March 4 - Alta Montaña

Warning!  Scenery overload again today.  Alta Montaña means High Mountain and is the name of the tour we booked today.  We are heading towards Aconcagua mountain (highest in the Western & Southern hemispheres) and the high pass between Chile & Argentina.  Scenery now, history as I go along.

A view through the windshield as we head west from Mendoza.  To be honest, I'm not sure if the highest lump is Aconcagua.  There's lots of snow on this side of them thar hills.

 The Andes in this area consist of a number of mountain chains with longitudinal valleys between.  We are headed down one of those valleys now.

We stopped at Uspallata for breakfast and a pee break.  I saw this sign. 
Translating:

   1 kg Bananas

   8     Oranges

   1 kg Apples

   1 kg Grapes 

All for $45 (about $5.50 cdn.)

  I bet its been a while since you saw fruit prices like that!

A shot across the Mendoza River.  The valley is a classic glacial U-shaped valley with a meandering river cutting through the gravel base.  The gravel cliffs you see are 20 - 30 meters or so high (my guess).




A history stop.  This bridge was part of the ancient Inca road.  (I think it was built later by Spaniards).  There are the ruins of a fort nearby.  There were various skirmishes between Spaniards, Chileans, and / or Argentinians over the years as they tried to control the border.
(I will apologize now for historical inaccuracies.  I try to pick this stuff up as  I go along, but I often mess up in the translation)

More scenery and erosion.  Most of the Andes in this area aren't volcanic, but were created by tectonic forces. I believe this is typical tecktonic uplift and erosion.  (Are you shuddering in your geotech's boots, Bruce?)

Whatever it is, it is impressive.

Laura wants to go for dinner, so I'll continue later.
It's later now.  We had beer, nachos and a salad for dinner.  The nachos were different, but filling.  Beer was excellent.

Onward.  A very deep cut valley entering the main valley.

This stop is called the Puente del Inca (the Inca Bridge).  There are conflicting theories about its formation, but the main feature is the high sulphur content hot springs.  There used to be a spa here but the structures are in disrepair and abandoned.  Now you can view the springs and there are a number of local vendors.  Many of them sell objects that have been left in the hot springs for a while and have become encased in sulphur (like bronzing your baby shoes, but using sulphur instead).  Unique, but not appealing.

In the background of this shot you can see a small church (on the left) and some ruins on the right.  This was the spa until it got hit with an avalanche.  We are up well over 2000 meters above sea level at this point (Mendoza is about 780 metres elevation.)

Some smart alec commented that she wanted a snow globe from Argentina.  Well, look what I found in the middle of nowhere.  Sorry, but you are only getting a picture of a snow globe.  Any more smart remarks and you might only get a picture of a chocolate :) 

Next stop is the Aconcagua viewpoint.  I'm the one with the sun shining on his bald spot.  

And a close-up of the old gal.  She is 6962 metres above sea level.  That's 22,835 feet.

This is not a technically difficult mountain to climb, but a couple of people die on it every year from the effects of cold.  It apparently can be nasty and the bad weather can move in very quickly.  No chance of that today but you can see a wisp of snow blowing off the peak.

I need to give some more background now.  We are near the pass at an elevation of 3150 metres.  The border is a couple of kilometers away.

The pass was crossed centuries ago by natives climbing the mountain to the left of this arch.  The arch is modern.

In 1910 a railway link was completed via a long tunnel (3 km long) at the 3200 metre level.  It operated until 1982.

In 1980 a vehicle tunnel was opened, at about the same elevation and the same length.  It can be closed in winter due to heavy snow and avalanche threat.  The road is just to the right of this arch.

So, why am I telling you this?  Because we didn't go on the main road any further.  Instead our minibus (and many others) drove through the arch and up this crazy, winding one lane road.  Passing other vehicles was interesting as you could only do it at wide spots.  All the tour operators know each other and laugh and wave rolls of toilet paper or cans of room deodorant at each other as they pass.  I think this is a spoof on the idea that the other guy is too chicken to move over near to the edge.  

Remember, at one time (pre-1910) this was the way to cross into Chile.  We reach the top.  This statue is of Christ the Redeemer and was erected here in 1904 to celebrate the resolution of Chile-Argentine border disputes in this area.  

  One of the border post buildings. I climbed up a  bit more to the border marker (steel tower) and my GPS topped out at 3794 metres (12447 feet).  I think the official number is 3810 metres elevation.  Anyway, it is a long way up and higher than I've ever been, except in an airplane.  They warn you not to run about or you will have oxygen problems. Humans do go much higher without oxygen, but not without acclimatization first.

I'm still 10,000 feet below Aconcaqua's peak.

A view of the winding road we came up and went down.

And a view down the Chilean side.  It doesn't look as steep, but it seems disappear over the edge a little ways down.

Our tour guide Augustin fooling around with a goofy hat at the top.  It is chilly up there.  When we booked the tour we were told we wouldn't have an English speaking guide, but Augustin spoke reasonably good English.  Most of the time he spoke in Spanish for the majority, but we could catch enough with our bad Spanish and context to sort of follow along.

That's it for now.  I could show you more beautiful scenery but I imagine your eyes are getting crossed now.

We never saw the actual 3 km tunnel, but we will in 3 days.  Remember that bus I had trouble booking yesterday?  Well, we have front seats on it when we cross through the tunnel on our way to Vina del Mar.

If you ever get down here, I would recommend this tour.  It was quite an experience and well worth it.