A lucky ride

Today started slowly - as most cold and overcast mornings do. By 11, the sun was out and patches of blue sky had made it through. We were in for another beautiful day.

Yesterday evening I had a message from a Joburg friend asking if I knew his friend Lynn because she was currently in Futaleufú - as are we. Oddly, I'd seen through  Facebook shortly before we left that Lynn had bought land in Chile. I thought it was more South and had no idea that Lynn was staying here.

I'm not sure how I first met Lynn but it was years ago and our more recent contact had been about orienteering - our school orienteering programme - as she was teaching at a school in Eshowe.

What I didn't know is that Lynn has spent most summers here (over the past 10 years) as a teacher for the daughter of a guy that Celliers knows. He runs a rafting and kayaking company here.

I found this out when I met up with Lynn today. She starts heading back to SA tomorrow - our paths only just crossed.

She recommended a route for us to walk - one that she has mountain biked many times. She drew us a sketch with landmarks and off we went.

It was great to see the Futaleufú river. We had two sightings but missed the place to spot Dynamite, a big rapid. She had said we may have to crawl through vegetation to get the sighting...

On and on we walked. We saw two large bulls being led by their owner. Most of the cows here in Chile are really small. At first I thought they were all cute 'teenagers' but then I noticed udders and realised that these were a fully-grown, small breed of cattle. These two bulls were definitely the exception. Large, square and very strong with enormous heads. Working beasts. Their owner said they are used for work, like hauling logs from the forest. Celliers took a photo of me standing next to them. Magnificent animals. Fluffy too.

On we walked. We passed a small settlement, spotting the school 'with a Chile flag outside' and then the houses and poplar trees, which Lynn had indicated. We'd been out walking for about 3hrs (it must have been just after 4pm).

Then a lady in a truck drove past us and stopped just ahead. She didn't stop for us; instead to read something. I knocked on her window and asked about the route to Futaleufú and whether she was going there. She said no and that it was shorter for us to turn around rather than doing the loop.

And then she said that the teacher at the school lived in Futaleufú and he would be able to give us a lift back.

We turned around and walked quickly. It must have taken us 10 minutes to walk back to the school and there we saw the teacher locking up. Close! I asked if he could give us a lift back and he said yes easily.

In the car, I explained the route we had planned to take. He said that the road on the return went up and up and up and was very steep and long. He said the whole loop was around 23km; we thought it was 15km. We would have been walking until 19h30 if we'd missed him. Phew!

We had a conversation in Spanish and he was good to talk to because he kept his words clear and simple for me to understand. He was born in Futaleufú, studied in Orsono and worked as a teacher all over Chile for many years. He returned to Futaleufú three years ago and loves his town. He has three students at his little school and is the only teacher there. From September he rides his bicycle to school.

We were back in our cabaña before dark and had the wood-fired room heater going in minutes.

We have been blessed with very fine weather. Not very cold during the day and relatively clear. Lynn says she is rarely here this late in the season but the weather has been really unusual. By this time of year the snow would be all the way down the mountains with lots of rain too. Chile too is in a drought. There is some snow up on the surrounding mountains; but not much.

To us everything looks damp and wet - it is dry for regular conditions.

Tomorrow we leave Futaleufú.  It has been good to have a few days in one place. No driving; lots of walking. We're heading back to Chaitén and will meander along the way to enjoy the scenery. We're catching the ferry to Puerto Montt on Thursday morning.

Hiking around Futaleufú

Our walk around the town of Futaleufú yesterday was cold. Ice cold. It was little wonder that we saw very few people out and about. Down jackets, thick gloves, beanies, warm leggings under pants... we took on the 7x4 streets of town dressed like the Oros man.

By 10am this morning (Monday), we could see a dash of blue sky through the dense low cloud and by 11am the temperature was up to a balmy 5°C. Perfect for hiking.

We'd found mention of some hiking trails on the internet as well as a depiction on a tourist cartoon map in our cabaña.

We were aiming for one with a trailhead starting just outside town and leading up a local hill. After initial mention on a sign, there was no other mention of the route. We found another: Piedra de Aquila.

The dirt road wound through farms, across a river and up, up, up a road with steep switchbacks. On it went, up and up. Really steep and muddy. We went through a pretty farm and over a rise.

2.5hrs in, the sun was out - soft that it is. We made this our turn-around snack stop before heading back.

The way back - on the same route - was prettier than before. The clear sky and crisp air gave magnificent views, especially from up high.

We have a few other options for tomorrow (Tuesday). Considering our lack success with locating the trails we set out to take, we'll just roll with whatever we find. We're thinking of the route that goes towards the Argentine border.

'Til then.

Crunchy ice

Thank goodness for down. We crawled to the surface and felt the subzero frigid air outside a little after 9am. It looked all frosty and foggy outside with frozen puddles on the roadsides.

We hit the Chaitén ferry office to book our ferry back to Puerto Montt next week. We were aiming for Friday but the only option is Thursday. This is a different route to the one we took to Chaitén and should offer great views.

With that done, we took the road to El Amarillo. Last night, returning to Chaitén,  we'd seen that the road was quite wet in places and would be iced. It was! It's a good thing we were driving slowly - we saw a bakkie off the road. It must have happened shortly before we got there. The carabineros were there already and the driver looked ok. We continued slowly through to the Pumalin Park.

It's a good thing we weren't there earlier. At 11h30 there were big sections of frozen road - iced vegetation along the road too. Like a scene from Frozen.

A signboard said something about the glacier trail starting 20km from the gate. We took the road and enjoyed spectacular frosty scenes along the way.

We got to the end of the decent road, beyond which was logging and squelchy mud.

We saw two locals on horseback (we should have taken a photo of them!) and I asked where the glacier trail started. They were concerned that we wanted to do the trail as it is quite long  (and it was already 12h30). I explained that we were just going to do a short section and then return. He seemed happy with our plan. I caught something about the trail being about 100 metres along the road and to the left.

The younger guy started speaking to me in rapid Spanish. I halted him and said I only had a little Spanish and to please speak slowly. He had a good laugh.

Off we went.

We didn't find the trail.

We saw some logging tracks but not one indication of a hiking trail. Maybe they remove the signs in winter? We haven't seen any other tourists around so we're definitely the black sheep travelling around out here in the cold!

We followed the logging road (and later more a cattle road) for a couple of kilometres. Ice, thick mud, steep ascents, bridges and a river were just part of the charm. After a snack on top of a hill, in the sun and with views of Volcan Michimahuida and the glacier, we turned around to head back to the car.

Once out of the Parque we headed for the town of Futaleufú. The scenery was extraordinary - of mountains,  snow-capped peaks,  Lago Yelcho (bottom and top) and glimpses of Rio Futaleufú.

We got to the town after dark and found a decent cabaña. We are exhausted from the driving and time on the road so we're thinking of spending a few days here.

We look forward to enjoying some hiking trails. The problem with the late, freezing mornings is that we're left with too little day. From 11 until four-ish it is pretty pleasant out. We've also had great weather the past few days.

Speaking of 11... a number of times I've seen once on signs outside restaurants as in listing breakfast, lunch, once and dinner. Once is the number eleven.

If you cast your mind back to The Hobbit and Lord Of the Rings, you'll remember that the hobbit enjoy elevenses. Like a tea time - they stop on their journey for a snack. I can't remember whether it is morning or afternoon.

I asked Mane about this. Here once is afternoon tea and the offering at cafés would be a tart - like an apple tart or such.

The parallel to Lord Of The Rings is interesting. I wonder whether there is a connection? Did JRR Tolkien experience once and then translate it to English as elevenses.

I like.

Frosty Friday photos pt2

A few  more...