At Caleta Horno

Dawnbreaker
Lars Alfredson
Wed 9 Nov 2011 17:31

Pos 45:02.2S 41:2W at anchor

 

Puerto Madryn pics:

 

Puerto Madryn 001     Puerto Madryn 003

                   Commodore Puerto Madryn                                   Deputy

 

  Puerto Madryn 008

                                          Our Pilot

 

07112011 Caleta Horno

 

Puerto Madryn 005     Puerto Madryn 023

                               The fog lifts                                                                          Long lines ashore

 

Another line run to a wire strop attached to rocks ahead of us and the boat now sits securely between the two lines and its anchor, ready for any blow.

 

m_DSC_0196     Caleta Horno 034

                                Slippery                                                                                            Long lines 

    

1030 Lars and Thomas return from their "reckky" having found a suitable landing site.

All aboard the dinghy and armed with walking boots and cameras we weave our way through the kelps fronds to land on sand and shingle beach.

 

Caleta Horno 001     Caleta Horno 002

                                 Landing beach                                                              Boots on

 

Boots on, cameras at the ready, we climb the sloping beach to the to the scrub covered plane above.

We set out in different directions some follow the cliff line overlooking “Dawnbreaker” in the bay below, while others head out along a track that runs inland.

 

Caleta Horno 008      Caleta Horno 013

                              Entrance                                                                                 Up the creek

 

We spot a small herd of Guanacos?, foxy brown coloured, llama like in size and shape, off in the distance and apart from a well camouflaged lizard

and a couple black buzzards like birds circling overhead there’s not a lot of life.

 

Caleta Horno M10 022      m_DSC_0275

                                Guanacos?                                                                               Bird!

 

Lars and I set off to the next bay to investigate a large structure on the shore. Following a track with signs of recent activity and repair where past rains

have wash it away we reach what turns out to be a large navigation lead in mark constructed of concrete pillars.

From here we are heading to the beach when in the distance we spot the “Traffic” in the form of a quad bike and its occupants talking to Thomas.

 

Caleta Horno M10 044     Caleta Horno Thomas's Pix 004

                                                                                                      Paper police

 

Apparently they are from the Prefectura who we contacted last night and have driven across country from Camarone some 30 kilometres away with the inevitable papers to be signed.

 

Fun and games getting into the dinghy as the incoming tide has produced a few breakers which crash over the transom as we try to board and chaos ensues.

 

Back aboard and its lunch while Lars has the chart out and having spotted the highest point on land insist we head for it this afternoon.

Thomas ferries us ashore and continues his exploration of the creek by dinghy. We meet up with him as we cross the sands flats and small stream at the head of the creek.

 

Caleta Horno pm walk 002    m_DSC_0294

                               Striding out                                                                        How do we get across?

 

m_DSC_0252     Caleta Horno pm walk 007

                             Shall I jump?                                                                              Thomas up the creek

 

 

A route march across valleys and hills till we get to our objective and add a few more rocks to the cairn that someone has started then back.

As we work our way down the final valley to the beach it gets narrower and starts looking like a mini grand canyon.

Then there’s a six foot drop with a dead sheep at the bottom which either came to grief when it fell over or died of lack of water/ food trapped in the cove.

 

Caleta Horno pm walk 023      Caleta Horno pm walk 025

                            Top at last                                                                         Late sheep

 

 

Caleta Horno 018     Caleta Horno pm walk 030

Back aboard and a well deserved beer or two and a shower off the stern. Peter decides to try the water, we watch, silly boy! He’s out in a flash though it is 13C .

 

m_DSC_0316    Caleta Horno M10 005

                                    Silly boy                                                                                    Whats the problem

 

The weather has been kind, hot in the sun but the wind is from the south and the Antarctic and it certainly feels like it with a cold cutting edge.

 

Bob the Blog