Carretera Austral Day 8: La Junta to Queulat National Park | 41 miles, 2,562 feet elevation | Look Who Showed Up Today!

Riding Stats (link to Tom’s Strava)

Accommodations (daily mileage, elevation, etc.)

Route Tracker (track our southbound ride on a Google Map)

Mr. Sunshine!☀️

Not gonna lie, I was happy to get a break from grey skies and rain and feel a little sunshine.

The morning started off a little wonky when I poured yogurt in my coffee because I didn’t read the label carefully. There were curd like thingys floating around in my cup. However the nice lady poured me a new coffee without too much embarrassment. I won’t make that mistake again.😂

Nice ride today with mostly smooth pavement and little traffic. We cycled to and through Puyuhuapi and were surrounded by the Andes mountains or water all day.

Unfortunately tickets were not available today to visit Queulat National Park but we did get a glimpse of the hanging glacier from our campsite.

We met Theo from the Netherlands just after setting up our tent. The emblem on his shirt piqued my interest as I saw a purple panther team mascot on his it. It reminded me of St. Pius X, a school where I taught for seven years. Theo, a retired Geography teacher, is riding northbound on the Carretera Austral and started all the way down in Ushuaia, near Tierra Del Fuego. Theo and his wife have TWO sets of twins. Wow! He gently let us know we have our work cut out for us tomorrow.

Sharing a few pics before we get on the road. As always I’m posting a day later. WiFi and cell service are scarce and when there is WiFi, many times the bandwidth is limited.

It’s all rainbows and unicorns until the switchbacks and rough gravel start. And they start first thing tomorrow morning. 😬

Thanks so much for following along, thanks for your encouragement and most of all your prayers.

Click on the link below to view today’s video:

8 thoughts on “Carretera Austral Day 8: La Junta to Queulat National Park | 41 miles, 2,562 feet elevation | Look Who Showed Up Today!”

  1. no doubt you’ve crushed the hills, gravel and switchbacks by the time you see this BUT I know you’ve got this! Enjoy every single moment of this and keep posting! I read it every day and send up a prayer of safety for you both!! 💗

    -Lisa.

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    1. Oh I can’t thank you ENOUGH. Today was a rough one (for me) but I got ‘er done. Legs are very tired but for now we are enjoying dinners and a couple of Austral beers.

      It was one of the most beautiful rides we have ever done. Stay tuned for pics.

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  3. Hi Debbie and Tom. Wow! And I thought the scenery was beautiful in the USA! Enjoying your daily reports; keep up the good work—although it does look like “rewarding work”.

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    1. The USA is lovely and so varied but I’ll have to say, today’s ride, although tough on under trained legs was probably the most beautiful we have ever been on. Stay tuned for today’s post.

      Thanks for the follow!

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