The Chile Adventure – Part 2: Crossing into Argentina
After our first night of wind and foxes, we woke up to an incredible view of Torres Del Paines but unfortunately our luck with the weather would come to a quick end. We made some breakfast and coffee then packed up the camper and got on the road. The day was grey and windy but we got some good glimpses of the mountains as the clouds rolled in and out. We decided to drive the Y-290 and Y-150 which create a loop of the park, since it was July we saw basically no one all day. It was strange and amazing to feel like we had all of the national park to ourselves. We spent some time at the various glacial lakes and overlooks, we stopped for a bit on the shore of Lago Grey, a glacial lake that has a black sand beach. The lake gets its name from the glacier that forms it. Grey Glacier is one of the many glaciers in the southern ice field, it is 6km (3.7 miles) wide and approximately 30km (18.6 miles) high. The bright blue chunks of ice that have broken off the front of the glacier look like colorful misshapen boats floating in a sea of grey. The landscape in Patagonia is truly amazing, it’s no wonder it is referred to as one of the premier adventure destinations in the world. As the sun began to set we made our way toward El Calafate, a three-hour drive with our first border crossing. The Chile border was really easy, we just went in, got our stamps, and crossed. When we arrived at the Argentina Border it was a small building and luckily we arrived when we did because they were closing for the evening. After the camper inspection, the border agent told us that there was a shortcut to get back to the highway and that he was headed home so we could follow him. It’s good that we did because the roads are unmarked dirt paths that have no lights whatsoever, we might still be driving aimlessly in Southern Argentina.
