diff --git a/_drafts/carretera_austral_chapter4.md b/_drafts/carretera_austral_chapter4.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..1da988b4b760 --- /dev/null +++ b/_drafts/carretera_austral_chapter4.md @@ -0,0 +1,111 @@ +--- +layout: post +title: Carretera Austral - The long wait +#date: 2023-12-23 +description: Feeling stuck +thumbnail: assets/img/carretera_austral_010.jpg +giscus_comments: true +tags: cycling trips carretera-austral +categories: travel +images: + compare: false + slider: true +--- + + + {% include figure.liquid loading="eager" path="assets/img/carretera_austral_011.jpg" class="img-fluid rounded z-depth-1" %} + {% include figure.liquid loading="eager" path="assets/img/carretera_austral_030.jpg" class="img-fluid rounded z-depth-1" %} + + +
+ Rosselot lake and confluence of Palena and Rosselot rivers. +
+ +After a few days cycling with a loaded bike I had become aware of how many kms I could cover each day. +So I estimated that going that getting to Puyuhuapi would be a breeze. +This gave me some time to visit the places I had planned to visit the day before and couldn't because of the rain. +The owner of my accommodation let me leave the bags there, so I traveled light to a couple of places. +First I visit the Rosselot lake. +After the road through Pumalin, this was the second time I would ride on gravel, but this time the gravel was more similar to what I found further south. +Getting to the lake didn't take too much time and the gravel wasn't that bad. +There aren't any walking path around the lake, but there is a small pier from where one can walk along the shore. +The lake is surrounded by green mountains and many birds can be seen in the beach. +After a walk and some pictures, I headed back the same road and then to the second place, which was the confluence between the Palena and Rosselot rivers. +To get there I parked my bike next to the road and crossed a fence used to keep cattle off the road. +The confluence is not as majestic as the ones of rivers south of Coyhaique, but still worth a short visit. + +## Heading to Puyuhuapi + +{% include figure.liquid path="assets/img/carretera_austral_012.jpg" class="img-fluid rounded z-depth-1" zoomable=true %} + +
+ Puyuhuapi from Los Canelos Trail. +
+ +After this short adventure on gravel, I returned to the hostel to get my bags and resume my trip south. +The road to Puyuhuapi was flat with a couple of gravel sections where landslides went through the road. +Since I started later than previous days, I had a stop for lunch on the side of the road around Risopatron lake. +By that time the cold head wind and passing clouds that were present leaving La Junta subsided and the day was now bright and sunny. +Soon after lunch I arrived to Puyuhuapi, so I headed to a cafe for dessert. +Puyuhuapi is a small town located in the coast of a fjord that is well protected from the sea, so the waters are quiet. +The turn to use my tent had finally come, I installed myself in one the camping sites in the coast (one was closed and didn't ask in the third one). +I was alone in the camping, but the owner told that another cyclist left during the morning. + +Similar to La Junta, there is an easy hike to get a panoramic view of the town and the fjord. +The trail goes through the side of a hill and is home of many canelo trees (hence the name of the trail). +Since the days before were rainy and cattle usually use the trails, the top of the trail was muddy. +Nonetheless, the views at the top were worth the dirt in the shoes. +Back in town I walked around and bought bread, striking a conversation with the bakery owner. +He shared with me some stories (like one were a cycling tourist was strangely attacked by a puma during winter) and advice for the road south. + +## Long wait + +{% include figure.liquid path="assets/img/carretera_austral_031.jpg" class="img-fluid rounded z-depth-1" zoomable=true %} + +
+ Canelo tree. +
+ +The morning next day was very cold, the coldest during this trip, with temperatures below zero. +In the camping I had my first experience turning on the wood stove, but I didn't succeeded without the help of the owner. +The Queulat NP was closed a three days a week due to road work on the park, which meant I had to wait one more day around Puyuhuapi. +So I decided to move to a camping site closer to the park (the camping site inside the park was also not working). +These campings were just a few kms from Puyuhuapi, so I just took my time defrosting/drying my tent with an incipient sun light. +Before leaving the town, I enjoyed a last visit to the cafe to have a kuchen and hot coffee. + +There were two working camping sites near the park, my first option was slightly after the entrance of the park (further away from Puyuhuapi). +When I got there, the toilets and showers looked clean, but the sites were not quite ready and you can see that sheep had used them recently for protection. +So I went to the other option, which was before and further back from the entrance to the park. +The camping was really nice, with access to a small beach where later that day I saw a martin pescador (common kingfisher), and the next morning the fins of a couple of toninas (Chilean dolphins) going into the fjord for breakfast. + +So far my food planning had been very poor, I still have food that I brought from Santiago and hadn't used my camping stove. +Bread had been available throughout the trip, and restaurants/cafes were easy to find. +However there weren't any stores near the camping site, the closest one were I was able to get bread (actually quite big ones) was in front of the other camping site. +Learning this from one of the workers in the camping site, meant I had to travel there and back once again. +It turned out that this would be enough for breakfast and a couple of days to keep me fed on the bike. + +{% include figure.liquid path="assets/img/carretera_austral_032.jpg" class="img-fluid rounded z-depth-1" zoomable=true %} + +
+ Sunset at Puyuhuapi fjord. +
+ +Here I planned my next day, which was going to be quite hectic. +The plan was to wake up early to arrive as soon as the NP opens, hike to the overlook and then continue my trip around noon. +With 60 km separating the NP and the camping site I planned to stay the day after, including a gravel section with a "cuesta" that many people think is the most difficult of the whole trip, this was going to be the day I would arrive the latest to my next stop so far. +Without artificial light in the camping, I went straight to sleep after enjoying an amazing sunset. + + +#### Maps: + +
+ +

+ +
+ +

+ +#### More pictures: + +Carretera Austral diff --git a/_drafts/carretera_austral_chapter3.md b/_posts/2024-03-02-carretera_austral_chapter3.md similarity index 99% rename from _drafts/carretera_austral_chapter3.md rename to _posts/2024-03-02-carretera_austral_chapter3.md index e4ac70586493..823783a65966 100644 --- a/_drafts/carretera_austral_chapter3.md +++ b/_posts/2024-03-02-carretera_austral_chapter3.md @@ -1,7 +1,7 @@ --- layout: post title: Carretera Austral - The valley of rain -#date: 2023-12-23 +date: 2024-03-02 description: Days of rain and cold thumbnail: assets/img/carretera_austral_010.jpg giscus_comments: true diff --git a/assets/img/carretera_austral_011.jpg b/assets/img/carretera_austral_011.jpg index a88cf29c8afc..064c3c83c604 100644 Binary files a/assets/img/carretera_austral_011.jpg and b/assets/img/carretera_austral_011.jpg differ diff --git a/assets/img/carretera_austral_012.jpg b/assets/img/carretera_austral_012.jpg index 2e854e7ab33b..b1167ab46f4a 100644 Binary files a/assets/img/carretera_austral_012.jpg and b/assets/img/carretera_austral_012.jpg differ diff --git a/assets/img/carretera_austral_030.jpg b/assets/img/carretera_austral_030.jpg new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..87d807806b72 Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/img/carretera_austral_030.jpg differ diff --git a/assets/img/carretera_austral_031.jpg b/assets/img/carretera_austral_031.jpg new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..97251e32b299 Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/img/carretera_austral_031.jpg differ diff --git a/assets/img/carretera_austral_032.jpg b/assets/img/carretera_austral_032.jpg new file mode 100644 index 000000000000..9c12475a3ab1 Binary files /dev/null and b/assets/img/carretera_austral_032.jpg differ