Jim's South America Motorcycle Journey: Say Goodbye to the Troopy

Saturday, October 8, 2011
Bariloche to San Martin de Los Andes 420km

Our goal today was to reach Pucon Chile, however we must always expect the unexpected and today, my birthday, brought us some unplanned events. Our morning ride initially on pavement brought us to the first dirt portion of todays ride under cloudy skies and drizzle and very cold weather up through the the stunning seven lakes drive. We stopped in the town of La Angostura for a warm up coffee and to appreciate the effects of the ash covered landscape in the surrounding area caused by the recent eruption of the Puyehue Volcano in southern Chile. After a stop at a beautiful lake for lunch we headed into the town of San Martin de Los Andes for a brief pit stop. Not far from here the troopy ( support vehicle ) developed problems with a front wheel bearing and drive shaft an could no longer complete the journey. An exhaustive search for parts brought no success and it was decided to abandon the troopy and make an attempt to cross the Chilean border with our luggage following in a hired truck. After a mad dash to the border and after crossing the Argentina portion we discovered that our luggage would not arrive before the Chilean border closed. Now caught in no mans land we had to re enter Argentina and begin the 103 km journey back to San Martin with 12 km of travel on gravel road, over wooden bridges and the balance on paved blacktop all under night sky. Needless to say, more than a few of the group were upset as there was abundant evidence of wild life, cattle and horses on or near the roads and this posed a significant hazard to all of the group during the return night drive. We all made it back to San Martin safely with the only victim being a hare run over by Andrew. After some confusion sorting out some hard to get rooms, a late night dinner was a welcome sight and a good nights rest tempered the emotions of yesterdays events.