Wednesday, January 10 2001, Start of Expedition
Friends of the Cordillera Sarmiento, I'm off again for the
Cordillera Sarmiento. Various problems arose, in recent
months,to cut this travel time in half, but still I will
have a good six weeks. With me will be three excellent
travel mates, Christian, Tobias and Michael, climbers, river
runners, all outdoors men and tough guys. They can handle
the rough weather of the zone if anybody can. Their greatest
challenge will be handling me, a little grumpy and out of
shape. I have to say that, although tardy, we are well
prepared. Our equipment is sound, and our clothing, supplied
by Lowe Alpine, is the best that can be found. We're
taking our own inflatable Avon boat and 30 hp Tohatsu motor,
so as to be totally self sufficient ; this gives us maximum
freedom for traveling and exploring in the fjords, valleys
and mountains of the range. I'll be out
with these lads in various combinations, according to their
time restraints, and if need be, I'll travel alone. I would
welcome that, as one of my main goals this year is just to
get to know--"become intimate with" [in Shipton's words]--
that incredible wilderness.
I will be mapping, learning what I can of the geology and
glaciology, and just sorting out the intricate and complex
geography of the 500 sq kilometer peninsula. A "management
plan" for preserving the Sarmiento is evolving. Last year I
found strong supportive interest in three areas. 1] those
few--climbers and ecotourists, mostly--who have visited the
range, 2]the scientific and environmentalist community, 3]
Chilean people in general. What remains undecided is how to
go about it. Doug Tompkins' bold mandate,"Buy it !"
certainly has it's appeal. Or, I can apply for a 50 year
concession from the government to "develop" the area for
economic gain [probably ecotourism]. Or I can convince
CONAF, the Chile's national forest service, to annex the
Sarmiento to the adjacent Parque Nacional O'Higgins.
Whichever course I choose will require some basic homework.
1] We need basic description of the place to show
the world why it is worth preserving. My story in National
Geographic magazine was a start, but brief. I need more
photos, clearer maps.
2] We need a basic catalog of
flora and fauna, and an informed description of the
Sarmiento as a bioregion. For this, I hope to take expert
biologists into the range.
3] The project needs
logistical and financial backing. I am going ahead with
plans to create the non-profit corporation, Cordillera
Sarmiento Institute [while searching for a less cumbersome
moniker, such as "Williwaw Inc."]. I have to find the way
for spending more of my time and energy at Sarmiento
endeavors and less at my "day job', house building. Once I
get that 501(c)(3) status, I can apply for grants, which
will give me time to do the job right.
I intend to update news of these travels on my website at
www.williwaw.org , so check it out, now and then.
Jack
Wednesday, January 17 2001, Puerto Natales, Chile.
After exasperating delays and expense getting our inflatable
boat and motor here and through Customs, we got it assembled
and are about ready to head out into theĻ"baguales", the
real wilds of Patagonia. We launch from the fishing port of
Puerto Natales. Once we leave port we will be totally self-
contained and self reliant. We're only 80 miles from our
destination, which in calm weather can be done in 12 hours
of fast motoring. The weather is not calm however, and it
could take us as long as a week, beating our way into the
wind, to reach the Fjord of the Mountains and the Sarmiento
range. It takes patience for mountain and ocean traveling
here, and with such attractive, and unclimbed peaks out
there waiting, patience is in short supply.
News reached us that a British team just failed on the most
desirable, "Angel Wings", an awe-inspiring Macchu Pichare
looking ice covered peak. That has heated the blood of my
young lions, depleting our patience even more.
We discovered "Angel Wings" in 1992, so it will be a major
priority in our explorations, and useful for mapping that
unknown section of the range, for we have to simply FIND the
mountain, and work out our approach through dense Magallanic
forest, icefalls and mixed terrain. Every inch will be new
terrain, ours the first footsteps.
All for the moment. Will keep you posted.
Jack Miller, aka Jaco
Saturday, January 20 2001, Puerto Natales, Chile
Today is the day for the test of our independent
transport system, a well worn Avon inflatable boat -- you
remember them from Jacques Cousteau programs--and a tried
and true Tohatsu outboard. Our motor was broken in by a few
dozen trips down a river with a commercial rafting company,
the best we can do while waiting for supporters. On this
first launch it runs like a Swiss watch -- for two nautical
miles. Luckily, Juan, a local fisherman, was out with his
family for a 'paseo' in his 'chalupa' (open fishing boat).
He tows us back to Natales, keeping an eye out for the
Captain of the Port who considers hassling me sport.
We retire to Juan's backyard where, in a nest of fishing
nets and gear, we soon have it running like a clock. Until
water squirts from the block. Utter dejection. Carmen,
Juan's carinoso wife, provides comfort in the form of a
frozen merluza (hake) and we slink back to our hosteria, a
small room I fondly refer to as the 'Rhino Pit'. I manage to
reach Michael Geanious, our fourth partner, shortly before
his departure for Chile. He graciously agrees to strip down
his identical Tohatsu and bring us parts; in his carry on
luggage if necessary.
We wait, again. It's the hardest part of expeditioneering.
Especially infuriating when the obstacle is man-made.
Waiting is often serendipitous, however; in Santiago I hang
out with Dr. Mary Kalin, head of the Biology Department at
the University of Chile. She teaches me collecting,
preserving, drying and cataloging of the plants of the
Sarmiento.While there I learn of a preservation project
larger than ours in Tierra Del Fuego; one that sounds
like it will dovetail nicely with ours.
More Later,
Jack Miller, aka Jaco
Tuesday January 23 2001, Hurry up and Wait
Michael arrives in a record 39 hours all the way from his
home in Yampa, CO. No more of the false frugality of two
week overland trips. He takes a little nap--15 hours, but I
am able to start work on motor repairs with the parts he
brought.
With morning comes Ditte, inspiration in the form of an
extraordinary Danish traveler--skydiver, scuba-diver--who
blew in my ear and said she had a little extra time on her
hands. Michael finishes doing handsprings and we convince
him to complete the repairs on the motor. Excited, we draw
up a grocery list, but the winds increase to screaming
levels and the telephone wires are moaning like a B-grade
Sgt. Preston movie. The wind continues, Ditte buys a
ticket to Argentina, Michael and I drink beer. After
several hours of group brew therapy I send a message to my
editor
explaining that "an exploorer's life is har . . ."
Til next time.
Jaco
TOUGH BEGINNINGS Monday, January 29, 2001 Puerto
Natales, Chile.
We depart civlization from Puerto Natales.The beginning of
the voyage involves the hardest traveling, over long
expanses of open inland seas. Here persistent SW winds off
the Antarctic Ocean, combined with capricious squalls and
williwaws, can whip up treacherous headwind seas almost
instantly. It's a sobering prospect in any small boat but
particulary so with our aging engine that has just
undergone transplant surgery of its major vital organs. We
relax a bit more with each mile of Golfo Montt that slides
astern, and finally greet the entrance of Canal White, a
relatively protected fjord, with relief. The motor purrs
through alternating zones of sun and squall as we enter the
true 'baguales' (wild places) with few place names.
Although our destination is the unexpolored Corderilla
Sarmiento, I cannot resist the tempation to fill in a few
blanks on the map along the way. We motor up a side fjord
to shallows that force us to beach the boat and continue on
foot. We are enchanted by this pristine valley, its lush
vegatation undisturbed by any sign of man.
I look for tracks of the endangered 'huemel' or andean deer;
in my thousands of days in these wilds I have never seen
one. A roar misktaken for wind above the canyon develops
into a waterfall as we pentrate further inland. A huge
amount of water--we estimate it at two or three thousand
cubic feet per second-- thunders straight down a a tube-like
channel in a 1000 foot cliff. We are the first to view this
spectacle, which would be an attraction ranking with
Yosemite in the United States.
We loaf on a mat of deep grasses and wildflowers as sun and
rain cast dappled light on the scene. As a reference, I jot
'Cascada Escondida' (Hidden Falls) on the map. We cannot
tear ourselves away from
such a place. We camp.
All for the moment. Will keep you posted.
Jack Miller, aka Jaco
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Tuesday, January 30, 2001
Puerto Natales, Chile.
Today we climb, reasoning that such a large volume of water
must come from a sizable lake. Ascending 1100 feet we crest
a knoll of galcier polished rock and look into cobalt
waters. Reflected there is a glacier covered peak and the
rock towers of Grupo La Paz. First sighted by mariners at
sea, peaks soar 2500-3000 feet above us. An andean condor
floats by as we lounge taking in the scene.
Is he wondering if we might be more than food for thought?
Jack Miller, aka Jaco
Birds and Bees
Wednesday, January 31, 2001
In the Baugles, Chile.
Squalls pin us down until noon, when a lull sets us free to
continue down fjord. We enter a side valley by motoring up
its stream, large and crystal clear, until stopped by
rapids overhung with dense vegetation from this lush
rainforest. The floor is a spongy bed of mosses and lichens
and we sink down and bounce as we walk. The girth of the
tree trunks is fattened by these plant colonies, and
bumblebees as big as my thumb compete with hummingbirds
for
the bright red 'copihue' blossoms, Chile's national flower.
Jack Miller, aka Jaco
Toward Headwaters
Febnuary 1 and 2, 2001
In the Baugles, Chile.
Exploring the valley of the stream I call 'Rio Claro' we are
impressed with the abundance of cedar trees (Cipres Fitzroyii).
Fishermen cut and sell the cedars as poles and fence posts but
have overlooked this valley, so far. Climbing out of the riverbed,
we quickly trade dense forest for open ground, technically called
Magallnic sub-antarctic mooreland. Heaths, heathers, rushes and
grasses are interrupted by ponds and swamps. We stroll up valley
using outcrops of rock, scoured smooth by recent glaciation.
Soon the river's meandering course through this open valley
changes to a deep canyon incised in solid rock. We scramble
uphill a few hundred feet before being stopped by high cliffs.
We catch brief glimpses of cascades and falls stepping into the
backbone of these mountains, Cordillera Riesco. Further
exploration of the headwaters will have to be
done with mountaineering technology or from the other
side of this peninsula, Peninsula Roca.
Jack Miller, aka Jaco
Tohatsu? Bless you.
Febnuary 3 and 4, 2001
In the Baugles, Chile.
Typical rain squalls interspersed with sun and the ever present
wind, greet us. We leave the protection of Canal Santa Maria,
the southern extension of Canal White. Waves build as we motor
into more open seas at the southern tip of Penisula Roca. Rounding
the Peninsula we attempt to enter the Fjord of the Mountains, but
oncoming 'caballos blancos' (white caps) are too much for our little
craft. We get a storm-shrouded glimpse of the crags and icefalls
of Cordillera Sarmiento, and a blast of chilly glacial air, reminding
us what lies up there. Then we turn about and flee. On a white sandy
beach in Canal Santa Maria we lunch on fresh picked steamed
mussels and limpets, while discussing our situation. There's a low
pressure cell over the area and winds are not likely to calm for
days. Our planned rendezvous with a fishing boat carrying fuel is
in doubt. My strep throat needs stonger antibiotics than we have,
and Michael is stiff and in pain from a back injury. Tobias has
taken a job as a porter for a film crew, and Christian has gone home.
We decide to return to Natales.
We are suckered out by the current calm, and just beyond the point
of no return sudden winds churn up a confusion of cross seas. It's
our turn to ride those 'caballos blancos'. Luckily they are heading
our way, but that inky black ocean is deep, deep. Our old inflateable,
torqued severely by the waves, bends and buckles but never lets the
rollers swamp us. The whole time our dubious old motor performs
like a champ, even though the magneto has snapped off its mount
and is rattling loose inside its casing.
Stopped by a gravel bar, and impending darkness, we beach for
the night.
Ol' Tohatsu proudly powers us the last miles to town, and we tie
up at the fishermen's dock. It has been a short, intense trip, and
we have new findings.
We will rest a few days, and start out again.
Jack Miller, aka Jaco
Saturday, March 3 2001, Mountains of Colorado
A Season Ended Too Soon
This year's field season was cut short by injuries-- Michael's
strained back, and my hernia-- so we have to be content
with small successes: the discovery of two valleys and a lake.
They're all unnamed and not before described. 'Lago Azul' a
lake bluer than cobalt, lies in an alpine pocket 1000 feet above
the fjords, at the base of an ice-clad pyramid and a collection
of immense rock spires. Its outlet, a sizeable river, forms
'Cascada Escondida' (Hidden Falls), where a huge volume
of water thunders into a pristine valley of southern beech
and cedars. Here is the perfect example of undisturbed
biodivesity of Magallanic forest.
Similarly, our 'Rio Claro' (Clear River) tumbles from
its source, the highlands of Peninsula Roca, through
tiered chasms of solid rock. Finally it rests, meandering
through a glacier-scoured valley of Subantarctic Moorland.
As a stream of the clearest water imaginable, it meets the sea at
Canal Santa Maria.
Now is the time to rest and restore, getting ready to return
to further explore the intriguing valleys, glaciers, lakes and
ice fields of the region. We spend the time out of the
field learning the best ways to preserve the Cordillera Sarmiento,
the Sarmiento Mountain range. It's a lengthy process
complicated by feasibility studies, management plans, etc.
Aligned with preservation, and in response to queries by
interested Chileans, we are looking into conducting courses
in environmental education. It's a new thought for us, but
one we're enthusiastic about.
We'll keep you posted with events as they unfold.
Jack Miller, aka Jaco
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