Blogs from Cerro Castillo, Aisén, Chile, South America
January 19th 2012
I continued to be on survey until the 16th. The last day of survey we went out to put in a few shovel tests to check the depth of a few of the promising but questionable sites. It was a hot day and a few people were rubbed the wrong way by procedures. Mostly it was just a communication problem, as we speak little Spanish and the Chileans here speak little English. It makes it hard. Matt N (There are three Matts, did I mention that?) found some really nice lithic material wandering around close to the vans while we waited for the third team to finish their test units. One pretty little white chalcedony projectile point. Started excavation on the 16th. We opened a new 1mx1m unit the day I got there. We have to ... read more
January 12th 2012
Excerpts from Journal and Field Journal Jan 6th "North towards Rio Ibanez from road. Began 500m apart and steered by GPS. Had to start line .61mi from my way point because of cliffs and stinging caterpillars. Worse than yesterday. Crossed road and headed up ridge number one. Many fallen trees. Top clear but the way down on the other side was very steep. "Marco" from valley bottom. Heard both Justin and Cami but saw only Justin. They are WAY off their line...Bottom very marshy. Hit another ridge, up, down, across, up again. Made it to my waypoint at about 2 pm. Beautiful spot. Open meadow. Waited 1.5 hours, no sign of anyone. Considering the previous encounters, I had little trust that they would make it here. Dropped down into valley and walked out towards river intot ... read more
January 11th 2012
The past couple of days have been very cool! It has felt like we are really getting into Patagonia now - high mountains, snow, heaps of rivers, glacial meltwater lakes and of course, cold weather : ) Leaving Coyhaique behind, we drove to the little town of Villa Cerro Castillo, based at the foot of the mountain we were planning to hike up to. This village lies on the Carretera Austral: the final southernmost road in Chile, that meanders through mountains and rivers. During winter, this area is completely cut off from the northern parts, due to the snow and rain. Not many people drive this road and public transport is very scarce. Most people cycle or hire a car or hitchike to get to the southernmost village, O Higgins. We opted for the hitching/attempted public ... read more
January 5th 2012
Hi:) I didn't have the internet to post all of this while I was there so I'm going to do a few posts to get you all caught up on my adventures down South. The place that we were staying was just outside of a teeny little town called Villa Cerro Castillo on the edge of a natural reserve called, amazingly, Cerro Castillo. The name comes from teh mountain that dominates the landscape to the West, a huge peak that rises out of a glacier with enough towers and turrets to make any castle architect shrivel with envy. My favorite time of day was about six in the morning (yes, I was awake then, voluntarily) because that was when the sunrise would light the peak with alpenglow, turning it into a brilliant rosy beacon in the ... read more
October 11th 2010
In Patagonia, in some of its most remote places, the indegenious people of the region the Tehuelches left evidence of their existence there by leaving imprints of their hands in rock walls. The sign at the site read: "We don't know what these paintings meant, nor why did they did it, we only know that this tradition dates back 10,000 years and that it wasn't a hobby or individual inspiration. The hand negative (paiting the silhouette of the hand) or the hand imprint is a sign of the communities that once lived here". ... read more
Mike V Wreaks Havoc in South America
Published: November 28th 2009South America » Chile » Aisén » Cerro Castillo
November 27th 2009
Here we are in Coihaique, all safe and sound JUST !. We have had a very interesting and challenging past few days, battling the Patagonia winds on the infamous Ruta 40 and the challenging road and winds along the Lago General Carrera, with more than one rider blown off his moto. Below are more detailed accounts of what has transpired... Blog from Mike V.... Hola otra vez, Left Rio Serrano on a stunningly clear but cool morning heading South back past Lago del Toro. Breathtaking vista of lakes & sheer snow capped mountains as we bumped across fantastic motorcycling gravel roads albeit at a slow pace as today the plan was to ride in a group and look for Condors (if we disturbed them we would all be there to see them fly), the plan went ... read more
Cesta z Chile Chico do Coyhaique
Published: April 12th 2009South America » Chile » Aisén » Cerro Castillo
April 10th 2009
Z Chile Chico jsme vyrazili odpolednim autobusem, nebo spis malinkatym busikem, smer Puerto Guadal. Male mesto (nebo spis vesnice) u velkeho jezera (2. nejvetsi v Jizni Americe). U mesta jsou fosilie, vodopady a niklovy dul. Odbornici spatne spocitali kolik tam toho niklu je a tak to vypada jako by melo tohle male mestecko byt zanedlouho vetsi a vetsi. Bohuzel je dul zavreny a nove stavby zeji prazdnotou. Prochazka kolem pobrezi a pak do stareho dolu, konci pozde vecer. Spime v opusenem kempu na konci mesta. Dalsi den vyrazime do nedalekeho Tranquilo. Projeli jsme se lodkou po pobrezi a ... (vice na fotkach) z plaze, kde jsme stanovali nas chtela vyhnat mistni policie. Pry se tam nesmi kempovat a ten ohen na plazi se jim taky nejak nezamlouval. Nakonec nas nechali na pokoji a odjeli - machani ... read more
Thank god I didn't get a lift!
Published: March 10th 2009South America » Chile » Aisén » Cerro Castillo
February 15th 2009
So, my bus from Coyhaique dropped me in Villa Cerro Castillo, and after dumping all my unwanted gear at the tourist office, I hit the road to start my hike. I say hit the road, because the trailhead is 25km outside of town, so I needed to hitchhike there. However, an hour later, nothing had happened, and it was now 2pm. I was very aware that it was starting to get a bit late being as I had 17km of walking ahead of me, so I looked for other options. It turned out you could walk up to what is marked as the final campsite. As you can do this from town, I made a start. The first few kilometres were fine, but then I started to lose the trail. I had been warned that the ... read more
March 29th 2005
Our consulting team also did 2 days of horse back riding near Lago Alto and Lago Lapparent near Cerro Castillo. It was pretty much my first time on a horse. I loved it! I reckon I´ll have to buy myself a Caballo The Asado kicks ASS... read more
