Day 33 – Tuesday March 29: Over the hills to Cochrane
It rained and blew violently during the night, and everyone feared that we’d be facing a very uncomfortable day. But we started out about 10:00 and managed to stay just ahead of the squall line. We followed the Rio Baker downriver past the largest rapids we’ve seen so far, and then it joined with another large river, the Rio Chacabuco. At that confluence the Rio Baker comes in beautifully blue and frothy, while the Rio Chacabuco appears brown from the vast quantities of mud and silt it carries. From there on the Rio Baker is sand-colored. Just after the confluence the road headed uphill in a series of the steepest climbs we have so far encountered – at least 19%. Some walked and counted themselves lucky to have made it at all. Ultimately we picked up some downhill speed for the final push into the town of Cochrane. The nearly 50km seemed longer because of the steeps, and we had gained about 2800 feet.
Our B&B was the house of a jolly man who clearly liked having guests. Pictures on the wall suggested he was an empty-nester. The town of Cochrane itself occupies a crossroads. It has a huge town square, a couple of good cafes, a restaurant, a super Supermercado, and an internet café. Unfortunately the connection speed there was so slow that we couldn’t talk by phone on Skype or upload pictures. We enjoyed dinner at the restaurant and returned early for our next ride. The route was becoming a little cloudy now, a little unfocused, but we rose to a rich breakfast to set out on the next leg.
