Category: Argentina

It’s a 4-day ride (for us) from El Chaltén to El Calafate. The road initially heads east, nearly reaching the center of the continent (it’s only 350 miles wide at this point), before returning to a generally-southward route. That means it leaves behind the sheltering mountains of the Carretera Austral, and heads into the desolate Read more…

The midday clearing on our ride into El Chaltén was the opening of a perfect 2.5-day weather window. And while cycling provides a near-unbeatable way to view the staggering mountain landscapes here, hiking is one mode that beats even cycling (as we would see later, paragliding would be another!) Unfortunately there was no way were Read more…

In the middle of the night I rolled over and rubbed my face, and was confused when my hand felt a weird organic grit. The gusty evening winds had returned as we were going to sleep, likely more of the katabatic winds tumbling down the slopes of the deep and narrow north-south valley that we Read more…

Today’s super-early 3:15am wakeup was not due to our own preference (e.g., to avoid heat, wind, etc.), nor would it be compensated for by an equally-early end to the day’s efforts. It was because the company running the boat to take us to a remote shore on Lake O’Higgins decided that early morning was the Read more…

Today we were crossing back into Chile by a very unique route, one essentially developed by a company called Cruce Andino, and they’re the sole operator that will ferry you across three different remote mountain lakes (connected by two essentially “private” gravel road segments) before reconnecting with the road network in Chile. Even better, this Read more…