Helen
After a few relaxing days over Christmas in Bariloche, we change our route plans once again. As stunning as this northern part of Patagonia is, I think we hit it at just the right time, just before Christmas. When everybody was busy making last minute preparations, we got to enjoy this magnificent landscape with hardly anybody else around. Now, however, it’s changed! All of a sudden it’s so busy it’s like being in Windemere at the height of summer. The roads are full of cars and buses, the lakeside beaches are full, and it’s not pleasant cycling. The buses fly past so close o could reach out and touch them!
So we forge a plan, helped by a Russian cyclist we’ve met, to cross three lakes and head back over into Chile, and onto Chiloe, Chiles second largest island. From there we’ll explore the island north to south, before taking another boat from Quillon in the south, through fjords and islands to Puerto Aysen, where we’ll join the Carratera Austral. It sounds like a good plan and I’m really looking forward to it as I love ferries, and sailing through fjords will be an amazing experience.
However, all doesn’t quite go to plan. Although we didn’t plan very well so maybe that was the problem! We set off on Boxing Day on busy roads and undulated our way up and down the 15 miles to the ferry port. When we get there it seems we should’ve booked in advance as there are no ferries for another 3 days! We sit in the sun Discussing what to do, we almost change our minds and go back to plan A, but the thought of days on the busy Ruta 40 persuades us to go back to the booking office and book the next ferry. It’s our most expensive mode of transport yet! Two small boats and one catamaran costs us just over £100 each. But I get my credit card out quickly before Chris changes his mind! All booked and this gives us a couple of days of hanging around. We cycle around looking for a place to camp, but all the beaches are unbelievably busy. We finally stop at a busy lakeside beach, have dinner and wait for the crowds to get bored and go home. By 8.30pm we finally have the place to ourselves, it’s peaceful at last as nature comes alive. We sit and watch the calm water change from emerald green to crimson red with the setting sun.
It’s beautiful waking up to sunrise the next morning, birds going wild chatting to eat other, small lizards jumping around in the leaves, warming up. The lake is calm and we swim, I can’t explain how good it feels to get out of your tent to stunning views, and walk straight into a cool refreshing lake to wake up. We have the place to ourselves until 10am when a group of excited girls arrive. We end up staying there all day, relaxing and swimming, before heading off late in the afternoon to pick up some supplies for dinner. We find another camping place by the side of a small lake, closer to the dock, as we have to be there at 9am tomorrow. There’s a few people around but once again it’s quiet by 8pm. It overlooks Cerro Catedral, a big glaciated mountain with jagged peaks, and once again we watch a stunning sunset.
We somehow manage to pack up in record time the next morning and arrive really early for our first ferry crossing. It’s a beautiful crossing but there are a lot of tourists, and it’s a bit of a shock after being in relative wilderness for so long! We get off at Puerto Blest, collect out bags and cycle through the forest for two miles until we reach an unbelievably emerald green lake, surrounded by tall mountains. Thankfully there’s less people on this boat, and after 15 minutes we’ve arrived at Puerto Alegre. We get stamped out of Argentina and cycle another two miles up a ridiculously steep and stoney road, which had me out of breath and pushing a few times. The bus with the ‘tourists’ on passes and they all wave enthusiastically. Then there’s a sketchy descent that Chris loves but I’m less sure of the sandy gravel on some of the steep corners. We reach the bottom and follow the river along to Lago Todos Los Santos, to catch our last ferry. The road is pretty bad in sections, one section is covered in big pebbles making it almost impossible to cycle and I get off and push in frustration. It’s a nice path alongside the river and we stop at a waterfall to dip our feet, but we’re conscious of missing the next ferry so we carry on. We pass a beautiful meadow full of spring flowers as the landscape opens up and we finally arrive at the lake. Crossing the final lake we pass by three conical volcanoes, all apparently active. It’s late when we arrive at Puerto Petrohue so we camp on the lakeside out of the way.
The next morning is absolutely stunning as I zip open the tent and look out across the lake. The sun hasn’t yet risen, allowing clarity over the mountains in the distance and the still blue lake. It’s mornings like these I feel a real sense of peace, and truly start to connect with nature. I make tea and sit and breathe, listening to the birds in the forest behind me. The sun rises and we go for a swim. It’s cool again, but I find it so refreshing. There’s no one around, it’s just perfect. We finally head off and round the first corner to the huge conical Volcan Osorno, which we couldn’t quite see the top of yesterday. This morning it completely reveals its glaciated pyramidal peak and looks stunning against the blue sky. We cycle alongside the Petrohue river, with white peaks in the background. I notice the broom here has gone to seed already and there’s less yellow. We follow the edge of Lago Llanquihue for most of the day, seeing occasional views of the huge lake, with Volcan Osorno in the distance. We’re on a good road with a perfect cycle lane, which makes the day easier! We arrive at Puerto Varas, a busy seaside town and manage to find a wild camping spot up a very steep hill to a small space in some woods, with views over the lake. There are some young kids around but they eventually disperse.
The next day seems to take us all morning to get going, we fall back to sleep and wake up at 9am, a sign we’re both exhausted. Then we try unsuccessfully to find the one free to use atm in town. We leave for Puerto Montt, where the start of the Carratera Austral is. It’s a busy seaside port but has a good feel to it. Another unsuccessful attempt for a free atm and I just use another in the end, which costs £8 to take out £200! It’s late in the afternoon by now, and we still have 55 miles to get to Pargua where we can get the ferry onto Chiloe. I also have a bad feeling we’re going to arrive at the Ruta 5 and once again see signs that cyclists are not allowed on the road, as happened in northern Chile. We pass by the main bus terminal, and I quickly dash in to see if there are any buses willing to take out bicycles. The first company I go to smile and say no problem with bicycles, and there’s a bus at 5pm, in 45 minutes. Perfect, I quickly buy tickets to Ancud, the nearest town on Chiloe. If all goes well we’ll hopefully have an easier New Year’s Eve on a nice beach somewhere, rather than struggling down the coast trying to reach the port.
The bus journey is easy, no problem with the bikes, the ferry crossing to Chiloe takes 30 minutes. We get out of the bus and sit on the top deck in the evening sun, we see seals swimming close by. At Ancud, we stop at a supermarket and Chris goes in for a few things. He takes ages and eventually comes out with a bin bag sized bag full of snacks! This includes a litre carton of red wine and two cans of lager, essential items he says! Apparently he’s been told that everything will be shut tomorrow (new years eve). We sit at the dock and make dinner, watching the sun set in the distance. Ancud has a Scottish port town feel to it, rustic colourful wood clad houses, lots of fishing boats and some interesting looking sea front bars. We end up at a pretty mirador above town overlooking the island to try to wild camp, although it’s Saturday night and so it’s not particularly tranquil. There’s a busy restaurant close by and people seem to come and go until the early hours!
I wake up to a heavy sea mist the next morning, but it’s still warm. We head west with our heavy bags, even though most of the shops seem to be open, and follow the coast for fifteen miles or so before turning off on a dirt road and climbing some steep hills before descending steeply into a little bay full of sand dunes. There’s no one around, there’s a grassy area to camp and the views are stunning. We can see dolphins in the distance. We collect wood for a campfire later, I collect twelve stones and place them in a circle to make a fire pit. It’s feels ritualistic somehow, and for the flair st time in a while I feel I’ve got time to just be. We have a quick dip in the sea and relax. We see a penguin really close to us bobbing around in the sea, I yelp in excitement, it takes one look at us and vanishes! But those few seconds are amazing.
That night we have a campfire, and some wine. We discuss our journey so far and remember some of the happy times and not so happy times. We toast our dear friend that we lost this year, as we listen to the waves roll in and out. I say a silent prayer of gratitude. It’s a perfect ending to the year.
