After another bad night at Santa Rosa, we head to the Laguna Verde, our next acclimatization stop.
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| Laguna Santa Rosa and salar de Maricunga |
The international road is a dirt track, from where paths branch off to mining exploitations.
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| On the road to Laguna Verde |
The road is backed by fantastic peaks: Volcan Copiapo,
Nevado de Tres Cruces,
Cerros de Barrancas Blancas,
El Muerto,
Ojos del Salado, and
many more. One feels dwarfed in the middle of these titans.
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| Our first glimpse of what lies ahead: El Muerto (6488m) and Ojos del Salado (6893m) |
Luckily, the sight is relieved at the view of one of the most stunning lake in the world: the
Laguna Verde. Its surreal color comes from the minerals in the water.
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| The stunning Laguna Verde |
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| No comment |
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| I've known worse. |
The Laguna is surrounded by thermal sources, which are the closest thing to getting clean in this region!
At the lake we met a Dutch couple who had to go back to Copiapo because of altitude problems, and a french guy who cycles with all his climbing gear and climbs the 6000 of the region by himself! He has climbed Ojos del Salado twice (from Chile and Argentina), Incahuasi, San Francisco, Aconcagua twice, Llullaillaco, etc. The list is scary! Here's the dude:
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| A real adventurer, soloing the 6000 of South America all by himself. |
I must also mention that the people of the refuge were incredibly nice and welcoming. Thanks!
Finally, Fernando introduced us to a devilish little device, a
pulse-oximeter, that measures the oxygen saturation of the blood. The reading depends upon your fatigue state, how long ago you ate, your mood, the sky configuration... And risk to lead you to obsess about your oxygen saturation if you are not careful! Anyway, Fernando (92%), Olivier (89%) and I (86%) have similar reasonable readings.
Here is the map, for those who care.
Agrandir le plan
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