I got the chance to spend few wonderful days at Pedro’s lodge and get to know its inhabitants. The dog called inca, the chef from Puerto Montt and the whole family.

Well... it is winter already. And the only question now is how much snow is too much snow.

Pedro and family run a great lodge near skiing and mountain biking destinations!

or maybe it could actually be fun with all this snow?

or would i be walking away with a frozen tail between my legs?

there is a 5km tunnel in the way (no bikes allowed) and Pedro drove me across

When it was time to go, Claudia looked at me: “are you sure you want to go?”
hmm…. probably! it’s been a while since ive done winter travel and yeah, whats the worst that can happen? Plus i had this bikepath all to myself

then i was off to the road and it was really wonderful, the moment when the sun almost came out and the snow on the Araucaria trees was something amazing. Too bad it will be some time before i see that sun again.

few cars passed, 2 stopped to ask if i wanted a ride. I really wondered if when they got back home they wondered, did we really saw a guy biking here?
or was it all a dream?

or maybe it was all a dream? a journey into the winter wonderland

I went on with a pair of ski goggles i borrowed from Pedro that make things more orange and happy. When i took them off, i was like OPS, its almost dark!

putting the shoes in the morning revealed a big error. I need to keep them closer to me to make sure they dont freeze.

this is as close to seeing the sun as I came… I left kind of early so that i can reach the town for lunch and make a plan for that snowstorm tomorrow.

it was not easy going but it could be so much worse. Tomorrow there was a big storm scheduled to come to the Andes. It was hard to balance keeping cool with keeping waterproof and in the end it was hard to tell if i got soaked by the wet snow or sweating. Shoes were completely wet and at times it ridiculous pushing the bike through knee deep snow.

the snow was so sticky that any part touching it grew snow tumours

that whole thing grows in 2-3minutes, i have to clear it and then it grows again….

and if you think snow cant break your derailleur… think again!

but on the bright side, i wont be using the derailleur for few days so that didnt matter!

oh and the funny part is… i thought i would get to that town today for lunch. I would be lucky if i make it over the pass before the night falls

it was tough going but i kept on pushing until late as I knew that any progress i make today might be 2-3 times as hard tomorrow. I finally set up camp under a tree where there was a little less snow and cleared the ground as best as i can. The only way to dry stuff now is to wear it and keep it in the sleeping bag at night, it’s truly one of the most unpleasant things you can do is line your pants with dirty wet stuff and hope it kind of dries (at at least stays warm and not-frozen) by morning.

good morning. Where is my bike?

oh, here it is!

you know how you can stand your bike in snow? Well… i could do wheelies here!!!

i spent a good hour wondering how i can move forward. I tried dragging, lifting or doing relays with bike & gear. Nothing worked. While going back for my backpack i thought that just walking knee deep in snow without anything was pretty easy.

eventually came a compromise where I added the bike to my backpack with the rear rack facing down and my blue dry bag dragging behind. One wheel and later two in hand and i also used my poncho as a sled before it got too wet and cold to use it. Then i rolled the wheels infront of me to help break the way for my feet

it was way too hot, the snow was too wet and it was all like walking knee deep in a slushi.

i was soaking wet and i kept on going but i knew that soon i will have to stop and likely use my emergency blanket to warm up and sleep. Everything was wet. Tent fly and body from yesterday and all the clothes

luckily i spotted a little cabin and even better, it was open!

i spread everything out to dry and had hot tea. there was a car living here. The next day i just stayed in, too tired and too sore to move. It pretty much rained all day and that means it will be less snow tomorrow

nothing was really broken on the derailleur just a screw missing and some other parts that werent in a great shape. I made a promise to my wheel guy, chris murray to bring him a derailleur pulley, completely rounded. Working on it!

i thought the cat would love the brooks saddle but he preferred the seatpost!

i was able to push the bike, it was really easy

i met the loggers going up to bring back a buldozer and a truck that were kind of stuck up there. They said it wast only few km of snow further down

i met Ricardo, the owner of the cabin and they were logging the trees that were burned in the fire before. Really hard work if you ask me, cutting them down with axes and chainsaws for firewood. I thanked him for leaving the cabin open. He said that cat has spent 4 winters in there, living off birds and whatever else might wander in the cabin. I fixed up the derailleur over lunch and matte at their logging camp further down

and after few days of not riding the bike i cant explain to you how wonderful it is to be rolling downhill and spinning the pedals!

and maybe i need to rethink my entire plan to ride the mountains going south. Its just too much snow and being on a bike… is really not the best way to go about it…