north from Mendoza - take one

Our friends in Mendoza were full of recommendations as to our route north from their town. Glad to be back on the road after nearly a month in or near Mendoza, we climbed the back of the Uspallata Range, keeping off the main road to Chile, and intending to follow the roads closest to the Andes for an unspecified distance to the north. God knows, we had had long enough to pore over the map. So, after a lumpy-throated farewell, and in the spectacular light of an approaching storm, we got on the road. Oh, and Paola sent us of with packed lunch, complete with chilled fruit salad, too! How sweet.

The road goes up to 3100m altitude, and was a mad ride, possibly the curviest road we'd been on yet. A photo stop about 3/4 of the way up, though, brought bad news. That rear shock absorber, recently repaired after its failure on Ruta 40, was bleeding again. (When they leak, shock absorbers lose pressure, stop doing what they are meant to do, and need repair.)

This brought a bitter flavour to our excursion, though we tried not to let it affect our enjoyment of our lunch, eaten at 3100m asl. The promised view of Aconcagua, the highest mountain on this continent, may or may not have been granted us - Emily could just make it out, I couldn't. That may have had something to do with the clouds covering both our viewpoint and the montain!

Back down into sunnier and warmer climes, we had no choice but to go to the nearest phone and call Ariel.

He and the fam welcomed us back again, though it is probably fair to say neither party was overly happy with our returning just a few hours after having left (except Ariadna, who was overjoyed!) . The friendship pulled through though.

So back we went. I pulled out the shock, we repaired it, and were back on the road in a short couple of days.