The Altiplano and well above it! Trip recap from Chile.
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:15 am
Just got back from a long weekend adventure. About a 5.5 hour drive from our home in Iquique, we drove to the National Park Lauca in Northern Chile. Thought I would share a short recap and a few pictures for the Delica lovers in Canada. There is a a different type of beauty in the Chilean Altiplano and above. But fantastic non the less. I am always amazed that animals are able to survive up there. The park was relatively lush with vegetation. The town of Putre has a decent stream running through it, making a lush green strip about 100m across. Stark contrast to the brown everywhere else. But gorgeous with a 6000m peak towering above town. Between the coast and the park is desert. I wonder when the last time some of those places got rain (ever?, sure doesnt look it).
The biggest feat for our Delica was its first time at some real altitude! The park starts at 4300 m, and the roads go to around 4500m. The lake (chungara) is in the top 20 of highest lakes in the world. Some of the peaks of the volcanoes are around 6200-6300m. We didnt make it that far. A bout of altitude sickness sent us back where we came from (down to the lowly Putre, 3500m) on the 2nd day after a hike into the interior a bit. Too high too fast I guess! The Delica managed better then we did almost. Besides quite a bit of black smoke, and difficulty starting when cold in the morning (needed to bump it, fortunately we were parked on a decent hill!) it was great. Power was still decent too.
Altimeter was accurate to about 3500m (the town of Putre), but I think once it rolled over, we never saw the 4500m the lake is supposed to be at.
I saw a few other posts with mention of "how high has your Delica been". It isnt quite fair, as we have paved roads to what seems like the top of the world, but I will wait patiently for a higher altimeter reading!
Here are a few pictures of the trip.
Lush Valley in Putre
Smaller lakes with towreing volcanoe above.
Local Fauna
More local fauna
Park entrance
Campsite
Sea Level... nope!
The biggest feat for our Delica was its first time at some real altitude! The park starts at 4300 m, and the roads go to around 4500m. The lake (chungara) is in the top 20 of highest lakes in the world. Some of the peaks of the volcanoes are around 6200-6300m. We didnt make it that far. A bout of altitude sickness sent us back where we came from (down to the lowly Putre, 3500m) on the 2nd day after a hike into the interior a bit. Too high too fast I guess! The Delica managed better then we did almost. Besides quite a bit of black smoke, and difficulty starting when cold in the morning (needed to bump it, fortunately we were parked on a decent hill!) it was great. Power was still decent too.
Altimeter was accurate to about 3500m (the town of Putre), but I think once it rolled over, we never saw the 4500m the lake is supposed to be at.
I saw a few other posts with mention of "how high has your Delica been". It isnt quite fair, as we have paved roads to what seems like the top of the world, but I will wait patiently for a higher altimeter reading!
Here are a few pictures of the trip.
- CopyIMG_3913.jpg (181.56 KiB) Viewed 4022 times
- CopyIMG_3948.jpg (176.68 KiB) Viewed 4022 times
- CopyIMG_3965.jpg (170.92 KiB) Viewed 4022 times
- CopyIMG_3993.jpg (170.33 KiB) Viewed 4022 times
- CopyIMG_4018.jpg (183.88 KiB) Viewed 4020 times
- CopyIMG_4032.jpg (51.58 KiB) Viewed 4022 times
- CopyPA100041.jpg (81.74 KiB) Viewed 4018 times
