In summer, the hotel doors are thrown open to welcome the tourists coming to this corner of Chile. Accommodations along the Carretera Austral are either simple affairs or exclusive lodges. All along the highway and into the depths of the countryside are cozy hostels where the family invites its guests to come sit around the woodstove to chat and serve up hearty breakfasts with home-made bread and jams. Along the prime rivers are first-rate fly fishing lodges. Other first-class inns specialize in trekking, ice climbing and horseback riding. Travelers on a budget and bicyclists will find many campgrounds along the way. At the end of the season, cabañas begin to board up as the locals prepare for the long, dark winter. A few places stay open to receive tourists who journey into Chile’s Northern Patagonia to ski or snowshoe.