Berny's photos with the keyword: dirt

The next pass in Italy will be "Passo di Gavia", here driving up the 1997 unpaved south ramp. - scanned slide, Minolta X700 pass no. 14 - Passo di Gavia, 2621 m, Italy - day 3

Southeast of El Calafate, driving on Ruta Provincial 15, in direction to the southern part of Lago Argentino, which is called Lago Roca and Brazo Rico. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

We are coming to an end of the Ruta 41, driving down in the valley where we will soon reach the village and nearby lake "Lago Posadas", after a 6 hours drive from Los Antiguos in the North.

Red salty lake at the Estancia El Salitral

road conditions were sometimes a little bit challenging, driving with a Kangoo in 2000 ;-)) In the meantime there is a big sign at the northern entrance to Ruta 41: "Only 4 x 4". In 2010 and 2015 we respected this.

As you can see, the cars have improved a lot over the years from 2000 to 2010 and 2015, from visit to visit ;-)) - scanned slide, Minolta X700 (main image)

The road leads from Los Antiguos in the North to Lago Posadas in the South, mostly along the Argentinean-Chilean border, surrounded by a very lonesome, beautiful landscape. After bad weather the road is closed quite often. If you drive carefully (you have to) and stop for some photos, you will need about 6 hours for only 160 km. It's easy to underestimate the travel time. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

scanned slide, Minolta X700

The northern begin of dirt Ruta 41 (south of the village Los Antiguos), called Loma Atravesada. I've done this road 3 times, in 2000, 2010 and 2015. Nothing changed, except a bridge has been built, where in 2000 we had to cross the river bed. The road leads through perfect loneliness and wonderful landscapes. I've made a whole album about this road, if you're interested: www.ipernity.com/doc/berny/album/880040 scanned slide, Minolta X700

Straight traces show us the way on the dirt Ruta 40, which is paved today in this section - and much less exciting and adventurous. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

With such an encounter it's better to stop at the roadside. In the background volcano El Tromen (3984 m). - scanned slide, Minolta X700

This is the fantastic old road to the 3832 m high Paso de Upsallata, looking back down in the valley of Rio Mendoza. Only few people drive up this road, while the normal traffic goes on Ruta 7 through a tunnel. The pass has several different names, besides Paso de Upsallata also Paso Libertadores, Paso del Cristo Redentor, Paso Iglesia and Paso Bermejo. The road connected Argentina with Chile, but at the time we drove up there, the Chilean side was closed because of too much snow. The PiP shows the Chilean side of the pass road from Google Street View. scanned slide, Minolta X700

Driving south on Ruta 149, heading to Upsallata, Province Mendoza, Argentina. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

From La Rioja we took the Ruta 38 south and Ruta 74 northwest to reach the famous Ruta 40 in Nanogasta again. From there we drove west on the dirt Ruta 40, which is here the mountain road "Cuesta de Miranda" in the valley of Rio Miranda. - scanned slide, Minolta X700

RN40 is with 5301 km the longest route in Argentina and one of the longest in the world alongside such routes as US Route 66, Canada's Trans-Canada Highway, and Australia's Stuart Highway. At its traditional southern end near the city of Río Gallegos, it starts at sea level. It then crosses 20 national parks, 18 major rivers, and 27 passes in the Andes. Route 40's highest point is with 4972 m (16404 ft) the pass "Abra del Acay" in Salta Province. This image (elevation about 4100 m) shows our first contact with this road, first driving west from San Antonio de los Cobres and then north to a famous viaduct of the "tren de las nubes". We intended to drive south from this viaduct across the 4972 m high pass, which is actually the highest drivable road point outside of Asia. But the weather was against us, the pass was closed and we had to drive back all the way down to Salta, using again Ruta 51. We should have asked for more information probably. Later on the journey we recognized, "closed" can also mean, they don't want bloody tourists on the road ;-) scanned slide, Minolta X700

Driving from about 1000 m to 4200 m elevation on Ruta 51 makes the climate and vegetation change several times. - scanned slide, Minolta X700