The road chose me

I’ve met more than a few overlanders who call The Carretera Austral (also called Route 7) in far Southern Chile the most beautiful road in the world – obviously it’s been on my radar for while now.
The two ferries and tiny mud track that connect El Chalten in Argentina with Villa O’Higgins, at the southern terminus of the highway in Chile, are barely large enough for backpackers and bicyclists. The only option for motorbike and car travelers to reach Villa O’Higgins is to enter the highway further North, and meander South along the dead-end road, before returning the same way.

Sitting next to Lago General Carrera

Amazingly blue

I cross the border at Chile Chico and am immediately rewarded with spectacular views of the amazingly blue Lago Buenos Aires / Lago General Carrera, named differently in the two countries. The road is gravel, windy and narrow and closely hugs the mighty lake while passing through tiny farming communities. The Austral proper is continuously surrounded by snow and glacier-capped peaks, dotted with amazingly clear lakes and often winds along next to gorgeous rivers and streams.
I take out my fishing gear for the first time, and discover the $2 reel is broken beyond repair. I try my luck in a few lakes but give up quickly due to the frustration of manually winding the fishing line onto the reel. Small turn-outs on the side of the road are abundant, so I camp for the night, enjoying the extreme remoteness.

The mighty Carretera Austral

Narrow canyon on the Austral (spot the Jeep)

In the morning I catch the free, military-run ferry at Puerto Yungay / Rio Bravo and soon discover why this road is so highly regarded. The road becomes narrower, windier and in places quite steep as it climbs up and over small mountain passes. Somehow, the scenery gets more beautiful too.
In the tiny Villa O’Higgins I post up at the beautiful hostel “El Mosco”, and splurge to sleep in a bed for the first time since Buenos Aires.

Lakes and mountains everywhere

Fantastic Austral scenery

I hike up to a very remote and peaceful little cabin above the village, and pass the rainy and cold afternoon and evening sitting by the fire reading and drinking tea. Spending the night is amazing, and it’s for sure one of the most peaceful places I’ve ever been.

Villa O'Higgins

Which way to the refuge?

There’s nowhere I’d rather be.

The refuge above Villa O'Higgins

-Dan

Upon our return from Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre, we cook lunch and rest for an hour in El Chaltén before we re-supply with food from the Jeep, register at the rangers’ office and immediately hit the trail to Laguna Toro. The trail is marked variously as taking between six and seven hours, and after some gorgeous hiking through forests, across lush farmland and a long, long descent to the valley bottom we find ourselves in camp four and a half hours later. Sonny has brought along a bottle of red wine (in a coke bottle) and so in order to lighten his load we drink the lot before crashing soon after dark.

Perched on the mountainside

At seven in the morning, still rubbing sleep from our eyes, we find ourselves staring at a glacier-melt river, which, regrettably, stands between us and our continuing path. After scouting up and down stream for a while we both agree to the inevitable, take off our boots, and plunge in. The first couple of crossings through smaller streams are only ankle deep, and actually don’t hurt too much, though the more times we cross, the worse our feet get. Walking with numb feet is not so much a problem, it’s more the searing pain that comes immediately after exiting the water as the blood rushes back. Walking on the sharp rocks and pebbles in this state is not exactly fun and I can’t help but laugh at our comical hobbling.
If you look closely in the video below, you’ll see chunks of glacier ice floating in the river. Yep. It’s cold.

Back on the trail we make great time, though we actually lose the way, and basically make our own path right down at glacier/lake level. It’s amazing to be so close to the enormous glaciers and with Sonny’s huge amount of experience I feel confident striding across the surface of Tunel Glacier, checking out the crevasses he points out as we go.

Glacier Tunel, another giant

At 16,800 square kilometers, the Ice Field is the second largest in the world and I’m completely awe-struck when we arrive at the high point of the ominously named Paso Del Viento (Pass of the wind). The view in every direction is pure ice, with amazing swirls and patterns where it’s been slowing marching on for thousands and thousands (millions?) of years. Luckily the wind is quite bearable and we stay for a solid half and hour, soaking in as much of the view as possible, which is not diminished in the least by the clouds that have been rolling in all morning.

Fine detail of the glaciers

Loving the Southern Patagonian Ice Field

The entire walk down I formulate a plan to re-cross the river, hoping to avoid the unpleasantries of the morning. I’ll admit that simply taking off my socks and plunging in with my boots is not much of a plan, and not surprisingly, it doesn’t help much. After a solid nine hours of hiking most people opt to stay in the night in camp, though for some reason Sonny and I decide to feast on the remainder of our food, and hoof it back to El Chaltén, where we arrive just after dark, extremely foot sore and a little cold, after fours hours of hard slogging.

Glacier Quervain

Dwarfed by another glacier

Needles to say we’re grinning like mad at the last couple of days.

Thinking about the immense ice field

-Dan

All the photos in this post were taken by Sonny. Checkout his blog to see more of his work.

I spend a couple of relaxing & sunny days camping in El Calafate where I meet Sonny, a backpacker from Lithuania traveling around as part of a photography contest he won. Sonny’s also a serious mountaineer and we talk for hours about some of his bigger summits in Turkistan (7500 meters!). We team up for the hiking circuit around the mighty Mt. Fitz Roy (3405m) and equally impressive Cerro Torre which is notoriously hard to summit.

Laguna Torre by night

Sunrise at Laguna Torre

Over the course of three days we hike around the entire area, from Laguna Torre, up to Laguna De Los Tres and the extreme northern limit of the park, before doubling back on ourselves, hiking most trails more than once. We’re up every morning before sunrise for photos and fall into bed late at night after star photography. On the morning we plan to rise at 4.30am for shots of Fitz Roy I can’t summon the courage and roll over, back to sleep. Sonny enjoys the famous “red flash” sunrise all alone, before we hike over 15 hours for the day. Dedication.

Laguna Torre

Cerro Torre (3102m)

Highlights include swimming then sunning ourselves on the pebble beach at Laguna Hija and eating ice recently calved from the active Glacier Piedras Blacas. Although we hear the glacier cracking and moving, we can’t see any action from our vantage point.

Mountain reflections

Thinking hard**

Breathtaking mountains deep in Southern Patagonia. Does it get any better?

The famous "Red Flash" sunrise**

Cerro Torre

-Dan

** These photos are taken by Sonny, using his very tricky Leica camera. Checkout his photography blog to see his amazing photos.

I’m out hiking and camping in the wilderness right now, and can’t seem to find time to sort through the hundreds of photos I’m taking.
Here are a few of the mountains I’m now spending time in…

The views around here are impressive

The road chose Jeep?

I’ve switched back over to Argentina, and am still enjoying a great run of sunny days and mountain-cool nights.

Ready to get back into the mountains

Windy roads & mountains

-Dan