Fagnano (Kami) Lake

January 21, 2009
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.

Tierra del Fuego National Park

January 18, 2009
Tierra del Fuego National Park was created in 1960 in the southwest corner of the island, on the border with Chile. It covers 156,000 acres of forest, rivers and lakes, with the final mountains of the Andes range. The southern edge of the park borders the Beagle Channel. It is a temperate and humid area with no dry season. Annual rainfall is about 28 inches. The sea has a great influence on the weather, maintaining a uniform climate, with temperatures between 32 and 50 degrees fahrenheit. Snow is seen in the higher elevations.


The best way to enjoy the park is to take a bus from Ushuaia, about a 30-minute ride. I bought a round-trip ticket and got off the bus at the coastal trail head. The trail hugs the Beagle Channel for about five miles through the beautiful forest. It is mostly an easy hike, with some swampy areas and some short, steep portions. Trekking poles were useful.



All along the trail there was evidence of the Yamaná presence. Every small inlet contained archeological remains, where the people collected shellfish and discarded the shells. Numerous depressions in the ground indicated where they built their huts. Around these depressions the shells created circular mounds. These middens are obvious today, only a little over one hundred years later. Here is clear evidence, with some shells still intact.


These are photos from the late 19th century. The hut is typical in this area, though I am not certain if these are Yamaná or the neighboring Selknam people. The hut is covered with branches and sea lion skins. If these are Selknam, they are covered with guanaco skins. The guanaco is a relative of the camel.