Patagonia, anybody ever been there ?

[frayne]

Just got back from a little 1200 mile motorcycle ride with some friends, one of who is originally from Argentina and still has family there. He wants to put together a South American trip to ride around the Patagonia region, doing about 7000 miles over a two week period. Don't know if my butt could stand it but I am mildly tempted to entertain such a foolish endeavor. We would ship our bikes down and have a member of his family drive behind us in a van for support purposes. We figured we could do the trip for about $5K which isn't too bad, all things considered.

Any thoughts or anyone been there recently, looks like some beautiful scenery and of course we would do it in the summer seasons down there.

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Go for it!

I favor old BMWs for such cruising. Easy on the butt. But that was then, this is now.

[sailor]

Ask me after the New Year
We are in final preparations for 3 weeks trip to Patagonia (Chile & Argentina) just after Christmas.
We plan to hike around Torres del Paine, Cerro Fitz Roy and Perito Moreno glacier.

[FUEGO]

We did Buenos Aires a few years ago for a week. Pretty awesome. Patagonia is obviously a totally different part of Argentina, and we decided not to try to do anything outside of BA since we only had a week.

7000 miles in 2 weeks sounds rough. That's 10 hours a day riding a bike at 50 mph. I think I wouldn't want to spend more than about half that on a vehicle each day. More down time and relaxation time.

[frayne]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO We did Buenos Aires a few years ago for a week. Pretty awesome. Patagonia is obviously a totally different part of Argentina, and we decided not to try to do anything outside of BA since we only had a week. 7000 miles in 2 weeks sounds rough. That's 10 hours a day riding a bike at 50 mph. I think I wouldn't want to spend more than about half that on a vehicle each day. More down time and relaxation time.

I agree, three of us have FJR 1300s and and two have BMW 1200RTs and 500 miles a day is some serious riding in the states much less a foreign country. I think I will have to see what the routes are before I commit. I'm 61 and the rest are young 50s and late 40s. That said it would be a nice bucket list addition.

[anethum]

I bicycled in northern Patagonia, near Bariloche in Argentina and Puerto Montt in Chile, and in between. I was also in southern Chile in and around Punta Arenas along the Straight of Magellin. Patagonia is famous for its relentless westerly wind in the summer. As I biked eastward from Bariloche, the wind gradually got stronger and the landscape bleaker. I think as you go further south in Argentina in Patagonia, the wind gets stronger. Way down south in Punta Arenas, the wind was audible all day and night even when indoors. It was a relief when I flew north to Puerto Montt and heard silence when I walked off the plane.

A highlight for me near Punta Arenas was visiting a magellanic penguin colony at Otway Sound. Torres del Paine National Park in southern Chile looks stunning from photos I've seen, but I didn't visit. I don't know if it's easy to get there from southern Argentina.

The mountains and lakes around Bariloche are gorgeous, but I think that most of Argentine Patagonia is fairly bleak. Also, the population is very sparse when you go south from Bariloche. I went north, then west and back into Chile where I did most of my cycling. My trip was in December and I had great weather.

[Gumby]

I drove through the Straits of Magellan on my submarine (on the surface) in 1983. It was a starkly beautiful landscape, with blue glaciers running down to the sea. At night, we left a green bioluminescent wake in the plankton-rich waters, as did the dolphins that came to play with us. I would like to go back and see more of the land.

[kramer]

I think 7000 miles in 2 weeks sounds crazy. In fact, I think doing half that mileage in two weeks on a vacation so far from home would be crazy. IMO, this is not even a close call. See if you can modify the route somehow. I think your Argentinian buddy is dreaming and not thinking.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kramer I think 7000 miles in 2 weeks sounds crazy. In fact, I think doing half that mileage in two weeks on a vacation so far from home would be crazy. IMO, this is not even a close call. See if you can modify the route somehow. I think your Argentinian buddy is dreaming and not thinking.

+1

I suggest you do a trial run and take a two week, 7,000 mile trip in the US first. Once you get out of the hospital, then make your decision.

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo +1 I suggest you do a trial run and take a two week, 7,000 mile trip in the US first. Once you get out of the hospital that motorcycle seat out of your a$$, then make your decision.

FIFY

[frayne]

FWIW my buddy rides a BMW R1200RT, is a certified iron butt rider and has done Alaska, Europe and many other long distance rides. He has a fuel cell on his bike so he can go 400 miles without refueling. In addition to being a former Marine officer and a man of few words, I pretty much believe what he says he can do. The big question is, could I keep up. I can do 500 miles a day on my FJR for days on end. The fact we would have someone in a van behind us in case of an emergency is comforting. The ride is still over a year away and we will sit down to plot a route and things to see along the way. I do agree riding that much mileage in a day doesn't leave much time for seeing many things of interest. There are four of us and the biggest hurdle won't be the time or cost but permission from the wives.