It’s getting really good now. I’m south of all the large cities and towns, and on the Carretera Austral. Here are some images from the past two days.

I met Alvaro and Mira, two teachers from Concepción now living and working in Honopirín, at dinner the other night. What incredibly kind and personable individuals. They both love living in the country, away from the big city, and hope to stay in Honopirín for a long time. The local children are incredibly fortunate to have them:

Waiting for the ferry from Pichicolo to Coleto Gonzalo. Again, the Carretera ends because of impossibly difficult road building terrain, requiring a six hour boat ride to its reconnection:

While on the ferry, I poked my head into the engine room, below deck. Gerardo, the chief engineer, waived me down with a broad smile and handed me industrial grade ear protectors because of the twin CAT diesels’ deafening roar. He then made me coffee and we talked about machines, motors and the like for a half hour. What an incredible guy – a real joy to connect with. Before I left, I told him his diesels were bigger than Lester’s…

Me playing assistant engineer…

Strolling amid the cars and trucks, peering off the aft deck:

Land ho after six hours on the sea, in Coleto Gonzalo – the northen entry point of Parque Nacionál Pumalín, an almost impossibly beautiful place and story. Pumalín was created by Doug Tompkins and his wife Kristine over several decades. Doug founded Esprit and The North Face and Kristine was Patagonia’s CEO for decades. After visitng Patagonia in the 1970’s and falling in love with it, they dreamed of preserving its astonishing wilderness from development. Over several decades, they purchased over 900,000 acres (yes – over 900,000) to donate to the government of Chile as a park. The government, overly suspicious of their intentions, blocked them from acquiring more land at every possible point, believing that they might try to literally bisect the country and create havoc and chaos. After Doug and Kristine finally persuaded the Chilean government (which took over a decade) that they were buying the land to give to the people of Chile as a park, things got into the groove and Pumalín took shape. It is truly one of Earth’s last great spaces, almost totally untouched by the hand of man. In it lives the Fitzroya Cupresssoides, a relative of the giant redwoods of the Pacific Northwest. They have been spared, and Pumalín moves cautiously and quietly forward in a changing world and environment.

After hiking for several hours amidst these scenes, I headed to Chaitén, 40 Km south, on a portion of the Carretera that was amazingly punishing. One could easily tear a wheel or two off with minimal effort driving between Pumalín and Chaitén. Of course, I found that driving faster (while trying to avoid flying off the road) made it a bit smoother. Not sure my camper was equally sanguine…

After a great dinner of cevíche, I sniffed out a killer place to camp and awoke to these scenes:

All in, a great couple of days digging into the Carretera Austral. with countless wild scenes and 800 more miles southbound until it ends in Villa O’Higgins, where I’ll head north for a bit in order to cross into southern Argentina. Should be filled with national park after national park, wild and scenic spaces and lots of fun…