Remember those who were forgotten at the Isle of the Dead
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 9.55 mi
- Elevation gain
- 0 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Easy
- Elevation loss
- 26 ft
- Max elevation
- 34 ft
- TrailRank
- 22
- Min elevation
- 0 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Coordinates
- 48
- Uploaded
- July 5, 2014
- Recorded
- July 2014
near Tortel, Aisén (Chile)
Viewed 861 times, downloaded 2 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
Waypoints
Waypoint
0 ft
Caleta Tortel
Houses, shingles, walkways, boats, piers, signs, and even the public squares and playgrounds; all made of wood, in this unique and fascinating little town, suspended in the air in a dreamy landscape of 1,000 hues of green and the milky turquoise of the Tortel Bay. Unique architecture, geographical isolation and cypress of the Guaitecas have forged the identity of this small village located between the Northern and Southern Patagonia Ice Fields. Caleta Tortel was founded in 1955 when settlers arrived looking for new opportunities for livestock ranching and fishing, but instead they found a much more profitable endeavor: the extraction of cypress of the Guaitecas, an extremely water-repellent, long-lasting wood with an exquisite smell, beautiful vein and great durability. In those times, it was sold for fence posts and telegraph poles being implemented in the region of Magallanes. Little by little, people began to settle in this area, forming a small town; which, even today, bases its economy around this tree; perhaps the only coastal port in Patagonia that does not specialize in fishing or the fruits of the sea. Caleta Tortel is enveloped in a heavy wrapping of flora; generously sprinkled with forested areas, comprised of ciprés of the Guaitecas, coigüe, notro, and a mix of short leafed and needle leaf mañío. Add in a LOT of small, and not so small, ferns, mosses, lichens, and forest undergrowth, and you have all the ingredients needed to generate the lush natural environment you will encounter along the boardwalks and trails of Tortel, filling your sight with every hue of green imaginable.
Waypoint
0 ft
The Isla de los Muertos
There was talk of famine, accidental poisoning and even a premeditated mass-murder. But, everything was a matter of legend and rumor, until social anthropologist, Mauricio Osorio, uncovered new evidence that has helped to reveal true events that led to the catastrophe. All of the excursions to the Isle of the Dead pass through the Bajo Pisagua Sector, where there is an incredible waterfall that pours down into the fjord. This sector is the scene for the drama that was to unfold. At the end of 1905, the Explotadora del Baker Company contracted around 200 workers from Chiloe and Puerto Montt, to come to the Bajo Pisagua sector and work, building roads, logging and working in construction of new infrastructure. Work moved forward during the spring and summer months and workers began to anticipate the winter break, when they would return home to their families. A ship would arrive to transport the workers back north in June of that year; their contract stipulated a break during the winter months when the climate included sub-zero temperatures, strong winds and rains. Accommodations were not adequate for housing so many people during the harsh conditions of winter when clearly, the weather prevented work from moving forward. So, rations were provided through the end of May when the ship would arrive. But, it didn’t arrive on the indicated day, or the next. The ship scheduled to transport the workers never arrived; they had been abandoned! It was almost four months later, on September 27, 1906, when the Araucanía Steamer, from Punta Arenas, picked up the 157 survivors of the Bajo Pisagua tragedy. Fifty-nine workers had died during the harsh Patagonian winter, due to lack of food and an outbreak of scurvy, and their remains rest under the worn wooden crosses on the isle. Eight more victims died aboard the Araucanía on the way back. It’s especially sad to notice the short lives memorialized by many of the crosses on the isle, whose dates reveal that many of the workers were young men, some only 15 years old. Today, thanks to the efforts of Don Osorio’s research, the mystery of their deaths can finally be shared and the forgotten, remembered. So, as you walk through the isle surrounded by such incredible beauty, take a moment to remember a few of the names that are hand written onto the crosses. Then, as you make your way back to the comforts of Caleta Tortel, take a few minutes to remember the names of those forgotten for so long.
River
0 ft
Baker River
The Baker River begins in the southern end of Bertrand Lake and transports a tremendous freshwater flow from the Northern Patagonia Ice Fields to the Fjords in Tortel. Its color is one-of-a-kind, thanks to the glacial sediments that provide the intensity of its turquoise and (depending on the section), a clarity or cloudiness that is equally intense. The recognition of this river as "the most powerful in Chile" makes it sound pretty intimidating; however, several of its sections are perfectly apt for kayaking, fishing and rafting.
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