EL CHALTÉN – Patagonia’s Trekking Capital
19-24 January. A little further on, half shrouded by cloud, we could see those iconic mountains begin to appear. We’d seen this view many times in other people’s photos, blogs, and Instagram feeds, but seeing it for ourselves was something special — another milestone reached on our Pan-Am adventure. Lone granite spires towered over the […]
PATAGOINA NATIONAL PARK, CHILE
TWO HIKES, 50KM, THREE DAYS 10-13 January. The drive into the park meandered gently for nearly 20 kilometres before reaching the visitors’ centre. The road wound through open grasslands, following rivers and backed by serrated mountains still holding pockets of late snow. Guanaco roamed and grazed — some lifting their heads as we passed, most […]
CARRETERA AUSTRAL – MARBLE CAVES AND TURQUOISE LAKES, CHILE
DUST, MARBLE AND THE COLOUR OF WATER 7 – 10th January. Leaving Cerro Castillo behind, the carretera carried us onward toward Puerto Río Tranquilo. The landscape opening out into wide valleys and 100km long, exposed stretches of very dusty gravel roads. Traffic was 80% adventure bikers and cyclists, 10% overland vehicles and 10% locals. Brazilian […]
CARRETERA AUSTRAL – HIKING CERRO CASTILLO, CHILE
Hiking Patagonia 6 January. Long, sweeping curves lead us down into the valley leading to the striking Cerro Castillo. We camped together with Sara & Huw in a windy, dusty carpark, everything slowly coated in fine grit each time a vehicle passed — which was far too often. The next morning we set out early-ish, […]
CARRETERA AUSTRAL – Puyuhuapi to Coihaique, Chile
PUYUHUAPI December 30 – Back on the road, our next stop was Puyuhuapi, a town tucked at the end of a fjord with a very different story. Settled by German immigrants in the early 1930’s, this was a place carved from dense forest by people who battled relentless rain, isolation, and cold to build a […]
CARRETERA AUSTRAL – Yelcho Lake to Futaleufú, Patagonia Chile
Rivers, Rapids and a Slice of Old Patagonia 26 – 29th December Boxing Day morning Our plan was simple: drive until something beautiful made us stop. We left Chaitén the same way we had arrived — wrapped in rain. Low cloud pressed down over the hills, the volcano fading behind us as the road pulled […]
CARRETERA AUSTRAL – Hornopirén to Chaiten, Chile
By the time we reached the start of the Carretera Austral, the weather had already set the tone — cold, wet, and windy. We camped that night on the roadside in the small town of Hornopirén, queued for the next morning’s ferry alongside others doing the same. Vans and campers with Chilean, Brazilian, and Argentine […]