CN - Saturday
Today we got started fairly early to make the ride up to Los Glaciares National Park and get a close up view of the Perito Moreno glacier. It's pretty much the only glacier in the park you can drive/ride to and get a close look. It was only about a 50k ride from El Calafate to the park entrance and another 25k to the viewing decks. It was again an amazing ride tracing next to the lake and getting glimpses of the looming glacier peaking around the curves. The glacier itself is massive (240ft high) and not even the largest in the park. What makes this glacier special is that it is advancing not receding - as most glaciers. The chance to see large chunks calving off into the lake are high - and we did get to see two giant calving events. The sights and sounds of it are indescribable and well worth the trip to see the glacier up close. Well worth the $25 entrance fee to the park.
After a few hours at Perito Moreno we headed back to El Calafate to gas up again (gas is scarce in this area so you need to get it when you can) and head back into Chile to visit Torres del Pain. As soon as we got on the Route 40 the winds became intense - again trying to rip the helmet off my head again. We hit a dirt road shortcut that turned out to be a bit rocky and bumpy in places. I ended up loosing my tail light somewhere along the way. When we reached the boarder station (after getting gas again at the lone station at the end of the dirt road) I noticed it was gone. Will need to find something to replace it as I don't want an excuse for a cop to pull me over and extort money from me. The border on the Argentina side would have been quick and easy if it were not for the busload of tourist coming in from Chile. The line did go quickly and we were through in about 45 minutes. The ride through no-mans-land to the Chile station showed some of the strongest winds of the trip gusting up to 60mph. When we parked our bikes I was sure the would blow over. Tiny rocks were plastering my face as I walked up to the small border building. This was very quick with the paperwork aspect, but we were required to unload all the bags and put them through an x-ray machine for the final step. The agent discovered some Spanish chorizo sausage in my camping food stuffs and confiscated it. I asked him why and he said no fruits, vegetables or meats were allowed into Chile from Argentina. I tried to present the irony in this as the chorizo was purchased in Chile (even the packaging indicated it was from Chile) so I was actually just bringing it back. This of course didn't matter to the agent and he took it anyway. Luckily later that day I found the same chorizo in a grocery store and was able to re-supply.
Our destination for the night went from camping to hostel, due to the cold and crazy winds. I don't think I could buy enough stakes to keep my tent planted in this wind. We found some beds (expensive because it's Chile) in Puerto Natales - just a bit south of the southern entrance to the Parque Nacional. Rode into town to get dinner - some massive beef sandwiches with cheese, tomato, lettuce and guacamole, then called it a night.
Today we got started fairly early to make the ride up to Los Glaciares National Park and get a close up view of the Perito Moreno glacier. It's pretty much the only glacier in the park you can drive/ride to and get a close look. It was only about a 50k ride from El Calafate to the park entrance and another 25k to the viewing decks. It was again an amazing ride tracing next to the lake and getting glimpses of the looming glacier peaking around the curves. The glacier itself is massive (240ft high) and not even the largest in the park. What makes this glacier special is that it is advancing not receding - as most glaciers. The chance to see large chunks calving off into the lake are high - and we did get to see two giant calving events. The sights and sounds of it are indescribable and well worth the trip to see the glacier up close. Well worth the $25 entrance fee to the park.
After a few hours at Perito Moreno we headed back to El Calafate to gas up again (gas is scarce in this area so you need to get it when you can) and head back into Chile to visit Torres del Pain. As soon as we got on the Route 40 the winds became intense - again trying to rip the helmet off my head again. We hit a dirt road shortcut that turned out to be a bit rocky and bumpy in places. I ended up loosing my tail light somewhere along the way. When we reached the boarder station (after getting gas again at the lone station at the end of the dirt road) I noticed it was gone. Will need to find something to replace it as I don't want an excuse for a cop to pull me over and extort money from me. The border on the Argentina side would have been quick and easy if it were not for the busload of tourist coming in from Chile. The line did go quickly and we were through in about 45 minutes. The ride through no-mans-land to the Chile station showed some of the strongest winds of the trip gusting up to 60mph. When we parked our bikes I was sure the would blow over. Tiny rocks were plastering my face as I walked up to the small border building. This was very quick with the paperwork aspect, but we were required to unload all the bags and put them through an x-ray machine for the final step. The agent discovered some Spanish chorizo sausage in my camping food stuffs and confiscated it. I asked him why and he said no fruits, vegetables or meats were allowed into Chile from Argentina. I tried to present the irony in this as the chorizo was purchased in Chile (even the packaging indicated it was from Chile) so I was actually just bringing it back. This of course didn't matter to the agent and he took it anyway. Luckily later that day I found the same chorizo in a grocery store and was able to re-supply.
Our destination for the night went from camping to hostel, due to the cold and crazy winds. I don't think I could buy enough stakes to keep my tent planted in this wind. We found some beds (expensive because it's Chile) in Puerto Natales - just a bit south of the southern entrance to the Parque Nacional. Rode into town to get dinner - some massive beef sandwiches with cheese, tomato, lettuce and guacamole, then called it a night.
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| Camp in El Calafate. |
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| The massive ice field (only half the view), |
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| Unapologetic selfie. |
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| Calving glacier P. Moreno. |
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