In Argentina, Ruta 40 follows the Andes from the Bolivian border to the Magellan Strait. The southern half crosses Patagonia, often traversing miles of barren, arid expanses with no towns, services or relief.
I wanted to experience a part of this legendary route, so I rented a car in El Calafate.
The first day, I drove into the mountains with my friend Johnny to absorb the snow-dusted peaks to the south of the Perito Moreno glaciar. We ate our picnic lunch sitting on a flood-tossed log sheltered from the mountain winds by a copse of heavy, twisted trees. Here are some of the views:
The next day, I drove south towards El Chatlen, climbing aboard a catamaran on Lago Viedma for a close-up look at the twisting, fractured Viedma glaciar flowing out of the largest ice field outside of the Antarctic and Greenland. Here some shots:
El Chatlen is as ugly a jumble of huts as you can imagine, thrown together in the 1980s to plant Argentina’s flag in this remote section of the Andes. It has since become a well known base for trekking the towering Fitz Roy Range. One of those views that looks like a painted back-drop.
Unfortunately, I spent a good part of the day looking for a gas station that had gas … the “truck was late” in both Calafate and Chatlen and both towns were expecting gas ‘sometime next week’, so I had to drive an hour further north to Tres Lagos to fill up at a true Patagonian ‘outpost’. 
With a full tank and a hot 'cafecito' balanced on the passenger seat, I could relax and enjoy the sensation of driving the wide open Ruta 40 back to El Calafate.
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