It was a relief to leave the city and drive north about 60 miles to Lake Fagnano, also known as Kami to the original people of the area, the Selknam. Ushuaia is a beautiful city on the Beagle Channel, but it is a city, and I prefer less populated places. I was given a ride by Sonia, whose husband is the gaucho I will soon meet for a horse camping trip. She knows the area well, and I was treated to a description of the geography and history of the area. The smooth paved road climbs into what is left of the Andes range, where the tree line is around 2,000 feet. The area is lush with native forest, though destruction caused by the introduced beaver is seen all through the mountains and valleys. In about an hour we reached the summit of the range and caught a breathtaking view of Escondido Lake and the huge Fagnano. The winds were fierce and waves of 6-8 feet crashed on shore. Sonia tells me that the lake is so large that it has tides.
The lake stretches 90 miles east to west, with a portion extending into Chile, where it was once a part of the same glacier which formed Altimirazgo Fjord. In fact, when I visited Ainsworth Bay last week by ship we were close to the western edge of Fagnano Lake. The lake covers an area of 249 square miles and has a maximum depth of 656 feet. It drains via the Azopardo River to the Almirantazgo Fjord. The lake is believed to straddle part of the fault boundary between the South America and Scotia tectonic plates. Sonia tells me that there are only small and infrequent earthquakes in the area.
My ride left me a Hostería Kaiken, on the northeastern tip of the lake near the village of Tolhuin. After a day of rest and study I will meet my horse for the trip south to Estancia Harberton on the Beagle Channel.
My little cabin faces the lake. Last night the wind howled and even shook the sturdy structure. All is well. Maybe the news of our new President Obama gave me a sense of peace and hope.
What a gorgious place to sit and catch up on some work and correspondance. This morning there was not a cloud in the sky. The view of the sky changes every ten minutes. But the lake and the lupines are always there. Such beauty calms the soul.
No comments:
Post a Comment