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Greater Patagonian Trail

1422 bytes añadidos, 19:05 30 may 2021
The GPT Route Network
[[File:GPT09-Familia_Carrileo2.jpg|thumb|right|500px|GPT09: Being guest of the family Carrileo. Image: Jan Dudeck]]
===Advice for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thru-hiking Thru-HikersHiking]=the GPT=='''This trail was not created to thru-hike Patagonia, it's a route network for "immersion-hiking". The GPT does not get you through Patagonia but gets you deep into Patagonia.'''
With the recently added extensions to the north (that extends the trail all the way to Santiago) and in the south (that stretches the trail all the way to edge of the Southern Icefield) the trail now spans about 3000 km in often difficult and slow terrain. With this extension the trail became too long to be safely [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thru-hiking thru-hiked] in one season. An experienced thru-hiker may disagree as 3000 km is a bit shorter than the Appalachian Trail (AT) but the varied and unpredictable terrain makes this comparison inadequate.
I know, sooner or later someone will try to thru-hike With the trail in one season and may even succeed if he is lucky with 2021 extension the weather. But attempting this seems foolish, especially this early GPT spans about 5000 km in the development of the trail often difficult and the lack of a support system along and around the trailslow terrain. This focus will mean needing to rush and take less attractive short cuts, i.e. walk more on gravel roads instead of hiking on horse trails. It inhibits slowing down to fully appreciate makes the land and share time with the people along the route. And more important: someone who tries GPT too long to be safely thru-hike the GPT hiked in one season needs to take unreasonable risks by throwing himself in torrential rivers and climbing to high elevations when fierce blizzards can kill. And remember, when you walk on these trails you are a guest on An experienced thru-hiker may disagree as 5000 km is just 15% longer than the land of someone else. Just Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) but the idea of racing through strangers' backyards is regarded a rude in these remote regionsvaried and unpredictable terrain makes this comparison inadequate.
From a thru-hiking perspective the GPT is less than a long distance trail. There is no clearly defined and well-marked single trail to blaze along, there is no thru-hiking community to trail talk and there are no trail angles providing trail magic. On the GPT hikers have no domiciliary rights; they are just unexpected guests. And what might be the biggest disappointment for some thru-hikers on the GPT: thru-hikers do not receive any special admiration because nobody along the trail distinguishes between thru-hikers, section-hikers, day-hikers, or tourists in general.
Therefore, I do not recommend attempting a thru-hike  of the GPT. This focus would require rushing and taking less attractive short cuts, in example deviating from GPT to walk on main roads instead of following the trails. It inhibits slowing down to fully appreciate the land and share time with the people along the route. And more importantly, someone who tries to thru-hike the GPT in one season is forced to hike some sections off season. This results in unreasonable risks by attempting to cross torrential rivers and climbing to high elevations when fierce blizzards can kill. And remember, when walking these trails, you are just a guest on the land of others. Just the idea of racing through strangers’ backyards is regarded a rude in these remote regions.
For respectful explorers the GPT is much more than a long distance trail. It’s a wide network of routes with many hiking options in a diverse landscape. A unique blend of people live along the trails and makes the hike more of a cultural experience. If approached with respect and interest then these welcoming people will share with you much more than just the right-of-way regardless where you are coming from and where you are walking to. On this trail your willingness and capability to immerse yourself in this culture will be more relevant than the weight of your backpack.
'''From a thru-hiking perspective the GPT is less than a long-distance trail.''' There is no clearly defined and well-marked single trail to blaze along, there is no thru-hiking community to trail talk and there are no “trail angels” providing “trail magic”. On the GPT hikers have no domiciliary rights; they are just unexpected guests. Also, the packrafting options do not benefit thru-hiking as they do not make a traverse faster.
 And what might be the biggest disappointment for some thru-hikers on the GPT: There is no trail community and thru-hikers do not receive any special admiration because nobody along the trail distinguishes between thru-hikers, section-hikers, day-hikers, or tourists in general.  '''For respectful explorers the GPT is much more than a long-distance trail.''' It’s a wide network of routes with many hiking options and packrafting in a diverse landscape. A unique blend of people lives along the trails making the hike more of a cultural experience. If approached with respect and interest, then these welcoming people will share much more than just the right-of-way regardless where you find an actual [https://enare coming from and where you are walking to.wikipediaOn this trail your willingness and capability to immerse yourself in this culture will be more relevant than the weight of your backpack.org/wiki/Triple_Crown_of_Hiking   If you find Triple Crown Thru-Hiker] Hikers more credible to speak about thru-hiking the GPT than read in the Hikers' Manual how [[#Lauren "Neon" Reed comparing (Neon) and Christine Thürmer (German Tourist) experienced the GPT in comparison with the renowned US Long Distance Trails long distance trails. Lauren was the first hiker to walk the entire length of the GPT in two seasons together with Bethany Hughes (CDT, PCT, ATFidgit)|Lauren "Neon" Reed's experienced .  Someone who wants to explore the entire length of GPT should split this adventure into various seasons. This also facilitates hiking lightly where a packraft would just be a burden and to packraft were the extra weight really pays off. Having more than one season also gives the extra time to take some of the more demanding but rewarding options.  There is one more reason why a thru-hike of the GPT in comparison the literal sense is not viable. Thru-hiking means walking a complete long-distance trail with connecting footsteps from start to finish typically in one season. This is only possible on a well-defined trail with a set start and finish point. This simply does not apply to the renowned US GPT.  Attempting to thru-hike the GPT is like trying to memorise every word of a book that is still in the making with the first drafts informally shared for peer reviews. It’s pretty pointless and assigns this evolving route network far too much authority. But this unfinished nature of the GPT makes it possible to investigate new routes and become co-authors of the GPT. This is a unique difference to established long -distance trails . You are not limited to just follow a given trail, but you can contribute to the GPT by adding your part to this unfinished story.  Michael Deckebach summarized this conclusion after his 5-months adventure on the GPT with the following words: "The Greater Patagonian Trail is awesome, but (see Appendix...)not designed for “purists” who get satisfaction from completing every inch of trail or touching every white blaze. Can it be done? Probably, but why try and fit a square peg into a round hole?”.]]
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