caretera Austral
 

I will be riding the caretera in November , I read in places that ferry do not work until january and in some other web there claim that they are working all year , any recent info and comments on you favorite part of it.

Although I've been on the Carretera Austral in Jan/Feb this year, I absolutely can't imagine that the ferries wouldn't work in November. On the contrary. I would expect them to be running year-round. There are people living down south, they need supplies too.

As to favourite parts: all of it! If I should name one, I'd say the 400km around Lago General Carrera. Coyhaiyque, Puerto Ibanez, Puerto Tranquilo, Coyhaique. Excellent riding, apart from potholes good ripio all along the Carretera. Around Coyhaique some 200km pavement. It all depends on the weather - lot's of rainy days down there!
2011b_Patagonia_Carretera_Austral pictures by frankinasia - Photobucket

caretera
 

Great news , exactly what I wanted to hear , where did you started and ended , did you the all road.

Carretera Austral Jan/Feb 2011
 

Route Jan-Feb 2011
Torres del Paine - El Calafate - El Chalten - Bajo Caracoles - Paso Roballo (all ripio, lots of Guanacos) - Cochrane - Villa O'Higgins - Chile Chico - Bariloche - Valdivia - Puerto Montt - Chiloe - Chaiten - Coyhaique - Chile Chico - Coyhaique - Chaiten - Futalefu -Bariloche

a bit more than usual - I have time :-)

My daughter just crossed a few weeks ago from El Quellon (Chiloe) close to Chaiten in a ferry . The winter is just starting and the conditions are not good at all. The ferry couldn't dock for several hours but it is not impossible.

I'll check my books in the next hour to see which ferry companies are doing the crossing.

Gaston
samericaxplorer

Chiloe to Mainland Chile by Ferry
 

There is only one company doing the crossing:
Naviera Austral S.A. [Rutas]
They do Castro (Sundays) and Quellon (Fridays) to Chaiten.

But it's not necessary to go this way. There is also the land route via Esquel, Argentina via Futalefu to Chaiten.

I think the post is rather about the ferries further south like Puerto Ibanez to Chile Chico and Puerto Yungai to Villa o'Higgins. I believe these are government operated (the latter is free of charge) and run year-round, except of course in very bad weather.

I agreed,

A good plan would be from Valdivia down to Rio Bueno, then diagonal to Entre Lagos and heading East to Argentina through the pristine Nat. Park Puyehue. (a stop in the hot baths 'termas de Puyehue' is a must) follow to Bariloche area

From Bariloche taking the 258/40 south all the way to Esquel to enter Chile again and meet Futaleufu (Carretera Austral).

It is always good also to come south Chile to Pto.Montt, crossing to Chiloe to Quellon or Castro and ferrying to Carretera Austral, but I think both corridors West to East Villarrica-San Martin de los Andes and Osorno-Bariloche are just spectacular.

Austral
 

Hi Gaston , I missed you at the last thursday meets , thanks a lot for the info .
I will try to see you in couple weeks.

A quick note on the construction alonf the Caretera.

Right after (going South) Puyuhuapi there is a stretch of construction where they have completely closed the road since they are doing blasting. They have a free ferry that crosses the gap, but it only goes when it is full, which can take a long time. You'll want to budget extra time for that part.

carretera
 

thanks for the heads up .I am already dreaming of the road and i think camping and exploring the area will be great fun, did you have any fuel problem while doing it . I should have about 300miles range with my bike .

Thanks again

300 miles is plenty, I had a range of 300km and never had any issues

great information!
 

is it possible to ride all of the Carretera Austral this time of year? say mid june-ish?

Austral in June
 

Possible yes
Enjoyable? Probably not.

I am near Temuco right now and it is very wet, and it is even wetter to the south.

And there is high possibility of snow and ice at higher elevations.

If I were riding now in Northern Patagonia I would head north.

I did a 500 km tour on my GS out of Santiago last weekend and the riding weather was perfect.

best time to do the Austral Road is after November.

September, October could be fun but still wet windy and cold.

Gaston

Hendi, I 'll be contacting you soon

Hendi,

We had VERY strong winds (110 - 130 kmh gusts) last year in mid December and had to change our route off the 40 onto Ruta 3 at Esquel as it wasnt possible to ride 2up (blown over) - we ended up holed up in Sarmiento for several days with some British cyclists bier
If possible I would try and arrive later, our friends Daryll & Angela, arrived at the beginning of Feb and had good weather....maybe aim to cut over to Bariloche as late as possible - mid to late December if you are travelling slower than we did - Xmas or New Year in Ushuaia, its a good place to hang out for a few days and drink beer...

One World 2 Explore

Hostel Yakush in Ushuaia has parking fo a couple of bikes, a good kitchen and is central.

I still would like to blow the froth of a few beers with you and Gaston sometime !

Suerte Amigos!

caretera
 

thanks guys

I think we should be there by the beguining or midle of December , hopefully the weather will be ok for the ride , 60 days and the trip will start we will start by Colombia and then go up so timing may change a bit while riding.

Carretera Austral onto Usahuaia (late Nov)
 

I plan to ride south the Carretera Austral from Santiago, heading to Ushuaia.

Can someone suggest a route from the south of the Carretera that involves heading to Puerto Natales (for a trek in TDP)

Should I look for route 40 in Argentina? Where would u suggest I cross the border and leave the Carretera Austral.

Thanks

David

Cross into Chile at Futaleufu, then a beautiful ride west to join the Austral, go south.

I would recommend going south on the Austral all the way to Cochrane, get gas, back track roughly 10 miles north then take the road to cross at Paso Roballo continue east on 41 and hit the 40 south at Bajo Caracoles. Its a very small village with a gas station and a hotel. Make sure you have a good fuel range as they could be out of gas at Bajo Caracoles.

If you have the time, I would recommend going to the end of the Austral at Villa O'Higgens for a visit. Then backtrack up to Cochrane, then cross at Paso Roballo.

Alternatively, you could cross over much further north. Head south from Coihaique to Ibanez, then head east along the north side of the lake, cross the border at a remote outpost, continue east and join the 40 at Perito Moreno.

There is also a ferry that goes from Ibanez to Chile Chico but they might not have room for you, its up the captains discretion and that seems to be hit or miss. Better off avoiding a ferry altogether since you dont have to take it.

Once on the 40, you head south again to get to Puerto Natales.

Do you have map? If not, you can buy a decent map at a larger Copec station when you are in Chile. Tell them you want the mapa de rutas. Its about 5 bucks IIRC. Gaston posted JPEGS of that map on the previous page of this thread.

Crashmaster has made some very good suggestions.

You could also follow the shore of Lago General Carrera on the south side - fuel at Puerto Río Tranquilo, Puerto La Poza and Chile Chico, you can visit the 'Catedral de Mármol' and the views are just breathtaking. Also, due to the weather currents (not sure if that's the right word in English...) it rarely rains on the southern route.

http://possu.smugmug.com/Travel/Ride...70_bEHWd-L.jpg

http://possu.smugmug.com/Travel/Carr...04_TUUKB-L.jpg

http://possu.smugmug.com/Travel/Carr...82_bEQFs-L.jpg

http://possu.smugmug.com/Travel/Carr...11_SkjzK-L.jpg

Btw, these photos were taken mid November last year.

Good luck and enjoy your trip! :mchappy: