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GPT08 (Volcan Chillan)

2025-02-02T17:27:36Z

Mmcdanielpeacock:

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=Overview=

=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

* '''2025-JAN-29 to 2025-Feb-2 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 1 / Elijah & Michael

Rio Nuble remains a challenging crossing with water coming waist high at 174 cm. Trail is overgrown with Bamboo Grass up to the second pass, however improves thereafter.

Both the undeveloped termas after the second pass, as well as Los Peucos are highly recommended. Camping & rustic cabanas available at Los Puecos; as noted, Sergio is warm, welcoming, and generous with his available supplies.

El Puesto {08} [120.6/1513] informed us that we were trespassing on private property and allowed us to pass on the stipulation that we never return.

Antuco Base Camp sells hot coffee, cookies, chocolate, and at lunch, pizza. Light traffic on road to Antuco (Sunday).

(Option 1: Michael split from RR to hike this option. Second marked puesto busy & welcoming. No water available after basin before ridge walk, until Laguna el Lobo. Good views, comparable to Traversia Polcura.)

'''2024-01-16 to 2014-01-26 / 1day+10days / Hiking / SOBO / RR+OH 1+new trail / Dorota+Peggy till los Puecos, after that Dorota'''

Very demanding stage because of Rio Nuble

1Day: I walked alone and have idea to cross the river Nuble at km 22.0 km (-36.82021, -71.25381) at first gate. Then followed river, and after puesto I found trail. My idea was destroyed for next river and also on the other side I did not see possibility to continúe. So I backtrack to camping El Ingles and joined Peggy.

Day2: We could not crossed safely Nuble. Night at km 21.6

Day3: We continued option 08-01. It was possiblity of storm so we went to puesto (08-01)[8.0/1136]. We spent here night and learned how to made sopapillas and bread. Patricia y Juan gave us a lot of food. Juan explain us that exist path on other side of river (reffering to option1) which leads to termas.

Day4: We risked to follow his innstruction and we reached the track RR. So if you would like to do this option: take variant 01, cross the river Nuble at about km 6.5 (-36.86712,-71.21317). And then not followed option 1. Instead turn right and followed path on the other side. You need to make some adicional kilometers, but it was worth of it.

Day5: we reached termas. There was nice spot with two places for tent.(-36.90435, -71.35763)

Day6: volcano Chillan using variant Natalie-Tomas. Till 2500 m nice visible path. Then sometimies. There were snowfields, only one with spikes. We met pair from Germany.

Day7: We spend a lot of time for find good place for passing river Daulagin. We have crossed 100 m down stream. I have 1.64 cm, peggy 1.60 cm. Cuarrent very strong, water to hips. I reached camping los Puecos.

Day7: Rest day at Puecos. Night at "quincho" house with place for fire. Price 15.000 clp. Ranger Sergio gave us a lot of food, breakfast and dinner. Also gas and food. He didnot like money adicional. Hot springs excepcional.

Day9: I followed trail alone. Between 82.9 and 84.2 a lot tress and sometimes trail is not visible. Night at km 88.4.

Day 10: views from the ridge were amazing. Between km 110.2 and 113.1 the trail very often is not visible. I camped at km 111. Water from snow.

Day11: There were not water till km 117. Meeting with Rodrigo at his puesto were not so bad. At the beginnig I started to apologize that I am on his territory. Night at camping Antuco in luxury cabana for 4 personas. Price 30000 clp. Owner in the evening took me to Abanico to restaurant and buying some food. Very nice place.

'''2025-Jan-20 to 2025-Jan-27 / 7 days + 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR from thermas de Chillán, Option 08-D + volcano Chillán / Chris & Julia
'''

Tldr: Final ridge is difficult (navigation & terrain), we had insane winds. Water [118.3/1733] is campable. All fords managable (2 pers, one 181cm), one a bit tricky to navigate. Option 08-D preferable. Dont miss out on Los Peucos!

Skipped due to Rio Nubles to valles de agua caliente.
Climbing volcan Chillán was a nightmare made from ashes and loose rocks. Saw condors from maybe 5m away and got blessed with amazing views. it took us in total approx. 7hrs. Many snowfields to cross and no real path, its just... very very steep.
Valle de agua caliente was very nice, but also crowded. The water is not particularly hot, but relaxing & nice during daytime. The first river that needs to be crossed to join the RR was pretty hot (almost burned my foot when crossing). We were a bit bummed, we didnt try to find a bathing spot there, away from the people and with some steam ;)
Fording Rio Diguilli approx hip high and medium current, second crossing was easier than first but hard to navigate. At the marked location is a good spot, just hard to get there as the path was swept away. We followed horse tracks, last 20m pushed through bushes, climbed down and then traced the river approx. 20-40m upstream to the marked fording and crossed there.
Los Peucos is a heaven, no shop though, so plan supplies accordingly! If lucky and he had a recent resupply run, he might sell you some food, but its not certain. Sergio is super nice & welcoming, hot pools are suuuuper relaxing! Wifi available. 15kCLP pp.
We took Option 08-D (some CC that Sergio (Los Peucos) recommended) to only cross Rio Polcura once. We crossed approx 200m downstream of the marked location where it was more narrow, less current but a bit deeper. We did this because it was easier to judge whats coming and it was belly high, but due to little current very managable. Rather a nice cool dip. We saw horse tracks exiting the trail a bit earlier to the left than the Option 08-D. Arrieros know best, i suspect this might be their trail, worth checking out!
As others mentioned before, we also took the road and not the RR parallel to the river. We saw arrieros use it on horses, but with backpacks its hard and not enjoyable.
Camp [97.8/1456] at Laguna el Roble was a dream spot. The ascend after was a dream too, 2hrs, amazing views.
Final ridge approx from the salida de emergencia ongoing was hard to navigate, challenging terrain, insane winds! Took longer than expected!
Camp [106.6/1938] looked not flat but okay, but water supply rather trickling than flowing.
We camped at not-marked location very close to Water [118.3/1733] (when the path gets muddy, after crossing the little flow from the left, little ascend and then to the right is a nice flat spot between fallen trees). The water is actually a source and had wonderful cold & fresh water flowing.

In Antuco we found through asking a shop owner a little room, hosted by nice lady Sara: 3 beds, power outlets, wifi (fast), shower (warm-ish), watercooker, microwave, clean, central (near bigmarket) for 40.000CLP per night for it all. Her Whatsapp: +56 9 8503 8261
No kitchen though.

Wonderful and diverse section! Loved every bit of it!

'''2024-Jan-02 to 2024-Jan-12 / 3 days+8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, backtrack from Rio Nubles, OH02, OH02A / Nimrod & Tamar
'''
In short - we didn't cross Rio nubles and backtracked to opt 02.
Great hot springs
An angry guy at puesto [120.6/1513]

Trail from Puente Ingles is an MR. There is a lot of worker traffic and it's easy to hitchhike.
At Camp [21.6/873] there is a fence and it's currently impossible to camp there. At the same spot there is a cable bridge. We climbed the fence and tried to cross, but the cart was on the other side of the river and we didn't see anybody.

We camped near Rio Nubles ford waypoint in order to try it early in the morning.
The current was too strong and we didn't maage to cross the river (we are 170 cm)
We decided to go upstream using option 10, cross the river, and try to go back to RR on the other side.
We crossed the river at (-36.86714, -71.21322) and started hiking south.
It was hard BB and we hiked about 1.5 km in 4 hours.
We saw the river got wide so we decided to cross it again, stop suffering, backtrack and take a bus to thermas de chillan.

We took a bus from Chillan to Termas de Chillan at 13:30 on Sunday. We walked about 1 km on the paved road and climbed to the first hot springs. There was a small not so warm pool.

2nd day - we climbed to Volcan Chillan. There was some snow but it was easy without spikes.
Slept in the amazing Valle de Agua Caliente and enjoyed a hot bath in the hot river at night.

3rd day - We planned to get to Los Peucos but decided to spend more time in the hot springs valley and started hiking at noon. The ford in [48.4/1334] was quite hard. At afternoon the water reached our belly button, current was strong, rock at bottom slippery.
We camped near ford [50.5/1305]. There was a fir pit.

4th day - we hiked to Los Peucos. Sergio the ranger accepted selling us some food (flour, eggs, cheese, pasta, tuna, pastrami). Payed 15,000 clp each for food+hot spring+camp. The hot springs were amazing! The best so far for us. You get to fill your own pool before going in so it's clean and warm! There's wifi and a place to charge as well.

5th day - we camped at (-37.10491, -71.31605) no water. Saw puma foot prints the next morning, and a research camera a little before camp.

6th day - saw Laguna de laja and volcan Antuco from afar for the first time. camped near Laguna De Roble, swem and rested in the afternoon. Beautiful place! A lot of ducks.

7th day - the path was clear most of the time and the view really nice.
We camped at (-37.178223,-71.235131) - beautiful place with a view to volcan Antuco, water from melted snow.

8th day - watch out as going down the trail to the last valley- it looks innocent, but is actually quite steep and dirt is slippery, and land is hard and painful to fall on. Had some nasty falls on our butts!
At puesto [120.6/1513] a guy named Ricardo was angry at us for entering his private property, but had no choice but let us continue down.We think he might not let NOBO hikers go up the valley.
Finally we hitchhiked to Antuco. There was a lot of traffic on Sunday.

'''2024-Dec-21 to 2024-Dec-26 / 6 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR, variant E, Option 2 / Sean & Neele
'''

At the park entrance on the road they asked where we were going, once we explained we were going north to termas de chillan they asked to see the route. Wasn't a problem they just seemed curious, let us in without paying.

Puesto 120km - lots of people camping in this area on a Friday.

117km to 107km - snow present. It's manageable but slowed our progress. Around 113km is the worst of it. North of 107km some very small patches but nothing difficult.

Camp 106.6km - very wet at the moment there's a better option about 500m sobo.

Camp without water 102.3 - currently has plenty of water.

Camped at camp 87.1km - lots of horseflies

Ford 71.3km - easy at 4pm

Ford 66.4, 64.1 and 63.7km - also easy

Camping Los Puecos 63.9km - great spot hot spring was a bit too hot for us. Host was a legend; he brought us breakfast on Christmas.

Ford 48.4km - Very strong. Crossed around 5:30pm hip deep for Neele (1.61m). We took our time finding a suitable place to cross and ended up about 250m upstream from RR.

Camped at Ford 47.4km eastern side downstream there's a great camp spot with a fire ring.

Hot spring 40.4km is really amazing

We took option 2 to Termas de Chillan to avoid Rio Nuble. Some snow but really not a problem.

* ''' 2024-DEC-18 > 20 / 3 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / frontiere argentine(voir GPT07) > RR > frontiere argentine > RR / Pierre-Marie '''

Etape : GPT07+GPT08
| Meteo : soleil
| Eau : facile
| Neige : beaucoup
| Intérêt : 5/5
| Difficulté : 4/5
| Danger : passage de rivière difficile, foret d'arbres morts, neige sur pente raide.

Le passage du Rio Nuble n'est pas facile, meme le matin. La fin du sentier avant la grande montee est vraiment difficile a suivre car peu empruntée et milieu humide avec beaucoup de vegetation. En revanche la montée est parfaitement entretenue.
La crete est un vrai plaisir, mais elle est exigente physiquement et il n'y a pas d'eau ni de sentier. Les parties sableuses sont difficile car il y a des trous sous le sable. Pour la descente vers le Rio Polcura, il suffit de suivre le sentier. La riviere est facile a passer.
Ensuite la premiere partie vers le lac est en mauvais etat meme si le chemin est bien visible. La foret est morte alors attention aux chutes de branches. La derniere crete est tres belle, mais il y a beaucoup de neige dans des endroits tres raide. Impossible a faire si la neige est glacée. La derniere descente est propre mais il y a beaucoup de moustiques dans le grand pré. La fin du dernier jour s'est faite sous un ciel menaçant, je me suis depeché de descendre pour retrouver de la chaleur et des endroits plats en cas de pluie. J'ai rejoint Los Angeles le lendemain avec 4km de marche, 5km en stop, puis en bus depuis Abanico par le bus de 8h45.
DEC-21 : Repos Los Angeles.

* ''' 2024-DEC-13 to 2024-DEC-17 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. E, 06, 06B) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel '''

This stage is full of incredible diversity, encompassing almost everything. Epic views, challenging terrain, walking on snow, beautiful wild forests, the majestic Chillán volcano, hardened lava flows, hot springs, arrieros, a ridge trail, and, so far, the most challenging ford we’ve encountered here (see below).

We got back to the trail by hitchhiking from San Fabián in the early morning. The following section [km 2.8 to approx. 21.9] is not a trail as described in the track files, but rather a solid MR that is being worked on by laborers. The settlement at El Roble [12.7/758] is actually a police station where we checked in and provided our contact details.

The ford [23.7/950] across the Ñuble River is the biggest challenge of this section. We first attempted it in a line of three, but our tallest member, Daniel (198 cm), who was first, found the water almost up to his chest and the strong current was beginning to pull us in. We turned back. It wasn’t safe to cross. Eventually, we found a rock 100 meters upstream where the water was deeper but the riverbed was narrower. With a run-up, we jumped one by one as far as we could, and on three steps, we made it to the opposite bank. We sent our backpacks across the riverbed using a rope and carabiner.

The ascent to the saddle of the Chillán volcano is a beautiful hike, and the extensive and geologically fresh lava flow at the Trailhead [34.6/1873] is definitely worth mentioning. The crossing point is unmarked at about [35.1/1852]. Above 2150 m, everything was completely covered with snow. Spikes came in handy.

The descent to the Río Diguillín valley was okay, and we camped near the ford [48.4/1334], which is also a nice spot for a bivouac. We crossed the mentioned ford in the morning, and the water reached my waist at a height of 178 cm. It’s worth noting that the marked ford [50.5/1305] could be crossed with dry feet. The trail towards Termas los Peucos [63.9/1191] is a relatively well-defined path trodden by local arrieros. At the hot springs, which cost 7000 CLP per person, there is also a camping, but we continued further along the MR. At about [75.0/1160], we originally turned down the RR, but due to the challenging BB, we reversed our decision and continued along the MR to variant E.

From the Trailhead [80.5/1248], there is a pleasant path leading to the beautiful Laguna Laja. We camped at Camp [98.3/1459] by Laguna El Roble, where you need to slightly clear some bushes, but there is a nice spot for three tents and a fire pit. The ascent to the Pass [100.6/2035] (El Encanto) is quite pleasant due to its zigzagging path. There, we were captivated by the literally breathtaking view of the Antuco Volcano and Sierra Velluda. Unfortunately, due to an injury to one of our members' arches, we had to skip part of the ridge and finish the section using variants 06 + 06B. We deviated from the RR at point X [105.4/1934] and at Bus point {08-06B} [2.9/734], we hitchhiked to Los Angeles.

* ''' (2024/Dez/01-2024/Dec/07) 7Days/ Hiking and Packrafting/ SOBO/ RR / Lukas, Basil and Tabea '''

Entry point st puente el Ingles. The street to el Roble is beeing newly built and very easy to walk ou but also boring. The crossing of rii nuble was only manageble with packrafts, the river crossing ob foot is not possible at the moment. The mountain Pass at 39.1 km was duable but there was still a lot of snow from ca. 36.2 to ca. Ford 47.4. The hot springs were worth all the effort! The crossing at 50.5km was at the limit (for a person 170cm, over belly button). It was only possible in a line, manageble but not recommended.
Hot springs at camp 63.9 km are great. Ranger station has all the necessary commodoities, we spent an extra day there. From there on the road was well maintained until the laguna de la laja.
Packrafting before 3pm was very hard and slow due to SO wind, in the afternoon the west-wind made progress possible. Water levels are unusually high at the moment. As we were tired cold we hitch hiked with a fisher boat to the end of the lake afer ca. 14 km paddeling. exit over highway next to national park laguna del laja.

==Season 2023/24==
* '''24-11-29- 24-12-4/ 6 days / SOBO, OH02, RR, OH08F, RR, OH06/ Volker'''

A great spring hike, but not an easy one!
To avoid Rio Nubles so early in the season I took OH02 (bus from Chillan, rural station, to Valle las Trancas at 10.10 a.m. (2 buses each day go to Termas de Chillan, schedule:
https://busesrembus.cl/en/services.php)
and walked/hitchhiked the last kilometers to Termas. Started around 14:30. The snow began immediately after the hot spring at 4.8. I walked CC on the nearly untouched white coverage to the pass. The valley was almost completely under snow with some green patches. Rio Diguillin (no ford indicated): why keep feet dry, why keep anything dry? It‘s a stream at about 38 C with many whirlpools. I stayed over an hour there and camped not far: 10qm for a tent inmidst all the snow on a warm spring evening. The night and the following morning: quite cold. It was a good decision to add some 800g to my base-weight for a warm layer and gloves.

Day 2: Got up at 6.a.m and climbed with a mini-backpack CC on Volcan Chillan Viejo, at 9 a.m. on the summit, great view! In the afternoon I walked NOBO to the hot spring at 40.3 on RR. Back at the tent, it started to rain, mixed with snow.

Day 3: Started late, waiting for the weather to improve. To avoid the NOBO detour to the RR I climbed CC to join it. This was easy, the problems began on the RR. The whole trail was under snow, I had to permanently use my device to find the point of reentry into overgrown area after steep snowfields. Later less snow, but now many broken trees and branches blocked the way. No major problem, but I advanced slowly. First ford at 47.7: difficult. Second ford at 48.4: very difficult! That was no fun, strong stream over my thighs, I could dare it only, because I found a spot, where two rocks are quite close, so I had to stand the stream only for a second, before I could cramp to the next rock. The OSM here is not correct, perhaps the river has a new bed. After the puesto the trail was cleaned up/bypassing broken trees easier. I finally moved quicker. Camp at 57.0.
Day 4: Difficulties continued. Very cold in the morning, wet socks and shoes frozen; 5 fords, that are not indicated, all no major problem, but none with dry feet. The swamp before the puesto at 61.7 is bigger now (in spring?), several hundred meters of the trail under water. Again more fords than indicated, all easy, but one: water (flowing slowly) to my belly (1,97m!). The water reached to the lower part of the backpack. Didn‘t see anyone at the Los Peucos camp site. At the ford at 71.3 the water was neither very high nor very strong, but more than 100m to go the other bank! The following MR very welcome, finally allowed to move quicker. Camp on RR at around 77.5 directly on the trail.

Day 5: I took OH08F and walked the 28,6 km MR. Met several arrieros (very friendly!) and at the Embalse Vega Larga two fishermen, father and son, who „sold“ me (they didn‘t want to take
money, I insisted) two fishes, they had just grilled over a fire. Ford at the end of the MR to get back to RR: difficult. The Laguna Laja has more water than on OSM, at the spot, where the ford is indicated, one could swim to the other side, but the backpack… Camp at Laguna Laja with an extraordinary view on the mountains in the south.
Day 6: RR, trail first hardly visible, very good after the lake. On the ridge very windy, a lot of snow - but great view. On the way down the weather seemed to turn, so at 105.4 I took OH 06. The weather kept good, but nonetheless a good decision. When you are down in the valley, the trail and then the MR lead through a wonderful forest. Great spots to camp along the MR after the puesto (gate) but 100 before the Enel substation.
Day 7: Clouds at around 900 hm, good to be down in the valley. On a hot summer day, it’s probably very annoying to walk 15 km on a dusty MR - on a cool morning in spring, it was the opposite, and shortened by half, as an Enel worker gave me a ride to the exit of the hydropower area; from there 30min to the PR, then hitchhiked to Antuco for resupply and walked back into the direction of Abanico, as I found a nice cabana in Peluca (Villa Peluca, +56 9 8920 5676). 15 min. after my arrival heavy rain and storm for several hours.

*'''2024-04-12 to 2024-04-15 / 3 Days / Hiking SOBO) / RR / Alex + Andrey'''
Option from Termas de Chillan
My favorite section for autumn and a perfect weekend escape from the big city.
Difficulty: Moderate
It’s not hot and there’s almost no dust after a little rain.
The foliage of the trees turns into autumn colors!
Fords are simple.
Although Ford (easy) {08} [48.4/1334] has unusually more water for mid-April, photo attached in FB post.
Thanks to Matthias de Austria for clearing access to the stream at the west shore of Laguna Robles. It is a whole year source of fresh water before the ridge.
The Lagunillas Camping now is https://www.parqueantuco.cl/

* '''2024-03-24 to 2024-03-28 // 4,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR + VARIANT E + VARIANT D // Quentin Clavel'''

After few days off at Los Angeles, I took the bus to Abanico then hitchhike until the junction between the trail and the road. I had to pay at the park ranger gate the 5K CLP for the entrance of the park (online reservation only, impossible to pay cash, and there's hardly mobile service up there, so prepare yourself by advance ☺️).

Then, you go straight up, and have stunning views over volcan Antuco and siella velluda. I had to check my GPS few times on this first part, and to change my trajectoire to stay on the RR and don't miss trailheads.

I slept at Laguna lágrima. I don't know if it comes from the water here, but I had stomach issues the following days ...

Views on this first part were absolutely wonderful !

The thermals of Los Peucos are just amazing ! Worth the stop, clean, well maintened, and with perfect temperature of water ! Sergio was so kind, he even invited me to lunch with him, that was a very nice break in this day !

Some swampy parts after the Puesto {08} [61.7/1298].

The hike up to the plateau (KM42) was physical, but it results to stunning views over the volcan chillan, and all the wonderful surroundings! There were hundreds of cows on that plateau and it was quite swampy, at the end you reach a super nice camp with incredible thermals ! Best hot springs of the GPT so far for me !

Continue to the pass and arrive in the volcanic plateau, very great too. I was too amazed by the landscape that I lost myself ! I was following a pretty clear track and missed to go on the right of the valley. I had hard time to join the RR as I tried to shortcut, but it was very demanding, sleepy and with losing rocks. Would have been better to backtrack at the junction and find again the RR, anyway...

After a way down where there's just a little overgrown part (for no more than 300m) I reached the terrible Rio Ñuble, that was (I was fortunate) easy to pass for me, at this time of the season, even with quite strong current.

From then I only met amazing people, up for a chat and full of an absolute kindness ! Carabineros first, locals, and Sandra at the microshop in puente el inglés (that was my only option for ressuply (chips, biscuits, fresh drinks, pastas) but at the middle of nothing I was happy about that !)).

* '''2024-03-18 to 2024-03-23 / 5.5 days / SOBO / RR,E,RR,H,RR/ Marilyne'''

Day 1 - Took the bus from rural terminal in Chillán at 8am to Termas de Chillán. After option 2, I walked NOBO on the RR to the nice hot springs at 40.3, spent the day there and camped at 40.4.

Day 2- Walked the dusty trail to Camping Los Peucos. Ford at 48.4: crossed about 400 meters upstream of the waypoint for the ford. The main flow is quite strong, so I looked for a spot where it was slightly more diverted. Got to camping Los Peucos and got offered a cabin with electricity for the same price as camping as heavy rain was forecasted for the next day (10k/night). Used the wifi which is pretty good around the ranger’s cabin. Hung out in the hot springs being chatted up by a 80-yo man who didn’t seem to care whether I understood all of what he said or not.

Day 3 - 45mm rain - Rest day. The nicest campground attendant, Sergio, let me hang out in his cabin by the fire all day.

Day 4 - Walked mostly on RR but using variant E on the road as the RR trail is overgrown and the trees were soaking wet after yesterday’s downpour. Met two people in a truck that worked for the pipeline that is along that road. Didn’t see anyone else. Camped at Laguna Laja.

Day 5 - Followed the RR except for variant H. Camped at the edge of the forest before the camp waypoint 119.7/1520, didn’t find ants to be problematic. Met a group of 5 young hikers going to Laguna Los Condores right before camp.

Day 6 - Hiked RR and GPT09 option 1A to Salto de las Chicas. Got a ride quickly to Antuco, where I went to the nice supermarket and took a room in town.

* '''2024-03-11 to 2024-03-16 / 5.5 days / SOBO / OH2, RR, Variant C, RR, G, RR / Tobi & Fangwen'''

Bus to Thermas de Chillan departs 12:30 from Rural bus station in Chillan arrives around 5pm

Hot springs @ KM40.3 indeed one of the best on the GPT - nice mix of hot waterfall and cold spring in one pool. Campsite there is not sheltered from wind, and a fair bit of trash left behind. Definitely worth the small detour from Thermas de Chillan

Baños de Peucos are great for a half rest day, Sergio (caretaker) is the nicest and most welcoming host.

At Laguna El Roble, the better campsite is on the western shore - there is one flowing water source along the edge of the forest a bit north of the campsite (lake gets a bit gross end of season).

Between El Roble and Hermosa, there is cellular reception when on the western side of the ridge (Movistar).

Laguna Hermosa is nice, there is one flat and South wind sheltered campsite behind the bushes on the north side of the lake. It's nice to walk around the lake, some easy scrambling. Do expect power lines overhead.

The two hot springs, and the last ridge hike were definitely the highlights of this GPT section.

The bus leaving Albanico for Las Angeles goes at between 5-6pm -ish

Rest very straightforward, and as described below (dusty, dead horse).

* '''2024-Feb-25 to 2024-March-4 / 7.5 days / SOBO / RR B D/ Matthias de Austria'''

No snowfiels, almost no Tabanos, except in the forenoon (none in the evening) at Laguna El Roble, about 30 to 40 Tabanos in 3 hours, on 1st of March!
Mostly plenty of water, lots of unmarked streams. No water at 106.7 and at camp 119.7, dried up.

Lots of dirt roads and paths veeery dusty.

No camp at 106.6. Flat spot few hundred meters after at -37.24567,-71.39142. But no protection and no water.

Fordings: all very easy except Rio Nuble. Crossed Nuble at ford 23.7, did not scout. It was deeper then it looked and for a meter or so I (187cm, 100kg) had a little fighting with the current. It was the first somewhat serious ford in my life. Got my undies a bit washed. Forded Rio Diguillin at -36.93549, -71.40313, where I saw horsetracks on the ground. Water around kneedeep, for a half meter strong current, but I simply step over it. I marked this easy ford position with a vertical tree stump, might be there until the next storm or flooding. Ford 66.4 was possible dry foot a bit east, but go back to RR afterwards, the road on the map does not exist anymore and this area is a jungle.

At -36.94783,-71.41243 easy to miss junction.

Camps: 1st shortly after the bridge at puente el ingles in the sand. Nice swimming next to it, but no morning sun until noon. 2nd abou q00 to 200m upstream of ford 23.7 next to Rio Nuble. Nice bolders, big pool, but strong current and very cold. 3rd camp 36.2, meadows quite wet, limited protection, just a few bushes. Small cold pool 150m away at Rio Las Minas. 4th a few hundred meters before ford 47.4 on a small flat spot next to the path. Nice camp shortly northwest of trailhead 80.5. Big nice pool at Rio Polcura for swimming next to where option 1 fords. West side Camp at Laguna El Roble as east has shallow water. Stream next to camp dried up, I found a small one a bit further north along the shore. Had to clean up 2m of thick bushes for water access. Camp at Laguna Hermosa very windy, but just follow the black cable to the west for maybe 20m, then go 3m through the treebushes and you are in a little quit well wind protected clearing: -37.274802,-71.383647. Camp 119.7, but water dried up, and very dusty and limited protection, not a good camp. There are some meadows a few hundred m further around the puesto, also no water there in March.

Men cleaning up the RR path north of Los Peucos. Some workers at the camp, but the ranger is working on the trail. No ranger means no firewood for cooking, no wifi and the thermas are without water. So no point in staying there and I move a bit further camp on some dusty place next to the road with a bit clambering river access. Next morning first morning frost.

Hot spring 40.3 is absolutely amazing. Best one I saw on the GPT. Stayed there for hours naked and got a bit sunburned. The "smoking river" a few hundred meters further west is also worth seeing.

Lots of blackberries along RR Rio Los Sauces.

Hardly any paths around camp 29.5 for a few hundred meters, overgrown or landslided. Not a big problem, just slows you down.

Long boring road, but hitch until police station shortly after ford 12.2km. Police friendly, wants passport, detail plans and phone number in case of emergency.

Gate at -36.81995,-71.25333, entry forbidden sign. easy to climb.

RR after junction E is partly overgrown, but still walkable, just slows you down.

Combined Section 7 and 8, in total 17 days, with lots of bathing and sitting around. Run out of food the last few days and had to restrict to one portion per day, which made me even slower due to lack of energy. But it was totally worth it. Still have way too much body fat. Last ridge one of the most beautiful parts of the GPT, stunning views and diverse path.

Hitch ruta Q-45 to Antuco.

Work in progress

* '''2024-Feb-24 to 2024-Feb-28 / 4.5 days / SOBO / RR / Gabriele - Trails of Wander'''

Day 1 (0.5) - Termas de Chillan - near Camp 08 [42.3/2087]. Late start at around noon from OH-Tl-V 08-02 [2.6+3.3] (Thermas de Chillan Parking) after hitch-hiking from Las Trancas. Reached Las Trancas with RemBus from the Chillan Rural Bus Terminal La Merced. The Sendero Valle Aguas Calientes have been re-routed for a few 100s meters after the fumaroles and it stays higher than the original track. Easy to follow. Once in the Valle Aguas Calientes I continued to Hot Spring 08 [40.3/2173] NOBO which is really a must do on this section and then retraced back to a camping area about 200 m lower than Camp 08 [42.3/2087] that I thought was dryer, flatter and had good access to water.

Day 2 - Camp 08 [42.3/2087] Valle Aguas Calientes - Los Peucos CONAF Hot Spings Camping. I followed the RR for this day. The only note of relevance is that the ford of Rio Diguillin at [48.4/1334] is still hips high with strong current and need to be approached with trekking poles and cautiously. The critical part is only about 2 meters wide, but the current is strong. Water is not particularly cold.

Day 3 - Los Peucos CONAF Hot Spings Camping - camp on Laguna Del Laja shore at [-37.12935, -71.18614]. I was lucky to get a ride for 3-4 km right out of Los Peucos by a CONAF maintenance crew who was going to do some tree cleaning on a minor road down the valley. This route branched out from the RR MR and according to the crew it is shorter to get to the Camino Oleoducto road. The alternative route turns into a faint trail for the last km or so and it crosses Rio Polcura in a very easy and shallow spot with water always below knee and calm current. After the crossing it overlaps with OH-CC-a 08-D for the last km, then it meets RR MR shortly after the ford on the RR. This alt route is flat and easy and possibly shorter of about 1-2 km than RR. On Camino Oleoducto I was also able to hitch-hike for about another 3-4 km to reach the start of the Sendero Los Ratones RR-Tl-V 08[80.6]. Thanks to the rides I was able to reach Laguna Del Laja quicker than expected. I decided to camp on the lake shore at [-37.12935, -71.18614] rather than continuing to Laguna El Roble as the spot was scenic. There I met Hugo, the Arriero who stays at the Puesto nearby Laguna El Roble.

Day 4 - Camp on Laguna del Laja shore at [-37.12935, -71.18614] - Laguna Hermosa. I just followed the RR for this day with the exception of the short CC to Laguna Hermosa where I camped for the night.

Day 5 - Camp at Laguna Hermosa - Camping Lagunilla (10k CLP per day). Also followed RR for this final day. Camping Lagunilla is very good with hot showers and very nice camp sites. Unfortunately no more homemade empanadas, only bebidas from this week moving forward for the remaiming of the season. The following morning I easily hitch-hiked to Abanico where there are small stores and took the bus to Los Angeles at 1 pm.

Overall a good section with variety of landscapes and views particularly around Volcan Chillan / Aguas Calientes and along the traverse above Laguna Del Laja with great views of Volcan Antuco and the Sierra Velluda.

* '''2024-Feb-20 to 2024-Feb-27 / 8 days / Hiking / NOBO / El Abanaico - Puente El Inglés / RR + Option H + Option B / Alex & Christophe'''

It was a really nice section for us. The part we really loved was from Thermas de Chillan to Rio Nuble. It felt more wild and with less people. So even if you fear Rio Nuble, avoiding this part would be a mistake for us. We think that the edge between km 117.3 and 100.6 also really worth it but can't totally know as we were in the fog.

A lot has already been said but here is what seems important to us:

We started the section hitchhiking from Antuco with a easy and fast ride to El Abanico.

There is some apple trees in the valley near Ford {08} [71.3/1089] and apples were nearly ready to be eaten.

Los Peucos were a nice stop to relax but we weren't alone as a lot of the previous comment. 2 other parties (horse riders) were also camping the same night as us. The road is being improved so this will maybe become a bit more popular than the last 2 months. It was 10'000 CLP pp for us, with firewood and Internet. We didn't try to connect so we can't comment on the speed and quality.

Ford {08} [48.4/1334] (Rio Diguilin) wasn't that hard. Just follow the horse track as it's a good place to ford and there will only be 1m with some current. It's still deep but we ford it at 6pm without any trouble. The best thing with this ford is that the water is warm and you can try to ford it without your backpack a few times before you're sure of the place you like the more. All this without frozen toes ;)

Ford {08} [23.7/950] (Rio Nuble) was ok but still not a piece of cake. We crossed it at 11:30 am and didn't thought it was so deep before going in. I had water nearly to my waist (I'm 174cm tall) and the current in the center is clearly present. The good point is that the river is not ice cold, so you can take your time and go slowly, being sure of the position of your feet and poles.

For the last 12 km, between El Roble and Puente El Inglés, it's full of fruit trees. It felt like being in a free fruit market. We could pick apples, pears, a lot of blackberries. There were even fig tree but it was a little bit too soon. So nice to have a bit of vitamin and fresh food after 8 days.

Finally, after asking at the mini-shop in Puente El Inglés, we learned that there is no more bus going to San Fabián. So we took a beer and some french fries before camping near the bridge after a pretty long day. The next day we walked an hour before we could catch a ride to San Fabián.

* '''Feb-9-2024 to Feb-14-2024 / 5 days ( of which 2 half days) / SOBO / Oh2, RR, var B, D, E, H / Matthieu'''

Very beautiful and diverse section, with the volcan, pastures of agua caliente, the forest and the rock and thorny bushed mountains.
At the end of the section, I suggest to follow RR to the lagunilla camping, it's an easy trail in the park, and 2 very nice cascadas to see. From the park entrance there is an osm track that cross Section 9 RR, direclty to the campsite, so you never have to walk on the road.
I started at Oh 2 to avoid rio Ñuble.

Trecking difficulties :
1) River crossing of rio Diguillin 48.4 is still not a peace of cake. The current is strong, and where i crossed it was max to the hips in the rapid water. I went on a large place with big rocks on the way to hide behind, it cuts the crossing into 3 difficult but very short parts, and you can hug the rocks not to fall.
2) The pass before Laguna Laja is a cemetery of trees, so the progression is a little bit slow but nothing difficult, it's basic gps navigation.
3) The part between laguna hermosa and Water 118.3 is steep, sliperry with rocks and sand. The tracks are difficult to follow at times. So the progression is slow, i suggest not to start it at the end of the day. I finished on var H without noticing it, just saw the trail from below. I was exhausted when i put my tent at camp 119.7 (an horrible mistake, see below).

Camp :
At Fumaroles at the beginning of Oh 2, some flat spaces in the valley and a clear cold river - Ford 50.5, arriero camp super nice - 300m before water 1.5 on var E, a nice flat place but very exposed. I wanted to camp at 72.9, incredible place, but a freshly dead horse was waiting for me, the whole place stinked like hell. Wanted to try to camp on RR along the rio after but it was overgrown at the beginning and it was late so back on var E - Laguna el Roble 98.3. It is an arriero spot with a clear river that goes into the lake. There is a trail into the trees that takes you into the beach for nice camp places. You don't really want to drink directly from the lake, so i don't suggest camp 97.8 (no fresh water). There is a puesto before the last uphill to the lake, really nice arriero inside who advised me this - Camp 119.7 : DON'T sleep there, the whole hill is an enormous nest of unfriendly red ants, I had to cook directly in my inner tent. The river runs very slow to so the water not good. So i suggest camp at the lagunas before, or if you still have courage to follow until the cross country after puesto 120, it's heaven for tents with view on antuco and the river is not far.

Water : all markers correct, no concerns until the final ridge.
For the ridge walk of cerro el toro, you can find water at camp without water 102.3 (so this year its name should be with water), water 106.6, laguna hermosa, laguna lagrima (the very little one after the cerro), and nothing after on RR until water 118.

Snow : one patch on Oh 2 on the track, but you can avoid it by a sendero litteraly 10m above, with no problems. No other patches.

Accomodations : bus from Chillan rural terminal, to thermas de Chillan at 14h, you have to walk from vale hermoso to the beginning of Oh2 - Camping Lagunilla, 10k per day, homemade empanadas sandwichs bebidas and cakes, very calm i loved it. For buses, you have to walk to albanico (6 per day for los angeles, of which 9h30, 11h, 15h30, 18h30).

* '''2024-Feb-05 to 2024-Feb-08 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 02 + RR + OH E + H + J / Joscha'''

Day 1: OH08-02

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.

Day 2: RR [42.3-75.1] + OH08-E

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.

Day 3: RR [78.5-107.0]

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.

Day 4: RR [107.0-115.2] + OH08-H + RR [116.3-117.4] + OH08-J + RR [117.4-134.5]

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.

The part from km 100 to km 117 is very spectacular.

* '''2024 Jan 25 to Feb 5 / 12 days / SOBO / Opt 2, Opt 3, RR, Var D, Opt 6 + 2 OSM routes / Michael and Kasia'''

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.

Day 0 -
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.

Day 1 -
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.

Days 2 and 3 -
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.

Day 4 -
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!).

Days 5 and 6 -
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.

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.

Day 7 -
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!)

Day 8 -
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!

Day 9 -
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.

Day 10 -
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.

Day 11 -
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.

* '''2024 Jan 05 to 2024 Jan 09 / 5 days/ SOBO from Termas de Chillan / RR / Hannes&Christian'''

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…
2. Day: Walked to Los Peucos and further down for a nice campsite near the river -37.046868,
-71.415394
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.
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.
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…

* '''2024 Jan 13 / 5 days / SOBO / RR, OH-TL / Anh'''

Everyone feared Ñuble, me too, so I took option 2.

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.

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!

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.

* '''2024-Jan-11 to 2024-Jan-15/ 4.5 days / SOBO / Termas de Chillán(Var 2)+RR+Var G+H+J(Lakes)/ Matthias'''

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.

Day1: Termas de Chillán - km53.6
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!

Day2: Reserva Nacional Ñubles
Officially the reserva was closed. I entered Termas Los Peucos via RR, watering of meadows was running, I said „Hello“ but nobody answered.
Took a bath in the beautiful hot springs, two stone-walled pools.

Day 3: km78.6 (Rio Ñubles) - km98.3 (Laguna El Roble)
Easy day … nice swimming at the camp with fireplace in the evening

Day 4: Travesía Polcura - Laguna ElToro
Spectacular day: great views, mountains, lakes and path.
The detours to the lakes (var G+J, Laguna Hermosa, ElToro and Los Condores) are worthwhile!
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.

Day5:
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.
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.

* '''2023-Dec-28 to 2024-Jan-01 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / {08-03} - {08-C} - RR - {08-06} - {08-06B} / Lilian'''

Avoid of crossing Rio Ñuble, i go for {08-03}.

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.

{08-03} km3.3 : tiny shop selling drinks.

Km4.3 : camping spots or camping possibilities start from here to south.

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.)

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!

Km19 : bridge for crossing Río Diguillín.

Km19.45 : El Trumao, Camping Relbún. Ranger station and Conaf campground, didn't see anyone when i passed here.

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)

Km21.3 : Rio Relbún, good water flowing nice, rock hopping for dry feet.

Km22.8 : view point of valley, also some flat spots with trees can fit 2-4 tents.

Km23.7 : pass, Paso Atacalco, descent to a beautiful valley.

Km25.3-km26.2 : some tiny streams flowing with good water, but maybe dry up soon.

Km28.4 : Valle Hermoso, Ranger station and Conaf campground, didn't see anyone when i passed here. Río Blanquillo flowing at here too.

Some more tiny streams flowing across the road at south, but i think they will all dry up soon.

Km35.6 : a side trail to see a waterfall, I think it is just soso.

Then connect with {08-C}, then back to RR.

{08-C} km2.4 : a very beautiful demon rock hill on your left side, worth take a look!

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.

Camp[72.9/1104] : it's a really nice camping spot with tree shade and beside a river.

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.

Water[79.1/1214] : log bridge crossing.

Trailhead[80.5/1248] : not easy to notice the trailhead, although it have a fallen board on the ground.

North of the pass is overgrown, south of the pass lot of fallen trees block the trail.

Didn't see any camping spots until almost to valley.

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.

Pass[84.2/1744] : tons of huge dead trees and ready to fall down in next second. Don't camp here, it is dangerous.

Km85.8 : flat spot can fit 2-3 tents.

Km86: flat spots can fit 1 tent before and after a stream crossing.

Km95.2 : excellent view point of Volcán Antuco, look like some flat spots at downhill side close to the beach.

Camp[97.8/1456] : beside a tree, can fit 1-2 tents with fire ring. Last reliable water when you climbing up.

Km102 : snow start here, but all you can go around.

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!

I camped at km103.45, just before the pass, there is some brushes provide wind protection from west. Can fit 1-2 small tents.

Km104.1 : a large flat area, but no wind protection.

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.

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.

Km109.45 : a small pass, excellent view point of Volcán Antuco and Sierra Velluda!

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.

{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.

{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.

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.

Gate[8.6/808] : locked, climb over it.

Km9.3 : another gate, you can open it on left side, if you want to camping, better before this gate.

Km22.4 : i join {08-06B} for shorter distance to main road for hitching to Antuco.

* '''2023-Dec-19 to 2023-Dec-20/ 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / Antuco RR and Option 6/ Jens'''

Tried to go up the main route. First pass was steep and full of snow. Decided to turn around and try Option 6.

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.

* '''2023-Dec-21 to 2023-Dec-24/ 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / San Fabian - Las Trancas / Ella'''

TLDR: River fords are still heinous, especially Ñuble. Bring micro spikes if crossing Paso Prigallo to go towards Las Termas de Chillan.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.

==Season 2022/23==

* '''2023-Apr-02 to 2023-Apr-06/ 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / El Roble - Los Peucos - Recinto / RR + OH03 / Hannes & Luisa'''

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.

* '''2023-Apr-02 to 2023-Apr-02 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / El Roble - Volcán Chillán - Termas de Chillán / Noémie'''
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.
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!

* '''2023-Mar-13 to 2023-Mar-18 / 5.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Abanico — Thermas de Chillán / Iris, Alexis '''

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

* '''2023-Feb-02 to 2023-Feb-08 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + emergency exit / Martial '''

Puente Inglés - Los Peucos - Antuco
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.
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.
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.

* '''2023-Jan-28 to 2023-Feb-04 / 7.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + volcán chillàn & volcán Antuco / Natalie & Tomáš'''

Day 1
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 carabinieros 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 to walk in though.
The carabinieros 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 Chillán 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.
Made camp at the 17km waypoint 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.
Day 2.
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.
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.
We made camp at the hotsprings ([40.3/2173]) after the second pass, their beauty and heat made up for the long day. There are a couple of 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.
Day 3.
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 Chillán that lead to switchbacks down to the hotsprings that we saw earlier that morning. Basically if coming from volcano, follow the road east from here -36.89199, -71.38543 and aim for the switchbacks to the hotsprings camp here -36.90336, -71.36145 [as of 2024 included in our suggestions in the released Track files]. 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 compared to the normal trail but it allows for a nice roundtrip. One can get Internet on the way to the volcano when the ski resorts are visible. Camped again at the hotsprings.
Day4
Nothing to add for this day, trail was nice and under trees a lot of the way, all fords easy or jumpable. 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.
Day5
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.
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 [now in the suggestions too].
The trailhead at 81.0 is hard to see, be ready.
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).
Day6
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...
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.
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.
Laguna Hermosa was worth it as others have stated but unfortunately very heavy winds crept in that night. It was way less windy on the East side of the lagoon, which we only noticed in the morning.
Day7
Very heavy winds. We made a small short cut to the RR from the Laguna by heading west sooner [included in our suggestions]. 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 but under it, 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.
El Puesto at 121 had two dogs but we 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 Entel 3G coverage here.
Day8
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 not worth it. The volcano is not black sand but rather loose rock (boulders to pebbles) which made especially going down annoying. A rock fell on my waling stick and partially destroyed it. 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.

It took us 168 hours but without climbing the volcanoes the trail could have been walked in five full walking days. End of January means there were virtually no horseflies.
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 Natalie (Tomáš's new shoes are unfortunately painful too). However, the hotsprings, Volcán Chillán, Laguna Hermosa and the trees (especially the ones with usnea) made it worth while!

* '''2023-Feb-02 to 2023-Feb-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 08-C / Ondrej '''

Puente Inglés - Camping Las Lagunillas
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.

Details:
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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

*2023-Jan-16 Frank RR SOBO 5 days

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)

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.

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.

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.

* '''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 '''

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.
There is a lot of really horseflies especially between 83 and 93 km.
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.

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 ).
Gate on 8.6km of option 6 was locked with the padlock, but noone was there so we just walked over the fence.

All other gates on all trail were easily passable. One of the arrieros just noted that we should close them after crossing.
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.
We hitch hiked to Antuco.
It was our first try on the GPT (recommended by a local mountain guide from Termas de Chillan) and it was definitely worth it!

* '''2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-08 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will '''

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.

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I missed option C and definitely regretted it. The road up was super rocky, and hot with no shade.
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.
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.
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.

* '''2023-Jan-01 to 2023-Jan-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option C / Martin & Helena'''

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.

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.

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.

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.

* '''2022-Dec-28 to 2023-Jan-02 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Los Sauces - Antuco / Anna & Christopher '''

We took the bus at 6 pm from San Fabián to Los Sauces and camped next to the river.

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.
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.
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.

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.
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.

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.
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.

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.
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.
After Laguna Hermosa the path gets very hard to cross, due to lots of stones and gravel without a visible path.
But it's very beautiful up there and finally not hot anymore.
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.

* '''2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-19 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + GPT08-02 / Véronica '''

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Taking GPT08-C avoids a pointless climb and descent on the regular route, and has a nice path the whole way.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

==Season 2021/22==

* '''2022-Jan-28 to 2022-Feb-06 / 10 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo'''

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)

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.

- 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.

- From about km 20 the sides of the road are fenced. The camp at km 21.6 is no longer available.

- 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.

- Fording Rio Ñuble was the deepest ford we ever did. Balls deep indeed! Quite doable though, as the water is clear.

- 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.

- 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.

- 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'.

- The water at the camp at km 37.3 was mostly dried up. Don't count on it by the end of January.

- 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".

- 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 :)

- The CC section around km 95 had a clear path, but the subsequent TL section before Laguna El Roble did not.

- 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.

- 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?

- The ATM at Antuco is broken.

- Supermercado Santa Teresa in Antuco sells 125ml bottles of alcohol desnaturalizado 96° in the nail polish section.v

* '''2022-Jan-24 / 6.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH Cerro Las Águilas / Molly and Melissa'''

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.

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.
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.
You stay high up quite a while, which gives amazing views.

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.

Alternative route Cerro Las Águilas
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.
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.

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.
We crossed Rio Los Sauces beneath the cable cars quite easily, the water was mid-thigh - again very dry year.

Puente Ingles
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.

* '''2021-Dec-15 / 5.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony'''

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.

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!

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.
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.

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

* '''*2019-Nov-10 / Jan Dudeck'''
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).

* '''2019-Dec-30 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias'''

Overview:
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.
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.

Difficulties: Hot and Exposed (especially in summertime). Resupply Distance.

Highlights: Hot springs. Great sweeping views. Pools of cool water to jump into in the middle of the day.

Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions at Ultratrailca@gmail.com

* '''2020-Jan-20 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option l start south OH 08 - 02 / Martin '''

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.

* '''2020-Jan-05 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR /Ty & America '''

Can ford river @ los sauces easily rather than walking from Puente Ingles. Cable Car was all
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.

* '''2020-Jan-03 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom '''

Starting at El Ingles and hiking southbound towards Abanico. Lovely section however can be slow at times when the track is hard to follow.
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.
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.
We honestly found this section harder than GPT06 and would swap the difficulty ratings.
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.

* '''2020-Jan-02 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional hike along Laguna de la Laja / Martina & Ivo '''

Los Sauces to Abanico.

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.
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.
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.)
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.
From Abanico there are several buses per day going directly to Los Angeles. Resupply in Abanico is possible.

* '''2019-Dec-30 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 1 / Matus & Anna '''

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.
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.
Rest of the regular trail - cross coutry sections were demanding. Otherwise no problem.
We got hitch to Los Angeles after CONAF station so no idea about resuply or accomodation.

==Season 2018/19==

* '''2019-Jan-13 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin Lizondo '''
Volcán Chillán was in "alerta naranja".
Río Ñuble impassable at S36° 50.188' W71° 14.935' Better continue following the minor road in the alternative route. 
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. 

=Resupply and Accommodation=

*Abanico
At least one restaurant with pizza
Store?

*Antuco (from Abanico)
Many smaller supermarkets, which have most things - easy enough to resupply here.
One of the two ferreterías has gas (the one furthest from Abanico).
Many accommodation options and some restaurants. March 2024: Good Accomodation with a nice Mapuche family in a single room, shared bath with hot shower, washing machine and including breakfast 18000 peso: Fanny, +56 9 9404 4771.
There is an ATM (Fee: 5500)at the town square southend of town which even gives some smaller notes.
Bus to Los Angeles

*Puente Ingles
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

*San Fabián (from Puente Ingles)
Many accommodation options - almost everything was fully booked when we were there (Feb 2022).
Supermercado La Montaña seems to be the best option - not the easiest place to resupply, but definitely possible. Harder than in Antuco.
Great Venezuelan restaurant Canela Passion.
Bus to San Carlos

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

=Transport to and from Route=

* 2022-Feb-5: San Fabian to Puente Ingles
Bus at 2 pm and 6 p.m. in front of the carabineros including Sundays and Holidays.

*Puente Ingles to San Fabián
Bus at 7 am and 10 am - leaves from the campground, drives to the shop and the back again towards San Fabián

*Bus from Antuco to Los Angeles about once an hour in daytime.

*A few buses from Abanico to Antuco or you can hitch fairly easily.

* Jan-24 / Joscha

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.

=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT08 - Volcán Chillan]]

=Images=

[[File:Segundo_Rio_Termal_zona_cascadas.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|This river is hot! Aguas Calientes Valley]]
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (8).jpg|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Laja and [[Volcán Antuco]], by Matúš Lašan]]

GPT07 (Laguna Dial)

2025-02-02T16:43:52Z

Mmcdanielpeacock: /* Season 2024/25 */

'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''

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Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format:


<nowiki>* '''</nowiki>'''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'''<nowiki>'''</nowiki>

If you are packrafting, put the above info into HTML tags like this (if you follow a hiking route for part of the way, highlight only "packrafting", as above):


<nowiki>* '''</nowiki>'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''<nowiki>'''</nowiki>.

Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.

=Overview=

=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

* '''2025-JAN-24 to 2025-JAN-28 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Elijah & Michael

The section went quickly with lots of 4x4 roads & moderate grades. The police in Carrizales guided us to a shop with limited but sufficient resupply, and heavily fruited plum trees lined the road into & out of the village. Irma sold us magnificent goat's cheese. Camping at Laguna Dial was a highlight.
The bus was not running from Puente Ingles on a Tuesday morning; however, we were able to hitch into San Fabian and return to Puente Ingles on the bus the following day at 2 pm (1,000 CLP). The shop at Puente Ingles sells a limited resupply as well as snacks and drinks.

* '''January 9 to January 15, 2025 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / from Border Control: 01C, 01B, 01, 02, RR, 06C, RR, 06H, 07 / Peggy'''

Interesting stage, sometimes monotonous, but with pleasant surprises as well. A few encounters with arrieros and lots of animals, but fairly isolated due to the chosen options. Challenge: the heat.

River crossings went well, except for the Río Guaquivilo on option 02 (42.1/1284). I arrived there around 5 PM, found it too strong for me, and decided to wait until the next day. That evening, there was a storm, so the next day the river was even higher, more turbulent, and less clear. I tried to find a better crossing point and regretted not taking the trail on the other side, which avoids crossing the river (I assumed it wasn’t listed as an alternative—perhaps because sections of the bank had collapsed into the river?).

In the morning, I spotted an arriero with his horse and dogs on the opposite bank, regretted my decision even more, and initially planned to either find a crossing point upstream or backtrack all the way to the ford (35.2/1382) to take the trail on the other side. After some wandering and observing, I noticed fresh horse and dog tracks that showed they had crossed upstream of the ford (42.1/1284). Following these tracks (thank you, rain, for making the tracks fresh and visible), I found a perfect crossing spot.

I’m sharing this because it was a valuable learning experience for me. Unfortunately, in my excitement at successfully crossing, I forgot to note the GPS point—but I estimate it was about 200 meters upstream.

I wonder if the trail on the opposite bank near the ford (35.2/1382) is passable?

Laguna del Dial: No one was there (probably due to the previous night’s storm). Lovely campsite (104.5/1607). Great swimming spot.

Option 06C: Stunning view at the pass and the valley on the other side. For me, this option is absolutely worth it. Start the climb before the pass (118.2/2013), unlike the GPS track, which descends, then climbs back up. Still, it’s doable either way!

At the start of the season, the campsite (6.0/1714) was flooded. I arrived late and didn’t go further but found a spot across the river where I cleared rocks and plants to pitch my tent.

Pleasant trail along the Río González on the RR.

Option 06 and 06H: Campsite (3.9/1282) with plenty of bivouac options. A beautiful and enjoyable spot amidst trees. Lovely waterfalls. I followed the path that stays on the right side of the river, avoiding the ford, and descended after an hour to see the marmitas.

Up to km 33 (intersection with the trail to the lakes), the path is easy to follow. After that, it gets a bit tricky but is still manageable. At this intersection, there was a cairn, which I assumed (from the map) led to the lakes. I turned left, following the GPS track. There was no trail or even a hint of one. Later, I crossed a trail with cairns, then lost it again, and so on.

I wondered if the cairned trail at the intersection with the riverside path might be the one to follow for 06H. Does it perhaps branch off left a bit further? It seems that on one side of the pass, there’s the GPS track for 06H, and on the other, a trail with cairns. For me, using a combination of the GPS track, the cairned trail, and my own reading of the terrain worked well. It was even fun, and the area is stunningly mineral.

However, the descent on the other side was an entirely different story.

At first, I followed a marked trail with cairns and animal tracks. After a while, I realized I was far off the GPS track, which was now higher up and behind a ridge. The trail I was on wasn’t on any map, the cairns became sparse, and I wasn’t confident in the animal tracks. So, I cut across the mountain to rejoin the GPS track without climbing back up.

This off-trail section was initially relatively easy: downhill on sandy, rocky terrain with shrubs and bamboo, which was manageable. But after that, it became much harder. The easiest route (or not?) was through the riverbed—first dry, steep, rocky, and slippery. Then the final section had water, tall plants, and thorny bushes. It was challenging and exhausting. I must have fallen about twenty times! I ended up experimenting with different ways of falling!

I was so relieved to reach the bottom—and absolutely exhausted!

It was a good first off-trail (CC) experience on the GPT for me, but I wonder if the trail I initially followed up high might be a better option. Worth trying?

* '''25-01-19 - 25-01-20 / 2 days / SOBO / 01C-01D-01E-RR / Volker'''

Laguna Maule to Corrizales

Day 1: I combined gpt06 and gpt07 and hitchhiked from La Mina to Laguna Maule. First car - chilean hikers, heading for a waterfall on Rio Campanario, interesting area for further exploration around gpt06 OH2; second: carabineros; they took me to the CL Border Control, their colleagues noted my passport data. Then I went to the Laguna, took a bath and walked these options: 01C-01D-01E. Great views on the Laguna Maule and Cerro Confluencia, then amazing mixture of volcanic landscape and pastures. Chatted a while with an arriero at his Puesto, later the trail crosses 3 times Rio Saso (water only to ankles). Camped 1km before X Camp, 44,6 on a green spot some 100m after a non-indicated puesto, where I took water. After some very scenic, but dusty camp spots on gpt06 a luxury camp.

Day 2: RR to Corrizales. On the MR one of my shoes suffered a sudden death. MR walking was still possible, but any remote mountain trail too high a risk. Close to the settler at 54.2 I met a group of three Chilean day-hikers, who tried to get down to the huge waterfall on Rio de la Puente. I decided to join them and instead of at least 2 days of MR walking (with uncertain perspectives for hitchhiking) to accept the offer for a ride to Talca. It turned out to be impossible to get down to the waterfall. The attempt on two very steep slopes (and in even steeper and densely overgrown creeks) ended at vertical walls. Result of the exploration: there is a path starting (on the orographically right side) at the bridge at 07-03, 38,4. It brings you at least very close to the bottom of the waterfall, the last 100m seemed easy (as far as it was possible to see from the slope on the opposite side of the river - fording perhaps an alternative). After the failed attempt, we walked to the carabineros and were offered coca-cola and sandwiches. Very nice guys (and not the same, that other gpt-hikers met earlier this year, as they rotate every four weeks). Then 40km on a dirt road, more than 2 hours by car on OH 03 to Ruta Pehuenche (Talca-Laguna Maule-Argentina). This is definitively not an option you would like to walk - and one with few chances for hitchhiking (probably better on saturdays or sundays).

* ''' 2024-12-09 to 2024-12-14 / 5,5 day / Hiking / SOBO / OH 01B+OH 01+RR+OH 03A+OH 03+RR+OH 04+RR / Dorota Szparaga '''

I started from Laguna de Maule using variant 01B and then 01. Nice views from the passes on Laguna de Maule. I have joined RR at km 29.8. And followed to Carisales. Between km 42.2 and 44.6 grass with water and plants which made me allergic on my legs. In Carisales I spent about 1.5 hours with carabineros. I have registered and they prepared me lunch and gave me some food. There was un arriero who recommended me to cross the river passing bridge Melado (OH 03 km 38.4) through Rio Melado. In that way I did not have to cross the river Guaiquivilo. It was a really good decision. This option uses good MR. It was Friday so a lot of cars went for fishing or Laguna de Maule. With one of them I have crossed the river near hot springs ( km 58.8 of OH03 ). At km 80.9 RR I have joined the regular route. I have also registered at carabineros El Dial. Because I am walking alone all carabineros told me that for my safety it is better to register. Here I have spent a nice time talking with them. They offered me dinner also. When I have spent a night at the pass at km 102 it was a storm. The last days temperature is above 30 degrees. Near Laguna Dial I have met only arrieros. From the km 118.9 RR where I spent the night I took variant 04E - a nice place for camp with water from the lake before the pass Cordillera González (OH 04E 2.5/2029). Then I took OH04 from Termas La Zorra (38.6/1306). I passed the river Zorra four times - water above the knee (height 164 cm). From km 38.6 to 48.5 there is a good path but very often it is not accurate with the track. After crossing the river Zorra last time at km 48.6 it should be MR. But in fact it is km 52.5 which is a combination of CC+V with some BB. From km 52.5 starts good MR. I have met arrieros. And visited one man who invited me for a café near the carabineros. We had a good talk. I have reached El Inglés at 14. Finally I have put my tent near the shop. And the next day went to Chillán. I sent a deposit there with Starken.

* ''' 2024-DEC-23 to 2024-DEC-30 / 7.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, OH option 5/ Tamar & Nimrod'''

1st day- heading from El Medano (after a rest day when finishing section 6). Started walking and after 10 minutes took a ride to X[11.3/1241]. There was a gate and a house, but we didn't see anybody, we passed through the hole in the fence to the right of the gate. Towards the pass got our feet wet in the grass. Saw 8 condors together flying very close to us - incredible!! Camped in camp [32.4/2030]

2nd- There were a lot of cows and arrieros on the way, our feet got very wet and muddy from walking in the grass. Ford at Rio Las yeguas at 3pm was ok. Camped in a place with a view to a big waterfall (-36.044667,-70.531381) with water 2 minute walk away from a small stream. We wanted to camp before but there were a lot of fences saying it's private property around the route.

3rd- in Carizales we hoped to buy fresh bread and cheese but it was Christmas eve, and no one at home in the the shop waypoint in the morning. Camped in waypoint water [56.8/1117].

4th- crossed Rio Guaiquevilo at 12pm. The current was pretty strong and got up to our waist (our height is 1.70 meter), but when walking together and up stream and to the side we made it. At Irma's puesto we bought coke, cheese and 3 pieces of bread (she didn't have more). She did have a lot of dogs ("they areonly dogs, not lions" in her words). They bark but are friendly after calming down. We slept next to the carabineros. They gave us juice, password to the wifi, and let us use their cold shower.

5th- climbed to Laguna del dial, took a dip in the water (highly recommended! The water is great) slept in the southern side of Laguna dial after descending (-70.99933,-36.45309). There was a group of chillian tourists that came fishing, and their guide gave us some remaining of fried fish and fries bread (which was awesome because it was Hanukka and us Jews love eating fried food in this holiday =))

6th- Climbed the pass, camped near the river (-36.319514, -071.064414).

7th- There were a lot of river crossing even in places where it wasn't marked ford. crossed Rio Gonzales in the morning- last ford before the bridge- The current wasn't strong but the water was deep up to our chests. Maybe if crossing a few meters near by it would have been less deep. Bridge [137.6/1041] - is currently broken but we crossed the river with no problem. There was a place with a lot of cherry trees and plum trees an hour walk from the broken bridge. After the bridge [143.1/909] the trail is an MR and there were some vehicles, so hitchhiking is possible. Camped in (-36.354990/ -71154314) no water.

8th- started walking towards Puente Ingles, and got a ride to San Fabian after half an hour.
The driver told us that there's a bus to San Fabian once a day at 10am. And from San Fabian to Puente Ingles at 2 pm.

San Fabian accommodation -
Cabañas Nativa San Fabian - looks like a really good place with pool, jacuzzy, kitchen, privet bath, garden, a path to near by river, coffee shop (the only one we found which serves real coffee) near by, for a price of 42,000 clp for a night for 2 people. We already booked a place with laundry on Airbnb so didn't get to stay there ourselfs.

* ''' 2024-DEC-13 > 17 / 5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / lac coté ouest > frontiere argentine > RR > frontiere argentine / Pierre-Marie '''

Etape : GPT07+GPT08
| Meteo : soleil
| Eau : facile
| Neige : non
| Intérêt : 3/5
| Difficulté : 2/5
| Danger : attaque d'oiseaux, plantes urticantes

Bus de 15h (le seul) Talca>El Medano, puis stop vers laguna del maule. Route peu frequentée le soir car douane fermée de 19h à 9h.
La rando est tres facile. Il y a des taons et des attaques d'oiseaux les 10 premiers km apres le col de 2560m. L'option est est en hors piste sauf la derniere descente. A la fin de la vallée, il faut escalader plusieurs fois la falaise.
Plantes urticantes que je n'avais pas encore vu jusque là. Elle sont entre 1500 et 2200, dans les zones semi ombragées type ravins et sous bois.
Il y a 2 clotures facile a passer a Termas los Moscos.
Malgré son immense bassin versant, le rio Salitre etait tres facile a franchir.
Depuis le col, j'ai marché sur la crete jusqu'au sommet principala a 1,5km au sud. Puis j'ai rejoins la trace gps. Le sentier est difficile a suivre avant le col que j'ai monté en hors piste, mais c'est bien pire apres le col ou une epaisse vegetation complique la progression. J'ai pris mon temps et ai bien suivi les traces d'animaux. Le bush-bashing est impossible car il y a du bambous. Ensuite le chemin est vraiment facile (malgré quelques portes et clotures), avec meme des ponts pour franchir deux rivieres.

* '''2024 - DEC-10 to 2024-DEC-17 / 7 days / hiking / NOBO / RR / Michal a Anna'''

We hitchhiked from San Fabian to El Ingles and started the hike around 2pm - at that time the shop at El Ingles was closed with no one around to ask. The shop at Carizalles [58,2/1117] was also closed as the owners left that day (we walked around around 5pm).

The trail was very pleasant, no steep up&downs. We found the section very charming, it was interesting to meet all the locals and arrieros, most of them were up for a little small talk.

All fords were fordable, the highest at Río Gonzalez [133,3/1226] was to Anna’s hips (she is 1,65 m). We forded in the morning and Eduardo living nearby warned us that in the evening it wouldn’t be crossable on foot.

No problems with agressive dogs (even at Irma’s puesto [86,4/1212].
We met a lot of cows (couple of times the herds had bulls).
A lot of wetlands and plenty of water everywhere.

Carabinieros [92,7/1322] were very kind and hospitable. Very pleasant stop at their puesto.

* '''2024-DEC-07 to 2024-DEC-12 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. A) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''

The main road section on the beginning we did with head-torches in the night. After leaving the main road, it seems that part of the minor road was washed away by water. This short section must be bypassed by walking on stones along the riverbed to avoid the fenced-off area. At the end of the valley, we choose variant A. At CC [33.3+1.8], the ground was extremely waterlogged. From the ford [47.7-60.5], the trail transitions into a minor road. After 2 days we resuplied in a little store in Carrizales [58.2/1117]. Nice lady prepared some lunch for us too. We recommend to ask the locals, it's easy to miss it, but the position in track files fits perfectly. The water level in the Río Guaiquivilo was elevated, so we had to traverse some sections along the rocky slopes above. Camp 103.2 is completely waterlogged due to melting snow. The ford at km 120.4 we crossed without getting wet. However, at km 137.6, there is no bridge, so wading is necessary. At the intersection of RR and OH [143.4/942], a really good minor road begins, which is marked as a trail in the track files.

==Season 2023/24==

* '''2024-03-29 to 2024-04-02 // 4,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR + Variant A // Quentin Clavel'''

Best section so far in terms of meeting people. Only nice souls are in this area, a lot of great talks with arrieros, carabineros, or just people passing threw.

But in terms of landscapes and hiking, it's pretty much always passing threw looooong valley, that could be a bit annoying because not so diverse.

I had great time anyway, passing these valleys, the Laguna dial is very nice and I was happy it was Easter,

I have been invited for an overnight party with locals, drinking mate, eating cordero, cazuella, had an amazing desajuno before leaving for the rest of the section

I met Dona Irma, after dealing with her crazy aggressive dogs, and spent some time with her, she's definitely a local legend ! Bought cheese and bread for feeding me the rest of the section (10K CLP/kg)

I arrived in the carabineros of carrizales who are the best carabineros of Chile no doubt ! Giving me sopaipillas and cola, then we discuss a lot, took dinner together, turning into an overnight stay here, they make some space for me to sleep inside, we took some
Pisco then going to bed. Best experience with carabineros so far !

No trouble in the junction with the road, a local living in a puesto 1kl earlier invite me to have mate, then the guard at the end of the gravel roads gently opened me the gate and I continued on the long and boring 11klm of road until El Medano.

There's few options to sleep in El medano, but as I was out of the season everything was closed, I have been invited for stay with a local and quite happy about that because it was a very bad weather night !

* '''2024-03-09 to 2024-03-15 / 7 days / SOBO / Started at border control close to Lagula Del Maule —> 1C, 1B, 1, 2, RR, 6C, 6D, RR, 6F, 6E, 6, 6H, 6I, 7B, 7 - Puente El Ingles / Marilyne'''

I planned this route to avoid the aggressive dogs that have been mentioned a couple times now as it is my main fear along the GPT! I also wanted to explore some alternative routes as some people mentioned that the road walking was not very interesting. That meant that I didn’t get to visit Irma’s place or Carrizales.

Day 1 ~22km
The timing of my errands in Talca meant that I was ready to start on a Saturday, which is unfortunate as the buses to Termas El Medano don’t run on weekends. After evaluating my options, I decided to just take Uber to right before the border control (75K + big tip). I made sure the driver was ok with it and he seemed quite happy, we chatted the whole way.

Went into the border control building just to make sure that no check was needed since I was not crossing the border and went on my way to Laguna Del Maule where a lot of people were fishing.
Later that day on option 2 slipped twice in wet muddy grassy fields. Fun times :-) Camped close to a gate at -36.15739, -70.61193, before the puestos down the valley on option 2.

Day 2
Long day in a valley with a couple puestos. Dogs around puestos were not aggressive but barked at me as can be expected. Chatted with a couple different arrieros. I feel like Rio Guaiquivilo would make a nice class 3/4 packraft option early in the season, but there would be some required portages.

Day 3
Ended option 2 and rejoined the RR to climb up to Laguna del Dial. Enjoyed the view and the surroundings. Meet a lovely Chilean couple that were camped by the Laguna and invited me to stay with them. They ended up being clients of Don Hector, Irma’s husband. They shared their dinner with me. I got to taste Irma’s cheese that I hadn’t been able to purchase and they gave me a lot of food to take with me. Don Hector told me that the 3 agressive dogs people have been mentioning on the RR and that I was afraid of don’t usually bite… More people on horses showed up at the camp later.

Day 4
Finished the walk along Laguna del Dial and took the 6C/6D option. The trail on that pass is hard to follow at times but sticking to the gps line really helped as in some spots you need to be exactly where it is. After that pass I rejoined the main trail which is at a lower elevation and has trees and shrubbery. Camped close to some puestos, however I did not make my presence known and crossed the river to hide to camp - I’m a woman traveling alone. (-36.52496, -71.10122).

Day 5
Decided to take the 6F route despite few comments on this page about the route and the extra elevation gain and loss. 6E starts at a puesto and I had to duck under a couple fences to make it to the gps line. No one was there when I crossed, I’m unsure if it would have been a problem. The cross country section was somewhat hard and steep. Camped close to the end of 6E

Day 6
I initially intended to take option 6 the rest of the way but somehow missed the warnings about the right of way issue until I got there. Since I’m traveling alone and uninterested in arguing with anyone, I went for option 6 but northbound from the end of 6E to continue on option 6H. 6H was hard to follow but a beautiful valley, not much water up there so plan accordingly. The rest of 6H going down on the other side seemed treacherous to me so I opted for 6I instead. Felt really exhausted at the end of the day. Camped at the 7B/7 junction. I was very dirty and dusty by the end of that day and the lack of water at camp did not help.

Day 7
Did the short 6km walk to Puente El Ingles in the morning. Nothing was opened. Started walking the road towards San Fabian de Alico and got picked up about an hour later by three guys who had gone on a fishing trip to Argentina. They gave me a ride all the way to a village outside of Chillán and from there I quickly caught a bus to Chillán (I had a Starken box to pickup there). Realized when I got to my Airbnb that I had a bunch of dirt on my face :-D.

Once again the little solar panel on my pack kept everything fully charged. This section is not as beautiful as section 6 but I still quite liked it.

* '''2024-Feb-29 to 2024-Mar-06 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / Puente El Inglés - Control Fronterizo Laguna del Maule/ RR + Option 06C + Option H (half) + Option F + Option B +Option 01A, B and C / Alex & Christophe'''

This section is nice but not our favorite. There is some long dirt road walking in some big valley. But sometimes you can find some fresh fruits in the trees (especially near Carrizales) and the road walk feels a bit less boring. Our favorite part was Pass {07-06C} [1.7/2187] where the view is incredible. Maybe not the most used or maintained path but nothing dangerous and it totally worth the extra hiking hour. The trail and the camps near Laguna Dial were also really nice. And finally, as everybody, we found the Hot Spring {07-F} [0.7/1357] really pleasant after a long, dusty and hot day in the valley.

Here are our points needed to be mentioned :

We started this section after a resupply in San Fabián De Alico. Since there is no more bus to Puente El Inglés, we hitchhiked and got a lift after maybe 30min to 3 km before El Puente Inglés.

When we passed Puesto {07} [86.4/1212] (Irma), we tried to buy some cheese but nobody was here (maybe because it was Sunday). We only found some aggressive dogs on the property. We also encountered 2 or 3 other dogs who where barking and coming to us in this valley. I think they where the most agressives dogs we saw during nearly 3 month on the GPT. Hopefully, we weren't bitten.

The carabineros in Carizales are the nicest we met. They gave us water with harina tostada and even 2 packs of jam when we left.

The fords were all really easy to cross but it is not possible to cross the river at Ford {07} [80.6/1149]. The river bank is too high and you can't go near the water at this place. We just wen't a little bit further and found a place where 4x4 cross the river and it was really easy (maybe at the half of option H).

We finished this section at Control Fronterizo Laguna del Maule at 2pm. We hitchhiked for 45min before being taken. The car drove us directly to Talca to resupply before section 6.

* '''2024-feb-13 to 2024-feb-19/ 7 days / hiking / NOBO / RR + 0H 1C, part of 1B, 1D, 1E, G / Juliet and Martin '''

Day 1: We set off from Thermas del Medano after taking the bus from Talca (no bus at weekends, bus from Monday to Friday). We walked for about 1 hour along route 115 before being picked up and given a lift to the border post. We opted for option 1C, which runs along the laguna del Maule, and to take option 1D we used part of option 1B to reach the RR the next day. We camped near Hector's puesto after his agreement. We encountered several puestos along the way. Several watering holes

Day 2. We rejoined the RR to go to carrizales. The little store was open. We were able to get something to eat and drink, in addition to a warm welcome. We went a little further to sleep. We met Danilo, who helped Jan along the way. It was great. Great bivouac spot with water and above all shade! Camp {7} [62,5-1322]. Recommended.

Day 3. On Danilo's advice, we took variant 9 for a few km.
We passed many puestos and were even invited to taste a harissa tostada. We went to buy cheese at Irma's puesto and bivouacked not far away (with her agreement).
Regular water spots. No difficulty in crossing the various rivers.

Day 4. In the morning, we passed through a carabinieros station. They were very kind and gave us internet access as we were worried about the weather based on information given by locals. After being reassured, we climbed up to the laguna del dial. No particular difficulty. We bivouacked a little later at the first camp.

Day 5. A short day along the laguna. It goes up and down, but it's really beautiful. We pass a lot of herds. Less water on this day, but enough not to carry too much.

Day 6. Another short day as we were early and seduced by the Ford camp some 23km before the end of GPT07. Several water spots. Lots of easy downhill.

Day 7. Last day's walk to puente Inglès. Arriving at puente Inglès, we ask at the small store. Apparently, there is no longer a bus running between puente Inglès and san fabian. We were picked up hitchhiking all the way to san fabian.

* '''2024-Feb-16 to 2024-Feb-24 / 8.5 days / SOBO / / Matthias de Austria'''

Bus from Talca to El Medano 12:30. Hitchhike up to Laguna del Maule with 3 cars, reach lake at 16:00.
Water: plenty, lots of unmarked sources, never carried more then 1 or 2 liters. Low amount of Tabanos.
No snowfields, all fordings very easy. Weather warm and sunny, except 1 day of rain and cold temperature.

Quite a few closed gates, all easy to open.
Camp at 44.6 is bad, small stream nearby along a cowshitmeadow. Rabbit holes in camp and all full of rabbit poo.
Don't follow the RR at -36.063395, -70.834222 but instead the road. RR leads to a new massive fence with no gate and hard to climb at around Gpt07-01h End.
Shop in Carrizales, 58.2, was open at early sunday afternoon. Tiny room with a few mostly empty shelfs. Got some sugary stuff and a beer. They have WiFi. Local police guy was there too, very friendly, name is Matias, greet him from me when your there or at the local police station you will walk by earlier on RR.
Ford 60.3 has a small log bridge. Warm spring F was totally worth it for me and I spent a few hours there, however if you come from the south you might be disappointed - the hot spring in Gpt 8 is way better. Camp 62.5 was good beside the usuall cow/horseshit. Mid February Rio Guaiquivilo had nice swimming options around -36.20990,-70.90613 and a bit further south. The fording for cars and horses is at -36.271860,-70.923030. Water levels where mostly low and current tame, lots of options to cross.

1kg goat cheese at Irmas for 13500 peso, very delicious, no bred. 3 big white aggressive barking shepperd dogs few hundred meters before Irmas surrounding me and come very close, keep them at distance with my hiking poles.
Around -36.30252,-70.91928 it was very swampy. Friendly police at 92.7, water to refill and got a soda. Laguna Dial was nice for swimming, but very windy from noon to nightfall. Water at 116.3 was dry, but shortly after theres enough water. Rio Cisternas was partly dry, but at camps 116,5 and 114.9 had plenty of water - just not inbetween. No pools though. Warm spring 124.6 isn't worth it, way too tiny. Bridge 137.6 is gone, but dry feet crossing was possible by jumping ovee the rocks under the destroyed Bridge. Little shop in Puente El Inglés was open in the evening and had eggs, noodles, beer, icecream, lots of sugarystuff (don't buy that white packaged and the black packaged chocolate stuff in the backwall of the shop, big package but almost empty inside. Total scam. They had no bred in the evening nor in the next morning, but said in the afternoon bred would be available.
Nice section, best for me was the warm spring and laguna Dial. Spent a lot of time bathing and swimming and just enjoy the view. No difficulties.
Work in progress.

* '''Feb-1-2024 to Feb-6-2024 / 5 days / SOBO / Oh3, RR, Var H, RR / Matthieu'''

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.

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.

Water : plenty on the way, no need to carry liters in the pack, with minor streams not marked on the GPT waypoints.

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.

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.

Hitched to san fabian before puento Ingles on the minor road.

* '''2024-Jan-31 to 2024-Feb-03 / 4 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01 / Joscha'''

Day 1:0H07-01C + OH07-01B [5,6-8,4] + 0H07-01D + 0H07-01E + RR [44,6-49,3]

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.

Day 2: RR [49,3-62,4] + OH07-F to Hotspring and back + RR [62,4-77,9]

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.

Day 3: RR [77,9-107,5]

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.

Day 4: RR [107,5-145]

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.

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.

* '''2024-Jan-10 to Jan-23 / 14 days / SOBO (mostly) / Opt 1B, 3, 4, 4C, 4D, 8 / Kasia and Michael'''

Day 0
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.

Day 1
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.

Day 2
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.

Day 3
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.

Day 4
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.

Day 5
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.

Day 6
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.

Day 7
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.

Day 8
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.

Day 9-11
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.

Day 12
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.

Day 13
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.

Day 14
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.

* '''2024-Jan-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tanja '''

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.

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.

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.

Did not meet any other hikers but had several really nice encounters including an asado in one of the puestos.

Heaps of water. Never carried more than a liter. Campsites everywhere.

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.

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.

* '''2023-Dec-22 to 2023-Dec-27 / 5.5days / Hiking / SOBO / {07-03}-{07-04A}-{07-04}-{07-04C}-{07-04}- RR / Lilian'''

Avoid of right of way dipute and crossing Rio Guaiquivilo, so i go for {07-03}.

{07-03} Km6.1 - km7.2 : Lot of campong spot beside the road.

Pass[11.8/1175] : not a camping place

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.
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!
The shop mostly for alcohol, but you still can buy some small items for chill.

Km17.4 : start from here, lot of possible camping spots beside the dirt road in this valley

Km17.4 - km40 : good cell service.

Bridge[33.1/763]: dont cross it, it is impossible to cross Río Melado come back to this side by {07-08G}

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!

Shop,camp[25.7/813] : look like is closed, sign for private area

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.

Bridge[38.4/936] : i love this bridge.

Ford[41.9/1031] : look like up tp thighs at road crossing, log bridge for dry feet crossing upstream 50m.

I forget to mark the location, 1 more stream flowing up to knee, also a log bridge upstream 20m for crossing.

Settlter[51.6/1138] : a small stream crossing, bridge downstream 15m.

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.

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.

{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.

{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.

First bridge : -36.24670, -70.95043

Second bridge: -36.24481, -70.94877

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).

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.

{07-04} Km21.1 : Pass, some flat spots at this area.

Follow the trail in a beautiful valley until km28.7.

Pass[28.7/1959] : excellent view point of Nevado de Chillán! Still lot of snow of the north side! Beautiful!

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.

Hot spring[38.7/1312] : it is much hotter, like boiled water, but very spread, flowing very weak and no pool.

Puesto[38.8/1304] : after here, you need to cross Rio La Zorra 4 times immediately. Up to knee at morning.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

{07-04} km53.3 : finally!! The road go under tree line, road conditions become nice, easy walking start!

No luck, there was no bus on Wednesday 10am to San Fabián. So i walk a little further to see hitch hike possibilities.

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.

OH-TL-V {08-A} [1.2], -36.66468, -71.27290

* '''2023-dec-17 / 6 days / hiking / NOBO / O7 + O4 + O8 + O8C / Jens'''

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.

I really enjoyed Option 8. Many huge waterfalls and lush forests.

Done the supply in Talca. At that time buses only ran once a day from La Mina.

Very limited supply in La Mina and El Medano.

7.30 from La Mina to Talca
15.00 from Talca to La Mina

Buses to and from Armadillo are more frequent.

* '''2023-dec-9/ 7 days / hiking / SOBO /7-1B, RR, 7-3, 7-4 / Lukas en Tess'''

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.
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
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.

* '''2023-Dec-17 to 2023-Dec- 22 / 6 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 4 + option 3 + option 1 / Yannick & Nolwenn'''

- Water : all markers are good and even more water present

- Snow : a little bit of snow left on the pass and around Laguna del Maule but nothing important.

- Camping spot : easy to find

- 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

- Weather : Sunny

- 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)

==Season 2022/23==

* '''2023-Jan-03 to 2023-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / David and Erika'''

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.

* '''2023-Mar-23 to 2023-Mar-30 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes, Luisa and Noemi '''

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.

* '''2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-29 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 7/ Ondrej '''

El Medano - Puente Inglés
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.

Details:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

* '''2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-05 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 07 / Tomáš '''

This has so far going SOBO been the easiest but also the worst part. Apart from the last 45 km and a few spots, there is a lot of road walking and the long flat valleys are not very spectacular. I wonder how the alternatives compare. Laguna del Dial is not that attractive, there are no trees around it. What is good are fruit trees, from the shop in Carizales 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 (137.6/1041), there are lots of cherries at a puesto and then 1 km further in a former puesto - these ripen in December.

By this time of the year, all the fords were easy, not above my knees.

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.

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 at Carizales 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 Spring {07-F} [0.7/1357], 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 despite the road.

The hot springs are nice, perfect temperature. Right next to them, there is place for a single person for sleeping (no tent) 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 to miss the second carabinieros befora the Laguna sw Si without really wanting to. The road only ends less then 10 km from the Laguna.

The first waypoint "hot springs?" is in the middle of the river, not sure what it is supposed to mean.

The section from the second pass (the one after the laguna) is really nice, first with some trees, at the end with lots of trees.

The second "hot spring? (Hot Spring ? {07} [124.6/1404])" 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 about 200 m downstream from the hot spring) to reach it. The water is too hot, it springs not much above the level of 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.

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 face that falls directly to the river. Do not try to go around it.

Once you reach the last bridge where the minor road 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 this part 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 having been lucky). Luckily there are buses at 7 and 10 in the morning to San Fabian. The second bus goes back at two. I think on Sundays it is all shifted by one hour (so it leaves an hour later) but I am not sure. There is signal from the last bridge but there is no cell signal in Los Sauces.

* '''2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-31 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 3 / Martin & Helena'''

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.

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.

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.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* '''2022-Dec-26 to 2022-Dec-31 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will '''

El Médano - Puente Inglés
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.

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.

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.

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.

The fords were all easy for me, the highest came up to my thighs (I'm 5'11/180cm).

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.

I luckily caught a ride from some carabineros pretty early along the road walk at the end, who took me straight to San Fabián.

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.

* '''2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna & Christopher '''

El Médano - Puente Inglés
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 :)
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.
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.

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.

From Puente Inglés we hitchhiked to San Fabián. There is also a bus once a day which leaves at 10 am.

Section 7 is really nice with beautiful views and a very diverse landscape. It gets really hot in the afternoon though.

* '''2022-Dec-07 to 2022-Dec-12 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica '''

Route: El Médano - Carrizales - Río Guaiquivillo - Laguna Dial - Río González - Puente Inglés

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.

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)

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.

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.

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!

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.

The hot springs after Carrizales are definitely worth the detour! They are properly hot, and right next to a beautiful, cool creek.

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.

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.

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.

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 :)

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.

==Season 2021/22==

* '''2022-Feb-28 to 2022-Mar-06 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Carlos '''

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.

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.

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.

* '''2022-Feb-06 / 8 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa '''

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pretty easy walk the rest of the way to Carrizales on a gravel road. We found many delicious brambles along the road.

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.

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.
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.
The main road is pretty big, probably easy to hitch, but goes through some pretty mountains as well.

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.

* '''2022-Jan-17 to 2022-Jan-24 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo'''

Termas El Médano -> Carrizales (2 days) -> Rio Maule -> Laguna del Dial -> El Inglés (3 days)

Greatly enjoyed this section, which took us seven proper hiking days to complete.

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).

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.

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!

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!

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.

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

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!

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.

* '''2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option to Reserva Achibueno / '''

From Parque Inglés to the entrance of Reserva Achibueno
Buy your ticket online for “El Bolsón” on the CONAF website and get to the trailhead before 3pm
4hrs hike to El Bolsón, a great place with waterfall, great views, nice camping spots, hikers
TO CHECK: Bus from Molina to Parque Ingles leaves at 9 am (not positive) on week-ends and holidays
Easy hitch from Radal to Parque Ingles coz lots of campers going there on week-ends
Be careful a ranger told me the park closes on Mondays
It took me around 4 days from Parque Siete Tazas Park entrance to the road Q115 (Central Cipreses)
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
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
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).
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

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

* '''2019-Dec-30 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias'''

Overview:
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.
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.

Difficulties: Hot and Exposed (especially in summertime). Resupply Distance.

Highlights: Hot springs. Great sweeping views. Pools of cool water to jump into in the middle of the day.

Please feel free to reach out and ask me any questions at Ultratrailca@gmail.com

* '''2020-Jan-17 / 7.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno and Martin '''

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.

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.

* '''2020-Jan-3 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie & Tom '''

Starting at El Medano, hiking the regular route southbound towards El Ingles.
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.
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%.

* '''2019-Dec-29/ 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start at Cruze de Melano / Tyler & America '''

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.

* '''2019-Dec-18 / 4 days / Hiking / Optional/Exploration Route around Laguna del Maule / Lea Geibel & Kevin Moe '''

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.
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)

* '''2019-Dec-24 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo '''

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.

* '''2019-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus & Anna '''

Trail was in good conditon.
River crossings were not a problem but plenty of water everywhere.
In tienda in Carizales you can buy pasta, tuna, cola, beer some cookies.
We bought huge chunk of cheese and some bread from Irma. It was amazing.
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.
We took bus to San Carlos which is leaving at 7am.
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.

* '''2020-Feb-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Arnaud '''

Great section, easy to walk, nice people met on the way.
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... ;-)
Then the uphill is easy until the top.
Possible resupply in Carizales with elia, whose welcome with half a sandia was perfect (pasta, atun, frutas y verduras, harina tostada but no gas).
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.
With the state of the volcan chillan, we decided to skip the section 8 and have some rest in San Fabian.
From los Sauces to San Fabian, the micro leaves at 11pm only.
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.

* '''2020-Jan-12 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank '''

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

=Resupply and Accommodation=

*El Médano

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.

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

=Transport to and from Route=

*Bus Talca - Termas El Medano

07:00, 12:30,15:00, 18:45

from Terminal Talca

*Bus Termas el Médano - Talca

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

Annotation (Jan-24):
A handwriten scedule at the Minishop in El Medano indicated that there is another bus at 3:30 pm from El Medano a Talca.

*Bus from Puente Ingles around 7 & 10AM. Confirm times @ the shop. Bus back from San Fabián at 2 and 6 pm

=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=

* 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.

* 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.

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT07 - Laguna Dial]]

=Images=

[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 13 Laguna Dial.PNG|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 21.jpg|center|1100px|thumb|Laguna Dial]]
[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949889.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]
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[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 12.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]
[[File:Laguna Dial, Greater Patagonian Trail 14 Laguna Dial 2.PNG|thumb|center|1100px|Laguna Dial]]
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[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_108321024.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]
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[[File:GPT_2_Laguna_Dial_118949853.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]

GPT03 (Rios Claros)

2025-01-16T15:29:46Z

Mmcdanielpeacock: /* Season 2024/25 */

GPT03 (Rios Claros)

2025-01-16T15:27:47Z

Mmcdanielpeacock: /* Season 2024/25 */