An earlyish start,
left camp at 08.30, although light the sun was still 15 mins away.
Had paved road for a ways then when we were back on the main road it
returned to dirt and potholes.
Arrived at
Hornopiren about 09.10 and paid for our Next two ferries. We needed
Passports, rego papers and $51.000 (A$100) for tickets. The lady came
out with a tape measure and measured EC’s length.
The Ferry was only
about half full. We have been lucky with the clouds lifting a little
so we can see the mountain tops. Drizzling on and off.
A very beautiful
place. Can occasional see glaciers when the cloud cover lifts a
little.
Spoke to a Canadian
who was riding from Canada down to Tierra del Fuego
We disembarked from
this ferry and drove in convoy across to the other ferry. A distance
of 10k, the road was narrow with bush right to the edges. For some
reason there was a feeling of urgency in the cavalcade.
The second ferry was
somewhat smaller and we did not all quite fit on. John feels that with
great tetras skills it could be done. However, we left two trucks
behind and steamed through the rain to our next landing.
We stopped at one of
the walks and the Canadian rode up. He’d come for the walk with
us. It was a walk of
only 700 m one way to see old Alerce trees. A great walk in the rain.
Mark was already so wet that he just strode through the puddles. He
was off to find a dry bed in Chitan and we were going to find a camp
by the lake.
Mark informed us
that these parks called Pumalin were developed by a very rich American. The parks and the camping grounds are almost
resort quality and very well maintained.
One of the camps we
went into had another short walk to Lago Rio Nigro (Black River Lake).
The walk was very wet and in the end we took our boots off and went
barefoot. The view of the lake was well worth the walk. For some reason on the way back the water was much colder and as soon as
possible we put our boots back on.
We continued to Lago
Rio Blanco and found a campsite. They are beautifully set up with
small pavilions with seats, right next to the lake. You can pitch
your tent inside or at least have somewhere dry to sit.
