Back in Chile

One of the glorious things about riding a motorcycle is the open nature of travel and the agility that comes from only two wheels. One of the tough things about riding a motorcycle is the open nature of travel; and only two wheels. 

Tuesday we were scheduled to leave San Carlos de Bariloche and head back to Osorno. The forecast looked a bit mixed and the rattling window overnight gave a hint the ride would be a bit windy. There was also a thick layer of cloud over the Andes suggesting there might also be precipitation in store. 

My graduate work was focussed mainly on nocturnal light winds but this required some (theoretical) knowledge of turbulence in various flows and over all controls on wind flow in topography. In fact most people realize, at least intuitively, that wind tends to follow valleys. Lakes along the bottom of valleys provide a surface that has limited resistance to wind.  Tuesday provided some good practical experience.

The road from Bariloche back to Chile crosses around the end of Nahuel Haupi lake and then tracks along the shore. The first part is in the wide open areas of the Patogonian plains (not the alto plano as erroneously written previously) and then enters a forested area along the lakeshore.  As we rode around the lake we could see high crested waves, with foam occasionally breaking from the crests, flags were stiff in the wind, and all tree sizes were moving vigorously except in sheltered places. In the picture from the town of Bariloche you will note that the trees have most of their branches on one side. 

With that route in mind you will realize it is roughly a U shaped path and thus will encounter wind from many directions. We estimated on the cross wind leg at the end of the lake we had sustained wind over 70 km/h and gusts over 100 km/h. In one gust that raised a mini cloud of dust that we drove through the sound of material indicated very large grains of sand or small pebbles were being carried into our helmets. Needless to say we rode slowly and cautiously but it was still a very harried 65 kilometers to the next town. I found the long encounter with turbulence rather too personal.

At Villa la Angostura we filled up with Argentine fuel prices (~1.50 CAD/litre) and had a glorious ride to the border with a few minor wind gusts and a few drops of rain but not much more.  After the bore-der, er border crossing ( two stages and lines to leave Argentina; three to enter Chile) we started down the pass. About 20 minutes later it started to rain steadily so we broke out the rain gear and looked like human pylons with our "visibility enhanced" raincoats. All in all the rain gear performed well but we were a bit humid when we finally arrived in Osorno.

So today we wandered around on foot in Osorno visiting the downtown square and the 5th build of the church; now Cathedral de St Mateo. The history includes destruction by indigenous attack, two earthquakes and one fire. 

Tomorrow we head further south to Puerto Montt which although not a tourist hotspot should serve as a jumping off point to local spots