Into the Andes

With a map in hand, and a Ford from Hertz, we headed off to the Andes...the back way.  The woman at the car rental place cautioned us that the road was very bad, which only added to the excitement of the excursion.  I remember white-knuckling it on the Princeton to Hope highway in the 80s, but that was a pleasure highway in comparison.  Anyway, let me continue with some pictures, okay?

After driving about an hour northwest of Mendoza, we encountered a little teahouse/chalet, but when the door opened I wasn't sure if I'd stepped into the Twilight Zone.  My first thought was wax museum? Except it smelled too good to be fake.

Our half-hour stop and the best ham I ever tasted.

The Chalet/teahouse

Outside the teahouse, this billboard map reassured us that we were on the right track.  We'd invested so much in getting this far that the wiggly part on the map didn't seem too daunting, and so off we went...

It didn't look too bad...just a short 22km jaunt up the mountain

Our "jaunt" took us about an hour and a half.

This was actually on a wide enough part of the road for us the pull over to take pictures.  Can you tell that Julie doesn't like heights?

It's called the "One-Year Road", for the 365 switchbacks

Ta - da!

We weren't the only ones taking in the view near the top. 

Just a little more to go...

The plaque commemorates the anniversary of Charles Darwin, who'd crossed the Andes a hundred and fifty years ago, an amazing feat without roads.

Our plan was to find the petrified forest identified by Darwin, but thin air at our elevation of over 8,000 feet and the slippery incline made it impossible.  So, here's a picture of something that looks like a stump of a petrified tree.

It's pretty desolate at the top.

To the east you see this...

... and to the west, this.

More about our travels on the other side of the mountain, next time.

Love,

Grace