Low impact practices

If you spend any time outdoors, you’ve probably heard the phrase “leave no trace” .. But what does this mean? It’s all about so-called low-impact practicespractices, which allow us to to enjoy and protect our natural spaces.

During 2019, a total of 4.3 million visitors were recorded in Argentina’s National Parks (NP). Year after year, our love of the outdoors takes its toll on nature: impacted areas with litter, invasive species, habituated wildlife, trail erosion, polluted water sources and more. While those of us who participate in these activities have no intention of harming the natural environment, we may not have the knowledge to preserve it either.

The Seven Principles from “Leave No Trace” (© 1999 by the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics: www.LNT.org), provide an easy-to-understand framework of minimum impact practices. minimal impact practicesfor everyone who goes out into nature. These principles can be applied anywhere, from remote wilderness areas to local parks and squares and even in your own backyard. In other words, they apply to almost every outdoor recreational activities. Cada principio cubre un tema específico y brinda información detallada para minimizar nuestro impacto.

  1. Plan ahead and be prepared.
  2. Walk and camp on resistant surfaces.
  3. Dispose of waste and garbage properly.
  4. Leave what you find, do not take anything “as a souvenir”.
  5. Minimize the impact of fire.
  6. Respect wildlife.
  7. Be considerate of other people.

Plan ahead and be prepared

This applies on several levels: if you are not well prepared, you are more likely to have problems. Lack of planning can lead to situations of fatigue or fear, forcing you to make bad decisions. Planning aheadincluding researching the destination y packing accordingly..

  • Research the regulations, environmentalenvironmental particularities and risks of the area to be traveled.
  • Schedule your tripavoiding the busiest times of the year.
  • I went out in small groups. Si no fuera posible, una alternativa es subdividir los grupos.
  • Repackage food to minimize to minimize waste.
  • Be prepared for extreme weather conditionshazards and emergencies.
  • Use GPS or navigate with chart and compass, to eradicate the use of marking paint, rock piles or others.

Walk and camp on resistant surfaces

When you’re exploring, preparing for a picnic or setting up camp, look for types of hardy hardy terrain. Las superficies ideales incluyen established trails and campsites. También rock, gravel, dry grass or snow.

In transited areas:

  • Use the existing existing trails and campsites.
  • Camp at least 60 m from lakes and streams.
  • Arma kids camps. Concentrá la actividad en áreas donde no haya vegetación.
  • Walk in single file in the middle of the traileven when it is wet or muddy.

In pristine (virgin) areas:

  • Disperse the use of the area to avoid avoid the generation of campgrounds and trails..
  • Avoid places where the impact has just begun.

Proper disposal of waste and garbage

This principle applies to applies to everythingfrom toilet paper and wet wipes, to human waste, to rinse water when brushing your teeth, to garbage in general.

  • If it came with you, it comes back with you. Inspeccioná el campamento y área de baño en busca de basura o alimentos derramados. Embolsá toda la basura (restos de comida, envoltorios, papeles, etc) y bajalos con vos. Dejá siempre el lugar más limpio de lo que lo encontraste.
  • For the poop 💩, you should have a small shovel to be able to make holes 15 to 20 cm deep and bury solid waste in the and bury the solid waste (the paper/wipes with which we clean ourselves, go down with you), at least 60 m from the water, camp and 60 m from the water, camp and trails.. Al terminar, rellená y cubrí con la cobertura de suelo original. En algunas áreas naturales muy afectadas o campamentos de altura, como por ejemplo en el Parque Provincial Cordón del Plata, se requiere incluso que bajemos los desechos humanos: para ésto, es altamente recomendado el uso del Poop-Tube.
  • Toilet paper, wet wipes and other personal hygiene items, you should bring them with you. Para esto, es indispensable contar con una pequeña bolsa para los residuos personales.
  • To rinse your body or wash the dishes, you have to transport the necessary carry the necessary water 60 m away from the cause. Para lavar vajilla, se recomienda el uso de piedras pequeñas u arena. Si usamos productos, deben ser biodegradables y en muy pequeñas cantidades. Al lavar platos, esparcí el agua “dirty” after rinsing. A good alternative, for places where you arrive by car, is to use a bucket for all the above mentioned tasks.

Leave what you find, do not take anything “as a souvenir”.

Another phrase you must have heard if you come out into nature is: “take only pictures, leave only footprints”.which is valid, although not even leaving footprints is even better.

  • Preserve the pastIn countless itineraries (especially in northern Argentina) it is possible to find cultural or historical structures and artifacts. They can be examined, but not touched or intervened.
  • Dejá stones, plants and other natural objects as you find them.
  • Avoid introducing or transporting non-native species.. También es necesario limpiar las suelas del calzado, los cascos de los kayak y los neumáticos de las bicis entre viajes.
  • Do not build structuresfurniture or ditches.

Minimize the impact of fire

The campfire is a timeless camping ritual, but it is also the most destructive of rituals. The best option is not to build a fireThere are light heaters for cooking and lanterns for light. Stargazing is an excellent nighttime activity and is best enjoyed in total darkness.

  • Where permitted, use existing and/or permitted fireplaces.
  • The fire should be small.
  • Only can only feed on sticks and fallen branches. Tomá solo aquellas que puedas romper con las manos.
  • Do not take firewood from elsewhereas it may introduce pests or diseases. If you are going to buy it, buy it from a local source.
  • Burn all the wood and charcoal to ashes. Extinguish the fire completely.

Respect wildlife

Do not approach animals. La mejor forma de contemplar la vida que nos rodea y disfrutar de los encuentros casuales con animales, es a través del zoom de nuestras cámaras o de un par de binoculares.

  • Observe wildlife from a distance. Do not follow the animals or get close to them.
  • Never feed the animals. Alimentar a la vida silvestre daña su salud, altera los comportamientos naturales (como suele suceder en el Parque Nacional Iguazú con los Coatíes, por ejemplo), generando una mayor exposición a depredadores, entre otros peligros.
  • Store food and garbage food and garbage preventing animals from accessing it. In many cases, it can be hung from branches or stones, using a thin string with the spout of a cut plastic bottle threaded onto it. In this way, the smaller and more agile “lauchas” cannot reach the bundles.
  • Control your pets at all times. If possible, it is best to leave them at home.
  • Learn about the wildlifetheir periods and particularities. Avoid encounters during mating, nesting, breeding or wintering periods.

Take other people into consideration

“Treat others as you would like to be treated” is a rule that also applies to outdoor life.is a rule that also applies to outdoor life.

  • Respect the rest of adventurers and adventurers. Take care of the quality of their experience.
  • Be polite, give way if your position is better, to those who are coming up or are prone to destabilize, since they are usually making a greater effort and come with more weight.
  • There are paths that are shared by hikers, riders (or mules) and cyclists. Generally, it is established that the hiker has absolute priority and the rider has priority over the cyclist.
  • Rest and camp away from trails and visitors.
  • Dejá the sounds of sounds of nature prevail. Evitá las voces, la música y los ruidos fuertes.
  • Handle your pet properly.

How much should your backpack weigh?

One of the most frequent questions we receive is: How much should my backpack weigh? Many factors influence the determination of the weight of the backpack, which makes it difficult to give an exact weight recommendation for each person. To answer this question we are going to talk to you from our personal experience and our professional training.

Backpack for trekking and hiking

To define the weight of a trekking or hiking backpack, we can use these basic and very general guidelines:

  • A loaded backpack should not weigh more than 20% of your body weight.
  • A day hiking backpack should weigh no more than 10% of your body weight.

Using body weight percentages as a guide will help you keep your pack at a manageable weight adapted to your own capacity. But it doesn’t work in all situations, small people often end up carrying more than 20% of their weight, and activities that require technical equipment can significantly influence the equation. Now, there are factors external to our body that play an important role in the total weight of the mochi:

  • Trip length: the longer your trip, the more food, water and fuel you will need to carry, which of course adds weight to your pack. Even on multi-day itineraries, you’ll want your pack to be close to 20% of your body weight, so we need to be careful with the gear and clothing we carry to compensate for all that extra weight.
  • Season / weather: if you are going out in cold temperatures, you will need warmer and heavier clothing and equipment than if you were trekking in sunny summer weather.
  • Personal preferences: Some people value comfort in camp and are willing to accept the inherent weight that comes with carrying“luxuries” such as a hammock, extra clothing, or an inflatable mattress. Others are fine with wearing the same clothes for days and sleeping on an ultra-light insulator.

It is not easy, especially when we are just taking our first steps, to know how to reduce the weight of our backpack.

Y… How do we reduce weight?

Most adventurers find value in carrying less weight: it helps to travel faster, farther and more comfortably. When choosing what to carry in the backpack it is essential not to compromise our well-being, a first aid kit is a good example of an item that we do not have to leave at home to reduce weight. Certainly, we can choose lighter versions of these items, but do not omit them altogether. It is also important to think about our adventure partners and not rely on them for extra food or an extra layer of warmth. Having said that, here are some suggestions: Know your base weight: Base weight is how much your loaded pack weighs, minus “consumables” such as food, water and fuel. Those amounts vary from trip to trip and will decrease throughout the trip as we eat, drink and cook. But everything else that goes in the backpack, such as the tent, sleeping bag, heater and kettle, clothing…, will not change much from trip to trip. Knowing our base weight provides us with a constant number to work on to reduce weight. “Generally” you are considered ultralight ($$$) if your base weight is less than 4.5 kg and light ($$$) if your base weight is less than 9 kg. Most of us mortals ($$) have a base weight of less than 13 kg. Weigh your equipment (for obsessives only): Use a kitchen scale and/or luggage scale to weigh all your current gear – this includes everything from your thermal interiors to the tent separated by poles, body and over-roof. Recording weights on a spreadsheet is useful for comparing items when planning, it even allows us to try different base weight configurations depending on the needs of each outing, a backpack for a high altitude expedition may involve a very different base weight to the trekking and hiking backpacks described above. Over the years you’ll probably have a handful of items for similar uses, such as two down jackets, and knowing the exact weight of each thing can help you decide which to take and which to leave behind. The Big 3: Most of the base weight of the pack is in: the pack itself, the sleeping bag, and the tent. These three fundamental pieces of our equipment are usually expensive, paying special attention to the features offered by each brand and model will help us to find the best equation between weight, our needs and our budget.

A great resource for comparing and reading reliable equipment reviews that I frequently use is www.outdoorgearlab.com.

Plan your meals: Who hasn’t run off to the mountains and grabbed a pile of food before heading out the door? It’s the best way to end up with back pain. Taking the time to plan your menu will prevent an unreasonable amount of food from ending up in your backpack. A reasonable target is 700 gr to 1.1 kg of food (or 2500 to 4500 calories) per person per day, depending on your size, weight and the level of effort to be made. It is advisable to carry a little extra food. Re-pack: Do we need a giant tube of toothpaste for a weekend trip? What about the cardboard box of ready rice we eat upstairs? Repacking is an easy way to save weight. Small reusable travel packs can be used for toothpaste and sunscreen. As for food, instead of carrying the original packaging with all the contents, it can be divided according to what we need in Ziploc-type bags, they are small, simple, lightweight and reusable. Freeze-dried food should not be repackaged and should be transported as it comes. Finally, we can dispense with individual packs or complementary items of our equipment that add unnecessary weight to the backpack. These objects are, for example, the bag to store the tent or the stakes, if we know beforehand that we are not going to use them. Create the equipment list for your trip: C

aving a gear list when you are setting up your mochi helps you to take only what you really need and not forget anything. We should avoid carrying single-use items, for example an inflatable pillow. We can easily use our warm jacket to achieve the same comfort without increasing the weight.

To assemble the mochi!

No matter how light your gear is, cramming things into your pack haphazardly or leaving items “dangling” on the outside is likely to result in an awkward and unstable load. There is a method for keeping your pack balanced and secure, but that’s the subject of another article: Assembling your backpack.

Getting back on the trails without suffering in the attempt

Slowly and irreversibly, winter is already relinquishing its icy grip on our favorite trails. For most of us, the warmer weather portends a return to the trails after a few months off, and those first hikes of the season need not fatigue us to the point of not enjoying them, or involve days of painful recovery afterwards. Here are some tips for working through the fall and winter months, which can serve as a starting point for a spring and summer full of exploration, new trails and summits.

Make the most of winter

Many trails may be snow-covered well into spring, but that doesn’t mean you can’t hike them on snowshoes or cross-country skis, both of which are great activities for improving cardio and retaining leg strength in the dead of winter. Now, not everything in winter comes down to snow activities. There are numerous options and adventure activities to do in winter near the urban centers of Argentina, in the mountains of Balcarce just 4 hours from Buenos Aires, there is an adventure ecosystem for all tastes, with activities ranging from trekking, climbing, rural cycling, paragliding and kayaking. Participating in a training group in a public space can be a great option, there are numerous green spaces available and on rainy days they provide a great opportunity to try out waterproof equipment. So, when you head out for the day or on a five-day trip to the mountains in the spring, you know your raincoat can handle it.

Incorporate “some” exercise into your daily routine.

Think of exercise as something that can take minimal time, as an interwoven part of your daily routine. Stretch your neck and back for a few minutes every morning, and when the weather permits, walk or cycle to work. Even if it’s three or four kilometers most people can make the trip in an hour. If you have to use transportation, you can get off a few stops earlier. Being and feeling good doesn’t have to be a huge imposition or a life change, it’s the key to a successful workout regimen, just make it part of your day, research ways to incorporate it easily and gradually into your daily routine.

Accept that you’re going to fight it!

Accept the burning quads, the screaming lungs, the first few walks are going to cost a little more. Don’t let that stop you from getting out there! The discomfort passes as we get back to activity. Always stretch after a day’s walking or a training session, even a few minutes here and there can make a big difference. Visualizing and planning are also good ways to anticipate and accept what can happen to us, having the material ready, the blister tapes, having some muscle relaxant cream to apply at night, are things that help to put your head on the road, to be better prepared.

Cajon de los Arenales – Area description

Introduction

Arenales is one of the 3 world class climbing schools in Argentina, along with Chalten in Santa Cruz, and the Frey in Rio Negro (Bariloche). Located at about 2,500 meters above sea level in the Cordón Portillo of the front range of the Andes, it has an arid high altitude climate, scarce bush vegetation and an imposing landscape full of needles and granite walls, surrounded by hills that reach up to 5,500 meters above sea level.

 

It is worth mentioning the work of the Piedra Libre Foundation, whose objective is to ensure free and open access to the Cajon de los Arenales.

 

 

Climate and season

The high season generally begins in October and lasts until mid to late April. Being a mountainous region located at an altitude between 2,500 and 3,500 meters above sea level, weather conditions can vary in any season.

 

Shelter and camping

There is a shelter built and maintained by climbers located 20 minutes on foot from the entrance to the canyon. It has dry toilets, basic facilities to stay inside, cook and sleep, no electricity and no cell phone signal. The refuge is free to use and the maintenance of the facilities is the responsibility of all those who use it. There is no shelter or concessions.

View of the refuge in Cajon de los Arenales

There are also several natural shelves in the area where it is possible to set up tents. It is also possible to camp in several sites in the vicinity of the Portinari Refuge and in the vicinity of the Arroyo del Cajón bridge, where vehicles are left. It is forbidden to camp on or near the mallín (sites with higher humidity, soils and tender grasses). El Cajón has a drinking water stream fed by the Arenales glacier. Water must be loaded in it before approaching the different needles, since there are no water courses at the foot of the needles.

 

Climbing properties

Campanille Needle

The main activity in the canyon is classic climbing in adventure terrain, although there are some fully equipped mono and multi-pitch sport sectors. The area offers huge granite walls of hundreds of meters, with possibilities for big wall and artificial routes. The climbing is technical, with more than 300 open routes ranging from 4+ to 8a+ with lines of up to 500 meters, although on average they do not exceed 200 meters. In the last few years bouldering has proliferated, with more than 40 problems currently proposed. The area has an enormous potential and is in constant growth.

The approach to the different needles is complex in itself, taking several hours in some cases due to the steepness of the slopes, the amount of loose rock and the amount of hauling found in the terrain.

It is important to keep in mind that many of the formations do not form compact monoliths, so it is recommended to be careful and evaluate the quality of the rock very well.

When it comes to rappelling, the majority of the needles have a descent line composed of fixed anchor rappel installations.

 

Equipment required

It is necessary to have good footwear for approaching, and to consider the climatic conditions of the area when choosing the appropriate clothing, since the thermal amplitude between day and night is usually wide, as well as the difference between climbing in the sun or in the shade. Regarding the specific climbing equipment, the use of double ropes for climbing on the needles can be considered ideal, depending on each line the specific amounts of protection equipment needed, as they are so diverse. This information can be found in the 2 recommended guides below.

 

Climbing guides

You can find the complete guide by Mauricio Fernandez Arenales – Guía de escalada, available for free on the website of the foundation Piedra Libre, . There is also a very complete guide by Ignacio Elorza: Arenales – Guia integral de escalada en roca, which is available for sale in different mountain stores or on the internet.

 

How to get there

Arenales is located 135 km southeast of Mendoza in the town of Tunuyan. To get there by public transport there are regular bus services from Mendoza to Tunuyan, and from there you must take another bus to the Manzano Histórico. From the Manzano Histórico, if you do not have your own vehicle, you can hire a private transfer to complete the route that separates the Manzano from the drawer, walk or hitchhike. It is 12.5 km of gravel road to the Portinari Refuge belonging to the gendarmerie, where you must register to enter the area (they ask for an ID card or passport). After registering, you must continue on the gravel road (from this point in worse conditions), about 5 km more until the bridge that crosses the stream that descends from Cajon de los Arenales, where the vehicles are left and the path that enters the area begins. With the necessary precautions, it is possible to arrive in car although the advisable thing is a pickup truck, without necessity that it is 4×4.

 

 

Other sources

There are lots of notes and information about the area on the internet. This publication of Kóoch magazine explores various alternatives in the Cajon area. https://issuu.com/revista_kooch/docs/kooch_39_5b3fe33c125a4a/38

 

1
2
3