2023 11 Locura Chile 10 to the observatories
We fetch the horses from their grazing areas and saddle up. We return to the majara of yesterday and follow a trail up the left flank of the valley to a pass, that we saw yesterday at 3000 m. On the other side are big boulders and rocks we must find our way through. Later we get help from a barely existing trail I am leading Negro who has come to trust me in meantime, even permitting me to scratch him behind the ears. After about two hours of steep decent I get back on him. On a sandy trail we wind through the boulders high above the creek, that does not have running water but enough to feed the green brush and occasional tree.
We fund a waterhole and let the horses take a drink. The mountain now also shows some cacti and the sand changes frequently from reddish brown to cement Grey. We reach the valley floor following a thick waterpipe, that delivers water to a majara way down the valley providing water to fields of alfalfa. We see a electric line in the distance and some trees providing shade. Crossing the road, we reach a majara with 20 young goats corralled and the herder working on his well. We get to let the horses have some water and we eat our lunch of goat chese salami and bread under the wide roof of one of these local trees. After Lunch we ride across the mountain side up to where we hit a road that leads to the observatories. There is a new one being built that will be fully automated and controllable via internet to take pictures of the southern sky from anywhere in the world. We follow the road a bit and then take a shortcut across a rocky Plaine near a black mountain. The horses walk on rocks like railroad gravel and just as I thought it could not get worse the rocks became even bigger without losing their nasty sharp edges. Again, we reach the road to the observatories, crossing the road we follow a wide riverbed towards a small canyon, where a Majara is waiting vor us, this one even covered with plastic tarp and some other parts with dried branches with leaves from a tree or bush. There is a spring nearby but the water is covered with a green alge so we refrain from watering the horses. Later Bernardo and Meret are emptying the well with buckets, freeing the spring and creating a new bassin for clean water to stand. Even the feral horses seem to appreciate their work.
We fetch the horses from their grazing areas and saddle up. We return to the majara of yesterday and follow a trail up the left flank of the valley to a pass, that we saw yesterday at 3000 m. On the other side are big boulders and rocks we must find our way through. Later we get help from a barely existing trail I am leading Negro who has come to trust me in meantime, even permitting me to scratch him behind the ears. After about two hours of steep decent I get back on him. On a sandy trail we wind through the boulders high above the creek, that does not have running water but enough to feed the green brush and occasional tree.
We fund a waterhole and let the horses take a drink. The mountain now also shows some cacti and the sand changes frequently from reddish brown to cement Grey. We reach the valley floor following a thick waterpipe, that delivers water to a majara way down the valley providing water to fields of alfalfa. We see a electric line in the distance and some trees providing shade. Crossing the road, we reach a majara with 20 young goats corralled and the herder working on his well. We get to let the horses have some water and we eat our lunch of goat chese salami and bread under the wide roof of one of these local trees. After Lunch we ride across the mountain side up to where we hit a road that leads to the observatories. There is a new one being built that will be fully automated and controllable via internet to take pictures of the southern sky from anywhere in the world. We follow the road a bit and then take a shortcut across a rocky Plaine near a black mountain. The horses walk on rocks like railroad gravel and just as I thought it could not get worse the rocks became even bigger without losing their nasty sharp edges. Again, we reach the road to the observatories, crossing the road we follow a wide riverbed towards a small canyon, where a Majara is waiting vor us, this one even covered with plastic tarp and some other parts with dried branches with leaves from a tree or bush. There is a spring nearby but the water is covered with a green alge so we refrain from watering the horses. Later Bernardo and Meret are emptying the well with buckets, freeing the spring and creating a new bassin for clean water to stand. Even the feral horses seem to appreciate their work.