Atacama Desert and How I Floated Like Jesus

Blasphemy, you say? Most likely.

Last weekend our group headed north to the Atacama desert, both the driest and oldest desert on the planet. The humidity level in Atacama is around 5%, which is a far cry from what we're used to in Minnesota, where humidity rarely drops below 50% in our driest months. The aridity was felt right away because when you breathe it feels like your breathing in sand and the air seems to cut your throat on its way into your lungs, a metaphor that is barely even that, since after just one night some of us were coughing up blood in the morning.

Part of the desert oasis where we stayed, San Pedro

Our second day, after stopping for a break after biking for an hour in the desert, I realized I had never been to a desert before. The wilderness I'm used to includes lively lakes, rivers, and forests, and although the profound silence we felt whenever we stopped for a water break could have been meditative, I found it be practically unnerving.

Later that day we hiked Valle de la Muerte, a huge valley crowded with sharp rocky outcroppings and cliff edges. Hard on the knees, you ask? Yes, ma'am! But I'm still alive, so there's that. We also ran/rolled/fell/floated down the valley's hot sand dunes before catching our ride to the Valle de la Luna to watch the sunset.

Valle de la Muerte

Geysers in the sunrise

The next morning we were up before the sun even had the chance to hit the snooze button a few times, and at 5:30 we were on our way to the geyser field. Nestled between low mountains at over fourteen thousand feet above sea level, these geysers are more impressive for their quantity rather than quality and are more like bubbling rivulets or the occasional boiling water stream shot out of a rock than the Old Faithful we were expecting. What was impressive was the steam emanating form the ground all around us. But it was so cold since we had arrived so early in the morning and were so high in elevation that some (myself included) were getting headaches and other early symptoms of altitude sickness as we ascended. It's probably why Frodo and Sam had such a difficult time getting to the top of Mount Doom.

More geyser action

Our day got warmer when we found some hot springs to soak in. I say found not because it was an accident, but because I have no idea how one can find their way through the desert in a vehicle. Sure the sand and rocks might be packed harder on the main roadway, but there are infinite offshoots and paths leading to different sites. It was a navigational nightmare, and I was glad I could just zone out on the sand and rocks.

Later that day we had the option to go on an additional afternoon excursion, which I almost didn't go on because it had an additional cost and my head was still pounding from the morning sickness (the altitude kind, not the pregnant kind). But I'm glad I was able to throw frugality to the winds. Our smaller afternoon group visited three lakes within the desert. Lakes? In a desert? Exactly what we thought. But they're for real, and salty. Our first stop was this first lake pictured below, with a salt content so high we were easily floating without moving at all, a weird but welcome experience.

Lake #1: floating like Jesus

Next up was this lake that apparently is more like a filled crater, being that its depth reaches 300 feet. What's interesting about this one is that the surrounding landscape is composed of more clay than sand, and the compactness of the clay helps to sieve out a lot of the salt. So while it's not necessarily a fresh water lake and you can still taste the salt, it was still better than a mouthful of ocean water.

Lake #2: Clay crater

The third lake we visited might have been the most interesting. It was easily half a kilometer across, but never more than 6 inches deep. The reason it looks so white is because there was no sand under the water, it was all salt. You could scoop up handfuls of salt in your hand: yum. Or you could simply dip your hand in the saturated water and watch it turn white as the water evaporates in seconds.

Our afternoon crew on ubersalty Lake #3

All in all, a pretty amazing day full of things I had never experienced. The desert was exhausting, and I have no wishes to live near one. But I was glad I visited. Standing in a desert and gaping at the enormity of it as you look around you is something everyone should have to do as it reminds us of how insignificant we are in comparison to the rest of the world. My friend Craig had some incredible photos on his camera. But as his memory card decided to go kaput, I guess a lot of those memories were meant to be just that.