Erich’s Journal – Leg 22 –Cerro Castillo, Magellanes, Chile to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego,
Argentina – April 25, to May 6, 2002 –
12 Days
We experienced the Patagonian winds today. It was relatively light at first, but very brisk. My bike had a light layer of ice on it when we took off this morning. It was definitely so cold and the wind intense enough that I had to wear my face mask and mittens for the first few hours. Our direction was such that we headed directly into the wind for the entire morning. I am thankful that I am not alone in this endeavor anymore. My spirits are high. (See photos 2426, 2427, 2428, 2429, 2430 and 2431)
At around
Passing through Chilean Immigration was a little more
difficult. Marc had some turkey jerky
attached to the back of his bike that was confiscated. I knew they took fruit and produce, but I did
not realize they took processed food that was packaged as well. I have learned to stop and eat all my fruit
before heading across, as this is the third time that I entered
It was not until we were getting ready to go, when Marc mentioned to me that I had some in my bags as well -- something that I had forgotten. It went unnoticed.
There was a nice diner in the town where we sat and ate a few sandwiches and had a few cups of coffee. We also purchased a more detailed map of the area. As we sat and relaxed, we pondered upon our route options.
The easiest option was to head south -- strait for Puerto Natales, which was 64 km away. We would definitely make it there by halfway through the day tomorrow.
The other option was to head north into Nacional Parque Torres Del Paine, which would be much more scenic and add about 80 km to our route. We would loop back down to Puerto Natales. After much discussion, we both decided to take the longer route.
We were glad we did after a while. The winds although still strong, diminished some making the ride much more enjoyable.
Near the end of our ride, we came into view of the park. A magnificent mountain range came into view with spectacular spires sticking up high into the sky. Just to the south and west of it was the Campo de Hielo Sur, the southern glacier field that I mentioned some days back. The beauty this park offers is spectacular. (See photos 2438, 2439, 2440, 2441, 2442, 2443 and 2444)
Tomorrow we will ride most of the day through it.
We did not see much of the park. Although we did get a great view in the
morning when we woke, rain moved in before
The winds picked up as well. I cannot say it was the worst wind that I have experienced on this trip, but the gusts were by far the worst. At times, I felt that it picked me up and carried me across the road. It seemed to come from different directions each time.
To make matters worse for myself, I got a flat that I had to deal with in the heavy, heavy rain. I ended up stopping to pump it up every 10 minutes until I could find a dry place to change it.
We pushed on, arriving at a small village around
It did not take much to persuade us to spend the night. We had a delicious lunch, great dinner and comfortable dry beds with a wood stove. (See photo 2463)
It was one of the toughest days that I had on the trip.
Awesome day today. We woke to a clear sky. It was very cold however for we set out before
the sun cleared the mountains to the east.
The Torres Del Paine that we passed the day before and could not see,
were in plain view this morning. They
were steep and snow covered. Several
glaciers that we could not see coming into the park because we were too far
away, were now visible to us. Today we
would cycle along the Campo de Hielo
After a filling breakfast at the Posada, we were off. (See photos 2464, 2465, 2466 and 2467)
Now one thing that I need to explain is that we were unsure of the route ahead --Unsure that we could actually get to Puerto Natales on our intended route. I had wanted to follow a road that Gil and Lyn Blair of bicycletheamericas.com had taken a few years earlier. The main concern was crossing an old bridge in which we would have to roll our bikes along some old planks that crossed over its foundation. Gil wanted to know if it was possible. I also had been looking forward to this adventure, but was unsure exactly where it was.
Our first bit of confusion came the day before when the park ranger at the gate told us the road did not go through. He made a few phone calls and then told us it was possible. He first said the road was in bad shape. Then he changed his story and told us that the road was in great shape. (He also told us he did not think it would rain. It was the worst rainstorm I encountered on this trip.).
This morning as we were ready to head out, our host at the posada insisted that the road did not go through to Puerto Natales because of the bad bridge. She radioed ahead and arranged to have a boat waiting for us.
We cycled 5 km to where the bridge was. It did in fact look rough. Neither Marc nor I wanted to tackle it. We were glad to have the boat. We cycled down stream a few miles where we were to meet the boat; two men were waiting for us.
They first asked us if we were going to the hotel directly across the river. We told them we were not and were heading to Puerto Natales. They looked at each other with some confusion and started talking about various rivers and lakes that Marc and I knew were along the road we had planned to travel. The man who mainly did the talking told us we could do it, but the boat only went to the hotel and there was no road from the hotel to the other side of the bridge where the road continued. He recommended that we cross the bridge.
For the next 2 hours, we slowly walked our bikes and carried our gear over the rickety old bride with old planks crossing it. At first, I was a little nervous, holding on to the side of the bridge the whole time. Some times, there would be two planks to walk on. Sometimes there would be three. Sometimes the plank in the middle would be gone. Sometimes the side rail would be gone. Sometimes the planks would bend so much when you would step on them, that you felt you could not put your entire weight on them. The water down below was deep in some places and shallow in others. It was all glacial run off that was cold. The outside air temperature had risen to about 50 degrees. (See photos 2468, 2469, 2470, 2471, 2472, 2473, 2474, 2475, 2476 and 2477)
I crossed 5 times. By the time Marc and I had finished, we were moving across rather quickly.
We thought the obstacle course was finished. The road was in very rough shape as we progressed, but very scenic. We traveled along the west side of Lago del Toro, passing through several trees that were changing with the Autumn season. Due to the heavy rainstorm the day before, there were many small streams of water crossing the road from time to time. The grades on the road were quite challenging. (See photos 2478, 2479, 2480, 2481, 2482, 2483, 2484 and 2485)
We came to a river where the water had diverted. The bridge did not cover where the water was flowing. We decided to push our bikes across. We needed to cross three different water passages with our bare feet so we did not get our socks and shoes wet. We crossed, pushing one bike at a time. One pushed the bike; the other carried the trailer so it would not be submerged in water. By the time we crossed the last passage, my feet were numb yet in pain from the sharp rocks. (See photos 2486, 2487, 2488, 2489 and 2490)
It was quite the adventure.
We did not make it into Puerto Natales. We are camped in some trees along a river about 20 miles away. The road was a challenging one that added some variety to our trip. I will not forget this day.
Last night was very cold. We built a fire and sat by it most of the evening. I am not quite sure how cold it was but I am sure that the winds that blow off the near by glaciers make it feel colder than it actually is. As we ride, the trees are starting to transform from autumn colored leaves to no leaves at all. (See photos 2491 and 2492)
A cloud layer moved in over the night warming the morning some. Unfortunately, the clouds remained all day and we never saw the sun so the air and ground did not warm up as they could have.
It was a 22-mile ride to Puerto Natales on a gravel road. (See photos 2493 and 2494) We stopped long enough to grab a big lunch and a few days supply of groceries. Marc also tackled the ATM machine to obtain some more Chilean Pesos. (See photos 2495, 2496, 2497, 2498, 2499, 2500 and 2501)
The rest of the day was an uneventful ride as we traveled along Highway 9, a paved byway that paralleled the Argentinean border.
In the afternoon, it started to get cold. The cold air seemed to penetrate all clothing. The motion of my legs kept me warm. As long as I did not stop, it would be OK. We saw a hotel on the map that we had planned to stay. We were not sure exactly how far away it was however. The pace was good. The temperature was near freezing. The sun had just set and still no hotel.
We started to wonder if there really was a hotel. I started to consider camping options. We would have to set up camp in the dark. The pros were that there were plenty of trees with lots of firewood. The downside is that we were really beginning to smell after being on the road a few days and were desperately hoping for a hot shower. (The past few hotels had little hot water).
We stopped at the top of a hill and considered our options. After some discussion, we decided to give it another 15 minutes of riding or so.
Right around the bend, we saw the Hotel Rubens along side a
river. This beautiful inn looked like it
belonged in the woods in
The water was very hot too! Things always seem to work out. With a gas furnace in the room, we were able to dry out our gear. For dinner, I had Milanesa (chicken fried steak) with fries. Marc and I each had a Pisco Sour and a Polar Imperial Beer too! I am going to sleep well tonight.
It was a rather uneventful day. It was also one of our most mileage days. Considering the daylight is now reduced to nearly 9 hours per day, I find it amazing that we could accomplish 84 miles of riding. The road, however, was very flat and the winds were to our backs. It has been nearly 3 months since I had an hourly average this high. (See photos 2505, 2506, 2507, 2508, 2509)
We had hopes of reaching another hotel that we spotted on the map. A place called Hotel Cabeza del Mar, which is on a lagoon with the same name. The hotel, we discovered by a nearby gas station attendant, burned down some time back and did not exist anymore.
So we camped along the lagoon below a bluff which somewhat shielded us from the wind. This lagoon by the way is a salt-water lagoon that stems from the Straits of Magellan. I discovered this when I attempted to boil some of this water for coffee. This is a treeless area, much like the Patagonian desert so the winds tonight are of concern. (See photos 2513 and 2514)
Earlier on the ride, we crossed some graffiti on the
road. With white spray-paint was painted
“Go Erich” on the concrete highway. Just
beyond it, it said “Yahtzee” and “Mark too”.
The “Yahtzee” word gave it away.
David Shultz, the photographer we met a few days earlier in
I also ran into a motorcyclist from
We have a thirty-mile ride into
The ride in was a wet one.
Although we were fortunate enough to pack our gear dry, it began to rain
shortly after we got on the road. It
motivated us to cycle fast and furious to
It was the first day off in over 8 days. After we arrived, we learned that the ferry
across the
The city was a cold one. The wind just seemed to blow down the city streets. We discovered though that many places were closed up due to the May Day holiday. No laundry will be done today. We mainly walked around the cold city, sent Ron the webmaster some pictures for the BikeAmericas website, and had a few relaxing meals. (See photos 2517, 2518, 2519, 2520, 2521, 2522, 2523, 2524 and 2525)
I received an email from Christine Roy. She had been through a few days prior. I guess when Marc and I decided to detour through Torres del Paine National Park, she was able to gain some distance on us.
It was an overwhelming feeling when we arrived to
The ferry ride was cheaper than we had thought. They did not charge us for the bikes as our guidebook had indicated. It was supposed to be $6 for each and an additional $10 for each bike, but no charge for the bike. The ride seemed long, especially with the rough waters. The ferry would sway greatly from side to side. It made reading and video game playing a bit queasy. (See photos 2526, 2527, 2528, 2529, 2530, 2531 and 2532)
When we got to the other side, we rode into Porvenir, where Marc looked for a post office to mail off some postcards that he had written.
By the time we had ridden to the ferry port, crossed the
The route from Porvenir was ripio. With the strong winds to our back, we cruised
along the flat road that paralleled Bahia Inutil, an inlet of the
Just before dark, we found a couple of large trees – trees that were not native to the area, since there were no other trees near there. These trees obviously were planted years ago. There were scraps of lumber and metal as though there was a house there many years ago. It was the perfect shelter from the wind. Unfortunately, sheep thought so too. There was a great deal of sheep droppings all around.
It was our coldest evening to date. We got a fire going, burning the scraps of lumber. It still did not take us long to retire to our tents and sleeping bags. (See photo 2535)
Uneventful
day. The ride was long, flat and
fast. There was a lot of nothing and
many sheep. By the end of the ride, we
had crossed into
The weather has been gorgeous. We left the ACA hotel in
The ride today was short, which was good because we did not
get on the road until nearly
I also had a broken spoke on the drive side, which we had to deal with this morning. It has been the first spoke broken on the drive side since the day I rode into Concepción. Marc had a big set of pliers, which we tried to use to remove the cassette, but we had to get a big wrench from the tire repair shop next door. On my new touring bike, I will definitely invest in an expensive wheel with 48 spokes. I want to be through replacing spokes. I have become an expert at it though.
Stopping for lunch today, I realize my stove needs some maintenance – the kind of maintenance that a store needs to give. I have followed all the directions to clean the thing, but it is not burning well at all. I have been burning unleaded gas in the thing for nearly 9 months. Marc’s stove which burns only white gas was empty and is a rare commodity out here. We settled for bread and cookies for lunch with some summer sausage.
Tonight we stay at a very welcoming youth hostel, which has
a fine reputation for accommodating cyclists.
Christine Roy, whom I have failed to catch, was here two nights
ago. Jacque, from France, whom I passed
a month ago, was also here. Andre, a
Swiss motorcyclist that passed me in
I have two more days to go.
The morning was blisteringly cold. My feet were numb. My hands were too. We had first thought that it was near freezing,
but after seeing the huge ice chunks floating down the
Our first stop was at a place called Punta Maria. It was a very nice restaurant with a very nice woodstove. We stopped and had some coffee and cookies to munch. (See photo 2560)
Marc was occupied with a tame Guanaco that was looking at us through the back door. My BOB trailer was also flat, so I had to repair it. Due to the cold weather, I just swapped out the tube.
The people that ran the place were very friendly and gave us lots of advice about the road ahead. They described a road with lots of trees, mountains, snow and ice. We were a little disbelieving, mainly because Tierra de Fuego has been a flat land with no trees. Even though it was very cold, we saw no snow.
As we got back on the road, the BOB tire was flat again. I guess the spare had a hole in it. We repaired the thing in the cold and were on our way.
The riding days have had decreasing daylight now for
sometime. It seems as though time has
been an issue in recent days. Currently
the sun rises around
Today, if we wanted to reach the next hotel, we needed to cycle about 65 miles. This would have been no problem if we had 12 hours to work with, but we only had about nine. Now with our stop and my flats, we still needed to travel about 45 miles in about 4 hours.
The ride in the afternoon seemed to drag. The road pulled away from the coast, heading southeast. (See photos 2561, 2562 and 2563) A headwind picked up in the late afternoon, a light one. It was enough to make us travel with facemasks on. The terrain changed from flat desert to rolling hills with trees. The trees for the most part had fallen leaves. It was definitely post-autumn here – Winter.
We reached the community of Tolhuín right at dark, only to
discover there was no hotel or any sleeping accommodations in town. We were directed to the nearby lake, Lago
Fagnano where there was camping, cabañas and a hosteria. This lake was along one that stretched with a
string of lakes to the
After some roaming around in the dark and about 5 miles of riding, we found the Hosteria Kaiken, a huge hotel with a restaurant overlooking the lake. We were the only ones staying there. (See photos 2564 and 2565)
It did not seem as cold this morning, but water still froze in the camelback right away. Although there was some cloud cover, there was still crispness in the air. The road had switched to ripio, the gravel road that I have traveled some thousand miles within. We rode along the lake for the first 20 miles. Then things got interesting. (see photos 2566, 2567, 2568, 2569 and 2570)
The road began to climb into the mountains. A layer of ice covered the road making the ride difficult. Marc’s road tires gave him some problems as his bike slipped out from under him.
We climbed up so high that we were above the snow line. With the ice, I never had to concentrate so hard on the road ahead. Even standing while peddling would be enough to throw me off balance and possibly slip on the ice. (See photos 2571, 2572, 2573, 2574, 2575, 2576, 2577, 2578, 2579, 2580, 2581 and 2582)
The 1400-foot
Although we did stop often to take pictures, we had not
taken a lunch break. I guess we felt the
pressure to get to Ushuaia before dark.
It was a real concern as we peddled up the icy pass at 5 mph. Coasting down the south side of the pass was
not as difficult as we had anticipated.
Perhaps we had adjusted to the ice.
I do not know for sure. Traveling
down to the
At the bottom of the pass, we reached pavement. As the road turned to the west, we passed
several lodges and a ski resort. The
snow was getting deeper the further we traveled. We even ran into some places that advertised
sled dogs. The sound of the howls as we
passed by gave me homesickness for
The road finally dropped into Ushuaia, which sits on the
I guess I have written so much about the ride in, I have not
really addressed the fact that the ride is over. Maybe the reality has not quite hit yet, but
I really do not feel any different. I
have lived and breathed this trip for nearly 11 months. My life has changed so much, I am not sure
what it will be like to transfer back into work and home in
The question that I have been asked the most in recent times
is what I plan to do with the bike now that I am finished. There has been speculation among the teaching
staff at Kalskag that I plan to push it off the continent into the ocean toward
Marc will leave day after tomorrow. I leave day two days after. I head for