Adventure Patagonia - APA2402
The tour starts well but then we get the information that our pass planed for tomorrow is closed due to a generator problem up there. Gathering more information via different channels lead us much further North than expected. 390km versus the planned 210km and a much higher share on gravel roads as well. The weather is nice with us and our group performs very well on the various sorts of gravel we have to deal with. Well done and happy faces!! Super team!
Since our targeted gravel pass is closed we take now the famous Ruta 40 south. In this area called also the Camino de los 7 Lagos. And here we are not alone, all of a sudden buses at view points which we had not at all before. A lunch in Bariloche, then we head further south passing El Bolson in order to reach our cute Hosteria in the middle of nowhere.
In the morning we visit Butch Cassidys ranch in Cholilo and after we ride through the Los Alerces National Park. The scenery is beautiful, forest, lakes and rivers, snow capped mountains in the background and lots of gravel - what a great day!
The whole night it rains - and everyone sleeps well. Nice if you hear the rain on the roof and you are not outside:-) In the morning the adventure continues: Road closure because of a landslide approx. 1.5 hours away on our road to the small village Puyuhuapi. One hour later we get the news that they opnend again, so we start into the rain. The gravel parts are good and have good grip, around us everything is green, super green and the vegetation gets more and more dense...btw. Puyuhuapi gets 300 days a year rain. Immigrants from Germany founded this small village, some of them were paid at that time to move here...
The whole night rain - normal here in this region. However at the morning briefing it looks a bit brighter but once we hit the road rain again. C'est la vie and everyone is in a good mood and we start into the rainforest, so beautiful. Our super team rides up the Queulat pass road with its 14 gravel hairpins...well done! The Queulat National park is very beautiful, the dense forest topped by snow capped mountains, great vistas after every curve. Later the landscape opens up, some farmland and for us another gravel road towards Coyhaique, the last "big" city (with 55.000 inhabitants:-) on our way down to Tierra del Fuego...Another day in paradise!
The weather is with us! It is Sunday and quiet when we leave Coyhaique in the morning into the wide open...firstly farmland, hills and mountains in the background. Steadily gaining height, the temperature goes down and the wind gets stronger as we are coming closer to the mountains. At the foot of Cerro Castillo we get a coffee and prepare for the next 150km gravel. Supernice and after every curve new vistas... later we follow the shore of Lago General Carrera and Lago Bertrand - Patagonia at its best (again:-) and so much fun!!
From our nice Lodge at the lake we start into a cool morning but with steel blue sky. Soon we meet the Rio Baker and we see the confluencia with Rio Nef, blue water mixing with green water. In order to gas up we make a detour along the valley, the road high up and provides nice views. Now it is time to tackle the Paso Roballos, another 75 km single lane gravel road through the Parque Patagonia, evolved from the land which Douglas Tompkins and his wife bought over the years in order to protect the nature. Guanacos, rabbits and a flock of baby ostriches running 10 meters in front of us for 600m not leaving the gravel road left or right, so funny. Leaving Argentina takes a while and Chile welcomes us on the other side. The road gets rough for a while and then we enter a more desert landscape with firstly lagunas with lots of birds, then mountains and hills in all colors and shapes, later dried out white lagunas and obviously minerals everywhere around… The piste is wide and fun, what a great day again!
Today the day of the nothing - and nothing is amazing as well! :-) Open wilderness, nothing obviously to feed the animals living out here and even though one sees from time to time Guanacos, an armadillo or some ostriches... Everyone travelling down here has to go through Bajo Caracoles, a 6 houses village with a fuel pump and a pension behind. Here we fuel up for another long stretch in the nothing and get a small snack and coffee. Another stop in Las Horquetas and after further 50km we leave the tarmac in order to reach our Estancia for our overnight stay in the "outback" - a rustic farm stay with lamb from the open fire and some beers (or wine:-), different and nice!
Today we target the trekking village at the foothills of Mount Fitz Roy. 120km km of more severe gravel are waiting for us...and the wind gets stronger and tries to blow us out of our choosen lanes between the soft gravel piling up left and right. Huuihui sometimes challenging but everyone does well. Later we hit the asphalt again and make our way towards Fitz Roy, however clouds hide his majesty - tomorrow we have another chance to see him on our way out form El Chalten. Let's finish our plates completely in the evenning :-)
Philip, Manuel, Peter and Hans ride to the Laguna del Dieserto in the morning, some parts a bit challenging as we heard later. Fitz Roy is still hiding in the clouds when we make our way out of El Chalten along Lake Viedma. At the eastern end end we meet our beloved Ruta 40 again. A nice coffee stop at La Leone (nearly everyone stops here travelling:-) and after we see the Lago Argentino on our right. For taking a foto we stop here and meet a Swiss guy on a bicycle travelling since 1.5 years from Alaska down here: Chapeau! Another 40km from here we reach El Calafate, THE hub for visiting the Nationalpark Los Galciares again
Just great the glacier! I think nowhere else on this earth you can come closer to a huge glacier like here unless you hike or take a boat/ ship. And we took a boat as well to come even closer. Amazing views also along the boardwalk opposite side of the glacier!
A fresh 8°C and a cool wind are waiting outside for us when we start our motorcycles. We leave a tranquilo El Calafate, ride along the Lago Argentino and climb elevation on a plateau...under us the wide open, the lake in the background and the Rio Santa Cruz. The temperature drops with every 100m elevation now we are down to 4.5°C and the strong sidewind increases. Everyone is happy about the coffee stop in Esperanza before we hit the Ruta 40 again. A smooth border crossing in the middle of nowhere brings us to Chile again and closer to our target tomorrow, the NP Torres del Paine. In the evening we have our dinner in a pub downtown and lots of laughs and fun
Again a cool morning and coming closer to the national park it gets a bit darker, on the other hand no wind...a bit unusual here :-) We enjoy the fascinating nature while riding with our bikes right through the park...and today is group picture day! :-))
Tierra del Fuego, the Land of Fire is our target today! After thousands of kilometers we are coming closer to the "end of the world". The weather is unbelievable good! Sunshine and no wind: Just wow! A gravel loop close to the coast impresses with the deep blue sea water. And we find more highlights in "the nothing" on our way to the ferry which brings us to Tierra del Fuego.
Today a lot of "nothing" ahead, on one hand fascinating and on the other hand one always find something out there: some Guanacos from time to time, a rabbit, a fox, birds and endless space... After Rio Grande the landscape changes again, forest along the road and mountains in the background. We climb Paso Garibaldi and ride down towards Ushuaia on a twisty road, everyone enjoys the curves again. And then we are there in Ushuaia at the "end of the world". Well done everyone!!
We enjoy our restday! Becky, Philip, Manuel, Peter, Tristan and Erwin on a boat trip to the Penguins, Hans and Michaela strolling around the city, Elaine and Adrian in Ushuaias former prison :-))...and all activities under blue sky and without wind! Lucky we! And thank you all for the nice pictures!
Fin del Mundo, our first target for today and we ride the last kilometers of the Ruta 3 out there. Beautiful weather again, we stroll around and everyone has his/her own "end of the world" impressions, a moving moment after all these kilometers all the way down from Osorno... We gather again at the train station and ride through the outskirts of Ushuaia when all of a sudden the cooler liquid pours out of one of our Tigers - surprise and we exchange the bikes quickly. We cross over the Garibaldi to Tolhuin and enjoy our lunch at the famous bakery before we leave the forest and twisty road towards Rio Grande in the wide pampas. And the wind picks up, tomorrow it shall be worse says the forecast. Finally, welcome to Patagonia!
Our final riding day...unbelievable, after all these days and kilometers, sometimes on rough roads with all kinds of weather, through the lago district and volcanic area in the North, first gravel roads in the super beautiful national parks, crossing passes between Chile and Argentina and arriving in the rain forest down at Puyuhuapi, later the highlights Fitz Roy, Perito Moreno Glaciar, Torres del Paine, on long straights in "the nothing", crossing over to Tierra del Fuego in order to reach the southernmost town on earth reachable with a motorcycle and finally arriving in Punta Arenas, and all this with our nice group always enjoying! Well done and we do hope seeing you soon somewhere again on this beautiful earth! But firstly finishing the last 440 km to Punta Arenas riding on long straights with stronger and stronger sidewinds, sometimes coming from all directions, crossing again the Magellan Strait and continue further to our destination. All good and all nice! And accordingly we enjoy our farewell dinner in Punta Arenas. What a tour with great people! Safe travels and see you soon again! Holger