On the way through La Junta we stopped to stay with Paul and Konomi Coleman who have laboured for years on an old farm section which is now part rewilding bush and part permacultural-principled gardens an EarthBag house. Paul and Konomi are full of energy and tell the stories of all they have learnt with great enthusiasm and patience for those new to the process. We left inspired and educated, with many plans to take back to New Zealand.
After La Junta we ended up running into more and more cyclists that we had seen along the way from all over the world. This culminated in a lovely New Years Eve alongside the spectacular Lago Torre with 9 others staying up talking about our travels so far and aspirations ahead late into the night.
We took the ripio detour just before Coyhaique, avoiding the heavy traffic around Puerto Aysen, and although the scenery was pleasant the little traffic we did have generated a lot of dust in the air about the roads. Thankfully abundant wild cherries and peaceful wild camping was available to make this quite an enjoyable section of the route.
Coyhaique was a big city for us, good to resupply but surprisingly expensive for accommodation and food so we moved on quickly. The first 40kms out of town were grim with busy roads and dry farmland but it quickly became more appealing with some truly beautiful cycling as we wound up and over the saddle in Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo. At Villa Cerro Castillo we had an enforced rest for a few days whilst we sourced a new rear freehub body for my bike as the current one had burnt out its bearing after roughly 7000km of heavy riding (including before this South America trip). Luckily the kind mechanic Pancho at Los Pioneros in Villa Cerro Castillo set about phoning around all of his friends in bike shops up north to eventually source the part (12speed Shimano boost hubs not being a common part down here) and get it on a bus only a few days later. In the interim we took the chance to wander up to Laguna Cerro Castillo to admire the turquoise lake and mighty spires that so typify Patagonian imagery. Shortly after the village the pavement stops. Road crews are continuing the project south but from here you have some of the worst ripio of the whole CA until it smooths out near Cochrane. It's luxurious and groomed by Bolivian roading standards but those on road hybrid type tyres certainly started to feel the washboard and loose pea gravel. We thankfully had no issues on our 29x 2.6inch Vittoria Mezcals.
The cunning use of wood around here and minimal use of steel wire/nails/corrugated sheets makes for some ingenious house and fencing designs. In some places entire stockyards are made without a single nail or wire
At Puerto Rio Tranquilo we ran into our big group of fellow southbound cyclists and it was lovely to catch up again. One of the benefits of a popular route such as the Carretera Austral is the sociable leapfrogging on a mostly shared route for once. Further north in the Araucania we barely saw any other cyclists, partly due to the multitude of route choices for different travelling styles. We elected to forgo the detours here due to a need to buy time for hiking further south, as well as some new commentary around the legality of reaching Lago Leones which had otherwise been on our list of destinations.
Woodpeckers were a common sight and sound for us as we cycled through the Magellanic rainforests. Coming from New Zealand the novelty of such brightly coloured birds such as the Magellanic woodpecker with a flaming red head and with the comical behaviours we had only ever seen on film was charming and was one of a few details that made this place feel different from the otherwise similar landscapes of home. Pictured here is a Striped Woodpecker Picoides lignarius.
Around Cochrane the landscape became more dry as we fringed the Argentine steppe foothills, before we headed west into the higher rainfall regions approaching Caleta Tortel. Here we started to spot sphagnum moss harvesting throughout the valleys with clever wooden walkways out across the swamps.
South of Cochrane riding alongside the enormous Rio Baker, there is no food until Villa O'Higgins, approximately 5 days (6 if bad weather), unless one detours to Caleta Tortel. Tortel is a small settlement where Guiateca Cypress has been milled to make elaborate winding walkways amongst the houses and along the shoreline of the quiet bay. We only stopped briefly to resupply but had enough time to wander about some of the boardwalks. Unfortunately in the opportunity some street dogs stole our precious cheese from our panniers. The cycling in this district is generally rainy but just the sort of scenery and quiet gravel roads we had imagined of the Carretera Austral. To miss this section would be such a shame as it far exceeded our experience of the northern paved sections. It also involves a ferry crossing which opens up stunning views down one of the main fjords on a good day. We, naturally, had pretty damp weather through here so we didn't get the best views.
Arriving into Villa O'Higgins we felt the full force of 100kph gales that frequent this latitude. We were thrown of our bicycles on the lakeside and had to walk several kilometres to get back into relative shelter amongst the trees. Villa O'Higgins was a charming spot to be stuck waiting the usual 3-4 days for a weather window the ferry could take down to Candelario Mancilla. The trails above town provided stunning views (not pictured here) and the few bakeries and craft breweries were welcome refuges in the wild weather whilst we waited.
The ferry crossing can be done currently with either Ruedas Patagonia or Amigo Patagon. They run alternate days of the week in theory, but due to the notoriously wild weather on the lake often will be running 3-4 days behind schedule and taking late night or early morning opportunities. As such it is wise to plan this time into your trip and if travelling northbound, take extra food for the wait as Candelario Mancilla has no provisions and is after the Chilean customs which confiscates fresh fruit, meat and legumes.
The gravel road from Chile to the border is loose and caused issues for heavy touring cyclists on skinny tyres but is a pleasant gradient so we had no trouble. We walked a few stretches of the notorious hikeabike down the Argentine section of the border but mostly just in the creek crossings or over fallen trees. Otherwise it was an enjoyable singletrack that 80% rideable. Here we waited 1.5 days for the Lago Del Desierto ferry at the free campsite amongst the trees. This ferry runs alternately at 11am or 5pm and not on Wednesdays. Occasionally if there are too many people waiting the ferry will be instructed to make an additional trip by the Argentine police. In good weather there is a view down to Fitzroy from the campsite. I have only heard of one person that has done the hike-a-bike around the lake and not absolutely regretted it. In their instance that was to avoid a three day wait and if not they would have taken the boat. Walkers when we were there said it would be a fun mountain bike if carrying almost nothing.
El Chalten, with the infamous spires of Fitzroy and Cerro Torre had been a much anticipated goal for both of us on this trip which exceeded our expectations. We had started to grow weary of skirting the foothills of the high peaks by bicycle and were desperate to be scrambling amongst them again. We hired packs to get up as soon as weather allowed (not easy!) into the bases of these mighty peaks, camping up as close as we could to their bases to enjoy the evenings. We were incredibly lucky to get both free of clouds. After this we had to wait four days for an opportunity to approach the Huemul Circuit. The Paso del Viento and Paso Huemul on days 2 and 3 demand excellent conditions to be crossed as the thunderous walls of wind and ever-present clouds would make them pointless at best or extremely dangerous at worst in anything else. Our weather window was incredible with astonishing views of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and Viedma Glacier and relatively peaceful camping. We were also lucky to be joined by cyclist friends we had made along the way up in Bolivia which made for a lovely four days in the hills.
In total this turned into a 12 day stay in the area of El Chalten, which was one of the highlights of our entire journey. El Chalten itself is however windswept, crowded and expensive to stay in so camping at the beautiful free campsites in the park is advisable for keeping costs down and getting ironically far better shelter than the offerings in town. The hostels were booked out months in advance. We also noticed the quality of gear for hire was generally poor with some dangerously torn harnesses and broken backpacks so be sure to check them carefully. Ideally one would bring as much of their own gear as possible as it is also quite expensive. Patagonia Hikes hired good quality gear for us and Bajo Zero kindly let us store our bikes out back and valuables in lockers. WiFi and 4g in the town are notoriously glacial so don't plan on getting work or internet admin done here, unless you find one of the few places (Paisa Coffee) with fast WiFi. Similarly food in the supermarkets is limited so you need to be a little inventive with hiking fare.
As mentioned above, we elected to take the Pampas on again to get down to Puerto Natales.
Come prepared with a knowledge of the iOverlander mapped water spots, AGVP locations and abandoned buildings you are allowed to camp in to shelter from the tent-destroying afternoon winds and be sure to get up early (4am wakeups are a regular) and it's actually quite manageable. On top of this, the scenery in the early morning is quite beautiful in a stark desolate way. We saw armadillo, foxes, guanacoes, flamingoes every day and enjoyed the 'outback' feel of the landscape, (particularly whilst reading Frank Herbert's Dune during the long afternoons under shelter) but by Rio Turbio we were feeling ready for a break.
The infamous abandoned police station, refuge from the gales
