Trekking Jujuy

Kevin and I found out that in the Jujuy Province of Argentina there´s some beautiful hiking to be had, so we went up to Humahuaca to see if we could get out into those mountains. Going without a guide turned out to be dubious, so we hired a local guide named Gordo and headed out. We hiked with him for three days, topping out on a 4,600 meter-high pass (over 15,000ft), passing beautiful landscapes. Previously i had though of altitude sickness as something only those headed to Nepal must concern themselves with, but at the hights we were at, i had to make a conscious effort to take huge breaths if I wanted to walk even for a few feet, without a pack on, without passing out.

I ended up taking around 200 pictures a day because it was so beautiful. The second and third nights of the trek we stayed in very remote Indigenous communities, and for part of the trek walked over pre-Incan trails paved with huge red stones. We parted with Gordo in Santa Ana, and pressed on alone for the forth day out of the high desert into the cloud forest of Valle Colorado and Valle Grande on the other side of the mountain range. This was, plainly stated, one of the coolest things i have ever done in my life. In conjunction with the bus ride from Valle Grande to San Francisco (pictures to follow), we saw such amazing natural beauty and not a single other trekker. We had valleys, passes, mountains, rivers, deserts, forests, and ancient trails all to ourselves.