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Glaciar San Francisco / Monumento Natural el Morado (english)
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Best season
- 'Trekking': The best time for trekking is between October and May, Ideally November and December, however you may not be able to reach the mirador of the glacier due to large amounts of snow hanging arond in October and November.
- 'Ski touring': Between June and late September. Even then this depends on how the winters gone and when the last snowfall was. It may well be necessary to load the skis along the first installment.
Access
By car
From Santiago, you should take Route G-25 at Cajon del Maipo. From the junction of Vizcachas, are 47 miles paved in good to the control of police of San Gabriel (telephone 8611008 and 8612290, should you wish to check the status of the road, although the responses are to be too "conservative"). Then are 1.1 kilometers of pavement to the confluence of the Maipo Gypsum. Immediately after the bridge starts on gravel whose state depends on the length of time without being arranged by equipment for roads, but it is usually state regular. After 18 kilometers of gravel on the main road we arrive at the fork to Baños Morales, nestled on the north bank of the volcano. Take a right where the road forks. The road then crosses the river and climbs a bumpy but short road to the village. On approaching the village take the left fork which crosses back across the river and up to a car park surrounded by stalls offering various products and services for tourists.
Public transport and hitchhiking
The municipal bus line (Turmaipo) conducts tours to Baños Morales. From October until 1 January, the bus departs on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. From the first of January until the 15th of March, buses leave everyday. The buses depart from Metrobus Terminal Bellavista de la Florida (the penultimate station on subway line 5). If you have any questions the subway guards can help. A return ticket to Banos Morales costs $ 6,000 (confirm with Turmaipo: 8611518 to 8612450, or their website). There are rates for intermediate lengths. The bus leaves at 8:30 and returning at 6:00. You can also take this bus in Puente Alto, outside the station Las Mercedes, where the bus passes at 8:50. It then reaches San Jose de Maipo at around 9:35 and arrives at Baños Morales about 11 am. You'll recognize the bus by its number, "MB-72".
A number of companies provide transport by minibus to Banos Morlaes on weekends (Turismontaña (8500555 / 8500783) and ARPU Tourism (6818475 and 09-9320108)). These buses can also be privately hired for an agreed price. both buses depart from Baquedano Metro Station (Plaza Italia), on the Telefonica side of the building.
Route description
From CONAF, the route climbs steeply for about 45 minutes. The trail then enters the valley, joining an old vehicular road that zigzags upwards. After about an hour, once the path has climbed this initial lip of moraine, the valley narrows and you come to Panimávida Waters, a number of mineral water wells. From then on, the gradient decreases, and the path continues up the valley, with the impressive south face of Morado as a backdrop. After about 1-2 hours of easy flat walking you will reach Laguna de Morales (often mistakenly called "Laguna Morado" For this laguna, see Glaciar del Morado). This makes a picturesque end point, but it is advisable to continue another hour more, approaching the base of the glacier San Francisco. The trail is somewhat less clear, the slope increases and you are more likely to find snow between October and December.
Expected Time
At a normal pace, this trek should take about 3-4 hours between CONAF and the viewpoint of the glacier (the original article said 4 but this seems an overestimate). However, what is meant by "viewpoint" is not a defining point, but rather an area. It is a total of 16km there and back with 600m of ascent.
Permits / Fees
- Entrance to Monumento Nacional El Morado is $ 1,500 per person.
Recommendations
- To climb the Mirador del Morado, the south face of San Francisco or the difficult south face of Morado, we recommend looking at the respective routes in the Andeshandbook:
Waypoints in Google Earth
- San Francisco Route Glacier. Download waypoints (())
Hire guides
There are guides available for this trek, prior consultation with Catherine Kenrick (catherine.kenrick@gmail.com).
