D-6.3  Vilcabamba-Lambunuma -Elvira-Yangana  18.5 Km

 

Distance         18.5 km

Time               5.5 hours

Altitude          1530m - 1990m

Ascent            685m

Descent          380m

Rating             Moderate 3/5

Start               Vilcabamba tourist office

End                 Town of Yangana

 

This hike is a classical pilgrimage trail of the devout Vilcabamba people who want to honor the much revered to image of the Señor de la Buena Muerte in the church of Yangana. For the common hiker the hike’s length of 18.5 km, makes it more of an endurance trail.  The first leg of this hike is a good sample of how the people used to travel from one village to the other before the highway was constructed in the early 19-seventies. (The present highway has just recently been upgraded). Before, access to the villages south of Vilcabamba was only by mule, horseback or on foot. Nowadays the middle part of this trail, the section from Lambanuma-pass to Tumianuma, is rarely traveled and therefore “a bit lost”. For people who want to hike just part of it, can do so by taking Taxis for example to Mollepamba school or to Lambunuma pass, in order to shorten the hike.

Route: From the tourist office head 4 blocks south along Calle Bolivar, turn left onto Calle Hatillo, cross the bridge of Quebrada Puliche and head uphill. At the top of the little pass branch to the right onto the gravel road, passing the Hacienda El Atillo. 5 Minutes later, head straight at the intersection of Cuatro Caminos. The Hacienda Mollepamba you will pass 15 minutes later. Soon the road starts climbing more steeply, and after 20 minutes, you reach another intersection and the Mollepamba School. Heading straight, the road is getting steeper again and at a concrete gate, narrows into a trail. 15 minutes later you get to a house- compound and just before that, on a little fenced knob to the right, you get a nice view back to the Vilcabamba-valley. From the house, the driveway climbs another 10 minutes to a black metal gate near the concrete Highway.  Turn left at the gate. 500 meters along the highway gets you to the top of Lambunuma-pass at 1990m. Continue along the highway for another 200 meters to a barbed wire gate on the fence on your right. Enter the fence gate onto the chicken farm driveway, and pass the furthermost chicken house on the left. Behind this shack you find another barbed wire fence with a lone 2 foot rock nearby, which marks the start of the downhill-trail. At first, the trail zigzags steeply down the flank for some minutes. It now follows a tiny ridge just to the right of a little stream. 5 minutes after, you actually meet the stream, then the trail veers away from it, crossing an open pasture and changes to the right hand side of the valley. The trail continues at the top of the clearing. 15 minutes along the right valley-flank we come across a fenced in cattle coral. Enter and cross the coral. From here, the trail is well worn into rocky gullies in places 3 meters deep. 25 minutes from the coral you hit the little stream. For 10 minutes the trail follows the stream, then veers left, away from it. From the stream its five minutes to the highway. 300 meters along the highway to the right takes you to the Quinara turnoff. Follow for two kilometers the brand new Quinara highway to the right, and, a little past a gravel plant, you cross the concrete bridge across the Masanamaca River. 1 kilometer along this gravel road gets you to the little Barrio Comunidades and another 2.5 kilometers along sugarcane fields to the tiny Hamlet of Elvira. After 15 minutes, you reach the brand new concrete bridge crossing Yangana River at Marcopamba. From the Bridge it’s another 50 minutes or 2.2 kilometers along the River to the town of Yangana. After paying the due visit to the Señor de la Buena Muerte in the Yangana church, you’re ready to return to Vilcabamba, by any of the occasional Buses from Zumba or a shared Pick up Taxi, the cost is one $ U.S.