La Carretera Austral

After weeks of Couchsurfing at beach side apartments or swimming in insanely clear lakes or rivers in the Lake District of Chile, it was time for another adventure. We arrived in Puerto Montt, the end point of major roads in Chile and the beginning of Patagonia. After stocking up on some supplies, we headed further South to the ´Carretera Austral,´ or Southern Road, and said goodbye to paved roads. Despite literally weeks without rain, of course this afternoon it was pouring. We rode our bikes onto a ferry (where there was no road), then continued on a while in the rain until we found a muddy track leading to a clearing to set up camp. If everything wasn´t so wet, it would have been incredibly beautiful. Lush ferns, huge mountains, jungle-like vegetation and gorgeous rivers. I went and sat by the river, appreciating that I was now in Patagonia. When I returned to camp, the guys were sheltering in their tents. It literally had not stopped raining all afternoon. I cooked dinner in the rain and delivered it to their tent doors, before retreating to my own. My shitty tent had succumbed to the incessant rain and was filled with puddles, and my sleeping bag and all my clothes were wet from on the bike. Tom, who had the same tent as me, said he had literally bailed water out with a cup all night. It was a rough night.

Early in the morning we packed up our tents in the rain and rushed off to the single ferry crossing per day. Despite being sold out, they squeezed our small bikes on and we departed on the several hour journey. Through epic misty fjords and heavily forested mountains we mostly sheltered in the cabin. It was still raining. We then disembarked and rode 10km in a convoy with all the other vehicles to another ferry crossing. Apparently all these ferry crossings are easier and cheaper than cutting roads into the incredibly steep mountains. On this crossing we saw penguins swimming around the boat. By 8 PM we were back on the road. While it was some of the most stunning scenery I have ever seen, with huge waterfalls cutting out of the rainforest every few hundred meters, we rushed in search of shelter. We stopped in a National Park created by some US Millionaire where there was a wooden roof which provided some shelter. Because our tents were so wet, we just draped our mats on the dirt and dug a channel around us to divert the runoff of the rain. Another camp site two across from us was submerged in a foot of water. Because my sleeping bag was so wet, it was a cold night.

We left late the following morning in a rare patch of partial sunshine to a town called Chaiten, where we hoped to stock up on supplies and find somewhere to dry our clothes. It turns out that Chaiten is a mostly abandoned ghost town following a major volcanic eruption in 2008 with no amenities or government services, and only limited stores. However, it did have ample abandoned buildings in which to shelter, some still with meters of volcanic ash half burrying them. After all exploring the ghost town for a good place to sleep, we  took up residence in the abandoned Chaiten airport, still covered in a thick layer of volcanic ash, and set up our beds in the airplane hanger. I slept on the roof of the office rather than amongst the ash on the floor. In a delightful couple of hours of sunshine we made ourselves at home and hung up our things all over the place. We then spent a pleasant afternoon relaxing, reading our books, and old flight plans strewn across the floor. We could also see the volcano responsible for the airport being vacant smoking ominously in the background. We sat around a fire made in the hanger and drank red wine purchased at a little supermarket in the town, sheltering from the heavy rain that had resumed outside.

We ended up staying another night in the hanger, letting our clothes fully dry and ourselves recover. I went for a cruise by myself on my motorbike and found an awesome waterfall beside the road. I bush-bashed my way to it, then scrambled up this steep moss covered rock face, clinging to the trunks of bushes. Further up there was a pool, below an even higher waterfall, where I took a very cold swim to celebrate reaching it. Later that afternoon a car load of people came to look at the airport. I went to talk to them, expecting to get in trouble for squatting there. But the Chilean woman used to live in the airport 30 years ago, when her father was the boss, and she found it hilarious that we were camping there. That night we drank red wine around the fire again, and I watched the sunset from the control tower.

Departed the following morning in relatively good weather (only light rain), enjoying the incredible scenery and the difficult but fun dirt road. We rode along what I thought was a long, thin lake squished between two mountains for several kms. But it then opened out into the open ocean. We then passed around the headland on a road blasted into the cliff face. The next valley was the most beautiful place I have ever seen on Earth. There was super lush temperate rainforest covering epic mountains with snow capped peaks and glaciers, and gushing super clear rivers and waterfalls criss-crossing the landscape. At the back of the valley, the dirt road sharply zig-zagged up and over the mountains, where we were greeted with an epic vista and an even bigger waterfall. Due to the rain I never stopped to take photos, and I am kicking myself for it. Even my imagination cannot do it justice. After we crossed the mountains the scenery became drier and more coniferous. Camped by a nice river that we had to ride across a wooden suspension bridge to reach and had a campfire. We rode over 350kms that day on dirt roads, and I was tired, but satisfied.

Now, back on paved road, we curved our way through the mountains to a city called Coyayque, a surprisingly big city that is mainly reached through Argentina. We ran some errands then treated ourselves to an amazing lunch of local salmon. We continued only a little further that day, then stopped in a National Park to enjoy the sunshine. Nick and I summited a big hill which almost reached the snow line of the mountain behind it. I then did some maintenance on my bike: cleaned my air-filter, screwed my rear pannel back on, tightened bolts and tightened my chain. I then had my first shower in about a week with a woodfired heating system.

Back on dirt roads with strong winds and lost of rain was very cold. My boots leak and my visor is too scratched up to be able to see when its raining. My bike also got knocked off its stand by the slipstream of a passing bus full of soldiers when we stopped for Tom to put his chain back on. Fortunately, there was a small town where we treated ourselves to a hot lunch and some tea. Continued on around this huge glacial lake in a patch of sunshine, untill I got a flat tire. They guys headed back to the town to get it fixed, while I sat in the sun reading Sherlock Holms and eating chocolate. I was almost glad I got a flat. We camped down on the beach of the huge lake, beside a river coming down from a glacier. Beautiful sunset and a delicious curry I made for dinner

For the next section we were on good dirt roads with sunshine cruising along cliffs where the lake was squeezed between two mountains. This was probabably my favorite bit of riding so far, since although it was not quite as beautiful as the other section I raved about, the road was better and it was sunny. We stopped to talk to two fellow bikers changing a flat, and the Argentinian had heard of us on another blog/chat forum about us (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=744634). He said he would help us cross the border and buy us an Argentinian steak dinner. We we rode on to Chile Chico, then onto the border. While we were refused entry on our first attemp in the north, because apparently foreigners cannor enter with Bolivian registered bikes, this time we got through with no problems. We then set up at a campsite in Los Antiguos and met up with the other bikers for an amazing dinner. We were now in Argentina!