Field Journal

By Sònia Colomo Sala & Eloi Miquel Arcarons

‘Do you think we’ll be ready?’ I shouted to Eloi as we pushed our bikes, sand up to our ankles and a headwind so strong it drowned out my words. Neither of us had a clear answer. Fear made us lean towards ‘no’ and filled our minds with doubt, yet part of us knew it was the right time.

In The Magic Puna, Sònia Colomo Sala and Eloi Miquel bikepack 1,400km through Argentina’s high-altitude Puna de Atacama. Carrying 20 days of food and navigating extreme terrain, they document the magic of self-reliance and solitude in one of the most remote places on Earth. Captured in the short film The Magic Puna by Wheelprint Stories, in collaboration with BUFF and Megamo. The story from this adventure features in Sidetracked Volume 33

After a serious cycling injury during a mountain bike race left her physically and mentally shaken, Sònia Colomo Sala turned to the maps and dreams that had sustained her through recovery. Two years later, together with her partner Eloi Miquel Arcarons, she embarked on a bold journey across the Puna de Atacama in Argentina – 1,400km of high-altitude desert traversed entirely by mountain bike and on their own terms.

They carried everything they needed for weeks of self-sufficiency: 15kg of food, 12 litres of water, cooking fuel, and gear for survival in a place where help might take days to arrive. ‘We were physically and mentally prepared and willing to accept risk,’ Sònia writes in Sidetracked Volume 33. Yet nothing could prepare them for the sheer scale and silence of the Puna. ‘I fell asleep with a feeling I still struggle to put into words. I couldn’t move, I only felt the void, and I didn’t want to break it.’

The journey was a balance between meticulous planning and total surrender to the unknown. They built rock shelters to withstand hurricane-force winds, crossed salt flats, searched for uncertain water sources, and camped inside an abandoned mining church. Along the way, they encountered the visible scars of industrial exploitation – and the defiant protection of one woman preserving a rare freshwater valley.

They also faced lightning storms, and near-constant exposure. ‘Saying I felt small out there doesn’t quite capture the feeling,’ Sònia reflects. ‘But I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t love it.’

Ultimately, The Magic Puna is about the kind of magic that reveals itself only when you are completely exposed – far beyond your comfort zone, reliant only on your strength, and held by a landscape too vast to tame. It’s where challenge becomes purpose, and solitude becomes joy.

Read the full story in Sidetracked Volume 33