Nov. 26, Chos Malal to Mendoza
We had come this route on the way south, so I figured we were in for the same old terrain with no surprises. However, with the difference in light and the seasonal change, it turned out to be quite different than anticipated.
On the way out of Chos Malal, the road immediately rose around and up a mesa with an absolutely incredible Andes backdrop, and we came into green, desert scrub leaving the trees below. Then we slowed for a herd of goats to cross Route 40, an odd sight over the blacktop on a major highway, but not long ago it was dirt. We had endless, additional mesas and brown plateaus for hours with more up and down and around on very curvy roads. We saw fertile grasslands, trees, and small lakes in valleys, rocky, dry desert sediment with no life on the mesas, except occasionally the route was punctuated with yellow flower clumps; no more Calafate, so wild daisies, maybe? After many hours, we finally came down into a vast, multicolored low valley surrounded by rock formations and the outline of the Andes to our west and we straightened out and turned due North.
As we entered
Mendoza Province, over the
Barrancas River, we wound up through more switchbacks onto another green, desert plain surrounded by enormous red rocks that were dotted with green scrub and clumps of trees here and there, the green vegetation contrasting with the red earth. We drove through several valleys with large lakes that formed low, marshy oases where Knox was thinking they might be farming
nutria for fur.
We were surrounded by the white peaks of the Andes as we started the
anticipated 90 minutes+ of dirt road down to the schist and low point of the roaring Rio Grande River again. We were somewhat surprised to see quite a few tourists taking photos and even a few rafters preparing for the rapids.
As we continued up to another vast prairie with the Andes on the horizon, we had a great view of the now much wider river full of water, and the yellow marshes contrasted against the dark hills and the white peaks beyond. And still, there were lots more sheep, cows and goats in and near the road.
As we approached Malargue,
its massive, green weeping willows lining the road, an impressive view of the snowy Andes opened up to our left and directly in front of us. Now, the enormous sky at which we had marveled on the way south returned; it was hard to miss. We came up and around the canyon formed by the
Rio Diamante that runs through San Rafael which delivered us to another high plain looking right at the Andes now. There was rain to the west in Chile. As we entered
Tunuyun, we were treated to perhaps one of the best views of the entire trip, and we realized anew, after experiencing the dozens of impressive places on our trip, that we actually live in one of the many spectacular spots in Argentina.
LINK TO CHOS MALAL to MENDOZA LEG IS HERE:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rXU8CMPwsbrnCmdc6
