Castillo de Pinchera

Today we went on a hike because we ran out of things to do until the workers get back to work tomorrow. We were going to go on a hike in Castillo de Pinchera, which is about a 30 minute drive from the observatory building, but when we got there we found out that it was closed.

This is a view of what I believe to be Castillo de Pinchera. I think the hike gets you up on the hill, but I don't really know. They have campgrounds and grills near the parking lot, so I imagine it's a more popular destination in the Spring and Summer.















We ended up continuing on the dirt road for a ways. Along the way we saw cattle, sheep, goats, and horses.















I believe this is the rancher's house.
















This is a pretty terrible shot, but on the very left of the image you can see a fox carcass that the ranchers likely hung on the fence. I missed getting an excellent shot of a gaucho on horseback with his dogs, but I'm hoping I will come across some again.
















We ended up hiking up the ridge in the middle of the photo. It was about a 1000 foot elevation gain.
















Up the river about 100 feet was a horse carcass as well as a shoe and a gaucho hat.















Your standard lichen photo.















The view from the top. On the left you can see a gypsum quarry on the side of the mountain.















The UH contingent.