I think I mentioned it before; Argentina really is a nice country to cycle around. I already cycled a lot in this country. This day was worth mentioning, because I wanted to make a loop that involved several river crossings, and it wasn’t clear if a bridge would be present. I started off quite easy, and was able to cross the Rio Azul with a bridge. From there I followed a nice trail on the west bank of the river, south. Then, at some point, I stumbled upon the Rio Blanco. From the map I figured I could cross it, bridge or not. But when I saw the river I had a bit of doubt. But riding back is usually not the first option that I consider. So I was contemplating about it on the bank of the Rio Blanco: ride back 7km to catch up with the trail further down stream, and miss out on unknown trails, or cross the river on foot and find out? I decided the latter. It was sunny weather, so I would dry up quickly I reckoned, but the current was strong so I had to be careful. I was able to take some shots when I was in calmer water. An action camera would have been better here, to give an impression. Also handy is that my mountain bike, with it’s big tyres, floats easily. The current was too strong to carry my bike on my back.
After this successful crossing I explored part of the Rio Blanco before moving on. I continued the trail south which was now entering the land of the Indigenous people, Tsonek or Mapuche. I’m not sure and I didn’t ask when I was there. But people were friendly and it is interesting to see that some old skills are still used.
My plan was to reach the Lago Puelo, and cross the Rio Azul again, back to the east bank with easier roads. But that was not possible. I kind of expected a bridge here because on the west bank is the Reserva Nacional Lago Puelo, but I found out that access is only with small boats. Of course there weren’t any when I was there. I decided to follow the trail a bit further up to the Chilean border and into the forest before turning around and follow the same route back. Which was interesting enough anyway. Luckily I could skip the previous fording of the Rio Blanco by taking a different bridge and arrive back at the van with dry clothes.
