where am I?

It has been a few days since the last post. Blame it on desolation and lack of internet options. When last we spoke your humble narrator was just pulled out of his lazy descent by two kind strangers. (although I appreciate all the supportive emails as well and once I get a good connection I will reply to each one.) I’ve attached the pic of Luis and Odile from the next night after our ferry ride. Upon further conversation I realized that our chance meeting the night before had helped them too. Two days in lovely Quellon will do that to you.

The next morning after my last post dawned clear and sunny. I drove down to the southern terminus of the Pan-American Highway. Took some pics, found a place to eat lunch and took some more pics. The ferry arrived nice and late. 2 hours late. We finally left Quellon at 9pm . A 5 hour ride across the ocean to Chaiten was a piece of cake. Almost Famous, The Office and DMB at Piedmont Park on the DVD player while I attempted to organize my thoughts for Overland Journal. I failed. After taking a very casual conversational approach to my blog it seems as though I’ve forgotten, not sure I ever really knew to begin with, how to write proper and grammatically correct prose with structured paragraphs and flow to the article. But I’m working on it. I said goodbye to my new French friends, found a place to park and slept in the back of my truck that night because it was so late, (3ish) and it was cold. I woke at the fine hour of 11am. A good solid 8 hours.

Another glorious day in Chile. The Carratera Austral is a sometimes rugged, sometimes placidly paved road through incredible scenery. I was trying to amalgamate a collection of landscapes to convey to you, my dear readers, the beauty that I was travelling through. One part Teton National Park, Wyoming. Two parts Banff, Alberta. One part Glacier Bay, Alaska. One part Rhohan, in Middle Earth during the Age of the Elves. Or exchange that last part to the place in New Zealand that they used to film the land of the Rhohirrim. Then as I began the long circumnavigation of the, surreally, Dr Suess-esque blue, Lago Buenos Aires it dawned on me the ideal description for the beauty around me. It looks EXACTLY like Northern Patagonia. Sorry. That’s the best I can come up with. Found a place to camp as the rain hit. It rained for about 18 hours. Had the worst meal and service of my trip in Coyhaique, Chile. Two hours for a crappy pizza and Fanta. First time I haven’t tipped also. Slept again that night in the rain near Cochrane. Did I mentioned it rained for 18 hours straight? Yep standing water on my passenger floorboard due to a leaky windshield.

Yesterday was another glorious morning however. Cold and clear. Then an even more glorious thing happened. I crossed into Argentina in my shortest border since Mexico. 30mins including the 15 min drive between stations. I was poking through the book on the Argentina side. 8 people came through this week. He averages about 25-30 a week. This was about 2 hours into my morning. A morning that would be the start of one of the best days of my trip. I managed over 500 miles of washboard and sealed gravel. Another 80 or so of pavement. It took about 50-60 miles for my arms to loosen up but I settled into my groove. I’m ready for the Baja 1000. Got our truck bought yet Darren? Actually the roads were rather pleasant, gorgeous desolate landscape and then another conversation. This time with two guides at the gas station in Tres Lagos. I was looking for a camp spot and they said push on to Los Glaciares National Park and camp there. I told them I didn’t want to miss anything in the dark. They urged me to do it. Said I wasn’t missing anything in the 90 min drive.

Los Glaciares was my destination today anyway so I trusted them. The full moon began to light the landscape and dull the surrounding stars. Then I had my epiphany. Clear skies and towering Patagonia peaks in front of me. Yep much like the beach in baja I was up until 2am taking pics again last night. Woke early to take some more. Went on a 6 hour 10 mile hike today. Good hell my left knee is shot. I forgot how torturous it can be to hike on a glacial moraine. So with a sore knee and sunburned nose I’m sitting on the side of the road typing this post waiting for the moon to rise again. So along with Luis and Odile I’ve included pics of Lago Buenos Aires, last night, this morning, my lunch spot, and my sunset this evening. (just added them and you ended up with 11, you can only guess how many I have for the gallery when I can ftp to my server. )

Apparently Cerro Fitzroy, the major mountain in the pics, can be shrouded in clouds for weeks on end. It seems as though Ma Nature is making up with me for all the rain she dumped on me in Ecuador when I spent days surrounded by 18k foot volcanoes and never saw one of them. She certainly is a fickle gal isn’t she? I need to figure out what I’ve done to swing her to my side and keep her there for the next two weeks as I wander through the southern tip of the world. Tomorrow another hike then off to the South Section of Los Glaciares and some more hiking. I hope to post before then but we’ll see. It seems as though I’ve hit the region of the world where my SPOT isn’t 100% either so if two or three show up it is because the last four have failed. Did I mention they have ice cream next to the internet café? Well they do. And with that I’m done. Back to town to send this out and get some ice cream. Enjoy the pics. I guarantee I had more fun taking them. And sharing makes me feel pretty damn good too. I’m a lucky man. But we’ll save that for the next post. Oh wait the next one is more random thoughts (I’ve been taking notes) THEN we’ll get to the lucky man post. See I told you J leaving would mean more posts to read.