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16:30 hrs, the teams 1-BUFF and 2-ALBERTA ADVENTURE RACING , after finishing the kayak section, were transported in the boat " Esturión II", belonging to the company , to PC6 Fiordo Silva Palma to start the trekking section across Brunswick Peninsula.
Several members of the teams 7-DAP ANTARTICA and 3-MAD SCIENTISTS have health problems and are evaluating whether or not they will continue in the race. Finally, several decide to quit: Heather Graz , from team 3-MAD SCIENTISTS , and Natalia Armijo and Andres Fernández , from team 7-DAP ANTARTICA. However, the PER organization has permitted the remaining team members to unite and form a group of 5, whi will still try to make it to the end, although out of the official ranking.
23:21 hrs, team 10- FEED THE MACHINE arrives at PC5 Seno Otway.
09:12 hrs, PER organization personnel in PC5 Seno Otway have informed us that 10-FEED THE MACHINE are being transported by boat to PC6 Fiordo Silva Palma , where the five teams are starting the longest and most difficult trekking stage of this race.
Upon leaving PC5 this morning, Bernice Pierson of 10-FEED THE MACHINE/IBEX and Stjepan Pavicic (Race Director) had the following conversation:
Bernice Pierson : "I have raced Primal Quest twice as well as about 50 other races, but these last 50 hours of trekking have been the toughest that I have ever done. Ever. The forest and the peat bog were really difficult. You go into that bush, walking, and just wanting to get out of there, and when it finally ends you are in the bog. Walking over that soft surface os like walking over wet sponges..."
Stjepan Pavicic : "Well, in the next section you will be able to break your own record again..."
Now, the longest and most difficult section of trekking awaits them. The racers have to face a great challenge, not only because of the distance, but also because of the loneliness and isolation that they will face, no town or human settlement, a huge unconquered landscape, wild and without paths or tracks, to cross thi spart of the Brunswick Peninsula and arriving at the sea, on the peninsula's west side, in Magellan Strait, marking their return to civilization and to some paths.
Upon leaving PC6 fiordo Silva Palma the racers will travel in a generally SW direction through a large and wide peat bog about 17 km across which will take them to the valley of the Raul River, which is cut by several deep and forested smaller valleys.
Then, depending upon whether there has been much rain and according to the capabilities of the group members, they will follow the Raul River (if there has not been much rain), and along its grassy and bushy terraces or along higher forested routes with many fallen trees and spiny calafate bushes.
A few kilometres further on they will start to ascend a 700 m terrace, just below and parallel to a mountainous ridge, where it is quite possible that it will be snowing even though it is summer now, and which is subject to strong winds, fog which can disorient them, and heavy rains which, with the wind, can be almost horizontal.
In this zone it is also possible to see the two animals that appear in the crest of Chile : the Condor, king of the Andes , and the Huemul, our indigenous species of deer.
The terrace consists of grassy slopes and rocky scree slopes and more compact terrain. Throughout, there are small but steep canyons that lead into the main valley. They must cross ascend various saddles to get across the canyons, to then descend in the next valley.
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19:50 hrs. 1-BUFF has already come down from the mountainous range, into a valley protected from the high winds and the cold of the mounatins, and will not continue walking any more today, because of the bad weather conditions. Tehy are about 30 km from the coast, where they will start to follow the coast trail to PC7 Río San Pedro.
20:30 hrs. 2-ALBERTA ADVENTURE RACING are still in the mountainous range, but at a pass that leads down into the valley, and also will not continue any further right now due to the bad weather conditions.
05:30 hrs. 2-ALBERTA ADVENTURE RACING reports that there is an intense blizzard, and that all of their equipment is wet, but they are in good spirits and want to keep going... we are witnessing the wildest race on the planet!
The next 45 kilometres or so of this trekking section are divided into two parts: the first starts with a system of wide peat bogs separated by small steep valleys and canyons, with some dense forest and rivers of variable depth, depending upon the rain. Before getting to the sea, there are forests that are easier to move through along the big rivers at the bottom of the valleys. In this region, when PER organization personnel were doing the route reconnaissance, they found evidence of beavers: beaver dams, and trees cut by the beavers. These animals were introduced via Argentina , where they were deliberately introduced to Tierra del Fuego , but as we have seen, they have crossed Magellan Strait and started to colonize the continent. They are considered a pest, because they devour all of the forest along the edges of the rivers.
The second part of the trekking is along the coast, along an infrequently used trail and following long beaches, to get to PC7 Río San Pedro . For the most part, they will hardly see any people or even fishermen along the coast - we don't want to traumatize the racers with this slow arrival back to civilization. From the beaches, it is possible to see Magellanic dolphins, porpoises, whales, sea lions and a great variety of birds. |
19:45 hrs. the group composed of members of the teams 3-MAD SCIENTISTS and 7-DAP ANTARTICA , both out of the official race, are doing well, although they are outside of the area of the map given to them by the race organization, and heading eastward, towaards the sea.
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