Cajón de Flores Trek |
Day 1 - Cajón de Paredones (11km - 300m ascent - 280m descent)
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First glimpse of our trek - Torres de Flores and Pangal |
Christian with his horse, Satana, and mule |
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Christian ferrying the trekkers across the Rio Blanco |
Heading off into the Cajon de Paredones |
Andean doves |
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Paredones waterfall |
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View up the stony bed of the Rio Paredones ...... |
...... and back down toward the start of the trek |
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Ephemeral waterfalls cascading down the cliffs |
Waterfall tumbling down from a clifftop gap |
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First view into the Cajón de Flores |
Mountains at the head of the Cajon |
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Close-up of our reptilian friend |
A handful of tarantula |
Spot the condors |
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By now, the afternoon clouds had well and truly built up over these peaks and were spilling out down the valley - we retraced our steps back to the camp, where Christian built an impressive bonfire to sit around in the evening and together with a glass of fine Chilean red, warded off the chill mountain air. |
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Day 2 - Exploring the Cajón de Flores (660m ascent - 660m descent) |
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A misty dawn at the Torre de Flores |
Breakfast time at the campsite |
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Cloud hanging over the Cajón de Flores |
Can you spot the rare torrent duck? |
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Looking back down the course of Estero Flores |
Waterfall cascading from the valley wall |
Erosion at work - boulder strewn streambed |
View up to Nevado de Flores |
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Nevada de Flores (4950m) at the head of the Cajon |
Shall we cross here? |
Heading towards El Gendarme and Nevado de Flores |
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Arriving at Las Hualtatas |
A good spot for lunch |
4950m Nevado de Flores in the clouds |
Juan, Nello and Lisanyell at Las Hualtatas |
The glacier of Nevado de Flores |
4500m El Gendarme generating cloud |
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Working our way across the snowdrifts ... |
.... back toward the mouth of the Cajon |
Day 3 - The Waterfall (8km - 10m ascent - 30m descent) |
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The head of Cajon Paredones |
Looking down the Rio Paredones |
The towering black face of Torre de Flores |
Looking across the river flats towards the Paredones Falls |
4300m Catedral Barroso on the Chile-Argentina border |
Reaching a point opposite the large waterfall, Christian's services were called on again, as he ferried us on Satana's back across the three deeper braids of the Rio Paredones. We then rock-hopped across the remaining four braids to the southern edge of the stony riverbed, and headed toward the impressive 150m waterfall. |
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Heading toward the 150m Paredones Falls |
Stream below the waterfall |
The trekking team pose for a photo |
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Landscape of the Central Chilean Andes |
Heading home on the stony river bed |
One last crossing |
100-year old wooden aqueduct bound by iron hoops |
Parque Nacional Rio Cipres |
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