A Wonderful Christmas Holiday in Argentina 2008

What an incredible color!

The famous Cerro Fitz Roy

Swimming on January 1st is a Dutch tradition I learned to follow with my new Dutch friend.

Absolutely incredible






I have never felt wind stronger then this.





These pictures were all from El Chalten in Southern Argentina. I had the best time there and stayed for 6 days. I met a wonderful new friend who I travled with for over a week. She was traveling alone as well from California and the perfect hiking partner. We had days of great clear weather and did lots of long day hikes from the town were we slept. We spent one night in a Refugio. We hiked out to a little cabin, carried our sleeping bags and rented a little room. It was marvelous, the mountains were incredible. The pictures maybe capture a tenth of the beauty and power of these mountains.

Buenos Aires and El Calafate

The view from my hotel


The colors of the area were beautiful.


I met up with a friend in Buenos Aires. He took me sailing, out for ice cream, had an asado, BBQ and let me sleep in his house for a night. The people from Argentina are amazingly kind.

Glaciar Perito Moreno

I visited the largest glacier in the world. It sounded like a loud thunderstorm. I could watch the ice melt off and crash into the lake. It is one of the world's only glaciers that is not shrinking.

Patagonia, Argentina

This is Patagonia Argentina. I traveled for 2 full days to get to the south. The emptiness was incredible. The left side with the cliffs was a rare thing after all the barren land. I stopped and saw the Cave of Hands. After all the vastness we were greeted with a rare and clear view of the Amazing Fitz Roy Mountain Range in southern Argentina.

The Lake District, Argentina

I had a great time with some friends I met from Ireland and France. We spent Christmas eve and Christmas together. Christmas night we had wine on the beach with the sunset.

I could not have been happier in this part of Argentina. The sky was brillantly blue, pine trees, fresh air, Colorado like scenery, water and hiking. Not to mention wonderful wines, tons of chocolate and the nicest people.

I felt like I was in a fairy tale with a mountain bike.

Just absolutely incredible

Christmas Morning

I definitely found one of my personal favorite beaches.

Christmas Day at the beach

I couldn't resist getting in!

These last several pictures were done on a 24 km loop on mountain bikes. I was in heaven.