Argentina, Part II - Feb 9-Mar 9

After the touristy center of Bariloche, El Bolsón - just two hours south - was definitely a nice change.  We camped, dealt with details at home and ate some good chocolate!

A bike ride out to a gorgeously blue-green river.

Old ford falcons are everywhere. Apparently they were made in Argentina for 30 years...

To get to southern patagonia, there is a long stretch of road south of El Bolsón.  We split it up by stopping in Perito Moreno/Los Antiguos and did the side trip to the Cave of the Hands - Cueva de las Manos.  Dating from 9,000 BC, these are some impressively well preserved paintings of mostly hands and guanacos.  I ended up being the translator for the spanish speaking guide...

This is what it looks like east of the Andes mountains.

About 24 hours south of El Bolsón by bus is El Chaltén - home of Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre - both impressive pieces of rock that have some world class mountain climbing opportunities.  But most people come to do some straightforward hiking/trekking.  We first did the straightforward and beautiful trail up around the Fitz Roy range.

Fitz Roy was a ship captain who explored the Patagonian area back in the 1800's.  Somehow his name was later attached to this 11,000+ ft granite peak.

Then we got adventuresome and the weather conspired against us.  Our planned 4 day circuit was supposed to have 3 days of good weather and 1 day of rain.  Somehow that got flipped.  Thankfully, our gear held up....  This trail was well trodden on day 1, out to Laguna Toro.  Days 2-4 required a lot of route finding and guessing -- up to Paso del Viento and around to Paso Huemel, down to Lago Viedma and finally back to Chaltén

All was gloriously beautiful on day 1.  This is Cerro Torre - world renown rock climbing prize.

Day 2 started off with a brutally cold river crossing - the water coming off of a glacier.  We both were whimpering in pain.

The main reason for this trek was to get over Paso del Viento (Wind Pass) and see the Hielo Sur (South Ice).  This is the a massive ice field - and the largest hunk of ice outside of the poles.  The rain and clouds limited our view...

At times the wind was just simply nuts.

We broke the rules that night and stayed in the refugio.  It rained and howled outside all night!

Day 3 - looking down at a glacial lake with hunks of ice in it.

We camped here just below Paso Huemel on Day 3.  Overnight it was windy but dry, so our clothes dried out.

At the start of day 4 - trying to stay vertical in the wind.

Looking out over Lago Viedma - on our way down through the Lenga trees.

Lago Viedma in the background.  This was a bit before lunch.  Little did we realize that we still had another 8 hours of route finding and rain, slogging through marshes, and a crazy high river to cross.

The good thing about an experience like this is that you have some bragging rights... and you feel closer for having done something that difficult together.

After a couple days of taking it easy we continued south to El Calafate.

Argentina, Part I - Jan 22-Feb 9

In a bit over a month in Argentina we have gone from latitude 39.9 to 50.3 and are planning on making it all the way to the tip which is right about 55.

Our first stop was Junín de los Andes - self proclaimed trout capital of the country.  We didn't fish, but we enjoyed the rivers, more gorgeous mountains and our little friend whom I called "little buddy" who adopted us even though we didn't feed her.  This is the campground where the wi-fi was good enough that we hung out at the campsite or the tent doing email, etc...

A new friend - the lady of an argentinian couple who picked me as I was hitchhiking in the park.

Volcán Lanín from the Argentinian Parque Lanín.

Next stop was Bariloche and Parque Nahuel Huapi.  We got out of town as fast as the rain stopped to avoid the tourists.  Here we did an 8 day trek.  Amazing jagged mountains that keep going and going and going, crazy straight up & down trails, beautiful lakes and waterfalls, Mt. Tronador, and some interesting route finding!

After spending a half day trying to find a trail through the thick brush around the lake we went with Duane´s idea of walking in the lake.  It was a lot warmer than I expected!

Duane and Jennifer - whom we ran into - trying to figure out where the trail goes next.

Day 7 - our campsite on the side of Mt. Tronador.

Huge waterfalls - with a rainbow - coming off the glaciers of Mt. Tronador.

Ah, the beauty!

Chile, Part I - Jan 4-Jan 22

We both will admit that after 4 months in Colombia and Ecuador, it was nice to arrive in Chile and experience a culture more like what we are used to:   less trash, less noise, more organized….  The down side is no more 3 mangos for $1.  Instead there are wonderful nectarines.  And you pay for it.  Suddenly everything costs at least twice as much.  We spent maybe 5 days in Santiago.   We rented bikes one day, walked around the capital buildings, got a nice view of the surrounding area at sunset...  I was really happy to meet up with two Motivational Interviewing folks who I have met at meetings - they treated me to a typical Chilean meal.  Duane and I also shopped for second hand rain pants & fleece in preparation for Patagonia weather, we had to find an electrical adapter and a battery charger with the 110 voltage...  Details…   

Things you think of doing after traveling with your partner for 4 months!

Since there was train travel available and we were a bit tired of bus travel, we took the train 5 hours south to the end of the line and stayed in Chillán, a pleasant smallish city (180K), for a few days.  The highlight of my birthday was happening upon an incredibly awesome vegetarian buffet.  I haven't eaten that well the entire time we have been here in south america!

Then we headed for Pucón (17k) - a very tourist center with great access to mountains and hotsprings.  We planned for 3 days out in Parque Nacional Huerquehue, but had enough food so stayed for 5.  It was really beautiful landscape with the auracania trees everywhere (monkey puzzle trees), lakes and we got to a hotsprings that felt luxurious!

Chile and Argentina share the andean mountains and most travel in the the area involves some time in both countries, so from Pucón, we then crossed the border into Argentina.

At the border crossing - El Volcán Lanín - partly in Argentina & partly in Chile.