The themes for this blogpost are thwarted ambition and serendipity. We’d been given a tip from a couple further along that the Valle del Avilés trail through Parque Patagonia was one not to be missed. The best riding of the trip, they’d said – tough hike-a-bikes, but sublime singletrack making it worth all the effort. They’d had to debate/negotiate with the CONAF official at the trailhead, but had managed to get through in the end.