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Aerostich Tours Blog

Read about our travels throughout the US and the world!

January 21
Las Cruces

We are headed south again, through Mexico this time. Follow us daily as we travel, by linking in to our SPOT track here:

http://bit.ly/AerostichToursSpot

You can even follow along in real time, from now through the 12th of February.

The password is: aerostichtours

January 1, 2012
Happy New Year

Aerostich Tours

December 16, 2011
Return to reality

We all arrived back at the start/finish point of the tour with no incidents or accidents, exclaiming over and over how unusually nice the weather had been for the entire trip. Everyone is now on their way home, except one rider, who had already decided to spend the next several months exploring Chile's beautiful length. Stay tuned for several photos to be uploaded next week.

December 15, 2011
Last rides

The last day of riding was almost uneventful compared to previous days, but we took the opportunity to travel a 30 mile or so gravel side route to another remote ranch and stop for coffee and pie. This 10,000 hectare ( 23,000 acre) estancia handles a herd of over 12000 sheep and 1800 cattle, many of which are available for a grilled barbeque upon request. A small museum in the dining room featured a foot pedal operated metal lathe and a hand operated corn shucker.
 

December 14, 2011
Towers of blue

We have spent two inspiring days near and inside the Torres del Paine National Park. After recrossing the border back into Chile we spent the night at an estancia that is very remote but just across the lake from the famous towers, or horns of magnificent granite, jutting straight up inside the park. The peaceful setting was accentuated by the startlingly clear skies and deep blue water. The next day we rode nearly 100 miles inside the park, stopping often to gape skyward at the abruptly rising peaks, so famous to climbers and trekkers around the world.

December 12
El Chalten

Another windy day, but beautiful! We couldn´t quit stopping for photos today. We had bright clear skies and could begin to see the stunning Mount Fitz Roy from 100 miles away, jutting straight up into the heavens. We got closer and closer and it filled the view screen until we just had to stop and stare. I cannot imagine anyone climbing this spire, or any of it´s immediate neighbors, but a special few have done so, battling ferocious winds to summit. I am very impressed!

December 12
Ice Ice Baby

Concrete road. Dizzy turns. It was hard to keep our eyes on the road and see the scenery too, so we just had to stop a lot for pictures. The tour boat took us all right up close to the glacier and rewarded our patience with a few calves breaking off with a bang and splash. On the way back we rode up to the end of a remote dirt road, crossing several old bridges and one river to get close to some of the amazingly vertical peaks. Everyone will have some great photos to show for the trip.

December 11
And now, the wind.

As soon as we left Cerro Sombrero and headed for the ferry, we knew the wind was to accompany us. It blew against our left side riding into El Calafate today, and never let up the whole way. There were several techniques used to offset the force, which must have looked pretty comical to the tourists from elswhere riding safely inside the busses we passed on the beautifully paved highways. We stopped at every good photo stop to get a few minutes break. Everyone was tired but happy to arrive after a long day.