Bikepacking in Paraguay (Part 1)

Back in December, Sarah surprised me with a visit from my brother.  It really was a surprise and it took about 24 hours for it to sink in that my bro was in Paraguay with me.  She had masterminded Dave's visit with a mountain biking trip I had been planning with my friend Greg.  The day before my bike trip another friend asked me to help him unload a bicycle from the back of his truck.  When I approached his vehicle, to my shock, out jumped my brother!!!  And yes, there was a bike to be unloaded- not my friend's but my brother's.  He had flown it down with him from New York.

As an early Christmas/birthday gift Dave had gotten me three gear bags that strap to different parts of the bike so efficiently you can carry heavy loads and hardly notice it's there.  My brother has the same equipment for his bike and introduced me to what would become my favorite term for 2017: bikepacking!  The next day we headed for the hills with our mountain bikes in the back of the truck, still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my brother was sitting next to me.  As we drove across the Paraguayan countryside we discussed the many places we could explore while bikepacking.

On our way out we swung by Campamento Yvytyrusu which my brother had never seen.  We were delivering a 2hp weed whacker to the camp's caretaker.  It was a manly errand and so awesome to finally get to show my brother the Camp that's been such a major part of our lives.  Next we met up with Greg, my South African teammate and friend, at the grocery store while stocking up on food for the week.  Then the three of us drove to the Yvytyrusu mountain range where we would be riding for the next few days.  We set up camp and managed to fit in a swim before the sun disappeared behind the hills.  We hiked down to Salto Pa'i (Priest Waterfall) where there is a huge jump-off.  Already this was shaping up to be an epic trip and we hadn't even gotten on our bikes yet!

After hot coffee and breakfast in camp we set out on what would be the biggest ride of our week- a 30 mile loop over Paraguay's third highest peak, Cero Akati.  The first seven miles of the ride were all up hill.  Oh, and did I mention that it was pushing 100 degrees?   The road was dirt strewn with grapefruit-sized rocks.  Some sections were so steep that I had to walk my bike up.  Dave however, was in much better shape than I was at the time and was able to crank up almost all of the hills until we reached our highest point.  Along the way we ran into the boys I had visited with on previous hikes through that area. Perhaps you recognize them from the Wilderness Discipleship post?  We shared some snacks and the Gospel with them before continuing on our way.

After reaching Cerro Akati the road narrowed to singletrack in sections.  We were following a footpath used to access huge antennas placed along the backside of the mountain.  The grapefruit-sized rocks grew into cantaloupes.  We lowered our seats so as not to be thrown over our handlebars as the trail steepened.

Greg got our first flat tire of the trip.  We fought off mosquitoes as we repaired the tire in the woods.

As we continued to descend we exited the woods and rode out upon a breathtaking vista.

At the bottom of the hill we had to cross a stream.

As I was crossing the stream, trying not to get my feet wet, my chain broke and I had to put my feet in the water.  I dried my shoes in the sun while my bike-savey brother repaired my chain.  While we were there we unpacked lunch and enjoyed a break in the shade by the stream.

After lunch Greg decided he would push on while Dave and I took a detour to go see a site called Ita Letra (Stone Letter) where there are ancient inscriptions carved into a rock wall.  But it was mostly uphill to Ita Letra and the heat was really starting to slow me down.  We calculated that we still had about 20 miles to get back to camp before sundown.  So, after counting the cost we decided to pass on the ancient wall-writings and try and catch up with Greg.  We flew on the downhill sections but the sun was brutally hot and our water supply was running low.  After two hours of riding we still hadn't run into Greg.  I started to worry that we had somehow missed him since we had discussed an alternate route.

With no more water in our packs we finally reached the dirt road that would take us back to camp.  We stopped at the first storefront that would offer us shade and water and that's where we found Greg.  He had actually already been on the front porch where we were sitting and left.  But realizing he had forgotten something at the storefront he came back and that's when we ran into each other.

The three of us cruised along the dirt road that was now wide again.  We quickly covered the ten miles of distance that remained between us and our tents.  Once back at camp we peeled off our sweaty gear.  Orange dust from the roads covered our legs.  It wasn't until we took off our shoes that we realized exactly how dirty we were- no, those are not white socks!

With our feet breathing again we fell into the stream there at camp.  The water was shockingly cold after riding so hard in the Paraguayan sun all day.  But we had done it- 30 miles over Paraguay's highest peaks in one day!  As we cooked up dinner under the stars, Dave recounted that our trip could only have been done on mountain bikes.  No other form of transportation, manpowered or motorized, could have gone where we went and covered the distance in the time we did.  The mountain bike is truly an amazing innovation.  As I slid my aching body into my sleeping bag I considered that our first day was behind us, and what a day it had been!  Tomorrow we would ride the six mile decent down from Cero Akati and Dave and I would bikepack to a new campsite.