Looking Toward Bolivia; Woozy at 18,400 Ft

One of my tours took me over the Tropic of Capricorn where it in is evidently traditional to take a picture of oneself though obviously I normally resist that

I thought of making some sort of statement by sitting in the road to block traffic but I wasn't sure the buses would take note of me and it was early and I was anxious to get some sleep in the tour van.  

I had been looking at hiking various volcanos around San Pedro de Atacama and eventually settled on Cerro Tocco which is an extinct volcano that apparently has been downgraded to an ordinary mountain, kind of like Pluto being downgraded from p!anet to moon-like status a few years ago.  I guess you need to erupt every 1000 years or so or you lose volcano credentials.

In any event I hired a guide and we went off to be the first ever to climb Cerro Tocco (aka Volcan Tocco to the Incas).  That morning we were the first i believe.  And here is the view from 18,400 ft-

The top is quite  close to Bolivia and this is looking north-

I have never been close to that high and I felt dizzy most of the way up and woozy even after we came down although I had acclimated somewhat with trips to over 4200 meters in the preceding days. They make you wear the helmet though I don't know why-

An astronomy tour that night wrapped up my 5 days in Atacama.  I was frankly pretty exhausted from the constant tours and activities often beginning before dawn and ending late.  Somewhat surprisingly, so much to see and do in Atacama.  While I might prefer alpine scenery overall, the vast desert and towering mountains and volcanos of this stunning landscape are something to behold.

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