In January of 2025 my wife, Cindy, and I embarked on a trip to South America. Our destination was the strange and wonderful Patagonia region that straddles both Chile and Argentina. Neither of us had ever planned a trip like this before. We spent days fitting the various puzzle pieces of flights, hotels, tents, and transportation options together in a part of the world that does things very differently from the way things are done here in the U.S. All told, we spent over 30 hours in flight, another 12+ hours on busses (a common mode of transport in South America), and a few days in a rental car. Our trip was bookended by a brief stay and exploration of Buenos Aires at the beginning, and a few days in Santiago at the end, exploring the incredible history of these places in our brief time there.
We were blessed with perfect weather for most of our time in Argentina, and we both fell in love with the outdoorsy vibe of El Chaltén, where everything you need – restaurants, hostels, trailheads – is within walking distance, and everyone you encountered sported a backpack. Once on the Chile side, the weather was a bit less predictable, which helped create some very dramatic photo opportunities. We were absolutely taken aback by the intense blue color of the enormous lakes of the region, made so by the suspended glacial silt in the water. We truly felt like we were at the very end of the world, and one quick look at our location on a map confirmed that we actually were! At our southernmost point we were just 250 miles from the southern tip of the South American continent, and only 750 miles from Antarctica.
Enjoy this gallery of images from our trip, where I was able to photograph what I consider some of the most extraordinary mountain landscapes in the world.
