March 11, 2005
Reflections on Paso Agua Negra
We´ve been on the road for a few weeks now, so I guess it´s about time that I make a contribution to the site. Rest assured that what is possibly the very conspicuous absence of one of the two cyclists on this expedition is neither the result of a) me being too busy cycling to write, or b) too busy enjoying the regional wines to write, but rather just the result of pure laziness.
Actually we have been cycling a lot, and through a lot of very high mountains, some of which are among the most spectacular Scott and I have ever pedalled through.
Just yesterday we made short order of 116km of mostly dirt road to get from a quaint town called Villa Union to Chilecito, where we are spending a rest day sampling the local Malbec and Cab Sauvs. Yesterday´s road took us through some stunning mountain scenery, including a minor ¨pass¨ called the Cuesta de Miranda. In fact, at only about 2,200 metres above sea level, this minor pass does not even merit the name ¨pass¨ by Argentine standards -- it seems that if a mountain crossing is not over 4,000 metres or so, then the Chileans and Argentines just don´t consider them passes at all.
Less than a week ago we were treated to a real pass, by anyone´s standards: the Paso del Agua Negra, which as part of the Andes chain forms the natural border between Chile and Argentina. It took us 3-1/2 days to get from the last town on the Chilean side to the first town on the Argentine side, but those were without question some of the most hard-fought and rewarding days of cycling that either of us have ever had.
Unlike Tibet in 2000, when we were sleeping each night at well over 4,000 metres and climbing passes each day that took us well over 5,000 metres pushing 6,000, this climb was different because we started from sea level and had to cycle all the way up to about 4,800 metres.
But given that we were not already on a vast, high-altitude plateau such as Tibet, this time we were treated to dramatic contrasts as we pedalled through constantly changing ecosystems. This time the towering giants pressed in on us, giving us an imposing sense of scale and time. Cycling in the Andes, you quickly become aware that you are merely an insignificant speck of protoplasm amid these vast, barren, timeless beauties.
The switchbacks closer to the actual pass were like none that either of us had experienced. Unlike the tight, steeper switchbacks common in Northwest China and even Tibet, each switchback stretched several kilometres before doubling all the way back over the same mountain, in some places it seemed only about 50 metres above the previous switchback.
But the best part about the Paso del Agua Negra was the payoff at the other side -- some of the most breathtaking mountain scenery in the world, and perhaps the most dramatic descent that either of us have ever experienced. Hour after hour of barrelling down switchbacks and we were still above 4,000 metres. It took us all afternoon to descend to the Argentine customs station, some 95kms through Argentine no-man´s land before we could get our passports stamped! After the thin air at higher altitude, we were sucking oxygen by the time we hit our first Argentine town, a sleepy backwater called Rodeo.
As soon as we can find a high-speed connection, Scott will upload some of his photos from the pass and you can see for yourself.
The road ahead after clearing Chilean immigration.
Filtering water on the third day from Vicuña.
Sucking air above 3000 metres.
Early morning on the fourth day from Vicuña, above 4000 metres. Check out the road on the right-hand side of the photo.
Shaking off the morning chill above 4500 metres. Note the road in bottom-left and far right of photo.
Final switchback
Below the pass, where sand meets snow.
Chilling at the pass, where Chile meets Argentina.
Kilometres-long switchbacks on the Argentine side.