Carretera Austral
 

Hi People, I'm presently in a very windy and wet Puerto Natales waiting until Fri. 21st Oct when, according to the locals, the wind will stop knocking the bike over, the sun will come out and hopefully, the beauty of the Paine national park will be revealed to me and I can happily set sail from the bottom of Chilean Patagonia on Tue. 25th Oct to Puerto Montt and the Carretera Austral. As I'm no longer the young, stupid and strong(ish) rider that I once was, I would rather travel the carretera with another rider who can protect me from any passing pumas and if there are no Argentinian rugby players around, help me pick the bike up if I drop it, yes I know I shouldn't ride a bike that I can't pick up but I could when I bought it but now I am older, hopefully wiser, but most definitely weaker in the espinosa department than the first time I rode the CA and as I would rather spend my pension traveling than buying a new moto I make this request and yes, you can get beer all the way down it.

cartera astral
 

weal iff yuo are going that whay prepear four a hard drive and remeambear no spear parts to be find anywear along this roade and the road is fuol off pot holes mud stones and it rains every day apart frome that its whindy and cold i have just come down that whay i spend 7 days driving and it raind 7 days some day more then athears but yuo whil geat wheat the ride truow this land skape is betiful in its one whay and the boat rides along the fjords and mountins are not to bad. betwen chaiten and coyhaique is the whorst part off the roade and thear is nothing betwen this to towns iff yuo intend to du it in one day start 6 a clok in the morning yuo whil nead all the time its a long and hard days drive i crosd in to argentina whid the chile chico bordear staying one the chile side is the better then the argentina side that part off the roade betwen chile chico and coyhaique is not to bea mist and the road is good from chaiten to puerto moreno thear is a few ferry rides that are great . and the ruta 40 up to chilechico from calafate is half good and half bad iff yuo are alone dont whorry some one whil stop and pick yuo up may self are right now in ushia and are leawing tomorow four rio galegos good luck

Never mind picking up the bike: I'm just sorry I'm not around to help you drink the beer, Mike. The road is not difficult, and not even particularly remote--at least by my standards. Waiting for the rain to abate is probably worthwhile, but there's no certainty this side of that tunnel with all your dead relatives in it. Hope you have a blast!

Mark

Greetings both and thank you for your comments. I did this route without dropping the bike in 2004 but since then there has been volcanic eruptions, road works and my aforementioned bad back. Did ruta 40 or at least the bad bid, on the way down and it hasn't improved at all, if anything, the truck/bus traffic has increased but I do get lonely on the dark moonless nights and splitting the cost of an expensive careterra hostel room is much preferable to my little tent. Anyway, Paine National park manana then the boat through the Patagonian islands on Tuesday to Puerto Montt and the start of the CA. Even if the wind and rain continue, life doesn't get much better. Ride safe.