EXPLORING A SPUR OF THE ANDES 
By Leo E. Miller 
HAT lofty spur of the Andes jutting 
out of the Western Range slightly 
below altitude 7° is known by the 
name Paramillo. To explore this 
section was the object of the expedition’s 
leaving its base at Medellin on January 14, 
1915, with equipment sufficient for about 
three weeks’ actual field work. 
The very good trail strikes toward the 
northwest, ascending the mountain side 
rapidly, so that four hours after starting we 
had reached the top of the range. A great 
cleft forms a natural pass, 8750 feet high, 
and saves a climb of at least an additional 
thousand feet. The slope on the other 
(western) side is more gentle. 
We were immediately impressed with the 
barren nature of the country, for with the 
exception of a few patches of low brush and 
the clumps of withered grass, no vegetation 
was to be seen; and an occasional glimpse of 
the Cauca River far below suggested the 
picture of a broad yellow ribbon lying upon a 
brown rocky plain. 
That night we reached a small town called 
San Geronimo (elevation 3200 feet). Near 
the town small patches of ground are irrigated 
with water brought from mountain brooks and 
distributed through a network of artificial 
ditches. In these spots rice, corn and pastur- 
age grow, although rather scantily on account 
of the rocky nature of the soil. 
Next morning we were on the road _ before 
six. A few hours later, on crossing the top of a 
small ridge, we came suddenly upon the town 
of Sopetrin completely hidden in a fertile 
little valley filled with palms, mangoes, and 
other beautiful trees. The cluster of some 
hundreds of neat white houses with red tile 
roofs, the well-kept streets, and the multitude 
of birds fluttering among the deep green foli- 
age render Sopetran quite the most attrac- 
tive town of its size I have seen in tropical 
America. 
At noon we reached the Cauca and crossed 
that sluggish, muddy stream on a well-built 
suspension bridge probably eight hundred feet 
long. Gravel banks flank the sides of the 
river, and bare sandy islands divide its waters. 
The elevation at this point is approximately 
two thousand feet. One league beyond the 
Cauca lies the town of Antioquia, altitude 
2600 feet. The valley of the Cauca is here 
five to ten miles wide, rolling, and supports 
no vegetation except occasional clumps of 
mimosas and cacti which rather add to its 
desert-like appearance. The high ranges of 
the Western and Central Andes hem it in 
like huge walls of pink clay and sandstone. 
We reached Buritica January 16. Immedi- 
ately after leaving Antioquia, a mere ledge 
of a trail begins the ascent of the Coast Range, 
and while a good deal of anxiety was felt for 
the safety of the two cargo animals, it was 
nevertheless a relief to escape from the intol- 
erable heat of the low country. The altitude 
of Buritica is 6200 feet. 
On account of the jaded condition of the 
animals, we spent the morning of January 17 
at Buriticd. Leaving at noon, we reached 
a small settlement known as Tabocal, altitude 
5400 feet, at five o’clock. We could now no 
longer see the Cauca, our view having been 
shut off by a ridge of mountains several 
thousand feet in height which rises out of the 
valley between the ridge we were on and the 
river. A slight change was perceptible in the 
character of the country; extensive acres 
covered with low brush dotted the otherwise 
barren landscape, although far apart; and 
on the extreme tops of both ranges a thin 
fringe of green could be distinctly seen. 
Beyond Tabocal the country is extremely 
broken, there being frequent rises and de- 
scents of two thousand feet. Several sepa- 
rate mountains, not connected with the main 
ranges, stand here and there like huge 
monuments, rising from a basal elevation of 
three thousand feet to eight or nine thousand 
feet, which naturally magnifies their already 
tremendous proportions. 
Late in the afternoon of the eighteenth, we 
reached an altitude of eight thousand feet, and 
entered a fine strip of forest, the first we had 
seen since leaving Medellin. This is the 
beginning of the forested zone, which exami- 
nation showed to be at an equal height on 
both the Central and Coast Ranges, and to 
continue to the tops, which appear to rise to 
an altitude of nine thousand feet or more. 
The night was spent at an Indian hut called 
La Meseta, altitude 7900 feet just below the 
forest belt, and situated in the midst of an 
extensive strip of maize. Peque, the end of the 
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