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2nd April 2002 - 22.12
GMT
Around
San Pedro
We spent almost a week in and around San Pedro. We stayed
on a camping ground, which wasn't too bad, but a bit noisy
and not that safe.
Valle
de la Luna
Standard
procedure for tourists is to visit it by car in a guided tour
or to rent a bike. The bike may be the best choice. We did
it by foot, it took an eternity and we only saw half of the
valley.
Tatio
Geyser
We booked a jeep trip with a couple of other tourists, left
San Pedro around 4:30 a.m. and reached the geyser field shortly
before sun rise.
On our way back we were lucky to see some wildlife, had an
excellent guide and saw some really challenging volcanoes
with roads leading up to the summit.
Salar
de Atacama, flamingos and Laguna Chaca
We
made it my bike, but it will come cheaper with a guided jeep
tour. We put the rented bike into the bus to Tocanao and rode
for +/- 2 hours. Quiet annoying, that some truck sprinkled
water on the dirt track. So we were biking in the driest place
on earth and got covered with mud.
Climbing
Sairecabur and the strange effects of altitude
In
the end I got lucky and "made a summit". We were
looking in whole San Pedro for Volcano climbing, but there
was very little offer. Lascar was our first choice, as it
is considered to be rather easy. But Lascar was pretty active
at this time, so it was too dangerous. In the end we found
what we were looking for. A guided tour up Sairecabur. A bit
higher then Licancabur and with the same fantastic view. We
made right away the inscription.
The next day, we were picked up very early in the morning
by our guide Carlos and another client named Jim. This guy
was a bit too "British". Not talking very much and
a bit arrogant. In fact we thought, the guy was a real climber
and just here to do some workout. But the opposite turned
out to be the truth. Later on the way down he was almost crying
of fear and we had to take him by the hand.
We left the jeep in the ruins of some mining camp, already
on the bolivian side at around 5000 m and started the long
and exhausting climb over boulders and rocks. But progress
was slow. As we reached the return deadline at 15:30, there
were still 70 m missing. Jim was too exhausted to continue
and Ros was pissed about Carlos' behavior, so just Carlos
and me made some kind of sprint to the summit.
The summit was emotional. Some hugs, some tears of joy and
an enormous amount of satisfaction. But after taking the summit
pictures, the effects of altitude suddenly set in. I was euphoric,
still with some power left, but fighting with my balance.
I felt really drunk. Soon afterwards I had to vomit several
times. Better to get down as soon as possible.
The descent became difficult, as it was a race against time.
The sun was going down, the shadows grew longer and we knew,
that it would be freezing quiet soon. We were also handicapped
by Jim, who needed encouragement for every step. With the
very last light of the day we reached finally the car.
Part 3
PROFIL1
map http://www.collahuasi.cl/comp1_1.html
aucan volcano.indstate.edu/ cvz/aucaimg.html
http://www.skimountaineer.com
http://www.w-o-w.com/adventure-articles/HighAndes1995.html
http://www.aucanquilcha.com/
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