Uspallata - Potrerillos – 58 km
The party next to the campground in Uspallata carried on through the night, and
little sleep was had. With Ernest as slow as ever, the time was 12h30 before
riding out of Uspallata. Again, the route followed Rio Mendoza, and the scenery
was as spectacular as the previous day. While mostly downhill, there were plenty
of hills with picturesque narrow tunnels. The Rio Mendoza was perfect for rafting,
with water gushing down from the snowy peaks. Several tour operators carted
people to the drop-off for a fun day on the river. Unfortunately, a headwind picked
up, and I was peeved off by Ernest’s slow start.
Our late start and the headwind made it a short day of cycling. Our next stop was
Potrerillos, which had beautiful camping spots amongst shady poplars adjacent to
a dam. Ernest was dead set on having a barbeque in Argentina, and he bought a
large chunk of beef as well as wood and spent the rest of the evening tending the
fire and cooking his meat.
Potrerillos Dam was located on the Mendoza River and is referred to as a “new”
dam built between 1999 and 2003. The dam aimed to provide flood control,
hydroelectricity, and irrigation. The interesting part was the dam was shrinking
due to the high silt content of the Mendoza River.
In later years, the dam would be in the news again due to an accident filming an
MTV reality show, The Challenge, when a helicopter crashed, killing both the pilot
and technician.