Patagonia Dreams and Wildlands Biodiversity

ASC Adventurer Steve Behaeghel Returns to Patagonia to Pack Raft and Record Data

This summer Steve and his partner travelled the Great Himalaya Trail and found rare lichen for an ASC project.  They recently travelled to Patagonia to travel, pack raft, and collect data for the Pacific Biodiversity project for researcher Peter Morrison.  On this chilly January day we thought these images of Patagonia were just the thing to warm you up and start you dreaming.  For more inspiration visit their blog www.patagoniandreams.com  

The Patagonian steppe landscape at the bus window finally gives way to undulating hills and snowcapped peaks at the horizon. X-Mass parties back home followed by a 14 hour flight and 24 hour busride south has left us weary and lazy. But now my heart accelateres and a big smile appears. My face sticks against the bus window with all the colours and shapes around us. A deepblue river snakes its way through a golden, arid landscape while huge lenticulars clad the sky. For the next 4 months we’ll continue our exploration of Patagonia where we left our dreams 3 years ago.

Bahia Lopez beach – Lago Nahuel Huapi – Patagonia, Argentina. Photo Credit: www.patagoniandreams.com

After a rainy day going through details for custom made maps with our partner geographer Macarena, an unusual heatwave flew into the region and off we were for a week of playing in one of our favorite conservation areas in the world: the Nahuel Huapi National Park.

Looking back towards Rincon Grande canyon, a PR3 white water passage, along the formidable Rio Limay, Patagonia, Argentina. Photo Credit www.patagoniandreams.com

We scramble and hike our way through the Lopez-range, where condors soar ahead and the views towards the volcanos on the border with Chile defy all imagination. We enjoy a terrific, 55km packrafting float down the Rio Limay from its source towards Confluencia, roughly a fifth of the river’s total length. A mostly PR2 rated river, it has some very nice PR3 challenges, especially for the 2 in 1 packraft theme 

Climbing up towards Cerro Lopez with terrific view down Brazo Tristeza, a western inlet of the fjord-like Nahuel Huapi Lake. Photo Credit www.patagoniandreams.com

The milky way on a Patagonian summer’s night. Bivaouc along Rio Limay. Patagonia, Argentina. Photo Credit www.patagoniandreams.com

Packrafting the Rio Limay. We had the river for ourselves the whole stretch. Not a single soul in this beautiful, trans-steppe landscape. Photo Credit www.patagoniandreams.com

This is only a taste of this great Patagonian Adventure.  For more inspiration visit www.patagoniandreams.com