Day 291: La Carretera Austral – Day 2
FLATTYBOUCH, n. A gypsy term: one who goes from place to place living in a van during the summer months. Also called a flatty.
We learned a cool word during a rousing game of “Liars Club” when we were on the Seabourn Quest, which perfectly illustrated our descent from ultra-luxury cruisers to homeless bums. I know y’all are feeling sorry for us sleeping out of an SUV, but I gotta tell you, it’s a lot more comfortable than it sounds! We slept in ’til about 7:30AM when the sun was fully out and it was too bright to keep our eyes closed. We took our time having breakfast and reorganizing our supplies. However, when 9:30AM rolled around and there still wasn’t any sign of a park ranger to collect camping fees, we figured Chile was just giving us one for free. LOVE this country!
Breakfast time at the Cascadas Escondidas Campground
Lots of bikers were packing up to leave as we explored the campground. There are two short hikes to some waterfalls, but we have to pass as Igor is a gimp
We pass two more pretty campgrounds on our way to the next town – good to know this highway is so camper-friendly!
The waters of Lake Blanco were a perfect mirror in the morning
We pass by the trailhead for an all-day hike near Michinmahuida Volcano. Since it doesn’t look doable in flips flops, we’ll have to save it for next time
So, our original plan for this road trip was to stop in 4 different parks and do day hikes over the next two weeks. Unfortunately, when Igor had to wear his hard boots during our travel day from Buenos Aires to Puerto Montt, it ruined all the healing progress his foot had made during our month on the cruise ship. Since we had a diving trip coming up in a few weeks, it was essential that he recover, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to wear fins and wouldn’t be allowed to dive in strong currents.
As a result, all hikes were out of the question for the next two weeks – this trip is now literally all about the ROAD throughout Patagonia. On the bright side, it meant that we had a lot more flexibility in our schedule and more time to finish longer stretches of the route. Today we passed through Chaitén – a coastal town that was completely destroyed when the nearby volcano of the same name erupted in 2008. Although the Chilean government insisted that all residents permanently evacuate, 25 people came back a year later and started rebuilding. Now the town is well on the way to recovery, with a gas station, hospital, grocery store, and plenty of cute hostels and restaurants.
After visiting town for a few hours, we continued down the road at a leisurely pace, stopping to take pictures whenever we liked. Even though there was a lot of construction going on, there was more than enough eye-candy to fill up our camera memory card.
Igor is enchanted by the spooky, dead trees leftover from the Chaitén eruption back in 2008
We roll into the town of Chaitén just before lunchtime and pick up a few extra groceries in the shadow of the ominous volcano
We are ahead of schedule, so we treat ourselves to a sit-down lunch in a yert. Feelin’ pretty hippie!
We get a far-off glimpse of the Amarillo Glacier as we pass by Pumalín Park
Driving around the Amarillo section of Pumalín Park
Stopping to admire more glacier-capped mountains during our drive
Driving over the Yelcho Bridge
Lago Yelcho sparkles in the Patagonian sunshine
Beautiful scenery during our Carretera Austral road trip
Pastoral cow pastures and baby-blue glacier-fed rivers in Patagonia
Seriously…well this gorgeous scenery ever end?
We’re driving an average of 10 hours per day, so we get a little goofy after a while
We started looking for camping spots around 7PM. The first campground we pulled into was already full. The second paid campground we found was just outside of the Queulat National Park, but we passed as the facilities look like an absolute dump. (The owner left a broken toilet and a broken down bus in the middle of the campsites. We’re not paying USD$10 when we can just pull off the side of the road for free!) Apparently there were better options inside the park, but the entrance was locked after 6PM so we had to continue driving for another hour or so.
As we drove around a scenic fiord, we noticed several empty miradors (viewpoints). Sure, there was zero privacy, but the views were excellent. We decided to give it a try – hopefully police wouldn’t patrol the highway at night (we haven’t seen any cops or park rangers outside town limits so far) and knock on our windows while we were sleeping. A handful of trucks and cars passed us while we made ourselves some dinner (a few tooted their horn to say, “Hello”), but all traffic died around 9:30PM, giving us peace and quiet as we went to sleep.
Screw campgrounds – we stop at a mirador around 9PM and decide to park for the night
Canned beans and avocado wraps: dinner, dinner, dinner!
Flattybouchin’ in Chile.