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<\/a>The Valle de las Animas, or Valley of Souls, is seriously misnamed.\u00a0 It is not a \u201cvalley\u201d but a region, and I for one fail to see why there is any reason to believe that the rock formations therein have any resemblance to \u201csouls.\u201d\u00a0 After all, isn\u2019t their lack of a physical form a key part of the definition of \u201csoul?\u201d\u00a0 That said, the Valley is very close to La Paz, and the unique rock formations give you a fun hike within minutes of home.\u00a0 Actually, it is probably quite a few fun hikes, given the large area.<\/p>\n<\/a>Aliciya, explorer<\/p><\/div>\n
If you want to know what the rock formations are like in the Valle de las Animas, just look around yourself in the Zona Sur of La Paz. All those spires and dirt\/stone walls standing around the Zona Sur are quite similar to the \u201canimas.\u201d If you have ever wanted to wander off among them, the Valle de las Animas is the place to do that.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve just scratched the surface of possible hikes in the Valle de las Animas, but I figured I\u2019d go ahead and provide what little information I do have on the area.\u00a0 Maybe I\u2019ll have the chance to add more later.\u00a0 At the same time, the route I use to get to the Valle (described below) is also the jumping off point for travels in the whole Palca area, something I definitely will explore in future posts.<\/p>\n
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<\/a>From the South<\/h4>\nIt\u2019s quite easy and fast to get to the Valle.\u00a0 To enter from the south, head out of town on the road to Palca.\u00a0 To do that, you head east on Avenida Ballivian, passing through the area known as Chasquipampa and climb up out of the city.\u00a0 Measuring from the intersection of Ballivian with Calle 25 (Arturo Fortun Sanjines), some 5.5 miles, the road passes over the ridge into the next valley at some 13,015 feet of altitude and you see a pond to the right of the road.\u00a0 From there it is only a half-mile down into the valley before you cross the bridge which signifies your stopping point.\u00a0 You can park on the old road which forded the river before the new bridge was built, but the road is washed out just a few yards up from the bridge, so you will be walking from here on out.<\/p>\n
![\"This](\"http:\/\/memmott.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/MG_2043-199x300.jpg\")
<\/a>This time of year, with the increase in rain, there are lots of wildflowers about.<\/p><\/div>\n
We walked a short seven tenths of a mile up the narrow canyon directly above the bridge, at which point the \u201canimas\u201d were becoming less common and less interesting.\u00a0 Looking on Google Earth, I suspect that the scenery in the next canyon west would be more rugged and beautiful, so that is the way I would go next time.\u00a0 Again, looking at Google Earth and at the topographical maps, it appears that there are other routes into the area which might be more interesting.\u00a0 In particular, it appears that one could drive up into the canyon on the Rio Ovejuyo from Chasquipampa, which might be an interesting prospect.\u00a0 If you had a whole day, you could hike from one side to the other, taking in much of the area.\u00a0 One web site I saw suggested that hike might take 5-6 hours.<\/p>\n
<\/a>This time of year, with the increase in rain, there are lots of wildflowers about.<\/p><\/div>\n
We walked a short seven tenths of a mile up the narrow canyon directly above the bridge, at which point the \u201canimas\u201d were becoming less common and less interesting.\u00a0 Looking on Google Earth, I suspect that the scenery in the next canyon west would be more rugged and beautiful, so that is the way I would go next time.\u00a0 Again, looking at Google Earth and at the topographical maps, it appears that there are other routes into the area which might be more interesting.\u00a0 In particular, it appears that one could drive up into the canyon on the Rio Ovejuyo from Chasquipampa, which might be an interesting prospect.\u00a0 If you had a whole day, you could hike from one side to the other, taking in much of the area.\u00a0 One web site I saw suggested that hike might take 5-6 hours.<\/p>\n