Refugio Nº 4 Las Losas
The place
Refugio Nº 4 Las Losas in Catamarca province, Fiambalá/Tinogasta area (Puna, Western Andes Cordillera, near the Chilean border, Argentina), at 3708 m elevation, Puna altiplano. Continuous Argentine Puna cluster (batches 260-385). High-altitude mountaineering refuge on the Puna (Las Losas, "the flagstones", a geographic toponym + Fiambalá, iconic thermal springs reaching 45°C + the Puna, a 200,000 km² altiplano at 4000-5000 m, dry and cold + Ojos del Salado, 6893 m, the world's highest volcano, on the Chile/Argentina border + Cerro Aconcagua, 6961 m, the highest peak in South America and the Southern Hemisphere, in Mendoza + heritage of the Kollas/Diaguitas peoples (Andean Quechua-Aymara peoples, 250,000 strong, Quechua spoken in Argentina + the ancestral Wallmapu of the Mapuche in the south + heritage of the Chaco War, 1932-1935, Argentina-Paraguay-Bolivia, 100,000 dead + heritage of the Falklands War, 1982, 74 days, Thatcher, 649 Argentine and 255 British deaths, marking the end of the 1976-1983 military dictatorship and its 30,000 disappeared in the Dirty War).
The setting
Catamarca, Fiambalá/Tinogasta, Puna, Western Andes Cordillera, near the Chilean border, Argentina, 3708 m, Puna altiplano, continuous cluster batches 260-385, high-altitude mountaineering refuge, Puna, Las Losas "the flagstones" + Fiambalá thermal springs 45°C + Puna 200,000 km², 4000-5000 m, dry and cold + Ojos del Salado 6893 m, world's highest volcano, Chile/Argentina border + Aconcagua 6961 m, highest peak in South America/Southern Hemisphere, Mendoza, Kollas/Diaguitas, Quechua-Aymara, 250,000, Quechua in Argentina + ancestral Wallmapu of the Mapuche in the south + Chaco War 1932-1935, Argentina-Paraguay-Bolivia, 100,000 dead + Falklands War 1982, 74 days, Thatcher, 649 Argentine/255 British deaths + Dirty War 1976-1983, 30,000 disappeared.
