While in Chimbato, I took a side trip to the Canyon del Pato (Canyon of the Duck). It was a 100 mile loop – 40 miles paved and 60 miles on dirt, rocks, and bigger rocks. The loop had 48 tunnels and it followed a very narrow gorge and the Rio Santa, which flows into the Pacific Ocean. This is where the Cordillera Blanco and Cordillera Negra mountain ranges come together. It was a tough road to travel with a fully loaded GSbut, I managed to make the pass without falling. I traveled pretty much following the river bottom in the canyon, so you can imagine riding was mostly over rocks. My average speed was 25 mph and I never got out of 1st or 2nd gear. I rode the entire pass standing on my foot pegs as I did when I traveled to Cajamarca. The difference between the road to Cajamarca and the road here in Canyon del Pato was that the road to Cajamarca was wide and mostly flat. Here it was very narrow with one track to travel on and with no room to turn around or even move over for oncoming traffic. I was lucky that every time I met oncoming traffic I was stopped to take photos and had enough room to let others go by.
With all the sever bouncing and beating the GS took the nut to the ball joint can loose again and I had to go really easy until I came to a village were I found a man who had the right wrench to help me tighten the nut.
The GS repair shop