We enjoyed a great breakfast at Departamento Rossbach, during which we had a nice conversation in broken Spanish with its owner. At this moment, our months of self-directed Spanish studies seemed a success!
Jana and the giant rhubarb
Pretty purple flowers
This morning, I would be driving up the notoriously treacherous Queulat Pass, a rough gravel slope with 33 switchbacks, and I was a little bit nervous. Tom was willing to drive, but I have a tendency toward motion sickness which is less likely if I do the driving myself.
Forboding sky
Lower Queulat Pass
Just before starting our ascent, we stopped at the bottom of the pass to visit Salto Padre Garcia. It's only 200 meters from the road to the raging 100-foot waterfall, yet we had it all to ourselves. Leaving Puyuhuapi, the sky had gone from sunny to overcast, but it made the scenery that much more dramatic.
Short walk to a nice waterfall
Salto Padre Garcia
Driving up the pass, I had to dodge some surprisingly large rocks in the road, but other than that – and a few people who were descending way too fast – my nervousness was for nothing. I've driven on worse roads within 10 miles of our house. But the road surface was dry today, and conditions could surely change for the worse with the weather. It was a super fun drive, and the scenery was out of this world!
Rough road in a spectacular setting
Jana and Tom on the way up Queulat Pass
The Carretera Austral is surprisingly popular with bikepackers looking for a once-in-a-lifetime challenge. On our way up the pass, we met Peter, a friendly Canadian fellow who was biking the full length of the Carretera and enjoying every minute of it. Peter's riding buddy, who had to be at least 70, was in the midst of completing this once-in-a-lifetime challenge for the third time. They had six weeks to complete the task. Tough old birds!
Peter, the happy bikepacker
On the south side of Queulat Pass, the road has fewer switchbacks and is much steeper, but its surface is mostly paved. The cyclists who had struggled up the other side were now flying down. They'd earned it!
Over the pass
On the way down, we stopped again at Salto El Condor. I hiked a short trail that took me closer to the waterfall, but the view was just as good from the parking area.
Stickers much?
Salto El Condor
Calafate berries
Pretty pink flowers
Once we crossed the mountain range, the sky began to clear, and it was mostly sunny for the rest of the day. We stopped to stretch our legs in tiny Villa Amengual.
Cisnes River Valley
Gaucho Tom in Villa Amengual
Villa Amengual Chapel
Laguna de Los Torres Mirador is one of the prettiest places I've ever seen – a good place for a picnic lunch, in spite of the horseflies. We spoke with a Swiss couple, who admitted that, being from Switzerland, they weren't as stunned by the beauty as we were, but at least they still found it photo-worthy. Hopefully, they'll find something more interesting to look at later. LOL
Laguna de Las Torres
Laguna de Las Torres, different direction
Jana and Tom in paradise
South of Villa Mañihuales, the Carretera Austral forks into two roads, Ruta 7 and X-50, both of which are called the Carretera Austral. The X-50 is the better road, and it passes through the pretty Reserva Nacional Rio Simpson. The two roads eventually join back together north of Coyhaique.
Rio Emperador Guillermo
Virgin of the Waterfall
Waterfall of the Virgin
We spent the night in Coyhaique (pop. 60,000), the only real city in Chile south of Puerto Montt, over 600 km away. If you need services or provisions while traveling the Carretera, this is the place.
Mirador Marchant
City of Coyhaique
Cabaña Nortesur's owner was not onsite at 6:00 to let us in as we'd previously agreed. After several attempts to contact them with no response, I reached through the fence and unlatched the gate and then let myself into the unlocked cabaña as well. We finally communicated almost an hour later, but it wasn't until after 10:00 that the owner showed up to collect her money. Weird. Glad I was bold enough to act as my own host! Other than that, the cabaña was fine, with secure parking and in a great location, but I wouldn't stay here again.
In the evening, we took a nice stroll along the Parque Costanera Rio Simpson, a scenic walkway with multiple miradors, and had an interesting chat with a friendly group of vacationing Chilenos who were in the process of sailing the coast and had come inland for a few days to meet some friends.
Colorful mural
Mileage: 231 km