Puente Rio Yelcho, the bridge over the Yelcho river, on the main Carretera Austral
To get to Futaleufu, we first follow the Carretera Austral further south. The clouds are slowly clearing, and once the sun is out, we enjoy another spectacular view of the mountains. At one stage the entire Cordillera is visible, with snowy peaks as far as the eye can see. The local people keep on telling us how unusual this weather is.
the view along the Carretera, on a nice day – like we had it
Apart from the Cordilera peaks, there are high mountains on the west side, as well. They contain ‘ventisqueros’, translated as snowdrift: it looks a bit like a glacier, high up the mountain. The first one is Ventisquero El Trono, locally referred to as the Devil’s Chair, another one is what is called the Yelcho ‘ventisquero’, right above the lake with the same name.
the Ventisquero El Trono, also referred to as Devil’s Chair
same in close-up, ‘ventisquero’ is translated as snowdrift, kind of a hanging glacier
and the Ventisquero Yelcho, right above the lake with the same name
which is this one, Lago Yelcho, very peaceful
from the turn off to Futaleufu, part of the road is ripio, or gravel – not very comfortable
After a while we then turn east, into the mountains, and from the comfortable tarmac onto ripio. Into the wide valley that leads, past Lago Lonconao and further up the Rio Espolon, to Futaleufu, another small town just 10 kilometres away from the Argentine border. The town is nothing special, just a few blocks with wooden houses, a bank and a supermarket. And several shops selling outdoor equipment; in January and February this is another touristic hotspot, for trekking, kayaking and white water rafting. We encounter some of those rapids, at the Puente Gelvez just east of town, and we admire the crags that spike out of the Cerro Conico, another border demarcation point.
For the time being the town is still pretty sleepy, here. But the drive up was nice enough.
next: La Junta
Lago Lonconao accompanies the lower part of the road to Futaleufu
whist the Rio Espolon runs along the upper part of the road, and is the white water wet dream of serious rafters
a hanging bridge, not part of the main road, but nice enough to include
and we encounter gauchos along the road, too
accompanied by their dogs
above Futaleufu, the rapids at the Puente Gelvez
and the Argentinian border, which runs right on top of the Cerro Conico
