Atacama Plateau Site Visit, 2002 (site and mountains)

Pictures of the site from March 2002 visit to Atacama Plateau

Click on small picture to pull up a larger view. Some pictures have very large views available from the captions.

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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)

Most of Los Burros de Cerro Honar by their trucks. From left to right are Pablo (Cordoba), Mariano (Cordoba), me (UT), Ruben (Cordoba), and Carlos (Cornell, formerly of Cordoba). This was done with the timer. Chascon is in the background covered in snow.
Los Burros de Cerro Honar (and their steeds). From left to right, Pablo, me, Mariano, and Carlos. The containers store most of the equipment between runs.
On the plateau near the containers and the Caltech CBI with Ruben, Mariano, and Carlos. This was before the snow.
Pablo and Luke (Cornell, formerly of UT) are discussing plans unaware that snow would fall soon. The containers for storing the equipment.

Mariano and Ruben near our trucks in the snow. This was right in front of the containers. The trucks, Toyota Hiluxes, were pretty amazing in terms of what they could do.
The road leading up to the Toco Bowl before the big snow day.
Pablo, Ruben, and Carlos in a truck checking out if they could get to Toco's Bowl. They made it, but said things looked pretty soggy and soft. This was before the big snow day.
The road up to Honar is something else even without snow. In some ways, it might be more comfortable with the snow to fill in behind rocks. However, snow drifts made the last 200m unpassable. For an hour or so, we tried to clear a path, but, as you might have guessed, it was too hard a task.

A view of Toco from the north. This was well before any new snow had fallen.
Toco and its environs covered in white after the big snow day.
A zoomed in picture of Toco covered in snow.
One of many pictures of Toco's summit covered in snow.

Mariano and Carlos in front of a snow covered Toco.
Another Toco covered in snow picture.
After the big snow day, Cerro Negro looking very white.
Chajnantor covered in snow.

Chascon with some snow.
Me in front of a snow covered Honar. Hard to believe we were driving nearly to the summit the next day.
From the summit of Honar looking north with people and mountains. From left to right, the people are Ruben, Pablo, Mariano, and Carlos while the mountains are Lican Cabur, Juriques, Toco, and Chajnantor. Chico, a bump on the way to Toco, is hidden behing Carlos's head.
From Honar's summit zooming in on Juriques (left) and Toco. Chico is also seen. The road to Toco's bowl winds from left to right across the flanks of Toco and comes into the bowl from the left on this picture.

Ruben resting about halfway up our climb out of the Toco Bowl. This was about 5 days after the heavy snowfall and we could only drive (with chains) to a bit past the old mine buildings. At this point, we'd done the steepest climb out of the bowl, but the summit was still a bit away. (200 Kb)
Me on top of Toco with Juriques and Lagunas Verdes in the background. The wind was whipping pretty well, so we didn't spend much time up here. (270 Kb)
Me near the weather station on Toco's summit. Earlier in the week, Luke and Pablo saw about 4 inches of ice on both poles on their windward sides. It was relatively nice for us. (225 Kb)
Ruben on the top of Toco with Juriques and Lagunas Verdes in the background.

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Last modified on 23 Apr 2002

Most of Los Burros de Cerro Honar by their trucks. From left to right are Pablo (Cordoba), Mariano (Cordoba), me (UT), Ruben (Cordoba), and Carlos (Cornell, formerly of Cordoba). This was done with the timer. Chascon is in the background covered in snow.	Los Burros de Cerro Honar (and their steeds). From left to right, Pablo, me, Mariano, and Carlos. The containers store most of the equipment between runs.	On the plateau near the containers and the Caltech CBI with Ruben, Mariano, and Carlos. This was before the snow.	Pablo and Luke (Cornell, formerly of UT) are discussing plans unaware that snow would fall soon. The containers for storing the equipment.
Mariano and Ruben near our trucks in the snow. This was right in front of the containers. The trucks, Toyota Hiluxes, were pretty amazing in terms of what they could do.	The road leading up to the Toco Bowl before the big snow day.	Pablo, Ruben, and Carlos in a truck checking out if they could get to Toco's Bowl. They made it, but said things looked pretty soggy and soft. This was before the big snow day.	The road up to Honar is something else even without snow. In some ways, it might be more comfortable with the snow to fill in behind rocks. However, snow drifts made the last 200m unpassable. For an hour or so, we tried to clear a path, but, as you might have guessed, it was too hard a task.
A view of Toco from the north. This was well before any new snow had fallen.	Toco and its environs covered in white after the big snow day.	A zoomed in picture of Toco covered in snow.	One of many pictures of Toco's summit covered in snow.
Mariano and Carlos in front of a snow covered Toco.	Another Toco covered in snow picture.	After the big snow day, Cerro Negro looking very white.	Chajnantor covered in snow.
Chascon with some snow.	Me in front of a snow covered Honar. Hard to believe we were driving nearly to the summit the next day.	From the summit of Honar looking north with people and mountains. From left to right, the people are Ruben, Pablo, Mariano, and Carlos while the mountains are Lican Cabur, Juriques, Toco, and Chajnantor. Chico, a bump on the way to Toco, is hidden behing Carlos's head.	From Honar's summit zooming in on Juriques (left) and Toco. Chico is also seen. The road to Toco's bowl winds from left to right across the flanks of Toco and comes into the bowl from the left on this picture.
Ruben resting about halfway up our climb out of the Toco Bowl. This was about 5 days after the heavy snowfall and we could only drive (with chains) to a bit past the old mine buildings. At this point, we'd done the steepest climb out of the bowl, but the summit was still a bit away. (200 Kb)	Me on top of Toco with Juriques and Lagunas Verdes in the background. The wind was whipping pretty well, so we didn't spend much time up here. (270 Kb)	Me near the weather station on Toco's summit. Earlier in the week, Luke and Pablo saw about 4 inches of ice on both poles on their windward sides. It was relatively nice for us. (225 Kb)	Ruben on the top of Toco with Juriques and Lagunas Verdes in the background.