Carretera Austral in april
 

Hi,
Has anyone ridden Carretera Austral in april/may?
How is the weather?
Thanks for any information.

Reginaldo Rohden.

Will be rainy and colder
 

Rohden,
I was riding it in March, but already hit heavy rain, 5 degrees C and permanent hard winds. However, I was told by the locals that as long as you stay on the Chilean side (its a milder rain forest), you should be o.k. with temperatures around 0 to 5, mostly rain. Frost / minus degrees is rare. Once you move to Argentina, it will be dry and much colder with stronger winds. Can be hard winters in Patagonia... Anyhow the road will be challenging in some parts still gravel and muddy. Please be careful, every year we hear of deadly accidents with cars as the road is very narrow and winding. And with the wind you cannot hear oncoming traffic. But the nature is superb. Enjoy.
Rasmus

Rasmus,

Thanks for your information!
Have a nice ride!

Reginaldo Rohden.

I rode south on the Austral in early April and had some beautiful weather. No rain and temps in the upper 50*F during the day, upper 30's at night. This road is not to be missed. By far one of my favorite roads in South America.
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/3666/img0058.th.jpghttp://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3642/img0056wzl.th.jpghttp://img10.imageshack.us/img10/3869/img0084n.th.jpg

Good News!!!
Thanks,
Reginaldo Rohden.

Do be careful on the Austral. As posted above, it is narrow. I was nearly taken out a couple of times by cars heading in the opposite direction. As seen in the photos I posted, there is heavy foliage on the side of the single lane highway. FYI, The locals say it is suppose to be fully paved down to Coihaique by 2012.

Damn, I would do anything to be back down there on my Strom......

I am in Bariloche, in few days I will be in the Carretera Austral
 

Now I am in Bariloche, in few days I will be in the Carretera Austral.
I will riding by Argentina\Chile border in Futaleufu then southward till Villa Ohiggins.

Any rider on the same route?

Best wishes,
Reginaldo Rohden.

Hi Reginaldo

we are close, in Osorno, Chile, heading south.

If we can meet up and ride together a bit, we'll join you.

Let me know as soon as you read this.

We are two -up on a GS and ride slow, especially on gravel roads.

We will go all the way to Ushuaia, and try to get there in about two weeks from now.

Johan

Caraterra Austral
 

My name is Tim I am am an English biker living in Coyhaique if you need anything look me up. The weather and road conditions change like the wind.
Keep to the right hand side and slow down going in to the bends like real slow. Chilean Horses, cows sheep and drivers could be any where.

Hi Tim

saw your other post at my question on camping etc.
Looks like we will pass through your town
We are just trying to find out what about the ferries from Puerto Montt and info on the road condition etc.

Cheers

Where are the pictures Reginaldo? :ninja:

We will come across the ferrie to Puerto Asien on the 3rd (Sunday?) So might meet up with you (Tim) on Monday? before we go further south.

jc

Hi Tim,

I was in Coyhaique about one week ago, I have gone to Villa Ohiggins and now I am in Cochrane.
Tomorrow I will be riding to Argentina, by Paso Roballos, then northward to Brazil.

Thanks,
Reginaldo.

Reginaldo?
Que estrada vai passar no Brasil?

Hi Johan,

I am going a bit fast, because I am on my vacation, about 35 days to ride from Brazil to Carretera Austral.
I have entered Carretera Austral in Paso Futaleufu (Argentina\Chile) then rode southward till the end, in Villa Ohiggins, then I came back till Cochrane, where I am now and tomorrow I will go to Argentina by Paso Roballos, then northward till Brazil.

I have got just 02 rainy days in Carretera Austral, according to the people here, the weather is hotter than others years, so there is too much rain in some places, few snow and the lakes, rivers are higher than the normal.
The temperature is about 12º C to 20º during the day, and at night a bit colder than this.

After Coyhaique I have met no tourist, just me on my motorcycle and a spanish in his mountain-bike.
Now is the end of the high season, so many things (campings, hostel, etc) are closed.
But there are many camping options next to the road, I mean "free camping".
If you go till the end, Villa Ohiggins, then you have to come back till Cochrane.
In Villa Ohiggins I have stayed at El Mosco (hostel, hotel, camping), a spanish guy called Jorge is the owner. For me it is an excellent hostel.
If you go to Villa Ohiggins, don´t miss Caleta Tortel.
.
I have seen your website, nice ride!!!
If you come to Brazil, let´s have a beer, coffee, talk!
I live in Curitiba, about 650km eastward far from Iguazu Falls.

Enjoy Carretera Austral,
Reginaldo.

¡Hola!
Robson,

Fotos somente na volta!
Irei voltar pela BR 101, pelo litoral, é mais rápido!
Abracos de Cochrane,
Reginaldo.

Hi reganaldo

Thank you for the advice and invitation.

We are now on Chiloe island. The ferrie is delayed and will leave tomorrow morning. We plan not to go as far as Villa O Higgens. I want to avoid too much bad roads, as I'm carrying an extra spare tire on the back of an already overloaded bike, and my carrier is broken and held on with onlt cable ties. Anyway, we've met another traveler (Gert) in Santiago who told me that the part around the lake is nice scenery, so we just go around the big lake and cross over to Argentina.

Not sure if we will have time to come tp Brazil, as we fly out of South America by end July.

Johan

Tim
The ferry has been delayed due to bad weather, will now leave tomorrow morning. We plan to stay the night in Coyhaique. That is monday the 4th.
Not sure where, will look for a hostel when we arrive. Maybe we can meet up for dinner or something, have a chat or whatever. Always nice to chat with fellow bikers. Let me know here, and how to contact you and I'll check when we arrive in town.
It's raining here in Quellon now, hope it will clear up a little when we have to ride again.
johan

Que pena, poderíamos tomar umas aqui...
Mas fica para a próxima então...:thumbup1:

Hi Renaldo
you left just at the right time.
We had to turn around due to heavy snow.
We left Coyahaique on 6th of May and drove south. Clear day temp below 6 deg C. Stayed two nights near Pto Rio Tranquille. 50km north of Cochrane the snow got too thick and our bike was starting to slide all over the road. Temp was -1. We decided to give it it a miss and turned around and spent the night at Puerto Guadal. The morning of the 9th (May) we woke up and the town and surroundings were white. We still decided to get out of there and left in the snow towards Chile Chico along the stunning lake. It got better, but all day tempratures were below 3 deg C!
About 50km before Chile Chico we saw a group of bikers (about 8) going the oposite direction. I wonder if they knew what they are heading for!

There you go, we still enjoyed it and the white snow made the scenery stunning.

johan

Hi Johan,

A snowy Carretera Austral must be a beautiful and unforgettable landscape.
I am back in my city (Curitiba/Brazil) since last saturday.

Have a nice ride,
Reginaldo.

Hi, thought you might like to see the photo evidence what it looked like when we were cought in the snow.
And sure it was extremely pretty and one of our most memorable experiences on the journey.
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._6877231_n.jpg

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._7468203_n.jpg

Unfortunately no picture of Charmaine (my wife) in the snow, as she was the one taking all the pictures.

Hi JC,

Nice pics from Carretera Austral with snow, only some weeks later than I rode there, it´s another landscape.
I intend to go there and Ruta 40 next year during the winter, but with a 4WD car.

Have a nice ride!
Reginaldo Rohden.