Patagonia had been on our bucket list for awhile. After a lot of research we decided that we wanted to both bike and hike. (see Patagonia Hiking for the second portion of our trip) After reviewing a lot of different websites and blogs we decided on biking from Bariloche to Ushuaia weaving our way through both Chile and Argentina. We especially wanted to bike the single track section between Villa ‘O Higgings and El Chalten. Now came the logistics! Donna and Alex Hamilton agreed to come with us for the biking portion but none of us were especially keen about lugging all our gear on the bikes. I contacted my friend, Catherine Crewe and she agreed to be our support driver. Thus we rented a truck and camper from Camperworld Chile whom I highly recommend. These guys went above and beyond to ensure we had a great trip.
As you will see when scrolling through the images, we went through a number of climatic zones. In general, Argentina has four main climate types: warm, moderate, arid, and cold, all determined by the expanse across latitude, range in altitude, and relief features. The vast size, and wide range of altitudes, contribute to Argentina’s diverse climate. Under the Koppen climate classification, Argentina has 11 different climate types. Consequently, there is a wide variety of biomes in the country, including subtropical rain forests, semi-arid and arid regions, temperate plains in the Pampas, and cold subantarctic in the south.
Arrived in Puerto Montt on October 30th, picked up the rest of the gang at the airport with the truck and camper and headed to a nice hostel with a cute little gargen and a big courtyard where we were able to put the bikes together.
Oct 31st – off to Bariloche for the start of the biking trip. This day did not go as planned – the 4 hour drive took us 13 hours – 9 hours of waiting in a very long line to cross the border into Argentina. Very cumbersome system. They let 100 or so cars move forward to park in a lot where you then walk to the border exit for Chile, go through the process, get back in your vehicle to head to the entrance to Argentina and go through the same process again. As this was some sort of long weekend we were 9 hours going through this entire process.
Things of Note: Our biking portion of the trip was from November 1st to December 7th. This is spring in Patagonia so the weather was cooler and wetter. However, no bugs, no dusty roads, less traffic, and easier to find accommodation in the more popular tourist areas. As Doug and I made our way back north from mid-December to beginning of January the horse flies were out in full force, tons of traffic, roads were incredibly dusty, and places were busy. We saw more bikers in one day then we saw on the entire trip down. Some were on tandem bikes – big, big mistake. I can’t imagine riding one at the best of times but in a cross wind was next to impossible for these people with a tandem fully packed to try and keep it on the road.
Our accommodation was a mix of tent camping, cabanas and refugios. Other than ‘wild camping most campgrounds had showers. Every village, regardless of size had a town square which was the best place to look for accommodation and restaurants. iOverlander app was great for finding just about anything you are looking for. Vegetables and fruit were harder to get then expected, especially in the smaller villages. We timed our purchases as fruit, vegetables, dairy, and meat are not allowed across the borders between Chile and Argentina.
Most places took credit cards but good to have both US $’s and local currency for the smaller places. If crossing at smaller border crossings they might not have ‘Investigations Police Station’. This means you will need to fill out a ‘PDI’ on-line. Best to do this in advance as confirmation may take over 24 hours and you need it to enter and exit Chile. Ferries don’t necessarily leave when scheduled – they could leave up to a day or two early or late depending on weather so be prepared. We were happy for our warm layers especially for evenings camping.
All of us were on gravel bikes with 45 cm tires. I would highly recommend a 1x system rather than 2x for two reasons – simpler, less to go wrong or break down and there is a lot of climbing. Really nice to have rain covers for your bike shoes.
November 1st to 5th – our start to the biking was somewhat delayed as we were now having to buy groceries, find a bank, a bike shop, etc. – basically doing all of the things we planned on doing yesterday prior to biking. We did make up time though and we were back on track with our scheduled itinerary by the end of day 2. We road Hwy 40 from Bariloche, to El Bolson, Cholila, Rio Epuyen, through Los Alerces National Park where we road on our first gravel, on to Trevelin, then across the border back into Chile at Futaleufa. Was really good to get off of the busy Hwy 40. We biked through sun, rain and cold the first day, rain and then snow in Los Alerces, and then finally sunshine as we left Trevelin. Just past Epuyen we had the Andes on one side and the desert on the other as we biked along the continental divide.
Each day our legs got stronger and our bodies adjusted to the daily rhythm of the ride. The rain wasn’t as much of a problem as the wind. Strong head winds were tough but it was the side winds that were the most difficult to ride and in some case downright dangerous as we were literally blown from one side of the road to the other. Always something to look at that made each day spectacular.
November 6th – 14th – We left Futaleufa following Hwy 231 & 235 to Villa Santa Lucia where we connected to Hwy 7 ( Carretera Austral which runs from Puerta Montt to Villa O’ Higgins where it ends.) From here we travelled south through La Junta, weaving our way through scattered farmlands and dense rainforest to the Pacific Ocean port village of Payuhuapi, then on to Villa Amengual, Manihuales, Coihaique, Villa Cerro Castillo, and finally Bahia Murta.
More days of sunshine than rain as we continue south. We took a day’s rest outside of Payuhuapi to visit the Thermal Pools, catch up on laundry, work on bikes, etc. Mix of pavement, gravel, and cement and made it to the top of the biggest climb on the Carratera Astral – Queulat Pass – gravel, 500 metres, 10 ks, 21 switchbacks. Really spectacular scenery – massive cliffs, towering waterfalls and gigantic Chilean rhubarb. We spent some time fixing Doug’s bike and shopping in Coyhaique. Saw our first Andean Condor on the way into town. Ride from here to Villa Cerra Castillo was big with lots of climbing, strong cross and headwinds. You know the wind is strong when you have to pedal on the downhills! Incredible scenery and more condors along the way.
Day 9 – we took a rest day to visit the Termas Del Ventisquero (thermal pools), do some laundry and get groceries.
Rest of the way to Bahia Murta where we gradually wound our way out of the rainforest and into a semi-cultivated valley.
From Bahia Murta we took a detour to Puerta Sanchez. This was the road (both in and out)- 12 ks up and then 12 ks down the other side to views of Lago General Carrera.
I had seen pictures of the Marble Caves on Lago General Carrera (Chile side) /Lago Buenos Aires (Argentina side), and decided this was a must see. So we did the detour to Puerta Sanchez on November 14th to take a boat tour to the caves. We booked both our stay at a cabana and the tour with RYS Patagonia Adventures and they were fantastic. Our evening entertainment was watching baby ducks get blown across the yard, scramble back to starting point and get blown across again. I think they were enjoying themselves. We hoped for good weather to be able to get the best light to see the caves and we were not disappointed.
November 15th to 19th – We were originally going to take the entire day off after the boat tour and head out again on the 16th. However, the ferry company out of Villa O’ Higgins changed schedule and now only ran on Mondays and Thursdays. So we had to up our schedule by 2 days as we had originally planned to take the ferry on Saturday the 23rd. We drove back to Bahia Murta and on to Rio Tranquilo for groceries and a head start for our next section. Say good-buy to pavement for the next 500 ks! As we turn and ride inland to skirt the Rio Leones river delta we get exceptional views of the surrounding mountains comprising the northeastern portion of the Northern Patagonian Ice Fields. From there we biked to Cochrane and then Puerta Yungay where we took the ferry to our camp spot about 11 ks beyond the ferry. This entire section was stunning as we entered back into rainforest. The final push to the Yungay ferry was an incredible amount of steep climbing.
November 20th – 22nd – For this section of the trip we had our fingers crossed that all would go as planned. This is where Catherine left us in the morning so if we had any setbacks we could be spending a cold night somewhere without camping gear! The Careterra Austral ends at Villa O’ Higgins and no vehicles are allowed on the 2 ferries that will take us to El Chalten. Catherine backtracked to Cochrane then drove a small back road over to the border crossing at Paso Roballos into Argentina, then took Highway 40 around to meet us in El Chalten. Very long way to go around to meet us. Meanwhile, we biked 125 ks on gnarly gravel from our camp spot near the Yungay Ferry to Villa O’ Higgins. Spent the night and up at 4 am to catch our first ferry across Lago O’ Higgins which takes 3 hours. From here we had a steep climb to the Chile border exit station. All of us had filled out our “PDI’s” on-line then night before, no confirmation so tried again on ferry, still nothing, tried again at border crossing and finally got confirmation! From here it is 5 ks of tough, steep, climbing on loose gravel to the start of the single track or ‘trench’ as it is referred to across to the Argentina border entry station. Here we caught our second ferry across Lago del Desierto and then we road an incredibly rough gravel road to our dome cabana just north of El Chalten. We continued to El Chalten on the roughest gravel to date the next morning where we again met up with Catherine.
November 23rd, 25th – El Chalten to El Calafate. We took a day to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier.
November 25th – Dec 2nd – El Calafate to Cancha Carrera where we crossed back into Chile. Then Cerro Castillo through Torres Del Paine Nat Park to Puerto Natales and finally south to Puerto Arenas.
Riding through Torres del Paine National Park. Was great to get this perspective as Doug and I planned to hike the “O” circuit here on our way back north. As beautiful as it was we did not ride the entire route as the winds were absolutely insane. At one point both Donna and I were peddling as hard as we could against a head wind and realized that our bikes were stationary – absolutely no forward movement!! Another time I found myself on the opposite side of the road in an instant from the incredibly strong cross wind. There were times when we couldn’t see as the gusts brought up so much dust off the road.
Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas and then across Strait of Magellan on the ferry to Porvenir at Bahia Inutil which translates to “useless bay” named by Captain Phillip Parker King in 1827 as it provided “neither anchorage or shelter, nor any other advantage of the navigator”.
Dec 4th – Detour to Pinguino Rey to see the King Penguins. You stay on boardwalks and don’t get very close to keep stress levels to a minimum.
Dec 4th – Dec 7th – Pinguino Rey, across the border back into Argentina at San Sabastian, then on to Rio Grande, Tolhuin, and finally Ushuaia.
The finish line – 33 days of biking, longest day 133 ks, 2,453 total kilometres, 28, 402 total metres of ascent! What a bike trip, some easy days, many hard days, lots and lots of climbing. Ready for a couple days of sightseeing and then Doug and I will continue the journey back north with some backpacking trips along the way. See Patagonia Hiking.
Dec 7th – 10th – around Ushuaia
