Good morning on the first riding day of this great adventure tour in Patagonia. At 9 am we weete picked up by the taxis to go to the bikes which were already (almost) ready to go ! So after re arrange the luggage in waterproof bags and install the camera's navigation systems and sonon, we werre finally ready to go for the first day riding in this fascinating part of the world. The first day is more or less the only day when we ride in northern direction. And after about 80km notthbound, we went off the highway and immediately there were beautiful lakes, great swerving roads and beautiful views despite the little rain and clouds. 
after a late lunch next to annice warm fireplace we rode further to our first destination of Pucon. Tomorrow our first bordercrossing into Chile !! Stay tuned!

And the sun is out today!! What a way nicer begin of the day! Leaving our hotel on the famous route 40 is certainly a treat for all the senses. Endles views in a stunning scenery. Then our first border crosslng into Argentina was pretty fast so time enough to enjoy this beautiful day   A lunch in Junin de los Andes was a surpise to us because a petite steak they call it here weighs about one pound !! Welcome in Argentina !!

St Martin de los Andes is very much like a mountain village with all k inds of outdoor shops and nice coffee bars and restaurant so a good place tonsteoll around a bit

a very good second day of the tour

Today we decided to do the Seven lakes road on the famous Route 40 instead of the gravel loop over the mountains due to the strong wind and predicted snowfall. And that turned out to be an excellent choice. What a fantastic route is that through never ending stunning sceneries! Warming up in the cosy restaurant of Cucu Schultz with a firm piece of cake, wenfillowed our way down towards the tiny village of El Hoyo when finally thensum came out and where we stayed the nightbinna lovely remote hosteria with a very friendly staff and a lot of lively animals. 

What a crazy day today! We left our nice and cozy Hosteria in El Hoyo in Southern direction for our first real off road part of about 70km through the Los Arceles national park. Since the weather is rather unpredictable in this area we were dressed in full rain gear bit the first part the sun even came out and we paid a visit tor the former farm house and little museum where the notorious criminals Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid were hiding  from the law enforcers at the beginning of the last century. A very nice place tonvisit with a entertaining lady owner of the museum shop annex coffe bar. 
After this break the rain returned and we started our slippery adventure through the national park. And even with poor visibility the scerney is breathtaking here   What a beautiful part of the world. After our sexond bordercrossing back into Chili, we soon arrived in the mountain village of Futaleufu and enjoyed again a xxl piece  of meat at dinner.  Great day !

One good thing: we are already gettingnused to ride in the rain, even on the more difficult parts off road! And so we took off from the nice mountain hotel in Futaleufu to hot the unpaves road already after some kilometers and went on fie about 55 km on that. Following the swirling river southbound along the carreterr austral, a famous 1250 plus km road built under the Pinochet regime. Watching the burried houses innvilla santa lucia by a huge landslide in 2017, we stopped for a coffee and a great cake. Later we had a very nice lunch in la Junta and ended our wet daytrip in a tiny village at a fjord , called Puyuhaipi. 

This was quite a day ! The  hilinweather gods are still not amused! So in our rain gear we left the small village of Puyuhaipi to make our ascent to the Quelat pass in the Quelat  national park.  What a gorgeous route through this unbelievable cold rain forest. And after doing heavy switchbacks on loose gravel we reaches the top of the pass in the snow!! Who told us that this was a summer holiday ?? But what a beauty. Waterfalls, glaciers, lfjords, everything is present here  After lunch it was still 5 degrees celsius so when we finally reached the hotel it was time to dry our clothes and take a hot shower. 
Now enjoying Coyahaque!

What an awesome day again. Getting out towards the challenging mountain roads next to the General Carrera lake was a lot of fun bit also we had to focus on the ever changing status of the roads. But what a rewards: endless  mountian chains, gorgeous lakes, and wildlife. 
One of the most beautiful places on earth  for sure!!

and crossing the border back into argentina brought us also some sunshine again ! A perfect end of the day!

What a challenging day we had! The famous stromg Patagonian wind pulled up and accompanied us untill the end of the day. The scenery very much changed from mountainous green to pampa brownish! But what an endless beauty in this part of the world. A little shortage in fuel pushed us to the next village. Luckily they had enough! A last 30 km of deep gravel lead us to a remote estancia in La Angostura. Another great day in paradise!!

Today started with a fresh wind but more or less a sunny sky, so all happy! Rightaway leaving the hacienda, we countered the gravel road which would last for 120 km through the pampas. This is the most difficult part of the tour, since some parts are deep gravel. But our group did a great job fighting this hard road. And luckily no rain today. When we were ready with the gravel part we had another 150 km to cover but again the fantastic mountain scenery popped up and soon we had mount fitz roy in sight accompanied by numerous other mountain peaks which forced us to make several photo stops. All areived safe in El Chaltén

Mike riding in 4 feet of gravel )

And aomwe arrived in El Calafate where we will stay for rhe next two nights. 
This morning the 'rocksteady crew' took off at 08.30 am for a two hour off-road ride to Desert lake , which is hidden between the borders of Chili and Argentina. You can say it was a challenging road but what great fun we had: as an adventure should be! Watercrossinga, sandy roads, slippery roads, gravel, deep gravel, half gone bridges, snow capped mountians in the backgroud: we had it all. And all before it was coffee time ! After we picked up the rest of the gang at the hotel, we headed out towards El Calafate. Beautiful ride, with a nice lunch stopat the Rio Leona. So all together a fantastic day !!

On our restday day today in El Calafate it is all about visiting the National Park with the majestic Perito Moreno glacier in it. 
And today finally it looked like a summer day. Temperature even got up to 25 degrees celsius. A nice and leisurely ride of 80 km in mostlynweatern directions took us to the entrance of the park and soon we had our first sight on this overwhelming creation of nature!! What a WOW moments we had today. Just ahead of the tourbusses it was still reasonably quiet in the park so we could enjoy it to the maximum today. Getring back at the hotel everybody enjoyed a couple of hours free time before  we went to dinner.  Absolute highlight day !!

Today we had to fight the wind going back into Chile. Over the stretched big pampas of Argentina back to the coastal areas of Chile we had a sunny but also very windy day. After the border crossing it was nice to have a lunch break in the little restaurant annex souvenirshop where even some of us had a little metengue dance with the waitresses. 

Safely arrived at our hotel at the stormy lake we are ready for the Torres del Paine tomorrow!

Despite all the very bad weather forecasts, today turned out to be a fantastic riding day through the Torres del Paine national park. One stunning view after another......it seems that this will never stop. Majestic mountians, enchamting green/blue lakes, beatiful cloud combinations....a day to never forget anymore. !!

Today we left the mountain area's and entered the pampas again. A long haul lead us south and then east towards the ferrylanding to cross the famous Magellan Strait right at the Atlantic ocean.  The (unusual) eastern winds were pretty ok and not strong with some half cloudy sky. Actually for here a nice riding temperature. 
a lunch right at the ferry crossing and a relaxed ferry ride took us straight into Terra del Fuego , the bare island at the eastern sude of Patagonia. 
tomorrow getting ready dir the last haul southbound to the 'fin del mundo' or thenend of the world: Ushuaia !!

WE MADE IT!! 
After 16 riding days in sun, snow, rain and harsh winds we finally arrived at the most southern city in thenworld: Ushaia! 
We still have two more long riding days to go, but this is a spot in the world, which is on the bucket list of many people! 
Tomorrow a well earned reat day in Ushaia to suck up the special atmosphere of this vibrant city full of explorers into this special oart of the world.

Well done group! You are special!!

And then suddenly it is there: our last day in Argentina. Leaving Ushaia this morning is not really finished untill you have really rode to the end of Ruta 3. THAT is really the 'Fin del Mundo'. Through a bit rainy and alippery national park we rode to the end of that road and then returned on the same way out and kf course not without visiting the most southern post office in the world. Then back over the Garibaldi pass with a little bit of snow and back over the Tierra del Fuego to our last Argentina staynin Rio Grande. The steong side winds picked up again. Everyone early to bed because our last riding day from Argentina back into Chili will also be the longest one of this tour!! 

And after 3 weeks of riding more than 5000 kilometers , on paved and unpaved roads.....gravel, mud, snow and everything in between....

Breathtaking and stunning sceneries, spectacular mountainridges, rainforests and again everything in between

The strong  stormy winds mostly from weatern direction....it was all together a real adventure!

Thank you Rupert, 'Patagon' Mike, Greg, Arnold, Dan and Ginny. You were a great uncomplicated and flexible group. We had a lot of fun together, great stories and good conversations 

Thank you all and hope to see you at another Edelweiss adventure!!