To the middle of nowhere and beyond

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2009 began in fine style for us. After seeing in the new year with the family who run the hospedaje, some entertaining yanks and a couple of dutch cyclists in Tortel, we dragged ourselves out of bed after not enough sleep to take a boat through the fiords to join the Carretera Astral further south. We joined Carson, a cyclist from Germany, and together we rode three abreast on roads in much better condition than we were led to believe, safe in the knowledge that the road was ours alone until the next ferry 5 hours later. The temperature was perfect for cycling as the tailwind helped us on our way through a spectacular valley almost untouched by man save for the road flashing by beneath our wheels. Cycle thouring heaven! Just when we were thinking that life doesn't get much better, I was starled by the shadow that crossed my path. Above me a pair of condors were riding the thermals , their 3m wing span and the finger like wing tips giving them a sinister but impressive air. Surely the only thing that could make our day perfect would be seeing the rare huemal. Which, of course is what we saw an hour later when a fine male specimen of this dininutive deer trotted hesistenatly along the road toward us. Barely moving except to take a photo, for fear of scaring it away, we watched as it approached us and passed within 5m.
We spent our final night in Chile sharing food and stories with 3 other cyclist before we all caught the ferry the next morning. Wedged between the great Patagonian Ice Cap and the Andes, Villa O´higgins is the end of the road - literally. The only way south in Chile by car is back north then down through Argentina, but for cyclists and trekkers there a is a boarder crossing in the hills, a rough 4 hour ferry ride away. Once on the other side of the lake with all our luggage strapped on a couple of pack horses, we got our stamps at the Chilean boarder pass and were free to mountain bike 20kms to Argentina. The horses weren´t keen on carrying the trailer so I got a chance to give bob a blast through some sweet single track through no-man's land. On our MTB´s we loved this part of the trip and felt sorry for all the cyclists we hand met who were on road bikes. We entered Argenina in the windswept, ad hoc little town of El Chalten, under the impressive and imposing towers of Cerro Torre and Mt Fitzroy, admid hordes of toursits brandishing their Leki poles.
We are glad to be back in a well stocked Argentine town, once again we feast on fresh-ish fruit, chewy bread and real dulce de leche. But also very sad we have finished our Chilean leg of our journey. Contrary to what our British friend told us weeks ago, we liked the Chileans we met and enjoyed the towns. With so many people here proud of thier region and way of life, and keen to talk with us, our biggest dissapointment of the trip is our lack of spanish. We also loved the Carratera Austral, and found it much easier than we were led to believe by all the cyclist we met going the other way. I guess a bit of MTBing in NZ is a good preparation for a trip like this.

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Photos

Caleta Tortel
A little fantasy village with no roads, a web of wooden paths connecting the cute wooden houses.

Savouring the last couple of Km´s
riding along the shore of Lago Ohiggins, on the way to the ferry.

End of the Carratera Austral
1247 kms of great cycling

Cerre Torre, el Chalten
A spire of rock 3,000m high, looking like it´s just come out of the freezer. Very impressive.

Comments

[margaret Giroux]

wow
It was so good to see your posting. I was starting to worry... Beautiful scenery and story. Thank you so much for sharing. It all looks and sounds amazing. So pleased it is still going well.

[Colleen]

What a different Christmas / New Year!
That is one you will never forget. What an amazing time you arew having. Sorry to hear that KJ suffered there but at least it sounds like it was not for too long. Watch that mayo! Chile sounds fascinating. Love you.