Friday, 21st Oct
I woke up surprised to find myself not aching. I’d had a great sleep and had energy to pack up and leave quickly. The bushes around the stream were white with frost and there was a thin layer of ice on the inside of the tent fly. I shook it off, got changed in the remnants of the shack and pushed through the bushes and back around the fence. I knew there was a bit of a climb ahead and then a big descent to the valley floor for the rest of the day. The sun was rising and eventually the icy morning would shift to a warm day. After the fun fast curves of the downhill on packed mud dotted with potholes I reached the river level and cut off the road onto a stoney beach for breakfast. They greyish blue water sat low in the estuary and brown ducks drifted by on the current.
Another 20km of following the river banks, switching to the far side over a bridge and climbing to beautiful view back towards the mountain range form which I’d come. At the junction to Puerto Murta, named after the sweet red berries that grow in the area, the river spilled into the huge glacial Lago General Carrera (indigenously named Chelenko), Chile’s largest lake stretching across the border into Argentina in the east. A final 20km along the banks of an inlet, big enough to be a grand lake itself, with a white wall of peaks in the distance and I reached Puerto Rio Tranquilo. The first signs that the season was picking up became apparent as I rode in along the coast road, cafes and a bar showed signs of life and groups of tour operators sat around a row of shacks by the water waiting for tourists to enquire.
I found a campsite in the far corner of town and lay on the grass in the sun for the afternoon. I washed my clothes and hung them between two of the low trees to catch the rest of the sun. Eventually I mustered the energy to ride my unladen bike back to the shacks and booked a trip out on the lake for the following day. As I passed I saw some familiar faces from the road on the deck of one of the restaurants and a good evening unfolded as the sunset lit up the mountains across the lake with rich oranges and pinks.
Austral Spring 