Los Andes

Abra el Acay -- Day 2

Huffing high above Negra Muerta

This photo was taken midafternoon on the second day towards Abra El Acay. We had just passed a sign "Negra Muerta" and thought we were nearing the top. The sign outside of La Poma says "Abra el Acay: 42 (kms)" and by this time of the day we had already cycled 37 kms. So we were sure the top was close. We began to take photos and whoop and holler.

A few kilometres north of La Poma around 8:30 am on the second day

Heading for the hills, from red clay to glaciers

Pushing up a steep detour, near where the river claimed the road

Attempting to rock-hop

The track starts to narrow

Brice gets his feet wet

Brice contracts a severe case of 'cahones pequeños'

Pumas strung up outside an indigenous Altiplanic household

We came across an indigenous household when a woman came outside to shoo the dogs and burros away from us.

Where did you catch these pumas?
"Way up high on the mountain, using meat in a trap."

Gets pretty cold here at night. Do you stay up here all year round?
"Sure! All year."

How about the pass -- Abra El Acay.
"¡Lejos!"

Okay, chao.
"Would you like to buy some goat cheese?"

Up through the rock garden

Showdown with 'Negra Muerta'

By midafternoon we'd come to the "Negra Muerta" sign, where Brice did his cactus impression. The cyclometers said about 37 or 38 kms so we reckoned the pass was near. We figured we'd be at the top by 5:30, which would give us a couple hours of daylight to descend a bit off the other side and avoid sleeping above 4000 metres if possible.

We took loads of pictures, thinking we'd made it.

But we weren't there yet

Note the road in the background. The indigenous household was in the valley just hidden from view in this picture.

Curious vicuñas

As the day wore on, the road presented a series of false horizons around every turn. Segments of the road became increasingly steep, as with the one pictured above.

The false horizons finally yielded to a view. But not of the top, as we expected, but of a new series of switchbacks, now totally shaded by the sun. Still no sign of the top, and we've cycled 42 kms and it's well past 530 pm. This photo was taken above the shaded swithcbacks (note Brice in bottom-right corner). Once again, the road climbed with only views to the next turn; no vista to something above and certainly no sign of the top.

"The pass is up *there*?"

Finally these false horizons gave way to a view of the extreme upper ridgeline of this range -- and nothing like a 'pass' or 'opening' through which to build a road. I saw that the road simply switchbacked much higher all the way up to the ridgeline. That was the pass. Brice was none to happy to hear of it. By now the sun was setting directly over the top, so it was impossible to see the road up there.

Contrary to this sign (which means "in the form of a table"), the road ascended a sheer face of rock. This was too steep to climb, even in 1st gear with the rear wheel solidly held down by the luggage. We got off the bikes and pushed a bit, exasperated by the reality of the pass -- much higher than we thought and much further than 42 kms from La Poma, despite the road sign. We weren't sure what to do. No way we could make it to the top before dark; it was already 7 pm. But we didn't want to sleep this high -- we were already at 4500 metres. One option would have been to push the bikes into the night to summit and to keep pushing till we got down a safe distance the other side. Then I saw that my rear tyre was flat -- pinched tube.

The flat tyre made our choice easier. We elected to pitch camp and deal with the consequences. I set about changing the tube -- the cold air in the morning would make the tyre rubber too inflexible to stretch around the rim.

We didn't care about sleep, we just wanted to ward off the cold, hoping that the altitude would be acceptable.

Posted by Scott at March 26, 2005 03:50 PM