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From Thursday 23 to Wednesday 29 November, from O’Higgins to El Calafate.
EL Lago de O’Higgins
This Thursday the 23rd we leave O’Higgins under the sun, heading to Argentina. We take a boat to the port of Bahamondez, this is where the Carretera Austral officially ends. We have to cross Lake O’Higgins to get to the port of Candelario Mancilla. The crossing is very rough, there is a fairly violent wind and the boat hits hard against the waves. The captain reduces his speed and so we will arrive peacefully at our destination.
We are in a completely isolated area not accessible by road. Only three people live here, 2 brothers and their 98 year old mother. They are the descendants of a family that colonized this part of the territory. They live far from everything, supplies are only by boat. Fortunately they remain in contact with the world via a small Starlink antenna and what’s more, it provides a speed worthy of fiber. We sleep at Ricardo’s house, one of the two brothers. The electricity for his house is produced using two small solar panels and we must not waste it otherwise it will be dark. The houses are heated only with stoves or wood stoves, however it is very good there.
The path of the impossible
After a night of absolute calm in this piece of land, this Friday we leave very early to complete the 22 km of path and trail known to be difficult. We must first complete customs formalities to leave Chile. the border post is completely isolated in the mountains, 3 customs officers provide service there for 40 days before being relieved. The number of people who pass here each day is less than 10 but the service is essential.
We then set off on a steep and stony path of 16 km. We cover the latter in less than 3 hours. It will then take us more than 4 hours to cover the last 6 km on a very narrow path. The latter is sometimes very steep and many obstacles such as tree trunks or wetlands slow us down. In wet areas, mud sticks to the tires and ends up blocking the wheels. In this part it is impossible to ride bicycles. Another major obstacle slowing us down is the river crossings, some have a high flow and there is no bridge. It’s a real sporting exercise. After a lot of effort we arrive at the Argentinian customs post, also very isolated. We complete the formalities there and camp for the night at the border post. The boat scheduled for 5 p.m. which should take us to Argentina has been canceled.
El Chalten
This November 25, the boat from the day before finally arrived and we left the Argentinian border post for El Chalten. The 30-minute crossing of Lago Del Desierto takes us to the road to El Chalten. A road made mainly of stones, it will take us more than 4 hours to cover the 40 km despite a favorable wind which pushes us well. We must constantly slow down our speed to avoid falling and damaging our bikes. We finally reached the town of EL Chalten in an extremely violent wind. We are in a climber’s and walker’s paradise. They are all lined up on the walking paths. And the tourist season has not really started yet. It is a place that was artificially created in the Argentine pampas for tourism; everything here is very expensive. Nevertheless, it must be admitted, the setting of the resort is heavenly. The ultimate must for climbers is to climb Mount Fitz Roy.
Standing still facing the wind
After a day of rest, Monday morning we leave the station quite late, today we are going to ride in the Argentine pampas. There is no habitation for tens of km with the occasional exception of isolated farms. We will come across three during the day. The pampas offer a magnificent setting with its blue lagoons, and animals such as guanacos, choiques and horses which live freely. The day was quite easy thanks to the wind which blew at our backs almost all day. We stop to spend the night in the only existing inn on this road. Here the electricity supply is provided by solar panels, generators or wind turbines. After a very quiet night we continue our way towards El Calafate. This morning the wind has picked up and is blowing from the north. It pushes us and without pedaling we can happily drive at almost 30 km/h. The setting is identical to the day before and we move quickly until 30 km before our arrival. A change of direction and there we encounter a headwind. It is blowing at over 70km/h. Not only is progress slowed down, but we are almost at a standstill because it is so strong and constant. After about 5 km we threw in the towel and decided to hitchhike. A pick-up will stop and we will put the bikes there to finish the last 25 km.
El Perito Moreno like a giant
November 29, a day where we play tourist, we take a bus to visit the Périto Moreno glacier. It is quite a difficult road and part of it is not accessible by bike. We will not regret our decision as the day was rainy and very windy. It is a giant glacier that rests at the bottom of Lake Argentino. It measures more than 48 km, for a height of 170m, 100 of which are submerged, however, in certain places its thickness can reach 700m. It advances 2m per day and as in certain places it is blocked against the walls of the mountain, eh! many huge blocks of ice break off into the water, making a deafening noise. The latter then float in the water like giant icebergs. Like all glaciers, it is very impressive and offers a magnificent spectacle. It is located 80km from El Calafate.
During these 7 days we covered 345km. You will find our route on the map in: “our Route Map ”
We met :
- Paul and Samantha an American couple living in Alaska
- Guillaume, Laurène and Andoni who also travel by bike from Ushuaiha and go back to the north of South America.
Incredible: In Argentina, the exchange is called “blue dollars”, it is done everywhere except in banks and exchange offices, because the latter offer a lower rate of 50%. This is incredible because they are the ones who tell you to go elsewhere instead.
