Torres del Paine, Chile to El Calafate, Argentina - February 21

It was a hard ride away from Torres del Paine. It was cold, and the road was tight mountain curves with a loose gravel base.  As we neared Cerro Castillo, the road base changed to hard packed dirt and we were able to open up the throttle a bit.

We ate lunch in Cerro Castillo and checked out of Chile at the border post then crossed the frontier to the Argentine Border at Cancha Carrera.

The famous Ruta 40 was a mix of pavement and ripio. We made El Calafate by 6:30pm and found a hotel promptly from a recommendation Petra found in the Rough Guide.

Raptors nesting roadside along Ruta 40.

We'd had a couple of hard days on the bikes, so decided we would stay in El Calafate an extra day to allow us a day trip to the Perito Moreno Glacier.