Keep on keepin' on...

South on Ruta 40 from Malargue we strayed into the mountains again for more awesome scenery. There were lots of ranches, estancias I guess; and a lot of oil and gas activity. These pictures are all taken in the valley of the Rio Grande through Bardas Blancas, Barrancas and Chos Malal.

As you can see, we had a nice day to enjoy.

Bardas Blancas is barely visible at the base of this mountain.

Near Bardas Blancas

Along the Rio Grande south of Bardas Blancas

Also along the Rio Grande

Not sure but I think this is a huge ash flow. It looked like a glacier from a distance. I think it's from Volcan Domuyo near Chos Malal.

We made it to Zapala on Monday night after a pretty easy and uneventful day. Once again we dodged a huge thunderstorm but it caught up to us in Zapala. This storm had thunder and lightning going every few seconds for about an hour or more. Oh, and a bit of rain too.

The streets turn into rivers when it really rains. My fear is being caught on a muddy mountain road when a nasty storm  like this hits. I think we'll be camping if that happens.

On Tuesday morning we turned off Ruta 40 onto Ruta 234 (good one eh, Gibby?) to travel the Ruta de los 7 Lagos in Parque Nacional Lanin and P.N. Nahuel Huapi. This road quickly leaves the arid high desert and seems to bring us back to Beautiful British Columbia. The rivers, lakes and streams are clear mountain water with lots of lush green forests covering high mountains. There are also lots of tourists here to visit Junin de los Andes and San Martin de los Andes. Both of these are trendy and attractive tourist towns that reminded me of smaller versions of Whistler or Banff. It looked like there was lots to do here both summer and winter. There were also numerous campgrounds which was a change from what we had seen so far. It would have been cool to hang out here for a while. Maybe next time.

A distant view of Volcan Lanin (3768 m) from Ruta 40 before turning off on Rt 234

More interesting rocks.

San Martin de los Andes on Lago Lacar.

Along Rt 234

I think we should start charging for this.

I can't remember the name of the lake but this is taken standing in the campground.

We eventually ended up on the north shore of Lago Nahuel Huapi and followed it eastward to arrive at San Carlos de Bariloche. Another bustling tourist town, there was no problem finding affordable accommodation. We'll end up staying here two nights. We had been a little concerned about our tires lasting the trip but I had developed a bulge on my front tire which made the situation a little more urgent. We also needed the services of a travel agent in order to get tickets for the ferry from Puerto Natales to Puerto Montt in Chile. So that's what we did today. Neil got tickets and I found tires. We should be in Ushuaia in less than a week if all goes well.

Lago Nahuel Huapi

There's a distinct European influence here in Bariloche.

This is the awesome guy who changed our tires in his backyard shop. It's half the fun finding people to get stuff done.

He had obviously done lots of Beemers and was very efficient at it. We were out of there in no time.

So we'll keep headin' her south and I'll have more in a few days.
Chau.