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the Degree Confluence Project
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Chile : Atacama

1.9 km (1.2 miles) S of Tranque Lautaro, Atacama, Chile
Approx. altitude: 1269 m (4163 ft)
([?] maps: Google MapQuest OpenStreetMap ConfluenceNavigator)
Antipode: 28°N 110°E

Accuracy: 70 m (229 ft)
Quality: good

Click on any of the images for the full-sized picture.

#2: View south #3: View east #4: View north #5: General view of confluence area #6: GPS at point of closest approach #7: Driving up the Copiapo valley

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  28°S 70°W  

#1: View west, up the mountain

(visited by Holger Baumgardt and Sachiko Baumgardt)

13-Mar-2006 -- A two week holiday in Chile after a conference in Concepcion gave me the chance to visit this confluence. When my wife and I stayed in Copiapo for two days I decided on the second day to go to this point. S28, E70 is located near a dam in the Copiapo river valley, about 80 kms southeast of Copiapo. Getting to the dam was easy since there is a good road through the Copiapo river valley. When we arrived at the dam, the GPS indicated that the point was 2.5 kms away on the other side of the lake. Since the main road did not bring us any closer to the point, I parked the car at the side of the lake and we walked across the dam. On the other side we found a small road, too small for cars but quite good for walking, which went along the lake and which we could follow until the point was at right angles with the road, about 700 meters away. We were quite lucky that at this point the mountain was flat enough to be climbed, at the start of our walk climbing would have been impossible since the mountains were too steep. We found a small path near an S-shaped bend in the road and followed it up into the mountains. After 20 minutes of walking the path disappeared and my wife decided to stay behind since she was too exhausted to continue. The final approach to the point was indeed hard. The area was criss-crossed by numerous small ravines which all ran down from the mountains into the lake. I had to navigate my way through them, jumping over the smaller ones and climbing through the larger ones. When I was 100 meters from the confluence point I came across a ravine which was too large to climb through, so I decided to stay on my side of it and follow it upstram to see how close I could get to the confluence point. When I was 70 meters away, the confluence point was at right angles and I stopped since I was within the 100m limits of the confluence project. I took pictures of the GPS and the view in different directions and then walked back to the point where I left my wife. We then walked back to the car and were back in Copiapo by 8pm. Overall this was a great day out. Without the confluence project we would never have visited this area, which was one of the nicest that we passed on our tour.


 All pictures
#1: View west, up the mountain
#2: View south
#3: View east
#4: View north
#5: General view of confluence area
#6: GPS at point of closest approach
#7: Driving up the Copiapo valley
ALL: All pictures on one page