Day 1 Cochrane to Puerto Bertrand
We started with a spring in our step, as we knew the weather for the day ahead would be good. We jumped on our bikes and headed off (although we walked through most of town as Vanessa was a little worried about some of the stray dogs). Once on the dirt track Carretera we passed a small mongrel with a collar. As we were moving uphill at little more than walking pace it took a liking to us and decided to follow, which it managed to do for almost 10km! We tried cycling faster to shake it off but it was a swift little thing. Luckily for us, a large downhill section came up and we sped off, hoping to loose ‘Loco’ (Vanessa had already named him), we had almost done so, with the galloping ‘Loco’ disappearing from our rear view mirrors, when we passed a lone cyclist heading in the opposite direction. We had time only to shout ‘Bon dia’ as we zoomed past but we knew that plucky ‘Loco’ would now have a new friend who would take him back towards home.
We cycled 48km on undulating terrain but the scenery really made up for the constent climbs. Another cyclist going in the opposite direction (Brazilian dude) raved about a tranqil wild camping spot next to the ultra blue Rio Baker, 1km before Puerto Bertrand. We decided this would be our aim for the day and, with only 8km left, we pushed on. We also checked on the iOverlander app and this confirmed the spot. Once there, we were pleased with the location and the impressive fast flowing river. Vanessa wondered around the site, whilst Jon put the tent up. Vanessa came back, and said ‘I’m sure the tent and bikes up there are Marie and Miguels’. Jon promptly went to investigate and agreed that it was indeed their stuff. So we left a note for our reunited friends.
The sun was still shinning and as we were only 1km away from the village of Rio Bertrand, we jumped on our bikes (now without panniers) and headed there hoping to find somewhere to buy an ice cream. The quaint pocket of houses along the lake was just what we were looking for.
On the return to camp, we met another fellow camper called Sammy who had lived in this spot for 3 months and was planning on staying for the winter (very brave). We lit a fire, cooked and had a few drinks before bed.
Waking up and venturing outside was a little more challenging than usual. The temperature was unusually frosty and all four of us found packing up, eating breakfast and generally getting ready a little difficult. However we had a magnificent view of the early morning mist rising over the thunderous Rio Baker to warm us up.
Once fed and packed we cycled off, stopping in Puerto Bertrand briefly to drop off our accumulated garbage from the previous day’s meal.
The sun was trying to make an appearance and the hills were in abundance, so before long we all stopped to take a few layers off.
We made good progress and decided to have lunch near one of the lakes before heading up a rather large climb. This was a good choice, as the sun was shining and we had already cycled 35km.
The next section was really flat for a few kilometres before heading up a 420 metre climb.
Unfortunately at one stage we reached what we thought was the top of a hill and high fived each other, only to realise that the bigger climb was actually still to come.
Once in town we were relieved with the the concrete roads but initially unimpressed with the line of huts along the lakeside selling tours and blocking the incredible views. We bumped into another two Australian cyclists Brendan and Gina who recommended a campground not too far away. We cycled to the campground, pitched our tent, then headed for the nearest town pub. Vanessa was particularly hungry and went for the biggest veggie option possible.
