Our next objective was to travel south on the famous Carretera Austral (in English the Southern Highway) in Chile. The Southern Highway is in the Chile Patagonia area. As you travel south, Chile’s Patagonia becomes very different from the more famous Argentina Patagonia. The Chile side is characterized by mountains, lakes, the Pacific Ocean and many islands. It is very similar to the Alaska’s Southern coast. Argentina, on the other hand, is characterized by some mountains, glaciers and a lot of flat brown tundra that goes on forever. Clearly Argentina did a better marketing job because the Chile side is a lot more interesting. That is why we are going to the Southern Highway. It’s the only road that runs a considerable length of Southern Chile’s Patagonia. Getting to the Southern Highway in Chile requires traveling through Argentina if you want to avoid multiple long ferry rides on the Northern end of the highway.
We reentered Chile in a remote border crossing and made our way over to the Chilean Southern Highway. It started to rain and the road deteriorated. At first it was mostly hard packed dirt and then gravel. Soon the rain and gravel increased. The going got slow and tough as the rain increased, the temperature dropped and the road got sloppy, especially in construction areas.
At times the rain would let up and allow for a snap shot or two.
Here is a little about the highway (the highway term is used liberally). The Chilean government (Pinochet era) started building the highway in 1976. It was not opened to traffic until 1988. The purpose of the road was to develop the remote southern end of Chile. A number of high end fishing lodges are on the road but not much more. During the high season the road is a haven for trans American bicyclist, trout fishermen and crazy kayakers. The dirt and gravel road is about 770 miles and runs through numerous National Parks and around large lakes. The plan is to eventually pave the road. So we wanted to experience it now while the region is undeveloped.
At times the rain would let up and allow for a snap shot or two.
Here is a little about the highway (the highway term is used liberally). The Chilean government (Pinochet era) started building the highway in 1976. It was not opened to traffic until 1988. The purpose of the road was to develop the remote southern end of Chile. A number of high end fishing lodges are on the road but not much more. During the high season the road is a haven for trans American bicyclist, trout fishermen and crazy kayakers. The dirt and gravel road is about 770 miles and runs through numerous National Parks and around large lakes. The plan is to eventually pave the road. So we wanted to experience it now while the region is undeveloped.
We eventually made it to a little village where our road would intersect the Carretera Austral. It was getting late, we were both tired and hoping we could find a hotel for the night but nothing was available so we pushed on south. The weather and road conditions continued to get worse. Neither of us had on our electric jackets and neither of us wanted to prolong the ordeal by stopping so we pushed on until we reached La Junta and a nice warm hotel.
As we loaded up in the morning I found the cause of the intermittent noise I was hearing yesterday on the road. It looks like my rear fender decided to mangle itself with my inner fender. After a quick surgical removal of the mangled part we were off.
The rain stopped but it was still cold and overcast as we headed south from La Junta. We were wondering what we were in for given it was just the first day of the Southern Hemisphere’s Fall. The weather was unable to distract from the scenery and the road. Nor did the construction, and there was a fair amount of construction.
By mid day the clouds started breaking up and the temperature started to clime. We soon found ourselves with a warm sunny day riding by streams, waterfalls, snow capped mountains and an occasional glacier.
The road is narrow, one to one and a 1/2 lanes at times. Several northbound motorcyclist where a bit overly enthusiastic and almost took us out as they rounded a blind curve with a bit too much speed. It was scary to think of suffering a serious injury in such a remote area.
Arriving in Coihaque we found it to be a surprisingly large city given the remote part of Chile. We were happy to find a hotel with heat since the sharp temperature drops as the sun falls behind the mountains. It’s a pleasant city with a very active downtown. The main plaza is a bit unique in that it is in the shape of a pentagon and all of the surrounding streets follow that pattern, making it easy to get lost.
The rain stopped but it was still cold and overcast as we headed south from La Junta. We were wondering what we were in for given it was just the first day of the Southern Hemisphere’s Fall. The weather was unable to distract from the scenery and the road. Nor did the construction, and there was a fair amount of construction.
By mid day the clouds started breaking up and the temperature started to clime. We soon found ourselves with a warm sunny day riding by streams, waterfalls, snow capped mountains and an occasional glacier.
The road is narrow, one to one and a 1/2 lanes at times. Several northbound motorcyclist where a bit overly enthusiastic and almost took us out as they rounded a blind curve with a bit too much speed. It was scary to think of suffering a serious injury in such a remote area.
Some of the cars we passed were a testimonial to the difficult road conditions. We helped a young German couple in a 30 year old VW Micobus get it back on the road. We noticed it had no front windshield. It was explained that they lost the windshield after it was shattered by a big rock further up the road. Further down the road we came across a late model SUV with a caved in roof and no windshield. It was clearly the victim of a recent roll over. The occupants seemed to be barely tolerating the cold air blasting in their faces.
Our destination for the day was Coihaique (or sometimes spelled Coyhaique). It is the largest city on the Carretera Austral. Until the Carretera Austral was built it looks like the only way to get to the city from Santiago was through Argentina. The road got more difficult as we climbed over various mountain passes. All in all it took us 8 hours to go less than 200 miles.
Arriving in Coihaque we found it to be a surprisingly large city given the remote part of Chile. We were happy to find a hotel with heat since the sharp temperature drops as the sun falls behind the mountains. It’s a pleasant city with a very active downtown. The main plaza is a bit unique in that it is in the shape of a pentagon and all of the surrounding streets follow that pattern, making it easy to get lost.
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