HAY PAN? La Carretera Austral

We crossed back into Chile at the Paso Futelefu, and have been cycling the famous Carretera Austral with the infamous Dorothee Fleck, a round-the-world bicycle badass and jokester extraordinaire. We met at a campsite at the Parque Nacional los Alerces before crossing into Chile, and have been making fun of each other for the last three weeks. Besides Dorothee, we have also met a host of other cyclists on this well-cycled gravel highway. With only a few days of rain and infinite encounters with hospitible people and breathtaking rivers, we have absolutely nothing to complain about.

Cruzamos de nuevo a Chile a el Paso Futelefu y hemos pedaleando el famoso Carretera Austral con la Dorothee Fleck. Ella es una ciclista impresionante, ha ido casi dos vueltas del mundo en bici. Ademas ella es muy buena para bromear. Encontramos con un montón de otros ciclistas también sobre este camino de ripio... todo muy buena gente. Hemos tenido pocos días de lluvia y muchos días de vistas entonces no tenemos nada de qué quejarse.    

Paso Futelefu. Not too much of a climb but always excited to cross the Andes on bicycle. | Paso Futelefu. No mucha de subida pero siempre estamos emocionadas a cruzar la cordillera en bici.

Mario, a round-the-world cyclist who hails from Quebec, Canada. | Mario, un ciclista viajando por todo el mundo que es de Quebec, Canada.

Israel and Marco, Chilean brothers who we shared a cabaña with in Santa Lucia after a rainy rainy day of riding. | Israel y Marco, hermanos Chilenos.  Compartimos una cabaña en Santa Lucia porque hubo muuuuucho lluvia!

The cabaña crew. Alvaro found us soaking wet in the only supermercado in town and invited us to stay with them in the tiny cabaña. We were so grateful! From left: Kayla, Israel, Dorothee, Jacque, Alvaro, and Marco. | Seis personas, una cabaña. Alvaro nos encontró en el supermercado en donde estábamos muertas de frío. El nos invitó a quedarse en la cabaña con ellos.  

Jacque likes to take pictures of solitary trees in fields. | Jacque le gusta sacar fotos de arboles solitarios en medio de nada. 

Judith and Chris, from Switzerland. We play tag with them on the route and have spent some time riding with them and various nights camping together. Chris speaks the elusive fourth language of Switzerland, Romansch! | Judith y Chris, de Suiza. Pedaleamos y acampamos con ellos por un tiempo, y siempre nos vemos en la ruta. Chris puede hablar el cuarto idioma de Suiza: el Romansch!

A biciclista in Puyuhuapi. | Una ciclista en Puyuhuapi. 

Fjord Puyuhuapi

Hay pan? The everlasting question. This time around no había pan. | La pregunta de siempre: HAY PAN? En este momento, no había pan.

We stayed for a night at Parque Quelet and hiked out to see Ventisquero Colgante, a hanging glacier! | Quedaremos una noche a el Parque Quelet y caminábamos a el Ventisquero Colgante, un glaciar!

Lots of wildflowers in Patagonia! | Muchas flores silvestres en la Patagonia!

Thanksgiving dinner one week early at the Caza (cazador) de Ciclistas in Villa Mañuhaules. Jorge and Diana (pictured in back with their son Jaime) open up their home to bike-trippers and have two full guestbooks signed by people from all over the world! We shared an early Thanksgiving with their family and with some other bike-trippers also staying at the Casa. From left: Moisés, Katy, Diana, Jaime, Jorge, Mauricio, Dorothee, and Kayla. | La comida de Día de Acción de Gracias a la Caza de Ciclistas en Villa Mañuhaules. Jorge y Diana (al fondo con su hijo Jaime) abren su casa a ciclistas del mundo. Tienen dos libros llenos de notas de agradecimiento de años de los ciclistas que visitan. De izquierda a la derecha: Moisés, Katy, Diana, Jaime, Jorge, Mauricio, Dorothee, y Kayla.

Moisés, Jacque, Katy, Kayla, and Mauricio in front of the Caza de Ciclistas! | Moisés, Jacque, Katy, Kayla, y Mauricio en frente de la Caza de Ciclistas!

In Coyhaique we stayed for some nights with our fantastic WarmShowers host, Boris, in his new home! Boris is a bike-tripper himself and hopes to turn his home into a casa de ciclistas when he´s not on the road. From left: Boris, Jacque, Dorothee, Kayla, Mauricio. | En Coyhaique quedaremos con el Boris!  

Snow-capped Cerro Castillo lords over the buildings of tiny Villa Cerro Castillo. Unfortunately we had a rainy climb and couldn´t properly enjoy the view from the summit. | La cumbre de Cerro Castillo cubierto de nieve.  Lastimosamente la cuesta fue muy mal porque hubo mucha lluvia y frío, y no podimos ver nada.

Dorothee teaches us lessons about bike-tripping.  Lessons one, two, and three: ENJOY IT. | La Dorotea nos enseñó las lecciones de viajar en bici. DISFRUTA-LA!

Yu Hsi, round-the-world bike-tripper from Taiwan. | Yu Hsi, viajando en bici en todo el mudo. El es Taiwanés.

We asked a woman named Lidia if we could camp on her land, and she ended up inviting us into her home for the evening, where we learned how to spin yarn out of wool using a spindle! Lidia spins all her own yarn and then knits her family members sweaters: it takes about 45 days to complete one project.

These wood-burning stoves are a common sight in patagonian homes.  Lidia´s also has a hot-water heater.

Kayla and Lidia in her cozy and beautiful home!

Incredible view from camping near Puente Leones.



Un Cemetario not-so Antiguo before Villa Rio Tranquillo.

We took a boat to see the Capillas de Marmol on Lago General Carrera. Crazy marble caverns!

Mauricio, Kayla, and Dorothee on the boat to see the Capillas de Marmol.

Manuel and Dorothee look at the map of what´s to come. We camped in Manuel´s yard and had a lovely dinner in his kitchen.

An abandonned house became unabanndoned for an evening when we inhabited it to celebrate Dorothee´s birthday!! A party complete with balloons and an excessive quanity of boxed wine, after a very very challenging day of riding.

Dorothee and Kayla outside of our temporary home.

Dorothee smiles up the hills even when they´re too steep and too rocky to ride.

Guanacos in their natural envrionment.

Shannon and Brenton, from Austin, TX, who have been driving since Texas in their pickup for the last 2 years. We were happy to meet such a fantastic US American couple to spend Thanksgiving with!

Conservacion Patagonica, a private park owned by Kris and Doug Tompkins, the former owners of the North Face clothing brand. We had a lot of problems with the park and will write a scathing review later.