Section 6: Click on the "i"s above for information and photos of the route.

z. Trail conditions along the last leg of the path

The route flattens out significantly from La Junta, gone are the days of endless climbs and descents, and covering distance on the map is significantly easier, despite the mud. Amazingly, the path actually gets wetter here than in the rainforest. The trenches and horse corrugations continue - except now there is no guarantee that the peaks will hold up a fully loaded hiker. Be prepared for slipping and sliding. Part of the reason the path is so worn is the existence of 'Camp Aventura'. They are a tour business with a backcountry outpost and a road-end hotel/campsite that organizes horse treks, kayaking and other outdoor adventure sports. Their backcountry site out is reached along this path by horse from the gravel road, so it gets a fair amount of use compared to further towards Argentina. The flip side of the wear and tear they inflict on the path is that most of the log boardwalk here was probably laid by them. On the trail we met two Campo Aventura horse guides - they were both exceptionally personable and seemed like they would provide excellent tours, we enjoyed speaking english and swapping notes on trail conditions.

In almost all cases of deep mud, alternative hiking routes have been laid around the worst mud holes and the trenches are never actually deep enough to block out the sun, although few more feet might just do it (note the lack of trench pictures due to the dark lighting.) The flies tend to stay in sunny spots, so once you have entered a forest section they start to dissipate.