North to Tinogasta
From Chilecito the route follows Ruta Nacional 78 north through the Valle de Famatina, leaving the mountain behind as the valley broadens and flattens into the characteristic open scrubland of Catamarca province. The road is good and the distances are straightforward. Tinogasta arrives by early afternoon — a quiet regional town of adobe and low buildings on the Río Abaucán, useful primarily as the junction point for the roads south to Fiambalá and the Paso San Francisco. Lunch on the plaza before the final push.