poki is severely battered by the very strong wind. The rocking through lunch was a bit reminiscent of crossing the Drake Passage.
We set off again wondering what the next stage of the route would be likely to bring. Back in El Calafate the young motor cyclist, who kindly gave us the eggs, had been telling us about the heavy rains which had caused washouts and flooding on the roads around Gobernador Gregores. He, and his travelling companions on bikes, had had a nightmare journey.
Los Malditos 73
On route 40 there is a section of the road known as Los Malditos 73. It is a 73 kilometre section which is unsurfaced and gravel. It is known to be a problem for motorcyclists. In the wet it must have been horrendous.
The only habitation along the route is Estancia Siberia. This is part ranch, part campground and part accommodation. There is no plan to surface this section of road. Understandably, as it is so uninhabited.
The rain was 5 days ago so, fortunately the Los Malditos section had dried out. However, there were many places where there was evidence of people being stuck in muddy tracks. It is a wide road, so drivers have now picked out and marked the best route to follow. Closer to Gobernador Gregores there were places where the road had been washed out.
Dennis is great at driving on gravel, so this section was no problem for us. In fact, it was less difficult than the deep gravel section we came through a couple of days before. Once back on the tar seal, there was still plenty of evidence of flooding. Huge puddles beside the road, and mud all over the road.
In some places bulldozers and graders were restoring the banking at the sides of the road, which had been washed away.
Tonights camp.
Gobernador Gregores has three or four campgrounds. I picked the one that was beyond the town. It had a good write up on iOverlander and I thought it would help us be on the road faster in the morning as we will have quite a long drive tomorrow.
However, when we located it and drove in, the camping area was completely underwater. A lady came out of reception and told us camping wasn’t possible. So, next to plan B. We headed back into Gobernador Gregores and through to the other side of town. This time the camping was available.
I went to reception and was shown the facilities and advised where we could camp. We drove down to that location. The campsite was empty and the camping area had little grass. Dennis didn’t like it. He was concerned if it rained again overnight it would be muddy. On the opposite side of the camp was a football field. Dennis wanted to camp there.
We went back to reception to ask if this was possible. Absolute not, according to the lady owner/manager. She said it was too wet. Dennis walked on it and insisted it was dry, but she wasn’t budging. We’ll have our money back and leave, said Dennis. I thought this was getting silly. Dennis suggested another site, a place between a row of trees and a hedge, nicely sheltered, dry and with some grass. We’re now settled there, but the lady owner has gone off us!
At about 9pm a group of Brazilians arrived in a Jeep. One, Lucas, came over to chat to us and try to practice his English. He loves Land Rovers! He has given us some hints on places to visit in Brazil. A bit later he came back and asked if we would like to join their barbecue. Very sweet of them, but we had already eaten.
Tomorrow we are heading for the town of Perito Mereno. (Same name as the glacier, but no where near it). It’s about 356 kilometres and looks like a purely driving day, with little to see en route.
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