The most visited, and most well-know national park or reserve in Chile, and really in all of Patagonia, is Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, south of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares which is in Argentina, and 80 km or so north of Puerto Natales in Chile. This park was created in 2013, and currently measures 242,242 ha, and is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. The park gets part of its name, 'torres', which means towers, from three granite spires, part of the Paine massif, which dominate the skyline on a clear day. The park is full of small glaciers, lakes and rivers, along with the mountains, and lots of wildlife. The park is also pretty crammed with tourist, especially hikers and trekkers, with over 150,000 visitors per year. This has become a problem, so starting this year, you actually need advance reservations to stay at the campsites and refugios (more than simple huts, food, beer, wine available, comfortable beds, really more like mini-hotels, with a price to match), and right now, things are a mess, and amazingly expensive. There are two very popular treks in the park, the "W" trekking route, which takes most about 4 to 5 days, and "O circuit", a trek around the park with takes closer to 8 or 9 days (and costs over $250US if in refugios). This year, you need reservations to camp at the designated campsites along the trail, and since dispersed camping is not allowed, you must have reservations to do either trek (unless you are from Italy, and you use the rules to your advantage, and hike the "W" without reservations). And to complicate matters, there are two different, private companies managing the refugios and campsites, Fantastic Sur, and Vertice Patagonia. And if you include Sodexo (yes, that Sodexo, part of the Marriot group in the US), which runs the campground at Pehoe in the park, you have at least three private companies involved here, and it seems like a mess to me. I could not get any reservations last-minute, and I had no choice but to be last-minute as I never know where I am going to be from day-to-day, or how long it will take me to drive where I am going (always longer than I would think!). As a result of the popularity of the park, and insanity of private management and the reservation system, there are very few options to camp in the park, though having my van turned out to be huge. Other than the campsites which are part of the two treks, there are only three campgrounds accessible by vehicle in the park, plus one just at the edge of the park, and, Laguna Azul.

I left El Calafate early, and of course, picked up a hitchhiker on my way out of town. It turned out that he was heading north, not south, so I dropped him off at the crossroads where Rute 40 heads north, and Ruta 40/5 head south towards Rio Turbio, across the border from Puerto Natales in Chile. I had decided to cross the border back into Chile north of Rio Turbio, at Paso Rio Don Guillermo, and into Cerro Castillo, Chile, closer to the park. It was another pleasant drive, though windy as heck, the usual in Argentinian Patagonia, all paved, no ripio. I detoured a bit to avoid a nasty stretch of ripio, into Esperanza, before heading to the border. Now, I have not talked much about border crossings, because, other than when I left Peru and first entered Chile, crossings have been easy, especially when you go into Argentina. The Chileans are more serious, and I always declare that I have something, which I always do, and this gives Chilean Aduana (customs) some fruit, vegetables, meat or honey to confiscate, then I am on my way. They never search my van, they actually sometimes do not even look inside. You just go to immigration of the country your are leaving, they stamp your passport, snag you driving permit, and off you go, through the gate and into the country you are entering. There, you first go to immigration, where they stamp your passport, before passing you onto customs, where you take care of paperwork for the vehicle (which can take only a few minutes if there is no line, and the guy knows what he is doing). And if you are going into Chile, they want to look at the van, but only so see what food you are bringing in, most of which they confiscate, fruits vegetables, honey and meat. And that is it, off you go through another gate, into the next country. As it turns out, I would go back and forth between Chile and Argentina a number of times on my way south to Ushuaia, Argentina, and then when I head back north. I especially like crossing at the out-of-the-way as things are very mellow, and all the Argentinians want to talk about is Trump.

After crossing the border back into, I realized that I did not have as much Chilean pesos as I had thought, so had to head down to Puerto Natales before getting into the park. The road was great, but it was late, so I wild camped at Lago Sofia, nice spot, beautiful lake, and popular with the locals. There were others camping there (I picked up for locals on my way in, they were going to camp for two nights before heading up to Torres Del Paine), a group of kayaker playing in the waves (it was blowing as usual), and later, just some folks who wanted to hang out, drink some wine, and camp along the lake for the night. Next morning, quick trip to a bank, and a grocery store before heading back up to Torres Del Paine. I picked up two hitchhikers  heading to the park for a day, one, a local who works in the park, Alajandro, and his friend from Austria, think her name was (will remember later); he told me about Laguna Azul, which again is not an official campsite. We got to the park administration building, road not great, I paid my park entrance fee, $26,000 pesos, and headed off up the road to Laguna Azul. The road was actually not bad, weather good, and place was beautiful, and guanacos everywhere. Laguna Azul was very nice, only a few overlanders, campers there, a nice bathroom with shower, though park ranger first annoying one I met. It was a nice place to camp, and when the clouds cleared a bit, you could the see the torres, the three granite spires which give the park its name. I went for a great hike, to Cebolla Lagoon, hung by the lake, and enjoyed my first evening in the park. Next morning, took off for a mountain biking ride along the south shore of Laguna Azul, a horseback riding trail, to the rim of Macho Canyon, out-and-back ride, nice to be on my bike, even if totally sucking wind on anything uphill. I then headed out, could only stay at Laguna Azul one night at a time, heading wherever. Did stop along the way, great time-lapse shoot of guanacas, real fun, until the wind blew my tripod with camera down, but still fun.

I camped that night, after driving along a beautiful road through the park, to Pehoe Camping Zone, run by Sodexo of the USA, $10,000 pesos per night, hot water, small shelters, not much, except killer views, at least from my campsite. Place was pretty quiet. I hiked up to the Condor lookout in the evening, short but steep, and wind was brutal, and this before it started to rain. The next day, I headed back to Laguna Azul, and along the way met a group of guys on bicycles, riding from Ushuaia to Vermont, great guys. I will try and post their url when I find their card, yes, many folks produce business cards so they can hand them out to folks, follow their blog, follow their adventure. I had hoped to backpack and camp one night at Chileno Lodge and camping zone, nope, full, tried even just staying at the camping zone at Las Torres, full, ferry across Pehoe Lake to Paine Grande ranger station and camping, not going to happen. Place did not seem that crowded, but with the new reservation system, they really restrict things, and without reservations, forget it. So, back to Laguna Azul, no reservations required, plus nice, quiet and beautiful place. That would be my Torres Del Paine experience, though did have a nice time-lapse shoot in the morning, and, met a guy from Taiwan, on his bicycle, who has been riding, different places around the world, since 2014. Another interesting person I met along the way. Torres Del Paine is beautiful, a special place, but the Chileans need to figure out how to run a park, to all more people to camp, and explore. Is definitely a special place, though just wish I could have spent at least one night in the backcountry, in my tent, but was not possible without reservations (unless you are from Italy like two hitchhikers I met, they hiked late, showed up to campgrounds late, without reservations, and the rangers could not sent them back at that time of the day .... smart Italians). It was a great place, even if I was only able to spend three nights there. Next, back to Puerto Natales, then head south, eventually, Ushuaia.

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I thought I might have a quick post on money matters, issues associated with money and international travel, especially in South America. First, and most importantly, it is a cash economy while traveling, no matter what anyone tells you. And when I say cash, I mean cash in local currency, not US 'green backs'. While some places will take US dollars,  you are going to get a terrible exchange rate, which is dumb. I saw a Chinese woman buy a poster in small store at a camping site, Pehoe camping zone in Parque Nacional Torres Del Paine, with US dollars, and she paid almost $30US for a poster which should have cost her just less than $20US if she had used Chilean pesos. Exchange rates do vary, but it does help to figure things out quickly so you know how much things really cost. At first, $10,000 Chilean pesos sounds like a lot of money, but depending on the exchange rate, that is only about $15.60USD. And, exchange rates and value of different currencies vary over time, and in different countries. For example, below are exchange rates as of 24 January 2017 for exchange of Peruvian Neuvo Sol, Chilean pesos and Argentinian pesos. They are different, by orders of magnitude, and I am sure they have changed since I looked them up back in January.
1 USD = 15.9 ARS (Argentinian) and 1 ARS = 0.063 USD
1 USD = 652.99 CLP (Chilean) and 1 CLP = 0.00153 USD
1 USD = 3.28 PEN (Peruvian) and 1 PEN = 0.305 USD

To help me, I calculate value in USD of set amounts of local currency, so when a vendor tells me something is going to cost $500 ARS, I don't have a heart attack, "what? A six-pack of good beer and a bag of ice costs $500 pesos? Are you kidding, 500?" ($500 pesos is a little more than $30US, which is still a lot for some beer, but was in El Calafate, tourist town, in Argentina, where everything is more expensive). For example, I can calculate conversion of $1000 of local currency to USD to get an idea of how much things cost, really helps me keep track of what I am spending.

1000 ARS = $62.75USD, $1000 CLP = $1.56USD, and $1000 PEN = $299.16USD

In general, things are much cheaper in Peru than in either Chile or Argentina, Argentina is definitely the most expensive of all, and things cost more the further south you travel. You can expect to pay more for a liter of fuel in Punta Arenas than you would in Valdivia, Chile. 

So, learn the conversion rates, and get a great ATM card and get cash whenever you can. I got a Charles Schwab Bank debit card, and so far, has worked great, as long as I remember to notify them when I move from one country to the next. Plus, they reimburse all ATM fees no matter where you are in the world, and they have no foreign transaction fees, so it does not cost you to use it often. This can be very important in some countries, like Argentina, where I (everyone really) can only take out $1000 to $1500 Argentinian pesos at one time (and for some, this is per day), and this is only $62 to $91USD, not much in Argentina where everything costs more. And finally, what they say in the guide books is true, in places like El Chalten, Argentina, they have only two ATM machines (and my card only worked in one of them), and they often run out of money. So when traveling in western Argentina along the mountains, think of cash like fuel, get some whenever you can, keep the wallet, and tank, full, as it might be some time before you can get more cash, or diesel, and you do not want to run out of either.    

Ruta (or Route) 40 is kind of like the Carretera Austral of Argentina, the road which runs south along the mountains which separate Argentina from Chile. And this is the main road for tourist travel in Patagonia in Argentina, connecting very popular tourist destinations such as Bariloche (properly San Carlos de Bariloche) in the north (more in Argentinian lake district than in Patagonia), to Rio Turbio, across the border from Puerto Natales, Chile, in the south. Puerto Natales is the gateway to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Chile's most visited park about 80 km north of town. Ruta 40 actually continues onto Rio Gallegos along the coast, where it ends at the Atlantic Ocean. The landscape along Ruta 40 in Argentina is very different from what you see along the Carretera Austral, and, most importantly, most of Ruta 40 is paved! The landscape along Ruta 40 between El Chalten, and El Calafate, my next destination, is mostly pampa, dry grassland, with a few hills, and lots of guanacos, including many dead ones hanging from the fences which seem to line both sides of the road, from Perito Moreno where we picked it up in the north (I had hitchhikers as usual), all the way south, at least until I got off and headed west to Cerro Castillo, Chile and P.N. Torres del Paine. While guanacos can run, up to 35 mph, they are apparently not agile jumpers, and it is clear that many try and jump the fences which are everywhere, and while line the road, and some do not make it. What a horrible way to die. They must jump, get caught, and eventually die of thirst and hunger, horrible. There must have been something about the more northern stretches of Ruta 40 I drove, where we saw many dead guanacos hanging from the fences, but I saw very few further south on Ruta 40, or on Terra del Fuego. Sad.

I picked up a young married couple, Argentinians, heading for El Calafate, and soon we were back on Ruta 40 heading south. It was actually a quick ride, and while windy, always windy, especially in Argentinian Patagonia, the road was paved the entire way, quite a change from life on the Carretera Austral in Chile. I dropped the couple off at their hostal, wandered around a bit, and ended up at Camping "El Niriguao", which turned out to be very nice. There were neat parking places/campsites, lined with small trees, electricity at every site, nice (and very clean) bathrooms, with hot water showers, and a common room with better than average WiFi, all for only $130 Argentinian pesos, not bad. I stayed two nights, gave me time to do some business in town, hit the supermercado, and work on the blog. El Calafate was a nice town, plenty of shops, and outfitters, now a town for tourists. I do not mind this, seeing lots of hikers and trekkers wandering around town, people from around the world, is pretty cool in my book, outdoor tourist a just a different breed from tourist you find wandering around museums or historic sites. Many actually trek south and across the border into P.N. Torres del Paine in Chile, while I think others trek north, across the glaciers, and eventually up to El Chalten. I did not explore town much, though did wander a bit, tried to update my vehicle liability insurance in Argentina.  Then after a couple of night, off for a place called Lago Roca, west of El Calafate and on the way to Parque Nacional Los Glaciares (again, already visited this huge park when hiking to Fitz Roy), and the Glaciar Perito Moreno. There is a campground at Lago Roca, and, camping libre, free, and when I got there, it was very quiet. I found a spot with a great view of the lake, and mountains and glaciers off in the distance, hiked a bit to explore, got on my bike for a ride, really enjoyed being back camping, and not in a town. I did get some neighbors, but included a wonderful family pictured in an earlier post, husband Swedish, wife from the US, and with two great kids. It was fun to meet them, chat a bit, and enjoy an evening glass of wine (or two) together. He is a big fisherman, and I was tempted, but I did not have an Argentinian fishing license like he did, so I did not join him down at the lake. I guess he and his son caught a couple of nice rainbow trout their first night in camp, but not much after that. It was a great place to spend a couple of nights before heading to the glacier.

Parque Nacional Los Glaciares and Reserve cover an area of almost 600,000 ha along the border between Argentina and Chile in southern Patagonia, and is now a World Heritage Site. The park contains 47 large glaciers, including Glaciar Perito Moreno, the most famous of those in the park. Glaciar Perito Moreno is big, 250 square km, and 30 km long. The terminus is also 5 km wide, with an average height of 74 m where it spills into Lago Argentino. This glacier is unusual, as it is advancing (or at least is stable) and not retreating like most glaciers around the world. This glacier is also a major tourist attraction, as it is big, and very accessible. There is an extensive system of walkways which allow you to view the glacier from many angles, and very close, plus, trekking on the glacier is possible, though expensive (something like $250US for 1/2 day trek on the ice). And, it costs you $330 Argentinian pesos just to enter the park for a day, so I could not afford a boat ride or a trek. Even though $330 pesos seemed like a lot to enter a park just for the day, it was worth it, though weather was totally crappy for me, as within 30 minutes of my arrival on the walkways to view the glacier, it started to rain, hard at times, so had to put my camera away. I still walked around a bit, waited like so many to witness a huge chunk of ice calving off the main glacier and crashing into the lake. Did not happen, though still pretty cool to be so close to such a huge chunk of ice, definitely worth the $330 pesos. But it was raining, so I did not last long, back to El Calafate, camp one more night before heading south, as always. And my next destination, another special place, as I was headed south, and back into Chile, I was heading to Torres del Paine, a crown jewel of Chilean Patagonia. I was heading back to the mountains. 

First, as I think I mentioned before, I am a total gear junkie, I like gear, I own a lot of it, and what the heck, I might as well share my knowledge and experience like so many others out there. I do not test gear, I do my homework, I buy the best gear I can afford, and then, I use it, and hope my homework has paid off. Now, this does not mean that I never make a purchase without exhaustive research first, impulse buying does happen. Also, I enjoy many outdoor pursuits, so I have lots of gear used for different kinds of activities, though most of my time is spent just camping, biking, hiking and paddling (though I have skied (downhill) pretty much my entire life, I also snowshoe, fly fish, I even have a SUP).
Previously, I talked about stoves, which was essentially Part 1 of my Just Gear series. Here, a very quick review of my new backpack. My last backpack, a Kelty Coyote 65, I had for years, and it was time. I happened to be in LLBean in Freeport, Maine late last spring, and I wandered down the isle of backpacks, many sizes, shapes and colors. After chatting to folks there, and trying on a few of the models I felt would work best for my purposes, I ended up buying a nice Osprey, and on sale, all packs were on sale, kind of rarity at LLBean. But when I got home, filled the pack with what I figured I might take on an overnight, or a long weekend trek, all I am likely to do at this point, it was not even close, no way my tent, sleeping bag, stove, pot, other camping necessities would fit. So, next day, back to Freeport, but the next largest Osprey model was sold out, and no rain-checks on backpacks (at sale prices), so I ended up buy a Deuter, German brand, very popular in Europe (and thus in Patagonia). I had tried on the pack the day before when I was basically trying on every pack within the range of sizes which seemed appropriate for how I would use it; have no plans for through-hiking the AT or the Pacific Crest Trail in the USA anytime soon. I really wanted an Osprey, but, as the size I wanted, needed was no longer available, I bought the Dueter, ACT Lite, 65+10. This is a good size for most of us, and the pack fit well, at least in the store. The list price was US$209, but I paid much less, again, was on sale. I got it home, threw in the pile of gear heading for South America, and did not even bother to take off the tags, let along actually fill it with gear, try it on, adjust it, etc. Oh well, would figure things out when necessary.

Unfortunately, "when necessary" did not come until I was in Argentina, El Chalten, and Fitz Roy, when I finally got a chance to give my new pack a test. So, loaded it up, gear and "supplies" for two nights, up to Laguna Capri, 4 km up towards the Fitz Roy massif. The pack filled up nicely, separate, bottom compartment easily handled my sleeping bag (15 degree down bag, old, but still in service), sleeping pad (Big Angnes inflatable, Q-Core SL sleeping pad, which I love, or loved, until it developed a leak, very annoying leak, worse than ever, arrrrggggggg), and my camp pillow (Therma-Rest Compressible pillow, own two of them, large and medium, love 'em). The main compartment easily held my tent (Marmot, Limelight 2P) and poles, stove (MSR Dragonfly with fuel canister, see note below, I am an idiot at times), one pot from my MSR nested set, "spork", matches, headlamp, some food, etc., pretty standard stuff for a couple of nights camping. There is one outside pocket in the back which held a couple of last-minutes items, snacks, and side pouches, one for my camera tripod, the other for my Nalgene water bottle. So, bottom-line, this pack held everything you would need for a long weekend outing, though not sure about a 10-day outing in the White Mountains in New Hampshire, US. And, once I swung it up there, felt great, but there are like a 20 straps to adjust, pull in this, tighten that, etc. If properly adjusted, pack rides nice, though I never seemed able to get the hip belt as tight as I would have like. The hip belt is not fully free and independent of the pack, it is attached at the back, and I just could not get it as tight as I would have like. But everything else, once you figure out which strap does what, work great, especially if you pull the pack into your back properly (I got some help from a Canadian, who happens to own a camping equipment store in Toronto, who adjust packs all day, who I randomly ran into while hiking down). I like my new pack, and you see a ton of them on the trail. I think Osprey is still the best for many, but do not be afraid to go European, and try a Dueter, they make excellent packs, I am happy with mine. Go for it, and get out there. 

My travels so far have taken me to some amazing places, Lake Titicaca in Peru, down the Chilean coast, up to San Pedro de Atacama, south along the Carretera Austral, to Parque Patagonia, into Argentina and El Chalten and then back into Chile to Torres del Paine. The scenery has often been amazing, though the roads, well, sometimes the ripio can be brutal. I have spent way too much time driving, but have visited some amazing places, and enjoyed hiking and camping in some very cool locations. And the one constant during my travels, has been the wonderful and interesting people I have met along the way, and especially in Patagonia. There is a brotherhood, and camaraderie, which exists among those of us who travel in Patagonia, and especially along the Carretera Austral. You are immediately friends with others you meet along the road, at campgrounds, or in small towns and cities. We are all here for the same reason, whether hitchhikers, bikers, motorcyclists, or overlanders, we are all here to experience Patagonia, the mountains and rivers, the vegetation and wildlife, the glaciers and perennial snow-pack, the beauty of southern Chile and Argentina. We are all here to enjoy life at the bottom of the continent, to experience the wildness that is Patagonia. And while Patagonia has not been quite as "wild" as I had expected, it has been a wonderful journey, full of beautiful landscapes, and some interesting people and their stories. I cannot get into all of them, but it has been really fun to meet these wonderful people, from around the world. I have already mentioned Thomas the Dane (and his Aussie companions), and Thomas the Swiss, but there are many, many others I have very much enjoyed meeting. I  have met many Germans during my travels, and Dutch, along with Danes, folks from France, Belgium, Sweden, United Kingdom, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Spain, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan and Japan, a bunch of South Americans (Chile, Argentina, Columbia, Brasil), and of course a few from the United States.

​There are many interesting people traveling the back roads and trails of Patagonia, and there seems to be real camaraderie among us all. Most recently I met Eli, Cam and Noah, biking from Ushuaia, Argentina to Burlington, Vermont, USA, check out their blog www.mundopequeno.org, and PoShun from Taiwan, who has been biking in different regions of the world since 2014. I met all of these folks in Torres del Paine, the three bikers heading to Vermont, USA, on the road from Pehoe camping zone, and PoShun stayed at Laguna Azul where I also stayed; he and his bike rode a number of km with me heading south out of the park (I was heading to Puerto Natales, he was going to camp one more night in the park). These folks on bicycles are the real studs of the Carretera Austral, of Patagonia in general. I have seen them climbing hills which my Sprinter van could barely climb, battling brutal winds on Ruta 40 in Argentina on the way to El Chalten and Fitz Roy, dodging potholes which would swallow a VW Beetle, and pedaling through driving rain and wind. They are the studs, and they just keep going, riding on, day after day, no matter what the roads and weather conditions are, they just keep riding, total studs. I have already mentioned Thomas the Dane, biker, one of these studs, am sure I will see him again, told him I would buy him a beer in Ushuaia where we both are headed (I have seen him something like 7 times during our travels in Patagonia). I also mentioned meeting Thomas the Swiss, we spent a number of days together and ate dinner twice, in Parque Patagonia, not sure what happened to him. And I met Nick from Colorado, spent Christmas Eve together drinking my beer, and experienced a 7.7 earthquake together on Christmas day. I could go on, and on, just so many wonderful and interesting people, from so many different countries around the world, in some ways, the best part of the trip, is this Patagonian Brotherhood. I hope all of you are all doing well. Be safe, wherever your future travels might take you.

I camped one night at Laguna Capri, it was beautiful, and a bit chilly as morning approached. My tent, a Marmot Limelight 2P, is more of a summer tent, lots of mesh, lots of mesh for the Patagonia winds to blow through. I was a tad bit chilly in the morning, but regardless, enjoyed a great breakfast of bread and peanut butter, and instant coffee. I then took off down the trail towards Poincenot campground, the winds were still blowing, but things began to clear, including Fitz Roy. So, even though I was not really planning on another time-lapse shoot (I had no ropes to anchor the tripod), I set up along the trail anyway, and began another 2+ hour time-lapse sequence. I set the camera on Aperture priority and  the interval at 5 sec, and I think I programmed the camera to shoot for 2.5 hours (or so), and stood there, trying to protect the camera and tripod from the wind, chatted with hikers as they passed. It was cold, but the shoot worked out ok. It looked like a much better day to climb Fitz Roy, as long as the wind did not blow you off the rock face on your way to the top.

Cerro Fitz Roy, or Cerro Chalten, named after the captain of the HMS Beagle made famous by Charles Darwin, was first climbed by two French alpinists in 1952. At 3,405 m (11,171 ft), Fitz Roy is not a high mountain, but it is technically difficult to climb, and the wind and weather can be horrific. The mountain was first climbed by Americans Yvon Chouinard and his three friends, Dick Dorworth, Chris Jones and Doug Tompkins in 1968. They made a film of their ascent, 'Mountain of Storms' (1968), filmed by Lito Tejade-Flores. Then in 2014, between the 12th and 16th of February, Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold completed the first ascent of the 'Fitz Traverse', climbing across the ridge line of Cerro Fitz Roy and a number of other peaks. They also produced a film, 'A Line Across the Sky' (2015, a Reel Rock 10 film, from Sender Films and Big Up Productions). Both short films are amazing to watch, as Fitz Roy is an impressive hunk of granite, and with the typically unpredictable weather in Patagonia, it is a real accomplishment to summit this peak.

Shooting time-lapse footage is a great way to show the dynamic nature of things, and especially life in the mountains. The time-lapse footage below of the Fitz Roy massif was shot in late afternoon, across Laguna Capri, not far from my campsite in Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. The sequence was shot with my Nikon D610, my first attempt at shooting a time-lapse sequence. This footage was shot with the Auto exposure setting, and a shooting interval of 5 sec, for 1 hr and 25 mins (I think). The camera automatically compiles all the hundreds of images into a video, interesting stuff. When you look at video like this, you almost wonder why anyone would want to climb this mountain, it must get just nuts near the top, with near vertical granite walls, incredible winds, clouds, rain, snow and ice.

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On the road again, and this time, into Argentina, and heading for El Chalten. This was to be only my second border crossing, and for some reason, I am always worried, just not sure how things will go with my van. I headed out of Chile Chico, picked up two hitchhikers heading for the border where they had left their motorcycles, Israelis, and quickly got to the Chilean side of the border, dropped off my passengers, and after a quick visit to immigration and customs, I was off for Argentina. I pulled into the line of cars, place was pretty busy, but it turned out that most were leaving Argentina, not entering, so whole process only took about 40 minutes. The last step is always the inspection by customs, but this time, they did not care about fruit, vegetables, meat, coca leaves, all they wanted to talk about was Trump, what happened? I had to laugh, and also had to pull out of the line, to the side, so we could chat about Trump, and implications for Argentina, Latin America, the world. I got to keep my fruit and meat. Then soon, down the road into Los Antiguos, Argentina. I quickly noticed a difference, nothing bad, just different, I was no longer in Chile. I also quickly picked up more hitchhikers, a young German couple, and off we went for Ruta 40, Perito Moreno and eventually El Chalten. Ruta 40 is kind of like Ruta 7 in Chile, the Carretera Austral, as many popular tourist destinations are reached off of Ruta 40, the main north-south road in western Argentina. We had left Chile, and the habitat made that clear, we were now in the pampa, dry and windy, really windy. We stopped in Perito Moreno, and I could not believe how windy it was, blowing like crazy down the main street in town. After a quick stop (I wanted to try and get a new sim card for my phone, but most stores were closed, some holiday in Argentina), continued south on Ruta 40, fighting the wind all the way. We ended up wild camping along Rio Chico, northwest of Gobernador Gregores, very windy, so glad I was not in a tent, though van did rock-and-roll most of the night. The next morning, packed up and headed for El Chalten, windy again, just crazy how windy it gets down in Patagonia. After another brutal stretch of ripio, dirt/gravel road, got off Ruta 40 and headed up Ruta 23 along  Lago Viedma towards El Chalten. It was still very windy, but as we approached El Chalten, the Fitz Roy massif came into view, impressive. The top of the peak remained mostly in the clouds, but was still an impressive, exciting sight, really cool to see such a famous Patagonian peak.

The town of El Chalten is actually very young, basically created by the Argentinian government in 1985 in order to get people there, and make sure the Chileans do not take over in that area. Apparently, the exact border between the two countries is not clear when you get south into Patagonia, and Argentina wanted to make sure they had a town there, so they build one, and encouraged the development of tourism in the area. This was easy, as Cerro Fitz Roy, and other mountains, were there, and in some ways, this area is the Yosemite of Patagonia, a mecca for climbers from around the world. Today, the town is a crazy place, busy, very busy, with hikers, trekkers, climbers, and other tourists from around the world. I stayed in a campground along the Rio de Las Vueltas, El Relincho, place was crazy. I climbed to my observation lounge on top of my van one evening, enjoyed a beer, and tried to count the number of tents in the campground, quit at 65 tents. The town was crammed with tourists, hikers and trekkers of all sorts, and from around the world, plus many older tourist who arrived by tour bus. There were also a number of overlanders, and as usual, some had some really impressive rigs. It was interesting. The German hitchhikers and I picked our campsites, me over by the fence facing the river, the German couple behind some bushes to get a break from the wind (not possible, place was crazy windy). I would see them later in the kitchen area, but they were off the next day for wherever. I would spend five nights in the area, four at El Relincho, and one at a Campamento Capri along Laguna Capri. It was amazing to hang in the town, and on a clear day, look up Fitz Roy, very cool. 

I biked from town up Ruta 41 past Chorrillo del Salto, much of the way to Lago del Desierto, and back, nice to get in a ride, though ate lots of dust kicked up by the cars moving along the dirt road. I also hiked the 4 km up to Laguna Capri, and back one day, before loading up my backpack to hike back up to Laguna Capri to stay a night or two. There are many trails to hike, and there are three campgrounds, all part of Parque Nacional Los Glaciares, and all free. There was no entrance fee for the park, and no fee to camp. This might in part explain why the place was so busy, and why there was so many people camping at Laguna Capri; I counted 37 tents after my night camping there. It was a great hike  up, all uphill, but good trail, and I got lucky and snagged a great spot to pitch my tent, at the edge of the "tent village", overlooking the lake. There were lots of trees around, and still windy, very windy, but a beautiful place to camp. I shot a time-lapse sequence in the late afternoon, and another one the next morning. There were some great views of Fitz Roy, and adjacent peaks, including those climbed in sequence by Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold (see "Line Across the Sky"). I wish I had more time, and energy, as the campsite at Poincenot was supposed to be great, plus the views from the trail Laguna de los Tres are supposed to be amazing. I felt so lucky to get great views of Fitz Roy, a place I have read about for many years. Has been a crazy season in these mountains, little climbing, too cold and too much rain, so lots of ice on the walls. I met a number of wonderful people, and, guess who I ran into again? I ran into Thomas the Dane, along with his two friends from Australia, very interesting. They had ridden down to Villa O'Higgins, end of the Carretera Austral, and rode and hauled their bikes across the border and eventually made their way down to El Chalten. It was good to see Thomas again, sure I will see him again on our way south. El Chalten is a crazy place, very busy, but definitely worth the trip. 
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My time in Parque Patagonia was great, but after five nights, it was time to move on. I took off pretty early, but was not in a huge hurry as I did not plan to make it all the way to Chile Chico in one day, as the roads are just too challenging. And, as I was heading out the 11 km to Carretera Austral, just amazing who I ran into, Thomas the Dane. Thomas is Danish, a biker (not motorcyclists), and I had run into him about five times already at different points along the Carretera Austral; he was easy to recognize as he had an animal tail hanging from one of his rear panniers. Sad, and funny at the same time, as we were traveling at about the same pace as we both headed south, he on his bike, me in my Sprinter. At this point, he was traveling with a couple from Australia, and they had also stayed at Los West Winds in Parque Patagonia the night before. It was sad that I did not know they were there, as I had lots of cold beer to share, and one thing I know for sure, bikers on the Carretera Austral are not hauling beer up and down the dirt and gravel roads that are the norm in this part of the world. Plus, we all know how much the Aussies love beer. I stopped the van, shook his hand, and took a picture. We chatted briefly, and both agreed that we would see each other again, just fate at this point. Both us were heading for Ushuaia, Argentina. It was nice to see him again, such is life as members of the Patagonia brotherhood, so many of us traveling the same roads, visiting the same beautiful places, so interesting and fun. The Australian couple were also very nice, and I actually did see them again very soon, at the point where the park road hit the Carretera Austral. They were all heading south, to Cochrane, and eventually to Villa O'Higgins where they planned to cross the pass (pushing their bikes) into Argentina, and eventually into El Chalten, Argentina. I was also heading to El Chalten, though I was heading north to the road along the southern shore of Lago General Carrera to Chile Chico and the Argentinian border. We chatted again, took some photos of the confluence of the Rio Chacabuco with the Rio Nef, and off they went, south, while I loaded up and headed north to the turn-off for Chile Chico.

I ended up spending the night in Puerto Gaudal along the lake, wild camping at the town dock. Then next morning, I took off along the shore of the lake, heading for Chile Chico, and, another brutal stretch of road. It is such a brutal stretch, it has a name, the "Paso de las Llaves", a scary stretch of road, ".... a 30-km stretch of road carved out of the rock face on the edge of the lake" (Footprint, Patagonia, 4th Edition). It was another exhausting drive, steep uphill sections where the van really struggled, curves and switchbacks, lots of gravel and washboard and potholes and rocks and drop-offs into the lake below. It was a long day. But eventually I made it into Chile Chico, great little town on the southern shore of the lake, Lago General Carrera, windy (and I mean windy, like blow your socks off), but cool place to hang for a couple of days before heading into Argentina, and down to El Chalten. I checked out a few places to camp in town, but ended up at a great hostal, where I negotiated the price down to $12,000 pesos, good deal with private room, shared bathrooms with great showers, and lots of common space including a kitchen, and a cool space to hang out and work on the blog. There also turned out to be a great mix of people moving through, and Jose, a professional photographer helped out around the place, run by a very nice woman with four boys (did not see a husband). I also found a place to exchange money, Chilean for Argentinian pesos, which later would prove to be important as getting money in places like El Chalten was a challenge. While the drive was scary, Chile Chico was great, and, it all meant that I would soon be in El Chalten, and get my first look at Cerro Fitz Roy, another special place on my check-list of must-see places in Patagonia. Off to Argentina. 

I really enjoyed my time in Parque Patagonia, best place I have visited so far. I hiked, biked, and, took many photographs. Below is a large slideshow of many more images from my time in Parque Patagonia. Maybe, I need to put together a book, I have that many images, including about a thousand images of guanacos, they were everywhere.
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There were a number of places which were definitely on my list of places that I must visit while in Chile and Patagonia, and Parque Patagonia was one of them. This is a new, private park, another project of Doug and Kris Tompkins, and Conservacion Patagonica. Conservacion Patagonica, a US-based nonprofit organization, was formed by the Tompkins in 2000. The first project was the creation of a new 165,000 acre coastal park in Argentina, Monte Leon National Park. Then in 2004, the 174,500 acre Estancia Valle Chacabuco was purchased, land which would become Parque Patagonia. The valley is adjacent to Reserva Nacional Lago Jeinemeni to the north, and the smaller R.N Tamango to the south. Together, the three parks would include over 640,000 acres of protected area in Chile. The restoration began soon after the land was purchased, many, many km of fences were removed, along with hundreds of sheep and cattle (25,000 sheep and 3,800 cattle), and many species-specific restoration projects were begun. The valley is ecologically important as the habitat represents the transition between the arid steppe of Argentine Patagonia and the temperate southern beech forest of Chilean Patagonia, and includes grasslands, riparian forests, wetlands, and uplands. The valley is now full of guanaco, and maybe 140 endangered huemul deer. And as prey returned to the valley, so did the lone predator, the puma. They also build a number of buildings, about 11 km from the Carretera Austral, including a lodge, a restaurant and bar, a visitors center, housing for park staff, and two campgrounds, all constructed when possible with local stone and recycled wood. I eventually stayed at both campgrounds, Los West Winds, which is only 2 km from park headquarters (i.e., visitors center, restaurant/bar), and the Stone House campground, 34 km down the road from headquarters, near the confluence of the Aviles and Chacabuco Rivers. They also are developing a network of trails, though at this point, there are only two trails from Los West Winds, including the 23-km Lagunas Atlas Loop Trail, a challenging hike, where the trail gains approximately 850 m over the first 7 km. The facilities are great, and the Los West Winds campground reminds me of the facilities at Parque Pumalin, except that I could not drive to the individual sites which have shelters, a picnic table, etc., I had to stay in my van in the parking lot. But I was not alone, there was always at least one other camper or overlander staying in parking lot with me. I would have liked to be able to drive to an individual campsite like at Pumalin, but they had designed things differently here. This was the case at both campsites, West Winds and Stone House. Also, while this park is still private, run by Conservacion Patagonia, or Tompkins Conservation, the plan is to transfer control to Chilean control by 2019 or 2020. This will be a Chilean park. The park is just amazing, beautiful, with guanacos everywhere. This place should be on everyone's list of places to visit in Patagonia, and yet, it does not show up on any maps which I observed. This is a huge, new park, with real potential. I loved my time there.

The images below are more about the facilities, and people who work in the park, along with Thomas the Swiss, who accompanied me to the park from Cochrane. He camped in his tent, and I stayed in my van. We had dinner together (twice) in the restaurant, great food, all-you-could-eat, though a bit expensive at $26,000 pesos. After a few days, Thomas took off on a trek, north out of the park and through R.N. Lago Jeinemeni, and eventually to Chile Chico.

I got to Coyhaique without problem, great town, though weather was not the best. I stayed at the Hostal El Nevado, $20,000 Chilean pesos per night, shared bath (with only one other room, which was only occupied one night, by two Americans, twin brothers), not bad. Coyhaique good place to fuel up, stock up (last supermercado) and get cash (last ATM on Carretera Austral). I got in a bike ride, Reserva Nacional Coyhaique which borders the town. I spent New Years here, and actually had fun, hanging out at the only restaurant that seemed to be open. It was nice to get a break from life on the road, do some shopping, get laundry done by professionals, get cash and fuel for the van, and even bought a fishing license so I could legally catch more fish in Chile.  It poured on New Years Day, time to work on the blog, and get ready for the run south, to Parque Patagonia, my next destination.

I spent a few nights in Coyhaique, then took off south, back on the Carretera Austral. I headed for Cerro Castillo, road paved, and wonderful, though not the most scenic stretch, until I headed into Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo, and eventually down into the valley containing Cerro Castillo. I read that some of the best treks in Patagonia are in Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo, though I met no one who had done any serious hiking there. I spent a night in Cerro Castillo, rained again that night, next day, off for Puerto Rio Tranquilo. 

The stretch of road between Cerro Castillo and Puerto Rio Tranquilo very scenic, but very challenging as well. The drive borders Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo, and then Parque Nacional Los Huemules, and eventually, I got my first views of Lago General Carrera, the second largest lake in South America after Lake Titicaca in Peru/Bolivia. I got to Puerto Rio Tranquilo late afternoon, time for a beer, before picking my camping spot for the night, wild camping at the edge of the beach on the lake, pretty much right in town. I do have one serious regret about my time in Puerto Rio Tranquilo, as I did not get out to Catedrales de Marmol, peninsula made of marble, with caves that can be visited by boat. I did not got that first afternoon, evening, as it was a long day on the road, and I instead concentrated on taking lots of photos. I thought I would just go the next morning, but unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate, too much wind, so they did not allow any boats to make the 20 minute journey out to the caves. Darn. So instead, took off pretty early, back onto the Carretera Austral. On my way out of town, picked up two hitchhikers, couple, young woman an American, guy was a Brit. Nice couple, and they ended up riding with me all the way to Cochrane, which was as far south as I planned to drive on the Carretera Austral. I also picked up a woman from Spain, traveling alone, dropped her off at the road heading for Chile Chico. It was another long day, but did drive by the road to Parque Patagonia, so got very excited for the next day when I would back-track from Cochrane to the pack. The last 17 km into Cochrane was another scary stretch of road, steep uphill climbs, drop-offs, blind curves, locals driving way too fast, typical stretch on the Carretera Austral. The Carretera Austral continues for another 230 km past Cochrane, to Villa O'Higgins, too far for me and my van, 230 km down, and 230 km back, all unpaved, and sure some stretches are brutal. This would mean I would miss visiting Tortel, an interesting little village, with houses and buildings all connected by cedar walkways. I did not have the time, needed to get to Parque Patagonia where I hoped to be able to spend some time.

Cochrane was not that impressive, and none of the campgrounds were anything special. We ended up stopping at a campground which was basically the backyard of a house, but nice enough, lots of homemade structures, hot water, and a kitchen area, plus, Wifi, which never really seemed to work. We were the only ones there at first, but I was amazed at how quickly the little backyard filled up, including a motorcyclist from Argentina, a huge camper from Chile, a Dutch couple in a WickedCamper I had met the night before in Puerto Rio Tranquilo, and Thomas, a Swiss backpacker/hitchhiker. Thomas and I would actually end up spending a lot of time together as he would decide to travel with me to Parque Patagonia the next day, a decision I know he would not regret. It rained again. Such is life in Patagonia, and, so glad to have my van, as I slept well, the pitter-patter of raindrops on the roof of my van.  The next day, off for Parque Patagonia. It was already the 5th of January, time was starting to fly by. But I was deep into Patagonia now, all was good.
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