The complete
walk today has been given one stop number -
S056 - I was too preoccupied
with taking pictures and not falling down hillsides to take more frequent GPS
readings.
We walked
about half way up the Quebrada, across the (dry) waterfall and past the first
side canyon coming in from the left (north). Just before the second side canyon
left (north) Rudolf directed us up the steep and crumbly canyon wall. The
density and variation in the clumps of Copiapoa cinerea were amazing!
Climbing to a
height of some 750 m. it was not surprising to find that the group of ten had
become stretched out over the hillside.
Marlon and I
stayed with John - the tail-ender - in the certain knowledge that plants that
had been growing at the top for a hundred years or more would still be there
when we would eventually arrive.
At the top of
the hill, we could see the rest of the party, with Leo in his bright yellow T
shirt in front, following a donkey trail that disappeared around the hillside.
We followed the trail and, as it wound around the hillside, we arrived at a
south facing slope. Here the Copiapoa were absent, preferring sunny
north facing sides, and the landscape was dominated by, mainly dead,
Eulychnia.
As the trail
twisted further, we were once again on the north-facing slope and the
Copiapoa return, but here they were densely white-spined Copiapoa
krainziana. Spines range from stiff and rigid to soft and woolly (c. 10% of
plants) and from snow-white to dirty brown and black. In all cases, the spines
were rather brittle, breaking off easily. Most stems had lost their spines at
the lower part.
The site was
covered in mouse droppings and the others report seeing mice sitting on top of
stems, digging for fruits and seed. There were clear signs that these rodents
caused serious damage caused to the plants.
Having
reached our goal, we decide not to follow the others, but to take the 'easy'
route back, by returning to the valley floor and following this back to the main
Quebrada. A mistake, as we find out later ..... John's trousers say it all - a
high, steep waterfall just before the side valley joined the Quebrada forced us
to climb high up the hillside from where the descent was mainly achieved by
sliding. I guess the image below will be seen at a few BCSS branch meetings as
'the end of the talk', slide, replacing the traditional sunset picture.
