I had a quick look at your Chile Album,
you have some incredible shots
I know nothing about this country, and had no idea it was so mountainous.
Thanks for sharing ..... Skippy
.
Chile is pretty mountainous... some of the mountains in the Andes are up around 20,000 feet. But that's farther north; in southern Chile they're not so high (but it's cold down there ;-)
Nice shots of los Cuernos! When I was there the weather wasn't so good
Yep as CatOne said Chile is a very mountainous country -- take away the mountains and at least 1/2 of the country would be gone.
Mountains are highest in Northern Chile (Country BTW is almost 3,000 miles North South) and Central Chile. For the most part the gradually decrease in height towards the south but while increasing in grandeur.
One way I "explain" Chile to Americans is that it is similar a strip of land 150 miles wide from the Alaskan panhandle though Washington, Oregon and California and Baja California -- but flipped upside-down and the mountains.
A few shots to illustrate:
Northern Chile is the driest place on earth -- some locations have had no real rainfall in over 300 years. Here the mountains stretch from the border with argentina right to the ocean with few breaks. They decrease in size towards the ocean, but in long stretches the ocean comes right up against 2,000'+ high cliffs (sorry not good photos of this).
Most of "central" Chile has very tall peaks along it's eastern boundary an very fertile central valley with a lower coastal range to the west which extends to the ocean (think California, but with bigger mountains and better wines ;-).
Just outside of Santiago the capital -- there are several 20,000' peaks within an easy drive of Santiago, as a matter a fact the effective sunrise is delayed by more than 1 hour by the shadow cast by the Andes on the city.
This one is from the Cajon del Maipo -- a 45 minute drive from downtown Santiago (pop ~5 million people) and a common weekend picnic spot:
Further south (about 700 miles) you begin to get some really nice jagged and Mt. Fuji-like volcanoes.
Eventually the entire country begins to be be heavily dissected by glaciers (some in the past, some current). The Fiords start here and continue for another 1,000 miles:
Further south still -- about 1,200 mile you begin to see the heavily glaciated landscapes seen in the photos in the previous posts.
If you are interested you can see a lot more photos Here
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annnna8888Registered Users, Super ModeratorsPosts: 936SmugMug Employee
edited December 7, 2007
Great photos and great description of the country!
Chile was one of my favorite countries on my one-year trip throughout South America a few years ago. So diverse, so beautiful. I can only strongly recommend a visit!
Comments
Dogdots/Mary
www.Dogdotsphotography.com
Olympus E510 and Gigapan mount
Hi pyanez,
I had a quick look at your Chile Album,
you have some incredible shots
I know nothing about this country, and had no idea it was so mountainous.
Thanks for sharing ..... Skippy
.
Skippy (Australia) - Moderator of "HOLY MACRO" and "OTHER COOL SHOTS"
ALBUM http://ozzieskip.smugmug.com/
:skippy Everyone has the right to be stupid, but some people just abuse the privilege :dgrin
Albert@WhetstoneImagery.com
http://Albert-Dickson.com
The water looks cold but alive.
Nice. Can you take me next time?
shaman.smugmug.com
Chile is pretty mountainous... some of the mountains in the Andes are up around 20,000 feet. But that's farther north; in southern Chile they're not so high (but it's cold down there ;-)
Nice shots of los Cuernos! When I was there the weather wasn't so good
But I'll be going back!
Mountains are highest in Northern Chile (Country BTW is almost 3,000 miles North South) and Central Chile. For the most part the gradually decrease in height towards the south but while increasing in grandeur.
One way I "explain" Chile to Americans is that it is similar a strip of land 150 miles wide from the Alaskan panhandle though Washington, Oregon and California and Baja California -- but flipped upside-down and the mountains.
A few shots to illustrate:
Northern Chile is the driest place on earth -- some locations have had no real rainfall in over 300 years. Here the mountains stretch from the border with argentina right to the ocean with few breaks. They decrease in size towards the ocean, but in long stretches the ocean comes right up against 2,000'+ high cliffs (sorry not good photos of this).
Most of "central" Chile has very tall peaks along it's eastern boundary an very fertile central valley with a lower coastal range to the west which extends to the ocean (think California, but with bigger mountains and better wines ;-).
Just outside of Santiago the capital -- there are several 20,000' peaks within an easy drive of Santiago, as a matter a fact the effective sunrise is delayed by more than 1 hour by the shadow cast by the Andes on the city.
This one is from the Cajon del Maipo -- a 45 minute drive from downtown Santiago (pop ~5 million people) and a common weekend picnic spot:
Further south (about 700 miles) you begin to get some really nice jagged and Mt. Fuji-like volcanoes.
Eventually the entire country begins to be be heavily dissected by glaciers (some in the past, some current). The Fiords start here and continue for another 1,000 miles:
Further south still -- about 1,200 mile you begin to see the heavily glaciated landscapes seen in the photos in the previous posts.
If you are interested you can see a lot more photos Here
Chile was one of my favorite countries on my one-year trip throughout South America a few years ago. So diverse, so beautiful. I can only strongly recommend a visit!
Ana
SmugMug Support Hero Manager
My website: anapogacar.smugmug.com