El Chalten (Argentina) a Villa O'higgins (Chile)
Trip Start
Jan 14, 2008
1
7
11
Trip End
Mar 14, 2008
Villa O'Higgins,
Chile
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
El segundo día (02 Feb) rodamos 600 mts hasta el muelle. Embarcamos con las bicis y salimos a las 10:30 am. El Lago del Desierto es más largo que ancho y cristalino. En la costa occidental tiene montañas nevadas con glaciares "colgando" de los riscos. Al llegar a la Punta Norte, hicimos el Control de Extranjería para salir de Argentina. Armamos las bicis de nuevo y partimos a lo que se suponía era una etapa difícil. Un trecho de 6 Km de bosques, con subidas y bajadas fuertes, hasta la frontera con Chile. Casi no se puede pedalear por lo que empujamos las bicicletas cargadas por el 95% por un camino estrecho, muy bonito pero bastante duro. 4 horas mas tarde estábamos en el hito fronterizo. Allí decidimos seguir hasta un refugio que resultó vacío. Nuevamente decidimos seguir, ahora hasta Calendario Mancilla, puerto del Lago O'higgins donde tomaríamos el barco en 2 días. 7 Kms de camino de ripio muy suelto, subidas con grandes piedras y un cruce de río helado que cruzamos 3 veces porteando el equipo de un lado a otro, decidimos acampar en el camino y descansar.
El día 3 Feb. Continuamos hacia el puerto disfrutando, ahora si, de una bajada de 4,5 Km con tramos bastante técnicos debido al material suelto y las grandes rocas, pero que cubrimos en hora y cuarto aproximadamente. Al llegar a orillas del lago hicimos chequeo en el Control de Frontera Chileno y fuimos al camping de Candelario Mancilla.
El resto del día y el día 04 fueron de descanso y mantenimiento propio y a las bicicletas! El 04 en la tarde tomamos el bote para cruzar el lago hacia el Norte hasta Villa O'Higgins, a la cual llegamos como a las 10:00 pm, después de pedalear 7 Kms desde el puerto.
Hoy 05 Feb. Nos preparamos para emprender la travesía por la Carretera Austral. Compramos provisiones y aprovechamos el Internet gratis de la Biblioteca del pueblo.
Mañana estaremos en la ruta en busca de las siguientes aventuras...!
(Fotos proximamente)
Edgard y Frances
01.02.08
Today was exhausting. Alter the first 8km I wasn´t sure if I was going to make it. The morning in El Chalten was cold and still, but when we left at 11:30am the winds had started to blow and soon they were swinging me from side to side and three times knocked me right over. The scenery, as ever, was magnificent, with ever new vistas of snow covered mountains, but I was knackered. By and by we reached the El Pilar Hosteleria, and it was here that I began to worry. The girl in the tourist information had warned us of uphills after this point - especially between El Lago Condor and Lago del Desierto (our destination). Fortunately the road was kind with plenty of flat bits and downhills after the short uphills, and the wind dropped as we passed through Lenga woodland. At one stage we were pedaling beside a river going slightly downhill - as was the river, but strangely in the other direction - most peculiar. Then up a few more hills - past some lovely waterfalls which Edgard pointed out to me, but which I was too tired to enjoy. Eventually after 6 ½ hours of hard grind we reached the campsite. The Lago del Desierto is only 500m away but I´m too tired to go and look at it today - tomorrow we cross it anyway, by ferry - sails at 10:30am. Then the hard stuff - 6km of bicycle and gear lugging, up an old mule track to the frontier. Who´s idea was this bike trip anyway?
02.02.08
The day started in a relaxed enough manner - the ferry sailed at 10:30am as programmed. It was rather windy and slightly chilly but the views were spectacular. We arrived at the north side - the last outpost of Argentina, got our passports stamped and were on our way. We knew this was going to be a tough bit, so were mentally prepared for the steep uphill path from the lake - didn´t make pushing the bicis any easier though. It was a nice sunny day however - which made it a lot pleasanter - we have been really lucky with the weather - there always seem to be clouds about - but never directly over us. Anyway the path leveled off after about 300m or so - but even then every small slope was an obstacle, and there were roots and tree trunks and streams to maneuver so that after a couple of hours we were both absolutely exhausted. We developed a system "Operation Tandem" for the really steep bits whereby both of us pushed one bike up at a time. And so the day wore on. The path was actually very pleasant, passing as it did through woodland, and past a small lake and then into more open country, up another small incline and then the twin signs of "Welcome to Chile" and "Welcome to Argentina" marking the border. Another victory! We took the standard photos and decided to move off the top and cycle (at last!) down a stony road (the Chilean side has a bikeable road) to find a less exposed campsite. We were toying with the idea of making it to Candalario Mancilla and Lago O´Higgins that day - another 15km mostly downhill - but tiredness overtook us and we camped in the woods.
03.02.08
From Candelario Mancilla. This delightful spot is where the ferry leaves from - taking us over the O´Higgins Lake to Villa O´Higgins and the start of the Carretera Austral - which has been described to us by other cyclists as being up and down but good "ripio" (gravel road). I´m glad about that because the downhill to Candelario Mancilla was not good ripio - lots of steep bits and loose stones - so I had to walk down some of it. The O´Higgins lake is beautiful though - turquoise waters surrounded by dry rocky hills and hanging glaciers up on high. According to the lady that lives in the Candelario Mancilla ranch - where we are camping - the land is mostly used for cattle ranching and horse breeding - and there are some fine beasts about. The ranch or "hacienda" itself is a bit rundown, but there is the scent of roses and mint. There are raspberry bushes growing, and it is green and sheltered by poplar trees. A lovely place to rest - we have till tomorrow, Monday, before the boat sails at 5:30pm. Till then its writing the diary, sleeping and eating. Splendid!
04.02.08
It is a lovely cloudless blue skied day once again and as I sit here in the morning sun by our tent, I think that I would like to stay in a place like this for a while, in the stillness and quiet, far from the troubles of civilization. This simple life is tempting - milking the cows of a morning (the old lady had a large bucket full of fresh warm milk when I went to wash the dishes this morning), taking solitary walks in the mountains and hills behind and writing about it all. Of course it is a lovely sunny day and these romantic notions may well disappear at the first sight of rain and cold. But now to more practical things - there´s sewing to be done and underwear to wash!
05.02.08
From the campsite Los Ñires in Villa O´Higgins. O´Higgins is a small open village of low slatted wooden houses, set in a flat valley, surrounded by rocky mountains, topped with splashes of snow. This is sheep rearing country - in fact a small herd of sheep and sleeping sheep dog accompanied us on our ferry trip over lake O´Higgins yesterday. It was a fairly uneventful trip; sunny, windy and cold on deck, but warm enough inside, with the spray splashing on the windows. We arrived at 9:15pm at the dock and from there it was an easy 7km ride over good ripio (at last) to the village. Today is (another) rest day. Tomorrow we set off on the Carretera Austral towards Puerto Yungay - 100 km away.
(photos to come)
Frances and Edgard
Comments
Como les va
Hola Chicos me alegra que todo valla bien mamá y papá les mandan saludo los e seguido pos el blog recuerda mandarme las fotos sin editar.
Suerte y que les siga saliendo todo finicimo
Carlos Cesar
Gracias
Gracias por hacernos parte de sus aventuras en el Cono Sur. Sus descripciones y fotografías nos impresionan a todos. Tengo copiadas todas las fotos que han colocado en el blog. Sigan disfrutando como hasta ahora o más si les es posible. Esto parece una película o novela por entregas semanales (lo único que le falta son las escenas de sexo, je, je). Suerte amigos. Melfran