Day 13 – Sunday, February 8, 2026

I left my comfortable cabin at 8 am and wanted to do some dhopping in Vallenar. The desert town was completely deserted on this Sunday morning. The only sign of life was a kiosk at the bus stop, them baking fresh bread, so I filled up my supplies..

I continued riding on PanAm n Highway. The weather was grey, the road had a strong incline - and headwind. Then I spotted a fork, a small road heading northwest.

Memories of ny ride through Alaska in 2004 came back, I waved to each padding car, better to be friends.

Then something scary happened. A car coming from the other direction started veering towards me. I was startled.. It was then that a hand reached out, in it a full, fresh bottle of Gatorade. Chileans are so cool!

Having reached another fork, I noticed a national park in the vicinity, called Parque Nacional de Chalke , promising lamas, bobcats and desert flowers in full blossom. Alas, even thougj the road was pretty, the three things I did not see any of these. The road eventually ended at the ocean shore and I thought a dip would not hurt, so I rode to the village called of. Carrizal Bajo. Here i took a dip in thr ocean - the folks at the food kiosk were so nice, they gave me wifi (I lost connection leaving the main road earler), took care of my stuff, the let me take a shower and even gave me a local map. Really nice, muchas gracias!

I left the village, stopping at the local church, where Sunday mess was ongoing. I started riding on a very pretty coastal road with next to zero traffic - a beauty! I experienced a wonderful sunset.

It got dark, I rode on. Mt. Fox greeted me and we looked curiously at each other. At around 10 pm, I reached the tiny settlement of Caleta Totoral, expecting to wild camp. I saw signs of life and after some haggling, a wonderful beach hut opened up, a steal for €20. My ride that day wad 133 km and 945m of ascent.