Birthdays are a milestone to be celebrated. It's a great time to reflect on the year that's passed, and welcome what's to come. To welcome Kirk to his mid-thirties, we headed to the mountains in the octava region of Chile.
San Fabián, located in the Bío Bío Region, sits approximately 168 km south and east of Talca. The majority of the community resides north of the Rio Ñuble - a beautiful, turquoise river with a hydro electric project slated for construction.
San Fabián, located in the Bío Bío Region, sits approximately 168 km south and east of Talca. The majority of the community resides north of the Rio Ñuble - a beautiful, turquoise river with a hydro electric project slated for construction.
After a delicious roadside egg sandwich breakfast, we met up with a few guys Kirk had met and climbed with a while back. We found a secure parking spot for Scarleta, loaded up our 50+ pound packs and started what would become a nearly 7-hour sufferfest uphill to one of the most rugged and beautiful places we've spent while still being relatively close to a town.
Our destination was the saddle just left of highest point on the right side.
Our destination was Cerro Malalcura, also called the "stone fence," rising 2100 meters above sea level. The trail we followed started as a dirt road (looking as if traveled mostly by locals on horseback and 4x4's) for the first several miles, transitioned to trail marked relatively well with cairns, and finished with a bushwack through thick trees and bushes before we arrived on top of a saddle that opened up to the rest of cordillera. Mountains, rivers, rock, snow as far as the eye could see. It was totally worth it.
We opted for a campspot amongst the orange and white colored granite (very reminiscent of Vedawoo and Joshua Tree). With no tent, we set up our sleeping bags between rocks leaving an open sky to enjoy the dusk and dawn, and watch the constellations shift across the sky as we went to sleep.
We shared the space with the condors, tarantula-esque spiders and other crazy bugs, lizards and beautiful flora.
The climbing was spectacular and many of the walls have incredible potential for new routes. We spent two days in one section opening a few new lines, following obvious features with a variety of climbing styles to the rocky summit. We found perfect hand jams, wide cracks to layback and even wider ones to chimney.
Muy feliz cumpleaños, Kirk. May this next year bring joy, mountain air and granite rocks to climb, and even more aventura.
