With our friend Bart safely back home we had to continue our trek through the remote Aysén region towards the end of the road at Villa O’Higgins. This part of Chile was of little interest to both Chileans and Argentines until the end of the nineteenth century, when explorers such as Hans Steffen and Francisco Moreno began mapping its numerous hills and valleys. Aysén is a place of short green grass, pine trees, southern beech, large-leaved Nalca plants, jagged rock formations, and an abundance of deep blue rivers and lakes fed by some of the largest ice fields outside of the Polar regions. The Carretera Austral, the 1.240-kilometer long gravel road connecting some of the remote communities in Aysén, was only completed at the turn of the millennium; it is still a wild place where extreme changes in the weather are the rule rather than the exception.

Riding out of Coyhaique we follow the paved road through a somewhat drier looking landscape than it was north of the region’s capital.

Our first night back on the bicycles we camp next to Laguna Chiguay in the Cerro Castillo National Reserve; the following day we conquer the Cuesta del Diablo, a big obstacle on our way further south.

Once on the other side a nice curvy downhill takes us to the junction of Puerto Ibáñez and Villa Cerro Castillo; which marks the end of the pavement.

Here we have lunch in the shadow of the cloud covered rocky peaks of the impressive Cerro Castillo.

Moving on, we cycle on loose washboard surface into the beautiful Ibañez valley…

where the river of the same name comes down from Mt. Hudson and flows further south-east towards the immense Lago General Carrera.

Cycling past Laguna Verde…

another valley comes into view where we pass by a dead forest; the result of the last eruption of Mt. Hudson, which covered the area with a thick layer of volcanic ash.

Leaving the Ibañez valley, we climb another pass and enter the beautiful Murta valley.

Because we are now skirting the Campo de Hielo Norte (‘Northern Patagonian Ice Field‘), which is the second largest ice sheet outside of the Polar regions, and is feeding the many rivers and lakes in this region; this area is particularly lush with vegetation, and glacial melt is flowing down from the mountaintops everywhere.

Most of it finding its way into the massive Lago General Carrera…

where spectacular marble caves can be explored from Puerto Tranquilo.

The marble has been completely sculpted by wind erosion and the strength of Lago General Carrera; the white marble gives a very nice contrast with the green and blue water of the lake.

Onwards we go still, further south towards Cochrane only a few days away.

Joining us during this stretch of the journey are Julien and Laurie; a couple of French-speaking Belgians who started their journey on recumbent bicycles from Quito.

Michiel is always happy to have company…

Camping underneath the orange bridge that marks the division between Lago General Carrera and Lago Bertrand, we try our hand at fishing… without much luck…

Climbing up towards Puerto Bertrand, we pass Lago Negro and say goodbye to Lago General Carrera in the background.

We meet up here with the famous Rio Baker, the outlet of Lago General Carrera. This wild river originates after Lake Bertrand and flows towards the Pacific. It’s Chile’s largest river and one of the two rivers that is supposed to be dammed in the controversial HydroAysen project…

which is planned for construction very close to this point, where the Rio Baker meets with the Rio Chacabuco; just a few kilometers outside of Cochrane.

Leaving Cochrane we cycle out of the valley and are happy to encounter this long downhill (the Cuesta Barrancoso) on our way towards the junction with Tortel.

During this part of the journey we encounter more and more shrubland, temperate rainforest, and deciduous forest; with plenty of lakes and glaciers serving as a continuous backdrop.

The road remains a collection of sand, gravel, pebbles, and mud…

and it runs out in Puerto Yungay, where we need to take a ferry across the Rio Bravo to the other side in order to pedal the last hundred kilometers towards VIlla O’Higgins.

Mentally preparing for the next wet bit; it is nice to be inside and warm for a few minutes…

before going back out into the rain again. The last stretch to Villa O’Higgins we ride through a very lush valley due to the close proximity to the Campo de Hielo Sur (‘Southern Patagonian Ice Field‘), which is the largest ice field outside of the Polar regions. High in the skies we have the continuous company of several Andean Condors.

And then we reach the end of the Carretera Austral, at Bahia Bahamondes, from where there is a ferry going across Lago O’Higgins towards Candelario Mancilla. This is the deepest lake in the Americas and the milky light-blue color of the lake comes from rock flour suspended in its waters.

From Candelario Mancilla it is a steep fourteen kilometer climb towards the natural boundary with Argentina.

Just before the Argentinian divide we stumble upon Hector, a member of the Mancilla family who have been living in this remote part of the world for the past hundred years; and who offers us a place to stay in his little wooden cottage at Laguna Redonda.

We feel very happy to be inside when the heavens open up at night…

meaning that the following morning we have a warm beginning of the six kilometer trek to the shores of Lago Desierto; where another boat will take us back towards civilization. We are now two Belgians, two Brazilians, and two Dutch!

And we would be needing every bit of help available to navigate our bicycles and trailers across the six kilometer horse trail…

where every attempt to cycle was purely for show…

and was followed by more pushing through the mud, getting stuck, getting rained on, and having to cross several icy-cold, fast flowing rivers.

But after spending five hours covering six kilometers (!) we made it to the north shore of Lago Desierto; where the boat was waiting to ferry us across to the south shore…

where the rains had stopped…

and where we could cycle the last stretch towards El Chaltén; in the shadow of the famous vertical slopes of Mt. FitzRoy.