Kilometres this section : 161
Kilometres completed : 1,603
I am not feeling terribly enthusiastic about the next few days, as the only route I could find north from Coyhaique involves lots of road walking, much of it along the Carretera Austral highway. Had I managed to walk the trail through Cerro Castillo, this would have been a nice change and a bit of a rest, as it is I just walked on roads for three days, it could get a little boring. But in fact, a few km out of town the traffic heads off towards Puerto Aysén on route 240, and the Carretera Austral becomes another gravel track, pleasant walking through very green country, grassy meadows with abundant wild flowers, woods, with of course towering hills all around. I think it must rain reasonably often here, in fact I get a few showers, on what is a very windy day - fortunately my route is mainly sheltered from it. After lunch I turn off the 'highway' onto route X555, no traffic at all here, and the sun comes out, all good. A nice camp spot to finish too, plenty of grass growing in the woods here.
More gravel road - the X45 now, through hilly, wooded country, up to a pass then down along a river valley. Seems to be quite populous around here, lots of little homesteads, and villages too, Villa Ortega yesterday, and now I am approaching the implausibly named Ñirehuao. As I decend towards the place, there's a really rather awesome view beyond it to the east, a broad, barren looking plain, with many rocky promontories sticking out of it. Maybe the tops of ancient mountains, almost drowned by the land that has somehow risen among them. It is a bit disappointing to turn back west, impressive enough though the actual snowy mountain that way is. And again, to camp, a nice spot by a river tonight.
A little way north the next morning, and another little settlement, El Gato. Not much more than a single farm here, but it does have a school, and even a shop - I get some extra biscuits, why not. From here, the road climbs steeply, this is rocky country, sheer cliff faces all around. Then down and past a substantial mine, with its own little collection of houses for the workers. Not sure what is being mined, but it looks like people have been digging for a while in these parts, I follow a river through a gorge, and on the far bank there are several dark tunnels leading into the rock. It's a wet and windy day, the rain not heavy, but less than pleasant when the wind is driving it at me, thankfully that isn't too often. And, another day of easy walking done, camping by the substantial Río Mañihuales tonight.
The last day of this section is a return to the Carretera Austral, still only a single carriageway with not much traffic, but a modern tarmac surface. As usual I wonder why most hikers apparently hate this kind of walking, for me it makes a nice change, Indeed I can really power along. So good to be able to walk with my whole foot, touch down on the heel, roll forward, push off with the toes, and at no point is there any chance of skidding on a loose stone. A lovely walk too, sheer rock faces, tall mountains and rushing rivers. It's another cloudy, damp day, though the rain is never heavy and the sun comes out often enough. Still, very green here, and wow, quite a lot of bamboo growing in these parts. And, so easy this, I finish before 5pm, hmm, Villa Amengual really is not big, I walk around the whole place, not seeing a restaurant, or an open shop... wait, here's a place with a sign saying 'supermercado'? Well, it is a minimarket at best, but, they also have rooms - 15 dollars a night! And indeed dinner, which involves much potato, and given the minimarket is right there, I get beer at shop prices. I should move in to this place!
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