Fish Rising

The stretch of road between Villa Cerro Castillo and Cochrane was 343km of ripio in various states of disrepair. It was slow going but the scenery on either side of the bus was worth the slow pace and high price. One side of the bus passed by burnt pastureland, silver stumps of trees laid on their sides strewn across the hillsides like Lincoln Logs, the hills rising up into mountains and colliding with blue cloudless skies. The opposite side of the bus was priviledged to so Lago General Carrera (Lago Buenos Aires on the Argentine side) the second largest lake after Titicaca in South America. It was one of the prettiest bus rides I have been on so far. The tourqouise water shone iridecently and lapped at the foot of mountains with snowy peaks.

Cochrane has just under 3,000 people living within its borders and is a quiet little village located at the convergence of a few rivers. There isn`t much to do there but walk around to the different grocery stores and markets, explore the panaderias (bakeries) to sample the pastries and learn where the best rolls are baked, so that is exactly what we did. We must have gone into the markets 3 or 4 times a day, just to poke around and look at the aisles. When we first arrived we walked around a bit with our packs trying to find the elusive free camping spot near the river. Unable to locate one the first night we settled for `tent city´ a camping place suggested in my guidebook which was no more than someones backyard filled with what seemed to be every camper in the area. But it was good enough, there was a toilet, hot showers, and the ability to have a campfire - wood provided. We went out to dinner that night at a nice local joint with slow service but good beer from Kunstmann in Valdivia.

In the morning we packed up camp and set off yet again to try to find a nice place near the river. Josh was really certain that the ideal location existed and was determined to find it. I asked the woman at the grocery store if she knew of a place and she pointed in one direction but we set out in another, Josh following his fisherman nose, or something. We didn`t find a thing in that direction and so continued in the direction that the woman pointed us in earlier. We found a nice place near the river that would provide a great opportunity to swim, weather permitting, but it was a bit out in the open and wasn`t a designated place to camp so we would`ve preferred to be a little more secluded and where we would be able to have a fire. We took a break for a bit while deciding whether to set up camp there or not. In the river the fish were literally jumping out of the water, called rising. I had never seen anything like that before in my life. Bryan set up his pole to try to catch some dinner and could hardly cast his line in without catching a fish. Unfortunately the only fish biting were tiny little trout, not big enough to eat so Bryan gave me my first fly fishing lesson. It took a lot more coordination than I thought it would but I started to get the rhythm of it after a few attempts with a very patient instructor. I learned how to cast and how to mend and the theory and skill behind fly fishing. The fish weren`t going for my fly though, I just couldn`t get my line out far enough. After a nice tour around town and an afternoon by the riverside we found ourselves in Tent City once again.

My last day in Cochrane was again spent next to the river where we almost camped. The boys tried to catch larger fish to no avail. We did our regular rotation of the markets in town and just relaxed. There is nothing to do in Patagonia and it forces you to slow down and be still your surroundings, a quality of the area that I really appreciate.

In the morning I was headed to Chile Chico to cross the border into Argentina at Los Antiguos. Bryan and Josh were staying in Cochrane one more day until their bus to Villa O`Higgins where the Carretera Austral ends. They were doing a border crossing into Chile that involved ferries and 14km of trekking across the frontera on foot. The style of the crossing intrgued me a great deal but it was going to take too much time so I went the easy route and rode across the border in a minibus. Los Antiguos is a nice town with little to do. Its main attraction is the fruit farms which produce huge amounts of cherries and have an annual Cherry Festival every year. I visited one of the farms during my stay and found out that the cherry season ended on January 15th, so I bought a bag of dried bing cherries that were delicious nonetheless.

I spent two nights in Los Antiguos waiting for my bus to El Chaltèn to depart. I was enjoying Patagonia so much and the unquenchable urge to keep going and going farther into this land. I felt a little bad that I wasn`t heading back north to go to the farm I had planned for March right away...wasn`t that the `goal´ of my trip anyway? But then a handsome little froggy reminded me that I don`t need to be so focused on what I am supposed to be doing, or what I planned on doing, or what I am expected to be doing and that if I am drawn to see more of Patagonia then I should, because there will be plenty of time to learn more about farming. This was all the reminder I needed to remember that this is my trip and I can do whatever I want with it. So I bought some Dulce de Leche Oreos (a strange buy I know) but they intrigued me, went to a cafe that served real coffee and enjoyed it while sitting on a little couch doing crossword puzzles. Afterwards I hiked up to a little Mirador (lookout) and sat by myself for a while overlooking Lago Buenos Aires without a sound but the wind. It was a slow and pleasant day.