Reflections

Deadhorse, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina

696 days:
290 in North America
53 in Central America
7 crossing from Panama to Colombia
346 in South America
151 in Argentina and Chile; we crossed that border 13 times

Not including side trips, nor the few times we hitchhiked, we traveled...
21,493 miles
through 14 countries:
18,311 miles by bicycle
798 miles on 14 boats
2,384 miles on 10 buses 

We reached altitudes of...
20,144 feet on foot
18,900 feet by bike
16,325 feet on loaded bikes.
We ascended 47 passes over 13,100 feet.

One of our many 4,000-meter passes, this one in Peru's Cordillera Blanca

The only parts of our original bikes to make it to Ushuaia were...
both handlebars
three of four rims
both front derailleurs
Tam's seat and seat post (yes, they outlasted Danny's Brooks saddle)

These chainrings didn`t make it past Peru

The stats above make it clear; we've come a long way. But just riding the miles was never enough. Throughout the last 23 months we've grown, learned, and challenged ourselves together and as individuals. We started on road bikes cycling only on pavement, and have ended on mountain bikes we built ourselves riding almost exclusively dirt roads, tracks, and trails. Our travels have been unique, and we're proud of all we have achieved.

A lot of people have called this trip a "once in a lifetime experience." In a very literal sense, this is true; neither of us plans on biking from Alaska to Argentina again. However, we don't see our past two years as the contained experience that this phrase implies. It hasn't just been a trip or a vacation; it has been a meaningful part of our lives. Throughout it, we've developed a way to live life to the fullest that extends far beyond the realm of the bicycle. Whatever we take on in the future – studies, work, or travel – we're confident that it will be equally as rewarding and exciting as this bike ride has been.

What exactly is this way of life? It's constantly seeking out challenge, taking full advantage of learning and teaching opportunities, living a simple lifestyle, setting long-term goals, never saying "I can't," being honest with ourselves and others, sharing freely, stepping out of our comfort zones, and opening ourselves up to the world.

These are not new ideas – we had read about and experienced some of them before – but the challenge we've just completed taught us what they really mean, why they're valuable, and how to make them a part of our lives.

We're in Ushuaia, and our bike ride from the farthest northern point accessible by road to the farthest southern city of the Americas is officially over, but the journey isn't.

The road always goes on! Thanks to Dan for the photo

We are so privileged to have had the opportunities that allowed us to live our dreams. We want to extend thanks to everyone who has given support, love, and friendship along the way. You were an integral part of this journey. We couldn't, and wouldn't, have done it without you.

With love

Danny and Tamara

Sunset over the Galapagos

Beachin´

Puerto Natales-Villa Tehuelche-Rio Grande-Seno Otway-Punta Arenas

Once you start looking at maps and wondering how to connect the lines, you can't help but end up on an adventure. The route we took from Puerto Natales to Punta Arenas was just this kind of thing. We took the main road to a side road, to a little track, to no road at all, just beach!

Our first night out of Puerto Natales is spent in this luxurious little shack...

...before we hit the pavement again. Rheas provide frequent entertainment on the road...

...while the trees remind us just how windy it usually is around here.

We spin through a bit of pavement, then, before we have even sighted the ocean, the adventure begins. A green van passes us going the opposite direction, then stops, turns around, and comes back towards us. Soon we are chatting with Sergio, proud owner of Estancia Rio Verde, out searching for some escaped sheep. After just a couple of minutes he has invited us to spend the night at the estancia, and off we go!

Perhaps some of our (most devoted) blog readers remember Clutch, an entertaining retired gold miner who we met in the very north of Alaska. In my mind, Sergio is his southern counterpart. Both are fantastic characters with jolly paunches and a penchant for collecting things and stories of the past.

Sergio's stories are particularly entertaining because of the way he tells them, always referring to people as "monkeys" or "crazies," and recounting tales in the same mischievous manner of a teenage girl, adding "shut up!" to the ends of sentences. One gets the sense talking to him that the world is a wild and marvelous place.

He takes us on a tour of the gorgeous old estancia decorated with driftwood, drawings of local wildlife, and pressed plants. We learn that ships traveling through the Strait of Magellan came up here to refuel on coal before heading northward. The Panama Canal ruined all that, although the coal mine still exists, but a new industry is starting to take its place: salmon farming.

Soon we´re at the beautiful Estancia Rio Verde...

...taking in Sergio´s collection of hats, among many other things.

...and how can we refuse the local Patagonian drink? For a cheap beer, it´s delicious.

We spend a comfy night inside and begin the next morning with a double rainbow and pancakes with real maple syrup! We feel a bit sad leaving Sergio; he's clearly lonely out here and struggling to care for his vast estate, but we're also excited for the road ahead.

A morning rainbow over the Estancia

A monument to the huasos, the cowboys

And there´s the owner himself, Sergio. 

Just down the road is the municipality of Rio Verde. It's a small, cozy collection of new-looking buildings. The shiny ferry terminal has free coffee and computers available for public use. The municipality has also sponsored various refuges along the road for locals herding cattle for long distances (though I think cold cyclists use them more often). According to Sergio, there are more than 100 government employees here and less than 80 residents. I don't know how accurate those numbers are, but it's clear that the government has invested a lot in this area. I'm not sure why; no one is out here!

Out here, mostly what we find are ¨flag trees,¨ so named for their branches stretching out to one side, like a flag.

All morning our road follows the coast. Early afternoon we leave the road for a track, then leave the track for the beach. Oddly, today is perfectly still with hardly a breath of wind, and thus water and sand meet with hardly a ripple. Tide pools formed amongst rocks and sandbars mirror the shapes of the long clouds and take on perfect reflections. We ride quietly, in awe, pedaling slowly through a seamlessly connected world of land, water, and sky.

Happy to be off the main road, we follow little tracks...

...past weathered fishing shacks.

I'd like to think this one was built only from what washed up on the beach.

Then we turn onto the beach...

...avoiding the thousands of desiccating, alien-like jellyfish.

The sand is a dream to ride on...

...making the going easy for numerous kilometers. No cars out here!

After turning away from the beach it takes us just a morning to get to Punta Arenas. It's clear that no one (besides cows) has used this road in a while, so various people have built their fences right across it. We finally find out why: a deep hole in the road where a culvert has caved in. The grand finale comes just before reaching the main road when we find ourselves in the middle of an industrial plant: concrete trucks driving around and active large machinery. Thankfully the confused guard lets us through the exit gate without hassle when we explain that we got a bit lost and are just trying to get to Punta Arenas.

After the beach, we don´t see any cars until meeting back up with the main road in Punta Arenas. Perhaps it´s because this is a private mine road...

...or perhaps it´s because of this giant hole.

Punta Arenas is big! It has been a long time since we've been this in a city this large, and after the tranquility of the coast it's quite overwhelming. But instincts kick in and it's not long before we've successfully found food, a good place to stay, and a friend who we last saw weeks ago!

Punta Arenas has opulent colonial buildings...

...but reminders of its hardworking, oceanic past lie everywhere.

Punta Arenas also has plenty of wonderful shops...

...and bird life everywhere. Here, a kelp gull.

Tires aren´t supposed to do that, right?

We met Horacio about a month ago and have coincidentally crossed paths with him in every town ever since. A lawyer from Santiago, he quit his job to see what life is all about. Before we arrived in Punta Arenas, we sent him a message to meet up again. The message didn´t go through, but no matter, there he was at the second hotel we went to.

Our bikes are limping to the finish, so today is for some bike maintenance, birdwatching along the beautiful straight of Magellan, and preparing for the last section of our trip. We'll be on a ferry to Tierra del Fuego tomorrow. And look for our next, and final, post from Ushuaia!

Route Notes:

In Morro Chico, the large building on the left before the carabineros is unlocked and abandoned. It made for a comfy night out of the wind and cold. Thanks, Aritz and Esti!

Kudos and thanks to Skyler for pioneering this route and to Nathan for his GPS track. Route notes here, in the comments section.

Following Guanaco Tracks: The Back Door to Puerto Natales.March28th-April 1st

El Calafate-Cancha Carrera-Cerro Castillo (Chile)-Puerto Natales

South of El Calafate, any and every map will tell you that the only option is the main road. It loops way out east, avoiding the mountains entirely and staying in the flat pampas. A main route through flat grasslands isn´t really our thing, so naturally we were motivated to find the road less traveled, which in this case is the road never traveled, because there´s no road at all. Through a feat of mapping ingenuity, or perhaps insanity, we patchworked together a route south starting on dirt roads and progressing to remote 4x4 tracks and terra incognita, regions with no paths at all. In the three days we were in the mountains, we saw one vehicle, three gauchos on horseback, and vast herds of the wild, llama-like guanacos. Here´s the story:

Not even a few kilometers out of town, things kick off with a rough start when we find these signs all over the place. Fortunately the owner of the land, Juan Carlos, is extraordinarily friendly, allowing us to pass and even giving us tips for the road ahead.

Just past the gates we are rewarded with a perfect track up into the mountains...

...with wildflowers to add some color to the monochromatic, golden pampas.

What better way to leave the city?!

No tire tracks, only guanacos.

Tam, riding in her light green fleece, is camouflaged perfectly among the grasses.

After a few hours of bikepacking bliss, our road becomes a bit rougher...

...and then ends altogether, leaving us pushing through endless Patagonian steppe...

...before things get a bit steeper and we take the bikes onto our backs. Not so bad, that iPhone camera.

Above treeline, the ground is steep and rocky but relatively easy going (the bike-on-the-back thing notwithstanding)...

...and eventually we reach the top of the pass.

On the other side we sometimes find game trails...

...and sometimes we don´t, leaving us freestyling across wide alpine meadows.

They´re frequently a bit marshier than they look, but even with the wet feet we are happy to be able to ride at all.

After a series of river crossings, we encounter and hop some fences...

...and head down a smooth trail on the other side worn into the patchy grasses by thousands of hoofsteps.

Meeting back up with a road, especially this scenic, untrafficked one, is a reward in itself...

...but not too long after, we turn off onto a smaller road that quickly turns into a grassy track and, soon after that, no track at all.

We play "avoid the bush" for an hour or so...

...before completing the last blank section on the map and coming across a road again. Yay!

With all the previous unknowns and worries behind us, we´re elated to be on this pleasant two-track as evening falls.

Later, in the tent, we reflect on where we´ve been and rest our sore bodies. I think this worn water bottle is a good representation of what we´ve been through. Tam´s ¨Fass Bike¨ sticker is starting to take on a new meaning

With the previous few days having been a search for remoteness, on the other side of the mountains we find wind. Incessant, powerful, cold wind....

...so we take advantage of any kind of shelter we can find. We find this one just before the hail starts...

...and later that day, the Argentina gendarmería, the border officials, offer to let us sleep in this run-down building, a peaceful, wind-free home for the night.

The next day we opt out of a slightly more interesting route, which would also involve punishing days of riding into the wind, and instead fly to Puerto Natales with the wind at our backs.

A black-chested buzzard-eagle stares at us from its roadside perch

Soon we roll up to Puerto Natales and the Pacific Ocean. The wind here is anything but pacific, day and night, so we´re happy to have a home inside and a rest before the next adventure: Torres del Paine!

In Pto Natales we stayed at Hostal Mary on Calle Sanchez. Not so much a budget option, but with breakfast included and a homey atmosphere, it was a perfect place for us.

Contact us for more detailed route notes.

Update 4/28/17: a fellow cyclist on this route was stopped and almost forced to turn around by owners of some private property, though he managed to beg his way through. I'll still send you route notes if you like, but beware of that possible complication. For those who love poring over maps, it may be possible to find another way around that part.