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{{Draft}}
{{Trekking Chile}}
{{Rutas Patrimoniales english}}
==Season==
==Access==
The Patrimonial Route Laguna del Maule
is located in the Andes mountain range at
150 km east of the city of Talca and 22 km
from the frontier with Argentina, in the CH-
115 route, via the Pehuenche Crossing. This
route constitutes one portion of the
national trail of the Sendero de Chile.
You can access the Patrimonial Route of
Laguna del Maule from de city of Talca (in
mapudungun language, Talca means
thunder), region capitol city, through the
international route CH-115, going east
(towards the Andes). In the route, you
will cross different towns, like San
Clemente in the 19 km; the Vilches
Crossing in the 32 km.; and the town of
Amerillo 70 Km, where the asphalt road
ends. In the 99 km. you will find places
like La Suiza, Las Garzas y Curillinque
(mapudungun word for black frogs). In
Curillingue, a bridge crosses the Maule
river, and a detour leads to La Mina, 113
Km. Till this location the road is made of
gravel and it is in good conditions. From
this point on the road becomes narrower,
more steep and it becomes a gravel road
(between April to December it will be closed,
due to rain and snow. We recommend you
to drive carefully).
At the 148 km is the last police
(Carabineros) obligatory point of control
on this international route. Two kilometres
ahead is the access to the Laguna del
Maule, where you can park your vehicle
and start to walk on your own pace, the
Patrimonial Routes that the Sendero de
Chile has prepared for you in this wonderful
and special landscapes of the high Andes.
==Route description==
===Domo del Maule. Landmarks 1 - 8===
To begin the Patrimonial Route,
once you are located in the
Guidepost Nº1, south side of the
CH-115 highway, 2 km. to the East
from the police control booth and
just a few metres of the Dirección
de Obras Hidráulicas (DOH) you will
see to your right a earthen mound
and the start of a wide path for
vehicles. Beside this point, there is a
welcome sign,which gives you general
information of the track and some
recommendations for a pleasant visit.
If you arrived to this point by car, we
recommend you to park your vehicle
at Guidepost Nº 2.
At 370 metres South from the
Guidepost Nº 1, is the Guidepost Nº
2, which is a camping zone. Just
beside the Guidepost Nº 2 is a pine
plantation, which can be visited by
foot or vehicle. This place is suitable
as a parking place for the vehicles,
since the trail becomes exclusively
for walking. We recommend you to
check your equipment and to make
sure to carry water for the walk.
From this point, you can see the
lake from the North-western side.
At 128 metres from the last point,
there is an interpretation sign for
the Guidepost Nº 3, with
information of the location and
orientation of the route and about
what you will see on this trail. At
this point, there is a wide view of
the lake and you can see the
contrast of the blue waters of the
lake and the rocky walls, which fall
abruptly into the water.
Between the Guidepost Nº 3 and
4, the trail crosses a rocky area,
which is not difficult to pass
through, thanks to the slope and
its volcanic origin. This area is a
Riolitic lava flow (we recommend
you to read the Glossary at the end
of this guide).
A riolitic lava belong to a type of
lava called acid lava, because of its
high contain of silica. This is a lava
flow that got in contact with the
air, cooled down rapidly, and then
moved slowly in viscous lava flows,
not far from the crater. Inside this
type of lava flows, it can be found
high proportion of vitreous
structures, like the obsidian
Obsidian: a mineral like common
glass, used by our ancesters to
build tools like knives, scrapers
and arrowheads among others..
At the end of the rocky area, there
is a little beach of approximately
700 metres long. This is an excellent
place to watch birds, like Black-
necked swan (Cygnus
melancoryphus). We recommend
you to be careful and not go too
close of the birds and distort their
natural habitat. Here you can take
pictures and have a snack, walk
through the shore until you reach
the Guidepost Nº 5, which marks
the end of the beach and the start
of a new area.
Between Guidepost Nº 5 and
Guidepost Nº 6, you will have the
chance to see a new riolitic lava
flow of approximately 600 metres
long, which, and, for your surprise,
ends in a outcrop of underground
water, which constitutes a source
for the Laguna del Maule. This kind
of water may be suitable for human
consumption, but as it comes from
an aquifer, it may has a high
content of salts and it may not be
good for you stomach. We
recommend you not to drink it. If
you pay attention to the landscape,
you will see that it has changed till
this point: from rocky formations
of lava flow, now there are lichens
and mosses, associated to the grass
family or bentgrass, giving life to a
rocky slope, that attracts little
insects and other animals you can
watch.
Leaving the Guidepost Nº 6, the trail
takes the southeast direction and
goes into an abrupt Andean
mountainsides (to the right of the
hiker) and the Laguna del Maule
(to the left), with a wide view of the
lake. All this changes from the
Guidepost Nº 7, located at 812
metres from Guidepost Nº 6. The
Guidepost Nº 7 is located in a soft-
hills landscape of brown color, due
to the presence of the coiron (Stipa
pogonathera), a typical formation
of the high Andean steppe, very
common in the high mountains
and with a wide presence in the
Laguna del Maule.
The high Andean steppe has three
typical biological features:
pulvinate plants, coirons or family
grass or bentgrass and low shrubs
with reduced foliage or tola. The
most representative species are
Pichi-romero(Fabiana
imbricada), Pingo pingo(Ephedra
andina) and the ones of the
Adesmia and Berberis species; an
example of the last ones are the
woody and spiny species. This
point marks the climb to a
viewpoint in the Guidepost Nº 8.
After walking the 190 metres
from the Guidepost Nº 7 till
Guidepost Nº 8, you will get to a
viewpoint, which has a wonderful
view of the Laguna del Maule and
the topography of the landscapes
that surrounds it to the western
(there is an interpretative sign
placed at this point). You can take
pictures like the ones of the sign,
and explain the features of the
landscape to other people.
Thus, at this place, you can have
another view of the Domo del
Maule, rest, eat something, drink
water and recover the energy to
keep walking. IMPORTANT: please,
remember to keep all the garbage
you have in a plastic bag, so you
can throw it away when you go
back home. Do not forget that the
rule is Leave No Trace. Enjoy
nature without making any
harm to it.
*'''Distance and time expected''': 3,167 km, 1h
===Estepa Alto Andina. Landmarks 9 - 14===
*'''Distance and time expected''': 3,9 km, 1h
After watching the Andean
lacustrine area at the viewpoint of
Landmark Nº 8, the circuit invites
the hiker to move away from the
lake and go through a background
of valleys, surrounding and
crossing the Los Mellicos stream at
the Guidepost Nº 9.
This part of the route in an ideal
place to know the fisonomy and
distribution of high Andean
vegetation. Due to the presence of
humidity, we find in the lower and
wet areas cushion plant
vegetation; for example, the coiron
de las vegas and the junquillo
(Patosia clandestina - juncos
balticus) both have a predominant
presence here; one of the two forms
of the high Andean steppe, which
appears in places with water
presence in company of the
Heleocharis albibrac teata,
Calamagrosis fulva, cortadera,
ratonera (Hordeum comosum),
paquial (Oxichloe andina) and the
garbanzo silvestre (Astragalus
bustillosii), among other species.
There is only 1 Km between
Guidepost Nº 9 and 10: a plain that
comes to a canyon bottom. We
recommend you to stop before you
cross the stream and watch the
vegetation developed at the shores,
where you will find short shrubs not
seen till this point of the route,
which develop thanks to the
presence of humidity and water.
The shrubs are woody plants with
ramified trunks from the base, with
a variable height depending on the
species, climate and local humidity.
These plants, called also tola, are
very fragile to the action of people
or animals, because of the fragility
of the species that build them and
the great effort they make, growing
on thin soils with low organic
content and poor drain conditions.
Because of this, we recommend
you neither to step on them, nor to
rip them out or use them as
combustible.
This part of the route is suitable to
provide you with water for the rest
of the trek (it is suitable for human
purposes). Be precautious when
crossing the stream to avoid
accidents.
After a 1 hour and half long trek
and leaving behind the Landmark
Nº 10, the route takes again the
slopes and keeps going Southeast,
again taking the view from the
shores of the Laguna del Maule.
After additional 1, 5 km walk, you
will find Guidepost Nª 11 and 12,
which are associated to a new
fluvial beach. This first Landmark
(Nº 11) allows to access the beach
on a 300 meters trek, where you
must cross a little hill till you reach
the lakes shore, where is the
Guidepost Nº 12. We invite you to
make a pause on this beach and
watch the aquatic fauna, take
pictures, and walk along the shore
or just rest if you need to recover
after a two hours trek.
Even though the track is marked
and there are natural signs to guide
your way, it is important not to
leave the trail and follow the
indication signs of the guide, to
avoid problems.
After resting at the beach, you have
to take the trail in the Landmark Nº
12 again; the route continues
towards the Southwest. Once you
have covered the 397 meters
approximately in this direction, you
will reach the Guidepost Nº 13 at
the highest part of the trail. If you
have never been on a mountain,
Congratulations!, now You are at
2.264 meters above sea level, a
place we called Mirador de
Geoformas. At this place and with
the help of the signs we have
implemented, you will be able to
watch the formations as a result of
the volcanic action, especially of
the lava flows with obsidian
deposits and cones like the Cráter
Negro (Black crater).
The obsidian is a black vitreous
volcanic stone, easy to identify. In
this part of the track the obsidian
is found in irregular deposits at the
right side of the route. The Cráter
Negro (Black crater), where these
stones came from, is a cone located
on the Southwestern side of the
lake (between Los Mellicos stream
and Las Nieblas) produced material
with low content of silica. Due to
their less viscosity and great flow
rate, this type of lava flows reaches
biggest areas at a bigger distance
of the crater, building thick volcanic
material layers of a lighter color
than the riolitic flows.
This landmark also offers the
possibility for distinguishing the
most recent formations created
from the periglaciar process on the
Andean slopes.
Other conditions that affect the
landscape are the periglacier
processes (around the glacial,
literally), which being associated to
freeze-thaw cycles and extreme
temperature changes, help the rock
fragmentation by thermoclasty
(due to temperature changes) and
gelifraction (by means of water
freezing between the rocks cracks),
producing a great amount of soil
materials, which are dragged down
from the upper areas of the slopes.
All this, deters the stabilization of
the slopes, the formation of soil, the
colonization of plants, producing
a peculiar soft-slopes landscape,
which contrasts with the volcanic
forms of irregular, cracked surface
and angled blocks.
===Las Nieblas . Landmarks 15 - 21===
Just leaving the Geology
Formations Viewpoint, the route
gets into a soft, fine-particles
material, corresponding to volcanic
ash and lapillis . The volcanic ash
or cinerita (ash flow) is the finest
material generated by an eruption,
and the lapillis are the clasts or little
parts of volcanic material,
originated from the explosive exit
of fragments from a volcano, where
they lose the gases and fall rapidly
at very high temperatures,
solidifying and sticking between
them.
Surrounding the plateau, the way to
the Guidepost Nº 14 presents a
slope change, that allows to descend
approximately 80 meters on a 1, 5
km. long way. This part of the route
makes it more difficult to walk: we
recommend you to make it slowly to
avoid accidents during the way out,
and the way back, when you will
have to go up slowly to avoid an
unnecessary physical effort and
extreme tiredness. Remember: if you
stay for the night near the lake, you
will have to carry more than 12 Kg.
equipment and food.
After 2 hours and 30 minutes you
will reach the Landmark Nº 14,
which is a small lagoon over an
esplanade. This lagoon shows the
hydrologic cycle of the High Tundra
climate typical for the high Andean
mountains. This lagoon stays
frozen most part of the year,
increases its surface and volume
during the thaw period (since
September on), decreasing its
surface and volume by infiltration
to the lower layers of earth and
evaporation into the atmosphere,
as a result of an increase in
temperature and low atmospheric
humidity during summer.
The Landmark Nº 15 is also
connected to this lagoon, located on the high level zone of the
lagoon, where the trail turns diffuse,
because of the feature of the
lagoon.
Leaving the small lagoon, between
Guidepost Nª 16 and 17, the route
goes through a soft-hills area, low
slope grounds and fine material of
volcanic ash and lapillis. On this
400 meters track approximately,
you will not be able to see the
Laguna del Maule and the trail still
goes diffuse, this means you have
to be aware of the demarcation of
the trail to keep yourself on it. So,
the Landmarks No 16 and 17 are
points where the signs are mostly
indicators of the trail and not to get
lost.
After almost a three hours walk, the
visitor will get to Guidepost Nº 18:
Las Nieblas stream, which you
have to crossover to reach
Guidepost Nº 19. We recommend
you to do the crossing where the
signs are posted and the conditions
are the best at a lower risk.
In this area, between Guidepost
No 18 and 19, is ideal for you to
recognize and appreciate the
connection between two vegetal
communities of the high Andean
steppe. On low, flooded areas there
are species corresponding to the
Coiron Junquillo (Patosia
clandestina - juncos balticus)
association, easy to recognize for
its herbaceous, green type. On the
other hand, on the dry areas,
vegetation of the grass family or
gramineae presents a low area-
covering and the Coiron (Stipa
pogonathera) becomes more flat,
yellow and a hard texture plant.
These features make this specie
(Coiron or Andean grass) a high
resistance species to the rough
weather conditions, and it
preserves intact under the snow
during winter.
These plants associations were in
the past a valuable resource to
support the survival of native
mammals, like the Huanaco or
Guanaco (Lama guanicoe).
Nowadays these plants carry out a
similar function, for they are the
support for the domestic cattle
(sheep and bovine) of the peasants
that inhabit the lower areas of the
San Clemente commune; so, do not
be afraid if you find cattle on your
way. Be careful: do not bother the
animals nor cause them to run, for
this mean many hours of hard work
for their owners. Respect is always
welcome.
Leaving behind the Las Nieblas
stream, crossing and maintaining
the same general Southwest
direction, walk a little more of 220
metres, surrounding the Las Nieblas
stream till an esplanade, where You
will find the Guidepost Nº 20, a
place suitable for resting and
recovering Your water reserves.
The last part of the route covers the
area called Baños del Maule,
associated to Las Nieblas stream.
You have to continue walking,
following the course of water, which
finally ends in a beautiful waterfall.
This is where Guidepost Nº 21 is
located: Congratulations! You have
ended the route. In this area, You
will find a new interpretative sign
and will have a wide sight of the
lake from its Southwestern shore.
This is an excellent place for
watching and interpreting the
shapes of the landscape, taking
pictures and having a great lunch,
after walking 3 and a half hours.
This place has the particularity to
limit with the Colada Las Nieblas,
an unique route formation, since it
has 6.000 meters long, 300 meters
high and it is formed by lava blocks
and poorly consolidated volcanic
material, arranged on an abrupt
slope that falls directly into the
water.
The lava blocks are lava flows of
black, damaged, angled rock
blocks, formed by the explosion of
lava and gas. Once it cooled down
rapidly, the hot lava that lies
beneath the surface drags along to
the hard surface, giving as a result
irregular blocks on the broken
surface.
The route by the shore of the lake
beyond the Guidepost Nº 21 is not
included in the Patrimonial Route
Laguna del Maule, and it is not
recommended for being an
unsecured ground, dominated by
the lava flows.
*'''Distance and time expected''': 3,5 km, 1h 30m
==Recommendations==
{{Topoguide|33}}
==Route in Google Earth==
*[[Media:.kmz|Route of...]]
{{Download waypoints}}
{{Trekking Chile}}
{{Rutas Patrimoniales english}}
==Season==
==Access==
The Patrimonial Route Laguna del Maule
is located in the Andes mountain range at
150 km east of the city of Talca and 22 km
from the frontier with Argentina, in the CH-
115 route, via the Pehuenche Crossing. This
route constitutes one portion of the
national trail of the Sendero de Chile.
You can access the Patrimonial Route of
Laguna del Maule from de city of Talca (in
mapudungun language, Talca means
thunder), region capitol city, through the
international route CH-115, going east
(towards the Andes). In the route, you
will cross different towns, like San
Clemente in the 19 km; the Vilches
Crossing in the 32 km.; and the town of
Amerillo 70 Km, where the asphalt road
ends. In the 99 km. you will find places
like La Suiza, Las Garzas y Curillinque
(mapudungun word for black frogs). In
Curillingue, a bridge crosses the Maule
river, and a detour leads to La Mina, 113
Km. Till this location the road is made of
gravel and it is in good conditions. From
this point on the road becomes narrower,
more steep and it becomes a gravel road
(between April to December it will be closed,
due to rain and snow. We recommend you
to drive carefully).
At the 148 km is the last police
(Carabineros) obligatory point of control
on this international route. Two kilometres
ahead is the access to the Laguna del
Maule, where you can park your vehicle
and start to walk on your own pace, the
Patrimonial Routes that the Sendero de
Chile has prepared for you in this wonderful
and special landscapes of the high Andes.
==Route description==
===Domo del Maule. Landmarks 1 - 8===
To begin the Patrimonial Route,
once you are located in the
Guidepost Nº1, south side of the
CH-115 highway, 2 km. to the East
from the police control booth and
just a few metres of the Dirección
de Obras Hidráulicas (DOH) you will
see to your right a earthen mound
and the start of a wide path for
vehicles. Beside this point, there is a
welcome sign,which gives you general
information of the track and some
recommendations for a pleasant visit.
If you arrived to this point by car, we
recommend you to park your vehicle
at Guidepost Nº 2.
At 370 metres South from the
Guidepost Nº 1, is the Guidepost Nº
2, which is a camping zone. Just
beside the Guidepost Nº 2 is a pine
plantation, which can be visited by
foot or vehicle. This place is suitable
as a parking place for the vehicles,
since the trail becomes exclusively
for walking. We recommend you to
check your equipment and to make
sure to carry water for the walk.
From this point, you can see the
lake from the North-western side.
At 128 metres from the last point,
there is an interpretation sign for
the Guidepost Nº 3, with
information of the location and
orientation of the route and about
what you will see on this trail. At
this point, there is a wide view of
the lake and you can see the
contrast of the blue waters of the
lake and the rocky walls, which fall
abruptly into the water.
Between the Guidepost Nº 3 and
4, the trail crosses a rocky area,
which is not difficult to pass
through, thanks to the slope and
its volcanic origin. This area is a
Riolitic lava flow (we recommend
you to read the Glossary at the end
of this guide).
A riolitic lava belong to a type of
lava called acid lava, because of its
high contain of silica. This is a lava
flow that got in contact with the
air, cooled down rapidly, and then
moved slowly in viscous lava flows,
not far from the crater. Inside this
type of lava flows, it can be found
high proportion of vitreous
structures, like the obsidian
Obsidian: a mineral like common
glass, used by our ancesters to
build tools like knives, scrapers
and arrowheads among others..
At the end of the rocky area, there
is a little beach of approximately
700 metres long. This is an excellent
place to watch birds, like Black-
necked swan (Cygnus
melancoryphus). We recommend
you to be careful and not go too
close of the birds and distort their
natural habitat. Here you can take
pictures and have a snack, walk
through the shore until you reach
the Guidepost Nº 5, which marks
the end of the beach and the start
of a new area.
Between Guidepost Nº 5 and
Guidepost Nº 6, you will have the
chance to see a new riolitic lava
flow of approximately 600 metres
long, which, and, for your surprise,
ends in a outcrop of underground
water, which constitutes a source
for the Laguna del Maule. This kind
of water may be suitable for human
consumption, but as it comes from
an aquifer, it may has a high
content of salts and it may not be
good for you stomach. We
recommend you not to drink it. If
you pay attention to the landscape,
you will see that it has changed till
this point: from rocky formations
of lava flow, now there are lichens
and mosses, associated to the grass
family or bentgrass, giving life to a
rocky slope, that attracts little
insects and other animals you can
watch.
Leaving the Guidepost Nº 6, the trail
takes the southeast direction and
goes into an abrupt Andean
mountainsides (to the right of the
hiker) and the Laguna del Maule
(to the left), with a wide view of the
lake. All this changes from the
Guidepost Nº 7, located at 812
metres from Guidepost Nº 6. The
Guidepost Nº 7 is located in a soft-
hills landscape of brown color, due
to the presence of the coiron (Stipa
pogonathera), a typical formation
of the high Andean steppe, very
common in the high mountains
and with a wide presence in the
Laguna del Maule.
The high Andean steppe has three
typical biological features:
pulvinate plants, coirons or family
grass or bentgrass and low shrubs
with reduced foliage or tola. The
most representative species are
Pichi-romero(Fabiana
imbricada), Pingo pingo(Ephedra
andina) and the ones of the
Adesmia and Berberis species; an
example of the last ones are the
woody and spiny species. This
point marks the climb to a
viewpoint in the Guidepost Nº 8.
After walking the 190 metres
from the Guidepost Nº 7 till
Guidepost Nº 8, you will get to a
viewpoint, which has a wonderful
view of the Laguna del Maule and
the topography of the landscapes
that surrounds it to the western
(there is an interpretative sign
placed at this point). You can take
pictures like the ones of the sign,
and explain the features of the
landscape to other people.
Thus, at this place, you can have
another view of the Domo del
Maule, rest, eat something, drink
water and recover the energy to
keep walking. IMPORTANT: please,
remember to keep all the garbage
you have in a plastic bag, so you
can throw it away when you go
back home. Do not forget that the
rule is Leave No Trace. Enjoy
nature without making any
harm to it.
*'''Distance and time expected''': 3,167 km, 1h
===Estepa Alto Andina. Landmarks 9 - 14===
*'''Distance and time expected''': 3,9 km, 1h
After watching the Andean
lacustrine area at the viewpoint of
Landmark Nº 8, the circuit invites
the hiker to move away from the
lake and go through a background
of valleys, surrounding and
crossing the Los Mellicos stream at
the Guidepost Nº 9.
This part of the route in an ideal
place to know the fisonomy and
distribution of high Andean
vegetation. Due to the presence of
humidity, we find in the lower and
wet areas cushion plant
vegetation; for example, the coiron
de las vegas and the junquillo
(Patosia clandestina - juncos
balticus) both have a predominant
presence here; one of the two forms
of the high Andean steppe, which
appears in places with water
presence in company of the
Heleocharis albibrac teata,
Calamagrosis fulva, cortadera,
ratonera (Hordeum comosum),
paquial (Oxichloe andina) and the
garbanzo silvestre (Astragalus
bustillosii), among other species.
There is only 1 Km between
Guidepost Nº 9 and 10: a plain that
comes to a canyon bottom. We
recommend you to stop before you
cross the stream and watch the
vegetation developed at the shores,
where you will find short shrubs not
seen till this point of the route,
which develop thanks to the
presence of humidity and water.
The shrubs are woody plants with
ramified trunks from the base, with
a variable height depending on the
species, climate and local humidity.
These plants, called also tola, are
very fragile to the action of people
or animals, because of the fragility
of the species that build them and
the great effort they make, growing
on thin soils with low organic
content and poor drain conditions.
Because of this, we recommend
you neither to step on them, nor to
rip them out or use them as
combustible.
This part of the route is suitable to
provide you with water for the rest
of the trek (it is suitable for human
purposes). Be precautious when
crossing the stream to avoid
accidents.
After a 1 hour and half long trek
and leaving behind the Landmark
Nº 10, the route takes again the
slopes and keeps going Southeast,
again taking the view from the
shores of the Laguna del Maule.
After additional 1, 5 km walk, you
will find Guidepost Nª 11 and 12,
which are associated to a new
fluvial beach. This first Landmark
(Nº 11) allows to access the beach
on a 300 meters trek, where you
must cross a little hill till you reach
the lakes shore, where is the
Guidepost Nº 12. We invite you to
make a pause on this beach and
watch the aquatic fauna, take
pictures, and walk along the shore
or just rest if you need to recover
after a two hours trek.
Even though the track is marked
and there are natural signs to guide
your way, it is important not to
leave the trail and follow the
indication signs of the guide, to
avoid problems.
After resting at the beach, you have
to take the trail in the Landmark Nº
12 again; the route continues
towards the Southwest. Once you
have covered the 397 meters
approximately in this direction, you
will reach the Guidepost Nº 13 at
the highest part of the trail. If you
have never been on a mountain,
Congratulations!, now You are at
2.264 meters above sea level, a
place we called Mirador de
Geoformas. At this place and with
the help of the signs we have
implemented, you will be able to
watch the formations as a result of
the volcanic action, especially of
the lava flows with obsidian
deposits and cones like the Cráter
Negro (Black crater).
The obsidian is a black vitreous
volcanic stone, easy to identify. In
this part of the track the obsidian
is found in irregular deposits at the
right side of the route. The Cráter
Negro (Black crater), where these
stones came from, is a cone located
on the Southwestern side of the
lake (between Los Mellicos stream
and Las Nieblas) produced material
with low content of silica. Due to
their less viscosity and great flow
rate, this type of lava flows reaches
biggest areas at a bigger distance
of the crater, building thick volcanic
material layers of a lighter color
than the riolitic flows.
This landmark also offers the
possibility for distinguishing the
most recent formations created
from the periglaciar process on the
Andean slopes.
Other conditions that affect the
landscape are the periglacier
processes (around the glacial,
literally), which being associated to
freeze-thaw cycles and extreme
temperature changes, help the rock
fragmentation by thermoclasty
(due to temperature changes) and
gelifraction (by means of water
freezing between the rocks cracks),
producing a great amount of soil
materials, which are dragged down
from the upper areas of the slopes.
All this, deters the stabilization of
the slopes, the formation of soil, the
colonization of plants, producing
a peculiar soft-slopes landscape,
which contrasts with the volcanic
forms of irregular, cracked surface
and angled blocks.
===Las Nieblas . Landmarks 15 - 21===
Just leaving the Geology
Formations Viewpoint, the route
gets into a soft, fine-particles
material, corresponding to volcanic
ash and lapillis . The volcanic ash
or cinerita (ash flow) is the finest
material generated by an eruption,
and the lapillis are the clasts or little
parts of volcanic material,
originated from the explosive exit
of fragments from a volcano, where
they lose the gases and fall rapidly
at very high temperatures,
solidifying and sticking between
them.
Surrounding the plateau, the way to
the Guidepost Nº 14 presents a
slope change, that allows to descend
approximately 80 meters on a 1, 5
km. long way. This part of the route
makes it more difficult to walk: we
recommend you to make it slowly to
avoid accidents during the way out,
and the way back, when you will
have to go up slowly to avoid an
unnecessary physical effort and
extreme tiredness. Remember: if you
stay for the night near the lake, you
will have to carry more than 12 Kg.
equipment and food.
After 2 hours and 30 minutes you
will reach the Landmark Nº 14,
which is a small lagoon over an
esplanade. This lagoon shows the
hydrologic cycle of the High Tundra
climate typical for the high Andean
mountains. This lagoon stays
frozen most part of the year,
increases its surface and volume
during the thaw period (since
September on), decreasing its
surface and volume by infiltration
to the lower layers of earth and
evaporation into the atmosphere,
as a result of an increase in
temperature and low atmospheric
humidity during summer.
The Landmark Nº 15 is also
connected to this lagoon, located on the high level zone of the
lagoon, where the trail turns diffuse,
because of the feature of the
lagoon.
Leaving the small lagoon, between
Guidepost Nª 16 and 17, the route
goes through a soft-hills area, low
slope grounds and fine material of
volcanic ash and lapillis. On this
400 meters track approximately,
you will not be able to see the
Laguna del Maule and the trail still
goes diffuse, this means you have
to be aware of the demarcation of
the trail to keep yourself on it. So,
the Landmarks No 16 and 17 are
points where the signs are mostly
indicators of the trail and not to get
lost.
After almost a three hours walk, the
visitor will get to Guidepost Nº 18:
Las Nieblas stream, which you
have to crossover to reach
Guidepost Nº 19. We recommend
you to do the crossing where the
signs are posted and the conditions
are the best at a lower risk.
In this area, between Guidepost
No 18 and 19, is ideal for you to
recognize and appreciate the
connection between two vegetal
communities of the high Andean
steppe. On low, flooded areas there
are species corresponding to the
Coiron Junquillo (Patosia
clandestina - juncos balticus)
association, easy to recognize for
its herbaceous, green type. On the
other hand, on the dry areas,
vegetation of the grass family or
gramineae presents a low area-
covering and the Coiron (Stipa
pogonathera) becomes more flat,
yellow and a hard texture plant.
These features make this specie
(Coiron or Andean grass) a high
resistance species to the rough
weather conditions, and it
preserves intact under the snow
during winter.
These plants associations were in
the past a valuable resource to
support the survival of native
mammals, like the Huanaco or
Guanaco (Lama guanicoe).
Nowadays these plants carry out a
similar function, for they are the
support for the domestic cattle
(sheep and bovine) of the peasants
that inhabit the lower areas of the
San Clemente commune; so, do not
be afraid if you find cattle on your
way. Be careful: do not bother the
animals nor cause them to run, for
this mean many hours of hard work
for their owners. Respect is always
welcome.
Leaving behind the Las Nieblas
stream, crossing and maintaining
the same general Southwest
direction, walk a little more of 220
metres, surrounding the Las Nieblas
stream till an esplanade, where You
will find the Guidepost Nº 20, a
place suitable for resting and
recovering Your water reserves.
The last part of the route covers the
area called Baños del Maule,
associated to Las Nieblas stream.
You have to continue walking,
following the course of water, which
finally ends in a beautiful waterfall.
This is where Guidepost Nº 21 is
located: Congratulations! You have
ended the route. In this area, You
will find a new interpretative sign
and will have a wide sight of the
lake from its Southwestern shore.
This is an excellent place for
watching and interpreting the
shapes of the landscape, taking
pictures and having a great lunch,
after walking 3 and a half hours.
This place has the particularity to
limit with the Colada Las Nieblas,
an unique route formation, since it
has 6.000 meters long, 300 meters
high and it is formed by lava blocks
and poorly consolidated volcanic
material, arranged on an abrupt
slope that falls directly into the
water.
The lava blocks are lava flows of
black, damaged, angled rock
blocks, formed by the explosion of
lava and gas. Once it cooled down
rapidly, the hot lava that lies
beneath the surface drags along to
the hard surface, giving as a result
irregular blocks on the broken
surface.
The route by the shore of the lake
beyond the Guidepost Nº 21 is not
included in the Patrimonial Route
Laguna del Maule, and it is not
recommended for being an
unsecured ground, dominated by
the lava flows.
*'''Distance and time expected''': 3,5 km, 1h 30m
==Recommendations==
{{Topoguide|33}}
==Route in Google Earth==
*[[Media:.kmz|Route of...]]
{{Download waypoints}}
