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→Packrafting on the GPT
In this area the GPT guides you first though the mountains about 100 km east of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field. Here you can opt between attractive hiking and attractive packrafting routes but weather is volatile and distances between settlements are substantial. Towards the current southern terminus of the GPT you reach the eastern edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field what makes an impressive finish. From GPT38 to GPT40 you can walk and paddle through a rough wind battered land full of milky glacier lakes that get constantly refilled by immense streams of ice that flows from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.
===Further Extensions of the GPT===
====Northbound====
Santiago de Chile is a suitable northern start (or finish) point and I’m not contemplating a further northern extension. The last metro/subway station “Puente Alto” provides an easy access and minimizes walking through an overcrowded mega-city. Santiago de Chile as the northern terminus is the point that provides best possible contrast to the southern terminus of the GPT. It’s from metropolis to the back of beyond; it’s from semi-desert to ice fields.
I leave it to others to create a new trail that may start in Santiago and explores the Andes northbound. The Precordillera in the vicinity of Santiago offers some very attractive trails but a substantial northern extension is probably a bigger challenge than creating the GPT; at least if based on the same principles that I applied to the GPT: feasible and attractive for hiking and minimal road walking on routes with transit traffic. North of Santiago the Andes are very high and you either need to climb into really thin air and rocky terrain or you evade to the east or the west into the semi-desert on either side of the Andes. In my research I could simply not find similar scenic and suitable trails and the existing gravel roads are no option in my eyes. Most hikers that set themselves the goal to cross Chile or Argentina took primarily roads. But the challenge is out. You may go for it!
====Southbound====
In the south the GPT currently ends (or starts) at the shore of Lago Viedma on the western edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. There are attractive and suitable trails and packraft routes south of Lago Viedma but there are three logistical challenges that currently impede a continuous and feasible southern extension of the GPT:
* There is no ferry service over Lago Viedma. This lake is also far to wind-exposed and therefore to dangerous to be packrafted.
* There is no legal border crossing between Argentina and Chile on the prospective routes (between Lago Argentino and Torres del Paine).
* Hiking in Torres del Paine became very restrictive and requires i.e. advance reservations for camp sites what is not practical for such an unpredictable long distance hike.
Overcoming these challenges is not impossible. But a continuous southbound extension makes out of an already very challenging long distance hike a bureaucratic and probably quite expensive expedition. An alternative is giving up continuity and bus around these obstacles without connecting footsteps.
I have an approximate route in my mind and I already reserved section numbers (GPT41 to GPT50) for this southbound extension to most southern continental point of Americas: Cabo Forward. But for now this is not on the top of my agenda. Before personally focusing on a further extension I wish to consolidate the GPT between Santiago and Lago Viedma by investigating relevant optional routes and updating the trail documentation.
===Become a Contributor===
If you want to become a collaborator on this amazing project you are very welcome. Don’t just be a beneficiary; become a contributor. If you hike on the GPT please continuously record your hike by GPS and share these records with me. Save useful waypoints on your GPS and highlight were you got lost or struggled with the trail. This is essential to keep the tracks updated.
If you wish to investigate some of the numerous options, please do so with the necessary preparation and care. The entire network of tracks (currently more than 12’000 km) is more than four times the length of the trail (approx. 3’000 km) so there are plenty of options to the regular route. Some of these optional routes are just exit and escape routes and not particular attractive for hiking but numerous options will get into more remote and challenging back-country. Some of these optional routes may even replace the regular route if proven to be feasible and more attractive. Other hikes already contributed heavily making the creation and consolidation of the Greater Patagonian Trail to a joint project of the hiking community.
If you consider exploring the prospective southern extension or parts of it please contact me. I can share my knowledge about this area suggest approximate routes. But such an exploration is only suitable for highly skilled hikers or packrafters that already know Patagonia very well and that are humbled by experience. Hero’s are not wanted.
===Packrafting on the GPT===
