This day was so incredible, that we’re dedicating an entire blog post to it.  You see, there is a little-known border crossing between Argentina and Chile that only hikers and cyclists can cross.  It is a 22 km stretch that links two lakes and two countries.  It is stunning and exhausting and epic.  Although we were warned by a great many southbound cyclists of the ‘struggle-fest’ that awaited us, we actually loved this short section that required so much effort.  We didn’t have a strict timeline, so we took our time and had fun.

The crossing is a mere 22 km (13 miles), but the first 6 km are on a narrow, steep hiking trail and the rest are on a rough dirt track.  Those first 6km took us a total of 5 hours!  At first, the campground kitty kept pace with us as we pushed and tugged our bikes up the trail. It was super steep, but quite good as far as footing goes. I often had to remove my front panniers and rack pack and take everything up in two trips to manage the weight.  In each of the three pictures below, try to find the kitty!

Sometimes the trail was like a bobsled chute, and our front panniers literally couldn’t fit through while on the bikes. Jason was smart and put his front panniers hanging on his top tube, so he almost never had to take two trips. At every stream crossing I took both bikes across so that Jason could keep his feet dry.  Ah, the things we do for love…

We stopped for lunch about 3 km in, setting up in a shaded forest. We had several stream crossings, but sometime after lunch we had the worst stream crossing of all: the bog. The mud was super deep! It tried to suck my sandals off my feet and at times reached halfway to my knee. At one point I got stuck and the bike almost fell in. Luckily, Jason was there and he saved both of us. About an hour after lunch Jason got stuck on a particularly hard section and let his bike fall down. He just left it on the ground, in the path, and declared that it was break time.

After 5 hours we made it to the border at the top of the pass. Woohoo! We took the celebratory photos and ate the last of a peanut dessert we had bought a few days back. Immediately the rough trail became a rough, but very rideable, track. It felt so good to ride again! There were a few steep uphills, but we mostly got to coast downhill. We passed a (very) primitive landing strip, cows, and horses.

Sometimes the road was very steep downhill, and loose too, so we had to ride with one foot bouncing along on the dirt. Sometimes we had to walk. Soon enough we turned a corner to see the lovely Lake O’Higgins stretching out below us.

At about 4 o’clock we reached the border control shack, and got through with no problems. We even got to keep our veggies! I think the agent just forgot to ask us about them.

By 4:15 we were at the ferry dock, and we decided to catch the boat. While we waited we cooked up a pot of rice, veggies, and tuna to eat on the boat. When the craft actually arrived we were nervous that there wouldn’t be room or that they wouldn’t take our tickets that were technically for tomorrow. No worries though, they just decided that it was ok to have more people than the technical capacity, and they told us we had to sit in the kitchen.

We did spend a bit of time on deck enjoying the scenery before retreating to the warm and comfortable kitchen for a nap all the way to the other side of the lake.

Once offloaded, we dealt with the expected chaos of nine cyclists sorting out their bikes and gear after a ferry ride. We took the obligatory photos at the ‘End of the Carretera Austral’ sign, and rode towards town. Although we had originally planned to camp in town, we stopped halfway there to camp for free next to some abandoned boats. It was nice and quiet there, although we were actually ravenous again.

We ate oatmeal for second dinner, and finally went to bed. It started to rain as we ate, and continued through the night. The next morning we made the short ride into town.  You’ll have to wait for the next update to hear more about this fantastic dirt road we’re spending the next three weeks on!

We are currently in the tourist town of Calafate in Argentina, after spending six days riding the 325 miles from Punta Arenas.  It has been quite a journey.  To us, it feels like we’re living inside a National Geographic magazine.  Around every corner there are exotic animals on windswept plains, or twisted Juniper trees that have been deformed by the gusts.  We see far off mountains and glaciers, and we’ve slept everywhere from rodeo stalls to lake shores to portable construction housing.  In short, it’s like a whole new adventure down here.

Our first day out of Punta Arenas was grey. It rained for most of the morning, but the wind was blessedly calm.  Since I grew up in the Pacific Northwest, I thought this situation was perfect.  We waved goodbye to the cyclists who had decided to wait out the weather in the city, and we rode off into the wide open.  The riding was good, and we saw some of our first South American wildlife:  guanacos, rheas, flamingos, and sheep.  Ok, so the sheep aren’t so wild, but the rest are!  Guanacos are wild llama-like creatures, and rheas are huge flightless birds that look a lot like ostriches (or chocobos).  That night, we got permission to camp in a sheltered stall at the rodeo grounds of a small town.  Good thing, too, since the wind picked up and blew all night long.

It took two more days for us to get the next town of Puerto Natales, and the scenery continued to be lovely.  One morning we had a raging tailwind that pushed us uphill at 15 miles an hour!  Each day we met other cyclists on the road, some of whom made us feel like short-term tourists.  There was a Mexican fellow who had ridden from Cancun and was about to start riding back on the other coast of South America, and a young guy who had ridden all the way from San Francisco.  Our second night out, we camped on the shores of a lovely lake and watched the birds all evening.

Campground in Puerto Natales.

The town of Puerto Natales is a hopping destination for backpackers who are on trekking trips in Patagonia.  It is right on the water and surrounding by beautiful mountains.  Folks in fancy outdoor clothes were everywhere.  Jason and I stayed in a no-frill hostel that allows camping in the backyard.  We were pleased to find a spot for our tent near the back of the yard against a fence.  Unfortunately, we forgot to take a walk around the back to see what was behind the fence.  It was the bonfire / party area, and we heard folks having a good time all night long!

Puerto Natales was also funny because we expected it to have a limited grocery supply.  Because of this expectation we were happy when we found a funky little store with only somewhat limited selection and inflated prices.  Sure, we had to run to other stores about town to find all our supplies, but we were happy.  Then… we turned a corner and found the big, complete, and lovely supermarket.  At this point, it was far too late, and we walked back to the hostel laughing at our unnecessary scavenger hunt.

 

Leaving Puerto Natales we had a wonderful morning with views of the mountains, lakes, and a pleasantly gentle wind.  All too soon we were at the Chilean-Argentinean border, and the pavement ended.  We needed to get an exit stamp to leave the country, and Jason had somehow managed to throw his ‘tourist card’ away.  There was a moment of panic when he realized it was necessary to leave the country, and another moment of panic when the border agent said that he would have to go to jail.  After a pause, the agent smiled and gave him a new bit of paperwork to fill out.  Less than a minute later, we were on our way.

Right after crossing the border the scenery changed to a stark, flat land of pale yellow grass.  This scenery remained for the next two days.  The first night we slept in a construction trailer, protected from the wind.  The next night we slept in an old house next to a police stop on the highway. In between we spent 40 miles on a rough dirt road, practically getting our teeth shook out of our head. 

Now we are in El Calafate, our last full-service town before setting out on the remote and beautiful Carretera Austral.  We are very excited!  This town is quite touristy, and packed with people from everywhere.  We’ll write about our rest day here in the next post!