Horsepack trip to Pachuy

Horses hurt.

We spent 22 hours in 2.5 days on them in order to get up and down the Pachuy River canyon. But it was worth it; we needed to see the crest of the watershed where Barrick is currently exploring for another mine at the top of the Huasco Valley.

Miguel Salazar led our trip of three horses and La Mula - the pack mule. Miguel, about 50 years old, has always lived in Chollay, the tiny and final town before arriving at the Barrick gate. Miguel lives in his family's mud brick house with his mother, uncle and young son, Javier. They have been farming and raising livestock in the valley for multiple generations. Miguel is a farmer-cowboy. He spends part of his time managing a nearby small farm and the rest of his days riding his horse up the Pachuy to check on his livestock - mainly goats.

Javier greets us at their gate and we immediately head to the best pool in the valley. Just before entering the larger Chollay River, the Pachuy River slows to a clear, deep pool that looks black in the dusky light. A few rocks make perfect diving boards and we have the place to ourselves this evening. Javier is a smart kid and hopes to follow his brother to study in a university. Currently, Javier attends the secondary school in El Transito, a 45-minute bus ride down the valley that requires him to stay in the dorms like a boarding school. It costs $2,000 a year but Miguel works hard and intends to fully educate his boys.

As we ate our rice and bread around the little campfire our first night up the Pachuy Valley, Miguel pulled out his ID card from when he worked at Barrick as an explosives detonator years ago. He spent a season working for Barrick in the exploring phase but he now speaks out strongly against the mine and claims to have recently turned down another job offer from them. Miguel fears water contamination, water loss, and the loss of valuable grazing "vegas" - the green patches of native shrubs and grasses that pop up around each bend of this otherwise bone-dry landscape. Once again, water sneaks out of small springs and maintains a steady flow down the length of the valley, even at the 14,000 foot elevations at the top of the valley. The vegas offer free summer grazing for the local "granados" who have taken their livestock up for centuries. Most vegas have small stone structures, some with thatch roofs and more developed rooms, where the granados spend the day and sometimes multiple nights while tending to their herds.

Barrick says it has organized the granados who historically used the Chollay Valley, which has been blocked for almost a decade. But a long time passed at the beginning when the road was totally off limits, so some cowboys took their herds elsewhere - the Pachuy - or moved into another form of living, perhaps agriculture. Barrick now works with the certain families offering vaccination programs and entrance into the blocked Chollay within a very structured system.

By noon the second day we make it to the top of the Pachuy Valley and see Barrick's exploration roads across the expansive valley surrounded by red and maroon peaks that crown the drainage. Water trickles down the small gullies and joins to form a creek with vegas down the middle of the open valley. A dozen horses graze in one vega. We hang out for photos, documenting what might soon be another open-pit mine surrounded by roads and bulldozers diging for bracelets and earrings.