Wildcamp at La Garganta del Diablo

June 21, 2025

While wandering off into the village to buy groceries yesterday evening I noticed that a big fiesta was being setup for the night. A big soundstage was erected with a band doing covers of songs that were hits in the English speaking world in the early nineties. When I got back to the campground I couldn't hear the band so I thought we had dodged a bullet.

But of course, Argentinians only party after supper and supper only happens at ten thirty. So around midnight the volume was turned up and the ground started shaking as the sound system was taken to its limit. Thankfully this came to an end at around four thirty so we were able to get a few more hours of sleep.

The temperature had dropped to about 2 degrees by seven o'clock so I only got up to make our morning hot beverages at about eight. About this time hordes of kids and their parents started arriving at the sports fields adjacent to the campground for a hockey tournament. La Viña is a far busier little village than we had imagined.

It was about a quarter to eleven by the time we got back onto Ruta 68 and from then until the end of the day it was magnificent cycling as we entered the Quebrada Las Conchas or the Ravine of the Shells, a river valley stretching almost all the way to Cafayate.

As we head southwards we are encountering more species with whom we are familiar. There have been a number of parrot species around for the past few days but Leigh spotted a pair of Burrowing Parrots (Cyanoliseus patagonus) familiar to us from Patagonia. The female was receptive to mating but the male seemed disinterested. A case of "The female was willing but the male was weak" with apologies to Mathew chapter 26 verse 41.

We had a lunch stop (excellent empanadas cooked in a rustic wood fired oven) at Las Abritas where we had thought we might camp for the night but we pushed on to reduce tomorrow's workload as much as possible. Cafayate is back at over 1600 meters so the route through this beautiful valley is a hard work - no steep climbs but we have had to work the whole way.

After about fifty kilometers we started looking for a place to wildcamp. After a couple of false moves we arrived at the parking area for the Garganto del Diablo (the Devil's Throat) where we found a nice spot just above the river on the opposite side of the road to the parking area.

Mostly hidden from the road, close to the river and sheltered from the wind.

Fetching water from the river for our evening ablutions.

A bit cleaner, less thirsty (a cool beer bought at Las Abritas helped) and just about to enjoy supper in the last light of the day.

We'll have a decko at the Devil's Throat before heading off tomorrow.

Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 1,642 km (1,020 miles)

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