Volcanic landscapes

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Day two -Volcanic landscapes

Up at 6am and away before 7, heading out into even more spectacular volcanic scenery. Coming from a temperate, fluvial climate we are used to seeing the well etched and eroded remnants of volcanic cones but here all erosion is by gravity and wind giving the cones a softer form. The valleys become flat plains filled with volcanic debris and snow is a rare sight even though you are at 4-5,000m.

The lakes that have formed are mainly thermal in origin with several levels of sinter flats exposed, some of them metres thick. Spicular sinter and silicified reeds and grasses can be found underfoot on the flats. The lakes are now fed by cold water (soda?) springs and borax is being deposited at the margins. Sheets of thick ice cover many of the lakes and algal (and mineral?) deposits colour many of them. One of lakes is suggestive of a series of 3 or 4 hydrothermal eruption craters and there did seem to be some eruption breccia in a nearby roadcutting.

The temps were dropping as the trip continued and this was causing some troubles with the digital cameras. At lunch we had a fox (?) hanging around but was unable to get the camera working.

One of the stops was at a wind eroded ignimbrite outcrop and I was impressed with the description given by one of the guides (Andes Salt Expeditions) as to the origins of the rocks but the rest were uninformative. I was really excited to see Salvador Dali rock as I´m a great fan of his work but always seem to miss his exhibitions - I thought I´d get there and find that the rock had fallen over!

Amongst a number of unusual volcanic features we saw was what appeared to be a large alteration halo on the side of a cone - whether caused by a sector collapse or just an illusion formed by an ash filled secondary crater it was still an impressive sight.

Dinner that night was a very cold affair but Ramon and I celebrated with a couple of beers but then needed some cognac to warm up. The temp was probably below freezing even before dinner was served and dropped to around minus18 deg C.

We were up again at 0430 in order to view the fumeroles at dawn - Jill and I spent the minimum time out of the car there as there was not a lot to see compared to home. After this we made off to some hot springs where many had a swim but we didn´t bother as we´d decided to continue on to Chile that day and didn´t want to be stuck with wet towels and togs.

After a good breakfast our guide (Mike) ran us off to get the Chile connection at 1030. The trip was well run, with good food, a good vehicle and a more than adequate guide. Plenty of time was allowed for viewing and photography and we can´t think of any problems. Like most trips though company is everything and so to the others in our crew thanks for putting up with us and we hope to see you again somewhere and that you enjoy the rest of your travels.

Next Chile and Argentina

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