Day 17: La Confluencia

Saturday, February 7, 2026. Puerto Bertrand to Cochrane. 30 miles.

Our ride out of the Puerto Bertrand area along the Baker River was gorgeous! The air was cold, coming straight off the Northern Patagonia Ice Field to the west, but the sun was shining, and soon we were warm enough to remove our jackets. The road began with a stretch of rare pavement, and we were happy to be moving along.

The pavement didn’t last long, and we soon found ourselves back on ripio, climbing steadily. Suddenly, a couple of guys on motorcycles approached and rode alongside us. The lead cyclist showed me a bundle that looked a lot like Andy's riding jacket—it was! Apparently, it had bounced off the back of his bike, where he thought it was secure. It was amazing that the two motorcyclists stopped to pick it up and even tracked us down. They were two friends (Dos Amigos) from Brazil riding the Carretera Austral. They were really nice, and we shared a pleasant conversation and a quick photo before they moved on.

A little further on, we passed a place known as La Confluencia, where the turquoise blue of the Baker River meets the milky white of the Neff River, creating a milky light blue color.

At this point, we encountered a different kind of confluence: where the ripio met major construction. The Chilean government is gradually paving the southern part of the Carretera, and this was the section they were working on. The road is usually closed from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM on weekdays for the work, but today was Saturday, and thankfully, the closures were only intermittent. We were, by this time, climbing a major ascent up another pass. This had some steep sections and a lot of dust from the construction as well as the passing cars and trucks. Fortunately, the periodic halts in traffic gave us some respite from the dust.

We finally reached the top of the pass and enjoyed a steep downhill through the ongoing construction to a river crossing at the bottom. The road then pitched sharply up again, but magically, it was paved! It turns out we were now entering the vicinity of the newest national park in Patagonia, Patagonia National Park, established by the Tompkins Conservancy. The climate was much drier in this park, reminding me of eastern Oregon, and guanacos (wild mammals related to llamas) and pumas roam this area.

The views were breathtaking as the road skirted the western edge of the park on our left and the Baker River valley on our right. Eventually, the road dipped down into another large valley: the Valley of Cochrane, our destination.