Somewhere in Bolivia’s vast high desert lies a valley rumored to hold thousands of perfect boulders. Four Bleausards set off on a wild ramble to find it.

We lash packs to our backs and crashpads to our shoulders. I’ve been in La Paz, Bolivia, and on the nearby volcanoes for three weeks, and now, with the arrival of three friends from France, the French Team has become four: Ziza, Tony, Steph, and me, the Dod. No more ice axe and crampons — now it’s boulders, not summits, that I seek. Where we will find them in this vast, deserted country, I am not sure.

We wander through La Paz, short of breath, lost (already!), walking up and down the city’s steep hills in search of the bus station. Soon, we are on the bus, direction: Curahuara, a remote, peaceful town on the altiplano (high plateau) to the south, rumored to have “many rocks.”