The Carratera Austral

After a few uneventful but necessary rest days in Coyhaique, we checked out picture-perfect Reserva National Cerro Castillo and its dominating peak of basalt spires bearing the same name, before saying goodbye to southern Patagonia for more welcoming temperate climates.

Central Chile´s astounding natural beauty of winding deep valleys, fjords, raging rivers, snow capped peaks and lush temperate rainforests unfolded as we proceeded up the famed `Carratera Austral`; a recently opened route through previously inaccessible mountain wilderness on the western side of the Andes and a favourite for hitch-hikers.

With a plan to sample world class white-water rafting down the famed Rio Futaleufu, Nic and I made our way to the undeveloped town of La Junta before hitching with 6 hard-bargaining Isralie backpackers the following day to the town of Futaleufu. This turned out to be a brilliant 4 day stopover choice, where we opted for wild rafting down grade 4-5 rapids, a day walk through rural countryside and a full days white-water kayaking too; all at a time when visitor prices had lowered due to the recent `high-season` dropoff.

Afterwards we continued to Chaiten, the gateway to one of the worlds first privately co-owned National Reserves known as ´Pumalin´ (with natural hot thermal springs to boot) AND a ferry-hopping spot to either the Island of Chiloe or Puerto Montt, the southern point of the volcanic Chilean Lake District.

Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff to see and do but bound by a timeframe, we took the overnight ferry directly to Puerto Montt, sharing a cramped wooden floor for sleep with 50+ other budget passengers; some accompanied by screaming toddlers adding to the futileness of an attempted decent night´s sleep.

Camping beneath Fitz Roy

Patagonia, named after the "Patagones" (a now-extinct group of natives known for their large feet), is an immensely remote region with invisible borders stretching endlessly across both southern Chile´s Andes range and the wind swept, grassy plains of southern Argentina.

Unless travelling on a super-star budget no visitor could hope to escape the infamously endless, dirt road known as ´Ruta 40´ which links Argentina´s many southern sparsely-populated cities and National Park highlights together. With world class trekking and rock climbing, plus options for glacier traversing, the dramatic Mt Fitz Roy mountain massif is a "must visit" for any outdoor enthusiast.

Amazingly the entry to this National Park was free (a welcome change from Torres del Paine), however park rangers quickly explained that in order for Patagonia´s arguably, most amazing scenic-scape to remain accessible for all visitors, strict rules about hiking, camping and even excrementing were to be followed, else the place become the next "Disneyland" for any non-caring tourists to visit in the future.

So after complimentary plastic baggies were handed out unabashedly, our bus entered El´Chalten; a sleepy town with a half-built frontier feel, with expensive lodgings and a few select overpriced shops but no trace of a bank or ATM machine in site.

Having managed to somewhat fix my tent with the help of a local plumber in Ushuaia, Nicole and I assessed our existing food supplies and set off for 2 days hiking and camping beneath Fitz Roy and her accompaniment of surrounding jagged granite peaks. Comparable in grandness to ´Torres del Paine´ but with amazing scenery more easily accessible with less physical effort, we found hiking here almost perfect and despite occasional strong winds, we were favoured with the sunny weather.

Irrespective of this, after our pre-sunrise ascent to Laguna de los Tres and having snapped many amazing shots of the autumn coloured forests around, the ligament in my right knee once again started seriously playing up on the way down. After packing up the tent, I hobbled back to El´Chalten with a mind to get some serious drugs and perhaps find a local Physiotherapist once we moved further up north before the next wilderness adventure.

Its the End of the World

Located at the very foot of South America within close proximity to Antarctica, the island of Tierra del Fuego (named ¨Land of Fire´ by the first European explorers sailing down the Beagle Channel) is truly one of the continents last remaining, true-wilderness regions. Its main centre 'Ushuaia' lays claim as the most southern town in the world, so greetings literally from the end-of-the-world as we know it ;)

Traditionally it was difficult for travellers to visit in any sort of comfort, hence an obvious lack of developed tourism at present, however as the primary gateway into ´Tierra del Feugo National Park´ and acting as the main port to and from the Antarctic Peninsula, Ushuaia´s future popularity as a must-visit destination is all but guaranteed.

Nicole and I arrived soon after trekking in Torres del Paine, however due to straining a ligament in my right knee and coming off the Torres with a snapped tent pole (making it unpitchable), we were forced to take things much slower than anticipated.

Opting for more granny-style sightseeing we took a great afternoon boat trip to some seal and cormorant infested islands, an out-of-season ski lift up to see a hanging glacier with a view back over the bay AND a short day in Tierra del Fuego National Park itself after signature bad weather blew in ( which ended with some last minute hitch-hiking back into town :)

Leaving Ushuaia by budget airline for El´Calafate and El´Chalten, the closest town to the famous 'Fitz Roy' mountain massif, we said goodbye to Geoff and Etiennette who had spent the last few lazy days kicking back with us before they soon headed back to England.

Trekking Torres del Paine

Hiking enthusiasts come from around the world to trek the remote Torres del Paine (Towers of Paine) national park; a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve listed in National Geographic's 50 places to visit in your lifetime for its almost mythical natural beauty.

Despite infamous unpredictable Patagonian weather, patient visitors are rewarded with lasting memories of surreal mountain vistas with hanging glaciers and ice-falls, deep rocky gullies, tranquil glacial lakes, unique wildlife in ancient Magellenic forest and most famously the Towers of Paine themselves; monolithic spires of pink granite which attract the worlds best rock-climbers.

Planning to undertake the 9+ day trek self-sufficiently, Geoff, Etiennette, Nicole and I spent days prior preparing light-weight, high-energy foods. Too little could be costly in an unfortunate situation however too much would add unnecessary burden to our already heavy backpacks, complete with tents, mats, stove, pots, cutlery, fuel, warm clothes and drinking water.

On entering the park from Puerto Natales, we first witnessed the majestic stone towers partially enveloped in thick swirling cloud and I had my doubts for the civility of the weather for the rest of the day. Regardless, Nicole and I wanted to warm our muscles up before climbing the slopes so walked an additional scenic 25km alongside crystal-clear glacial Lake Laguna into the park, which Geoff and ET skipped. Although we snapped many great photos, the weather later turned to heavy, relentless rain which left us a day behind our friends, who pressed on through thick snow into the ´Valley de Frances´ on Day 2, whilst we attempted to dry out all our equipment (which had been soaked through despite extensive use of plastic bag wrappings in our packs).

I reminded Nicole who had never done a multi-day hike, that "what you live through only makes you stronger" and ironically, despite remaining positively pesamistic for days after, the weather generally cleared up for some brilliant hiking, including our planned 2:30am ´by moonlight´ start on Day 7 in an attempt to reach the wind swept base of the Torres themselves before the light of sunrise.

Upon final ascent, after slowly scrambling up a seemingly endless boulderfield in the dark, Nicole was literally down on all fours, hanging on for dear life with a force of wind that could easily knock full-sized adults off their feet; a pretty scary experience by most hiker´s standards which hopefully we caught in some of our photos.

Finally, I should make special mention of some colourful characters we shared a laugh with whilst camping along the way, including the generously helpful wardens at Campsite Italiano, the amusing kitchen staff at Refugio Cosco, many trekkers who offered to lend us their stove for cooking after Geoff and ET left on ahead AND the crazy warden at Campsite Torres who spoke not a word of English but found it amusing to pretend beating Nicole with his stick after initially meeting us whilst mini-wresting during a failed tent-pitch attempt one afternoon ;P

On to the ´great indoors´ for a hot shower at last ...