I had a really good sleep and woke up refreshed with the 7:00 call. We packed, had breakfast, and were able to get on the road by 8:30 under overcast skies. We left the highway south of Mendoza and headed into the mountains in a constant drizzle.

As we started to climb, before getting to Uspallata, Angel passed a truck, crossing the yellow line. The provincial police saw this and pulled him over. While giving him a ticket they informed him that the Gendarmaría  had closed the pass due to heavy snow. We decided to at least go to Puente del Inca and turn around. Pretty soon we started passing a long line of trucks stranded by the border closing.
The weather kept getting worse so we stopped at a parilla for lunch. It was a nice place and we ate well. The weather continued to deteriorate so we just decided to head back to Mendoza . I pointed out a few spots of geological interest, including a nice dike swarm. We returned to our hotel around 2:30. They had room for us so we checked in.

With the free time, everyone scattered. I went to a nearby Casa de Cambio and changed $800 of group money. I then bought paper and markers for lectures. Angel found that the San Juan pass was also closed so we decided to head for Catamarca Province to use the pass at Fiambalá (Paso de San Francisco ) the following day.

Carmen, meanwhile, needed to fly to Santiago for a meeting of which I was unaware, so Angel got her a plane ticket. We agreed that she would rejoin the group in Atacama.

We ate dinner at a decent pasta house and then returned to the hotel to try to get some sleep before starting on the long trip to Fiambalá. Angel was sure that we could make Fiambalá the next day but I knew the roads and distances much better than he. This was my dissertation field area! After I pointed out the tremendous distance involved to Angel, we decided to try to make Villa Unión and stop at the Valle de la Luna along the way. We would shoot for the Paso de San Francisco the following day.