Today was my sixth visit to this very special cactus location. Ian and Mike's car parties had also returned safely from Calama the previous day and so we were once again a formidable group, even though John Senior and Yvonne Christian as well as Jan Ekkelboom had already gone home.  

Things were a little different this time as a small private mine had been started right at the back of the quarry, where the 'Quebrada proper' begins. A shed had been built and some machinery was on hand to assist the explorations. Having seen cactus populations rendered inaccessible due to mining at Calama, it would be a disaster if the same faith befell this location.

Rudolf and Leo decided to go up the hard way, by climbing the steep slopes soon after entering the valley. A second party, consisting of Ricardo, Bart, Ian, Cliff and myself would follow a somewhat easier route that would later join up with their exploits. On the way we would see Copiapoa krainziana, probably the slightly different population that Ritter had called var. scopulina. This was the same population that we had seen in 2001, that gave rise to 'The Story of John's Trousers' as John Ede's descent from this hillside removed the seat out of his pants.

Meanwhile, Ingrid headed the remainder of the group that would follow the more traditional course of the valley inland, where the classic population of Copiapoa krainziana is found growing alongside C. taltalensis.

As in 2001, I found it tough going. At the time I had been a heavy smoker and probably as a result had suffered a heart attack in 2006. That year's Copiapoathon had been a gentle test to see what I could or could not do. This year many of my companions were  fitter and faster. Prescription medicines to protect my heart seemed to act as a break. I could get to many of the places where the others got to, but at my own pace, in my own time.  At times, this lead to falling behind the fitter Copiapoathoners, worrying about holding up others or missing a turn off. Cliff, who had the same experience six weeks before me, seemed to face the same limitations. Not only did we walk more slowly, but our the recovery times needed at a rest stop were longer. At times, it is better to take a reality check and to remember that these explorations are for fun and not Olympic endurance events. After feasting our cameras on C. krainziana, we continued as far as the point where the wool in the crowns of the cinerea turned from white (ssp. cinerea) to an orangey yellow (ssp. haseltoniana), a feature that could also be observed in the apical spines of some of the C. krainziana. Just over 3 hours since we had entered San Ramon at sea level, we had climbed to nearly 500 m. altitude and I felt that the time had come for my reality check and shouted to Bart, who had been waiting for us, that I would go back the way we had come. Cliff did not complain and joined me. The GPS co-ordinates of the turnaround point are those for S682 which I have used for all the pictures taken that day.

It afforded us the time to take a closer look at and photograph the Copiapoa, the Eulychnia (Ritter's E. acida var taltalensis) and the Eriosyce (E. taltalensis), plants that we had walked past on the way up, but without the time to take pictures in our rush to keep up. When we got back to the cars, six and a half hours after parking them, I certainly felt very pleased with today's efforts and the 215 images that recorded what I had seen.