After all the amazing days we have experienced it seemed unlikely that today was going to be the best so far, as on paper it looked pretty standard, short but a lot packed in to it, not unlike me really. We set off from The Patios de Cafayate Hotel, the best so far, and the roads were great for about 5 kms then everything turned to dust again. We did a Fangio section pretty early on then carried on through the Valles Calchaquies, a group of valleys known for their incredible geological features, contrasting features that range from mountain desert to subtropical forests. After a coffee halt and a regularity section that caught a few people out, not us of course.
After lunch there was a long climb through an open area covered in cactii up to an altitude of 3368 metres, the highest we have been so far. The temperature dropped about 15 degrees and The Mighty One was wheezing a bit. The view from the top was astonishing, see the photo attached but you may have to open it up to see how far the road stretches down the other side, there must have been a hundred hairpin bends to the bottom, most of them fairly hairy.
The final fling of the day was at Salta Autodromo and then on to the hotel to do 2 1/2 hours of work on the car trying to identify some new rattles and squeaks, and giving her a good old spanner check for good luck. 7 o'clock start tomorrow, ugh!
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