2/7/22 – 2/14/22
by Jack Grabinski of the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University
Nestled along the border between Chile and Argentina, La Ruta de los Pioneros is a historic horse trail that was used by pioneers for travel between Cochrane and Villa O’Higgins. Today, it is still used by local people for transporting cattle through rugged terrain. The route is 95 km in length and meanders through a wide variety of habitats, including scrubland, old growth lenga forest, high Andean desert and along the small, eroded streambeds of ancient glaciers. Round River’s purpose in backpacking this trail is to better understand the habitats and biodiversity of the surrounding wilderness in hopes of making management recommendations to stakeholders. Over the course of 8 days, we traveled 75 km, starting near Mt. San Lorenzo and heading south to Lago Christie.
We pulled off a rugged dirt road in late morning of 2/7/22. The massive, glaciated peaks of Mt. San Lorenzo framed us in on the east. San Lorenzo is the tallest mountain in Patagonia, and for a Midwesterner like myself, the scale of this landmark was unlike anything I had seen before. We met Marcos, a local gaucho that would guide us through the expedition, and his four horses that generously offered to carry our food and supplies along the way. Marcos packed his horses, and we made the first steps of our week-long journey.
We stopped at nine locations throughout the expedition to survey the biodiversity of the surrounding wilderness using transect surveying methods. At each transect point we examined the species of birds, plants, herps, and mammals that were present, meticulously recording the findings in our Rite in the Rain notebooks. Through these detailed observations of the landscape, we all gained greater understandings of the wildlife and habitats of Patagonia.
The third day of our expedition proved to be an eventful one. Exiting a lenga forest in mid-morning, we were greeted with an open valley and a steep slope leading to the height-of-land ahead of us. By noon we had arrived at Paso la Picota. According to legend, this treacherous river crossing has claimed the lives of horses and cattle that have challenged the current at high water. Thanks to our guide Marcos and his brave horse Volador, we rode horseback across the frigid waters. We reached the high point of the route at 1300 meters above sea level by mid-afternoon. Now above the tree line, we hiked through a rocky and barren landscape, eroded from glaciers that recently receded from the surrounding mountains. The headwaters of el Rio Bravo greeted us during our descent from the height-of-land. We stopped to refill water bottles and take a photo in the shadows of this waterfall. Drinking mate with Marcos around a campfire was a proper way to end a day well spent in the Patagonian wilderness.
Being immersed in a remote region of Andean wilderness for a week gave us the opportunity to interact with a wide array of wildlife. we watched an Austral Pigmy Owl groom itself in a nirre tree at our campsite one morning, stood beneath Andean Condors that soared 10m above us, and paused for Black-throated Huet-huets that curiously followed us on logs beside the trail. Despite not seeing mammals, they left remnants of their presences along the trail as we traveled. Allie found puma tracks on the sandy shore of Rio Bravo. The huemul deer, an elusive and endangered species, left its prints in a muddy trail near our campsite on night 6. We were also in the presence of culpeo foxes, based on frequent sightings of their scat.
Two boats, operated by CONAF forest rangers, picked us up on the morning of our final day. The ride across Lago Christie was cold, wet, and wavy, though an exciting way to finish the trip. We made a pit stop at Marcos’s house on the van ride to Villa O’Higgins. Marcos’s wife, Margarita, treated us to homemade sopaipillas, jam, and coffee. I think we can all agree that this small meal of fried bread was one of the best we have shared, made even more delicious after a long week of backpacking. La Ruta de los Pioneros Expedition was an amazing way to be intimately immersed in the Patagonian landscape, and I want to say thanks to those that made it possible. A special thank you goes out to Marcos and his team of horses who confidently guided through the mountains, patiently waiting as we stopped to look at every cool bird or flower.
