Richard Harwood

Chile - 2001

Kari Gorge

The Salt Range and Kari Gorge

On the afternoon of November 24th I went on a half-day hike to the Kari Gorge. This trail took us through the middle of the Cordillera de la Sal (the Salt Range) by way of a rather narrow stream bed that had been cut into the range. The main features of the hike focused on the various forms that developed as the salt deposits in the range were eroded, dissolved and then re-deposited. The forms of re-deposition took on a variety of shapes, from "snow-like" crystals, to "popcorn-like" deposits, to "rivers of salt", to delicate crusts of salt, to thick deposits of rock salt. Not all of the deposits were salt, some recrystallized gypsum was also seen.