Patagonia is well known as one of the worlds natural wonders.
But the higher we climbed, the more confident we became about our decision.
Until the 1970s, there was no road that led here.
From left: Winding for 800 miles through the Aysén region, the Carretera Austral showcases some of Chile’s most spectacular scenery; the 8,775-foot summit of Cerro Castillo, named for its resemblance to a castle, with Lake Cerro Castillo in the foreground.Credit: Stefan Ruiz
All this helps to explain why today Aysen is the least populated part of Chile.
There are only 2.5 people per square mileabout the same population density as Mongolia.
It also explains why relatively few people come here.
A footbridge en route to the Hanging Glacier at Queulat National Park.Stefan Ruiz
Chileans with disposable cash are building summer houses, and international travelers are coming, too.
After picking up our car, we headed north.
Around Coyhaique, the regional capital, the road is smooth blacktop and the driving easy.
Puyuhuapi Lodge, a hot-springs hotel on the shores of the Puyuhuapi fjord.Stefan Ruiz
Aysen has many microclimates, and we had crossed into the temperate rain forest of Queulat National Park.
As beautiful as the park was, we couldn’t stop to admire it.
Every summer the family would sail their yacht down to Aysen.
The Hanging Glacier in Queulat National Park.Stefan Ruiz
The lodge has the feeling of a grown-up summer campcomplete with a blackboard that lists the day’s activities.
The family yacht still sits at anchor out front.
Charlie and I had been on the road for four bone-shaking hours, and our bodies needed soothing.
Staffers María Jesús Guzman and María Cristina Diaz in the kitchen of Mallín Colorado Ecolodge, a hotel overlooking Lake General Carrera.Stefan Ruiz
So we headed to the hot springs a short walk up a forest path.
The following morning we got up early and headed into the park.
After crossing a wooden footbridge strung over the Ventisquero River, we followed a path through the forest.
From left: Scaling the Exploradores Glacier; the cathedral-like marble rock formations on Lake General Carrera are a near-religious experience for many kayakers.Stefan Ruiz
“It’s just like Vicks VapoRub!”
Charlie shouted back at me.
Eventually we faced the glacier, a strangely wintry sight against a backdrop of almost tropical fecundity.
From left: A wooden church in the village of Villa Amengual, near Queulat National Park; a gaucho near Patagonia National Park.Stefan Ruiz
Meltwater tumbled down the cliff face and fed a lagoon the mineral-green color of surgical scrubs.
It was our first close encounter with the ice that had shaped this remarkable landscape.
This museum occupies a beautiful clapboard building with a zigzag roof modeled on a traditional rural warehouse.
From left: The lounge at Entre Hielos Lodge, a boutique hotel in the hills surrounding the town of Tortel; a Chilean myrtle tree near Lake General Carrera.Stefan Ruiz
In 1937 the state decided to colonize Aysen.
The government offered free land to anyone who would cultivate it.
But to get to cultivate the land, the settlers had to burn the trees that covered it.
A llama-like mammal called a guanaco takes a breather in Patagonia National Park.Stefan Ruiz
The fires they lit destroyed more than 7 million acres of native forest.
As we looked out of the museum windows, we saw the result: vast empty plains.
The markings, he said, were as much as 6,000 years old.
Perhaps this was a place to play.
No visitor to Aysen can avoid Lake General Carrera.
We were staying at Mallin Colorado Ecolodge, which sits on a hillside high above the water.
The rooms are decorated with woven wall hangings by Christensen’s sister and wooden furniture made by her brother.
We circled the caves before heading inside.
According to our guide, Emilio Poblete, the chapel has been officially consecrated by the Catholic church.
The next day we came face to face with the last remnants of the ancient ice cap.
Peering into the ice, we could see tiny bubbles of prehistoric air trapped inside.
The mountains here are dry and scrubby, the river a ribbon of shocking cobalt running through them.
We saw the occasional cow or horse snacking on rose hips from roadside bushes.
Eventually the land became flatter, greener, softer.
We were on our way to Tortel, a village on the Baker River delta.
The road got here only in 2003before that you had to take a boat.
Tortel’s relationship to the water has created a unique way of life.
“I felt this was my place,” she told me.
We were headed for La Isla de los Muertosthe island of the dead.
Mena found 33 wooden coffins and began to investigate who was buried in them.
The cemetery, it turned out, dated back to 1906, before Aysen had been permanently settled.
Their only connection to the outside world was a boat that would visit twice a year with food.
It’s likely that during one passage to Tortel, the boat sank.
It is likely the workers starved to death.
Early the next morning, Charlie and I took a walk around the bay.
Mist was hanging over the water and woodsmoke was drifting from the chimneys.
We stopped and leaned against the railing and looked at the village crawling up the hills.
There are connections available from Santiago to Balmaceda, Aysen’s regional airport, withlatam,Sky, andJetsmart.
We rented a 4 x 4 at the airportessential for tackling Aysen’s roads.
In the center of town, Mamma Gaucha(entrees $7$11)serves excellent Italian food.
We went kayaking to the Marble Caves and hiking on the Exploradores Glacier with 99% Adventure.
