Argentina - Last hike to say goodbye to the province of Catamarca: summit of El Gracián Hill at 1493 masl. / Última caminata para despedirme de la provincia de Catamarca: cima de Cerro El Gracián a 1493 msnm. 😃❤️

Although I had nothing planned when I decided to visit this province, by the end of my stay I had managed to do a lot of great things. As beautiful as Catamarca is, I was surprised that its tourism was not as developed nationally, let alone internationally. I think this corner of my country has a lot to offer and I would like to see it become more widely known in the coming years. Luckily, I had the opportunity to enjoy these landscapes for a few days, and until the last minute, when I was able to see the capital city from above once again 😃.

Although I had nothing planned when I decided to visit this province, by the end of my stay I had managed to do a lot of great things. As beautiful as Catamarca is, I was surprised that its tourism was not as developed nationally, let alone internationally. I think this corner of my country has a lot to offer and I would like to see it become more widely known in the coming years. Luckily, I had the opportunity to enjoy these landscapes for a few days, and until the last minute, when I was able to see the capital city from above once again 😃.

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In my last week of my stay I was lucky enough to meet my new friend Alvaro through Couchsurfing. As it had been low season at the hostel, I was quite lonely for the first few days so I resorted to this travel app to meet people. The algorithm was more accurate than I expected and I met him, with whom we shared several motorbike rides and hikes. We have a pretty similar sense of humour so we hit it off almost immediately 😃.

En mi última semana de estadía tuve la suerte de conocer a mi nuevo amigo Álvaro a través de Couchsurfing. Como había sido temporada baja en el hostel, los primeros días estuve bastante sola por lo que recurrí a esta app de viajeros para conocer gente. El algoritmo fue más preciso de lo que esperaba y me cruzó con él, con quien compartimos varios paseos en moto y caminatas. Tenemos un sentido del humor bastante similar por lo que nos llevamos bien casi inmediatamente 😃.

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On my last afternoon in Catamarca, Álvaro and I organised to do something special. I asked him what he had to recommend and he told me that going to the top of Cerro El Gracian at sunset would be a good plan. This trek is a bit outside the city, but as he has a motorbike that wasn't a problem for us. This plan was good for me as I had already heard about this mountain but I didn't want to go alone because it was far and the difficulty was high (spoiler: indeed the difficulty was high) 😃.

En mi última tarde en Catamarca, Álvaro y yo organizamos para hacer algo epsecial. Le pregunté qué tenía para recomendarme y me dijo que ir hasta la cima del Cerro El Gracián al atardecer sería un buen plan. Este trekking queda un poco en las afueras de la ciudad, pero como él tiene moto eso no era un problema para nosotros. Este plan fue bueno para mí ya que yo ya había escuchado sobre esta montaña pero no quería ir sola porque era lejos y la dificultad era alta (spoiler: efectiviamente la dificultad era alta) 😃.

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The way to the top was very steep on a path full of loose stones. It was not as well signposted, but it was quite intuitive. At least we knew we were on the right track because we saw the sign at the entrance. The good thing about having such a steep positive difference in altitude was that we quickly gained altitude and were able to get some good views of the valley as the sun went down. This had an incredible effect on the landscape 😃.

El camino hacia la cima tenía una pendiente muy marcada en un sendero lleno de piedras sueltas. No estaba tan señalizado, pero era bastante intuitivo. Al menos, sabíamos que íbamos por el buen camino porque vimos el cartel en la entrada. Lo bueno de tener un desnivel positivo tan abrupto era que enseguida ganamos altura y pudimos obtener unas buenas vistas del valle mientras el sol iba bajando. Esto lograba un efecto increíble en el paisaje 😃.

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We started this trek a bit late, almost at 5 PM, but as we wanted to see the sunset it was the perfect time. We hurried a bit because the sunset was scheduled for 7 PM and we arrived just in time to see it. As the sun went down, the sky and the valley were tinged with beautiful blue, purple and reddish colours. The only bad thing was that, as on most of the summits, the wind was very strong, so you had to be careful when moving around 😅.

Empezamos este trekking un poco tarde, casi a las 5 PM, pero como queríamos ver el atardecer era la hora perfecta. Nos apuramos un poco porque la puesta de sol estaba programada para las 7 PM y llegamos justo a tiempo para verla. A medida que el sol se escondia, el cielo y el valle se tiñieron de unos colores azules, violáceos y rojizos muy lindos. Lo único malo fue que, como en casi todas las cumbres, el viento era muy fuerte, así que había que tener cuidado al moverse 😅.

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From the top of Cerro El Gracian we had a full view of the valley and the city in the distance. We also saw from above the Pirquitas Dam, which we had visited on our first walk together. I loved having an adventure friend for those days, and that he was a local was even better because he was able to guide me to these not so touristy places. We stayed at the top until the wind got too much and we started our descent, which we did mostly in the dark. Once the sun went down into the mountains and those beautiful colours disappeared, the night became pitch black but even that wasn't bad because we saw an incredible starry sky ❣️.

Desde la cima del Cerro El Gracián pudimos tener una vista completa del valle y la ciudad a lo lejos. También vimos desde arriba el Dique Pirquitas, el cual habíamos visitado en nuestro primer paseo juntos. Me encantó tener un amigo de aventuras para esos días, y que sea local fue aún mejor porque pudo guiarme hasta estos lugares no tan turísticos. Nos quedamos en la cima hasta que el viento fue demasiado y empezamos nuestra bajada, la cual la hicimos casi toda en la oscuridad. Una vez que el sol se ocultó entre las montañas y esos colores hermosos desaparecieron, la noche se volvió oscurísima pero ni siquiera eso estuvo mal porque vimos un cielo estrellado increíble ❣️.

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After our walk, Álvaro and I went back to the city and had pizza and beer in a bar. As he had been kind enough to take me up there on his motorbike and guide me to the top, my way of thanking him was to buy him dinner. I enjoyed these Couchsurfing exchanges because connecting with other travellers was a memorable experience. My stay in Catamarca was interesting until the last moment and I was glad it was. Getting to know one more province of my country filled me with pride and meant that I had taken another step in my travel goal. Definitely, I can confirm with more and more certainty that my whole country is beautiful 💕.

Después de nuestra caminata, Álvaro y yo volvimos a la ciudad y cenamos pizza con cerveza en un bar. Como él había tenido la amabilidad de llevarme hasta ese lugar en su moto y guiarme hacia la cima, mi forma de agradecerle fue invitarle la cena. Estos intercambios de Couchsurfing me gustaron porque conectar con otros viajeros fue toda una experiencia memorable. Mi estadía en Catamarca fue interesante hasta el último momento y me alegró que así haya sido. Conocer una provincia más de mi país me llenó de orgullo y significó haber dado un paso más en mi objetivo viajero. Definitivamente, cada vez puedo confirmar con más seguridad que todo mi país es hermoso ❤️.

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❤️ Hope you liked this post! Thanks for reading. ❤️

❤️¡Espero que les haya gustado este post! Gracias por leer. ❤️

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With lots of love. / Con mucho amor.
Lau 💕.

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_{📸 Cover created with Canva. All the images are my property 💕.
📸 Portada creada en Canva. Todas las imágenes son de mi propiedad 💕.}

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