By Rowan Henke of University of Vermont
After research trips to Lago Jeinimeni and Valle Chacabuco, we rounded out our tour of Patagonia National Park in the Tamango sector for our final research expedition. We came to survey the park for our favorite deer: the huemul.
Huemul are a species of deer that are only found in the Southern Andes range in Southern Chile and Argentina. They are listed on the IUCN red list, and there may only be about 2,000 individuals globally. Finding them may involve climbing high up on mountains, or bushwhacking through prickly chaura and calafate shrubs, but probably some of both. For 5 days, we walked through sections of the park sometimes on a trail, and sometimes not, looking for huemul. On 3 of these days, we were fortunate enough to be accompanied by guardaparques, park rangers, from the Chilean Forest Service (CONAF). Walking transects with the guardaparques was truly a treat; many of them know the land here so intimately. We always learn the most on these days, sitting on exposed cliffs, conversing about the history of the land in Spanish, and passing around mate. On the second day of surveys, we began backpacking into the park. Though I did not personally see any huemul this day, other groups did. Getting into camp that day, we were greeted by the guardaparques with a game of truco, and of course, more mate.
The following day, we awoke to a chilly rain, but being wet and cold isn’t anything new to us. We didn’t come to Patagonia to be warm and dry. Spirits were high as 23 of us hiked out on the Sendero de los Huemules to transect. After doing expeditions with both teams together in the Chacabuco Valley, and Entrada Mayer, it seemed only fitting that our final research trip would combine students from Coigue and Ñirre teams. We trekked up to our camp overlooking Lago Cochrane, stopping to nibble on chaura berries and sip nectar from the blooming ciruelillo. It’s special to be here during the Austral spring. We’ve watched the vegetation change from shades of brown and yellow, to the first buds, to full bloom. We arrived into camp early, set up, and finished the day off with stories and class huddled under a tarp, overlooking Lago Cochrane.
The sun greeted us the next morning, for our final sweep survey. Groups were divided, and everyone set out in search of huemul. Some groups went higher up onto the mountain, and some walked down towards the lake. The survey area was along the North side of the lake, across from a large island. Twelve guardaparques joined us on this day, giving us a grand total of 35 huemul searchers. One of the guardaparques shared a story with us about a campo that used to be on the island in Lago Cochrane. This campo grazed sheep on the island in order to help deter pumas. However, this plan failed. The lake was no match for the puma. The puma just started swimming from the mainland to an island, and stealing sheep, swimming with them back to shore. The next morning arrived, cloudy and a bit rainy, but fairly warm. Class took place under the tarps with hot beverages in hand. Afterward, Team Coigue took off to head back to base in Cochrane, where they would be starting finals. We were glad to have a few more days in the field before finals week commenced. Team Ñirre continued deeper into the park. We trekked up to a high elevation lake to camp, and the next morning, climbed Mt. Tamanguito. The wind battered us, snow stung our faces, and the summit was still in clouds, but we were all smiles. When we summited, the clouds cleared for a moment, just long enough to eat some pb&j tortillas and Toddy’s (the superior brand of Chilean chocolate chip cookies) with a view. The rest of the day was spent journaling and sketching, followed by some packing for the hike out.
The next morning was magical, with light snow flurries and sunshine in the lenga forest as we took our tents down. We treated ourselves to some surplus peanut butter in our oats (a luxury!) before hiking back down to Cochrane. The town got bigger and bigger as we lost altitude, finally reaching the park entrance. About 100 meters from the trail end, we got lucky. A juvenile macho huemul was browsing in the scrub right next to the trail. Under normal circumstances a bunch of students from the United States would not be so excited about seeing a deer in the woods, but huemul are special. Silence immediately fell over the group and we exchanged huge open mouth grins, all pointing and mouthing expletives. We all got a great look, and it was the perfect way to end our descent. He did not hang out long, but we got some great photos.
And then, our final research trip was over. I’m not sure how the semester flew by so quickly, but I’m glad it isn’t quite over yet. One of the common themes of conversation the last few days has been about what we’re going to do when we come back to Patagonia. Despite the wind and the rain, and the remoteness, we are scheming up ways to get back to this crazy place. Learning about this place, its history, its people, and the flora and fauna that reside here, has instilled a deep connection to Patagonia in us all. I hope that all of us can return someday, but also that in the future we can continue to learn about the all of places we end up.