Coyhaique and the end of the Carretera Austral…

This travelogue is going to be a bit vague. We are writing from Bariloche (over 800km and many weeks from Coyhaique). The camera broke the second day out of town so we have no pictures to help us reconstruct a chronology of events. The days on our bikes blend together so easily because every day is so similar in routine. The roads are the same, the food is the same and we are riding…only the scenery changes. It is meditative to start a long stage, knowing that there is no set destination besides north. There is calm in the repetition of biking and I try to think of nothing, concentrating on breathing. I can sometimes reach a state where I am conscious of my mind but have no thoughts.

About 100km out of Coyhaique the carretera passed through the National Park Queulat. The road became very narrow, overgrown on both sides with immense vegetation and winded up past numerous waterfalls. We camped by a small stream and waited for the mist to start falling. Biking makes micro climates very noticeable. We move far enough to recognize changes in geography and weather and slow enough to feel their effect. The park was positioned in a valley in such a way that it obviously received more rain than other nearby areas (In a week we would see the same drastic changes in climate as we passed back across the Andes at Futeleufu. The Chilean side was caught in a rain shadow, and the Argentine side was sunny and windy). Although we had occasional decent weather, it rained consistently and out of the blue. In La Junta we bought food and basked in the sun, but as night approached the sky was dark. By 10 the rain pitter-pattered our tent and thus began three days of continuous rain. Wetness chilled us to the bones. Iain biked with wet shoes and Dan (although we still don't understand how) was able to endure biking in sandals. Arriving in Santa Lucia we were chilled through. We opted to get a room at a hostel. It was our first time sleeping in beds after a month of straight camping!!! The hostel turned out to be just a home with an extra room. We ate dinner with a very interesting family…an elderly woman with her son and his two sons. The young kids were sneaking off to smoke cigarettes and the woman sat by the fire, drinking mate and smoking, with an infected foot propped on a small stool. We were just happy to dry our clothes, sit by the fire and eat homemade bread. From Santa Lucia we cut eastward to the pass at Futaleufu. Again it rained. We were caught in the shadow of the mountains. There was nothing to do but bike, no waiting this one out.

We rode through a constant rain all the way to the pass, but it was pleasant enough so that we could still see the walls of the valley and the waterfalls streaming down them. It was, however, cold. We made the lunch break as quick as possible so that we could get back on the bikes and warm up. The road to Futaleufu was a gentle climb, and we got to the pass in the late afternoon. It had stopped raining, so we bought a bit of food and biked out of town a bit to camp. We found a nice spot by a river, built a fire and pitched the tent. When we laid down, it was again drizzling.

To our disappointment, it was still raining in the morning when we got up and broke camp. The bikes and our gear had been taking a beating the last few days on the Carretera in the rain and gravel, so we took the time to wipe and oil them in the rain. We knew that just 40 kilometres away in Trevelin, Argentina, there was again pavement (lots of it!!!). From there, nearly all of the roads back to Paraguay would be a hard-surface. We passed through the Chilean and Argentine customs and began to roll down the eastern slopes of the Andes into Argentina. The change in climate and landscape was drastic. Leaving the lush, humid valleys of the Carretera, we entered again into the plains of the Argentine altiplano that we had seen for the last time back in El Chalten. Thankfully, the rain stopped and we biked easily into Trevelin through arid pine forests, irrigated strawberry fields, and open plains. In Trevelin, we bought a bit more food and passed out of town again towards Esquel, 24 kilometres away. An ever-popular cow pasture served as our campsite, and we enjoyed an evening with a campfire and dulce de leche on bread.

The next morning, we woke up to a downpour. So much for the drier climate. . . We packed up our wet gear and headed into Esquel. Trying to change money, we discovered that the electricity was out and there was no bank system functioning. We waited around for a bit, dried our gear, and drank mate. After several hours, we got tired of waiting and left town. El Bolson was only two days away and we had the food to get there.

The first 12 kilometres out of Esquel were covered quickly, helped by a strong tailwind from the west. Soon, however, we turned north and the wind turned into a quartering side wind. Coincidentally, this happened at the intersection of the famous Ruta 40, which we had seen for the last time going into El Chalten. The wind was by far the strongest we have pedalled in, and we both got blown off the road numerous times. Dan caught a particularly strong gust and sailed off the road down into a ditch. We finally took shelter under an overpass and hunkered down for the evening.

The next morning we woke to a mercifully calm day, and took advantage of it. We made quick time towards El Bolson, and that afternoon descended into a valley off of the alti-plano. This valley, the Epuyen, has a strikingly different climate and soil type and is wonderful for fruit, berry, and nut production. We pedalled our way through apple, plum, and cherry orchards on a sunny afternoon, and found a forested area to camp in a few kilometres out of El Bolson.

The next morning, we arrived in El Bolson early and celebrated by eating large amounts of pastries. We had decided to treat ourselves to hot showers and a bed. El Bolson is a great little town with a relaxed atmosphere and a lot of handmade crafts. We went to a huge fair in the plaza and enjoyed a day and a half of rest. On Sunday, the 12th of March, we pedalled out of El Bolson towards the city of San Carlos de Bariloche, the largest city in Patagonia. We camped again in a cow pasture and tried our luck with a tent-less evening. At 5:00 a.m. the next day, we were rushing to set up the tent to shelter us from a drizzle.

The drizzle soon let up and we started a 105 km day to Bariloche. The road climbed through a massive valley, the widest and most expansive we have pedalled so far. With panoramic views, snow-capped peaks, huge expanses of forests, it was easy to lose our sense of distances. For nearly two hours, we found ourselves climbing up for 13 kilometres into a high forest and the entrance to Bariloche.

That evening we arrived in town tired and happy. This was a landmark for us, representing the completion of the Patagonia part of our bike tour. We had the good fortune of a contact in Bariloche. Randy Clause is originally from Iowa, near Dan's hometown of Clear Lake. He had biked from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Tierra del Fuego a few years ago and had enjoyed South America so much, he stayed living and working in Bariloche. He heard about our bike trip and contacted us several weeks ago to see if we were going through Bariloche and if there was anything he could do to help us in our trip. It worked out that he was able to find a place for us to stay and we were able to spend a bit of time with him. (Traveller's tip: In Bariloche, we stayed at the hostel Below 41, and if you are in the area, we highly recommend checking it out. It is extremely comfortable, well-run, and has a lot of good people around it. The owner, Paul, is a Kiwi who has travelled extensively around the world and is a knowledgeable man. Their webpage can be found at www.hostel41below.com Buena onda.)

We stayed two days in Bariloche, and then took two days to pedal around in the mountains and lakes in the area. We had the opportunity to hang out with some Argentines drinking home brew eating apples. Baru, Buena onda che! On March 17th, we went back to Bariloche to have dinner and celebrate Dan's 25th birthday. On March 18th, we cleaned gear and prepared to travel north again the next day. The next stretch of our trip will lead us to Mendoza, about 1200 kilometres away.