The Pan -American Highway
The Pan-American Highway runs from Alaska to Argentina, with a small break between Panama and Columbia known as the Darien Gap. The Pan-American is the main road when passing through a small country like Costa Rica. It is incredible to me that the largest road in this country would be classified as a “Scenic Byway” back home. Rather than being a road set aside for family drives on Sunday, the Pan-Am must support an entire countries infrastructure. From motorcycles, to 18-wheelers and buses everybody going through Costa Rica must use this road.
It has been raining hard for the last few days, soaking our clothes and boots. The humidity is too high for anything to dry overnight, and because it was likely to rain again today we didn’t even bother to put dry clothes on. I even used the same wet socks as the day before.
Today we took the Pan-Am into the clouds south of San Jose. The altitude meter on my Zumo GPS cuts out above 10,000 feet, but I would guess we rode over 13,000ft. It was a moment you’ll never see on a postcard. Rain all day, slick roads, and a temperature of 55° F. Riding through the rain we got so cold we had put just about every bit of clothing on we had brought, just like back on Highway 12 in Utah.
Above 8000ft we were riding in the cloud that was raining on us, making it difficult to see. The twisty narrow road made passing a suicide mission, so stuck behind a slow moving truck driving 20mph can last forever, and there are no passing lanes.
I came around one corner to see white car trying to pass a bus. The driver panicked when he saw me, and locked his brakes trying to get back into his own lane behind the bus. The car slid sideways and shot off the road, it was nearly swallowed whole by the dense jungle. Mitch and I pulled quickly to the small shoulder and ran back to the car, hoping everyone was okay. The only person in the car was the driver and he was fine, I gave him a ride down the street to a place where he could call for a tow truck.
Had he been a little faster he may not have been able to get back behind the bus, I like to think I would have had time to react but it’s likely we would have met head on. After our close call we decided it would be best to use a 18-wheeler for cover. So we had to ride at 20mph for nearly the whole day.
--Ryan
Labels: adventure, bmw r1200gs, costa rica, kawasaki klr650, motorcycle, panamerican highway, travel
posted by Half-Throttle at
10:05 AM
3 Comments:
That was a CLOSE CALL!
I dont like it when you ride under the rain, whats the point?
I know you are running out of time to get to Panama and that you have only 4 weeks left to make it home but what is the point of taking some nonsense risks???
Do you have an idea of how many people are waiting for you back home?
I am glad you are alright!
To dry the boots try to get some news paper, make small balls out of it and put them inside the boots at nights.
That stretch of the Pan American Highway is called "Cerro de la Muerte", the mountain of death. The very first time I crossed it was in 1964 on a trip from Panama to San Jose, Costa Rica. The bridges on the Pan Am Hwy had just been completed, but the road was not paved from the Peninsula de Azuero in Panama to San Jose, CR. We made the mistake of trying to go through the mountain at night in the fog. On a steep downhill, the fog lifted for an instant to reveal a dump truck that had broken down and left in the middle of the road with no lights! We almost checked out that night! I have crossed that mountain many times during my twelve years living in Costa Rica and along with narrow road, large vehicles, rain and diesel fuel mixed with water on the pavement, it is a wonder I never had a mishap. I watched every episode and only wish I were young enough to ride along!!!!
I'm from costa rica and that stretch of the Pan American highway is very dangerous. I'm glad nothing happened to you. "Cerro de la muerte", hill of death, i think it's name is due that many years behind, when there wasn't a road and people try to cross the mountains, they died of cold. Besides that, I think is an amazing route, beautiful crossing inside the clouds, between jungles and little towns.
I've seen all the trip, thanks for uploading these amazing stories. I have always wanted to do the same thing, from the US to Costa Rica. Now, i just want to hit the road.
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