Random photos-will add more later.

I've seen a few foxes, this being the closest.

Campsite in Tierra del Fuego National Park

Can anyone tell me the name of this bird? Thanks Karen for finding out it is a Southern Crested Cara Cara

Camping in the trees off the road.
These hidden little sites are along the way before there are no more trees.
After that it is wide open nothing!

Just me and my shadow...

Camping with Matthias-a German cyclist I met.
I was able to draft off of him for a day-he made a great wind blocker!

A store room at a ranch where the owner offered for
me to stay when I asked if I could camp near the ranch.

Camping in a woman named Maria´s backyard. She let me camp here as it was one of the few places
 somewhat sheltered from the wind in Cerro Castillo, near Puerto Natales

Fiesta de Chillena-a rodeo of sorts that I attended for two days in Cerro Castillo

Walter-my host at the road maintenance facility. He let me stay in the workers spare bunk room when I asked if I could camp near the building for shelter.  He cooked me a great dinner too!

Vulture and condor? Look at the size of these birds compared to that sheep carcass!

Guanaco-relatives of the llama and alpaca-likethe wild
version of those domesticated counterparts. 

Ñandu-relative to the ostrich

Radio phones located around parts of Patagonia on the remote roads.
Cell  service does not exist here.

Policeman Fabian cooking dinner for me at the police station where
 I stayed the night;again after asking if I could camp in the yard.

The family that picked me up hitchhiking on a particularly windy day!

Nothing like stating the obvious. But there are no palm trees here!

Armadillo that crossed the road in front of me.

Sign on bathroom door in cafe in El Chalten!

A traditional Argentine campo barbeque that I was invited to attend by a fellow cyclists who found out about this guy who lets cyclists camp in his yard and often has barbeques and parties. The food was yummy!

My own barbeque in a refugio set up for anyone to use near the road. It is kind of hidden but a campground owner in another town told me how to find it. I could have lived here, it was so cute, with an outhouse out back.

Looking back on a grueling climb

I got to milk a cow at a ranch that had a camp spot on the property.

The very nice owner, Marisol, gave me the milk for my work after she boiled it. Yummy!

Catedral de Marmol-a set of cavelike formations in the rock that supposedly make one think of a cathedral. 

This one looks like a dog´s head. Why do they always do that with rock formations?
Why can´t it just look like a cool rock?

More designs in the rock.

This place totally reminded me of places in Asia (namely Thailand)
except the water in those caves/formations isn´t from a glacier like this water.

Yup, glacial blue water, very cold!


I love these signs. They always state the obvious but at least they are interesting to look at since they change up the vehicle every once in a while. So is it personal preference of the inmate that is working the sign machine as to which vehicle gets used?

Wind-another four letter word I'd rather not hear!

Several weeks ago when I first crossed into Chile the immigration officers
 at the border station of San Sebastian, Argentina and Chile
 let me camp inside the compound out of the wind.
I hitchhiked from here skirting 60 miles of a headwind on a dirt road.

I am in El Calafate, Argentina now. I am close to getting out of the area with horrendous winds and I cannot wait! I have been fighting headwinds and/or crosswinds for most of the trip so far.  Fighting so much so that my arms are getting more of a workout than my legs!  I have not seen so much wind on such a consistent basis (even in Antarctica)!! It blows in Patagonia day after day, night after night, nonstop like crazy!  Only some of southern Patagonia has been beautiful so far but the rest is overrated to cycle through as far as I am concerned. And why would anyone want to live here?

On the side of the road in front of a drainage pipe.
I know, I know, don't pitch a tent in the low spots! But, the odds of getting blown away by wind beat those of a flash flood occurring.

Had I done this trip from North to South it would have been different because much of the travel would be with a tailwind but the time of year when I was financially ready to do the trip did not match starting in Alaska. I knew I would be going against the prevailing winds but I was never prepared for how much wind existed here. Either way, in spite of it all, I do like the idea that I am riding home. :)
I have hitchhiked 3 times now because the wind has been too strong to ride. In these cases I have not been able to keep the bike upright and setting up a tent to wait it out was not an option as there is no place to get refuge from the wind.  I am not concerned with the "cheating" aspect of hitchhiking. I have not met any cyclists that have not hitchhiked and most of them are coming south where a lot of the wind is in their favor.

Miles and miles of nothing!

Second place where I had to pitch in front of a drainage pipe.

Didn't camp here!
Next leg of the trip is the Carretara Austral which has been reported as being stunning so I am very excited!

Oh yeah, and I got married....

...at least I bought a ring to make it look like I am married.  Haha, made you look! :)

Purchasing the ring was a recommendation from another biker to keep unwanted harassments from men. It isn't guaranteed to work but it may help as it offers an excuse for deterrent anyway.  The problem is that I am not a very good liar so when someone asks I usually say that I am not married.
This ring is actually an Argentinian one peso coin that has been made into a cone shape and then cut out. 
This reminds me of another funny thing. I didn't get pepper spray in Alaska prior to my trip because it is not supposed to go on a plane at all (not even in checked baggage).  In my limited Spansih I tried to think of how to ask for it. I didn't know the word for "spray." So I went into an outdoor store and asked for "proteccion de hombres" or protection from men and then realized why they sent me to the pharmacy to look for it. They probably thought I was looking for birth control! :) 

Stats so far

I have been on the road for 6 ½ weeks now but haven’t gotten very far actually. I have only ridden for 16 days of that time. I have been off of the bike this time around for 19 days. This is because of days in the national park and other days just taking care of business around town, and weather days. I didn’t want to ride yesterday because it was raining and cold. 

I met hitchhikers Daniel, Misael, and Diego at the border waiting room
 (where we all ended up sleeping).
For their first time trying it, peanut butter was a hit.
I finally had to take it away from them! :)

Here are my stats:

Miles covered: 337 miles (562 kilometers)

Total days on trip: 45

Days on the bike: 16

Days off the bike:  29

Nights spent sleeping in tent:  43

Number of showers: 9

Number of beers:  19

Number of jars of peanut butter consumed: 2
Total weight I am peddling around including the bike weight but not counting my weight: 154 lbs (70kgs) *
*weight varies depending on the amount of food and water currently on the bike.
Dromedary water bag is full and it weighs 11 lbs.
2 other water bike water bottles weighing 3.3lbs.
Food panniers including the stove, full fuel bottle, water purifier, and pot/cooking utensils 35lbs
Tent and dry bag it is in 5.5 lbs
Dry bag with sleeping bag, sleep clothes, first aid kit, spare tire 6.25 lbs.
Handlebar bag with camera, GPS, maps, money pouch, sunscreen, sunglasses, iPod etc 9.9lbs
Back panniers with clothes, netbook, charging devices, (electric and solar charger), bike tools/parts, spare water purifier cartridge, shower kit 44lbs