To the next border crossing: Argentina

Thomas the Dane, Parque Patagonia, Chile.

My time in Parque Patagonia was great, but after five nights, it was time to move on. I took off pretty early, but was not in a huge hurry as I did not plan to make it all the way to Chile Chico in one day, as the roads are just too challenging. And, as I was heading out the 11 km to Carretera Austral, just amazing who I ran into, Thomas the Dane. Thomas is Danish, a biker (not motorcyclists), and I had run into him about five times already at different points along the Carretera Austral; he was easy to recognize as he had an animal tail hanging from one of his rear panniers. Sad, and funny at the same time, as we were traveling at about the same pace as we both headed south, he on his bike, me in my Sprinter. At this point, he was traveling with a couple from Australia, and they had also stayed at Los West Winds in Parque Patagonia the night before. It was sad that I did not know they were there, as I had lots of cold beer to share, and one thing I know for sure, bikers on the Carretera Austral are not hauling beer up and down the dirt and gravel roads that are the norm in this part of the world. Plus, we all know how much the Aussies love beer. I stopped the van, shook his hand, and took a picture. We chatted briefly, and both agreed that we would see each other again, just fate at this point. Both us were heading for Ushuaia, Argentina. It was nice to see him again, such is life as members of the Patagonia brotherhood, so many of us traveling the same roads, visiting the same beautiful places, so interesting and fun. The Australian couple were also very nice, and I actually did see them again very soon, at the point where the park road hit the Carretera Austral. They were all heading south, to Cochrane, and eventually to Villa O'Higgins where they planned to cross the pass (pushing their bikes) into Argentina, and eventually into El Chalten, Argentina. I was also heading to El Chalten, though I was heading north to the road along the southern shore of Lago General Carrera to Chile Chico and the Argentinian border. We chatted again, took some photos of the confluence of the Rio Chacabuco with the Rio Nef, and off they went, south, while I loaded up and headed north to the turn-off for Chile Chico.

I ended up spending the night in Puerto Gaudal along the lake, wild camping at the town dock. Then next morning, I took off along the shore of the lake, heading for Chile Chico, and, another brutal stretch of road. It is such a brutal stretch, it has a name, the "Paso de las Llaves", a scary stretch of road, ".... a 30-km stretch of road carved out of the rock face on the edge of the lake" (Footprint, Patagonia, 4th Edition). It was another exhausting drive, steep uphill sections where the van really struggled, curves and switchbacks, lots of gravel and washboard and potholes and rocks and drop-offs into the lake below. It was a long day. But eventually I made it into Chile Chico, great little town on the southern shore of the lake, Lago General Carrera, windy (and I mean windy, like blow your socks off), but cool place to hang for a couple of days before heading into Argentina, and down to El Chalten. I checked out a few places to camp in town, but ended up at a great hostal, where I negotiated the price down to $12,000 pesos, good deal with private room, shared bathrooms with great showers, and lots of common space including a kitchen, and a cool space to hang out and work on the blog. There also turned out to be a great mix of people moving through, and Jose, a professional photographer helped out around the place, run by a very nice woman with four boys (did not see a husband). I also found a place to exchange money, Chilean for Argentinian pesos, which later would prove to be important as getting money in places like El Chalten was a challenge. While the drive was scary, Chile Chico was great, and, it all meant that I would soon be in El Chalten, and get my first look at Cerro Fitz Roy, another special place on my check-list of must-see places in Patagonia. Off to Argentina. 

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