March 1-8

PATAGONIA!!!

“The Heart of Patagonia is the Wind, and Its Soul is the Mountains” Eric Thomsen, our guide.

On this leg of the trip, we have experienced in full the soul of Patagonia. Many great rides in, and exposure to, the mountains, lakes, glaciers, volcanos, flora and fauna of Patagonia. Several of the members of our group have given up taking pictures due to a belief that the beauty of Patagonia can’t be captured in a video or photograph. Rather, one has to come and experience the diversity and grandeur of Patagonia first hand. I can’t disagree, but I didn’t give up trying. Below, you will see A LOT of photos I have taken and a few videos, which attempt to provide my take on this very special place…one I plan on being back to many times in the future. I hope you enjoy!

As we move south and into the open plains of Southern Argentina and the archipelago region of Chile, the heart of Patagonia, the wind, most likely will play a much larger role in our journey.

March 1 – Meeting the Ride Adventures Group in Pucon

Met the group I’ll be riding with over dinner.  The group consists of Eric, our mechanic and sort-of-guide, Kevin and Jane from Virginia, Gary and Illiana from Toronto (but, Gary is really from the UK and Illiana is really from Greece), John and Randy from Whistler, Craig from New York, Mike from Tampa, Phil from Las Vegas and JD from Oklahoma. 

Before, I met Eric at dinner, I spotted him on the street in Pucon and immediately thought that he looked the part of someone from Pucon.  Great person with extensive motocross experience.  He drives the truck behind us so as to help anyone who crashes, has a flat or needs assistance.  Eric is from Cordoba, Argentina and in his 40’s with a couple kids and a wife.  He has led an interesting life.  He is the only person I know who has spent time in Greenland, in fact, he went to school there for a year. Eric has been a fantastic presence on the trip with entertaining stories and a trove of wonderful info about the areas we are traveling and experiencing.  Eric is pictured on the right below with Gary at the end of one of our days.

Kevin was in the Navy and then an air traffic controller.  He is now retired, but drives a grammar school bus, as does his wife, Jane as a means of giving back to their community.  Gary grew up in Southampton and then eventually moved to the Toronto area.  Gary was on dialysis for seven years before receiving a kidney transplant from his mother.  He is a heavy equipment operator.  John and Randy are both retired executives who live full time in Whistler and ski as well as ride off-road extensively.  Craig was an investment banker, then into private equity and recently left to start his own entity.  Mike is retired from the Army as a colonel and served in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and several other middle eastern countries.  Before the military Mike obtained a Ph.D. in philosophy and ethics from Stanford and a masters, I believe, in philosophy at Harvard.  Mike grew up in Boston.  Phil is a manager of a two players clubs in Vegas.  JD is a retired equipment leasing company owner.  JD is also one of the most accomplished off-road, enduro racers in America and spent five years on the world-wide racing circuit.  He owns a considerable amount of property in Oklahoma and built a 14-mile dirt track on his property…serious rider! 

Should be a good group of people with which to people to spend the next couple weeks.

Earlier in the day, Jane,  Randy, John, JD and I decided to take one of the available tours in Pucon with a local who owns a helicopter, Francisco. Francisco flew us over Villarrica volcano and Lanin volcano.

Below is a an interesting area around the volcanoes.

Lanin in the background over another volcanic peak, the name of which I didn’t catch.

Below is an interesting alluvial zone.

Below are several pictures of Villarrrica. In the second one, I have circled the zone which we slide down. You can make out the chute created by our decent. If you look very closely, it is a vertical bright white line on the right side of the circle.

The town of Pucon is pictured below with Villarrica on the far left.

Jane, Francisco (the pilot), John, JD, Randy and yours truly.

March 2 – Pucon, Chile to Bariloche, Argentina

We all assembled in the Hotel Rangi and then were transported in a van to a location outside of Pucon to pick up our motorcycles at Uli’s place.  Uli, from Germany, owns all the bikes and stores them in his garage on his property outside of Pucon.

I’m driving a Honda Africa Twin CRF1000L.  Very nice motorcycle with all the bells and whistles included on it.  I’m starting out with 15,850 kilometers on the odometer. 

Below, the gang heading for a boarder crossing into Argentina.

Right after the boarder crossing there was this forest of trees, Araucaria, which were very unusual.

Once into Argentina, we entered the Seven Lakes Route on Ruta 40, a spectacular region of lakes, mountains, valleys and rivers. Below are a few photos of the area.

We pulled into Bariloche late in the evening. Bariloche is a tourist town that is a skiing center in the winter. As a result, it looked very Swiss or German with high quality housing/hotel stock. There is one hotel, Llao Llao Hotel, which is pictured in the distance in the photo below that has been seen in many movies…very impressive.

March 3 – Bariloche, Argentina to Trevelin, Argentina

We headed out on Tuesday to view the Llao Llao Loop which winds around the southern end of Lago Nahuel Huapi. The Llao Llao Hotel is pictured on the peninsula in the middle of the photo.

Aftewards, we took a less traveled route through Parque Nacional Los Alerces, which is famous for its Fitzroy trees, which are a cousin to the Redwoods. Below is a photo in a grove of the trees.

JD has a practice of finding interesting fishing spots, pulling out his small portable pole and then making 10 casts…and only 10 casts to see if he can catch anything. Below, is the only fish that I have seen him catch…or is that his bait…I’m not sure!

Later on the ride, we came to a mirador (Espanol for viewing point) and this bird allowed me to essentially walk right up to and catch this photo. Looks like a peregrine to me.

The ride through Los Alerces was on dirt roads and was hot. We wound our way through a series of lakes and rivers and all I could think about was taking a swim…so I did. Below is a lake that I stopped at and spent about 30 minutes in the water. Simply beautiful place with refreshing water. I believe it was Lago Futalaufquen. As far as I could see there were maybe 5-10 people on this huge lake camping and enjoying the solitude. This is one of those places I plan to come back to and camp…

When I was in the water, JD showed up on the shore…he had been fishing around the corner and saw me in the water. He joined me for a swim.

We stayed this evening in a hotel called Casa de Piedra that was owned by an Italian family. Interesting place with a beautiful Ducati in the lobby!

March 4 – Trevelin, Argentina to Puyuhuapi, Chile

Wens. brings me back to Futaleufu! In the second picture below, high above the greenhouse on the mountain bench in the sky is the high alpine lake, Lake Obsession, I hiked up to on Feb. 7. I have great memories of this wonderful valley given the fantastic whitewater rafting I was able to engage in during February.

Below is another photo of me (in my riding gear as opposed to my rafting gear) on the Rio Futaleufu.

We then advanced to Ruta 7, the famous Carretera Austral, which we will be on for the next few days. At the end of the day, I took the photo at the top of this post of Gary and Illiana heading over a ridge towards Puhuhaupi…what a great visual, Gary with his hands off the bike in amazement over the scene ahead of him…totally captures the moment!!!

Below are a few additional images of the ride.

To get to our hotel, the Puyuhuapi Lodge & Spa, we had to park the bikes and get on a ferry to cross the fjord. Below is the view of the hotel from the water. While we were pulling into the hotel, two dolphins were playing in the bay in front of the hotel.

The hotel is only reachable by ferry or boat. There are no roads that connect to it. As a result, the forest and surrounding area is pristine. Below is a huge broad leafed plant on the grounds.

There is a hot springs on the grounds, which a few of us took advantage of that evening. Below are Gary and Illiana in the springs after a swim in the fjord.

There was a spectacular scene off the deck of the hotel this evening, which I captured below.

March 5 – Puyuhuapi, Chile to Coihaique, Chile

On Thurs. morning we got back on the ferry, crossed the fjord and were back on the dirt roads towards Coihaique. First stop was a stunning glacier, waterfall, glacial lake and stream called Ventisquero Colgante. The water in the lake was a pale green due to the glacial runnoff, as you can see below. We have been very fortunate to date with the weather…blue skies and no wind (as you can see in the reflective lakes in many of the photos)…a big deal in this part of the world!

Below is the river flowing out of the lake above.

The balance of the day was a ride down the Caterrera Austral with one section that was a series of hairpin turns in the dirt up a steep mountain. This section had me sleepless the night before, because Erik warned us that there would be huge commercial trucks coming down it and taking up the whole width of the turns so they could get down. Take a look at this on the map below.

I didn’t encounter any trucks, but I was in first gear the whole way and making wide turns. Yet, I still put the bike down on one turn…damn…I thought I had the swing of this dirt riding stuff.

Below are a series of pics I took on the balance of the ride.

March 6 – Coihaique, Chile to Puerto Guadal, Chile

Today is a relatively short ride of 220k through the Ibanex River Valley, Cerro Castillo past Laguna Verde and through El Bosque Muerte (the Dead Forest).  We are truly into Patagonia now.  The rivers and lakes are bright green and blue caused by glacier run off. 

We had lunch at Puerto Tranquillo a small outpost on Lago General Carrera, which is the 11^th deepest lake in the world at 586 meters.  This is the lake that Doug Tomkins and his fellow kayakers died on in 2015 due to sudden winds capsizing them, leading to hypothermia and failed rescue attempts.  Doug Tompkins was the founder and owner of The North Face and with his first wife, Esprit. Doug Tomkins purchased and then donated over two million acres of land in Chile and Argentina to their governments and in the process created a series of parks running the length of the west coast of South America.

Below is a photo I took upon first encountering the lake. Yes, the water really is that color.

March 7 – Rest Day in Puerto Guadal, Chile

This was a perfect day to be off the bikes…raining, cold and windy.  Further, I was beat and really needed a rest.  The daily riding has started to wear on my body…I can feel myself start to break down somewhat. 

The Terra Luna is owned and run by Philippe, who is from France and moved to Chile 38 years ago.  He lives on the property.  In addition, Philippe owns a helicopter and pilots excursions into the mountains.  Our hope was the weather would clear up and we could take the helicopter up to the glaciers and possibly do some fishing.  Unfortunately, the flight was a no go due to weather.  As a result, the bail out option was a hike up to a peak that has hundreds of fossils. 

Randy, John, Mike, Craig and I assembled at 10:30 and piled into the van below, which was in very sorry shape, as you can see.  We started out with Luca, our driver and guide, who steered the van up the hill onto the road, but before we got to the road, it stalled out and the decision was made to swap vehicles. 

Luca, our guide.

We eventually got to the trail head.  The hike was about 8k and up about 1k.  The hike was very cold and windswept.  It was a struggle getting to the top since we were bushwacking through cow pastures in the mud, stone and clay.  At the top there was an outcropping of rock that had been pushed up to the surface by tectonic action and it was riddled with fossils, mostly shells and crustaceans.  Photos of the peak, the fossils and the view out to Lago General Carrera are below.

We quickly headed back down after a rapid tour of the fossils and made our way back to Terra Luna.  The afternoon was a napping and organization for tomorrow’s ride.

Before dinner, the light was stunning on the mountains across the lake so took the below photos.

March 8 – Puerto Guadal, Chile to Los Antiguos, Argentina

I got up early and was able to get a few more pictures of the mountains in the morning light before breakfast.

Short ride today of only about 180 kilometers today.  As a result, Eric set our departure time for 10:00 AM.  I was packing by bags and getting ready to go at 8:30, when JD came knocking at my door to tell me that the helicopter was available to go this morning and asked if I wanted to go.  It took about three seconds to make that decision, packed my camera equipment and headed out.  It was a perfect day for the helicopter trip…no wind with practically no clouds in the sky.  Jane, Phil, JD and I took off at about 9:00.  Philippe was our pilot.   

We headed out over Lago General Carrera and then up and over the mountains.  Below are several pictures and some video.  This flight was one of the top-10 experiences I have had in my life.  The scenery was spectacular…mountains, valleys, glaciers, high alpine lakes, waterfalls…  ENJOY…we sure did. 

Philllipe our pilot.

I also have several videos which I will work on and add on to the next post.

After we got back, we got on our bikes and headed south along the southern border of Lago General Carrera for almost the whole trip today.  We met for lunch at Chile Chico (which is the scene below) which had the feel of a windswept town at the edge of the world.  We crossed the boarder into Argentina at Paso Rio Jeinemeni, at which point the lake’s name changes to Lago Buenos Aires. 

We quickly made our way to Hotel Antigua Patagonia for the night.  Tomorrow brings about the big change in environment to the flats of southern Argentina and the winds that sweep off of the Atlantic and head towards to the Pacific.  The winds can get up to 80 mph and are typically crosswinds.  Further, there are may guanacos, which are skittish and prone to crossing the road and hitting bikes and cars.  Should be an interesting day!!!

Hasta leugo!!