25.12.2007 Puerto
Natales
Sitting
on a motorbike is wearying but cannot really be called exercise so it
was about time we got out and did something...
Cerro
Castillo
The
Cerro Castillo hike is a 4 day hike that gives you a closer look at the
impressive spires and glaciers of the Cerro Castillo range and is
considered one of the classic treks in Patagonia. Lucky for us it
hasn’t quite achieved cult status among the backpackers yet
so we
were alone on the hike. The weather had also scared off a few as we had
sat out a day of gale force winds, snow and freezing cold temperatures
before we started. Sitting around a nice cosy wood fire in Villa Cerro
Castillo was infinitely better than battling the temperamental
patagonian weather. I could also practice my spanish on our motherly
host Eva and with Josep from Cataluna who arrived by bicycle in that
awful wind. To see a short video clip on how windy and cold it is, click here.
Doug finds us
After
our wonderful
trek whick ended back in Villa Cerro Castillo we
strolled back
into Hospedaje Austral and were greeted by a french
backpacker
who asks us if we are the ones who have someone looking for them?
Someone looking for us...well we did make tenuous plans to meet up with
Doug on the other side of the border in Perito Moreno. Could it be him?
Is he South African? Yes. We turn around and there he is walking in the
door. Our co-pilot for the next couple of weeks, complete with shiny
red helmet, had tracked us down.
Around Lago
General Carrera on the Carretera Austral
For
the time being Villa Cerro Castillo is where the asphalt ends on the
Carretera Austral. So we had 300km of gravel roads to look forward to
before reaching tar again in Chile Chico. Two days of deep gravel,
corrugations and sheer drops made for bone shaking and tiring riding
but the landscapes made it all worthwhile. The turquoise lake, snow
capped peaks and views onto San Lorenzo and the northern ice fields. To see a video clip of Renee riding the side car, click here.
Ruta
40 and the forbidden road
Back
in Argentina and heading south along Ruta 40 we were treated to 100km
of tar road which then ended south of Perito Moreno unfortunately. We
stopped off in Bajo Caracoles for a much needed coffee break and spoke
to a bus driver about the state of the road. He gave us the tip to
drive on the partially constructed new roads as today being a Sunday
they would be free of workers and road-building equipment. The idea was
to ride as far as we could on the newer roads as the next day they
would be working on them again. That’s when it started
snowing.
Soldiering on hoping it would stop we were eventually forced to camp on
the side of the road due to frozen fingers and muddy roads.
The
next two days we road south chancing our luck and riding on the new
road sections whenever we could. Axel started
getting really
cheeky and was, by the end of the second day, riding the new stuff even
when people were working on it. Encouraged by the friendly smiles and
waves we carried on thinking this would never in a million years happen
in Switzerland. Then one group waved us down and we thought uh oh this
is where we get into trouble. But no, they just wanted to take some
photos on their mobile phone cameras! They even got the huge grader to
park behind us for the shot. Some more video footage here.