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==Season 2023/24==
2024-03-17 // 1 day // Hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel
After the baños of oelehue, it was a bit like a mess for me aha, I just switched from RR, to option 1, 3 and finally reach the pass with the option 2. That was pure CC, on a volcanic plateau and I just follow my instinct more than a GPX file, than I reached horse track from option 2 and continude on it until joining the RR.
On the descent you just find again a animal track that looks so easy to follow after all this CC. You go easily Ans smoothly down, following the valley and finally found a jeep path for the last 15km.
Then you hit the road until arriving to the tiny tiny guallalli. I knew it's gonna be tricky to ressuply there, but I kind of gambled and needed some food from this place.
There 5 houses so it's not hard to have the information. I enter in like a private property parrallele to the escuela. There, I met Pedro, that escorted me to the "mini-tiny-micro shop", just a door ahead.
When I passed there, he had biscuits, chips, lot of sodas, pasta, tomato sauce, tuna, and most important : Dulce de leche !
I was quite happy about that ! I continued my way a bit further and found a place to camp in the bush.
* 2024-03-24 to 2024-03-26 / 2 days? / NOBO / RR, Options 02, 04, 02B, 01 / Fangwen + Tobi
Combined with Sections 10/11 (~8 days, relaxed). See section 12 for tips on cooking pinones
Worth the short detour up to Cerro Dados. A flock (?) of condors make their home on the rock spires, amazing to see them flying up close.
Initially, we intended on taking the gully scramble route (option 01), but quickly realized this would be a lot slower. We took the CC way (option 01 as well?) down instead, which was very steep and inconsistently rocky/loose, making slow progress. We conclude that probably the RR would be the fastest of all, despite the extra elevation loss.
There's a great swimming hole around KM25 (?) as the stream turns into a gorge below the burnt down forest.
*2024-Mar-11 to 2024-Mar-13 / 2.5 days / SOBO / RR A 01 01B 01C 01D 02 (only the ridge part southeast of pass 11-04 5.4km) 02B 04/ Matthias de Austria
No snowfields, plenty of (unmarked) water, however at X26.8km last water for a while (not far in distance but time consuming terrain). No Tabanos, all fordings very easy.
Hot Spring 6.6km. Some cowshit next to it and shallow water, but still nice almost hot water and with the cold river next to it to clean and bath. Campside is full of shit, I put my tent in the sand right next to the firepit, there is also a table!
Camp 25.1 and 26.1 very windy and hardly any protection. At 25.1 I followed the stream up a bit until its only bushes on both sides. Shortly before there is a big bush with a one tent flat spot next to it almost directly at the stream. I cleaned this spot from the shit, it is a bit protected but was still very windy.
RR route around Puesto 10km seems not accurate anymore. The road goes between RR and A and then turns to and follows A.
Around -38.01624,-71.15993 dont follow the road, check GPS for RR along the river. After ford 14.3 it can get quite swampy for a few hundred meters.
Beginning of section is a lot of boring walk on very dusty road.
I loved 01, that CC was demanding and time consuming navigation in steep terrain, but a lot of fun. Most of RR was easy hiking in the sections before, so this was welcome difference. The clambering on the ridge is short and not hard (difficult level UIAA 1) but lots of lose rocks, so need to be careful. Some clambering in gullys, it often looked harder from above as it then actually was. Still you need to be really careful and it's going slowly. Very strong and cold winds. First water NOBO at -38,10299,-71.07628. It rained the night before, so I waited until noon, giving wind and sun time to dry the area, as I would only recommend 01 in good weather conditions!
There is no hotspring at 11-01C 1.7km. The spring is at 11-02B 1.2km. It is warm and with an amazing view, but quite shallow and muddy, still nice to sit in. A small narrow stream of clean cold water nearby but no pool.
I camped next to the spring, there is a stonewalled campside, but no other protection. Next day I went up to Cerro Dedos and hiked the ridge to the southeast. Well worth it, but the winds were very strong and cold. Shortly before the peak of Dedos it is easy walking, the last few meters is light climbing. There are 2 peaks, the higher one is a bit harder and very exposed on top, the lower one is easier and has plenty of flat space and a stoneguy on it. Coming from the east first you will see only the higher peak, but you can easily hike around it.
*2024 Feb 19 to Feb 26 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / Opt 5A, Opt 5B, Opt 5, detour to Laguna Blanca / Michael and Kaisa
We combined sections 9, 10, and 11 together.
TLDR : with easy navigation, a well maintained trail, and impressive views, Opt 5 is both a relaxing and impressive route. Comunidad Chenqenco has a good store for resupply. Fundo Guindo charges people to pass through if they are around, but they may not be. Laguna Blanca is apparently a private lake, and while it is possible to camp there, there are complications.
Day 0 - Feb 18
We arrived in Comunidad Chenqueco around 19:30. There was one hospedaje in Chenqueco, but it was full. I talked to Luis who runs a small shop next to the big shop and he said there was camping about 2 km on down by the river. We headed down towards the driving bridge. Just before it there was a fence and a gate that was dummy locked. We went through the gate and found a spot a little ways in. There was no river access, and that specific river is not a good quality for drinking or filtering in any case, but there was a small stream cutting across the path that had clear water.
Day 1 - Feb 19
We stayed in the same place we camped the night before and walked up to the shop in town to resupply. It was a well stocked store with quite a few options and easy for us to do a good resupply there. Prices were very reasonable. They had instant coffee (Gold, our favorite!), pasta, instant noodles (only in the cups), powdered sauces/cremas and bouillon cubes, crackers, cookies, eggs, canned fish and canned paté, powdered milk, 8 flavors of Zuko, a few types of packaged cheeses, queso crema, peanuts (no other nuts and no raisins though), and even apples, onions, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers. They did not have camping gas but they said sometimes they do have it in stock. We also chatted with them about the toma at Fundó Guindo across the river. The owner, Juan, said there was no issue to pass, we would just need to pay at the gate.
We went back to camp to repack the food. Later two people came by. It turned out that we were camping on private property and the woman was the granddaughter of the owner. We talked to them for a bit and she said that it was okay if we stayed and just asked that we be careful to take all our trash and not start a fire. I asked who could someone in the future go to in order to request permission and she said her father, Jose Luis Benítez. He lives in a house at (-38.06389, -71.35347). If you are walking the main road toward the driving bridge there is a road that goes off to the right down to the school, a large building at the end of that street and easy to spot. Start down that street and his house is the first gate on the left hand side. They also told us that if you keep going across the river on the driving bridge and then go right over the hill and down a path, you can get to a public access beach with a good pozo for swimming in the other river (-38.06677, -71.34947). That may also have been the place Luis was thinking of when he told me about the camping 2 km on.
Day 2 - Feb 20th
We left early and took Opt 5B to connect with Opt 5A down to a new looking metal footbridge. (This is a better option as staying on 5A requires jumping a barbed wire fence but 5B goes around it). We followed the most used looking path. The whole path was a dirt road, but in good condition and half shaded in the forest. We passed through Fundo Guindo (I think, there were never any signs). We did not see anyone the whole time, only a few cows. Most of the puestos along the way were padlocked shut on the outside or falling down. We arrived at an intersection with a sign for Lonquimay going up the hill. We never came to a gate. I think the gate is actually back on Opt 5 about 240 m before 5A connects into it based on other reports and a gate icon on Gaia. It was almost entirely silent the whole way up to the pass. We didn't see anyone until the bridge over the embalsa.
Once we got past the bridge, the road had barbed wire fencing on both sides nearly the entire way. It was very challenging to find camping. We found one spot with water and another without, but we wanted to make some distance so we kept going. It started to get dark and we ended up climbing under the fence of Fundo Lolco just after the sign, going across a small field and camping on the far side just out of sight of the road. There was a creek running below.
Day 3 - Feb 21st
We packed up and got back on the road just before sunrise. Where the road crossed the estero it was fenced on both sides, but the lower side was secured with just two pieces of barbed wire twisted around each other. We undid the wire and sat by the water to have coffee and filter water, then closed the fence on the way out. The entire road runs through Fundo Lolco until you reach RN Nalcas. We saw only two spots where one could reasonably camp along the way without trespassing. Both were right on the side of the road, but the road seems to get very little use.
When we got to the reserva the guardaparque told us that the reserva was closed as a preventative measure due to the first fires. We told him we had read online that it had reopened and that we had been walking for days to reach the reserva and he finally said it was okay for us to go, just not to have any fires. We did not have to pay and he did not register us. We camped a little ways past the guardaparque residence.
Day 4 - Feb 22nd
The trail was easy to follow and well maintained. The first few km have a barbed wire fence running along one side of the path with takes away from the beauty a bit, but it ends eventually. The forest was amazing and we had the luck to have an almost completely overcast day, so a slow walk through everything was very pleasant. It was a bit difficult to find camping as much of the trail is on a slope and there is a 4 km section with no water. We camped at (-38.28562, -71.56485). Water was 300 m back down the trail just after the gate.
Day 5 - Feb 23rd
We woke up to an absolutely beautiful view of sunrise hitting a cloudless Volcan Tolhuaca in the morning, and to our tent frozen stiff in the night. It was our first frost of the season. We found the trail up easy to follow and not particularly demanding. There were several springs cutting across the path so water was not an issue. We had a consistent view of Volcan Tolhuaca for the first few hours with Volcan Callaqui rising up behind us just before the turn, then Volcan Lonquimay after the turn. The entire route is very scenic and beautiful. It was a cloudless, windless day, but there was a slight cool in the air, so very comfortable hiking weather.
We took a detour down towards Laguna Blanca. The views on the way down are absolutely spectacular, especially in the afternoon. It looks like something out of a fantasy movie or an illustration of the dinosaur era. The forest on the way there is also beautiful.
This is where the problems started. Since this is a longer story and not actually on the GPT route, I'll put the full account at the end of the report for those interested, but the short version is that a very irritable and inhospitable Swiss German woman named Beatrice claims ownership of the entire lake and surrounding area, and if you are not entering via the “normal way” as she referred to it, meaning through her lodge, she gets very, very, very angry.
Day 6 - Feb 23rd
We spent the morning talking with the guardaparque at Laguna Blanca and exploring the park, then headed back to a spot we had scouted the day before (-38.35580, -71.61209). It was an amazing camping spot at the bottom of the road down from Volcan Lonquimay inside a ring of oak trees. There was a small stream about 40 m up the hill that had good clean water. It was very peaceful with views of the whole valley and probably one of our favorite campsites so far.
Day 7 - Feb 24th
We took a rest day in the same spot. It was very quiet most of the day. We observed some small burrowing mammal, a ground hog or gopher, digging holes. In the afternoon a car drove past on the way to Laguna Verde and returned about 2 hours later, and towards sunset a group of dirt bikers passed through. Other than that we were alone and it was very relaxing.
Day 8 - Feb 25th
We got an early start going around the volcano. In a few places we went cross country. It shaved off some distance, but the volcanic rock was challenging to walk on so I think there wasn't much of a time savings. We walked out of the reserva after closing time so we did not have any interactions with CONAF on that end. There was one hostal on the way down the hill, 10.000 pp with a kitchen. It is above a ski gear shop shortly after leaving the reserva. We hitched a ride with a very nice couple all the way to Lonquimay. If walking, there was camping around (-38.44185, -71.51361) next to the river. The road up had some beautiful views and I was glad to have seen it, but also grateful to not have to walk it as it was very dusty. There were several people selling tortillas, sopaipillas and cooked piñones along the way. In Lonquimay we stayed at Hostal Rusitko Lonquimay a half block from the square, 35.000 for a private room with private bathroom and hot water. The owner, Hector, was very friendly and helpful. If looking for something cheaper there was another Hostería Follil Pewenche next to the AhorraMás grocery store, 10.000 pp for a bed in a dorm, shared bathroom.
After resupplying we continued to section 12
Laguna Blanca detailed account: We walked down the road to the lake. There is no water starting from (-38.35578, -71.61120) on. We arrived at a locked gate with walking passages on either side and 4 signs on 1 wooden board. The uppermost is a wood sign that says “Area Silvestre Protegía” and looks like something in a park. The second is a fairly lengthy laminated paper sign in good condition that says it is private property and there is access with paid ticket, and to go 500 m on to meet their personnel for more information and to pay if you didn't already in the lodge, along with icons for swimming, fishing, canoeing, etc. Below that was another laminated paper sign that was badly water stained and looked old saying “Advertencia Propiedad privada con vigilancia continual No entrar! Solamente autorizados”, and finally a third laminated sign indicating no cars and no motorcycles. We took this to mean, I think understandably, that people can enter, but it is paid. The human sized gaps on either side of the gate looked like they were designed to let hikers through while preventing the cars and motorcycles that were prohibited as per the sign. We walked to reception, passing along the way a few hand painted wood signs for native animals and one with the elements. At the reception area there was a large carved wooden sign with the trails to three beaches and a CONAF insignia at the bottom. There were a few smaller signs, one saying Laguna Blanca Zona Protegía and claiming UNESCO status (it is not), another showing the horario (something not shown at the entrance a half km back), another saying to announce your arrival and departure with the guardaparque, another warning to disinfect fishing gear due to didymo, and another pointing to a cabin indicating reception. There was also a badly water stained paper sign saying no fishing, no hunting and no collecting fruit. The cabin had a window and a sign for a kiosco and there was also an unnecessary wooden sign near the cabin indicating again kiosco. There was also a bathroom with men's and women's signs attached to the respective doors. (There is a reason for the exhaustive detail I am providing here). We called out buenas tardes and a boy, probably around 12 years old came to the window. We asked him about camping and he asked about a ticket. We said we wanted to buy a ticket and he said if we didn't have one that we had entered illegally. We were confused about this, but assumed it was just a misunderstanding on his part. We explained that we came from the gate and were looking for a camping spot and asked how much. He said it was 8.000 pp, but he couldn't take money. No one else was around because his parents had gone to get food. On the door to the cabin was a sign in Spanish, English and German saying if no one was there, they were working elsewhere on the property and to go to one of the beaches and they would find you later. We told him our names and which countries we were from. He told us which beach was best for camping and we told him we would come back in the morning to pay and register, because at this point it was around 20:30. He said okay and we headed to the beach. The trail down was nearly a kilometer even though it could have been less than half that. We set up the tent and started dinner. At the beach there was a sign saying catch and release fishing. About an hour later the guardaparque canning running down to the beach shouting that we were on private property and we had entered illegally. He was very worked up, but we explained our situation and he calmed down. He had a walkie talkie with him that kept interrupting with two other people on the other end. We managed to explain where we were coming from and that Matias had mentioned the place on Facebook and suddenly he lit up, saying oh, yes Matias, you were referred by Matias. The Chilena woman also remembered him, and apparently he was fondly remembered. That changed the dynamic with the guardaparque entirely. Then another woman, speaking Spanish but with a German accent, came over the radio. She made it very clear that she did not care at all who referred us or why we were there, we were on her private property, illegally, and she was very, very angry about it. This went back and forth a bit, the guardaparque sort of trying to help, the radio not working well. Eventually he and I went up to reception (another kilometer back up the hill) to register us. She was on the radio and I actually talked to her directly in English. I explained that we were walking two weeks from Antuco, we had read a nice review from another member of our hiking group, and that we didn't understand that we needed to register at the lodge. She was very disinterested in anything other than the fact that we were on her private property (despite the fact that it is clearly a business) and should not be. She said she didn't want to discuss where we were coming from or how we got into her land over the radio. She also said a number of things that made no sense. First she said that they close the gate at 19:00 “which is quite normal here”. We left the next day and at 16:00 the gate was still closed and locked, because of course it was, there are pedestrian passes on both sides, and the gate is there for cars, ATVs and motorcycles. She said there was a number posted to call to make a reservation for the next day, but that was not true, there were no phone numbers on any of the signs. Furthermore, the guardaparque gave me a flier for the lodge which did have numbers (but you'd have to enter illegally to get it) that clearly stated on the bottom that there was very poor cell signal at the lake. In the end she said we had two choices, pay the entrance fee, which we were going to pay anyway, and a multa of 3.000 pp for “illegal entry” (they were all very fond of that specific wording), or leave immediately (at this point it was 22:00, and as previously mentioned the was no water for several kilometers). I said we would pay, really what choice did we have, and gave the radio back to Carlos, the guardaparque. He was very nice, said it was his fault, he's normally always there and just left for awhile because they were out of food. We talked to him and his partner more the next day. He explained that the fees were 5.000 pp for entry to the lake and another 5.000 pp for camping if you first registered at the lodge. For anyone who doesn't register at the lodge first, regardless of the time they enter, it constitutes “illegal entry” and there is a 3.000 pp multa. Keep in mind that the sign at the front gate says “welcome” “access with ticket” and “you can pay the guardaparque 500 m on if you didn't pay in the lodge”. There is absolutely no mention at the gate of the prices, the hours of entry, how far away the lodge is (it is 7 km further down the highway), or that a multa is issued for “illegal entry”. The whole situation was incredibly frustrating and it's our first truly unpleasant interaction here in Chile. It is also a very suspicious situation. On the OSM map on the GPS the lake is within the reserva, though on Gaia it is outside the reserva. She has a CONAF marked trail sign with her property, but she's claiming it's private, and a sign claiming UNESCO status, which it simply isn't. Bottom line, if you go, be prepared to walk an additional 14 km round trip to register the “normal way”, or to pay a 3.000 pp fine and be yelled at by Beatrice for “illegal entry”. But also maybe just don't go. It's really not that nice and there are better places to camp in the reserva.
*2024-Feb-14 to 2024-Feb-15 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Joscha
I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.
Day 1: RR [0.0-13.7]
Water at all Water and Ford Waypoints I passed today. But at km 3.1 it's not much more than a trickle. The hotspring at km 6.6 is a little dirty and has some cow poo around. But still worth a little bath.
Day 2: RR [13.7-32.9]
Water at all Water and Ford Waypoints I passed today. There is still some snow on the southern side of the Pass (km 27.6), but you can walk around it on the eastern side on a step gravel slope. Be carfull walking down. There are a lot of lose bolders. I didn't take the trail out of the gulch at km 31.1 as Hannes suggested. Its possible to continue in the gulch but I had to get rid of my hiking poles at one point to use both my hands to climb down a mini waterfall. The Hotspring at km 32.0 was pretty dirty and rather warm than hot. I did not went to Ranquil and continued directly with section 12 at km 32.9.
*2024-Feb-10 to 2024-Feb-12 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / Section 12 on RR - Guallali / RR + Option 4 until the pass / Alex & Christophe
We directly went on this section after section 12. The way up to the pass in the river wasn't easy and took us more time than we thought. There was only one time were we had to go out of the river to find another way as Hannes as already explained.
Once, the pass was behind us, all was easy and we really enjoyed Hot Spring, Camp {11} [6.6/991] (Poorly Maintained). It was clean, maybe recently digged and nice after a dusty day on the trail.
We also ended this section with a light resupply in Guayali and a perfect almuerzo before going on section 10 in Shop {11} [0.1/951] (Mini Shop).
*2024-Jan-16 to 2024-Jan-18 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes
Nothing worth to mention, which has not already been mentioned before…except the gulch after the pass. At around -38.110511, -71.087826 it gets pretty straight, with fast water flow and river gets deeper and you are not able to figure out what comes after the next 50m because you do not see…I went out there from the river bed and took a trail on the left side (with some BB for the first 20m), you will see this trail…at around -38.111291, -71.087135 I entered the gulch again. Choose yourself.
Afterwards I went out to Ranquil and then to Maximilianos and Anna’s minishop at -38.24995, -71.23238. They let me sleep there. So nice people! Convinced Max to sell Gas in his shop, so should be available soon there.
*2024-01-13/22 / 7 + 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR (sections 12 & 11) / Coline
I hiked GPT12 and 11 in a raw, so to reach the Pelehue hotsprings instead of going to Troyo for resupplying. This ten-days trail was really a great experience ! Sometimes terrifying, but not dangerous – as said in another post.
My "goal" was to reach each hotspring marked on the map (4). My favourite was the one at the end (near Guallalí), because I meet a chilian family on vacacion there and they had dig the spring large enough for them six !
The baños Coyucos "moved" : there are just below the Camp {12} [20.4/1625], where one's finds a bench, a table and a place for firecamps.
The termas Pelehue definitly disappeared, but the view there is very scenic.
The Hot Spring {11} [32.0/1428] are a bit dirty, sibce ciws like to lie in them, but one's can easily "clean" them a bit and enjoy a warm bath : I choosed the uppermost, and therefore warmer (Yes, there are two).
The sections 11 & 12 were beautiful to me because of the passes... and difficult for the same reason. First Pass {12} [68.0+0.2/1909] was actually Ok, because the way (northbound) goes slowly up.
The second Pass {12} [57.4/2180] was more difficult, due to the mud, and particularly on the way down for me, since I lost the trail and found myself stuck in a forest of small trees.
The real DIFFICULTY for me was the last Pass {11} [27.6/2174]. After nine days, my body and mind were really tired. I forgot the advice of previous walkers and tried to go up through the forest (because of the sun exposure in the valley). I lost an hour and had to go down to the river. Moreover, the last 100m, with the snow and rocks, were doable, but the idea of sliding really scarred me.
Something else scarred me at the beginning of my journey (and it shouln'd have...) : it was the attitud of some "caballeros" towards me, a solo female hiker. Most of the "caballeros" are nice and will help you, but some can be really insisting. (I had to yell at a man asking me for five minutes if I wanted a compagnon for the night... It was 3 a.m. and he had wake me up with his light and dog). But he was not threatening, "just" asking over and over.
Actually Laguna Verde and Laguna Escondida (where I met those insisting men) are still nice memories to me ! By the way, I recommend the beach on the south side of Laguna Escondida ; the north one is skinny, inhabited by mosquitos and very "escondida" (hidden) in the bushes.
What else ?
I avoid the Pehuenche Extortioner taking CC road, and it went all good.
There is a bridge some 120m west of the Ford {12} [45.4/1039],... whereas there is no more bridge at Bridge ? {11-C} [0.3/1109], but it seems very easier to cross the Estero Quillaylemu there, rather than on the RR.
The river crossing is Ok, and there is plenty of water all along the way.
As for the resupplying, I don't know about Troyo, but the only shop in Guallalí is very small (no bottle of gas or tobacco for sure). The woman who manages it is very nice though : she indicated me that a bus (with more food) would pass at 8 p.m, she invited me to charge my bateries at her place, let me have a nap, while she prepared me a delicious dish ! I had nice time with the younger kid, and even spend the night there at the end.
Several accommodation options
(Hannes, JAN2024): Try Camping Lolen, around 16kms from Lonquimay, at entrance/exit OH-MR-12-04, very clean, nice Lady who attends, at river, weekends a bit crowded. 7000 pesos/night...hitchhike or take a bus, station in front.
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==