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Mendoza, Pre-Trip Oct 27-30 On Friday evening, we attended a lovely dinner with friends at Cavas Wine Lodge, a beautiful hotel not far from our house. Later, when Knox went to retrieve the Amarok, he found we had a very flat front tire. Thankfully, the hotel staff changed the tire for the spare in no time,… Read more: Mendoza, Pre-Trip

MENDOZA – CHOS MALAL Nov. 2 We left Mendoza for Chos Malal around 9:30 a.m., and it was a beautiful day for a drive! By the time we reached Tunuyan, we realized the so-called gas shortage was probably not a thing.  No lines that we could see whatsoever, ninety minutes south of our house! The… Read more: MENDOZA – CHOS MALAL

Chos Malal – El Bolsón Nov. 3, Chos Malal to El Bolsón We pulled out of Hotel Terra Malal around 9:30 after a typical Argentine buffet breakfast— good, but standard; plenty of sustenance to get the car packed and on the road. The drive began unremarkably, but soon the change in landscape was dramatic… it… Read more: Chos Malal – El Bolson

El Bolson – Futaleufu Nov 5 We packed up and left El Bolson by 10 a.m. in intermittent, pouring rain.  Within 30 minutes, we were headed out of the alpine forests and downhill into low scrub and brush, a much more arid landscape at a lower altitude. And just as quickly it seemed, we began… Read more: El Bolson – Futaleufú

Futalfeufu – Coyhaique Nov 6 In pouring rain, we began heading south, and the rolling hills reminded me of Vermont with dozens of sheep, cows and horses who met us at every turn alongside and in the middle of the roads, except for the occasion glimpse of high mountains (rather than hills), their peaks painted… Read more: Futalfeufu – Coyhaique

Coyhaique – Las Horquetas Nov. 8 Knox woke up early to have the left front tire looked at and changed because of an “almost imperceptible bubble in the side wall.”  We figured we were headed into one of the least populated places in the world, so, just in case, let’s have it checked. Knox found… Read more: Coyhaique – Las Horquetas

Nov 9 We were up, dressed, and at breakfast by 8:30, a beautiful morning: cold but not terribly so, and very windy. After a quick meal and being greeted enthusiastically by the numerous dogs who call the estancia home, we decided to take a walk to stretch our legs along the marsh that lines the… Read more: Las Horquetes – El Chaltén

Nov 10 We left the wooded cabin at about 9:30 a.m. in extremely windy conditions (people bracing against the wind walking in town), but not cold—16 degrees and sunny with fast-moving clouds. We tracked back SE along Lake Viedma, along route 23 away from Fitz Roy. The cloud cover only increased as we drove. As… Read more: EL Chaltén – El Calafate

Nov 12 Around 10 a.m., after filling up with no problems and no line, we headed out of town to the east with Lake Argentina to our north (on the left), and again, we had more barren, brown terrain with white-capped peaks in the distance. We drove 20 kilometers to meet up with Route 40… Read more: EL CALEFATE – TORRES DEL PAINE

Nov. 14 We were on the road around 9:15, in 3 degrees, rain and sleet, and with very little visibility  (we lucked out having seen the towers; today there are many tourists who will see only fog and rain and sleet and snow, and no view). We climbed back up the mountain past Lago del… Read more: TORRES DEL PAINE – RIO GRANDE

Nov 15 We had a late start; after coffee and breakfast and a gas stop, we were on the road by 11:30. The wind and the big sky continued under partly cloudy skies, and the temperature hovered around 8 degrees Celcius. We drove south, following the ocean to our left, and again, the view was… Read more: RIO GRANDE – USHUAIA

Nov. 18 We were on the road by 9:30 in steady rain turning to sleet and snow (leaving the city border, a traffic cop told us to drive “con mucho precaución!”). We climbed back up Route 3 (rt 40) to the pass and retraced most of our trip down from Rio Grande back to the… Read more: USHUAIA -RÍO GALLEGOS

Nov. 19 After breakfast, we took a brisk walk in sunny, 8-degree Celsius weather 5 blocks to the comisaría (police station) to officially get our authorization of “no emision de voto,” (non-casting of vote) that says we are too far away from our place of residence to vote. We packed up and were on the road by 10… Read more: RÍO GALLEGOS – COMODORO RIVADAVIA

Nov. 20 We had a 5-hour drive ahead, so in high winds, we left around 10:30 to have some time to relax in Puerto Madryn. A divided-lane highway along the coast, out of town, passed oil refineries and other industries, and then we came onto two-way route 3 with rolling green desert-scrub hills (again reminiscent of… Read more: COMODORO RIVADAVIA – PUERTO MADRYN

Nov 22 With just a short, two-and-a-half-hour drive ahead, we drove back up to the plateau to the familiar, endless desert brown grass and wind farms, although now at least we were graced with several hills. We climbed steadily through a few rock formations and then back down into Sierra Grande,  a very small town. Our… Read more: PUERTO MADRYN – LAS GRUTAS

Nov. 23 We left early, and after the same green, desert brush for a couple of hours, we climbed uphill among yellow wildflowers lining the road and lots of sand. Then, quite quickly, we came upon multiple red hills in the distance, first and then closer—the Cerros Colorados, to our northwest, and then we passed… Read more: LA GRUTAS – VILLA LA AGOSTURA

Nov. 25 We were on the road again at 9:30, and we took The Road of the Seven Lakes (Camino de los Siete Lagos), the popular name for the scenic stretch of National Route 40 between the towns of San Martín de los Andes and Villa La Angostura in the Neuquén Province. And it was slow going because it was a Saturday, because… Read more: VILLA LA AGOSTURA – CHOS MALAL

Nov. 26 We had come this route on the way south, so I figured we were in for the same old terrain with no surprises. However, with the difference in light and the seasonal change, it turned out to be quite different than anticipated. On the way out of Chos Malal, the road immediately rose… Read more: CHOS MALAL – MENDOZA

Nov. 28, Mendoza Nov. 28, Mendoza Thanks to you all for following along. We were greeted with the dogs’ enthusiastic jumps, barks, and craziness upon our return home. For those of you who prefer to view the photos only and forgo my sometimes long and dry narrative, here is the photo/video link to the entire… Read more: NOVEMBER 2023 PATAGONIA TRIP SUMMARY