The Northern Sierras of La Cumbre (Day 52)

No change in the weather, so I guess I just wasn't meant to see the southern Sierras this time. I packed up my tent and managed to grab everything and hustle into the shelter before the sky opened up. While I was drinking some morning mate, I could hear the camp dog crying off in the hill. So, being the softie that I am, I tramped off in the soggy-ness to see what was up. After wading through prickly thorn bushes, I couldn't hear the dog anymore. I figured he probably got caught up in the prickles himself and eventually got free. On my way back, I stepped in this HUGE mud hole and completely covered my left leg. I had to wash the wet goo off the whole leg of my pants. Great- wet pants first thing in the morning. I hope the dog made it out okay afterall.


I slipped my camping fare in the door of the owners (I don't think they were up yet) and made it down to catch the 9:30am shuttle back to Cordoba. The van was packed full of fresh bread to drop off en route, so the van smelled like a delicious bakery the whole trip. And it was also entertaining. The roads were not incredibly slick (thank goodness there were only 3 of us in the van so it wasn't quite as heavy) and we had to stop to top off the oil at one point. The driver had to get the van rolling before it would start again. I love this- I've seen this starting technique numerous times here. I don't know exactly how it helps to get a car started, but it seems to work. Very funny.


I didn't have to go all the way back to Villa Belgrano. The connecting van met us in the road and I hopped off one van and into another that whisked me away to Cordoba. I managed to forget my shammy towel that I had drying in the first van, so someone will get to enjoy a bakery-smelling towel :)


Back in Cordoba, I was lucky again and caught a shuttle to La Cumbre (this time in the northern sierras outside of Cordoba) with less than a 1hr layover. Just enough time to stock up on a few groceries at the terminal's grocery store. Even though the weather hadn't cleared, I did get a good view of some of the countryside on this bus ride. We crossed a really pretty lake outside of La Falda and I got a good look at the valley and the sierras:




I hopped off the bus in La Cumbre early in the afternoon and made my way to the camp area. It was a bit of a hike from the town centre, but it's a pretty nice spot. They even have a pool (although with the weather, I don't think I'll be indulging). La Cumbre has a strong art community with a whole road of artesan homes (apparently you can just wander into the artists' houses and check out their works) and a big artesan festival. Their other attraction is the town lookoff where there is a 7m tall statue of Jesus.



I passed a few people on the way up the shrine-dotted trail, including an older woman who was struggling to negotiate the rough path and I wondered why she would bother risking herself to come up here. After the trail opens up to the statue, it continues on further behind. Escorted by the dogs from the camp ground, I carried on. To what, I didn't know. So when the trail passed through private property and fizzled out into thorny bushes, I decided to head back.



I met back up with some of the people I had first passed and they asked me if I had seen "the cross". I hadn't, so they invited me to walk along with them to see. We ended ducking under the private property fence to this huge cross monument decorated with rosaries.

The people explained to me that this was a sacred place where people have come to ask for, and have been granted miracles. One of the women in the group had been gravely ill and after having visited the cross, her health had apparently returned. And, the older woman who I had seen struggling up the path earlier was in fact a missionary who had come to perform a service with the others who had accompanied me. They invited me to stay, and even though I'm not a religious person, I thought it was an honour to be asked to join.


Even though I didn't understand a lot of what they were praying for (although the general sense was clear) it was really interesting to be with them and watch their devotion. The missionary asked us all to take off our shoes so our bare feet would be in the Earth so the energy from heaven could pass through us and return to the Earth. I can't say that I felt anything really, but it was definitely calm and serene up there with this group of people.

I couldn't take any photos of the ceremony, so I just had to try to commit it to memory. By the time we started to make our way back down, dusk was falling and it was getting chilly again. It was kind of poetic though, that the only break in the mist came as we were heading down from the cross ceremony. For the first time today, I had a chance to get a glimpse of the city in the dying light.

We exchanged email addresses and the people invited me to visit a friend in nearby La Falda, who would welcome me into her home. Although I don't think I will have the chance to take up their offer, I was really touched by their kindness and generosity and that they would welcome me, a perfect stranger, into their special ceremony. I walked back to camp as the curtain of clouds were closing in around the stars- a fitting ending to a pretty magical evening.