Atacama Plateau Site Visit, 2002 (around San Pedro)

Pictures of places near San Pedro de Atacama from March 2002 visit to Atacama Plateau

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Satellite image of north eastern Chile showing the site and naming some mountains. (1.8 Mb map)
Joe Tufts's amazing picture looking toward the north from Honar's summit. (75 Kb)

In the Valle de la Luna near San Pedro de Atacama. The white stuff is all salt, not snow. This goes on for miles.
A nice formation in the Valle de la Luna. The white stuff is salt. We couldn't figure out what caused the salt to rise to the surface, but it was pretty cool.
Near the Valle de la Luna, we hiked up a little slot canyon. The heads on the right hand side are Carlos (top) and Mariano.
Luke standing in the slot canyon near Valle de la Luna.

At the Laguna Chaxis we saw sundogs (I believe) before the sun went down. There was a brightening on either side of the sun, but I didn't manage to get both at once.
Another sundog picture from Laguna Chaxis.
Another sundog picture from Laguna Chaxis.
Sunset on la Laguna Chaxis.

On the day of the heavy snow, we first tried to drive to Toco up the front side, but were stopped by snow around the Playa. Very shortly after getting back on the road, we encountered these two tanker trucks. It's worth reading the words on the back of the truck just in front of us. That truck was stuck, half-on, half-off, until the next day.

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Last modified on 23 Apr 2002

In the Valle de la Luna near San Pedro de Atacama. The white stuff is all salt, not snow. This goes on for miles.	A nice formation in the Valle de la Luna. The white stuff is salt. We couldn't figure out what caused the salt to rise to the surface, but it was pretty cool.	Near the Valle de la Luna, we hiked up a little slot canyon. The heads on the right hand side are Carlos (top) and Mariano.	Luke standing in the slot canyon near Valle de la Luna.
At the Laguna Chaxis we saw sundogs (I believe) before the sun went down. There was a brightening on either side of the sun, but I didn't manage to get both at once.	Another sundog picture from Laguna Chaxis.	Another sundog picture from Laguna Chaxis.	Sunset on la Laguna Chaxis.
On the day of the heavy snow, we first tried to drive to Toco up the front side, but were stopped by snow around the Playa. Very shortly after getting back on the road, we encountered these two tanker trucks. It's worth reading the words on the back of the truck just in front of us. That truck was stuck, half-on, half-off, until the next day.