Maggie and I were closing the distance to Puerto Montt, where we had to return our rental car. A few more days of driving lay ahead, but we tried to make the most of it on the long road north before ending our South American adventure.
6 February 2023
Our seaside nook near Caleta Olivia turned out to be a nice camp site for the night. We slept in a little to catch up on sleep after the horrendous wind storm we endured the night before. It was a short drive into Rada Tilly, where stopped for gas, groceries, and lunch on the beach. It was a gorgeous day.
We wished we could have joined the sun bathers, but we got back in the car and turned inland towards Esquel. Many hours and miles of uninteresting steppe passed by as we drove into the evening. Once again, we turned to iOverlander to find a place to camp. We found a small, secluded pull off next to the highway. Nestled in a grove of pine trees, we were pretty happy with this spot.
7 February 2023
We were getting back into familiar terrain. Foothills and mountains took over a we made the beautiful drive up RT40. The pot holes weren’t as bad as we remembered on the south bound trip. We planned on crossing the border to Chile the next day. The border was well within reach, so we had some time to kill. It was an easy decision to stop at an alpine lake just south of Bariloche, Lago Gutierrez. We found a pull off and a social trail down to the water. The water was exquisitely clear. Austral summer shining down, we ate lunch, then wasted no time slipping into the water to cool off. Other than another middle aged couple we briefly saw, Maggie and I had Lago Gutierrez to ourselves. Oh what a simple joy – sun, water, and solitude.
Mustering the will to leave was the hard part, but it was prudent to get as close to the border as possible. We drove onwards, skipping Bariloche, passing around Lago Nahuel Huapi. We stopped to make a plan for the night in Villa La Angostura. A local tourism office provided WiFi where we searched for a place to camp. The stunning scenery around Lago Nuahel Wapi understandably makes it a popular destination, and we were having trouble finding something available that suited our style.
We decided to check out a small free camping area run by the nearby national park. When we arrived, there wasn’t much space, and the vibe was verging on shanty town rather than campground. It was merely a large, dusty clearing by the lake and between the trees. A couple of fires smoldered with cardboard. Very young children stumbled around barefoot. The noise and the smoke were enough to turn us away. The hour was getting late and options were dwindling.
We drove a bit further to another private campground. This resembled more of what we were used to, and they had space! One problem – we still didn’t have any Argentine pesos to pay for the night. The credit card had been fine for restaurants, gas, and groceries, but the campground office only accepted cash. After some discussion, the staff agreed to exchange some US dollars for Argentine pesos, but they would only take a crisp $100 bill. Thankfully, I had a Benjamin on hand. They gave me the good blue dollar exchange rate (330 ARP/USD), which was nice. However, I now I had about 30,000 ARP with less than 24 hrs left in Argentina and no where to spend it. The situation was not ideal, but it worked, and I recalled seeing a currency exchange at the Chilean border crossing I could likely use the next day. The campground turned out to be rather peaceful. We enjoyed dinner at our little picnic table and got to bed under the late evening sun.
8 February 2023
Maggie and I were up at a reasonable hour to beat the crowds to the border crossing. It was fairly smooth, and we were happy to be done with the aduanans. I exchanged my Argentine pesos for Chilean pesos and lost about 20 USD in the process. Again, not ideal, but it’s just one of those quirks of international travel. It was a nice drive down the west side of the Andes and into Puerto Varas. We had booked a cozy loft/tiny house AirBnb about 10 minutes from downtown.
In Puerto Varas, we dropped off laundry at the lavanderia so we could have some clean clothes for the flight home. Having eaten all of our produce before the border, we went grocery shopping, again. Parking was a nightmare. The first grocery store didn’t even have produce, so we returned to Lider, South American Walmart. Nothing was particularly difficult, it just felt like a fiasco as we wandered around town. We were getting flustered and hangry.
After a few deep breaths, we went to The Tea House for dinner, which was excellent. Back at the tiny house, we finished off our leftover beer and wine, watching some familiar adventure videos on YouTube before bed.
9 February 2023
Maggie and I had a full day to spend in Puerto Varas before we had to return the car and catch a flight to Santiago. After the letdown a few weeks prior at Argentina’s Alcerces National Park, I was determined to see some big trees. Nearby was Alerce Andino National Park, so we decided to get out for one last hike in Chile and scratch my coniferous itch. We took our time getting out of bed, made breakfast, and packed up for a nature walk.
We arrived at the national park just after 12 pm. It was an overcast day with periodic drizzle, unsurprising as this region receives 4 meters (13 feet!) of rain annually. It was immediately noticeable that we were in temperate rain forest. The vegetation was dense, to put it plainly. Moss, ferns, and bamboo grew on every surface between the towering trees, and epiphytes grew all over the trees themselves.
After a short road walk, we took a boardwalk/staircase trail uphill. Before we even got over the first rise, we came upon Abuelo Alerce, Grandfather Larch. We were in the presence of a 3,000 year old Fitzroya cupressoides.
As mentioned previously, these magnificent trees are not larches, a member of the redwood-cypress family. Some call it Patagonian Redwood, for its size, age, and habit are similar to that of the Coast Redwood in Northern California. Indeed, Fitzroya experienced a similar history of unfettered logging, followed by staunch protection once people realized they are worth more when left standing than they are in the sawmill. It felt like a dream to be standing in the presence of this gargantuan tree after learning about Fitzroya a few years ago.
After a quick photo shoot with the Abuelo tree, we continued on. It was a steep, rooty, rocky, and muddy trail, making for slow progress. The tough terrain was alright though, we weren’t out to push the mileage, just explore and enjoy nature. Hiking through the Chilean rain forest was entirely novel. It wasn’t just the alerces that made our jaws drop.
The botanical bounty was also wildly more diverse than the Nothofagus (southern beech) forests that southern Patagonia. It was impossible to see much more than 10 feet through the trees, bamboo, vines, ferns, and moss, much less around the next corner.
Some other interesting conifers included Chilean Totara (Podocarpus nubigenus), and Guaitecas Cypress (Libocedrus uvifera), both of which are somewhat rare and threatened species.
More conifers!
After a short distance, we took a little side trail into a grove of alerces on a steep hillside. Maggie spotted a red, tubular flower on the ground, and not 10 seconds later, a hummingbird buzzed by and landed on a branch. Our first south American hummingbird! Ever curious, the bird inspected us for a few moments, but it flew off before we could snap a picture.
On up the hill, we ascended a set of stairs. There was a viewing platform at the top of the steps where we sat for lunch. I was at last satisfied to sit with the trees.
Mas alerces
After lunch, we continued along the main trail, coming upon a couple spots to stand on the shore of Lago Sargazo to see a more of the green hills rubbing elbows with the gray clouds. A rocky river bed (or old rock slide?) provided a small opening in the forest. Bright red lichen made some rocks look like the ticklish muppet Elmo, and another light gray lichen grew like miniature tentacles.
The uneven trail made it impossible to walk and look around at the same time, which was hard to contend with, since there was so much to look at! We crossed paths with another hiker on his way out, and he offered some info in Spanish, but we didn’t gather much…
Maggie and I had set a turnaround time of 2:30 pm. As luck would have it, we found the largest alerce yet, right when we were thinking about turning back. The tree was easily 6 feet across, and a relative lack of trees nearby allowed us to peer up to its crown. This big tree had a host of plants growing 8 feet up its trunk. It was hard to tell where one plant began and another ended. We took a few minutes to revel in the glory of this magnificent, old tree.
This giant was an amazing climax to our little nature walk, so we decided to turn back there. The trail closed at 5 pm, and we had to retrieve our laundry anyways. The rain started in earnest a little less than a mile from the car. We put our rain coats on for the slippery descent down the wooden stairs. We were fairly soaked by the time we were done hiking, but our spirits were still high after this refreshing and awe-inspiring nature walk.
As we were throwing our things in the car, we noticed the hiker we had seen earlier on trail. He was waiting under a shelter with a full 60L pack, in addition to his day pack. He asked us for a ride. Recognizing him as a fellow traveler stuck in a rain storm, Maggie and I looked at each other and nodded in agreement. The three of us piled in and we began our drive back to Puerto Varas.
Our hitchhiking friend, Dani, was from Concepción and he spoke some English conversationally. Dani was thinking about camping nearby, but upon seeing the weather forecast, he decided to ride with us into Puerto Montt. Dani shared our interest in backpacking, camping, and the outdoors. He sought to live simply and travel as much as possible. We connected over our shared experiences in Patagonia, and offered suggestions to each other on new places to visit. Like most Chileans we had met, Dani was kind, and he thanked us dearly for the ride into town.
Maggie and I got back to Puerto Varas, where we showered for the first time in 5 or 6 days. We went and picked up our laundry, then walked to a little ramen restaurant we had visited a month earlier. Seated in the same two stools from out first visit, we devoured our noodle stew.
We returned to our loft to finish off the last two small cups of wine. Maggie and I reflected on our south American journey, discussing peaks and pits. We packed up our belongings as the hour was getting late. It felt like the trip was starting to wind down…
Distance Over Time 