| Our 7:00 wake-up call came far too quickly. I got up and inquired
if breakfast was included; it was. I also called José Viramonte
and arranged to meet at his office. Angel Mansilla called and said
he would come right out to meet with us over breakfast. He arrived
as we were eating breakfast. We ironed out the problems that had
arisen with the upcoming Geological Society of America trip to Patagonia.
It was good to see him again.
We drove over to the University and met with José and Berta González. The school was on winter vacation so they were the only people there. I was great to see them again. They gave Brian and Rich some papers to copy that will be pertinent to Rich's research. We also talked about possible collaborations between Rich, Brian, and UNSa. We drove to El Centro and left the documents at a photocopy shop and went for a superb lunch at La Posta. My old waiter friend recognized me immediately, 12 years after I was a regular client for 6 weeks. After lunch we walked through the square and by the cathedral before picking up the papers and driving them out to the Viramonte house. It was great to see Marita but, as usual, my visit was far too short. We headed south out of town and drove to Chicoana where we turned up
the Río Escoipe and made the 7,000’ climb up the Cuesta del Obispo.
The day and the lighting were perfect. We stopped at the valley overlook
and saw the incipient landslide just waiting for an earthquake to bring
it down. Unfortunately, the sun set soon after reaching the summit, so
our trip through Cerro Tintín was less spectacular. By the
time we got to Seclantas, it was dark so no one saw the Valle Chalchaquí.
That's a real shame; I guess they'll have to come back.
We arrived in Angastaco around 8:00 and got rooms at El Cardón and then went to the Automovil Club de Argentina (ACA) hotel for a surprisingly so-so dinner. Even so, it was great to be back in Angastaco! I really like it here. |
