A-5.0 Vilcabamba - Refugio Solomaco

Distance          10.2 km           (20.4 km return)

Time                3.5 hours         (7 hours return)

Altitude          1530m - 2320m

Ascent             890m

Descent           175m

Rating             Medium 3/5

Start                Vilcabamba tourist office

End                  Refugio Solomaco

The Refugio Solomaco can be reached by two different routes. The one outlined here, is easier to follow and doesn’t involve the fording of the Solomaco River as is the case with the alternative trail.

Route: Leave town from the tourist office on calle Diego Vaca de Vega eastwards to Yamburara bajo into the Rio Yambala valley. After 2.5 km’s, just to the right of the adobe brick factory, you’ll find a well-worn farm trail climbing steeply the eastside of the valley. On the way up you pass through a Eucalyptus forest and several farms on either side of the trail. About 15 minutes after the Eucalyptus forest, the trail can get very boggy and slippery after rains. After 1 hour, or a climb of 500 altitude-meters, the trail levels off and follows the flank of Loma Diclamo. For the next 2 hours or 3.5 kilometers, the trail contours in a never ending succession gullies and ravines until at last you spot on your left the roundhouse of the Kontiki-Project of Marco Griffo:    http://kontiki.weebly.com/index.html . The trail passes the Kontiki-farm below and to the right. From the farm, it’s another half hour or 1 km to the Refugio Solomaco.  http://solomaco.net/modules/refuge/content.php?id=3