Day 32 – Monday March 28: The gigantic River Baker
We headed out mid-morning, planning to go only halfway to Cochrane, our original destination. As it turned out, the original plan would have been pretty much impossible, given the mileage and elevation gains that we would be facing just today (76km, 3600ft). Right out of town we started up a steep hill that took us southwards along the shore of Lago General Carrera. Then we followed another watershed downward to Lake Bertrand, then up again and over some serious hills to end up at the Rio Baker, Chile’s most voluminous river, ranging from wide to narrow and filled with rapids. Fine fishing here, and a lot of fishing resorts along the riverbanks. Almost all the places to stay were closing now at the end of the season. The weather was turning foul: cold rain and wind, so we were glad to get out of our riding clothes and put some wood on the fire.
The River Baker is one of the rivers where dams have been proposed to provide hydropower. At first it sounds like a fair proposition, since the river runs powerfully through canyons where a dam might be hidden and it would produce a good deal of electricity. Unfortunately, as usual, the story is more complicated. Although much of Chile needs more electrical power, the power from these dams has been promised and would be directed entirely to corporate mining and aluminum operations as part of cap and trade agreements, rather than actually going to the many people who need it. And the real cost to the environment would be the series of towers marching relentlessly across the spectacular landscape, through hill and dale from south to north. Plus, of course, whole ranges of the river would be choked off.
In any case, the Rio Baker acts as a kind of rallying point for the “Patagonia sin represas” (Patagonia without Dams!) issue, and so far the watercourse remains untamed, wildly roaring through rock walls and chasms. The game isn’t over yet though.
We stayed overnight at one of those fishing lodges next to the river, the Los Rapidos del Rio Baker, and had an excellent dinner prepared by our guides. Tomorrow we would follow the course of the river and head back over the mountainous terrain to Cochrane.