By Kilynn Groen of the University of Montana
Backpacking up a steep mountain with a friendly dog is a good day for us Round River students. After settling into the Aysen region for the first two weeks of the semester, students and instructors headed out to Lago Brown to embark on our first backpacking trip. We split off into our two separate quinchos with quincho 1 heading up the green (endurance) route and quincho 2 trekking up the purple (canyon) route. Both groups had a successful trip and learned a lot about leave no trace principles, trail camera maintenance, backpacking etiquette, and so much more.
Beginning at Lago Brown, our group set up camp on Atillio’s land overseeing the vast Lago Brown and the towering Monte San Lorenzo. Then, Jose taught us about the methods and importance of orienteering in the backcountry. Lauren followed this lecture with an in-depth discussion of the Leave No Trace Principles. These principles are imperative to keeping public and private lands in their natural state. This is important not only for wildlife and plant life, but also for the enjoyment of recreators that explore these areas. The simple mistake of not drowning a campfire can lead to a wildfire that can destroy thousands of acres along with the life that resides within it. This is why Round River promotes Leave No Trace diligently and strives to keep nature wild.
After learning how to use compasses, we received advice on navigating with a Garmin GPS. These devices are helpful for abstract waypoints such as trail cameras because they give you a direct path that doesn’t necessarily need distinctive landmarks. You can also download data about an area that paper maps cannot provide such as past wildfire burn areas. Also, there is an SOS button that can alert first responders of an emergency. Knowing the importance of backcountry safety is the key to success and enjoyment of a trip. Spotting and identifying wildlife is also a source of enjoyment on the trail. That’s why Jose gave us a birding basics class and told us what to look for in bird songs and colorations.
Bright and early on February 9th, we packed up the group gear and split for our respective trails. The terrain had a variety of plant life that we stopped to admire as Pablo gave us some plant identification tips. At one point we hiked through a young growth forest that was very hard to travel through due to tight spaces. It is important to think about how young forests such as this form. They could be created from human disturbance such as camping, or natural disturbances like a strike of lightning. In the Western U.S. it is more typical to see them formed through wildfires, although, after talking with Lauren, I learned that Chile is not an ecosystem that depends on large wildfires. From a conservationist perspective, wildfires are a hot topic because they can be beneficial to some areas but not to others. This year in Chile, the El Nino Phenomenon is causing hotter and drier temperatures that are conducive to large fires. This past year was a very fire heavy year and now, in 2024 we see fire damage along the road in Coyhaique. It will be interesting to see how these fires progress in the future and what that means for the surrounding ecosystems.
After reaching our potential campsite, we discovered that our water source was dried up. This could be an implication of rising global temperatures, or just the pattern of weather this season. Although it was an inconvenience for us, it was much more detrimental for the plants and wildlife in the area. Some plants rely on a consistent source of water and are then consumed by a larger herbivore. It is important to think about how one issue can affect an entire food chain. After pondering the situation, we trekked down to a stream a couple kilometers back from where we started. Situations such as this can arise at any time, but with the support of Lauren and Pablo, we kept a positive attitude and persevered through this challenge.
The next morning, we hiked up to the trail camera and Lauren taught us some trail camera basics while we switched out the batteries and SD card. Since last March, the camera has taken around 1500 pictures. This large amount was due to a high volume of wildlife, but also an interval setting that mistakenly got placed on 3 instead of 30. The group will hopefully analyze these pictures in the future and learn more about the types of species spotted in the area. Trail cameras are an important conservation tool because of the variety of data they provide. For instance, these cameras can tell us where an animal is and how many of those same species reside there. Knowing where there are biodiversity hotspots can show us where to place protected areas. The cameras that the two quinchos checked were placed according to where Atillio had seen Huemul Deer and Pumas. Both species are threatened by a loss of habitat, and it is valuable information to know where and how they are distributed across a region.
Overall, both quinchos had a great time on the first backpacking trip of the season and collected some valuable data. The two groups had the opportunity to learn a lot about conservation aspects of private land and dipped their toes into some field work.
