https://www.wikiexplora.com/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Joscha97Wikiexplora - Contribuciones del usuario [es]2026-10-03T15:42:17ZContribuciones del usuarioMediaWiki 1.26.1https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT45_(Torres_Del_Paine)&diff=115386GPT45 (Torres Del Paine)2024-04-19T14:22:11Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
* 2024-Apr-14 to 2024-Apr-17 / 3.5 days / Hiking / RR (W-Treck) / Joscha<br />
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<br />
Day 1: RR [114.8-121.1]<br />
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Because I could not reserve the Campsites from Las Torres online, I decided to not pay for anything in advance and just go to the Torres del Paine park. I went there by bus and at the park entrance a rangerin entered the bus and "controlled" our tickets. She just took a foto from each ticket without looking at it. I had clicked myself a ticket for children below 12 years which is free and she didn't notice. At the Camping Central Sur I just passed by the reception and went to the back end of the campsite. No one checked and therefore I camped for free.<br />
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Day 2: RR [121.1-150.6] <br />
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I went up to the Torres for sunrise. It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes from camping Central Sur with my full weight pack and including a few water breaks. At km 150.6 the official park trail to Camping Paine Grande leaves the RR. I followed it until Rio del Frances. I crossed the bridge and than left the official park trail by going south directly after the bridge on another trail. The trail vanished after 20 meters and I continued on the riverside a little further. I found a good tentspot at -51.032528, -73.045562 and camped there. Its wind and view protected. <br />
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Day 3: RR [150.6-169.0] + OH03 [65.5-55.0]<br />
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RR between 161.7 and 162.8 is closed. The official Park trail branches off the RR at km 150.6 and rejoines RR at km 162.8. I camped at Camp Grey. I also just passed the reception and set up my tent at the back end in the forest. I saw some mice, so hang your food (you should probably hang your food at every campsite in this park).<br />
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Day 4: OH03 [55.0-65.5] + RR [169.0-191.6]<br />
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RR after km 169.0 (Camp Paine Grande) is a nice, easy trail. I only meet two other hikers which was a nice change to the crowded W-Treck. The ranger station at the finish of Section 45 has Wifi. The password is printed inside the station.<br />
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Additional Infos: Camping Chileno, Frances and Paine Grande all have wood platforms for the tents. So if you have a tent thats not free standing you might struggle to set it up.<br />
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*Feb-25-2024 to March-2-2024 / 7 days / circuit O (OH3) / Matthieu <br />
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I won't expand on the parc. If you're a GPT lover you will suffer from the crowd and the luxury campsites, even on the O circuit. Everything is forbidden (cooking in the nature, bathing in lakes, going off the trail...), for obvious massive crowd reasons that I don't question. I think that they kinda keep the parc in good condition with there rules.<br />
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I did it with a group of friends so we got all reserved and programmed before, with very expensive cost, but you can easily do it legally and cheaper with a bit of preparation and talk to people in puerto natales. The internet sites of vertice and las torres, the 2 campsites companies, don't work well (or do they ?...), they say that cheap tent spots are full even if there are plenty free when you arrive... better call directly, advise given by a camp worker with whom i spoke about it). <br />
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There is no difficulties on the way, I did most of the parc with open summer shoes. Of course bad climate conditions can change the experience. <br />
The only thing is the massive presence of mosquitos the 2 first days (camp seron and dickson, ruin your cooking time). I was so happy to have a net on my head, but my friends didnt and suffered from it ! Take your net or your repellant with you ! <br />
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Apart from this, the mountain, the glaciar, the valleys, the torres, are all wonderful things to see. <br />
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Oh2 to connect with rio serrano and GPT46 seems amazing but i hitchhiked this part (See my post on GPT46). The road to rio serrano from the east park entrance is really beautiful also, with miradores and cascadas. <br />
*Frank 03/01 to 06/01 2024 4 days RR & optional route SOBO<br />
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1. I got the bus going to Laguna Amarga & got out at the junction 14KM from Laguna Azul. Not much traffic, I got a lift for 11KM then walked 3KM to Laguna Azul. The RR bypasses the Laguna Azul park office & continues outside the park. About 2.5KM up the road there is a puesto (not on the map, I marked its location for the 2024 track file update) The puesto owner was concerned about me getting lost (although navigation is easy) & asked me to report back to him on my return, which I did. There is a good puesto about 2KM before the river. The ford was thigh deep & fast. The best place I found to cross was by going upstream until the near bank cliffs out & crossing just before the cliff. After the crossing an old jeep track (no longer driveable) continues to the second puesto. There are several streams along the way & some sheltered places you can camp on the track but I continued to the puesto, which is about 1KM from the frontier, in 1 long day. Forded the river easily (it was knee deep) before the puesto. There was no one there & I slept in the puesto.<br />
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2. I returned to Laguna Azul & slept at the Laguna Azul campsite (see accomodation section) About 7KM from Laguna Azul NOBO a road goes right over a bridge & the RR goes left. There are a few vehicles a day going over the bridge & none continue on the RR. Just as I got to the bridge a van came & I hitched the last 7KM to Laguna Azul. Bought my park entry for the next day online using the campsite wifi. <br />
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3. Above Laguna Azul the RR goes SOBO CC on no trail. I continued on the road & after 3.5KM there is a good marked trail going in right which joins & becomes the RR. Followed it to a road junction where the RR again continues CC. I walked on the road to the park entrance. Continued mostly on road to Camping Pehoe. Not recommended as you are on pampa & it's very exposed & windy. At times it was hard to move forward against the wind. This is the main park road & there is quite a bit of traffic so it's dusty. Short section on trail from Laguna Larga. Once you are in the Paine river valley you get some shelter from the wind. <br />
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4, Continued from Camping Pehoe to the park exit at Rio Serrano partly on road & sometimes on a faint trail near the road. Walked to Villa Rio Serrano & continued onto GPT46 without entering the village. <br />
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From 01/12/2023 to 05/12/2023 // 5 days // hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel<br />
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I did the W trek. Not much informations to add than what was previously mentioned. <br />
Then I took the walk who go on the way to the border. (better to have an arranged permit if you go there). I haven't got one, and I've been stopped in the way because Rio Zamora was way to dense to pass threw. So I've been back, hitchhiking, passing threw Torres del Paine NP, El Calafate and Los Glaciares NP, then I hiked to the other shore of Rio Zamora (who was less crazy than few days earlier) and I continue my way to the border and to GPT 44. <br />
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Nice road until the Argentinian border. 1 river to pass just before the border (50°39′00.81″S 72°46′33.03″W)<br />
You have a puesto to rest if needed just before the border.<br />
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* 2023-11-24 to 2023-11-27 / 4 days / Hiking / O without W / Fangwen & Tobi<br />
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You can find plenty of information about Torres del Paine on the internet, hence just some pointers for GPT hikers: first, the O and especially W is extremely overrun, and many people book half a year in advance. For us, this was not feasible (since we booked one month ahead of time), and we instead went on the 'O' trek minus the 'W' trek (which was booked out). This turned out to be a great option, as it avoided the massive crowds of people going on the W. At the same time, the O is still really scenic (but this is not an exception -- other GPT sections are just as pretty, without the crowds). You can do this trip in as little as 3 nights, spending your first night at Seron, the second night at Los Perros (skipping Dickson), and then Grey. From there, you can either take the ferry out (100usd) or hike on the overcrowded and somewhat less scenic but short trail to Paine Grande and take the ferry out from there (30usd). A note for fast hikers: skipping more than one campsite in one day does not seem to be permitted (?). Furthermore, there are certain trail closure times that you should be aware of. For instance, you must pass Dickson by 2pm (or you will not be allowed onward) and you must pass Los Perros before 7am, making an overnight stop there somewhat mandatory.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 2023-03-30 to 2023-04-06 / 8 days / Hiking / Westbound / RR & Option 8 / Jakub & Veronika<br />
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We hiked some parts of GPT45 in Torres del Paine NP. Because we were quite late in the season, we couldn't do the "O" trek so we ended up doing "W" with some extensions. There are two things to mention, one is the reservation system (for that see the "GPT Hiker's Guide below), the other are the optional hikes and some warnings on them. Basically we took the bus to Camping Central, hiked to Base Torres and back, overslept, hiked all the way to Paine Grande Camping (due to lack of places in other camps), next day we went to Mirador Británico by the Rio Frances which was hard to finish (see below), so we tried the other day by the official path (there is a nice circle loop leading threw peatbog so you don't need to walk the same way twice). The next day we continued to Camping Grey, overslept and in the morning continued to Mirador Grey and back for a boat over Lago Grey (with great views of the glacier). From visitor's centre at Glacier bay we hiked Option 8 to Valle Zapata where we spent 3 beautiful days before we came back to Glacier bay and took a bus back to Puerto Natales.<br />
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Here it's important to note that to legally visit Valle Zapata (Option 8) you need either licenced guide or an expedition permit issued by CONAF.<br />
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Suggestions:<br />
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1. trail to Mirador Torres closes at 15:00, checked by CONAF<br />
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2. official trail to Mirador Británico closes at 14:00, checked by CONAF<br />
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3. RR now leads from km 160 on old unmaintained (yet walkable) trail, that follows the right side of the river from the glaciar down to RR, the bridge at the same place is unusable, the river must be crossed higher on the stream. Oficial road from mirador leads back to campamento Italiano on km 151 and then continues West.<br />
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4. All the way from CONAF station through Pingo and Zapata campsites is regular trail which we've walked there and back and which we've recorded on GPS. Next to the road there are several miradors and at the end, in the middle of the valley, lies third possible camping spot and a meteorological station. <br />
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5. The trail after this spot in still sort of marked but disappears in the bushes. More exploration needed from from this point on.<br />
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GPT Hiker's Guide to Torre del Paine NP:<br />
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1. If you know exactly what you want to do and when you want it especially in the peak season, buy entrance and reserve all the camp sites in advance to be sure you have your "freedom" there<br />
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2. If you don't, then don't bother with booking, they lie about the availability (at least out of the peak season). Buy the entrance (which will be checked by CONAF) and ask at the receptions when you arrive to the campsites. They have places, they just don't say honestly to on the web.<br />
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3. If you need freedom or feel stressed when being highly regulated, consider other place. This park has some side affects of tourism overuse.<br />
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See Links to other Resources below to make reservations and see the official web pages of Parque Torres del Paine.<br />
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*SoBo/January 22/Tobias Schorcht/7 Days/Method: Hiking <br />
Took the bus to Park entrance Laguna Amarga and went 88 km up to the border. Easy walking, nice views, lonely. Funfact: I met 2 builders who are in charge of maintaining the road. They are supposed to start in Dezember this year! In some years (it will take quite a while to build up 15 bridges) there will be a even a border control up there.<br />
Payed the Torres del Paine fee for 3 days at Laguna Amarga and walked straight 26 km to Camping Pehoé. It is a good visible, official trail, is barley used. I did not meet any other hiker but a beautiful Puma (Lago Sarmiento). For some parts you have to walk on the road. The views are stunning.<br />
The part southbounded (Lago Sarmiento Chico) is the most beautiful one. Left the park at admission Río Serrano and continued with GPT 46.<br />
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==Season 2021/22==<br />
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==Season 2020/21==<br />
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==Season 2019/20==<br />
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==Season 2018/19==<br />
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==Season 2017/18==<br />
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==Season 2016/17==<br />
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=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
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Frank January 2024. There is a good campsite at Laguna Azul 1KM from the park office. The location is marked Laguna Azul Viewpoint on OSM. Camping 12,000 pesos. Wifi, electricity, food & hot water available from 7PM. They have pizza & sandwiches, not expensive. Also sell bread & biscuits. You don't need to have a park entry ticket to stay there. <br />
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Camping Pehoe is 15,000 pesos per night. They have a good 4 course evening meal for 25,000 pesos. Shop sells snacks & camping gas at 2-3 times normal prices. Internet only available by buying an expensive token. <br />
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Possibility to resupply on all the refugios on torres del Paine. Expansive but possible.<br />
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=Transport to and from Route=<br />
Buses from Puerto Natales to the park starting at 7AM.<br />
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=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
You can no longer buy tickets at the park entrances & should get them online instead. There is no wifi or phone signal at the Laguna Amarga entrance.<br />
Park entry is currently $35 US for up to 3 days or $49 for more than 3 days (January 2024 prices) for foreigners. Chileans pay 8000 pesos for up to 3 days & 11,500 for more than 3 days.<br />
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=Links to other Resources=<br />
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https://aspticket.cl<br />
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https://parquetorresdelpaine.cl<br />
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=Images=<br />
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[[Archivo: | ]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT40_(Glaciar_Viedma)&diff=115173GPT40 (Glaciar Viedma)2024-04-12T00:25:23Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Apr-08 to 2024-Apr-10 / 3 days / Hiking / counterclockwise / RR / Joscha<br />
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Day 1: RR [0.0-21.2]<br />
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Good trail. Only the last 2 km was hiking on loose scree and took some time. Camp Rio Tunnel at km 21.2 has only spots for about three tents. The wind protection isn't as good as at camp Toro (16.6). The river at km 18.9 was a easy ford (knee high) about 50-100 meter up stream of the zip-line.<br />
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Day 2: RR [21.2-45.1]<br />
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Paso de viento (km 24.0) was very icy on top and on the way down. I managed without spikes, but they would have been helpfull. The pass at km 38.5 was snow free. The trail down after the pass is very steep. Would be very hard if snowy or muddy. Camped at -49.475284, -72.943223.<br />
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Day 3: RR [45.1-64.9]<br />
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The RR branches off the official Huemul Track at km 46.7. The RR runs a little higher and therefore offers maybe a bit better views. But the official Huemul Track would be the faster option. Rio Tunel was easily fordable (knee high) just under the zipline at km 54.0.<br />
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*2024-Mar-24 to 2024-Mar-26 / 3 days / Hiking / anticlockwise / RR / Juliet and Martin<br />
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Day 1 el chalten - Rio Tunel camp<br />
<br />
The park rangers were closed for strike action. We weren't able to register online either (bad internet connection). We left around 9am. Several people and a group on the first part, but we lost them on our way around the glacier. Magnificent walk between forests, viewpoints and lakes. We arrived for lunch at laguna o toro. Possible bivouac spot with emergency shelter if needed. It's a beautiful spot, but we didn't feel like pitching our tent there. So we decided to head for the Rio Tunel campside. Passing the zipline, in fact the river is probably passable on foot a little above. We recommend that you look at tutorials on how to use the equipment, which we hadn't done, and the rental company gave us bad advice. Fortunately, there was an experienced hiker who helped us. <br />
The passage along and on the glacier is complicated. We lost the trail and took a long time to make headway. There are lots of slippery spots (ice), so you have to be careful. Once we'd found our way back, we were able to reach the camp. It's well sheltered from the weather with a few spots (in fact only 3). The place is very windy, so I'd recommend getting there early if it's busy to get a sheltered spot. Magnificent view of the glacier. <br />
There are mice, and we saw several in the evening, but we weren't bothered during the night. Difficult to find a place to hang the food so we kept it with us in the tent enclosed and in the middle of the two of us and not at the ends. That's how it was. <br />
Several water spots along the way all day (several rivers).<br />
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Day 2 Rio Tunel camp - Bahia de los tempanosb camp (-49,47994,-7298601)<br />
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Passage of the paso del viento, which was indeed very windy, but passable. The path is still passable as used. Easy to follow. Magnificent panoramic view of the glacier at the top. You can see that some people have already pitched their tents at the pass, but I wouldn't recommend it because of the strong wind. Beautiful descent to the refuge. Very good, in good condition. Lots of possibilities for pitching tents around the stone walls. Very nice place to sleep. We continued on. Passage over Col Huelmul easier than the previous one. Very windy too, but the wind was in our favor and helped us make our way up. The descent is very complicated indeed, and quite dangerous. Take your time, especially if it's been raining. It takes time. Fortunately, there are ropes to hold on to. We reach the camp just before dark. It's very crowded, but we find a place to pitch our tent. The view of the lake, icebergs and glacier is magnificent. However, we were bothered by mice all night. We had hung our food from the trees, but despite this, they came up to the tent (between the 2 canvas sheets) time and time again. AVOID! It's crowded, there's garbage, mice, a rotting cow carcass...<br />
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Day 3 Camp Bahia de los tempanos (-49,47994,-7298601) - el chalten <br />
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Last day of hiking. Very beautiful in the hills, views over the lake. We loved it. Cross country in the hills, very nice to do even if we had to pass a few muddy spots and lost the trail a few times. Once back on the official trail, no more worries. The zipline was easier than on the first day. We didn't have to wait very long, surely 2 people ahead of us. End of the day with an easy trail to el chalten. The last few kilometers are on the road, not very pleasant and uninteresting, but it's not very long. <br />
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This section is definitely beautiful and diverse. Mice are a real problem on this section. They seem to be present at all the bivouac spots. They're not shy and don't hesitate to come along even if you scare them. If we had to do it all over again, we'd use rat repellents, because hanging up the food doesn't seem to be enough. <br />
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24-Mar-05 to 2024-Mar-07 / 48 hours / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš<br />
<br />
I did not like El Chaltén and the weather seemed better than later in the week so I immediatelly followed to GPT40. Starting at 17:00, I stopped 3 km from the first official camping Torro, which is normally 16 km far, in three hours of walking. I registered online and did not talk to any parkguards - not sure if they would not try to turn me back this late if they saw me. Fearing mice and being asocial, I did not want to reach the camp. The trail is very clear and easy. At least in this section, there are many places to camp - many trees provide shelter from wind. It was not that windy anyway, just on the final descent to the valley. Met lots of people coming back from Pliegue Tumbado mirador and nobody after the junction.<br />
<br />
The next morning surprised me (the only reliable forecast seems to be for heavy rain or cloudless day, anything in between seems to be a hit or miss) by blue sky, so I got awesome views going up the pass. There was a queue at the zipline so I forded 50 m upstream - it was barely below my knees. Met ten people altogether that day. Walked on glacier, as the official PDF recomends. It is not slippery with the rocks. It is fun, there are footsteps to follow going on and off the glacier. I assume it is safe. There is also a trail going in parallel on the rocks (all circuit is trail BTW, not party CC like GPX suggests). Indeed only between the glaciers there is a few tentspots as indicated by OSM (unofficial? - but nobody probably cares). By the time I got to the first pass, clouds obscured Fitz Roy and the mountains across the icefield, which was still breathtaking. The pass had both quite windy spots and windless spots and some flats, so in good weather might be ok for camping, but hard to say. Traversing to the second pass, you actually mostly go through a valley partly (?) formed by ancient morraines, so most of the time, the icefield is hidden. I think there are places for pitching a tent, though not really between water at 35 and the second pass - anyway, the place around refugio is the most shletered. There used to be a campsite right after the second pass, but the PDF says you should not use it. Going further down is indeed very steep. There are now handy ropes attached to trees at places. The trail is badly eroded and slippery, would be indeed annoying when muddy. Darkness fell on me there and I still did not bother with a headlamp, but this is indeed the most demanding part of the whole trail. It is demanding also for GPT standards (the rest of the circui is easy). Once you get down, it is flat and you can camp in many places, which I did.<br />
<br />
The next day there were about 15 people, three of which went clockwise, so it is done even if the Park does not like it (it normally has no presence on the trail itself). This time I waited the queue for the zipline to actually try using it. I think the river was fordable there. It was definitely fordable 200-300 metres downstream (there is a diversion), where it widens and branches in the delta. The rest of the trail was uneventful.<br />
<br />
It is indeed a nice end to the GPT. I did not expect to finish the Main route (minus 23-31) this year, so yay! The El Viento shop (49.3229571S, 72.8940188W) is on the other side of the town (2 km) to the Park office and charged me for three days even though I finished the circuit in 48 hours - it was 5-6 USD per day. In retrospect, I would not bother with the harness. I met a guy who went without because he could not rent one - I was given the last one they had available and it was too big for me by far. Should the second river prove unfordable, people would probably borrow you theirs, it seems one set is usually carried per group and passed over using the thin rope - at least on the second crossing, the thin rope is there permanently so I am not sure what would the thin rope be for anyway.<br />
<br />
I still hated El Chalten (too many tourists, really bad 4g internet [apparently everybody in town shares one connection, unless I was wrongly informed] - if you stay overnight, usually in such situations it starts working well some time after midnight when everybody sleeps -, really pricy produce and very bad meal in one of the restaurants; Villa O'Higgins has a much nicer feel), so I hopped on a bus (3h) to El Calafate at 18h for about 22 USD. It goes also in the morning and around noon. There is also a 130 USD 28h (I think) bus to Bariloche at 14:00 and at 21:00. From El Calafate, there are connections to Ushuaia (this one not sure), Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas (at 3 AM and change in the middle about 40 USD, a bit cheaper if youbhave cash) and Buenos Aires. I don't have my ticket, back yet and flying directly from El Calafate would be very expensive, prices from Punta Arenas were the cheapest. Bye!<br />
<br />
2024-Feb-16 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Charlie Gardner<br />
<br />
What an outstanding hike. This is definitely such an incredible way to either begin/end the main route of the GPT. We did it in the classic 4 days which was fairly chill. <br />
<br />
Day 1 - <br />
Pretty straightforward day. Hike starts with a nice climb that takes you eventually into the surrounding forests. Great views of Lago Viedma from the top and a nice lunch spot. We started very late in the day and the sun was BEATING, could recommend and earlier start to avoid this. Don’t forget to check in with rangers before leaving! Quick form you have to fill out. Hang your food at Toro campsite, we saw a few mice running around. <br />
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Day 2 - <br />
Winds were crazy in the valley when we woke up. Many hikers were considering bailing on the hike due to worries of what Paso del viento would hold but the they calmed down around 930-10 and most pushed on. There’s an alternative route across the rivers that funnel into Laguna Tunel o Toro that we thought we’d check out as a few kairns led that way but they were far too strong to cross when we went that way. Ended up having a route find a bit and scramble up an alternative route after this lake, definitely recommend staying as close to route as possible here. Trail opens up again after you make it over. Tyrolean was short, didn’t look like anyone tried to ford the river here but it was definitely doable. Get to tyrolean early if you want to avoid waiting. The glacier route required a bit of route finding as well at points but isn’t anything crazy. Boulders and rocks can be loose at times though. Maybe we got lucky but paso del viento was quiet when we got to the top. Outstanding views! Short walk to camp after the descent from Viento. 8 of us slept in the shelter at paso del viento Camp as winds picked up considerably overnight. Was definitely glad for the protection but there were definitely mice scurrying around. <br />
<br />
Day 3 - <br />
Definitely recommend an earlyish start this day. The climb up to paso Huemul is not as hard as paso del viento but the decent afterwards is just ridiculous. If you have bad knees, it’s more of a controlled fall on some sections. Gravel is extremely loose and it is VERY steep. Thankfully, there are a fair amount of the roots and trees to grab hold up but this was definitely an annoying decent especially at the end of the Day 3. Many tried Bahia de Los témpanos camp but we decided to push on to Bahia de Hornos. An hour later, everyone else showed up at this camp as they said the other one did not have sufficient shelter from wind and was fairly dusty. Hornos ended up being lovely after winds calmed down and sound got lower. Would probably filter water here if possible, lots of cows nearby and water is fairly foggy. <br />
<br />
Day 4 - <br />
Final day was straightforward but definitely longer than expected. Would definitely recommend leaving early to be first at the tyrolean again. Be careful with the safety rope, ours broke halfway while pulling bags across and we had to send a person across without the pulley. <br />
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Enjoy, this hike rocks!<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom Pieper<br />
<br />
Not much to add. As the others mentioned a must do! When I started, there were indeed not that many people as weather forecast was not that good for the 'classic' 4 day itinerary. I was fine doing it in 3 days. The bivouack after Glaciar Rio Tunel Inferior only has space for 3 tents. You find additional protected spots 5 minutes beyond at the lake. If you fear glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) there are also some elevated spots there.<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-06 to 2024-Jan-08 / 2.5 days / Hiking / anticlockwise / RR / Stiina & Kris<br />
<br />
We started around noon on day 1 and hiked to the bivouack after Glaciar Rio Tunel Inferior at km (km 21.2). We walked acrosse the glacier to avoid the moraine, no crampons needed. The bivouack was extremely windy at night but still a bit protected, lots of big rocks to help with staking the tent down. There are also a few rock walls built.<br />
<br />
On day 2 we hiked over Paso Viento (which was very windy indeed; we also had rain, hail and snow) and down the other side. Once we got lower down we got out of the cloud and the weather was very pleasant. We didn't have much of the view over the glacier to the North but saw the end that descended towards Lago Viedma. The Paso Huemul was also extremely windy but at least it was sunny. The descent through the forest after the pass is really steep, with loose gravel/sand and lots of tree roots - be extremely careful here! The official campsites at the bay and peninsula were full so we continued until km45.2 where there is a nice windprotected campsite shown on OSM. Ford at 44.2 is completely dried out, but at 45.5 the stream is flowing.<br />
<br />
On day 3 we hiked back into El Chalten by lunch, it was a very windy day. When we reached the tyrolean at km54 (which is waymarked as a bridge for some reason?) there were about 15 people in the line so we decided to ford the river about 30m upstream. We went 3 people in a line formation, the first person had water up to the waist, the last just below hips. At km62, where you need to climb below a fence just before joining the road, pay attention to the small holes in the sandy banks: those are armadillo burrows, you might see one if lucky!<br />
<br />
* From 2023-12-26 to 2023-12-28 //3 days // Hiking // NOBO // Anticlockwise // Quentin Clavel<br />
<br />
Even if there's lot of people (around 15/20 departure per days at this time of the season), this section is in my opinion absolutely amazing ! The view on the icefield is outstanding ! I mostly followed the track, except on day two, where I continue to explore the surrounding of the Laguna de Los Esquies. Happy to be totally alone there, in front of this outstanding view. Hypnotic ! (It's almost the same that you can see at paso del viento, but closer to the icefield, and more chance to be by yourself here.<br />
<br />
You have to rent harnais in El Chaltén and pass threw two zip lines. That was very fun !<br />
<br />
I had a looooot of wind at paso del viento and paso del huemul. Reminds me tierra del fuego ! Could be very surprising as it's unpredictable squalls and so powerful ! <br />
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The downhill after paso del huemul Is not funny as it's very slippery. Just have to take the time to be even more careful. <br />
<br />
Views along the whole trek are absolutely stunning ! A must do ! <br />
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<br />
* 2023-11-21 to 2023-11-26 / 5 days / RR / SOBO / anticlockwise / Anh<br />
<br />
GPT40 is no longer remote, there are 20 hikers on the trail every day.<br />
The trail is not marked, but not difficult to follow. No real river crossing necessary, there was always aid available. Snowfields are easy to cross.<br />
<br />
Day 1: a little muddy, but easy to walk.<br />
<br />
Day 2: Tyrolean Traverse is no fun as you have to pull yourself uphill. Alternative is an easy river crossing (knee deep, 10:00 AM good weather). 1km after that you can walk between RR or on the glacier (see presentation link at the end of this page). On the glacier trail you come back directly on the mountain of the same height. After the Paso del Viento (700m uphill in 6km, windy & cold) I leave GPT40 and walk to Campamento Laguna de Los Esquies to get a bit closer to the glacier. The path is difficult to find as there are many snowfields (without footprints) in between. But I am alone at the glacier lake.<br />
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Day 3: Mostly with CC back to GPT40 to Paso del Viento Camp<br />
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Day 4: Shortly after windy Passo Huemul is time consuming downhill (500Hm in 1km). The trail is very slippery (in sunny weather) & there is hardly any grip for the next step, take time for this part.<br />
<br />
Day 5: very easy trail & Tyrolean Traverse is really fun (downhill zipline). Alternative river crossing is not easy (strong, 12:00 AM good weather).<br />
<br />
* 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-04 / 4 days / Hiking / RR counterclockwise/ Fangwen & Tobi<br />
<br />
Amazing section. We did the recommended 4 day itinerary (together with about 20 other hikers). A few points to add to the existing comments here: first, there was a lot of really wet grasslands, especially on day 1 (at least when we did it, early December). Accept your fate and live with wet feet (and bring extra socks if you can). Second, the four day itinerary makes use of the best-sheltered campsites. Other campsites may offer less protection. Note that even if the Park Rangers say conditions are good, you might encounter very strong winds in many areas. Third, if you want to extend the (somewhat short) days a bit, you can hike to the viewpoint Loma del Pliegue on day 1, on the ridge just above the campsite on day 2 (nice to watch the sunset), and to the aptly named mirador del cóndor next to Huemul pass on day 3. On day 3, it's best not to arrive too late to the very scenic Bahia de los Témpanos camp, since space is limited. Lastly, the descent from the huemul pass on day 3 is indeed a bit tricky, especially if you were to go in wet conditions.<br />
<br />
One warning regarding water at the campsites: despite the park information claiming that the water is potable, we would recommend taking some care to get clean drinking water. On day 1, there is an excellent little stream 400m past the campsite. On day 2, take water from a little side stream ~600m before the campsite. The lack of the toilet means that the water from the river flowing into the lake is likely not safe to consume. Similarly on day 3, it is highly recommended to fill up plenty of water at the little waterfall at the end of the steep downhill section before going into camp. The lack of a toilet means that the water there is also unsafe to drink. Furthermore, next to the campsite is a carcass of a recently deceased cow. If the first three days gave you the impression that there is plenty of clean drinking water available during the day, be aware that this is not true of day 4. There is only one good looking stream, roughly at km52, and all the water will require treatment (we saw another three cow carcasses nearby the trail on day 4). Don't worry too much about this, if you plan ahead and think a bit about where to get the water, then it's no issue at all. Enjoy this excellent adventure!<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Apr-08 to 2023-Apr-11 / 4 days / RR / SOBO / Arthur, Rémi, Noé & Louis<br />
<br />
Such a wonderful section ! One of our favorite ! Incredible views on the glaciers, with autumn's colors it was amazing !<br />
<br />
It is recommended by the guardaparques to have good weather on day 2 and 3 (for the passes), no cloud and no wind for us : perfect.<br />
<br />
We rented 1 harness for the 2 zip lines (day 2 and 4). 1 harness per group is sufficient but you have to rent a thin rope too in case the one in the pulley is broken. It is really worth it because the feeling is so good ! (We rented at Viento Oeste, north of San Martin street, the cheapest according to a friend).<br />
<br />
The thin rope is very helpful to suspend all your bags and things in camps. You have to do it because mice are at every camp and the will destroy your bag, your tent or whatever has food inside. This is the only annoying point of this section.<br />
<br />
About the trail : easy to follow, except when you have to walk on the glacier on day 2, it can be a bit challenging. Take care, do not go if there is fresh snow all over the glacier.<br />
<br />
The way down the paso Huemul on day 3 is very steep too.<br />
<br />
Do not forget to register online with the guardaparques (and to check out when you return !).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-30 to 2023-Apr-01 / 3 days / El Chaltén counter clockwise / Anna & Christopher<br />
<br />
We did the Huemul Circuit in 3 days. We started around 9 a.m. planning to camp at the Biwak Túnel the first night. The weather turned out to be so nice that we decided to continue and do the Paso del Viento the first day.<br />
<br />
The trail until the first Tyrolean traverse was really good even though it was partially covered in snow. We crossed the river easily by foot.<br />
After that the trail up to the pass gets more demanding and slower. Once you reach the Glaciar Túnel Inferior navigation gets more difficult. There are different paths and we firstly followed one going up and down on the gravel. It's probably easier to take the path on the glacier from the beginning on. We reached the pass at sunset and had an absolutely amazing view.<br />
<br />
We decided to camp at the end of Laguna Ferrari (to avoid the mice problem at the main campsites). The path to the lake was demanding, because the slope was covered with lot of snow and it was dark. At the campsite there are lots of well protected spots for tents.<br />
<br />
The next day we slept pretty long to recover from the previous big day and with better weather than anticipated we walked until km 39.3.<br />
There are two really good camping spots, one at the edge of the trees and one inside the small forest. No mice there.<br />
<br />
The steep trail down wasn't super easy and must be hard during rain. The second river crossing at km 54 was much more demanding. We crossed it further east of the Tyrolean, where the river divides in multiple branches. There the water went below Annas hips (1,63m). We walked to the viewpoint at km 62.4. Lots of people watched the sunset there with a great view of Fitz Roy and it was easy to get a ride for the last 2 km to El Chaltén.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-10 to 2023-Mar-13 / 4 days / RR / SOBO / El Chaltén anticlockwise / Ondrej <br />
<br />
I had the luxury of being able to wait for a good weather window and it really payed out. My hike was easy with magnificent views when climbing up to Paso del Viento. I even had a tranquil lunch at the top. The glacier walk and the snowy peaks are stunning.<br />
<br />
However, I believe gpt40 can turn into hell in windy weather or if camping outside the wind-sheltered camps. I met several people in El Chaltén who had to turn back because the wind didn’t let them climb up to the pass. One couple also had their tent teared apart in the middle of the night at Bahía de Hornos. If you can, avoid camping there for the last night. Instead, camp at Bahía de Tempános which offers far better wind protection.<br />
<br />
I enjoyed the recommended 4 day length. Each day section took me around 5-6 hours of walking. I believe that especially Day 1 and 2 could be combined into one (El Chaltén - Refugio del Viento) if the weather is favourable.<br />
<br />
Mice seem to be present at all of the official camps - best is to hang your food, cooking utensils and hygienne stuff on a tree away from your tent and avoid eating in your tent. I did that and had no problems with the animals, while some of my companions got holes bitten into their tents and other stuff. <br />
<br />
I rented harness and carabiniers for the tyrollean traverse at Viento Oeste. The traverse was fun to use and I was happy that I didn’t need to ford the cold rivers. Recommended!<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-06 to 2023-Mar-07 / 2 days / Laguna Toro out and back / Will<br />
<br />
This is a tough one, I didn't make it. I waited out a few rainy days in town until the park office told me we had a good two day window. <br />
<br />
I spent the first night at Laguna Toro. Be careful of mice there. Quite a bit of rain and snow, but still too warm for the snow to stay on the ground. The next day we (25 or so tourists) set out to attempt the pass. <br />
<br />
I crossed the river on foot right by the zip line, the water was below my knees at noon. Painfully cold though. I climbed up until I got a view of the first glacier at which point the wind was too strong for me to trust my footing. I went back to the first camp planning to wait and try again the next day.<br />
<br />
Just after setting up the wind tore down a big green tree branch, which crushed and ripped my tent. Thankfully I wasn't inside. Walked back to El Chaltén in defeat.<br />
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I guess that's the end of my GPT hike. It's been amazing, other than the miserable weather down here in the south!<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-21 to 2023-Feb-24 / 4 days / GPT40 RR counter clockwise / Véronica & Zach<br />
<br />
Route: Centro de Visitantes - Laguna Toro - Paso del Viento - Paso Huemul - Bahía de los Témpanos - Centro de Visitantes <br />
<br />
We hiked the Huemul Circuit in 4 days as recommended by the Park officials. You could do it in less, but it is so beautiful and it was nice not to rush and to take it all in. The park staff also informed us of the expected weather conditions. You only really need favourable weather on the 2d and 3d day, going over the two passes. It was extremely windy when we went, knocking me off my feet at times. <br />
<br />
I enjoyed having my microspikes for the crossing of Glaciar Túnel, allowing me to explore a bit further up on the ice, but they are not necessary. From the top of Paso Del Viento, the view of the Southern Patagonian Icefield is awe-inspiring, but there are no good sheltered spots at or near the top to pause and admire the view for very long before the descent. <br />
<br />
The Paso del Viento Camp (second night) is the most exposed of the camps, the tent sites are semi-protected by low rock walls, and some are better than others. The trail is easy to follow and is well-marked. <br />
<br />
We rented harnesses and cord for the Tyrolean traverses from the gear shop Viento Oeste, at 1,400 pesos per person per day. The cord was 250 extra pesos per day. It was fairly straightforward to figure out how the cable crossings worked. The first crossing of Río Túnel on day 2 seemed fordable, but not the second one on day 4. That Tyrolean traverse also did not have a rope to pull the pulley back, so we were glad to have one. <br />
<br />
This is the link to register for the trek online: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfP8lEz5ry97gEK6fzx2mlu1NAhPwBx8cRlnSZOH8mx8iUMHA/viewform<br />
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* 2023-Unknown / Helen and Craig<br />
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Big forest fire around the 3rd bay near iceberg bay. Circuit was closed for a bit. Unsure on how well it's recovering. Have a chat with the rangers before leaving.<br />
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* 2023-Jan-08 / Alexis, Iris<br />
<br />
Same as below, follow the trail when it differs from the trace. <br />
Beware that on Day 2, the Paso del Viento can be very windy and you should check the weather forecast before leaving.<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-04 to 2023-Jan-07 / 4 days / Helen and Craig (plus 8 trail friends!) Gabby, James, Hannah, Jess, Julia, Jacob, Caro and Ali.<br />
<br />
>Trail was very easy to find.<br />
<br />
>Wind guru was for us completely unreliable. Very strong winds to the point of blowing us off path for minutes at a time whilst predictions were minimal forecast. Heed advice from rangers.<br />
<br />
>First river crossing was impassable. Worth bringing harnesses for zipline (worth it for the fun)<br />
The far far end of el chalten there's a shop called vende oste where we found good rates of hiring harnesses.<br />
<br />
>If it's windy on the 3rd day pitch up in the iceberg bay bivi site rather than the second site. We stopped earlier than the rest of the gang due to being a bit tired. We had very peaceful night in strong winds where friends at the next site a hellish night. Iceberg bay was also my number one campsite of all GPT40-30! Watching icebergs flip to the sunset after a long dusty day of slipping sliding and being gusted off the path by winds on the mornings pass. This place is a true refuge for the soul.<br />
<br />
>Ferry not running so not many options to hitchhike back to chalten for last part of last day. The liberal use of gaiters on trainers also recommend. Lots of spiky grass seeds and burrs on last days<br />
<br />
> Very much worth the wait for a weather window. Incredibly diverse veiws. The glacier walk was a one of kind! Veiws of the ice field kinder the feeling of being about a small at a ant.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-15 / 3 days / RR anticlockwise / Frank<br />
<br />
Watch video of the hike @ national park office. Bring a harness & learn how to do a Tyrolean traverse before you go (the NP video is useful for this) Where the trail differs from the track file it's easier to follow the trail which is generally good & clear. You are required to register online for the trek (link given by Veronica & Zach) & sign out at the national park office when you are finished.<br />
<br />
The river above Laguna Toro was waist deep & v fast, it nearly knocked me over. Not recommended to cross in the afternoon. In the early morning it may be only knee deep. Bring the harness anyway & learn how to use it, you may need it. On the glacier stay near the edge, people tend to go too far out. At the far side you should see footprints & cairns leading to the moraine. Camped @ small high camp just after exiting the moraine (Vivac Tunel) There are a few stone corrals there. Lined the tent with rocks - pegs alone will pop. Good & sheltered camping @ Laguna Toro & after Paso del Viento @ Refuge but I went from Vivac Tunel over Pasos Viento & Huemul in 1 long day. Only a little snow @ Paso del Viento & easy to cross. Very windy on Paso Huemul in the afternoon. Steep & loose descent, slow going but I saw 2 huemul. Amazing views of the Icecap between the two passes. Campsite @ Iceberg Bay one of the best on GPT. You can watch the bergs that calve off the icefield breaking up. At lower Rio Tunel we forded 300M downstream from the cable where the river is braided into channels. OK to cross @ noon, knee deep & fast but you need to pick a good spot. Definitely not fordable @ the cable where it runs deep in a single channel. Challenging hike but incredible views of the Icecap.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
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* 2020-Feb-02 / 2 days / Tom and Maddie<br />
<br />
2 days anticlockwise. Trail is easy to follow. Talk to the rangers and they can let you know about any issues. Would be tough in bad weather but in clear weather there are no issues. For the glacier walk we were told to enter the glacier just after the beginning and to exit just after the end. I suspect due to the increased popularity a new route has been made in sections so follow the trail markers which divert from the GPX route. <br />
<br />
We hired harnesses in El Chalten for the river crossings. We crossed the first on foot in the morning and had no issues. The second one we crossed using the equipment for the novelty but the river looked fine to cross further down. However I can see the river being hard to cross in high levels of rain. <br />
<br />
This was a very beautiful section and very different to the northern sections.<br />
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* 2020-Jan-12 / 4 days / Oreste Marquis<br />
<br />
Did the trek counterclockwise wich is the only way to do it rangers say. You need to register to do this trek and guardaparques vive great advises. I crossed the rivers by foot and they were pretty hard, I recommand using the zipline. Awesome views with good weather, but the wind is really annoying! The campgrounds rangers told me to camp weren’t the ones on the trackfiles, but are pretty close to them so they are not hard to find. Great experience !!<br />
<br />
Verify the wind forecast! The hills are so steep, strong wind could be dangerous! There’s no snow anymore and you will not need crampons.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec / 3 days / Matthieu <br />
<br />
We did it in December with good weather, in 3 days ( instead of the 4 recommended, 2 first days in one big day). Awesome trekk and views. It is better to register first at the guardaparques office. <br />
<br />
Trekk easy to follow excepted on the walk on the glaciar before the paso del viento (a little one, not the Viedma). During this walk, I would not advise to try to walk by the wall of mud and rocks at the left of the glaciar, it is a steepy way and everything slips, we tried it and went on the ice after. The little walk on the ice just near didn´t feel unsafe to me, with the little rocks it doesn't really slip.<br />
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Good camping sites, well protected from the weather conditions. <br />
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The last downhill after the paso de Huemul is the most dangerous part, very steepy but with trees to hang for help. I would advise to do this part with good weather conditions, with mud it could be dangerous. <br />
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For the rivercrossings (2 real ones) there is one way walking and one way with tyrolean on a zip Line. We did it with with the tyrolean, and it was extremly funny. Rental of material possible in El chalten. Of course you have to know how to insure yourself good, so inform yourself before going, it is not hard to understand though, but extremely dangerous if not done well. None of us had experience with it before. <br />
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<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / Arnaud et Adriane <br />
<br />
After we have taken the information at the national parc office, we only had 2 days of correct weather. So we decided not to walk the entire section but to go only to the paso del viento to get the view on the campo de hielo (glaciar viedma), following the advises of the guardaparques.<br />
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I think it is the highlight of the section but not sure since I have never walked it entirely.<br />
<br />
On the first day we also took the time to walk to the summit of the cerro loma del pliegue tumbado (1500m of height). It offers an amazing view on the fitz roy and on the cerro torre, the 2 rockstars of El Chalten.<br />
<br />
On the second day we went to el Paso del Viento. The view there on the campo de hielo is absolutely fascinating. The hike is very tough but is absolutely worth the effort. You walk on a glaciar during 2kms but no equipment or particular skill is needed. It was very very very windy (and happily it was a quiet day I do not imagine on other day).<br />
<br />
Day 1 : El Chalten-cerro loma del pliegue tumbado-laguna torro : 27km with big elevation gain (around 1700m)<br />
Day 2 : laguna toro - paso del viento - laguna toro : 18km.<br />
Day 3 : back to El Chalten : 17km.<br />
<br />
I definitely recomand to follow the guardaparques advises and pay a huge attention to the weather. On this section with a bad weather and a strong wind I think it is dangerous to try to walk it entirely. And if it is cloudy, you will miss amazing views.<br />
<br />
The riverford after the laguna toro was easy on the way to the paso del viento (on the morning) but very dangerous on the way back (on the afternoon with all the gletchers melting I think). The worst we've done yet.<br />
If you intend to get back after the paso del viento I advise to get equipment to be able to use the zip line that has been settled by the guardaparques. It us much more secured than crossing the river on the afternoon.<br />
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<br />
* 2019-Nov-6 / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe<br />
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Equipment for Zip Line to cross rivers is not required anymore since this season.<br />
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Most of the season the rivers are possible to cross on foot<br />
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Paso Viedma had a decent amount of snow on it (Snow Line at 1000m), the ascent is straightforward but the descent on the side facing the ice field can be really iced over and difficult without crampons (ask at Visitor Center of the NP for current conditions)<br />
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* 2019-Nov-4 / 4 days / regular hiking route / counter-clockwise / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe <br />
<br />
Beautiful hike in good weather! Great views of the ice sheet and mountains from Paso Del Viento. Highly recommend waiting for clear weather so you don't miss the scenery! We went up right after a big storm. The trail was a bit muddy up to the Laguna Torro, and the lee of the pass had a decent amount of snow. The windward side was pretty icy and more difficult than the snow. The next day we took a detour and cut cross country to walk on the Campo De Hielo Sur. Our route took a bit of steep scrambling to get down to it and back up around Paso De Huemul, and there were lots of open crevasses on the ice, so it would be good to have some experience and navigation skills if you want to do the same. Dropping down Paso Huemul on the trail was steep and a knee killer, and from Lago Viedma we had a hard time staying on the right trail amidst all the cow path, but aside from a few spiky bushes it's easy to cut cross country. Unnecessary to use the zip lines this year to cross the rivers. You have to camp only in the designated campsites.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
<br />
Notes to consider before beginning: GPT40 is more popularly known as the Huemul Circuit, a 57-kilometer trek in El Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. Before embarking, the national park guard requires that every hiker obtain a permit, bring required safety gear, and watch a slideshow about the circuit. The safety gear consists of a harness, 2 carabiners (one steel and one aluminum), slings, and 35 m of rope. Most of this gear can be rented at any outfitter in town, but due to liability reasons, the outfitters won’t rent rope. We went to the local ferretería to purchase this. All of this gear is used for two river crossings on zip lines. <br />
<br />
We were told that the rangers required hikers to bring their safety gear to the station before a permit would be issued. I would recommend that anyone who wants to do this circuit go to the rangers station the day before to watch the video and get any other necessary information about weather, conditions, etc. Since rentals can get expensive, renting the same day you leave and then going to the rangers station to show them your safety gear and get a permit seems to be the best course of action. The guard station is located on the south side of the Río Fitz Roy just across the bridge. <br />
<br />
Most people hike the circuit clockwise (as the slideshow recommends). The trail begins just behind the rangers station and ascends up gentle grassy hills. It is fairly flat and well maintained. After passing Laguna Túnel o Tore, the trail deviates from the GPS route and loops to the first crossing of the Río Túnel on a zip line. During low water, it is possible to cross this river on foot by following the GPS track. After crossing the river, the trail climbs steeply to just above Glaciar Río Túnel Inferior. Along the south side of the glacier, the trail becomes hard to follow as it disappears in loose moraine. Walking on the edge of the glacier may be easier than trying to pick your way across the steep slope but be careful doing this. <br />
<br />
After passing the glacier, follow maintained switchbacks up the side of the mountain towards Paso del Viento, the high point of the circuit. For the next 20 km, expect amazing views of Glacier Viedma. I cannot speak to the quality of the trail descending from the pass because of the blanketing snowpack that was present during our trek, but the sections where the snow did melt looked maintained. There is a small refugio, Refugio Paso del Viento located at a pond about 3.5 km from Paso Viento. <br />
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After passing the refugio, the trail contours and then climbs to Paso Huemul. Make sure to look back and enjoy the last view of Glacier Viedma. The descent is very steep and at one point there is even a rope to downclimb. There are also plenty of woody bushes (manzanita?) to cling to as you lower yourself down the trail. After completing the descent, the trail is straightforward and easygoing. There is camping on the beach at the peninsula, Camping Bahía de Hornos. There is one more river crossing with a zip line at the lower Río Túnel, and from there it is easy walking to the end!<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
2023: There is a bus every evening at 8PM from El Chalten to Los Antiguos, arriving at about 7AM. The bus continues to Esquel, El Bolson & Bariloche. From Los Antiguos you can go by local taxi or hitch to the border & Chile Chico (there is no longer a bus across the border) There is also a bus once a day from Los Antiguos to El Chalten.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
*2023 / Anh<br />
It’s possible to hike alone, you just have to make registration online before and after:<br />
[[Registration|https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfP8lEz5ry97gEK6fzx2mlu1NAhPwBx8cRlnSZOH8mx8iUMHA/viewform]]<br />
<br />
*2023 / Arthur, Rémi, Noé & Louis<br />
Do not forget to register online with the guardaparques (and to check out when you return !).<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT40 - Glaciar Viedma]]<br />
<br />
*2023 / Anh<br />
InReach from ranger: pls ask the ranger the current phone number and email for inReach.<br />
<br />
You don’t have to watch video in ranger station anymore, they have new presentation:<br />
[[Presentation |https://drive.google.com/file/u/0/d/1U_Wp46EDCLM_yFlSgXdfyxZYnMFHTLlN/view?pli=1]]<br />
<br />
=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT40_(Glaciar_Viedma)&diff=115172GPT40 (Glaciar Viedma)2024-04-12T00:23:45Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Apr-08 to 2024-Apr-10 / 3 days / Hiking / counterclockwise / RR / Joscha<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 1: RR [0.0-21.2]<br />
<br />
Good trail. Only the last 2 km was hiking on loose scree and took some time. Camp Rio Tunnel at km 21.2 has only spots for about three tents. The wind protection isn't as good as at camp Toro (16.6). The river at km 18.9 was a easy ford (knee high) about 50-100 meter up stream of the zip-line.<br />
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<br />
Day 2: RR [21.2-45.1]<br />
<br />
Paso de viento (km 24.0) was very icy in top and on the way down. I managed without spikes, but they would have been helpfull. The pass at km 38.5 was snow free. The trail down after the pass isnvery steep. Would be very hard if snowy or muddy. Camped at -49.475284, -72.943223.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 3: RR [45.1-64.9]<br />
<br />
The RR branches off the official Huemul Track at km 46.7. The RR runs a little higher and therefore offers maybe a bit better views. But the official Huemul Track would be the faster option. Rio Tunel was easily fordable (knee high) just under the zipline at km 54.0.<br />
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<br />
*2024-Mar-24 to 2024-Mar-26 / 3 days / Hiking / anticlockwise / RR / Juliet and Martin<br />
<br />
Day 1 el chalten - Rio Tunel camp<br />
<br />
The park rangers were closed for strike action. We weren't able to register online either (bad internet connection). We left around 9am. Several people and a group on the first part, but we lost them on our way around the glacier. Magnificent walk between forests, viewpoints and lakes. We arrived for lunch at laguna o toro. Possible bivouac spot with emergency shelter if needed. It's a beautiful spot, but we didn't feel like pitching our tent there. So we decided to head for the Rio Tunel campside. Passing the zipline, in fact the river is probably passable on foot a little above. We recommend that you look at tutorials on how to use the equipment, which we hadn't done, and the rental company gave us bad advice. Fortunately, there was an experienced hiker who helped us. <br />
The passage along and on the glacier is complicated. We lost the trail and took a long time to make headway. There are lots of slippery spots (ice), so you have to be careful. Once we'd found our way back, we were able to reach the camp. It's well sheltered from the weather with a few spots (in fact only 3). The place is very windy, so I'd recommend getting there early if it's busy to get a sheltered spot. Magnificent view of the glacier. <br />
There are mice, and we saw several in the evening, but we weren't bothered during the night. Difficult to find a place to hang the food so we kept it with us in the tent enclosed and in the middle of the two of us and not at the ends. That's how it was. <br />
Several water spots along the way all day (several rivers).<br />
<br />
Day 2 Rio Tunel camp - Bahia de los tempanosb camp (-49,47994,-7298601)<br />
<br />
Passage of the paso del viento, which was indeed very windy, but passable. The path is still passable as used. Easy to follow. Magnificent panoramic view of the glacier at the top. You can see that some people have already pitched their tents at the pass, but I wouldn't recommend it because of the strong wind. Beautiful descent to the refuge. Very good, in good condition. Lots of possibilities for pitching tents around the stone walls. Very nice place to sleep. We continued on. Passage over Col Huelmul easier than the previous one. Very windy too, but the wind was in our favor and helped us make our way up. The descent is very complicated indeed, and quite dangerous. Take your time, especially if it's been raining. It takes time. Fortunately, there are ropes to hold on to. We reach the camp just before dark. It's very crowded, but we find a place to pitch our tent. The view of the lake, icebergs and glacier is magnificent. However, we were bothered by mice all night. We had hung our food from the trees, but despite this, they came up to the tent (between the 2 canvas sheets) time and time again. AVOID! It's crowded, there's garbage, mice, a rotting cow carcass...<br />
<br />
Day 3 Camp Bahia de los tempanos (-49,47994,-7298601) - el chalten <br />
<br />
Last day of hiking. Very beautiful in the hills, views over the lake. We loved it. Cross country in the hills, very nice to do even if we had to pass a few muddy spots and lost the trail a few times. Once back on the official trail, no more worries. The zipline was easier than on the first day. We didn't have to wait very long, surely 2 people ahead of us. End of the day with an easy trail to el chalten. The last few kilometers are on the road, not very pleasant and uninteresting, but it's not very long. <br />
<br />
This section is definitely beautiful and diverse. Mice are a real problem on this section. They seem to be present at all the bivouac spots. They're not shy and don't hesitate to come along even if you scare them. If we had to do it all over again, we'd use rat repellents, because hanging up the food doesn't seem to be enough. <br />
<br />
<br />
24-Mar-05 to 2024-Mar-07 / 48 hours / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš<br />
<br />
I did not like El Chaltén and the weather seemed better than later in the week so I immediatelly followed to GPT40. Starting at 17:00, I stopped 3 km from the first official camping Torro, which is normally 16 km far, in three hours of walking. I registered online and did not talk to any parkguards - not sure if they would not try to turn me back this late if they saw me. Fearing mice and being asocial, I did not want to reach the camp. The trail is very clear and easy. At least in this section, there are many places to camp - many trees provide shelter from wind. It was not that windy anyway, just on the final descent to the valley. Met lots of people coming back from Pliegue Tumbado mirador and nobody after the junction.<br />
<br />
The next morning surprised me (the only reliable forecast seems to be for heavy rain or cloudless day, anything in between seems to be a hit or miss) by blue sky, so I got awesome views going up the pass. There was a queue at the zipline so I forded 50 m upstream - it was barely below my knees. Met ten people altogether that day. Walked on glacier, as the official PDF recomends. It is not slippery with the rocks. It is fun, there are footsteps to follow going on and off the glacier. I assume it is safe. There is also a trail going in parallel on the rocks (all circuit is trail BTW, not party CC like GPX suggests). Indeed only between the glaciers there is a few tentspots as indicated by OSM (unofficial? - but nobody probably cares). By the time I got to the first pass, clouds obscured Fitz Roy and the mountains across the icefield, which was still breathtaking. The pass had both quite windy spots and windless spots and some flats, so in good weather might be ok for camping, but hard to say. Traversing to the second pass, you actually mostly go through a valley partly (?) formed by ancient morraines, so most of the time, the icefield is hidden. I think there are places for pitching a tent, though not really between water at 35 and the second pass - anyway, the place around refugio is the most shletered. There used to be a campsite right after the second pass, but the PDF says you should not use it. Going further down is indeed very steep. There are now handy ropes attached to trees at places. The trail is badly eroded and slippery, would be indeed annoying when muddy. Darkness fell on me there and I still did not bother with a headlamp, but this is indeed the most demanding part of the whole trail. It is demanding also for GPT standards (the rest of the circui is easy). Once you get down, it is flat and you can camp in many places, which I did.<br />
<br />
The next day there were about 15 people, three of which went clockwise, so it is done even if the Park does not like it (it normally has no presence on the trail itself). This time I waited the queue for the zipline to actually try using it. I think the river was fordable there. It was definitely fordable 200-300 metres downstream (there is a diversion), where it widens and branches in the delta. The rest of the trail was uneventful.<br />
<br />
It is indeed a nice end to the GPT. I did not expect to finish the Main route (minus 23-31) this year, so yay! The El Viento shop (49.3229571S, 72.8940188W) is on the other side of the town (2 km) to the Park office and charged me for three days even though I finished the circuit in 48 hours - it was 5-6 USD per day. In retrospect, I would not bother with the harness. I met a guy who went without because he could not rent one - I was given the last one they had available and it was too big for me by far. Should the second river prove unfordable, people would probably borrow you theirs, it seems one set is usually carried per group and passed over using the thin rope - at least on the second crossing, the thin rope is there permanently so I am not sure what would the thin rope be for anyway.<br />
<br />
I still hated El Chalten (too many tourists, really bad 4g internet [apparently everybody in town shares one connection, unless I was wrongly informed] - if you stay overnight, usually in such situations it starts working well some time after midnight when everybody sleeps -, really pricy produce and very bad meal in one of the restaurants; Villa O'Higgins has a much nicer feel), so I hopped on a bus (3h) to El Calafate at 18h for about 22 USD. It goes also in the morning and around noon. There is also a 130 USD 28h (I think) bus to Bariloche at 14:00 and at 21:00. From El Calafate, there are connections to Ushuaia (this one not sure), Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas (at 3 AM and change in the middle about 40 USD, a bit cheaper if youbhave cash) and Buenos Aires. I don't have my ticket, back yet and flying directly from El Calafate would be very expensive, prices from Punta Arenas were the cheapest. Bye!<br />
<br />
2024-Feb-16 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Charlie Gardner<br />
<br />
What an outstanding hike. This is definitely such an incredible way to either begin/end the main route of the GPT. We did it in the classic 4 days which was fairly chill. <br />
<br />
Day 1 - <br />
Pretty straightforward day. Hike starts with a nice climb that takes you eventually into the surrounding forests. Great views of Lago Viedma from the top and a nice lunch spot. We started very late in the day and the sun was BEATING, could recommend and earlier start to avoid this. Don’t forget to check in with rangers before leaving! Quick form you have to fill out. Hang your food at Toro campsite, we saw a few mice running around. <br />
<br />
Day 2 - <br />
Winds were crazy in the valley when we woke up. Many hikers were considering bailing on the hike due to worries of what Paso del viento would hold but the they calmed down around 930-10 and most pushed on. There’s an alternative route across the rivers that funnel into Laguna Tunel o Toro that we thought we’d check out as a few kairns led that way but they were far too strong to cross when we went that way. Ended up having a route find a bit and scramble up an alternative route after this lake, definitely recommend staying as close to route as possible here. Trail opens up again after you make it over. Tyrolean was short, didn’t look like anyone tried to ford the river here but it was definitely doable. Get to tyrolean early if you want to avoid waiting. The glacier route required a bit of route finding as well at points but isn’t anything crazy. Boulders and rocks can be loose at times though. Maybe we got lucky but paso del viento was quiet when we got to the top. Outstanding views! Short walk to camp after the descent from Viento. 8 of us slept in the shelter at paso del viento Camp as winds picked up considerably overnight. Was definitely glad for the protection but there were definitely mice scurrying around. <br />
<br />
Day 3 - <br />
Definitely recommend an earlyish start this day. The climb up to paso Huemul is not as hard as paso del viento but the decent afterwards is just ridiculous. If you have bad knees, it’s more of a controlled fall on some sections. Gravel is extremely loose and it is VERY steep. Thankfully, there are a fair amount of the roots and trees to grab hold up but this was definitely an annoying decent especially at the end of the Day 3. Many tried Bahia de Los témpanos camp but we decided to push on to Bahia de Hornos. An hour later, everyone else showed up at this camp as they said the other one did not have sufficient shelter from wind and was fairly dusty. Hornos ended up being lovely after winds calmed down and sound got lower. Would probably filter water here if possible, lots of cows nearby and water is fairly foggy. <br />
<br />
Day 4 - <br />
Final day was straightforward but definitely longer than expected. Would definitely recommend leaving early to be first at the tyrolean again. Be careful with the safety rope, ours broke halfway while pulling bags across and we had to send a person across without the pulley. <br />
<br />
Enjoy, this hike rocks!<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom Pieper<br />
<br />
Not much to add. As the others mentioned a must do! When I started, there were indeed not that many people as weather forecast was not that good for the 'classic' 4 day itinerary. I was fine doing it in 3 days. The bivouack after Glaciar Rio Tunel Inferior only has space for 3 tents. You find additional protected spots 5 minutes beyond at the lake. If you fear glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) there are also some elevated spots there.<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-06 to 2024-Jan-08 / 2.5 days / Hiking / anticlockwise / RR / Stiina & Kris<br />
<br />
We started around noon on day 1 and hiked to the bivouack after Glaciar Rio Tunel Inferior at km (km 21.2). We walked acrosse the glacier to avoid the moraine, no crampons needed. The bivouack was extremely windy at night but still a bit protected, lots of big rocks to help with staking the tent down. There are also a few rock walls built.<br />
<br />
On day 2 we hiked over Paso Viento (which was very windy indeed; we also had rain, hail and snow) and down the other side. Once we got lower down we got out of the cloud and the weather was very pleasant. We didn't have much of the view over the glacier to the North but saw the end that descended towards Lago Viedma. The Paso Huemul was also extremely windy but at least it was sunny. The descent through the forest after the pass is really steep, with loose gravel/sand and lots of tree roots - be extremely careful here! The official campsites at the bay and peninsula were full so we continued until km45.2 where there is a nice windprotected campsite shown on OSM. Ford at 44.2 is completely dried out, but at 45.5 the stream is flowing.<br />
<br />
On day 3 we hiked back into El Chalten by lunch, it was a very windy day. When we reached the tyrolean at km54 (which is waymarked as a bridge for some reason?) there were about 15 people in the line so we decided to ford the river about 30m upstream. We went 3 people in a line formation, the first person had water up to the waist, the last just below hips. At km62, where you need to climb below a fence just before joining the road, pay attention to the small holes in the sandy banks: those are armadillo burrows, you might see one if lucky!<br />
<br />
* From 2023-12-26 to 2023-12-28 //3 days // Hiking // NOBO // Anticlockwise // Quentin Clavel<br />
<br />
Even if there's lot of people (around 15/20 departure per days at this time of the season), this section is in my opinion absolutely amazing ! The view on the icefield is outstanding ! I mostly followed the track, except on day two, where I continue to explore the surrounding of the Laguna de Los Esquies. Happy to be totally alone there, in front of this outstanding view. Hypnotic ! (It's almost the same that you can see at paso del viento, but closer to the icefield, and more chance to be by yourself here.<br />
<br />
You have to rent harnais in El Chaltén and pass threw two zip lines. That was very fun !<br />
<br />
I had a looooot of wind at paso del viento and paso del huemul. Reminds me tierra del fuego ! Could be very surprising as it's unpredictable squalls and so powerful ! <br />
<br />
The downhill after paso del huemul Is not funny as it's very slippery. Just have to take the time to be even more careful. <br />
<br />
Views along the whole trek are absolutely stunning ! A must do ! <br />
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<br />
* 2023-11-21 to 2023-11-26 / 5 days / RR / SOBO / anticlockwise / Anh<br />
<br />
GPT40 is no longer remote, there are 20 hikers on the trail every day.<br />
The trail is not marked, but not difficult to follow. No real river crossing necessary, there was always aid available. Snowfields are easy to cross.<br />
<br />
Day 1: a little muddy, but easy to walk.<br />
<br />
Day 2: Tyrolean Traverse is no fun as you have to pull yourself uphill. Alternative is an easy river crossing (knee deep, 10:00 AM good weather). 1km after that you can walk between RR or on the glacier (see presentation link at the end of this page). On the glacier trail you come back directly on the mountain of the same height. After the Paso del Viento (700m uphill in 6km, windy & cold) I leave GPT40 and walk to Campamento Laguna de Los Esquies to get a bit closer to the glacier. The path is difficult to find as there are many snowfields (without footprints) in between. But I am alone at the glacier lake.<br />
<br />
Day 3: Mostly with CC back to GPT40 to Paso del Viento Camp<br />
<br />
Day 4: Shortly after windy Passo Huemul is time consuming downhill (500Hm in 1km). The trail is very slippery (in sunny weather) & there is hardly any grip for the next step, take time for this part.<br />
<br />
Day 5: very easy trail & Tyrolean Traverse is really fun (downhill zipline). Alternative river crossing is not easy (strong, 12:00 AM good weather).<br />
<br />
* 2023-12-01 to 2023-12-04 / 4 days / Hiking / RR counterclockwise/ Fangwen & Tobi<br />
<br />
Amazing section. We did the recommended 4 day itinerary (together with about 20 other hikers). A few points to add to the existing comments here: first, there was a lot of really wet grasslands, especially on day 1 (at least when we did it, early December). Accept your fate and live with wet feet (and bring extra socks if you can). Second, the four day itinerary makes use of the best-sheltered campsites. Other campsites may offer less protection. Note that even if the Park Rangers say conditions are good, you might encounter very strong winds in many areas. Third, if you want to extend the (somewhat short) days a bit, you can hike to the viewpoint Loma del Pliegue on day 1, on the ridge just above the campsite on day 2 (nice to watch the sunset), and to the aptly named mirador del cóndor next to Huemul pass on day 3. On day 3, it's best not to arrive too late to the very scenic Bahia de los Témpanos camp, since space is limited. Lastly, the descent from the huemul pass on day 3 is indeed a bit tricky, especially if you were to go in wet conditions.<br />
<br />
One warning regarding water at the campsites: despite the park information claiming that the water is potable, we would recommend taking some care to get clean drinking water. On day 1, there is an excellent little stream 400m past the campsite. On day 2, take water from a little side stream ~600m before the campsite. The lack of the toilet means that the water from the river flowing into the lake is likely not safe to consume. Similarly on day 3, it is highly recommended to fill up plenty of water at the little waterfall at the end of the steep downhill section before going into camp. The lack of a toilet means that the water there is also unsafe to drink. Furthermore, next to the campsite is a carcass of a recently deceased cow. If the first three days gave you the impression that there is plenty of clean drinking water available during the day, be aware that this is not true of day 4. There is only one good looking stream, roughly at km52, and all the water will require treatment (we saw another three cow carcasses nearby the trail on day 4). Don't worry too much about this, if you plan ahead and think a bit about where to get the water, then it's no issue at all. Enjoy this excellent adventure!<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Apr-08 to 2023-Apr-11 / 4 days / RR / SOBO / Arthur, Rémi, Noé & Louis<br />
<br />
Such a wonderful section ! One of our favorite ! Incredible views on the glaciers, with autumn's colors it was amazing !<br />
<br />
It is recommended by the guardaparques to have good weather on day 2 and 3 (for the passes), no cloud and no wind for us : perfect.<br />
<br />
We rented 1 harness for the 2 zip lines (day 2 and 4). 1 harness per group is sufficient but you have to rent a thin rope too in case the one in the pulley is broken. It is really worth it because the feeling is so good ! (We rented at Viento Oeste, north of San Martin street, the cheapest according to a friend).<br />
<br />
The thin rope is very helpful to suspend all your bags and things in camps. You have to do it because mice are at every camp and the will destroy your bag, your tent or whatever has food inside. This is the only annoying point of this section.<br />
<br />
About the trail : easy to follow, except when you have to walk on the glacier on day 2, it can be a bit challenging. Take care, do not go if there is fresh snow all over the glacier.<br />
<br />
The way down the paso Huemul on day 3 is very steep too.<br />
<br />
Do not forget to register online with the guardaparques (and to check out when you return !).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-30 to 2023-Apr-01 / 3 days / El Chaltén counter clockwise / Anna & Christopher<br />
<br />
We did the Huemul Circuit in 3 days. We started around 9 a.m. planning to camp at the Biwak Túnel the first night. The weather turned out to be so nice that we decided to continue and do the Paso del Viento the first day.<br />
<br />
The trail until the first Tyrolean traverse was really good even though it was partially covered in snow. We crossed the river easily by foot.<br />
After that the trail up to the pass gets more demanding and slower. Once you reach the Glaciar Túnel Inferior navigation gets more difficult. There are different paths and we firstly followed one going up and down on the gravel. It's probably easier to take the path on the glacier from the beginning on. We reached the pass at sunset and had an absolutely amazing view.<br />
<br />
We decided to camp at the end of Laguna Ferrari (to avoid the mice problem at the main campsites). The path to the lake was demanding, because the slope was covered with lot of snow and it was dark. At the campsite there are lots of well protected spots for tents.<br />
<br />
The next day we slept pretty long to recover from the previous big day and with better weather than anticipated we walked until km 39.3.<br />
There are two really good camping spots, one at the edge of the trees and one inside the small forest. No mice there.<br />
<br />
The steep trail down wasn't super easy and must be hard during rain. The second river crossing at km 54 was much more demanding. We crossed it further east of the Tyrolean, where the river divides in multiple branches. There the water went below Annas hips (1,63m). We walked to the viewpoint at km 62.4. Lots of people watched the sunset there with a great view of Fitz Roy and it was easy to get a ride for the last 2 km to El Chaltén.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-10 to 2023-Mar-13 / 4 days / RR / SOBO / El Chaltén anticlockwise / Ondrej <br />
<br />
I had the luxury of being able to wait for a good weather window and it really payed out. My hike was easy with magnificent views when climbing up to Paso del Viento. I even had a tranquil lunch at the top. The glacier walk and the snowy peaks are stunning.<br />
<br />
However, I believe gpt40 can turn into hell in windy weather or if camping outside the wind-sheltered camps. I met several people in El Chaltén who had to turn back because the wind didn’t let them climb up to the pass. One couple also had their tent teared apart in the middle of the night at Bahía de Hornos. If you can, avoid camping there for the last night. Instead, camp at Bahía de Tempános which offers far better wind protection.<br />
<br />
I enjoyed the recommended 4 day length. Each day section took me around 5-6 hours of walking. I believe that especially Day 1 and 2 could be combined into one (El Chaltén - Refugio del Viento) if the weather is favourable.<br />
<br />
Mice seem to be present at all of the official camps - best is to hang your food, cooking utensils and hygienne stuff on a tree away from your tent and avoid eating in your tent. I did that and had no problems with the animals, while some of my companions got holes bitten into their tents and other stuff. <br />
<br />
I rented harness and carabiniers for the tyrollean traverse at Viento Oeste. The traverse was fun to use and I was happy that I didn’t need to ford the cold rivers. Recommended!<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-06 to 2023-Mar-07 / 2 days / Laguna Toro out and back / Will<br />
<br />
This is a tough one, I didn't make it. I waited out a few rainy days in town until the park office told me we had a good two day window. <br />
<br />
I spent the first night at Laguna Toro. Be careful of mice there. Quite a bit of rain and snow, but still too warm for the snow to stay on the ground. The next day we (25 or so tourists) set out to attempt the pass. <br />
<br />
I crossed the river on foot right by the zip line, the water was below my knees at noon. Painfully cold though. I climbed up until I got a view of the first glacier at which point the wind was too strong for me to trust my footing. I went back to the first camp planning to wait and try again the next day.<br />
<br />
Just after setting up the wind tore down a big green tree branch, which crushed and ripped my tent. Thankfully I wasn't inside. Walked back to El Chaltén in defeat.<br />
<br />
I guess that's the end of my GPT hike. It's been amazing, other than the miserable weather down here in the south!<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-21 to 2023-Feb-24 / 4 days / GPT40 RR counter clockwise / Véronica & Zach<br />
<br />
Route: Centro de Visitantes - Laguna Toro - Paso del Viento - Paso Huemul - Bahía de los Témpanos - Centro de Visitantes <br />
<br />
We hiked the Huemul Circuit in 4 days as recommended by the Park officials. You could do it in less, but it is so beautiful and it was nice not to rush and to take it all in. The park staff also informed us of the expected weather conditions. You only really need favourable weather on the 2d and 3d day, going over the two passes. It was extremely windy when we went, knocking me off my feet at times. <br />
<br />
I enjoyed having my microspikes for the crossing of Glaciar Túnel, allowing me to explore a bit further up on the ice, but they are not necessary. From the top of Paso Del Viento, the view of the Southern Patagonian Icefield is awe-inspiring, but there are no good sheltered spots at or near the top to pause and admire the view for very long before the descent. <br />
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The Paso del Viento Camp (second night) is the most exposed of the camps, the tent sites are semi-protected by low rock walls, and some are better than others. The trail is easy to follow and is well-marked. <br />
<br />
We rented harnesses and cord for the Tyrolean traverses from the gear shop Viento Oeste, at 1,400 pesos per person per day. The cord was 250 extra pesos per day. It was fairly straightforward to figure out how the cable crossings worked. The first crossing of Río Túnel on day 2 seemed fordable, but not the second one on day 4. That Tyrolean traverse also did not have a rope to pull the pulley back, so we were glad to have one. <br />
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This is the link to register for the trek online: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfP8lEz5ry97gEK6fzx2mlu1NAhPwBx8cRlnSZOH8mx8iUMHA/viewform<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Unknown / Helen and Craig<br />
<br />
Big forest fire around the 3rd bay near iceberg bay. Circuit was closed for a bit. Unsure on how well it's recovering. Have a chat with the rangers before leaving.<br />
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* 2023-Jan-08 / Alexis, Iris<br />
<br />
Same as below, follow the trail when it differs from the trace. <br />
Beware that on Day 2, the Paso del Viento can be very windy and you should check the weather forecast before leaving.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-04 to 2023-Jan-07 / 4 days / Helen and Craig (plus 8 trail friends!) Gabby, James, Hannah, Jess, Julia, Jacob, Caro and Ali.<br />
<br />
>Trail was very easy to find.<br />
<br />
>Wind guru was for us completely unreliable. Very strong winds to the point of blowing us off path for minutes at a time whilst predictions were minimal forecast. Heed advice from rangers.<br />
<br />
>First river crossing was impassable. Worth bringing harnesses for zipline (worth it for the fun)<br />
The far far end of el chalten there's a shop called vende oste where we found good rates of hiring harnesses.<br />
<br />
>If it's windy on the 3rd day pitch up in the iceberg bay bivi site rather than the second site. We stopped earlier than the rest of the gang due to being a bit tired. We had very peaceful night in strong winds where friends at the next site a hellish night. Iceberg bay was also my number one campsite of all GPT40-30! Watching icebergs flip to the sunset after a long dusty day of slipping sliding and being gusted off the path by winds on the mornings pass. This place is a true refuge for the soul.<br />
<br />
>Ferry not running so not many options to hitchhike back to chalten for last part of last day. The liberal use of gaiters on trainers also recommend. Lots of spiky grass seeds and burrs on last days<br />
<br />
> Very much worth the wait for a weather window. Incredibly diverse veiws. The glacier walk was a one of kind! Veiws of the ice field kinder the feeling of being about a small at a ant.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-15 / 3 days / RR anticlockwise / Frank<br />
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Watch video of the hike @ national park office. Bring a harness & learn how to do a Tyrolean traverse before you go (the NP video is useful for this) Where the trail differs from the track file it's easier to follow the trail which is generally good & clear. You are required to register online for the trek (link given by Veronica & Zach) & sign out at the national park office when you are finished.<br />
<br />
The river above Laguna Toro was waist deep & v fast, it nearly knocked me over. Not recommended to cross in the afternoon. In the early morning it may be only knee deep. Bring the harness anyway & learn how to use it, you may need it. On the glacier stay near the edge, people tend to go too far out. At the far side you should see footprints & cairns leading to the moraine. Camped @ small high camp just after exiting the moraine (Vivac Tunel) There are a few stone corrals there. Lined the tent with rocks - pegs alone will pop. Good & sheltered camping @ Laguna Toro & after Paso del Viento @ Refuge but I went from Vivac Tunel over Pasos Viento & Huemul in 1 long day. Only a little snow @ Paso del Viento & easy to cross. Very windy on Paso Huemul in the afternoon. Steep & loose descent, slow going but I saw 2 huemul. Amazing views of the Icecap between the two passes. Campsite @ Iceberg Bay one of the best on GPT. You can watch the bergs that calve off the icefield breaking up. At lower Rio Tunel we forded 300M downstream from the cable where the river is braided into channels. OK to cross @ noon, knee deep & fast but you need to pick a good spot. Definitely not fordable @ the cable where it runs deep in a single channel. Challenging hike but incredible views of the Icecap.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
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* 2020-Feb-02 / 2 days / Tom and Maddie<br />
<br />
2 days anticlockwise. Trail is easy to follow. Talk to the rangers and they can let you know about any issues. Would be tough in bad weather but in clear weather there are no issues. For the glacier walk we were told to enter the glacier just after the beginning and to exit just after the end. I suspect due to the increased popularity a new route has been made in sections so follow the trail markers which divert from the GPX route. <br />
<br />
We hired harnesses in El Chalten for the river crossings. We crossed the first on foot in the morning and had no issues. The second one we crossed using the equipment for the novelty but the river looked fine to cross further down. However I can see the river being hard to cross in high levels of rain. <br />
<br />
This was a very beautiful section and very different to the northern sections.<br />
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* 2020-Jan-12 / 4 days / Oreste Marquis<br />
<br />
Did the trek counterclockwise wich is the only way to do it rangers say. You need to register to do this trek and guardaparques vive great advises. I crossed the rivers by foot and they were pretty hard, I recommand using the zipline. Awesome views with good weather, but the wind is really annoying! The campgrounds rangers told me to camp weren’t the ones on the trackfiles, but are pretty close to them so they are not hard to find. Great experience !!<br />
<br />
Verify the wind forecast! The hills are so steep, strong wind could be dangerous! There’s no snow anymore and you will not need crampons.<br />
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<br />
* 2019-Dec / 3 days / Matthieu <br />
<br />
We did it in December with good weather, in 3 days ( instead of the 4 recommended, 2 first days in one big day). Awesome trekk and views. It is better to register first at the guardaparques office. <br />
<br />
Trekk easy to follow excepted on the walk on the glaciar before the paso del viento (a little one, not the Viedma). During this walk, I would not advise to try to walk by the wall of mud and rocks at the left of the glaciar, it is a steepy way and everything slips, we tried it and went on the ice after. The little walk on the ice just near didn´t feel unsafe to me, with the little rocks it doesn't really slip.<br />
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Good camping sites, well protected from the weather conditions. <br />
<br />
The last downhill after the paso de Huemul is the most dangerous part, very steepy but with trees to hang for help. I would advise to do this part with good weather conditions, with mud it could be dangerous. <br />
<br />
For the rivercrossings (2 real ones) there is one way walking and one way with tyrolean on a zip Line. We did it with with the tyrolean, and it was extremly funny. Rental of material possible in El chalten. Of course you have to know how to insure yourself good, so inform yourself before going, it is not hard to understand though, but extremely dangerous if not done well. None of us had experience with it before. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / Arnaud et Adriane <br />
<br />
After we have taken the information at the national parc office, we only had 2 days of correct weather. So we decided not to walk the entire section but to go only to the paso del viento to get the view on the campo de hielo (glaciar viedma), following the advises of the guardaparques.<br />
<br />
I think it is the highlight of the section but not sure since I have never walked it entirely.<br />
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On the first day we also took the time to walk to the summit of the cerro loma del pliegue tumbado (1500m of height). It offers an amazing view on the fitz roy and on the cerro torre, the 2 rockstars of El Chalten.<br />
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On the second day we went to el Paso del Viento. The view there on the campo de hielo is absolutely fascinating. The hike is very tough but is absolutely worth the effort. You walk on a glaciar during 2kms but no equipment or particular skill is needed. It was very very very windy (and happily it was a quiet day I do not imagine on other day).<br />
<br />
Day 1 : El Chalten-cerro loma del pliegue tumbado-laguna torro : 27km with big elevation gain (around 1700m)<br />
Day 2 : laguna toro - paso del viento - laguna toro : 18km.<br />
Day 3 : back to El Chalten : 17km.<br />
<br />
I definitely recomand to follow the guardaparques advises and pay a huge attention to the weather. On this section with a bad weather and a strong wind I think it is dangerous to try to walk it entirely. And if it is cloudy, you will miss amazing views.<br />
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The riverford after the laguna toro was easy on the way to the paso del viento (on the morning) but very dangerous on the way back (on the afternoon with all the gletchers melting I think). The worst we've done yet.<br />
If you intend to get back after the paso del viento I advise to get equipment to be able to use the zip line that has been settled by the guardaparques. It us much more secured than crossing the river on the afternoon.<br />
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* 2019-Nov-6 / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe<br />
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Equipment for Zip Line to cross rivers is not required anymore since this season.<br />
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Most of the season the rivers are possible to cross on foot<br />
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Paso Viedma had a decent amount of snow on it (Snow Line at 1000m), the ascent is straightforward but the descent on the side facing the ice field can be really iced over and difficult without crampons (ask at Visitor Center of the NP for current conditions)<br />
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* 2019-Nov-4 / 4 days / regular hiking route / counter-clockwise / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe <br />
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Beautiful hike in good weather! Great views of the ice sheet and mountains from Paso Del Viento. Highly recommend waiting for clear weather so you don't miss the scenery! We went up right after a big storm. The trail was a bit muddy up to the Laguna Torro, and the lee of the pass had a decent amount of snow. The windward side was pretty icy and more difficult than the snow. The next day we took a detour and cut cross country to walk on the Campo De Hielo Sur. Our route took a bit of steep scrambling to get down to it and back up around Paso De Huemul, and there were lots of open crevasses on the ice, so it would be good to have some experience and navigation skills if you want to do the same. Dropping down Paso Huemul on the trail was steep and a knee killer, and from Lago Viedma we had a hard time staying on the right trail amidst all the cow path, but aside from a few spiky bushes it's easy to cut cross country. Unnecessary to use the zip lines this year to cross the rivers. You have to camp only in the designated campsites.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
<br />
Notes to consider before beginning: GPT40 is more popularly known as the Huemul Circuit, a 57-kilometer trek in El Parque Nacional Los Glaciares. Before embarking, the national park guard requires that every hiker obtain a permit, bring required safety gear, and watch a slideshow about the circuit. The safety gear consists of a harness, 2 carabiners (one steel and one aluminum), slings, and 35 m of rope. Most of this gear can be rented at any outfitter in town, but due to liability reasons, the outfitters won’t rent rope. We went to the local ferretería to purchase this. All of this gear is used for two river crossings on zip lines. <br />
<br />
We were told that the rangers required hikers to bring their safety gear to the station before a permit would be issued. I would recommend that anyone who wants to do this circuit go to the rangers station the day before to watch the video and get any other necessary information about weather, conditions, etc. Since rentals can get expensive, renting the same day you leave and then going to the rangers station to show them your safety gear and get a permit seems to be the best course of action. The guard station is located on the south side of the Río Fitz Roy just across the bridge. <br />
<br />
Most people hike the circuit clockwise (as the slideshow recommends). The trail begins just behind the rangers station and ascends up gentle grassy hills. It is fairly flat and well maintained. After passing Laguna Túnel o Tore, the trail deviates from the GPS route and loops to the first crossing of the Río Túnel on a zip line. During low water, it is possible to cross this river on foot by following the GPS track. After crossing the river, the trail climbs steeply to just above Glaciar Río Túnel Inferior. Along the south side of the glacier, the trail becomes hard to follow as it disappears in loose moraine. Walking on the edge of the glacier may be easier than trying to pick your way across the steep slope but be careful doing this. <br />
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After passing the glacier, follow maintained switchbacks up the side of the mountain towards Paso del Viento, the high point of the circuit. For the next 20 km, expect amazing views of Glacier Viedma. I cannot speak to the quality of the trail descending from the pass because of the blanketing snowpack that was present during our trek, but the sections where the snow did melt looked maintained. There is a small refugio, Refugio Paso del Viento located at a pond about 3.5 km from Paso Viento. <br />
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After passing the refugio, the trail contours and then climbs to Paso Huemul. Make sure to look back and enjoy the last view of Glacier Viedma. The descent is very steep and at one point there is even a rope to downclimb. There are also plenty of woody bushes (manzanita?) to cling to as you lower yourself down the trail. After completing the descent, the trail is straightforward and easygoing. There is camping on the beach at the peninsula, Camping Bahía de Hornos. There is one more river crossing with a zip line at the lower Río Túnel, and from there it is easy walking to the end!<br />
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==Season 2016/17==<br />
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=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
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=Transport to and from Route=<br />
2023: There is a bus every evening at 8PM from El Chalten to Los Antiguos, arriving at about 7AM. The bus continues to Esquel, El Bolson & Bariloche. From Los Antiguos you can go by local taxi or hitch to the border & Chile Chico (there is no longer a bus across the border) There is also a bus once a day from Los Antiguos to El Chalten.<br />
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=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
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*2023 / Anh<br />
It’s possible to hike alone, you just have to make registration online before and after:<br />
[[Registration|https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfP8lEz5ry97gEK6fzx2mlu1NAhPwBx8cRlnSZOH8mx8iUMHA/viewform]]<br />
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*2023 / Arthur, Rémi, Noé & Louis<br />
Do not forget to register online with the guardaparques (and to check out when you return !).<br />
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=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT40 - Glaciar Viedma]]<br />
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*2023 / Anh<br />
InReach from ranger: pls ask the ranger the current phone number and email for inReach.<br />
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You don’t have to watch video in ranger station anymore, they have new presentation:<br />
[[Presentation |https://drive.google.com/file/u/0/d/1U_Wp46EDCLM_yFlSgXdfyxZYnMFHTLlN/view?pli=1]]<br />
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=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT39_(Monte_Fitzroy)&diff=115077GPT39 (Monte Fitzroy)2024-04-05T21:24:42Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Apr-03 to 2024-Apr-05 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 1 + B + OSM Trail to Laguna Sucia / Joscha <br />
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I combined Section 37, 38 and 39. It took me 10.5 days including 2.5 days waiting at Bahia Pescado for the ferry. I left a bag with food in Villa O'Higgins which the ferry brought me. And I could store food at the chilenian Border station. Therefore I never had to cary food for more than 5 days.<br />
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Day 1: RR [0.0-31.8] + OH39-01 + OH39-B [0.6-0.2]<br />
<br />
I arrived at the southern end of lago de desierto at noon. I hiked for about 2 hours on the primary road until I got a hitch to the start of OH39-01. Its probably easier to get a hitch in the afternoon. At Laguna Piedras Blancas is a sign that the area around the Laguna is dangerous and it's forbidden to go to the Laguna. The sidetrail to the Laguna is a rock scramble. Because of wind and rain I did not went to the Laguna. But its possible to see the glacier without scrambling up to the Laguna (its also possible to see the glacier from the RR) and the rest of the trail is in good condition as well. I camped at the campsite Poincenot [39.4+0.2].<br />
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Day 2: OH39-B [0.2-2.6] + OSM Trail to Laguna Sucia + RR [39.4-49.4]<br />
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I went up to the Laguna de los Tres for sunrise with about 50 other hikers. The trail is officially closed for the season, but nobody cares. It was a little icy, but doable without spikes. I returned to the campsite Poincenot and went to the Laguna Sucia on the OSM trail. This trail is also officially closed, because it is suposed to be to dangerous. The last few hundred meters to the Laguna is a rock scramble, but in good conditions pretty easy. During the rock scramble you can go on both sides of the river. I liked the southern side a little more, even though the OSM trail is on the northern side. I can really recommend Laguna Sucia. Only few people and in my opinion more impressive than Laguna de los Tres. After that I returned to the RR and went to Laguna Torre. I camped at the Campsite D' Agostini at km 49.4.<br />
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Day 3: RR [49.4-59.4]<br />
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Easy walk to El Chalten.<br />
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* 2024 Ma 20 to 22 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Juliette and Martin <br />
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Day 1 : Argentinian gendarmeria - Punta Sur <br />
<br />
A small day with only a walk along the lago Desierto. Approximatly 5 hours of walk. Nice points of view on the fitz Roy. We sleeped at the « Hosteria y restaurante Punta sur »… It’s 48 000 argentinian pesos for a two people room with a breakfast included (and it’s allowed us to dry our stuff). There is a camping on the side with a small refuge inside in case of rain for 14 000 pesos per people.<br />
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Day 2 : Punta Sur - Camp Poincenot <br />
<br />
We hitchhiked to skip the road to hike less (because of a foot pain). The detour to the Laguna Piedras Blancas worth it, but the ascenption to the lake on huge rock took us à long time, despite the low distance. Camping poincenot was crowded, but we didn’t heard of any mice. <br />
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Day 3 : camp Poincenot - El Chalten <br />
<br />
Wake up early to contemplate to sun rise from the Lago los Tres. The ascenption from the camp is an hour long, easy beaucause overrun and the trail is maitained. A lot of people do the same (almost 20 or 30 I would say). It’s really beautiful, espacially if you have a good weather. Walking on the most famous trail around the fitz roy is really différent from the GPT. The trailed arouned Cerro Torre is really easy and overrun. <br />
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*2024-Mar-08 to 2024-Mar-09/ 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Opt 01 + Var B+D / Matthias<br />
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Day 1: Argentine Border Control – near Rio Electrico:<br />
<br />
Started at the Argentine Border Control at 14:00. (I stayed the night before in Candelario Mancilla, GPT38). It took me 3:45h of straight walking to reach the road on the southern end of the lake. Got a ride from there at 18:15 to the bridge over Rio Electrico. On OSM there was a camping indicated there, which does not exist. Due to the beginning darkness, I camped near the path of Option01 2km from the bridge – very windy night.<br />
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Day 2: near Rio Electrico - Laguna Piedras Blancas - Laguna de Los Tres - Laguna Torre - El Chalten<br />
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A very (too) long day due to a bad weather forecast for the following days. Option 1 is very nice though officially closed because in one season there had ocurred 18 accidents and one person dying. (Information of park ranger Miguel at whose house I stayed in ElChalten). Was lucky to see Fitz Roy from Laguna Piedras Blancas!<br />
It is very interesting to see how the tourists concentrate to certain hot spots all over the world. On the path to Laguna de Los Tres I “met” probably more people (hundreds) than on my whole 60 day GPT hike before!<br />
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<br />
24-Mar-03 to 2024-Mar-05 / 48 hours / Hiking / SOBO / RR, option 1, new option from Laguna Sucio to Laguna Torre / Tomáš<br />
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I started at 1300 from the carabinieros. The trail to road took me 3 hours (with one 5 minute stop), it is not that horrible with ups and downs but it has its share, with the small ones at the end more unexpected. I wanted to catch a bus that supposedly leaves at 4 as previously noted. I met only one couple hiking one km from the road. How surprised was I by the full carpark (30 cars). The bus apparently leaves at five. I hitched a car instead after 15 minutes. The road seemed busy, maybe it was the Sunday afternoon but one car passed every 3-5 minutes (and there were cars going north too). Got off at start of option 1 - there is enormous parking lot there with maybe 50 cars.<br />
<br />
I took the option 1 which is supposed to be peopleless. It is, once you reach the X at 2.4. Or earlier, if you take the OSM trail after 1 km signposted to camping Poincenot. Follow that for 500 m and then turn right on a barely used trail. Shortcut the detour by CCing to the left through open forrest after cca 400 m on this trail. Once again on GPT, you will come across a fence - I guess that is why this trail is not much used, it is probably not official. Viewpoint at 6.2 is really worth it - for me it was also the first time I saw Fitz Roy, as it was in the clouds previously. I camped at the turnoff to the viewpoint here: 49.2640959S, 72.9554167W. There is a place for tent but I used a cave-like space under a boulder 15 m upstream - it was big enough to allow me to use the inner part of my tent against the few mosquitoes around. Too small for two though. Not sure what the legal situation is, I heard when caught camping without a permit in the park, they take your gear and you must pay a fine in town. This trail is however rarely used (only signed by cairns), so probably they would not check here.<br />
<br />
The next day I did not take variant B to Lago de los Tres. By the way the OSM trail there to Cerro Madsen in reality does not seem to go over glacier but in between them, the glaciars are shrinking (it is marked as SAC 4 which seems about right, looks easily walkable/lightly scramblable), you could also probably cut it from the Lago to Laguna Sucia going through this seemingly waterless valley/gulley: 49.2825930S, 72.9843467W. How do I know these? I went from Laguna Sucia (not on GPT yet, but it is on OSM partly) to Laguna Torre. This is a demanding but very fun and extremely beautiful scramble (at most SAC 5 but I did not exactly always aimed for the easiest route), hopefully it will make it to the GPX files for the next season. It goes like this: follow the OSM trail that goes from camping Poincenot to Laguna Sucia and then to Swiss Bivy/la Cueva. Once there, follow the trail a bit more (150 m) to get on top of the cliffy-like part of the slope, where it will be a bit flatter. Scramble horizontally to SE and then to E. The glacier is smaller than on the map - I got to its very end and crossed on of the small gullies near it. Then you traverse for some time on a less steep terrain, until you are roughly under a nameless lake. From there, go up. I took a ridge, which was fun, but easier would be to go up a slope. I got to about 1550 on the ridge that is above the lake from NW. Going down to the lake is a bit less slopy from there. There would be other ways, either going higher over this ridge, or even lower. One could also probably go straight up from the lake, or even with a bit bushbashing approach the lake from NE.<br />
<br />
At the lake, I met a Swiss couple who slept there. They built a very nice tent space there. This was a coincidence, this does not seem like popular traverse (though I saw a paraglider launch from Loma de las Pizzaras, which had a trail to it on OSM - that is what the Swiss took saying the trail stops 500 m before the peak; from there they went down to a valley south of the peak and over a pass). I went through the pass cca 200 m from Loma de las Pizzaras (which had usable if a bit spotty 4g Claro internet), down a valley and then over a miniscule pass to SW to a lake that is not even on OSM yet here: 49.3051327S, 72.9861450W - a good camping spot, so I stayed (it was a very sunny calm and reasonably warm day/night), but the place seems more sheltered than the other lake where I met the Swiss. Did not bother to build a windwall, sorry. I met 12 people all day, 7 out of which were climbers lolling about their tents, they camped both just before Laguna Sucio and at the Swiss bivy. Not sure if this is tolerated or you need a permit (or possibly climbing gear). Took me about 4 hours from Swiss bivy to Loma de las Pizzaras. Incredible views, ice kept falling from the glaciers, once even to the lake. Usually the ice is down by the time you hear the rumbling, but I was close enough to watch two falls. Also saw Condors again after a long time. A perfect day and I am out of superlatives describing it; I guess this is what makes some people crazy about Patagonia. Fitz Roy is actually the only place I knew about before coming to Chile after googling "long distance hike in south America" 16 months earlier.<br />
<br />
The next day I went over a small pass to the west of the lake and then down, roughly aiming for end of variant D. Around 1050 m I crossed a stream (take water from it, there wont be much more) and kept it to my left, graduallly distancing myself from it to maybe 50-100m. There is a way between the greenery that does not involve BBing. Then you reach the forrest, which is open and you end up on the trail.<br />
<br />
From there to El Chalten, it is a highway (200 people met?), very easy and pretty (autumn is coming), but annoying with people. I do not like El Chalten, going on to GPT40 before the weather turns horrible. I will post gpx routes to the Facebook group.<br />
<br />
2024-Feb-24 to 2024-Feb-28 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 1 + Laguna Pollone + variant b + variant d / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
<br />
- Trail condition : easy path to follow<br />
- Water : easy to find<br />
- Camping spot : poincenot is a nice campsite, camping piedra del fraile doesn't accept card so you need cash<br />
- Weather : sunny and cloudy<br />
- Resupply : from villa O'Higgins<br />
- Overall : amazing section, the views are amazing, really worth it to do the Fitz Roy for the sunrise and leave the tent and bags at the Poincenot campsite<br />
<br />
2024-Feb-13 / 4 day / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Charlie Gardner<br />
<br />
Not much to add, super straightforward hiking area. Only addition I’d recommend is hiking through Poincenot camp (or staying there) and taking western route that connects with the trail to Lago Piedra Blancas. This section was empty and georgeous. The short hike up the boulder field to the lake is absolutely worth. Piedra del Fraile is an awesome little campsite and Refugio as well. We didn’t go any further North by hiking on this route. <br />
<br />
2023-Jan-13 / 1 day / Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Option 2A / Tom Pieper<br />
<br />
Not much to add. The free camping at gendarmeria argentina was indeed my most favourite 'official' camping spot of the entire GPT. Amazing view on Mt Fitz Roy in the evening! Talk to the gendarmeria. They might help organize boat transfer with a local farmer even outside the official hours. Tooked the motorboat in the morning, as wind was too strong to cross by packraft. Packrafting Rio de las vueltas was fun. Swift blue river which might a perfect packrafting river for beginners as there are no major obstacles. After every bend new stunning views on Mt Fitz Roy. Bring fishing equipment - a lot of trouts in there. I did not went for the lower part, but easily catched a ride via option 2A.<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-03 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris<br />
<br />
We camped by the border control. It was raining all night and still in the morning but we decided to do the hike along Laguna Desierto. Surprisingly it wasn't as muddy and slippery as we expected but of course the streams were pretty big and everything got absolutely soaked during the rain. We reached the other end of the lake in less than three hours and there were lots of cars and tourists there. No phone signal. We started hiking along the road and after 5km got a ride to El Chalten.<br />
<br />
The ferry doesn't go on Wednesdays, on Thursday it went at 11am from the side of the border control. Not sure of the price.<br />
<br />
*2023-Dec-16 to 2023-Dec-19 / 3.5 days / NOBO / El Chaltén - Lago del desierto / RR/ Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
It was a well marked section with amazing views. You nearly don't need your gps during the entire section and can enjoy the beautiful landscape. It felt like an easy first section for us. <br />
<br />
The trail to Laguna torre was full of people but once we turned out of it, it was really ok.<br />
<br />
The road walking between puente del río electrico and lago del desierto wasn't the most interesting but everything is better with a nice view!<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023 Anh OH-TL-V + RH-TL-V (Lago del Desierto)<br />
OH-TL-V is easy for Gpt hikers. The trails are easy to find. Just for the left trail of Laguna Torre you have to rent Harness to cross river via Tyrolean traverse.<br />
<br />
RH-TL-V along Lago del Desierto is easy to hike, official you should plan 6 hours. I just needed 4.5 hours (slow-normal speed) with heavy backpack (10 days food). Alternatively you can pay 55 USD (one way) for the ferry.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-19 to 2023-Mar-20 / 2 days / NOBO / El Chalten to Paso Fronterizo del Lago del desierto / Jess&Paco<br />
<br />
Easy and wonderfull section especially the trail from lago Torre to Poincenot Camp passing by Lagos Madre e Hija. <br />
<br />
Be carefull after leaving the national park camping El pilar and Laguna Condor are quite expensive. Laguna Condor even refused a group of 5 mochileros without reservation we met the day after. Also the camping Ricanor seems definively closed and the land is to sale. Pitching your tent in the nearby forest is possible but not really authorised. It can be tolerated. But like in the National park and the majority of campsite indicated on the GPT tracks absolutly no fires is allowed.<br />
<br />
You can by snacks at the camping on the southern shore of Lago del desierto but it is not a good resuply spot.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-23 to 2023-Mar-26 / 4 days / SOBO / Lago del Desierto - El Chaltén / RR + option 1 + variant B / Anna & Christopher<br />
<br />
What a contrast arriving from the last section without meeting anybody. At the southern end of Lago del Desierto there are lots of tourists. We continued from there around 3 p.m., when people slowly started to come back from their day trips. Our timing proved to be pretty good, because we got a ride after walking for a couple of minutes. There is also a bus to El Chaltén leaving atound 4 p.m. for 3.500 pesos.<br />
<br />
The car dropped us at the bridge at km 31.8 where option 1 starts. That night we camped somewhere between the rocks next to the trail around km 8. Camping at Piedra del Fraile is 3.000 pesos.<br />
<br />
The next day we knew it would rain in the afternoon so we got up early at sunrise, left our backpacks behind and went up to km 12.3 to get a nice view of the glacier. When the rain started, we fled to the hut at Piedra del Fraile to wait until it passes. <br />
<br />
If one is short in time, we would recommend to skip this glacier, because the other options of GPT 39 are definitely more spectacular.<br />
<br />
We loved the detour to Laguna Piedra blanca. <br />
<br />
Due to the horror stories of mice at the official campgrounds, we decided to stay away and camped approx. 1km away from the campsite <br />
"Poincenot" that night.<br />
<br />
The next day we got up early to see the sunrise at Lago de los Tres, which was beautiful, even though there were way more people than expected for sunrise ;) <br />
<br />
Up there we saw one possible camping spot surrounded by a stone wall. With strong wind it's probably not the best shelter though.<br />
<br />
The stretch to Laguna Torre is amazing. When we arrived there we could enjoy the spectacular view with sunny, windless weather for a while, before it suddenly got extremly windy and everyone looked for a shelter behind some rocks. We decided to return to the woods, camped there and wanted to continue with the options around Laguna Torre the next day. <br />
<br />
When we went up to Laguna Torre the wind still was extremely strong and unfortunately all mountains were covered by clouds, so we quickly continued to El Chaltén.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-7 to 2023-Mar-14 / 2.5 days / SOBO / RR + Option 1 / Lago Desierto - El Chaltén / Ondrej <br />
<br />
This section offers lot of impressive views of snowy peaks, turquoise rivers and glaciers - if one has the luck of a good weather. If you are going SOBO and want to do the weather-sensitive GPT40 afterwards, one way to reduce potential waiting days is to pause GPT39 once you get across Lago Desierto and hitchhike to El Chalten. This allows you to consult rangers in El Chalten about a good weather window for The Huemul Circuit (GPT40). You can complete the remainder of GPT39 while waiting for the weather window or after you have finished GPT40. I was on a relatively tight schedule and this strategy has worked well for me.<br />
<br />
Starting from the Argentinian checkpoint at Lago Desierto around midday, I did the lake stretch in the afternoon (took me around 5 hours) and camped at the official campsite at the other side of the lake. The rates were 3,000 Argentinian pesos per person. They have hot water but the pressure is really really bad. They also have a new common room (more like a big refugio) where you can cook and recharge devices (if you have the argentian plug, which I didn’t). The campsite also sels some biscuits, chips etc. There was also a big restaurant bulding, however, it closed at 6pm so I didn’t have a chance to check it out. <br />
<br />
On the second day I walked the road to the point where the trail branches off the road (km38.0). The road was quite scenic but in a hindsight the trail after km38.0 felt much more beautiful. Once you get closer to the trailhead you can observe the monumental Fitz Roy peak, weather permiting. In my case the forecast predicted rain all day. However, at noon the sky suddenly opened and after five gray days granted me beautiful views. This made me to change my strategy and hitch to El Chaltén from the crossroad (km38) hoping that I will be able to use this good weather window for the Huemul circuit (GPT40). This has indeed worked out. <br />
<br />
I hitched back to the crossroad (km38.0) few days later and continued with Option 1 (Laguna Piedras Blancas - L. De Los Tres - L. Torre - El Chaltén) with light backpack in a single day as I was short on time. I would prefer to spend at least two days on this portiom, exploring the lagunas further away. Very scenic and mantained trails in general. Easy to jog some parts for those who enjoy trail running.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-17 to 2023-Feb-20 / 4 days / RR / SOBO / also all the optional routes to the various lagunas on the way to El Chaltén / Véronica & Zach <br />
<br />
Route: Lago Del Desierto - Río Las Vueltas - resupply in El Chaltén - Lagos Eléctrico y Marconi - Lago Piedras Blancas - Lago de los Tres - Lago Torre <br />
<br />
If packrafting Lago Desierto, consult the Gendarmaria for advice about current wind conditions. We can't speak about the trail or paddling along most of Lago del Desierto, thanks to a special encounter with a trail magician with a motorboat. We camped that night in a sheltered cove with a fantastic view of Monte Fitz Roy. The next morning, I walked ~3km to the south side of the lake while Zach packrafted down with a tailwind. We learned the ferry crosses the lake from south to north on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 10 a.m., and returns from north to south those same days at 11 a.m. <br />
<br />
We walked a scenic dirt road to the put-in for Río de las Vueltas. From there, Zach packrafted and I walked the road. There were no signs along the river prohibiting paddling, but we heard you need a permit to go all the way into El Chaltén. <br />
<br />
We resupplied in El Chaltén that evening, then the next morning hitched back up to Bridge, X {39} [31.7/449], where Option 1 starts. For the next three days, we walked beautiful, well-maintained trails to the lagunas and viewpoints in the vicinity of Monte Fitz Roy. Most of them are out-and-back, and you can easily stash your backpack and walk unencumbered to the glaciers and lakes. Note: Option 39-E requires a harness to cross on a Tyrolean cable, or a burly ford.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec-29 to 2023-Jan-01 / Helen and Craig<br />
<br />
>Well marked trails. Very busy on sunny days, Incredibly dusty camp sites in high winds (but nicely sheltered)<br />
<br />
>Really sad amount of rubbish around the trail. Maybe because of this reason mice are a real proplem around the camp sites. *Secure food* (we have taken to sleeping with all food in the main compartment of our tent and don't trust drysacks and backpacks alone to protect). We picked up the bits we could carry but sad to see. Worst littering we have seen anywhere in Patagonia. Wished I had a bigger trash bag to pick up.<br />
<br />
>We walked a very leisurely 3 night loop with side trails in high winds whilst waiting for a weather window for GPT40. Then hitchhiked up to rejoin the trail at Lago Desertio.<br />
<br />
>To avoid the crowds, the popular miadors we walked to at odd times of day, sunset for the 'sunrise' veiw. Very much Worth it.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec-09 to 2022-Dec-11 / 2 half days & 1 full day walking / SOBO / Frank<br />
<br />
I came from Candelario Mansilla & continued on the trail round Laguna del Desierto the same day. It was slow going around the lake with lots of up & down over bluffs. At the end of the lake I crossed over a bridge (inflow stream for the lake) Just after the bridge there is a restaurant, (closed in the evening), campsite & hut. I stayed in the hut (no beds but in good condition, slept on the wooden floor) From the campsite a trail goes up to Laguna Huemul, about 1 hour up. A worthwhile detour with good views of Glaciar Huemul. Next day I continued on the road then on the trail towards Laguna de los Tres. The high campsite was very busy & noisy so I continued down to Laguna Capri & camped there, better but still noisy. Lots of people on the trail also, a big change to the previous sections. From Laguna Capri I continued easily down to El Chalten. 2 half days & 1 full day walking.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-18 / NOBO / Oreste<br />
<br />
The campground Ricanor near to Laguna Azul was close for maintenance when I passed there.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-16 / NOBO / Oreste Marquis<br />
<br />
Two first day were on the regular route. Could not see the Fotz Roy from close because of the cloud but still enjoyable route. I hitchike at the end of the second day and did not walk on the road to Lago del desierto because the camping Ricanor nesr to Laguna Azul was close for maintenance so I camp at the one close to the Lago.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec / 2 days / NOBO / Matthieu<br />
<br />
Trail easy to follow for the parts in the wood before the road. Long road to The Lago Desierto, and a possibility to take a boat on the Lago to join the post of Gendarmeria. The walk by the lake is beautiful though, worth it.<br />
<br />
No special difficulties. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-14 / Arnaud et Adriane<br />
<br />
It was a very rainy, windy and cold day so we walked to the road 12km (along the lago del desierto) and after 6 km on the road, we finished hitchhiking directly to El Chalten. Everything was covered with clouds so we sadly saw nothing.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-9 / 2 days / Regular hiking route / NOBO / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe<br />
<br />
The highlight of this section for us was visiting all the lagunas in the national park! We cheated and hitch hiked along the road when we hit it after El Pilar. It was not difficult to get a car in the morning when tourists are heading out to Lago Desierto; it might be harder to find one northbound in the evening would be my guess. It's necessary to pay to camp at Desierto, 800 Argentinian Pesos each, and it is not allowed to camp along the road.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
Section GPT39 begins on the northern bank of Lago del Desierto. According to the Gendarmería, the Argentine Border Control, the wind patterns on the lake are unpredictable and shift frequently. There is also no good access to the trail on the east side if bailing becomes a necessity, so have caution when deciding whether to packraft or not.<br />
<br />
<br />
Comment by Jan Dudeck: Lago del Desierto is an innocent looking beast. While very calm at the put in heavy wind at the middle of the lake can make a traverse demanding and dangerous.<br />
<br />
There is a well-established trail that runs along the east side of the lake. However, it isn’t flat, and the 11 or so kilometers takes longer than expected. There is an option to take a ferry across the lake which is popular with Carretera Austral bicyclers. More information regarding times and prices can be found at the Argentine border control station on the north side of Lago del Desierto.<br />
<br />
Hungry hikers are rewarded when they reach the south end of the lake. A burger stand with some snack options is located here along with an established campground with showers, flush toilets, and a communal kitchen.<br />
<br />
Walk along RP23, a gravel road, for several kilometers until reaching the put-in for the packrafting section of Río de las Vueltas, which is a sloped rocky beach. The serpentine river section before Lago Condor is fairly swift with no rapids, only some wooden snags. After Lago Condor, the river widens and forms many braided channels.<br />
<br />
Alternate: Instead of exiting Río de las Vueltas onto RP23 as shown by the GPS track, we floated the river al the way to El Chaltén and took out just after the bridge crossing east of the town.<br />
<br />
<br />
Comment by Jan Dudeck:<br />
To my knowledge packrafting the Rio de las Vueltas all the way to El Chalten requires a permit by the park rangers. Without this permit park rangers might get very nasty and may even confiscate your packraft. So better leave the river before this river enters the national park. Packraft track OP-RI-1@39-02-# only if you have a permit.<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*El Chaltén is a medium sized town with several hostels, restaurants, and decent resupply options. There were also a few outdoor gear outfitters which offered rentals for the famous Huemul Circuit (GPT40).<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
*2023 / Jess&Paco<br />
You can by snacks at the camping on the southern shore of Lago del desierto but it is not a good resuply spot.<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
2023: There is a bus every evening at 8PM from El Chalten to Los Antiguos, arriving at about 7AM. The bus continues to Esquel, El Bolson & Bariloche. From Los Antiguos you can go by local taxi or hitch to the border & Chile Chico (there is no longer a bus across the border) There is also a bus once a day from Los Antiguos to El Chalten.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT39 - Monte Fitz Roy]]<br />
<br />
=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT38_(Glaciar_Chico)&diff=115076GPT38 (Glaciar Chico)2024-04-05T21:22:40Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Mar-30 to 2024-Apr-02 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 1 + 2 + 3 / Joscha <br />
<br />
<br />
I combined Section 37, 38 and 39. It took me 10.5 days including 2.5 days waiting at Bahia Pescado for the ferry. I left a bag with food in Villa O'Higgins which the ferry brought me. And I could store food at the chilenian Border station. Therefore I never had to cary food for more than 5 days.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 1: RR [0.0-23.5] + OH37P-16 [14.0-15.6]<br />
<br />
After km 6.5 there is plenty of water. You have to do a few, easy fords before the Pass. At km 12.6 I stayed in the northern side of the Rio Bullicioso and rejoyned the RR st km 13.9. Therefore I avoided 2 Fords. The RR around the Pass was covered in a thin layer of snow. -48.902884, -72.929411 offers a nice view on Lago O'Higgins. I hiked on OH37P-16 to the strait of Lago O'Higgins and tried to get the attention of Don Lucho on the other side. But it didn't work. Its possible to camp on the shore there a little north of the trail, but without wind protection. Therefore I went back to the Settler at 23.5 and camped there. You have to hang your food, there are lots of mice here.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [23.5-33.4] + OH38-03 [0.0-4.3]<br />
<br />
I left my Tent at km 23.5 and hiked to the Glacier Chico Viewpoint and back. Plenty of water along this trail. I liked the views of glacier Chico on the first kilometer of OH38-03 more than those at the viewpoint. But the view of Lago Chico was pretty dope from the viewpoint. Trail was relatively easy to follow.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 3: OH37P-16 [14.0-15.6] + OH38-2 [25.7-3.1]<br />
<br />
I hiked on OH37P-16 to the strait of Lago O'Higgins and tried to get the attention of Don Lucho on the other side. But it didn't work. Therefore I went back on OH38-02. I did not follow precisely the gpx track, because there are lots of trails. It worked out quite well. I only once came to close to the cliff coast and had to scramble up a little bit. I rejoyned the gpx track at around km 9.5. At 9.5 there is a flat meadow north of the trail for camping. I camped next to the abondend settler building at km 3.1. There was lots of water all allong the trail. <br />
<br />
<br />
Day 4: OH38-2 [3.1-0.0] + RR [0.0-6.5] + OH38-01<br />
<br />
I forgot to get the Certificado de Salvoconducto to leave Chile in advance. The border police let me use their wifi to apply for it. I had to wait about 90 minutes until I got the Certificado and than the exit stamp. There is plenty of water on the OH38-01. I camped right next to the argentinian border controll station. It is a really nice spot.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024 Ma 18 to 19/ 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Juliette and Martin <br />
<br />
Day 1 : Candelario Mancilla (Poste frontière) - -48.91420, -72.96117 (Estancia ventsisquiro Chico, abandonned : NOT ABANDONNED<br />
<br />
The ferry between villa O higgings and Candelario Mancilla (Chilean border crossing) costs 55,000 pesos per person and runs Monday/Thursday/Saturday from villa O higgings from 7am (subject to bad weather).<br />
<br />
Arrival at Chilean border crossing at 11:30 am. We ask if it's possible to stop halfway and pitch the tent before the Argentinian border post. Apparently there's no problem if we camp after the border with Argentina, but the Chilean police advise us to arrive at the Argentinian border today anyway. We choose to do the RR, since apparently the police won't come and get us if we don't reach the border that evening. <br />
<br />
There's snow quite early on at the first pass. Our feet are wet for the whole section. Before the pass, navigation is not too difficult, even if the path is full of water. After the pass, and before arriving at the puesto (which is not abandoned by the way), the paths no longer seem to be in use and the vegetation completely obscures the path. We arrive late at the camp. The puesto is by no means abandoned, but there's no possibility of sheltering in it, as it's locked with a padlock and belongs to someone. <br />
<br />
WARNING: We pitch our tent in the rain next to the abandoned puesto. Bad idea. Mice attack at night. Apparently they love oats. A bag of oats (zip-lock bag) inside the tent is nibbled (and the wall of the tent too). The only solution seems to be to hang them up. <br />
<br />
Day 2: -48.91420, -72.96117 (Estancia ventsisquiro Chico, abandoned: NOT ABANDONED - gendarmaria national argentina <br />
<br />
A long day. Sometimes we can see the glaciar Chico, but there are clouds in the sky. The route is difficult to follow during the day and there's a lot of snow at the pass (at least 20 cm on the ground (plus water underneath sometimes). We didn’t have time to dry ourlselves during the night, so thé section appeard us as really cold. The refuge at Lake El Diablo is a real lifesaver under the snow. It allowed us to eat sheltered from the wind. We could sleep in it, but we weren't sure whether we'd be able to build a fire inside. We decide to finish the section during the day to get the stamp to enter Argentina later that day. The Argentinian border post closes at 8pm. Fortunately, we arrive a few minutes early. No worries with our exit stamp, which was dated yesterday, and we don't give it a second thought. Don't expect anything from the gendarmerie post: after spending two days in the rain, snow and wet feet, we thought we could ask them to let us sleep somewhere dry. They categorically refused, and we couldn't even pitch our tent under a garage or any of the small shelters they owned. We're a little frustrated with their inhospitality, while it’s raining for deux days and their seem to have enough places inside. But it's clear that's not why they're here, so we can't really blame them. <br />
<br />
We recommend doing the trek in three days instead, as the path is difficult to follow, sometimes overgrown and in the water most of the time. Stop at the el diablo refuge to cut the second day into two. No need to worry about border stamps, apparently. <br />
<br />
2024-Mar-05 to Mar-07 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Hiking to Mirador al Glaciar O`Higgins (RP km23.5 to 35.6) + Opt02 / Matthias<br />
<br />
The route: (Villa O`Higgins -) Candelario Mancilla – RR to Peninsula/Estancia Ventisquiero Chico - Mirador al Glaciar O`Higgins - back to Ventisquiero Chico – Opt02 to Candelario Mancilla<br />
<br />
I enjoyed the remote detour to the viewpoint of Glaciar O'Higgins and the icefield a lot! You have to be lucky to reach Don Luis for the short boat transfer from the peninsula (see below).<br />
<br />
Day1 - RR<br />
<br />
Arrived with the ferry around 9:00 am at Candelario Mancilla. At the border officials I had to fill in an “expedition” formular for my hiking specifying my route. They clearly pointed out I have to return before leaving to Argentina. I wanted to leave a bag there with stuff I didn`t need and asked them to radio to Don Luis for the boat transfer the next morning, but they denied both of my wishes. Hiking on the road on RR I was passed by Don Tito who is/was doing the taxi for the other tourists of the boat to the border. I could leave the bag with him :-), so continuing with lighter backpack.<br />
Like written here before, the trail leading to the pensinsula (formed by the old terminal moraine) is marked partially and easy to follow until it reaches previously (>10 a) burned area when going downhill, then it is not clear and there is also partially bushbashing.<br />
Camped for two nights behind the estancia among cherry and apple trees with ripe fruits! First night very windy and it was difficult to built up the tent, though at first sight the place seemed a bit wind-protected.<br />
<br />
Day 2 - daytrip to the viewpoint of Glaciar O`Higgins<br />
<br />
Stunning views, VERY windy. The path is named 38RP as well as 37RP-option16! At the end of the península you have to cross the lake/river. It is too deep to ford, so one needs the help of Don Luis (he introduced himself with that name and also the border official used Luis and not the nickname Lucho). The farmer lives on the other side but from inside his house he has no view to the river. I was lucky this morning was not very windy anymore, so his dogs were alarmed by my shoutings and also lucky that Don Luis was still at home and not off with his horse. <br />
The path up to the next pass is again easy to find and sometimes marked. After that I partially followed the GPT track, partially other trails.<br />
<br />
Day 3 – option 02 back to Candelario Mancilla:<br />
<br />
I never used my GPS that constantly before on the GPT like on this trail. There is some bushbashing, overall the trail is okay. But there are very many other animal trails of same or better quality as an option… From Caleta Esmeralda onwards the trail is clear and easy. Stayed at the house of Don Tito (next to the campsite which is run by his brother Ricardo).<br />
<br />
Side plot:<br />
The first morning my gas cooker (MSR windburner) stopped working (and it still does not work). Probably because the jet is blocked. Changed to gas cooker with this GPT trip, before I was using gasoline cooker for years… They come with a filament to clean, for the gas cooker I could not find such a fine wire until now.<br />
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<br />
24-Mar-02 to 2024-Mar-03 / 26 hours / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš<br />
<br />
I arrived at port at around 9:40. I set off immediately to border control and so was the first, which ensured a speedy processing. However, I was given a stamp with date of the previous day, which I did not check. The carabiniero did not ask nor told me anything and I reciprocated.<br />
<br />
I wanted to do the RR, figuring I would probably be able to do it in roughly 24 hours. Jan said we have 48 hours and I did not read Anh's report until midway, so I thought it would be fine. It was a very cold and superwindy morning walking up into snowy mountains, very pretty. There is a trail shortcut in the first zigzag of the MR. No further shortcuts found, one trail that looked promising turned into BB mid-way. After an hour, I turned off from the road. There used to be a bridge over Rio Obstaculo, but now it is an easy if freezing ford. The trail is initially marked with metal plates, but that soon stops. It feels like it used to be official but has since beem abandoned? However, the trail is mostly easy to follow. Once above the treeline, the wind was vicious. The valley was also quite marshy (after the rain?), I could not keep my shoes dry. Valley si faster hoing than the coastal traverse.<br />
<br />
Going down to the lake to the landbridge I kept loosing the trail and ended up CCing the last 200 vertical meters to the left of the trail. From the landbridge, the trail is marked with big red circles and is probably occasionaly used by tourists brought by ferry. The moutains were unfortunately semi-clouded but the views were still splendid. No worthy sidetrip for me then though. I reached Refugio Diabolo at 34.4 at 2130 and it was occupied (the only people on the trail apart from the road) and asleep, so I slept nearby in a tent. In the morning they told me I should have gone in.<br />
<br />
I started going down at 7:30 the next day (being a night owl, that is quite early for me). The first three km, I kept losing the trail, but it then improved. It is actually Huella Andina! I arrived at border control around eleven. Nobody seemed to be looking for me. The carabiniero noticed I had a date in my passport from two days ago. I tried explaining that it was a mistake of the Chilian side (I think - the date was wrong by one day), but I was almost ordered to walk back for a new stamp. In the end I softened him, showing him a picture from the port from the previous day. It was tense ten minutes. Seems to me the chceking of people who crossed happens at least after noon? The regular route is perfectly doable by most people in 36 hours I think, so you might be fine as long as you arrive (at most in late afternoon) with no more than yesterday's stamp. It needs more datapoints I think. I would have preferred to be slower though.<br />
<br />
2024-Feb-23 to 2024-Feb-23 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / option 1 / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
<br />
- Trail condition : gravel road and nice trail easy to follow in the forest<br />
- Water : easy to find<br />
- Camping spot : a camping in Candelario Mancela, a free camping just in front of the lake at the Argentinian border, a camping on the other side of the lake <br />
- Weather : sunny<br />
- Resupply : we left a bag of food in Villa O'Higgins at the ferry company and so had our ressuply back in Candelaria Mancela / at the end of the section in El chalten there is a little little 'shop' on the other side of the lake with crackers, cookies and some instant dishes, you can pay by card<br />
- Overall : easy section, some nice views on the Fitzroy<br />
<br />
* 2024-Feb- 01 to 2024-Feb-02 / 2 days/hiking/ SOBO/38-01/Paulina<br />
<br />
I wanted to do section 38, it seems complicated due to boarder crossing rules, but I don't think it's impossible, I did not do it more because very bad weather forecast for 2 next days. <br />
Anyway, I met some people who tried to go from Lago Desierto to Paso Diabolo but they had to abondon their plan because of the very high level of the river to cross. <br />
<br />
Day 1 <br />
<br />
A very easy walk mostly on a gravel road. Very nice campground ( free) at Lago Desierto<br />
<br />
Day 2 <br />
Nice walk along Lago Desierto. No difficulties, nice path all the time. Once I reached the other siide of the Lago I hitch-hiked directly to El Chaiten ( very easy on this road)<br />
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<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-6 / 7 day / Hiking + Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Option 2 + Option 1/ Tom Pieper<br />
<br />
Not much to add to the previous posts. Stunning route. A packraft is indeed really useful here as Don Lucho was not around when I crossed the river at his farm the first time. I waited two days for wind to calm down at perfectly wind protected camp {38} [32.1/744] (which I found superior to the other nearby campspot) but strong gale did not allowed me to pass beyond Viewpoint {38} [35.6/874]. Absolut impossible in that conditions. So I returned on the 3 day. I asked Don Lucho if he can notify carabinieros via radio that I will be delayed, which worked. I toked option 2 to return to Candelario Manzillo. Track is not the best from time to time. Stay close to GPT route as off trail might take much more longer. Good camp spots at the two abandoned settlers places and a really beautiful one at a turquoise river at S 48° 50.470’ W 072° 51.272’. There is no water after Port {38-02} [7.1/270] (Bahia Esmeralda) including second abandoned settler place. You might consider climbing down to the lake here to get water. Got my exit stamp at candelario manzillo and toked expensive transit (30,000$) by car to the border (option 1)<br />
<br />
<br />
From 2024-01-01 to 2023-01-03 // 3 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR + OPT1 + OPT2 // Quentin Clavel<br />
<br />
Same story as previous contributions here, the customs officers (who were very nice by the way) said it was impossible to do the RR as I will be in illegal situation. <br />
If it would be only the illegality stuff, it wouldn't have been a problem, but the thing is that rhet communicate with the Chilean side, and if you're not on the other side after one day they engage research, what I absolutely want to avoid, that people have to commit material, technical or human resources simply for or because of me. <br />
<br />
It means if you want to explore glaciar chico or around : <br />
Going NOBO : you first have to go straight from ARG border to CH border, stamp your passport and then go explore the area.<br />
Going SOBO : explaining your expedition to the border but don't stamp your passport. Do your exploration, then come back to the CH border, stamp your passport and then go straight to ARG border.<br />
<br />
So from ARG border, I've been straight to the Chilean side. Then I said them that I wanted to explore the area near glaciar Chico. The carabineros agreed, but before letting me go, I had to fill a form to describe my expedition, my emergencies contacts, the number of days I planned to go, numbers of days of food I had, and took me in picture. I was surprised about the picture but he said to me that it was just in case of disappearance to be able to publish a wanted notice. Perfect aha ! <br />
<br />
Anyway, I backtracked until the junction tu "La península" then engage myself on this nice track. Had to cross 3 easy rivers, and have been scratched numerous times by the bush which took over at the end of the trail, which was not easy to follow by the way.<br />
<br />
The views on Lago O'Higgins were absolutely outstanding ! Glaciar Chico was a bit faraway, but still nice to see as well!<br />
<br />
I arrived to la peninsula and walked till the estencia la Carmelia, Trying to have the attention of the settler, at the estencia la Carmelia. But seems like that he was not there. So I had to backtrack and not go on the GPT37P option 16 to glaciar O'Higgins. Pretty disappointed about that, would have been amazing to have a packraft at this time.... Anyway. <br />
<br />
I backtrack the peninsula, then took the option 2 (Lago Costa). That was a very good decision, the views are stunning (again more at the end, when you arrive near the border). But track is not easy to find at all. We must congratulate the wild animals who created an incredible labyrinth of trails up there ! <br />
<br />
The bridge announced as destroyed is the one 400m from the border, above Rio Obstaculo. I looked at its condition 3 days before when I was at the border, to find out if it was feasible. and it was, that's why I decided to take this route. And didn't regretted it. <br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-02 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR+option 1 / Stiina & Kris<br />
<br />
We arrived early morning at Candelario Manzilla, had no issues at the border control (we had our Salvaconducto). We did ask - just in case - if we could do the loop hike but the officer said the only way to hike the RR is to not exit Chile, hike out towards the west and then backtrack to the Chilean border control. The 21 km hike to the Argentinian border was easy, except for all the touristas with the bicycles😂. When it started chucking rain down we decided to camp there. Rained hard all night but no wind. There is a toilet for turistas and behind it a covered shelter with tables and benches, which was nice during rain.<br />
<br />
* GPT38 / Option 4 (Campo Hielo Sur: Glaciar Chico to Circo de los Altares and back) / 6 days Hiking on Glaciers with Mountain Guide / 2023-Dec-29 to 2024-Jan-03 / Meylin, Masha, Misha, Jan<br />
<br />
We planned this guided tour onto the Southern Patagonian Icefield several months in advance. We arranged this tour with the mountain guide Leo Muñoz (leoskatan@hotmail.com, WhatsApp +56 9 6904 9561) who knows the Northern and the Southern Patagonian Icefield very well and who lives with his family next to Glacier O’Higgins on the shore of Lago O’Higgins about 70 boat kilometers from Villa O’Higgins.<br />
<br />
We agreed in November 2023 to make an attempt somewhen in the first half of January of 2024 as soon as the weather forecast promises a decent weather window. On December 25 Leo suggested to start on December 29 as wind and precipitation forecast predicted 6 decent days.<br />
<br />
Day 1: We met in the afternoon at Lago Chico (where Lago Chico drains into Lago O’Higgins), continued by boat on Lago Chico to an island that is partially covered by Glacier Chico, pulled the boat up into a safe location and started right on Glacier Chico. We reached in the evening the first refuge (Refugio Pantoja). Starting right on the glacier avoided an otherwise demanding river crossing.<br />
<br />
Day 2: In a long day we reached the third refuge (Refugio Garcia Soto). We walked mostly on Glacier Chico but in areas where this glacier is steep and with deep cracks we left the glacier and walked in rocky terrain. In this terrain is also the second refuge (Refugio Piedra Roja) where we stopped for lunch.<br />
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Day 3: In a demanding day we walked over the icefield to Circo los Altares. The wet snow covered all cracks of the icefield but made walking tiresome. For safety reasons we walked the entire distance roped together (2 groups of 3 persons linked together). We camped one night at Circo los Altares and enjoyed a good view of Cerro Torres in the evening and morning.<br />
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Day 4: In a similar tiresome day we returned to Refugio Garcia Soto. We arrived around 2 pm in afternoon what permitted a good rest. This refuge offers ample space and is a good place to wait a day or two if the weather makes this necessary.<br />
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Day 5: We returned to the first refuge (Refugio Pantoja). If necessary we might have returned to the boat on the sane day but the good weather forecast for the next day made such an effort unnecessary.<br />
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Day 6: On a short morning we returned on glacier Chico to the boat, packed our gear into the boat and travelled by boat to our guides home (Rio Condor). On the way we stopped briefly at a settlers home (La Carmela) to purchase a lamb for a Patagonian asado al palo.<br />
<br />
Conclusions:<br />
<br />
1. Leaving the exact start date open was perfect as it permitted our guide to choose a descent weather window.<br />
<br />
2. In case of a shorter weather window a shorter route could have been chosen (in example to Refuigo Garcia Soto only.<br />
<br />
3. This was our first experience walking on glaciers but this was perfectly feasible with our experienced guide.<br />
<br />
4. Boat safety regulations on Lago O’Higgins required our mountain guide to do the boat trip with a second person that has motor boat license. Therefore a second guide accompanied us. This added safety but also cost.<br />
<br />
5. Returning with the mountain guide to his home at Rio Condor before continuing by packraft is an experience on its own and lift the entire trip to a higher level.<br />
<br />
6. We send some of the required equipment in advance to our mountain guide but he would have been able to equip up to 6 persons with his gear.<br />
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<br />
* Copied from Jan's Facebook post December 2023: "GPT38: Border Crossing: Candelario Mancilla (CL) - Lago El Desierto (AR)<br />
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We now learned that both border controls speak to each other and exchange how many persons crossed the border and are meant to arrive on the other side. If a person does not arrive within 2 days a search is initiated. Therefore it is not any more possible to hike the longer more scenic route between collecting the exit and entry stamps of both countries. <br />
<br />
Therefore all hikers must take the direct route (see image red line) and visit the more scenic parts around Lago Chico and Peninsula La Carmela either before exiting Chile or after collecting the Chilean entry stamp.<br />
<br />
Alternatively you might openly explain your plans and try to get an official approval but this seams quite unlikely."<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Dec-20 to 2023-Dec-20 / 1 day/ NOBO / Lago del desierto - Candelario Mancilla/ Option 1/ Alex & Christophe<br />
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Since you have to collect your exit and entry stamp on the same day, we took the fastest way between the two border controls. Once we finished with the formalities on the chilean side, one boat for Villa O'Higgins was waiting for us. I think we got lucky.<br />
<br />
If you want to go to glaciar chico, you have to go to Candelario Mancilla and then, go and back to the glacier, all on the chilean side. Passo del diablo is a forbidden pass to cross the border between Argentina and Chile.<br />
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<br />
* 2023-12-10 to 13 Fangwen and Tobi / 4 days / NOBO / Hiking from Candelario Mansilla to Don Lucho peninsula and back<br />
<br />
This was an enjoyable hike with good views! When we came from Argentina, it rained a lot, and was very muddy. We stayed at the campsite at Candelario Mansilla for one night and went Westbound on the regular route, crossing the river shortly after the beginning of the trail at km7. After the substantial rainfall, it was almost waist deep, but crossable with caution. The pass towards the abandoned settler home at km23.5 was quite muddy again, and in the last bit of the descent, the trail was overgrown and required attention to not lose. We camped outside the hut. The next day we went on part of Option 37P-16 as a day trip. We headed to the river (outflow of Lago Chico) and waited for the settler Don Lucho to notice us and to ferry us to the other side using his boat. This worked finally, after waiting for almost 3h. We did a nice trip up to the pass and followed one of the many horse trails to some mountain lakes and viewpoints. We let Don Lucho ferry us back to camp and headed back the next day. After two days of dry weather, the previously problematic river was now easily passable, with water at knee level.<br />
<br />
Logistics: We combined sections 38 and 37 on our NOBO trip. We carried a lot of food with us from Argentina: enough for 38, 37 and to be able to spend a few days in Candelario Mansilla in case the ferry is delayed due to bad weather. We decided against road walking with heavy packs, and arranged for Ricardo (WhatsApp +56 9 9126 7007), who runs the campground at Candelario Mansilla, to pick us up from the border by car. Ricardo is a very nice guy, and we stayed in his hostel after registering at the border checkpoint. The hostel was 15.000 CLP per person, the pickup from the border 20.000 for two people and the drop-off at the junction (X {38-01} at km0) 10.000 for two people. In high season he might not have time or charge more. Don Lucho asked for 10.000 for the return trip for the two of us.<br />
I believe that Ricardo puts you in the first-come-first-served queue for the ferry from Candelario Mansilla when you first arrive there -- but I'm not even sure if there is even an official queue (in our case, the ferry was not full, so it didn't matter). When Ricardo drove us to the junction, he also made us register our hiking plans with border guards. The guards wanted to see that we are sufficiently prepared. We showed them our GPS and inReach, but they were most wow-ed by the locus maps app with the GPT track files and kept asking where they could get such a detailed map of the area ;-).<br />
For the logistics regarding section 37, see our trip report on [[GPT37H|that wiki page]].<br />
<br />
*2023 Ahn, Warning between exit & entry: <br />
You have to reach the other border control within one day, since recently both border controls compare the data every day.<br />
If you do not arrive within one day, they (both border controls) will really go looking for you.<br />
<br />
*2023-12-04 Anh / 3 days / NOBO / RR + OH-TL-V + RP-TL-V<br />
Day 1: After the exit stamp from the Argentinian border control in Lago del Desierto, I turned left to RR to Lago Diablo. The path is sometimes hard to find and with my heavy backpack I couldn‘t hike fast. I had to cross the stream twice without shoes. But it was no problem (knee-deep, good weather). After Lago Diablo I turned left via OH-TL-V to Glacier Chico. I did not find the camp {38-03} [1.8/878].<br />
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Day 2: Back to RH-TL-V towards the connecting channel to Glaciar O'Higgins. The trail was a little easier to find, but not better to walk because hardly anyone had walked it in recent years.<br />
Settler {38} [23.5/261] in the intersection is no longer inhabited, but the owner has a sign in front of the house. He allows free camping on his property and possibly even overnight stays in the house (with kitchen).<br />
But I go on to Settler {38} [25.3/268] to cross the connecting channel by boat.<br />
<br />
It was already 5:00PM and I just wanted to set up my tent & enjoy the evening quietly. At that moment, a motorboat with 3 men with backpacks arrived. They were not tourists, but border guards (carabineros). They were not pleasant at first. I understood from their Spanish that they were looking for me and that I was not allowed to be here. For the first time on this trip, I was lucky that I couldn't speak any Spanish and they couldn't speak any English. Otherwise they would be angry!<br />
<br />
I was able to explain with place names that I was not a criminal but a hiker. They had a long discussion in the house and in the end they said that I didn't have to come to the border station right now, but that they would come with me to Glaciar O'Higgins immediately!<br />
After a long day from Glaciar Chico, I didn't want to hike 7km up with 600Hm, but I had no other choice. So we started at 6:00 PM, the settler owner went ahead and the 3 young border guards climbed the mountain with full energy ahead, me behind. It was good that I don't usually run at my limit and still had a day's reserve at that moment. The 3 carabineros asked me from time to time how I was doing and whether I needed help -> very nice.<br />
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After 4km, the settler owner explained that it would soon be dark and he had to go back. He showed the Carabineros the way back on the (somewhat outdated) paper map. The Carabineros have the best modern equipment (GoreTex, expedition tent...) but no GPS navigation device and don't know the way. With my GPS navigation device, we became a team and had a lot of fun all the way to camp.<br />
The atmosphere around the campfire was much more relaxed. It turned out that they had taken a lot of food with them to look for me, but had left it behind in the settler. So of course I had cooked for them, it was really delicious and after a hike it was even better than usual. The 3 Carabineros said they had never eaten so well. We enjoyed the sunset at Glaciar O'Higgins together and laughed into the night.<br />
<br />
Day 3: At 7:00 AM, just like the military, we continued on RP-TL-V towards the pass. It was great fun with my 3 new friends and the views with the best weather were simply magnificent. However, 2km before the pass, my Carabineros wanted to go back because they now consider the hike to be strenuous and with respect. It's a pity but they are in charge despite their new friendship! I'm still very happy that they found me, it was an unforgettable experience! We were able to help each other, they are 3 cool and very very helpful Carabinos.<br />
RP-TL-V is easy for GPT hikers, much easier than the other two sections.<br />
<br />
Back to the settler they had called the patrol boat by radio and we went to Candelario Mancilla with the very modern and super stable HiTech boat. I got my entry stamps and was even invited to dinner at the border control station. After that I ended up in Villa O'Higgins.<br />
It was a bit of a shame to break off GPT38 like that, but I will never forget the best moments and the 3 new Carabineros friends. I'm starting to love GPT now!!!<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Apr-19 to 2023-Apr-21 / 3 days / RR / SOBO / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
Beautiful section! The detour to Glaciar Chico is definitely worth it, and so is the viewpoint.<br />
<br />
On the first day, starting around 8 AM, we passed the border control without any problem, and followed the trail in quite good pace to the pass. It was very windy there in our case, but there are places to hide. The trail is pretty clear all the time. This changes during the descent down to the peninsula, where you need to look carefully at the navigation as the path divides into different directions. Marked camp on the peninsula looked like a good place to stay, but we decided to do some more and continued for about 4 km. We camped in the forest, where we were able to find a few spots almost without wind, but in more extreme conditions it might be harder to find a 100% safe place.<br />
<br />
On the next day we continued and left our backpacks in the forest to go check the viewpoint. It took us a little over 3 hrs + some time for the photos etc. The trail is very easy to follow and except of the beginning and end its not even that windy. If the weather is not the best or you don’t have time, we would recommend to do at least first few hundred meters of the optional trail to get better view of the glacier and floating icebergs. Back on the RR we made a little less than half of the way to the border control and again camped in the forest. <br />
<br />
The last day was all about forest walking. First views of the Fitz Roy on the way to the border control. There, the officer noticed the old stamp and asked where we stayed, but was probably just curious and had no problem with our honest answer about doing the detour and camping in the forest.<br />
<br />
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Mar-20 to 2023-Mar-22 / SOBO / RR + option 4 / Villa O'Higgins - Lago del Desierto / Anna & Christopher<br />
<br />
Amazing section, one of our favourites so far!<br />
<br />
In march and april the ferry that crosses Lago O'Higgins only leaves twice a week, which is mondays and thursdays at 8 a.m. (company Las Ruedas, reservation possible via whatsapp +56 966278836).<br />
<br />
We started with seven days worth of food, because we planned to go to El Chaltén without a resupply (GPT 38+39 with all options).<br />
The weather was great on our first day and after we got through the border control we started walking around 11:15 a.m.<br />
The trail is in a pretty good condition. Your feet will get wet though. With the nice weather and the good trail we camped at km 21 in the forest close to the stream.<br />
<br />
Then the trail becomes gradually a bit worse and we had to do some BB and CC along the lake. At the junction with option 4 we left our packs and went to the mirador. We had good weather and the view from up there is amazing. We highly recommend doing it, if the weather is good. Then we went back down again and camped in the forest at the junction. There is a stream close by to fetch water.<br />
<br />
The trail becomes super good again once you reach the settler at Lago del Desierto. The border control was fast and the staff was really friendly. We continued along the lake. At some point it started to rain, so we camped next to a stream at approx. km 4.6. At km 4.3 there would have been a more rain and wind protected camp.<br />
<br />
The next day we had a great view of Fitz Roy in the morning sun. We arrived at the other side around 10 a.m. There is no bus leaving around this hour, opposite of what the gendarm at the border told us. All the buses/cars leave in the afternoon around 4 p.m.<br />
We made a break at the restaurant and enjoyed a warming mate tea before we continued to section 39.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-16 to 2023-Mar-20 / 4 days / SOBO / RR + option 5 / Louis & Rémi<br />
<br />
We started at Candelario Mansilla and we wanted to go in front of the Glaciar O'Higgins following the lake with option 5 and then option 2. Option 5 is really worth it, views all along the lake are incredible, I highly recommend it. We slept near the Settler @km 17.8, nobody was there.<br />
<br />
The next day we tried to cross this water canal between Lago O'Higgins and Lago Chico, but it is unfordable, you have to yell for the settler who lives on the other side. We did, we saw him, but he didnt come... So we slept next to the settler @km 23.5 on RR and we tried the 3rd day too but still nobody to help us to cross. Well, I think this settler isnt reliable if you wanna do option 2 without a packraft.<br />
<br />
So we continued our way to Argentina, sleeping @km 31.4 (the puesto is more than abandonned, it is destroyed but it is flat and there is no wind).<br />
<br />
This portion provide a nice view of the Glaciar Chico.<br />
<br />
Next we went directly to the Argentinian border and we didn't have any problem to get the stamp on our passports. We slept there, it is free, there is nobody and the view of the Fitz Roy above the Lago del Desierto is definitely worth it !<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-04 to 2023-Mar-07 / 3.5 days / SOBO / RR + Option 4 / Candelario Mansilla - Lago Desierto / Ondrej<br />
<br />
I wasn’t lucky with the weather so this section turned out into rainy, muddy and snowy feat for me. It felt remote and adventurous. If I could choose I would do at least the second day in a good weather to enjoy the views. <br />
<br />
On the first day, I got dropped of by the boat at Candelario Marcilla around 10am. Getting the stamp from Chilean carabineros took longer than expected, around one hour. A number of hikers accumulated there and the carabineros said that we have wait for them to upload our names to the system(?). Then they just asked for my occupation and gave me the exit stamp. I then hiked the stretch on the main road, forded Rio Obstaculo right after (the deepest ford on the section I would say, it was easy even after a day of rain) and then over the pass. At the pass you will come into a long flat valley which in my case started turning into a big muddy/swampy plain. It also started snowing. The falling wet snow and the soaky trails pushed the hike to the boundaries of my comfort limits (but still manageable). I camped at the Settler waypoint (km23.5). According to a person running a hostel in villa o higgins, the Settler’s place has been abandonded for a while now (presumably someone other bought the land) and both locals and international hikers are now using the garden of the settler’s house to camp. The area around the house features thick tall trees that provide a good shelter from wind and rain, some open sheds with a good roof (but all looked uncomfortable for sleeping) and a dry toilet. The house itself is locked with a padlock and cannot be used by visitors. I stayed in a tree covered area next to the house for two nights as the next day was raining all day. Foxes, various birds and wild cows kept me a company. <br />
<br />
From the settler, it is a relatively easy trail up to the crossroad at km33.4. The trail is ocassionaly overgrown and muddy but nothing dramatic. Nice views over the lake Chico and the glacier. I was impressed by a floating iceberg that made its way slowly across the lake. I had my lunch at the crossroad (km33.4) and decided to leave my backpack there and hike/jog to the glaciar viewpoint (Option 4). It took me about 2:10 hours there and back to the crossroad. I jogged parts of it. The weather got bad during the loop (clouds and rain/snow) so I unfortnunately saw nothing but a bit more of the Glaciar Chico once reaching the viewpoint. All distant peaks were obscured in clouds. My recommendation is to do the Option 4 only if the visibility is good, otherwise the detour might be not worth it. Once finished with the loop, I hiked over the Argentinian border and slept inside Refugio Diablo at km34.4. It is in good shape overall. Just the fireplace might not run well (i have not tried) as the chimney is broken. The refugio has two elevated platforms for sleeping (easily fits 4-8 people), a table and stools, and a dry toilet nearby. If staying there, I recommend to take water from a stream flowing into the lake Diablo before reaching the refugio. There is no quick water access from the building - one must go down to one of the lakes.<br />
<br />
From Refugio Diablo it took me about 5 hours to reach the argentinian police checkpoint at Lago Desierto. The part is relatively straightforward, again a bit swampy in my case. At he Argentinian police checkpoint I was actually asked why I had a three day old stamp. I wanted to avoid problems, so I said that I took a slow pace and did not walk on some days because it was raining constantly (which was true). I said that I built my tent, read a book and trying to wait out the rain. This (in a hindsight really poor) excuse was fortunately enough for the officer. He nodded and gave me the stamp. Maybe the policeman was simply curious and even if I told him where I came from he would be eventually fine with that. I didn’t want to take my chances though.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-10 / 2 days / Helen and Craig<br />
<br />
>Lago Desertio ferry cost about 50 dollars (we didn't take it)<br />
<br />
>O'Higgins ferry cost 60 dollars and they give you a lift to V O'Higgins at the other end<br />
<br />
>We took the lake side trail. Beautifull veiws over Fitzroy range. Campsite at the border crossing is exposed but harbours some of the best campside veiws. 2nd best camp of GPT for us (but would be unpleasant in high winds)<br />
<br />
Border crossing was very easy with no proplems or searches either side. Had to take shorter route due to higher winds coming in and the O'Higgins ferry not due to run for the next week after. Shorter variation was very easy trail markings. Easy to walk in 4-5 hours<br />
Was sad to miss the extended route.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-13 to 2023-Feb-17 / 5 days / RR / SOBO / also Option 2 to Glaciar O'Higgins / Véronica & Zach <br />
<br />
Route: Candelario Mancilla - Río Bullicioso - Lago Chico - Mirador Glaciar O'Higgins - Glaciar Chico - Lago Diablo - AR Border Control <br />
<br />
This may have been my favourite section of the GPT yet this year. After 4 days waiting in Villa Ohiggins for a calm ferry day, we waited at the Chilean carabineros post because the computer systems were down and it was lunchtime so everyone seemed to be on break. They asked everyone only occupations and marital status, nothing about our planned route. We were able to start walking only around 3 p.m. although we arrived at Candelario Mancilla around 1 p.m. <br />
<br />
The trail that veers off the minor road was clearly marked and easy to follow. Tons of crowberries/murtillas up in the alpine. We camped before the pass at km 14.5 when the trail was still going through sheltered forests. Up on the pass the next day, it was very cold and exposed and windy, with some snow on the ground. The trees start appearing again much later, when you can see Lago O'Higgins again. The trail switchbacks down to the settler's house at km 23.5 (Estancia Ventisquero Chico) were overgrown and confusing, branching into many paths. <br />
<br />
We wanted to take Option 2 in order to see Glaciar O'Higgins. This detour took us an extra day and a half. We crossed the narrow channel at km 25.1 in Zach's packraft quite easily, even though the wind was gusty from the south. There were virtually no waves and the water was flat. We met the settler Luis at km 25.3 (Estancia La Carmela), who was friendly and indicated the trail toward Glaciar O'Higgins. Both waypointed campsites on the west side of the peninsula are great and sheltered from the fierce west wind in the forest. The views of the lake and mountains and glaciers on this section of trail are beyond words beautiful. <br />
<br />
The way up the pass at km 40.5 is straightforward despite the lack of trail. The descent into the next valley is steep and somewhat tiring, but not dangerous, down a mountainside covered with murtilla plants. We stopped at the orange refugio (km 47.3) late in the afternoon. It is in great condition. The only thing deteriorated is the missing battery from the solar system. Feels like an airplane fusilage with some loud resonance when the wind is strong. Perfect place to shelter from the wind. <br />
<br />
We stayed mostly in the left side of the river as we traveled cross-country to the put-in at Lago Chico. The packrafting back to the east shore of the lake was wavy and windy, the wind coming strong off Glaciar Chico (southerly), requiring a hearty ferry crossing in front of the hanging ice. From the put-in, the island (which appears on sattelite but not maps) looks like a peninsula, but if you paddle into what looks like a cove, you'll see the gap. We went around south of the island, then rode the wind northward to the takeout in a small cove. <br />
<br />
The refuge {38} [52.9+0.3/297] was clipped closed with two padlocks as chain links. Someone left clothes hanging and a plastic chest full of food which mice seem to have enjoyed. The floor was literally covered in mouse poop. Seemed hanta-ed. 👻 The climb back up to the regular hiking route was long but pleasant, and mostly cross-country across rock slabs and brushy fields. <br />
<br />
Back on the regular route, Refugio Diablo on the Argentine side of the border has a wooden table and platforms that could sleep four. When we got to the Argentine border control with a three-day-old Chilean exit stamp, the friendly border agent gave us our entry stamp without question. When asked about the wind on Lago Del Desierto, he walked Zach to the Gendarmeria boat captain who gave useful advice. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan / SOBO / Yannic & Mirjam<br />
<br />
The exit on the Chilean side worked without any problems and the officials did not ask about our route.<br />
<br />
No one was at home at the Estancia Ventisquiero Chico settler. We spent the night a little further away by the stream.<br />
<br />
The hike along Lago Chico was nice and easy. We made a detour via option 4. It is worth going almost to the end to the viewpoint at 1104 m a.s.l. The view of the glacier and the ice field was unique and one of the best viewpoints on the whole GPT.<br />
<br />
The next day we went to the Argentine border authorities. The officials were relaxed and since we wanted to spend the night there anyway, we agreed to do the stamp the next day.<br />
<br />
The exit stamp, which was 4 days old in the meantime, was no problem at all...<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec-09 / half a day / SOBO / Frank<br />
<br />
The first 12KM of the direct route from Candelario Mansilla is on a road. There is a guy with a jeep who meets the ferry & may offer to take luggage or even passengers along the road. At the pass a trail continues down to the Argentine border post. <br />
<br />
I continued around Laguna del Desierto the same day.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2022-Jan / NOBO / Alexis y Iris<br />
<br />
Took 4 days between the two stamps without issues. The Chilean carabineros just asked our route and we said we hiked through Refugio Diablo. <br />
<br />
To ressuply in Candilla Mancilla, it is possible to ask Maria Louisa at the camping. There are more items than you could imagine but it's a bit expensive. <br />
<br />
Of note, it is possible to arrange a transfer directly to Bahia Pescado on the same boat that goes to Villa O'Higgins to hike the GPT37H, just ask the captain directly. <br />
<br />
The fare for a complete transfer is 60k CLP or 70 USD. We don't know the price for a drop off in Bahia Pescado.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-12 / SOBO / Arnaud et Adriane<br />
<br />
According to the team of our hotel in Villa O'Higgins, we officially have 24h to cross the 2 borders.<br />
<br />
So we prefered not to take risks with customs of Chile and Argentina and walked directly from Mancilla (chilean border) to punta Norte (argentinien border). There is 21km to walk and it is very easy.<br />
<br />
After the argentinian border, we walked to the mirador on the glaciar chico. It is the last 15kms of the real section 38. The view on the glaciar is amazing there and really worth the effort. After just walked back to the argentinian border. The walk is easy with some elevation but easy. We took a path that was marked but differed a little with the gps track (maybe sometimes 300m away) and had only one easy riverford.<br />
<br />
Don't say to the argentinian customs that you were there because the mirador is officially in chile (200m after the border but without any puesto) just say that you walked to the refugio del Diablo which is on the path and 200m before the border. This refugio is very basic in metal and can help in case of rain but is not cosy at all.<br />
<br />
It is a total of 51kms and without any risk with the 2 borders but you maybe miss some other highlights of the real section 38.<br />
<br />
We did it in 1 day and a half.<br />
<br />
Comment Jan Dudeck: In recent years we and other hikers had no issues staying several days between the Chilean and Argentine border post. Some years ago the situation was different but both sides seams more relaxed now as long as you arrive on the other side with an exit stamp.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-10 / 1 day / Regular hiking route / NOBO / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe <br />
<br />
We chose to do this hike in one long day, but were told we could camp near the Argentinian passport control, or in the sort of no-mans-land up the trail further between borders. Make sure you know what day the ferry is leaving before hiking or you could end up waiting in Candelaria a couple days! There aren't any stores in Candelaria, though we heard the lady at the campground might sell you some eggs or some other supplies.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-10 / Jan Dudeck<br />
<br />
The regular hiking and packrafting route passes the Chilean border control post in Candelario Mansilla and the Argentine border control post at the northern end of Lago el Desierto. These posts are 26 km apart (shortest distance) and if you do not walk into these two border controls posts yourself you will not get the required exit and entry stamp and become an “illegal immigrant” in the neighboring country. Don’t expect anything at the border itself or to get stopped by the police in the corresponding places.<br />
<br />
Be aware that the GPT route takes a significant detour between these border controls and crosses the actual border at an non-officil location at the Refugio el Diabolo. If you ask the border police for permission to cross the border in this location than your request will probably be denied so better don’t ask and just tell that you are on the way to the Chile/Argentina without specifying the exact route (when asking for your exit stamp).<br />
<br />
We have taken this non-official route twice in January 2017 and January 2019 without any issue.<br />
<br />
Worst case scenario is that you arrive with a several days old exit stamp on the other side and the border control police becomes upset and ask you to walk back on the shortest route (Option 1) to get a fresh stamp but I have not heard this happening in recent years.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
* Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
<br />
Notes to consider before beginning: At Calendario Mancilla, there is a Carabineros border control outpost. They asked that we fill out an expedition hiking form since the GPT follows a little used route. After discussing the route, the Carabineros informed us that entering Argentina at Lago Diablo, which is the current GPS route, is illegal. There is an alternate route, as described below, which remains in Chile that we decided to take instead. <br />
<br />
From the Chilean border control, follow the gravel road for a short distance and turn onto a trail marked by white sign with green lettering that says “Rio Obsticulos” as shown by the current GPS track (hikers may want to consider following the alternate listed at the end of this section description to and from Glacier O’Higgins because that trail is of much higher quality, more scenic, and more pleasant than the one that follows the bank of Lago O’Higgins/San Martin). <br />
<br />
After crossing the wooden bridge, hike along an ill-defined track that winds up and down the shoreline of Lago O’Higgins/San Martin to the land bridge north of Lago Chico. There is one residence as well as the occasional small camp spot along this route. <br />
<br />
There is another residence located on the east side of the land bridge, and hikers may pass through a wire gate on north side of the corral. A faint trail heads west and terminates at the bank of the narrow channel that connects Lago O’Higgins/San Martin and Lago Chico. A packraft is required to cross this channel. <br />
<br />
There is another residence on the west side of the channel. When the large ferry out of Villa O’Higgins is functional, it drops people off near this residence so they may hike the Sendero a Candelario Mancilla which is marked with orange and white blazes. This trail is well-formed and climbs the hill south of the residence. After exiting the treeline, be aware that there is limited camping for many kilometers. From this point, the route is very exposed and there is no cover until the route re-crosses Lago Chico. <br />
<br />
Glacier O’Higgins is beautiful; it is composed of glistening blue ice that terminates into the lake. Sadly, as the University of Valdevía has documented, the glacier is receding at an alarming rate and is in danger. As you enjoy the views, the trail continues to wind up and down above the lake but eventually disappears. Navigation is easy due to a lack of vegetation, but camping is poor due to exposure and the steep terrain. <br />
<br />
An orange refugio is located 2 km from Lago Chico on the glacial moraine. It is equipped with solar panels and is a good place to ride out a storm. The route continues down rocks and sand to the lake edge. The lake paddle is very pleasant, and depending on the season, it may involve weaving through icebergs to get to open water. Be careful not to get too close to the icebergs! Many of them are unstable and falling ice is common. <br />
<br />
Alternate:<br />
The GPS route indicates a northbound float on Lago Chico for approximately 4 km until take-out, but high winds forced us off of the lake early. We exited at the southern end of Lago Chico and from there faced a very difficult, brushy, and steep climb up to a trail at about elevation 750 m. Weather permitting, it may be easier to packraft all the way back to the land bridge between Lago Chico and Lago O’Higgins/San Martin. The trail on east side of the lake is well-formed, however, and there is one established campsite near a run down shack at the Lago Diablo turn off. <br />
<br />
In order to avoid the illegal Lago Diablo crossing into Argentina, just after passing a large wooden sign that says “Sendero de Chile,” turn off to the east on a well-formed track and climb up through the forest. The track is well-formed, easy to follow, and passes by several good places to camp. There are some orange and white blazes which are hard to spot because they mark the track in the opposite direction. There is a brief cross-country section over the pass through open tundra, but the trail reappears as the route renters the trees. There are a couple river crossing, and the trail ends at the gravel road. Follow the road north back to the Carabineros outpost to inform them you made it back safely and to obtain an exit stamp.<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
*2023 / Anna & Christopher<br />
In march and april the ferry that crosses Lago O'Higgins only leaves twice a week, which is mondays and thursdays at 8 a.m. (company Las Ruedas, reservation possible via whatsapp +56 966278836).<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
* 2023 December / Anh<br />
<br />
Warning between exit & entry:<br />
You have to reach the other border control within one day, since recently both border controls compare the data every day.<br />
If you do not arrive within one day, they (both border controls) will actually go looking for you.<br />
<br />
*Permit for Gpt38<br />
For glaciers Chico and O'Higgins you can apply for an "Expedition Paper" at the Chilean border control. However, this does not allow you to cross the border to Argentina.<br />
At the argentinian border control, you can ask for the route Lago del Desierto - Lago Diablo (with return / no border crossing).<br />
Conclusion: there is currently no standard procedure for GPT38 with border crossing. The two border controls check by radio whether all persons arrive on the other side within one day (and start search operations if necessary)!<br />
<br />
*2023 / Ondrej <br />
At he Argentinian police checkpoint I was actually asked why I had a three day old stamp. I wanted to avoid problems, so I said that I took a slow pace and did not walk on some days because it was raining constantly (which was true). I said that I built my tent, read a book and trying to wait out the rain. This (in a hindsight really poor) excuse was fortunately enough for the officer. He nodded and gave me the stamp. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2019 / Jan Dudeck<br />
Be aware that the GPT route takes a significant detour between these border controls and crosses the actual border at an non-officil location at the Refugio el Diabolo. If you ask the border police for permission to cross the border in this location than your request will probably be denied so better don’t ask and just tell that you are on the way to the Chile/Argentina without specifying the exact route (when asking for your exit stamp).<br />
We have taken this non-official route twice in January 2017 and January 2019 without any issue.<br />
Worst case scenario is that you arrive with a several days old exit stamp on the other side and the border control police becomes upset and ask you to walk back on the shortest route (Option 1) to get a fresh stamp but I have not heard this happening in recent years.<br />
<br />
<br />
*Comment Jan Dudeck: In recent years we and other hikers had no issues staying several days between the Chilean and Argentine border post. Some years ago the situation was different but both sides seams more relaxed now as long as you arrive on the other side with an exit stamp.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019 / Arnaud et Adriane<br />
<br />
According to the team of our hotel in Villa O'Higgins, we officially have 24h to cross the border.(...) Don't say to the argentinian customs that you were there because the mirador is officially in chile (200m after the border but without any puesto) just say that you walked to the refugio del Diablo which is on the path and 200m before the border.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT38 - Glaciar Chico]]<br />
<br />
=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT37H_(Peninsula_La_Florida)&diff=115075GPT37H (Peninsula La Florida)2024-04-05T21:18:34Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br style="clear:both" /><br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Mar-25 to 2024-Mar-27 / 2.5 days hiking + 2.5 days waiting/ Hiking / SOBO / RR, West Traverse + OH G + H / Joscha<br />
<br />
I combined Section 37, 38 and 39. It took me 10.5 days including 2.5 days waiting at Bahia Pescado for the ferry. I left a bag with food in Villa O'Higgins which the ferry brought me. And I could store food at the chilenian Border station. Therefore I never had to cary food for more than 5 days.<br />
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<br />
Day 1: RR [0.0-29.3]<br />
<br />
I started hiking in Villa O'Higgins and got a hitch after about 2 km to Bahia Bahmondez. There was plenty of water all along the trail. The pass at km 15 was snow free. The ford at 21.6 was hard. At 4 pm the water was just below my crotch (I am 192 cm tall) and the current pretty strong. The RR along Laguna Verde is at times flooded by the Laguna. <br />
<br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [29.3-48.6]<br />
<br />
Plenty of water. Fords are max. knee hight. I really liked the camp at 48.6. <br />
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<br />
Day 3: RR [48.6-62.9] + OH37H-G + RR [63.5-69.1] + OH37H-H<br />
<br />
Lots of Water and easy ford. I didn't see a puesto at km 53.2. Only some wood fences. I arrived at the House from Nicole and Misael in the afternoon. They were very friendly and welcoming. Originally I had planed to take the ferry on the next day, but due to bad weather it was delayed for two days. I spend those days with the family and they fed me completely for the two days. I paid her 30000 Pesos per day.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*24-Feb-28 to 2024-Mar-2 / 48 hours and a day of waiting / Hiking / SOBO / RR, West Traverse/ Tomáš<br />
<br />
I arrived to Villa O'Higgins on a Tuesday evening. The forecast was dire so I wanted to skip the Florida peninsula but before I got my head around it, it was midnight. I stayed in Hostal Moscou, nobody there wanted to cross (a group of cyclist arrived from the ferry at 23:00, the boat waited for a late crossing back) or knew when the next boat would go, I tried whatsapping both companies but they did not respond. In the morning, I went to Rueda office to find out that the boat left at 7:00 and the next one would not go until Saturday, so I decided to do the West Traverse and hop on the ferry on Saturday from Bahia Pescada. Rueda won't reply to whatsapp outside office hours (9-13 and 14-21 I think) - they run it from the computer in their office. The other company replied back only in the afternoon. So if you are in a real hurry out of main season, turning up in the port really early would have worked, the boat apparently had 6 seats unoccupied. It was very easy to arrange to be picked from Bahia Pescada, I left the company a bag with stuff they then brought me. I paid them the full amount of 55,000 in cash, in retrospect I should have tried to negotiate it down (but they need to make a small detour to pick me up, so I might notnhave been succesful).<br />
<br />
I got lucky to get a hitch around 1300 one km out of town; the port seems to be a minor tourist attraction in itself. The route thereafter is indeed mostly cross country (trails much less clear than on GPT36 and TL&CC combinations tend to be on the CC side) and is indeed quite scenic. The missed boat turned out to be a blessing as I only got some clouds high up and then sun instead of fog and some rain as forecasted. I was later told the peninsula gets better weather than Villa O'Higgins, especially in its south (it also seems anything that is not heavy rain is a good forecast here). Ford at 19.8 was dry. Fords at 20.6 and 21.6 should be Fords Start/End, you follow a riverbed with a river. After that, you still follow a riverbed, but without a river, which found a new course to your right. These fords and the one at 30.2 were the only ones that I could not jump or go over on stones or logs. Lake was low at the end of summer and I just mostly followed the beach. Slept at the corral at 29.3.<br />
<br />
CC&TL from 31.5 is again a riverbed, I kept the river to my left most of the time until I could cross it on a log. I did not find anything I would call a trail until the pass. Either I am blind or gate 45.4 does not exist. Ford 45.6 is annoying as it is about 20m-long strech of flooded trail that is overgrown, ankle deep though (and the stream is very bushy, you won't find a better way, I tried). Met two GPT hikers at camp 48.6 - very nice camp. The forecast was for heavy rain the next afternoon, so I pushed almost to puesto at 59.2, sleeping on a green flat about 0.5 km before it. It was a windy night despite finding a seemingly sheltered spot. It would have been better by the lake; near the puesto at Once Hermanos would have been perfect if it was not mostly occupied.<br />
<br />
I got up with sunrise and started towards Bahia Pescado. The morning had better weather than expected, even with sun , so I ate breakfast for an hour and arrived around noon, just as the rain started. The family was there, I was invited inside, where it is dry, warm and with superfast internet, Starlink is wow! I was complimented on my Spanish as opposed to other GPT hikers, which was unexpected, I am like A2 and I thought everybodybelse isnalmost fluent! I managed to have a conversation for three hours though, even about the merits of various political systems. It was indeed very nice. It rained heavily on and off well into the night (snowed from 1000 m up), so I slept on the floor. I was given lunch, a pie in the evening and one piece of bread (about 300g - I bought 2 more for 3000 each). I offered 20,000. I thought vegetable would be included too, but in the morning it was early and Nicole was not up so I did not get any, even though we talked about it the night before. She said she struggles with pricing. My advice is to probably deal with the business side of the visit early on and completely before darkness comes (I am not complaining though, it was lovely). Nicole said that since last year, more people are coming - I signed into a book and saw many familiar names from here, about 25 people in about 12 groups altogether! It seems most people actualy do write into the wiki, I always thought most did not. She said that she does not want it to become too popular, but the current level is fine and the money comes handy (I also think especially she enjoys company).<br />
<br />
In the morning, I was told the day before to be ready at 7:45 through whatsapp, but the boat only came an hour later. Apparently it was not much delayed in Villa O'Higgins, not sure why the discrepancy. Luckily I could wait inside, the view for the boat is perfect.<br />
<br />
Overall, the peninsula is really attractive. I actually preferred the inside of it, going along the coast was a bit too long. Also the trails are not in great condition, I often lost them and walked cross country. Nicole and Michel do not have many cattle and I think they do not need the trails to be perfect. I am glad I did not skip this section.<br />
<br />
*2024-feb-20/ 5,5days / hiking / Full loop west - east/ RR / Lukas en Tess ; Nolwenn and Yannick (first half)<br />
<br />
This is an incredible hike, (like most but still, doesn't get old!) Beautiful views, great camping spots and awesome people!<br />
Very demanding because of cross country and overgrown vegetation. (Not bushbashing but sometimes not far from it)<br />
<br />
Some recomendations: <br />
<br />
-The view from the pass [39,3] is amazing and so is the route all the way down. If you only do half do this side!<br />
-At the puesto {37H-E} km 69,2, this is where you would wait for the ferry. A young family that is very welcoming. Nicole makes super delicious bread and sells some vegetables. We payed for 4 people 15.000 for the salad, 18.000 for the bread and if you would camp there it would be 7.000 pp. <br />
She also sells essential oils made from herbs and flowers out of the mountains around, ask her, its awesome!<br />
-camp close to the beach, camp [78,1], best spot for a campfire we ever had. IF the weather allows and there isn't too much wind offcourse.<br />
-puesto [84,1], is more like a Refuge. Guillermo is one of the most hospitable people we have met on the gpt, he is not always there but he leaves the puesto open for passerbys. If he's home you are in luck we where there early in the morning and before we knew it we had our pockets full of candy and cookies, a cup of hot milk, some rice porridge and some dried meat. <br />
If he is not there feel free to use the stove, wood and utensils even the bed is to your disposal. He told us it's his family's tradition to keep an open door. If you happen to pass by leave him a letter or a note of appreciation, I'm sure that would make him very happy.<br />
-Refuge [88,5] is noting much but it's still there and you could hide from the elements if necessary.<br />
<br />
Plenty of water everywhere on the trail.<br />
<br />
Fords where no problem this time of year but we heard ford [89,9] is the one to be weary of.<br />
<br />
The waterlevel of the lake was really high at the end of summer and that caused problems crossing of the sandbanks on [69,4] and [96,1] the first we past with the boat of Nicole's husband, the second you can go around but...<br />
<br />
DON'T RECOMMEND, because of going around the lake on km [96,1] we started folowing a trail that brought us on the south side of the river but it's imposible to cross because it's a huge canyon. We decided to stay on this side instead of turning back but the smal cow paths disappear and you end up bushbashing your way through. On top of that, there are some canyons that are perpendicular to the main river and the only way of crossing those is going a long way up. In the end we managed and it was an adventure, gave us a glimpse into what Jan has been doing all these years ;p<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Dec-30 to 2024-Jan-02 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris<br />
<br />
We did the west traverse of the Florida Peninsula and definitely recommemd it to anyone, whether nobo or sobo. We prearranged the ferry to pick us up from Bahia Pescado, which meant we had ample time for the 68 kilometers. In all honesty - we expected much more difficulties and bushbashing but the route was surprisingly nice and straightforward.<br />
<br />
We were lucky with great weather throughout, albeit some strong winds. We got no hitch out of Villa O'Higgins and thus did the whole roadwalk. The trail up the first pass was steep but easy to follow, views from the pass were magnificent. The snowpatches were not an issue. In the forest before the lake there was a lot of fallen trees, so extra time & effort was spent on climbing over them...then lots of soft sandy beachwalking + walking in the freezing cold lake as the "trail" was under water. The way up to the second pass was gradual and easy, the pass itself was swampy. Great views on the other side, too.<br />
<br />
The way down starts with an easy to follow trail, then it sort of disappears (or, rather, there are very many to choose from) and you gotta make your way down to the coast. Some bushbashing involved here but not much. The rest of the coastal walk offers great views and lots of smaller climbs, but is generally easy to follow. The worst section is the last 11 kilometers between Bahia Once Hermanos and Bahia Bescado - the trail keeps disappearing and there is a lot of bushbashing, which for those in shorts is very painful. The settler family is amazingly welcoming, allowed us to camp up behind their house and had us over for dinner. We purchased some fresh bread and salad material from them. The ferry picked us up early the next morning right by the house.<br />
<br />
*2023-Dec-22 to 2023-Dec-30 / 8.5 days / full 8 circuit / Villa O'Higgins - Villa O'Higgins / RR/ Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
This wasn't an easy hike but totally worth it!<br />
<br />
The best landscape was, for us, the west part of the panorama trail (along Lago O'Higgins) but it was also a challenging part with a lot of bushes and up and down. The trail was although more difficult to find and more bushy than in the east part of the panorama trail.<br />
<br />
There was still a lot of snow at Pass {37H} [15.0/1159] (Portezuelo Los Corrales) but it was easy to walk and navigate with a nice weather.<br />
<br />
The Lake {37H} [24.4/548] (Lago Verde) was a bit high so you have to walk sometimes in the lake but it isn't a problem. It's way better to have the feet wet and cold than trying to go through the bushes.<br />
<br />
We met the family Settler {37H-H} [4.5/264] (Bahia Pescado, Nicole and Misael) and it was a fantastic experience. We had maté and then bought them some vegetables for lunch. Be sure to visit them and to have some time for a little break with them!<br />
<br />
For the 3 major fords, according to the advice of Misael we crossed Ford {37H} [79.0/520] (Cascada) early in the morning (at 6:30 AM) to be sure it was passable. We crossed Ford {37H} [89.8/259] (Rio Aro) in the early afternoon on a sunny day and it wasn't a good idea. The water isn't really clear and it's hard to find how deep it is. We manage to cross it but I (Christophe, 1.74m) was wet up to my hips. We also crossed Ford {37H} [96.6/255] (Rio San Martin) in the morning (7:30 AM) the next day close to the lake and it was ok (water up to mid-thigh and strong current). <br />
<br />
On the second Pass {37H} [39.3/1006] (Canadon los Patos) and last Pass {37H} [111.7/948] (Portezuelo el Roce), it was quite swampy. Just put your fording shoes if you have some and don't try to keep your feet dry.<br />
<br />
All in all, it was a fantastic adventurous section!<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-12-14 to 18: Fangwen and Tobi / 5 days (4 hiking) / NOBO / West traverse (Bahia Pescado to Villa O'Higgins).<br />
<br />
This trip featured great views and a real feeling of adventure, but for us, it was also a challenging trip that brought us to our limits. The GPT manual already has lots of details, so we will mostly focus on our personal experience and some logistical aspects.<br />
<br />
As far as we know, after Jan&Meylin and Jess&Paco last season, we are the first GPT hikers to explore the Florida peninsula in this new GPT section (previously, GPT 37H was just taking the ferry between Candelario Mansilla and Villa O'Higgins).<br />
<br />
Day 1: we took the ferry from Candelario Mansilla to Bahia Pescado in the morning. There, we met the lovely family of Nicole, Misael and their three year old son, Facundo. We had a great time with them, and they were delighted to have visitors (the last visitors having passed half a year earlier). If you have the chance to spend a full day with them, we strongly recommend this, as it was a section highlight. We slept on their floor for the night.<br />
<br />
Day 2: we started hiking just before noon, and camped at a wind-sheltered location at around km57.<br />
<br />
Day 3: we hiked to the trailhead (km 54.8, beginning of the CC eastbound ascent to Canadon los Patos), and despite it being 6pm already, decided to push onwards towards the pass. Unfortunately, we took a bad route (hiking uphill first and then traversing in steep terrain) and had to turn around to spend the night at the trailhead.<br />
<br />
Day 4: We started early with the hike up to the pass: this time, following the easier option of first traversing in the mellow terrain, and start going uphill only when we were already close to the pass. This worked much better, despite having to navigate between some cliffs on our way up. On the other side of the pass, we went on via some muddy swamps and river beds to stay at the camp km29.3 by the beautiful Laguna Verde -- a wonderful location for a camp and a highlight of the trip.<br />
<br />
Day 5: we woke up early to make it to Villa O'Higgins in one day. The terrain was comparatively easy to walk on for the whole day. Before the pass (Portezuelo Los Corrales) there were some snow fields, some of which required some creative rerouting. To our great relief, the steep descent on the north side of the pass was entirely snow free. The rest of the trip was relatively easy walking. After 25km of hiking we reached Puerto Bahmondez. Half-way to Villa O'Higgins a car passed us and we were able to hitchhike.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: as mentioned, this trip was quite challenging for us, despite the excellent conditions and our years of backcountry experience. In retrospect, this is something that probably many GPT hikers experience when they go on their first "wild" GPT section and find out what is considered a "trail" on the GPT. Technically, there were no substantial challenges for us. The river crossings were all at most knee deep, thanks to the good weather. (Also note that in bad weather, some of our campsites might be flooded). But the progress from Bahia Pescado to the first pass (Canadon los Patos) was frustratingly slow at times, since the trail was frequently overgrown with bushes (sometimes thorny ones), or covered in mud / water, or difficult to recognize such that we lost the trail and had to backtrack or bushwhack our way back to the trail. Psychologically, this was a tough experience for us. The crux of the trip was the CC section on the west side of Canadon los Patos. This 1.7km straight section took us almost two hours. After the pass, conditions were generally easier, progress faster and the terrain and views changed more often, which made hiking much more enjoyable. The last day, despite consisting of 28km of hiking almost felt easier than the previous days, as the terrain was easier to traverse than the overgrown trails along the coast of Lago O'Higgins. <br />
<br />
We can definitely recommend 37H, but hikers unfamiliar with overgrown trails should be aware of the physical and mental challenge that the terrain poses.<br />
<br />
Logistics: We combined sections 38 and 37 on our NOBO trip. For the (resupply) logistics regarding section 38, see our trip report on [[GPT38|that wiki page]].<br />
We took the ferry from Candelario Mansilla heading to Villa O'Higgins, but we asked to be dropped off at Bahia Pescado (start of the West part of GPT 37). The ferry company (WhatsApp +56 9 6627 8836, https://www.turismoruedasdelapatagonia.cl) charged us 30.000 per person instead of the 50 or 60.000 (?) to Villa O'Higgins. We gave the captain a bag of extra food and belongings to be picked up in Villa O'Higgins after the section 37 hike. This worked out without problem (the company has apartments there, so pickup should be possible any time of the week).<br />
If you can, get in touch with Nicole ahead of time, her full name is in the GPT manual, and with that you can find her Facebook account.<br />
If you don't want to walk on the road the last 7km from Puerto Bahmondez to Villa O'Higgins, you can either try to hitchhike (cars were infrequent but the first one we tried took us) or arrange for a taxi with Roberto (WhatsApp +56 9 8193 5236).<br />
There is some cellphone reception at Puerto Bahmondez. Ricardo in Candelario Mansilla should have some internet connectivity. Nicole's family recently got Starlink satellite internet, which works really well (better than in El Chalten and Villa O'Higgins). You can also charge your devices with them.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-29 / 1 day / Hiking / Main route Peninsula La Florida / Jess&Paco <br />
<br />
Km 90 demanding Ford n°2<br />
<br />
The refuge is closed and locked and you have to pass an unreferenced barrier to follow GPT track and get to the refuge.<br />
We advice to cross just after reaching the beach after the refuge. If you dont you have to pass by a gravelled/sandy slope that will make your ankles suffer.<br />
<br />
Km 96 demanding ford n°3 <br />
<br />
Before reaching the Ford we couldn't follow the GPT main track because it was completely flooded. So we add to follow the beach. But rocky shore makes some passes dangerous so we advice to climb just a little above the shore you will find animal trails that eventually get a few dozen meters above the river. Then you can ford but be carefull there is a lot of water and current. Fording at the extreme end of the river is also difficult because even if there is not much current, water depth can prevent you from crossing depending on the weather and the hour of the day. It was a really rainy day and we crossed at 12 approximatly.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-27 / 1 day / Hiking / Main route Peninsula La Florida / Jess&Paco <br />
<br />
After the settler at km 69, you have to ford between the lake O Higgins and a small inner lagoon. We werent able to pass because of water depth. It seems part of the beach have disappeared at that season. We add to climb and make a detour around the small lagoon. There are some animal trails to lead you.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-23 / 1 day / Hiking / NOBO / Candelario Mancilla to Villa O Higgins / Jess&Paco<br />
<br />
We crossed the lago O Higgins the 23 after only one day waiting.<br />
<br />
It seems the only company still making transfer at that season (and until ebd of april) is Las Ruedas. As said below the cost is 60000 pesos including the car transfer from Bahia Bahamondez toVilla OHiggins. In el Chalten they told us we could have a 5000 pesos discount if paying cash but it seems that Las Ruedas policies changed. <br />
<br />
There is only 16 (maybe 17 if a couple gets separated) places on the boat. The crossing last 2h if the weather is good. They usually come to Candelario Mancilla mondays and thursday but it changes a lot with the weather.<br />
<br />
You get in the boat by order of registration at the border control. So no need to hurry or worry. There will be no competition between passengers to board. And everyone is very friendly and naturally respects order of arrivals.<br />
<br />
Camping at Candelario Mancilla costs 5000. You cannot ressuply but Ricardo has some eggs and bread so you can extend your supplies for a few days.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-04 / 1 day / RR / SOBO / RR / Villa O’Higgins - Candelario Mansilla by ferry / Ondrej<br />
<br />
Had to wait for the boat for two days, most people I met there waited for 3-5 days. Two companies seem to be currently operating in the area: Las Ruedas (whatsapp: +56 9 6627 8836) and a guy named Pascual (+56 9 4296 4723) with his daughter Javier (+56 9 4403 6006). Both companies currently charge 60,000 CLP for the boat transfer. Las Ruedas has a faster boat and the ticket price includes a car transfer from O’Higgins to Puerto Bahamondes. With the other company, one has to pay 5 or 6,000 for the transport to the port.<br />
<br />
When staying in the town, I was told that during the high season, it is best to whatsapp the companies a week in advance and reserve a spot to cut the waiting period. Otherwise, I suggest to go to their offices and add yourself to a waiting list as soon as you arrive. It is possible to drop in to their offices regularly to see if some people dropped of the waiting list and you can travel earlier (happened in my case). <br />
<br />
Overall, Villa O’Higgins is a lovely place to rest and resupply while waiting for the boat. If you can bear the rain. I stayed at Hostal El Mosco - really nice and lively place. You’re going to meet mostly other travellers waiting for the boat too. The place has hot showers virtually all the time and a beautiful kitchen area. Camping is 9,000 CLP per night - bit on the pricy side but you can use all the hostel facilities such as kitchen and indoor showers. They also offer dorm and private rooms. <br />
<br />
I found the Cordillera supermarket to be the best place for resupplying. They also sell camping canisters. The wifi is generally bad in the town apart from some companies that have a starlink connection. You can get such fast wifi for free from Copec gas station.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-25 / 1 day / SOBO / Will <br />
<br />
Getting the ferry wasn't really feasible when I was there. I was pretty far back on the waiting list, and conditions were nearly always too bad to sail. A few did make it across (they later told me it was pretty scary) but the rest of us gave up and bussed out. Thankfully I only spent the days there. Took 3.5 days to bus back up to Chile Chico and then down through Argentina.<br />
<br />
Raining every day in Villa o Higgins.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-13 / SOBO / Véronica & Zach <br />
<br />
Waited in Villa O'Higgins for 5 days for the ferry, due to strong winds and rain. There are two ferry companies — one is Las Ruedas de la Patagonia which operates on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday if the weather is good. If the weather is bad, then the boat crossing may happen anytime there is a good weather window. They can take 16 passengers. The other company is very small and operates very infrequently, since they can only take 8 people at a time and require a longer weather window because their boat is slower. Both companies charge 60,000 clp per person. We recommend reserving AND paying for your ferry ticket as soon as you arrive in town. People who only reserve and don't pay are subject to being pushed off the passenger list if other people come and offer to pay beforehand. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-18 to 2023-Jan-21 / 3.5 days / West Traverse / Iris, Alexis<br />
<br />
We were able to get a boat ride to Bahia Pescado by asking Rudeas de Patagonia. We came at the end of the day and they sold us some remaining seats at a fair price (50k for 2). Earlier in the day, the price was 60k each. <br />
<br />
When arriving at Bahia Pescado, we had difficulties to find the trail and struggled in the first ascent. We pitched the tent at Water {37H} [56.7/408]. The view all along and at the spot is stunning. <br />
<br />
On the second day, the ascent through RH-CC-A {37H} [5.6/48.0+0.5] was tough because it was really hot and the path we found was in rocky former river stream. <br />
<br />
Then, RR-CC-A {37H} [39.9/40.7+1.7] is even harder when going up. We suggest to continue to follow the shore a bit and going up straight instead of trying to do both at the same time. It looked easier when above. <br />
We camped at Camp {37H} [36.5/776] but we did not find water nearby. <br />
<br />
Third day was without any specificities except gorgeous landscapes and scenic views. Of note, Camp {37H} [114.9/268] is probably not available for the season as it is occupied by a dead cow. We found a suitable pitch a bit further on the beach (in an old corral). <br />
<br />
The return to Bahia Bahamondes was straight forward. The beginning of the trail is easily lost and we checked our GPS quite often. Then, the trail is visible and beautiful. We were lucky to find a ride to Villa O'Higgins at the port and did not walk the last 7 kilometers. <br />
<br />
Overall, we struggled a bit but had no real difficulties. The weather was excellent (even a bit too hot) and the rivers crossable easily. This hike was super beautiful and diverse. Also, we met nobody on the trail and it was really pleasant to feel diving into barely frequented nature.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-07 to 2023-Jan-07 / 6 days / GPT37P(H): Peninsula La Florida. Full "8" route and side hikes (to Cerro Tres Frailes) / Clockwise / Alex Abramov <br />
<br />
179 km, Solo.<br />
<br />
An excellent route ranked in my top five favorites in Chile. Very scenic, varied, secluded, a real gem. In general, there are no problems with water or camps. Not particularly difficult, but the route has at least two quite demanding fords and many sections with complicated navigation and annoying thorny bushes (I always use my running shoes). <br />
<br />
My choice of direction, clockwise, is due to trying challenging fords first.<br />
<br />
I am somewhat skeptical about the length of the track by Jan, the discoverer of the area, I believe that the real classic “8” will be closer to 150 km<br />
Crossing the Aro(s) River requires a lot of care, especially when passing alone. It can be extremely dangerous or impassable in the early season, I put some useful tips in the comment on the FB post.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec / SOBO / Yannic & Mirjam<br />
<br />
We had to wait 8 days in O'Higgens because the ferry was postponed twice due to wind and the waiting list grew. <br />
<br />
Currently, there is only one operator (Las Ruedas). It is best to contact them early via Whatsapp and reserve a ticket.<br />
<br />
You can also drop by spontaneously the evening before departure. If someone has not paid, tickets will become available at short notice...<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2022-Mar-06 / 3.5 days / 37P: Península La Florida / Tobias Schorcht, Jonas Grünewald and Martin <br />
<br />
Thank you Jan, for sending us your GPS-Trackfiles right on time. It would have been quite difficult, to make our way over the península without them, because there are numerous good visible cow trails around! We booked a “O’Higgins Glaciar Tour” (120000 Pesos p.P) and asked the captain (Markus), to drop us on our way back at Punta Pescado, where the settlers Nicole, Misael and there little son are living. They were happy to receive some fresh fruits and vegetables and invited us for lunch. Nicole and Misael are warm and welcoming people. We left in the afternoon and made our way to “los hermanos” where we camped. The settler who is living there, was not at home. Surprisingly, the weather was much better then expected. Locals told us, it’s always warmer (“up to 4 degrees”) and less rainy up here. We had no problems with navigation on our way back to Villa. There were no dangerous river crossings and numerous of potential camping spots. The views on the Lago O’Higgins and the near by mountains have been spectacular. We suggest to use gaiters, to avoid scratches of the sticky bushes. All in all, we recommend this hike!<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan / NOBO / Oreste Marquis<br />
<br />
I only had to wait for 2 days before the boat came, but some people waited 5! Bought my tickets in advance at Glaciares Expedicion if my memory is right. Book the trip for the two boat (Lago del Desierto and to Villa O’Higgins). I don’t recommend to book the one on Lago del desierto because it is actually super expensive (60 US$) and you can walk it pretty easily.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan / NOBO / Olrik<br />
<br />
Bought the boat tickets in El Chalten. There are 2 options, Zona Austral which works with Ruedas de la Patagonia, and Expeditiones which works with Robinson Crusoe. Ruedas is cheaper, 54USD pp. Boat is just smaller. You can end up stuck for a long time in Candelario Mancilla so plan enough food. The only option is the paid campground which is 5000CLP. The carbineros will kick you out and redirect you to the campground. I would recommend to buy the boat ticket in advance as those with no tickets are not first when the boat comes. Transfer is 1h30.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec / NOBO / Matthieu<br />
<br />
The official schedule is Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, From Villa to Candelario in the morning and back in the afternoon. But it is extremely dependant on the weather conditions, so it can actually be every days and every hours. <br />
<br />
I waited three days in Candelario. Mandatory to take the camping there (5000 CLP per days, possibility to pay by card after leaving the camping with the capitan of the boat La Rueda, who is a friend of the camping owners). Take some food with you to spend a few days there, because there is litterally nothing. Possibility to buy eggs and bread from the woman of the camping. I personally had a good time there, making good fires for hot shower and cooking.<br />
<br />
For the prices of the boat, I personally paid 35 000 with Ruedas, and I saw only two boats (Robinson Crusoe too). I would recommend NOT to take tickets from companies in El Chalten which sell them very expensive, sometimes double. You can buy it directly at the boat, possibility by card.<br />
There is 16 places on each boat, so 32 for my crossing. My boat was almost empty after 4 days of no passage, so no stress.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-10 / Lago O‘Higgins Motor Boat Crossing / Jan Dudeck<br />
<br />
Currently 3 companies offer motor boat crossings of Lago O‘Higgins between Villa O‘Higgins and Candelario Mansilla. Prices for a crossing without a visit of Glacier O‘Higgins range from 36‘000 to 45‘000 CLP. These companies are:<br />
1. RobinsonCrusoe (biggest and most expensive)<br />
2. La Rueda<br />
3. ???<br />
<br />
Like in past years technical issues with the boats and weather (primarily wind) disrupt schedule departures and limit the capacity. This results in significant waiting times in both directions. Waiting 1 to 4 days is common but some people had to wait up to one week to get a seat in a boat. The biggest boat - La Quetru - is currently out of operation due to a motor damage.<br />
<br />
Recommendations:<br />
<br />
Be patient and don’t plan with a tight schedule if intending to cross the border between Villa O’Higgins and El Chalten<br />
<br />
Southbound travelers can wait in Villa O‘Higgins where food is available and can be paid with credit cards. But enough cash should be carried as the next ATM is in Cochrane, a 6 hour drive north of Villa O’Higgins.<br />
<br />
Northbound travelers should carry enough food and cash to wait several days in Candelario Mansilla. Only basic food can be purchased in Candelario Mansilla (Cash only). Consider purchasing a ferry ticket in advance in El Chalten.<br />
<br />
Alternatively TAS offers occasionally flights for 70’000 CLP between an airfield next to the border and Villa O’Higgins.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-11 / SOBO / Arnaud et Adriane<br />
<br />
Be aware that you will maybe have to wait the ferry in Villa O'Higgins. It is very dependant on the weather conditions. We had to wait 4 days.<br />
<br />
It was good to have a real rest after the section 36 and Villa O'Highins is a very quiet and nice village with many walks around if you still have energy.<br />
<br />
We stayed at the Mosco hostel who has rooms, dorms and camping and the welcome and attention of the team there is perfect.<br />
<br />
Only 2 companies offer the crossing of the lake. With robinson crusoe, it costs 45000clp/pers and the trip is 1h30 long. With La Rueda, it costs 40000clp/pers and it is 2h30 long.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-11 / 1 day / NOBO / Ferry ride / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe<br />
<br />
There's two different ferry companies. We were told in El Chaltén that it runs every Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday 3 times a day, at 11:00, 14:00, and 19:00. Cost is $50 USD, can pay with card. We took the other ferry company (Robinson Crusoe) because it showed up at 10:30 and told us the winds were rising so the first company might not be coming. They charged us $47,500CP each at the yurt in Villa O'Higgins.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
* Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
<br />
There are a couple of options to consider for transportation across O’Higgins/San Martin Lake. There is a large ferry which is the primary option for transport when it is functioning. The second option is a smaller ferry run by Marco Campo. This was the only option during the 2017/2018 season because the main ferry had broken down. Marco Campo frequently caused hikers difficulties for several reasons: the ferry only runs a few days a week; the ferry only seats around 15 people and is in high demand since crossing the lake is a part of the Carretera Austral; the waiting list is long and it was not uncommon for travelers to spend several days in Villa O’Higgins waiting for a seat; it does not run when the wind is strong so last minute cancellations were frequent; it’s expensive (~45.000CLP). If possible, try and make arrangements beforehand or be prepared to wait for several days in a primarily cash-functioning town without an ATM. <br />
<br />
Comment by Jan Dudeck: Once the big ferry is repaired crossing the lake should be easier. The big ferry carries up to 100 passangers. Advance reservation is anyway recommended. If you are lucky enough to get spot on the ferry, board your ship at Puerto Bahamóndez. Marco Campos offers a shuttle from Villa O’Higgins for a price or you can road walk ~5 km. The ferry ride across Lago O’Higgins is notorious for being pretty choppy. It takes about 3 hours.<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Calendario Mancilla consists of a single, small hospidaje and campground. Sometimes you can purchase meat or eggs from the owners, but there are very limited options for buying food.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
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<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
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=Links to other Resources=<br />
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Retired Section Article [[GPT37H - Lago O'Higgins]]<br />
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=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT37H_(Peninsula_La_Florida)&diff=114949GPT37H (Peninsula La Florida)2024-03-29T23:53:53Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Mar-25 to 2024-Mar-27 / 2.5 days hiking + 2.5 days waiting/ Hiking / SOBO / RR, West Traverse + OH G + H / Joscha<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 1: RR [0.0-29.3]<br />
<br />
I started hiking in Villa O'Higgins and got a hitch after about 2 km to Bahia Bahmondez. There was plenty of water all along the trail. The pass at km 15 was snow free. The ford at 21.6 was hard. At 4 pm the water was just below my crotch (I am 192 cm tall) and the current pretty strong. The RR along Laguna Verde is at times flooded by the Laguna. <br />
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<br />
Day 2: RR [29.3-48.6]<br />
<br />
Plenty of water. Fords are max. knee hight. I really liked the camp at 48.6. <br />
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<br />
Day 3: RR [48.6-62.9] + OH37H-G + RR [63.5-69.1] + OH37H-H<br />
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Lots of Water and easy ford. I didn't see a puesto at km 53.2. Only some wood fences. I arrived at the House from Nicole and Misael in the afternoon. They were very friendly and welcoming. Originally I had planed to take the ferry on the next day, but due to bad weather it was delayed for two days. I spend those days with the family and they fed me completely for the two days. I paid her 30000 Pesos per day.<br />
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*24-Feb-28 to 2024-Mar-2 / 48 hours and a day of waiting / Hiking / SOBO / RR, West Traverse/ Tomáš<br />
<br />
I arrived to Villa O'Higgins on a Tuesday evening. The forecast was dire so I wanted to skip the Florida peninsula but before I got my head around it, it was midnight. I stayed in Hostal Moscou, nobody there wanted to cross (a group of cyclist arrived from the ferry at 23:00, the boat waited for a late crossing back) or knew when the next boat would go, I tried whatsapping both companies but they did not respond. In the morning, I went to Rueda office to find out that the boat left at 7:00 and the next one would not go until Saturday, so I decided to do the West Traverse and hop on the ferry on Saturday from Bahia Pescada. Rueda won't reply to whatsapp outside office hours (9-13 and 14-21 I think) - they run it from the computer in their office. The other company replied back only in the afternoon. So if you are in a real hurry out of main season, turning up in the port really early would have worked, the boat apparently had 6 seats unoccupied. It was very easy to arrange to be picked from Bahia Pescada, I left the company a bag with stuff they then brought me. I paid them the full amount of 55,000 in cash, in retrospect I should have tried to negotiate it down (but they need to make a small detour to pick me up, so I might notnhave been succesful).<br />
<br />
I got lucky to get a hitch around 1300 one km out of town; the port seems to be a minor tourist attraction in itself. The route thereafter is indeed mostly cross country (trails much less clear than on GPT36 and TL&CC combinations tend to be on the CC side) and is indeed quite scenic. The missed boat turned out to be a blessing as I only got some clouds high up and then sun instead of fog and some rain as forecasted. I was later told the peninsula gets better weather than Villa O'Higgins, especially in its south (it also seems anything that is not heavy rain is a good forecast here). Ford at 19.8 was dry. Fords at 20.6 and 21.6 should be Fords Start/End, you follow a riverbed with a river. After that, you still follow a riverbed, but without a river, which found a new course to your right. These fords and the one at 30.2 were the only ones that I could not jump or go over on stones or logs. Lake was low at the end of summer and I just mostly followed the beach. Slept at the corral at 29.3.<br />
<br />
CC&TL from 31.5 is again a riverbed, I kept the river to my left most of the time until I could cross it on a log. I did not find anything I would call a trail until the pass. Either I am blind or gate 45.4 does not exist. Ford 45.6 is annoying as it is about 20m-long strech of flooded trail that is overgrown, ankle deep though (and the stream is very bushy, you won't find a better way, I tried). Met two GPT hikers at camp 48.6 - very nice camp. The forecast was for heavy rain the next afternoon, so I pushed almost to puesto at 59.2, sleeping on a green flat about 0.5 km before it. It was a windy night despite finding a seemingly sheltered spot. It would have been better by the lake; near the puesto at Once Hermanos would have been perfect if it was not mostly occupied.<br />
<br />
I got up with sunrise and started towards Bahia Pescado. The morning had better weather than expected, even with sun , so I ate breakfast for an hour and arrived around noon, just as the rain started. The family was there, I was invited inside, where it is dry, warm and with superfast internet, Starlink is wow! I was complimented on my Spanish as opposed to other GPT hikers, which was unexpected, I am like A2 and I thought everybodybelse isnalmost fluent! I managed to have a conversation for three hours though, even about the merits of various political systems. It was indeed very nice. It rained heavily on and off well into the night (snowed from 1000 m up), so I slept on the floor. I was given lunch, a pie in the evening and one piece of bread (about 300g - I bought 2 more for 3000 each). I offered 20,000. I thought vegetable would be included too, but in the morning it was early and Nicole was not up so I did not get any, even though we talked about it the night before. She said she struggles with pricing. My advice is to probably deal with the business side of the visit early on and completely before darkness comes (I am not complaining though, it was lovely). Nicole said that since last year, more people are coming - I signed into a book and saw many familiar names from here, about 25 people in about 12 groups altogether! It seems most people actualy do write into the wiki, I always thought most did not. She said that she does not want it to become too popular, but the current level is fine and the money comes handy (I also think especially she enjoys company).<br />
<br />
In the morning, I was told the day before to be ready at 7:45 through whatsapp, but the boat only came an hour later. Apparently it was not much delayed in Villa O'Higgins, not sure why the discrepancy. Luckily I could wait inside, the view for the boat is perfect.<br />
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Overall, the peninsula is really attractive. I actually preferred the inside of it, going along the coast was a bit too long. Also the trails are not in great condition, I often lost them and walked cross country. Nicole and Michel do not have many cattle and I think they do not need the trails to be perfect. I am glad I did not skip this section.<br />
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*2024-feb-20/ 5,5days / hiking / Full loop west - east/ RR / Lukas en Tess ; Nolwenn and Yannick (first half)<br />
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This is an incredible hike, (like most but still, doesn't get old!) Beautiful views, great camping spots and awesome people!<br />
Very demanding because of cross country and overgrown vegetation. (Not bushbashing but sometimes not far from it)<br />
<br />
Some recomendations: <br />
<br />
-The view from the pass [39,3] is amazing and so is the route all the way down. If you only do half do this side!<br />
-At the puesto {37H-E} km 69,2, this is where you would wait for the ferry. A young family that is very welcoming. Nicole makes super delicious bread and sells some vegetables. We payed for 4 people 15.000 for the salad, 18.000 for the bread and if you would camp there it would be 7.000 pp. <br />
She also sells essential oils made from herbs and flowers out of the mountains around, ask her, its awesome!<br />
-camp close to the beach, camp [78,1], best spot for a campfire we ever had. IF the weather allows and there isn't too much wind offcourse.<br />
-puesto [84,1], is more like a Refuge. Guillermo is one of the most hospitable people we have met on the gpt, he is not always there but he leaves the puesto open for passerbys. If he's home you are in luck we where there early in the morning and before we knew it we had our pockets full of candy and cookies, a cup of hot milk, some rice porridge and some dried meat. <br />
If he is not there feel free to use the stove, wood and utensils even the bed is to your disposal. He told us it's his family's tradition to keep an open door. If you happen to pass by leave him a letter or a note of appreciation, I'm sure that would make him very happy.<br />
-Refuge [88,5] is noting much but it's still there and you could hide from the elements if necessary.<br />
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Plenty of water everywhere on the trail.<br />
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Fords where no problem this time of year but we heard ford [89,9] is the one to be weary of.<br />
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The waterlevel of the lake was really high at the end of summer and that caused problems crossing of the sandbanks on [69,4] and [96,1] the first we past with the boat of Nicole's husband, the second you can go around but...<br />
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DON'T RECOMMEND, because of going around the lake on km [96,1] we started folowing a trail that brought us on the south side of the river but it's imposible to cross because it's a huge canyon. We decided to stay on this side instead of turning back but the smal cow paths disappear and you end up bushbashing your way through. On top of that, there are some canyons that are perpendicular to the main river and the only way of crossing those is going a long way up. In the end we managed and it was an adventure, gave us a glimpse into what Jan has been doing all these years ;p<br />
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*2023-Dec-30 to 2024-Jan-02 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris<br />
<br />
We did the west traverse of the Florida Peninsula and definitely recommemd it to anyone, whether nobo or sobo. We prearranged the ferry to pick us up from Bahia Pescado, which meant we had ample time for the 68 kilometers. In all honesty - we expected much more difficulties and bushbashing but the route was surprisingly nice and straightforward.<br />
<br />
We were lucky with great weather throughout, albeit some strong winds. We got no hitch out of Villa O'Higgins and thus did the whole roadwalk. The trail up the first pass was steep but easy to follow, views from the pass were magnificent. The snowpatches were not an issue. In the forest before the lake there was a lot of fallen trees, so extra time & effort was spent on climbing over them...then lots of soft sandy beachwalking + walking in the freezing cold lake as the "trail" was under water. The way up to the second pass was gradual and easy, the pass itself was swampy. Great views on the other side, too.<br />
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The way down starts with an easy to follow trail, then it sort of disappears (or, rather, there are very many to choose from) and you gotta make your way down to the coast. Some bushbashing involved here but not much. The rest of the coastal walk offers great views and lots of smaller climbs, but is generally easy to follow. The worst section is the last 11 kilometers between Bahia Once Hermanos and Bahia Bescado - the trail keeps disappearing and there is a lot of bushbashing, which for those in shorts is very painful. The settler family is amazingly welcoming, allowed us to camp up behind their house and had us over for dinner. We purchased some fresh bread and salad material from them. The ferry picked us up early the next morning right by the house.<br />
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*2023-Dec-22 to 2023-Dec-30 / 8.5 days / full 8 circuit / Villa O'Higgins - Villa O'Higgins / RR/ Alex & Christophe<br />
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This wasn't an easy hike but totally worth it!<br />
<br />
The best landscape was, for us, the west part of the panorama trail (along Lago O'Higgins) but it was also a challenging part with a lot of bushes and up and down. The trail was although more difficult to find and more bushy than in the east part of the panorama trail.<br />
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There was still a lot of snow at Pass {37H} [15.0/1159] (Portezuelo Los Corrales) but it was easy to walk and navigate with a nice weather.<br />
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The Lake {37H} [24.4/548] (Lago Verde) was a bit high so you have to walk sometimes in the lake but it isn't a problem. It's way better to have the feet wet and cold than trying to go through the bushes.<br />
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We met the family Settler {37H-H} [4.5/264] (Bahia Pescado, Nicole and Misael) and it was a fantastic experience. We had maté and then bought them some vegetables for lunch. Be sure to visit them and to have some time for a little break with them!<br />
<br />
For the 3 major fords, according to the advice of Misael we crossed Ford {37H} [79.0/520] (Cascada) early in the morning (at 6:30 AM) to be sure it was passable. We crossed Ford {37H} [89.8/259] (Rio Aro) in the early afternoon on a sunny day and it wasn't a good idea. The water isn't really clear and it's hard to find how deep it is. We manage to cross it but I (Christophe, 1.74m) was wet up to my hips. We also crossed Ford {37H} [96.6/255] (Rio San Martin) in the morning (7:30 AM) the next day close to the lake and it was ok (water up to mid-thigh and strong current). <br />
<br />
On the second Pass {37H} [39.3/1006] (Canadon los Patos) and last Pass {37H} [111.7/948] (Portezuelo el Roce), it was quite swampy. Just put your fording shoes if you have some and don't try to keep your feet dry.<br />
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All in all, it was a fantastic adventurous section!<br />
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* 2023-12-14 to 18: Fangwen and Tobi / 5 days (4 hiking) / NOBO / West traverse (Bahia Pescado to Villa O'Higgins).<br />
<br />
This trip featured great views and a real feeling of adventure, but for us, it was also a challenging trip that brought us to our limits. The GPT manual already has lots of details, so we will mostly focus on our personal experience and some logistical aspects.<br />
<br />
As far as we know, after Jan&Meylin and Jess&Paco last season, we are the first GPT hikers to explore the Florida peninsula in this new GPT section (previously, GPT 37H was just taking the ferry between Candelario Mansilla and Villa O'Higgins).<br />
<br />
Day 1: we took the ferry from Candelario Mansilla to Bahia Pescado in the morning. There, we met the lovely family of Nicole, Misael and their three year old son, Facundo. We had a great time with them, and they were delighted to have visitors (the last visitors having passed half a year earlier). If you have the chance to spend a full day with them, we strongly recommend this, as it was a section highlight. We slept on their floor for the night.<br />
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Day 2: we started hiking just before noon, and camped at a wind-sheltered location at around km57.<br />
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Day 3: we hiked to the trailhead (km 54.8, beginning of the CC eastbound ascent to Canadon los Patos), and despite it being 6pm already, decided to push onwards towards the pass. Unfortunately, we took a bad route (hiking uphill first and then traversing in steep terrain) and had to turn around to spend the night at the trailhead.<br />
<br />
Day 4: We started early with the hike up to the pass: this time, following the easier option of first traversing in the mellow terrain, and start going uphill only when we were already close to the pass. This worked much better, despite having to navigate between some cliffs on our way up. On the other side of the pass, we went on via some muddy swamps and river beds to stay at the camp km29.3 by the beautiful Laguna Verde -- a wonderful location for a camp and a highlight of the trip.<br />
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Day 5: we woke up early to make it to Villa O'Higgins in one day. The terrain was comparatively easy to walk on for the whole day. Before the pass (Portezuelo Los Corrales) there were some snow fields, some of which required some creative rerouting. To our great relief, the steep descent on the north side of the pass was entirely snow free. The rest of the trip was relatively easy walking. After 25km of hiking we reached Puerto Bahmondez. Half-way to Villa O'Higgins a car passed us and we were able to hitchhike.<br />
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Difficulties: as mentioned, this trip was quite challenging for us, despite the excellent conditions and our years of backcountry experience. In retrospect, this is something that probably many GPT hikers experience when they go on their first "wild" GPT section and find out what is considered a "trail" on the GPT. Technically, there were no substantial challenges for us. The river crossings were all at most knee deep, thanks to the good weather. (Also note that in bad weather, some of our campsites might be flooded). But the progress from Bahia Pescado to the first pass (Canadon los Patos) was frustratingly slow at times, since the trail was frequently overgrown with bushes (sometimes thorny ones), or covered in mud / water, or difficult to recognize such that we lost the trail and had to backtrack or bushwhack our way back to the trail. Psychologically, this was a tough experience for us. The crux of the trip was the CC section on the west side of Canadon los Patos. This 1.7km straight section took us almost two hours. After the pass, conditions were generally easier, progress faster and the terrain and views changed more often, which made hiking much more enjoyable. The last day, despite consisting of 28km of hiking almost felt easier than the previous days, as the terrain was easier to traverse than the overgrown trails along the coast of Lago O'Higgins. <br />
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We can definitely recommend 37H, but hikers unfamiliar with overgrown trails should be aware of the physical and mental challenge that the terrain poses.<br />
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Logistics: We combined sections 38 and 37 on our NOBO trip. For the (resupply) logistics regarding section 38, see our trip report on [[GPT38|that wiki page]].<br />
We took the ferry from Candelario Mansilla heading to Villa O'Higgins, but we asked to be dropped off at Bahia Pescado (start of the West part of GPT 37). The ferry company (WhatsApp +56 9 6627 8836, https://www.turismoruedasdelapatagonia.cl) charged us 30.000 per person instead of the 50 or 60.000 (?) to Villa O'Higgins. We gave the captain a bag of extra food and belongings to be picked up in Villa O'Higgins after the section 37 hike. This worked out without problem (the company has apartments there, so pickup should be possible any time of the week).<br />
If you can, get in touch with Nicole ahead of time, her full name is in the GPT manual, and with that you can find her Facebook account.<br />
If you don't want to walk on the road the last 7km from Puerto Bahmondez to Villa O'Higgins, you can either try to hitchhike (cars were infrequent but the first one we tried took us) or arrange for a taxi with Roberto (WhatsApp +56 9 8193 5236).<br />
There is some cellphone reception at Puerto Bahmondez. Ricardo in Candelario Mansilla should have some internet connectivity. Nicole's family recently got Starlink satellite internet, which works really well (better than in El Chalten and Villa O'Higgins). You can also charge your devices with them.<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 2023-Mar-29 / 1 day / Hiking / Main route Peninsula La Florida / Jess&Paco <br />
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Km 90 demanding Ford n°2<br />
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The refuge is closed and locked and you have to pass an unreferenced barrier to follow GPT track and get to the refuge.<br />
We advice to cross just after reaching the beach after the refuge. If you dont you have to pass by a gravelled/sandy slope that will make your ankles suffer.<br />
<br />
Km 96 demanding ford n°3 <br />
<br />
Before reaching the Ford we couldn't follow the GPT main track because it was completely flooded. So we add to follow the beach. But rocky shore makes some passes dangerous so we advice to climb just a little above the shore you will find animal trails that eventually get a few dozen meters above the river. Then you can ford but be carefull there is a lot of water and current. Fording at the extreme end of the river is also difficult because even if there is not much current, water depth can prevent you from crossing depending on the weather and the hour of the day. It was a really rainy day and we crossed at 12 approximatly.<br />
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* 2023-Mar-27 / 1 day / Hiking / Main route Peninsula La Florida / Jess&Paco <br />
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After the settler at km 69, you have to ford between the lake O Higgins and a small inner lagoon. We werent able to pass because of water depth. It seems part of the beach have disappeared at that season. We add to climb and make a detour around the small lagoon. There are some animal trails to lead you.<br />
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* 2023-Mar-23 / 1 day / Hiking / NOBO / Candelario Mancilla to Villa O Higgins / Jess&Paco<br />
<br />
We crossed the lago O Higgins the 23 after only one day waiting.<br />
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It seems the only company still making transfer at that season (and until ebd of april) is Las Ruedas. As said below the cost is 60000 pesos including the car transfer from Bahia Bahamondez toVilla OHiggins. In el Chalten they told us we could have a 5000 pesos discount if paying cash but it seems that Las Ruedas policies changed. <br />
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There is only 16 (maybe 17 if a couple gets separated) places on the boat. The crossing last 2h if the weather is good. They usually come to Candelario Mancilla mondays and thursday but it changes a lot with the weather.<br />
<br />
You get in the boat by order of registration at the border control. So no need to hurry or worry. There will be no competition between passengers to board. And everyone is very friendly and naturally respects order of arrivals.<br />
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Camping at Candelario Mancilla costs 5000. You cannot ressuply but Ricardo has some eggs and bread so you can extend your supplies for a few days.<br />
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* 2023-Mar-04 / 1 day / RR / SOBO / RR / Villa O’Higgins - Candelario Mansilla by ferry / Ondrej<br />
<br />
Had to wait for the boat for two days, most people I met there waited for 3-5 days. Two companies seem to be currently operating in the area: Las Ruedas (whatsapp: +56 9 6627 8836) and a guy named Pascual (+56 9 4296 4723) with his daughter Javier (+56 9 4403 6006). Both companies currently charge 60,000 CLP for the boat transfer. Las Ruedas has a faster boat and the ticket price includes a car transfer from O’Higgins to Puerto Bahamondes. With the other company, one has to pay 5 or 6,000 for the transport to the port.<br />
<br />
When staying in the town, I was told that during the high season, it is best to whatsapp the companies a week in advance and reserve a spot to cut the waiting period. Otherwise, I suggest to go to their offices and add yourself to a waiting list as soon as you arrive. It is possible to drop in to their offices regularly to see if some people dropped of the waiting list and you can travel earlier (happened in my case). <br />
<br />
Overall, Villa O’Higgins is a lovely place to rest and resupply while waiting for the boat. If you can bear the rain. I stayed at Hostal El Mosco - really nice and lively place. You’re going to meet mostly other travellers waiting for the boat too. The place has hot showers virtually all the time and a beautiful kitchen area. Camping is 9,000 CLP per night - bit on the pricy side but you can use all the hostel facilities such as kitchen and indoor showers. They also offer dorm and private rooms. <br />
<br />
I found the Cordillera supermarket to be the best place for resupplying. They also sell camping canisters. The wifi is generally bad in the town apart from some companies that have a starlink connection. You can get such fast wifi for free from Copec gas station.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-25 / 1 day / SOBO / Will <br />
<br />
Getting the ferry wasn't really feasible when I was there. I was pretty far back on the waiting list, and conditions were nearly always too bad to sail. A few did make it across (they later told me it was pretty scary) but the rest of us gave up and bussed out. Thankfully I only spent the days there. Took 3.5 days to bus back up to Chile Chico and then down through Argentina.<br />
<br />
Raining every day in Villa o Higgins.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-13 / SOBO / Véronica & Zach <br />
<br />
Waited in Villa O'Higgins for 5 days for the ferry, due to strong winds and rain. There are two ferry companies — one is Las Ruedas de la Patagonia which operates on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday if the weather is good. If the weather is bad, then the boat crossing may happen anytime there is a good weather window. They can take 16 passengers. The other company is very small and operates very infrequently, since they can only take 8 people at a time and require a longer weather window because their boat is slower. Both companies charge 60,000 clp per person. We recommend reserving AND paying for your ferry ticket as soon as you arrive in town. People who only reserve and don't pay are subject to being pushed off the passenger list if other people come and offer to pay beforehand. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-18 to 2023-Jan-21 / 3.5 days / West Traverse / Iris, Alexis<br />
<br />
We were able to get a boat ride to Bahia Pescado by asking Rudeas de Patagonia. We came at the end of the day and they sold us some remaining seats at a fair price (50k for 2). Earlier in the day, the price was 60k each. <br />
<br />
When arriving at Bahia Pescado, we had difficulties to find the trail and struggled in the first ascent. We pitched the tent at Water {37H} [56.7/408]. The view all along and at the spot is stunning. <br />
<br />
On the second day, the ascent through RH-CC-A {37H} [5.6/48.0+0.5] was tough because it was really hot and the path we found was in rocky former river stream. <br />
<br />
Then, RR-CC-A {37H} [39.9/40.7+1.7] is even harder when going up. We suggest to continue to follow the shore a bit and going up straight instead of trying to do both at the same time. It looked easier when above. <br />
We camped at Camp {37H} [36.5/776] but we did not find water nearby. <br />
<br />
Third day was without any specificities except gorgeous landscapes and scenic views. Of note, Camp {37H} [114.9/268] is probably not available for the season as it is occupied by a dead cow. We found a suitable pitch a bit further on the beach (in an old corral). <br />
<br />
The return to Bahia Bahamondes was straight forward. The beginning of the trail is easily lost and we checked our GPS quite often. Then, the trail is visible and beautiful. We were lucky to find a ride to Villa O'Higgins at the port and did not walk the last 7 kilometers. <br />
<br />
Overall, we struggled a bit but had no real difficulties. The weather was excellent (even a bit too hot) and the rivers crossable easily. This hike was super beautiful and diverse. Also, we met nobody on the trail and it was really pleasant to feel diving into barely frequented nature.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-07 to 2023-Jan-07 / 6 days / GPT37P(H): Peninsula La Florida. Full "8" route and side hikes (to Cerro Tres Frailes) / Clockwise / Alex Abramov <br />
<br />
179 km, Solo.<br />
<br />
An excellent route ranked in my top five favorites in Chile. Very scenic, varied, secluded, a real gem. In general, there are no problems with water or camps. Not particularly difficult, but the route has at least two quite demanding fords and many sections with complicated navigation and annoying thorny bushes (I always use my running shoes). <br />
<br />
My choice of direction, clockwise, is due to trying challenging fords first.<br />
<br />
I am somewhat skeptical about the length of the track by Jan, the discoverer of the area, I believe that the real classic “8” will be closer to 150 km<br />
Crossing the Aro(s) River requires a lot of care, especially when passing alone. It can be extremely dangerous or impassable in the early season, I put some useful tips in the comment on the FB post.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec / SOBO / Yannic & Mirjam<br />
<br />
We had to wait 8 days in O'Higgens because the ferry was postponed twice due to wind and the waiting list grew. <br />
<br />
Currently, there is only one operator (Las Ruedas). It is best to contact them early via Whatsapp and reserve a ticket.<br />
<br />
You can also drop by spontaneously the evening before departure. If someone has not paid, tickets will become available at short notice...<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2022-Mar-06 / 3.5 days / 37P: Península La Florida / Tobias Schorcht, Jonas Grünewald and Martin <br />
<br />
Thank you Jan, for sending us your GPS-Trackfiles right on time. It would have been quite difficult, to make our way over the península without them, because there are numerous good visible cow trails around! We booked a “O’Higgins Glaciar Tour” (120000 Pesos p.P) and asked the captain (Markus), to drop us on our way back at Punta Pescado, where the settlers Nicole, Misael and there little son are living. They were happy to receive some fresh fruits and vegetables and invited us for lunch. Nicole and Misael are warm and welcoming people. We left in the afternoon and made our way to “los hermanos” where we camped. The settler who is living there, was not at home. Surprisingly, the weather was much better then expected. Locals told us, it’s always warmer (“up to 4 degrees”) and less rainy up here. We had no problems with navigation on our way back to Villa. There were no dangerous river crossings and numerous of potential camping spots. The views on the Lago O’Higgins and the near by mountains have been spectacular. We suggest to use gaiters, to avoid scratches of the sticky bushes. All in all, we recommend this hike!<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan / NOBO / Oreste Marquis<br />
<br />
I only had to wait for 2 days before the boat came, but some people waited 5! Bought my tickets in advance at Glaciares Expedicion if my memory is right. Book the trip for the two boat (Lago del Desierto and to Villa O’Higgins). I don’t recommend to book the one on Lago del desierto because it is actually super expensive (60 US$) and you can walk it pretty easily.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan / NOBO / Olrik<br />
<br />
Bought the boat tickets in El Chalten. There are 2 options, Zona Austral which works with Ruedas de la Patagonia, and Expeditiones which works with Robinson Crusoe. Ruedas is cheaper, 54USD pp. Boat is just smaller. You can end up stuck for a long time in Candelario Mancilla so plan enough food. The only option is the paid campground which is 5000CLP. The carbineros will kick you out and redirect you to the campground. I would recommend to buy the boat ticket in advance as those with no tickets are not first when the boat comes. Transfer is 1h30.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec / NOBO / Matthieu<br />
<br />
The official schedule is Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, From Villa to Candelario in the morning and back in the afternoon. But it is extremely dependant on the weather conditions, so it can actually be every days and every hours. <br />
<br />
I waited three days in Candelario. Mandatory to take the camping there (5000 CLP per days, possibility to pay by card after leaving the camping with the capitan of the boat La Rueda, who is a friend of the camping owners). Take some food with you to spend a few days there, because there is litterally nothing. Possibility to buy eggs and bread from the woman of the camping. I personally had a good time there, making good fires for hot shower and cooking.<br />
<br />
For the prices of the boat, I personally paid 35 000 with Ruedas, and I saw only two boats (Robinson Crusoe too). I would recommend NOT to take tickets from companies in El Chalten which sell them very expensive, sometimes double. You can buy it directly at the boat, possibility by card.<br />
There is 16 places on each boat, so 32 for my crossing. My boat was almost empty after 4 days of no passage, so no stress.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-10 / Lago O‘Higgins Motor Boat Crossing / Jan Dudeck<br />
<br />
Currently 3 companies offer motor boat crossings of Lago O‘Higgins between Villa O‘Higgins and Candelario Mansilla. Prices for a crossing without a visit of Glacier O‘Higgins range from 36‘000 to 45‘000 CLP. These companies are:<br />
1. RobinsonCrusoe (biggest and most expensive)<br />
2. La Rueda<br />
3. ???<br />
<br />
Like in past years technical issues with the boats and weather (primarily wind) disrupt schedule departures and limit the capacity. This results in significant waiting times in both directions. Waiting 1 to 4 days is common but some people had to wait up to one week to get a seat in a boat. The biggest boat - La Quetru - is currently out of operation due to a motor damage.<br />
<br />
Recommendations:<br />
<br />
Be patient and don’t plan with a tight schedule if intending to cross the border between Villa O’Higgins and El Chalten<br />
<br />
Southbound travelers can wait in Villa O‘Higgins where food is available and can be paid with credit cards. But enough cash should be carried as the next ATM is in Cochrane, a 6 hour drive north of Villa O’Higgins.<br />
<br />
Northbound travelers should carry enough food and cash to wait several days in Candelario Mansilla. Only basic food can be purchased in Candelario Mansilla (Cash only). Consider purchasing a ferry ticket in advance in El Chalten.<br />
<br />
Alternatively TAS offers occasionally flights for 70’000 CLP between an airfield next to the border and Villa O’Higgins.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-11 / SOBO / Arnaud et Adriane<br />
<br />
Be aware that you will maybe have to wait the ferry in Villa O'Higgins. It is very dependant on the weather conditions. We had to wait 4 days.<br />
<br />
It was good to have a real rest after the section 36 and Villa O'Highins is a very quiet and nice village with many walks around if you still have energy.<br />
<br />
We stayed at the Mosco hostel who has rooms, dorms and camping and the welcome and attention of the team there is perfect.<br />
<br />
Only 2 companies offer the crossing of the lake. With robinson crusoe, it costs 45000clp/pers and the trip is 1h30 long. With La Rueda, it costs 40000clp/pers and it is 2h30 long.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-11 / 1 day / NOBO / Ferry ride / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe<br />
<br />
There's two different ferry companies. We were told in El Chaltén that it runs every Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday 3 times a day, at 11:00, 14:00, and 19:00. Cost is $50 USD, can pay with card. We took the other ferry company (Robinson Crusoe) because it showed up at 10:30 and told us the winds were rising so the first company might not be coming. They charged us $47,500CP each at the yurt in Villa O'Higgins.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
* Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
<br />
There are a couple of options to consider for transportation across O’Higgins/San Martin Lake. There is a large ferry which is the primary option for transport when it is functioning. The second option is a smaller ferry run by Marco Campo. This was the only option during the 2017/2018 season because the main ferry had broken down. Marco Campo frequently caused hikers difficulties for several reasons: the ferry only runs a few days a week; the ferry only seats around 15 people and is in high demand since crossing the lake is a part of the Carretera Austral; the waiting list is long and it was not uncommon for travelers to spend several days in Villa O’Higgins waiting for a seat; it does not run when the wind is strong so last minute cancellations were frequent; it’s expensive (~45.000CLP). If possible, try and make arrangements beforehand or be prepared to wait for several days in a primarily cash-functioning town without an ATM. <br />
<br />
Comment by Jan Dudeck: Once the big ferry is repaired crossing the lake should be easier. The big ferry carries up to 100 passangers. Advance reservation is anyway recommended. If you are lucky enough to get spot on the ferry, board your ship at Puerto Bahamóndez. Marco Campos offers a shuttle from Villa O’Higgins for a price or you can road walk ~5 km. The ferry ride across Lago O’Higgins is notorious for being pretty choppy. It takes about 3 hours.<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Calendario Mancilla consists of a single, small hospidaje and campground. Sometimes you can purchase meat or eggs from the owners, but there are very limited options for buying food.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT37H - Lago O'Higgins]]<br />
<br />
=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT36H_(Ruta_De_Los_Pioneros)&diff=114916GPT36H (Ruta De Los Pioneros)2024-03-24T20:33:02Z<p>Joscha97: /* Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
*2024-Mar-19 to 2024-Mar-23 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 24A + 02 + 04B / Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1: RR [5.5-50.0] + OH36H-24A to the Glacier and back<br />
<br />
I got a hitch to the junction at km 5.5. From there I walked for about 2 hours until a car took me to the junction at km 33.9. There is a fence between Rio del Salto and the RR. At the Danger Waypoint (km 43.2) is the fence broken down and the river is accessible. I got a 3rd hitch from there to the Calluqueo Glaciar. I took OH36H-24A to the glacier. Its a good trail, but mostly through forrest without view. Around km 3.0 you can see the glacier + the lake. Its really nice. At the end of OH36H-24A you get a close-up look at the Glaciar. There is a lot of water between km 3.5 and 6. At km 4.1 is a decently flat spot for camping. I camped at km 49.7 next to the RR. I would not recommend the spot in a windy night.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [50.0-79.9]<br />
<br />
There was snow above 1000 meters. Around the Bourder/Pass Waypoints the snow was more than knee deep. It was possible to do it without any snowgear, but it took some time. There was plenty of water along the RR and all Fords were max. knee high.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 3: RR [79.9-107.3]<br />
<br />
The RR crosses lots of small streams, so there is plenty of water. Puesto at km 83.9 can be used as shelter and has a open outhouse. I camped at km 107.3 on a flat meadow.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 4: OH36H-02 [0.0-26.6]<br />
<br />
The first 2 km of OH36H-02 are more CC than a trail. After that the trail is easy to follow and in good condition for about 5-6 km. Than the trail starts to become overgrown and later very muddy. Therefore it wasn't to much fun walking this trail. But the valley offers some nice waterfalls and snowy mountains. There was plenty of water and fords were easy.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 5: OH36H-02 [26.6-29.0] + OH36H-04B [122.5-132]<br />
<br />
I hiked about 2 1/2 hours along the Carreterra Austral until a group of cars passed me and one of them took me to Villa O'Higgins.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Feb-28 to Mar-03 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matthias<br />
<br />
Took transport till end of road near glaciar Calluqueo (Jonathan +56940246832, 65000$) as I wanted to walk the pass before the predicted snowfall sets in. Traverse was quite tedious cause of the rainy and cold weather. Met Natalie and Luca halfway, hi :-) Did not meet anyone else during 4 1/2 days! Was accompanied by a smelling(!) dog (of Ruben?) from the camp at Lago Christie until next morning near Rubens house. He slept a bit windsheltered next to my tent - it was cold and a lot of wind! Keep in mind (I didn`t) that once you have reached Lago Alegre there are still 2000hm to go uphill before you reach the MR!<br />
<br />
Campsites: <br />
300m before Camp km68.4 on a +-exposed meadow with glaciar view,<br />
in front of Puesto ElBurro (rainshelter inside and a table outside), <br />
Camp km110.9, <br />
on the shore of Lago Christie km 129 just before the path leads uphill in to the forest (a bit wind protection by bushes and Wood)<br />
<br />
Did a shortcut between ca. km103.5 and km 100.5. Sometimes good trail, sometimes obstacle course over fallen trees. <br />
Was very lucky with transport to Villa O`Higgins. Got a motorcycle ride all the way from the refugio at km148.6 at 6 pm with a short detour to the border at Rio Mayer. Stayed in Hostal Rio Mayer in Villa O`Higgins (very friendly and talkative, no internet).<br />
<br />
<br />
28-Feb-24 to 03-Mar-24/4days/ Hiking/ NOBO/ RR/ Natalie & Luca<br />
<br />
Took a few days off to reconnect with an old friend in Villa O'Higgins and then decided to take him for a test trial on the GPT.<br />
<br />
With the help of Martin from Mosco we found out the day we left was the day the subsidized bus leaves from O'Higgins to Lago Christie. Left around 1130 and got to the TH ~13:00. The bus only goes 4x a month and it went twice in the last week of February, not sure how it is organized. Only 3500 each. <br />
<br />
A little bit of rain The first day and a lot of rain/snow at the end.The trail was fun, mellow and in good shape, next to no mud. We met Ruben and all of his animals (cutest puppy atm). He offered a camping spot but I am sure the dogs would be all over you at night. We camped at the beginning of Allegra near Refugio entre lagos (NO refugio), -48.09404, -72.49798__. At this moment there is no shelter but it looks like someone is working on one, there is a boat at the lake. There is a creek with only still puddles so we drank from the lake. <br />
There are few nice camping spots along both Christie and Allegra that are not marked. Did not stop to fish :(. I heard Margarita is in O'Higgins atm. <br />
<br />
We made a short cut to avoid the big intersection near Puesto 107. We cut off after camp 110 and ended ~800m near a river camp marked on osm. It was easy and mostly open forest, mainly just a quest to stay on the best animal track as there are a few of them. We basically followed close to where the hill is but not too close bcs that is where the bush is no good.<br />
<br />
Camped outside Puesto 98.4, Las tablas. It had no water so fill up before of just go down to the river.<br />
<br />
Met Matías- Hi Matías! Even though we were both trying to beat the rain I very much enjoyed the conversation/laughs!<br />
<br />
When we got to Puesto 83.9, La Pampa, the rain just began to start and even though it was only lightly raining at the time the forecast was not good for the evening so we decided to stay and enjoy the early day and nice Refugio. The weather got increasingly worse and very strong overnight with snow in the morning. The Refugio is large and clean. It has a fire pit in the corner, an outhouse, extra blankets and tarps, a good table and lots of tools and pots if needed. No other puesto compared. There were only a few small leaks during the night, we pitched a tent inside for added warmth. <br />
<br />
The next morning there was a lot of fresh snow and it was still snowing with strong wind at times- so the pass was interesting. We took variant D to avoid the Rio Bravo fords and got soaking wet in the bush, it wasnt very clear where the trail was, needed the gps. Although the Rio Bravo was very calm and shallow (barely to my knees, 167), the snow made it too cold for my liking. If one is curious about camping on the other side of the river I think you can make a camp,there are lots of flat spots but not so much wind protection. There were camping possibilities throughout the pass as well. As for the pass, "most" of the trail was not covered by snow bcs the water was flowing down the trail therefore navigation was still okay, a bit harder between passes. Of course the weather improved at camp 68.4...<br />
<br />
I know Tomáš managed the La Picota river and it made me curious to try but it made no sense to go for it, the RR now that follows the west is an easy trail and the fords afterwords were almost (all but one) jumpable. Sadly what I read about "la playa" is true, there was a dead horse (pieces of it) at the start of the fords, it seemed rather recent so I guess the La Picota ford still kills. <br />
The Refugio after the fords is just a "lean too". The trail afterwards is okay, starting to get muddy but not bad. A nice camp is possible at -47.66704, -72.50032 bcs of the beautiful view but there is no water, actually not many places to stop between ford and puesto 57.6. We Camped at Puesto 57.6 and met Antonio, super lovely man and we had breakfast with him the following morning I'm return I gave him the rest of my walnuts and peanuts, hopefully that was enough. There is not much of a shelter there, teepee style, but you can camp under the trees by the river. His dogs are annoying, got into my food bag while we were talking and then never left us alone. Really nice camping just before his puesto in a big clover field.<br />
<br />
Next day super quick walk out to the view point and then got a hitch down to Cochrane easily, lots of people on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. <br />
<br />
24-Feb-24 to 2024-Feb-27 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Variant B, Option 2 / Tomáš<br />
<br />
Having parted ways with Natalie, who had other commitments, I was not able to get a taxi to end of road so I started walking and hitching at noon. Second car took me about ten km, then I was passed by ten cars in an hour and then got a hitch to the viewpoint three km from end of the road with a guide going to guide a group to the glacier (they go there by boat!). Our car's engine failed 4 km before the destination, but after 5 minutes a passing car took us there. Mount Cochrane is impressive. I ate there and in an hour another two cars passed, one probably from the puesto further on. It was a Saturday, still vacation period and a beautiful day, it seems hitching is promising under such conditions there. The road is in a very good condition and easily scalable by a 2-wheel drive.<br />
<br />
The puesto at 53.1 had barking dogs and seems used (maybe a settler?), I did not see it though, it is in the trees. All fords were easy and shallow: definitely under knees. In the beginning there are multiple trails, RR probably has the best route. You cannot avoid fording, I tried. After about ten km, the trail stops being ambigious. Took variant B (which is mostly a trail, not CC) and slept above the "dangerous ford" (would have been better to stay 500 m lower at the end of the flats). It indeed sounded and looked dangerous after such a hot day. In the morning, I realized the trail to the ford eroded and horses probably cannot go there anymore. A pedestrian still can. The ford was much calmer, very cold but under knees and not strong. I forded it six times unfortunately with bare feet - first to try, than with my backpack and then with my forgotten phone. It hurt even if it is just 5 metres. Going up from the ford, the trail goes to the left of a small stream on top of a small ridge, do not follow the stream as I did. The CC section thereafter is mostly a trail, only invisible on river flats and for about 20 metres in the pass. Going down from the pass, the trail is above the GPX for several hundred metres, going straight and not zigzagging. Rio Bravo was tame after dry weather and at the end of summer, so I took RR. The fords were easy, well under my knees. Puesto el Burro at 92.3 would be a nice place to camp. Utterly scaring a lonely large bull, I pushed to Puesto Tablas, which has a roof that protected me from drops of rain.<br />
<br />
Puesto at 107.4 looked nice and standing, not sure if it was locked, by any means very nice place to camp. I did not notice the bridge ?. The ford was mellow, wide but ankle deep. Option 1 at least to variant 01J is actually a used trail, the bridge on it is over a marsh, not sure why it is a waypoint. Decided to take option 2 thinking I would get an easier hitch on carretera austral and trusting others who did not like the lake part that much and hating mosquitoes. The first part to variant 01I is partly a cow trail, partly a BB through open forrest. Take 01J instead, should be a clear trail and the ford should be as easy as the one on RR. From there on, 8 km to an unmarked ford through a first creek marked on OSM (it originates from a lake on map), the trail is clear and looks used. 02A was overgrown after 100 clear meters, so do not take that (I did not see the other end of it either). From the ford, the condition of the trail worsens for 7ish km to camp at 16.4. It is partially overgrown, occasionally with thorns. There is still space for legs, but arms are needed to clear the way. This portion is also mostly over open tundra-like terrain above the river. It is a bit marshy but not much after dry days. The views are splendid! Somebody with a machete would have fun here. Took option 02B, which I think is the actual trail, but it is hard to tell as it goes through a marsh there. Overall the overgrown part is maybe 2-3 km. Puesto Chirola at 17.6 is actually an abandoned settler house, still locked but in heavy rain you could probably get in through a window, the roof is still mostly ok.I slept there, with dusk mosquitoes appeared.<br />
<br />
It rained during the night and probably because of that, the trail got muddy. It is however being used and mostly clear and mostly easy to follow. Refuge without water is without water. It is meant for cyclists and is in good condition. It would sleep easily four people amd uneasily double that. It is always well ventilated with always open windows (rain should not get through), so probably no need to fear the mouse virus. The occasional tundra, wetness and continous rain with occasional glimpse of a glacier finally made me feel like I am in proper Patagonia. On the carretera, there are not many cars. Started walking and hitching at three PM. As the road is divided by a ferry, cars pass you at (in high season) 2-hour bursts of at most 8, as I was informed by the one passing cyclist. The first burst was just three cars and two motorcycles and they all passed me. It is actually a one lane compacted road where cars in opposite directions must avoid each other. No luck with second burst of three cars. Finally a second car from the third burst took me after 4 hours on the road. The second refugio around km 35 did not look as nice.<br />
<br />
2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-18 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick & Nolwenn & Tess & Lukas<br />
<br />
- Trail condition : good condition, a lot of fallen trees that slows you down but not really bad / the trail was not muddy as we had good sunny days <br />
- Water : lots of rivers and lagunas <br />
- Camping spot : the refugio at km 126,1 has been destroyed by a tree so we camped closer to the lake amongst the trees // at km 148,6 The refugio is really nice, we could make a fire and have a great night before heading the next day to O'Higgins on the long gravel road <br />
- Weather : sunny and a little bit of rain <br />
- River crossing : easy, the river Bravo was not too high and not too strong so we didn't take the variant D<br />
- Resupply : in Cochrane everything you need<br />
- Overall : we were lucky to have an easy hitchike for the first 20km and for the last 7km // we also liked this section that offers really different landscapes and you feel really remote<br />
<br />
From 2024-01-06 to 2024-01-12 // 6,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR + OPT D // Quentin Clavel<br />
<br />
After the small part in the forest, I followed the gravel road, which began to be nice from the Laguna la Clara. Some nice miradors along the roads, especially the last one, salto Rio Perez, which was pretty impressive ! <br />
<br />
Then you begin the track los Pioneros. Pretty easy to follow, a bit muddy, but I thought it would have been worse, the last sunny weeks made it dryer than expected. <br />
<br />
From there, it's a sequence of up and down, with amazing views, on Lago Christie then on Lago Alegre, surrounded by mountains. <br />
<br />
Some easy bushbashing which is more like cross country at the end of Lago Alegre to arrive along the Rio bravo. <br />
<br />
The you go along the Rio bravo until cross it. I took the option D to avoid to cross it three times, it's bushbashing but pretty easy to follow as there's a kind of path which was created to go around the small cliffs, and have to cross rio bravo only once. <br />
<br />
On the section, at this time, I haven't got any problem at all to pass the rivers who were pretty low and with weak current. <br />
<br />
Then I arrived in the mountains and that was just amazing ! Even with an uncertain weather and lots of clouds ! <br />
<br />
I had an amazing bivy in front of the impressive calluqueo glacier then it was the looong Gravel road to Cochrane, but really scenic ! <br />
<br />
During all the section it was easy to find water as there's water everywhere ! Some nice camp spot too. <br />
<br />
Mosquitoes and these spiky plants who stay scratched to your shoes and socks are the only annoying stuff. <br />
<br />
Plenty of crowberry and Calafate on the track. Delicious and perfect snacks on the road ! <br />
<br />
Last but not least, if you've always dreamed to try hurdles in athletism, this section is for you ! You'll have to pass threw hundreds of fallen trees ! Enjoy ! <br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-01 to 2024-Jan-08 / 7.5 days / NOBO / Villa O'Higgins - Cochrane / RR and Option 36H-D / Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
We really enjoyed this section, especially the part of the pass, with awesome views on glaciers and mountains. We found the 2 lakes part nice but less impressive.<br />
<br />
For us, the most difficult with this section was to walk with heavy backpacks and to deal with the hundreds of mosquitoes on the camps near the two lakes. We had the chance to have dry trails most of the time and it helped us a lot. If it rains a lot before you start this section, you will need more time because the trail can get muddy really fast.<br />
<br />
After the first 9km in the forest, we tried to hitchhike from Villa O'Higgins to Lago Christie but we weren't lucky and couldn't find a car on a 1st of January. We only had a lift the second day for 15km by the carabineros. There is nearly no car passing on the X905 road so plan a day or two of extra food if you plan to hitchhike here. Taking a private transport to Lago Christie could also be a solution but it's expensive (about 70'000 CLP according to Martin from El Mosco in Villa O'Higgins).<br />
<br />
There is not much to say about the 2 lake part, we found the trail easy to follow and some nice shelter along the route. Apparently, there is a lot of trout in Lago Alegre. We didn't try to fish since it was raining but we let a peanut butter jar with a spoon (hook) and some fishing line rolled around the jar in the puesto next to Settler {36H} [118.9/486] (Margarita Bustos). She's actually not living there but the puesto is open and a nice shelter to cook (we put the tent next to it).<br />
<br />
For the second part with the pass, we found the trail also easy to follow. The OH-CC&BB-A {36H-D} didn't took us too long and saved us at least 2 river crossing. All the other fords were sometimes wide but easy to pass.<br />
<br />
After 7 days, we tried to hitchhike on the X901 road near the Laguna Calluqueo and were really lucky. After only 4km, a car stopped and took us to X {36H} [5.5/267]. Maybe there is more traffic on this road than on the other side, especially with good weather during the holidays.<br />
<br />
*2023-Dec-25 to 2023-Dec-29 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris<br />
<br />
We arranged a ride to skip the first 50km of the roadwalk. The trail was surprisingly good and well-trodden throughout, i.e. visually easy to follow. Some muddy sections here and there and steeper climbs and descents. Plenty of water throughout.<br />
<br />
The river crossings didn't pose any difficulties and we were blessed with good weather, despite one rainy night. The views were amazing - that so low down you could be face to face with glaciers!<br />
<br />
We did not find the trail around lakes any harder than the rest of the section. A few times the route goes on the coast, i.e. you need to walk through the water, but it was not an issue. In two cases the route splits into two, the correct trail being the easier one to miss, so need to pay attention to nav. Met Ruben the settler, very nice and friendly guy. We also met 4 other GPT hikers on this section, which was a bit of a shock.<br />
<br />
We walked 30km of the dirt road after Lago Christie until we finally got a hitch to Villa O'Higgins. Barely any traffic on the road, especially in the afternoon.<br />
<br />
* 2023-12-07 EXP-OH-TL-I 1day / Anh<br />
There is a damaged and not yet reopened route from Villa O’Higgins to Glacier Mosco: EXP-OH-TL-I & EXP-OH-CC&TL-I<br />
Together they are 24 km return and with a daypack it could work.<br />
The EXP-OH-TL-I trail is very well maintained and relatively well marked. There is even a very nice Refugio Puesto Rivera + campsite for tents along the way. BUT from km 7 the trail is damaged by landslides and the section after that is overgrown. I tried the last km via BB through the forest. After that everything should be clear and only CC to the Mosco glacier. Unfortunately, I make very slow progress with BB, it simply takes too much time and with a temperature of 15°C the river crossing afterwards would be dangerous. Unfortunately I have to abort (safety first) & return.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-12-10 / 4 days / RR + OH-TL-V / SOBO / Anh<br />
<br />
A very experienced hiker/local in Villa O'Higgins advised me against NoBo due to high water levels in the next few days regarding river crossings.<br />
<br />
Day 1: With a private transfer to Laguna Calluqueo I had to hike a few more kilometers to the end of Ruta X-901 because it is private land closed by a gate. The first two river crossings were a bit above knee and sometimes strong current. The trail after that in the forest is actually made for horses, there are a lot of obstacles like fallen trees, overgrown bush, swampy paths. It is particularly misleading when the RR and horse path separate because it is suddenly very strange without horse tracks. It has rained and with the snow melting, the paths and streams are almost indistinguishable. I make very slow progress through the obstacles.<br />
The river crossing (Ford km 66.5) was long but in the evening without any problems (knee-deep). The path afterwards RR-CC-A to the camp was steep uphill, but more pleasant than in the forest. As you can see, this trail is only for hikers and it was very rarely used.<br />
<br />
Day 2: It was CC up, across the border from Argentina & back into Chile. At this time there are still many snowfields to cross and therefore Ford (km 71.8) was under the snowfield, which made it very precarious for me. The river crossing Ford (km 77.4) was up to my hips with a strong current, but is not dangerous. Overall, I was much faster because there were hardly any obstacles (only Fords and completely swampy meadow).<br />
<br />
Day 3: The way back from yesterday + 250m river crossing should be easy and pleasant like yesterday! But there was a strong headwind & snow = snow confusion. Then there was the fog and the infamous white-out. My footprints from yesterday were already filled with fresh snow, but still recognizable. I didn't have a long break, so I reached the day's destination very quickly.<br />
Bored, I just carried on hiking and didn't find the way back in the forest from day 1 so bad. I got through all the obstacles surprisingly quickly with the following strategy:<br />
- I had put on remedies on the way out, it had helped a lot. And I run like a horse, don't think twice, just jump over obstacles. The path is made for horses.<br />
- The way back is from the top, the path is much easier to recognize.<br />
- New strategy: just follow the horse tracks, even if I leave the RR.<br />
In the end, I had completed the entire way back from two days earlier in one day. It was about 27km, only possible because it was mostly downhill (450m uphill, 700m downhill).<br />
The price for this strategy was scratches and mini cuts from knees to shoes, very unpleasant at every river crossing.<br />
<br />
Day 4: OH-TL-V to the glacier at Laguna Calluqueo. You have to cross the river right at the beginning, it was a bit over your knees but easy. After that it's a slow climb of almost 700m. There were only a few tricky places: mini path on the precipice or slippery downhill. Overall, the path was very easy to recognize and very pleasant to run. Water is only available again at km 3.5, so you should take your time and enjoy the trail at a leisurely pace.<br />
During the night, a tent pole broke and the tent was damaged. There are no outdoor stores in Cochrane and you can't buy a new tent. In addition, a section on RR-GPT35 from Tamango entrance through Patagonia Park was not yet open.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
*2022 Dec Frank 6 days mainly SOBO<br />
<br />
As weather was initially poor I split the section as follows: 1. Got bus from Cochrane towards Lago Brown, got out @ road junction near Rio Tranquilo bridge, walked NOBO back to Cochrane. 2. While I was waiting for the ferry in Villa O'Higgins I walked out about 25KM NOBO to Padre Antonio Ronchi chapel & hitched back to O'Higgins. 3. I again got the bus towards Lago Brown, got out @ the same junction & walked the central section of the route SOBO in 4 long days.<br />
<br />
1. NOBO, nearly all on road. You pass by the 'mortal falls' on Rio Tranquilo (by the bridge) About 1KM further on the road was blocked by aggressive dogs who came up from a settlement about 800M off the road. I had to shout to the settler to call them off. Around 7KM out from Cochrane the road bends left at a metal crash barrier. I left the RR here & went over the low crash barrier & continued straight ahead on forest tracks, quicker & nicer than the road. About 1KM from Cochrane you return to the road by climbing over a small wooden gate.<br />
<br />
3. I walked on the road past Calluqueo glacier then on a trail. After the first puesto the track fades out among fallen trees. Camped by a ruined shelter. I crossed the river on RR the next day. La Picota crossing is for horses & best avoided on foot. The RR crossing was easy. After the crossing continue straight ahead & go up the far hillside, pick up a small trail going left above a bluff about 70 metres up. Continued over the 2 border passes. There are some cliffs you need to go round when descending the first pass . There will be snowfields early in the season also. I crossed Rio Bravo high up between two waterfalls, descended to cross it again by the lake, then stayed on LHS of Rio Bravo. No trail initially on LHS of river & a lot of bush bashing over bluffs but judging by later comments the route may now be improved. I continued down to Lago Alegre. There is a settler just as you reach Lago Alegre. She was friendly & allowed me to sleep in her barn. She radioed Ruben, the settler who lives on Lago Christie, to let him know I was coming. It's slow going round the lakes with lots of up & down over bluffs. The hut between the two lakes had been used by sheep & was not in v. good condition. I met Ruben about half way round Lago Christie. He was friendly but I continued on to camp by a ruined hut after descending from bluffs to the lake. I walked out the road to Padre Antonio Ronchi chapel & hitched from there to Villa O'Higgins. There is a good hut on the road at the junction with the X905 road. Another hut further on but it's dusty. All other huts marked on the route are in poor condition or ruined, they are mostly good for cooking & camping outside. The weather for the central section was good so I didn't have any problems. It's possible to hitch part of the road sections - traffic is sparse but they will usually stop. In both cases when you reach the road there is nothing, you need to walk out about 15KM & then start hitching.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*11/12/2019 - les 2 As - regular hiking route <br />
<br />
Hi! We finished this day the section 36 from north to south. It took us 6 days without the last 37 kms on the road (we hitchhiked on this part). It was rough, we have had 2 days of bad weather (only rain at our altitude but it changes everything). You are isolated in the middle of nowhere and we met no one during 5 days. Officially no bush bashing but sometimes the path is barely invisible and unmaintained so hard to walk. From the 3rd day to the end, we have had many rivercrossings. Some were easy, some not and some also quite dangerous. With all the snow melting, the level of the river is very high and the current is strong (I do not recommand to try these fords without walking poles, these saved us). Same situation with the lakes we walked near. Their level is high and often the path was submerged and we had to walk litteraly in the lake (sometimes up to the waist). Luckily we met 2 cabañas (2 last nights) to dry our clothes and sleep under a roof. This made the section even more wonderful than it already was. A great experience!<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019 Dec / Olrik / Northbound<br />
<br />
From O'Higgins there are 50km on a dirt road to the beginning of the sendero. There are some open refugios on the way to sleep. you can also arrange a paid transportation from O'Higgins. Hitchhiking is possible but there is not much traffic. The sendero was in pretty bad shape due to the weather conditions. Muddy and flooded all the way near the lakes. We ended up turning back as we did not plan to walk that slow and did not have enough food, and we felt it was safer. We met Matthieu (see below) and they completed it so his report seems better. Puesteros are really nice though.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019 Dec / Matthieu / Northbound Regular HR : 9 days<br />
A very difficil trekk for us. Lots of river crossings, sometimes unsafe, and we had very bad weather conditions that make us last 9 days on the trekk, with hitchiking 40 km after Villa and 30 km before Cochrane. It could habe been more rapid though, but we walked "tranquilito". So I would recommend to take 10 days of food,and the chileans agreed with this.<br />
<br />
I wont talk about the routes parts, because just long and we hitchhiked most.<br />
<br />
So 1st Part : The 2 lakes : A very technical trekk, very aquatic. Sometimes we had to walk in the lake (not dangerous though), and the trail by the lakes is very hilly and muddy, and the progression can be very slow. It was for us, with mostly only rain. 1 dangerous rivercrossing : Before El Caleuche, Strong river but a big fat trunk above perfect for crossing.We didnt search for another way of crossing, so maybe there are some safe places by the water.<br />
<br />
On this part, a few puestos good for shelters : between the two lakes, a good caban with possibility of making fire and a roof of metal and walls, very nice, two beds of wood, we slept in it well protected. El Caleuche : at the middle of the Lago alegre, near a abandoned house. POssibility of fire, but not really a good roof. We slept aside in the tents. The place is really nice though<br />
<br />
2 houses of settlers on the way : - Ruben at the beginning of the Lago Christie, always happy to have visitors and share a mate. - At the end of the Lago Allegre a little bit south west from the trail (a rivercrossing a bit strong to go to the caban, or a "bridge" called Bridge ?-4 on the GPS waypoints, with 2 trunks, that we took in the morning to go back to the trail. A bit dangerous though, better to let Carmen show you how to cross): Ringo y Carmen, amazing persons too who let us plant the tent and permitted us to warm with a good mate, a meal and a wonderful smile, during the Christmas night.<br />
<br />
2nd part : Rio Bravo and the pass We thought that the worst was behind but we had more strong weather conditions in this part. A few advises for the rivercrossings of the Rio Bravo : I would advise NOT to follow the GPS tracks that follow the normal trail on GPS devices (that is made normally for horses). All the locals (local guides in villa o higgins, Ruben, Carmen and Ringo) were agreed and told us all to follow the east side of the Rio UNTIL the Laguna. The crossing here is very safe, the rio not strong nor profund at all, and you have to cross it ONLY ONCE, instead of 4 or 5 (dont remember). To stay on the east side, there is a little cross country by the forest, a little bit technical and slow but not dangerous, and you can camp at the laguna on the east side. We saw some cairns in the forest too, on the last hill before the laguna, so the locals indeed use this way. We (very badly) abandonned this plan and passed by the normal way just near the camping site west from the river before the Laguna (really bad weather, really bad decisions !) and the rivercrossings (3 I think) were, for me, very dangerous with strong current in profund water, but there was a lot of rain and wind, so I wont judge during good conditions. We were frozen when we arrived at the camping site. I was very angry at me though to not have listened to the locals and taken all those risks.<br />
<br />
For the pass, not very difficult, but we had (again) very strong weather conditions with even snow, and finished at the camp at the north side completely frozen. Know that it can be very exposed !<br />
<br />
Last Part : Rio La Picota After the camping : Two choices - Following the normal road, made for horses. The rivercrossing is completely impossible, unless you want to join the fishes. Even for horses I don't understand how they do it. The Waypoint "Dangerous" totally make sense. - The GPS tracks : perfect to follow, and finished by a beautiful trail of cairns by the cliff (the optionnal trail OH on GPS track), very safe. The river crossing this way is very safe, the river is extremely large, separated and never go far from the ankle.<br />
<br />
The rest we didn't have any technical difficulties. A trekk not to take lightly, and with much respect. Take advises to the locals before. Every one is happy to talk about it in Villa. They have the bad habbit to say that it's an easy way though !<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Nov-12 / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe / 6 days / northbound / regular hiking route<br />
<br />
This was a tough section for us! It rained and it rained and it rained and the trail turned to mud and was pretty overgrown in parts. We took the optional Hiking route after reaching Rio Bravo heading South to the Carretera Austral because we didn't feel comfortable forging on, knowing there was a high pass that was probably getting tons of snow instead of our rain, and a "dangerous river ford" that we were afraid would be tok dangerous with flooding too. The snow-line appeared to drop as low as 700 meters one night! We made surprisingly slow progress because of the conditions (entire trail flooded knee deep and extremely muddy after 6 days of rain) - were glad to have extra food with us. On the bail out route, about 10km from reaching the safety of the Carratera there was a pretty big river to cross. It was swollen after all the rain and scary and nearly floated us away. From the Carratera we hiked about 20 minutes before catching a lift back to Villa O'Higgins<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
<br />
Walk through town and join Highway 7, a moderately trafficked dirt road. The Regular Hiking Route follows X-901, a beautiful but fenced dirt road that culminates in the view of a stunning glacier, for about 28 km until it ends at a blockade just after the Mirador Calluqueo. Along X-901 there are few residences but extensive fence line on both sides. At the end of the road, the route transitions into a braided single track trail that may be confusing to follow.<br />
<br />
<br />
Comment by Jan Dudeck: I recently changed the regular packrafting route of GPT36H. This change avoids 35 km of gravel and adds around 70 km of paddling on the two lakes and one river. It’s a big detour but adds impressive beauty. Note that paddling Lago Cochrane is very challenging as wind can be firce. Follow the regular packrafting route only if you are willing and prepared to possibly wait several days on the shore of Lago Cochrane if wind makes paddling this lake unsafe.<br />
<br />
<br />
The trail, called La Ruta de Los Pioneros since it is frequently used by the local people, occasionally passes run down refugios as it winds through the forest. At the beginning of the climb to the highest pass, the trail joins a glacial river. Eventually the trail leaves the river to the west and follows a higher route above the valley that is occasionally marked by stone cairns. The top of the pass is at approximate elevation 1.300 m. From this point, there are several kilometers of very exposed hiking among rolling hills.<br />
<br />
The track descends down to treeline at a small, unnamed lake which is the source of the Río Bravo. Join the river and cross it as necessary. There are some stone cairns that mark the way, but they can be hard to spot. When the route is unclear, just follow the river bed. Where the trail deviates from the river bed to the east, it becomes easier to follow. The trail soon climbs about 80 m and remains above Río Bravo. Here there is the occasional small area to camp. To reach Lago Alegre, the trail leaves Río Bravo and travels through an open forest.<br />
<br />
Packrafters put in for Lago Alegre at a red sand beach. In general, both banks are very steep and heavily vegetated, but there are some flat areas near the shore where it may be possible to camp. Take-out is located at a rocky beach on the southeast end. 100 m from the Lago Alegre shoreline is an intact refugio; if you look closely inside, you may spot the etchings of GPT trail blazers, Jan and Meylin.<br />
<br />
From the refugio, there is a well-formed track to Lago Christie. The Regular Hiking route around the east side of Lago Christie is generally easy to follow, but be aware of the occasional spurs that leads away from the main route. The track climbs and descends frequently as it makes its way around the lake and offers a beautiful view of several glaciers. Watch for the occasional stone cairn or red spray-painted arrow to indicate the way. Camping is possible in the forest.<br />
<br />
The route exits onto X-911, a well formed and lightly trafficked gravel road. X-911 ends at X-905, and hikers continue to follow this road for around 20 km towards VIlla O’Higgins. X-905 is fence lined most of the way with the occasional residence.<br />
<br />
Río Mayer is a big, no-nonsense river that is swift at higher flows. It does however mellow out where the GPS route indicates packrafters should put in (a small beach on the other side of the fence).<br />
<br />
The Regular Hiking Route follows the Carretera Austral into Villa O’Higgins.<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Villa O’Higgins<br />
<br />
The biggest thing to realize about Villa O’Higgins is that nearly all of the lodging and restaurant options only take cash and there is no ATM in town. The closest place to withdraw money is Cochrane which is a 9-hour drive. Fortunately, there are two grocery stores in town thatl take credit cards. Lodging options vary from camping to a bed in a hostel.<br />
2024/Joscha<br />
I would recommend Los Cuatreros (-48.463589, -72.559946) and Los Coigues (-48.464742, -72.559453) for resupply. They are cheaper than the other supermarkets.<br />
<br />
<br />
*Supermarket on the square in Cochrane. Several shops in Villa O'Higgins.<br />
<br />
*Banco Estado on the square in Cochrane. The ATM was open on Christmas day.<br />
<br />
*Cochrane: Campsite run by Patricia half a block from the Plaza. She does a good breakfast & also has Cabanas & a 4 bed dorm.<br />
<br />
*Zapatoria Cochrane: Little Blue house North side of Dr Stefan's Street, above Rio Maitén street. -47.2541386, -72.5761942.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
*There are no resupply options & you should bring everything from Cochrane or O'Higgins. There are only two settlers living permanently on the central off road RR: A woman at Lago Alegre & Ruben on Lago Christie. All other off road puestos are only used occasionally.<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
*There is a minibus from Cochrane to Villa O'Higgins on Monday, Wednesday & Saturday at 8AM & one from O'Higgins to Cochrane on Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday @ 8AM. Operated by Buses Katalina, they have an office at the bus terminal in Cochrane. There is a minibus from Cochrane to Lago Brown on Monday & Thursday at 11AM. It comes back from Lago Brown on the same days & passes the junction with RR at about 2PM.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT36H - Ruta De Los Pioneros]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
[[Archivo:IMG 7500.jpeg|miniaturadeimagen|Puerto Yungay - Rio Bravo Ferry Timetable February 2024]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT36H_(Ruta_De_Los_Pioneros)&diff=114914GPT36H (Ruta De Los Pioneros)2024-03-24T11:10:16Z<p>Joscha97: </p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
*2024-Mar-19 to 2024-Mar-23 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 24A + 02 + 04B / Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1: RR [5.5-50.0] + OH36H-24A to the Glacier and back<br />
<br />
I got a hitch to the junction at km 5.5. From there I walked for about 2 hours until a car took me to the junction at km 33.9. There is a fence between Rio del Salto and the RR. At the Danger Waypoint (km 43.2) is the fence broken down and the river is accessible. I got a 3rd hitch from there to the Calluqueo Glaciar. I took OH36H-24A to the glacier. Its a good trail, but mostly through forrest without view. Around km 3.0 you can see the glacier + the lake. Its really nice. At the end of OH36H-24A you get a close-up look at the Glaciar. There is a lot of water between km 3.5 and 6. At km 4.1 is a decently flat spot for camping. I camped at km 49.7 next to the RR. I would not recommend the spot in a windy night.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [50.0-79.9]<br />
<br />
There was snow above 1000 meters. Around the Bourder/Pass Waypoints the snow was more than knee deep. It was possible to do it without any snowgear, but it took some time. There was plenty of water along the RR and all Fords were max. knee high.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 3: RR [79.9-107.3]<br />
<br />
The RR crosses lots of small streams, so there is plenty of water. Puesto at km 83.9 can be used as shelter and has a open outhouse. I camped at km 107.3 on a flat meadow.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 4: OH36H-02 [0.0-26.6]<br />
<br />
The first 2 km of OH36H-02 are more CC than a trail. After that the trail is easy to follow and in good condition for about 5-6 km. Than the trail starts to become overgrown and later very muddy. Therefore it wasn't to much fun walking this trail. But the valley offers some nice waterfalls and snowy mountains. There was plenty of water and fords were easy.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 5: OH36H-02 [26.6-29.0] + OH36H-04B [122.5-132]<br />
<br />
I hiked about 2 1/2 hours along the Carreterra Austral until a group of cars passed me and one of them took me to Villa O'Higgins.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Feb-28 to Mar-03 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matthias<br />
<br />
Took transport till end of road near glaciar Calluqueo (Jonathan +56940246832, 65000$) as I wanted to walk the pass before the predicted snowfall sets in. Traverse was quite tedious cause of the rainy and cold weather. Met Natalie and Luca halfway, hi :-) Did not meet anyone else during 4 1/2 days! Was accompanied by a smelling(!) dog (of Ruben?) from the camp at Lago Christie until next morning near Rubens house. He slept a bit windsheltered next to my tent - it was cold and a lot of wind! Keep in mind (I didn`t) that once you have reached Lago Alegre there are still 2000hm to go uphill before you reach the MR!<br />
<br />
Campsites: <br />
300m before Camp km68.4 on a +-exposed meadow with glaciar view,<br />
in front of Puesto ElBurro (rainshelter inside and a table outside), <br />
Camp km110.9, <br />
on the shore of Lago Christie km 129 just before the path leads uphill in to the forest (a bit wind protection by bushes and Wood)<br />
<br />
Did a shortcut between ca. km103.5 and km 100.5. Sometimes good trail, sometimes obstacle course over fallen trees. <br />
Was very lucky with transport to Villa O`Higgins. Got a motorcycle ride all the way from the refugio at km148.6 at 6 pm with a short detour to the border at Rio Mayer. Stayed in Hostal Rio Mayer in Villa O`Higgins (very friendly and talkative, no internet).<br />
<br />
<br />
28-Feb-24 to 03-Mar-24/4days/ Hiking/ NOBO/ RR/ Natalie & Luca<br />
<br />
Took a few days off to reconnect with an old friend in Villa O'Higgins and then decided to take him for a test trial on the GPT.<br />
<br />
With the help of Martin from Mosco we found out the day we left was the day the subsidized bus leaves from O'Higgins to Lago Christie. Left around 1130 and got to the TH ~13:00. The bus only goes 4x a month and it went twice in the last week of February, not sure how it is organized. Only 3500 each. <br />
<br />
A little bit of rain The first day and a lot of rain/snow at the end.The trail was fun, mellow and in good shape, next to no mud. We met Ruben and all of his animals (cutest puppy atm). He offered a camping spot but I am sure the dogs would be all over you at night. We camped at the beginning of Allegra near Refugio entre lagos (NO refugio), -48.09404, -72.49798__. At this moment there is no shelter but it looks like someone is working on one, there is a boat at the lake. There is a creek with only still puddles so we drank from the lake. <br />
There are few nice camping spots along both Christie and Allegra that are not marked. Did not stop to fish :(. I heard Margarita is in O'Higgins atm. <br />
<br />
We made a short cut to avoid the big intersection near Puesto 107. We cut off after camp 110 and ended ~800m near a river camp marked on osm. It was easy and mostly open forest, mainly just a quest to stay on the best animal track as there are a few of them. We basically followed close to where the hill is but not too close bcs that is where the bush is no good.<br />
<br />
Camped outside Puesto 98.4, Las tablas. It had no water so fill up before of just go down to the river.<br />
<br />
Met Matías- Hi Matías! Even though we were both trying to beat the rain I very much enjoyed the conversation/laughs!<br />
<br />
When we got to Puesto 83.9, La Pampa, the rain just began to start and even though it was only lightly raining at the time the forecast was not good for the evening so we decided to stay and enjoy the early day and nice Refugio. The weather got increasingly worse and very strong overnight with snow in the morning. The Refugio is large and clean. It has a fire pit in the corner, an outhouse, extra blankets and tarps, a good table and lots of tools and pots if needed. No other puesto compared. There were only a few small leaks during the night, we pitched a tent inside for added warmth. <br />
<br />
The next morning there was a lot of fresh snow and it was still snowing with strong wind at times- so the pass was interesting. We took variant D to avoid the Rio Bravo fords and got soaking wet in the bush, it wasnt very clear where the trail was, needed the gps. Although the Rio Bravo was very calm and shallow (barely to my knees, 167), the snow made it too cold for my liking. If one is curious about camping on the other side of the river I think you can make a camp,there are lots of flat spots but not so much wind protection. There were camping possibilities throughout the pass as well. As for the pass, "most" of the trail was not covered by snow bcs the water was flowing down the trail therefore navigation was still okay, a bit harder between passes. Of course the weather improved at camp 68.4...<br />
<br />
I know Tomáš managed the La Picota river and it made me curious to try but it made no sense to go for it, the RR now that follows the west is an easy trail and the fords afterwords were almost (all but one) jumpable. Sadly what I read about "la playa" is true, there was a dead horse (pieces of it) at the start of the fords, it seemed rather recent so I guess the La Picota ford still kills. <br />
The Refugio after the fords is just a "lean too". The trail afterwards is okay, starting to get muddy but not bad. A nice camp is possible at -47.66704, -72.50032 bcs of the beautiful view but there is no water, actually not many places to stop between ford and puesto 57.6. We Camped at Puesto 57.6 and met Antonio, super lovely man and we had breakfast with him the following morning I'm return I gave him the rest of my walnuts and peanuts, hopefully that was enough. There is not much of a shelter there, teepee style, but you can camp under the trees by the river. His dogs are annoying, got into my food bag while we were talking and then never left us alone. Really nice camping just before his puesto in a big clover field.<br />
<br />
Next day super quick walk out to the view point and then got a hitch down to Cochrane easily, lots of people on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. <br />
<br />
24-Feb-24 to 2024-Feb-27 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Variant B, Option 2 / Tomáš<br />
<br />
Having parted ways with Natalie, who had other commitments, I was not able to get a taxi to end of road so I started walking and hitching at noon. Second car took me about ten km, then I was passed by ten cars in an hour and then got a hitch to the viewpoint three km from end of the road with a guide going to guide a group to the glacier (they go there by boat!). Our car's engine failed 4 km before the destination, but after 5 minutes a passing car took us there. Mount Cochrane is impressive. I ate there and in an hour another two cars passed, one probably from the puesto further on. It was a Saturday, still vacation period and a beautiful day, it seems hitching is promising under such conditions there. The road is in a very good condition and easily scalable by a 2-wheel drive.<br />
<br />
The puesto at 53.1 had barking dogs and seems used (maybe a settler?), I did not see it though, it is in the trees. All fords were easy and shallow: definitely under knees. In the beginning there are multiple trails, RR probably has the best route. You cannot avoid fording, I tried. After about ten km, the trail stops being ambigious. Took variant B (which is mostly a trail, not CC) and slept above the "dangerous ford" (would have been better to stay 500 m lower at the end of the flats). It indeed sounded and looked dangerous after such a hot day. In the morning, I realized the trail to the ford eroded and horses probably cannot go there anymore. A pedestrian still can. The ford was much calmer, very cold but under knees and not strong. I forded it six times unfortunately with bare feet - first to try, than with my backpack and then with my forgotten phone. It hurt even if it is just 5 metres. Going up from the ford, the trail goes to the left of a small stream on top of a small ridge, do not follow the stream as I did. The CC section thereafter is mostly a trail, only invisible on river flats and for about 20 metres in the pass. Going down from the pass, the trail is above the GPX for several hundred metres, going straight and not zigzagging. Rio Bravo was tame after dry weather and at the end of summer, so I took RR. The fords were easy, well under my knees. Puesto el Burro at 92.3 would be a nice place to camp. Utterly scaring a lonely large bull, I pushed to Puesto Tablas, which has a roof that protected me from drops of rain.<br />
<br />
Puesto at 107.4 looked nice and standing, not sure if it was locked, by any means very nice place to camp. I did not notice the bridge ?. The ford was mellow, wide but ankle deep. Option 1 at least to variant 01J is actually a used trail, the bridge on it is over a marsh, not sure why it is a waypoint. Decided to take option 2 thinking I would get an easier hitch on carretera austral and trusting others who did not like the lake part that much and hating mosquitoes. The first part to variant 01I is partly a cow trail, partly a BB through open forrest. Take 01J instead, should be a clear trail and the ford should be as easy as the one on RR. From there on, 8 km to an unmarked ford through a first creek marked on OSM (it originates from a lake on map), the trail is clear and looks used. 02A was overgrown after 100 clear meters, so do not take that (I did not see the other end of it either). From the ford, the condition of the trail worsens for 7ish km to camp at 16.4. It is partially overgrown, occasionally with thorns. There is still space for legs, but arms are needed to clear the way. This portion is also mostly over open tundra-like terrain above the river. It is a bit marshy but not much after dry days. The views are splendid! Somebody with a machete would have fun here. Took option 02B, which I think is the actual trail, but it is hard to tell as it goes through a marsh there. Overall the overgrown part is maybe 2-3 km. Puesto Chirola at 17.6 is actually an abandoned settler house, still locked but in heavy rain you could probably get in through a window, the roof is still mostly ok.I slept there, with dusk mosquitoes appeared.<br />
<br />
It rained during the night and probably because of that, the trail got muddy. It is however being used and mostly clear and mostly easy to follow. Refuge without water is without water. It is meant for cyclists and is in good condition. It would sleep easily four people amd uneasily double that. It is always well ventilated with always open windows (rain should not get through), so probably no need to fear the mouse virus. The occasional tundra, wetness and continous rain with occasional glimpse of a glacier finally made me feel like I am in proper Patagonia. On the carretera, there are not many cars. Started walking and hitching at three PM. As the road is divided by a ferry, cars pass you at (in high season) 2-hour bursts of at most 8, as I was informed by the one passing cyclist. The first burst was just three cars and two motorcycles and they all passed me. It is actually a one lane compacted road where cars in opposite directions must avoid each other. No luck with second burst of three cars. Finally a second car from the third burst took me after 4 hours on the road. The second refugio around km 35 did not look as nice.<br />
<br />
2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-18 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick & Nolwenn & Tess & Lukas<br />
<br />
- Trail condition : good condition, a lot of fallen trees that slows you down but not really bad / the trail was not muddy as we had good sunny days <br />
- Water : lots of rivers and lagunas <br />
- Camping spot : the refugio at km 126,1 has been destroyed by a tree so we camped closer to the lake amongst the trees // at km 148,6 The refugio is really nice, we could make a fire and have a great night before heading the next day to O'Higgins on the long gravel road <br />
- Weather : sunny and a little bit of rain <br />
- River crossing : easy, the river Bravo was not too high and not too strong so we didn't take the variant D<br />
- Resupply : in Cochrane everything you need<br />
- Overall : we were lucky to have an easy hitchike for the first 20km and for the last 7km // we also liked this section that offers really different landscapes and you feel really remote<br />
<br />
From 2024-01-06 to 2024-01-12 // 6,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR + OPT D // Quentin Clavel<br />
<br />
After the small part in the forest, I followed the gravel road, which began to be nice from the Laguna la Clara. Some nice miradors along the roads, especially the last one, salto Rio Perez, which was pretty impressive ! <br />
<br />
Then you begin the track los Pioneros. Pretty easy to follow, a bit muddy, but I thought it would have been worse, the last sunny weeks made it dryer than expected. <br />
<br />
From there, it's a sequence of up and down, with amazing views, on Lago Christie then on Lago Alegre, surrounded by mountains. <br />
<br />
Some easy bushbashing which is more like cross country at the end of Lago Alegre to arrive along the Rio bravo. <br />
<br />
The you go along the Rio bravo until cross it. I took the option D to avoid to cross it three times, it's bushbashing but pretty easy to follow as there's a kind of path which was created to go around the small cliffs, and have to cross rio bravo only once. <br />
<br />
On the section, at this time, I haven't got any problem at all to pass the rivers who were pretty low and with weak current. <br />
<br />
Then I arrived in the mountains and that was just amazing ! Even with an uncertain weather and lots of clouds ! <br />
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I had an amazing bivy in front of the impressive calluqueo glacier then it was the looong Gravel road to Cochrane, but really scenic ! <br />
<br />
During all the section it was easy to find water as there's water everywhere ! Some nice camp spot too. <br />
<br />
Mosquitoes and these spiky plants who stay scratched to your shoes and socks are the only annoying stuff. <br />
<br />
Plenty of crowberry and Calafate on the track. Delicious and perfect snacks on the road ! <br />
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Last but not least, if you've always dreamed to try hurdles in athletism, this section is for you ! You'll have to pass threw hundreds of fallen trees ! Enjoy ! <br />
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<br />
*2024-Jan-01 to 2024-Jan-08 / 7.5 days / NOBO / Villa O'Higgins - Cochrane / RR and Option 36H-D / Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
We really enjoyed this section, especially the part of the pass, with awesome views on glaciers and mountains. We found the 2 lakes part nice but less impressive.<br />
<br />
For us, the most difficult with this section was to walk with heavy backpacks and to deal with the hundreds of mosquitoes on the camps near the two lakes. We had the chance to have dry trails most of the time and it helped us a lot. If it rains a lot before you start this section, you will need more time because the trail can get muddy really fast.<br />
<br />
After the first 9km in the forest, we tried to hitchhike from Villa O'Higgins to Lago Christie but we weren't lucky and couldn't find a car on a 1st of January. We only had a lift the second day for 15km by the carabineros. There is nearly no car passing on the X905 road so plan a day or two of extra food if you plan to hitchhike here. Taking a private transport to Lago Christie could also be a solution but it's expensive (about 70'000 CLP according to Martin from El Mosco in Villa O'Higgins).<br />
<br />
There is not much to say about the 2 lake part, we found the trail easy to follow and some nice shelter along the route. Apparently, there is a lot of trout in Lago Alegre. We didn't try to fish since it was raining but we let a peanut butter jar with a spoon (hook) and some fishing line rolled around the jar in the puesto next to Settler {36H} [118.9/486] (Margarita Bustos). She's actually not living there but the puesto is open and a nice shelter to cook (we put the tent next to it).<br />
<br />
For the second part with the pass, we found the trail also easy to follow. The OH-CC&BB-A {36H-D} didn't took us too long and saved us at least 2 river crossing. All the other fords were sometimes wide but easy to pass.<br />
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After 7 days, we tried to hitchhike on the X901 road near the Laguna Calluqueo and were really lucky. After only 4km, a car stopped and took us to X {36H} [5.5/267]. Maybe there is more traffic on this road than on the other side, especially with good weather during the holidays.<br />
<br />
*2023-Dec-25 to 2023-Dec-29 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris<br />
<br />
We arranged a ride to skip the first 50km of the roadwalk. The trail was surprisingly good and well-trodden throughout, i.e. visually easy to follow. Some muddy sections here and there and steeper climbs and descents. Plenty of water throughout.<br />
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The river crossings didn't pose any difficulties and we were blessed with good weather, despite one rainy night. The views were amazing - that so low down you could be face to face with glaciers!<br />
<br />
We did not find the trail around lakes any harder than the rest of the section. A few times the route goes on the coast, i.e. you need to walk through the water, but it was not an issue. In two cases the route splits into two, the correct trail being the easier one to miss, so need to pay attention to nav. Met Ruben the settler, very nice and friendly guy. We also met 4 other GPT hikers on this section, which was a bit of a shock.<br />
<br />
We walked 30km of the dirt road after Lago Christie until we finally got a hitch to Villa O'Higgins. Barely any traffic on the road, especially in the afternoon.<br />
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* 2023-12-07 EXP-OH-TL-I 1day / Anh<br />
There is a damaged and not yet reopened route from Villa O’Higgins to Glacier Mosco: EXP-OH-TL-I & EXP-OH-CC&TL-I<br />
Together they are 24 km return and with a daypack it could work.<br />
The EXP-OH-TL-I trail is very well maintained and relatively well marked. There is even a very nice Refugio Puesto Rivera + campsite for tents along the way. BUT from km 7 the trail is damaged by landslides and the section after that is overgrown. I tried the last km via BB through the forest. After that everything should be clear and only CC to the Mosco glacier. Unfortunately, I make very slow progress with BB, it simply takes too much time and with a temperature of 15°C the river crossing afterwards would be dangerous. Unfortunately I have to abort (safety first) & return.<br />
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<br />
*2023-12-10 / 4 days / RR + OH-TL-V / SOBO / Anh<br />
<br />
A very experienced hiker/local in Villa O'Higgins advised me against NoBo due to high water levels in the next few days regarding river crossings.<br />
<br />
Day 1: With a private transfer to Laguna Calluqueo I had to hike a few more kilometers to the end of Ruta X-901 because it is private land closed by a gate. The first two river crossings were a bit above knee and sometimes strong current. The trail after that in the forest is actually made for horses, there are a lot of obstacles like fallen trees, overgrown bush, swampy paths. It is particularly misleading when the RR and horse path separate because it is suddenly very strange without horse tracks. It has rained and with the snow melting, the paths and streams are almost indistinguishable. I make very slow progress through the obstacles.<br />
The river crossing (Ford km 66.5) was long but in the evening without any problems (knee-deep). The path afterwards RR-CC-A to the camp was steep uphill, but more pleasant than in the forest. As you can see, this trail is only for hikers and it was very rarely used.<br />
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Day 2: It was CC up, across the border from Argentina & back into Chile. At this time there are still many snowfields to cross and therefore Ford (km 71.8) was under the snowfield, which made it very precarious for me. The river crossing Ford (km 77.4) was up to my hips with a strong current, but is not dangerous. Overall, I was much faster because there were hardly any obstacles (only Fords and completely swampy meadow).<br />
<br />
Day 3: The way back from yesterday + 250m river crossing should be easy and pleasant like yesterday! But there was a strong headwind & snow = snow confusion. Then there was the fog and the infamous white-out. My footprints from yesterday were already filled with fresh snow, but still recognizable. I didn't have a long break, so I reached the day's destination very quickly.<br />
Bored, I just carried on hiking and didn't find the way back in the forest from day 1 so bad. I got through all the obstacles surprisingly quickly with the following strategy:<br />
- I had put on remedies on the way out, it had helped a lot. And I run like a horse, don't think twice, just jump over obstacles. The path is made for horses.<br />
- The way back is from the top, the path is much easier to recognize.<br />
- New strategy: just follow the horse tracks, even if I leave the RR.<br />
In the end, I had completed the entire way back from two days earlier in one day. It was about 27km, only possible because it was mostly downhill (450m uphill, 700m downhill).<br />
The price for this strategy was scratches and mini cuts from knees to shoes, very unpleasant at every river crossing.<br />
<br />
Day 4: OH-TL-V to the glacier at Laguna Calluqueo. You have to cross the river right at the beginning, it was a bit over your knees but easy. After that it's a slow climb of almost 700m. There were only a few tricky places: mini path on the precipice or slippery downhill. Overall, the path was very easy to recognize and very pleasant to run. Water is only available again at km 3.5, so you should take your time and enjoy the trail at a leisurely pace.<br />
During the night, a tent pole broke and the tent was damaged. There are no outdoor stores in Cochrane and you can't buy a new tent. In addition, a section on RR-GPT35 from Tamango entrance through Patagonia Park was not yet open.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
*2022 Dec Frank 6 days mainly SOBO<br />
<br />
As weather was initially poor I split the section as follows: 1. Got bus from Cochrane towards Lago Brown, got out @ road junction near Rio Tranquilo bridge, walked NOBO back to Cochrane. 2. While I was waiting for the ferry in Villa O'Higgins I walked out about 25KM NOBO to Padre Antonio Ronchi chapel & hitched back to O'Higgins. 3. I again got the bus towards Lago Brown, got out @ the same junction & walked the central section of the route SOBO in 4 long days.<br />
<br />
1. NOBO, nearly all on road. You pass by the 'mortal falls' on Rio Tranquilo (by the bridge) About 1KM further on the road was blocked by aggressive dogs who came up from a settlement about 800M off the road. I had to shout to the settler to call them off. Around 7KM out from Cochrane the road bends left at a metal crash barrier. I left the RR here & went over the low crash barrier & continued straight ahead on forest tracks, quicker & nicer than the road. About 1KM from Cochrane you return to the road by climbing over a small wooden gate.<br />
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3. I walked on the road past Calluqueo glacier then on a trail. After the first puesto the track fades out among fallen trees. Camped by a ruined shelter. I crossed the river on RR the next day. La Picota crossing is for horses & best avoided on foot. The RR crossing was easy. After the crossing continue straight ahead & go up the far hillside, pick up a small trail going left above a bluff about 70 metres up. Continued over the 2 border passes. There are some cliffs you need to go round when descending the first pass . There will be snowfields early in the season also. I crossed Rio Bravo high up between two waterfalls, descended to cross it again by the lake, then stayed on LHS of Rio Bravo. No trail initially on LHS of river & a lot of bush bashing over bluffs but judging by later comments the route may now be improved. I continued down to Lago Alegre. There is a settler just as you reach Lago Alegre. She was friendly & allowed me to sleep in her barn. She radioed Ruben, the settler who lives on Lago Christie, to let him know I was coming. It's slow going round the lakes with lots of up & down over bluffs. The hut between the two lakes had been used by sheep & was not in v. good condition. I met Ruben about half way round Lago Christie. He was friendly but I continued on to camp by a ruined hut after descending from bluffs to the lake. I walked out the road to Padre Antonio Ronchi chapel & hitched from there to Villa O'Higgins. There is a good hut on the road at the junction with the X905 road. Another hut further on but it's dusty. All other huts marked on the route are in poor condition or ruined, they are mostly good for cooking & camping outside. The weather for the central section was good so I didn't have any problems. It's possible to hitch part of the road sections - traffic is sparse but they will usually stop. In both cases when you reach the road there is nothing, you need to walk out about 15KM & then start hitching.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
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==Season 2020/21==<br />
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==Season 2019/20==<br />
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*11/12/2019 - les 2 As - regular hiking route <br />
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Hi! We finished this day the section 36 from north to south. It took us 6 days without the last 37 kms on the road (we hitchhiked on this part). It was rough, we have had 2 days of bad weather (only rain at our altitude but it changes everything). You are isolated in the middle of nowhere and we met no one during 5 days. Officially no bush bashing but sometimes the path is barely invisible and unmaintained so hard to walk. From the 3rd day to the end, we have had many rivercrossings. Some were easy, some not and some also quite dangerous. With all the snow melting, the level of the river is very high and the current is strong (I do not recommand to try these fords without walking poles, these saved us). Same situation with the lakes we walked near. Their level is high and often the path was submerged and we had to walk litteraly in the lake (sometimes up to the waist). Luckily we met 2 cabañas (2 last nights) to dry our clothes and sleep under a roof. This made the section even more wonderful than it already was. A great experience!<br />
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*2019 Dec / Olrik / Northbound<br />
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From O'Higgins there are 50km on a dirt road to the beginning of the sendero. There are some open refugios on the way to sleep. you can also arrange a paid transportation from O'Higgins. Hitchhiking is possible but there is not much traffic. The sendero was in pretty bad shape due to the weather conditions. Muddy and flooded all the way near the lakes. We ended up turning back as we did not plan to walk that slow and did not have enough food, and we felt it was safer. We met Matthieu (see below) and they completed it so his report seems better. Puesteros are really nice though.<br />
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*2019 Dec / Matthieu / Northbound Regular HR : 9 days<br />
A very difficil trekk for us. Lots of river crossings, sometimes unsafe, and we had very bad weather conditions that make us last 9 days on the trekk, with hitchiking 40 km after Villa and 30 km before Cochrane. It could habe been more rapid though, but we walked "tranquilito". So I would recommend to take 10 days of food,and the chileans agreed with this.<br />
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I wont talk about the routes parts, because just long and we hitchhiked most.<br />
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So 1st Part : The 2 lakes : A very technical trekk, very aquatic. Sometimes we had to walk in the lake (not dangerous though), and the trail by the lakes is very hilly and muddy, and the progression can be very slow. It was for us, with mostly only rain. 1 dangerous rivercrossing : Before El Caleuche, Strong river but a big fat trunk above perfect for crossing.We didnt search for another way of crossing, so maybe there are some safe places by the water.<br />
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On this part, a few puestos good for shelters : between the two lakes, a good caban with possibility of making fire and a roof of metal and walls, very nice, two beds of wood, we slept in it well protected. El Caleuche : at the middle of the Lago alegre, near a abandoned house. POssibility of fire, but not really a good roof. We slept aside in the tents. The place is really nice though<br />
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2 houses of settlers on the way : - Ruben at the beginning of the Lago Christie, always happy to have visitors and share a mate. - At the end of the Lago Allegre a little bit south west from the trail (a rivercrossing a bit strong to go to the caban, or a "bridge" called Bridge ?-4 on the GPS waypoints, with 2 trunks, that we took in the morning to go back to the trail. A bit dangerous though, better to let Carmen show you how to cross): Ringo y Carmen, amazing persons too who let us plant the tent and permitted us to warm with a good mate, a meal and a wonderful smile, during the Christmas night.<br />
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2nd part : Rio Bravo and the pass We thought that the worst was behind but we had more strong weather conditions in this part. A few advises for the rivercrossings of the Rio Bravo : I would advise NOT to follow the GPS tracks that follow the normal trail on GPS devices (that is made normally for horses). All the locals (local guides in villa o higgins, Ruben, Carmen and Ringo) were agreed and told us all to follow the east side of the Rio UNTIL the Laguna. The crossing here is very safe, the rio not strong nor profund at all, and you have to cross it ONLY ONCE, instead of 4 or 5 (dont remember). To stay on the east side, there is a little cross country by the forest, a little bit technical and slow but not dangerous, and you can camp at the laguna on the east side. We saw some cairns in the forest too, on the last hill before the laguna, so the locals indeed use this way. We (very badly) abandonned this plan and passed by the normal way just near the camping site west from the river before the Laguna (really bad weather, really bad decisions !) and the rivercrossings (3 I think) were, for me, very dangerous with strong current in profund water, but there was a lot of rain and wind, so I wont judge during good conditions. We were frozen when we arrived at the camping site. I was very angry at me though to not have listened to the locals and taken all those risks.<br />
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For the pass, not very difficult, but we had (again) very strong weather conditions with even snow, and finished at the camp at the north side completely frozen. Know that it can be very exposed !<br />
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Last Part : Rio La Picota After the camping : Two choices - Following the normal road, made for horses. The rivercrossing is completely impossible, unless you want to join the fishes. Even for horses I don't understand how they do it. The Waypoint "Dangerous" totally make sense. - The GPS tracks : perfect to follow, and finished by a beautiful trail of cairns by the cliff (the optionnal trail OH on GPS track), very safe. The river crossing this way is very safe, the river is extremely large, separated and never go far from the ankle.<br />
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The rest we didn't have any technical difficulties. A trekk not to take lightly, and with much respect. Take advises to the locals before. Every one is happy to talk about it in Villa. They have the bad habbit to say that it's an easy way though !<br />
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*2019-Nov-12 / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe / 6 days / northbound / regular hiking route<br />
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This was a tough section for us! It rained and it rained and it rained and the trail turned to mud and was pretty overgrown in parts. We took the optional Hiking route after reaching Rio Bravo heading South to the Carretera Austral because we didn't feel comfortable forging on, knowing there was a high pass that was probably getting tons of snow instead of our rain, and a "dangerous river ford" that we were afraid would be tok dangerous with flooding too. The snow-line appeared to drop as low as 700 meters one night! We made surprisingly slow progress because of the conditions (entire trail flooded knee deep and extremely muddy after 6 days of rain) - were glad to have extra food with us. On the bail out route, about 10km from reaching the safety of the Carratera there was a pretty big river to cross. It was swollen after all the rain and scary and nearly floated us away. From the Carratera we hiked about 20 minutes before catching a lift back to Villa O'Higgins<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
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==Season 2017/18==<br />
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*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
<br />
Walk through town and join Highway 7, a moderately trafficked dirt road. The Regular Hiking Route follows X-901, a beautiful but fenced dirt road that culminates in the view of a stunning glacier, for about 28 km until it ends at a blockade just after the Mirador Calluqueo. Along X-901 there are few residences but extensive fence line on both sides. At the end of the road, the route transitions into a braided single track trail that may be confusing to follow.<br />
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Comment by Jan Dudeck: I recently changed the regular packrafting route of GPT36H. This change avoids 35 km of gravel and adds around 70 km of paddling on the two lakes and one river. It’s a big detour but adds impressive beauty. Note that paddling Lago Cochrane is very challenging as wind can be firce. Follow the regular packrafting route only if you are willing and prepared to possibly wait several days on the shore of Lago Cochrane if wind makes paddling this lake unsafe.<br />
<br />
<br />
The trail, called La Ruta de Los Pioneros since it is frequently used by the local people, occasionally passes run down refugios as it winds through the forest. At the beginning of the climb to the highest pass, the trail joins a glacial river. Eventually the trail leaves the river to the west and follows a higher route above the valley that is occasionally marked by stone cairns. The top of the pass is at approximate elevation 1.300 m. From this point, there are several kilometers of very exposed hiking among rolling hills.<br />
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The track descends down to treeline at a small, unnamed lake which is the source of the Río Bravo. Join the river and cross it as necessary. There are some stone cairns that mark the way, but they can be hard to spot. When the route is unclear, just follow the river bed. Where the trail deviates from the river bed to the east, it becomes easier to follow. The trail soon climbs about 80 m and remains above Río Bravo. Here there is the occasional small area to camp. To reach Lago Alegre, the trail leaves Río Bravo and travels through an open forest.<br />
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Packrafters put in for Lago Alegre at a red sand beach. In general, both banks are very steep and heavily vegetated, but there are some flat areas near the shore where it may be possible to camp. Take-out is located at a rocky beach on the southeast end. 100 m from the Lago Alegre shoreline is an intact refugio; if you look closely inside, you may spot the etchings of GPT trail blazers, Jan and Meylin.<br />
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From the refugio, there is a well-formed track to Lago Christie. The Regular Hiking route around the east side of Lago Christie is generally easy to follow, but be aware of the occasional spurs that leads away from the main route. The track climbs and descends frequently as it makes its way around the lake and offers a beautiful view of several glaciers. Watch for the occasional stone cairn or red spray-painted arrow to indicate the way. Camping is possible in the forest.<br />
<br />
The route exits onto X-911, a well formed and lightly trafficked gravel road. X-911 ends at X-905, and hikers continue to follow this road for around 20 km towards VIlla O’Higgins. X-905 is fence lined most of the way with the occasional residence.<br />
<br />
Río Mayer is a big, no-nonsense river that is swift at higher flows. It does however mellow out where the GPS route indicates packrafters should put in (a small beach on the other side of the fence).<br />
<br />
The Regular Hiking Route follows the Carretera Austral into Villa O’Higgins.<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Villa O’Higgins<br />
<br />
The biggest thing to realize about Villa O’Higgins is that nearly all of the lodging and restaurant options only take cash and there is no ATM in town. The closest place to withdraw money is Cochrane which is a 9-hour drive. Fortunately, there are two grocery stores in town thatl take credit cards. Lodging options vary from camping to a bed in a hostel.<br />
<br />
*Supermarket on the square in Cochrane. Several shops in Villa O'Higgins.<br />
<br />
*Banco Estado on the square in Cochrane. The ATM was open on Christmas day.<br />
<br />
*Cochrane: Campsite run by Patricia half a block from the Plaza. She does a good breakfast & also has Cabanas & a 4 bed dorm.<br />
<br />
*Zapatoria Cochrane: Little Blue house North side of Dr Stefan's Street, above Rio Maitén street. -47.2541386, -72.5761942.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
*There are no resupply options & you should bring everything from Cochrane or O'Higgins. There are only two settlers living permanently on the central off road RR: A woman at Lago Alegre & Ruben on Lago Christie. All other off road puestos are only used occasionally.<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
*There is a minibus from Cochrane to Villa O'Higgins on Monday, Wednesday & Saturday at 8AM & one from O'Higgins to Cochrane on Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday @ 8AM. Operated by Buses Katalina, they have an office at the bus terminal in Cochrane. There is a minibus from Cochrane to Lago Brown on Monday & Thursday at 11AM. It comes back from Lago Brown on the same days & passes the junction with RR at about 2PM.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT36H - Ruta De Los Pioneros]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
[[Archivo:IMG 7500.jpeg|miniaturadeimagen|Puerto Yungay - Rio Bravo Ferry Timetable February 2024]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT36H_(Ruta_De_Los_Pioneros)&diff=114913GPT36H (Ruta De Los Pioneros)2024-03-24T11:08:21Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
*2024-Mar-19 to 2024-Mar-23 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 24A + 02 + 04B / Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1: RR [5.5-50.0] + OH36H-24A to the Glacier and back<br />
<br />
I got a hitch to the junction at km 5.5. From there I walked for about 2 hours until a car took me to the junction at km 33.9. There is a fence between Rio del Salto and the RR. At the Danger Waypoint (km 43.2) is the fence broken down and the river is accessible. I got a 3rd hitch from there to the Calluqueo Glaciar. I took OH36H-24A to the glacier. Its a good trail, but mostly through forrest without view. Around km 3.0 you can see the glacier + the lake. Its really nice. At the end of OH36H-24A you get a close-up look at the Glaciar. There is a lot of water between km 3.5 and 6. At km 4.1 is a decently flat spot for camping. I camped at km 49.7 next to the RR. I would not recommend the spot in a windy night.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [50.0-79.9]<br />
<br />
There was snow above 10000 meters. Around the to Bourder/Pass Waypoints the snow was more than knee deep. It was possible to do it without any snowgear, but it took some time. There was plenty of water along the RR and all Fords were max. knee high.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 3: RR [79.9-107.3]<br />
<br />
The RR crosses lots of small streams, so there is plenty of water. Puesto at km 83.9 can be used as shelter and has a open outhouse. I camped at km 107.3 on a flat meadow.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 4: OH36H-02 [0.0-26.6]<br />
<br />
The first 2 km of OH36H-02 are more CC than a trail. After that the trail is easy to follow and in good condition for about 5-6 km. Than the trail starts to become overgrown and later very muddy. Therefore it wasn't to much fun walking this trail. But the valley offers some nice waterfalls and snowy mountains. There was plenty of water.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 5: OH36H-02 [26.6-29.0] + OH36H-04B [122.5-132]<br />
<br />
I hiked about 2 1/2 hours along the Carreterra Austral until a group of cars passed me and one of them took me to Villa O'Higgins.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Feb-28 to Mar-03 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matthias<br />
<br />
Took transport till end of road near glaciar Calluqueo (Jonathan +56940246832, 65000$) as I wanted to walk the pass before the predicted snowfall sets in. Traverse was quite tedious cause of the rainy and cold weather. Met Natalie and Luca halfway, hi :-) Did not meet anyone else during 4 1/2 days! Was accompanied by a smelling(!) dog (of Ruben?) from the camp at Lago Christie until next morning near Rubens house. He slept a bit windsheltered next to my tent - it was cold and a lot of wind! Keep in mind (I didn`t) that once you have reached Lago Alegre there are still 2000hm to go uphill before you reach the MR!<br />
<br />
Campsites: <br />
300m before Camp km68.4 on a +-exposed meadow with glaciar view,<br />
in front of Puesto ElBurro (rainshelter inside and a table outside), <br />
Camp km110.9, <br />
on the shore of Lago Christie km 129 just before the path leads uphill in to the forest (a bit wind protection by bushes and Wood)<br />
<br />
Did a shortcut between ca. km103.5 and km 100.5. Sometimes good trail, sometimes obstacle course over fallen trees. <br />
Was very lucky with transport to Villa O`Higgins. Got a motorcycle ride all the way from the refugio at km148.6 at 6 pm with a short detour to the border at Rio Mayer. Stayed in Hostal Rio Mayer in Villa O`Higgins (very friendly and talkative, no internet).<br />
<br />
<br />
28-Feb-24 to 03-Mar-24/4days/ Hiking/ NOBO/ RR/ Natalie & Luca<br />
<br />
Took a few days off to reconnect with an old friend in Villa O'Higgins and then decided to take him for a test trial on the GPT.<br />
<br />
With the help of Martin from Mosco we found out the day we left was the day the subsidized bus leaves from O'Higgins to Lago Christie. Left around 1130 and got to the TH ~13:00. The bus only goes 4x a month and it went twice in the last week of February, not sure how it is organized. Only 3500 each. <br />
<br />
A little bit of rain The first day and a lot of rain/snow at the end.The trail was fun, mellow and in good shape, next to no mud. We met Ruben and all of his animals (cutest puppy atm). He offered a camping spot but I am sure the dogs would be all over you at night. We camped at the beginning of Allegra near Refugio entre lagos (NO refugio), -48.09404, -72.49798__. At this moment there is no shelter but it looks like someone is working on one, there is a boat at the lake. There is a creek with only still puddles so we drank from the lake. <br />
There are few nice camping spots along both Christie and Allegra that are not marked. Did not stop to fish :(. I heard Margarita is in O'Higgins atm. <br />
<br />
We made a short cut to avoid the big intersection near Puesto 107. We cut off after camp 110 and ended ~800m near a river camp marked on osm. It was easy and mostly open forest, mainly just a quest to stay on the best animal track as there are a few of them. We basically followed close to where the hill is but not too close bcs that is where the bush is no good.<br />
<br />
Camped outside Puesto 98.4, Las tablas. It had no water so fill up before of just go down to the river.<br />
<br />
Met Matías- Hi Matías! Even though we were both trying to beat the rain I very much enjoyed the conversation/laughs!<br />
<br />
When we got to Puesto 83.9, La Pampa, the rain just began to start and even though it was only lightly raining at the time the forecast was not good for the evening so we decided to stay and enjoy the early day and nice Refugio. The weather got increasingly worse and very strong overnight with snow in the morning. The Refugio is large and clean. It has a fire pit in the corner, an outhouse, extra blankets and tarps, a good table and lots of tools and pots if needed. No other puesto compared. There were only a few small leaks during the night, we pitched a tent inside for added warmth. <br />
<br />
The next morning there was a lot of fresh snow and it was still snowing with strong wind at times- so the pass was interesting. We took variant D to avoid the Rio Bravo fords and got soaking wet in the bush, it wasnt very clear where the trail was, needed the gps. Although the Rio Bravo was very calm and shallow (barely to my knees, 167), the snow made it too cold for my liking. If one is curious about camping on the other side of the river I think you can make a camp,there are lots of flat spots but not so much wind protection. There were camping possibilities throughout the pass as well. As for the pass, "most" of the trail was not covered by snow bcs the water was flowing down the trail therefore navigation was still okay, a bit harder between passes. Of course the weather improved at camp 68.4...<br />
<br />
I know Tomáš managed the La Picota river and it made me curious to try but it made no sense to go for it, the RR now that follows the west is an easy trail and the fords afterwords were almost (all but one) jumpable. Sadly what I read about "la playa" is true, there was a dead horse (pieces of it) at the start of the fords, it seemed rather recent so I guess the La Picota ford still kills. <br />
The Refugio after the fords is just a "lean too". The trail afterwards is okay, starting to get muddy but not bad. A nice camp is possible at -47.66704, -72.50032 bcs of the beautiful view but there is no water, actually not many places to stop between ford and puesto 57.6. We Camped at Puesto 57.6 and met Antonio, super lovely man and we had breakfast with him the following morning I'm return I gave him the rest of my walnuts and peanuts, hopefully that was enough. There is not much of a shelter there, teepee style, but you can camp under the trees by the river. His dogs are annoying, got into my food bag while we were talking and then never left us alone. Really nice camping just before his puesto in a big clover field.<br />
<br />
Next day super quick walk out to the view point and then got a hitch down to Cochrane easily, lots of people on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. <br />
<br />
24-Feb-24 to 2024-Feb-27 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Variant B, Option 2 / Tomáš<br />
<br />
Having parted ways with Natalie, who had other commitments, I was not able to get a taxi to end of road so I started walking and hitching at noon. Second car took me about ten km, then I was passed by ten cars in an hour and then got a hitch to the viewpoint three km from end of the road with a guide going to guide a group to the glacier (they go there by boat!). Our car's engine failed 4 km before the destination, but after 5 minutes a passing car took us there. Mount Cochrane is impressive. I ate there and in an hour another two cars passed, one probably from the puesto further on. It was a Saturday, still vacation period and a beautiful day, it seems hitching is promising under such conditions there. The road is in a very good condition and easily scalable by a 2-wheel drive.<br />
<br />
The puesto at 53.1 had barking dogs and seems used (maybe a settler?), I did not see it though, it is in the trees. All fords were easy and shallow: definitely under knees. In the beginning there are multiple trails, RR probably has the best route. You cannot avoid fording, I tried. After about ten km, the trail stops being ambigious. Took variant B (which is mostly a trail, not CC) and slept above the "dangerous ford" (would have been better to stay 500 m lower at the end of the flats). It indeed sounded and looked dangerous after such a hot day. In the morning, I realized the trail to the ford eroded and horses probably cannot go there anymore. A pedestrian still can. The ford was much calmer, very cold but under knees and not strong. I forded it six times unfortunately with bare feet - first to try, than with my backpack and then with my forgotten phone. It hurt even if it is just 5 metres. Going up from the ford, the trail goes to the left of a small stream on top of a small ridge, do not follow the stream as I did. The CC section thereafter is mostly a trail, only invisible on river flats and for about 20 metres in the pass. Going down from the pass, the trail is above the GPX for several hundred metres, going straight and not zigzagging. Rio Bravo was tame after dry weather and at the end of summer, so I took RR. The fords were easy, well under my knees. Puesto el Burro at 92.3 would be a nice place to camp. Utterly scaring a lonely large bull, I pushed to Puesto Tablas, which has a roof that protected me from drops of rain.<br />
<br />
Puesto at 107.4 looked nice and standing, not sure if it was locked, by any means very nice place to camp. I did not notice the bridge ?. The ford was mellow, wide but ankle deep. Option 1 at least to variant 01J is actually a used trail, the bridge on it is over a marsh, not sure why it is a waypoint. Decided to take option 2 thinking I would get an easier hitch on carretera austral and trusting others who did not like the lake part that much and hating mosquitoes. The first part to variant 01I is partly a cow trail, partly a BB through open forrest. Take 01J instead, should be a clear trail and the ford should be as easy as the one on RR. From there on, 8 km to an unmarked ford through a first creek marked on OSM (it originates from a lake on map), the trail is clear and looks used. 02A was overgrown after 100 clear meters, so do not take that (I did not see the other end of it either). From the ford, the condition of the trail worsens for 7ish km to camp at 16.4. It is partially overgrown, occasionally with thorns. There is still space for legs, but arms are needed to clear the way. This portion is also mostly over open tundra-like terrain above the river. It is a bit marshy but not much after dry days. The views are splendid! Somebody with a machete would have fun here. Took option 02B, which I think is the actual trail, but it is hard to tell as it goes through a marsh there. Overall the overgrown part is maybe 2-3 km. Puesto Chirola at 17.6 is actually an abandoned settler house, still locked but in heavy rain you could probably get in through a window, the roof is still mostly ok.I slept there, with dusk mosquitoes appeared.<br />
<br />
It rained during the night and probably because of that, the trail got muddy. It is however being used and mostly clear and mostly easy to follow. Refuge without water is without water. It is meant for cyclists and is in good condition. It would sleep easily four people amd uneasily double that. It is always well ventilated with always open windows (rain should not get through), so probably no need to fear the mouse virus. The occasional tundra, wetness and continous rain with occasional glimpse of a glacier finally made me feel like I am in proper Patagonia. On the carretera, there are not many cars. Started walking and hitching at three PM. As the road is divided by a ferry, cars pass you at (in high season) 2-hour bursts of at most 8, as I was informed by the one passing cyclist. The first burst was just three cars and two motorcycles and they all passed me. It is actually a one lane compacted road where cars in opposite directions must avoid each other. No luck with second burst of three cars. Finally a second car from the third burst took me after 4 hours on the road. The second refugio around km 35 did not look as nice.<br />
<br />
2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-18 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick & Nolwenn & Tess & Lukas<br />
<br />
- Trail condition : good condition, a lot of fallen trees that slows you down but not really bad / the trail was not muddy as we had good sunny days <br />
- Water : lots of rivers and lagunas <br />
- Camping spot : the refugio at km 126,1 has been destroyed by a tree so we camped closer to the lake amongst the trees // at km 148,6 The refugio is really nice, we could make a fire and have a great night before heading the next day to O'Higgins on the long gravel road <br />
- Weather : sunny and a little bit of rain <br />
- River crossing : easy, the river Bravo was not too high and not too strong so we didn't take the variant D<br />
- Resupply : in Cochrane everything you need<br />
- Overall : we were lucky to have an easy hitchike for the first 20km and for the last 7km // we also liked this section that offers really different landscapes and you feel really remote<br />
<br />
From 2024-01-06 to 2024-01-12 // 6,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR + OPT D // Quentin Clavel<br />
<br />
After the small part in the forest, I followed the gravel road, which began to be nice from the Laguna la Clara. Some nice miradors along the roads, especially the last one, salto Rio Perez, which was pretty impressive ! <br />
<br />
Then you begin the track los Pioneros. Pretty easy to follow, a bit muddy, but I thought it would have been worse, the last sunny weeks made it dryer than expected. <br />
<br />
From there, it's a sequence of up and down, with amazing views, on Lago Christie then on Lago Alegre, surrounded by mountains. <br />
<br />
Some easy bushbashing which is more like cross country at the end of Lago Alegre to arrive along the Rio bravo. <br />
<br />
The you go along the Rio bravo until cross it. I took the option D to avoid to cross it three times, it's bushbashing but pretty easy to follow as there's a kind of path which was created to go around the small cliffs, and have to cross rio bravo only once. <br />
<br />
On the section, at this time, I haven't got any problem at all to pass the rivers who were pretty low and with weak current. <br />
<br />
Then I arrived in the mountains and that was just amazing ! Even with an uncertain weather and lots of clouds ! <br />
<br />
I had an amazing bivy in front of the impressive calluqueo glacier then it was the looong Gravel road to Cochrane, but really scenic ! <br />
<br />
During all the section it was easy to find water as there's water everywhere ! Some nice camp spot too. <br />
<br />
Mosquitoes and these spiky plants who stay scratched to your shoes and socks are the only annoying stuff. <br />
<br />
Plenty of crowberry and Calafate on the track. Delicious and perfect snacks on the road ! <br />
<br />
Last but not least, if you've always dreamed to try hurdles in athletism, this section is for you ! You'll have to pass threw hundreds of fallen trees ! Enjoy ! <br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-01 to 2024-Jan-08 / 7.5 days / NOBO / Villa O'Higgins - Cochrane / RR and Option 36H-D / Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
We really enjoyed this section, especially the part of the pass, with awesome views on glaciers and mountains. We found the 2 lakes part nice but less impressive.<br />
<br />
For us, the most difficult with this section was to walk with heavy backpacks and to deal with the hundreds of mosquitoes on the camps near the two lakes. We had the chance to have dry trails most of the time and it helped us a lot. If it rains a lot before you start this section, you will need more time because the trail can get muddy really fast.<br />
<br />
After the first 9km in the forest, we tried to hitchhike from Villa O'Higgins to Lago Christie but we weren't lucky and couldn't find a car on a 1st of January. We only had a lift the second day for 15km by the carabineros. There is nearly no car passing on the X905 road so plan a day or two of extra food if you plan to hitchhike here. Taking a private transport to Lago Christie could also be a solution but it's expensive (about 70'000 CLP according to Martin from El Mosco in Villa O'Higgins).<br />
<br />
There is not much to say about the 2 lake part, we found the trail easy to follow and some nice shelter along the route. Apparently, there is a lot of trout in Lago Alegre. We didn't try to fish since it was raining but we let a peanut butter jar with a spoon (hook) and some fishing line rolled around the jar in the puesto next to Settler {36H} [118.9/486] (Margarita Bustos). She's actually not living there but the puesto is open and a nice shelter to cook (we put the tent next to it).<br />
<br />
For the second part with the pass, we found the trail also easy to follow. The OH-CC&BB-A {36H-D} didn't took us too long and saved us at least 2 river crossing. All the other fords were sometimes wide but easy to pass.<br />
<br />
After 7 days, we tried to hitchhike on the X901 road near the Laguna Calluqueo and were really lucky. After only 4km, a car stopped and took us to X {36H} [5.5/267]. Maybe there is more traffic on this road than on the other side, especially with good weather during the holidays.<br />
<br />
*2023-Dec-25 to 2023-Dec-29 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris<br />
<br />
We arranged a ride to skip the first 50km of the roadwalk. The trail was surprisingly good and well-trodden throughout, i.e. visually easy to follow. Some muddy sections here and there and steeper climbs and descents. Plenty of water throughout.<br />
<br />
The river crossings didn't pose any difficulties and we were blessed with good weather, despite one rainy night. The views were amazing - that so low down you could be face to face with glaciers!<br />
<br />
We did not find the trail around lakes any harder than the rest of the section. A few times the route goes on the coast, i.e. you need to walk through the water, but it was not an issue. In two cases the route splits into two, the correct trail being the easier one to miss, so need to pay attention to nav. Met Ruben the settler, very nice and friendly guy. We also met 4 other GPT hikers on this section, which was a bit of a shock.<br />
<br />
We walked 30km of the dirt road after Lago Christie until we finally got a hitch to Villa O'Higgins. Barely any traffic on the road, especially in the afternoon.<br />
<br />
* 2023-12-07 EXP-OH-TL-I 1day / Anh<br />
There is a damaged and not yet reopened route from Villa O’Higgins to Glacier Mosco: EXP-OH-TL-I & EXP-OH-CC&TL-I<br />
Together they are 24 km return and with a daypack it could work.<br />
The EXP-OH-TL-I trail is very well maintained and relatively well marked. There is even a very nice Refugio Puesto Rivera + campsite for tents along the way. BUT from km 7 the trail is damaged by landslides and the section after that is overgrown. I tried the last km via BB through the forest. After that everything should be clear and only CC to the Mosco glacier. Unfortunately, I make very slow progress with BB, it simply takes too much time and with a temperature of 15°C the river crossing afterwards would be dangerous. Unfortunately I have to abort (safety first) & return.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-12-10 / 4 days / RR + OH-TL-V / SOBO / Anh<br />
<br />
A very experienced hiker/local in Villa O'Higgins advised me against NoBo due to high water levels in the next few days regarding river crossings.<br />
<br />
Day 1: With a private transfer to Laguna Calluqueo I had to hike a few more kilometers to the end of Ruta X-901 because it is private land closed by a gate. The first two river crossings were a bit above knee and sometimes strong current. The trail after that in the forest is actually made for horses, there are a lot of obstacles like fallen trees, overgrown bush, swampy paths. It is particularly misleading when the RR and horse path separate because it is suddenly very strange without horse tracks. It has rained and with the snow melting, the paths and streams are almost indistinguishable. I make very slow progress through the obstacles.<br />
The river crossing (Ford km 66.5) was long but in the evening without any problems (knee-deep). The path afterwards RR-CC-A to the camp was steep uphill, but more pleasant than in the forest. As you can see, this trail is only for hikers and it was very rarely used.<br />
<br />
Day 2: It was CC up, across the border from Argentina & back into Chile. At this time there are still many snowfields to cross and therefore Ford (km 71.8) was under the snowfield, which made it very precarious for me. The river crossing Ford (km 77.4) was up to my hips with a strong current, but is not dangerous. Overall, I was much faster because there were hardly any obstacles (only Fords and completely swampy meadow).<br />
<br />
Day 3: The way back from yesterday + 250m river crossing should be easy and pleasant like yesterday! But there was a strong headwind & snow = snow confusion. Then there was the fog and the infamous white-out. My footprints from yesterday were already filled with fresh snow, but still recognizable. I didn't have a long break, so I reached the day's destination very quickly.<br />
Bored, I just carried on hiking and didn't find the way back in the forest from day 1 so bad. I got through all the obstacles surprisingly quickly with the following strategy:<br />
- I had put on remedies on the way out, it had helped a lot. And I run like a horse, don't think twice, just jump over obstacles. The path is made for horses.<br />
- The way back is from the top, the path is much easier to recognize.<br />
- New strategy: just follow the horse tracks, even if I leave the RR.<br />
In the end, I had completed the entire way back from two days earlier in one day. It was about 27km, only possible because it was mostly downhill (450m uphill, 700m downhill).<br />
The price for this strategy was scratches and mini cuts from knees to shoes, very unpleasant at every river crossing.<br />
<br />
Day 4: OH-TL-V to the glacier at Laguna Calluqueo. You have to cross the river right at the beginning, it was a bit over your knees but easy. After that it's a slow climb of almost 700m. There were only a few tricky places: mini path on the precipice or slippery downhill. Overall, the path was very easy to recognize and very pleasant to run. Water is only available again at km 3.5, so you should take your time and enjoy the trail at a leisurely pace.<br />
During the night, a tent pole broke and the tent was damaged. There are no outdoor stores in Cochrane and you can't buy a new tent. In addition, a section on RR-GPT35 from Tamango entrance through Patagonia Park was not yet open.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
*2022 Dec Frank 6 days mainly SOBO<br />
<br />
As weather was initially poor I split the section as follows: 1. Got bus from Cochrane towards Lago Brown, got out @ road junction near Rio Tranquilo bridge, walked NOBO back to Cochrane. 2. While I was waiting for the ferry in Villa O'Higgins I walked out about 25KM NOBO to Padre Antonio Ronchi chapel & hitched back to O'Higgins. 3. I again got the bus towards Lago Brown, got out @ the same junction & walked the central section of the route SOBO in 4 long days.<br />
<br />
1. NOBO, nearly all on road. You pass by the 'mortal falls' on Rio Tranquilo (by the bridge) About 1KM further on the road was blocked by aggressive dogs who came up from a settlement about 800M off the road. I had to shout to the settler to call them off. Around 7KM out from Cochrane the road bends left at a metal crash barrier. I left the RR here & went over the low crash barrier & continued straight ahead on forest tracks, quicker & nicer than the road. About 1KM from Cochrane you return to the road by climbing over a small wooden gate.<br />
<br />
3. I walked on the road past Calluqueo glacier then on a trail. After the first puesto the track fades out among fallen trees. Camped by a ruined shelter. I crossed the river on RR the next day. La Picota crossing is for horses & best avoided on foot. The RR crossing was easy. After the crossing continue straight ahead & go up the far hillside, pick up a small trail going left above a bluff about 70 metres up. Continued over the 2 border passes. There are some cliffs you need to go round when descending the first pass . There will be snowfields early in the season also. I crossed Rio Bravo high up between two waterfalls, descended to cross it again by the lake, then stayed on LHS of Rio Bravo. No trail initially on LHS of river & a lot of bush bashing over bluffs but judging by later comments the route may now be improved. I continued down to Lago Alegre. There is a settler just as you reach Lago Alegre. She was friendly & allowed me to sleep in her barn. She radioed Ruben, the settler who lives on Lago Christie, to let him know I was coming. It's slow going round the lakes with lots of up & down over bluffs. The hut between the two lakes had been used by sheep & was not in v. good condition. I met Ruben about half way round Lago Christie. He was friendly but I continued on to camp by a ruined hut after descending from bluffs to the lake. I walked out the road to Padre Antonio Ronchi chapel & hitched from there to Villa O'Higgins. There is a good hut on the road at the junction with the X905 road. Another hut further on but it's dusty. All other huts marked on the route are in poor condition or ruined, they are mostly good for cooking & camping outside. The weather for the central section was good so I didn't have any problems. It's possible to hitch part of the road sections - traffic is sparse but they will usually stop. In both cases when you reach the road there is nothing, you need to walk out about 15KM & then start hitching.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*11/12/2019 - les 2 As - regular hiking route <br />
<br />
Hi! We finished this day the section 36 from north to south. It took us 6 days without the last 37 kms on the road (we hitchhiked on this part). It was rough, we have had 2 days of bad weather (only rain at our altitude but it changes everything). You are isolated in the middle of nowhere and we met no one during 5 days. Officially no bush bashing but sometimes the path is barely invisible and unmaintained so hard to walk. From the 3rd day to the end, we have had many rivercrossings. Some were easy, some not and some also quite dangerous. With all the snow melting, the level of the river is very high and the current is strong (I do not recommand to try these fords without walking poles, these saved us). Same situation with the lakes we walked near. Their level is high and often the path was submerged and we had to walk litteraly in the lake (sometimes up to the waist). Luckily we met 2 cabañas (2 last nights) to dry our clothes and sleep under a roof. This made the section even more wonderful than it already was. A great experience!<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019 Dec / Olrik / Northbound<br />
<br />
From O'Higgins there are 50km on a dirt road to the beginning of the sendero. There are some open refugios on the way to sleep. you can also arrange a paid transportation from O'Higgins. Hitchhiking is possible but there is not much traffic. The sendero was in pretty bad shape due to the weather conditions. Muddy and flooded all the way near the lakes. We ended up turning back as we did not plan to walk that slow and did not have enough food, and we felt it was safer. We met Matthieu (see below) and they completed it so his report seems better. Puesteros are really nice though.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019 Dec / Matthieu / Northbound Regular HR : 9 days<br />
A very difficil trekk for us. Lots of river crossings, sometimes unsafe, and we had very bad weather conditions that make us last 9 days on the trekk, with hitchiking 40 km after Villa and 30 km before Cochrane. It could habe been more rapid though, but we walked "tranquilito". So I would recommend to take 10 days of food,and the chileans agreed with this.<br />
<br />
I wont talk about the routes parts, because just long and we hitchhiked most.<br />
<br />
So 1st Part : The 2 lakes : A very technical trekk, very aquatic. Sometimes we had to walk in the lake (not dangerous though), and the trail by the lakes is very hilly and muddy, and the progression can be very slow. It was for us, with mostly only rain. 1 dangerous rivercrossing : Before El Caleuche, Strong river but a big fat trunk above perfect for crossing.We didnt search for another way of crossing, so maybe there are some safe places by the water.<br />
<br />
On this part, a few puestos good for shelters : between the two lakes, a good caban with possibility of making fire and a roof of metal and walls, very nice, two beds of wood, we slept in it well protected. El Caleuche : at the middle of the Lago alegre, near a abandoned house. POssibility of fire, but not really a good roof. We slept aside in the tents. The place is really nice though<br />
<br />
2 houses of settlers on the way : - Ruben at the beginning of the Lago Christie, always happy to have visitors and share a mate. - At the end of the Lago Allegre a little bit south west from the trail (a rivercrossing a bit strong to go to the caban, or a "bridge" called Bridge ?-4 on the GPS waypoints, with 2 trunks, that we took in the morning to go back to the trail. A bit dangerous though, better to let Carmen show you how to cross): Ringo y Carmen, amazing persons too who let us plant the tent and permitted us to warm with a good mate, a meal and a wonderful smile, during the Christmas night.<br />
<br />
2nd part : Rio Bravo and the pass We thought that the worst was behind but we had more strong weather conditions in this part. A few advises for the rivercrossings of the Rio Bravo : I would advise NOT to follow the GPS tracks that follow the normal trail on GPS devices (that is made normally for horses). All the locals (local guides in villa o higgins, Ruben, Carmen and Ringo) were agreed and told us all to follow the east side of the Rio UNTIL the Laguna. The crossing here is very safe, the rio not strong nor profund at all, and you have to cross it ONLY ONCE, instead of 4 or 5 (dont remember). To stay on the east side, there is a little cross country by the forest, a little bit technical and slow but not dangerous, and you can camp at the laguna on the east side. We saw some cairns in the forest too, on the last hill before the laguna, so the locals indeed use this way. We (very badly) abandonned this plan and passed by the normal way just near the camping site west from the river before the Laguna (really bad weather, really bad decisions !) and the rivercrossings (3 I think) were, for me, very dangerous with strong current in profund water, but there was a lot of rain and wind, so I wont judge during good conditions. We were frozen when we arrived at the camping site. I was very angry at me though to not have listened to the locals and taken all those risks.<br />
<br />
For the pass, not very difficult, but we had (again) very strong weather conditions with even snow, and finished at the camp at the north side completely frozen. Know that it can be very exposed !<br />
<br />
Last Part : Rio La Picota After the camping : Two choices - Following the normal road, made for horses. The rivercrossing is completely impossible, unless you want to join the fishes. Even for horses I don't understand how they do it. The Waypoint "Dangerous" totally make sense. - The GPS tracks : perfect to follow, and finished by a beautiful trail of cairns by the cliff (the optionnal trail OH on GPS track), very safe. The river crossing this way is very safe, the river is extremely large, separated and never go far from the ankle.<br />
<br />
The rest we didn't have any technical difficulties. A trekk not to take lightly, and with much respect. Take advises to the locals before. Every one is happy to talk about it in Villa. They have the bad habbit to say that it's an easy way though !<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Nov-12 / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe / 6 days / northbound / regular hiking route<br />
<br />
This was a tough section for us! It rained and it rained and it rained and the trail turned to mud and was pretty overgrown in parts. We took the optional Hiking route after reaching Rio Bravo heading South to the Carretera Austral because we didn't feel comfortable forging on, knowing there was a high pass that was probably getting tons of snow instead of our rain, and a "dangerous river ford" that we were afraid would be tok dangerous with flooding too. The snow-line appeared to drop as low as 700 meters one night! We made surprisingly slow progress because of the conditions (entire trail flooded knee deep and extremely muddy after 6 days of rain) - were glad to have extra food with us. On the bail out route, about 10km from reaching the safety of the Carratera there was a pretty big river to cross. It was swollen after all the rain and scary and nearly floated us away. From the Carratera we hiked about 20 minutes before catching a lift back to Villa O'Higgins<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
<br />
Walk through town and join Highway 7, a moderately trafficked dirt road. The Regular Hiking Route follows X-901, a beautiful but fenced dirt road that culminates in the view of a stunning glacier, for about 28 km until it ends at a blockade just after the Mirador Calluqueo. Along X-901 there are few residences but extensive fence line on both sides. At the end of the road, the route transitions into a braided single track trail that may be confusing to follow.<br />
<br />
<br />
Comment by Jan Dudeck: I recently changed the regular packrafting route of GPT36H. This change avoids 35 km of gravel and adds around 70 km of paddling on the two lakes and one river. It’s a big detour but adds impressive beauty. Note that paddling Lago Cochrane is very challenging as wind can be firce. Follow the regular packrafting route only if you are willing and prepared to possibly wait several days on the shore of Lago Cochrane if wind makes paddling this lake unsafe.<br />
<br />
<br />
The trail, called La Ruta de Los Pioneros since it is frequently used by the local people, occasionally passes run down refugios as it winds through the forest. At the beginning of the climb to the highest pass, the trail joins a glacial river. Eventually the trail leaves the river to the west and follows a higher route above the valley that is occasionally marked by stone cairns. The top of the pass is at approximate elevation 1.300 m. From this point, there are several kilometers of very exposed hiking among rolling hills.<br />
<br />
The track descends down to treeline at a small, unnamed lake which is the source of the Río Bravo. Join the river and cross it as necessary. There are some stone cairns that mark the way, but they can be hard to spot. When the route is unclear, just follow the river bed. Where the trail deviates from the river bed to the east, it becomes easier to follow. The trail soon climbs about 80 m and remains above Río Bravo. Here there is the occasional small area to camp. To reach Lago Alegre, the trail leaves Río Bravo and travels through an open forest.<br />
<br />
Packrafters put in for Lago Alegre at a red sand beach. In general, both banks are very steep and heavily vegetated, but there are some flat areas near the shore where it may be possible to camp. Take-out is located at a rocky beach on the southeast end. 100 m from the Lago Alegre shoreline is an intact refugio; if you look closely inside, you may spot the etchings of GPT trail blazers, Jan and Meylin.<br />
<br />
From the refugio, there is a well-formed track to Lago Christie. The Regular Hiking route around the east side of Lago Christie is generally easy to follow, but be aware of the occasional spurs that leads away from the main route. The track climbs and descends frequently as it makes its way around the lake and offers a beautiful view of several glaciers. Watch for the occasional stone cairn or red spray-painted arrow to indicate the way. Camping is possible in the forest.<br />
<br />
The route exits onto X-911, a well formed and lightly trafficked gravel road. X-911 ends at X-905, and hikers continue to follow this road for around 20 km towards VIlla O’Higgins. X-905 is fence lined most of the way with the occasional residence.<br />
<br />
Río Mayer is a big, no-nonsense river that is swift at higher flows. It does however mellow out where the GPS route indicates packrafters should put in (a small beach on the other side of the fence).<br />
<br />
The Regular Hiking Route follows the Carretera Austral into Villa O’Higgins.<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Villa O’Higgins<br />
<br />
The biggest thing to realize about Villa O’Higgins is that nearly all of the lodging and restaurant options only take cash and there is no ATM in town. The closest place to withdraw money is Cochrane which is a 9-hour drive. Fortunately, there are two grocery stores in town thatl take credit cards. Lodging options vary from camping to a bed in a hostel.<br />
<br />
*Supermarket on the square in Cochrane. Several shops in Villa O'Higgins.<br />
<br />
*Banco Estado on the square in Cochrane. The ATM was open on Christmas day.<br />
<br />
*Cochrane: Campsite run by Patricia half a block from the Plaza. She does a good breakfast & also has Cabanas & a 4 bed dorm.<br />
<br />
*Zapatoria Cochrane: Little Blue house North side of Dr Stefan's Street, above Rio Maitén street. -47.2541386, -72.5761942.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
*There are no resupply options & you should bring everything from Cochrane or O'Higgins. There are only two settlers living permanently on the central off road RR: A woman at Lago Alegre & Ruben on Lago Christie. All other off road puestos are only used occasionally.<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
*There is a minibus from Cochrane to Villa O'Higgins on Monday, Wednesday & Saturday at 8AM & one from O'Higgins to Cochrane on Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday @ 8AM. Operated by Buses Katalina, they have an office at the bus terminal in Cochrane. There is a minibus from Cochrane to Lago Brown on Monday & Thursday at 11AM. It comes back from Lago Brown on the same days & passes the junction with RR at about 2PM.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT36H - Ruta De Los Pioneros]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
[[Archivo:IMG 7500.jpeg|miniaturadeimagen|Puerto Yungay - Rio Bravo Ferry Timetable February 2024]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT35_(Parque_Patagonia)&diff=114840GPT35 (Parque Patagonia)2024-03-17T22:32:42Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Mar-12 to 2024-Mar-17 / 4 + 2×0.5 = 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH D + F / Joscha<br />
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Day 1: RR [0.0-16.7]<br />
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I startet around 2 pm and did not try to hitch the first 8 km on the primary road. There is a good flowing stream at the water marker (km 12.2) and at the camp (km 14.1). The flat spot that is camp 14.1 is swampy and therefore not ideal for camping. I camped at -46.60658, -71.80980 which is at least a little bit wind protected. There is also a stream on the other side of the RR close to this spot. <br />
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Day 2: RR [16.7-48.2]<br />
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There was plenty of water. The RR was covered in snow from about km 23 to 28. I took a CC shortcut from km 40.8 to 42.7. I camped at -46.810258, -71.965073.<br />
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Day 3: RR [48.2-59.1] + OSM trail to Laguna Verde + OH35-D + RR [62.4-88.9] + OH35-F + RR [70.3-78.9]<br />
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The park gate at km 50.1 is open from 9 am to 5 pm. But the ranger didn't mind, that I entered before 9 am. I paid 17000 Pesos at the ranger station (km 53). This fee allows camping at all the Campgrounds in the park. I followed the official park trail which branches off at km 59,1 to Laguna Verde. From there it returns via OH35-D to the RR. All fords today were below my knees. After km 75.5 the RR was partially flooded and you had to walk through some branches. Therefore I sometimes walked in the river bed on the eastern side of Rio Aviles. I camped at km 78.9. Its an official campground of the park, but there is nothing. But its flat and wind protected.<br />
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Day 4: RR [78.9-106.3]<br />
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The roof of the refuge at km 93.9 is collapsed. Casa de Piedra is a real house with bathrooms and some common rooms to hang out and probably sleep. I camped on the lakeshore at -47.074614, -72.25701. I would not recommend this spot for windy nights.<br />
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Day 5: RR [106.3-137.6]<br />
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The next reliable water source after Lago Gutierrez (km 106.3) is a stream at km 113.8. Its possible to camp just south of the pass (km 110.8). I did a shortcut from km 129.1 to 130.3. I had to cross a small swampy area for that. Camping at km 137.6 is nice.<br />
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Day 6: RR [137.6-150.4]<br />
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Nice campsite at km 146.0 (RN Tamango) with sheltered tables and spots for camping. I stayed at camping calafate in Cochrane (-47.254013, -72.568419). It has a kitchen with common area (heated by wood oven), wifi and hot showers for 7000 pp.<br />
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<br />
<br />
*2024-Feb-24 to 2024-Mar-01 / 6.5 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RR+RP / Lauren & Seb<br />
<br />
Much has been said about this section, so we will share only our impressions.<br />
<br />
Day 1: After reaching wp Settler {35} [8.9/539] by taxi in the early evening, we hiked a short distance and camped at wp Camp {35} [14.1/923]. On a windy day it’s basically unprotected in a narrow valley. There was no wind that day, making it a spot with a great view.<br />
<br />
Day 2: Upon reaching the plateau, it felt like a guanaco/flamencos safari as previously described. To get up there, you have to CC on one manageable steep stretch. Follow the dotted line in OSM relatively far to the left and not the GPT files. We camped north of wp Water {35} [28.1/1579].<br />
<br />
Day 3: We headed across the pass and amazing views opened up before us. On the downhill, follow the GPT line until you reach a fence. Go through the fence on the left end and follow the fence line towards wp Puesto {35} [34.6/1191]. From the side of the puesto, you can easily follow well trodded horse tracks along the fence line until -46.75064, -71.89899. Follow the trails along the river towards the south until you hit the MR. We stopped for the night at wp Camp {35} [42.9+0.2/713].<br />
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Day 4: Cars did not appear until after 10am but we eventually got a ride to the park entrance. From here, the more touristy part begins. Once inside the park we decided to walk the MR around Lago Jeinemeni and only inflated the packraft at Lago Verde. This was an absolutely great paddle on the most turquoise waters and we were lucky with the afternoon wind. We stayed the night at Refuge {35} [68.1/867]. <br />
<br />
Day 5: The next part has lots of fording so expect slow progress. We left our crocs on for the next 3 km. Well marked trail through the forest and across the pass. On the other side, however there is a new official route which starts here -46.87696, -72.17213 and requires more fording. The old trail still exists and no fording was necessary. Stick to the GPS here if you want to save time taking your shoes off! The rest of the way down the valley was enjoyable and we stayed the night just before wp Ford {35} [82.6/805].<br />
<br />
Day 6: Easy hiking down to Camp Piedra where we stayed and camped early.<br />
<br />
Day 7: We started paddling Rio Chacabuco the next morning, but I would advise packrafters against doing so (at least in the late season). Conditions of the river included low water levels with frequent ground contact and many trees in the water. The river splits often, making the already low water even lower and obstacles in the tightly winding corners become even more tricky. First time that we hit a tree since we are on the GPT. As if that wasn’t enough, wind picked up early and forced us out of the water. We decided to water-out here -47.05177, -72.29040 and hiked up the road, where a car took us towards Cochrane after 2 hours.<br />
<br />
*2024-Feb-27 to 2024-Mar-04 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {35-S} - {35-D} - RR - {35-J} - RR - {35-L} - RR / Lilian & Rainbow <br />
<br />
Safari = GPT35, we saw foxes, bunny, flamingos, ostrich, owl, woodpecker, and more than 100 guanacos at this section!<br />
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<br />
We standing at the end of town more than 1 hour and found that it is really difficult to hitch out by low traffic. So we go to tourist information ask for help maybe a ride, a man at there said he can take us to x[8.1/505] for 10k CLP, but lastly he just took us to the junction at km5.9, and said he don't want to drive on a non paved road, then don't wait us to respond and throw our backpacks out from his car immediately, and ask for the money.<br />
<br />
So, DON'T ask any ride in tourist information at Chile Chico, they cheated our trust.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Km12 : flat spot (-46.57669, -71.82779) can fit some tents at other side of a stream, the stream is flowing good and dry feet crossable by rock hopping.<br />
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Km12.75 : viewpoint(-46.58294, -71.82549) of a valley with sky blue colour, super beautiful, don't miss it!<br />
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Camp[14.1/923] : grassland spot, a small stream is flowing low beside it.<br />
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Km16.6 : flat spot(-46.60658, -71.80980), have some covers can stay away from the wind tunnel in valley at north.(wind from north)<br />
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After this spot, no more camping spot or flat spot have wind protection until camp[32.6/1300]. Wind is crazy at the plateau.<br />
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Camp[32.6/1300] : tiny wind protection from a rock wall, just fit 1 tent for it. Better wind protection nearby camp[42.9/713].<br />
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Short cut CC from 38.2 to 42.7, it doesn't save much time, better follow GPX track, MR is completely finished and super easy to walk. It also walk beside some beautiful meadows that are nice to camp(no wind protection).<br />
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Camp[42.9/713] : spots at a wet muddy road. Better spots nearby at (-46.79053, -71.91127), dry and 2-3 sides wind protection by bushes, can fit many tents there.<br />
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Didn't see any cars going south at morning, so road walking all the way to entrance. 11k CLP for entrance fee, 6k CLP for camping fee, total 17k CLP, can pay by credit card.<br />
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Camp,$,bridge,lake[53.3/852] : El Silencio campsite and Lago Jeinemeni. This campsite is a little bit crown with car camping, and the lake is amazing beautiful!<br />
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HIGHLY RECOMMEND walking on the shore of lake from km56.65 - km57.75(from the junction of viewpoint, to the point that trail met the beach), easy, dry feet and excellent beautiful!<br />
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Bridge[58.9/856] : after this bridge, follow south route ( {35-S} & RP{35} ) to Lago Verde, then take the bridge(-46.86056, -72.07982) to cross the river. Lastly follow {35-D} rejoin RR. Dry feet.<br />
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Lake [59.2/840] : Laguna Esmeralda. Didn't find any camping possibilities. Better views at trail.<br />
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Refuge[61.7/856] : beside Laguna Esmeralda, a super blue lake. This refuge is not a cabin, just a shelter with 3 side wooden wall, good wind protection, but I'm not sure about heavy rain, because i saw many holes at the wall. Better camping spot with views beside the lake(not much wind protection).<br />
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Ford start/end[63.4/896] : late season, all the way easy dry feet crossing, walking on log or rock hopping.<br />
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Pass[64.5/1132] : no camping spot here, the spot shown on OSM, is already covered by many blowdowns. Nice viewpoint(-46.84093, -72.10324) of Lago Verde just SW of here.<br />
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Ford[66.1/877] : better river crossing point at (-46.83741, -72.11991), there is a sign at another side of river. Below knee, easy.<br />
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Ford[66.4/859] : river breaks into some parts, below knee, easy.<br />
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Refuge[68.1/867] : shelter with 2 walls, nice weather protection. Refuge with 4 walls, but huge air tunnel at ceiling, so just wind protection. A sign book inside refuge too. Camping spots at here can fit lot of tents, mostly have some wind protection, but not much, because trees are too tall, and just 1 spot behind a blowdowns have well wind protection.<br />
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<br />
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Fords[68.4/869] - [71.6/905] : lot of river crossing, some trail can go around the river, but not much help and they are overgrown, so finally you need to be crossing and crossing then wet feet.<br />
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Km74.7 : camping spot(-46.87204, -72.17630), can fit 3-4 tents with some weather protection by the forest. Have a shelter made by logs here, can squat 1-2 hiker inside for emergency, but not much help, because it is really small and too many holes on it.<br />
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Km75.7 : camping spot(-46.87886, -72.16954), can fit 3-4 tents with some weather protection by the forest.<br />
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Km78.9 :camping spot(-46.90498, -72.15591), and some more spots nearby, total can fit 4-6 tents with some weather protection by the forest.<br />
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Ford[79.3/846] : Below knee, easy.<br />
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Refuge[81.0/819] : no refuge, no shelter. Camping spot with views can fit 2 tents but no protection.<br />
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Ford[82.6/805] : Below knee. Camping spot(-46.93485, -72.15869), can fit 2 tents with not much weather protection by the bushes, before the crossing.<br />
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Km83.3 : camping spot(-46.94089, -72.15600), can fit 2-3 tents with some weather protection by some trees. Also one spot at south but not much protection.<br />
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Km84.7 : camping spot(-46.95268, -72.15123), can fit 1 tent with some weather protection by some brushes.<br />
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Km88.6 : camping spot(-46.98397, -72.15988), can fit 2 tents with weather protection by some trees and brushes. Flat area nearby can fit many tents with good views but no protection.<br />
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Bridge[90.9/635] : classic bridge! Worth to take a look and walk on it!<br />
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We took {35-J} instead RR here, because less puds, also walking on a plateau looks like more scenic.<br />
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{35-J} Km5 : viewpoint(-47.03902, -72.19077) of the whole valley, very beautiful! Don't miss it!<br />
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Camp,$,refuge[98.9/379] : Casa de Piedra campground. Have some shelters with picnic table for cooking, and a refuge with hot(warm) shower, toilet and some tables for meals. If you decide to camp here, please expect sleep late. This spot mostly are campers and tourists. They'll speaking and cooking until 10 or 11 or midnight.<br />
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You can take a shuttle form here to Cochrane(30k CLP per person) or Camping Los West Wind(15k CLP per person)<br />
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Time schedule: 9am Cochrane - 9.45am Museo, 10am Museo - 10.15am Camping Los West Wind, 10.30am Camping Los West Wind - 10.45am Museo, 12noon Museo - 1pm Camping Casa de Piedra, 4.30pm Camping Casa de Piedra - 5.15pm Museo, 5.30pm Museo - 6.30pm Cochrane<br />
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Start from here, the trail is not maintained anymore, but still in good condition.<br />
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Km103 : Lago Gutierrez, amazing beautiful lake, have some minutes i thought back to Norway again.<br />
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Km103.85 : a small stream(-47.07911, -72.22738) flowing good with clear water, easy to collect.<br />
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Pass[110.8/1126] : some fresh snow remain at here.<br />
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Km112.45 : emergency camping spot(-47.10718, -72.28893), the ground is a little soft, but is flat and some wind protection, can fit many tents here.<br />
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Km116.9 : Laguna Guagua. Camping spot(-47.13350, -72.30170), can fit 2-3 tents with some wind protection from west by bushes, SW of the spot have a side trail to lake. BUT, DON'T go for {35-02A} back to RR, it is completely CC and BB with spike plants, not fun. Better CC climbing up to RR from camping spot directly.<br />
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Refuge,X[118.3/716] : no refuge, it is collapsed. The woods becomes a super small shelter here. If you lost your backpack, crawling inside maybe can save your life. Otherwise just for photos snapping function.<br />
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From here to km125.0, you will walk beside 3 lakes, didn't see any wind protection camping spots there, but if you have good luck at a no wind night, you maybe find some spots at the last lake.<br />
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Km125.0 : road walking start. Flat spot with some wind protection on the road can fit 1-2 tents at here too.<br />
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Km125.9 : junction of RR and {35-L}, because the road is too easy to walk and follow, we completely miss this junction and walk a long time then realised RR is a different way, so we keep going on {35-L} and rejoin RR later.<br />
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{35-L} km3.6 : a small stream(-47.17383, -72.37063) flowing good with clear water, easy to collect. Flat spot can fit 1-2 tents after the crossing.<br />
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We walked the whole way{35-L} and rejoin RR at km130.8.<br />
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RR Km132.4 : flat spot(-47.17220, -72.42231) can fit 1 tent at the end of lake. With some wind protection by forest.<br />
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Camp[136.9/162] : can fit 2-4 tents with weather protection by forest, but if the wind is come from south, it is not much help. Excellent views on the beach.<br />
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Camp[137.6/173] : can fit 2-3 tents with wind protection from east and north by trees. Excellent views on the beach. Just beside a port, looks like can take a boat to here.<br />
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Km138.3 : camping spot(-47.20064, -72.46718), total can fit 3-5 tents at several stage, some spots have good wind protection by trees and bushes.<br />
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From here to km146.0, lot of up and down beside some cliffs (maybe slippery in rain), but it is a trail with lot of amazing views, we are really enjoyed it.<br />
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Km139.77 : a tiny stream(-47.20803, -72.47813) flowing good with clear water, easy to collect.<br />
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Km141.73 : side trail to viewpoint(-47.21986, -72.49280) and cell service for Movistar.<br />
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Km142.15 : flat grassland(-47.22231, -72.49623) can fit 4 tents just beside the beautiful lake, some wind protection by valley itself.<br />
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X[143.9/244] : cell service for Entel(-47.23128, -72.50780)<br />
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Km146.0 : RN Tamango campground, some shelters for cooking, large arae for camping, hot shower and trash can, 7k CLP per person.<br />
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Km146.5 : the last flat spot(-47.24353, -72.53067) before Cochrane, some wind protection by brushes, can fit 1-3 tents with nice sunrise, you can arrive there by a clear trail beside ranger station, the trail is shown on OSM map.<br />
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Cochrane : <br />
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Lot of accommodation, markets and restaurants, and 2 outdoor gear shops.<br />
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230g gas canisters, power bank, chargers and tent stakes at Supermercado Melero(-47.25386, -72.57414).<br />
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Sunglasses, micro spikes, snow shoes and some clothes at La Ruta 7 Patagonia(-47.25591, -72.57320).<br />
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Sleeping bag, tents, boots(just 1 trail runner), socks, base layer, warm clothes and pants at Kalfu Patagonia(-47.25474, -72.57018).<br />
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Clothes at Vansy(-47.25417, -72.57431), not a outdoor gear shop, but some sporty clothes and pants for a low price at here.<br />
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Some campground and lot of indoor stays at Cochrane. The only hostel is Camping, Refugio ,Cabaña y Hostel(a long name) (-47.25446, -72.57497). And most of the rooms here include breakfast(without kitchen), 20k CLP per person. The only one we found with kitchen(but no breakfast) is Casa Raíces Hostal(-47.25113, -72.56848).<br />
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Bus terminal to Coyhaique, Villa Cerro Castillo, Villa O' Higgins, Chile Chico, Puerto Rio Tranquilo and Tortel at (-47.25137, -72.57317).<br />
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Tourist information(-47.25439, -72.57283).<br />
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I recommend La Martica(-47.25112, -72.57266), local restaurant with nice food in a good price.<br />
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<br />
24-Feb-17 to 2024-Feb-22 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Variant L / Tomáš & Natalie<br />
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There were several hitchhiker groups out of Chile Chico so we took a taxi (990250968) to the settler at 8.9 for 10,000 CLP. Nobody was there, but there is a locked gate so it would not be possible to take a taxi further up. For pedestrians, there is an unlocked door. One can shortcut the first zigzag of the road thereafter and several others, it is open terrain. We camped in a dry lakebed (for windprotection) about 1 km after the first pass. Despite strong wind in Chile Chico and a forecast of wind gusts over 60km/hr, the night was largely peaceful with just one hour of wind. The plateau has terrain features and it seemed to us it is not that impossible to camp there, but maybe we were just lucky.<br />
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The next day was like a safari, lots of animals and little wind. Pawprints on lake bed turned out to be a big dog and not a puma according to the rangers though. Going down from the plateau, it is possible to shortcut the GPX track to the SE and end near the puesto at 34.6. Trail starts above the puesto but is not so easy to follow and the GPX does not seem to be the most precise. It is advisable to take a CC shortcut to bridge at 42.7 as mentioned by Adrien Kunzli: - about 1 km before the end of MR 38.2, veer right aiming for a black outcrop on the mountain on the other side of the valley and you will pop out above the bridge. We got lucky and got a ride at around 1630 to the parkoffice. We paid 15000 only for one person - they forget to charge the other one. They were friendly and told us the weather forecast. We did not get any receipt or pass though. Walked two hours to campsite Raleigh, there were two other foreign tents there. The new trail is technically the old "laguna Esmeralda" (RP 59.2) trail with a new bridge, so keep left to avoid fords, combined with variant D it seems preferable to RR even when not intending to camp.<br />
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From Raleigh, the first fords were possible to cross without fording thanks to logs and stones. The next valley is indeed beautiful, especially Lago Verde. There were about ten tents but no people near the refugio at 67.6. Tomáš tried to go around the second fords through the forest on the left and he eventually reached variant F, which exists but partially goes through a marsh and does not avoid fording anyway: it is pointless, just ford. Initially the start of the fords seem like a marsh, go around it from the right through the river, it is a nice riverbed thereafter. Rio Aviles was kneedeep and ok. Ford 71.2 is mighty - go downstream about 200 m, it splits and is easy there (there is a cairn in the middle). We camped at a camping site marked on OSM about 2 km further down from there. There is a place for one tent about 20 m from a creek. Very nice spot. Having a headstart to people starting from the park office, we only met three groups of foreigners all day.<br />
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Variant J does not avoid any substabtial fords, water at 96.1 is easily jumpable and the river is bridged on both J and RR. <br />
Casa de Piedra is a nice spot with resident guanacos (and some tourists). Tomáš had a hot shower! We were asked for our passes - we explained we were not given them and it was ok. We went on. The Siete lagunas trail is surprisingly in a rather good shape. It is little used but not much overgrown and generally easy to follow, needing a GPS only occasionally. Tomáš liked it tremendeously. Did not meet anyone on it.<br />
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We slept near the pass next to a marsh. It rained most of the night but stopped before morning, luckily the trail was not too wet the next day. The first stream after the pass is very weak (not flowing if not raining?); it flows from the marsh by which we slep and is about 500 m after the pass waypoint. The next stream is about 1 km further down, it had more water. After that, water is only in the lakes. Tomáš cleaned a lot of the logs and branches from the trail, if you can spare a moment, please do likewise. We could not see any traces of option 02A or option K. We took option L near km 129.9 - we were confused by other reports because we thought people were taking the much longer part of L that follows a MR. RR leaves the Siete lagunas trail at the end of option L after 29 km. The trail probably goes to Valle Chacabuco. [OSM has Variant F and L marked as "Sendero 7 Lagunas", this is wrong. Variant K looks to be indeed CC and variant L looks to be an unnecessary detour on a MR (overgrown and with logs at first when RR is on this MR - when you cross the MR again after four km on RR, it no longer looks that overgrown).] On L, one can easily take a CC shortcut from top of the hill to MR. We found two shortcutting trails to the MR. We met Daniel who was coming back from cutting invasive pines with his chainsaw, he had a friendly and humorous attitude. Camped at the lake at the wind protected camp.<br />
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The night brought surprisingly strong wind and rain - try to camp deeper in the forest. We followed a faint trail tracing the shore of the lake instead of CC 137.6, in the middle of it there was an apple tree that will be ripe in March probably. Did not meet anybody until the viewpoint above the lake that says "signal Movistar" (we have Entel, which has a sign 2 km further on but it did not work, just wait one hour until Cochrane proper), from then on, there were daytrippers. CONAF had a lunch break so we passed unnoticed. Cochrane as a town is ok.<br />
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Nat's Notes:<br />
The Bulk shop in Chile Chico (Güenta Emporio) is not open on weekends, they have weird hours and sometimes need to call before; Andrea +56 9 9540 1708. I recommend the hospedaje Rio Baker, 15mil pp which is the general price here. <br />
The plateau <br />
-besides Descabezado, this area was one of the most visually interesting sections for me. I haven't had that much fun taking photos in a long time. At first the guanacos scared me a little, I felt like I was surrounded by ninjas, eventually I warmed up to them. A good place for a zoom camera.<br />
-For me the going was slow, besides being tired and equipped with rash-covered feet I found the navigation tricky. I kept aiming for the wrong pass because there are many rolling hills. However I found things got better near and after pass km28.8.<br />
-water in the plateau is still frequent. If one wants to camp as close to the plateau as possible (SOBO) I suggest this spot:-46.62397, -71.81920. Also there is a nice grassy and fairly sheltered spot near water km23.9: -46.66437, -71.84393 and a big flat grass patch at water 30.6. There is a huge boulder for wind protection if needed here; -46.65469, -71.83997. In the valley bottom near the puesto, there are less/no camping spots. I did not like all the dogs at puesto 34.6, so I purposely avoided it. <br />
-when finishing the plateau section I filled up on water at the last stream that wasn't the main river here: -46.72842, -71.89633, as I didn't think we would get a hitch to the park office.<br />
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Sendero Avilés<br />
-The descent from pass km64.5 is nothing, just a bit of dirt dust that makes traction hard. The only part on this track that I would worry about safety wise (apart from the two river crossings) is a new steep traverse 2ish kms after pass km74.1: -46.88996, -72.16428. I decided to throw my bag down 5m instead of walking down the "free fall". (Alternatively you could ford rio Aviles twice.)<br />
-The series of mini river crossings were all fine, there is a nice water source before pass km74 in the forest once you finish all the fords, it comes from a waterfall not far away. <br />
-Near the end I took VariantJ bcs I thought it avoided a river crossing (no rivers to cross but RR doesn't either). If you do this option I recommend still going to the hanging bridge at the X of JandRR bcs it is a fun and unique bridge!<br />
-Cassandra at Case Piedra was nice and easy to get along with.<br />
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Siete Lagunas<br />
- The water we took from the marsh was probably the grossest water I have had to drink, lots of algae and oil, I filtered and boiled. (The second stream was much better)<br />
-As noted the trail is not hard to follow at this moment, only a handful of times I lost it. That being said it could be because we were walking near the end of the season and therefore it was obvious where ppl had been walking (pushed down grass), I think it would be a lot harder at the beginning of the season. Another bonus was that most spikees were gone.<br />
-Near camp136.9 there is a water source.it is at the end of the beach, 200-300m west of camp. There are two or three more water sources on the first part of the trail but after the look out there are no more.<br />
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2024-Feb-6 to 2024-Feb-11 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + option L / Yannick & Nolwenn & Tess & Lukas<br />
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- Trail condition : really nice overall // the trail is sometimes overgrown and easy to loose from km 113,5 to km 122, so just keep an eye on the gps<br />
- Water : easy to find plenty of rivers and lagunas<br />
- Camping spot : we camped at km 32,6 and it was a bad idea, too exposed and we got snow and a lot of wind during the night, would really recommend to go down more // we camped near the lago Gutiérrez at km 106,15 there is place for 2 tents<br />
- Weather : windy, sunny, snow, rain <br />
- River crossing : easy<br />
- Resupply : in Chile Chico (a bulk shop just opened in front of the camping Nandu) // in Cochrane everything you need<br />
- Entrance fee : for park Patagonia 11 000 pesos per pp + 6 000 pesos for camping per pp<br />
- Overall : really nice section, we were happy to encounter 3 huemuls<br />
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2023-Dec-28 to 2024-Jan-04 / 8 days / RR / SOBO / Roshi<br />
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I hitchhiked from Chile Chico to X{35}[8.1/505] and did not see the settler at El Ciprés. It was very windy and I decided to cross the plateau at midday which was maybe not the best idea. The cross country I found very challenging and the extreme head wind across the plateau was in relentless. Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed the amazing landscape and the challenge, although a less windy day or starting earlier would have made it more enjoyable. I camped close to Camp 32.6/1300 at a dry spot and the next day followed the fence down to the road and walked to the Park entrance at Jenimeni. The park rangers told me of an alternative route to the start of the Avilés trail to Casa de Piedra and gave me some maps and info, they were very friendly. I paid 3000 pesos for park entry. I camped at Valle Hermoso which lives up to its name and then did a day hike to the glacial lake leaving my tent at the Refugio Valle Hermoso and following Estero Ventisquero or part of OH-CC-A {35-06} After packing up I then hiked a couple of kms down to a next campsite (there are a couple of established places to set up your tent on the way to Casa de Piedra). From Casa de Piedra I followed the Site Laguna's trail which was overgrown and difficult to follow and navigate and for me probably my least favourite part. The kms are marked but you really have to follow the GPS me there aren't many places to pitch if you don't feel like hiking anymore. I think going down into Chacobuco (which I had done previously) would have been nicer. I loved the Lago Cochrane and Tamango reserve the views and colours were amazing and the trails very easy to follow and not very busy. I got a lift into Cochrane halfway from the entrance but the road walk is not long anyway and I was not actively hitching. <br />
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Annoyances were horse flies but I got good advice to "out Zen" them and to be honest once you let it go and enjoy the views and being in nature generally they are easy to deal with. Just don't stop between 2 and 8 PM ;) <br />
And from Jenimeni to Casa de Piedra is lots of river crossings so just accept wet feet :) and try do river crossings in the morning especially on hot days ( esp Avilés) Be safe and sensible obviously!<br />
I would have maybe even liked to stay longer on this part of the trail, there were lots of little day hikes and alternative routes I'd have loved to explore, but I didn't have enough food. It's a beautiful part of the world, enjoy it! <br />
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From 2023-01-15 to 2023-01-19 // 5 days // Hiking // NOBO // VARIANT P + OPT3 + OPT3A + RR + VARIANT J + VARIANT I + VARIANT D + Sendero Laguna Esmeralda (no variant on that one yet) + RR // Quentin Clavel<br />
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From Cochrane, I thought it was sad to go straight along the Lago Cochrane without checking what's going up there, and have a view over the vallee Chacabuco. So that's what I did. <br />
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I just took the beginning of Variant P, you have to pass threw a gate saying "no passar" then you have to bifurcate to the option 3 (tamango) to reach the pass between vallée tamango and chacabuco. Very nice views. Then instead of going down into vallée Chacabuco, I went straight, and continue on the sendero de las siete lagunas, wich is an old track, sometimes hard to guess, so check the GPS, but mostly easy to folllow (you still have the mark every kilometers). <br />
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Really loved the colours at the end of Lago guitterrez ! <br />
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Main difficulties on the section are these horrible horseflies, and the no less terrible little spiky plants that stay sticks in your shoes and socks. <br />
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Then you reach casa de piedras. I took the variant J to don't have to put my crocs for the river crossing (yeah, I'm a lazy walker aha). <br />
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Then follow the river until the vallée hermoso, wich lives up to its name. And at this time it's just a mix between walking and crossing rivers. No need to ask, I putted my crocs on aha ! <br />
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The pass up to Lago Verde was steep but the view so outstanding and the colours .. same amazing colours on Lago jeinemeni ! <br />
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Didn't stayed at, but the Raleigh camp is very nice if you may choose a camp around ! <br />
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Second part of NP was CC, and that was so cool ! Just have the directions and go straight to this point. Passing from mountains to others, surrounded by an unnumerable number of curious guanacos ! <br />
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Hardest part is to deal with the strong wind during the ascend and at the highest point. And the descent is quite unstable, stay close to the GPX tracks, I tried to shorttrack but it led me down to slippery slopes, so I had to backtrack to find again the GPX. <br />
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Then it's 15 km down to reach Chile Chico (8km on the asphalt). Settler wasn't angry against me and saluate me kindly when I passed threw his land.<br />
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Very nice stretch. Very diversificate, great landscapes, wildlife. I loved it ! <br />
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And about the entrance fees, It was not my intention, but I haven't paid for as I entered by variant P which is not a porper enter. And haven't seen any guardaparque at all. <br />
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*2023-Dec-30 / 1 day / Packrafting / SOBO / Option 10 C / Tom Pieper<br />
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I attempted this option as an alternative starting point for section 36G. Hitchhiked to the bridge of Carreterra Austral over Rio Chacabuco. I scouted rapid {35-10C} [2.3/121] from 100 m above and it looked feasible. This was not true when I approached on the river after entering just before the bridge. The rapid was impassable (late afternoon) which brought me into serious troubles. The canyon is pretty steep here and there is no way back. It was not fun to climb the steep slopes cliffs to escape the 100 m deep canyon. Its really dangerous. The rapid is pretty hard to investigate from above. I would recommend to only go later in the season and only in the morning or at least with company.<br />
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*2023-Dec-21 / 8 day / Hiking + Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Option 10 + Old and new tracks to Administration Parque Patagonia Valle Chacabuco / Tom Pieper<br />
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Most have been described by Kris and Stina. The plateau and the entire track is awesome. After the kind Arriero at the puesto {35} [15.8/1075] (actually its his house) I found it a little bit tricky to find a good route first but then just ascended and found a nice cross country route. Camped before the plateau. There are nice spots just before 1400 m, after that its just rocky until you descend to the Water {35} [23.9/1586]. Camp {35} [32.6/1300] was a little bit swampy. Found a better spot 300 m south. Try to be early at the road if you want to hitchhike. I was lucky and got the last car passing at 14.00 to the park at day. On the 25/12 the park entrance (but only the entrance) is always closed! Keep in mind if you come around christmas. At the park entrance you must disinfect your packrafting gear due to Didymo algae. I could not packraft lago jenimeni and verde due to wind but its still stunning. Between Water {35} [75.5/937] and Ford {35} [79.3/846] there is a approx. 3-4 steep bluff. I felt really uncomfortable with my heavy backpack as a lot of erosion happened to the steep ‘steps’. Maybe exploring an additional bush bashing route is feasible here. The ford was rather deep and could be a problem for shorter persons but I crossed in the evening, so in the morning it should be fine. Collapsed Refuge {35} [81.0/819] makes a nice camp spot. The other forts were fine. Stayed one night at Casa Piedra were I met Tobi and Fangwen and spend dinner and breakfast together the next day. CONAF first denied to packraft Rio Chacabuco due to conservation reasons, but after I mentioned that I came along all the track with my gear and rangers et sector jenimeni they were fine with me going on that river. The river is a bit unspectacular. I left at the River Out {35} [119.8/277] and I followed the old trail/road to Park Ranger, Refuge, Camp {35} [123.2/263]. There is a new picknick hut and I spend the night in there with a spectacular view of the valle chacabuco to the rims of campo hielo norte. The next day I continued the old track right side of the river (not in the GPT track files) until the bridge {35-10} [4.7/265]. Track is still in good conditions and occasionally used by the horses and guanacos there. A wonderful hike with massive views. I than continued on the CONAF trail (also not in the GPT track files) to Park administracion at Lodging $$$ {35-03} [1.9/340]. Would not recommend the restaurant. 65 $ for a 3 course meal but nothing fancy. Better spend for dinner in Cochrane. But for a post hike drink at the bar it is a lovely place and staff is kind. Also liked the museum and stayed the night at the campsite approximately 2 km away. The puma still seems to be there occasionally. Next day I hitchhiked out to Cochrane.<br />
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*2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-23/ 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris<br />
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Got a taxi for the first 8 kilometers of the roadwalk. Nobody present at the farm where the dirtroad starts to go uphill, gates easy to get through, friendly dog. We hiked just 6km and made camp by a stream.<br />
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The next day passed the puesto at km15.8, owner seemed friendly and waved. Slowly climbed up to the plateau, lots of water everywhere, very few snowpatches en route. Perfect day - not much wind. Saw lots of guanacos, hares, flamingos. Moving cross-country was ok throughout. Climbed a few barbed-wire fences. Finally found the dirt road, hiked to camp at km42.9.<br />
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In the morning hitched a ride to the park entry with a ranger. We had no online booking as we didn't know when we'd arrive, they had us make one on site. Super friendly guys, said that there is currently fewer visitors than normally at this time. The route between Rio San Antonio crossing and Camp Raleigh has been changed, partially new trail built; follows mainly the Lago Esmeralda trail. There is now a brand new hanging bridge over Rio San Antonio right next to Camp Raleigh, avoiding all the needless crossings.<br />
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After the camp there trail seems new in places, but then resorts to many rivercrossings again. The way up and down the Puertozuela La Gloria is steep and loose. After Lago Verde there are a million more crossings until you turn South. Here the trail is not much maintained, lots of fallen trees. The next 25km to Casa Piedra the trail is a bit harder to see at first but then gets much better. The guy (not a ranger) at Casa Piedra informed us that the Siete Lagos trail is closed but couldn't say why. It's definitely overgrown in parts, lots of fallen trees - need to keep track on the gpx at all times. After settler at km135.2 the trail has been recently maintained and bushes cut.<br />
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For photos and stories, you can follow us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena<br />
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We enjoyed this section a lot, especially with all the beautiful autumn colors in early April and basically without people until the last part before Cochrane. PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.<br />
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Just like others we found the plateau between km 20-28 very very windy. Definitely don’t count with camping there. We found a good spot right after the secound pass, aprox. 500m down the hill where you can find a wind protected place. The descent down is a little slow but with nice views, guanacos, horses.. simply amazing. Once back on the road, it’s not too far to the PN entrance where we met a guard, but fortunately were able to get a permission as described above. The trail from Lago Jeinemeni was one of our favorites. All the fords were easy, but expect quite slow progress in the CC parts. We camped in a forrest at km 81 where is a destroyed refugio but still a good spot for camping. The rest of the trail to Casa Del Piedra is again straightforward and the landscape is somehow more dry. We didn’t cross the first bridge but went with the J option which turned out to be a good decision as we met a xx of guanacos that let us come really close to them. Closed and locked refugio still provides a good shelter, but when open it must be a perfect stop in the middle of this long section. Water was turned off as well but there is a stream behind the house.<br />
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We spent the next night on the beach of Lago Gutierrez where is enough space to build a tent - bushes around the trail are otherwise very thorny and sharp. After the ascent to the pass was a good stream of water, probably the last place to safely take unfiltered water for the next couple of kms. The trail from there leads around all the lakes and is nice and easy. We spent the night in a refugio at km 134. This one was the only one standing from what we have seen and its a good shelter when it rains, however we decided to stay in our tent anyway. You can make fire inside. Closest water is actually the one in a lake uphill, the stream on the other side of the path was very dirty and hard to gather anyway.<br />
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From there its a one more day until the finish with a good pace. We haven’t met the settler Daniel, but he’s definitely still living there. Beautiful beach of Lago Cochrane and from there we started to meet more and more tourists, doing just a day hike or some circuit around the lake - might be a good option as well in this beautiful region. The last kms felt a little long for us as we were looking forward to have some rest and enjoy all the fun in town. At the official campsite were a few people but no one asked us about anything. There are nice toilets and shower. From there its around 30m to Cochrane. Good to remember they celebrate Easter holidays in Chile as well, but we still managed to find some shop and bakery open.<br />
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Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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* 12/03/2023 - 18/03/2023 / RR SOBO / Jakub+Veronika:<br />
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Doing section 35 was due to closure of the Patagonia NP caused by heavy rains with helicopter rescue of several tourists from Valle Hermoso quite complicated, we did walk all we could in Tamango reserve and later (when it was opened) in Chacabuco valley. Be sure not to miss the museum. It's really worth it. The northern part was opened as the last one, that's why we've skipped it and hitchhiked back to Caretera. All paths in great condition. When going from Tamango to Chacabuco there's one suggestion:<br />
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It seems that on RR (35, km 141) ends new 11km long track ”Huemules” which starts at the parking in Chacabuco valley on RP (35, km 132.5). That trail might be a nice alternative to RR (mud road) leading over private land of settler David Huemul.<br />
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*8.02. - 05.03.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO, Chile Chico - Cochrane<br />
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We started in Chile Chico around 5 pm walking the first km on the road. After a while we got a ride to the Bahía Jara cross and camped a few hundred meters further near the street (we carried water from Chile Chico).<br />
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The ascent to the plateau is mostly easy dirtroad walking and the last CC part easy to navigate. The whole stretch on the plateau until the street at km 41.5 we had extreme wind, which made walking super tiring and nearly blew us away a few times. We found a tiny and steep, but wind protected place to set up our tent at around km 28 in the ridge dug by the river. We had to get a bit inventive to set it up and to be able to sleep properly there. There were almost no other places that were protected by the wind until you get off the plateau. As almost all previous entries say, it's better to camp off the plateau. But it's really worth doing it because you can see Guanacos and flamingos on it :)<br />
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When we reached the street at km 41.5 we were lucky and a car passed by a few minutes later, which brought us to the entrance of Parque Patagonia. We payed 15k CLP p.p. and walked to the camp Raleigh at Lago verde. There are some sheltered places to set up the tent, with an unfamiliar amount of people for the GPT. Lago Verde is beautiful though.<br />
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The next day involves lots of river- and stream crossings and it started to rain not particularly heavy, but after some hours we were completely wet. Therefore the rivercrossing at km 82.6 was really hard for Anna (1,63 m) but we managed by inertlocking our arms and doing it step by step slowly. After that the trails get really good and you can walk way faster. We camped at the unofficial camp site at km 84.7.<br />
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We had good weather the next day and the trail was really good until Lago Gutierrez. Up to the pass the trail gets a bit worse with some navigation issues, but you always find a good path again. As the others wrote there are only some tiny streams within the first km after the pass until the next Laguna, so we filled up our bottles there and camped somewhere in the forest soon afterwards once it started to rain again.<br />
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The next day there were still not too much water sources and we fetched the first water at the first Laguna which wasn't super easy to access. The trail until Lago Cochrane wasn't in bad condition neither. We also took Option L, which follows the 'regular' siete lagunas trail. The stretch from Lago Cochrane until the Conaf office at the end of the lake is absolutely amazing with great views of one of the clearest lakes in the world. We camped at km 145.7 and took a bath in the lake.<br />
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The last 8 km to Cochrane went super fast on an easy trail until Conaf and 4 km road walking to the town, so happily we could escape from the starting rain.<br />
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* 20 to 24 of February 2023 / Silke & Hans / Loop - Fachinal -> Chile Chico<br />
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We didn't do the regular route, but read about an intresting loop starting in Fachinal and entering the normal route at Valley Hermoso. We then continued along the regular route to the entrance at Laguna Jeinimeni, and back to Chile Chico. The first 3 days from Fachinal we didn't see any other hikers, but it was pretty clear why. The trail was completely overgrown, full of fallen trees and a lot of the time there is no trail at all. But we managed our way through pretty good, and is was an awesome alternative to enter the Park. We recorded our GPX for others, waypointed some POI's and added some photo's to it: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/114121493<br />
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DAY 1 / 18km / +740m /<br />
Although we heard of a bus to Fachinal from Chile Chico, nobody really appeared to know any information about it.. In the terminal the people we spoke said there were none. So we started hitchhiking the following morning. But after 3-4h of no luck we went back to the terminal, and all of a sudden there was a bus leaving at 11:30. 10.000 pesos pp, a little expensive but being unsuccesfull hitchhiking we took it. We had lunch at the turnoff, and starting hiking around 13:00. The first part is on a clear double track, but soons turns into a clear singletrack. We took the wrong intersection twice (waypointed on our GPX). We camped right before the first big river crossing. There is one steel cable, so if you bring a harness you could tiroller across. <br />
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DAY 2 / 22km / +1100m /<br />
First up, we crossed the river. The water level didn't seem a lot lower than the day before, and at the deepest part it was about halfway our thighs. After taking another wrong intersection and backtracking, we reach the second river crossing. Again a steel cable is provided but the crossing was pretty straightforward, and the water level was only slighty above our knees. Just across the river is a an old cabin, and then short after a very new refugio (locked, used by a trekking agency). The trail gets super dense after this, climbs steeply on the mountain side and dissapears completely on numerous occasions. After the climb it flattens out, opens up and you reach a laguna. After the laguna it's the easiest to just follow the river bed down to the open valley floor (possible sheltered campsite in the forest). Follow the valley floor to another amazing laguna where you can camp near a second locked refugio.<br />
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DAY 3 / 14km / +440m /<br />
We started the day with a side-trip to a mirador looking over the glacier high above. Takes about 1,5-2 hours return. We then packed up camp and headed for Valley Hermoso. You pass another beautiful laguna and follow the river down to the main valley. Lots of river crossing here. We camped at the Refugio Valley Hermoso, arriving earlier than expected. <br />
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DAY 4 / 15km / +200m /<br />
Very short and easy daytrip to another laguna. About 3 hours return. We just chilled the rest of the day.<br />
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DAY 5 / 36km / +830m /<br />
Final day along the normal route to the entrance of Laguna Jeinimeni. The day started off with some heavy rain for a couple of hours, but all the river crossings were still very doable. We arrived at the entrance around 13:00, and there was no sign of anybody leaving soon. So we decided to continue hiking untill we could find a ride along the way. We ended up hiking an extra 19km before finally a car was willing to take us along. There is an established campsite at the entrance for 3000 pesos pp.<br />
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* 19 to 24 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO, regular route<br />
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Not too much to add on this one. I had a good time but the section felt long.<br />
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On the way up to the first plateau there were a few somewhat sheltered places to camp past the puesto. I camped around km 19, just before the last steep climb up to the plateau. Lots of streams around there.<br />
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None of the river crossings went above my knees, after a dry week.<br />
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I liked the detour up to the Lago Jeinemeni mirador. I also took variant I out and back to a glacier lake, I'm less sure whether that was worth it. I couldn't find any real trail, it was nice easy cross country walking through the woods followed by some open rocky ground. The glacial lake was cool, but not as spectacular as some of the ones I've seen in other sections.<br />
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I camped at the casa de piedras and took a luxurious warm shower. The ranger said you're supposed to pay at the office in valle Chacabuco, but since our route doesn't go there she just let me stay for free. She also said that sendero de siete lagunas (our route) was closed, but that I could do it since I had my gps and satellite communicator. She made it sound tough/dangerous though it turned out to be fairly quick trail.<br />
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Not much water or campsites along the siete lagunas. There's a nice campsite at the tip of the pencil lake just after the (still intact!) refugio at 133.9.<br />
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* 2023-Feb-12-19 / NOBO / RR + Option 35-L / Ondrej and Bara / Cochrane - Chile Chico / 7.5 days<br />
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We really enjoyed this section! We went from Cochrane to Chile Chico. Our favourite parts were the descent through Valle Hermoso and the descent on the cross country section to Chile Chico. We spent 7.5 days on this section, taking a relaxed pace and including a half day break.<br />
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We only had to pay 9,000 CLP per person entrance fee at the Cochrane park gate (sector Tamango). We then showed the pass three days later to a ranger at Casa de Piedras and he let us go. The final checkpoint for us was the CONAF park exit/entrance at Lago Jeinemeni. The ranger there didn’t want to see our pass at all, he just asked from where we hiked (we said Casa de Piedras).<br />
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Some details: - Starting from Cochrane, the trail is easy walking up until km 144.9. As you leave Lago Cochrane, the trail is harder to follow. Fortunately this lasts only up to km 138, where the trail becomes easy to follow again. We camped next to the refuge on km133.9. The refuge has a good roof and can serve as an emergency shelter. There is no good water next to it though - we needed to climb the hill to the laguna to refill. - From roughly km 125 to km 99, the RR follows the old Siete Lagunas trail, which is not maintained anymore. Expect some fallen trees and slightly overgrown parts but the trail is beautiful and easy to navigate in general. - We took Option L to cut some overgrown road walking as recommended by others. We really liked it. - We camped next to the destroyed refuge at Laguna Guagua (km 118.3) and really loved the place - there is an amazing pebble beach at the laguna. - If you don’t want to camp at Casa de Piedras, there is a place for a small tent and a stream at roughly km 97 (-47.07463, -72.20439). We camped there. - The river crossings in Valle Aviles and Vale Hermoso were maximum to our knees. The deepest one was at Lago Verde (km 66.1). However, the river levels can change rapidly when it rains the days before - do check the weather. - We camped at the eastern shore of Lago Verde (km 61.7; campsite Raleigh) and really loved it - it has picnic tables and a spacious cooking/eating shelter. - We hitchhiked the part on the road between km 53 and 41.5. Few cars go by but the hitch was easy - we stopped the first car. - The cross country section from km 41.5 is very different from the rest - semi-desert like and lots of animals. We saw llamas, flamimgos, condors and hares (among sheep, cows and horses). - Between km 38 and 33 the path goes along a fence. We had to get over the fence once (we scrambled below it without problems). - If you are going NOBO, expect stunning views of the General Carrera Lake and Torres del Avelano when coming from the last pass (km 20.8) down to Chile Chico.<br />
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A ranger in Casa de Piedras wanted to prevent us to walk the RR NOBO from Casa de Piedras to Valle Hermoso. He claimed that route is closed now as the rivers are too high to cross. To avoid conflict, we said that we will only do the “loop trail” which is basically the RR from Casa de Piedras up until the bridge where the RR joins Option J. The Option J is then used to return back to Casa de Piedras. When doing the loop, we met several hikers in the opposite direction who confirmed that all river crossings are fine. In light of this we decided to continue on the RR and indeed the deepest ford was to our knees. Therefore if faced with a ranger claiming that the rivers are too high, we suggest to start with the loop trail (rangers should be okay with that) and get more info on the river levels from the hikers going the opposite direction.<br />
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*2023 last week January NoBo (6 days but could have very easily been done in less) / Helen and Craig + (Caro, Ali and Gabby)<br />
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>Such lovely camp sites. Beautiful places to stay the night the whole way around<br />
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>Very very easy trails. River crossing section isn't bad at all and the Valle hermosa lives up to its name.<br />
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>1st and last camp site particularly lovely<br />
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>Keep eyes peeled for pumas! I would have easily missed the sighting if I hadn't been looking the right way at the right time. They were super close. 10m or less away. Two cubs outside the refugio at casa peidra. Not where they are commonly seen in the park at all Aparently around west winds camp they are more commenly seen.<br />
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>Museum in the middle of the section worth checking out. Very visual and quite hard hitting environmental museum<br />
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> Can hitch easy enough to Chile Chico but leave last camp early in the morning. There's often a driver with a 4x4 who drives hikers in to the park and will take you back for 10,000p/p. Hikers who were a few hours behind us had no luck hitching as demand can often overtake spaces.<br />
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*27 of January to 1 of February 2023 / Véronica & Zach / GPT35 RR SOBO / 5.5 days <br />
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Route: Chile Chico - Lago Jeinimeni - Valle Hermoso - Casa de Piedra - Lago Cochrane - Cochrane <br />
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What a beautiful and diverse stretch of the GPT! I hiked half of this section with Zach, up to Casa de Piedras at km 98.9. We were unable to get a hitch out of Chile Chico, so we ended up walking the road to where the trail begins. No navigation issues, but the entire cross-country section to Río de las Nieves (waypoint at 42.7 km) is very exposed and was very windy when we crossed. We ended up camping at the water at 23.9 km, but the wind blew very strongly all night and I was worried it might take my tent. If you can, it is better to camp off this plateau unless the weather is calm. Lots of guanaco trails to follow :) <br />
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At the CONAF office at km 53.0, we each paid 9,000 clp for entry to the national park, plus 6,000 clp for passage/camping along the trail to Casa de Piedras in the Valles Hermoso and Aviles. Beautiful trail the whole way, popular and well-maintained, with cairns and markers to follow. There is an awesome shelter and camping area with picnic tables on the eastern shore of Lago Verde, at the end of Option D. In my opinion it was nicer than the popular refugio in Valle Hermoso (km 68.1) that everyone talks about. <br />
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We had no issues with fords, except the one at km 82.6 which flows into Río Aviles. It was the end of a warm sunny day, so the flow was quite high and strong. Had I been on my own I would have camped on the north side and waited till morning to cross. However, this time I was able to cross by linking arms with Zach as he is much taller than me and was more stable in the current. <br />
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At Casa de Piedras, Zach and I parted ways as he wanted to packraft down the Río Chacabuco. The ranger at the Casa told me the Sendero de las Siete Lagunas (which begins at km 99.5) was no longer maintained. This is true, there were stretches in the desertlike brush that were hard to follow, and I checked the GPS frequently. Generally it was better when the trail went into wooded areas. I also found this trail to be dry — the only water I found was the water from the lagunas and a tiny trickle about a kilometer south of the pass. Lots of spiky plants that get stuck in your socks and shoes. I took Option L to cut out some overgrown minor road walking. It's sad that this trail is being neglected and left to be swallowed up by nature, because otherwise it is quite scenic. <br />
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The horse trail that goes from the puesto of Daniel Huemul (km 143.3) to Lago Cochrane was also rough and overgrown. Everything gets easier once you reach Lago Cochrane though, nice, maintained trails all the way to Cochrane with beautiful places to camp along the lake. <br />
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* GPT35 / Yannic & Mirjam / 2022-Dec-13<br />
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Much is already detailed below, so we will keep it short <br />
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1 day: from Chile Chico to the entrance of the National Park. We camped one night before the pass at S 46.61639 W 71.81632. Water right next to the camp. Pass is very windy.<br />
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2 days: from the National Park to the Refugio. Nice refugio with small house where you can make a fire inside to dry things. From the Refugio to Casa Piedra is possible in one day. But it is a long day with many kilometres.<br />
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2.5 days: Casa Piedra to Cochrane. Leaving Casa Piedra, after a few hundred metres the trail leaves the Minor Road and enters the trail (where there is a large stone marker). The trail is officially closed and partly in bad condition. There are many fallen trees on the trail, some of it is overgrown and not completely clear. We therefore checked the GPS regularly. We took OH-TL-V{35-L}, which saves a few kilometres of (overgrown) minor road.<br />
We spent one night at Laguna Guagua (Refugio is completely destroyed) and one at Lago Cochrane.<br />
When we left the national park, no one was at the office. We therefore simply went through...<br />
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* GPT35 Variant P, Option 3, 3C, 3D / Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck / 2022-Dec-12 and 13 / 1.5 days <br />
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While waiting in the village Cochrane for our friends to catch up, we did a little 1.5 day hike higher up next to Lago Cochrane that we visited at least 3 times by packraft in past years. For the first time this year we waked with a light backpack without packrafting gear.<br />
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We took Variant P eastbound that slowly climbs on a gravel road to an altitude of 500 m and then continues as a panorama trail in this altitude.<br />
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Apparently, this is not authorized access to Parque Patagonia (Sector Tamango) and two gates need to be climbed but there was nobody to be seen on this route. The normal access to the park is down next Rio Cochrane and Lago Cochrane.<br />
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Nearly the entire route was scenic and worth the effort.<br />
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The settler “El Húngaro” apparently sold the land and became part of the national park. There is an open building that might be used as a refuge in case of emergency but camping is probably more comfortable.<br />
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The refuge at {35-P} [4.0/501] is collapsed but camping is pleasant on this pasture.<br />
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The trail section OH-TL-V {35-03} [0.0+5.2] is not maintained for several years making this route inconvenient to walk. The route south of both lakes is easy walking.<br />
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As long as Parque Patagonia does not challenge hikers to make a full traverse from Cochrane to Chile Chico it is prudent to take the official route which is the current regular route and pay the entrance fee near Cochrane when hiking northbound.<br />
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But should longer multi-day traverses be denied, then it might be less bothersome to take Variant P which avoids the entrance.<br />
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Packrafters can travel east and westbound on Lago Cochrane and will not pass any park entrance.<br />
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* Alice & Florian / 4 to 10 November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound<br />
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Here's our story of our GPT35. We really enjoyed this section, it is really diverse, beautiful landscapes and we saw heaps of animals. <br />
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As we wanted to do the trail in the northbound direction, we took the bus from chile chico to Cochrane, arriving in chile chico from argentina from the south (border o'higgins closed...). It tales 4 hours and leaves on sunday at 14 (return Monday 7 Am), Monday 16 (return Tuesday 7 AM),Wednesday and Friday 7 Am (return 16).<br />
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We took the option north of Cochrane because we were not sure if they would allow us to sleep in the tamango reserve. But, indeed you have to pass a no entry sign, a gate and a sign saying that entering the park that way is prohibited so we do not recommend it when it is written on the conaf website that it is allowed to sleep in tamango section.<br />
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We took the sendero de los huemules and slept at camp 1 waypoint. There was plenty of water at that time and a beautiful view.<br />
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After that we took the option OH-TL-V 35-P to avoid going downhill. The entry of this trail is about 150m before what is indicated on the GPT so be aware. I don't think the trail is an official one from the park so you have to fight your way through some bushes. But apart from that, it is clear. Then we joined the regular route, which since the 2022 version does follow the siete lagunas trail. You will join the siete lagunas trail at the kilometer 11 more or less. We then camped around the km 13 of the 7 lagunas trail. <br />
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We found water just before climbing at the pass at S47°06.0856' W072°17.592' and there is more at the top. However, it is true that it is drier on the other side of the pass, so if you are going Southbound, pack enough water from Lago Gutierrez to climb the pass. <br />
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We spent the third night at casa de Piedra where you have all facilities (electricity, hot shower, kitchen). Unfortunately for us they were on strike so they wouldn't allow us to go further on the trail. We did anyway as going out to jeiminini or through the road to chacabuco would take the same time. <br />
By the way various national parks - including Torres del Paine were on strike at the moment. <br />
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The second part in the aviles valley is really clear, the trail is really nice and easy and with a lot of water available. Exiting the casa de piedra you should take the option OH-TI-V 35-J instead of the regular route, it will save you 600 m and two river crossings, and the view is similar. Starting at km 20, you will have to reduce your pace because the trail is busy with a lot of fallen trees, bushes and rocks. Between the km 22 and 23 of the valle aviles trail, the trail has been swept away by the river this winter so you have to cross the river two more times to go around. The kilometers indications disappear more or less after the pass, at km 25. <br />
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After that you enter the valle Hermoso. We camped at the waypoint 17/Camp Valle Hermoso but we do not recommend it. It was really small and close to the river, so if there is a sudden level rise because of heavy rain or a flooding because of a glaciar outburst (GLOF), you might get wet... Better sleep st the small caban near km23 if you don't think you will reach the refugio in valle Hermoso.<br />
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Once you reach Lago Verde, follow the GPT track and not the trail that leads to the lake, or you will have to turn back. After the pass it's more river crossings but you can save some kilometers in the river bed by taking the option OH-TI-V 35-E and then OH-TI-V 35-D until the rio jeimenini (the first part of the option OH-TI-V 35-D does not exist anymore). We did not have any trouble to cross the Rio between the 2 lakes even though we were in the middle of the afternoon. It was about thigh deep for me but I'm tall. <br />
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After that it's really easy to the Parc entrance. We went back to Chile Chico walking on the road instead of taking the cross country option, because0 there were still snow on the mountain. The first part is still pretty until the intersection, once you enter the valley of the Rio it is a bit more monotonous. Halfway there is an access to an annex of the national park, to go see the Cueva de las manos and valle lunar. <br />
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* Adrien Kunzli / 31-Oct-2022-04-November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound<br />
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All rivers crossing are easy to pass at this time of year. One tricky passage on the snow at the entrance of lago verde, very steep, but it was to avoid walking in the lake (frozen feet early in the morning). <br />
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No guards at the entrance at Tamango so i didnt pay the fee but didnt get my pass. Tamara gently gave me one at the camping of casa del piedra (apparently if i didnt have this pass i could not be admitted at Jeinimeni.) At Jeinimeni pass, again, nobody. So i were to the houses near and finaly find the guy. He took my pass and i get no fee in this NOBO direction. <br />
Nice shortcut after the bridge of Rio de las Nieves (S 46° 47.274', W 071° 54.665') that can avoid you a little bit of the 4x4 unfinshing road and get you directly into the heart of this amazing and beautifull last part. So: <br />
In front of the end of the bridge, you go up the big hill and go diagonally (or directly if you feel better) to join the path (pretty wild) of the gps (S 46° 45.843', W 071° 54.359'). Small stretches of paths are drawn rather well along this shortcut. <br />
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Not much good water between the bridge (brown water) and the puesto but the the puesto's water is of much better quality.<br />
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==Season 2021/22==<br />
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* GPT 35: Parque Patagonia/ Exploration Route via Valle Maullín Grande/ 2022 March-12/ 4 days / Tobias Schorcht, Jonas Grünewald <br />
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We hiked from Maullín Grande to Cochrane by chance. I always wanted to do the stretch from Chile Chico to Cochrane, but we had just 4 days left… When we hitchhiked northbounded from Villa O’Higgins, we luckily got picked up by Pascual Diaz, who is a experienced Mountain Guide (company Kalem) and took us all the way to his refugio in Maullín Grande. He also explained us, how to reach Cochrane on time while doing that crossing. The next day he took us to the end of the Road, where we started hiking around midday (-46,80390, -72,42001). It was a easy walk to the end of the Valley where we camped (-46,87872, -72,34138). The following day was hard, but we went up to the pass (1430m) in perfect sunshine. At (-46,87234, -72,30906) you will face a waterfall in a steep canyon. We recommend to walk on the left side (northwest) through the forest until you meet the riverbed again. The other side is also possible (we went there), but you have to climb higher in difficult terrain. From that point you can easily do a cross country walk up to the pass, where you have to cross the Glaciar (without cracks). It was absolutely stunning! Going down to the laguna is quite steep. I would not do it in bad weather conditions. When you meet the laguna, you can either walk on the left or right side. Both options are not easy. We crossed on the right (southern) side, which is ok in good weather conditions. There is one river crossing in between, which could be impossible with more water. Now we think it would have been easier to walk on the left (northern) side, although we would have had needed to cross the river before and after the laguna. Packrafting is an option as well, but since it only 1.5 km we don’t think it is worth it. Camped in a forest close to the regular trail dry and save. All in all we recommend this option to experienced hikers in good weather conditions. The hike to Cochrane was hard, because we had just 2 days for 80km. So we hitchhiked to the museum of Parque Patagonia and we even saw a puma at the Westwind Campsite! It seems like this puma shows up there regularly. I waited for that moment almost 5 months. My dream came true on my very last evening in nature. Thank you Patagonia for this great gift. 🙏<br />
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*Christmas2021 / GPT 35, NOBO, participants Janna & Matthias, dec 2021, duration 6 days from Cochrane to Conaf center at Lago Jeinimeni, then hitchhiked to Chile Chico<br />
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As recommended by a friend we opted for the following route through the Parque Nacional de Patagonia which is highly recommendable (first two days mainly GPT variants and options, afterwards GPT regular routes. There are several marked senderos in the beginning as 5 Los Huemules, 8 los Pumas, 7 los Guanacos, sendero 9, sendero Lagunas Altas etc.) as you can see in our attached tracking file.<br />
<br />
All in all the trails were easy to find, some seemed to be still unhiked this year. To enter the park from Cochrane we had to pass a prohibition sign and climb over a no entrar gate. We didn't meet anyone on the first day, the settler didn't seem to be around. The following days we met two to three other hikers per day, but no rangers until the end at Conaf Center near Lago Jeinimeni, where we easily paid the park fees in arrears (8000 pp park entrance fee and an additional 6000 pp overnight stays in the park). We deliberately skipped the Conaf center in Valle Chacabuco on the advice of our friend.<br />
<br />
Good to know:<br />
- There is no water anymore at S 47.198557, W 72.474927 near the camping site but instead at S 47.203460, W 72.480747 and S 47.179332, W 72.465807<br />
- There were many lagoons on our day 3 that weren't visibly well marked neither on our apps nor on the Garmin GPS.<br />
- All the marked refugios along the trail are heavily damaged except Casa de Piedra<br />
(closed on the 24th of dec) and Refugio Valle Hermoso (where we could even dry our<br />
soaked shoes from the many river crossings next to the fireplace).<br />
- From the refugio Valle Hermoso we did a side trip to the first glacier lake in the Valle<br />
Estero Ventisquero without all the luggage.<br />
- The río Jeinimeni water level was up to our waists and strong (note it had rained the<br />
night before). According to others it was supposed to be knee-deep.<br />
- Hitchhiking from Conaf center Jeinimeni to Chile Chico is possible when camping or day guests are leaving. As we arrived later in the afternoon we spent an extra night there. <br />
- The supermercado sur in Chile Chico sells gas.<br />
<br />
Track files and waypoints: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-98Ou9jk0porCVRp7CSFZ-KciXQ2PBzD<br />
<br />
[[file:Greater Patagonian Trail (7).jpg|thumb|GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]<br />
<br />
<br />
*30 Nov RR 5 days SOBO Frank<br />
<br />
From Chile Chico I got the Bahia Jara bus & got off at the junction, saves a 6KM roadwalk. Walked 2KM up the road then on trail to the high plateau. The settler before the pass wasn't there but his dogs were a bit territorial so I avoided the puesto. I went across the high plateau & camped a bit before the second puesto in one long day. Camp marked on track file below the pass was not very good (boggy & sloping) so I continued down to camp near the stream. The second puesto is above the RR & not visible from it. Camping on the high plateau definitely not recommended. It is very exposed & the wind can & will knock tents. On day 2 I got to CONAF, they said a puma had been there every day the week before. Continued with many river crossings to the hut. There are trails marked with ribbons on LHS of the river SOBO, they go in on small loops which avoid some of the river crossings. Nearing the hut there is a stream flowing into the lake. At the lake it was too deep to cross. Bush bashed for about 40 metres to reach the ford. Camped outside the hut. Several river crossings on the third day. The double crossing is the crux. I avoided it by going over the bluff on LHS of river with a bit of tree bashing but I don't recommend that. The bluff descent is cliffed off with only a narrow breach where you can downclimb on trees. The breach is not obvious from above. Better to ford the river - it was running high but I met several hikers who had crossed it. Got to Casa de Pidera in 1 long day from the hut. You can cook in the Casa (they have a gas stove, electricity & showers) but have to camp outside. There are some trees to shelter from the wind. On the fourth day I started walking Sendero de Siete Lagunas (SSL) but I was using the 2019 track file which doesn't show the SSL. It had not been walked much recently & the route was not obvious. At the lake I lost the SSL in guanaco tracks. I continued around the lake & walked out about 2KM to the road. The descent to the road was cliffed off but I found a way down in a gully. Then I walked out the road past a meadow where hundreds of guanaco were grazing. Past the meadow I went in left on a side road to rejoin the RR. On the fifth day I walked past Daniel Huemul's puesto & was lucky to meet Daniel who was riding out & he showed me the way. He said the direct RR which goes right from the puesto is now overgrown & disused. Instead we went out to the left. There is a small road which goes in a loop & turns towards Lago Cochrane but with his directions I was able to shortcut it. I paid 15,000 CLP for entry & camping at CONAF Lago Jeinemeni & they didn't charge me anything at Casa de Piedra.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*2020-Mar-18 , Tyler Wood, 7 Days Sobo<br />
<br />
Amazing section to end my season with. I got a couple short hitches on the way up past Chile Chico. Up past the last puesto are some great areas to camp along a big boulder field. Maybe 2 km more. Beautiful and surrounded by Guanacos. Plenty of water too. Up near the top of the pass was very cold, but very beautiful, and even saw a bunch of flamingoes in the lakes.<br />
<br />
On the way down the pass I tried to find the fore-mentioned route to the puesto to take the road the rest of the way down and didn’t really have any luck...found my way anyways and camped down by Rio sucio under a willow.<br />
<br />
Into Jenimeni I got another little hitch. Once you cross the deeper river by Laguna esmeralda just keep those water shoes on, you’ll be crossing many more times.<br />
<br />
I also was told by a ranger that sendero siete Lagunas wasn’t habilitado, but went for it anyways. Water is Not after Laguna Gutiérrez for a while, so make sure you fill up around there. After the pass there are a few more small<br />
Streams to fill up. <br />
<br />
The road walking to Tmango reserve seemed to take forever, but Walking/camping by Lago Cochrane was all worth it. At puesto Huemul Is when I got my first advice that the corona virus was a big deal. The woman told me there were 3 confirmed cases in Cochrane, I went there and booked my tickets straight home. Hasta le vista baby!!!<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-February-08 / 7 days / Southbound<br />
<br />
Long and beautiful section. No major difficulties. Great diversity. Without hitchhiking, it took me 173 kilometers. <br />
<br />
1st part / 2 days / Chile Chico to Div 217<br />
At the beginning of the cross country, valley full of Guanacos. I camped just after the puesto, about 2 kilometers after the beginning of the cross country, before the pass, where there are still rocks to protect from the wind.<br />
As related in previous reports, after camp 279, you will stumbled upon a fence. Go on the East along the fence, cross it, and you will find a trail to the next Puesto and then the trail goes down from the puesto to the dirt road. You will avoid cross country this way. <br />
<br />
2nd part / 2,5 days to Casa de Piedra<br />
Popular part. Groups of hikers along the way. 8000CLP entrance fee + 6000 CLP for 2 nights sleeping inside the park. <br />
<br />
3rd part / 2,5 days / Sendero de las 7 lagunas<br />
After Casa de Piedra, I followed the GPS regular route which took me to the beginning of the Sendero of 7 lagunas. CONAF said it was not "habilitado" but it is actually well marked. The good thing is that there will be no hikers on this part, except when you approach the end, along the lago Cochrane. The trail is very different from the GPS tracks but no difficulties to find it. So, don't worry not having the GPS tracks. <br />
At S 47º08.015' W 72º18.948', there is a nice place to camp and also, the trail will merge with the optional route OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 You can then follow this track and then go back to the Regular Route to reach Cochrane.<br />
<br />
<br />
* Martin Lizondo / 28-Jan-2020 / Regular Hiking Southbound<br />
<br />
The section took me 6 days. Some tips:<br />
<br />
The first part from Chile Chico has a +20 km cross country walk. The wind is extremly strong and the route very high, with no forest protection. I recommend spending the first night behind the trees of El Ciprés (the settler Orlando Vazquez allows people to pass and is very kind) or near to the puesto at the end of the minor road at 46º 36' 5,3" S, 71º 48' 45,05" O (Miguel Pacheco is very kind too). Enough water all along the route.<br />
<br />
The Jeinimeni section of Parque Patagonia is very easy and well marked. Entrance to foreigners costs CLP 8000 plus 6000 if spending the night. There’s a shelter with place for fire and tents after 18 km.<br />
<br />
Valley Aviles to Casa de Piedra is also easy and beautifull, with many free camping spots. Casa de Piedra costs CLP 8000 per night.<br />
<br />
The rest of the gps track is very different from the actual trail, called “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas”. I recommend taking this route instead of the old gps track, as it’s very well maintained. At Lago la Pepa ( 47º 7' 45,19" S, 72º 18' 41,54" O ) the trail crosses an old overgrown minor road, which coincides with the gps track and takes to Puesto Huemul (47º 11' 25,31" S, 72º 26' 6,98" O). If going to the left, you’ll reach the puesto, if going up to the right you’ll end the official “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas” near to the main park center. Other hiking options are possible from that point, but the regular route to Puesto Huemul is the shortest.<br />
<br />
From Puesto Huemul, the trail goes down near to the lake Cochrane through Sendero “Coigües” and “Carpinteros”. Well marked and signed, this trails will take you to the start of Tamango section, very near to Cochrane.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-27 / GPT35 New Route: Lago General Carrera (Fachinal) to Parque Patagonia (Lago Jenimeni or “Casa de Piedra”) / 5 days / Meylin Meylin Elisabeth Ubilla González and Jan Dudeck<br />
<br />
Based on a recommendation from Tobias Hellwig W and Daniel Mahn Borkowsky we investigated a new route that I did no had on my radar until a few weeks ago. This route provides an alternative access from the southern coast of Lago General Carrera into the Parque Patagonia and is of interest for packrafters and hikers.<br />
<br />
The route is a traditional animal trail that was used by the settlers of Fachinal to drive cattle to a large summer pasture that is now part of Parque Patagonia (sector Jenimeni). With the enforcement of keeping domestic animals out of the protected park area a 5 km trail section inside Parque Patagonia lacks maintenance but is still quite well traversable for GPT standards. Apart from this short trail section most of the route is very scenic and nice to walk but practically unknown. Only one tourism company runs guided hiking trips along this route about once per months. Apart from this occasionally use the full traverse seams not to be done anymore.<br />
<br />
Due to lack of trail markings we spend about one extra day in searching and following the poorly maintained 5 km trail section but with our GPS record other hikers should struggle much less than we did and will be able to walk in 4 to 5 moderate hiking days from Fachinal at the southern shore of Lago General Carrera to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia in the Valle Chacabuco.<br />
<br />
We hiked the route northbound as we considered the option to cross Lago General Carretera at its shortest narrow by packraft. Here the lake is only 3.2 km wide but we finally did not cross this rather dangerous lake due to suboptimal wind conditions.<br />
<br />
Fachinal to Rio Aviles River Crossing: <br />
<br />
A well maintained “cattle highway” leads from Fachinal from the road bridge of Rio Aviles along the western/southern side of Rio Aviles to the limit of Parque Patagonia. This roughly 20 km long trail section gets regularly cleaned with chain saws to facilitate access to the pastures along Rio Aviles for free-rooming cattle. Most of the trees that have fallen on the trail have been cut to keep the trail easily traversable. Some hikers might find the “pointless up and down” annoying but this trail was created by men that move on horses that did not had to ascent and descent themself. About 1 km before crossing the Rio Aviles two signs indicate the limit of Parque Patagonia (Sector Jenimeni) and ban access for unauthorized people and domestic animals (without providing any clue who might be authorized and who not ;-). From the park limit the trail descents steep to Rio Aviles but remain well maintained to ford.<br />
<br />
This trail section requires two possibly demanding river crossings that can become impossible during snow melt in spring, after heavy rain or on the afternoon or evening of hot days (melting water from glaciers!). To keep the route traversable in such circlesumstances the tourism company has installed in both locations steel ropes (to cross these two rivers hooked up in harness to the steel rope without even touching the water).<br />
<br />
Rio Aviles River Crossing to the Pass (1150 m above Sea Level): <br />
<br />
After the river crossing the trail condition suddenly changes. Fallen trees don’t get cut anymore and undergrowth is not cleaned by machete. It’s mainly the remaining path on the ground that indicates the former animal trail. Advance is slow and in various locations care must be taken to not loose the trail. Here you will need to climb over fall trees and push occasionally through dense vegetation until reaching an altitude of 950 m. At this altitude the forest floor opens up (no dense undergrowth any more) and the trail disappears completely. Here walking becomes easy again. Walk the following kilometer through the open forest following roughly the GPS track until reaching the end of the forest and the small lake after the 1150 m high pass.<br />
<br />
An advise for northbound hikers: <br />
<br />
Finding the first signs of the trail in the open forest was a struggle as we had no information where exactly the trail starts to descent. I searched at least 3 or 4 hours in a 400 m wide and 1200 m long section of open forest till I found a first old machete mark on a tree that indicated the location of the trail. Carefully searching and following similar marks I finally found the descending trail.<br />
<br />
Searching northbound we lost the trail again when reaching Rio Aviles at the bottom of the valley and searched half a day for the correct continuation. A well visible and noticeably used trail next to Rio Aviles leads directly to an suitable river ford but from there a well maintained trail continues 1 km in the wrong direction (upstream). Only after bushbashing 1 km along the river shore downstream we recognized with surprise a second river ford (now the correct river ford) which connects to the well maintained trail section in the correct direction. In hindsight we understood that the well maintained trail simply continues upstream along Rio Aviles and that this trail crosses twice the Rio Aviles. Due to a partially not evident trail section on the other side of we did not recognize this when hitting this trail on the bottom of the valley and took the wrong direction to the wrong river ford.<br />
<br />
Now hikers with our GPS record and a GPS should not struggle to find and follow this trail as we did.<br />
<br />
Pass (1150 m above Sea Level) to Valle Hermoso Refugio: <br />
<br />
After leaving the forest at the 1150 m high pass the most scenic part of this route starts. A roughly 15 km long cross country route leads over pastures and river sediments past 3 lakes and two glaciers to the Refugio Valle Hermoso. Occasionally signs of a trail are visible but due to the open landscape a continuous trail neither exists nor is needed. <br />
<br />
Near the Refuge Valle Hermoso this route connects with regular route that leads along Valle Aviles (diffrent river with the same name!) to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia.<br />
<br />
Access to Trail Head at Fachinal:<br />
<br />
There are multiple buses per week from Chile Chico to Puerto Tranquilo on the Carretera Austral that pass Fachinal.<br />
<br />
Monday and Friday runs a subsidized bus from Chile Chico to Fachinal and back to Chile Chico (One round trip in the morning and a second one in the evening).<br />
8:30 leaving Chile Chico<br />
9:30 in Fachinal<br />
11:00 returning to Chile Chico<br />
17:30 leaving Chile Chico<br />
18:30 in Fachinal<br />
20:00 returning to Chile Chico<br />
<br />
If you wish to cross Lago General Carrera to continue hiking in the Cordillera Avellano North of the lake speak to Carloz Amoros in Fachinal (mobile: +56 9 76267029 / price around 30‘000 CLP) or Pascual Diaz de Mallin Grande.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-January 23 / Oreste Marquis/ Northbound : 8 days <br />
<br />
Going northbound. I followed the route until the second settler at the puesto Tejuela. From there, until the optional route @35-02e#001,<br />
I could not find the approximate trail in the files. I manage to find another one which is call siete Lagunas. It is really easy to follow and really beautiful! I find it near km 18 and keep walking on it until km 38. It is the end of it and is at the campground near Lago Gutiérrez. For more informations go reed Martin post in recent alerts and suggestion. I met him on the trail and he updated the wikiexplora before me. From the beginning to Casa Piedra took me 3 days. Then I hiked to the end of the reserve in an other 3 days. Lots of rivers to cross but felt pretty safe for all of them even the one higher between Lagos Jeinimeni and Verde. The cross country part the next day was my favorite of the hole trip! Awesome views, a lot of wildlife, just need to check a little bit more the gps! Last day, I headed to Chile Chico without any problem. Overall, I love it! Enjoyed it as much as GPT40.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-January / Matthieu / Northbound : 7.5 days "tranquilito"<br />
Incredible trekk, lots of different type of views and soil, my favorite since El Chalten. Money required for passing by the reserves !!<br />
I hitchhiked 10 km on the road to Casa Piedra, and 12 km between Jeinemini qnd the beginning of the trail that goes north in the mountain to join Chile Chico.<br />
<br />
'''1st part : Reserve Tamango''' : 6000 CLP the entry<br />
I took the old "Huemul trail" in the Tamango reserve, taking the left route at the "Camp 284" It is an old trail for 4x4, so very easy, and closed to vehicles now. <br />
<br />
'''2nd part : The road to Casa Piedra :''' the rangers I crossed were all agreed that it was not permitted to camp aside of the road (so the information is different that in Nov). One officiql camping at the end of Tamango reserve (WestWind) and one at Casa Piedra 26 km after. 8000 CLP each. At Westwind (not verified, only inforñqtions for guardaparques): no accomodations, only baño. At Casa Piedra . real big house, hot shower, electricity, place to cook. <br />
<br />
'''3rd part : Reserve Jenemeni :''' Entry 8000 CLP. For the camping, the ranger told me that it was permitted to camp wherever I wanted, so the information differs too from november. And at the exit, I told the ranger about my "savage" camping in the conversation, and he didnt tic at all, so no stress. The rangers are very nice !<br />
Good trekk, easy to follow. One very good refuge in the valle Hermoso where fire is possible. a more open refuge/camping site by the east shore of Lago Verde. <br />
Many river crossing, all safe except one, before the Laguna Esmeralda. Strong current, and people choose many different way with different profundness. Better do it in the morning, being a glaciar river (I could effectively compare between late in the afternoon and the morning and it is very different).<br />
<br />
'''Last part, to Chile Chico by the mountain :''' Amazing views, totaly different climate, more dry and with only bushes. <br />
At the beginning of the Cross country after the 4x4 road, I would advise to go a few meters west from the GPS tracks, to the east side of the river. There is effectively a fence on the west ridge, and a good trail on the east ridge that can avoid you the difficult crossing of many bushes, and that goes directly to the puesto.<br />
Two puestos, The 135 of metal being used by the locals (real bed inside), so just putted the tent outside. The second one 134 is actually a real house. Two mens were here when I arrived, working with the animals. I could put the tent near the house and take water from the sink outside. Many dogs, all nice.<br />
<br />
<br />
*GPT35 Summary:<br />
Mum, Sis and I. Southbound. 11 days.*<br />
<br />
Well. What an interesting and varied section. Also the longest walk I think we'd all done. It took us 11 days in the end with a couple of longer side trips. Interestingly, when we emerged from the park it was closed, there was martial law in effect, a curfew in place. Borders closed. Only a week to get back to Santiago to catch the last flights back to Australia... Anyway. We're heading back now. Got temperature tested as we reentered Chili Chico this morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake mañana in la mañana. No buses out of town. Enough rambling...<br />
<br />
As always, thanks to the others before us that have taken the time to comment and provide feedback. Here's my two cents.<br />
<br />
Firstly here are some landmarks to make it easier for others to orient themselves: <br />
<br />
El Ciprés<br />
http://ge0.me/oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés<br />
ge0://oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés<br />
Casa Piedra<br />
http://ge0.me/4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29<br />
ge0://4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29<br />
Westwind<br />
http://ge0.me/wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind<br />
ge0://wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind<br />
<br />
Camping in Chile Chico:<br />
El Carro is supposed to be the cheapest place to stay in town. Though if you want a hot shower it's the same as Kon-aiken next door. We stayed at neither so can't really comment, but there were a lot of people staying at Kon-aiken and next to none at El Carro which might be indicitive of value for money or just the fact they are a little closer to the centre of town.<br />
El Carro however was the only one willing to look after some things for us.<br />
We also visited a hostel, but the owner was unfortunately very rude.<br />
<br />
El carro<br />
4k frío <br />
5k caliente <br />
1k por día por mochila <br />
<br />
Kon-aiken<br />
5k pp / noche <br />
No baggage service <br />
<br />
Part 1: Chili Chico to Jeinemeni<br />
In the end we decided to cache things in the bushes just outside of town. Mum and my sister got a lift to the Bahía Jara cruz whist I was caching. Unfortunately I had to walk all the way to El Ciprés where my mum and sister had been enjoying a nice conversation with Orlando Vazquez who allowed us to pass but emphasised the dangers and didn't really recommend crossing. <br />
Passing through the gate a couple of utes were exiting. Apparently there is a new mine up in the mountains and they didn't really want us to walk up. They admitted they just worked there.<br />
Turn off the main rd that assumably heads to the mine about here: -46.57775, -71.82666<br />
Goucho Miguel Pacheco passed us on the way up herding some cattle and we talked to him at the puesto for a while. We also gave him one of the Australian coins we'd been carrying around. He seemed to believe it was everyone's right to pass. "People pass through here all the time "."Just yesterday a lad passed by "."It's the shortest route across the mountains "<br />
Anyway. We camped in the rocks just outside the park boundaries (as mentioned by??).<br />
We then camped two nights up on the windy plateau. Our side trip to Valle Lunes was amazing. I'd recommend it. But be careful with wind. Oh and did anyone mention the guanacos?<br />
Unfortunately I think the water wasn't very clean on this part. Sheep, cows, guanacos, birds... It's the first time in Chile I've wished I took my water filter along. We had some sore stomachs.<br />
Dropping down the other side we hit the mentioned fence (about here -46.72574, -71.90211). We crossed, but would recommend following it to the left until you get to a corner. I'm not sure where it starts, but there is a trail running on the outside of the fence to the puesto. We then followed a sheep trail that ran high on the left (east) of the valley. Very good but it bypassed Las Abutardas completely and seemed to be heading towards Laguna los Flamencos instead. We ended up cutting down to the road where León passed us heading into town, a little confused why we hadn't taken the 'proper trail'.<br />
We camped the night at the Río El Sucio camp. Not really recommended.<br />
We walked the road and stayed at Río Las Vacas for a bit which is at the border of the park and a nicer place to camp. (There is a good stream between the two).<br />
<br />
Part 2: Jeinemeni to Casa Piedra<br />
It was 8k to enter the park (for foreigners) and an additional 6k for camping in Valle Hermoso. The section to the refugio (-46.84092, -72.14078) was very nice. This is the only shelter still standing. The others included in the track files were not really enterable.<br />
Heading to the refugio (where everyone seems to camp) you cross the small ankle deep creek exiting Laguna Esmeralda and then the deeper river between Lago Verde and Jeinemeni. This might have been the trickiest but when we crossed it wasn't really bad. We then had two more smaller crossings before passing through Portezuela La Gloria (1100m) to cross Estero Ventisquero and the other river running down the main valley.<br />
The next day we did the popular side trip to the glacier in this valley: -46.80924, -72.20116<br />
We wondered if it was the same way Jan et al entered recently?<br />
From the refugio to Valle Avilés there are no compulsory river crossings if you stick to the somewhat scrubby trail to the left (south) of the valley. The first crossing we did was Río Avilés shortly followed by the tributary. So only 8 crossings (wet feet) on the RR. <br />
<br />
We walked from the refugio to Casa Piedra in a day. It was closed so we camped on the other side of the Rd.<br />
<br />
Part 3: Casa Piedra to Cochrane<br />
From casa piedra we took the aforementioned Sendero las Siete Lagunas. It is not it the track files but indeed very well marked with numbered markers every kilometre. I'll upload a kml with the markers I recorded as well as some of the water bodies I sketched.<br />
After the stream running into Lago Gutiérrez there wasn't much water until Lago la Pepa.<br />
You will briefly intersect with a road here: -47.14006, -72.37138. The road seems to run down to Puesto Tejuela coinciding with OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 which I think is incorrectly labelled as TL. Part of RH-TL-I@35-99.0+30.0 too should be marked as MR. You'll intersect this road before taking it down to Lago Cochrane.<br />
We passed the occupied dwelling (Daniel Huemul?) but the man wearing a shirt emblazoned with Parque Patagonia seemed afraid to approach us (another hint the world had gone Corona crazy). He wouldn't let us take the RR so we followed the road for a bit before taking another newly made trail also not in the track files.<br />
Everything after that was very easy to follow.<br />
Everything was abandoned at the entrance and the gate locked. People avoided us on the streets and covered their face when passing us. <br />
We grabbed some needed food (we were very short after 11 days!) and got on the WiFi. Wow! How things had changed! Martial law in place and a curfew in place, we slept under a bridge with some Colombians and caught a bus back to Chili Chico in the morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake tomorrow now.<br />
<br />
Links to files :<br />
Kilometre markers: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fuzt4xacxjjvvg4/kms.kmz?dl=0<br />
Water bodies: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uz1ei95s1913xvb/water.bodies.kmz?dl=0<br />
Other planning: <br />
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uk9ym56gufwk4zq/planning.kmz?dl=0<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019 Dec / Olrik/ Northbound <br />
<br />
Amazing part of the GPT, from Cochrane ou enter in the Tamango national reserve and pay 6000CLP for the entrance. We took several trails to get to Valle Chacabuco : Las Aguilas, Las Lengasm Los Condores, Laguna Altas. Great views. We had a snow storm at the pass though. There you end up in a paid campground. From there we walked the dirt road to Casa Piedras in Valle Chacabuco, it was beautiful with lots of guanacos. Then we took the Las Aviles sendero. We camped near the first river crossing as it was late and waited for the morning to cross. It is normally not possible to wild camp in the park but the guardaparque told us to camp there if the river crossing is not sage. The rest of the trail is easy to follow next to the river. There is a pass then you descend to Valle Hermoso and to lago Jeinimeni. It was just gorgeous and easy to follow with great weather. Be aware of the numerous river crossings. In lago Jeinimeni there is a paid campground. From there you can hitchhike, walk, or pay a transportation at the entrance of the park (15000Clp pp) but I'm not sure if this is a regular thing. We ended up hitchhiking to get to Chile Chico.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-28/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 5.5days/ Northbound / Regular Hiking Route (Cochrane to Chile Chico) with OH-32-2-#003/<br />
<br />
This section might have been our favorite out of the whole Group H, where the diversity of the landscape was our favorite part (also including weather and trail conditions). The NP was entered at Tamango just outside of Cochrane. Registration is mandatory, the entrance fee is at 8000 CLP. The ranger asked us to explain our route and since the regular Hiking route did not seem familiar to them, they told us to take the optionals route going north over the pass to WestWinds campground and then do the road walk Eastwards. <br />
The pass had some snow patches on the Southern side but was easy to traverse. At the Valley Chacabuco (another entrance to the national park) we got asked for our permits and the route we plan on taking. We heard different information on if it is allowed to camp at the road or not (there were signs that told us not to do it but the ranger said it is okay). After the roadwalk, we passed another ranger station where we had to register and sign a responsibility form telling that we plan to leave at Lago Jeinimeni (and telling that we're only allowed to stay at designated campsites). The hike from there is extremely beautiful and super diverse, the trail well maintained. The rivers were at higher flow but all fords were doable. <br />
We camped next to the Refugio because we still weren't sure about the camping rules (other hikers we met said they were told that it's okay to camp everywhere along the river). Leaving the NP at Lago Jeinimeni was straightforward, but it's mandatory to check out at the rangers office. The cross-country section after the road walk was a bit slow on the way up due to many bushes and hilly terrain. We found a nice trail next to the fence leading up to the puesto when going up the ridge on the Eastern side. From the puesto we took a short steep uphill after which the terrain became more open and easier to travel on. It was very windy and snowy in the mountains, which made it difficult to walk at times and it felt like the temperatures were rather low.<br />
The lagoons on the way up are filled with exciting birds (flamingos!) and guanacos are running around on the whole plain. Once reaching the plateau we headed down in a pretty straight line which was easier than the uphill until we reached the road<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
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=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Chile Chico has two supermarkets. Sell gas.<br />
<br />
*Cochrane is a decently sized town with three mid-range supermarkets. The largest one, which is a grocery and department store, is located adjacent to the town square. There are many lodging and restaurant options. Be sure to withdraw an ample amount of money here because most of the businesses in the next town, Villa O’Higgins, only take cash and there is no ATM.<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
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=Transport to and from Route=<br />
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<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
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*2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]<br />
<br />
=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT33H_(Torres_de_Avellano)&diff=114687GPT33H (Torres de Avellano)2024-03-09T10:55:40Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Mar-04 to 2024-Mar-08 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 03B + RR + OH D + K / Joscha<br />
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Day 1: OH33H-03B + RR [24.2-41.2]<br />
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I tried to hitch from Villa Cerro Castillo to the start of OH33H-03B. After 1 hour a Bus arrived and took me to the start for 2000 Pesos. The Bus runs from Cohayique to Chile Chico on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It starts in Coyhaique at 9 am and stopps in Villa Cerro Castillo at around 10:30 am. From the brigde at km 25.7 until km 35.8 there is no water on the RR. You walk close to some rivers but I didn't check if its possible to acces them. After km 35.8 there is plenty of water. At km 38.5 is a big flat field for camping with a creek next to it. I camped just before the crossing of the river at km 41.2.<br />
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Day 2: RR [41.2-58.3] + OH33H-D + RR [61.0-63.4]<br />
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There was plenty of water all along the trail. Camping possible at -46.291963, -72.470389 just before the Pass (km 44.4), at the start of OH33H-C and along the CC section from km 49.0 to 50.8. I can recommend OH33H-D. I especially liked the first Laguna. Camp 63.4 has awesome views, but is only slightly wind protected and the spots are only good for small tents.<br />
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Day 3: RR [63.4-93.2]<br />
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I stayed inside the riverbed for the last 2.5 km of the CC&BB section. I had to cross the river about 20 times, but its the fastest and easiest way. The ford at km 83.6 was just below my crotch (I am 191 cm) and the current was pretty strong at around 5 pm. It would have been difficult for smaller persons. All the other fords today were at max. knee hight. There is plenty of water all along the route. I camped next to the RR on a flat, grassy field at km 93.2.<br />
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Day 4: RR [93.2-116.3]<br />
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Plenty of water along this part of the RR.<br />
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Day 5: RR [116.3-119.6] + OH33H-K + RR [122.6-141.0] <br />
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OH33H-K is easy to walk but does not offer any great views. If you choose OH33H-K, than there is no water between km 117.5 and 138.5 (at km 135.2 is a water marker, but I didn't see any as I walked by. Maybe I missed it, because I wasn't looking for it). There is water at km 140.3. I got a hitch from km 141.0 to Puerto Ibanez. But there are very few cars on the road, so don't count on getting a hitch.<br />
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<br />
*2024-Feb-12 to 2024-Feb-16 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 03B, RR, Variant C, E, H, K / Tomáš & Natalie<br />
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There was a queue of three hitchhiker groups who did not get picked up while we were doing our shopping so we opted to hire a taxi for 15000 to the start of 03B (Pedro Zuleta: +56 993 5786 68). Somehow, during our arranging of the taxi, all three groups left. Roadwalking to option 07 was uneventful. Tomáš got a hitch (he eats lunch too slowly so Natalie got ahead) for about 5 km from a family which was exploring in a car. About 500 m before the diversion to option 07, there is a locked gate with a sign saying the property is private, but one can go over a ladder. At the gate, we met a local with a key who has a house on Option 07, if we got him right. He gave us a ride of 500 m. The start of option 7 is actually a road. <br />
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The MR at 24.2 is in a bad shape due to erosion after ford at about 12 km in. Tomáš made a bridge out of a log but managed to jump into the water while doing it. Enjoy the bridge while it lasts as did a Frenchman we met there. He did the circuit NOBO based on wikiloc. He said he keeps coming across GPT, but could not figure out how to get the GPS route. We told him to talk to Jan. Maybe he will come back the next season.<br />
<br />
On the way to the Torres, we met 3 pairs of Chilean hikers going back. Tomáš went to Laguna La Plaza (option C). Lake is grey but the valley is nice enough to justify the short detour. It is no BB, there is a trail in the forest and above the tree line a vague trail or easy CC. The Torres are indeed magnificent. One can easily walk on the sloped polished slab falling into the far side of the second lake before the pass - it is an exhilirating detour. Going down from the pass, when the GPX turns right, Tomáš actually managed to walk over one of the ledges above the GPX and liked it. Just be extremely careful with moss and water, they can make the stones extremely slippery, but he survived that without falling. About 100 m before the lake, there is a at-least-a-ton heavy swing in the form of a loose boulder. Enjoy if you can find it. Camp 63.4 is literally awesome. We had a very warm almost windless night there.<br />
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After the boulder field under camp63 we loss the rest of the elevation on the right side of the creek and then when the swamp appeared on the right we went to the left and stayed on that side (North) for the entire BB/CC. There is a vague trail most of the way, but is has many many logs over it. It took us 3 hours to walk to the trailhead. We kept our feet dry and were in the shade, but it would have been quicker and far less tiring just following the riverbed and constantly crossing the river.<br />
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Ford at 69.8 around noon was slightly above the knees. Ford it diagonally as the trail wants you to - it is shallower that way (ie a little further down than where the trail spits you out). Greeted grandfather, Maria and Julio and their three kids and had a short talk with the grandfather, nice to see the whole family working together on projects. From their place, the trail sort of is wide enough for a car (there is one at their place) but we think it is never or vietually never used by cars. Ford at 81.4 at six in the afternoon was 5 cm under our crotches (we are about 1.70), we forded about 100 upstream of GPX. The river was strong but we did not feel it was dangerous for us. We forded the widest part of the river just before a dead end fence (if you are coming from the other direction, after the grey river and around the dead end ford you will see the widest part of the river).The day was hot and despite not covering even 20 km, we felt superexhausted. Strong sun and spikees got to us!<br />
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We camped about 4 km along the road, shortly after the second (both jumpable) ford. It must be a good place to camp, as Tomáš, who went back to the big ford where he left his sandals the previous day, met a GPT hiker going NOBO who apparently slept in a hearing distance from us. The hiker first started to come to Patagonia decades ago, before it was overrun. Tomáš sadly never asked his name. Met the grandfather again, coming back from the port, horses are fast!<br />
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The road is not used by cars but stiĺl quite ugly. Around middle, near option 6, there are two shortcuts (400 and 50 metres) to the zigzags, three of which were marked by cairns by Tomáš. Please add the fourth cairn. Puesto 98.3 is a settler. He offered Natalie to come inside and rest but she didn't feel right stopping at that moment and kind of got the "heeby jeebies" from him. Met another pair of GPT hikers, doing just 33. The stretch along the coast is beautiful and very Mediterranean. All day the lake was without waves, even that can happen. Slept at Lake 113.8: nicer, with water and less buggy than camp 200 m earlier (just beware if the wind picks up the waves can be very loud). <br />
<br />
Variant K misses last water but is easy to follow, nicer than a road and involves only three very easy fence hops. Reached the bus stop for Puerto Ibanez around three. Got lucky and received a hitch from two British tourists to Puerto Ibanez. The shops there are larger than expected and stock overpriced pesto and gnocchi, Tomáš is almost as joyful as cherries make him!<br />
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Nat's Notes<br />
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- For views I would prefer this NOBO. I suffered a new type of "look back" syndrom on most of the route. Plus, if you are walking the lake shore in the afternoon, the sun should be on your downhills and not your uphills (it was insanely hot when we did it and without a whisper of wind).<br />
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-In the section notes for km24-45 I think what was meant was that from roughly km36-45,, "there are many small streams and camping spots", this is indeed true. However, between km 24-36 and option 3 there are NO longer many STREAMS to drink from, I remember only one slightly decent one and both sides of the road are fenced so if you want to camp or drink water from the main river then you must jump the fences (cow panels or barb) or ask a settler. Also, strange to say, there is very little shade and can get uncomfortably hot...<br />
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- Intersection 45 is not hard to miss anymore, it is marked with an orange ribbon around a tree and a large cairn on your left.<br />
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-on Trail#9 (ascent before the first two alpine lakes) I took Veronicas advice about going into the woods where the RR is but rather than trying to follow the gps I followed what seemed to be a trail along the creek with some cairns here and there. Eventually it ends above the trees but you should be able to make your way back to the RR once the "coast is clear", ie. no more trees. If you want to walk along the lake then you should do the CC up the boulder field on Variant D.<br />
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-Going down from the pass was no problem, like everyone says, "just follow the gps". However with that said, it is very tempting to make your own way bcs there are many good looking ledge systems but after reading Wills experience I backed away from the temptation and followed the GPS. I also slipped on some wet moss in RR<br />
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-So much water everywhere except for the lake camping, if you are smart you will fill up on one of the many streams before getting to the lake...<br />
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-When doing the BB/CC section, after the initial elevation loss from the lake there isn't much drinking water apart from the river until near the end of the BB. I think you could make "makeshift" camps. I was tempted to cross the river early to avoid crossing it at km69 but once again I remembered what Will wrote last year about the thorns and cliffs so, I don't think that's a good idea. <br />
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-Not a fan of the lakeside gate locking technique (remember how it looks before you open it;)<br />
<br />
-I surprisingly really enjoyed the lake stretch, it seemed it is where Pantagonia meets the Mediterranean/Arizona. The trail is in good shape, just a few overgrown roses and thorny bushes here and there (regretted shorts only a little bit). If you are coming from the north and still have your sand gaiters, this will be a good time to reuse them :). No exposure, wish there was more wind the day we were there. I am usually the biggest hater of "PUDs"<--thanks for the new word- but these were not annoying. These PUDs are just a few large hills rather than a bunch of steep micro hills like gpt22 or the valley bottoms in Argentina. WATER is at pretty much every "notch" in the hillside.<br />
<br />
-Water is at the bottom of the MR~117.5 and there is still water at the top 119.9 RR (easier to grab it a little higher up).<br />
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2024-Jan-30 to 2024-Feb-4 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick & Nolwenn & Tess & Lukas<br />
<br />
- Trail condition : gpx easy to follow / between km 63,7 and km 68,5 we mostly stayed on the left of the river<br />
- Water : easy to find plenty of rivers and lagunas<br />
- Camping spot : easy to find and the one at km 68.7 is nice // the refugio near the lake at km 98.5 is perfect - make fire, sleep inside, we even could ask for some bread<br />
- Weather : some rainy and cloudy days but overall the weather was ok<br />
- River crossing :at km 69.8 we crossed the river early in the morning and the current was strong and the water up to the middle of the thighs but manageable // at km 81,2 the river was strong and up to our hips, we crossed it in the rain, it was also manageable for us that already jave a little bit of experience<br />
- Resupply : in Villa Cerro Castillo and in Chile Chico ( a bulk shop just opened in front of the camping Nandu) // at km 76,7 we could buy some bread, cheese and eggs at Maria and Julio's house <br />
- Overall : we absolutely loved this section ! The views are spectacular and really diverse from one day to another // we got a hitchike at the end on the gravel road to go to Puerto Ibanez.<br />
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From 2023-01-20 to 2023-01-21 // 1,5 day // Hiking // NOBO // option 1 Valle Ibanez // Quentin Clavel<br />
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When I arrived in Puerto Ingeniero Ibàñez, I had to make a choice, as the weather window were pretty short. I had only 3 days and a half ahead of nice weather followed by one entire week of rain. <br />
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So I made the hard choice to skip Torres del Avelano, and go straight to Cerro Castillo by the OPT1 to explore the NP of CERRO CASTILLO. <br />
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This section was not so bad. Even if it was gravel road until the Lago tamango, I had nice views, and was not too bored from this stretch, but well yeah, it's gravel road for 30 km, so of course it was not all the time so funny aha ! <br />
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Then I went to the small track along Lago tamango. Very quiet, pretty well marked thanks to these sticks with red and white colours on top, and with some scenic views. <br />
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You'll end up at the parking of the touristic sendero sitio archeologico de manos pintadas (Paredón de las Manos (1000CLP for children's, 2000CLP for adults. From Tuesday to Sunday 10h00-17h00). Then it's gravel road, following by 1,3 km on the carretera austral to reach Villa cerro castillo. <br />
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I was expecting worse for this section. Quite happy about it. That's a nice alternative if, for a reason, you want or have to skip Torres de Avelano<br />
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*2024-01-02 to 2024-01-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR & Options: 03, 03B, 04C, 04 & Variant E / Roman<br />
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Route: Hitchhiked along Option 03 to X {33H-03} [18.6/315]. Hiked via Option 03B to X {33H} [24.2/462] and than continued RR to Ford, X {33H} [71.8/602]. Here used Variant E and back to RR all the way to Settler {33H} [85.0/462] (Luis Diaz). Continued on Option 04C to X {33H-04} [73.9/559]. From here used option 04 all to way to Bahía Murta.<br />
<br />
Decided to go SoBo to get the tricky parts done with a good weather forecast. Hitchhiked along Option 03 because it's easier to get a lift. Was at X {33H-03} [18.6/315] 12:35 PM. From there it's a super easy to hike street all the way to X {33H} [45.5/1088] via Option 03C and than 03. Sadly there where no cars going in the correct direction. Towards the end (last 5km) there are some rivers crossing the street, nothing bad, you can get over them dry feet if jumping on the rocks. Continued the RR, the trail is clearly visible and easy to hike all the way to Camp {33H} [52.7/953]. Arrived there at 09:30 PM. It's a awsome place to pitch a tent! It was absolutely woth it to go for such a long day. Met 2 locals who went with a truck all the way to this point: -46.26754, -72.419667. Met also Cy & GG (see GPT 23). We continued the next day. Trail was in a good condition and CC was easy no snow up to the pass Pass {33H} [62.0/1314]. Absolutely beautiful view! There is some snow on the south side on the way down. It's mostly melted to you can decide if you want the first 150-200m of elevation go down in snow or trough the boulders. It was a sunny day therefore quite easy to get down to the lake. From there we went down a boulder field to the BB (Bush bashing) section (400m). This is trivial - no macheta required. It's just walking trough the forest. From there the CC&BB is at the beginning easy. We found a animal trail on the southern side of the river. Than the swamp started which was annoying. We started, after finishing the swamp section, to walk in the river bed around here -46.438037, -72.469247 which was fast progress but wet feet. Jumped on the trail and camped at Camp Without Water {33H} [68.7/766]. There is a lot of water at the river and it's just a 10 minute walk so we filled the bottles. The Camp is good, stayed there with 3 tents. Continued the next day (it was moderate rain during the night and at the morning) to the X, Ford {33H} [69.8/634]. This was at the limit what is safely possible. Fast flowing river - hip deep (iam 180). From there on the trail was clearly visible and easy to hike fast. Continued the RR and did Variant E. Check you GPS, we didn’t intend to do it we just followed the most clearly visible trail and ended up at the Puesto {33H-E} [0.8/619] so we continued. The statement from above is still valid all the way to Settler {33H} [85.0/462] (Luis Diaz) for the RR ;). After that is a easy trail, at Settler {33H} [76.7/535] (Maria & Julio) I met Julio and they had a car there to the trail from this point on is even easier. I split up here with Cy & GG because of different plans and it was questionable if the Ford at Ford {33H} [81.2/490] (Rio Avellano) is even possible so I wanted to speed up. Reached the point around 05:00 PM. It was not possible to Ford - way to deep and to much current! So I used my packraft and crossed the river. Got in the water here: -46.456627, -72.320677 and followed than the RR. Ford {33H} [81.4/492] was also impossible by foot. Used the same tactic and crossed it by boat. Got in the water here: -46.453523, -72.316373 and crossed by boat. After that easy trail and continued the RR. Ford {33H} [83.6/467] (Rio Avellano) was also absolutely impossible so also did it by boat. After that I camped here: -46.463767, -72.26597. <br />
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interim conclusion: if the weather is not stable (I knew it wasn't [would reccomend checking with meteoblue] go SoBo and be aware that the crossing can be impossible - I would reccomend bringing you packraft so you habe more options even though it's the H route. Otherwise you have to wait, potentially for days or you need the help of a local (this is how Cy & GG managed it).<br />
<br />
Next day continued 04C. The trail to the pass is clearly visible and beautiful to hike. From there it's hard to find a few times because of a lot of animal tracks. Follow the GPS. The trail is again visible from this point on: -46.486009, -72.212428. Trail condition generally good with some bushes hanging in the trail. Reached X {33H-04} [73.9/559]. Same here a lot if animal trail - follow the GPS. The trail is clearly visible from this point on: -46.49591, -72.205307 up to Bahía Murta. Condition is good. The Pass {33H-04} [71.5/958] is definetly a highlight. Camped at Camp {33H-04} [66.2/209] - great place. Next day was long no changes on the trail condition - good and easy - hiked to Ford, Camp {33H-04} [37.5/259]. Camping there is a bit tricky to find a good place but manageable. Met a guy at the gosttown Puerto Cristal. The trail is according to him also used by tourists groups. I asked before the trial if there is a ferry connection - there is none only one company goes there by boat for tourist. Maybe you can arrange a transfer ( https://turismopuertocristal.cl/ very fast response time via WhatsApp 10 minutes). The Pass {33H-04} [43.3/840] is also a highlight. The Ford, Camp {33H-04} [37.5/259] is challenging hip deep. After that it's easy road walk to Bahía Murta. Got a lift at -46.520007, -72.636049.<br />
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Overall: I would recommend SoBo because the difficult sections are at the beginning and weather dependent. Go if you have a few stable non rainy days. Bring you packraft to have more options for fording. The entry via Option 03 & 03B is in my opinion easy due to hitchhiking & ou find a grop and book a lift The views are amazing at the passes. The BB is trivial. BB&CC is annoying but done within 2 hours. The Option 4 is absolutely beautiful and if you are a bit luckier than me avoids a lot of road walking. Would definitely reccomend the section. The reason for me to go with Option 04 is to easy connect to 82P.<br />
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Contact: https://linktr.ee/RundW<br />
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*2023-12-22 / 3 days / RR / SOBO / Anh<br />
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Just a quick info: The first part of RR is not marked but very easy to hike. After the pass (km 62) I had a hard time with the 2km CC. At first the snowfields were very steep (60 slope). The snow thickness was only 20-80cm, underneath are very big steep boulders and the melting snow makes the hollows big. Then there are the streams under the snowfields. I was a few times with a foot in it, fortunately not whole body. I had to go up and down in the forest, on the edge, on the rocks... My goal was to be safe, it took me 2 hours to cover the 2km.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
* General Recommendation: The Torres de Avellano are an assembly of granite towers that rise 1000 m into the sky. Glaciers are nested on the flanks of these mountains and glacier lakes compose the base of this panorama. The Torres de Avellano display an epic beauty coequal to the world-famous Torres del Paine but the wild beauty of the Torres de Avellano comes without the hype and the large hordes of visitors. Therefore, hikers can enjoy this hidden treasure undisturbed and without the restrictions of an overrun and heavily regulated national park.<br />
<br />
This highlight is embedded in a diverse route that traverses the semi-desert of the Patagonian Pampa, sneaks along the shore of the largest lake of Chile and provides a taster of the settler’s culture.<br />
<br />
The in 2020 published Regular Route of GPT33H combines an exceptional diversity of landscapes:<br />
<br />
The tree-less semi-desert of the Patagonian Pampa<br />
Lush green forests<br />
Wide open pastures above the tree-line<br />
Tall mountains and granite towers<br />
Glaciers that grind on these mountains and carved several glacier lakes<br />
Swamps and crystal-clear rivers<br />
Idyllic farmland with settlers that move on horseback<br />
A huge wind-battered lake that feels like open sea<br />
<br />
Despite these attractions the number of visitors remains low and the few hikers normally walk a fraction of this route only.<br />
<br />
This diversity makes section GPT33H a highlight of the GPT with an Attractiveness Rating 5 of 5.<br />
<br />
Some hikers might find the long gravel roads on both ends of the regular route annoying even if the traffic is insignificant. Hikers with a strong aversion to road walking should consider taking a motorized transport. Trying to hitchhike is also an option but chances to catch a ride are relatively low. Therefore, keep walking while signaling your interest to hitchhike to the occasionally passing vehicles.<br />
The regular route incorporates 2 km of cross country walking through steep piles of boulders [RR-CC-A@33H-62.1+1.9] and around 0.4 km of bush bashing [RR-BB-A@33H-64.0+0.4]. Another 4 km [RR-CC&BB-A@33H-64.4+4.2] require a mix of cross country walking and bush bashing partly through swamps. Therefore, hikers that feel uncomfortable clambering over rocks and smashing through vegetation may opt to walk only to the pass [Pass 1310m @33H-62.2], enjoy the view of the Torres de Avellano, backtrack on the same route to diversion [Div @33H-54.6] and then follow GPT33H Option 2 which is a less demanding trail in the valley along Rio Avellano [OH-TL-V@33H-02-#001].<br />
<br />
The regular route also climbs to 1300 m altitude where weather can become hostile even in summer. Therefore, the elevated and exposed part of the Regular Route should only be hiked in decent weather. GPT33H Option 2 is a lower, less exposed trail that provides a bypass around the Torres de Avellano in case of poor climatic conditions [OH-TL-V@33H-02-#001].<br />
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Some trails are rarely used, poorly maintained and therefore difficult to follow. In particular trail [RR-TL-V@33H-54.6+2.5] and [RR-TL-V@33H-68.6+1.4] are partly vaguely visible. Here hikers should frequently consult their GPS to not lose these trails.<br />
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Rio Avellano must be crossed at least once [Ford (Rio Avellano) @33H-81.4]. These fords of Rio Avellano might be difficult or unsafe at times. Therefore, good judgement and a careful selection of river crossing locations is essential. The flow rate of this glacier feed river is normally lower in the morning and on colder cloudy days. If a river crossing on foot appears unsafe i.e. after heavy rain or on hot sunny days (accelerated melting of glaciers) you may ask the settlers for help. The settlers normally ford this river on horseback.<br />
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The trail along the shore of Lago General Carrera is partly on the edge of steep cliffs. Hikers with vertigo (acrophobia / fear of height) will find these trail segments scary and tripping in these parts can be fatal.<br />
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The length of this section requires a good amount of food that makes the backpack heavy at the beginning.<br />
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Due to the above listed challenges the Difficulty Rating is 5 of 5.<br />
<br />
The Regular Route of GPT33H was completely redrawn in 2020 to incorporate the Torres de Avellano into the GPT. Most of the new Regular Route was hiked by the founders of the GPT in February 2020 and the remaining unverified gravel roads of the Regular Route are clearly visible on satellite images. Therefore, the Regular Route can be considered verified.<br />
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The Regular Route is best hiked between December and March. Potential obstacles are high river levels during snowmelt till November and fresh snow in the elevated area at the Torres de Avellano starting from April or May.<br />
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The substantially shorter optional route GPT33H Option 1 is in the vicinity of Rio Ibañez and can be hiked all year around.<br />
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<br />
REGULAR HIKING ROUTE:<br />
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<br />
Kilometer 0.0 to 24.3: Villa Cerro Castillo to western end of Lago Lapparent at diversion [Div @33H-24.3]<br />
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Leave Villa Cerro Castillo on the Carretera Austral and follow this paved road for 1.2 km. Don’t miss the exit shortly after the bridge over Rio Ibañez and continue on gravel roads to the eastern terminus of Lago Laparent. There are several nice spots to pitch a tent partly on the shore of lakes. The water supply along this route is not verified yet, therefore carry enough water to get at least to the lakes along this route.<br />
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Kilometer 24.3 to 45.7: Gravel road to Avellano trail head at diversion [Div @33H-45.7]<br />
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Continue on the gravel road for 21 km. You can refill your water bottles on the numerous small side streams that run down the mountains. Alternatively ask the settlers along the road for water. There are plenty of attractive camp sites along the minor road. The Avellano trail head can easily be overlooked when walking the minor road. Therefore, pay attention to the GPS when approaching the diversion at Kilometer 45.7.<br />
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Kilometer 45.7 to 54.6: Horse trail along upper Rio Avellano to diversion [Div @33H-54.6]<br />
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The frequently used horse trail is well maintained and generally easy to follow. Only on the open pastures the trail dissipates and forms again where the route enters a forest. Water is frequently available but should be filtered if taken from the larger streams that cross the pastures. The pastures along the route provide scenic camp sites.<br />
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Kilometer 54.6 to 57.1: Ascent in forest on track [RR-TL-V@33H-54.6+2.5]<br />
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This trail section is rarely used, poorly maintained and partly not well visible. Fallen trees block the trail in numerous locations and several diversions around these obstacles complicate navigation. Hikers should consult frequently their GPS to not lose the trail in the forest. This more demanding trail ends where the route leaves the forest and enters the open valley.<br />
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Kilometer 57.1 to 62.2: Upper valley to Torres de Avellano outlook to [Pass 1310m @33H-62.2]<br />
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The wide open upper valley provides good grazing land for cattle and is used in the summer months for this purpose. Therefore, numerous animal tracks can be spotted in this area. In this area the GPS track often indicate an approximate route only and hikers should seek their way more freely. Only where the route enters a patch of trees the route should be followed closely. Towards the end of the valley the route becomes steeper and fields of rocks require careful walking. Water from the river should be filtered or boiled before consumption. There are plenty of attractive camp sites. The last reasonable well protected spot to pitch a tent is [Camp @33H-61.2]. The next protected camp site is approx. 3 to 4 hours walking hours after the pass down in the upper valley of Rio Ventisquiero after Kilometer 64.4.<br />
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Kilometer 62.2 to 64.0: Boulder descent on track [RR-CC-A@33H-62.1+1.9]<br />
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After the pass the route descents cross country through fields of boulders into the valley of Rio Ventisquiero. The GPS track guides around cliffs and should be followed relatively closely. Some water trickles down from the mountains above. The camp [Camp @33H-63.5] provides a perfect view of the Torres de Avellano but is very wind exposed and gets flooded in heavy rain. Therefore, pitch your tent only in this location if weather conditions are perfect and after checking the weather and wind forecast for the night and the next morning. If camping here, you will hear during the night the rumbling sound of falling glacier ice. Water can be collected in the glacier lake. There is no more drinking water from the glacier lake to Rio Ventisquiero at Kilometer 64.4.<br />
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Kilometer 64.0 to 64.4: Forest bush bashing on track [RR-BB-A@33H-64.0+0.4]<br />
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When reaching the end of boulder field enter the forest and seek your way 400 m through the forest to the Rio Ventisquiero. The bush bashing though the forest is slow and demanding.<br />
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Kilometer 64.4 to 68.6: Upper valley of Rio Ventisquiero on track [RR-CC&BB-A@33H-64.4+4.2]<br />
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The upper valley of Rio Venitsquiero got filled with sediments from the surrounding mountains. Therefore, the base of this upper valley is now 100 m to 200 m wide, flat and only lightly sloped. The valley bottom is covered by bare river sediments, swamps and some pastures that get occasionally used as grazing ground for cattle. Therefore, several vague animal tracks are visible but there is no continuous main trail. In this upper valley livestock rooms freely on the riverbanks, in the river itself, though the swamps and over the pastures but also in the rather open forest on either side of the river. In the same manner hikers should freely seek their way until reaching the trail head [Trail @33H-68.6]. Water is readily available but may need to be filtered or boiled. There are also several spots for a tent in this upper valley.<br />
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Kilometer 68.6 to 69.9: Descent in forest on track [RR-TL-V@33H-68.6+1.4]<br />
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At the end of the upper valley the Rio Ventisquiero enters a tight gorge and cascades down into the valley of Rio Avellano. Just before this gorge a trail starts, leads away from the river and descents through the forest to Rio Avellano. This trail is steep in parts and occasionally obstructed by fallen trees. About 300 m after leaving the river a tent can pitched in an old corral but water must be brought from the river [Camp NO Water @33H-68.9].<br />
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Kilometer 69.9 to 85.7: Horse trail along lower Rio Avellano to [Ford (Rio Avellano) @33H-85.7]<br />
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The horse trail along Rio Avellano is frequently used and well maintained. Several pastures provide nice camp sites and water is readily available but may need to be filtered or boiled. Rio Avellano must be crossed at least once at [Ford (Rio Avellano) @33H-81.4]. When passing the two homestead farms [Settler (Maria & Julio) @33H-76.9] and [Settler (Luis Diaz) @33H-85.2] be a kind guest and salute the owners of the land that you are crossing. If you visit Luis Diaz you will need to cross Rio Avellano two more times. In case Rio Avellano can not be forded on foot you may these settlers for help to cross the river on horseback.<br />
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Kilometer 85.7 to 98.7: Minor road along Rio Avellano to Puerto Avelleno to diversion [Div @33H-98.7]<br />
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Years ago, a mining company researched the lower valley of Rio Avellano for precious metals and build a minor road to facilitate this investigation. Luckily, the research did not result in the opening of mine, but the minor road remains in use. The road terminates at Puerto Avellano on the shore of Lago General Carrera. Water and camp sites can be found regularly on this route.<br />
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Kilometer 98.7 to 118.6: Horse trail along Lago General Carrera on track [RR-TL-V@33H-98.7+19.9]<br />
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The settlers in the valley of Rio Avellano get to their outposts either by ferry or on horseback. This horse trail next to Lago General Carrera is also occasionally used to move animals between the valley of Rio Avellano and Levicán. Walking this horse trail means quite some pointless ups and downs (“PUDs”) due to the very steep and rocky terrain. Occasionally streams cross the path and provide drinking water to refill bottles every hour or two. This steep terrain and the dense semi-desert vegetation makes it difficult to find a suitable camp site. The two best spots to pitch a tent are documented [Camp @33H-114.5] and [Camp @33H-116.9].<br />
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Kilometer 118.6 to 131.4: Minor road from Lago General Carrera to Levicán to diversion [Div Levican @33H-131.4]<br />
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In 2019 the minor road from Levicán was extended by 2 or 3 km and reaches now the shore of Lago General Carrera. With this extension some horse trail might become disused and overgrown in the coming years. Therefore, hikers should follow this new minor road from the shore of Lago General Carrera. This new route is not yet recorded in detail by GPS and therefore currently an investigation route. Before ascending this road refill your water bottles and bags as Lago General Carrera as this is the last reliable water supply for the next 22 km. Pastures around the settlers home provide nice camp sites but if these settlers are not at homes hikers might struggle to get water. The next reliable water supply is in the vicinity of [Bridge @33H-130.4].<br />
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Kilometer 131.4 to 157.5: Road from Levicán to section end in Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez<br />
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A wide and well maintained gravel road connects Levicán with Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez. Subsidized buses provide public transportation on the morning and the evening on Monday and Friday only. Chances to get a lift when hitchhiking are reasonably good. Water bottles can be refilled where the road gets in close vicinity of Rio Ibañez or at settlers homes. The occasional pastures along the road provide suitable camp sites.<br />
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OPTIONALS ROUTES:<br />
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GPT33H Option 1 Valle Ibañez<br />
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Outside of the recommended travel period or in poor weather hikers should consider taking the substantially shorter and less exposed Option 1.<br />
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This route is one of the remaining fragments of the Sendero de Chile trail project. Should you see “''Prohibido entrar''” signs (“Do not enter”) on a gate then don´t get discouraged to continue. These signs refer most likely to cars and not to hikers. The northern third of this optional route is mostly on trails while the remaining part follows minor roads. Hikers that walked this route described it as easy walking and scenic. Hitchhiking is possible and promising.<br />
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GPT33H Option 2 Torres de Avellano Bypass<br />
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The regular route via [Pass 1310m @33H-62.2] is very exposed. In bad weather hikers should consider taking Option 2 which is a well maintained trail in the less exposed valley of Río Avellano.<br />
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The Torres de Avellano Bypass requires about one dozen river crossings. By taking this bypass hikers miss the highlight of this section but in poor weather the Torres de Avellano are anyway covered in clouds and not visible.<br />
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GPT33H Option 3 Carretera Austral<br />
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This optional route represents the Carretera Austral between Villa Cerro Castillo and Puerto Tranquilo. Walking the Carrera Austral is not suggest but hikers that opt to walk Option 4,5 and/or 6 should take a bus that travels the Carretera Austral. This optional route is also the closest land route next to the packrafting option on the upper Rio Ibañez ([[GPT32]] Option 6), Rio Murta ([[#GPT33H Option 10 Río Murta|GPT33H Option 10]]) and Lago General Carrera ([[#GPT33H Option 11 Lago General Carrera Oeste|GPT33H Option 11]]).<br />
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GPT33H Option 4 Puerto Cristal<br />
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This fully verified route is a combination of minor roads, trails and cross country routes in the vicinity of Lago General Carrera that connects Bahia Murta via Puerto Sanchez and Puerto Cristales with Puerto Avellano. It is of interest for hikers that partly travel the Carretera Austral by bus and wish to explore the Valle Miller and the Valle Jaramillo to explore the little known western side of the Torres de Avellano.<br />
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For more information see the Wikiexplora Article:<br />
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[[Puerto Cristal]]<br />
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GPT33H Option 5 Valle Miller<br />
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The Valle Miller to the west of the Torres de Avellano is a death-end valley without a suitable hiking connection to the adjacent valleys. Therefore, this option is of interest for hikers that wish to explore the scenic Cordillera de Avellano without an ambitious long-distance goal.<br />
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For more information see the Wikiexplora Articles:<br />
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[[Valle Miller]]<br />
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[[Estero Jaramillo]]<br />
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GPT33H Option 6 Altiplano Este<br />
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This option is of interest for hikers that wish to explore an undocumented route that climbs up high up into treeless rocky terrain. The steep and long ascent will most likely require some demanding route finding and clambering what will not appeal to all hikers.<br />
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The settlers in Valle Avellano and the residents of Levicán described this route that traverses the altiplano and connects these two homesteads. This cross country routes climbs steep up from Río Avellano, reaches an altitude of 2170 m and then descends gradually towards Levicán. This route through barren terrain grants impressive views over Lago General Carrera and the surrounding mountains. But the elevated and exposed terrain makes this a “good weather only route”. Locals warned that strong wind, low clouds and snowstorms can transform this area into a disorienting and hostile place even in mid summer. There seems no drinking water on the altiplano (apart from remaining snow) and the satellite images do not indicate suitable wind protected camp sites in the elevated area. This route is not yet investigated by hikers and recorded by GPS.<br />
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GPT33H Option 7 Ruta Alto Norte<br />
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Hikers that are appealed by clambering through elevated exposed terrain might enjoy this shorter but not necessarily faster investigation route. <br />
The settlers in Valle Avellano confirmed that this route has been used occasionally but no GPS record or detailed description is available. The character of this route is similar to the above described Option 6 but Option 7 might require in addition some bush-bashing.<br />
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A part of this route is described in the Wikiexplora Article:<br />
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[[Mirador Este de las Torres de Avellano]]<br />
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GPT33H Option 8 Valle Resbalín<br />
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This option is of interest for hikers that partly bus the Carretera Austral and wish to investigate routes. The Valley of Rio Resbalín connects Bahia Murta with the valley of Rio Avellano. This only partly verified optional route is approximately 20 km long and the shortest access to the Torres de Avellano from the Carretera Austral. <br />
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Till around 2010 the settlers of Bahia Murta used this trail to drive animals to the summer pastures in the Cordillera Avellano. But a landslide halfway on this route made this traverse unsuitable for animals. Now the center part of this route is unmaintained and difficult to follow. This makes it preferable to investigate this route from Bahia Murta and not from Rio Avellano. Therefore, hikers that wish to explore this option should take a bus that travels the Carretera Austral (See [[GPT33H]]) and leave the bus at the Bahia Murta junction. Hikers should carry a machete and be prepared that it may take up to two days to reach the Regular Route at [Puesto @33H-53.0]. If the now unmaintained trail turns out impassable than hikers can backtrack to Bahia Murta, resupply in this village and:<br />
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walk along the Lago General Carrera via Puerto Sanchez and Puerto Cristal to Puerto Avellano (see [[#GPT33H Option 4 Puerto Cristal|GPT33H Option 4]]) or walk into Valle Miller and Valle Jaramillo on the western side of the Torres de Avellano (see [[#GPT33H Option 5 Valle Miller|GPT33H Option 5]]).<br />
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*REGULAR PACKRAFTING ROUTE :<br />
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Kilometer 0.0 to 98.7: Same as Regular Hiking Route.<br />
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Packrafting Kilometer 98.7 to 131.4: Packrafting the coast of Lago General Carrera from Puerto Avellano to Levicán<br />
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Due to the normally strong wind and the resulting high waves packrafting Lago General Carrera is challenging and not inherently safe even if paddling close to the shore and in the predominant wind direction (from Puerto Avellano towards Levicán). This lake is infamous for suddenly starting wind, therefore don’t rely only on your observations but check the wind forecast before inflating the packraft. Only if a sufficiently long window of calm weather is predicted consider packrafting. The steep and rocky coast often inhibits exiting the lake and connecting to the trail. The 8.5 km long segment between [Lake In/Out @33H-104.6] and [Lake In/Out @33H-114.7] is without a suitable connection to the trail.<br />
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First 6.6 km till from [Lake In/Out @33H-98.9] to [Lake In/Out @33H-104.6]: Continuously easy lake exit and good trail access<br />
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Next 4.3 km till [Emergency Lake Out @33H-109.8]: No safe lake exit and no access to trail<br />
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At [Emergency Lake Out @33H-109.8]: Small beach for emergency lake exit but very difficult access to trail<br />
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Next 4.2 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-114.7]: No safe lake exit and no access to trail<br />
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At [Lake In/Out @33H-114.7]: Easy lake exit and good access to trail<br />
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Next 2.0 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-116.7]: No safe lake exit and no access to trail<br />
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Next 1.7 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-116.7]: Continuously easy lake exit and good access to trail<br />
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Next 10 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-127.7]: At least every 2 km beaches to exit lake but very difficult access to trail<br />
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Packrafting from Levicán to Puerto Avellano in south-western direction is not recommended due to the opposite predominant wind direction.<br />
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Kilometer 131.4 to 143.8: Walking from Levicán to Rio Ibañez at [River In @33H-143.8]<br />
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Packrafting from Levican to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez in northern direction is not recommended due to the opposite predominant wind direction. Therefore packrafter should walk the hiking route from Levicãn to Rio Ibañez at [River In @33H-143.8]. Only when travelling from Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez to Levian packrafting might be considered on an exceptionally calm morning or evening.<br />
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Packrafting Kilometer 143.8 to 147.0: Packraft crossing of Rio Ibañez and walk to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez<br />
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With a packraft it is normally not necessary to roadwalk 12.6 km via [Bridge @33H-148.7] and [Bridge @33H-149.5] to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañaez but Rio Ibañez can be crossed by packraft. Therefore, packrafters should consider inflating the packraft at [River In @33H-143.8] and take the 3.1 km short cut into town.<br />
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OPTIONAL PACKRAFTING ROUTE:<br />
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GPT33H Option 9 Laguna Verde<br />
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Packrafters that hike the section GPT33H northbound i.e. after crossing Lago General Carrera from Fachinal to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez best terminate this section via Option 9 to use the packraft on the final 21 km to Villa Cerro Castillo. For more information see [[#Combining GPT33H with GPT32|Combining GPT33H with GPT32]].<br />
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GPT33H Option 10 Río Murta<br />
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This option is attractive for packrafters that use public transportation to cherry-pick easily accessible water routes or that plan to hike [[#GPT33H Option 4 Puerto Cristal|Option 4]], [[#GPT33H Option 5 Valle Miller|Option 5]] and [[#GPT33H Option 8 Valle Resbalín|Option 8]] or that want to packraft [[#GPT33H Option 11 Lago General Carrera Oeste|GPT33H Option 11]] along the shore of Lago General Carrera.<br />
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Rio Murta is a beautiful turquoise river that meanders through a wide valley and is surrounded by snow-covered peaks. The 44 km long river section from the recommended put-in till the outlet into Lago General Carrera is free of rapids and can be packrafted southbound only. The river descends gradually 70 m (elevation difference) over these 44 km what results in a moderate to fast river speed. The water volume changes substantially between seasons and depending on rain. Especially in late summer and autumn this river can be rather shallow even for a packraft resulting in ground contacts. A bigger hazard for packrafters are the dead trees in the bends where the current often accelerates. Many wide gravel banks facilitate entering and exiting the river. The nearby Carretera Austral can be easily reached in various locations<br />
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GPT33H Option 11 Lago General Carrera Oeste<br />
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Packrafters that look for a special challenge may consider paddling along the shore of Lago General Carrera. But only patient packrafters without a tight schedule may attempt this route should as the normally strong wind makes packrafting most of the time unsafe. During spring or autumn chances are better to have some days with less wind than during summer.<br />
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The proposed route follows the shoreline close to lake exits and in parallel to land routes to continue walking if wind impedes packrafting. Due to the predominant wind direction this route can only be paddled in westbound direction. The crossing from Puerto Tranquilo to Puerto Sanchez requires particular caution and should only be attempted on a very calm morning or evening [ OP-LK-2@33H-11-#002]. It is not advisable to packraft between [Lake In/Out @33H-11-#006] and [Lake In/Out @33H-11-#007] as the steep and particular wind exposed coast impedes exiting the lake in this 12 km long area. The advises to the [[#Regular Packrafting Route]] are equally applicable.<br />
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*2023-Mar-30 to 2023-Mar-31 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 1 / Martin & Helena<br />
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We started from Villa Cerro Castillo around 11 AM and took ferry from the port the next day at noon. The former RR trail follows path of Sendero de Chile, and starting with no expectations we were quite impressed with what it offers, especially all the amazing views of Cerro Castillo. It's definitely a good short alternative to the Torres del Avellano detour that we were forced to skip. Trail is easy to follow and you can find many camp spots along the way. There are many small shops in Puerto Ibáñez. Knowing the ferry schedule we went directly to the port where were just a few others in this time of the year.<br />
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Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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*26/02/2023 - 02/03/2023 / RR SOBO with emergency exit on a boat on Lago General Carrera / Louis, Rémi & Noé :<br />
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Day 1 - From Lago Verde - 15.5km - +700m/-300m We first hitchiked from Villa Cerro Castillo to Lago Verde on the Carretera Austral. We hiked then the gravel road until the camp next to the free check in point, in the forest.<br />
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Day 2 - Laguna La Plazza - 16.5km - +800m/-500m We kept going on the minor road before the well maintained horse trail. We took option to the Laguna La Plazza and we camped there but the weather was quite bad with a lot of wind. Would recommend to camp in the pasture down there in these conditions.<br />
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Day 3 - Lagunas before the pass - 17km - +1000m/-900m The trail was still very easy to follow this day. A bit of cross country at the end but nothing difficult as there are kerns. There is a spot to pitch tents next to the second lake, between it and the waypoint "camp" (that we didn't find btw). Very nice there and without the clouds, the view should be incredible.<br />
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Day 4 - CC until diversion @km69.8 - 14km - +500m/-1100m The troubles began for us this day. Noé injured his knee just after the pass. With Rémi, we alternated carrying his bag in addition to ours. That's why we hadn't moved a lot. The bush bashing is demanding and under the rain, fording is a real challenge. I would recommend you to be south of the Rio after the diversion/ford. We camped on the north side, a few hundred meters after the div.<br />
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Day 5 - Lago General Carrera - 30km - +700m/-1000m As we were a bit late, we decided to walk directly to the lake. We forded the Rio in order to be south of it and we found the horse trail, it was easier then ! We crossed the Rio a last time @km81.2, still manageable with the rain but a bit hard (water until the hips, we are 1m80 tall) with a strong current. Then, the minor road. We didn't leave it until the lake. A bit of ups and downs but the road is nice so it is fast. Here, at the lake. There is mobile coverage and so we contacted numeros given on the PDF on WhatsApp to find a boat to bring us back to civilisation. With the third bag to carry, it was too hard for us to keep hiking. I let you the contact of Jairo, that can bring you back to Puerto Tranquilo... for 400.000 CLP... we didn't had the choice as the settler living just in front of the lake wasn’t there. Jairo : +56 9 6633 9507 He transported us the next day.<br />
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*2023-Feb-21-27 / NOBO / RR + Option 3B / Ondrej and Bara / Puerto Ibanez - Vila Cerro Castillo / 6.5 days<br />
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Gorgerous section. Unfortunately, we were struck by bad weather mid-way which took out the joy and brought a few very difficult moments for us.<br />
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We went NOBO and on the 3rd day camped in the valley close to Maria & Julio (76.7 km). It started raining early morning and while the rain stopped around midday, it was enough to turn streams into rivers and cross country paths into swamps. We were unable to ford the river at km 69.8 at two different places. To continue, we decided to make a risky choice and bush-bash upstream on the other side of the river, hoping to ford it in an upper section and rejoin the trail. This eventually worked out. We forded the river at -46.43642, -72.45456 and rejoined the trail. This 1.2km diversion took us about 2 hours. Bush-bashing through forest was okay but in the middle of the diversion we struggled through 300m of thorny bushes which took forever to get across.<br />
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From around 1000m of altitude, we had fresh snow on the slopes. This made the boulder field more challenging than we wanted (fortunately still manageable). We crossed the exposed pass at km62.0 and continued on the other side, firstly through snow and then again through muddy cross country parts until we joined the trailhead at km 57.0. Afterwards the trail was easy all the way until the end.<br />
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We also met Anna and Christopher going the opposite direction - really great to meet fellow hikers!<br />
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*2023-Feb-20-24 / NOBO / RR shortend on the road sections / Zohar / Road to Levicán - Carterra Austeral / 5 days<br />
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I tried to shorten the section because of the upcoming bad weather, which hit on the last day, but I was lucky to catch a ride out with a family that came to collect wood from their land.<br />
<br />
I arrived on Monday to pureto Ibañez spoke with the van to levicán that left at 17.40 to Levicán got off on the way where the rout leave the main road and walked till the shore of Lago General Carrera. Day 2 I followed the horse trail along the lake, which was very visible and easy to follow. Then, I followed a miner till I found a stable campsite. Day 3 was the hardest. I was determined to sleep at the base of the torres, so I had a lot of trail to cover, and the route was hard to follow, but the direction was clear. Day 4 started with a beautiful sun rise on the clear torres de avellano. The bolder field wasn't as hard as I itentenly thought, but be careful. After the pass, I met 4 young hikers going to the torres and back. Day 5 was wet, but at least on a minor road and about 9 km before the road, I was picked up and taken to Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
<br />
I don't advise doing the section in 5 days thay where long, big days, and it is better to enjoy the surroundings. if the weather was better, I would have taken 7 days. This section is beautiful and highly recommended<br />
<br />
<br />
* 20.02. - 24.02.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO, Villa Cerro Castillo - Puerto Ibáñez<br />
<br />
In the afternoon we started hitchhiking the Carretera Austral to where Option 3B starts. There were lots of people trying to hitchhike directly from Villa Cerro Castillo, so we figuered to have a better chance if we walk further up the Carretera Austral. We soon got lucky. That day we walked the dirtroad until km 4.4 and camped there next to a small stream.<br />
<br />
The next day was mostly easy walking on dirtroads until the crossing at km 45.5 (which is relatively easy to miss!). We camped at km 49 at the edge of the forest.<br />
<br />
The next day the weather turned bad once we reached the section with all the boulders on the ascent to the pass. We did some unnecessary climbing by not sticking to the main route. When descending we lost the main route again and briefly tried to descend without it, which we soon realised is a bad idea, so we climbed back up to where we lost it. We spent the night at the camp at km 63.4.<br />
<br />
The next morning we woke up with a clear blue sky and finally saw the Torres del Avellano. Really amazing rock formations. The following bushbashing part seemed ok to us, we had worse ones on the GPT so far ;). First we walked on to the right of the river following a good animal path. Once it ended we changed to the left side and stayed there. About 2/3 of the route is a realtively good path and the rest was some easy BB and climbing over fallen trees. Luckily the ford at km 69.8 was easy to cross. We took variant E from where on the trail was in a great condition and we could walk pretty fast. The river crossing at km 81.1 was more demanding and went almost up to Annas hips (1,63m). We camped soon after that at approx. km 81.5.<br />
<br />
We continued on variant H the easy trail on the dirtroad until the lake, where it gets more demanding (we underestimated the continous ups and downs). The views are amazing though. It gets pretty windy next to the lake. We camped at a tiny spot at km 109.3 next to a small stream.<br />
<br />
On the final day we walked to the bus station (6 pm) and took the ferry to Chile Chico the same day (8 pm). This section was great :)<br />
<br />
<br />
*11-18 February 2023 / Maks&Gabi / SOBO / RR, 33H-E, 33H-H ( hichhiking from km136 to Puerto Ibanez)<br />
<br />
We started from Villa Cerro Castillo. If you can, try not to skip the first part of road walking. It's beautiful with the view over Lagunas and Cerro Castillo. The terrain is also different than in later parts of the section.<br />
<br />
There are some problems - lot of fences and gates on the first 5 km. Then many aggressive dogs and limited access to water (steep descents and fences around the lakes). The camping spots, marked on track files, can be hard to access (private properties with new fences). We camped by the bridge around 25km (the bridge is not marked).<br />
<br />
We than waited half a day for the rain to stop. The rest of the road is also well maintained with occasional river crossing (all easy).<br />
<br />
The next trail part (until km 57) is mostly visible. Some problem can occur by the CC part, especially during heavy rain - it was all floded. We weren't exactly expecting it, but it was snowing and the temperature during the night was about -4. Next day we waited until 11 am to dry our stuff, as the sun finally came out.<br />
<br />
As Veronica wrote, when going up to the pass try to follow the cairns (33H-D). The part between the lakes and the pass is quite easy.<br />
<br />
Going down from the pass we followed the GPS and we found it quite manageable (actually for us it seemed to be much easier going SOBO than NOBO at that point, even though it was slippery and with a lot of small streams going down the rock). We reached the camp at km 63.4 at 4 pm. First 400 m of BB is easy as the forest is not overgrown. It's getting worse in the valley. If possible try to be close to the river. We were fording it multiple times. Finally we stayed at the left side of the river, bushbashing for the next 3 km (that's where the trail starts). We slept next to the ford at km 69.8.<br />
<br />
We forded the river in the morning. It's possible, but the current was strong (for us it was the worst ford on this section with water above our knees - I'm 175 cm). After the next ford we followed 33H-E as we couldn't find the entrance to the RR. It's a very well maintained path with a big puesto nearby.<br />
<br />
After fords at km 81 we followed 33H-H as we didn't want to cross the river anymore. For those of you, who are planning to go there during the next few days, be carefull - somewhere around km 91 there is a fresh dead cow near to the water.<br />
<br />
The lake part's quite exhausting. We were blessed with sunny and windless weather so we found it astonishing and not so dangerous. We started our last day at camp km 113.8 . Ascent on the road (117.5) is ok and there was water on km 119.9 (small stream). The rest of the road walking is easy (with occasional fences) but there's no water on km 135.2 (water on 129.3 is hard to access).<br />
<br />
We hitchhiked from km 136 to Puerto Ibanez. During the weekend there is only one ferry a day (Saturday morning and Sunday evening).<br />
<br />
<br />
*8 to 13 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO from Laguna Verde / 6 data<br />
<br />
This one was an ordeal for me, I don't recommend starting with a week straight of rain in the forecast. At first I appreciated the ambiance after six completely dry weeks in the north, but after a few days it started to get me down. Thankfully to keep my morale up I encountered some kind settlers, a few pairs of GPT hikers, and some sun in the final stretch.<br />
<br />
The rains never got too heavy, generally off and on light rain. The temperatures were fairly cold from the nearly constant cloud cover.<br />
<br />
To start out I hitched out of Villa Cerro Castillo to Laguna Verde, teaming up with some of the many hitchhikers. The initial road walk was beautiful, some podcasts helped me power through the rest.<br />
<br />
The pass was tough in the rain, but manageable. Things were slippery but there's enough to grab onto in the boulder fields to keep you stable, as long as you're focused and moving slowly. The ascent was nice boulder field the whole way, on the decent things looked scarier. Instead of boulders there was a lot of large smooth slab with water flowing down. The gpx route there was good, following boulders and vegetation around the slab. Things only felt dangerous once, when I went slightly off the track and ended up trapped between a cliff and a water slide. After some scary experimentation I found that I could get good traction on the waterslide using a crab walk technique, on my back with hands and feet and butt all resting on the slab. This let me traverse the waterslide back to safety.<br />
<br />
The little bush bashing section after the pass was easy, I camped in there. Things got bad again once I got back out to the river and the cross country+bush bashing marker. My feet got worryingly numb after a bunch of river crossings and marshland traversal, I tried to stick to the woods after that.<br />
<br />
I then took two big questionable detours from the tracks, staying to the south of the rio avellano and avoiding crossing it all the way until I reached the lake. I'll quickly describe them here but they were both uncomfortable and not worth it unless the river is impassable. The cold and rain seem to damage my decision making quite a bit, I refused to backtrack or to take breaks to think things through.<br />
<br />
To skip the crossing at 69.8 I stayed in the woods south of the river starting at around km 67.5. Initially nice cow path, followed by a tricky wooded boulder field, followed by a horrific stretch crawling over thorny bushes. Eventually I made my way up to the base of some cliffs where things got a bit easier. Following the cliffs I reached a cow path, leading to some open woods through which I rejoined the trail around km 70.5. Never thought I'd be so happy to find cow poop.<br />
<br />
I dropped a blue and black stone bracelet somewhere before or during the 71.8 river crossing, let me know if you come across it!<br />
<br />
Some of the minor streams merging into the river were tough to cross. 71.8 was up to my thighs with a strong current.<br />
<br />
To skip the first major crossing of the Rio Avellano at 81.2 I followed some horse trail to the big white rock hill, and climbed to the top. The rock was super grippy even in the rain. I then traversed along the slope to the east, staying between an elevation of 700 and 750m. There was some cow path making it easier to walk, I wonder how they get up there. A few tough bushy sections descending and climbing out of crevasses/streams before I got to a gradual stream at -46.46385, -72.30601 which I scrambled down to the river.<br />
<br />
I ran into the settlers Luis and Jaqueline at their house by the river. They generously took me in for the night and gave me a chance to dry out some of my stuff.<br />
<br />
From there I followed option 4C down to the lake, hoping that the river crossing there would be less scary with the river fanned out wider. The option was decent trail over some low passes to the lake, though at times it was hard to follow. It's tough to choose where to cross the river because you can't see the bottom through the silt. I decided to cross near the gpx line where it was wide with lots of debris and sand bars to rest in between the channels. At the worst points it was crotch deep and powerful, the rocks under my feet sliding back from the force. Pretty scary.<br />
<br />
I camped in the willow grove by campo chico, and the next day (Monday) I raced to the bus stop at 130.4. It turns out that the bus is now at 6pm, I got there just in time. I took the bus to Puerto Ibáñez and got straight on the 8pm ferry to Chile Chico.<br />
<br />
A small cut on my ankle ended up getting infected, I'm now in town out of commission with a ton of swelling. Should have been more careful!<br />
<br />
<br />
*Feb 12 Direct Route SOBO 1 day Frank<br />
<br />
I walked straight from Villa Cerro Castillo to Puerto Ibanez in one long day. A few KM out on a dirt road there is a museum on your left & a short trail on the right which goes to some rock paintings. You pass by a lake with good views of Cerro Castillo. Salto Rio Ibanez waterfall is impressive.<br />
<br />
<br />
*Helen and Craig + (Caro and Ali)<br />
5th-10th February NoBo<- only direction to do it! So pretty!<br />
<br />
almost got stung by the ferry from Chile chico. Make sure when you go to the office as the online booking doesn't seen to be working, that you specify your a foot passenger. And if they refuse ask to be put on the waiting list for the next ferry (which means you'll get on just fine) pretty sure you could probably just turn up and ask very nicely and they would let you across. Looked in to the boats from Carlos and Pascual to join 33 missing the coast section from levican but Carlos is not in the area at the moment and Pascuals boat is currently non functional, sad times but the coastal section I would have been sad to miss!<br />
<br />
-Decided to do Torres del avellano northbound. Highly recommend doing it this way and thankyou to the others who pointed out this point before us. Veiws were great and much easier to get over the bolder scramble going up.<br />
<br />
-We walked in a group of 4 so payed for a transfere to levican and a pick up from lago lapparent. 60,000 each time.<br />
-Phone signal from Puerto del avellano to levican<br />
-The river valleys of avellano and venti were incredibly beautiful to the south.<br />
-Route was better marked and easier to navigate than exsepted. Very Easy going apart from km 68.7-62. if you've done GPT 40 or 37, then you'll find 33 delightfully a breeze. (We did have good weather, in bad weather even just a little rain I imagine a very diffence and worse exsperience)<br />
-In the BB/CC river valley of Rio avellano walk on the north shore of the river rather than going to the south. The forest is mostly easily passable or can hop out to the river valley to walk more freely. The south side of the river is calf/ knee high swampy bush bashing which leads to very cold feet and frustration.<br />
-keep eyes peeled for humels! We spotted a male humel on the bushbash/cross country section and had the most amazing sighting!<br />
<br />
<br />
*22 to 26 of January 2023 / Véronica / GPT33H RR SOBO / via GPT33H-03B / 4.5 days<br />
<br />
Route: Villa Cerro Castillo - Laguna Verde (Río Alto valley) - Upper Río Avellano valley - Torres del Avellano viewpoint - Lower Río Avellano valley - Lago General Carrera - Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez<br />
<br />
Simply beautiful section. Lots of excellent info is written about it in the Hiker's Manuel too. I only met 4 other hikers, with two of them being northbounding GPT hikers! Great to meet you, Yannic and Mirjam :)<br />
<br />
From Villa Cerro Castillo I hitched easily on the Carretera Austral to Laguna Verde, where Option 3B begins. I wanted to cut some of the initial road walking because poor weather was incoming the next day and I wanted to try and beat it to have a chance at seeing the Torres. The road walk in the Río Alto valley was actually quite pleasant and scenic. There is a little self-registration booth across the road from the settler at km 30.8, where hikers are asked to "check in" before proceeding down the private road towards the Río Avellano valley. There is no charge.<br />
<br />
The camp at 52.7 km is very nice with a little stream running through, lots of dead wood around to make a fire, and relatively sheltered. There is an old puesto/refuge there too that is open and has a fireplace. Could be a good spot to hole up if the weather is bad.<br />
<br />
When you diverge from the Río Avellano valley to head up the pass, don't try and follow the GPS. Instead take the path of least resistance (or the path that looks the clearest) through the woods and across the rocks near the river. There are occasional cairns to mark the way too, although not always obvious to spot. Only the last cross-country section before the pass did I follow closely with the GPS, as it goes across a boulder field and the GPS line seemed to be the easiest way up to the pass.<br />
<br />
On the south side of the pass is where you finally see the Torres del Avellano proper. Absolutely incredible, and I managed to get the great views only a couple of hours before the rain started and clouds engulfed everything.<br />
<br />
I followed the GPS track closely going down through the granite boulder field, since it guided a safe way around the steeper cliffs. It was slow going down through the boulders, but it didn't feel unsafe as the rocks were grippy and solid.<br />
<br />
The initial "bushbashing" segment at km 63.9 was very easy through a mature forest. I didn't follow the GPS here, just followed an old animal trail alongside a creek until it joined with Río Ventisquero. Again, the CC&BB section starting at km 64.4 was quite easy at first. I forded the river multiple times to walk along whichever side looked easier/less swampy. About midway through this section though it got tougher because Río Ventisquero got silty and the flow increased, so that I didn't want to ford it much anymore, so I stuck to the left (north) side of the river, mostly in the forest. There were some areas of unavoidable blowdowns and marshy terrain, and everything was wet from the rain coming down too.<br />
<br />
When I reached the waypoint X, Ford at 69.8 km, I camped there for the night because Río Ventisquero was a torrent and looked unsafe to ford. There are a few nice, flat places to pitch a tent in this area, under large mature trees. Early the next morning, it was very cold and still raining, and I couldn't tell if the river had gone down at all or not. There was fresh snow higher on the mountaintops. I ended up fording the river slightly downstream from where the trail crosses it, and the water came up just below my hips (I'm 165 cm). The water is silty so you can't see the bottom, but the rocks underneath had surprisingly good traction, which I was grateful for because the current was strong.<br />
<br />
It might be better to take Option 33H-E than the regular route. That trail looked well-maintained and clear, whereas the RR between 71.8 and 73.5 km was hard to follow and overgrown at times. There were no signs of life at the homestead of Maria and Julio when I passed through.<br />
<br />
I was strategic when I forded Río Avellano at km 81.2, crossing multiple branches at their shallowest points. The water went midway up my thighs at the deepest point. Afterwards though I didn't want to cross it two more times, so I took Option 33H-H which stayed north of the river.<br />
<br />
The refugio at km 98.5+0.2 on the shore of Lago General Carrera is nice and clean. There is a woodstove and some tables and chairs. It was crazy windy when I got there though, and I can't reccomend it as a good place to camp unless you sleep inside the refuge — the wind gusts were coming from all directions and there wasn't a spot that was sheltered outdoors. Further along the path at Campo Chico, there is a grove of mature willow trees that is probably a much better camp spot.<br />
<br />
Very beautiful hiking along Lago General Carrera, but it was wildly windy for me that day. At times it was hard to stay on the trail due to the strong gusts trying to blow me off the path. Lots of water sources.<br />
<br />
RH-MR&CC-V {33H} [19.5/118.0+4.6] is all minor road, no cross-country involved at all. I met the settler at km 121.8, he kindly let me pass through his property (and many gates) no problem.<br />
<br />
I got to the minor road from Levican (waypoint at 130.4) at 7:40 a.m. on a Thursday. There is a little bus shelter there to protect from the wind. It was very cold and windy when I got there, and I waited until almost noon, hoping to hitch a ride. Not a single car passed by that whole time. So I resigned myself to the road walk, walked for about an hour in extremely windy conditions, and then a car finally came by and picked me up and drove me into Puerto Ibáñez :) Very grateful!!!<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023 Jan / Yannic & Mirjam / Northbound<br />
<br />
From Puerto Ibanez we made the first kilometres to junction 130.4 by car stop. Then we hiked on to Camp 113.4. We didn't stay at the location, but a little further ahead where the river flows into the lake. Along the lake was nice with a lot of ups and downs and then we camped somewhere on the side of the Minor Road. Along the Rio Avellano we stayed on the northern side so that we only had to cross the river once (at 81.2). The water came up to my waist (I am 180 cm). Surprisingly, there was another Ford at 69.8. Again, very strong current and loose ground, so it was difficult to find a good footing. Right after this Ford we spent the night in the forest.<br />
<br />
On the climb at the start of the cross country section (at trailhead 68.5) be sure to get the right entry point as there are several small streams coming down the valley. We thought we saw a trail further into the forest that we could follow. Unfortunately, this was a mistake and led to us having to bush bash back onto the trail for a few hundred metres. In general, the trail was mostly better close to the river than deeper in the forest. The camping spot at the Torres was incredible and worth getting up for sunrise. The climb up the pass was very doable with the GPS tracks and not too difficult. On the other side of the pass, the trail got surprisingly good. We met a group of horses that were probably trekking to the lakes. Because the weather got worse, we took option 03 on the Carretera Austral and stopped at Ceroo Castillo.<br />
<br />
<br />
*GPT section 33 7 days, 84 miles, 14K ft ascent Dec. 21 to 27, 2022 David and Erika NOBO<br />
<br />
Ferry from Chili Chico runs just once a week (Mondays at 8:00 am) we missed it by hours and were stuck at the hotel California in Chili Chico for a day. “You can enter any time you like but you can never leave” got to be the feeling after residential bus after residential bus filled with residents and would not take us. Eventually got to Sierra Castillo and then hitched to Puerto Inginiero Ibanez. The tourist office there got her husband to give us a lift further 24 km to the end of the road. Well worth the 25,000 pesos. Road hike from there straightforward but new gates are being installed at the last road (NOBO) before you hit Lago General Carrera. Lots of wind. Last Refugio on the lake is legitimate. Good place to camp. Lower Rio Avellano was fordable. We thought we could avoid the 2nd and 3rd ford by taking the path over the hill. Don’t. It doesn’t go…Don’t worry, it gets worse. Ultimately, you’ll be hiking through the river all the way to Torres de Avellano. Note on that. The route takes you up to the lake. Beautiful, but then you go through a 2 km boulder field. We found the start of a trial before exiting the river that seems to lead right up to the pass. Might go, we don’t know. Instead, we took the boulder route, broke through a snow bridge, and put a deep gauge in Erika’s leg. Could have used stiches but had no sutures. Might be worth investigating.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022 Nov, NoBo, Option 1, Alice and Florian<br />
<br />
We chose to do the option 1 taking the sendero de chile from Puerto Ibañez to Cerro castillo. Most of it is a trail road (first 25km, and the last 4) so it is quite tiring for the knees as some point. But it seems quite easy to do hitchhiking at least on the first 25 km if needed. Nevertheless it is quite a nice road. You first arrive to a very nice waterfall after 5km, them walk through a canyon with nice scenic views. The 10km pass through a forest trail near lakes, it is really nice as well.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022 Nov / GPT33H Option 11 and Parts of Regular Route / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck<br />
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GPT33H/GPT34P: Northern coast of Lago General Carrera from Puerto Sanchez to Levican (packrafting and hiking)<br />
<br />
From 2022-Nov-20 to 2022-Nov-24 we (Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck) packrafted and hiked in 5 days from Puerto Sanchez to Levican along the northern coast of Lago General Carrera.<br />
<br />
This lake is infamous for the frequent strong gusty wind, therefore packrafting requires a careful monitoring of the weather to depart only onto the lake when a period with calmer conditions is approaching. Luckily, there is reasonable good mobile phone coverage what facilities checking the weather and wind forecast frequently.<br />
<br />
Given the wind conditions any packrafting attempt on Lago General Carrera requires to my opinion:<br />
<br />
- decked packraft, a longer tandem is strongly preferable (faster, more stable) - a sail (to get quicker to an exit point) - packrafting experience in the region (to anticipate typical weather and wind patterns) - smartphone with entel SIM card or entel rooming - YR weather App, Windy weather App<br />
<br />
The predominant wind is eastbound therefore only eastbound packrafting is advisable.<br />
<br />
I’m left with the impression that wind gets generally stonger towards the east (towards Levican and Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez) and that calm periods are more frequent and longer towards the west (Puerto Tranquilo, Puerto Sanchez).<br />
<br />
Also, calmer conditions are more likely in the early morning just after sunrise but strong wind all night is also common.<br />
<br />
During a previous hike in February 2020 we experienced an entire summer day with barely any wind but such days are as frequent as unicorns and no travel plan should be build on exceptional favorable circumstances.<br />
<br />
There is a trail along the northern shore but due to the steep coast there are sections of up to 13 km on the lake without a connection from the shoreline to this trail.<br />
<br />
Emergency exits are more frequent along the coast but using such an exit means waiting for the wind to calm down what can take days. Therefore it is generally favorable to exit the water only in a location from where the trail can be reached easily.<br />
<br />
We packrafted most of the distance from Puerto Sanchez to the Avellano river delta on 3 mornings in about 9 hours on the water but from there we hiked in two days to Levican because we had no similar promising calm weather windows in following early mornings. In hindsight the wind remained manageable in the morning hours till about noon but there was no point in reversing our decision to hike (and we urgently needed some exercise to get used to hike with heavy backpacks again).<br />
<br />
Crossing from Puerto Tranquilo to Puerto Sanchez is reasonable feasible by packraft in calm weather (typically either very early in the morning or later in the evening). The crossing is 3 km wide and best started 1 km north of Puerto Tranquilo in a hidden bay with a nice protected spot to pitch a tent (46.6146°S / 72.6838°W · 210 m). If preparing the packraft at the beach of Puerto Tranquilo officials may stop packrafters as there are numerous restrictions and requirements applicable (in example accompanying motor boat with two licensed boat drivers).<br />
<br />
Packrafters should depart in north-eastern direction to compensate for a south-eastern wind drift in case wind increases.<br />
<br />
A very nice protected camp site is approximately 8 km from the recommended exit point near Puerto Tranquilo.<br />
<br />
GPT33H: Bus Levican - Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez<br />
<br />
The last 26 km from Levican to Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez are rather dull road walking. Therefore hikers that arrive at the right day and time can take the subsidized bus.<br />
<br />
Monday and Friday only: 08:00 Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez -> Levican 09:00 Levican -> Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez 18:00 Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez -> Levican 19:00 Levican -> Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez Price: 1000 CLP<br />
<br />
Transport at other times can be arranged for a substantially higher cost (estimated 40‘000 to 60‘000 CLP per vehicle).<br />
<br />
Paty: +56 9 9506 3176<br />
<br />
Luis: +56 9 8648 4075<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
*2022 Feb: 10-14, SoBo, RR, Kris&Stiina<br />
<br />
Even though the first few days out of town is a road walk, the first part of it is actually really scenic and worth walking, the lakes are just very beautiful one the way. The second part was mostly in the forest and our feet, knees and hips were already hurting from all the road walking but once we got on trail it got better right away. The trail was surprisingly well maintained I would even say better than in Cerro Castillo National Park. Another unexpected surprise was the amount of people that we met on the trail a total of about 25 people in different size groups were hiking to see Torres de Avellano. We really didn’t expect that, there also seemed to be some sort of backpack hauling and guiding service that the local arrieros were offering. We unfortunately didn’t manage to talk to them to find out, but it seems that the place is getting popular. Which is not a surprise because it’s very very beautiful there, probably is correct what the manual says, that it’s going to be the next Torres del Paine, time will tell.<br />
<br />
On day 3 about 2-3km before the pass the trail disappeared and the going got tougher and tougher, mostly just bolder hopping up and over the pass. The descent was pretty steep on large granite slabs which offered plenty of good grip but I am not sure how well would it work in wet conditions. I think the pass is doable in not good weather conditions but only if one feels very confident in own abilities on wet rocks. Also it’s a good idea to follow the gps on the way down because otherwise you end up on a cliff edge and have to track back up. The ground finally eases up once you enter the forest, but then starts the bushwhacky part all the way until ford/div at 69,7km.<br />
<br />
That was as far as we could make it that day because the river was pretty fast in the evening. So we decided to camp right there and cross it in the morning when the flow would be a bit more manageable and our decision payed off. In the morning the river was about 10cm lower than the evening before, so if you ar a shorter person it could save you. The flow was pretty strong and water was still about hips deep. Both of us crossed it together by standing in a line, me in front and Stiina supporting me from behind, it worked great. After that it was easy cruising for the next 32km, however we had to cross that river once again at 81,2km. It was still challenging but we managed to do it the traditional way one by one, facing upstream. But the current was still very strong and pushing our feet out from under us, challenging our balance. After that we didn’t want to cross it two more times as gps suggested so we just stayed on the left coast all the way to the lake. There were some cow trails to follow and also to bypass the cliffs it was no problem.<br />
<br />
The lake is really beautiful with all the islands and it wasn’t too windy when we arrived. We camped about a kilometer from Campo Chico on the rocky stream bed and managed to cook on the fire that night without causing fire hazard. And there were apple, pear and plum trees at the 98,3km, plums were very ripe but the apples and pears still need a week or two to get ready, but it was a very nice treat nevertheless.<br />
<br />
Next day was Monday which meant that we could avoid the 26km road walk at the end of the section which we were determined to do. We had 30km to goto get to the road junction were the bus is passing by and according to the manual the bus would pass there some time after 20:00 which is when it starts from Levican. So we pushed the whole day over the steep, sandy, bushy terrain and made it to the junction by 19:00, great, we thought. But after bus didn’t show up we called the phone nr that Janna & Matthias had provided and it turned out that the bus actually leaves Levican at 18:00 and is long gone. But the bus driver was nice enough to offer us a ride to Puerto Ibañez, however for a hefty 45.000 pesos. We were out of food, out of water and pretty spent from getting ourselves there so we accepted the offer. The car ride showed that it would be a pretty dull road walk aswell if we would have had to do it so in the end it all worked out and we got to town just as we wanted.<br />
<br />
The town was a bit disappointing, people were somehow not very helpful and also all accommodations were full, but we managed to camp at Las Cabañitas about a km out of town. The next day we went to the port to catch the ferry to Chile Chico, but due to strong winds all ferries were canceled and nobody could even give us a guess of when the ferries would restart. We didn’t want to spend another day in Puerto Ibañez so we hitched back to Villa Cerro Castillo in hopes to get bus or a hitch around the lake. There are definitely daily buses to Cochrane.<br />
<br />
In the end our plans changed and we decided that we are content with our experience on GPT this season, so we left it at that. Thanks for kicking our butts GPT and showing us beauty we haven’t seen before! :)<br />
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For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br />
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*GPT 33H Option 4 (Puerto Cristal)/ Torres de Avellano/ Packrafting Route / 2022 Feb-4 / 7 days / Tobias Schorcht and Jonas Grünewald<br />
<br />
I started Packrafting from Puerto Tranquilo to Puerto Sanches in the calm morning hours. Since Jonas doesn‘t have a Packraft, we booked a full Marvel Caves Tour by boat for him and asked the Captain, to leave him in Puerto Sanches, which was possible without any extra paying. We hiked northbounded along Lago Vidal Gormez and visited the left behind abandoned village Puerto Cristal. It was an impressive experience to see the old facilities of the Mining Company! The good visible trail is partly overgrown with spiky bushes and contains a lot of altitude. We have been rewarded with stunning views on the Lago General Carrera and recommend this option anyway. We went up to the Torres with good weather knowing, that some wind and rain have been predicted for the night. It took us many hours to cross the valley (-46,43300, -72,48867) because we mainly followed the “cow-trails” through the forest and wetland (as an alternative to walk up the river). We reached the camp (-46,42178, -72,50672) late and sheltered the spot with rocks against the wind. You are welcome to use our cozy spot free of charge 😉. Took the trail from the Torres down to Cerro Castillo without difficulties.<br />
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We have to say, that this part of the GPT was challenging but absolutely worth the struggle.<br />
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Disfrutas las cosas 🙏<br />
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*NoBo, January 2022, 6.5 days, Participants: Janna & Matthias<br />
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Day 1: We took the ferry from Chile Chico to Puerto Ibañez (ferry schedule online).There still runs a government-subsidised bus (+56 9 89448847) between Puerto Ibañez and Levicàn on Mondays and Fridays at 8am & 5pm (summer). We decided to spend the afternoon rain relaxing at the pizzeria in Puerto Ibañez and then catch the bus. We called and found out that the bus stop is now in front of the Supermercado Jelvez. The driver let us off at Div 130.4/311 at about 6pm ($1000 per person cash) and we hiked for another hour or so. At bridge 129.3/304 you cannot get water (a kind of gorge), maybe at the marked "Water?" about 15min downstream. We had enough with us and camped sheltered from the wind between the monoculture trees (S 46.377764 W 71.922459).<br />
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Day 2: We continued through / over many gates and past empty houses down to the water. Attention if NoBo: at gate 122.6/628 there are two gates - the GPT splits behind the left one, so take that one. The first water before the lake and two good camps at the lake are marked. The path along Lago Carrera was easy to find, sandy and rough in places but we could follow old riders' tracks. We really enjoyed the fantastic view over the lake and had a tábano-free time thanks to the strong wind. About 2 km before Campo Chico (S 46.478295 W 72.086034) we found a west wind-protected and very nice camping spot.<br />
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Day 3: Further camping possibilities would be as already described on wikiexplora at Campo Chico and at Puerto Avellano. Along the lake there are streams/rivers for drinking water every 1-2h. There is a wild apple tree on the trail here: S 46.487073 W 72.102247 in case you come by at the right time of year. After Puerto Avellano there is about 15km of a former mine road that is easy to follow. We had a wonderful view of the mountains the whole day. The first two Fords are easy to pass with little water. Water sources again every 1-2h. Our camp 3 was here: S 46.457910 W 72.299412 - beautiful, next to the water, sheltered from the wind.<br />
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Day 4: Ford-day - in total we forded rivers more than 20 times, all of them were easy to knee deep except Río Avellano at 81.2/490 which reached almost to our hips and required a lot of effort. We met and chatted with settler Maria who was on her way to have some work done. At Div/Ford 69.7/634 the mountain peaks remained hidden in the clouds and the weather forecast was not so sparkling why we opted for the bypass (option 2) which is also very nice to walk with imposing mountain massifs on both sides, enchanted fairytale forests, a waterfall and easy-to-find cow tracks. Only the large swamp around S 46.386387 W 72.422623 was very unpleasant and foul-smelling, about shin deep. It may be worth looking for a path along the water there. Camp 4: S 46.371434 W 72.432519, quiet and nice under curious observation of two horses on the other side of the river.<br />
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Day5: At Div 54.5/841 we checked the weather again but as it still looked bad and everything in the valley further up was already in fog we finally decided against the Torres. At this Div there was an unmarked Ford when coming from option 2. If NoBo hiking directly after this Div take the path higher up the hill and not the marked route directly along the water, because the latter is slipped and to climb. At Puesto 53.0/946 (if NoBo) do not go through the gate but continue on the east side. A Horse Trail runs along the eastern edge of Mallin Grande. Our Camp 5 was here: S 46.281253 W 72.436128.<br />
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Day 6: Continued on the gravel road, passing many settlers and pastures. The Estero Alto flows much lower than the road, there is water at Bridge 25.7/454 and otherwise only at the lakes. There is a fence almost everywhere to the left and right of the road. To get to Camp 16.9+0.3/598 you have to climb over a locked gate (S 46.178222 W 72.312583). The two buildings in the pasture are a ruin (S 46.182635 W 72.311414) and a stable (S 46.183119 W 72.310509).<br />
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Day 7: Continued along the gravel road we almost missed Div 5.5/554 where a sandy path continues. The path is blocked by a wire fence at S 46.143124 W 72.184071 but a little further to the right you can slip through. No problems to get to Villa Cerro Castillo<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
*February 2021 from Bahía Murta to Torres del Avellano to Carretera Austral<br />
<br />
Northbound, 5 days. Valle Resfalín/Resfalón (Option 8) + Mirador Torres del Avellano + Regular Hike + Escape to Carretera Austral (Option 3B) + Hitchhiking to Villa Cerro Castillo<br />
<br />
Day 1: Bahia Murta to Camp #5 (Camp ? @33H-08-#005) / 11.5 km / 6 hours<br />
<br />
The hike started at Bahía Murta, on a steep hillside. We used the GPS tracks to find the path, and from there on it’s pretty easy to follow the path (when in doubt, we checked the GPS). It’s a very nice hike, and at the end of the day it’s necessary to cross the river. We both had trekking sandals, which came in handy every time we had to cross a river. Just after the river there is a camp option. We found a nice spot on the other side of the wooden fence, but there are many more options up the small hill. It was a perfect place for sleeping, with the soothing sound of the river.<br />
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Day 2: Camp #5 (Camp ? @33H-08-#005) to Regular Route at Mallín Quemado (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) / 11.7 km / 8 hours<br />
<br />
This was one of the longest days for us, mainly because we underestimated how much time it takes to walk through a path that’s been reclaimed by nature. The day started with a steep uphill, where we lost the path for a while and then had to check the GPS to find it again. There are streams on the way where it’s possible to refill the water bottles. About a third way in, at (-46.38537, -72.55201), the path collapsed, probably washed out by the river. We took a look around and decided it was way safer to cross the river than to continue on the collapsed path (it was late February, so the river was not so full). We crossed to the other side, and 100m ahead crossed back. This is definitively the trickiest part of the day (although a bit farther ahead we found ourselves in the middle of a caterpillar forest...not really pleasant). Just after the crossing the are two camp sites (Camp ? @33H-08-#008 and Camp ? @33H-08-#009), but we would recommend keep going as the second part of the day is definitively easier than the first. Farther ahead we found two more camp site options: at (-46.36768, -72.53116) on this side of the river and at (-46.36722, -72.53088) on the other side of the river. We considered sleeping there, because we were exhausted, but in the end we decided to keep going as we still had some hours of daylight left. This was the right choice, because that way we could sleep at Mallín Quemado and then the next day do the day trip to Torres del Avellano. Mallín Quemado is the name the locals use for the big forest area that was “burned” by the ashes of Volcan Hudson. It’s near (Puesto @33H-53.0) and it’s a perfect place for sleeping. We decided to boil the water from the small stream, because there were some cattle grazing around.<br />
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Day 3: Camp #10 (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) to Mirador Laguna y Torres del Avellano and back to Camp #10 / 7.1 km (each way) / 3 hours (each way)<br />
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We started early and with a lot of motivation to go and see the Torres del Avellano. Sadly the day was a bit cloudy, but nonetheless it was totally worth it: the views from up there are breathtaking! A lot of glaciers and superstreams with the purest water you can ask for. When we arrived back at the camp, we met the first person in 3 days: Francisco, a teacher from Puerto Aysen. He came up the other way, from Villa Cerro Castillo, and was planning on going to Torres del Avellano on the next day, and then head back to Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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Day 4: Camp #10 (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) to Camp at (-46.26244, -72.35118) / 21.6 km / 8 hours<br />
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Another long day, but without any difficult parts. This section of the hike is way more popular than Valle Resfalín/Resfalón, so the path is way easier to follow. The first section, until the car road, is really beautiful. We even saw some (semi) wild horses! We knew that once the car road started there wouldn’t be so many camp site options, so we kept our eyes open. The car road goes through a narrow valley, and then comes a steep down hill. At the bottom of the hill, on the left side, there is a small meadow, where it’s possible to pitch a tent (-46.26244, 72.35118). Water is available 100m down a steep hill.<br />
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Day 5: Camp at (-46.26244, -72.35118) to Carretera Austral / 14.8 km / 4 hours<br />
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Following the main car road to Carretera Austral it’s impossible to get lost. We didn’t find any stream on the way, but in case of needing water there are many houses. Just be sure to ask nicely :) Once on the Carretera Austral we hitchhiked to Villa Cerro Castillo. We only had to wait for 30 minutes to get a ride, and considering that we did this during covid times...not too bad. We also had the backup plan of Francisco, who would be driving to Villa Cerro Castillo later that day. Funny enough, we ran into Francisco by chance in Villa Cerro Castillo and he invited us to an ice cream. It was a nice way of ending the trip.<br />
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We are extremely grateful to Jan and all the people from wikiexplora for making this adventure possible!<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*Section 33: RR(New!) from Ibáñez. Exit via Option 8 to Bahía Murta.<br />
Westbound. 11 days. Party (3): Mum, Sis and I.<br />
<br />
Ibáñez y Península Levican: Continuing our extended stay in Chile we caught a government subsidised bus from Cerró Castillo to Ibáñez where we learnt after a somewhat lengthy process: talking to the ticket office, boat personnel and then the carabineros (an officer and then his jefe!), everyone passing the buck; that without a certificado de salud (not available in town, and only online) we couldn't board the vessel. The upside was that the Naviera Austral had fantastic baños (yes! they were open!) and the cleaning lady let us have a quick body wash and even do a little laundry before she had to close up. There was also limited WiFi connectivity (only WhatsApp would work) and powerpoints where we could charge our things. It also happens that we bumped into a Zulema Amoroz who was born in Fachinal, most likely a relative of Carloz Amoros who offers the boat service from Fachinal across the lake (we contacted him but no boats were allowed on the lake). If you hang around near where the ferry docks you might find her selling coffee and alfajores.<br />
<br />
We quickly decided to walk the new Section 33 Jan recently published, but end in Bahía Murta instead (i.e. explore option 8). Some effort was exhausted trying to organise a lift out to Península Levican. We did find someone for $30k, (it seemed a little steep but that's roughly what to expect), but it wouldn't be till the following day and we needed to get out of town to spend the night. We stocked up on food and started out on foot on the old RR (now Option 1) camping before we reached Río Ibáñez.<br />
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I had a little concern about water on the way to Levican, but there are two or three good streams along the way: (-46.31022, -71.97272) (-46.32470, -71.96457) (-46.34091, -71.94069)<br />
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In Puerto Ray a lady (also named Zulema!) warmed up to us and let us camp in her fruit orchard. In the morning we bought some eggs and 'bread' from them. Her husband was tanning a chivo hide; he had such a jolly step!<br />
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Along Lago General Carrera: We went back to the junction (Div Levican @33H-131.4) where a good emergency shelter exists. The road is still very clear from here, but don't expect any traffic. I think it was a rare sight that we saw an old Mercedes truck full of wood lumbering (pun intended ;) out. The rd deviates a little from the track files maybe due to the pine plantations. There are many new rds., so take care you don't go the wrong way. Taking the RR you will pass through a locked gate (-46.38234, -71.96692), after this keep an eye out for a gate on the left. It's not in the track files and we didn't look for it, so maybe it's not there. The issue we had was that the road continues up the hill, deviating from the RR around (-46.38448, -71.97642). Here you should already be on the small road on the other side of the fence (someone traveling towards Levican/Ibáñez will find this easier to scope I imagine). Though it's not recommended to cross fences, we carefully crossed instead of heading back. A very minor Rd continues down to a dilapidated puesto and a couple of portóns. The road didn't seem to continue as indicated in the track files... but I wasn't following my gps. We CCed across a field until we encountered another road that led back to the RR.<br />
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You will finally encounter your first reliable water source since Levican (-46.40196, -71.97831), especially if you are heading towards Ibáñez, make sure you fill up here!<br />
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The two camps in the track files at km117 and km114 were the best we saw. The next obvious choice would be around Campo Chico I think, quite a bit further along. Plenty of water along the lake and we had plenty of apples seeing we were walking so late in the walking season. Amazing autumn colours! The track is also in good shape, someone had very recently 'cleaned' the way! The refugio at Los Álamos was a very welcome sight, a great place to spend a night (it's there because of the high winds possible on the lake). The nearby settler was resonably friendly and his dog Puestero even more so! He told us that it was him who 'cleaned' the track along Lago General. It made our walking so much easier! Thanks Armando!<br />
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Valle Avellano y Ventisquiero: The old mining road through Valle Avellano was easy to follow. The road actually continues significantly further than indicated in the track files. Taking Variation F to avoid extra crossings of the river we found the road ended about here: (-46.45730, -72.30207). There is an unmarked ford here: (-46.46107, -72.24636)<br />
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We took Variation D and just caught Maria and Julio before they headed out with their kids on a horse ride. We bought some bread from them. They called it a tortilla, but I think my Mexican friends would strongly argue the point ;)<br />
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Easy walking up into Valle Ventisquiero. Read Jan's track notes. They are quite thorough. The trail to remeet Río Avellano is a little unused (also as mentioned in his write up), but easy to follow. Some good camping before the river. We met some gouchos using the puesto, they were not overly friendly; I think a little scared because of the virus. They pointed out a nearby shelter we could use made from a very old technique using U-shaped logs (I met a carpenter in Murta who told me a little about it).<br />
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Option 8: Valle Resbalín/Resfalón(?): It was snowing in the morning. We decided to take Option 8 to Bahía Murta. This meant less road walking and involved a part marked as 'I' (investigation) which would be nice to document. It appears that this route down Valle Resbalín (or "Resfalón" as some locals in Murta told me it was named... anyone know?) is no longer used; quite overgrown, vague and in places difficult to detect at all. Sometimes all we could see was the occasional chainsawed log; and in some chutes: machete marks. Water was plentiful. There was a very old but partially functional puesto en route.<br />
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There is a junction ('div') here: (-46.37495, -72.53695). The trail heading up the side valley actually looked quite distinct. I'm not sure what it's name is, or what's up there, but the water was a nice glacier blue and it had a higher flow than the 'main' named river.<br />
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The only tricky spot to find the track was where it was washed away by the river, about here: (-46.38527, -72.55201). I cut steps in the bank, crossed, and dropped a rope down for the others. It would be much safer to walk in the river. We explored options to bypass via skirting around in the bosque, but they didn't seem practical. The nearby camp site marked in the track files (Camp ? @33H-08-#008) is not really good. Better to camp 200m upstream If camping around here. We camped at the confluence with Estero Sur, which is the best spot to camp we saw in the entire valley. From this point down the valley, the track is in use: plenty of fresh signs of cattle (maybe they graze in the side valleys?). Ford Estero Sur (-46.39815, -72.58224) and follow the track down the valley with ease. There is camping at (Camp ? @33H-08-#004) but better 300m down the valley near a corral. 50m down valley of (Camp ? @33H-08-#002) camping is possible next to the vague ruins of an old puesto. Further down the valley are several grassy areas good for camping, the most obvious is here (-46.43778, -72.65597) in the vicinity of the old puesto. The track (as opposed to Rd) continues much further than indicated in the track files. The road only starts about here (-46.44697, -72.66655) once you are nearly in Murta. We rested a full day in Murta and I happened to run into Felepé who we'd meet before the trip in Cerró Castillo. Loco!<br />
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Thanks Jan for making this trip possible, Tobias Hellwig for recommending the reroute, and all the people on wikiexplora who explored and documented the tracks.<br />
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If anyone has any information on the history of Valle Resbalín/Resfalón(?), the mining prospectors in Valle Avellano, or the settlers that abandoned the coast of Lago General Carrera, I'd love to read a bit.<br />
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I hope this helps someone. Thanks!<br />
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Oh! and we're back in Cochrane now and planning to be in Coyhaique in a week or so. Cheers.<br />
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*BE AWARE THAT THE BELOW LOGS refer to Option 1 and not to the new Regular Route that was completely redrafted in March 2020*<br />
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*10 Mar 2020 / RH SOBO / Ty / 1 day<br />
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Super easy in general. I was able to get a hitch for like the last 10 kilometers. There’s a lot of different trail you can wander off on at the start of the sendero de Chile, so just be aware of your navigation at the start. The only good easily accessible water I found was between the two lakes before the intersection where you start walking the road. The ferry to Chile Chico leaves around 8 and takes a couple hours. Otherwise the next ferry leaves at 11 am....but make sure to confirm these times yourself. When arriving in Chile Chico, I climbed up to the viewpoint/mirador close to the ferry landing and found a place protected on the wind and slept on the ground. There is also an abandoned house marked in I-overlander that has an area in a room big enough for a 2 person tent. It’s on your right just before the climb up to the mirador.<br />
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*Jan 2020 / RH Northbound / Matthieu / 2 days<br />
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No technical difficulties on this part. However, I was stopped, when the GPT leave the road to go between the two lakes, by a sign : área protegida, ingreso no permitido. For me, it was cristal clear, so I just continued the road, disappointed. I spoke to one of the settler not far, who told me that it was only for cars and it s ok for walkers, and that it is part of the "Sendero de Chile". So the way seems open finally. Anyway, there is another little path just before the lago Ardillas that goes north, and join the GPS tracks above the Valley Ibanez. Well maintained, in the hills, lots of cows, good experience.<br />
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*2019 Jan/ Olrik / Northbound<br />
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From Ibanez you walk on a dirt road to the entrance of a Reserva Natural. You are on the Sendero de Chile so it is well marked. In the reserva the trail is easy to follow and there was no one. You end up in Cerro Castillo. We did it in 2.5 days but could be done in 1 day if beginning early.<br />
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*2019-Nov-28/ Lea Geibel/ 1 day / Northbound / Regular Hiking Route (Puerto Ibañez to Villa Cerro Castillo)<br />
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After arriving with the ferry at 10.30 a.m., the section can be hiked in one day (around 8 hours of walking). Most of the section is on a dirt road with very little traffic. The part that is following a trail is marked with posts with red / white rings on them. Occasionally the trail is not very visible but numerous animals tracks are usually heading in the right direction before eventually meeting up with a trail marker again.<br />
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==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
*Until 2019 the Regular Route followed the Sendero de Chile in the vicinity of Rio Ibañez what is now Option 1. Tobias Hellwig suggested to reroute the GPT via the Torres de Avellano to incorporate this hidden treasure. This proposed new route was investigated and documented in February 2020 by the founders of the GPT. By this time multiple segments of this new route were already published on Wikiexplora by other authors. Only the route from Kilometer 62.2 to 69.9 remained undocumented and had to be researched and ground-proved.<br />
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==Season 2017/18==<br />
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==Season 2016/17==<br />
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=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
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*Section GPT33H starts in Villa Cerro Castillo and terminates in Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez (Resupply information see GPT34H). Hikers that continue southbound may also resupply in Chile Chico after the ferry crossing of Lago General Carrera (Resupply information see GPT35).<br />
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*Several shops sell food and camping gas canisters.<br />
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*Restaurants offer filling meals. <br />
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*Accommodation is provided by hostels, cabañas and camp sites in these towns.<br />
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*Hikers that walk GPT33H and its adjacent sections with continuous footsteps can resupply in Cerro Castillo, Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez and Chile Chico and do not need to leave the route to resupply.<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
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*There is no plannable resupply along the entire Regular Route but some food may be obtained at the two homestead farms on the route.<br />
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[Settler (Maria & Julio) @33H-76.9]: Maria and Julio are one of the few settlers that still make cheese for sale in such a remote location. If you are short on foot you might also ask if they may sell some bread, milk or meat.<br />
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[Settler (Luis Diaz) @33H-85.2]: Luis : When passing his home consider a visit. You may also ask if he has bread or meat to sell.<br />
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[Puesto @33H-98.5]: The puesto 250 m north of Puerto Avellano is rarely occupied by their owners but the fruit trees might provide some well desired vitamins in summer and early autumn.<br />
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=Transport to and from Route=<br />
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*2023 / Maks&Gabi <br />
We hitchhiked from km 136 near Levican to Puerto Ibanez. During the weekend there is only one ferry a day (Saturday morning and Sunday evening).<br />
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*2023 / Louis, Rémi & Noé :<br />
Here, at the lake. There is mobile coverage and so we contacted numerus given on the PDF on WhatsApp to find a boat to bring us back to civilisation. I let you the contact of Jairo, that can bring you back to Puerto Tranquilo... for 400.000 CLP.. Jairo : +56 9 6633 9507 <br />
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*Most buses to Villa Cerro Castillo leave Coyhaique in the morning around 08:00 and pass Villa Cerro Castillo approximately 1:30 hours later. In the opposite direction buses pass Cerro Castillo in the early afternoon. <br />
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*Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez has regular public transportation to Coyhaique (1:45 hour by bus) and Chile Chico (2:15 hour by ferry). The ferry over Lago General Carrera that connects Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez with Chile Chico does two round trips each day, one in the morning and one the evening. Buses to and from Coyhaique operate synchronized to these ferries. <br />
Best Call Buses Alejandro: +56 9 7652 9546<br />
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*Subsidized bus from Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez to Levicán: Monday and Friday, Approx. 1’000 CLP Morning round trip: Leaving Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez at 08:00, arriving in Levican around 09:00 and returning immediately to Ibañez around 09:00 and arriving at Ibanez around 10:00. Evening round trip: Leaving Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez at 17:00, arriving in Levican around 18:00 and returning to Ibañez at 18:00 arriving at Ibanez at 19:00.<br />
Best call Paty Bus to verify the schedule and reserve a seat: +56 9 9506 3176<br />
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*Private transport from Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez to Levicán: Anytime, Approx. 35´000 CLP<br />
Try to call Luis: +56 9 8648 4075<br />
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*Combining GPT35 with GPT33H<br />
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Northbound hikers may consider connecting GPT35 directly with GPT33H by exiting Parque Patagonia towards Fachinal and crossing Lago General Carrera by motorboat from Fachinal to the Desembocadura Rio Avellano. Here Lago General Carrera is only 3.5 km wide and a motorboat crossing does not take more than 20 minutes. Unfortunately, in summer this requires some patience as the normally strong wind often impedes this. In the morning or the evening the wind occasionally calms down but rarely during the day.<br />
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Carlos Amoroz, a settler in Fachinal owns a motorboat and offers this service on request. Pascual Diaz, a tour operator from Mallin Grande, can also provide this service but he must first haul his motorboat the 42 km on trailer from Mallin Grande to Fachinal what makes his service substantially more expensive.<br />
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Settler with motorboat in Fachinal (Location: -46.5568°S / -72.2120°W) Name: Carlos Amoroz Mobile: +56-9-76267029 Price: Approx. 30’000 CLP for 2 persons<br />
<br />
Tour operator with motorboat in Mallin Grande Name: Pascual Diaz (Company: “Kalem Patagonia”) Mobile: +56-9-7391 7881 Price: Presumably more expensive and advance notice required<br />
<br />
This section combination of GPT35 with GPT33H seems more practical in northbound direction as hikers can first talk directly to the settler with the motorboat in Fachinal, resupply in Chile Chico (by taking a motorized transport from Fachinal to Chile Chico and back) and then cross Lago General Carrera with a refilled backpack. While waiting for the wind to calm down hikers can pitch their tent at a nice wind protected camp site on the shore of Lago General Carrera.<br />
<br />
Thanks to the reasonably good mobile phone coverage in Fachinal hikers can check the weather and wind forecast and call the settler with the motorboat when approaching Fachinal. This permits hikers to anticipate or discard a motorboat crossing on arrival.<br />
<br />
Hikers that attempt a more complicated southbound crossing of Lago General Carrera should make arrangements with the settler with the motorboat at least one or two weeks before arriving at Puerto Avellano, test communication devices (i.e. InReach to mobile phone), agree on the precise pick-up location (Puerto Avellano or Desembocadura Rio Avellano) and carry enough food to wait some time in Puerto Avellano. Hikers should be prepared that the wind may not calm down while waiting several days in Puerto Avellano. In this case the motorboat transfer should canceled, and the hiker should walk out to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez before the food reserves deplete. There is mobile phone coverage at Puerto Avellano (entel if I recall correctly).<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
*To my knowledge paddling on Lago General Carrera requires a permit from the Armada de Chile but complying with all requirements might not be possible even for a well equipped packrafter (i.e. distress signal rockets).<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT33H - Puerto Ibañez]]<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT33H - Torres del Avellano]]<br />
<br />
For additional information see the Wikiexplora Articles:<br />
<br />
[[Península de Levican - El Avellano]]<br />
<br />
[[Torres del Avellano]]<br />
<br />
[[Laguna La Plaza]]<br />
<br />
For more information see the Wikiexplora Article:<br />
<br />
[[Puerto Cristal]]<br />
<br />
For more information see the Wikiexplora Articles:<br />
<br />
[[Valle Miller]]<br />
<br />
[[Estero Jaramillo]]<br />
<br />
<br />
A part of this route is described in the Wikiexplora Article:<br />
<br />
[[Mirador Este de las Torres de Avellano]]<br />
<br />
=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT32_(Cerro_Castillo)&diff=114547GPT32 (Cerro Castillo)2024-03-03T21:30:21Z<p>Joscha97: /* Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
*2024-Mar-01 to 2024-Mar-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 02 + D + RR + OH E + 03 / Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1: OH32-02 + OH32-D [1.0-2.6] + RR [38.8-39.6]<br />
<br />
I hitched from Puerto Chacabuco to Las Horquetas and startet there around noon. After 700 m on OH32-02 you pass by a ranger hut. You have to sign in and you will get a short explanation about the trail. You don't have to pay here, but they tell you that you will pay when leaving the park. There is plenty of water on OH32-02. I camped at Camping Rio Turbio (Segundo) at km 39.6 of RR.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [39.6-41.3] + OH32-E [0.0-1.6] to Laguna Glaciar Penon and back + RR [41.3-56.6] + OH32-03 [0.0-3.6]<br />
<br />
Laguna Glaciar Penon is worth the short detour on OH32-E. I crossed a bunch of small streams around the pass at km 43.9. There is some ice on top of the pass but its not very steep and therefore relatively easy to walk over it. There is no water between Laguna Cerro Castillo (km 50.9) and Camping Porteadores (at beginning of OH32-03). I camped at Camping Neozelandes.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 3: OH32-03 to Laguna Duff and back to RR + RR [56.6-66.9]<br />
<br />
Laguna Duff is nice. I hiked there early in the morning and therefore had the whole place for myself. About 400 m before the RR joins the minor road (km 60.6) the RR branches off the official hiking trail and avoids the park entrance. You have to hop a fence to get on the minor road but therefore you don't pay the 15000 Pesos for hiking in the park.<br />
<br />
The nacional park has 4 official campgrounds (at km 39.6 and 48.9 of RR and the two marked camps on OH32-03). You are only allowed to camp at those sites. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Feb-23 to 2024-Feb-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / {32-M} - RR - {32-C} -RR / Lilian & Rainbow<br />
<br />
Bus from Coyhaique to Villa Frei :<br />
<br />
Monday to Friday(8.15am, 3.30pm, 5.30pm, 7.30pm) , Saturday(8am, 2pm), i forget the fee, it is less than 1000 CLP. It takes about 35-40 minutes and it turns back to Coyhaique with no waiting. The sign on the bus doesn't write Villa Frei, it said Valle Simpson, (and final stop is Villa Frei.)<br />
<br />
Bus terminal in Coyhaique : (-45.58226, -72.07800)<br />
<br />
Bus stop in Villa Frei : (-45.75139, -72.11226)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Resupply in Coyhaique:<br />
<br />
I sent a resupply box(shoes and socks) to Patagon Backpacker(hostel) in Coyhaique from Santiago some months before, they are super friendly and willing to hold my box until i arrive. You can contact them by email, they are good at speaking English, also know lot around Coyhaique.<br />
<br />
If you want to buy some warm clothes, some shops in Coyhaique. North Face and Patagonia is there, but expensive. Some clothes in Patagonia are on sale but not for hiking or not much use, lot clothes but full price, ya. North Face's staff is much friendly, and lot items on sale too, but rainproof is full price. They have tents for sale too.<br />
<br />
Good clothes is cheaper with discount, 230g gas canisters and sleeping pad at Suray Montana, friendly and not crowded. I bught a fleece jacket at here.<br />
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Doite have the cheapest price sporty clothes, just beside North Face. I bught a good base layer here.<br />
<br />
Lot of supermarkets in Coyhaique. I resupply at Unimarc.<br />
<br />
They are all close to the plaza, all the shops i listed can search by Google Map.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Because i just have 3 days good weather, so I don't want to do any road walking, i talk the bus to Villa Frei, then hitch to (-45.86204, -72.04816) start hiking.<br />
<br />
Locked gate and camera at {32-m} km2.33, I didn't want to take long time go with big around so i climbed it directly, didn't see any people on the whole way, so doesn't matter.<br />
<br />
RR km23.3 : cross a stream, log crossing at downstream 20m, you can go through the tiny forest to there.<br />
<br />
Km23.63 : flat spot(-45.90969, -72.05767) with some protection after a stream crossing can fit 2 tents before go into the no covers grassland.<br />
<br />
Highly recommend go for {32-C}, both ways just 10min, amazing views and a camping spot can fit 1 tent with excellent view at (-45.90744, -72.07668), but no wind protection.<br />
<br />
Km 26.63 : flat spot (-45.92066, -72.07543) can fit 2 tents with good wind protection from west by bushes.<br />
<br />
Km27.75 : old camping sandy spot(-45.92915, -72.07549) can fit 4 tents with some wind protection from west, just before the dangerous CC. I think the previous one is better.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Km27.9 - km29.95 : dangerous CC traversing on side hill. A slide may cause a fall with heavy injure or death. It is doable but not recommended to everyone. Doing this part only in good weather.<br />
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Km28.3 - km28.35 : for me, it is the most dangerous part in this CC, some landslide(-45.93359, -72.07668) and very loose, i can't hold a good pose and slipped down some meters, luckily i can use my hiking poles to stop the slide immediately.<br />
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Km29.3 : tricky spot(-45.93822, -72.08632), huge thank you for Véronica, her comments made this much easier. Just like she said, "You reach the end of the bad scree and end up in a deep gully with a vertical wall face on the other side." <br />
<br />
"Get to the lowest grassy patch to the left of the vertical rock wall. The easiest way to reach that grassy patch was to go upstream a bit, then traverse on the hard slippery sand northward, instead of trying to climb vertically straight up to it. Once you reach the grass, you can use the traction and stability of vegetation to clamber up and out of the gully."<br />
<br />
Km29.55 : 1st rock wall, go around it with a clear trail at downhill side(-45.93818, -72.08940), GPX track is correct at here.<br />
<br />
Km29.7 : 2nd rock wall, NO CLIMBING, NO SCRAMBLING here, there is a trail JUST WALKING at (-45.93864, -72.09126), overgrown but just 20m easy BB, the trail is between rock wall and treeline, Sobo not easy to notice, but when you are going around the rock wall, then you'll find it. Nobo is easy to reach the trail at the other side. GPX track leads you to climb, it is not a good idea, a slide in climbing at here will mostly cause death.<br />
<br />
After 2nd rock wall, finally CC down to the valley and easy walking start.<br />
<br />
Lot of camping possibilities at the valley, but zero wind protection. Better camping before pass[32.5/1385], because after the pass is super rocky, pass is a large flat area, but too soft to camp.<br />
<br />
I camped at (-45.94901, -72.09962), some flat spots, beside the waterfall from Cerro Aislado. Nice views but cold. It is the first night with negative degree so far. Some water froze to ice at early morning around here.<br />
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After pass[32.5/1385], you walking down at another valley, but with some cairns to follow. <br />
<br />
Km33.5 : trail starts, with some big cairns along it. It leads you all the way to treeline at km34.2. Sometimes it is not clear to follow and lost, but you will always find it if you pay tons of attention, cairns leads you the way.<br />
<br />
The trailhead at km34.2 is a little tricky. You need to climb up a little on a rocky slope after you cross the stream to (-45.97307, -72.10268), then go into the forest to south a little, you'll find a steep loose rocky slope going down again, go for it and you can hold some trees there. Then you join the old trail shown on GPX going south. Don't think about go to the trailhead(-45.97343, -72.10281) directly, it is on a waterfall, you can't arrive there.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
The old trail is in good condition for a while, then become overgrown and some blowdowns. For emergency, you can camp at (-45.97898, -72.10345), it is the first flat spot for Sobo in treeline with cover (the last one for Nobo). It can fit 2 single person tent.<br />
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Lot of tiny stream flowing with clear water.<br />
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When you met the rock river(-45.98185, -72.10091) at km35.33, you can CC down the river and join MR at (-45.98357, -72.10284), it is a super easy CC, not steep, no blowdowns, no wet feet, rocks are stable and not slippery.<br />
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When you arrive MR, easy walking again. A gate locked by wire at km37.1, climbing over it is the fastest way.<br />
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Km38.1 : start BB to riverside, but i think it is a CC, the grass just up to ankle only.<br />
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I find a clear trail(-46.00113, -72.09460) without any blowdowns going south, and lead you to riverside at (-46.00216, -72.09530), then you can walk beside the river and join national park trail.<br />
<br />
National park trail is in a nice condition, nothing to mention. Some snow before and after pass[43.9/1470], but still an easy walking on snow.<br />
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Km46.1 : camping spot at (-46.05228, -72.14549), it is cleared out all the stone by someone here, can fit 1 tent with excellent 360° views, but no wind protection.<br />
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I camped beside the lake(-46.05780, -72.15969) for the second night, excellent spots with glacier views(you are just below it!) and views of Cerro Castillo! Peaceful and not crowded, I'm the only human there with some ducks, and they love to talking in the midnight. You can reach the lake starts at (-46.06176, -72.15672), easy walking beside a stream, all the way stay on east side and dry feet, BB less than 20 meters for total and mostly just easy CC.<br />
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<br />
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Km48.85 : Campsite El Bosque. Side trail to a lake under glacier at north. It is a long walk, but i highly recommend you at least take the trail go out the forest, amazing views there, both ways just 300m.<br />
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Km49.95 : viewpoint of waterfall from Cerro Castillo. And i find that you can climb up to the top of waterfall! See the details at next waypoint.<br />
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Km50.2 : you can climbing up this ridge to the UPPER LAKE of Cerro Castillo. From (-46.06989, -72.18148) to (-46.06905, -72.18500), then to (-46.06627, -72.18497). No trail, just CC on some rocks, stable and not steep until close to the top, the top part is steep and loose, at there you can go to right side a little bit, climbing up on grassy slope for final ascend. Amazing views there, and no camping, because the ground is too soft, but cow boy camping on huge rocks is wonderful at this place.<br />
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I recorded this CC, will upload it later.<br />
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Camp[50.5/1243] : Campsite La Tetera, not a good camping spot, some spots much better when you climbing up and before Laguna Castillo.<br />
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After you enjoy the moment at Laguna Castillo, remember follow RR, check GPX track, dont follow the trail going beside the lake, it is a dead end trail, and if you dont want to all the way back, you can CC climbing up to join RR.<br />
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Pass[53.5/1679] : excellent views here! If you are super thirsty, clear water is flowing good at (-46.07749, -72.20888), easy to collect, 10sec/L.<br />
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Then all the way down to Campsite Los Porteadores, a long long way going down.<br />
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Because of weather changing, so i didn't go up to Laguna Duff.<br />
<br />
Walking on a nice trail to main road, then all the way road walking to Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
<br />
Lot of restaurants, shops and accomodation in Villa Cerro Castillo. The shop(-46.12072, -72.16115) beside the main road is the biggest one in town. Lot of biker riding, hikers and backpackers hitching on the road. Tall gas canisters and 230g gas canisters are sold in Copec gas station at (-46.12208, -72.16279) in high stock. We stayed at Nordic Patagonia(-46.12142, -72.15889), 15k CLP for a bed, 45k CLP for a double room, 8k CLP for camping with views of Cerro Castillo, including hot shower and kitchen basecamp.<br />
<br />
Maybe because of late season, never saw any flies at this section.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
2024-Feb-10 to 2024-Feb-13 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / Las Horquetas and Lagunitas / Andrew<br />
<br />
Day 1 (slept at Rio Turbio)<br />
<br />
I started in Villa Cerro Castillo and hitched a ride to Las Horquetas. I left a bag at the Nordic Patagonia campground in town, it's free if you stay a night after, or CLP 1.000/day if not.<br />
<br />
Signed in at the CONAF station where the park ranger explained the official camps that are currently open, and advised not to drink unfiltered/untreated water between Rio Turbio camp to just before El Bosque camp. But others I talked to later in the hike didn't get the same message and seemed fine so not sure what was up there.<br />
<br />
Easy hike to Rio Turbio camp with some horseflies.<br />
<br />
Day 2 (slept at El Bosque)<br />
<br />
This day was my punishment for deciding to leave behind my fleece at the last moment. Cold and rainy as I went over Penon pass, but at least I got to test out my new rain jacket and rain pants. At least it wasn't very windy. Great views of waterfalls after the pass, and the rest of the day was sunny.<br />
<br />
Camped at El Bosque. Difficult but short day. Worth taking the side trail to Laguna Temprana after setting up camp.<br />
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Day 3 (slept at Neozelandes)<br />
<br />
Lots of scrambling over rocks. Great panoramic views as we went over Morro Negro. As developed campsites go I think Porteadores was actually a bit nicer than Neozelandes, but Neozelandes is much crowded and puts you closer to Laguna Duff.<br />
<br />
Day 4 (back to Villa Cerro Castillo)<br />
<br />
In the morning I hiked to Laguna Duff, best scenary on the Las Horquatas section of the hike IMO, do not miss this. Afterwards I hiked back to Neozelandes, packed my stuff, and hiked back to the Villa. All downhill. Paid the CLP 16.000 fee at the Estero Parada CONAF station, then hitched a ride back (around 3pm). Had some good pizza and beers with some folks I met on the hike at Pizzeria y Hamburgueseria D-Lizia in VCC.<br />
<br />
2024-Feb-8 to 2024-Feb-11 / 3.25 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from El Blanco and Lago Monreal + Variant M + Option 3 / Tomáš & Natalie<br />
<br />
We started around 1500 at Coyhaique and easily hitched to El Blanco. We hitched with three cars (last went to Lago Paloma) and walked about four km in between them along Lago Monreal to Variant M. The sign against hikers scared us and it was late (1930), so we camped nearby (100 m along the fence westward). We reread other reports and decided to go for it in the morning. We first tried to go along a fence lining a small cliff about 100 metres west of the road, but it is pointless and we found ourselves on the road after a few hundred metres. We did not meet anyone. It is easy to miss RR and start on option 1, keep an eye on the GPS. We met black cows at the same place as Stiina, but they just looked omniously at us.<br />
<br />
As for the dangerous part, Tomáš ended up doing it three times as he dropped our tent poles from his backpack just before the start of the CC section. Unlike Nat (see below), he thinks the section is quite ok and he also found it quite scenic, especially the first part over the plateau. The annoying clambering is in fact only about two km long and can be done in about an hour if you know the way. It never felt dangerous to him, but he understands others see it differently, it is certainly more demanding than the average section of GPT. The description of Véronica is the best. The last obstacle (the boulder) is not entirely vertical (it feels like scrambling, not climbing), but you do need to use your hands and it is indeed exposed, down climbing NOBO is more awkward. On the other hand, it is only about seven metres distance (not elevation). We had sunny skies, in worse weather it would be a lot more annoying. The horseflies came back from the dead and died by the dozen under our merciless hands (Nat killed three accidentally just as she tied her hair back).<br />
<br />
At the end of CC, the trailhead is invisible. It starts in the trees immediately from the river, about 10 m from the start of the waterfall in between two landslide/avalanche bands. Will comments that the gpx trail is exact, but since we are used to the gpx being slightly off, we could not see it, I guess we should have just trusted the gpx. There is a cairn in the creek marking the entrance but it is unclear how long it will stay there. Once you reach the overgrown MR, after a hundred metres of easy BB, one can cut the first zigzag straight down through easily passable mature forest. Once down on the road, you can camp on it, it is not used by cars ever. Once you reach the CC at 60.9, do not ford but stay on that side of the river!<br />
<br />
In the popular part of the hike, people concentrate at campings, but otherwise it does not feel too crowded (less than two dozen people met on the trails themselves per day). Until nine and from about five, you will meet almost nobody on the trails. The park is very attractive. There is good internet (Entel 4g) just before the pass at 53.5. From the other side, there is a sign saying the pass closes down in strong winds. Probably better to go there in the morning (weaker wind) or late (after six) in the afternoon (rangers have probably gone home) unless the weather is good. The sign where they turn people is probably at about 1250 altitude at roughly the treeline.<br />
<br />
To avoid paying, Nat followed the RR and was succesfull (OSM is wrong, the official trail is to the east of the GPT in the last few hundred metres). Tomáš followed the easternmost OSM trail that leaves the RR at roughly 480 altitude. The trail is rather imaginery, but it is easy walking across meadows or rarely through open forest and across several fences. His efforts were probably pointless.Tomáš also wanted to cut the walk to Villa Cerro Castillo and forded Estero El Bosque, but it was equally pointless and involved several fences.<br />
<br />
We found screwable gas cartridges in Villa Castillo at the supermarket "Villarica", the last supermarket on the corner of - Bernardo Higgins and Bernardo a Alessandro, i think. They said they have them sometimes. There was a blackout for five hours during our stay but locals said that is not so common.<br />
<br />
Notes from Nat:<br />
<br />
- When in Coyhaique be sure to enjoy the bread and pizza shop called; La Tranquera Pan y Pizza (just North of the main plaza). It has a great selection of sourdough breads/Rye/whole-wheat loafs, cookies, real coffee and tasty pizza slices. ALSO don't miss the dry good store; Envasadora Aysen (45.57016° S, 72.06883° W), the good veg shop here (45.57730° S, 72.07038° W) and then the Unimarc is actually pretty good. <br />
<br />
- My views are prejudiced against the beginning of this route bcs I was sick and not in a good mood but my thoughts at the time were; "If you want to "enjoy" section 32 then take the Las Horquetas option". I really didn't like all the sidehilling and felt you wouldn't miss out on much if you started at Horquetas. Also don't do what I did and pack twice as much as you need bcs Coyhaique "might" be the last place with good food (however it was 3-5x better than villa Castillo).<br />
<br />
- The first tricky part was annoying bcs it was hard to get an edge (not that there is any edge left in my shoes). It was easier to walk up it and gradually cross, all in all it didn't feel dangerous. The second tricky part did feel dangerous to me bcs I went too far climbers left of the grass staircase and ended up having to traverse the short, steep and featureless slope to get back on track, a fall seemed easy and with bad consequences. The rock scramble at the boulder did not worry me but I would not have climbed it if it was wet bcs there is a lot of algae-like material on it and some of the handholds were sloppy. <br />
<br />
- I would be very curious if one could make a new route that went up to this lake here; -45.94848, -72.07320, and then down either here; -45.95505, -72.08753 or along the ridge to here; -45.96914, -72.08724. It would be more vertical and longer but with possibly less sidehilling...<br />
<br />
- The glacier on Variant E (6km return, half of it moraine walking) is nice but not really worth it, the lake on the other hand is 100% worth the short walk (3km return, flat river rock waking).<br />
<br />
- The lake just North of Camping Bosque is also worth it if you can avoid the crowds. Both this lake and Variant E lake are technically CC but "well traveled" and cairned.<br />
<br />
- The trail to Laguna Duff is popular but "splendid", it took less than two hours to the lake from Porteadores. Most of the trail is in the forest and then the last 1.5km (250m vert) is on a pretty obvious rock path. The camping at Neozelandés is far less crowded than other official campsites I recommend it. I got into an argument with a conaf officer at the lake bcs she told me it was too late to be there and I had to leave (4pm). If you want to avoid this person, then go right of the RR when it gets close to the lake headwall, she seemed to be "staged" at where the water leaves the lake. I originally wanted to make a traverse to the other lake but bcs of conaf I went down to the camp to meet Tomáš and then we both went back up after she left (6ish). Once back up we made a traverse to the other lake by following a grassy slope that starts West of where the water exits the lake, you should be able to see the grassy slope on your left when you are walking to Duff. Follow it down and work yourself across, going down to where there is some grass should be quicker than traversing the rubble, CC obviously. On the way down from the second lake we followed the main waterway and then cut back into the forest to reach the main trail (open forest, no BB). Rather than follow the west bank of the waterway like the GPS says we found it far easier to be in the east bank, less rubble.<br />
<br />
-We both bad to walk back to Villa Castillo, no cars going in our direction but manu going in opposite direction (~9am)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-28 to 2024-Jan-31 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Villa Cerro Castillo - Villa Frei / RR + Option 3 + Variant C + Variant M/ Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
It was another fantastic section but we don't have much to add to what has already been written. But we would still like to point out a few points:<br />
<br />
1) At the Segundo campsite (also called Rio Turbio), mice gnawed our tent and our dry bag containing the food. It would be best to hang your food from the trees if you are sleeping at this campsite.<br />
<br />
2) The large rock at -45.938145, -72.086171 can be avoided by doing 10 m of bush bashing just below the rock. This passage is much more visible going NOBO but it is also possible to take it going SOBO.<br />
<br />
3) The little detour to Variant C is definitely worth it. The view of Lago Paloma and Lago Azul is truly incredible.<br />
<br />
4) We took option M despite the right of way conflict. We passed a pick-up truck at the last gate going NOBO (the one with a padlock and a private property sign). They greeted us and gave us no problem.<br />
<br />
2024-Jan-27 to 2024-Jan-29 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 2 + option 3 / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
<br />
- Trail condition : well maintained, good campsites sheltered from the wind <br />
- Water : easy to find plenty of rivers and lagunas<br />
- Camping spot : there are some designated campsites<br />
- Weather : Sunny<br />
- River crossing : easy<br />
- Resupply : in cohayque and in Villa cerro castillo, all you need<br />
- Entrance fee : 16 000 pesos per person, normally the park closes after 1pm so you can't start after that but we were a bit late and they let us through <br />
- Overall : beautiful stretch of section 32, for us it was really an amazing entrance in the Patagonian landscape as we imagined it with the Torres<br />
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*From 2023-01-22 to 2023-01-24 // 3 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR + OP3 + OP3A + VARIANT M // Quentin Clavel<br />
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Villa cerro castillo - entrance Estero Parada - Laguna Duff - Sendero las Horquetas - North part of NP (CC) - Lago Paloma - Villa Frei. <br />
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One of my favourite section so far ! I had amazing weather and I enjoyed so much this stretch, even with few people on the sendero las Horquetas in the NP (not crowded, but obviously more than the usual sections of the GPT). <br />
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Entrance fees for 3 days was 16,000 CLP for me. I had no control and have seen no guardaparque during my hike. <br />
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I walked all the way up to see Laguna Duff (OPT3) definitely worth it in my opinion. Wonderful view, with still some pieces of ices floating on the Laguna, the back of Cerro Castillo and the reflects on the water were amazing. Easy to go there, as there is a trail. <br />
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The second one (OPT3A) is more tricky, no trail, and a lot of rolling stones. Beautiful too and of course, no people at all (I slept there, without tent, just on a big rock, that was incredible). <br />
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Then go up to the pass, it was a crazy hot day, for the first time since I'm in Patagonia, I regretted that it wouldn't be a little bit windy aha. <br />
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Laguna cerro castillo Is amazing. Second pass were very nice too. Bi. I passed it early on the morning, had some snow part, doable, but as it was morning, it was icy on some parts, so I putted my crampons and that was perfect. (But doable without). <br />
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Then easy trail until the end of the public part of NP (just after Segundo camping). After that the cross country part begun. Follow an old trail of the NP, some bush bashing during the forest part, and have to check often the GPS. Then you have to deal with all the rocks until the first pass. <br />
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Go down on a nice valley, and go up to the second pass. Tricky part, as described previously, is the big rock. It's maybe easier to do it NOBO because you descent it, and don't face it, which can be scary. But going on the grass part is the best way. Then follow the tree level, deal with rolling stones, and everything is gonna be alright. The récompense will be the amazing view on Lago Paloma (don't miss the Mirador). <br />
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I took the variant M to avoid the right of way conflict. No trouble at all on this way. You have to pass threw some gates. The last one, near a kind of central hydroelectric is the biggest, with camera and sign do not enter. Few people seen after this gate, and they were all very gentle and nice ! <br />
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Anyway, I really loved this stretch ! As it's summertime at this time, I met a lot of chilenos in the NP, so happy to see even very young chilenos explore their outstanding country ! <br />
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You have to be prepared to face a looooot of rolling stones on this section, sometimes it's like dancing on rocks. Can I say that the rolling stones make this stretch rock'n'roll ? Probably not. <br />
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Better to wait for good conditions. I can't imagine this section on a rainy and windy day ! <br />
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* 2024-Jan- 11 to 2024-Jan-13/ 3 days/hiking/SOBO/ Start in Las Horquetas and later RR/ Paulina<br />
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I started in las Horquetas, it was open even if on Conaf website this section is still closed, apparently they don't really update). When I was there ( 10 AM) nobody at the gate, so no charges. Later in the park nobody never asked me to show the entrance ticket. The same at the exit gate, they just asked me to check out ( even if I did not check in).<br />
At the beginning of Las Horquetas trail, some very easy river crossing. Almost no people, only a few hikers on the campsite.<br />
On Pass 32 [43.9/1470] still some soft snow, but I could cross it safetly.<br />
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Be careful on the ridge around pass 32 [ 53.5/1679] on very windy days. <br />
I did not see any water around camping Los Porteadores, except this last section, water was available everywhere. <br />
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Beautiful and very scenic section! <br />
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*2023-12-29 to 2024-01-01 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR & Variant D & M / Roman<br />
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Took a Uber from Coyhaique to Villa Frei for 17.000$. Got another lift by someone who life's there to this point: -45.8737, -72.04342. Joined via Variant M to the RR. Camped at Camp {32} [23.6/1010]. Good place you have to Ford 2 times before the Camp and 1 times directly after it. Here the -45.93357, -72.07606 Clambering in steep terrain starts and is very challenging also in combination with snow. Very steep literally climbing up there here: -45.938145, -72.086171 especially with a backpack. I needed to go very slow and cautious with 3 point technique. After that you can follow the GPS and the Kerns to this point -45.973087, -72.102771. From there a old abandoned road goes all the way to the point where the Trail( Variant D) merges with the Sendero de Chile Las Horquetas at: X {32-D} [1.0/920]. On the trial are some parts which are not perfectly visible but with GPS no problem. There are some fallen trees and quite a few small trees on the trail. I wouldn't consider it Bush Bashing (BB) because you can just raise your arms in front of your face and walk trough it. So IMHO no BB on the route. As soon as you are at X {32-D} [1.0/920] it's a "touristy trail" compared with the other GPT parts. Therefor the condition is excellent. Camped at Segundo Camping -46.008184, -72.104121. Next day camped at Camping Los Porteadores -46.089085, -72.235431. Snow was neither on Pass {32} [43.9/1470] or Pass {32} [53.5/1679] a problem. Next day hiked to Villa Cerro Castillo. Not a single car on the street towards it so needed to hike. The RR avoids the Entrance Cerro Castillo Park (Estero Parada) there is one gate before accessing the street where you can just hop over.<br />
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Overall: really nice section and quite relaxing to have such a easy trail (the beginning is challenging due to the rock scramble). It's the most touristy part (2 groups a 7 people) but absolutely woth it. Really enjoyed it.<br />
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Contact: https://linktr.ee/RundW<br />
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*2023-Dec-12 / 6 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Variant D + Variant F / Tom Pieper<br />
An Uber from Cohayique to Villa Simpson is about 9.000 Peso. From there I easily found rides to Lago Elizalde. A older man told me that there was also a camino from Lago Elizalde to Lago Azul passing cerro sombrero a couple of years ago. I really liked the walking through the valley to lago desierto. It passes a beautiful farmland landscape sprinkled with little lush patches of forest and creeks. Camping is easy there. But if you want to speed up there are also cars from time to time and hitchhiking is possible. At S 45° 52.495 W 072° 16.913 is a little shelter surrounded by some old tractors and a big mate cup installation. A farmer passing by told me I am welcome to stay there. To reach lago desierto you have to climb a locked gate (well described by Kara Davis). I crossed lago desierto and camped at the isthmus between it and lago azul. There is a nice camp spot at waypoint Lake {32} [38.3/337] surrounded by old gooseberry bushes and an abandoned van. The central lodging building is collapsed so its seems to be an abandoned place now except the cattle. Next day I crossed lago azul. The wind increased dramatically forming up to 1 m waves. There are some emergency exits on the left even after the shore gets steeper after the settlers on the lefthand side. At the end of lago azul you reach a huge private hacienda on the isthmus, with a big park like forest and buildings within. I tried to sneak between the buildings but to reach the path to the mountains you finally have to pass a big meadow. There was a greenkeeper around and it was no problem for him to let me pass. The family was not around. The track to the mountains is steep and part of a big network of mountainbike trails. This network spans nearly the entire valley! I met six young chilenos who told me that they are working the summer to maintain the trails only for that family – I have never seen such a giant mountainbike network! Incredible how much effort and money must spend here only to satisfy a family’s hobby. The Chilenos were very friendly and even turned back to offer me a ride to the end of the valley as rain increased but I kept walking. This track is in really good conditions up to the bush bashing section. And here comes the problem: 1.) the bush bashing is wrong annotated. In reality it starts for 1.2 km at the end of the annotated section 2.) the track is mostly gone were it reaches the river bed. Landslides have washed away a big part. Don’t cross the landslide! It seems super instable! When you have forded the riverbed at the landslide don’t put on your shoes, yet. The following part has turned into swamp land. I suggest to make the entire 1.2 km in your fording footwear. After that the track to the las horquetas trail is mostly overgrown or blocked by trees but still visible. It was pretty hard for me as temperatures dropped to 4 °C and at this point it had not stopped raining for 48 hr. In bad weather that’s definitely no fun. The ranger hut was my salvation as it was abandoned but open and had a stove and even some firewood. The next day the weather was perfect and I continued towards cerro Castillo. There had been recent work around Camping Rio Turbio and the track is still in good condition. Paso Penón has heaps of snow and I found myself sinking to the hips from time to time. But in good weather it is ok. The views from the pass and the following valley even outcompeted the view from laguna castillo. After the paso penón the rest is fine. I used Variant F to descend. As mentioned before it now follows a different way in the end due to right of way conflict and you reach the street at approximately half way between villa cerro Castillo and the national park entrance.<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 05-Apr-2023 / Hiking / SOBO / Martin & Helena<br />
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We really enjoyed this one. It's definitely worth waiting for good weather, not only for safe traverse of the steep part in the northern part of the park and following obstacles that are quite demanding but also for the views that were just incredible.<br />
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Starting from Villa Frei in the late afternoon, we made it on that day to the turn before Lago La Paloma, where we camped right behind a fence, before a little river, that you need to cross to follow the RR. There are 2 settlements, but still far enough, so no problem. You have to cross one fence and a gate on the way up. To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side. Crossing them will take you directly to RR, so no bush-bashing is necessary. From there, the trail is pretty straightforward. We liked the view from Option B viewpoint and in good conditions it must be a perfect spot for camping, definitely doable in one day. The steep traverse didn't feel that dangerous for us, but we had really good conditions. The next obstacle, already described by others, is at the end of the traverse. We followed there a small ridge that will take you to the beginning of the grass parts. It's a little steep, but doable. From there we followed the grass parts, which create almost 'stairs' allowing you to climb up. It's again steep, but you can use your hands to pull yourself up, holding the grass patches. After that is the last challenging part, a rock that you need to climb over. We got there already after sunset and without an option to explore the best and safest way over, we decided to follow the old overgrown trail, that descends down without the need to climb over the rock. It seemed to be hard in the beginning, but after we got through the first few trees (without any leaves, just branches), we found a little strip without them, that takes you all the way down to the river, where we camped. It took us around 15 min to get down, so it might be a good alternative. From there you just need to walk through a little part of the forest and then continue by the river, so you are actually avoiding also the descent down, which some described as challenging as well.<br />
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After the first marked pass and descent in rocky terrain, the CC part connects to an old trail, that later becomes a MR. The connection was easy to find by following the GPS. We had no problems passing around the rangers house, again by following the track files, at first through the forest and later around the river. From there the trail connects to the official way which makes navigation easy. We spent the night in the official campsite around 2 km before Laguna Carro Castillo, which is the only one open. There were 5-6 other tents, no ranger. The next day the weather got way way worse, which made us skip the last pass and go down from the laguna via one of the official routes. We met a ranger on the way up, pointing us to the official trail around yellow cairns, to sign off from the park. With no intention to pay on our way from the park, we actually followed some old trail (according to the old signs we met) that took us to the main road, right in front of the bridge. We had to cross one fence, but no other problem. It's a faster and safe way from the park.<br />
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*5 to 7 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO / 3 days<br />
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Amazing section! I was worried about the tricky part, but sticking to the gpx track it didn't feel dangerous to me. Though I did have to leave the track to find easier ways around the cliffs.<br />
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There weren't any buses south out of Coyhaique on Sunday (except maybe early morning?). I ended up taking an Uber to villa frei, for a bearable 14000 pesos. The road walk was beautiful except for the wind trying to blow me into the cars. I caught a ride to Lago Monreal, from where I walked back up to variant L and then to the 23.6 campsite.<br />
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I didn't have any right of way trouble, I just had to pass through a few unlocked gates with no people or buildings in sight. There were even a few groups of day hikers who passed by my camp on the way to the Lago Paloma mirador (variant B - must see!).<br />
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I also took variant D up to the glacier lake, worth it if it fits your schedule. I didn't have time to keep going up to the glacier itself, it looked like steeper rocky cross country.<br />
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Even in the touristy parts the trail was surprisingly slow and rocky. I ran into a few rangers, who look like normal hikers except with red and white baseball hats. They were ok with me not having a ticket once I explained my weird route.<br />
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*15.02.23 -18.02.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO<br />
Coyhaique - Villa Cerro Castillo<br />
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We hitchhiked from Coyhaique to Lago Paloma and started walking around 13:30 pm following the main path.<br />
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The trail at the beginning is pretty good. At the junction with the option at km 17,5 you can walk further uphill along the fence for a couple of meters to enter the fence through a gate. This option is not in the gpx files. We decided to follow that to avoid the settlers after all.Then you can follow the dirtroad through two more gates until you reach a fence that you have to jump to the right to get to a meadow with beehives. There is another gate there and then you reach the main route again. In total we only had to jump two fences.<br />
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Then we followed the main route. Soon after we went through the gate of the National park Cerro Castillo and we (unfortunately) met two guardians of the park. After some back and forth they made us turn around, telling us that this path is closed and we have to enter the park via the main entrance and pay the 30.000 clp. So we had to take the option to las Horquetas.<br />
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After a few good km on a dirtroad, the path of option 1 gets bad. It seems like it hasn't been used for a long time. It was often hard to find and involved some bushbashing. It took us quite some time to get through there. Once you are at the river it gets much better. We forded the river next to the entrance to avoid the detour until Horquetas. The option was not very nice. Mostly just walking in the forest with BB so we would definetly recommend to try the main route.<br />
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The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets. The park guardians tell you that there is no water crossing both passes and you have to carry it from the official camps, which is simply not true. There is only no water after Laguna Castillo.<br />
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At the exit (following the RR) we had to register us again. From there we planned to hitchhike to Villa Cerro Castillo, but there were no cars passing by. In the afternoon/evening it's probably easier to get a ride, because lots of cars parked at the exit. We would recommend Option E to avoid the dull roadwalk to Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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We stayed at Camping El Rincon, which was only 4.000 clp p.p., with no electricity, but the owner washed our clothes after we asked and we received it dry the next morning :)<br />
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*18 to 21 of January 2023 / Véronica / GPT32 RR SOBO / 3.5 days<br />
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Route: Villa Freí - Lago La Paloma - north part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo - Las Horquetas trail (south part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo) - Villa Cerro Castillo<br />
First off I want to say that I think this section deserves a 5 on the Attractiveness Scale. It is simply mind-blowingly beautiful and definitely on par with other sections further north that have a 5 on this scale. I also think the Difficulty Rating should be upped to a 5 as well, due to the technical, and arguably dangerous at times, section in the northern part of the park on the Regular Route. Wish I had someone with me during this stretch, but oh well, such is life.<br />
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I was lucky and caught a hitch most of the way to Lago La Paloma on the first day. It was hot and I don't think the road walk has any water sources until you get to the end. I then followed the new RR which bypasses the problematic right-of-way settler in the Lago Monreal area. However, this new detour is not fun. It involves climbing over (or crawling through/under) multiple barbed wire fences. I lost count after the 5th or 6th one. Also, the path and cross-country area are full of thorny plants, they got everywhere on my pack and clothing. I think it would just be better to take Option 32-L and chat with the settler instead to try and get through. Once you reach RH-MR-V {32} [18.9+4.7], it's all good, easy walking until the camp at 23.6 km.<br />
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I reccomend taking Option 32-A after the campsite instead of the CC straight through the cow pasture. It is wet and muddy, whereas 32-A remains dry and easy to follow in the forest at the edge of the meadow. I also strongly recommend taking the short detour to the mirador at the end of Option 32-B. The views there of the cliffs and mountains surrounding Lago La Paloma are incredible. You could even camp there if you brought sufficient water and the weather is calm.<br />
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Now for the difficult part in the 8-km cross-country section. This section was physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding. The first pass is at S 45° 55.740', W 072° 04.501'. It is easy walking up past the treeline into the alpine up to this point. The first challenge is a steep and unstable scree traverse, which begins at S 45° 56.019', W 072° 04.567'. Follow the GPS tracks here. At first I tried to go lower, right along the treeline, which was a big mistake that got me stuck in a terrible gully of slippery hard-packed sand. Very treacherous and scary trying to traverse it on all fours. After that ordeal, I scrambled back up to the altitude of the GPS tracks. This first scree traverse lasts about a km, the rocks are loose and it is very steep. I was tense and went very slowly. Got harassed by tábanos the whole way, but at least the weather was good.<br />
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Then at S 45° 56.288', W 072° 05.184', you reach the end of the bad scree and end up in a deep gully with a vertical wall face on the other side. Figuring out how to get up that cliff was hard for me. I left my pack at the bottom and tried climbing up various different ways with no success, only tiring myself out and getting myself in precarious situations where I could barely climb back down. I finally figured out the best way was to try and get to the lowest grassy patch to the left of the vertical rock wall. The easiest way to reach that grassy patch was to go upstream a bit, then traverse on the hard slippery sand northward, instead of trying to climb vertically straight up to it. Once you reach the grass, you can use the traction and stability of vegetation to clamber up and out of the gully.<br />
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The next big obstacle is at S 45° 56.320', W 072° 05.446'. Like others have written, this is the vertical rock wall that spans up and down the mountain and that you have to climb over. I scouted ways up without my pack at first, trying to find the easiest way. At least with this rock wall, the handholds and footholds are solid — no slippery gravel/sand/scree. But it does require actual rock climbing moves. If you fall you would likely tumble down the mountain, so please be very careful. A light backpack makes it relatively safer and easier.<br />
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On the other side of this wall, you can finally see where the trees end, and the lovely river you are supposed to climb down to reach. But there is still more scree to traverse here, and it is slow and unstable again. I tried taking a shortcut down a shallow gully filled with grass. I figured it would be safer than the rocks, but it was very steep and got unexpectedly muddy at one point, and I ended up slipping and sliding down the mountainside about 10 meters before being able to stop myself. Didn't get seriously hurt, just bruised up, but it really shook me and just added to the stress and fear of this whole section. So I guess my advice here is to again follow the GPS tracks across the scree and go down gradually to the river instead of trying to go straight down.<br />
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Once you reach the riverbed, it is easy walking to the top of the pass, with occasional cairns (and some good swimming holes). Down the south side of the pass, there are still a couple scree sections, but not nearly as bad as before. Lots of boulders, so slow going, but at least they felt more solid.<br />
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As Martin Lizondo has written, finding the start of RH-MR-V {32} [34.1+1.7] is tricky. It is not a minor road, it is an old footpath. The cross-country section ends at a creek as it turns into a high and steep waterfall. You have to cross the creek and look up to find a faint, overgrown trail that goes up into the forest. Once you find it though, it is simple enough to follow. There is a stretch though of several hundred meters where it is more of a bushwhack than anything else, nature has taken over.<br />
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I followed the regular route that cuts through the forest to Río Turbío, I assume this is to avoid the ranger station nearby. The "bushbashing" section is easy through a mature forest, and then you just follow the bouldery riverbank.<br />
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Once you get to the popular Las Horquetas trail, everything is easy until the end of the section. Some snow at the top of the first pass (Paso Peñón), but very manageable. The views of the saw-toothed mountains, lakes, and glaciers are spectacular. Despite reports of the park being "overrun," I only met a handful of other hikers in this trail, and most of them after Laguna Castillo. No rangers at all.<br />
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I think the Regular Route in its current configuration avoids the blue payment tent at the end of the park trail, but I didn't know that when I passed through, and ended up just following the riverbank down to the minor road to be safe (and avoid paying the ridiculous 30,000 clp access fee). The road walk to Cerro Castillo was Easy and uneventful.<br />
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*23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR SOBO / Louis, Rémi & Noé :<br />
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We started at Lago La Paloma, taking the bus from Coyhaique to Villa Frei (leaves at 8:15,15:30,17:30&19:30 from monday to friday and at 8:00 and 14:00 on saturday (no bus on sunday)). Then we hitchiked to the lake without problem and we camped there. Ready to start in the morning the next day.<br />
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Day 1 - Campamento Rio Turbio - 26.5km - +1800m/-1200m A big day but we hadnt the choice : heavy rain was announced for the next day... Cross country is demanding, better follow the tracks all the way long. A great camp site if you want to split this day is at the end of Option B. No water, windy but incredible view. The waypoint camp before is nice too.<br />
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Day 2 - Campamento El Bosque - 10km - +800m/-800m The 2 camps sites on the GPT at47.8 and at 50.3 are now forbidden. The new campsite is approx at km 49, in the middle. There is guardaparques, but no need to show the permit for us.<br />
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Day 3 - Cerro Castillo - 11km - +800m/-1500m The pass after Cerro Castillo was closed due to the wind. If you want to go to the other side, you have to get down at the park entrance and to go up again at the other entrance. We just went to the town. The regular route going down from there, from the Cerro Castillo, is not the one on the GPT. Actually, it goes more on the west side. At the end, there is a guardaparque, we checked out (even though we didn’t checked in) but no need to pay. Fortunately. Luck was with us.<br />
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* 23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR NOBO / Jakub+Veronika:<br />
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1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.<br />
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.<br />
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We've walked all section 32 from Villa Frei to Villa Cerro Castillo. The part from Lago Paloma to Rio Turbio is very difficult and might be even dangerous (especially in bad weather). The CC travers on the stones (in our case with strong wind and snow) was the hardest part. The MR leading down to the valley is partially overgrown. The second part is well marked with good camping possibilities. After heavy rains on Sunday 25th, the park has been closed for more than a week. There are 2 alerts on the road (see above).<br />
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*Feb 17 RR 3 days SOBO Frank<br />
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Walked from Villa Frei. After about 12KM there is a food truck next to the road. Owners live there so should open for you. The owner of the private land wasn't there so had no access issues. You can camp in a big meadow @ 1250 metres or in good weather at a pass @ about 1325 metres (not marked on track file) just before the difficult CC section begins. Followed Veronica's advice to get up the gully on grass which worked well, thanks Veronica. There is no need for any rock climbing on this route. After the gully there are two rock bands running perpendicular to the route. You can go below both of them & bypass them at treeline. The second bypass is not very obvious but stay at the treeline & you will get through easily. After the pass, descending scree you come to a waterfall. Go left into the forest immediately before the waterfall - you may see a small cairn marking the spot. Just footprints at first but pick up a small trail as you go in. Leaving the park the RR to the left goes through private land. The optional route straight down is now the main trail, it goes down to a checkpoint just before the road. Checkpoint is at a stile over a fence so can't be avoided. It is run as a private 'concession' from CONAF. The workers were friendly & didn't charge me anything. However next year the concession will be run by a different company so depends who is there.<br />
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==Season 2021/22==<br />
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*2022 Feb: 05-07, SoBo, RR, Kris&Stiina<br />
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We continued into this section straight from the previous one - 31H and the start of it, about first 16km, is like the whole previous section - dirt road. We hiked about 5 of those 16km and hitched the rest which I think was possible quite easy because it was weekend and a lot of cars with families were going to the Lago La Paloma.<br />
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The interesting part started once we were at the gate after crossing the outflow of Lago Monreal. The big sign was posted there stating that this is not some Sendero de Chile and that passing through here is strictly forbidden. We saw a guy at the gate when we were approaching, but as it was lunch time for us we stayed at the stream. Afterwards the guy was gone and there was no phone signal to call the nr. that Martin Lizondo has provided. After considering options of different routes we decided to keep it cool and climbed over the gate with fingers crossed. There were houses a few hundred meters up the road, but nobody seemed to be at home at that point, perhaps working in the field somewhere in the back, so we walked through the forbidden land without anyone intercepting, luck was with us. A few more gates later we climbed up into the forest and finally the Cerro Castillo National park with a big old welcoming sign. We stayed at the first marked campsite at 22,7km, there is a stream.<br />
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Next morning as we were having our breakfast about 30 cows showed up and were completely dazzled by our presence. They stared at us for about 15min until they finally relaxed a bit, but not fully. As we were packing our camp some sudden movement must have scared them and they all went running for their lives as if a Kraken himself was after them, silly cows, we thought. Once we were all packed and ready to go we crossed the stream into the next meadow, and saw all the cows about 200m to our left. I am not exactly sure how cows work, but as soon as they saw us they organized a gang and all of them started running right at us. We of course were standing our ground so the cows would stop just 5m from us and look all tough. I would try to scare them away by counter attack in the form of a shouting, hiking pole waving lunatic. It worked to some extent, as we could slowly walk out of it, but the cows kept persistently be really close and walk/run at us. I guess they were trying to protect their pasture, maybe someone can enlighten me about cow-dynamics.<br />
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After the great battle of 2022, we disappeared in the forest and enjoyed the nice forest path while it lasted. Once out of the three line the path disappeared so we more or less followed the GPS marking. Neither of our maps showed the mentioned old path descending down into the valley, it was actually matching with the GPS, more or less. Up to the first pass, which is not marked, but is at about 26,8km the cross country was easy and then as mentioned before it got pretty difficult. If it would just be steep scree slope it would be alright, but this one had hard packed sand under the scree or sometimes no scree on it so it was very slippery (in dry conditions). Lots of prayers went to the Gods of Friction which helped us with traversing the treacherous slopes, with plenty of chances to become a statistic. I don’t think that that traverse is possible in wet conditions, not without crampons. And as for every good cake there is always a cherry on top, which was a little rock climbing session, which I personally didn’t mind, but I am not sure other hikers would appreciate. After that we still had to descend a steep scree down to the river. If there is a potential trail or option to go down the valley after the pass and then follow the river bank up, I think it is definitely a better, faster and safer option, especially if weather is not favorable. And looking from above down the valley it seemed like a feasible option to follow the river as the river itself was easily crossable and we didn’t spot any cliffs there, maybe next time.<br />
<br />
After reaching the river at the valley bottom the way up to the second pass was easy and straight forward, even though still “sin sendero”. The way down from the pass is steep and bouldery but not dangerous and after a short bit some first signs of an old trail can be noticed, some cairs appear. Then once the trail gets down to the tree line there are a few bushy places, but nothing too bad and the closer to the actual trail you get the better it becomes. We also somewhat followed the GPS track but stayed more in the forest rather than beach to avoid the ranger hut.<br />
<br />
Once we made it to the Las Horquetas trail all our worries were behind us and we could enjoy the nice trail and magnificent views. I don’t think I have ever seen tree line ending almost at the edge of the glacier in Europe it was happening a century ago, pretty cool stuff. We camped at the “segundo camping” with many other hikers, none doing the GPT though. And an interesting thing we observed was that people would just drink straight from the silty glacier stream without filtering or treating their water at all. Observation was made of different groups of people at different campsites. Is that a Chilean thing? Very impressive gut, if they can do it, unless ignorance is a bliss or they knew something that we didn’t.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, two more mountain passes and we were heading down to Villa Cerro Castillo, with crowds of day-hikers that had come up to the Mirador Cerro Castillo. From there we actually didn’t follow the GPS track but headed down straight to the town. The ticket office with the park official is actually around this area: (46º 6.7520' S, 72º 12.0032' W). And the trail leading there is the official trail. The one that seemed on the map like the official, was actually not in use, not sure why. The satellite view on Gaia and info on the maps is somehow outdated. We tried to sneak past the office to avoid all explaining we had to do, but it’s kind of strategically placed so it wasn’t possible and we ended up just talking to the girl that was making sure everyone is checking out of the park. We had to pay 18.000 pesos per person which is the ticket for foreigners that want to go up to the mirador. We didn’t spill the beans about camping in the park and our small backpacks kept the suspicion low, so in the end it all worked out pretty good. From there it is still almost 5km to the town on a very dusty road, but with all the day hikers leaving a hitch was not a problem.<br />
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The town is really nice with plenty of shops and accommodations options. The only thing we didn’t manage to find was the threaded gas canister, but we found a few half-empty ones left in the Nordic Patagonia mess tent.<br />
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For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br />
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<br />
*Section 32, Option 7: Valle Balboa. Southbound. 11 days (including waiting out a snow storm). Party (3): Mum, Sis and I.<br />
<br />
After walking Section 35 we emerged in Cochrane to a world changed by the virus. We retreated to the now unfriendly Chili Chico and caught the ferry across to Ibáñez in the morning. For my mum and sister, getting back to Santiago to catch a flight home had been the priority, but on the way they shifted more to the stance I was taking: what was the point? Get stuck in Australia, or here? Patagonia didn't seem all that bad, and apart from facemasks and hand sanitiser, there were no shortages like back home. By the time we reached Coyhaique we'd all decided to stay a week or so to hatch a plan. We met up with Aldo and camped in his backyard for almost a week. I helped build his house a bit, but time was mostly filled with playing chess, dice, cards and guitar. The atmosphere seemed to encourage a lethargic state, blurring the days together and bending time. Finally however, we packed and walked into the town centre to make a start on the interesting option #007 of Section 32 through Valle Balboa, (traversing roughly from Lago Desierto to Río Ibáñez). With the virus and public transport on hold, it seemed unlikely the bus to Villa Freí (that we took last time for the RR of Section 32) would be running. We asked a taxi driver for a quote to drive us out. We grabbed some more supplies, and then caught a taxi with a much friendlier driver to Lago Elizalde ($15k). The driver showed us a great public camping spot on the shore of the lake. There were many established camp sites back from [close to] the beach. It was such a nice spot that we decided to lay back and spend the afternoon and night there.<br />
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In the morning, we walked the road to Río Paloma, scoring a lift for 5ks or so. We camped by the river not far before the end of the road.<br />
<br />
In the morning we walked the last bit of the public road to where it ends at the very rickety bridge over Río Mogote. There is a nice little camping spot here (-45.91100, -72.31823). Climbing over the locked gate, we walked the private road to the ford. We tossed up visiting Lago Desierto and the people living next to it, but with the virus decided against it. This meant we didn't actually have to cross the river, instead locating the old road to the south. (The track files follow the road, but it is no longer used by vehicles and it is actually easier to head back down the main road a couple of hundred metres to where a cattle trail exists (-45.91601, -72.30806)).<br />
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Following this distinct road for some time, it seemed to be used for horse riding tours as there were coloured signs like "Spanglish" and "Toobooku" on the side. You will soon reach the gate included in the track files. Here there is also access to a bridge across Estero Balboa. It looks like you can then access trails most of the way up to Cerró Negro. This might be interesting if someone wants to explore.<br />
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A couple hundred metres after the gate the old road ends and an obvious trail continues to a miskept farmhouse. Continue along the well defined trail that gets a bit scrubby/overgrown before entering the forest. The trail is then very well maintained although quite muddy in spots (I could see it being quite bad after rain). You will need to ford a tributary not marked in the track files (-45.95592, -72.35114). Shortly afterwards is a junction (-45.95654, -72.35216). The route up the side valley could be explored if someone wants - we went only a short way to a corral. The track will dip back down to the river where there is an established camp (-45.97039, -72.35461). Continuing up the valley, there are many more established camps - the best are generally in close proximity to the fords.<br />
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The first time you cross the estero is about here: (-45.98105, -72.36205). There is only one ford, not two as the track files indicate. At the next couple of fords, the actual track deviates slightly from the track files. If you follow the current track files, you will avoid crossing the river at all, but will end up bush bashing briefly. We crossed the next two fords, but by staying on the west side of the river they should also be easily avoidable.<br />
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The trail exits the forest (-46.02116, -72.42538)(the camp marked in the track files here is a swamp - go further up the valley!) from where it is cross country walking, not actually a trail as indicated. We camped next to the puesto which incorporates some pieces of a crashed plane (we found another piece whist exploring, but not the actual crash site). The route up to the Laguna Campana is also open and straight forward.<br />
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We waited out a rainy day only to wake to a snow storm the next!... and the next!. We ended up waiting 4 nights experimenting with some different bread recipes whilst we waited out the inclement weather.<br />
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Finally a sunny day! Continue up the valley, CC walking past an old corral. At the Nacimiento del Estero Balboa you again briefly enter the trees. Like the previous marked camp, again this whole area was very swampy and I didn't see a suitable place to camp. The camp included in the track files is in the middle of a swamp! We picked up fragments of a track heading up through the trees, but I think it is very vague or overgrown. That said, we had nearly a foot of snow in places so we could have easily missed things! There is a very obvious section of track here : (-46.05648, -72.47298). You'll quickly exit the trees (-46.05923, -72.47005) and start a long CC section in the alpine. We found some sections of trail, but for us it was mostly cross country walking. Plenty of water options the whole way.<br />
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When you enter the forest after completing the alpine section (-46.08687, -72.43537), you will be bush bashing for a long time! There was no discernible track even when we criss-crossed over the track files searching for it (no snow here anymore). Approaching the deep gorge, I decided to lead us a different, less steep way. This worked well and we camped at a very nice spot by the stream at the bottom (-46.09414, -72.42582).<br />
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The next day we were debating simply following the river down (I wish we had!). Instead, we headed straight up the other side of the gorge. We located part of an old track here (-46.09685, -72.42463) but quickly lost it as we passed through the saddle (I think maybe it continues north?). Rejoining the suggested investigation route (EXP-OP-TL-I@32-07-#003), there is a good stream (-46.10202, -72.42403) and some camping on its banks.<br />
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After some horrible bush bashing, we finally made it to a ravine gashing steeply down the mountain (-46.10598, -72.41534). There were many drops and it was impossible to go directly down. We later found out that the only other party to do this part had a rope! I can't really recommend going down here [and my sister can't recommend it at all! - "This is shit!"] Again, I'd recommend taking the main valley. The climbs we did were much more difficult than those on the northern part of Section 32 RR that people complain about. Also, if doing this option, it would be much easier travelling north! You could also consult the settlers on a better route. We finally reached the bottom where it opens up after about ~6hrs!<br />
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Continuing, if you do follow EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, the track files indicate there is a trail, but it is not quite so. There are CC sections and a labyrinth of cattle trails. You will need to use them to your advantage where they exist, and leave them when they go the wrong way. We went this way for a little while, but then tried following a primary cattle track that seemed to be heading directly down to the river... but we got stopped by a swamp (-46.11623, -72.41080). Continuing along EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, you will get CC walking from the woods (after a cliff) about here: (-46.11546, -72.42372) If we were there again we would follow EXP-OP-CC-A@32-07-#004 down past the settler to the river. It then looked easy to walk along the river north to the cable car.<br />
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The cable car: Don't use this by yourself! Don't use it if you are only two! Use it with three people minimum! I can't stress this enough. There is a lot of fiction and the locals we talked to here don't even consider it safe. They used the boat which has its own steel cable allowing you to tack across with relative ease. You will get wet feet if using the boat.<br />
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Taking the cable car, we only just made it across with one in the car and two hauling on the rope, and at one point it looked like my sister might get stranded on the far side (she had a nightmare that night!).<br />
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Carretera Austral: We waited the entire day by the Carretera Austral. Finally catching a colectivo late in the afternoon. With the virus, it was hard/imposible to hitchhike. We paid an inflated price ($3kpp) for transport to Cerró Castillo.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
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*2020-March-6 / Ty & America / 4.5 Days SOBO RR. Start @ El Blanco<br />
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We started in El Blanco, opting to hike by Lago Montreal, which was pretty nice. No traffic though, so if you’re wanting a hitch the regular start in Villa freí may be a better option. Settlers in Lago Montreal are super friendly. There’s a bit of water there as you pass by the lake. We camped there. I recommend going further to the marked camp though because the next day is a big challenge. RH-CC-A@32-25.2+7.9 Is the Cruz of the section. After this all good. I do not recommend doing this unless you’re very comfortable on your feet and have a lightweight pack.<br />
<br />
-stick to the treeline/marked path on this. The traversing is tough, but completely doable. 2-3 km in is the gully with the very difficult climb. Keep the the grassy patch, getting to the base of it was the most dangerous part for us. Very slippery rock. I had America drop her pack. High risk, but I was MUCH more comfortable.<br />
<br />
-about a k after is the second dangerous area. This is a straight rock wall that spans all the way up& down the mountain. The only way through is to climb around. I checked below it and didn’t find a way through the trees. I took both Sanita & America’s packs through this section; as again, it’s very high risk..with an actual climbing move involved. Again, it’s important you’re very comfortable with your pack to get through these parts.<br />
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After these dangerous sections we were wiped out and camped in the valley before the pass. Lots of places to camp with good water. Be aware of slight rockfall risk. There’s an amazing place to camp with ideal conditions at the top of the pass.<br />
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Going on, all smooth, both marked camps on the way up the second pass are actually closed...there’s an open camp right between the two.<br />
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Amazing places to camp up by Laguna Castillo.<br />
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We snuck around the riverbed once we saw the blue tent at the bottom (where you might have to pay) and got by with no problems.<br />
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*Jan 2020 GPT32 South 7days / Felix<br />
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_____________________ Coyhaique to Villa Freí: There is a bus from the bus terminal in Coyhaique to Villa Freí. From there it was a hot dusty road.<br />
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_____________________ Accessing the park : You have to pass through 4 private properties to enter the first sector of the park. We met some people. Had short friendly chats, but no problems with access. Just before you enter the park (where there are two trail options) there is easy access to the river via a cow trail. However water in general was no issue and I didn't carry water for the entire 7 days through the park.<br />
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The camp site used to be an official campsite before the sector was closed due to access problems. The dunny is in great shape.<br />
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_____________________ Through the first sector : The trail is in great shape until after the mirador. You then cut upwards into the alpine which is also easy walking. After passing through a saddle, you contour around above the treeline. This is the most difficult part of the section. Quite a bit of step scree traversing. Not for everyone. Once you drop into the valley waking is again easier. There are some occasional cairns that become more and more frequent as you drop into the other valley. As you contour left an intermittent trail is evident. When you enter the lenga forest (-45.97321, -72.10278) there is a great trail down that turns into a road here : (-45.97886, -72.10358) (Jan: maybe you want to update the track files to reflect this?) Then is road walking to join the popular walk.<br />
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_____________________ Popular sector of Cerró Castillo : There are some side trips not included in the track files. They're on the map you get. Note that the old Bosque site (-46.06197, -72.16016) and La Tetera (-46.07200, -72.18390) are now closed. You can not camp there. For most people this means camping at the new el Bosque : (-46.06418, -72.16964)(Jan : maybe you want to update the track files?) Get to Laguna Cerró Castillo before 12 to beat the walkers heading up for the day. But this shouldn't be an issue as you need to cross the pass early : an important thing we would have liked to know is that the pass (-46.08030, -72.21103) can be closed in the afternoon due to strong winds. There is literally a ranger there that can turn people around. Not much water over the pass either. And the poza cerca mirador doesn't look welcoming. Carry water here. In the next valley there were more rangers and we saw some people get checked for permits. It's a shame this park is now being comercialalised :(<br />
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_____________________ Getting back to Coyhaique : Not much traffic. The last bus heads back at 6pm<br />
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_____________________ I'll try upload some map photos and a breakdown of the entrance fees when I get the photos off my camera.<br />
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Cheers, Felix.<br />
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* 2020-Jan-18 and 19 / Regular Hiking Southbound / Martin Lizondo<br />
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The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge. I met other day hikers going to « El Mirador ». Snow was easy at the passes. The trail was in good conditions until the cross country. There are two spots which I consider dangerous, so I don’t recomend doing this section alone: 1) the gps tracks passes through a very vertical rocky (nearly climbing). I was scared and I can’t recommend doing it, except you asume this risk. I could see later in a map that the original route went all way down in the valley through lenga forest, but if there was a trail it’s invisible now. 2) When the cross country leaves the tree line and becomes a small trail into the lenga forest at 45º 58' 23,54" S, 72º 6' 10,02" O (“minor road” starts later, despite the gps track info); it’s very stepy and unmaintained. I made a mistake and started to follow the stream all way down, but you have to look up and search the beginning of the hidden path. It’s very vertical and easy to fell down, because of recent land slides. Be extremely carefull. The rest of Cerro Castillo from Las Horquetas is well maintained, beautifull and enjoyable. Cons: Lots of people. When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.<br />
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* Jan 2020 / RH Northbound / Matthieu<br />
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No technical difficulties in the park, just following the trail and enjoying the views.<br />
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To follow the GPT northbound, leave the parc trail to go north. It is an "old sendero" in the forest, but well maintained and easy to follow during the beginning (it is marked on maps of the parc). In this direction, no problem to leave the forest in a safe spot, but southbound, looking behind, seemed hard to find the entrance of the forest and of the safe trail ! No technical difficulties until the first pass, rocky terrain like the rest of the park. <br />
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The dangerous part is indeed between the 2 passes. You dont go in the valley in front of you but follow the altitude line until the pass that you see at the right side of the valley. Very steepy rolling stones path. I was a little bit afraid. I tried to be smarter than the tracks, trying more uphill... this was a dangerous mistake that took me long to repair and go back to the tracks. There are indeed two river crossing (no dangerous waterstream) but they are circled by cliffs, so not easily crossable. <br />
The track follow mostly the tree line (I.e the separations between the little trees and the stones) So my recommendations : <br />
- follow the gps tracks : they follow the tree line who is safer with a solid ground and grass. Sometimes you have to cross the stones, no choice, so go slowly, choose your paces wisely and it's doable. Try to aim for the grounds of grass in the middle, which are solid, or the stones with foam on them, which mostly didn't move for a while. For the rivercrossing, it aims a good spot with no need to climb down or up.<br />
- choose a good weather day : for me it was sunny and no wind, so perfect day, and it was already mentally hard (not speaking of the horseflies getting you crazy during the hard moments !). I wouldn't try it with rain or big wind in this river of rolling stones. <br />
- if you don't feel it, easy escape by the normal trail of the parc<br />
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However, I can assure that the prize for the effort, going northbound, is amazing !! But I won't spoil ! <br />
After the second pass, no technical difficulties, you find a Conaf trail easily, and I even cross some tourists with a guide.<br />
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*2019-Nov-29/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 3days / Northbound / Regular Hiking Route with OH-MR-V (Villa Cerro Castillo to Las Horquetas)<br />
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The section follows the rather popular tourist Hiking route Las Horquetas for the first two days, meaning there will be less solitude but also rather well maintained trails. The national park and the region around Cerro Castillo was very impressive, we especially enjoyed to take all the side trails and visit the numerous beautiful glacier lagoons. The only unpleasant part of the hike was the organization of the national park. The exorbitant high entrance fees are in no relation to the other parks, which is due to a high ratio of private land in the area but makes the park rather unattractive for tourists. some rangers seemed poorly informed and couldn't give much information (e.g. insisted that passes were "closed" and only after asking numerous times agreed to check with his colleagues that told that they are "open"). They also said it is not possible to hike the regular route of the GPT, because we have to check out of the NP at the checkpoint Las Horquetas. There is an optional hiking route continuing North from there. Due to bad weather coming up we ended up not finishing the northern stretch of the trail and just followed the entire Las Horquetas Route at the Carretera Austral.<br />
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* 2019-Nov-29 / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe<br />
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Snow line is at around 1200 Meters but all passes are safely traversable.<br />
The National Park Entrance Fee got raised to 29000 CLP per person for overnight hikes in season 19/20. The park generally seemed very poorly organized, we were told the passes are "closed" at first, whereas they were easy and safe to traverse. The ranger insisted that we could not hike the normal route northbound but have to sign out of the park at the Las Horquetas checkpoint. In high season, the ranger station in the park is manned, so maybe it is possible so sign out there and head northbound.<br />
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* 2019-Nov-12 / Eva Havlová<br />
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There is still lots of snow in the National Park. I arrived to Villa Cerro Castillo 3 days ago (Novembre 12, 2019) and planed to hike nortbound but rangers didn't let me go. I saw the pass they were talking about (avalanche risk) and I don't think any avalanche could occure, but the thuth is that there is lots of water runing down and the trail is like a stream. They said it might be possible to do it next week.<br />
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==Season 2018/19==<br />
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* 2019 Jan/ OIlrik / Northbound <br />
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We ended up doing the normal Cerro Castillo hike as the weather was forecasting heavy rain and snow so we did not want to be on the pass. The regular trail is just gorgeous and the park is beautiful. The trail in the north is not on the new CONAF maps but is marked on the old ones.<br />
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==Season 2017/18==<br />
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*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
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A sandy beach with a visible structure in the grass is the take-out for Lago Elizalde. After exiting, make your way through the farmland until encountering a gravel road that leads past the house at the top of the hill up to Ruta X-686.<br />
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Ruta X-686 is a lightly trafficked but well-formed gravel road that is fenced on either side. After crossing the Río Paloma, Ruta X-686 makes a sharp left and begins to climb. 4 km after the sharp left turn, cross a bridge to the left and climb to a wooden gate. If you descend the steep slope to the left of the gate, there is camping under some trees.<br />
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The wooden gate marks the beginning of a very long driveway to a house located near the lake. The route takes you along this driveway until a river crossing. After crossing the river, walk northeast along its shore towards the Río Paloma. After reaching the end of the fenceline near the Río Paloma, turn east and walk along the fenceline until reaching Lago Desierto. At the river outlet, there is a nice beach to put in to Lago Desierto.<br />
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There is no camping along the shores of Lago Desierto. The take-out is a rocky beach at the base of a bluff. Walk up the bluff and cross country through the farmland to Lago Azul. At the east end of the farm, descend down a road to a rocky beach at the Lago Azul shoreline with a metal structure.<br />
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There are a couple of potential camping options along the shoreline of Lago Azul. There are also several residences on the north shore. The take-out is a long rocky beach set before a well manicured forest. On the east end of the land near Lago La Paloma is an expensive looking house surrounded by several other buildings.<br />
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There is a 4WD track to the west of the smaller red house located south of the big residence. Ascend the steep climb on a well-formed road that is criss-crossed with several smaller tracks labeled in english with wooden signs. Due to the steep slopes on either side of the cut out road, there is no camping here.<br />
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Eventually, the route turns off of the road onto an overgrown 4WD track. Camping off the track is still difficult because of prickly vegetation and steep terrain. This track ends 2.5 km from where the Regular Packrafting Route joins the Regular Hiking Route. From here, the route involves some bushwhacking and following a small trail as it winds in and out of existence. Just before joining with the Regular Hiking Route, the route widens into an old 4WD track that passes some destroyed structures.<br />
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The routes join up at a large rock cairn and continues to follow a 4WD track until reaching a large wooden sign with a map of the Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo. Here there is also a campsite and ranger station. There is a 5.000 CLP fee to enter the reserve.<br />
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The route from here is a popular track for backpackers with designated campsites. The trail is well-formed and winds through the forest. When the trail becomes less obvious, the way is shown with yellow markers. In this area there is a designated campsite with a latrine.<br />
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At treeline, follow the cairns and rocks painted with white and red stripes through the scree up and over the first pass (approximate elevation 1.450 m). After the steep descent, reenter the trees. There is a campsite, Camping El Bosque, soon after reaching treeline (approximately elevation 940 m) with water and a latrine.<br />
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The trail begins to wind up through the forest toward Laguna Castillo. The sights from Laguna Castillo, which is at the base of the pass, are stunning. There are two tracks that climb up to the pass. Make sure to take the path that climbs to the south instead of continuing southeast over the obvious saddle.<br />
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The track down to Ruta X-720 is well formed, marked, and popular, but occasionally braided. Follow it until reaching the wooden stile with a rangers hut. From there join Ruta X-720, a dirt road which leads to Highway 7 and Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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==Season 2016/17==<br />
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=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
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*Town: Villa Cerro Castillo. Villa Cerro Castillo has several restaurants, small markets, and plenty of lodging options, including a popular backpacker camping destination on the east side of town.<br />
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*2024-Mar /Joscha<br />
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Shop in Villa Cerro Castillo at -46.12201, -72.161708 has pasta, ramen, oats, chips, cookies, olive oil, peanuts, peanut butter, bread and some more stuff.<br />
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*Lovely yum restaurant in Coyhaique: Restaurant DaGus, Lautaro 82, 5950000 Coyhaique. Little hidden gem. -45.86411, -72.04916<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
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=Transport to and from Route=<br />
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*Buses to Villa Frei from Coyhaique bus terminal: Monday 7:30, 8:15, 15:30, 17:00, 19:30 Tuesday to Friday 8:15, 15:30, 17:30, 19:30 Saturday 08:00 and 14:00. No bus on Sunday. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Villa Frei & the bus generally turns around immediately & goes back to Coyhaique.<br />
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=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
*2023/ Martin & Helena<br />
To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side. <br />
<br />
*2023/ Jakub+Veronika:<br />
1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.<br />
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.<br />
<br />
*2023 / Anna & Christopher <br />
The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets. <br />
<br />
*2020 / Martin Lizondo<br />
The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge.<br />
(...)<br />
When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT32 - Cerro Castillo]]<br />
<br />
=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT32_(Cerro_Castillo)&diff=114546GPT32 (Cerro Castillo)2024-03-03T21:30:06Z<p>Joscha97: /* Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
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*2024-Mar-01 to 2024-Mar-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 02 + D + RR + OH E + 03 / Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1: OH32-02 + OH32-D [1.0-2.6] + RR [38.8-39.6]<br />
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I hitched from Puerto Chacabuco to Las Horquetas and startet there around noon. After 700 m on OH32-02 you pass by a ranger hut. You have to sign in and you will get a short explanation about the trail. You don't have to pay here, but they tell you that you will pay when leaving the park. There is plenty of water on OH32-02. I camped at Camping Rio Turbio (Segundo) at km 39.6 of RR.<br />
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Day 2: RR [39.6-41.3] + OH32-E [0.0-1.6] to Laguna Glaciar Penon and back + RR [41.3-56.6] + OH32-03 [0.0-3.6]<br />
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Laguna Glaciar Penon is worth the short detour on OH32-E. I crossed a bunch of small streams around the pass at km 43.9. There is some ice on top of the pass but its not very steep and therefore relatively easy to walk over it. There is no water between Laguna Cerro Castillo (km 50.9) and Camping Porteadores (at beginning of OH32-03). I camped at Camping Neozelandes.<br />
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Day 3: OH32-03 to Laguna Duff and back to RR + RR [56.6-66.9]<br />
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Laguna Duff is nice. I hiked there early in the morning and therefore had the whole place for myself. About 400 m before the RR joins the minor road (km 60.6) the RR branches off the official hiking trail and avoids the park entrance. You have to hop a fence to get on the minor road but therefore you don't pay the 15000 Pesos for hiking in the park.<br />
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The nacional park has 4 official campgrounds (at km 39.6 and 48.9 of RR and the two marked camps on OH32-03). You are only allowed to camp at those sites. <br />
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<br />
*2024-Feb-23 to 2024-Feb-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / {32-M} - RR - {32-C} -RR / Lilian & Rainbow<br />
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Bus from Coyhaique to Villa Frei :<br />
<br />
Monday to Friday(8.15am, 3.30pm, 5.30pm, 7.30pm) , Saturday(8am, 2pm), i forget the fee, it is less than 1000 CLP. It takes about 35-40 minutes and it turns back to Coyhaique with no waiting. The sign on the bus doesn't write Villa Frei, it said Valle Simpson, (and final stop is Villa Frei.)<br />
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Bus terminal in Coyhaique : (-45.58226, -72.07800)<br />
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Bus stop in Villa Frei : (-45.75139, -72.11226)<br />
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<br />
Resupply in Coyhaique:<br />
<br />
I sent a resupply box(shoes and socks) to Patagon Backpacker(hostel) in Coyhaique from Santiago some months before, they are super friendly and willing to hold my box until i arrive. You can contact them by email, they are good at speaking English, also know lot around Coyhaique.<br />
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If you want to buy some warm clothes, some shops in Coyhaique. North Face and Patagonia is there, but expensive. Some clothes in Patagonia are on sale but not for hiking or not much use, lot clothes but full price, ya. North Face's staff is much friendly, and lot items on sale too, but rainproof is full price. They have tents for sale too.<br />
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Good clothes is cheaper with discount, 230g gas canisters and sleeping pad at Suray Montana, friendly and not crowded. I bught a fleece jacket at here.<br />
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Doite have the cheapest price sporty clothes, just beside North Face. I bught a good base layer here.<br />
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Lot of supermarkets in Coyhaique. I resupply at Unimarc.<br />
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They are all close to the plaza, all the shops i listed can search by Google Map.<br />
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<br />
Because i just have 3 days good weather, so I don't want to do any road walking, i talk the bus to Villa Frei, then hitch to (-45.86204, -72.04816) start hiking.<br />
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Locked gate and camera at {32-m} km2.33, I didn't want to take long time go with big around so i climbed it directly, didn't see any people on the whole way, so doesn't matter.<br />
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RR km23.3 : cross a stream, log crossing at downstream 20m, you can go through the tiny forest to there.<br />
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Km23.63 : flat spot(-45.90969, -72.05767) with some protection after a stream crossing can fit 2 tents before go into the no covers grassland.<br />
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Highly recommend go for {32-C}, both ways just 10min, amazing views and a camping spot can fit 1 tent with excellent view at (-45.90744, -72.07668), but no wind protection.<br />
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Km 26.63 : flat spot (-45.92066, -72.07543) can fit 2 tents with good wind protection from west by bushes.<br />
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Km27.75 : old camping sandy spot(-45.92915, -72.07549) can fit 4 tents with some wind protection from west, just before the dangerous CC. I think the previous one is better.<br />
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Km27.9 - km29.95 : dangerous CC traversing on side hill. A slide may cause a fall with heavy injure or death. It is doable but not recommended to everyone. Doing this part only in good weather.<br />
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Km28.3 - km28.35 : for me, it is the most dangerous part in this CC, some landslide(-45.93359, -72.07668) and very loose, i can't hold a good pose and slipped down some meters, luckily i can use my hiking poles to stop the slide immediately.<br />
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Km29.3 : tricky spot(-45.93822, -72.08632), huge thank you for Véronica, her comments made this much easier. Just like she said, "You reach the end of the bad scree and end up in a deep gully with a vertical wall face on the other side." <br />
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"Get to the lowest grassy patch to the left of the vertical rock wall. The easiest way to reach that grassy patch was to go upstream a bit, then traverse on the hard slippery sand northward, instead of trying to climb vertically straight up to it. Once you reach the grass, you can use the traction and stability of vegetation to clamber up and out of the gully."<br />
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Km29.55 : 1st rock wall, go around it with a clear trail at downhill side(-45.93818, -72.08940), GPX track is correct at here.<br />
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Km29.7 : 2nd rock wall, NO CLIMBING, NO SCRAMBLING here, there is a trail JUST WALKING at (-45.93864, -72.09126), overgrown but just 20m easy BB, the trail is between rock wall and treeline, Sobo not easy to notice, but when you are going around the rock wall, then you'll find it. Nobo is easy to reach the trail at the other side. GPX track leads you to climb, it is not a good idea, a slide in climbing at here will mostly cause death.<br />
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After 2nd rock wall, finally CC down to the valley and easy walking start.<br />
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Lot of camping possibilities at the valley, but zero wind protection. Better camping before pass[32.5/1385], because after the pass is super rocky, pass is a large flat area, but too soft to camp.<br />
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I camped at (-45.94901, -72.09962), some flat spots, beside the waterfall from Cerro Aislado. Nice views but cold. It is the first night with negative degree so far. Some water froze to ice at early morning around here.<br />
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After pass[32.5/1385], you walking down at another valley, but with some cairns to follow. <br />
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Km33.5 : trail starts, with some big cairns along it. It leads you all the way to treeline at km34.2. Sometimes it is not clear to follow and lost, but you will always find it if you pay tons of attention, cairns leads you the way.<br />
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The trailhead at km34.2 is a little tricky. You need to climb up a little on a rocky slope after you cross the stream to (-45.97307, -72.10268), then go into the forest to south a little, you'll find a steep loose rocky slope going down again, go for it and you can hold some trees there. Then you join the old trail shown on GPX going south. Don't think about go to the trailhead(-45.97343, -72.10281) directly, it is on a waterfall, you can't arrive there.<br />
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The old trail is in good condition for a while, then become overgrown and some blowdowns. For emergency, you can camp at (-45.97898, -72.10345), it is the first flat spot for Sobo in treeline with cover (the last one for Nobo). It can fit 2 single person tent.<br />
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Lot of tiny stream flowing with clear water.<br />
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When you met the rock river(-45.98185, -72.10091) at km35.33, you can CC down the river and join MR at (-45.98357, -72.10284), it is a super easy CC, not steep, no blowdowns, no wet feet, rocks are stable and not slippery.<br />
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When you arrive MR, easy walking again. A gate locked by wire at km37.1, climbing over it is the fastest way.<br />
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Km38.1 : start BB to riverside, but i think it is a CC, the grass just up to ankle only.<br />
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I find a clear trail(-46.00113, -72.09460) without any blowdowns going south, and lead you to riverside at (-46.00216, -72.09530), then you can walk beside the river and join national park trail.<br />
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National park trail is in a nice condition, nothing to mention. Some snow before and after pass[43.9/1470], but still an easy walking on snow.<br />
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Km46.1 : camping spot at (-46.05228, -72.14549), it is cleared out all the stone by someone here, can fit 1 tent with excellent 360° views, but no wind protection.<br />
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I camped beside the lake(-46.05780, -72.15969) for the second night, excellent spots with glacier views(you are just below it!) and views of Cerro Castillo! Peaceful and not crowded, I'm the only human there with some ducks, and they love to talking in the midnight. You can reach the lake starts at (-46.06176, -72.15672), easy walking beside a stream, all the way stay on east side and dry feet, BB less than 20 meters for total and mostly just easy CC.<br />
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Km48.85 : Campsite El Bosque. Side trail to a lake under glacier at north. It is a long walk, but i highly recommend you at least take the trail go out the forest, amazing views there, both ways just 300m.<br />
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Km49.95 : viewpoint of waterfall from Cerro Castillo. And i find that you can climb up to the top of waterfall! See the details at next waypoint.<br />
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Km50.2 : you can climbing up this ridge to the UPPER LAKE of Cerro Castillo. From (-46.06989, -72.18148) to (-46.06905, -72.18500), then to (-46.06627, -72.18497). No trail, just CC on some rocks, stable and not steep until close to the top, the top part is steep and loose, at there you can go to right side a little bit, climbing up on grassy slope for final ascend. Amazing views there, and no camping, because the ground is too soft, but cow boy camping on huge rocks is wonderful at this place.<br />
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I recorded this CC, will upload it later.<br />
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Camp[50.5/1243] : Campsite La Tetera, not a good camping spot, some spots much better when you climbing up and before Laguna Castillo.<br />
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After you enjoy the moment at Laguna Castillo, remember follow RR, check GPX track, dont follow the trail going beside the lake, it is a dead end trail, and if you dont want to all the way back, you can CC climbing up to join RR.<br />
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Pass[53.5/1679] : excellent views here! If you are super thirsty, clear water is flowing good at (-46.07749, -72.20888), easy to collect, 10sec/L.<br />
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Then all the way down to Campsite Los Porteadores, a long long way going down.<br />
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Because of weather changing, so i didn't go up to Laguna Duff.<br />
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Walking on a nice trail to main road, then all the way road walking to Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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Lot of restaurants, shops and accomodation in Villa Cerro Castillo. The shop(-46.12072, -72.16115) beside the main road is the biggest one in town. Lot of biker riding, hikers and backpackers hitching on the road. Tall gas canisters and 230g gas canisters are sold in Copec gas station at (-46.12208, -72.16279) in high stock. We stayed at Nordic Patagonia(-46.12142, -72.15889), 15k CLP for a bed, 45k CLP for a double room, 8k CLP for camping with views of Cerro Castillo, including hot shower and kitchen basecamp.<br />
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Maybe because of late season, never saw any flies at this section.<br />
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2024-Feb-10 to 2024-Feb-13 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / Las Horquetas and Lagunitas / Andrew<br />
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Day 1 (slept at Rio Turbio)<br />
<br />
I started in Villa Cerro Castillo and hitched a ride to Las Horquetas. I left a bag at the Nordic Patagonia campground in town, it's free if you stay a night after, or CLP 1.000/day if not.<br />
<br />
Signed in at the CONAF station where the park ranger explained the official camps that are currently open, and advised not to drink unfiltered/untreated water between Rio Turbio camp to just before El Bosque camp. But others I talked to later in the hike didn't get the same message and seemed fine so not sure what was up there.<br />
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Easy hike to Rio Turbio camp with some horseflies.<br />
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Day 2 (slept at El Bosque)<br />
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This day was my punishment for deciding to leave behind my fleece at the last moment. Cold and rainy as I went over Penon pass, but at least I got to test out my new rain jacket and rain pants. At least it wasn't very windy. Great views of waterfalls after the pass, and the rest of the day was sunny.<br />
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Camped at El Bosque. Difficult but short day. Worth taking the side trail to Laguna Temprana after setting up camp.<br />
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Day 3 (slept at Neozelandes)<br />
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Lots of scrambling over rocks. Great panoramic views as we went over Morro Negro. As developed campsites go I think Porteadores was actually a bit nicer than Neozelandes, but Neozelandes is much crowded and puts you closer to Laguna Duff.<br />
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Day 4 (back to Villa Cerro Castillo)<br />
<br />
In the morning I hiked to Laguna Duff, best scenary on the Las Horquatas section of the hike IMO, do not miss this. Afterwards I hiked back to Neozelandes, packed my stuff, and hiked back to the Villa. All downhill. Paid the CLP 16.000 fee at the Estero Parada CONAF station, then hitched a ride back (around 3pm). Had some good pizza and beers with some folks I met on the hike at Pizzeria y Hamburgueseria D-Lizia in VCC.<br />
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2024-Feb-8 to 2024-Feb-11 / 3.25 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from El Blanco and Lago Monreal + Variant M + Option 3 / Tomáš & Natalie<br />
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We started around 1500 at Coyhaique and easily hitched to El Blanco. We hitched with three cars (last went to Lago Paloma) and walked about four km in between them along Lago Monreal to Variant M. The sign against hikers scared us and it was late (1930), so we camped nearby (100 m along the fence westward). We reread other reports and decided to go for it in the morning. We first tried to go along a fence lining a small cliff about 100 metres west of the road, but it is pointless and we found ourselves on the road after a few hundred metres. We did not meet anyone. It is easy to miss RR and start on option 1, keep an eye on the GPS. We met black cows at the same place as Stiina, but they just looked omniously at us.<br />
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As for the dangerous part, Tomáš ended up doing it three times as he dropped our tent poles from his backpack just before the start of the CC section. Unlike Nat (see below), he thinks the section is quite ok and he also found it quite scenic, especially the first part over the plateau. The annoying clambering is in fact only about two km long and can be done in about an hour if you know the way. It never felt dangerous to him, but he understands others see it differently, it is certainly more demanding than the average section of GPT. The description of Véronica is the best. The last obstacle (the boulder) is not entirely vertical (it feels like scrambling, not climbing), but you do need to use your hands and it is indeed exposed, down climbing NOBO is more awkward. On the other hand, it is only about seven metres distance (not elevation). We had sunny skies, in worse weather it would be a lot more annoying. The horseflies came back from the dead and died by the dozen under our merciless hands (Nat killed three accidentally just as she tied her hair back).<br />
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At the end of CC, the trailhead is invisible. It starts in the trees immediately from the river, about 10 m from the start of the waterfall in between two landslide/avalanche bands. Will comments that the gpx trail is exact, but since we are used to the gpx being slightly off, we could not see it, I guess we should have just trusted the gpx. There is a cairn in the creek marking the entrance but it is unclear how long it will stay there. Once you reach the overgrown MR, after a hundred metres of easy BB, one can cut the first zigzag straight down through easily passable mature forest. Once down on the road, you can camp on it, it is not used by cars ever. Once you reach the CC at 60.9, do not ford but stay on that side of the river!<br />
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In the popular part of the hike, people concentrate at campings, but otherwise it does not feel too crowded (less than two dozen people met on the trails themselves per day). Until nine and from about five, you will meet almost nobody on the trails. The park is very attractive. There is good internet (Entel 4g) just before the pass at 53.5. From the other side, there is a sign saying the pass closes down in strong winds. Probably better to go there in the morning (weaker wind) or late (after six) in the afternoon (rangers have probably gone home) unless the weather is good. The sign where they turn people is probably at about 1250 altitude at roughly the treeline.<br />
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To avoid paying, Nat followed the RR and was succesfull (OSM is wrong, the official trail is to the east of the GPT in the last few hundred metres). Tomáš followed the easternmost OSM trail that leaves the RR at roughly 480 altitude. The trail is rather imaginery, but it is easy walking across meadows or rarely through open forest and across several fences. His efforts were probably pointless.Tomáš also wanted to cut the walk to Villa Cerro Castillo and forded Estero El Bosque, but it was equally pointless and involved several fences.<br />
<br />
We found screwable gas cartridges in Villa Castillo at the supermarket "Villarica", the last supermarket on the corner of - Bernardo Higgins and Bernardo a Alessandro, i think. They said they have them sometimes. There was a blackout for five hours during our stay but locals said that is not so common.<br />
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Notes from Nat:<br />
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- When in Coyhaique be sure to enjoy the bread and pizza shop called; La Tranquera Pan y Pizza (just North of the main plaza). It has a great selection of sourdough breads/Rye/whole-wheat loafs, cookies, real coffee and tasty pizza slices. ALSO don't miss the dry good store; Envasadora Aysen (45.57016° S, 72.06883° W), the good veg shop here (45.57730° S, 72.07038° W) and then the Unimarc is actually pretty good. <br />
<br />
- My views are prejudiced against the beginning of this route bcs I was sick and not in a good mood but my thoughts at the time were; "If you want to "enjoy" section 32 then take the Las Horquetas option". I really didn't like all the sidehilling and felt you wouldn't miss out on much if you started at Horquetas. Also don't do what I did and pack twice as much as you need bcs Coyhaique "might" be the last place with good food (however it was 3-5x better than villa Castillo).<br />
<br />
- The first tricky part was annoying bcs it was hard to get an edge (not that there is any edge left in my shoes). It was easier to walk up it and gradually cross, all in all it didn't feel dangerous. The second tricky part did feel dangerous to me bcs I went too far climbers left of the grass staircase and ended up having to traverse the short, steep and featureless slope to get back on track, a fall seemed easy and with bad consequences. The rock scramble at the boulder did not worry me but I would not have climbed it if it was wet bcs there is a lot of algae-like material on it and some of the handholds were sloppy. <br />
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- I would be very curious if one could make a new route that went up to this lake here; -45.94848, -72.07320, and then down either here; -45.95505, -72.08753 or along the ridge to here; -45.96914, -72.08724. It would be more vertical and longer but with possibly less sidehilling...<br />
<br />
- The glacier on Variant E (6km return, half of it moraine walking) is nice but not really worth it, the lake on the other hand is 100% worth the short walk (3km return, flat river rock waking).<br />
<br />
- The lake just North of Camping Bosque is also worth it if you can avoid the crowds. Both this lake and Variant E lake are technically CC but "well traveled" and cairned.<br />
<br />
- The trail to Laguna Duff is popular but "splendid", it took less than two hours to the lake from Porteadores. Most of the trail is in the forest and then the last 1.5km (250m vert) is on a pretty obvious rock path. The camping at Neozelandés is far less crowded than other official campsites I recommend it. I got into an argument with a conaf officer at the lake bcs she told me it was too late to be there and I had to leave (4pm). If you want to avoid this person, then go right of the RR when it gets close to the lake headwall, she seemed to be "staged" at where the water leaves the lake. I originally wanted to make a traverse to the other lake but bcs of conaf I went down to the camp to meet Tomáš and then we both went back up after she left (6ish). Once back up we made a traverse to the other lake by following a grassy slope that starts West of where the water exits the lake, you should be able to see the grassy slope on your left when you are walking to Duff. Follow it down and work yourself across, going down to where there is some grass should be quicker than traversing the rubble, CC obviously. On the way down from the second lake we followed the main waterway and then cut back into the forest to reach the main trail (open forest, no BB). Rather than follow the west bank of the waterway like the GPS says we found it far easier to be in the east bank, less rubble.<br />
<br />
-We both bad to walk back to Villa Castillo, no cars going in our direction but manu going in opposite direction (~9am)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-28 to 2024-Jan-31 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Villa Cerro Castillo - Villa Frei / RR + Option 3 + Variant C + Variant M/ Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
It was another fantastic section but we don't have much to add to what has already been written. But we would still like to point out a few points:<br />
<br />
1) At the Segundo campsite (also called Rio Turbio), mice gnawed our tent and our dry bag containing the food. It would be best to hang your food from the trees if you are sleeping at this campsite.<br />
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2) The large rock at -45.938145, -72.086171 can be avoided by doing 10 m of bush bashing just below the rock. This passage is much more visible going NOBO but it is also possible to take it going SOBO.<br />
<br />
3) The little detour to Variant C is definitely worth it. The view of Lago Paloma and Lago Azul is truly incredible.<br />
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4) We took option M despite the right of way conflict. We passed a pick-up truck at the last gate going NOBO (the one with a padlock and a private property sign). They greeted us and gave us no problem.<br />
<br />
2024-Jan-27 to 2024-Jan-29 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 2 + option 3 / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
<br />
- Trail condition : well maintained, good campsites sheltered from the wind <br />
- Water : easy to find plenty of rivers and lagunas<br />
- Camping spot : there are some designated campsites<br />
- Weather : Sunny<br />
- River crossing : easy<br />
- Resupply : in cohayque and in Villa cerro castillo, all you need<br />
- Entrance fee : 16 000 pesos per person, normally the park closes after 1pm so you can't start after that but we were a bit late and they let us through <br />
- Overall : beautiful stretch of section 32, for us it was really an amazing entrance in the Patagonian landscape as we imagined it with the Torres<br />
<br />
*From 2023-01-22 to 2023-01-24 // 3 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR + OP3 + OP3A + VARIANT M // Quentin Clavel<br />
<br />
Villa cerro castillo - entrance Estero Parada - Laguna Duff - Sendero las Horquetas - North part of NP (CC) - Lago Paloma - Villa Frei. <br />
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One of my favourite section so far ! I had amazing weather and I enjoyed so much this stretch, even with few people on the sendero las Horquetas in the NP (not crowded, but obviously more than the usual sections of the GPT). <br />
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Entrance fees for 3 days was 16,000 CLP for me. I had no control and have seen no guardaparque during my hike. <br />
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I walked all the way up to see Laguna Duff (OPT3) definitely worth it in my opinion. Wonderful view, with still some pieces of ices floating on the Laguna, the back of Cerro Castillo and the reflects on the water were amazing. Easy to go there, as there is a trail. <br />
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The second one (OPT3A) is more tricky, no trail, and a lot of rolling stones. Beautiful too and of course, no people at all (I slept there, without tent, just on a big rock, that was incredible). <br />
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Then go up to the pass, it was a crazy hot day, for the first time since I'm in Patagonia, I regretted that it wouldn't be a little bit windy aha. <br />
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Laguna cerro castillo Is amazing. Second pass were very nice too. Bi. I passed it early on the morning, had some snow part, doable, but as it was morning, it was icy on some parts, so I putted my crampons and that was perfect. (But doable without). <br />
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Then easy trail until the end of the public part of NP (just after Segundo camping). After that the cross country part begun. Follow an old trail of the NP, some bush bashing during the forest part, and have to check often the GPS. Then you have to deal with all the rocks until the first pass. <br />
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Go down on a nice valley, and go up to the second pass. Tricky part, as described previously, is the big rock. It's maybe easier to do it NOBO because you descent it, and don't face it, which can be scary. But going on the grass part is the best way. Then follow the tree level, deal with rolling stones, and everything is gonna be alright. The récompense will be the amazing view on Lago Paloma (don't miss the Mirador). <br />
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I took the variant M to avoid the right of way conflict. No trouble at all on this way. You have to pass threw some gates. The last one, near a kind of central hydroelectric is the biggest, with camera and sign do not enter. Few people seen after this gate, and they were all very gentle and nice ! <br />
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Anyway, I really loved this stretch ! As it's summertime at this time, I met a lot of chilenos in the NP, so happy to see even very young chilenos explore their outstanding country ! <br />
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You have to be prepared to face a looooot of rolling stones on this section, sometimes it's like dancing on rocks. Can I say that the rolling stones make this stretch rock'n'roll ? Probably not. <br />
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Better to wait for good conditions. I can't imagine this section on a rainy and windy day ! <br />
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* 2024-Jan- 11 to 2024-Jan-13/ 3 days/hiking/SOBO/ Start in Las Horquetas and later RR/ Paulina<br />
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I started in las Horquetas, it was open even if on Conaf website this section is still closed, apparently they don't really update). When I was there ( 10 AM) nobody at the gate, so no charges. Later in the park nobody never asked me to show the entrance ticket. The same at the exit gate, they just asked me to check out ( even if I did not check in).<br />
At the beginning of Las Horquetas trail, some very easy river crossing. Almost no people, only a few hikers on the campsite.<br />
On Pass 32 [43.9/1470] still some soft snow, but I could cross it safetly.<br />
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Be careful on the ridge around pass 32 [ 53.5/1679] on very windy days. <br />
I did not see any water around camping Los Porteadores, except this last section, water was available everywhere. <br />
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Beautiful and very scenic section! <br />
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*2023-12-29 to 2024-01-01 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR & Variant D & M / Roman<br />
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Took a Uber from Coyhaique to Villa Frei for 17.000$. Got another lift by someone who life's there to this point: -45.8737, -72.04342. Joined via Variant M to the RR. Camped at Camp {32} [23.6/1010]. Good place you have to Ford 2 times before the Camp and 1 times directly after it. Here the -45.93357, -72.07606 Clambering in steep terrain starts and is very challenging also in combination with snow. Very steep literally climbing up there here: -45.938145, -72.086171 especially with a backpack. I needed to go very slow and cautious with 3 point technique. After that you can follow the GPS and the Kerns to this point -45.973087, -72.102771. From there a old abandoned road goes all the way to the point where the Trail( Variant D) merges with the Sendero de Chile Las Horquetas at: X {32-D} [1.0/920]. On the trial are some parts which are not perfectly visible but with GPS no problem. There are some fallen trees and quite a few small trees on the trail. I wouldn't consider it Bush Bashing (BB) because you can just raise your arms in front of your face and walk trough it. So IMHO no BB on the route. As soon as you are at X {32-D} [1.0/920] it's a "touristy trail" compared with the other GPT parts. Therefor the condition is excellent. Camped at Segundo Camping -46.008184, -72.104121. Next day camped at Camping Los Porteadores -46.089085, -72.235431. Snow was neither on Pass {32} [43.9/1470] or Pass {32} [53.5/1679] a problem. Next day hiked to Villa Cerro Castillo. Not a single car on the street towards it so needed to hike. The RR avoids the Entrance Cerro Castillo Park (Estero Parada) there is one gate before accessing the street where you can just hop over.<br />
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Overall: really nice section and quite relaxing to have such a easy trail (the beginning is challenging due to the rock scramble). It's the most touristy part (2 groups a 7 people) but absolutely woth it. Really enjoyed it.<br />
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Contact: https://linktr.ee/RundW<br />
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*2023-Dec-12 / 6 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Variant D + Variant F / Tom Pieper<br />
An Uber from Cohayique to Villa Simpson is about 9.000 Peso. From there I easily found rides to Lago Elizalde. A older man told me that there was also a camino from Lago Elizalde to Lago Azul passing cerro sombrero a couple of years ago. I really liked the walking through the valley to lago desierto. It passes a beautiful farmland landscape sprinkled with little lush patches of forest and creeks. Camping is easy there. But if you want to speed up there are also cars from time to time and hitchhiking is possible. At S 45° 52.495 W 072° 16.913 is a little shelter surrounded by some old tractors and a big mate cup installation. A farmer passing by told me I am welcome to stay there. To reach lago desierto you have to climb a locked gate (well described by Kara Davis). I crossed lago desierto and camped at the isthmus between it and lago azul. There is a nice camp spot at waypoint Lake {32} [38.3/337] surrounded by old gooseberry bushes and an abandoned van. The central lodging building is collapsed so its seems to be an abandoned place now except the cattle. Next day I crossed lago azul. The wind increased dramatically forming up to 1 m waves. There are some emergency exits on the left even after the shore gets steeper after the settlers on the lefthand side. At the end of lago azul you reach a huge private hacienda on the isthmus, with a big park like forest and buildings within. I tried to sneak between the buildings but to reach the path to the mountains you finally have to pass a big meadow. There was a greenkeeper around and it was no problem for him to let me pass. The family was not around. The track to the mountains is steep and part of a big network of mountainbike trails. This network spans nearly the entire valley! I met six young chilenos who told me that they are working the summer to maintain the trails only for that family – I have never seen such a giant mountainbike network! Incredible how much effort and money must spend here only to satisfy a family’s hobby. The Chilenos were very friendly and even turned back to offer me a ride to the end of the valley as rain increased but I kept walking. This track is in really good conditions up to the bush bashing section. And here comes the problem: 1.) the bush bashing is wrong annotated. In reality it starts for 1.2 km at the end of the annotated section 2.) the track is mostly gone were it reaches the river bed. Landslides have washed away a big part. Don’t cross the landslide! It seems super instable! When you have forded the riverbed at the landslide don’t put on your shoes, yet. The following part has turned into swamp land. I suggest to make the entire 1.2 km in your fording footwear. After that the track to the las horquetas trail is mostly overgrown or blocked by trees but still visible. It was pretty hard for me as temperatures dropped to 4 °C and at this point it had not stopped raining for 48 hr. In bad weather that’s definitely no fun. The ranger hut was my salvation as it was abandoned but open and had a stove and even some firewood. The next day the weather was perfect and I continued towards cerro Castillo. There had been recent work around Camping Rio Turbio and the track is still in good condition. Paso Penón has heaps of snow and I found myself sinking to the hips from time to time. But in good weather it is ok. The views from the pass and the following valley even outcompeted the view from laguna castillo. After the paso penón the rest is fine. I used Variant F to descend. As mentioned before it now follows a different way in the end due to right of way conflict and you reach the street at approximately half way between villa cerro Castillo and the national park entrance.<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 05-Apr-2023 / Hiking / SOBO / Martin & Helena<br />
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We really enjoyed this one. It's definitely worth waiting for good weather, not only for safe traverse of the steep part in the northern part of the park and following obstacles that are quite demanding but also for the views that were just incredible.<br />
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Starting from Villa Frei in the late afternoon, we made it on that day to the turn before Lago La Paloma, where we camped right behind a fence, before a little river, that you need to cross to follow the RR. There are 2 settlements, but still far enough, so no problem. You have to cross one fence and a gate on the way up. To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side. Crossing them will take you directly to RR, so no bush-bashing is necessary. From there, the trail is pretty straightforward. We liked the view from Option B viewpoint and in good conditions it must be a perfect spot for camping, definitely doable in one day. The steep traverse didn't feel that dangerous for us, but we had really good conditions. The next obstacle, already described by others, is at the end of the traverse. We followed there a small ridge that will take you to the beginning of the grass parts. It's a little steep, but doable. From there we followed the grass parts, which create almost 'stairs' allowing you to climb up. It's again steep, but you can use your hands to pull yourself up, holding the grass patches. After that is the last challenging part, a rock that you need to climb over. We got there already after sunset and without an option to explore the best and safest way over, we decided to follow the old overgrown trail, that descends down without the need to climb over the rock. It seemed to be hard in the beginning, but after we got through the first few trees (without any leaves, just branches), we found a little strip without them, that takes you all the way down to the river, where we camped. It took us around 15 min to get down, so it might be a good alternative. From there you just need to walk through a little part of the forest and then continue by the river, so you are actually avoiding also the descent down, which some described as challenging as well.<br />
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After the first marked pass and descent in rocky terrain, the CC part connects to an old trail, that later becomes a MR. The connection was easy to find by following the GPS. We had no problems passing around the rangers house, again by following the track files, at first through the forest and later around the river. From there the trail connects to the official way which makes navigation easy. We spent the night in the official campsite around 2 km before Laguna Carro Castillo, which is the only one open. There were 5-6 other tents, no ranger. The next day the weather got way way worse, which made us skip the last pass and go down from the laguna via one of the official routes. We met a ranger on the way up, pointing us to the official trail around yellow cairns, to sign off from the park. With no intention to pay on our way from the park, we actually followed some old trail (according to the old signs we met) that took us to the main road, right in front of the bridge. We had to cross one fence, but no other problem. It's a faster and safe way from the park.<br />
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*5 to 7 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO / 3 days<br />
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Amazing section! I was worried about the tricky part, but sticking to the gpx track it didn't feel dangerous to me. Though I did have to leave the track to find easier ways around the cliffs.<br />
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There weren't any buses south out of Coyhaique on Sunday (except maybe early morning?). I ended up taking an Uber to villa frei, for a bearable 14000 pesos. The road walk was beautiful except for the wind trying to blow me into the cars. I caught a ride to Lago Monreal, from where I walked back up to variant L and then to the 23.6 campsite.<br />
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I didn't have any right of way trouble, I just had to pass through a few unlocked gates with no people or buildings in sight. There were even a few groups of day hikers who passed by my camp on the way to the Lago Paloma mirador (variant B - must see!).<br />
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I also took variant D up to the glacier lake, worth it if it fits your schedule. I didn't have time to keep going up to the glacier itself, it looked like steeper rocky cross country.<br />
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Even in the touristy parts the trail was surprisingly slow and rocky. I ran into a few rangers, who look like normal hikers except with red and white baseball hats. They were ok with me not having a ticket once I explained my weird route.<br />
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*15.02.23 -18.02.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO<br />
Coyhaique - Villa Cerro Castillo<br />
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We hitchhiked from Coyhaique to Lago Paloma and started walking around 13:30 pm following the main path.<br />
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The trail at the beginning is pretty good. At the junction with the option at km 17,5 you can walk further uphill along the fence for a couple of meters to enter the fence through a gate. This option is not in the gpx files. We decided to follow that to avoid the settlers after all.Then you can follow the dirtroad through two more gates until you reach a fence that you have to jump to the right to get to a meadow with beehives. There is another gate there and then you reach the main route again. In total we only had to jump two fences.<br />
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Then we followed the main route. Soon after we went through the gate of the National park Cerro Castillo and we (unfortunately) met two guardians of the park. After some back and forth they made us turn around, telling us that this path is closed and we have to enter the park via the main entrance and pay the 30.000 clp. So we had to take the option to las Horquetas.<br />
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After a few good km on a dirtroad, the path of option 1 gets bad. It seems like it hasn't been used for a long time. It was often hard to find and involved some bushbashing. It took us quite some time to get through there. Once you are at the river it gets much better. We forded the river next to the entrance to avoid the detour until Horquetas. The option was not very nice. Mostly just walking in the forest with BB so we would definetly recommend to try the main route.<br />
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The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets. The park guardians tell you that there is no water crossing both passes and you have to carry it from the official camps, which is simply not true. There is only no water after Laguna Castillo.<br />
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At the exit (following the RR) we had to register us again. From there we planned to hitchhike to Villa Cerro Castillo, but there were no cars passing by. In the afternoon/evening it's probably easier to get a ride, because lots of cars parked at the exit. We would recommend Option E to avoid the dull roadwalk to Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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We stayed at Camping El Rincon, which was only 4.000 clp p.p., with no electricity, but the owner washed our clothes after we asked and we received it dry the next morning :)<br />
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*18 to 21 of January 2023 / Véronica / GPT32 RR SOBO / 3.5 days<br />
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Route: Villa Freí - Lago La Paloma - north part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo - Las Horquetas trail (south part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo) - Villa Cerro Castillo<br />
First off I want to say that I think this section deserves a 5 on the Attractiveness Scale. It is simply mind-blowingly beautiful and definitely on par with other sections further north that have a 5 on this scale. I also think the Difficulty Rating should be upped to a 5 as well, due to the technical, and arguably dangerous at times, section in the northern part of the park on the Regular Route. Wish I had someone with me during this stretch, but oh well, such is life.<br />
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I was lucky and caught a hitch most of the way to Lago La Paloma on the first day. It was hot and I don't think the road walk has any water sources until you get to the end. I then followed the new RR which bypasses the problematic right-of-way settler in the Lago Monreal area. However, this new detour is not fun. It involves climbing over (or crawling through/under) multiple barbed wire fences. I lost count after the 5th or 6th one. Also, the path and cross-country area are full of thorny plants, they got everywhere on my pack and clothing. I think it would just be better to take Option 32-L and chat with the settler instead to try and get through. Once you reach RH-MR-V {32} [18.9+4.7], it's all good, easy walking until the camp at 23.6 km.<br />
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I reccomend taking Option 32-A after the campsite instead of the CC straight through the cow pasture. It is wet and muddy, whereas 32-A remains dry and easy to follow in the forest at the edge of the meadow. I also strongly recommend taking the short detour to the mirador at the end of Option 32-B. The views there of the cliffs and mountains surrounding Lago La Paloma are incredible. You could even camp there if you brought sufficient water and the weather is calm.<br />
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Now for the difficult part in the 8-km cross-country section. This section was physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding. The first pass is at S 45° 55.740', W 072° 04.501'. It is easy walking up past the treeline into the alpine up to this point. The first challenge is a steep and unstable scree traverse, which begins at S 45° 56.019', W 072° 04.567'. Follow the GPS tracks here. At first I tried to go lower, right along the treeline, which was a big mistake that got me stuck in a terrible gully of slippery hard-packed sand. Very treacherous and scary trying to traverse it on all fours. After that ordeal, I scrambled back up to the altitude of the GPS tracks. This first scree traverse lasts about a km, the rocks are loose and it is very steep. I was tense and went very slowly. Got harassed by tábanos the whole way, but at least the weather was good.<br />
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Then at S 45° 56.288', W 072° 05.184', you reach the end of the bad scree and end up in a deep gully with a vertical wall face on the other side. Figuring out how to get up that cliff was hard for me. I left my pack at the bottom and tried climbing up various different ways with no success, only tiring myself out and getting myself in precarious situations where I could barely climb back down. I finally figured out the best way was to try and get to the lowest grassy patch to the left of the vertical rock wall. The easiest way to reach that grassy patch was to go upstream a bit, then traverse on the hard slippery sand northward, instead of trying to climb vertically straight up to it. Once you reach the grass, you can use the traction and stability of vegetation to clamber up and out of the gully.<br />
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The next big obstacle is at S 45° 56.320', W 072° 05.446'. Like others have written, this is the vertical rock wall that spans up and down the mountain and that you have to climb over. I scouted ways up without my pack at first, trying to find the easiest way. At least with this rock wall, the handholds and footholds are solid — no slippery gravel/sand/scree. But it does require actual rock climbing moves. If you fall you would likely tumble down the mountain, so please be very careful. A light backpack makes it relatively safer and easier.<br />
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On the other side of this wall, you can finally see where the trees end, and the lovely river you are supposed to climb down to reach. But there is still more scree to traverse here, and it is slow and unstable again. I tried taking a shortcut down a shallow gully filled with grass. I figured it would be safer than the rocks, but it was very steep and got unexpectedly muddy at one point, and I ended up slipping and sliding down the mountainside about 10 meters before being able to stop myself. Didn't get seriously hurt, just bruised up, but it really shook me and just added to the stress and fear of this whole section. So I guess my advice here is to again follow the GPS tracks across the scree and go down gradually to the river instead of trying to go straight down.<br />
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Once you reach the riverbed, it is easy walking to the top of the pass, with occasional cairns (and some good swimming holes). Down the south side of the pass, there are still a couple scree sections, but not nearly as bad as before. Lots of boulders, so slow going, but at least they felt more solid.<br />
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As Martin Lizondo has written, finding the start of RH-MR-V {32} [34.1+1.7] is tricky. It is not a minor road, it is an old footpath. The cross-country section ends at a creek as it turns into a high and steep waterfall. You have to cross the creek and look up to find a faint, overgrown trail that goes up into the forest. Once you find it though, it is simple enough to follow. There is a stretch though of several hundred meters where it is more of a bushwhack than anything else, nature has taken over.<br />
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I followed the regular route that cuts through the forest to Río Turbío, I assume this is to avoid the ranger station nearby. The "bushbashing" section is easy through a mature forest, and then you just follow the bouldery riverbank.<br />
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Once you get to the popular Las Horquetas trail, everything is easy until the end of the section. Some snow at the top of the first pass (Paso Peñón), but very manageable. The views of the saw-toothed mountains, lakes, and glaciers are spectacular. Despite reports of the park being "overrun," I only met a handful of other hikers in this trail, and most of them after Laguna Castillo. No rangers at all.<br />
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I think the Regular Route in its current configuration avoids the blue payment tent at the end of the park trail, but I didn't know that when I passed through, and ended up just following the riverbank down to the minor road to be safe (and avoid paying the ridiculous 30,000 clp access fee). The road walk to Cerro Castillo was Easy and uneventful.<br />
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*23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR SOBO / Louis, Rémi & Noé :<br />
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We started at Lago La Paloma, taking the bus from Coyhaique to Villa Frei (leaves at 8:15,15:30,17:30&19:30 from monday to friday and at 8:00 and 14:00 on saturday (no bus on sunday)). Then we hitchiked to the lake without problem and we camped there. Ready to start in the morning the next day.<br />
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Day 1 - Campamento Rio Turbio - 26.5km - +1800m/-1200m A big day but we hadnt the choice : heavy rain was announced for the next day... Cross country is demanding, better follow the tracks all the way long. A great camp site if you want to split this day is at the end of Option B. No water, windy but incredible view. The waypoint camp before is nice too.<br />
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Day 2 - Campamento El Bosque - 10km - +800m/-800m The 2 camps sites on the GPT at47.8 and at 50.3 are now forbidden. The new campsite is approx at km 49, in the middle. There is guardaparques, but no need to show the permit for us.<br />
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Day 3 - Cerro Castillo - 11km - +800m/-1500m The pass after Cerro Castillo was closed due to the wind. If you want to go to the other side, you have to get down at the park entrance and to go up again at the other entrance. We just went to the town. The regular route going down from there, from the Cerro Castillo, is not the one on the GPT. Actually, it goes more on the west side. At the end, there is a guardaparque, we checked out (even though we didn’t checked in) but no need to pay. Fortunately. Luck was with us.<br />
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* 23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR NOBO / Jakub+Veronika:<br />
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1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.<br />
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.<br />
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We've walked all section 32 from Villa Frei to Villa Cerro Castillo. The part from Lago Paloma to Rio Turbio is very difficult and might be even dangerous (especially in bad weather). The CC travers on the stones (in our case with strong wind and snow) was the hardest part. The MR leading down to the valley is partially overgrown. The second part is well marked with good camping possibilities. After heavy rains on Sunday 25th, the park has been closed for more than a week. There are 2 alerts on the road (see above).<br />
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*Feb 17 RR 3 days SOBO Frank<br />
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Walked from Villa Frei. After about 12KM there is a food truck next to the road. Owners live there so should open for you. The owner of the private land wasn't there so had no access issues. You can camp in a big meadow @ 1250 metres or in good weather at a pass @ about 1325 metres (not marked on track file) just before the difficult CC section begins. Followed Veronica's advice to get up the gully on grass which worked well, thanks Veronica. There is no need for any rock climbing on this route. After the gully there are two rock bands running perpendicular to the route. You can go below both of them & bypass them at treeline. The second bypass is not very obvious but stay at the treeline & you will get through easily. After the pass, descending scree you come to a waterfall. Go left into the forest immediately before the waterfall - you may see a small cairn marking the spot. Just footprints at first but pick up a small trail as you go in. Leaving the park the RR to the left goes through private land. The optional route straight down is now the main trail, it goes down to a checkpoint just before the road. Checkpoint is at a stile over a fence so can't be avoided. It is run as a private 'concession' from CONAF. The workers were friendly & didn't charge me anything. However next year the concession will be run by a different company so depends who is there.<br />
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==Season 2021/22==<br />
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*2022 Feb: 05-07, SoBo, RR, Kris&Stiina<br />
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We continued into this section straight from the previous one - 31H and the start of it, about first 16km, is like the whole previous section - dirt road. We hiked about 5 of those 16km and hitched the rest which I think was possible quite easy because it was weekend and a lot of cars with families were going to the Lago La Paloma.<br />
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The interesting part started once we were at the gate after crossing the outflow of Lago Monreal. The big sign was posted there stating that this is not some Sendero de Chile and that passing through here is strictly forbidden. We saw a guy at the gate when we were approaching, but as it was lunch time for us we stayed at the stream. Afterwards the guy was gone and there was no phone signal to call the nr. that Martin Lizondo has provided. After considering options of different routes we decided to keep it cool and climbed over the gate with fingers crossed. There were houses a few hundred meters up the road, but nobody seemed to be at home at that point, perhaps working in the field somewhere in the back, so we walked through the forbidden land without anyone intercepting, luck was with us. A few more gates later we climbed up into the forest and finally the Cerro Castillo National park with a big old welcoming sign. We stayed at the first marked campsite at 22,7km, there is a stream.<br />
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Next morning as we were having our breakfast about 30 cows showed up and were completely dazzled by our presence. They stared at us for about 15min until they finally relaxed a bit, but not fully. As we were packing our camp some sudden movement must have scared them and they all went running for their lives as if a Kraken himself was after them, silly cows, we thought. Once we were all packed and ready to go we crossed the stream into the next meadow, and saw all the cows about 200m to our left. I am not exactly sure how cows work, but as soon as they saw us they organized a gang and all of them started running right at us. We of course were standing our ground so the cows would stop just 5m from us and look all tough. I would try to scare them away by counter attack in the form of a shouting, hiking pole waving lunatic. It worked to some extent, as we could slowly walk out of it, but the cows kept persistently be really close and walk/run at us. I guess they were trying to protect their pasture, maybe someone can enlighten me about cow-dynamics.<br />
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After the great battle of 2022, we disappeared in the forest and enjoyed the nice forest path while it lasted. Once out of the three line the path disappeared so we more or less followed the GPS marking. Neither of our maps showed the mentioned old path descending down into the valley, it was actually matching with the GPS, more or less. Up to the first pass, which is not marked, but is at about 26,8km the cross country was easy and then as mentioned before it got pretty difficult. If it would just be steep scree slope it would be alright, but this one had hard packed sand under the scree or sometimes no scree on it so it was very slippery (in dry conditions). Lots of prayers went to the Gods of Friction which helped us with traversing the treacherous slopes, with plenty of chances to become a statistic. I don’t think that that traverse is possible in wet conditions, not without crampons. And as for every good cake there is always a cherry on top, which was a little rock climbing session, which I personally didn’t mind, but I am not sure other hikers would appreciate. After that we still had to descend a steep scree down to the river. If there is a potential trail or option to go down the valley after the pass and then follow the river bank up, I think it is definitely a better, faster and safer option, especially if weather is not favorable. And looking from above down the valley it seemed like a feasible option to follow the river as the river itself was easily crossable and we didn’t spot any cliffs there, maybe next time.<br />
<br />
After reaching the river at the valley bottom the way up to the second pass was easy and straight forward, even though still “sin sendero”. The way down from the pass is steep and bouldery but not dangerous and after a short bit some first signs of an old trail can be noticed, some cairs appear. Then once the trail gets down to the tree line there are a few bushy places, but nothing too bad and the closer to the actual trail you get the better it becomes. We also somewhat followed the GPS track but stayed more in the forest rather than beach to avoid the ranger hut.<br />
<br />
Once we made it to the Las Horquetas trail all our worries were behind us and we could enjoy the nice trail and magnificent views. I don’t think I have ever seen tree line ending almost at the edge of the glacier in Europe it was happening a century ago, pretty cool stuff. We camped at the “segundo camping” with many other hikers, none doing the GPT though. And an interesting thing we observed was that people would just drink straight from the silty glacier stream without filtering or treating their water at all. Observation was made of different groups of people at different campsites. Is that a Chilean thing? Very impressive gut, if they can do it, unless ignorance is a bliss or they knew something that we didn’t.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, two more mountain passes and we were heading down to Villa Cerro Castillo, with crowds of day-hikers that had come up to the Mirador Cerro Castillo. From there we actually didn’t follow the GPS track but headed down straight to the town. The ticket office with the park official is actually around this area: (46º 6.7520' S, 72º 12.0032' W). And the trail leading there is the official trail. The one that seemed on the map like the official, was actually not in use, not sure why. The satellite view on Gaia and info on the maps is somehow outdated. We tried to sneak past the office to avoid all explaining we had to do, but it’s kind of strategically placed so it wasn’t possible and we ended up just talking to the girl that was making sure everyone is checking out of the park. We had to pay 18.000 pesos per person which is the ticket for foreigners that want to go up to the mirador. We didn’t spill the beans about camping in the park and our small backpacks kept the suspicion low, so in the end it all worked out pretty good. From there it is still almost 5km to the town on a very dusty road, but with all the day hikers leaving a hitch was not a problem.<br />
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The town is really nice with plenty of shops and accommodations options. The only thing we didn’t manage to find was the threaded gas canister, but we found a few half-empty ones left in the Nordic Patagonia mess tent.<br />
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For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br />
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<br />
*Section 32, Option 7: Valle Balboa. Southbound. 11 days (including waiting out a snow storm). Party (3): Mum, Sis and I.<br />
<br />
After walking Section 35 we emerged in Cochrane to a world changed by the virus. We retreated to the now unfriendly Chili Chico and caught the ferry across to Ibáñez in the morning. For my mum and sister, getting back to Santiago to catch a flight home had been the priority, but on the way they shifted more to the stance I was taking: what was the point? Get stuck in Australia, or here? Patagonia didn't seem all that bad, and apart from facemasks and hand sanitiser, there were no shortages like back home. By the time we reached Coyhaique we'd all decided to stay a week or so to hatch a plan. We met up with Aldo and camped in his backyard for almost a week. I helped build his house a bit, but time was mostly filled with playing chess, dice, cards and guitar. The atmosphere seemed to encourage a lethargic state, blurring the days together and bending time. Finally however, we packed and walked into the town centre to make a start on the interesting option #007 of Section 32 through Valle Balboa, (traversing roughly from Lago Desierto to Río Ibáñez). With the virus and public transport on hold, it seemed unlikely the bus to Villa Freí (that we took last time for the RR of Section 32) would be running. We asked a taxi driver for a quote to drive us out. We grabbed some more supplies, and then caught a taxi with a much friendlier driver to Lago Elizalde ($15k). The driver showed us a great public camping spot on the shore of the lake. There were many established camp sites back from [close to] the beach. It was such a nice spot that we decided to lay back and spend the afternoon and night there.<br />
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In the morning, we walked the road to Río Paloma, scoring a lift for 5ks or so. We camped by the river not far before the end of the road.<br />
<br />
In the morning we walked the last bit of the public road to where it ends at the very rickety bridge over Río Mogote. There is a nice little camping spot here (-45.91100, -72.31823). Climbing over the locked gate, we walked the private road to the ford. We tossed up visiting Lago Desierto and the people living next to it, but with the virus decided against it. This meant we didn't actually have to cross the river, instead locating the old road to the south. (The track files follow the road, but it is no longer used by vehicles and it is actually easier to head back down the main road a couple of hundred metres to where a cattle trail exists (-45.91601, -72.30806)).<br />
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Following this distinct road for some time, it seemed to be used for horse riding tours as there were coloured signs like "Spanglish" and "Toobooku" on the side. You will soon reach the gate included in the track files. Here there is also access to a bridge across Estero Balboa. It looks like you can then access trails most of the way up to Cerró Negro. This might be interesting if someone wants to explore.<br />
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A couple hundred metres after the gate the old road ends and an obvious trail continues to a miskept farmhouse. Continue along the well defined trail that gets a bit scrubby/overgrown before entering the forest. The trail is then very well maintained although quite muddy in spots (I could see it being quite bad after rain). You will need to ford a tributary not marked in the track files (-45.95592, -72.35114). Shortly afterwards is a junction (-45.95654, -72.35216). The route up the side valley could be explored if someone wants - we went only a short way to a corral. The track will dip back down to the river where there is an established camp (-45.97039, -72.35461). Continuing up the valley, there are many more established camps - the best are generally in close proximity to the fords.<br />
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The first time you cross the estero is about here: (-45.98105, -72.36205). There is only one ford, not two as the track files indicate. At the next couple of fords, the actual track deviates slightly from the track files. If you follow the current track files, you will avoid crossing the river at all, but will end up bush bashing briefly. We crossed the next two fords, but by staying on the west side of the river they should also be easily avoidable.<br />
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The trail exits the forest (-46.02116, -72.42538)(the camp marked in the track files here is a swamp - go further up the valley!) from where it is cross country walking, not actually a trail as indicated. We camped next to the puesto which incorporates some pieces of a crashed plane (we found another piece whist exploring, but not the actual crash site). The route up to the Laguna Campana is also open and straight forward.<br />
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We waited out a rainy day only to wake to a snow storm the next!... and the next!. We ended up waiting 4 nights experimenting with some different bread recipes whilst we waited out the inclement weather.<br />
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Finally a sunny day! Continue up the valley, CC walking past an old corral. At the Nacimiento del Estero Balboa you again briefly enter the trees. Like the previous marked camp, again this whole area was very swampy and I didn't see a suitable place to camp. The camp included in the track files is in the middle of a swamp! We picked up fragments of a track heading up through the trees, but I think it is very vague or overgrown. That said, we had nearly a foot of snow in places so we could have easily missed things! There is a very obvious section of track here : (-46.05648, -72.47298). You'll quickly exit the trees (-46.05923, -72.47005) and start a long CC section in the alpine. We found some sections of trail, but for us it was mostly cross country walking. Plenty of water options the whole way.<br />
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When you enter the forest after completing the alpine section (-46.08687, -72.43537), you will be bush bashing for a long time! There was no discernible track even when we criss-crossed over the track files searching for it (no snow here anymore). Approaching the deep gorge, I decided to lead us a different, less steep way. This worked well and we camped at a very nice spot by the stream at the bottom (-46.09414, -72.42582).<br />
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The next day we were debating simply following the river down (I wish we had!). Instead, we headed straight up the other side of the gorge. We located part of an old track here (-46.09685, -72.42463) but quickly lost it as we passed through the saddle (I think maybe it continues north?). Rejoining the suggested investigation route (EXP-OP-TL-I@32-07-#003), there is a good stream (-46.10202, -72.42403) and some camping on its banks.<br />
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After some horrible bush bashing, we finally made it to a ravine gashing steeply down the mountain (-46.10598, -72.41534). There were many drops and it was impossible to go directly down. We later found out that the only other party to do this part had a rope! I can't really recommend going down here [and my sister can't recommend it at all! - "This is shit!"] Again, I'd recommend taking the main valley. The climbs we did were much more difficult than those on the northern part of Section 32 RR that people complain about. Also, if doing this option, it would be much easier travelling north! You could also consult the settlers on a better route. We finally reached the bottom where it opens up after about ~6hrs!<br />
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Continuing, if you do follow EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, the track files indicate there is a trail, but it is not quite so. There are CC sections and a labyrinth of cattle trails. You will need to use them to your advantage where they exist, and leave them when they go the wrong way. We went this way for a little while, but then tried following a primary cattle track that seemed to be heading directly down to the river... but we got stopped by a swamp (-46.11623, -72.41080). Continuing along EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, you will get CC walking from the woods (after a cliff) about here: (-46.11546, -72.42372) If we were there again we would follow EXP-OP-CC-A@32-07-#004 down past the settler to the river. It then looked easy to walk along the river north to the cable car.<br />
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The cable car: Don't use this by yourself! Don't use it if you are only two! Use it with three people minimum! I can't stress this enough. There is a lot of fiction and the locals we talked to here don't even consider it safe. They used the boat which has its own steel cable allowing you to tack across with relative ease. You will get wet feet if using the boat.<br />
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Taking the cable car, we only just made it across with one in the car and two hauling on the rope, and at one point it looked like my sister might get stranded on the far side (she had a nightmare that night!).<br />
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Carretera Austral: We waited the entire day by the Carretera Austral. Finally catching a colectivo late in the afternoon. With the virus, it was hard/imposible to hitchhike. We paid an inflated price ($3kpp) for transport to Cerró Castillo.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*2020-March-6 / Ty & America / 4.5 Days SOBO RR. Start @ El Blanco<br />
<br />
We started in El Blanco, opting to hike by Lago Montreal, which was pretty nice. No traffic though, so if you’re wanting a hitch the regular start in Villa freí may be a better option. Settlers in Lago Montreal are super friendly. There’s a bit of water there as you pass by the lake. We camped there. I recommend going further to the marked camp though because the next day is a big challenge. RH-CC-A@32-25.2+7.9 Is the Cruz of the section. After this all good. I do not recommend doing this unless you’re very comfortable on your feet and have a lightweight pack.<br />
<br />
-stick to the treeline/marked path on this. The traversing is tough, but completely doable. 2-3 km in is the gully with the very difficult climb. Keep the the grassy patch, getting to the base of it was the most dangerous part for us. Very slippery rock. I had America drop her pack. High risk, but I was MUCH more comfortable.<br />
<br />
-about a k after is the second dangerous area. This is a straight rock wall that spans all the way up& down the mountain. The only way through is to climb around. I checked below it and didn’t find a way through the trees. I took both Sanita & America’s packs through this section; as again, it’s very high risk..with an actual climbing move involved. Again, it’s important you’re very comfortable with your pack to get through these parts.<br />
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After these dangerous sections we were wiped out and camped in the valley before the pass. Lots of places to camp with good water. Be aware of slight rockfall risk. There’s an amazing place to camp with ideal conditions at the top of the pass.<br />
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Going on, all smooth, both marked camps on the way up the second pass are actually closed...there’s an open camp right between the two.<br />
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Amazing places to camp up by Laguna Castillo.<br />
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We snuck around the riverbed once we saw the blue tent at the bottom (where you might have to pay) and got by with no problems.<br />
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<br />
*Jan 2020 GPT32 South 7days / Felix<br />
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_____________________ Coyhaique to Villa Freí: There is a bus from the bus terminal in Coyhaique to Villa Freí. From there it was a hot dusty road.<br />
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_____________________ Accessing the park : You have to pass through 4 private properties to enter the first sector of the park. We met some people. Had short friendly chats, but no problems with access. Just before you enter the park (where there are two trail options) there is easy access to the river via a cow trail. However water in general was no issue and I didn't carry water for the entire 7 days through the park.<br />
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The camp site used to be an official campsite before the sector was closed due to access problems. The dunny is in great shape.<br />
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_____________________ Through the first sector : The trail is in great shape until after the mirador. You then cut upwards into the alpine which is also easy walking. After passing through a saddle, you contour around above the treeline. This is the most difficult part of the section. Quite a bit of step scree traversing. Not for everyone. Once you drop into the valley waking is again easier. There are some occasional cairns that become more and more frequent as you drop into the other valley. As you contour left an intermittent trail is evident. When you enter the lenga forest (-45.97321, -72.10278) there is a great trail down that turns into a road here : (-45.97886, -72.10358) (Jan: maybe you want to update the track files to reflect this?) Then is road walking to join the popular walk.<br />
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_____________________ Popular sector of Cerró Castillo : There are some side trips not included in the track files. They're on the map you get. Note that the old Bosque site (-46.06197, -72.16016) and La Tetera (-46.07200, -72.18390) are now closed. You can not camp there. For most people this means camping at the new el Bosque : (-46.06418, -72.16964)(Jan : maybe you want to update the track files?) Get to Laguna Cerró Castillo before 12 to beat the walkers heading up for the day. But this shouldn't be an issue as you need to cross the pass early : an important thing we would have liked to know is that the pass (-46.08030, -72.21103) can be closed in the afternoon due to strong winds. There is literally a ranger there that can turn people around. Not much water over the pass either. And the poza cerca mirador doesn't look welcoming. Carry water here. In the next valley there were more rangers and we saw some people get checked for permits. It's a shame this park is now being comercialalised :(<br />
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_____________________ Getting back to Coyhaique : Not much traffic. The last bus heads back at 6pm<br />
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_____________________ I'll try upload some map photos and a breakdown of the entrance fees when I get the photos off my camera.<br />
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Cheers, Felix.<br />
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<br />
* 2020-Jan-18 and 19 / Regular Hiking Southbound / Martin Lizondo<br />
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The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge. I met other day hikers going to « El Mirador ». Snow was easy at the passes. The trail was in good conditions until the cross country. There are two spots which I consider dangerous, so I don’t recomend doing this section alone: 1) the gps tracks passes through a very vertical rocky (nearly climbing). I was scared and I can’t recommend doing it, except you asume this risk. I could see later in a map that the original route went all way down in the valley through lenga forest, but if there was a trail it’s invisible now. 2) When the cross country leaves the tree line and becomes a small trail into the lenga forest at 45º 58' 23,54" S, 72º 6' 10,02" O (“minor road” starts later, despite the gps track info); it’s very stepy and unmaintained. I made a mistake and started to follow the stream all way down, but you have to look up and search the beginning of the hidden path. It’s very vertical and easy to fell down, because of recent land slides. Be extremely carefull. The rest of Cerro Castillo from Las Horquetas is well maintained, beautifull and enjoyable. Cons: Lots of people. When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.<br />
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* Jan 2020 / RH Northbound / Matthieu<br />
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No technical difficulties in the park, just following the trail and enjoying the views.<br />
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To follow the GPT northbound, leave the parc trail to go north. It is an "old sendero" in the forest, but well maintained and easy to follow during the beginning (it is marked on maps of the parc). In this direction, no problem to leave the forest in a safe spot, but southbound, looking behind, seemed hard to find the entrance of the forest and of the safe trail ! No technical difficulties until the first pass, rocky terrain like the rest of the park. <br />
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The dangerous part is indeed between the 2 passes. You dont go in the valley in front of you but follow the altitude line until the pass that you see at the right side of the valley. Very steepy rolling stones path. I was a little bit afraid. I tried to be smarter than the tracks, trying more uphill... this was a dangerous mistake that took me long to repair and go back to the tracks. There are indeed two river crossing (no dangerous waterstream) but they are circled by cliffs, so not easily crossable. <br />
The track follow mostly the tree line (I.e the separations between the little trees and the stones) So my recommendations : <br />
- follow the gps tracks : they follow the tree line who is safer with a solid ground and grass. Sometimes you have to cross the stones, no choice, so go slowly, choose your paces wisely and it's doable. Try to aim for the grounds of grass in the middle, which are solid, or the stones with foam on them, which mostly didn't move for a while. For the rivercrossing, it aims a good spot with no need to climb down or up.<br />
- choose a good weather day : for me it was sunny and no wind, so perfect day, and it was already mentally hard (not speaking of the horseflies getting you crazy during the hard moments !). I wouldn't try it with rain or big wind in this river of rolling stones. <br />
- if you don't feel it, easy escape by the normal trail of the parc<br />
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However, I can assure that the prize for the effort, going northbound, is amazing !! But I won't spoil ! <br />
After the second pass, no technical difficulties, you find a Conaf trail easily, and I even cross some tourists with a guide.<br />
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*2019-Nov-29/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 3days / Northbound / Regular Hiking Route with OH-MR-V (Villa Cerro Castillo to Las Horquetas)<br />
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The section follows the rather popular tourist Hiking route Las Horquetas for the first two days, meaning there will be less solitude but also rather well maintained trails. The national park and the region around Cerro Castillo was very impressive, we especially enjoyed to take all the side trails and visit the numerous beautiful glacier lagoons. The only unpleasant part of the hike was the organization of the national park. The exorbitant high entrance fees are in no relation to the other parks, which is due to a high ratio of private land in the area but makes the park rather unattractive for tourists. some rangers seemed poorly informed and couldn't give much information (e.g. insisted that passes were "closed" and only after asking numerous times agreed to check with his colleagues that told that they are "open"). They also said it is not possible to hike the regular route of the GPT, because we have to check out of the NP at the checkpoint Las Horquetas. There is an optional hiking route continuing North from there. Due to bad weather coming up we ended up not finishing the northern stretch of the trail and just followed the entire Las Horquetas Route at the Carretera Austral.<br />
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* 2019-Nov-29 / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe<br />
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Snow line is at around 1200 Meters but all passes are safely traversable.<br />
The National Park Entrance Fee got raised to 29000 CLP per person for overnight hikes in season 19/20. The park generally seemed very poorly organized, we were told the passes are "closed" at first, whereas they were easy and safe to traverse. The ranger insisted that we could not hike the normal route northbound but have to sign out of the park at the Las Horquetas checkpoint. In high season, the ranger station in the park is manned, so maybe it is possible so sign out there and head northbound.<br />
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* 2019-Nov-12 / Eva Havlová<br />
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There is still lots of snow in the National Park. I arrived to Villa Cerro Castillo 3 days ago (Novembre 12, 2019) and planed to hike nortbound but rangers didn't let me go. I saw the pass they were talking about (avalanche risk) and I don't think any avalanche could occure, but the thuth is that there is lots of water runing down and the trail is like a stream. They said it might be possible to do it next week.<br />
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==Season 2018/19==<br />
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* 2019 Jan/ OIlrik / Northbound <br />
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We ended up doing the normal Cerro Castillo hike as the weather was forecasting heavy rain and snow so we did not want to be on the pass. The regular trail is just gorgeous and the park is beautiful. The trail in the north is not on the new CONAF maps but is marked on the old ones.<br />
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==Season 2017/18==<br />
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*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
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A sandy beach with a visible structure in the grass is the take-out for Lago Elizalde. After exiting, make your way through the farmland until encountering a gravel road that leads past the house at the top of the hill up to Ruta X-686.<br />
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Ruta X-686 is a lightly trafficked but well-formed gravel road that is fenced on either side. After crossing the Río Paloma, Ruta X-686 makes a sharp left and begins to climb. 4 km after the sharp left turn, cross a bridge to the left and climb to a wooden gate. If you descend the steep slope to the left of the gate, there is camping under some trees.<br />
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The wooden gate marks the beginning of a very long driveway to a house located near the lake. The route takes you along this driveway until a river crossing. After crossing the river, walk northeast along its shore towards the Río Paloma. After reaching the end of the fenceline near the Río Paloma, turn east and walk along the fenceline until reaching Lago Desierto. At the river outlet, there is a nice beach to put in to Lago Desierto.<br />
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There is no camping along the shores of Lago Desierto. The take-out is a rocky beach at the base of a bluff. Walk up the bluff and cross country through the farmland to Lago Azul. At the east end of the farm, descend down a road to a rocky beach at the Lago Azul shoreline with a metal structure.<br />
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There are a couple of potential camping options along the shoreline of Lago Azul. There are also several residences on the north shore. The take-out is a long rocky beach set before a well manicured forest. On the east end of the land near Lago La Paloma is an expensive looking house surrounded by several other buildings.<br />
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There is a 4WD track to the west of the smaller red house located south of the big residence. Ascend the steep climb on a well-formed road that is criss-crossed with several smaller tracks labeled in english with wooden signs. Due to the steep slopes on either side of the cut out road, there is no camping here.<br />
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Eventually, the route turns off of the road onto an overgrown 4WD track. Camping off the track is still difficult because of prickly vegetation and steep terrain. This track ends 2.5 km from where the Regular Packrafting Route joins the Regular Hiking Route. From here, the route involves some bushwhacking and following a small trail as it winds in and out of existence. Just before joining with the Regular Hiking Route, the route widens into an old 4WD track that passes some destroyed structures.<br />
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The routes join up at a large rock cairn and continues to follow a 4WD track until reaching a large wooden sign with a map of the Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo. Here there is also a campsite and ranger station. There is a 5.000 CLP fee to enter the reserve.<br />
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The route from here is a popular track for backpackers with designated campsites. The trail is well-formed and winds through the forest. When the trail becomes less obvious, the way is shown with yellow markers. In this area there is a designated campsite with a latrine.<br />
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At treeline, follow the cairns and rocks painted with white and red stripes through the scree up and over the first pass (approximate elevation 1.450 m). After the steep descent, reenter the trees. There is a campsite, Camping El Bosque, soon after reaching treeline (approximately elevation 940 m) with water and a latrine.<br />
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The trail begins to wind up through the forest toward Laguna Castillo. The sights from Laguna Castillo, which is at the base of the pass, are stunning. There are two tracks that climb up to the pass. Make sure to take the path that climbs to the south instead of continuing southeast over the obvious saddle.<br />
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The track down to Ruta X-720 is well formed, marked, and popular, but occasionally braided. Follow it until reaching the wooden stile with a rangers hut. From there join Ruta X-720, a dirt road which leads to Highway 7 and Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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==Season 2016/17==<br />
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=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
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*Town: Villa Cerro Castillo. Villa Cerro Castillo has several restaurants, small markets, and plenty of lodging options, including a popular backpacker camping destination on the east side of town.<br />
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*2024-Mar /Josch<br />
Shop in Villa Cerro Castillo at -46.12201, -72.161708 has pasta, ramen, oats, chips, cookies, olive oil, peanuts, peanut butter, bread and some more stuff.<br />
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*Lovely yum restaurant in Coyhaique: Restaurant DaGus, Lautaro 82, 5950000 Coyhaique. Little hidden gem. -45.86411, -72.04916<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
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=Transport to and from Route=<br />
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*Buses to Villa Frei from Coyhaique bus terminal: Monday 7:30, 8:15, 15:30, 17:00, 19:30 Tuesday to Friday 8:15, 15:30, 17:30, 19:30 Saturday 08:00 and 14:00. No bus on Sunday. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Villa Frei & the bus generally turns around immediately & goes back to Coyhaique.<br />
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=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
*2023/ Martin & Helena<br />
To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side. <br />
<br />
*2023/ Jakub+Veronika:<br />
1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.<br />
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.<br />
<br />
*2023 / Anna & Christopher <br />
The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets. <br />
<br />
*2020 / Martin Lizondo<br />
The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge.<br />
(...)<br />
When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT32 - Cerro Castillo]]<br />
<br />
=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT32_(Cerro_Castillo)&diff=114545GPT32 (Cerro Castillo)2024-03-03T21:26:58Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
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*2024-Mar-01 to 2024-Mar-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 02 + D + RR + OH E + 03 / Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1: OH32-02 + OH32-D [1.0-2.6] + RR [38.8-39.6]<br />
<br />
I hitched from Puerto Chacabuco to Las Horquetas and startet there around noon. After 700 m on OH32-02 you pass by a ranger hut. You have to sign in and you will get a short explanation about the trail. You don't have to pay here, but they tell you that you will pay when leaving the park. There is plenty of water on OH32-02. I camped at Camping Rio Turbio (Segundo) at km 39.6 of RR.<br />
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Day 2: RR [39.6-41.3] + OH32-E [0.0-1.6] to Laguna Glaciar Penon and back + RR [41.3-56.6] + OH32-03 [0.0-3.6]<br />
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Laguna Glaciar Penon is worth the short detour on OH32-E. I crossed a bunch of small streams around the pass at km 43.9. There is some ice on top of the pass but its not very steep and therefore relatively easy to walk over it. There is no water between Laguna Cerro Castillo (km 50.9) and Camping Porteadores (at beginning of OH32-03). I camped at Camping Neozelandes.<br />
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Day 3: OH32-03 to Laguna Duff and back to RR + RR [56.6-66.9]<br />
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Laguna Duff is nice. I hiked there early in the morning and therefore had the whole place for myself. About 400 m before the RR joins the minor road (km 60.6) the RR branches off the official hiking trail and avoids the park entrance. You have to hop a fence to get on the minor road but therefore you don't pay the 15000 Pesos for hiking in the park.<br />
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The nacional park has 4 official campgrounds (at km 39.6 and 48.9 of RR and the two marked camps on OH32-03). You are only allowed to camp at those sites. <br />
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<br />
*2024-Feb-23 to 2024-Feb-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / {32-M} - RR - {32-C} -RR / Lilian & Rainbow<br />
<br />
Bus from Coyhaique to Villa Frei :<br />
<br />
Monday to Friday(8.15am, 3.30pm, 5.30pm, 7.30pm) , Saturday(8am, 2pm), i forget the fee, it is less than 1000 CLP. It takes about 35-40 minutes and it turns back to Coyhaique with no waiting. The sign on the bus doesn't write Villa Frei, it said Valle Simpson, (and final stop is Villa Frei.)<br />
<br />
Bus terminal in Coyhaique : (-45.58226, -72.07800)<br />
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Bus stop in Villa Frei : (-45.75139, -72.11226)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Resupply in Coyhaique:<br />
<br />
I sent a resupply box(shoes and socks) to Patagon Backpacker(hostel) in Coyhaique from Santiago some months before, they are super friendly and willing to hold my box until i arrive. You can contact them by email, they are good at speaking English, also know lot around Coyhaique.<br />
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If you want to buy some warm clothes, some shops in Coyhaique. North Face and Patagonia is there, but expensive. Some clothes in Patagonia are on sale but not for hiking or not much use, lot clothes but full price, ya. North Face's staff is much friendly, and lot items on sale too, but rainproof is full price. They have tents for sale too.<br />
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Good clothes is cheaper with discount, 230g gas canisters and sleeping pad at Suray Montana, friendly and not crowded. I bught a fleece jacket at here.<br />
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Doite have the cheapest price sporty clothes, just beside North Face. I bught a good base layer here.<br />
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Lot of supermarkets in Coyhaique. I resupply at Unimarc.<br />
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They are all close to the plaza, all the shops i listed can search by Google Map.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Because i just have 3 days good weather, so I don't want to do any road walking, i talk the bus to Villa Frei, then hitch to (-45.86204, -72.04816) start hiking.<br />
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Locked gate and camera at {32-m} km2.33, I didn't want to take long time go with big around so i climbed it directly, didn't see any people on the whole way, so doesn't matter.<br />
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RR km23.3 : cross a stream, log crossing at downstream 20m, you can go through the tiny forest to there.<br />
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Km23.63 : flat spot(-45.90969, -72.05767) with some protection after a stream crossing can fit 2 tents before go into the no covers grassland.<br />
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Highly recommend go for {32-C}, both ways just 10min, amazing views and a camping spot can fit 1 tent with excellent view at (-45.90744, -72.07668), but no wind protection.<br />
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Km 26.63 : flat spot (-45.92066, -72.07543) can fit 2 tents with good wind protection from west by bushes.<br />
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Km27.75 : old camping sandy spot(-45.92915, -72.07549) can fit 4 tents with some wind protection from west, just before the dangerous CC. I think the previous one is better.<br />
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Km27.9 - km29.95 : dangerous CC traversing on side hill. A slide may cause a fall with heavy injure or death. It is doable but not recommended to everyone. Doing this part only in good weather.<br />
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Km28.3 - km28.35 : for me, it is the most dangerous part in this CC, some landslide(-45.93359, -72.07668) and very loose, i can't hold a good pose and slipped down some meters, luckily i can use my hiking poles to stop the slide immediately.<br />
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Km29.3 : tricky spot(-45.93822, -72.08632), huge thank you for Véronica, her comments made this much easier. Just like she said, "You reach the end of the bad scree and end up in a deep gully with a vertical wall face on the other side." <br />
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"Get to the lowest grassy patch to the left of the vertical rock wall. The easiest way to reach that grassy patch was to go upstream a bit, then traverse on the hard slippery sand northward, instead of trying to climb vertically straight up to it. Once you reach the grass, you can use the traction and stability of vegetation to clamber up and out of the gully."<br />
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Km29.55 : 1st rock wall, go around it with a clear trail at downhill side(-45.93818, -72.08940), GPX track is correct at here.<br />
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Km29.7 : 2nd rock wall, NO CLIMBING, NO SCRAMBLING here, there is a trail JUST WALKING at (-45.93864, -72.09126), overgrown but just 20m easy BB, the trail is between rock wall and treeline, Sobo not easy to notice, but when you are going around the rock wall, then you'll find it. Nobo is easy to reach the trail at the other side. GPX track leads you to climb, it is not a good idea, a slide in climbing at here will mostly cause death.<br />
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After 2nd rock wall, finally CC down to the valley and easy walking start.<br />
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Lot of camping possibilities at the valley, but zero wind protection. Better camping before pass[32.5/1385], because after the pass is super rocky, pass is a large flat area, but too soft to camp.<br />
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I camped at (-45.94901, -72.09962), some flat spots, beside the waterfall from Cerro Aislado. Nice views but cold. It is the first night with negative degree so far. Some water froze to ice at early morning around here.<br />
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After pass[32.5/1385], you walking down at another valley, but with some cairns to follow. <br />
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Km33.5 : trail starts, with some big cairns along it. It leads you all the way to treeline at km34.2. Sometimes it is not clear to follow and lost, but you will always find it if you pay tons of attention, cairns leads you the way.<br />
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The trailhead at km34.2 is a little tricky. You need to climb up a little on a rocky slope after you cross the stream to (-45.97307, -72.10268), then go into the forest to south a little, you'll find a steep loose rocky slope going down again, go for it and you can hold some trees there. Then you join the old trail shown on GPX going south. Don't think about go to the trailhead(-45.97343, -72.10281) directly, it is on a waterfall, you can't arrive there.<br />
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<br />
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The old trail is in good condition for a while, then become overgrown and some blowdowns. For emergency, you can camp at (-45.97898, -72.10345), it is the first flat spot for Sobo in treeline with cover (the last one for Nobo). It can fit 2 single person tent.<br />
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Lot of tiny stream flowing with clear water.<br />
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When you met the rock river(-45.98185, -72.10091) at km35.33, you can CC down the river and join MR at (-45.98357, -72.10284), it is a super easy CC, not steep, no blowdowns, no wet feet, rocks are stable and not slippery.<br />
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When you arrive MR, easy walking again. A gate locked by wire at km37.1, climbing over it is the fastest way.<br />
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Km38.1 : start BB to riverside, but i think it is a CC, the grass just up to ankle only.<br />
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I find a clear trail(-46.00113, -72.09460) without any blowdowns going south, and lead you to riverside at (-46.00216, -72.09530), then you can walk beside the river and join national park trail.<br />
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National park trail is in a nice condition, nothing to mention. Some snow before and after pass[43.9/1470], but still an easy walking on snow.<br />
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Km46.1 : camping spot at (-46.05228, -72.14549), it is cleared out all the stone by someone here, can fit 1 tent with excellent 360° views, but no wind protection.<br />
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I camped beside the lake(-46.05780, -72.15969) for the second night, excellent spots with glacier views(you are just below it!) and views of Cerro Castillo! Peaceful and not crowded, I'm the only human there with some ducks, and they love to talking in the midnight. You can reach the lake starts at (-46.06176, -72.15672), easy walking beside a stream, all the way stay on east side and dry feet, BB less than 20 meters for total and mostly just easy CC.<br />
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Km48.85 : Campsite El Bosque. Side trail to a lake under glacier at north. It is a long walk, but i highly recommend you at least take the trail go out the forest, amazing views there, both ways just 300m.<br />
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Km49.95 : viewpoint of waterfall from Cerro Castillo. And i find that you can climb up to the top of waterfall! See the details at next waypoint.<br />
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Km50.2 : you can climbing up this ridge to the UPPER LAKE of Cerro Castillo. From (-46.06989, -72.18148) to (-46.06905, -72.18500), then to (-46.06627, -72.18497). No trail, just CC on some rocks, stable and not steep until close to the top, the top part is steep and loose, at there you can go to right side a little bit, climbing up on grassy slope for final ascend. Amazing views there, and no camping, because the ground is too soft, but cow boy camping on huge rocks is wonderful at this place.<br />
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I recorded this CC, will upload it later.<br />
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Camp[50.5/1243] : Campsite La Tetera, not a good camping spot, some spots much better when you climbing up and before Laguna Castillo.<br />
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After you enjoy the moment at Laguna Castillo, remember follow RR, check GPX track, dont follow the trail going beside the lake, it is a dead end trail, and if you dont want to all the way back, you can CC climbing up to join RR.<br />
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Pass[53.5/1679] : excellent views here! If you are super thirsty, clear water is flowing good at (-46.07749, -72.20888), easy to collect, 10sec/L.<br />
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Then all the way down to Campsite Los Porteadores, a long long way going down.<br />
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Because of weather changing, so i didn't go up to Laguna Duff.<br />
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Walking on a nice trail to main road, then all the way road walking to Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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Lot of restaurants, shops and accomodation in Villa Cerro Castillo. The shop(-46.12072, -72.16115) beside the main road is the biggest one in town. Lot of biker riding, hikers and backpackers hitching on the road. Tall gas canisters and 230g gas canisters are sold in Copec gas station at (-46.12208, -72.16279) in high stock. We stayed at Nordic Patagonia(-46.12142, -72.15889), 15k CLP for a bed, 45k CLP for a double room, 8k CLP for camping with views of Cerro Castillo, including hot shower and kitchen basecamp.<br />
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Maybe because of late season, never saw any flies at this section.<br />
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2024-Feb-10 to 2024-Feb-13 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / Las Horquetas and Lagunitas / Andrew<br />
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Day 1 (slept at Rio Turbio)<br />
<br />
I started in Villa Cerro Castillo and hitched a ride to Las Horquetas. I left a bag at the Nordic Patagonia campground in town, it's free if you stay a night after, or CLP 1.000/day if not.<br />
<br />
Signed in at the CONAF station where the park ranger explained the official camps that are currently open, and advised not to drink unfiltered/untreated water between Rio Turbio camp to just before El Bosque camp. But others I talked to later in the hike didn't get the same message and seemed fine so not sure what was up there.<br />
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Easy hike to Rio Turbio camp with some horseflies.<br />
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Day 2 (slept at El Bosque)<br />
<br />
This day was my punishment for deciding to leave behind my fleece at the last moment. Cold and rainy as I went over Penon pass, but at least I got to test out my new rain jacket and rain pants. At least it wasn't very windy. Great views of waterfalls after the pass, and the rest of the day was sunny.<br />
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Camped at El Bosque. Difficult but short day. Worth taking the side trail to Laguna Temprana after setting up camp.<br />
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Day 3 (slept at Neozelandes)<br />
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Lots of scrambling over rocks. Great panoramic views as we went over Morro Negro. As developed campsites go I think Porteadores was actually a bit nicer than Neozelandes, but Neozelandes is much crowded and puts you closer to Laguna Duff.<br />
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Day 4 (back to Villa Cerro Castillo)<br />
<br />
In the morning I hiked to Laguna Duff, best scenary on the Las Horquatas section of the hike IMO, do not miss this. Afterwards I hiked back to Neozelandes, packed my stuff, and hiked back to the Villa. All downhill. Paid the CLP 16.000 fee at the Estero Parada CONAF station, then hitched a ride back (around 3pm). Had some good pizza and beers with some folks I met on the hike at Pizzeria y Hamburgueseria D-Lizia in VCC.<br />
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2024-Feb-8 to 2024-Feb-11 / 3.25 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from El Blanco and Lago Monreal + Variant M + Option 3 / Tomáš & Natalie<br />
<br />
We started around 1500 at Coyhaique and easily hitched to El Blanco. We hitched with three cars (last went to Lago Paloma) and walked about four km in between them along Lago Monreal to Variant M. The sign against hikers scared us and it was late (1930), so we camped nearby (100 m along the fence westward). We reread other reports and decided to go for it in the morning. We first tried to go along a fence lining a small cliff about 100 metres west of the road, but it is pointless and we found ourselves on the road after a few hundred metres. We did not meet anyone. It is easy to miss RR and start on option 1, keep an eye on the GPS. We met black cows at the same place as Stiina, but they just looked omniously at us.<br />
<br />
As for the dangerous part, Tomáš ended up doing it three times as he dropped our tent poles from his backpack just before the start of the CC section. Unlike Nat (see below), he thinks the section is quite ok and he also found it quite scenic, especially the first part over the plateau. The annoying clambering is in fact only about two km long and can be done in about an hour if you know the way. It never felt dangerous to him, but he understands others see it differently, it is certainly more demanding than the average section of GPT. The description of Véronica is the best. The last obstacle (the boulder) is not entirely vertical (it feels like scrambling, not climbing), but you do need to use your hands and it is indeed exposed, down climbing NOBO is more awkward. On the other hand, it is only about seven metres distance (not elevation). We had sunny skies, in worse weather it would be a lot more annoying. The horseflies came back from the dead and died by the dozen under our merciless hands (Nat killed three accidentally just as she tied her hair back).<br />
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At the end of CC, the trailhead is invisible. It starts in the trees immediately from the river, about 10 m from the start of the waterfall in between two landslide/avalanche bands. Will comments that the gpx trail is exact, but since we are used to the gpx being slightly off, we could not see it, I guess we should have just trusted the gpx. There is a cairn in the creek marking the entrance but it is unclear how long it will stay there. Once you reach the overgrown MR, after a hundred metres of easy BB, one can cut the first zigzag straight down through easily passable mature forest. Once down on the road, you can camp on it, it is not used by cars ever. Once you reach the CC at 60.9, do not ford but stay on that side of the river!<br />
<br />
In the popular part of the hike, people concentrate at campings, but otherwise it does not feel too crowded (less than two dozen people met on the trails themselves per day). Until nine and from about five, you will meet almost nobody on the trails. The park is very attractive. There is good internet (Entel 4g) just before the pass at 53.5. From the other side, there is a sign saying the pass closes down in strong winds. Probably better to go there in the morning (weaker wind) or late (after six) in the afternoon (rangers have probably gone home) unless the weather is good. The sign where they turn people is probably at about 1250 altitude at roughly the treeline.<br />
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To avoid paying, Nat followed the RR and was succesfull (OSM is wrong, the official trail is to the east of the GPT in the last few hundred metres). Tomáš followed the easternmost OSM trail that leaves the RR at roughly 480 altitude. The trail is rather imaginery, but it is easy walking across meadows or rarely through open forest and across several fences. His efforts were probably pointless.Tomáš also wanted to cut the walk to Villa Cerro Castillo and forded Estero El Bosque, but it was equally pointless and involved several fences.<br />
<br />
We found screwable gas cartridges in Villa Castillo at the supermarket "Villarica", the last supermarket on the corner of - Bernardo Higgins and Bernardo a Alessandro, i think. They said they have them sometimes. There was a blackout for five hours during our stay but locals said that is not so common.<br />
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Notes from Nat:<br />
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- When in Coyhaique be sure to enjoy the bread and pizza shop called; La Tranquera Pan y Pizza (just North of the main plaza). It has a great selection of sourdough breads/Rye/whole-wheat loafs, cookies, real coffee and tasty pizza slices. ALSO don't miss the dry good store; Envasadora Aysen (45.57016° S, 72.06883° W), the good veg shop here (45.57730° S, 72.07038° W) and then the Unimarc is actually pretty good. <br />
<br />
- My views are prejudiced against the beginning of this route bcs I was sick and not in a good mood but my thoughts at the time were; "If you want to "enjoy" section 32 then take the Las Horquetas option". I really didn't like all the sidehilling and felt you wouldn't miss out on much if you started at Horquetas. Also don't do what I did and pack twice as much as you need bcs Coyhaique "might" be the last place with good food (however it was 3-5x better than villa Castillo).<br />
<br />
- The first tricky part was annoying bcs it was hard to get an edge (not that there is any edge left in my shoes). It was easier to walk up it and gradually cross, all in all it didn't feel dangerous. The second tricky part did feel dangerous to me bcs I went too far climbers left of the grass staircase and ended up having to traverse the short, steep and featureless slope to get back on track, a fall seemed easy and with bad consequences. The rock scramble at the boulder did not worry me but I would not have climbed it if it was wet bcs there is a lot of algae-like material on it and some of the handholds were sloppy. <br />
<br />
- I would be very curious if one could make a new route that went up to this lake here; -45.94848, -72.07320, and then down either here; -45.95505, -72.08753 or along the ridge to here; -45.96914, -72.08724. It would be more vertical and longer but with possibly less sidehilling...<br />
<br />
- The glacier on Variant E (6km return, half of it moraine walking) is nice but not really worth it, the lake on the other hand is 100% worth the short walk (3km return, flat river rock waking).<br />
<br />
- The lake just North of Camping Bosque is also worth it if you can avoid the crowds. Both this lake and Variant E lake are technically CC but "well traveled" and cairned.<br />
<br />
- The trail to Laguna Duff is popular but "splendid", it took less than two hours to the lake from Porteadores. Most of the trail is in the forest and then the last 1.5km (250m vert) is on a pretty obvious rock path. The camping at Neozelandés is far less crowded than other official campsites I recommend it. I got into an argument with a conaf officer at the lake bcs she told me it was too late to be there and I had to leave (4pm). If you want to avoid this person, then go right of the RR when it gets close to the lake headwall, she seemed to be "staged" at where the water leaves the lake. I originally wanted to make a traverse to the other lake but bcs of conaf I went down to the camp to meet Tomáš and then we both went back up after she left (6ish). Once back up we made a traverse to the other lake by following a grassy slope that starts West of where the water exits the lake, you should be able to see the grassy slope on your left when you are walking to Duff. Follow it down and work yourself across, going down to where there is some grass should be quicker than traversing the rubble, CC obviously. On the way down from the second lake we followed the main waterway and then cut back into the forest to reach the main trail (open forest, no BB). Rather than follow the west bank of the waterway like the GPS says we found it far easier to be in the east bank, less rubble.<br />
<br />
-We both bad to walk back to Villa Castillo, no cars going in our direction but manu going in opposite direction (~9am)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-28 to 2024-Jan-31 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Villa Cerro Castillo - Villa Frei / RR + Option 3 + Variant C + Variant M/ Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
It was another fantastic section but we don't have much to add to what has already been written. But we would still like to point out a few points:<br />
<br />
1) At the Segundo campsite (also called Rio Turbio), mice gnawed our tent and our dry bag containing the food. It would be best to hang your food from the trees if you are sleeping at this campsite.<br />
<br />
2) The large rock at -45.938145, -72.086171 can be avoided by doing 10 m of bush bashing just below the rock. This passage is much more visible going NOBO but it is also possible to take it going SOBO.<br />
<br />
3) The little detour to Variant C is definitely worth it. The view of Lago Paloma and Lago Azul is truly incredible.<br />
<br />
4) We took option M despite the right of way conflict. We passed a pick-up truck at the last gate going NOBO (the one with a padlock and a private property sign). They greeted us and gave us no problem.<br />
<br />
2024-Jan-27 to 2024-Jan-29 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 2 + option 3 / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
<br />
- Trail condition : well maintained, good campsites sheltered from the wind <br />
- Water : easy to find plenty of rivers and lagunas<br />
- Camping spot : there are some designated campsites<br />
- Weather : Sunny<br />
- River crossing : easy<br />
- Resupply : in cohayque and in Villa cerro castillo, all you need<br />
- Entrance fee : 16 000 pesos per person, normally the park closes after 1pm so you can't start after that but we were a bit late and they let us through <br />
- Overall : beautiful stretch of section 32, for us it was really an amazing entrance in the Patagonian landscape as we imagined it with the Torres<br />
<br />
*From 2023-01-22 to 2023-01-24 // 3 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR + OP3 + OP3A + VARIANT M // Quentin Clavel<br />
<br />
Villa cerro castillo - entrance Estero Parada - Laguna Duff - Sendero las Horquetas - North part of NP (CC) - Lago Paloma - Villa Frei. <br />
<br />
One of my favourite section so far ! I had amazing weather and I enjoyed so much this stretch, even with few people on the sendero las Horquetas in the NP (not crowded, but obviously more than the usual sections of the GPT). <br />
<br />
Entrance fees for 3 days was 16,000 CLP for me. I had no control and have seen no guardaparque during my hike. <br />
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I walked all the way up to see Laguna Duff (OPT3) definitely worth it in my opinion. Wonderful view, with still some pieces of ices floating on the Laguna, the back of Cerro Castillo and the reflects on the water were amazing. Easy to go there, as there is a trail. <br />
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The second one (OPT3A) is more tricky, no trail, and a lot of rolling stones. Beautiful too and of course, no people at all (I slept there, without tent, just on a big rock, that was incredible). <br />
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Then go up to the pass, it was a crazy hot day, for the first time since I'm in Patagonia, I regretted that it wouldn't be a little bit windy aha. <br />
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Laguna cerro castillo Is amazing. Second pass were very nice too. Bi. I passed it early on the morning, had some snow part, doable, but as it was morning, it was icy on some parts, so I putted my crampons and that was perfect. (But doable without). <br />
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Then easy trail until the end of the public part of NP (just after Segundo camping). After that the cross country part begun. Follow an old trail of the NP, some bush bashing during the forest part, and have to check often the GPS. Then you have to deal with all the rocks until the first pass. <br />
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Go down on a nice valley, and go up to the second pass. Tricky part, as described previously, is the big rock. It's maybe easier to do it NOBO because you descent it, and don't face it, which can be scary. But going on the grass part is the best way. Then follow the tree level, deal with rolling stones, and everything is gonna be alright. The récompense will be the amazing view on Lago Paloma (don't miss the Mirador). <br />
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I took the variant M to avoid the right of way conflict. No trouble at all on this way. You have to pass threw some gates. The last one, near a kind of central hydroelectric is the biggest, with camera and sign do not enter. Few people seen after this gate, and they were all very gentle and nice ! <br />
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Anyway, I really loved this stretch ! As it's summertime at this time, I met a lot of chilenos in the NP, so happy to see even very young chilenos explore their outstanding country ! <br />
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You have to be prepared to face a looooot of rolling stones on this section, sometimes it's like dancing on rocks. Can I say that the rolling stones make this stretch rock'n'roll ? Probably not. <br />
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Better to wait for good conditions. I can't imagine this section on a rainy and windy day ! <br />
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<br />
* 2024-Jan- 11 to 2024-Jan-13/ 3 days/hiking/SOBO/ Start in Las Horquetas and later RR/ Paulina<br />
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<br />
I started in las Horquetas, it was open even if on Conaf website this section is still closed, apparently they don't really update). When I was there ( 10 AM) nobody at the gate, so no charges. Later in the park nobody never asked me to show the entrance ticket. The same at the exit gate, they just asked me to check out ( even if I did not check in).<br />
At the beginning of Las Horquetas trail, some very easy river crossing. Almost no people, only a few hikers on the campsite.<br />
On Pass 32 [43.9/1470] still some soft snow, but I could cross it safetly.<br />
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Be careful on the ridge around pass 32 [ 53.5/1679] on very windy days. <br />
I did not see any water around camping Los Porteadores, except this last section, water was available everywhere. <br />
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Beautiful and very scenic section! <br />
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*2023-12-29 to 2024-01-01 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR & Variant D & M / Roman<br />
<br />
Took a Uber from Coyhaique to Villa Frei for 17.000$. Got another lift by someone who life's there to this point: -45.8737, -72.04342. Joined via Variant M to the RR. Camped at Camp {32} [23.6/1010]. Good place you have to Ford 2 times before the Camp and 1 times directly after it. Here the -45.93357, -72.07606 Clambering in steep terrain starts and is very challenging also in combination with snow. Very steep literally climbing up there here: -45.938145, -72.086171 especially with a backpack. I needed to go very slow and cautious with 3 point technique. After that you can follow the GPS and the Kerns to this point -45.973087, -72.102771. From there a old abandoned road goes all the way to the point where the Trail( Variant D) merges with the Sendero de Chile Las Horquetas at: X {32-D} [1.0/920]. On the trial are some parts which are not perfectly visible but with GPS no problem. There are some fallen trees and quite a few small trees on the trail. I wouldn't consider it Bush Bashing (BB) because you can just raise your arms in front of your face and walk trough it. So IMHO no BB on the route. As soon as you are at X {32-D} [1.0/920] it's a "touristy trail" compared with the other GPT parts. Therefor the condition is excellent. Camped at Segundo Camping -46.008184, -72.104121. Next day camped at Camping Los Porteadores -46.089085, -72.235431. Snow was neither on Pass {32} [43.9/1470] or Pass {32} [53.5/1679] a problem. Next day hiked to Villa Cerro Castillo. Not a single car on the street towards it so needed to hike. The RR avoids the Entrance Cerro Castillo Park (Estero Parada) there is one gate before accessing the street where you can just hop over.<br />
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Overall: really nice section and quite relaxing to have such a easy trail (the beginning is challenging due to the rock scramble). It's the most touristy part (2 groups a 7 people) but absolutely woth it. Really enjoyed it.<br />
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Contact: https://linktr.ee/RundW<br />
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*2023-Dec-12 / 6 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Variant D + Variant F / Tom Pieper<br />
An Uber from Cohayique to Villa Simpson is about 9.000 Peso. From there I easily found rides to Lago Elizalde. A older man told me that there was also a camino from Lago Elizalde to Lago Azul passing cerro sombrero a couple of years ago. I really liked the walking through the valley to lago desierto. It passes a beautiful farmland landscape sprinkled with little lush patches of forest and creeks. Camping is easy there. But if you want to speed up there are also cars from time to time and hitchhiking is possible. At S 45° 52.495 W 072° 16.913 is a little shelter surrounded by some old tractors and a big mate cup installation. A farmer passing by told me I am welcome to stay there. To reach lago desierto you have to climb a locked gate (well described by Kara Davis). I crossed lago desierto and camped at the isthmus between it and lago azul. There is a nice camp spot at waypoint Lake {32} [38.3/337] surrounded by old gooseberry bushes and an abandoned van. The central lodging building is collapsed so its seems to be an abandoned place now except the cattle. Next day I crossed lago azul. The wind increased dramatically forming up to 1 m waves. There are some emergency exits on the left even after the shore gets steeper after the settlers on the lefthand side. At the end of lago azul you reach a huge private hacienda on the isthmus, with a big park like forest and buildings within. I tried to sneak between the buildings but to reach the path to the mountains you finally have to pass a big meadow. There was a greenkeeper around and it was no problem for him to let me pass. The family was not around. The track to the mountains is steep and part of a big network of mountainbike trails. This network spans nearly the entire valley! I met six young chilenos who told me that they are working the summer to maintain the trails only for that family – I have never seen such a giant mountainbike network! Incredible how much effort and money must spend here only to satisfy a family’s hobby. The Chilenos were very friendly and even turned back to offer me a ride to the end of the valley as rain increased but I kept walking. This track is in really good conditions up to the bush bashing section. And here comes the problem: 1.) the bush bashing is wrong annotated. In reality it starts for 1.2 km at the end of the annotated section 2.) the track is mostly gone were it reaches the river bed. Landslides have washed away a big part. Don’t cross the landslide! It seems super instable! When you have forded the riverbed at the landslide don’t put on your shoes, yet. The following part has turned into swamp land. I suggest to make the entire 1.2 km in your fording footwear. After that the track to the las horquetas trail is mostly overgrown or blocked by trees but still visible. It was pretty hard for me as temperatures dropped to 4 °C and at this point it had not stopped raining for 48 hr. In bad weather that’s definitely no fun. The ranger hut was my salvation as it was abandoned but open and had a stove and even some firewood. The next day the weather was perfect and I continued towards cerro Castillo. There had been recent work around Camping Rio Turbio and the track is still in good condition. Paso Penón has heaps of snow and I found myself sinking to the hips from time to time. But in good weather it is ok. The views from the pass and the following valley even outcompeted the view from laguna castillo. After the paso penón the rest is fine. I used Variant F to descend. As mentioned before it now follows a different way in the end due to right of way conflict and you reach the street at approximately half way between villa cerro Castillo and the national park entrance.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
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<br />
* 05-Apr-2023 / Hiking / SOBO / Martin & Helena<br />
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We really enjoyed this one. It's definitely worth waiting for good weather, not only for safe traverse of the steep part in the northern part of the park and following obstacles that are quite demanding but also for the views that were just incredible.<br />
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Starting from Villa Frei in the late afternoon, we made it on that day to the turn before Lago La Paloma, where we camped right behind a fence, before a little river, that you need to cross to follow the RR. There are 2 settlements, but still far enough, so no problem. You have to cross one fence and a gate on the way up. To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side. Crossing them will take you directly to RR, so no bush-bashing is necessary. From there, the trail is pretty straightforward. We liked the view from Option B viewpoint and in good conditions it must be a perfect spot for camping, definitely doable in one day. The steep traverse didn't feel that dangerous for us, but we had really good conditions. The next obstacle, already described by others, is at the end of the traverse. We followed there a small ridge that will take you to the beginning of the grass parts. It's a little steep, but doable. From there we followed the grass parts, which create almost 'stairs' allowing you to climb up. It's again steep, but you can use your hands to pull yourself up, holding the grass patches. After that is the last challenging part, a rock that you need to climb over. We got there already after sunset and without an option to explore the best and safest way over, we decided to follow the old overgrown trail, that descends down without the need to climb over the rock. It seemed to be hard in the beginning, but after we got through the first few trees (without any leaves, just branches), we found a little strip without them, that takes you all the way down to the river, where we camped. It took us around 15 min to get down, so it might be a good alternative. From there you just need to walk through a little part of the forest and then continue by the river, so you are actually avoiding also the descent down, which some described as challenging as well.<br />
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After the first marked pass and descent in rocky terrain, the CC part connects to an old trail, that later becomes a MR. The connection was easy to find by following the GPS. We had no problems passing around the rangers house, again by following the track files, at first through the forest and later around the river. From there the trail connects to the official way which makes navigation easy. We spent the night in the official campsite around 2 km before Laguna Carro Castillo, which is the only one open. There were 5-6 other tents, no ranger. The next day the weather got way way worse, which made us skip the last pass and go down from the laguna via one of the official routes. We met a ranger on the way up, pointing us to the official trail around yellow cairns, to sign off from the park. With no intention to pay on our way from the park, we actually followed some old trail (according to the old signs we met) that took us to the main road, right in front of the bridge. We had to cross one fence, but no other problem. It's a faster and safe way from the park.<br />
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<br />
*5 to 7 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO / 3 days<br />
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Amazing section! I was worried about the tricky part, but sticking to the gpx track it didn't feel dangerous to me. Though I did have to leave the track to find easier ways around the cliffs.<br />
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There weren't any buses south out of Coyhaique on Sunday (except maybe early morning?). I ended up taking an Uber to villa frei, for a bearable 14000 pesos. The road walk was beautiful except for the wind trying to blow me into the cars. I caught a ride to Lago Monreal, from where I walked back up to variant L and then to the 23.6 campsite.<br />
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I didn't have any right of way trouble, I just had to pass through a few unlocked gates with no people or buildings in sight. There were even a few groups of day hikers who passed by my camp on the way to the Lago Paloma mirador (variant B - must see!).<br />
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I also took variant D up to the glacier lake, worth it if it fits your schedule. I didn't have time to keep going up to the glacier itself, it looked like steeper rocky cross country.<br />
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Even in the touristy parts the trail was surprisingly slow and rocky. I ran into a few rangers, who look like normal hikers except with red and white baseball hats. They were ok with me not having a ticket once I explained my weird route.<br />
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*15.02.23 -18.02.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO<br />
Coyhaique - Villa Cerro Castillo<br />
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We hitchhiked from Coyhaique to Lago Paloma and started walking around 13:30 pm following the main path.<br />
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The trail at the beginning is pretty good. At the junction with the option at km 17,5 you can walk further uphill along the fence for a couple of meters to enter the fence through a gate. This option is not in the gpx files. We decided to follow that to avoid the settlers after all.Then you can follow the dirtroad through two more gates until you reach a fence that you have to jump to the right to get to a meadow with beehives. There is another gate there and then you reach the main route again. In total we only had to jump two fences.<br />
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Then we followed the main route. Soon after we went through the gate of the National park Cerro Castillo and we (unfortunately) met two guardians of the park. After some back and forth they made us turn around, telling us that this path is closed and we have to enter the park via the main entrance and pay the 30.000 clp. So we had to take the option to las Horquetas.<br />
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After a few good km on a dirtroad, the path of option 1 gets bad. It seems like it hasn't been used for a long time. It was often hard to find and involved some bushbashing. It took us quite some time to get through there. Once you are at the river it gets much better. We forded the river next to the entrance to avoid the detour until Horquetas. The option was not very nice. Mostly just walking in the forest with BB so we would definetly recommend to try the main route.<br />
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The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets. The park guardians tell you that there is no water crossing both passes and you have to carry it from the official camps, which is simply not true. There is only no water after Laguna Castillo.<br />
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At the exit (following the RR) we had to register us again. From there we planned to hitchhike to Villa Cerro Castillo, but there were no cars passing by. In the afternoon/evening it's probably easier to get a ride, because lots of cars parked at the exit. We would recommend Option E to avoid the dull roadwalk to Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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We stayed at Camping El Rincon, which was only 4.000 clp p.p., with no electricity, but the owner washed our clothes after we asked and we received it dry the next morning :)<br />
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<br />
*18 to 21 of January 2023 / Véronica / GPT32 RR SOBO / 3.5 days<br />
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Route: Villa Freí - Lago La Paloma - north part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo - Las Horquetas trail (south part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo) - Villa Cerro Castillo<br />
First off I want to say that I think this section deserves a 5 on the Attractiveness Scale. It is simply mind-blowingly beautiful and definitely on par with other sections further north that have a 5 on this scale. I also think the Difficulty Rating should be upped to a 5 as well, due to the technical, and arguably dangerous at times, section in the northern part of the park on the Regular Route. Wish I had someone with me during this stretch, but oh well, such is life.<br />
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I was lucky and caught a hitch most of the way to Lago La Paloma on the first day. It was hot and I don't think the road walk has any water sources until you get to the end. I then followed the new RR which bypasses the problematic right-of-way settler in the Lago Monreal area. However, this new detour is not fun. It involves climbing over (or crawling through/under) multiple barbed wire fences. I lost count after the 5th or 6th one. Also, the path and cross-country area are full of thorny plants, they got everywhere on my pack and clothing. I think it would just be better to take Option 32-L and chat with the settler instead to try and get through. Once you reach RH-MR-V {32} [18.9+4.7], it's all good, easy walking until the camp at 23.6 km.<br />
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I reccomend taking Option 32-A after the campsite instead of the CC straight through the cow pasture. It is wet and muddy, whereas 32-A remains dry and easy to follow in the forest at the edge of the meadow. I also strongly recommend taking the short detour to the mirador at the end of Option 32-B. The views there of the cliffs and mountains surrounding Lago La Paloma are incredible. You could even camp there if you brought sufficient water and the weather is calm.<br />
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Now for the difficult part in the 8-km cross-country section. This section was physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding. The first pass is at S 45° 55.740', W 072° 04.501'. It is easy walking up past the treeline into the alpine up to this point. The first challenge is a steep and unstable scree traverse, which begins at S 45° 56.019', W 072° 04.567'. Follow the GPS tracks here. At first I tried to go lower, right along the treeline, which was a big mistake that got me stuck in a terrible gully of slippery hard-packed sand. Very treacherous and scary trying to traverse it on all fours. After that ordeal, I scrambled back up to the altitude of the GPS tracks. This first scree traverse lasts about a km, the rocks are loose and it is very steep. I was tense and went very slowly. Got harassed by tábanos the whole way, but at least the weather was good.<br />
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Then at S 45° 56.288', W 072° 05.184', you reach the end of the bad scree and end up in a deep gully with a vertical wall face on the other side. Figuring out how to get up that cliff was hard for me. I left my pack at the bottom and tried climbing up various different ways with no success, only tiring myself out and getting myself in precarious situations where I could barely climb back down. I finally figured out the best way was to try and get to the lowest grassy patch to the left of the vertical rock wall. The easiest way to reach that grassy patch was to go upstream a bit, then traverse on the hard slippery sand northward, instead of trying to climb vertically straight up to it. Once you reach the grass, you can use the traction and stability of vegetation to clamber up and out of the gully.<br />
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The next big obstacle is at S 45° 56.320', W 072° 05.446'. Like others have written, this is the vertical rock wall that spans up and down the mountain and that you have to climb over. I scouted ways up without my pack at first, trying to find the easiest way. At least with this rock wall, the handholds and footholds are solid — no slippery gravel/sand/scree. But it does require actual rock climbing moves. If you fall you would likely tumble down the mountain, so please be very careful. A light backpack makes it relatively safer and easier.<br />
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On the other side of this wall, you can finally see where the trees end, and the lovely river you are supposed to climb down to reach. But there is still more scree to traverse here, and it is slow and unstable again. I tried taking a shortcut down a shallow gully filled with grass. I figured it would be safer than the rocks, but it was very steep and got unexpectedly muddy at one point, and I ended up slipping and sliding down the mountainside about 10 meters before being able to stop myself. Didn't get seriously hurt, just bruised up, but it really shook me and just added to the stress and fear of this whole section. So I guess my advice here is to again follow the GPS tracks across the scree and go down gradually to the river instead of trying to go straight down.<br />
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Once you reach the riverbed, it is easy walking to the top of the pass, with occasional cairns (and some good swimming holes). Down the south side of the pass, there are still a couple scree sections, but not nearly as bad as before. Lots of boulders, so slow going, but at least they felt more solid.<br />
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As Martin Lizondo has written, finding the start of RH-MR-V {32} [34.1+1.7] is tricky. It is not a minor road, it is an old footpath. The cross-country section ends at a creek as it turns into a high and steep waterfall. You have to cross the creek and look up to find a faint, overgrown trail that goes up into the forest. Once you find it though, it is simple enough to follow. There is a stretch though of several hundred meters where it is more of a bushwhack than anything else, nature has taken over.<br />
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I followed the regular route that cuts through the forest to Río Turbío, I assume this is to avoid the ranger station nearby. The "bushbashing" section is easy through a mature forest, and then you just follow the bouldery riverbank.<br />
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Once you get to the popular Las Horquetas trail, everything is easy until the end of the section. Some snow at the top of the first pass (Paso Peñón), but very manageable. The views of the saw-toothed mountains, lakes, and glaciers are spectacular. Despite reports of the park being "overrun," I only met a handful of other hikers in this trail, and most of them after Laguna Castillo. No rangers at all.<br />
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I think the Regular Route in its current configuration avoids the blue payment tent at the end of the park trail, but I didn't know that when I passed through, and ended up just following the riverbank down to the minor road to be safe (and avoid paying the ridiculous 30,000 clp access fee). The road walk to Cerro Castillo was Easy and uneventful.<br />
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<br />
*23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR SOBO / Louis, Rémi & Noé :<br />
<br />
We started at Lago La Paloma, taking the bus from Coyhaique to Villa Frei (leaves at 8:15,15:30,17:30&19:30 from monday to friday and at 8:00 and 14:00 on saturday (no bus on sunday)). Then we hitchiked to the lake without problem and we camped there. Ready to start in the morning the next day.<br />
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Day 1 - Campamento Rio Turbio - 26.5km - +1800m/-1200m A big day but we hadnt the choice : heavy rain was announced for the next day... Cross country is demanding, better follow the tracks all the way long. A great camp site if you want to split this day is at the end of Option B. No water, windy but incredible view. The waypoint camp before is nice too.<br />
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Day 2 - Campamento El Bosque - 10km - +800m/-800m The 2 camps sites on the GPT at47.8 and at 50.3 are now forbidden. The new campsite is approx at km 49, in the middle. There is guardaparques, but no need to show the permit for us.<br />
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Day 3 - Cerro Castillo - 11km - +800m/-1500m The pass after Cerro Castillo was closed due to the wind. If you want to go to the other side, you have to get down at the park entrance and to go up again at the other entrance. We just went to the town. The regular route going down from there, from the Cerro Castillo, is not the one on the GPT. Actually, it goes more on the west side. At the end, there is a guardaparque, we checked out (even though we didn’t checked in) but no need to pay. Fortunately. Luck was with us.<br />
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<br />
* 23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR NOBO / Jakub+Veronika:<br />
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1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.<br />
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.<br />
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We've walked all section 32 from Villa Frei to Villa Cerro Castillo. The part from Lago Paloma to Rio Turbio is very difficult and might be even dangerous (especially in bad weather). The CC travers on the stones (in our case with strong wind and snow) was the hardest part. The MR leading down to the valley is partially overgrown. The second part is well marked with good camping possibilities. After heavy rains on Sunday 25th, the park has been closed for more than a week. There are 2 alerts on the road (see above).<br />
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<br />
*Feb 17 RR 3 days SOBO Frank<br />
<br />
Walked from Villa Frei. After about 12KM there is a food truck next to the road. Owners live there so should open for you. The owner of the private land wasn't there so had no access issues. You can camp in a big meadow @ 1250 metres or in good weather at a pass @ about 1325 metres (not marked on track file) just before the difficult CC section begins. Followed Veronica's advice to get up the gully on grass which worked well, thanks Veronica. There is no need for any rock climbing on this route. After the gully there are two rock bands running perpendicular to the route. You can go below both of them & bypass them at treeline. The second bypass is not very obvious but stay at the treeline & you will get through easily. After the pass, descending scree you come to a waterfall. Go left into the forest immediately before the waterfall - you may see a small cairn marking the spot. Just footprints at first but pick up a small trail as you go in. Leaving the park the RR to the left goes through private land. The optional route straight down is now the main trail, it goes down to a checkpoint just before the road. Checkpoint is at a stile over a fence so can't be avoided. It is run as a private 'concession' from CONAF. The workers were friendly & didn't charge me anything. However next year the concession will be run by a different company so depends who is there.<br />
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==Season 2021/22==<br />
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*2022 Feb: 05-07, SoBo, RR, Kris&Stiina<br />
<br />
We continued into this section straight from the previous one - 31H and the start of it, about first 16km, is like the whole previous section - dirt road. We hiked about 5 of those 16km and hitched the rest which I think was possible quite easy because it was weekend and a lot of cars with families were going to the Lago La Paloma.<br />
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The interesting part started once we were at the gate after crossing the outflow of Lago Monreal. The big sign was posted there stating that this is not some Sendero de Chile and that passing through here is strictly forbidden. We saw a guy at the gate when we were approaching, but as it was lunch time for us we stayed at the stream. Afterwards the guy was gone and there was no phone signal to call the nr. that Martin Lizondo has provided. After considering options of different routes we decided to keep it cool and climbed over the gate with fingers crossed. There were houses a few hundred meters up the road, but nobody seemed to be at home at that point, perhaps working in the field somewhere in the back, so we walked through the forbidden land without anyone intercepting, luck was with us. A few more gates later we climbed up into the forest and finally the Cerro Castillo National park with a big old welcoming sign. We stayed at the first marked campsite at 22,7km, there is a stream.<br />
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Next morning as we were having our breakfast about 30 cows showed up and were completely dazzled by our presence. They stared at us for about 15min until they finally relaxed a bit, but not fully. As we were packing our camp some sudden movement must have scared them and they all went running for their lives as if a Kraken himself was after them, silly cows, we thought. Once we were all packed and ready to go we crossed the stream into the next meadow, and saw all the cows about 200m to our left. I am not exactly sure how cows work, but as soon as they saw us they organized a gang and all of them started running right at us. We of course were standing our ground so the cows would stop just 5m from us and look all tough. I would try to scare them away by counter attack in the form of a shouting, hiking pole waving lunatic. It worked to some extent, as we could slowly walk out of it, but the cows kept persistently be really close and walk/run at us. I guess they were trying to protect their pasture, maybe someone can enlighten me about cow-dynamics.<br />
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After the great battle of 2022, we disappeared in the forest and enjoyed the nice forest path while it lasted. Once out of the three line the path disappeared so we more or less followed the GPS marking. Neither of our maps showed the mentioned old path descending down into the valley, it was actually matching with the GPS, more or less. Up to the first pass, which is not marked, but is at about 26,8km the cross country was easy and then as mentioned before it got pretty difficult. If it would just be steep scree slope it would be alright, but this one had hard packed sand under the scree or sometimes no scree on it so it was very slippery (in dry conditions). Lots of prayers went to the Gods of Friction which helped us with traversing the treacherous slopes, with plenty of chances to become a statistic. I don’t think that that traverse is possible in wet conditions, not without crampons. And as for every good cake there is always a cherry on top, which was a little rock climbing session, which I personally didn’t mind, but I am not sure other hikers would appreciate. After that we still had to descend a steep scree down to the river. If there is a potential trail or option to go down the valley after the pass and then follow the river bank up, I think it is definitely a better, faster and safer option, especially if weather is not favorable. And looking from above down the valley it seemed like a feasible option to follow the river as the river itself was easily crossable and we didn’t spot any cliffs there, maybe next time.<br />
<br />
After reaching the river at the valley bottom the way up to the second pass was easy and straight forward, even though still “sin sendero”. The way down from the pass is steep and bouldery but not dangerous and after a short bit some first signs of an old trail can be noticed, some cairs appear. Then once the trail gets down to the tree line there are a few bushy places, but nothing too bad and the closer to the actual trail you get the better it becomes. We also somewhat followed the GPS track but stayed more in the forest rather than beach to avoid the ranger hut.<br />
<br />
Once we made it to the Las Horquetas trail all our worries were behind us and we could enjoy the nice trail and magnificent views. I don’t think I have ever seen tree line ending almost at the edge of the glacier in Europe it was happening a century ago, pretty cool stuff. We camped at the “segundo camping” with many other hikers, none doing the GPT though. And an interesting thing we observed was that people would just drink straight from the silty glacier stream without filtering or treating their water at all. Observation was made of different groups of people at different campsites. Is that a Chilean thing? Very impressive gut, if they can do it, unless ignorance is a bliss or they knew something that we didn’t.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, two more mountain passes and we were heading down to Villa Cerro Castillo, with crowds of day-hikers that had come up to the Mirador Cerro Castillo. From there we actually didn’t follow the GPS track but headed down straight to the town. The ticket office with the park official is actually around this area: (46º 6.7520' S, 72º 12.0032' W). And the trail leading there is the official trail. The one that seemed on the map like the official, was actually not in use, not sure why. The satellite view on Gaia and info on the maps is somehow outdated. We tried to sneak past the office to avoid all explaining we had to do, but it’s kind of strategically placed so it wasn’t possible and we ended up just talking to the girl that was making sure everyone is checking out of the park. We had to pay 18.000 pesos per person which is the ticket for foreigners that want to go up to the mirador. We didn’t spill the beans about camping in the park and our small backpacks kept the suspicion low, so in the end it all worked out pretty good. From there it is still almost 5km to the town on a very dusty road, but with all the day hikers leaving a hitch was not a problem.<br />
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The town is really nice with plenty of shops and accommodations options. The only thing we didn’t manage to find was the threaded gas canister, but we found a few half-empty ones left in the Nordic Patagonia mess tent.<br />
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For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br />
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<br />
*Section 32, Option 7: Valle Balboa. Southbound. 11 days (including waiting out a snow storm). Party (3): Mum, Sis and I.<br />
<br />
After walking Section 35 we emerged in Cochrane to a world changed by the virus. We retreated to the now unfriendly Chili Chico and caught the ferry across to Ibáñez in the morning. For my mum and sister, getting back to Santiago to catch a flight home had been the priority, but on the way they shifted more to the stance I was taking: what was the point? Get stuck in Australia, or here? Patagonia didn't seem all that bad, and apart from facemasks and hand sanitiser, there were no shortages like back home. By the time we reached Coyhaique we'd all decided to stay a week or so to hatch a plan. We met up with Aldo and camped in his backyard for almost a week. I helped build his house a bit, but time was mostly filled with playing chess, dice, cards and guitar. The atmosphere seemed to encourage a lethargic state, blurring the days together and bending time. Finally however, we packed and walked into the town centre to make a start on the interesting option #007 of Section 32 through Valle Balboa, (traversing roughly from Lago Desierto to Río Ibáñez). With the virus and public transport on hold, it seemed unlikely the bus to Villa Freí (that we took last time for the RR of Section 32) would be running. We asked a taxi driver for a quote to drive us out. We grabbed some more supplies, and then caught a taxi with a much friendlier driver to Lago Elizalde ($15k). The driver showed us a great public camping spot on the shore of the lake. There were many established camp sites back from [close to] the beach. It was such a nice spot that we decided to lay back and spend the afternoon and night there.<br />
<br />
In the morning, we walked the road to Río Paloma, scoring a lift for 5ks or so. We camped by the river not far before the end of the road.<br />
<br />
In the morning we walked the last bit of the public road to where it ends at the very rickety bridge over Río Mogote. There is a nice little camping spot here (-45.91100, -72.31823). Climbing over the locked gate, we walked the private road to the ford. We tossed up visiting Lago Desierto and the people living next to it, but with the virus decided against it. This meant we didn't actually have to cross the river, instead locating the old road to the south. (The track files follow the road, but it is no longer used by vehicles and it is actually easier to head back down the main road a couple of hundred metres to where a cattle trail exists (-45.91601, -72.30806)).<br />
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Following this distinct road for some time, it seemed to be used for horse riding tours as there were coloured signs like "Spanglish" and "Toobooku" on the side. You will soon reach the gate included in the track files. Here there is also access to a bridge across Estero Balboa. It looks like you can then access trails most of the way up to Cerró Negro. This might be interesting if someone wants to explore.<br />
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A couple hundred metres after the gate the old road ends and an obvious trail continues to a miskept farmhouse. Continue along the well defined trail that gets a bit scrubby/overgrown before entering the forest. The trail is then very well maintained although quite muddy in spots (I could see it being quite bad after rain). You will need to ford a tributary not marked in the track files (-45.95592, -72.35114). Shortly afterwards is a junction (-45.95654, -72.35216). The route up the side valley could be explored if someone wants - we went only a short way to a corral. The track will dip back down to the river where there is an established camp (-45.97039, -72.35461). Continuing up the valley, there are many more established camps - the best are generally in close proximity to the fords.<br />
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The first time you cross the estero is about here: (-45.98105, -72.36205). There is only one ford, not two as the track files indicate. At the next couple of fords, the actual track deviates slightly from the track files. If you follow the current track files, you will avoid crossing the river at all, but will end up bush bashing briefly. We crossed the next two fords, but by staying on the west side of the river they should also be easily avoidable.<br />
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The trail exits the forest (-46.02116, -72.42538)(the camp marked in the track files here is a swamp - go further up the valley!) from where it is cross country walking, not actually a trail as indicated. We camped next to the puesto which incorporates some pieces of a crashed plane (we found another piece whist exploring, but not the actual crash site). The route up to the Laguna Campana is also open and straight forward.<br />
<br />
We waited out a rainy day only to wake to a snow storm the next!... and the next!. We ended up waiting 4 nights experimenting with some different bread recipes whilst we waited out the inclement weather.<br />
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Finally a sunny day! Continue up the valley, CC walking past an old corral. At the Nacimiento del Estero Balboa you again briefly enter the trees. Like the previous marked camp, again this whole area was very swampy and I didn't see a suitable place to camp. The camp included in the track files is in the middle of a swamp! We picked up fragments of a track heading up through the trees, but I think it is very vague or overgrown. That said, we had nearly a foot of snow in places so we could have easily missed things! There is a very obvious section of track here : (-46.05648, -72.47298). You'll quickly exit the trees (-46.05923, -72.47005) and start a long CC section in the alpine. We found some sections of trail, but for us it was mostly cross country walking. Plenty of water options the whole way.<br />
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When you enter the forest after completing the alpine section (-46.08687, -72.43537), you will be bush bashing for a long time! There was no discernible track even when we criss-crossed over the track files searching for it (no snow here anymore). Approaching the deep gorge, I decided to lead us a different, less steep way. This worked well and we camped at a very nice spot by the stream at the bottom (-46.09414, -72.42582).<br />
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The next day we were debating simply following the river down (I wish we had!). Instead, we headed straight up the other side of the gorge. We located part of an old track here (-46.09685, -72.42463) but quickly lost it as we passed through the saddle (I think maybe it continues north?). Rejoining the suggested investigation route (EXP-OP-TL-I@32-07-#003), there is a good stream (-46.10202, -72.42403) and some camping on its banks.<br />
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After some horrible bush bashing, we finally made it to a ravine gashing steeply down the mountain (-46.10598, -72.41534). There were many drops and it was impossible to go directly down. We later found out that the only other party to do this part had a rope! I can't really recommend going down here [and my sister can't recommend it at all! - "This is shit!"] Again, I'd recommend taking the main valley. The climbs we did were much more difficult than those on the northern part of Section 32 RR that people complain about. Also, if doing this option, it would be much easier travelling north! You could also consult the settlers on a better route. We finally reached the bottom where it opens up after about ~6hrs!<br />
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Continuing, if you do follow EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, the track files indicate there is a trail, but it is not quite so. There are CC sections and a labyrinth of cattle trails. You will need to use them to your advantage where they exist, and leave them when they go the wrong way. We went this way for a little while, but then tried following a primary cattle track that seemed to be heading directly down to the river... but we got stopped by a swamp (-46.11623, -72.41080). Continuing along EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, you will get CC walking from the woods (after a cliff) about here: (-46.11546, -72.42372) If we were there again we would follow EXP-OP-CC-A@32-07-#004 down past the settler to the river. It then looked easy to walk along the river north to the cable car.<br />
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The cable car: Don't use this by yourself! Don't use it if you are only two! Use it with three people minimum! I can't stress this enough. There is a lot of fiction and the locals we talked to here don't even consider it safe. They used the boat which has its own steel cable allowing you to tack across with relative ease. You will get wet feet if using the boat.<br />
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Taking the cable car, we only just made it across with one in the car and two hauling on the rope, and at one point it looked like my sister might get stranded on the far side (she had a nightmare that night!).<br />
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Carretera Austral: We waited the entire day by the Carretera Austral. Finally catching a colectivo late in the afternoon. With the virus, it was hard/imposible to hitchhike. We paid an inflated price ($3kpp) for transport to Cerró Castillo.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*2020-March-6 / Ty & America / 4.5 Days SOBO RR. Start @ El Blanco<br />
<br />
We started in El Blanco, opting to hike by Lago Montreal, which was pretty nice. No traffic though, so if you’re wanting a hitch the regular start in Villa freí may be a better option. Settlers in Lago Montreal are super friendly. There’s a bit of water there as you pass by the lake. We camped there. I recommend going further to the marked camp though because the next day is a big challenge. RH-CC-A@32-25.2+7.9 Is the Cruz of the section. After this all good. I do not recommend doing this unless you’re very comfortable on your feet and have a lightweight pack.<br />
<br />
-stick to the treeline/marked path on this. The traversing is tough, but completely doable. 2-3 km in is the gully with the very difficult climb. Keep the the grassy patch, getting to the base of it was the most dangerous part for us. Very slippery rock. I had America drop her pack. High risk, but I was MUCH more comfortable.<br />
<br />
-about a k after is the second dangerous area. This is a straight rock wall that spans all the way up& down the mountain. The only way through is to climb around. I checked below it and didn’t find a way through the trees. I took both Sanita & America’s packs through this section; as again, it’s very high risk..with an actual climbing move involved. Again, it’s important you’re very comfortable with your pack to get through these parts.<br />
<br />
After these dangerous sections we were wiped out and camped in the valley before the pass. Lots of places to camp with good water. Be aware of slight rockfall risk. There’s an amazing place to camp with ideal conditions at the top of the pass.<br />
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Going on, all smooth, both marked camps on the way up the second pass are actually closed...there’s an open camp right between the two.<br />
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Amazing places to camp up by Laguna Castillo.<br />
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We snuck around the riverbed once we saw the blue tent at the bottom (where you might have to pay) and got by with no problems.<br />
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<br />
*Jan 2020 GPT32 South 7days / Felix<br />
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_____________________ Coyhaique to Villa Freí: There is a bus from the bus terminal in Coyhaique to Villa Freí. From there it was a hot dusty road.<br />
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_____________________ Accessing the park : You have to pass through 4 private properties to enter the first sector of the park. We met some people. Had short friendly chats, but no problems with access. Just before you enter the park (where there are two trail options) there is easy access to the river via a cow trail. However water in general was no issue and I didn't carry water for the entire 7 days through the park.<br />
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The camp site used to be an official campsite before the sector was closed due to access problems. The dunny is in great shape.<br />
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_____________________ Through the first sector : The trail is in great shape until after the mirador. You then cut upwards into the alpine which is also easy walking. After passing through a saddle, you contour around above the treeline. This is the most difficult part of the section. Quite a bit of step scree traversing. Not for everyone. Once you drop into the valley waking is again easier. There are some occasional cairns that become more and more frequent as you drop into the other valley. As you contour left an intermittent trail is evident. When you enter the lenga forest (-45.97321, -72.10278) there is a great trail down that turns into a road here : (-45.97886, -72.10358) (Jan: maybe you want to update the track files to reflect this?) Then is road walking to join the popular walk.<br />
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_____________________ Popular sector of Cerró Castillo : There are some side trips not included in the track files. They're on the map you get. Note that the old Bosque site (-46.06197, -72.16016) and La Tetera (-46.07200, -72.18390) are now closed. You can not camp there. For most people this means camping at the new el Bosque : (-46.06418, -72.16964)(Jan : maybe you want to update the track files?) Get to Laguna Cerró Castillo before 12 to beat the walkers heading up for the day. But this shouldn't be an issue as you need to cross the pass early : an important thing we would have liked to know is that the pass (-46.08030, -72.21103) can be closed in the afternoon due to strong winds. There is literally a ranger there that can turn people around. Not much water over the pass either. And the poza cerca mirador doesn't look welcoming. Carry water here. In the next valley there were more rangers and we saw some people get checked for permits. It's a shame this park is now being comercialalised :(<br />
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_____________________ Getting back to Coyhaique : Not much traffic. The last bus heads back at 6pm<br />
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_____________________ I'll try upload some map photos and a breakdown of the entrance fees when I get the photos off my camera.<br />
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Cheers, Felix.<br />
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<br />
* 2020-Jan-18 and 19 / Regular Hiking Southbound / Martin Lizondo<br />
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The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge. I met other day hikers going to « El Mirador ». Snow was easy at the passes. The trail was in good conditions until the cross country. There are two spots which I consider dangerous, so I don’t recomend doing this section alone: 1) the gps tracks passes through a very vertical rocky (nearly climbing). I was scared and I can’t recommend doing it, except you asume this risk. I could see later in a map that the original route went all way down in the valley through lenga forest, but if there was a trail it’s invisible now. 2) When the cross country leaves the tree line and becomes a small trail into the lenga forest at 45º 58' 23,54" S, 72º 6' 10,02" O (“minor road” starts later, despite the gps track info); it’s very stepy and unmaintained. I made a mistake and started to follow the stream all way down, but you have to look up and search the beginning of the hidden path. It’s very vertical and easy to fell down, because of recent land slides. Be extremely carefull. The rest of Cerro Castillo from Las Horquetas is well maintained, beautifull and enjoyable. Cons: Lots of people. When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.<br />
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* Jan 2020 / RH Northbound / Matthieu<br />
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No technical difficulties in the park, just following the trail and enjoying the views.<br />
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To follow the GPT northbound, leave the parc trail to go north. It is an "old sendero" in the forest, but well maintained and easy to follow during the beginning (it is marked on maps of the parc). In this direction, no problem to leave the forest in a safe spot, but southbound, looking behind, seemed hard to find the entrance of the forest and of the safe trail ! No technical difficulties until the first pass, rocky terrain like the rest of the park. <br />
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The dangerous part is indeed between the 2 passes. You dont go in the valley in front of you but follow the altitude line until the pass that you see at the right side of the valley. Very steepy rolling stones path. I was a little bit afraid. I tried to be smarter than the tracks, trying more uphill... this was a dangerous mistake that took me long to repair and go back to the tracks. There are indeed two river crossing (no dangerous waterstream) but they are circled by cliffs, so not easily crossable. <br />
The track follow mostly the tree line (I.e the separations between the little trees and the stones) So my recommendations : <br />
- follow the gps tracks : they follow the tree line who is safer with a solid ground and grass. Sometimes you have to cross the stones, no choice, so go slowly, choose your paces wisely and it's doable. Try to aim for the grounds of grass in the middle, which are solid, or the stones with foam on them, which mostly didn't move for a while. For the rivercrossing, it aims a good spot with no need to climb down or up.<br />
- choose a good weather day : for me it was sunny and no wind, so perfect day, and it was already mentally hard (not speaking of the horseflies getting you crazy during the hard moments !). I wouldn't try it with rain or big wind in this river of rolling stones. <br />
- if you don't feel it, easy escape by the normal trail of the parc<br />
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However, I can assure that the prize for the effort, going northbound, is amazing !! But I won't spoil ! <br />
After the second pass, no technical difficulties, you find a Conaf trail easily, and I even cross some tourists with a guide.<br />
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*2019-Nov-29/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 3days / Northbound / Regular Hiking Route with OH-MR-V (Villa Cerro Castillo to Las Horquetas)<br />
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The section follows the rather popular tourist Hiking route Las Horquetas for the first two days, meaning there will be less solitude but also rather well maintained trails. The national park and the region around Cerro Castillo was very impressive, we especially enjoyed to take all the side trails and visit the numerous beautiful glacier lagoons. The only unpleasant part of the hike was the organization of the national park. The exorbitant high entrance fees are in no relation to the other parks, which is due to a high ratio of private land in the area but makes the park rather unattractive for tourists. some rangers seemed poorly informed and couldn't give much information (e.g. insisted that passes were "closed" and only after asking numerous times agreed to check with his colleagues that told that they are "open"). They also said it is not possible to hike the regular route of the GPT, because we have to check out of the NP at the checkpoint Las Horquetas. There is an optional hiking route continuing North from there. Due to bad weather coming up we ended up not finishing the northern stretch of the trail and just followed the entire Las Horquetas Route at the Carretera Austral.<br />
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* 2019-Nov-29 / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe<br />
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Snow line is at around 1200 Meters but all passes are safely traversable.<br />
The National Park Entrance Fee got raised to 29000 CLP per person for overnight hikes in season 19/20. The park generally seemed very poorly organized, we were told the passes are "closed" at first, whereas they were easy and safe to traverse. The ranger insisted that we could not hike the normal route northbound but have to sign out of the park at the Las Horquetas checkpoint. In high season, the ranger station in the park is manned, so maybe it is possible so sign out there and head northbound.<br />
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* 2019-Nov-12 / Eva Havlová<br />
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There is still lots of snow in the National Park. I arrived to Villa Cerro Castillo 3 days ago (Novembre 12, 2019) and planed to hike nortbound but rangers didn't let me go. I saw the pass they were talking about (avalanche risk) and I don't think any avalanche could occure, but the thuth is that there is lots of water runing down and the trail is like a stream. They said it might be possible to do it next week.<br />
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==Season 2018/19==<br />
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* 2019 Jan/ OIlrik / Northbound <br />
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We ended up doing the normal Cerro Castillo hike as the weather was forecasting heavy rain and snow so we did not want to be on the pass. The regular trail is just gorgeous and the park is beautiful. The trail in the north is not on the new CONAF maps but is marked on the old ones.<br />
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==Season 2017/18==<br />
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*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
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A sandy beach with a visible structure in the grass is the take-out for Lago Elizalde. After exiting, make your way through the farmland until encountering a gravel road that leads past the house at the top of the hill up to Ruta X-686.<br />
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Ruta X-686 is a lightly trafficked but well-formed gravel road that is fenced on either side. After crossing the Río Paloma, Ruta X-686 makes a sharp left and begins to climb. 4 km after the sharp left turn, cross a bridge to the left and climb to a wooden gate. If you descend the steep slope to the left of the gate, there is camping under some trees.<br />
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The wooden gate marks the beginning of a very long driveway to a house located near the lake. The route takes you along this driveway until a river crossing. After crossing the river, walk northeast along its shore towards the Río Paloma. After reaching the end of the fenceline near the Río Paloma, turn east and walk along the fenceline until reaching Lago Desierto. At the river outlet, there is a nice beach to put in to Lago Desierto.<br />
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There is no camping along the shores of Lago Desierto. The take-out is a rocky beach at the base of a bluff. Walk up the bluff and cross country through the farmland to Lago Azul. At the east end of the farm, descend down a road to a rocky beach at the Lago Azul shoreline with a metal structure.<br />
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There are a couple of potential camping options along the shoreline of Lago Azul. There are also several residences on the north shore. The take-out is a long rocky beach set before a well manicured forest. On the east end of the land near Lago La Paloma is an expensive looking house surrounded by several other buildings.<br />
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There is a 4WD track to the west of the smaller red house located south of the big residence. Ascend the steep climb on a well-formed road that is criss-crossed with several smaller tracks labeled in english with wooden signs. Due to the steep slopes on either side of the cut out road, there is no camping here.<br />
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Eventually, the route turns off of the road onto an overgrown 4WD track. Camping off the track is still difficult because of prickly vegetation and steep terrain. This track ends 2.5 km from where the Regular Packrafting Route joins the Regular Hiking Route. From here, the route involves some bushwhacking and following a small trail as it winds in and out of existence. Just before joining with the Regular Hiking Route, the route widens into an old 4WD track that passes some destroyed structures.<br />
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The routes join up at a large rock cairn and continues to follow a 4WD track until reaching a large wooden sign with a map of the Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo. Here there is also a campsite and ranger station. There is a 5.000 CLP fee to enter the reserve.<br />
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The route from here is a popular track for backpackers with designated campsites. The trail is well-formed and winds through the forest. When the trail becomes less obvious, the way is shown with yellow markers. In this area there is a designated campsite with a latrine.<br />
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At treeline, follow the cairns and rocks painted with white and red stripes through the scree up and over the first pass (approximate elevation 1.450 m). After the steep descent, reenter the trees. There is a campsite, Camping El Bosque, soon after reaching treeline (approximately elevation 940 m) with water and a latrine.<br />
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The trail begins to wind up through the forest toward Laguna Castillo. The sights from Laguna Castillo, which is at the base of the pass, are stunning. There are two tracks that climb up to the pass. Make sure to take the path that climbs to the south instead of continuing southeast over the obvious saddle.<br />
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The track down to Ruta X-720 is well formed, marked, and popular, but occasionally braided. Follow it until reaching the wooden stile with a rangers hut. From there join Ruta X-720, a dirt road which leads to Highway 7 and Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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==Season 2016/17==<br />
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=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
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*Town: Villa Cerro Castillo. Villa Cerro Castillo has several restaurants, small markets, and plenty of lodging options, including a popular backpacker camping destination on the east side of town.<br />
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*Lovely yum restaurant in Coyhaique: Restaurant DaGus, Lautaro 82, 5950000 Coyhaique. Little hidden gem. -45.86411, -72.04916<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
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=Transport to and from Route=<br />
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*Buses to Villa Frei from Coyhaique bus terminal: Monday 7:30, 8:15, 15:30, 17:00, 19:30 Tuesday to Friday 8:15, 15:30, 17:30, 19:30 Saturday 08:00 and 14:00. No bus on Sunday. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Villa Frei & the bus generally turns around immediately & goes back to Coyhaique.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
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*2023/ Martin & Helena<br />
To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side. <br />
<br />
*2023/ Jakub+Veronika:<br />
1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.<br />
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.<br />
<br />
*2023 / Anna & Christopher <br />
The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets. <br />
<br />
*2020 / Martin Lizondo<br />
The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge.<br />
(...)<br />
When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT32 - Cerro Castillo]]<br />
<br />
=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT32_(Cerro_Castillo)&diff=114544GPT32 (Cerro Castillo)2024-03-03T21:25:47Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
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*2024-Mar-01 to 2024-Mar-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 02 + D + RR + OH E + 03 / Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1: OH32-02 + OH32-D [1.0-2.6] + RR [38.8-39.6]<br />
<br />
I hitched from Puerto Chacabuco toLas Horquetas and startet there around noon. After 700 m on OH32-02 you pass by a ranger hut. You have to sign in and you will get a short explanation about the trail. You don't have to pay here, but they tell you that you will pay when leaving the park. There is plenty of water on OH32-02. I camped at Camping Rio Turbio (Segundo) at km 39.6 of RR.<br />
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Day 2: RR [39.6-41.3] + OH32-E [0.0-1.6] to Laguna Glaciar Penon and back + RR [41.3-56.6] + OH32-03 [0.0-3.6]<br />
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Laguna Glaciar Penon is worth the short detour on OH32-E. I crossed a bunch of small streams around the pass at km 43.9. There is some ice on top of the pass but its not very steep and therefore relatively easy to walk over it. There is no water between Laguna Cerro Castillo (km 50.9) and Camping Porteadores (at beginning of OH32-03). <br />
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<br />
Day 3: OH32-03 to Laguna Duff and back to RR + RR [56.6-66.9]<br />
<br />
Laguna Duff is nice. I hiked there early in the morning and therefore had the whole place for myself. About 400 m before the RR joins the minor road (km 60.6) the RR branches off the official hiking trail and avoids the park entrance. You have to hop a fence to get on the minor road but therefore you don't pay the 15000 Pesos for hiking in the park.<br />
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The nacional park has 4 official campgrounds (at km 39.6 and 48.9 of RR and the two marked camps on OH32-03). You are only allowed to camp at those sites. <br />
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<br />
*2024-Feb-23 to 2024-Feb-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / {32-M} - RR - {32-C} -RR / Lilian & Rainbow<br />
<br />
Bus from Coyhaique to Villa Frei :<br />
<br />
Monday to Friday(8.15am, 3.30pm, 5.30pm, 7.30pm) , Saturday(8am, 2pm), i forget the fee, it is less than 1000 CLP. It takes about 35-40 minutes and it turns back to Coyhaique with no waiting. The sign on the bus doesn't write Villa Frei, it said Valle Simpson, (and final stop is Villa Frei.)<br />
<br />
Bus terminal in Coyhaique : (-45.58226, -72.07800)<br />
<br />
Bus stop in Villa Frei : (-45.75139, -72.11226)<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Resupply in Coyhaique:<br />
<br />
I sent a resupply box(shoes and socks) to Patagon Backpacker(hostel) in Coyhaique from Santiago some months before, they are super friendly and willing to hold my box until i arrive. You can contact them by email, they are good at speaking English, also know lot around Coyhaique.<br />
<br />
If you want to buy some warm clothes, some shops in Coyhaique. North Face and Patagonia is there, but expensive. Some clothes in Patagonia are on sale but not for hiking or not much use, lot clothes but full price, ya. North Face's staff is much friendly, and lot items on sale too, but rainproof is full price. They have tents for sale too.<br />
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Good clothes is cheaper with discount, 230g gas canisters and sleeping pad at Suray Montana, friendly and not crowded. I bught a fleece jacket at here.<br />
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Doite have the cheapest price sporty clothes, just beside North Face. I bught a good base layer here.<br />
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Lot of supermarkets in Coyhaique. I resupply at Unimarc.<br />
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They are all close to the plaza, all the shops i listed can search by Google Map.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Because i just have 3 days good weather, so I don't want to do any road walking, i talk the bus to Villa Frei, then hitch to (-45.86204, -72.04816) start hiking.<br />
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Locked gate and camera at {32-m} km2.33, I didn't want to take long time go with big around so i climbed it directly, didn't see any people on the whole way, so doesn't matter.<br />
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RR km23.3 : cross a stream, log crossing at downstream 20m, you can go through the tiny forest to there.<br />
<br />
Km23.63 : flat spot(-45.90969, -72.05767) with some protection after a stream crossing can fit 2 tents before go into the no covers grassland.<br />
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Highly recommend go for {32-C}, both ways just 10min, amazing views and a camping spot can fit 1 tent with excellent view at (-45.90744, -72.07668), but no wind protection.<br />
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Km 26.63 : flat spot (-45.92066, -72.07543) can fit 2 tents with good wind protection from west by bushes.<br />
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Km27.75 : old camping sandy spot(-45.92915, -72.07549) can fit 4 tents with some wind protection from west, just before the dangerous CC. I think the previous one is better.<br />
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<br />
<br />
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Km27.9 - km29.95 : dangerous CC traversing on side hill. A slide may cause a fall with heavy injure or death. It is doable but not recommended to everyone. Doing this part only in good weather.<br />
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Km28.3 - km28.35 : for me, it is the most dangerous part in this CC, some landslide(-45.93359, -72.07668) and very loose, i can't hold a good pose and slipped down some meters, luckily i can use my hiking poles to stop the slide immediately.<br />
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Km29.3 : tricky spot(-45.93822, -72.08632), huge thank you for Véronica, her comments made this much easier. Just like she said, "You reach the end of the bad scree and end up in a deep gully with a vertical wall face on the other side." <br />
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"Get to the lowest grassy patch to the left of the vertical rock wall. The easiest way to reach that grassy patch was to go upstream a bit, then traverse on the hard slippery sand northward, instead of trying to climb vertically straight up to it. Once you reach the grass, you can use the traction and stability of vegetation to clamber up and out of the gully."<br />
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Km29.55 : 1st rock wall, go around it with a clear trail at downhill side(-45.93818, -72.08940), GPX track is correct at here.<br />
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Km29.7 : 2nd rock wall, NO CLIMBING, NO SCRAMBLING here, there is a trail JUST WALKING at (-45.93864, -72.09126), overgrown but just 20m easy BB, the trail is between rock wall and treeline, Sobo not easy to notice, but when you are going around the rock wall, then you'll find it. Nobo is easy to reach the trail at the other side. GPX track leads you to climb, it is not a good idea, a slide in climbing at here will mostly cause death.<br />
<br />
After 2nd rock wall, finally CC down to the valley and easy walking start.<br />
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Lot of camping possibilities at the valley, but zero wind protection. Better camping before pass[32.5/1385], because after the pass is super rocky, pass is a large flat area, but too soft to camp.<br />
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I camped at (-45.94901, -72.09962), some flat spots, beside the waterfall from Cerro Aislado. Nice views but cold. It is the first night with negative degree so far. Some water froze to ice at early morning around here.<br />
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After pass[32.5/1385], you walking down at another valley, but with some cairns to follow. <br />
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Km33.5 : trail starts, with some big cairns along it. It leads you all the way to treeline at km34.2. Sometimes it is not clear to follow and lost, but you will always find it if you pay tons of attention, cairns leads you the way.<br />
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The trailhead at km34.2 is a little tricky. You need to climb up a little on a rocky slope after you cross the stream to (-45.97307, -72.10268), then go into the forest to south a little, you'll find a steep loose rocky slope going down again, go for it and you can hold some trees there. Then you join the old trail shown on GPX going south. Don't think about go to the trailhead(-45.97343, -72.10281) directly, it is on a waterfall, you can't arrive there.<br />
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<br />
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<br />
The old trail is in good condition for a while, then become overgrown and some blowdowns. For emergency, you can camp at (-45.97898, -72.10345), it is the first flat spot for Sobo in treeline with cover (the last one for Nobo). It can fit 2 single person tent.<br />
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Lot of tiny stream flowing with clear water.<br />
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When you met the rock river(-45.98185, -72.10091) at km35.33, you can CC down the river and join MR at (-45.98357, -72.10284), it is a super easy CC, not steep, no blowdowns, no wet feet, rocks are stable and not slippery.<br />
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When you arrive MR, easy walking again. A gate locked by wire at km37.1, climbing over it is the fastest way.<br />
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Km38.1 : start BB to riverside, but i think it is a CC, the grass just up to ankle only.<br />
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I find a clear trail(-46.00113, -72.09460) without any blowdowns going south, and lead you to riverside at (-46.00216, -72.09530), then you can walk beside the river and join national park trail.<br />
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National park trail is in a nice condition, nothing to mention. Some snow before and after pass[43.9/1470], but still an easy walking on snow.<br />
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Km46.1 : camping spot at (-46.05228, -72.14549), it is cleared out all the stone by someone here, can fit 1 tent with excellent 360° views, but no wind protection.<br />
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I camped beside the lake(-46.05780, -72.15969) for the second night, excellent spots with glacier views(you are just below it!) and views of Cerro Castillo! Peaceful and not crowded, I'm the only human there with some ducks, and they love to talking in the midnight. You can reach the lake starts at (-46.06176, -72.15672), easy walking beside a stream, all the way stay on east side and dry feet, BB less than 20 meters for total and mostly just easy CC.<br />
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Km48.85 : Campsite El Bosque. Side trail to a lake under glacier at north. It is a long walk, but i highly recommend you at least take the trail go out the forest, amazing views there, both ways just 300m.<br />
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Km49.95 : viewpoint of waterfall from Cerro Castillo. And i find that you can climb up to the top of waterfall! See the details at next waypoint.<br />
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Km50.2 : you can climbing up this ridge to the UPPER LAKE of Cerro Castillo. From (-46.06989, -72.18148) to (-46.06905, -72.18500), then to (-46.06627, -72.18497). No trail, just CC on some rocks, stable and not steep until close to the top, the top part is steep and loose, at there you can go to right side a little bit, climbing up on grassy slope for final ascend. Amazing views there, and no camping, because the ground is too soft, but cow boy camping on huge rocks is wonderful at this place.<br />
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I recorded this CC, will upload it later.<br />
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Camp[50.5/1243] : Campsite La Tetera, not a good camping spot, some spots much better when you climbing up and before Laguna Castillo.<br />
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After you enjoy the moment at Laguna Castillo, remember follow RR, check GPX track, dont follow the trail going beside the lake, it is a dead end trail, and if you dont want to all the way back, you can CC climbing up to join RR.<br />
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Pass[53.5/1679] : excellent views here! If you are super thirsty, clear water is flowing good at (-46.07749, -72.20888), easy to collect, 10sec/L.<br />
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Then all the way down to Campsite Los Porteadores, a long long way going down.<br />
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Because of weather changing, so i didn't go up to Laguna Duff.<br />
<br />
Walking on a nice trail to main road, then all the way road walking to Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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Lot of restaurants, shops and accomodation in Villa Cerro Castillo. The shop(-46.12072, -72.16115) beside the main road is the biggest one in town. Lot of biker riding, hikers and backpackers hitching on the road. Tall gas canisters and 230g gas canisters are sold in Copec gas station at (-46.12208, -72.16279) in high stock. We stayed at Nordic Patagonia(-46.12142, -72.15889), 15k CLP for a bed, 45k CLP for a double room, 8k CLP for camping with views of Cerro Castillo, including hot shower and kitchen basecamp.<br />
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Maybe because of late season, never saw any flies at this section.<br />
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<br />
2024-Feb-10 to 2024-Feb-13 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / Las Horquetas and Lagunitas / Andrew<br />
<br />
Day 1 (slept at Rio Turbio)<br />
<br />
I started in Villa Cerro Castillo and hitched a ride to Las Horquetas. I left a bag at the Nordic Patagonia campground in town, it's free if you stay a night after, or CLP 1.000/day if not.<br />
<br />
Signed in at the CONAF station where the park ranger explained the official camps that are currently open, and advised not to drink unfiltered/untreated water between Rio Turbio camp to just before El Bosque camp. But others I talked to later in the hike didn't get the same message and seemed fine so not sure what was up there.<br />
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Easy hike to Rio Turbio camp with some horseflies.<br />
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Day 2 (slept at El Bosque)<br />
<br />
This day was my punishment for deciding to leave behind my fleece at the last moment. Cold and rainy as I went over Penon pass, but at least I got to test out my new rain jacket and rain pants. At least it wasn't very windy. Great views of waterfalls after the pass, and the rest of the day was sunny.<br />
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Camped at El Bosque. Difficult but short day. Worth taking the side trail to Laguna Temprana after setting up camp.<br />
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Day 3 (slept at Neozelandes)<br />
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Lots of scrambling over rocks. Great panoramic views as we went over Morro Negro. As developed campsites go I think Porteadores was actually a bit nicer than Neozelandes, but Neozelandes is much crowded and puts you closer to Laguna Duff.<br />
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Day 4 (back to Villa Cerro Castillo)<br />
<br />
In the morning I hiked to Laguna Duff, best scenary on the Las Horquatas section of the hike IMO, do not miss this. Afterwards I hiked back to Neozelandes, packed my stuff, and hiked back to the Villa. All downhill. Paid the CLP 16.000 fee at the Estero Parada CONAF station, then hitched a ride back (around 3pm). Had some good pizza and beers with some folks I met on the hike at Pizzeria y Hamburgueseria D-Lizia in VCC.<br />
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2024-Feb-8 to 2024-Feb-11 / 3.25 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from El Blanco and Lago Monreal + Variant M + Option 3 / Tomáš & Natalie<br />
<br />
We started around 1500 at Coyhaique and easily hitched to El Blanco. We hitched with three cars (last went to Lago Paloma) and walked about four km in between them along Lago Monreal to Variant M. The sign against hikers scared us and it was late (1930), so we camped nearby (100 m along the fence westward). We reread other reports and decided to go for it in the morning. We first tried to go along a fence lining a small cliff about 100 metres west of the road, but it is pointless and we found ourselves on the road after a few hundred metres. We did not meet anyone. It is easy to miss RR and start on option 1, keep an eye on the GPS. We met black cows at the same place as Stiina, but they just looked omniously at us.<br />
<br />
As for the dangerous part, Tomáš ended up doing it three times as he dropped our tent poles from his backpack just before the start of the CC section. Unlike Nat (see below), he thinks the section is quite ok and he also found it quite scenic, especially the first part over the plateau. The annoying clambering is in fact only about two km long and can be done in about an hour if you know the way. It never felt dangerous to him, but he understands others see it differently, it is certainly more demanding than the average section of GPT. The description of Véronica is the best. The last obstacle (the boulder) is not entirely vertical (it feels like scrambling, not climbing), but you do need to use your hands and it is indeed exposed, down climbing NOBO is more awkward. On the other hand, it is only about seven metres distance (not elevation). We had sunny skies, in worse weather it would be a lot more annoying. The horseflies came back from the dead and died by the dozen under our merciless hands (Nat killed three accidentally just as she tied her hair back).<br />
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At the end of CC, the trailhead is invisible. It starts in the trees immediately from the river, about 10 m from the start of the waterfall in between two landslide/avalanche bands. Will comments that the gpx trail is exact, but since we are used to the gpx being slightly off, we could not see it, I guess we should have just trusted the gpx. There is a cairn in the creek marking the entrance but it is unclear how long it will stay there. Once you reach the overgrown MR, after a hundred metres of easy BB, one can cut the first zigzag straight down through easily passable mature forest. Once down on the road, you can camp on it, it is not used by cars ever. Once you reach the CC at 60.9, do not ford but stay on that side of the river!<br />
<br />
In the popular part of the hike, people concentrate at campings, but otherwise it does not feel too crowded (less than two dozen people met on the trails themselves per day). Until nine and from about five, you will meet almost nobody on the trails. The park is very attractive. There is good internet (Entel 4g) just before the pass at 53.5. From the other side, there is a sign saying the pass closes down in strong winds. Probably better to go there in the morning (weaker wind) or late (after six) in the afternoon (rangers have probably gone home) unless the weather is good. The sign where they turn people is probably at about 1250 altitude at roughly the treeline.<br />
<br />
To avoid paying, Nat followed the RR and was succesfull (OSM is wrong, the official trail is to the east of the GPT in the last few hundred metres). Tomáš followed the easternmost OSM trail that leaves the RR at roughly 480 altitude. The trail is rather imaginery, but it is easy walking across meadows or rarely through open forest and across several fences. His efforts were probably pointless.Tomáš also wanted to cut the walk to Villa Cerro Castillo and forded Estero El Bosque, but it was equally pointless and involved several fences.<br />
<br />
We found screwable gas cartridges in Villa Castillo at the supermarket "Villarica", the last supermarket on the corner of - Bernardo Higgins and Bernardo a Alessandro, i think. They said they have them sometimes. There was a blackout for five hours during our stay but locals said that is not so common.<br />
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Notes from Nat:<br />
<br />
- When in Coyhaique be sure to enjoy the bread and pizza shop called; La Tranquera Pan y Pizza (just North of the main plaza). It has a great selection of sourdough breads/Rye/whole-wheat loafs, cookies, real coffee and tasty pizza slices. ALSO don't miss the dry good store; Envasadora Aysen (45.57016° S, 72.06883° W), the good veg shop here (45.57730° S, 72.07038° W) and then the Unimarc is actually pretty good. <br />
<br />
- My views are prejudiced against the beginning of this route bcs I was sick and not in a good mood but my thoughts at the time were; "If you want to "enjoy" section 32 then take the Las Horquetas option". I really didn't like all the sidehilling and felt you wouldn't miss out on much if you started at Horquetas. Also don't do what I did and pack twice as much as you need bcs Coyhaique "might" be the last place with good food (however it was 3-5x better than villa Castillo).<br />
<br />
- The first tricky part was annoying bcs it was hard to get an edge (not that there is any edge left in my shoes). It was easier to walk up it and gradually cross, all in all it didn't feel dangerous. The second tricky part did feel dangerous to me bcs I went too far climbers left of the grass staircase and ended up having to traverse the short, steep and featureless slope to get back on track, a fall seemed easy and with bad consequences. The rock scramble at the boulder did not worry me but I would not have climbed it if it was wet bcs there is a lot of algae-like material on it and some of the handholds were sloppy. <br />
<br />
- I would be very curious if one could make a new route that went up to this lake here; -45.94848, -72.07320, and then down either here; -45.95505, -72.08753 or along the ridge to here; -45.96914, -72.08724. It would be more vertical and longer but with possibly less sidehilling...<br />
<br />
- The glacier on Variant E (6km return, half of it moraine walking) is nice but not really worth it, the lake on the other hand is 100% worth the short walk (3km return, flat river rock waking).<br />
<br />
- The lake just North of Camping Bosque is also worth it if you can avoid the crowds. Both this lake and Variant E lake are technically CC but "well traveled" and cairned.<br />
<br />
- The trail to Laguna Duff is popular but "splendid", it took less than two hours to the lake from Porteadores. Most of the trail is in the forest and then the last 1.5km (250m vert) is on a pretty obvious rock path. The camping at Neozelandés is far less crowded than other official campsites I recommend it. I got into an argument with a conaf officer at the lake bcs she told me it was too late to be there and I had to leave (4pm). If you want to avoid this person, then go right of the RR when it gets close to the lake headwall, she seemed to be "staged" at where the water leaves the lake. I originally wanted to make a traverse to the other lake but bcs of conaf I went down to the camp to meet Tomáš and then we both went back up after she left (6ish). Once back up we made a traverse to the other lake by following a grassy slope that starts West of where the water exits the lake, you should be able to see the grassy slope on your left when you are walking to Duff. Follow it down and work yourself across, going down to where there is some grass should be quicker than traversing the rubble, CC obviously. On the way down from the second lake we followed the main waterway and then cut back into the forest to reach the main trail (open forest, no BB). Rather than follow the west bank of the waterway like the GPS says we found it far easier to be in the east bank, less rubble.<br />
<br />
-We both bad to walk back to Villa Castillo, no cars going in our direction but manu going in opposite direction (~9am)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-28 to 2024-Jan-31 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Villa Cerro Castillo - Villa Frei / RR + Option 3 + Variant C + Variant M/ Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
It was another fantastic section but we don't have much to add to what has already been written. But we would still like to point out a few points:<br />
<br />
1) At the Segundo campsite (also called Rio Turbio), mice gnawed our tent and our dry bag containing the food. It would be best to hang your food from the trees if you are sleeping at this campsite.<br />
<br />
2) The large rock at -45.938145, -72.086171 can be avoided by doing 10 m of bush bashing just below the rock. This passage is much more visible going NOBO but it is also possible to take it going SOBO.<br />
<br />
3) The little detour to Variant C is definitely worth it. The view of Lago Paloma and Lago Azul is truly incredible.<br />
<br />
4) We took option M despite the right of way conflict. We passed a pick-up truck at the last gate going NOBO (the one with a padlock and a private property sign). They greeted us and gave us no problem.<br />
<br />
2024-Jan-27 to 2024-Jan-29 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 2 + option 3 / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
<br />
- Trail condition : well maintained, good campsites sheltered from the wind <br />
- Water : easy to find plenty of rivers and lagunas<br />
- Camping spot : there are some designated campsites<br />
- Weather : Sunny<br />
- River crossing : easy<br />
- Resupply : in cohayque and in Villa cerro castillo, all you need<br />
- Entrance fee : 16 000 pesos per person, normally the park closes after 1pm so you can't start after that but we were a bit late and they let us through <br />
- Overall : beautiful stretch of section 32, for us it was really an amazing entrance in the Patagonian landscape as we imagined it with the Torres<br />
<br />
*From 2023-01-22 to 2023-01-24 // 3 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR + OP3 + OP3A + VARIANT M // Quentin Clavel<br />
<br />
Villa cerro castillo - entrance Estero Parada - Laguna Duff - Sendero las Horquetas - North part of NP (CC) - Lago Paloma - Villa Frei. <br />
<br />
One of my favourite section so far ! I had amazing weather and I enjoyed so much this stretch, even with few people on the sendero las Horquetas in the NP (not crowded, but obviously more than the usual sections of the GPT). <br />
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Entrance fees for 3 days was 16,000 CLP for me. I had no control and have seen no guardaparque during my hike. <br />
<br />
I walked all the way up to see Laguna Duff (OPT3) definitely worth it in my opinion. Wonderful view, with still some pieces of ices floating on the Laguna, the back of Cerro Castillo and the reflects on the water were amazing. Easy to go there, as there is a trail. <br />
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The second one (OPT3A) is more tricky, no trail, and a lot of rolling stones. Beautiful too and of course, no people at all (I slept there, without tent, just on a big rock, that was incredible). <br />
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Then go up to the pass, it was a crazy hot day, for the first time since I'm in Patagonia, I regretted that it wouldn't be a little bit windy aha. <br />
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Laguna cerro castillo Is amazing. Second pass were very nice too. Bi. I passed it early on the morning, had some snow part, doable, but as it was morning, it was icy on some parts, so I putted my crampons and that was perfect. (But doable without). <br />
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Then easy trail until the end of the public part of NP (just after Segundo camping). After that the cross country part begun. Follow an old trail of the NP, some bush bashing during the forest part, and have to check often the GPS. Then you have to deal with all the rocks until the first pass. <br />
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Go down on a nice valley, and go up to the second pass. Tricky part, as described previously, is the big rock. It's maybe easier to do it NOBO because you descent it, and don't face it, which can be scary. But going on the grass part is the best way. Then follow the tree level, deal with rolling stones, and everything is gonna be alright. The récompense will be the amazing view on Lago Paloma (don't miss the Mirador). <br />
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I took the variant M to avoid the right of way conflict. No trouble at all on this way. You have to pass threw some gates. The last one, near a kind of central hydroelectric is the biggest, with camera and sign do not enter. Few people seen after this gate, and they were all very gentle and nice ! <br />
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Anyway, I really loved this stretch ! As it's summertime at this time, I met a lot of chilenos in the NP, so happy to see even very young chilenos explore their outstanding country ! <br />
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You have to be prepared to face a looooot of rolling stones on this section, sometimes it's like dancing on rocks. Can I say that the rolling stones make this stretch rock'n'roll ? Probably not. <br />
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Better to wait for good conditions. I can't imagine this section on a rainy and windy day ! <br />
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* 2024-Jan- 11 to 2024-Jan-13/ 3 days/hiking/SOBO/ Start in Las Horquetas and later RR/ Paulina<br />
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I started in las Horquetas, it was open even if on Conaf website this section is still closed, apparently they don't really update). When I was there ( 10 AM) nobody at the gate, so no charges. Later in the park nobody never asked me to show the entrance ticket. The same at the exit gate, they just asked me to check out ( even if I did not check in).<br />
At the beginning of Las Horquetas trail, some very easy river crossing. Almost no people, only a few hikers on the campsite.<br />
On Pass 32 [43.9/1470] still some soft snow, but I could cross it safetly.<br />
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Be careful on the ridge around pass 32 [ 53.5/1679] on very windy days. <br />
I did not see any water around camping Los Porteadores, except this last section, water was available everywhere. <br />
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Beautiful and very scenic section! <br />
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*2023-12-29 to 2024-01-01 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR & Variant D & M / Roman<br />
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Took a Uber from Coyhaique to Villa Frei for 17.000$. Got another lift by someone who life's there to this point: -45.8737, -72.04342. Joined via Variant M to the RR. Camped at Camp {32} [23.6/1010]. Good place you have to Ford 2 times before the Camp and 1 times directly after it. Here the -45.93357, -72.07606 Clambering in steep terrain starts and is very challenging also in combination with snow. Very steep literally climbing up there here: -45.938145, -72.086171 especially with a backpack. I needed to go very slow and cautious with 3 point technique. After that you can follow the GPS and the Kerns to this point -45.973087, -72.102771. From there a old abandoned road goes all the way to the point where the Trail( Variant D) merges with the Sendero de Chile Las Horquetas at: X {32-D} [1.0/920]. On the trial are some parts which are not perfectly visible but with GPS no problem. There are some fallen trees and quite a few small trees on the trail. I wouldn't consider it Bush Bashing (BB) because you can just raise your arms in front of your face and walk trough it. So IMHO no BB on the route. As soon as you are at X {32-D} [1.0/920] it's a "touristy trail" compared with the other GPT parts. Therefor the condition is excellent. Camped at Segundo Camping -46.008184, -72.104121. Next day camped at Camping Los Porteadores -46.089085, -72.235431. Snow was neither on Pass {32} [43.9/1470] or Pass {32} [53.5/1679] a problem. Next day hiked to Villa Cerro Castillo. Not a single car on the street towards it so needed to hike. The RR avoids the Entrance Cerro Castillo Park (Estero Parada) there is one gate before accessing the street where you can just hop over.<br />
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Overall: really nice section and quite relaxing to have such a easy trail (the beginning is challenging due to the rock scramble). It's the most touristy part (2 groups a 7 people) but absolutely woth it. Really enjoyed it.<br />
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Contact: https://linktr.ee/RundW<br />
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*2023-Dec-12 / 6 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Variant D + Variant F / Tom Pieper<br />
An Uber from Cohayique to Villa Simpson is about 9.000 Peso. From there I easily found rides to Lago Elizalde. A older man told me that there was also a camino from Lago Elizalde to Lago Azul passing cerro sombrero a couple of years ago. I really liked the walking through the valley to lago desierto. It passes a beautiful farmland landscape sprinkled with little lush patches of forest and creeks. Camping is easy there. But if you want to speed up there are also cars from time to time and hitchhiking is possible. At S 45° 52.495 W 072° 16.913 is a little shelter surrounded by some old tractors and a big mate cup installation. A farmer passing by told me I am welcome to stay there. To reach lago desierto you have to climb a locked gate (well described by Kara Davis). I crossed lago desierto and camped at the isthmus between it and lago azul. There is a nice camp spot at waypoint Lake {32} [38.3/337] surrounded by old gooseberry bushes and an abandoned van. The central lodging building is collapsed so its seems to be an abandoned place now except the cattle. Next day I crossed lago azul. The wind increased dramatically forming up to 1 m waves. There are some emergency exits on the left even after the shore gets steeper after the settlers on the lefthand side. At the end of lago azul you reach a huge private hacienda on the isthmus, with a big park like forest and buildings within. I tried to sneak between the buildings but to reach the path to the mountains you finally have to pass a big meadow. There was a greenkeeper around and it was no problem for him to let me pass. The family was not around. The track to the mountains is steep and part of a big network of mountainbike trails. This network spans nearly the entire valley! I met six young chilenos who told me that they are working the summer to maintain the trails only for that family – I have never seen such a giant mountainbike network! Incredible how much effort and money must spend here only to satisfy a family’s hobby. The Chilenos were very friendly and even turned back to offer me a ride to the end of the valley as rain increased but I kept walking. This track is in really good conditions up to the bush bashing section. And here comes the problem: 1.) the bush bashing is wrong annotated. In reality it starts for 1.2 km at the end of the annotated section 2.) the track is mostly gone were it reaches the river bed. Landslides have washed away a big part. Don’t cross the landslide! It seems super instable! When you have forded the riverbed at the landslide don’t put on your shoes, yet. The following part has turned into swamp land. I suggest to make the entire 1.2 km in your fording footwear. After that the track to the las horquetas trail is mostly overgrown or blocked by trees but still visible. It was pretty hard for me as temperatures dropped to 4 °C and at this point it had not stopped raining for 48 hr. In bad weather that’s definitely no fun. The ranger hut was my salvation as it was abandoned but open and had a stove and even some firewood. The next day the weather was perfect and I continued towards cerro Castillo. There had been recent work around Camping Rio Turbio and the track is still in good condition. Paso Penón has heaps of snow and I found myself sinking to the hips from time to time. But in good weather it is ok. The views from the pass and the following valley even outcompeted the view from laguna castillo. After the paso penón the rest is fine. I used Variant F to descend. As mentioned before it now follows a different way in the end due to right of way conflict and you reach the street at approximately half way between villa cerro Castillo and the national park entrance.<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 05-Apr-2023 / Hiking / SOBO / Martin & Helena<br />
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We really enjoyed this one. It's definitely worth waiting for good weather, not only for safe traverse of the steep part in the northern part of the park and following obstacles that are quite demanding but also for the views that were just incredible.<br />
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Starting from Villa Frei in the late afternoon, we made it on that day to the turn before Lago La Paloma, where we camped right behind a fence, before a little river, that you need to cross to follow the RR. There are 2 settlements, but still far enough, so no problem. You have to cross one fence and a gate on the way up. To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side. Crossing them will take you directly to RR, so no bush-bashing is necessary. From there, the trail is pretty straightforward. We liked the view from Option B viewpoint and in good conditions it must be a perfect spot for camping, definitely doable in one day. The steep traverse didn't feel that dangerous for us, but we had really good conditions. The next obstacle, already described by others, is at the end of the traverse. We followed there a small ridge that will take you to the beginning of the grass parts. It's a little steep, but doable. From there we followed the grass parts, which create almost 'stairs' allowing you to climb up. It's again steep, but you can use your hands to pull yourself up, holding the grass patches. After that is the last challenging part, a rock that you need to climb over. We got there already after sunset and without an option to explore the best and safest way over, we decided to follow the old overgrown trail, that descends down without the need to climb over the rock. It seemed to be hard in the beginning, but after we got through the first few trees (without any leaves, just branches), we found a little strip without them, that takes you all the way down to the river, where we camped. It took us around 15 min to get down, so it might be a good alternative. From there you just need to walk through a little part of the forest and then continue by the river, so you are actually avoiding also the descent down, which some described as challenging as well.<br />
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After the first marked pass and descent in rocky terrain, the CC part connects to an old trail, that later becomes a MR. The connection was easy to find by following the GPS. We had no problems passing around the rangers house, again by following the track files, at first through the forest and later around the river. From there the trail connects to the official way which makes navigation easy. We spent the night in the official campsite around 2 km before Laguna Carro Castillo, which is the only one open. There were 5-6 other tents, no ranger. The next day the weather got way way worse, which made us skip the last pass and go down from the laguna via one of the official routes. We met a ranger on the way up, pointing us to the official trail around yellow cairns, to sign off from the park. With no intention to pay on our way from the park, we actually followed some old trail (according to the old signs we met) that took us to the main road, right in front of the bridge. We had to cross one fence, but no other problem. It's a faster and safe way from the park.<br />
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*5 to 7 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO / 3 days<br />
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Amazing section! I was worried about the tricky part, but sticking to the gpx track it didn't feel dangerous to me. Though I did have to leave the track to find easier ways around the cliffs.<br />
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There weren't any buses south out of Coyhaique on Sunday (except maybe early morning?). I ended up taking an Uber to villa frei, for a bearable 14000 pesos. The road walk was beautiful except for the wind trying to blow me into the cars. I caught a ride to Lago Monreal, from where I walked back up to variant L and then to the 23.6 campsite.<br />
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I didn't have any right of way trouble, I just had to pass through a few unlocked gates with no people or buildings in sight. There were even a few groups of day hikers who passed by my camp on the way to the Lago Paloma mirador (variant B - must see!).<br />
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I also took variant D up to the glacier lake, worth it if it fits your schedule. I didn't have time to keep going up to the glacier itself, it looked like steeper rocky cross country.<br />
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Even in the touristy parts the trail was surprisingly slow and rocky. I ran into a few rangers, who look like normal hikers except with red and white baseball hats. They were ok with me not having a ticket once I explained my weird route.<br />
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*15.02.23 -18.02.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO<br />
Coyhaique - Villa Cerro Castillo<br />
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We hitchhiked from Coyhaique to Lago Paloma and started walking around 13:30 pm following the main path.<br />
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The trail at the beginning is pretty good. At the junction with the option at km 17,5 you can walk further uphill along the fence for a couple of meters to enter the fence through a gate. This option is not in the gpx files. We decided to follow that to avoid the settlers after all.Then you can follow the dirtroad through two more gates until you reach a fence that you have to jump to the right to get to a meadow with beehives. There is another gate there and then you reach the main route again. In total we only had to jump two fences.<br />
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Then we followed the main route. Soon after we went through the gate of the National park Cerro Castillo and we (unfortunately) met two guardians of the park. After some back and forth they made us turn around, telling us that this path is closed and we have to enter the park via the main entrance and pay the 30.000 clp. So we had to take the option to las Horquetas.<br />
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After a few good km on a dirtroad, the path of option 1 gets bad. It seems like it hasn't been used for a long time. It was often hard to find and involved some bushbashing. It took us quite some time to get through there. Once you are at the river it gets much better. We forded the river next to the entrance to avoid the detour until Horquetas. The option was not very nice. Mostly just walking in the forest with BB so we would definetly recommend to try the main route.<br />
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The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets. The park guardians tell you that there is no water crossing both passes and you have to carry it from the official camps, which is simply not true. There is only no water after Laguna Castillo.<br />
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At the exit (following the RR) we had to register us again. From there we planned to hitchhike to Villa Cerro Castillo, but there were no cars passing by. In the afternoon/evening it's probably easier to get a ride, because lots of cars parked at the exit. We would recommend Option E to avoid the dull roadwalk to Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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We stayed at Camping El Rincon, which was only 4.000 clp p.p., with no electricity, but the owner washed our clothes after we asked and we received it dry the next morning :)<br />
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*18 to 21 of January 2023 / Véronica / GPT32 RR SOBO / 3.5 days<br />
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Route: Villa Freí - Lago La Paloma - north part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo - Las Horquetas trail (south part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo) - Villa Cerro Castillo<br />
First off I want to say that I think this section deserves a 5 on the Attractiveness Scale. It is simply mind-blowingly beautiful and definitely on par with other sections further north that have a 5 on this scale. I also think the Difficulty Rating should be upped to a 5 as well, due to the technical, and arguably dangerous at times, section in the northern part of the park on the Regular Route. Wish I had someone with me during this stretch, but oh well, such is life.<br />
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I was lucky and caught a hitch most of the way to Lago La Paloma on the first day. It was hot and I don't think the road walk has any water sources until you get to the end. I then followed the new RR which bypasses the problematic right-of-way settler in the Lago Monreal area. However, this new detour is not fun. It involves climbing over (or crawling through/under) multiple barbed wire fences. I lost count after the 5th or 6th one. Also, the path and cross-country area are full of thorny plants, they got everywhere on my pack and clothing. I think it would just be better to take Option 32-L and chat with the settler instead to try and get through. Once you reach RH-MR-V {32} [18.9+4.7], it's all good, easy walking until the camp at 23.6 km.<br />
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I reccomend taking Option 32-A after the campsite instead of the CC straight through the cow pasture. It is wet and muddy, whereas 32-A remains dry and easy to follow in the forest at the edge of the meadow. I also strongly recommend taking the short detour to the mirador at the end of Option 32-B. The views there of the cliffs and mountains surrounding Lago La Paloma are incredible. You could even camp there if you brought sufficient water and the weather is calm.<br />
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Now for the difficult part in the 8-km cross-country section. This section was physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding. The first pass is at S 45° 55.740', W 072° 04.501'. It is easy walking up past the treeline into the alpine up to this point. The first challenge is a steep and unstable scree traverse, which begins at S 45° 56.019', W 072° 04.567'. Follow the GPS tracks here. At first I tried to go lower, right along the treeline, which was a big mistake that got me stuck in a terrible gully of slippery hard-packed sand. Very treacherous and scary trying to traverse it on all fours. After that ordeal, I scrambled back up to the altitude of the GPS tracks. This first scree traverse lasts about a km, the rocks are loose and it is very steep. I was tense and went very slowly. Got harassed by tábanos the whole way, but at least the weather was good.<br />
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Then at S 45° 56.288', W 072° 05.184', you reach the end of the bad scree and end up in a deep gully with a vertical wall face on the other side. Figuring out how to get up that cliff was hard for me. I left my pack at the bottom and tried climbing up various different ways with no success, only tiring myself out and getting myself in precarious situations where I could barely climb back down. I finally figured out the best way was to try and get to the lowest grassy patch to the left of the vertical rock wall. The easiest way to reach that grassy patch was to go upstream a bit, then traverse on the hard slippery sand northward, instead of trying to climb vertically straight up to it. Once you reach the grass, you can use the traction and stability of vegetation to clamber up and out of the gully.<br />
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The next big obstacle is at S 45° 56.320', W 072° 05.446'. Like others have written, this is the vertical rock wall that spans up and down the mountain and that you have to climb over. I scouted ways up without my pack at first, trying to find the easiest way. At least with this rock wall, the handholds and footholds are solid — no slippery gravel/sand/scree. But it does require actual rock climbing moves. If you fall you would likely tumble down the mountain, so please be very careful. A light backpack makes it relatively safer and easier.<br />
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On the other side of this wall, you can finally see where the trees end, and the lovely river you are supposed to climb down to reach. But there is still more scree to traverse here, and it is slow and unstable again. I tried taking a shortcut down a shallow gully filled with grass. I figured it would be safer than the rocks, but it was very steep and got unexpectedly muddy at one point, and I ended up slipping and sliding down the mountainside about 10 meters before being able to stop myself. Didn't get seriously hurt, just bruised up, but it really shook me and just added to the stress and fear of this whole section. So I guess my advice here is to again follow the GPS tracks across the scree and go down gradually to the river instead of trying to go straight down.<br />
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Once you reach the riverbed, it is easy walking to the top of the pass, with occasional cairns (and some good swimming holes). Down the south side of the pass, there are still a couple scree sections, but not nearly as bad as before. Lots of boulders, so slow going, but at least they felt more solid.<br />
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As Martin Lizondo has written, finding the start of RH-MR-V {32} [34.1+1.7] is tricky. It is not a minor road, it is an old footpath. The cross-country section ends at a creek as it turns into a high and steep waterfall. You have to cross the creek and look up to find a faint, overgrown trail that goes up into the forest. Once you find it though, it is simple enough to follow. There is a stretch though of several hundred meters where it is more of a bushwhack than anything else, nature has taken over.<br />
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I followed the regular route that cuts through the forest to Río Turbío, I assume this is to avoid the ranger station nearby. The "bushbashing" section is easy through a mature forest, and then you just follow the bouldery riverbank.<br />
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Once you get to the popular Las Horquetas trail, everything is easy until the end of the section. Some snow at the top of the first pass (Paso Peñón), but very manageable. The views of the saw-toothed mountains, lakes, and glaciers are spectacular. Despite reports of the park being "overrun," I only met a handful of other hikers in this trail, and most of them after Laguna Castillo. No rangers at all.<br />
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I think the Regular Route in its current configuration avoids the blue payment tent at the end of the park trail, but I didn't know that when I passed through, and ended up just following the riverbank down to the minor road to be safe (and avoid paying the ridiculous 30,000 clp access fee). The road walk to Cerro Castillo was Easy and uneventful.<br />
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*23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR SOBO / Louis, Rémi & Noé :<br />
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We started at Lago La Paloma, taking the bus from Coyhaique to Villa Frei (leaves at 8:15,15:30,17:30&19:30 from monday to friday and at 8:00 and 14:00 on saturday (no bus on sunday)). Then we hitchiked to the lake without problem and we camped there. Ready to start in the morning the next day.<br />
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Day 1 - Campamento Rio Turbio - 26.5km - +1800m/-1200m A big day but we hadnt the choice : heavy rain was announced for the next day... Cross country is demanding, better follow the tracks all the way long. A great camp site if you want to split this day is at the end of Option B. No water, windy but incredible view. The waypoint camp before is nice too.<br />
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Day 2 - Campamento El Bosque - 10km - +800m/-800m The 2 camps sites on the GPT at47.8 and at 50.3 are now forbidden. The new campsite is approx at km 49, in the middle. There is guardaparques, but no need to show the permit for us.<br />
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Day 3 - Cerro Castillo - 11km - +800m/-1500m The pass after Cerro Castillo was closed due to the wind. If you want to go to the other side, you have to get down at the park entrance and to go up again at the other entrance. We just went to the town. The regular route going down from there, from the Cerro Castillo, is not the one on the GPT. Actually, it goes more on the west side. At the end, there is a guardaparque, we checked out (even though we didn’t checked in) but no need to pay. Fortunately. Luck was with us.<br />
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* 23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR NOBO / Jakub+Veronika:<br />
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1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.<br />
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.<br />
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We've walked all section 32 from Villa Frei to Villa Cerro Castillo. The part from Lago Paloma to Rio Turbio is very difficult and might be even dangerous (especially in bad weather). The CC travers on the stones (in our case with strong wind and snow) was the hardest part. The MR leading down to the valley is partially overgrown. The second part is well marked with good camping possibilities. After heavy rains on Sunday 25th, the park has been closed for more than a week. There are 2 alerts on the road (see above).<br />
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*Feb 17 RR 3 days SOBO Frank<br />
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Walked from Villa Frei. After about 12KM there is a food truck next to the road. Owners live there so should open for you. The owner of the private land wasn't there so had no access issues. You can camp in a big meadow @ 1250 metres or in good weather at a pass @ about 1325 metres (not marked on track file) just before the difficult CC section begins. Followed Veronica's advice to get up the gully on grass which worked well, thanks Veronica. There is no need for any rock climbing on this route. After the gully there are two rock bands running perpendicular to the route. You can go below both of them & bypass them at treeline. The second bypass is not very obvious but stay at the treeline & you will get through easily. After the pass, descending scree you come to a waterfall. Go left into the forest immediately before the waterfall - you may see a small cairn marking the spot. Just footprints at first but pick up a small trail as you go in. Leaving the park the RR to the left goes through private land. The optional route straight down is now the main trail, it goes down to a checkpoint just before the road. Checkpoint is at a stile over a fence so can't be avoided. It is run as a private 'concession' from CONAF. The workers were friendly & didn't charge me anything. However next year the concession will be run by a different company so depends who is there.<br />
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==Season 2021/22==<br />
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*2022 Feb: 05-07, SoBo, RR, Kris&Stiina<br />
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We continued into this section straight from the previous one - 31H and the start of it, about first 16km, is like the whole previous section - dirt road. We hiked about 5 of those 16km and hitched the rest which I think was possible quite easy because it was weekend and a lot of cars with families were going to the Lago La Paloma.<br />
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The interesting part started once we were at the gate after crossing the outflow of Lago Monreal. The big sign was posted there stating that this is not some Sendero de Chile and that passing through here is strictly forbidden. We saw a guy at the gate when we were approaching, but as it was lunch time for us we stayed at the stream. Afterwards the guy was gone and there was no phone signal to call the nr. that Martin Lizondo has provided. After considering options of different routes we decided to keep it cool and climbed over the gate with fingers crossed. There were houses a few hundred meters up the road, but nobody seemed to be at home at that point, perhaps working in the field somewhere in the back, so we walked through the forbidden land without anyone intercepting, luck was with us. A few more gates later we climbed up into the forest and finally the Cerro Castillo National park with a big old welcoming sign. We stayed at the first marked campsite at 22,7km, there is a stream.<br />
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Next morning as we were having our breakfast about 30 cows showed up and were completely dazzled by our presence. They stared at us for about 15min until they finally relaxed a bit, but not fully. As we were packing our camp some sudden movement must have scared them and they all went running for their lives as if a Kraken himself was after them, silly cows, we thought. Once we were all packed and ready to go we crossed the stream into the next meadow, and saw all the cows about 200m to our left. I am not exactly sure how cows work, but as soon as they saw us they organized a gang and all of them started running right at us. We of course were standing our ground so the cows would stop just 5m from us and look all tough. I would try to scare them away by counter attack in the form of a shouting, hiking pole waving lunatic. It worked to some extent, as we could slowly walk out of it, but the cows kept persistently be really close and walk/run at us. I guess they were trying to protect their pasture, maybe someone can enlighten me about cow-dynamics.<br />
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After the great battle of 2022, we disappeared in the forest and enjoyed the nice forest path while it lasted. Once out of the three line the path disappeared so we more or less followed the GPS marking. Neither of our maps showed the mentioned old path descending down into the valley, it was actually matching with the GPS, more or less. Up to the first pass, which is not marked, but is at about 26,8km the cross country was easy and then as mentioned before it got pretty difficult. If it would just be steep scree slope it would be alright, but this one had hard packed sand under the scree or sometimes no scree on it so it was very slippery (in dry conditions). Lots of prayers went to the Gods of Friction which helped us with traversing the treacherous slopes, with plenty of chances to become a statistic. I don’t think that that traverse is possible in wet conditions, not without crampons. And as for every good cake there is always a cherry on top, which was a little rock climbing session, which I personally didn’t mind, but I am not sure other hikers would appreciate. After that we still had to descend a steep scree down to the river. If there is a potential trail or option to go down the valley after the pass and then follow the river bank up, I think it is definitely a better, faster and safer option, especially if weather is not favorable. And looking from above down the valley it seemed like a feasible option to follow the river as the river itself was easily crossable and we didn’t spot any cliffs there, maybe next time.<br />
<br />
After reaching the river at the valley bottom the way up to the second pass was easy and straight forward, even though still “sin sendero”. The way down from the pass is steep and bouldery but not dangerous and after a short bit some first signs of an old trail can be noticed, some cairs appear. Then once the trail gets down to the tree line there are a few bushy places, but nothing too bad and the closer to the actual trail you get the better it becomes. We also somewhat followed the GPS track but stayed more in the forest rather than beach to avoid the ranger hut.<br />
<br />
Once we made it to the Las Horquetas trail all our worries were behind us and we could enjoy the nice trail and magnificent views. I don’t think I have ever seen tree line ending almost at the edge of the glacier in Europe it was happening a century ago, pretty cool stuff. We camped at the “segundo camping” with many other hikers, none doing the GPT though. And an interesting thing we observed was that people would just drink straight from the silty glacier stream without filtering or treating their water at all. Observation was made of different groups of people at different campsites. Is that a Chilean thing? Very impressive gut, if they can do it, unless ignorance is a bliss or they knew something that we didn’t.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, two more mountain passes and we were heading down to Villa Cerro Castillo, with crowds of day-hikers that had come up to the Mirador Cerro Castillo. From there we actually didn’t follow the GPS track but headed down straight to the town. The ticket office with the park official is actually around this area: (46º 6.7520' S, 72º 12.0032' W). And the trail leading there is the official trail. The one that seemed on the map like the official, was actually not in use, not sure why. The satellite view on Gaia and info on the maps is somehow outdated. We tried to sneak past the office to avoid all explaining we had to do, but it’s kind of strategically placed so it wasn’t possible and we ended up just talking to the girl that was making sure everyone is checking out of the park. We had to pay 18.000 pesos per person which is the ticket for foreigners that want to go up to the mirador. We didn’t spill the beans about camping in the park and our small backpacks kept the suspicion low, so in the end it all worked out pretty good. From there it is still almost 5km to the town on a very dusty road, but with all the day hikers leaving a hitch was not a problem.<br />
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The town is really nice with plenty of shops and accommodations options. The only thing we didn’t manage to find was the threaded gas canister, but we found a few half-empty ones left in the Nordic Patagonia mess tent.<br />
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For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br />
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<br />
*Section 32, Option 7: Valle Balboa. Southbound. 11 days (including waiting out a snow storm). Party (3): Mum, Sis and I.<br />
<br />
After walking Section 35 we emerged in Cochrane to a world changed by the virus. We retreated to the now unfriendly Chili Chico and caught the ferry across to Ibáñez in the morning. For my mum and sister, getting back to Santiago to catch a flight home had been the priority, but on the way they shifted more to the stance I was taking: what was the point? Get stuck in Australia, or here? Patagonia didn't seem all that bad, and apart from facemasks and hand sanitiser, there were no shortages like back home. By the time we reached Coyhaique we'd all decided to stay a week or so to hatch a plan. We met up with Aldo and camped in his backyard for almost a week. I helped build his house a bit, but time was mostly filled with playing chess, dice, cards and guitar. The atmosphere seemed to encourage a lethargic state, blurring the days together and bending time. Finally however, we packed and walked into the town centre to make a start on the interesting option #007 of Section 32 through Valle Balboa, (traversing roughly from Lago Desierto to Río Ibáñez). With the virus and public transport on hold, it seemed unlikely the bus to Villa Freí (that we took last time for the RR of Section 32) would be running. We asked a taxi driver for a quote to drive us out. We grabbed some more supplies, and then caught a taxi with a much friendlier driver to Lago Elizalde ($15k). The driver showed us a great public camping spot on the shore of the lake. There were many established camp sites back from [close to] the beach. It was such a nice spot that we decided to lay back and spend the afternoon and night there.<br />
<br />
In the morning, we walked the road to Río Paloma, scoring a lift for 5ks or so. We camped by the river not far before the end of the road.<br />
<br />
In the morning we walked the last bit of the public road to where it ends at the very rickety bridge over Río Mogote. There is a nice little camping spot here (-45.91100, -72.31823). Climbing over the locked gate, we walked the private road to the ford. We tossed up visiting Lago Desierto and the people living next to it, but with the virus decided against it. This meant we didn't actually have to cross the river, instead locating the old road to the south. (The track files follow the road, but it is no longer used by vehicles and it is actually easier to head back down the main road a couple of hundred metres to where a cattle trail exists (-45.91601, -72.30806)).<br />
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Following this distinct road for some time, it seemed to be used for horse riding tours as there were coloured signs like "Spanglish" and "Toobooku" on the side. You will soon reach the gate included in the track files. Here there is also access to a bridge across Estero Balboa. It looks like you can then access trails most of the way up to Cerró Negro. This might be interesting if someone wants to explore.<br />
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A couple hundred metres after the gate the old road ends and an obvious trail continues to a miskept farmhouse. Continue along the well defined trail that gets a bit scrubby/overgrown before entering the forest. The trail is then very well maintained although quite muddy in spots (I could see it being quite bad after rain). You will need to ford a tributary not marked in the track files (-45.95592, -72.35114). Shortly afterwards is a junction (-45.95654, -72.35216). The route up the side valley could be explored if someone wants - we went only a short way to a corral. The track will dip back down to the river where there is an established camp (-45.97039, -72.35461). Continuing up the valley, there are many more established camps - the best are generally in close proximity to the fords.<br />
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The first time you cross the estero is about here: (-45.98105, -72.36205). There is only one ford, not two as the track files indicate. At the next couple of fords, the actual track deviates slightly from the track files. If you follow the current track files, you will avoid crossing the river at all, but will end up bush bashing briefly. We crossed the next two fords, but by staying on the west side of the river they should also be easily avoidable.<br />
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The trail exits the forest (-46.02116, -72.42538)(the camp marked in the track files here is a swamp - go further up the valley!) from where it is cross country walking, not actually a trail as indicated. We camped next to the puesto which incorporates some pieces of a crashed plane (we found another piece whist exploring, but not the actual crash site). The route up to the Laguna Campana is also open and straight forward.<br />
<br />
We waited out a rainy day only to wake to a snow storm the next!... and the next!. We ended up waiting 4 nights experimenting with some different bread recipes whilst we waited out the inclement weather.<br />
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Finally a sunny day! Continue up the valley, CC walking past an old corral. At the Nacimiento del Estero Balboa you again briefly enter the trees. Like the previous marked camp, again this whole area was very swampy and I didn't see a suitable place to camp. The camp included in the track files is in the middle of a swamp! We picked up fragments of a track heading up through the trees, but I think it is very vague or overgrown. That said, we had nearly a foot of snow in places so we could have easily missed things! There is a very obvious section of track here : (-46.05648, -72.47298). You'll quickly exit the trees (-46.05923, -72.47005) and start a long CC section in the alpine. We found some sections of trail, but for us it was mostly cross country walking. Plenty of water options the whole way.<br />
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When you enter the forest after completing the alpine section (-46.08687, -72.43537), you will be bush bashing for a long time! There was no discernible track even when we criss-crossed over the track files searching for it (no snow here anymore). Approaching the deep gorge, I decided to lead us a different, less steep way. This worked well and we camped at a very nice spot by the stream at the bottom (-46.09414, -72.42582).<br />
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The next day we were debating simply following the river down (I wish we had!). Instead, we headed straight up the other side of the gorge. We located part of an old track here (-46.09685, -72.42463) but quickly lost it as we passed through the saddle (I think maybe it continues north?). Rejoining the suggested investigation route (EXP-OP-TL-I@32-07-#003), there is a good stream (-46.10202, -72.42403) and some camping on its banks.<br />
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After some horrible bush bashing, we finally made it to a ravine gashing steeply down the mountain (-46.10598, -72.41534). There were many drops and it was impossible to go directly down. We later found out that the only other party to do this part had a rope! I can't really recommend going down here [and my sister can't recommend it at all! - "This is shit!"] Again, I'd recommend taking the main valley. The climbs we did were much more difficult than those on the northern part of Section 32 RR that people complain about. Also, if doing this option, it would be much easier travelling north! You could also consult the settlers on a better route. We finally reached the bottom where it opens up after about ~6hrs!<br />
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Continuing, if you do follow EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, the track files indicate there is a trail, but it is not quite so. There are CC sections and a labyrinth of cattle trails. You will need to use them to your advantage where they exist, and leave them when they go the wrong way. We went this way for a little while, but then tried following a primary cattle track that seemed to be heading directly down to the river... but we got stopped by a swamp (-46.11623, -72.41080). Continuing along EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, you will get CC walking from the woods (after a cliff) about here: (-46.11546, -72.42372) If we were there again we would follow EXP-OP-CC-A@32-07-#004 down past the settler to the river. It then looked easy to walk along the river north to the cable car.<br />
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The cable car: Don't use this by yourself! Don't use it if you are only two! Use it with three people minimum! I can't stress this enough. There is a lot of fiction and the locals we talked to here don't even consider it safe. They used the boat which has its own steel cable allowing you to tack across with relative ease. You will get wet feet if using the boat.<br />
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Taking the cable car, we only just made it across with one in the car and two hauling on the rope, and at one point it looked like my sister might get stranded on the far side (she had a nightmare that night!).<br />
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Carretera Austral: We waited the entire day by the Carretera Austral. Finally catching a colectivo late in the afternoon. With the virus, it was hard/imposible to hitchhike. We paid an inflated price ($3kpp) for transport to Cerró Castillo.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*2020-March-6 / Ty & America / 4.5 Days SOBO RR. Start @ El Blanco<br />
<br />
We started in El Blanco, opting to hike by Lago Montreal, which was pretty nice. No traffic though, so if you’re wanting a hitch the regular start in Villa freí may be a better option. Settlers in Lago Montreal are super friendly. There’s a bit of water there as you pass by the lake. We camped there. I recommend going further to the marked camp though because the next day is a big challenge. RH-CC-A@32-25.2+7.9 Is the Cruz of the section. After this all good. I do not recommend doing this unless you’re very comfortable on your feet and have a lightweight pack.<br />
<br />
-stick to the treeline/marked path on this. The traversing is tough, but completely doable. 2-3 km in is the gully with the very difficult climb. Keep the the grassy patch, getting to the base of it was the most dangerous part for us. Very slippery rock. I had America drop her pack. High risk, but I was MUCH more comfortable.<br />
<br />
-about a k after is the second dangerous area. This is a straight rock wall that spans all the way up& down the mountain. The only way through is to climb around. I checked below it and didn’t find a way through the trees. I took both Sanita & America’s packs through this section; as again, it’s very high risk..with an actual climbing move involved. Again, it’s important you’re very comfortable with your pack to get through these parts.<br />
<br />
After these dangerous sections we were wiped out and camped in the valley before the pass. Lots of places to camp with good water. Be aware of slight rockfall risk. There’s an amazing place to camp with ideal conditions at the top of the pass.<br />
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Going on, all smooth, both marked camps on the way up the second pass are actually closed...there’s an open camp right between the two.<br />
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Amazing places to camp up by Laguna Castillo.<br />
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We snuck around the riverbed once we saw the blue tent at the bottom (where you might have to pay) and got by with no problems.<br />
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<br />
*Jan 2020 GPT32 South 7days / Felix<br />
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_____________________ Coyhaique to Villa Freí: There is a bus from the bus terminal in Coyhaique to Villa Freí. From there it was a hot dusty road.<br />
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_____________________ Accessing the park : You have to pass through 4 private properties to enter the first sector of the park. We met some people. Had short friendly chats, but no problems with access. Just before you enter the park (where there are two trail options) there is easy access to the river via a cow trail. However water in general was no issue and I didn't carry water for the entire 7 days through the park.<br />
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The camp site used to be an official campsite before the sector was closed due to access problems. The dunny is in great shape.<br />
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_____________________ Through the first sector : The trail is in great shape until after the mirador. You then cut upwards into the alpine which is also easy walking. After passing through a saddle, you contour around above the treeline. This is the most difficult part of the section. Quite a bit of step scree traversing. Not for everyone. Once you drop into the valley waking is again easier. There are some occasional cairns that become more and more frequent as you drop into the other valley. As you contour left an intermittent trail is evident. When you enter the lenga forest (-45.97321, -72.10278) there is a great trail down that turns into a road here : (-45.97886, -72.10358) (Jan: maybe you want to update the track files to reflect this?) Then is road walking to join the popular walk.<br />
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_____________________ Popular sector of Cerró Castillo : There are some side trips not included in the track files. They're on the map you get. Note that the old Bosque site (-46.06197, -72.16016) and La Tetera (-46.07200, -72.18390) are now closed. You can not camp there. For most people this means camping at the new el Bosque : (-46.06418, -72.16964)(Jan : maybe you want to update the track files?) Get to Laguna Cerró Castillo before 12 to beat the walkers heading up for the day. But this shouldn't be an issue as you need to cross the pass early : an important thing we would have liked to know is that the pass (-46.08030, -72.21103) can be closed in the afternoon due to strong winds. There is literally a ranger there that can turn people around. Not much water over the pass either. And the poza cerca mirador doesn't look welcoming. Carry water here. In the next valley there were more rangers and we saw some people get checked for permits. It's a shame this park is now being comercialalised :(<br />
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_____________________ Getting back to Coyhaique : Not much traffic. The last bus heads back at 6pm<br />
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_____________________ I'll try upload some map photos and a breakdown of the entrance fees when I get the photos off my camera.<br />
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Cheers, Felix.<br />
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<br />
* 2020-Jan-18 and 19 / Regular Hiking Southbound / Martin Lizondo<br />
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The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge. I met other day hikers going to « El Mirador ». Snow was easy at the passes. The trail was in good conditions until the cross country. There are two spots which I consider dangerous, so I don’t recomend doing this section alone: 1) the gps tracks passes through a very vertical rocky (nearly climbing). I was scared and I can’t recommend doing it, except you asume this risk. I could see later in a map that the original route went all way down in the valley through lenga forest, but if there was a trail it’s invisible now. 2) When the cross country leaves the tree line and becomes a small trail into the lenga forest at 45º 58' 23,54" S, 72º 6' 10,02" O (“minor road” starts later, despite the gps track info); it’s very stepy and unmaintained. I made a mistake and started to follow the stream all way down, but you have to look up and search the beginning of the hidden path. It’s very vertical and easy to fell down, because of recent land slides. Be extremely carefull. The rest of Cerro Castillo from Las Horquetas is well maintained, beautifull and enjoyable. Cons: Lots of people. When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.<br />
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* Jan 2020 / RH Northbound / Matthieu<br />
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No technical difficulties in the park, just following the trail and enjoying the views.<br />
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To follow the GPT northbound, leave the parc trail to go north. It is an "old sendero" in the forest, but well maintained and easy to follow during the beginning (it is marked on maps of the parc). In this direction, no problem to leave the forest in a safe spot, but southbound, looking behind, seemed hard to find the entrance of the forest and of the safe trail ! No technical difficulties until the first pass, rocky terrain like the rest of the park. <br />
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The dangerous part is indeed between the 2 passes. You dont go in the valley in front of you but follow the altitude line until the pass that you see at the right side of the valley. Very steepy rolling stones path. I was a little bit afraid. I tried to be smarter than the tracks, trying more uphill... this was a dangerous mistake that took me long to repair and go back to the tracks. There are indeed two river crossing (no dangerous waterstream) but they are circled by cliffs, so not easily crossable. <br />
The track follow mostly the tree line (I.e the separations between the little trees and the stones) So my recommendations : <br />
- follow the gps tracks : they follow the tree line who is safer with a solid ground and grass. Sometimes you have to cross the stones, no choice, so go slowly, choose your paces wisely and it's doable. Try to aim for the grounds of grass in the middle, which are solid, or the stones with foam on them, which mostly didn't move for a while. For the rivercrossing, it aims a good spot with no need to climb down or up.<br />
- choose a good weather day : for me it was sunny and no wind, so perfect day, and it was already mentally hard (not speaking of the horseflies getting you crazy during the hard moments !). I wouldn't try it with rain or big wind in this river of rolling stones. <br />
- if you don't feel it, easy escape by the normal trail of the parc<br />
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However, I can assure that the prize for the effort, going northbound, is amazing !! But I won't spoil ! <br />
After the second pass, no technical difficulties, you find a Conaf trail easily, and I even cross some tourists with a guide.<br />
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*2019-Nov-29/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 3days / Northbound / Regular Hiking Route with OH-MR-V (Villa Cerro Castillo to Las Horquetas)<br />
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The section follows the rather popular tourist Hiking route Las Horquetas for the first two days, meaning there will be less solitude but also rather well maintained trails. The national park and the region around Cerro Castillo was very impressive, we especially enjoyed to take all the side trails and visit the numerous beautiful glacier lagoons. The only unpleasant part of the hike was the organization of the national park. The exorbitant high entrance fees are in no relation to the other parks, which is due to a high ratio of private land in the area but makes the park rather unattractive for tourists. some rangers seemed poorly informed and couldn't give much information (e.g. insisted that passes were "closed" and only after asking numerous times agreed to check with his colleagues that told that they are "open"). They also said it is not possible to hike the regular route of the GPT, because we have to check out of the NP at the checkpoint Las Horquetas. There is an optional hiking route continuing North from there. Due to bad weather coming up we ended up not finishing the northern stretch of the trail and just followed the entire Las Horquetas Route at the Carretera Austral.<br />
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* 2019-Nov-29 / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe<br />
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Snow line is at around 1200 Meters but all passes are safely traversable.<br />
The National Park Entrance Fee got raised to 29000 CLP per person for overnight hikes in season 19/20. The park generally seemed very poorly organized, we were told the passes are "closed" at first, whereas they were easy and safe to traverse. The ranger insisted that we could not hike the normal route northbound but have to sign out of the park at the Las Horquetas checkpoint. In high season, the ranger station in the park is manned, so maybe it is possible so sign out there and head northbound.<br />
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* 2019-Nov-12 / Eva Havlová<br />
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There is still lots of snow in the National Park. I arrived to Villa Cerro Castillo 3 days ago (Novembre 12, 2019) and planed to hike nortbound but rangers didn't let me go. I saw the pass they were talking about (avalanche risk) and I don't think any avalanche could occure, but the thuth is that there is lots of water runing down and the trail is like a stream. They said it might be possible to do it next week.<br />
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==Season 2018/19==<br />
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* 2019 Jan/ OIlrik / Northbound <br />
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We ended up doing the normal Cerro Castillo hike as the weather was forecasting heavy rain and snow so we did not want to be on the pass. The regular trail is just gorgeous and the park is beautiful. The trail in the north is not on the new CONAF maps but is marked on the old ones.<br />
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==Season 2017/18==<br />
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*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:<br />
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A sandy beach with a visible structure in the grass is the take-out for Lago Elizalde. After exiting, make your way through the farmland until encountering a gravel road that leads past the house at the top of the hill up to Ruta X-686.<br />
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Ruta X-686 is a lightly trafficked but well-formed gravel road that is fenced on either side. After crossing the Río Paloma, Ruta X-686 makes a sharp left and begins to climb. 4 km after the sharp left turn, cross a bridge to the left and climb to a wooden gate. If you descend the steep slope to the left of the gate, there is camping under some trees.<br />
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The wooden gate marks the beginning of a very long driveway to a house located near the lake. The route takes you along this driveway until a river crossing. After crossing the river, walk northeast along its shore towards the Río Paloma. After reaching the end of the fenceline near the Río Paloma, turn east and walk along the fenceline until reaching Lago Desierto. At the river outlet, there is a nice beach to put in to Lago Desierto.<br />
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There is no camping along the shores of Lago Desierto. The take-out is a rocky beach at the base of a bluff. Walk up the bluff and cross country through the farmland to Lago Azul. At the east end of the farm, descend down a road to a rocky beach at the Lago Azul shoreline with a metal structure.<br />
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There are a couple of potential camping options along the shoreline of Lago Azul. There are also several residences on the north shore. The take-out is a long rocky beach set before a well manicured forest. On the east end of the land near Lago La Paloma is an expensive looking house surrounded by several other buildings.<br />
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There is a 4WD track to the west of the smaller red house located south of the big residence. Ascend the steep climb on a well-formed road that is criss-crossed with several smaller tracks labeled in english with wooden signs. Due to the steep slopes on either side of the cut out road, there is no camping here.<br />
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Eventually, the route turns off of the road onto an overgrown 4WD track. Camping off the track is still difficult because of prickly vegetation and steep terrain. This track ends 2.5 km from where the Regular Packrafting Route joins the Regular Hiking Route. From here, the route involves some bushwhacking and following a small trail as it winds in and out of existence. Just before joining with the Regular Hiking Route, the route widens into an old 4WD track that passes some destroyed structures.<br />
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The routes join up at a large rock cairn and continues to follow a 4WD track until reaching a large wooden sign with a map of the Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo. Here there is also a campsite and ranger station. There is a 5.000 CLP fee to enter the reserve.<br />
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The route from here is a popular track for backpackers with designated campsites. The trail is well-formed and winds through the forest. When the trail becomes less obvious, the way is shown with yellow markers. In this area there is a designated campsite with a latrine.<br />
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At treeline, follow the cairns and rocks painted with white and red stripes through the scree up and over the first pass (approximate elevation 1.450 m). After the steep descent, reenter the trees. There is a campsite, Camping El Bosque, soon after reaching treeline (approximately elevation 940 m) with water and a latrine.<br />
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The trail begins to wind up through the forest toward Laguna Castillo. The sights from Laguna Castillo, which is at the base of the pass, are stunning. There are two tracks that climb up to the pass. Make sure to take the path that climbs to the south instead of continuing southeast over the obvious saddle.<br />
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The track down to Ruta X-720 is well formed, marked, and popular, but occasionally braided. Follow it until reaching the wooden stile with a rangers hut. From there join Ruta X-720, a dirt road which leads to Highway 7 and Villa Cerro Castillo.<br />
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==Season 2016/17==<br />
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=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
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*Town: Villa Cerro Castillo. Villa Cerro Castillo has several restaurants, small markets, and plenty of lodging options, including a popular backpacker camping destination on the east side of town.<br />
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*Lovely yum restaurant in Coyhaique: Restaurant DaGus, Lautaro 82, 5950000 Coyhaique. Little hidden gem. -45.86411, -72.04916<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
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=Transport to and from Route=<br />
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*Buses to Villa Frei from Coyhaique bus terminal: Monday 7:30, 8:15, 15:30, 17:00, 19:30 Tuesday to Friday 8:15, 15:30, 17:30, 19:30 Saturday 08:00 and 14:00. No bus on Sunday. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Villa Frei & the bus generally turns around immediately & goes back to Coyhaique.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
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*2023/ Martin & Helena<br />
To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side. <br />
<br />
*2023/ Jakub+Veronika:<br />
1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.<br />
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.<br />
<br />
*2023 / Anna & Christopher <br />
The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets. <br />
<br />
*2020 / Martin Lizondo<br />
The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge.<br />
(...)<br />
When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT32 - Cerro Castillo]]<br />
<br />
=Images=</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT16_(Volcan_Quetrupillan)&diff=114408GPT16 (Volcan Quetrupillan)2024-02-27T01:21:35Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
* 2024-Feb-23 to 2024-Feb-25 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 02 +03 + B/ Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1: RR [0.0-34.6]<br />
<br />
Bus from Pucon to Curarrehue leaves frequently from the terminal Vipu-Ray (-39.27753, -71.97265) and costs 2000 Pesos. I had to climb a locked wooden gate (8.6), locked barbed wire gates (10.1 and 11.4.) and barbed wire fence (9.8 and 11.7) while following the RR. Other than that the first 20 km are pretty easy to walk and relatively boring. There was a little stream next to RR at km 11.2. At km 15.7 and 18.3 it's possible to acces Estero Huililco. The RR crosses a small river at km 23.1, which is the last water source until Laguna Blanca. There is plenty of flat space for camping all around Laguna Blanca.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [34.6-40.2] + to Volcan Quetrupillan and back on OH16-02 + OH16-03<br />
<br />
There are still some big snow patches on OH16-03, but they can be avoided with some rock scrambling. Just before the Summit of Quetrupillan I had to use both my hands for climbing up. On the way down I took the OSM trail that leaves the RR at -39.49735, -071.72325 and rejoines the RR at -39.50155, -071.72667. It's pretty steep, but I didn't had to use my hands to climb down. But I had to maneuver around some snowfields to get back to the RR. There are a few water sources during the first 2 km of OH16-03. The view from Volcan Quetrupillan is amazing and the hike to the summit isn't to hard. <br />
<br />
<br />
Day 3: RR [40.2-64.5] + OH16-B<br />
<br />
The Bridge at km 58.6 is gone, but its an easy ford. Possible camping spot just south of water marker at km 44.2. I took OH16-B down to the main road and hitched from there to Conaripe. There is water at all water/ford markers on the whole RR. <br />
<br />
Outside of the area around Volcan Quetrupillan the RR is pretty boring. A traverse from the ski area (OH16-4) over Quetrupillan to Puesco Norte (OH16-1) is the more scenic route.<br />
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<br />
* 2024-Feb-02 to 2024-Feb-06 / 4.5 days / Hiking / Westbound / Villarrica traverse / Gerald<br />
<br />
Since i came from Argentina i wanted to start at Puesco. In Curarrehue i couldn't find a Gascontainer with a screw. GYG had none and the Ferreterias have only the long one or the one without the screw.... But there is a bus going to Pucon every 20min for 2k. <br />
Run out of time and camped at the Puesco Cervezeria. Nice beer and good spot next to the river. CONAF couldn't give me any information about water sources along the trail. If you start in Pucon they do incl. a Map....<br />
I always found enough water, but i don't need that much. Camped at Laguna las Avutardes (bad weather was coming), Laguna Azul (really nice, almost no litter), Rio Pichillancahue (only spot for maybe 2 tents, water was cloudy but drinkable aber you let the soil (?) settle, in the morning it's cleaner) and 6km before the ski center since i wanted to see the volcano glowing at night. Camping on volcanic gravel was not smart but didn't damage my tent :)<br />
I had a lot of luck with the weather, since i could descent right before the big rain. Beautiful trail, landscape is unreal. Just keep in mind if you wear trailrunner, the vulcanic rocks will eat them :)<br />
In Pucon is a shoe repair shop between Uruguay and Peru street called "clinica de calzado". They seem more specialized in leather boots, but tried their best on my trailrunner. Have Frankenstein shoes now :)<br />
There are tours going up to the volcano villarrica, but they are not allowed to summit right now. They charge around 100k. Maybe with some planing it is possible to get the gear from an tour operator at the ski station and continue the journey. In the area around Villarrica is cell reception.<br />
<br />
* 2024-Feb-07 - 2024-Feb-10, NOBO, Hiking, 4 days, RR, 16-01, czimahi<br />
<br />
from Liquiñe by road and the direction Trancas Negras; Join RR, Bridge 16 (5 - no bridge; night in camp without water. Next day to Laguna Azul and by 16-01 to laguna Avutardas (camp before 34,7) lots of water on the way till the last indicated. next day to Puesco camping on road (with artesanal beer), then going back to Conaf to 16-01. by the level of camp Puesco there is a bridge but closed by gate, easy to cross by left side, i decided not to go but then I was in that place, the way is just here. Just one spiny fence without any gate on the way.<br />
<br />
If you go just the larger "road" for a car you will get join to the 16-01 which in some case is marked by some horse trail or something like this - I returned thinking I'm lost but I would get the route. In Trancura a car stopped me and took me to Curarrehue.<br />
<br />
* 2024-01-28 to 2024-01-31: Fangwen and Tobi / 4 days Villarrica traverse<br />
<br />
Like many others, we chose to do the scenic Villarrica traverse. We skipped the first day around the Villarrica mountain and started from CONAF Chinay (by taking an Uber -- until 1km before CONAF it's 2wd friendly). We left our stuff at the somewhat abandoned looking campsite at S 39° 27.571', W 071° 49.815' and went for a short hike up to Glaciar Pichillancahue. Nice, but not really a must in our opinion. The next day we hiked to the refreshing waterfalls at S 39° 30.715', W 071° 45.147' and camped there. The third day, we went up to the rim of the Quetrupillan volcano -- nice views! This involved hiking up some snowfields (but no technical gear was required). The peak itself involves scrambling up a short route. Not difficult but the rock is incredibly crumbly and so we turned around. Fun descent via buttsliding down the snowfields. Hike to the very scenic Lago Azul. We pushed on along the very scenic trail and camped at S 39° 33.759', W 071° 39.654', a bit after the getting back across the border to Chile from Argentina. The argentinian side would make for an awesome campsite with a great sunset too (in our case, there was also water from snowmelt), especially at S 39° 34.315', W 071° 40.548'. The fourth day was simply a hike out with a short stop at another lake. Easy hitchhike back to Pucón.<br />
<br />
* 2024-Jan-12 to 2024-Jan-16 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Villarrica Traverse / Alex & Lotti<br />
<br />
We liked this hike a lot, especially the diversity of the landscape with the forests, volcanoes and lakes. We were happy that we did it in eastbound direction, because this way the landscape got more and more beautiful towards the end, and transportation to and from trail was easy. <br />
Trail conditions were very good, only the trail from "Cafe Villarrica Traverse" to the Puesco CONAF office (part of Option 1) was overgrown and sometimes hard to find. <br />
<br />
Camping:<br />
Estero Nilfe (Beautiful view, no clean water), CONAF camp Chinay (weird abandoned construction site, but river close), Laguna Azul (beautiful campsite, but clearly used by many people, not much trash when we were there), Laguna Las Avurtardas (beautiful lake and campsite, lots of cow and horse shit, so water has to be filtered)<br />
<br />
Transport to start:<br />
We took an Uber to the Ski Center and paid 12000 pesos (more than what the driver asked for, but he had to wait for us while we did the registration at the CONAF office, so we paid a little extra).<br />
<br />
Transport from end:<br />
Bus at 5pm from the CONAF office in Puesco to Curarrehue, then bus to Pucon. (There is a river with nice swimming sites very close to the CONAF office to make waiting for the bus enjoyable) <br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-19 to 2024-Jan-24 / 5 days / Hiking / (eastbound?) / Villarrica traverse RR - {16-04} - {16-02} - {16} - {16-A} - {16-01} / Andrew<br />
<br />
This was my favourite hike so far. I did it in 5 days, but I wish I'd added an extra day to do the 2 side trips mentioned by Nat and Tomas (Quetrupillan summit and glacier Pichillancahue). Notes for logistics if you're doing the traverse and plan to return to Pucon: Chili Kiwi hostel won't store bags during the high season while you hike, but Gecko hostel will (for $5.000 CLP).<br />
<br />
Day 1 (trail start to Zanjón pino Huacho):<br />
<br />
Two rides got me up to CONAF station. I registered for the hike, $10.000 CLP, and they gave me a map of the trail and a tag for my backpack. I only saw the park rangers once however in the final 2km of the trail. Officially no wild camping. I was eager (ok maybe impatient) to start so I started hiking up to the ski centre after about 15 minutes without success hitchhiking. In hindsight I wished I waited longer, as the 8km uphill to the ski centre is not that interesting. I ate lunch at the ski centre, refilled my water bottles, and started the trek.<br />
<br />
Incredible landscapes, going back and forth between barren volcanic rocks spotted with wildflowers to tall grasses. I found a stream that looked clear at ( 39°24'57.16"S, 71°58'18.54"W), so I drank water from it. Otherwise no water until Zanjón pino Huacho where I camped.<br />
<br />
Day 2 (Zanjón pino Huacho to near Chinay):<br />
<br />
Started with Araucaria forests, and then back to volcanic landscapes. First glimpse of the twin peaks of Choshuenco/Mocho and later on Lanin. After Valle de Fuego, you up and down over a couple valleys, the last one had a stream and that's where I had lunch. Long uphill stretch, a stand of Araucaria trees, and then windings paths through tall grasses just above the treeline. Many day hikers walking up from Pichillancahue to the mirador del volcan. River Pichillancahue looked like it had some nice places to camp, but marked with no camping signs. With so many people going back and forth I decided to continue onwards. I camped at an official looking campground with a water spigot and a thunder box close to Chinay.<br />
<br />
Day 3 (near Chinay to Quetrupillan waterfall):<br />
<br />
After Chinay there is a long uphill but worth it for the views. Partway up the hill there's a sign for water 20 m downhill. Tricky to get to, but this is the last water for several hours. I was carrying 1.75L and that wasn't enough. Amazing views up high, then a slow descent. Found some muddy pools, and then finally a clear stream at (39°30'25.70"S, 71°45'15.91"W). Lots of blackflies, but there was a cool moment where a lizard crawled onto my shoes and started hunting them. Camped at Quetrupillán waterfalls, stunning landscapes and view of the fire from Villarrica at night.<br />
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Day 4 (Quetrupillan waterfall to Laguna Avutardas):<br />
<br />
A couple spots where the trail is covered in snow and you need to find your own way down. Stopped at Laguna Azul for lunch. Sad to see the state of the campground there, so much trash. If you're doing the traverse make sure you don't start following the main GPT trail after the lake like I did. And then it's worth going back to the main trail even if you have to cross the river at a difficult spot. I tried to find another crossing, and then made my own way through the lava field which was difficult, would not recommend. Continued onwards, more snow. Laguna blanca was worth a detour. More amazing views, and then the last snowing section followed by a long muddy descent to Laguna Avutardas. Several other Villarrica traverse hikers camped on the beach.<br />
<br />
Day 5 (Launa Avutardas to end):<br />
<br />
Coldest night by far with frost on my tent in the morning! Easy hike to the road. First sighting of the park rangers. Hitchhiked back to Pucon.<br />
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*2024-Jan-17 to 2024-Jan-19 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {16-02} - {16-03} - {16-02} - RR - {16-B} / Lilian<br />
<br />
I really enjoy GPT16, walking on the beach beside Laguna Blanca, climbing Volcán Quetrupillán, camping at outlet of Laguna Azul and soaking in hot spring at Liquiñe, they are all so lovely.<br />
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Volcán Quetrupillán still covered by lot of snow above 1930m. Also need to climb up a 40° snow slope and traverse to it's rim. Take your time.<br />
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RR km0 - km8.9 : dirt road walking.<br />
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Km8.0 : clear water flowing beside the road. (-39.38490, -71.63200)<br />
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Km8.3 : camping possibilities on grassland at uphill side with no fence.(-39.38470, -71.63648)<br />
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Km8.65 : locked gate with barbed wire fence, a house just behind the gate, better ask for the permission first.<br />
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Km8.9 : 4 way junction, dirt road become an old trail.<br />
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Km9.75 : crossing of barbed wire fence, no more gate here. 2 holes at fence , one is already covered by bamboo, another one is at (-39.38352, -71.64776), go through it you will connect to an dirt road at other side.<br />
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Km10.1 : locked gate with barbed wire fence. Open the gate at top, remains the lock there and big step over, my legs are too short, the barbed wire breaks a hole at my shorts here ;(<br />
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Km11.1 : locked gate with barbed wire fence. At right side there is a small gap let small people go through, but not for backpack, so climb it!<br />
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Km11.15 : bridge and a stream flowing good at right side(-39.39046, -71.65845), go over the bridge then you will find a side trail at right side to stream.<br />
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Km11.3 : bridge and a stream flowing good, but no way to go down.<br />
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Km11.35 : locked gate with barbed wire fence. Climb.<br />
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Km11.7 : crossing of barbed wire fence, no more gate here. Houses at (-39.39480, -71.66123), a dog continues barking when i was climbing the fence, make me so anxiety...<br />
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Km12.2 : finally, this gate can open it with the chain at middle. But i didn't know it can be opened before i saw the chain, so i climbed the gate...<br />
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FYI : RR follow the valley and Estero Huililco climbing up, but no clear water, because the river is milky.<br />
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Km16.5 : grassland(-39.42330, -71.65069) with no fence can fit many tents, but i think this spot is just for group hikers, because it is beside the road without any covers, every cars passing here must see you, it is not safe for solo hiker.<br />
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Km18.25 : camping spot can fit 2-3 tents with fire ring beside the river. Some trees and bushes here, very little privacy.<br />
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Km18.6 : bus stop here, and i don't know about the bus schedule.<br />
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Km18.65 - km19.2 : look like is a paid campground.<br />
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Km20.05 : dirt road junction, an old dirt road at left side, flat and without rocks, you can camp here if need. South of RR in this forest also lot spots for camping.<br />
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Km23.15 : crossing of a milky stream, just above ankle. It is the last reliable water until Laguna Blanca.<br />
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Km26.25 : junction of dirt road and trail, RR is turn to trail now, dirt road will end by damaged and huge blowdown, so turn left and climb up on the trail.<br />
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Km27 : information board( with Spanish and English). From the board, RR-CC-A[29.3+5.9] is the official route.<br />
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Km29.3 : junction of RR and {16-A}, RR at here is a clear trail, not CC. Easy to follow.<br />
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Km29.85 : water spot(-39.51775, -71.65871)! Tiny stream flowing low with fresh, clear and cold water by snow melts, easy to collect. No water at downstream, because it just flow some meters then seep into sand. Some more tiny streams also flowing low beside the trail or across the trail by snow melts, but i think this is the best one in some km.<br />
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Km30.6 : viewpoint of Lanín! Some snow patch nearby, flat and easy to walk on.<br />
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Km32.6 : Laguna Blanca, cross 2 chocolate stream, just above ankle, but the riverbed is muddy in some steps.<br />
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Km33.05 : a 80m snow patch, not steep, not difficult, but you'll drop into the lake if slide.<br />
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Km35.2 : junction of RR and {16-A}. Tiny stream flowing good with fresh, clear and cold water by snow melts beside the junction, easy to collect. <br />
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Km35.4 : steep snow slope at east side of the pass. Better go around it at right side (north). Tiny stream flowing good with clear water by snow melts, at west side of the pass too.<br />
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Ford[36.6/1652] : crossing of a milky stream, above ankle.<br />
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Km37.6 - km38 , km39.9 - km40.1 : snow patches, easily go around.<br />
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Then i go for {16-02} then {16-03} climbing Volcán Quetrupillán.<br />
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{16-02} km0.15 : small stream flowing good with clear water by snow melts, easy to collect.<br />
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Km1.65 : snow patch.<br />
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Km1.9 : junction of {16-02} and {16-03}, {16-03} maybe sometime have rock cairns, but i just find the trail when it is already very close to summit, so mostly CC go by yourself. {16-02} km2.1 to pass[2.5/1924], almost half is covered by snow, it becomes steep when get close to pass, be careful.<br />
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{16-03} km0.45 : snow slope steep go down, i go down at a little north, the slope is much shorter.<br />
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Km1.15 : due to lot of snow melts, the milky lake become larger than it shows on map. So walk a little east to go around.<br />
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Km1.3 : snow start, i recommend just walking on snow to trail junction waypoint at km2.1, it is gentle.<br />
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Km2.1 : tiny stream(-39.51478, -71.73556) flowing low with clear water just beside the trail junction (but i didn't see any trail here.)<br />
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Then the climbing is covered by lot of snow. You can walk on a dry rocky slope until km2.45, then choose continue finding dry slope to walk (but they are going around and around so the distance are a little longer and some puds, also sometimes block by snow wall), or climbing up on snow directly. <br />
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I climbed on the snow slope, because they are stable and not too steep, looks like better than following rock cairns on the dry slope.<br />
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When you arrive km3.7(-39.50145, -71.72655), look up to the mountain top. Of course the sharp peak at left is Quetrupillán, and your target is climbing up to the part at its right side, red colour and a little rocky one, that's the pass(-39.49857, -71.72277), also trail there.<br />
<br />
Because most of the slope still covered by snow, so go a little southeast, you'll find a dry rock slope, parallel to GPX tracks. Not too much, but at least some places you can stand on easily and take a short break in climbing. Straight climb up the 40° snow slope to km4.05(2265m) (-39.50003, -71.72333), then traverse to the red part, trail is here(-39.49889, -71.72298). When it close to the red part, the snow slope becomes a little icy, kick step and be careful.<br />
<br />
Arrive on the red, you can follow the loose rocky trail to the pass. You can continue climbing up to summit or walking on the rim for views.<br />
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After enjoying the moments for volcano, i slide down at here(-39.49886, -71.72313), a good way without rocks. Then skiing back to {16-02}. Lot fun!<br />
<br />
I took 4.5 hours for climbing up and 2.5 hours for go down back to Laguna Azul. At my first plan, i want to go down to camp beside the waterfall at (-39.51315, -71.74967) then back to the Laguna Azul on next day, but it looks like lot of snow in the valley after the no trail's trail junction, also need a steep going down the pass. So i just take a round trip even i climbed Quetrupillán with my full backpack.<br />
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<br />
<br />
RR lake,camp[40.2/1597] : Laguna Azul, clear water. Can fit 3-4 tents under some short trees, with fire ring and wind protection, but a little crowded.<br />
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Ford[40.3/1593] : lake outlet, wet feet crossing, a beautiful camping spot can fit 1 tent just downstream 20m, another crossing point there too.<br />
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Camp[40.3/1601] : still covered by snow patch now.<br />
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Km41.7 : camping area with fire pit and log seats, covered by many trees.<br />
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X[49.6/997] : 4 way junction, some more junctions at south.<br />
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Water[51.1/871] : flowing low with clear water.<br />
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Km51.6 : 3 way junction, at left, a good road going down at east side of the valley. At right is RR, go down at west side of valley. Road is heavy damage just after the junction, be careful for crossing, the road is collapsing(-39.60354, -71.81894).<br />
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Km51.9 - km52.4 : a large beautiful grassland, nice camping spot. Start from here, the "road" becomes better condition.<br />
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X[55.6/618] : junction of RR and a good road, looks like coming from other sidecof valley.<br />
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Km57.75: grassland, camping spot.<br />
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Settlement, bridge[58.6/440] : the road is damaged before the "bridge", a board bridge (-39.65286, -71.84399) for human crossing. The bridge also is damaged, looks like washed away, so crossing at upstream (-39.65410, -71.84389), rock bar underwater, above ankle. This stream's water is flowing good with clear water. After crossing is a nice spot with lunch, well tree shade. Fire ring and log seats under a tree too, but it is in the area of settlement.<br />
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Camp[62.1/486] : i didn't notice the spot when i passed here, maybe I missed it.<br />
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Km64.5 : junction of RR and {16-B}, i take {16-B} because of shorter distance to main road, also no need to climb up 120m again as RR.<br />
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Settlement, shop[66.5/237] : small shop, a little pricey but good stock for resupply, very friendly. ( I think the shops in Liquiñe is much pricey too)<br />
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Then i walked all the way to Liquiñe, no bus and no luck(no successful hitch).<br />
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For resupply details read GPT17.<br />
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<br />
<br />
*2023-01-02/05 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + volcano Quetrupillán / Hermann & Coline<br />
<br />
The GPT16 was a really nice experience !<br />
<br />
Milagro, who hosted us in Liquiñe, gave us cherries and nuts for the travel ! With that, the sloapses up-hill felt less hard than it was for our legs.<br />
<br />
We slept at the Camp Without Water {16} [52.3/794] the first night (and even found water nearby). We arrived at the Laguna Azul the next day.<br />
<br />
We stayed there two days, so that I could walk up to the summit of Volcano Quetrupillán.<br />
<br />
The ascension was okay. The sunny sky was a bit covered by clouds, but without wind. I just had a headhick after, because of the UVs reflecting on the snow (I guess). There are some places where one's can't avoid walking on it, so I took my time to "read" the landscape (underground rivers etc).<br />
<br />
I left the GPT to take the optional road on Locus, that follows the crater at the end. It was scary at the top, but not dangerous.<br />
<br />
On the way back, I started by following a group of men on a much easier way going westbound. Then, I went south and it was easy to follow the landlarks I had token outbound (the frozen lake for instance).<br />
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There was wind in the mid of the day and two chilians warned us that there would be snow in the night. Therefore, we spend the night at the Laguna Blanca : lot's of wind, but no snow there and even a new glacier river in the morning !<br />
<br />
Thanks to the previous posts on Wikiexplora and also to Lukas and Tess we've meet on the way, we took enough water for the next 30kms down-hill. Actually, there was a river (probably due to the storm), even crossing the road at some point, but I'm not sure it was drinkable.<br />
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We went to Catripulli instead of Currarehue. We wanted to take a bus to Villarica – where there is a Scotiabank –, and to skip sections 14 & 15, so to join the GPT again at Icalma. This was a bad idea... There's no direct bus between Villarica and Melipeuco ; we had to first reach Temuco. Moreover, there's no bus from Melipeuco to Icalma, so we hitchhiked. (There were not many cars ; it took us a day.)<br />
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Food : <br />
1. In Liquiñe, the shop just before the bridge is smaller and more expensive than the others (saying Milagro). <br />
2. There are no piñones at the foot of the Araucanian tree, since the season starts in march (saying a woman who took us in her car). <br />
3. In Catripulli, there's a shop with all you need and more – even argentinian cakes and Malta beers ! <br />
<br />
<br />
2024-Jan-10 to 2024-Jan-12 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + option 4 +sendero glacier <br />
Pichillancahue ( we did a cross country after towards the East to go to the Morador Los volcanoes ) / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
- Water : easy to find<br />
- Snow : still snow left on the Quatrupillen volcano but manageable to go up <br />
- Camping spot : easy to find<br />
- Weather : Sunny<br />
- Resupply : in Pucon to start and in Conaripe at the end of the section<br />
<br />
*2023-29-12 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 1 and 4 / Jens <br />
<br />
Hitchhiked from Curarrehue to the trailhead of Option 1.<br />
<br />
I didn't pay any entrance fees. <br />
<br />
Lots of water until Villarrica volcano. Around the volcano good camping but little water. Water was clean. <br />
<br />
Hitchhiked from the ski resort to Pucon. Lots of people in the resort for daywalks.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Mar-01 to 2023-Mar-05 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH-01 & 02 + Quetrupillan summit + Villarica traverse / Martial.<br />
<br />
Puesco - Pucón<br />
Villarica traverse is indeed an interesting alternative for GPT16. The views on Volcanos are gorgeous and trail in good conditions for the all trip. My personal camping recomandations are Laguna azul, volcan Quetrupillan waterfall (on osm : -39.51160, -71.75365) and estero aihue (39.47713° S, 71.88582° W) or Zanjón pino Huacho for clean water access and sleep under the stars ✨ Although siphon water from the bucket in the zanjon was hard but should be better after recent rains.. Water from the various glaciar rivers is way cleaner in the morning to be drunk. An interesting combo for people in need for a treat would be stopping in Termas Geometricas wich looks to be one of the best attraction of the region.. (20mil or so)<br />
I luckily was granted with nice weather for Quetrupillan climb wich for me is really worth-it. Hopefully you get a lucky ride for the long descent from the centro de ski to Pucón. Take plenty of water if you start nobo !<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-22 to 2023-Feb-26 / 4 days / Hiking / OH-01 +03 Villarrica traverse (West-bound?) / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
We did not end up following the GPT but instead ended up doing the Villarrica Traverse (so options 01 and 03 of GPT and then some more). It was our last trip before flights back home so ending directly in Pucón made the most sense, just sad that our last hike wasn't actually on the GPT...<br />
<br />
Thoughts: Really beautiful, surprisingly diverse and not as many people as expected. The busiest place was at Laguna Azul and the glacier lookout. We are both very happy to have walked it and since it was our last hike it was a pleasure to be on trails that allowed one to reflect rather than think about the next step. Highlights were the ease of the trails, vistas, Araucaria sillouettes, a return to volcanic landscapes, the crater of Quetrupillan and the forest canopy. <br />
<br />
Access: Bus from Curarrehue to Puesco leaves at 5pm, just once a day. It leaves from here;-39.36321, -71.58433 and is white and green. Probably easier to hitch as it only goes to Puesco (aka CONAF). It leaves Puesco to Curarrehue at 730am supposedly.<br />
<br />
Description: The traverse is well documented and therefore I will only explain two different side trips. Note that if coming from Puesco the last section between Chinnay camping and the ski hill is scarce of water because most water available is recommended not to drink due to high levels of ash in the melting glacier. The two good sources are; estero aihue; 39.47713° S, 71.88582° W and Zanjón pino Huacho which is actually just a tap over a bucket; 39.43604° S, 71.99502° W. There is also an app you can use to follow the traverse; https://villarricatraverse.cl/<br />
<br />
Camping at Laguna Azul is crowded (in the minds of a GPT hiker) so one can camp on a different beach or up high on the trees on the south side of the lake. Wild camping is supposedly illegal but does not seem to apply for the section of the traverse between Chinnay and the ski resort, there are many bivy spots. <br />
<br />
Side trips:<br />
First side trip, Volcán Quetrupillan:<br />
If one is doing the traverse and wants to summit Quetrupillan easily and quickly I recommend following the osm trail on the NW side of the summit, there is a good trail, however we both did something different. Tomáš was successful at making a traverse of the summit and I was not. From lake Azul we followed the GPT option03 until the base of the col where one goes straight up to the crater. I continued on the GPT trail and turned back ~2m from the true summit due to the terrible rock quality but at least the way to the crater was easy (if you are there know that the red dirt is soft and not that steep). Tomáš on the other hand went one ridge further south and was able to easily follow it up to the summit, traverse south on the summit and come down on the osm trail. He notes there were only two bits of simple scrambling but was still easy despite having his bag. After my failed attempt on the summit I just went straight down the West side of the mountain to hit the normal Villarrica traverse and met back up with Tomáš.<br />
<br />
Second side trip, glacier Pichillancahue to above "glacier mirrado" and back to normal trail (the route is on OSM):<br />
When coming from Chinnay there is a very obvious trailhead for Glaciar pichillancahue. Tomáš used this to make a small but high traverse to somewhere near Estero Aihue and therefore avoiding the last bit of road walking and elevation loss. I was lazy and hungry and opted to have lunch at the camping Pichillancahue instead which was a terrible decision because the water there was barely drinkable (ash and dirt) and Tomáš supposedly had nice clean water up top. <br />
<br />
If it wasn't for bad weather I think this traverse could be done easily in 3days, even two if you are efficient. We took 4 because we had one morning of rain and were in no need of rushing and did the sidetrips. However it would have been nice to have one more free day to rent gear and try to climb Villarrica but the information on whether or not the summit is open was very confusing. Locals told us it was closed but you could go up most of the way if you had gear but then again there was a mountain guide who said we could go, so it will be a mystery. We both would love to come back to this area with simple glacier gear and climb Villarrica and Lanin and also go back to Sollipulli to traverse its glacier. For now it will have to wait :)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-02 t 2023-Feb-05 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Quetrupillan + OH-01 / Yannic & Mirjam <br />
<br />
Very beautiful and easy stage. We hitchhiked from Panguipulli to Liquine and then via option 16-B to the camp at Laguna Azul. Very pleasant path in the forest with a slow ascent.<br />
We stayed at the lagoon for 2 days and made a day trip to the volcano. The trail was not always easy because of the strong wind and the occasional snowfields. East of option 16-03 there is another way marked on the map, a little more to the east could be good, because then you avoid the two big snowfields that you see at the top.<br />
<br />
From Laguna Azul we continued via Laguna Blanca on the Villarica Traverse (Option 16-01) to Laguna Las Avutardas. The road is well maintained and the landscape after the second pass is fascinatingly different from the previous one. Very nice camping spot at the lagoon.<br />
From the primary road we caught a car to Curarrehue and from there a bus to Pucon.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-29 to 2023-Jan-31 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maks & Gabi <br />
<br />
Started in Catripulli and hichhiked to 16km of RR. We found it as a good solution to skip road walking as it is not so attractive. Remember to take enough water with you because on ascent to Laguna Blanca there is only one silty river. This part is not so hard unless the temperature is high and you are walking like us in the midday. Probably the ascent road is going to be worst cos they are destroying the trail to build a road ( most probably - it doesn't look nice and it's quite annoying ) <br />
There is quite a new gate with old sign on 18,5km ( it looks like entrance to some private propertie with seperate plots), it was open so we just walked through and we didn't meet anyone to ask. <br />
<br />
Plateau is really amazing, worth seeing and there are a lots of tiny streams near Laguna Blanca with clean water.<br />
At Laguna Azul there are a lot of tourists sleeping there.<br />
Descent was plesent until the road started.<br />
The entire trail is well visible. <br />
Down there there is community of mapuche, they are really nice and talkative. There is a chance that when going NOBO or sleeping on their land you will have to ask about permission to go through but it shouldn't be a problem. <br />
We hitchhiked with one of them last 3 km of RR.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-27 to 2023-Jan-29 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Quetrupillan / Will <br />
<br />
I also came in through Catripulli. I caught two quick rides but was still left with three hours of hot uphill road walking. If you aren't worried about connecting footsteps I bet you could find a better start/end point. The other hikers out there (on the Villarrica traverse) were mostly ending at Puesco, I heard rumors of a bus there. Sounds like a much better route if the bus exists. This is marked as option 1.<br />
<br />
Coming out of the woods the alpine section was beautiful but short. I spent two nights at Laguna Azul, taking a side trip up Quetrupillan. There were a lot of fun snowfields to navigate. My new shoes were grippy enough to get me through easily even though I didn't bring my trekking poles. Most of the water was chalky.<br />
<br />
The final scramble up to the summit (after reaching the snow filled crater) was treacherous. Might not be worth it. I went up around the right because it looked like a more gradual climb but I had a few big solid looking boulders come loose and tumble down. The route straight up seems better.<br />
<br />
Laguna Azul was bustling, both nights I was camped with a few Europeans doing the Villarrica traverse. Met a crazy dutch couple biking it. I even heard that there were some people visiting by helicopter, before I showed up.<br />
<br />
At the end I walked down to Liquiñe, lots of food places along the road. I camped at the Termas de Punulaf (decent, 15000 pesos) before continuing onto section 17H (highly recommended!).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-23 to 2023-Jan-24 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna & Christopher<br />
<br />
Catripulli - Reyehueico<br />
Short and easy section!<br />
<br />
From Pucón we took a bus at 19:30 to Catripulli (Buses Currarehue, last one leaves at 21:00). From there we hitchhiked to km 18 of the RR. We camped next to Estero Huililco (silty water as the others mentioned).<br />
<br />
The next accessible water source is the ford of Estero Huililco at km 23. The walking until the plateau is easy (dirt roads and good paths), no navigation issues at all.<br />
Around Laguna Blanca there was still some clear water of the snowmelt. Here walking got a bit tougher due to the sand, but the plateau really is beautiful. After Laguna Blanca there is a good, visible path again until Laguna Azul. We camped at the Laguna and had the first rainy/stormy night.<br />
<br />
Because of the bad weather we didn't climb the volcano the next day and went down directly. It's a good path the whole way. Around 4 km before Reyehueico we got a ride directly to Panguipulli :)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-05 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: Catripulli - Laguna Blanca - Laguna Azul - summit of Volcán Quetrupillan - Reyehueico <br />
<br />
I found this section beautiful, and quite easy, since most of the time you are on 4x4 tracks or well-maintained CONAF trails. No navigation issues whatsoever. <br />
<br />
Pucón is a bustling hiking town, great place to get new gear/shoes and resupply. I stayed a few days at Chili Kiwi Hostel there, highly recommend! Buses from Pucón to Catripulli and Curarrehue are very frequent, I did not have to wait. <br />
<br />
I started in Catripulli because the road walk is shorter from there. I was very lucky and ended up getting a ride (without even trying) up to the end of the gravel road beyond Rinconada, where a wooden gate marks the start of a lovely forest trail. As others have mentioned, Río Huililco is quite silty, and although the trail follows this river a while, I didn't collect any water there. The first night I camped at the treeline before the final climb to Laguna Blanca (before the start of the CC section). I found some good water in the ravine east of the trail, but it required some bushwhacking down a steep hill covered in vegetation.<br />
<br />
The plateau up by Laguna Blanca is beautiful, there are multiple creeks feeding the lake — some of them are silty, but others are clear, just pure snowmelt. The cross-country section had a nice path running through most of it, so navigation was very easy. Between Laguna Blanca and Laguna Azul, there are still some snow patches, but they are easy to walk across or around. <br />
<br />
I dropped most of my gear off at Laguna Azul to climb the volcano. I started around 11 a.m. and got back at 4 p.m., this included an almost hour-long break at the top to take in the spectacular views of Volcán Villarrica and Volcán Lanín. There's still a fair bit of snow on Quetrupillan, and instead of following the GPS I went up my own way to the rim, avoiding most of the snowfields. The crater is filled with snow, it's awesome! Coming back down, I half ran, half slid down a giant snow field, which was a lot of fun. That night I went for a swim and camped at Laguna Azul, a beautiful spot. For the first time on the GPT, there were other people (local tourists) camped with me there! <br />
<br />
The rest of the trail down to Reyehueico is easy, downhill through a mature forest. Once you get to Trafún Chico, the trail becomes a gravel road. I was able to hitch the last couple kilometers to the main road, and get a ride to Panguipulli to resupply and head down to GPT19 after. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2022-Jan-01 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + summit of Quetrupillan / Molly og Melissa <br />
<br />
5 days - including a very short day due to bad weather<br />
We were passed by a car on the gravel road shortly after Reyehueico. They told us that the place marked as camp on the GPS was closed, but we could camp on their land a little before on the place marked bridge. They wanted 5000 pesos per person, and there are no facilities, so we found it a little expensive but didn't want to discuss in the rain. They also sold us freshly baked bread which were huge and the best we have had so far, as well as sopaipillas. The gravel road here was pretty, but a lot of aggressive dogs who could easily crawl under their fences to follow us. We only had to climb one gate which seemed to be more to keep in cows than to keep out any hikers. At the waypoint gate there was nothing. <br />
We camped right before the waypoint water before Laguna Azul.<br />
At Laguna Azul there are two camp waypoints, the first is a little spot on the river bank, the second is the "real" camp with lots of spots in a little forest right next to the lake. It's nice, but there have been left a lot of garbage.<br />
<br />
From there, you follow the Villarica traverse trail for some kilometres through very beautiful landscapes. When you reach the valley where Lago Blanco is (it really is white), you leave the trail for some fairly easy cross-country around the lake. On the far side, the whole valley was covered in water and we had to walk barefoot, but it was after three very rainy days.<br />
Finding the path at treeline was a little difficult, but we just made sure to be right on the trail on the GPS and found it. Then followed a short trip through beautiful aucaria forest, followed by a gravel road. Here, we saw several "no entrar" signs meant for people going towards the national park, but there was no one around. We even asked for water while still in the no entrar-zone as we didn't know, and weren't told off. It was difficult to find a campsite, but at La Rinconada there was a house saying "Es bienvenido aquí", maybe you could ask there.<br />
We accidentally walked to catripulli instead of currarehue as we missed the turn off and realized too late. <br />
<br />
Water:<br />
Until Laguna Azul, no problem. At Lago Blanco we didn't find any streams that weren't chalky, though we thought that some streams running down the mountain on the far right side might look better. We didn't investigate, though, as we thought we had enough. However, Estero Huilinco was the same, so we ended up asking at a house if we could get some water.<br />
<br />
Summit:<br />
We basecamped at Laguna Azul and followed the nicely marked trail up. Be aware that the summit route diverges after about a kilometre, with no trail to be seen. We followed the GPS for a while but decided to walk to the crater rim somewhere else, as the summit seemed more difficult and the height difference isn't that big anyway. The volcano itself looked a lot like Volcan Puyehue, but the views were different of course, and the crater had a lot more snow. It was great to spend an extra day above the treeline.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-05 to 2021-Dec-07 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / Villarrica Traverse / Alex Abramov <br />
<br />
We made Villarrica Traverse here. This traverse is an excellent variant to go in (out) to (from) GPT.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Matthieu<br />
<br />
From Liquiñe to Catripulli<br />
Following the RR, I personnally never had to cross any barriers of barbed wire or closed portals. It is all an official CONAF trail. <br />
I used Lago Azul as a base camp to do the ascent of the summit. Awesome place. <br />
A little cheer to Ty, America and Sanita with who we had (I assume) the biggest GPT hikers camp of the year !<br />
<br />
-The ascent: <br />
Better use your head than your GPS, avoiding the snow to go up. The path I took was finally closed to the OH 002, going between the snow fields, but I never crossed any trail road. <br />
The very end is quite steepy and the rocks easy to break, and you have to climb a little bit to arrive to the final cairn. Better do it with good weather conditions and without your big bag ! I wasnt confident with going down the same way, so at the cairn I just took directly west down the rocks and actually found a downhill of good sand, really easy to do, fast and safe. No climbing down this way. I joined my previous tracks after, near the OH 002. <br />
<br />
-Water supply:<br />
As Ty say, No water between the end of Lago Blanco and a little bit before the Estero Huililco. The track is easy and fast thow in the forest, and I didnt take more water supply going down.<br />
<br />
I didnt do the final forest part just before Currarehue, hitchhiking to Catripulli.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-27 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Catripulli Start & Optional end to Conaripe / Ty & America <br />
<br />
We started at Catripulli because it was a bit shorter road walk compared to Curarrehue. Be aware of the big waterless start. You do have (mostly) friendly people on the road who are more than welcome to help with water. After Comunidad Rinconada (maps.me) don’t expect any water (besides the extremely chalky river water) all the way up to Laguna Blanco. Small Water falls on the right side of the lake have great clear water. We camped at Laguna Blanco by said falls a bit off the track file to find shelter from the wind. Then camped at Laguna azul the next day to summit the following morning. Beautiful place. Actual summit is sketchy, so we hiked to the rim and were perfectly content with that. I don’t recommend taking the optional OH-TL-V@16-02-#002 over the pass. It looked sketchy/snowy. The optional a bit further was perfectly fine. On the way down to conripe on OH-TL-V@16-02-#003 there is a good place to camp by water with plenty of wood ~1.5 km after the marked water source. We had luck hitching a ride from the termas at the bottom right to Conripe.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-7 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
3 days for this amazing section. Trail in good condition, no navigation difficulties. At 39°23'11"S 71°37'48"W, where it says "se vende leña eucalyptus", we didn't climb the huge locked gate to our right but just continued the minor road. We passed two unlocked gates and got back to the regular route after 1km. Shortly afterwards we arrived at a high fence of seven strands of barbed wire, where we turned left into the forest, following an almost invisible path, and after 500m finally found a gate and got back to the regular route after 1km.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-06 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank<br />
<br />
Came from GPT15, resupplied @ 2 supermarkets in Curarrehue. Going up from Curarrehue they are logging in the forest but track still clear. Went over the fence with 7 strands of barb wire. Later there is a wooden gate saying 'No Entry Residents Only' went over it onto track, no one around. When you cross the Estero Huilico fill up with water. You can wade it but if you go down on the left about 20 metres there is a footbridge hidden in the forest. Later you are near the river but it is in a gorge with dense vegetation so it's not accessible. Made a dry camp high up in the forest before the lakes. Hardly any snow left on the route. <br />
<br />
Near the end of the route there is no place to camp at 'Camp 119' but continue a little down the road & there is a tiny field just before 'Bridge 51' where you can camp. Just before it the road goes round in a loop, on the lower part of the loop are two houses next to each other. Ask there if it's OK to camp by the bridge. Just after the bridge I continued straight to the main road (marked bus, shop) to resupply. However, it's not necessary to do that, if you continue on the RR you will find shops in Liquine.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-13 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR from Liquiñe to where the trail joins the S-947 / Sophie & Hendrik <br />
<br />
We were 7 days on the trail, of which 2 were just camping out bad weather (23 walking hours) . First day we started late and went to what the first camp on the map. Next we went to the camp without water from the track files (We found some stream there. After filtering amd treading it with chloride we were able to drink it.) We stayed there one day, waiting for better weather. Next day we went to the Fort at Laguna Azul. However, we did not cross it until two days later, as we first waited for better weather conditions. Then we crossed the volcano and camped below the treeline on the other side. Last day we hiked to S-947 and hitchhiked to Pucón for some Food and a real bed.<br />
<br />
What we liked: Sudden changes of landscapes, beautiful Araucaria forrest, remoteness (didn't meet people for 5 days), breathtaking views and scenes on the volcano, the snow was beautiful (obviously depends on the season), the many plushy chilean tarantulas on the north side.<br />
<br />
What we did not like so much: The gravel roads on both ends of the section.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-22 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom & Maddie<br />
<br />
No issues, trail in good condition and cross country section is not hard to navigate. We took a bus out to Panguipulli at 08:00 on a weekday. We decided to skip 17 and 18. We then bussed to Los Lagos and then Futron and then to Rininahue. We then got a hitch back onto the regular route of 19 37km in. Less than 8hrs off the trail to skip 17/18.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-31 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / OH-02 Start from Termas el Rincon (Conaripe) to Currarehue / Jean & Virginie<br />
<br />
To start the option track (16-02) after el Rincon termas, we have to pass a gate closed but it was possible to pass on the left. We didnt see anyone inside.<br />
After few kilometers on the minor road in good condition, we pass a small house where the guy explained us the track (turn on thé right at the arrow marked Laguna to get on the trail - track a little bit different from the gpt route but that join it further). After we went up on Quetrupillan volcano with amazing view. Trail in good condition and easy to navigate. This option join the regular route at the laguna Azul, nice site to camp. After the cross country section was not difficult to follow and the end until Currarehue was alternation of (a bit) overgrown trails and minor roads (+ some barbed wire).<br />
Bus to Pucon every 20 min from Currarehue.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-18 / Sophie & Hendrik<br />
<br />
90% - 95% of the area from 1500m upwards are completely covered in snow. Think about snow shoes and be careful as there are melting streams covered and hidden by snow.<br />
Also, unlike us, keep in mind that snow reflects the sun and can cause burns from below on your nose and chin.<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
*Kara Davis<br />
<br />
Follow the main road, 199-CH, south out of Curarrehue until the gravel road turn off, S-981. After several kilometers, the road transitions to single track through a eucalyptus forest. Be careful to not follow one of the several other tracks that wind through the forest. The trail exits onto a gravel road, S-947, that follows Estero Huilico. Turn off onto a 4WD track, but be aware there are several other 4WD track spurs. The trail narrows into an obvious single track as you enter Parque Nacional Villarrica. Be prepared for the possibility of snow during this section at higher elevations. At treeline the trail ends and the cross-country traverse begins. <br />
This cross-country traverse follows the volcanic landscape at the base of Volcán Quetrupillán. During high snow years, Laguna Blanca may be frozen and snow covered. Be aware that snowpack may make parts of the GPS route difficult, and keep safety in mind when choosing a route. Instead of following the recommended route which ascends through a chute, snowpack forced us to climb up to a pass further to the left and then rejoin the route. Depending on the time of year, Laguna Azul may also be frozen, but water is available at the stream crossing at the southern end. After beginning the descent into the forest, try and find a well maintained trail. The trail joins a dirt road, T-447, which continues until the paved highway, 201-CH, to Carringue.<br />
Town: Carriringue. <br />
Carriringue is a tiny town with a small market which offers snacks but is difficult to resupply out of. There are also several signs advertising Cabañas.<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Pucón:<br />
About 30 minutes bus ride off trail. A hiking tourism town that has everything a hiker might need<br />
<br />
*Catripulli:<br />
A little down the road from Currarehue. Has two small shops which probably sell pastas and other basic stuff<br />
<br />
*Currarehue:<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
You can buy bread and sopaipillas at the house right before the "bridge" waypoint just before Reyehueico.<br />
<br />
A house in La Rinconada sells eggs<br />
<br />
Some Aucaria trees<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
2022-Jan:<br />
Busses go from Panguipulli to Reyehueico on weekdays, and from Valdivia to Panguipulli (two hours bus ride) every day. Hitching was quite easy for us even though it was raining.<br />
<br />
The bus from Currarehue through Catripulli to Pucón leaves approximately every 15 minutes on weekdays, and every 30 minutes on weekends - goes in both directions - about 30 minutes<br />
<br />
(2020-Feb)<br />
<br />
Bus Pucón - Curarrehue <br />
<br />
Mo-Sa 11:00<br />
<br />
Su 12:15<br />
<br />
Operator Igi Llaima, Terminal, Palguín 550<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT16 - Volcán Quetrupillan]]<br />
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=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109172879.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|[[Volcán Lanín]] from GPT16]]<br />
[[File:Quetrupillan 01.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|[[Volcán Quetrupillán]] from GPT16]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (1).jpg|thumb|center|1100px|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 16]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226459.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226460.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226461.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226462.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226596.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109173354.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109172977.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109173084.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226451.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT12_(Rio_Rahue)&diff=114335GPT12 (Rio Rahue)2024-02-20T10:28:48Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Feb-15 to 2024-Feb-18 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH11-02B + OH11-02 + OH12-C + OH12-N / Joscha<br />
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I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br />
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Day 1: RR [5.9-7.2]<br />
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I directly continued from section 11 and just hiked up to the camp at km 7.2. There is a small wooden shed and right next to it one small flat spot (big enough for a 1-person tent)<br />
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Day 2: RR [7.2-9.7] + OH11-02B + OH11-02B + RR [12.9-33.9] + OH12-C + RR [34.3-37.7]<br />
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There is lots of water around the two hotsprings Pelehue, but it has a sulfur taste. I can absolutly recommended OH11-02B and OH11-02. You have to scramble up some steep, rocky slopes, but the 360 ° views up there are amazing. There is Water at km 0.6 of 02-B and water provided by big melting snowfield right next to RR at km 14.0. The Banos Coyucos Hotspring (km 20.5) are nice and big enough for at least 3 people. I had no problems with flies at Laguna Marinanqui. The Puesto at the camp at km 37.7 is broken down and there are a few flat spots next to it. There is water at all markers.<br />
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Day 3: RR [37.7-69.4]<br />
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No Water at the Water ? waypoint at km 54.4. But RR passes a Laguna at km 55.9. There is also water at km 62.4 and 66.8. And at all water and ford waypoints.<br />
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Day 4: RR [69.4-88.0] + OH12-N + RR [91.5-102.2] + no official track to finish<br />
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Water at km 87.7 is the last water SOBO. There is a barbed wire fence around km 102.2. There is no easy way to climb over it. Therefore I continued in south western direction until the Ruta 181.<br />
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*2024-Feb-05 to 2024-Feb-10 / 5.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Liucura - Section 11 on RR / RR / Alex & Christophe<br />
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We really think this section is nice NOBO as it gets more and more interesting as you walk on it.<br />
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We took the bus at 7:30 on a Monday in Temuco and arrived in Liucura around 13:00.<br />
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After a Churrasco just next to the Border Control, we walked only until -38.443407, -71.000961 as it was really hot and the backpacks felts a bit too heavy. This place was a perfect camp with a nice stream of water and a flat and protected place to pitch a tent. So, if you arrive a bit late in Liucura, you don't have to cover nearly 20km to get water.<br />
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We also camped at Camp {12} [35.5/1279] and it was really nice and the lake was beautiful and at the perfect temperature to swim.<br />
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Another campspot we picked was Camp {12} [20.4/1625] (Banos Coyucos). It was really nice but after passing the Hot Spring {11-02B} [1.2/2113] (Banos de Pelehue, Poorly Maintained), we would had preferred to stay there. The view is incredible and there is some grass patches to pitch a tent. The hot springs need maybe 1 or 2 hours to be digged properly but it should totally worth it.<br />
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Another thing to mention was that, because we didn't really know if we wanted to choose an option to connect section 11, we took option 4 until Pass {11-04} [5.4/2385]. The view there it just magnificent and there was some condors flying just over our head. I would really recommend taking this small detour, especially if going NOBO as the path is quite easy. (Maybe more demanding SOBO).<br />
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*2024 Jan 22 to 2024 Jan 27 / 4,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR+OH11-02B+OH11-02 / Hannes<br />
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Start in Ranquil/Pelehue at Carabineros late afternoon, camped below ascent to the baños Pelehue. Reccomend the ascent in the early morning, as always much easier to climb before the heat comes in. Actually I figured out only fumaroles and no real baños up there, but I didn't look very carefully, wanted to head on. Took detour over OH11-02B and 02 along the ridge, which I reccomend strongly! Amazing views from this border-ridge and some interesting rock formations along there. Went down to the next valley and to baños Coyucos, loved this place, for me best termas so far. Even a nice camp place there. But it was still early afternoon, so I went on and camped at -38.203837 -71.077937. Next day I went to Laguna Marinanqui, nice lake, access to water muddy at north shore, south shore better to go in. Went on along this long next valley on a west slope trail, super hot! Camped at km 47,5, loved this place, flat area with special rock hill, mosquito zone, they take over when tábanos finish the day. Third day I went up the pass, super views all over from there! Down to the next valley, had to stick accurately to the GPS, as the TL is easy to loose where the bushes start and then you end up in some swampy zones, as it happens to me a few times. Lot of water around there. Crossed the valley, went up the other side. Passed puesto around km 64, no life there, no dogs. Seems abandoned this season, as I am not the first this year to pass by without seeing anybody. Walked on to the next pass, afternoon, again super hot, west-slope. Camped soon after the pass at -38.429390 -71.001130. 4th day I met Maximiliano in the early morning, little small talk, then I went on. Seems a nice guy. Went on to the two lagunas, wanted to do OH 12K, but looking to the access of the ridge I thought it can not be done, at least not with a heavy backpack...so I went on RR. Took water at km 87,6, no more running water till km 92. Nice views from the plateau to the southern volcanoes! Goats and horses up there. Camped at -38.578315 -W71.038569, around km 92, last water on RR till around Liucura! Next day over the ridge enjoying very much the views! Descending to Liucura on RR you have to cross around three to four barbed wire fences. <br />
Overall the most tábanos I ever had on a GPT section, but GPT12 still one of my favourite sections so far!<br />
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*2024-01-13/22 / 7 + 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR (sections 12 & 11) / Coline<br />
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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.<br />
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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 !<br />
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. <br />
The termas Pelehue definitly disappeared, but the view there is very scenic.<br />
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).<br />
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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. <br />
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. <br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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What else ?<br />
I avoid the Pehuenche Extortioner taking CC road, and it went all good.<br />
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.<br />
The river crossing is Ok, and there is plenty of water all along the way.<br />
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.<br />
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*2024-Jan-10 to 2024-Jan-11 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / {12-01} - RR - {12-C} - RR - {12-H} - RR - {12-N} - {12-P} / Lilian<br />
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I connected GPT11 and GPT12, so i start at {12-01}.<br />
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{12-01} from km0 to pass[4.6/1499] is dirt road walking.<br />
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Pass[4.6/1499] : huge flat area, look like is a car camping spot, i saw 5 fire ring here. Lot of spots for camping, some spots are beside trees, with weather protection. Road is damaged after the pass, no more cars running.<br />
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Km5.1 : welcome to a beautiful valley!<br />
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Ford[7.5/1403] : crossing of Rio Pulul, rock bar underwater, flowing slow and up to knee, easy. Later you will cross this river some more times.<br />
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Km8.1 : join RR.<br />
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Ford RR [31.4/1301] : start crossing Rio Pulul several times until [33.6/1285], all are easy crossing as now, the deepest is around knee only.<br />
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Camp[31.6/1306] : a beautiful spot.<br />
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Lake,camp[33.9/1281] : Laguna Marinanqui. I never saw so many fries in my life, OMG. The lake shore is muddy, I think the south shore is a better camping spot.<br />
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I take {12-C} here, because too many fries, after i take some photos beside the shore, i don't want to go back to find RR, i just want left this area.<br />
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{12-C} km0.1 : cross a warm stream, some logs for crossing, but they are all underwater, also muddy around it, maybe better after some weeks. Crossing is easy, step on logs then just above ankle.<br />
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{12-C} km0.2 : rejoin RR.<br />
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RR Km34.3 - km35.4 : trail beside the lake. Most of them are muddy, with hundreds of fries, OMG. I'm so disappointed i can't have some relax time here.<br />
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Camp[35.5/1279] : beautiful camping spot with 2 big trees. Less fries here, also is a dry area for camping. Estero Rucausey(a stream) is flowing nice with clear water just beside it.<br />
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Km35.75 : excellent view point of Laguna Marinanqui!<br />
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Water[41.4/1173] : upstream 40m, you can step over the stream.<br />
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Km41.1 : grassland can fit 1-3 tents, but a little steep.<br />
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Km43.4 - km43.65 : cross 3 small stream, all look like need a muddy crossing, but not. All of them, you can find a spot for step over, or a log help you for dry feet.<br />
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Km43.4 : after the crossing, flat spot with grassland can fit 2 tents under trees.<br />
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Km43.65 : before the crossing, large flat area can fit lot of tents, but no wind protection.<br />
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Km43.85 : junction of RR and {12-D}, also dirt road start to south.<br />
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Ford[45.4/1039] : before you go down the river for crossing, compass West 100m is a large, nice flat area beside some big trees, wind protection provided by some brushes. River is up to knee but flowing slow at early morning.<br />
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Easy walking until km51.3.<br />
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Km47 : look at left side, a beautiful hilltop with rock column!<br />
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Km48.25 : pass, a steep side trail at left side(north) leads you to viewpoint. Steep for climbing up, be careful. After enjoying the view, don't go down with the same trail, go to the east ridge for go down, then CC back to trail, it is gentle, easier and safer. Before you left, look up the top of huge rock, there is a branch pressed by stone. Maybe some crazy people bouldering to the top?<br />
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Km51.3 : junction of RR and {12-E}, RR after here just like CC, very overgrown, most of the time long grass coverd the trail, i just can use my feet to feel is it a trail i step on. Sometimes you'll step on some old cow path, then follow it walking to some wrong direction, be careful, check GPS more frequently.<br />
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Km52.8 : junction of trail and CC climbing up. From here to km53.7 is steep climbing up on loose sand on RR or the trail shown on OSM. You need to find some grass foot spot and step on, tired and take long time. After i climb up a while, i cut to south side and join the spur, it is much easier and faster because lot of trees surrounding this spur. Hard leaves and sticks on the ground, also the soil is stable. I just need to step by step climb up on the stable ground, no need to find where is my next step, is it too loose or too steep to walk on.<br />
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I also find a clear path at (-38.34710, -71.07574), look like climbing up on "zig zag", but i lost it after about 20-30m.<br />
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Km53.7 : tree line end. Climbing up on some rocks, much easier now.<br />
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Water? [54.4/1930] : flowing low with warm water, maybe dry up later. Lot of tadpole and frogs swimming in it.<br />
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Km55 : going in the plateau. Very beautiful area, blue lakes, green meadows, curved streams, small snow patches and some big birds, just like a aquarelle hanging on the wall.<br />
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(-38.35842, -71.06810) : excellent view point, 360° beautiful views on a tiny rock hill! Climb up just 2 min!<br />
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Km55.5 : look like it is possible to find a flat spot for camping beside the lake at east shore, beautiful but no wind protection.<br />
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Km56.3 - km56.65 : flowing good with clear water by snow melt, when you climbing up this stream, don't forget to turn back take a look, beautiful plateau is behind you, also VIEWS of (from left to right) Volcán Llaima, Sierra Nevada, Volcán Lonquimay and Volcán Tolhuaca!<br />
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Pass[57.2/2177] - pass[57.4/2180] : after you climb up to the pass, go down a little to east at 2160m is better, you can walk on a flat ground going south, much easier. Also when it is close to the second pass, a clear path and some rock cairns shown up.<br />
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Pass[57.4/2180] : no snow at north side, just a little snow remain at south side as now. You can go around it on left side (east), or take 20sec to 1 min go down the snow patch directly. Easy.<br />
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Km57.7 - km58.5 : walk your own way going down, sometimes you'll find some cairns and a clear path about 10m, then disappear.<br />
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Km58.75 - km58.85 : steep snow slope, DON'T slide down at here, big hard rocks at bottom waiting for you. You can kick step going down but steep, or like me, go around at left side(NE), then go down a steep rocky slope.<br />
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Km58.85 : wet, muddy, slippery trail starts, until km59.5 going under tree line. I think it is a pretty place in dry season.<br />
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Km59.6 : blowdowns maze starts, tons of blowdowns cut the way, then lot of cow paths and dry riverbeds mix together. Sometimes the trail shown up and disappear for blowdowns. Need pay more attention here. Until km59.9, the trail becomes easy to follow.<br />
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Road end[60.4/1745] : Dirt road start. Junction of another old dirt road on right side(west) after here 100m, it looks flat and no cars running on it, you can camp if need, also this old dirt road leads you to a small stream after 100m.<br />
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Km61.5 : junction of RR and {12-F}, before this junction 20m, there is a clear trail going down, i followed it, and it is easy walk to Puesto[61.8/1550].<br />
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Puesto[62.9/1523] : no people no dogs here.<br />
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Then i joined {12-H} for climbing up.<br />
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{12-H} km2.6 : i would like to said, here is covered by some heavy brushes already, just like BB and CC mixture. I saw the ground have some horse prints, looks like have a better reroute, but I don't know the way and it is difficult to follow so i lost it, lastly BB CC to Puesto[3.1/1822].<br />
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After puesto[3.1/1822], trail conditions become better, easy to follow and walk.<br />
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Pass RR[68.0+0.2/1909] : still a tiny snow patch beside the pass, but nothing at pass. A beautiful area.<br />
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Km70.7 : Dirt road start, until Laguna Escondida(RR km76.4).<br />
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Ford[73.6/1517] : if you follow RR, no need follow cross this one, turn left and cross the small one.<br />
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Lake,camp[76.2/1750] : covered by many trees, but no views.<br />
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Km76.4 : dirt road end, if this grassland is dry, it'll be a very beautiful camping spot with excellent lake view.<br />
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Km80.7 : junction of RR and {12-K}, beautiful views here! The valley towards Laguna Verde is so nice. Flat area here, wild views but no wind protection.<br />
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Remark, {12-K} is an impossible route, the mountain top at (-38.50732,-70.98472) is some vertical rock column, i think about 40-80m, can't climb up to walk, also can't go around, mostly is 70-80° vertical wall.<br />
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Water[81.9/1889] : flowing good with a flat spot can fit 1 tent.<br />
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Camp[83.0/1767] : wet, also a puesto at (-38.51828, -70.98893). When I fill some water at stream, 2 dogs running out and barking at me, they follow/chase me until km83.3, I'm not sure they are curious, or aggressive.<br />
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Some puesto at west shore of lake. So i camped on a little hill at (-38.52293, -70.99734). Good location for privacy and views but no wind protection, also not easy to find a spot because of rocky ground.<br />
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Km86.8 : dirt road start.<br />
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Because it is a crazy windy day, so i decided stay in valley by {12-N}+{12-P}, not climb up to plateau by RR.<br />
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Dirt road walking 2km {12-N} then join {12-P}. {12-P} leads you all the way to Liucura. First 400m of {12-P} is dirt road, leads you to puesto[0.4/1526], then the road damaged becomes a trail, until puesto[1.9/1415].<br />
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Water {12-P} [1.7/1400] : last good water until Liucura.<br />
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Puesto[1.9/1415] : dirt road start again. Road go through a beautiful valley. You can look at other side of valley, some landslide trail there.<br />
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Km5.0 : Left side, Volcán Batea Mahuida!<br />
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Km10 : a beautiful meadow, horse trail start.<br />
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Water[11.7/1289] : look clear, but I'm not sure is it flowing from cows and horse meadow.<br />
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Puesto[12.1/1239] : dirt road start again, til Liucura.<br />
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Shop[104.1/1036] : chocolate, biscuits, chips, drinks and ice cream, not much for resupply, but they make hot sandwiches and breakfast, yummy yummy!!!! They also do "printing", if you need some documents in paper.<br />
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Also 1 restaurant, 1 cafe and 4 shops nearby, i think you can have a full resupply here.<br />
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2023 12-27 to 2024 1-03 / 7 short days and one hour/ hiking / mainly RR / Sobo / Edwin<br />
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Took the easy option from Ranquil to baños de Coyuco by Oh-12-01. The baños are really nice. After that the regular route until Laguna Verde after which a suspect knee made me stick to trails and minor roads. An enjoyable trek! Some snow at higher altitudes. <br />
The river crossings before Laguna Marinanqui were not too difficult except for the second one, which whas up to my crotch (I'm 1.90 meters) and fast flowing. <br />
Plenty of water around. Only took more than half a litre once when crossing the plateau and that wasn't needed. Days were generally hot.<br />
Met few people in the puestos but the ones I met were all friendly. <br />
If you want to skip section 13... The bus to Icalma passes through Liucura around 12:30 - 13:00 Monday/Wednesday/Friday<br />
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2023 17 - 20 dec / 4 days / hiking / option 12-04, H, RR / SOBO / Frans<br />
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Started on a Sunday and it wasn't clear to me if the ferry (12-02G) would be up and running. No one in Lonquimay could guarantee me this. Because of Sunday and also because this day Chileans had to vote for the constitution. So I decided to walk the 181 and join the GPT12 on 12-04End. Nice walk, plenty of traffic to hitchhike, although I decided to walk. The minimarket at camping Lolén (100m before 12-04End) was closed, Sunday or voting? Was there around 11am. It looked up and running and not abonded or something. Just a closed sign. First house after the bridge sold eggs and honey, I bought some honey from Luis, super friendly guy. The walk was nice after that, although the road was fenced on both sides until km 16-ish. No campsites or minimarkets. I ended up campung at 12-03End, pretty long stretch so next time I would definitely hitchhike the 181. <br />
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Climb to the pass was steep, pass was easy, no issues with snow. Beautiful views on both sides. Going down on some patches of snow you could see and/or hear the water flowing below. Might become tricky in the next days to walk over so a little caution is recommended. Met Maxi and his father down below at his puesto. Super friendly! Continued my way to camp at laguna Escondida (North side).<br />
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Next day a bit iffy weather (as expected) cloudy, windy and a bit of rain. Decided to do a short one and camped at laguna Verde. Really good camping spots on the option 12L, at the end of the lake. And I could cross here the next day to join RR, there where some planks over the small stream.<br />
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This last day I really enjoyed! Walking the plateau and the ridgeline was amazing. Perfect weather also. For sure worth it, easy to follow trail and all the CC options are 90% horse trails which are good to spot. <br />
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Coming close to Liucura, it didn't feel good to me to climb those fences. Guess that's just a personal thing. There was a lot of cattle, fences looked new, so I decided to not climb over them and annoy the locals. Just followed the trail down to end up at the main road, take a left to Liucara. Maybe 1km extra in total. <br />
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Stayed at Normita, couple of shops to resupply all the basics. <br />
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All combined, really nice section especially the final part. Water not a problem, until you go up the plateau and ridge.<br />
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2023-Nov-28 to 2023-Dec -02 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + variant P + variant Q + variant H + option 1 / Jens (together with Nolwenn and Yannick)<br />
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To get to Liucura, take a bus from the Rural Terminal in Temuco to Lonquimay (departure 10 am) and from there another bus (3 pm). <br />
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It is better to do your shopping in Liucura beforehand, the market and supermarkets are right next to the terminal. There are also some smaller supermarkets in Lonquimay. You are sure to get everything you need there. <br />
<br />
Crossing the pass at KM 57 was very strenuous and steep. There was still snow, which you could either hike around or through. The descent on the other side was very steep. It took two hours. You can camp well on both sides, even at the top if necessary, but it is very windy. <br />
<br />
From kilometre 26 north of the Marinanqui lagoon, we had to cross the river several times. We had some difficulties. The water was up to our hips. We couldn't have coped with any more water. The lake is beautiful, I would rather camp at the southern end as it is rather muddy and full of mosquitoes in the north. We fled from them. <br />
<br />
It had snowed overnight and so we decided not to make the crossing over the pass on RR, but to take the alternative route to the start of Section 11.<br />
<br />
2023-Nov-28 to 2023-Dec -02 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + variant P + variant Q + variant H + option 1 / Yannick & Nolwenn <br />
<br />
- Water : all markers are good and even more water present <br />
<br />
- Snow : (1) snow on pass at km 68 ( easy to walk on it ) / (2) from km 58,4 to km 54,9 : at this point we didn't follow the RR and went on the right side to reach the ridgeline and then continue on it - the plateau still had a lot of snow but we found it was not a problem to find our own safe way / (3) we didn't do the last pass between km 15,8 and km 9,5 because it has snowed in the night and the mountain was still covered by a thick layer of snow<br />
<br />
- Camping spot : easy to find <br />
<br />
- River crossing : (1) at 45,5 km we crossed in the morning and the current was strong but we are used to river crossings so this one was easily passable for us / (2) Laguna Marinanqui between km 35,4 and km 33,9 : was higher than usual and therefore the trail was under water, we walked in the lake from time to time and it was sometimes up until our thighs / (3) the river between km 33,9 and km 31,3 is really high and need multiple crossings that sometimes goes up until the waist with a strong current, we had to improvise and do some bushbahing to find places where it was crossable <br />
<br />
- Weather : Sunny, snowy, cloudy, ( overall really good weather but can be cold )<br />
<br />
- Option roads : variant P + Q : easy track, it's a dirt road, there is water on the track / variant H : to avoid the dogs / option 1 : to avoid the snow on the pass, the trail is easy and beautiful<br />
<br />
- Warning : river crossings between km 33,8 and km 31,3 was really hard but manageable if you have skills and not too small<br />
<br />
- Overall : beautiful section, still a lot of snow from 1700m<br />
<br />
* 2023-Nov-23 to 2023-Nov-27 / 4 days / hiking / NOBO / Regular Route and Option 3 to return to Lonquimay / Ana & William<br />
<br />
We just finished part of 12 and overall it is a lovely hike though we might potentially be a bit too early in the season depending on your risk threshold.<br />
<br />
Heading NOBO the small pass after laguna verde is fine. Little snow but not bad. Next pass is a bit tough, lots of snow walking and lots of risky parts where there are hidden rivers/water ways under the snow and where cliffs of snow had broken off but we managed by being careful and taking time to judge. RR-CC-A {12} [68.1/68.5+2.9] is not passable we went on the route to the left of it. Scary but fine, you have to make your own route since it’s completely snowed over. Downhill is fine, snow is only on the south face of the mountain. Next day we skipped the pass and did a plateau crossing based on advice from a local, it was lovely, the trail is east to follow most of the way then getting across the plateau you can take any possible direction, no wrong way and it connects to the 12-03c. Coming down on though there are two tracks at 12-03c marker. OH-TL-I {12-03A} [0.9+3.4] is not a route. At least not now. It’s basically a river gorge and it’s not possible unless you can surf down waterfalls, so we scaled up almost completely vertical to meet the CC route that runs parallel. Might be possible when there is less snow melt though. The CC route we took was almost a completely verticals decent for 800 meters and I must say a bit terrifying. Clambering down on your butt/downhill rock climbing is not the hard part but if you are not careful and you don’t judge your path every few meters you can find yourself looking down a minimum 30-200 meter drop, so it’s mentally scary not knowing if you will get to the bottom. But we did. I would not advise it, instead I’d advise continuing on 12-03 past the lakes back to the normal route. Took us almost 3 hours of being very careful though. We then got to the first river. Many locals we met before told us the only way to ranquil is the balsa, but we didn’t fully understand what they meant till we got to the river. They meant Bulsa Rahue which is on the way to lonquimay. The first main crossing at Ford {12} [45.4/1039] is very deep and very fast. For us as beginners a big no go, but I honestly think for advanced that would be tough as well if not only very dangerous. We then moved back to lonquimay where for the first part of the trail the river had flowed over so much that there was no trail but then eventually the trail gains significant elevation over the river and it’s fine. We asked others we ran into on the way and they confirmed that it’s too early to pass the rivers, but again depends on the hiker I’m sure.<br />
<br />
Comment Jan Dudeck December 2023: The best route to ascent from the Plateau is the trail in the South-West of the Plateau. That's the trail on which the horses are probably moved up and down. Starting with the Track Files 2024 the normal route up and down the Plateau will be OH-TL-V {12-03} [0.0+14.4]. I have cleaned up the routes on the North-Western edge of the Plateau. These exploration routes are best taken up and not down. Starting with the Track Files 2024 these exploration options are {12-03A}, {12-03B} and {12-03C} and all classified as Exploration Routes. There pieces of trails visible on satellite images but these trail disappear into a forest and it is unclear who maintained these routes are and if these are part of an alternative access to the Plateau.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan / Martin&Helena<br />
<br />
On regular route (SOBO) after puesto at 62.9, there is another puesto after approx 1km. It’s situated right on the road, soon after start of CC and before Gpt12-G End and it’s guarded by 4 or 5 agressive dogs. It was impossible to go around, so we were continuing with our trekking poles in front of us but dogs started to attack us and in the end I was bitten by one of them. The owner was there too but basically did nothing and dogs were absolutely out of her control.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-01 to 2023-Mar-05 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis <br />
<br />
Arrived in Liucura late in the 28th Feb afternoon by hitchhiking our way from Lonquimay. There is also a bus that leaves at 7:30 PM. We shared our plans with the carabineros and asked for a place to pitch and he sent us near the river, after the truck "parking" (-38.64806, -71.08856 - really nixe and private spot). There are 3 shops in Liucura with supplies and we even had a nice diner for 6k each at the Hospedaje. <br />
Started early the next day with 12-P until 12-R. This way we avoided to climb any fence. There are plenty of paths going upward so we ended up not following the one from the tracks but something that joined the top quite directly. Then we enjoyed our walk on the ridge. We continued for a while and camped at Laguna Escondida. The marked point is in the wood, a bit far away from the water but wind protected. We decided to go much closer to the water and met our two first GPT hikers going southbound on the trail! <br />
<br />
The next day we took 12-H to avoid the aggressive dogs and then sticked to the RR until Camp {12} [51.6/1293]. The descent in the forest (RR-CC-A {12} [52.3/52.8+2.2]) was a bit painful as it is steep and without path. Following the OSM route is not better.<br />
<br />
Day 3, we followed the RR until Laguna Marinanqui (Lake, Camp {12} [33.9/1281]) where we camped. Then we met Reyes, a local from Peluhue who was waiting a group of "gringo" since the previous day. We spent the night here with him, tasting our first cooked pinones. <br />
<br />
On day 4, we hiked to Camp {12} [20.4/1625] (Banos Coyucos). All the fords of Rio Pulul were easy. On the trail we crossed a group of horseriders (Reyes' gringo) that got lost in the mountains and were on their way to the lake. Then we had our first pinata moment : we found an araucania and hit a ball with a branch for a rain of pinones. At the bayos, we met two persons preparing an asado for the group of riders and an other group of people just staying for a bath. Both pools are great, the second one (the smallest and a bit more down) is a bit warmer. We got invited and fed by the riders (smoked cerdo, tortillas al rescaldo, goat asado...)! They eventually left and we were alone in the bayos for the night. <br />
<br />
On Day 5, we hiked until the junction with GPT11 but without taking options 1 or 2 following the advices of the previous hikers. Then we directly continued to GPT11.<br />
On a side note, on most of the section, you will walk on well marked trails that are easy to follow. It contains multiple extremely scenics moments, at least one highlight per day (several for the last one). Definitely worth it to hike! There are no more tabanos at this period of the year, but indeed many wasps ! <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-12 to 2023-Feb-16 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Natalie+Tomàš<br />
<br />
Combined 10+11+12 continued mid-day from 11.<br />
Started mid-day at Banos de Pelehue, Tomáš explored the banos, there was a pool that had some cold water flowing to it, which is diverted, so the temperature should be nicely warm. However, it resulted in smelly hands for two days despite soap. The first hot springs waypoint is wrong but the location is very scenic. We continued to Banos Coyucos for the night and luckily arrived just before a storm hit.<br />
The Banos Coyucos were not "great". The first one with the A-frame roof is not that warm, more like stale bathwater, but the second further down with only a partial roof is much better. We spent the stormy night in the second one so more heat would have been nice but I am sure it's a good temperature for day time bathing.<br />
<br />
Day2<br />
Late start but great trail from the Banos to the marshy flats. I met Rosè from the puesto right at the beginning of the flats, she was very easy to get along with and had a good sense of humor. I would recommend looking for her if you were in need of help. She also helped show me how to avoid the marsh by sticking slightly high on the side of the hill, there was a little bit of a trail. The next plateau up was forgettable, accidentally walked along variant A for too long before dropping down to the RR. The RR is much faster than the side hill that hops from one puesto to the next on variant A. The rest of the way to Laguna Marinanque was enjoyable, definitely leave your sandals on at the bottom for the multiple river crossings. <br />
At this time of year Marinanque was still boggy but caused no problem's. However, I would be careful at the Northside not to get stuck in the bog, it looked very deep. We slept at the abandoned puesto 37.7 (No Water).<br />
<br />
Day3<br />
Fast and lovely trail to camp51.6. After then and up the steep grass hill it is CC. I wouldn't rely on the GPX here as it i basically just straight up. The last water source before the hill 52.2 makes a nice rest. Just to clarify once again, there is no water at the first plateau; camp54.5. However, the water at the small lakes on the main plateau did not look awful, just goose poo around.<br />
Up and over the main/last pass is straightforward but the other side is still boggy. The first camp was not good but if you walked up the bog directly on top of it there was a source of clean water. We slept at the second camp; 59.5, which felt the best of all three, there was water, a little muddy but the third camp looked dry. <br />
<br />
Day4. <br />
You can make a small short cut on a wide "road-trail" just before the RR turns off from the main trail towards puesto 61.8. Crossing the bottom valley here is still very boggy. The lady at puesto 62.9 was very welcoming, offering food/chocolate/coffee. She had some angry dogs but they behaved well once she called them. The next puesto up from her had the dogs that bit a past GPT hiker. They were indeed the aggressive type but the lady tied the worst one up in order to let us pass. If she hadn't we were going to skirt around on the right into the forest to hopefully avoid them and or you could descent back down the hill and go far left.<br />
Like Veronica said there is some water at -38.41178, -70.99125, not tasty but not filtering it had no consequences. At the intersection of RR and J I met some friendly carabinieros that were going into Argentina to fetch some Chilean horses, they were taking on a good trail. From the water source I just described and towards Maximiliano's puesto I did not enjoy the trail, didn't make much sense and felt I was zig zaging in the valley for no good reason. <br />
Day got better once meeting "Maxi" and his son. Jan, if you are reading this Maximiliano says hi and has only good things to say about you. I told him you were off in the mountains somewhere but hopefully will come back to visit again. He wanted to make sure people were good to us and luckily we told him we only had pleasant encounters. His neighbor down the road (Seguro?) was also extremely friendly. The rest of the way to Laguna Verde was fast, a mixture of old roads and easy trails and a CC bit. The first puesto at Laguna Verde was abandoned and we slept in the grass beside it. It was very windy and the water in the lake was very dirty but luckily we found a small dribble of flowing water near the puesto. In the morning everything was covered in frost and slightly frozen, our first freeze.<br />
<br />
Day5<br />
Our final day was easy, the ridge got a little tedious (but was surprisingly beautiful in parts) and I was very happy it wasn't a hot day because otherwise it would have been very dry and uncomfortable. We managed to avoid all barbed wire fences (even though they could be jumped because 3/4 of the fence is cow panels and just the top two lines are barbed). When you are walking down from the trail from the ridge instead of turning left and jumping over your first fence we just went straight down towards the main road (aim for this open gate -38.63510, -71.09298), it is on the first dirt road marked on OSM branching from the main road when going into Chile from the border after Liucura. There were a couple big dogs at the end but they were locked up. Only 1km of road walking back to Liucura, past a nice looking restaurant, and or you could just start hitching to Lonquimay if desired. <br />
We agree that you could technically resupply in Liucura, it was a very happening border stop with fruit and vegetables, sold out bread and then all the other basics- but no canister fuel obviously. <br />
The bus situation from here is confusing as the shop owners and locals all say different things. What I gathered was that there was a bus going to Lonquimay at ~7, ~12 and ~4pm but I don't think it runs every day. Hitching to Lonquimay looked easy but we hitched to Icalma (more difficult) even though supposedly there was a bus to Icalma at 730/8/830?pm. Once again I don't think the bus runs everyday or weekends, possibly only Mon- Wed- Friday.<br />
In Icalma that was the case, if going to Lonquimay or Melipeuco there was only a bus Mon,Wed & Friday. Sadly I forget the exact times but I remember the first bus was very early, leaving ~6am and then a bus to lonquimay at 3pm. Icalma had lots of little minimarkets and cheap accomodation, slept in cabana for 20mil/night (10mil each)<br />
<br />
Notes:<br />
<br />
-If I was to do this trip again I wish I had more time to spend at the puestos.<br />
<br />
-The picoñes are falling, also wish I doubled up on fuel in order to cook them. We tried mashed picoñes in Icalma and they were delicious!<br />
<br />
-The wasps have replaced horseflies, never got sting but got bit. <br />
<br />
-Many of the trails this time of year were "dirt-dust" but on the bright side most bogs were avoidable. <br />
<br />
-No problems with water, only had to carry extra water on the last day after the final water stop at 87.6. <br />
<br />
-luckily only had a few bad days of smoke, mainly when we were close to Trapa Trapa. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-18 to 2023-Jan-21 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR starting from the termas de pelehue / Will <br />
<br />
I merged onto section 12 at the termas de pelehue, where I was immediately greeted by a group of 20ish condors taking off from a patch of grass in the valley. My pace got even slower, watching them fly low around me.<br />
<br />
I went on to camp at the Banos Coyucos, easily my favorite hot springs so far. Perfect temperature, clean, but still felt natural. There were two groups of Chilean hikers there, all super friendly and generous.<br />
<br />
The next day of walking through the valleys was beautiful and pretty fast. A bit before the big climb I had my first unpleasant encounter, with a group heading down the road by ATV. The leader stopped and asked if I had authorization to hike there, I said that I didn't know that I needed it. He seemed to think that was obviously a lie. He became somewhat friendly once I explained my plans and after discovering that I was foreign. He gave me some direction advice then set off. In hindsight I figure he must have been a landowner. I did see quite a few littered beer cans afterwords, maybe he was trying to prevent that.<br />
<br />
The steep climb was tough, and I ended up camping pretty late up top. In terms of water I only saw a few muddy puddles though I didn't look very hard. There were a few ponds the next morning just over the hill. <br />
<br />
The rest of the section was easier than I expected, and not so interesting to me. I should have carried more water on the final 20km. If you want to skip the barbed wire fences you'd have to take variant R at the end of the ridge walk. I thought I could skip them with variant S but most of them were before the turnoff so I ended up following the regular route the whole way. Thankfully they were solid and pretty easy to climb.<br />
<br />
No luck hitching out of Liucura so I spent the night. There were no buses on Sunday but someone at my hostel gave me a ride to Lonquimay the next day. If you're continuing on then Liucura could work for a basic resupply, but I'm planning on relaxing a bit then skipping ahead. See busesbiobio.cl for the bus schedule out of Lonquimay.<br />
<br />
I'm still one day behind the same set of footprints I've been following all the way since section 7. I guess I'll never catch up.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-15 to 2023-Jan-18 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / Termas de Pelehue (junction GPT 11, option 1 and GPT 12) - Liucura / Anna & Christopher <br />
<br />
We connected section 11 and 12 and started at Termas de Pelehue around km 9.<br />
The first day the path was easy to find most of the time and the views were great. The canyon to Laguna Marinanqui is very beautiful. We camped after the last rivercrossing before the Laguna.<br />
<br />
To path around the Laguna involved some bushbashing and muddy ground.<br />
Until the CC ascent the path was good. The ascent itself is pretty tiring. We could not find water at the point indicated by Véronica so we continued until the first small Laguna on the plateau. That was a great spot to camp and the Laguna has clear water.<br />
<br />
The following part is not hard to navigate and continues with spectacular views.<br />
Ascending the next hill at appr. km 67 we followed a good animal path on towards the west of the hill (instead of the CC part of the RR), next to an accesible creek.<br />
Easy trails the rest of the day. We camped at the water waypoint [78.4/1775] between Laguna Escondida and Laguna verde.<br />
<br />
The next part is great and easy until towards the end of the ridge after the last ascent, where the path finding gets harder with some bush bashing parts. On the last kilometers we descended until the main road to avoid climbing barbed wire fences.<br />
The shopowner of the resupply in Liucura offered us to camp in his garden.<br />
The next morning we hitchhiked to Lonquimay. The buses from Lonquimay to Temuco leave at 8 am and 12:30 pm, not sure if there is also a later bus.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-30 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (combined with GPT11 via GPT11-02) / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: Junction at km 12.9 where GPT11-02 meets with GPT12 - Baños Coyucos - Laguna Marinanqui - Pehuenche Extortioner valley - Laguna Escondida - Liucura <br />
<br />
Absolutely beautiful section. Really loved the cross-country bits on high plateaus and ridges, amazing views. I did not have any navigation issues. I met no one 4 days in a row. <br />
<br />
I connected GPT11 Option 2 with GPT12, so I missed the Pelehue hot springs. I did find a good creek at the "water" waypoint at 15.9 km, not dry like what Veronika and Jo found last year. I really enjoyed the camp at Baños Coyucos in an araucaria forest, and the hot springs there were great too! Perfect temperature, and not as dirty as I thought they might be. <br />
<br />
Lots of boggy cow pastures along RR-TL-V {12} [25.6+07], had trouble finding any sort of trail there. Enjoyed the trail along Río Pulul in the canyon with all the fords. All the river crossings were easy, and I found many lovely potential camp spots on that stretch. <br />
<br />
Just north of Laguna Marinanqui (where you have the option to take 12-C), there is a large marsh to contour like others have mentioned. I managed to cross without getting all muddy by closely following the regular route. <br />
The trail kind of disappears after the junction with 12-E, but following the GPS it's not too hard to reach the base of the big CC climb to the high plateau. This climb is steep, but not dangerous - you climb on grass and dirt (no scree). There was no water at the "Water ?" waypoint, but I found a hidden spring nearby at S 38° 21.247', W 071° 04.140'. There are also shallow lagunas up on the plateau you could get water from. After the passes coming downhill into the Pehuenche Extortioner valley, the three campsites in a row there were quite waterlogged from snowmelt. The trail was a river in a couple places there too. Lots of squishy walking, wouldn't be ideal to camp there right now. <br />
<br />
The next CC stretch after the Extortioner valley is awesome on a rounded ridgetop. There is a nice meadow and good water source shortly before reaching the next pass. From this pass all the way to Maximiliano's puesto is a good horse trail, not cross-country. <br />
<br />
After the "water" waypoint at 87.6 km, after Laguna Verde, there is no more water until Liucura, so I filled up in order to dry camp on the ridge further along. All the subsequent CC stretches until Liucura have paths running along most of them, makes walking easier :) The final ridge walk starting at km 95.3 is fantastic, and there's lots of sheltered areas up there too where you could camp if you have enough water. <br />
<br />
I followed the regular route all the way to Liucura (ended up climbing over 4 different barbed wire fences once I was off the ridge). Hitched into Lonquimay and will be skipping down to Section 16.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Feb-14 to 2022-Feb-15 + 2022-Mar-07 to 2022-Mar-10 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
The first day we continued from GPT11, starting at Termas de Pelehue (where you can camp, though you have to search around for non-sulfury water pushing up through the meadows). We continued along the border with Argentina. Great all-around views, decent trail instead of CC most of the time, no water at S 38° 09.380', W 071° 01.300' <- in agreement with Molly and Melissa.<br />
<br />
We escaped to Ranquil in the south to resupply, and got back three weeks later, taking the afternoon bus from Lonquimay (mon-wed-fri, bus early the morning and in the afternoon). Slept in the refugio in the valley east of Ranquil. The road between Ranquil and this eastern valley is almost fully MR instead of TL.<br />
<br />
Continued RR until the Pehuenche Extortioner valley, but took optionals 12-H and 12-5 to arrive at Pehuenco in time to take the bus Friday morning at 08:00 (also mon-wed-fri) to make sure we made it to our plane in Puerto Montt on Sunday. We skipped Laguna Escondida and Laguna Verde with pain in our hearts :(<br />
<br />
We saw the camp site at 12-H and asked around in the roundabout way ("do you know a camp site?") standing next to it, but no positive answer came. We camped at the pass before Maximiliano's puesto instead, where there is a little water turning into the usual cow meadow. Met Maximiliano there :)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-21 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH 02 / Romain <br />
<br />
Regular Hiking Path :<br />
- There are a lot of Araucaria trees. I managed to save 2 days of food just by harvesting piñones on the floor following the path. I would recommend to not rely on it because it depends on the period, but there was plenty.<br />
<br />
- the path after Laguna Marinanqui wasn't easy to follow because it was like a swamp but once I manage to cross this humid part it was all good<br />
<br />
- Camp on Ford {12} [32.6/1299] (Rio Pulul), great place with lot of space, grass, dry wood, almost no wind when I camped there, I really appreciated this place <br />
<br />
- I did the multiple fords without removing my water shoes because there are close and it worth it<br />
<br />
- Camp {12} [17.0/1794] : I had to stay one day there due to raining conditions. Looking at the places after, it's to my mind the last place to camp before starting going uphill, it would be too windy and too cold to camp farther. During the rainy day the temperature dropped to less than 10° I think, I had to stay in my duvet. And during the night I got ice on my tent, it wasn't extreme but it was good to be well equipped. <br />
<br />
- Option 11-02 and 11-02B to reach back the regular route was the best part I did of my entire trek, with a condor flying 10-15m above me, spectacular landscapes, ... I really recommend it but only in stable good conditions because it was really really windy, and going northbound otherwise 11-02B would be very demanding because of the sand.<br />
<br />
- the hot spring {11-02B} [1.2/2113] and more generally the place with vapors and boiling water at some places and many condors flying around you is very impressive<br />
<br />
- Nobo : Demanding clampering, in good weather only : everything is in the title and the other commentaries well describe it. I hadn't felt really in danger following the track but I was much tense and aware of everything. It's definitely not a good idea to be there not in good conditions. And you need to have time to do it in one time, there is no place adapted to camp until the pass {11} [27.6/2174] and event just after it's still much wind, and at some point the earth/sand soil make you hike very slowly. I thank the people who wants through before me, their tracks were much helpful to see the way and to not slip in the sand. Except these points the place is beautiful and I appreciated it a lot in the continuity of the part before.<br />
<br />
<br />
Option 12-02 :<br />
<br />
- 11-05G : the road from Lonquimay start with concrete and become gravel at a certain point, but lot of people use it and without hitchhiking many proposed me to take me<br />
<br />
- transition 11-05G to 12-02 : the road leading to the ferry is really smaller than the main one, I missed it because I wasn't enough attentive to that<br />
<br />
- Ferry : the indicated opening time are : 8:30-17:30 from Monday to Friday, 8:00-10:00/16:00-18:00 on saturday ; I arrived there at 13:30 on the Monday and there was nobody to move it, fishermen told me to wait for a car but they seem to say there should be one until 1 or 2 hours so I crossed the river going up, water reached my hips and I arrived in a farmer property, people were very friendly, but should I do it again I would cross going down (easier to reach + no problem with entering a property)<br />
<br />
- 12-02 continues by crossing the river on a beautiful wood hanging bridge (12-02A continues straight), I appreciated this path with plenty of rabbits, aracauria trees and beautiful landscapes. I slept close to the river in a flat field with apple and peach trees. It seemed people are used to camp there with lot of campfire marks, really windy the day I camp there<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-10 / 6 days / Hiking / NOBO / Molly og Melissa<br />
<br />
Amazing section with great views. Definitely don't skip the two high parts unless the weather is bad. We didn't find it to be dangerously steep except for a few metres on the descent before Laguna Marinanqui, which were uncomfortable.<br />
Tábanos were better than expected, it was pretty windy. We also brought a fly swatter. It was very effective for killing those who sticked around during breaks, and gave a lot of satisfaction<br />
<br />
We took the alternative route to the east right out of Liucura due to the notes of other people. Shortly after, we saw a path climbing the mountain, and took that. Big mistake - the path disappeared quickly and left us to climb steeply through dense bamboo. We learned the lesson of staying close to the route, and this payed off. Often, when the route is marked as CC, a path exists that follows the route closely.<br />
On one of the CC sections we met a man with his animals, who wanted to know what we were doing. He said that we needed a permission from someone in Liucura to be there, and that many people came by and disturbed the animals. When we apologized and said we didn't know and that we'd go on to Laguna Verde he didn't pursue the subject and seemed friendly enough.<br />
We ended up camping on the beach by Laguna Escondida.<br />
On the descent from there to the Pehuenche Extortioner valley we passed a puesto not marked on the GPS. It seemed empty, and the gravel road was right next to it. There were some very aggressive dogs that we gave a shock, though, they quickly surrounded us. The owner got them calmed down a bit, but one of them to still took a bite of my sleeping mat on the bottom of my bag while we were calmly talking to the owner. <br />
After the Pehuenche Extortioner valley you climb a pretty tall mountain pass to an amazing high plain. The descent from here is, as others have written, very steep, not too difficult but definitely better down than up. From there you have a very nice easy trail with good views almost all the way to Laguna Marinanqui, but at the river crossing and every time there is a puesto of trail the trail diverges, and you often have to follow the less obvious trail, so it pays off to look at the GPS often.<br />
After Laguna Marinanqui we just kept our wading shoes on for the six river crossings, it worked very well. None of the crossings were difficult in any way.<br />
We camped at the Coyuco hot springs. It's a nice enough camp site with a little bench and table under the Aucaria trees, but not too many big sites for the tent. The hot springs are a little bellow, covered by some planks. They are pretty dirty but a perfect temperature, no views either.<br />
<br />
The last big ascent nearing the Argentine border was amazing and should definitely not be skipped unless the weather is bad! There is a small CC section, but most of the way through the pass there is a nice trail - stick to the route and you will find it! It lasts all the way to the gravel road to Ranquil. There is a boarder post, and a pretty flat grassy area where it would be possible to camp on the Argentinian side of the border, next to a stream. In general, plenty of water all the way to the second hot springs. From there, nothing until you reach the river in the bottom. The hot springs are in an amazing area, and would be a beautiful campsite with great views, bit requires clear and calm water. We didn't see the hot springs ourselves, but we met some Chilean tourists who liked them. <br />
<br />
Water:<br />
Generally, water is plentiful, but with some comments. We started from Liucura on midday on a very hot day, and having read about plentiful water we brought a liter each. However, there was nothing until the first waypoint, which we couldn't reach, so we ended up going down to the river in the eastern valley and camping there.<br />
Furthermore, on the ascent from the Pehuenche Extortioner valley where there are three campsites on a row, the first didn't have water and the second only very little.<br />
On the high plain where it's marked water? there was water, but very still and dirty. Would only drink it if very desperate. Shortly after joining the path after the descent there are very nice streams.<br />
We arrived in Ranquil in the afternoon on a Sunday, and hitched to Lonquimay - very challenging though, with three rides and some walking in between<br />
<br />
<br />
*2021-Nov-23 / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony<br />
<br />
After i finished GPT 3 i headed down south to GPT 12 in order to hike the next couple of groups in a northbound direction since it’s more suitable to hike from down here this time of year compared to the more northern sections<br />
<br />
It was love at first sight! I was so thrilled to escape the exposed terrain of the north and come down here to this beautiful part of the country, where you can enjoy the nice shade from the Arucania trees. Got the bus from Lonquimay to Liucura at 14:00 and started my trip on the optional route east of the RR to avoid previously mentioned barbed wire fence.<br />
Later I climbed up to the mountain ridge and followed the RR.<br />
<br />
After my first night I was woken up by the sound of a bunch of cows running around my tent, and a stuck my head out to find a Pehuenche man on a horse wearing a balaclava, looking at me. Was very surprised at first but he was a nice guy who was just curious about me. We took some photos of each other and I got to ride around on his horse.<br />
I general I found water to be plenty, the weather good and the trail in good condition. There are although some very steep sections every now and then where you have to be careful. I was also hit by a hail storm during a mountain pass but luckily it quickly passed.<br />
<br />
At laguna Marinanqui towards the end of the section I met a group of Chileans from Victoria who were out on a weekend fishing trip. We drank a few beers together while catching some salmon in the Laguna and after i joined on the walk back to Ranquil. We took GPT option 1 to skip the nothern hump. And on arrival at Ranquil they gave me a ride back to Lonquimay. Great fun!<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*Feb 2020-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / Lauric<br />
<br />
Took optional #002 east of regular trail to avoid climbing over barbed wire. It is an easy road. Then we climbed up on the ridge with optional #003. Not exactly on the track but we found a trail going up. On the ridge it's amazing with 360 views. Easy walking too. Optional down in the valley would be easier but less rewarding. Continued our way to the pass 1920m (after taking mate at Maximiliano's puesto). At the pass we left the regular trail to end up on a descending road. Easy descent to optional 12-04-#001 and easy walk in the valley. From there we avoided the extortioner and up to the second pass (2120m). The views are amazing. Very steep and CC descent. Wouldn't have liked to go up this part. From the pass to laguna Marinanqui is pretty boring but easy part. Laguna is very beautiful and a great place to camp. North of laguna is ankle deep in cowshit. We got up by the river to the termas. There are 2 pools. Then we headed town to Ranquil to finish the section. Carabineros let us camp on their field. Bus to Lonquimay Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6AM and 5PM in front of the police station.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-24 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR mostly / Frank <br />
<br />
At the high lakes I continued on RR-CC-I@12-57.1+7.5, a spectacular traverse but at the end there is a very steep & slow descent on rock, scree & sand. I would consider this descent to be dangerous & best avoided by taking the Pehuenche Extortioner variant. After Maximilian's Puesto I took OH-MR-V@12-03-#001out to the road then into Liucura. At least 2 places to stay there, they both have a restaurant. Also a cafe & 3 shops, you can resupply easily.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-23 / Hiking / SOBO / RR Ending at ranquil carabineros / Ty & America <br />
<br />
Just hiked to The hot spring from the top of section 11. Not much to report. Hot springs were luke warm. There’s some sort of makeshift hut covering them. Nice camp there though. We got a hitch when nearing the carabineros to Lonquimay. Wouldn’t usually count on this though. Definitely middle of nowhere. Apparently the bus comes at 5.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-17 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 03 / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Start: Termas de Pelehue, End: Primary road towards Lonquimay<br />
Amazing section. The Termas de Pelehue are gone due to the lack of maintenance. The second hot springs the same, but the fumaroles above are quite impressive! The third hot springs down in the valley are great, there are several pools just below the camp. After the second pass (2'180) we decided not to do the investigation route as it looked pretty uncomfortable to us. The descent after the third pass (1'920) to Maximiliano's puesto was a nice trail, not at all CC. There our longing for a beer was so huge that we took the optional route 12-03-#001 through the beautiful araucaria valley. Believe it or not, shortly before arriving at the primary road there came a bus, taking us to the junction, from where a connecting bus to Lonquimay was leaving, everything within 10 minutes :-) Excellent resupply and accommodation in Lonquimay, funny town.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 15-Jan-2020 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Spectacular section, some of the best scenery we have seen so far! Some of the ascents and descents are quite steep and technical. There is lots of loose rock and no easy track to follow. It was quite windy and all the high passes are dangerous in poor weather. The trail is also overgrown and difficult to follow in some sections. This makes it slower than you might expect, however it is perfectly doable. Good resupply in Licura at the end of the section, as well as nice places to stay (around 20000 pesos for a double). <br />
<br />
<br />
* 9-Jan-2020 / 5 days (GPT11 + GPT12) / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 2 Matus & Anna<br />
<br />
We combined sections 11 and 12. It took us 5 days including one zero because of weather. Patagonia showed us bit of it's potential in these two sections. <br />
All walked trails were in good condition and CC sections pretty easy to navigate. In the sadle of section 11, because of strong wind, poor visibility and fresh snow and ice we were forced to take optional to the valley. There is a big snowfield, I don't recomend sliding on it all the way. It the lower parts there were big holes into the stream. <br />
From Ranquil we took optional #002 because we didn't want to climb back up. Uphill is more a minor road, downhill nice trail. <br />
After a laguna we took a optional to the Pass 2180 and road around the Pehuenche Extortioner. We needed to get down from elevation ASAP bacause of wind. We passed puesto early in the morning and no one was around. After rainy day everything above 2000m was white. We took trail to pass 1920m which was just with bit of fresh snow and then took minor road #001 down to valley. So I have no idea about the rest of the trail.<br />
Edit: adding a picture from the last sadle 1920m, we did after "rainy" day.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-06 / 10 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR from Liucura without the northern slope, so we went directly to Ranquil from S38°12.723' W71°05.208'/ Sophie & Hendrik <br />
<br />
In total we were 11days on the trail, of which we spend 1.5 in the tent due to bad weather. The route is free except for one fort, but there is a workaround. Also we had a couple of navigation problems, which cost us several hours. See recent alerts and suggestions.<br />
<br />
We liked: The quickly chang landscape and its huge variety, beautiful cinematic views, funny animals, that water was always available, bathing in the rivers, beautifully blooming plants.<br />
<br />
We did not like so much: The problems we encountered due to navigation mistakes, the hailstorm on the mountain ridge, beercans that people drop on the paths.<br />
<br />
We bluntly hated: The amount of horse flies. In the northern part we were not able to make one step without having at least five buzzing arround our faces. This army of blood suckers was sent by a source of pure evil to annoy hikers.<br />
<br />
The following is a chronological accumulation of all our observations made in the last 11 days. Note for navigation difficulties that we walked northbound.<br />
<br />
- The most southern CC part direclty north of Liucura is now bordered by fences. You have to follow the path and then go left through a gate. The gate on the western fence is some 80m further south than you would expect. It was locked and we had to carefully (barbed wire) climb over it. It might be a lot easier to take the optional route in the east to get up the ridge.<br />
<br />
-We were unable to find and follow the path at S38°24.881' W71°00.281' down to the valley. We endet up on a path a little further south. However, this path starts to lead further and further south, so that at some point we startet to ge back to the original path through the woods, which did cost several hours.<br />
<br />
- Getting up the mountain at S38°24.450 W71°01.871' we startet ca 300m further north than indicated by the CC route due to fences and rivercrossing opportunities in the valley. (We thought CC means come up with your own route anyway.) At ca 1720m of altitude, still 300m north of the indicated route we found a good looking path leading up the mountain and followed it. At its end we assumed it would not be a bad idea to continue from here on in north west direction up the mountain. We now know it was a very bad idea. We ended up in a very uncomfortable and seriously dangerous climbing situation in which we really did not want to be. So our advice: stick to the route here!<br />
<br />
- The Ford-125 (S38°20.908 W71°09.294') looks impassable right now. You can avoid it by using an improvised bridge about 120m further west.<br />
<br />
- At roughly S38°17.091' W71°01.354' the path broke away into a very steep descent. It is passable, but also slippery and includes a certain risk of which you should be aware.<br />
<br />
- The daily bus out of Ranquil does not stop at the busstation because it is too large to reverse there. You have to walk down the street ca. 2km to where a bridge crosses the river. The bus reverses here and does not go up further up the road. Right now it stops there at 6 in the morning.<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
2023- 2023-Dec / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
<br />
Accomodation : in Troyo there are some cabanas, just ask in the little shops <br />
<br />
- Resupply : big supermarket in Lonquemay / at the end of section 12, 30km down the road there is a village ' Troyo' where there a few small shops where you can find resupply<br />
<br />
------------------<br />
Ranquil - no shop but there are families who sold us sopaipillas<br />
<br />
Lonquimay - Supermercado Espinoza next to the bus stop has most things. A little shop on the left hand shortly after the bus terminal when walking from the bus terminal towards the center has gas. The shop has different air mattresses, clothes and some outdoorsy things in the windows. There's also a ferretería that might have. Several accommodation options. <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
*To Liucura<br />
Updated Jan 2022:<br />
<br />
Bus from Temuco to Liucura (goes all the way to Icalma) Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:30am (+ 15:55?), 5 hours of travel. Leaves Liucura at the bus terminal next to COPEC at 12.<br />
Also busses from Lonquimay to Liucura Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 15 and Tuesday+Thursday at 14<br />
<br />
Bus from Temuco to Lonquimay every day - Monday-Saturday 15:55, Sunday 17:30<br />
There may even be busses from Santiago to Lonquimay<br />
<br />
*Ranquil<br />
Updated 2022, Jan<br />
Bus from Ranquil to Lonquimay (on Mon, Wed and Fri at 7:30am from the village<br />
<br />
Bus from Lonquimay to Ranquil Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 15:00 - bus terminal next to COPEC<br />
Buses to Troyo leave every day and can drop you off at the crossing to Ranquil, about 30-40 km, but hitching might still be difficult from here<br />
<br />
*If skipping section 13-15:<br />
We went from Pucón to Temuco, but it seems to be the long way around. It might be worth it to ask around in Pucón whether there is a rural bus to Curacautin, and from there to Lonquimay, as that seems way faster on the map - alternatively it could be possible hitching this route.<br />
<br />
*Lonquimay<br />
Update 2022, Feb<br />
<br />
Bus from Santiago - Terminal Sur to Lonquimay leaving at 21:40 and arriving around 8:00<br />
<br />
Company : Jet Sur<br />
<br />
$26.000 for semi-cama<br />
<br />
Commentaries : really comfortable, nice and professional people, USB-plugs, I took it on Sunday night, it was the only one on Sunday, I don't know if there are some on the other days<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT12 - Río Rahue]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664133.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|Araucarias on GPT12]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664142.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664125.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664136.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664138.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
<br />
[[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT11_(Cerro_Dedos)&diff=114334GPT11 (Cerro Dedos)2024-02-20T10:23:48Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Feb-14 to 2024-Feb-15 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Joscha<br />
<br />
I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br />
<br />
Day 1: RR [0.0-13.7]<br />
<br />
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. <br />
<br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [13.7-32.9]<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Feb-10 to 2024-Feb-12 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / Section 12 on RR - Guallali / RR + Option 4 until the pass / Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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).<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-16 to 2024-Jan-18 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes<br />
<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-01-13/22 / 7 + 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR (sections 12 & 11) / Coline<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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 !<br />
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. <br />
The termas Pelehue definitly disappeared, but the view there is very scenic.<br />
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).<br />
<br />
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. <br />
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. <br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
What else ?<br />
I avoid the Pehuenche Extortioner taking CC road, and it went all good.<br />
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.<br />
The river crossing is Ok, and there is plenty of water all along the way.<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-06 to 2024-Jan-07 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {11-C} - RR / Lilian<br />
<br />
Dirt road walking from RR km0 to "Bridge? {11-C} [0.3/1109].<br />
<br />
Lot of nice water flowing across the road.<br />
<br />
Hot spring,camp RR[6.6/991] : i didn't go to check the hot spring, i saw it from high at road, there are lot of cows surrounded and standing in the spring, look like they are enjoying it. And a beautiful grassland is good for camping just beside it. A dirt road just before water[6.8/1035] will lead you to there.<br />
<br />
RR Km11.7 : beautiful view begin!<br />
<br />
If you follow the dirt road walking, it will lead you to Bridge? {11-C} [0.3/1109]. <br />
<br />
Bridge? {11-C} [0.3/1109] : no more bridge here, cross the stream just above ankle. After you cross it, CC back to RR.<br />
<br />
Ford RR [18.0/1199] : Crossing of Río Chaviquin, when you arrive the river, upstream 5m and look at the riverbed underwater, a rock bar there, about 45° downstream to the other side. Water is above half of thighs at noon, luckily flowing not fast and not strong.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
After the crossing, sometimes the trail easily mix with cow paths.<br />
<br />
Water, gate[19.9,136] : locked. Not a friendly gate, not easy climbing.<br />
<br />
Km22 : go into a wildfire dead trees area, for now the trail conditions still ok, but after some years they all fall down, i think it'll be difficult to follow between blowdowns.<br />
<br />
Km23.2 - km23.8 : blowdowns area, RR become difficult to follow, look like some reroute here.<br />
<br />
Ford[24.3/1688] : flowing fast and above half of calf at late afternoon. Flat spot can fit 1 tent after the crossing, surrounded by forest.<br />
<br />
Camp[25.1/1846] , Camp[26.1/1957] : both are beautiful camping spots, but no wind protection, also very wet as now, lot of tiny streams flowing nearby.<br />
<br />
X[26.8/2036] : if you don't look at the GPS, it is a "must" miss junction.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Pass[27.6/2174] : no need to step on any snow at north side. Still covered by lot of snow at south until km28.6(1850m). You can sit down then slide down, but some rocks appear at 2060m, better control the sliding direction otherwise your butt will cut off. I keep skiing down(with my trail runner) until almost the end of snow. You can walk on some stable ground start at km28.4(1910m). I think this part is difficult for NOBO if in heavy snow conditions. <br />
<br />
Mostly there are no trail, all walk by your own way in the valley. Maybe you'll find some nice trail like the one at km29.15, but all of them will disappear in 5min.<br />
<br />
You will cross the same river 21 times until you met a beautiful trail at km30.8. All the crossing is easy, mostly just calf, all under knee.<br />
<br />
Except km30.15, it is a small waterfall, valley become narrow, no shore for go around or stepping on, I don't know the way to go down. So i turn back to km30.1, follow the trail shown in OSM, climb up on the east side of valley. But when i going down back to the valley, look like a short part of the trail is landslide away, it becomes very steep to go down, be careful.<br />
<br />
km30.8 : trail, easy walk start.<br />
<br />
Km31.3 : locked gate with wire fence, you can go around it at right side.<br />
<br />
Hot spring? [32.0/1428] : nice spot! 2m x 2m pool with good temperature water(about 50°c), although it's not deep also grey colour, but it surprised me, just like a reward after so many cold feet crossing! Some flat spots nearby. I met a friendly family here too!<br />
<br />
Ford[33.2/1403] : crossing of Rio Ranquil, looks like up to thighs and flowing strong. Log crossing at upstream 40m, but not easy. I saw some footprints for locals crossing it, so i crossed here. After the crossing about 100m is a big fire ring and a camping spot can fit 1 tent under a tree. 80m more is a roundabout for dirt road, you can camping here if need, because the dirt road is damaged so no cars coming.<br />
<br />
And then dirt road walking all the way down. Maybe possible for hitching out on weekend if you are lucky, i saw some people driving to here for picnic when i was walking down the road on Sunday.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
2023-dec-23/ 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR / Lukas en Tess<br />
<br />
Section 11 went fairly smooth. We followed the advice of the wiki to avoid option 1. RR was perfect, coming through some awesome forrest on the way up, we found wild cilantro and some other stuff. We camped just across the ford on K24,3 for the pools. The pools are good, but I think the next campspot on the map at K25,1 is definitely the most beautiful on the route. With awesome waterfalls not too far to venture into. The pass was no problem, lots of snow on the other side but never to steep. We sat down and went for one of our fastest decends jet :p <br />
Then the pickle began, we needed to restock for section 12, but the busses are only monday, wednesday, and Fridays. And not on public holidays like monday the 25th of dec!!! We tried hitchhiking, but there was no one passing except horses. <br />
In the end, we found a new minishop on the way to Troyo {11-5f} 14.3 k from the end of GPT11. The owners just moved here from Santiago. Maximilian and Anna are probably the nicest people we have met on the trail so far. The shop has everything you need to resupply except gas (maybe in the future). They took us in and we ended up staying with them for 2 days and celibrating Christmas together with some of their friends. It was great!<br />
<br />
<br />
2023 Dec 15 / 1 day / hiking / SOBO / option 05 + 05F + hitchhike / Frans<br />
<br />
Reading all the stories and in combination with the upcoming bad weather made me skip the pass and decide to go to Troyo or even Lonquimay and rejoin GPT 12 later. Beautiful walk through the valley tho! Really enjoyed it.<br />
<br />
First rivercrossing after 1.5km, water was pretty strong and for me (194cm) reached my waist even before I was halfway. So decided to turn back and look for a better spot. About 150m downstream the water splits in 2 streams. Much easier, didn't came any higher than my knees. So easy to cross here.<br />
<br />
About 200m before GPT11-05A End there was a gate and a man sitting in front of it. His wife joined immediately. My western interpretation of their verbal and non-verbal communication was they were grumpy and annoyed. But I could understand probably less than 5% of the words they said. I tried to smile and wave, thank them and say how beautiful the area was but it made no impression at all. After taking pictures of my driver license and paying 10k CLP they let me through and continue (and I knew this would happen because it's written here before). <br />
<br />
Got a ride to Lonquimay after joining the main road to Troyo (11-05F) by the first vehicle that passed by. <br />
<br />
<br />
2023-Dex-02 to 2023-Dec-04 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Jens<br />
<br />
We combined the two stages 12 and 11. The hot springs after about 7 kilometres gave our weary bones a little rest.<br />
<br />
I had tried the ascent to the pass along the left-hand side. I followed a trail for a few kilometres, but at some point it ended in bush bashing. The better route is probably through and along the river. <br />
<br />
As there was still a lot of snow at the beginning of December, crossing the pass was not easy. The last 100 metres in altitude were particularly steep. I can imagine that the melting of the snow could lead to avalanches in the coming weeks. <br />
<br />
On the other side, I had no further problems. There was still some snow, but I could either avoid it or walk right over it. <br />
<br />
Water: Many options<br />
<br />
Camping: Many options from two kilometres before and after the pass.<br />
<br />
2023-Dec-3 to 2023-Dec-5 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 5F + option 5 / Yannick & Nolwenn <br />
<br />
We started section 11 and turned around just before the pass because there was too much snow for us and we felt it was dangerous. So we then took the option road to go to Troyo ( rest day) then to Guallali.<br />
<br />
- Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br />
<br />
- Snow : lots of snow on pass, from km 29,14 to km 27,57.<br />
<br />
- Camping spot : easy to find, the natural hot spring matked on the map is present and it's easy to camp next to it<br />
<br />
- River crossing : on RR, following the river is easy from km 30,8 to km 29,12, stay in the river bed. It's not worth it to get out of the river and try to found a way around it. We did it and regretted it. | Rio Chaquilvin on option 5 was easy to cross. (The cable car is locked) <br />
<br />
- Weather : Sunny<br />
<br />
- Option roads : option 5F | (1) gravel road, for us on a Sunday, we didn't encounter a car for the first 12 km then got lucky and got a ride to Troyo - we also got an easy hitch from Toro to Puente qcontraco. Option 5 | (2) easy track. From km 7,15 ( fundo los Guindos) to km 1,2 you are in Mapuche territory. At km 7,15 , two guys with some big knifes hanging on their belt asked us to stop. They were a bit cold and not really welcoming. They explained to us that they were retaking their land and therefore needed to register everyone who was entering.They took a picture of our passport and let us go after saying that we should go to the house at km 2,45 so someone there could help us cross the river ( Rio Chaquilvin) where there is a cable car. Once we arrived to the house, a woman ( really not nice) blackmailed us in order to give her money because we were on her land. When we asked how much for the fee she just said " what do you got ? ". So then we negotiated a little bit but quickly gave her some money ( 7000 pesos), but she was asking more.... There was a big dog behind her and we were feeling really uncomfortable and just wanted to get out of the situation. She didn't help us cross the river and just said " if you die it's your responsibility '. <br />
<br />
- Warning : Mapuche land - read section ' option roads' | A lot of snow at the pass on RR.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-05 to 2023-Mar-05 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis <br />
<br />
Continued directly from GPT12 so we started at the end of RR-TL-V {11} [31.3+1.5] . We followed the RR for the whole section. <br />
<br />
On day 1, for RR-CC-A {11} [27.6+3.3], you have to stay in the river stream for the whole duration. You will find plenty of water because you walk in it, and nice pools and little cascade if you want to take a bath. Leaving the stream for higher up is not a good choice : every time we tried it was a mistake. We camped at Camp {11} [26.1/1957]. It was not protected and the night was very windy... Not our best choice.<br />
<br />
On day 2, we continued until Guallali following the RR. The trail around Km15 transforms in a MR that leads you to the village without even checking the GPS. <br />
There, we found the minishop that had limited resupply options (we bought lentils, cookies, snacks and cola). We checked in with the carabineros that were friendly and sayed we could camp wherever was wind protected. We opted for the football field which is a nice flat and grassy place.<br />
<br />
Not much to say about this section, we found the end on the dirt road relatively dull but the beginning in the mountain is awesome <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-11 to 2023-Feb-12 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (option 01+ off route) / Natalie&Tomáš<br />
<br />
Combined GPT 10(01)+11+12<br />
Day1<br />
Slept in Guallalí in the growth as others have described but still asked the shop owner first for permission. Carabineros were nice and told us we did not need to check in although the sign says "obligatory check". Pedro at the mini shop is also kind and willing to help hikers although there is only a handful of items in his shop-bought some sweets. Pedro also told me that option05 to lonquimay would require you to pay 10mil from the locals. We took RR. At this time of year the road is the "dirt-dust type" but still fast until Estero Quillaylemu (14km) which makes for a nice rest. Tomáš checked out the hotsprings at 6.6. There is a table and a pool of nicely hot muddy water directly next to a river. Better camping site than in Guallali. After the Estero Quillaylemu the track gets harder to follow but becomes beautiful after the ford and bend towards the pass. Lost the trail a couple of times but found lots of wild quinoa. Camped at 25.1 behind a boulder by the river to cut the wind, camp at 26.1 looked nicer.<br />
<br />
For the pass we followed the ridge for as long as we could (option 01) and it was fun and straightforward. Luckily, although the winds were strong that day the ridge was almost windless. Made our way down similar to Will. Got off the ridge here; -38.10270, -71.07250 (later than indicated by the GPX), headed to a small dry gully next to and below the "greyish" dirt here; -38.10359, -71.07282, you had to use your edges as the ground was hard"grit". Entered a small creek bed here;-38.10604, -71.07538 and followed it (some water) until it turned into a scramble. At that point we climbed back up to our left (East), moved south until we went down and up our final gully, just underneath 01B. This last gully was easy as Tomáš found a soft spot, somewhere around here;-38.11039, -71.07474. After this point it was easy to connect to the main route. Just the section up to here from the ridge is problematic - maybe two km. Probably fastest would be to go down the regular route and take the first option left, which is probably a trail and only means about 300 m of additional climbing. The route as mapped by the GPX files (option01; second half of the traverse) looks quite steep and exposed and does not save much elevation. It is probably possible but to us from below it does not look worth it.<br />
<br />
Lastly there are water sources on the other side of the ridge (SW, the hard side) before the hotsprings if needed.<br />
<br />
Continued onto Section 12 towards Banos Coyucos for the night.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-27 to 2023-Jan-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Johana & Matouš<br />
<br />
We camped near the ford on the 18th kilometre (just about 20 metres upstream is a great place to take a bath in). The next day we made it all the way to the end; however, it was an ordeal. The view from the pass was jaw-dropping and parts of the path leading up to it were shaded by beautiful trees, but we feel like the horrible descent (we were doing the regular route) made it not worth it for us. Despite the fact that we were lucky enough to have the best conditions for the descent (only some snowpatches at the top, sunny weather), the terrain felt ankle-spraining. The wobbly stones kept sliding down and it required a lot of focus. We went down through the canyon and after the point where you need to go above it when it becomes too narrow we went down the wrong way and I fell down clutching at straws (literally) not to fall down. So it might be better to go through the river..? To be optimistic, the last part of the path was beautiful again. We hitched a ride and stayed with a really nice family that took us to Lonquimay the next day. It's a nice bigger town with a lot of possibilities to resupply. There are really buses only Mo-We-Fri from Ranquil. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-17 to 2023-Jan-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 1 to the Termas del Pelehue / Will <br />
<br />
I took the bus to Guallali, which took me past the Carabineros and directly into town where I set up in the standard grove. A bit after dark two carabineros showed up at my tent. Intimidating at first, they were very friendly after I explained my plans. They just said that next time I should make sure to stop and report to them on my way by.<br />
<br />
The section starts out with a not very interesting road walk, but suddenly became super beautiful 15ish km in. I camped at 25.1, a somewhat sheltered spot by a stream, where the wind rattling my tent made it hard to sleep. A few arrieros came by during the evening. The 26.1 campsite looked similar.<br />
<br />
The horse flies reappeared as I got up closer to the pass. Had flashbacks of sections 7 and 8, trying to determine whether each stab was a horse fly or a burr or a paranoid hallucination. My theory is that they've migrated up to the higher altitudes, now that it's later in the season.<br />
<br />
I took option 1 (diverging a decent amount) to join up with section 12 at the termas de pelehue. It was tough and slow going, taking around 3 hours, but I really enjoyed it. I planned my route to avoid horizontal slope traversals so I never really felt in danger of a serious fall. I did still slip a few times, cutting up my hand a bit.<br />
<br />
I started out with the ridge walk from the pass. Would have been great walking if not for the absurd winds, I spent most of it slightly to the south below the ridge. The slope was pretty gradual there and not slippery. I then went down past the two grass patches following the route on openstreetmap. I descended to the south all the way down to around 1875m, along a stream around 50m to the east of the openstreetmap route. It was easy rock walking at first, but turned into some tricky hands on scrambling as the stream got bigger.<br />
<br />
I wouldn't recommend it if the flow rate is high. Then I climbed back up to the final stretch of the main option route. The climb was steep at first but with enough vegetation and solid rock in the slope to get up. Everything after that was easy, more or less.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-14 to 2023-Jan-16 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
From Guallalí there’s a gravel road for first few kms, easy walking. We didn’t check the hot springs in a hot day, but someone mentioned it is fine. All the fords were easy. We camped around km 21 in a little forrest. The ascent to the pass is pretty gradual and we enjoyed it really. Based on previous comments we chose to stick to the RR which turned out to be a good decision. There was still quite a lot of snow and the terrain is more technical, but it just requires focus. We walked on the right edge of the snowfield and slided down in some parts. When we reached the river we didn’t walk at all on the snow but rather on river banks or even in the river itself. Closer to the junction we once or twice followed the alternative dotted line that is marked in our maps - it just goes higher up from the canyon and back. After the junction we continued to GPT12.<br />
<br />
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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<br />
*2023-Jan-13 to 2023-Jan-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Guallalí - Termas de Pelehue (junction GPT 11, option 1 and GPT 12) / Anna & Christopher <br />
<br />
In Guallalí we camped at the same spot as Veronica after arriving around 20:30.<br />
The first day there is a lot of walking on dirt roads and good paths, so the km went by quickly. We camped at the ford waypoint [24.3/1688], where the way passes a small creek. It has some natural pools, which are amazing to take a bath.<br />
<br />
The next day after arriving on the plateau there is a CC part, so keep an eye on your navigation device. When we reached the pass we accidently went the wrong way and ended up taking option 1 to decrease the detour. Bad idea! Better don't take option 1. There is almost no path, its very steep, a lot of scrambling and there was one very stupidly dangerous descent across some gravel/rock part. It took us around 3,5 hours to cross option 1. We would definetly not do it again. We directly continued to section 12.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-30 / 5.5 days (GPT11 + GPT12) / Hiking /SOBO / RR + OH 2 / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: Guallalí - Junction to Section 11, Option 2 - Ridge Las Monjas - Junction with GPT12, RR-CC-A {12} [12.9+3.5]<br />
<br />
Ralco is a good resupply town, the smaller supermarket had camping gas. Took the bus back to Guallalí at 5 p.m. for 1,000 clp, arrived around 8:30 p.m. I camped in the same araucaria grove as the night before (via the wooden gate next to the escuela). Good and clear path in a pleasant valley, river fords easy. Found some ripe berries/brambles along the trail that were delicious. <br />
<br />
I decided to opt for Option 2 that goes east of Cerro Dedos. I was worried about the likelihood of snow on the steep south side of the pass (2174 m) on the regular route. I didn't need to stop in Ranquil, so figured it was best to stay high on the mountain and take either Option 1 or Option 2 to connect with GTP12. After reading the comments from other hikers, I knew I didn't want to take Option 1. A scree traverse on a south-facing slope didn't sound appealing, especially if you factor in lingering snowbanks this year. So I thought Option 2 would be best. A detailed description of my experience along that route is posted under "Optional Routes" ("its directly under this post - modified by Joscha97") . The gist of it is - it was very technical, not much solid footing, lots of exposed scrambling. In a couple spots I genuinely feared for my life. Would not do it again. Please stay safe if going that route, and I would definitely not attempt it NOBO!<br />
<br />
Took 1.5 days to meet up with GPT12 at km 12.9<br />
<br />
OH 2:<br />
The trail is good and easy to follow in the initial valley once it splits from the RR. There was no puesto at the second "puesto" waypoint, just remnants of old fences and corrals. Good place to camp, sheltered from the wind. The start of the CC section is an annoying but thankfully short bushwhack to the treeline. Afterwards it's straight up to the top of the ridge, grass turning to scree/rocks higher up. Steep, but quite doable. <br />
Once at the top of the ridge, this is where my troubles started. The ridge is not nice and rounded, but very narrow and jagged, with vertical, rock outcrops/spires blocking the way frequently. You have to go around most of these obstacles (impossible to climb over), and this is the most dangerous part. To go around you need to descend back onto the nearly vertical scree slope, traverse around the rockface, then climb back up to the ridge. All on the most slippery scree/gravel I've ever experienced. It was all extremely precarious. Climbing back up around the very first obstacle, the scree was so loose I was on my hands and knees scrambling upward, trying to climb faster than the rocks falling under my body. One of the most frightening situations of my life honestly, I felt like I could have gone down with the rocks like an avalanche. After miraculously getting back up on the ridge, I couldn't stop shaking and was almost in tears. Couldn't believe what I'd gotten myself into honestly. And then came more scrambling and clambering. Poles were useless, I was using my hands the whole time. I can't stress enough how loose and unreliable most of the rocks were. Very, very difficult. Would not attempt this northbound, ever. And thank goodness the weather was good and calm too. The views were spectacular, out of this world, but not worth risking my life for, and I wouldn't ever do that section again. Don't know if Option 1 would have been better. At least snow wasn't an issue with Option 2. If I had to do it again I would stick to the regular route, go down to Ranquil and climb back up GPT12 via the RR. <br />
Anyway, south of S 38° 06.903', W 071° 02.205', the ridge becomes less steep and more rounded, easy to walk on. You reach the pass {11-04} [5.4/2385], and make a sharp left to go along the Argentina border. Go across a few easy snowfields. Amazing views of snow-capped volcanoes all around. Condors swooping near my head. Felt like I was the only human on earth. Still lots of snow on Cerro Dedos. Once GPT11-02 meets with GPT12, you pick up a faint path and navigation is easier.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-25 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain <br />
<br />
- If you cook on campfire or on wood burning stove you have better stay discrete because everything burnt some years ago and the landscapes are still marked.<br />
<br />
- There are a lot of Araucaria trees. You can easily save food just by harvesting piñones on the floor following the path. I would recommend to not rely on it because it depends on the period, but there was plenty.<br />
<br />
- Camp {11} [22.6/1461] : I loved this place. It was very comfortable with grass on the soil, almost flat, protected from the wind even if there is some in the valley, discrete, and I spent much time looking at the stars thanks to a good and warm (or at least not cold as it was the previous days) weather. To get water you have to walk 3 minutes following the point on the GPS which is precise<br />
<br />
- Ford {11} [18.0/1199] : I had good time there, the weather was very good, the place is calm and good to rest, water is still cold but there is enough to wash if you want to<br />
<br />
- From GPT-11C Start to Guallali it's now a Minor Road so it's very easy to follow and you meet a lot cars going in both directions, they just waved me.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-13 to 2022-Feb-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 11-01 (ABCDE) from the pass to Termas Pelehue on GPT12 / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
The MR out of Guallalí continues until about km 12 on RR-TL-V (another trail that's been jeep-tracked recently) where it veers off to the north. We found out two kilometers too late, but got back to optional route 11-C by CCing through some araucaria forest. This turned out to be a happy little accident, as, this way, we saw a family collecting things from the ground, which turned out to be piñones. Here is where we learned that the ripe cones are "café", and that the piñones just fall down when the cone is hit with a stick or a rock. It's basically nature's piñata (no etymological relation though!). Before getting back to the track, we found some low-hanging ripe cones, which sprinkled more piñones than we wished to carry. Got a nice free meal out of those we did pick up :)<br />
<br />
Camped in one of the many camp sites deeper in the mountains.<br />
<br />
The next day, we decided to skip the descent to Ranquil after the pass, instead taking the optional route 11-01 (ABCDE). 11-01 stays above 2000m on the slopes of the peaks to get to Termas de Pelehue on GPT12. We had food for three more days and the weather was excellent.<br />
<br />
We regretted this decision. 11-01 is CC without a clear path. Initially you're walking diagonally on a 45° incline of scree and sand, which is technical and requires constant concentration to find the scree-free spots. Later on, you're going from lower-incline slope to slope with little high-incline "gulleys" in between (as usual on a mountain flank). At some point, we did not see how to cross such a gulley at the spot suggested by the track files. We decided to descend to the point where the gulley seemed to have a passable incline, to ascend back on the next slope. This turned out to be a mistake, as the slope became more inclined before the gulley became passable. In the end, we did a lot of clambering, I got some fresh cuts from sliding down high-incline scree, and we narrowly avoided some scary looking cliff edges at the low end of our slope. This was the most dangerous situation we got in so far, and we were not really prepared to handle it well.<br />
<br />
I'm not blaming the track files: it was clear that it was high-altitude CC, and there was a waypoint warning of "demanding clambering" (though it should not be limited to "nobo"). Maybe going up the problematic slope instead of down would have been the better decision. Just be aware of the challenges this optional route brings. Definitely not doable in bad weather (you would just slide down to your death in some spots).<br />
Note that OSM shows a trail a little to the west (a little lower on the slopes) of 11-01, which connects at the beginning and end. We think we saw this path at some points during our traverse. This may be the easier route to follow instead of sticking to the CC points (which was the superior strategy on all other CC sections so far ;)<br />
There's a water spring at S 38° 06.178', W 071° 04.579'.<br />
<br />
Anyway, we were happy to reach the Termas de Pelehue. Sub-par hot spring, but great scenery all around. You can camp there, we went for a small spot protected on most sides by mountain slopes: S 38° 07.407', W 071° 03.775'. There are some non-sulfur water springs as well as a warm river to wash up in the surroundings.<br />
<br />
We continued on GPT12 for one day, getting back to Ranquil via the southern optional route 12-01. This way, we could catch the bus to Lonquimay the morning after (left at 07:55, there's a second one at ~17:00 Mo-We-Fr). Camped opposite the carabineros (on their suggestion) a bit behind the bus stop, close to the river.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-17 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
We arrived in Ranquil with the bus at 17, and walked about two hours to the hot springs where we camped. They are not very deep, but you can probably lie in them comfortably. Nicely warm. <br />
The ascent towards the pass next to Cerro Moncol follows the riverbed, and as previously noted, it's necessary to cross it multiple times. We were able to cross without getting our feet wet every time, though. The terrain before the pass is difficult, but after it immediately gets easier and the trail is easy to find. We were in a snowstorm and found it easily.<br />
The trail to Guallalí is pretty easy, a long way before Guallalí it becomes a gravel road.<br />
<br />
As described by others, there is a shop in Guallalí with VERY limited supply. It's next to the brown house of big planks, but you enter in front of the little red house to the right. <br />
Romina normally still offers accomodation, but when we were there she was leaving for an appointment in the evening and couldn't have us. She pointed us to the carabineros to camp, but they didn't want us there and told us to go to the camping ground "3 km" down the road. It turned out to be more like 12, and we ended up camping on a field some km from Guallalí<br />
<br />
<br />
*2021-Dec-03/ 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony<br />
<br />
Took the bus from Lonquimay to Ranquil friday at 15:00 (leaves Monday, Wednesday and Friday). On arrival I met two fellow GPT-hikers. Started off in some pretty bad weather with hail and thunder, but it luckily passed after a few hours.<br />
The first challenge I encountered was walking up the small river towards the first mountain pass (NoBo). To make my way up this section I had to cross the river countless times because of the difficult terrain by the river banks. Getting wet feet was inevitable. Afterwards I encountered a snowfield that leads up to the pass. Definitely possible to avoid the snow by walking along the edge, but I found it easier to just make my way up through the snowfield.<br />
Continued on to guallalí where there is a mini-shop with very limited supplies. (There are no flags or signs that indicate there’s a shop but it’s by the brown house made of rustic wooden planks.)<br />
Went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2021-Dec / Hiking / NOBO / OH 5 / Franck & Damien <br />
<br />
Be aware there are only 2 water spots on the road around the volcano<br />
One at the start (tap by the conaf barrack) and a very small one at the camp before entering the scoria field (not sure if water flows after december).<br />
Make sure you load liters of water, esp. in summer (heat + exposure to sun)<br />
Plenty of water (snow melt) once you passed the volcanoe.<br />
The TL from Contracto bridge to Communidad Chenqueco is now a kind of MR, we crossed several 4WD there (? !!). There is plenty of water there.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-28 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH5 / Martin <br />
<br />
4 days. 120 km. Because of bad weather forecast in the high parts of the cordillera, with strong winds, rain and even snow, we opted to take Alternative route 5 from Chenqueco to Lonquimay Volcanoe. A lot of road walking at the begining but the scenery and trail in the National Park were really amazing and worth it. Beware that in the traverse through the volcanoe to Corralco Ski Resort, there is no water and also difficult to camp. High winds and a lot of rain at the end. We checked many hostels in Lonquimay and the most convenient for us, was Hostal Nativo close to the main square.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-23 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank<br />
<br />
2 days & continued to GPT12<br />
At Pass 2180 wind & rain came in, I diverted onto OH-CC-A@11-03-#001 as described by Linda. Snowfields were old & undercut by stream leaving tunnels 5M deep, definitely not safe to slide on. Walked on edge of snowfields or a little above them on right. Then you enter a gorge, it is best to stay close to the stream & only leave the gorge if you must. In to Ranquil, nothing there apart from Carabineros & no traffic. From Ranquil I continued on OH-TL-V@12-01-#001 to GPT12<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-23 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ty & America <br />
<br />
Guayali - Termas de Pelehue<br />
Short & Beautiful. 4:00 Bus Ralco - Guallali. Arrived at carabineros after 8. Luckily they let us camp outside. TONS OF FLIES, so be ready for that. The thermal pools at Pelehue are up by the fumarole. The traverse over there is gnarly, steep, slippery, all the good stuff. Quite small, but with an AMAZING view. The lower one seemed fine to get in, we didn’t as we wanted to make it to the next hot springs on section 12.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-17 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Start: Guallalí, End: Termas de Pelehue<br />
2.5 days. We went from Ralco to Guallalí by Fletes (see section "To section start"). It's a bit expensive but we didn't want to take the bus at 16:30, arriving late. Beautiful section. The first hot springs are worth the detour if you have time to clean them and dig a bigger pot (would take you approx. 2h), otherwise you just have a warm foot bath. After the pass we took the optional route #002 leading back to the regular route, then we switched some times between optional and regular route and finally took the optional route directly to the Termas de Pelehue. This part is quite demanding as there are some landslides where you have to find your way through somehow. The hot springs are gone due to lack of maintenance. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 5 / Maddie & Tom<br />
<br />
3 days, 120km walking around Volcán Lonquimay. Given section 11 was not feasible due to high levels of snow we took Optional Route 5. For us it was 5 star scenery. It is beautiful and the trail is very easy to follow with trail markings in the CONAF park. We found it to be quite a quick section as a result of the easy navigation and good trail quality. Good resupply options in Lonquimay (we stocked up on food as well as bought some new socks and more 95% alcohol for our stove).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-09 / 5 days (GPT11+12) / Hiking / SOBO / OH / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
We combined sections 11 and 12. It took us 5 days including one zero because of weather. Patagonia showed us bit of it's potential in these two sections. <br />
All walked trails were in good condition and CC sections pretty easy to navigate. In the sadle of section 11, because of strong wind, poor visibility and fresh snow and ice we were forced to take optional to the valley. There is a big snowfield, I don't recomend sliding on it all the way. It the lower parts there were big holes into the stream. <br />
From Ranquil we took optional #002 because we didn't want to climb back up. Uphill is more a minor road, downhill nice trail. <br />
After a laguna we took a optional to the Pass 2180 and road around the Pehuenche Extortioner. We needed to get down from elevation ASAP bacause of wind. We passed puesto early in the morning and no one was around. After rainy day everything above 2000m was white. We took trail to pass 1920m which was just with bit of fresh snow and then took minor road #001 down to valley. So I have no idea about the rest of the trail.<br />
Edit: adding a picture from the last sadle 1920m, we did after "rainy" day.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-27 to 2019-Dec-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 3 / Linda<br />
<br />
Regular hiking route until the pass 2180 meters and then Option 3<br />
Nice section ! After the pass, I decided to go down along Option 3 that goes into the canyon. Lot of snow at the beginning, but that was fun cause the slope was not very steep and I could use my bag raincover as a sledge to go down!<br />
Then, I ended up into the canyon, crossing the river at least 20 times but no problem cause the water level is low and the river is tight (compared to GPT07 for instance).<br />
The only difficulty was once the canyon becomes too tight and I had to find a way up and had to face a landslide. Just one part of 5 meters wide but quite dangerous cause very sleepy with the rocks falling down.<br />
After, back into the canyon until I could join the Regular Hiking route. No difficulties until Ranquil.<br />
Was lucky to find people with a car who dropped me in Lonquimai cause I had to resupply. Otherwise, only 3 Buses a week from Ranquil (no tiendas to resupply) to Lonquimai = Monday, Wednesday, Friday<br />
Supermercado with everything to resupply and accommodations in Lonquimai<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-12 / 4.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Sophie & Hendrik <br />
<br />
In total we were 5.5 days on the trail, of which we spend 1 in the tent due to bad weather. On Cerro Moncol there was still some snow, which made us very slow, as we either had the options to walk on steep snow or walk higher up in more difficult terrain. Rivercrossings were no problem.<br />
We liked: The amazing views, the condors we met at the northern part of the pass (they came very close to us), the mountain crystals of which there are plenty on the northern side of Cerro Moncol.<br />
We did not like so much: The higher difficulty due to the snow in some parts (Snow on top of Cerro Moncol made the regular route more difficult)<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
Accommodation in Guallali:<br />
Brown house, ask for Romira; bed, dinner and breakfast for 30k<br />
<br />
Supplies:<br />
Hitchhiked to Chenqueco, 10 km, shop with small selection, some veggies, pasta, the essentials<br />
<br />
Bus to Ralco with more options every day at 5.30 am takes 3,5 h<br />
<br />
Same bus to Los Angeles <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
Ranquil:<br />
new minishop on the way to Troyo {11-5f} 14.3 k from the end of GPT11. The owners just moved here from Santiago. Maximilian and Anna are probably the nicest people we have met on the trail so far. The shop has everything you need to resupply except gas (maybe in the future).<br />
<br />
Resupply on optional road : in Troyo there are 3 small shops enought to resupply for section 10 and 9 ( vegetables, pasta, rice, semoula, galletas, mayonnaise, bread.. ) <br />
<br />
- Accomodation on optional road : in Troyo, we stayed in a cabana for 30000 a night for 2 people. Wood for fire included and kitchen. Just ask at one of the little shop | In Guallali, we stayed with a lovely family in front of the school (wooden house ). 30 000 pesos per person per night - dinner and breakfast included<br />
<br />
*Lonquimay (from Ranquil) <br />
- Supermercado Espinoza next to the bus terminal has most things. A little shop on the left hand shortly after the bus terminal when walking from the bus terminal towards the center has gas. The shop has different air mattresses, clothes and some outdoorsy things in the windows. There's also a ferretería that might have.<br />
Several accommodation options<br />
<br />
(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.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
<br />
*Guallali<br />
(2020-Jan)<br />
<br />
Bus Ralco-Guallalí 16:30 Mon-Sat, 9PM Sun. (~2.5h) The bus leaves Los Angeles terminal rural around 2PM Mon-Sat, 7:30PM Sun, continuing to Ralco & Guallali<br />
<br />
Fletes: 4x4 Cars in front of the supermercado. They drive you everywhere. CLP 80'000 to Guallalí, but if you find one going there anyway the price is much lower ;-)<br />
<br />
*Ranquil<br />
(2022 Jan)<br />
Bus from Lonquimay Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 15<br />
Other days bus to Troyo can take you most of the way, but hitching the rest might be difficult<br />
<br />
Bus from Ranquil to Lonquimay Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7:30<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT11 - Cerro Moncol]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830032.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinaqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830130.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[file:Guayali.jpeg|thumb|1100px|center|Guallalí, Por Norberto Seebach, 1100px|center|[http://www.recorriendochile.cl/ Recorriendo Chile].]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830046.jpg|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830051.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830070.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830082.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830115.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664147.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664155.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664163.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664167.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664189.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108829980.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108829987.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830002.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830021.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
<br />
[[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT10_(Laguna_El_Barco)&diff=114333GPT10 (Laguna El Barco)2024-02-20T10:17:59Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br style="clear:both" /><br />
<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH E / Joscha<br />
<br />
I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br />
<br />
Day 1: RR [0.0-21.9]<br />
<br />
Both Fords are easy below knee + the RR crosses a few more streams during the first 14 km. There is no water on RR after the Ford at km 14.1 until km 32.1.<br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [21.9-32.1] + OH10-E + RR [45.1-47.5]<br />
<br />
At km 32.1 (right before the start of OH10-E is a creek and some tables around. I think it belongs to a campsite there, but nobody cared that I did a break there. OH10-E is a big dirtroad with no water until km 8.4. I bought some cookies in the mini shop in Guallali + they allowed me to charge my power bank. After that I continued with section 11.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Feb-12 to 2024-Feb-14 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Guallali - Trapa-Trapa / RR + Option D/ Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
It was a nice and easy section. For us, the Laguna Liay would deserve to be on RR. It was one of the most beautiful and peaceful campspot we had this season.<br />
<br />
We also camped on the official campground at Laguna El barco. It was still 8000 CLP pp and the place was crowded with all the Chileans on holiday. The beach is nice but the campground is really dusty (as most of the section). There were also two families selling food (tortillas, sopaipillas and some other things).<br />
<br />
By the way, there is no more snow on the plateau so take plenty of water to cover the distance between Lago El Barco and Laguna Liay.<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-14 to 2024-Jan-16 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes<br />
<br />
<br />
From Trapa Trapa I went in this long valley, it is pretty packed with puestos. Had to check a few times the GPS in there, was quite often on a wrong trail. Many puestos create their own trail network…Went up to Laguna Liay and camped directly at the shore. I figured out two reachable beaches where you can put on one or two tents, one beach at the NW-shore, the other SE-shore. I camped at the second. Option 10D brings you down to it, but actually I could not find a real trail. This Laguna is just an amazing place, for me there was not just silence but peace! The special echo in this place has an effect. Next day I went to Laguna El Barco, for camping you have to pay. A huge laguna, beautiful, but with a check in and all the rules which apply. I do not like this. I went further and a few km before Guallalí I asked a Settler if I could sleep on his Eukalyptus plantation. The 3rd day I walked to Guallalí and stocked up for GPT 11 in the minimarket. For cigarettes I went to a house at -38.050512, -71,272100. There is a woman who sells tobacco and if you kindly ask her she might sell you one of her homemade bread loafs. Ask for the house of Cololo.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-04 to 2024-Jan-05 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {10-C} - RR - {10-E} - RR / Lilian<br />
<br />
After have a nice breakfast with the lovely family, i keep going south.<br />
<br />
Km0 - km13.6 : easy walking, easy to follow.<br />
<br />
Km13.6 : junction of RR and {10-01}.<br />
<br />
Ford[14.1/1269] : if you are not decided go to {10-C} or visit Laguna Liay (lake), it is the last water until km33 Laguna El Barco ( or a stream just before this lake ).<br />
<br />
Km14.47 : climb up start, the entrance is beside the corner of wooden fence.<br />
<br />
Km15.65 : a sharp turning, after here trail become very overgrown, until km15.9. At km15.65 and km15.9, i both saw a clear path going to east, I'm not sure is it a new reroute by local and are they connect or not.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Km16.1 : junction of RR and {10-C} , I don't decide go for walk around the whole lake, but just want to visit it take a look, and collect some water.<br />
<br />
{10-C} km0.33 : (-37.83379, -71.27817) a sandy slope steep going down, the trail to Laguna Liay (lake) is here, you can see some trail trace on the sandy slope. A little overgrown and sometimes fallen tree block your way, but mostly you can step over them. About 10min you will arrive a sandy beach (-37.83326, -71.28031) at km0.5. Not a camping spot, but here have some big trees fell in the lake, easy walking on them go to the lake for collecting better water. Good view point of Laguna Liay with Volcán Callaqui, i also saw some beautiful ducks with red brown body and blue beak swimming here! <br />
<br />
After collecting water and a long nap, i decided back to RR, i took another trail on the sandy slope that closer to lake side (not shown on map), it is easy to follow and easy walk, lastly join RR at km16.5.<br />
<br />
RR Km16.9 : what a beautiful grassland! Easy trail start, enjoy the land scape changing and Araucaria forest. I love this area!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Pass RR [20.6/1850] : large flat area ( Most of the section10 is flat area), nice view point of Volcán Callaqui! Also the first view ( for SOBO) of Volcán Tolhuaca!<br />
<br />
Km26.6 : left side, Volcán Copahue!<br />
<br />
Km31.4 : pass, from dirt road to trail going down, but before going down, there is a side trail to south for climbing up a small hill, just distance 500m and climb up 70m, go for it! Excellent view point of Laguna El Barco, Volcán Callaqui, Volcán Copahue and Volcán Lonquimay( Sierra Nevada behind it?) !<br />
<br />
X[31.2/1469] : a campground with picnic table ( i think it is a paid area because a sign at front gate but didn't see anyone when i passed there) and a stream flowing nice with clear water just before it. If you don't decide go to Laguna El Barco for collecting water, it is the only water until Guallalí.<br />
<br />
Because the weather becomes worse, very windy and cloudy, also the forecast said it maybe rain at afternoon, so i took {10-E}, shorter the distance rush to Guallalí.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Bus {10-E} [8.4/938] didn't find the shop that Martin & Helena said (close to Bus 10-E mark.) I asked the house owner beside the bus stop, and she said no shop there. I saw a sign beside the bus stop is erased away, also a banner looks like said "selling thing" already being discarded on the ground, so maybe the shop is closed no more? ( I'm not sure).<br />
<br />
{10-E} km10.0 rejoin RR.<br />
<br />
RR km46.05 : look like a very old shop, I saw a sign for candy and cigarettes, but the house is broken and no people there any more.<br />
<br />
Shop {11} [0.1/951] : No sign for shop, it is a beautiful looking wooden house, cross a tiny wooden bridge to their front gate. A little better stock than i think before, more than the shop at Trapa Trapa and almost the same as Los Álamos. Pastas, rice, some canned food, biscuits, drinks and chips. Not picky and i resupply for 3 days food here. I asked for accommodation, and the female owner said can stay in their house, 30000 CLP for a single room(4 beds) with light, quilt and electric charger, shower(cold) with shampoo, dinner and breakfast, maybe can use their washer for laundry, but finally i use my hand for washing them, because my clothes are too dusty and don't want to pollut their machine. It has a feeling look like guesthouse at some tourist routes in Nepal, but of course the one in Nepal are much commercial.<br />
<br />
Dinner is delicious for goat and rice! Although not much enough for hiker hunger (never enough), but it is one of the best meal i eaten in Chile so far. They are super friendly, i'm very happy staying here with them!<br />
<br />
<br />
I saw a bus arrive Shop {11} [0.1/951] on friday 6pm, but I don't know where it come from.<br />
<br />
(-38.04741, -71.27506) look like is the church that Maks& Gabi said. A tree with beautiful grassland, but no good water resources nearby, the river beside it is flowing brown water, also farming and people living at upstream.<br />
<br />
<br />
2023 Dec 30 to Dec 31 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR / Ella<br />
<br />
TLDR: beautiful secluded camping on plateau but no water. be cognizant of tensions between Pehuenche and non Indigenous people <br />
<br />
Day 1: Trail was beautiful and mostly easy to navigate. Camped that night at around 11 km on the right side of the river, pushed back into the trees quite a bit. Chose not to camp at one of the marked campsites near the puestos because I became a bit worried about the large number of beer cans I was seeing along the way, and I didn’t meet any women at any of the puestos. Though I’m sure there’s mostly very kind people in this valley and I had no encounters that made me feel otherwise, I didn’t feel like taking my chances as a young solo woman given a few past reports on this section. However, it was a challenge to find a camping spot that felt both safely hidden and like I wasn’t on someone’s land without permission (though I probably still was) - there’s many more puestos in this valley now than appear on the waypoints, and there’s also loads of cows and horses grazing! If you find yourself in a similar position to me, I highly recommend just mustering up the energy to hike up to the plateau and camp about a kilometer in. Very nice and secluded spots up there. You would just need to bring a lot of water because there’s none until Laguna El Barco. <br />
<br />
Day 2: Plateau was beautiful, but keep an eye on the GPS. As others have said, you have to pass through what is now a campsite with a gate just before the main road to Laguna El Barco, but no one was there so I didn’t get charged. Laguna El Barco camping was nice and lively on New Year’s eve. The store is still not set up yet, but the staff charged my devices for me. If you continue on the RR for about a km you will find the wooden sign for Entel service which did work for me. Just be aware that you have to walk by what is demarcated as a “dangerous zone” on Pehuenche land. I’m not quite sure what this means, but when I was walking to get service someone I passed warned me of it as well… <br />
<br />
Next day I got a ride from someone leaving the campground to Ralco (2 hour drive!). Bigger market was open even when nothing else was on a national holiday (January 1) and had good options. Camped at Camping Nativo about a 30 min walk outside of town, which is close to a great river spot and has sinks, outlets and even a shower! <br />
<br />
Given the tensions between the Pehuenche and non Indigenous people on the lands that this trail crosses, I’m curious if we, as non Indigenous hikers, should think about having a broader conversation to understand what kind of place we have (if any) in using these lands. Ideally with direct input from Pehuenche people themselves. Both for the sake of respecting the people of these lands and feeling safe as hikers. <br />
<br />
2023 Dec 22 to Dec 26 / 4,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR & part Option 1 & Completely new option / Tomáš & Natalie<br />
<br />
Note: Our path was of course convoluted. We walked the optional route 10-01 to volcan Copahue last year. It is splendid and recommended for our option. We came back to the area to find a new connection that would avoid almost 25 km of unpleasant roadwalking after Laguna El Barco. We suceeded, see below.<br />
<br />
We followed the regular route to Laguna el Barco. The route and the Laguna are indeed very pleasant. We paid 1000 each to be able to pass through (?) and use the camping tables for lunch. The store was closed even on Saturday (Dec 23). About 300 m from the lagoon, there is a sign about Entel coverage and 4g indeed works decently there. We then took the minor road to the hot spring under Volcan Copahue.<br />
<br />
No cars seem to be using the road, especially the second part is quite eroded and after the hot spring it is bordering on impassable for cars. The hot spring is still nice. We then followed the road to an incredibly beautiful valley under Copahue. Few hundred metres before reaching Argentina, we left the road and shortly found a path that traversed into the valley in the south next to the border. The path petered out once we got above the bushes. It was really easy to reach the ridge and folow it (and the Argentinian border) to 37.9575000S, 71.1211474W. With snow all around on the slopes and with condors circling us, it was stunning (the ridge is mostly snow free). Made camp under the summit next to a 10m-high wall of ice for wind protection. There was no path but walking was easy, thr ridge is rather flat.<br />
<br />
There are three options we explored from there on. The recommended one is the last one we explored, but here they follow in chronological order. Continuing on the ridge towards Cerro Dedo would require climbing or exposed traversing (if one dropped to Argentina, one could probably find a path to reconnect to GOT after Cerro Dedos if there are no border controls). Instead we went down side of the mountain roughly to here: 37.9650794S, 71.1206588W (it was steep but full of stones, so not slippery and we did not think it was dangerous). Then we started traversing (it did not feel exposed, but was a bit strenuous) until about here: 37.9792148S, 71.1245764W, from where we started going down a narrow ridge that was flanked by creeks on both sides. Again it was not dangerous and first half was good CC (like all the previous traverse), the second half was part cow trail (with cow poop), part bush bashing, but surprisingly easy and painless with long sleeeves.<br />
<br />
At the bottom of the valley, we came out on a clearly visible trail. We went up it further into the valley, where there was a deserted puesto on a meadow under enormous aracauria trees with a magnificent views on snowy slopes full of huge waterfalls. We made camp.<br />
<br />
In the evening, Tomáš then went to explore a scary looking ridge to reach this peak: <br />
37.9767704S, 71.1623784W. It turned out not to be scary. The sidehill up the ridge is mostly without trees or bushes, so it is steep but good CC. Once up the ridge, one can go around the pinacles from the southern side (left facing up), occasionally using the tree branches as support - there is a little of easy climbing, but with no exposure. Then the ridge is steep and somewhat narrow but one can mostly go up only using poles and not hands. Altogether SAC 5. It was fun and pretty, but caution needs to apply. From the top, one could easily traverse north towards here: 37.9611427S, 71.1539942W.<br />
<br />
The next day, we went up a ridge dividing the valley we slept in into two (this one: 37.9714484S, 71.1414231W). There is a trail up that branches off the main valley trail about 300 m downstream of the abandoned puesto. One goes up a slope for about 400 m and then down to a ford and then up. There are a variety of cow trails with bamboo cut some time ago. It is partly bush bashing, but very easy and just a few hundred metres. Once up the steep slope, the trail is much clearer. Above the tree line, it is easy CC. Once you get up the main ridge, you can either go right to the peak we slept at two days ago (a walk upno need to use hands, the rocky features vmcan be easily skirted, SAC 3-4) or left to the coordinates that end the previous paragraph. From there one could go down to the valley in the north and either CC and ford (probably possible, but unceartain) or follow the road/path that is mapped in OSM (look it online, it was only added in late November) toward El Barco. Navigating this SOBO is much easier, we posted the GPX route of the most tricky part and a rough overall route painted over satellite image in the Facebook group and hopefully it will be included in the GPT next year.<br />
<br />
Going down the valley to reconnect to the GPT leading from Gaulali is easy 5 km on a clear trail. Once you hit car tracks (almost in the main valley) that will soon turn left, you can probably follow one of the trails going straight and save yourself maybe a 0.5 km detour to a puesto here: 38.0095590S, 71.1391237W. From the puesto, there is a very ugly road that was enlarged this year all the way to Guallali. Going NOBO, you reconnect to the trail going to Cerro Dedos very soon and thus almost entirely eclipsing the roadwalk. Plus our proposed new route is really pretty.<br />
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From Gaullali, there seems to be a daily bus leaving at 5.30 AM from in front of the turnoff to the carabinieros station. It goes to Ralco and then to Los Angeles. By mistake we first bought tickets to Ralco for 1300 and then to Los Angeles for 1500. It arrives in Ralco at 8:00 and stops there for 10 or so minutes. Next bigger stop is in Santa Barbara around 9:30. It arrives to Los Angels after 10:30. I think it goes back in the afternoon, possibly at 14:00, nut ask at the station.<br />
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<br />
2023 dec 12 - dec 14 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR + B + C + F / Frans<br />
<br />
Took the bus from Ralco to Trapa Trapa, start of GPT10. 2 busses a day, 4.30 and 16.30. I was at the busstop at 4.10, but the driver probably didn't expect anyone and took a shortcut and therefore didn't pass the busstop. So if you want to take that one, walk 100m further to the crossing of the main road.<br />
16.30 no problems, plenty of people taking that bus. Total of 2.5hrs to get to Trapa Trapa.<br />
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Missing the bus gave me time to explore Ralco a bit, plenty of shops, turist information center and a Museum about the Pewenche. Small, but worth a visit (1000 CLP).<br />
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Didn't explore anything in Trapa Trapa since I wanted to cover some gound before darkness. Did see some signs of shops tho.<br />
Easy trail, no issues here. Ended up to camp at: Camp 10 [7.1/1181]. Got woken up by some cows and horses in the morning. <br />
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Took the route (C) along the lake, also with the intention to get some extra water for the plateau. Although there was plenty at the plateau (for now), at least 5 good streams and more small ones. All because of the melting snow, so I don't know for how long that will be in the upcoming weeks. <br />
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Walk was easy, pass is easy, some snow/ice walking but all stable. You might be taking a little caution when it starts melting more but walk around the snow is also an easy option.<br />
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I camped at the plateau, almost at the end just before you walk into the greenzone again. On the right side is a flat spot next to some trees and bushes. <br />
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Next day via Laguna el Barco, some people camping there, no one at the entry so didn't had to pay anything. Easy walk again. Took option (F) and first house on the left after crossing the bridge had a sign that they sold ice cream. Stopped there, friendly people and as they told me they will sell more stuff in the future. It also looked like that, they were constructing a store, shelves, counter everything. Just no inventory yet. Unclear when they will, at least to me with my limited Spanish.<br />
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Reached Guillali easily, had a chat with the local Cabaniero. He gave me a Entell Sim-card so I could have cell service. Stayed at Romina. Bed, dinner, breakfast 30.000 CLP. <br />
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Really nice walk all along. Easy navigation, nice views and not really demanding terrain. <br />
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<br />
2023-Dec- to 2023-Dec-8 / 2,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + variant G + variant E + variant C / Yannick & Nolwenn & Jens<br />
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- Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br />
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- Snow : a little bit of snow around the pass, super easy to navigate <br />
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- Camping spot : easy to find<br />
- River crossing : easy<br />
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- Weather : Sunny<br />
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- Resupply : there is a small 'negocio' in Trapa Trapa, and you can have breakfast with a really nice family at the 'lodging and food' <br />
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- Option roads : Variant C - really nice lake, just a little bit of bushbashing to rejoin the RR<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-07 to 2023-Mar-09 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis <br />
<br />
After a night in Guallali, we continued on GPT10. This section is short and awesome, definitely worth hiking! <br />
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On Day 1, we decided to reach the camping of Laguna El Barco (Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292]). We managed to get two rides that shorten the day, and enjoyed an afternoon of rest in the campground (we cooked some pinones). As other as noted, the price is 8pp and the water in the shower ice cold. We were hungry for sopapillas but sadly, this late in the season, the shop was closed. Because we asked, we were able to buy tortillas (2k each) directly from the owners for the next morning. Expect heavy bread - one half is enough for a meal.<br />
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On Day 2, we hiked through the plateau. Of note, X {10} [32.1/1296] is now a gate (and a camp) and we were asked to pay 1pp for the right of way. <br />
The plateau is easy walking with a clear trail while filled with beautiful views. Better pack some water before because we did not find any before reaching the end of the descent in the forest (RR-TL-V {10} [13.6+2.5]). We camped at Camp {10} [9.6/1175], which is in a bosquet and wind sheltered.<br />
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On Day 3, we finished the section until Trapa Trapa and asked for lodging at Mirellas (Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956]). It costs 20k pp for room / dinner / breakfast (no hot water). We were told there are some "thermas" close to -37.69656, -71.29006 but when asking our way, we were told it costs 4pp to use them. It did not seem worth it so we backtracked.<br />
The three shops in Trapa Trapa are located at -37.71004, -71.26861 (closed when we passed by), -37.71040, -71.26661 (had various sweets, ice cream) and -37.71234, -71.25523 (the biggest of them). However, expect limited supplies (we could not find batterias nor sunscreen for the next sections).<br />
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Not much more to say on this section. We initially planned to go on 10-01 for the Volcan, but were told it would be a day of heavy rain and thus stayed on the RR (finally, not a single drop, just a little cloudy and windy). <br />
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<br />
* 2023-Feb-07 to 2023-Feb-10 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + option 01 Volcán Copahue / Natalie&Tomàš<br />
<br />
The forest fire situation made planning for this extremely difficult. We packed for GPT 09-12 with volcano side trips but we had to skip 09 because of park closure and gamble on starting directly in Trapa Trapa. We took the direct bus to trapa trapa from Los Angeles, it was long...5+hours and leaves once a day at 2:15pm (Feb,2023). Although it was memorable we think it would have been faster to bus to Ralco and try to hitch as there are "some" cars. The road condition looked as if it has been recently fixed and is being improved even more.<br />
Arrived in trapa trapa at ~730pm and started hiking right away. Beautiful town and valley. We were going to camp at km07 but there were people staying there with dogs so we moved on to the next river crossing not great for camping. <br />
<br />
Day2<br />
Easy walk towards the junction for option 01 to volcán Copahue with a long conversation and piñone testing with "Pedro" from puesto 13.7. We were lucky to hike during the season that the piñones were dropping but sadly we did not find Laureline's cellphone:(. Our plan was to summit Copahue but my stomach bug came back and we stopped very early to camp, we had a few days of excess food so this was no problem. We camped near the large creek separating 01&01a -37.83511, -71.24072. The smoke was also getting us down. There is water here obviously but there is also a nice water source earlier here; -37.83542, -71.24258. This trail (01) is slightly overgrown and the "aggressive puesto" @ 1.2 was locked up with no one there. <br />
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Day 3<br />
We took option 01a (BB) to the pass. Tomáš had tested it the day before to see if it was BB but there was a path. Although there was a path we both got lost in the bamboo for the first bit but luckily once you get under the canopy of the Araucaria's the trail is clear and non bushy, actually it is really pleasant! In the forest there is water here; -37.83520, -71.23177 and a small broken down puesto here; -37.83893, -71.22434. <br />
Out of the forest there is a beautiful grassy (and boggy) plateau with two puestos (one occupied) and lots of water (-37.84756, -71.22044). We spoke with the lady of the puesto and her 5yr old son-genuinely nice people! There is a trail from her puesto (-37.84760, -71.22095) that goes straight up East. The trail exists until you hit a waterfall fed creek and the rocks start; -37.85161, -71.21874. from there on it is CC on grippy rocks, dirt and boulders. Last water source before the pass is not far; -37.85768, -71.21610 and would make a nice camp. Getting to his pass, although beautiful, took a long time! <br />
At the pass we dropped our bags and followed the osm route for volcán Copahue. The osm route was better than the GPT bcs it followed a firm snow patch for a good while making walking fast. There was a good stream of snow melt on the approach (-37.86132, -71.19051) and the walk to the summit was easy, some loose little boulders. The summit was well worth it as the crater of Copahue is very impressive; a large broken glacier with a beautiful glacier lake. We think apart from our climb of Azul it was the nicest volcano so far. <br />
The way down to Termas de Pucon Mahuida was very slow going. Followed the osm route rather than GPT bcs it seemed more accurate.However it was still CC on rocks almost the whole way. Up high there is water here; -37.87362, -71.20509 and "some" spots for camping. Later there is a scenic valley good for water and camping, nice views of Copahue's glacier; -37.87753, -71.19874. We followed this valley down until we had to cross out of it, once leaving this valley there is no drinking water until the hot springs.<br />
We camped at the hot springs which are a good temperature, one small pool but I think there are more higher up. The area around is not good for camping and very boggy, we found one half decent spot. Unfortunately Tomáš had his turn with the stomach bug and the smoke crept in strongly overnight. We rested late until the next day. <br />
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Day4<br />
We rested until late morning as Tomáš was still barely recovered from his stomach bug and walked the long road too ...<br />
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The beginning of the road could have been some of my favorite scenery so far, The Araucaria trees surpassed my expectations and especially when they are backdropped with mountains and at one time an orange river ( glacier water flowing through sulphur like sediment?). The road for option01 had plenty of good water sources (~5x). Friendliest dogs at this puesto; -37.95898, -71.26155 and a teeny tiny amount of water.<br />
Luckily got a hitch with a local to the bus stop shortly after the intersection with 01 and RR.<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-25 to 2023-Jan-27 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maks& Gabi<br />
<br />
Really quick section. We started about 2 pm on 25.01 and finished about 2 pm on the 27.01.<br />
Nice and easy with visible trail and no problems from the locals (all of them really nice). There is no water between 14 and 33km even after rain. <br />
We stayed at Camping by Laguna el Barco and paid 8 000 for the both of us. The water in the shower is ice cold, but there are few ladies selling fresh, warm bread. <br />
The public transport from the end of the section is the bus at 5.30 (Guallali) or bus point 5.45. We tried to hitchhike but with no luck. We camped in Guallali by the river (next to the church.<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-25 to 2023-Jan-27 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Johana & Matouš<br />
<br />
We found this section surprisingly attractive - mainly the plateau was breathtaking. We spent the first night at a property of a Mapuche family (waypoint Camp - 7,1 km). Right before the ascent to Laguna Liay, there was a Mapuche family whose father approached us, he acted rather reserved from the start towards tourists (as he told us that they bring litter into the mountains) but we ended up drinking harina tostada with the family which also sold us some bread. We took the optional route which goes around the Laguna Liay and couldn't find the path so we somehow slid down the hill and went around the beach. Laguna Liay was really great to take a swim in and felt private (until a helicopter started hovering above our heads, taking water from the lake). There really seemed to be no water on the plateau - we took it from the Laguna and spent the night on the plateau - lots of space for camping there. The next day we arrived at Laguna El Barco, we didn't have to pay for the entry to the lake. The tienda there was open until 8 p.m. and had tuna, rice, pasta, biscuits, beverages, toilet paper, instant soups. There was a stand that made sopaipillas, churascos, french fries, salad, tortillas. Then there were some ladies going around the beach offering almost the same. We hitchhiked some of the last kilometres of the road to Guallalí. There's a shop as others indicated and a bus going only in the morning as written below. The chances of hitch hiking from there are rather scarce, as our Polish fellow travelers found out. There's a quite nice camping spot by the river further down the road (it's a few metres into the start of the section 11); it's not very private but people that were passing by didn't mind us camping there. Continued to section 11 thereafter. <br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-12 to 2023-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / detour past Laguna las Totoras / Will <br />
<br />
Another quick section, with some super unique Araucaria forests. I decided to try and find the trail to Laguna las Totoras that Jo and Veronica mentioned. The route wasn't exactly traditionally scenic, but I had a good time. The lake was more of a shallow grassy pond surrounded by thick Araucaria forest. To me it was a nice change from all the classic alpine lakes. Flat grassy bank that seemed perfect for camping. The water itself was warm and a bit muddy. I didn't see anyone along the detour, other than a few bulls at the lake.<br />
<br />
I turned off the main trail at -37.90827, -71.30880. I followed some horse tracks curving to the south along the edge of the woods. The tracks went through some sandy clearings before I eventually lost them in the woods. The woods were pretty easy travel, before too long I was out on a grassy plateau where I found tracks leading to the mirador marked on openstreetmap. Went up the road through some inspiring woods to the lake. I then walked south along the not very scenic road back to the main route.<br />
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Could be a nice option to take if you're in the mood for a change from the open alpine trail.<br />
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Other than that I missed the turnoff to the Laguna liay and decided to try bushwhacking straight through. Had a good time going off trail due west to the bottom right corner of the lake, open woods with a few pretty easy scrambles up/down rocky cliffs. Had a worse time trying to head southeast back to the main trail, encountering some thicker woods.<br />
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The bus to Ralco comes at 2pm on Sunday, so I spent two nights at Laguna El Barco with a quick walk Sunday morning to catch the bus. For 15000 I rented a kayak to circle the lake in a bit under two hours, super nice. The campsite was crowded for the weekend. There were some nice ladies selling simple food. The trail to the right of the campsite along the lake is beautiful.<br />
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Had a hard time finding accommodation in Ralco, the first five places I tried were full. Eventually found a spot at Cabañas Nehuen Antu for 30k.<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-11 to 2023-Jan-13 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
We continued from Trapa Trapa in the late afternoon to the camp at km 7. Trail is easy to navigate from the beginning. We set the camp actually a few meters before the puesto, in the forrest on the right side that seemed to be more quiet and hidden place. There is a nice spot with water around km 8, before entering the valley. We have seen just a few people around the puestos. Ascent to the pass is not bad, we enjoyed again very different landscape all around. Continuing to laguna, we decided to camp below arucaria trees a little before the official camp (cca 2 km) since we would get there pretty late. Based on comments from other hikers we went through the camp the next morning to check if there is opportunity to buy some food and eventhough the shop was closed, there were two ladies selling tortillas and sopapillas, churrasco and a few other things. The trail after laguna is mostly a dirt road passing around puestos. There was a community festival in Guallalí (1st edition) which was really nice to see, we tried grilled goat and bought some local products, great experience. One of the guys from the festival took us to Ralco in the evening and arranged a cabaña for us (35k CLP). There are 2-3 bigger shops with basically everything, gas is in the one next to the biggest market on the plaza. On the other hand, minishop in Guallalí is very limited, but they have some drinks, ice cream, cookies etc. There is also one small shop on the way to Guallalí, close to Bus 10-E mark.<br />
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Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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* 2023-Jan-09 to 2023-Jan-10 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Trapa Trapa - Laguna El Barco / Anna & Christopher <br />
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We started from Trapa Trapa around 11 am after finishing section 9. The first part nearly until Laguna Liay is an easy walk on dirt roads/nice paths with several water sources.<br />
We met some pehuenche people who greated us friendly, only one man mumbled if we had a 'permiso' to pass there (we couldn't understand him very well). But then his friends told him to let us pass, he went away and we continued walking.<br />
On the last km to Laguna Liay there is a lot of bush bashing. But it's definitely worth it, a very nice camping spot up there.<br />
The next day we took option C around the lake, which was a mistake because at some point we couldn't find a path and ended up on a sketchy climb to the top of the plateau. The rest of the way to Laguna el Barco is easy with good paths.There is no water between Laguna Liay and Laguna el Barco.<br />
At the Laguna they charge 5000 CLP p.p. for the picnic/beach and 8000 CLP p.p. for camping. From there we hitchhiked to Ralco to resupply.<br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-23 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / Option C / Véronica <br />
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Route: Trapa Trapa - Laguna Liay - Laguna El Barco - Guallalí<br />
<br />
Two days from Trapa Trapa to Guallalí. Easy trail up the valley towards Laguna Liay. Didn't see anyone, most of the puestos appeared unoccupied. Lovely araucaria grove at the base of the big climb to Laguna Liay. The trail during the climb was overgrown/hard to distinguish in some places, and had a few areas of blowdowns too, which made the going slow during that bit.<br />
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I took Option C around Laguna Liay, which I found to be a frustrating maze of cow paths. One minute it's nice and clear and then it disappears, leaving me to bushwhack my way along until I stumble upon it again. The lake is beautiful though, and it's the last water before Laguna El Barco, so I filled up a couple litres. Met my first other GPT hikers in 3 weeks there too, they were going NOBO. Really beautiful up on the plateau of araucarias. <br />
There was no one at Laguna El Barco when I got there around lunchtime, no one selling food either. Spent over an hour there enjoying the shady picnic tables and the beach. <br />
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Easy trails/4×4 tracks the rest of the way to Guallalí. The two NOBO GPT hikers I met yesterday got charged 10,000 pesos by some local Mapuche folks to pass through this area, but I (again) didn't meet anyone. <br />
The shop in Guallalí is very limited. When I saw the selection, I decided to take the bus the next morning to Ralco, it leaves at 5:30 am. The shop owner was also not offering accommodation, but pointed me to the lovely araucaria grove across the street to camp. There is Entel cell service here :)<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-27 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain <br />
<br />
- Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292] : the place is nice, as mentioned there are lot of bins, the camping is also very nice and the showers still very cold. They charged me $5.000 for the night. It was written "with no (something I didn't manage to read)" on the bill so if they charge you $8.000 you can try to specify you don't have car, or I don't know... They removed the panel for the grocery just after I asked for it so it's now fixed, there is no grocery. The family selling cooked food wasn't selling food when I visited them around 11:00, maybe because it was monday morning, maybe because it was the end of summer, I don't know<br />
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- Close to GPT10-C Start there is a point of view on the whole valley, it's beautiful and you can see all the puestos <br />
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- Just after it there are many paths to go down, I haven't taken the one from the GPS but it's very easy to reach it then<br />
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- Around Puesto {10} [14.5/1297] an arriero told me there are 2 paths going down the valley, one on each side of the river, I've followed the GPT to try to reach Trapa Trapa before the night so I didn't go further about them but if someone try<br />
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- Around fords there are often a "bridge" made of one massive plank, the same arriero told me about some so they probably check each year they are usable. You just have to look for it, but it can not be the case at some points<br />
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- The number of puestos in this Valley is impressive, I only had good contacts with the people I met<br />
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<br />
*2022-Feb-11 to 2022-Feb-12 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional section 10-E straight from Laguna El Barco to Guallalí / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
In one day from Trapa Trapa to Laguna Liay, camping at the north side. There are many cow trails leading down to the laguna. The one we took seemed suitable for hikers too. Going back up the next day we got lost in the cow maze though, and only by searching for our own footprints from the previous day did we get back on the RR. It may be worth having a look at our GPS tracking data to figure out our initial path.<br />
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The next day continued to Guallalí. Beatiful plateau! Got to harvest our first piñones as well! However, we hurt the araucaria tree by breaking off a small but not insignificant branch when trying to get the green "pinecone" to break off, using the "strong rope" method described in the hiker's manual. Only later we learned you should go for the brownish, "café"-colored cones. Just hit these with your walking stick and the piñones will fall right off. You then collect them from the ground. The threatened araucaria will be much happier not being hurt :)<br />
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When in need of water at the plateau, there should be a path to Laguna Totora from S 37° 54.510', W 071° 18.580', according to an arriero who passed by. Maybe a future optional route?<br />
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The optional routes 10-E and 10-G have become MR instead of TL.<br />
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The lodging at the shop in Guallalí was not avaible, but the shop owner pointed us to an araucaria grove closeby (you can enter via a wooden gate next to the escuela). We camped there: S 38° 02.647', W 071° 16.441'. There were some villagers passing by, so it seems to be public land. There's a small stream to the east with quite clear water. Maybe it's possible to camp more upstream to the north, where there are bridges and where the stream has passed fewer houses.<br />
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Continued to GPT11 immediately after.<br />
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<br />
*2022-Jan-19 /3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
Between Guallalí and Laguna el Barco is mainly gravel road, but sometimes there are small, discrete paths that connect them, so keep an eye on the GPS.<br />
The camping at Laguna el barco is now 8000 per person. There are toilets, very cold showers and many garbage bins. There is also a family selling tortillas (bread baked in the ash) and sopaipillas, as well as some other people who come down in the evening and morning selling tortillas. There's a shop advertising ice cream, bread, sodas and other stuff, but it's closed. The people at the camping told us that it would open at 13, and then at 20, and then next day. A lady who had stayed there for a week said it had been like that the whole week, so I wouldn't count on it being open. As noted, you can ask the campground people to charge your phone. All in all, it was a nice campsite.<br />
Shortly after, the big climb starts. You have to pass through a fence and by some houses - again keep an eye on the GPS. We were charged 1000 per person, probably wouldn't happen for people going southbound. <br />
As warned, there was no water on the plateau until Laguna Liay. At the camp-waypoint, there is a very small lake, it doesn't look like the best drinking water, and the path directly to the lake seems very overgrown. Instead, we continued around the lake and found a decent campsite on the far side. The path around the lake is faint at best, and we ended up doing some serious scrambling down a cliff, however when we got down we found a path coming more from the right, so maybe there's a better way. The walk around is pretty, though.<br />
After the descent, the rest is easy walking past many puestos.<br />
In Trapa Trapa, we stayed at the house marked "lodging, food". They charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. Very nice family, they might be away in their puesto sometimes though. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. They were building a cabaña when we were there. Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there. Apart from that there are two other minishops, one in each direction, which we didn't check out.<br />
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The bus apparently leaves for Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends.<br />
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<br />
*2021-Dec-03 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option D / Marc Anthony <br />
<br />
After finishing GPT9 I went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.<br />
Like already mentioned by others, remember to bring a lot of water for the following section. The plateau you climb up on after El Barco lake was very dry. Next water source with good clean water was at Laguna Liay. I was getting desperate for water, so I took variant D directly down to the laguna. The trail was very overgrown and requires some bush bashing. Frustrating amounts of mosquitos and horseflies in this part of the section, might be worth bringing some mosquito spray!<br />
<br />
Next section towards trapa trapa was nice and easy with perfect weather and plenty of water.<br />
Found two mini-shops in Trapa Trapa with only limited supplies. A bus to Ralco, leaves weekdays 6:00 in the morning. Therefore I spent the night in a room that a local Mapuche family were renting out. Was served a very big plate of grilled sheep meat and really enjoyed talking with the family. Later in the evening the father returned home very drunk. He was nice and talkative but I was getting at bit of a bad vibe from him, so thanked them for the food and went off to bed. Later at night I was awaken by someone vigorously trying to open the door which I thankfully locked. Rest of the family woke up and I heard a mans voice shouting something about “extranjero” and soon after the abuela kicked this guy out of the house.<br />
<br />
Instantly thought I was gonna get robbed, but might just have been a drunk family member or the father who had forgot I was sleeping in their room. Hard to say… Apart from this I really enjoyed interacting with the locals in this region and I’ve had a lot of nice and memorable experiences.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-02 / Incident on GPT10 at Puesto-55 Location S 37* 49‘ 31.79‘‘ / W 71* 16‘ 23.38‘‘ / Published on behalf of Trevor Mattson<br />
<br />
"Sad to report that i had a very negative experience about 15km into section 10 on sunday (2/2). I was offered food and a place to camp by a very nice pehuenche lady (miriam, goes by "mila", the puesto after puesto 55 marked as "puesto, food" at the beginning of the OH route right after it splits from RR) only to have her husband come home later an try to rob me. She was extremely friendly. Although he was noticeably intoxicated, he was also nice at first as we joked, drank maté an collected firewood together. After a couple hours, as the sun was almost completely gone (~10pm), he went inside his puesto, grabbed a knife, an approached me from behind as i sat around the fire with his wife. He marched me to my tent with the knife pressed againt my neck. I allowed him to search it (he kept saying "plata, plata, plata" an his Spanish wasn't very good) which gave me the opportunity to pick up a rock an intimidate him a bit. I had a lot of money an wasn't just gonna let him take it and all of my stuff up in the mountains at night. His wife then came an tried to get between us / protect me (she was pleading him to stop). He was shoving her around, but this gave me just enough time to rip my tent out of the ground, which had all my stuff in it, an quickly drag it to the nearest puesto (~100metres). He followed me on horseback after a minute or two an the family there armed themselves with sticks an told him to f**k off. <br />
<br />
I hiked for a few hours through the night an met an incredible family at around 1700metres on the optional route (papa named exequel). They told me that he (bernardino from "puesto, food") has robbed a "chino" (means anyone that looks even remotely asian in my latin American experiences) in the past an that "se vuelve loco" when he drinks vine. I bought more cheese from bernardino an his wife than i wanted/needed as a nice gesture an we seemed to get along, so this was reassuring that he was just crazy an it was nothing that i did to provoke him. In other words, i behave according to the manual provided by Jan an it is not at fault.<br />
All in all, the pehuenches an mapuches i've met are all amazing except this guy. I definitely had to inform you all but don't want you to think that they are some uncivilized savages by any means. Bernardino kept telling his wife that i was "solo" as his justification for robbing me as they argued. Therefore i don't recommend passing through there alone, especially not later in the evening. I think if you stick to the regular you will narrowly avoid the puesto entirely. Or definitely worth the extra few KMs to continue to exequel's puesto further up the OH route. Also, i had a few extra pesos in a separate pocket that i was able to pretend like was all the money i had which was clutch. An from now on, I'm not staking anything into the ground until i know the father of the family well. <br />
Anyway, happy trekking, stay safe, an if anyone knows a good place to try an fix tent poles in concepción by chance then that would be awesome!"<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-23 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank <br />
<br />
Came in from Trapa Trapa in evening & camped @ Camp 81. There is a Mapuche family living there, talked to them & they were OK with me camping nearby. I was caught out by the sudden transition from river valley to dry plateau, had very little water & was as dry as dirt when I got to stream 1KM before Laguna Barco, drank 3 litres there. 3000CLP camping for 1 person @ Laguna. There is a Mapuche family with a food stall there, they have chips, sopaipillas & tortilla. The tortilla is like a small bread loaf. Next morning as I was leaving around 8:30 the Mapuche woman came round the campsite with fresh sopaipillas & tortilla. Walked in to Guallali from Laguna Barco in about 3 hours. Shop in Guallali is small but Romina who runs the shop provides beds & meals. 20,000 CLP for evening meal (usually goat & rice), bed & breakfast. Walked out 9KM to Comunidad Chanqueco, there is a good shop there. From Chanqueco it's easier to hitch, traffic coming from Laguna Barco but very little from Guallali. Hitched into Ralco, stayed @ Hosteria Montana there, about 15000CLP single.<br />
2 supermarkets in Ralco, they sometimes have camping gas.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-12 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes<br />
<br />
Overview: <br />
This section was well marked/distinguished relative to all the other sections on thus far. There were many Puestos along the way as well. This was also the first section where the araucaria tree is very prevalent across the landscape. This section was my final section on the GPT and the araucaria trees and the lush green landscape provided good contrast to the semi-desert climate south of Santiago de Chile. <br />
<br />
Difficulties: <br />
There was a small 12km ish section without water close to the pass. <br />
<br />
Highlights: <br />
Change in landscape. Great views of the many volcanoes in the area.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-22 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin <br />
<br />
Combined sections 9 & 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in "veranadas" were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-15 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
The trail was in good condition and we didn’t experience any issues. Possible to resupply at Guallalí but the selection isn’t huge (pasta, dry soups, crackers, tuna etc). If you are looking to bus into Lonquimay, it was leaving at 5:30AM the next morning for us (but we didn’t take it). <br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-10 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Easy trail and navigation. We got in this really bad weather too. Storm and ice at the pass. In Guallali we had coffee and sopapillas at the carabinieros and spent the night at the same place as Matus, Anna and Linda. We took the bus at 05:30 towards Los Angeles and are staying in Ralco for resupply and drying. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-25 to 2019-Dec-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda<br />
<br />
- Nice hike with no major difficulties. The plateau with the araucarias after the pass is amazing!!!<br />
<br />
- No river when you leave the valley toward the pass and then down to the other valley BUT, as I wanted to sleep on this plateau (25 km after the start of the section) I found a small river 300 meters on the right from the regular track and camped at this place : S37,895511° O71,308919° Wonderful sunset!!! <br />
<br />
- In Guallali, end of the section, lodging, food and mini shop. Lodging at the way point Minishop very nice = guesthouse with diner and breakfast for 20000 CLP. Very nice family!!!!<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-17 / 3.5 days (11 walking hours) / Hiking / NOBO / RR with hitch hiking between Guallali and Laguna el Barco / Sophie & Hendrik <br />
<br />
In total we were 3.5 days on the trail, of which we spend 1 in the tent due to bad weather. The 0.5 day we had left from arriving in Guallali we spend buying food and hitch hiking to the campground at Laguna el Barco. We did so because we expected rain soon and wanted to camp it out. Also we were not too keen for the gravel road part.<br />
<br />
We liked: Nice araucaria trees, an amazing sunset we saw a tad south of Laguna Llai and after section 11 and 12 the easy terrain.<br />
<br />
We did not like so much: The horsflies.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-04 / 3.5 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log. <br />
We combined these two sections. It took us 3.5 days via regular trail SOBO.<br />
Trail in both section is in good condition. There is snowfield in first pass as was mentioned. We went left, but it would be worth to check is it's possible to go through rocks on the right as it seems much shorter. <br />
Water is not marked on a map but there is a stream before the pass. <br />
Resuply in Trapa Trapa is very limited. They had few tunas, other caned fish, some pasta, flour, cola, crisps... We didn't check for accomodation. <br />
We stayed in a paid campsite at Laguna el Barco for 5000 both. Around 8 there was a woman selling bread and sweet pastry, but mind that it was weekend. <br />
Resuply in Guallali again very limited. They have tunas, caned fish, pasta, oil, crackers and bit more. We are staying in a house next to the shop.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Trapa Trapa<br />
- Accommodation: The house marked "lodging, food" charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. <br />
<br />
- Shopping: Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there. There is a panel just before the street going to the grocery indicating that the mini-market is 100m away. There are two other minishops.<br />
<br />
- Bus: The bus apparently leaves for Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends.<br />
<br />
*Guallalí<br />
Lodging at the way point Minishop very nice = guesthouse with dinner and breakfast for 20000 CLP. <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
*Laguna El Barco :<br />
Updated Mar 22<br />
<br />
-The family selling cooked food close to Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292] wasn't selling food when I visited them around 11:00, maybe because it was monday morning, maybe because it was the end of summer, I don't know<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
Bus Guallali - Ralco - Santa Barbara - Los Angeles 05:30<br />
<br />
Updated January 2022:<br />
Bus from Trapa Trapa to Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108664113.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603529.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603527.jpg|thumb|Araucarias at GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603530.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603538.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_1086641189.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT09_(Volcan_Antuco)&diff=114332GPT09 (Volcan Antuco)2024-02-20T10:14:10Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br style="clear:both" /><br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
*2024-Feb-11 to 2024-Feb-13 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH B + C + D / Joscha<br />
<br />
I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br />
<br />
Day 1: RR [5.8-9.6]<br />
<br />
I hitched in the afternoon from Los Angeles to the entrance of the Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja (around km 5.8). From there I hiked to km 9.6. Here are some nice flat spots to camp + you have a nice view over the Rio Laja valley. But there is no water at the spot.<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [9.6-20.7] + OH09-B + OH09-C + RR [34.9-47.4]<br />
<br />
Big flat, sandy area around km 11.9 is a good campingspot. There is also a creek flowing not more than 50 meters south of the RR-CC [11.9+4.9]. The RR over the Pass (km 16.8) is completely snow free now. The RR and OH-B cross a creek at km 20.8. There is lots of water on OH B + C + RR [34.9-47.4].<br />
<br />
<br />
Day 3: RR [47.4-54.6] + OH09-D + RR [56.4-61.5]<br />
<br />
Ford at km 52.3 is dry. But the RR cross a bunch of streams around the Pass (km 50.4) and it runs along the river of the valley at km 53.2 for a few 100 meters. I just went through Trapa Trapa and continued directly with section 10.<br />
<br />
*2024-Feb-15 to 2024-Feb-18 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Trapa-Trapa - El Abanaico / RR + Option 01 + Option B + Option C +Option D / Alex & Christophe<br />
<br />
We really enjoyed this section even if it wasn't really fast to walk in the sand and lava field.<br />
<br />
We didn't have much to add to what has already been written.<br />
<br />
We tried to summit the Antuco Volcano bit didn't success because it was too steep and too lose so we stopped at 2700m. I would recommend to take crampons if you want to summit, so you can go in the snow (wich was quite hard, even at 2pm) and it should be easier. What I would however recommend to everyone is to go up to 2300m. It is easy to go from the pass and the panorama is incredible.<br />
<br />
We camped after the try on the Volcano at the Amphitheatre Campsite. It was a nice place but I wouldn't recommend it. First, you have to walk a kilometer just to wash yourself and to take some water and second, we had strong wind gusts all night long. The camp is not wind protected.<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-12 to 2024-Jan-13 / 2 days / SOBO / RR, OH C, OH 03B and OH 03/ Hannes<br />
<br />
<br />
Started in Camping Las Lagunillas at around 7 am. Took me about 4 to 5 hours to the pass. On the way up I found water starting from -37.423109 -71.404405 onwards, followed along. Big stream, should not dry out soon or never(?) during summer. At the pass still to much snow to drop in directly to the path on the other side. Instead of walking upwards to the left towards volcano I took short detour to the right, to come around the snowfield, for me worked out well. Slided then down on the lower and not so steep snowfields to get to a basin. Reached from there the RR…Thought could be tough to ford estero Petronquines on the RR, so took the road (OH C)…Two police stations there, nobody checked me, although cars were at each spot… somehow an annoying road to walk on…you could hitchhike a part of it, there is some traffic, but not to much. I did not. Camped at a beautiful spot at the river -37.511560, -71.259157 a few kms before the landmark. There is life here all along the road, lots of puestos, cows, sheep, goats. Next day again along this endless seeming road up to the pass above Trapa Trapa, water all along, even at the pass…From there I took OH 03B, which is the shorter way to the village, OH03 from <br />
-37.69671, -71.25027 was in some parts a light BB till I got on a good trail which brought me down to Trapa. Descending down the pass to the village you’ll get an other version of Chile. Araucania trees are showing up and you are now in Mapuche region, no more chilean flags at every house down there. End of this sector was for me the biggest change on the GPT so far (having done the sections before from Santiago)…other people, language, culture, other flora…a kind of a very welcoming change. Arriving in Trapa Trapa you could give a try at owner of house at -37.71056, -71.26569, junction OH03 and main road. He offered me camping and food if I couldn’t find something in town. If not there is the usual family who takes guests. Miniminishop is at<br />
-37.71240, -71.26355<br />
<br />
<br />
*2024-Jan-01 to 2024-Jan-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {09-B} - {09-C} - RR - {09-D} - RR / Lilian<br />
<br />
I combined GPT09+10+11+12, first resupply 6 days food in Antuco, then take 2.5 days for 09, stay in Trapa Trapa(save 2 meals), resupply in Trapa Trapa for 1.5 days food(low stock and limited selection). Then take 2 days for 10, stay in Guallalí(save 2 meals), resupply in Guallalí for 2 days food(low stock and limited selection but better than Trapa Trapa). Lastly 2 days for 11, 4 days for 12)<br />
<br />
<br />
Nice resupply in Antuco, but most of them are closed because i visit here on the first day of 2024.<br />
<br />
A friendly local give me a ride to the entrance of national park, thank you so much to him! There are some beautiful waterfalls start at RR km2.3 to km4.7, remember to take a look, they are at the mountain side(right side)! Lot of families come to here for enjoy their holidays.<br />
<br />
RR km5.7 : ranger station for vehicles and people control for entering the park. Super nice and let me go in after i told them my route, no need to pay any fee or show any permits.<br />
<br />
Park ranger[8.4/1110] : look like is a ranger station, didn't see anyone when I passed here on 5.30pm.<br />
<br />
Km9.7 : flat area, you can camp here if need, but no water.<br />
<br />
Km11.25 - km11.9 : lava trail, there are some rock cairn for you to follow, not difficult.<br />
<br />
Km11.9 : if you continue going south at the RR sharp turning, about 200m you will met a stream, flowing good with cold and clear water, flat spots nearby too, but I'm not sure it will dry up or not.<br />
<br />
Follow rock cairn to the pass, mostly you'll lost the trail and cairn at km15.6, look at the right side, go down the dry riverbed then climb up to the other side, you'll find cairn again. Don't walk in riverbed, they'll block your way at the end.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Still lot of snow after the pass, follow Véronica's comment, climb up the ridge to compass NE ( I walk on the top of snow slope, because it is flat and gentle, also i think it is easier than walking on loose sand.)<br />
<br />
At about 2150m, there is a break without snow, a sandy slope that you can walk down. ( -37.43215, -71.36002 )<br />
<br />
Not steep, i think is easy go down but slow, so when i go down a little, i go back to south side to join the snow slope for fast moving, snow slope becomes more gentle when it gets lower.<br />
<br />
By the way, you can climb up and go down the pass without stepping on any snow now.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Km20.7 : you'll find car track here, you can follow it to dirt road, i take {09-B} here, avoid crossing Petronquines(RR km28.9) at downstream. {09-B} is something look like a very old car track on the ground, no cars running on it anymore, easy walking but not easy to follow.<br />
<br />
{09-B} km1.15 : crossing of Estero El Aguada o El Volcán ( a long name), a stream. A very good crossing point, stream break to 6 parts here, all below half of calf at afternoon. Flowing nice with clear water.<br />
<br />
After the crossing, i can't find any trail or car track on the other side, but after i keep going CC about 400m, a dirt road in good condition at mountain side, it'll lead you to the main dirt road and join {09-C}.<br />
<br />
Bridge {09-C} [1.7/1417] : milky water.<br />
<br />
Border control CL[2.5/1420] : gate for vehicles but not for people. Didn't see anyone when I passed here at 5pm.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Km3.7: excellent view point of Volcán Antuco and meadows.<br />
<br />
Bridge[5.3/1444] : crossing Petronquines on a bridge, beautiful view and lot of clear water, maybe it is difficult to cross it at downstream (RR) as now. Look like you can camp beside, or under the bridge. But every 0.5 - 1 hour have a border control vehicle patroling the road, I don't know camping beside this road is it a good idea.<br />
<br />
Bridge[7.3/1470] : clear water but no flat spots.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
X RR[34.9/1495] : rejoin RR.<br />
<br />
Ford[37.0/1512] : below half of calf at late afternoon.<br />
<br />
Km39.4 - pass[50.4/1878] : lot of stream crossing the road, have 1-2 need wet feet crossing, just beside the pass is a stream flowing too.<br />
<br />
Pass[50.4/1878] : beautiful grassland, flat and nice for camping, but 20+cows when I passed here.<br />
<br />
RR-TL-V{09} [50.4+9.6] is a nice and maintained trail ,easy to follow, sometimes you'll find orange ribbon leads where you go.<br />
<br />
<br />
Ford[52.3/1648] : no river crossing here.<br />
<br />
Km53.15 - km53.65 : you need to cross the stream 4 times, then walk in the stream about 50m, but all dry feet crossing, rock hopping or log bridge will help you.<br />
<br />
Km54.55 : junction of RR and {09-D}, but i miss the turning to RR, so i go for {09-D}.<br />
<br />
{09-D} km0.4: river crossing, rock hopping for dry feet. Also a small grassland can fit 1-3 tents after the crossing 150m.<br />
<br />
Km0.6 : a stream flowing good crossing the trail with a tiny waterfall, you can sit under it to enjoy a cool shower in a hot day. Look like the other side of river have a nice grassland for camping can fit 2-4 tents, but wet feet crossing.<br />
<br />
Km1.1 : rejoin RR.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Viewpoint RR [57.4/1338] : if you are SOBO, it is the first view of Volcán Callaqui. Also nice view of Trapa Trapa.<br />
<br />
Km58.6 : CAUTION, if you see a red ribbon, DON'T keep going, you are not on the trail, turn back immediately and check your GPS. RR trail is a sharp turning then go down, you are walking away from the trail and towards a very steep slope now.<br />
<br />
Km58.95 : RR have some reroute at here, but mostly you can follow the only trail to main road.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
I stayed at Trapa Trapa with the lovely family at (Lodging,food) waypoint. Simple single room with bed, quilt, chair, light and electric charger, also dinner and breakfast. I buy some sausage from the shop nearby and share with all people here. They are very exciting where i come from, what I'm doing, and what interesting things happened when I'm hiking, it is a warm night, i love them! And they invited me to watch their sterilization of horse, OMG OMG OMG, so shock to me, OMG.<br />
<br />
<br />
Shop (-37.71249,-71.25642) : at compass West of (Lodging,food) waypoint, very close just 2 min walking. Two red house here, the small one is shop. Selling drinks, ice cream, biscuits, pasta, coffee, tea and some frozen meat( mostly is sausage). This shop have a sign on the main road, no sign at the front gate and the gate is opened.<br />
<br />
<br />
2023 Dec 28 to Dec 29 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / Option 2 + RR+ 09-C/ Ella<br />
<br />
TLDR: no issue at border control. don’t count on Lagunillas Camping cafeteria or the Lodging, Food waypoint in Trapa Trapa<br />
<br />
Bussed from Los Angeles to Abanico - make sure to go to the terminal for rural busses which will be different from where you might get off an intercity bus. Hitched from there to Lagunillas Camping. Campground was nice and spacious. The host is really kind and helpful. The cafeteria was not open for food when I was there, just coffee and tea. <br />
Day 1: Due to a stormy forecast, I chose to avoid the already sketchy-seeming pass and head for the route around the lake (option 2). To get there, I took the small trails around the main road heading east from the campground, which were scenic for a cloudy day with no mountain view - enjoyed the volcanic landscape and the waterfall Salto Las Chilcas. I then was able to hitch a ride on the road beside the lake to the other side of the Volcano, which was good because there didn’t appear to be many streams or campsite options. I continued on by foot on Variant C. I went through border control and the officer was very thorough, but didn’t try to give me an exit stamp when I explained I wasn’t going to cross the border. He mostly seemed concerned that I was alone and tried to offer food and a bathroom! I camped a few kilometers further along that road by one of the streams that crosses it. Beware of aggressive bulls in the area. <br />
<br />
Day 2: Easy walking all the way to the pass. Water is still available about every kilometer or two along this route. After the pass there are a few points with a bit of landslide risk where you’re walking on very unstable skree. In retrospect it seems Variant D may exist to avoid some of this but I can’t be sure because I didn’t take it. When I got to Trapa Trapa I was dismayed to find no one at the lodging and food point that others had raved about. The small market just beside this point (sign for “provisions” is only on the main road. looks like a small house with the front painted red next to a larger house) was indeed open at 6pm on a Friday after I called out. There were many types of biscuits and cold drinks, pasta sauce (no pasta), coffee, and maybe even some type of meat in the freezer that I wasn’t quite daring enough to buy. Highly recommend the calorific Chiky Bum biscuits for avoiding mental collapse after a nearly 30km day. I asked the owner about the lodging option next door and she said the family was away for a few days, so guess I just got unlucky. Further down the road towards GPT 10 where there is sign “Kiosco”, there’s also a small ice cream shop/market that was closed when I arrived. I didn’t find another market. Went back up the GPT 09 trail just a bit to get out of town and found a nice camping spot along the river for the night. Visits from goats and a baby horse were a welcome occurrence. No Entel service in Trapa Trapa.<br />
<br />
<br />
2023 Dec 20 to Dec 22 / 2,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR & 09-C/ Tomáš & Natalie<br />
<br />
We took a bus at 19:00 from Los Angeles (which has a great system of shared taxis with fixed routes, number eight goes from the big bus station to Jumbo and back to rural bus station for 1000 per person) to Albanico and upon arriving there after five minutes, the first passing car took us to the border of the national park. We pitched our tent in the delta of the river not far from the road but not visible from it. Without the smoke of last year and with the yellow of brooms everywhere and Antuco under snow, the valley was extremely pretty.<br />
<br />
The next day we talked to a CONAF ranger, he said an Argentinian hiker told him there was ice in the pass. We did not pay anything.<br />
<br />
The climb is pretty, in the pass there was a lot of snow. We followed Véronica's suggestion from last year and climbed about 100 m of elevation to the east and then ran down on the snow. The path in the valley was rather invisible. Two lone acuaria trees guard the road. We thought Rio de los Pines would be impossible to ford now with all the thawing (others seem to have passed though) so took variant C along the main road to Argentina. Carabinieros just looked at our passports and let us go. A car passed about every half an hour. The valley is stunning yet the roadwalk is a drudge. The following minor road seems virtually never to be driven by cars and is in places badly damaged by water. The valley up is nice.<br />
<br />
Going down to Trapa-Trapa, about 1 km after the pass, the path is eroded and new one was created going down to the water. The walk down through the forrest was quite pleasant. We met several groups of arrieros on both side of the pass, they were nice.<br />
<br />
In Trapa-Trapa, we had lunch at "Lodging, Food" waypoint. We could not see any sign. We got tomatoes, cheese, bread, pasta, a piece of down fried in oil (tasty) and maté. We paid them a good price for it, we hope it was not too much. From March 2024, there should be (probably) Entel coverage in the valley, the telecomunication tower is already up. We did not see any shops but did not look for them. Altogether, GPT 9 is quite nice, especially now with the snow.<br />
<br />
<br />
2023-dec-18/ 2,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR & 09-A/ Lukas en Tess<br />
<br />
As of now the pass on K16,8 is imposible to cross. Going around and taking 09-A is posible but the rock scrambling is a pain. But I would argue the awesome lava field is worth it. <br />
Otherwise the trail was nice and easy, I realy enjoyed the wide open landscape. Arriving in Trapa Trapa we where offered some Harina tostada drink after starting a conversation with some old ladies. We got some cheese at a minishop that is not on the track files. Z37,712542° W71,266816°, something like haloumi, so try roasing it!<br />
<br />
2023-Dec-8 to 2023-Dec- 10 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 2 + cross country for the volcano / Yannick & Nolwenn & Jens<br />
<br />
- Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br />
<br />
- Snow : on RR on km 16,8 seems impassable because there was still a lot of snow. Yannick wanted to summit the volcano, he went on the East part and went until 2700m of altitude. The North face had less snow.<br />
<br />
- Camping spot : easy to find<br />
<br />
- River crossing : easy between km 57,9 and km 52,3<br />
<br />
- Weather : Sunny<br />
<br />
- Resupply : in Abanico a little shop and some cabanas, more options in Antuco, everything you need to resupply there - even gaz canister in the ferreteria<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-10 to 2023-Mar-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH-1 / Iris, Alexis <br />
<br />
After a rest in Trapa Trapa at Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956], we started GPT09 in the morning. The ascent following RR-TL-V {09} [57.4/50.4+9.6] is a well marked horse trail that clims slowly, perfect for a start. Then, the RR-MR-V {09} [41.8/34.9+13.3] is flat and passes through a nice valley, a bit above the river but multiple streams crosses it. Like others, we took 09-C, but had no luck with hitchhiking and ended up walking the 11km. No problem at the border control. We finally ended up camping close to -37.46277, -71.31864 (aim for the big tree, and you will find some camp spot with firepits) after a pretty long day. <br />
<br />
On Day 2, we followed the RR and took Option 09-01 to climb the summit. We left most of our gear at the Pass {09} [16.8/2043]. It's better to follow the track for the first part, until the conic shape because it goes along a ridge and avoid pointless ups and down. Then, on the conic shape, you are on your own. We followed a trail made by a group of 8 hikers that were a bit ahead when we found it. It definitely helped as the parts without were really clambering. The views on the top and the small crater made it definitely worthwhile for us. Going down is much more easy and fun, you slide on the sand! As it was late in the season, we did not had any snow on our way but it sill took about 4h to go up (and 1 to go down).<br />
We ended up camping at Campamento Anfiteatro (-37.42427, -71.41517) pretty exhausted. The river here is really chalky but clean water is available from the ice cave.<br />
<br />
On Day 3, we took a small detour to see the tunnel of ice (worthy!) and headed down towards Chacay. Then we tried to hitchhike until Abanico with poor luck (on a Sunday morning). Took us 4 rides, but the last one went until Antuco. As there are also limited buses on Sundays, we then did more hitchhike to Los Angeles to ressuply. <br />
<br />
A short section but filled with great landscapes and stunning views. Plus you walk in a lava field! Definitely worth it, we really loved it! <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-14 to 2023-Jan-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + volcan Antuco / Martial / <br />
<br />
Combined with Section 10.<br />
Laja national Parc was reopened after fire preventive closure on 13/02. Took the bus from LA to Abanico at 4:30PM arriving late at Campamiento viejo (7000$/n) after walking cause poor hitchhiking at this hour (parc closes 17:30). Next morning much more efficient and someone droped me at the start after giving pre-order entry number to CONAF staff (was not important that my ticket was for the previous day).<br />
The ascent to Amphiteatro camping is quick and really well maintained trail. Then i strongly recommend visiting detour to the waterfall for a unique glaciar tunnel walking experience.<br />
Next CC on Antuco’s lava fields was real fun in perfect cloudy weather. Don’t miss the impressive lava bridge !<br />
After reaching the pass early, legs were feeling like summiting Antuco the same day so i decided to search for a high camp. Mission completed here at 2300m : -37.42532, -71.35615 with flat sand next to fresh clean water ponds from the snow. Summiting 2h after setting camp, sunset rewarded me with unique views on laguna Laja and massive Sierra Veluda. Just don’t get caught by the night or bad weather !!<br />
RR descent is sandy and hot traversing a sand deserted bareland so I strongly recommand the O9-C to avoid struggle like I did before shortening to reach the road. Had a meal from a generous family staying at the next Puesto + a hike to piedra del Indio. Then Vegas de Trapa is quick walking MR with lots of puesto and camping option so personally stoped here : -37.57620, -71.24127. Arrived in Trappa next early afternoon for sweet delights in the only shop fenced and garded by 3 dogs. Directly continued to section 10 for reaching puesto at 7.1 wich i also recommand for it’s comfy grassy camping and amable Mapuche family.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-23 to 2023-Jan-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 9c / Maks & Gabi<br />
<br />
Combined with Section 10.<br />
The road is nice and visible. There is no snow on the pass. <br />
At the entrance to the national park, the guards asked for permission, but when we told them that we were going to Trapa Trapa, they let us go. We slept at the camping inside the park (10000/person).<br />
We took a detour to see a waterfall by the glacier. It was about 4 km go and back. <br />
We camped right outside the national park, by the river. There were a lot of cows but none of them aggressive. We the took the optional route 9c and walked by the carabineros station.No problems there. Just explained that we are going to Trapa Trapa, without crossing the border. They checked out passports and let us go. <br />
There were no further surprises, and the road is really well maintained. Just be careful when going down to Trapa Trapa after rain. It's quite slippery. <br />
There is plenty of water along all the trail. <br />
The shop in Trapa Trapa is marked with a sign on the main road. They have some sweetest and noodles but not much more. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-21 to 2023-Jan-23 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Johana & Matouš<br />
<br />
We really enjoyed this section. We took a bus from Los Angeles to Abanico at 3 o'clock and then hitchhiked to the end of the main road. We arrived at the CONAF control point with no one there (7 p.m.). We slept at the Lagunillas camping, which was for 10000 per person, they had beers, jugos, empanadas, tortillas..We teamed up with Gabi and Max from Poland and enjoyed their company throughout the section (hello! :-)). The ascent to the volcano was amazing, looked like Mordor. Near the point "Campamento Anfiteatro" there's a waterfall that ends in a snowpatch whereby it creates a cave of ice. It's amazing. You can see it from the distance. There's clean water as well, the next clean water is on the other side of the volcano in the valley. We confirm that there's no need to stay away from the carabineros anymore, they only took down our passport numbers. Then it was easy walking until after the pass. We camped at a nice spot in the forest next to the river (S 37° 40.6391' W 071°14.1985). We somehow didn't manage to find the food/lodging point, but were approached by an older lady who fed us cookies and seemed to know a lot about other hikers. There are said to be three shops in Trapa Trapa, we only found the one next to the school which had only biscuits. Continued to GPT10 straight after.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-10 to 2023-Jan-12 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
<br />
Combined with section 10<br />
Nice easy section, loved crossing the fresh crunchy volcanic wasteland at the start. Everything after that was fast trail. Mild temperatures, no horse flies.<br />
I had some trouble getting back from Antuco to the trail. I got told a couple wrong times for the bus, and had no luck during my quick hitchhiking attempt. Eventually caught a bus to abanico at 2, and then two rides got me into the park. The couple driving me spoke for me at the park entrance, and I ended up having to pay 4500 for the entrance. I probably should have gotten out and talked my way through separately.<br />
I stayed at openstreetmap's amphitheater campsite night 1. Nice sheltered spot at the base of sierra velluda, soft sand.<br />
The camp/puesto markers at km 47 seem a bit out of date. There wasn't much at the puesto maker, and there was a puesto right at the campsite marker. The family at the puesto happily let me camp there.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-06 to 2023-Jan-08 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Anna & Christopher <br />
<br />
Antuco - Trapa Trapa<br />
We hitchhiked from Camping Rucue back to the national park. The landscape was really magnificent the first day. There was almost no snow left after the pass.<br />
After the descent walking gets tougher due to the sand and the path is partially hard to find.<br />
But after the second roadcrossing there is a lot of easy walking on dirt roads. <br />
Atfter leaving the river at around km 47, there is still accessible water in the first part of the small ascent. On the plateau there are no watersources until the descent. We carried some water and camped on the plateau, a very nice spot.<br />
Walking down to Trapa Trapa was really nice. We followed the main route. In retrospective we would have taken option 3, because it is shorter.<br />
We met a couple of locals along the way and they all greated us very nicely. Trapa Trapa was pretty empty when we arrived at around 11 am. We continued right to section 10.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-23 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica <br />
<br />
combined GPT09 and GPT10<br />
Route: CONAF waypoint - shoulder of Volcán Antuco - road through border control checkpoint - Trapa Trapa <br />
<br />
Two days from national park to Trapa Trapa. From Antuco, I hitched back to the national park and got there around noon. Didn't get charged an entry fee, I just told the entrance staff what trail I planned to take. Nice path most of the way up the volcano, even the CC section has occasional cairns marking the way. You go along a creek as you go up, so lots of accessible water. <br />
<br />
Lots of snow on the southeast side of the pass. Tried to go around on the right along/through the rocks, but it's mostly siltstone, very crumbly, and very steep. Got really precarious there so I backtracked to the pass and went around the snow on the left. This involved climbing an additional 150m through volcanic sand, but it felt much safer. The rest of the way down is pretty much all cross-country, couldn't really find a path, but navigation was simple. There were some water sources on the way down too, courtesy of the melting snow. <br />
<br />
The next morning, I took Option C that goes along the dirt road. There was no one at the border control checkpoint, probably because I went through before 7 a.m. <br />
<br />
Rest of the way to Trapa Trapa is easy, no issues whatsoever. It's nice and forested on the south side of the pass. I didn't investigate resupply or bus options in Trapa Trapa as I went straight through to GPT10. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
*2022-Mar-01 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain <br />
<br />
- Camp {09} [47.1/1709] : I slept around 47.5, the place was calm, flat, with grass and close to the water (that was finally not usable because there was too much sand in, but you can easily find drinkable water when going down the valley), many people from the puestos came to talk as it seemed to be the end of the season, it was really pleasant. One offered me to come by him but it was late and I was too tired to move by him, I tried to meet him back the day after but I didn't find his puesto with its indications<br />
<br />
- The valley from Puesto {09} [49.3/1820] to Puesto {09} [39.8/1558] : very pleasant, with nice people in, I really liked this place. The water in the middle isn't usable but you can find fresh drinkable water going down from the hills at some points<br />
<br />
- There is a Puesto around {09} [37.0/1512], people were nice and asked me if I needed anything<br />
<br />
- The way on RR-TL-V {09} just after GPT09-C end isn't easy to find, just stick to the GPS until meeting a road leading to a Puesto close to the river at the Ford on Rio de los Pinos, then it's much easy to follow<br />
<br />
- I got an excellent bath when crossing the river close to GPT08-04 end, the water coming from one river was warm and there was enough depth <br />
<br />
- the CC from GPT08-04 end to GPT09-02 end was beautiful but demanding because of the soil made of earth and sand, it took me more time than I thought. After having cross the river I got close to an other one with many cows next to it, following it at one point a source of clear drinkable water was running on 3-4m to reach the river<br />
<br />
- There is a Campbase with many places cleaned to set up tents and do campfires close to the river following up the road around Bridge {09} [23.3/1409]. It's located at the base of a huge araucaria tree, you can't miss it<br />
<br />
- After the RH-CC-A {09} the RH-TL-V {09} is easily findable just by looking at the GPS and is marked with many cairns<br />
<br />
- National Park : when leaving it I went to see the guards at the entrance and they were ok with that, didn't ask for any information or fee<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-09 to 2022-Feb-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
Took the bus from Antuco to Abanico, got a ride by a friendly Chilean to the national park (no camping allowed). Had to pay entry to the park. Took the CC route avoiding the carabineros to camp in the meadows just beyond the park (S 37° 27.927', W 07). There was a spring emptying in the meadows there. Finished after a long hiking day at Elvira's "lodging, food". Very friendly family, took us in even after 21:00. Understandably there was no goat stew, but we also only payed half price (20.000). Great homemade bread in the morning though :) Continued to GPT10 immediately after.<br />
<br />
In the first morning when breaking down camp, we were greeted by two carabineros on horseback, who may have been surprised at the sight of our tent out of sight next to a sand slope. They asked who we were, where we're from and where we're going too, and didn't mind us camping there. No questions about the border with Argentina after. I guess there's no need to stay away from the carabineros here any longer.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-21 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + Antuco summit / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
In Trapa Trapa, we stayed at the house marked "lodging, food". They charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there.<br />
<br />
The path up from Trapa Trapa starts next to the river. Nice path all the way, that transitions to a long gravel road, very easy to follow and many little streams. We camped at the beginning of the next valley at the waypoint "ford". The second to last puesto, on the right hand, belongs to Felizario whose family has the lodging option in Trapa Trapa. He is open to people camping nearby.<br />
<br />
The cc section is easy navigation-wise, but the sand is tough to walk in, and it is very exposed. There's little water apart from the fords, but enough. The water coming down from the valley next to Volcan Antuco is very chalky though, and at the waypoint "camp" the stream is all dried up. Further in the valley the water is fine, and it might be possible to find a campsite just before leaving the stream on the optional route.<br />
The building at the "police" waypoint is abandoned. We ended up camping by the carabineros at the "boarder control" waypoint.<br />
While walking on the primary road we were stopped by a boarder control car who wanted to see our passports and pase de movilidad (covid-19) and hear about our route. There were no problems with that. He was very convinced we couldn't cross to Abanico through the pass on the regular route because there wasn't a trail on the other side, but he let us try. Absolutely no snow in the pass on Volcán Antuco's shoulder - apparently it's a very low snow year<br />
<br />
Volcán Antuco summit:<br />
We followed the route up, it leads along the ridge to avoid the very strong stream in the valley. This part is not too difficult. The summit itself is very hard, though. It's very steep through loose, big lava rocks that slide everywhere. Tough and a little dangerous. On the other side, the terrain is made of the same kind of rocks for over half of the descent, which makes for a very slow going. Maybe there is a nicer path under the ski lifts, we found one almost in the end. Definitely not worth it for everyone.<br />
The place marked "restaurant, lodging" was closed - apparently they are open only during the ski season. Not too difficult to hitch from there if not too late<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes<br />
<br />
Overview: <br />
This section has you cross over a volcanic lava field and over a pass at first and then follows trails south thru and area with many puestos and ranches. The first part of this section involves some route finding and cross country while the second half follows well established dirt roads and dirt trails thru grass Valley.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: <br />
WARNING: Huge snow field at the top of the pass that is untraversable. It is very steep and must be avoided if not yet melted. Must go around so please be safe. My biggest difficult was the sections across the lava rocks. My shoes were almost destroyed by this point and the sharp, jagged and uneven surface of the lava rock caused so much pain in my feet and completely took out what ever life was left in my trail runners. Also, lots of route finding and cross country in this area. <br />
<br />
Highlights: Amazing mountain pass with many views of waterfalls. Glaciers.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-22 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT19) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin <br />
<br />
Combined sections 9 & 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in "veranadas" were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-22 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank <br />
<br />
2 days & continued to GPT10 on 2nd day.<br />
There is at least one place to stay in Abanico & as you go on the road past Abanico towards the park there are a few cabins & one campsite. In the park @ small lake 2K before Conaf1 there is a campsite with cabins. You pay 4000CLP entry @ Conaf but I went in before 8AM, no one there. At the pass, around 2050M on the shoulder of Antuco, I was able to slide down the lowest part of the snowfield. Northbound or earlier in the season you may need to go around it. <br />
Virtually no shade on this route. 3 small shops in Trapa Trapa. Last one, Provisiones Bety, has a rest area, she sometimes has bread. <br />
<br />
Went on OH-PR-V@09-B-#002, talked to Carabineros @ Border Control & told them I would stay in Chile & continue to Trapa Trapa. They were OK with that & didn't ask to see my passport, so I would say there is no need to divert around the border post any more.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-15 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Easy hitch from Abanico to the start of the National Park (~10km into the section). The CONAF station at the park entrance took us longer than expected to pass through and explain what we were doing (they appeared to be unsure as to whether we were crossing the border into Argentina or not). However after explaining our route to them they let us pass without paying the entrance fee to the national park. The cross country sections were easy to navigate and overall the trail was of good quality.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-10 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
We passed the big snowfield at the right side through the rocks, as Matus suggested. It was steep but ok and definitively the shorter way around the snow. Nothing to add to the previous comments. In Trapa Trapa we continued straight to Section 10.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-04 / 3.5 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log. <br />
We combined these two sections. <br />
Trail in both section is in good condition. There is snowfield in first pass as was mentioned. We went left, but it would be worth to check is it's possible to go through rocks on the right as it seems much shorter. <br />
Water is not marked on a map but there is a stream before the pass. <br />
Resuply in Trapa Trapa is very limited. They had few tunas, other caned fish, some pasta, flour, cola, crisps... We didn't check for accomodation. <br />
We stayed in a paid campsite at Laguna el Barco for 5000 both. Around 8 there was a woman selling bread and sweet pastry, but mind that it was weekend. <br />
Resuply in Guallali again very limited. They have tunas, caned fish, pasta, oil, crackers and bit more. We are staying in a house next to the shop.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Antuco<br />
Many smaller supermarkets, which have most things - easy enough to resupply here.<br />
One of the two ferreterías has gas (the one furthest from Abanico).<br />
Many accommodation options and some restaurants.<br />
There is an ATM at the town square which even gives some smaller notes<br />
<br />
Also panaderias (one selling good sopaipillas for $300 if you haven't tried yet), restaurants but also food truck, brewery<br />
<br />
*Abanico<br />
At least one shop. A pizzeria<br />
Bus to Antuco/Los Angeles<br />
<br />
*Trapa Trapa<br />
3 shops but they are all small. They all have biscuits & soft drinks. First one has ice cream & flour. Second one has pasta, matches, chocolate, canned fish. Third one ( Provisiones Bety) sometimes has bread.<br />
<br />
Accomodation in a small room at the waypoint "lodging, food" - 20,000 pesos for dinner, breakfast and accommodation. <br />
<br />
Bus to Ralco<br />
<br />
*Cabañas<br />
<br />
Cottages and Campsite $ of the Natural Park around 1-2km going in direction of the entrance from the GPT, swimming pool and places to rest, seems cosy, I don't know the price as I didn't camp there but it seemed to be open. You can find it on the classic map. The website of the place : https://www.parqueantuco.cl/<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
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=Transport to and from Route=<br />
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Bus from Los Angeles to Antuco about once an hour in daytime. A few of them continue to Abanico or you can hitch fairly easily (also see here: [[Volc%C3%A1n_Antuco#Acceso_en_transporte_p.C3.BAblico_y_autostop]].<br />
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Updated January 2022: Bus from Trapa Trapa to Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends<br />
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- Many people going and coming from the National Park, it hadn't been easy to hitchhike to reach Antuco but it worked<br />
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- Bus from Antuco to Santiago - Terminal Sur leaving at 21:30 and arriving at 6:30<br />
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Company : Nilahue<br />
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$26.300 for semi-cama<br />
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Commentaries : "cheap" company, no USB-plugs, not much space for the legs, the bus stop is at the entrance of Antuco coming from the Andes, it's a shelter made of bricks just next to a food truck selling fries and hamburgers<br />
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=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
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Update November 2023: The Chilean Border Control had be relocated and is now closer to the border and not any more on the GPT route. Therefore it is not any more required to sneak around the Chilean Border Control.<br />
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This is the only place where it is strongly recommended to sneak around a police station. This recommendation applies in particular to all non-Chileans going southbound.<br />
The reason: The forward border control Pichachen is located about 20 km before the actual border. And only here the regional superiors of the PDI (Policia de Investigation) came up with the silly rule that everyone that passes the border control post towards Argentina gets stamped out of the country regardless if he leaves Chile or not. They simply ignore the fact that a few kilometers down the main road at Piedra del Indio long before reaching Argentina a horse trail diverts towards the next village in Chile called Trapa Trapa. Should you get an exit stamp into your passport but continue to hike in Chile you will be an illegal alien without a valid tourist visa. This may not instantly cause you a problem but the next time you want to leave Chile orderly i.e. from an airport the immigration system will show that you illegally in Chile and the police will assume that you trespassed into Chile. And that’s taken pretty serious. Forget about your flight and your further travel plans.<br />
Every hikers that passed this border control got into some kind of trouble and caused these officers a headache. Some hikers could convince them after long discussions to pass without an exit stamp. Some hikers got and exit stamp and run into problems later. Some hikers pretended to walk back and took a partly overgrown route to walk around the border control. When we hiked this section in January 2014 I got unasked an exit stamp while they “just checked my documents” but luckily after a long talk I could convince them to give me a new entry stamp.<br />
You can’t blame these poor officials at the border control for this situation; they understand these occasional hikers but their regional superiors gave them strict orders. In short: this place is a potential disaster for hikers and hikers are a disturbance for these officials.<br />
Therefore, to avoid this issue I simply rerouted the regular hiking route to bypass the border control post Pichachen. It’s easier for everyone: for the hikers and for the poor police officer that have to comply with this silly order. The re-routed track leads cross country through the normally dry lake bed of the Laguna de Las Lajas and just crosses the main road at the diversion to Trapa Trapa. Walking around the border control may be suspicious but is not illegal and saves everyone nerves and endless discussions. It actually prevents you from getting into an illegal migration status while staying in Chile.<br />
The Regular Packrafting Route anyway bypasses the border control.<br />
Luckily this is the only border control post I’m aware off where such a stupid rule is applied. In many other forward border controls you need to proactively approach the police and request your exit stamp if you plan to leave Chile. Should you just visit the area between the border control and the actual border you can normally just pass or explain your intentions.<br />
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=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT09 - Volcán Antuco]]<br />
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=Images=<br />
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[[File:GPT09-Laguna_de_las_Lajas.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
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[[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT08_(Volcan_Chillan)&diff=114158GPT08 (Volcan Chillan)2024-02-09T20:29:29Z<p>Joscha97: /* Transport to and from Route */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
* 2024-Feb-05 to 2024-Feb-08 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 02 + RR + OH E + H + J / Joscha<br />
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Day 1: OH08-02 <br />
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I took the bus at 2 pm from the rural bus station in Chillan to the Thermas de Chillan. From there I had to roadwalk 1.5 km to get to OH08-02. There are a few snow fields left around the Pass Pirigallo, but its easy to walk over them. At km 1.2 of OH08-02 I took the Valle de Agua Caliente Trail as short cut to the Camp at 42.3 on the RR. I did not like the spot there, but close to it at -36,91092, -71,36632 are some decent tent spots.<br />
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Day 2: RR [42.3-75.1] + OH08-E<br />
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The Ford at km 47.4 was max. knee high at 10 pm. (I am 191 cm tall). Be carefull fording Rio Diguillin at km 48.4. The water was just below my hips and the current was pretty strong (around 10:30 pm). I forded it about 60 m upstream of the gpx tracks. There was a big rock in the middle of the river to which I could hold on to. At km 59.6 is a closed barb wire gate that I couldn't open. I managed to climb over it, but it's a little tricky. The RR leads on to the property of the Thermas Los Peucos (km 63.9). After the ford at km 63.7 I had to step over a barded wire fence (no gate). Los Peucos was closed and I didn't see anybody. I didn't like the idea of trespassing so I climb over the front gate (km 63.9) and continued on RR. OH08-B might be a good alternativ to avoid Los Peucos. But I meet Ricardo a few km further south. He was on his way to Los Peucos. If I understood him correctly (my spanish is pretty basic) than he is going to be at Los Peucos for the next two months. So they should be open now if you are interested in taking a break there. There are two easy fords at km 70.0 and 70.6 on the RR. The river at Ford 71.3 is wide, but water was below knees in thr evening. I wanted to camp at km 72.9, but I found the body of a horse directly at the camping spot. It looked like it had died a few days ago and it smelled pretty bad. Therefore I continued to the camp at km 78.6. I accidently stayed on the dirtroad and walked variant E. It has some extra altitude but therefore some nice views into the valley. Water 0.7 on variant E was dry. All other water and ford Waypoints I passed today had water.<br />
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Day 3: RR [78.5-107.0] <br />
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Laguna El Roble is a nice break spot and the last water source until km 106.7. At the Camp Marker km 106,6 is only a overgrown meadow which isn't flat at all. But there is a descent camp spot at km 106,9. The Water at km 106.7 is only a trickle and might dry out soon. All Water markers I passed by today had water.<br />
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Day 4: RR [107.0-115.2] + OH08-H + RR [116.3-117.4] + OH08-J + RR [117.4-134.5]<br />
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The next water source after km 106.7 is Laguna Lagrima at km 113.5. I accidently hiked OH08-H instead of RR. Laguna Los Condores is pretty nice. But the last few hundred meters of OH08-J are overgrown and not so easy to walk trough. Its easier to follow the trail that leads to the eastern side of the Laguna and forks of at about km 0.6 of OH08-J. From this trail you can go down to the Laguna. There is water at all markers.<br />
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The part from km 100 to km 117 is very spectacular.<br />
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*2024 Jan 25 to Feb 5 / 12 days / SOBO / Opt 2, Opt 3, RR, Var D, Opt 6 + 2 OSM routes / Michael and Kasia<br />
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TL/DR: A beautiful but exhausting section.Reserva Nacional Ñubles is officially closed, but they are still letting people in. If taking Opt 3, look for the trail that starts just after El Trumao heading NE for a more interesting hike. Los Peucos is open, but has no food or power so not currently a resupply option.<br />
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Day 0 - <br />
We took the bus from Chillan to Recinto hoping to camp for the night and take the early bus up to Termas de Chillán to begin the hike. (The bus that goes all the way to the hotel only goes twice a day. Both leave from the Terminal Rural in Chillan one at 08:00, the second at 14:00.) There were no camping options in Recinto, so we walked to Los Lleuques. We found a hostel called Antupiren at the entrance of town. 13.000 pp for private with shared bathroom, very nice owners. They have a restaurant too. There were some other places with signs for hostal and campamento further down the street. There are 4 or 5 shops and grocery stores in town. If you stay in Lleuques, a little further on is a nice public access beach along the river called La Playita that is popular with locals and a good place to escape the heat for the afternoon.<br />
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Day 1 - <br />
We got up early and were at the bus stop at 08:15. The bus arrived at around 09:30. It only goes as far as the hotel and then you have to walk about 1 km up to the ski center where the trail begins. The beginning of the trail was steep and dusty, then leveled off a bit. It passes by some fumeroles. There are two paths up to the pass. One is not on GPT or OSM at the moment, but it is a marked path that is clearly visible. It goes more to the left and up. The other is a horse trail which is the one GPT goes along. They both meet about half way up. We took the horse trail up. There is some grassy area and access to a stream. Nice views of the valley on the way up. Close to the top there was still a small snow field left and the way around it was walking above it on large, loose rocks. We had resupplied for 8 days and our packs were around 25 kg each. Due to this we felt it would be unsafe for us to try to navigate the section so we decided to walk back. It was disappointing, but we were also thinking about the difficulties others had in crossing Rio Diguillin further on and figured it was an early warning. On the way back we took the marked path which was actually more difficult than the GPT track, which surprised us since it looked more like a tourist trail. We were rewarded at one point however with a spring gushing out of the ground and took the opportunity to get fresh cold water without the need to filter. When we got back to where the fumeroles were, we chatted with some mountain bikes and a couple of hikers. There is another route down which had an OSM track on the map. The bikers explained that it is the route they all take down. It is open to hikers as well and there are signs advising bikers to watch for hikers, but the biker said there are a lot of curves and it is possible to get hit on the way down if you are unlucky. It was around 18:30 and he said they were the last group, so if we just waited for them to leave we should be able to hike down without worrying. We waited, and it was totally worth it. The trail down is very dusty, but with much less incline than the way up, and at a certain point goes through a really beautiful beech forest with lots of wildflowers growing. There is no access to the estero until the bridge at the end. We tried to find a place to camp, but no luck. We ended up walking the highway back to a point where we had seen a dirt road connect to the estero and camped there for the night. Not optimal, but it was already dark by that point, so we were just grateful to sleep.<br />
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Days 2 and 3 - <br />
We walked the highway until the Los Coltrahues nature trail that runs parallel to the highway and then walked that to Las Trancas. It was a pretty path and a nice alternative to the highway. In Las Trancas we bought food for lunch and dinner at a shop next to the bus stop. There are one or two other stores back the direction of Lleuques as well. A micro picked us up and dropped us off at the beginning of Opt 3. We had barely started walking when a family in a truck passed and offered us a ride to the river. We were incredibly grateful as the first 3 km of the road is incredibly dusty and there is actually a lot of traffic moving through. From where they left us we walked to the bridge and down to the river to have lunch and coffee. Lots of families were camping around the area. After lunch we got back on the route. A little further on the road was closed to vehicles due to storm damage and construction adding new culverts. No issues walking it. About 6km from the bridge there is a campground called San Antonio. It was also closed since the road was closed, but it was easy to get into. There are picnic tables and plenty of camping along with river access. We camped two nights to give ourselves a rest day. A few locals passed through, but no one else camped. It was very peaceful except for the tábanos. I killed more than 50 over the course of the day and it didn't seem to make much of a difference.<br />
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Day 4 - <br />
We got up early to beat the heat and walked the first hour in the dark. We passed the area where the road has collapsed and where they are doing a reroute. No issue to walk it. We arrived at the gate that Lilian mentioned, the one with the dogs, at 08:00. There were 4 dogs that bark a lot. The guard came out, it seemed like we had woken him up. We explained what we were doing and he actually had no problem letting us through, but asked rhetorically what we were going to say to CONAF upstairs. The road up is in good shape. There were a few places to fill water along the way. When we arrived at El Trumao there was a CONAF guard there as well as some other people. He was incredibly nice, just registered us and then told us because the park is officially closed there was no fee to enter. He looked at our route and told us about another option, charged our phones for us, let us take water, and then even walked with us part way. The OSM track that runs along the river is a really nice option and we really enjoyed it. The first part is no longer relevant as the river destroyed part of the road and CONAF had done a reroute. If no one is there to show you, head along the GPT route toward Valle Hermosa until you see a trail branch to the left. It will be very obvious as it has wooden posts painted yellow on top and the whole trail has rocks lining either side. Follow that up. The first part was a lot of up and exposed, but after a while we entered native forest and enjoyed stretches that were in shade. There was a rest area with river access. Just after the waterfall lookout the trail dropped down a bit into a grove of old oak trees that was really nice and we camped there for the night (-36.95540, -71.45022) River access was about 100 m further on. This is a really great route option. It is along a trail instead of a road, it drops into RR about 18 km further north than finishing Opt 3 as marked, if you want to go to Los Peucos, you don't need to back track, and it stays on the south side of Rio Diguillin, connecting with RR just after the ford point others had trouble with this season. (Jan, if you read this, we enthusiastically endorse this as a variant for Opt 3!).<br />
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Days 5 and 6 - <br />
The pass was a little overgrown, but nothing too challenging. On the way up we passed through a beautiful forest. We stopped at the last marked water point on the way up for a snack and coffee. The way down was dusty and then it opened up into a plain. The plain was easy, but as we went around the corner it turned into a swamp. The GPT route avoids the worst of it, but careful foot choice is important in some places. It was also really hot and humid. Then it was up again and then down again to get to Los Peucos. We initially followed RR, but the ford point looked challenging and there was barbed wire on the other side. I went across without my pack to try to find a way up. The rocks in the river were really slippery and I feel in at one point, but no injury. On the other side I climbed under the wire and up a hill. Then I had to climb under more barbed wire. I walked onto the property and ran into Ricardo who manages Los Peucos. He was very nice, and took me to show me the front entrance and a much easier ford point that is defined for cars to pass, which turned out to be Var B. So if going to Los Peucos SOBO, I recommend taking Var B. I went back to get Kasia and my pack and we camped there for two nights in order to clean out gear and take a rest day.<br />
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A few notes on Los Peucos. Los Peucos is open, price this year is 5.000 pp for termales only, 10.000 pp for camping, 24 hours of access to termales and wood to make a fire in a fire pit. They were having trouble with both their generator and solar panels and have been without power for two months, so don't plan to charge anything there. Also a section of the road there was destroyed over the winter, so almost no one is going there and they aren't getting any resupply for their tiendita, so don't plan on this as a resupply point until someone posts that this has changed, which may be awhile since there seems to be some bureaucratic issue preventing the road from being fixed.<br />
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Day 7 - <br />
We left Los Peucos just as it was getting light. The road and trail are in good condition for walking. We took Var D to cross Rio Polcura. River ford was easy, thigh high but very little current. We stopped at the camp at [72.9/1104] to have lunch. There were some arrieros and Carabineros already camped for the night, and it was too early to stop for the day, so we continued on. The valley path that RR follows is surely more interesting than walking the road along Var E, but it is fairly overgrown with spiky plants and it was slow going. There is almost no river access along the path, but there were one or two streams. We do not recommend the camp at [78.6/1203], especially if you are using a trekking pole supported tent. It is overgrown and difficult to access, anything that is not sand is covered in those annoying plants that leave tiny spiky balls attached to your clothes, and river access is not great. We ended up camping in the old road grade just above, but it was pure dust. We really regretted camping here, however it was late and we didn't know if there would be any place else to camp further on. (There is though!)<br />
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Day 8 - <br />
We were to tired to do the pass, but we didn't want to stay camped in the same place for the day. We found a better campsite just 2 km further up trail (-37.09454, -71.31211). Just before the trailhead to the pass, on the left side of the road, there is a dirt path going down to a camping area that arrieros use (it is the same road as the end of Opt 1). It has grass and could fit probably two or three tents. The river access is about 100 m away, but it was really clean access with a stone beach and even a small sand beach and a great swimming spot to cool off. There is essentially no shade so it wasn't great for a rest day in that respect, but it was directly below the pass, so a great starting point for that. We took advantage of the river and washed all the dust off the tent. The fabric felt like new afterward!<br />
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Day 9 - <br />
We got up early to try to tackle the pass before sun hit. The trailhead is a little easier to find now as more arrieros and hikers have gone through. The pass up is overgrown in places, but not as bad as we had expected. There were some great early morning views. Something killed most of the forest in that valley some time ago and all the dead trees are sun bleached white which was really interesting. As Lilian mentioned, there is a place where the trail collapsed. People have been walking about 5 m upstream and crossing there, but the short reroute is eroding and it looked a little sketchy to us. We went into the stream bed and climbed up through the bamboo to regain the trail. It was lovely forest higher up and on the other side for some time. Keep a lookout for a nice view of Laguna del Laja from a distance on the way down. The valley was another world entirely. Completely exposed, mostly dry but with some sections of swamp, we lost the trail a few times in a maze of overgrown thorn bushes. We took an afternoon break at the puesto just before reaching the lake. We were a little underwhelmed by the lake itself, I think because it has no trees around. We got a little lost on the way up to Laguna Roble, but a very friendly and helpful arriero staying at the puesto at the end of the valley saw us and came out to help direct us up. We stopped at the marked campsite at the east side of the lake. Previous entries had suggested the west side campsite is more wind protected. I went packless to scout it, but I could not see any way in and the water access near the site looked like marsh. We stayed on the east side, no wind issue for the night. The water in the lake was not too cold, so nice to swim in.<br />
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Day 10 - <br />
We started early to get through as much of the pass as possible before the sun hit. The beginning of the trail was actually hard to find, but once we were on it, it was clear. The up was very demanding and exhausting, and it was overgrown in parts. There is a saddle just before the final push to the pass where we stopped to take a break and some pictures (great view of the lake, volcan Antuco and Sierra Velluda) but there were biting ants everywhere that swarmed us and our packs so we moved on. Good views of both valleys as we walked along. Reports from previous years suggested no water between Laguna Roble and Laguna Hermosa. There was at least two water points between, one of which was a very nice spring with shade around (-37.21425, -71.37259). Being exhausted and running low on supplies, we had already decided that Opt 6 would be our exit from GPT08. The route down was steep and thus slow, but clear and easy to follow. There are multiple water points on the way down. We camped about 1 km in at the first marked campsite. There was a shady, somewhat flat, somewhat grassy area that arrieros use for camping and a spring flowing just below. It was a nice spot after hiking so many hours completely exposed in full sun.<br />
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Day 11 - <br />
The first part of Opt 6 down was really nice. There were nice views of the mountains as the sun came up, then it goes into forest for awhile before the arriero path finally meets the service road. We were also fortunate to have cloud cover for most of the day. There are a few unmarked water points between the last marked one and Rayenco. Rayenco is not a settlement but connected to the power plant. Shortly after Rayenco there is what looks like an abandoned picnic area and sports concha. We stopped for lunch, and it could be used for emergency camping if necessary. Hitchhiking out seems essentially impossible. It's just cars associated with the power plant, and our experience is that those vehicles don't take hitchhikers, probably a company policy. We walked to the highway, chatting with the gate guard on the way out. On the highway it took about half an hour, but finally a kind soul, Sergio, who had actually passed us, turned around and came back just to pick us up and dropped us at Plaza de Armas un Antuco. We found lodging at Cabañas Puelche 2 blocks east of the plaza, 15.000 pp for a private room in the hostel portion of the establishment, shared bath, fridge, pool.<br />
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*2024 Jan 05 to 2024 Jan 09 / 5 days/ SOBO from Termas de Chillan / RR / Hannes&Christian<br />
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1. Day: Walked from Termas de Chillan to Rio Diguillín. Slept there at -36.935262, -71.403804 and forded the next morning around -36.935730, -71.401841. Thought there would be less water running in the morning, but actually it looked pretty the same as the day before…<br />
2. Day: Walked to Los Peucos and further down for a nice campsite near the river -37.046868,<br />
-71.415394<br />
3. Day: We took Option D to short cut the minor road…easy to walk, CC, recomendable…then along road and path and road again, up to a pass in the woods and down to a widening valley, camped at -37.15603, -71.32019. As others already wrote on wikiexplora we had there as well a pretty freezing night around 0 degrees Celsius I think, although the spot was not that high….around 1450m. A lot of humidity.<br />
4. Day: For us here the nicest part started, walking down to Laguna de la Laja, up to a pass and then all along ridges to Laguna Hermosa. Amazing views. Instead of walking down to L. Hermosa you can camp as well a little above the lake around -37.269841, -71.381748 with water access, at least in early summer I guess. Personally I think it isn’t worth to go down to the Laguna (except no water possibility above) , first because you’ll have an electric power line over your head sleeping there (there is a hydroelectric power station in the valley nearby), second because it can be a windy place at shore…at least for us it was like this. Third: Still something like 1 km from the ridge. Choose yourself.<br />
5. Day: From L. Hermosa to Estación de Esqui. Pretty nice views of surrounding peaks, at the end we walked a pretty annoying road out to the ski area. Then we hitchhiked to Camping Lagunillas, an amazing place with very nice owners. Feels there like being on the Gpt, but with running water and shower. Probably depends on the season…<br />
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* 2024 Jan 13 / 5 days / SOBO / RR, OH-TL / Anh<br />
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Everyone feared Ñuble, me too, so I took option 2.<br />
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The trail was difficult to find from km 112-117, I left RR and took OH-TL. Otherwise the trail was easy to see. There were only a few snowfields that were easy to cross.<br />
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Ford km 48.4: Disclaimer: please do not my mistake! I first tried two best possible spots (hip), but the flow (13:00) was too strong, I couldn’t hold my hiking poles. Then 50m further on I saw two tree trunks arranged like bridges from other GPTs. After crossing them, however, it was not possible to go back to RR after a few attempts. My best possible option was BB with 70 degree slope straight up. It was only possible with bamboo trees, but was very dangerous. I'm writing my mistake here so you can avoid it!<br />
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Camp km 106.6: I included this camp in my daily plan (about 20km, 1000m uphill, 350m downhill). here is not possible to find 1qm flat spot. So I had to walk 4km further from my reserve.<br />
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* 2024-Jan-11 to 2024-Jan-15/ 4.5 days / SOBO / Termas de Chillán(Var 2)+RR+Var G+H+J(Lakes)/ Matthias<br />
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Started in Termas de Chillán. Hiking, most fordings (see day 1) and orientation was quite easy on this section. Only on last part of Travesía Pilcura some steep snowfields to cross. Warm and hot creeks on first day (Fondo Aguas Calientes), views and lakes on forth day (Travesía Pilcura) were spectacular. Plenty of water everywhere. A lot of annoying horse flies.<br />
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Day1: Termas de Chillán - km53.6<br />
Only minor snowfields. Ascent of Volcán Chillán Viejo should be possible without crampons, no snow on steep upper slopes. Fumaroles on ascent from Termas, warm creek with pools right when you come down to Fondo Aguas Calientes. Also people camping there. I underestimated ford at km48.4 (Rio Diguillín), water was up to upper hips and current, I was washed away… But overall no dangerous crossing and with more cautious selection the fording should be easier. Arrieros at puesto at km49.6 (Coihuería) were the last people I met until end of section!<br />
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Day2: Reserva Nacional Ñubles<br />
Officially the reserva was closed. I entered Termas Los Peucos via RR, watering of meadows was running, I said „Hello“ but nobody answered. <br />
Took a bath in the beautiful hot springs, two stone-walled pools.<br />
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Day 3: km78.6 (Rio Ñubles) - km98.3 (Laguna El Roble)<br />
Easy day … nice swimming at the camp with fireplace in the evening <br />
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Day 4: Travesía Polcura - Laguna ElToro<br />
Spectacular day: great views, mountains, lakes and path.<br />
The detours to the lakes (var G+J, Laguna Hermosa, ElToro and Los Condores) are worthwhile!<br />
Some steep snowfields on RR below Cerro El Toro, I used microspikes, but in a warm afternoon you can also safely cross without. Beautiful (!!) camp at Laguna El Toro with sun until 19:45 though it’s deep in a cirque.<br />
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Day5:<br />
Nice view of Volcán Antuco from the ridge just before the volcán (ca. km125). I left the road and walked +-height parallel to the solar collectors which are visible on the ridge from the MR.<br />
From Curva El Candado I tramped down most of the road to the junction to Abanico, where I ate lunch at the friendly cafe/restaurant „Roca“ and where the bus to Los Angeles leaves at 15:00.<br />
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*2023-Dec-28 to 2024-Jan-01 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / {08-03} - {08-C} - RR - {08-06} - {08-06B} / Lilian<br />
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Avoid of crossing Rio Ñuble, i go for {08-03}.<br />
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There is a bus from Chillán to Los Lleuques at 18:00, take about 1.5 hour. A small shop and some tiny shops there, friendly and good resupply. Look like have some restaurants too, but i'm too late so they're already closed.<br />
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{08-03} km3.3 : tiny shop selling drinks.<br />
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Km4.3 : camping spots or camping possibilities start from here to south.<br />
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Km11.3 : ranger station for guard of Reserva National, look like need booking in advance or some permits. Otherwise you can't go in by this gate. (It is impossible for sneak in, two dogs here.)<br />
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Luckily after i took 10min to explain what I'm doing, where does my routes go, why i'm here, I'll pack out all my trash, no fire, no pick plants, dig a hole for poop, etc. He let me go in, 1000% thank you to him!<br />
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Km19 : bridge for crossing Río Diguillín.<br />
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Km19.45 : El Trumao, Camping Relbún. Ranger station and Conaf campground, didn't see anyone when i passed here.<br />
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Km19.7 : closed gate, you can open it on left side. Old, steep and rocky dirt road behind this gate, look like no cars on it for some years. (Some place landslide, cars impossible to pass by)<br />
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Km21.3 : Rio Relbún, good water flowing nice, rock hopping for dry feet.<br />
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Km22.8 : view point of valley, also some flat spots with trees can fit 2-4 tents.<br />
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Km23.7 : pass, Paso Atacalco, descent to a beautiful valley.<br />
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Km25.3-km26.2 : some tiny streams flowing with good water, but maybe dry up soon.<br />
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Km28.4 : Valle Hermoso, Ranger station and Conaf campground, didn't see anyone when i passed here. Río Blanquillo flowing at here too.<br />
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Some more tiny streams flowing across the road at south, but i think they will all dry up soon.<br />
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Km35.6 : a side trail to see a waterfall, I think it is just soso.<br />
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Then connect with {08-C}, then back to RR.<br />
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{08-C} km2.4 : a very beautiful demon rock hill on your left side, worth take a look!<br />
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RR Ford[71.3/1089] : crossing of Río Polcura, it's a wide river crossing about 80m, luckily it is already made for vehicles crossing so have a rock bar underwater, easy to cross. Mostly just half of calf, in the middle about 10m, up to knee and flowing very fast.<br />
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Camp[72.9/1104] : it's a really nice camping spot with tree shade and beside a river.<br />
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Camp[78.6/1203] : this spot is not beside RR. When you finish valley trail walk, if you don't join dirt road and keep going walk in the valley then you'll arrive here.<br />
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Water[79.1/1214] : log bridge crossing.<br />
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Trailhead[80.5/1248] : not easy to notice the trailhead, although it have a fallen board on the ground.<br />
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North of the pass is overgrown, south of the pass lot of fallen trees block the trail.<br />
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Didn't see any camping spots until almost to valley.<br />
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Water[81.8/1475] : when you get close, be careful dont walk too fast. Just before the stream dont follow the trail to left side and go down, it is already landslide and you'll fall off 2m vertically.<br />
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Pass[84.2/1744] : tons of huge dead trees and ready to fall down in next second. Don't camp here, it is dangerous.<br />
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Km85.8 : flat spot can fit 2-3 tents.<br />
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Km86: flat spots can fit 1 tent before and after a stream crossing.<br />
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Km95.2 : excellent view point of Volcán Antuco, look like some flat spots at downhill side close to the beach.<br />
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Camp[97.8/1456] : beside a tree, can fit 1-2 tents with fire ring. Last reliable water when you climbing up.<br />
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Km102 : snow start here, but all you can go around.<br />
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Camp without water[102.3/2063] : no camping spot as now, wet, muddy and lot of stream are flowing by snow melt, a fire ring is in the stream too!<br />
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I camped at km103.45, just before the pass, there is some brushes provide wind protection from west. Can fit 1-2 small tents.<br />
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Km104.1 : a large flat area, but no wind protection.<br />
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X[105.4/1934] : no more trail junction at "X", you need to go down a little, then CC to connect the trail at south.<br />
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Camp[106.6/1938] : wet, grassy and steep spot. A large flat area after you climb up the stream at km106.95, it is in a valley and no wind protection.<br />
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Km109.45 : a small pass, excellent view point of Volcán Antuco and Sierra Velluda!<br />
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Snow start at km109.9, unfortunately when i almost climbed up to ridge, i found that km111.8 to km113.5(at least) , all covered by snow on a very steep slope. It is not a good idea to go through this high risk area, also Cerro El Toro is a very sharp rocky peak, not possible walk on the ridge to go around the slope, so i turn back to "X"[105.4/1934], and join {08-06} continues to south.<br />
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{08-06} is a nice trail to go down, and look like somone have maintained it, nearly no fallen trees and just very little overgrown, easy to follow and walk.<br />
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{08-06} km4.5 : junction of {08-06} and {08-06A}, look like {08-06} in a better condition, also {08-06} from here to km5.6, it is an old dirt road and no more using.<br />
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Km5.6 : junction to join a good dirt road. Camping spot just before the junction, and there are also lot of camping possibilities along the good dirt road.<br />
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Gate[8.6/808] : locked, climb over it.<br />
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Km9.3 : another gate, you can open it on left side, if you want to camping, better before this gate.<br />
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Km22.4 : i join {08-06B} for shorter distance to main road for hitching to Antuco.<br />
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* 2023-Dec-19 to 2023-Dec-20/ 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / Antuco RR and Option 6/ Jens<br />
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Tried to go up the main route. First pass was steep and full of snow. Decided to turn around and try Option 6. <br />
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As option 6 is on private land owned by the Hydroelectrico, a guard picked me up and told me to register with the Carabineros in Antuco. Frustrated I decided to skip section 8 in favour of section 7.<br />
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* 2023-Dec-21 to 2023-Dec-24/ 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / San Fabian - Las Trancas / Ella<br />
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TLDR: River fords are still heinous, especially Ñuble. Bring micro spikes if crossing Paso Prigallo to go towards Las Termas de Chillan.<br />
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Day 1: Hitched a ride part of the way from San Fabian, and then caught a bus (was a Thursday around 1 pm) until Punilla. Camped at a small, windy site with good river access and near the Punilla swimming hole, which is definitely worth a visit. Some friendly caballeros came around 8 pm to camp as well.<br />
Day 2: Walked towards Los Sauces, splitting off to the right where the road/trail led. Could not cross river here because of construction. Went back to the main road and walked North to where there was a (padlocked) cable car and did a challenging ford - current was somewhat strong and water went to my navel (I’m 5’8”/172 cm). In retrospect, would have been better to just walk/bus all the way into Los Sauces and make a safer crossing there. Cabineros in El Roble were nicer to me that the ones in San Fabian. Camped just before Camp {08} [21.6/873] since it now seems to be on private property. <br />
Day 3: Had to trespass for about a mile before reaching the Ñuble river but didn’t run into anyone. Ñuble was really difficult. I got there just before 8 am. Crossing the river at designated spot was not possible. I went upstream, around the bend, and about a hundred meters further to where the river widens and gets a bit shallower. I crossed with water about up to my navel (I’m 5’8”/172 cm) but a little past midway the current took me off my feet and I went for a brief swim before grabbing a rock and recovering on the other side. After getting to the other side, I had to scramble/bushwhack up a near-vertical slope to where there appears to be sort of a terrace in the landscape. I found the best spot was behind where the bank of the river flattened out a bit. Thankfully once getting to the top, you’re blessed with a faint trail leading back to the main route. This approach was not very fun at all - it is probably best to wait another week or two before attempting the river. <br />
After that, the trail gets harder to follow, especially after entering the larger valley. As per others advice, I tried crossing the river in the valley to the right side, but also ran into impassable shrubbery/broken trees there so I ended up crossing back and forth as needed. The first pass didn’t have any snow. There is a difficult ford after the marker for Trailhead {08} [34.6/1873]. Camped at Camp {08} [36.2/1953] which was lovely.<br />
Day 4: Headed towards Las Termas de Chillan. Both passes were very snowy. The second pass, only necessary if going off main trail towards Las Termas, had steep sections that called for micro spikes. I was lucky that there were some people who had just come through and kicked steps in, making this part easier. Hitched a ride to Las Trancas where there are multiple well stocked mini markets and nice hostal options. Not sure if I will continue on GPT 08 given the snow and river conditions so far.<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 2023-Apr-02 to 2023-Apr-06/ 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / El Roble - Los Peucos - Recinto / RR + OH03 / Hannes & Luisa<br />
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Hitchhiked from San Fabian to way after El Roble, rather easy on weekends as it seems many locals around. Ñuble crossing with strong current and water above knees (me 185cm), but still ok compared to other months I think. Went up the mountain and into this valley with beautiful oak-trees. Getting out of this forest we crossed the river to the orographic left side as suggested by others...initially a good choice, all the same we had to switch like 2 to 3 times river bank to avoid some nasty Bush bashing...We reccomend to just open your eyes and see which side works best for you after the initial crossing at approximately -36.856679 -71.275261. After the last camp in the valley path clearly visible and steep ascent to the pass. After the pass we got into this amazing volcanic landscape east of Volcan Chillàn. After the second pass we descended to Aguas Calientes, hot thermal pools at the end of a valley surrounded by some green yellow pasture and loads of cows. Good spot to camp...Then we went to Termas Los Peucos, took us 3.5 days till there. Just for the pools they take 10k, pools and camp was 14k. As one of us felt little sick we decided to hitchhike out over OH03. Do not consider this an emergency exit as it is rather difficult to hh out there, very few cars on the road as access is limited due to a private tunnel and only Carabineros and some oil- and gas-pipeline companies are around there with their cars it seems. All the same we were lucky and got out to Recinto (further down in the valley of Termas de Chillán, near Las Trancas...) In this valley or if you get out at Termas de Chillán we highly recommend Cabañas Ayunkoyam owned by Vincente Ruiz in Recinto, +56999991737, call him before. For this rather expensive valley quite a good option. Vincente is a local mountain guide who seems to know every mountain in his country and is a nice guy to talk to.<br />
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* 2023-Apr-02 to 2023-Apr-02 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / El Roble - Volcán Chillán - Termas de Chillán / Noémie<br />
Very short section because I got a lift from San Fabián until after El Roble (21.0), a bit before the end of the minor road. Carabineros checked ID and asked for sufficient equipment. Ñuble crossing was not that hard but I had water until my waist, even at the end of the season (I am 1m60 though...). Camped the first night at Camp {08} [29.5/1441], on the left bank of the river, where there was a bit of space. The next morning, it was a bit hard to go up the valley with all the dead trees and no path visible. Tried to follow fellow GPT hikers advices, but ended up crossing the river multiple times to find a walkable path without too many bushes, until Camp {08} [31.3/1629]. After this tricky part, both paths are beautiful and quite easy. The thermal river is amazing. There was plenty of space with beautiful hot water pools but also cold water at Camp {08} [40.4/2150]. The last day, I took OH {08-02} and OH {08-02A} to go up Volcán Chillán and then exit at Termas de Chillán. Beautiful ascent with no specific difficulty except the steep last 300 meters. The place is full of condors flying really close, super impressive. <br />
There are no housing options and no buses during the week leaving from Termas de Chillán. You can walk/hitchhike until -36.910163, -71.417798 where buses leave regularly everyday for Chillán. Found many cabañas options in Trancas de Chillán a bit further down. Overall, very beautiful and diverse section (forests, rivers, sand deserts, volcanos) with amazing hot springs!<br />
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* 2023-Mar-13 to 2023-Mar-18 / 5.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Abanico — Thermas de Chillán / Iris, Alexis <br />
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Starting from Los Angeles, we took a bus (at 12:30) towards Abanico and then two rides until the start of OH-MR-V {08-K} [0.0+0.1]. Then, there is a gate (after the Bridge, Gate {08} [126.7/1339] point) locked with a padlock but easy to climb. The CC section (RH-CC-A {08} [26.4/122.0+1.9]) is actually following the MR so we thought better stay on the road. When we reached Camp {08} [120.2/1520], it was completely dry so we continued a bit and found a nice spot in the forest (close to -37.32983, -71.39823).<br />
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On Day 2, we continued on the trail, simply taking the shortcut OH-TL-V {08-I} [0.0+0.2]. Then, we chose to take option 08-H to stay high, it was really beautiful. We stayed on the rim until a hard part and then we diverged on the trail that was present a bit below us. As other as noted, on RH-CC-A {08} [18.1/113.7+2.0] you follow a trail or a set of footprints. When the trail and the trace diverge, follow the trail, it is usually the best option. And don't miss Trailhead {08} [113.7/2184], we tried to go around it but regretted it. Then, the trail until Laguna El Robles (Camp {08} [98.2/1456]) is nice but the descent is steep. We believe the path has been cleared recently because lot of fresh fallen branches on the ground. On the lake, we camped on the east side but it was very windy. The other side looked more protected. <br />
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On Day 3, we followed the RR until Camp {08} [73.3/1104]. It was a rather uneventful day except we met a lot of arrieros in the morning that went for a wild bull hunt. The camp is nice and felt like a campground.<br />
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On Day 4, we hiked for just a few kilometers to reach the Thermas Peucos. It was a very worthy stop, an oasis in the middle of the hike : 10k PP for the camping and hot springs (stoned pools). We even bought a lunch from the minishop which has quite a nice selection. Like others, we used the option 08-C to avoid the pointless climb in the RR. <br />
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On Day 5, we did a rather long walk until Camp {08} [40.4/2150] to enjoy the natural pool. The trail is a bit overgrown after the thermas but nothing bad. The day was full of going up : 2500 on the tracks but the GPS said only 2100 at the end of the day. The hot springs are amazing, truly the best we encountered. And we were alone there. <br />
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On Day 6, we met a horserider when leaving the camp a bit angry because he did not sleep. He camped near a group that partied the whole night (we believe it was close to Ford {08-02} [1.6/2097]). Then, option 08-02 and variant A to ascend the volcan. It starts with a nice trail and ends up with sand that is really hard to climb. Nothing difficult nor dangerous but extremely tiresome. It took us 3h to go up but we enjoyed our lunch at the top! Then the descent is really fast, thanks to this sand (about 1h). The rest of the trail until Thermas de Chillán is a bit overrun, we met numerous hikers (but it was a Saturday). There, we hitched a ride until Recinto and took the 7:00PM bus to Chillán for a ressuply.<br />
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Overall our impressions on this section are a bit mixed. We enjoyed the numerous hot baths and the volcan summit but we were less amazed by the landscapes compared to the previous sections (of note as we did go up quite a lot, we probably were a bit too exhausted to truly enjoy it completely!) . Perhaps it is more rewarding when going SOBO? <br />
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* 2023-Feb-02 to 2023-Feb-08 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + emergency exit / Martial <br />
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Puente Inglés - Los Peucos - Antuco <br />
Super pleasant trekk in various landscapes and sweet hot springs. Met Ondrej at the start and shared the road walking before he eventually escapes in the first climb ! Met again finally at the hot river for a deserved rest after big climbing day. Next the descent to los Peucos is rather long with overgrown detour of the swamp at the end. That’s where my phone died for no reason. May it RIP with all my pictures :’( Still if there’s a good soul out there with a machete and long trousers feel free to save this beautiful trail ! Then los Peucos was a paradise oasis for a 14000$ 24h rest day. Not so expensive to me considering the quality of the hotspring service and resupply in the middle of nowhere ! « El Toro » hotspring is a once in lifetime experience for sunrise and had the all domain for myself 😌 Do not hesitate to stop there and meet Ricardo who doesn’t see many souls otherwise.<br />
4th night spent 3km down near los Peucos in a super recommanded magical waterfall bassins with perfect « nuit à la belle étoile » on the hot rock.<br />
After km 80 the forest is kind of colonised with annoying flyes and thermites wich makes it not an enjoyable place. Also recommend taking plenty of water from laguna el roble cause dry climb and ridge walking ahead (there’s still a little stream pond under a tree a few km after the pass if you look well). Arrived there in late afternoon with no place to camp and saw emergency exit on the right which triggered green light in my brain (as gear failures were acumalating and motivation low). Felt good after a few tears but the long road walking in the hydraucentral gave me some regrets until i eventually arrived in Antuco after hotish hitchhiking.<br />
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*2023-Jan-28 to 2023-Feb-04 / 7.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + volcán chillàn & volcán Antuco / Natalie & Tomáš<br />
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Day 1<br />
Got off the bus here (-36.67295, -71.29201) instead of los sauces for an easy ford. The bus driver knew of this place. The ford was here -36.67738, -71.28739, knee-high. We crossed around 3pm. The road section until the cabineros was surprisingly popular on a weekend, we got a 3km hitch but if we started earlier I am sure we could have hitched a lot more. The valley is nice though to walk in.<br />
The cabineros basically just wanted to know if we had a proper gps and map, we could not understand if they were telling us "not" to go close to volcán chillàn or just "warning" us, I checked online the day before and it said the volcano is in green but the cabineros said it was yellow.<br />
Made camp at the 17km way point because it was a good spot. Lots of unmarked water waypoints on the road such as; -36.69615, -71.27770 and -36.72718, -71.26420.<br />
Day 2. <br />
Crossed Nuble with no problems around 9am. The water was not strong but not totally calm and was under our crotches, I am 170cm and Tomáš is ~173cm. Hats off to the others that crossed when water levels were much higher! Remember to turn right and not left after the ford.<br />
The path was better than expected but still can be easily lost until the first pass at 33.2km. Thanks to the tip from Will we took the path on the other side of the river once out of the trees to avoid the blow down, somewhere around or close to camp 29.5. Hot pass.<br />
We made camp at the hotsprings after the second pass, their beauty and heat made up for the long day. There are a couple perfect spots near the hotsprings with some cold water for drinking, -36.90156, -71.35089. Spent two nights here. The hot springs are regular creeks, most of which in the valley are hot. Saw some locals camping in other spots, seems like a popular place.<br />
Day 3.<br />
Volcán Chillàn. Easy climb following the standard route but the last 600m was slow sandish-like material which made for a very quick descent. Instead of going back the way we came we followed an unmarked/unmapped "road" on the south side of volcán Chillàn that lead to switchbacks down to the hotsprings that we saw earlier that morning. Basically if coming from volcán follow the road east from here -36.89199, -71.38543 and aim for the switchbacks to the hotsprings camp here -36.90336, -71.36145. There is some dirty water on the way but very interesting and scenic. I am slightly worried about posting this because it is likely not meant to be walked, also not sure it actually saves time in compared to the normal trail but it allows for a nice rounddtrip. One can get Internet on the way to the volcano when the ski resorts is visible. Camped again at the hotsprings.<br />
Day4<br />
Nothing to add for this day, trail was nice and under trees a lot of the way, all fords easy or jump-able. Met two French who were doing the GPT northbound. Camped near the puesto 61.7 before the hotsprings, path was always there, just a little overgrown. <br />
Day5<br />
Trail to hotsprings was not that bad, just overgrown bamboo but otherwise nice. The hotsprings is not actually CONAF but a concession. Prices were as described 14mil for camping and 7mil just for hotsprings. If you want to buy food from them I recommend going at the beginning of the month as that is when they restock, for us there was still lots of food left but nothing fresh or good, very expensive. <br />
On the road we used option C to avoid the hill as others suggested (seems like the main road now) and as for variant D we did not see anything so we back tracked a bit and took a different unmarked trail here that was successful -37.06894, -71.39599 and forded river here -37.06857, -71.39158 to meet the RR.<br />
The trailhead at 81.0 is hard to see, be ready.<br />
That trail from 81.0 to the pass was more overgrown in my mind than the rest of the days but still not terrible. Camped on the other side 88.9 (actually a bit further down were nicer camp-spots with lovely short grass)<br />
Day6<br />
Somehow at camp 88.9 we woke up to frost over everything. Have no idea what kind of phenomenon this is because I don't think it froze (forecast was for 16 in the night) but even the little moisture in my breakfast bowl froze shortly after eating it...<br />
Quick trail to Laguna el roble except the trail is easy to loose just before the Laguna in the grassy section, keep climbing left towards an unmarked puesto here -37.20868, -71.33023.<br />
There should technically be a better water source than the lake itself at camp 98.8 but I just took water from the lake:S. The next pass towards the ridge was hot but easy. Good trail until you hit the X at 105.9. Then the path is harder to follow. The camp at 107.1 seems silly and would be better higher above the listed water source. We ended up going cross country all the way from a pass like structure here -37.25066, -71.38499 to Laguna Hermosa because there was a trail on the other side (a bit lower than official RR so it made sense to follow it elevation-wise) that eventually faded away.<br />
Laguna Hermosa was worth it as others have stated but unfortunately very heavy winds crept in that night. It was way less windy ok the East side of the lagoonwhich we only noticed in the morning.<br />
Day7<br />
Very heavy winds. We made a small short cut to the RR from the Laguna by heading west sooner. We considered turning around on the ridge as the winds were likely around 80km/hr at one point near the pylons but luckily since the route is not actually on the ridge the rest of the way was okay, still windy but not pushing us over. The rest of the ridge was no problem for us, slower of course since there is sidehilling and edging but nothing scary or exposed. There was no snow though.<br />
El Puesto at 121 had two dogs but did not see anyone. We camped at Laguna Laja (not nice) to climb Antuco the next day. To no surprise the restaurant and cafe at the ski resort are closed. Other than the water in the lake there are no good water sources past the last water source before El puesto if heading in this direction. There is Enter 3G coverage here.<br />
Day8<br />
Started early to beat the heat for Antuco. I turned back after the top of the ski lift because of a stomach bug (probably food but still nicer to vomit in the shade...) but Tomáš went on to finish the climb. The climb was was not worth it. The volcán is not black sand but rather loose rock (boulders to pebbles) which made especially going down annoying. After the ski lift there is virtually no trail. Plus the fact there was only a small crater on top and the weather was very hot and windy in the early morning. I think we were there during a small heat wave, supposedly the day before was 38°C in Antuco proper. After the climb we hitched to the campsite Lagunillas (10mil/person) in hopes of going back to los Angeles but after analyzing the smoke situation of the forest fires we stayed here and used it as a base for preparing for GPT09-10.<br />
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It took us 168 hours but without climbing the Volcans the trail could have been walked in five full walking days. End of January means there were virtually no horseflies. <br />
Nice trip but due to foot issues, things breaking down and a stomach bug at the end it was a bit of a suffer-fest for Natálie (Tomáš's new shoes are unfortunately painful too). However, the hotsprings, volcán Chillán, Laguna Hermose and the trees (especially the ones with usnea) made it worth while!<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Feb-02 to 2023-Feb-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 08-C / Ondrej <br />
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Puente Inglés - Camping Las Lagunillas <br />
Overall an extremely beautiful route, my favourite in GPT06-08. Compared to GPT06 and 07, this section felt most diverse but also most challenging to navigate. I accidentaly got off track much more often. Still, the route is visible most of the time except the last day after Laguna Hermosa. Even there, sticking to the gpx files makes the section easily passable. One just need to pay a higher attention to where their steps are placed. The fauna is quite rich too - I had a chance to see a tarrantula (the minor road on day 1), crayfish in the rivers, and a snake which I believe was Tachymenis chilensis (on the shores of Laguna El Roble). I believe this section is much more demanding in Dec or early Jan when snow is still present on the slopes. Horseflies were not a problem in my case. I encountered some between km 75 and 85 but that was far from frustrating. I recommend gaiters due to dusty roads in some sections. From thermas Chillan I haven’t met a soul until the end of the section.<br />
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Details:<br />
On the first day, it is easy walking on a minor road that winds through a forest so you can enjoy shade most of the walk! No complications, just need to climb some gates. I enjoyed a company of a fellow GPT hiker Martial, who shared some useful trout fishing tips and gear with me. We camped at the Nuble crossing. <br />
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Second day, Nuble crossing was no problem. Knee-deep at the recommended ford. Then I got lost in the forest numerous time. Checking the gpx frequently definitely helped. I followed the advice of others to cross the river and find a path om the right upstream side. That worked really well, didn’t have to cross any fallen trees! I camped at the hot springs - it is actually a whole thermal river. Amazing, amazing place. Loved to lay in it and watch the stars. Quite a few other people were there (some arrieros and a Chilean family) but there really was enough space for everyone. <br />
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The third and fourth day were rather uneventful for me. Very beautiful views along the trail, which was mostly through forests and relatively simple to follow all the way to 2km before Los Peucos. Even there the trail was visible, it was just overgrown. I worried about this part too much based on the previous reports. The path actually felt quite okay in my case. Unfortunately, no soul at Los Peucos. I saw a parked car and a horse, but no human in the area. So I decided to walk 3km more and camp at the next river ford at km 66.4. I also took option C as recommeded by other hikers below, it was perfect!<br />
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The 5th day was easy up to the laguna El Roble. Then the climb is quite demanding. Most importantly, there is hardly any water between Laguna El Roble and km106.1. I found a little stream at km102.8 but I wouldn’t rely on it. My strategy was to drink about 1 liter at the laguna El Roble (I filtered the water there as the laguna didn’t seem that clear) and then I took 1.5l with me. It lasted me all the way to Laguna Hermosa. Maybe next time I would take only 1 liter. However, I felt safe to have the reserves. Once you get to the pass, the views are beautiful, as is Laguna Hermosa where I camped for the last night. <br />
<br />
On the 6th day, I started from Laguna Hermosa at 8am and reached the main car road around 3pm. The trail after Hermosa disappears and requires a lot of attention to your GPS to navigate. The scree traverses are entirely manageable. I had to think twice before placing my feet though. The trail becomes visible and much easier at km115 when the valley trail connects. No one was at the puesto at km121.1, just three dogs. Trekking poles were enough to fend them off. There is indeed a new metal gate with a lock at approx km 126. No guards are positioned there. I climbed the gate without issues. I then hiked to Camping Lagunillas. There is a very kind owner and his son. Really good people to chat with. After listening to my story they also let me a cabana for a price of camping (10,000 CLP) for the night. The owner’s son is keen to learn more about the GPT and to potentially hike part of the route too. The camping has a small almacen there with some lentils and rice to buy (however, the selection is not enough to resupply). They also sell beer, cookies and can make you a soft dinner and breakfast (empanadas, lentils, waffles, coffee, sandwiches). I hitchhiked to Abanico the next day. It seems there are many more buses from Abanico to Antuco/Los Angeles than just two these days. The bus schedules could be looked up on the Internet. I caught one at 9:30am. <br />
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<br />
*2023-Jan-16 Frank RR SOBO 5 days<br />
<br />
Crossed the river before Los Sauces where a dirt road goes right, crossing was only ankle deep. The cable car at Los Sauces is locked & there is often no one there. River is a lot deeper by the cable car (at least waist deep)<br />
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At Los Robles the carabineros were not very friendly, which was unusual, & were not too happy about me hiking solo, but after I told them I'd walked there from Santiago they allowed me to proceed. They had no info. about the activity level of Chillan. The 'shop' in Los Robles only had 2L bottles of soft drink & eggs. Rio Nuble was thigh deep late in the evening but you need to pick your spot: a few metres downstream from the RR crossing, before some boulders in the water. Camped a little after the crossing. Before Rio Nuble there is a no entry sign & locked gate but you can climb over it easily & there was no one there. Campsite marked on track file before the crossing was fenced off with no entry sign.<br />
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Coming down from the pass late on day 2 there is a cold water spring just before the hot waterfall. Filled up at the spring as the water in the valley is thermal, not sure if it's good to drink. Camped in the valley by the hot stream.<br />
<br />
At the CONAF hot springs it was 14,000 CLP to camp but they allowed me to use the hot bath for free. They have a shop but most items are too bulky for one person. I continued for about 10KM & camped in a 3 sided hut 100M to the right off the road before a wide but easy ford. The hut has a dirt floor so you can pitch a tent inside. After Laguna Roble you climb to a pass & there is a spring a little after the pass. I camped just before the spring (room for one small tent, had to clear away some rocks but it was OK) The traverse after the aerials was a bit sketchy but soon improved & I picked up a tiny trail through the scree. Walked to the CONAF entrance gate on the road & hitched out from there. There is a lot of traffic on the weekend. <br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-13 to 2023-Jan-18 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Start in Termas the Chillan opt. 2 than RR from 40km to 105.9 and finished using opt. 6. / Maks&Gabi <br />
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Trail is visible almost all the time. All the fords are easily passable. We had met arrieros 3 times, they were nice and helpful. One of them asked about why we are hiking, as there is a lot of people going this way, but he seemed to be okay with it.<br />
There is a lot of really horseflies especially between 83 and 93 km. <br />
There were also quite a lot of cows on trail, that were not so happy to see us, but we just walked around them (with some bigger distance). Be careful as the bulls seem to be very protective over the small ones. <br />
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Option 06A is probably overgrown - we spent about 15 min trying to find the trail but we gave up after all ( it was about 300m after crossroad ).<br />
Gate on 8.6km of option 6 was locked with the padlock, but noone was there so we just walked over the fence. <br />
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All other gates on all trail were easily passable. One of the arrieros just noted that we should close them after crossing. <br />
From the hydro powerplant till the end of the option 06B there were a lot of people working on a road but none of them seemed to have a problem with us being there.<br />
We hitch hiked to Antuco. <br />
It was our first try on the GPT (recommended by a local mountain guide from Termas de Chillan) and it was definitely worth it! <br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-08 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
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Probably my favorite section so far! A nice mix of remote alpine stretches, forests, and fields. However the horseflies made it hard to appreciate at times, they were pretty much constant during the later section around Laguna Laha.<br />
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I hitched from San Fabián around noon and did most of the road walk the first day. The campsite at 21.6 is fenced off. I stayed at 20.3 which didn't have great water access, just a muddy spring. Scrambling down to the river wasn't feasible but I found a bit of clean flow partway down.<br />
The Nuble crossing wasn't so bad for me, it was just below my waist (5'11/181cm). Still the hardest one so far. I found the trail afterwords pretty hard to follow, with lots of side paths eventually leading to thorny bushwhacking. It finally convinced me to pull the route up on my watch for the first time, definitely worth it here.<br />
A ways after the river crossing you'll come out of the woods into an open river valley. I recommend crossing the stream there and finding the path on the other side, instead of struggling through the blowdown/landslide debris along the gpx track.<br />
The trail was fairly slow from the Nuble crossing to los Peucos. After that it's super fast except for a few stretches in the mountains above the Laguna Laha. <br />
The natural hot springs just below the pass near the Volcan Chillan were very nice, but full of little flies. They didn't seem to bite.<br />
The camping at los peucos was very expensive, but they had a bit of food for sale (fruit!!). Comfy grass, wifi, well maintained bathrooms. The hot springs there were too hot for me, slightly painful.<br />
I missed option C and definitely regretted it. The road up was super rocky, and hot with no shade.<br />
The stretch above Laguna Laha was the driest I've passed so far. Thankfully there were a few snow fed streams/ponds left, but I should have carried more water to be safe. Laguna Hermosa was true to its name, a nice place to camp my last night.<br />
The main road at the end was pretty busy, you could hitch right away and skip the entire last 13ish km. But the extra little stretch of trail at the end was definitely worth it to me.<br />
It took me a while to get a ride to Antuco even though the road was busy. Most people were just going a bit further along. It's not the nicest town but there's decent selection for resupply. I got a room for 15k/night at a cabana/hostal place on Sgto. Aldea street. For some reason I didn't have cell service there, with Movistar.<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-01 to 2023-Jan-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option C / Martin & Helena<br />
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We took bus from San Fabian (corner on the other side of the gas station) in the afternoon, and camped after ford of Los Sauces river (water only to the ankles). A lot of annoying tabanos, but plenty of space to camp. Quite a lot of locals go there as well. The next day we continued to the ford or Rio Nuble that turned out to be the worst so far for us. Doing it in the afternoon was not the best idea - the current was strong and even when it was just waist-high, we were not able to pass through the fastest part where the path takes you. We figured out to go more upstream, but just like 30m maybe? to a point where the water was really deep but completely calm. There is a rock wall on the other side. The water reached our chest at that part and our hands holding poles were under the water, making it hard to gain stability. We decided to take our chances and try to cross, using rocks covered with some grass to gain traction. There were times when we were floating in the water with close to 0 stability but we eventually made it. Best to be there early to have the best possible conditions. Until the end of the day we managed to get up through the forrest. Before you get out of the forrest you are crossing a stream that is going down between the rocks, but if you take a minute or two before it path that goes lower than trail, you will find a nice spot by the water with some wooden bench and nice covered place to camp. We prefered to be out of the forrest so we continued, but found only a field of fallen trees caused by landslide. It was possible to find a place to camp closer to the river. It is best to continue on the other side, which we did the next day. You will soon connect to the trail again, before going up.<br />
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The way up from the valley is quite steep. From the pass you get a nice view of the Chillan volcano. Going further down to the lava field, we followed advices of others and get up to the top of lava field right away and continued walking on it. After the pass you will find a valley with hot springs which are simply amazing. Good to plan camping there so you can enjoy it fully. From the valley the trail is clear, until a short section before the official camp (1-2 kms before it), where it’s more of a bush-bashing. This part starts near a puesto where we came across herd of young bulls that seemed to be more curious that we would like and we had to go around them, a little off the trail. We struggled a little to find our way into the camp, which was not so clear from our gps (eventhough the path is clear all the way to the river) - the camp is secured by wire fences that we wanted to avoid, but at the end we crawled under them to get to the camp, aprox. according to our gps. If you follow the river downstream you might get to the official gate / entrance, not sure. Like other mentioned the price is quite high, and so are things in the little shop - most of it are classic camping things that last long like pasta, rice, canned fruits, a lot of cookies… but we were grateful for it anyway. The hot springs there are also amazing, man-made stone pools, with the view of the stars in the night it is perfect and worth the price. There are maybe 10 dedicated places to camp with wooden desk and bench, covered by roof (good when it’s raining). More space is close to the showers and the common, shared house with kitchen, fireplace and again desks with benches. We met there some workers from a gas company, fixing pipes close to the laguna, who were sleeping in the camp. The guy watching over the camp (from CONAF) was also nice and helpful - if you need anything, this is the right person to ask.<br />
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On the next day, we continued on the minor road, where we took the C option, like others. Following the RR we found the 08-E option (which follows the MR) to be a better choice since the RR is a little overgrown in the beginning and with thistle-vegetation. Easy pass in the forest, and nice places to camp in the valley. We were lucky to find their cows again (luckily on the other side of the river), but bulls woke us up in the morning - this must have been the fastest packing in the history. We enjoyed more fun with the cows and bulls later in the valley, that were blocking our way and refusing to go away - that made us to take another short detour around them.<br />
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A lot has been already written about the last part of this section that takes you up to the plateau. The climb is quite steep and long so don’t forget to take water from the last laguna - that is the last option. The next stream we found was about 2 kms from the point where you reach the ridge. We camped before Laguna Hermosa with nice view of the volcano. There was some melting snow above the laguna and we found 4G signal there (where the pole is). We found the descent down to be quite ok, there are small slippery rocks so it’s necessary to be careful, but nothing too bad. The descent gets very dusty later (when it’s dry) and is still steep in the forrest with a lot of water from the snow. We got to the main road in the afternoon and were lucky to catch a ride all the way to Antuco. We booked the only available place we found on booking called Puelche de Antuco, a really nice cabin. The town is nice with a lot of restaurants and shops.<br />
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<br />
*2022-Dec-28 to 2023-Jan-02 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Los Sauces - Antuco / Anna & Christopher <br />
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We took the bus at 6 pm from San Fabián to Los Sauces and camped next to the river.<br />
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The path until the river crossing of Rio Ñuble is basically a dirtroad, so we got there pretty fast. Only the horseflies were very annoying. We recommend bringing insect repellent.<br />
Christopher is 1.88m and the water went up to his navel at the main route crossing. Anna with 1.63m was not able to cross the river there.<br />
After some tries we found a possibility a couple of hundred meters upstream, where the water just went up to Anns knees. The tough part was to get up to the path on the other side. After some bush bashing, you have to get up a 3 to 4 meter high, almost vertical slope. We found a tree, whose roots we used to climb up, which was not super easy. Once you are up there, there is a good path that leads to the main route.<br />
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The next day was nice until the valley around km 25 (where the river is not correctly positioned in the gaia app). There are tons of fallen trees and it was really hard to get through and there was mostly no visible path. It's probably best to stick to the upstream right side of the river.<br />
Afterwards the path gets really nice. Especially in the evening sun, it was very beautiful to cross the volcanic landscape. We camped in the valley at km 40 at the hot springs.<br />
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The third day has a good path at the beginning. Just the last 3 km it gets more difficult, especially approx. 2 km before Los Peucos, where it's mostly bush bashing.<br />
The camping at Los Peucos is nice, as well as the hot springs, but we had to pay 14k CLP p.p. to camp there and in the evening there are tons of mosquitos. We would have camped a bit further downstream, if we had known that to be honest.<br />
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The next day we took option C, like Veronica suggested, to avoid an unnecessary climb. Then we made an unnecessary climb following the road and not the main path, because we couldn't find the entry to the path right away and feared more bush bashing. But the path looked great from above.<br />
The rest of the route until shortly after Laguna Hermosa was really good. There is not much snow left and therefore there are not a great many places to fill up water.<br />
After Laguna Hermosa the path gets very hard to cross, due to lots of stones and gravel without a visible path.<br />
But it's very beautiful up there and finally not hot anymore.<br />
The descend has a easy to find path but is pretty slippery. Once you pass that the rest is pretty easy until the road, from where we hitchhiked to Antuco. We stayed at Camping Rucue for 15k CLP the camping lot. You pay for the lot not per person.<br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-19 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + GPT08-02 / Véronica <br />
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Route: Los Sauces - Río Ñuble crossing - backtrack to Los Sauces - hitch to Termas se Chillán (GPT08 option 2) - Los Peucos - Laguna Laja - Laguna Hermosa - CONAF near Abanico <br />
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San Fabian is a great place, loved swimming in the Ñuble River when it got hot. The owner of Cabañas San Fabian is super kind. I hitched back to the trail because I didn't want to wait all day for the bus that leaves at 6pm. <br />
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Registered with the carabineros at El Roble, but I could not ford Río Ñuble at the RR crossing. Current was very strong, and has I been able to stand up in it, the water would have easily reached my chest (I'm165 cm). I tried several times to ford the river at three different places, several km apart from each other, with no success. I would advance in the stream until I felt I couldn't take another step without being swept, and couldn't get halfway across. I suppose I should have expected this - it's a very high snow year and mid-December. I even tried calling out for help at the puesto on the west side of the river near the "no trespassing" gates, but no one was there. The long walk back to Los Sauces felt very defeating. Also, the "wooden bridges" described by Jo and Veronika are actually only cable crossings, and inaccessible by two barbed wire fences. Not possible to cross the river there either. Ríos Los Sauces and Las Truchas only came up mid-thigh though. <br />
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Regained the GPT at Termas de Chillán, Option 2. Basicall took almost the whole second day to hitch there. Beautiful trail, but steep. You get to ford hot creeks, which was pretty cool. <br />
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The trail is overgrown in some places, the worst spot is between the last puesto before Los Peucos and Los Peucos. Very hard walking through, wished I had a machete. Only lasts a km or two thankfully. All three puestos before Los Peucos looked abandoned. <br />
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Didn't meet anyone at Los Peucos since I got there fairly early in the morning, but the hot springs there are amazing. Really hot, clear water, a little stone pool in a garden. Loved spending time there. <br />
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Taking GPT08-C avoids a pointless climb and descent on the regular route, and has a nice path the whole way. <br />
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Trail gets more difficult once you start climbing up to the ridge after Laguna El Roble. The views are incredible though, absolutely spectacular. Lots of water sources up on the ridge due to many lingering snow patches. Most of them are not a problem. After the junction with GPT08-06, the trail kind of disappears. Keep an eye on the GPS as you climb and descend steeply on the slopes. It reappears again after the following camp and water waypoints. <br />
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Laguna Hermosa still has a couple snow patches on its shores, cold place to camp, but beautiful. After Laguna Hermosa is where it gets really challenging. There is no trail afterwards that I could find, basically cross country the whole way to the TR at 116.8 km. As you approach the "trailhead" waypoint, there is LOTS of scree traverses, and steep snow patches which require microspikes or extreme clambering to get around. Treacherous in some places. I fell a couple times. The ground is very loose and unstable. Things get better actually once you reach the official cross country section at Laguna Lágrima. Still some steep bits, but the ground is more consolidated, and there's more bedrock to help with traction. I reccomend taking the optional route CC-08-H. There's a faint trail to follow and it avoids clambering up on the ridge. <br />
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Very glad to see a clear track again at 116.8. But still some problematic snow fields in this stretch above Laguna Toro, where it was too steep even with microspikes, and I had to do some very careful/serious climbing around. Not fun. Fell again here. Once you reach the long descent into Valle de los Carpinteros it gets much better. Still some snow in the woods over the creek. Right now you can walk on top of it like an ice bridge. There clearly was a LOT of snow here this past winter, it lingers until 1750 m or so in the south-facing valley. <br />
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The puesto at 121.1 looks abandonned too. Lots of downed trees in the area. There was no one, and no metal gate (or any gate) whatsoever before reaching the road in the National Park. <br />
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The 4 days from Volcán Chillán to the end of the section, I saw no other human. I found this section also to be harder than GPT06, especially the last day. The snow complicates things. If you wish to avoid dangerous clambering and sketchy snow and scree traverses, take Option 06. The trail is good before then.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-28 to 2022-Feb-06 / 10 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo<br />
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Los Sauces -> banks of Rio Ñuble -> hot springs at flanks of Chillan (-> escape to Concepción via Termas de Chillan to buy new shoes -> hot springs at flanks of Chillan) -> Los Peucos -> camp before Laguna Laja -> Laguna Hermosa -> camping Lagunillas (6 proper hiking days)<br />
<br />
Nice section again. Hot springs in the first half, beautiful views of Laguna Laja, Volcán Antuco, Siella Veluda in the second half. Laguna Hermosa is true to its name, and was the first to not have horse or cow droppings on its sandy shores :D Sad to not have crossed Molly and Melissa.<br />
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- The lady at the cable car was not sure whether we could cross with our heavy backpacks, so we forded the river at Los Sauces.<br />
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- From about km 20 the sides of the road are fenced. The camp at km 21.6 is no longer available. <br />
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- There is a gate at S 36° 49.177', W 071° 15.206' (blocking access to the trail) marked private, no entry. We saw some cars returning through a second gate (blocking access to the river) and asked if it was ok to cross the first gate. They said "For you, sure." I get the impression that Chileans rather want to keep Chileans out... This gate is not a problem NOBO.<br />
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- Fording Rio Ñuble was the deepest ford we ever did. Balls deep indeed! Quite doable though, as the water is clear.<br />
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- There may be an alternative path on the western bank, starting at the wooden bridges at S 36° 49.177', W 071° 15.206'. Some local at the San Fabián tourist office mentioned having hiked this way.<br />
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- The trail at S 36° 49.177', W 071° 15.206' (around km 30) has eroded. After searching, we had to push through some bushes on a steep ridge to continue the trail. Maybe more obvious NOBO.<br />
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- At the start of the cross country at km 34.6 get to the top of the lava strip after fording the river. For us, this was easiest at S 36° 52.853', W 071° 18.793'.<br />
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- The water at the camp at km 37.3 was mostly dried up. Don't count on it by the end of January.<br />
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- The bus stop at Termas de Chillan is close go Hotel Nevados de Chillan. There are way more buses at Las Trancas de Chillan, 8 km down the road. Fortunately, the whole area has great 4G coverage with Entel, so you can look up the bus tables with the key words "REM bus Termas de Chillan".<br />
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- The CONAF camp Los Peucos has excellent hot springs and a mini shop. Camping costs 10.000 pp. The guards are very friendly and donated some fruit :)<br />
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- The CC section around km 95 had a clear path, but the subsequent TL section before Laguna El Roble did not.<br />
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- The trail after Laguna Hermosa was hard to find, we went quite slowly clambering on the loose scree or sand. Going down the mountain ridge at the end of the CC section was similarly difficult. Fell twice - could not find solid footing on the slope.<br />
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- The lady at the puesto at km 121.6 was friendly, asked where we came from, went to, and pointed us to the exit road. She seemed friendly, but a subtle hint to "please stay off my land" would have been lost on us in translation. The new metal gate is easy to pass through. The CONAF guard's wife at the final CONAF post mentioned that we were hiking the "sendero biologico" when we mentioned Laguna Hermosa. This trail must pass over the lady's land too?<br />
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- The ATM at Antuco is broken.<br />
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- Supermercado Santa Teresa in Antuco sells 125ml bottles of alcohol desnaturalizado 96° in the nail polish section.v<br />
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* 2022-Jan-24 / 6.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH Cerro Las Águilas / Molly and Melissa<br />
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At the "gate" waypoint, we actually met two men installing a new metal gate. They told us we needed permission to pass, and that the owner would come by shortly. We talked to her, and at first she was very determined not to let us through. I don't know what convinced her - we showed her our garbage bag and shovel to show we would leave no trace, we told about the gpt and how far we had walked. She also expressed concern for her animals being disturbed, or that we would get lost. We then showed her our personal locator beacon, and she finally softened and told us we could go through if we payed 5000 pesos each and continued all the way to Laguna Hermosa, past her lands, before we made camp. She also owns the puesto marked on the route. If going northbound and wanting to avoid a potential conflict, it might be better to take the option along the ridge.<br />
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We took the bus to Abanico and hitched to the national park, not the easiest as all the cars were full. The car was stopped at the entrance, and we had to explain our route. We weren't asked to pay, probably because we weren't really going to the national park. You walk a little through it though on some nice paths, and then you reach a gravel road. Shortly after, at the "gate" waypoint, we actually met two men installing a new metal gate. They told us we needed permission to pass, and that the owner would come by shortly. We talked to her, and at first she was very determined not to let us through. I don't know what convinced her - we showed her our garbage bag and shovel to show we would leave no trace, we told about the gpt and how far we had walked. She also expressed concern for her animals being disturbed, or that we would get lost. We then showed her our personal locator beacon, and she finally softened and told us we could go through if we payed 5000 pesos each and continued all the way to Laguna Hermosa, past her lands, before we made camp. She also owns the puesto marked on the route. If going northbound and wanting to avoid a potential conflict, it might be better to take the option along the ridge.<br />
As noted previously, after climbing to the ridge on the rr, the terrain is difficult, but the views are amazing. Not a lot of water, but we managed. Many of the campsites off route, including Laguna Hermosa, require quite a climb down.<br />
You stay high up quite a while, which gives amazing views. <br />
<br />
The cross country along Laguna Laja has a nice path all the way. Then you reach Patricio's puesto. He's very welcoming, and has had people stay in his puesto before. We just drank coffee with him though. His brother German lives in the valley right after Laguna el Roble, but his puesto is hidden in the trees.<br />
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Alternative route Cerro Las Águilas<br />
We chose the Cerro las Águilas alternative, because Volcán Chillán was in yellow alert. While walking there, we met two carabineros on horseback who wanted to know which way we went. Don't know if they would have forbidden the rr. The ascent to Laguna el Lobo is through deep sand, it was very tough and took way longer than we thought. We ended up camping at the Laguna which was nice enough. The ascent from there of the first little hill seemed completely unnecessary to us, at least if you have been by the laguna, as you descend to the same level. It would be worth it to walk to the right and ascend directly on the brown mountain, following the GPS from there. The ridge walk was tough as well, a lot of scrambling. The GPS often wanted us to go right of the rocky tops, where going left or directly over often seemed easier/safer. There is no water until the valley between the two passes. There, we also found a nice campsite right after the big stream on the bottom, a little to the left.<br />
After reaching Rio Ñuble, you follow it for a long time. There are multiple streams running towards it where we had to take off our shoes - no lack of water here, though. The alternative also fords Rio Ñuble itself in a different location compared to the rr - we had no problems whatsoever there. It reached mid-thigh and wasn't too strong, and we are both around 160 cm. It is a very low snow year though, and very dry. Here would be a nice place to camp.<br />
<br />
After rejoining the rr, we decided to continue to the waypoint "camp". That was a mistake, though, as everything around there is fenced in with big signs saying "private property". The second campsite right after is not fenced in, but doesn't look that good on the first glance. The rest of the way to Puente Ingles is gravel road. El Roble has a house that sells sodas - it has a "bebidas" sign. <br />
We crossed Rio Los Sauces beneath the cable cars quite easily, the water was mid-thigh - again very dry year. <br />
<br />
Puente Ingles<br />
In Puente Ingles we stayed at a campsite a little north of the cable car crossing, marked on the map in Locus Maps as "lugar". It is 10,000 per tent, there are bathrooms, cold showers and tables. They also have a cabaña which was occupied. Puente Ingles has a small shop with sodas, ice cream, tortillas, biscuits, coffee and chips. It is quite nice to bath in the river. The bus still leaves at 7 and 10 in the morning.<br />
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*2021-Dec-15 / 5.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony<br />
<br />
Beautiful view of volcán Antuco when walking up towards the ridge line by Laguna Laja and a staying at Los Peucos camping site was a big highlight on my journey on the GPT. Had my dinner in their wonderful hot spring while staring at the clear starlit sky in the cool night. Two nice guys working here and they even donated me some pasta, fruits and vegetables. Walking near the active Chillán Volcano and watching the fumaroles while being circled by a group of condors was also a cool experience. <br />
<br />
With that said, this section kicked my ass. Mainly due to some bad fitting shoes I recently bought in Los Ángeles and because I suffered from bad chafing in my butt which made me walk like I had shit my pants for a couple of days. This combined with some tough terrain (specially near Laguna Laja) and countless of horseflies made this section quite challenging for me. But definitely worth it! <br />
<br />
Like mentioned by hikers in the previous years fording Rio Ñuble can be a bit demanding especially for shorter people. It was getting late when I reached the river so I decided to camp nearby and cross the river in the morning. Had water up to the balls (i’m 189cm) and the current a bit strong but it was not too bad. <br />
Hitched a ride from Puente El Ingles to San Fabian and later jumped on a bus to Chillán to buy new shoes once again. Room with private bathroom for 15.000 at hostal El Molino in San Fabian, nice lady who owns the place.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*2019-Nov-10 / Jan Dudeck<br />
Volcan Chillán remains active. The regular route passes the crater closely therefore Option 1 appears currently the saver if someone does not want skip section GPT08 completely. This option passes the danger zone with more distance. In case of an eruption volcanic ash is likely to affect Option 1 but the risk of direct volcanic effects is lower (flash flood from melting snow and glaciers, land slides, lava and flying rocks). <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-30 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias<br />
<br />
Overview: <br />
Just want to say quick that the termas vapaors in Mèdano are worth checking out, I highly recommend them. Please consider checking them out, they are only ½ km off the trail and absolutely worth it. They are sauna boxes built around a few hot rocks emitting hot steam. The result is a steam room/ sauna experience. I personally spend over 4 hours chilling out in the steam rooms.<br />
After a 2-hour road walk on the side of the highway you make your way back on trial. This section takes you thru many areas used for grazing livestock with puestos in sight almost all the time. Carizales a small settlement right on trail has a small store and the family also sells bread. There was also a puesto that sold us fresh goat cheese and Coca Cola. It is marked as a waypoint on the GPX file about 20km south of Carizales. Much of the trail is very dry and exposed and the landscape is void of trees and vegetation. There are many great places to jump into the river and cool off. The section up and around the lake offers great views of the mountains, volcanoes nearby and Laguna Dial. The trail itself is well established and never had any real trouble navigation. There were also quite a few hot springs on trail or close by.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: Hot and Exposed (especially in summertime). Resupply Distance.<br />
<br />
Highlights: Hot springs. Great sweeping views. Pools of cool water to jump into in the middle of the day.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions at Ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-20 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option l start south OH 08 - 02 / Martin <br />
<br />
Solo. Because I was not allowed to walk close to the Volcanoe by the carabineros, following the RR, had to take the optional start south OH 08 - 02, in Nevados de Chillán Ski Resort. Funny enough, I walked the first day across the volcanoe anyway, it had some smoke coming out but nothing dangerous happened. Then followed RR to the end. Cross country segments in the ridge close to Laguna del Laja were demanding and not ideal for a solo hiker. But it was worth the effort, one of the most amazing views I have seen so far. Beautiful section. Resupplied and stayed for one night in Abanico.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-05 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR /Ty & America <br />
<br />
Can ford river @ los sauces easily rather than walking from Puente Ingles. Cable Car was all<br />
Locked up. Registration @ El Roble like the others. We camped at the hot rivers close to Volcan Chillan and I fucked up with the gasoline in my stove. Buzzkill...: but Fortunately there was an exit to Termas De Chillan close. We got rides easily from the road.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-03 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Starting at El Ingles and hiking southbound towards Abanico. Lovely section however can be slow at times when the track is hard to follow. <br />
We had to register with the Carabineros at El Roble. Before crossing Rio Nuble there is a large gate with ‘private property: no entry’ written on it. We found this off putting. The river crossing itself was fine in the early morning but could be challenging without trekking poles and with a very heavy pack. <br />
After the Laguna de La Laja the track becomes especially more challenging and rocky. In poor weather it could be dangerous given the slippery slopes and steep descents. <br />
We honestly found this section harder than GPT06 and would swap the difficulty ratings. <br />
Took a bus into Los Angeles at 5pm to resupply for the next section. Did not investigate Abanico as we caught the bus as it was leaving.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-02 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional hike along Laguna de la Laja / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Los Sauces to Abanico.<br />
<br />
Los Sauces: If you tell the bus driver you want to cross the river by cable car (carro azul) he honks at the bus stop and señor Marcial comes from the other side to get you.<br />
Ford Rio Ñuble: If you are a dwarf like me, you should ask your taller hiking partner to carry your backpack, otherwise it will get wet. Demanding.<br />
Volcan Chillan: PLEASE NOTE: We were absolutely aware that our buddy Volcano could erupt or explode at ANY GIVEN MOMENT and that this was NOT a SAFE option to hike. (But it was beautiful! ...and a bit overgrown in some places. There is not much of the trail left before the first pass.)<br />
Laguna de la Laja: It was beautiful but we definitively wouldn't recommend it. There is no trail along the Laguna. At the beginning you can walk on cow tracks close to the waterfront. Afterwards it's 15 km of cross country. The 3 km into the third inlet took us 3 hours and were really dangerous because of loose rocks and steep cliffs. The following investigation part (@08-04-#002) was mainly a quite nice trail, but we lost it twice and it took us ages to find it again, and in this steep and not very easy terrain you don't want to loose the trail. We were really glad when we got back to the regular route.<br />
From Abanico there are several buses per day going directly to Los Angeles. Resupply in Abanico is possible.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-30 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 1 / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
We had to register in Carabinieros. They didn't have a problem with leting us go even regular route, seemed like eventual crossing to Argentina is their primary issue. <br />
Optional 1 - to the juction with valley walk without problem. Cross coutry part on the ridge was easy to navigate. On downhill there is no trail so we went crosscountry again. It's bit overgrown in some spots, we found trail cca after half of descend. Last flowing water is before juction with valley walk. We saw some water holes cca 2-3km before Laguna de Lobo. <br />
Rest of the regular trail - cross coutry sections were demanding. Otherwise no problem. <br />
We got hitch to Los Angeles after CONAF station so no idea about resuply or accomodation.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Jan-13 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin Lizondo <br />
Volcán Chillán was in "alerta naranja".<br />
Río Ñuble impassable at S36° 50.188' W71° 14.935' Better continue following the minor road in the alternative route.<br /><br />
When hiking the alternative east route (Paso Aguila) do not descend to the valley at S36° 57.919' W71° 14.752'. It's unmantained and overgrounded, because of recent forest fires. Better stay above the tree line until Laguna El Lobo.<br /><br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
*Abanico<br />
At least one restaurant with pizza<br />
Store?<br />
<br />
*Antuco (from Abanico)<br />
Many smaller supermarkets, which have most things - easy enough to resupply here.<br />
One of the two ferreterías has gas (the one furthest from Abanico).<br />
Many accommodation options and some restaurants.<br />
There is an ATM at the town square which even gives some smaller notes.<br />
Bus to Los Angeles<br />
<br />
*Puente Ingles<br />
Store with chips, ice cream, bread, chocolate, sodas. Possibly some accomodation option at the store. Campground with one cabaña a little further down the room - sign says cabañas - 10,000 per tent, toilets with cold showers and a room with a fireplace for cooking<br />
<br />
*San Fabián (from Puente Ingles)<br />
Many accommodation options - almost everything was fully booked when we were there (Feb 2022). <br />
Supermercado La Montaña seems to be the best option - not the easiest place to resupply, but definitely possible. Harder than in Antuco.<br />
Great Venezuelan restaurant Canela Passion. <br />
Bus to San Carlos<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Feb-5: San Fabian to Puente Ingles <br />
Bus at 2 pm and 6 p.m. in front of the carabineros including Sundays and Holidays. <br />
<br />
*Puente Ingles to San Fabián<br />
Bus at 7 am and 10 am - leaves from the campground, drives to the shop and the back again towards San Fabián<br />
<br />
*Bus from Antuco to Los Angeles about once an hour in daytime. <br />
<br />
*A few buses from Abanico to Antuco or you can hitch fairly easily.<br />
<br />
* Jan-24 / Joscha<br />
<br />
Bus from Chillan (Terminal La Merced) a Thermas de Chillan at 8 am and 2 pm (weekends at 1:30 pm) for 3900 Pesos. The buscompany is "Rembus". Their Website isn't up to date, but you can check their Facebook page for informationen.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT08 - Volcán Chillan]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:Segundo_Rio_Termal_zona_cascadas.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|This river is hot! Aguas Calientes Valley]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (8).jpg|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Laja and [[Volcán Antuco]], by Matúš Lašan]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT07_(Laguna_Dial)&diff=114156GPT07 (Laguna Dial)2024-02-09T20:23:00Z<p>Joscha97: /* Transport to and from Route */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
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*Feb-1-2024 to Feb-6-2024 / 5 days / SOBO / Oh3, RR, Var H, RR / Matthieu<br />
<br />
Long section with a lot of nice meetings on the way, espacially at the beginning in the pueblitos. Laguna Dial is magnificient and the water of good temperature. First part of MR a little bit boring though, but plenty of cars to hitch. No particular difficulties except the sun in the part from Rio Guaiquivilo to the pass after the laguna, no trees for shadow. The way may be slippery in this part to, on steep slopes, sometimes have to really take your time. <br />
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River crossing : I crossed Rio Guaiquivilo where begin variant H. Lots of division that you can see from the pass before, this way easy to adapt the strategy. Thigh deep with weak current, knee deep with stronger current but nothing hard. No other strong rivers. <br />
<br />
Water : plenty on the way, no need to carry liters in the pack, with minor streams not marked on the GPT waypoints. <br />
<br />
Camps : everywhere. Special regards to camp 62.5 with the thermas nearby where you can enjoy a good hot bath before sleeping, and camp 104.5 where you can hide from the wind with the big wall of lava. <br />
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Variant H : at the beginning, you have the choice to follow GPT tracks (steep slope) or go up the hill on a well marked trail. I recommend to go up the hill, following the steep slope is dangerous at times. The rest of the variant is easy.<br />
<br />
Hitched to san fabian before puento Ingles on the minor road. <br />
<br />
* 2024-Jan-31 to 2024-Feb-03 / 4 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01 / Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1:0H07-01C + OH07-01B [5,6-8,4] + 0H07-01D + 0H07-01E + RR [44,6-49,3]<br />
<br />
I hitched from El Medano to the Laguna del Maule. The guards at the border control north of Laguna de Maule let me pass without controlling me. At km 6,4 of OH07-01B is a locked gate, but its possible to climb around. You have to ford Rio Saso multiple times, but water is max. ankle high. <br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [49,3-62,4] + OH07-F to Hotspring and back + RR [62,4-77,9] <br />
<br />
OH07-F is a short detour to a Hotspring. It's big enough for 1 person to lie in. There is a cold stream next to it and a tree offers some shade. Nice break spot. Ford 76,9 was below Knee high in the evening. <br />
<br />
Day 3: RR [77,9-107,5] <br />
<br />
I forded Rio Guaiquivilo at 9 am at the gpx tracks (km 80,6), but came out a little further downstream. Water went around knee high (I am 191 cm tall).The police at the station km 92,7 took a picture from my passport and wanted my phone number. They were friendly. I forded Rio Paralelo at 2 pm at the gpx tracks (km 95,3). Water went around knee high. <br />
<br />
<br />
Day 4: RR [107,5-145] <br />
<br />
Rio Gonzales is an easy ford. RR [143,2 to 155,3] is a dirtroad. I got a hitch for the last 10 km to puente ingles on a saturday evening.<br />
<br />
GPT07 is mostly walking along rivers in different valleys. I really liked Laguna Dial and Laguna de Maule, otherwise its nice but not very spectacular. You will meet a lot of Arrieros on this section.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
2024-Jan-10 to Jan-23 / 14 days / SOBO (mostly) / Opt 1B, 3, 4, 4C, 4D, 8 / Kasia and Michael<br />
<br />
Day 0<br />
From Molina we took the bus to Talca. The bus from Talca to El Medano still only leaves early in the morning, at 3:00 in the afternoon, and sometime in the evening. We took a bus to San Clemente hoping to catch different transportation, but no luck. The town itself is not particularly charming, however the square is nice and has places to sit and you can find some shade. There is also a coffee shop half a block off the plaza that has decent espresso at a good price. The bus from Talca passes through San Clemente at the bus stop in front of the Unimarc on the main road. We caught the bus to El Medano and arrived there around 5:30. From there we began to walk the road towards Laguna Maule hoping to catch a hitch. After about an hour of walking a couple picked us up and we rode in the back of the truck as far as Cascada Invertida. It is an interesting spot with a waterfall that has a constant wind blowing some of the water back up the waterfall. Worth a stop if you have time. From there we road-walked another two kilometers to a camp site that is popular with local rock climbers. There are plenty of campsites and a pozo for water and washing.<br />
<br />
Day 1<br />
From the campsite we walked back to the road and quickly caught a hitch as far as the border control point. No issues getting through border control; there is a separate line for people just going to the lake. We didn't talk to anyone, no one took our documents and we just walked right through one door and out the other. The road up to the lake is a road-walk but not that long. At the lake we started up Option 1B. We hiked up a ways, but there was a tongue of snow that was on a steep angle, extremely slick, and large pieces easily broke off. It seemed dangerous to try to pass, so we opted to hike back down and onto the road. Option 1K is a path that avoids going back through border control and ends on the highway. (If going SOBO and wanting to avoid BCP, look for a broken gate a little less than a half km before BCP and follow the road up.) From there we caught a hitch fairly quickly all the way to the beginning of Opt 3. We walked Opt 3 up for about six kilometers to a campsite marked Puente Enemigo on Gaia. Free public camping with river access. About a half km further on is a similar site.<br />
<br />
Day 2<br />
We started walking up the road early. The road is very dusty and the tabanos were pretty unbearable. We caught a hitch with a group of hunters and fishers going out for the weekend. They ended up taking us all the way to the end of Opt 3 and to where Opt 4 begins. We walked to the beginning of Opt 4B, but the water was too high and the current to strong, so we camped near Rio Guaiquivilo for the night.<br />
<br />
Day 3<br />
We took Opt 4A up and over the hill, an easy walk. The ford in the river was about crotch height with fairly strong current, however we passed where the cars drive through to get to the other side. We continued on Opt 4 which goes through farmland, a lot of which is swampy. If going through, choose footing carefully. We noticed that where the little white flowers grow is usually more stable ground than where the yellow flowers or just grass are. We went down to the river and camped under a tree just where the path drops to the river level, a little before the marked camping site.<br />
<br />
Day 4<br />
We continued on Opt 4 hiking along the river bed. It was slow going and we had to ford many times throughout the day as the river braids back and forth across the valley. All fords were easy, knee height at most but generally lower. It was actually easier crossing rivers than walking along the river bed since there are so many large rocks. We followed the path where it goes up the hill for about a kilometer and a half and then ran into an area where the trail had collapsed. It may have been passable but we felt that it seemed too dangerous so we turned back. When we returned to the river bed we started hiking further up the river bed to see if it was possible to go on a lower route. We camped in the river bed for the night. <br />
<br />
Day 5<br />
We got a late start that morning. We walked up the Rio Gonzales spending the entire day in our water shoes. We probably crossed the river two dozen times, excellent training in river fording. Some fords at crotch height, most at knee or lower. The water was a beautiful color, an excellent temperature, and there were plenty of places to go swimming. By 17:00 we had only made it half way to the marked ford point below the pass, so we turned around. We were not able to determine if it would be possible to go all the way to the final river ford before the pass. However, even if it is not possible to get to the pass, if one has time this is worth a day trip. Every bend in the river had interesting things to look at, it was exceptionally beautiful, and just very pleasant to spend a hot day half submerged in the water. Obviously this is only feasible when the water level has dropped for the season. We camped in the same spot as the night before.<br />
<br />
Day 6 <br />
We decided to try Opt 8. We walked down the river taking Opt 4C until Opt 4D, then crossing the river there and reconnecting with Opt 4. The path up the hill on Opt 4D was a little tricky to find, but it was there; head to the left. We followed Opt 4 NOBO for a bit, then cut across the valley toward a puesto we had noticed on the way up. This is easily visible in the valley as it is marked by several very tall trees (poplars I think) that stand out against the landscape. We passed by there and chatted with the arrieros for a short while who confirmed that the pass to Achibueno was passable and that we could continue on the south side of the river. It was getting late at that point so we camped near the river.<br />
<br />
Day 7<br />
We continued parallel to Opt 8 on the south side of the river. First the land is swampy, then dry. Look for an OSM track that is about 2.3 km long. Stay below the canal that the arrieros built until the OSM track begins, then cross over the canal and follow it. When it drops back down to the river, there was a small section of very mucky swamp. We had to build a rock bridge to cross it. After that, cross the river and reconnect with the GPT track. We went up and over the pass, it is a bit difficult but easy to follow. I will heavily caveat this by saying many groups of arrieros had been through this season. I think doing it in a season prior to the arrieros passing through would be challenging. The view at the top of the pass over Laguna Achibueno was absolutely stunning; it looked like something out of a movie. We dropped down to the first camp site marked. It was a grassy plain with relatively little wind, some mosquitoes, and lots of little black bugs that did not seem to bite. Camped there for the night.<br />
<br />
Day 8<br />
We got a late start again, being tired since we had not taken a rest day. We went down the other side of the pass. Same as the day before, tricky but absolutely passable, but probably much more challenging prior to arrieros passing through. The valley below was beautiful and green, a lot of Andean oak. We found a camp site a little past the first marked camping. At the bottom past the sign for the Laguna and the sendero, there is a small hill with several large oak trees. Nice views on three sides of mountains and the waterfall, a stream close by.<br />
<br />
Day 9-11<br />
We stayed camped in the same spot for a rest day. We got invited to join the festival of San Sebastian that a large group of arrieros and local farmers were holding. We met a lot of really nice people and ate a ton of really amazing asado. Everyone was so incredibly welcoming, kind, and generous. This will absolutely be one of our most enduring memories of the GPT.<br />
<br />
Day 12<br />
Refreshed from the rest and all the meat, we continued on Opt 8. The trail out was really enjoyable, lots of Andean oak, very fantasy-like landscape. The bridge over Rio Achibueno was destroyed. We found a ford point about 50 m upstream from the mark on the track. Waist deep and a little tricky, but we managed. Camped at La Gloria down near where the estero meets the river.<br />
<br />
Day 13<br />
Continued on Opt 8. Wood plank “bridges” on the esteros from La Gloria on. This is a popular hiking trail, we started seeing lots of day hikers and casual hikers. We took Opt 8 instead of switching to Opt 8A, which we regretted. Opt 8 up is through a very green, but very dry and dusty forest. From the last crossing of the estero there was no water until after the pass. We also hiked it during a heat wave which made it extra challenging. It would be possible to camp on the pass which is low and has a lot of trees and flat space. There is a waterfall a ways down the far side for water. The road down to Estero Los Guayes was not difficult, but half way down you are just waking through a commercial pine plantation. The road is dusty and is mostly fenced in both sides with very infrequent access to the estero. There is also no camping officially allowed according to a resident; they said the Carabineros will come and tell you to leave. We found a spot to stealth camp in front of a small abandoned corral that was not visible from the road. Didn't have any issues. Opt 8A has camping marks on Gaia and is the main access for people driving in to hike, so this seems a better option for either hiking or hitching.<br />
<br />
Day 14<br />
Continued to walk out on Opt 8. Hot, dusty, tons of tábanos. After about 3 hours we caught a hitch all the way to Linares.<br />
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<br />
2024-Jan-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tanja <br />
<br />
Easy hitch from El Medano to the RR trailhead in the morning. No right of way issues. There’s a big gate that was closed but 15 meters to the right the fence is broken. No one there at a Friday morning at 8h30. Even the local guy that gave me a ride knew that there was a trail. Further up where the trail turns at the first river crossing there’s a big landslide of rocks covering the road. Doesn’t look like any/many cars would come through here these days. <br />
<br />
Crossed Rio Guaiquivilo on midday further upstream of where the gpx track suggests (-36.27219, -70.92341 is where I came out). River has two arms there and is pretty wide. I’m 1,65m, water up to mid thighs at deepest spot. <br />
<br />
I had a first attempt where I felt water was flowing slowly and river had just one arm but way too deep for me. Choose your spot wisely, stay focused and be patient. <br />
<br />
Did not meet any other hikers but had several really nice encounters including an asado in one of the puestos. <br />
<br />
Heaps of water. Never carried more than a liter. Campsites everywhere. <br />
<br />
Lagoon doesn’t have trees but on that little beach in the middle there is an old wooden structure. You could tie a groundsheet or tent fly on top of it to create some shade. <br />
<br />
Crossed bridge at km145 over Rio Los Sauces as I wanted to get a ride into San Fabian which worked after a bit of roadwalking. Stayed at Cabanas Nativas. Paid 30.000 CLP for a two person cabin after asking for a discount as I was solo. Was last cabin available. Laundry service is 8.000CLP.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Dec-22 to 2023-Dec-27 / 5.5days / Hiking / SOBO / {07-03}-{07-04A}-{07-04}-{07-04C}-{07-04}- RR / Lilian<br />
<br />
<br />
Avoid of right of way dipute and crossing Rio Guaiquivilo, so i go for {07-03}.<br />
<br />
<br />
{07-03} Km6.1 - km7.2 : Lot of campong spot beside the road.<br />
<br />
Pass[11.8/1175] : not a camping place<br />
<br />
Shop,camp[16.3/801] : the shop is not at GPS marked, it is at km16.1. When you come down from pass when get close, you can see your left side have a red roof house, with some ice cream+drinks sign at front gate. When i get to there, shop is open but nobody, only a black dog watching me, take me about 10min to figure out the shop owner is working in farm behind the house.<br />
I called him loudly and he noticed me. He is a nice and very friendly guy. I ate canned fish, bread, ice cream and coke in the shop for lunch, yummy yummy!<br />
The shop mostly for alcohol, but you still can buy some small items for chill.<br />
<br />
Km17.4 : start from here, lot of possible camping spots beside the dirt road in this valley<br />
<br />
Km17.4 - km40 : good cell service.<br />
<br />
Bridge[33.1/763]: dont cross it, it is impossible to cross Río Melado come back to this side by {07-08G}<br />
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Police[20.5/775] : they'll mark down your basic information, destination and the reason why go in this area. Friendly, they give me some ice cold water to drink!<br />
<br />
Shop,camp[25.7/813] : look like is closed, sign for private area<br />
<br />
Km29.5 : look like a small shop for drinks and ice cream here, with a sign"BEBDIAS HELADAS CIGARROS" at the front gate. But no luck, nobody home when i was there.<br />
<br />
Bridge[38.4/936] : i love this bridge.<br />
<br />
Ford[41.9/1031] : look like up tp thighs at road crossing, log bridge for dry feet crossing upstream 50m.<br />
<br />
I forget to mark the location, 1 more stream flowing up to knee, also a log bridge upstream 20m for crossing.<br />
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Settlter[51.6/1138] : a small stream crossing, bridge downstream 15m.<br />
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Water[56.8/1117] : two dirt road crossing the river here, downstream one is deeper like up to waist and much stronger. Upstream one is easier, it break to 2 part by an island, first part go downstream 5m, rock bar underwater, flowing strong and just above knee at late afternoon. After arrive the island, go upstream back to road crossing point, easy crossing there for second part.<br />
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OH-MR-V{07-03}[56.8+1.5] : the middle part is washed away by huge flood, you can walk, but no more dirt road.<br />
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{07-03} Km59.0 : just like Lukas en Tess said, the river is impossible to cross at this moment. So i turn to {07-04A} then {07-04} to keep going south. Also {07-04B} is impossible to hike too, because it need to cross 2 times of that river.<br />
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{07-04} km6.8 : river breaks into 2 parts by an island. There are 2 bridges for crossing, cross the first one, then walk downstream 200m on the island to cross the second bridge.<br />
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First bridge : -36.24670, -70.95043<br />
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Second bridge: -36.24481, -70.94877<br />
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<br />
Mostly you can follow a trail on {07-04C} easily until {07-04C} km7.0, then the trail become hard to find and follow, so i walk on the riverbed by my own way. If you want, you can cross the river to join {07-04}, but just remian a little part of trail (others maybe wash away by flood).<br />
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Walk to the end of riverbed at {07-04} km18.8, the trail shows you need to cross the river and climb up to the west. Dont cross the river at RR, it is flowing fast and strong, and look like up to waist at afternoon. At downstream 60m, river breaks into 2 parts, just before the breaking, the river becomes wider, cross at the wide point, it is fast too, but just above knee. When you arrive the west side and meet RR, you'll walk on a trail again.<br />
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{07-04} Km21.1 : Pass, some flat spots at this area.<br />
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Follow the trail in a beautiful valley until km28.7.<br />
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Pass[28.7/1959] : excellent view point of Nevado de Chillán! Still lot of snow of the north side! Beautiful!<br />
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Hot spring[38.6/1306] : i hope you don't have any expectations on it and the one beside it. It is just a warm spring at the GPS point, maybe 30°C, a little hotter small pool at upstream, but it is surrounded by tons of cow poops. You wouldn't smell sulfur, because the smell all covered by ....... And i saw one of them is floating inside.<br />
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Hot spring[38.7/1312] : it is much hotter, like boiled water, but very spread, flowing very weak and no pool.<br />
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Puesto[38.8/1304] : after here, you need to cross Rio La Zorra 4 times immediately. Up to knee at morning.<br />
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Ford[41.1/1236] : after this river crossing, from here to Puesto[48.5/1102], is overgrown with thorny plants, more up and down and distance than GPX said. Leave more time for it.<br />
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Ford[48.6/1109] : RR crossing is impossible for this moment, flowing strong and look like need to swim to cross because too deep my feet can't touch the riverbed.<br />
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But there are better crossing point, when you stand at RR crossing, look at upstream, river breaks into 2 parts, go to there. Get to upstream even 50m more than the break. You'll see a huge white rock, cross before it, it is the widest point of the first part, just half of calf, easy.<br />
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After you get on the island, continue going upstream a little about 30m, it is the widest point of the second part, also half of calf, easy. You can walk on the rock bar of second part, back to RR, a camping spot with fire ring and log seats there.<br />
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OH-MR-V {07-04} [48.7+13.4] : please don't have any expectations on it, it is an overgrown with thorny plants, loose rocks, old and damaged dirt road, you wouldn't enjoy it. Look like no cars running on it for some years.<br />
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{07-04} km53.3 : finally!! The road go under tree line, road conditions become nice, easy walking start!<br />
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No luck, there was no bus on Wednesday 10am to San Fabián. So i walk a little further to see hitch hike possibilities.<br />
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FYI : bridge{07} [155.3+1.7/703](cable car crossing) is chain locked. Look like can't use in some moments. But i find another cable car is at 600m before it.<br />
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OH-TL-V {08-A} [1.2], -36.66468, -71.27290<br />
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<br />
* 2023-dec-17 / 6 days / hiking / NOBO / O7 + O4 + O8 + O8C / Jens<br />
<br />
It was all pretty straightforward. The only hard part was on option 8C between the lagoon and where it joins option 3. Rough terrain. No trails. All cross country. <br />
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I really enjoyed Option 8. Many huge waterfalls and lush forests. <br />
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Done the supply in Talca. At that time buses only ran once a day from La Mina. <br />
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Very limited supply in La Mina and El Medano. <br />
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7.30 from La Mina to Talca<br />
15.00 from Talca to La Mina<br />
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Buses to and from Armadillo are more frequent.<br />
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<br />
2023-dec-9/ 7 days / hiking / SOBO /7-1B, RR, 7-3, 7-4 / Lukas en Tess<br />
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We stayed a night at el Medano coming from Talca to resupply. Next day we hichhiked to Laguna del Maule to start hiking 7 option 1 B to join RR at K30. We did this to avoid the right of way dipute and the steep climb in the snow. A guy called Arturo gave us a lift and he was in charge of the clearing of the road to Argentina. He told us that what they are doing now they usually do in August!!! Following 7 option1B was no problem exept for a strange snowlake we had to cross we tried to stay at the edge as much as possible. Breaking through the top layer of snow just gave you really wetand icy cold feet but you didnt fall in completely.<br />
From there we had no issues folowing RR until Rio Las Yeguas. The river was the toughest ford we did but we managed, Tess clamping on to my backpack and moving together. The best place was just where RR crosses, we tried moving up and down the river a couple 100 meters to no avail. We continued al the way down to the termas, the minishop on the way was not open. Termas are great! We met a lot of<br />
Awesome caballeros at the camp and we shared food and drink and they gave us a lot of advice. Some offered to help us cross Rio Guaiquivillo but others argued that is was not possible. One guy crossed with his horse and the water came over the back of the horse!! So turning back and following 7 option 3 seamed the best option. That soon turned into 7 option 4 as we were unable to cross the River at 7-3, K59. We where able to cross with a small bridge at a puesto where we met some great people, they told us a guy passed 3 days before and we were able to track his footprints al the way to the end of section 7. The route option 4 is great at times, horrible at others but the perfect alternative. We didn't get to see Laguna Del Dial but the amazing mountain forests we passed made up for it.<br />
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2023-Dec-17 to 2023-Dec- 22 / 6 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 4 + option 3 + option 1 / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
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- Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br />
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- Snow : a little bit of snow left on the pass and around Laguna del Maule but nothing important.<br />
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- Camping spot : easy to find<br />
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- River crossing : (1) option 4 at km 7,8 - the water was really high in the afternoon and the current really strong, Nolwenn thankfully got helped by some caballeros to cross it | (2) on RR at km 47,7 Rio Las Yeguas was crossable in the morning, take your time to find a good spot to cross | the other river crossings were easy<br />
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- Weather : Sunny<br />
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- Resupply : (1) in Carizales at km 58,2, you can ask for Dagoberto he has a little ' negocio where he sells some beverages and he will try to have some food as well to sell | (2) the mini market at El Medano is not enough, (3) we went to Talca because we had to buy new shoes (lot of good hiking shop)<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / David and Erika<br />
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We shortened this route by 25 km with a resupply at the restaurant in Los Alamos (past the ghost town of Los Ciprese) Great peeps there, who served us breakfast, recharged batteries, sold us enough ramen and soup to keep us going. For another 5 days. Also gave us a lift to a road above the border crossing at Laguna del Maule, avoiding an unnecessary conversation with boarder guards. It intersects OH-CC-A{07-01C} and starts at where the lake begins, also know as GPT section 2 alts Laguna Dial. This is a great at and plenty of water in Jan. Eliminated also the 500 meter climb and avoids some locked gaits and right of passage issues. Pretty straight forward from there till the end. One Pyrenes puppy trailed us after passing a Puesto. Owners said the puppy didn’t come back. If that happens again, they suggest to deter the puppy from following by using a stick. We found that the settlers at the first water source after the English bridge (marked Water, Settlement {07} [150.6/834]-36.61455, -71.2763) is a delightful family who offered us refuge, a lift in the morning to San Carlos, and lively entertainment. <br />
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* 2023-Mar-23 to 2023-Mar-30 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes, Luisa and Noemi <br />
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Hitchhiked from San Clemente to Laguna del Maule (there are some buses to El Colorado). First night up the valley, second night we slept in Carizales. Little before we were welcomed at the puesto de Carabineros who gave us harina tostada, warm bread, marmelade and juice and showed us the way to the mini shop; Friendly owner there who let us sleep close to the shop. Next day we slept in the middle of this amazing huge and warm valley where Irma and Co. make their cheese...the following day we stood at her puesto and had a great evening with some local arrieros. The day after we went up to the Laguna and camped at the first lake fed by the Laguna, was a great option, nearly no wind and warm water to swim in....Next days (2,5 more) all along to get out at Los Sauces. A section which impressed by the people we met, not so much because of the trail, which has been rather annoying sometimes because of entire valleys to be walked through....Laguna Dial was a highlight but the rest just walking to get in and out with no super special highlights. This is a section where you get loads of contact with arrieros and this makes this section so unique. Value is more on the people than on the panorama.<br />
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* 2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-29 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 7/ Ondrej <br />
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El Medano - Puente Inglés<br />
Overall, GPT07 has many different faces which I really enjoyed - alpine-like pastures, mighty rivers, an impressive laguna, and even forests for the last 25km. Most of the trail goes through long valleys. There is minimum of steep descents and ascents. However, the length and the afternoon heat still make this section challenging. Occassional fruit trees, mini-shops, arrieros, and friendly carabineros make this trail even nicer. <br />
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Details:<br />
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On the 1st day, I started hitchhiking from El Medano at 8am Tuesday, no luck after 20 min so I decided walking, hitched a car in the middle (after 6km). As I got to the fence at the trailhead, there were two cars but no one outside, so I just walked around it and all was ok. Path up the first valey was nice, there is a beautiful green plateau afterwards (what a pleasant change after gpt06!). Cows sometimes camp at the “camp” waypoints. Better not to 100% rely on the marked spots and look for other places. In general there are many good spots for camping. <br />
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The 2nd day marked a slow descent to Carrizales, easy trail and nice views, water pastures can be avoided by following the cliffs alongside the valey. Just be careful, some rocks are unstable - I fell once and scratched myself. On a sidenote, I was quite impressed by the birds that start screaming like an old alarm clock as soon as they spot you, so every being in the valey knows you’re there. Carabineros in Carizales are the best guys ever. They served me a chilled cola and taught me how to prepare harina tostada (i also got some from them). I showed them how the satellite comm device works in return. I camped at the amazing hotsprings after Carozzales. I met two arrieros there who were just leaving. No one else showed up, so I rolled out my mat just next to the hotsprings (there is not enough space for a full tent, but a mat fits quite nicely) and spent a night there.<br />
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3rd to 5th days are again slow descents/ascents through valleys. Fords are very easy at this time, not above knees. Cheese from Irma is great (10k CLP per kilo) but pack it at least in two ziplock bags otherwise you’ll have the excess liquid all in your backpack like I had. Irma also had beer, cookies, chips and tuna. Laguna Dial is beautiful but indeed no shade. I camped in the middle at one of the camping spots on the shore. <br />
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On the 6th day I was walking along Rio Gonzáles. From km 130 the section is full of forests and extremely beautiful. The fords are fun. Once the route reached the bridge (km 143.1), I decided to follow the advice of other folks and took the alterative option 7 (i.e. staying at the left bank of the river). The climb is significant for the first 6km of the optional route (about 500m in altitude) and without a proper shade. Fortunately there are multiple streams around during the climb. Once you get to about 1200m in altitude, an oak forest starts, another face of gpt07, very beautiful. At about there the trail forks into two paths. I took the option 07-B (the southeastern path of the fork) and it was a bad choice. The trail was hard to find and there were overgrown parts. After some trying I decided to turn back to the fork and continue with the north-west route. The trail there was very well marked and easy to follow. So my advice is once you reach the fork, take the path to your right.<br />
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Buses from Puente Inglés to San Fabian go at 7am and 10am. San Fabian has cabanas that tend to be overbooked. Here is my advice: try to book Cabanas Nativas in advance (they are on whatsapp). If not possible, visit them and check on the day. The owner called about 4 other cabana sites for me and tried to find me a spot. He then offered me to stay with them in the last free cabana (for 12 people) for 35,000 CLP (i.e. a price of a small cabana) which was amazing. There are also two camping sites which have always a spot for a tent. The first one is located at (-36.5650377, -71.5525476) and is just next to a river. It is called Camping Jahuel. Price is 6,000 CLP per person. The second one is at (-36.5541935, -71.5406932) and is called Camping Luciernagas. The price is 15,000 per a tent slot. I liked the first camping more. In terms of resupply, La Montana supermarket has gas canisters. There is also a good supermarket on the main road (approximately -36.5579937, -71.5514614). San Fabian is overall a lovely city worth spending some time in. <br />
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* 2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-05 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 07 / Tomáš <br />
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This has so far going SOBO been the easiest but also the worst part. Apart from the last 45 km amd a few spots, there is a lot of road walking and the long flat valleys are not much spectacular. I wonder how the alternatives compare. Laguna del Dial is not that attractive, there are no trees around. What is good are fruit trees, from the shop in the middle of nowhere there are plume-like trees that probably ripen in late January, at the Laguna there are probably edible bushes of wild currant (probably ripe in January) and at the end at the penultimate bridge, there are lots of cherries at a puesto and then 1 km further in a former puesto - these ripen in December.<br />
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By this time of the year, all the fords were easy, not above my knees.<br />
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I ressuplied in Talca, where I got using two cars, it took me about five drivers and about 4 hours to go to the place where GPT branches off the main road. I missed the hot springs in El Medano. The trackfiles want to you to keep walking far to the West of the hut in the fenced compound, but there is a trail close to the fence that can be followed to the minor road behind. There is no cell phone coverage on the major road after the hot springs.<br />
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The first pass is nice, soon after there are lot of puestos and this was the first section where I actually met people-arrieros every day. The descent to the valley is uneventful, once you reach Rio Saso, there is a minor road with very little cars. Carabinieros took my details, asked where I went, I said Laguna del Dial and that was that. There was nobody at the shop (and they have very little supply from what I could see from the window) around 1830. They seemed to have wifi in case somebody badly needs it, it is password protected but you could ask. A few km before the hot springs, a trail branches off the main road - then it is about 10 km of trail before you reach the road again. This stretch and a few km around the shop are quite nice deapite the road).<br />
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The hot springs are nice, perfect temperature. Right next to them, there is place for a single person for sleeping otherwise you need to camp further downstream or at the camp waypoint. They can easily be reached in two days, the trail is easy. I managed without really wanting to miss the second carabinieros befora the Laguna. The roads only ends less then 10 km from the Laguna.<br />
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The first waypoint "hot springs?" is in the middle of the river, not sure what itnisnsupposed to mean.<br />
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The section feom the second pass (the one after the laguna) is really nice, first woth some trees, at the end with lots of trees. <br />
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The second "hot spring?" waypoint is real you need to ford through the canyon a bit (which is fun on its own, there are places where you can leave the canyon abiut 200 m downstream from the hot.spring) to reach it. The water is too hot, it springs not much above the levlnof the river. I tried to make a pool where the water could cool down but have not finished it. I encourage you to build upon it.<br />
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Then there is a stretch with a lot of fording (there it is gorgeous), one last ford is missing from the waypoints- you need to ford about 20 m along a steep rock fa e that falls dire,tly to the river. Do not try to go around it.<br />
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Once you reach the last bridge where the minornroad to the end of section begins (in the files it is mislabeled as trail), I encourage you to stay on the left bank and climb a bit on option 07. It goes through really nice oak (I think) forrest and it is a trail almost to the end of the section. I think thi Sparta is almost the nicest of all GPT 07 and I think RR should be routed through this option. The trail is in good condition. From Los Sauces ,there are not many cars (congratulations to other people havong been lucky). Luckily there are buses at 7 and 10 in themornong to San Fabian. The second bus goes back at two. I thinknon Sundays itnisnall shifted by one hour (so it leaves an hiur later) but I am not sure. There is signal from the last bridge but there is no cell cig al in Los Sauces.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-31 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 3 / Martin & Helena<br />
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After some good time spent at El Medano (there was a small shop and kiosk with basic food and drinks) we followed the road for first few kms. At the end at km 11.3 going right to join the trail to the mountains, we went around the security house, greeting the guard from distance and further following the gps. But after joining the minor road we got into a little right of way conflict - there were 2 cars going down the road from the mountains and they stopped to tell us its a private property and its not possible to get through without permission. We tried to explain everything, showing maps and garmin device, no intention to set up fire, ziplock for trash etc, but we got the same answer all over again - its private, not possible to pass and that the way is dangerous anyway. For some time it looked like we would be able to obtain the permission from the guard, so we agreed to go with them back to the security house, but at the time it was getting dark already, the guard didnt seem to worry about us, but we understood they will not let us go through - we were told that the permission is not possible to get now and that there is another way around which turned out to be the option 3 going through the next valley. The family offered us to take us to their house and to the other road (start of 07-03) the next day which we accepted, eventhough it would be probably possible to refuse and somehow sneak into there, we decided to respect their will and it turned out to be really nice evening with this family, we learned a lot about the place. Option 3 was not that intersting, basically a dirt road all the time. Shop at km 16.3 is actually on the opposite side than what shows the gps, just a few meters back, you cant miss that. There is a wide selection of drinks, beer and wine (probably locals favorites) and some basic things like canned fish, biscuits etc. Possibly even some food that we have seen on the sign, but didn’t ask. A lot of annoying tabanos everywhere in this part. Shop in Carrisales is really small but still something to look forward, it has even beer and ice cream. It is run by a friendly man who’s looking after the property.<br />
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We really liked the whole stretch in the valley and around all the puestos. We forded the river in its wider part after marked hot spring and walked on the other side. Some parts were a little more exposed on the trail we took but otherwise easy to follow. We have seen even some people camping and fishing there. The way to Irma’s puesto is well described below. Stopping there is a must, they invited us to sit with them for a while in the evening and let us camp on their yard (honestly not the best place with all the animals 😄). But we bought some drinks, beer (!) and even pan + goat cheese in the morning. 1 kg of cheese was for 16k CLP i believe. At police station we had no problem.<br />
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The next few kms were quite exhausting for us in the hot weather, but we made it to Laguna Dial in the afternoon. Good place to have some rest in the beginning where is a rock on the other side. On that day we made it aprox. half way around the lake where we met some Argentinian fishermen still celebrating their World Cup win, what a nice encounter. We didn’t have any problem on the rest of the trail and it took us 2 more days to El Ingles. Last ~20km on the road are fast, but its still up and down quite a lot. We finished this section on 31st Dec in the afternoon. With no hope of any bus going to the town we bought some snacks and beer in a small shop in some construction site by the main road and continued in the direction to the south. After less than 15m waiting in a bus station by the cable car a car arrived and took us all the way to San Fabian.<br />
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Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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* 2022-Dec-26 to 2022-Dec-31 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
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El Médano - Puente Inglés <br />
I had a tougher time than expected on this section, but overall still a good experience. My pace ended up similar to section 6, at times slower but with the occasional fast road to make up for it. I spent a lot of time trying to keep my feet dry but they always just ended up getting wet anyway, I had a bunch of blisters by the end of day two. My main advice just be to accept it and just trudge straight through the waterlogged pastures.<br />
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Meeting the arrieros/settlers along the way was one of the highlights. No one seemed to mind me passing through their country. Most of the time we'd just wave, and sometimes they'd call out and chat for a bit. They had some amazing yells. There was no one at the shop in Carrizales when I passed through at 4:30, but I did manage to get a fanta and some great goat cheese later from Irma. The cheese lasted well through a day and a half of hiking in the heat. 500g was the least she'd sell, so I just ate a bunch of it with chips for my last few meals.<br />
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Everyone I passed told me about another pair of hikers doing the same route, but a day ahead of me. I never caught up with them, but I know their footprints well.<br />
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The horseflies were really swarming on some stretches, they made a few nights and lunch breaks pretty uncomfortable. But I found that if I just kept walking I'd normally find a bug free spot within an hour or so. I never figured out how to predict where I'd find them. There were generally more at lower altitude and sheltered places, with lots of exceptions.<br />
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The fords were all easy for me, the highest came up to my thighs (I'm 5'11/180cm).<br />
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I spent the first night at El Médano. They didn't have a midday bus from Talca, the earliest I could go was at 3pm. The vapores were great, but a little hard to find. Pretty much empty at 6pm. The next morning I hitched easily to the start. I decided to start hiking on the other side of the river where I got dropped off, and then ford further down after the building.<br />
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I luckily caught a ride from some carabineros pretty early along the road walk at the end, who took me straight to San Fabián.<br />
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Overall a great hike. Doing it in five walking days was reasonable, but felt a bit rushed for me. The second half was definitely more enjoyable for me. If I could go back in time I'd probably hitch a bit further to the Laguna del Maule and do one of the options starting from there.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna & Christopher <br />
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El Médano - Puente Inglés <br />
We started by hitchhiking to the beginning of the dirtroad (11 km from El Médano). At about 7:30 am on a saturday we got a ride within a minute :)<br />
As Veronica wrote there is a closed gate, but you can walk around it. We met a local living there and he greeted us niceley, so it seems to be no problem.<br />
The next day we arrived in Carrizales around 4 pm. We resupplied there (the shop has a modest selection). The almacén is basically at the owners house, so one can propably buy sth there pretty late or early in the day. Plus the owner is super nice. She even offered us some fruits and vegetables for free and allowed us to camp opposite her house.<br />
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The first river crossing was the hardest for us. Anna is 1,63 m and the water reached above her hips. The other two rivers were pretty easy to cross.<br />
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From Puente Inglés we hitchhiked to San Fabián. There is also a bus once a day which leaves at 10 am.<br />
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Section 7 is really nice with beautiful views and a very diverse landscape. It gets really hot in the afternoon though.<br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-07 to 2022-Dec-12 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: El Médano - Carrizales - Río Guaiquivillo - Laguna Dial - Río González - Puente Inglés <br />
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A wonderful stretch of the GPT, I especially enjoyed the second half of it. Decent trails, except when they go into cow pastures or traverse some sandy/scree cliffs where erosion has taken place. Lots of great swimming opportunities, which is good because the midday/afternoon heat gets quite oppresive. <br />
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Some demanding river fords this time of year. The ones that stand out as being particularly difficult are 1: the one after the first pass after Carrizales, 2: Río Guaiquivillo (downright scary), 3: Río Paralelo before Laguna Dial (although not so bad after experiencing Guaiquivillo) <br />
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Took the bus from Talca back to El Médano at 3 pm. The "vapores" at El Médano are awesome, and free if you stay at the nearby campground. When I went three next morning at 9 a.m. there was nobody there and I got to try out and enjoy the three different saunas. <br />
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Hitching the 11km along the paved road is pretty easy, but few cars go by. There was no one at the gate/fence when I arrived, easy to go around by following the river a few hundred meters. <br />
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At the last cross-country section before Carrizales, I recommend taking the northern Option D route, as the RR takes you straight into a muddy, flooded cow pasture, and the drier mountainside is covered in pesky, sharp/thorny yellow flowers which will tear through your legs. The northern route has to be better than that! <br />
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The fences before Carrizales start near the junction where Option H ends, but I found lots of accessible water sources and decent campsites even along the fenced section. The best one was less than a km after the last "settler" waypoint before Carrizales, with lots of shade, grass, and mature trees to the right of the trail. <br />
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The hot springs after Carrizales are definitely worth the detour! They are properly hot, and right next to a beautiful, cool creek. <br />
<br />
I'm 165 cm and Río Guaiquivillo was one of, if not the most, demanding ford I've ever done. I went upstream a couple hundred meters from where the RR crosses it, where the river braids into two channels and is wider. The current was fast in the first channel, making little rapids over the rocks, but the water only went midway up my thighs. The second channel the water went up to my hips and nearly swept me downstream. Maybe look for a better place downstream to cross the second channel once you reach the island after the first channel. <br />
<br />
After the river crossing, follow the 4×4 path, not necessarily the GPS RR track. The GPS will try to lead you into knee-deep boggy pastures, but if you follow the 4×4 trail it should (mostly) stay dry. <br />
<br />
The carabineros at the police puesto took down my passport info and asked when I'd be returning from Laguna Dial. I explained I was continuing onward to Puente Inglés and wouldn't be coming back. <br />
<br />
Between the police puesto and Río Los Sauces, I only saw 2 people (arrieros), and not a soul at Laguna Dial. Must be a quieter time of year. Laguna Dial is amazing - clear, cold, deep waters perfect for swimming. The trail from the west end of Laguna Dial all the way to the last bridge before Puente Inglés is awesome - clear and easy to follow. The stretch along Río González was probably my favorite part, as you are in frequent forests going along a steep-walled canyon. Plus the fords along that river were not difficult :) <br />
<br />
I got offered a ride once I was midway through the hot, dusty road walk to Puente Inglés, and they took me straight through to San Fabian. So I can't comment on the bus schedule.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2022-Feb-28 to 2022-Mar-06 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Carlos <br />
<br />
There is now a locked gate to acces the dirt road from/to Road 115 CH at the power station building. I was told it wasn't allowed to enter and was asked how I had got in (going Northbound it was the end of my hike). I explained I was coming from Carrizales on a trail and they opened the gate for me.<br />
<br />
It was a Sunday and oddly enough the guards just happened to be crossing the gate in a pick up just at the very moment I arrived, so couldn't find out if the station is manned during the week.<br />
<br />
As It was quite obvious they were not happy at all me being there I couldn't scout the place to find a way around but it looked quite possible to walk around the fence, either towards the slope or next to the river. Although if you want to enter (hiking Southbound) and there is a guard at the gate you might be turn around.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-06 / 8 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
Generally an easy trail, but tough due to the heat and the heavy pack. Plenty of water despite the dry landscape. Not many panoramic views - instead the attraction consists of meeting the many arrieros and walking through the land where they live. <br />
We arrived by bus at El Inglés at 3:30 pm and started walking down the very hot, dry gravel road. Lots of places along the river seems great for camping/swimming. After walking a little, a car offered us a ride and dropped us off right before the first bridge. We wanted to camp at the first "hot spring?" waypoint, but there seemed to be no hot springs. From there, a nice path all the way to Laguna Dial. We ended up camping at the second camp waypoint, very nice place for a swim - which was very needed after a very hot day. The first camp waypoint has a puesto as well.<br />
We passed the police, they were very excited to have visitors and served us soda and biscuits. We camped at the next ford near a big willow. There is a campsite that seems to be used by the arrieros, but not while we were there. <br />
Irma's daughter sold us some of their cheese. They had goat and cow cheese, 1.5 L colas, beer, wine and sopaipillas. Irma wasn't home. Initially we were chased off by a pretty scary dog, but we were able to approach once some horseback riders appeared and people in the puesto came out and could shout at the dogs. <br />
After her puesto, we had some trouble finding the right path - the route kept leading off the gravel road with no path in sight. In the end, we just followed the gravel road, returning to the regular route just before the climb at the second "hot springs?" waypoint. This required a river crossing that was a little difficult even in this dry year.<br />
Pretty easy walk the rest of the way to Carrizales on a gravel road. We found many delicious brambles along the road. <br />
<br />
The shop in Carrizales had pasta, canned tuna, cakes, many different biscuits, popsicles, chips, bread, sodas, marmelade, harina tostada, batteries, caramels. The town itself consisted of a few houses and an avanzada de carabineros. As mentioned, some fences after the town. We camped at the next "ford" waypoint, on a nice meadow next to the river.<br />
<br />
On the next cross country section, better stick to the route along the mountain side - the whole valley is very wet, and there's often a path to follow along the route. Many animals and puestos all the way up the mountain.<br />
We camped at the camp/ford waypoint after reaching the last gravel road. A lot of garbage, but we found a nice little place and even caught a trout.<br />
The main road is pretty big, probably easy to hitch, but goes through some pretty mountains as well. <br />
<br />
Termas el Medano is a nice place as well, there is a big hot pool (with some cold currents in-between) and some smaller lukewarm ones, and you can swim in the river. The entrance is 1000 pesos, but if you camp at the nearby campground (3000 pesos per person), acces is free. There is also a minishop with sodas, chocolate, chips, sunscreen and a few other things, and a restaurant with typical Chilean food. The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Jan-17 to 2022-Jan-24 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo<br />
<br />
Termas El Médano -> Carrizales (2 days) -> Rio Maule -> Laguna del Dial -> El Inglés (3 days)<br />
<br />
Greatly enjoyed this section, which took us seven proper hiking days to complete.<br />
<br />
We started at 19:00 at Termas El Médano because the only bus at Talca left at 15:00. Hiked the 11 km of tarmac and camped on the river bank next to 115, about 1 km beyond section 1 (S 35° 52.736', W 070° 40.119', courtesy of iOverlander).<br />
<br />
At the end of the third section (around S 35° 57.665', W 070° 38.836') we could not find the path on the northern scree and rock slopes. Instead, we switched to the southern valley flank about a hundred meters before the actual switch, fording the small stream easily and following cow trails until we were back on the path. Found a decent camp site (S 35° 52.736', W 070° 40.119') after the first puesto on the mountain plains.<br />
<br />
From about 10 km before Carrizales, all water and accompanying meadows are fenced in. If you plan to camp before Carrizales, turn back the moment you see fences appear on the side of the road. At the end of a long day, we asked the shop owner in Carrizales if she knew a good spot, and she let us camp on one of their fields (with accompanying barking dogs ;). Still, muchas gracias!<br />
<br />
The hot springs after Carrizales were the best so far and definitely worth the detour. Señora Irma sold us fresh cheese, tomatoes, bread and coke, even though we happened upon her puesto in the middle of celebrating January 20th - either in the honor of San Sebastian or a victory in the war between Chile and Peru-Bolivia - with friends and family. Thanks again!<br />
<br />
Laguna del Dial was gorgeous and great to swim in. We camped right at the start of the lake (S 36° 25.533', W 070° 55.101') where the water had sufficiently retreated to leave room for one tent. After the lake, we had the impression of taking an arriero highway, encountering plenty of horseback riders, most of them arrieros. For us, it was often hard to understand their dialect, given that we're very novice Spanish speakers. Still, got to see a glimpse of the way these modern day cowboys live.<br />
<br />
The first bridge you encounter (sobo, around S 36° 33.547', W 071° 10.798') is rickety and unusable. Hence the second smaller bridge a bit further upstream, which I only found out about after fording the river :D<br />
<br />
The bus at El Inglés to San Fabián left at 7:00 and 10:00 in the morning. At the bridge, the river bank opposite to the shop has some smaller streams pouring into the river, making this the relatively nicer side to camp (though there's plenty of garbage on both sides, despite the signs requesting not to litter). Some Chilean campers showed us the streams, thanks once again!<br />
<br />
In San Fabián, stayed at Cabañas Anfer Domos for 35.000 CLP per night for two. Cabañas Nativas and Hostal El Molino were both full.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option to Reserva Achibueno / <br />
<br />
From Parque Inglés to the entrance of Reserva Achibueno<br />
Buy your ticket online for “El Bolsón” on the CONAF website and get to the trailhead before 3pm<br />
4hrs hike to El Bolsón, a great place with waterfall, great views, nice camping spots, hikers<br />
TO CHECK: Bus from Molina to Parque Ingles leaves at 9 am (not positive) on week-ends and holidays <br />
Easy hitch from Radal to Parque Ingles coz lots of campers going there on week-ends<br />
Be careful a ranger told me the park closes on Mondays <br />
It took me around 4 days from Parque Siete Tazas Park entrance to the road Q115 (Central Cipreses)<br />
From Road 115 I hitched to a village by Colbún lake where I resupplied : good supermarkets (a little on the expensive side), food truck , pastry shop <br />
I didn't like Altos de Lircay NP : after El Bolson (4 hrs in) no fucking shade for 3 days and an half except that of a shelter a little off trail, blazing sun all day, sand sand sand, I found the place so inhospitable, monotonous sights : sand dunes for ever, quite some struggling pedalling in the soft sand, plus I had no gaiters (stupid me) and low heels shoes so that was a bummer. However the place is super special, feels like on the moon (beautiful pictures) and I can understand why many love it<br />
Some “hot springs” are actually just luke and others just a hole or boiling hot (I added these informations to the track and waypoints I sent to Jan Dudek) so don't be like me fantasizing all day on that fantastic bath you will get or wait for Jan's update (thanks so so much for all you do mate).<br />
After resupplying I hitched on option 7 XXX all the way the Mellado cañon (really nice, by the river all the time), communities. After hiking South from Carizales (which has a very limited “store”) I was short on time and food and realized bare landscapes over the tree line were not my cup of tea (I prefer hiking below 1700 m in this part of Patagonia) so I left RR and took another option all the way to the West to Reserva Achibueno which I really enjoyed : great landscapes, lakes, rivers and met some cool hikers and fishermen<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-30 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias<br />
<br />
Overview:<br />
Just want to say quick that the termas vapaors in Mèdano are worth checking out, I highly recommend them. Please consider checking them out, they are only ½ km off the trail and absolutely worth it. They are sauna boxes built around a few hot rocks emitting hot steam. The result is a steam room/ sauna experience. I personally spend over 4 hours chilling out in the steam rooms.<br />
After a 2-hour road walk on the side of the highway you make your way back on trial. This section takes you thru many areas used for grazing livestock with puestos in sight almost all the time. Carizales a small settlement right on trail has a small store and the family also sells bread. There was also a puesto that sold us fresh goat cheese and Coca Cola. It is marked as a waypoint on the GPX file about 20km south of Carizales. Much of the trail is very dry and exposed and the landscape is void of trees and vegetation. There are many great places to jump into the river and cool off. The section up and around the lake offers great views of the mountains, volcanoes nearby and Laguna Dial. The trail itself is well established and never had any real trouble navigation. There were also quite a few hot springs on trail or close by.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: Hot and Exposed (especially in summertime). Resupply Distance.<br />
<br />
Highlights: Hot springs. Great sweeping views. Pools of cool water to jump into in the middle of the day.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions at Ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-17 / 7.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno and Martin <br />
<br />
7.5 days for this great section. We resupplied in el Médano and continued with the section. Just enough variety. Highly recomend eating harina tostada, a vital meal for the arrieros, nutritious and practical. Be minded tha in our camping ground in El Médano there were only three hours of electricity a day, may be hard to recharge. Regular trail was easy to follow, except on mountain pastures where is also likely to get your feet wet. Bought some food in Carrizales. Passed through the welcoming puesto of señora Irma for some eggs, bread and cheese. Irma te manda saludos Jan! Laguna Dial is amazing and we stayed one day fishing, resting and swiming in Lake Camp -2. We were invited for some mate and tortas by a local arriero.The Rio Gonzalez valley is a complete change of scenery, with forests which we enjoyed very much. Resupplying in San Fabián. <br />
<br />
After talking with the carabineros in San Fabián, we were told that we would not be allowed to pass through the RR near Volcán Chillán, in the last comisaria in El Roble, due to current volcanic risk. Trying instead an optional start further south, in Termas de Chillán. Maybe for next hikers it would be ok, but better to ask anyway.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-3 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Starting at El Medano, hiking the regular route southbound towards El Ingles. <br />
11km in we encountered a gate to get onto the trail with private property signs. However no one was there so we walked in without difficulty by walking around the fence (it was late Christmas Day however so it could have been quiter than normal). In general a nice route however when the track descends into cow pastures it gets very boggy and the track sometimes disappears. We did not think there were any dangerous spots. <br />
To resupply at the end of the section we took a bus in the morning from Los Sauces (10am) to San Fabian. We caught the same bus back at 1pm. Great selection of cheap food in the local ‘mountain’ supermarket and overall a good town for resupply options. It had methylated spirits for cooking but the bottle did not state the concentration. I suspect around 70%.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-29/ 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start at Cruze de Melano / Tyler & America <br />
<br />
We took our sweet time through this section. The optional start helped...as we were able to hitch all the way up to the RR at Carizales. (Bus from Talca @3, 2000 CP each) Hot springs near Carizales were warm & awesome. Two nice little tubs. We took our time and had a great time with all the arrieros along the way. Irma sells beer, wine, and delicious cheese. Other arrieros will welcome you in and treat you like family as well...so be sure to leave them with whatever you feel fit in return. All river crossings good, be diligent on filtering throughout this entire section. Dog at El Ingles shop bit me, so be careful with that. We camped down by the river for free. Bus leaves at 7:00 and 10:00 to San Fabian, and amazingly friendly town. We got a 1 bed Cabin at Cabanas Nativa for 30,000/N total. Pool, private bath & kitchen, ok WiFi, welcoming people. Fine town for re supply. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / 4 days / Hiking / Optional/Exploration Route around Laguna del Maule / Lea Geibel & Kevin Moe <br />
<br />
After finishing section 5 we only had 4 days left before the end of our hiking time, so we decided to do some exploring in the area instead of following the regular route of section 7. We followed the main road to the Laguna del Maule where we roughly went in a loop around the Laguna (~60km) starting at the Chilean Border Control. We checked in with the border control and informed them about our plans (that involved to not cross into Argentina but stay in Chile, just behind the Border Control). It was no problem for them, we just had to go through the Border Control again on our way back to have our backpacks checked for food. The water level of the laguna is very low and walking along the shore is mostly easy travel on sand/pumice, however, sometimes can be rather rocky and tedious. We climbed up some of the 3000 meter peaks around the Laguna (that mark the border with Argentina), each of them offering beautiful views on the area. There are several beautiful hidden lagunas higher up in glaciers that are well worth exploring. We never followed any particular route but just headed cross country to whichever place we fancied, which is very easy in the open, sandy terrain. The Southern end of the Laguna has many flamingos living in it, the East shore is mostly untouched by humans and the east side has some puestos and fishermen (mostly on weekends and close to the roads) but we didn't see anyone around. Around the Laguna there is a very strong thermal wind that picks up during the day but dies down/weakens a lot during the nights.<br />
Highlights: all the views, swimming in laguna, lava fields flowing into the laguna, flamingos, numerous obsidian fields, empanadas de queso at the bistro right next to the border control (only open on weekends)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-24 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
7 days for this awesome section. Absolutely agree with all of Matus & Anna's remarks :-) We went to San Fabian (excellent resupply place) for some days off.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
Trail was in good conditon. <br />
River crossings were not a problem but plenty of water everywhere. <br />
In tienda in Carizales you can buy pasta, tuna, cola, beer some cookies. <br />
We bought huge chunk of cheese and some bread from Irma. It was amazing. <br />
Tienda in El Ingles is not best for resupply. We saw some tunas and pasta, but it was not enough for us to buy for next section. There is one more tienda down the road in Los Sauces but it was closed with no one around. <br />
We took bus to San Carlos which is leaving at 7am. <br />
We didn't find accomodation in El Ingles but it's possible to camp just before the bridge on the right side of the road.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Arnaud <br />
<br />
Great section, easy to walk, nice people met on the way.<br />
After 11km, we leave the road with a minor road in a private property (zona geotermica). After discussion with the guard, he let us pass by the rio, and not by the porton (to join the road 400m further) because the access on the road is prohibited... ;-)<br />
Then the uphill is easy until the top.<br />
Possible resupply in Carizales with elia, whose welcome with half a sandia was perfect (pasta, atun, frutas y verduras, harina tostada but no gas).<br />
Laguna del Dial is great to have some rest. Don't hesitate to plan to spend some time there. It seems to be a good spot to fish.<br />
With the state of the volcan chillan, we decided to skip the section 8 and have some rest in San Fabian.<br />
From los Sauces to San Fabian, the micro leaves at 11pm only.<br />
We stayed by the Anfer Domos of Edgardo Lopez (+56 9 630 91 627), which is a great place to have some rest (a little far from the centre (1km), but he lends bikes if necessary), cabañas Nativa were full.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-12 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank <br />
<br />
No access problem as you leave main road @ KM11, just go left around the fenced area & you will find a small track that leads up to the dirt road. Termas El Medano is last stop for bus but you can hitch first 11K. Don't expect much from shop in Carizales, contents listed by Matus are all she has. Irma, about a 1 day walk beyond Carizales has cheese, drinks in 2L bottles & sometimes bread. At Puesto 9 before Puesto Irma, fresh cold water comes up from the ground into a small pool, safe to drink without filtering. There is an arreiro living there so talk to him first. Very hot in Guaiquivilo Valley & as you go round Laguna Dial. Little shade in the valley & virtually none @ Laguna Dial. Spectacular trail down canyon on last day. You cross the river 8 times. Dogs @ Puente Ingles shop attacked me & if I didn't have a stick would have been bitten also. Camped down by Puente Ingles bridge but it's noisy on weekends & lots of horseflies. 2 buses out from Puente Ingles around 7 & 7:50AM<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
*El Médano<br />
<br />
Termas el Medano is a nice place as well, there is a big hot pool (with some cold currents in-between) and some smaller lukewarm ones, and you can swim in the river. The entrance is 1000 pesos, but if you camp at the nearby campground (3000 pesos per person), acces is free. There is also a minishop with sodas, chocolate, chips, sunscreen and a few other things - maybe some bread and flour, but nothing else for resupplying. There's also a restaurant with typical Chilean food, it was very busy when we were there but they do take away as well. The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961 - many others went when we were there, though. <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
*Bus Talca - Termas El Medano <br />
<br />
07:00, 12:30,15:00, 18:45<br />
<br />
from Terminal Talca<br />
<br />
<br />
*Bus Termas el Médano - Talca<br />
<br />
The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 am at the bus shed in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961. Otherwise it leaves from La Mina at 7 am <br />
<br />
Annotation (Jan-24):<br />
A handwriten scedule at the Minishop in El Medano indicated that there is another bus at 3:30 pm from El Medano a Talca.<br />
<br />
<br />
*Bus from Puente Ingles around 7 & 10AM. Confirm times @ the shop. Bus back from San Fabián at 2 and 6 pm<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
* Tanja: No right of way issue RR trailhead for me on January 12, 2024. There’s a big gate that was closed but 15 meters to the right the fence is broken. No one at gate on Friday morning. Further up where the trail turns at the first river crossing there’s a big landslide of rocks covering the road. Doesn’t look like any/many cars would come through here these days.<br />
<br />
<br />
* Martin & Helena: We got into a right of way conflict on 25th of Dec 2022 - for detailed description see our section log from that time. Short version is that we met 2 cars going down the minor road to the security house at km 11. They refused to let us pass, but we believe it was just their good intention and fear of a possible accident. We tried to convince them in every possible way, but with no success, maybe someone with better Spanish could talk his way through. The guard saw us before and didn't care, so it was just a bad luck for us to meet these cars.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT07 - Laguna Dial]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 13 Laguna Dial.PNG|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 21.jpg|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949889.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
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[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321002.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 01.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
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[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 06 Puesto.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 06.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
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[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 11.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 12.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 14 Laguna Dial 2.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 15.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
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[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 19.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 20.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 22.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 23.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 25.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 26.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 27.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 28.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321024.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321027.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949851.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949853.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT06_(Descabezado)&diff=114155GPT06 (Descabezado)2024-02-09T20:19:29Z<p>Joscha97: /* Parque Ingles */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
* 2024-Jan-27 to 2024-Jan-30) / 3.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01+03+06/ Joscha<br />
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Day 1: RR [0-10,1] + OH06-01A + OH06-01[10,7-25,1] + RR [36,9-44,6]<br />
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A few small streams at OH-01 and one bigger one near Laguna Manantial Pelado (ankle high ford). A few snow patches above 2300 m, but you can easily walk over or around them. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.<br />
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Day 2: RR [44,6-45,8] + to Descabezado and back on OH06-03 and OH06-03A + RR [45,8-55,7]<br />
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River at 44,8 was a little over ankle high ford in the morning. The climb up to Descabezado has a lot of steep gravel slopes, which makes it tiresome. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.<br />
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Day 3: RR [55,7-58,3] + to Los Quillayes and back on OH06-06 and OH06-06A + RR [58,3-59,6] + OH06-C + RR [62-69]<br />
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OH06-06A is a steep gravel climb, but worth it. Really nice view from Los Quillayes (but similar to the view from Pass Hornitos. Pass Hornitos has some bigger snowfields on the southern side, but its easy to walk around them. OH06-C was pretty steep at the end, so maybe the RR is more convenient. Little above ankle high Ford north of Laguna de los Hornos in the afternoon.<br />
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Day 4: RR [69-80] + OH06-E + OH06-F<br />
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Small Shop (I bought some Pasta) and Restaurant in Los Alamos. I tried to continue on the RR from Los Alamos to El Medina. But at 81,3 km the trail vanished and I wasn't able to continue. Therefore I walked back and walked on the paved road OH E+F to El Medano. Camping + Thermas in El Medano costs 7000 Pesos. There is a small shop, but it is very expensive (e.g. 1 Ramen Cup costs 2000 Pesos).<br />
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GPT06 has some really spectacular views. Especially Pass Hornitos and Volcan Descabezado. There is no shade, so the sun is gonna burn you all day. This + the sand/gravel is demanding for your body and your equipment. <br />
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*Jan-26-2024 to Jan-30-2024 / 4.5 days / SOBO / Oh5, Oh 3, RR / Matthieu<br />
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Amazing section, from the entrance in Vilches to the end in los cipreses. Sand and lack of shadow are the main difficulties. <br />
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Right of way : that was my first fear. Concerning guardia parques : en parque ingles, they say that they cannot let officially hikers go to the volcan, as duenos asked (OH1 passes by 4 differents private properties). But if you have a message by don victor it's ok. So no need for discussion there just take a ticket to el bolson and no more words. El bolson was closed for a few days for maintenance, so i just got out of parque ingles. At Alto de Lircay, guardiaparque told me that it was my responsability to enter don Victor's property without his permission. You can legally turn back into the park (or coming from parque ingles) paying for another day at the end, at the entrance, if you want to come back by altos de Lircay after the volcan. <br />
- Don Victor : I had the chance to meet him near the valle del venado, on a horse. I asked for permission to enter his lands and continue south, that he offered me easily with promess to not let garbage in the zone. I was glad to meet him out of his lands, I don't know how he would react into. He especially asked to guardaparques to say to hikers that it was not permitted to go on his lands because it's always full of trash, and he has to clean it up all the time. He told me that foreigners were more respectfull than locals though. His phone is off all season because it became a public number, and he has to many calls to enter the volcan. So if you want permission better send a message before season. To note, his lands go at least to the laguna caracole, don't know after.<br />
I saw another chilean hiker walking up the volcan, didn't seem to be a problem for him. <br />
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Water : often present on RR, in the lagunas or the oasis. A good stream just before the top of the volcan to. No need to carry kgs of it. <br />
No water at the volcan basecamp though, so I carried it from the puesto. <br />
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Snow : From now on, no snow issues from the entrance in Vilches to the end at los cipreses, so no need for crampons (with entrance by option 5, I don't know for the entrance by RR). Few patches you can easily bypass before and after the third pass 59km. <br />
No patches on the way to the top of volcan. <br />
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River crosses (1.78m) : only once Rio blancillo, at the first Ford (water to knees). Then I stayed on the right side of the river until the end. I had to walk inside for 1 minute, water to hips, but no current so it was easy. I bypassed the two other crosses this way. <br />
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Camp : valle venado (conaf), really friendly worker there. - Basecamp Volcan : beware, I made the mistake to not plant my tent well with heavy rocks, and the pikes in the sand are no use... so when I came back from the volcan it was upside down with strong wind... a whole adventure to pack everything ! - Oasis at water 48km. - Around 70 kms, some nice camping spots near the river at the right side of the road. <br />
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Volcan : up to the top by option 3, then down by variant 3A. Taking the variant directly seems like hell, lot of sand. More rocks on regular option 3. Physically demanding, but no other particular difficulties.<br />
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Proposition of new option : as the right of way may evolve badly in the future, I suggest a new option road from el camping valle venado to tricehue, following the rio claro. I asked to the guardaparque at the campsite, he said that there are people doing it usually. This year the river is to strong though, so maybe in march or next year. <br />
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Buses at the end : the lign is from talca to el medano, a stop at the exit of los alamos on the road. From el medano : buses 7h30 and 15h30, monday to Friday (dont know for week ends).<br />
From talca : 12h30 and 19h<br />
At el colorado, buses to talca more often.<br />
* 2024-Jan-11 to 2024-Jan-17 / 7 Days / Hiking / NOBO / O5, O3, O3A, RR, O1 / Vlad<br />
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A spectacular section to end my 5-week trip on the GPT. I’ve never experienced a landscape like this before and the weather (straight up sunshine for the whole week) was a welcome change after the unrelenting wind and rain of Patagonia. There were no other people outside of the start and end of the trail in national parks. Beautiful and desolate wild camping near the volcano. That said, it was very rough on my gear. The dry sand, abrasive rocks, spiky bushes did some damage to my shoes (erased on tread on the soles after sliding down scree slopes for 2 days), socks (holes after rubbing on rocks since I did not have gaiters), trekking poles (they were in a poor shape already but the rocks and sand finished them and the tips got sanded off), pants (got some holes as well). <br />
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Day 1: I took an overnight bus from Puerto Montt to Talca (22k CLP, very comfortable, booked through Rodovairro.cl). After arriving in Talca, there was a bus to Vilches at 10:30. I got off at the last stop and made it to the PN Altos de Lircay entrance around 1 PM. I asked the ranger about access to Descabezado land since I texted the owner, Don Victor (WhatsApp +56998863554) but he didn’t respond to me. The ranger said that Don Victor doesn’t respond at the moment but he said it was okay for the rangers to allow hikers to leave the park and go to his land. <br />
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I was charged 8.5k CLP for park entrance and 10k CLP for 2 nights camping inside the park. This is because I wasn’t allowed to start hiking to Valle el Venado the first day (trail closes at 11:00 am even though it’s only 19 km 🙃) and had to camp at the park entrance, then another night once I get to Valle el Venado. It was a bummer as I already had limited time for this section, but it allowed me to go for a day hike up the mountain in Altos de Lircay and watch a beautiful sunset. The forest in Altos de Lircay is beautiful with teeming wildlife and abundant wildflowers. I saw a woodpecker, a fox, colorful iguanas, a snake, giant spiders, and endless wildflowers. <br />
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You could maybe get to Altos de Lircay on time to start hiking the same day if you leave on the 7 am bus from Talca. They give you a paper at the park ranger’s office and I was asked for it 3 times by different rangers throughout my trip. <br />
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Day 2: Walked from Altos de Lircay to Valle el Venado with a side trip to see the waterfall. Met a group on horses. A few river fords that were all below knee level. Got to the campsite at Valley el Venado which wasn’t very nice. Horse poop everywhere, had to clear the spot for a tent. No one asked to check if I paid for the campsite. The group on horses camped somewhere up the valley from the refugio as I heard them and saw some come down to use the bathroom. <br />
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Day 3: I did the 3 fords of river Blanquillo as suggested on the GPS track. The first one is at the spot where river is widest, so it was only knee deep. On the second ford, it’s narrower and the current was strong, it was crotch deep for me (178 cm). Third ford knee deep. In hindsight I should’ve just stayed on the left side of the river and only crossed it once in the end. <br />
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It was a very short day, 10 km, but I thought it would be nice to arrive at Blanquillo refugio early in case Umberto was there. However, when I got there, the refugio was empty, and I couldn’t find any hot springs. I don’t think the bathing pool is there anymore. I scouted around for half an hour and only saw horse and cow poop in every little stream and pool of water. I followed one of the streams about 100 m uphill to get clean drinking water but I still saw poop on the banks. <br />
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Since Umberto wasn’t there, I cooked dinner by the refugio and kept going to the Descabezado basecamp (-35.59773, -70.79645) 3.4 km further and 600 m of elevation higher up from the Banquillo refugio, which made the next day’s climb up the volcano shorter.<br />
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The sunset at the Descabezado basecamp was out of this world. <br />
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Day 4: I left from basecamp at sunrise since I didn’t want to walk in the dark. I had to cross a few not steep snow fields at the beginning but nothing at higher elevations. Every snow field higher up is easily bypass-able. That said, the climb up to the crater still felt brutal to me. There’s absolutely no sure footing, everything is just a scree slope. When ascending, you can either climb up the 45 degree scree slope or try to walk on the rocks which are easier to plant your foot on. I chose the rocks but they too were sliding sometimes, even large boulders, so I had to be careful not to let a giant rock fall directly on my other foot. It took me 4.5 hours to reach the crater from the basecamp following the less steep option 3. It was very windy, cold, and the sun was shining directly in my face early in the morning as I was climbing up the volcano so it was a little difficult to see the path sometimes.<br />
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On the way down, I saw my tent and was trying to slide down the scree slope directly towards the basecamp roughly following the steep option 3A. Going down was actually really fun and effortless. But be careful and still check GPS regularly when you descend, as there are some scree slopes that end directly in a vertical plunge down to the ice field below. <br />
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I refilled my water bottles with ice cold water flowing from the snow field here (-35.60455, -70.78525), using my trowel as a spout. I’m glad I did because when I got back to basecamp, the water I stashed there in the morning was as warm as a hot soup after baking in the tent in direct sunlight all day. <br />
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I was considering staying at basecamp location for another night because it’s such a visually stunning spot with gorgeous sunsets and incredible stars at night, but it was just way too hot to remain there so I packed up and went back down to Banquillo refugio. Unfortunately, Umberto was still not there so I just enjoyed the company of cows and went to sleep. <br />
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Day 5: I went north in the white sand dunes following Banquillo river which nurtures a breathtaking oasis in the desert. I thought this area was way more beautiful than the Banquillo refugio (especially with all the cow poop there) so I wished I kept going a little further the previous night and set up camp somewhere by the river in this area (-35.53354, -70.79191). Disclaimer: I didn’t actually look for a spot that was flat and sheltered but that whole area just felt like a paradise so I think one could find a suitable spot for a tent there. <br />
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Right at the fork of the trails where one can choose to take Option 1 or continue on RR to Termas del Azufre, I ran into arrieros transporting hundreds of goats through the snow-covered slopes, it was a beautiful scene and a blessing for me as their footprints helped me find a safe way in some semi-steep snow sections I had to cross after 2400 m. I chose to follow Option 1 to El Bolson because the RR on the right at the fork looked like it had loads of snow still. Even on Option 1, I had to be careful and kick-step my way through the snow fields as I had no crampons and my trail runners had virtually no tread left on them after being ground on the volcanic rocks and sand the previous couple of days.<br />
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One particularly dangerous spot is here (-35.51932, -70.82684) just after Laguna Manantial Pelado. It’s a big snow field that started melting and formed a lake that’s not on the map. It was breathtakingly beautiful going west, but if you were coming from the other direction you could not see the collapse of the snow field until it’s too late and you’re on the edge, so stick to the trail and walk on the side of the valley in that spot. <br />
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I got to El Bolson just before sunset. It was surprisingly a beautiful and scenic campground and not too crowded on a Monday night. I spoke a few words to the people in the refugio, they just told me to set up my tent and didn’t ask to pay for camping. <br />
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At Bolson, I met a group of Chilean students from Talca who spoke really good English and we had a lot of fun eating dinner together, smoking weed and going to swim in the nearby waterfall the next morning. There are trails going down the cliff to the swimming pools here (-35.49801, -70.90767). It’s a really pristine swimming spot, just be careful and don’t get too close to the waterfalls as we heard there was an accident the previous night where a rock fell off and pushed a person over the edge of the waterfall so they plunged down into a pool below. <br />
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Day 6: Hiked from Bolson to Parque Ingles entrance, where the ranger once again asked for my paper registration from Altos de Lircay documenting my trip. The shops at Parque Ingles are really tiny and would not be sufficient for another section resupply in my opinion, I just bought some fresh fruit and hitched a 3 KM ride to Siete Tazas. By the time I got there (19:00) all the trails were closed and the ranger told me to go find camping at Valley de las Catas. It was 13k CLP (ouch) for 1 night camping with inclusion of the ticket for a 3-km loop on the southern bank of river Claro to see Siete Tazas. The campground had a hot shower which was very welcomed, but otherwise I think Siete Tazas was not worth it and I wish I spent my last day attempting to hike up to Laguna de las Animas instead. Though I don’t know if it would even be possible as the entire rim of the mountain seemed snow covered so there must’ve still been a very steep, yet short, snow field one would need to cross to get over the pass. <br />
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Day 7: I took a morning walk out of the campground and caught a 11:30 bus back to Molina, then a bus from Molina to Santiago for a flight home the next day. <br />
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* 2024 Jan 07 / 4.5 days / SOBO / RR / Anh<br />
There are many good reports, so I'll keep it short.<br />
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With my information, I could simply walk from Parque Inglés without registration. But I want to hike legal & support Conaf. So I had to register and pay online (not in cash at other national parks) with my conaf account, then offline paper formular. Fortunately, the 2nd payment for Campsite El Bolsón (compulsory) was in cash (200m from Conaf). It had taken me more than an hour.<br />
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There is a lot of hiking in volcanic sand (rough, fine).<br />
At this time there are still many snowfields from 2000 Hm upwards. There are streams under the snowfields, some of which only have a thin layer of snow (danger of collapse).<br />
Ford km 29.4 is quite critical (hip, strong flow in the morning)<br />
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I met two boys at Refugio Blanquillo. They had been hiking for two days on a different route (no RR GPT06) with a text description from the internet (no hiking map/GPS track). They learned & understood that it was very dangerous and could get lost at any time. Luckily they met a hiker with GPS & inReach, otherwise I would have taken them with me.<br />
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* 2024-Jan-03 to 2024-Jan-08 / 6 days / Hiking / round trip anticlockwise / O5 - O3 - RR - O1 - O1c (Condor Circuit) / Lotti and Alex<br />
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Originally we wanted to do the Cóndor Circuit, but after we read about the troubles some of you had, we decided to take the safer option 1 to avoid the snow and landslide above Termas de Azufre. This route felt very safe and the snow was not a problem at all. We ended up with a beautiful round trip from Altos de Lircay to Valle Venado, then to the summit of Descabezado, then Valle del Indio and back to Altos de Lircay. The landscape is incredibly beautiful and diverse, and we enjoyed it a lot. The scariest part for us was fording the Rio Blanquillo on day 2.<br />
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Day 1: Altos de Lircay - Valle Venado on option 5 (Sendero de Chile) <br />
We stayed at Hotel Picamaderos in Altos de Lircay, which is a very nice and relaxed place right next to the park entrance of Altos de Lircay. To enter the park we had to show the CONAF officers the WhatsApp message that Victor send us as a permission for entering his land at Refugio Blanquillo. <br />
The hike through the forest was very nice and shady and we enjoyed the view from the mirador where we got a nice overview of our route for the next days. Crossing Rio Claro was easy, not deeper than knee deep. We camped in a shady spot next to Valle Venado.<br />
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Day 2: Valle Venado - Refugio Blanquillo - Descabezado base camp (option 5 and option 3) <br />
Easy walking until Laguna el Blanquillo which was really beautiful. After that the path crosses Rio Blanquillo several times. We tried to avoid it at first because it looked quite intimidating, so we followed some stone men to climb around and walk higher up the valley. When it was not avoidable any more, we forded it. For me, with just 152cm of height, it was intimidatingly deep (almost to the hip) and it had really strong currents. Alex had to help me across, and with him walking in front of me, it worked. We arrived at an empty Refugio Blanquillo, picked up some water there and walked up to Descabezado base camp which has no water. <br />
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Day 3: Descabezado Summit<br />
We left the base camp early at 6:00 and took the southern option 3 trail which was well marked by stone men at the beginning. We used our crampons to climb up some ice fields effectively, but I think they could have been bypassed as well. On the way down we took the steeper option 3A sliding down on soft pumice stones which was a lot of fun. We picked up our tent, walked back down and set up our camp at Refugio Blanquillo. There we searched a while for the hot springs, but couldn't find them.<br />
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Day 4: Refugio Blanquillo - Valle del Indio (RR and option 1 NOBO)<br />
We walked on the regular route for about 8 km until the junction where we changed to option 1. After that we crossed several smaller streams that were not on our map. Snow started around 2300m, but it was easy to walk on and we didn't need our crampons. Laguna Manantial Pelado was incredibly beautiful with its icy shores. There were some camp spots there, but it was much too windy for us to stay there for the night. We kept walking over the pass and down the valley until we found a shady spot in the middle of the valley floor of Valle del Indio. <br />
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Day 5: Valle del Indio - Altos de Lircay (Option 1C)<br />
After the wild vulcanic landscapes of the days before, this day's scenery was not as spectacular, but the hiking was easy and we even met some wild horses. We camped at Punta 6 inside the park Altos de Lircay, where we found a camping spot right next to a very nice swimming hole in the river and met the first people after 5 days of loneliness. <br />
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Day 6: Altos de Lircay - park entrance<br />
Easy walking in the shade of the forest. <br />
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* 2023-Dec-29 to 2024-Jan-3 / 6 days / NOBO / Variant 5+3+RR+GPT05(VarG+RR)+RR / Matthias + Johanna <br />
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The route:<br />
Basically the route is the Condor Circuit: Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay - Descabezado Grande - PN Siete Tazas. <br />
We bypassed the part from km 19.4 (Termas) to km 27.4 (pass Portezuelo Las Cruces) via GPT05(VarG+RR) due to the reports of Lilian and Michael & Cassia. By the time we started our tour, Michael had written only a much less intimidating post on the Facebook group (only indicating difficult route conditions). So it was a lucky ad-hoc decision after the difficult descent from pass La Calle the day before not to try their route!!<br />
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The conditions: <br />
Snow +- above 2250m, rivers below snow-filled watersheds with high water levels! Overall quite demanding to us!<br />
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Day 1+2: Easy walking from park entrance (Lircay) to Vegas Blanquillo („basecamp“ Descabezado).<br />
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Day 3: Ascent to Descabezado <br />
Easier than expected but tedious above 3400m due to volcanic ash and steepness. Snowfields below 3400m can be bypassed or safely crossed (surface like a mogul piste). The steep snowfields above can by bypassed. We climbed the right (southern) „couloirs“ on the right margin (beneath the red rock), loose rocks are the main difficulty.<br />
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Day 4: Vegas Blanquillo - Termas Azufre<br />
About 5 km on snow. Some short steep snow passages, soft snow on snow bridges. High water levels.<br />
Easy walking until a height of ca. 2550 (km 32.5) when going down into the valley of Estero Volcán. Next 250hm downhill tricky as while we tried to avoid the quite steep snow on the slopes, we faced the difficulty of avoiding unstable snow bridges in the valley floor. We were happy to have our microspikes with us! Also parts of the summer path seemed to be washed away (around km 30.5) as seen from afar. Forded the river ca. 500m upstream of the place indicated on the track files (50m south of the now collapsed snow bridge of Lilian). Strong current, water up to mid of thighs. Additional fording of the (today roaring) creek coming down from Cerro Colorado (km28.5).<br />
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Day 5: Termas Azufre - Valle del Indio: Difficult fordings <br />
Trail washed away ca. 1 km after Termas. We went up 100 hm to bypass (possibly you could also bypass by descending ca. 50 hm).<br />
Edgy fording of Estero Volcán at ca. 35°28'56"S 70°46'13"W. Strong current, water up to lower waist on the far side for me (188cm) and up to upper waist for Johanna (163cm). I could give her a hold from a rock there! Then ca. 500m north 2 easier fordings back to the western side of the there split river. <br />
We did not stick to RR here (we did not divert from path at „trailhead“), as there was no possible crossing of the river visible and the path seems to be very difficult with large loose rocks and steep slopes). But possibly one could avoid the two fordings by RR and then climbing the rocks near the riverbed.<br />
There are no further fordings of Estero Volcán (km 24.6) as river is flowing on the eastern side of the valley this season.<br />
Loose volcanic ash on parts of the ascent to pass Portozuelo Las Cruzes. Snowfields easy (could be bypassed or safely crossed on the afternoon of the hot day). Laguna Las Animas partly ice-covered, we swam next to the ice :-)<br />
After the pass going down to Valle del Indio there is steep snowfields (former wedges) on most of the rim. Only 4-5 m, but even with microspikes it was too dangerous for us. You can bypass snow by walking some meters to the right (west) from the pass and walking/climbing down the rock pillar (solid).<br />
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Day 6: Easy walk down to Park entrance Parque Ingles<br />
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Camp sites: Valle Venado - Vegas Blanquillo (Descabezado basecamp) 2 nights - 500m north and 50 m uphill of Termas - valleyfloor Valle los Indios<br />
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Basecamp Descabezado - Right of way:<br />
No access given to hikers without a guide to cross the NP to Descabezado. We chose to hire a local arriero who accompanied us the first three days (Pancho 997635447), who got a permission to camp from the land owner in advance. Even though he is a local and has his own cows feeding up there, he had to discuss at the three „checkpoints“ at park entrance, as he had no written prove with him.<br />
The man living at the basecamp was not there in the end, selling some cows in the valley ! <br />
Nice swimming pool with tepid water 5m north of camping site, for drinking water go the long way round the swampy valley to a source on the other side ca. 20m west of the hut.<br />
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* 2023-Dec-19 to 2024-Dec-25/ 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Michael and Kasia <br />
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Day 1<br />
We had camped at Rocas Basalticas campground the night before. When we arrived at the gate they asked to see our permission to camp at Bolson. We didn't know that that was required and spent some time going back and forth with them. We finally went to Rocas Basalticas down the road and got them permission to camp at Bolson and they finally let us in. The walk up is pretty, all the snow is gone. All fords are easy. There were a few tábanos, but not many. CONAF did a reroute on a small section of the trail higher up. If you're watching GPS you go off the route, but just follow the sign to Bolson and it goes there. Campground has water and toilets.<br />
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Day 2<br />
We hiked up through Valle del Indio. The route is a little tricky to find and we were moving slow so getting a lot of meander in the GPS marker. Looking for cairns was helpful. Two thirds of the way up there was still snow. By that time it was slushy. We had opted not to buy crampons at the last minute, so we made our way across kicking into the snow. The last 15 m to the pass was an almost straight up in snow. After the pass there was very little snow until the rise up to Laguna de las Ánimas. After that it was a complete snow field and the lake was frozen. We managed to kick out a pad for the tent and camped in the snow. Really beautiful sky that night.<br />
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Day 3<br />
A long day with very little distance covered. Full sun, we both got sunburns despite sunscreen and covering. The snow was heavily pockmarked so it was hard to walk through. It took much longer than we anticipated. We ended up camping just below the pass. We were concerned about wind, so we tied the tent down really well. Fortunately it was a calm night.<br />
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Day 4<br />
We continued on RR. There were several steep ups and downs, mostly on snow, as well as some intimidating traverses. The snow was getting to the point where we were a little uncertain if it would hold or not. We saw a single set of tracks, assume it was Lillian as it looks like she was a day or two ahead of us. 2 km before Termales Azufre we crossed a very steep section of snow. On the way down Kasia fell and hit some small rocks. She got some bruises and cuts, but nothing broken. I tried to slide with the backpack off and in front of me, but I fell too and the bag started tumbling down a steep sandy slope. I chased the bag, fell and rolled twice, and finally managed to jump and tackle the bag about 5 m before it went over the edge. It was a dangerous move, but I had not had a chance to take the GPS off the bag before it started sliding, and without it we couldn't get out and couldn't call for help. It was a long hike back up due to the incline and sand. We made it a little further and then ran into an area of trail wiped out by a landslide where it was impossible to get footing, even without the packs. Every step would cause more sand and rocks to slide down. It was about 18:30 at that point. We backtracked about 100 m to a gap between a snow wall and a large rock and set up a provisional shelter for the night.<br />
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Day 5<br />
After waking up the next day, we tried to see if rest and fresh eyes would give us a better perspective. After discussing it we realized that there was really no way forward or back. We decided it only option was to use the SOS button on the Garmin. I pushed the button at 10:00, and by 16:00 there was a helicopter flying through the valley looking for us. I was surprised that it happened so quickly. They had to land in the valley, and since we could not get ourselves down, they sent a GOPE team of three guys up and the helicopter left for the night. It took them about an hour to get up to us, and then another two hours to do enough provisional maintenance on the trail for us to get down. We camped with them in the valley for the night and the helicopter came to get us in the morning.<br />
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* 2023-Dec-25 to 2023-Dec-26/ 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / off RR / Jens, Nolwenn, Yannick<br />
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To enter the Hydroelectrico Los Cipreses you need a permit, which we did not get in advance. The guard at the gate said we could get it by emailing his boss. <br />
As it was Christmas Day, it was not possible to get the permit. <br />
The guard told us to take a route along the perimeter fence. We did that until we couldn't get further. We entered the compound through a hole in the fence and walked to the end of the road on the right side of the river. The bridge on the map is destroyed. The current was too strong to cross. Turned around and went back.<br />
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*2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-21 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR+{06-D} / Lilian<br />
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<br />
It is the most amazing section from GPT01 to here so far!<br />
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I hiked RR, it is still covered by tons of snow, i recommend use ice axe and micro spikes if you want to hike from Portezuelo Las Cruces(pass) to El Estadio(pass), there is some really steep snow slope. (RR-TL-V)<br />
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Parque Ingles have a restaurant and a tiny store selling food, fruits, drinks and some 230g gas canisters.<br />
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I hopped the gate to the park at 6:30. No one was there.<br />
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There are 3 main pass for RR.<br />
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First pass, snow start at km14.3(2050m), not difficult for climbing up to pass[15.4/2257].<br />
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Laguna Las Animas(lake)[16.7/2286] is still frozen, very beautiful. I climbed up on some rocks at the north side of the lake, then mostly choose my own way to climb up to pass, because RR look steep.<br />
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Arrive the pass[19.4/2547], if you are not comfortable with snow, it is the LAST CHANCE to turn back.<br />
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Pass is flat and dry, you can camping here but windy.<br />
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There are no RR after the pass because covered by many snow, find a way go down to valley by snow slope, then walk all the way on snow to km20.2, you can see the trail but on the other side at km20.2, steep go down the snow slope then connect to RR.<br />
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Follow the trail about 5min, you will go into a big valley, trail and the whole valley covered by snow, but you can see a trail is at the far away other side of valley.<br />
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Go your own way to water[22.0/2279], i think it is lot ways to go down, but dont too close to cliff side, it is steep and easily to fall off.<br />
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After you arrive water[22.0/2279], then straight forward to km22.6.<br />
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A large flat area can fit lot of tents at the downhill side of km22.6.<br />
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After km22.6, the most dangerous part begins, from here to km26, lot of steep snow slope you need to cross, be careful, kick step and don't slide.<br />
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Km26 is another large flat area for camping, i camped here with nice sunrise.<br />
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Snow continues to km26.6, but easy way. The first pass's snow end.<br />
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About the second pass, snow start at ford[29.4/2190], strong flow and look like up to thighs, i cross it on snow bridge.<br />
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Stay on east side until km31.25, then stay down walking in the valley, easier than on the slope.<br />
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Although full of snow, but I think it is easy to go to the pass[33.8/2695] from here, so i dont mention the details. It is also easy to go down, most of them are gentle slope.<br />
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Snow end at km41.4, but mostly you can find some flat sandy spot start at km39.1.<br />
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Hot spring[45.6/1881] : completely dry. Some camping spots with rock wall nearby.<br />
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Water,camp[48.1/1837] : amazing oasis in desert! Clear and cold water, some shade, also lot of swallows flying in the sky catching some food for their kid.<br />
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Km49.1 - km49.8 : best view point of Volcán Descabezado Grande and Volcán Azul! If you want to camp with stunning views, bring water at oasis then climb up here, lot of sandy spots beside some rocks, enjoy you sleep with volcano.<br />
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Km53.2 - km54.7 : Laguna del Caracol(lake), maybe because too much snow melts? Trail underwater, you need to walk in the lake shore for a while.<br />
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Camp[56.3/2034] : oasis again! Crystal clear and cold water! It is possible to cut off from km56 to x[57.3/2073] directly, stream flowing slow and up to knee.<br />
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Third pass, steep climb up to km57.9, if you follow RR, then you will turn right and face some steep snow climbing up.<br />
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If you look up at left side, there is some foot steps straight climb up on a dry slope, which is no snow but looses sand.<br />
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I go for the left one to the pass, ok but steep and really tried.<br />
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Most of the snow is after pass, from pass[59.3/2518] to km61.5, first go to east side go around the snow, then you will find a trail, follow it a little then go your own way in snow valley. <br />
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I follow RR, mostly easy to go down until km61.5, a steep slope. I don't want to take the risk, so i crossed a snow bridge to a sandy slope at south side. Go down the slope and rejoin RR about km62.1.<br />
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Ford[63.4/1909] : i crossed the river before a huge rock, below knee at morning. The huge rock also provide some wind protection, i saw some camping trace beside it.<br />
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Volcán Los Hornitos : km65.3, {06-D}, just beside RR, no need CC, a trail leads you to the top, just climb up 70m! Go for it!<br />
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Lastly with no luck, i saw a car going down just 10min before i arrived the road, then no more cars, so i walk all the way to Los Cipreses.<br />
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Met a super friendly worker at Los Cipreses, he give me some cherry to eat and a ride to Los Alamos. A tiny shop there , if you are not picky, a little pricey but enough food resupply for 1 people six days. It have a sign "Almacen" at its front gate. You can ask locals where it is, i saw many workers go to there buy things.<br />
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2023-dec-3/ 4 days / hiking / SOBO / RR & 6 option 1 / Lukas en Tess<br />
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As this was our first section on the GPT and there still was a lot of snow in the mountains we decided to play it safe and folow option 1 from el Bolsón. It is less steep and less long above the snoweline about 2000m at the time. It went great but Tess burned her eyes so good sunglasses are definetly a must when hiking in the snow. From there we continued the RR at Laguna del Caracol we had to walk in the lake on the edge, no idea if that's normal but it was funny. The next and final big obstacle was the pass on k59 we decided to try and bypass it because it looked very steep with a lot of snow and ice and Tess with her burning eyes had a hard time looking at any snow at her feet. So we went up right next to it (north). Realy though rock scrambling but we managed. Going down the next valley was okay with the snow but crossing rivers covered in snow is tricky so try to avoid it. Walking into los Cipreces we were told we were not supposed to be there but still we had lunch in the cafeteria and they fixed a ride to bring us to the road, realy nice people there. From there we hitchhiked to el colorado where we stayed for two days to let Tess' eyes heal.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-14 to 2023-Mar-19 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Parque Ingles - Los Cipreses / Noemie<br />
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Parque Inglés - El Bolsón - Termas de Azufre - Blanquillo - Laguna Hornitos - Los Cipreses<br />
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First try on the GPT and amazing section to start. There were buses from Molina at 10am and 5pm going to Parque Ingles. You must arrive there before 1pm and buy an entrance for El Bolson (with camping) to enter the Park. It's also possible to camp in Parque Ingles (7.000 CLP/night). When I entered, CONAF asked me where I was going, if I had a GPS, and gave me some kind of permit to show in Los Cipreses. I wasn't asked to show it when I arrived there though. <br />
Landscapes and panoramas were extremely beautiful and very impressive. There was still water in all marked points and fords were easy to cross. Trail is easy to follow almost everywhere, except after Termas de Azufre (be careful to look for the right pools on the map and do not go up too much, I ended up in a place with almost boiling water). The whole section is full of beautiful sand dunes, so gaiters were extremely useful. In Blanquillo, you are supposed to get an authorization from the dueño to stay there, but it looks like it is not really enforced. I spent a day in Blanquillo to rest, drink maté and learn how to make sopaipillas with Umberto. I hitchhiked from Los Cipreses to San Clemente (one hostel, two supermarkets, decent to resupply) so I can't comment on the bus schedule. However, to come back to Los Cipreses/Termas del Médano, be aware that there is now only a bus leaving at 3pm from Talca, going up until La Mina. I took a small bus to Colorado on morning (every 45 min.) and hitchhiked easily back until Laguna del Maule for GPT 07.<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Mar-21 to 2023-Mar-25 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Vilches — Volcan – Parque Ingles / Iris, Alexis <br />
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Our last section on the GPT for this year! We started in Vilches Alto with the option 06-05 because we rented horses with the arriero Jose Lopez. The beginning is placed in the Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, which requires a permit to go until the Volcan. The entrance fee is also 7k pp. We finished our first day at Camp, CONAF {06-05} [10.2/1158]. I believe we mostly followed the GPS track. <br />
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On the second day, we continued with the horses until Hot Spring {06} [45.6/1881] (Banos del Blanquillo) still following the track. We then were disappointed because the arriero left us here whereas our agreement (clearly stated by messages before the rent) was to climb the volcano with the horses (it turns to be not possible, too steep).<br />
Thankfully, we had an excess day of food so we could attempt the climb the next day. We also met Umberto, the guy staying in the refugio, who was extremely friendly. He told us to start the volcano climb early in the night to avoid heavy winds. <br />
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On Day 3, we started the ascent at 2am with our headlights. 6h30 later we were on the top, with the morning lights rewarding us and stunning landscape. The ascent was extremely tiresome (sand material), as always with volcanos, and it was very cold but the crater and the views were very worth it. After a breakfast at the top, the descent, mostly running, took us about 2h. We rested for the rest of day at Banos del Blanquillo and even got a sopapilla making class with Umberto.<br />
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On Day 4, we followed the RR in the beautiful Descabezado landscape. Expect no shade but stunning dunes of white sand. There is plenty of water during the day because you will cross at least 2 rivers that were not dry this late in the season. The trail is easy to follow (because that is the only one) and is also part of the Circuit of the Condores. However, after Ford {06} [29.4/2190], you have about a dozen of options and the navigation until Hot Spring {06} [27.4/1986] (Hot Sping del Azufre) is more challenging. We decided to ignore the GPS and follow our instinct - just aim for the fumerolles. There you can enjoy a hot bath in one of the three hot natural pools (along some weird soft alguees). <br />
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On Day 5, we simply followed the RR until Parque Ingles. The trail is well marked until the end, you just have to enjoy multiple highlights in the landscape. Of note, when reaching El Bolsón, the CONAF ranger forbid us to bath in the pools because it was too late (3PM) and told us to leave the park before 5:30. He was not friendly and also checked the entrance tickets of Livan Ray. We got extremely lucky and caught a bus leaving Parque Ingles when we reached it (it leaves at 5:00).<br />
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This hike concludes our GPT adventure. We loved to start it riding horses to feel a bit more like the trails main user. The final day hiking and the volcano ascent were astonishing, truly one of (or even the) best section of our GPT.<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Feb-03 to 2023-Feb-08 / 6 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Louis, Rémi & Noé<br />
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Our first trip on the GPT, plenty of water, we didnt carry more than 1.5L each. Here is our trip :<br />
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Day 1 - Laguna Las Animas - 18km - +1200m/-100m<br />
We entered the parc illegally at 7:30 in the morning as some others hikers have done reading the wiki. We did this because the parc was full for the next 3 days. I can only advise you to book in advance on internet (conaf). We slept at a camping in front of the entrance for 7k CLP per person. Plenty of buses goes up there from Molina in 2 hours. At least a dozen. Same for going back. If you buy your ticket online : if you sleep at El Bolson, you can enter the park until 3pm, if you go further with only the El Bolson ticket, you can entered until 11am only!<br />
So, we hiked until the Laguna las Animas, a rather long day for the first one.<br />
The camp on the beach was quite windy too.<br />
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Day 2 - Termas de Azufre - 11km - +400m/-700m<br />
A short day, nice to enjoy the hot springs in the afternoon. The pass in the morning was very windy too.<br />
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Day 3 - Refugio El Blanquillo - 20km - +800m/-900m<br />
A long but beautiful day. Leave early the camp to avoid hot temperatures while ascending the pass. Well welcomed by the arrierio Umberto ! Very kind.<br />
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Day 4 - Volcan Descabezado Grande - 16km - +2000m/-2000m<br />
We did the ascent without our bags, we went back to our camp in the night. It's long and hard. According to Umberto, 12h are needed in total, we did in 10h. Same, Leave early to avoid hot temperatures. <br />
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Day 5 - Laguna los Hornitos - 20km - +900m/-900m<br />
Another nice day, passing next to Laguna Caracol. The descent from the pass is a bit annoying if you didnt follow the track (as we did). So, advice : follow the RR and go down on your right. The Laguna is very dry, just enough to have a bath. Hard to maintain the pitch of the tent in the dry dirt.<br />
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Day 6 - Los Cipreses - 15km - +100m/-1000m<br />
Last short day to end this beautiful section. The gravel road is a bit boring but passing pickup are proposing you to get you down to the main road. Here, only one bus at 7am. And a little shop selling ice cream, chips and drinks. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-30/ 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Martial<br />
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First trip 6 days on GPT being a wonderfully intense experience ! Lunar landscapes, silent and remote, few but great people. No particular difficulty.<br />
Started park ingles with a mandatory 7000peso night at quiet camping near the river and bought ticket for Bolsón overnight 8$. Finally did not stay at Bolson a half day walk from entrance and camped in Laguna de las Animas instead. Great spot for Condors watching. After that follow Will’s advice and put on your mandatory gaiters till the end of the section ! + Walking on sand can be tough for the ankle. Don’t resist and don’t do too much !! Learned it the painfull way.. Trail visible but don’t get confused at termas Azufres especially if you try the (very) hot pools ! RR way is up the valley. Camp with water possible before the pass. The way down called « la Calle » is beautifull sandy dune remote desert. Exceptional. Aimed for Blanquillo refugio aka best basecamp for Descabezado intent. Meet Umberto the arriero at the hut and ask him where the termal pool and the drinking water are. He may be offended if you don’t show up and is a nice generous guy ! Also had a Chilean horse riding group intended the Descabezado so were a nice bunch by the camp fire. As weather window was fine, I decided to try a high camp in order to preserve weak foot from a very long ascent (10h). Took plenty of water as they are only glaciar dirty patches up there and aimed for Descabezado to Cerra Azul osm trail just as Nat and Tomas did (so i could have a chance to summit both also). Finally chose not to cross the nasty glaciar but found a very well sheltered highcamp here (-35.60569, -70.76147). Incredible sunset ! Not advisable in case of rain coming (a storm was growing in Argentina so stayed prepared for an emergency descent). Next day summited Descabezado at 11AM with no wind ideal conditions. Dive your front foot flat in sand just like snow climb when it gets to steep ! Nice ski descent sensations straight to the termas for a well deserved rest at the termas ! Also met Carlos a local climbing half way up so we would share joy later at the camp :).<br />
Exit through RR is also nice but regreted haven’t camped here (-35.67102, -70.83649) for there was some playfull trouts to catch with my survival fishing kit !<br />
Beautiful view from the pass to sandyland and then landscape changes and recommend OH variant C descending (less overgrown). Trail not so visible till laguna los hornos witch i climbed volcano to enjoy the crater caldera. After that descent to los Cipreses is kind of boring and hot so was definitely happy to find a camping by the bridge after the gate with lovely Victorina and her family here (-35.81524, -70.83224). They have been incredibly carring, fed me and brought me to the termas caves (also worth it) in El Medano !<br />
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*2023-Jan-16 to 2023-Jan-25 / 10 days / Hiking / NOBO / OH 06-02 & 06-03 Laguna Maule to Vilches w/ volcans / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
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An extremely long description so my apologies but hopefully it will help someone. We Started in Laguna del Maule and ended in Vilches with inclusion of Descabezado, Azul, Descabezado Chico and Colorado.<br />
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All fords super easy or jump-able. Only times water was scarce was Descabezado and Azul (technically there is melt water from glaciers at Azul), the afternoon around Descanezado Chico and also water was scarce around the Laguna des acquas caliente because I would not trust drinking that water (some springs are cold water though). Weather turned bad only once while we were climbing Azul, the change happened rapidly and we went from blue skies to total white out (~10m or less visibility) within an hour. Other than that weather was amazing, a little cold at night and a little warm in the day.<br />
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Happy we started in Laguna del Maule and finished in Vilches. This saved elevation gain and let us decide whether or not we had enough food in the end to climb Descabezado, Azul, chico and for Tomáš Colorado.<br />
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Day1.<br />
Starting in Talca, due to a certain someone (me) I accidentally sent Tomáš and I too Molina on a bus instead of "la mina" so our day was very messed up but we still managed to take a bus to Colorado and hitchhike to the start of this route. Buses from Talca to la Mina go at; 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. We took a bus to Colorado due to time and hitched the rest of the way. The last hitch was in a snowplow truck and he dropped us off miraculously at the start of the trail and before any customs or checks.<br />
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OH-TL-V {06-02} (109.1). Straight away the trail is hard to see, do not take the road-looking trail on the side of the mountain because it ends, stick to the gps. However soon we were walking on the correct route through the sand and down to a creek with fun boulders. Easy to follow. After this first creek we followed option OH-CC-A (06-02) {98} For only -5km until making camp in-between a river and and canal with flowing water. Bogs in this area slowed us down a lot.<br />
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Day2. <br />
OH- {06-02} -[ (93) & (86) ]<br />
This day seemed long, we crossed two passes, one small (-35.94909, -70.45347) and one much larger (-35.88855, -70.46776). I liked the entire area south of the second pass, many beautiful camp spots, water was available almost to the top of the pass and there is also a nice waterfall/swimming pool located roughly around (-35.90452, -70.45218). Trail to first pass was easy but trail between first and second was much more cross country, there are many animal tracks, I followed the gps and Tomáš followed a trail closer to the river and we both ended up at the same spot... After the second pass, the GPX goes cross-country right away, but one can follow a trail that goes left and later reconnects with GPx.<br />
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After the second pass there is a small plateau and then it follows down a creek with water until you must cross an east hill and go towards your first mountain puesto to the east (noone home). There is only a little bit of water here, better water at the creek you came from and or a few creeks ahead. <br />
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From the puesto (-35.86707, -70.47589) there is a good trail that trvaerses the slope ahead. We should have camped but we continued. There were a few nice creeks that were passed along the way. We were forced to make a "make-shift" camp before hitting a much nicer plateau because it was dark and I was not having a good day 😅. It is about 6 km between the puesto and the plateau.<br />
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Day 3<br />
OH {06-02} [78.6] + [75.7] + [63.6]<br />
Easy day, only one small pass. There is an ex-carabiniero puesto at (-35.84277, -70.40285) and a highlight was two rivers, one at (-35.76317, -70.42051) and one river at (-35.74734, -70.45623). The GPX is marked as trail a bit further than the actual trail goes (the trail continues to a puesto down-river). You need to go down a ridge and ford the river, there were some footsteps that can be followed. We walked near {06-02E} along a river filled with sand and not great for drinking but there is a creek that starts/ends here (-35.72759, -70.44125). We camped near this way point in the sand but it got windy at night, we wished we camped a bit further from the river in the little hills where it was considerably less windy. <br />
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Day4<br />
OH {06-02} [59.6] + [29.1] + {06-02D}<br />
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This day we passed a large pass (-35.65200, -70.43356) via {06-02D}. This option was more direct and involved a very short and easy scramble onto a windy plateau. Surprisingly lots of water up towards the pass, last one being (-35.66343, -70.42666) , however the water available had a lot of sand in it, fyi. From camp we followed a cow trail until a lake like feature (-35.70057, -70.42733) and then went cross country. I hope my cairns marking the turn for {06-02D} survive. <br />
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After the pass the true Descabezado environment begins. We both made note of how terrible it would be to be on this plateau in bad weather, very open and CC. Next water source would be a couple of creeks here (-35.61215, -70.42156). From a break at this creek we ended up going straight down the creek bed. Kind of exhausting mentally and would not be possible in early season due to water levels but it shot us out directly in line for making a green camp here (-35.56164, -70.44009). <br />
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Day 05<br />
OH {06-02} [29.1] + [20]<br />
Lagunas de aquas calientes day. <br />
An easy day with a lot of time spent at Aquas Caliente, true to the name. <br />
Trail from camp was easy to follow until (-35.53519, -70.46551) and then it went CC to the Laguna. If shelter is needed in this open landscape we found a rock shelter here (-35.51276, -70.51035). The creek feeding the Laguna was fabulously warm in places - either at the source of the creek or at a spring on the right side about 100m upriver. Tomáš found the proper source of the spring here (-35.50395, -70.52347). It is easy to get sunburn why bathing mid-day though. There are some camping spots near the creek. After this Laguna there is a nasty and windy sand stretch until a creek located here (-35.48980, -70.57667). On this stretch I chose not to follow the sand but detoured on more solid ground to the east (-35.48839, -70.56200) and was glad I did. Later on we found snow melt here (-35.48544, -70.59940) and loaded all the water we would need for night/morning and exploring Descabozado Chico the next day. <br />
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Day 06<br />
OH {06-02} [20] + {06-02C Chico} + [4.5]<br />
Descabozado Chico + Vulcan Colorado (Tomáš)<br />
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Went up and around the crater of Descabozado Chico in the morning which I highly recommend. The crater is easy to walk around and gives an amazing 360 experience. The climb up is tedious but non-dangerous scree that makes for a super fast decent. Make sure you have enough water because water is scarce there. I saw a waterfall on the NE side the lake but did not go to it, Tomáš got water somewhere off trail around here (-35.51226, -70.65626) and I drank out of the next lake -35.52036, -70.65873 (questionable, but nothing happened to me). <br />
From the lake the next pass begins and I stupidly made Tomáš and I carry 5L of water up it because I did not think there would be water on the south side (both of us overlooking the river indicated on the map)...I was wrong, no water high up but lots of water down low. For the pass we opted not to follow the route because it was thick steep sand so we instead climbed a more solid ridge here (-35.52506, -70.66854). Tomáš went to continue up Vulcan Colorado and I boringly traversed to the normal pass and enjoyed a very fun sand ski down the south side. The Vulcan is a steep but not technical hike up, the crater can be walked around with a steep but fun descent on the other side in SW direction. This pass would be very tiresome climbing up due to sand. If you are coming from the opposite direction and do not trust the lagoon water then you should aim for (-35.51226, -70.65626) or bring water.<br />
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Everything this day was CC. I found it to be the hardest day navigation-wise but still not troublesome. We finished the day in a nice valley before the next days climb here (-35.55427, -70.70793). The water around this area is a bit sandy but better further up.<br />
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Day 07 <br />
Last pass and New route possibly <br />
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From camp a trail existed to the pass at -35.55228, -70.73791. There was a little bit of snow at the top but since there were already steps made, it was zero problem. Lots of water on the SE of this pass but only a trickle of water on the NW side at -35.54575, -70.75672. This water trickle point is where we left the trail to make a short cut to Descabezado. To our surprise our route worked and in 4hrs we were making a camp at 2630m next to the approach trail to Descabezado, therefore saving a lot of time, distance and elevation. In our route there was only one difficulty and that was a deep gorge and creek "jump" at -35.57904, -70.77929. Personally I would not recommend this in early season because the consequence of falling in the river might take you down a waterfall and the traverse may otherwise be nasty if there are still snowfields around altitude 2700m. The gorge is fed by the glacier in the crater of Descabezado so in the morning it should be better but the water is very dirty.<br />
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I drew the route on my photos of the pass if anyone wants them. Otherwise here is my description of our route.<br />
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From the small trickle creek at -35.54575, -70.75672 head SW up the creek bed in the direction of this easy pass ***-35.55513, -70.76977. Nearby spots would work too except for the pass directly above the creek bed, the other side of that one had snow and rocks. After this pass I believe it is easiest to just go straight down and up like a half pipe rather than trying to traverse and keep elevation, we aimed for a middle looking plateau on the other side, this middle plateau took us to the proper crossing of the gorge here, -35.57923, -70.77864 (más o menos). We jumped the gorge and climbed easily up the other side although the other side looks like a scramble it was actually just walking. We travesed this altitude for a little longer (although I would suggest easier walking a little lower) until we made camp in a ravine very close to the Descabezado approach route. Our camp even had a small amount of flowong snow melt so it was heaven in my mind! (Camp with water; -35.59280, -70.78723). <br />
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Day 8<br />
Descabezado & Azul.<br />
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This is turning into a novel so I will keep this short. We left our tent in place and set off early to do Descabezado and Azul as a day trip. Descabezado was straightforward, it seems the trail will change slightly every year depending on who makes the tracks (neither the route in oSM or GPT seem to follow the actual trail from about 2600 to 3300). If wanting to make the true summit it looks like you have to go down into the crater, cross the glacier and approach it from the other side. Coming down Descabezado was very fast but we made a huge mistake and left the GPT trail to follow the other osm route that heads east then west called "Descabezado Grande - Quizapu - cerro Azul". <br />
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This route should be avoided for many reasons apart from the fact that the other route is easier despite elevation gain (we took the other route back). This osm route took us here -35.61301, -70.75604 which was actually a glacier covered in sand with a small hanging glacier above causing a lot of rockfall, it was a very ugly place and we carefully got out of there and made or way to the proper route to Azul. Despite loosing almost 2hours on an already tight day we continued (although I wasted an extra 30min due to making up my mind🙄). Once again on the way up to Azul we did not follow the normal way but went to the east side of the crater of Azul where the bad osm route is. There were a foot print here and there but it was CC. The crater was amazing but too windy to enjoy much, we saw a few fumaroles. We continued CC to the base of Azul, a tiny bit of snow (or glacier remnants?) but posed no difficulties. The base of Azul is beautiful with melt water if needed. We followed the ridge to Azul, it was more involved than Descabezado but no more than a low 3rd class (it is a bit exposed and steep but almost exclusively hiking). There is a interesting summit tower on Azul but because of the wind and time we had no desire to stretch our limits. Weather moved in fast and before we were off the ridge of Azul we were completely covered in a white out, maybe maximum 10m of visibility. Navigation was incredibly hard but we took our chances and took the other ("valle") OSM route down and luckily it was a very easy route and we were down below the clouds and able to see again. The rest of the night was CC back to our camp ~1030pm. It as a good day. <br />
<br />
Day 9.<br />
<br />
From our camp in the ravine we headed CC and then onto the trail that lead to the puesto at basecamp Blancquillo and from then on we were on a good trail. While walking down we opted to stay in sandals and just walk in the river, it was refreshing. We didn't have clean water until the valley bottom at the CONAF camp (valley El venado) where there was also lots of pear trees and yellow plum-like trees. Many people there (first people seen). We made camp at the river before the pass (Mirador del valle del venado) but the walk from the CONAF camp until then was slower than expected because it was along a river bed with confusing tracks.<br />
<br />
Day 10.<br />
<br />
Good trail up and down from Mirador del valle del venado with lots of water and trees for shade. Took us almost half the time we thought it would take. Note that you cannot actually camp at campsites/restong areas on this trail after the Mirador. The CONAF guards asked us where we were coming from and when we said Laguna del Maule he just sounded impressed and let us go on our way. There was a decent restaurant with empanadas, beer ext near the bus stop . There was a posted schedule of the bus but it clearly did not follow this schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus. <br />
<br />
Great trip, beautiful views and details and just the right amount of challenge.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-20 to 2023-Jan-23 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ondrej <br />
<br />
I got to Parque Inglés from Santiago de Chile by taking a train to Curico (advice: if you want to travel by train, buy a ticket online at least 2 days in advance as it books out quickly). From Curico I took a blue collectivo to Molina and then a bus to Parque Ingles.<br />
<br />
At the park entrance I was turned away by a CONAF officer because I bought a “day trip” ticket (El bolson - para día) and not the one with overnight camping. For the ticket I bought they allow entry only by 11:00am. I did not explain that I will continue beyond El Bolson - maybe I should have done that but did not want to get myself into more unnecessary discussions. CONAF said they cannot change my ticket to the “camping” type and when I tried to book the other one, it was booked out for the next two days, so the advice is book early and the right ticket type (el bolson - camping)!<br />
<br />
I ended up camping at the Rocas Basilicas for the night.<br />
<br />
On the first hike day hopped the gate to the park at 7:00. No one was there so no issues. I hiked to Thermas de Azufre. It was a very long day. There is no shade at all after El Bolson. I made a provisional shade using my tent’s footprint during lunchbreaks. Once I arrived to the Azufre hotsprings, a few arrieros were there. I decided to camp further up the river.<br />
<br />
On the second day I hiked to Refugio Blanquillo, met a settler who resides there for three months each year (if I understood correctly). The scenery before the refugio was otherwoŕldy and beautiful. Gaiters, good hat, sunscreen and sunglasses were my most loved pieces of gear. I camped at the first “camp” waypoint after Refugio Blanquillo. Amazing place to camp (but no grass), with a good stream and even some small shade thanks to the bushes. <br />
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My third day was quite straightforward, I made it almost to Los Cipresses but decided to camp close to the last “water” checkpoint, shortly before the gate with the guard. It was alright but I would recommend walking all the way to the shop and camp there for the night.<br />
<br />
On the fourth day I walked through the gate with the security guard. I also met a number of the power station workers and all were friendly. We waved at each other. The guard at the gate was nice, took my passport number and name. Once at the shop I found it was closed (9am). I needed to get to El Medano to join GPT07 and decided to continue hiking through Los Alamos. It might have been to early (10am) as also the almacén in Los Alamos was closed. The road after Los Almacén was uneventful and a bit sketchy at places, so I forded the river at the “bridge” waypoint after Los Alamos to get to the main road and hitchike to El Medáno. Got a ride in approx 20 min. El Medáno is a great base - the thermals are nice and there is an electricity socket next to the toilets. They have shade for the tent too. There is also a restaurant with filling foods and a small shop.<br />
<br />
Overall a fantstic section but I wasn’t expecting the heat to be that oppresive!<br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-3 / 5 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / David and Erika<br />
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Get to TH Parque ingle before 1:00 pm, otherwise they close it for entrance. We did get internet and got the correct CONAF ticket -the one heading to El Bolsón. Once you get out of the park and into the Cuesta Las Anima, the wild parts begin. Hope you got your dirty girl gaiters; cause you’re going to need them. Sand city. Gaiters worked great. Remote and desolately beautiful. Water up at the end of Laguna del Caracol, at the river that comes out of the ground, you have a dry climb ahead. Walk out was straightforward. Got a lift from ENEL employee.<br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-28 to 2022-Dec-29 / 2 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš<br />
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I connected in Thermas Azufre from GPT 05. I recommend it as a camping spot. I have seen the tracks of people staying on the western side of the valley but I think it is better to ford, there is anoce trail there on the eastern side. There is a place with and island where I needed to remove my shoes just for about three meters (the stream was not strong enough for me to keep the shoes on).<br />
<br />
I took a detour to the lake at the pass - nice. No snow anymore. Reached the Refugio Blanquillo (which is a puesto, an arriero had two dogs and a thousand shep there), met a group of tourists on horses and two Chilean hikers there, so crowded all of a sudden. The pool there is indeed lukewarm. The water from the stream is said not to be good - I filtered it (for the first time on GPT) and was fine. But if not climbing the volcano, I would recommend to camp 2 km further at the next water source. I no longer carry water with me and just drink a lot when I find a source, there is a lot of them, even in the semidesert (the sand is actually white pumice from the volcanoes). It is quite dusty, my hands got dry and that normally does not happen to me. I agree with the recommendation to apply sunscreen at least three times a day! <br />
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The second day I walked all the way to the main road. Stthe pass, there is still a bit of snow but white manageable. Going down from the lake, there is no water until around half or one third of the minor road in the valley, beware. Walking-wise, this was the easiest section on GPT for me. At the mainroad, the camping at the shop after the bridge was closed. I hitched somebody in he truck who knew the owners, called them and they came to open it for me. 5000 pesos but I gave the lady 10000 as she had to drive here to open the aging for me. There is electricity and cold shower and shadow. Almost nothing at the shop. The bus is said to leave at seven. I slept and now will try hitchhiking.<br />
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<br />
*2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
<br />
Amazing trail! It's quite desolate but the landscape varies enough to always keep things interesting. Trudging up the sandy hills could be demoralizing, but getting to run down the other side more than made up for it. Water was still plentiful though not much snow was left, I only had to cross a few small patches. Thankfully heat wasn't a problem at all for me, I even felt cold a few times with the altitude and wind.<br />
<br />
Caught the 5pm bus from Molina to Radal for 3000 pesos, then a van came by a few minutes later to take us to parque inglés for another 3000. Was nice to meet a bunch of Chilean hikers, who were all going to El Bolson and back. We camped at the Rocas Basílicas campsite right at parque inglés, 7000 pesos next to a beautiful river.<br />
<br />
I had phone signal at parque inglés, so I bought the pass online for 8 USD. There was no one at the Conaf office at 7 30 the next morning, so I just hopped the gate and walked through. <br />
<br />
I ran into a few arrieros relaxing at the Azufre hot springs, the only people I saw along the trail. They were friendly but it was tough to understand their heavy Chilean Spanish. They said I could camp with them but there wasn't a ton of room so I walked on.<br />
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There were some geysers shooting up from the muddy riverbank near the gpx track so I took a wider route around. An arriero also told me to take a trail higher up along the dunes so I followed that to the ford. The ford looked tough so I kept walking 2ish km along the other side until I could easily hop across. But it was slow going, probably not worth it.<br />
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I ended up having to camp on a random sand dune. I had some trouble getting my tent to stay up tied to rocks, since I couldn't get stakes in. I'd definitely recommend using tieouts you can really secure to rocks, or even a freestanding tent.<br />
<br />
The rest of the hike went smoothly. I easily made it to los cipreses in three days of hiking from parque inglés. The guard was super friendly, inviting me in and giving me a bunch of water. I camped across the street from the shop near the bus stop, ask at the shop if you want to camp there. The guy running the camping was also super nice, he messaged the bus driver and told me it would be at 9 or 9 30 the next morning, because it was a Saturday (it was also Christmas eve). The bus ended up showing up at 9 45, and costed 3200 pesos to Talca.<br />
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The side trip up Volcan Los Hornitos was very worth it, there's a fairly gradual trail up and you can just sprint straight down. I didn't even need to bring any water (just some gummy bears).<br />
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I got by without gaiters, but bring them if you can. I should have used more sunscreen, the reflection off the sand is strong.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-20 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena<br />
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Joining section 6 directly from the previous one with a little challenging connection trail (see our comment from section 5), we continued to the Hot Spring del Azufre. On the way there is one steep traverse. We used hot spring to cook our rice which really saved us as we run out of gas. The landscape on the whole section is amazing, we really enjoyed it! Ascent to the pass is nice and gradual, hiking in the sand is a little slower, but the opposite when going down. We camped at the El Estadio, almost no wind that day, great place to sleep . In the morning we continued on a nice and easy trail, great views around the volcanos… short break by the laguna thats great for swimming. We camped a little before the camp marked in the gps, there is one place, probably used by arrieros, with a fireplace and a few rocks around it. Being out of the gas we set a fire using wood that was already in there and some others we gather during the day. The view to the volcanos must be one of the best we have seen here so far! The next day we continued to the last Hornitos pass and through the valley, again really nice hiking on a clear trail. Last few kms on the road and since we missed the only bus to Talca that is leaving early in the morning (7:00) and did not have luck with hitchhiking, we stayed in a camp right next to the road. Its just a few meters before it, in the same direction we came from. On the left side is a house with some old advertisment sign (coca-cola or similir) on its fence, and the lady there has a small shop. The camp is on the other side - cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. Overall, when combining both sections we recommend to plan carefully, but its definitely worth the effort, especially this section 6.<br />
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Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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* 2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna&Christopher <br />
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The section is pretty tough, but beautiful with a quite unique landscape. We definetly would do it again.<br />
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Recomendations: bring lots of suncreme, a good hat, gaiters.<br />
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How to get there:<br />
We took a bus from Santiago (terminal at the metro station Universidad de Santiago) to Curico. Across the street from the bus terminal in Curico leaves a blue bus to Molina for 1k CLP. From Molina we hitchhiked to Parque Inglés.<br />
You have to be there before 3 pm to be allowed to hike up to El Bolson. To camp they charge 8k CLP p.p and the park entry is also 8k CLP p.p.<br />
<br />
The first day we started early from El Bolson. From midday on it was super tough due to the white sand which makes walking really tiring and reflects the sun which makes it super hot without shade. The next day was pretty similar.<br />
The whole section there was plenty of water. There was no much snow left at the passes, so we had no trouble without spikes.<br />
On the last day, after arriving to the dirtroad (8 km from los Cipreses), we got offered a ride after a while and the guy brought us directly to El Médano.<br />
The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).<br />
In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.<br />
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<br />
*2022-Dec-03 to 2022-Dec-06 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica<br />
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Route: Parque Inglés - Laguna Ánimas - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna del Caracol - Laguna de los Hornos - Los Cipreses<br />
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A beautiful, remote section of true mountain wilderness. It took me 4 days, but only 2 hours hiking the dirt road to Los Cipreses on the last day (so very doable in 3 days). The only people I saw were a couple of arrieros at Termas del Blanquillo who told me they hadn't had a winter as snowy as this one in over 10 years. I was glad to have my microspikes for the vast snow fields near/on the passes. A couple places would have felt quite unsafe without them. <br />
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Notable tidbits: <br />
<br />
Took a bus from Molina at 5pm (on a Friday) to El Radal, then hitchhiked to Parque Inglés. I camped there the first night for 7000 pesos. Pricey, but at least I had a beautiful and secluded spot by Rio Claro. <br />
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The stretch between Las Ánimas Pass and Termas de Azufre had some sketchy traverses across disintegrating scree slopes that were downright nerve-wracking. I suppose if you go down to Laguna Mondaca, then back up to the Termas, you may not encounter this hazard. But I did get to observe a condor soar above my head on thermals for an hour as he surveilled his domain, that was super cool. <br />
<br />
For the first ford after Termas de Azufre, I crossed further upstream than indicated on the GPS track (see Carlos's comment below). It looked a lot safer there than downstream. There's continuous snow for about 3 km going over the pass after Thermas de Azufre, best to cross in the morning to avoid postholing when the snow gets too soft. <br />
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Los Hornitos pass has a large, very steep lip of snow (leftover cornice) on its south side. It's possible to go around it by heading north for 50-100 meters and then making your way down on the volcanic sand.<br />
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The spring between Termas del Blanquillo and Laguna del Caracol is a beautiful little desert oasis in an orherwise hot and dry stretch. It was a splendid spot to camp. <br />
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There is LOTS of water. Laguna del Caracol and Laguna de los Hornos are both full of clear, refreshing water. A lot of the "water" GPS waypoints are actually fords this time of year (easy ones), and there's a lot of other water sources not listed on the tracks. But the section is very exposed, no shade, and very hot in the midday sun unless a breeze is blowing. <br />
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No issues with the guards at Los Cipreses, they were friendly and let me pass no problem. From the first bus stop on the road, I hitched easily to Talca to resupply.<br />
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==Season 2021/22==<br />
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*2022-Feb-20 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Molly <br />
<br />
Amazing section! I found the landscape to be very varied despite the lack of vegetation - and even with many pretty flowers near the streams. I personally found it to be a great ending to my GPT journey, a big contrast to the landscapes further south. Would make for a tough start though.<br />
Plenty of water. Met one hiker doing Circuito el Cóndor and three Chilean tourists on horseback. No arrieros, but plenty of cows and horses. The weather was cold and windy, sometimes veritable sandstorms which meant I almost couldn't open my eyes - maybe sunglasses could have helped. I wore my long pants over my boots instead of gaiters - should have listened to the advice, so much sand! <br />
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Signs on the way to parque inglés say that you can only buy tickets online - don't know how strict they are, but no cell phone coverage at parque inglés and long before in case they insist. You have to be there before 15 to be let through to El Bolsón.<br />
Easy 11 km to El Bolsón through a young forest. No water at the first "ford" waypoint. Campground has toilets and showers, it's the only place you're allowed to camp until after Valle del Indio. Nice enough place next to the impressive Colmillo del Diablo. In hot weather it might be nice to camp here to take the long ascent in the morning.<br />
Laguna de las Animas would be a good campsite plus a nice place to swim. The first "water" waypoint afterwards is also great for camping - there is a nice little meadow.<br />
Las Animas pass is gorgeous!<br />
After Termas Azufre there are many confusing paths. They mostly seem to lead to the same place, but keep an eye on the GPS. When descending from the 2700 m pass towards Termas Blanquillo, you don't have to cross the stream to your right even though many paths do it. As noted by others, the hot springs Baños del Blanquillo are luke warm - but fine if you want to wash yourself a little and the stream is too cold. The refuge is locked.<br />
The next camp waypoint is in a cute valley with many streams, bushes and flowers. No grass, though. <br />
Laguna Caracol is beautiful as well, but very bare, surrounded by sand. I really liked the campsite afterwards, with views of both Volcán Descabezado and Cerro Azul. From there, a small CC section to the ascent where the path picks up again towards the Hornitos pass. Even more gorgeous with great and very different views to each site. Volcán Hornitos and the other little craters look really funny and special. Some hail was coming in, though, so I quickly slided down to the next camp waypoint, again a nice flat meadow. No water on the ascent. The first streams at the top of the pass were dry, but the path crosses a stream in 2100 m altitude. If you fill up at the water waypoint before the pass I agree you wouldn't have to carry extra water, the time between these two water points is around 2-3 hours.<br />
I climbed to the rim of Volcán Hornitos, there's nothing in there, but if you walk to the highest point the view is nice enough. It took me 20 minutes in total, and it was about worth that.<br />
The gravel road is nice the first kilometres, but then it gets pretty boring. The security guard at the end was very nice and welcoming.<br />
I camped at the shop just before the road - nice place by the river, 3000 per person with toilets and a cold shower, or 50,000 for a cabaña. From there I hitched the 3 km down the road to Restaurant Cordillera, nice enough, great with a beer, meat and fries. <br />
Bus left from the bus shed at 7:20 next morning - think it depends whether it goes to El Médano or not <br />
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* 2022-Jan-20 to 2022-Jan-25 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Carlos <br />
Route: Parque Inglés - El Bolsón (Colmillo del Diablo summit) - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna Caracol - First bus stop on CH115 road.<br />
<br />
I hiked this route only a couple of days after Verónica & Jo. Not much to add except:<br />
<br />
First day just hiked to El Bolsón (easy 4 hours), pitched my tent on the gorgeous campsite, left the heavy load and climbed the imposing "Colmillo del Diablo" (easy hike on a trail that goes around the back of the mountain).<br />
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From Termas del Azufre climbing to the pass I followed a faint track on the steep loose slope instead of crossing at the first river ford. After a few hundred meters the track takes you to a flat wide rocky area (just before the slope becomes impossibly steep), where you can very easily ford the river (I didn't even get my feet wet).<br />
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Plenty of buses Molina - Parque Inglés. But only one bus from el Médano - Los Cipreses to Talca, at around 7 am, which returns at 15:00. Only week days. Basic camping just in front of Los Cipreses shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits): $4.000 pp.<br />
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* 2022-Jan-10 to 2022-Jan-15 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo <br />
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Route: Parque Inglès -> Laguna de las Animas -> Termas de Azufre -> Descabezado base camp -> Laguna del Caracol -> Laguna Hornitos -> First bus stop on 115-CH<br />
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The five nights we just spent in a tent was the longest stretch we have ever gone without a decent bed on a hike. We skipped Radal, Laguna Mondaca and Termas de Medano, but still hiked in 6 days what others did in 3-4. We're basically easing into the GPT, gaining some fitness and experience before taking on the harder challenges.<br />
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As others have said: the views are otherworldly and stunning. We felt like Touaregs traveling from oasis to oasis in the Saharan desert. Except that there actually are plenty of springs and little rivers flowing in most valleys.<br />
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Useful tidbits:<br />
<br />
- There really is no shade after El Bolsòn. Either you make your own (e.g., adapting your tent to not trap heat) or you dress like a Touareg (loose clothing fully blocking the sun). For us, this was the hardest to deal with. We got up early but often stopped hiking at 13:00, enjoying the lakes or even just sitting down doing nothing that takes energy.<br />
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- High-heeled boots and long trousers work well to keep the sand out.<br />
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- Confirming Shn0rhelez: going up from Termas de Azufre until the second ford indeed passes plenty of water, no need to carry any.<br />
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- Laguna Hornitos is drying up and hence less beautiful than the other lakes. Maybe it's better to camp at the start of the Hornitos plateau (SOBO, so north entry) as the area is flat and there is reasonably clean running water there.<br />
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- There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.<br />
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- In supermarkets, you can buy alcohol desnaturalizado cheaply in the nail polish section, or alternatively, use alcohol de quemar from the combustibles section.<br />
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<br />
* 2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / <br />
<br />
From Parque Inglés to the entrance of Reserva Achibueno<br />
Buy your ticket online for “El Bolsón” on the CONAF website and get to the trailhead before 3pm<br />
4hrs hike to El Bolsón, a great place with waterfall, great views, nice camping spots, hikers<br />
TO CHECK: Bus from Molina to Parque Ingles leaves at 9 am (not positive) on week-ends and holidays <br />
Easy hitch from Radal to Parque Ingles coz lots of campers going there on week-ends<br />
Be careful a ranger told me the park closes on Mondays <br />
It took me around 4 days from Parque Siete Tazas Park entrance to the road Q115 (Central Cipreses)<br />
From Road 115 I hitched to a village by Colbún lake where I resupplied : good supermarkets (a little on the expensive side), food truck , pastry shop <br />
I didn't like Altos de Lircay NP : after El Bolson (4 hrs in) no fucking shade for 3 days and an half except that of a shelter a little off trail, blazing sun all day, sand sand sand, I found the place so inhospitable, monotonous sights : sand dunes for ever, quite some struggling pedalling in the soft sand, plus I had no gaiters (stupid me) and low heels shoes so that was a bummer. However the place is super special, feels like on the moon (beautiful pictures) and I can understand why many love it<br />
Some “hot springs” are actually just luke and others just a hole or boiling hot (I added these informations to the track and waypoints I sent to Jan Dudek) so don't be like me fantasizing all day on that fantastic bath you will get or wait for Jan's update (thanks so so much for all you do mate).<br />
After resupplying I hitched on option 7 XXX all the way the Mellado cañon (really nice, by the river all the time), communities. After hiking South from Carizales (which has a very limited “store”) I was short on time and food and realized bare landscapes over the tree line were not my cup of tea (I prefer hiking below 1700 m in this part of Patagonia) so I left RR and took another option all the way to the West to Reserva Achibueno which I really enjoyed : great landscapes, lakes, rivers and met some cool hikers and fishermen<br />
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* 2021-Dec-09 to 2021-Dec-12 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / AR past Laguna Manatial Pelado / Vera & James<br />
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We arrived the day before at Parque Ingles and camped the night there. From Molina there is a bus to Radal at 5pm wed-fri, and direct to Parque Ingles on weekends. The only way to pay for park entry is online at www.aspticket.cl.<br />
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As an aside, we really liked Molina. It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.<br />
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Day 1 we headed up the RR as far as just above Laguna de las Animas by 2pm, a brutal climb in the midday sun! At this point the sun disappeared and clouds quickly rolled in, within 10 minutes lightning was hitting the peaks directly around us. We beat a hasty retreat back to El Bolsen and camped there.<br />
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We decided to take the alternate route past Laguna Manatial Pelado. A beautiful route if hot and sandy. We have realised the best time time to take on a long, sandy ascent in sunny weather is very early in the morning, after 9am it was brutally hot. <br />
<br />
We then continued on the regular route. As has been said before, it's remote and stunning. We had some strong winds coming over Pass de Hornitos, and even some sleet on the final day!<br />
<br />
Arrived in Los Cipreses on a Sunday and we didn't see a single person except the security guard. We got mixed messages from him and then the mini shop owner about buses to Talca. I would assume there isn't one on a Sunday. We hitched to El Colorado then got a bus from there to Talca.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-03 to 2021-Dec-09 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&Stiina<br />
<br />
We also decided to combine sections 5 and 6 to avoid in’n’out to and from Parque Inglés. It took us 6 and a half days and some of it was bloody hard. I have never before experienced my ass being handed over to me by a trail. We got beaten to the point where first signs of weakness started to show and I have to admit we kind of even started discussing a plan B and bailing this ditch trail. But only for a moment, once you hit the rock bottom there is only one way to go - up! It was literally and figuratively, and as terrain improved so did our mood and we laughed off the silly thoughts we had had earlier. <br />
<br />
The first 45km of the section 5 were great, awesome hiking and then shit hit the fan real quick. Ascent up from the ford at km 45 was hard but alright. And then came the descent down to Rio Negro (51km), very steep and very loose scree slope. We wanted to make it to Rio Colorado for the night to cross it early in the morning in case there is no bridge. But because the trail or I must rather say the lack of it was really taking more time than we expected, by the time we got to Rio Negro it was already getting dark. The river was very rapid and murky so you couldn’t gauge the depth of it and couldn’t see where to step, we had to really concentrate to cross it, luckily it was only balls deep.<br />
<br />
It was dark as we got across it and we continued the fun, albeit type 2 fun, illuminated by our headlamps. Then came the insanely steep gully that allowed you to enter the valley of Rio Colorado. Something was off with the elevation lines on Gaia and it showed that we will be descending right over the cliff, it was luckily only a glitch. As we couldn’t see much ahead we kept descending ever so carefully on this very very challenging terrain, I would even go as far as to say that it was stupid and outright dangerous. But there was no other way, you just had to stay focused. There were also some rocks falling off the cliff under which we were descending. In a sense night was a good time to do it because you couldn’t see all the dangers - only what lie within the beam of the headlamp. <br />
<br />
Then came an extremely slow going, pretty much crawling speed traverse down to Rio Colorado, which we fully improvised as there was no trail anyway and got down to Rio colorado about a kilometer before the bridge, where we set up camp abit past midnight. <br />
<br />
So yes, the bridge was there - a decent one, seemed permanent and it was a relief that we at least don’t have to start the day by risking our lives fording Rio Colorado. The river was pretty wide and the current seemed pretty fast, it wasn’t murky though but you couldn’t see how deep it really was. But we think it could have been forded in case there would be no bridge. There were a few places that looked doable with somewhat laminar flow. The excitement of the existence of the bridge didn’t last too long as we were slapped back into reality by the difficult terrain, it wasn’t as dangerous anymore as the previous night but difficult nevertheless. Once we got closer to the pass the trail appeared and it was actually pleasant hiking once again. <br />
<br />
To sum it up the descent down to the Rio Colorado valley, then traversing it and the first part of crawling out of the valley sucks big time, but the rest of the section is really nice and not too challenging terrain-wise. I wouldn’t want to skip this section because it had some breathingtaking views. Just that on the hard part of it you can’t really enjoy any of it as all your effort is elsewhere. <br />
<br />
The guards at Laguna Mondaca were the nicest people we have met in Chile so far. They invited us to stay at the property, gave us food and drinks. They insisted we don’t use any of our supplies or gear. They even provided us with a room with a bed and we got to recharge all of our electronics and got a hot shower aswell. It was perfect! And just to make it clear there are no fancy villas there just a few small simple houses where the owner of the property comes for fishing once in a while. And guards weren’t armed either.<br />
<br />
It took us 4 days to get to Laguna Mondaca and not far after it we joined the section 6 which took 2 and a half more days. <br />
<br />
Section 6 was really something, we haven’t had such a strong otherworldly experience anywhere else. It was really like being on another planet at times. The blue sky was the only thing that gave it away that we were still on Earth. Really bizarre landscape and definitely the most beautiful breathtaking section of the six that we have done so far. <br />
<br />
Regarding the difficulty, compared to section 5 it didn’t feel that difficult at all. Walking on sand is challenging, yes, especially going uphill. But on the other side going down is much easier on the soft sand - you can just run/jog without much impact on your body as the sand absorbs it all. Shoes got completely wrecked and we took many “shoe-emptying” breaks because they were just filled with rocks and coarse sand. <br />
<br />
We even took a dip in one of the lakes close to Descabezado and seeing how water is just coming out of the sand and turning into a river was really really cool, just as the whole landscape around there. <br />
<br />
We camped at the lake about 5km from Los Cipreses. When we arrived to the road to take bus to Talca the bus stop didn’t have any schedule and the shop close by was closed. So we couldn’t find out about the bus schedule and the traffic on the road seemed pretty dead. But luckily after 15 min of waiting a car that was going to Talca picked us up, perfecto! <br />
<br />
Overall plenty of water on both sections, a lot of exposure to the sun, and some challenging terrain. It all together made for a great experience, just what we were looking for. It humbled us and we definitely had to adjust our expectations and recalibrate our way of hiking, it is GPT - not more and not less. <br />
<br />
For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH to Laguna Manantial / Frank <br />
<br />
At Parque Ingles I registered with Conaf, they record your route & where you will camp. Deregistered by email later. Easy 3 hour walk to El Bolson, lots of people camping there but they don't go any further. Took optional route to Laguna Manantial. At 2160M there is a small meadow & stream, this is last water & last camp before the lake. You go over a pass @ 2560M then drop 80M to the lake. Camped on the lakeshore. <br />
Termas Blanquillo were only tepid. Camped on a small beach @ S end of Laguna de Los Hornos. The lake is nearly dried out, only a little semi stagnant water left. Best to carry water in from one of the streams a little above the lake. Last 11KM are on dirt roads, you could hitch easily if you want. Met 2 security guards, they were both friendly, no access problems if you are Southbound. Small campsite @ shop on way out. Amazing section, some tough uphill on sand but scenery is like Mars. Definitely use small gaiters or you will be emptying sand out of your shoes every 10 mins.<br />
<br />
At the end of GPT06 if you go on the north bank of Rio Maule the route is blocked by a cliff beyond Los Alamos & you need to cross the river to continue. Better to go on the road. After 2KM on the road you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also. At Bridge 17 you can rejoin RR or continue on road but RR is nicer.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-24 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias<br />
<br />
Overview: <br />
So, I decided to combine GPT sections 5 and 6 in order to avoid a 30k out and back resupply section into parque ingles. I thought this was a good decision for me and really enjoyed being out there for a week. In my opinion this was the hardest section of the GPT in between sections GPT 01-10. I went the first 5 days without seeing another person which I thought was quite cool. So, these two sections are quite remote, and you are way out there in the mountains. There was also some pretty intense river crossing in “GPT Section 5” that I found to be manageable (keep in mind I’m 185cm and have lots of thru hiking experience.) but still a little difficult. The rivers were also very dark and murky which made it hard to see where you would step. There was also an improvised bridge crossing the Colorado River that I used, and thought was safe to use. These two sections are dominated by a volcanic profile with much of the route on ash and volcanic rock. Most of the route is very exposed and there are not many trees or vegetation that grow in the volcanic ash/rocks. There was plenty of water with springs coming out of the hills everywhere and then disappearing into the sand.<br />
<br />
Difficulties:<br />
It was slow going walking thru the sand, especially when hiking vertically. Exposure to the sun. River crossings. Isolation and remoteness. Hiking up and down lose rock and scree fields.<br />
<br />
Highlights:<br />
Hot Springs. Great views of the volcanic region. Mountain Lakes. Sunrise and Sunsets were epic with the landscape. <br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Shn0rhelez<br />
<br />
Parque Ingles to El Medano southbound/main route ... 7 days duration(2 nights spent on laguna Las Animas)...section passable...Strong sun, no shadow after the park... Gaiters strongly recommended...the SUBsection between termas del azufre and second ford Before the pass (2700m) is full with water... my personal opinion is the backpack weight can be minimized... Good luck! <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno & Martin<br />
<br />
Parque Inglés to El Medano<br />
5 days for this amazing section. We started in Parque Inglés in Radal 7 Tazas National Park. Had to wait for one more day because of limited hiking permits towards El Bolsón. 80 daily permits allowed and delivered at 8:30 in the morning, to be minded on weekends when the park is full. Followed Regular Route Laguna Las Ánimas, Azufre Hotsprings, Descabezado base camp, Laguna Caracol and then down to Los Cipreses. Cold section and bad weather towards the end, some rain and freezing wind. Had to camp in Laguna Caracol waiting for the storm to pass and hike the last pass. <br />
The use of lightweight gaiters is advised for keeping the sand out of your shoes.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom & Maddie <br />
<br />
Parque Ingles to El Medano. Very beautiful (and exposed) section. Lots of water. The track from Los Cipreses to El Medano suffered from a few landslides meaning the route was slower than anticipated. I would consider taking the road next time as there is no loss of scenery. We resupplied in El Medano by basically buying all the food at the tienda (60000 CP for food for two people for the next section). Selection was good enough. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from Vilches Alto / Tyler & America <br />
<br />
A Stunning section. Vilches Alto made for a great optional start; rather than returning to Parque Ingles. (We came from Talca by bus - 2100 CP). Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP. All trails were beautiful and a bit more trodden that sections before. Arrieros at thermal pools (not hot) were welcoming and friendly for us to camp. We took our sweet time in the beautiful section. We bussed from the first road access (south of town Los Cipreses/ OH-MR-V@06-E-#001) to Talca for a good re supply before the long next section, 2200 CP. Bus leaves this stop around 11.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start coming from GPT 5 / Matus & Anna<br />
<br />
We combined sections 5 and 6 via optional trail. <br />
GPT06 took us 2 days and bit (first day we did just 4km from 6th section).<br />
I agree with everything what was written in previous updates.<br />
Nice sandy trails. Mornings were freezing cold. No problems while crossing rivers. After optional start regular trail didn't correspond with any trail. We finally took one on the right side and after while they merged. And I don't know who was so commited, but thanks for marking the trail 😊<br />
<br />
There is a small tienda with coke and crisps before entering a main road from Los Cipress. If you continue by main road toward El Medano there is restaurant Cordillera where we refueled again. Accomodation in El Medano. I will edit with ressuply options later. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-14 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mainly) / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
As we came from GPT05 and didn't want to go all the way "back" to the Paso Las Animas, we tried the Optional Investigation Route which starts at Parque Ingles right at the other side (South) of Rio Claro. It leads through private property, so we went to the guard, showed him the CONAF Permit (we bought one just in case, and of course they said it's not possible to walk on the other side of the river), explained him that we would only hike through and gave him some cerezas. He informed his Colleagues via radio to let us pass. It was a nice and easy hike. Nothing to add to Linda's remarks for the rest of the trail.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-06 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda <br />
<br />
Start = Parque Ingles <br />
Finish = Las Termas El Medano<br />
<br />
GENERAL FEELING<br />
<br />
Amazing section !!!! Incredible mineral landscapes as soon as you go beyond Laguna Las Animas. It was tough because of the passes (and this was also my first hiking days and I carried too much food ... ) and the ground around the volcanoes is sand ! So it makes each step even more difficult. I loved the contrast between the areas around the volcanoes and the Laguna Caracol is just one of the most beautiful place I've ever seen !!! <br />
<br />
LOGISTICS<br />
<br />
- Bus from Molina to El Radal (off season and weekdays = only one bus at 5pm in Molina that stops in El Radal. Weekend : it goes directly to Parque Ingles and the schedule may also be different)<br />
<br />
- Hitchhiked from El Radal to Parque Ingles<br />
<br />
- First night in a camping in Parque Ingles = 5000 CLP<br />
<br />
- The day after, I had to register to CONAF. Office opening at 8:30 am. Entrance fee = 6000 CLP<br />
Some people (5 or 6) were going to El Bolson for the day but after Laguna Las Animas, there was absolutely nobody till the end !<br />
<br />
- Still snow when you go beyond the 2300 meters high<br />
<br />
- Be careful for the last pass Las Hornitos, a lot of snow at the top and it makes it impossible to follow the GPS track to go down. I found my way on the left when you face the valley and then got back to the GPS track<br />
<br />
- No problem to go out from the mine. Actually, workers I met on my way down to Los Cipreses suggestedto drop me by car to the main road. The guard was just smiling when he saw me in the car and when I told him I was hiking<br />
<br />
- Mini market where you can find basic food (eggs, spaghetti, chocolate ...) in Las Termas El Medano<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-07 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arnaud<br />
<br />
Amazing but hard section with a lot of denivelation. <br />
As we did not walk the section 5, we took the bus from Molina to Parque Ingles-7 Tazas (many buses, 4-5 buses per day). We registered to the Conaf Office and paid the entrance fee 6000 clp for foreigners. They gave us a mail adress so that we can announce our exit of the parque, to check the security.<br />
We walked the first 11km to the campspot El Bolson. It costs 4000 clp per person but has no interest. As the zone is protected, it is possible to freecamp only after el Bolson, before, it is prohibited.<br />
The Laguna Las Animas is very very beautiful and is welcome for a bath with the heat of this season.<br />
Then the paso las animas is easy and ashes are fun for downhills!<br />
We met nobody on the trail after el Bolson. So great! Except at one spot with termas with full of chilenos there.<br />
We lacked a bit of water at the laguna el Caracol but found 3kms further (just before the strong uphill) a source with drinkable water.<br />
No problem then to exit los cypress. We hitchhiked on the road with workers until the road to los Medanos.<br />
We stayed one day in los termas de los Medanos, at the camping and exit quickly (too many noise, people). The water is hot and nice after a hard section like this one. <br />
We resupplied at los termas (with pasta, arros, pancito, manjar). No gas available there.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
You need to carry all the food for the entire trail. There is no food supply after Parque Ingles. If you meet arrieros at one of the Puestos you may ask for some goat or lamb meet but if you are not ready to take an entire or at least half an animal they may be reluctant to sell. Refill your water supply at the marked river crossings and the camps. In between these waypoints your will find only ocasinally some trickling water because water trickles away easily into the volcanic soil.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
* 2023 / Michael and Kasia<br />
Molina: Hostal Nativos is three blocks off the main square. Run by very nice people, they have private rooms with shared bathroom for 25.000 CLP for the room. They also have a nice garden area with space if you need to clean gear. Ferreteria Franco had gas canisters for stoves. Unimarc on the plaza had cans for recharging, but didn't carry the screw route for stoves.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021 / Vera & James<br />
<br />
Molina: It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
* 2022 / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
Los Cipresses: small shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits) + camp with cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. <br />
<br />
* 2022 7 Anna&Christopher <br />
<br />
El Médano: The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).<br />
In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.<br />
<br />
* 2020 / Frank <br />
After 2KM on the road after Los Alamos (to El Medano) you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also.<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route= <br />
<br />
==Parque Ingles==<br />
<br />
During the main season in January and February several buses go from Molina and Curico to Radal and some even go all the way to Parque Ingles. Outside of the main season there is only one daily bus from Molina to Radal leaving in the afternoon from the rural bus station in Molina.<br />
<br />
* Jan-24 / Joscha<br />
The Bus between Molina and Parque Ingles is run by the company "Buses Hernández". You can check the departure times on their website.<br />
<br />
*2020 / Frank In summer there are 6 buses a day Molina-Parque Ingles.<br />
<br />
Mon-Sat they leave Molina @ 10:20, 11:30, 12:40, 3PM, 6:15PM, 8:15 PM Sunday Molina- Parque Ingles 7:45, 9:30, 2PM, 7:30PM, 10PM 2 hours to Parque Ingles, buses leave from terminal near main plaza in Molina. Parque Ingles-Molina 7:10, 11, 1PM, 3:45PM, 4:45PM, 6:30PM Mon-Sat Sun. 10:30, 1:30PM, 3:30PM, 5:45PM, 6:45PM <br />
<br />
<br />
*2019/ Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Monday to Thursday: Molina-Radal: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br />
<br />
Friday: Molina-P.Ingles: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br />
<br />
Saturday: Molina-P.Ingles: 11:30 // 13:30 / P.Ingles-Molina: 18:00<br />
<br />
Sunday: Molina-P.Ingles: 09:00 // P.Ingles-Molina: 15:30 / 17:00<br />
<br />
==Los Cipreses / El Medano ==<br />
<br />
* 7 am in front of Los Cipreses - someone has to call in advance for the bus to go all the way to el Médano - loads of tourists there, though, so someone might have called. Other connections should be at 9:15 and 17:20 (one at 1620 l3aves from further downstream). The other way around, the buses leave Talca at 7, 13, 15 and 19, according to the schedule at Talca bus station.<br />
<br />
<br />
*This trail section finished at the Route 115 to Talca. Big road with many cars (hitchhiking possible)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023 / Louis, Rémi & Noé <br />
<br />
From Los Cipreses only one bus at 7am. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023 / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
Buses from Talca to la Mina go at; 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. <br />
Vilches: bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022 / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
- There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP. <br />
<br />
<br />
== Vilches ==<br />
<br />
* 2023 / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
Bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
* CONAF does register all trekkers at Parque Ingles (GPT01-WP004) but does not charge an entrance fee. Camp fires are not permitted within the national park that reaches from Radal (GPT01-WP001) to the Laguna las Ánimas (GPT01-WP013).<br />
<br />
* 2024 SOBO Permit required at Parque Inglés:<br />
- payment 8500 Pesos online! (not in cash) with online your Conaf account<br />
<br />
https:// shop.pasesparques.cl/evento/2564/radal-siete-tazas<br />
<br />
- offline formular at Conaf station<br />
<br />
- payment 7000 Pesos for Campsite El Bolsón in Cash (not possible with credit card, 200m from Conaf Station)<br />
<br />
* 2023<br />
<br />
When starting from Vilches and going northbound, a permit to access the Volcano (or the Condor Circuit) is required. CONAF won't let you enter in Altos de Lircay without it. Call them or write an email to get the correct number. The number ending with 554 works on WhatsApp, and a WhatsApp message from the land owner counts as "written permission". Moreover, you have to pay the entrance fee to the reserve and it is closed on Mondays in March.<br />
<br />
*2023 <br />
<br />
Start at Parque Ingles: <br />
Entry ticket for Bolsón overnight needed: $10 USD (book it before online at www.aspticket.cl + get to the trailhead before 13:00) It needs to be purchased online in advance. There is good Entel service at the gate for last minute purchases. After purchase one change can be made to the date of the ticket, and there is no additional charge. After that you need to repurchase the ticket. Entrance for the camping permit is until 13:00. After that they refuse entry.<br />
In addition, you need to show CONAF proof of permission to camp at Bolsón, even if you do not plan to camp there. Bolsón is a privately operated concession within the park. Camping is 7.000 CLP pp and you buy the tickets at Rocas Basalticas campground about 50 meters down the road on the opposite side of the street from the entrance. The only way around this is to have contacted land owners that live beyond the park boundary and show CONAF proof of permission to camp on their land.<br />
They also require that you show them your gas stove, as all other cooking systems (alcohol, wood, etc.) are prohibited within the park, so have it handy.<br />
<br />
<br />
The parc can be entered illegally in the morning (around 7 pm).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019<br />
<br />
Optional start Vilches Alto: Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:18 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|In the huge ash field]]<br />
[[File:10 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (9).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (5).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (17).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|[[Cerro Azul]].]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (11).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 6]]<br />
[[File:01 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|El Bolsón]]<br />
[[File:02 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving El Bolsón]]<br />
[[File:03 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:04 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Las Ánimas.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Las Ánimas]]<br />
[[File:05 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Pass 2560 m.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Pass 2560 m]]<br />
[[File:06 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Approaching Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Approaching Laguna Mondaca]]<br />
[[File:07 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Mondaca.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Mondaca]]<br />
[[File:08 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, that bypasses Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Bypasses Laguna Mondaca]]<br />
[[File:09 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:11 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Termas de Azufre.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Termas de Azufre]]<br />
[[File:12 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:13 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:16 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:17 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:19 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:20 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:21 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
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[[File:26 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]<br />
[[File:27 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]<br />
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[[File:43 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos.jpg|Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br />
[[File:44 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br />
[[File:45 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br />
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[[File:48 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT08_(Volcan_Chillan)&diff=114154GPT08 (Volcan Chillan)2024-02-09T18:56:38Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
* 2024-Feb-05 to 2024-Feb-08 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 02 + RR + OH E + H + J / Joscha<br />
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Day 1: OH08-02 <br />
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I took the bus at 2 pm from the rural bus station in Chillan to the Thermas de Chillan. From there I had to roadwalk 1.5 km to get to OH08-02. There are a few snow fields left around the Pass Pirigallo, but its easy to walk over them. At km 1.2 of OH08-02 I took the Valle de Agua Caliente Trail as short cut to the Camp at 42.3 on the RR. I did not like the spot there, but close to it at -36,91092, -71,36632 are some decent tent spots.<br />
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Day 2: RR [42.3-75.1] + OH08-E<br />
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The Ford at km 47.4 was max. knee high at 10 pm. (I am 191 cm tall). Be carefull fording Rio Diguillin at km 48.4. The water was just below my hips and the current was pretty strong (around 10:30 pm). I forded it about 60 m upstream of the gpx tracks. There was a big rock in the middle of the river to which I could hold on to. At km 59.6 is a closed barb wire gate that I couldn't open. I managed to climb over it, but it's a little tricky. The RR leads on to the property of the Thermas Los Peucos (km 63.9). After the ford at km 63.7 I had to step over a barded wire fence (no gate). Los Peucos was closed and I didn't see anybody. I didn't like the idea of trespassing so I climb over the front gate (km 63.9) and continued on RR. OH08-B might be a good alternativ to avoid Los Peucos. But I meet Ricardo a few km further south. He was on his way to Los Peucos. If I understood him correctly (my spanish is pretty basic) than he is going to be at Los Peucos for the next two months. So they should be open now if you are interested in taking a break there. There are two easy fords at km 70.0 and 70.6 on the RR. The river at Ford 71.3 is wide, but water was below knees in thr evening. I wanted to camp at km 72.9, but I found the body of a horse directly at the camping spot. It looked like it had died a few days ago and it smelled pretty bad. Therefore I continued to the camp at km 78.6. I accidently stayed on the dirtroad and walked variant E. It has some extra altitude but therefore some nice views into the valley. Water 0.7 on variant E was dry. All other water and ford Waypoints I passed today had water.<br />
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Day 3: RR [78.5-107.0] <br />
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Laguna El Roble is a nice break spot and the last water source until km 106.7. At the Camp Marker km 106,6 is only a overgrown meadow which isn't flat at all. But there is a descent camp spot at km 106,9. The Water at km 106.7 is only a trickle and might dry out soon. All Water markers I passed by today had water.<br />
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Day 4: RR [107.0-115.2] + OH08-H + RR [116.3-117.4] + OH08-J + RR [117.4-134.5]<br />
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The next water source after km 106.7 is Laguna Lagrima at km 113.5. I accidently hiked OH08-H instead of RR. Laguna Los Condores is pretty nice. But the last few hundred meters of OH08-J are overgrown and not so easy to walk trough. Its easier to follow the trail that leads to the eastern side of the Laguna and forks of at about km 0.6 of OH08-J. From this trail you can go down to the Laguna. There is water at all markers.<br />
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The part from km 100 to km 117 is very spectacular.<br />
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*2024 Jan 25 to Feb 5 / 12 days / SOBO / Opt 2, Opt 3, RR, Var D, Opt 6 + 2 OSM routes / Michael and Kasia<br />
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TL/DR: A beautiful but exhausting section.Reserva Nacional Ñubles is officially closed, but they are still letting people in. If taking Opt 3, look for the trail that starts just after El Trumao heading NE for a more interesting hike. Los Peucos is open, but has no food or power so not currently a resupply option.<br />
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Day 0 - <br />
We took the bus from Chillan to Recinto hoping to camp for the night and take the early bus up to Termas de Chillán to begin the hike. (The bus that goes all the way to the hotel only goes twice a day. Both leave from the Terminal Rural in Chillan one at 08:00, the second at 14:00.) There were no camping options in Recinto, so we walked to Los Lleuques. We found a hostel called Antupiren at the entrance of town. 13.000 pp for private with shared bathroom, very nice owners. They have a restaurant too. There were some other places with signs for hostal and campamento further down the street. There are 4 or 5 shops and grocery stores in town. If you stay in Lleuques, a little further on is a nice public access beach along the river called La Playita that is popular with locals and a good place to escape the heat for the afternoon.<br />
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Day 1 - <br />
We got up early and were at the bus stop at 08:15. The bus arrived at around 09:30. It only goes as far as the hotel and then you have to walk about 1 km up to the ski center where the trail begins. The beginning of the trail was steep and dusty, then leveled off a bit. It passes by some fumeroles. There are two paths up to the pass. One is not on GPT or OSM at the moment, but it is a marked path that is clearly visible. It goes more to the left and up. The other is a horse trail which is the one GPT goes along. They both meet about half way up. We took the horse trail up. There is some grassy area and access to a stream. Nice views of the valley on the way up. Close to the top there was still a small snow field left and the way around it was walking above it on large, loose rocks. We had resupplied for 8 days and our packs were around 25 kg each. Due to this we felt it would be unsafe for us to try to navigate the section so we decided to walk back. It was disappointing, but we were also thinking about the difficulties others had in crossing Rio Diguillin further on and figured it was an early warning. On the way back we took the marked path which was actually more difficult than the GPT track, which surprised us since it looked more like a tourist trail. We were rewarded at one point however with a spring gushing out of the ground and took the opportunity to get fresh cold water without the need to filter. When we got back to where the fumeroles were, we chatted with some mountain bikes and a couple of hikers. There is another route down which had an OSM track on the map. The bikers explained that it is the route they all take down. It is open to hikers as well and there are signs advising bikers to watch for hikers, but the biker said there are a lot of curves and it is possible to get hit on the way down if you are unlucky. It was around 18:30 and he said they were the last group, so if we just waited for them to leave we should be able to hike down without worrying. We waited, and it was totally worth it. The trail down is very dusty, but with much less incline than the way up, and at a certain point goes through a really beautiful beech forest with lots of wildflowers growing. There is no access to the estero until the bridge at the end. We tried to find a place to camp, but no luck. We ended up walking the highway back to a point where we had seen a dirt road connect to the estero and camped there for the night. Not optimal, but it was already dark by that point, so we were just grateful to sleep.<br />
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Days 2 and 3 - <br />
We walked the highway until the Los Coltrahues nature trail that runs parallel to the highway and then walked that to Las Trancas. It was a pretty path and a nice alternative to the highway. In Las Trancas we bought food for lunch and dinner at a shop next to the bus stop. There are one or two other stores back the direction of Lleuques as well. A micro picked us up and dropped us off at the beginning of Opt 3. We had barely started walking when a family in a truck passed and offered us a ride to the river. We were incredibly grateful as the first 3 km of the road is incredibly dusty and there is actually a lot of traffic moving through. From where they left us we walked to the bridge and down to the river to have lunch and coffee. Lots of families were camping around the area. After lunch we got back on the route. A little further on the road was closed to vehicles due to storm damage and construction adding new culverts. No issues walking it. About 6km from the bridge there is a campground called San Antonio. It was also closed since the road was closed, but it was easy to get into. There are picnic tables and plenty of camping along with river access. We camped two nights to give ourselves a rest day. A few locals passed through, but no one else camped. It was very peaceful except for the tábanos. I killed more than 50 over the course of the day and it didn't seem to make much of a difference.<br />
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Day 4 - <br />
We got up early to beat the heat and walked the first hour in the dark. We passed the area where the road has collapsed and where they are doing a reroute. No issue to walk it. We arrived at the gate that Lilian mentioned, the one with the dogs, at 08:00. There were 4 dogs that bark a lot. The guard came out, it seemed like we had woken him up. We explained what we were doing and he actually had no problem letting us through, but asked rhetorically what we were going to say to CONAF upstairs. The road up is in good shape. There were a few places to fill water along the way. When we arrived at El Trumao there was a CONAF guard there as well as some other people. He was incredibly nice, just registered us and then told us because the park is officially closed there was no fee to enter. He looked at our route and told us about another option, charged our phones for us, let us take water, and then even walked with us part way. The OSM track that runs along the river is a really nice option and we really enjoyed it. The first part is no longer relevant as the river destroyed part of the road and CONAF had done a reroute. If no one is there to show you, head along the GPT route toward Valle Hermosa until you see a trail branch to the left. It will be very obvious as it has wooden posts painted yellow on top and the whole trail has rocks lining either side. Follow that up. The first part was a lot of up and exposed, but after a while we entered native forest and enjoyed stretches that were in shade. There was a rest area with river access. Just after the waterfall lookout the trail dropped down a bit into a grove of old oak trees that was really nice and we camped there for the night (-36.95540, -71.45022) River access was about 100 m further on. This is a really great route option. It is along a trail instead of a road, it drops into RR about 18 km further north than finishing Opt 3 as marked, if you want to go to Los Peucos, you don't need to back track, and it stays on the south side of Rio Diguillin, connecting with RR just after the ford point others had trouble with this season. (Jan, if you read this, we enthusiastically endorse this as a variant for Opt 3!).<br />
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Days 5 and 6 - <br />
The pass was a little overgrown, but nothing too challenging. On the way up we passed through a beautiful forest. We stopped at the last marked water point on the way up for a snack and coffee. The way down was dusty and then it opened up into a plain. The plain was easy, but as we went around the corner it turned into a swamp. The GPT route avoids the worst of it, but careful foot choice is important in some places. It was also really hot and humid. Then it was up again and then down again to get to Los Peucos. We initially followed RR, but the ford point looked challenging and there was barbed wire on the other side. I went across without my pack to try to find a way up. The rocks in the river were really slippery and I feel in at one point, but no injury. On the other side I climbed under the wire and up a hill. Then I had to climb under more barbed wire. I walked onto the property and ran into Ricardo who manages Los Peucos. He was very nice, and took me to show me the front entrance and a much easier ford point that is defined for cars to pass, which turned out to be Var B. So if going to Los Peucos SOBO, I recommend taking Var B. I went back to get Kasia and my pack and we camped there for two nights in order to clean out gear and take a rest day.<br />
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A few notes on Los Peucos. Los Peucos is open, price this year is 5.000 pp for termales only, 10.000 pp for camping, 24 hours of access to termales and wood to make a fire in a fire pit. They were having trouble with both their generator and solar panels and have been without power for two months, so don't plan to charge anything there. Also a section of the road there was destroyed over the winter, so almost no one is going there and they aren't getting any resupply for their tiendita, so don't plan on this as a resupply point until someone posts that this has changed, which may be awhile since there seems to be some bureaucratic issue preventing the road from being fixed.<br />
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Day 7 - <br />
We left Los Peucos just as it was getting light. The road and trail are in good condition for walking. We took Var D to cross Rio Polcura. River ford was easy, thigh high but very little current. We stopped at the camp at [72.9/1104] to have lunch. There were some arrieros and Carabineros already camped for the night, and it was too early to stop for the day, so we continued on. The valley path that RR follows is surely more interesting than walking the road along Var E, but it is fairly overgrown with spiky plants and it was slow going. There is almost no river access along the path, but there were one or two streams. We do not recommend the camp at [78.6/1203], especially if you are using a trekking pole supported tent. It is overgrown and difficult to access, anything that is not sand is covered in those annoying plants that leave tiny spiky balls attached to your clothes, and river access is not great. We ended up camping in the old road grade just above, but it was pure dust. We really regretted camping here, however it was late and we didn't know if there would be any place else to camp further on. (There is though!)<br />
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Day 8 - <br />
We were to tired to do the pass, but we didn't want to stay camped in the same place for the day. We found a better campsite just 2 km further up trail (-37.09454, -71.31211). Just before the trailhead to the pass, on the left side of the road, there is a dirt path going down to a camping area that arrieros use (it is the same road as the end of Opt 1). It has grass and could fit probably two or three tents. The river access is about 100 m away, but it was really clean access with a stone beach and even a small sand beach and a great swimming spot to cool off. There is essentially no shade so it wasn't great for a rest day in that respect, but it was directly below the pass, so a great starting point for that. We took advantage of the river and washed all the dust off the tent. The fabric felt like new afterward!<br />
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Day 9 - <br />
We got up early to try to tackle the pass before sun hit. The trailhead is a little easier to find now as more arrieros and hikers have gone through. The pass up is overgrown in places, but not as bad as we had expected. There were some great early morning views. Something killed most of the forest in that valley some time ago and all the dead trees are sun bleached white which was really interesting. As Lilian mentioned, there is a place where the trail collapsed. People have been walking about 5 m upstream and crossing there, but the short reroute is eroding and it looked a little sketchy to us. We went into the stream bed and climbed up through the bamboo to regain the trail. It was lovely forest higher up and on the other side for some time. Keep a lookout for a nice view of Laguna del Laja from a distance on the way down. The valley was another world entirely. Completely exposed, mostly dry but with some sections of swamp, we lost the trail a few times in a maze of overgrown thorn bushes. We took an afternoon break at the puesto just before reaching the lake. We were a little underwhelmed by the lake itself, I think because it has no trees around. We got a little lost on the way up to Laguna Roble, but a very friendly and helpful arriero staying at the puesto at the end of the valley saw us and came out to help direct us up. We stopped at the marked campsite at the east side of the lake. Previous entries had suggested the west side campsite is more wind protected. I went packless to scout it, but I could not see any way in and the water access near the site looked like marsh. We stayed on the east side, no wind issue for the night. The water in the lake was not too cold, so nice to swim in.<br />
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Day 10 - <br />
We started early to get through as much of the pass as possible before the sun hit. The beginning of the trail was actually hard to find, but once we were on it, it was clear. The up was very demanding and exhausting, and it was overgrown in parts. There is a saddle just before the final push to the pass where we stopped to take a break and some pictures (great view of the lake, volcan Antuco and Sierra Velluda) but there were biting ants everywhere that swarmed us and our packs so we moved on. Good views of both valleys as we walked along. Reports from previous years suggested no water between Laguna Roble and Laguna Hermosa. There was at least two water points between, one of which was a very nice spring with shade around (-37.21425, -71.37259). Being exhausted and running low on supplies, we had already decided that Opt 6 would be our exit from GPT08. The route down was steep and thus slow, but clear and easy to follow. There are multiple water points on the way down. We camped about 1 km in at the first marked campsite. There was a shady, somewhat flat, somewhat grassy area that arrieros use for camping and a spring flowing just below. It was a nice spot after hiking so many hours completely exposed in full sun.<br />
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Day 11 - <br />
The first part of Opt 6 down was really nice. There were nice views of the mountains as the sun came up, then it goes into forest for awhile before the arriero path finally meets the service road. We were also fortunate to have cloud cover for most of the day. There are a few unmarked water points between the last marked one and Rayenco. Rayenco is not a settlement but connected to the power plant. Shortly after Rayenco there is what looks like an abandoned picnic area and sports concha. We stopped for lunch, and it could be used for emergency camping if necessary. Hitchhiking out seems essentially impossible. It's just cars associated with the power plant, and our experience is that those vehicles don't take hitchhikers, probably a company policy. We walked to the highway, chatting with the gate guard on the way out. On the highway it took about half an hour, but finally a kind soul, Sergio, who had actually passed us, turned around and came back just to pick us up and dropped us at Plaza de Armas un Antuco. We found lodging at Cabañas Puelche 2 blocks east of the plaza, 15.000 pp for a private room in the hostel portion of the establishment, shared bath, fridge, pool.<br />
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*2024 Jan 05 to 2024 Jan 09 / 5 days/ SOBO from Termas de Chillan / RR / Hannes&Christian<br />
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1. Day: Walked from Termas de Chillan to Rio Diguillín. Slept there at -36.935262, -71.403804 and forded the next morning around -36.935730, -71.401841. Thought there would be less water running in the morning, but actually it looked pretty the same as the day before…<br />
2. Day: Walked to Los Peucos and further down for a nice campsite near the river -37.046868,<br />
-71.415394<br />
3. Day: We took Option D to short cut the minor road…easy to walk, CC, recomendable…then along road and path and road again, up to a pass in the woods and down to a widening valley, camped at -37.15603, -71.32019. As others already wrote on wikiexplora we had there as well a pretty freezing night around 0 degrees Celsius I think, although the spot was not that high….around 1450m. A lot of humidity.<br />
4. Day: For us here the nicest part started, walking down to Laguna de la Laja, up to a pass and then all along ridges to Laguna Hermosa. Amazing views. Instead of walking down to L. Hermosa you can camp as well a little above the lake around -37.269841, -71.381748 with water access, at least in early summer I guess. Personally I think it isn’t worth to go down to the Laguna (except no water possibility above) , first because you’ll have an electric power line over your head sleeping there (there is a hydroelectric power station in the valley nearby), second because it can be a windy place at shore…at least for us it was like this. Third: Still something like 1 km from the ridge. Choose yourself.<br />
5. Day: From L. Hermosa to Estación de Esqui. Pretty nice views of surrounding peaks, at the end we walked a pretty annoying road out to the ski area. Then we hitchhiked to Camping Lagunillas, an amazing place with very nice owners. Feels there like being on the Gpt, but with running water and shower. Probably depends on the season…<br />
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* 2024 Jan 13 / 5 days / SOBO / RR, OH-TL / Anh<br />
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Everyone feared Ñuble, me too, so I took option 2.<br />
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The trail was difficult to find from km 112-117, I left RR and took OH-TL. Otherwise the trail was easy to see. There were only a few snowfields that were easy to cross.<br />
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Ford km 48.4: Disclaimer: please do not my mistake! I first tried two best possible spots (hip), but the flow (13:00) was too strong, I couldn’t hold my hiking poles. Then 50m further on I saw two tree trunks arranged like bridges from other GPTs. After crossing them, however, it was not possible to go back to RR after a few attempts. My best possible option was BB with 70 degree slope straight up. It was only possible with bamboo trees, but was very dangerous. I'm writing my mistake here so you can avoid it!<br />
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Camp km 106.6: I included this camp in my daily plan (about 20km, 1000m uphill, 350m downhill). here is not possible to find 1qm flat spot. So I had to walk 4km further from my reserve.<br />
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* 2024-Jan-11 to 2024-Jan-15/ 4.5 days / SOBO / Termas de Chillán(Var 2)+RR+Var G+H+J(Lakes)/ Matthias<br />
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Started in Termas de Chillán. Hiking, most fordings (see day 1) and orientation was quite easy on this section. Only on last part of Travesía Pilcura some steep snowfields to cross. Warm and hot creeks on first day (Fondo Aguas Calientes), views and lakes on forth day (Travesía Pilcura) were spectacular. Plenty of water everywhere. A lot of annoying horse flies.<br />
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Day1: Termas de Chillán - km53.6<br />
Only minor snowfields. Ascent of Volcán Chillán Viejo should be possible without crampons, no snow on steep upper slopes. Fumaroles on ascent from Termas, warm creek with pools right when you come down to Fondo Aguas Calientes. Also people camping there. I underestimated ford at km48.4 (Rio Diguillín), water was up to upper hips and current, I was washed away… But overall no dangerous crossing and with more cautious selection the fording should be easier. Arrieros at puesto at km49.6 (Coihuería) were the last people I met until end of section!<br />
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Day2: Reserva Nacional Ñubles<br />
Officially the reserva was closed. I entered Termas Los Peucos via RR, watering of meadows was running, I said „Hello“ but nobody answered. <br />
Took a bath in the beautiful hot springs, two stone-walled pools.<br />
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Day 3: km78.6 (Rio Ñubles) - km98.3 (Laguna El Roble)<br />
Easy day … nice swimming at the camp with fireplace in the evening <br />
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Day 4: Travesía Polcura - Laguna ElToro<br />
Spectacular day: great views, mountains, lakes and path.<br />
The detours to the lakes (var G+J, Laguna Hermosa, ElToro and Los Condores) are worthwhile!<br />
Some steep snowfields on RR below Cerro El Toro, I used microspikes, but in a warm afternoon you can also safely cross without. Beautiful (!!) camp at Laguna El Toro with sun until 19:45 though it’s deep in a cirque.<br />
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Day5:<br />
Nice view of Volcán Antuco from the ridge just before the volcán (ca. km125). I left the road and walked +-height parallel to the solar collectors which are visible on the ridge from the MR.<br />
From Curva El Candado I tramped down most of the road to the junction to Abanico, where I ate lunch at the friendly cafe/restaurant „Roca“ and where the bus to Los Angeles leaves at 15:00.<br />
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*2023-Dec-28 to 2024-Jan-01 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / {08-03} - {08-C} - RR - {08-06} - {08-06B} / Lilian<br />
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Avoid of crossing Rio Ñuble, i go for {08-03}.<br />
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There is a bus from Chillán to Los Lleuques at 18:00, take about 1.5 hour. A small shop and some tiny shops there, friendly and good resupply. Look like have some restaurants too, but i'm too late so they're already closed.<br />
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{08-03} km3.3 : tiny shop selling drinks.<br />
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Km4.3 : camping spots or camping possibilities start from here to south.<br />
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Km11.3 : ranger station for guard of Reserva National, look like need booking in advance or some permits. Otherwise you can't go in by this gate. (It is impossible for sneak in, two dogs here.)<br />
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Luckily after i took 10min to explain what I'm doing, where does my routes go, why i'm here, I'll pack out all my trash, no fire, no pick plants, dig a hole for poop, etc. He let me go in, 1000% thank you to him!<br />
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Km19 : bridge for crossing Río Diguillín.<br />
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Km19.45 : El Trumao, Camping Relbún. Ranger station and Conaf campground, didn't see anyone when i passed here.<br />
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Km19.7 : closed gate, you can open it on left side. Old, steep and rocky dirt road behind this gate, look like no cars on it for some years. (Some place landslide, cars impossible to pass by)<br />
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Km21.3 : Rio Relbún, good water flowing nice, rock hopping for dry feet.<br />
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Km22.8 : view point of valley, also some flat spots with trees can fit 2-4 tents.<br />
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Km23.7 : pass, Paso Atacalco, descent to a beautiful valley.<br />
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Km25.3-km26.2 : some tiny streams flowing with good water, but maybe dry up soon.<br />
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Km28.4 : Valle Hermoso, Ranger station and Conaf campground, didn't see anyone when i passed here. Río Blanquillo flowing at here too.<br />
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Some more tiny streams flowing across the road at south, but i think they will all dry up soon.<br />
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Km35.6 : a side trail to see a waterfall, I think it is just soso.<br />
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Then connect with {08-C}, then back to RR.<br />
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{08-C} km2.4 : a very beautiful demon rock hill on your left side, worth take a look!<br />
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RR Ford[71.3/1089] : crossing of Río Polcura, it's a wide river crossing about 80m, luckily it is already made for vehicles crossing so have a rock bar underwater, easy to cross. Mostly just half of calf, in the middle about 10m, up to knee and flowing very fast.<br />
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Camp[72.9/1104] : it's a really nice camping spot with tree shade and beside a river.<br />
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Camp[78.6/1203] : this spot is not beside RR. When you finish valley trail walk, if you don't join dirt road and keep going walk in the valley then you'll arrive here.<br />
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Water[79.1/1214] : log bridge crossing.<br />
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Trailhead[80.5/1248] : not easy to notice the trailhead, although it have a fallen board on the ground.<br />
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North of the pass is overgrown, south of the pass lot of fallen trees block the trail.<br />
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Didn't see any camping spots until almost to valley.<br />
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Water[81.8/1475] : when you get close, be careful dont walk too fast. Just before the stream dont follow the trail to left side and go down, it is already landslide and you'll fall off 2m vertically.<br />
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Pass[84.2/1744] : tons of huge dead trees and ready to fall down in next second. Don't camp here, it is dangerous.<br />
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Km85.8 : flat spot can fit 2-3 tents.<br />
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Km86: flat spots can fit 1 tent before and after a stream crossing.<br />
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Km95.2 : excellent view point of Volcán Antuco, look like some flat spots at downhill side close to the beach.<br />
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Camp[97.8/1456] : beside a tree, can fit 1-2 tents with fire ring. Last reliable water when you climbing up.<br />
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Km102 : snow start here, but all you can go around.<br />
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Camp without water[102.3/2063] : no camping spot as now, wet, muddy and lot of stream are flowing by snow melt, a fire ring is in the stream too!<br />
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I camped at km103.45, just before the pass, there is some brushes provide wind protection from west. Can fit 1-2 small tents.<br />
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Km104.1 : a large flat area, but no wind protection.<br />
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X[105.4/1934] : no more trail junction at "X", you need to go down a little, then CC to connect the trail at south.<br />
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Camp[106.6/1938] : wet, grassy and steep spot. A large flat area after you climb up the stream at km106.95, it is in a valley and no wind protection.<br />
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Km109.45 : a small pass, excellent view point of Volcán Antuco and Sierra Velluda!<br />
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Snow start at km109.9, unfortunately when i almost climbed up to ridge, i found that km111.8 to km113.5(at least) , all covered by snow on a very steep slope. It is not a good idea to go through this high risk area, also Cerro El Toro is a very sharp rocky peak, not possible walk on the ridge to go around the slope, so i turn back to "X"[105.4/1934], and join {08-06} continues to south.<br />
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{08-06} is a nice trail to go down, and look like somone have maintained it, nearly no fallen trees and just very little overgrown, easy to follow and walk.<br />
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{08-06} km4.5 : junction of {08-06} and {08-06A}, look like {08-06} in a better condition, also {08-06} from here to km5.6, it is an old dirt road and no more using.<br />
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Km5.6 : junction to join a good dirt road. Camping spot just before the junction, and there are also lot of camping possibilities along the good dirt road.<br />
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Gate[8.6/808] : locked, climb over it.<br />
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Km9.3 : another gate, you can open it on left side, if you want to camping, better before this gate.<br />
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Km22.4 : i join {08-06B} for shorter distance to main road for hitching to Antuco.<br />
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* 2023-Dec-19 to 2023-Dec-20/ 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / Antuco RR and Option 6/ Jens<br />
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<br />
Tried to go up the main route. First pass was steep and full of snow. Decided to turn around and try Option 6. <br />
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As option 6 is on private land owned by the Hydroelectrico, a guard picked me up and told me to register with the Carabineros in Antuco. Frustrated I decided to skip section 8 in favour of section 7.<br />
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* 2023-Dec-21 to 2023-Dec-24/ 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / San Fabian - Las Trancas / Ella<br />
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TLDR: River fords are still heinous, especially Ñuble. Bring micro spikes if crossing Paso Prigallo to go towards Las Termas de Chillan.<br />
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Day 1: Hitched a ride part of the way from San Fabian, and then caught a bus (was a Thursday around 1 pm) until Punilla. Camped at a small, windy site with good river access and near the Punilla swimming hole, which is definitely worth a visit. Some friendly caballeros came around 8 pm to camp as well.<br />
Day 2: Walked towards Los Sauces, splitting off to the right where the road/trail led. Could not cross river here because of construction. Went back to the main road and walked North to where there was a (padlocked) cable car and did a challenging ford - current was somewhat strong and water went to my navel (I’m 5’8”/172 cm). In retrospect, would have been better to just walk/bus all the way into Los Sauces and make a safer crossing there. Cabineros in El Roble were nicer to me that the ones in San Fabian. Camped just before Camp {08} [21.6/873] since it now seems to be on private property. <br />
Day 3: Had to trespass for about a mile before reaching the Ñuble river but didn’t run into anyone. Ñuble was really difficult. I got there just before 8 am. Crossing the river at designated spot was not possible. I went upstream, around the bend, and about a hundred meters further to where the river widens and gets a bit shallower. I crossed with water about up to my navel (I’m 5’8”/172 cm) but a little past midway the current took me off my feet and I went for a brief swim before grabbing a rock and recovering on the other side. After getting to the other side, I had to scramble/bushwhack up a near-vertical slope to where there appears to be sort of a terrace in the landscape. I found the best spot was behind where the bank of the river flattened out a bit. Thankfully once getting to the top, you’re blessed with a faint trail leading back to the main route. This approach was not very fun at all - it is probably best to wait another week or two before attempting the river. <br />
After that, the trail gets harder to follow, especially after entering the larger valley. As per others advice, I tried crossing the river in the valley to the right side, but also ran into impassable shrubbery/broken trees there so I ended up crossing back and forth as needed. The first pass didn’t have any snow. There is a difficult ford after the marker for Trailhead {08} [34.6/1873]. Camped at Camp {08} [36.2/1953] which was lovely.<br />
Day 4: Headed towards Las Termas de Chillan. Both passes were very snowy. The second pass, only necessary if going off main trail towards Las Termas, had steep sections that called for micro spikes. I was lucky that there were some people who had just come through and kicked steps in, making this part easier. Hitched a ride to Las Trancas where there are multiple well stocked mini markets and nice hostal options. Not sure if I will continue on GPT 08 given the snow and river conditions so far.<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 2023-Apr-02 to 2023-Apr-06/ 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / El Roble - Los Peucos - Recinto / RR + OH03 / Hannes & Luisa<br />
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Hitchhiked from San Fabian to way after El Roble, rather easy on weekends as it seems many locals around. Ñuble crossing with strong current and water above knees (me 185cm), but still ok compared to other months I think. Went up the mountain and into this valley with beautiful oak-trees. Getting out of this forest we crossed the river to the orographic left side as suggested by others...initially a good choice, all the same we had to switch like 2 to 3 times river bank to avoid some nasty Bush bashing...We reccomend to just open your eyes and see which side works best for you after the initial crossing at approximately -36.856679 -71.275261. After the last camp in the valley path clearly visible and steep ascent to the pass. After the pass we got into this amazing volcanic landscape east of Volcan Chillàn. After the second pass we descended to Aguas Calientes, hot thermal pools at the end of a valley surrounded by some green yellow pasture and loads of cows. Good spot to camp...Then we went to Termas Los Peucos, took us 3.5 days till there. Just for the pools they take 10k, pools and camp was 14k. As one of us felt little sick we decided to hitchhike out over OH03. Do not consider this an emergency exit as it is rather difficult to hh out there, very few cars on the road as access is limited due to a private tunnel and only Carabineros and some oil- and gas-pipeline companies are around there with their cars it seems. All the same we were lucky and got out to Recinto (further down in the valley of Termas de Chillán, near Las Trancas...) In this valley or if you get out at Termas de Chillán we highly recommend Cabañas Ayunkoyam owned by Vincente Ruiz in Recinto, +56999991737, call him before. For this rather expensive valley quite a good option. Vincente is a local mountain guide who seems to know every mountain in his country and is a nice guy to talk to.<br />
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* 2023-Apr-02 to 2023-Apr-02 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / El Roble - Volcán Chillán - Termas de Chillán / Noémie<br />
Very short section because I got a lift from San Fabián until after El Roble (21.0), a bit before the end of the minor road. Carabineros checked ID and asked for sufficient equipment. Ñuble crossing was not that hard but I had water until my waist, even at the end of the season (I am 1m60 though...). Camped the first night at Camp {08} [29.5/1441], on the left bank of the river, where there was a bit of space. The next morning, it was a bit hard to go up the valley with all the dead trees and no path visible. Tried to follow fellow GPT hikers advices, but ended up crossing the river multiple times to find a walkable path without too many bushes, until Camp {08} [31.3/1629]. After this tricky part, both paths are beautiful and quite easy. The thermal river is amazing. There was plenty of space with beautiful hot water pools but also cold water at Camp {08} [40.4/2150]. The last day, I took OH {08-02} and OH {08-02A} to go up Volcán Chillán and then exit at Termas de Chillán. Beautiful ascent with no specific difficulty except the steep last 300 meters. The place is full of condors flying really close, super impressive. <br />
There are no housing options and no buses during the week leaving from Termas de Chillán. You can walk/hitchhike until -36.910163, -71.417798 where buses leave regularly everyday for Chillán. Found many cabañas options in Trancas de Chillán a bit further down. Overall, very beautiful and diverse section (forests, rivers, sand deserts, volcanos) with amazing hot springs!<br />
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* 2023-Mar-13 to 2023-Mar-18 / 5.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Abanico — Thermas de Chillán / Iris, Alexis <br />
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Starting from Los Angeles, we took a bus (at 12:30) towards Abanico and then two rides until the start of OH-MR-V {08-K} [0.0+0.1]. Then, there is a gate (after the Bridge, Gate {08} [126.7/1339] point) locked with a padlock but easy to climb. The CC section (RH-CC-A {08} [26.4/122.0+1.9]) is actually following the MR so we thought better stay on the road. When we reached Camp {08} [120.2/1520], it was completely dry so we continued a bit and found a nice spot in the forest (close to -37.32983, -71.39823).<br />
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On Day 2, we continued on the trail, simply taking the shortcut OH-TL-V {08-I} [0.0+0.2]. Then, we chose to take option 08-H to stay high, it was really beautiful. We stayed on the rim until a hard part and then we diverged on the trail that was present a bit below us. As other as noted, on RH-CC-A {08} [18.1/113.7+2.0] you follow a trail or a set of footprints. When the trail and the trace diverge, follow the trail, it is usually the best option. And don't miss Trailhead {08} [113.7/2184], we tried to go around it but regretted it. Then, the trail until Laguna El Robles (Camp {08} [98.2/1456]) is nice but the descent is steep. We believe the path has been cleared recently because lot of fresh fallen branches on the ground. On the lake, we camped on the east side but it was very windy. The other side looked more protected. <br />
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On Day 3, we followed the RR until Camp {08} [73.3/1104]. It was a rather uneventful day except we met a lot of arrieros in the morning that went for a wild bull hunt. The camp is nice and felt like a campground.<br />
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On Day 4, we hiked for just a few kilometers to reach the Thermas Peucos. It was a very worthy stop, an oasis in the middle of the hike : 10k PP for the camping and hot springs (stoned pools). We even bought a lunch from the minishop which has quite a nice selection. Like others, we used the option 08-C to avoid the pointless climb in the RR. <br />
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On Day 5, we did a rather long walk until Camp {08} [40.4/2150] to enjoy the natural pool. The trail is a bit overgrown after the thermas but nothing bad. The day was full of going up : 2500 on the tracks but the GPS said only 2100 at the end of the day. The hot springs are amazing, truly the best we encountered. And we were alone there. <br />
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On Day 6, we met a horserider when leaving the camp a bit angry because he did not sleep. He camped near a group that partied the whole night (we believe it was close to Ford {08-02} [1.6/2097]). Then, option 08-02 and variant A to ascend the volcan. It starts with a nice trail and ends up with sand that is really hard to climb. Nothing difficult nor dangerous but extremely tiresome. It took us 3h to go up but we enjoyed our lunch at the top! Then the descent is really fast, thanks to this sand (about 1h). The rest of the trail until Thermas de Chillán is a bit overrun, we met numerous hikers (but it was a Saturday). There, we hitched a ride until Recinto and took the 7:00PM bus to Chillán for a ressuply.<br />
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Overall our impressions on this section are a bit mixed. We enjoyed the numerous hot baths and the volcan summit but we were less amazed by the landscapes compared to the previous sections (of note as we did go up quite a lot, we probably were a bit too exhausted to truly enjoy it completely!) . Perhaps it is more rewarding when going SOBO? <br />
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* 2023-Feb-02 to 2023-Feb-08 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + emergency exit / Martial <br />
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Puente Inglés - Los Peucos - Antuco <br />
Super pleasant trekk in various landscapes and sweet hot springs. Met Ondrej at the start and shared the road walking before he eventually escapes in the first climb ! Met again finally at the hot river for a deserved rest after big climbing day. Next the descent to los Peucos is rather long with overgrown detour of the swamp at the end. That’s where my phone died for no reason. May it RIP with all my pictures :’( Still if there’s a good soul out there with a machete and long trousers feel free to save this beautiful trail ! Then los Peucos was a paradise oasis for a 14000$ 24h rest day. Not so expensive to me considering the quality of the hotspring service and resupply in the middle of nowhere ! « El Toro » hotspring is a once in lifetime experience for sunrise and had the all domain for myself 😌 Do not hesitate to stop there and meet Ricardo who doesn’t see many souls otherwise.<br />
4th night spent 3km down near los Peucos in a super recommanded magical waterfall bassins with perfect « nuit à la belle étoile » on the hot rock.<br />
After km 80 the forest is kind of colonised with annoying flyes and thermites wich makes it not an enjoyable place. Also recommend taking plenty of water from laguna el roble cause dry climb and ridge walking ahead (there’s still a little stream pond under a tree a few km after the pass if you look well). Arrived there in late afternoon with no place to camp and saw emergency exit on the right which triggered green light in my brain (as gear failures were acumalating and motivation low). Felt good after a few tears but the long road walking in the hydraucentral gave me some regrets until i eventually arrived in Antuco after hotish hitchhiking.<br />
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*2023-Jan-28 to 2023-Feb-04 / 7.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + volcán chillàn & volcán Antuco / Natalie & Tomáš<br />
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Day 1<br />
Got off the bus here (-36.67295, -71.29201) instead of los sauces for an easy ford. The bus driver knew of this place. The ford was here -36.67738, -71.28739, knee-high. We crossed around 3pm. The road section until the cabineros was surprisingly popular on a weekend, we got a 3km hitch but if we started earlier I am sure we could have hitched a lot more. The valley is nice though to walk in.<br />
The cabineros basically just wanted to know if we had a proper gps and map, we could not understand if they were telling us "not" to go close to volcán chillàn or just "warning" us, I checked online the day before and it said the volcano is in green but the cabineros said it was yellow.<br />
Made camp at the 17km way point because it was a good spot. Lots of unmarked water waypoints on the road such as; -36.69615, -71.27770 and -36.72718, -71.26420.<br />
Day 2. <br />
Crossed Nuble with no problems around 9am. The water was not strong but not totally calm and was under our crotches, I am 170cm and Tomáš is ~173cm. Hats off to the others that crossed when water levels were much higher! Remember to turn right and not left after the ford.<br />
The path was better than expected but still can be easily lost until the first pass at 33.2km. Thanks to the tip from Will we took the path on the other side of the river once out of the trees to avoid the blow down, somewhere around or close to camp 29.5. Hot pass.<br />
We made camp at the hotsprings after the second pass, their beauty and heat made up for the long day. There are a couple perfect spots near the hotsprings with some cold water for drinking, -36.90156, -71.35089. Spent two nights here. The hot springs are regular creeks, most of which in the valley are hot. Saw some locals camping in other spots, seems like a popular place.<br />
Day 3.<br />
Volcán Chillàn. Easy climb following the standard route but the last 600m was slow sandish-like material which made for a very quick descent. Instead of going back the way we came we followed an unmarked/unmapped "road" on the south side of volcán Chillàn that lead to switchbacks down to the hotsprings that we saw earlier that morning. Basically if coming from volcán follow the road east from here -36.89199, -71.38543 and aim for the switchbacks to the hotsprings camp here -36.90336, -71.36145. There is some dirty water on the way but very interesting and scenic. I am slightly worried about posting this because it is likely not meant to be walked, also not sure it actually saves time in compared to the normal trail but it allows for a nice rounddtrip. One can get Internet on the way to the volcano when the ski resorts is visible. Camped again at the hotsprings.<br />
Day4<br />
Nothing to add for this day, trail was nice and under trees a lot of the way, all fords easy or jump-able. Met two French who were doing the GPT northbound. Camped near the puesto 61.7 before the hotsprings, path was always there, just a little overgrown. <br />
Day5<br />
Trail to hotsprings was not that bad, just overgrown bamboo but otherwise nice. The hotsprings is not actually CONAF but a concession. Prices were as described 14mil for camping and 7mil just for hotsprings. If you want to buy food from them I recommend going at the beginning of the month as that is when they restock, for us there was still lots of food left but nothing fresh or good, very expensive. <br />
On the road we used option C to avoid the hill as others suggested (seems like the main road now) and as for variant D we did not see anything so we back tracked a bit and took a different unmarked trail here that was successful -37.06894, -71.39599 and forded river here -37.06857, -71.39158 to meet the RR.<br />
The trailhead at 81.0 is hard to see, be ready.<br />
That trail from 81.0 to the pass was more overgrown in my mind than the rest of the days but still not terrible. Camped on the other side 88.9 (actually a bit further down were nicer camp-spots with lovely short grass)<br />
Day6<br />
Somehow at camp 88.9 we woke up to frost over everything. Have no idea what kind of phenomenon this is because I don't think it froze (forecast was for 16 in the night) but even the little moisture in my breakfast bowl froze shortly after eating it...<br />
Quick trail to Laguna el roble except the trail is easy to loose just before the Laguna in the grassy section, keep climbing left towards an unmarked puesto here -37.20868, -71.33023.<br />
There should technically be a better water source than the lake itself at camp 98.8 but I just took water from the lake:S. The next pass towards the ridge was hot but easy. Good trail until you hit the X at 105.9. Then the path is harder to follow. The camp at 107.1 seems silly and would be better higher above the listed water source. We ended up going cross country all the way from a pass like structure here -37.25066, -71.38499 to Laguna Hermosa because there was a trail on the other side (a bit lower than official RR so it made sense to follow it elevation-wise) that eventually faded away.<br />
Laguna Hermosa was worth it as others have stated but unfortunately very heavy winds crept in that night. It was way less windy ok the East side of the lagoonwhich we only noticed in the morning.<br />
Day7<br />
Very heavy winds. We made a small short cut to the RR from the Laguna by heading west sooner. We considered turning around on the ridge as the winds were likely around 80km/hr at one point near the pylons but luckily since the route is not actually on the ridge the rest of the way was okay, still windy but not pushing us over. The rest of the ridge was no problem for us, slower of course since there is sidehilling and edging but nothing scary or exposed. There was no snow though.<br />
El Puesto at 121 had two dogs but did not see anyone. We camped at Laguna Laja (not nice) to climb Antuco the next day. To no surprise the restaurant and cafe at the ski resort are closed. Other than the water in the lake there are no good water sources past the last water source before El puesto if heading in this direction. There is Enter 3G coverage here.<br />
Day8<br />
Started early to beat the heat for Antuco. I turned back after the top of the ski lift because of a stomach bug (probably food but still nicer to vomit in the shade...) but Tomáš went on to finish the climb. The climb was was not worth it. The volcán is not black sand but rather loose rock (boulders to pebbles) which made especially going down annoying. After the ski lift there is virtually no trail. Plus the fact there was only a small crater on top and the weather was very hot and windy in the early morning. I think we were there during a small heat wave, supposedly the day before was 38°C in Antuco proper. After the climb we hitched to the campsite Lagunillas (10mil/person) in hopes of going back to los Angeles but after analyzing the smoke situation of the forest fires we stayed here and used it as a base for preparing for GPT09-10.<br />
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It took us 168 hours but without climbing the Volcans the trail could have been walked in five full walking days. End of January means there were virtually no horseflies. <br />
Nice trip but due to foot issues, things breaking down and a stomach bug at the end it was a bit of a suffer-fest for Natálie (Tomáš's new shoes are unfortunately painful too). However, the hotsprings, volcán Chillán, Laguna Hermose and the trees (especially the ones with usnea) made it worth while!<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Feb-02 to 2023-Feb-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 08-C / Ondrej <br />
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Puente Inglés - Camping Las Lagunillas <br />
Overall an extremely beautiful route, my favourite in GPT06-08. Compared to GPT06 and 07, this section felt most diverse but also most challenging to navigate. I accidentaly got off track much more often. Still, the route is visible most of the time except the last day after Laguna Hermosa. Even there, sticking to the gpx files makes the section easily passable. One just need to pay a higher attention to where their steps are placed. The fauna is quite rich too - I had a chance to see a tarrantula (the minor road on day 1), crayfish in the rivers, and a snake which I believe was Tachymenis chilensis (on the shores of Laguna El Roble). I believe this section is much more demanding in Dec or early Jan when snow is still present on the slopes. Horseflies were not a problem in my case. I encountered some between km 75 and 85 but that was far from frustrating. I recommend gaiters due to dusty roads in some sections. From thermas Chillan I haven’t met a soul until the end of the section.<br />
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Details:<br />
On the first day, it is easy walking on a minor road that winds through a forest so you can enjoy shade most of the walk! No complications, just need to climb some gates. I enjoyed a company of a fellow GPT hiker Martial, who shared some useful trout fishing tips and gear with me. We camped at the Nuble crossing. <br />
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Second day, Nuble crossing was no problem. Knee-deep at the recommended ford. Then I got lost in the forest numerous time. Checking the gpx frequently definitely helped. I followed the advice of others to cross the river and find a path om the right upstream side. That worked really well, didn’t have to cross any fallen trees! I camped at the hot springs - it is actually a whole thermal river. Amazing, amazing place. Loved to lay in it and watch the stars. Quite a few other people were there (some arrieros and a Chilean family) but there really was enough space for everyone. <br />
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The third and fourth day were rather uneventful for me. Very beautiful views along the trail, which was mostly through forests and relatively simple to follow all the way to 2km before Los Peucos. Even there the trail was visible, it was just overgrown. I worried about this part too much based on the previous reports. The path actually felt quite okay in my case. Unfortunately, no soul at Los Peucos. I saw a parked car and a horse, but no human in the area. So I decided to walk 3km more and camp at the next river ford at km 66.4. I also took option C as recommeded by other hikers below, it was perfect!<br />
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The 5th day was easy up to the laguna El Roble. Then the climb is quite demanding. Most importantly, there is hardly any water between Laguna El Roble and km106.1. I found a little stream at km102.8 but I wouldn’t rely on it. My strategy was to drink about 1 liter at the laguna El Roble (I filtered the water there as the laguna didn’t seem that clear) and then I took 1.5l with me. It lasted me all the way to Laguna Hermosa. Maybe next time I would take only 1 liter. However, I felt safe to have the reserves. Once you get to the pass, the views are beautiful, as is Laguna Hermosa where I camped for the last night. <br />
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On the 6th day, I started from Laguna Hermosa at 8am and reached the main car road around 3pm. The trail after Hermosa disappears and requires a lot of attention to your GPS to navigate. The scree traverses are entirely manageable. I had to think twice before placing my feet though. The trail becomes visible and much easier at km115 when the valley trail connects. No one was at the puesto at km121.1, just three dogs. Trekking poles were enough to fend them off. There is indeed a new metal gate with a lock at approx km 126. No guards are positioned there. I climbed the gate without issues. I then hiked to Camping Lagunillas. There is a very kind owner and his son. Really good people to chat with. After listening to my story they also let me a cabana for a price of camping (10,000 CLP) for the night. The owner’s son is keen to learn more about the GPT and to potentially hike part of the route too. The camping has a small almacen there with some lentils and rice to buy (however, the selection is not enough to resupply). They also sell beer, cookies and can make you a soft dinner and breakfast (empanadas, lentils, waffles, coffee, sandwiches). I hitchhiked to Abanico the next day. It seems there are many more buses from Abanico to Antuco/Los Angeles than just two these days. The bus schedules could be looked up on the Internet. I caught one at 9:30am. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-16 Frank RR SOBO 5 days<br />
<br />
Crossed the river before Los Sauces where a dirt road goes right, crossing was only ankle deep. The cable car at Los Sauces is locked & there is often no one there. River is a lot deeper by the cable car (at least waist deep)<br />
<br />
At Los Robles the carabineros were not very friendly, which was unusual, & were not too happy about me hiking solo, but after I told them I'd walked there from Santiago they allowed me to proceed. They had no info. about the activity level of Chillan. The 'shop' in Los Robles only had 2L bottles of soft drink & eggs. Rio Nuble was thigh deep late in the evening but you need to pick your spot: a few metres downstream from the RR crossing, before some boulders in the water. Camped a little after the crossing. Before Rio Nuble there is a no entry sign & locked gate but you can climb over it easily & there was no one there. Campsite marked on track file before the crossing was fenced off with no entry sign.<br />
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Coming down from the pass late on day 2 there is a cold water spring just before the hot waterfall. Filled up at the spring as the water in the valley is thermal, not sure if it's good to drink. Camped in the valley by the hot stream.<br />
<br />
At the CONAF hot springs it was 14,000 CLP to camp but they allowed me to use the hot bath for free. They have a shop but most items are too bulky for one person. I continued for about 10KM & camped in a 3 sided hut 100M to the right off the road before a wide but easy ford. The hut has a dirt floor so you can pitch a tent inside. After Laguna Roble you climb to a pass & there is a spring a little after the pass. I camped just before the spring (room for one small tent, had to clear away some rocks but it was OK) The traverse after the aerials was a bit sketchy but soon improved & I picked up a tiny trail through the scree. Walked to the CONAF entrance gate on the road & hitched out from there. There is a lot of traffic on the weekend. <br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-13 to 2023-Jan-18 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Start in Termas the Chillan opt. 2 than RR from 40km to 105.9 and finished using opt. 6. / Maks&Gabi <br />
<br />
Trail is visible almost all the time. All the fords are easily passable. We had met arrieros 3 times, they were nice and helpful. One of them asked about why we are hiking, as there is a lot of people going this way, but he seemed to be okay with it.<br />
There is a lot of really horseflies especially between 83 and 93 km. <br />
There were also quite a lot of cows on trail, that were not so happy to see us, but we just walked around them (with some bigger distance). Be careful as the bulls seem to be very protective over the small ones. <br />
<br />
Option 06A is probably overgrown - we spent about 15 min trying to find the trail but we gave up after all ( it was about 300m after crossroad ).<br />
Gate on 8.6km of option 6 was locked with the padlock, but noone was there so we just walked over the fence. <br />
<br />
All other gates on all trail were easily passable. One of the arrieros just noted that we should close them after crossing. <br />
From the hydro powerplant till the end of the option 06B there were a lot of people working on a road but none of them seemed to have a problem with us being there.<br />
We hitch hiked to Antuco. <br />
It was our first try on the GPT (recommended by a local mountain guide from Termas de Chillan) and it was definitely worth it! <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-08 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
<br />
Probably my favorite section so far! A nice mix of remote alpine stretches, forests, and fields. However the horseflies made it hard to appreciate at times, they were pretty much constant during the later section around Laguna Laha.<br />
<br />
I hitched from San Fabián around noon and did most of the road walk the first day. The campsite at 21.6 is fenced off. I stayed at 20.3 which didn't have great water access, just a muddy spring. Scrambling down to the river wasn't feasible but I found a bit of clean flow partway down.<br />
The Nuble crossing wasn't so bad for me, it was just below my waist (5'11/181cm). Still the hardest one so far. I found the trail afterwords pretty hard to follow, with lots of side paths eventually leading to thorny bushwhacking. It finally convinced me to pull the route up on my watch for the first time, definitely worth it here.<br />
A ways after the river crossing you'll come out of the woods into an open river valley. I recommend crossing the stream there and finding the path on the other side, instead of struggling through the blowdown/landslide debris along the gpx track.<br />
The trail was fairly slow from the Nuble crossing to los Peucos. After that it's super fast except for a few stretches in the mountains above the Laguna Laha. <br />
The natural hot springs just below the pass near the Volcan Chillan were very nice, but full of little flies. They didn't seem to bite.<br />
The camping at los peucos was very expensive, but they had a bit of food for sale (fruit!!). Comfy grass, wifi, well maintained bathrooms. The hot springs there were too hot for me, slightly painful.<br />
I missed option C and definitely regretted it. The road up was super rocky, and hot with no shade.<br />
The stretch above Laguna Laha was the driest I've passed so far. Thankfully there were a few snow fed streams/ponds left, but I should have carried more water to be safe. Laguna Hermosa was true to its name, a nice place to camp my last night.<br />
The main road at the end was pretty busy, you could hitch right away and skip the entire last 13ish km. But the extra little stretch of trail at the end was definitely worth it to me.<br />
It took me a while to get a ride to Antuco even though the road was busy. Most people were just going a bit further along. It's not the nicest town but there's decent selection for resupply. I got a room for 15k/night at a cabana/hostal place on Sgto. Aldea street. For some reason I didn't have cell service there, with Movistar.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-01 to 2023-Jan-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option C / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
We took bus from San Fabian (corner on the other side of the gas station) in the afternoon, and camped after ford of Los Sauces river (water only to the ankles). A lot of annoying tabanos, but plenty of space to camp. Quite a lot of locals go there as well. The next day we continued to the ford or Rio Nuble that turned out to be the worst so far for us. Doing it in the afternoon was not the best idea - the current was strong and even when it was just waist-high, we were not able to pass through the fastest part where the path takes you. We figured out to go more upstream, but just like 30m maybe? to a point where the water was really deep but completely calm. There is a rock wall on the other side. The water reached our chest at that part and our hands holding poles were under the water, making it hard to gain stability. We decided to take our chances and try to cross, using rocks covered with some grass to gain traction. There were times when we were floating in the water with close to 0 stability but we eventually made it. Best to be there early to have the best possible conditions. Until the end of the day we managed to get up through the forrest. Before you get out of the forrest you are crossing a stream that is going down between the rocks, but if you take a minute or two before it path that goes lower than trail, you will find a nice spot by the water with some wooden bench and nice covered place to camp. We prefered to be out of the forrest so we continued, but found only a field of fallen trees caused by landslide. It was possible to find a place to camp closer to the river. It is best to continue on the other side, which we did the next day. You will soon connect to the trail again, before going up.<br />
<br />
The way up from the valley is quite steep. From the pass you get a nice view of the Chillan volcano. Going further down to the lava field, we followed advices of others and get up to the top of lava field right away and continued walking on it. After the pass you will find a valley with hot springs which are simply amazing. Good to plan camping there so you can enjoy it fully. From the valley the trail is clear, until a short section before the official camp (1-2 kms before it), where it’s more of a bush-bashing. This part starts near a puesto where we came across herd of young bulls that seemed to be more curious that we would like and we had to go around them, a little off the trail. We struggled a little to find our way into the camp, which was not so clear from our gps (eventhough the path is clear all the way to the river) - the camp is secured by wire fences that we wanted to avoid, but at the end we crawled under them to get to the camp, aprox. according to our gps. If you follow the river downstream you might get to the official gate / entrance, not sure. Like other mentioned the price is quite high, and so are things in the little shop - most of it are classic camping things that last long like pasta, rice, canned fruits, a lot of cookies… but we were grateful for it anyway. The hot springs there are also amazing, man-made stone pools, with the view of the stars in the night it is perfect and worth the price. There are maybe 10 dedicated places to camp with wooden desk and bench, covered by roof (good when it’s raining). More space is close to the showers and the common, shared house with kitchen, fireplace and again desks with benches. We met there some workers from a gas company, fixing pipes close to the laguna, who were sleeping in the camp. The guy watching over the camp (from CONAF) was also nice and helpful - if you need anything, this is the right person to ask.<br />
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On the next day, we continued on the minor road, where we took the C option, like others. Following the RR we found the 08-E option (which follows the MR) to be a better choice since the RR is a little overgrown in the beginning and with thistle-vegetation. Easy pass in the forest, and nice places to camp in the valley. We were lucky to find their cows again (luckily on the other side of the river), but bulls woke us up in the morning - this must have been the fastest packing in the history. We enjoyed more fun with the cows and bulls later in the valley, that were blocking our way and refusing to go away - that made us to take another short detour around them.<br />
<br />
A lot has been already written about the last part of this section that takes you up to the plateau. The climb is quite steep and long so don’t forget to take water from the last laguna - that is the last option. The next stream we found was about 2 kms from the point where you reach the ridge. We camped before Laguna Hermosa with nice view of the volcano. There was some melting snow above the laguna and we found 4G signal there (where the pole is). We found the descent down to be quite ok, there are small slippery rocks so it’s necessary to be careful, but nothing too bad. The descent gets very dusty later (when it’s dry) and is still steep in the forrest with a lot of water from the snow. We got to the main road in the afternoon and were lucky to catch a ride all the way to Antuco. We booked the only available place we found on booking called Puelche de Antuco, a really nice cabin. The town is nice with a lot of restaurants and shops.<br />
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<br />
*2022-Dec-28 to 2023-Jan-02 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Los Sauces - Antuco / Anna & Christopher <br />
<br />
We took the bus at 6 pm from San Fabián to Los Sauces and camped next to the river.<br />
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The path until the river crossing of Rio Ñuble is basically a dirtroad, so we got there pretty fast. Only the horseflies were very annoying. We recommend bringing insect repellent.<br />
Christopher is 1.88m and the water went up to his navel at the main route crossing. Anna with 1.63m was not able to cross the river there.<br />
After some tries we found a possibility a couple of hundred meters upstream, where the water just went up to Anns knees. The tough part was to get up to the path on the other side. After some bush bashing, you have to get up a 3 to 4 meter high, almost vertical slope. We found a tree, whose roots we used to climb up, which was not super easy. Once you are up there, there is a good path that leads to the main route.<br />
<br />
The next day was nice until the valley around km 25 (where the river is not correctly positioned in the gaia app). There are tons of fallen trees and it was really hard to get through and there was mostly no visible path. It's probably best to stick to the upstream right side of the river.<br />
Afterwards the path gets really nice. Especially in the evening sun, it was very beautiful to cross the volcanic landscape. We camped in the valley at km 40 at the hot springs.<br />
<br />
The third day has a good path at the beginning. Just the last 3 km it gets more difficult, especially approx. 2 km before Los Peucos, where it's mostly bush bashing.<br />
The camping at Los Peucos is nice, as well as the hot springs, but we had to pay 14k CLP p.p. to camp there and in the evening there are tons of mosquitos. We would have camped a bit further downstream, if we had known that to be honest.<br />
<br />
The next day we took option C, like Veronica suggested, to avoid an unnecessary climb. Then we made an unnecessary climb following the road and not the main path, because we couldn't find the entry to the path right away and feared more bush bashing. But the path looked great from above.<br />
The rest of the route until shortly after Laguna Hermosa was really good. There is not much snow left and therefore there are not a great many places to fill up water.<br />
After Laguna Hermosa the path gets very hard to cross, due to lots of stones and gravel without a visible path.<br />
But it's very beautiful up there and finally not hot anymore.<br />
The descend has a easy to find path but is pretty slippery. Once you pass that the rest is pretty easy until the road, from where we hitchhiked to Antuco. We stayed at Camping Rucue for 15k CLP the camping lot. You pay for the lot not per person.<br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-19 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + GPT08-02 / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: Los Sauces - Río Ñuble crossing - backtrack to Los Sauces - hitch to Termas se Chillán (GPT08 option 2) - Los Peucos - Laguna Laja - Laguna Hermosa - CONAF near Abanico <br />
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San Fabian is a great place, loved swimming in the Ñuble River when it got hot. The owner of Cabañas San Fabian is super kind. I hitched back to the trail because I didn't want to wait all day for the bus that leaves at 6pm. <br />
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Registered with the carabineros at El Roble, but I could not ford Río Ñuble at the RR crossing. Current was very strong, and has I been able to stand up in it, the water would have easily reached my chest (I'm165 cm). I tried several times to ford the river at three different places, several km apart from each other, with no success. I would advance in the stream until I felt I couldn't take another step without being swept, and couldn't get halfway across. I suppose I should have expected this - it's a very high snow year and mid-December. I even tried calling out for help at the puesto on the west side of the river near the "no trespassing" gates, but no one was there. The long walk back to Los Sauces felt very defeating. Also, the "wooden bridges" described by Jo and Veronika are actually only cable crossings, and inaccessible by two barbed wire fences. Not possible to cross the river there either. Ríos Los Sauces and Las Truchas only came up mid-thigh though. <br />
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Regained the GPT at Termas de Chillán, Option 2. Basicall took almost the whole second day to hitch there. Beautiful trail, but steep. You get to ford hot creeks, which was pretty cool. <br />
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The trail is overgrown in some places, the worst spot is between the last puesto before Los Peucos and Los Peucos. Very hard walking through, wished I had a machete. Only lasts a km or two thankfully. All three puestos before Los Peucos looked abandoned. <br />
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Didn't meet anyone at Los Peucos since I got there fairly early in the morning, but the hot springs there are amazing. Really hot, clear water, a little stone pool in a garden. Loved spending time there. <br />
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Taking GPT08-C avoids a pointless climb and descent on the regular route, and has a nice path the whole way. <br />
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Trail gets more difficult once you start climbing up to the ridge after Laguna El Roble. The views are incredible though, absolutely spectacular. Lots of water sources up on the ridge due to many lingering snow patches. Most of them are not a problem. After the junction with GPT08-06, the trail kind of disappears. Keep an eye on the GPS as you climb and descend steeply on the slopes. It reappears again after the following camp and water waypoints. <br />
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Laguna Hermosa still has a couple snow patches on its shores, cold place to camp, but beautiful. After Laguna Hermosa is where it gets really challenging. There is no trail afterwards that I could find, basically cross country the whole way to the TR at 116.8 km. As you approach the "trailhead" waypoint, there is LOTS of scree traverses, and steep snow patches which require microspikes or extreme clambering to get around. Treacherous in some places. I fell a couple times. The ground is very loose and unstable. Things get better actually once you reach the official cross country section at Laguna Lágrima. Still some steep bits, but the ground is more consolidated, and there's more bedrock to help with traction. I reccomend taking the optional route CC-08-H. There's a faint trail to follow and it avoids clambering up on the ridge. <br />
<br />
Very glad to see a clear track again at 116.8. But still some problematic snow fields in this stretch above Laguna Toro, where it was too steep even with microspikes, and I had to do some very careful/serious climbing around. Not fun. Fell again here. Once you reach the long descent into Valle de los Carpinteros it gets much better. Still some snow in the woods over the creek. Right now you can walk on top of it like an ice bridge. There clearly was a LOT of snow here this past winter, it lingers until 1750 m or so in the south-facing valley. <br />
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The puesto at 121.1 looks abandonned too. Lots of downed trees in the area. There was no one, and no metal gate (or any gate) whatsoever before reaching the road in the National Park. <br />
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The 4 days from Volcán Chillán to the end of the section, I saw no other human. I found this section also to be harder than GPT06, especially the last day. The snow complicates things. If you wish to avoid dangerous clambering and sketchy snow and scree traverses, take Option 06. The trail is good before then.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-28 to 2022-Feb-06 / 10 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo<br />
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Los Sauces -> banks of Rio Ñuble -> hot springs at flanks of Chillan (-> escape to Concepción via Termas de Chillan to buy new shoes -> hot springs at flanks of Chillan) -> Los Peucos -> camp before Laguna Laja -> Laguna Hermosa -> camping Lagunillas (6 proper hiking days)<br />
<br />
Nice section again. Hot springs in the first half, beautiful views of Laguna Laja, Volcán Antuco, Siella Veluda in the second half. Laguna Hermosa is true to its name, and was the first to not have horse or cow droppings on its sandy shores :D Sad to not have crossed Molly and Melissa.<br />
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- The lady at the cable car was not sure whether we could cross with our heavy backpacks, so we forded the river at Los Sauces.<br />
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- From about km 20 the sides of the road are fenced. The camp at km 21.6 is no longer available. <br />
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- There is a gate at S 36° 49.177', W 071° 15.206' (blocking access to the trail) marked private, no entry. We saw some cars returning through a second gate (blocking access to the river) and asked if it was ok to cross the first gate. They said "For you, sure." I get the impression that Chileans rather want to keep Chileans out... This gate is not a problem NOBO.<br />
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- Fording Rio Ñuble was the deepest ford we ever did. Balls deep indeed! Quite doable though, as the water is clear.<br />
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- There may be an alternative path on the western bank, starting at the wooden bridges at S 36° 49.177', W 071° 15.206'. Some local at the San Fabián tourist office mentioned having hiked this way.<br />
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- The trail at S 36° 49.177', W 071° 15.206' (around km 30) has eroded. After searching, we had to push through some bushes on a steep ridge to continue the trail. Maybe more obvious NOBO.<br />
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- At the start of the cross country at km 34.6 get to the top of the lava strip after fording the river. For us, this was easiest at S 36° 52.853', W 071° 18.793'.<br />
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- The water at the camp at km 37.3 was mostly dried up. Don't count on it by the end of January.<br />
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- The bus stop at Termas de Chillan is close go Hotel Nevados de Chillan. There are way more buses at Las Trancas de Chillan, 8 km down the road. Fortunately, the whole area has great 4G coverage with Entel, so you can look up the bus tables with the key words "REM bus Termas de Chillan".<br />
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- The CONAF camp Los Peucos has excellent hot springs and a mini shop. Camping costs 10.000 pp. The guards are very friendly and donated some fruit :)<br />
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- The CC section around km 95 had a clear path, but the subsequent TL section before Laguna El Roble did not.<br />
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- The trail after Laguna Hermosa was hard to find, we went quite slowly clambering on the loose scree or sand. Going down the mountain ridge at the end of the CC section was similarly difficult. Fell twice - could not find solid footing on the slope.<br />
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- The lady at the puesto at km 121.6 was friendly, asked where we came from, went to, and pointed us to the exit road. She seemed friendly, but a subtle hint to "please stay off my land" would have been lost on us in translation. The new metal gate is easy to pass through. The CONAF guard's wife at the final CONAF post mentioned that we were hiking the "sendero biologico" when we mentioned Laguna Hermosa. This trail must pass over the lady's land too?<br />
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- The ATM at Antuco is broken.<br />
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- Supermercado Santa Teresa in Antuco sells 125ml bottles of alcohol desnaturalizado 96° in the nail polish section.v<br />
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* 2022-Jan-24 / 6.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH Cerro Las Águilas / Molly and Melissa<br />
<br />
At the "gate" waypoint, we actually met two men installing a new metal gate. They told us we needed permission to pass, and that the owner would come by shortly. We talked to her, and at first she was very determined not to let us through. I don't know what convinced her - we showed her our garbage bag and shovel to show we would leave no trace, we told about the gpt and how far we had walked. She also expressed concern for her animals being disturbed, or that we would get lost. We then showed her our personal locator beacon, and she finally softened and told us we could go through if we payed 5000 pesos each and continued all the way to Laguna Hermosa, past her lands, before we made camp. She also owns the puesto marked on the route. If going northbound and wanting to avoid a potential conflict, it might be better to take the option along the ridge.<br />
<br />
We took the bus to Abanico and hitched to the national park, not the easiest as all the cars were full. The car was stopped at the entrance, and we had to explain our route. We weren't asked to pay, probably because we weren't really going to the national park. You walk a little through it though on some nice paths, and then you reach a gravel road. Shortly after, at the "gate" waypoint, we actually met two men installing a new metal gate. They told us we needed permission to pass, and that the owner would come by shortly. We talked to her, and at first she was very determined not to let us through. I don't know what convinced her - we showed her our garbage bag and shovel to show we would leave no trace, we told about the gpt and how far we had walked. She also expressed concern for her animals being disturbed, or that we would get lost. We then showed her our personal locator beacon, and she finally softened and told us we could go through if we payed 5000 pesos each and continued all the way to Laguna Hermosa, past her lands, before we made camp. She also owns the puesto marked on the route. If going northbound and wanting to avoid a potential conflict, it might be better to take the option along the ridge.<br />
As noted previously, after climbing to the ridge on the rr, the terrain is difficult, but the views are amazing. Not a lot of water, but we managed. Many of the campsites off route, including Laguna Hermosa, require quite a climb down.<br />
You stay high up quite a while, which gives amazing views. <br />
<br />
The cross country along Laguna Laja has a nice path all the way. Then you reach Patricio's puesto. He's very welcoming, and has had people stay in his puesto before. We just drank coffee with him though. His brother German lives in the valley right after Laguna el Roble, but his puesto is hidden in the trees.<br />
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Alternative route Cerro Las Águilas<br />
We chose the Cerro las Águilas alternative, because Volcán Chillán was in yellow alert. While walking there, we met two carabineros on horseback who wanted to know which way we went. Don't know if they would have forbidden the rr. The ascent to Laguna el Lobo is through deep sand, it was very tough and took way longer than we thought. We ended up camping at the Laguna which was nice enough. The ascent from there of the first little hill seemed completely unnecessary to us, at least if you have been by the laguna, as you descend to the same level. It would be worth it to walk to the right and ascend directly on the brown mountain, following the GPS from there. The ridge walk was tough as well, a lot of scrambling. The GPS often wanted us to go right of the rocky tops, where going left or directly over often seemed easier/safer. There is no water until the valley between the two passes. There, we also found a nice campsite right after the big stream on the bottom, a little to the left.<br />
After reaching Rio Ñuble, you follow it for a long time. There are multiple streams running towards it where we had to take off our shoes - no lack of water here, though. The alternative also fords Rio Ñuble itself in a different location compared to the rr - we had no problems whatsoever there. It reached mid-thigh and wasn't too strong, and we are both around 160 cm. It is a very low snow year though, and very dry. Here would be a nice place to camp.<br />
<br />
After rejoining the rr, we decided to continue to the waypoint "camp". That was a mistake, though, as everything around there is fenced in with big signs saying "private property". The second campsite right after is not fenced in, but doesn't look that good on the first glance. The rest of the way to Puente Ingles is gravel road. El Roble has a house that sells sodas - it has a "bebidas" sign. <br />
We crossed Rio Los Sauces beneath the cable cars quite easily, the water was mid-thigh - again very dry year. <br />
<br />
Puente Ingles<br />
In Puente Ingles we stayed at a campsite a little north of the cable car crossing, marked on the map in Locus Maps as "lugar". It is 10,000 per tent, there are bathrooms, cold showers and tables. They also have a cabaña which was occupied. Puente Ingles has a small shop with sodas, ice cream, tortillas, biscuits, coffee and chips. It is quite nice to bath in the river. The bus still leaves at 7 and 10 in the morning.<br />
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*2021-Dec-15 / 5.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony<br />
<br />
Beautiful view of volcán Antuco when walking up towards the ridge line by Laguna Laja and a staying at Los Peucos camping site was a big highlight on my journey on the GPT. Had my dinner in their wonderful hot spring while staring at the clear starlit sky in the cool night. Two nice guys working here and they even donated me some pasta, fruits and vegetables. Walking near the active Chillán Volcano and watching the fumaroles while being circled by a group of condors was also a cool experience. <br />
<br />
With that said, this section kicked my ass. Mainly due to some bad fitting shoes I recently bought in Los Ángeles and because I suffered from bad chafing in my butt which made me walk like I had shit my pants for a couple of days. This combined with some tough terrain (specially near Laguna Laja) and countless of horseflies made this section quite challenging for me. But definitely worth it! <br />
<br />
Like mentioned by hikers in the previous years fording Rio Ñuble can be a bit demanding especially for shorter people. It was getting late when I reached the river so I decided to camp nearby and cross the river in the morning. Had water up to the balls (i’m 189cm) and the current a bit strong but it was not too bad. <br />
Hitched a ride from Puente El Ingles to San Fabian and later jumped on a bus to Chillán to buy new shoes once again. Room with private bathroom for 15.000 at hostal El Molino in San Fabian, nice lady who owns the place.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*2019-Nov-10 / Jan Dudeck<br />
Volcan Chillán remains active. The regular route passes the crater closely therefore Option 1 appears currently the saver if someone does not want skip section GPT08 completely. This option passes the danger zone with more distance. In case of an eruption volcanic ash is likely to affect Option 1 but the risk of direct volcanic effects is lower (flash flood from melting snow and glaciers, land slides, lava and flying rocks). <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-30 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias<br />
<br />
Overview: <br />
Just want to say quick that the termas vapaors in Mèdano are worth checking out, I highly recommend them. Please consider checking them out, they are only ½ km off the trail and absolutely worth it. They are sauna boxes built around a few hot rocks emitting hot steam. The result is a steam room/ sauna experience. I personally spend over 4 hours chilling out in the steam rooms.<br />
After a 2-hour road walk on the side of the highway you make your way back on trial. This section takes you thru many areas used for grazing livestock with puestos in sight almost all the time. Carizales a small settlement right on trail has a small store and the family also sells bread. There was also a puesto that sold us fresh goat cheese and Coca Cola. It is marked as a waypoint on the GPX file about 20km south of Carizales. Much of the trail is very dry and exposed and the landscape is void of trees and vegetation. There are many great places to jump into the river and cool off. The section up and around the lake offers great views of the mountains, volcanoes nearby and Laguna Dial. The trail itself is well established and never had any real trouble navigation. There were also quite a few hot springs on trail or close by.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: Hot and Exposed (especially in summertime). Resupply Distance.<br />
<br />
Highlights: Hot springs. Great sweeping views. Pools of cool water to jump into in the middle of the day.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions at Ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-20 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option l start south OH 08 - 02 / Martin <br />
<br />
Solo. Because I was not allowed to walk close to the Volcanoe by the carabineros, following the RR, had to take the optional start south OH 08 - 02, in Nevados de Chillán Ski Resort. Funny enough, I walked the first day across the volcanoe anyway, it had some smoke coming out but nothing dangerous happened. Then followed RR to the end. Cross country segments in the ridge close to Laguna del Laja were demanding and not ideal for a solo hiker. But it was worth the effort, one of the most amazing views I have seen so far. Beautiful section. Resupplied and stayed for one night in Abanico.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-05 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR /Ty & America <br />
<br />
Can ford river @ los sauces easily rather than walking from Puente Ingles. Cable Car was all<br />
Locked up. Registration @ El Roble like the others. We camped at the hot rivers close to Volcan Chillan and I fucked up with the gasoline in my stove. Buzzkill...: but Fortunately there was an exit to Termas De Chillan close. We got rides easily from the road.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-03 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Starting at El Ingles and hiking southbound towards Abanico. Lovely section however can be slow at times when the track is hard to follow. <br />
We had to register with the Carabineros at El Roble. Before crossing Rio Nuble there is a large gate with ‘private property: no entry’ written on it. We found this off putting. The river crossing itself was fine in the early morning but could be challenging without trekking poles and with a very heavy pack. <br />
After the Laguna de La Laja the track becomes especially more challenging and rocky. In poor weather it could be dangerous given the slippery slopes and steep descents. <br />
We honestly found this section harder than GPT06 and would swap the difficulty ratings. <br />
Took a bus into Los Angeles at 5pm to resupply for the next section. Did not investigate Abanico as we caught the bus as it was leaving.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-02 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional hike along Laguna de la Laja / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Los Sauces to Abanico.<br />
<br />
Los Sauces: If you tell the bus driver you want to cross the river by cable car (carro azul) he honks at the bus stop and señor Marcial comes from the other side to get you.<br />
Ford Rio Ñuble: If you are a dwarf like me, you should ask your taller hiking partner to carry your backpack, otherwise it will get wet. Demanding.<br />
Volcan Chillan: PLEASE NOTE: We were absolutely aware that our buddy Volcano could erupt or explode at ANY GIVEN MOMENT and that this was NOT a SAFE option to hike. (But it was beautiful! ...and a bit overgrown in some places. There is not much of the trail left before the first pass.)<br />
Laguna de la Laja: It was beautiful but we definitively wouldn't recommend it. There is no trail along the Laguna. At the beginning you can walk on cow tracks close to the waterfront. Afterwards it's 15 km of cross country. The 3 km into the third inlet took us 3 hours and were really dangerous because of loose rocks and steep cliffs. The following investigation part (@08-04-#002) was mainly a quite nice trail, but we lost it twice and it took us ages to find it again, and in this steep and not very easy terrain you don't want to loose the trail. We were really glad when we got back to the regular route.<br />
From Abanico there are several buses per day going directly to Los Angeles. Resupply in Abanico is possible.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-30 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 1 / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
We had to register in Carabinieros. They didn't have a problem with leting us go even regular route, seemed like eventual crossing to Argentina is their primary issue. <br />
Optional 1 - to the juction with valley walk without problem. Cross coutry part on the ridge was easy to navigate. On downhill there is no trail so we went crosscountry again. It's bit overgrown in some spots, we found trail cca after half of descend. Last flowing water is before juction with valley walk. We saw some water holes cca 2-3km before Laguna de Lobo. <br />
Rest of the regular trail - cross coutry sections were demanding. Otherwise no problem. <br />
We got hitch to Los Angeles after CONAF station so no idea about resuply or accomodation.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Jan-13 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin Lizondo <br />
Volcán Chillán was in "alerta naranja".<br />
Río Ñuble impassable at S36° 50.188' W71° 14.935' Better continue following the minor road in the alternative route.<br /><br />
When hiking the alternative east route (Paso Aguila) do not descend to the valley at S36° 57.919' W71° 14.752'. It's unmantained and overgrounded, because of recent forest fires. Better stay above the tree line until Laguna El Lobo.<br /><br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
*Abanico<br />
At least one restaurant with pizza<br />
Store?<br />
<br />
*Antuco (from Abanico)<br />
Many smaller supermarkets, which have most things - easy enough to resupply here.<br />
One of the two ferreterías has gas (the one furthest from Abanico).<br />
Many accommodation options and some restaurants.<br />
There is an ATM at the town square which even gives some smaller notes.<br />
Bus to Los Angeles<br />
<br />
*Puente Ingles<br />
Store with chips, ice cream, bread, chocolate, sodas. Possibly some accomodation option at the store. Campground with one cabaña a little further down the room - sign says cabañas - 10,000 per tent, toilets with cold showers and a room with a fireplace for cooking<br />
<br />
*San Fabián (from Puente Ingles)<br />
Many accommodation options - almost everything was fully booked when we were there (Feb 2022). <br />
Supermercado La Montaña seems to be the best option - not the easiest place to resupply, but definitely possible. Harder than in Antuco.<br />
Great Venezuelan restaurant Canela Passion. <br />
Bus to San Carlos<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Feb-5: San Fabian to Puente Ingles <br />
Bus at 2 pm and 6 p.m. in front of the carabineros including Sundays and Holidays. <br />
<br />
*Puente Ingles to San Fabián<br />
Bus at 7 am and 10 am - leaves from the campground, drives to the shop and the back again towards San Fabián<br />
<br />
*Bus from Antuco to Los Angeles about once an hour in daytime. <br />
<br />
*A few buses from Abanico to Antuco or you can hitch fairly easily.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT08 - Volcán Chillan]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:Segundo_Rio_Termal_zona_cascadas.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|This river is hot! Aguas Calientes Valley]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (8).jpg|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Laja and [[Volcán Antuco]], by Matúš Lašan]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT07_(Laguna_Dial)&diff=114013GPT07 (Laguna Dial)2024-02-04T15:23:09Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
* 2024-Jan-31 to 2024-Feb-03 / 4 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01 / Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1:0H07-01C + OH07-01B [5,6-8,4] + 0H07-01D + 0H07-01E + RR [44,6-49,3]<br />
<br />
I hitched from El Medano to the Laguna del Maule. The guards at the border control north of Laguna de Maule let me pass without controlling me. At km 6,4 of OH07-01B is a locked gate, but its possible to climb around. You have to ford Rio Saso multiple times, but water is max. ankle high. <br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [49,3-62,4] + OH07-F to Hotspring and back + RR [62,4-77,9] <br />
<br />
OH07-F is a short detour to a Hotspring. It's big enough for 1 person to lie in. There is a cold stream next to it and a tree offers some shade. Nice break spot. Ford 76,9 was below Knee high in the evening. <br />
<br />
Day 3: RR [77,9-107,5] <br />
<br />
I forded Rio Guaiquivilo at 9 am at the gpx tracks (km 80,6), but came out a little further downstream. Water went around knee high (I am 191 cm tall).The police at the station km 92,7 took a picture from my passport and wanted my phone number. They were friendly. I forded Rio Paralelo at 2 pm at the gpx tracks (km 95,3). Water went around knee high. <br />
<br />
<br />
Day 4: RR [107,5-145] <br />
<br />
Rio Gonzales is an easy ford. RR [143,2 to 155,3] is a dirtroad. I got a hitch for the last 10 km to puente ingles on a saturday evening.<br />
<br />
GPT07 is mostly walking along rivers in different valleys. I really liked Laguna Dial and Laguna de Maule, otherwise its nice but not very spectacular. You will meet a lot of Arrieros on this section.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
2024-Jan-10 to Jan-23 / 14 days / SOBO (mostly) / Opt 1B, 3, 4, 4C, 4D, 8 / Kasia and Michael<br />
<br />
Day 0<br />
From Molina we took the bus to Talca. The bus from Talca to El Medano still only leaves early in the morning, at 3:00 in the afternoon, and sometime in the evening. We took a bus to San Clemente hoping to catch different transportation, but no luck. The town itself is not particularly charming, however the square is nice and has places to sit and you can find some shade. There is also a coffee shop half a block off the plaza that has decent espresso at a good price. The bus from Talca passes through San Clemente at the bus stop in front of the Unimarc on the main road. We caught the bus to El Medano and arrived there around 5:30. From there we began to walk the road towards Laguna Maule hoping to catch a hitch. After about an hour of walking a couple picked us up and we rode in the back of the truck as far as Cascada Invertida. It is an interesting spot with a waterfall that has a constant wind blowing some of the water back up the waterfall. Worth a stop if you have time. From there we road-walked another two kilometers to a camp site that is popular with local rock climbers. There are plenty of campsites and a pozo for water and washing.<br />
<br />
Day 1<br />
From the campsite we walked back to the road and quickly caught a hitch as far as the border control point. No issues getting through border control; there is a separate line for people just going to the lake. We didn't talk to anyone, no one took our documents and we just walked right through one door and out the other. The road up to the lake is a road-walk but not that long. At the lake we started up Option 1B. We hiked up a ways, but there was a tongue of snow that was on a steep angle, extremely slick, and large pieces easily broke off. It seemed dangerous to try to pass, so we opted to hike back down and onto the road. Option 1K is a path that avoids going back through border control and ends on the highway. (If going SOBO and wanting to avoid BCP, look for a broken gate a little less than a half km before BCP and follow the road up.) From there we caught a hitch fairly quickly all the way to the beginning of Opt 3. We walked Opt 3 up for about six kilometers to a campsite marked Puente Enemigo on Gaia. Free public camping with river access. About a half km further on is a similar site.<br />
<br />
Day 2<br />
We started walking up the road early. The road is very dusty and the tabanos were pretty unbearable. We caught a hitch with a group of hunters and fishers going out for the weekend. They ended up taking us all the way to the end of Opt 3 and to where Opt 4 begins. We walked to the beginning of Opt 4B, but the water was too high and the current to strong, so we camped near Rio Guaiquivilo for the night.<br />
<br />
Day 3<br />
We took Opt 4A up and over the hill, an easy walk. The ford in the river was about crotch height with fairly strong current, however we passed where the cars drive through to get to the other side. We continued on Opt 4 which goes through farmland, a lot of which is swampy. If going through, choose footing carefully. We noticed that where the little white flowers grow is usually more stable ground than where the yellow flowers or just grass are. We went down to the river and camped under a tree just where the path drops to the river level, a little before the marked camping site.<br />
<br />
Day 4<br />
We continued on Opt 4 hiking along the river bed. It was slow going and we had to ford many times throughout the day as the river braids back and forth across the valley. All fords were easy, knee height at most but generally lower. It was actually easier crossing rivers than walking along the river bed since there are so many large rocks. We followed the path where it goes up the hill for about a kilometer and a half and then ran into an area where the trail had collapsed. It may have been passable but we felt that it seemed too dangerous so we turned back. When we returned to the river bed we started hiking further up the river bed to see if it was possible to go on a lower route. We camped in the river bed for the night. <br />
<br />
Day 5<br />
We got a late start that morning. We walked up the Rio Gonzales spending the entire day in our water shoes. We probably crossed the river two dozen times, excellent training in river fording. Some fords at crotch height, most at knee or lower. The water was a beautiful color, an excellent temperature, and there were plenty of places to go swimming. By 17:00 we had only made it half way to the marked ford point below the pass, so we turned around. We were not able to determine if it would be possible to go all the way to the final river ford before the pass. However, even if it is not possible to get to the pass, if one has time this is worth a day trip. Every bend in the river had interesting things to look at, it was exceptionally beautiful, and just very pleasant to spend a hot day half submerged in the water. Obviously this is only feasible when the water level has dropped for the season. We camped in the same spot as the night before.<br />
<br />
Day 6 <br />
We decided to try Opt 8. We walked down the river taking Opt 4C until Opt 4D, then crossing the river there and reconnecting with Opt 4. The path up the hill on Opt 4D was a little tricky to find, but it was there; head to the left. We followed Opt 4 NOBO for a bit, then cut across the valley toward a puesto we had noticed on the way up. This is easily visible in the valley as it is marked by several very tall trees (poplars I think) that stand out against the landscape. We passed by there and chatted with the arrieros for a short while who confirmed that the pass to Achibueno was passable and that we could continue on the south side of the river. It was getting late at that point so we camped near the river.<br />
<br />
Day 7<br />
We continued parallel to Opt 8 on the south side of the river. First the land is swampy, then dry. Look for an OSM track that is about 2.3 km long. Stay below the canal that the arrieros built until the OSM track begins, then cross over the canal and follow it. When it drops back down to the river, there was a small section of very mucky swamp. We had to build a rock bridge to cross it. After that, cross the river and reconnect with the GPT track. We went up and over the pass, it is a bit difficult but easy to follow. I will heavily caveat this by saying many groups of arrieros had been through this season. I think doing it in a season prior to the arrieros passing through would be challenging. The view at the top of the pass over Laguna Achibueno was absolutely stunning; it looked like something out of a movie. We dropped down to the first camp site marked. It was a grassy plain with relatively little wind, some mosquitoes, and lots of little black bugs that did not seem to bite. Camped there for the night.<br />
<br />
Day 8<br />
We got a late start again, being tired since we had not taken a rest day. We went down the other side of the pass. Same as the day before, tricky but absolutely passable, but probably much more challenging prior to arrieros passing through. The valley below was beautiful and green, a lot of Andean oak. We found a camp site a little past the first marked camping. At the bottom past the sign for the Laguna and the sendero, there is a small hill with several large oak trees. Nice views on three sides of mountains and the waterfall, a stream close by.<br />
<br />
Day 9-11<br />
We stayed camped in the same spot for a rest day. We got invited to join the festival of San Sebastian that a large group of arrieros and local farmers were holding. We met a lot of really nice people and ate a ton of really amazing asado. Everyone was so incredibly welcoming, kind, and generous. This will absolutely be one of our most enduring memories of the GPT.<br />
<br />
Day 12<br />
Refreshed from the rest and all the meat, we continued on Opt 8. The trail out was really enjoyable, lots of Andean oak, very fantasy-like landscape. The bridge over Rio Achibueno was destroyed. We found a ford point about 50 m upstream from the mark on the track. Waist deep and a little tricky, but we managed. Camped at La Gloria down near where the estero meets the river.<br />
<br />
Day 13<br />
Continued on Opt 8. Wood plank “bridges” on the esteros from La Gloria on. This is a popular hiking trail, we started seeing lots of day hikers and casual hikers. We took Opt 8 instead of switching to Opt 8A, which we regretted. Opt 8 up is through a very green, but very dry and dusty forest. From the last crossing of the estero there was no water until after the pass. We also hiked it during a heat wave which made it extra challenging. It would be possible to camp on the pass which is low and has a lot of trees and flat space. There is a waterfall a ways down the far side for water. The road down to Estero Los Guayes was not difficult, but half way down you are just waking through a commercial pine plantation. The road is dusty and is mostly fenced in both sides with very infrequent access to the estero. There is also no camping officially allowed according to a resident; they said the Carabineros will come and tell you to leave. We found a spot to stealth camp in front of a small abandoned corral that was not visible from the road. Didn't have any issues. Opt 8A has camping marks on Gaia and is the main access for people driving in to hike, so this seems a better option for either hiking or hitching.<br />
<br />
Day 14<br />
Continued to walk out on Opt 8. Hot, dusty, tons of tábanos. After about 3 hours we caught a hitch all the way to Linares.<br />
<br />
<br />
2024-Jan-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tanja <br />
<br />
Easy hitch from El Medano to the RR trailhead in the morning. No right of way issues. There’s a big gate that was closed but 15 meters to the right the fence is broken. No one there at a Friday morning at 8h30. Even the local guy that gave me a ride knew that there was a trail. Further up where the trail turns at the first river crossing there’s a big landslide of rocks covering the road. Doesn’t look like any/many cars would come through here these days. <br />
<br />
Crossed Rio Guaiquivilo on midday further upstream of where the gpx track suggests (-36.27219, -70.92341 is where I came out). River has two arms there and is pretty wide. I’m 1,65m, water up to mid thighs at deepest spot. <br />
<br />
I had a first attempt where I felt water was flowing slowly and river had just one arm but way too deep for me. Choose your spot wisely, stay focused and be patient. <br />
<br />
Did not meet any other hikers but had several really nice encounters including an asado in one of the puestos. <br />
<br />
Heaps of water. Never carried more than a liter. Campsites everywhere. <br />
<br />
Lagoon doesn’t have trees but on that little beach in the middle there is an old wooden structure. You could tie a groundsheet or tent fly on top of it to create some shade. <br />
<br />
Crossed bridge at km145 over Rio Los Sauces as I wanted to get a ride into San Fabian which worked after a bit of roadwalking. Stayed at Cabanas Nativas. Paid 30.000 CLP for a two person cabin after asking for a discount as I was solo. Was last cabin available. Laundry service is 8.000CLP.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Dec-22 to 2023-Dec-27 / 5.5days / Hiking / SOBO / {07-03}-{07-04A}-{07-04}-{07-04C}-{07-04}- RR / Lilian<br />
<br />
<br />
Avoid of right of way dipute and crossing Rio Guaiquivilo, so i go for {07-03}.<br />
<br />
<br />
{07-03} Km6.1 - km7.2 : Lot of campong spot beside the road.<br />
<br />
Pass[11.8/1175] : not a camping place<br />
<br />
Shop,camp[16.3/801] : the shop is not at GPS marked, it is at km16.1. When you come down from pass when get close, you can see your left side have a red roof house, with some ice cream+drinks sign at front gate. When i get to there, shop is open but nobody, only a black dog watching me, take me about 10min to figure out the shop owner is working in farm behind the house.<br />
I called him loudly and he noticed me. He is a nice and very friendly guy. I ate canned fish, bread, ice cream and coke in the shop for lunch, yummy yummy!<br />
The shop mostly for alcohol, but you still can buy some small items for chill.<br />
<br />
Km17.4 : start from here, lot of possible camping spots beside the dirt road in this valley<br />
<br />
Km17.4 - km40 : good cell service.<br />
<br />
Bridge[33.1/763]: dont cross it, it is impossible to cross Río Melado come back to this side by {07-08G}<br />
<br />
Police[20.5/775] : they'll mark down your basic information, destination and the reason why go in this area. Friendly, they give me some ice cold water to drink!<br />
<br />
Shop,camp[25.7/813] : look like is closed, sign for private area<br />
<br />
Km29.5 : look like a small shop for drinks and ice cream here, with a sign"BEBDIAS HELADAS CIGARROS" at the front gate. But no luck, nobody home when i was there.<br />
<br />
Bridge[38.4/936] : i love this bridge.<br />
<br />
Ford[41.9/1031] : look like up tp thighs at road crossing, log bridge for dry feet crossing upstream 50m.<br />
<br />
I forget to mark the location, 1 more stream flowing up to knee, also a log bridge upstream 20m for crossing.<br />
<br />
Settlter[51.6/1138] : a small stream crossing, bridge downstream 15m.<br />
<br />
Water[56.8/1117] : two dirt road crossing the river here, downstream one is deeper like up to waist and much stronger. Upstream one is easier, it break to 2 part by an island, first part go downstream 5m, rock bar underwater, flowing strong and just above knee at late afternoon. After arrive the island, go upstream back to road crossing point, easy crossing there for second part.<br />
<br />
OH-MR-V{07-03}[56.8+1.5] : the middle part is washed away by huge flood, you can walk, but no more dirt road.<br />
<br />
{07-03} Km59.0 : just like Lukas en Tess said, the river is impossible to cross at this moment. So i turn to {07-04A} then {07-04} to keep going south. Also {07-04B} is impossible to hike too, because it need to cross 2 times of that river.<br />
<br />
{07-04} km6.8 : river breaks into 2 parts by an island. There are 2 bridges for crossing, cross the first one, then walk downstream 200m on the island to cross the second bridge.<br />
<br />
First bridge : -36.24670, -70.95043<br />
<br />
Second bridge: -36.24481, -70.94877<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Mostly you can follow a trail on {07-04C} easily until {07-04C} km7.0, then the trail become hard to find and follow, so i walk on the riverbed by my own way. If you want, you can cross the river to join {07-04}, but just remian a little part of trail (others maybe wash away by flood).<br />
<br />
Walk to the end of riverbed at {07-04} km18.8, the trail shows you need to cross the river and climb up to the west. Dont cross the river at RR, it is flowing fast and strong, and look like up to waist at afternoon. At downstream 60m, river breaks into 2 parts, just before the breaking, the river becomes wider, cross at the wide point, it is fast too, but just above knee. When you arrive the west side and meet RR, you'll walk on a trail again.<br />
<br />
{07-04} Km21.1 : Pass, some flat spots at this area.<br />
<br />
Follow the trail in a beautiful valley until km28.7.<br />
<br />
Pass[28.7/1959] : excellent view point of Nevado de Chillán! Still lot of snow of the north side! Beautiful!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Hot spring[38.6/1306] : i hope you don't have any expectations on it and the one beside it. It is just a warm spring at the GPS point, maybe 30°C, a little hotter small pool at upstream, but it is surrounded by tons of cow poops. You wouldn't smell sulfur, because the smell all covered by ....... And i saw one of them is floating inside.<br />
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Hot spring[38.7/1312] : it is much hotter, like boiled water, but very spread, flowing very weak and no pool.<br />
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Puesto[38.8/1304] : after here, you need to cross Rio La Zorra 4 times immediately. Up to knee at morning.<br />
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Ford[41.1/1236] : after this river crossing, from here to Puesto[48.5/1102], is overgrown with thorny plants, more up and down and distance than GPX said. Leave more time for it.<br />
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Ford[48.6/1109] : RR crossing is impossible for this moment, flowing strong and look like need to swim to cross because too deep my feet can't touch the riverbed.<br />
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But there are better crossing point, when you stand at RR crossing, look at upstream, river breaks into 2 parts, go to there. Get to upstream even 50m more than the break. You'll see a huge white rock, cross before it, it is the widest point of the first part, just half of calf, easy.<br />
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After you get on the island, continue going upstream a little about 30m, it is the widest point of the second part, also half of calf, easy. You can walk on the rock bar of second part, back to RR, a camping spot with fire ring and log seats there.<br />
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OH-MR-V {07-04} [48.7+13.4] : please don't have any expectations on it, it is an overgrown with thorny plants, loose rocks, old and damaged dirt road, you wouldn't enjoy it. Look like no cars running on it for some years.<br />
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{07-04} km53.3 : finally!! The road go under tree line, road conditions become nice, easy walking start!<br />
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No luck, there was no bus on Wednesday 10am to San Fabián. So i walk a little further to see hitch hike possibilities.<br />
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FYI : bridge{07} [155.3+1.7/703](cable car crossing) is chain locked. Look like can't use in some moments. But i find another cable car is at 600m before it.<br />
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OH-TL-V {08-A} [1.2], -36.66468, -71.27290<br />
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<br />
* 2023-dec-17 / 6 days / hiking / NOBO / O7 + O4 + O8 + O8C / Jens<br />
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It was all pretty straightforward. The only hard part was on option 8C between the lagoon and where it joins option 3. Rough terrain. No trails. All cross country. <br />
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I really enjoyed Option 8. Many huge waterfalls and lush forests. <br />
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Done the supply in Talca. At that time buses only ran once a day from La Mina. <br />
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Very limited supply in La Mina and El Medano. <br />
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7.30 from La Mina to Talca<br />
15.00 from Talca to La Mina<br />
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Buses to and from Armadillo are more frequent.<br />
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<br />
2023-dec-9/ 7 days / hiking / SOBO /7-1B, RR, 7-3, 7-4 / Lukas en Tess<br />
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We stayed a night at el Medano coming from Talca to resupply. Next day we hichhiked to Laguna del Maule to start hiking 7 option 1 B to join RR at K30. We did this to avoid the right of way dipute and the steep climb in the snow. A guy called Arturo gave us a lift and he was in charge of the clearing of the road to Argentina. He told us that what they are doing now they usually do in August!!! Following 7 option1B was no problem exept for a strange snowlake we had to cross we tried to stay at the edge as much as possible. Breaking through the top layer of snow just gave you really wetand icy cold feet but you didnt fall in completely.<br />
From there we had no issues folowing RR until Rio Las Yeguas. The river was the toughest ford we did but we managed, Tess clamping on to my backpack and moving together. The best place was just where RR crosses, we tried moving up and down the river a couple 100 meters to no avail. We continued al the way down to the termas, the minishop on the way was not open. Termas are great! We met a lot of<br />
Awesome caballeros at the camp and we shared food and drink and they gave us a lot of advice. Some offered to help us cross Rio Guaiquivillo but others argued that is was not possible. One guy crossed with his horse and the water came over the back of the horse!! So turning back and following 7 option 3 seamed the best option. That soon turned into 7 option 4 as we were unable to cross the River at 7-3, K59. We where able to cross with a small bridge at a puesto where we met some great people, they told us a guy passed 3 days before and we were able to track his footprints al the way to the end of section 7. The route option 4 is great at times, horrible at others but the perfect alternative. We didn't get to see Laguna Del Dial but the amazing mountain forests we passed made up for it.<br />
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2023-Dec-17 to 2023-Dec- 22 / 6 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 4 + option 3 + option 1 / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
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- Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br />
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- Snow : a little bit of snow left on the pass and around Laguna del Maule but nothing important.<br />
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- Camping spot : easy to find<br />
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- River crossing : (1) option 4 at km 7,8 - the water was really high in the afternoon and the current really strong, Nolwenn thankfully got helped by some caballeros to cross it | (2) on RR at km 47,7 Rio Las Yeguas was crossable in the morning, take your time to find a good spot to cross | the other river crossings were easy<br />
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- Weather : Sunny<br />
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- Resupply : (1) in Carizales at km 58,2, you can ask for Dagoberto he has a little ' negocio where he sells some beverages and he will try to have some food as well to sell | (2) the mini market at El Medano is not enough, (3) we went to Talca because we had to buy new shoes (lot of good hiking shop)<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / David and Erika<br />
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We shortened this route by 25 km with a resupply at the restaurant in Los Alamos (past the ghost town of Los Ciprese) Great peeps there, who served us breakfast, recharged batteries, sold us enough ramen and soup to keep us going. For another 5 days. Also gave us a lift to a road above the border crossing at Laguna del Maule, avoiding an unnecessary conversation with boarder guards. It intersects OH-CC-A{07-01C} and starts at where the lake begins, also know as GPT section 2 alts Laguna Dial. This is a great at and plenty of water in Jan. Eliminated also the 500 meter climb and avoids some locked gaits and right of passage issues. Pretty straight forward from there till the end. One Pyrenes puppy trailed us after passing a Puesto. Owners said the puppy didn’t come back. If that happens again, they suggest to deter the puppy from following by using a stick. We found that the settlers at the first water source after the English bridge (marked Water, Settlement {07} [150.6/834]-36.61455, -71.2763) is a delightful family who offered us refuge, a lift in the morning to San Carlos, and lively entertainment. <br />
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* 2023-Mar-23 to 2023-Mar-30 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes, Luisa and Noemi <br />
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Hitchhiked from San Clemente to Laguna del Maule (there are some buses to El Colorado). First night up the valley, second night we slept in Carizales. Little before we were welcomed at the puesto de Carabineros who gave us harina tostada, warm bread, marmelade and juice and showed us the way to the mini shop; Friendly owner there who let us sleep close to the shop. Next day we slept in the middle of this amazing huge and warm valley where Irma and Co. make their cheese...the following day we stood at her puesto and had a great evening with some local arrieros. The day after we went up to the Laguna and camped at the first lake fed by the Laguna, was a great option, nearly no wind and warm water to swim in....Next days (2,5 more) all along to get out at Los Sauces. A section which impressed by the people we met, not so much because of the trail, which has been rather annoying sometimes because of entire valleys to be walked through....Laguna Dial was a highlight but the rest just walking to get in and out with no super special highlights. This is a section where you get loads of contact with arrieros and this makes this section so unique. Value is more on the people than on the panorama.<br />
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* 2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-29 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 7/ Ondrej <br />
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El Medano - Puente Inglés<br />
Overall, GPT07 has many different faces which I really enjoyed - alpine-like pastures, mighty rivers, an impressive laguna, and even forests for the last 25km. Most of the trail goes through long valleys. There is minimum of steep descents and ascents. However, the length and the afternoon heat still make this section challenging. Occassional fruit trees, mini-shops, arrieros, and friendly carabineros make this trail even nicer. <br />
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Details:<br />
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On the 1st day, I started hitchhiking from El Medano at 8am Tuesday, no luck after 20 min so I decided walking, hitched a car in the middle (after 6km). As I got to the fence at the trailhead, there were two cars but no one outside, so I just walked around it and all was ok. Path up the first valey was nice, there is a beautiful green plateau afterwards (what a pleasant change after gpt06!). Cows sometimes camp at the “camp” waypoints. Better not to 100% rely on the marked spots and look for other places. In general there are many good spots for camping. <br />
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The 2nd day marked a slow descent to Carrizales, easy trail and nice views, water pastures can be avoided by following the cliffs alongside the valey. Just be careful, some rocks are unstable - I fell once and scratched myself. On a sidenote, I was quite impressed by the birds that start screaming like an old alarm clock as soon as they spot you, so every being in the valey knows you’re there. Carabineros in Carizales are the best guys ever. They served me a chilled cola and taught me how to prepare harina tostada (i also got some from them). I showed them how the satellite comm device works in return. I camped at the amazing hotsprings after Carozzales. I met two arrieros there who were just leaving. No one else showed up, so I rolled out my mat just next to the hotsprings (there is not enough space for a full tent, but a mat fits quite nicely) and spent a night there.<br />
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3rd to 5th days are again slow descents/ascents through valleys. Fords are very easy at this time, not above knees. Cheese from Irma is great (10k CLP per kilo) but pack it at least in two ziplock bags otherwise you’ll have the excess liquid all in your backpack like I had. Irma also had beer, cookies, chips and tuna. Laguna Dial is beautiful but indeed no shade. I camped in the middle at one of the camping spots on the shore. <br />
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On the 6th day I was walking along Rio Gonzáles. From km 130 the section is full of forests and extremely beautiful. The fords are fun. Once the route reached the bridge (km 143.1), I decided to follow the advice of other folks and took the alterative option 7 (i.e. staying at the left bank of the river). The climb is significant for the first 6km of the optional route (about 500m in altitude) and without a proper shade. Fortunately there are multiple streams around during the climb. Once you get to about 1200m in altitude, an oak forest starts, another face of gpt07, very beautiful. At about there the trail forks into two paths. I took the option 07-B (the southeastern path of the fork) and it was a bad choice. The trail was hard to find and there were overgrown parts. After some trying I decided to turn back to the fork and continue with the north-west route. The trail there was very well marked and easy to follow. So my advice is once you reach the fork, take the path to your right.<br />
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Buses from Puente Inglés to San Fabian go at 7am and 10am. San Fabian has cabanas that tend to be overbooked. Here is my advice: try to book Cabanas Nativas in advance (they are on whatsapp). If not possible, visit them and check on the day. The owner called about 4 other cabana sites for me and tried to find me a spot. He then offered me to stay with them in the last free cabana (for 12 people) for 35,000 CLP (i.e. a price of a small cabana) which was amazing. There are also two camping sites which have always a spot for a tent. The first one is located at (-36.5650377, -71.5525476) and is just next to a river. It is called Camping Jahuel. Price is 6,000 CLP per person. The second one is at (-36.5541935, -71.5406932) and is called Camping Luciernagas. The price is 15,000 per a tent slot. I liked the first camping more. In terms of resupply, La Montana supermarket has gas canisters. There is also a good supermarket on the main road (approximately -36.5579937, -71.5514614). San Fabian is overall a lovely city worth spending some time in. <br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-05 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 07 / Tomáš <br />
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This has so far going SOBO been the easiest but also the worst part. Apart from the last 45 km amd a few spots, there is a lot of road walking and the long flat valleys are not much spectacular. I wonder how the alternatives compare. Laguna del Dial is not that attractive, there are no trees around. What is good are fruit trees, from the shop in the middle of nowhere there are plume-like trees that probably ripen in late January, at the Laguna there are probably edible bushes of wild currant (probably ripe in January) and at the end at the penultimate bridge, there are lots of cherries at a puesto and then 1 km further in a former puesto - these ripen in December.<br />
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By this time of the year, all the fords were easy, not above my knees.<br />
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I ressuplied in Talca, where I got using two cars, it took me about five drivers and about 4 hours to go to the place where GPT branches off the main road. I missed the hot springs in El Medano. The trackfiles want to you to keep walking far to the West of the hut in the fenced compound, but there is a trail close to the fence that can be followed to the minor road behind. There is no cell phone coverage on the major road after the hot springs.<br />
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The first pass is nice, soon after there are lot of puestos and this was the first section where I actually met people-arrieros every day. The descent to the valley is uneventful, once you reach Rio Saso, there is a minor road with very little cars. Carabinieros took my details, asked where I went, I said Laguna del Dial and that was that. There was nobody at the shop (and they have very little supply from what I could see from the window) around 1830. They seemed to have wifi in case somebody badly needs it, it is password protected but you could ask. A few km before the hot springs, a trail branches off the main road - then it is about 10 km of trail before you reach the road again. This stretch and a few km around the shop are quite nice deapite the road).<br />
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The hot springs are nice, perfect temperature. Right next to them, there is place for a single person for sleeping otherwise you need to camp further downstream or at the camp waypoint. They can easily be reached in two days, the trail is easy. I managed without really wanting to miss the second carabinieros befora the Laguna. The roads only ends less then 10 km from the Laguna.<br />
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The first waypoint "hot springs?" is in the middle of the river, not sure what itnisnsupposed to mean.<br />
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The section feom the second pass (the one after the laguna) is really nice, first woth some trees, at the end with lots of trees. <br />
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The second "hot spring?" waypoint is real you need to ford through the canyon a bit (which is fun on its own, there are places where you can leave the canyon abiut 200 m downstream from the hot.spring) to reach it. The water is too hot, it springs not much above the levlnof the river. I tried to make a pool where the water could cool down but have not finished it. I encourage you to build upon it.<br />
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Then there is a stretch with a lot of fording (there it is gorgeous), one last ford is missing from the waypoints- you need to ford about 20 m along a steep rock fa e that falls dire,tly to the river. Do not try to go around it.<br />
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Once you reach the last bridge where the minornroad to the end of section begins (in the files it is mislabeled as trail), I encourage you to stay on the left bank and climb a bit on option 07. It goes through really nice oak (I think) forrest and it is a trail almost to the end of the section. I think thi Sparta is almost the nicest of all GPT 07 and I think RR should be routed through this option. The trail is in good condition. From Los Sauces ,there are not many cars (congratulations to other people havong been lucky). Luckily there are buses at 7 and 10 in themornong to San Fabian. The second bus goes back at two. I thinknon Sundays itnisnall shifted by one hour (so it leaves an hiur later) but I am not sure. There is signal from the last bridge but there is no cell cig al in Los Sauces.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-31 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 3 / Martin & Helena<br />
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After some good time spent at El Medano (there was a small shop and kiosk with basic food and drinks) we followed the road for first few kms. At the end at km 11.3 going right to join the trail to the mountains, we went around the security house, greeting the guard from distance and further following the gps. But after joining the minor road we got into a little right of way conflict - there were 2 cars going down the road from the mountains and they stopped to tell us its a private property and its not possible to get through without permission. We tried to explain everything, showing maps and garmin device, no intention to set up fire, ziplock for trash etc, but we got the same answer all over again - its private, not possible to pass and that the way is dangerous anyway. For some time it looked like we would be able to obtain the permission from the guard, so we agreed to go with them back to the security house, but at the time it was getting dark already, the guard didnt seem to worry about us, but we understood they will not let us go through - we were told that the permission is not possible to get now and that there is another way around which turned out to be the option 3 going through the next valley. The family offered us to take us to their house and to the other road (start of 07-03) the next day which we accepted, eventhough it would be probably possible to refuse and somehow sneak into there, we decided to respect their will and it turned out to be really nice evening with this family, we learned a lot about the place. Option 3 was not that intersting, basically a dirt road all the time. Shop at km 16.3 is actually on the opposite side than what shows the gps, just a few meters back, you cant miss that. There is a wide selection of drinks, beer and wine (probably locals favorites) and some basic things like canned fish, biscuits etc. Possibly even some food that we have seen on the sign, but didn’t ask. A lot of annoying tabanos everywhere in this part. Shop in Carrisales is really small but still something to look forward, it has even beer and ice cream. It is run by a friendly man who’s looking after the property.<br />
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We really liked the whole stretch in the valley and around all the puestos. We forded the river in its wider part after marked hot spring and walked on the other side. Some parts were a little more exposed on the trail we took but otherwise easy to follow. We have seen even some people camping and fishing there. The way to Irma’s puesto is well described below. Stopping there is a must, they invited us to sit with them for a while in the evening and let us camp on their yard (honestly not the best place with all the animals 😄). But we bought some drinks, beer (!) and even pan + goat cheese in the morning. 1 kg of cheese was for 16k CLP i believe. At police station we had no problem.<br />
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The next few kms were quite exhausting for us in the hot weather, but we made it to Laguna Dial in the afternoon. Good place to have some rest in the beginning where is a rock on the other side. On that day we made it aprox. half way around the lake where we met some Argentinian fishermen still celebrating their World Cup win, what a nice encounter. We didn’t have any problem on the rest of the trail and it took us 2 more days to El Ingles. Last ~20km on the road are fast, but its still up and down quite a lot. We finished this section on 31st Dec in the afternoon. With no hope of any bus going to the town we bought some snacks and beer in a small shop in some construction site by the main road and continued in the direction to the south. After less than 15m waiting in a bus station by the cable car a car arrived and took us all the way to San Fabian.<br />
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Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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* 2022-Dec-26 to 2022-Dec-31 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
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El Médano - Puente Inglés <br />
I had a tougher time than expected on this section, but overall still a good experience. My pace ended up similar to section 6, at times slower but with the occasional fast road to make up for it. I spent a lot of time trying to keep my feet dry but they always just ended up getting wet anyway, I had a bunch of blisters by the end of day two. My main advice just be to accept it and just trudge straight through the waterlogged pastures.<br />
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Meeting the arrieros/settlers along the way was one of the highlights. No one seemed to mind me passing through their country. Most of the time we'd just wave, and sometimes they'd call out and chat for a bit. They had some amazing yells. There was no one at the shop in Carrizales when I passed through at 4:30, but I did manage to get a fanta and some great goat cheese later from Irma. The cheese lasted well through a day and a half of hiking in the heat. 500g was the least she'd sell, so I just ate a bunch of it with chips for my last few meals.<br />
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Everyone I passed told me about another pair of hikers doing the same route, but a day ahead of me. I never caught up with them, but I know their footprints well.<br />
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The horseflies were really swarming on some stretches, they made a few nights and lunch breaks pretty uncomfortable. But I found that if I just kept walking I'd normally find a bug free spot within an hour or so. I never figured out how to predict where I'd find them. There were generally more at lower altitude and sheltered places, with lots of exceptions.<br />
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The fords were all easy for me, the highest came up to my thighs (I'm 5'11/180cm).<br />
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I spent the first night at El Médano. They didn't have a midday bus from Talca, the earliest I could go was at 3pm. The vapores were great, but a little hard to find. Pretty much empty at 6pm. The next morning I hitched easily to the start. I decided to start hiking on the other side of the river where I got dropped off, and then ford further down after the building.<br />
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I luckily caught a ride from some carabineros pretty early along the road walk at the end, who took me straight to San Fabián.<br />
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Overall a great hike. Doing it in five walking days was reasonable, but felt a bit rushed for me. The second half was definitely more enjoyable for me. If I could go back in time I'd probably hitch a bit further to the Laguna del Maule and do one of the options starting from there.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna & Christopher <br />
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El Médano - Puente Inglés <br />
We started by hitchhiking to the beginning of the dirtroad (11 km from El Médano). At about 7:30 am on a saturday we got a ride within a minute :)<br />
As Veronica wrote there is a closed gate, but you can walk around it. We met a local living there and he greeted us niceley, so it seems to be no problem.<br />
The next day we arrived in Carrizales around 4 pm. We resupplied there (the shop has a modest selection). The almacén is basically at the owners house, so one can propably buy sth there pretty late or early in the day. Plus the owner is super nice. She even offered us some fruits and vegetables for free and allowed us to camp opposite her house.<br />
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The first river crossing was the hardest for us. Anna is 1,63 m and the water reached above her hips. The other two rivers were pretty easy to cross.<br />
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From Puente Inglés we hitchhiked to San Fabián. There is also a bus once a day which leaves at 10 am.<br />
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Section 7 is really nice with beautiful views and a very diverse landscape. It gets really hot in the afternoon though.<br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-07 to 2022-Dec-12 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica <br />
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Route: El Médano - Carrizales - Río Guaiquivillo - Laguna Dial - Río González - Puente Inglés <br />
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A wonderful stretch of the GPT, I especially enjoyed the second half of it. Decent trails, except when they go into cow pastures or traverse some sandy/scree cliffs where erosion has taken place. Lots of great swimming opportunities, which is good because the midday/afternoon heat gets quite oppresive. <br />
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Some demanding river fords this time of year. The ones that stand out as being particularly difficult are 1: the one after the first pass after Carrizales, 2: Río Guaiquivillo (downright scary), 3: Río Paralelo before Laguna Dial (although not so bad after experiencing Guaiquivillo) <br />
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Took the bus from Talca back to El Médano at 3 pm. The "vapores" at El Médano are awesome, and free if you stay at the nearby campground. When I went three next morning at 9 a.m. there was nobody there and I got to try out and enjoy the three different saunas. <br />
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Hitching the 11km along the paved road is pretty easy, but few cars go by. There was no one at the gate/fence when I arrived, easy to go around by following the river a few hundred meters. <br />
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At the last cross-country section before Carrizales, I recommend taking the northern Option D route, as the RR takes you straight into a muddy, flooded cow pasture, and the drier mountainside is covered in pesky, sharp/thorny yellow flowers which will tear through your legs. The northern route has to be better than that! <br />
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The fences before Carrizales start near the junction where Option H ends, but I found lots of accessible water sources and decent campsites even along the fenced section. The best one was less than a km after the last "settler" waypoint before Carrizales, with lots of shade, grass, and mature trees to the right of the trail. <br />
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The hot springs after Carrizales are definitely worth the detour! They are properly hot, and right next to a beautiful, cool creek. <br />
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I'm 165 cm and Río Guaiquivillo was one of, if not the most, demanding ford I've ever done. I went upstream a couple hundred meters from where the RR crosses it, where the river braids into two channels and is wider. The current was fast in the first channel, making little rapids over the rocks, but the water only went midway up my thighs. The second channel the water went up to my hips and nearly swept me downstream. Maybe look for a better place downstream to cross the second channel once you reach the island after the first channel. <br />
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After the river crossing, follow the 4×4 path, not necessarily the GPS RR track. The GPS will try to lead you into knee-deep boggy pastures, but if you follow the 4×4 trail it should (mostly) stay dry. <br />
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The carabineros at the police puesto took down my passport info and asked when I'd be returning from Laguna Dial. I explained I was continuing onward to Puente Inglés and wouldn't be coming back. <br />
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Between the police puesto and Río Los Sauces, I only saw 2 people (arrieros), and not a soul at Laguna Dial. Must be a quieter time of year. Laguna Dial is amazing - clear, cold, deep waters perfect for swimming. The trail from the west end of Laguna Dial all the way to the last bridge before Puente Inglés is awesome - clear and easy to follow. The stretch along Río González was probably my favorite part, as you are in frequent forests going along a steep-walled canyon. Plus the fords along that river were not difficult :) <br />
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I got offered a ride once I was midway through the hot, dusty road walk to Puente Inglés, and they took me straight through to San Fabian. So I can't comment on the bus schedule.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2022-Feb-28 to 2022-Mar-06 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Carlos <br />
<br />
There is now a locked gate to acces the dirt road from/to Road 115 CH at the power station building. I was told it wasn't allowed to enter and was asked how I had got in (going Northbound it was the end of my hike). I explained I was coming from Carrizales on a trail and they opened the gate for me.<br />
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It was a Sunday and oddly enough the guards just happened to be crossing the gate in a pick up just at the very moment I arrived, so couldn't find out if the station is manned during the week.<br />
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As It was quite obvious they were not happy at all me being there I couldn't scout the place to find a way around but it looked quite possible to walk around the fence, either towards the slope or next to the river. Although if you want to enter (hiking Southbound) and there is a guard at the gate you might be turn around.<br />
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*2022-Feb-06 / 8 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
Generally an easy trail, but tough due to the heat and the heavy pack. Plenty of water despite the dry landscape. Not many panoramic views - instead the attraction consists of meeting the many arrieros and walking through the land where they live. <br />
We arrived by bus at El Inglés at 3:30 pm and started walking down the very hot, dry gravel road. Lots of places along the river seems great for camping/swimming. After walking a little, a car offered us a ride and dropped us off right before the first bridge. We wanted to camp at the first "hot spring?" waypoint, but there seemed to be no hot springs. From there, a nice path all the way to Laguna Dial. We ended up camping at the second camp waypoint, very nice place for a swim - which was very needed after a very hot day. The first camp waypoint has a puesto as well.<br />
We passed the police, they were very excited to have visitors and served us soda and biscuits. We camped at the next ford near a big willow. There is a campsite that seems to be used by the arrieros, but not while we were there. <br />
Irma's daughter sold us some of their cheese. They had goat and cow cheese, 1.5 L colas, beer, wine and sopaipillas. Irma wasn't home. Initially we were chased off by a pretty scary dog, but we were able to approach once some horseback riders appeared and people in the puesto came out and could shout at the dogs. <br />
After her puesto, we had some trouble finding the right path - the route kept leading off the gravel road with no path in sight. In the end, we just followed the gravel road, returning to the regular route just before the climb at the second "hot springs?" waypoint. This required a river crossing that was a little difficult even in this dry year.<br />
Pretty easy walk the rest of the way to Carrizales on a gravel road. We found many delicious brambles along the road. <br />
<br />
The shop in Carrizales had pasta, canned tuna, cakes, many different biscuits, popsicles, chips, bread, sodas, marmelade, harina tostada, batteries, caramels. The town itself consisted of a few houses and an avanzada de carabineros. As mentioned, some fences after the town. We camped at the next "ford" waypoint, on a nice meadow next to the river.<br />
<br />
On the next cross country section, better stick to the route along the mountain side - the whole valley is very wet, and there's often a path to follow along the route. Many animals and puestos all the way up the mountain.<br />
We camped at the camp/ford waypoint after reaching the last gravel road. A lot of garbage, but we found a nice little place and even caught a trout.<br />
The main road is pretty big, probably easy to hitch, but goes through some pretty mountains as well. <br />
<br />
Termas el Medano is a nice place as well, there is a big hot pool (with some cold currents in-between) and some smaller lukewarm ones, and you can swim in the river. The entrance is 1000 pesos, but if you camp at the nearby campground (3000 pesos per person), acces is free. There is also a minishop with sodas, chocolate, chips, sunscreen and a few other things, and a restaurant with typical Chilean food. The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Jan-17 to 2022-Jan-24 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo<br />
<br />
Termas El Médano -> Carrizales (2 days) -> Rio Maule -> Laguna del Dial -> El Inglés (3 days)<br />
<br />
Greatly enjoyed this section, which took us seven proper hiking days to complete.<br />
<br />
We started at 19:00 at Termas El Médano because the only bus at Talca left at 15:00. Hiked the 11 km of tarmac and camped on the river bank next to 115, about 1 km beyond section 1 (S 35° 52.736', W 070° 40.119', courtesy of iOverlander).<br />
<br />
At the end of the third section (around S 35° 57.665', W 070° 38.836') we could not find the path on the northern scree and rock slopes. Instead, we switched to the southern valley flank about a hundred meters before the actual switch, fording the small stream easily and following cow trails until we were back on the path. Found a decent camp site (S 35° 52.736', W 070° 40.119') after the first puesto on the mountain plains.<br />
<br />
From about 10 km before Carrizales, all water and accompanying meadows are fenced in. If you plan to camp before Carrizales, turn back the moment you see fences appear on the side of the road. At the end of a long day, we asked the shop owner in Carrizales if she knew a good spot, and she let us camp on one of their fields (with accompanying barking dogs ;). Still, muchas gracias!<br />
<br />
The hot springs after Carrizales were the best so far and definitely worth the detour. Señora Irma sold us fresh cheese, tomatoes, bread and coke, even though we happened upon her puesto in the middle of celebrating January 20th - either in the honor of San Sebastian or a victory in the war between Chile and Peru-Bolivia - with friends and family. Thanks again!<br />
<br />
Laguna del Dial was gorgeous and great to swim in. We camped right at the start of the lake (S 36° 25.533', W 070° 55.101') where the water had sufficiently retreated to leave room for one tent. After the lake, we had the impression of taking an arriero highway, encountering plenty of horseback riders, most of them arrieros. For us, it was often hard to understand their dialect, given that we're very novice Spanish speakers. Still, got to see a glimpse of the way these modern day cowboys live.<br />
<br />
The first bridge you encounter (sobo, around S 36° 33.547', W 071° 10.798') is rickety and unusable. Hence the second smaller bridge a bit further upstream, which I only found out about after fording the river :D<br />
<br />
The bus at El Inglés to San Fabián left at 7:00 and 10:00 in the morning. At the bridge, the river bank opposite to the shop has some smaller streams pouring into the river, making this the relatively nicer side to camp (though there's plenty of garbage on both sides, despite the signs requesting not to litter). Some Chilean campers showed us the streams, thanks once again!<br />
<br />
In San Fabián, stayed at Cabañas Anfer Domos for 35.000 CLP per night for two. Cabañas Nativas and Hostal El Molino were both full.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option to Reserva Achibueno / <br />
<br />
From Parque Inglés to the entrance of Reserva Achibueno<br />
Buy your ticket online for “El Bolsón” on the CONAF website and get to the trailhead before 3pm<br />
4hrs hike to El Bolsón, a great place with waterfall, great views, nice camping spots, hikers<br />
TO CHECK: Bus from Molina to Parque Ingles leaves at 9 am (not positive) on week-ends and holidays <br />
Easy hitch from Radal to Parque Ingles coz lots of campers going there on week-ends<br />
Be careful a ranger told me the park closes on Mondays <br />
It took me around 4 days from Parque Siete Tazas Park entrance to the road Q115 (Central Cipreses)<br />
From Road 115 I hitched to a village by Colbún lake where I resupplied : good supermarkets (a little on the expensive side), food truck , pastry shop <br />
I didn't like Altos de Lircay NP : after El Bolson (4 hrs in) no fucking shade for 3 days and an half except that of a shelter a little off trail, blazing sun all day, sand sand sand, I found the place so inhospitable, monotonous sights : sand dunes for ever, quite some struggling pedalling in the soft sand, plus I had no gaiters (stupid me) and low heels shoes so that was a bummer. However the place is super special, feels like on the moon (beautiful pictures) and I can understand why many love it<br />
Some “hot springs” are actually just luke and others just a hole or boiling hot (I added these informations to the track and waypoints I sent to Jan Dudek) so don't be like me fantasizing all day on that fantastic bath you will get or wait for Jan's update (thanks so so much for all you do mate).<br />
After resupplying I hitched on option 7 XXX all the way the Mellado cañon (really nice, by the river all the time), communities. After hiking South from Carizales (which has a very limited “store”) I was short on time and food and realized bare landscapes over the tree line were not my cup of tea (I prefer hiking below 1700 m in this part of Patagonia) so I left RR and took another option all the way to the West to Reserva Achibueno which I really enjoyed : great landscapes, lakes, rivers and met some cool hikers and fishermen<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-30 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias<br />
<br />
Overview:<br />
Just want to say quick that the termas vapaors in Mèdano are worth checking out, I highly recommend them. Please consider checking them out, they are only ½ km off the trail and absolutely worth it. They are sauna boxes built around a few hot rocks emitting hot steam. The result is a steam room/ sauna experience. I personally spend over 4 hours chilling out in the steam rooms.<br />
After a 2-hour road walk on the side of the highway you make your way back on trial. This section takes you thru many areas used for grazing livestock with puestos in sight almost all the time. Carizales a small settlement right on trail has a small store and the family also sells bread. There was also a puesto that sold us fresh goat cheese and Coca Cola. It is marked as a waypoint on the GPX file about 20km south of Carizales. Much of the trail is very dry and exposed and the landscape is void of trees and vegetation. There are many great places to jump into the river and cool off. The section up and around the lake offers great views of the mountains, volcanoes nearby and Laguna Dial. The trail itself is well established and never had any real trouble navigation. There were also quite a few hot springs on trail or close by.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: Hot and Exposed (especially in summertime). Resupply Distance.<br />
<br />
Highlights: Hot springs. Great sweeping views. Pools of cool water to jump into in the middle of the day.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions at Ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-17 / 7.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno and Martin <br />
<br />
7.5 days for this great section. We resupplied in el Médano and continued with the section. Just enough variety. Highly recomend eating harina tostada, a vital meal for the arrieros, nutritious and practical. Be minded tha in our camping ground in El Médano there were only three hours of electricity a day, may be hard to recharge. Regular trail was easy to follow, except on mountain pastures where is also likely to get your feet wet. Bought some food in Carrizales. Passed through the welcoming puesto of señora Irma for some eggs, bread and cheese. Irma te manda saludos Jan! Laguna Dial is amazing and we stayed one day fishing, resting and swiming in Lake Camp -2. We were invited for some mate and tortas by a local arriero.The Rio Gonzalez valley is a complete change of scenery, with forests which we enjoyed very much. Resupplying in San Fabián. <br />
<br />
After talking with the carabineros in San Fabián, we were told that we would not be allowed to pass through the RR near Volcán Chillán, in the last comisaria in El Roble, due to current volcanic risk. Trying instead an optional start further south, in Termas de Chillán. Maybe for next hikers it would be ok, but better to ask anyway.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-3 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Starting at El Medano, hiking the regular route southbound towards El Ingles. <br />
11km in we encountered a gate to get onto the trail with private property signs. However no one was there so we walked in without difficulty by walking around the fence (it was late Christmas Day however so it could have been quiter than normal). In general a nice route however when the track descends into cow pastures it gets very boggy and the track sometimes disappears. We did not think there were any dangerous spots. <br />
To resupply at the end of the section we took a bus in the morning from Los Sauces (10am) to San Fabian. We caught the same bus back at 1pm. Great selection of cheap food in the local ‘mountain’ supermarket and overall a good town for resupply options. It had methylated spirits for cooking but the bottle did not state the concentration. I suspect around 70%.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-29/ 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start at Cruze de Melano / Tyler & America <br />
<br />
We took our sweet time through this section. The optional start helped...as we were able to hitch all the way up to the RR at Carizales. (Bus from Talca @3, 2000 CP each) Hot springs near Carizales were warm & awesome. Two nice little tubs. We took our time and had a great time with all the arrieros along the way. Irma sells beer, wine, and delicious cheese. Other arrieros will welcome you in and treat you like family as well...so be sure to leave them with whatever you feel fit in return. All river crossings good, be diligent on filtering throughout this entire section. Dog at El Ingles shop bit me, so be careful with that. We camped down by the river for free. Bus leaves at 7:00 and 10:00 to San Fabian, and amazingly friendly town. We got a 1 bed Cabin at Cabanas Nativa for 30,000/N total. Pool, private bath & kitchen, ok WiFi, welcoming people. Fine town for re supply. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / 4 days / Hiking / Optional/Exploration Route around Laguna del Maule / Lea Geibel & Kevin Moe <br />
<br />
After finishing section 5 we only had 4 days left before the end of our hiking time, so we decided to do some exploring in the area instead of following the regular route of section 7. We followed the main road to the Laguna del Maule where we roughly went in a loop around the Laguna (~60km) starting at the Chilean Border Control. We checked in with the border control and informed them about our plans (that involved to not cross into Argentina but stay in Chile, just behind the Border Control). It was no problem for them, we just had to go through the Border Control again on our way back to have our backpacks checked for food. The water level of the laguna is very low and walking along the shore is mostly easy travel on sand/pumice, however, sometimes can be rather rocky and tedious. We climbed up some of the 3000 meter peaks around the Laguna (that mark the border with Argentina), each of them offering beautiful views on the area. There are several beautiful hidden lagunas higher up in glaciers that are well worth exploring. We never followed any particular route but just headed cross country to whichever place we fancied, which is very easy in the open, sandy terrain. The Southern end of the Laguna has many flamingos living in it, the East shore is mostly untouched by humans and the east side has some puestos and fishermen (mostly on weekends and close to the roads) but we didn't see anyone around. Around the Laguna there is a very strong thermal wind that picks up during the day but dies down/weakens a lot during the nights.<br />
Highlights: all the views, swimming in laguna, lava fields flowing into the laguna, flamingos, numerous obsidian fields, empanadas de queso at the bistro right next to the border control (only open on weekends)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-24 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
7 days for this awesome section. Absolutely agree with all of Matus & Anna's remarks :-) We went to San Fabian (excellent resupply place) for some days off.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
Trail was in good conditon. <br />
River crossings were not a problem but plenty of water everywhere. <br />
In tienda in Carizales you can buy pasta, tuna, cola, beer some cookies. <br />
We bought huge chunk of cheese and some bread from Irma. It was amazing. <br />
Tienda in El Ingles is not best for resupply. We saw some tunas and pasta, but it was not enough for us to buy for next section. There is one more tienda down the road in Los Sauces but it was closed with no one around. <br />
We took bus to San Carlos which is leaving at 7am. <br />
We didn't find accomodation in El Ingles but it's possible to camp just before the bridge on the right side of the road.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Arnaud <br />
<br />
Great section, easy to walk, nice people met on the way.<br />
After 11km, we leave the road with a minor road in a private property (zona geotermica). After discussion with the guard, he let us pass by the rio, and not by the porton (to join the road 400m further) because the access on the road is prohibited... ;-)<br />
Then the uphill is easy until the top.<br />
Possible resupply in Carizales with elia, whose welcome with half a sandia was perfect (pasta, atun, frutas y verduras, harina tostada but no gas).<br />
Laguna del Dial is great to have some rest. Don't hesitate to plan to spend some time there. It seems to be a good spot to fish.<br />
With the state of the volcan chillan, we decided to skip the section 8 and have some rest in San Fabian.<br />
From los Sauces to San Fabian, the micro leaves at 11pm only.<br />
We stayed by the Anfer Domos of Edgardo Lopez (+56 9 630 91 627), which is a great place to have some rest (a little far from the centre (1km), but he lends bikes if necessary), cabañas Nativa were full.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-12 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank <br />
<br />
No access problem as you leave main road @ KM11, just go left around the fenced area & you will find a small track that leads up to the dirt road. Termas El Medano is last stop for bus but you can hitch first 11K. Don't expect much from shop in Carizales, contents listed by Matus are all she has. Irma, about a 1 day walk beyond Carizales has cheese, drinks in 2L bottles & sometimes bread. At Puesto 9 before Puesto Irma, fresh cold water comes up from the ground into a small pool, safe to drink without filtering. There is an arreiro living there so talk to him first. Very hot in Guaiquivilo Valley & as you go round Laguna Dial. Little shade in the valley & virtually none @ Laguna Dial. Spectacular trail down canyon on last day. You cross the river 8 times. Dogs @ Puente Ingles shop attacked me & if I didn't have a stick would have been bitten also. Camped down by Puente Ingles bridge but it's noisy on weekends & lots of horseflies. 2 buses out from Puente Ingles around 7 & 7:50AM<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
*El Médano<br />
<br />
Termas el Medano is a nice place as well, there is a big hot pool (with some cold currents in-between) and some smaller lukewarm ones, and you can swim in the river. The entrance is 1000 pesos, but if you camp at the nearby campground (3000 pesos per person), acces is free. There is also a minishop with sodas, chocolate, chips, sunscreen and a few other things - maybe some bread and flour, but nothing else for resupplying. There's also a restaurant with typical Chilean food, it was very busy when we were there but they do take away as well. The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961 - many others went when we were there, though. <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
*Bus Talca - Termas El Medano <br />
<br />
07:00, 12:30,15:00, 18:45<br />
<br />
from Terminal Talca<br />
<br />
<br />
*Bus Termas el Médano - Talca<br />
<br />
The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 am at the bus shed in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961. Otherwise it leaves from La Mina at 7 am <br />
<br />
<br />
*Bus from Puente Ingles around 7 & 10AM. Confirm times @ the shop. Bus back from San Fabián at 2 and 6 pm <br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
* Tanja: No right of way issue RR trailhead for me on January 12, 2024. There’s a big gate that was closed but 15 meters to the right the fence is broken. No one at gate on Friday morning. Further up where the trail turns at the first river crossing there’s a big landslide of rocks covering the road. Doesn’t look like any/many cars would come through here these days.<br />
<br />
<br />
* Martin & Helena: We got into a right of way conflict on 25th of Dec 2022 - for detailed description see our section log from that time. Short version is that we met 2 cars going down the minor road to the security house at km 11. They refused to let us pass, but we believe it was just their good intention and fear of a possible accident. We tried to convince them in every possible way, but with no success, maybe someone with better Spanish could talk his way through. The guard saw us before and didn't care, so it was just a bad luck for us to meet these cars.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT07 - Laguna Dial]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 13 Laguna Dial.PNG|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 21.jpg|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949889.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
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[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321002.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 01.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
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[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 06 Puesto.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 06.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
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[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 11.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 12.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 14 Laguna Dial 2.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 15.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 16.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
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[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 19.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 20.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 22.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 23.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 25.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 26.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 27.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 28.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321024.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321027.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949851.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949853.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT07_(Laguna_Dial)&diff=114012GPT07 (Laguna Dial)2024-02-04T15:22:24Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br style="clear:both" /><br />
<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
* 2024-Jan-31 to 2024-Feb-03 / 4 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01 / Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1:0H07-01C + OH07-01B [5,6-8,4] + 0H07-01D + 0H07-01E + RR [44,6-49,3]<br />
<br />
I hitched from El Medano to the Laguna del Maule. The guards at the border control north of Laguna de Maule let me pass without controlling me. At km 6,4 of OH07-01B is a locked gate, but its possible to climb around. You have to ford Rio Saso multiple times, but water is max. ankle high. <br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [49,3-62,4] + OH07-F to Hotspring and back + RR [62,4-77,9] <br />
OH07-F is a short detour to a Hotspring. It's big enough for 1 person to lie in. There is a cold stream next to it and a tree offers some shade. Nice break spot. Ford 76,9 was below Knee high in the evening. <br />
<br />
Day 3: RR [77,9-107,5] <br />
I forded Rio Guaiquivilo at 9 am at the gpx tracks (km 80,6), but came out a little further downstream. Water went around knee high (I am 191 cm tall).The police at the station km 92,7 took a picture from my passport and wanted my phone number. They were friendly. I forded Rio Paralelo at 2 pm at the gpx tracks (km 95,3). Water went around knee high. <br />
<br />
<br />
Day 4: RR [107,5-145] <br />
Rio Gonzales is an easy ford. RR [143,2 to 155,3] is a dirtroad. I got a hitch for the last 10 km to puente ingles on a saturday evening.<br />
<br />
GPT07 is mostly walking along rivers in different valleys. I really liked Laguna Dial and Laguna de Maule, otherwise its nice but not very spectacular. You will meet a lot of Arrieros on this section.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
2024-Jan-10 to Jan-23 / 14 days / SOBO (mostly) / Opt 1B, 3, 4, 4C, 4D, 8 / Kasia and Michael<br />
<br />
Day 0<br />
From Molina we took the bus to Talca. The bus from Talca to El Medano still only leaves early in the morning, at 3:00 in the afternoon, and sometime in the evening. We took a bus to San Clemente hoping to catch different transportation, but no luck. The town itself is not particularly charming, however the square is nice and has places to sit and you can find some shade. There is also a coffee shop half a block off the plaza that has decent espresso at a good price. The bus from Talca passes through San Clemente at the bus stop in front of the Unimarc on the main road. We caught the bus to El Medano and arrived there around 5:30. From there we began to walk the road towards Laguna Maule hoping to catch a hitch. After about an hour of walking a couple picked us up and we rode in the back of the truck as far as Cascada Invertida. It is an interesting spot with a waterfall that has a constant wind blowing some of the water back up the waterfall. Worth a stop if you have time. From there we road-walked another two kilometers to a camp site that is popular with local rock climbers. There are plenty of campsites and a pozo for water and washing.<br />
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Day 1<br />
From the campsite we walked back to the road and quickly caught a hitch as far as the border control point. No issues getting through border control; there is a separate line for people just going to the lake. We didn't talk to anyone, no one took our documents and we just walked right through one door and out the other. The road up to the lake is a road-walk but not that long. At the lake we started up Option 1B. We hiked up a ways, but there was a tongue of snow that was on a steep angle, extremely slick, and large pieces easily broke off. It seemed dangerous to try to pass, so we opted to hike back down and onto the road. Option 1K is a path that avoids going back through border control and ends on the highway. (If going SOBO and wanting to avoid BCP, look for a broken gate a little less than a half km before BCP and follow the road up.) From there we caught a hitch fairly quickly all the way to the beginning of Opt 3. We walked Opt 3 up for about six kilometers to a campsite marked Puente Enemigo on Gaia. Free public camping with river access. About a half km further on is a similar site.<br />
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Day 2<br />
We started walking up the road early. The road is very dusty and the tabanos were pretty unbearable. We caught a hitch with a group of hunters and fishers going out for the weekend. They ended up taking us all the way to the end of Opt 3 and to where Opt 4 begins. We walked to the beginning of Opt 4B, but the water was too high and the current to strong, so we camped near Rio Guaiquivilo for the night.<br />
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Day 3<br />
We took Opt 4A up and over the hill, an easy walk. The ford in the river was about crotch height with fairly strong current, however we passed where the cars drive through to get to the other side. We continued on Opt 4 which goes through farmland, a lot of which is swampy. If going through, choose footing carefully. We noticed that where the little white flowers grow is usually more stable ground than where the yellow flowers or just grass are. We went down to the river and camped under a tree just where the path drops to the river level, a little before the marked camping site.<br />
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Day 4<br />
We continued on Opt 4 hiking along the river bed. It was slow going and we had to ford many times throughout the day as the river braids back and forth across the valley. All fords were easy, knee height at most but generally lower. It was actually easier crossing rivers than walking along the river bed since there are so many large rocks. We followed the path where it goes up the hill for about a kilometer and a half and then ran into an area where the trail had collapsed. It may have been passable but we felt that it seemed too dangerous so we turned back. When we returned to the river bed we started hiking further up the river bed to see if it was possible to go on a lower route. We camped in the river bed for the night. <br />
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Day 5<br />
We got a late start that morning. We walked up the Rio Gonzales spending the entire day in our water shoes. We probably crossed the river two dozen times, excellent training in river fording. Some fords at crotch height, most at knee or lower. The water was a beautiful color, an excellent temperature, and there were plenty of places to go swimming. By 17:00 we had only made it half way to the marked ford point below the pass, so we turned around. We were not able to determine if it would be possible to go all the way to the final river ford before the pass. However, even if it is not possible to get to the pass, if one has time this is worth a day trip. Every bend in the river had interesting things to look at, it was exceptionally beautiful, and just very pleasant to spend a hot day half submerged in the water. Obviously this is only feasible when the water level has dropped for the season. We camped in the same spot as the night before.<br />
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Day 6 <br />
We decided to try Opt 8. We walked down the river taking Opt 4C until Opt 4D, then crossing the river there and reconnecting with Opt 4. The path up the hill on Opt 4D was a little tricky to find, but it was there; head to the left. We followed Opt 4 NOBO for a bit, then cut across the valley toward a puesto we had noticed on the way up. This is easily visible in the valley as it is marked by several very tall trees (poplars I think) that stand out against the landscape. We passed by there and chatted with the arrieros for a short while who confirmed that the pass to Achibueno was passable and that we could continue on the south side of the river. It was getting late at that point so we camped near the river.<br />
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Day 7<br />
We continued parallel to Opt 8 on the south side of the river. First the land is swampy, then dry. Look for an OSM track that is about 2.3 km long. Stay below the canal that the arrieros built until the OSM track begins, then cross over the canal and follow it. When it drops back down to the river, there was a small section of very mucky swamp. We had to build a rock bridge to cross it. After that, cross the river and reconnect with the GPT track. We went up and over the pass, it is a bit difficult but easy to follow. I will heavily caveat this by saying many groups of arrieros had been through this season. I think doing it in a season prior to the arrieros passing through would be challenging. The view at the top of the pass over Laguna Achibueno was absolutely stunning; it looked like something out of a movie. We dropped down to the first camp site marked. It was a grassy plain with relatively little wind, some mosquitoes, and lots of little black bugs that did not seem to bite. Camped there for the night.<br />
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Day 8<br />
We got a late start again, being tired since we had not taken a rest day. We went down the other side of the pass. Same as the day before, tricky but absolutely passable, but probably much more challenging prior to arrieros passing through. The valley below was beautiful and green, a lot of Andean oak. We found a camp site a little past the first marked camping. At the bottom past the sign for the Laguna and the sendero, there is a small hill with several large oak trees. Nice views on three sides of mountains and the waterfall, a stream close by.<br />
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Day 9-11<br />
We stayed camped in the same spot for a rest day. We got invited to join the festival of San Sebastian that a large group of arrieros and local farmers were holding. We met a lot of really nice people and ate a ton of really amazing asado. Everyone was so incredibly welcoming, kind, and generous. This will absolutely be one of our most enduring memories of the GPT.<br />
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Day 12<br />
Refreshed from the rest and all the meat, we continued on Opt 8. The trail out was really enjoyable, lots of Andean oak, very fantasy-like landscape. The bridge over Rio Achibueno was destroyed. We found a ford point about 50 m upstream from the mark on the track. Waist deep and a little tricky, but we managed. Camped at La Gloria down near where the estero meets the river.<br />
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Day 13<br />
Continued on Opt 8. Wood plank “bridges” on the esteros from La Gloria on. This is a popular hiking trail, we started seeing lots of day hikers and casual hikers. We took Opt 8 instead of switching to Opt 8A, which we regretted. Opt 8 up is through a very green, but very dry and dusty forest. From the last crossing of the estero there was no water until after the pass. We also hiked it during a heat wave which made it extra challenging. It would be possible to camp on the pass which is low and has a lot of trees and flat space. There is a waterfall a ways down the far side for water. The road down to Estero Los Guayes was not difficult, but half way down you are just waking through a commercial pine plantation. The road is dusty and is mostly fenced in both sides with very infrequent access to the estero. There is also no camping officially allowed according to a resident; they said the Carabineros will come and tell you to leave. We found a spot to stealth camp in front of a small abandoned corral that was not visible from the road. Didn't have any issues. Opt 8A has camping marks on Gaia and is the main access for people driving in to hike, so this seems a better option for either hiking or hitching.<br />
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Day 14<br />
Continued to walk out on Opt 8. Hot, dusty, tons of tábanos. After about 3 hours we caught a hitch all the way to Linares.<br />
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2024-Jan-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tanja <br />
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Easy hitch from El Medano to the RR trailhead in the morning. No right of way issues. There’s a big gate that was closed but 15 meters to the right the fence is broken. No one there at a Friday morning at 8h30. Even the local guy that gave me a ride knew that there was a trail. Further up where the trail turns at the first river crossing there’s a big landslide of rocks covering the road. Doesn’t look like any/many cars would come through here these days. <br />
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Crossed Rio Guaiquivilo on midday further upstream of where the gpx track suggests (-36.27219, -70.92341 is where I came out). River has two arms there and is pretty wide. I’m 1,65m, water up to mid thighs at deepest spot. <br />
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I had a first attempt where I felt water was flowing slowly and river had just one arm but way too deep for me. Choose your spot wisely, stay focused and be patient. <br />
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Did not meet any other hikers but had several really nice encounters including an asado in one of the puestos. <br />
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Heaps of water. Never carried more than a liter. Campsites everywhere. <br />
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Lagoon doesn’t have trees but on that little beach in the middle there is an old wooden structure. You could tie a groundsheet or tent fly on top of it to create some shade. <br />
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Crossed bridge at km145 over Rio Los Sauces as I wanted to get a ride into San Fabian which worked after a bit of roadwalking. Stayed at Cabanas Nativas. Paid 30.000 CLP for a two person cabin after asking for a discount as I was solo. Was last cabin available. Laundry service is 8.000CLP.<br />
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*2023-Dec-22 to 2023-Dec-27 / 5.5days / Hiking / SOBO / {07-03}-{07-04A}-{07-04}-{07-04C}-{07-04}- RR / Lilian<br />
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Avoid of right of way dipute and crossing Rio Guaiquivilo, so i go for {07-03}.<br />
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{07-03} Km6.1 - km7.2 : Lot of campong spot beside the road.<br />
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Pass[11.8/1175] : not a camping place<br />
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Shop,camp[16.3/801] : the shop is not at GPS marked, it is at km16.1. When you come down from pass when get close, you can see your left side have a red roof house, with some ice cream+drinks sign at front gate. When i get to there, shop is open but nobody, only a black dog watching me, take me about 10min to figure out the shop owner is working in farm behind the house.<br />
I called him loudly and he noticed me. He is a nice and very friendly guy. I ate canned fish, bread, ice cream and coke in the shop for lunch, yummy yummy!<br />
The shop mostly for alcohol, but you still can buy some small items for chill.<br />
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Km17.4 : start from here, lot of possible camping spots beside the dirt road in this valley<br />
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Km17.4 - km40 : good cell service.<br />
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Bridge[33.1/763]: dont cross it, it is impossible to cross Río Melado come back to this side by {07-08G}<br />
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Police[20.5/775] : they'll mark down your basic information, destination and the reason why go in this area. Friendly, they give me some ice cold water to drink!<br />
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Shop,camp[25.7/813] : look like is closed, sign for private area<br />
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Km29.5 : look like a small shop for drinks and ice cream here, with a sign"BEBDIAS HELADAS CIGARROS" at the front gate. But no luck, nobody home when i was there.<br />
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Bridge[38.4/936] : i love this bridge.<br />
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Ford[41.9/1031] : look like up tp thighs at road crossing, log bridge for dry feet crossing upstream 50m.<br />
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I forget to mark the location, 1 more stream flowing up to knee, also a log bridge upstream 20m for crossing.<br />
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Settlter[51.6/1138] : a small stream crossing, bridge downstream 15m.<br />
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Water[56.8/1117] : two dirt road crossing the river here, downstream one is deeper like up to waist and much stronger. Upstream one is easier, it break to 2 part by an island, first part go downstream 5m, rock bar underwater, flowing strong and just above knee at late afternoon. After arrive the island, go upstream back to road crossing point, easy crossing there for second part.<br />
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OH-MR-V{07-03}[56.8+1.5] : the middle part is washed away by huge flood, you can walk, but no more dirt road.<br />
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{07-03} Km59.0 : just like Lukas en Tess said, the river is impossible to cross at this moment. So i turn to {07-04A} then {07-04} to keep going south. Also {07-04B} is impossible to hike too, because it need to cross 2 times of that river.<br />
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{07-04} km6.8 : river breaks into 2 parts by an island. There are 2 bridges for crossing, cross the first one, then walk downstream 200m on the island to cross the second bridge.<br />
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First bridge : -36.24670, -70.95043<br />
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Second bridge: -36.24481, -70.94877<br />
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Mostly you can follow a trail on {07-04C} easily until {07-04C} km7.0, then the trail become hard to find and follow, so i walk on the riverbed by my own way. If you want, you can cross the river to join {07-04}, but just remian a little part of trail (others maybe wash away by flood).<br />
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Walk to the end of riverbed at {07-04} km18.8, the trail shows you need to cross the river and climb up to the west. Dont cross the river at RR, it is flowing fast and strong, and look like up to waist at afternoon. At downstream 60m, river breaks into 2 parts, just before the breaking, the river becomes wider, cross at the wide point, it is fast too, but just above knee. When you arrive the west side and meet RR, you'll walk on a trail again.<br />
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{07-04} Km21.1 : Pass, some flat spots at this area.<br />
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Follow the trail in a beautiful valley until km28.7.<br />
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Pass[28.7/1959] : excellent view point of Nevado de Chillán! Still lot of snow of the north side! Beautiful!<br />
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Hot spring[38.6/1306] : i hope you don't have any expectations on it and the one beside it. It is just a warm spring at the GPS point, maybe 30°C, a little hotter small pool at upstream, but it is surrounded by tons of cow poops. You wouldn't smell sulfur, because the smell all covered by ....... And i saw one of them is floating inside.<br />
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Hot spring[38.7/1312] : it is much hotter, like boiled water, but very spread, flowing very weak and no pool.<br />
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Puesto[38.8/1304] : after here, you need to cross Rio La Zorra 4 times immediately. Up to knee at morning.<br />
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Ford[41.1/1236] : after this river crossing, from here to Puesto[48.5/1102], is overgrown with thorny plants, more up and down and distance than GPX said. Leave more time for it.<br />
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Ford[48.6/1109] : RR crossing is impossible for this moment, flowing strong and look like need to swim to cross because too deep my feet can't touch the riverbed.<br />
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But there are better crossing point, when you stand at RR crossing, look at upstream, river breaks into 2 parts, go to there. Get to upstream even 50m more than the break. You'll see a huge white rock, cross before it, it is the widest point of the first part, just half of calf, easy.<br />
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After you get on the island, continue going upstream a little about 30m, it is the widest point of the second part, also half of calf, easy. You can walk on the rock bar of second part, back to RR, a camping spot with fire ring and log seats there.<br />
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OH-MR-V {07-04} [48.7+13.4] : please don't have any expectations on it, it is an overgrown with thorny plants, loose rocks, old and damaged dirt road, you wouldn't enjoy it. Look like no cars running on it for some years.<br />
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{07-04} km53.3 : finally!! The road go under tree line, road conditions become nice, easy walking start!<br />
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No luck, there was no bus on Wednesday 10am to San Fabián. So i walk a little further to see hitch hike possibilities.<br />
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FYI : bridge{07} [155.3+1.7/703](cable car crossing) is chain locked. Look like can't use in some moments. But i find another cable car is at 600m before it.<br />
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OH-TL-V {08-A} [1.2], -36.66468, -71.27290<br />
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* 2023-dec-17 / 6 days / hiking / NOBO / O7 + O4 + O8 + O8C / Jens<br />
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It was all pretty straightforward. The only hard part was on option 8C between the lagoon and where it joins option 3. Rough terrain. No trails. All cross country. <br />
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I really enjoyed Option 8. Many huge waterfalls and lush forests. <br />
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Done the supply in Talca. At that time buses only ran once a day from La Mina. <br />
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Very limited supply in La Mina and El Medano. <br />
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7.30 from La Mina to Talca<br />
15.00 from Talca to La Mina<br />
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Buses to and from Armadillo are more frequent.<br />
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2023-dec-9/ 7 days / hiking / SOBO /7-1B, RR, 7-3, 7-4 / Lukas en Tess<br />
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We stayed a night at el Medano coming from Talca to resupply. Next day we hichhiked to Laguna del Maule to start hiking 7 option 1 B to join RR at K30. We did this to avoid the right of way dipute and the steep climb in the snow. A guy called Arturo gave us a lift and he was in charge of the clearing of the road to Argentina. He told us that what they are doing now they usually do in August!!! Following 7 option1B was no problem exept for a strange snowlake we had to cross we tried to stay at the edge as much as possible. Breaking through the top layer of snow just gave you really wetand icy cold feet but you didnt fall in completely.<br />
From there we had no issues folowing RR until Rio Las Yeguas. The river was the toughest ford we did but we managed, Tess clamping on to my backpack and moving together. The best place was just where RR crosses, we tried moving up and down the river a couple 100 meters to no avail. We continued al the way down to the termas, the minishop on the way was not open. Termas are great! We met a lot of<br />
Awesome caballeros at the camp and we shared food and drink and they gave us a lot of advice. Some offered to help us cross Rio Guaiquivillo but others argued that is was not possible. One guy crossed with his horse and the water came over the back of the horse!! So turning back and following 7 option 3 seamed the best option. That soon turned into 7 option 4 as we were unable to cross the River at 7-3, K59. We where able to cross with a small bridge at a puesto where we met some great people, they told us a guy passed 3 days before and we were able to track his footprints al the way to the end of section 7. The route option 4 is great at times, horrible at others but the perfect alternative. We didn't get to see Laguna Del Dial but the amazing mountain forests we passed made up for it.<br />
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2023-Dec-17 to 2023-Dec- 22 / 6 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 4 + option 3 + option 1 / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
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- Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br />
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- Snow : a little bit of snow left on the pass and around Laguna del Maule but nothing important.<br />
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- Camping spot : easy to find<br />
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- River crossing : (1) option 4 at km 7,8 - the water was really high in the afternoon and the current really strong, Nolwenn thankfully got helped by some caballeros to cross it | (2) on RR at km 47,7 Rio Las Yeguas was crossable in the morning, take your time to find a good spot to cross | the other river crossings were easy<br />
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- Weather : Sunny<br />
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- Resupply : (1) in Carizales at km 58,2, you can ask for Dagoberto he has a little ' negocio where he sells some beverages and he will try to have some food as well to sell | (2) the mini market at El Medano is not enough, (3) we went to Talca because we had to buy new shoes (lot of good hiking shop)<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / David and Erika<br />
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We shortened this route by 25 km with a resupply at the restaurant in Los Alamos (past the ghost town of Los Ciprese) Great peeps there, who served us breakfast, recharged batteries, sold us enough ramen and soup to keep us going. For another 5 days. Also gave us a lift to a road above the border crossing at Laguna del Maule, avoiding an unnecessary conversation with boarder guards. It intersects OH-CC-A{07-01C} and starts at where the lake begins, also know as GPT section 2 alts Laguna Dial. This is a great at and plenty of water in Jan. Eliminated also the 500 meter climb and avoids some locked gaits and right of passage issues. Pretty straight forward from there till the end. One Pyrenes puppy trailed us after passing a Puesto. Owners said the puppy didn’t come back. If that happens again, they suggest to deter the puppy from following by using a stick. We found that the settlers at the first water source after the English bridge (marked Water, Settlement {07} [150.6/834]-36.61455, -71.2763) is a delightful family who offered us refuge, a lift in the morning to San Carlos, and lively entertainment. <br />
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* 2023-Mar-23 to 2023-Mar-30 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes, Luisa and Noemi <br />
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Hitchhiked from San Clemente to Laguna del Maule (there are some buses to El Colorado). First night up the valley, second night we slept in Carizales. Little before we were welcomed at the puesto de Carabineros who gave us harina tostada, warm bread, marmelade and juice and showed us the way to the mini shop; Friendly owner there who let us sleep close to the shop. Next day we slept in the middle of this amazing huge and warm valley where Irma and Co. make their cheese...the following day we stood at her puesto and had a great evening with some local arrieros. The day after we went up to the Laguna and camped at the first lake fed by the Laguna, was a great option, nearly no wind and warm water to swim in....Next days (2,5 more) all along to get out at Los Sauces. A section which impressed by the people we met, not so much because of the trail, which has been rather annoying sometimes because of entire valleys to be walked through....Laguna Dial was a highlight but the rest just walking to get in and out with no super special highlights. This is a section where you get loads of contact with arrieros and this makes this section so unique. Value is more on the people than on the panorama.<br />
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* 2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-29 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 7/ Ondrej <br />
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El Medano - Puente Inglés<br />
Overall, GPT07 has many different faces which I really enjoyed - alpine-like pastures, mighty rivers, an impressive laguna, and even forests for the last 25km. Most of the trail goes through long valleys. There is minimum of steep descents and ascents. However, the length and the afternoon heat still make this section challenging. Occassional fruit trees, mini-shops, arrieros, and friendly carabineros make this trail even nicer. <br />
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Details:<br />
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On the 1st day, I started hitchhiking from El Medano at 8am Tuesday, no luck after 20 min so I decided walking, hitched a car in the middle (after 6km). As I got to the fence at the trailhead, there were two cars but no one outside, so I just walked around it and all was ok. Path up the first valey was nice, there is a beautiful green plateau afterwards (what a pleasant change after gpt06!). Cows sometimes camp at the “camp” waypoints. Better not to 100% rely on the marked spots and look for other places. In general there are many good spots for camping. <br />
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The 2nd day marked a slow descent to Carrizales, easy trail and nice views, water pastures can be avoided by following the cliffs alongside the valey. Just be careful, some rocks are unstable - I fell once and scratched myself. On a sidenote, I was quite impressed by the birds that start screaming like an old alarm clock as soon as they spot you, so every being in the valey knows you’re there. Carabineros in Carizales are the best guys ever. They served me a chilled cola and taught me how to prepare harina tostada (i also got some from them). I showed them how the satellite comm device works in return. I camped at the amazing hotsprings after Carozzales. I met two arrieros there who were just leaving. No one else showed up, so I rolled out my mat just next to the hotsprings (there is not enough space for a full tent, but a mat fits quite nicely) and spent a night there.<br />
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3rd to 5th days are again slow descents/ascents through valleys. Fords are very easy at this time, not above knees. Cheese from Irma is great (10k CLP per kilo) but pack it at least in two ziplock bags otherwise you’ll have the excess liquid all in your backpack like I had. Irma also had beer, cookies, chips and tuna. Laguna Dial is beautiful but indeed no shade. I camped in the middle at one of the camping spots on the shore. <br />
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On the 6th day I was walking along Rio Gonzáles. From km 130 the section is full of forests and extremely beautiful. The fords are fun. Once the route reached the bridge (km 143.1), I decided to follow the advice of other folks and took the alterative option 7 (i.e. staying at the left bank of the river). The climb is significant for the first 6km of the optional route (about 500m in altitude) and without a proper shade. Fortunately there are multiple streams around during the climb. Once you get to about 1200m in altitude, an oak forest starts, another face of gpt07, very beautiful. At about there the trail forks into two paths. I took the option 07-B (the southeastern path of the fork) and it was a bad choice. The trail was hard to find and there were overgrown parts. After some trying I decided to turn back to the fork and continue with the north-west route. The trail there was very well marked and easy to follow. So my advice is once you reach the fork, take the path to your right.<br />
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Buses from Puente Inglés to San Fabian go at 7am and 10am. San Fabian has cabanas that tend to be overbooked. Here is my advice: try to book Cabanas Nativas in advance (they are on whatsapp). If not possible, visit them and check on the day. The owner called about 4 other cabana sites for me and tried to find me a spot. He then offered me to stay with them in the last free cabana (for 12 people) for 35,000 CLP (i.e. a price of a small cabana) which was amazing. There are also two camping sites which have always a spot for a tent. The first one is located at (-36.5650377, -71.5525476) and is just next to a river. It is called Camping Jahuel. Price is 6,000 CLP per person. The second one is at (-36.5541935, -71.5406932) and is called Camping Luciernagas. The price is 15,000 per a tent slot. I liked the first camping more. In terms of resupply, La Montana supermarket has gas canisters. There is also a good supermarket on the main road (approximately -36.5579937, -71.5514614). San Fabian is overall a lovely city worth spending some time in. <br />
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* 2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-05 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 07 / Tomáš <br />
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This has so far going SOBO been the easiest but also the worst part. Apart from the last 45 km amd a few spots, there is a lot of road walking and the long flat valleys are not much spectacular. I wonder how the alternatives compare. Laguna del Dial is not that attractive, there are no trees around. What is good are fruit trees, from the shop in the middle of nowhere there are plume-like trees that probably ripen in late January, at the Laguna there are probably edible bushes of wild currant (probably ripe in January) and at the end at the penultimate bridge, there are lots of cherries at a puesto and then 1 km further in a former puesto - these ripen in December.<br />
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By this time of the year, all the fords were easy, not above my knees.<br />
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I ressuplied in Talca, where I got using two cars, it took me about five drivers and about 4 hours to go to the place where GPT branches off the main road. I missed the hot springs in El Medano. The trackfiles want to you to keep walking far to the West of the hut in the fenced compound, but there is a trail close to the fence that can be followed to the minor road behind. There is no cell phone coverage on the major road after the hot springs.<br />
<br />
The first pass is nice, soon after there are lot of puestos and this was the first section where I actually met people-arrieros every day. The descent to the valley is uneventful, once you reach Rio Saso, there is a minor road with very little cars. Carabinieros took my details, asked where I went, I said Laguna del Dial and that was that. There was nobody at the shop (and they have very little supply from what I could see from the window) around 1830. They seemed to have wifi in case somebody badly needs it, it is password protected but you could ask. A few km before the hot springs, a trail branches off the main road - then it is about 10 km of trail before you reach the road again. This stretch and a few km around the shop are quite nice deapite the road).<br />
<br />
The hot springs are nice, perfect temperature. Right next to them, there is place for a single person for sleeping otherwise you need to camp further downstream or at the camp waypoint. They can easily be reached in two days, the trail is easy. I managed without really wanting to miss the second carabinieros befora the Laguna. The roads only ends less then 10 km from the Laguna.<br />
<br />
The first waypoint "hot springs?" is in the middle of the river, not sure what itnisnsupposed to mean.<br />
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The section feom the second pass (the one after the laguna) is really nice, first woth some trees, at the end with lots of trees. <br />
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The second "hot spring?" waypoint is real you need to ford through the canyon a bit (which is fun on its own, there are places where you can leave the canyon abiut 200 m downstream from the hot.spring) to reach it. The water is too hot, it springs not much above the levlnof the river. I tried to make a pool where the water could cool down but have not finished it. I encourage you to build upon it.<br />
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Then there is a stretch with a lot of fording (there it is gorgeous), one last ford is missing from the waypoints- you need to ford about 20 m along a steep rock fa e that falls dire,tly to the river. Do not try to go around it.<br />
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Once you reach the last bridge where the minornroad to the end of section begins (in the files it is mislabeled as trail), I encourage you to stay on the left bank and climb a bit on option 07. It goes through really nice oak (I think) forrest and it is a trail almost to the end of the section. I think thi Sparta is almost the nicest of all GPT 07 and I think RR should be routed through this option. The trail is in good condition. From Los Sauces ,there are not many cars (congratulations to other people havong been lucky). Luckily there are buses at 7 and 10 in themornong to San Fabian. The second bus goes back at two. I thinknon Sundays itnisnall shifted by one hour (so it leaves an hiur later) but I am not sure. There is signal from the last bridge but there is no cell cig al in Los Sauces.<br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-31 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 3 / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
After some good time spent at El Medano (there was a small shop and kiosk with basic food and drinks) we followed the road for first few kms. At the end at km 11.3 going right to join the trail to the mountains, we went around the security house, greeting the guard from distance and further following the gps. But after joining the minor road we got into a little right of way conflict - there were 2 cars going down the road from the mountains and they stopped to tell us its a private property and its not possible to get through without permission. We tried to explain everything, showing maps and garmin device, no intention to set up fire, ziplock for trash etc, but we got the same answer all over again - its private, not possible to pass and that the way is dangerous anyway. For some time it looked like we would be able to obtain the permission from the guard, so we agreed to go with them back to the security house, but at the time it was getting dark already, the guard didnt seem to worry about us, but we understood they will not let us go through - we were told that the permission is not possible to get now and that there is another way around which turned out to be the option 3 going through the next valley. The family offered us to take us to their house and to the other road (start of 07-03) the next day which we accepted, eventhough it would be probably possible to refuse and somehow sneak into there, we decided to respect their will and it turned out to be really nice evening with this family, we learned a lot about the place. Option 3 was not that intersting, basically a dirt road all the time. Shop at km 16.3 is actually on the opposite side than what shows the gps, just a few meters back, you cant miss that. There is a wide selection of drinks, beer and wine (probably locals favorites) and some basic things like canned fish, biscuits etc. Possibly even some food that we have seen on the sign, but didn’t ask. A lot of annoying tabanos everywhere in this part. Shop in Carrisales is really small but still something to look forward, it has even beer and ice cream. It is run by a friendly man who’s looking after the property.<br />
<br />
We really liked the whole stretch in the valley and around all the puestos. We forded the river in its wider part after marked hot spring and walked on the other side. Some parts were a little more exposed on the trail we took but otherwise easy to follow. We have seen even some people camping and fishing there. The way to Irma’s puesto is well described below. Stopping there is a must, they invited us to sit with them for a while in the evening and let us camp on their yard (honestly not the best place with all the animals 😄). But we bought some drinks, beer (!) and even pan + goat cheese in the morning. 1 kg of cheese was for 16k CLP i believe. At police station we had no problem.<br />
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The next few kms were quite exhausting for us in the hot weather, but we made it to Laguna Dial in the afternoon. Good place to have some rest in the beginning where is a rock on the other side. On that day we made it aprox. half way around the lake where we met some Argentinian fishermen still celebrating their World Cup win, what a nice encounter. We didn’t have any problem on the rest of the trail and it took us 2 more days to El Ingles. Last ~20km on the road are fast, but its still up and down quite a lot. We finished this section on 31st Dec in the afternoon. With no hope of any bus going to the town we bought some snacks and beer in a small shop in some construction site by the main road and continued in the direction to the south. After less than 15m waiting in a bus station by the cable car a car arrived and took us all the way to San Fabian.<br />
<br />
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-26 to 2022-Dec-31 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
<br />
El Médano - Puente Inglés <br />
I had a tougher time than expected on this section, but overall still a good experience. My pace ended up similar to section 6, at times slower but with the occasional fast road to make up for it. I spent a lot of time trying to keep my feet dry but they always just ended up getting wet anyway, I had a bunch of blisters by the end of day two. My main advice just be to accept it and just trudge straight through the waterlogged pastures.<br />
<br />
Meeting the arrieros/settlers along the way was one of the highlights. No one seemed to mind me passing through their country. Most of the time we'd just wave, and sometimes they'd call out and chat for a bit. They had some amazing yells. There was no one at the shop in Carrizales when I passed through at 4:30, but I did manage to get a fanta and some great goat cheese later from Irma. The cheese lasted well through a day and a half of hiking in the heat. 500g was the least she'd sell, so I just ate a bunch of it with chips for my last few meals.<br />
<br />
Everyone I passed told me about another pair of hikers doing the same route, but a day ahead of me. I never caught up with them, but I know their footprints well.<br />
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The horseflies were really swarming on some stretches, they made a few nights and lunch breaks pretty uncomfortable. But I found that if I just kept walking I'd normally find a bug free spot within an hour or so. I never figured out how to predict where I'd find them. There were generally more at lower altitude and sheltered places, with lots of exceptions.<br />
<br />
The fords were all easy for me, the highest came up to my thighs (I'm 5'11/180cm).<br />
<br />
I spent the first night at El Médano. They didn't have a midday bus from Talca, the earliest I could go was at 3pm. The vapores were great, but a little hard to find. Pretty much empty at 6pm. The next morning I hitched easily to the start. I decided to start hiking on the other side of the river where I got dropped off, and then ford further down after the building.<br />
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I luckily caught a ride from some carabineros pretty early along the road walk at the end, who took me straight to San Fabián.<br />
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Overall a great hike. Doing it in five walking days was reasonable, but felt a bit rushed for me. The second half was definitely more enjoyable for me. If I could go back in time I'd probably hitch a bit further to the Laguna del Maule and do one of the options starting from there.<br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna & Christopher <br />
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El Médano - Puente Inglés <br />
We started by hitchhiking to the beginning of the dirtroad (11 km from El Médano). At about 7:30 am on a saturday we got a ride within a minute :)<br />
As Veronica wrote there is a closed gate, but you can walk around it. We met a local living there and he greeted us niceley, so it seems to be no problem.<br />
The next day we arrived in Carrizales around 4 pm. We resupplied there (the shop has a modest selection). The almacén is basically at the owners house, so one can propably buy sth there pretty late or early in the day. Plus the owner is super nice. She even offered us some fruits and vegetables for free and allowed us to camp opposite her house.<br />
<br />
The first river crossing was the hardest for us. Anna is 1,63 m and the water reached above her hips. The other two rivers were pretty easy to cross.<br />
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From Puente Inglés we hitchhiked to San Fabián. There is also a bus once a day which leaves at 10 am.<br />
<br />
Section 7 is really nice with beautiful views and a very diverse landscape. It gets really hot in the afternoon though.<br />
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<br />
* 2022-Dec-07 to 2022-Dec-12 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: El Médano - Carrizales - Río Guaiquivillo - Laguna Dial - Río González - Puente Inglés <br />
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A wonderful stretch of the GPT, I especially enjoyed the second half of it. Decent trails, except when they go into cow pastures or traverse some sandy/scree cliffs where erosion has taken place. Lots of great swimming opportunities, which is good because the midday/afternoon heat gets quite oppresive. <br />
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Some demanding river fords this time of year. The ones that stand out as being particularly difficult are 1: the one after the first pass after Carrizales, 2: Río Guaiquivillo (downright scary), 3: Río Paralelo before Laguna Dial (although not so bad after experiencing Guaiquivillo) <br />
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Took the bus from Talca back to El Médano at 3 pm. The "vapores" at El Médano are awesome, and free if you stay at the nearby campground. When I went three next morning at 9 a.m. there was nobody there and I got to try out and enjoy the three different saunas. <br />
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Hitching the 11km along the paved road is pretty easy, but few cars go by. There was no one at the gate/fence when I arrived, easy to go around by following the river a few hundred meters. <br />
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At the last cross-country section before Carrizales, I recommend taking the northern Option D route, as the RR takes you straight into a muddy, flooded cow pasture, and the drier mountainside is covered in pesky, sharp/thorny yellow flowers which will tear through your legs. The northern route has to be better than that! <br />
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The fences before Carrizales start near the junction where Option H ends, but I found lots of accessible water sources and decent campsites even along the fenced section. The best one was less than a km after the last "settler" waypoint before Carrizales, with lots of shade, grass, and mature trees to the right of the trail. <br />
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The hot springs after Carrizales are definitely worth the detour! They are properly hot, and right next to a beautiful, cool creek. <br />
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I'm 165 cm and Río Guaiquivillo was one of, if not the most, demanding ford I've ever done. I went upstream a couple hundred meters from where the RR crosses it, where the river braids into two channels and is wider. The current was fast in the first channel, making little rapids over the rocks, but the water only went midway up my thighs. The second channel the water went up to my hips and nearly swept me downstream. Maybe look for a better place downstream to cross the second channel once you reach the island after the first channel. <br />
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After the river crossing, follow the 4×4 path, not necessarily the GPS RR track. The GPS will try to lead you into knee-deep boggy pastures, but if you follow the 4×4 trail it should (mostly) stay dry. <br />
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The carabineros at the police puesto took down my passport info and asked when I'd be returning from Laguna Dial. I explained I was continuing onward to Puente Inglés and wouldn't be coming back. <br />
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Between the police puesto and Río Los Sauces, I only saw 2 people (arrieros), and not a soul at Laguna Dial. Must be a quieter time of year. Laguna Dial is amazing - clear, cold, deep waters perfect for swimming. The trail from the west end of Laguna Dial all the way to the last bridge before Puente Inglés is awesome - clear and easy to follow. The stretch along Río González was probably my favorite part, as you are in frequent forests going along a steep-walled canyon. Plus the fords along that river were not difficult :) <br />
<br />
I got offered a ride once I was midway through the hot, dusty road walk to Puente Inglés, and they took me straight through to San Fabian. So I can't comment on the bus schedule.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2022-Feb-28 to 2022-Mar-06 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Carlos <br />
<br />
There is now a locked gate to acces the dirt road from/to Road 115 CH at the power station building. I was told it wasn't allowed to enter and was asked how I had got in (going Northbound it was the end of my hike). I explained I was coming from Carrizales on a trail and they opened the gate for me.<br />
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It was a Sunday and oddly enough the guards just happened to be crossing the gate in a pick up just at the very moment I arrived, so couldn't find out if the station is manned during the week.<br />
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As It was quite obvious they were not happy at all me being there I couldn't scout the place to find a way around but it looked quite possible to walk around the fence, either towards the slope or next to the river. Although if you want to enter (hiking Southbound) and there is a guard at the gate you might be turn around.<br />
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<br />
*2022-Feb-06 / 8 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa <br />
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Generally an easy trail, but tough due to the heat and the heavy pack. Plenty of water despite the dry landscape. Not many panoramic views - instead the attraction consists of meeting the many arrieros and walking through the land where they live. <br />
We arrived by bus at El Inglés at 3:30 pm and started walking down the very hot, dry gravel road. Lots of places along the river seems great for camping/swimming. After walking a little, a car offered us a ride and dropped us off right before the first bridge. We wanted to camp at the first "hot spring?" waypoint, but there seemed to be no hot springs. From there, a nice path all the way to Laguna Dial. We ended up camping at the second camp waypoint, very nice place for a swim - which was very needed after a very hot day. The first camp waypoint has a puesto as well.<br />
We passed the police, they were very excited to have visitors and served us soda and biscuits. We camped at the next ford near a big willow. There is a campsite that seems to be used by the arrieros, but not while we were there. <br />
Irma's daughter sold us some of their cheese. They had goat and cow cheese, 1.5 L colas, beer, wine and sopaipillas. Irma wasn't home. Initially we were chased off by a pretty scary dog, but we were able to approach once some horseback riders appeared and people in the puesto came out and could shout at the dogs. <br />
After her puesto, we had some trouble finding the right path - the route kept leading off the gravel road with no path in sight. In the end, we just followed the gravel road, returning to the regular route just before the climb at the second "hot springs?" waypoint. This required a river crossing that was a little difficult even in this dry year.<br />
Pretty easy walk the rest of the way to Carrizales on a gravel road. We found many delicious brambles along the road. <br />
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The shop in Carrizales had pasta, canned tuna, cakes, many different biscuits, popsicles, chips, bread, sodas, marmelade, harina tostada, batteries, caramels. The town itself consisted of a few houses and an avanzada de carabineros. As mentioned, some fences after the town. We camped at the next "ford" waypoint, on a nice meadow next to the river.<br />
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On the next cross country section, better stick to the route along the mountain side - the whole valley is very wet, and there's often a path to follow along the route. Many animals and puestos all the way up the mountain.<br />
We camped at the camp/ford waypoint after reaching the last gravel road. A lot of garbage, but we found a nice little place and even caught a trout.<br />
The main road is pretty big, probably easy to hitch, but goes through some pretty mountains as well. <br />
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Termas el Medano is a nice place as well, there is a big hot pool (with some cold currents in-between) and some smaller lukewarm ones, and you can swim in the river. The entrance is 1000 pesos, but if you camp at the nearby campground (3000 pesos per person), acces is free. There is also a minishop with sodas, chocolate, chips, sunscreen and a few other things, and a restaurant with typical Chilean food. The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961.<br />
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* 2022-Jan-17 to 2022-Jan-24 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo<br />
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Termas El Médano -> Carrizales (2 days) -> Rio Maule -> Laguna del Dial -> El Inglés (3 days)<br />
<br />
Greatly enjoyed this section, which took us seven proper hiking days to complete.<br />
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We started at 19:00 at Termas El Médano because the only bus at Talca left at 15:00. Hiked the 11 km of tarmac and camped on the river bank next to 115, about 1 km beyond section 1 (S 35° 52.736', W 070° 40.119', courtesy of iOverlander).<br />
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At the end of the third section (around S 35° 57.665', W 070° 38.836') we could not find the path on the northern scree and rock slopes. Instead, we switched to the southern valley flank about a hundred meters before the actual switch, fording the small stream easily and following cow trails until we were back on the path. Found a decent camp site (S 35° 52.736', W 070° 40.119') after the first puesto on the mountain plains.<br />
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From about 10 km before Carrizales, all water and accompanying meadows are fenced in. If you plan to camp before Carrizales, turn back the moment you see fences appear on the side of the road. At the end of a long day, we asked the shop owner in Carrizales if she knew a good spot, and she let us camp on one of their fields (with accompanying barking dogs ;). Still, muchas gracias!<br />
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The hot springs after Carrizales were the best so far and definitely worth the detour. Señora Irma sold us fresh cheese, tomatoes, bread and coke, even though we happened upon her puesto in the middle of celebrating January 20th - either in the honor of San Sebastian or a victory in the war between Chile and Peru-Bolivia - with friends and family. Thanks again!<br />
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Laguna del Dial was gorgeous and great to swim in. We camped right at the start of the lake (S 36° 25.533', W 070° 55.101') where the water had sufficiently retreated to leave room for one tent. After the lake, we had the impression of taking an arriero highway, encountering plenty of horseback riders, most of them arrieros. For us, it was often hard to understand their dialect, given that we're very novice Spanish speakers. Still, got to see a glimpse of the way these modern day cowboys live.<br />
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The first bridge you encounter (sobo, around S 36° 33.547', W 071° 10.798') is rickety and unusable. Hence the second smaller bridge a bit further upstream, which I only found out about after fording the river :D<br />
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The bus at El Inglés to San Fabián left at 7:00 and 10:00 in the morning. At the bridge, the river bank opposite to the shop has some smaller streams pouring into the river, making this the relatively nicer side to camp (though there's plenty of garbage on both sides, despite the signs requesting not to litter). Some Chilean campers showed us the streams, thanks once again!<br />
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In San Fabián, stayed at Cabañas Anfer Domos for 35.000 CLP per night for two. Cabañas Nativas and Hostal El Molino were both full.<br />
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<br />
* 2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option to Reserva Achibueno / <br />
<br />
From Parque Inglés to the entrance of Reserva Achibueno<br />
Buy your ticket online for “El Bolsón” on the CONAF website and get to the trailhead before 3pm<br />
4hrs hike to El Bolsón, a great place with waterfall, great views, nice camping spots, hikers<br />
TO CHECK: Bus from Molina to Parque Ingles leaves at 9 am (not positive) on week-ends and holidays <br />
Easy hitch from Radal to Parque Ingles coz lots of campers going there on week-ends<br />
Be careful a ranger told me the park closes on Mondays <br />
It took me around 4 days from Parque Siete Tazas Park entrance to the road Q115 (Central Cipreses)<br />
From Road 115 I hitched to a village by Colbún lake where I resupplied : good supermarkets (a little on the expensive side), food truck , pastry shop <br />
I didn't like Altos de Lircay NP : after El Bolson (4 hrs in) no fucking shade for 3 days and an half except that of a shelter a little off trail, blazing sun all day, sand sand sand, I found the place so inhospitable, monotonous sights : sand dunes for ever, quite some struggling pedalling in the soft sand, plus I had no gaiters (stupid me) and low heels shoes so that was a bummer. However the place is super special, feels like on the moon (beautiful pictures) and I can understand why many love it<br />
Some “hot springs” are actually just luke and others just a hole or boiling hot (I added these informations to the track and waypoints I sent to Jan Dudek) so don't be like me fantasizing all day on that fantastic bath you will get or wait for Jan's update (thanks so so much for all you do mate).<br />
After resupplying I hitched on option 7 XXX all the way the Mellado cañon (really nice, by the river all the time), communities. After hiking South from Carizales (which has a very limited “store”) I was short on time and food and realized bare landscapes over the tree line were not my cup of tea (I prefer hiking below 1700 m in this part of Patagonia) so I left RR and took another option all the way to the West to Reserva Achibueno which I really enjoyed : great landscapes, lakes, rivers and met some cool hikers and fishermen<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-30 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias<br />
<br />
Overview:<br />
Just want to say quick that the termas vapaors in Mèdano are worth checking out, I highly recommend them. Please consider checking them out, they are only ½ km off the trail and absolutely worth it. They are sauna boxes built around a few hot rocks emitting hot steam. The result is a steam room/ sauna experience. I personally spend over 4 hours chilling out in the steam rooms.<br />
After a 2-hour road walk on the side of the highway you make your way back on trial. This section takes you thru many areas used for grazing livestock with puestos in sight almost all the time. Carizales a small settlement right on trail has a small store and the family also sells bread. There was also a puesto that sold us fresh goat cheese and Coca Cola. It is marked as a waypoint on the GPX file about 20km south of Carizales. Much of the trail is very dry and exposed and the landscape is void of trees and vegetation. There are many great places to jump into the river and cool off. The section up and around the lake offers great views of the mountains, volcanoes nearby and Laguna Dial. The trail itself is well established and never had any real trouble navigation. There were also quite a few hot springs on trail or close by.<br />
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Difficulties: Hot and Exposed (especially in summertime). Resupply Distance.<br />
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Highlights: Hot springs. Great sweeping views. Pools of cool water to jump into in the middle of the day.<br />
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Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions at Ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
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<br />
*2020-Jan-17 / 7.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno and Martin <br />
<br />
7.5 days for this great section. We resupplied in el Médano and continued with the section. Just enough variety. Highly recomend eating harina tostada, a vital meal for the arrieros, nutritious and practical. Be minded tha in our camping ground in El Médano there were only three hours of electricity a day, may be hard to recharge. Regular trail was easy to follow, except on mountain pastures where is also likely to get your feet wet. Bought some food in Carrizales. Passed through the welcoming puesto of señora Irma for some eggs, bread and cheese. Irma te manda saludos Jan! Laguna Dial is amazing and we stayed one day fishing, resting and swiming in Lake Camp -2. We were invited for some mate and tortas by a local arriero.The Rio Gonzalez valley is a complete change of scenery, with forests which we enjoyed very much. Resupplying in San Fabián. <br />
<br />
After talking with the carabineros in San Fabián, we were told that we would not be allowed to pass through the RR near Volcán Chillán, in the last comisaria in El Roble, due to current volcanic risk. Trying instead an optional start further south, in Termas de Chillán. Maybe for next hikers it would be ok, but better to ask anyway.<br />
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*2020-Jan-3 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Starting at El Medano, hiking the regular route southbound towards El Ingles. <br />
11km in we encountered a gate to get onto the trail with private property signs. However no one was there so we walked in without difficulty by walking around the fence (it was late Christmas Day however so it could have been quiter than normal). In general a nice route however when the track descends into cow pastures it gets very boggy and the track sometimes disappears. We did not think there were any dangerous spots. <br />
To resupply at the end of the section we took a bus in the morning from Los Sauces (10am) to San Fabian. We caught the same bus back at 1pm. Great selection of cheap food in the local ‘mountain’ supermarket and overall a good town for resupply options. It had methylated spirits for cooking but the bottle did not state the concentration. I suspect around 70%.<br />
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* 2019-Dec-29/ 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start at Cruze de Melano / Tyler & America <br />
<br />
We took our sweet time through this section. The optional start helped...as we were able to hitch all the way up to the RR at Carizales. (Bus from Talca @3, 2000 CP each) Hot springs near Carizales were warm & awesome. Two nice little tubs. We took our time and had a great time with all the arrieros along the way. Irma sells beer, wine, and delicious cheese. Other arrieros will welcome you in and treat you like family as well...so be sure to leave them with whatever you feel fit in return. All river crossings good, be diligent on filtering throughout this entire section. Dog at El Ingles shop bit me, so be careful with that. We camped down by the river for free. Bus leaves at 7:00 and 10:00 to San Fabian, and amazingly friendly town. We got a 1 bed Cabin at Cabanas Nativa for 30,000/N total. Pool, private bath & kitchen, ok WiFi, welcoming people. Fine town for re supply. <br />
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* 2019-Dec-18 / 4 days / Hiking / Optional/Exploration Route around Laguna del Maule / Lea Geibel & Kevin Moe <br />
<br />
After finishing section 5 we only had 4 days left before the end of our hiking time, so we decided to do some exploring in the area instead of following the regular route of section 7. We followed the main road to the Laguna del Maule where we roughly went in a loop around the Laguna (~60km) starting at the Chilean Border Control. We checked in with the border control and informed them about our plans (that involved to not cross into Argentina but stay in Chile, just behind the Border Control). It was no problem for them, we just had to go through the Border Control again on our way back to have our backpacks checked for food. The water level of the laguna is very low and walking along the shore is mostly easy travel on sand/pumice, however, sometimes can be rather rocky and tedious. We climbed up some of the 3000 meter peaks around the Laguna (that mark the border with Argentina), each of them offering beautiful views on the area. There are several beautiful hidden lagunas higher up in glaciers that are well worth exploring. We never followed any particular route but just headed cross country to whichever place we fancied, which is very easy in the open, sandy terrain. The Southern end of the Laguna has many flamingos living in it, the East shore is mostly untouched by humans and the east side has some puestos and fishermen (mostly on weekends and close to the roads) but we didn't see anyone around. Around the Laguna there is a very strong thermal wind that picks up during the day but dies down/weakens a lot during the nights.<br />
Highlights: all the views, swimming in laguna, lava fields flowing into the laguna, flamingos, numerous obsidian fields, empanadas de queso at the bistro right next to the border control (only open on weekends)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-24 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
7 days for this awesome section. Absolutely agree with all of Matus & Anna's remarks :-) We went to San Fabian (excellent resupply place) for some days off.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
Trail was in good conditon. <br />
River crossings were not a problem but plenty of water everywhere. <br />
In tienda in Carizales you can buy pasta, tuna, cola, beer some cookies. <br />
We bought huge chunk of cheese and some bread from Irma. It was amazing. <br />
Tienda in El Ingles is not best for resupply. We saw some tunas and pasta, but it was not enough for us to buy for next section. There is one more tienda down the road in Los Sauces but it was closed with no one around. <br />
We took bus to San Carlos which is leaving at 7am. <br />
We didn't find accomodation in El Ingles but it's possible to camp just before the bridge on the right side of the road.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Arnaud <br />
<br />
Great section, easy to walk, nice people met on the way.<br />
After 11km, we leave the road with a minor road in a private property (zona geotermica). After discussion with the guard, he let us pass by the rio, and not by the porton (to join the road 400m further) because the access on the road is prohibited... ;-)<br />
Then the uphill is easy until the top.<br />
Possible resupply in Carizales with elia, whose welcome with half a sandia was perfect (pasta, atun, frutas y verduras, harina tostada but no gas).<br />
Laguna del Dial is great to have some rest. Don't hesitate to plan to spend some time there. It seems to be a good spot to fish.<br />
With the state of the volcan chillan, we decided to skip the section 8 and have some rest in San Fabian.<br />
From los Sauces to San Fabian, the micro leaves at 11pm only.<br />
We stayed by the Anfer Domos of Edgardo Lopez (+56 9 630 91 627), which is a great place to have some rest (a little far from the centre (1km), but he lends bikes if necessary), cabañas Nativa were full.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-12 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank <br />
<br />
No access problem as you leave main road @ KM11, just go left around the fenced area & you will find a small track that leads up to the dirt road. Termas El Medano is last stop for bus but you can hitch first 11K. Don't expect much from shop in Carizales, contents listed by Matus are all she has. Irma, about a 1 day walk beyond Carizales has cheese, drinks in 2L bottles & sometimes bread. At Puesto 9 before Puesto Irma, fresh cold water comes up from the ground into a small pool, safe to drink without filtering. There is an arreiro living there so talk to him first. Very hot in Guaiquivilo Valley & as you go round Laguna Dial. Little shade in the valley & virtually none @ Laguna Dial. Spectacular trail down canyon on last day. You cross the river 8 times. Dogs @ Puente Ingles shop attacked me & if I didn't have a stick would have been bitten also. Camped down by Puente Ingles bridge but it's noisy on weekends & lots of horseflies. 2 buses out from Puente Ingles around 7 & 7:50AM<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
*El Médano<br />
<br />
Termas el Medano is a nice place as well, there is a big hot pool (with some cold currents in-between) and some smaller lukewarm ones, and you can swim in the river. The entrance is 1000 pesos, but if you camp at the nearby campground (3000 pesos per person), acces is free. There is also a minishop with sodas, chocolate, chips, sunscreen and a few other things - maybe some bread and flour, but nothing else for resupplying. There's also a restaurant with typical Chilean food, it was very busy when we were there but they do take away as well. The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961 - many others went when we were there, though. <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
*Bus Talca - Termas El Medano <br />
<br />
07:00, 12:30,15:00, 18:45<br />
<br />
from Terminal Talca<br />
<br />
<br />
*Bus Termas el Médano - Talca<br />
<br />
The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 am at the bus shed in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961. Otherwise it leaves from La Mina at 7 am <br />
<br />
<br />
*Bus from Puente Ingles around 7 & 10AM. Confirm times @ the shop. Bus back from San Fabián at 2 and 6 pm <br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
* Tanja: No right of way issue RR trailhead for me on January 12, 2024. There’s a big gate that was closed but 15 meters to the right the fence is broken. No one at gate on Friday morning. Further up where the trail turns at the first river crossing there’s a big landslide of rocks covering the road. Doesn’t look like any/many cars would come through here these days.<br />
<br />
<br />
* Martin & Helena: We got into a right of way conflict on 25th of Dec 2022 - for detailed description see our section log from that time. Short version is that we met 2 cars going down the minor road to the security house at km 11. They refused to let us pass, but we believe it was just their good intention and fear of a possible accident. We tried to convince them in every possible way, but with no success, maybe someone with better Spanish could talk his way through. The guard saw us before and didn't care, so it was just a bad luck for us to meet these cars.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT07 - Laguna Dial]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
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[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 13 Laguna Dial.PNG|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 21.jpg|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]<br />
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[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 12.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 14 Laguna Dial 2.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 15.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
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[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 22.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
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[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 28.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321024.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321027.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949851.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949853.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT07_(Laguna_Dial)&diff=114011GPT07 (Laguna Dial)2024-02-04T15:22:09Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br style="clear:both" /><br />
<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
* 2024-Jan-31 to 2024-Feb-03) / 4 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01 / Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1:0H07-01C + OH07-01B [5,6-8,4] + 0H07-01D + 0H07-01E + RR [44,6-49,3]<br />
<br />
I hitched from El Medano to the Laguna del Maule. The guards at the border control north of Laguna de Maule let me pass without controlling me. At km 6,4 of OH07-01B is a locked gate, but its possible to climb around. You have to ford Rio Saso multiple times, but water is max. ankle high. <br />
<br />
Day 2: RR [49,3-62,4] + OH07-F to Hotspring and back + RR [62,4-77,9] <br />
OH07-F is a short detour to a Hotspring. It's big enough for 1 person to lie in. There is a cold stream next to it and a tree offers some shade. Nice break spot. Ford 76,9 was below Knee high in the evening. <br />
<br />
Day 3: RR [77,9-107,5] <br />
I forded Rio Guaiquivilo at 9 am at the gpx tracks (km 80,6), but came out a little further downstream. Water went around knee high (I am 191 cm tall).The police at the station km 92,7 took a picture from my passport and wanted my phone number. They were friendly. I forded Rio Paralelo at 2 pm at the gpx tracks (km 95,3). Water went around knee high. <br />
<br />
<br />
Day 4: RR [107,5-145] <br />
Rio Gonzales is an easy ford. RR [143,2 to 155,3] is a dirtroad. I got a hitch for the last 10 km to puente ingles on a saturday evening.<br />
<br />
GPT07 is mostly walking along rivers in different valleys. I really liked Laguna Dial and Laguna de Maule, otherwise its nice but not very spectacular. You will meet a lot of Arrieros on this section.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
2024-Jan-10 to Jan-23 / 14 days / SOBO (mostly) / Opt 1B, 3, 4, 4C, 4D, 8 / Kasia and Michael<br />
<br />
Day 0<br />
From Molina we took the bus to Talca. The bus from Talca to El Medano still only leaves early in the morning, at 3:00 in the afternoon, and sometime in the evening. We took a bus to San Clemente hoping to catch different transportation, but no luck. The town itself is not particularly charming, however the square is nice and has places to sit and you can find some shade. There is also a coffee shop half a block off the plaza that has decent espresso at a good price. The bus from Talca passes through San Clemente at the bus stop in front of the Unimarc on the main road. We caught the bus to El Medano and arrived there around 5:30. From there we began to walk the road towards Laguna Maule hoping to catch a hitch. After about an hour of walking a couple picked us up and we rode in the back of the truck as far as Cascada Invertida. It is an interesting spot with a waterfall that has a constant wind blowing some of the water back up the waterfall. Worth a stop if you have time. From there we road-walked another two kilometers to a camp site that is popular with local rock climbers. There are plenty of campsites and a pozo for water and washing.<br />
<br />
Day 1<br />
From the campsite we walked back to the road and quickly caught a hitch as far as the border control point. No issues getting through border control; there is a separate line for people just going to the lake. We didn't talk to anyone, no one took our documents and we just walked right through one door and out the other. The road up to the lake is a road-walk but not that long. At the lake we started up Option 1B. We hiked up a ways, but there was a tongue of snow that was on a steep angle, extremely slick, and large pieces easily broke off. It seemed dangerous to try to pass, so we opted to hike back down and onto the road. Option 1K is a path that avoids going back through border control and ends on the highway. (If going SOBO and wanting to avoid BCP, look for a broken gate a little less than a half km before BCP and follow the road up.) From there we caught a hitch fairly quickly all the way to the beginning of Opt 3. We walked Opt 3 up for about six kilometers to a campsite marked Puente Enemigo on Gaia. Free public camping with river access. About a half km further on is a similar site.<br />
<br />
Day 2<br />
We started walking up the road early. The road is very dusty and the tabanos were pretty unbearable. We caught a hitch with a group of hunters and fishers going out for the weekend. They ended up taking us all the way to the end of Opt 3 and to where Opt 4 begins. We walked to the beginning of Opt 4B, but the water was too high and the current to strong, so we camped near Rio Guaiquivilo for the night.<br />
<br />
Day 3<br />
We took Opt 4A up and over the hill, an easy walk. The ford in the river was about crotch height with fairly strong current, however we passed where the cars drive through to get to the other side. We continued on Opt 4 which goes through farmland, a lot of which is swampy. If going through, choose footing carefully. We noticed that where the little white flowers grow is usually more stable ground than where the yellow flowers or just grass are. We went down to the river and camped under a tree just where the path drops to the river level, a little before the marked camping site.<br />
<br />
Day 4<br />
We continued on Opt 4 hiking along the river bed. It was slow going and we had to ford many times throughout the day as the river braids back and forth across the valley. All fords were easy, knee height at most but generally lower. It was actually easier crossing rivers than walking along the river bed since there are so many large rocks. We followed the path where it goes up the hill for about a kilometer and a half and then ran into an area where the trail had collapsed. It may have been passable but we felt that it seemed too dangerous so we turned back. When we returned to the river bed we started hiking further up the river bed to see if it was possible to go on a lower route. We camped in the river bed for the night. <br />
<br />
Day 5<br />
We got a late start that morning. We walked up the Rio Gonzales spending the entire day in our water shoes. We probably crossed the river two dozen times, excellent training in river fording. Some fords at crotch height, most at knee or lower. The water was a beautiful color, an excellent temperature, and there were plenty of places to go swimming. By 17:00 we had only made it half way to the marked ford point below the pass, so we turned around. We were not able to determine if it would be possible to go all the way to the final river ford before the pass. However, even if it is not possible to get to the pass, if one has time this is worth a day trip. Every bend in the river had interesting things to look at, it was exceptionally beautiful, and just very pleasant to spend a hot day half submerged in the water. Obviously this is only feasible when the water level has dropped for the season. We camped in the same spot as the night before.<br />
<br />
Day 6 <br />
We decided to try Opt 8. We walked down the river taking Opt 4C until Opt 4D, then crossing the river there and reconnecting with Opt 4. The path up the hill on Opt 4D was a little tricky to find, but it was there; head to the left. We followed Opt 4 NOBO for a bit, then cut across the valley toward a puesto we had noticed on the way up. This is easily visible in the valley as it is marked by several very tall trees (poplars I think) that stand out against the landscape. We passed by there and chatted with the arrieros for a short while who confirmed that the pass to Achibueno was passable and that we could continue on the south side of the river. It was getting late at that point so we camped near the river.<br />
<br />
Day 7<br />
We continued parallel to Opt 8 on the south side of the river. First the land is swampy, then dry. Look for an OSM track that is about 2.3 km long. Stay below the canal that the arrieros built until the OSM track begins, then cross over the canal and follow it. When it drops back down to the river, there was a small section of very mucky swamp. We had to build a rock bridge to cross it. After that, cross the river and reconnect with the GPT track. We went up and over the pass, it is a bit difficult but easy to follow. I will heavily caveat this by saying many groups of arrieros had been through this season. I think doing it in a season prior to the arrieros passing through would be challenging. The view at the top of the pass over Laguna Achibueno was absolutely stunning; it looked like something out of a movie. We dropped down to the first camp site marked. It was a grassy plain with relatively little wind, some mosquitoes, and lots of little black bugs that did not seem to bite. Camped there for the night.<br />
<br />
Day 8<br />
We got a late start again, being tired since we had not taken a rest day. We went down the other side of the pass. Same as the day before, tricky but absolutely passable, but probably much more challenging prior to arrieros passing through. The valley below was beautiful and green, a lot of Andean oak. We found a camp site a little past the first marked camping. At the bottom past the sign for the Laguna and the sendero, there is a small hill with several large oak trees. Nice views on three sides of mountains and the waterfall, a stream close by.<br />
<br />
Day 9-11<br />
We stayed camped in the same spot for a rest day. We got invited to join the festival of San Sebastian that a large group of arrieros and local farmers were holding. We met a lot of really nice people and ate a ton of really amazing asado. Everyone was so incredibly welcoming, kind, and generous. This will absolutely be one of our most enduring memories of the GPT.<br />
<br />
Day 12<br />
Refreshed from the rest and all the meat, we continued on Opt 8. The trail out was really enjoyable, lots of Andean oak, very fantasy-like landscape. The bridge over Rio Achibueno was destroyed. We found a ford point about 50 m upstream from the mark on the track. Waist deep and a little tricky, but we managed. Camped at La Gloria down near where the estero meets the river.<br />
<br />
Day 13<br />
Continued on Opt 8. Wood plank “bridges” on the esteros from La Gloria on. This is a popular hiking trail, we started seeing lots of day hikers and casual hikers. We took Opt 8 instead of switching to Opt 8A, which we regretted. Opt 8 up is through a very green, but very dry and dusty forest. From the last crossing of the estero there was no water until after the pass. We also hiked it during a heat wave which made it extra challenging. It would be possible to camp on the pass which is low and has a lot of trees and flat space. There is a waterfall a ways down the far side for water. The road down to Estero Los Guayes was not difficult, but half way down you are just waking through a commercial pine plantation. The road is dusty and is mostly fenced in both sides with very infrequent access to the estero. There is also no camping officially allowed according to a resident; they said the Carabineros will come and tell you to leave. We found a spot to stealth camp in front of a small abandoned corral that was not visible from the road. Didn't have any issues. Opt 8A has camping marks on Gaia and is the main access for people driving in to hike, so this seems a better option for either hiking or hitching.<br />
<br />
Day 14<br />
Continued to walk out on Opt 8. Hot, dusty, tons of tábanos. After about 3 hours we caught a hitch all the way to Linares.<br />
<br />
<br />
2024-Jan-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tanja <br />
<br />
Easy hitch from El Medano to the RR trailhead in the morning. No right of way issues. There’s a big gate that was closed but 15 meters to the right the fence is broken. No one there at a Friday morning at 8h30. Even the local guy that gave me a ride knew that there was a trail. Further up where the trail turns at the first river crossing there’s a big landslide of rocks covering the road. Doesn’t look like any/many cars would come through here these days. <br />
<br />
Crossed Rio Guaiquivilo on midday further upstream of where the gpx track suggests (-36.27219, -70.92341 is where I came out). River has two arms there and is pretty wide. I’m 1,65m, water up to mid thighs at deepest spot. <br />
<br />
I had a first attempt where I felt water was flowing slowly and river had just one arm but way too deep for me. Choose your spot wisely, stay focused and be patient. <br />
<br />
Did not meet any other hikers but had several really nice encounters including an asado in one of the puestos. <br />
<br />
Heaps of water. Never carried more than a liter. Campsites everywhere. <br />
<br />
Lagoon doesn’t have trees but on that little beach in the middle there is an old wooden structure. You could tie a groundsheet or tent fly on top of it to create some shade. <br />
<br />
Crossed bridge at km145 over Rio Los Sauces as I wanted to get a ride into San Fabian which worked after a bit of roadwalking. Stayed at Cabanas Nativas. Paid 30.000 CLP for a two person cabin after asking for a discount as I was solo. Was last cabin available. Laundry service is 8.000CLP.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Dec-22 to 2023-Dec-27 / 5.5days / Hiking / SOBO / {07-03}-{07-04A}-{07-04}-{07-04C}-{07-04}- RR / Lilian<br />
<br />
<br />
Avoid of right of way dipute and crossing Rio Guaiquivilo, so i go for {07-03}.<br />
<br />
<br />
{07-03} Km6.1 - km7.2 : Lot of campong spot beside the road.<br />
<br />
Pass[11.8/1175] : not a camping place<br />
<br />
Shop,camp[16.3/801] : the shop is not at GPS marked, it is at km16.1. When you come down from pass when get close, you can see your left side have a red roof house, with some ice cream+drinks sign at front gate. When i get to there, shop is open but nobody, only a black dog watching me, take me about 10min to figure out the shop owner is working in farm behind the house.<br />
I called him loudly and he noticed me. He is a nice and very friendly guy. I ate canned fish, bread, ice cream and coke in the shop for lunch, yummy yummy!<br />
The shop mostly for alcohol, but you still can buy some small items for chill.<br />
<br />
Km17.4 : start from here, lot of possible camping spots beside the dirt road in this valley<br />
<br />
Km17.4 - km40 : good cell service.<br />
<br />
Bridge[33.1/763]: dont cross it, it is impossible to cross Río Melado come back to this side by {07-08G}<br />
<br />
Police[20.5/775] : they'll mark down your basic information, destination and the reason why go in this area. Friendly, they give me some ice cold water to drink!<br />
<br />
Shop,camp[25.7/813] : look like is closed, sign for private area<br />
<br />
Km29.5 : look like a small shop for drinks and ice cream here, with a sign"BEBDIAS HELADAS CIGARROS" at the front gate. But no luck, nobody home when i was there.<br />
<br />
Bridge[38.4/936] : i love this bridge.<br />
<br />
Ford[41.9/1031] : look like up tp thighs at road crossing, log bridge for dry feet crossing upstream 50m.<br />
<br />
I forget to mark the location, 1 more stream flowing up to knee, also a log bridge upstream 20m for crossing.<br />
<br />
Settlter[51.6/1138] : a small stream crossing, bridge downstream 15m.<br />
<br />
Water[56.8/1117] : two dirt road crossing the river here, downstream one is deeper like up to waist and much stronger. Upstream one is easier, it break to 2 part by an island, first part go downstream 5m, rock bar underwater, flowing strong and just above knee at late afternoon. After arrive the island, go upstream back to road crossing point, easy crossing there for second part.<br />
<br />
OH-MR-V{07-03}[56.8+1.5] : the middle part is washed away by huge flood, you can walk, but no more dirt road.<br />
<br />
{07-03} Km59.0 : just like Lukas en Tess said, the river is impossible to cross at this moment. So i turn to {07-04A} then {07-04} to keep going south. Also {07-04B} is impossible to hike too, because it need to cross 2 times of that river.<br />
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{07-04} km6.8 : river breaks into 2 parts by an island. There are 2 bridges for crossing, cross the first one, then walk downstream 200m on the island to cross the second bridge.<br />
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First bridge : -36.24670, -70.95043<br />
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Second bridge: -36.24481, -70.94877<br />
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Mostly you can follow a trail on {07-04C} easily until {07-04C} km7.0, then the trail become hard to find and follow, so i walk on the riverbed by my own way. If you want, you can cross the river to join {07-04}, but just remian a little part of trail (others maybe wash away by flood).<br />
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Walk to the end of riverbed at {07-04} km18.8, the trail shows you need to cross the river and climb up to the west. Dont cross the river at RR, it is flowing fast and strong, and look like up to waist at afternoon. At downstream 60m, river breaks into 2 parts, just before the breaking, the river becomes wider, cross at the wide point, it is fast too, but just above knee. When you arrive the west side and meet RR, you'll walk on a trail again.<br />
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{07-04} Km21.1 : Pass, some flat spots at this area.<br />
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Follow the trail in a beautiful valley until km28.7.<br />
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Pass[28.7/1959] : excellent view point of Nevado de Chillán! Still lot of snow of the north side! Beautiful!<br />
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Hot spring[38.6/1306] : i hope you don't have any expectations on it and the one beside it. It is just a warm spring at the GPS point, maybe 30°C, a little hotter small pool at upstream, but it is surrounded by tons of cow poops. You wouldn't smell sulfur, because the smell all covered by ....... And i saw one of them is floating inside.<br />
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Hot spring[38.7/1312] : it is much hotter, like boiled water, but very spread, flowing very weak and no pool.<br />
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Puesto[38.8/1304] : after here, you need to cross Rio La Zorra 4 times immediately. Up to knee at morning.<br />
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Ford[41.1/1236] : after this river crossing, from here to Puesto[48.5/1102], is overgrown with thorny plants, more up and down and distance than GPX said. Leave more time for it.<br />
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Ford[48.6/1109] : RR crossing is impossible for this moment, flowing strong and look like need to swim to cross because too deep my feet can't touch the riverbed.<br />
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But there are better crossing point, when you stand at RR crossing, look at upstream, river breaks into 2 parts, go to there. Get to upstream even 50m more than the break. You'll see a huge white rock, cross before it, it is the widest point of the first part, just half of calf, easy.<br />
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After you get on the island, continue going upstream a little about 30m, it is the widest point of the second part, also half of calf, easy. You can walk on the rock bar of second part, back to RR, a camping spot with fire ring and log seats there.<br />
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OH-MR-V {07-04} [48.7+13.4] : please don't have any expectations on it, it is an overgrown with thorny plants, loose rocks, old and damaged dirt road, you wouldn't enjoy it. Look like no cars running on it for some years.<br />
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{07-04} km53.3 : finally!! The road go under tree line, road conditions become nice, easy walking start!<br />
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No luck, there was no bus on Wednesday 10am to San Fabián. So i walk a little further to see hitch hike possibilities.<br />
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FYI : bridge{07} [155.3+1.7/703](cable car crossing) is chain locked. Look like can't use in some moments. But i find another cable car is at 600m before it.<br />
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OH-TL-V {08-A} [1.2], -36.66468, -71.27290<br />
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<br />
* 2023-dec-17 / 6 days / hiking / NOBO / O7 + O4 + O8 + O8C / Jens<br />
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It was all pretty straightforward. The only hard part was on option 8C between the lagoon and where it joins option 3. Rough terrain. No trails. All cross country. <br />
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I really enjoyed Option 8. Many huge waterfalls and lush forests. <br />
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Done the supply in Talca. At that time buses only ran once a day from La Mina. <br />
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Very limited supply in La Mina and El Medano. <br />
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7.30 from La Mina to Talca<br />
15.00 from Talca to La Mina<br />
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Buses to and from Armadillo are more frequent.<br />
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2023-dec-9/ 7 days / hiking / SOBO /7-1B, RR, 7-3, 7-4 / Lukas en Tess<br />
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We stayed a night at el Medano coming from Talca to resupply. Next day we hichhiked to Laguna del Maule to start hiking 7 option 1 B to join RR at K30. We did this to avoid the right of way dipute and the steep climb in the snow. A guy called Arturo gave us a lift and he was in charge of the clearing of the road to Argentina. He told us that what they are doing now they usually do in August!!! Following 7 option1B was no problem exept for a strange snowlake we had to cross we tried to stay at the edge as much as possible. Breaking through the top layer of snow just gave you really wetand icy cold feet but you didnt fall in completely.<br />
From there we had no issues folowing RR until Rio Las Yeguas. The river was the toughest ford we did but we managed, Tess clamping on to my backpack and moving together. The best place was just where RR crosses, we tried moving up and down the river a couple 100 meters to no avail. We continued al the way down to the termas, the minishop on the way was not open. Termas are great! We met a lot of<br />
Awesome caballeros at the camp and we shared food and drink and they gave us a lot of advice. Some offered to help us cross Rio Guaiquivillo but others argued that is was not possible. One guy crossed with his horse and the water came over the back of the horse!! So turning back and following 7 option 3 seamed the best option. That soon turned into 7 option 4 as we were unable to cross the River at 7-3, K59. We where able to cross with a small bridge at a puesto where we met some great people, they told us a guy passed 3 days before and we were able to track his footprints al the way to the end of section 7. The route option 4 is great at times, horrible at others but the perfect alternative. We didn't get to see Laguna Del Dial but the amazing mountain forests we passed made up for it.<br />
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2023-Dec-17 to 2023-Dec- 22 / 6 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 4 + option 3 + option 1 / Yannick & Nolwenn<br />
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- Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br />
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- Snow : a little bit of snow left on the pass and around Laguna del Maule but nothing important.<br />
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- Camping spot : easy to find<br />
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- River crossing : (1) option 4 at km 7,8 - the water was really high in the afternoon and the current really strong, Nolwenn thankfully got helped by some caballeros to cross it | (2) on RR at km 47,7 Rio Las Yeguas was crossable in the morning, take your time to find a good spot to cross | the other river crossings were easy<br />
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- Weather : Sunny<br />
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- Resupply : (1) in Carizales at km 58,2, you can ask for Dagoberto he has a little ' negocio where he sells some beverages and he will try to have some food as well to sell | (2) the mini market at El Medano is not enough, (3) we went to Talca because we had to buy new shoes (lot of good hiking shop)<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / David and Erika<br />
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We shortened this route by 25 km with a resupply at the restaurant in Los Alamos (past the ghost town of Los Ciprese) Great peeps there, who served us breakfast, recharged batteries, sold us enough ramen and soup to keep us going. For another 5 days. Also gave us a lift to a road above the border crossing at Laguna del Maule, avoiding an unnecessary conversation with boarder guards. It intersects OH-CC-A{07-01C} and starts at where the lake begins, also know as GPT section 2 alts Laguna Dial. This is a great at and plenty of water in Jan. Eliminated also the 500 meter climb and avoids some locked gaits and right of passage issues. Pretty straight forward from there till the end. One Pyrenes puppy trailed us after passing a Puesto. Owners said the puppy didn’t come back. If that happens again, they suggest to deter the puppy from following by using a stick. We found that the settlers at the first water source after the English bridge (marked Water, Settlement {07} [150.6/834]-36.61455, -71.2763) is a delightful family who offered us refuge, a lift in the morning to San Carlos, and lively entertainment. <br />
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* 2023-Mar-23 to 2023-Mar-30 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes, Luisa and Noemi <br />
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Hitchhiked from San Clemente to Laguna del Maule (there are some buses to El Colorado). First night up the valley, second night we slept in Carizales. Little before we were welcomed at the puesto de Carabineros who gave us harina tostada, warm bread, marmelade and juice and showed us the way to the mini shop; Friendly owner there who let us sleep close to the shop. Next day we slept in the middle of this amazing huge and warm valley where Irma and Co. make their cheese...the following day we stood at her puesto and had a great evening with some local arrieros. The day after we went up to the Laguna and camped at the first lake fed by the Laguna, was a great option, nearly no wind and warm water to swim in....Next days (2,5 more) all along to get out at Los Sauces. A section which impressed by the people we met, not so much because of the trail, which has been rather annoying sometimes because of entire valleys to be walked through....Laguna Dial was a highlight but the rest just walking to get in and out with no super special highlights. This is a section where you get loads of contact with arrieros and this makes this section so unique. Value is more on the people than on the panorama.<br />
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* 2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-29 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 7/ Ondrej <br />
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El Medano - Puente Inglés<br />
Overall, GPT07 has many different faces which I really enjoyed - alpine-like pastures, mighty rivers, an impressive laguna, and even forests for the last 25km. Most of the trail goes through long valleys. There is minimum of steep descents and ascents. However, the length and the afternoon heat still make this section challenging. Occassional fruit trees, mini-shops, arrieros, and friendly carabineros make this trail even nicer. <br />
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Details:<br />
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On the 1st day, I started hitchhiking from El Medano at 8am Tuesday, no luck after 20 min so I decided walking, hitched a car in the middle (after 6km). As I got to the fence at the trailhead, there were two cars but no one outside, so I just walked around it and all was ok. Path up the first valey was nice, there is a beautiful green plateau afterwards (what a pleasant change after gpt06!). Cows sometimes camp at the “camp” waypoints. Better not to 100% rely on the marked spots and look for other places. In general there are many good spots for camping. <br />
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The 2nd day marked a slow descent to Carrizales, easy trail and nice views, water pastures can be avoided by following the cliffs alongside the valey. Just be careful, some rocks are unstable - I fell once and scratched myself. On a sidenote, I was quite impressed by the birds that start screaming like an old alarm clock as soon as they spot you, so every being in the valey knows you’re there. Carabineros in Carizales are the best guys ever. They served me a chilled cola and taught me how to prepare harina tostada (i also got some from them). I showed them how the satellite comm device works in return. I camped at the amazing hotsprings after Carozzales. I met two arrieros there who were just leaving. No one else showed up, so I rolled out my mat just next to the hotsprings (there is not enough space for a full tent, but a mat fits quite nicely) and spent a night there.<br />
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3rd to 5th days are again slow descents/ascents through valleys. Fords are very easy at this time, not above knees. Cheese from Irma is great (10k CLP per kilo) but pack it at least in two ziplock bags otherwise you’ll have the excess liquid all in your backpack like I had. Irma also had beer, cookies, chips and tuna. Laguna Dial is beautiful but indeed no shade. I camped in the middle at one of the camping spots on the shore. <br />
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On the 6th day I was walking along Rio Gonzáles. From km 130 the section is full of forests and extremely beautiful. The fords are fun. Once the route reached the bridge (km 143.1), I decided to follow the advice of other folks and took the alterative option 7 (i.e. staying at the left bank of the river). The climb is significant for the first 6km of the optional route (about 500m in altitude) and without a proper shade. Fortunately there are multiple streams around during the climb. Once you get to about 1200m in altitude, an oak forest starts, another face of gpt07, very beautiful. At about there the trail forks into two paths. I took the option 07-B (the southeastern path of the fork) and it was a bad choice. The trail was hard to find and there were overgrown parts. After some trying I decided to turn back to the fork and continue with the north-west route. The trail there was very well marked and easy to follow. So my advice is once you reach the fork, take the path to your right.<br />
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Buses from Puente Inglés to San Fabian go at 7am and 10am. San Fabian has cabanas that tend to be overbooked. Here is my advice: try to book Cabanas Nativas in advance (they are on whatsapp). If not possible, visit them and check on the day. The owner called about 4 other cabana sites for me and tried to find me a spot. He then offered me to stay with them in the last free cabana (for 12 people) for 35,000 CLP (i.e. a price of a small cabana) which was amazing. There are also two camping sites which have always a spot for a tent. The first one is located at (-36.5650377, -71.5525476) and is just next to a river. It is called Camping Jahuel. Price is 6,000 CLP per person. The second one is at (-36.5541935, -71.5406932) and is called Camping Luciernagas. The price is 15,000 per a tent slot. I liked the first camping more. In terms of resupply, La Montana supermarket has gas canisters. There is also a good supermarket on the main road (approximately -36.5579937, -71.5514614). San Fabian is overall a lovely city worth spending some time in. <br />
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* 2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-05 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 07 / Tomáš <br />
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This has so far going SOBO been the easiest but also the worst part. Apart from the last 45 km amd a few spots, there is a lot of road walking and the long flat valleys are not much spectacular. I wonder how the alternatives compare. Laguna del Dial is not that attractive, there are no trees around. What is good are fruit trees, from the shop in the middle of nowhere there are plume-like trees that probably ripen in late January, at the Laguna there are probably edible bushes of wild currant (probably ripe in January) and at the end at the penultimate bridge, there are lots of cherries at a puesto and then 1 km further in a former puesto - these ripen in December.<br />
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By this time of the year, all the fords were easy, not above my knees.<br />
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I ressuplied in Talca, where I got using two cars, it took me about five drivers and about 4 hours to go to the place where GPT branches off the main road. I missed the hot springs in El Medano. The trackfiles want to you to keep walking far to the West of the hut in the fenced compound, but there is a trail close to the fence that can be followed to the minor road behind. There is no cell phone coverage on the major road after the hot springs.<br />
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The first pass is nice, soon after there are lot of puestos and this was the first section where I actually met people-arrieros every day. The descent to the valley is uneventful, once you reach Rio Saso, there is a minor road with very little cars. Carabinieros took my details, asked where I went, I said Laguna del Dial and that was that. There was nobody at the shop (and they have very little supply from what I could see from the window) around 1830. They seemed to have wifi in case somebody badly needs it, it is password protected but you could ask. A few km before the hot springs, a trail branches off the main road - then it is about 10 km of trail before you reach the road again. This stretch and a few km around the shop are quite nice deapite the road).<br />
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The hot springs are nice, perfect temperature. Right next to them, there is place for a single person for sleeping otherwise you need to camp further downstream or at the camp waypoint. They can easily be reached in two days, the trail is easy. I managed without really wanting to miss the second carabinieros befora the Laguna. The roads only ends less then 10 km from the Laguna.<br />
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The first waypoint "hot springs?" is in the middle of the river, not sure what itnisnsupposed to mean.<br />
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The section feom the second pass (the one after the laguna) is really nice, first woth some trees, at the end with lots of trees. <br />
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The second "hot spring?" waypoint is real you need to ford through the canyon a bit (which is fun on its own, there are places where you can leave the canyon abiut 200 m downstream from the hot.spring) to reach it. The water is too hot, it springs not much above the levlnof the river. I tried to make a pool where the water could cool down but have not finished it. I encourage you to build upon it.<br />
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Then there is a stretch with a lot of fording (there it is gorgeous), one last ford is missing from the waypoints- you need to ford about 20 m along a steep rock fa e that falls dire,tly to the river. Do not try to go around it.<br />
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Once you reach the last bridge where the minornroad to the end of section begins (in the files it is mislabeled as trail), I encourage you to stay on the left bank and climb a bit on option 07. It goes through really nice oak (I think) forrest and it is a trail almost to the end of the section. I think thi Sparta is almost the nicest of all GPT 07 and I think RR should be routed through this option. The trail is in good condition. From Los Sauces ,there are not many cars (congratulations to other people havong been lucky). Luckily there are buses at 7 and 10 in themornong to San Fabian. The second bus goes back at two. I thinknon Sundays itnisnall shifted by one hour (so it leaves an hiur later) but I am not sure. There is signal from the last bridge but there is no cell cig al in Los Sauces.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-31 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 3 / Martin & Helena<br />
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After some good time spent at El Medano (there was a small shop and kiosk with basic food and drinks) we followed the road for first few kms. At the end at km 11.3 going right to join the trail to the mountains, we went around the security house, greeting the guard from distance and further following the gps. But after joining the minor road we got into a little right of way conflict - there were 2 cars going down the road from the mountains and they stopped to tell us its a private property and its not possible to get through without permission. We tried to explain everything, showing maps and garmin device, no intention to set up fire, ziplock for trash etc, but we got the same answer all over again - its private, not possible to pass and that the way is dangerous anyway. For some time it looked like we would be able to obtain the permission from the guard, so we agreed to go with them back to the security house, but at the time it was getting dark already, the guard didnt seem to worry about us, but we understood they will not let us go through - we were told that the permission is not possible to get now and that there is another way around which turned out to be the option 3 going through the next valley. The family offered us to take us to their house and to the other road (start of 07-03) the next day which we accepted, eventhough it would be probably possible to refuse and somehow sneak into there, we decided to respect their will and it turned out to be really nice evening with this family, we learned a lot about the place. Option 3 was not that intersting, basically a dirt road all the time. Shop at km 16.3 is actually on the opposite side than what shows the gps, just a few meters back, you cant miss that. There is a wide selection of drinks, beer and wine (probably locals favorites) and some basic things like canned fish, biscuits etc. Possibly even some food that we have seen on the sign, but didn’t ask. A lot of annoying tabanos everywhere in this part. Shop in Carrisales is really small but still something to look forward, it has even beer and ice cream. It is run by a friendly man who’s looking after the property.<br />
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We really liked the whole stretch in the valley and around all the puestos. We forded the river in its wider part after marked hot spring and walked on the other side. Some parts were a little more exposed on the trail we took but otherwise easy to follow. We have seen even some people camping and fishing there. The way to Irma’s puesto is well described below. Stopping there is a must, they invited us to sit with them for a while in the evening and let us camp on their yard (honestly not the best place with all the animals 😄). But we bought some drinks, beer (!) and even pan + goat cheese in the morning. 1 kg of cheese was for 16k CLP i believe. At police station we had no problem.<br />
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The next few kms were quite exhausting for us in the hot weather, but we made it to Laguna Dial in the afternoon. Good place to have some rest in the beginning where is a rock on the other side. On that day we made it aprox. half way around the lake where we met some Argentinian fishermen still celebrating their World Cup win, what a nice encounter. We didn’t have any problem on the rest of the trail and it took us 2 more days to El Ingles. Last ~20km on the road are fast, but its still up and down quite a lot. We finished this section on 31st Dec in the afternoon. With no hope of any bus going to the town we bought some snacks and beer in a small shop in some construction site by the main road and continued in the direction to the south. After less than 15m waiting in a bus station by the cable car a car arrived and took us all the way to San Fabian.<br />
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Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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* 2022-Dec-26 to 2022-Dec-31 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
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El Médano - Puente Inglés <br />
I had a tougher time than expected on this section, but overall still a good experience. My pace ended up similar to section 6, at times slower but with the occasional fast road to make up for it. I spent a lot of time trying to keep my feet dry but they always just ended up getting wet anyway, I had a bunch of blisters by the end of day two. My main advice just be to accept it and just trudge straight through the waterlogged pastures.<br />
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Meeting the arrieros/settlers along the way was one of the highlights. No one seemed to mind me passing through their country. Most of the time we'd just wave, and sometimes they'd call out and chat for a bit. They had some amazing yells. There was no one at the shop in Carrizales when I passed through at 4:30, but I did manage to get a fanta and some great goat cheese later from Irma. The cheese lasted well through a day and a half of hiking in the heat. 500g was the least she'd sell, so I just ate a bunch of it with chips for my last few meals.<br />
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Everyone I passed told me about another pair of hikers doing the same route, but a day ahead of me. I never caught up with them, but I know their footprints well.<br />
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The horseflies were really swarming on some stretches, they made a few nights and lunch breaks pretty uncomfortable. But I found that if I just kept walking I'd normally find a bug free spot within an hour or so. I never figured out how to predict where I'd find them. There were generally more at lower altitude and sheltered places, with lots of exceptions.<br />
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The fords were all easy for me, the highest came up to my thighs (I'm 5'11/180cm).<br />
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I spent the first night at El Médano. They didn't have a midday bus from Talca, the earliest I could go was at 3pm. The vapores were great, but a little hard to find. Pretty much empty at 6pm. The next morning I hitched easily to the start. I decided to start hiking on the other side of the river where I got dropped off, and then ford further down after the building.<br />
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I luckily caught a ride from some carabineros pretty early along the road walk at the end, who took me straight to San Fabián.<br />
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Overall a great hike. Doing it in five walking days was reasonable, but felt a bit rushed for me. The second half was definitely more enjoyable for me. If I could go back in time I'd probably hitch a bit further to the Laguna del Maule and do one of the options starting from there.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna & Christopher <br />
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El Médano - Puente Inglés <br />
We started by hitchhiking to the beginning of the dirtroad (11 km from El Médano). At about 7:30 am on a saturday we got a ride within a minute :)<br />
As Veronica wrote there is a closed gate, but you can walk around it. We met a local living there and he greeted us niceley, so it seems to be no problem.<br />
The next day we arrived in Carrizales around 4 pm. We resupplied there (the shop has a modest selection). The almacén is basically at the owners house, so one can propably buy sth there pretty late or early in the day. Plus the owner is super nice. She even offered us some fruits and vegetables for free and allowed us to camp opposite her house.<br />
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The first river crossing was the hardest for us. Anna is 1,63 m and the water reached above her hips. The other two rivers were pretty easy to cross.<br />
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From Puente Inglés we hitchhiked to San Fabián. There is also a bus once a day which leaves at 10 am.<br />
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Section 7 is really nice with beautiful views and a very diverse landscape. It gets really hot in the afternoon though.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-07 to 2022-Dec-12 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica <br />
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Route: El Médano - Carrizales - Río Guaiquivillo - Laguna Dial - Río González - Puente Inglés <br />
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A wonderful stretch of the GPT, I especially enjoyed the second half of it. Decent trails, except when they go into cow pastures or traverse some sandy/scree cliffs where erosion has taken place. Lots of great swimming opportunities, which is good because the midday/afternoon heat gets quite oppresive. <br />
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Some demanding river fords this time of year. The ones that stand out as being particularly difficult are 1: the one after the first pass after Carrizales, 2: Río Guaiquivillo (downright scary), 3: Río Paralelo before Laguna Dial (although not so bad after experiencing Guaiquivillo) <br />
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Took the bus from Talca back to El Médano at 3 pm. The "vapores" at El Médano are awesome, and free if you stay at the nearby campground. When I went three next morning at 9 a.m. there was nobody there and I got to try out and enjoy the three different saunas. <br />
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Hitching the 11km along the paved road is pretty easy, but few cars go by. There was no one at the gate/fence when I arrived, easy to go around by following the river a few hundred meters. <br />
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At the last cross-country section before Carrizales, I recommend taking the northern Option D route, as the RR takes you straight into a muddy, flooded cow pasture, and the drier mountainside is covered in pesky, sharp/thorny yellow flowers which will tear through your legs. The northern route has to be better than that! <br />
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The fences before Carrizales start near the junction where Option H ends, but I found lots of accessible water sources and decent campsites even along the fenced section. The best one was less than a km after the last "settler" waypoint before Carrizales, with lots of shade, grass, and mature trees to the right of the trail. <br />
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The hot springs after Carrizales are definitely worth the detour! They are properly hot, and right next to a beautiful, cool creek. <br />
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I'm 165 cm and Río Guaiquivillo was one of, if not the most, demanding ford I've ever done. I went upstream a couple hundred meters from where the RR crosses it, where the river braids into two channels and is wider. The current was fast in the first channel, making little rapids over the rocks, but the water only went midway up my thighs. The second channel the water went up to my hips and nearly swept me downstream. Maybe look for a better place downstream to cross the second channel once you reach the island after the first channel. <br />
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After the river crossing, follow the 4×4 path, not necessarily the GPS RR track. The GPS will try to lead you into knee-deep boggy pastures, but if you follow the 4×4 trail it should (mostly) stay dry. <br />
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The carabineros at the police puesto took down my passport info and asked when I'd be returning from Laguna Dial. I explained I was continuing onward to Puente Inglés and wouldn't be coming back. <br />
<br />
Between the police puesto and Río Los Sauces, I only saw 2 people (arrieros), and not a soul at Laguna Dial. Must be a quieter time of year. Laguna Dial is amazing - clear, cold, deep waters perfect for swimming. The trail from the west end of Laguna Dial all the way to the last bridge before Puente Inglés is awesome - clear and easy to follow. The stretch along Río González was probably my favorite part, as you are in frequent forests going along a steep-walled canyon. Plus the fords along that river were not difficult :) <br />
<br />
I got offered a ride once I was midway through the hot, dusty road walk to Puente Inglés, and they took me straight through to San Fabian. So I can't comment on the bus schedule.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2022-Feb-28 to 2022-Mar-06 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Carlos <br />
<br />
There is now a locked gate to acces the dirt road from/to Road 115 CH at the power station building. I was told it wasn't allowed to enter and was asked how I had got in (going Northbound it was the end of my hike). I explained I was coming from Carrizales on a trail and they opened the gate for me.<br />
<br />
It was a Sunday and oddly enough the guards just happened to be crossing the gate in a pick up just at the very moment I arrived, so couldn't find out if the station is manned during the week.<br />
<br />
As It was quite obvious they were not happy at all me being there I couldn't scout the place to find a way around but it looked quite possible to walk around the fence, either towards the slope or next to the river. Although if you want to enter (hiking Southbound) and there is a guard at the gate you might be turn around.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-06 / 8 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
Generally an easy trail, but tough due to the heat and the heavy pack. Plenty of water despite the dry landscape. Not many panoramic views - instead the attraction consists of meeting the many arrieros and walking through the land where they live. <br />
We arrived by bus at El Inglés at 3:30 pm and started walking down the very hot, dry gravel road. Lots of places along the river seems great for camping/swimming. After walking a little, a car offered us a ride and dropped us off right before the first bridge. We wanted to camp at the first "hot spring?" waypoint, but there seemed to be no hot springs. From there, a nice path all the way to Laguna Dial. We ended up camping at the second camp waypoint, very nice place for a swim - which was very needed after a very hot day. The first camp waypoint has a puesto as well.<br />
We passed the police, they were very excited to have visitors and served us soda and biscuits. We camped at the next ford near a big willow. There is a campsite that seems to be used by the arrieros, but not while we were there. <br />
Irma's daughter sold us some of their cheese. They had goat and cow cheese, 1.5 L colas, beer, wine and sopaipillas. Irma wasn't home. Initially we were chased off by a pretty scary dog, but we were able to approach once some horseback riders appeared and people in the puesto came out and could shout at the dogs. <br />
After her puesto, we had some trouble finding the right path - the route kept leading off the gravel road with no path in sight. In the end, we just followed the gravel road, returning to the regular route just before the climb at the second "hot springs?" waypoint. This required a river crossing that was a little difficult even in this dry year.<br />
Pretty easy walk the rest of the way to Carrizales on a gravel road. We found many delicious brambles along the road. <br />
<br />
The shop in Carrizales had pasta, canned tuna, cakes, many different biscuits, popsicles, chips, bread, sodas, marmelade, harina tostada, batteries, caramels. The town itself consisted of a few houses and an avanzada de carabineros. As mentioned, some fences after the town. We camped at the next "ford" waypoint, on a nice meadow next to the river.<br />
<br />
On the next cross country section, better stick to the route along the mountain side - the whole valley is very wet, and there's often a path to follow along the route. Many animals and puestos all the way up the mountain.<br />
We camped at the camp/ford waypoint after reaching the last gravel road. A lot of garbage, but we found a nice little place and even caught a trout.<br />
The main road is pretty big, probably easy to hitch, but goes through some pretty mountains as well. <br />
<br />
Termas el Medano is a nice place as well, there is a big hot pool (with some cold currents in-between) and some smaller lukewarm ones, and you can swim in the river. The entrance is 1000 pesos, but if you camp at the nearby campground (3000 pesos per person), acces is free. There is also a minishop with sodas, chocolate, chips, sunscreen and a few other things, and a restaurant with typical Chilean food. The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Jan-17 to 2022-Jan-24 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo<br />
<br />
Termas El Médano -> Carrizales (2 days) -> Rio Maule -> Laguna del Dial -> El Inglés (3 days)<br />
<br />
Greatly enjoyed this section, which took us seven proper hiking days to complete.<br />
<br />
We started at 19:00 at Termas El Médano because the only bus at Talca left at 15:00. Hiked the 11 km of tarmac and camped on the river bank next to 115, about 1 km beyond section 1 (S 35° 52.736', W 070° 40.119', courtesy of iOverlander).<br />
<br />
At the end of the third section (around S 35° 57.665', W 070° 38.836') we could not find the path on the northern scree and rock slopes. Instead, we switched to the southern valley flank about a hundred meters before the actual switch, fording the small stream easily and following cow trails until we were back on the path. Found a decent camp site (S 35° 52.736', W 070° 40.119') after the first puesto on the mountain plains.<br />
<br />
From about 10 km before Carrizales, all water and accompanying meadows are fenced in. If you plan to camp before Carrizales, turn back the moment you see fences appear on the side of the road. At the end of a long day, we asked the shop owner in Carrizales if she knew a good spot, and she let us camp on one of their fields (with accompanying barking dogs ;). Still, muchas gracias!<br />
<br />
The hot springs after Carrizales were the best so far and definitely worth the detour. Señora Irma sold us fresh cheese, tomatoes, bread and coke, even though we happened upon her puesto in the middle of celebrating January 20th - either in the honor of San Sebastian or a victory in the war between Chile and Peru-Bolivia - with friends and family. Thanks again!<br />
<br />
Laguna del Dial was gorgeous and great to swim in. We camped right at the start of the lake (S 36° 25.533', W 070° 55.101') where the water had sufficiently retreated to leave room for one tent. After the lake, we had the impression of taking an arriero highway, encountering plenty of horseback riders, most of them arrieros. For us, it was often hard to understand their dialect, given that we're very novice Spanish speakers. Still, got to see a glimpse of the way these modern day cowboys live.<br />
<br />
The first bridge you encounter (sobo, around S 36° 33.547', W 071° 10.798') is rickety and unusable. Hence the second smaller bridge a bit further upstream, which I only found out about after fording the river :D<br />
<br />
The bus at El Inglés to San Fabián left at 7:00 and 10:00 in the morning. At the bridge, the river bank opposite to the shop has some smaller streams pouring into the river, making this the relatively nicer side to camp (though there's plenty of garbage on both sides, despite the signs requesting not to litter). Some Chilean campers showed us the streams, thanks once again!<br />
<br />
In San Fabián, stayed at Cabañas Anfer Domos for 35.000 CLP per night for two. Cabañas Nativas and Hostal El Molino were both full.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option to Reserva Achibueno / <br />
<br />
From Parque Inglés to the entrance of Reserva Achibueno<br />
Buy your ticket online for “El Bolsón” on the CONAF website and get to the trailhead before 3pm<br />
4hrs hike to El Bolsón, a great place with waterfall, great views, nice camping spots, hikers<br />
TO CHECK: Bus from Molina to Parque Ingles leaves at 9 am (not positive) on week-ends and holidays <br />
Easy hitch from Radal to Parque Ingles coz lots of campers going there on week-ends<br />
Be careful a ranger told me the park closes on Mondays <br />
It took me around 4 days from Parque Siete Tazas Park entrance to the road Q115 (Central Cipreses)<br />
From Road 115 I hitched to a village by Colbún lake where I resupplied : good supermarkets (a little on the expensive side), food truck , pastry shop <br />
I didn't like Altos de Lircay NP : after El Bolson (4 hrs in) no fucking shade for 3 days and an half except that of a shelter a little off trail, blazing sun all day, sand sand sand, I found the place so inhospitable, monotonous sights : sand dunes for ever, quite some struggling pedalling in the soft sand, plus I had no gaiters (stupid me) and low heels shoes so that was a bummer. However the place is super special, feels like on the moon (beautiful pictures) and I can understand why many love it<br />
Some “hot springs” are actually just luke and others just a hole or boiling hot (I added these informations to the track and waypoints I sent to Jan Dudek) so don't be like me fantasizing all day on that fantastic bath you will get or wait for Jan's update (thanks so so much for all you do mate).<br />
After resupplying I hitched on option 7 XXX all the way the Mellado cañon (really nice, by the river all the time), communities. After hiking South from Carizales (which has a very limited “store”) I was short on time and food and realized bare landscapes over the tree line were not my cup of tea (I prefer hiking below 1700 m in this part of Patagonia) so I left RR and took another option all the way to the West to Reserva Achibueno which I really enjoyed : great landscapes, lakes, rivers and met some cool hikers and fishermen<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-30 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias<br />
<br />
Overview:<br />
Just want to say quick that the termas vapaors in Mèdano are worth checking out, I highly recommend them. Please consider checking them out, they are only ½ km off the trail and absolutely worth it. They are sauna boxes built around a few hot rocks emitting hot steam. The result is a steam room/ sauna experience. I personally spend over 4 hours chilling out in the steam rooms.<br />
After a 2-hour road walk on the side of the highway you make your way back on trial. This section takes you thru many areas used for grazing livestock with puestos in sight almost all the time. Carizales a small settlement right on trail has a small store and the family also sells bread. There was also a puesto that sold us fresh goat cheese and Coca Cola. It is marked as a waypoint on the GPX file about 20km south of Carizales. Much of the trail is very dry and exposed and the landscape is void of trees and vegetation. There are many great places to jump into the river and cool off. The section up and around the lake offers great views of the mountains, volcanoes nearby and Laguna Dial. The trail itself is well established and never had any real trouble navigation. There were also quite a few hot springs on trail or close by.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: Hot and Exposed (especially in summertime). Resupply Distance.<br />
<br />
Highlights: Hot springs. Great sweeping views. Pools of cool water to jump into in the middle of the day.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions at Ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-17 / 7.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno and Martin <br />
<br />
7.5 days for this great section. We resupplied in el Médano and continued with the section. Just enough variety. Highly recomend eating harina tostada, a vital meal for the arrieros, nutritious and practical. Be minded tha in our camping ground in El Médano there were only three hours of electricity a day, may be hard to recharge. Regular trail was easy to follow, except on mountain pastures where is also likely to get your feet wet. Bought some food in Carrizales. Passed through the welcoming puesto of señora Irma for some eggs, bread and cheese. Irma te manda saludos Jan! Laguna Dial is amazing and we stayed one day fishing, resting and swiming in Lake Camp -2. We were invited for some mate and tortas by a local arriero.The Rio Gonzalez valley is a complete change of scenery, with forests which we enjoyed very much. Resupplying in San Fabián. <br />
<br />
After talking with the carabineros in San Fabián, we were told that we would not be allowed to pass through the RR near Volcán Chillán, in the last comisaria in El Roble, due to current volcanic risk. Trying instead an optional start further south, in Termas de Chillán. Maybe for next hikers it would be ok, but better to ask anyway.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-3 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Starting at El Medano, hiking the regular route southbound towards El Ingles. <br />
11km in we encountered a gate to get onto the trail with private property signs. However no one was there so we walked in without difficulty by walking around the fence (it was late Christmas Day however so it could have been quiter than normal). In general a nice route however when the track descends into cow pastures it gets very boggy and the track sometimes disappears. We did not think there were any dangerous spots. <br />
To resupply at the end of the section we took a bus in the morning from Los Sauces (10am) to San Fabian. We caught the same bus back at 1pm. Great selection of cheap food in the local ‘mountain’ supermarket and overall a good town for resupply options. It had methylated spirits for cooking but the bottle did not state the concentration. I suspect around 70%.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-29/ 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start at Cruze de Melano / Tyler & America <br />
<br />
We took our sweet time through this section. The optional start helped...as we were able to hitch all the way up to the RR at Carizales. (Bus from Talca @3, 2000 CP each) Hot springs near Carizales were warm & awesome. Two nice little tubs. We took our time and had a great time with all the arrieros along the way. Irma sells beer, wine, and delicious cheese. Other arrieros will welcome you in and treat you like family as well...so be sure to leave them with whatever you feel fit in return. All river crossings good, be diligent on filtering throughout this entire section. Dog at El Ingles shop bit me, so be careful with that. We camped down by the river for free. Bus leaves at 7:00 and 10:00 to San Fabian, and amazingly friendly town. We got a 1 bed Cabin at Cabanas Nativa for 30,000/N total. Pool, private bath & kitchen, ok WiFi, welcoming people. Fine town for re supply. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / 4 days / Hiking / Optional/Exploration Route around Laguna del Maule / Lea Geibel & Kevin Moe <br />
<br />
After finishing section 5 we only had 4 days left before the end of our hiking time, so we decided to do some exploring in the area instead of following the regular route of section 7. We followed the main road to the Laguna del Maule where we roughly went in a loop around the Laguna (~60km) starting at the Chilean Border Control. We checked in with the border control and informed them about our plans (that involved to not cross into Argentina but stay in Chile, just behind the Border Control). It was no problem for them, we just had to go through the Border Control again on our way back to have our backpacks checked for food. The water level of the laguna is very low and walking along the shore is mostly easy travel on sand/pumice, however, sometimes can be rather rocky and tedious. We climbed up some of the 3000 meter peaks around the Laguna (that mark the border with Argentina), each of them offering beautiful views on the area. There are several beautiful hidden lagunas higher up in glaciers that are well worth exploring. We never followed any particular route but just headed cross country to whichever place we fancied, which is very easy in the open, sandy terrain. The Southern end of the Laguna has many flamingos living in it, the East shore is mostly untouched by humans and the east side has some puestos and fishermen (mostly on weekends and close to the roads) but we didn't see anyone around. Around the Laguna there is a very strong thermal wind that picks up during the day but dies down/weakens a lot during the nights.<br />
Highlights: all the views, swimming in laguna, lava fields flowing into the laguna, flamingos, numerous obsidian fields, empanadas de queso at the bistro right next to the border control (only open on weekends)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-24 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
7 days for this awesome section. Absolutely agree with all of Matus & Anna's remarks :-) We went to San Fabian (excellent resupply place) for some days off.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
Trail was in good conditon. <br />
River crossings were not a problem but plenty of water everywhere. <br />
In tienda in Carizales you can buy pasta, tuna, cola, beer some cookies. <br />
We bought huge chunk of cheese and some bread from Irma. It was amazing. <br />
Tienda in El Ingles is not best for resupply. We saw some tunas and pasta, but it was not enough for us to buy for next section. There is one more tienda down the road in Los Sauces but it was closed with no one around. <br />
We took bus to San Carlos which is leaving at 7am. <br />
We didn't find accomodation in El Ingles but it's possible to camp just before the bridge on the right side of the road.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Arnaud <br />
<br />
Great section, easy to walk, nice people met on the way.<br />
After 11km, we leave the road with a minor road in a private property (zona geotermica). After discussion with the guard, he let us pass by the rio, and not by the porton (to join the road 400m further) because the access on the road is prohibited... ;-)<br />
Then the uphill is easy until the top.<br />
Possible resupply in Carizales with elia, whose welcome with half a sandia was perfect (pasta, atun, frutas y verduras, harina tostada but no gas).<br />
Laguna del Dial is great to have some rest. Don't hesitate to plan to spend some time there. It seems to be a good spot to fish.<br />
With the state of the volcan chillan, we decided to skip the section 8 and have some rest in San Fabian.<br />
From los Sauces to San Fabian, the micro leaves at 11pm only.<br />
We stayed by the Anfer Domos of Edgardo Lopez (+56 9 630 91 627), which is a great place to have some rest (a little far from the centre (1km), but he lends bikes if necessary), cabañas Nativa were full.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-12 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank <br />
<br />
No access problem as you leave main road @ KM11, just go left around the fenced area & you will find a small track that leads up to the dirt road. Termas El Medano is last stop for bus but you can hitch first 11K. Don't expect much from shop in Carizales, contents listed by Matus are all she has. Irma, about a 1 day walk beyond Carizales has cheese, drinks in 2L bottles & sometimes bread. At Puesto 9 before Puesto Irma, fresh cold water comes up from the ground into a small pool, safe to drink without filtering. There is an arreiro living there so talk to him first. Very hot in Guaiquivilo Valley & as you go round Laguna Dial. Little shade in the valley & virtually none @ Laguna Dial. Spectacular trail down canyon on last day. You cross the river 8 times. Dogs @ Puente Ingles shop attacked me & if I didn't have a stick would have been bitten also. Camped down by Puente Ingles bridge but it's noisy on weekends & lots of horseflies. 2 buses out from Puente Ingles around 7 & 7:50AM<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
*El Médano<br />
<br />
Termas el Medano is a nice place as well, there is a big hot pool (with some cold currents in-between) and some smaller lukewarm ones, and you can swim in the river. The entrance is 1000 pesos, but if you camp at the nearby campground (3000 pesos per person), acces is free. There is also a minishop with sodas, chocolate, chips, sunscreen and a few other things - maybe some bread and flour, but nothing else for resupplying. There's also a restaurant with typical Chilean food, it was very busy when we were there but they do take away as well. The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961 - many others went when we were there, though. <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
*Bus Talca - Termas El Medano <br />
<br />
07:00, 12:30,15:00, 18:45<br />
<br />
from Terminal Talca<br />
<br />
<br />
*Bus Termas el Médano - Talca<br />
<br />
The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 am at the bus shed in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961. Otherwise it leaves from La Mina at 7 am <br />
<br />
<br />
*Bus from Puente Ingles around 7 & 10AM. Confirm times @ the shop. Bus back from San Fabián at 2 and 6 pm <br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
* Tanja: No right of way issue RR trailhead for me on January 12, 2024. There’s a big gate that was closed but 15 meters to the right the fence is broken. No one at gate on Friday morning. Further up where the trail turns at the first river crossing there’s a big landslide of rocks covering the road. Doesn’t look like any/many cars would come through here these days.<br />
<br />
<br />
* Martin & Helena: We got into a right of way conflict on 25th of Dec 2022 - for detailed description see our section log from that time. Short version is that we met 2 cars going down the minor road to the security house at km 11. They refused to let us pass, but we believe it was just their good intention and fear of a possible accident. We tried to convince them in every possible way, but with no success, maybe someone with better Spanish could talk his way through. The guard saw us before and didn't care, so it was just a bad luck for us to meet these cars.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT07 - Laguna Dial]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 13 Laguna Dial.PNG|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 21.jpg|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949889.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_73779722.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108320977.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108320982.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108320989.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321002.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 01.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 02.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 03.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 04.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 05.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 06 Puesto.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 06.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 07.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 08.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 09.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 10.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 11.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 12.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 14 Laguna Dial 2.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 15.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 16.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 17.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 18.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 19.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 20.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 22.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 23.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 25.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 26.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 27.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 28.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321024.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321027.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949851.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949853.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT06_(Descabezado)&diff=114010GPT06 (Descabezado)2024-02-04T15:18:03Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2023/24 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br style="clear:both" /><br />
<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
* 2024-Jan-27 to 2024-Jan-30) / 3.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01+03+06/ Joscha<br />
<br />
Day 1: RR [0-10,1] + OH06-01A + OH06-01[10,7-25,1] + RR [36,9-44,6]<br />
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A few small streams at OH-01 and one bigger one near Laguna Manantial Pelado (ankle high ford). A few snow patches above 2300 m, but you can easily walk over or around them. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.<br />
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Day 2: RR [44,6-45,8] + to Descabezado and back on OH06-03 and OH06-03A + RR [45,8-55,7]<br />
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River at 44,8 was a little over ankle high ford in the morning. The climb up to Descabezado has a lot of steep gravel slopes, which makes it tiresome. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.<br />
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Day 3: RR [55,7-58,3] + to Los Quillayes and back on OH06-06 and OH06-06A + RR [58,3-59,6] + OH06-C + RR [62-69]<br />
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OH06-06A is a steep gravel climb, but worth it. Really nice view from Los Quillayes (but similar to the view from Pass Hornitos. Pass Hornitos has some bigger snowfields on the southern side, but its easy to walk around them. OH06-C was pretty steep at the end, so maybe the RR is more convenient. Little above ankle high Ford north of Laguna de los Hornos in the afternoon.<br />
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Day 4: RR [69-80] + OH06-E + OH06-F<br />
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Small Shop (I bought some Pasta) and Restaurant in Los Alamos. I tried to continue on the RR from Los Alamos to El Medina. But at 81,3 km the trail vanished and I wasn't able to continue. Therefore I walked back and walked on the paved road OH E+F to El Medano. Camping + Thermas in El Medano costs 7000 Pesos. There is a small shop, but it is very expensive (e.g. 1 Ramen Cup costs 2000 Pesos).<br />
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GPT06 has some really spectacular views. Especially Pass Hornitos and Volcan Descabezado. There is no shade, so the sun is gonna burn you all day. This + the sand/gravel is demanding for your body and your equipment. <br />
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*Jan-26-2024 to Jan-30-2024 / 4.5 days / SOBO / Oh5, Oh 3, RR / Matthieu<br />
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Amazing section, from the entrance in Vilches to the end in los cipreses. Sand and lack of shadow are the main difficulties. <br />
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Right of way : that was my first fear. Concerning guardia parques : en parque ingles, they say that they cannot let officially hikers go to the volcan, as duenos asked (OH1 passes by 4 differents private properties). But if you have a message by don victor it's ok. So no need for discussion there just take a ticket to el bolson and no more words. El bolson was closed for a few days for maintenance, so i just got out of parque ingles. At Alto de Lircay, guardiaparque told me that it was my responsability to enter don Victor's property without his permission. You can legally turn back into the park (or coming from parque ingles) paying for another day at the end, at the entrance, if you want to come back by altos de Lircay after the volcan. <br />
- Don Victor : I had the chance to meet him near the valle del venado, on a horse. I asked for permission to enter his lands and continue south, that he offered me easily with promess to not let garbage in the zone. I was glad to meet him out of his lands, I don't know how he would react into. He especially asked to guardaparques to say to hikers that it was not permitted to go on his lands because it's always full of trash, and he has to clean it up all the time. He told me that foreigners were more respectfull than locals though. His phone is off all season because it became a public number, and he has to many calls to enter the volcan. So if you want permission better send a message before season. To note, his lands go at least to the laguna caracole, don't know after.<br />
I saw another chilean hiker walking up the volcan, didn't seem to be a problem for him. <br />
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Water : often present on RR, in the lagunas or the oasis. A good stream just before the top of the volcan to. No need to carry kgs of it. <br />
No water at the volcan basecamp though, so I carried it from the puesto. <br />
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Snow : From now on, no snow issues from the entrance in Vilches to the end at los cipreses, so no need for crampons (with entrance by option 5, I don't know for the entrance by RR). Few patches you can easily bypass before and after the third pass 59km. <br />
No patches on the way to the top of volcan. <br />
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River crosses (1.78m) : only once Rio blancillo, at the first Ford (water to knees). Then I stayed on the right side of the river until the end. I had to walk inside for 1 minute, water to hips, but no current so it was easy. I bypassed the two other crosses this way. <br />
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Camp : valle venado (conaf), really friendly worker there. - Basecamp Volcan : beware, I made the mistake to not plant my tent well with heavy rocks, and the pikes in the sand are no use... so when I came back from the volcan it was upside down with strong wind... a whole adventure to pack everything ! - Oasis at water 48km. - Around 70 kms, some nice camping spots near the river at the right side of the road. <br />
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Volcan : up to the top by option 3, then down by variant 3A. Taking the variant directly seems like hell, lot of sand. More rocks on regular option 3. Physically demanding, but no other particular difficulties.<br />
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Proposition of new option : as the right of way may evolve badly in the future, I suggest a new option road from el camping valle venado to tricehue, following the rio claro. I asked to the guardaparque at the campsite, he said that there are people doing it usually. This year the river is to strong though, so maybe in march or next year. <br />
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Buses at the end : the lign is from talca to el medano, a stop at the exit of los alamos on the road. From el medano : buses 7h30 and 15h30, monday to Friday (dont know for week ends).<br />
From talca : 12h30 and 19h<br />
At el colorado, buses to talca more often.<br />
* 2024-Jan-11 to 2024-Jan-17 / 7 Days / Hiking / NOBO / O5, O3, O3A, RR, O1 / Vlad<br />
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A spectacular section to end my 5-week trip on the GPT. I’ve never experienced a landscape like this before and the weather (straight up sunshine for the whole week) was a welcome change after the unrelenting wind and rain of Patagonia. There were no other people outside of the start and end of the trail in national parks. Beautiful and desolate wild camping near the volcano. That said, it was very rough on my gear. The dry sand, abrasive rocks, spiky bushes did some damage to my shoes (erased on tread on the soles after sliding down scree slopes for 2 days), socks (holes after rubbing on rocks since I did not have gaiters), trekking poles (they were in a poor shape already but the rocks and sand finished them and the tips got sanded off), pants (got some holes as well). <br />
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Day 1: I took an overnight bus from Puerto Montt to Talca (22k CLP, very comfortable, booked through Rodovairro.cl). After arriving in Talca, there was a bus to Vilches at 10:30. I got off at the last stop and made it to the PN Altos de Lircay entrance around 1 PM. I asked the ranger about access to Descabezado land since I texted the owner, Don Victor (WhatsApp +56998863554) but he didn’t respond to me. The ranger said that Don Victor doesn’t respond at the moment but he said it was okay for the rangers to allow hikers to leave the park and go to his land. <br />
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I was charged 8.5k CLP for park entrance and 10k CLP for 2 nights camping inside the park. This is because I wasn’t allowed to start hiking to Valle el Venado the first day (trail closes at 11:00 am even though it’s only 19 km 🙃) and had to camp at the park entrance, then another night once I get to Valle el Venado. It was a bummer as I already had limited time for this section, but it allowed me to go for a day hike up the mountain in Altos de Lircay and watch a beautiful sunset. The forest in Altos de Lircay is beautiful with teeming wildlife and abundant wildflowers. I saw a woodpecker, a fox, colorful iguanas, a snake, giant spiders, and endless wildflowers. <br />
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You could maybe get to Altos de Lircay on time to start hiking the same day if you leave on the 7 am bus from Talca. They give you a paper at the park ranger’s office and I was asked for it 3 times by different rangers throughout my trip. <br />
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Day 2: Walked from Altos de Lircay to Valle el Venado with a side trip to see the waterfall. Met a group on horses. A few river fords that were all below knee level. Got to the campsite at Valley el Venado which wasn’t very nice. Horse poop everywhere, had to clear the spot for a tent. No one asked to check if I paid for the campsite. The group on horses camped somewhere up the valley from the refugio as I heard them and saw some come down to use the bathroom. <br />
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Day 3: I did the 3 fords of river Blanquillo as suggested on the GPS track. The first one is at the spot where river is widest, so it was only knee deep. On the second ford, it’s narrower and the current was strong, it was crotch deep for me (178 cm). Third ford knee deep. In hindsight I should’ve just stayed on the left side of the river and only crossed it once in the end. <br />
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It was a very short day, 10 km, but I thought it would be nice to arrive at Blanquillo refugio early in case Umberto was there. However, when I got there, the refugio was empty, and I couldn’t find any hot springs. I don’t think the bathing pool is there anymore. I scouted around for half an hour and only saw horse and cow poop in every little stream and pool of water. I followed one of the streams about 100 m uphill to get clean drinking water but I still saw poop on the banks. <br />
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Since Umberto wasn’t there, I cooked dinner by the refugio and kept going to the Descabezado basecamp (-35.59773, -70.79645) 3.4 km further and 600 m of elevation higher up from the Banquillo refugio, which made the next day’s climb up the volcano shorter.<br />
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The sunset at the Descabezado basecamp was out of this world. <br />
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Day 4: I left from basecamp at sunrise since I didn’t want to walk in the dark. I had to cross a few not steep snow fields at the beginning but nothing at higher elevations. Every snow field higher up is easily bypass-able. That said, the climb up to the crater still felt brutal to me. There’s absolutely no sure footing, everything is just a scree slope. When ascending, you can either climb up the 45 degree scree slope or try to walk on the rocks which are easier to plant your foot on. I chose the rocks but they too were sliding sometimes, even large boulders, so I had to be careful not to let a giant rock fall directly on my other foot. It took me 4.5 hours to reach the crater from the basecamp following the less steep option 3. It was very windy, cold, and the sun was shining directly in my face early in the morning as I was climbing up the volcano so it was a little difficult to see the path sometimes.<br />
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On the way down, I saw my tent and was trying to slide down the scree slope directly towards the basecamp roughly following the steep option 3A. Going down was actually really fun and effortless. But be careful and still check GPS regularly when you descend, as there are some scree slopes that end directly in a vertical plunge down to the ice field below. <br />
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I refilled my water bottles with ice cold water flowing from the snow field here (-35.60455, -70.78525), using my trowel as a spout. I’m glad I did because when I got back to basecamp, the water I stashed there in the morning was as warm as a hot soup after baking in the tent in direct sunlight all day. <br />
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I was considering staying at basecamp location for another night because it’s such a visually stunning spot with gorgeous sunsets and incredible stars at night, but it was just way too hot to remain there so I packed up and went back down to Banquillo refugio. Unfortunately, Umberto was still not there so I just enjoyed the company of cows and went to sleep. <br />
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Day 5: I went north in the white sand dunes following Banquillo river which nurtures a breathtaking oasis in the desert. I thought this area was way more beautiful than the Banquillo refugio (especially with all the cow poop there) so I wished I kept going a little further the previous night and set up camp somewhere by the river in this area (-35.53354, -70.79191). Disclaimer: I didn’t actually look for a spot that was flat and sheltered but that whole area just felt like a paradise so I think one could find a suitable spot for a tent there. <br />
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Right at the fork of the trails where one can choose to take Option 1 or continue on RR to Termas del Azufre, I ran into arrieros transporting hundreds of goats through the snow-covered slopes, it was a beautiful scene and a blessing for me as their footprints helped me find a safe way in some semi-steep snow sections I had to cross after 2400 m. I chose to follow Option 1 to El Bolson because the RR on the right at the fork looked like it had loads of snow still. Even on Option 1, I had to be careful and kick-step my way through the snow fields as I had no crampons and my trail runners had virtually no tread left on them after being ground on the volcanic rocks and sand the previous couple of days.<br />
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One particularly dangerous spot is here (-35.51932, -70.82684) just after Laguna Manantial Pelado. It’s a big snow field that started melting and formed a lake that’s not on the map. It was breathtakingly beautiful going west, but if you were coming from the other direction you could not see the collapse of the snow field until it’s too late and you’re on the edge, so stick to the trail and walk on the side of the valley in that spot. <br />
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I got to El Bolson just before sunset. It was surprisingly a beautiful and scenic campground and not too crowded on a Monday night. I spoke a few words to the people in the refugio, they just told me to set up my tent and didn’t ask to pay for camping. <br />
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At Bolson, I met a group of Chilean students from Talca who spoke really good English and we had a lot of fun eating dinner together, smoking weed and going to swim in the nearby waterfall the next morning. There are trails going down the cliff to the swimming pools here (-35.49801, -70.90767). It’s a really pristine swimming spot, just be careful and don’t get too close to the waterfalls as we heard there was an accident the previous night where a rock fell off and pushed a person over the edge of the waterfall so they plunged down into a pool below. <br />
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Day 6: Hiked from Bolson to Parque Ingles entrance, where the ranger once again asked for my paper registration from Altos de Lircay documenting my trip. The shops at Parque Ingles are really tiny and would not be sufficient for another section resupply in my opinion, I just bought some fresh fruit and hitched a 3 KM ride to Siete Tazas. By the time I got there (19:00) all the trails were closed and the ranger told me to go find camping at Valley de las Catas. It was 13k CLP (ouch) for 1 night camping with inclusion of the ticket for a 3-km loop on the southern bank of river Claro to see Siete Tazas. The campground had a hot shower which was very welcomed, but otherwise I think Siete Tazas was not worth it and I wish I spent my last day attempting to hike up to Laguna de las Animas instead. Though I don’t know if it would even be possible as the entire rim of the mountain seemed snow covered so there must’ve still been a very steep, yet short, snow field one would need to cross to get over the pass. <br />
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Day 7: I took a morning walk out of the campground and caught a 11:30 bus back to Molina, then a bus from Molina to Santiago for a flight home the next day. <br />
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* 2024 Jan 07 / 4.5 days / SOBO / RR / Anh<br />
There are many good reports, so I'll keep it short.<br />
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With my information, I could simply walk from Parque Inglés without registration. But I want to hike legal & support Conaf. So I had to register and pay online (not in cash at other national parks) with my conaf account, then offline paper formular. Fortunately, the 2nd payment for Campsite El Bolsón (compulsory) was in cash (200m from Conaf). It had taken me more than an hour.<br />
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There is a lot of hiking in volcanic sand (rough, fine).<br />
At this time there are still many snowfields from 2000 Hm upwards. There are streams under the snowfields, some of which only have a thin layer of snow (danger of collapse).<br />
Ford km 29.4 is quite critical (hip, strong flow in the morning)<br />
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I met two boys at Refugio Blanquillo. They had been hiking for two days on a different route (no RR GPT06) with a text description from the internet (no hiking map/GPS track). They learned & understood that it was very dangerous and could get lost at any time. Luckily they met a hiker with GPS & inReach, otherwise I would have taken them with me.<br />
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* 2024-Jan-03 to 2024-Jan-08 / 6 days / Hiking / round trip anticlockwise / O5 - O3 - RR - O1 - O1c (Condor Circuit) / Lotti and Alex<br />
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Originally we wanted to do the Cóndor Circuit, but after we read about the troubles some of you had, we decided to take the safer option 1 to avoid the snow and landslide above Termas de Azufre. This route felt very safe and the snow was not a problem at all. We ended up with a beautiful round trip from Altos de Lircay to Valle Venado, then to the summit of Descabezado, then Valle del Indio and back to Altos de Lircay. The landscape is incredibly beautiful and diverse, and we enjoyed it a lot. The scariest part for us was fording the Rio Blanquillo on day 2.<br />
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Day 1: Altos de Lircay - Valle Venado on option 5 (Sendero de Chile) <br />
We stayed at Hotel Picamaderos in Altos de Lircay, which is a very nice and relaxed place right next to the park entrance of Altos de Lircay. To enter the park we had to show the CONAF officers the WhatsApp message that Victor send us as a permission for entering his land at Refugio Blanquillo. <br />
The hike through the forest was very nice and shady and we enjoyed the view from the mirador where we got a nice overview of our route for the next days. Crossing Rio Claro was easy, not deeper than knee deep. We camped in a shady spot next to Valle Venado.<br />
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Day 2: Valle Venado - Refugio Blanquillo - Descabezado base camp (option 5 and option 3) <br />
Easy walking until Laguna el Blanquillo which was really beautiful. After that the path crosses Rio Blanquillo several times. We tried to avoid it at first because it looked quite intimidating, so we followed some stone men to climb around and walk higher up the valley. When it was not avoidable any more, we forded it. For me, with just 152cm of height, it was intimidatingly deep (almost to the hip) and it had really strong currents. Alex had to help me across, and with him walking in front of me, it worked. We arrived at an empty Refugio Blanquillo, picked up some water there and walked up to Descabezado base camp which has no water. <br />
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Day 3: Descabezado Summit<br />
We left the base camp early at 6:00 and took the southern option 3 trail which was well marked by stone men at the beginning. We used our crampons to climb up some ice fields effectively, but I think they could have been bypassed as well. On the way down we took the steeper option 3A sliding down on soft pumice stones which was a lot of fun. We picked up our tent, walked back down and set up our camp at Refugio Blanquillo. There we searched a while for the hot springs, but couldn't find them.<br />
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Day 4: Refugio Blanquillo - Valle del Indio (RR and option 1 NOBO)<br />
We walked on the regular route for about 8 km until the junction where we changed to option 1. After that we crossed several smaller streams that were not on our map. Snow started around 2300m, but it was easy to walk on and we didn't need our crampons. Laguna Manantial Pelado was incredibly beautiful with its icy shores. There were some camp spots there, but it was much too windy for us to stay there for the night. We kept walking over the pass and down the valley until we found a shady spot in the middle of the valley floor of Valle del Indio. <br />
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Day 5: Valle del Indio - Altos de Lircay (Option 1C)<br />
After the wild vulcanic landscapes of the days before, this day's scenery was not as spectacular, but the hiking was easy and we even met some wild horses. We camped at Punta 6 inside the park Altos de Lircay, where we found a camping spot right next to a very nice swimming hole in the river and met the first people after 5 days of loneliness. <br />
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Day 6: Altos de Lircay - park entrance<br />
Easy walking in the shade of the forest. <br />
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* 2023-Dec-29 to 2024-Jan-3 / 6 days / NOBO / Variant 5+3+RR+GPT05(VarG+RR)+RR / Matthias + Johanna <br />
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The route:<br />
Basically the route is the Condor Circuit: Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay - Descabezado Grande - PN Siete Tazas. <br />
We bypassed the part from km 19.4 (Termas) to km 27.4 (pass Portezuelo Las Cruces) via GPT05(VarG+RR) due to the reports of Lilian and Michael & Cassia. By the time we started our tour, Michael had written only a much less intimidating post on the Facebook group (only indicating difficult route conditions). So it was a lucky ad-hoc decision after the difficult descent from pass La Calle the day before not to try their route!!<br />
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The conditions: <br />
Snow +- above 2250m, rivers below snow-filled watersheds with high water levels! Overall quite demanding to us!<br />
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Day 1+2: Easy walking from park entrance (Lircay) to Vegas Blanquillo („basecamp“ Descabezado).<br />
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Day 3: Ascent to Descabezado <br />
Easier than expected but tedious above 3400m due to volcanic ash and steepness. Snowfields below 3400m can be bypassed or safely crossed (surface like a mogul piste). The steep snowfields above can by bypassed. We climbed the right (southern) „couloirs“ on the right margin (beneath the red rock), loose rocks are the main difficulty.<br />
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Day 4: Vegas Blanquillo - Termas Azufre<br />
About 5 km on snow. Some short steep snow passages, soft snow on snow bridges. High water levels.<br />
Easy walking until a height of ca. 2550 (km 32.5) when going down into the valley of Estero Volcán. Next 250hm downhill tricky as while we tried to avoid the quite steep snow on the slopes, we faced the difficulty of avoiding unstable snow bridges in the valley floor. We were happy to have our microspikes with us! Also parts of the summer path seemed to be washed away (around km 30.5) as seen from afar. Forded the river ca. 500m upstream of the place indicated on the track files (50m south of the now collapsed snow bridge of Lilian). Strong current, water up to mid of thighs. Additional fording of the (today roaring) creek coming down from Cerro Colorado (km28.5).<br />
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Day 5: Termas Azufre - Valle del Indio: Difficult fordings <br />
Trail washed away ca. 1 km after Termas. We went up 100 hm to bypass (possibly you could also bypass by descending ca. 50 hm).<br />
Edgy fording of Estero Volcán at ca. 35°28'56"S 70°46'13"W. Strong current, water up to lower waist on the far side for me (188cm) and up to upper waist for Johanna (163cm). I could give her a hold from a rock there! Then ca. 500m north 2 easier fordings back to the western side of the there split river. <br />
We did not stick to RR here (we did not divert from path at „trailhead“), as there was no possible crossing of the river visible and the path seems to be very difficult with large loose rocks and steep slopes). But possibly one could avoid the two fordings by RR and then climbing the rocks near the riverbed.<br />
There are no further fordings of Estero Volcán (km 24.6) as river is flowing on the eastern side of the valley this season.<br />
Loose volcanic ash on parts of the ascent to pass Portozuelo Las Cruzes. Snowfields easy (could be bypassed or safely crossed on the afternoon of the hot day). Laguna Las Animas partly ice-covered, we swam next to the ice :-)<br />
After the pass going down to Valle del Indio there is steep snowfields (former wedges) on most of the rim. Only 4-5 m, but even with microspikes it was too dangerous for us. You can bypass snow by walking some meters to the right (west) from the pass and walking/climbing down the rock pillar (solid).<br />
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Day 6: Easy walk down to Park entrance Parque Ingles<br />
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Camp sites: Valle Venado - Vegas Blanquillo (Descabezado basecamp) 2 nights - 500m north and 50 m uphill of Termas - valleyfloor Valle los Indios<br />
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Basecamp Descabezado - Right of way:<br />
No access given to hikers without a guide to cross the NP to Descabezado. We chose to hire a local arriero who accompanied us the first three days (Pancho 997635447), who got a permission to camp from the land owner in advance. Even though he is a local and has his own cows feeding up there, he had to discuss at the three „checkpoints“ at park entrance, as he had no written prove with him.<br />
The man living at the basecamp was not there in the end, selling some cows in the valley ! <br />
Nice swimming pool with tepid water 5m north of camping site, for drinking water go the long way round the swampy valley to a source on the other side ca. 20m west of the hut.<br />
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* 2023-Dec-19 to 2024-Dec-25/ 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Michael and Kasia <br />
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Day 1<br />
We had camped at Rocas Basalticas campground the night before. When we arrived at the gate they asked to see our permission to camp at Bolson. We didn't know that that was required and spent some time going back and forth with them. We finally went to Rocas Basalticas down the road and got them permission to camp at Bolson and they finally let us in. The walk up is pretty, all the snow is gone. All fords are easy. There were a few tábanos, but not many. CONAF did a reroute on a small section of the trail higher up. If you're watching GPS you go off the route, but just follow the sign to Bolson and it goes there. Campground has water and toilets.<br />
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Day 2<br />
We hiked up through Valle del Indio. The route is a little tricky to find and we were moving slow so getting a lot of meander in the GPS marker. Looking for cairns was helpful. Two thirds of the way up there was still snow. By that time it was slushy. We had opted not to buy crampons at the last minute, so we made our way across kicking into the snow. The last 15 m to the pass was an almost straight up in snow. After the pass there was very little snow until the rise up to Laguna de las Ánimas. After that it was a complete snow field and the lake was frozen. We managed to kick out a pad for the tent and camped in the snow. Really beautiful sky that night.<br />
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Day 3<br />
A long day with very little distance covered. Full sun, we both got sunburns despite sunscreen and covering. The snow was heavily pockmarked so it was hard to walk through. It took much longer than we anticipated. We ended up camping just below the pass. We were concerned about wind, so we tied the tent down really well. Fortunately it was a calm night.<br />
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Day 4<br />
We continued on RR. There were several steep ups and downs, mostly on snow, as well as some intimidating traverses. The snow was getting to the point where we were a little uncertain if it would hold or not. We saw a single set of tracks, assume it was Lillian as it looks like she was a day or two ahead of us. 2 km before Termales Azufre we crossed a very steep section of snow. On the way down Kasia fell and hit some small rocks. She got some bruises and cuts, but nothing broken. I tried to slide with the backpack off and in front of me, but I fell too and the bag started tumbling down a steep sandy slope. I chased the bag, fell and rolled twice, and finally managed to jump and tackle the bag about 5 m before it went over the edge. It was a dangerous move, but I had not had a chance to take the GPS off the bag before it started sliding, and without it we couldn't get out and couldn't call for help. It was a long hike back up due to the incline and sand. We made it a little further and then ran into an area of trail wiped out by a landslide where it was impossible to get footing, even without the packs. Every step would cause more sand and rocks to slide down. It was about 18:30 at that point. We backtracked about 100 m to a gap between a snow wall and a large rock and set up a provisional shelter for the night.<br />
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Day 5<br />
After waking up the next day, we tried to see if rest and fresh eyes would give us a better perspective. After discussing it we realized that there was really no way forward or back. We decided it only option was to use the SOS button on the Garmin. I pushed the button at 10:00, and by 16:00 there was a helicopter flying through the valley looking for us. I was surprised that it happened so quickly. They had to land in the valley, and since we could not get ourselves down, they sent a GOPE team of three guys up and the helicopter left for the night. It took them about an hour to get up to us, and then another two hours to do enough provisional maintenance on the trail for us to get down. We camped with them in the valley for the night and the helicopter came to get us in the morning.<br />
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* 2023-Dec-25 to 2023-Dec-26/ 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / off RR / Jens, Nolwenn, Yannick<br />
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To enter the Hydroelectrico Los Cipreses you need a permit, which we did not get in advance. The guard at the gate said we could get it by emailing his boss. <br />
As it was Christmas Day, it was not possible to get the permit. <br />
The guard told us to take a route along the perimeter fence. We did that until we couldn't get further. We entered the compound through a hole in the fence and walked to the end of the road on the right side of the river. The bridge on the map is destroyed. The current was too strong to cross. Turned around and went back.<br />
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*2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-21 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR+{06-D} / Lilian<br />
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<br />
It is the most amazing section from GPT01 to here so far!<br />
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I hiked RR, it is still covered by tons of snow, i recommend use ice axe and micro spikes if you want to hike from Portezuelo Las Cruces(pass) to El Estadio(pass), there is some really steep snow slope. (RR-TL-V)<br />
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Parque Ingles have a restaurant and a tiny store selling food, fruits, drinks and some 230g gas canisters.<br />
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I hopped the gate to the park at 6:30. No one was there.<br />
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There are 3 main pass for RR.<br />
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First pass, snow start at km14.3(2050m), not difficult for climbing up to pass[15.4/2257].<br />
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Laguna Las Animas(lake)[16.7/2286] is still frozen, very beautiful. I climbed up on some rocks at the north side of the lake, then mostly choose my own way to climb up to pass, because RR look steep.<br />
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Arrive the pass[19.4/2547], if you are not comfortable with snow, it is the LAST CHANCE to turn back.<br />
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Pass is flat and dry, you can camping here but windy.<br />
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There are no RR after the pass because covered by many snow, find a way go down to valley by snow slope, then walk all the way on snow to km20.2, you can see the trail but on the other side at km20.2, steep go down the snow slope then connect to RR.<br />
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Follow the trail about 5min, you will go into a big valley, trail and the whole valley covered by snow, but you can see a trail is at the far away other side of valley.<br />
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Go your own way to water[22.0/2279], i think it is lot ways to go down, but dont too close to cliff side, it is steep and easily to fall off.<br />
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After you arrive water[22.0/2279], then straight forward to km22.6.<br />
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A large flat area can fit lot of tents at the downhill side of km22.6.<br />
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After km22.6, the most dangerous part begins, from here to km26, lot of steep snow slope you need to cross, be careful, kick step and don't slide.<br />
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Km26 is another large flat area for camping, i camped here with nice sunrise.<br />
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Snow continues to km26.6, but easy way. The first pass's snow end.<br />
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About the second pass, snow start at ford[29.4/2190], strong flow and look like up to thighs, i cross it on snow bridge.<br />
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Stay on east side until km31.25, then stay down walking in the valley, easier than on the slope.<br />
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Although full of snow, but I think it is easy to go to the pass[33.8/2695] from here, so i dont mention the details. It is also easy to go down, most of them are gentle slope.<br />
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Snow end at km41.4, but mostly you can find some flat sandy spot start at km39.1.<br />
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Hot spring[45.6/1881] : completely dry. Some camping spots with rock wall nearby.<br />
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Water,camp[48.1/1837] : amazing oasis in desert! Clear and cold water, some shade, also lot of swallows flying in the sky catching some food for their kid.<br />
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Km49.1 - km49.8 : best view point of Volcán Descabezado Grande and Volcán Azul! If you want to camp with stunning views, bring water at oasis then climb up here, lot of sandy spots beside some rocks, enjoy you sleep with volcano.<br />
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Km53.2 - km54.7 : Laguna del Caracol(lake), maybe because too much snow melts? Trail underwater, you need to walk in the lake shore for a while.<br />
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Camp[56.3/2034] : oasis again! Crystal clear and cold water! It is possible to cut off from km56 to x[57.3/2073] directly, stream flowing slow and up to knee.<br />
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Third pass, steep climb up to km57.9, if you follow RR, then you will turn right and face some steep snow climbing up.<br />
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If you look up at left side, there is some foot steps straight climb up on a dry slope, which is no snow but looses sand.<br />
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I go for the left one to the pass, ok but steep and really tried.<br />
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Most of the snow is after pass, from pass[59.3/2518] to km61.5, first go to east side go around the snow, then you will find a trail, follow it a little then go your own way in snow valley. <br />
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I follow RR, mostly easy to go down until km61.5, a steep slope. I don't want to take the risk, so i crossed a snow bridge to a sandy slope at south side. Go down the slope and rejoin RR about km62.1.<br />
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Ford[63.4/1909] : i crossed the river before a huge rock, below knee at morning. The huge rock also provide some wind protection, i saw some camping trace beside it.<br />
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Volcán Los Hornitos : km65.3, {06-D}, just beside RR, no need CC, a trail leads you to the top, just climb up 70m! Go for it!<br />
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Lastly with no luck, i saw a car going down just 10min before i arrived the road, then no more cars, so i walk all the way to Los Cipreses.<br />
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Met a super friendly worker at Los Cipreses, he give me some cherry to eat and a ride to Los Alamos. A tiny shop there , if you are not picky, a little pricey but enough food resupply for 1 people six days. It have a sign "Almacen" at its front gate. You can ask locals where it is, i saw many workers go to there buy things.<br />
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2023-dec-3/ 4 days / hiking / SOBO / RR & 6 option 1 / Lukas en Tess<br />
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As this was our first section on the GPT and there still was a lot of snow in the mountains we decided to play it safe and folow option 1 from el Bolsón. It is less steep and less long above the snoweline about 2000m at the time. It went great but Tess burned her eyes so good sunglasses are definetly a must when hiking in the snow. From there we continued the RR at Laguna del Caracol we had to walk in the lake on the edge, no idea if that's normal but it was funny. The next and final big obstacle was the pass on k59 we decided to try and bypass it because it looked very steep with a lot of snow and ice and Tess with her burning eyes had a hard time looking at any snow at her feet. So we went up right next to it (north). Realy though rock scrambling but we managed. Going down the next valley was okay with the snow but crossing rivers covered in snow is tricky so try to avoid it. Walking into los Cipreces we were told we were not supposed to be there but still we had lunch in the cafeteria and they fixed a ride to bring us to the road, realy nice people there. From there we hitchhiked to el colorado where we stayed for two days to let Tess' eyes heal.<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-14 to 2023-Mar-19 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Parque Ingles - Los Cipreses / Noemie<br />
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Parque Inglés - El Bolsón - Termas de Azufre - Blanquillo - Laguna Hornitos - Los Cipreses<br />
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First try on the GPT and amazing section to start. There were buses from Molina at 10am and 5pm going to Parque Ingles. You must arrive there before 1pm and buy an entrance for El Bolson (with camping) to enter the Park. It's also possible to camp in Parque Ingles (7.000 CLP/night). When I entered, CONAF asked me where I was going, if I had a GPS, and gave me some kind of permit to show in Los Cipreses. I wasn't asked to show it when I arrived there though. <br />
Landscapes and panoramas were extremely beautiful and very impressive. There was still water in all marked points and fords were easy to cross. Trail is easy to follow almost everywhere, except after Termas de Azufre (be careful to look for the right pools on the map and do not go up too much, I ended up in a place with almost boiling water). The whole section is full of beautiful sand dunes, so gaiters were extremely useful. In Blanquillo, you are supposed to get an authorization from the dueño to stay there, but it looks like it is not really enforced. I spent a day in Blanquillo to rest, drink maté and learn how to make sopaipillas with Umberto. I hitchhiked from Los Cipreses to San Clemente (one hostel, two supermarkets, decent to resupply) so I can't comment on the bus schedule. However, to come back to Los Cipreses/Termas del Médano, be aware that there is now only a bus leaving at 3pm from Talca, going up until La Mina. I took a small bus to Colorado on morning (every 45 min.) and hitchhiked easily back until Laguna del Maule for GPT 07.<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Mar-21 to 2023-Mar-25 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Vilches — Volcan – Parque Ingles / Iris, Alexis <br />
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Our last section on the GPT for this year! We started in Vilches Alto with the option 06-05 because we rented horses with the arriero Jose Lopez. The beginning is placed in the Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, which requires a permit to go until the Volcan. The entrance fee is also 7k pp. We finished our first day at Camp, CONAF {06-05} [10.2/1158]. I believe we mostly followed the GPS track. <br />
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On the second day, we continued with the horses until Hot Spring {06} [45.6/1881] (Banos del Blanquillo) still following the track. We then were disappointed because the arriero left us here whereas our agreement (clearly stated by messages before the rent) was to climb the volcano with the horses (it turns to be not possible, too steep).<br />
Thankfully, we had an excess day of food so we could attempt the climb the next day. We also met Umberto, the guy staying in the refugio, who was extremely friendly. He told us to start the volcano climb early in the night to avoid heavy winds. <br />
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On Day 3, we started the ascent at 2am with our headlights. 6h30 later we were on the top, with the morning lights rewarding us and stunning landscape. The ascent was extremely tiresome (sand material), as always with volcanos, and it was very cold but the crater and the views were very worth it. After a breakfast at the top, the descent, mostly running, took us about 2h. We rested for the rest of day at Banos del Blanquillo and even got a sopapilla making class with Umberto.<br />
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On Day 4, we followed the RR in the beautiful Descabezado landscape. Expect no shade but stunning dunes of white sand. There is plenty of water during the day because you will cross at least 2 rivers that were not dry this late in the season. The trail is easy to follow (because that is the only one) and is also part of the Circuit of the Condores. However, after Ford {06} [29.4/2190], you have about a dozen of options and the navigation until Hot Spring {06} [27.4/1986] (Hot Sping del Azufre) is more challenging. We decided to ignore the GPS and follow our instinct - just aim for the fumerolles. There you can enjoy a hot bath in one of the three hot natural pools (along some weird soft alguees). <br />
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On Day 5, we simply followed the RR until Parque Ingles. The trail is well marked until the end, you just have to enjoy multiple highlights in the landscape. Of note, when reaching El Bolsón, the CONAF ranger forbid us to bath in the pools because it was too late (3PM) and told us to leave the park before 5:30. He was not friendly and also checked the entrance tickets of Livan Ray. We got extremely lucky and caught a bus leaving Parque Ingles when we reached it (it leaves at 5:00).<br />
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This hike concludes our GPT adventure. We loved to start it riding horses to feel a bit more like the trails main user. The final day hiking and the volcano ascent were astonishing, truly one of (or even the) best section of our GPT.<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Feb-03 to 2023-Feb-08 / 6 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Louis, Rémi & Noé<br />
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Our first trip on the GPT, plenty of water, we didnt carry more than 1.5L each. Here is our trip :<br />
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Day 1 - Laguna Las Animas - 18km - +1200m/-100m<br />
We entered the parc illegally at 7:30 in the morning as some others hikers have done reading the wiki. We did this because the parc was full for the next 3 days. I can only advise you to book in advance on internet (conaf). We slept at a camping in front of the entrance for 7k CLP per person. Plenty of buses goes up there from Molina in 2 hours. At least a dozen. Same for going back. If you buy your ticket online : if you sleep at El Bolson, you can enter the park until 3pm, if you go further with only the El Bolson ticket, you can entered until 11am only!<br />
So, we hiked until the Laguna las Animas, a rather long day for the first one.<br />
The camp on the beach was quite windy too.<br />
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Day 2 - Termas de Azufre - 11km - +400m/-700m<br />
A short day, nice to enjoy the hot springs in the afternoon. The pass in the morning was very windy too.<br />
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Day 3 - Refugio El Blanquillo - 20km - +800m/-900m<br />
A long but beautiful day. Leave early the camp to avoid hot temperatures while ascending the pass. Well welcomed by the arrierio Umberto ! Very kind.<br />
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Day 4 - Volcan Descabezado Grande - 16km - +2000m/-2000m<br />
We did the ascent without our bags, we went back to our camp in the night. It's long and hard. According to Umberto, 12h are needed in total, we did in 10h. Same, Leave early to avoid hot temperatures. <br />
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Day 5 - Laguna los Hornitos - 20km - +900m/-900m<br />
Another nice day, passing next to Laguna Caracol. The descent from the pass is a bit annoying if you didnt follow the track (as we did). So, advice : follow the RR and go down on your right. The Laguna is very dry, just enough to have a bath. Hard to maintain the pitch of the tent in the dry dirt.<br />
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Day 6 - Los Cipreses - 15km - +100m/-1000m<br />
Last short day to end this beautiful section. The gravel road is a bit boring but passing pickup are proposing you to get you down to the main road. Here, only one bus at 7am. And a little shop selling ice cream, chips and drinks. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-30/ 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Martial<br />
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First trip 6 days on GPT being a wonderfully intense experience ! Lunar landscapes, silent and remote, few but great people. No particular difficulty.<br />
Started park ingles with a mandatory 7000peso night at quiet camping near the river and bought ticket for Bolsón overnight 8$. Finally did not stay at Bolson a half day walk from entrance and camped in Laguna de las Animas instead. Great spot for Condors watching. After that follow Will’s advice and put on your mandatory gaiters till the end of the section ! + Walking on sand can be tough for the ankle. Don’t resist and don’t do too much !! Learned it the painfull way.. Trail visible but don’t get confused at termas Azufres especially if you try the (very) hot pools ! RR way is up the valley. Camp with water possible before the pass. The way down called « la Calle » is beautifull sandy dune remote desert. Exceptional. Aimed for Blanquillo refugio aka best basecamp for Descabezado intent. Meet Umberto the arriero at the hut and ask him where the termal pool and the drinking water are. He may be offended if you don’t show up and is a nice generous guy ! Also had a Chilean horse riding group intended the Descabezado so were a nice bunch by the camp fire. As weather window was fine, I decided to try a high camp in order to preserve weak foot from a very long ascent (10h). Took plenty of water as they are only glaciar dirty patches up there and aimed for Descabezado to Cerra Azul osm trail just as Nat and Tomas did (so i could have a chance to summit both also). Finally chose not to cross the nasty glaciar but found a very well sheltered highcamp here (-35.60569, -70.76147). Incredible sunset ! Not advisable in case of rain coming (a storm was growing in Argentina so stayed prepared for an emergency descent). Next day summited Descabezado at 11AM with no wind ideal conditions. Dive your front foot flat in sand just like snow climb when it gets to steep ! Nice ski descent sensations straight to the termas for a well deserved rest at the termas ! Also met Carlos a local climbing half way up so we would share joy later at the camp :).<br />
Exit through RR is also nice but regreted haven’t camped here (-35.67102, -70.83649) for there was some playfull trouts to catch with my survival fishing kit !<br />
Beautiful view from the pass to sandyland and then landscape changes and recommend OH variant C descending (less overgrown). Trail not so visible till laguna los hornos witch i climbed volcano to enjoy the crater caldera. After that descent to los Cipreses is kind of boring and hot so was definitely happy to find a camping by the bridge after the gate with lovely Victorina and her family here (-35.81524, -70.83224). They have been incredibly carring, fed me and brought me to the termas caves (also worth it) in El Medano !<br />
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*2023-Jan-16 to 2023-Jan-25 / 10 days / Hiking / NOBO / OH 06-02 & 06-03 Laguna Maule to Vilches w/ volcans / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
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An extremely long description so my apologies but hopefully it will help someone. We Started in Laguna del Maule and ended in Vilches with inclusion of Descabezado, Azul, Descabezado Chico and Colorado.<br />
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All fords super easy or jump-able. Only times water was scarce was Descabezado and Azul (technically there is melt water from glaciers at Azul), the afternoon around Descanezado Chico and also water was scarce around the Laguna des acquas caliente because I would not trust drinking that water (some springs are cold water though). Weather turned bad only once while we were climbing Azul, the change happened rapidly and we went from blue skies to total white out (~10m or less visibility) within an hour. Other than that weather was amazing, a little cold at night and a little warm in the day.<br />
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Happy we started in Laguna del Maule and finished in Vilches. This saved elevation gain and let us decide whether or not we had enough food in the end to climb Descabezado, Azul, chico and for Tomáš Colorado.<br />
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Day1.<br />
Starting in Talca, due to a certain someone (me) I accidentally sent Tomáš and I too Molina on a bus instead of "la mina" so our day was very messed up but we still managed to take a bus to Colorado and hitchhike to the start of this route. Buses from Talca to la Mina go at; 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. We took a bus to Colorado due to time and hitched the rest of the way. The last hitch was in a snowplow truck and he dropped us off miraculously at the start of the trail and before any customs or checks.<br />
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OH-TL-V {06-02} (109.1). Straight away the trail is hard to see, do not take the road-looking trail on the side of the mountain because it ends, stick to the gps. However soon we were walking on the correct route through the sand and down to a creek with fun boulders. Easy to follow. After this first creek we followed option OH-CC-A (06-02) {98} For only -5km until making camp in-between a river and and canal with flowing water. Bogs in this area slowed us down a lot.<br />
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Day2. <br />
OH- {06-02} -[ (93) & (86) ]<br />
This day seemed long, we crossed two passes, one small (-35.94909, -70.45347) and one much larger (-35.88855, -70.46776). I liked the entire area south of the second pass, many beautiful camp spots, water was available almost to the top of the pass and there is also a nice waterfall/swimming pool located roughly around (-35.90452, -70.45218). Trail to first pass was easy but trail between first and second was much more cross country, there are many animal tracks, I followed the gps and Tomáš followed a trail closer to the river and we both ended up at the same spot... After the second pass, the GPX goes cross-country right away, but one can follow a trail that goes left and later reconnects with GPx.<br />
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After the second pass there is a small plateau and then it follows down a creek with water until you must cross an east hill and go towards your first mountain puesto to the east (noone home). There is only a little bit of water here, better water at the creek you came from and or a few creeks ahead. <br />
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From the puesto (-35.86707, -70.47589) there is a good trail that trvaerses the slope ahead. We should have camped but we continued. There were a few nice creeks that were passed along the way. We were forced to make a "make-shift" camp before hitting a much nicer plateau because it was dark and I was not having a good day 😅. It is about 6 km between the puesto and the plateau.<br />
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Day 3<br />
OH {06-02} [78.6] + [75.7] + [63.6]<br />
Easy day, only one small pass. There is an ex-carabiniero puesto at (-35.84277, -70.40285) and a highlight was two rivers, one at (-35.76317, -70.42051) and one river at (-35.74734, -70.45623). The GPX is marked as trail a bit further than the actual trail goes (the trail continues to a puesto down-river). You need to go down a ridge and ford the river, there were some footsteps that can be followed. We walked near {06-02E} along a river filled with sand and not great for drinking but there is a creek that starts/ends here (-35.72759, -70.44125). We camped near this way point in the sand but it got windy at night, we wished we camped a bit further from the river in the little hills where it was considerably less windy. <br />
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Day4<br />
OH {06-02} [59.6] + [29.1] + {06-02D}<br />
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This day we passed a large pass (-35.65200, -70.43356) via {06-02D}. This option was more direct and involved a very short and easy scramble onto a windy plateau. Surprisingly lots of water up towards the pass, last one being (-35.66343, -70.42666) , however the water available had a lot of sand in it, fyi. From camp we followed a cow trail until a lake like feature (-35.70057, -70.42733) and then went cross country. I hope my cairns marking the turn for {06-02D} survive. <br />
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After the pass the true Descabezado environment begins. We both made note of how terrible it would be to be on this plateau in bad weather, very open and CC. Next water source would be a couple of creeks here (-35.61215, -70.42156). From a break at this creek we ended up going straight down the creek bed. Kind of exhausting mentally and would not be possible in early season due to water levels but it shot us out directly in line for making a green camp here (-35.56164, -70.44009). <br />
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Day 05<br />
OH {06-02} [29.1] + [20]<br />
Lagunas de aquas calientes day. <br />
An easy day with a lot of time spent at Aquas Caliente, true to the name. <br />
Trail from camp was easy to follow until (-35.53519, -70.46551) and then it went CC to the Laguna. If shelter is needed in this open landscape we found a rock shelter here (-35.51276, -70.51035). The creek feeding the Laguna was fabulously warm in places - either at the source of the creek or at a spring on the right side about 100m upriver. Tomáš found the proper source of the spring here (-35.50395, -70.52347). It is easy to get sunburn why bathing mid-day though. There are some camping spots near the creek. After this Laguna there is a nasty and windy sand stretch until a creek located here (-35.48980, -70.57667). On this stretch I chose not to follow the sand but detoured on more solid ground to the east (-35.48839, -70.56200) and was glad I did. Later on we found snow melt here (-35.48544, -70.59940) and loaded all the water we would need for night/morning and exploring Descabozado Chico the next day. <br />
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Day 06<br />
OH {06-02} [20] + {06-02C Chico} + [4.5]<br />
Descabozado Chico + Vulcan Colorado (Tomáš)<br />
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Went up and around the crater of Descabozado Chico in the morning which I highly recommend. The crater is easy to walk around and gives an amazing 360 experience. The climb up is tedious but non-dangerous scree that makes for a super fast decent. Make sure you have enough water because water is scarce there. I saw a waterfall on the NE side the lake but did not go to it, Tomáš got water somewhere off trail around here (-35.51226, -70.65626) and I drank out of the next lake -35.52036, -70.65873 (questionable, but nothing happened to me). <br />
From the lake the next pass begins and I stupidly made Tomáš and I carry 5L of water up it because I did not think there would be water on the south side (both of us overlooking the river indicated on the map)...I was wrong, no water high up but lots of water down low. For the pass we opted not to follow the route because it was thick steep sand so we instead climbed a more solid ridge here (-35.52506, -70.66854). Tomáš went to continue up Vulcan Colorado and I boringly traversed to the normal pass and enjoyed a very fun sand ski down the south side. The Vulcan is a steep but not technical hike up, the crater can be walked around with a steep but fun descent on the other side in SW direction. This pass would be very tiresome climbing up due to sand. If you are coming from the opposite direction and do not trust the lagoon water then you should aim for (-35.51226, -70.65626) or bring water.<br />
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Everything this day was CC. I found it to be the hardest day navigation-wise but still not troublesome. We finished the day in a nice valley before the next days climb here (-35.55427, -70.70793). The water around this area is a bit sandy but better further up.<br />
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Day 07 <br />
Last pass and New route possibly <br />
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From camp a trail existed to the pass at -35.55228, -70.73791. There was a little bit of snow at the top but since there were already steps made, it was zero problem. Lots of water on the SE of this pass but only a trickle of water on the NW side at -35.54575, -70.75672. This water trickle point is where we left the trail to make a short cut to Descabezado. To our surprise our route worked and in 4hrs we were making a camp at 2630m next to the approach trail to Descabezado, therefore saving a lot of time, distance and elevation. In our route there was only one difficulty and that was a deep gorge and creek "jump" at -35.57904, -70.77929. Personally I would not recommend this in early season because the consequence of falling in the river might take you down a waterfall and the traverse may otherwise be nasty if there are still snowfields around altitude 2700m. The gorge is fed by the glacier in the crater of Descabezado so in the morning it should be better but the water is very dirty.<br />
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I drew the route on my photos of the pass if anyone wants them. Otherwise here is my description of our route.<br />
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From the small trickle creek at -35.54575, -70.75672 head SW up the creek bed in the direction of this easy pass ***-35.55513, -70.76977. Nearby spots would work too except for the pass directly above the creek bed, the other side of that one had snow and rocks. After this pass I believe it is easiest to just go straight down and up like a half pipe rather than trying to traverse and keep elevation, we aimed for a middle looking plateau on the other side, this middle plateau took us to the proper crossing of the gorge here, -35.57923, -70.77864 (más o menos). We jumped the gorge and climbed easily up the other side although the other side looks like a scramble it was actually just walking. We travesed this altitude for a little longer (although I would suggest easier walking a little lower) until we made camp in a ravine very close to the Descabezado approach route. Our camp even had a small amount of flowong snow melt so it was heaven in my mind! (Camp with water; -35.59280, -70.78723). <br />
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Day 8<br />
Descabezado & Azul.<br />
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This is turning into a novel so I will keep this short. We left our tent in place and set off early to do Descabezado and Azul as a day trip. Descabezado was straightforward, it seems the trail will change slightly every year depending on who makes the tracks (neither the route in oSM or GPT seem to follow the actual trail from about 2600 to 3300). If wanting to make the true summit it looks like you have to go down into the crater, cross the glacier and approach it from the other side. Coming down Descabezado was very fast but we made a huge mistake and left the GPT trail to follow the other osm route that heads east then west called "Descabezado Grande - Quizapu - cerro Azul". <br />
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This route should be avoided for many reasons apart from the fact that the other route is easier despite elevation gain (we took the other route back). This osm route took us here -35.61301, -70.75604 which was actually a glacier covered in sand with a small hanging glacier above causing a lot of rockfall, it was a very ugly place and we carefully got out of there and made or way to the proper route to Azul. Despite loosing almost 2hours on an already tight day we continued (although I wasted an extra 30min due to making up my mind🙄). Once again on the way up to Azul we did not follow the normal way but went to the east side of the crater of Azul where the bad osm route is. There were a foot print here and there but it was CC. The crater was amazing but too windy to enjoy much, we saw a few fumaroles. We continued CC to the base of Azul, a tiny bit of snow (or glacier remnants?) but posed no difficulties. The base of Azul is beautiful with melt water if needed. We followed the ridge to Azul, it was more involved than Descabezado but no more than a low 3rd class (it is a bit exposed and steep but almost exclusively hiking). There is a interesting summit tower on Azul but because of the wind and time we had no desire to stretch our limits. Weather moved in fast and before we were off the ridge of Azul we were completely covered in a white out, maybe maximum 10m of visibility. Navigation was incredibly hard but we took our chances and took the other ("valle") OSM route down and luckily it was a very easy route and we were down below the clouds and able to see again. The rest of the night was CC back to our camp ~1030pm. It as a good day. <br />
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Day 9.<br />
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From our camp in the ravine we headed CC and then onto the trail that lead to the puesto at basecamp Blancquillo and from then on we were on a good trail. While walking down we opted to stay in sandals and just walk in the river, it was refreshing. We didn't have clean water until the valley bottom at the CONAF camp (valley El venado) where there was also lots of pear trees and yellow plum-like trees. Many people there (first people seen). We made camp at the river before the pass (Mirador del valle del venado) but the walk from the CONAF camp until then was slower than expected because it was along a river bed with confusing tracks.<br />
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Day 10.<br />
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Good trail up and down from Mirador del valle del venado with lots of water and trees for shade. Took us almost half the time we thought it would take. Note that you cannot actually camp at campsites/restong areas on this trail after the Mirador. The CONAF guards asked us where we were coming from and when we said Laguna del Maule he just sounded impressed and let us go on our way. There was a decent restaurant with empanadas, beer ext near the bus stop . There was a posted schedule of the bus but it clearly did not follow this schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus. <br />
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Great trip, beautiful views and details and just the right amount of challenge.<br />
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* 2023-Jan-20 to 2023-Jan-23 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ondrej <br />
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I got to Parque Inglés from Santiago de Chile by taking a train to Curico (advice: if you want to travel by train, buy a ticket online at least 2 days in advance as it books out quickly). From Curico I took a blue collectivo to Molina and then a bus to Parque Ingles.<br />
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At the park entrance I was turned away by a CONAF officer because I bought a “day trip” ticket (El bolson - para día) and not the one with overnight camping. For the ticket I bought they allow entry only by 11:00am. I did not explain that I will continue beyond El Bolson - maybe I should have done that but did not want to get myself into more unnecessary discussions. CONAF said they cannot change my ticket to the “camping” type and when I tried to book the other one, it was booked out for the next two days, so the advice is book early and the right ticket type (el bolson - camping)!<br />
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I ended up camping at the Rocas Basilicas for the night.<br />
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On the first hike day hopped the gate to the park at 7:00. No one was there so no issues. I hiked to Thermas de Azufre. It was a very long day. There is no shade at all after El Bolson. I made a provisional shade using my tent’s footprint during lunchbreaks. Once I arrived to the Azufre hotsprings, a few arrieros were there. I decided to camp further up the river.<br />
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On the second day I hiked to Refugio Blanquillo, met a settler who resides there for three months each year (if I understood correctly). The scenery before the refugio was otherwoŕldy and beautiful. Gaiters, good hat, sunscreen and sunglasses were my most loved pieces of gear. I camped at the first “camp” waypoint after Refugio Blanquillo. Amazing place to camp (but no grass), with a good stream and even some small shade thanks to the bushes. <br />
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My third day was quite straightforward, I made it almost to Los Cipresses but decided to camp close to the last “water” checkpoint, shortly before the gate with the guard. It was alright but I would recommend walking all the way to the shop and camp there for the night.<br />
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On the fourth day I walked through the gate with the security guard. I also met a number of the power station workers and all were friendly. We waved at each other. The guard at the gate was nice, took my passport number and name. Once at the shop I found it was closed (9am). I needed to get to El Medano to join GPT07 and decided to continue hiking through Los Alamos. It might have been to early (10am) as also the almacén in Los Alamos was closed. The road after Los Almacén was uneventful and a bit sketchy at places, so I forded the river at the “bridge” waypoint after Los Alamos to get to the main road and hitchike to El Medáno. Got a ride in approx 20 min. El Medáno is a great base - the thermals are nice and there is an electricity socket next to the toilets. They have shade for the tent too. There is also a restaurant with filling foods and a small shop.<br />
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Overall a fantstic section but I wasn’t expecting the heat to be that oppresive!<br />
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* 2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-3 / 5 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / David and Erika<br />
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Get to TH Parque ingle before 1:00 pm, otherwise they close it for entrance. We did get internet and got the correct CONAF ticket -the one heading to El Bolsón. Once you get out of the park and into the Cuesta Las Anima, the wild parts begin. Hope you got your dirty girl gaiters; cause you’re going to need them. Sand city. Gaiters worked great. Remote and desolately beautiful. Water up at the end of Laguna del Caracol, at the river that comes out of the ground, you have a dry climb ahead. Walk out was straightforward. Got a lift from ENEL employee.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-28 to 2022-Dec-29 / 2 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš<br />
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I connected in Thermas Azufre from GPT 05. I recommend it as a camping spot. I have seen the tracks of people staying on the western side of the valley but I think it is better to ford, there is anoce trail there on the eastern side. There is a place with and island where I needed to remove my shoes just for about three meters (the stream was not strong enough for me to keep the shoes on).<br />
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I took a detour to the lake at the pass - nice. No snow anymore. Reached the Refugio Blanquillo (which is a puesto, an arriero had two dogs and a thousand shep there), met a group of tourists on horses and two Chilean hikers there, so crowded all of a sudden. The pool there is indeed lukewarm. The water from the stream is said not to be good - I filtered it (for the first time on GPT) and was fine. But if not climbing the volcano, I would recommend to camp 2 km further at the next water source. I no longer carry water with me and just drink a lot when I find a source, there is a lot of them, even in the semidesert (the sand is actually white pumice from the volcanoes). It is quite dusty, my hands got dry and that normally does not happen to me. I agree with the recommendation to apply sunscreen at least three times a day! <br />
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The second day I walked all the way to the main road. Stthe pass, there is still a bit of snow but white manageable. Going down from the lake, there is no water until around half or one third of the minor road in the valley, beware. Walking-wise, this was the easiest section on GPT for me. At the mainroad, the camping at the shop after the bridge was closed. I hitched somebody in he truck who knew the owners, called them and they came to open it for me. 5000 pesos but I gave the lady 10000 as she had to drive here to open the aging for me. There is electricity and cold shower and shadow. Almost nothing at the shop. The bus is said to leave at seven. I slept and now will try hitchhiking.<br />
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*2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
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Amazing trail! It's quite desolate but the landscape varies enough to always keep things interesting. Trudging up the sandy hills could be demoralizing, but getting to run down the other side more than made up for it. Water was still plentiful though not much snow was left, I only had to cross a few small patches. Thankfully heat wasn't a problem at all for me, I even felt cold a few times with the altitude and wind.<br />
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Caught the 5pm bus from Molina to Radal for 3000 pesos, then a van came by a few minutes later to take us to parque inglés for another 3000. Was nice to meet a bunch of Chilean hikers, who were all going to El Bolson and back. We camped at the Rocas Basílicas campsite right at parque inglés, 7000 pesos next to a beautiful river.<br />
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I had phone signal at parque inglés, so I bought the pass online for 8 USD. There was no one at the Conaf office at 7 30 the next morning, so I just hopped the gate and walked through. <br />
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I ran into a few arrieros relaxing at the Azufre hot springs, the only people I saw along the trail. They were friendly but it was tough to understand their heavy Chilean Spanish. They said I could camp with them but there wasn't a ton of room so I walked on.<br />
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There were some geysers shooting up from the muddy riverbank near the gpx track so I took a wider route around. An arriero also told me to take a trail higher up along the dunes so I followed that to the ford. The ford looked tough so I kept walking 2ish km along the other side until I could easily hop across. But it was slow going, probably not worth it.<br />
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I ended up having to camp on a random sand dune. I had some trouble getting my tent to stay up tied to rocks, since I couldn't get stakes in. I'd definitely recommend using tieouts you can really secure to rocks, or even a freestanding tent.<br />
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The rest of the hike went smoothly. I easily made it to los cipreses in three days of hiking from parque inglés. The guard was super friendly, inviting me in and giving me a bunch of water. I camped across the street from the shop near the bus stop, ask at the shop if you want to camp there. The guy running the camping was also super nice, he messaged the bus driver and told me it would be at 9 or 9 30 the next morning, because it was a Saturday (it was also Christmas eve). The bus ended up showing up at 9 45, and costed 3200 pesos to Talca.<br />
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The side trip up Volcan Los Hornitos was very worth it, there's a fairly gradual trail up and you can just sprint straight down. I didn't even need to bring any water (just some gummy bears).<br />
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I got by without gaiters, but bring them if you can. I should have used more sunscreen, the reflection off the sand is strong.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-20 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena<br />
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Joining section 6 directly from the previous one with a little challenging connection trail (see our comment from section 5), we continued to the Hot Spring del Azufre. On the way there is one steep traverse. We used hot spring to cook our rice which really saved us as we run out of gas. The landscape on the whole section is amazing, we really enjoyed it! Ascent to the pass is nice and gradual, hiking in the sand is a little slower, but the opposite when going down. We camped at the El Estadio, almost no wind that day, great place to sleep . In the morning we continued on a nice and easy trail, great views around the volcanos… short break by the laguna thats great for swimming. We camped a little before the camp marked in the gps, there is one place, probably used by arrieros, with a fireplace and a few rocks around it. Being out of the gas we set a fire using wood that was already in there and some others we gather during the day. The view to the volcanos must be one of the best we have seen here so far! The next day we continued to the last Hornitos pass and through the valley, again really nice hiking on a clear trail. Last few kms on the road and since we missed the only bus to Talca that is leaving early in the morning (7:00) and did not have luck with hitchhiking, we stayed in a camp right next to the road. Its just a few meters before it, in the same direction we came from. On the left side is a house with some old advertisment sign (coca-cola or similir) on its fence, and the lady there has a small shop. The camp is on the other side - cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. Overall, when combining both sections we recommend to plan carefully, but its definitely worth the effort, especially this section 6.<br />
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Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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* 2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna&Christopher <br />
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The section is pretty tough, but beautiful with a quite unique landscape. We definetly would do it again.<br />
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Recomendations: bring lots of suncreme, a good hat, gaiters.<br />
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How to get there:<br />
We took a bus from Santiago (terminal at the metro station Universidad de Santiago) to Curico. Across the street from the bus terminal in Curico leaves a blue bus to Molina for 1k CLP. From Molina we hitchhiked to Parque Inglés.<br />
You have to be there before 3 pm to be allowed to hike up to El Bolson. To camp they charge 8k CLP p.p and the park entry is also 8k CLP p.p.<br />
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The first day we started early from El Bolson. From midday on it was super tough due to the white sand which makes walking really tiring and reflects the sun which makes it super hot without shade. The next day was pretty similar.<br />
The whole section there was plenty of water. There was no much snow left at the passes, so we had no trouble without spikes.<br />
On the last day, after arriving to the dirtroad (8 km from los Cipreses), we got offered a ride after a while and the guy brought us directly to El Médano.<br />
The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).<br />
In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.<br />
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*2022-Dec-03 to 2022-Dec-06 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica<br />
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Route: Parque Inglés - Laguna Ánimas - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna del Caracol - Laguna de los Hornos - Los Cipreses<br />
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A beautiful, remote section of true mountain wilderness. It took me 4 days, but only 2 hours hiking the dirt road to Los Cipreses on the last day (so very doable in 3 days). The only people I saw were a couple of arrieros at Termas del Blanquillo who told me they hadn't had a winter as snowy as this one in over 10 years. I was glad to have my microspikes for the vast snow fields near/on the passes. A couple places would have felt quite unsafe without them. <br />
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Notable tidbits: <br />
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Took a bus from Molina at 5pm (on a Friday) to El Radal, then hitchhiked to Parque Inglés. I camped there the first night for 7000 pesos. Pricey, but at least I had a beautiful and secluded spot by Rio Claro. <br />
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The stretch between Las Ánimas Pass and Termas de Azufre had some sketchy traverses across disintegrating scree slopes that were downright nerve-wracking. I suppose if you go down to Laguna Mondaca, then back up to the Termas, you may not encounter this hazard. But I did get to observe a condor soar above my head on thermals for an hour as he surveilled his domain, that was super cool. <br />
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For the first ford after Termas de Azufre, I crossed further upstream than indicated on the GPS track (see Carlos's comment below). It looked a lot safer there than downstream. There's continuous snow for about 3 km going over the pass after Thermas de Azufre, best to cross in the morning to avoid postholing when the snow gets too soft. <br />
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Los Hornitos pass has a large, very steep lip of snow (leftover cornice) on its south side. It's possible to go around it by heading north for 50-100 meters and then making your way down on the volcanic sand.<br />
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The spring between Termas del Blanquillo and Laguna del Caracol is a beautiful little desert oasis in an orherwise hot and dry stretch. It was a splendid spot to camp. <br />
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There is LOTS of water. Laguna del Caracol and Laguna de los Hornos are both full of clear, refreshing water. A lot of the "water" GPS waypoints are actually fords this time of year (easy ones), and there's a lot of other water sources not listed on the tracks. But the section is very exposed, no shade, and very hot in the midday sun unless a breeze is blowing. <br />
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No issues with the guards at Los Cipreses, they were friendly and let me pass no problem. From the first bus stop on the road, I hitched easily to Talca to resupply.<br />
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==Season 2021/22==<br />
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*2022-Feb-20 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Molly <br />
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Amazing section! I found the landscape to be very varied despite the lack of vegetation - and even with many pretty flowers near the streams. I personally found it to be a great ending to my GPT journey, a big contrast to the landscapes further south. Would make for a tough start though.<br />
Plenty of water. Met one hiker doing Circuito el Cóndor and three Chilean tourists on horseback. No arrieros, but plenty of cows and horses. The weather was cold and windy, sometimes veritable sandstorms which meant I almost couldn't open my eyes - maybe sunglasses could have helped. I wore my long pants over my boots instead of gaiters - should have listened to the advice, so much sand! <br />
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Signs on the way to parque inglés say that you can only buy tickets online - don't know how strict they are, but no cell phone coverage at parque inglés and long before in case they insist. You have to be there before 15 to be let through to El Bolsón.<br />
Easy 11 km to El Bolsón through a young forest. No water at the first "ford" waypoint. Campground has toilets and showers, it's the only place you're allowed to camp until after Valle del Indio. Nice enough place next to the impressive Colmillo del Diablo. In hot weather it might be nice to camp here to take the long ascent in the morning.<br />
Laguna de las Animas would be a good campsite plus a nice place to swim. The first "water" waypoint afterwards is also great for camping - there is a nice little meadow.<br />
Las Animas pass is gorgeous!<br />
After Termas Azufre there are many confusing paths. They mostly seem to lead to the same place, but keep an eye on the GPS. When descending from the 2700 m pass towards Termas Blanquillo, you don't have to cross the stream to your right even though many paths do it. As noted by others, the hot springs Baños del Blanquillo are luke warm - but fine if you want to wash yourself a little and the stream is too cold. The refuge is locked.<br />
The next camp waypoint is in a cute valley with many streams, bushes and flowers. No grass, though. <br />
Laguna Caracol is beautiful as well, but very bare, surrounded by sand. I really liked the campsite afterwards, with views of both Volcán Descabezado and Cerro Azul. From there, a small CC section to the ascent where the path picks up again towards the Hornitos pass. Even more gorgeous with great and very different views to each site. Volcán Hornitos and the other little craters look really funny and special. Some hail was coming in, though, so I quickly slided down to the next camp waypoint, again a nice flat meadow. No water on the ascent. The first streams at the top of the pass were dry, but the path crosses a stream in 2100 m altitude. If you fill up at the water waypoint before the pass I agree you wouldn't have to carry extra water, the time between these two water points is around 2-3 hours.<br />
I climbed to the rim of Volcán Hornitos, there's nothing in there, but if you walk to the highest point the view is nice enough. It took me 20 minutes in total, and it was about worth that.<br />
The gravel road is nice the first kilometres, but then it gets pretty boring. The security guard at the end was very nice and welcoming.<br />
I camped at the shop just before the road - nice place by the river, 3000 per person with toilets and a cold shower, or 50,000 for a cabaña. From there I hitched the 3 km down the road to Restaurant Cordillera, nice enough, great with a beer, meat and fries. <br />
Bus left from the bus shed at 7:20 next morning - think it depends whether it goes to El Médano or not <br />
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* 2022-Jan-20 to 2022-Jan-25 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Carlos <br />
Route: Parque Inglés - El Bolsón (Colmillo del Diablo summit) - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna Caracol - First bus stop on CH115 road.<br />
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I hiked this route only a couple of days after Verónica & Jo. Not much to add except:<br />
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First day just hiked to El Bolsón (easy 4 hours), pitched my tent on the gorgeous campsite, left the heavy load and climbed the imposing "Colmillo del Diablo" (easy hike on a trail that goes around the back of the mountain).<br />
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From Termas del Azufre climbing to the pass I followed a faint track on the steep loose slope instead of crossing at the first river ford. After a few hundred meters the track takes you to a flat wide rocky area (just before the slope becomes impossibly steep), where you can very easily ford the river (I didn't even get my feet wet).<br />
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Plenty of buses Molina - Parque Inglés. But only one bus from el Médano - Los Cipreses to Talca, at around 7 am, which returns at 15:00. Only week days. Basic camping just in front of Los Cipreses shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits): $4.000 pp.<br />
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* 2022-Jan-10 to 2022-Jan-15 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo <br />
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Route: Parque Inglès -> Laguna de las Animas -> Termas de Azufre -> Descabezado base camp -> Laguna del Caracol -> Laguna Hornitos -> First bus stop on 115-CH<br />
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The five nights we just spent in a tent was the longest stretch we have ever gone without a decent bed on a hike. We skipped Radal, Laguna Mondaca and Termas de Medano, but still hiked in 6 days what others did in 3-4. We're basically easing into the GPT, gaining some fitness and experience before taking on the harder challenges.<br />
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As others have said: the views are otherworldly and stunning. We felt like Touaregs traveling from oasis to oasis in the Saharan desert. Except that there actually are plenty of springs and little rivers flowing in most valleys.<br />
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Useful tidbits:<br />
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- There really is no shade after El Bolsòn. Either you make your own (e.g., adapting your tent to not trap heat) or you dress like a Touareg (loose clothing fully blocking the sun). For us, this was the hardest to deal with. We got up early but often stopped hiking at 13:00, enjoying the lakes or even just sitting down doing nothing that takes energy.<br />
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- High-heeled boots and long trousers work well to keep the sand out.<br />
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- Confirming Shn0rhelez: going up from Termas de Azufre until the second ford indeed passes plenty of water, no need to carry any.<br />
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- Laguna Hornitos is drying up and hence less beautiful than the other lakes. Maybe it's better to camp at the start of the Hornitos plateau (SOBO, so north entry) as the area is flat and there is reasonably clean running water there.<br />
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- There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.<br />
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- In supermarkets, you can buy alcohol desnaturalizado cheaply in the nail polish section, or alternatively, use alcohol de quemar from the combustibles section.<br />
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* 2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / <br />
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From Parque Inglés to the entrance of Reserva Achibueno<br />
Buy your ticket online for “El Bolsón” on the CONAF website and get to the trailhead before 3pm<br />
4hrs hike to El Bolsón, a great place with waterfall, great views, nice camping spots, hikers<br />
TO CHECK: Bus from Molina to Parque Ingles leaves at 9 am (not positive) on week-ends and holidays <br />
Easy hitch from Radal to Parque Ingles coz lots of campers going there on week-ends<br />
Be careful a ranger told me the park closes on Mondays <br />
It took me around 4 days from Parque Siete Tazas Park entrance to the road Q115 (Central Cipreses)<br />
From Road 115 I hitched to a village by Colbún lake where I resupplied : good supermarkets (a little on the expensive side), food truck , pastry shop <br />
I didn't like Altos de Lircay NP : after El Bolson (4 hrs in) no fucking shade for 3 days and an half except that of a shelter a little off trail, blazing sun all day, sand sand sand, I found the place so inhospitable, monotonous sights : sand dunes for ever, quite some struggling pedalling in the soft sand, plus I had no gaiters (stupid me) and low heels shoes so that was a bummer. However the place is super special, feels like on the moon (beautiful pictures) and I can understand why many love it<br />
Some “hot springs” are actually just luke and others just a hole or boiling hot (I added these informations to the track and waypoints I sent to Jan Dudek) so don't be like me fantasizing all day on that fantastic bath you will get or wait for Jan's update (thanks so so much for all you do mate).<br />
After resupplying I hitched on option 7 XXX all the way the Mellado cañon (really nice, by the river all the time), communities. After hiking South from Carizales (which has a very limited “store”) I was short on time and food and realized bare landscapes over the tree line were not my cup of tea (I prefer hiking below 1700 m in this part of Patagonia) so I left RR and took another option all the way to the West to Reserva Achibueno which I really enjoyed : great landscapes, lakes, rivers and met some cool hikers and fishermen<br />
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* 2021-Dec-09 to 2021-Dec-12 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / AR past Laguna Manatial Pelado / Vera & James<br />
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We arrived the day before at Parque Ingles and camped the night there. From Molina there is a bus to Radal at 5pm wed-fri, and direct to Parque Ingles on weekends. The only way to pay for park entry is online at www.aspticket.cl.<br />
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As an aside, we really liked Molina. It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.<br />
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Day 1 we headed up the RR as far as just above Laguna de las Animas by 2pm, a brutal climb in the midday sun! At this point the sun disappeared and clouds quickly rolled in, within 10 minutes lightning was hitting the peaks directly around us. We beat a hasty retreat back to El Bolsen and camped there.<br />
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We decided to take the alternate route past Laguna Manatial Pelado. A beautiful route if hot and sandy. We have realised the best time time to take on a long, sandy ascent in sunny weather is very early in the morning, after 9am it was brutally hot. <br />
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We then continued on the regular route. As has been said before, it's remote and stunning. We had some strong winds coming over Pass de Hornitos, and even some sleet on the final day!<br />
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Arrived in Los Cipreses on a Sunday and we didn't see a single person except the security guard. We got mixed messages from him and then the mini shop owner about buses to Talca. I would assume there isn't one on a Sunday. We hitched to El Colorado then got a bus from there to Talca.<br />
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* 2021-Dec-03 to 2021-Dec-09 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&Stiina<br />
<br />
We also decided to combine sections 5 and 6 to avoid in’n’out to and from Parque Inglés. It took us 6 and a half days and some of it was bloody hard. I have never before experienced my ass being handed over to me by a trail. We got beaten to the point where first signs of weakness started to show and I have to admit we kind of even started discussing a plan B and bailing this ditch trail. But only for a moment, once you hit the rock bottom there is only one way to go - up! It was literally and figuratively, and as terrain improved so did our mood and we laughed off the silly thoughts we had had earlier. <br />
<br />
The first 45km of the section 5 were great, awesome hiking and then shit hit the fan real quick. Ascent up from the ford at km 45 was hard but alright. And then came the descent down to Rio Negro (51km), very steep and very loose scree slope. We wanted to make it to Rio Colorado for the night to cross it early in the morning in case there is no bridge. But because the trail or I must rather say the lack of it was really taking more time than we expected, by the time we got to Rio Negro it was already getting dark. The river was very rapid and murky so you couldn’t gauge the depth of it and couldn’t see where to step, we had to really concentrate to cross it, luckily it was only balls deep.<br />
<br />
It was dark as we got across it and we continued the fun, albeit type 2 fun, illuminated by our headlamps. Then came the insanely steep gully that allowed you to enter the valley of Rio Colorado. Something was off with the elevation lines on Gaia and it showed that we will be descending right over the cliff, it was luckily only a glitch. As we couldn’t see much ahead we kept descending ever so carefully on this very very challenging terrain, I would even go as far as to say that it was stupid and outright dangerous. But there was no other way, you just had to stay focused. There were also some rocks falling off the cliff under which we were descending. In a sense night was a good time to do it because you couldn’t see all the dangers - only what lie within the beam of the headlamp. <br />
<br />
Then came an extremely slow going, pretty much crawling speed traverse down to Rio Colorado, which we fully improvised as there was no trail anyway and got down to Rio colorado about a kilometer before the bridge, where we set up camp abit past midnight. <br />
<br />
So yes, the bridge was there - a decent one, seemed permanent and it was a relief that we at least don’t have to start the day by risking our lives fording Rio Colorado. The river was pretty wide and the current seemed pretty fast, it wasn’t murky though but you couldn’t see how deep it really was. But we think it could have been forded in case there would be no bridge. There were a few places that looked doable with somewhat laminar flow. The excitement of the existence of the bridge didn’t last too long as we were slapped back into reality by the difficult terrain, it wasn’t as dangerous anymore as the previous night but difficult nevertheless. Once we got closer to the pass the trail appeared and it was actually pleasant hiking once again. <br />
<br />
To sum it up the descent down to the Rio Colorado valley, then traversing it and the first part of crawling out of the valley sucks big time, but the rest of the section is really nice and not too challenging terrain-wise. I wouldn’t want to skip this section because it had some breathingtaking views. Just that on the hard part of it you can’t really enjoy any of it as all your effort is elsewhere. <br />
<br />
The guards at Laguna Mondaca were the nicest people we have met in Chile so far. They invited us to stay at the property, gave us food and drinks. They insisted we don’t use any of our supplies or gear. They even provided us with a room with a bed and we got to recharge all of our electronics and got a hot shower aswell. It was perfect! And just to make it clear there are no fancy villas there just a few small simple houses where the owner of the property comes for fishing once in a while. And guards weren’t armed either.<br />
<br />
It took us 4 days to get to Laguna Mondaca and not far after it we joined the section 6 which took 2 and a half more days. <br />
<br />
Section 6 was really something, we haven’t had such a strong otherworldly experience anywhere else. It was really like being on another planet at times. The blue sky was the only thing that gave it away that we were still on Earth. Really bizarre landscape and definitely the most beautiful breathtaking section of the six that we have done so far. <br />
<br />
Regarding the difficulty, compared to section 5 it didn’t feel that difficult at all. Walking on sand is challenging, yes, especially going uphill. But on the other side going down is much easier on the soft sand - you can just run/jog without much impact on your body as the sand absorbs it all. Shoes got completely wrecked and we took many “shoe-emptying” breaks because they were just filled with rocks and coarse sand. <br />
<br />
We even took a dip in one of the lakes close to Descabezado and seeing how water is just coming out of the sand and turning into a river was really really cool, just as the whole landscape around there. <br />
<br />
We camped at the lake about 5km from Los Cipreses. When we arrived to the road to take bus to Talca the bus stop didn’t have any schedule and the shop close by was closed. So we couldn’t find out about the bus schedule and the traffic on the road seemed pretty dead. But luckily after 15 min of waiting a car that was going to Talca picked us up, perfecto! <br />
<br />
Overall plenty of water on both sections, a lot of exposure to the sun, and some challenging terrain. It all together made for a great experience, just what we were looking for. It humbled us and we definitely had to adjust our expectations and recalibrate our way of hiking, it is GPT - not more and not less. <br />
<br />
For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH to Laguna Manantial / Frank <br />
<br />
At Parque Ingles I registered with Conaf, they record your route & where you will camp. Deregistered by email later. Easy 3 hour walk to El Bolson, lots of people camping there but they don't go any further. Took optional route to Laguna Manantial. At 2160M there is a small meadow & stream, this is last water & last camp before the lake. You go over a pass @ 2560M then drop 80M to the lake. Camped on the lakeshore. <br />
Termas Blanquillo were only tepid. Camped on a small beach @ S end of Laguna de Los Hornos. The lake is nearly dried out, only a little semi stagnant water left. Best to carry water in from one of the streams a little above the lake. Last 11KM are on dirt roads, you could hitch easily if you want. Met 2 security guards, they were both friendly, no access problems if you are Southbound. Small campsite @ shop on way out. Amazing section, some tough uphill on sand but scenery is like Mars. Definitely use small gaiters or you will be emptying sand out of your shoes every 10 mins.<br />
<br />
At the end of GPT06 if you go on the north bank of Rio Maule the route is blocked by a cliff beyond Los Alamos & you need to cross the river to continue. Better to go on the road. After 2KM on the road you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also. At Bridge 17 you can rejoin RR or continue on road but RR is nicer.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-24 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias<br />
<br />
Overview: <br />
So, I decided to combine GPT sections 5 and 6 in order to avoid a 30k out and back resupply section into parque ingles. I thought this was a good decision for me and really enjoyed being out there for a week. In my opinion this was the hardest section of the GPT in between sections GPT 01-10. I went the first 5 days without seeing another person which I thought was quite cool. So, these two sections are quite remote, and you are way out there in the mountains. There was also some pretty intense river crossing in “GPT Section 5” that I found to be manageable (keep in mind I’m 185cm and have lots of thru hiking experience.) but still a little difficult. The rivers were also very dark and murky which made it hard to see where you would step. There was also an improvised bridge crossing the Colorado River that I used, and thought was safe to use. These two sections are dominated by a volcanic profile with much of the route on ash and volcanic rock. Most of the route is very exposed and there are not many trees or vegetation that grow in the volcanic ash/rocks. There was plenty of water with springs coming out of the hills everywhere and then disappearing into the sand.<br />
<br />
Difficulties:<br />
It was slow going walking thru the sand, especially when hiking vertically. Exposure to the sun. River crossings. Isolation and remoteness. Hiking up and down lose rock and scree fields.<br />
<br />
Highlights:<br />
Hot Springs. Great views of the volcanic region. Mountain Lakes. Sunrise and Sunsets were epic with the landscape. <br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Shn0rhelez<br />
<br />
Parque Ingles to El Medano southbound/main route ... 7 days duration(2 nights spent on laguna Las Animas)...section passable...Strong sun, no shadow after the park... Gaiters strongly recommended...the SUBsection between termas del azufre and second ford Before the pass (2700m) is full with water... my personal opinion is the backpack weight can be minimized... Good luck! <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno & Martin<br />
<br />
Parque Inglés to El Medano<br />
5 days for this amazing section. We started in Parque Inglés in Radal 7 Tazas National Park. Had to wait for one more day because of limited hiking permits towards El Bolsón. 80 daily permits allowed and delivered at 8:30 in the morning, to be minded on weekends when the park is full. Followed Regular Route Laguna Las Ánimas, Azufre Hotsprings, Descabezado base camp, Laguna Caracol and then down to Los Cipreses. Cold section and bad weather towards the end, some rain and freezing wind. Had to camp in Laguna Caracol waiting for the storm to pass and hike the last pass. <br />
The use of lightweight gaiters is advised for keeping the sand out of your shoes.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom & Maddie <br />
<br />
Parque Ingles to El Medano. Very beautiful (and exposed) section. Lots of water. The track from Los Cipreses to El Medano suffered from a few landslides meaning the route was slower than anticipated. I would consider taking the road next time as there is no loss of scenery. We resupplied in El Medano by basically buying all the food at the tienda (60000 CP for food for two people for the next section). Selection was good enough. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from Vilches Alto / Tyler & America <br />
<br />
A Stunning section. Vilches Alto made for a great optional start; rather than returning to Parque Ingles. (We came from Talca by bus - 2100 CP). Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP. All trails were beautiful and a bit more trodden that sections before. Arrieros at thermal pools (not hot) were welcoming and friendly for us to camp. We took our sweet time in the beautiful section. We bussed from the first road access (south of town Los Cipreses/ OH-MR-V@06-E-#001) to Talca for a good re supply before the long next section, 2200 CP. Bus leaves this stop around 11.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start coming from GPT 5 / Matus & Anna<br />
<br />
We combined sections 5 and 6 via optional trail. <br />
GPT06 took us 2 days and bit (first day we did just 4km from 6th section).<br />
I agree with everything what was written in previous updates.<br />
Nice sandy trails. Mornings were freezing cold. No problems while crossing rivers. After optional start regular trail didn't correspond with any trail. We finally took one on the right side and after while they merged. And I don't know who was so commited, but thanks for marking the trail 😊<br />
<br />
There is a small tienda with coke and crisps before entering a main road from Los Cipress. If you continue by main road toward El Medano there is restaurant Cordillera where we refueled again. Accomodation in El Medano. I will edit with ressuply options later. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-14 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mainly) / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
As we came from GPT05 and didn't want to go all the way "back" to the Paso Las Animas, we tried the Optional Investigation Route which starts at Parque Ingles right at the other side (South) of Rio Claro. It leads through private property, so we went to the guard, showed him the CONAF Permit (we bought one just in case, and of course they said it's not possible to walk on the other side of the river), explained him that we would only hike through and gave him some cerezas. He informed his Colleagues via radio to let us pass. It was a nice and easy hike. Nothing to add to Linda's remarks for the rest of the trail.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-06 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda <br />
<br />
Start = Parque Ingles <br />
Finish = Las Termas El Medano<br />
<br />
GENERAL FEELING<br />
<br />
Amazing section !!!! Incredible mineral landscapes as soon as you go beyond Laguna Las Animas. It was tough because of the passes (and this was also my first hiking days and I carried too much food ... ) and the ground around the volcanoes is sand ! So it makes each step even more difficult. I loved the contrast between the areas around the volcanoes and the Laguna Caracol is just one of the most beautiful place I've ever seen !!! <br />
<br />
LOGISTICS<br />
<br />
- Bus from Molina to El Radal (off season and weekdays = only one bus at 5pm in Molina that stops in El Radal. Weekend : it goes directly to Parque Ingles and the schedule may also be different)<br />
<br />
- Hitchhiked from El Radal to Parque Ingles<br />
<br />
- First night in a camping in Parque Ingles = 5000 CLP<br />
<br />
- The day after, I had to register to CONAF. Office opening at 8:30 am. Entrance fee = 6000 CLP<br />
Some people (5 or 6) were going to El Bolson for the day but after Laguna Las Animas, there was absolutely nobody till the end !<br />
<br />
- Still snow when you go beyond the 2300 meters high<br />
<br />
- Be careful for the last pass Las Hornitos, a lot of snow at the top and it makes it impossible to follow the GPS track to go down. I found my way on the left when you face the valley and then got back to the GPS track<br />
<br />
- No problem to go out from the mine. Actually, workers I met on my way down to Los Cipreses suggestedto drop me by car to the main road. The guard was just smiling when he saw me in the car and when I told him I was hiking<br />
<br />
- Mini market where you can find basic food (eggs, spaghetti, chocolate ...) in Las Termas El Medano<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-07 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arnaud<br />
<br />
Amazing but hard section with a lot of denivelation. <br />
As we did not walk the section 5, we took the bus from Molina to Parque Ingles-7 Tazas (many buses, 4-5 buses per day). We registered to the Conaf Office and paid the entrance fee 6000 clp for foreigners. They gave us a mail adress so that we can announce our exit of the parque, to check the security.<br />
We walked the first 11km to the campspot El Bolson. It costs 4000 clp per person but has no interest. As the zone is protected, it is possible to freecamp only after el Bolson, before, it is prohibited.<br />
The Laguna Las Animas is very very beautiful and is welcome for a bath with the heat of this season.<br />
Then the paso las animas is easy and ashes are fun for downhills!<br />
We met nobody on the trail after el Bolson. So great! Except at one spot with termas with full of chilenos there.<br />
We lacked a bit of water at the laguna el Caracol but found 3kms further (just before the strong uphill) a source with drinkable water.<br />
No problem then to exit los cypress. We hitchhiked on the road with workers until the road to los Medanos.<br />
We stayed one day in los termas de los Medanos, at the camping and exit quickly (too many noise, people). The water is hot and nice after a hard section like this one. <br />
We resupplied at los termas (with pasta, arros, pancito, manjar). No gas available there.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
You need to carry all the food for the entire trail. There is no food supply after Parque Ingles. If you meet arrieros at one of the Puestos you may ask for some goat or lamb meet but if you are not ready to take an entire or at least half an animal they may be reluctant to sell. Refill your water supply at the marked river crossings and the camps. In between these waypoints your will find only ocasinally some trickling water because water trickles away easily into the volcanic soil.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
* 2023 / Michael and Kasia<br />
Molina: Hostal Nativos is three blocks off the main square. Run by very nice people, they have private rooms with shared bathroom for 25.000 CLP for the room. They also have a nice garden area with space if you need to clean gear. Ferreteria Franco had gas canisters for stoves. Unimarc on the plaza had cans for recharging, but didn't carry the screw route for stoves.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021 / Vera & James<br />
<br />
Molina: It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
* 2022 / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
Los Cipresses: small shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits) + camp with cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. <br />
<br />
* 2022 7 Anna&Christopher <br />
<br />
El Médano: The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).<br />
In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.<br />
<br />
* 2020 / Frank <br />
After 2KM on the road after Los Alamos (to El Medano) you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also.<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route= <br />
<br />
==Parque Ingles==<br />
<br />
During the main season in January and February several buses go from Molina and Curico to Radal and some even go all the way to Parque Ingles. Outside of the main season there is only one daily bus from Molina to Radal leaving in the afternoon from the rural bus station in Molina.<br />
<br />
*2020 / Frank In summer there are 6 buses a day Molina-Parque Ingles.<br />
<br />
Mon-Sat they leave Molina @ 10:20, 11:30, 12:40, 3PM, 6:15PM, 8:15 PM Sunday Molina- Parque Ingles 7:45, 9:30, 2PM, 7:30PM, 10PM 2 hours to Parque Ingles, buses leave from terminal near main plaza in Molina. Parque Ingles-Molina 7:10, 11, 1PM, 3:45PM, 4:45PM, 6:30PM Mon-Sat Sun. 10:30, 1:30PM, 3:30PM, 5:45PM, 6:45PM <br />
<br />
<br />
*2019/ Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Monday to Thursday: Molina-Radal: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br />
<br />
Friday: Molina-P.Ingles: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br />
<br />
Saturday: Molina-P.Ingles: 11:30 // 13:30 / P.Ingles-Molina: 18:00<br />
<br />
Sunday: Molina-P.Ingles: 09:00 // P.Ingles-Molina: 15:30 / 17:00<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Los Cipreses / El Medano ==<br />
<br />
* 7 am in front of Los Cipreses - someone has to call in advance for the bus to go all the way to el Médano - loads of tourists there, though, so someone might have called. Other connections should be at 9:15 and 17:20 (one at 1620 l3aves from further downstream). The other way around, the buses leave Talca at 7, 13, 15 and 19, according to the schedule at Talca bus station.<br />
<br />
<br />
*This trail section finished at the Route 115 to Talca. Big road with many cars (hitchhiking possible)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023 / Louis, Rémi & Noé <br />
<br />
From Los Cipreses only one bus at 7am. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023 / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
Buses from Talca to la Mina go at; 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. <br />
Vilches: bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022 / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
- There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP. <br />
<br />
<br />
== Vilches ==<br />
<br />
* 2023 / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
Bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
* CONAF does register all trekkers at Parque Ingles (GPT01-WP004) but does not charge an entrance fee. Camp fires are not permitted within the national park that reaches from Radal (GPT01-WP001) to the Laguna las Ánimas (GPT01-WP013).<br />
<br />
* 2024 SOBO Permit required at Parque Inglés:<br />
- payment 8500 Pesos online! (not in cash) with online your Conaf account<br />
<br />
https:// shop.pasesparques.cl/evento/2564/radal-siete-tazas<br />
<br />
- offline formular at Conaf station<br />
<br />
- payment 7000 Pesos for Campsite El Bolsón in Cash (not possible with credit card, 200m from Conaf Station)<br />
<br />
* 2023<br />
<br />
When starting from Vilches and going northbound, a permit to access the Volcano (or the Condor Circuit) is required. CONAF won't let you enter in Altos de Lircay without it. Call them or write an email to get the correct number. The number ending with 554 works on WhatsApp, and a WhatsApp message from the land owner counts as "written permission". Moreover, you have to pay the entrance fee to the reserve and it is closed on Mondays in March.<br />
<br />
*2023 <br />
<br />
Start at Parque Ingles: <br />
Entry ticket for Bolsón overnight needed: $10 USD (book it before online at www.aspticket.cl + get to the trailhead before 13:00) It needs to be purchased online in advance. There is good Entel service at the gate for last minute purchases. After purchase one change can be made to the date of the ticket, and there is no additional charge. After that you need to repurchase the ticket. Entrance for the camping permit is until 13:00. After that they refuse entry.<br />
In addition, you need to show CONAF proof of permission to camp at Bolsón, even if you do not plan to camp there. Bolsón is a privately operated concession within the park. Camping is 7.000 CLP pp and you buy the tickets at Rocas Basalticas campground about 50 meters down the road on the opposite side of the street from the entrance. The only way around this is to have contacted land owners that live beyond the park boundary and show CONAF proof of permission to camp on their land.<br />
They also require that you show them your gas stove, as all other cooking systems (alcohol, wood, etc.) are prohibited within the park, so have it handy.<br />
<br />
<br />
The parc can be entered illegally in the morning (around 7 pm).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019<br />
<br />
Optional start Vilches Alto: Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:18 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|In the huge ash field]]<br />
[[File:10 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (9).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (5).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (17).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|[[Cerro Azul]].]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (11).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 6]]<br />
[[File:01 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|El Bolsón]]<br />
[[File:02 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving El Bolsón]]<br />
[[File:03 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:04 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Las Ánimas.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Las Ánimas]]<br />
[[File:05 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Pass 2560 m.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Pass 2560 m]]<br />
[[File:06 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Approaching Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Approaching Laguna Mondaca]]<br />
[[File:07 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Mondaca.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Mondaca]]<br />
[[File:08 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, that bypasses Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Bypasses Laguna Mondaca]]<br />
[[File:09 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:11 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Termas de Azufre.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Termas de Azufre]]<br />
[[File:12 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:13 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:16 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:17 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:19 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:20 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:21 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:23 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:24 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:25 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:26 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]<br />
[[File:27 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]<br />
[[File:28 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:29 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:31 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:32 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:33 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:34 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:35 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:37 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:38 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:39 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:40 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:41 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:43 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos.jpg|Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br />
[[File:44 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br />
[[File:45 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br />
[[File:46 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:47 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:48 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT18_(Lago_Pirihueico)&diff=109206GPT18 (Lago Pirihueico)2023-04-22T13:24:45Z<p>Joscha97: </p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-04 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 18-A / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
Ferry from Pt Fuy leaves 4 times a day (schedule posted to fb group) but in high season it seems to be sold out quickly - at 09:30 we were able to buy tickets only for the last one that day and there was a big line… some people might have a reservation, but we are not sure if its possible to book in advance. The price is a little over 1000 CLP, payment only with cc. However we asked at the 13:30 ferry if we can take it since we have just backpacks and don’t even need a seat, and there was no problem, the ferry had way more seats than people anyway. Possible to charge electronics there and buy drinks. On the other side are 2 accomodation options - cabaña and basic rooms in residence house that are for 40k CLP for 3 bed room and 30k CLP for 2 single bed room, incl. private bathroom with hot water. Basic shop is a little overpriced so better to buy in Pt Fuy. Good options for eating - huge sandwiches, empanadas and local beer in the wooden kiosks where most of the people from ferry go.<br />
<br />
We continued the next day, jumping over a gate and crawling under a barbed wire fence after. The way to the pass is a minor road through nice forrest. From X point at km 50.5 the trail becomes a little less visible for the next 4km with some fallen trees and branches here and there, but still nice walking. Fun begins at camp km 64.1 - trail becomes gradually more and more overgrown, eventhough its not so hard to follow it, we were progressing really slow. At the end its a lot of crawling close to the ground to get under all the bamboos, and very tropical conditions in our case.<br />
<br />
We were not sure which route is the best one to follow after, so we started with RR, but decided to leave it after first few meters after the ford as it was densly overgrown. Thanks to Molly and Melis comment we took the optional route on the other side and it was really close to normal trail, what a pleasent surprise for us! Someone had work on it recently, there were new barbed wires at the beginning where you have to crawl under the fence, but from there only a few little overgrown parts. After 2.5 km you join a 4x4 road and that goes all the way to the gate. We were again finishing late in the evening to reach the camp with thermas, and before the gate we met a car with english-speaking locals who looked surprised to see us at first, but showed us the way and advised us to ask the guard to open the gate for us. When we reached the gate, we saw light in the guards house, but decided to climb over the gate, that was locked at the time. After around 1.5 km we came to a house that was also secured by a wooden gate, easy to climb over. Free camp with hot springs has a lot of space and there were some locals (friday evening), even more came in the morning. Pools have warm but not hot water which is perfect for a bath with view. <br />
<br />
Unmarked small shop is at the beginning of the paved road and many more shops and places to eat on the main route to the lake. The marked shop at km 93.3 has good supplies and prices.<br />
<br />
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-4 to 2023-Jan-06 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Zach + Valentin<br />
<br />
After meeting in Bolivia, we met up again in Puerto Fuy. Dubious section selection for Valentin’s first multi day hike. We took the 09:00 super scenic ferry to Puerto Pirehueico. Another vote for Mané’s empanadas de pescado. After hopping over the signless fence the trail follows an old road bed with a gentle grade for a day and a half: one last dip in the lake, a nice woods vibe, big old trees, some light caressing of bushes, and flowers galore. My paddle blade made an excellent Tábano (horsefly) swatter for the open fields. Views at the pass were rewarding but brief. After the bridge and cabin at 64.2 the bamboo bumping began. A machete would have been cathartic. The regular route trail (RR-TL-V {18} [62.7/72.2+2.1]) was the whackiest. Gaps in the trees allowed sufficient sunshine for walls of bamboo to grow. It was usually possible to see the old treadway but slow goings averaging less than 1 km/hr. “Termas➡️” was written in red on a tree around (-40.1600, -71.9206) but we didn’t investigate. We didn’t see (RR-TL-V {18} [67.6/77.2+1.3]) and forded when the road reached the river, shimmying under barbed wire on the other side. Later we saw the riverside gate a bit south of the southernmost “ford?” location. No problems with guards or property owners. The termas naturales were a splendid end to Valentin’s first backpacking trip. We got a ride out from a couple at the hot springs. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-25 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
Good: You dive deep into old forests, it feels like true jungle. Many beautiful flowery meadows. Beautiful views on the last-ish part before the lake + the lake. We didn't meet anyone after crossing the gate. Nice hot springs in the beginning. The ferry trip itself<br />
Bad: Quite slow to get through a section of the forest - definitely manageable. Feels very much like breaking in as you literally climb a huge fence. Forest may be a little repetitive for some<br />
<br />
GPT18:<br />
The first part marked as a minor road is now paved. <br />
We camped at the first hot springs without the dollar sign. It's a big field where you can camp, and the hot springs are really nice. There are several holes right next to the river, and the water has a nice temperature, not too hot, though probably still best when out of the sun. We didn't go to the other hot springs (Chihuío) where you have to pay, but it seems to be a big swimming pool of a kind. They close at 17:30.<br />
When continuing on the gravel road, several signs tell you that it's private property, and finally you get to a big gate next to a house. Maybe the guard's? No one was around when we came, though, and we climbed across the gate. From there we took the optional route along the gravel road, as you had to climb yet another gate to get to the regular route. When the gravel road split up, we picked the one closest to the river. It was nice and clear all the way, whereas the other one seemed very muddy. They met again, our route was behind a little gate that could easily be opened. From there, the optional route followed a very small trail, pretty overgrown, but still definitely doable. It seemed that someone had recently been through with a machete, we didn't need one. At one point we came to a barbed wire fence, and the trail seemed to continue along it. That was wrong, you have to cross the fence immediately, and the trail continues on the other side.<br />
We met the regular route by the river at two and decided to continue to the next spot marked as camp. That gave us a long day, the trail was still overgrown, though better than the previous, and it was slow going. When we came through it wasn't muddy though. There was nowhere to camp before the bridge. Right after, there is an abandoned field to the right of the route, the grass is quite long, but it's an okay camping site.<br />
The plant with bright orange flowers and white spots on the leaves hurt to the touch, like a stinging nettle.<br />
We saw strawberry plants everywhere, a nice section when they are in season!<br />
<br />
From there, the rest of the way is on an abandoned 4x4 track, it's never difficult to see, but a little overgrown in places. It climbs above the treeline where the view is very nice, but we were attacked by hordes of flies that went away as we walked back into the forest. We camped on the lake shore, it's a great place to swim.<br />
Puerto Pirihueico has several restaurants, we had empanadas at Donde Mané, they were great. <br />
<br />
The boat leaves everyday at 4 pm from Puerto Pirihueico and arrives at Puerto Fuy around 5 - too late for any busses. It seems you should buy tickets in the big building next to the lake? bus leaves for Panguipulli the next day around 7 am and 9 am - I think the last is at around 4 pm, and from there there are many busses to Valdivia. There are a ton of accomodation options and restaurants in Puerto Fuy.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH-01 / Matthieu <br />
<br />
Forest trail, a part technical and slow. The rest is nice and calm, easy to follow, for the ones liking the smell of fresh herbs, flowers, and the bees. <br />
<br />
-Track followed:<br />
I followed the recommendations of Martina Ivo Arnaud and Matus.<br />
Arriving on the RR, just before the waypoint "Guards", there was a huge portal, closed. But not the usual portal easy to climb, the type of portal to say that you don´t want cars and walkers in. I decided to cross country straight north to the Rio Curringue and cross here to join the OH18-001. This OH is a big truck path, so no difficulties. I suspect that there are constructing a road north to Puerto Fuy on this side of the river. <br />
After the camp 135, The is a div follonwing the OH 001. There begins the little technical forest trail (good little horsetrail, well maintained by the locals, easy to follow but really muddy and a lot of up and downhill). It goes to the river Curringue againm that you have to cross, and join the RR after on the other side, until Camp 134. It personnally took me around 5 hours to go from camp 135 to Camp 134, so I would recommend not to begin this section at the end of the day. No need of the machete.<br />
After Camp 134, 4x4 road, easy to follow. Keep an eye on the GPS thow, lots of traps with other roads going everywhere, waiting for careless walke<br />
<br />
-Legality of this section ?:<br />
It seems unclear. Everything from Chihuiyo to Pirehueico/Puerto Fuy is part of the Huilo Huilo Parc. BUt the only part that you have to pay for seems to be the northern part, next to Neltume, where there is a lot of tourists. <br />
The optionnal road 001 seems free and I even crossed a chilean family at the camp 135, with their car, and they had a barbecue before around.<br />
After Camp 134, I crossed a car of Guardaparques : they just asked me where I came from and where I went, made sure that I had the GPS to not loose myself in the forest, and let me continue without discussion. So I guess that there is finally no problems with walking in this part of the parc.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-13 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH-01 + 02 + 03 between Estero El Africano and waypoint "Guard" / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Thanks to the previous comments of Arnaud and Matus we were prepared for the middle part of this section. At the Estero El Africano we didn't try long to find the regular route but crossed the Río Curringue to take optional route 001, 002 and 003 and got back to the regular route at the waypoint "Guard".<br />
<br />
The whole stretch RR-MR-V@18-64.1+8.1 (from the waypoint "Camp" to the Estero El Africano) is a muddy trail, no minor road, which makes quite a difference in hiking time calculation.<br />
<br />
We didn't really look for resupply, accommodation or transportation opportunities in Curriñe or Puerto Maihue but at the moment in high season it's very easy to hitchhike to Futrono, where you find everything, plus regular busses to Valdivia.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-5 / 1 day / Packrafting / SOBO / OP Lago Pirihueico only / Shaun C <br />
<br />
Packrafted Lago Pirihueico only - as add-on to Section 17P. Didn’t hike any part of Section 18. At Puerto Fuy, an official of the Armada/Navy said solo kayaking on the lake was prohibited, but after a 10 minute conversation I convinced him to let me do it. Key was saying that I, not Navy, bore responsibility. Lake is stunning, especially at dawn.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-16 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / Arnaud Debilly <br />
<br />
4 days with one day off due to rain<br />
We started with the ferry from puerto fuy at 9am (3 or 4 boats a day - around 1000 clp). 1h30 trip to pirihueico. Then the path starts in the private property of the parque Huilo Huilo ("no entrar" sign but no one to check). The path is clear, looks like a minor road with ancient bridges to cross the river. After around 40km, the track follows a very little path, looks like bush bashing during 5km.<br />
Then you join a river, parallel to the track. At that point, we followed the track that went into the forest. It was so dense that we did maybe 200m in one hour. We decided to turn back to walk in the river (around 2km), or on the side, until we found a real path. That was a good and efficient solution.<br />
We found no guardaparques or private guards to discuss right of way passage so had no problems with this aspect.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
*Kara Davis<br />
<br />
Notes to consider before beginning: We were halted by rangers in a jeep on the 4WD road on the west side of Río Pillanleufu. They informed us it was illegal to be in Huilo Huilo at this time because the reserve was closed for the rehabilitation of the Pudú, the world’s smallest deer. We had no knowledge of this since we entered the reserve in a very remote location and there was not adequate signage to inform us of this closure. After explaining this to the ranger, they escorted us out of the reserve. You may want to enquire about the status of Huilo Huilo before beginning this section.<br />
<br />
Comment by Jan Dudeck: This was publicly accessible land with public roads until the Petermann clan took control of this vast property during the final year of the Pinochet dictatorship. Huilo Huilo is not advertised as a “private for profit reserve” with very expensive high-end lodging but wood logging continues in parts of this property. Several hikers reported that they were stopped by guards and send or escorted out. It remains unclear to me if the right-of-way legally ended or if the new owner simply want to keep people out that don’t spend lots of money.<br />
<br />
<br />
GPT18 begins with a 23 km paddle on Lago Pirihueico, a long, remote, serpentine lake. There are almost no residences along the shoreline of Lago Pirihueico, but there are some beaches suitable for camping. A ferry also runs from Puerto Fuy to Puerto Pirihueico at the southern end of the lake several times a day. You can find more information about the ferry and make reservations here: https://barcazahuahum.com/en/schedule-and-prices/.<br />
<br />
The take-out is not obvious, and we relied on our GPS to guide us to the spot. A short walk up is a 4WD track that leads into the Reserva Biológica Huilo Huilo. The track is overgrown and littered with downed trees but becomes clearer and easier to navigate as it ascends. The views are gorgeous as the 4WD track climbs above treeline. <br />
<br />
As the route nears the roaring Río Pillanleufu, it reduces to a single track trail. The trail meanders on the east shore of the river and eventually disappears. We backtracked a bit and made our way down to the east river bank which we followed until we picked up the trail in a large meadow. A bridge is located where the GPS track is shown crossing over the Río Pillanleufu to the west side and joining a 4WD road. The vegetation on this side of the river is thick and camping is hard to come across.<br />
<br />
About 10 km from the bridge crossing, the 4WD track ends in an impenetrable bamboo forest. We backtracked and headed down to the west bank of the Río Pillanleufu where we found a horse track that eventually led back to the main route. The route follows easy grade farm roads until exiting onto T-559. T-559 is a windy gravel road which makes for an easy road walk all the way to Lago Maihue and the end of GPT18. <br />
<br />
Town: Futrono<br />
<br />
Futrono, about a 40 minute drive from where the route joins T-559, is the nearest large town. It has a variety of restaurants and lodging options and is a good place to resupply. There is no central bus station in Futrono, but there is a gas station at the east end of town where you can pick up a bus that will take you back to the trail.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
* Puerto Pirihueico<br />
Several restaurants and a small shop which has coffee, tea, pasta and flour.<br />
Cabañas and camp ground<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
<br />
There are frequent buses from Valdivia to Pangipulli, about one an hour from 8AM to 9PM.<br />
There are 5 buses a day from Panguipulli to Puerto Fuy Monday-Friday, 4 on Saturday & 2 on Sunday. The last one every day is at 7:30 PM<br />
This link gives the ferry timetable from Puerto Fuy to Puerto Pirehueico in English:<br />
https://barcazahuahum.com/en/schedule-and-prices/<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT18 - Lago Pirihueico]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_12_Lago_Pirihueico_109276202.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT18]]<br />
[[File:GPT_12_Lago_Pirihueico_109276179.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|A beach at Pirihueico]]<br />
[[File:GPT_12_Lago_Pirihueico_119230396.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_12_Lago_Pirihueico_119230403.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_12_Lago_Pirihueico_119230411.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_12_Lago_Pirihueico_119230416.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_12_Lago_Pirihueico_119230424.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_12_Lago_Pirihueico_119230388.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_12_Lago_Pirihueico_109276229.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_12_Lago_Pirihueico_119230384.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_12_Lago_Pirihueico_119230395.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT16_(Volcan_Quetrupillan)&diff=109205GPT16 (Volcan Quetrupillan)2023-04-22T12:59:38Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2017/18 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
<br />
<br style="clear:both" /><br />
<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
<br />
''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Mar-01 to 2023-Mar-05 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH-01 & 02 + Quetrupillan summit + Villarica traverse / Martial.<br />
<br />
Puesco - Pucón<br />
Villarica traverse is indeed an interesting alternative for GPT16. The views on Volcanos are gorgeous and trail in good conditions for the all trip. My personal camping recomandations are Laguna azul, volcan Quetrupillan waterfall (on osm : -39.51160, -71.75365) and estero aihue (39.47713° S, 71.88582° W) or Zanjón pino Huacho for clean water access and sleep under the stars ✨ Although siphon water from the bucket in the zanjon was hard but should be better after recent rains.. Water from the various glaciar rivers is way cleaner in the morning to be drunk. An interesting combo for people in need for a treat would be stopping in Termas Geometricas wich looks to be one of the best attraction of the region.. (20mil or so)<br />
I luckily was granted with nice weather for Quetrupillan climb wich for me is really worth-it. Hopefully you get a lucky ride for the long descent from the centro de ski to Pucón. Take plenty of water if you start nobo !<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-22 to 2023-Feb-26 / 4 days / Hiking / OH-01 +03 Villarrica traverse (West-bound?) / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
We did not end up following the GPT but instead ended up doing the Villarrica Traverse (so options 01 and 03 of GPT and then some more). It was our last trip before flights back home so ending directly in Pucón made the most sense, just sad that our last hike wasn't actually on the GPT...<br />
<br />
Thoughts: Really beautiful, surprisingly diverse and not as many people as expected. The busiest place was at Laguna Azul and the glacier lookout. We are both very happy to have walked it and since it was our last hike it was a pleasure to be on trails that allowed one to reflect rather than think about the next step. Highlights were the ease of the trails, vistas, Araucaria sillouettes, a return to volcanic landscapes, the crater of Quetrupillan and the forest canopy. <br />
<br />
Access: Bus from Curarrehue to Puesco leaves at 5pm, just once a day. It leaves from here;-39.36321, -71.58433 and is white and green. Probably easier to hitch as it only goes to Puesco (aka CONAF). It leaves Puesco to Curarrehue at 730am supposedly.<br />
<br />
Description: The traverse is well documented and therefore I will only explain two different side trips. Note that if coming from Puesco the last section between Chinnay camping and the ski hill is scarce of water because most water available is recommended not to drink due to high levels of ash in the melting glacier. The two good sources are; estero aihue; 39.47713° S, 71.88582° W and Zanjón pino Huacho which is actually just a tap over a bucket; 39.43604° S, 71.99502° W. There is also an app you can use to follow the traverse; https://villarricatraverse.cl/<br />
<br />
Camping at Laguna Azul is crowded (in the minds of a GPT hiker) so one can camp on a different beach or up high on the trees on the south side of the lake. Wild camping is supposedly illegal but does not seem to apply for the section of the traverse between Chinnay and the ski resort, there are many bivy spots. <br />
<br />
Side trips:<br />
First side trip, Volcán Quetrupillan:<br />
If one is doing the traverse and wants to summit Quetrupillan easily and quickly I recommend following the osm trail on the NW side of the summit, there is a good trail, however we both did something different. Tomáš was successful at making a traverse of the summit and I was not. From lake Azul we followed the GPT option03 until the base of the col where one goes straight up to the crater. I continued on the GPT trail and turned back ~2m from the true summit due to the terrible rock quality but at least the way to the crater was easy (if you are there know that the red dirt is soft and not that steep). Tomáš on the other hand went one ridge further south and was able to easily follow it up to the summit, traverse south on the summit and come down on the osm trail. He notes there were only two bits of simple scrambling but was still easy despite having his bag. After my failed attempt on the summit I just went straight down the West side of the mountain to hit the normal Villarrica traverse and met back up with Tomáš.<br />
<br />
Second side trip, glacier Pichillancahue to above "glacier mirrado" and back to normal trail (the route is on OSM):<br />
When coming from Chinnay there is a very obvious trailhead for Glaciar pichillancahue. Tomáš used this to make a small but high traverse to somewhere near Estero Aihue and therefore avoiding the last bit of road walking and elevation loss. I was lazy and hungry and opted to have lunch at the camping Pichillancahue instead which was a terrible decision because the water there was barely drinkable (ash and dirt) and Tomáš supposedly had nice clean water up top. <br />
<br />
If it wasn't for bad weather I think this traverse could be done easily in 3days, even two if you are efficient. We took 4 because we had one morning of rain and were in no need of rushing and did the sidetrips. However it would have been nice to have one more free day to rent gear and try to climb Villarrica but the information on whether or not the summit is open was very confusing. Locals told us it was closed but you could go up most of the way if you had gear but then again there was a mountain guide who said we could go, so it will be a mystery. We both would love to come back to this area with simple glacier gear and climb Villarrica and Lanin and also go back to Sollipulli to traverse its glacier. For now it will have to wait :)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-02 t 2023-Feb-05 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Quetrupillan + OH-01 / Yannic & Mirjam <br />
<br />
Very beautiful and easy stage. We hitchhiked from Panguipulli to Liquine and then via option 16-B to the camp at Laguna Azul. Very pleasant path in the forest with a slow ascent.<br />
We stayed at the lagoon for 2 days and made a day trip to the volcano. The trail was not always easy because of the strong wind and the occasional snowfields. East of option 16-03 there is another way marked on the map, a little more to the east could be good, because then you avoid the two big snowfields that you see at the top.<br />
<br />
From Laguna Azul we continued via Laguna Blanca on the Villarica Traverse (Option 16-01) to Laguna Las Avutardas. The road is well maintained and the landscape after the second pass is fascinatingly different from the previous one. Very nice camping spot at the lagoon.<br />
From the primary road we caught a car to Curarrehue and from there a bus to Pucon.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-29 to 2023-Jan-31 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maks & Gabi <br />
<br />
Started in Catripulli and hichhiked to 16km of RR. We found it as a good solution to skip road walking as it is not so attractive. Remember to take enough water with you because on ascent to Laguna Blanca there is only one silty river. This part is not so hard unless the temperature is high and you are walking like us in the midday. Probably the ascent road is going to be worst cos they are destroying the trail to build a road ( most probably - it doesn't look nice and it's quite annoying ) <br />
There is quite a new gate with old sign on 18,5km ( it looks like entrance to some private propertie with seperate plots), it was open so we just walked through and we didn't meet anyone to ask. <br />
<br />
Plateau is really amazing, worth seeing and there are a lots of tiny streams near Laguna Blanca with clean water.<br />
At Laguna Azul there are a lot of tourists sleeping there.<br />
Descent was plesent until the road started.<br />
The entire trail is well visible. <br />
Down there there is community of mapuche, they are really nice and talkative. There is a chance that when going NOBO or sleeping on their land you will have to ask about permission to go through but it shouldn't be a problem. <br />
We hitchhiked with one of them last 3 km of RR.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-27 to 2023-Jan-29 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Quetrupillan / Will <br />
<br />
I also came in through Catripulli. I caught two quick rides but was still left with three hours of hot uphill road walking. If you aren't worried about connecting footsteps I bet you could find a better start/end point. The other hikers out there (on the Villarrica traverse) were mostly ending at Puesco, I heard rumors of a bus there. Sounds like a much better route if the bus exists. This is marked as option 1.<br />
<br />
Coming out of the woods the alpine section was beautiful but short. I spent two nights at Laguna Azul, taking a side trip up Quetrupillan. There were a lot of fun snowfields to navigate. My new shoes were grippy enough to get me through easily even though I didn't bring my trekking poles. Most of the water was chalky.<br />
<br />
The final scramble up to the summit (after reaching the snow filled crater) was treacherous. Might not be worth it. I went up around the right because it looked like a more gradual climb but I had a few big solid looking boulders come loose and tumble down. The route straight up seems better.<br />
<br />
Laguna Azul was bustling, both nights I was camped with a few Europeans doing the Villarrica traverse. Met a crazy dutch couple biking it. I even heard that there were some people visiting by helicopter, before I showed up.<br />
<br />
At the end I walked down to Liquiñe, lots of food places along the road. I camped at the Termas de Punulaf (decent, 15000 pesos) before continuing onto section 17H (highly recommended!).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-23 to 2023-Jan-24 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna & Christopher<br />
<br />
Catripulli - Reyehueico<br />
Short and easy section!<br />
<br />
From Pucón we took a bus at 19:30 to Catripulli (Buses Currarehue, last one leaves at 21:00). From there we hitchhiked to km 18 of the RR. We camped next to Estero Huililco (silty water as the others mentioned).<br />
<br />
The next accessible water source is the ford of Estero Huililco at km 23. The walking until the plateau is easy (dirt roads and good paths), no navigation issues at all.<br />
Around Laguna Blanca there was still some clear water of the snowmelt. Here walking got a bit tougher due to the sand, but the plateau really is beautiful. After Laguna Blanca there is a good, visible path again until Laguna Azul. We camped at the Laguna and had the first rainy/stormy night.<br />
<br />
Because of the bad weather we didn't climb the volcano the next day and went down directly. It's a good path the whole way. Around 4 km before Reyehueico we got a ride directly to Panguipulli :)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-05 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: Catripulli - Laguna Blanca - Laguna Azul - summit of Volcán Quetrupillan - Reyehueico <br />
<br />
I found this section beautiful, and quite easy, since most of the time you are on 4x4 tracks or well-maintained CONAF trails. No navigation issues whatsoever. <br />
<br />
Pucón is a bustling hiking town, great place to get new gear/shoes and resupply. I stayed a few days at Chili Kiwi Hostel there, highly recommend! Buses from Pucón to Catripulli and Curarrehue are very frequent, I did not have to wait. <br />
<br />
I started in Catripulli because the road walk is shorter from there. I was very lucky and ended up getting a ride (without even trying) up to the end of the gravel road beyond Rinconada, where a wooden gate marks the start of a lovely forest trail. As others have mentioned, Río Huililco is quite silty, and although the trail follows this river a while, I didn't collect any water there. The first night I camped at the treeline before the final climb to Laguna Blanca (before the start of the CC section). I found some good water in the ravine east of the trail, but it required some bushwhacking down a steep hill covered in vegetation.<br />
<br />
The plateau up by Laguna Blanca is beautiful, there are multiple creeks feeding the lake — some of them are silty, but others are clear, just pure snowmelt. The cross-country section had a nice path running through most of it, so navigation was very easy. Between Laguna Blanca and Laguna Azul, there are still some snow patches, but they are easy to walk across or around. <br />
<br />
I dropped most of my gear off at Laguna Azul to climb the volcano. I started around 11 a.m. and got back at 4 p.m., this included an almost hour-long break at the top to take in the spectacular views of Volcán Villarrica and Volcán Lanín. There's still a fair bit of snow on Quetrupillan, and instead of following the GPS I went up my own way to the rim, avoiding most of the snowfields. The crater is filled with snow, it's awesome! Coming back down, I half ran, half slid down a giant snow field, which was a lot of fun. That night I went for a swim and camped at Laguna Azul, a beautiful spot. For the first time on the GPT, there were other people (local tourists) camped with me there! <br />
<br />
The rest of the trail down to Reyehueico is easy, downhill through a mature forest. Once you get to Trafún Chico, the trail becomes a gravel road. I was able to hitch the last couple kilometers to the main road, and get a ride to Panguipulli to resupply and head down to GPT19 after. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2022-Jan-01 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + summit of Quetrupillan / Molly og Melissa <br />
<br />
5 days - including a very short day due to bad weather<br />
We were passed by a car on the gravel road shortly after Reyehueico. They told us that the place marked as camp on the GPS was closed, but we could camp on their land a little before on the place marked bridge. They wanted 5000 pesos per person, and there are no facilities, so we found it a little expensive but didn't want to discuss in the rain. They also sold us freshly baked bread which were huge and the best we have had so far, as well as sopaipillas. The gravel road here was pretty, but a lot of aggressive dogs who could easily crawl under their fences to follow us. We only had to climb one gate which seemed to be more to keep in cows than to keep out any hikers. At the waypoint gate there was nothing. <br />
We camped right before the waypoint water before Laguna Azul.<br />
At Laguna Azul there are two camp waypoints, the first is a little spot on the river bank, the second is the "real" camp with lots of spots in a little forest right next to the lake. It's nice, but there have been left a lot of garbage.<br />
<br />
From there, you follow the Villarica traverse trail for some kilometres through very beautiful landscapes. When you reach the valley where Lago Blanco is (it really is white), you leave the trail for some fairly easy cross-country around the lake. On the far side, the whole valley was covered in water and we had to walk barefoot, but it was after three very rainy days.<br />
Finding the path at treeline was a little difficult, but we just made sure to be right on the trail on the GPS and found it. Then followed a short trip through beautiful aucaria forest, followed by a gravel road. Here, we saw several "no entrar" signs meant for people going towards the national park, but there was no one around. We even asked for water while still in the no entrar-zone as we didn't know, and weren't told off. It was difficult to find a campsite, but at La Rinconada there was a house saying "Es bienvenido aquí", maybe you could ask there.<br />
We accidentally walked to catripulli instead of currarehue as we missed the turn off and realized too late. <br />
<br />
Water:<br />
Until Laguna Azul, no problem. At Lago Blanco we didn't find any streams that weren't chalky, though we thought that some streams running down the mountain on the far right side might look better. We didn't investigate, though, as we thought we had enough. However, Estero Huilinco was the same, so we ended up asking at a house if we could get some water.<br />
<br />
Summit:<br />
We basecamped at Laguna Azul and followed the nicely marked trail up. Be aware that the summit route diverges after about a kilometre, with no trail to be seen. We followed the GPS for a while but decided to walk to the crater rim somewhere else, as the summit seemed more difficult and the height difference isn't that big anyway. The volcano itself looked a lot like Volcan Puyehue, but the views were different of course, and the crater had a lot more snow. It was great to spend an extra day above the treeline.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-05 to 2021-Dec-07 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / Villarrica Traverse / Alex Abramov <br />
<br />
We made Villarrica Traverse here. This traverse is an excellent variant to go in (out) to (from) GPT.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Matthieu<br />
<br />
From Liquiñe to Catripulli<br />
Following the RR, I personnally never had to cross any barriers of barbed wire or closed portals. It is all an official CONAF trail. <br />
I used Lago Azul as a base camp to do the ascent of the summit. Awesome place. <br />
A little cheer to Ty, America and Sanita with who we had (I assume) the biggest GPT hikers camp of the year !<br />
<br />
-The ascent: <br />
Better use your head than your GPS, avoiding the snow to go up. The path I took was finally closed to the OH 002, going between the snow fields, but I never crossed any trail road. <br />
The very end is quite steepy and the rocks easy to break, and you have to climb a little bit to arrive to the final cairn. Better do it with good weather conditions and without your big bag ! I wasnt confident with going down the same way, so at the cairn I just took directly west down the rocks and actually found a downhill of good sand, really easy to do, fast and safe. No climbing down this way. I joined my previous tracks after, near the OH 002. <br />
<br />
-Water supply:<br />
As Ty say, No water between the end of Lago Blanco and a little bit before the Estero Huililco. The track is easy and fast thow in the forest, and I didnt take more water supply going down.<br />
<br />
I didnt do the final forest part just before Currarehue, hitchhiking to Catripulli.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-27 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Catripulli Start & Optional end to Conaripe / Ty & America <br />
<br />
We started at Catripulli because it was a bit shorter road walk compared to Curarrehue. Be aware of the big waterless start. You do have (mostly) friendly people on the road who are more than welcome to help with water. After Comunidad Rinconada (maps.me) don’t expect any water (besides the extremely chalky river water) all the way up to Laguna Blanco. Small Water falls on the right side of the lake have great clear water. We camped at Laguna Blanco by said falls a bit off the track file to find shelter from the wind. Then camped at Laguna azul the next day to summit the following morning. Beautiful place. Actual summit is sketchy, so we hiked to the rim and were perfectly content with that. I don’t recommend taking the optional OH-TL-V@16-02-#002 over the pass. It looked sketchy/snowy. The optional a bit further was perfectly fine. On the way down to conripe on OH-TL-V@16-02-#003 there is a good place to camp by water with plenty of wood ~1.5 km after the marked water source. We had luck hitching a ride from the termas at the bottom right to Conripe.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-7 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
3 days for this amazing section. Trail in good condition, no navigation difficulties. At 39°23'11"S 71°37'48"W, where it says "se vende leña eucalyptus", we didn't climb the huge locked gate to our right but just continued the minor road. We passed two unlocked gates and got back to the regular route after 1km. Shortly afterwards we arrived at a high fence of seven strands of barbed wire, where we turned left into the forest, following an almost invisible path, and after 500m finally found a gate and got back to the regular route after 1km.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-06 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank<br />
<br />
Came from GPT15, resupplied @ 2 supermarkets in Curarrehue. Going up from Curarrehue they are logging in the forest but track still clear. Went over the fence with 7 strands of barb wire. Later there is a wooden gate saying 'No Entry Residents Only' went over it onto track, no one around. When you cross the Estero Huilico fill up with water. You can wade it but if you go down on the left about 20 metres there is a footbridge hidden in the forest. Later you are near the river but it is in a gorge with dense vegetation so it's not accessible. Made a dry camp high up in the forest before the lakes. Hardly any snow left on the route. <br />
<br />
Near the end of the route there is no place to camp at 'Camp 119' but continue a little down the road & there is a tiny field just before 'Bridge 51' where you can camp. Just before it the road goes round in a loop, on the lower part of the loop are two houses next to each other. Ask there if it's OK to camp by the bridge. Just after the bridge I continued straight to the main road (marked bus, shop) to resupply. However, it's not necessary to do that, if you continue on the RR you will find shops in Liquine.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-13 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR from Liquiñe to where the trail joins the S-947 / Sophie & Hendrik <br />
<br />
We were 7 days on the trail, of which 2 were just camping out bad weather (23 walking hours) . First day we started late and went to what the first camp on the map. Next we went to the camp without water from the track files (We found some stream there. After filtering amd treading it with chloride we were able to drink it.) We stayed there one day, waiting for better weather. Next day we went to the Fort at Laguna Azul. However, we did not cross it until two days later, as we first waited for better weather conditions. Then we crossed the volcano and camped below the treeline on the other side. Last day we hiked to S-947 and hitchhiked to Pucón for some Food and a real bed.<br />
<br />
What we liked: Sudden changes of landscapes, beautiful Araucaria forrest, remoteness (didn't meet people for 5 days), breathtaking views and scenes on the volcano, the snow was beautiful (obviously depends on the season), the many plushy chilean tarantulas on the north side.<br />
<br />
What we did not like so much: The gravel roads on both ends of the section.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-22 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom & Maddie<br />
<br />
No issues, trail in good condition and cross country section is not hard to navigate. We took a bus out to Panguipulli at 08:00 on a weekday. We decided to skip 17 and 18. We then bussed to Los Lagos and then Futron and then to Rininahue. We then got a hitch back onto the regular route of 19 37km in. Less than 8hrs off the trail to skip 17/18.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-31 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / OH-02 Start from Termas el Rincon (Conaripe) to Currarehue / Jean & Virginie<br />
<br />
To start the option track (16-02) after el Rincon termas, we have to pass a gate closed but it was possible to pass on the left. We didnt see anyone inside.<br />
After few kilometers on the minor road in good condition, we pass a small house where the guy explained us the track (turn on thé right at the arrow marked Laguna to get on the trail - track a little bit different from the gpt route but that join it further). After we went up on Quetrupillan volcano with amazing view. Trail in good condition and easy to navigate. This option join the regular route at the laguna Azul, nice site to camp. After the cross country section was not difficult to follow and the end until Currarehue was alternation of (a bit) overgrown trails and minor roads (+ some barbed wire).<br />
Bus to Pucon every 20 min from Currarehue.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-18 / Sophie & Hendrik<br />
<br />
90% - 95% of the area from 1500m upwards are completely covered in snow. Think about snow shoes and be careful as there are melting streams covered and hidden by snow.<br />
Also, unlike us, keep in mind that snow reflects the sun and can cause burns from below on your nose and chin.<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
*Kara Davis<br />
<br />
Follow the main road, 199-CH, south out of Curarrehue until the gravel road turn off, S-981. After several kilometers, the road transitions to single track through a eucalyptus forest. Be careful to not follow one of the several other tracks that wind through the forest. The trail exits onto a gravel road, S-947, that follows Estero Huilico. Turn off onto a 4WD track, but be aware there are several other 4WD track spurs. The trail narrows into an obvious single track as you enter Parque Nacional Villarrica. Be prepared for the possibility of snow during this section at higher elevations. At treeline the trail ends and the cross-country traverse begins. <br />
This cross-country traverse follows the volcanic landscape at the base of Volcán Quetrupillán. During high snow years, Laguna Blanca may be frozen and snow covered. Be aware that snowpack may make parts of the GPS route difficult, and keep safety in mind when choosing a route. Instead of following the recommended route which ascends through a chute, snowpack forced us to climb up to a pass further to the left and then rejoin the route. Depending on the time of year, Laguna Azul may also be frozen, but water is available at the stream crossing at the southern end. After beginning the descent into the forest, try and find a well maintained trail. The trail joins a dirt road, T-447, which continues until the paved highway, 201-CH, to Carringue.<br />
Town: Carriringue. <br />
Carriringue is a tiny town with a small market which offers snacks but is difficult to resupply out of. There are also several signs advertising Cabañas.<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Pucón:<br />
About 30 minutes bus ride off trail. A hiking tourism town that has everything a hiker might need<br />
<br />
*Catripulli:<br />
A little down the road from Currarehue. Has two small shops which probably sell pastas and other basic stuff<br />
<br />
*Currarehue:<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
You can buy bread and sopaipillas at the house right before the "bridge" waypoint just before Reyehueico.<br />
<br />
A house in La Rinconada sells eggs<br />
<br />
Some Aucaria trees<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
2022-Jan:<br />
Busses go from Panguipulli to Reyehueico on weekdays, and from Valdivia to Panguipulli (two hours bus ride) every day. Hitching was quite easy for us even though it was raining.<br />
<br />
The bus from Currarehue through Catripulli to Pucón leaves approximately every 15 minutes on weekdays, and every 30 minutes on weekends - goes in both directions - about 30 minutes<br />
<br />
(2020-Feb)<br />
<br />
Bus Pucón - Curarrehue <br />
<br />
Mo-Sa 11:00<br />
<br />
Su 12:15<br />
<br />
Operator Igi Llaima, Terminal, Palguín 550<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT16 - Volcán Quetrupillan]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109172879.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|[[Volcán Lanín]] from GPT16]]<br />
[[File:Quetrupillan 01.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|[[Volcán Quetrupillán]] from GPT16]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (1).jpg|thumb|center|1100px|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 16]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226459.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226460.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226461.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226462.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226596.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109173354.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109172977.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109173084.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226451.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT17P_(Neltume)&diff=109204GPT17P (Neltume)2023-04-22T12:58:56Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2017/18 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-03 / 1 day / Packrafting / SOBO / Zach<br />
<br />
A peaceful paddle through the woods. There was one fallen tree across the river requiring easily lifting the boat over. The lago Neltume was very head windy in the afternoon so I walked the road but was quickly offered a ride to Ruta 203 where a bus soon passed. <br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-3 / 2 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RR / Shaun C <br />
<br />
Plenty of semi-submerged trees in the Rio Liquiñe/CuaCua, but the river is passable and relatively gentle throughout. The entrance to Lago Neltume from the river is beautiful. The hiking turn-off after Neltume at Km 35.7 seemed clear. There’s a wooden gate, then dirt roads. Also spent a few extra hours away from regular route exploring Op-Mr-V@17P-03 to see if there was a way across Rio ChanChan after previous destruction of the bridge. No luck. Seems bridge has not been replaced and in a definitely-not-thorough search, I didn’t find an easy alternative crossing point.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
* Kara Davis<br />
<br />
The GPT does not go through Carriringue, but if you do decide to go into town the route is easy to rejoin by walking south along the paved road, T-29, to Río Liquiñe. There is an established campsite (5.000 CLP/night) which is part of the Red de Turismo Rural where the paved road crosses the river. This campsite has flush toilets, cold showers, and trash.<br />
The Río Liquiñe is windy and narrow. Pay attention to the several semi-submerged fallen trees that litter the river. The packrafting portion of this section ends with a 4 km paddle along the eastern shore of Lago Neltume. There’s easy access to the road, T-29, the entire time, but camping is improbable due to the abundance of private property. At the end of the lake paddle, there is an established campsite (5.000 CLP/night). This site has flush toilets and trash. <br />
Alternate Route:<br />
At this point, the recommended packrafting route turns off T-29 onto a gravel road. DO NOT TAKE THIS ROUTE. It eventually leads to a river that is now impassible due to a destroyed bridge. An alternative is to continue along T-29 until reaching the highway, 203-CH. Follow this highway through Neltume all the way to Puerto Fuy. Although the recommended packrafting route turns off of the highway after Neltume, on the ground it was unclear where this turnoff was. We decided to road walk all the way to Puerto Fuy. <br />
Comment by Jan Dudeck: Last season and this season 3 hikers/couples attempted to follow this route (RP-MR-V@17P-25.1). Two turned back, one made it over the river mentioned by Kara above. So the safest option is currently not take regular route (track RP-MR-V@17P-25.1) but stay on the main road taking Variant “H” (track OP-PR-V@17P-H-#).<br />
Town: Neltume/Puerto Fuy to Panguipulli <br />
Neltume has options for lodging, a few restaurants, and a bus to Panguipulli—the closest large town for resupply. Ask a local for directions to the bus stop and about arrival times. <br />
At Puerto Fuy, there were several signs advertising lodging. However, it would be difficult to resupply here. <br />
Comment by Jan Dudeck: I recall about half a dozen mini shops in Puerto Fuy that are sometimes hidden in the side roads. But its a best practice to resupply in the first bigger shop you find on the route (i.e. Neltume) and try in the next village to purchase what you did not get in the first place (i.e. Puerto Fuy).<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
Puerto Fuy has a few restaurants and food shops.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
Regular buses run from Puerto Fuy.<br />
<br />
A car and passenger ferry runs the length of Lago Pirihueico several times a day from Puerto Fuy to the south-eastern end of the lake.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT17P - Neltume]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GP_11_Packrafting_Río_Cuacuá_109269751.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT17P]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_109269737.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Paddling on the river Cuacuá]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119228006.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119228007.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119228008.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119228009.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119228010.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_109269685.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_109269706.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_109269743.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119227998.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT17P_(Neltume)&diff=109203GPT17P (Neltume)2023-04-22T12:57:56Z<p>Joscha97: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-03 / 1 day / Packrafting / SOBO / Zach<br />
<br />
A peaceful paddle through the woods. There was one fallen tree across the river requiring easily lifting the boat over. The lago Neltume was very head windy in the afternoon so I walked the road but was quickly offered a ride to Ruta 203 where a bus soon passed. <br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-3 / 2 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RR / Shaun C <br />
<br />
Plenty of semi-submerged trees in the Rio Liquiñe/CuaCua, but the river is passable and relatively gentle throughout. The entrance to Lago Neltume from the river is beautiful. The hiking turn-off after Neltume at Km 35.7 seemed clear. There’s a wooden gate, then dirt roads. Also spent a few extra hours away from regular route exploring Op-Mr-V@17P-03 to see if there was a way across Rio ChanChan after previous destruction of the bridge. No luck. Seems bridge has not been replaced and in a definitely-not-thorough search, I didn’t find an easy alternative crossing point.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
*Season 2017/18 / Kara Davis<br />
<br />
The GPT does not go through Carriringue, but if you do decide to go into town the route is easy to rejoin by walking south along the paved road, T-29, to Río Liquiñe. There is an established campsite (5.000 CLP/night) which is part of the Red de Turismo Rural where the paved road crosses the river. This campsite has flush toilets, cold showers, and trash.<br />
The Río Liquiñe is windy and narrow. Pay attention to the several semi-submerged fallen trees that litter the river. The packrafting portion of this section ends with a 4 km paddle along the eastern shore of Lago Neltume. There’s easy access to the road, T-29, the entire time, but camping is improbable due to the abundance of private property. At the end of the lake paddle, there is an established campsite (5.000 CLP/night). This site has flush toilets and trash. <br />
Alternate Route:<br />
At this point, the recommended packrafting route turns off T-29 onto a gravel road. DO NOT TAKE THIS ROUTE. It eventually leads to a river that is now impassible due to a destroyed bridge. An alternative is to continue along T-29 until reaching the highway, 203-CH. Follow this highway through Neltume all the way to Puerto Fuy. Although the recommended packrafting route turns off of the highway after Neltume, on the ground it was unclear where this turnoff was. We decided to road walk all the way to Puerto Fuy. <br />
Comment by Jan Dudeck: Last season and this season 3 hikers/couples attempted to follow this route (RP-MR-V@17P-25.1). Two turned back, one made it over the river mentioned by Kara above. So the safest option is currently not take regular route (track RP-MR-V@17P-25.1) but stay on the main road taking Variant “H” (track OP-PR-V@17P-H-#).<br />
Town: Neltume/Puerto Fuy to Panguipulli <br />
Neltume has options for lodging, a few restaurants, and a bus to Panguipulli—the closest large town for resupply. Ask a local for directions to the bus stop and about arrival times. <br />
At Puerto Fuy, there were several signs advertising lodging. However, it would be difficult to resupply here. <br />
Comment by Jan Dudeck: I recall about half a dozen mini shops in Puerto Fuy that are sometimes hidden in the side roads. But its a best practice to resupply in the first bigger shop you find on the route (i.e. Neltume) and try in the next village to purchase what you did not get in the first place (i.e. Puerto Fuy).<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
Puerto Fuy has a few restaurants and food shops.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
Regular buses run from Puerto Fuy.<br />
<br />
A car and passenger ferry runs the length of Lago Pirihueico several times a day from Puerto Fuy to the south-eastern end of the lake.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT17P - Neltume]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GP_11_Packrafting_Río_Cuacuá_109269751.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT17P]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_109269737.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Paddling on the river Cuacuá]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119228006.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119228007.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119228008.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119228009.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119228010.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_109269685.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_109269706.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_109269743.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_11_Neltume_119227998.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT17H_(Liquine)&diff=109202GPT17H (Liquine)2023-04-22T12:49:01Z<p>Joscha97: </p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-31 to 2023-Feb-01 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 17h-C / Maks & Gabi <br />
<br />
Nice and easy trail even though the ascent on the beginning which follows dirty road with a lot of cars. <br />
We took OH 17h-C which is not worth it, there is a new gate on the way, and when we tried to go through the forest there were lots of fences. <br />
Than as written below the trail is marked and well maintained. We were doing RR, and it wasn't owergrown anywhere ( there is only one place somewhere around km 32 of RR when it's more worth to follow red bird sign than GPS navi, they are connecting once again after 100m) <br />
We were sleeping at Camping gratis in Puerto Fuy, it was ok, but there is a lot of homeless dogs and it's quite a lot of people and noise during the night. Puerto Fuy is a quite big and there are many buses (almost every hour ) to Panguipulli. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-29 to 2023-Jan-31 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Laguna Chan Chan / Will <br />
<br />
Amazing section, don't skip it! Just make sure to take the openstreetmap route by Laguna Chan Chan instead of the main route.<br />
<br />
I camped at the Termas de Punulaf after arriving via section 12. 15000 pesos, somewhat quiet, with some swimming pool style hot springs. Even a little restaurant. In the morning I walked along the field down to the river, where a kid rowed me across into town (500 pesos). Lots of shops for resupply.<br />
<br />
The road walk up to the Laguna Corazon (aka Ankacoihue) trailhead would have been rough, thankfully I was blessed with a ride most of the way up. At the trailhead you'll find a nice lodge/cafe where I had to register and pay 2500 to hike to the lake. It's a cute trail, complete with benches and art and motivational signs. Great views of the valley.<br />
<br />
After Laguna Corazon you'll end up on the Huilo Huilo trail, where you can follow the red bird trail markers all the way to Puerto Fuy along well maintained trail and dirt roads. Though the park's route seems to diverge from the main route twice, following variant D and the trail to Laguna Chan Chan. <br />
<br />
Variant D looked to be a well maintained (slightly bland) road, vs the main route which is an old road in the process of being reclaimed by the forest. Currently the main route's still not bad walking.<br />
<br />
The trail approaching Laguna Chan Chan from the north was a highlight: thin, slower, steeper, more intimate. It eventually merges onto a dirt road heading down from the lake and west. The main route here was a plain gravel road (I went the wrong way along it for a few km).<br />
<br />
There's well maintained campsites with picnic tables and everything at Laguna Corazon/Ankacoihue, Laguna Chan Chan, and at Pozo de Oro near the end.<br />
<br />
The ferry at Puerto Fuy was sold out all day by the time I got there around noon. <br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / RR + Lago Chanchan / Matthieu <br />
<br />
Another part of the Huilo Huilo parc, no entry fees in this sens. Nice for the forest walkers the like flowers and calm. <br />
Tracks well maintained in the form of 4x4 roads, easy to follow (Little red plastic birds sticked on the trees). <br />
I agree with Martina and Ivo on the attractivity of this section. There are a few lakes to see on the way, if you get off the RR, and it is worth the effort. The savage beach just a few kilometers after Puerto Fuy is a paradise to camp.<br />
Liquiñe is a nice place to rest, with camping and thermal water. Lots of shops.<br />
<br />
- Lago Chanchan :<br />
<br />
Talking to chilean hikers there, the main attraction seems to be the Lago Chanchan, which is actually a lake in a volcano crater, with a little beach, and a wonderful place to camp. I took the detour to go. <br />
From the waypoint "Refugio?" (which is actually the house of Juan, whose mission is just to take the names of the people going south, just for safety if they get lost. No fees, no stress. Juan is really nice and I could enjoy a nice coffee and discussion with him.), I came back going southbound to the Div 108. Then you take the little forest trail, that goes up gor 2-3 hours until the lake Chanchan. It is a little technical trail cutted in the bamboos, but in this sense easy to follow, following the little red birds. Just before the lake there is a Div where you arrive to a 4x4 trail. One road goes north to the lake, and the other one goes south to the "pozo del Oro", and I assume that this trail join the RR between "Bridge, camp2" and "DIV 110" I didnt explore it the next day thow, going back on my tracks by the little bamboo trail because I was initially going northbound. SO there is a path exploitable from the south part of the section, leaving the RR on a minor road, going to the lake Chanchan, and then going back to RR taking this little trail to the Div 108, making your experience really more attractive.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-09 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Here is our advertisement for this beautiful section: From Liquiñe alto to the beginning of the forest: great view to the volcanoes Villarica and Lanín. Nice trail to the enchanted Laguna Ankacoigüe. Then beginning of the Reserva Biológica Huilo-Huilo Sector Norte: stunningly huge trees and a sudden change of landscape, entering Valdivian rainforest for the first time. Only a short part of minor road between waypoint "lake, no camp" and the highest point of the section. The whole descent to Puerto Fuy is a attractive trail through pretty rainforest with views to the Volcán Choshuenco. 4 km before the village you find this pristine hidden lonely beach, perfect for a last rest before you arrive at busy touristy Puerto Fuy. <br />
<br />
Our rating: 3<br />
<br />
Don't skip ;-)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-08 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank <br />
<br />
I met Martina & Ivo on the route & agree with their above comments. This section was an unexpected highlight & the campsite on the lake was the best. When you reach the lake you cross a river then arrive at the campsite which you will probably have to yourself. Avoid the campsites near Puerto Fuy as there are lots of car campers there.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
In Liquine there are a few small shops. There are also some open air markets, you can get breakfast & lunch there. They open around 10:30 AM. 2 restaurants in Liquine but neither of them was open when I was there (Feb 2020) <br />
<br />
There are a few places advertising cabins on the road in to Liquine & as you leave Liquine southbound there are two cheap hotels.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT17H - Liquiñe]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_10-12_Alternative_via_Liquiñe_119228012.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT17H - Liquiñe]]<br />
[[File:GP_10-12_Alternative_via_Liquiñe_119228017.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT17H]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10-12_Alternative_via_Liquiñe_119228020.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10-12_Alternative_via_Liquiñe_119228022.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10-12_Alternative_via_Liquiñe_119228023.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10-12_Alternative_via_Liquiñe_119228025.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10-12_Alternative_via_Liquiñe_119228034.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10-12_Alternative_via_Liquiñe_119228011.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10-12_Alternative_via_Liquiñe_119228013.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10-12_Alternative_via_Liquiñe_119228015.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10-12_Alternative_via_Liquiñe_119228016.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT16_(Volcan_Quetrupillan)&diff=109201GPT16 (Volcan Quetrupillan)2023-04-22T09:43:14Z<p>Joscha97: </p>
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<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Mar-01 to 2023-Mar-05 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH-01 & 02 + Quetrupillan summit + Villarica traverse / Martial.<br />
<br />
Puesco - Pucón<br />
Villarica traverse is indeed an interesting alternative for GPT16. The views on Volcanos are gorgeous and trail in good conditions for the all trip. My personal camping recomandations are Laguna azul, volcan Quetrupillan waterfall (on osm : -39.51160, -71.75365) and estero aihue (39.47713° S, 71.88582° W) or Zanjón pino Huacho for clean water access and sleep under the stars ✨ Although siphon water from the bucket in the zanjon was hard but should be better after recent rains.. Water from the various glaciar rivers is way cleaner in the morning to be drunk. An interesting combo for people in need for a treat would be stopping in Termas Geometricas wich looks to be one of the best attraction of the region.. (20mil or so)<br />
I luckily was granted with nice weather for Quetrupillan climb wich for me is really worth-it. Hopefully you get a lucky ride for the long descent from the centro de ski to Pucón. Take plenty of water if you start nobo !<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-22 to 2023-Feb-26 / 4 days / Hiking / OH-01 +03 Villarrica traverse (West-bound?) / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
We did not end up following the GPT but instead ended up doing the Villarrica Traverse (so options 01 and 03 of GPT and then some more). It was our last trip before flights back home so ending directly in Pucón made the most sense, just sad that our last hike wasn't actually on the GPT...<br />
<br />
Thoughts: Really beautiful, surprisingly diverse and not as many people as expected. The busiest place was at Laguna Azul and the glacier lookout. We are both very happy to have walked it and since it was our last hike it was a pleasure to be on trails that allowed one to reflect rather than think about the next step. Highlights were the ease of the trails, vistas, Araucaria sillouettes, a return to volcanic landscapes, the crater of Quetrupillan and the forest canopy. <br />
<br />
Access: Bus from Curarrehue to Puesco leaves at 5pm, just once a day. It leaves from here;-39.36321, -71.58433 and is white and green. Probably easier to hitch as it only goes to Puesco (aka CONAF). It leaves Puesco to Curarrehue at 730am supposedly.<br />
<br />
Description: The traverse is well documented and therefore I will only explain two different side trips. Note that if coming from Puesco the last section between Chinnay camping and the ski hill is scarce of water because most water available is recommended not to drink due to high levels of ash in the melting glacier. The two good sources are; estero aihue; 39.47713° S, 71.88582° W and Zanjón pino Huacho which is actually just a tap over a bucket; 39.43604° S, 71.99502° W. There is also an app you can use to follow the traverse; https://villarricatraverse.cl/<br />
<br />
Camping at Laguna Azul is crowded (in the minds of a GPT hiker) so one can camp on a different beach or up high on the trees on the south side of the lake. Wild camping is supposedly illegal but does not seem to apply for the section of the traverse between Chinnay and the ski resort, there are many bivy spots. <br />
<br />
Side trips:<br />
First side trip, Volcán Quetrupillan:<br />
If one is doing the traverse and wants to summit Quetrupillan easily and quickly I recommend following the osm trail on the NW side of the summit, there is a good trail, however we both did something different. Tomáš was successful at making a traverse of the summit and I was not. From lake Azul we followed the GPT option03 until the base of the col where one goes straight up to the crater. I continued on the GPT trail and turned back ~2m from the true summit due to the terrible rock quality but at least the way to the crater was easy (if you are there know that the red dirt is soft and not that steep). Tomáš on the other hand went one ridge further south and was able to easily follow it up to the summit, traverse south on the summit and come down on the osm trail. He notes there were only two bits of simple scrambling but was still easy despite having his bag. After my failed attempt on the summit I just went straight down the West side of the mountain to hit the normal Villarrica traverse and met back up with Tomáš.<br />
<br />
Second side trip, glacier Pichillancahue to above "glacier mirrado" and back to normal trail (the route is on OSM):<br />
When coming from Chinnay there is a very obvious trailhead for Glaciar pichillancahue. Tomáš used this to make a small but high traverse to somewhere near Estero Aihue and therefore avoiding the last bit of road walking and elevation loss. I was lazy and hungry and opted to have lunch at the camping Pichillancahue instead which was a terrible decision because the water there was barely drinkable (ash and dirt) and Tomáš supposedly had nice clean water up top. <br />
<br />
If it wasn't for bad weather I think this traverse could be done easily in 3days, even two if you are efficient. We took 4 because we had one morning of rain and were in no need of rushing and did the sidetrips. However it would have been nice to have one more free day to rent gear and try to climb Villarrica but the information on whether or not the summit is open was very confusing. Locals told us it was closed but you could go up most of the way if you had gear but then again there was a mountain guide who said we could go, so it will be a mystery. We both would love to come back to this area with simple glacier gear and climb Villarrica and Lanin and also go back to Sollipulli to traverse its glacier. For now it will have to wait :)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-02 t 2023-Feb-05 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Quetrupillan + OH-01 / Yannic & Mirjam <br />
<br />
Very beautiful and easy stage. We hitchhiked from Panguipulli to Liquine and then via option 16-B to the camp at Laguna Azul. Very pleasant path in the forest with a slow ascent.<br />
We stayed at the lagoon for 2 days and made a day trip to the volcano. The trail was not always easy because of the strong wind and the occasional snowfields. East of option 16-03 there is another way marked on the map, a little more to the east could be good, because then you avoid the two big snowfields that you see at the top.<br />
<br />
From Laguna Azul we continued via Laguna Blanca on the Villarica Traverse (Option 16-01) to Laguna Las Avutardas. The road is well maintained and the landscape after the second pass is fascinatingly different from the previous one. Very nice camping spot at the lagoon.<br />
From the primary road we caught a car to Curarrehue and from there a bus to Pucon.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-29 to 2023-Jan-31 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maks & Gabi <br />
<br />
Started in Catripulli and hichhiked to 16km of RR. We found it as a good solution to skip road walking as it is not so attractive. Remember to take enough water with you because on ascent to Laguna Blanca there is only one silty river. This part is not so hard unless the temperature is high and you are walking like us in the midday. Probably the ascent road is going to be worst cos they are destroying the trail to build a road ( most probably - it doesn't look nice and it's quite annoying ) <br />
There is quite a new gate with old sign on 18,5km ( it looks like entrance to some private propertie with seperate plots), it was open so we just walked through and we didn't meet anyone to ask. <br />
<br />
Plateau is really amazing, worth seeing and there are a lots of tiny streams near Laguna Blanca with clean water.<br />
At Laguna Azul there are a lot of tourists sleeping there.<br />
Descent was plesent until the road started.<br />
The entire trail is well visible. <br />
Down there there is community of mapuche, they are really nice and talkative. There is a chance that when going NOBO or sleeping on their land you will have to ask about permission to go through but it shouldn't be a problem. <br />
We hitchhiked with one of them last 3 km of RR.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-27 to 2023-Jan-29 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Quetrupillan / Will <br />
<br />
I also came in through Catripulli. I caught two quick rides but was still left with three hours of hot uphill road walking. If you aren't worried about connecting footsteps I bet you could find a better start/end point. The other hikers out there (on the Villarrica traverse) were mostly ending at Puesco, I heard rumors of a bus there. Sounds like a much better route if the bus exists. This is marked as option 1.<br />
<br />
Coming out of the woods the alpine section was beautiful but short. I spent two nights at Laguna Azul, taking a side trip up Quetrupillan. There were a lot of fun snowfields to navigate. My new shoes were grippy enough to get me through easily even though I didn't bring my trekking poles. Most of the water was chalky.<br />
<br />
The final scramble up to the summit (after reaching the snow filled crater) was treacherous. Might not be worth it. I went up around the right because it looked like a more gradual climb but I had a few big solid looking boulders come loose and tumble down. The route straight up seems better.<br />
<br />
Laguna Azul was bustling, both nights I was camped with a few Europeans doing the Villarrica traverse. Met a crazy dutch couple biking it. I even heard that there were some people visiting by helicopter, before I showed up.<br />
<br />
At the end I walked down to Liquiñe, lots of food places along the road. I camped at the Termas de Punulaf (decent, 15000 pesos) before continuing onto section 17H (highly recommended!).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-23 to 2023-Jan-24 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna & Christopher<br />
<br />
Catripulli - Reyehueico<br />
Short and easy section!<br />
<br />
From Pucón we took a bus at 19:30 to Catripulli (Buses Currarehue, last one leaves at 21:00). From there we hitchhiked to km 18 of the RR. We camped next to Estero Huililco (silty water as the others mentioned).<br />
<br />
The next accessible water source is the ford of Estero Huililco at km 23. The walking until the plateau is easy (dirt roads and good paths), no navigation issues at all.<br />
Around Laguna Blanca there was still some clear water of the snowmelt. Here walking got a bit tougher due to the sand, but the plateau really is beautiful. After Laguna Blanca there is a good, visible path again until Laguna Azul. We camped at the Laguna and had the first rainy/stormy night.<br />
<br />
Because of the bad weather we didn't climb the volcano the next day and went down directly. It's a good path the whole way. Around 4 km before Reyehueico we got a ride directly to Panguipulli :)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-05 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: Catripulli - Laguna Blanca - Laguna Azul - summit of Volcán Quetrupillan - Reyehueico <br />
<br />
I found this section beautiful, and quite easy, since most of the time you are on 4x4 tracks or well-maintained CONAF trails. No navigation issues whatsoever. <br />
<br />
Pucón is a bustling hiking town, great place to get new gear/shoes and resupply. I stayed a few days at Chili Kiwi Hostel there, highly recommend! Buses from Pucón to Catripulli and Curarrehue are very frequent, I did not have to wait. <br />
<br />
I started in Catripulli because the road walk is shorter from there. I was very lucky and ended up getting a ride (without even trying) up to the end of the gravel road beyond Rinconada, where a wooden gate marks the start of a lovely forest trail. As others have mentioned, Río Huililco is quite silty, and although the trail follows this river a while, I didn't collect any water there. The first night I camped at the treeline before the final climb to Laguna Blanca (before the start of the CC section). I found some good water in the ravine east of the trail, but it required some bushwhacking down a steep hill covered in vegetation.<br />
<br />
The plateau up by Laguna Blanca is beautiful, there are multiple creeks feeding the lake — some of them are silty, but others are clear, just pure snowmelt. The cross-country section had a nice path running through most of it, so navigation was very easy. Between Laguna Blanca and Laguna Azul, there are still some snow patches, but they are easy to walk across or around. <br />
<br />
I dropped most of my gear off at Laguna Azul to climb the volcano. I started around 11 a.m. and got back at 4 p.m., this included an almost hour-long break at the top to take in the spectacular views of Volcán Villarrica and Volcán Lanín. There's still a fair bit of snow on Quetrupillan, and instead of following the GPS I went up my own way to the rim, avoiding most of the snowfields. The crater is filled with snow, it's awesome! Coming back down, I half ran, half slid down a giant snow field, which was a lot of fun. That night I went for a swim and camped at Laguna Azul, a beautiful spot. For the first time on the GPT, there were other people (local tourists) camped with me there! <br />
<br />
The rest of the trail down to Reyehueico is easy, downhill through a mature forest. Once you get to Trafún Chico, the trail becomes a gravel road. I was able to hitch the last couple kilometers to the main road, and get a ride to Panguipulli to resupply and head down to GPT19 after. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2022-Jan-01 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + summit of Quetrupillan / Molly og Melissa <br />
<br />
5 days - including a very short day due to bad weather<br />
We were passed by a car on the gravel road shortly after Reyehueico. They told us that the place marked as camp on the GPS was closed, but we could camp on their land a little before on the place marked bridge. They wanted 5000 pesos per person, and there are no facilities, so we found it a little expensive but didn't want to discuss in the rain. They also sold us freshly baked bread which were huge and the best we have had so far, as well as sopaipillas. The gravel road here was pretty, but a lot of aggressive dogs who could easily crawl under their fences to follow us. We only had to climb one gate which seemed to be more to keep in cows than to keep out any hikers. At the waypoint gate there was nothing. <br />
We camped right before the waypoint water before Laguna Azul.<br />
At Laguna Azul there are two camp waypoints, the first is a little spot on the river bank, the second is the "real" camp with lots of spots in a little forest right next to the lake. It's nice, but there have been left a lot of garbage.<br />
<br />
From there, you follow the Villarica traverse trail for some kilometres through very beautiful landscapes. When you reach the valley where Lago Blanco is (it really is white), you leave the trail for some fairly easy cross-country around the lake. On the far side, the whole valley was covered in water and we had to walk barefoot, but it was after three very rainy days.<br />
Finding the path at treeline was a little difficult, but we just made sure to be right on the trail on the GPS and found it. Then followed a short trip through beautiful aucaria forest, followed by a gravel road. Here, we saw several "no entrar" signs meant for people going towards the national park, but there was no one around. We even asked for water while still in the no entrar-zone as we didn't know, and weren't told off. It was difficult to find a campsite, but at La Rinconada there was a house saying "Es bienvenido aquí", maybe you could ask there.<br />
We accidentally walked to catripulli instead of currarehue as we missed the turn off and realized too late. <br />
<br />
Water:<br />
Until Laguna Azul, no problem. At Lago Blanco we didn't find any streams that weren't chalky, though we thought that some streams running down the mountain on the far right side might look better. We didn't investigate, though, as we thought we had enough. However, Estero Huilinco was the same, so we ended up asking at a house if we could get some water.<br />
<br />
Summit:<br />
We basecamped at Laguna Azul and followed the nicely marked trail up. Be aware that the summit route diverges after about a kilometre, with no trail to be seen. We followed the GPS for a while but decided to walk to the crater rim somewhere else, as the summit seemed more difficult and the height difference isn't that big anyway. The volcano itself looked a lot like Volcan Puyehue, but the views were different of course, and the crater had a lot more snow. It was great to spend an extra day above the treeline.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-05 to 2021-Dec-07 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / Villarrica Traverse / Alex Abramov <br />
<br />
We made Villarrica Traverse here. This traverse is an excellent variant to go in (out) to (from) GPT.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Matthieu<br />
<br />
From Liquiñe to Catripulli<br />
Following the RR, I personnally never had to cross any barriers of barbed wire or closed portals. It is all an official CONAF trail. <br />
I used Lago Azul as a base camp to do the ascent of the summit. Awesome place. <br />
A little cheer to Ty, America and Sanita with who we had (I assume) the biggest GPT hikers camp of the year !<br />
<br />
-The ascent: <br />
Better use your head than your GPS, avoiding the snow to go up. The path I took was finally closed to the OH 002, going between the snow fields, but I never crossed any trail road. <br />
The very end is quite steepy and the rocks easy to break, and you have to climb a little bit to arrive to the final cairn. Better do it with good weather conditions and without your big bag ! I wasnt confident with going down the same way, so at the cairn I just took directly west down the rocks and actually found a downhill of good sand, really easy to do, fast and safe. No climbing down this way. I joined my previous tracks after, near the OH 002. <br />
<br />
-Water supply:<br />
As Ty say, No water between the end of Lago Blanco and a little bit before the Estero Huililco. The track is easy and fast thow in the forest, and I didnt take more water supply going down.<br />
<br />
I didnt do the final forest part just before Currarehue, hitchhiking to Catripulli.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-27 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Catripulli Start & Optional end to Conaripe / Ty & America <br />
<br />
We started at Catripulli because it was a bit shorter road walk compared to Curarrehue. Be aware of the big waterless start. You do have (mostly) friendly people on the road who are more than welcome to help with water. After Comunidad Rinconada (maps.me) don’t expect any water (besides the extremely chalky river water) all the way up to Laguna Blanco. Small Water falls on the right side of the lake have great clear water. We camped at Laguna Blanco by said falls a bit off the track file to find shelter from the wind. Then camped at Laguna azul the next day to summit the following morning. Beautiful place. Actual summit is sketchy, so we hiked to the rim and were perfectly content with that. I don’t recommend taking the optional OH-TL-V@16-02-#002 over the pass. It looked sketchy/snowy. The optional a bit further was perfectly fine. On the way down to conripe on OH-TL-V@16-02-#003 there is a good place to camp by water with plenty of wood ~1.5 km after the marked water source. We had luck hitching a ride from the termas at the bottom right to Conripe.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-7 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
3 days for this amazing section. Trail in good condition, no navigation difficulties. At 39°23'11"S 71°37'48"W, where it says "se vende leña eucalyptus", we didn't climb the huge locked gate to our right but just continued the minor road. We passed two unlocked gates and got back to the regular route after 1km. Shortly afterwards we arrived at a high fence of seven strands of barbed wire, where we turned left into the forest, following an almost invisible path, and after 500m finally found a gate and got back to the regular route after 1km.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb-06 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank<br />
<br />
Came from GPT15, resupplied @ 2 supermarkets in Curarrehue. Going up from Curarrehue they are logging in the forest but track still clear. Went over the fence with 7 strands of barb wire. Later there is a wooden gate saying 'No Entry Residents Only' went over it onto track, no one around. When you cross the Estero Huilico fill up with water. You can wade it but if you go down on the left about 20 metres there is a footbridge hidden in the forest. Later you are near the river but it is in a gorge with dense vegetation so it's not accessible. Made a dry camp high up in the forest before the lakes. Hardly any snow left on the route. <br />
<br />
Near the end of the route there is no place to camp at 'Camp 119' but continue a little down the road & there is a tiny field just before 'Bridge 51' where you can camp. Just before it the road goes round in a loop, on the lower part of the loop are two houses next to each other. Ask there if it's OK to camp by the bridge. Just after the bridge I continued straight to the main road (marked bus, shop) to resupply. However, it's not necessary to do that, if you continue on the RR you will find shops in Liquine.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-13 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR from Liquiñe to where the trail joins the S-947 / Sophie & Hendrik <br />
<br />
We were 7 days on the trail, of which 2 were just camping out bad weather (23 walking hours) . First day we started late and went to what the first camp on the map. Next we went to the camp without water from the track files (We found some stream there. After filtering amd treading it with chloride we were able to drink it.) We stayed there one day, waiting for better weather. Next day we went to the Fort at Laguna Azul. However, we did not cross it until two days later, as we first waited for better weather conditions. Then we crossed the volcano and camped below the treeline on the other side. Last day we hiked to S-947 and hitchhiked to Pucón for some Food and a real bed.<br />
<br />
What we liked: Sudden changes of landscapes, beautiful Araucaria forrest, remoteness (didn't meet people for 5 days), breathtaking views and scenes on the volcano, the snow was beautiful (obviously depends on the season), the many plushy chilean tarantulas on the north side.<br />
<br />
What we did not like so much: The gravel roads on both ends of the section.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-22 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom & Maddie<br />
<br />
No issues, trail in good condition and cross country section is not hard to navigate. We took a bus out to Panguipulli at 08:00 on a weekday. We decided to skip 17 and 18. We then bussed to Los Lagos and then Futron and then to Rininahue. We then got a hitch back onto the regular route of 19 37km in. Less than 8hrs off the trail to skip 17/18.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-31 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / OH-02 Start from Termas el Rincon (Conaripe) to Currarehue / Jean & Virginie<br />
<br />
To start the option track (16-02) after el Rincon termas, we have to pass a gate closed but it was possible to pass on the left. We didnt see anyone inside.<br />
After few kilometers on the minor road in good condition, we pass a small house where the guy explained us the track (turn on thé right at the arrow marked Laguna to get on the trail - track a little bit different from the gpt route but that join it further). After we went up on Quetrupillan volcano with amazing view. Trail in good condition and easy to navigate. This option join the regular route at the laguna Azul, nice site to camp. After the cross country section was not difficult to follow and the end until Currarehue was alternation of (a bit) overgrown trails and minor roads (+ some barbed wire).<br />
Bus to Pucon every 20 min from Currarehue.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-18 / Sophie & Hendrik<br />
<br />
90% - 95% of the area from 1500m upwards are completely covered in snow. Think about snow shoes and be careful as there are melting streams covered and hidden by snow.<br />
Also, unlike us, keep in mind that snow reflects the sun and can cause burns from below on your nose and chin.<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
*Season 2017/18 / Kara Davis<br />
<br />
Follow the main road, 199-CH, south out of Curarrehue until the gravel road turn off, S-981. After several kilometers, the road transitions to single track through a eucalyptus forest. Be careful to not follow one of the several other tracks that wind through the forest. The trail exits onto a gravel road, S-947, that follows Estero Huilico. Turn off onto a 4WD track, but be aware there are several other 4WD track spurs. The trail narrows into an obvious single track as you enter Parque Nacional Villarrica. Be prepared for the possibility of snow during this section at higher elevations. At treeline the trail ends and the cross-country traverse begins. <br />
This cross-country traverse follows the volcanic landscape at the base of Volcán Quetrupillán. During high snow years, Laguna Blanca may be frozen and snow covered. Be aware that snowpack may make parts of the GPS route difficult, and keep safety in mind when choosing a route. Instead of following the recommended route which ascends through a chute, snowpack forced us to climb up to a pass further to the left and then rejoin the route. Depending on the time of year, Laguna Azul may also be frozen, but water is available at the stream crossing at the southern end. After beginning the descent into the forest, try and find a well maintained trail. The trail joins a dirt road, T-447, which continues until the paved highway, 201-CH, to Carringue.<br />
Town: Carriringue. <br />
Carriringue is a tiny town with a small market which offers snacks but is difficult to resupply out of. There are also several signs advertising Cabañas.<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Pucón:<br />
About 30 minutes bus ride off trail. A hiking tourism town that has everything a hiker might need<br />
<br />
*Catripulli:<br />
A little down the road from Currarehue. Has two small shops which probably sell pastas and other basic stuff<br />
<br />
*Currarehue:<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
You can buy bread and sopaipillas at the house right before the "bridge" waypoint just before Reyehueico.<br />
<br />
A house in La Rinconada sells eggs<br />
<br />
Some Aucaria trees<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
2022-Jan:<br />
Busses go from Panguipulli to Reyehueico on weekdays, and from Valdivia to Panguipulli (two hours bus ride) every day. Hitching was quite easy for us even though it was raining.<br />
<br />
The bus from Currarehue through Catripulli to Pucón leaves approximately every 15 minutes on weekdays, and every 30 minutes on weekends - goes in both directions - about 30 minutes<br />
<br />
(2020-Feb)<br />
<br />
Bus Pucón - Curarrehue <br />
<br />
Mo-Sa 11:00<br />
<br />
Su 12:15<br />
<br />
Operator Igi Llaima, Terminal, Palguín 550<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT16 - Volcán Quetrupillan]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109172879.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|[[Volcán Lanín]] from GPT16]]<br />
[[File:Quetrupillan 01.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|[[Volcán Quetrupillán]] from GPT16]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (1).jpg|thumb|center|1100px|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 16]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226459.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226460.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226461.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226462.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226596.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109173354.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109172977.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_109173084.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_10_Volcán_Quetrupillan_119226451.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT15_(Curarrehue)&diff=109047GPT15 (Curarrehue)2023-04-16T05:18:07Z<p>Joscha97: /* Season 2022/23 */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-27 / 4 days / Hiking / 15-O1 NOBO + Solipulli traverse + 14 SOBO / Martial <br />
<br />
Very nice expedition starting opposite side from Nat & Tomas cause i skipped GPT11-13 for gear resupply in Pucón (Volcanica outdoors very good btw !).<br />
Started 15-O1 in Parc Huerquehue the 23 in the morning after negociating an entrance ticket with one of the guard off voices who was very comprehensive after i got here without ticket on the 22 at 18pm and parc was fully reserved for 2 more days.. Be more prepared ! Had a lucky price 10mil for Olga’s camping 10mil for 1 person arriving late. Very good value for money ! Crystal clear lake water sunset, hot clean showers, caring owners.. Beers, galletas y pan amasado caliente in the morning ! Had to get back to the CONAF gate in the morning for ticket so wished i had left the mochila in Olga’s 😓 Easy and nice walk up to the lagunas and although i have been warned Renahue sector was shut, i decided to continue as Conaf is not checking exit route. (The sector has been closed for missbehavior of the visitors so obviously don’t make fire or leave basura !!). Starting this sector the trail is volontary left sufficiently overgrown to discourage normal visitor but no GPT hiker 😄 and the way down to the Termas is nice enough. Stayed at ecotermas for 15mil after nice chat with Richard the guardian. Loved to immerge in the termas for hours with a beer and chating with Chileans.<br />
Next morning had in mind to hitchhike but no cars so found nice cascade before turning left to laguna Isolda. The owner put a gate « recinto privado » but you can pass asking for permission.. I bumped into him and his little daughter cleaning the trail to the laguna with machete : very nice guy and thanks to him the trail in this forest till the road is beautiful !<br />
Hitchhiking the road was no better so had to camp next to it on an unmarked camp here -39.06698, -71.51530, rainy night.<br />
The day after finally had a lucky hitch all the way to the entrance of the reserva to Solipulli so could actually make it to the summit on the same day by following the south est ascent. It is CC after the treeline and found a good path climbing to the lake located before the crater for high camp (my specialty it seems 😄 !). Aqui : -38.96789, -71.49060. Weather was getting full sun so no problem and was delightly rewarded by one of the most amazing sunset of my life setting just into a depression of the crater above the glaciar. Mesmerizing and got me smiling for hours despite the crazy windy cold !<br />
After an icy night i used the same path to the ridge scouted before and could join the RR and true summit for midtime before going down on the easy north route heading to CONAF. There was surprisingly no-one there on a sunday early afternoon. Got small supplies from the lodge owner (28mil one p. in the refugio so passed and camped near a lake before last ford : recommended). Met also Franklin family for a few welcome asada meat sandwich treat 🍖 So generous !!<br />
Next day was big MR hiking back 14 sobo so putted earpods and went fullgas to a camp after Reigolil marked on gaia gps (but actually shut so got it free after asking for permision to the abuelo : -39.13615, -71.48404). Very hot and boring no cars after the reserve exit. Happy to reach Curarrehue’s cafeteria for sweet delights after 07:10 bus !<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-20 to 2023-Feb-21 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 1 PN Huerquehue / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
Hitched from the end of GPT14 to the start of the trail to Laguna Isolda (option 01). The start is gated (easily passable) and says private property but we continued. Sign said to call bosquesnalcahue (45) 91 06 59. We anticipated a bushwack but the trail was in surprisingly good conditions and we managed to meet the women responsible for the upkeep later in the park, she guides horse tours through those trails and clears as much as she can.<br />
The trail however is "so so" and you cannot access the lake easily, if you need water there is running water here;-39.10352, -71.54720. The trail turns into a road sooner than it is shown on the map, it turns into a road here;-39.10477, -71.54474 (about 5 km in). The road to the hotsprings has lots of water sources but it is not very interesting and I personally wished I just hitched all the way to the hotsprings to spend more time there. However, there was an interesting deserted logging operation along the way (-39.12617, -71.55411), we learned from the horse guide that the company went bankrupt and just left everything there. <br />
<br />
Camping at the hotsprings; Evo Thermas Rio Blanco and San Sebastian, are 15mil/person. We chose to stay at Rio Blanco because of the pools and a better variety of camping spots. We camped above the booth where you pay and the man who we payed showed us a hidden super hot (adjustable with cold water hose) bath not too far from our camp spot. Tomáš was surprised there by a family at 10 PM so keep some makeshift swimsuits ready. Both campings sell some basic food items but not much. <br />
<br />
There is a sign saying the trail to Huerquehue is closed "Indefinitely" and so is camping Renahue. Quite alarming but since the website said the park was open we continued with the mindset we would have to turn back. The trail was pretty good from the termas to camping renahue and it is here where we met the horse guides that were doing the trail maintenance near Laguna Isolda. The horse guides came up through the trail from lake Caburgua and they said it was an easy trail. This could be a good option if you wanted to avoid any trouble with CONAF and the section closure. However we were still curious about Huerquehue so we continued option01 thinking we would turn back if we saw another sign or anything saying the trail was closed, to our surprise there were no more signs. Between camping renahue to lake Huerquehue there is a lot of blow down but after lake Huerquehue the trail is pristine. We started seeing people after Lago Toro so obviously the park was open. With the combination of having a late morning at the hot springs and all the indecisiveness about closures we ended up walking through the park at a great time ( 530-7pm). There were very few people and we really got to enjoy how beautiful it was there. CONAF website said they close at 530pm but there are no gates and attendants so no problems leaving the park later.<br />
Unfortunately at the lake the camping El Rincon was closed and camping Olga was 18mil a night with a minimum of a two night stay so we managed to get a hitch to Pucón. If needed, you can illegally camp at the CONAF station as that is what others were doing or ask "Alicia" at the old El Rincon campsite if you can pay privately and take care of your washroom needs- supposedly they had to shut down due to washroom problems. <br />
<br />
'''"Trail closure" on option 01PN Huerquehue. When leaving the Eco termas Rio Blanco hot springs there is a sign saying the "Huerquehue trail, camping renahue and the dome" are closed "indefinitely". The park itself is open but supposedly that section on the trail is closed. We continued bcs we were not sure which trail they were exactly talking about but we're prepared to turn around if we saw something blocked off. The trail was fine except for a lot of blow down up until the lake Huerquehue. If you want to avoid this closure there is a trail in good shape coming from lake Caburgua to camping renahue. We met a horse guide coming from there and said it is fine.'''<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-05 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Frank<br />
<br />
I combined GPT15, 16 & 17. It's easy to resupply in Curarrehue & Liquine. 2 short days for GPT15 & continued to GPT16 on 2nd day. Got the bus from Pucon to Reigolil via Currarehue. Didn't go to the lake but continued straight on the main road to Curarrehue. This option is quicker but there are not many places to camp. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb / 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO<br />
<br />
We took the dirt road on the west side of river. There is a small coffee about 7km from Currarehue. Very nice with good atmosphere. No particular interest in this section. Hitch if you can, there are quite some people living along this road so it should be easy. There is a bus doing Currarehue/Reigolil every day. Currarehue is nice to resupply with restaurants, supermarkets and accommodation. There is also an ATM. Reigolil there is only one very small shop with not much.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-30 / SOBO / Main road / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
We started to walk on the road on the Western side of the river just to see what will happen. After 2 hours a bus to Curarrehue came ;-)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Shaun C <br />
<br />
Straightforward. Took a short 2 days. Rained incessantly, but still very pleasant, especially the misty Laguna Hualalafquen. Water readily available throughout. Only a few patches of snow (above 1200m).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-15 / 4 days (GPT14 + GPT 15) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
We combined sections 14 and 15. It took us 3 days and nero.<br />
GPT14 - there are signs that someone tried to clear overgrown part of the trail on the begining and end but middle is still nicely overgrown. Though we didn't have problem to follow.<br />
Part of minor road on regular trail is under construction. They are putting a huge pipe under it. It was evening and workers were not there se we managed to sneak through but I don't think they will let you pass during working hours. It's just before descending to the river before National reserve Villarrica. <br />
In the Conaf campsite was food truck (it was weekend) with churasco, sopapillas, drinks... pure heaven. We paid 4000 per person at conaf.<br />
They are building a dorm at Lodge. It will be ready for next years hikers ;) <br />
Resuply in Reigolil - mini shop on trail seemed abandoned. We found best supplies in shop-4. There is one other shop directly after bridge. <br />
GPT15 - road and trail in good condition. On the climb to the lake bit before last settler there are some wild cherry trees on the left. We stuffed ourselves and left for others too. Enjoy. Multiple shops, accomodation options and restaurants in Curarrehue.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-19 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom & Maddie <br />
<br />
Easy walking, road in good condition. Would recommend hitching if you have limited time, but worth doing otherwise to connect sections 14 and 16. Really good resupply in Curarrehue (restaurants, grocery stores, clothing stores, pharmacy etc).<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
*Pucon has a few big supermarkets & several shops with hiking gear. One of the supermarkets has a hardware section where you can buy camping gas. <br />
<br />
*Regioli at the northern start of the section has only one limited shop. <br />
<br />
*Curarrehue, at the southern end, is a decent-sized town with numerous restaurants and shops. <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
Regioli has limited options. Curarrehue is much better connected.<br />
<br />
[[File:Reigolil.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Timetable January 2020]]<br />
<br />
Bus goes from Pucon to Curarrehue then Reigolil<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT15 - Curarrehue]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095280.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT15]]<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095440.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT15 and [[Volcán Lanín]]]]<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095350.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095403.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095479.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095515.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT15_(Curarrehue)&diff=109046GPT15 (Curarrehue)2023-04-16T05:17:23Z<p>Joscha97: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
<br />
<br style="clear:both" /><br />
<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-27 / 4 days / Hiking / 15-O1 NOBO + Solipulli traverse + 14 SOBO / Martial <br />
<br />
Very nice expedition starting opposite side from Nat & Tomas cause i skipped GPT11-13 for gear resupply in Pucón (Volcanica outdoors very good btw !).<br />
Started 15-O1 in Parc Huerquehue the 23 in the morning after negociating an entrance ticket with one of the guard off voices who was very comprehensive after i got here without ticket on the 22 at 18pm and parc was fully reserved for 2 more days.. Be more prepared ! Had a lucky price 10mil for Olga’s camping 10mil for 1 person arriving late. Very good value for money ! Crystal clear lake water sunset, hot clean showers, caring owners.. Beers, galletas y pan amasado caliente in the morning ! Had to get back to the CONAF gate in the morning for ticket so wished i had left the mochila in Olga’s 😓 Easy and nice walk up to the lagunas and although i have been warned Renahue sector was shut, i decided to continue as Conaf is not checking exit route. (The sector has been closed for missbehavior of the visitors so obviously don’t make fire or leave basura !!). Starting this sector the trail is volontary left sufficiently overgrown to discourage normal visitor but no GPT hiker 😄 and the way down to the Termas is nice enough. Stayed at ecotermas for 15mil after nice chat with Richard the guardian. Loved to immerge in the termas for hours with a beer and chating with Chileans.<br />
Next morning had in mind to hitchhike but no cars so found nice cascade before turning left to laguna Isolda. The owner put a gate « recinto privado » but you can pass asking for permission.. I bumped into him and his little daughter cleaning the trail to the laguna with machete : very nice guy and thanks to him the trail in this forest till the road is beautiful !<br />
Hitchhiking the road was no better so had to camp next to it on an unmarked camp here -39.06698, -71.51530, rainy night.<br />
The day after finally had a lucky hitch all the way to the entrance of the reserva to Solipulli so could actually make it to the summit on the same day by following the south est ascent. It is CC after the treeline and found a good path climbing to the lake located before the crater for high camp (my specialty it seems 😄 !). Aqui : -38.96789, -71.49060. Weather was getting full sun so no problem and was delightly rewarded by one of the most amazing sunset of my life setting just into a depression of the crater above the glaciar. Mesmerizing and got me smiling for hours despite the crazy windy cold !<br />
After an icy night i used the same path to the ridge scouted before and could join the RR and true summit for midtime before going down on the easy north route heading to CONAF. There was surprisingly no-one there on a sunday early afternoon. Got small supplies from the lodge owner (28mil one p. in the refugio so passed and camped near a lake before last ford : recommended). Met also Franklin family for a few welcome asada meat sandwich treat 🍖 So generous !!<br />
Next day was big MR hiking back 14 sobo so putted earpods and went fullgas to a camp after Reigolil marked on gaia gps (but actually shut so got it free after asking for permision to the abuelo : -39.13615, -71.48404). Very hot and boring no cars after the reserve exit. Happy to reach Curarrehue’s cafeteria for sweet delights after 07:10 bus !<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-20 to 2023-Feb-21 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 1 PN Huerquehue / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
Hitched from the end of GPT14 to the start of the trail to Laguna Isolda (option 01). The start is gated (easily passable) and says private property but we continued. Sign said to call bosquesnalcahue (45) 91 06 59. We anticipated a bushwack but the trail was in surprisingly good conditions and we managed to meet the women responsible for the upkeep later in the park, she guides horse tours through those trails and clears as much as she can.<br />
The trail however is "so so" and you cannot access the lake easily, if you need water there is running water here;-39.10352, -71.54720. The trail turns into a road sooner than it is shown on the map, it turns into a road here;-39.10477, -71.54474 (about 5 km in). The road to the hotsprings has lots of water sources but it is not very interesting and I personally wished I just hitched all the way to the hotsprings to spend more time there. However, there was an interesting deserted logging operation along the way (-39.12617, -71.55411), we learned from the horse guide that the company went bankrupt and just left everything there. <br />
<br />
Camping at the hotsprings; Evo Thermas Rio Blanco and San Sebastian, are 15mil/person. We chose to stay at Rio Blanco because of the pools and a better variety of camping spots. We camped above the booth where you pay and the man who we payed showed us a hidden super hot (adjustable with cold water hose) bath not too far from our camp spot. Tomáš was surprised there by a family at 10 PM so keep some makeshift swimsuits ready. Both campings sell some basic food items but not much. <br />
<br />
There is a sign saying the trail to Huerquehue is closed "Indefinitely" and so is camping Renahue. Quite alarming but since the website said the park was open we continued with the mindset we would have to turn back. The trail was pretty good from the termas to camping renahue and it is here where we met the horse guides that were doing the trail maintenance near Laguna Isolda. The horse guides came up through the trail from lake Caburgua and they said it was an easy trail. This could be a good option if you wanted to avoid any trouble with CONAF and the section closure. However we were still curious about Huerquehue so we continued option01 thinking we would turn back if we saw another sign or anything saying the trail was closed, to our surprise there were no more signs. Between camping renahue to lake Huerquehue there is a lot of blow down but after lake Huerquehue the trail is pristine. We started seeing people after Lago Toro so obviously the park was open. With the combination of having a late morning at the hot springs and all the indecisiveness about closures we ended up walking through the park at a great time ( 530-7pm). There were very few people and we really got to enjoy how beautiful it was there. CONAF website said they close at 530pm but there are no gates and attendants so no problems leaving the park later.<br />
Unfortunately at the lake the camping El Rincon was closed and camping Olga was 18mil a night with a minimum of a two night stay so we managed to get a hitch to Pucón. If needed, you can illegally camp at the CONAF station as that is what others were doing or ask "Alicia" at the old El Rincon campsite if you can pay privately and take care of your washroom needs- supposedly they had to shut down due to washroom problems. <br />
*"Trail closure" on option 01PN Huerquehue. When leaving the Eco termas Rio Blanco hot springs there is a sign saying the "Huerquehue trail, camping renahue and the dome" are closed "indefinitely". The park itself is open but supposedly that section on the trail is closed. We continued bcs we were not sure which trail they were exactly talking about but we're prepared to turn around if we saw something blocked off. The trail was fine except for a lot of blow down up until the lake Huerquehue. If you want to avoid this closure there is a trail in good shape coming from lake Caburgua to camping renahue. We met a horse guide coming from there and said it is fine.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-05 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Frank<br />
<br />
I combined GPT15, 16 & 17. It's easy to resupply in Curarrehue & Liquine. 2 short days for GPT15 & continued to GPT16 on 2nd day. Got the bus from Pucon to Reigolil via Currarehue. Didn't go to the lake but continued straight on the main road to Curarrehue. This option is quicker but there are not many places to camp. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb / 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO<br />
<br />
We took the dirt road on the west side of river. There is a small coffee about 7km from Currarehue. Very nice with good atmosphere. No particular interest in this section. Hitch if you can, there are quite some people living along this road so it should be easy. There is a bus doing Currarehue/Reigolil every day. Currarehue is nice to resupply with restaurants, supermarkets and accommodation. There is also an ATM. Reigolil there is only one very small shop with not much.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-30 / SOBO / Main road / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
We started to walk on the road on the Western side of the river just to see what will happen. After 2 hours a bus to Curarrehue came ;-)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Nov-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Shaun C <br />
<br />
Straightforward. Took a short 2 days. Rained incessantly, but still very pleasant, especially the misty Laguna Hualalafquen. Water readily available throughout. Only a few patches of snow (above 1200m).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-15 / 4 days (GPT14 + GPT 15) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
We combined sections 14 and 15. It took us 3 days and nero.<br />
GPT14 - there are signs that someone tried to clear overgrown part of the trail on the begining and end but middle is still nicely overgrown. Though we didn't have problem to follow.<br />
Part of minor road on regular trail is under construction. They are putting a huge pipe under it. It was evening and workers were not there se we managed to sneak through but I don't think they will let you pass during working hours. It's just before descending to the river before National reserve Villarrica. <br />
In the Conaf campsite was food truck (it was weekend) with churasco, sopapillas, drinks... pure heaven. We paid 4000 per person at conaf.<br />
They are building a dorm at Lodge. It will be ready for next years hikers ;) <br />
Resuply in Reigolil - mini shop on trail seemed abandoned. We found best supplies in shop-4. There is one other shop directly after bridge. <br />
GPT15 - road and trail in good condition. On the climb to the lake bit before last settler there are some wild cherry trees on the left. We stuffed ourselves and left for others too. Enjoy. Multiple shops, accomodation options and restaurants in Curarrehue.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-19 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom & Maddie <br />
<br />
Easy walking, road in good condition. Would recommend hitching if you have limited time, but worth doing otherwise to connect sections 14 and 16. Really good resupply in Curarrehue (restaurants, grocery stores, clothing stores, pharmacy etc).<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
*Pucon has a few big supermarkets & several shops with hiking gear. One of the supermarkets has a hardware section where you can buy camping gas. <br />
<br />
*Regioli at the northern start of the section has only one limited shop. <br />
<br />
*Curarrehue, at the southern end, is a decent-sized town with numerous restaurants and shops. <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
Regioli has limited options. Curarrehue is much better connected.<br />
<br />
[[File:Reigolil.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Timetable January 2020]]<br />
<br />
Bus goes from Pucon to Curarrehue then Reigolil<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT15 - Curarrehue]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095280.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT15]]<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095440.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT15 and [[Volcán Lanín]]]]<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095350.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095403.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095479.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095515.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT14_(Volcan_Sollipulli)&diff=109045GPT14 (Volcan Sollipulli)2023-04-15T21:05:39Z<p>Joscha97: /* Transport to and from Route */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
<br />
<br style="clear:both" /><br />
<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
<br />
''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-31 to 2023-Feb-02/ 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / including the Sollipulli volcano / Johana & Matouš<br />
<br />
One of the best sections so far for us thanks to the Sollipulli volcano. We started at the Icalma lake (the San Alfonso camp was great, 10 000 per two people, hot water (yes!) and access to the beach). There are some restaurants and minishops as well, enough to resupply I believe. The overgrown section had been cleared half a bamboo-metre ago, so sometimes it was tough and felt like the forest wants to suck you in. Nothing impassable, but the two kilometres took us two hours. Another thing - the river where the ascent starts in the forest is for long the only water source there if the weather is dry. There was a gate (S 38° 53.3570' W 071° 27.0191'); there's a hole in the fence on the left that we went under. We camped at a good spot on the right side of the road (S 38°53.4903' W 071° 27.8162'). The next day, we rushed to the CONAF station - we got there a little past 11 AM, but the ranger let us do the ascent anyway, we even had lunch before we went up (not from the stand, sadly, still operates only at the weekends). You can leave your backpacks with the ranger, which was great! We didn't pay anything to enter the park. It took us 5 hours there and back with a longer break at the top. The view from the top is indescribable plus the path leading up to it is also very nice with some snowpatches next to it that you can slide down as you please. <br />
After that we continued further down the road. We tried to outsmart the three fords but ended up fording the river three times anyway since the number of the fences and gates had increased I guess and we got stuck on a private property with nowhere to go. The best option might be to just follow the regular route. <br />
There's a beautiful camping spot that we highly recommend and had been told about by the ranger - a lot of free space, a laguna/pond, nice (not dense!) forest and several safe fireplaces. (S 38°56.3141' W 071°27.6738)<br />
From there on it was easy walking until Reigolil. The shop before the bridge has not many things to resupply but is good to refresh. The shop near the bus stop tuna, rice, pasta, biscuits, chips, beverages, some vegetables as well, enough to resupply. Its owners were so nice that they took us to their lot near the river where they let us pitch our tent. It seems that you can freely camp by the river but there was some Mapuche festival going on at that time. <br />
The bus schedule: 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. from the bus stop by the shop to Pucon. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-18 to 2023-Feb-20 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR starting in Tracura (road to Sollipulli) / Natalie & Tomáš<br />
<br />
We used Icalma as a resupply which worked well enough; many "mini- supermercados" and cheap accomodation (we had a cabana for 20mil/10mil each) but as a warning internet is awful! There is a nice pehuenche restaurant at the southern end of town on the main road and a little further than this on the main road you can get the best cell signal. Supposedly a bus goes to Lonquimay Mon-Wed-Fri but I forget the times, I think it was at 6am and 3pm.<br />
<br />
We headed towards parque Sollipulli but hitching out of Icalma was slow, ~2hours combined waiting. We got off at Tracura and walked most of the way to CONAF (minus 4km hitch). Hitching was difficult even though it was a Saturday and there were cars, just no takers. No clean water sources until conaf but you could ask one of the cabana rentals along the way if needed.<br />
No entrance fee at CONAF and although camping is not allowed the "senior" ranger told us we could camp behind the office (I may have persuaded him with piñones). The only thing is we had to wait until everyone was gone (~7-730pm) and then leave early the next day (~7-730am). He didn't want people to know so don't spread the word... There are water, toilets, cold showers and the next morning we were able to keep our things in the other building as we went up Sollipulli. Finally there was a food truck there with sopapillas and juice (it was a Saturday).<br />
<br />
As for Sollipulli it has been the easiest summit so far, there is superb trail and it took ~2hrs up más o menos. There is one intersection where the trail tells you to go right but the climbers trail goes straight and is quicker ( staying left is more quick;-38.93399, -71.49659).<br />
The glacier is amazing, 4km in diameter and supposedly 200m deep. I would come back here with glacier gear to cross it and go down the south summit. However Tomáš has his eyes on a way to go around the crater without glacier gear, so it would be a mixture of walking the rim and traversing above treeline towards the south summit where there should be another trail. That would save one cca 20 km of road walking.<br />
<br />
We wanted to go up the main route and down option 01 but CONAF still requests you come down the same way and since they helped us with camping I wanted to respect their wishes. If you wanted to avoid the rangers we both think you could easily go up before or after they arrive, we saw a few other parties doing this. Note that there is no water after CONAF, if you were doing the traverse there are some lakes down to the east from the North summit. We think the traverse looks easy until the treeline. From the other end we later passed the trail going up which is in fact a road - not sure how far it goes as a road.<br />
<br />
The summit was quick so afterwards we started walking the road that skirts Sollipulli on its east. It was a peaceful road and I have no complaints until it became not fun anymore after the camping at ~46.9. There were two vehicles that passed (no room) but I have no idea how they drove past some of the downed trees, would be a dodgy ride.<br />
The forests here are finally becoming alive! We saw tarantulas and a giant moth carcass and mushrooms finally! There are many fords at the beginning after the lodge so keep sandals on if you have them. It would be worth looking at Google earth for an alternative trail because we met a guided horse group on gpt15 that told us they went from the south summit of Sollipulli to the lodge without going on the road. It is possible they meant "no road" as in "no asphalt road" but who knows.<br />
We headed to routa S-965 to hitch to GPT15 PN Huerquehue (no cars passed until S-965).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-25 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
This section took us 2 days. Unfortunately we didn’t go to the summit, because we needed to go quickly down to Curarrehue, but otherwise we wouldn’t skip it, just a few kms more and it looks incredible. About the trail, the beginning is a dirt road around the lakes and it continues until the start of overgrown section. That is a little more than 4kms, but from the start its a relatively normal trail, easy to follow. The overgrown part is mainly between km 2-3.5, but not so terrible overall following the gps. We camped at the end of this part that took us around 2 hrs, maybe less. After that you walk on a minor road all the time, in a really nice forrest. All the puestos were empty. Hot Spring waypoint is somewhere around houses so we didn’t even go there. To cross the river before CONAF station we used GPT14-E and the bridge. At the station was one guard, food truck closed, water available. The lodging after 1km is nice but it comes with higher prices, we stopped there to have some drink and beer + cola (cans) cost us 6k CLP. We spent the night in the forrest after the pass, but camp at km 46.9 looked great. The rest of the trail is still the same gravel road. Minishop at 57.8 has only basic food, but also some things for repairs etc. In Reigolil was only one shop on the main road open with very limited supplies, but we got from the lady pastel de choclo and some homemade bread, all delicious! Later we continued to GPT15.<br />
<br />
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / <br />
<br />
From Reigolil to Solipulli it is a very easy forest road inside the reserva nacional. Carabineros asked some questions and said we could camp where we wanted. Arriving at the CONAF site at Solipulli, there is a small campground, free if you pay the entrance for the volcanoe (4000pp). There is a food truck with sopaipillas and jugos. We hiked the Solipulli and it is a must see. It is incredible and there are not that many people doing it. The CONAF ranger is very friendly. We did not hike from there to Icalma to avoid bushbashing and we wanted to see the big fiesta planned in Melipeuco (every year in late feb). It was worth it as we got to see a celebration of baqueanos. Melipeuco is not this nice but there are several supermarkets and restaurants to resupply. Easy hitch to Icalma (or there are 2 buses / day). We then hitched to Liucura to start section 12.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-30 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Nothing to add to the previous comments. We arrived at the pipeline construction site during working hours and just followed the indications of the workers, no detour, just some optional route. We spent the night at the CONAF campground and had one of the best breakfasts in Chile at the Sollipulli Lodge (13'000 p.P.). As the rain hasn't stopped by lunchtime we had lunch there too, it was excellent :-D We actually quite liked this section with all the trees. We directly added section 15 after this one. There are several busses per day from Reigolil to Curarrehue but we don't know the schedule. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 15-Jan-2020 / 4 days (GPT 14 + GPT 15) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
We combined sections 14 and 15. It took us 3 days and nero.<br />
GPT14 - there are signs that someone tried to clear overgrown part of the trail on the begining and end but middle is still nicely overgrown. Though we didn't have problem to follow.<br />
Part of minor road on regular trail is under construction. They are putting a huge pipe under it. It was evening and workers were not there se we managed to sneak through but I don't think they will let you pass during working hours. It's just before descending to the river before National reserve Villarrica. <br />
In the Conaf campsite was food truck (it was weekend) with churasco, sopapillas, drinks... pure heaven. We paid 4000 per person at conaf.<br />
They are building a dorm at Lodge. It will be ready for next years hikers ;) <br />
Resuply in Reigolil - mini shop on trail seemed abandoned. We found best supplies in shop-4. There is one other shop directly after bridge. <br />
GPT15 - road and trail in good condition. On the climb to the lake bit before last settler there are some wild cherry trees on the left. We stuffed ourselves and left for others too. Enjoy. Multiple shops, accomodation options and restaurants in Curarrehue.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-18 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional summit up Volcán Sollipulli / Tom & Maddie <br />
<br />
Overgrown trail towards the start is relatively easy to follow. Mostly overgrown around the middle but the tracks towards either end are in decent condition. The rest of the section is easy walking. I would strongly recommend taking a small detour to summit Volcán Sollipulli in the CONAF National park (~30km into the section). When we arrived at the park we had to pay a CLP 4000 fee per person. When speaking to the ranger about where we intended to walk, he advised that the optional route down from the Volcán we planned to take is in very poor condition and would not let us take it. We had to do an out and back. It took us around 3.5-4h to summit and return. The trail is in excellent condition (trail markers are present) and the view is spectacular!! Possibly the best thing I’ve seen on the GPT. We camped in the park for no charge and bought some hot food from the food truck in the evening on the weekend. No issues with the rest of the section.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-02 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR including Sollipulli climb / Frank<br />
<br />
2 long days including Sollipulli climb<br />
They are building the pipeline under the dirt road, when they are finished they will bury the pipe & road should reopen. No issues going through there but it was Sunday & no one was around. You walk on a narrow track above ditch, when you reach a point where two big boulders block the path you need to go down into the ditch to go around them. <br />
Climbing Sollipulli is highly recommended to see the huge summit crater filled with ice & snow. Easy & well marked ascent.<br />
You are not allowed to do the ascent after about 11AM. The food truck 'Sabores de Sollipulli' at the Conaf campsite only operates on weekends, it was closed on Sunday. I believe there is another Conaf site a little off route at Laguna Huaquifilo where you can camp. Nowhere good to camp after that. It was raining so I continued to Reigolil. Just after you cross the bridge there is a shop, they have rooms & provide very basic food. Not recommended but will do if you are stuck.<br />
<br />
A few minor corrections: There is no bridge @ Bridge 46, just ford the river easily. Gate @ far side of ford is marked no entry but walking through appears to be OK.<br />
There is a gravel track that stays on the right side of the river & goes past Ford 133 & Ford 134 so you don't need to cross either of them. It leads to Ford 135 which you do cross.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
[[File:Reigolil.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Timetable January 2020]]<br />
<br />
Bus goes from Reigolil to Curacautin & Pucon. When I was there it left Reigolil at 7 & 7:50 AM (different to timetable) Confirm times at the shop by the bridge in Reigolil. Frank<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT14 - Volcán Sollipulli]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047041.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045479.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045586.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045611.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045628.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045648.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046479.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046482.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046483.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047161.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047207.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT14_(Volcan_Sollipulli)&diff=109044GPT14 (Volcan Sollipulli)2023-04-15T21:05:20Z<p>Joscha97: /* Transport to and from Route */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-31 to 2023-Feb-02/ 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / including the Sollipulli volcano / Johana & Matouš<br />
<br />
One of the best sections so far for us thanks to the Sollipulli volcano. We started at the Icalma lake (the San Alfonso camp was great, 10 000 per two people, hot water (yes!) and access to the beach). There are some restaurants and minishops as well, enough to resupply I believe. The overgrown section had been cleared half a bamboo-metre ago, so sometimes it was tough and felt like the forest wants to suck you in. Nothing impassable, but the two kilometres took us two hours. Another thing - the river where the ascent starts in the forest is for long the only water source there if the weather is dry. There was a gate (S 38° 53.3570' W 071° 27.0191'); there's a hole in the fence on the left that we went under. We camped at a good spot on the right side of the road (S 38°53.4903' W 071° 27.8162'). The next day, we rushed to the CONAF station - we got there a little past 11 AM, but the ranger let us do the ascent anyway, we even had lunch before we went up (not from the stand, sadly, still operates only at the weekends). You can leave your backpacks with the ranger, which was great! We didn't pay anything to enter the park. It took us 5 hours there and back with a longer break at the top. The view from the top is indescribable plus the path leading up to it is also very nice with some snowpatches next to it that you can slide down as you please. <br />
After that we continued further down the road. We tried to outsmart the three fords but ended up fording the river three times anyway since the number of the fences and gates had increased I guess and we got stuck on a private property with nowhere to go. The best option might be to just follow the regular route. <br />
There's a beautiful camping spot that we highly recommend and had been told about by the ranger - a lot of free space, a laguna/pond, nice (not dense!) forest and several safe fireplaces. (S 38°56.3141' W 071°27.6738)<br />
From there on it was easy walking until Reigolil. The shop before the bridge has not many things to resupply but is good to refresh. The shop near the bus stop tuna, rice, pasta, biscuits, chips, beverages, some vegetables as well, enough to resupply. Its owners were so nice that they took us to their lot near the river where they let us pitch our tent. It seems that you can freely camp by the river but there was some Mapuche festival going on at that time. <br />
The bus schedule: 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. from the bus stop by the shop to Pucon. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-18 to 2023-Feb-20 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR starting in Tracura (road to Sollipulli) / Natalie & Tomáš<br />
<br />
We used Icalma as a resupply which worked well enough; many "mini- supermercados" and cheap accomodation (we had a cabana for 20mil/10mil each) but as a warning internet is awful! There is a nice pehuenche restaurant at the southern end of town on the main road and a little further than this on the main road you can get the best cell signal. Supposedly a bus goes to Lonquimay Mon-Wed-Fri but I forget the times, I think it was at 6am and 3pm.<br />
<br />
We headed towards parque Sollipulli but hitching out of Icalma was slow, ~2hours combined waiting. We got off at Tracura and walked most of the way to CONAF (minus 4km hitch). Hitching was difficult even though it was a Saturday and there were cars, just no takers. No clean water sources until conaf but you could ask one of the cabana rentals along the way if needed.<br />
No entrance fee at CONAF and although camping is not allowed the "senior" ranger told us we could camp behind the office (I may have persuaded him with piñones). The only thing is we had to wait until everyone was gone (~7-730pm) and then leave early the next day (~7-730am). He didn't want people to know so don't spread the word... There are water, toilets, cold showers and the next morning we were able to keep our things in the other building as we went up Sollipulli. Finally there was a food truck there with sopapillas and juice (it was a Saturday).<br />
<br />
As for Sollipulli it has been the easiest summit so far, there is superb trail and it took ~2hrs up más o menos. There is one intersection where the trail tells you to go right but the climbers trail goes straight and is quicker ( staying left is more quick;-38.93399, -71.49659).<br />
The glacier is amazing, 4km in diameter and supposedly 200m deep. I would come back here with glacier gear to cross it and go down the south summit. However Tomáš has his eyes on a way to go around the crater without glacier gear, so it would be a mixture of walking the rim and traversing above treeline towards the south summit where there should be another trail. That would save one cca 20 km of road walking.<br />
<br />
We wanted to go up the main route and down option 01 but CONAF still requests you come down the same way and since they helped us with camping I wanted to respect their wishes. If you wanted to avoid the rangers we both think you could easily go up before or after they arrive, we saw a few other parties doing this. Note that there is no water after CONAF, if you were doing the traverse there are some lakes down to the east from the North summit. We think the traverse looks easy until the treeline. From the other end we later passed the trail going up which is in fact a road - not sure how far it goes as a road.<br />
<br />
The summit was quick so afterwards we started walking the road that skirts Sollipulli on its east. It was a peaceful road and I have no complaints until it became not fun anymore after the camping at ~46.9. There were two vehicles that passed (no room) but I have no idea how they drove past some of the downed trees, would be a dodgy ride.<br />
The forests here are finally becoming alive! We saw tarantulas and a giant moth carcass and mushrooms finally! There are many fords at the beginning after the lodge so keep sandals on if you have them. It would be worth looking at Google earth for an alternative trail because we met a guided horse group on gpt15 that told us they went from the south summit of Sollipulli to the lodge without going on the road. It is possible they meant "no road" as in "no asphalt road" but who knows.<br />
We headed to routa S-965 to hitch to GPT15 PN Huerquehue (no cars passed until S-965).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-25 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
This section took us 2 days. Unfortunately we didn’t go to the summit, because we needed to go quickly down to Curarrehue, but otherwise we wouldn’t skip it, just a few kms more and it looks incredible. About the trail, the beginning is a dirt road around the lakes and it continues until the start of overgrown section. That is a little more than 4kms, but from the start its a relatively normal trail, easy to follow. The overgrown part is mainly between km 2-3.5, but not so terrible overall following the gps. We camped at the end of this part that took us around 2 hrs, maybe less. After that you walk on a minor road all the time, in a really nice forrest. All the puestos were empty. Hot Spring waypoint is somewhere around houses so we didn’t even go there. To cross the river before CONAF station we used GPT14-E and the bridge. At the station was one guard, food truck closed, water available. The lodging after 1km is nice but it comes with higher prices, we stopped there to have some drink and beer + cola (cans) cost us 6k CLP. We spent the night in the forrest after the pass, but camp at km 46.9 looked great. The rest of the trail is still the same gravel road. Minishop at 57.8 has only basic food, but also some things for repairs etc. In Reigolil was only one shop on the main road open with very limited supplies, but we got from the lady pastel de choclo and some homemade bread, all delicious! Later we continued to GPT15.<br />
<br />
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*2020-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / <br />
<br />
From Reigolil to Solipulli it is a very easy forest road inside the reserva nacional. Carabineros asked some questions and said we could camp where we wanted. Arriving at the CONAF site at Solipulli, there is a small campground, free if you pay the entrance for the volcanoe (4000pp). There is a food truck with sopaipillas and jugos. We hiked the Solipulli and it is a must see. It is incredible and there are not that many people doing it. The CONAF ranger is very friendly. We did not hike from there to Icalma to avoid bushbashing and we wanted to see the big fiesta planned in Melipeuco (every year in late feb). It was worth it as we got to see a celebration of baqueanos. Melipeuco is not this nice but there are several supermarkets and restaurants to resupply. Easy hitch to Icalma (or there are 2 buses / day). We then hitched to Liucura to start section 12.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-30 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Nothing to add to the previous comments. We arrived at the pipeline construction site during working hours and just followed the indications of the workers, no detour, just some optional route. We spent the night at the CONAF campground and had one of the best breakfasts in Chile at the Sollipulli Lodge (13'000 p.P.). As the rain hasn't stopped by lunchtime we had lunch there too, it was excellent :-D We actually quite liked this section with all the trees. We directly added section 15 after this one. There are several busses per day from Reigolil to Curarrehue but we don't know the schedule. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 15-Jan-2020 / 4 days (GPT 14 + GPT 15) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
We combined sections 14 and 15. It took us 3 days and nero.<br />
GPT14 - there are signs that someone tried to clear overgrown part of the trail on the begining and end but middle is still nicely overgrown. Though we didn't have problem to follow.<br />
Part of minor road on regular trail is under construction. They are putting a huge pipe under it. It was evening and workers were not there se we managed to sneak through but I don't think they will let you pass during working hours. It's just before descending to the river before National reserve Villarrica. <br />
In the Conaf campsite was food truck (it was weekend) with churasco, sopapillas, drinks... pure heaven. We paid 4000 per person at conaf.<br />
They are building a dorm at Lodge. It will be ready for next years hikers ;) <br />
Resuply in Reigolil - mini shop on trail seemed abandoned. We found best supplies in shop-4. There is one other shop directly after bridge. <br />
GPT15 - road and trail in good condition. On the climb to the lake bit before last settler there are some wild cherry trees on the left. We stuffed ourselves and left for others too. Enjoy. Multiple shops, accomodation options and restaurants in Curarrehue.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-18 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional summit up Volcán Sollipulli / Tom & Maddie <br />
<br />
Overgrown trail towards the start is relatively easy to follow. Mostly overgrown around the middle but the tracks towards either end are in decent condition. The rest of the section is easy walking. I would strongly recommend taking a small detour to summit Volcán Sollipulli in the CONAF National park (~30km into the section). When we arrived at the park we had to pay a CLP 4000 fee per person. When speaking to the ranger about where we intended to walk, he advised that the optional route down from the Volcán we planned to take is in very poor condition and would not let us take it. We had to do an out and back. It took us around 3.5-4h to summit and return. The trail is in excellent condition (trail markers are present) and the view is spectacular!! Possibly the best thing I’ve seen on the GPT. We camped in the park for no charge and bought some hot food from the food truck in the evening on the weekend. No issues with the rest of the section.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-02 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR including Sollipulli climb / Frank<br />
<br />
2 long days including Sollipulli climb<br />
They are building the pipeline under the dirt road, when they are finished they will bury the pipe & road should reopen. No issues going through there but it was Sunday & no one was around. You walk on a narrow track above ditch, when you reach a point where two big boulders block the path you need to go down into the ditch to go around them. <br />
Climbing Sollipulli is highly recommended to see the huge summit crater filled with ice & snow. Easy & well marked ascent.<br />
You are not allowed to do the ascent after about 11AM. The food truck 'Sabores de Sollipulli' at the Conaf campsite only operates on weekends, it was closed on Sunday. I believe there is another Conaf site a little off route at Laguna Huaquifilo where you can camp. Nowhere good to camp after that. It was raining so I continued to Reigolil. Just after you cross the bridge there is a shop, they have rooms & provide very basic food. Not recommended but will do if you are stuck.<br />
<br />
A few minor corrections: There is no bridge @ Bridge 46, just ford the river easily. Gate @ far side of ford is marked no entry but walking through appears to be OK.<br />
There is a gravel track that stays on the right side of the river & goes past Ford 133 & Ford 134 so you don't need to cross either of them. It leads to Ford 135 which you do cross.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
Timetable January 2020: [[:File:Reigolil.jpg]]<br />
[[File:Reigolil.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|Timetable January 2020]]<br />
<br />
Bus goes from Reigolil to Curacautin & Pucon. When I was there it left Reigolil at 7 & 7:50 AM (different to timetable) Confirm times at the shop by the bridge in Reigolil. Frank<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT14 - Volcán Sollipulli]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047041.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045479.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045586.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045611.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045628.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045648.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046479.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046482.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046483.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047161.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047207.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT14_(Volcan_Sollipulli)&diff=109043GPT14 (Volcan Sollipulli)2023-04-15T21:03:42Z<p>Joscha97: </p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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*2023-Jan-31 to 2023-Feb-02/ 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / including the Sollipulli volcano / Johana & Matouš<br />
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One of the best sections so far for us thanks to the Sollipulli volcano. We started at the Icalma lake (the San Alfonso camp was great, 10 000 per two people, hot water (yes!) and access to the beach). There are some restaurants and minishops as well, enough to resupply I believe. The overgrown section had been cleared half a bamboo-metre ago, so sometimes it was tough and felt like the forest wants to suck you in. Nothing impassable, but the two kilometres took us two hours. Another thing - the river where the ascent starts in the forest is for long the only water source there if the weather is dry. There was a gate (S 38° 53.3570' W 071° 27.0191'); there's a hole in the fence on the left that we went under. We camped at a good spot on the right side of the road (S 38°53.4903' W 071° 27.8162'). The next day, we rushed to the CONAF station - we got there a little past 11 AM, but the ranger let us do the ascent anyway, we even had lunch before we went up (not from the stand, sadly, still operates only at the weekends). You can leave your backpacks with the ranger, which was great! We didn't pay anything to enter the park. It took us 5 hours there and back with a longer break at the top. The view from the top is indescribable plus the path leading up to it is also very nice with some snowpatches next to it that you can slide down as you please. <br />
After that we continued further down the road. We tried to outsmart the three fords but ended up fording the river three times anyway since the number of the fences and gates had increased I guess and we got stuck on a private property with nowhere to go. The best option might be to just follow the regular route. <br />
There's a beautiful camping spot that we highly recommend and had been told about by the ranger - a lot of free space, a laguna/pond, nice (not dense!) forest and several safe fireplaces. (S 38°56.3141' W 071°27.6738)<br />
From there on it was easy walking until Reigolil. The shop before the bridge has not many things to resupply but is good to refresh. The shop near the bus stop tuna, rice, pasta, biscuits, chips, beverages, some vegetables as well, enough to resupply. Its owners were so nice that they took us to their lot near the river where they let us pitch our tent. It seems that you can freely camp by the river but there was some Mapuche festival going on at that time. <br />
The bus schedule: 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. from the bus stop by the shop to Pucon. <br />
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*2023-Feb-18 to 2023-Feb-20 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR starting in Tracura (road to Sollipulli) / Natalie & Tomáš<br />
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We used Icalma as a resupply which worked well enough; many "mini- supermercados" and cheap accomodation (we had a cabana for 20mil/10mil each) but as a warning internet is awful! There is a nice pehuenche restaurant at the southern end of town on the main road and a little further than this on the main road you can get the best cell signal. Supposedly a bus goes to Lonquimay Mon-Wed-Fri but I forget the times, I think it was at 6am and 3pm.<br />
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We headed towards parque Sollipulli but hitching out of Icalma was slow, ~2hours combined waiting. We got off at Tracura and walked most of the way to CONAF (minus 4km hitch). Hitching was difficult even though it was a Saturday and there were cars, just no takers. No clean water sources until conaf but you could ask one of the cabana rentals along the way if needed.<br />
No entrance fee at CONAF and although camping is not allowed the "senior" ranger told us we could camp behind the office (I may have persuaded him with piñones). The only thing is we had to wait until everyone was gone (~7-730pm) and then leave early the next day (~7-730am). He didn't want people to know so don't spread the word... There are water, toilets, cold showers and the next morning we were able to keep our things in the other building as we went up Sollipulli. Finally there was a food truck there with sopapillas and juice (it was a Saturday).<br />
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As for Sollipulli it has been the easiest summit so far, there is superb trail and it took ~2hrs up más o menos. There is one intersection where the trail tells you to go right but the climbers trail goes straight and is quicker ( staying left is more quick;-38.93399, -71.49659).<br />
The glacier is amazing, 4km in diameter and supposedly 200m deep. I would come back here with glacier gear to cross it and go down the south summit. However Tomáš has his eyes on a way to go around the crater without glacier gear, so it would be a mixture of walking the rim and traversing above treeline towards the south summit where there should be another trail. That would save one cca 20 km of road walking.<br />
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We wanted to go up the main route and down option 01 but CONAF still requests you come down the same way and since they helped us with camping I wanted to respect their wishes. If you wanted to avoid the rangers we both think you could easily go up before or after they arrive, we saw a few other parties doing this. Note that there is no water after CONAF, if you were doing the traverse there are some lakes down to the east from the North summit. We think the traverse looks easy until the treeline. From the other end we later passed the trail going up which is in fact a road - not sure how far it goes as a road.<br />
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The summit was quick so afterwards we started walking the road that skirts Sollipulli on its east. It was a peaceful road and I have no complaints until it became not fun anymore after the camping at ~46.9. There were two vehicles that passed (no room) but I have no idea how they drove past some of the downed trees, would be a dodgy ride.<br />
The forests here are finally becoming alive! We saw tarantulas and a giant moth carcass and mushrooms finally! There are many fords at the beginning after the lodge so keep sandals on if you have them. It would be worth looking at Google earth for an alternative trail because we met a guided horse group on gpt15 that told us they went from the south summit of Sollipulli to the lodge without going on the road. It is possible they meant "no road" as in "no asphalt road" but who knows.<br />
We headed to routa S-965 to hitch to GPT15 PN Huerquehue (no cars passed until S-965).<br />
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* 2023-Jan-25 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena<br />
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This section took us 2 days. Unfortunately we didn’t go to the summit, because we needed to go quickly down to Curarrehue, but otherwise we wouldn’t skip it, just a few kms more and it looks incredible. About the trail, the beginning is a dirt road around the lakes and it continues until the start of overgrown section. That is a little more than 4kms, but from the start its a relatively normal trail, easy to follow. The overgrown part is mainly between km 2-3.5, but not so terrible overall following the gps. We camped at the end of this part that took us around 2 hrs, maybe less. After that you walk on a minor road all the time, in a really nice forrest. All the puestos were empty. Hot Spring waypoint is somewhere around houses so we didn’t even go there. To cross the river before CONAF station we used GPT14-E and the bridge. At the station was one guard, food truck closed, water available. The lodging after 1km is nice but it comes with higher prices, we stopped there to have some drink and beer + cola (cans) cost us 6k CLP. We spent the night in the forrest after the pass, but camp at km 46.9 looked great. The rest of the trail is still the same gravel road. Minishop at 57.8 has only basic food, but also some things for repairs etc. In Reigolil was only one shop on the main road open with very limited supplies, but we got from the lady pastel de choclo and some homemade bread, all delicious! Later we continued to GPT15.<br />
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Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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==Season 2021/22==<br />
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==Season 2020/21==<br />
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==Season 2019/20==<br />
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*2020-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / <br />
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From Reigolil to Solipulli it is a very easy forest road inside the reserva nacional. Carabineros asked some questions and said we could camp where we wanted. Arriving at the CONAF site at Solipulli, there is a small campground, free if you pay the entrance for the volcanoe (4000pp). There is a food truck with sopaipillas and jugos. We hiked the Solipulli and it is a must see. It is incredible and there are not that many people doing it. The CONAF ranger is very friendly. We did not hike from there to Icalma to avoid bushbashing and we wanted to see the big fiesta planned in Melipeuco (every year in late feb). It was worth it as we got to see a celebration of baqueanos. Melipeuco is not this nice but there are several supermarkets and restaurants to resupply. Easy hitch to Icalma (or there are 2 buses / day). We then hitched to Liucura to start section 12.<br />
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*2020-Jan-30 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
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Nothing to add to the previous comments. We arrived at the pipeline construction site during working hours and just followed the indications of the workers, no detour, just some optional route. We spent the night at the CONAF campground and had one of the best breakfasts in Chile at the Sollipulli Lodge (13'000 p.P.). As the rain hasn't stopped by lunchtime we had lunch there too, it was excellent :-D We actually quite liked this section with all the trees. We directly added section 15 after this one. There are several busses per day from Reigolil to Curarrehue but we don't know the schedule. <br />
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* 15-Jan-2020 / 4 days (GPT 14 + GPT 15) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
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We combined sections 14 and 15. It took us 3 days and nero.<br />
GPT14 - there are signs that someone tried to clear overgrown part of the trail on the begining and end but middle is still nicely overgrown. Though we didn't have problem to follow.<br />
Part of minor road on regular trail is under construction. They are putting a huge pipe under it. It was evening and workers were not there se we managed to sneak through but I don't think they will let you pass during working hours. It's just before descending to the river before National reserve Villarrica. <br />
In the Conaf campsite was food truck (it was weekend) with churasco, sopapillas, drinks... pure heaven. We paid 4000 per person at conaf.<br />
They are building a dorm at Lodge. It will be ready for next years hikers ;) <br />
Resuply in Reigolil - mini shop on trail seemed abandoned. We found best supplies in shop-4. There is one other shop directly after bridge. <br />
GPT15 - road and trail in good condition. On the climb to the lake bit before last settler there are some wild cherry trees on the left. We stuffed ourselves and left for others too. Enjoy. Multiple shops, accomodation options and restaurants in Curarrehue.<br />
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*2020-Jan-18 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional summit up Volcán Sollipulli / Tom & Maddie <br />
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Overgrown trail towards the start is relatively easy to follow. Mostly overgrown around the middle but the tracks towards either end are in decent condition. The rest of the section is easy walking. I would strongly recommend taking a small detour to summit Volcán Sollipulli in the CONAF National park (~30km into the section). When we arrived at the park we had to pay a CLP 4000 fee per person. When speaking to the ranger about where we intended to walk, he advised that the optional route down from the Volcán we planned to take is in very poor condition and would not let us take it. We had to do an out and back. It took us around 3.5-4h to summit and return. The trail is in excellent condition (trail markers are present) and the view is spectacular!! Possibly the best thing I’ve seen on the GPT. We camped in the park for no charge and bought some hot food from the food truck in the evening on the weekend. No issues with the rest of the section.<br />
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* 2020-Feb-02 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR including Sollipulli climb / Frank<br />
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2 long days including Sollipulli climb<br />
They are building the pipeline under the dirt road, when they are finished they will bury the pipe & road should reopen. No issues going through there but it was Sunday & no one was around. You walk on a narrow track above ditch, when you reach a point where two big boulders block the path you need to go down into the ditch to go around them. <br />
Climbing Sollipulli is highly recommended to see the huge summit crater filled with ice & snow. Easy & well marked ascent.<br />
You are not allowed to do the ascent after about 11AM. The food truck 'Sabores de Sollipulli' at the Conaf campsite only operates on weekends, it was closed on Sunday. I believe there is another Conaf site a little off route at Laguna Huaquifilo where you can camp. Nowhere good to camp after that. It was raining so I continued to Reigolil. Just after you cross the bridge there is a shop, they have rooms & provide very basic food. Not recommended but will do if you are stuck.<br />
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A few minor corrections: There is no bridge @ Bridge 46, just ford the river easily. Gate @ far side of ford is marked no entry but walking through appears to be OK.<br />
There is a gravel track that stays on the right side of the river & goes past Ford 133 & Ford 134 so you don't need to cross either of them. It leads to Ford 135 which you do cross.<br />
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==Season 2018/19==<br />
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==Season 2017/18==<br />
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==Season 2016/17==<br />
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=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
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==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
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=Transport to and from Route=<br />
Timetable January 2020: [[:File:Reigolil.jpg]]<br />
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Bus goes from Reigolil to Curacautin & Pucon. When I was there it left Reigolil at 7 & 7:50 AM (different to timetable) Confirm times at the shop by the bridge in Reigolil. Frank<br />
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=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
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=Links to other Resources=<br />
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Retired Section Article [[GPT14 - Volcán Sollipulli]]<br />
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=Images=<br />
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[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047041.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045479.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045586.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045611.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045628.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045648.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046479.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046482.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046483.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047161.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047207.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT05_(Rio_Colorado)&diff=109041GPT05 (Rio Colorado)2023-04-15T10:53:19Z<p>Joscha97: /* Images */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 2023-Jan-08 to 2023-Jan-14 / 7 days / Hiking / Roundtrip via Planchon and back to Los Quenes / Tomáš & Natalie<br />
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We hitched easily all the way to Lagunas del Teno from Los Quenes with three cars. Buses from Curico to Los Quenes run as stated below, it was 2200 per person. The pizzeria in Los Quenes is not very good - premanufactured dough. Met two Germans doing hiking trips on GPT without knowing the acronym "GPT" - they were just using the OSM data. It was Saturday afternoon. Planchon seems to be a popular climbing spot, there was about 25 people around the lagoon who have mostly climbed Planchon that day (including a club of 15). Some people drive up just to have a look or barbecue. So Friday and likely Sunday would probably work well, but there were people there also on weekdays. There are probably around 5 cars a day going to Argentine, we were told. The refuge seemed to be open but the people at the lagoon knew nothing about it. We slept in an old building probably used by the workers when constructing the dam. Despite an evening storm, it was very warm.<br />
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Next day we walked towards Planchon - there is an easy trail skirting the lagoon, no need to go back to Refugio. The trail can probably be flooded when the lagoon is at its maximum level. All the way to the top, there is an easy to follow trail to the top where there is a logbook. There were lots of streams flowing to the lake and one not far from the trail at over 3000. Without backpack it took us about 3 hours to go up from there and back. The mountain has a tendency to cloud up early (2-5 pm). This section was easy so GPT difficulty probably at 4.<br />
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A storm again came, we hid in a volcanic cave and then camped on the sand.<br />
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The next day we went around Planchon to reach the caldera with crater lakes. We followed the old trail in OSM which is imprecise. Only up until a volcanological measuring station, it was easy. From there it is pure cross-country. We side-hilled this traverse at about 3200 metres but it was a bad choice, too high. While traversing, it got steep with a number of hard to cross gulleys (with water and snow). We would advise to keep lower, especially given that going up the glacier stream needs to be on your left and we only found a suitable crossing at 2800 m. We would recommend to traverse the slopes of Planchon at about this altitude, it looked much less steep, so lower is more safe and faster despite the altitude loss. <br />
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Once finished traversing and the ascent towards the crater began we struggled finding the correct way because the osm trail was awful and we had very low visibility due to clouds. We lost a lot of time so this section of about 3 km took us all day. We ended up taking a moraine ridge on the opposite side of the osm trail (other side of the glacier stream there) and made camp in the moraine at ~3200m before going up the final climb to the craters because of weather. Weather was worse the next day so we stayed in the tent, explored options of getting to the proper ridge of the caldera and finished the route the following day. In short the ridge you should aim for is; -35.22600, -70.58600. and the top of the caldera you should aim for is -35.22779, -70.58231. The rest of the ridge top of the caldera towards the crater lakes is slightly a knife ridge and the scramble down is loose.<br />
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With good visibility and direction, one could probably reach the caldera within a half day if camping at the crossroads of the trail to the top and the round-trail.<br />
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The caldera is beautiful, the lakes are lovely, you can pick your way through. We crossed the rim to Argentine and we went again to the south of the OSM trail as the pass was less steep. A side trip to the higher of Peteroa summits is easy, but you cannot get to the top from this side or traverse, there is a vertical rock (about 20 m high) on the top that cannot be climbed without gear nor can it be skirted around. Our original plan was to try and cross to Azufre but that is not possible through Peteroea, it is far too rocky. It might be possible going from the Chilian side directly to Azufre but frankly it probably is not a hike up and would need gear, the ridge from north looked rocky, the ridge from west looked much better but was steep, is hard to get to and we only saw it from afar. So best way to Azufre still looks like from Argentina.<br />
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It clouded up at around 3 pm again. We descended via a trial from the rim to the Argentine border checkpoint. They sent us back to Chile when we said we came from the craters. I wonder if they would let us through if we said we came through the border crossing. They said they did not care how we would exit Argentine if we first cross to it via a an official crossing from Chile (we were mulling continuing the backroute on GPT05, which can be accessed about 10 km south of the checkpoint - there is no official crossing there). Chileans seemed unconcerned about the border, some even drive to the no-man's land between the crossings (police is ok with that apparently) and climb Planchon from there. Difficulty of the round-crossing via the route we took according to GPT scale is 7. With the proper trail, it would probably be 6.<br />
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We used the road (no cars, super windy) and then a track on OSM (Mirador lagunas Teno)just before the border to go back to the lagoona where we camped.<br />
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Next day (The first nice day in 4 days), we started towards Los Quenes. The ascent to the pass from the lagoon is quite hard and involves either going up a very loose scree slope with lots of boulders or easy but vertical scramble of about 10 m. In all cases, the way seems to be so that you keep the creek to you left going uphill. Possibly keeping higher on the right slope would make it easier but we ended up clombing the rocks next to the small waterfall. The hills are green and firm, but it is ten vertical meters (difficulty 6 or seven probably). The valley has a small green patch though and is quite beautiful. Going the upper route as if climbing Planchon and then traversing would have been much easier (not as nice though). Once up the pass, a trail appears at 2900 and can be followed to about 1600 (the last three hundred vertical metres are a bit overgrown with meadow/hard to follow). The descent closed a few streams. At roughly 1800, there is a man made canal that follows the trail. At 1600, the GPT Track seems to be CC, we followed the trail which turns sharply to right to a puesto and then joins the first X waypoint on the RR going SOBO.<br />
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Next day, the walk down to Los Quenes was uneventful. Met a family on horses who wanted to go to the Lagoonas del Teno (we told them it is probably possible but are not sure)and hitched the last 4 km (deeper in the valley, there was no traffic our direction). Then we took. Bus at 1400 to Curico.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-23 to 2022-Dec-27 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš<br />
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I combined with GPT 06 (info for that section there).<br />
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First about 30 km is basicaly a minor dirt road (with no traffic), there is plenty of water (but from the last bridge almost to first ford, there is no water - you are in a valley but on a ridge), a cherry tree 15 km in. After 10.km or so it starts to be scenic. Cell coverage for about 5 km until a big hazelnut orchard. This can be walked in one day, it is really easy and straightforward so a sped of 4 km/ hour is easily maintained. Then it starts :-). Until above Rio Negro, the trail is mostly there. And it is quite doabke to reach Rio Negro in two (long) days. In the morning (9AM), the water is just knee deep, I crossed where Martin and Helena did. I agree the descend is quite ok (during daylight!).<br />
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From there, the traverse to Rio Coloradonis annoying, slow and fully CC. One really needs to go down that gulley. I would not say it is very dangerous but care is certainly needed and slips could result in broken limbs. The bridge is there, with nice tress to have lunch under. The bridge looks quite solid and there is a puesto nearby, so I guess it is maintained. Rio Colorado could be forded in the morning I guess if needed (especially more upstream), but I am glad the bridge was there. From the bridge about 500 metres are annoying, one needs to get on top of the plateau a ross from the puesto. From there on, there is a fairly decent horse trail all the way to about 2300 where there is a lake with a beach). I am not sure II understand my predecesors, I think they must have missed it, the first half of the trail is accurate with the gpx though. The second half (when it goes from the river to the lake and to the pass), one needs to go lower than the gpx.<br />
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Just after the crossroads where one trail goes to the litle Descabezado, there is a warm slow stream. I could not tell if it was thermal or sun-warmed.<br />
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The descent to Mondaca is quite long and the trail is not always clear, but no climbing is needed, there is always a way. There is a signpost saying it is private in the middle of the valley. The fords are all manageable. I waved at an arriero before the private huts (the huts are by the lake), in the huts i ha e not met anybody but it seemed someone might have been inside.<br />
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I agree that the comnecting trail to Thermas Azufre is annoying. It involves two fords that are not nice in the evening. I avoided them by going up on the slope on west side of the valley, but I do not recommend it, better tk ford and stay in the valley. I do not think there is a trail as such just CC.<br />
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Took me five days to get to Thermas Azufre, met nobody apart from the ariero mentioned above. I recommend to time it so that you can sleep at the Therms, there are about five or six places for a tent. Being in the pool and looking at the stars is really nice.<br />
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I would argue this section is not that extraordinarily hard now that there is a bridge, but it is more demanding than the others so far.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-17 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin&Helena<br />
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Just like many others we chose to combine sections 5 and 6 with expected 8 days on the way, in reality it was about a half day longer. We have to agree with previous comments about the difficulty, eventhough we were prepared for it and expected the worst really which helped a lot after all.<br />
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Starting from Los Quenes we followed the RR and after the gate next to the camp we run into a barbed wire fence that is restricting access to the RR, probably new construction site based on a sign we saw there. Its no problem, just follow the main car road the whole time. Its really nice walking for quite a long time, all the marked gates were opened. First river crossing was no problem in the evening, nice camp place a few minutes later with amazing views. First pass also ok, no one at the puesto.<br />
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Second ford also ok at km 45, than CC section and descent to Rio Negro which was not so bad as expected, it gets steep but still ok. The river seemed to be pretty fast in the evening so there was no point in trying it, we waited until the morning and found actually a few nice places to cross (one with a small island in the middle where the river gets wider). The descent to valley of Rio Colorado took us a loong time, you have to be really careful and go slowly. We went through the gully most of the time. Its a long way until the bridge, but its there, safe to cross.<br />
<br />
The worst part for us was the traverse after the bridge and climb up where we lost the trail a few times and got into some steep sections with all the falling rocks and scree, not so safe in some places but there are probably better ways to find. On the way up you have to cross multiple river basins which is really exhausting, it worked for us to go more up the hill where it wasn’t so steep but still necessary to be careful. It hapenned to us more than once that really big rocks fell down under our legs or solid looking rocks we were holding onto just fell away - not much you can do after it.<br />
<br />
After the valley it gets much more interesting and trail is in good condition. Regarding the Mondaca valley - we were seen by an arriero close to the river but with no reaction, we havent met anyone near the guards houses as well so overall no problem with the right of way. Good camp place at the end of the valley.<br />
<br />
One last unpleasant part was the connection between the sections 5 and 6 - after multiple river crossings we were following the RR to connect to the climb up but got into a really steep section, again nothing funny. It might be better to follow the other trail that we saw in both garmin and our smartphone apps. These two go all the time next to each other but in this specific case it might be better to follow the other one as it connects to the climb earlier.<br />
<br />
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-03 to 2021-Dec-09 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&Stiina<br />
<br />
We also decided to combine sections 5 and 6 to avoid in’n’out to and from Parque Inglés. It took us 6 and a half days and some of it was bloody hard. I have never before experienced my ass being handed over to me by a trail. We got beaten to the point where first signs of weakness started to show and I have to admit we kind of even started discussing a plan B and bailing this ditch trail. But only for a moment, once you hit the rock bottom there is only one way to go - up! It was literally and figuratively, and as terrain improved so did our mood and we laughed off the silly thoughts we had had earlier. <br />
<br />
The first 45km of the section 5 were great, awesome hiking and then shit hit the fan real quick. Ascent up from the ford at km 45 was hard but alright. And then came the descent down to Rio Negro (51km), very steep and very loose scree slope. We wanted to make it to Rio Colorado for the night to cross it early in the morning in case there is no bridge. But because the trail or I must rather say the lack of it was really taking more time than we expected, by the time we got to Rio Negro it was already getting dark. The river was very rapid and murky so you couldn’t gauge the depth of it and couldn’t see where to step, we had to really concentrate to cross it, luckily it was only balls deep.<br />
<br />
It was dark as we got across it and we continued the fun, albeit type 2 fun, illuminated by our headlamps. Then came the insanely steep gully that allowed you to enter the valley of Rio Colorado. Something was off with the elevation lines on Gaia and it showed that we will be descending right over the cliff, it was luckily only a glitch. As we couldn’t see much ahead we kept descending ever so carefully on this very very challenging terrain, I would even go as far as to say that it was stupid and outright dangerous. But there was no other way, you just had to stay focused. There were also some rocks falling off the cliff under which we were descending. In a sense night was a good time to do it because you couldn’t see all the dangers - only what lie within the beam of the headlamp. <br />
<br />
Then came an extremely slow going, pretty much crawling speed traverse down to Rio Colorado, which we fully improvised as there was no trail anyway and got down to Rio colorado about a kilometer before the bridge, where we set up camp abit past midnight. <br />
<br />
So yes, the bridge was there - a decent one, seemed permanent and it was a relief that we at least don’t have to start the day by risking our lives fording Rio Colorado. The river was pretty wide and the current seemed pretty fast, it wasn’t murky though but you couldn’t see how deep it really was. But we think it could have been forded in case there would be no bridge. There were a few places that looked doable with somewhat laminar flow. The excitement of the existence of the bridge didn’t last too long as we were slapped back into reality by the difficult terrain, it wasn’t as dangerous anymore as the previous night but difficult nevertheless. Once we got closer to the pass the trail appeared and it was actually pleasant hiking once again. <br />
<br />
To sum it up the descent down to the Rio Colorado valley, then traversing it and the first part of crawling out of the valley sucks big time, but the rest of the section is really nice and not too challenging terrain-wise. I wouldn’t want to skip this section because it had some breathingtaking views. Just that on the hard part of it you can’t really enjoy any of it as all your effort is elsewhere. <br />
<br />
The guards at Laguna Mondaca were the nicest people we have met in Chile so far. They invited us to stay at the property, gave us food and drinks. They insisted we don’t use any of our supplies or gear. They even provided us with a room with a bed and we got to recharge all of our electronics and got a hot shower aswell. It was perfect! And just to make it clear there are no fancy villas there just a few small simple houses where the owner of the property comes for fishing once in a while. And guards weren’t armed either. <br />
<br />
It took us 4 days to get to Laguna Mondaca and not far after it we joined the section 6 which took 2 and a half more days. <br />
<br />
Section 6 was really something, we haven’t had such a strong otherworldly experience anywhere else. It was really like being on another planet at times. The blue sky was the only thing that gave it away that we were still on Earth. Really bizarre landscape and definitely the most beautiful breathtaking section of the six that we have done so far. <br />
<br />
Regarding the difficulty, compared to section 5 it didn’t feel that difficult at all. Walking on sand is challenging, yes, especially going uphill. But on the other side going down is much easier on the soft sand - you can just run/jog without much impact on your body as the sand absorbs it all. Shoes got completely wrecked and we took many “shoe-emptying” breaks because they were just filled with rocks and coarse sand. <br />
<br />
We even took a dip in one of the lakes close to Descabezado and seeing how water is just coming out of the sand and turning into a river was really really cool, just as the whole landscape around there. <br />
<br />
We camped at the lake about 5km from Los Cipreses. When we arrived to the road to take bus to Talca the bus stop didn’t have any schedule and the shop close by was closed. So we couldn’t find out about the bus schedule and the traffic on the road seemed pretty dead. But luckily after 15 min of waiting a car that was going to Talca picked us up, perfecto! <br />
<br />
Overall plenty of water on both sections, a lot of exposure to the sun, and some challenging terrain. It all together made for a great experience, just what we were looking for. It humbled us and we definitely had to adjust our expectations and recalibrate our way of hiking, it is GPT - not more and not less. <br />
<br />
For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-24 / 7 days (GPT 5 + 6) / Hiking / SOBO/ Ian Hikes<br />
<br />
Overview: So, I decided to combine GPT sections 5 and 6 in order to avoid a 30k out and back resupply section into parque ingles. I thought this was a good decision for me and really enjoyed being out there for a week. In my opinion this was the hardest section of the GPT in between sections GPT 01-10. I went the first 5 days without seeing another person which I thought was quite cool. So, these two sections are quite remote, and you are way out there in the mountains. There was also some pretty intense river crossing in “GPT Section 5” that I found to be manageable (keep in mind I’m 185cm and have lots of thru hiking experience.) but still a little difficult. The rivers were also very dark and murky which made it hard to see where you would step. There was also an improvised bridge crossing the Colorado River that I used, and thought was safe to use. These two sections are dominated by a volcanic profile with much of the route on ash and volcanic rock. Most of the route is very exposed and there are not many trees or vegetation that grow in the volcanic ash/rocks. There was plenty of water with springs coming out of the hills everywhere and then disappearing into the sand.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: It was slow going walking thru the sand, especially when hiking vertically. Exposure to the sun. River crossings. Isolation and remoteness. Hiking up and down lose rock and scree fields.<br />
<br />
Highlights: Hot Springs. Great views of the volcanic region. Mountain Lakes. Sunrise and Sunsets were epic with the landscape. <br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com <br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-08 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Six (hard) days for this section. After the first pass there was a tiny snowfield to cross, nothing to worry about. River crossings didn't cause any problems. The bridge Puente Las Yeguas was in excellent condition. The navigation through the cross country parts was quite demanding and took us a lot of time. Right of way conflict before the Laguna Mondaca: The whole valley is private property and belongs to a guy who comes by helicopter for fly fishing at the weekends. His guards spotted us several hours before we arrived at their puesto but welcomed us very friendly and explained everything. They let us camp at the Estero del Volcan. At Parque Ingles we found food and accommodation. There is a bus to Molina (for schedule see section "Transport to and from Route").<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-09 / 8 days / Hiking /SOBO / RR + OH to the Hot Springs / Ty & America <br />
<br />
7 nights 8 days for us. Super tough section. The entire area around Rio Colorado is extremely challenging; down & up. We went the alternate route to the Hot Springs. (OH-CC-A@05-C-#001). I was tough with multiple steep gullies, then we got there to see the hot springs were COLD. Then the optional hike to<br />
Re connect with the RR from the hot springs (OH-CC-A@05-E-#002) was completely impassable. I didn’t go all the way up to the canyon wall. All I could see were route that would take some serious climbing. We had to down climb and take the lower route to climb up again. Property dispute near Volcan Mondaco had no problems. Quiet and didn’t seem like anybody was there for us. Parque Inglés - Molina Bus leaves at 7 am on the weekdays, we hitchhiked.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-17 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional to meet optional start of GPT06/ Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
It took us 5 days including 1 zero due to bad weather. <br />
I agree with everything what was written in previous updates for GPT05. Cross country sections were difficult, but in some of them we managed to find old unused trails which worked for us. <br />
River crossings - Rio Claro in the afternoon was ok. Rio Negro in the afternoon was REALLY challenging, almost not doable. After hour of trying we managed to find one spot we could cross. I wouldn't want to cross Rio Colorado without that bridge at any time. <br />
Optional trail to meet optional start of section 6 was fine in the valley. Problem was to connect it to the climb. We had to climb very steep slope to get there. From that point trail was in good condition.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-19 / 8,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Melissa<br />
<br />
It took me 6 full days (5-9 hrs hiking) and 1 1/2 day (3 hrs.) not including 1 day of 0 hiking due to weather-rain and needing rest. Route finding, the three inclines of over 3,000-4,000 feet of elevation gain in a mile was insane, terrain-gotta love sand. The entire incline up Las Animas white crumbly/soft sand and make sure you have plenty of water here because the white reflecting sand and sun can easily dehydrate you and there is nowhere to get water except this flat section near the top that has very little stream from snow melt. Crumbling rock/scree that is barely able to be hiked up with a waterfall in between after think it was called Laguna Grande tracks #61.7-67.2 end of that track. Take the route up to the left where the rock is tan don’t hike up the black it’s dangerously eroding. The gps was not helpful in that section because all three directions seemed correct (right,left or up the waterfall). I had no issues with right of way dispute. I agree with all that is stated above. Very hard and challenging section.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-03 to 2021-Dec-09 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&Stiina<br />
The guards at Laguna Mondaca were the nicest people we have met in Chile so far. They invited us to stay at the property, gave us food and drinks.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-08 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
At Parque Ingles we found food and accommodation. <br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
<br />
*Bus timetable Curico to Los Queñes obtained in January 2020<br />
[[:File:CuricoQuenes.jpg]]<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-8 <br />
<br />
Monday to Thursday: Molina-Radal: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br />
<br />
Friday: Molina-P.Ingles: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br />
<br />
Saturday: Molina-P.Ingles: 11:30 // 13:30 / P.Ingles-Molina: 18:00<br />
<br />
Sunday: Molina-P.Ingles: 09:00 // P.Ingles-Molina: 15:30 / 17:00<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-08 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Right of way conflict before the Laguna Mondaca: The whole valley is private property and belongs to a guy who comes by helicopter for fly fishing at the weekends. His guards spotted us several hours before we arrived at their puesto but welcomed us very friendly and explained everything. They let us camp at the Estero del Volcan. At Parque Ingles we found food and accommodation. There is a bus to Molina (for schedule see section "Access to route").<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT05 - Río Colorado]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:gpt 05.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|[[Volcán Planchón]] from GPT05, by [http://benoit.mirouse.free.fr/index.php/patagonie-2018/recit-photos/6-decembre/ Benoit Mirouse]]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT06_(Descabezado)&diff=109040GPT06 (Descabezado)2023-04-15T10:51:11Z<p>Joscha97: /* Images */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br style="clear:both" /><br />
<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-14 to 2023-Mar-19 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Parque Ingles - Los Cipreses / Noemie<br />
<br />
Parque Inglés - El Bolsón - Termas de Azufre - Blanquillo - Laguna Hornitos - Los Cipreses<br />
<br />
First try on the GPT and amazing section to start. There were buses from Molina at 10am and 5pm going to Parque Ingles. You must arrive there before 1pm and buy an entrance for El Bolson (with camping) to enter the Park. It's also possible to camp in Parque Ingles (7.000 CLP/night). When I entered, CONAF asked me where I was going, if I had a GPS, and gave me some kind of permit to show in Los Cipreses. I wasn't asked to show it when I arrived there though. <br />
Landscapes and panoramas were extremely beautiful and very impressive. There was still water in all marked points and fords were easy to cross. Trail is easy to follow almost everywhere, except after Termas de Azufre (be careful to look for the right pools on the map and do not go up too much, I ended up in a place with almost boiling water). The whole section is full of beautiful sand dunes, so gaiters were extremely useful. In Blanquillo, you are supposed to get an authorization from the dueño to stay there, but it looks like it is not really enforced. I spent a day in Blanquillo to rest, drink maté and learn how to make sopaipillas with Umberto. I hitchhiked from Los Cipreses to San Clemente (one hostel, two supermarkets, decent to resupply) so I can't comment on the bus schedule. However, to come back to Los Cipreses/Termas del Médano, be aware that there is now only a bus leaving at 3pm from Talca, going up until La Mina. I took a small bus to Colorado on morning (every 45 min.) and hitchhiked easily back until Laguna del Maule for GPT 07.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-21 to 2023-Mar-25 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Vilches — Volcan – Parque Ingles / Iris, Alexis <br />
<br />
Our last section on the GPT for this year! We started in Vilches Alto with the option 06-05 because we rented horses with the arriero Jose Lopez. The beginning is placed in the Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, which requires a permit to go until the Volcan. The entrance fee is also 7k pp. We finished our first day at Camp, CONAF {06-05} [10.2/1158]. I believe we mostly followed the GPS track. <br />
<br />
On the second day, we continued with the horses until Hot Spring {06} [45.6/1881] (Banos del Blanquillo) still following the track. We then were disappointed because the arriero left us here whereas our agreement (clearly stated by messages before the rent) was to climb the volcano with the horses (it turns to be not possible, too steep).<br />
Thankfully, we had an excess day of food so we could attempt the climb the next day. We also met Umberto, the guy staying in the refugio, who was extremely friendly. He told us to start the volcano climb early in the night to avoid heavy winds. <br />
<br />
On Day 3, we started the ascent at 2am with our headlights. 6h30 later we were on the top, with the morning lights rewarding us and stunning landscape. The ascent was extremely tiresome (sand material), as always with volcanos, and it was very cold but the crater and the views were very worth it. After a breakfast at the top, the descent, mostly running, took us about 2h. We rested for the rest of day at Banos del Blanquillo and even got a sopapilla making class with Umberto.<br />
<br />
On Day 4, we followed the RR in the beautiful Descabezado landscape. Expect no shade but stunning dunes of white sand. There is plenty of water during the day because you will cross at least 2 rivers that were not dry this late in the season. The trail is easy to follow (because that is the only one) and is also part of the Circuit of the Condores. However, after Ford {06} [29.4/2190], you have about a dozen of options and the navigation until Hot Spring {06} [27.4/1986] (Hot Sping del Azufre) is more challenging. We decided to ignore the GPS and follow our instinct - just aim for the fumerolles. There you can enjoy a hot bath in one of the three hot natural pools (along some weird soft alguees). <br />
<br />
On Day 5, we simply followed the RR until Parque Ingles. The trail is well marked until the end, you just have to enjoy multiple highlights in the landscape. Of note, when reaching El Bolsón, the CONAF ranger forbid us to bath in the pools because it was too late (3PM) and told us to leave the park before 5:30. He was not friendly and also checked the entrance tickets of Livan Ray. We got extremely lucky and caught a bus leaving Parque Ingles when we reached it (it leaves at 5:00).<br />
<br />
This hike concludes our GPT adventure. We loved to start it riding horses to feel a bit more like the trails main user. The final day hiking and the volcano ascent were astonishing, truly one of (or even the) best section of our GPT.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Feb-03 to 2023-Feb-08 / 6 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Louis, Rémi & Noé<br />
<br />
Our first trip on the GPT, plenty of water, we didnt carry more than 1.5L each. Here is our trip :<br />
<br />
Day 1 - Laguna Las Animas - 18km - +1200m/-100m<br />
We entered the parc illegally at 7:30 in the morning as some others hikers have done reading the wiki. We did this because the parc was full for the next 3 days. I can only advise you to book in advance on internet (conaf). We slept at a camping in front of the entrance for 7k CLP per person. Plenty of buses goes up there from Molina in 2 hours. At least a dozen. Same for going back. If you buy your ticket online : if you sleep at El Bolson, you can enter the park until 3pm, if you go further with only the El Bolson ticket, you can entered until 11am only!<br />
So, we hiked until the Laguna las Animas, a rather long day for the first one.<br />
The camp on the beach was quite windy too.<br />
<br />
Day 2 - Termas de Azufre - 11km - +400m/-700m<br />
A short day, nice to enjoy the hot springs in the afternoon. The pass in the morning was very windy too.<br />
<br />
Day 3 - Refugio El Blanquillo - 20km - +800m/-900m<br />
A long but beautiful day. Leave early the camp to avoid hot temperatures while ascending the pass. Well welcomed by the arrierio Umberto ! Very kind.<br />
<br />
Day 4 - Volcan Descabezado Grande - 16km - +2000m/-2000m<br />
We did the ascent without our bags, we went back to our camp in the night. It's long and hard. According to Umberto, 12h are needed in total, we did in 10h. Same, Leave early to avoid hot temperatures. <br />
<br />
Day 5 - Laguna los Hornitos - 20km - +900m/-900m<br />
Another nice day, passing next to Laguna Caracol. The descent from the pass is a bit annoying if you didnt follow the track (as we did). So, advice : follow the RR and go down on your right. The Laguna is very dry, just enough to have a bath. Hard to maintain the pitch of the tent in the dry dirt.<br />
<br />
Day 6 - Los Cipreses - 15km - +100m/-1000m<br />
Last short day to end this beautiful section. The gravel road is a bit boring but passing pickup are proposing you to get you down to the main road. Here, only one bus at 7am. And a little shop selling ice cream, chips and drinks. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-30/ 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Martial<br />
<br />
First trip 6 days on GPT being a wonderfully intense experience ! Lunar landscapes, silent and remote, few but great people. No particular difficulty.<br />
Started park ingles with a mandatory 7000peso night at quiet camping near the river and bought ticket for Bolsón overnight 8$. Finally did not stay at Bolson a half day walk from entrance and camped in Laguna de las Animas instead. Great spot for Condors watching. After that follow Will’s advice and put on your mandatory gaiters till the end of the section ! + Walking on sand can be tough for the ankle. Don’t resist and don’t do too much !! Learned it the painfull way.. Trail visible but don’t get confused at termas Azufres especially if you try the (very) hot pools ! RR way is up the valley. Camp with water possible before the pass. The way down called « la Calle » is beautifull sandy dune remote desert. Exceptional. Aimed for Blanquillo refugio aka best basecamp for Descabezado intent. Meet Umberto the arriero at the hut and ask him where the termal pool and the drinking water are. He may be offended if you don’t show up and is a nice generous guy ! Also had a Chilean horse riding group intended the Descabezado so were a nice bunch by the camp fire. As weather window was fine, I decided to try a high camp in order to preserve weak foot from a very long ascent (10h). Took plenty of water as they are only glaciar dirty patches up there and aimed for Descabezado to Cerra Azul osm trail just as Nat and Tomas did (so i could have a chance to summit both also). Finally chose not to cross the nasty glaciar but found a very well sheltered highcamp here (-35.60569, -70.76147). Incredible sunset ! Not advisable in case of rain coming (a storm was growing in Argentina so stayed prepared for an emergency descent). Next day summited Descabezado at 11AM with no wind ideal conditions. Dive your front foot flat in sand just like snow climb when it gets to steep ! Nice ski descent sensations straight to the termas for a well deserved rest at the termas ! Also met Carlos a local climbing half way up so we would share joy later at the camp :).<br />
Exit through RR is also nice but regreted haven’t camped here (-35.67102, -70.83649) for there was some playfull trouts to catch with my survival fishing kit !<br />
Beautiful view from the pass to sandyland and then landscape changes and recommend OH variant C descending (less overgrown). Trail not so visible till laguna los hornos witch i climbed volcano to enjoy the crater caldera. After that descent to los Cipreses is kind of boring and hot so was definitely happy to find a camping by the bridge after the gate with lovely Victorina and her family here (-35.81524, -70.83224). They have been incredibly carring, fed me and brought me to the termas caves (also worth it) in El Medano !<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-16 to 2023-Jan-25 / 10 days / Hiking / NOBO / OH 06-02 & 06-03 Laguna Maule to Vilches w/ volcans / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
An extremely long description so my apologies but hopefully it will help someone. We Started in Laguna del Maule and ended in Vilches with inclusion of Descabezado, Azul, Descabezado Chico and Colorado.<br />
<br />
All fords super easy or jump-able. Only times water was scarce was Descabezado and Azul (technically there is melt water from glaciers at Azul), the afternoon around Descanezado Chico and also water was scarce around the Laguna des acquas caliente because I would not trust drinking that water (some springs are cold water though). Weather turned bad only once while we were climbing Azul, the change happened rapidly and we went from blue skies to total white out (~10m or less visibility) within an hour. Other than that weather was amazing, a little cold at night and a little warm in the day.<br />
<br />
Happy we started in Laguna del Maule and finished in Vilches. This saved elevation gain and let us decide whether or not we had enough food in the end to climb Descabezado, Azul, chico and for Tomáš Colorado.<br />
<br />
Day1.<br />
Starting in Talca, due to a certain someone (me) I accidentally sent Tomáš and I too Molina on a bus instead of "la mina" so our day was very messed up but we still managed to take a bus to Colorado and hitchhike to the start of this route. Buses from Talca to la Mina go at; 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. We took a bus to Colorado due to time and hitched the rest of the way. The last hitch was in a snowplow truck and he dropped us off miraculously at the start of the trail and before any customs or checks.<br />
<br />
OH-TL-V {06-02} (109.1). Straight away the trail is hard to see, do not take the road-looking trail on the side of the mountain because it ends, stick to the gps. However soon we were walking on the correct route through the sand and down to a creek with fun boulders. Easy to follow. After this first creek we followed option OH-CC-A (06-02) {98} For only -5km until making camp in-between a river and and canal with flowing water. Bogs in this area slowed us down a lot.<br />
<br />
Day2. <br />
OH- {06-02} -[ (93) & (86) ]<br />
This day seemed long, we crossed two passes, one small (-35.94909, -70.45347) and one much larger (-35.88855, -70.46776). I liked the entire area south of the second pass, many beautiful camp spots, water was available almost to the top of the pass and there is also a nice waterfall/swimming pool located roughly around (-35.90452, -70.45218). Trail to first pass was easy but trail between first and second was much more cross country, there are many animal tracks, I followed the gps and Tomáš followed a trail closer to the river and we both ended up at the same spot... After the second pass, the GPX goes cross-country right away, but one can follow a trail that goes left and later reconnects with GPx.<br />
<br />
After the second pass there is a small plateau and then it follows down a creek with water until you must cross an east hill and go towards your first mountain puesto to the east (noone home). There is only a little bit of water here, better water at the creek you came from and or a few creeks ahead. <br />
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From the puesto (-35.86707, -70.47589) there is a good trail that trvaerses the slope ahead. We should have camped but we continued. There were a few nice creeks that were passed along the way. We were forced to make a "make-shift" camp before hitting a much nicer plateau because it was dark and I was not having a good day 😅. It is about 6 km between the puesto and the plateau.<br />
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Day 3<br />
OH {06-02} [78.6] + [75.7] + [63.6]<br />
Easy day, only one small pass. There is an ex-carabiniero puesto at (-35.84277, -70.40285) and a highlight was two rivers, one at (-35.76317, -70.42051) and one river at (-35.74734, -70.45623). The GPX is marked as trail a bit further than the actual trail goes (the trail continues to a puesto down-river). You need to go down a ridge and ford the river, there were some footsteps that can be followed. We walked near {06-02E} along a river filled with sand and not great for drinking but there is a creek that starts/ends here (-35.72759, -70.44125). We camped near this way point in the sand but it got windy at night, we wished we camped a bit further from the river in the little hills where it was considerably less windy. <br />
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Day4<br />
OH {06-02} [59.6] + [29.1] + {06-02D}<br />
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This day we passed a large pass (-35.65200, -70.43356) via {06-02D}. This option was more direct and involved a very short and easy scramble onto a windy plateau. Surprisingly lots of water up towards the pass, last one being (-35.66343, -70.42666) , however the water available had a lot of sand in it, fyi. From camp we followed a cow trail until a lake like feature (-35.70057, -70.42733) and then went cross country. I hope my cairns marking the turn for {06-02D} survive. <br />
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After the pass the true Descabezado environment begins. We both made note of how terrible it would be to be on this plateau in bad weather, very open and CC. Next water source would be a couple of creeks here (-35.61215, -70.42156). From a break at this creek we ended up going straight down the creek bed. Kind of exhausting mentally and would not be possible in early season due to water levels but it shot us out directly in line for making a green camp here (-35.56164, -70.44009). <br />
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Day 05<br />
OH {06-02} [29.1] + [20]<br />
Lagunas de aquas calientes day. <br />
An easy day with a lot of time spent at Aquas Caliente, true to the name. <br />
Trail from camp was easy to follow until (-35.53519, -70.46551) and then it went CC to the Laguna. If shelter is needed in this open landscape we found a rock shelter here (-35.51276, -70.51035). The creek feeding the Laguna was fabulously warm in places - either at the source of the creek or at a spring on the right side about 100m upriver. Tomáš found the proper source of the spring here (-35.50395, -70.52347). It is easy to get sunburn why bathing mid-day though. There are some camping spots near the creek. After this Laguna there is a nasty and windy sand stretch until a creek located here (-35.48980, -70.57667). On this stretch I chose not to follow the sand but detoured on more solid ground to the east (-35.48839, -70.56200) and was glad I did. Later on we found snow melt here (-35.48544, -70.59940) and loaded all the water we would need for night/morning and exploring Descabozado Chico the next day. <br />
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Day 06<br />
OH {06-02} [20] + {06-02C Chico} + [4.5]<br />
Descabozado Chico + Vulcan Colorado (Tomáš)<br />
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Went up and around the crater of Descabozado Chico in the morning which I highly recommend. The crater is easy to walk around and gives an amazing 360 experience. The climb up is tedious but non-dangerous scree that makes for a super fast decent. Make sure you have enough water because water is scarce there. I saw a waterfall on the NE side the lake but did not go to it, Tomáš got water somewhere off trail around here (-35.51226, -70.65626) and I drank out of the next lake -35.52036, -70.65873 (questionable, but nothing happened to me). <br />
From the lake the next pass begins and I stupidly made Tomáš and I carry 5L of water up it because I did not think there would be water on the south side (both of us overlooking the river indicated on the map)...I was wrong, no water high up but lots of water down low. For the pass we opted not to follow the route because it was thick steep sand so we instead climbed a more solid ridge here (-35.52506, -70.66854). Tomáš went to continue up Vulcan Colorado and I boringly traversed to the normal pass and enjoyed a very fun sand ski down the south side. The Vulcan is a steep but not technical hike up, the crater can be walked around with a steep but fun descent on the other side in SW direction. This pass would be very tiresome climbing up due to sand. If you are coming from the opposite direction and do not trust the lagoon water then you should aim for (-35.51226, -70.65626) or bring water.<br />
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Everything this day was CC. I found it to be the hardest day navigation-wise but still not troublesome. We finished the day in a nice valley before the next days climb here (-35.55427, -70.70793). The water around this area is a bit sandy but better further up.<br />
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Day 07 <br />
Last pass and New route possibly <br />
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From camp a trail existed to the pass at -35.55228, -70.73791. There was a little bit of snow at the top but since there were already steps made, it was zero problem. Lots of water on the SE of this pass but only a trickle of water on the NW side at -35.54575, -70.75672. This water trickle point is where we left the trail to make a short cut to Descabezado. To our surprise our route worked and in 4hrs we were making a camp at 2630m next to the approach trail to Descabezado, therefore saving a lot of time, distance and elevation. In our route there was only one difficulty and that was a deep gorge and creek "jump" at -35.57904, -70.77929. Personally I would not recommend this in early season because the consequence of falling in the river might take you down a waterfall and the traverse may otherwise be nasty if there are still snowfields around altitude 2700m. The gorge is fed by the glacier in the crater of Descabezado so in the morning it should be better but the water is very dirty.<br />
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I drew the route on my photos of the pass if anyone wants them. Otherwise here is my description of our route.<br />
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From the small trickle creek at -35.54575, -70.75672 head SW up the creek bed in the direction of this easy pass ***-35.55513, -70.76977. Nearby spots would work too except for the pass directly above the creek bed, the other side of that one had snow and rocks. After this pass I believe it is easiest to just go straight down and up like a half pipe rather than trying to traverse and keep elevation, we aimed for a middle looking plateau on the other side, this middle plateau took us to the proper crossing of the gorge here, -35.57923, -70.77864 (más o menos). We jumped the gorge and climbed easily up the other side although the other side looks like a scramble it was actually just walking. We travesed this altitude for a little longer (although I would suggest easier walking a little lower) until we made camp in a ravine very close to the Descabezado approach route. Our camp even had a small amount of flowong snow melt so it was heaven in my mind! (Camp with water; -35.59280, -70.78723). <br />
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Day 8<br />
Descabezado & Azul.<br />
<br />
This is turning into a novel so I will keep this short. We left our tent in place and set off early to do Descabezado and Azul as a day trip. Descabezado was straightforward, it seems the trail will change slightly every year depending on who makes the tracks (neither the route in oSM or GPT seem to follow the actual trail from about 2600 to 3300). If wanting to make the true summit it looks like you have to go down into the crater, cross the glacier and approach it from the other side. Coming down Descabezado was very fast but we made a huge mistake and left the GPT trail to follow the other osm route that heads east then west called "Descabezado Grande - Quizapu - cerro Azul". <br />
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This route should be avoided for many reasons apart from the fact that the other route is easier despite elevation gain (we took the other route back). This osm route took us here -35.61301, -70.75604 which was actually a glacier covered in sand with a small hanging glacier above causing a lot of rockfall, it was a very ugly place and we carefully got out of there and made or way to the proper route to Azul. Despite loosing almost 2hours on an already tight day we continued (although I wasted an extra 30min due to making up my mind🙄). Once again on the way up to Azul we did not follow the normal way but went to the east side of the crater of Azul where the bad osm route is. There were a foot print here and there but it was CC. The crater was amazing but too windy to enjoy much, we saw a few fumaroles. We continued CC to the base of Azul, a tiny bit of snow (or glacier remnants?) but posed no difficulties. The base of Azul is beautiful with melt water if needed. We followed the ridge to Azul, it was more involved than Descabezado but no more than a low 3rd class (it is a bit exposed and steep but almost exclusively hiking). There is a interesting summit tower on Azul but because of the wind and time we had no desire to stretch our limits. Weather moved in fast and before we were off the ridge of Azul we were completely covered in a white out, maybe maximum 10m of visibility. Navigation was incredibly hard but we took our chances and took the other ("valle") OSM route down and luckily it was a very easy route and we were down below the clouds and able to see again. The rest of the night was CC back to our camp ~1030pm. It as a good day. <br />
<br />
Day 9.<br />
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From our camp in the ravine we headed CC and then onto the trail that lead to the puesto at basecamp Blancquillo and from then on we were on a good trail. While walking down we opted to stay in sandals and just walk in the river, it was refreshing. We didn't have clean water until the valley bottom at the CONAF camp (valley El venado) where there was also lots of pear trees and yellow plum-like trees. Many people there (first people seen). We made camp at the river before the pass (Mirador del valle del venado) but the walk from the CONAF camp until then was slower than expected because it was along a river bed with confusing tracks.<br />
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Day 10.<br />
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Good trail up and down from Mirador del valle del venado with lots of water and trees for shade. Took us almost half the time we thought it would take. Note that you cannot actually camp at campsites/restong areas on this trail after the Mirador. The CONAF guards asked us where we were coming from and when we said Laguna del Maule he just sounded impressed and let us go on our way. There was a decent restaurant with empanadas, beer ext near the bus stop . There was a posted schedule of the bus but it clearly did not follow this schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus. <br />
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Great trip, beautiful views and details and just the right amount of challenge.<br />
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<br />
* 2023-Jan-20 to 2023-Jan-23 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ondrej <br />
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I got to Parque Inglés from Santiago de Chile by taking a train to Curico (advice: if you want to travel by train, buy a ticket online at least 2 days in advance as it books out quickly). From Curico I took a blue collectivo to Molina and then a bus to Parque Ingles.<br />
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At the park entrance I was turned away by a CONAF officer because I bought a “day trip” ticket (El bolson - para día) and not the one with overnight camping. For the ticket I bought they allow entry only by 11:00am. I did not explain that I will continue beyond El Bolson - maybe I should have done that but did not want to get myself into more unnecessary discussions. CONAF said they cannot change my ticket to the “camping” type and when I tried to book the other one, it was booked out for the next two days, so the advice is book early and the right ticket type (el bolson - camping)!<br />
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I ended up camping at the Rocas Basilicas for the night.<br />
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On the first hike day hopped the gate to the park at 7:00. No one was there so no issues. I hiked to Thermas de Azufre. It was a very long day. There is no shade at all after El Bolson. I made a provisional shade using my tent’s footprint during lunchbreaks. Once I arrived to the Azufre hotsprings, a few arrieros were there. I decided to camp further up the river.<br />
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On the second day I hiked to Refugio Blanquillo, met a settler who resides there for three months each year (if I understood correctly). The scenery before the refugio was otherwoŕldy and beautiful. Gaiters, good hat, sunscreen and sunglasses were my most loved pieces of gear. I camped at the first “camp” waypoint after Refugio Blanquillo. Amazing place to camp (but no grass), with a good stream and even some small shade thanks to the bushes. <br />
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My third day was quite straightforward, I made it almost to Los Cipresses but decided to camp close to the last “water” checkpoint, shortly before the gate with the guard. It was alright but I would recommend walking all the way to the shop and camp there for the night.<br />
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On the fourth day I walked through the gate with the security guard. I also met a number of the power station workers and all were friendly. We waved at each other. The guard at the gate was nice, took my passport number and name. Once at the shop I found it was closed (9am). I needed to get to El Medano to join GPT07 and decided to continue hiking through Los Alamos. It might have been to early (10am) as also the almacén in Los Alamos was closed. The road after Los Almacén was uneventful and a bit sketchy at places, so I forded the river at the “bridge” waypoint after Los Alamos to get to the main road and hitchike to El Medáno. Got a ride in approx 20 min. El Medáno is a great base - the thermals are nice and there is an electricity socket next to the toilets. They have shade for the tent too. There is also a restaurant with filling foods and a small shop.<br />
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Overall a fantstic section but I wasn’t expecting the heat to be that oppresive!<br />
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* 2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-3 / 5 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / David and Erika<br />
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Get to TH Parque ingle before 1:00 pm, otherwise they close it for entrance. We did get internet and got the correct CONAF ticket -the one heading to El Bolsón. Once you get out of the park and into the Cuesta Las Anima, the wild parts begin. Hope you got your dirty girl gaiters; cause you’re going to need them. Sand city. Gaiters worked great. Remote and desolately beautiful. Water up at the end of Laguna del Caracol, at the river that comes out of the ground, you have a dry climb ahead. Walk out was straightforward. Got a lift from ENEL employee.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-28 to 2022-Dec-29 / 2 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš<br />
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I connected in Thermas Azufre from GPT 05. I recommend it as a camping spot. I have seen the tracks of people staying on the western side of the valley but I think it is better to ford, there is anoce trail there on the eastern side. There is a place with and island where I needed to remove my shoes just for about three meters (the stream was not strong enough for me to keep the shoes on).<br />
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I took a detour to the lake at the pass - nice. No snow anymore. Reached the Refugio Blanquillo (which is a puesto, an arriero had two dogs and a thousand shep there), met a group of tourists on horses and two Chilean hikers there, so crowded all of a sudden. The pool there is indeed lukewarm. The water from the stream is said not to be good - I filtered it (for the first time on GPT) and was fine. But if not climbing the volcano, I would recommend to camp 2 km further at the next water source. I no longer carry water with me and just drink a lot when I find a source, there is a lot of them, even in the semidesert (the sand is actually white pumice from the volcanoes). It is quite dusty, my hands got dry and that normally does not happen to me. I agree with the recommendation to apply sunscreen at least three times a day! <br />
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The second day I walked all the way to the main road. Stthe pass, there is still a bit of snow but white manageable. Going down from the lake, there is no water until around half or one third of the minor road in the valley, beware. Walking-wise, this was the easiest section on GPT for me. At the mainroad, the camping at the shop after the bridge was closed. I hitched somebody in he truck who knew the owners, called them and they came to open it for me. 5000 pesos but I gave the lady 10000 as she had to drive here to open the aging for me. There is electricity and cold shower and shadow. Almost nothing at the shop. The bus is said to leave at seven. I slept and now will try hitchhiking.<br />
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*2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
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Amazing trail! It's quite desolate but the landscape varies enough to always keep things interesting. Trudging up the sandy hills could be demoralizing, but getting to run down the other side more than made up for it. Water was still plentiful though not much snow was left, I only had to cross a few small patches. Thankfully heat wasn't a problem at all for me, I even felt cold a few times with the altitude and wind.<br />
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Caught the 5pm bus from Molina to Radal for 3000 pesos, then a van came by a few minutes later to take us to parque inglés for another 3000. Was nice to meet a bunch of Chilean hikers, who were all going to El Bolson and back. We camped at the Rocas Basílicas campsite right at parque inglés, 7000 pesos next to a beautiful river.<br />
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I had phone signal at parque inglés, so I bought the pass online for 8 USD. There was no one at the Conaf office at 7 30 the next morning, so I just hopped the gate and walked through. <br />
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I ran into a few arrieros relaxing at the Azufre hot springs, the only people I saw along the trail. They were friendly but it was tough to understand their heavy Chilean Spanish. They said I could camp with them but there wasn't a ton of room so I walked on.<br />
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There were some geysers shooting up from the muddy riverbank near the gpx track so I took a wider route around. An arriero also told me to take a trail higher up along the dunes so I followed that to the ford. The ford looked tough so I kept walking 2ish km along the other side until I could easily hop across. But it was slow going, probably not worth it.<br />
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I ended up having to camp on a random sand dune. I had some trouble getting my tent to stay up tied to rocks, since I couldn't get stakes in. I'd definitely recommend using tieouts you can really secure to rocks, or even a freestanding tent.<br />
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The rest of the hike went smoothly. I easily made it to los cipreses in three days of hiking from parque inglés. The guard was super friendly, inviting me in and giving me a bunch of water. I camped across the street from the shop near the bus stop, ask at the shop if you want to camp there. The guy running the camping was also super nice, he messaged the bus driver and told me it would be at 9 or 9 30 the next morning, because it was a Saturday (it was also Christmas eve). The bus ended up showing up at 9 45, and costed 3200 pesos to Talca.<br />
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The side trip up Volcan Los Hornitos was very worth it, there's a fairly gradual trail up and you can just sprint straight down. I didn't even need to bring any water (just some gummy bears).<br />
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I got by without gaiters, but bring them if you can. I should have used more sunscreen, the reflection off the sand is strong.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-20 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena<br />
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Joining section 6 directly from the previous one with a little challenging connection trail (see our comment from section 5), we continued to the Hot Spring del Azufre. On the way there is one steep traverse. We used hot spring to cook our rice which really saved us as we run out of gas. The landscape on the whole section is amazing, we really enjoyed it! Ascent to the pass is nice and gradual, hiking in the sand is a little slower, but the opposite when going down. We camped at the El Estadio, almost no wind that day, great place to sleep . In the morning we continued on a nice and easy trail, great views around the volcanos… short break by the laguna thats great for swimming. We camped a little before the camp marked in the gps, there is one place, probably used by arrieros, with a fireplace and a few rocks around it. Being out of the gas we set a fire using wood that was already in there and some others we gather during the day. The view to the volcanos must be one of the best we have seen here so far! The next day we continued to the last Hornitos pass and through the valley, again really nice hiking on a clear trail. Last few kms on the road and since we missed the only bus to Talca that is leaving early in the morning (7:00) and did not have luck with hitchhiking, we stayed in a camp right next to the road. Its just a few meters before it, in the same direction we came from. On the left side is a house with some old advertisment sign (coca-cola or similir) on its fence, and the lady there has a small shop. The camp is on the other side - cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. Overall, when combining both sections we recommend to plan carefully, but its definitely worth the effort, especially this section 6.<br />
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Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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* 2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna&Christopher <br />
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The section is pretty tough, but beautiful with a quite unique landscape. We definetly would do it again.<br />
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Recomendations: bring lots of suncreme, a good hat, gaiters.<br />
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How to get there:<br />
We took a bus from Santiago (terminal at the metro station Universidad de Santiago) to Curico. Across the street from the bus terminal in Curico leaves a blue bus to Molina for 1k CLP. From Molina we hitchhiked to Parque Inglés.<br />
You have to be there before 3 pm to be allowed to hike up to El Bolson. To camp they charge 8k CLP p.p and the park entry is also 8k CLP p.p.<br />
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The first day we started early from El Bolson. From midday on it was super tough due to the white sand which makes walking really tiring and reflects the sun which makes it super hot without shade. The next day was pretty similar.<br />
The whole section there was plenty of water. There was no much snow left at the passes, so we had no trouble without spikes.<br />
On the last day, after arriving to the dirtroad (8 km from los Cipreses), we got offered a ride after a while and the guy brought us directly to El Médano.<br />
The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).<br />
In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.<br />
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<br />
*2022-Dec-03 to 2022-Dec-06 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica<br />
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Route: Parque Inglés - Laguna Ánimas - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna del Caracol - Laguna de los Hornos - Los Cipreses<br />
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A beautiful, remote section of true mountain wilderness. It took me 4 days, but only 2 hours hiking the dirt road to Los Cipreses on the last day (so very doable in 3 days). The only people I saw were a couple of arrieros at Termas del Blanquillo who told me they hadn't had a winter as snowy as this one in over 10 years. I was glad to have my microspikes for the vast snow fields near/on the passes. A couple places would have felt quite unsafe without them. <br />
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Notable tidbits: <br />
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Took a bus from Molina at 5pm (on a Friday) to El Radal, then hitchhiked to Parque Inglés. I camped there the first night for 7000 pesos. Pricey, but at least I had a beautiful and secluded spot by Rio Claro. <br />
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The stretch between Las Ánimas Pass and Termas de Azufre had some sketchy traverses across disintegrating scree slopes that were downright nerve-wracking. I suppose if you go down to Laguna Mondaca, then back up to the Termas, you may not encounter this hazard. But I did get to observe a condor soar above my head on thermals for an hour as he surveilled his domain, that was super cool. <br />
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For the first ford after Termas de Azufre, I crossed further upstream than indicated on the GPS track (see Carlos's comment below). It looked a lot safer there than downstream. There's continuous snow for about 3 km going over the pass after Thermas de Azufre, best to cross in the morning to avoid postholing when the snow gets too soft. <br />
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Los Hornitos pass has a large, very steep lip of snow (leftover cornice) on its south side. It's possible to go around it by heading north for 50-100 meters and then making your way down on the volcanic sand.<br />
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The spring between Termas del Blanquillo and Laguna del Caracol is a beautiful little desert oasis in an orherwise hot and dry stretch. It was a splendid spot to camp. <br />
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There is LOTS of water. Laguna del Caracol and Laguna de los Hornos are both full of clear, refreshing water. A lot of the "water" GPS waypoints are actually fords this time of year (easy ones), and there's a lot of other water sources not listed on the tracks. But the section is very exposed, no shade, and very hot in the midday sun unless a breeze is blowing. <br />
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No issues with the guards at Los Cipreses, they were friendly and let me pass no problem. From the first bus stop on the road, I hitched easily to Talca to resupply.<br />
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==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-20 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Molly <br />
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Amazing section! I found the landscape to be very varied despite the lack of vegetation - and even with many pretty flowers near the streams. I personally found it to be a great ending to my GPT journey, a big contrast to the landscapes further south. Would make for a tough start though.<br />
Plenty of water. Met one hiker doing Circuito el Cóndor and three Chilean tourists on horseback. No arrieros, but plenty of cows and horses. The weather was cold and windy, sometimes veritable sandstorms which meant I almost couldn't open my eyes - maybe sunglasses could have helped. I wore my long pants over my boots instead of gaiters - should have listened to the advice, so much sand! <br />
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Signs on the way to parque inglés say that you can only buy tickets online - don't know how strict they are, but no cell phone coverage at parque inglés and long before in case they insist. You have to be there before 15 to be let through to El Bolsón.<br />
Easy 11 km to El Bolsón through a young forest. No water at the first "ford" waypoint. Campground has toilets and showers, it's the only place you're allowed to camp until after Valle del Indio. Nice enough place next to the impressive Colmillo del Diablo. In hot weather it might be nice to camp here to take the long ascent in the morning.<br />
Laguna de las Animas would be a good campsite plus a nice place to swim. The first "water" waypoint afterwards is also great for camping - there is a nice little meadow.<br />
Las Animas pass is gorgeous!<br />
After Termas Azufre there are many confusing paths. They mostly seem to lead to the same place, but keep an eye on the GPS. When descending from the 2700 m pass towards Termas Blanquillo, you don't have to cross the stream to your right even though many paths do it. As noted by others, the hot springs Baños del Blanquillo are luke warm - but fine if you want to wash yourself a little and the stream is too cold. The refuge is locked.<br />
The next camp waypoint is in a cute valley with many streams, bushes and flowers. No grass, though. <br />
Laguna Caracol is beautiful as well, but very bare, surrounded by sand. I really liked the campsite afterwards, with views of both Volcán Descabezado and Cerro Azul. From there, a small CC section to the ascent where the path picks up again towards the Hornitos pass. Even more gorgeous with great and very different views to each site. Volcán Hornitos and the other little craters look really funny and special. Some hail was coming in, though, so I quickly slided down to the next camp waypoint, again a nice flat meadow. No water on the ascent. The first streams at the top of the pass were dry, but the path crosses a stream in 2100 m altitude. If you fill up at the water waypoint before the pass I agree you wouldn't have to carry extra water, the time between these two water points is around 2-3 hours.<br />
I climbed to the rim of Volcán Hornitos, there's nothing in there, but if you walk to the highest point the view is nice enough. It took me 20 minutes in total, and it was about worth that.<br />
The gravel road is nice the first kilometres, but then it gets pretty boring. The security guard at the end was very nice and welcoming.<br />
I camped at the shop just before the road - nice place by the river, 3000 per person with toilets and a cold shower, or 50,000 for a cabaña. From there I hitched the 3 km down the road to Restaurant Cordillera, nice enough, great with a beer, meat and fries. <br />
Bus left from the bus shed at 7:20 next morning - think it depends whether it goes to El Médano or not <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Jan-20 to 2022-Jan-25 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Carlos <br />
Route: Parque Inglés - El Bolsón (Colmillo del Diablo summit) - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna Caracol - First bus stop on CH115 road.<br />
<br />
I hiked this route only a couple of days after Verónica & Jo. Not much to add except:<br />
<br />
First day just hiked to El Bolsón (easy 4 hours), pitched my tent on the gorgeous campsite, left the heavy load and climbed the imposing "Colmillo del Diablo" (easy hike on a trail that goes around the back of the mountain).<br />
<br />
From Termas del Azufre climbing to the pass I followed a faint track on the steep loose slope instead of crossing at the first river ford. After a few hundred meters the track takes you to a flat wide rocky area (just before the slope becomes impossibly steep), where you can very easily ford the river (I didn't even get my feet wet).<br />
<br />
Plenty of buses Molina - Parque Inglés. But only one bus from el Médano - Los Cipreses to Talca, at around 7 am, which returns at 15:00. Only week days. Basic camping just in front of Los Cipreses shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits): $4.000 pp.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Jan-10 to 2022-Jan-15 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
Route: Parque Inglès -> Laguna de las Animas -> Termas de Azufre -> Descabezado base camp -> Laguna del Caracol -> Laguna Hornitos -> First bus stop on 115-CH<br />
<br />
The five nights we just spent in a tent was the longest stretch we have ever gone without a decent bed on a hike. We skipped Radal, Laguna Mondaca and Termas de Medano, but still hiked in 6 days what others did in 3-4. We're basically easing into the GPT, gaining some fitness and experience before taking on the harder challenges.<br />
<br />
As others have said: the views are otherworldly and stunning. We felt like Touaregs traveling from oasis to oasis in the Saharan desert. Except that there actually are plenty of springs and little rivers flowing in most valleys.<br />
<br />
Useful tidbits:<br />
<br />
- There really is no shade after El Bolsòn. Either you make your own (e.g., adapting your tent to not trap heat) or you dress like a Touareg (loose clothing fully blocking the sun). For us, this was the hardest to deal with. We got up early but often stopped hiking at 13:00, enjoying the lakes or even just sitting down doing nothing that takes energy.<br />
<br />
- High-heeled boots and long trousers work well to keep the sand out.<br />
<br />
- Confirming Shn0rhelez: going up from Termas de Azufre until the second ford indeed passes plenty of water, no need to carry any.<br />
<br />
- Laguna Hornitos is drying up and hence less beautiful than the other lakes. Maybe it's better to camp at the start of the Hornitos plateau (SOBO, so north entry) as the area is flat and there is reasonably clean running water there.<br />
<br />
- There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.<br />
<br />
- In supermarkets, you can buy alcohol desnaturalizado cheaply in the nail polish section, or alternatively, use alcohol de quemar from the combustibles section.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / <br />
<br />
From Parque Inglés to the entrance of Reserva Achibueno<br />
Buy your ticket online for “El Bolsón” on the CONAF website and get to the trailhead before 3pm<br />
4hrs hike to El Bolsón, a great place with waterfall, great views, nice camping spots, hikers<br />
TO CHECK: Bus from Molina to Parque Ingles leaves at 9 am (not positive) on week-ends and holidays <br />
Easy hitch from Radal to Parque Ingles coz lots of campers going there on week-ends<br />
Be careful a ranger told me the park closes on Mondays <br />
It took me around 4 days from Parque Siete Tazas Park entrance to the road Q115 (Central Cipreses)<br />
From Road 115 I hitched to a village by Colbún lake where I resupplied : good supermarkets (a little on the expensive side), food truck , pastry shop <br />
I didn't like Altos de Lircay NP : after El Bolson (4 hrs in) no fucking shade for 3 days and an half except that of a shelter a little off trail, blazing sun all day, sand sand sand, I found the place so inhospitable, monotonous sights : sand dunes for ever, quite some struggling pedalling in the soft sand, plus I had no gaiters (stupid me) and low heels shoes so that was a bummer. However the place is super special, feels like on the moon (beautiful pictures) and I can understand why many love it<br />
Some “hot springs” are actually just luke and others just a hole or boiling hot (I added these informations to the track and waypoints I sent to Jan Dudek) so don't be like me fantasizing all day on that fantastic bath you will get or wait for Jan's update (thanks so so much for all you do mate).<br />
After resupplying I hitched on option 7 XXX all the way the Mellado cañon (really nice, by the river all the time), communities. After hiking South from Carizales (which has a very limited “store”) I was short on time and food and realized bare landscapes over the tree line were not my cup of tea (I prefer hiking below 1700 m in this part of Patagonia) so I left RR and took another option all the way to the West to Reserva Achibueno which I really enjoyed : great landscapes, lakes, rivers and met some cool hikers and fishermen<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-09 to 2021-Dec-12 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / AR past Laguna Manatial Pelado / Vera & James<br />
<br />
We arrived the day before at Parque Ingles and camped the night there. From Molina there is a bus to Radal at 5pm wed-fri, and direct to Parque Ingles on weekends. The only way to pay for park entry is online at www.aspticket.cl.<br />
<br />
As an aside, we really liked Molina. It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.<br />
<br />
Day 1 we headed up the RR as far as just above Laguna de las Animas by 2pm, a brutal climb in the midday sun! At this point the sun disappeared and clouds quickly rolled in, within 10 minutes lightning was hitting the peaks directly around us. We beat a hasty retreat back to El Bolsen and camped there.<br />
<br />
We decided to take the alternate route past Laguna Manatial Pelado. A beautiful route if hot and sandy. We have realised the best time time to take on a long, sandy ascent in sunny weather is very early in the morning, after 9am it was brutally hot. <br />
<br />
We then continued on the regular route. As has been said before, it's remote and stunning. We had some strong winds coming over Pass de Hornitos, and even some sleet on the final day!<br />
<br />
Arrived in Los Cipreses on a Sunday and we didn't see a single person except the security guard. We got mixed messages from him and then the mini shop owner about buses to Talca. I would assume there isn't one on a Sunday. We hitched to El Colorado then got a bus from there to Talca.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-03 to 2021-Dec-09 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&Stiina<br />
<br />
We also decided to combine sections 5 and 6 to avoid in’n’out to and from Parque Inglés. It took us 6 and a half days and some of it was bloody hard. I have never before experienced my ass being handed over to me by a trail. We got beaten to the point where first signs of weakness started to show and I have to admit we kind of even started discussing a plan B and bailing this ditch trail. But only for a moment, once you hit the rock bottom there is only one way to go - up! It was literally and figuratively, and as terrain improved so did our mood and we laughed off the silly thoughts we had had earlier. <br />
<br />
The first 45km of the section 5 were great, awesome hiking and then shit hit the fan real quick. Ascent up from the ford at km 45 was hard but alright. And then came the descent down to Rio Negro (51km), very steep and very loose scree slope. We wanted to make it to Rio Colorado for the night to cross it early in the morning in case there is no bridge. But because the trail or I must rather say the lack of it was really taking more time than we expected, by the time we got to Rio Negro it was already getting dark. The river was very rapid and murky so you couldn’t gauge the depth of it and couldn’t see where to step, we had to really concentrate to cross it, luckily it was only balls deep.<br />
<br />
It was dark as we got across it and we continued the fun, albeit type 2 fun, illuminated by our headlamps. Then came the insanely steep gully that allowed you to enter the valley of Rio Colorado. Something was off with the elevation lines on Gaia and it showed that we will be descending right over the cliff, it was luckily only a glitch. As we couldn’t see much ahead we kept descending ever so carefully on this very very challenging terrain, I would even go as far as to say that it was stupid and outright dangerous. But there was no other way, you just had to stay focused. There were also some rocks falling off the cliff under which we were descending. In a sense night was a good time to do it because you couldn’t see all the dangers - only what lie within the beam of the headlamp. <br />
<br />
Then came an extremely slow going, pretty much crawling speed traverse down to Rio Colorado, which we fully improvised as there was no trail anyway and got down to Rio colorado about a kilometer before the bridge, where we set up camp abit past midnight. <br />
<br />
So yes, the bridge was there - a decent one, seemed permanent and it was a relief that we at least don’t have to start the day by risking our lives fording Rio Colorado. The river was pretty wide and the current seemed pretty fast, it wasn’t murky though but you couldn’t see how deep it really was. But we think it could have been forded in case there would be no bridge. There were a few places that looked doable with somewhat laminar flow. The excitement of the existence of the bridge didn’t last too long as we were slapped back into reality by the difficult terrain, it wasn’t as dangerous anymore as the previous night but difficult nevertheless. Once we got closer to the pass the trail appeared and it was actually pleasant hiking once again. <br />
<br />
To sum it up the descent down to the Rio Colorado valley, then traversing it and the first part of crawling out of the valley sucks big time, but the rest of the section is really nice and not too challenging terrain-wise. I wouldn’t want to skip this section because it had some breathingtaking views. Just that on the hard part of it you can’t really enjoy any of it as all your effort is elsewhere. <br />
<br />
The guards at Laguna Mondaca were the nicest people we have met in Chile so far. They invited us to stay at the property, gave us food and drinks. They insisted we don’t use any of our supplies or gear. They even provided us with a room with a bed and we got to recharge all of our electronics and got a hot shower aswell. It was perfect! And just to make it clear there are no fancy villas there just a few small simple houses where the owner of the property comes for fishing once in a while. And guards weren’t armed either.<br />
<br />
It took us 4 days to get to Laguna Mondaca and not far after it we joined the section 6 which took 2 and a half more days. <br />
<br />
Section 6 was really something, we haven’t had such a strong otherworldly experience anywhere else. It was really like being on another planet at times. The blue sky was the only thing that gave it away that we were still on Earth. Really bizarre landscape and definitely the most beautiful breathtaking section of the six that we have done so far. <br />
<br />
Regarding the difficulty, compared to section 5 it didn’t feel that difficult at all. Walking on sand is challenging, yes, especially going uphill. But on the other side going down is much easier on the soft sand - you can just run/jog without much impact on your body as the sand absorbs it all. Shoes got completely wrecked and we took many “shoe-emptying” breaks because they were just filled with rocks and coarse sand. <br />
<br />
We even took a dip in one of the lakes close to Descabezado and seeing how water is just coming out of the sand and turning into a river was really really cool, just as the whole landscape around there. <br />
<br />
We camped at the lake about 5km from Los Cipreses. When we arrived to the road to take bus to Talca the bus stop didn’t have any schedule and the shop close by was closed. So we couldn’t find out about the bus schedule and the traffic on the road seemed pretty dead. But luckily after 15 min of waiting a car that was going to Talca picked us up, perfecto! <br />
<br />
Overall plenty of water on both sections, a lot of exposure to the sun, and some challenging terrain. It all together made for a great experience, just what we were looking for. It humbled us and we definitely had to adjust our expectations and recalibrate our way of hiking, it is GPT - not more and not less. <br />
<br />
For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH to Laguna Manantial / Frank <br />
<br />
At the end of GPT06 if you go on the north bank of Rio Maule the route is blocked by a cliff beyond Los Alamos & you need to cross the river to continue. Better to go on the road. After 2KM on the road you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also. At Bridge 17 you can rejoin RR or continue on road but RR is nicer.<br />
<br />
At Parque Ingles I registered with Conaf, they record your route & where you will camp. Deregistered by email later. Easy 3 hour walk to El Bolson, lots of people camping there but they don't go any further. Took optional route to Laguna Manantial. At 2160M there is a small meadow & stream, this is last water & last camp before the lake. You go over a pass @ 2560M then drop 80M to the lake. <br />
Termas Blanquillo were only tepid. Camped on a small beach @ S end of Laguna de Los Hornos. The lake is nearly dried out, only a little semi stagnant water left. Best to carry water in from one of the streams a little above the lake. Last 11KM are on dirt roads, you could hitch easily if you want. Met 2 security guards, they were both friendly, no access problems if you are Southbound. Small campsite @ shop on way out. Amazing section, some tough uphill on sand but scenery is like Mars. Definitely use small gaiters or you will be emptying sand out of your shoes every 10 mins.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-24 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias<br />
<br />
Overview: <br />
So, I decided to combine GPT sections 5 and 6 in order to avoid a 30k out and back resupply section into parque ingles. I thought this was a good decision for me and really enjoyed being out there for a week. In my opinion this was the hardest section of the GPT in between sections GPT 01-10. I went the first 5 days without seeing another person which I thought was quite cool. So, these two sections are quite remote, and you are way out there in the mountains. There was also some pretty intense river crossing in “GPT Section 5” that I found to be manageable (keep in mind I’m 185cm and have lots of thru hiking experience.) but still a little difficult. The rivers were also very dark and murky which made it hard to see where you would step. There was also an improvised bridge crossing the Colorado River that I used, and thought was safe to use. These two sections are dominated by a volcanic profile with much of the route on ash and volcanic rock. Most of the route is very exposed and there are not many trees or vegetation that grow in the volcanic ash/rocks. There was plenty of water with springs coming out of the hills everywhere and then disappearing into the sand.<br />
<br />
Difficulties:<br />
It was slow going walking thru the sand, especially when hiking vertically. Exposure to the sun. River crossings. Isolation and remoteness. Hiking up and down lose rock and scree fields.<br />
<br />
Highlights:<br />
Hot Springs. Great views of the volcanic region. Mountain Lakes. Sunrise and Sunsets were epic with the landscape. <br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Shn0rhelez<br />
<br />
Parque Ingles to El Medano southbound/main route ... 7 days duration(2 nights spent on laguna Las Animas)...section passable...Strong sun, no shadow after the park... Gaiters strongly recommended...the SUBsection between termas del azufre and second ford Before the pass (2700m) is full with water... my personal opinion is the backpack weight can be minimized... Good luck! <br />
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<br />
* 2020-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno & Martin<br />
<br />
Parque Inglés to El Medano<br />
5 days for this amazing section. We started in Parque Inglés in Radal 7 Tazas National Park. Had to wait for one more day because of limited hiking permits towards El Bolsón. 80 daily permits allowed and delivered at 8:30 in the morning, to be minded on weekends when the park is full. Followed Regular Route Laguna Las Ánimas, Azufre Hotsprings, Descabezado base camp, Laguna Caracol and then down to Los Cipreses. Cold section and bad weather towards the end, some rain and freezing wind. Had to camp in Laguna Caracol waiting for the storm to pass and hike the last pass. <br />
The use of lightweight gaiters is advised for keeping the sand out of your shoes.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom & Maddie <br />
<br />
Parque Ingles to El Medano. Very beautiful (and exposed) section. Lots of water. The track from Los Cipreses to El Medano suffered from a few landslides meaning the route was slower than anticipated. I would consider taking the road next time as there is no loss of scenery. We resupplied in El Medano by basically buying all the food at the tienda (60000 CP for food for two people for the next section). Selection was good enough. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from Vilches Alto / Tyler & America <br />
<br />
A Stunning section. Vilches Alto made for a great optional start; rather than returning to Parque Ingles. (We came from Talca by bus - 2100 CP). Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP. All trails were beautiful and a bit more trodden that sections before. Arrieros at thermal pools (not hot) were welcoming and friendly for us to camp. We took our sweet time in the beautiful section. We bussed from the first road access (south of town Los Cipreses/ OH-MR-V@06-E-#001) to Talca for a good re supply before the long next section, 2200 CP. Bus leaves this stop around 11.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start coming from GPT 5 / Matus & Anna<br />
<br />
We combined sections 5 and 6 via optional trail. <br />
GPT06 took us 2 days and bit (first day we did just 4km from 6th section).<br />
I agree with everything what was written in previous updates.<br />
Nice sandy trails. Mornings were freezing cold. No problems while crossing rivers. After optional start regular trail didn't correspond with any trail. We finally took one on the right side and after while they merged. And I don't know who was so commited, but thanks for marking the trail 😊<br />
<br />
There is a small tienda with coke and crisps before entering a main road from Los Cipress. If you continue by main road toward El Medano there is restaurant Cordillera where we refueled again. Accomodation in El Medano. I will edit with ressuply options later. <br />
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<br />
* 2019-Dec-14 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mainly) / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
As we came from GPT05 and didn't want to go all the way "back" to the Paso Las Animas, we tried the Optional Investigation Route which starts at Parque Ingles right at the other side (South) of Rio Claro. It leads through private property, so we went to the guard, showed him the CONAF Permit (we bought one just in case, and of course they said it's not possible to walk on the other side of the river), explained him that we would only hike through and gave him some cerezas. He informed his Colleagues via radio to let us pass. It was a nice and easy hike. Nothing to add to Linda's remarks for the rest of the trail.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-06 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda <br />
<br />
Start = Parque Ingles <br />
Finish = Las Termas El Medano<br />
<br />
GENERAL FEELING<br />
<br />
Amazing section !!!! Incredible mineral landscapes as soon as you go beyond Laguna Las Animas. It was tough because of the passes (and this was also my first hiking days and I carried too much food ... ) and the ground around the volcanoes is sand ! So it makes each step even more difficult. I loved the contrast between the areas around the volcanoes and the Laguna Caracol is just one of the most beautiful place I've ever seen !!! <br />
<br />
LOGISTICS<br />
<br />
- Bus from Molina to El Radal (off season and weekdays = only one bus at 5pm in Molina that stops in El Radal. Weekend : it goes directly to Parque Ingles and the schedule may also be different)<br />
<br />
- Hitchhiked from El Radal to Parque Ingles<br />
<br />
- First night in a camping in Parque Ingles = 5000 CLP<br />
<br />
- The day after, I had to register to CONAF. Office opening at 8:30 am. Entrance fee = 6000 CLP<br />
Some people (5 or 6) were going to El Bolson for the day but after Laguna Las Animas, there was absolutely nobody till the end !<br />
<br />
- Still snow when you go beyond the 2300 meters high<br />
<br />
- Be careful for the last pass Las Hornitos, a lot of snow at the top and it makes it impossible to follow the GPS track to go down. I found my way on the left when you face the valley and then got back to the GPS track<br />
<br />
- No problem to go out from the mine. Actually, workers I met on my way down to Los Cipreses suggestedto drop me by car to the main road. The guard was just smiling when he saw me in the car and when I told him I was hiking<br />
<br />
- Mini market where you can find basic food (eggs, spaghetti, chocolate ...) in Las Termas El Medano<br />
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<br />
* 2020-Feb-07 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arnaud<br />
<br />
Amazing but hard section with a lot of denivelation. <br />
As we did not walk the section 5, we took the bus from Molina to Parque Ingles-7 Tazas (many buses, 4-5 buses per day). We registered to the Conaf Office and paid the entrance fee 6000 clp for foreigners. They gave us a mail adress so that we can announce our exit of the parque, to check the security.<br />
We walked the first 11km to the campspot El Bolson. It costs 4000 clp per person but has no interest. As the zone is protected, it is possible to freecamp only after el Bolson, before, it is prohibited.<br />
The Laguna Las Animas is very very beautiful and is welcome for a bath with the heat of this season.<br />
Then the paso las animas is easy and ashes are fun for downhills!<br />
We met nobody on the trail after el Bolson. So great! Except at one spot with termas with full of chilenos there.<br />
We lacked a bit of water at the laguna el Caracol but found 3kms further (just before the strong uphill) a source with drinkable water.<br />
No problem then to exit los cypress. We hitchhiked on the road with workers until the road to los Medanos.<br />
We stayed one day in los termas de los Medanos, at the camping and exit quickly (too many noise, people). The water is hot and nice after a hard section like this one. <br />
We resupplied at los termas (with pasta, arros, pancito, manjar). No gas available there.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
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<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
You need to carry all the food for the entire trail. There is no food supply after Parque Ingles. If you meet arrieros at one of the Puestos you may ask for some goat or lamb meet but if you are not ready to take an entire or at least half an animal they may be reluctant to sell. Refill your water supply at the marked river crossings and the camps. In between these waypoints your will find only ocasinally some trickling water because water trickles away easily into the volcanic soil.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
* 2021 / Vera & James<br />
<br />
Molina: It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
* 2022 / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
Los Cipresses: small shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits) + camp with cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. <br />
<br />
* 2022 7 Anna&Christopher <br />
<br />
El Médano: The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).<br />
In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.<br />
<br />
* 2020 / Frank <br />
After 2KM on the road after Los Alamos (to El Medano) you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also.<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route= <br />
<br />
==Parque Ingles==<br />
<br />
During the main season in January and February several buses go from Molina and Curico to Radal and some even go all the way to Parque Ingles. Outside of the main season there is only one daily bus from Molina to Radal leaving in the afternoon from the rural bus station in Molina.<br />
<br />
*2020 / Frank In summer there are 6 buses a day Molina-Parque Ingles.<br />
<br />
Mon-Sat they leave Molina @ 10:20, 11:30, 12:40, 3PM, 6:15PM, 8:15 PM Sunday Molina- Parque Ingles 7:45, 9:30, 2PM, 7:30PM, 10PM 2 hours to Parque Ingles, buses leave from terminal near main plaza in Molina. Parque Ingles-Molina 7:10, 11, 1PM, 3:45PM, 4:45PM, 6:30PM Mon-Sat Sun. 10:30, 1:30PM, 3:30PM, 5:45PM, 6:45PM <br />
<br />
<br />
*2019/ Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Monday to Thursday: Molina-Radal: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br />
<br />
Friday: Molina-P.Ingles: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br />
<br />
Saturday: Molina-P.Ingles: 11:30 // 13:30 / P.Ingles-Molina: 18:00<br />
<br />
Sunday: Molina-P.Ingles: 09:00 // P.Ingles-Molina: 15:30 / 17:00<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Los Cipreses / El Medano ==<br />
<br />
* 7 am in front of Los Cipreses - someone has to call in advance for the bus to go all the way to el Médano - loads of tourists there, though, so someone might have called. Other connections should be at 9:15 and 17:20 (one at 1620 l3aves from further downstream). The other way around, the buses leave Talca at 7, 13, 15 and 19, according to the schedule at Talca bus station.<br />
<br />
<br />
*This trail section finished at the Route 115 to Talca. Big road with many cars (hitchhiking possible)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023 / Louis, Rémi & Noé <br />
<br />
From Los Cipreses only one bus at 7am. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023 / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
Buses from Talca to la Mina go at; 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. <br />
Vilches: bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022 / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
- There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP. <br />
<br />
<br />
== Vilches ==<br />
<br />
* 2023 / Natalie & Tomáš <br />
<br />
Bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
* CONAF does register all trekkers at Parque Ingles (GPT01-WP004) but does not charge an entrance fee. Camp fires are not permitted within the national park that reaches from Radal (GPT01-WP001) to the Laguna las Ánimas (GPT01-WP013).<br />
<br />
* 2023<br />
<br />
When starting from Vilches and going northbound, a permit to access the Volcano (or the Condor Circuit) is required. CONAF won't let you enter in Altos de Lircay without it. Call them to get the correct number. Moreover, you have to pay the entrance fee to the reserve and it is closed on Mondays in March.<br />
<br />
*2023 <br />
<br />
Start at Parque Ingles: <br />
Entry ticket for Bolsón overnight needed: 8$ (book it before online at www.aspticket.cl + get to the trailhead before 3pm) <br />
The parc can be entered illegally in the morning (around 7 pm).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019<br />
<br />
Optional start Vilches Alto: Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP.<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:18 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|In the huge ash field]]<br />
[[File:10 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (9).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (5).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (17).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|[[Cerro Azul]].]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (11).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 6]]<br />
[[File:01 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|El Bolsón]]<br />
[[File:02 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving El Bolsón]]<br />
[[File:03 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:04 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Las Ánimas.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Las Ánimas]]<br />
[[File:05 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Pass 2560 m.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Pass 2560 m]]<br />
[[File:06 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Approaching Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Approaching Laguna Mondaca]]<br />
[[File:07 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Mondaca.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Mondaca]]<br />
[[File:08 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, that bypasses Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Bypasses Laguna Mondaca]]<br />
[[File:09 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:11 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Termas de Azufre.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Termas de Azufre]]<br />
[[File:12 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:13 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:16 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:17 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br />
[[File:19 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:20 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:21 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:23 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:24 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:25 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:26 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]<br />
[[File:27 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]<br />
[[File:28 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:29 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:31 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:32 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:33 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:34 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:35 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:37 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:38 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:39 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:40 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:41 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:43 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos.jpg|Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br />
[[File:44 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br />
[[File:45 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br />
[[File:46 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:47 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:48 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT07_(Laguna_Dial)&diff=109039GPT07 (Laguna Dial)2023-04-15T10:44:47Z<p>Joscha97: /* Images */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
<br />
<br style="clear:both" /><br />
<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
<br />
''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / David and Erika<br />
<br />
We shortened this route by 25 km with a resupply at the restaurant in Los Alamos (past the ghost town of Los Ciprese) Great peeps there, who served us breakfast, recharged batteries, sold us enough ramen and soup to keep us going. For another 5 days. Also gave us a lift to a road above the border crossing at Laguna del Maule, avoiding an unnecessary conversation with boarder guards. It intersects OH-CC-A{07-01C} and starts at where the lake begins, also know as GPT section 2 alts Laguna Dial. This is a great at and plenty of water in Jan. Eliminated also the 500 meter climb and avoids some locked gaits and right of passage issues. Pretty straight forward from there till the end. One Pyrenes puppy trailed us after passing a Puesto. Owners said the puppy didn’t come back. If that happens again, they suggest to deter the puppy from following by using a stick. We found that the settlers at the first water source after the English bridge (marked Water, Settlement {07} [150.6/834]-36.61455, -71.2763) is a delightful family who offered us refuge, a lift in the morning to San Carlos, and lively entertainment. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-23 to 2023-Mar-30 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes, Luisa and Noemi <br />
<br />
Hitchhiked from San Clemente to Laguna del Maule (there are some buses to El Colorado). First night up the valley, second night we slept in Carizales. Little before we were welcomed at the puesto de Carabineros who gave us harina tostada, warm bread, marmelade and juice and showed us the way to the mini shop; Friendly owner there who let us sleep close to the shop. Next day we slept in the middle of this amazing huge and warm valley where Irma and Co. make their cheese...the following day we stood at her puesto and had a great evening with some local arrieros. The day after we went up to the Laguna and camped at the first lake fed by the Laguna, was a great option, nearly no wind and warm water to swim in....Next days (2,5 more) all along to get out at Los Sauces. A section which impressed by the people we met, not so much because of the trail, which has been rather annoying sometimes because of entire valleys to be walked through....Laguna Dial was a highlight but the rest just walking to get in and out with no super special highlights. This is a section where you get loads of contact with arrieros and this makes this section so unique. Value is more on the people than on the panorama.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-29 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 7/ Ondrej <br />
<br />
El Medano - Puente Inglés<br />
Overall, GPT07 has many different faces which I really enjoyed - alpine-like pastures, mighty rivers, an impressive laguna, and even forests for the last 25km. Most of the trail goes through long valleys. There is minimum of steep descents and ascents. However, the length and the afternoon heat still make this section challenging. Occassional fruit trees, mini-shops, arrieros, and friendly carabineros make this trail even nicer. <br />
<br />
Details:<br />
<br />
On the 1st day, I started hitchhiking from El Medano at 8am Tuesday, no luck after 20 min so I decided walking, hitched a car in the middle (after 6km). As I got to the fence at the trailhead, there were two cars but no one outside, so I just walked around it and all was ok. Path up the first valey was nice, there is a beautiful green plateau afterwards (what a pleasant change after gpt06!). Cows sometimes camp at the “camp” waypoints. Better not to 100% rely on the marked spots and look for other places. In general there are many good spots for camping. <br />
<br />
The 2nd day marked a slow descent to Carrizales, easy trail and nice views, water pastures can be avoided by following the cliffs alongside the valey. Just be careful, some rocks are unstable - I fell once and scratched myself. On a sidenote, I was quite impressed by the birds that start screaming like an old alarm clock as soon as they spot you, so every being in the valey knows you’re there. Carabineros in Carizales are the best guys ever. They served me a chilled cola and taught me how to prepare harina tostada (i also got some from them). I showed them how the satellite comm device works in return. I camped at the amazing hotsprings after Carozzales. I met two arrieros there who were just leaving. No one else showed up, so I rolled out my mat just next to the hotsprings (there is not enough space for a full tent, but a mat fits quite nicely) and spent a night there.<br />
<br />
3rd to 5th days are again slow descents/ascents through valleys. Fords are very easy at this time, not above knees. Cheese from Irma is great (10k CLP per kilo) but pack it at least in two ziplock bags otherwise you’ll have the excess liquid all in your backpack like I had. Irma also had beer, cookies, chips and tuna. Laguna Dial is beautiful but indeed no shade. I camped in the middle at one of the camping spots on the shore. <br />
<br />
On the 6th day I was walking along Rio Gonzáles. From km 130 the section is full of forests and extremely beautiful. The fords are fun. Once the route reached the bridge (km 143.1), I decided to follow the advice of other folks and took the alterative option 7 (i.e. staying at the left bank of the river). The climb is significant for the first 6km of the optional route (about 500m in altitude) and without a proper shade. Fortunately there are multiple streams around during the climb. Once you get to about 1200m in altitude, an oak forest starts, another face of gpt07, very beautiful. At about there the trail forks into two paths. I took the option 07-B (the southeastern path of the fork) and it was a bad choice. The trail was hard to find and there were overgrown parts. After some trying I decided to turn back to the fork and continue with the north-west route. The trail there was very well marked and easy to follow. So my advice is once you reach the fork, take the path to your right.<br />
<br />
Buses from Puente Inglés to San Fabian go at 7am and 10am. San Fabian has cabanas that tend to be overbooked. Here is my advice: try to book Cabanas Nativas in advance (they are on whatsapp). If not possible, visit them and check on the day. The owner called about 4 other cabana sites for me and tried to find me a spot. He then offered me to stay with them in the last free cabana (for 12 people) for 35,000 CLP (i.e. a price of a small cabana) which was amazing. There are also two camping sites which have always a spot for a tent. The first one is located at (-36.5650377, -71.5525476) and is just next to a river. It is called Camping Jahuel. Price is 6,000 CLP per person. The second one is at (-36.5541935, -71.5406932) and is called Camping Luciernagas. The price is 15,000 per a tent slot. I liked the first camping more. In terms of resupply, La Montana supermarket has gas canisters. There is also a good supermarket on the main road (approximately -36.5579937, -71.5514614). San Fabian is overall a lovely city worth spending some time in. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-05 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 07 / Tomáš <br />
<br />
This has so far going SOBO been the easiest but also the worst part. Apart from the last 45 km amd a few spots, there is a lot of road walking and the long flat valleys are not much spectacular. I wonder how the alternatives compare. Laguna del Dial is not that attractive, there are no trees around. What is good are fruit trees, from the shop in the middle of nowhere there are plume-like trees that probably ripen in late January, at the Laguna there are probably edible bushes of wild currant (probably ripe in January) and at the end at the penultimate bridge, there are lots of cherries at a puesto and then 1 km further in a former puesto - these ripen in December.<br />
<br />
By this time of the year, all the fords were easy, not above my knees.<br />
<br />
I ressuplied in Talca, where I got using two cars, it took me about five drivers and about 4 hours to go to the place where GPT branches off the main road. I missed the hot springs in El Medano. The trackfiles want to you to keep walking far to the West of the hut in the fenced compound, but there is a trail close to the fence that can be followed to the minor road behind. There is no cell phone coverage on the major road after the hot springs.<br />
<br />
The first pass is nice, soon after there are lot of puestos and this was the first section where I actually met people-arrieros every day. The descent to the valley is uneventful, once you reach Rio Saso, there is a minor road with very little cars. Carabinieros took my details, asked where I went, I said Laguna del Dial and that was that. There was nobody at the shop (and they have very little supply from what I could see from the window) around 1830. They seemed to have wifi in case somebody badly needs it, it is password protected but you could ask. A few km before the hot springs, a trail branches off the main road - then it is about 10 km of trail before you reach the road again. This stretch and a few km around the shop are quite nice deapite the road).<br />
<br />
The hot springs are nice, perfect temperature. Right next to them, there is place for a single person for sleeping otherwise you need to camp further downstream or at the camp waypoint. They can easily be reached in two days, the trail is easy. I managed without really wanting to miss the second carabinieros befora the Laguna. The roads only ends less then 10 km from the Laguna.<br />
<br />
The first waypoint "hot springs?" is in the middle of the river, not sure what itnisnsupposed to mean.<br />
<br />
The section feom the second pass (the one after the laguna) is really nice, first woth some trees, at the end with lots of trees. <br />
<br />
The second "hot spring?" waypoint is real you need to ford through the canyon a bit (which is fun on its own, there are places where you can leave the canyon abiut 200 m downstream from the hot.spring) to reach it. The water is too hot, it springs not much above the levlnof the river. I tried to make a pool where the water could cool down but have not finished it. I encourage you to build upon it.<br />
<br />
Then there is a stretch with a lot of fording (there it is gorgeous), one last ford is missing from the waypoints- you need to ford about 20 m along a steep rock fa e that falls dire,tly to the river. Do not try to go around it.<br />
<br />
Once you reach the last bridge where the minornroad to the end of section begins (in the files it is mislabeled as trail), I encourage you to stay on the left bank and climb a bit on option 07. It goes through really nice oak (I think) forrest and it is a trail almost to the end of the section. I think thi Sparta is almost the nicest of all GPT 07 and I think RR should be routed through this option. The trail is in good condition. From Los Sauces ,there are not many cars (congratulations to other people havong been lucky). Luckily there are buses at 7 and 10 in themornong to San Fabian. The second bus goes back at two. I thinknon Sundays itnisnall shifted by one hour (so it leaves an hiur later) but I am not sure. There is signal from the last bridge but there is no cell cig al in Los Sauces.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec-26 to 2022-Dec-31 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
<br />
El Médano - Puente Inglés <br />
I had a tougher time than expected on this section, but overall still a good experience. My pace ended up similar to section 6, at times slower but with the occasional fast road to make up for it. I spent a lot of time trying to keep my feet dry but they always just ended up getting wet anyway, I had a bunch of blisters by the end of day two. My main advice just be to accept it and just trudge straight through the waterlogged pastures.<br />
<br />
Meeting the arrieros/settlers along the way was one of the highlights. No one seemed to mind me passing through their country. Most of the time we'd just wave, and sometimes they'd call out and chat for a bit. They had some amazing yells. There was no one at the shop in Carrizales when I passed through at 4:30, but I did manage to get a fanta and some great goat cheese later from Irma. The cheese lasted well through a day and a half of hiking in the heat. 500g was the least she'd sell, so I just ate a bunch of it with chips for my last few meals.<br />
<br />
Everyone I passed told me about another pair of hikers doing the same route, but a day ahead of me. I never caught up with them, but I know their footprints well.<br />
<br />
The horseflies were really swarming on some stretches, they made a few nights and lunch breaks pretty uncomfortable. But I found that if I just kept walking I'd normally find a bug free spot within an hour or so. I never figured out how to predict where I'd find them. There were generally more at lower altitude and sheltered places, with lots of exceptions.<br />
<br />
The fords were all easy for me, the highest came up to my thighs (I'm 5'11/180cm).<br />
<br />
I spent the first night at El Médano. They didn't have a midday bus from Talca, the earliest I could go was at 3pm. The vapores were great, but a little hard to find. Pretty much empty at 6pm. The next morning I hitched easily to the start. I decided to start hiking on the other side of the river where I got dropped off, and then ford further down after the building.<br />
<br />
I luckily caught a ride from some carabineros pretty early along the road walk at the end, who took me straight to San Fabián.<br />
<br />
Overall a great hike. Doing it in five walking days was reasonable, but felt a bit rushed for me. The second half was definitely more enjoyable for me. If I could go back in time I'd probably hitch a bit further to the Laguna del Maule and do one of the options starting from there.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna & Christopher <br />
<br />
El Médano - Puente Inglés <br />
We started by hitchhiking to the beginning of the dirtroad (11 km from El Médano). At about 7:30 am on a saturday we got a ride within a minute :)<br />
As Veronica wrote there is a closed gate, but you can walk around it. We met a local living there and he greeted us niceley, so it seems to be no problem.<br />
The next day we arrived in Carrizales around 4 pm. We resupplied there (the shop has a modest selection). The almacén is basically at the owners house, so one can propably buy sth there pretty late or early in the day. Plus the owner is super nice. She even offered us some fruits and vegetables for free and allowed us to camp opposite her house.<br />
<br />
The first river crossing was the hardest for us. Anna is 1,63 m and the water reached above her hips. The other two rivers were pretty easy to cross.<br />
<br />
From Puente Inglés we hitchhiked to San Fabián. There is also a bus once a day which leaves at 10 am.<br />
<br />
Section 7 is really nice with beautiful views and a very diverse landscape. It gets really hot in the afternoon though.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec-07 to 2022-Dec-12 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: El Médano - Carrizales - Río Guaiquivillo - Laguna Dial - Río González - Puente Inglés <br />
<br />
A wonderful stretch of the GPT, I especially enjoyed the second half of it. Decent trails, except when they go into cow pastures or traverse some sandy/scree cliffs where erosion has taken place. Lots of great swimming opportunities, which is good because the midday/afternoon heat gets quite oppresive. <br />
<br />
Some demanding river fords this time of year. The ones that stand out as being particularly difficult are 1: the one after the first pass after Carrizales, 2: Río Guaiquivillo (downright scary), 3: Río Paralelo before Laguna Dial (although not so bad after experiencing Guaiquivillo) <br />
<br />
Took the bus from Talca back to El Médano at 3 pm. The "vapores" at El Médano are awesome, and free if you stay at the nearby campground. When I went three next morning at 9 a.m. there was nobody there and I got to try out and enjoy the three different saunas. <br />
<br />
Hitching the 11km along the paved road is pretty easy, but few cars go by. There was no one at the gate/fence when I arrived, easy to go around by following the river a few hundred meters. <br />
<br />
At the last cross-country section before Carrizales, I recommend taking the northern Option D route, as the RR takes you straight into a muddy, flooded cow pasture, and the drier mountainside is covered in pesky, sharp/thorny yellow flowers which will tear through your legs. The northern route has to be better than that! <br />
<br />
The fences before Carrizales start near the junction where Option H ends, but I found lots of accessible water sources and decent campsites even along the fenced section. The best one was less than a km after the last "settler" waypoint before Carrizales, with lots of shade, grass, and mature trees to the right of the trail. <br />
<br />
The hot springs after Carrizales are definitely worth the detour! They are properly hot, and right next to a beautiful, cool creek. <br />
<br />
I'm 165 cm and Río Guaiquivillo was one of, if not the most, demanding ford I've ever done. I went upstream a couple hundred meters from where the RR crosses it, where the river braids into two channels and is wider. The current was fast in the first channel, making little rapids over the rocks, but the water only went midway up my thighs. The second channel the water went up to my hips and nearly swept me downstream. Maybe look for a better place downstream to cross the second channel once you reach the island after the first channel. <br />
<br />
After the river crossing, follow the 4×4 path, not necessarily the GPS RR track. The GPS will try to lead you into knee-deep boggy pastures, but if you follow the 4×4 trail it should (mostly) stay dry. <br />
<br />
The carabineros at the police puesto took down my passport info and asked when I'd be returning from Laguna Dial. I explained I was continuing onward to Puente Inglés and wouldn't be coming back. <br />
<br />
Between the police puesto and Río Los Sauces, I only saw 2 people (arrieros), and not a soul at Laguna Dial. Must be a quieter time of year. Laguna Dial is amazing - clear, cold, deep waters perfect for swimming. The trail from the west end of Laguna Dial all the way to the last bridge before Puente Inglés is awesome - clear and easy to follow. The stretch along Río González was probably my favorite part, as you are in frequent forests going along a steep-walled canyon. Plus the fords along that river were not difficult :) <br />
<br />
I got offered a ride once I was midway through the hot, dusty road walk to Puente Inglés, and they took me straight through to San Fabian. So I can't comment on the bus schedule. <br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
* 2022-Feb-28 to 2022-Mar-06 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Carlos <br />
<br />
There is now a locked gate to acces the dirt road from/to Road 115 CH at the power station building. I was told it wasn't allowed to enter and was asked how I had got in (going Northbound it was the end of my hike). I explained I was coming from Carrizales on a trail and they opened the gate for me.<br />
<br />
It was a Sunday and oddly enough the guards just happened to be crossing the gate in a pick up just at the very moment I arrived, so couldn't find out if the station is manned during the week.<br />
<br />
As It was quite obvious they were not happy at all me being there I couldn't scout the place to find a way around but it looked quite possible to walk around the fence, either towards the slope or next to the river. Although if you want to enter (hiking Southbound) and there is a guard at the gate you might be turn around.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-06 / 8 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
Generally an easy trail, but tough due to the heat and the heavy pack. Plenty of water despite the dry landscape. Not many panoramic views - instead the attraction consists of meeting the many arrieros and walking through the land where they live. <br />
We arrived by bus at El Inglés at 3:30 pm and started walking down the very hot, dry gravel road. Lots of places along the river seems great for camping/swimming. After walking a little, a car offered us a ride and dropped us off right before the first bridge. We wanted to camp at the first "hot spring?" waypoint, but there seemed to be no hot springs. From there, a nice path all the way to Laguna Dial. We ended up camping at the second camp waypoint, very nice place for a swim - which was very needed after a very hot day. The first camp waypoint has a puesto as well.<br />
We passed the police, they were very excited to have visitors and served us soda and biscuits. We camped at the next ford near a big willow. There is a campsite that seems to be used by the arrieros, but not while we were there. <br />
Irma's daughter sold us some of their cheese. They had goat and cow cheese, 1.5 L colas, beer, wine and sopaipillas. Irma wasn't home. Initially we were chased off by a pretty scary dog, but we were able to approach once some horseback riders appeared and people in the puesto came out and could shout at the dogs. <br />
After her puesto, we had some trouble finding the right path - the route kept leading off the gravel road with no path in sight. In the end, we just followed the gravel road, returning to the regular route just before the climb at the second "hot springs?" waypoint. This required a river crossing that was a little difficult even in this dry year.<br />
Pretty easy walk the rest of the way to Carrizales on a gravel road. We found many delicious brambles along the road. <br />
<br />
The shop in Carrizales had pasta, canned tuna, cakes, many different biscuits, popsicles, chips, bread, sodas, marmelade, harina tostada, batteries, caramels. The town itself consisted of a few houses and an avanzada de carabineros. As mentioned, some fences after the town. We camped at the next "ford" waypoint, on a nice meadow next to the river.<br />
<br />
On the next cross country section, better stick to the route along the mountain side - the whole valley is very wet, and there's often a path to follow along the route. Many animals and puestos all the way up the mountain.<br />
We camped at the camp/ford waypoint after reaching the last gravel road. A lot of garbage, but we found a nice little place and even caught a trout.<br />
The main road is pretty big, probably easy to hitch, but goes through some pretty mountains as well. <br />
<br />
Termas el Medano is a nice place as well, there is a big hot pool (with some cold currents in-between) and some smaller lukewarm ones, and you can swim in the river. The entrance is 1000 pesos, but if you camp at the nearby campground (3000 pesos per person), acces is free. There is also a minishop with sodas, chocolate, chips, sunscreen and a few other things, and a restaurant with typical Chilean food. The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Jan-17 to 2022-Jan-24 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo<br />
<br />
Termas El Médano -> Carrizales (2 days) -> Rio Maule -> Laguna del Dial -> El Inglés (3 days)<br />
<br />
Greatly enjoyed this section, which took us seven proper hiking days to complete.<br />
<br />
We started at 19:00 at Termas El Médano because the only bus at Talca left at 15:00. Hiked the 11 km of tarmac and camped on the river bank next to 115, about 1 km beyond section 1 (S 35° 52.736', W 070° 40.119', courtesy of iOverlander).<br />
<br />
At the end of the third section (around S 35° 57.665', W 070° 38.836') we could not find the path on the northern scree and rock slopes. Instead, we switched to the southern valley flank about a hundred meters before the actual switch, fording the small stream easily and following cow trails until we were back on the path. Found a decent camp site (S 35° 52.736', W 070° 40.119') after the first puesto on the mountain plains.<br />
<br />
From about 10 km before Carrizales, all water and accompanying meadows are fenced in. If you plan to camp before Carrizales, turn back the moment you see fences appear on the side of the road. At the end of a long day, we asked the shop owner in Carrizales if she knew a good spot, and she let us camp on one of their fields (with accompanying barking dogs ;). Still, muchas gracias!<br />
<br />
The hot springs after Carrizales were the best so far and definitely worth the detour. Señora Irma sold us fresh cheese, tomatoes, bread and coke, even though we happened upon her puesto in the middle of celebrating January 20th - either in the honor of San Sebastian or a victory in the war between Chile and Peru-Bolivia - with friends and family. Thanks again!<br />
<br />
Laguna del Dial was gorgeous and great to swim in. We camped right at the start of the lake (S 36° 25.533', W 070° 55.101') where the water had sufficiently retreated to leave room for one tent. After the lake, we had the impression of taking an arriero highway, encountering plenty of horseback riders, most of them arrieros. For us, it was often hard to understand their dialect, given that we're very novice Spanish speakers. Still, got to see a glimpse of the way these modern day cowboys live.<br />
<br />
The first bridge you encounter (sobo, around S 36° 33.547', W 071° 10.798') is rickety and unusable. Hence the second smaller bridge a bit further upstream, which I only found out about after fording the river :D<br />
<br />
The bus at El Inglés to San Fabián left at 7:00 and 10:00 in the morning. At the bridge, the river bank opposite to the shop has some smaller streams pouring into the river, making this the relatively nicer side to camp (though there's plenty of garbage on both sides, despite the signs requesting not to litter). Some Chilean campers showed us the streams, thanks once again!<br />
<br />
In San Fabián, stayed at Cabañas Anfer Domos for 35.000 CLP per night for two. Cabañas Nativas and Hostal El Molino were both full.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option to Reserva Achibueno / <br />
<br />
From Parque Inglés to the entrance of Reserva Achibueno<br />
Buy your ticket online for “El Bolsón” on the CONAF website and get to the trailhead before 3pm<br />
4hrs hike to El Bolsón, a great place with waterfall, great views, nice camping spots, hikers<br />
TO CHECK: Bus from Molina to Parque Ingles leaves at 9 am (not positive) on week-ends and holidays <br />
Easy hitch from Radal to Parque Ingles coz lots of campers going there on week-ends<br />
Be careful a ranger told me the park closes on Mondays <br />
It took me around 4 days from Parque Siete Tazas Park entrance to the road Q115 (Central Cipreses)<br />
From Road 115 I hitched to a village by Colbún lake where I resupplied : good supermarkets (a little on the expensive side), food truck , pastry shop <br />
I didn't like Altos de Lircay NP : after El Bolson (4 hrs in) no fucking shade for 3 days and an half except that of a shelter a little off trail, blazing sun all day, sand sand sand, I found the place so inhospitable, monotonous sights : sand dunes for ever, quite some struggling pedalling in the soft sand, plus I had no gaiters (stupid me) and low heels shoes so that was a bummer. However the place is super special, feels like on the moon (beautiful pictures) and I can understand why many love it<br />
Some “hot springs” are actually just luke and others just a hole or boiling hot (I added these informations to the track and waypoints I sent to Jan Dudek) so don't be like me fantasizing all day on that fantastic bath you will get or wait for Jan's update (thanks so so much for all you do mate).<br />
After resupplying I hitched on option 7 XXX all the way the Mellado cañon (really nice, by the river all the time), communities. After hiking South from Carizales (which has a very limited “store”) I was short on time and food and realized bare landscapes over the tree line were not my cup of tea (I prefer hiking below 1700 m in this part of Patagonia) so I left RR and took another option all the way to the West to Reserva Achibueno which I really enjoyed : great landscapes, lakes, rivers and met some cool hikers and fishermen<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-30 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias<br />
<br />
Overview:<br />
Just want to say quick that the termas vapaors in Mèdano are worth checking out, I highly recommend them. Please consider checking them out, they are only ½ km off the trail and absolutely worth it. They are sauna boxes built around a few hot rocks emitting hot steam. The result is a steam room/ sauna experience. I personally spend over 4 hours chilling out in the steam rooms.<br />
After a 2-hour road walk on the side of the highway you make your way back on trial. This section takes you thru many areas used for grazing livestock with puestos in sight almost all the time. Carizales a small settlement right on trail has a small store and the family also sells bread. There was also a puesto that sold us fresh goat cheese and Coca Cola. It is marked as a waypoint on the GPX file about 20km south of Carizales. Much of the trail is very dry and exposed and the landscape is void of trees and vegetation. There are many great places to jump into the river and cool off. The section up and around the lake offers great views of the mountains, volcanoes nearby and Laguna Dial. The trail itself is well established and never had any real trouble navigation. There were also quite a few hot springs on trail or close by.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: Hot and Exposed (especially in summertime). Resupply Distance.<br />
<br />
Highlights: Hot springs. Great sweeping views. Pools of cool water to jump into in the middle of the day.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions at Ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-17 / 7.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno and Martin <br />
<br />
7.5 days for this great section. We resupplied in el Médano and continued with the section. Just enough variety. Highly recomend eating harina tostada, a vital meal for the arrieros, nutritious and practical. Be minded tha in our camping ground in El Médano there were only three hours of electricity a day, may be hard to recharge. Regular trail was easy to follow, except on mountain pastures where is also likely to get your feet wet. Bought some food in Carrizales. Passed through the welcoming puesto of señora Irma for some eggs, bread and cheese. Irma te manda saludos Jan! Laguna Dial is amazing and we stayed one day fishing, resting and swiming in Lake Camp -2. We were invited for some mate and tortas by a local arriero.The Rio Gonzalez valley is a complete change of scenery, with forests which we enjoyed very much. Resupplying in San Fabián. <br />
<br />
After talking with the carabineros in San Fabián, we were told that we would not be allowed to pass through the RR near Volcán Chillán, in the last comisaria in El Roble, due to current volcanic risk. Trying instead an optional start further south, in Termas de Chillán. Maybe for next hikers it would be ok, but better to ask anyway.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-3 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Starting at El Medano, hiking the regular route southbound towards El Ingles. <br />
11km in we encountered a gate to get onto the trail with private property signs. However no one was there so we walked in without difficulty by walking around the fence (it was late Christmas Day however so it could have been quiter than normal). In general a nice route however when the track descends into cow pastures it gets very boggy and the track sometimes disappears. We did not think there were any dangerous spots. <br />
To resupply at the end of the section we took a bus in the morning from Los Sauces (10am) to San Fabian. We caught the same bus back at 1pm. Great selection of cheap food in the local ‘mountain’ supermarket and overall a good town for resupply options. It had methylated spirits for cooking but the bottle did not state the concentration. I suspect around 70%.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-29/ 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start at Cruze de Melano / Tyler & America <br />
<br />
We took our sweet time through this section. The optional start helped...as we were able to hitch all the way up to the RR at Carizales. (Bus from Talca @3, 2000 CP each) Hot springs near Carizales were warm & awesome. Two nice little tubs. We took our time and had a great time with all the arrieros along the way. Irma sells beer, wine, and delicious cheese. Other arrieros will welcome you in and treat you like family as well...so be sure to leave them with whatever you feel fit in return. All river crossings good, be diligent on filtering throughout this entire section. Dog at El Ingles shop bit me, so be careful with that. We camped down by the river for free. Bus leaves at 7:00 and 10:00 to San Fabian, and amazingly friendly town. We got a 1 bed Cabin at Cabanas Nativa for 30,000/N total. Pool, private bath & kitchen, ok WiFi, welcoming people. Fine town for re supply. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-18 / 4 days / Hiking / Optional/Exploration Route around Laguna del Maule / Lea Geibel & Kevin Moe <br />
<br />
After finishing section 5 we only had 4 days left before the end of our hiking time, so we decided to do some exploring in the area instead of following the regular route of section 7. We followed the main road to the Laguna del Maule where we roughly went in a loop around the Laguna (~60km) starting at the Chilean Border Control. We checked in with the border control and informed them about our plans (that involved to not cross into Argentina but stay in Chile, just behind the Border Control). It was no problem for them, we just had to go through the Border Control again on our way back to have our backpacks checked for food. The water level of the laguna is very low and walking along the shore is mostly easy travel on sand/pumice, however, sometimes can be rather rocky and tedious. We climbed up some of the 3000 meter peaks around the Laguna (that mark the border with Argentina), each of them offering beautiful views on the area. There are several beautiful hidden lagunas higher up in glaciers that are well worth exploring. We never followed any particular route but just headed cross country to whichever place we fancied, which is very easy in the open, sandy terrain. The Southern end of the Laguna has many flamingos living in it, the East shore is mostly untouched by humans and the east side has some puestos and fishermen (mostly on weekends and close to the roads) but we didn't see anyone around. Around the Laguna there is a very strong thermal wind that picks up during the day but dies down/weakens a lot during the nights.<br />
Highlights: all the views, swimming in laguna, lava fields flowing into the laguna, flamingos, numerous obsidian fields, empanadas de queso at the bistro right next to the border control (only open on weekends)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-24 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
7 days for this awesome section. Absolutely agree with all of Matus & Anna's remarks :-) We went to San Fabian (excellent resupply place) for some days off.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
Trail was in good conditon. <br />
River crossings were not a problem but plenty of water everywhere. <br />
In tienda in Carizales you can buy pasta, tuna, cola, beer some cookies. <br />
We bought huge chunk of cheese and some bread from Irma. It was amazing. <br />
Tienda in El Ingles is not best for resupply. We saw some tunas and pasta, but it was not enough for us to buy for next section. There is one more tienda down the road in Los Sauces but it was closed with no one around. <br />
We took bus to San Carlos which is leaving at 7am. <br />
We didn't find accomodation in El Ingles but it's possible to camp just before the bridge on the right side of the road.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Arnaud <br />
<br />
Great section, easy to walk, nice people met on the way.<br />
After 11km, we leave the road with a minor road in a private property (zona geotermica). After discussion with the guard, he let us pass by the rio, and not by the porton (to join the road 400m further) because the access on the road is prohibited... ;-)<br />
Then the uphill is easy until the top.<br />
Possible resupply in Carizales with elia, whose welcome with half a sandia was perfect (pasta, atun, frutas y verduras, harina tostada but no gas).<br />
Laguna del Dial is great to have some rest. Don't hesitate to plan to spend some time there. It seems to be a good spot to fish.<br />
With the state of the volcan chillan, we decided to skip the section 8 and have some rest in San Fabian.<br />
From los Sauces to San Fabian, the micro leaves at 11pm only.<br />
We stayed by the Anfer Domos of Edgardo Lopez (+56 9 630 91 627), which is a great place to have some rest (a little far from the centre (1km), but he lends bikes if necessary), cabañas Nativa were full.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-12 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank <br />
<br />
No access problem as you leave main road @ KM11, just go left around the fenced area & you will find a small track that leads up to the dirt road. Termas El Medano is last stop for bus but you can hitch first 11K. Don't expect much from shop in Carizales, contents listed by Matus are all she has. Irma, about a 1 day walk beyond Carizales has cheese, drinks in 2L bottles & sometimes bread. At Puesto 9 before Puesto Irma, fresh cold water comes up from the ground into a small pool, safe to drink without filtering. There is an arreiro living there so talk to him first. Very hot in Guaiquivilo Valley & as you go round Laguna Dial. Little shade in the valley & virtually none @ Laguna Dial. Spectacular trail down canyon on last day. You cross the river 8 times. Dogs @ Puente Ingles shop attacked me & if I didn't have a stick would have been bitten also. Camped down by Puente Ingles bridge but it's noisy on weekends & lots of horseflies. 2 buses out from Puente Ingles around 7 & 7:50AM<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
*El Médano<br />
<br />
Termas el Medano is a nice place as well, there is a big hot pool (with some cold currents in-between) and some smaller lukewarm ones, and you can swim in the river. The entrance is 1000 pesos, but if you camp at the nearby campground (3000 pesos per person), acces is free. There is also a minishop with sodas, chocolate, chips, sunscreen and a few other things - maybe some bread and flour, but nothing else for resupplying. There's also a restaurant with typical Chilean food, it was very busy when we were there but they do take away as well. The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961 - many others went when we were there, though. <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
*Bus Talca - Termas El Medano <br />
<br />
07:00, 12:30,15:00, 18:45<br />
<br />
from Terminal Talca<br />
<br />
<br />
*Bus Termas el Médano - Talca<br />
<br />
The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 am at the bus shed in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961. Otherwise it leaves from La Mina at 7 am <br />
<br />
<br />
*Bus from Puente Ingles around 7 & 10AM. Confirm times @ the shop. Bus back from San Fabián at 2 and 6 pm <br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT07 - Laguna Dial]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 13 Laguna Dial.PNG|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 21.jpg|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949889.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_73779722.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108320977.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108320982.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108320989.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321002.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 01.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 02.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 03.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 04.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 05.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 06 Puesto.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 06.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 07.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 08.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 09.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 10.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 11.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 12.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 14 Laguna Dial 2.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 15.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 16.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 17.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 18.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 19.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 20.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 22.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 23.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 25.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 26.PNG|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 27.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 28.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321024.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321027.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949851.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949853.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT08_(Volcan_Chillan)&diff=109038GPT08 (Volcan Chillan)2023-04-15T10:41:19Z<p>Joscha97: /* Images */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Apr-02 to 2023-Apr-06/ 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / El Roble - Los Peucos - Recinto / RR + OH03 / Hannes & Luisa<br />
<br />
Hitchhiked from San Fabian to way after El Roble, rather easy on weekends as it seems many locals around. Ñuble crossing with strong current and water above knees (me 185cm), but still ok compared to other months I think. Went up the mountain and into this valley with beautiful oak-trees. Getting out of this forest we crossed the river to the orographic left side as suggested by others...initially a good choice, all the same we had to switch like 2 to 3 times river bank to avoid some nasty Bush bashing...We reccomend to just open your eyes and see which side works best for you after the initial crossing at approximately -36.856679 -71.275261. After the last camp in the valley path clearly visible and steep ascent to the pass. After the pass we got into this amazing volcanic landscape east of Volcan Chillàn. After the second pass we descended to Aguas Calientes, hot thermal pools at the end of a valley surrounded by some green yellow pasture and loads of cows. Good spot to camp...Then we went to Termas Los Peucos, took us 3.5 days till there. Just for the pools they take 10k, pools and camp was 14k. As one of us felt little sick we decided to hitchhike out over OH03. Do not consider this an emergency exit as it is rather difficult to hh out there, very few cars on the road as access is limited due to a private tunnel and only Carabineros and some oil- and gas-pipeline companies are around there with their cars it seems. All the same we were lucky and got out to Recinto (further down in the valley of Termas de Chillán, near Las Trancas...) In this valley or if you get out at Termas de Chillán we highly recommend Cabañas Ayunkoyam owned by Vincente Ruiz in Recinto, +56999991737, call him before. For this rather expensive valley quite a good option. Vincente is a local mountain guide who seems to know every mountain in his country and is a nice guy to talk to.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Apr-02 to 2023-Apr-02 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / El Roble - Volcán Chillán - Termas de Chillán / Noémie<br />
Very short section because I got a lift from San Fabián until after El Roble (21.0), a bit before the end of the minor road. Carabineros checked ID and asked for sufficient equipment. Ñuble crossing was not that hard but I had water until my waist, even at the end of the season (I am 1m60 though...). Camped the first night at Camp {08} [29.5/1441], on the left bank of the river, where there was a bit of space. The next morning, it was a bit hard to go up the valley with all the dead trees and no path visible. Tried to follow fellow GPT hikers advices, but ended up crossing the river multiple times to find a walkable path without too many bushes, until Camp {08} [31.3/1629]. After this tricky part, both paths are beautiful and quite easy. The thermal river is amazing. There was plenty of space with beautiful hot water pools but also cold water at Camp {08} [40.4/2150]. The last day, I took OH {08-02} and OH {08-02A} to go up Volcán Chillán and then exit at Termas de Chillán. Beautiful ascent with no specific difficulty except the steep last 300 meters. The place is full of condors flying really close, super impressive. <br />
There are no housing options and no buses during the week leaving from Termas de Chillán. You can walk/hitchhike until -36.910163, -71.417798 where buses leave regularly everyday for Chillán. Found many cabañas options in Trancas de Chillán a bit further down. Overall, very beautiful and diverse section (forests, rivers, sand deserts, volcanos) with amazing hot springs!<br />
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* 2023-Mar-13 to 2023-Mar-18 / 5.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Abanico — Thermas de Chillán / Iris, Alexis <br />
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Starting from Los Angeles, we took a bus (at 12:30) towards Abanico and then two rides until the start of OH-MR-V {08-K} [0.0+0.1]. Then, there is a gate (after the Bridge, Gate {08} [126.7/1339] point) locked with a padlock but easy to climb. The CC section (RH-CC-A {08} [26.4/122.0+1.9]) is actually following the MR so we thought better stay on the road. When we reached Camp {08} [120.2/1520], it was completely dry so we continued a bit and found a nice spot in the forest (close to -37.32983, -71.39823).<br />
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On Day 2, we continued on the trail, simply taking the shortcut OH-TL-V {08-I} [0.0+0.2]. Then, we chose to take option 08-H to stay high, it was really beautiful. We stayed on the rim until a hard part and then we diverged on the trail that was present a bit below us. As other as noted, on RH-CC-A {08} [18.1/113.7+2.0] you follow a trail or a set of footprints. When the trail and the trace diverge, follow the trail, it is usually the best option. And don't miss Trailhead {08} [113.7/2184], we tried to go around it but regretted it. Then, the trail until Laguna El Robles (Camp {08} [98.2/1456]) is nice but the descent is steep. We believe the path has been cleared recently because lot of fresh fallen branches on the ground. On the lake, we camped on the east side but it was very windy. The other side looked more protected. <br />
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On Day 3, we followed the RR until Camp {08} [73.3/1104]. It was a rather uneventful day except we met a lot of arrieros in the morning that went for a wild bull hunt. The camp is nice and felt like a campground.<br />
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On Day 4, we hiked for just a few kilometers to reach the Thermas Peucos. It was a very worthy stop, an oasis in the middle of the hike : 10k PP for the camping and hot springs (stoned pools). We even bought a lunch from the minishop which has quite a nice selection. Like others, we used the option 08-C to avoid the pointless climb in the RR. <br />
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On Day 5, we did a rather long walk until Camp {08} [40.4/2150] to enjoy the natural pool. The trail is a bit overgrown after the thermas but nothing bad. The day was full of going up : 2500 on the tracks but the GPS said only 2100 at the end of the day. The hot springs are amazing, truly the best we encountered. And we were alone there. <br />
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On Day 6, we met a horserider when leaving the camp a bit angry because he did not sleep. He camped near a group that partied the whole night (we believe it was close to Ford {08-02} [1.6/2097]). Then, option 08-02 and variant A to ascend the volcan. It starts with a nice trail and ends up with sand that is really hard to climb. Nothing difficult nor dangerous but extremely tiresome. It took us 3h to go up but we enjoyed our lunch at the top! Then the descent is really fast, thanks to this sand (about 1h). The rest of the trail until Thermas de Chillán is a bit overrun, we met numerous hikers (but it was a Saturday). There, we hitched a ride until Recinto and took the 7:00PM bus to Chillán for a ressuply.<br />
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Overall our impressions on this section are a bit mixed. We enjoyed the numerous hot baths and the volcan summit but we were less amazed by the landscapes compared to the previous sections (of note as we did go up quite a lot, we probably were a bit too exhausted to truly enjoy it completely!) . Perhaps it is more rewarding when going SOBO? <br />
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* 2023-Feb-02 to 2023-Feb-08 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + emergency exit / Martial <br />
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Puente Inglés - Los Peucos - Antuco <br />
Super pleasant trekk in various landscapes and sweet hot springs. Met Ondrej at the start and shared the road walking before he eventually escapes in the first climb ! Met again finally at the hot river for a deserved rest after big climbing day. Next the descent to los Peucos is rather long with overgrown detour of the swamp at the end. That’s where my phone died for no reason. May it RIP with all my pictures :’( Still if there’s a good soul out there with a machete and long trousers feel free to save this beautiful trail ! Then los Peucos was a paradise oasis for a 14000$ 24h rest day. Not so expensive to me considering the quality of the hotspring service and resupply in the middle of nowhere ! « El Toro » hotspring is a once in lifetime experience for sunrise and had the all domain for myself 😌 Do not hesitate to stop there and meet Ricardo who doesn’t see many souls otherwise.<br />
4th night spent 3km down near los Peucos in a super recommanded magical waterfall bassins with perfect « nuit à la belle étoile » on the hot rock.<br />
After km 80 the forest is kind of colonised with annoying flyes and thermites wich makes it not an enjoyable place. Also recommend taking plenty of water from laguna el roble cause dry climb and ridge walking ahead (there’s still a little stream pond under a tree a few km after the pass if you look well). Arrived there in late afternoon with no place to camp and saw emergency exit on the right which triggered green light in my brain (as gear failures were acumalating and motivation low). Felt good after a few tears but the long road walking in the hydraucentral gave me some regrets until i eventually arrived in Antuco after hotish hitchhiking.<br />
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*2023-Jan-28 to 2023-Feb-04 / 7.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + volcán chillàn & volcán Antuco / Natalie & Tomáš<br />
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Day 1<br />
Got off the bus here (-36.67295, -71.29201) instead of los sauces for an easy ford. The bus driver knew of this place. The ford was here -36.67738, -71.28739, knee-high. We crossed around 3pm. The road section until the cabineros was surprisingly popular on a weekend, we got a 3km hitch but if we started earlier I am sure we could have hitched a lot more. The valley is nice though to walk in.<br />
The cabineros basically just wanted to know if we had a proper gps and map, we could not understand if they were telling us "not" to go close to volcán chillàn or just "warning" us, I checked online the day before and it said the volcano is in green but the cabineros said it was yellow.<br />
Made camp at the 17km way point because it was a good spot. Lots of unmarked water waypoints on the road such as; -36.69615, -71.27770 and -36.72718, -71.26420.<br />
Day 2. <br />
Crossed Nuble with no problems around 9am. The water was not strong but not totally calm and was under our crotches, I am 170cm and Tomáš is ~173cm. Hats off to the others that crossed when water levels were much higher! Remember to turn right and not left after the ford.<br />
The path was better than expected but still can be easily lost until the first pass at 33.2km. Thanks to the tip from Will we took the path on the other side of the river once out of the trees to avoid the blow down, somewhere around or close to camp 29.5. Hot pass.<br />
We made camp at the hotsprings after the second pass, their beauty and heat made up for the long day. There are a couple perfect spots near the hotsprings with some cold water for drinking, -36.90156, -71.35089. Spent two nights here. The hot springs are regular creeks, most of which in the valley are hot. Saw some locals camping in other spots, seems like a popular place.<br />
Day 3.<br />
Volcán Chillàn. Easy climb following the standard route but the last 600m was slow sandish-like material which made for a very quick descent. Instead of going back the way we came we followed an unmarked/unmapped "road" on the south side of volcán Chillàn that lead to switchbacks down to the hotsprings that we saw earlier that morning. Basically if coming from volcán follow the road east from here -36.89199, -71.38543 and aim for the switchbacks to the hotsprings camp here -36.90336, -71.36145. There is some dirty water on the way but very interesting and scenic. I am slightly worried about posting this because it is likely not meant to be walked, also not sure it actually saves time in compared to the normal trail but it allows for a nice rounddtrip. One can get Internet on the way to the volcano when the ski resorts is visible. Camped again at the hotsprings.<br />
Day4<br />
Nothing to add for this day, trail was nice and under trees a lot of the way, all fords easy or jump-able. Met two French who were doing the GPT northbound. Camped near the puesto 61.7 before the hotsprings, path was always there, just a little overgrown. <br />
Day5<br />
Trail to hotsprings was not that bad, just overgrown bamboo but otherwise nice. The hotsprings is not actually CONAF but a concession. Prices were as described 14mil for camping and 7mil just for hotsprings. If you want to buy food from them I recommend going at the beginning of the month as that is when they restock, for us there was still lots of food left but nothing fresh or good, very expensive. <br />
On the road we used option C to avoid the hill as others suggested (seems like the main road now) and as for variant D we did not see anything so we back tracked a bit and took a different unmarked trail here that was successful -37.06894, -71.39599 and forded river here -37.06857, -71.39158 to meet the RR.<br />
The trailhead at 81.0 is hard to see, be ready.<br />
That trail from 81.0 to the pass was more overgrown in my mind than the rest of the days but still not terrible. Camped on the other side 88.9 (actually a bit further down were nicer camp-spots with lovely short grass)<br />
Day6<br />
Somehow at camp 88.9 we woke up to frost over everything. Have no idea what kind of phenomenon this is because I don't think it froze (forecast was for 16 in the night) but even the little moisture in my breakfast bowl froze shortly after eating it...<br />
Quick trail to Laguna el roble except the trail is easy to loose just before the Laguna in the grassy section, keep climbing left towards an unmarked puesto here -37.20868, -71.33023.<br />
There should technically be a better water source than the lake itself at camp 98.8 but I just took water from the lake:S. The next pass towards the ridge was hot but easy. Good trail until you hit the X at 105.9. Then the path is harder to follow. The camp at 107.1 seems silly and would be better higher above the listed water source. We ended up going cross country all the way from a pass like structure here -37.25066, -71.38499 to Laguna Hermosa because there was a trail on the other side (a bit lower than official RR so it made sense to follow it elevation-wise) that eventually faded away.<br />
Laguna Hermosa was worth it as others have stated but unfortunately very heavy winds crept in that night. It was way less windy ok the East side of the lagoonwhich we only noticed in the morning.<br />
Day7<br />
Very heavy winds. We made a small short cut to the RR from the Laguna by heading west sooner. We considered turning around on the ridge as the winds were likely around 80km/hr at one point near the pylons but luckily since the route is not actually on the ridge the rest of the way was okay, still windy but not pushing us over. The rest of the ridge was no problem for us, slower of course since there is sidehilling and edging but nothing scary or exposed. There was no snow though.<br />
El Puesto at 121 had two dogs but did not see anyone. We camped at Laguna Laja (not nice) to climb Antuco the next day. To no surprise the restaurant and cafe at the ski resort are closed. Other than the water in the lake there are no good water sources past the last water source before El puesto if heading in this direction. There is Enter 3G coverage here.<br />
Day8<br />
Started early to beat the heat for Antuco. I turned back after the top of the ski lift because of a stomach bug (probably food but still nicer to vomit in the shade...) but Tomáš went on to finish the climb. The climb was was not worth it. The volcán is not black sand but rather loose rock (boulders to pebbles) which made especially going down annoying. After the ski lift there is virtually no trail. Plus the fact there was only a small crater on top and the weather was very hot and windy in the early morning. I think we were there during a small heat wave, supposedly the day before was 38°C in Antuco proper. After the climb we hitched to the campsite Lagunillas (10mil/person) in hopes of going back to los Angeles but after analyzing the smoke situation of the forest fires we stayed here and used it as a base for preparing for GPT09-10.<br />
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It took us 168 hours but without climbing the Volcans the trail could have been walked in five full walking days. End of January means there were virtually no horseflies. <br />
Nice trip but due to foot issues, things breaking down and a stomach bug at the end it was a bit of a suffer-fest for Natálie (Tomáš's new shoes are unfortunately painful too). However, the hotsprings, volcán Chillán, Laguna Hermose and the trees (especially the ones with usnea) made it worth while!<br />
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* 2023-Feb-02 to 2023-Feb-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 08-C / Ondrej <br />
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Puente Inglés - Camping Las Lagunillas <br />
Overall an extremely beautiful route, my favourite in GPT06-08. Compared to GPT06 and 07, this section felt most diverse but also most challenging to navigate. I accidentaly got off track much more often. Still, the route is visible most of the time except the last day after Laguna Hermosa. Even there, sticking to the gpx files makes the section easily passable. One just need to pay a higher attention to where their steps are placed. The fauna is quite rich too - I had a chance to see a tarrantula (the minor road on day 1), crayfish in the rivers, and a snake which I believe was Tachymenis chilensis (on the shores of Laguna El Roble). I believe this section is much more demanding in Dec or early Jan when snow is still present on the slopes. Horseflies were not a problem in my case. I encountered some between km 75 and 85 but that was far from frustrating. I recommend gaiters due to dusty roads in some sections. From thermas Chillan I haven’t met a soul until the end of the section.<br />
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Details:<br />
On the first day, it is easy walking on a minor road that winds through a forest so you can enjoy shade most of the walk! No complications, just need to climb some gates. I enjoyed a company of a fellow GPT hiker Martial, who shared some useful trout fishing tips and gear with me. We camped at the Nuble crossing. <br />
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Second day, Nuble crossing was no problem. Knee-deep at the recommended ford. Then I got lost in the forest numerous time. Checking the gpx frequently definitely helped. I followed the advice of others to cross the river and find a path om the right upstream side. That worked really well, didn’t have to cross any fallen trees! I camped at the hot springs - it is actually a whole thermal river. Amazing, amazing place. Loved to lay in it and watch the stars. Quite a few other people were there (some arrieros and a Chilean family) but there really was enough space for everyone. <br />
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The third and fourth day were rather uneventful for me. Very beautiful views along the trail, which was mostly through forests and relatively simple to follow all the way to 2km before Los Peucos. Even there the trail was visible, it was just overgrown. I worried about this part too much based on the previous reports. The path actually felt quite okay in my case. Unfortunately, no soul at Los Peucos. I saw a parked car and a horse, but no human in the area. So I decided to walk 3km more and camp at the next river ford at km 66.4. I also took option C as recommeded by other hikers below, it was perfect!<br />
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The 5th day was easy up to the laguna El Roble. Then the climb is quite demanding. Most importantly, there is hardly any water between Laguna El Roble and km106.1. I found a little stream at km102.8 but I wouldn’t rely on it. My strategy was to drink about 1 liter at the laguna El Roble (I filtered the water there as the laguna didn’t seem that clear) and then I took 1.5l with me. It lasted me all the way to Laguna Hermosa. Maybe next time I would take only 1 liter. However, I felt safe to have the reserves. Once you get to the pass, the views are beautiful, as is Laguna Hermosa where I camped for the last night. <br />
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On the 6th day, I started from Laguna Hermosa at 8am and reached the main car road around 3pm. The trail after Hermosa disappears and requires a lot of attention to your GPS to navigate. The scree traverses are entirely manageable. I had to think twice before placing my feet though. The trail becomes visible and much easier at km115 when the valley trail connects. No one was at the puesto at km121.1, just three dogs. Trekking poles were enough to fend them off. There is indeed a new metal gate with a lock at approx km 126. No guards are positioned there. I climbed the gate without issues. I then hiked to Camping Lagunillas. There is a very kind owner and his son. Really good people to chat with. After listening to my story they also let me a cabana for a price of camping (10,000 CLP) for the night. The owner’s son is keen to learn more about the GPT and to potentially hike part of the route too. The camping has a small almacen there with some lentils and rice to buy (however, the selection is not enough to resupply). They also sell beer, cookies and can make you a soft dinner and breakfast (empanadas, lentils, waffles, coffee, sandwiches). I hitchhiked to Abanico the next day. It seems there are many more buses from Abanico to Antuco/Los Angeles than just two these days. The bus schedules could be looked up on the Internet. I caught one at 9:30am. <br />
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* 2023-Jan-13 to 2023-Jan-18 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Start in Termas the Chillan opt. 2 than RR from 40km to 105.9 and finished using opt. 6. / Maks&Gabi <br />
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Trail is visible almost all the time. All the fords are easily passable. We had met arrieros 3 times, they were nice and helpful. One of them asked about why we are hiking, as there is a lot of people going this way, but he seemed to be okay with it.<br />
There is a lot of really horseflies especially between 83 and 93 km. <br />
There were also quite a lot of cows on trail, that were not so happy to see us, but we just walked around them (with some bigger distance). Be careful as the bulls seem to be very protective over the small ones. <br />
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Option 06A is probably overgrown - we spent about 15 min trying to find the trail but we gave up after all ( it was about 300m after crossroad ).<br />
Gate on 8.6km of option 6 was locked with the padlock, but noone was there so we just walked over the fence. <br />
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All other gates on all trail were easily passable. One of the arrieros just noted that we should close them after crossing. <br />
From the hydro powerplant till the end of the option 06B there were a lot of people working on a road but none of them seemed to have a problem with us being there.<br />
We hitch hiked to Antuco. <br />
It was our first try on the GPT (recommended by a local mountain guide from Termas de Chillan) and it was definitely worth it! <br />
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* 2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-08 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
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Probably my favorite section so far! A nice mix of remote alpine stretches, forests, and fields. However the horseflies made it hard to appreciate at times, they were pretty much constant during the later section around Laguna Laha.<br />
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I hitched from San Fabián around noon and did most of the road walk the first day. The campsite at 21.6 is fenced off. I stayed at 20.3 which didn't have great water access, just a muddy spring. Scrambling down to the river wasn't feasible but I found a bit of clean flow partway down.<br />
The Nuble crossing wasn't so bad for me, it was just below my waist (5'11/181cm). Still the hardest one so far. I found the trail afterwords pretty hard to follow, with lots of side paths eventually leading to thorny bushwhacking. It finally convinced me to pull the route up on my watch for the first time, definitely worth it here.<br />
A ways after the river crossing you'll come out of the woods into an open river valley. I recommend crossing the stream there and finding the path on the other side, instead of struggling through the blowdown/landslide debris along the gpx track.<br />
The trail was fairly slow from the Nuble crossing to los Peucos. After that it's super fast except for a few stretches in the mountains above the Laguna Laha. <br />
The natural hot springs just below the pass near the Volcan Chillan were very nice, but full of little flies. They didn't seem to bite.<br />
The camping at los peucos was very expensive, but they had a bit of food for sale (fruit!!). Comfy grass, wifi, well maintained bathrooms. The hot springs there were too hot for me, slightly painful.<br />
I missed option C and definitely regretted it. The road up was super rocky, and hot with no shade.<br />
The stretch above Laguna Laha was the driest I've passed so far. Thankfully there were a few snow fed streams/ponds left, but I should have carried more water to be safe. Laguna Hermosa was true to its name, a nice place to camp my last night.<br />
The main road at the end was pretty busy, you could hitch right away and skip the entire last 13ish km. But the extra little stretch of trail at the end was definitely worth it to me.<br />
It took me a while to get a ride to Antuco even though the road was busy. Most people were just going a bit further along. It's not the nicest town but there's decent selection for resupply. I got a room for 15k/night at a cabana/hostal place on Sgto. Aldea street. For some reason I didn't have cell service there, with Movistar.<br />
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*2022-Dec-28 to 2023-Jan-02 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Los Sauces - Antuco / Anna & Christopher <br />
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We took the bus at 6 pm from San Fabián to Los Sauces and camped next to the river.<br />
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The path until the river crossing of Rio Ñuble is basically a dirtroad, so we got there pretty fast. Only the horseflies were very annoying. We recommend bringing insect repellent.<br />
Christopher is 1.88m and the water went up to his navel at the main route crossing. Anna with 1.63m was not able to cross the river there.<br />
After some tries we found a possibility a couple of hundred meters upstream, where the water just went up to Anns knees. The tough part was to get up to the path on the other side. After some bush bashing, you have to get up a 3 to 4 meter high, almost vertical slope. We found a tree, whose roots we used to climb up, which was not super easy. Once you are up there, there is a good path that leads to the main route.<br />
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The next day was nice until the valley around km 25 (where the river is not correctly positioned in the gaia app). There are tons of fallen trees and it was really hard to get through and there was mostly no visible path. It's probably best to stick to the upstream right side of the river.<br />
Afterwards the path gets really nice. Especially in the evening sun, it was very beautiful to cross the volcanic landscape. We camped in the valley at km 40 at the hot springs.<br />
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The third day has a good path at the beginning. Just the last 3 km it gets more difficult, especially approx. 2 km before Los Peucos, where it's mostly bush bashing.<br />
The camping at Los Peucos is nice, as well as the hot springs, but we had to pay 14k CLP p.p. to camp there and in the evening there are tons of mosquitos. We would have camped a bit further downstream, if we had known that to be honest.<br />
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The next day we took option C, like Veronica suggested, to avoid an unnecessary climb. Then we made an unnecessary climb following the road and not the main path, because we couldn't find the entry to the path right away and feared more bush bashing. But the path looked great from above.<br />
The rest of the route until shortly after Laguna Hermosa was really good. There is not much snow left and therefore there are not a great many places to fill up water.<br />
After Laguna Hermosa the path gets very hard to cross, due to lots of stones and gravel without a visible path.<br />
But it's very beautiful up there and finally not hot anymore.<br />
The descend has a easy to find path but is pretty slippery. Once you pass that the rest is pretty easy until the road, from where we hitchhiked to Antuco. We stayed at Camping Rucue for 15k CLP the camping lot. You pay for the lot not per person.<br />
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* 2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-19 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + GPT08-02 / Véronica <br />
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Route: Los Sauces - Río Ñuble crossing - backtrack to Los Sauces - hitch to Termas se Chillán (GPT08 option 2) - Los Peucos - Laguna Laja - Laguna Hermosa - CONAF near Abanico <br />
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San Fabian is a great place, loved swimming in the Ñuble River when it got hot. The owner of Cabañas San Fabian is super kind. I hitched back to the trail because I didn't want to wait all day for the bus that leaves at 6pm. <br />
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Registered with the carabineros at El Roble, but I could not ford Río Ñuble at the RR crossing. Current was very strong, and has I been able to stand up in it, the water would have easily reached my chest (I'm165 cm). I tried several times to ford the river at three different places, several km apart from each other, with no success. I would advance in the stream until I felt I couldn't take another step without being swept, and couldn't get halfway across. I suppose I should have expected this - it's a very high snow year and mid-December. I even tried calling out for help at the puesto on the west side of the river near the "no trespassing" gates, but no one was there. The long walk back to Los Sauces felt very defeating. Also, the "wooden bridges" described by Jo and Veronika are actually only cable crossings, and inaccessible by two barbed wire fences. Not possible to cross the river there either. Ríos Los Sauces and Las Truchas only came up mid-thigh though. <br />
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Regained the GPT at Termas de Chillán, Option 2. Basicall took almost the whole second day to hitch there. Beautiful trail, but steep. You get to ford hot creeks, which was pretty cool. <br />
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The trail is overgrown in some places, the worst spot is between the last puesto before Los Peucos and Los Peucos. Very hard walking through, wished I had a machete. Only lasts a km or two thankfully. All three puestos before Los Peucos looked abandoned. <br />
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Didn't meet anyone at Los Peucos since I got there fairly early in the morning, but the hot springs there are amazing. Really hot, clear water, a little stone pool in a garden. Loved spending time there. <br />
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Taking GPT08-C avoids a pointless climb and descent on the regular route, and has a nice path the whole way. <br />
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Trail gets more difficult once you start climbing up to the ridge after Laguna El Roble. The views are incredible though, absolutely spectacular. Lots of water sources up on the ridge due to many lingering snow patches. Most of them are not a problem. After the junction with GPT08-06, the trail kind of disappears. Keep an eye on the GPS as you climb and descend steeply on the slopes. It reappears again after the following camp and water waypoints. <br />
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Laguna Hermosa still has a couple snow patches on its shores, cold place to camp, but beautiful. After Laguna Hermosa is where it gets really challenging. There is no trail afterwards that I could find, basically cross country the whole way to the TR at 116.8 km. As you approach the "trailhead" waypoint, there is LOTS of scree traverses, and steep snow patches which require microspikes or extreme clambering to get around. Treacherous in some places. I fell a couple times. The ground is very loose and unstable. Things get better actually once you reach the official cross country section at Laguna Lágrima. Still some steep bits, but the ground is more consolidated, and there's more bedrock to help with traction. I reccomend taking the optional route CC-08-H. There's a faint trail to follow and it avoids clambering up on the ridge. <br />
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Very glad to see a clear track again at 116.8. But still some problematic snow fields in this stretch above Laguna Toro, where it was too steep even with microspikes, and I had to do some very careful/serious climbing around. Not fun. Fell again here. Once you reach the long descent into Valle de los Carpinteros it gets much better. Still some snow in the woods over the creek. Right now you can walk on top of it like an ice bridge. There clearly was a LOT of snow here this past winter, it lingers until 1750 m or so in the south-facing valley. <br />
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The puesto at 121.1 looks abandonned too. Lots of downed trees in the area. There was no one, and no metal gate (or any gate) whatsoever before reaching the road in the National Park. <br />
<br />
The 4 days from Volcán Chillán to the end of the section, I saw no other human. I found this section also to be harder than GPT06, especially the last day. The snow complicates things. If you wish to avoid dangerous clambering and sketchy snow and scree traverses, take Option 06. The trail is good before then.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-28 to 2022-Feb-06 / 10 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo<br />
<br />
Los Sauces -> banks of Rio Ñuble -> hot springs at flanks of Chillan (-> escape to Concepción via Termas de Chillan to buy new shoes -> hot springs at flanks of Chillan) -> Los Peucos -> camp before Laguna Laja -> Laguna Hermosa -> camping Lagunillas (6 proper hiking days)<br />
<br />
Nice section again. Hot springs in the first half, beautiful views of Laguna Laja, Volcán Antuco, Siella Veluda in the second half. Laguna Hermosa is true to its name, and was the first to not have horse or cow droppings on its sandy shores :D Sad to not have crossed Molly and Melissa.<br />
<br />
- The lady at the cable car was not sure whether we could cross with our heavy backpacks, so we forded the river at Los Sauces.<br />
<br />
- From about km 20 the sides of the road are fenced. The camp at km 21.6 is no longer available. <br />
<br />
- There is a gate at S 36° 49.177', W 071° 15.206' (blocking access to the trail) marked private, no entry. We saw some cars returning through a second gate (blocking access to the river) and asked if it was ok to cross the first gate. They said "For you, sure." I get the impression that Chileans rather want to keep Chileans out... This gate is not a problem NOBO.<br />
<br />
- Fording Rio Ñuble was the deepest ford we ever did. Balls deep indeed! Quite doable though, as the water is clear.<br />
<br />
- There may be an alternative path on the western bank, starting at the wooden bridges at S 36° 49.177', W 071° 15.206'. Some local at the San Fabián tourist office mentioned having hiked this way.<br />
<br />
- The trail at S 36° 49.177', W 071° 15.206' (around km 30) has eroded. After searching, we had to push through some bushes on a steep ridge to continue the trail. Maybe more obvious NOBO.<br />
<br />
- At the start of the cross country at km 34.6 get to the top of the lava strip after fording the river. For us, this was easiest at S 36° 52.853', W 071° 18.793'.<br />
<br />
- The water at the camp at km 37.3 was mostly dried up. Don't count on it by the end of January.<br />
<br />
- The bus stop at Termas de Chillan is close go Hotel Nevados de Chillan. There are way more buses at Las Trancas de Chillan, 8 km down the road. Fortunately, the whole area has great 4G coverage with Entel, so you can look up the bus tables with the key words "REM bus Termas de Chillan".<br />
<br />
- The CONAF camp Los Peucos has excellent hot springs and a mini shop. Camping costs 10.000 pp. The guards are very friendly and donated some fruit :)<br />
<br />
- The CC section around km 95 had a clear path, but the subsequent TL section before Laguna El Roble did not.<br />
<br />
- The trail after Laguna Hermosa was hard to find, we went quite slowly clambering on the loose scree or sand. Going down the mountain ridge at the end of the CC section was similarly difficult. Fell twice - could not find solid footing on the slope.<br />
<br />
- The lady at the puesto at km 121.6 was friendly, asked where we came from, went to, and pointed us to the exit road. She seemed friendly, but a subtle hint to "please stay off my land" would have been lost on us in translation. The new metal gate is easy to pass through. The CONAF guard's wife at the final CONAF post mentioned that we were hiking the "sendero biologico" when we mentioned Laguna Hermosa. This trail must pass over the lady's land too?<br />
<br />
- The ATM at Antuco is broken.<br />
<br />
- Supermercado Santa Teresa in Antuco sells 125ml bottles of alcohol desnaturalizado 96° in the nail polish section.v<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Jan-24 / 6.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH Cerro Las Águilas / Molly and Melissa<br />
<br />
At the "gate" waypoint, we actually met two men installing a new metal gate. They told us we needed permission to pass, and that the owner would come by shortly. We talked to her, and at first she was very determined not to let us through. I don't know what convinced her - we showed her our garbage bag and shovel to show we would leave no trace, we told about the gpt and how far we had walked. She also expressed concern for her animals being disturbed, or that we would get lost. We then showed her our personal locator beacon, and she finally softened and told us we could go through if we payed 5000 pesos each and continued all the way to Laguna Hermosa, past her lands, before we made camp. She also owns the puesto marked on the route. If going northbound and wanting to avoid a potential conflict, it might be better to take the option along the ridge.<br />
<br />
We took the bus to Abanico and hitched to the national park, not the easiest as all the cars were full. The car was stopped at the entrance, and we had to explain our route. We weren't asked to pay, probably because we weren't really going to the national park. You walk a little through it though on some nice paths, and then you reach a gravel road. Shortly after, at the "gate" waypoint, we actually met two men installing a new metal gate. They told us we needed permission to pass, and that the owner would come by shortly. We talked to her, and at first she was very determined not to let us through. I don't know what convinced her - we showed her our garbage bag and shovel to show we would leave no trace, we told about the gpt and how far we had walked. She also expressed concern for her animals being disturbed, or that we would get lost. We then showed her our personal locator beacon, and she finally softened and told us we could go through if we payed 5000 pesos each and continued all the way to Laguna Hermosa, past her lands, before we made camp. She also owns the puesto marked on the route. If going northbound and wanting to avoid a potential conflict, it might be better to take the option along the ridge.<br />
As noted previously, after climbing to the ridge on the rr, the terrain is difficult, but the views are amazing. Not a lot of water, but we managed. Many of the campsites off route, including Laguna Hermosa, require quite a climb down.<br />
You stay high up quite a while, which gives amazing views. <br />
<br />
The cross country along Laguna Laja has a nice path all the way. Then you reach Patricio's puesto. He's very welcoming, and has had people stay in his puesto before. We just drank coffee with him though. His brother German lives in the valley right after Laguna el Roble, but his puesto is hidden in the trees.<br />
<br />
Alternative route Cerro Las Águilas<br />
We chose the Cerro las Águilas alternative, because Volcán Chillán was in yellow alert. While walking there, we met two carabineros on horseback who wanted to know which way we went. Don't know if they would have forbidden the rr. The ascent to Laguna el Lobo is through deep sand, it was very tough and took way longer than we thought. We ended up camping at the Laguna which was nice enough. The ascent from there of the first little hill seemed completely unnecessary to us, at least if you have been by the laguna, as you descend to the same level. It would be worth it to walk to the right and ascend directly on the brown mountain, following the GPS from there. The ridge walk was tough as well, a lot of scrambling. The GPS often wanted us to go right of the rocky tops, where going left or directly over often seemed easier/safer. There is no water until the valley between the two passes. There, we also found a nice campsite right after the big stream on the bottom, a little to the left.<br />
After reaching Rio Ñuble, you follow it for a long time. There are multiple streams running towards it where we had to take off our shoes - no lack of water here, though. The alternative also fords Rio Ñuble itself in a different location compared to the rr - we had no problems whatsoever there. It reached mid-thigh and wasn't too strong, and we are both around 160 cm. It is a very low snow year though, and very dry. Here would be a nice place to camp.<br />
<br />
After rejoining the rr, we decided to continue to the waypoint "camp". That was a mistake, though, as everything around there is fenced in with big signs saying "private property". The second campsite right after is not fenced in, but doesn't look that good on the first glance. The rest of the way to Puente Ingles is gravel road. El Roble has a house that sells sodas - it has a "bebidas" sign. <br />
We crossed Rio Los Sauces beneath the cable cars quite easily, the water was mid-thigh - again very dry year. <br />
<br />
Puente Ingles<br />
In Puente Ingles we stayed at a campsite a little north of the cable car crossing, marked on the map in Locus Maps as "lugar". It is 10,000 per tent, there are bathrooms, cold showers and tables. They also have a cabaña which was occupied. Puente Ingles has a small shop with sodas, ice cream, tortillas, biscuits, coffee and chips. It is quite nice to bath in the river. The bus still leaves at 7 and 10 in the morning.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2021-Dec-15 / 5.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony<br />
<br />
Beautiful view of volcán Antuco when walking up towards the ridge line by Laguna Laja and a staying at Los Peucos camping site was a big highlight on my journey on the GPT. Had my dinner in their wonderful hot spring while staring at the clear starlit sky in the cool night. Two nice guys working here and they even donated me some pasta, fruits and vegetables. Walking near the active Chillán Volcano and watching the fumaroles while being circled by a group of condors was also a cool experience. <br />
<br />
With that said, this section kicked my ass. Mainly due to some bad fitting shoes I recently bought in Los Ángeles and because I suffered from bad chafing in my butt which made me walk like I had shit my pants for a couple of days. This combined with some tough terrain (specially near Laguna Laja) and countless of horseflies made this section quite challenging for me. But definitely worth it! <br />
<br />
Like mentioned by hikers in the previous years fording Rio Ñuble can be a bit demanding especially for shorter people. It was getting late when I reached the river so I decided to camp nearby and cross the river in the morning. Had water up to the balls (i’m 189cm) and the current a bit strong but it was not too bad. <br />
Hitched a ride from Puente El Ingles to San Fabian and later jumped on a bus to Chillán to buy new shoes once again. Room with private bathroom for 15.000 at hostal El Molino in San Fabian, nice lady who owns the place.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*2019-Nov-10 / Jan Dudeck<br />
Volcan Chillán remains active. The regular route passes the crater closely therefore Option 1 appears currently the saver if someone does not want skip section GPT08 completely. This option passes the danger zone with more distance. In case of an eruption volcanic ash is likely to affect Option 1 but the risk of direct volcanic effects is lower (flash flood from melting snow and glaciers, land slides, lava and flying rocks). <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-30 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias<br />
<br />
Overview: <br />
Just want to say quick that the termas vapaors in Mèdano are worth checking out, I highly recommend them. Please consider checking them out, they are only ½ km off the trail and absolutely worth it. They are sauna boxes built around a few hot rocks emitting hot steam. The result is a steam room/ sauna experience. I personally spend over 4 hours chilling out in the steam rooms.<br />
After a 2-hour road walk on the side of the highway you make your way back on trial. This section takes you thru many areas used for grazing livestock with puestos in sight almost all the time. Carizales a small settlement right on trail has a small store and the family also sells bread. There was also a puesto that sold us fresh goat cheese and Coca Cola. It is marked as a waypoint on the GPX file about 20km south of Carizales. Much of the trail is very dry and exposed and the landscape is void of trees and vegetation. There are many great places to jump into the river and cool off. The section up and around the lake offers great views of the mountains, volcanoes nearby and Laguna Dial. The trail itself is well established and never had any real trouble navigation. There were also quite a few hot springs on trail or close by.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: Hot and Exposed (especially in summertime). Resupply Distance.<br />
<br />
Highlights: Hot springs. Great sweeping views. Pools of cool water to jump into in the middle of the day.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions at Ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-20 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option l start south OH 08 - 02 / Martin <br />
<br />
Solo. Because I was not allowed to walk close to the Volcanoe by the carabineros, following the RR, had to take the optional start south OH 08 - 02, in Nevados de Chillán Ski Resort. Funny enough, I walked the first day across the volcanoe anyway, it had some smoke coming out but nothing dangerous happened. Then followed RR to the end. Cross country segments in the ridge close to Laguna del Laja were demanding and not ideal for a solo hiker. But it was worth the effort, one of the most amazing views I have seen so far. Beautiful section. Resupplied and stayed for one night in Abanico.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-05 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR /Ty & America <br />
<br />
Can ford river @ los sauces easily rather than walking from Puente Ingles. Cable Car was all<br />
Locked up. Registration @ El Roble like the others. We camped at the hot rivers close to Volcan Chillan and I fucked up with the gasoline in my stove. Buzzkill...: but Fortunately there was an exit to Termas De Chillan close. We got rides easily from the road.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-03 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Starting at El Ingles and hiking southbound towards Abanico. Lovely section however can be slow at times when the track is hard to follow. <br />
We had to register with the Carabineros at El Roble. Before crossing Rio Nuble there is a large gate with ‘private property: no entry’ written on it. We found this off putting. The river crossing itself was fine in the early morning but could be challenging without trekking poles and with a very heavy pack. <br />
After the Laguna de La Laja the track becomes especially more challenging and rocky. In poor weather it could be dangerous given the slippery slopes and steep descents. <br />
We honestly found this section harder than GPT06 and would swap the difficulty ratings. <br />
Took a bus into Los Angeles at 5pm to resupply for the next section. Did not investigate Abanico as we caught the bus as it was leaving.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-02 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional hike along Laguna de la Laja / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Los Sauces to Abanico.<br />
<br />
Los Sauces: If you tell the bus driver you want to cross the river by cable car (carro azul) he honks at the bus stop and señor Marcial comes from the other side to get you.<br />
Ford Rio Ñuble: If you are a dwarf like me, you should ask your taller hiking partner to carry your backpack, otherwise it will get wet. Demanding.<br />
Volcan Chillan: PLEASE NOTE: We were absolutely aware that our buddy Volcano could erupt or explode at ANY GIVEN MOMENT and that this was NOT a SAFE option to hike. (But it was beautiful! ...and a bit overgrown in some places. There is not much of the trail left before the first pass.)<br />
Laguna de la Laja: It was beautiful but we definitively wouldn't recommend it. There is no trail along the Laguna. At the beginning you can walk on cow tracks close to the waterfront. Afterwards it's 15 km of cross country. The 3 km into the third inlet took us 3 hours and were really dangerous because of loose rocks and steep cliffs. The following investigation part (@08-04-#002) was mainly a quite nice trail, but we lost it twice and it took us ages to find it again, and in this steep and not very easy terrain you don't want to loose the trail. We were really glad when we got back to the regular route.<br />
From Abanico there are several buses per day going directly to Los Angeles. Resupply in Abanico is possible.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-30 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 1 / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
We had to register in Carabinieros. They didn't have a problem with leting us go even regular route, seemed like eventual crossing to Argentina is their primary issue. <br />
Optional 1 - to the juction with valley walk without problem. Cross coutry part on the ridge was easy to navigate. On downhill there is no trail so we went crosscountry again. It's bit overgrown in some spots, we found trail cca after half of descend. Last flowing water is before juction with valley walk. We saw some water holes cca 2-3km before Laguna de Lobo. <br />
Rest of the regular trail - cross coutry sections were demanding. Otherwise no problem. <br />
We got hitch to Los Angeles after CONAF station so no idea about resuply or accomodation.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Jan-13 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin Lizondo <br />
Volcán Chillán was in "alerta naranja".<br />
Río Ñuble impassable at S36° 50.188' W71° 14.935' Better continue following the minor road in the alternative route.<br /><br />
When hiking the alternative east route (Paso Aguila) do not descend to the valley at S36° 57.919' W71° 14.752'. It's unmantained and overgrounded, because of recent forest fires. Better stay above the tree line until Laguna El Lobo.<br /><br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
*Abanico<br />
At least one restaurant with pizza<br />
Store?<br />
<br />
*Antuco (from Abanico)<br />
Many smaller supermarkets, which have most things - easy enough to resupply here.<br />
One of the two ferreterías has gas (the one furthest from Abanico).<br />
Many accommodation options and some restaurants.<br />
There is an ATM at the town square which even gives some smaller notes.<br />
Bus to Los Angeles<br />
<br />
*Puente Ingles<br />
Store with chips, ice cream, bread, chocolate, sodas. Possibly some accomodation option at the store. Campground with one cabaña a little further down the room - sign says cabañas - 10,000 per tent, toilets with cold showers and a room with a fireplace for cooking<br />
<br />
*San Fabián (from Puente Ingles)<br />
Many accommodation options - almost everything was fully booked when we were there (Feb 2022). <br />
Supermercado La Montaña seems to be the best option - not the easiest place to resupply, but definitely possible. Harder than in Antuco.<br />
Great Venezuelan restaurant Canela Passion. <br />
Bus to San Carlos<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Feb-5: San Fabian to Puente Ingles <br />
Bus at 2 pm and 6 p.m. in front of the carabineros including Sundays and Holidays. <br />
<br />
*Puente Ingles to San Fabián<br />
Bus at 7 am and 10 am - leaves from the campground, drives to the shop and the back again towards San Fabián<br />
<br />
*Bus from Antuco to Los Angeles about once an hour in daytime. <br />
<br />
*A few buses from Abanico to Antuco or you can hitch fairly easily.<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT08 - Volcán Chillan]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:Segundo_Rio_Termal_zona_cascadas.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|This river is hot! Aguas Calientes Valley]]<br />
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (8).jpg|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Laja and [[Volcán Antuco]], by Matúš Lašan]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT09_(Volcan_Antuco)&diff=109037GPT09 (Volcan Antuco)2023-04-15T10:39:18Z<p>Joscha97: /* Images */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-10 to 2023-Mar-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH-1 / Iris, Alexis <br />
<br />
After a rest in Trapa Trapa at Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956], we started GPT09 in the morning. The ascent following RR-TL-V {09} [57.4/50.4+9.6] is a well marked horse trail that clims slowly, perfect for a start. Then, the RR-MR-V {09} [41.8/34.9+13.3] is flat and passes through a nice valley, a bit above the river but multiple streams crosses it. Like others, we took 09-C, but had no luck with hitchhiking and ended up walking the 11km. No problem at the border control. We finally ended up camping close to -37.46277, -71.31864 (aim for the big tree, and you will find some camp spot with firepits) after a pretty long day. <br />
<br />
On Day 2, we followed the RR and took Option 09-01 to climb the summit. We left most of our gear at the Pass {09} [16.8/2043]. It's better to follow the track for the first part, until the conic shape because it goes along a ridge and avoid pointless ups and down. Then, on the conic shape, you are on your own. We followed a trail made by a group of 8 hikers that were a bit ahead when we found it. It definitely helped as the parts without were really clambering. The views on the top and the small crater made it definitely worthwhile for us. Going down is much more easy and fun, you slide on the sand! As it was late in the season, we did not had any snow on our way but it sill took about 4h to go up (and 1 to go down).<br />
We ended up camping at Campamento Anfiteatro (-37.42427, -71.41517) pretty exhausted. The river here is really chalky but clean water is available from the ice cave.<br />
<br />
On Day 3, we took a small detour to see the tunnel of ice (worthy!) and headed down towards Chacay. Then we tried to hitchhike until Abanico with poor luck (on a Sunday morning). Took us 4 rides, but the last one went until Antuco. As there are also limited buses on Sundays, we then did more hitchhike to Los Angeles to ressuply. <br />
<br />
A short section but filled with great landscapes and stunning views. Plus you walk in a lava field! Definitely worth it, we really loved it! <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-14 to 2023-Jan-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + volcan Antuco / Martial / <br />
<br />
Combined with Section 10.<br />
Laja national Parc was reopened after fire preventive closure on 13/02. Took the bus from LA to Abanico at 4:30PM arriving late at Campamiento viejo (7000$/n) after walking cause poor hitchhiking at this hour (parc closes 17:30). Next morning much more efficient and someone droped me at the start after giving pre-order entry number to CONAF staff (was not important that my ticket was for the previous day).<br />
The ascent to Amphiteatro camping is quick and really well maintained trail. Then i strongly recommend visiting detour to the waterfall for a unique glaciar tunnel walking experience.<br />
Next CC on Antuco’s lava fields was real fun in perfect cloudy weather. Don’t miss the impressive lava bridge !<br />
After reaching the pass early, legs were feeling like summiting Antuco the same day so i decided to search for a high camp. Mission completed here at 2300m : -37.42532, -71.35615 with flat sand next to fresh clean water ponds from the snow. Summiting 2h after setting camp, sunset rewarded me with unique views on laguna Laja and massive Sierra Veluda. Just don’t get caught by the night or bad weather !!<br />
RR descent is sandy and hot traversing a sand deserted bareland so I strongly recommand the O9-C to avoid struggle like I did before shortening to reach the road. Had a meal from a generous family staying at the next Puesto + a hike to piedra del Indio. Then Vegas de Trapa is quick walking MR with lots of puesto and camping option so personally stoped here : -37.57620, -71.24127. Arrived in Trappa next early afternoon for sweet delights in the only shop fenced and garded by 3 dogs. Directly continued to section 10 for reaching puesto at 7.1 wich i also recommand for it’s comfy grassy camping and amable Mapuche family.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-23 to 2023-Jan-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 9c / Maks & Gabi<br />
<br />
Combined with Section 10.<br />
The road is nice and visible. There is no snow on the pass. <br />
At the entrance to the national park, the guards asked for permission, but when we told them that we were going to Trapa Trapa, they let us go. We slept at the camping inside the park (10000/person).<br />
We took a detour to see a waterfall by the glacier. It was about 4 km go and back. <br />
We camped right outside the national park, by the river. There were a lot of cows but none of them aggressive. We the took the optional route 9c and walked by the carabineros station.No problems there. Just explained that we are going to Trapa Trapa, without crossing the border. They checked out passports and let us go. <br />
There were no further surprises, and the road is really well maintained. Just be careful when going down to Trapa Trapa after rain. It's quite slippery. <br />
There is plenty of water along all the trail. <br />
The shop in Trapa Trapa is marked with a sign on the main road. They have some sweetest and noodles but not much more. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-21 to 2023-Jan-23 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Johana & Matouš<br />
<br />
We really enjoyed this section. We took a bus from Los Angeles to Abanico at 3 o'clock and then hitchhiked to the end of the main road. We arrived at the CONAF control point with no one there (7 p.m.). We slept at the Lagunillas camping, which was for 10000 per person, they had beers, jugos, empanadas, tortillas..We teamed up with Gabi and Max from Poland and enjoyed their company throughout the section (hello! :-)). The ascent to the volcano was amazing, looked like Mordor. Near the point "Campamento Anfiteatro" there's a waterfall that ends in a snowpatch whereby it creates a cave of ice. It's amazing. You can see it from the distance. There's clean water as well, the next clean water is on the other side of the volcano in the valley. We confirm that there's no need to stay away from the carabineros anymore, they only took down our passport numbers. Then it was easy walking until after the pass. We camped at a nice spot in the forest next to the river (S 37° 40.6391' W 071°14.1985). We somehow didn't manage to find the food/lodging point, but were approached by an older lady who fed us cookies and seemed to know a lot about other hikers. There are said to be three shops in Trapa Trapa, we only found the one next to the school which had only biscuits. Continued to GPT10 straight after.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-10 to 2023-Jan-12 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
<br />
Combined with section 10<br />
Nice easy section, loved crossing the fresh crunchy volcanic wasteland at the start. Everything after that was fast trail. Mild temperatures, no horse flies.<br />
I had some trouble getting back from Antuco to the trail. I got told a couple wrong times for the bus, and had no luck during my quick hitchhiking attempt. Eventually caught a bus to abanico at 2, and then two rides got me into the park. The couple driving me spoke for me at the park entrance, and I ended up having to pay 4500 for the entrance. I probably should have gotten out and talked my way through separately.<br />
I stayed at openstreetmap's amphitheater campsite night 1. Nice sheltered spot at the base of sierra velluda, soft sand.<br />
The camp/puesto markers at km 47 seem a bit out of date. There wasn't much at the puesto maker, and there was a puesto right at the campsite marker. The family at the puesto happily let me camp there.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-06 to 2023-Jan-08 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Anna & Christopher <br />
<br />
Antuco - Trapa Trapa<br />
We hitchhiked from Camping Rucue back to the national park. The landscape was really magnificent the first day. There was almost no snow left after the pass.<br />
After the descent walking gets tougher due to the sand and the path is partially hard to find.<br />
But after the second roadcrossing there is a lot of easy walking on dirt roads. <br />
Atfter leaving the river at around km 47, there is still accessible water in the first part of the small ascent. On the plateau there are no watersources until the descent. We carried some water and camped on the plateau, a very nice spot.<br />
Walking down to Trapa Trapa was really nice. We followed the main route. In retrospective we would have taken option 3, because it is shorter.<br />
We met a couple of locals along the way and they all greated us very nicely. Trapa Trapa was pretty empty when we arrived at around 11 am. We continued right to section 10.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-23 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica <br />
<br />
combined GPT09 and GPT10<br />
Route: CONAF waypoint - shoulder of Volcán Antuco - road through border control checkpoint - Trapa Trapa <br />
<br />
Two days from national park to Trapa Trapa. From Antuco, I hitched back to the national park and got there around noon. Didn't get charged an entry fee, I just told the entrance staff what trail I planned to take. Nice path most of the way up the volcano, even the CC section has occasional cairns marking the way. You go along a creek as you go up, so lots of accessible water. <br />
<br />
Lots of snow on the southeast side of the pass. Tried to go around on the right along/through the rocks, but it's mostly siltstone, very crumbly, and very steep. Got really precarious there so I backtracked to the pass and went around the snow on the left. This involved climbing an additional 150m through volcanic sand, but it felt much safer. The rest of the way down is pretty much all cross-country, couldn't really find a path, but navigation was simple. There were some water sources on the way down too, courtesy of the melting snow. <br />
<br />
The next morning, I took Option C that goes along the dirt road. There was no one at the border control checkpoint, probably because I went through before 7 a.m. <br />
<br />
Rest of the way to Trapa Trapa is easy, no issues whatsoever. It's nice and forested on the south side of the pass. I didn't investigate resupply or bus options in Trapa Trapa as I went straight through to GPT10. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
*2022-Mar-01 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain <br />
<br />
- Camp {09} [47.1/1709] : I slept around 47.5, the place was calm, flat, with grass and close to the water (that was finally not usable because there was too much sand in, but you can easily find drinkable water when going down the valley), many people from the puestos came to talk as it seemed to be the end of the season, it was really pleasant. One offered me to come by him but it was late and I was too tired to move by him, I tried to meet him back the day after but I didn't find his puesto with its indications<br />
<br />
- The valley from Puesto {09} [49.3/1820] to Puesto {09} [39.8/1558] : very pleasant, with nice people in, I really liked this place. The water in the middle isn't usable but you can find fresh drinkable water going down from the hills at some points<br />
<br />
- There is a Puesto around {09} [37.0/1512], people were nice and asked me if I needed anything<br />
<br />
- The way on RR-TL-V {09} just after GPT09-C end isn't easy to find, just stick to the GPS until meeting a road leading to a Puesto close to the river at the Ford on Rio de los Pinos, then it's much easy to follow<br />
<br />
- I got an excellent bath when crossing the river close to GPT08-04 end, the water coming from one river was warm and there was enough depth <br />
<br />
- the CC from GPT08-04 end to GPT09-02 end was beautiful but demanding because of the soil made of earth and sand, it took me more time than I thought. After having cross the river I got close to an other one with many cows next to it, following it at one point a source of clear drinkable water was running on 3-4m to reach the river<br />
<br />
- There is a Campbase with many places cleaned to set up tents and do campfires close to the river following up the road around Bridge {09} [23.3/1409]. It's located at the base of a huge araucaria tree, you can't miss it<br />
<br />
- After the RH-CC-A {09} the RH-TL-V {09} is easily findable just by looking at the GPS and is marked with many cairns<br />
<br />
- National Park : when leaving it I went to see the guards at the entrance and they were ok with that, didn't ask for any information or fee<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-09 to 2022-Feb-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
Took the bus from Antuco to Abanico, got a ride by a friendly Chilean to the national park (no camping allowed). Had to pay entry to the park. Took the CC route avoiding the carabineros to camp in the meadows just beyond the park (S 37° 27.927', W 07). There was a spring emptying in the meadows there. Finished after a long hiking day at Elvira's "lodging, food". Very friendly family, took us in even after 21:00. Understandably there was no goat stew, but we also only payed half price (20.000). Great homemade bread in the morning though :) Continued to GPT10 immediately after.<br />
<br />
In the first morning when breaking down camp, we were greeted by two carabineros on horseback, who may have been surprised at the sight of our tent out of sight next to a sand slope. They asked who we were, where we're from and where we're going too, and didn't mind us camping there. No questions about the border with Argentina after. I guess there's no need to stay away from the carabineros here any longer.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-21 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + Antuco summit / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
In Trapa Trapa, we stayed at the house marked "lodging, food". They charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there.<br />
<br />
The path up from Trapa Trapa starts next to the river. Nice path all the way, that transitions to a long gravel road, very easy to follow and many little streams. We camped at the beginning of the next valley at the waypoint "ford". The second to last puesto, on the right hand, belongs to Felizario whose family has the lodging option in Trapa Trapa. He is open to people camping nearby.<br />
<br />
The cc section is easy navigation-wise, but the sand is tough to walk in, and it is very exposed. There's little water apart from the fords, but enough. The water coming down from the valley next to Volcan Antuco is very chalky though, and at the waypoint "camp" the stream is all dried up. Further in the valley the water is fine, and it might be possible to find a campsite just before leaving the stream on the optional route.<br />
The building at the "police" waypoint is abandoned. We ended up camping by the carabineros at the "boarder control" waypoint.<br />
While walking on the primary road we were stopped by a boarder control car who wanted to see our passports and pase de movilidad (covid-19) and hear about our route. There were no problems with that. He was very convinced we couldn't cross to Abanico through the pass on the regular route because there wasn't a trail on the other side, but he let us try. Absolutely no snow in the pass on Volcán Antuco's shoulder - apparently it's a very low snow year<br />
<br />
Volcán Antuco summit:<br />
We followed the route up, it leads along the ridge to avoid the very strong stream in the valley. This part is not too difficult. The summit itself is very hard, though. It's very steep through loose, big lava rocks that slide everywhere. Tough and a little dangerous. On the other side, the terrain is made of the same kind of rocks for over half of the descent, which makes for a very slow going. Maybe there is a nicer path under the ski lifts, we found one almost in the end. Definitely not worth it for everyone.<br />
The place marked "restaurant, lodging" was closed - apparently they are open only during the ski season. Not too difficult to hitch from there if not too late<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes<br />
<br />
Overview: <br />
This section has you cross over a volcanic lava field and over a pass at first and then follows trails south thru and area with many puestos and ranches. The first part of this section involves some route finding and cross country while the second half follows well established dirt roads and dirt trails thru grass Valley.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: <br />
WARNING: Huge snow field at the top of the pass that is untraversable. It is very steep and must be avoided if not yet melted. Must go around so please be safe. My biggest difficult was the sections across the lava rocks. My shoes were almost destroyed by this point and the sharp, jagged and uneven surface of the lava rock caused so much pain in my feet and completely took out what ever life was left in my trail runners. Also, lots of route finding and cross country in this area. <br />
<br />
Highlights: Amazing mountain pass with many views of waterfalls. Glaciers.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-22 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT19) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin <br />
<br />
Combined sections 9 & 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in "veranadas" were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-22 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank <br />
<br />
2 days & continued to GPT10 on 2nd day.<br />
There is at least one place to stay in Abanico & as you go on the road past Abanico towards the park there are a few cabins & one campsite. In the park @ small lake 2K before Conaf1 there is a campsite with cabins. You pay 4000CLP entry @ Conaf but I went in before 8AM, no one there. At the pass, around 2050M on the shoulder of Antuco, I was able to slide down the lowest part of the snowfield. Northbound or earlier in the season you may need to go around it. <br />
Virtually no shade on this route. 3 small shops in Trapa Trapa. Last one, Provisiones Bety, has a rest area, she sometimes has bread. <br />
<br />
Went on OH-PR-V@09-B-#002, talked to Carabineros @ Border Control & told them I would stay in Chile & continue to Trapa Trapa. They were OK with that & didn't ask to see my passport, so I would say there is no need to divert around the border post any more.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-15 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Easy hitch from Abanico to the start of the National Park (~10km into the section). The CONAF station at the park entrance took us longer than expected to pass through and explain what we were doing (they appeared to be unsure as to whether we were crossing the border into Argentina or not). However after explaining our route to them they let us pass without paying the entrance fee to the national park. The cross country sections were easy to navigate and overall the trail was of good quality.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-10 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
We passed the big snowfield at the right side through the rocks, as Matus suggested. It was steep but ok and definitively the shorter way around the snow. Nothing to add to the previous comments. In Trapa Trapa we continued straight to Section 10.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-04 / 3.5 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log. <br />
We combined these two sections. <br />
Trail in both section is in good condition. There is snowfield in first pass as was mentioned. We went left, but it would be worth to check is it's possible to go through rocks on the right as it seems much shorter. <br />
Water is not marked on a map but there is a stream before the pass. <br />
Resuply in Trapa Trapa is very limited. They had few tunas, other caned fish, some pasta, flour, cola, crisps... We didn't check for accomodation. <br />
We stayed in a paid campsite at Laguna el Barco for 5000 both. Around 8 there was a woman selling bread and sweet pastry, but mind that it was weekend. <br />
Resuply in Guallali again very limited. They have tunas, caned fish, pasta, oil, crackers and bit more. We are staying in a house next to the shop.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Antuco<br />
Many smaller supermarkets, which have most things - easy enough to resupply here.<br />
One of the two ferreterías has gas (the one furthest from Abanico).<br />
Many accommodation options and some restaurants.<br />
There is an ATM at the town square which even gives some smaller notes<br />
<br />
Also panaderias (one selling good sopaipillas for $300 if you haven't tried yet), restaurants but also food truck, brewery<br />
<br />
*Abanico<br />
At least one shop. A pizzeria<br />
Bus to Antuco/Los Angeles<br />
<br />
*Trapa Trapa<br />
3 shops but they are all small. They all have biscuits & soft drinks. First one has ice cream & flour. Second one has pasta, matches, chocolate, canned fish. Third one ( Provisiones Bety) sometimes has bread.<br />
<br />
Accomodation in a small room at the waypoint "lodging, food" - 20,000 pesos for dinner, breakfast and accommodation. <br />
<br />
Bus to Ralco<br />
<br />
*Cabañas<br />
<br />
Cottages and Campsite $ of the Natural Park around 1-2km going in direction of the entrance from the GPT, swimming pool and places to rest, seems cosy, I don't know the price as I didn't camp there but it seemed to be open. You can find it on the classic map. The website of the place : https://www.parqueantuco.cl/<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
Bus from Los Angeles to Antuco about once an hour in daytime. A few of them continue to Abanico or you can hitch fairly easily.<br />
<br />
Updated January 2022: Bus from Trapa Trapa to Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends<br />
<br />
- Many people going and coming from the National Park, it hadn't been easy to hitchhike to reach Antuco but it worked<br />
<br />
- Bus from Antuco to Santiago - Terminal Sur leaving at 21:30 and arriving at 6:30<br />
<br />
Company : Nilahue<br />
<br />
$26.300 for semi-cama<br />
<br />
Commentaries : "cheap" company, no USB-plugs, not much space for the legs, the bus stop is at the entrance of Antuco coming from the Andes, it's a shelter made of bricks just next to a food truck selling fries and hamburgers<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
This is the only place where it is strongly recommended to sneak around a police station. This recommendation applies in particular to all non-Chileans going southbound.<br />
The reason: The forward border control Pichachen is located about 20 km before the actual border. And only here the regional superiors of the PDI (Policia de Investigation) came up with the silly rule that everyone that passes the border control post towards Argentina gets stamped out of the country regardless if he leaves Chile or not. They simply ignore the fact that a few kilometers down the main road at Piedra del Indio long before reaching Argentina a horse trail diverts towards the next village in Chile called Trapa Trapa. Should you get an exit stamp into your passport but continue to hike in Chile you will be an illegal alien without a valid tourist visa. This may not instantly cause you a problem but the next time you want to leave Chile orderly i.e. from an airport the immigration system will show that you illegally in Chile and the police will assume that you trespassed into Chile. And that’s taken pretty serious. Forget about your flight and your further travel plans.<br />
Every hikers that passed this border control got into some kind of trouble and caused these officers a headache. Some hikers could convince them after long discussions to pass without an exit stamp. Some hikers got and exit stamp and run into problems later. Some hikers pretended to walk back and took a partly overgrown route to walk around the border control. When we hiked this section in January 2014 I got unasked an exit stamp while they “just checked my documents” but luckily after a long talk I could convince them to give me a new entry stamp.<br />
You can’t blame these poor officials at the border control for this situation; they understand these occasional hikers but their regional superiors gave them strict orders. In short: this place is a potential disaster for hikers and hikers are a disturbance for these officials.<br />
Therefore, to avoid this issue I simply rerouted the regular hiking route to bypass the border control post Pichachen. It’s easier for everyone: for the hikers and for the poor police officer that have to comply with this silly order. The re-routed track leads cross country through the normally dry lake bed of the Laguna de Las Lajas and just crosses the main road at the diversion to Trapa Trapa. Walking around the border control may be suspicious but is not illegal and saves everyone nerves and endless discussions. It actually prevents you from getting into an illegal migration status while staying in Chile.<br />
The Regular Packrafting Route anyway bypasses the border control.<br />
Luckily this is the only border control post I’m aware off where such a stupid rule is applied. In many other forward border controls you need to proactively approach the police and request your exit stamp if you plan to leave Chile. Should you just visit the area between the border control and the actual border you can normally just pass or explain your intentions.<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT09 - Volcán Antuco]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT09-Laguna_de_las_Lajas.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
<br />
[[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT09_(Volcan_Antuco)&diff=109036GPT09 (Volcan Antuco)2023-04-15T10:38:59Z<p>Joscha97: </p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-10 to 2023-Mar-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH-1 / Iris, Alexis <br />
<br />
After a rest in Trapa Trapa at Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956], we started GPT09 in the morning. The ascent following RR-TL-V {09} [57.4/50.4+9.6] is a well marked horse trail that clims slowly, perfect for a start. Then, the RR-MR-V {09} [41.8/34.9+13.3] is flat and passes through a nice valley, a bit above the river but multiple streams crosses it. Like others, we took 09-C, but had no luck with hitchhiking and ended up walking the 11km. No problem at the border control. We finally ended up camping close to -37.46277, -71.31864 (aim for the big tree, and you will find some camp spot with firepits) after a pretty long day. <br />
<br />
On Day 2, we followed the RR and took Option 09-01 to climb the summit. We left most of our gear at the Pass {09} [16.8/2043]. It's better to follow the track for the first part, until the conic shape because it goes along a ridge and avoid pointless ups and down. Then, on the conic shape, you are on your own. We followed a trail made by a group of 8 hikers that were a bit ahead when we found it. It definitely helped as the parts without were really clambering. The views on the top and the small crater made it definitely worthwhile for us. Going down is much more easy and fun, you slide on the sand! As it was late in the season, we did not had any snow on our way but it sill took about 4h to go up (and 1 to go down).<br />
We ended up camping at Campamento Anfiteatro (-37.42427, -71.41517) pretty exhausted. The river here is really chalky but clean water is available from the ice cave.<br />
<br />
On Day 3, we took a small detour to see the tunnel of ice (worthy!) and headed down towards Chacay. Then we tried to hitchhike until Abanico with poor luck (on a Sunday morning). Took us 4 rides, but the last one went until Antuco. As there are also limited buses on Sundays, we then did more hitchhike to Los Angeles to ressuply. <br />
<br />
A short section but filled with great landscapes and stunning views. Plus you walk in a lava field! Definitely worth it, we really loved it! <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-14 to 2023-Jan-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + volcan Antuco / Martial / <br />
<br />
Combined with Section 10.<br />
Laja national Parc was reopened after fire preventive closure on 13/02. Took the bus from LA to Abanico at 4:30PM arriving late at Campamiento viejo (7000$/n) after walking cause poor hitchhiking at this hour (parc closes 17:30). Next morning much more efficient and someone droped me at the start after giving pre-order entry number to CONAF staff (was not important that my ticket was for the previous day).<br />
The ascent to Amphiteatro camping is quick and really well maintained trail. Then i strongly recommend visiting detour to the waterfall for a unique glaciar tunnel walking experience.<br />
Next CC on Antuco’s lava fields was real fun in perfect cloudy weather. Don’t miss the impressive lava bridge !<br />
After reaching the pass early, legs were feeling like summiting Antuco the same day so i decided to search for a high camp. Mission completed here at 2300m : -37.42532, -71.35615 with flat sand next to fresh clean water ponds from the snow. Summiting 2h after setting camp, sunset rewarded me with unique views on laguna Laja and massive Sierra Veluda. Just don’t get caught by the night or bad weather !!<br />
RR descent is sandy and hot traversing a sand deserted bareland so I strongly recommand the O9-C to avoid struggle like I did before shortening to reach the road. Had a meal from a generous family staying at the next Puesto + a hike to piedra del Indio. Then Vegas de Trapa is quick walking MR with lots of puesto and camping option so personally stoped here : -37.57620, -71.24127. Arrived in Trappa next early afternoon for sweet delights in the only shop fenced and garded by 3 dogs. Directly continued to section 10 for reaching puesto at 7.1 wich i also recommand for it’s comfy grassy camping and amable Mapuche family.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-23 to 2023-Jan-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 9c / Maks & Gabi<br />
<br />
Combined with Section 10.<br />
The road is nice and visible. There is no snow on the pass. <br />
At the entrance to the national park, the guards asked for permission, but when we told them that we were going to Trapa Trapa, they let us go. We slept at the camping inside the park (10000/person).<br />
We took a detour to see a waterfall by the glacier. It was about 4 km go and back. <br />
We camped right outside the national park, by the river. There were a lot of cows but none of them aggressive. We the took the optional route 9c and walked by the carabineros station.No problems there. Just explained that we are going to Trapa Trapa, without crossing the border. They checked out passports and let us go. <br />
There were no further surprises, and the road is really well maintained. Just be careful when going down to Trapa Trapa after rain. It's quite slippery. <br />
There is plenty of water along all the trail. <br />
The shop in Trapa Trapa is marked with a sign on the main road. They have some sweetest and noodles but not much more. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-21 to 2023-Jan-23 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Johana & Matouš<br />
<br />
We really enjoyed this section. We took a bus from Los Angeles to Abanico at 3 o'clock and then hitchhiked to the end of the main road. We arrived at the CONAF control point with no one there (7 p.m.). We slept at the Lagunillas camping, which was for 10000 per person, they had beers, jugos, empanadas, tortillas..We teamed up with Gabi and Max from Poland and enjoyed their company throughout the section (hello! :-)). The ascent to the volcano was amazing, looked like Mordor. Near the point "Campamento Anfiteatro" there's a waterfall that ends in a snowpatch whereby it creates a cave of ice. It's amazing. You can see it from the distance. There's clean water as well, the next clean water is on the other side of the volcano in the valley. We confirm that there's no need to stay away from the carabineros anymore, they only took down our passport numbers. Then it was easy walking until after the pass. We camped at a nice spot in the forest next to the river (S 37° 40.6391' W 071°14.1985). We somehow didn't manage to find the food/lodging point, but were approached by an older lady who fed us cookies and seemed to know a lot about other hikers. There are said to be three shops in Trapa Trapa, we only found the one next to the school which had only biscuits. Continued to GPT10 straight after.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-10 to 2023-Jan-12 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will <br />
<br />
Combined with section 10<br />
Nice easy section, loved crossing the fresh crunchy volcanic wasteland at the start. Everything after that was fast trail. Mild temperatures, no horse flies.<br />
I had some trouble getting back from Antuco to the trail. I got told a couple wrong times for the bus, and had no luck during my quick hitchhiking attempt. Eventually caught a bus to abanico at 2, and then two rides got me into the park. The couple driving me spoke for me at the park entrance, and I ended up having to pay 4500 for the entrance. I probably should have gotten out and talked my way through separately.<br />
I stayed at openstreetmap's amphitheater campsite night 1. Nice sheltered spot at the base of sierra velluda, soft sand.<br />
The camp/puesto markers at km 47 seem a bit out of date. There wasn't much at the puesto maker, and there was a puesto right at the campsite marker. The family at the puesto happily let me camp there.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-06 to 2023-Jan-08 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Anna & Christopher <br />
<br />
Antuco - Trapa Trapa<br />
We hitchhiked from Camping Rucue back to the national park. The landscape was really magnificent the first day. There was almost no snow left after the pass.<br />
After the descent walking gets tougher due to the sand and the path is partially hard to find.<br />
But after the second roadcrossing there is a lot of easy walking on dirt roads. <br />
Atfter leaving the river at around km 47, there is still accessible water in the first part of the small ascent. On the plateau there are no watersources until the descent. We carried some water and camped on the plateau, a very nice spot.<br />
Walking down to Trapa Trapa was really nice. We followed the main route. In retrospective we would have taken option 3, because it is shorter.<br />
We met a couple of locals along the way and they all greated us very nicely. Trapa Trapa was pretty empty when we arrived at around 11 am. We continued right to section 10.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-23 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica <br />
<br />
combined GPT09 and GPT10<br />
Route: CONAF waypoint - shoulder of Volcán Antuco - road through border control checkpoint - Trapa Trapa <br />
<br />
Two days from national park to Trapa Trapa. From Antuco, I hitched back to the national park and got there around noon. Didn't get charged an entry fee, I just told the entrance staff what trail I planned to take. Nice path most of the way up the volcano, even the CC section has occasional cairns marking the way. You go along a creek as you go up, so lots of accessible water. <br />
<br />
Lots of snow on the southeast side of the pass. Tried to go around on the right along/through the rocks, but it's mostly siltstone, very crumbly, and very steep. Got really precarious there so I backtracked to the pass and went around the snow on the left. This involved climbing an additional 150m through volcanic sand, but it felt much safer. The rest of the way down is pretty much all cross-country, couldn't really find a path, but navigation was simple. There were some water sources on the way down too, courtesy of the melting snow. <br />
<br />
The next morning, I took Option C that goes along the dirt road. There was no one at the border control checkpoint, probably because I went through before 7 a.m. <br />
<br />
Rest of the way to Trapa Trapa is easy, no issues whatsoever. It's nice and forested on the south side of the pass. I didn't investigate resupply or bus options in Trapa Trapa as I went straight through to GPT10. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
*2022-Mar-01 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain <br />
<br />
- Camp {09} [47.1/1709] : I slept around 47.5, the place was calm, flat, with grass and close to the water (that was finally not usable because there was too much sand in, but you can easily find drinkable water when going down the valley), many people from the puestos came to talk as it seemed to be the end of the season, it was really pleasant. One offered me to come by him but it was late and I was too tired to move by him, I tried to meet him back the day after but I didn't find his puesto with its indications<br />
<br />
- The valley from Puesto {09} [49.3/1820] to Puesto {09} [39.8/1558] : very pleasant, with nice people in, I really liked this place. The water in the middle isn't usable but you can find fresh drinkable water going down from the hills at some points<br />
<br />
- There is a Puesto around {09} [37.0/1512], people were nice and asked me if I needed anything<br />
<br />
- The way on RR-TL-V {09} just after GPT09-C end isn't easy to find, just stick to the GPS until meeting a road leading to a Puesto close to the river at the Ford on Rio de los Pinos, then it's much easy to follow<br />
<br />
- I got an excellent bath when crossing the river close to GPT08-04 end, the water coming from one river was warm and there was enough depth <br />
<br />
- the CC from GPT08-04 end to GPT09-02 end was beautiful but demanding because of the soil made of earth and sand, it took me more time than I thought. After having cross the river I got close to an other one with many cows next to it, following it at one point a source of clear drinkable water was running on 3-4m to reach the river<br />
<br />
- There is a Campbase with many places cleaned to set up tents and do campfires close to the river following up the road around Bridge {09} [23.3/1409]. It's located at the base of a huge araucaria tree, you can't miss it<br />
<br />
- After the RH-CC-A {09} the RH-TL-V {09} is easily findable just by looking at the GPS and is marked with many cairns<br />
<br />
- National Park : when leaving it I went to see the guards at the entrance and they were ok with that, didn't ask for any information or fee<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-09 to 2022-Feb-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
Took the bus from Antuco to Abanico, got a ride by a friendly Chilean to the national park (no camping allowed). Had to pay entry to the park. Took the CC route avoiding the carabineros to camp in the meadows just beyond the park (S 37° 27.927', W 07). There was a spring emptying in the meadows there. Finished after a long hiking day at Elvira's "lodging, food". Very friendly family, took us in even after 21:00. Understandably there was no goat stew, but we also only payed half price (20.000). Great homemade bread in the morning though :) Continued to GPT10 immediately after.<br />
<br />
In the first morning when breaking down camp, we were greeted by two carabineros on horseback, who may have been surprised at the sight of our tent out of sight next to a sand slope. They asked who we were, where we're from and where we're going too, and didn't mind us camping there. No questions about the border with Argentina after. I guess there's no need to stay away from the carabineros here any longer.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-21 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + Antuco summit / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
In Trapa Trapa, we stayed at the house marked "lodging, food". They charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there.<br />
<br />
The path up from Trapa Trapa starts next to the river. Nice path all the way, that transitions to a long gravel road, very easy to follow and many little streams. We camped at the beginning of the next valley at the waypoint "ford". The second to last puesto, on the right hand, belongs to Felizario whose family has the lodging option in Trapa Trapa. He is open to people camping nearby.<br />
<br />
The cc section is easy navigation-wise, but the sand is tough to walk in, and it is very exposed. There's little water apart from the fords, but enough. The water coming down from the valley next to Volcan Antuco is very chalky though, and at the waypoint "camp" the stream is all dried up. Further in the valley the water is fine, and it might be possible to find a campsite just before leaving the stream on the optional route.<br />
The building at the "police" waypoint is abandoned. We ended up camping by the carabineros at the "boarder control" waypoint.<br />
While walking on the primary road we were stopped by a boarder control car who wanted to see our passports and pase de movilidad (covid-19) and hear about our route. There were no problems with that. He was very convinced we couldn't cross to Abanico through the pass on the regular route because there wasn't a trail on the other side, but he let us try. Absolutely no snow in the pass on Volcán Antuco's shoulder - apparently it's a very low snow year<br />
<br />
Volcán Antuco summit:<br />
We followed the route up, it leads along the ridge to avoid the very strong stream in the valley. This part is not too difficult. The summit itself is very hard, though. It's very steep through loose, big lava rocks that slide everywhere. Tough and a little dangerous. On the other side, the terrain is made of the same kind of rocks for over half of the descent, which makes for a very slow going. Maybe there is a nicer path under the ski lifts, we found one almost in the end. Definitely not worth it for everyone.<br />
The place marked "restaurant, lodging" was closed - apparently they are open only during the ski season. Not too difficult to hitch from there if not too late<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes<br />
<br />
Overview: <br />
This section has you cross over a volcanic lava field and over a pass at first and then follows trails south thru and area with many puestos and ranches. The first part of this section involves some route finding and cross country while the second half follows well established dirt roads and dirt trails thru grass Valley.<br />
<br />
Difficulties: <br />
WARNING: Huge snow field at the top of the pass that is untraversable. It is very steep and must be avoided if not yet melted. Must go around so please be safe. My biggest difficult was the sections across the lava rocks. My shoes were almost destroyed by this point and the sharp, jagged and uneven surface of the lava rock caused so much pain in my feet and completely took out what ever life was left in my trail runners. Also, lots of route finding and cross country in this area. <br />
<br />
Highlights: Amazing mountain pass with many views of waterfalls. Glaciers.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-22 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT19) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin <br />
<br />
Combined sections 9 & 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in "veranadas" were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-22 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank <br />
<br />
2 days & continued to GPT10 on 2nd day.<br />
There is at least one place to stay in Abanico & as you go on the road past Abanico towards the park there are a few cabins & one campsite. In the park @ small lake 2K before Conaf1 there is a campsite with cabins. You pay 4000CLP entry @ Conaf but I went in before 8AM, no one there. At the pass, around 2050M on the shoulder of Antuco, I was able to slide down the lowest part of the snowfield. Northbound or earlier in the season you may need to go around it. <br />
Virtually no shade on this route. 3 small shops in Trapa Trapa. Last one, Provisiones Bety, has a rest area, she sometimes has bread. <br />
<br />
Went on OH-PR-V@09-B-#002, talked to Carabineros @ Border Control & told them I would stay in Chile & continue to Trapa Trapa. They were OK with that & didn't ask to see my passport, so I would say there is no need to divert around the border post any more.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-15 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Easy hitch from Abanico to the start of the National Park (~10km into the section). The CONAF station at the park entrance took us longer than expected to pass through and explain what we were doing (they appeared to be unsure as to whether we were crossing the border into Argentina or not). However after explaining our route to them they let us pass without paying the entrance fee to the national park. The cross country sections were easy to navigate and overall the trail was of good quality.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-10 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
We passed the big snowfield at the right side through the rocks, as Matus suggested. It was steep but ok and definitively the shorter way around the snow. Nothing to add to the previous comments. In Trapa Trapa we continued straight to Section 10.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-04 / 3.5 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log. <br />
We combined these two sections. <br />
Trail in both section is in good condition. There is snowfield in first pass as was mentioned. We went left, but it would be worth to check is it's possible to go through rocks on the right as it seems much shorter. <br />
Water is not marked on a map but there is a stream before the pass. <br />
Resuply in Trapa Trapa is very limited. They had few tunas, other caned fish, some pasta, flour, cola, crisps... We didn't check for accomodation. <br />
We stayed in a paid campsite at Laguna el Barco for 5000 both. Around 8 there was a woman selling bread and sweet pastry, but mind that it was weekend. <br />
Resuply in Guallali again very limited. They have tunas, caned fish, pasta, oil, crackers and bit more. We are staying in a house next to the shop.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Antuco<br />
Many smaller supermarkets, which have most things - easy enough to resupply here.<br />
One of the two ferreterías has gas (the one furthest from Abanico).<br />
Many accommodation options and some restaurants.<br />
There is an ATM at the town square which even gives some smaller notes<br />
<br />
Also panaderias (one selling good sopaipillas for $300 if you haven't tried yet), restaurants but also food truck, brewery<br />
<br />
*Abanico<br />
At least one shop. A pizzeria<br />
Bus to Antuco/Los Angeles<br />
<br />
*Trapa Trapa<br />
3 shops but they are all small. They all have biscuits & soft drinks. First one has ice cream & flour. Second one has pasta, matches, chocolate, canned fish. Third one ( Provisiones Bety) sometimes has bread.<br />
<br />
Accomodation in a small room at the waypoint "lodging, food" - 20,000 pesos for dinner, breakfast and accommodation. <br />
<br />
Bus to Ralco<br />
<br />
*Cabañas<br />
<br />
Cottages and Campsite $ of the Natural Park around 1-2km going in direction of the entrance from the GPT, swimming pool and places to rest, seems cosy, I don't know the price as I didn't camp there but it seemed to be open. You can find it on the classic map. The website of the place : https://www.parqueantuco.cl/<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
Bus from Los Angeles to Antuco about once an hour in daytime. A few of them continue to Abanico or you can hitch fairly easily.<br />
<br />
Updated January 2022: Bus from Trapa Trapa to Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends<br />
<br />
- Many people going and coming from the National Park, it hadn't been easy to hitchhike to reach Antuco but it worked<br />
<br />
- Bus from Antuco to Santiago - Terminal Sur leaving at 21:30 and arriving at 6:30<br />
<br />
Company : Nilahue<br />
<br />
$26.300 for semi-cama<br />
<br />
Commentaries : "cheap" company, no USB-plugs, not much space for the legs, the bus stop is at the entrance of Antuco coming from the Andes, it's a shelter made of bricks just next to a food truck selling fries and hamburgers<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
This is the only place where it is strongly recommended to sneak around a police station. This recommendation applies in particular to all non-Chileans going southbound.<br />
The reason: The forward border control Pichachen is located about 20 km before the actual border. And only here the regional superiors of the PDI (Policia de Investigation) came up with the silly rule that everyone that passes the border control post towards Argentina gets stamped out of the country regardless if he leaves Chile or not. They simply ignore the fact that a few kilometers down the main road at Piedra del Indio long before reaching Argentina a horse trail diverts towards the next village in Chile called Trapa Trapa. Should you get an exit stamp into your passport but continue to hike in Chile you will be an illegal alien without a valid tourist visa. This may not instantly cause you a problem but the next time you want to leave Chile orderly i.e. from an airport the immigration system will show that you illegally in Chile and the police will assume that you trespassed into Chile. And that’s taken pretty serious. Forget about your flight and your further travel plans.<br />
Every hikers that passed this border control got into some kind of trouble and caused these officers a headache. Some hikers could convince them after long discussions to pass without an exit stamp. Some hikers got and exit stamp and run into problems later. Some hikers pretended to walk back and took a partly overgrown route to walk around the border control. When we hiked this section in January 2014 I got unasked an exit stamp while they “just checked my documents” but luckily after a long talk I could convince them to give me a new entry stamp.<br />
You can’t blame these poor officials at the border control for this situation; they understand these occasional hikers but their regional superiors gave them strict orders. In short: this place is a potential disaster for hikers and hikers are a disturbance for these officials.<br />
Therefore, to avoid this issue I simply rerouted the regular hiking route to bypass the border control post Pichachen. It’s easier for everyone: for the hikers and for the poor police officer that have to comply with this silly order. The re-routed track leads cross country through the normally dry lake bed of the Laguna de Las Lajas and just crosses the main road at the diversion to Trapa Trapa. Walking around the border control may be suspicious but is not illegal and saves everyone nerves and endless discussions. It actually prevents you from getting into an illegal migration status while staying in Chile.<br />
The Regular Packrafting Route anyway bypasses the border control.<br />
Luckily this is the only border control post I’m aware off where such a stupid rule is applied. In many other forward border controls you need to proactively approach the police and request your exit stamp if you plan to leave Chile. Should you just visit the area between the border control and the actual border you can normally just pass or explain your intentions.<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT09 - Volcán Antuco]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT09-Laguna_de_las_Lajas.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna de las Lajas]]<br />
<br />
[[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT12_(Rio_Rahue)&diff=109035GPT12 (Rio Rahue)2023-04-15T10:38:46Z<p>Joscha97: /* Images */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br style="clear:both" /><br />
<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
<br />
Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
<br />
<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan / Martin&Helena<br />
<br />
On regular route (SOBO) after puesto at 62.9, there is another puesto after approx 1km. It’s situated right on the road, soon after start of CC and before Gpt12-G End and it’s guarded by 4 or 5 agressive dogs. It was impossible to go around, so we were continuing with our trekking poles in front of us but dogs started to attack us and in the end I was bitten by one of them. The owner was there too but basically did nothing and dogs were absolutely out of her control.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-01 to 2023-Mar-05 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis <br />
<br />
Arrived in Liucura late in the 28th Feb afternoon by hitchhiking our way from Lonquimay. There is also a bus that leaves at 7:30 PM. We shared our plans with the carabineros and asked for a place to pitch and he sent us near the river, after the truck "parking" (-38.64806, -71.08856 - really nixe and private spot). There are 3 shops in Liucura with supplies and we even had a nice diner for 6k each at the Hospedaje. <br />
Started early the next day with 12-P until 12-R. This way we avoided to climb any fence. There are plenty of paths going upward so we ended up not following the one from the tracks but something that joined the top quite directly. Then we enjoyed our walk on the ridge. We continued for a while and camped at Laguna Escondida. The marked point is in the wood, a bit far away from the water but wind protected. We decided to go much closer to the water and met our two first GPT hikers going southbound on the trail! <br />
<br />
The next day we took 12-H to avoid the aggressive dogs and then sticked to the RR until Camp {12} [51.6/1293]. The descent in the forest (RR-CC-A {12} [52.3/52.8+2.2]) was a bit painful as it is steep and without path. Following the OSM route is not better.<br />
<br />
Day 3, we followed the RR until Laguna Marinanqui (Lake, Camp {12} [33.9/1281]) where we camped. Then we met Reyes, a local from Peluhue who was waiting a group of "gringo" since the previous day. We spent the night here with him, tasting our first cooked pinones. <br />
<br />
On day 4, we hiked to Camp {12} [20.4/1625] (Banos Coyucos). All the fords of Rio Pulul were easy. On the trail we crossed a group of horseriders (Reyes' gringo) that got lost in the mountains and were on their way to the lake. Then we had our first pinata moment : we found an araucania and hit a ball with a branch for a rain of pinones. At the bayos, we met two persons preparing an asado for the group of riders and an other group of people just staying for a bath. Both pools are great, the second one (the smallest and a bit more down) is a bit warmer. We got invited and fed by the riders (smoked cerdo, tortillas al rescaldo, goat asado...)! They eventually left and we were alone in the bayos for the night. <br />
<br />
On Day 5, we hiked until the junction with GPT11 but without taking options 1 or 2 following the advices of the previous hikers. Then we directly continued to GPT11.<br />
On a side note, on most of the section, you will walk on well marked trails that are easy to follow. It contains multiple extremely scenics moments, at least one highlight per day (several for the last one). Definitely worth it to hike! There are no more tabanos at this period of the year, but indeed many wasps ! <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-12 to 2023-Feb-16 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Natalie+Tomàš<br />
<br />
Combined 10+11+12 continued mid-day from 11.<br />
Started mid-day at Banos de Pelehue, Tomáš explored the banos, there was a pool that had some cold water flowing to it, which is diverted, so the temperature should be nicely warm. However, it resulted in smelly hands for two days despite soap. The first hot springs waypoint is wrong but the location is very scenic. We continued to Banos Coyucos for the night and luckily arrived just before a storm hit.<br />
The Banos Coyucos were not "great". The first one with the A-frame roof is not that warm, more like stale bathwater, but the second further down with only a partial roof is much better. We spent the stormy night in the second one so more heat would have been nice but I am sure it's a good temperature for day time bathing.<br />
<br />
Day2<br />
Late start but great trail from the Banos to the marshy flats. I met Rosè from the puesto right at the beginning of the flats, she was very easy to get along with and had a good sense of humor. I would recommend looking for her if you were in need of help. She also helped show me how to avoid the marsh by sticking slightly high on the side of the hill, there was a little bit of a trail. The next plateau up was forgettable, accidentally walked along variant A for too long before dropping down to the RR. The RR is much faster than the side hill that hops from one puesto to the next on variant A. The rest of the way to Laguna Marinanque was enjoyable, definitely leave your sandals on at the bottom for the multiple river crossings. <br />
At this time of year Marinanque was still boggy but caused no problem's. However, I would be careful at the Northside not to get stuck in the bog, it looked very deep. We slept at the abandoned puesto 37.7 (No Water).<br />
<br />
Day3<br />
Fast and lovely trail to camp51.6. After then and up the steep grass hill it is CC. I wouldn't rely on the GPX here as it i basically just straight up. The last water source before the hill 52.2 makes a nice rest. Just to clarify once again, there is no water at the first plateau; camp54.5. However, the water at the small lakes on the main plateau did not look awful, just goose poo around.<br />
Up and over the main/last pass is straightforward but the other side is still boggy. The first camp was not good but if you walked up the bog directly on top of it there was a source of clean water. We slept at the second camp; 59.5, which felt the best of all three, there was water, a little muddy but the third camp looked dry. <br />
<br />
Day4. <br />
You can make a small short cut on a wide "road-trail" just before the RR turns off from the main trail towards puesto 61.8. Crossing the bottom valley here is still very boggy. The lady at puesto 62.9 was very welcoming, offering food/chocolate/coffee. She had some angry dogs but they behaved well once she called them. The next puesto up from her had the dogs that bit a past GPT hiker. They were indeed the aggressive type but the lady tied the worst one up in order to let us pass. If she hadn't we were going to skirt around on the right into the forest to hopefully avoid them and or you could descent back down the hill and go far left.<br />
Like Veronica said there is some water at -38.41178, -70.99125, not tasty but not filtering it had no consequences. At the intersection of RR and J I met some friendly carabinieros that were going into Argentina to fetch some Chilean horses, they were taking on a good trail. From the water source I just described and towards Maximiliano's puesto I did not enjoy the trail, didn't make much sense and felt I was zig zaging in the valley for no good reason. <br />
Day got better once meeting "Maxi" and his son. Jan, if you are reading this Maximiliano says hi and has only good things to say about you. I told him you were off in the mountains somewhere but hopefully will come back to visit again. He wanted to make sure people were good to us and luckily we told him we only had pleasant encounters. His neighbor down the road (Seguro?) was also extremely friendly. The rest of the way to Laguna Verde was fast, a mixture of old roads and easy trails and a CC bit. The first puesto at Laguna Verde was abandoned and we slept in the grass beside it. It was very windy and the water in the lake was very dirty but luckily we found a small dribble of flowing water near the puesto. In the morning everything was covered in frost and slightly frozen, our first freeze.<br />
<br />
Day5<br />
Our final day was easy, the ridge got a little tedious (but was surprisingly beautiful in parts) and I was very happy it wasn't a hot day because otherwise it would have been very dry and uncomfortable. We managed to avoid all barbed wire fences (even though they could be jumped because 3/4 of the fence is cow panels and just the top two lines are barbed). When you are walking down from the trail from the ridge instead of turning left and jumping over your first fence we just went straight down towards the main road (aim for this open gate -38.63510, -71.09298), it is on the first dirt road marked on OSM branching from the main road when going into Chile from the border after Liucura. There were a couple big dogs at the end but they were locked up. Only 1km of road walking back to Liucura, past a nice looking restaurant, and or you could just start hitching to Lonquimay if desired. <br />
We agree that you could technically resupply in Liucura, it was a very happening border stop with fruit and vegetables, sold out bread and then all the other basics- but no canister fuel obviously. <br />
The bus situation from here is confusing as the shop owners and locals all say different things. What I gathered was that there was a bus going to Lonquimay at ~7, ~12 and ~4pm but I don't think it runs every day. Hitching to Lonquimay looked easy but we hitched to Icalma (more difficult) even though supposedly there was a bus to Icalma at 730/8/830?pm. Once again I don't think the bus runs everyday or weekends, possibly only Mon- Wed- Friday.<br />
In Icalma that was the case, if going to Lonquimay or Melipeuco there was only a bus Mon,Wed & Friday. Sadly I forget the exact times but I remember the first bus was very early, leaving ~6am and then a bus to lonquimay at 3pm. Icalma had lots of little minimarkets and cheap accomodation, slept in cabana for 20mil/night (10mil each)<br />
<br />
Notes:<br />
<br />
-If I was to do this trip again I wish I had more time to spend at the puestos.<br />
<br />
-The picoñes are falling, also wish I doubled up on fuel in order to cook them. We tried mashed picoñes in Icalma and they were delicious!<br />
<br />
-The wasps have replaced horseflies, never got sting but got bit. <br />
<br />
-Many of the trails this time of year were "dirt-dust" but on the bright side most bogs were avoidable. <br />
<br />
-No problems with water, only had to carry extra water on the last day after the final water stop at 87.6. <br />
<br />
-luckily only had a few bad days of smoke, mainly when we were close to Trapa Trapa. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-18 to 2023-Jan-21 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR starting from the termas de pelehue / Will <br />
<br />
I merged onto section 12 at the termas de pelehue, where I was immediately greeted by a group of 20ish condors taking off from a patch of grass in the valley. My pace got even slower, watching them fly low around me.<br />
<br />
I went on to camp at the Banos Coyucos, easily my favorite hot springs so far. Perfect temperature, clean, but still felt natural. There were two groups of Chilean hikers there, all super friendly and generous.<br />
<br />
The next day of walking through the valleys was beautiful and pretty fast. A bit before the big climb I had my first unpleasant encounter, with a group heading down the road by ATV. The leader stopped and asked if I had authorization to hike there, I said that I didn't know that I needed it. He seemed to think that was obviously a lie. He became somewhat friendly once I explained my plans and after discovering that I was foreign. He gave me some direction advice then set off. In hindsight I figure he must have been a landowner. I did see quite a few littered beer cans afterwords, maybe he was trying to prevent that.<br />
<br />
The steep climb was tough, and I ended up camping pretty late up top. In terms of water I only saw a few muddy puddles though I didn't look very hard. There were a few ponds the next morning just over the hill. <br />
<br />
The rest of the section was easier than I expected, and not so interesting to me. I should have carried more water on the final 20km. If you want to skip the barbed wire fences you'd have to take variant R at the end of the ridge walk. I thought I could skip them with variant S but most of them were before the turnoff so I ended up following the regular route the whole way. Thankfully they were solid and pretty easy to climb.<br />
<br />
No luck hitching out of Liucura so I spent the night. There were no buses on Sunday but someone at my hostel gave me a ride to Lonquimay the next day. If you're continuing on then Liucura could work for a basic resupply, but I'm planning on relaxing a bit then skipping ahead. See busesbiobio.cl for the bus schedule out of Lonquimay.<br />
<br />
I'm still one day behind the same set of footprints I've been following all the way since section 7. I guess I'll never catch up.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-15 to 2023-Jan-18 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / Termas de Pelehue (junction GPT 11, option 1 and GPT 12) - Liucura / Anna & Christopher <br />
<br />
We connected section 11 and 12 and started at Termas de Pelehue around km 9.<br />
The first day the path was easy to find most of the time and the views were great. The canyon to Laguna Marinanqui is very beautiful. We camped after the last rivercrossing before the Laguna.<br />
<br />
To path around the Laguna involved some bushbashing and muddy ground.<br />
Until the CC ascent the path was good. The ascent itself is pretty tiring. We could not find water at the point indicated by Véronica so we continued until the first small Laguna on the plateau. That was a great spot to camp and the Laguna has clear water.<br />
<br />
The following part is not hard to navigate and continues with spectacular views.<br />
Ascending the next hill at appr. km 67 we followed a good animal path on towards the west of the hill (instead of the CC part of the RR), next to an accesible creek.<br />
Easy trails the rest of the day. We camped at the water waypoint [78.4/1775] between Laguna Escondida and Laguna verde.<br />
<br />
The next part is great and easy until towards the end of the ridge after the last ascent, where the path finding gets harder with some bush bashing parts. On the last kilometers we descended until the main road to avoid climbing barbed wire fences.<br />
The shopowner of the resupply in Liucura offered us to camp in his garden.<br />
The next morning we hitchhiked to Lonquimay. The buses from Lonquimay to Temuco leave at 8 am and 12:30 pm, not sure if there is also a later bus.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-30 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (combined with GPT11 via GPT11-02) / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: Junction at km 12.9 where GPT11-02 meets with GPT12 - Baños Coyucos - Laguna Marinanqui - Pehuenche Extortioner valley - Laguna Escondida - Liucura <br />
<br />
Absolutely beautiful section. Really loved the cross-country bits on high plateaus and ridges, amazing views. I did not have any navigation issues. I met no one 4 days in a row. <br />
<br />
I connected GPT11 Option 2 with GPT12, so I missed the Pelehue hot springs. I did find a good creek at the "water" waypoint at 15.9 km, not dry like what Veronika and Jo found last year. I really enjoyed the camp at Baños Coyucos in an araucaria forest, and the hot springs there were great too! Perfect temperature, and not as dirty as I thought they might be. <br />
<br />
Lots of boggy cow pastures along RR-TL-V {12} [25.6+07], had trouble finding any sort of trail there. Enjoyed the trail along Río Pulul in the canyon with all the fords. All the river crossings were easy, and I found many lovely potential camp spots on that stretch. <br />
<br />
Just north of Laguna Marinanqui (where you have the option to take 12-C), there is a large marsh to contour like others have mentioned. I managed to cross without getting all muddy by closely following the regular route. <br />
The trail kind of disappears after the junction with 12-E, but following the GPS it's not too hard to reach the base of the big CC climb to the high plateau. This climb is steep, but not dangerous - you climb on grass and dirt (no scree). There was no water at the "Water ?" waypoint, but I found a hidden spring nearby at S 38° 21.247', W 071° 04.140'. There are also shallow lagunas up on the plateau you could get water from. After the passes coming downhill into the Pehuenche Extortioner valley, the three campsites in a row there were quite waterlogged from snowmelt. The trail was a river in a couple places there too. Lots of squishy walking, wouldn't be ideal to camp there right now. <br />
<br />
The next CC stretch after the Extortioner valley is awesome on a rounded ridgetop. There is a nice meadow and good water source shortly before reaching the next pass. From this pass all the way to Maximiliano's puesto is a good horse trail, not cross-country. <br />
<br />
After the "water" waypoint at 87.6 km, after Laguna Verde, there is no more water until Liucura, so I filled up in order to dry camp on the ridge further along. All the subsequent CC stretches until Liucura have paths running along most of them, makes walking easier :) The final ridge walk starting at km 95.3 is fantastic, and there's lots of sheltered areas up there too where you could camp if you have enough water. <br />
<br />
I followed the regular route all the way to Liucura (ended up climbing over 4 different barbed wire fences once I was off the ridge). Hitched into Lonquimay and will be skipping down to Section 16.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Feb-14 to 2022-Feb-15 + 2022-Mar-07 to 2022-Mar-10 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
The first day we continued from GPT11, starting at Termas de Pelehue (where you can camp, though you have to search around for non-sulfury water pushing up through the meadows). We continued along the border with Argentina. Great all-around views, decent trail instead of CC most of the time, no water at S 38° 09.380', W 071° 01.300' <- in agreement with Molly and Melissa.<br />
<br />
We escaped to Ranquil in the south to resupply, and got back three weeks later, taking the afternoon bus from Lonquimay (mon-wed-fri, bus early the morning and in the afternoon). Slept in the refugio in the valley east of Ranquil. The road between Ranquil and this eastern valley is almost fully MR instead of TL.<br />
<br />
Continued RR until the Pehuenche Extortioner valley, but took optionals 12-H and 12-5 to arrive at Pehuenco in time to take the bus Friday morning at 08:00 (also mon-wed-fri) to make sure we made it to our plane in Puerto Montt on Sunday. We skipped Laguna Escondida and Laguna Verde with pain in our hearts :(<br />
<br />
We saw the camp site at 12-H and asked around in the roundabout way ("do you know a camp site?") standing next to it, but no positive answer came. We camped at the pass before Maximiliano's puesto instead, where there is a little water turning into the usual cow meadow. Met Maximiliano there :)<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-21 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH 02 / Romain <br />
<br />
Regular Hiking Path :<br />
- There are a lot of Araucaria trees. I managed to save 2 days of food just by harvesting piñones on the floor following the path. I would recommend to not rely on it because it depends on the period, but there was plenty.<br />
<br />
- the path after Laguna Marinanqui wasn't easy to follow because it was like a swamp but once I manage to cross this humid part it was all good<br />
<br />
- Camp on Ford {12} [32.6/1299] (Rio Pulul), great place with lot of space, grass, dry wood, almost no wind when I camped there, I really appreciated this place <br />
<br />
- I did the multiple fords without removing my water shoes because there are close and it worth it<br />
<br />
- Camp {12} [17.0/1794] : I had to stay one day there due to raining conditions. Looking at the places after, it's to my mind the last place to camp before starting going uphill, it would be too windy and too cold to camp farther. During the rainy day the temperature dropped to less than 10° I think, I had to stay in my duvet. And during the night I got ice on my tent, it wasn't extreme but it was good to be well equipped. <br />
<br />
- Option 11-02 and 11-02B to reach back the regular route was the best part I did of my entire trek, with a condor flying 10-15m above me, spectacular landscapes, ... I really recommend it but only in stable good conditions because it was really really windy, and going northbound otherwise 11-02B would be very demanding because of the sand.<br />
<br />
- the hot spring {11-02B} [1.2/2113] and more generally the place with vapors and boiling water at some places and many condors flying around you is very impressive<br />
<br />
- Nobo : Demanding clampering, in good weather only : everything is in the title and the other commentaries well describe it. I hadn't felt really in danger following the track but I was much tense and aware of everything. It's definitely not a good idea to be there not in good conditions. And you need to have time to do it in one time, there is no place adapted to camp until the pass {11} [27.6/2174] and event just after it's still much wind, and at some point the earth/sand soil make you hike very slowly. I thank the people who wants through before me, their tracks were much helpful to see the way and to not slip in the sand. Except these points the place is beautiful and I appreciated it a lot in the continuity of the part before.<br />
<br />
<br />
Option 12-02 :<br />
<br />
- 11-05G : the road from Lonquimay start with concrete and become gravel at a certain point, but lot of people use it and without hitchhiking many proposed me to take me<br />
<br />
- transition 11-05G to 12-02 : the road leading to the ferry is really smaller than the main one, I missed it because I wasn't enough attentive to that<br />
<br />
- Ferry : the indicated opening time are : 8:30-17:30 from Monday to Friday, 8:00-10:00/16:00-18:00 on saturday ; I arrived there at 13:30 on the Monday and there was nobody to move it, fishermen told me to wait for a car but they seem to say there should be one until 1 or 2 hours so I crossed the river going up, water reached my hips and I arrived in a farmer property, people were very friendly, but should I do it again I would cross going down (easier to reach + no problem with entering a property)<br />
<br />
- 12-02 continues by crossing the river on a beautiful wood hanging bridge (12-02A continues straight), I appreciated this path with plenty of rabbits, aracauria trees and beautiful landscapes. I slept close to the river in a flat field with apple and peach trees. It seemed people are used to camp there with lot of campfire marks, really windy the day I camp there<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-10 / 6 days / Hiking / NOBO / Molly og Melissa<br />
<br />
Amazing section with great views. Definitely don't skip the two high parts unless the weather is bad. We didn't find it to be dangerously steep except for a few metres on the descent before Laguna Marinanqui, which were uncomfortable.<br />
Tábanos were better than expected, it was pretty windy. We also brought a fly swatter. It was very effective for killing those who sticked around during breaks, and gave a lot of satisfaction<br />
<br />
We took the alternative route to the east right out of Liucura due to the notes of other people. Shortly after, we saw a path climbing the mountain, and took that. Big mistake - the path disappeared quickly and left us to climb steeply through dense bamboo. We learned the lesson of staying close to the route, and this payed off. Often, when the route is marked as CC, a path exists that follows the route closely.<br />
On one of the CC sections we met a man with his animals, who wanted to know what we were doing. He said that we needed a permission from someone in Liucura to be there, and that many people came by and disturbed the animals. When we apologized and said we didn't know and that we'd go on to Laguna Verde he didn't pursue the subject and seemed friendly enough.<br />
We ended up camping on the beach by Laguna Escondida.<br />
On the descent from there to the Pehuenche Extortioner valley we passed a puesto not marked on the GPS. It seemed empty, and the gravel road was right next to it. There were some very aggressive dogs that we gave a shock, though, they quickly surrounded us. The owner got them calmed down a bit, but one of them to still took a bite of my sleeping mat on the bottom of my bag while we were calmly talking to the owner. <br />
After the Pehuenche Extortioner valley you climb a pretty tall mountain pass to an amazing high plain. The descent from here is, as others have written, very steep, not too difficult but definitely better down than up. From there you have a very nice easy trail with good views almost all the way to Laguna Marinanqui, but at the river crossing and every time there is a puesto of trail the trail diverges, and you often have to follow the less obvious trail, so it pays off to look at the GPS often.<br />
After Laguna Marinanqui we just kept our wading shoes on for the six river crossings, it worked very well. None of the crossings were difficult in any way.<br />
We camped at the Coyuco hot springs. It's a nice enough camp site with a little bench and table under the Aucaria trees, but not too many big sites for the tent. The hot springs are a little bellow, covered by some planks. They are pretty dirty but a perfect temperature, no views either.<br />
<br />
The last big ascent nearing the Argentine border was amazing and should definitely not be skipped unless the weather is bad! There is a small CC section, but most of the way through the pass there is a nice trail - stick to the route and you will find it! It lasts all the way to the gravel road to Ranquil. There is a boarder post, and a pretty flat grassy area where it would be possible to camp on the Argentinian side of the border, next to a stream. In general, plenty of water all the way to the second hot springs. From there, nothing until you reach the river in the bottom. The hot springs are in an amazing area, and would be a beautiful campsite with great views, bit requires clear and calm water. We didn't see the hot springs ourselves, but we met some Chilean tourists who liked them. <br />
<br />
Water:<br />
Generally, water is plentiful, but with some comments. We started from Liucura on midday on a very hot day, and having read about plentiful water we brought a liter each. However, there was nothing until the first waypoint, which we couldn't reach, so we ended up going down to the river in the eastern valley and camping there.<br />
Furthermore, on the ascent from the Pehuenche Extortioner valley where there are three campsites on a row, the first didn't have water and the second only very little.<br />
On the high plain where it's marked water? there was water, but very still and dirty. Would only drink it if very desperate. Shortly after joining the path after the descent there are very nice streams.<br />
We arrived in Ranquil in the afternoon on a Sunday, and hitched to Lonquimay - very challenging though, with three rides and some walking in between<br />
<br />
<br />
*2021-Nov-23 / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony<br />
<br />
After i finished GPT 3 i headed down south to GPT 12 in order to hike the next couple of groups in a northbound direction since it’s more suitable to hike from down here this time of year compared to the more northern sections<br />
<br />
It was love at first sight! I was so thrilled to escape the exposed terrain of the north and come down here to this beautiful part of the country, where you can enjoy the nice shade from the Arucania trees. Got the bus from Lonquimay to Liucura at 14:00 and started my trip on the optional route east of the RR to avoid previously mentioned barbed wire fence.<br />
Later I climbed up to the mountain ridge and followed the RR.<br />
<br />
After my first night I was woken up by the sound of a bunch of cows running around my tent, and a stuck my head out to find a Pehuenche man on a horse wearing a balaclava, looking at me. Was very surprised at first but he was a nice guy who was just curious about me. We took some photos of each other and I got to ride around on his horse.<br />
I general I found water to be plenty, the weather good and the trail in good condition. There are although some very steep sections every now and then where you have to be careful. I was also hit by a hail storm during a mountain pass but luckily it quickly passed.<br />
<br />
At laguna Marinanqui towards the end of the section I met a group of Chileans from Victoria who were out on a weekend fishing trip. We drank a few beers together while catching some salmon in the Laguna and after i joined on the walk back to Ranquil. We took GPT option 1 to skip the nothern hump. And on arrival at Ranquil they gave me a ride back to Lonquimay. Great fun!<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
*Feb 2020-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / Lauric<br />
<br />
Took optional #002 east of regular trail to avoid climbing over barbed wire. It is an easy road. Then we climbed up on the ridge with optional #003. Not exactly on the track but we found a trail going up. On the ridge it's amazing with 360 views. Easy walking too. Optional down in the valley would be easier but less rewarding. Continued our way to the pass 1920m (after taking mate at Maximiliano's puesto). At the pass we left the regular trail to end up on a descending road. Easy descent to optional 12-04-#001 and easy walk in the valley. From there we avoided the extortioner and up to the second pass (2120m). The views are amazing. Very steep and CC descent. Wouldn't have liked to go up this part. From the pass to laguna Marinanqui is pretty boring but easy part. Laguna is very beautiful and a great place to camp. North of laguna is ankle deep in cowshit. We got up by the river to the termas. There are 2 pools. Then we headed town to Ranquil to finish the section. Carabineros let us camp on their field. Bus to Lonquimay Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6AM and 5PM in front of the police station.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-24 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR mostly / Frank <br />
<br />
At the high lakes I continued on RR-CC-I@12-57.1+7.5, a spectacular traverse but at the end there is a very steep & slow descent on rock, scree & sand. I would consider this descent to be dangerous & best avoided by taking the Pehuenche Extortioner variant. After Maximilian's Puesto I took OH-MR-V@12-03-#001out to the road then into Liucura. At least 2 places to stay there, they both have a restaurant. Also a cafe & 3 shops, you can resupply easily.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-23 / Hiking / SOBO / RR Ending at ranquil carabineros / Ty & America <br />
<br />
Just hiked to The hot spring from the top of section 11. Not much to report. Hot springs were luke warm. There’s some sort of makeshift hut covering them. Nice camp there though. We got a hitch when nearing the carabineros to Lonquimay. Wouldn’t usually count on this though. Definitely middle of nowhere. Apparently the bus comes at 5.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-17 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 03 / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Start: Termas de Pelehue, End: Primary road towards Lonquimay<br />
Amazing section. The Termas de Pelehue are gone due to the lack of maintenance. The second hot springs the same, but the fumaroles above are quite impressive! The third hot springs down in the valley are great, there are several pools just below the camp. After the second pass (2'180) we decided not to do the investigation route as it looked pretty uncomfortable to us. The descent after the third pass (1'920) to Maximiliano's puesto was a nice trail, not at all CC. There our longing for a beer was so huge that we took the optional route 12-03-#001 through the beautiful araucaria valley. Believe it or not, shortly before arriving at the primary road there came a bus, taking us to the junction, from where a connecting bus to Lonquimay was leaving, everything within 10 minutes :-) Excellent resupply and accommodation in Lonquimay, funny town.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 15-Jan-2020 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
Spectacular section, some of the best scenery we have seen so far! Some of the ascents and descents are quite steep and technical. There is lots of loose rock and no easy track to follow. It was quite windy and all the high passes are dangerous in poor weather. The trail is also overgrown and difficult to follow in some sections. This makes it slower than you might expect, however it is perfectly doable. Good resupply in Licura at the end of the section, as well as nice places to stay (around 20000 pesos for a double). <br />
<br />
<br />
* 9-Jan-2020 / 5 days (GPT11 + GPT12) / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 2 Matus & Anna<br />
<br />
We combined sections 11 and 12. It took us 5 days including one zero because of weather. Patagonia showed us bit of it's potential in these two sections. <br />
All walked trails were in good condition and CC sections pretty easy to navigate. In the sadle of section 11, because of strong wind, poor visibility and fresh snow and ice we were forced to take optional to the valley. There is a big snowfield, I don't recomend sliding on it all the way. It the lower parts there were big holes into the stream. <br />
From Ranquil we took optional #002 because we didn't want to climb back up. Uphill is more a minor road, downhill nice trail. <br />
After a laguna we took a optional to the Pass 2180 and road around the Pehuenche Extortioner. We needed to get down from elevation ASAP bacause of wind. We passed puesto early in the morning and no one was around. After rainy day everything above 2000m was white. We took trail to pass 1920m which was just with bit of fresh snow and then took minor road #001 down to valley. So I have no idea about the rest of the trail.<br />
Edit: adding a picture from the last sadle 1920m, we did after "rainy" day.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-06 / 10 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR from Liucura without the northern slope, so we went directly to Ranquil from S38°12.723' W71°05.208'/ Sophie & Hendrik <br />
<br />
In total we were 11days on the trail, of which we spend 1.5 in the tent due to bad weather. The route is free except for one fort, but there is a workaround. Also we had a couple of navigation problems, which cost us several hours. See recent alerts and suggestions.<br />
<br />
We liked: The quickly chang landscape and its huge variety, beautiful cinematic views, funny animals, that water was always available, bathing in the rivers, beautifully blooming plants.<br />
<br />
We did not like so much: The problems we encountered due to navigation mistakes, the hailstorm on the mountain ridge, beercans that people drop on the paths.<br />
<br />
We bluntly hated: The amount of horse flies. In the northern part we were not able to make one step without having at least five buzzing arround our faces. This army of blood suckers was sent by a source of pure evil to annoy hikers.<br />
<br />
The following is a chronological accumulation of all our observations made in the last 11 days. Note for navigation difficulties that we walked northbound.<br />
<br />
- The most southern CC part direclty north of Liucura is now bordered by fences. You have to follow the path and then go left through a gate. The gate on the western fence is some 80m further south than you would expect. It was locked and we had to carefully (barbed wire) climb over it. It might be a lot easier to take the optional route in the east to get up the ridge.<br />
<br />
-We were unable to find and follow the path at S38°24.881' W71°00.281' down to the valley. We endet up on a path a little further south. However, this path starts to lead further and further south, so that at some point we startet to ge back to the original path through the woods, which did cost several hours.<br />
<br />
- Getting up the mountain at S38°24.450 W71°01.871' we startet ca 300m further north than indicated by the CC route due to fences and rivercrossing opportunities in the valley. (We thought CC means come up with your own route anyway.) At ca 1720m of altitude, still 300m north of the indicated route we found a good looking path leading up the mountain and followed it. At its end we assumed it would not be a bad idea to continue from here on in north west direction up the mountain. We now know it was a very bad idea. We ended up in a very uncomfortable and seriously dangerous climbing situation in which we really did not want to be. So our advice: stick to the route here!<br />
<br />
- The Ford-125 (S38°20.908 W71°09.294') looks impassable right now. You can avoid it by using an improvised bridge about 120m further west.<br />
<br />
- At roughly S38°17.091' W71°01.354' the path broke away into a very steep descent. It is passable, but also slippery and includes a certain risk of which you should be aware.<br />
<br />
- The daily bus out of Ranquil does not stop at the busstation because it is too large to reverse there. You have to walk down the street ca. 2km to where a bridge crosses the river. The bus reverses here and does not go up further up the road. Right now it stops there at 6 in the morning.<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
Ranquil - no shop but there are families who sold us sopaipillas<br />
<br />
Lonquimay - Supermercado Espinoza next to the bus stop has most things. A little shop on the left hand shortly after the bus terminal when walking from the bus terminal towards the center has gas. The shop has different air mattresses, clothes and some outdoorsy things in the windows. There's also a ferretería that might have. Several accommodation options. <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
*To Liucura<br />
Updated Jan 2022:<br />
<br />
Bus from Temuco to Liucura (goes all the way to Icalma) Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:30am (+ 15:55?), 5 hours of travel. Leaves Liucura at the bus terminal next to COPEC at 12.<br />
Also busses from Lonquimay to Liucura Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 15 and Tuesday+Thursday at 14<br />
<br />
Bus from Temuco to Lonquimay every day - Monday-Saturday 15:55, Sunday 17:30<br />
There may even be busses from Santiago to Lonquimay<br />
<br />
*Ranquil<br />
Updated 2022, Jan<br />
Bus from Ranquil to Lonquimay (on Mon, Wed and Fri at 7:30am from the village<br />
<br />
Bus from Lonquimay to Ranquil Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 15:00 - bus terminal next to COPEC<br />
Buses to Troyo leave every day and can drop you off at the crossing to Ranquil, about 30-40 km, but hitching might still be difficult from here<br />
<br />
*If skipping section 13-15:<br />
We went from Pucón to Temuco, but it seems to be the long way around. It might be worth it to ask around in Pucón whether there is a rural bus to Curacautin, and from there to Lonquimay, as that seems way faster on the map - alternatively it could be possible hitching this route.<br />
<br />
*Lonquimay<br />
Update 2022, Feb<br />
<br />
Bus from Santiago - Terminal Sur to Lonquimay leaving at 21:40 and arriving around 8:00<br />
<br />
Company : Jet Sur<br />
<br />
$26.000 for semi-cama<br />
<br />
Commentaries : really comfortable, nice and professional people, USB-plugs, I took it on Sunday night, it was the only one on Sunday, I don't know if there are some on the other days<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT12 - Río Rahue]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664133.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|Araucarias on GPT12]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664142.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664125.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664136.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664138.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br />
<br />
[[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT11_(Cerro_Dedos)&diff=109034GPT11 (Cerro Dedos)2023-04-15T10:38:34Z<p>Joscha97: /* Images */</p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
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==Season 2024/25==<br />
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==Season 2023/24==<br />
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==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 2023-Mar-05 to 2023-Mar-05 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis <br />
<br />
Continued directly from GPT12 so we started at the end of RR-TL-V {11} [31.3+1.5] . We followed the RR for the whole section. <br />
<br />
On day 1, for RR-CC-A {11} [27.6+3.3], you have to stay in the river stream for the whole duration. You will find plenty of water because you walk in it, and nice pools and little cascade if you want to take a bath. Leaving the stream for higher up is not a good choice : every time we tried it was a mistake. We camped at Camp {11} [26.1/1957]. It was not protected and the night was very windy... Not our best choice.<br />
<br />
On day 2, we continued until Guallali following the RR. The trail around Km15 transforms in a MR that leads you to the village without even checking the GPS. <br />
There, we found the minishop that had limited resupply options (we bought lentils, cookies, snacks and cola). We checked in with the carabineros that were friendly and sayed we could camp wherever was wind protected. We opted for the football field which is a nice flat and grassy place.<br />
<br />
Not much to say about this section, we found the end on the dirt road relatively dull but the beginning in the mountain is awesome <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-11 to 2023-Feb-12 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (option 01+ off route) / Natalie&Tomáš<br />
<br />
Combined GPT 10(01)+11+12<br />
Day1<br />
Slept in Guallalí in the growth as others have described but still asked the shop owner first for permission. Carabineros were nice and told us we did not need to check in although the sign says "obligatory check". Pedro at the mini shop is also kind and willing to help hikers although there is only a handful of items in his shop-bought some sweets. Pedro also told me that option05 to lonquimay would require you to pay 10mil from the locals. We took RR. At this time of year the road is the "dirt-dust type" but still fast until Estero Quillaylemu (14km) which makes for a nice rest. Tomáš checked out the hotsprings at 6.6. There is a table and a pool of nicely hot muddy water directly next to a river. Better camping site than in Guallali. After the Estero Quillaylemu the track gets harder to follow but becomes beautiful after the ford and bend towards the pass. Lost the trail a couple of times but found lots of wild quinoa. Camped at 25.1 behind a boulder by the river to cut the wind, camp at 26.1 looked nicer.<br />
<br />
For the pass we followed the ridge for as long as we could (option 01) and it was fun and straightforward. Luckily, although the winds were strong that day the ridge was almost windless. Made our way down similar to Will. Got off the ridge here; -38.10270, -71.07250 (later than indicated by the GPX), headed to a small dry gully next to and below the "greyish" dirt here; -38.10359, -71.07282, you had to use your edges as the ground was hard"grit". Entered a small creek bed here;-38.10604, -71.07538 and followed it (some water) until it turned into a scramble. At that point we climbed back up to our left (East), moved south until we went down and up our final gully, just underneath 01B. This last gully was easy as Tomáš found a soft spot, somewhere around here;-38.11039, -71.07474. After this point it was easy to connect to the main route. Just the section up to here from the ridge is problematic - maybe two km. Probably fastest would be to go down the regular route and take the first option left, which is probably a trail and only means about 300 m of additional climbing. The route as mapped by the GPX files (option01; second half of the traverse) looks quite steep and exposed and does not save much elevation. It is probably possible but to us from below it does not look worth it.<br />
<br />
Lastly there are water sources on the other side of the ridge (SW, the hard side) before the hotsprings if needed.<br />
<br />
Continued onto Section 12 towards Banos Coyucos for the night.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-27 to 2023-Jan-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Johana & Matouš<br />
<br />
We camped near the ford on the 18th kilometre (just about 20 metres upstream is a great place to take a bath in). The next day we made it all the way to the end; however, it was an ordeal. The view from the pass was jaw-dropping and parts of the path leading up to it were shaded by beautiful trees, but we feel like the horrible descent (we were doing the regular route) made it not worth it for us. Despite the fact that we were lucky enough to have the best conditions for the descent (only some snowpatches at the top, sunny weather), the terrain felt ankle-spraining. The wobbly stones kept sliding down and it required a lot of focus. We went down through the canyon and after the point where you need to go above it when it becomes too narrow we went down the wrong way and I fell down clutching at straws (literally) not to fall down. So it might be better to go through the river..? To be optimistic, the last part of the path was beautiful again. We hitched a ride and stayed with a really nice family that took us to Lonquimay the next day. It's a nice bigger town with a lot of possibilities to resupply. There are really buses only Mo-We-Fri from Ranquil. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-17 to 2023-Jan-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 1 to the Termas del Pelehue / Will <br />
<br />
I took the bus to Guallali, which took me past the Carabineros and directly into town where I set up in the standard grove. A bit after dark two carabineros showed up at my tent. Intimidating at first, they were very friendly after I explained my plans. They just said that next time I should make sure to stop and report to them on my way by.<br />
<br />
The section starts out with a not very interesting road walk, but suddenly became super beautiful 15ish km in. I camped at 25.1, a somewhat sheltered spot by a stream, where the wind rattling my tent made it hard to sleep. A few arrieros came by during the evening. The 26.1 campsite looked similar.<br />
<br />
The horse flies reappeared as I got up closer to the pass. Had flashbacks of sections 7 and 8, trying to determine whether each stab was a horse fly or a burr or a paranoid hallucination. My theory is that they've migrated up to the higher altitudes, now that it's later in the season.<br />
<br />
I took option 1 (diverging a decent amount) to join up with section 12 at the termas de pelehue. It was tough and slow going, taking around 3 hours, but I really enjoyed it. I planned my route to avoid horizontal slope traversals so I never really felt in danger of a serious fall. I did still slip a few times, cutting up my hand a bit.<br />
<br />
I started out with the ridge walk from the pass. Would have been great walking if not for the absurd winds, I spent most of it slightly to the south below the ridge. The slope was pretty gradual there and not slippery. I then went down past the two grass patches following the route on openstreetmap. I descended to the south all the way down to around 1875m, along a stream around 50m to the east of the openstreetmap route. It was easy rock walking at first, but turned into some tricky hands on scrambling as the stream got bigger.<br />
<br />
I wouldn't recommend it if the flow rate is high. Then I climbed back up to the final stretch of the main option route. The climb was steep at first but with enough vegetation and solid rock in the slope to get up. Everything after that was easy, more or less.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-16 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
From Guallalí there’s a gravel road for first few kms, easy walking. We didn’t check the hot springs in a hot day, but someone mentioned it is fine. All the fords were easy. We camped around km 21 in a little forrest. The ascent to the pass is pretty gradual and we enjoyed it really. Based on previous comments we chose to stick to the RR which turned out to be a good decision. There was still quite a lot of snow and the terrain is more technical, but it just requires focus. We walked on the right edge of the snowfield and slided down in some parts. When we reached the river we didn’t walk at all on the snow but rather on river banks or even in the river itself. Closer to the junction we once or twice followed the alternative dotted line that is marked in our maps - it just goes higher up from the canyon and back. After the junction we continued to GPT12.<br />
<br />
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
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<br />
*2023-Jan-13 to 2023-Jan-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Guallalí - Termas de Pelehue (junction GPT 11, option 1 and GPT 12) / Anna & Christopher <br />
<br />
In Guallalí we camped at the same spot as Veronica after arriving around 20:30.<br />
The first day there is a lot of walking on dirt roads and good paths, so the km went by quickly. We camped at the ford waypoint [24.3/1688], where the way passes a small creek. It has some natural pools, which are amazing to take a bath.<br />
<br />
The next day after arriving on the plateau there is a CC part, so keep an eye on your navigation device. When we reached the pass we accidently went the wrong way and ended up taking option 1 to decrease the detour. Bad idea! Better don't take option 1. There is almost no path, its very steep, a lot of scrambling and there was one very stupidly dangerous descent across some gravel/rock part. It took us around 3,5 hours to cross option 1. We would definetly not do it again. We directly continued to section 12.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-30 / 5.5 days (GPT11 + GPT12) / Hiking /SOBO / RR + OH 2 / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: Guallalí - Junction to Section 11, Option 2 - Ridge Las Monjas - Junction with GPT12, RR-CC-A {12} [12.9+3.5]<br />
<br />
Ralco is a good resupply town, the smaller supermarket had camping gas. Took the bus back to Guallalí at 5 p.m. for 1,000 clp, arrived around 8:30 p.m. I camped in the same araucaria grove as the night before (via the wooden gate next to the escuela). Good and clear path in a pleasant valley, river fords easy. Found some ripe berries/brambles along the trail that were delicious. <br />
<br />
I decided to opt for Option 2 that goes east of Cerro Dedos. I was worried about the likelihood of snow on the steep south side of the pass (2174 m) on the regular route. I didn't need to stop in Ranquil, so figured it was best to stay high on the mountain and take either Option 1 or Option 2 to connect with GTP12. After reading the comments from other hikers, I knew I didn't want to take Option 1. A scree traverse on a south-facing slope didn't sound appealing, especially if you factor in lingering snowbanks this year. So I thought Option 2 would be best. A detailed description of my experience along that route is posted under "Optional Routes" ("its directly under this post - modified by Joscha97") . The gist of it is - it was very technical, not much solid footing, lots of exposed scrambling. In a couple spots I genuinely feared for my life. Would not do it again. Please stay safe if going that route, and I would definitely not attempt it NOBO!<br />
<br />
Took 1.5 days to meet up with GPT12 at km 12.9<br />
<br />
OH 2:<br />
The trail is good and easy to follow in the initial valley once it splits from the RR. There was no puesto at the second "puesto" waypoint, just remnants of old fences and corrals. Good place to camp, sheltered from the wind. The start of the CC section is an annoying but thankfully short bushwhack to the treeline. Afterwards it's straight up to the top of the ridge, grass turning to scree/rocks higher up. Steep, but quite doable. <br />
Once at the top of the ridge, this is where my troubles started. The ridge is not nice and rounded, but very narrow and jagged, with vertical, rock outcrops/spires blocking the way frequently. You have to go around most of these obstacles (impossible to climb over), and this is the most dangerous part. To go around you need to descend back onto the nearly vertical scree slope, traverse around the rockface, then climb back up to the ridge. All on the most slippery scree/gravel I've ever experienced. It was all extremely precarious. Climbing back up around the very first obstacle, the scree was so loose I was on my hands and knees scrambling upward, trying to climb faster than the rocks falling under my body. One of the most frightening situations of my life honestly, I felt like I could have gone down with the rocks like an avalanche. After miraculously getting back up on the ridge, I couldn't stop shaking and was almost in tears. Couldn't believe what I'd gotten myself into honestly. And then came more scrambling and clambering. Poles were useless, I was using my hands the whole time. I can't stress enough how loose and unreliable most of the rocks were. Very, very difficult. Would not attempt this northbound, ever. And thank goodness the weather was good and calm too. The views were spectacular, out of this world, but not worth risking my life for, and I wouldn't ever do that section again. Don't know if Option 1 would have been better. At least snow wasn't an issue with Option 2. If I had to do it again I would stick to the regular route, go down to Ranquil and climb back up GPT12 via the RR. <br />
Anyway, south of S 38° 06.903', W 071° 02.205', the ridge becomes less steep and more rounded, easy to walk on. You reach the pass {11-04} [5.4/2385], and make a sharp left to go along the Argentina border. Go across a few easy snowfields. Amazing views of snow-capped volcanoes all around. Condors swooping near my head. Felt like I was the only human on earth. Still lots of snow on Cerro Dedos. Once GPT11-02 meets with GPT12, you pick up a faint path and navigation is easier.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-25 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain <br />
<br />
- If you cook on campfire or on wood burning stove you have better stay discrete because everything burnt some years ago and the landscapes are still marked.<br />
<br />
- There are a lot of Araucaria trees. You can easily save food just by harvesting piñones on the floor following the path. I would recommend to not rely on it because it depends on the period, but there was plenty.<br />
<br />
- Camp {11} [22.6/1461] : I loved this place. It was very comfortable with grass on the soil, almost flat, protected from the wind even if there is some in the valley, discrete, and I spent much time looking at the stars thanks to a good and warm (or at least not cold as it was the previous days) weather. To get water you have to walk 3 minutes following the point on the GPS which is precise<br />
<br />
- Ford {11} [18.0/1199] : I had good time there, the weather was very good, the place is calm and good to rest, water is still cold but there is enough to wash if you want to<br />
<br />
- From GPT-11C Start to Guallali it's now a Minor Road so it's very easy to follow and you meet a lot cars going in both directions, they just waved me.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-13 to 2022-Feb-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 11-01 (ABCDE) from the pass to Termas Pelehue on GPT12 / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
The MR out of Guallalí continues until about km 12 on RR-TL-V (another trail that's been jeep-tracked recently) where it veers off to the north. We found out two kilometers too late, but got back to optional route 11-C by CCing through some araucaria forest. This turned out to be a happy little accident, as, this way, we saw a family collecting things from the ground, which turned out to be piñones. Here is where we learned that the ripe cones are "café", and that the piñones just fall down when the cone is hit with a stick or a rock. It's basically nature's piñata (no etymological relation though!). Before getting back to the track, we found some low-hanging ripe cones, which sprinkled more piñones than we wished to carry. Got a nice free meal out of those we did pick up :)<br />
<br />
Camped in one of the many camp sites deeper in the mountains.<br />
<br />
The next day, we decided to skip the descent to Ranquil after the pass, instead taking the optional route 11-01 (ABCDE). 11-01 stays above 2000m on the slopes of the peaks to get to Termas de Pelehue on GPT12. We had food for three more days and the weather was excellent.<br />
<br />
We regretted this decision. 11-01 is CC without a clear path. Initially you're walking diagonally on a 45° incline of scree and sand, which is technical and requires constant concentration to find the scree-free spots. Later on, you're going from lower-incline slope to slope with little high-incline "gulleys" in between (as usual on a mountain flank). At some point, we did not see how to cross such a gulley at the spot suggested by the track files. We decided to descend to the point where the gulley seemed to have a passable incline, to ascend back on the next slope. This turned out to be a mistake, as the slope became more inclined before the gulley became passable. In the end, we did a lot of clambering, I got some fresh cuts from sliding down high-incline scree, and we narrowly avoided some scary looking cliff edges at the low end of our slope. This was the most dangerous situation we got in so far, and we were not really prepared to handle it well.<br />
<br />
I'm not blaming the track files: it was clear that it was high-altitude CC, and there was a waypoint warning of "demanding clambering" (though it should not be limited to "nobo"). Maybe going up the problematic slope instead of down would have been the better decision. Just be aware of the challenges this optional route brings. Definitely not doable in bad weather (you would just slide down to your death in some spots).<br />
Note that OSM shows a trail a little to the west (a little lower on the slopes) of 11-01, which connects at the beginning and end. We think we saw this path at some points during our traverse. This may be the easier route to follow instead of sticking to the CC points (which was the superior strategy on all other CC sections so far ;)<br />
There's a water spring at S 38° 06.178', W 071° 04.579'.<br />
<br />
Anyway, we were happy to reach the Termas de Pelehue. Sub-par hot spring, but great scenery all around. You can camp there, we went for a small spot protected on most sides by mountain slopes: S 38° 07.407', W 071° 03.775'. There are some non-sulfur water springs as well as a warm river to wash up in the surroundings.<br />
<br />
We continued on GPT12 for one day, getting back to Ranquil via the southern optional route 12-01. This way, we could catch the bus to Lonquimay the morning after (left at 07:55, there's a second one at ~17:00 Mo-We-Fr). Camped opposite the carabineros (on their suggestion) a bit behind the bus stop, close to the river.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-17 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
We arrived in Ranquil with the bus at 17, and walked about two hours to the hot springs where we camped. They are not very deep, but you can probably lie in them comfortably. Nicely warm. <br />
The ascent towards the pass next to Cerro Moncol follows the riverbed, and as previously noted, it's necessary to cross it multiple times. We were able to cross without getting our feet wet every time, though. The terrain before the pass is difficult, but after it immediately gets easier and the trail is easy to find. We were in a snowstorm and found it easily.<br />
The trail to Guallalí is pretty easy, a long way before Guallalí it becomes a gravel road.<br />
<br />
As described by others, there is a shop in Guallalí with VERY limited supply. It's next to the brown house of big planks, but you enter in front of the little red house to the right. <br />
Romina normally still offers accomodation, but when we were there she was leaving for an appointment in the evening and couldn't have us. She pointed us to the carabineros to camp, but they didn't want us there and told us to go to the camping ground "3 km" down the road. It turned out to be more like 12, and we ended up camping on a field some km from Guallalí<br />
<br />
<br />
*2021-Dec-03/ 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony<br />
<br />
Took the bus from Lonquimay to Ranquil friday at 15:00 (leaves Monday, Wednesday and Friday). On arrival I met two fellow GPT-hikers. Started off in some pretty bad weather with hail and thunder, but it luckily passed after a few hours.<br />
The first challenge I encountered was walking up the small river towards the first mountain pass (NoBo). To make my way up this section I had to cross the river countless times because of the difficult terrain by the river banks. Getting wet feet was inevitable. Afterwards I encountered a snowfield that leads up to the pass. Definitely possible to avoid the snow by walking along the edge, but I found it easier to just make my way up through the snowfield.<br />
Continued on to guallalí where there is a mini-shop with very limited supplies. (There are no flags or signs that indicate there’s a shop but it’s by the brown house made of rustic wooden planks.)<br />
Went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2021-Dec / Hiking / NOBO / OH 5 / Franck & Damien <br />
<br />
Be aware there are only 2 water spots on the road around the volcano<br />
One at the start (tap by the conaf barrack) and a very small one at the camp before entering the scoria field (not sure if water flows after december).<br />
Make sure you load liters of water, esp. in summer (heat + exposure to sun)<br />
Plenty of water (snow melt) once you passed the volcanoe.<br />
The TL from Contracto bridge to Communidad Chenqueco is now a kind of MR, we crossed several 4WD there (? !!). There is plenty of water there.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-28 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH5 / Martin <br />
<br />
4 days. 120 km. Because of bad weather forecast in the high parts of the cordillera, with strong winds, rain and even snow, we opted to take Alternative route 5 from Chenqueco to Lonquimay Volcanoe. A lot of road walking at the begining but the scenery and trail in the National Park were really amazing and worth it. Beware that in the traverse through the volcanoe to Corralco Ski Resort, there is no water and also difficult to camp. High winds and a lot of rain at the end. We checked many hostels in Lonquimay and the most convenient for us, was Hostal Nativo close to the main square.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-23 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank<br />
<br />
2 days & continued to GPT12<br />
At Pass 2180 wind & rain came in, I diverted onto OH-CC-A@11-03-#001 as described by Linda. Snowfields were old & undercut by stream leaving tunnels 5M deep, definitely not safe to slide on. Walked on edge of snowfields or a little above them on right. Then you enter a gorge, it is best to stay close to the stream & only leave the gorge if you must. In to Ranquil, nothing there apart from Carabineros & no traffic. From Ranquil I continued on OH-TL-V@12-01-#001 to GPT12<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-23 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ty & America <br />
<br />
Guayali - Termas de Pelehue<br />
Short & Beautiful. 4:00 Bus Ralco - Guallali. Arrived at carabineros after 8. Luckily they let us camp outside. TONS OF FLIES, so be ready for that. The thermal pools at Pelehue are up by the fumarole. The traverse over there is gnarly, steep, slippery, all the good stuff. Quite small, but with an AMAZING view. The lower one seemed fine to get in, we didn’t as we wanted to make it to the next hot springs on section 12.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-17 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Start: Guallalí, End: Termas de Pelehue<br />
2.5 days. We went from Ralco to Guallalí by Fletes (see section "To section start"). It's a bit expensive but we didn't want to take the bus at 16:30, arriving late. Beautiful section. The first hot springs are worth the detour if you have time to clean them and dig a bigger pot (would take you approx. 2h), otherwise you just have a warm foot bath. After the pass we took the optional route #002 leading back to the regular route, then we switched some times between optional and regular route and finally took the optional route directly to the Termas de Pelehue. This part is quite demanding as there are some landslides where you have to find your way through somehow. The hot springs are gone due to lack of maintenance. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 5 / Maddie & Tom<br />
<br />
3 days, 120km walking around Volcán Lonquimay. Given section 11 was not feasible due to high levels of snow we took Optional Route 5. For us it was 5 star scenery. It is beautiful and the trail is very easy to follow with trail markings in the CONAF park. We found it to be quite a quick section as a result of the easy navigation and good trail quality. Good resupply options in Lonquimay (we stocked up on food as well as bought some new socks and more 95% alcohol for our stove).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-09 / 5 days (GPT11+12) / Hiking / SOBO / OH / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
We combined sections 11 and 12. It took us 5 days including one zero because of weather. Patagonia showed us bit of it's potential in these two sections. <br />
All walked trails were in good condition and CC sections pretty easy to navigate. In the sadle of section 11, because of strong wind, poor visibility and fresh snow and ice we were forced to take optional to the valley. There is a big snowfield, I don't recomend sliding on it all the way. It the lower parts there were big holes into the stream. <br />
From Ranquil we took optional #002 because we didn't want to climb back up. Uphill is more a minor road, downhill nice trail. <br />
After a laguna we took a optional to the Pass 2180 and road around the Pehuenche Extortioner. We needed to get down from elevation ASAP bacause of wind. We passed puesto early in the morning and no one was around. After rainy day everything above 2000m was white. We took trail to pass 1920m which was just with bit of fresh snow and then took minor road #001 down to valley. So I have no idea about the rest of the trail.<br />
Edit: adding a picture from the last sadle 1920m, we did after "rainy" day.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-27 to 2019-Dec-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 3 / Linda<br />
<br />
Regular hiking route until the pass 2180 meters and then Option 3<br />
Nice section ! After the pass, I decided to go down along Option 3 that goes into the canyon. Lot of snow at the beginning, but that was fun cause the slope was not very steep and I could use my bag raincover as a sledge to go down!<br />
Then, I ended up into the canyon, crossing the river at least 20 times but no problem cause the water level is low and the river is tight (compared to GPT07 for instance).<br />
The only difficulty was once the canyon becomes too tight and I had to find a way up and had to face a landslide. Just one part of 5 meters wide but quite dangerous cause very sleepy with the rocks falling down.<br />
After, back into the canyon until I could join the Regular Hiking route. No difficulties until Ranquil.<br />
Was lucky to find people with a car who dropped me in Lonquimai cause I had to resupply. Otherwise, only 3 Buses a week from Ranquil (no tiendas to resupply) to Lonquimai = Monday, Wednesday, Friday<br />
Supermercado with everything to resupply and accommodations in Lonquimai<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-12 / 4.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Sophie & Hendrik <br />
<br />
In total we were 5.5 days on the trail, of which we spend 1 in the tent due to bad weather. On Cerro Moncol there was still some snow, which made us very slow, as we either had the options to walk on steep snow or walk higher up in more difficult terrain. Rivercrossings were no problem.<br />
We liked: The amazing views, the condors we met at the northern part of the pass (they came very close to us), the mountain crystals of which there are plenty on the northern side of Cerro Moncol.<br />
We did not like so much: The higher difficulty due to the snow in some parts (Snow on top of Cerro Moncol made the regular route more difficult)<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Lonquimay (from Ranquil) <br />
- Supermercado Espinoza next to the bus terminal has most things. A little shop on the left hand shortly after the bus terminal when walking from the bus terminal towards the center has gas. The shop has different air mattresses, clothes and some outdoorsy things in the windows. There's also a ferretería that might have.<br />
Several accommodation options<br />
<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
<br />
*Guallali<br />
(2020-Jan)<br />
<br />
Bus Ralco-Guallalí 16:30 Mon-Sat, 9PM Sun. (~2.5h) The bus leaves Los Angeles terminal rural around 2PM Mon-Sat, 7:30PM Sun, continuing to Ralco & Guallali<br />
<br />
Fletes: 4x4 Cars in front of the supermercado. They drive you everywhere. CLP 80'000 to Guallalí, but if you find one going there anyway the price is much lower ;-)<br />
<br />
*Ranquil<br />
(2022 Jan)<br />
Bus from Lonquimay Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 15<br />
Other days bus to Troyo can take you most of the way, but hitching the rest might be difficult<br />
<br />
Bus from Ranquil to Lonquimay Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7:30<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT11 - Cerro Moncol]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830032.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinaqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830130.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[file:Guayali.jpeg|thumb|1100px|center|Guallalí, Por Norberto Seebach, 1100px|center|[http://www.recorriendochile.cl/ Recorriendo Chile].]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830046.jpg|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830051.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830070.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830082.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830115.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664147.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664155.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664163.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664167.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664189.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108829980.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108829987.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830002.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830021.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
<br />
[[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT10_(Laguna_El_Barco)&diff=109033GPT10 (Laguna El Barco)2023-04-15T10:37:04Z<p>Joscha97: </p>
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<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
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==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
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* 2023-Mar-07 to 2023-Mar-09 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis <br />
<br />
After a night in Guallali, we continued on GPT10. This section is short and awesome, definitely worth hiking! <br />
<br />
On Day 1, we decided to reach the camping of Laguna El Barco (Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292]). We managed to get two rides that shorten the day, and enjoyed an afternoon of rest in the campground (we cooked some pinones). As other as noted, the price is 8pp and the water in the shower ice cold. We were hungry for sopapillas but sadly, this late in the season, the shop was closed. Because we asked, we were able to buy tortillas (2k each) directly from the owners for the next morning. Expect heavy bread - one half is enough for a meal.<br />
<br />
On Day 2, we hiked through the plateau. Of note, X {10} [32.1/1296] is now a gate (and a camp) and we were asked to pay 1pp for the right of way. <br />
The plateau is easy walking with a clear trail while filled with beautiful views. Better pack some water before because we did not find any before reaching the end of the descent in the forest (RR-TL-V {10} [13.6+2.5]). We camped at Camp {10} [9.6/1175], which is in a bosquet and wind sheltered.<br />
<br />
On Day 3, we finished the section until Trapa Trapa and asked for lodging at Mirellas (Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956]). It costs 20k pp for room / dinner / breakfast (no hot water). We were told there are some "thermas" close to -37.69656, -71.29006 but when asking our way, we were told it costs 4pp to use them. It did not seem worth it so we backtracked.<br />
The three shops in Trapa Trapa are located at -37.71004, -71.26861 (closed when we passed by), -37.71040, -71.26661 (had various sweets, ice cream) and -37.71234, -71.25523 (the biggest of them). However, expect limited supplies (we could not find batterias nor sunscreen for the next sections).<br />
<br />
Not much more to say on this section. We initially planned to go on 10-01 for the Volcan, but were told it would be a day of heavy rain and thus stayed on the RR (finally, not a single drop, just a little cloudy and windy). <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-07 to 2023-Mar-10 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + option 01 Volcán Copahue / Natalie&Tomàš<br />
<br />
The forest fire situation made planning for this extremely difficult. We packed for GPT 09-12 with volcano side trips but we had to skip 09 because of park closure and gamble on starting directly in Trapa Trapa. We took the direct bus to trapa trapa from Los Angeles, it was long...5+hours and leaves once a day at 2:15pm (Feb,2023). Although it was memorable we think it would have been faster to bus to Ralco and try to hitch as there are "some" cars. The road condition looked as if it has been recently fixed and is being improved even more.<br />
Arrived in trapa trapa at ~730pm and started hiking right away. Beautiful town and valley. We were going to camp at km07 but there were people staying there with dogs so we moved on to the next river crossing not great for camping. <br />
<br />
Day2<br />
Easy walk towards the junction for option 01 to volcán Copahue with a long conversation and piñone testing with "Pedro" from puesto 13.7. We were lucky to hike during the season that the piñones were dropping but sadly we did not find Laureline's cellphone:(. Our plan was to summit Copahue but my stomach bug came back and we stopped very early to camp, we had a few days of excess food so this was no problem. We camped near the large creek separating 01&01a -37.83511, -71.24072. The smoke was also getting us down. There is water here obviously but there is also a nice water source earlier here; -37.83542, -71.24258. This trail (01) is slightly overgrown and the "aggressive puesto" @ 1.2 was locked up with no one there. <br />
<br />
Day 3<br />
We took option 01a (BB) to the pass. Tomáš had tested it the day before to see if it was BB but there was a path. Although there was a path we both got lost in the bamboo for the first bit but luckily once you get under the canopy of the Araucaria's the trail is clear and non bushy, actually it is really pleasant! In the forest there is water here; -37.83520, -71.23177 and a small broken down puesto here; -37.83893, -71.22434. <br />
Out of the forest there is a beautiful grassy (and boggy) plateau with two puestos (one occupied) and lots of water (-37.84756, -71.22044). We spoke with the lady of the puesto and her 5yr old son-genuinely nice people! There is a trail from her puesto (-37.84760, -71.22095) that goes straight up East. The trail exists until you hit a waterfall fed creek and the rocks start; -37.85161, -71.21874. from there on it is CC on grippy rocks, dirt and boulders. Last water source before the pass is not far; -37.85768, -71.21610 and would make a nice camp. Getting to his pass, although beautiful, took a long time! <br />
At the pass we dropped our bags and followed the osm route for volcán Copahue. The osm route was better than the GPT bcs it followed a firm snow patch for a good while making walking fast. There was a good stream of snow melt on the approach (-37.86132, -71.19051) and the walk to the summit was easy, some loose little boulders. The summit was well worth it as the crater of Copahue is very impressive; a large broken glacier with a beautiful glacier lake. We think apart from our climb of Azul it was the nicest volcano so far. <br />
The way down to Termas de Pucon Mahuida was very slow going. Followed the osm route rather than GPT bcs it seemed more accurate.However it was still CC on rocks almost the whole way. Up high there is water here; -37.87362, -71.20509 and "some" spots for camping. Later there is a scenic valley good for water and camping, nice views of Copahue's glacier; -37.87753, -71.19874. We followed this valley down until we had to cross out of it, once leaving this valley there is no drinking water until the hot springs.<br />
We camped at the hot springs which are a good temperature, one small pool but I think there are more higher up. The area around is not good for camping and very boggy, we found one half decent spot. Unfortunately Tomáš had his turn with the stomach bug and the smoke crept in strongly overnight. We rested late until the next day. <br />
<br />
Day4<br />
We rested until late morning as Tomáš was still barely recovered from his stomach bug and walked the long road too ...<br />
<br />
The beginning of the road could have been some of my favorite scenery so far, The Araucaria trees surpassed my expectations and especially when they are backdropped with mountains and at one time an orange river ( glacier water flowing through sulphur like sediment?). The road for option01 had plenty of good water sources (~5x). Friendliest dogs at this puesto; -37.95898, -71.26155 and a teeny tiny amount of water.<br />
Luckily got a hitch with a local to the bus stop shortly after the intersection with 01 and RR.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-25 to 2023-Jan-27 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maks& Gabi<br />
<br />
Really quick section. We started about 2 pm on 25.01 and finished about 2 pm on the 27.01.<br />
Nice and easy with visible trail and no problems from the locals (all of them really nice). There is no water between 14 and 33km even after rain. <br />
We stayed at Camping by Laguna el Barco and paid 8 000 for the both of us. The water in the shower is ice cold, but there are few ladies selling fresh, warm bread. <br />
The public transport from the end of the section is the bus at 5.30 (Guallali) or bus point 5.45. We tried to hitchhike but with no luck. We camped in Guallali by the river (next to the church.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-25 to 2023-Jan-27 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Johana & Matouš<br />
<br />
We found this section surprisingly attractive - mainly the plateau was breathtaking. We spent the first night at a property of a Mapuche family (waypoint Camp - 7,1 km). Right before the ascent to Laguna Liay, there was a Mapuche family whose father approached us, he acted rather reserved from the start towards tourists (as he told us that they bring litter into the mountains) but we ended up drinking harina tostada with the family which also sold us some bread. We took the optional route which goes around the Laguna Liay and couldn't find the path so we somehow slid down the hill and went around the beach. Laguna Liay was really great to take a swim in and felt private (until a helicopter started hovering above our heads, taking water from the lake). There really seemed to be no water on the plateau - we took it from the Laguna and spent the night on the plateau - lots of space for camping there. The next day we arrived at Laguna El Barco, we didn't have to pay for the entry to the lake. The tienda there was open until 8 p.m. and had tuna, rice, pasta, biscuits, beverages, toilet paper, instant soups. There was a stand that made sopaipillas, churascos, french fries, salad, tortillas. Then there were some ladies going around the beach offering almost the same. We hitchhiked some of the last kilometres of the road to Guallalí. There's a shop as others indicated and a bus going only in the morning as written below. The chances of hitch hiking from there are rather scarce, as our Polish fellow travelers found out. There's a quite nice camping spot by the river further down the road (it's a few metres into the start of the section 11); it's not very private but people that were passing by didn't mind us camping there. Continued to section 11 thereafter. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-12 to 2023-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / detour past Laguna las Totoras / Will <br />
<br />
Another quick section, with some super unique Araucaria forests. I decided to try and find the trail to Laguna las Totoras that Jo and Veronica mentioned. The route wasn't exactly traditionally scenic, but I had a good time. The lake was more of a shallow grassy pond surrounded by thick Araucaria forest. To me it was a nice change from all the classic alpine lakes. Flat grassy bank that seemed perfect for camping. The water itself was warm and a bit muddy. I didn't see anyone along the detour, other than a few bulls at the lake.<br />
<br />
I turned off the main trail at -37.90827, -71.30880. I followed some horse tracks curving to the south along the edge of the woods. The tracks went through some sandy clearings before I eventually lost them in the woods. The woods were pretty easy travel, before too long I was out on a grassy plateau where I found tracks leading to the mirador marked on openstreetmap. Went up the road through some inspiring woods to the lake. I then walked south along the not very scenic road back to the main route.<br />
<br />
Could be a nice option to take if you're in the mood for a change from the open alpine trail.<br />
<br />
Other than that I missed the turnoff to the Laguna liay and decided to try bushwhacking straight through. Had a good time going off trail due west to the bottom right corner of the lake, open woods with a few pretty easy scrambles up/down rocky cliffs. Had a worse time trying to head southeast back to the main trail, encountering some thicker woods.<br />
<br />
The bus to Ralco comes at 2pm on Sunday, so I spent two nights at Laguna El Barco with a quick walk Sunday morning to catch the bus. For 15000 I rented a kayak to circle the lake in a bit under two hours, super nice. The campsite was crowded for the weekend. There were some nice ladies selling simple food. The trail to the right of the campsite along the lake is beautiful.<br />
<br />
Had a hard time finding accommodation in Ralco, the first five places I tried were full. Eventually found a spot at Cabañas Nehuen Antu for 30k.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-13 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
We continued from Trapa Trapa in the late afternoon to the camp at km 7. Trail is easy to navigate from the beginning. We set the camp actually a few meters before the puesto, in the forrest on the right side that seemed to be more quiet and hidden place. There is a nice spot with water around km 8, before entering the valley. We have seen just a few people around the puestos. Ascent to the pass is not bad, we enjoyed again very different landscape all around. Continuing to laguna, we decided to camp below arucaria trees a little before the official camp (cca 2 km) since we would get there pretty late. Based on comments from other hikers we went through the camp the next morning to check if there is opportunity to buy some food and eventhough the shop was closed, there were two ladies selling tortillas and sopapillas, churrasco and a few other things. The trail after laguna is mostly a dirt road passing around puestos. There was a community festival in Guallalí (1st edition) which was really nice to see, we tried grilled goat and bought some local products, great experience. One of the guys from the festival took us to Ralco in the evening and arranged a cabaña for us (35k CLP). There are 2-3 bigger shops with basically everything, gas is in the one next to the biggest market on the plaza. On the other hand, minishop in Guallalí is very limited, but they have some drinks, ice cream, cookies etc. There is also one small shop on the way to Guallalí, close to Bus 10-E mark.<br />
<br />
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-09 to 2023-Jan-10 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Trapa Trapa - Laguna El Barco / Anna & Christopher <br />
<br />
We started from Trapa Trapa around 11 am after finishing section 9. The first part nearly until Laguna Liay is an easy walk on dirt roads/nice paths with several water sources.<br />
We met some pehuenche people who greated us friendly, only one man mumbled if we had a 'permiso' to pass there (we couldn't understand him very well). But then his friends told him to let us pass, he went away and we continued walking.<br />
On the last km to Laguna Liay there is a lot of bush bashing. But it's definitely worth it, a very nice camping spot up there.<br />
The next day we took option C around the lake, which was a mistake because at some point we couldn't find a path and ended up on a sketchy climb to the top of the plateau. The rest of the way to Laguna el Barco is easy with good paths.There is no water between Laguna Liay and Laguna el Barco.<br />
At the Laguna they charge 5000 CLP p.p. for the picnic/beach and 8000 CLP p.p. for camping. From there we hitchhiked to Ralco to resupply.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-23 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / Option C / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: Trapa Trapa - Laguna Liay - Laguna El Barco - Guallalí<br />
<br />
Two days from Trapa Trapa to Guallalí. Easy trail up the valley towards Laguna Liay. Didn't see anyone, most of the puestos appeared unoccupied. Lovely araucaria grove at the base of the big climb to Laguna Liay. The trail during the climb was overgrown/hard to distinguish in some places, and had a few areas of blowdowns too, which made the going slow during that bit.<br />
<br />
I took Option C around Laguna Liay, which I found to be a frustrating maze of cow paths. One minute it's nice and clear and then it disappears, leaving me to bushwhack my way along until I stumble upon it again. The lake is beautiful though, and it's the last water before Laguna El Barco, so I filled up a couple litres. Met my first other GPT hikers in 3 weeks there too, they were going NOBO. Really beautiful up on the plateau of araucarias. <br />
There was no one at Laguna El Barco when I got there around lunchtime, no one selling food either. Spent over an hour there enjoying the shady picnic tables and the beach. <br />
<br />
Easy trails/4×4 tracks the rest of the way to Guallalí. The two NOBO GPT hikers I met yesterday got charged 10,000 pesos by some local Mapuche folks to pass through this area, but I (again) didn't meet anyone. <br />
The shop in Guallalí is very limited. When I saw the selection, I decided to take the bus the next morning to Ralco, it leaves at 5:30 am. The shop owner was also not offering accommodation, but pointed me to the lovely araucaria grove across the street to camp. There is Entel cell service here :)<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-27 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain <br />
<br />
- Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292] : the place is nice, as mentioned there are lot of bins, the camping is also very nice and the showers still very cold. They charged me $5.000 for the night. It was written "with no (something I didn't manage to read)" on the bill so if they charge you $8.000 you can try to specify you don't have car, or I don't know... They removed the panel for the grocery just after I asked for it so it's now fixed, there is no grocery. The family selling cooked food wasn't selling food when I visited them around 11:00, maybe because it was monday morning, maybe because it was the end of summer, I don't know<br />
<br />
- Close to GPT10-C Start there is a point of view on the whole valley, it's beautiful and you can see all the puestos <br />
<br />
- Just after it there are many paths to go down, I haven't taken the one from the GPS but it's very easy to reach it then<br />
<br />
- Around Puesto {10} [14.5/1297] an arriero told me there are 2 paths going down the valley, one on each side of the river, I've followed the GPT to try to reach Trapa Trapa before the night so I didn't go further about them but if someone try<br />
<br />
- Around fords there are often a "bridge" made of one massive plank, the same arriero told me about some so they probably check each year they are usable. You just have to look for it, but it can not be the case at some points<br />
<br />
- The number of puestos in this Valley is impressive, I only had good contacts with the people I met<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-11 to 2022-Feb-12 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional section 10-E straight from Laguna El Barco to Guallalí / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
In one day from Trapa Trapa to Laguna Liay, camping at the north side. There are many cow trails leading down to the laguna. The one we took seemed suitable for hikers too. Going back up the next day we got lost in the cow maze though, and only by searching for our own footprints from the previous day did we get back on the RR. It may be worth having a look at our GPS tracking data to figure out our initial path.<br />
<br />
The next day continued to Guallalí. Beatiful plateau! Got to harvest our first piñones as well! However, we hurt the araucaria tree by breaking off a small but not insignificant branch when trying to get the green "pinecone" to break off, using the "strong rope" method described in the hiker's manual. Only later we learned you should go for the brownish, "café"-colored cones. Just hit these with your walking stick and the piñones will fall right off. You then collect them from the ground. The threatened araucaria will be much happier not being hurt :)<br />
<br />
When in need of water at the plateau, there should be a path to Laguna Totora from S 37° 54.510', W 071° 18.580', according to an arriero who passed by. Maybe a future optional route?<br />
<br />
The optional routes 10-E and 10-G have become MR instead of TL.<br />
<br />
The lodging at the shop in Guallalí was not avaible, but the shop owner pointed us to an araucaria grove closeby (you can enter via a wooden gate next to the escuela). We camped there: S 38° 02.647', W 071° 16.441'. There were some villagers passing by, so it seems to be public land. There's a small stream to the east with quite clear water. Maybe it's possible to camp more upstream to the north, where there are bridges and where the stream has passed fewer houses.<br />
<br />
Continued to GPT11 immediately after.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-19 /3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
Between Guallalí and Laguna el Barco is mainly gravel road, but sometimes there are small, discrete paths that connect them, so keep an eye on the GPS.<br />
The camping at Laguna el barco is now 8000 per person. There are toilets, very cold showers and many garbage bins. There is also a family selling tortillas (bread baked in the ash) and sopaipillas, as well as some other people who come down in the evening and morning selling tortillas. There's a shop advertising ice cream, bread, sodas and other stuff, but it's closed. The people at the camping told us that it would open at 13, and then at 20, and then next day. A lady who had stayed there for a week said it had been like that the whole week, so I wouldn't count on it being open. As noted, you can ask the campground people to charge your phone. All in all, it was a nice campsite.<br />
Shortly after, the big climb starts. You have to pass through a fence and by some houses - again keep an eye on the GPS. We were charged 1000 per person, probably wouldn't happen for people going southbound. <br />
As warned, there was no water on the plateau until Laguna Liay. At the camp-waypoint, there is a very small lake, it doesn't look like the best drinking water, and the path directly to the lake seems very overgrown. Instead, we continued around the lake and found a decent campsite on the far side. The path around the lake is faint at best, and we ended up doing some serious scrambling down a cliff, however when we got down we found a path coming more from the right, so maybe there's a better way. The walk around is pretty, though.<br />
After the descent, the rest is easy walking past many puestos.<br />
In Trapa Trapa, we stayed at the house marked "lodging, food". They charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. Very nice family, they might be away in their puesto sometimes though. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. They were building a cabaña when we were there. Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there. Apart from that there are two other minishops, one in each direction, which we didn't check out.<br />
<br />
The bus apparently leaves for Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2021-Dec-03 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option D / Marc Anthony <br />
<br />
After finishing GPT9 I went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.<br />
Like already mentioned by others, remember to bring a lot of water for the following section. The plateau you climb up on after El Barco lake was very dry. Next water source with good clean water was at Laguna Liay. I was getting desperate for water, so I took variant D directly down to the laguna. The trail was very overgrown and requires some bush bashing. Frustrating amounts of mosquitos and horseflies in this part of the section, might be worth bringing some mosquito spray!<br />
<br />
Next section towards trapa trapa was nice and easy with perfect weather and plenty of water.<br />
Found two mini-shops in Trapa Trapa with only limited supplies. A bus to Ralco, leaves weekdays 6:00 in the morning. Therefore I spent the night in a room that a local Mapuche family were renting out. Was served a very big plate of grilled sheep meat and really enjoyed talking with the family. Later in the evening the father returned home very drunk. He was nice and talkative but I was getting at bit of a bad vibe from him, so thanked them for the food and went off to bed. Later at night I was awaken by someone vigorously trying to open the door which I thankfully locked. Rest of the family woke up and I heard a mans voice shouting something about “extranjero” and soon after the abuela kicked this guy out of the house.<br />
<br />
Instantly thought I was gonna get robbed, but might just have been a drunk family member or the father who had forgot I was sleeping in their room. Hard to say… Apart from this I really enjoyed interacting with the locals in this region and I’ve had a lot of nice and memorable experiences.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
* 2020-Feb-02 / Incident on GPT10 at Puesto-55 Location S 37* 49‘ 31.79‘‘ / W 71* 16‘ 23.38‘‘ / Published on behalf of Trevor Mattson<br />
<br />
"Sad to report that i had a very negative experience about 15km into section 10 on sunday (2/2). I was offered food and a place to camp by a very nice pehuenche lady (miriam, goes by "mila", the puesto after puesto 55 marked as "puesto, food" at the beginning of the OH route right after it splits from RR) only to have her husband come home later an try to rob me. She was extremely friendly. Although he was noticeably intoxicated, he was also nice at first as we joked, drank maté an collected firewood together. After a couple hours, as the sun was almost completely gone (~10pm), he went inside his puesto, grabbed a knife, an approached me from behind as i sat around the fire with his wife. He marched me to my tent with the knife pressed againt my neck. I allowed him to search it (he kept saying "plata, plata, plata" an his Spanish wasn't very good) which gave me the opportunity to pick up a rock an intimidate him a bit. I had a lot of money an wasn't just gonna let him take it and all of my stuff up in the mountains at night. His wife then came an tried to get between us / protect me (she was pleading him to stop). He was shoving her around, but this gave me just enough time to rip my tent out of the ground, which had all my stuff in it, an quickly drag it to the nearest puesto (~100metres). He followed me on horseback after a minute or two an the family there armed themselves with sticks an told him to f**k off. <br />
<br />
I hiked for a few hours through the night an met an incredible family at around 1700metres on the optional route (papa named exequel). They told me that he (bernardino from "puesto, food") has robbed a "chino" (means anyone that looks even remotely asian in my latin American experiences) in the past an that "se vuelve loco" when he drinks vine. I bought more cheese from bernardino an his wife than i wanted/needed as a nice gesture an we seemed to get along, so this was reassuring that he was just crazy an it was nothing that i did to provoke him. In other words, i behave according to the manual provided by Jan an it is not at fault.<br />
All in all, the pehuenches an mapuches i've met are all amazing except this guy. I definitely had to inform you all but don't want you to think that they are some uncivilized savages by any means. Bernardino kept telling his wife that i was "solo" as his justification for robbing me as they argued. Therefore i don't recommend passing through there alone, especially not later in the evening. I think if you stick to the regular you will narrowly avoid the puesto entirely. Or definitely worth the extra few KMs to continue to exequel's puesto further up the OH route. Also, i had a few extra pesos in a separate pocket that i was able to pretend like was all the money i had which was clutch. An from now on, I'm not staking anything into the ground until i know the father of the family well. <br />
Anyway, happy trekking, stay safe, an if anyone knows a good place to try an fix tent poles in concepción by chance then that would be awesome!"<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-23 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank <br />
<br />
Came in from Trapa Trapa in evening & camped @ Camp 81. There is a Mapuche family living there, talked to them & they were OK with me camping nearby. I was caught out by the sudden transition from river valley to dry plateau, had very little water & was as dry as dirt when I got to stream 1KM before Laguna Barco, drank 3 litres there. 3000CLP camping for 1 person @ Laguna. There is a Mapuche family with a food stall there, they have chips, sopaipillas & tortilla. The tortilla is like a small bread loaf. Next morning as I was leaving around 8:30 the Mapuche woman came round the campsite with fresh sopaipillas & tortilla. Walked in to Guallali from Laguna Barco in about 3 hours. Shop in Guallali is small but Romina who runs the shop provides beds & meals. 20,000 CLP for evening meal (usually goat & rice), bed & breakfast. Walked out 9KM to Comunidad Chanqueco, there is a good shop there. From Chanqueco it's easier to hitch, traffic coming from Laguna Barco but very little from Guallali. Hitched into Ralco, stayed @ Hosteria Montana there, about 15000CLP single.<br />
2 supermarkets in Ralco, they sometimes have camping gas.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-12 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes<br />
<br />
Overview: <br />
This section was well marked/distinguished relative to all the other sections on thus far. There were many Puestos along the way as well. This was also the first section where the araucaria tree is very prevalent across the landscape. This section was my final section on the GPT and the araucaria trees and the lush green landscape provided good contrast to the semi-desert climate south of Santiago de Chile. <br />
<br />
Difficulties: <br />
There was a small 12km ish section without water close to the pass. <br />
<br />
Highlights: <br />
Change in landscape. Great views of the many volcanoes in the area.<br />
<br />
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-22 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin <br />
<br />
Combined sections 9 & 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in "veranadas" were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-15 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom <br />
<br />
The trail was in good condition and we didn’t experience any issues. Possible to resupply at Guallalí but the selection isn’t huge (pasta, dry soups, crackers, tuna etc). If you are looking to bus into Lonquimay, it was leaving at 5:30AM the next morning for us (but we didn’t take it). <br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-10 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Easy trail and navigation. We got in this really bad weather too. Storm and ice at the pass. In Guallali we had coffee and sopapillas at the carabinieros and spent the night at the same place as Matus, Anna and Linda. We took the bus at 05:30 towards Los Angeles and are staying in Ralco for resupply and drying. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-25 to 2019-Dec-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda<br />
<br />
- Nice hike with no major difficulties. The plateau with the araucarias after the pass is amazing!!!<br />
<br />
- No river when you leave the valley toward the pass and then down to the other valley BUT, as I wanted to sleep on this plateau (25 km after the start of the section) I found a small river 300 meters on the right from the regular track and camped at this place : S37,895511° O71,308919° Wonderful sunset!!! <br />
<br />
- In Guallali, end of the section, lodging, food and mini shop. Lodging at the way point Minishop very nice = guesthouse with diner and breakfast for 20000 CLP. Very nice family!!!!<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-17 / 3.5 days (11 walking hours) / Hiking / NOBO / RR with hitch hiking between Guallali and Laguna el Barco / Sophie & Hendrik <br />
<br />
In total we were 3.5 days on the trail, of which we spend 1 in the tent due to bad weather. The 0.5 day we had left from arriving in Guallali we spend buying food and hitch hiking to the campground at Laguna el Barco. We did so because we expected rain soon and wanted to camp it out. Also we were not too keen for the gravel road part.<br />
<br />
We liked: Nice araucaria trees, an amazing sunset we saw a tad south of Laguna Llai and after section 11 and 12 the easy terrain.<br />
<br />
We did not like so much: The horsflies.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-04 / 3.5 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log. <br />
We combined these two sections. It took us 3.5 days via regular trail SOBO.<br />
Trail in both section is in good condition. There is snowfield in first pass as was mentioned. We went left, but it would be worth to check is it's possible to go through rocks on the right as it seems much shorter. <br />
Water is not marked on a map but there is a stream before the pass. <br />
Resuply in Trapa Trapa is very limited. They had few tunas, other caned fish, some pasta, flour, cola, crisps... We didn't check for accomodation. <br />
We stayed in a paid campsite at Laguna el Barco for 5000 both. Around 8 there was a woman selling bread and sweet pastry, but mind that it was weekend. <br />
Resuply in Guallali again very limited. They have tunas, caned fish, pasta, oil, crackers and bit more. We are staying in a house next to the shop.<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
<br />
==Season 2016/17==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Trapa Trapa<br />
- Accommodation: The house marked "lodging, food" charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. <br />
<br />
- Shopping: Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there. There is a panel just before the street going to the grocery indicating that the mini-market is 100m away. There are two other minishops.<br />
<br />
- Bus: The bus apparently leaves for Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends.<br />
<br />
*Guallalí<br />
Lodging at the way point Minishop very nice = guesthouse with dinner and breakfast for 20000 CLP. <br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
*Laguna El Barco :<br />
Updated Mar 22<br />
<br />
-The family selling cooked food close to Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292] wasn't selling food when I visited them around 11:00, maybe because it was monday morning, maybe because it was the end of summer, I don't know<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
Bus Guallali - Ralco - Santa Barbara - Los Angeles 05:30<br />
<br />
Updated January 2022:<br />
Bus from Trapa Trapa to Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108664113.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603529.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603527.jpg|thumb|Araucarias at GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603530.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603538.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br />
[[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_1086641189.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]</div>Joscha97https://www.wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT11_(Cerro_Dedos)&diff=109032GPT11 (Cerro Dedos)2023-04-15T10:35:46Z<p>Joscha97: /* Images */</p>
<hr />
<div>{{Table all GPTs}}<br />
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<br />
Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br />
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''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias<br />
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Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.<br />
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<br />
Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').<br />
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<br />
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br />
<br />
==Season 2025/26==<br />
<br />
==Season 2024/25==<br />
<br />
==Season 2023/24==<br />
<br />
==Season 2022/23==<br />
<br />
* 2023-Mar-05 to 2023-Mar-05 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis <br />
<br />
Continued directly from GPT12 so we started at the end of RR-TL-V {11} [31.3+1.5] . We followed the RR for the whole section. <br />
<br />
On day 1, for RR-CC-A {11} [27.6+3.3], you have to stay in the river stream for the whole duration. You will find plenty of water because you walk in it, and nice pools and little cascade if you want to take a bath. Leaving the stream for higher up is not a good choice : every time we tried it was a mistake. We camped at Camp {11} [26.1/1957]. It was not protected and the night was very windy... Not our best choice.<br />
<br />
On day 2, we continued until Guallali following the RR. The trail around Km15 transforms in a MR that leads you to the village without even checking the GPS. <br />
There, we found the minishop that had limited resupply options (we bought lentils, cookies, snacks and cola). We checked in with the carabineros that were friendly and sayed we could camp wherever was wind protected. We opted for the football field which is a nice flat and grassy place.<br />
<br />
Not much to say about this section, we found the end on the dirt road relatively dull but the beginning in the mountain is awesome <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Feb-11 to 2023-Feb-12 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (option 01+ off route) / Natalie&Tomáš<br />
<br />
Combined GPT 10(01)+11+12<br />
Day1<br />
Slept in Guallalí in the growth as others have described but still asked the shop owner first for permission. Carabineros were nice and told us we did not need to check in although the sign says "obligatory check". Pedro at the mini shop is also kind and willing to help hikers although there is only a handful of items in his shop-bought some sweets. Pedro also told me that option05 to lonquimay would require you to pay 10mil from the locals. We took RR. At this time of year the road is the "dirt-dust type" but still fast until Estero Quillaylemu (14km) which makes for a nice rest. Tomáš checked out the hotsprings at 6.6. There is a table and a pool of nicely hot muddy water directly next to a river. Better camping site than in Guallali. After the Estero Quillaylemu the track gets harder to follow but becomes beautiful after the ford and bend towards the pass. Lost the trail a couple of times but found lots of wild quinoa. Camped at 25.1 behind a boulder by the river to cut the wind, camp at 26.1 looked nicer.<br />
<br />
For the pass we followed the ridge for as long as we could (option 01) and it was fun and straightforward. Luckily, although the winds were strong that day the ridge was almost windless. Made our way down similar to Will. Got off the ridge here; -38.10270, -71.07250 (later than indicated by the GPX), headed to a small dry gully next to and below the "greyish" dirt here; -38.10359, -71.07282, you had to use your edges as the ground was hard"grit". Entered a small creek bed here;-38.10604, -71.07538 and followed it (some water) until it turned into a scramble. At that point we climbed back up to our left (East), moved south until we went down and up our final gully, just underneath 01B. This last gully was easy as Tomáš found a soft spot, somewhere around here;-38.11039, -71.07474. After this point it was easy to connect to the main route. Just the section up to here from the ridge is problematic - maybe two km. Probably fastest would be to go down the regular route and take the first option left, which is probably a trail and only means about 300 m of additional climbing. The route as mapped by the GPX files (option01; second half of the traverse) looks quite steep and exposed and does not save much elevation. It is probably possible but to us from below it does not look worth it.<br />
<br />
Lastly there are water sources on the other side of the ridge (SW, the hard side) before the hotsprings if needed.<br />
<br />
Continued onto Section 12 towards Banos Coyucos for the night.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-27 to 2023-Jan-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Johana & Matouš<br />
<br />
We camped near the ford on the 18th kilometre (just about 20 metres upstream is a great place to take a bath in). The next day we made it all the way to the end; however, it was an ordeal. The view from the pass was jaw-dropping and parts of the path leading up to it were shaded by beautiful trees, but we feel like the horrible descent (we were doing the regular route) made it not worth it for us. Despite the fact that we were lucky enough to have the best conditions for the descent (only some snowpatches at the top, sunny weather), the terrain felt ankle-spraining. The wobbly stones kept sliding down and it required a lot of focus. We went down through the canyon and after the point where you need to go above it when it becomes too narrow we went down the wrong way and I fell down clutching at straws (literally) not to fall down. So it might be better to go through the river..? To be optimistic, the last part of the path was beautiful again. We hitched a ride and stayed with a really nice family that took us to Lonquimay the next day. It's a nice bigger town with a lot of possibilities to resupply. There are really buses only Mo-We-Fri from Ranquil. <br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-17 to 2023-Jan-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 1 to the Termas del Pelehue / Will <br />
<br />
I took the bus to Guallali, which took me past the Carabineros and directly into town where I set up in the standard grove. A bit after dark two carabineros showed up at my tent. Intimidating at first, they were very friendly after I explained my plans. They just said that next time I should make sure to stop and report to them on my way by.<br />
<br />
The section starts out with a not very interesting road walk, but suddenly became super beautiful 15ish km in. I camped at 25.1, a somewhat sheltered spot by a stream, where the wind rattling my tent made it hard to sleep. A few arrieros came by during the evening. The 26.1 campsite looked similar.<br />
<br />
The horse flies reappeared as I got up closer to the pass. Had flashbacks of sections 7 and 8, trying to determine whether each stab was a horse fly or a burr or a paranoid hallucination. My theory is that they've migrated up to the higher altitudes, now that it's later in the season.<br />
<br />
I took option 1 (diverging a decent amount) to join up with section 12 at the termas de pelehue. It was tough and slow going, taking around 3 hours, but I really enjoyed it. I planned my route to avoid horizontal slope traversals so I never really felt in danger of a serious fall. I did still slip a few times, cutting up my hand a bit.<br />
<br />
I started out with the ridge walk from the pass. Would have been great walking if not for the absurd winds, I spent most of it slightly to the south below the ridge. The slope was pretty gradual there and not slippery. I then went down past the two grass patches following the route on openstreetmap. I descended to the south all the way down to around 1875m, along a stream around 50m to the east of the openstreetmap route. It was easy rock walking at first, but turned into some tricky hands on scrambling as the stream got bigger.<br />
<br />
I wouldn't recommend it if the flow rate is high. Then I climbed back up to the final stretch of the main option route. The climb was steep at first but with enough vegetation and solid rock in the slope to get up. Everything after that was easy, more or less.<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2023-Jan-16 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena<br />
<br />
From Guallalí there’s a gravel road for first few kms, easy walking. We didn’t check the hot springs in a hot day, but someone mentioned it is fine. All the fords were easy. We camped around km 21 in a little forrest. The ascent to the pass is pretty gradual and we enjoyed it really. Based on previous comments we chose to stick to the RR which turned out to be a good decision. There was still quite a lot of snow and the terrain is more technical, but it just requires focus. We walked on the right edge of the snowfield and slided down in some parts. When we reached the river we didn’t walk at all on the snow but rather on river banks or even in the river itself. Closer to the junction we once or twice followed the alternative dotted line that is marked in our maps - it just goes higher up from the canyon and back. After the junction we continued to GPT12.<br />
<br />
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br />
<br />
<br />
*2023-Jan-13 to 2023-Jan-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Guallalí - Termas de Pelehue (junction GPT 11, option 1 and GPT 12) / Anna & Christopher <br />
<br />
In Guallalí we camped at the same spot as Veronica after arriving around 20:30.<br />
The first day there is a lot of walking on dirt roads and good paths, so the km went by quickly. We camped at the ford waypoint [24.3/1688], where the way passes a small creek. It has some natural pools, which are amazing to take a bath.<br />
<br />
The next day after arriving on the plateau there is a CC part, so keep an eye on your navigation device. When we reached the pass we accidently went the wrong way and ended up taking option 1 to decrease the detour. Bad idea! Better don't take option 1. There is almost no path, its very steep, a lot of scrambling and there was one very stupidly dangerous descent across some gravel/rock part. It took us around 3,5 hours to cross option 1. We would definetly not do it again. We directly continued to section 12.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-30 / 5.5 days (GPT11 + GPT12) / Hiking /SOBO / RR + OH 2 / Véronica <br />
<br />
Route: Guallalí - Junction to Section 11, Option 2 - Ridge Las Monjas - Junction with GPT12, RR-CC-A {12} [12.9+3.5]<br />
<br />
Ralco is a good resupply town, the smaller supermarket had camping gas. Took the bus back to Guallalí at 5 p.m. for 1,000 clp, arrived around 8:30 p.m. I camped in the same araucaria grove as the night before (via the wooden gate next to the escuela). Good and clear path in a pleasant valley, river fords easy. Found some ripe berries/brambles along the trail that were delicious. <br />
<br />
I decided to opt for Option 2 that goes east of Cerro Dedos. I was worried about the likelihood of snow on the steep south side of the pass (2174 m) on the regular route. I didn't need to stop in Ranquil, so figured it was best to stay high on the mountain and take either Option 1 or Option 2 to connect with GTP12. After reading the comments from other hikers, I knew I didn't want to take Option 1. A scree traverse on a south-facing slope didn't sound appealing, especially if you factor in lingering snowbanks this year. So I thought Option 2 would be best. A detailed description of my experience along that route is posted under "Optional Routes" ("its directly under this post - modified by Joscha97") . The gist of it is - it was very technical, not much solid footing, lots of exposed scrambling. In a couple spots I genuinely feared for my life. Would not do it again. Please stay safe if going that route, and I would definitely not attempt it NOBO!<br />
<br />
Took 1.5 days to meet up with GPT12 at km 12.9<br />
<br />
OH 2:<br />
The trail is good and easy to follow in the initial valley once it splits from the RR. There was no puesto at the second "puesto" waypoint, just remnants of old fences and corrals. Good place to camp, sheltered from the wind. The start of the CC section is an annoying but thankfully short bushwhack to the treeline. Afterwards it's straight up to the top of the ridge, grass turning to scree/rocks higher up. Steep, but quite doable. <br />
Once at the top of the ridge, this is where my troubles started. The ridge is not nice and rounded, but very narrow and jagged, with vertical, rock outcrops/spires blocking the way frequently. You have to go around most of these obstacles (impossible to climb over), and this is the most dangerous part. To go around you need to descend back onto the nearly vertical scree slope, traverse around the rockface, then climb back up to the ridge. All on the most slippery scree/gravel I've ever experienced. It was all extremely precarious. Climbing back up around the very first obstacle, the scree was so loose I was on my hands and knees scrambling upward, trying to climb faster than the rocks falling under my body. One of the most frightening situations of my life honestly, I felt like I could have gone down with the rocks like an avalanche. After miraculously getting back up on the ridge, I couldn't stop shaking and was almost in tears. Couldn't believe what I'd gotten myself into honestly. And then came more scrambling and clambering. Poles were useless, I was using my hands the whole time. I can't stress enough how loose and unreliable most of the rocks were. Very, very difficult. Would not attempt this northbound, ever. And thank goodness the weather was good and calm too. The views were spectacular, out of this world, but not worth risking my life for, and I wouldn't ever do that section again. Don't know if Option 1 would have been better. At least snow wasn't an issue with Option 2. If I had to do it again I would stick to the regular route, go down to Ranquil and climb back up GPT12 via the RR. <br />
Anyway, south of S 38° 06.903', W 071° 02.205', the ridge becomes less steep and more rounded, easy to walk on. You reach the pass {11-04} [5.4/2385], and make a sharp left to go along the Argentina border. Go across a few easy snowfields. Amazing views of snow-capped volcanoes all around. Condors swooping near my head. Felt like I was the only human on earth. Still lots of snow on Cerro Dedos. Once GPT11-02 meets with GPT12, you pick up a faint path and navigation is easier.<br />
<br />
==Season 2021/22==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-25 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain <br />
<br />
- If you cook on campfire or on wood burning stove you have better stay discrete because everything burnt some years ago and the landscapes are still marked.<br />
<br />
- There are a lot of Araucaria trees. You can easily save food just by harvesting piñones on the floor following the path. I would recommend to not rely on it because it depends on the period, but there was plenty.<br />
<br />
- Camp {11} [22.6/1461] : I loved this place. It was very comfortable with grass on the soil, almost flat, protected from the wind even if there is some in the valley, discrete, and I spent much time looking at the stars thanks to a good and warm (or at least not cold as it was the previous days) weather. To get water you have to walk 3 minutes following the point on the GPS which is precise<br />
<br />
- Ford {11} [18.0/1199] : I had good time there, the weather was very good, the place is calm and good to rest, water is still cold but there is enough to wash if you want to<br />
<br />
- From GPT-11C Start to Guallali it's now a Minor Road so it's very easy to follow and you meet a lot cars going in both directions, they just waved me.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Feb-13 to 2022-Feb-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 11-01 (ABCDE) from the pass to Termas Pelehue on GPT12 / Veronika & Jo <br />
<br />
The MR out of Guallalí continues until about km 12 on RR-TL-V (another trail that's been jeep-tracked recently) where it veers off to the north. We found out two kilometers too late, but got back to optional route 11-C by CCing through some araucaria forest. This turned out to be a happy little accident, as, this way, we saw a family collecting things from the ground, which turned out to be piñones. Here is where we learned that the ripe cones are "café", and that the piñones just fall down when the cone is hit with a stick or a rock. It's basically nature's piñata (no etymological relation though!). Before getting back to the track, we found some low-hanging ripe cones, which sprinkled more piñones than we wished to carry. Got a nice free meal out of those we did pick up :)<br />
<br />
Camped in one of the many camp sites deeper in the mountains.<br />
<br />
The next day, we decided to skip the descent to Ranquil after the pass, instead taking the optional route 11-01 (ABCDE). 11-01 stays above 2000m on the slopes of the peaks to get to Termas de Pelehue on GPT12. We had food for three more days and the weather was excellent.<br />
<br />
We regretted this decision. 11-01 is CC without a clear path. Initially you're walking diagonally on a 45° incline of scree and sand, which is technical and requires constant concentration to find the scree-free spots. Later on, you're going from lower-incline slope to slope with little high-incline "gulleys" in between (as usual on a mountain flank). At some point, we did not see how to cross such a gulley at the spot suggested by the track files. We decided to descend to the point where the gulley seemed to have a passable incline, to ascend back on the next slope. This turned out to be a mistake, as the slope became more inclined before the gulley became passable. In the end, we did a lot of clambering, I got some fresh cuts from sliding down high-incline scree, and we narrowly avoided some scary looking cliff edges at the low end of our slope. This was the most dangerous situation we got in so far, and we were not really prepared to handle it well.<br />
<br />
I'm not blaming the track files: it was clear that it was high-altitude CC, and there was a waypoint warning of "demanding clambering" (though it should not be limited to "nobo"). Maybe going up the problematic slope instead of down would have been the better decision. Just be aware of the challenges this optional route brings. Definitely not doable in bad weather (you would just slide down to your death in some spots).<br />
Note that OSM shows a trail a little to the west (a little lower on the slopes) of 11-01, which connects at the beginning and end. We think we saw this path at some points during our traverse. This may be the easier route to follow instead of sticking to the CC points (which was the superior strategy on all other CC sections so far ;)<br />
There's a water spring at S 38° 06.178', W 071° 04.579'.<br />
<br />
Anyway, we were happy to reach the Termas de Pelehue. Sub-par hot spring, but great scenery all around. You can camp there, we went for a small spot protected on most sides by mountain slopes: S 38° 07.407', W 071° 03.775'. There are some non-sulfur water springs as well as a warm river to wash up in the surroundings.<br />
<br />
We continued on GPT12 for one day, getting back to Ranquil via the southern optional route 12-01. This way, we could catch the bus to Lonquimay the morning after (left at 07:55, there's a second one at ~17:00 Mo-We-Fr). Camped opposite the carabineros (on their suggestion) a bit behind the bus stop, close to the river.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2022-Jan-17 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa <br />
<br />
We arrived in Ranquil with the bus at 17, and walked about two hours to the hot springs where we camped. They are not very deep, but you can probably lie in them comfortably. Nicely warm. <br />
The ascent towards the pass next to Cerro Moncol follows the riverbed, and as previously noted, it's necessary to cross it multiple times. We were able to cross without getting our feet wet every time, though. The terrain before the pass is difficult, but after it immediately gets easier and the trail is easy to find. We were in a snowstorm and found it easily.<br />
The trail to Guallalí is pretty easy, a long way before Guallalí it becomes a gravel road.<br />
<br />
As described by others, there is a shop in Guallalí with VERY limited supply. It's next to the brown house of big planks, but you enter in front of the little red house to the right. <br />
Romina normally still offers accomodation, but when we were there she was leaving for an appointment in the evening and couldn't have us. She pointed us to the carabineros to camp, but they didn't want us there and told us to go to the camping ground "3 km" down the road. It turned out to be more like 12, and we ended up camping on a field some km from Guallalí<br />
<br />
<br />
*2021-Dec-03/ 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony<br />
<br />
Took the bus from Lonquimay to Ranquil friday at 15:00 (leaves Monday, Wednesday and Friday). On arrival I met two fellow GPT-hikers. Started off in some pretty bad weather with hail and thunder, but it luckily passed after a few hours.<br />
The first challenge I encountered was walking up the small river towards the first mountain pass (NoBo). To make my way up this section I had to cross the river countless times because of the difficult terrain by the river banks. Getting wet feet was inevitable. Afterwards I encountered a snowfield that leads up to the pass. Definitely possible to avoid the snow by walking along the edge, but I found it easier to just make my way up through the snowfield.<br />
Continued on to guallalí where there is a mini-shop with very limited supplies. (There are no flags or signs that indicate there’s a shop but it’s by the brown house made of rustic wooden planks.)<br />
Went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2021-Dec / Hiking / NOBO / OH 5 / Franck & Damien <br />
<br />
Be aware there are only 2 water spots on the road around the volcano<br />
One at the start (tap by the conaf barrack) and a very small one at the camp before entering the scoria field (not sure if water flows after december).<br />
Make sure you load liters of water, esp. in summer (heat + exposure to sun)<br />
Plenty of water (snow melt) once you passed the volcanoe.<br />
The TL from Contracto bridge to Communidad Chenqueco is now a kind of MR, we crossed several 4WD there (? !!). There is plenty of water there.<br />
<br />
==Season 2020/21==<br />
<br />
==Season 2019/20==<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-28 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH5 / Martin <br />
<br />
4 days. 120 km. Because of bad weather forecast in the high parts of the cordillera, with strong winds, rain and even snow, we opted to take Alternative route 5 from Chenqueco to Lonquimay Volcanoe. A lot of road walking at the begining but the scenery and trail in the National Park were really amazing and worth it. Beware that in the traverse through the volcanoe to Corralco Ski Resort, there is no water and also difficult to camp. High winds and a lot of rain at the end. We checked many hostels in Lonquimay and the most convenient for us, was Hostal Nativo close to the main square.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-23 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank<br />
<br />
2 days & continued to GPT12<br />
At Pass 2180 wind & rain came in, I diverted onto OH-CC-A@11-03-#001 as described by Linda. Snowfields were old & undercut by stream leaving tunnels 5M deep, definitely not safe to slide on. Walked on edge of snowfields or a little above them on right. Then you enter a gorge, it is best to stay close to the stream & only leave the gorge if you must. In to Ranquil, nothing there apart from Carabineros & no traffic. From Ranquil I continued on OH-TL-V@12-01-#001 to GPT12<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-23 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ty & America <br />
<br />
Guayali - Termas de Pelehue<br />
Short & Beautiful. 4:00 Bus Ralco - Guallali. Arrived at carabineros after 8. Luckily they let us camp outside. TONS OF FLIES, so be ready for that. The thermal pools at Pelehue are up by the fumarole. The traverse over there is gnarly, steep, slippery, all the good stuff. Quite small, but with an AMAZING view. The lower one seemed fine to get in, we didn’t as we wanted to make it to the next hot springs on section 12.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2020-Jan-17 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo <br />
<br />
Start: Guallalí, End: Termas de Pelehue<br />
2.5 days. We went from Ralco to Guallalí by Fletes (see section "To section start"). It's a bit expensive but we didn't want to take the bus at 16:30, arriving late. Beautiful section. The first hot springs are worth the detour if you have time to clean them and dig a bigger pot (would take you approx. 2h), otherwise you just have a warm foot bath. After the pass we took the optional route #002 leading back to the regular route, then we switched some times between optional and regular route and finally took the optional route directly to the Termas de Pelehue. This part is quite demanding as there are some landslides where you have to find your way through somehow. The hot springs are gone due to lack of maintenance. <br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 5 / Maddie & Tom<br />
<br />
3 days, 120km walking around Volcán Lonquimay. Given section 11 was not feasible due to high levels of snow we took Optional Route 5. For us it was 5 star scenery. It is beautiful and the trail is very easy to follow with trail markings in the CONAF park. We found it to be quite a quick section as a result of the easy navigation and good trail quality. Good resupply options in Lonquimay (we stocked up on food as well as bought some new socks and more 95% alcohol for our stove).<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2020-Jan-09 / 5 days (GPT11+12) / Hiking / SOBO / OH / Matus & Anna <br />
<br />
We combined sections 11 and 12. It took us 5 days including one zero because of weather. Patagonia showed us bit of it's potential in these two sections. <br />
All walked trails were in good condition and CC sections pretty easy to navigate. In the sadle of section 11, because of strong wind, poor visibility and fresh snow and ice we were forced to take optional to the valley. There is a big snowfield, I don't recomend sliding on it all the way. It the lower parts there were big holes into the stream. <br />
From Ranquil we took optional #002 because we didn't want to climb back up. Uphill is more a minor road, downhill nice trail. <br />
After a laguna we took a optional to the Pass 2180 and road around the Pehuenche Extortioner. We needed to get down from elevation ASAP bacause of wind. We passed puesto early in the morning and no one was around. After rainy day everything above 2000m was white. We took trail to pass 1920m which was just with bit of fresh snow and then took minor road #001 down to valley. So I have no idea about the rest of the trail.<br />
Edit: adding a picture from the last sadle 1920m, we did after "rainy" day.<br />
<br />
<br />
*2019-Dec-27 to 2019-Dec-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 3 / Linda<br />
<br />
Regular hiking route until the pass 2180 meters and then Option 3<br />
Nice section ! After the pass, I decided to go down along Option 3 that goes into the canyon. Lot of snow at the beginning, but that was fun cause the slope was not very steep and I could use my bag raincover as a sledge to go down!<br />
Then, I ended up into the canyon, crossing the river at least 20 times but no problem cause the water level is low and the river is tight (compared to GPT07 for instance).<br />
The only difficulty was once the canyon becomes too tight and I had to find a way up and had to face a landslide. Just one part of 5 meters wide but quite dangerous cause very sleepy with the rocks falling down.<br />
After, back into the canyon until I could join the Regular Hiking route. No difficulties until Ranquil.<br />
Was lucky to find people with a car who dropped me in Lonquimai cause I had to resupply. Otherwise, only 3 Buses a week from Ranquil (no tiendas to resupply) to Lonquimai = Monday, Wednesday, Friday<br />
Supermercado with everything to resupply and accommodations in Lonquimai<br />
<br />
<br />
* 2019-Dec-12 / 4.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Sophie & Hendrik <br />
<br />
In total we were 5.5 days on the trail, of which we spend 1 in the tent due to bad weather. On Cerro Moncol there was still some snow, which made us very slow, as we either had the options to walk on steep snow or walk higher up in more difficult terrain. Rivercrossings were no problem.<br />
We liked: The amazing views, the condors we met at the northern part of the pass (they came very close to us), the mountain crystals of which there are plenty on the northern side of Cerro Moncol.<br />
We did not like so much: The higher difficulty due to the snow in some parts (Snow on top of Cerro Moncol made the regular route more difficult)<br />
<br />
<br />
==Season 2018/19==<br />
<br />
==Season 2017/18==<br />
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==Season 2016/17==<br />
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=Resupply and Accommodation=<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br />
<br />
*Lonquimay (from Ranquil) <br />
- Supermercado Espinoza next to the bus terminal has most things. A little shop on the left hand shortly after the bus terminal when walking from the bus terminal towards the center has gas. The shop has different air mattresses, clothes and some outdoorsy things in the windows. There's also a ferretería that might have.<br />
Several accommodation options<br />
<br />
<br />
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br />
<br />
<br />
=Transport to and from Route=<br />
<br />
<br />
*Guallali<br />
(2020-Jan)<br />
<br />
Bus Ralco-Guallalí 16:30 Mon-Sat, 9PM Sun. (~2.5h) The bus leaves Los Angeles terminal rural around 2PM Mon-Sat, 7:30PM Sun, continuing to Ralco & Guallali<br />
<br />
Fletes: 4x4 Cars in front of the supermercado. They drive you everywhere. CLP 80'000 to Guallalí, but if you find one going there anyway the price is much lower ;-)<br />
<br />
*Ranquil<br />
(2022 Jan)<br />
Bus from Lonquimay Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 15<br />
Other days bus to Troyo can take you most of the way, but hitching the rest might be difficult<br />
<br />
Bus from Ranquil to Lonquimay Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7:30<br />
<br />
<br />
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br />
<br />
<br />
=Links to other Resources=<br />
<br />
Retired Section Article [[GPT11 - Cerro Moncol]]<br />
<br />
=Images=<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830032.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinaqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830130.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[file:Guayali.jpeg|thumb|1100px|center|Guallalí, Por Norberto Seebach, 1100px|center|[http://www.recorriendochile.cl/ Recorriendo Chile].]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830046.jpg|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830051.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830070.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830082.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830115.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664147.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664155.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664163.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664167.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664189.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108829980.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108829987.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830002.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
[[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830021.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br />
<br />
[[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]<br />
<br />
[[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664142.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>Joscha97