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Exploring this Remote Valley was one of my favourite parts of the southern GPT. Since there were some days with heavy rain before I went, water levels were high. Many rapids class 2 let me enjoy the Rio Picacho a lot. Such a wild and mystic place! The first rapid of Lago Copa could be packrafted as well, the 3 other rapids I needed to bypass, which was VERY challenging, because I didn‘t bring a machete (stupid me). It took me 4 hours to bypass the second rapid of Lago copa (only 2,5 Kilometers!). Don’t ask how I managed to get through that dense Jungle, but there was also no way back. I looked very funny afterwards. The third Rapid on Lago copa is „easy“ to Bypass. Thanks to Tobias Hellwig, Ricardo Campos , Jen Ni and Meylin Elisabeth Ubilla González for cleaning up the last bypass from Lago Copa to Lago Escondido in 2019!! The Trail is still visible, only some parts are overgrown. I highly recommend to read there well written and detailed Report below.
* 2020-Jan-28 to 2020-Jan-29 / Southbound / Regular Packrafting Route from Picaflor to Puente Mañihuales / 3.5 days
From the crossing “Picaflor” on the Carratera Austral, follow the dirt road and Rio Picaflor for roughly 11km until you meet Rio Mañihuales.
I wanted to put in further upstream on Rio Picaflor, which is a pretty-looking small river, but there are too many fallen trees accross the water and it didn't seem to be worth the effort.
The Upper Mañihuales, then, is a narrow, shallow, slow-moving river. Some parts are already so shallow in January that you'll touch bottom regardless of your skills at reading rivers. It's a nice little stroll for about 10km. While the scenery is not impressive at the start it improves dramatically as you progress.
After paddling for about 12km, you hit a first, fun rapid. Quickly, a second rapid that you should scout first (impressive drop). Then quickly a third, scary-looking one. It might not be very technical but it sure looks like the kind of rapid you don't wanna go into solo. It marks the start of a long, Class-IV section. Fortunately, you can easily take out and reach the Carretera Austral nearby. You have about 6km left to reach Villa Mañihuales.
I would strongly advise against going solo from there on.
This first section takes about 3 hours.
You can of course easily resupply and camp in Villa Mañihuales, which is a pretty little town.
You can then get back into Rio Mañihuales from Puente Mañihuales II, roughly 22km south of Villa Mañihuales on the Carretera Austral.
The road from Villa Mañihuales to the bridge is stunning and so is the Rio, with crystal clear water. Experienced paddlers should not have any problems. Others should proceed with caution in the first few rapids (one that you should scouted first, I think it was the third one). Quite a few dead trees and branches are stuck in the rapids. Again, proceed with caution.
No hazard once you've paddled accross the first couple km.
On the day of that trip, head winds were getting quite strong while approaching the valley where Puerto Aysen lies. Taking out at Puente Mañihuales I, I covered the 20km in roughly 3,5 hours.
* 2018-Jan-11 to 2018-Jan-14 / Meylin Ubilla, Jen Ni, Tobias Hellwig, Ricardo Campos, Jan Dudeck / Northbound / Regular Packrafting Route from Picaflor to Puerto Cisnes / 3.5 days
Attractiveness
This packrafting section is a hidden treasure for experienced packrafters that enjoy particularly remote areas and don’t mind to bushwhack through dense forest. Very few people in this region even heard about these places making this traverse a journey into mystic place.
Difficulty
The 2 km of bush-bashing are very slow going. This is probably the most overgrown piece of regular route of the entire GPT. Machetes are required.
History of this route
We heard that occasionally motor boats travel on Rio Picacho to Lago Copa for exclusive fishing tours but they probably do no pass the first rapid on Lago Copa and certainly not the second rapid.
Timing
The traverse from the first put in is nearly completely on water with: 42 km on rivers 18 km on lakes 3 km on a fjord and 2 km demanding bush-bashing.
Arrival to Trail Head
We went by car to the first river put in. Public transportation gets you the crossing “Picaflor” on the Carratera Austral from where it is a 14 km walk on a dirt road to the Rio Picacho put in.
Resupply on the Trail
There is no resupply all the way to Puerto Cisnes but the high packrafting ratio permits carrying lots of food (and beer and wine?) without a significant weight penalty. Therefore pack plenty of food to have a contingency reserve in this difficult to predict terrain.
Part 1: Rio Picacho
At the first put in the river water level was just sufficient to mostly avoid ground contacts. This was after some rain in the days before our trip. So in a dry period it might be advisable to hike further downstream on the left or right side of the river before starting to packraft. A couple of easy to moderate rapids can either be paddled or portered. This conclusion is based on the moderate river water level when we packrafted Rio Picacho.
Part 2: Lago Copa
Third Rapid: The third rapid appeared as unsafe to paddle as the second rapid so we searched a portage. We found about 100 m to the right of the rapid a wooden boat tight to a tree and there a still visible trail started. We opened this 100 m long trail by machete and ported the packrafts without deflating them.
Part 3: Lago Copa to Lago Escondido
This roughly 1 km long portage trail was in parts still visible but completely overgrown. In order to reopen this route for future packrafters we made the effort to search and thoroughly clean this portage trail. With 5 people and 4 machetes we were working our way to Lago Escondido in about 5 to 6 hours leaving a now well visible and open route through the dense forrest. But the rapidly growing vegetation makes it necessary that any packrafter carries a machete to keep the passage open and visible.
Part 4: Lago Escondido
Paddling this pristine mountain lake on the evening of the 3rd day was our premium after nearly one day of bushwhacking.
Part 5: Rio Cisnes and Puerto Cisnes
The paddle on Rio Cisnes and through the fjord to Puerto Cisnes is easy as long not facing heavy head wind.
We highly enjoyed researching and reopening this section with Tobias Hellwig and Ricardo Campos, two Chileans living in Coyhaique and with Jenni, a GPT hiker of the “GPT class 2018/19”. Without them we would have struggled much more and much longer on this particular depopulated section.
