Continuing
south on Route Y-85 towards Lago Fagnano, crossed La Sierra La Paciencia (Patience). The name implies just that, since the road
was covered with ice and snow, twisting through the various high passes. The weather changed continuously but the
temperatures never rose above freezing.
This road at
its southern tip is still under construction by the Chilean military that
supposedly plows it regularly to clean the snow. While there I saw several snow plows that
were broken down. Some of the bridges
are still under construction; the last one that crosses the Rio Azopardo was
virtually completed. It connects Tierra del Fuego to Caleta Maria. Other than military personnel who were
building the road, we did not see a single tourist the whole time I was in the
area.
This was an
“extreme photography” adventure due to the harsh conditions although none of
the photographic gear malfunctioned. A spartan
cabin served as shelter with no running water, electricity or adequate
heating. A small wood stove heated the
cabin; it required frequent restocking; wood had to be cut and split to feed
it. Fortunately sleeping with clothes on
inside a sleeping bag allowed for a pleasant sleep when the stove went out
during the night.
There is
also lack of wildlife other than gulls, hawks and an occasional condor. This
trip mostly produced landscapes images of mountain ranges, winter forests and
frozen lakes and rivers. There are two
lakes, one called Deseado and the other Despreciado (Desired and Depreciated) -who
knows why. In the third image below,
Lago Deseado can be seen at the right.
Beavers were
introduced from Canada in the early 1940’s to create a fur industry. The environmental conditions created a
thriving habitat for them but some reason, the quality of the pelts were poor
and the enterprise was abandoned. The beaver
have continued to expand their range creating an ecological catastrophe. In the image below there is a black mound to
the left that is the beaver den; at the bottom right corner, a dam they created
can be seen. The den appears to be of a
different construction than that of their cousins in the northern
continent. The black is soil mixed with
tree branches, while in the north it is mostly constructed of tree branches and
twigs. The next image shows a larger dam
and the one below is that of a partially frozen impoundment created by the dam;
as a result, the trees die due to the excess water.
Tierra del Fuego was a new experience and a more appropriate name should be
Tierra Escondida (Hidden Land) because only recently tourists have found it. Next blog will be the return to the real
world. Coincidentally, the image below
reminds me of a map of the USA with Florida at the lower left and Mexico at the
lower center.
