Day 14: Tranquillo

February 3, 2026. Rio Muerte to Puerto Rio Tranquillo 23 miles.

Twenty three miles. That is all, and yet, the fact that it takes nearly four hours to ride that 23 miles, is testament to how long it takes to ride on ripio. We have adjusted our thinking about riding from how far we go in a day, to how long we are in the seat in a day. Distances traveled each day will be, necessarily, shorter, if we can help it!

A simple breakfast in Dora's small farmhouse.

After breaking camp, Dora made us a wonderful breakfast of fresh scrambled eggs, bread, and her homemade jam before sending us on our way. Dora will be one of those people we will always remember. Salt of the Earth.

The ride down the rest of the Rio Muerte valley was uneventful, but once we got to the mouth of the river, we finally caught a glimpse of the incredible jewel of a lake, Lago Carrera. This lake is huge (715 square miles/1,850 square kilometers) and extends into Argentina, where it is known as Lago Buenas Aires. So many mountain ranges surround this lake, each with their glacial watersheds adding to it's waters. This is why the lake is such an amazing cerulean blue color. It is almost opaline when the sun shines on it and there are places where it almost appears white, emerald green, turquoise, or deep blue depending on which rivers are feeding into it. We will cycling all along the western edge of this lake for the next few days.

Puerto Tranquillo, the small village where we are staying the night at is a famous tourist attraction due to the beauty of the lake and the nearby marble caves. Many people take boats or kayaks out to view the caves which are along a rugged shoreline and feature intricate patterns of blue and white marble carved by the erosion of the lake water. We will not be staying long enough to do this adventure, and honestly, after being by oursleves for the past few days, we are not too keen on being in a crowd. We prefer our own style of 'tranquillo.' :-)