After the Los Molles valley is the valley of Las Leñas, one of the largest ski resort of South America. We don't go there for this valley itself but because it gives access to the valley Hermoso, which is apparently very beautiful. The pass to reach the Hermoso Valley is quite high and the track in bad condition.
We ride the 10km of gentle climb to arrive at Las Leñas relatively easily. We leave our luggage at the tourist office before heading to the Hermoso valley. The slope is steep, the track is bad but we are light but the landscape worth it. Once at the top of the pass, we've to go down a little
before reaching a magnificent point of view on the Hermoso valley.
The return to Las Leñas is twice as fast as the go, the descent is exhilarating! After we got our luggage back, we are looking for a pickup to lead us ideally to El
Nihuil, a small village a day of cycling far from San Rafael and the beginning of the Canyon
del Atuel. This canyon has been recommended by many travelers on the road. However the road which leads to El Nihul is very straight, warm and monotonous.
After a little over an hour, we board a pickup in direction of El Sosneado, a village on the road to El Nihuil. From there we quickly find a second pickup that will take us to the intersection of the road to El Nihuil. The road was so boring that our second driver had to take a break to wake up on the way.
Once at the intersection, we have only 20km before reaching El Nihuil. We arrive at El Nihuil at 20:30, we go straight to the campsite.
