Driven To Wander - Vancouver to Patagonia

[Driven To Wander]

Beautiful Andes! We had a great 4 hours hike at ~14000 ft (4250 m) in the remote parts of Chilean landscape. Snow-topped mountains, deeply carved valleys and giant jack rabbits were everywhere.
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[Driven To Wander]

Mount Fitz Roy! The sky-puncturing, rugged peaks of this mountain is an important symbol of Southern Patagonia. It is visible from miles away. We stayed in charming El Chaltén village and enjoyed its world class hiking trails.
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[locrwln]

Stunning.

Jack

 

[rebar]

Beautiful. Nice truck..

Since you don't have a wet bath, I suggest everclear. A splash really freshens things up, but my scalp starts itching if I don't shower.

Can you find a shower at least once a week? And could you have towed a small narrow camper most of the places you've driven?

 

[Driven To Wander]

Beautiful. Nice truck..

Since you don't have a wet bath, I suggest everclear. A splash really freshens things up, but my scalp starts itching if I don't shower.

Can you find a shower at least once a week? And could you have towed a small narrow camper most of the places you've driven?

We had no problem finding a shower in our trip. Most of the big name gas stations have one in South America. In Central America we stayed mostly in campgrounds anyway. When it comes to small narrow camper, I would not change a thing. Our rig works great for us. It is not as nimble as lighter, narrower ones but that is ok. We travel slow anyway. I have been on some roads with this setup that most would only drive with a tractor! 5.9 Cummins never complains. If I were to do this trip again the things I would change are;
1- I would double the house battery capacity with deep cycle agms. I have 2 Trojan T105-RE 6 Volt, 225 AH Deep Cycle Batteries, although they are great, they need servicing in hot climate and in our setup you need to take the truck out to access the battery bay.
2- I would also increase the solar panels to 400 watts (I have 270 watts),
3- And maybe ditch the one or both Yakima boxes. They take amazing amount of "stuff" and when you have the space you fill it.

 

[Driven To Wander]

Watch my wife Donna "gracefully", as she put it, fall into freezing Patagonian rapids. Our good friend Rachel (www.bigao.com) and Donna had a blast nevertheless.
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[Saint Nick]

Watch my wife Donna "gracefully", as she put it, fall into freezing Patagonian rapids. Our good friend Rachel (www.bigao.com) and Donna had a blast nevertheless.
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Brilliant, must have been great fun

Nick

 

[rebar]

Watch my wife Donna "gracefully", as she put it, fall into freezing Patagonian rapids. Our good friend Rachel (www.bigao.com) and Donna had a blast nevertheless.

Watching that vid gives me the shivers, as I lost a buddy and his wife under frog rock on the Arkansas in colorado. rip

Your pictures really captured my imagination, especially when I saw Fitz Roy. I'm a Iowa flat lander born in Austria and must have roots in the Alps because Im drawn. Fitz Roy really got the dusty cogs moving until I realized how cold and windy it always is down there. No thanks as I'm cold blooded.

Are there allot of boondocking or "wild camping" opportunities in south america? And if you could do it all over again, where would you plan on visiting again long term, or living?

 

[Driven To Wander]

Watching that vid gives me the shivers, as I lost a buddy and his wife under frog rock on the Arkansas in colorado. rip

Your pictures really captured my imagination, especially when I saw Fitz Roy. I'm a Iowa flat lander born in Austria and must have roots in the Alps because Im drawn. Fitz Roy really got the dusty cogs moving until I realized how cold and windy it always is down there. No thanks as I'm cold blooded.

Are there allot of boondocking or "wild camping" opportunities in south america? And if you could do it all over again, where would you plan on visiting again long term, or living?

There are lots of wild camping possibilities here in South America. More in Chile and Argentina then other countries probably. I am very impressed with Chile. It is not cheap but their parks are amazing. If we do it again, we would ship our rig to Montevideo, Uruguay and enjoy Patagonia first then drive up.

 

[umpqua]

I've followed and enjoyed the trip report from the very beginning. Thanks for posting. Someday....soon.

 

[Searay180]

Epic!

 

[Driven To Wander]

Patagonia, Mount Fitz Roy!
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[SootyCamper]

There are lots of wild camping possibilities here in South America. More in Chile and Argentina then other countries probably. I am very impressed with Chile. It is not cheap but their parks are amazing. If we do it again, we would ship our rig to Montevideo, Uruguay and enjoy Patagonia first then drive up.

I'm interested to hear why you'd go that route, as it's...... Outta the norm (for Canadians anyways) hahah. Genuine interest though, chance to spend more time in Patagonia, time/budget constraints?

Look forward to your reply.

 

[Driven To Wander]

I'm interested to hear why you'd go that route, as it's...... Outta the norm (for Canadians anyways) hahah. Genuine interest though, chance to spend more time in Patagonia, time/budget constraints?

Look forward to your reply.

The biggest reason we would ship the rig to Montevideo, Uruguay and start at south is, we think Patagonia deserves more time. Most North Americans doing this kind of travel drive down like us. And by the time most reach Patagonia they are either out of time or money to really enjoy it. As you may know, winters are brutal down there and most national parks are only open during summer (November to March). Another reason is, it is very hard to time it right to be there while driving from north. There are many amazing places on the way south and most overlanders either have to by pass them or they will not have enough time left for Patagonia's summer.

 

[Driven To Wander]

Perito Moreno Glacier in southern Patagonia. This 97 sq mile ice field is the world's third largest reserve of fresh water. Just to give you an idea how enormous this ice formation is, take a look at the second photo that has a cruse ship on the lake . We had great time watching giant ice chucks break off the face and sending huge waves across the lake.
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