Chaiten to Villa Amengual
We had a relatively short day of driving on Tuesday, so we slept in a little bit before getting on the road and really kicking off Phase 2 of the trip. The clouds were hanging low and we resolved to try and enjoy the day as much as possible even if we would spend most of it dodging rain systems and, sadly, missing some of the best views.
The road started off fairly mellow, just a narrow ribbon of tarmac working its way along river valleys. The low-hanging rain clouds did give the drive a fairly dramatic feel as Tori took the first turn at the wheel. We found a nice stop for pictures (and rock collecting for Tori) before our lunch stop. The road got more interesting in the afternoon as it started to climb into the Andes. We hit the steepest section with the sharpest hair pins shortly into my turn at driving and got to enjoy our first section of unpaved Carretera. We saw plenty of motorcyclists and I bounced back and forth between envy and pity, mostly depending on how strong the winds and rain were in the moment.
The views got even more impressive as we crested the pass, catching some of our first glimpses of snow capped mountains and glaciers since the volcanoes on the Interlagos route. Rain was streaming off the sheer faces of all of the mountains in torrents, creating hundreds of small waterfalls. We got gas in a small port town before hitting our AirBnB, a cozy little boutique hotel complete with a home cooked Patagonian meal.
Villa Amengual to Puerto Rio Tranquilo
The day started with more low-hanging rain clouds and a dusting of fresh snow on the peaks of the nearby mountains. After breakfast, Tori made a new friend as we loaded up and got back underway. It was a longer drive today and, thanks to Daniel from Moto Patagonia, we knew there would be a lot more dirt sections. Tori took first shift again and got to try her hand at unpaved southern highway after about an hour, complete with graders and aggressive locals, but most of the morning was paved.
The skies started to clear as we hit Coyhaique and the geography flipped a switch. Instead of lush, verdant valleys with sheer cliffs up to the occasional snow-capped peak, the mountains were getting taller and taller while the valley floors started to spread out into grassland. We switched drivers after our midday gas stop and the rest of the day was on gravel in varying states of repair.
The scenery continued to get more staggering as the day progressed. Part of this was the weather clearing, but the land was also starting to open up a bit more as we headed south and we could see further and further from the road. Construction and rough roads started to cause traffic to bunch up, increasing how often we were passing or being passed, including a huge group of about a dozen adventure riders of varying skill. Big groups of motorcyclists always make me nervous, and after watching their aggressive passing and general group dynamics I was happy to let them ride into the distance.
The day ended with us driving along the massive Gen. Carrera lake into our final town and AirBnB. In the last stretches we caught up to a poor couple riding two-up who’d had a puncture and were trying to deal with it on the side of a tight gravel road (we’d also seen them stuck in construction traffic earlier). I offered up the tire inflator I’d been carrying since our own moto trip and helped get them on their way.
The BnB tonight is a great cabin about 11km outside of town, overlooking a quiet lake and snow & glacier-capped mountains. Tomorrow we’ll hit the Marble Caves by boat in the morning before crossing into Argentina for the first time.
