Roadside Camp

So you’re cruising along the Carretera Austral in your self contained camper van and you start thinking it’s time to stop, maybe take a nap or who knows? Stop for the night. What to do? 

Look at iOverlander, that’s what. The good news is the app is excellent, the bad news is everyone knows it so don’t expect to be alone when you get there. Timo from the Netherlands was here in the RV he bought and registered in Montana along with his three kids and his wife and not enough electricity to run their Starlink so I gave him our password. He went fishing with one of his sons and and caught a twig.

Then four German youngsters showed up in a rental car with a tent and they took iOverlander seriously and went for a dip. It lasted 15 seconds but the girls were cute shivering in bikinis. We let them use our Starlink too. 

Rusty and I went for a walk while Layne reorganized her pantry and all the stuff we bought in Coyhaique. The rain came and went as it does around here. Constantly. 

There is wind in Patagonia so our afternoon high temperature this fine summer day is 44 with a wind chill temperature of 37. Well, look at it this way: there are no flies or mosquitoes to annoy us. 

The two Swiss couples renting a pickup with a pop up camper shell also left. The Chileans in a small rental van washed their teeth lakeside staring at the mountains and then they left. The young Germans left. Rusty slept on his bed. Timo and family left. 

Occasional picnickers stopped by and stared for ten minutes at the water and I suppose some more travelers will be by for the night. We were going to leave tomorrow and drive to Chaiten where there is a ferry to Isla Chiloé five hours across the channel which we visited before we left Puerto Montt in December. 

Meanwhile we had a beef empanada for lunch and watched a movie.  

Rusty walked in widening circles. I carried my camera. It’s what we do. 

Then a large Chilean family moved in under the trees with a shovel, a suitcase, music and a plan to construct a large fire pit. 

It seemed we were surplus to requirements but that’s also part of the joy of being a nomad as our home has wheels. I packed up the Starlink, Layne cleared the kitchen counter and off we set. 

It was a nice spot but we had more of the Carretera Austral to see. Just a little bit sooner than expected. 

iOverlander is our tool for daily living and this spot looked like this. 

But we ended up somewhere else entirely, 50 miles up the road. What a road it was.

Then just the way Patagonia does when it looks glorious it goes to crap. 

My old friend the garbage gravel was back with water filled potholes and all. We had 14 miles to go to our next proposed wild camp site. On pavement that would have been twenty minutes, now it looked to be more than an hour. Perfect. 

Hairpins galore. 

There were a few weird miles where the traffic going south had cement but we didn’t and there were nasty steel spikes separating our lanes so we couldn't cross over safely. 

It was a spectacular drive all in all but when we found a pull out a mile and a half ahead of our planned spot we took it. 

It’s right next to the highway but overnight traffic is negligible and the wind was not too bad even in the gusts and GANNET2 is quite comfortable. 

Rush hour on the evening Carretera:

Queulat Fjord: 

Wherever we go there is our home. 

A Quiet Day

Rusty and I went for a short walk between rain showers around the campground in Puerto Aysén. A cool overcast cloudy drizzly day. This was a break from Netflix. 

And then we had to get going because sitting in the rain is not like singing in the rain; none of that upbeat stuff dancing round light poles. 

Let me say here and now the photos suck, the light was flat and gray and rain was slashing down which accounts for the gray specks on the windshield. 

The scenery through the rain and mist was spectacular, at least I think it was, or it should have been. 

after leaving the campground, all showered and everything, we only drove 15 minutes to the waters edge, and by edge I mean…

…the overlook in Puerto Chacabuco.

Standing up there under my umbrella I happened to notice the waterfront is pretty focused on commerce, fishing and warehouses and so forth. 

Rusty wasn’t there for the views and he doesn’t care about the rain (damn him); he was born for Patagonia, the traitor.  

Me? I pansy around under a large bright gay umbrella, bringing color to gray Patagonia while keeping my dog happy. 

That was about it for the coast this morning. Layne had found a restaurant with a pretty decent bunch of reviews on trip advisor. 

Beer, Pisco sour and a crab and corn pudding to start. Chupe de jaiba they call it in Chile. 

Layne had seafood stew and it was served in a light bright salty broth that was bubbling as the bowl was served. 

I skipped the curried goat and ordered a mixed grill. This was part of a cunning plan to get meat to go for the road. We got a lot of meat out of this. The heart slice wasn’t so tender so that was for Rusty but he’s also getting the blood sausage that I tasted and it was pretty good, not at all grainy. This restaurant was pretty good. 

Someone was happy, perhaps it was the Pisco sour. I think it was the mussels and clams. 

We wrapped up this two hour Sunday extravaganza with panna cotta with berries and café au lait. $80 bucks including tip for a blow out lunch. I love Chile, not cheap but good value for money. 

Back into the gray world outside. 

You can get the idea why people like this road. The mountains are harsher and more rugged to the south where we were on gravel but up here the road is actually quite smooth running through fields and farms in broad agricultural valleys. 

Personally I find it quite rugged enough for me. 

And lunch was demanding a pause so when we passed this iOverlander spot under a deluge and no one was here we pulled in. There were two others in this free camp site, an Argentine travel trailer and a Montana registered RV. 

Montana makes it easy for foreigners to register vehicles so I never assume Americans are driving and in this case it was Timo and his wife and  three young kids from the Netherlands. Having a blast driving through the Americas unmolested. 

Rusty needed his walk of course so I needed my umbrella. Out we went. 

We might be here one day or if it dries up, two. It should be scenic looking out over Torres Lake, if the mist lifts. High summer in Patagonia.