Day 16: Camping y Cabañas Cerro Color – Cochrane

Distance: 40.71 miles

Time: 6:46

Elevation Gain: 4,055 feet

It had been a cold night, even more so as the campsite was on a plateau by a lake at 300 metres elevation. Thankfully, the campsite had a hot shower, and ample indoor space massively out of proportion with the number of guests, so I soon heated up.

Plan for the day, was an ambitious one, to reach Cochrane, 40 miles away, and with a significant amount of climbing alongside the Río Baker. Desiree had done incredibly well the day before, to back up kayaking in the morning with a hard hilly 35 mile ride in the sun, not bad going during her first week of cycle-touring.

We enjoyed a short flattish section alongside Lago Bertrand, before a significant climb took us away from the lake and, then swinging back down to its side once more at Puerto Bertrand, where we rolled steeply down to the shore, in search of somewhere for lunch.

Uninspired by the food trucks on offer, we continued out of town and climbed steeply back up the hill to a pizza restaurant, a short climb that was definitely worth the effort.

After lunch, we had a look at the mount for Desiree’s handlebar bag, which had evidently been installed wrongly by the bike hire shop and the bag was now bouncing up and down on the front wheel, over the rough roads.

Unfortunately, the cable was so badly damaged that we couldn’t fully rectify the situation, but we did find the perfect piece of wood to take up the slack.

The onwards route followed the Río Baker upriver, not content to stick by its side, the road climbed high above the gorge, through rocky and fertile terrain.

Sitting in the shade near the top of the climb, my lack of phone signal meant I missed the fact that Desiree had messaged to let me know she was having a ‘little demoralisation emergency that only chocolate could cure’, just around the corner.

Dropping down to cross the Río Chacabuco, the road switched back steeply up the other side, soon bringing us level with a large group of Guanacos, near the road. Guanacos being the wild near ancestor of the domesticated Llama.

A few more metres of elevation led to a mirador, looking out over the confluence of the rivers Baker and Chacabuco, after which the road seemed to continue eking out every extra metre of elevation gain out of the landscape, even within the last few kilometres before Cochrane, when the highly satisfying ‘Inicio Pavimento’ signalled the beginning of a dream-like concrete surface, the road climbed sharply before dropping down into the town.

Finding ourselves at the edge of the centre of town, we started looking for places to stay. Desiree, tried a Cabaña, I got the easier job of checking out the hostel. Desiree disappeared into a restaurant, I carried on down the street, trying to keep on brief, only to return to find that the restaurant had Cabins in behind and that Desiree had scoped out an ideal 2 bed cabin with bike parking down the side. Perfecto.

Day 15: Puerto Río Tranquilo – Camping y Cabañas Cerro Color

Distance: 34.99 miles

Time: 5:54

Elevation Gain: 3,432 feet

Waking up in time to be picked up for the kayaking, at 6 AM, was a challenge, but we were soon on our way along the road out of town to a small sheltered bay, the starting off point for our paddle towards the Capillas de Mármol, marble caves.

We weren’t the only group there kayaking that morning, but our tour did provide the novelty that there were only two of us, along with our guide Gonzalo. Gonzalo was friendly and knowledgeable, and took lots of pictures of us to share later, just in case we hadn’t spent the morning photographing the trip ourselves, using the handily supplied waterproof phone cases.

It was a bright morning, and the mountains surrounding the lake were looking fine, and, as we approached, it was clear that this would be a good time to take the trip with the marble formations bathed in the early morning light.

We were educated on the names attributed to the various parts of the area, with the chapel, the cathedral, the tunnel and a large cliff behind. The various formations were spectacular, but as Desiree pointed out, the highlight was just being out on the lake in such a beautiful setting.

Having worked up an appetite during our almost 3 hour paddle, we headed for breakfast, as soon as we made it back into town, at cafe chirifo, which had been recommended as the best place in town, not something I’d try and discredit on the basis of the elegantly plated dishes of pancakes and berries, and avocado toast we were provided, they were excellent.

On packing up our bikes, I took a look at Desiree’s pannier rack as one of the bolts mounting it to the frame had evidently dropped out, and, after investigation, the one on the other side had rattled loose, too.

Needless to say, I hadn’t checked my own bike, and on jumping on to leave the site, I realised I had a completely flat back tyre, a little frustrating, but an excellent opportunity to try out my new secret weapon, a tiny motorised bike pump.

After setting off, we had already travelled these roads in the morning, so I wasn’t surprised to find a steepening collection of energy sapping climbs formed the opening part of the route.

The scenery along Lago General Carrera was outstanding, and the stunning green hue of the lake, breathtaking.

Enjoying the scenery at the top of one climb, we made a new cycling friend, Felipe from Argentina, he had initially asked me if I wanted my photo taken as he cycled past, but we soon turned the tables on him, as he was travelling alone, he’d be needing some photos taken of him.

As the day went on, I started to wonder just how big this lake was, before looking at the map and realising that it actually stretched into Argentina, so really quite big was the answer.

As the road dropped down to the lakeside at one particularly beautiful stretch, Desiree, suggested some lunch, and a swim, in the deeply-hued, but frigid looking waters. Still to be convinced, a couple of other tourists arrived and beat us to it. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad…

After lunch the climbs continued, but eventually we reached the end of the lake and stopped for some food on a bridge, the sun now low in the sky, and Desiree commented that she wouldn’t usually ride this late. I always ride this late I sighed, apologetically, and as we trundled down a farm track, at sunset, to the initially abandoned looking, Camping y Cabañas Cerro Color, we were treated to my other long established cycle-touring habit, pitching tents in the dark.

Day 14: Camping Doña Dora – Puerto Río Tranquilo

Distance: 24.23 miles

Time: 2:55:26

Elevation Gain: 1,811 feet

After I’d set up camp, my phone picked up a little reception, and I received several messages from Desiree, saying that she’d met a Danish cyclist, while she was at the side of the road trying to catch a lift, and he’d told her that there was a campsite in 12 kilometres, so she’d set off towards there, before optimistically putting out her thumb towards a passing vehicle, and had ended up getting out by Lago General Carrera, and was at a campsite, around 10 miles from Puerto Río Tranquilo, and about 13 miles ahead of me.

In the morning, she messaged again to say that she was making for Puerto Río Tranquilo, and that she could let me know if she found anywhere good to say. She also mentioned that she was planning on going kayaking to some marble caves on the lake the next morning, and forwarded me the number. That did sound fun, but what time? I had cycling to do. 6:00 – 9:00 am? Well, I probably wouldn’t be cycling at that time, I supposed…

In my head, the route would soon be gradually dropping to the shores of the lake, and then I’d be ambling along, relaxedly taking in the views from the lakeside. The road, however, had other ideas, with steep climbs on poor terrain de rigueur for the day.

The long gradual downhill never seemed to materialise, and soon I was near the edge of the lake, pausing to take on some fuel and reapply my sun tan lotion in the warm sunshine, I realised I still hadn’t reached the point at which Desiree had camped the night before, and had only just past it, when she messaged again to say she had found some available beds in a dormitory cabin at Camping Río Chirifo.

As I progressed over steep bluffs along the lake-side, I fielded some messages regarding kayaking the next day, and by the time I arrived in Puerto Río Tranquilo, I merely had to complete the formalities.

When I arrived, Desiree was having lunch in the restaurant, Casa Bruja, near the campsite, and her hake dish, Merzula Austral, looked so good, I ordered the same. New meal of the trip time.

After I’d settled into the functional, but slightly less than salubrious, accommodation, we took a trip down to the supermarket, and then paid a visit to a panadería on the way back up the road, where we sampled some berry kuchen, the German word for cake revealing the nationality of historic settlers in the region in the 1930s. The delicious cake was an excellent way to fuel up for our early morning kayak session.

Day 13: Villa Cerro Castillo – Camping Doña Dora

Distance: 51.93 miles

Time: 7:28

Elevation Gain: 3,878 feet

Although the next stop on my itinerary was Doña Dora campsite, more than 50 miles away, I was still riding with Desiree and was aware that she was a lot newer to this than me, so my thought for today was to split the 73 miles to Puerto Río Tranquilo more evenly into two days, and see where we ended up, with the possible option of a wild camp in what was quite a remote section.

We stopped off at a fruteria and the supermarket to stock up on supplies before setting off out of town, there was a long climb to start the day, but the views we were seeing, and the ones we were heading too, of the Cerro Castillo mountain massif made it all worthwhile.

Soon we reached the dreaded ‘fin pavimento’ sign, where, effectively, the tarmac ran out for the rest of the route. And, when it did, it was replaced with the worst surface imaginable, large chunky stones right across the carriageway, and with a regular procession of trucks and pick up trucks for company.

The views along the Río Ibáñez remained sensational, with one sweeping downhill bend offering incredible views of the river’s flood plain and an en-widened meander in the glacially-fed river.

Once we reached level ground, down alongside the river now, the going was tough. There was a strong headwind, the first occasional showers for a week or so, and the road surface itself was punishing, with an occasional smoother track near the middle, and with patches of washboard, alongside deep pools of dry dust as the road dropped towards the edges, oftentimes where we forced by the fast-moving oncoming traffic.

A little low in energy, and certainly in motivation, Desiree had stopped up off the road up ahead, to take on some fuel. She had already forewarned me for what might happen next, that she was going to try to get a lift in a pickup truck. Not happy at having to abandon her by the side of the road, I offered to stay until she found a ride. But she remained resolute, she did this all the time, and she’d be fine, and as someone who’d lived in Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, and Myanmar, she was probably in a better educated position to say that than most.

I re-evaluated the situation, it was nearly 4 o’clock and I’d only covered 15 miles or so, some of which had been extremely rough and punishing, however, I started to make strong progress in the challenging conditions, and quickly re-set my target for the day to Doña Dora campsite, which would be 50 miles for the day.

For 10 miles I pushed on, making good headway, until I reached a long steep slope of thick damp dirt, my wheels skidding on the peculiar surface, until I reached a layby, near the top, and stopped to take in the views of another fine bridge far below.

At that point, there was a toot from a passing pickup and I spotted Desiree happily waving from the passenger seat, it seemed likely she’d continue all the way to Puerto Río Tranquilo today.

After the long steep hill, the road started to undulate steeply along the side of Laguna Verde, and this trend in road profile remained, even when I reached a pronounced bend in the road, with my direction switching from West to South, and the delight of escaping the headwind, tempered by repeatedly energy sapping climbs.

The road was in a high valley along the river when I pedalled the last few miles to Doña Dora campsite at 10 o’clock, only shortly before dark. The camping spot was in sparsely populated forest-land at a farm, and the sole other occupants were an Argentinian couple with a campervan, who were hunkered down in a cosy communal cabin maintaining the fire, it was much appreciated when I was cooking up some pasta in the early hours of the morning.