What a day. Wednesday is a national holiday in Argentina-Dia de la Memoria (Memorial Day) to remember the last dictator Argentina had in the 1970's and all the disappeared civilians as a result of the military rule. Ergo, we didn't have class. I used my time wisely that day, to allow for a Thursday full of adventure! Class was canceled on Thursday as well, so Brice and I headed out of town. After a few weeks of being in the city, we needed some fresh air, nature and invigorating activity. I consulted the "bible" and chose this national park. The park is at an elevation of 1900-2300 meters (6234-7546 feet) and covers 370 sq km of rocky grasslands. It's big. The very unique part, however, is the fact that the quebrada (gorge) that runs through the park is home to many condors, a near threatened species of vulture. Condors are the largest flying land birds in the western hemisphere. Additionally, they are the national symbol for Argentina, as well as other surrounding countries. Stunningly, mature condors have a wingspan of about 10 feet! It is hard to believe they are quite that large--they didn't look very big while flying... but in retrospect, they could have been over 1000 ft away!... that's not something you see everyday
Brice and I left Cordoba at 11 am, and arrived in La Pampilla at about 12:40 pm. I knew we had to ask for a specific bus stop, but what I didn't know, was that the bus stop was no more than the shoulder of a road. Literally. We stepped off the bus and it pulled away, leaving Brice and I to stare into each other's horrified eyes. We were in the middle of the mountains in Argentina, stranded and alone for the next seven hours. There was no park entrance, no sign.... nothing but a rickety old gate opening to a dirt road. We put on our brave faces, followed Frost's advice and took the path less traveled. Eventually, a few meager signs appeared letting us know we were on our way to somewhere. After about 20 minutes Brice got bored with the road and decided rock climbing was a better idea. We scaled and climbed for a little over a half hour. We finally decided to make our way back to the trail but, just my luck, as I was stepping back onto the trail I slipped and slid down the incline, scraping up my legs pretty badly (see the damage?) but it is already healing thanks to my quick witted field dressing.
After we got back on the trail, we ran into the ranger station. Here we acquired a map of the trails. So we set off, the wind at our back, sun warming our faces. The views were incredible. I have absolutely never seen anything quite like it in my life. It was like the earth just stretched out in front of you, and if you turned a quarter turn to your right, you saw these impressive rock formations, hills and valleys of the mountain range. I half expected Frodo to jump out in front of me, looking for his Precious as we walked along. The walk was tough at times, steep and slippery, but I only had one spill. My buns are still burning from the inclines and declines of the trail. Every time the going got tough, there was a majestic view waiting for us on the next side. We picnic-ed and rested plenty in the cool mountain air; we enjoyed every second of this marvelous adventure. 
18 km, 7 hours... one incredible journey
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