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August 14, 2016January 19, 2019

Coyhaique and on to Villa La Tapera

Haz clic aquí para leer en español

Written by Neon

La familia en Coyhaique

Coyhaique may have been a respite for us, but we were not fully resting- I’ve found there has to be a balance of resting with socializing. Thankfully the non-resting was also enjoyable and we got to meet and talk to multiple people who were helpful and insightful. We stayed at (you guessed it) a friend of a friend’s house, and she couldn’t have been a more gracious and wonderful hostess. Sandra not only shared her home, she also shared her beautiful art pieces and life’s story with us, helping us learn more about the Sin Represas movement and how many people in the area are trying (with some success) to keep Patagonia’s river ways flowing free and wild.

Sin Represas HQ

We integrated into the family quickly, enjoying Cassandra’s cooking and Francisco’s stories from work, talking about life in general. We stayed longer than planned, but in the end had to keep moving after a whopping 6 days off. We didn’t say goodbye because Sandra doesn’t like them, though received a heartfelt note from her instead. As we wandered out of town, I was sad to be leaving the lovely family we had come to know but happy to be moving again.

Looking back on Coyhaique

 

Reserva Nacional Coyhaique

 

Giant trees in the Reserva

 

We got to stretch our legs for a bit walking across town, and then pushed uphill in the direction of Reserva Nacional Coyhaique. The reserve is right outside of town, and the young woman at the entrance station was concerned with our questions about how to get out of the reserve on the other side. We talked with her for a bit and then, convincing her that we would do the loop she strongly suggested, walked a few kilometers into the park and found a lovely little area to camp alongside a small pond. We looked at some maps that evening and discussed our options. The next morning, we headed further up the trail, bushwhacked a bit across to the reserve’s edge, and promptly continued north along an old dirt track that we found. It is a struggle for the people in the parks to understand what we are doing, and they always want us to go on a loop hike, so sometimes we have to deceive to be able to continue walking not on roads. It’s unfortunate, though with the lack of a trail/accountability system in Chile it hasn’t been too much of an issue yet. As we continue north, we came upon a police estancia, and they came out-surprised to see us coming in from their back fields. We asked them if we can go to the road, and they allowed us to pass through.

Walking along two-track

We took a break at the road to discuss our options to move on, not wanting to push our luck much further. We decided to stick to the road for a bit and then turned off onto a two track dirt road that immediately went down across a stream and back up a steep grade for a couple miles. We went up and up, then the road plateaued and we wandered across open fields to where the road ended at someone’s home. After talking with the home owner, he offered us a track to a town directly east of us, not in the direction we wanted to go. We decided to back track a bit though, to another two track ending and then hop across a couple of fields to another two track which eventually led us in the direction we wanted- north! Thank goodness for GPS and some decent maps for this section. After scaring some cows, a good night’s sleep, and being admonished by another local as we made our way down his driveway, we made it to another paved road. It had been a tough stretch people-wise, so we were hesitant to follow a route we had found, but decided to go for it, and were not disappointed.

Moises and Fidgit in the morning

We wandered down the driveway of yet another estancia and were greeted by a kind man who offered us a place to sleep as well as some directions the next morning. A lovely way to start a chilly morning is trying to keep up with a former track and field stand-out while carrying a pack, whew! But we made it, and Moises was very helpful in us getting over the pass without many wrong turns.We walked into Manihuales the next day, ready for some empanadas and cleaner clothes. We found Moises’ wife who runs a hospedaje, and she helped us navigate the small town, and invited us over for onces that evening. We left late the next morning filled with food for our horribly long road walk to Villa La Tapera. We usually try to avoid road walks as they have a tendency to make us grumpy, though had to road walk this stretch because it was either that, or illegally cross out of and then back into Chile. We opted to keep it legal. As we wandered along Ruta 7 for multiple days getting passed by multiple vehicles, I day dreamed about what not being on a busy road was like. As per usual in life, the hours passed slowly but soon our road walk was over and we had made it along Rio Cisnes to the lovely and small town of La Tapera.

Looking out at the Andes
Hello? Are we done with this road walk yet?
KM 100 on Ruta 7
Almost to the dirt road to Villa La Tapera

 

Me and my giant avocado; we named him Paul.

 

Road walks can be pretty – Rio Cisnes

Coyhaique y hacia villa la Tapera

Escrito por Neon
Traducción por Henry Tovar

La familia en Coyhaique

Coihaique puede haber sido un respiro para nosotras, pero no fue totalmente para descansar, encontré que debe haber un equilibrio entre el descanso y la sociabilización. Afortunadamente, el no descanso también fue agradable y nos dieron a conocer y hablar con varias personas que fueron útiles y penetrantes. Nos alojamos en (lo han adivinado) la casa de un amigo de un amigo, y ella no podría haber sido una anfitriona mas amable y maravillosa. Sandra no solo compartió su casa, ella también compartió sus hermosas piezas de arte y historia de vida con nosotras, nos ayudo a comprender más acerca del movimiento Sin Represas y el número de personas en la zona que están tratando (con cierto éxito) para mantener las vías fluviales de la Patagonia con flujo libre y salvaje.

 

Sin Represas HQ

Nos integramos a la familia rápido.  Disfrutamos de la cocina de Casandra y las historias del trabajo de Francisco, hablando de la vida en general. Nos hemos quedado más tiempo de lo previsto, pero al final tuvimos que mantenernos en movimientos después de tomarnos 6 días de descanso.  No dijimos adiós, porque Sandra no le gusta, pero si recibimos una sentida carta de su parte en su lugar. Mientras caminábamos fuera de la ciudad, estaba triste por dejar a la familia preciosa que habíamos llegado a conocer, pero feliz de estar de nuevo en movimiento.

 

Mirando Hacia atras en Coihaique

 

 

Reserva Nacional Coihaique

 

 

Arboles gigantes de la Reserva

 

Llegamos a estirar las piernas para caminar un poco en la ciudad, y luego empujamos hacia arriba en la dirección de la Reserva Nacional Coihaique. La reserva está justo fuera de la ciudad, y la joven en la estación de entrada estaba preocupada con nuestras preguntas sobre cómo salir de la reserva en el otro lado. Hablamos con ella un poco y luego, convenciéndola de que haríamos el bucle que ella sugería fuertemente, caminamos unos pocos kilómetros en el parque y encontramos una pequeña zona preciosa para el campamento junto a un pequeño estanque. Nos fijamos en algunos mapas en la noche y discutimos nuestras opciones. A la mañana siguiente, nos dirigimos más arriba en la pista, pasamos unos arbustos un poco al otro lado de la orilla de la reserva, y rápidamente continuó hacia el norte a lo largo de un antiguo camino de tierra que nos encontramos. Es una lucha con la  gente en los parques para hacerlos entender lo que estamos haciendo, y siempre quieren que vayamos a una caminata de bucle, por lo que a veces tenemos que ser capaces de continuar y  no caminar en las carreteras. Es desafortunado, aunque con la falta de un sistema de sostenibilidad /senderos en Chile no ha sido demasiado de un problema todavía. A medida que continuamos hacia el norte, llegamos a una estancia de la policía, y vinieron fuera sorprendido al vernos avanzar por sus campos de espalda. Les preguntamos si podemos ir a la carretera, y que nos permitió pasar a través.

Caminando a lo largo de dos vias

Tomamos un descanso en el camino para discutir nuestras opciones de seguir adelante, sin querer empujar nuestra suerte mucho más allá. Decidimos continuar junto a la carretera por un poco y luego s apagarnos en un camino de tierra de dos pistas que se dirigió inmediatamente hacia abajo a través de un arroyo y una de una pendiente pronunciada por un par de millas. Fuimos arriba y arriba, luego la carretera se estanco y recorrimos a través de campos abiertos donde el camino terminaba en la casa de alguien. Después de hablar con el dueño de la casa, él nos ofreció una pista a una ciudad directamente al este de nosotros, no en la dirección que queríamos ir. Decidimos volver  a la pista un poco, sin embargo, vimos a otras dos vías al  final y luego salamos r a través de un par de campos a otra de dos pistas que finalmente nos llevó en la dirección que queríamos, al norte! Gracias a Dios por GPS y algunos mapas dignos para esta sección. Después de asustar a algunas vacas, una buena noche de sueño, y siendo amonestado por otra local, como hicimos el camino directo a la calle, llegamos a otra carretera pavimentada. Había sido un duro tramo personas a gota, por lo que eran reacios a seguir una ruta que habíamos encontrado, pero decidió ir a por ello, y no nos decepcionó.

Moises y Fidgit en la manana

Paseamos por la entrada de otra estancia y que fuimos recibidos por un hombre amable que nos ofreció un lugar para dormir, así como algunas direcciones a la mañana siguiente. Una bonita manera de empezar una mañana fría está tratando de mantenerse al día con un ex atletismo del estar quieto en el campo cargando una mochila, ¡menos mal! Pero lo hicimos, y Moisés fue muy atento y consiguió el pase sin muchas vueltas equivocadas.

 

Entramos en Mañihuales al día siguiente, listo para unas empanadas y una ropa más limpia. Encontramos la esposa de Moisés que dirige un hospedaje, y ella nos ayudó a navegar la pequeña ciudad, y nos invitó a más de onces esa noche. Nos fuimos a la mañana siguiente nos llenamos de alimento para nuestro terriblemente largo camino a pie hasta Villa La Tapera. Por lo general, tratamos de evitar carreteras ya que tienen una tendencia a hacernos de mal humor, aunque tuvimos que caminar este tramo de ruta porque era eso, o ilegalmente tachar y luego de nuevo en Chile. Optamos por mantenerla legal. Mientras caminábamos por la Ruta 7 para varios días conseguir pasar por varios vehículos, que día soñé con lo que no estar en una calle concurrida como era. Como de costumbre en la vida, las horas pasaron lentamente, pero pronto nuestra caminata camino había terminado y que habían hecho a lo largo de Río Cisnes a la ciudad preciosa y pequeña de La Tapera.

Mirando en los Andes
Hola? Hemos terminado con este camino a pie todavia?
KM 100 de la Ruta 7

 

Casi hasta el camino de tierra hasta Villa La Tapera

 

Yo y mi aguacate gigante, que lo llamado Paul.

 

Camino camina puede ser lindo – Rio Cisnos
Posted in En Español, Her Odyssey, Neon, Patagonia Thru-Hike, Uncategorized
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Comments (1)

  • Clifford B. Rawley August 16, 2016 at 8:20 am Reply

    We are happy to hear that you had 6 days of rest with such a nice family. We all need some time to refresh and renew for the journey. You are blessed to find such gracious people on this long travel! The Lord is watching over you and has given you a good GPS to find the right way!

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When you practice the bell of mindfulness, you breathe in, and you listen deeply to the sound of the bell, and you say, "Listen, listen." Then you breathe out and you say, "This wonderful sound brings me back to my true home. Our true home is something we all want to go back to. Some of us feel we don't have a home.

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