Lessons From Trekking 404 Miles in the Wilderness of South America

A Midsummer Night’s Dream Made Real: Pierpaolo Piccioli Presents His Valentino Haute Couture Collection in BeijingDiving into the unknown, I leave the finca behind to begin the travesía, a journey of 404 miles by car and trekking. I cross the low-flowing Tin Tin River, a tributary of the Calchaquí River, before entering a small canyon where slick granite and burnt clay protrude in peaks above the valley floor.

Clad in a pink polo T-shirt and a wide-brimmed sun cap, Tardel leads the way to the summit. Ditching my trekking pole and crawling on my hands and knees at a 60-degree angle, I push my fear of heights aside as I reach the mountain’s top. The amphitheater of Cachí is revealed: molten peach mountain peaks to the left and verdant, mint-patched hills to the right. Two condors weave in and out of the landscape’s curvature as we rest in silence to enjoy the view.

The next morning, I enter the Algarroba Valley to cross the Tranca River on foot. I start the beginning of a nearly 4,000-foot ascent up an unnamed 13,000-foot peak. A common 19th-century route once involving steep mountain traverses of the Acai Pass, today Ruta 40 connects Salta and San Pedro de Atacama, a seldom-used path once serving as the primary way to bring cattle back and forth between the two countries.

With three rounds of goat cheese secured, I return to the trail. The area I’m traversing is an unprotected archaeological site, I learn, which also apparently has no name. Originally of Calchaquí domain, a native tribe predating the Incas, the area is flush with clay pottery and ancient stone paintings of llamas and foxes. Passing a patch of boulders where elusive chinchillas bounce from rock to rock like squirrels, at nearly every turn I’m amazed and perplexed by this landscape.

“: Could you leave your phone behind for an 8-day trip? can !

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