Today started with another pre-breakfast hike, this time to the summit of Bartolomé Islet off the island of Santiago. Bartolomé lies in the rain shadow of the larger islands of Santiago and Santa Cruz, so it is dry, dry, dry, even during the "wet" season. Our hike was a wonderful opportunity to observe volcanic features up close--large pale tuff cones, rust-colored spatter cones, and sooty lava flows. Our naturalist guide, Paul, commented that if you set your camera down so there was no sky or horizon in the photo, some of the shots would look like those taken by the Mars rovers.
Here are some shots from the landing area:
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| The summit is our goal! |
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| Our Zodiac coming in; great blue heron on the rocks to the left of the landing site |
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| Pinnacle Rock, with Santiago Island behind, and the next Zodiac coming in |
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| Pinnacle rock, sunken caldera |
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Close up of the caldera
Some years ago the National Park built and boardwalk and steps (376 in all). This makes the hike to the summit easier for us and protects the fragile volcanic environment as well.
Along the way we saw a few intrepid plants and lava lizards, but this hike was really about the geology and the volcanic origins of the islands.
This pioneer plant is called euphorbia
Lava Lizard
Volcanic landscape
Lava cactus
This lava cactus looked like a creature to me!
Spatter cone
Lava tube
Lava cactus
Partially collapsed lava tube
Spatter cone
Spatter cone
We made our way to the summit. It was extraordinarily windy and the views were spectacular!
Looking to the southwest: Sombrero Chino center right, Isabela Island in the distance
Another spatter cone
More Lava Cactus
The "money shot"--view made famous by National Geographic: Pinnacle rock, golden beaches of broken-down tuff on either side of the peninsula, and Santiago Island be
Close-up of Pinnacle Rock
The intrepid travelers
Kevin & Kathi
Pinnacle Rock, Endeavour and another ship
Windy!
We are having a great time!
Summit with Pinnacle Rock
Looking toward Santiago Island from the summit of Bartolomé Islet
The large "rocks" on the left and center were islets that got engulfed when Santiago's volcano last erupted 1904-06.
Now, of course, we needed to descend back to our landing site.
The lava rock was amazingly light
Male Lava Lizard
A couple last looks before returning to the ship.
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