Week 3: Carretera Austral (Part 1)

Greetings!

It's definitely harder to keep track of the days when the days of the week don't really mean much.  It feels like it's been a while since we last posted, but I think it was...Monday?  

When we last left you, we were about to embark on our trip South via the Carretera Austral. We're now in a town called Futaleufú, which is 10 kilometers from the border with Argentina.

Our trip to Futaleufú began in Puerto Montt, where we stopped to load up on groceries and supplies.  High on our list was peanut butter, which is apparently a precious commodity in Chile.  In grocery stores in Chile, the peanut butter is locked in glass cabinets near the check out aisles and you have to request it when you are checking out.  The store employees gave me an odd look when I told them that we wanted four jars.  They had to go to the back to find more.

While its surrounding area is lovely, Puerto Montt itself is not the nicest.  It's a port/transportation town with lots of traffic.  We had to drive through it twice (once to make ferry reservations, once to get onto the Carretera) and we are currently planning our trip purposefully to avoid going back through.  

Once through Puerto Montt, you're officially on the Carretera Austral.  The remainder of our day took us to Hornopirén, where we stayed the night before getting on the 9:00am ferry the next day.  There are several places along the Carretera where the road ends and you have to cross the Pacific Ocean.  The first, from Hornopirén, is a 4.5 hour ride.  Our trip started cloudy, but the sun eventually peeked through and the view of the mountains was beautiful.

Same hair.

We arrived in Caleta Gonzalo without a specific destination planned.  The Carretera itself is mostly a gravel road, punctuated at times by paved sections and portions under significant construction.  It's difficult to tell why the paved sections have been constructed where they are or if the construction is a means toward more pavement or just better graveling.  No, I'm not sure graveling is a word.

The people traveling the Carretera are an amazing mix.  There are huge trucks and buses.  There are people on dirt bikes and in small cars with no business traversing gravel roads.  And then there are the people who are biking the Carretera.  These people are people who have not thought things through.

When we settled on a campsite, we met a couple who had planned to ride the Carretera but realized that they probably had made it as far as they could.  The road is so bumpy, the dust of every passing car is suffocating.  And if it rains??  My God.

Just before we found our spot for our first night on the Carretera, we passed through the town of Villa Santa Lucía and saw one of the most incredible scenes.  As we descended through the mountains toward Villa Santa Lucía, it began to appear as if someone had logged acres and acres of mountainside along the road.  The entire landscape, which otherwise would have been forested in a fascinating mix of alpine and rainforest vegetation like the rest of the region, had been wiped clear.  It went on for several miles, all along the Carretera.  We didn't take any photos - we should have.

When we reached the town, we saw that what appeared to be half of it remained while the other half had been completely destroyed.  The remains of buildings sat among huge mounds of dirt and rock.  We read and then learned later that in December 2017 a part of one of the mountaintops fell off (the mountaintop fell off!) into a lake, causing so much displacement of water that a mudslide ran down the mountain into the town, carrying boulders and huge chunks of ice along the way.  Twenty two people died.

ANYWAY.  Just past Villa Santa Lucía, we found (using a great app for finding such places) an amazing, informal campsite on the beach of Lago Yelcho.  It was a stunning spot.  As many of you know, Aimee's not a huge camper, so it was a lot to ask for her first night(s) camping on this trip to be in a wild camping spot, without bathrooms.  But upon seeing this spot, she agreed that we couldn't pass it by.  We ended up spending two nights.  

I mean.  The fire matches the sunset.  Come on.

We met the woman who owned the property, Mariela, who has always lived on the lake.  We met Catalans (not Spaniards) who were hitchhiking the Carretera.  We met a Danish couple who didn't think things through.  We hiked the shores of Lago Yelcho and swam in its freezing waters.  We met the cows who passed through our campsite every day.

NOT WARM

The sow stood no chance

Today, we left Lago Yelcho and arrived in Futaleufú.  It's stunning here.  Yes, I realize that is becoming a bit of a refrain.  But I will say that this is the first place in Chile where Aimee has said, "I could live here."  It's beautiful.  The town is small.  The surrounding farmland hugs the river before rising steeply into the mountains, all of which are still capped by snow.

We went "whitewater" rafting today with the boys.  It's mostly floating, but there were two parts that neared Class 2 rapids.  They boys loved it, of course.  We were accompanied on the raft by an older couple and their 13 year-old daughter and guided by an Italian woman who is on Italy's national rafting team.  So we had that going for us.

We have decided to stay in Futaleufú for a couple nights, partially because we like the area and there's plenty to do and partially because the weather forecast for the areas South of here isn't so great.  We don't have any reservations for this portion of the trip and the day-by-day nature of it has been a bit exhilarating, actually.  Definitely not something we're accustomed to.

We will try to send something out before we leave wifi again.  

We hope all of you are well.  We love you and miss you.

Max, Aimee, Cam & Wesley