Chocolate!

We are off to Ushuaia this morning, but had to stop by the chocolate shop em route and met Corina, who hooked us up with some fresh samples. Absolutely amazing. And it's her birthday today, happy birthday Corina!

Glaciers and peaks. Penguins next.

My eyes have never before seen the amazing natural wonders that they have in the past week. After leaving Mt. fitz Roy we went south to Perito Moreno, arguably the most famous glacier there is. I've seen glaciers before. They are nestled up in cold snowy mountain peaks where they make sense. Not this one. It comes down from the southern Patagonian ice field, thru the mountains where I thought glaciers belonged, down thru a lake (which it often dams up) and smashes into a peninsula. 5 kilometers wide at the viewable end and 14 kilometers back up to the ice field where it's born. See the ship in the pic for scale. So blue. So big. The sounds coming from it as it cracked and fell (it moves 2 meters per day forward) are like a rolling thunder. If I sat there for a week my jaw would still be dropped in awe. Makes no sense, but it's real.
From there we went back into Chile to see and hike Torres del Paine NP. Amazing area. You can really see the range that it's connected to as you approach it. Only the desert on the dry side of the Andes, then suddenly a crazed snowy amusement park of mountainy goodness riddled with make believe peaks and valley, epic and wild as a child's drawing of the wildest mountains. We camped on a lake viewing the park the night before we went in. See pic. We spent 2 days hiking the W trail in the park, up a gorgeous valley with peaks and glaciers. Again, as we hiked, we were often interrupted by the sound of rolling thunder that is the mountains and glaciers and rocks singing their song. Although we did get rained on, we kept our spirits high and after arriving back to were we had stashed the bikes, treated ourselves to a fine breakfast this morning as a reward for hiking 26 mountain kilometers yesterday.
Today we are southbound. On a quest for penguins. Puerto Notales is where we are fueling now, and we are being told that Punta Arenas has got spades of them. That will be our destination for tonight.
Enjoy the pics. The roads are so windy that we actually ran into a team riding a sailboat down Ruta 40 the other day. Had to get a pic of that.

Life goals accomplished

We began to turn west slightly and rolled up on the most spectacular
range we have ever seen. We knew that the legendary Fitz Roy peaks
were here near, and then: BAM! The weather permitted a clear view of
its steep fingers reaching 3400 meters high above the snow. We all
had been dreaming of this place for several years. Josh using this
very image for the background of his phone back in 2010, I read blogs
and saved photos of this place back in 2006. It had been a long time
coming.
Hiking these hills was rewarding with massive and thundering glacial
ice fields strewn about its base. It was no doubt we had arrived;
seeing climbers lugging around their gear after having prepped here in
Chalten Argentina for 1, 2, 3 months or more.
Now we head out to visit the next big goal of seeing first hand, the
incomprehensibly large Perito Moreno Glacier. At this point we're just
80km away! We've heard of its size, taller than large buildings, wider
than a city, and snaking its way down the mountains for miles. I can't
wait to hear and see the sights and sounds of massive ice booming with
thunder as the ice breaks and then slams into the water. This should
be good!

Back in Argentina

So much has happened. We crossed back over from Chile into Argentina after learning that there is no way to get from Villa O'Higgins (bottom of Careterra Austral) over to our destination in Argentina of El Chalten and Fitz Roy. One the way we saw probably 300 Llama esque creatures called Guanacos that can leap. Pretty cool. Emus too. Wild. We camped the first night at a dried up lake, well, mostly dried up as we found out after Luke got a little too close to the low spot and got his bike stuck hard. Made for a great photo, but frustrating. The next day in Argentina had frustrations as well as I made a dumb move by riding on a super new patch of paved road. So new in fact it wasn't open yet. The wind and sketchy gravel caused me to take the risk, and I was rewarded by going down after electing to go through some uber goopy tar. Covered everything. Seemingly impossible to clean. I've actually thrown out my pants and gloves this morning after failed attempts to clean.
Some amazing riding and even better views. El Chalten and Fitz Roy have been amazing and a goal of mine for some time. We did a great hike near the base of this epic range yesterday, and today we are off to the world famous glacier Perito Moreno. Enjoy these pics, more to come!

Naturally Carved Marble Cathedral

Negotiated our way into a sweet deal on a hilariously fun tour of
Chile's outstanding Marble Caves. Teetering above radiant, crystal
clear, turquoise water we piloted the boat through it's columns. Our
tour guide was a rad Chilean jokester who shrewdly ran a hodge podge
campground out of his yard, kitchen, and personal bathroom.
Pictures cannot do justice to the brilliant marble and precarious time
etched dreamscape. Try to note the way the morning light glimmers off
the smooth ceiling of the etched stone.
Having quite successfully charmed Boris, we all got a chance to drive.
Worth every penny, I'll remember this for a long time.

Rad roads, secret hide-out camp spots

The vistas just don't stop and we keep finding fierce camping spots.
Even the bikes had a band style photo shoot on a strange bamboo
graveyard.
The Tarmac, smooth and twisty, satisfying my soul. The gravel gnarly,
remote, and lined with carcasses of old cars abandoned.

Parts needed = Epic hike

As my fork seals blew oil all over my engine and legs, Josh's chain
began to give up the ghost. In waiting for parts being shipped across
Chile, we set out for a hike we were bummed to miss. Creating the most
amazing mountain pass of the trip so far, we didn't have the gusto,
food, or health necessary to take the hike through the Bosque
Encantado (Enchanted Forest) to a glacial lagoon (tarn). We ripped
back through the smooth and curvy roads over a hundred miles.
It couldn't have been a better decision, the weather was perfect and
the trail could not have been more aptly named. It was a wonderland,
beyond imagination of mossy overhanging woodland playground. Stacked
with streams every 100 feet until we started to climb.
There was the first glimpse of the glacier hanging over a cliff and we
made our way over the rocks and waterways to the top. I'll ne'er
forget the brilliant colors of that tarn, and to thinks that this is
only a tiny taste of what is to come. We made camp next to a remote
river, built a fire on a sandbar, and soaked in the pleasures of
sleeping on the road with sand beneath our bums and snow capped cliffs
above our heads. Not bad.
Now, the parts are on hand and we're gearing up to head south. Scroll
down to see Josh's pics of the hike and enchanted forest!