The Cusp of Dreadfulness
Fifteen Seasons in Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia
by
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The Chilean air force turboprop followed the Strait southward for an hour, before swinging eastward to search for a mountain pass. The snow-covered 6,000- to 8,000-foot peaks of Cordillera Darwin, visible on clear days from Punta Arenas, mark the southern limit of the Andes. Low cloud cover forced the plane to fly close to the mountain tops, providing an eye-popping view of the terrain we would soon have to negotiate on foot with heavy packs. Holding tightly to our rocking seats, Linda and I peered out of the plane’s fogged windows at gaping abysses of deep, forested valleys carved by torrential rivers. Steep, unclimbable slopes of black and white granite rose up to meet snow-topped ridges. Ken twisted in his seat to face Linda and me. “Uh, oh. Did you see that?”
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About the Book
It was December 1974 when Margaret Winslow arrived in Punta Arenas, the only city on the Strait of Magellan, prepared to begin her doctoral thesis project. With both excitement and dread, she looked forward to working on familiar rocks in a dynamic region and exploring Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia. But first, she had to cross the trackless southern Andes on foot.
In the sequel to her award-winning travel-adventure memoir, Over My Head, Dr. Winslow recounts her ongoing field experiences from the 1970s through the 1990s during intense political paroxysms in Chile and Argentina. Her unforgettable adventures include being arrested and interrogated by the Argentine Navy, a close brush with death on a flight over the Strait of Magellan, and the rescue of an injured child at an isolated farm. Her fascinating narrative includes the frightening details of an assault by a fisherman that hurled the previously intrepid traveler into a state of intense agoraphobia that she had to overcome if she was to survive, return to the wilderness, and work mostly alone.
The Cusp of Dreadfulness continues a geologist’s recounting of her struggles through the wilderness of southern South America during a time of brutal transformation.
About the Author
Margaret Winslow plunged into the essentially all-male world of geology in the 1970s. She has over thirty years of field experience in Central America, South America, Antarctica, Alaska, and the Caribbean. Retired from university teaching, she continues her adventures in the Hudson Valley of New York accompanied by her rambunctious donkey.