Summit

Taking the city of Copiapó as a point of departure, head towards
and then take the international road, Ruta 31, that leads to Argentina
via the San Francisco border crossing.

At the San Luis mine, the road intersects with a secondary road that
leads to La Puerta and Santa Rosa Lagoon. Continue on the secondary
road, which borders the Maricunga Salt Lake, in a north-easterly
direction, until coming to another road that runs in a north-south
direction. This road connects the Maricunga Salt Lake with the Negro
Francisco Lagoon, which is also part of the Nevado Tres Cruces
National Park. You should take this road south.

The road goes through the Marte mine. On the southern edge of
the mine there is a track to the east that you have to take. After
about two km you can leave the track, heading south to the Los
Patos Gully. In the gully you follow the track along the left hand
side. Travel about five km until the place where the gully becomes
deeper and narrower and a quick glance gives the impression that
the path disappears. Given that there is enough space here between
the rocks, it is a good place to set up BC (4,180 m)

From this point, continue the approach by vehicle. The slope gradually
becomes more pronounced and you should drive through the
riverbed on the gully floor heading towards the east. From time to
time the ground is firm, at other times it is muddy or marshy. After
about two km (4,240 m) you must turn south, moving from the
main gorge to the floor of a tributary gorge. The route is firmer but
steeper and with many rocks (30 to 60 cm) and it is therefore slow
to drive through.

The road continues south-east in this tributary gorge, which becomes
progressively narrower. After five km, at 4,600 m, you should
turn north-east and ascend a very steep slope which ends one km
further on at 4,730 m. You then come to a plateau from where it
is possible to see all the Atacama summits. At about 300 metres to
the north there is a cairn that was made by our expedition. From
this point you should continue south-east for about four km, until
arriving without any difficulty at the base of El Manchado Mountain
(4,870 m), a strange mountain full of obsidian in its slopes which
gives it a black colour.

Given the characteristics of the terrain it is recommended to leave
the vehicle at this point to continue the route on foot.

From the point where you leave the vehicle at 4,870 m, the ascent
starts towards the south-east on a rocky, sandy slope that is not very
steep and therefore easy to climb. You arrive at a ridge (5,100 m)
from where you can make out the gully of the Lajitas River to the
south. You should follow this ridge, heading south-east until the
base of the volcano, whose summit is hidden by a false summit.

At the base of this false summit (5,095 m) you can set up HC. It is
five kilometres from the summit, as the crow flies.

From the HC head south-east and climb the 850 metres to the false
summit (5,990 m) through a scree slope that faces north-west with
a gradient of 40º to 45º. The scree slope is especially long and tiring
due to the looseness of the rocky material. About 50 metres below
the false summit you should turn north to traverse around it. After
a kilometre you reach a wide pass (5,830 m).

The slope from the pass until the main summit is less steep (25º to
30º) and the ascent should become easier. The final ascent should
be carried out through the stony and sandy slopes of the summit
mound and after about 2.5 km you arrive at the main summit.

The descent follows the same route as the ascent.

• No special permits are required to climb Los Patos but you should
inform the police in the San Francisco border post of your expedition,
giving them a letter showing participants, nationalities, passport
or ID numbers, details of activities and specific itineraries, dates,
route and a map of the area. As the mountain is on the border,
foreigners must ask for permission from DIFROL (www.difrol.cl).

• The best transport option is to take a 4x4 vehicle. See appendix
for recommendations. Buy sufficient fuel in Copiapó as there are
no other places to buy it during the rest of the journey.

• If you do not have your own transport it is recommended to send
a letter asking for support to the headquarters of the Army 1st
division in Antofagasta (Av. Ejército 01180, Antofagasta). Once
approved it will be sent to the 23rd Regiment in Copiapó, which
will co-ordinate the support.

• Another option is a transport service from Copiapó. Among the
companies that offer the service are Aventurismo (52-235340 /
mobile: 99694654, who also offer transport from Laguna Verde
to the various mountains), Gran Atacama Tour Operador (52-
219271, www.granatacama.cl) and Atacama Chile Tour Operador
(mobile: 98723652, www.atacamachile.com).

• The access path has 12 km of sections with steep gradients that
challenge even a 4x4 but are not dangerous. The largest part of
the track runs along the Los Patos Gorge, then exits onto a plain
that is very easy to negotiate.

• The mountain is difficult to access by vehicle but is a short and
not very technical ascent, even though it is quite tiring, especially
the scree slopes. Once having arrived at the false summit, the rest
of the climb is not very complicated, but it is necessary to bear
in mind the logistical problems of a mountain over 6,000 m.

• It is recommended to take equipment and clothing suitable for
high altitude mountaineering. As part of the equipment it is
recommended to take an ice axe and crampons.

• Take water for the whole expedition from Copiapó. The Los Patos
Gorge gives a source of permanent water, but it should be
considered as an alternative in an emergency and it must be
boiled beforehand. Possibly deposits of water can be found in
the upper course of the gorges or areas that have snow, but there
are very few.

• The Puna de Atacama area has high precipitation in winter and
summer, when it is slightly affected by the “Alti-Planic winter”.
The climatic instability can also be accompanied by strong squalls
and wind-storms. It is therefore strongly recommended to climb
during the months of spring and summer, as the winter presents
very low temperatures and abundant precipitation. It is necessary
to keep up-to-date with the weather forecast.