August 23rd Ocongate to Quince Mil Day 20
Highest Point and a Long Descent
An early rise (6:00) and a clear day but chilly, breakfast at a cafe in the Ocongate town square. Finally got going at 7:45 and set off on the road to Quince Mil (literally fifteen thousand’)
We were taking measurements along the way now with the detector on a short pole rather than on top of the tripod to hopefully reduce the vibrations effects. Even so the rouugh road caused some screws to loosen, so at any stop to examine the geology I needed to get up onto the Land Rover roof and tighten everything up.
The geology for a change was quite varied on this drive, with a shale sequence initially, then some granite followed by a heavily metamorphosed sequence then basic intrusions (dolerite and granodiorite)..We also had some spectacular views of the distant high peaks of the Andes, including glaciers.
The key moment on this day was the arrival at the highest point on this road at 4,725 m asl (15,500 ft,), Abra Pirhuayni, (Mont blanc is only a bit higher at 4,807 m!) where we stopped for photos. It was pretty cold as we stepped out of the Land Rovers for a look at the views and the snowline wasn’t too far above us. I note from up-to-date photos of the high point that the road is paved now.
Having done the tourist bit, we got back in the vehicles (I was driving the SWB by now) only to find they were very reluctant to start. We’d had the Land Rover engines ‘detuned’ in anticipation of the high altitude driving, but nevertheless it took some time before the engine coughed into a reluctant life! The Long Wheelbase LR seemed to start rather easier, thank goodness, but we found they don’t go well at that height. We hadn’t really noticed before I think because we were climbing a lot.
We had lunch at a roadside place a bit further on in Marcapata I think (still at over 3,000 m). Then, after a stretch of zig-zagging toad we descended pretty steadily along valleys to Quince Mil, now down to 550 m asl, so a pretty significant descent. No ‘popping’ of ears that I can remember despite the great descent.
What was noticeable was the change in vegetation as we descended, becoming almost tropical as we arrived in Quince Mil. In fact the temperature was the main thing to notice as we got out of the vehicles. As we got into Quince Mil we passed the ‘airport‘ – just a dusty airstrip but did have a control tower. We spent the night in a hotel in Quince Mil (no mentions of the name – perhaps it was ‘The Hotel’ in Quince Mil)
All the photos from this day are here
Ocongate to Quince Mil and we reach the highest spot on the route (marked with red marker)
Last Updated on 09/10/2026″