Up to today, with a couple of exceptions, the Carretera Austral had been mostly smooth pavement. The first 100 km out of Coyhaique this morning was the same, but then a few kilometers past Cerro Castillo, the road turned to gravel – “ripio” in Spanish – and other than in the little towns, we didn't see pavement again for four days, when we finally crossed into Argentina.
Arco Comuna Rio Ibañez
Jagged, colorful peaks
Bands of copper in the mountainside
The further south we drove, the more remote and wild things became, and as the road deteriorated, the amazing scenery somehow seemed even better. I guess if it was easy, everybody would come.
Nearing the end of the pavement, Mirador Cuesta del Diablo
Town of Cerro Castillo
Cerro Castillo National Park
Early in the afternoon and far from civilization, a low tire pressure alert came on in our car. Oh, crap! The road here was especially bad – narrow and steep, with poorly packed gravel. We had a spare tire, but there was no place to pull over and change it. The shoulders of the road were very soft, and if you pulled too far to the side, you could easily get stuck. The tires all looked all right to the naked eye, so we kept on going, but it was extremely nerve-wracking!
Mirador Rio Ibañez and Cerro Castillo
Rio Ibañez
Dead trees from previous eruptions of Volcan Hudson
We limped the car into Bahia Murta (pop. 300) and tonight's cabaña, called “Cabaña en Bahia Murta,” around 3:30. The early arrival gave us time to see about our leaky tire.
Luckily, this tiny town had a tire repair shop – a “gomeria” – only 750 meters away from our cabaña. The mechanic found a rip in the left front tire caused by a rock, and the tire had lost about 10 pounds of pressure during our drive. We waited as he removed and patched the tire. The repair cost only 8,000 CLP, or about $9. Crisis averted!
Tire repair in Bahia Murta
Fixing our not-quite flat
View from the gomeria
Before the tire situation, we had a scenic drive planned off the Carretera toward Puerto Sanchez, but after the delay and all the excitement, we decided to just explore little Bahia Murta and then relax in our cabaña.
Bucolic Bahia Murta
Lago General Carrera
Threatening sky
Jana and a tiny lighthouse
Later in the evening, Tom built a fire in the wood stove. Very cozy. Some weather was moving in, and it poured down rain during the night.
Cabaña in Bahia Murta
Tom texts
Warm and cozy
Mileage: 197 km