Andes feathergrass or Jarava ichu landscape in São Francisco Pass, Fiambala, Catamarca Province, Argentina - Photos

Andes feathergrass or Jarava ichu grass landscape in São Francisco Pass, at the background stunning Andes mountaisn formation. Near Las Grutas, Fiambalá, Catamarca Province, Argentina. The Jarava ichu, commonly known as Peruvian feathergrass, ichhu, paja brava, and paja ichu, is a grass endemic growing extensively in the Andean altiplano. It is used as fodder for livestock, principally South American camelids like the llama. The San Francisco Pass is a pass over the Andes mountains which connects Argentina and Chile. The highest point of this pass is at 4,726 m (15,505 ft). The pass connects the Argentinian province of Catamarca with the Atacama Region in Chile. In the Argentinian side, route 60 ascends from Fiambala at 1,505 m (4,938 ft) in a deep valley formed by 5,000-metre (16,000 ft) mountains. In the last sinuous 20 km (12 mi), the route climbs from about 4,000 m (13,000 ft) in Las grutas to more than 4,700 m (15,400 ft) at the border. On the Chilean side the route CH-31 connects Copiapó with the Chile-Argentinian border. On the way it passes next to Maricunga's salt flat on the Nevado Tres Cruces National Park and Laguna Verde. The area is surrounded by volcanoes and high peaks as the Cerro Falso Azufre (5,906 m or 19,377 ft), the volcano San Francisco (6,018 m or 19,744 ft), the Incahuasi (6,638 m or 21,778 ft) and highest volcano in the world, Nevado Ojos del Salado (6,879 m or 22,569 ft), among others.