Parque Patagonia: El Valle de los Aviles

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With Fathorse the bike hybernating for a bit a house by the Carrera Austral I had the freedom to do anything! I went about wondering if i can get a ride to somewhere I can do a hike. A bus driver picked me up to Puerto Tranquillo and refused to charge me anything.

I had a dream, I’d get to town eat a good meal and sleep somewhere warm. Only one of these came true, I bought dinner supplies and too tired to look for other options took $40 room, can’t cook inside, can’t cook in the diner and the room was not heated. I made my meal inside the room anyway. For $15 in Argentina you would get a full cabin with full on tropical experience & gas heat.

I stocked up great food, 6-7 days or so. There was a bus to Chile Chico and I opted for that even if its 2x for foreginers. Waited around until 3pm, ordering a coffee.
”esta pasado?” (this normally means is it like real coffee")
”si”
and i get handed a cup of instant nescafe. Great. No complaints I just say to myself, the $3 is for the wifi.

leaving the hostel I thank them. They hand me a card and I take it not to offend them.

(this would be the last time you will hear me mock chilean food & coffee, haha! There are good meals to be found and good coffee for those who seek them)

The bus ride around lago carrera is amazing, sunny day. Oh I wish I had my bike. Chile Chico, nice hostel, place to cook good atmosphere. No luck trying to figure carpool with french tourists toward the national park. Might have to walk the entire 60km-ish access road.

I think I got everything i need. on we go.

kind of regretting not trying a possible mountain route as visible on OSM (a trail) but too many worries of winds & possible snow

A couple from Coyhaique picks me up and drops me near the lunar valley.

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I bring up water, thinking I can camp somewhere nice but turns out only possible camp is in a cave which is kind of an archeological site so I shamefully hike back down with all my gear. Should have just hid my stuff somewhere and not walk it up and down 500m hill.

but the high route! wow i need to do that sometime

the lunar valley

I sleep by the road and start walking, luckily early risers pick me up and I get a ride to the park entrance. Hesitantly soaking in some sun and wondering if they will let me continue with the hike

and they do. Permit and all. Maybe it was my thorn pants, rough look or my oddly loaded backpack that made the ranger think i knew what i was doing. The rivers, he said will not be a problem at this time of the year.

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walking is easy. I head for one of the best camping setups, roof (aka no frost) and wind protection! Thank you Douglas Thompkins!

great time walking around and admiring the vertical rock, the lake and the peace that comes knowing that you have this all to yourself

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Cold, windy morning going upstream on gravel bar with decently sized but “jumpable” stream splitting and running. No wet shoes but I managed to land badly after a jump (think knee bending the wrong way) and decided that I shouldnt be jumping anymore. I sat curled up for 10 minutes before I began walking again.

over a little snowed in pass, great view of the route ahead.

water flowing underneath a thin crust of ice, great for video! not so great for photo

beautiful birds singing and playing, maybe a courtship dance. Flying here with the wind involves bursts combined with torpedo moments

more and more ice and rocks in view. A great valley. I find a refugio but wonder about Hanta Virus. Not camping inside, even if rangers said its okay, too dusty for my liking.

these are short days anyway. I am really not used to hiking and on the first day the lunar valley with all my gear & water was a mistake.

Cold night - thats good for snow conditions. Looking up the valley and more walking along the gravel banks. Only one crossing with flip flops but shoes dried well yesterday.

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leaving the riverbed started great with good trail and pleasant grade soon it was all under a bit of snow. Knee deep at times, trail impossible to follow so I took easiest route while making sure I dont stray too far away from trail (via gps). Glad I didnt have the bike with me. Going slow and careful as you can sink a little or a lot. Nobody has been here except some big cat.

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I find great campsite, decent wind cover, stream, laundry, dry sleeping bag, even possible to have some visitors? why not!

easy hike, great weather. I am confused. It hasnt rained or snowed on this hike.

I meet some hikers on the way out.

“if you dont find anyone, you got a ride”

I chill by the road for 4 hours, not a single car.
I join the gringo taxi all the way back to Coyhaique. Really cool to be speaking english, it’s been a while.

wondering what is next but that is obvious. I am well over 1000$ into supplies and prep for packrafting the fjords.

I meet up with Tobias, author of many wikiexplora routes including the way to the moon in EP31 (la travesia de los volcanoes) he has also been to Otsmo de Ofqui.

Tobias also knew two people who had done this route…

during their video, waist deep in degetation, wet and rainy, they say: “this is only for masochists”

who in their right mind reads this:
http://www.josemijares.com/en/america-sur/patagonia-en-packraft/
and can’t stop dreaming about going there.

things have been too easy lately, it’s time to take to the seas.

The Carretera Austral: the end of the road!

Trying to think of all the things that led to this, the bike shop in Pucon Chile, who put the new BB back together with a missing spacer, me being stubborn and not waiting a Sunday to go to Bariloche to fix it and the repair in Esquel which really made things rideable until now. I had two contacts in Coyhaique and I packed my bags and started looking for a ride back. Wind blowing full on from the west and as there were barely any pickups, I remembered that squared off bolt the welder made.

in retrospect, very happy that I wasnt able to find a ride!

The broken bottom of the thread came out by just tapping it with my multitool (there was a neat groove that the screwdriver end could bite into). I Put it all back in and tied it as hard as I could, still getting a bit of an angle due to the bent bolt but nontheless, it looked rideable. I asked some road workers if they had a wrench and tied it as much as I can. I asked them if their signs get blown over by the wind, they said no but I saw 3 blown over “caution workers” signs further up.

below is a perfect example of what happens when you let scientists run loose and do their experiments!

after the repair and a bit of a walk to retrieve the drone in the morning (underestimated the wind) I took a turnoff to a trail leading to Cerro Castillo and found perfect camp site in a quiet valley.

Along the highway, CONAF had taken on the responsibility to look after the local deer, the Huemul and protect them from distracted drivers and the like. But one may wonder how many people have crashed trying to make out the fine print on the roadsigns along the way

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and what better way to fight pollution than photoshopping garbage and a wine bottle (it’s Chile!) next to a Huemul!

CONAF may have many strengths but using photoshop is not one of them

finally after a nice and easy climb to a pass, I could see Cerro Castillo. I chilled for a while here watching cars come and go, people out and taking photos and wondering how some of them never actually looked at the mountain but instead got the perfect selfie or shot and left. I hope I never become like that.

in the Cerro Castillo village I got a bit more food, happy to find trail mixes and all that good stuff that simply was not available in Argentina although I have to turn a blind eye on the Chilean prices. I found a wrench for my bolt so I can tighten/remove it if needed.

and in a moment of recklessness decided to take another chance with Chilean food, scouting to see which restaurant has the most people and bingo. I was able to charge up, wifi-up and the only problem is that the $12 meal was a kid portion.

following the town I continued onto the brand new superhighway, often looking at the side and wondering how the old road cut its way through the unfriendly topography leading to the west. Great sun, little wind (relatively!) and one of the best days for quite a while.

Riding up the flat mouth of a big valley with the wind, I just remembered a day in Alaska where in similar wind I just thought it wasn’t worth biking and set up camp for the day under the pipeline. But now, this was good wind to be riding, except for some of the exposed turns.

Then there was the construction, really nice people and I was happy to be allowed to ride past every stop sign

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soon the Carretera Austral lost its super highway status and the impressive cuts through the rock gave way to a more intimate road, even if it was shared with some big trucks.

a rather sparsely forested area was perfect for camping, i went a bit off the road for a quiet spot

it rained cats and dogs all night, this tent fly for some reason soaks up all the moisture like a giant sponge, definitely getting packed outside of the dry bag today

after a morning dose of sunshine I got to the snowy part of the day, a typical chilean wet-snow experience although the camera did not come out too often for obvious reasons

followed by some rain

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there was a sunny spell which was amazing and followed by a bit more rain

and as I neared the Lago Carrera, the rear hub stopped biting and I pulled over to the nearest house wondering if i can find pliers or something so I can see what is wrong.

there was nobody but when I took off the rear axle it all became clear and i let out a big laugh. that’s the problem!

best guess was that once the second hinge broke, the tooth got loose and messed up the whole driver.

The owners of the house returned and were surprised to find a gringo in their yard, fed me empanadas and tea and I asked if i can leave my bike here for a while as getting a borealis driver and axle for this hub is only happening in USA (or Canada), not to mention the pending repair of the bottom bracket/crankset and how the SRAM GX11 has survived longer than the hub truly boggles my mind.

rest well Fathorse, you have earned it!

took a photo so i remember where my bike is and from now on I can hoof it for a bit.

a truly liberating feeling leaving mechanical worries behind and walking into the silence, sticking my thumb out to any passing vehicle.

i had heard of some gringo owning a big clothing company, buying up land in the area and then turning it into a national park. Maybe that’s where I’ll head.

Chile: To The Carretera Austral

After a mere half day in the pampa winds I quickly decided to take my chances with the rain in chile than to keep going in the wind. Leaving Argentina for until the road ends in Chile. There was a great break with nice company at the argentinian border and onto Chile.

The Chilean entry was more organised and quick. Instead of solar and windpower there was a generator buzzing, computers and that was about it. One might forget and take for granted crossing a border but in many countries in South America its a breeze and really makes for a great trip where time constraints are almost nonexistent. Your 90 day visa is out? easy, leave the country and come back! This would also explain why I have been taking increasingly long to get to Ushuaia!

The Chilean roads are also smooth like butter compared to the Argentinian soft rocky tracks. The scenery was changing and I was happy to be closer to the mountains

Riding in wind like this is always somewhat unsettling and its always there. It normally brings out some sort of urgency to find a sheltered place to camp but also the moments that you turn your back to it with your hood on are the best. I hung around the horses for a bit and even got to look at the other critters living in these rough climates

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eventually I found a relatively protected spot in some patch of planted trees giving a good balance of sun rays, a view and a quiet night.

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It was few hours to get to the first Chilean town and while I often make fun of chilean food for being bad - one thing is clear that the baked goods like empanadas are very good in Chile. Even if there is simply nowhere to sit and I find little wind cover by a fence along the plaza.

While Tubeless has been absolutely amazing, I had gotten a little too bold few days ago and rode straight through many thorns, ending up puncturing the inside of the rim. Below the black liner, there is a layer of tyvek tape, plus one of duct tape. It keps leaking for few days even with duct tape or thermarest patch but I finally found some superglue and it seemed to work well under the duct tape.

It was fairly uneventful few hours to the next town

I made friends with a street cat at another break, the little stores in Chile seem to have everything.

Then onto the Carretera Austral

The clouds finally came down and it began raining and drizzling. I thought great, the wind will come down but that was certainly not the case!
(the sound is not that great!)

I found a road going off into a tree plantation and the overhanging branches were great cover from the rain

the site even included a morning alarm and a brief departure ceremony

and riding into Coyhaique on a bit of pavement was really nice. The man on that tractor is the king of the road! Casually riding at 10km/h with one dog on each side!

Coyhaique and the nice rock to the south of town

for the middle of nowhere, this is a well stocked town with supermarkets and restaurants and all that. I walked my bike into the big supermarket, asked the guard to keep an eye on my bike. Grabbed a basket and looked at the lines… and walked my bike out.
it was the beggining of the Chilean super long weekend and everything was crazy

There was cell phone signal everywhere and i was also able to find an alternate route

and this dog looked just like Shadow!

it was really nice riding through farms and fields but at some point i began wondering, why are there so many cars? where are they coming and where are they going? there was nothing at the end of the road.

closer to the mountains was a promise of a lake and hopefully a windless night.

and I barely missed the sun but looking around it was too windy to camp

it was one of the calmest camps in the last little while

even if i got some suspicious looks from the locals

it took few hours to get to the carretera austral and then onto pavement. It was all going well until snap. my crank flew out.