The mornings are quite cold now and one’s desire to get an early start is tempered by the frigid remains of the night. The relative warmth of 10 AM is a nice compromise and we make good time to the border. We arrive to a cold drizzly Futaleufu then head south to where we pick up the Carretera Austral. I’ve heard about this road from other riders but I admit to not knowing much about it. I get the impression this area sees a lot of rainfall and I’m pleasantly surprised by the relatively good road conditions. Plenty of sun light remained by the time we got to La Junta so we pressed on for Puyuhuapi.
We keep moving the following morning and hit my first ever road construction desvio via ferry. A big section of the road needs to be rebuilt due to mud slides. After a brief ride on the ferry we’re back on the austral and soon arrive at the entrance to Parque Nacionale Queulat. The vegetation is lush now and though it’s cold the fauna is tropical and certainly not what I expect to see here. We follow a trail of ice capped peaks and glacial run off that leads us into Coyhaique. We find Las Salamandras on the outside of town and the warmth of its wood burning stoves are just the ticket after a cold wet day on the Austral.
