Dear friends,
Warning: we’ve exchanged volcanoes for mountains and glaciers… welcome to Patagonia!
We arrived by ferry from Chiloé to Chaitén, the place which would mark the beginning of our Patagonian road trip. Keen to get off the highways and begin hiking we headed straight for Parque Nacional Pumalín. It was created by Doug Tompkins (the founder of The North Face climbing and clothing brand) and was one of the world’s largest private national parks, but after his death it was donated to Chile in 2017. The park has a diverse landscape from temperate rainforests, to dazzling blue rivers, to the smoking crater of Volcan Chaitén and the Amarillo hanging glacier. Arriving at the national park we headed for one of the easily accessible campsites within it, which was located at the start of several hiking trails and promised toilets and freezing cold showers! Waking up the following morning, the weather had taken a turn for the worse, but we decided to soldier on and headed out into the forest in our waterproofs. After a miserable few kilometres, we arrived at the glacier viewing platform, and as you can see… disappointing but not unexpected given the weather conditions!
After drying out, and deciding the weather looked pretty rubbish for the next few days, we continued our journey south, safe in the knowledge that there would be other glaciers. Our next stop was Futaleufú, a small mountain town, famous for its outdoor activities, especially kayaking, rafting and hiking. We arrived in the late afternoon sunshine, set ourselves up by the river and watched rafting tours passing by. Hoping that the glorious sunshine would last, we planned to hike up to Piedra de Aguila (Eagle’s Rock) for views of the mountains, surrounding valleys and Rio Futaleufú. The weather, however was not on our side, we woke again to rain and thick fog. Unable to face another soggy unrewarding hike, we decided abandon our plans and drive the 80km back along bumpy dirt track to the main highway the Carretera Austral, Ruta 7.
The Carretera Austral runs south through Chile for 1,240km from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins, where the road reaches a dead end. It was constructed by more than 10,000 soldiers in the Chilean Army’s Engineering Command, and aimed to connect rural communities in the lake district and remote areas of Patagonia. The highway was opened to traffic in 1988, but the last sections of the road to Villa O’Higgins weren’t opened until 2000. It began almost entirely unpaved, but each year more and more sections are being paved.
The sun was shining as we drove into Parque Nacional Queulat. Our gamble finally paid off; we saw our first glacier! Without any hesitation, we put on our boots and headed up the steep 3.2km through the dense forest. We’d been warned when entering the park that the rangers would lock up at 5:30pm, and anyone left behind would be stuck, but with plenty of food and a bottle of wine, we figured we could be self-sufficient for the night and pushed on anyway! Views of the hanging glacier and its impressive waterfalls, more than made up for our unsuccessful few days. As some of the last to leave the park, we were swept up by the Conaf rangers and piled into the back of their pick-up truck, where they drove us to our van and reluctantly opened the gates to let us out.
In the nearby town of Puyuhuapi, we camped out waiting for the opening of the hot-springs the following morning. Here at Termas del Ventisquero, we relaxed in the four different thermal baths, the hottest at 39 degrees. I enjoyed refreshing dips in the cool waters of the fjord, but Simon refused to leave the warmth of the baths! Stress-free and the cleanest we’d been for days, we continued on the Carretera Austral, switching between the nice paved road and pot-holed dirt tracks.
As we entered Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo the landscape changed, and the thick green forests were replaced by ragged rock formations. We stayed by the start of the Mirador Laguna Cerro Castillo trek, on the outskirts of the small town of Villa Cerro Castillo. We rose early, prepared our sandwiches and climbed up the 7.3km trail to reach the viewpoint. Here by the shimmering blue lagoon we had the perfect view of the basalt spires of 2,700m Cerro Castillo and its glaciers. Whilst we enjoyed the picturesque picnic spot, we heard a loud thunderous crash as ice melted and fell into the lagoon below. We took this as our cue to leave and started our descent down the rocky path.
With most of the afternoon left, we decided to continue on to our next destination. After Villa Cerro Castillo all paved sections of the Carretera Austral finish, we knew they were still in the process of re-building the road but to our surprise the road was closed between 1pm-5pm. It was here we joined the back of a long queue and waited for the road to open whilst construction workers blew up cliff faces to widen the single lane dusty track. When the road did eventually open, disaster had struck and there had been a landslide. We were delayed further, waiting for diggers to clear the rubble. The queues mounted and many curious Chileans made the journey on foot up the hill to see what all the fuss was about. It turned into quite a spectacle as crowds gathered to watch which cars would make it successfully up through the mud and the rubble over the hill. Despite the added pressure our 2WD campervan made it up the first time and we were finally on our way to Puerto Río Tranquilo.
In Puerto Río Tranquilo, we were keen to see the marble caves, known as the Capilla de Mármol. We picked one of the many tours at random, and were issued a camouflage waterproof poncho. Feeling a little smug as we noticed other groups hadn’t been given them, we were looking forward to staying dry as we climbed aboard a small speedboat and made the journey across the choppy waters of Lago General Carrera. We visited the caves, and the exquisite sections called the Cathedral and the Chapel. Our boat squeezed through small archways to take us up close to the carved black and white columns, which were illuminated by the icy blue waters of the lake. Before we knew it, it was time to turn back and we were ordered to huddle together at the back of the boat. Without time to question it, we sped along the coastline, the realisation dawning on us that we were taking a different route to the other tours also making their way back. For the next half an hour we endured a petrifying journey back to shore, hitting every large wave there was. We arrived frozen, completely soaking, and feeling foolish for our naivety. Safely back on dry land, we scoured the town for some chocolate caliente (hot chocolate) before continuing with the next leg of our journey.
Getting close to the end of the Carretera Austral, it was time to cross back into Argentina and see what else Patagonia had to offer. Having enjoyed the scenery of Pumalín National Park, we were keen to see the other park created by Doug Tompkins and decided to take the scenic route through Parque National Patagonia, where we could take the Paso Roballos over the border. Entering the park, we started to spot an abundance of wildlife, from Guanacos (camelids, closely related to llamas), to Rhea or Ñandú (a large flightless bird distantly related to the Ostrich and Emu), and Armadillos. We stayed in one of the official campsites, taking shelter from the Patagonian winds. The following morning, we crossed the border, the forests and mountains disappearing as we entered Argentina once more. Paso Roballos was a long unpaved road, it took us through the desolate landscape of the Patagonian Desert, also known as the Patagonian Steppe. It was how I imagine a road trip on the moon!
Back in Argentina, our first stop was Cueva de las Manos, the cave of hands which lies in the valley of the Pinturas River. Here the walls of the canyon are covered in artwork, dating back to 7000BC, 9,000 years ago. The main images are negative prints of hands (over 800 in total), hence the sites name, but you can also see hunting scenes and animals believed to be Guanacos. The artwork has been well preserved, protected from the elements by the walls of the canyon. In our tour of the UNSECO World Heritage Site we learnt about the archaeological findings, and the different techniques used to generate the artwork by the ancestors of the indigenous Tehuelche people who travelled great distances to reach the caves. The negative images were created by placing their hands on the wall, holding a small hollow bone and blowing paint usually made with minerals, soil or blood through their mouths over their hand. Due to the nature of this technique the majority of the hands on the walls are of left hands, indicating that similarly to today most people were right hand dominant and would have used this to hold the animal bone. We managed to spot a few right hands in the caves, but only 2 or 3!
We joined the iconic Ruta 40, and quickly fell back into the slow-paced Argentinean way of life, surrounded again by Yerba mate and parrillas. We continued south through the arid steppe, battling the high winds in our little campervan. The distances between towns increased, so we took every opportunity to re-fuel, joining the long queues in petrol stations in the middle of nowhere. After endless straight windy roads, we began to glimpse mountains on the horizon and as we got closer to El Chaltén, the jagged peaks of Mt Fitz Roy (3,359m) emerged. We were relieved to reach this hippy town at the base of the Andes, it had pubs and bars on every corner, but we headed straight for the laundrette! With clean clothes, we bathed in the icy waters of the glacier-fed river, before finding a happy hour in one of the nearby bars. There were multiple day hikes to choose from, but we opted to climb to the base of Fitz Roy for closer views of its peaks and glaciers. The route was longer than our previous hikes, at 24km in total but luckily not as steep. We ate our sandwiches by the lagoon at the top, but decided we had enjoyed our hike to Laguna Cerro Castillo more, as the paths were less crowded and it felt more like you’d discovered your own secret paradise. We figured it was all good practice for our up-coming 5-day trek in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.
As we continued our mission to find the most impressive glacier, we made our way to El Calafate. We visited the Glaciarium, an all things glacier-related museum… and ice bar! We learnt about the different types of glaciers, how they are formed, the effects of global warming and most importantly why they are so blue. Feeling much better informed about the glaciers that we had already seen on our trip, we headed down to the ice bar to try the Argentinean beverage of choice: fernet and coke (essentially Jägermeister, yuk).
Having seen footage of the huge Perito Moreno Glacier in the museum, we were looking forward to seeing it up close and hearing the crash of ice falling as the glacier moves. We travelled to Los Glaciares National Park, and made our way along the metal walkways, shocked at its vast expanse. Part of the Southern Patagonia Ice Field, it measures 30km long, 5km wide and 60m high. Despite climate change this glacier is constantly advancing – up to 2m per day, and this constant process causes large chunks of ice to calve and crash into Lago Argentino below. Views of the glacier change as the sun moves, and you can witness the almost constant auditory and visual experience of building-sized ice exploding into the lake. As well as exploring via the walkways, you can also take boat tours out for a closer view of the glacier, but I’d seen how the titanic ended and the lake was covered in icebergs! Also, I hadn’t quite recovered from our last boat trip…
As we made our way towards the bottom of the continent we crossed back over into Chile (with 6 Argentinean stamps and 3 Chilean stamps in our passports, we might run out of space!). Our final destination was Punta Arenas, the gateway to the Antarctic and home to a Wicked Campers drop-off centre. We spent the day here visiting the cemetery in the centre of town and the Nao Victoria museum which housed impressive replicas of the Nao Victoria one of the Spanish fleet, which first navigated the Magellan Straits. As well as the Beagle, the ship on which Charles Darwin made his voyage around South America to the Galapagos, collecting research for his book The Origin of Species. We parked up in a nature reserve, 20 km out of the city and spent our last night looking out at the Magellan Straits, spotting dolphins leaping through the waves.
We were sad to leave the campervan, having enjoyed the freedom it had given us to explore but were keen to check into a nice hotel and enjoy a long hot shower! From Punta Arenas we have to retrace our steps north to Puerto Natales, find our camping gear and set off on the Torres del Paine ‘W’ trek.
Have you worked out why glaciers are so blue? Glacier ice is formed as snow falls, and becomes compressed into ice. During this compression are bubbles are squeezed out and the ice crystals enlarge. When there are a lot of bubbles and snow particles in the ice, all wavelengths of ice are scattered before they get absorbed, and so we see a bright white colour. When light hits the glacier ice however, the longer red wavelength is absorbed by the ice and the shorter blue wavelengths is transmitted and scattered, making the glaciers appear nice and blue!
Lots of love
Xav
xxx
