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The torrential Torres

I leave El Calafate and make my way for the border crossing at Rio Turbio. The ruta 40 is surprisingly tranquil as I ride it for the last time on my southern trajectory. I stop at the only gas station I will see on this route looking to top off for a pass through Torres […]

Here comes the sun

After several cloudy mostly sun-free days I figure seeing Fitz Roy is not in the cards so I decide to head south for El Calafate. I get the bike packed down and I notice the first sun beams breaking through the thinning clouds overhead. Perhaps I will get a last minute reprieve. El Calafate is […]

Fitz Roy in hiding

John and I break camp the next morning trying not to wake our companions still sleeping off the previous night’s libation. The wind and construction resume moments after leaving the protection of the town’s infrastructure. I like a big hearty breakfast before taking on the day’s ride but often it’s not possible, especially in Argentina […]

Gone with the wind

I am interested in crossing the border to El Chalten, Argentina from O’Higgins but my interest is quickly squashed when I learn there is no aduana at the border post so no way to process a moto. On top of that the ferries have stopped running for the season and I’m not certain they can […]

Dragging my feet to Cochrane

I feel myself slipping into a riding funk so I opt to stay in Coyhaique for a couple days and enjoy the solitude of the cabin. The Austral slices through a remote Chilean Patagonia and the back drop of fiords and glaciers are something I want to savor. Some people blast through Patagonia just to […]

The Carretera Austral

The mornings are quite cold now and one’s desire to get an early start is tempered by the frigid remains of the night. The relative warmth of 10 AM is a nice compromise and we make good time to the border. We arrive to a cold drizzly Futaleufu then head south to where we pick […]

Hola Patagonia!

I get my first taste of the Patagonia winds as I round Lago Nahuel Huapi. The weather, though quite cool, is nice with lots of blue skies and fluffy clouds. Bariloche is a major ski destination for South America and its predominantly Swiss architecture gives the city a Swiss Alps feel. As I walk around […]

Carretera Austral

Cold and wet on the Austral in southern Chile. Near La Junta, Chile

Distrito de Lagos y mantenimiento de la moto

I was climbing the walls in Santiago and relieved to have a new passport and be on the road again. I feel pressed for time but don’t know why, the looming winter in the south, perhaps. 300+ mile days of high speed asphalt don’t normally appeal to me but the bike is running well and […]

Take a number please

With the bike’s forks sorted I head north to find a pass that will take me to Uspallata and then on to the Chilean border for a third time. I’m looking for a dirt pass in lieu of the more traveled main road and while I do find the road, I later learn it’s not […]