Fin del Mundo and finishing with a Big Bang!

It was a lazy and slow morning start after spending the night in the basement of the La Union. We were exhausted after the previous marathon day and woke to find Jed and Lara already packed and departed. We spent some time upstairs in the store downing pastries and several cups of coffee trying to wake up.

Thankfully, we had already decided to break the final push to Ushuaia into two days so our task today would be about 60km. It would be hilly as we were approaching the southern mountains of Tierra del Fuego and the forecast called for rain in the afternoon. So an “easy” day did not lie ahead.

Just to make sure, we departed Tolhuin and immediately descended 5km of long, steep hill when at the bottom, Anne remembered our cooking utensils she had washed and left at the bakery. So we u-turned, climbed back up the hill, retrieved the gear and added some additional miles to our “easy” day.

Roughly an hour into the ride, we are descending a fast downhill when we hear a truck’s horn approaching behind us. The shoulder is very loose and sketchy gravel and at our speed, riding in it would pose a high chance of crashing. So we hug the asphalt as close to the gravel as possible while the truck passes. The driver is yelling something out the passenger window as he passes and then continues up the hill ahead, disappearing around a curve.

A few minutes later, we crest the hill and curve to find the truck pulled over on the side of the road and the driver waiting outside. He stands in the road as we approach and forces us to stop, clearly unhappy. Our Spanish isn’t sufficient to pick up all the details, but his body motions make it clear he wants us off the road when he blows the horn. Trying to explain that we would crash if we steered into the gravel did not seem to concern him so we apologized somewhat and continued on our way. Argentina has many wonderful people and features, but unfortunately also their fair share of agressive drivers with little regard for cyclists. We found a huge difference between Chile and Argentina in their relationship between cars and bikes sharing the road.

Proceeding on, the forecasted rain and cold commenced and we finally made it to the dirt road leading to an abandoned resort along Lago Escondido. We didn’t know exactly where the building was and the road was in major disrepair with many deep holes and puddles from the rain. Finally after about 8km, we are stopped by a raging creek where the road was completely washed out. We search left and right to find a passible way to push the tandem through, using a pile of dead trees and debris to cross.

A little further, we see the abandoned hotel and a series of derelict cabanas along the lake. The building must have been magnificent in its time and the setting along the mountain lake was incredible. Lara and Jed arrived earlier and had claimed one of the two cabanas still with some roof to protect from the rain. We go to the other one and set up our tent inside. We have leaks from the ceiling in multiple places but are very happy to have some protection. Plus the view on the lake from the cabana is first class!

It is late and we are totally exhausted, so we warm up a quick dinner and retire inside the tent. No energy left for socializing with Lara and Jed.

The next morning the rain has subsided and we depart a little after Lara and Jed. There is a pass on the main road immediately after the lake and our original plan was to bike back on the access dirt road from yesterday to rejoin the pavement. But we hit the washed out section again and find it much worse from the overnight rain. Looking at our maps, we see the dirt road continues the other way and climbs steeply up to the pass. But previous comments on iOverlander say it is in very bad condition and impossible to ride. We proceed anyway, having lots of experience hike-a-biking from our mountain bike background.

And we get to use that experience, a lot. The road is very steep, muddy and horribly eroded. Riding a single mountain bike in dry conditions would have been challenging. So we hike up the tandem, taking lots of recovery breaks and watching the lake get smaller below us. We can see an observation post at the top of the pass with spectators looking down on us, laughing for sure. But slowly we reach it and very happy to be done. We don’t know if our friends are ahead or behind us as our hike was 4km versus their 16km of riding to get to the pass and cell service is zero.

So we proceed to Ushuai. This final leg is very scenic with fresh snow in the mountain tops from the night’s rain. We pass through a ski station, perhaps one of the most southern locations in the world given its proximity to Ushuaia. We are feeling a bit melancholy knowing these final kilometers are bringing our journey to an end.

Along the way, we see beaver dams. Apparently beavers were not native to this area of Patagonia and ones from North America were imported. They also brought giardia with them, aka Beaver Fever, which accounted for the many notices we saw to filter untreated water from the outdoors.

And then we round a large curve and there it is, the iconic towers bordering the road marking the entrance to Ushuaia. We meet an Italian bikepacker who is trying to hitch a ride north and he snaps a few photos of our finish.

But it’s actually not quite over yet. The towers mark the entrance to the industrial section of Ushuaia, not the actual town and it is a rough and windy 10 km extra along the waterfront to reach the city center. One final punch to the kidneys after we let down our guard!

But we make it. The city center is very vibrant and full of tourists, again an odd experience compared to the solitude we’ve had on the bike. We determined from the Italian biker that we are ahead of Lara and Jed, we were the first bikepackers passing him that morning.

We are hungry and Anne finds a nice restaurant in town. Dirty and still dressed in rain garb (the sun is now shining in Ushuaia), Anne goes inside to get a table as I secure the bike outside. I see her talking to a lady who is asking her about our tandem and adventure and apparently her husband wants to know why I am wearing a shower cap. Anne explains we have been biking in the rain most of the morning and the cap also helps retain heat, but I’m sure it is a funny sight to the patrons!

Lara arrives a little later and we rendezvous at the city park along the waterfront marking the official Fin del Mundo. We secure an Airbnb together and proceed to find a local laundromat to tackle our big pile of dirty clothes. There is enough to require two machines but Lara sweet-talks the attendant to only charge us for one.

We spend two days in Ushuaia exploring the town and hitting ice cream parlors, but mostly convalescing. The only action the bikes see is a wash to remove the caked mud. We have a long bus ride ahead to return to Puenta Arenas in Chile and a clean bike would show some respect for the baggage hold.

Early morning arrives and we are down at the bus terminal with several other bikepackers and hikers for the 12 hour ride back to Puenta Arenas. There is an airport in Ushuaia but it only connects to Argentinian locations, nothing in Chile. Our return flight to France is from Santiago, so we must take the bus to get back into Chile. But the bus is very comfortable with an on-board toilet, wifi and provided snack lunch. Which we must finish before crossing the border back into Chile as we all have to disembark, go through immigration for our passport stamp and have our belongings inspected for prohibited food items. We actually have some boiled eggs and declare them to the inspector. He takes one out of the carton, gives it a spin on the counter, puts it back and says we are free to go.

A few hours later, the bus boards the ferry to take us across the sound and we disembark into Puenta Arenas. We retrieve our gear and bike to our hostel where we had shipped our bike boxes two months earlier from Puerto Montt. Seeing the boxes brought reality to the end of the adventure. There would still be the pain of breaking down the tandem and packing everything, but our time on the bike is over.

We had a spare day in Puenta Arenas and it happened to be Kip‘s birthday, so before disassembling the bike we decided to do a birthday ride with Lara along the Magellian Straight. Lara was sharing an Airbnb with Jenny, the Canadian lady we rode with two weeks earlier and was about 5km away from us. We rode the tandem over to her address, feeling quite spunky without the 56kg of baggage. Anne dismounted the tandem and headed to the door while I straddled the bike. Suddenly, it sounded like the front tire was on top of broken glass so I rolled it gently forward. Then there was a massive explosion, every bit as loud as a gunshot. Anne was holding her ears and all the inhabitants of the houses on the road came outside. My legs were splattered with white liquid tire sealant and I first saw that the tire was off the rim. Then I saw chunks of carbon fibers scattered about and massive delamination of the carbon rim. The rim had exploded and it was no small miracle that we were stopped when it happened. If it had happened on countless high speed occasions over the past two months, a lengthy hospital visit would have been the likely best outcome!

There was no obvious failure mechanism, we could not see prior damage on the rim. Anne surmised it might have been impacted in the bus luggage compartment, but no way to confirm. We were just very grateful for the timing as we walked the bike back to our hostel.

So we returned to the hostel, dismantled the tandem and went out for a very nice birthday dinner with Lara. It was also our farewell dinner as we would depart in the morning for Santiago. We were all quite sad as we had shared many difficult and many amazing experiences together over the past two months. Lara was part of our family now. We also missed Angus and Andrew and had kept in touch with both after their departures, Angus returning to Australia for a wedding and Andrew starting his band tour across the western USA.

The rest of the journey passed without incident. A 15 hour flight from Santiago to London, some hours of layover and the final leg to Nice. The flight from Puenta Arenas to Santiago retraced our biking route and we were fortunate to see from above the many peaks and glaciers we passed going south.

With plenty of time in the airplane, we recorded our important reflections from the journey to use for future adventures. Here are a few from that exercise:

• Be thankful for our health - being physically capable to finish in good shape
• Be like water - don’t try to control everything.  Let life happen and enjoy it
• Suffering is easier when you have others sharing the misery
• Beauty is enhanced when you share with others
• There is an infusion of energy and perspective being around younger people
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help or talk to people
• Avoid long-term and mid-term scheduling - allow lots of flexibility in your plans
• Stay minimalistic - it’s easy to pack stuff you don’t absolutely need or will seldom use.
• Be bold and go - don’t get paralyzed with the planning details

And specifically for South America to better integrate with the local people:

• Spend some time on the trip taking Spanish lessons at the beginning
• Participate in a Worldpacker or similar volunteer program 

So that’s it for this chapter in our lives. It was a wild and uber-fulfilling experience and we could have easily continued biking if we didn’t already have plans on the calendar. But it is good to change things up and we miss our friends both in France and the USA, so on to the next page to spend time with them!

Some parting photos from our trail family: