The Route

A few days ago, I sat down with some maps of Chile and Argentina, to plan my route for the trip from Santiago, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina this coming January and February. The route will take me from Santiago heading south on the Pan-American Highway (Rt.5) to my Aunt's ranch near Temuco, Chile. I will spend a few days at the ranch, and then head south to the city of Osorno, Chile. From Osorno I will head east, thru the Puyehue Pass, over the Andes Mountains to the Argentine city of San Carlos de Bariloche. Interestingly enough, while doing some research for places to spend the nights along this trip, I came across some very interesting facts. It seems that a pair of Americans called Robert Leroy Parker and Harry A. Longabaugh, better known by their outlaw names: Buch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (part of "The Wild Bunch"), had escaped to this area of Argentina in 1901 to evade the Law back in the United States. Seems that these two had some banking problems back in the U.S.. They went as far as to buy a ranch (with the stolen money of course) in this part of Argentina, changed their names, and then commenced to ply their trade in Argentina. There still exists a General Store, near Bariloche, where the boys would go to get their provisions. I've got to find THIS store!

The Wild Bunch

From Bariloche I head south on Rt. 258 to the town of Esquel. From Esquel, I want to go to the Chilean town of Chaiten. Here, I may run into a problem. The town of Chaiten was pretty much wiped out by a violent volcanic eruption earlier this year. The ash from the near by volcano fell into the river that runs thru Chaiten and caused the river to over run it’s banks and flood the entire town with a concrete like mixture of water and volcanic ash. I won't know, until I get to the region, if the authorities will let me into the area, because the ENTIRE population of Chaiten was ordered to evacuate, and to the best of my knowledge, have not been allowed to return. There are plans to relocate the town of Chaiten.

From Chaiten, I will head south to the town of Coihaique. From what the map shows, these will be unpaved roads. From Coihaique, I will cross back into Argentina and on to Perito Moreno. Now, I will be getting into glacier country. Chile has a large amount of glaciers in its southern extremes, and I want to get to see some of them. From Perito Moreno, I will head south on the famous Route 40. This is the road that leads to Tierra Del Fuego and on to the End Of The Earth in Ushuaia, Argentina. One place that I want to stop before reaching Ushuaia is the Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile. This park is said to be one of the most beautiful and picturesque places on earth.

The return trip will take me up the eastern side of South America on Argentina route 3 that hugs the Atlantic coast to the town of Trelew. From Trelew I will ride west across Argentina back to Osorno, Chile and on to my Aunts ranch again before returning to Santiago.