November 23, 2018 – November 24, 2018
The highway to the border of Argentina was in great shape. We sped along through small towns and fields of grape vines, slowly gaining elevation. Then the switchbacks began. Traffic slowed as we followed semi trailers up the numbered switchbacks, about 29 of them in total.
We neared the border and it was now time to make a decision. Do we take the tunnel through the mountain, or do we cross the border by driving up and over Paso los Liberadores, also known as the route to Cristo del Redentor, (Christ the Redeemer). (At the top of the 3,832 metre (12,572 feet) pass is a four ton statue of Christ that was hauled up there in 1904 to celebrate a peaceful resolution of a border dispute between Chile and Argentina….thank you Wikipedia!) The tunnel would be quick and easy, and we would be in Argentina that evening. The pass would likely be more beautiful, but we didn’t know the condition of the road; would it be in good shape, how steep was it going to be, would there be snow that would force us to turn around? We decided to start up the road to the pass and see what happened….if things got too hairy, we would turn around and take the tunnel.
We put the truck in 4×4 Low, and began the climb, sometimes having to 3 or 5 point turn around some of the tighter corners. Several turns into the drive we looked four or five hundred metres down to the highway to see 5 or 6 motorcycles pulled over….it appeared that they had stopped to watch our ascent up this mountain track…did they think we were being foolish or were they just wishing that they had taken this road instead of the tunnel?
At one point we considered stopping for the afternoon and camping on a flat spot provided by one of the wider elbows in the road. We parked, were partially set up but then reconsidered. The sky was looking heavy and we didn’t want to risk getting snowed on, so we decided that we had better continue on and over the pass.
We made it to the top of the pass (the last few turns being quite wet with the run off from the melting snow) and just a few metres into Argentina, but then lost the road to a snow drift that was at least a meter high at it’s thickest point….there was no way we could continue. So, we turned around, and started back down the long switchbacks into Chile.
Going down was a bit more nerve wracking than going up. At times it would seem to me like our front tires were about to go off the road berm. The front end of the truck would swing out and over the edge as we crawled around the turns. I would instinctively slam my right foot to the floorboards in an attempt to stop the truck…but of course, there is no brake pedal on the passenger side of the truck. No need for one though, as Derek wasn’t keen to go over the edge either and he skillfully maneuvered the truck down the side of the mountain.
We decided to camp for the night 7 or 8 turns above the highway, and watched the sun set behind the clouds in a gap between distant peaks.
We were disappointed to have been turned back, but we were so glad that we made the attempt…what a beautiful drive and a cool place to camp! Our first glimpse into Argentina had us excited about what we would see when we emerged from the tunnel the next day.