It was a balmy 43°F inside our hotel room this morning (compared to the freezing 41°F yesterday), but the more-consequential improvement was that there was no snow or ice, and yesterday’s fog-blanket had given way to clear skies. We returned to the hotel’s restaurant for breakfast, and again got the same “you’ll just eat what… Read more…

The thermometer said it was only 35°F when we woke, but it felt a lot warmer than in our urban campsite, sheltered from any wind by two walls and a roof. We still didn’t see anyone from the church to ask belated permission from (or give a donation to), so the only real difference between… Read more…

We woke to another high-altitude morning cold enough to cover our tent in a thick layer of frost (there had also been some form of light precipitation after we tucked in), but warm enough that our water supply (massed together under the rainfly) didn’t solidify. Despite the breeze that was flapping the rainfly, I was… Read more…

We went to our usual breakfast place, where Rett shocked the waitress by ordering six “pan con huevos” rather than our usual four. Hey, we’re actually riding our bikes today, not just hanging out around town, so we need the extra energy! We weren’t riding immediately though, because Rett’s bike had yet another flat on… Read more…

Even though we were less than 8 mostly-downhill miles from Oyón (yesterday’s goal that we had stopped a bit short of), there was never any question of changing our routing and staying somewhere further tonight. Oyón is a major supply-stop on the Peru Great Divide bikepacking route, and although we decided some time ago that… Read more…

It was 48°F inside our tent when we woke up, and 44°F outside. But ‘outside’ was still inside, because we were set up inside Antacallanca’s municipal building! Since our bikes (and thus 2nd thermometer) were also conveniently inside with us, I don’t know how cold it was in the “real” outside, but despite a lack… Read more…