Jan 27, 2019 – Chaitén to wild camp 70km

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I hung around the hostel — taking advantage of wifi — in Chaitén until about noon before finally heading south.

The road was paved all day. 🙂

This is the flattest, most open Carretera Austral, so far.

I stopped in Amarillo for a hot, fresh empanada. Surprisingly it’s my first empanada this time to Chile. Some I find boring and doughy. This one was great.

In Amarillo you can buy an old airplane. A true crash pad.

I diverted into the El Amarillo sector of Pumalín Park. There are 3 hikes here the longest (20 hours) taking you to the glacier in the distance.

I decided to do the closest, Darwin’s Frog trail.

An interpretive walk, you get information at the kiosk near the park gate.

This land had been cleared for agriculture. The Foundation bought it back from the owners and are now letting it return to wilderness. And that’s good for the endangered Darwin’s Frog.

I rode 8km return of gravel through this pretty landscape to get to the trailhead.

As everything Pumalín, the hike is very well done.

Continuing south there was less traffic. Few people. Wide open spaces.

Big mountains. Huge lakes. Big rivers.

Having had a big breakfast, I stopped only one other time for a snack. Ham pate on boring bread. Riding a bike all day, you need the alcohol disinfectant close at all times.

I set up the tent next to a river by 8pm.

Here’s my vista.

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