Francisco from MTB Salta picked us up with his cool 4X4 and we headed up the valley. This was apparently a very typical run they do from Salta.

We climbed up a huge valley, riding on a railroad track. We had some lunch by a waterfall and crossed a huge riveted railroad bridge. It was very airy with spectacular views up and down the valley.

On the ride down Francisco asked us if we wanted to have a look if the main road was rideable. It had suffered a huge landslide a couple of months back in an earthquake. A truck driver had been killed and now the road was impassable. There was a temporary road on the bottom of the valley. It would not last for long though as it would be underwater when the rainy season started.

Riding up the deserted road was eerie but an excellent experience. When we reached the landslide, it was obvious that crossing it would be a very risky move. It was at least 100-200m long with a coat of fresh snow. Rocks were constantly bombarding the chute, after being dislodged from above- A real shooting gallery. Just finding footing would have been extremely difficult too as it was clearly unstable. So a U-turn and a scramble down the hill to the valley floor and we were on our way down. A long smooth downhill finish.