On Monday, we have our first really good tailwind on asphalt. We set off in the direction of El Chaltén. We pass through a very dry landscape – steppe with few non-dried plants and the occasional beautiful blue river. Shade is rare and we are glad to find a roof over our heads at lunchtime and in the afternoon to escape the burning sun. We stop at a hotel to buy a cold Coke and meet a very enthusiastic Argentinian who can’t stop talking about Sebi’s bike and offers us Mate – finally Mate again!!! We are joined by an Italian and a French guy and it takes us a while to get any further. We ride for a few more hours until just before sunset, with a view of the Fitz Roy. So beautiful!
The next day we arrive in El Chaltén, not without a headwind of course, and not without having another chat (we meet an English couple who left from Alaska). We get information and tickets for the ferries for the border crossing to Chile and wild camp just outside the village.
The border crossing is probably quite adventurous and only possible on foot or by bike. You have to take two ferries and do a fair bit of walking/cycling, how cool!
The next morning, we meet two German girls in a café who we’ve met before and talk about the next few days. We change our plans as the combination of ferries doesn’t work out. We are about to look for accommodation for the four of us when we meet a couple from New Zealand who already know the two girls. We are allowed to stay in their accommodation while they are going hiking overnight.
The night is not long, at 2 a.m. three of us set off for a hike to the viewpoint of Mount Fitz Roy. We reach the top just in time for sunrise and bump into the Kiwi couple again. With a detour to a hanging glacier and a spontaneous dip in a lake, Sebi and I arrive back in El Chaltén 30km and 12 hours later, pretty tired.
We set off towards the ferry on Friday afternoon – it’s windy, quite cold and raining. We sleep about a kilometer away from the ferry terminal at a beautiful waterfall.
After the ferry crossing on Saturday morning, we officially leave Argentina at a small house right next to the ferry terminal and hike/ride towards Chile. We push our bikes and ride for hours uphill through the forest until we reach the border marker. We stop for lunch and descent on relatively good gravel to the Chilean border post. After getting our entry stamps, we drive to the only campsite or house there and check in for the night. The water in the bay is incredibly blue and I absolutely have to go for a quick swim, even though the water is supposedly only 5-6 degrees (it didn’t really feel any warmer :D).
We are lucky with the weather and on Sunday evening a ferry crosses the second lake, Lago O’Higgins. Depending on the wind, you can be unlucky and have to wait several days. The crossing is quite bumpy and we arrive in O’Higgins in the dark and quite late. We camp about half a kilometre from the ferry terminal at a viewpoint under a clear sky, and not a single car drives past all night!
Disclaimer: As much as I enjoy writing in English, I might not always have the time for it. This post was therefore translated with DeepL and proofread to match my style at least a little bit.