Rio Turbio Exploratory Expedition - by Hector Bianchi
In 1998 I joined a group of five friends to venture into a series
of valleys in Northern Patagonia. A Swiss glaciologist who lived
in Bariloche, and who had studied these valleys in the 60s, told
my friends that there were walls to be climbed. As far as he knew,
only a couple of other climbers and some local gauchos had ever
set foot there. Looking back, I think that the idea of climbing
was just an excuse to go: The idea of hiking into a virgin valley
got our hearts racing from the start.
We hired some horses from a local gaucho and set off with no maps,
just a vague description of our itinerary: hike up the big valley
until we see the fourth valley on the left. Enter the valley and
keep hiking until we reach a fork, then go right until we reach
the big walls.
What laid in wait for us there was the purest wilderness that
any of us had ever experienced. These valleys are exposed to rains
from Pacific-born storms, which in turn create a lush vegetation
cover. This was more and more evident as we hiked further west.
When we reached the last fork of the last valley, we were greeted
by granite walls more than 2,000 feet tall, valdivian rainforest
and a grove of ancient Alerce – Fitzroya cupressoides
– ancient conifers that reach an average height of
160 feet and can live to be more than 3,000 years old.
The narrow, tall walls of these valleys were festooned with long
waterfalls and capped by small glaciers. Tall specimens of Alerce
populated the narrow valleys, surrounded by smaller lenga and
incredible amount of Colihue cane – Chusquea culeou
– in the higher elevations. These beautiful perennial canes
reach 18 feet in height and blossom only once in their lifetime,
dying shortly after the formation of fruit and seeds. Apart from
a puesto – a rudimentary shelter that some gauchos had used
in the past while searching for lost cattle – we didn’t
see any other traces of human activity.
We are offering this unique exploratory trip one time this season.
Our intention is to hike into this pristine environment with the
highest respect. Join us to be part of this exclusive itinerary
and to experience wilderness in its purest form.
TRIP FACTS
Duration: 11 days
Activities: We’ll be horseback riding with our personal
gear into the basecamp. From there we’ll set off on foot.
The return will be done on partly on foot, then in an inflatable
raft on the Turbio river. There will be excellent fishing opportunities.
Previous multi-day backpacking experience is recommended, but
not necessary. We will be running only one itinerary per season.
Click here for a detailed description
of this itinerary. |
