Day 50 - 24 Jan.2012 - Futalefú

After breakfast we said ‘bye’ to Marcelo, had a last glimpse at the beautiful lake with the ‘dead forest’ at its shore and set off to Carretera Austral again. We have never found the explanation as to why many of the lakes in the region are surrounded by so called ‘dead forests’ (bosque muerto). Marcelo thought avalanches, which caused the water level of the lake to rise blocking the exit of the lake by the snow, might have caused it. The trees being under water for too long must have died.
Along the Carretera Austral we drove through La Junta, a sad looking village established in 1983 by General Pinochet. The big memorial at its main road is a testimonial of its dubious past. Just by the lake beside the road we found a memorial place for a soldier who lost his live during the build of the road in 1983. It must have been indeed quite a hardship to build roads like the Carretera Austral. Actual reminders of the perils are the land slides bringing down tons of rock.
In Villa Santa Lucia we left the Carretera Austral and took the road towards Futalefú, a small town mainly known for its mountain river rafting facilities. The town is indeed very touristic with all facilities for the backpacking and trekking tourist. We stayed at a quite dusty campsite in the woods just south of the town directly at the river. In the evening we went into town for a Pisco Sour and took the opportunity to upload some more pages of our diary.

Please continue to read our diary on the next leg.