Intro
The rest day in Oyón is officially a distant memory, replaced by the reality of a 1,300-meter vertical wall. I rolled out this morning under a hard, cloudless blue sky, but the easy pavement lasted exactly four kilometers before the Andes traded asphalt for a crumbling, sandy mess. My legs felt the weight of the three-day remote stretch ahead the moment the tires hit the dirt.
The Peanut Butter Threshold
- The 5:45 AM alarm was a violent start to the day, but I needed every minute of light. Breakfast was a functional affair of bread rolls and the thick, greasy stickiness of peanut butter that seemed to coat my entire mouth. By 7:45 AM, I was finally moving. In the direct sun, the temperature was manageable, but every time the road dipped into the shadow of a ridge, I felt the metallic sting of high-altitude air on my knuckles. My fingers went from warm to frozen in the space of a few meters.
- At the four-kilometer mark, the transition was absolute. The paved road headed elsewhere, leaving me with a steep gravel pitch that didn’t waste any time. I stopped at 10:45 AM for a snack—more bread rolls and the familiar, cloying texture of peanut butter. I was halfway up the climb and feeling optimistic. The gravel was compacted, my rhythm was steady, and I genuinely thought I’d be over the pass by mid-afternoon. That optimism didn’t survive the next hour.
Two Kilometers of Sand
- The road surface disintegrated around noon. What had been firm gravel turned into a steep, deep, loose mix of sand and river stones. Every time I tried to put power into the pedals, the rear tire would just spin out with a dry, grating slide of loose gravel. I lost traction completely on the steeper hairpins and had to resort to the hike-a-bike. Pushing a fully loaded rig through road conditions like this at this altitude is a special kind of misery.
- It took me exactly 100 minutes to cover just two kilometers. My heart was hammering against my ribs, and the only sound was my own heavy breathing and the rhythmic, dry crunch of sliding gravel under my boots. At one point, a man walking toward a small stone house saw me struggling. Without saying a word, he put his hands on the back rack and helped me push the bike up a particularly nasty three-hundred-meter pitch. He didn’t ask for anything; he just leaned into the weight until the gradient eased, gave a short nod, and walked away toward his gate.
Thunder and the Milky Way
- By 3:20 PM, the geometry of the day had changed. I looked at the remaining vertical distance and realized the summit was out of reach before dark. The sky, which had been a piercing blue all morning, began to fill with heavy grey clouds. I heard the first low growl of thunder echoing off the peaks. The gradient eased slightly, and the road surface improved just enough for me to click into a gear and actually ride the next three kilometers, but the pressure of the coming storm was constant.
- I reached a potential wild camp spot I’d seen on iOverlander around 5:00 PM. It was near a lone farm building, but when I went down to ask permission, the place was deserted. I doubled back to a flat ledge with a clear view of the cordillera and started throwing the tent up as the light failed. The metallic sting of high-altitude air returned with a vengeance as soon as the sun dropped behind the peaks. I didn’t bother with a real meal. I boiled water for angel hair soup, dumped in a tin of tuna, and ate it standing up just to keep my blood moving. There was no point in peeling vegetables or trying to be a chef when my toes were already going numb.
Overnight
I’m wild camping on a high-altitude ledge about 20km past Oyón. It’s basic and exposed, but once the clouds cleared, the sky opened up into a massive, bright display of the Milky Way. It’s quiet enough out here that I can hear the wind hitting the tent fabric five minutes before it actually reaches me.
Reflection
A 22-kilometer day can be significantly more exhausting than a 100-kilometer day when the road surface decides to stop cooperating.
Route summary
- Date: 2026-05-16
- Distance: 22.92 km
- Elevation gain: 1301 m
- Elevation loss: 298 m
- Duration: 13 h 14 min
- Time in Motion: N/A
- Average Speed: N/A