To
get out of Uspallata without going back through Mendoza, we don't have
much choice, we must go towards Barreal, a village 110km north of here. Small problem, there will surely be no water on the way, so we've to cross the valley in a day. A little before Barreal is a national park housing a space observatory
and a free camping deemed comfortable that we hope to reach tonight.
At
the end of Uspallata we climb slightly and cross a lot of cyclists on
racing bikes, it's a good sign, the asphalt should continue for a while. The heat is bearable, surely due to the altitude (~ 2,000m). The
landscape is very pretty with the cordillera of tiger peaks under snow on our
left and dark mountains on our right, the pampas everywhere else. The morning passes fairly quickly, we laugh, mood is good despite the long day ahead. We eat not far from the top of the hill, the highest point of our day.
The afternoon is a bit more complicated. The ripio gets very bad for 10km, sand and gravel do not support our bikes that miserably sink. Then a headwind gets up, easily 30kph. Time passes slowly, we're slowed by the wind despite the descent and the good asphalt.
The wind changes its direction at the end of the afternoon, it's now an even stronger tailwind. We decide to head for Barreal rather than the national park: 10km more but it's a downhill with tailwind while the park is on top of a steep climb with a side wind. The municipal campsite is very nice: a well maintained pool, clean and new sanitary, BBQ, a lot of shade and sheltered from the wind. We stay 2 nights. Tomorrow is relaxing and BBQ lunch with good sausages !
