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GPT06 (Descabezado)

2025-03-29T16:39:10Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2024/25 */

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

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= Overview =
<div style="overflow: hidden">
[[Archivo:GPT 06 options.png|450px|right|GPT 06 route options]]

===Routes===
Section 6 leads through the spectacular landscape of the Descabezado volcano. There are three main routes: the regular GPT route, from Parque Ingles to La Mina / Los Cipreses (or vice versa), the Condor Circuit from Parque Ingles to Vilches, which is also popular with non-GPT hikers, and the longer, off-the-beaten-path Descabezado Circuit, which begins at Laguna del Maule and ends in La Mina. Optional trips to volcano peaks include Descabezado Grande, Descabezado Chico and Volcán Azul.

===Right of way issues===
Most variations of section 6 will pass by Don Victor at km45.5 of the regular route. Even if you don't pass by there, you are likely to meet him at some point on the trail. He requires prior authorization to go through his land, although only some hikers have been able to obtain such authorization, since he seems to not always reply to messages. Without authorization, it is advisable to try to avoid him, especially on the way into his land, since he might turn you around. This makes a start from Vilches unadvisable. You can minimize the probability of meeting Don Victor by taking a CC route closer to Descabezado Grande, described by Natalie below (as of March 2024 this route is not yet part of the track files), but this is not an easy route, especially if there is snow. An alternative is to do the Descabezado Circuit, but finish in Parque Ingles. This shorter circuit still goes through via almost all highlights, but entirely avoids Don Victor. You can also connect to section 5, which similarly avoids him.

Starting from Parque Ingles also has restrictions, see the trip reports below. In particular, there are only a limited number of hikers allowed, and you should not disclose your plans to go via Don Victor's land if you don't have authorization.

Notice that starting from La Mina requires authorization from the hydro company. See the GPT manual on section 6 for details.
</div>
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

*'''2025-03-24 to 2025-03-28 / 4,5 days / SOBO / RR, Option 2, 3 (Descabezado), 6a, 6D (Cumbre Descabezado) / Thijmen Scholten'''

As for the permit I met mister Victor and he was not happy to meet me without permit. So if you want to take the RR route apply for a permit (described by Thomas)! If you don't want to, take the high mountain route (variant 2 and 3). Even though you are still on his terrain, you will probably avoid him this way. Going SOBO CONAF will ask for this permit so you have to say you just go to EL Bolson (buy a ticket online?) or you have to sneak past (like Volker explained).

- First day I hitched from Molina to Parque Ingles , I did not have any ticket or permit but luckely it was Monday which meant CONAF was closed and I could just walk trough the gate on the trail.

- I met the guard of El Bolson campsite and he was cool with me passing by, even though the park was closed. I wanted to pay him the entrance fee but he wouldn't accept it.
- Camped after the pass at water point 22.0. water point 17.8 before the pass is also a good campspot.

- Look out after the pass on option 02H that you do not decent too much. I had to climb 200m up again

- Continued to the high mountain route (02H). There is no water here so fill up at the indicated ford. It's muddy glacial water so if you want to have clear water you have to fill up before the pas. Camped at camp without water.

- It would have been nice to have some gaiters and sunglasses

- Summit Descabezado. Take route 03 don't follow the track perfectly but walk on the rocky ridge that's the easiest way to get up.

- I wanted to climb Vulcan Azul on the same day but when I got to the start of the climb it looked like it was a sandy accent. So I returned packed my tent and went down. Afterwards when I saw the summit from a distance next day I regretted it. I went down to RR and camped at Laguna del Caracol.

- Next day option 06A which is nice if you have enough time.

- Look out that you take the right las Hornitos pass and not the one before, I had to climb up again -_-.

- Camped at Laguna los hornos and next morning down and got a ride from the workers to Talca.

*'''2025-03-18 to 2025-03-23 / 5.5 days / NOBO / Option 3 (Cumbre Descabezado) + OH-CC-A {06-02H} + RR / Tim & Tobias'''

We did a relaxed hike through this beautiful section. Got the permission to enter NOBO (Los Cypreces) from natali.veloso@enel.com within 3 days. Visit the carabineros in Colorado, they printed and stamped the form and we hitched to the entry.

Day 1: Went up to Camp {06} [62.2/1999] at 11 a.m from the security guard, where we had to fill in another form. Struggled a bit on the way up because Río Cipreces is dried out and we had little water. Last source is Bridge {06} [72.4/1018] (NOBO).

Day 2: To avoid Don Victor, we took Option 3 and camped beside a little Glaciar at -35.60736 -70.78212, close to Camp NO Water {06-03} [5.9/2542]. Filtert the water from the Glaciar. Great spot.

Day 3: Took Option 3 to get up to the top of the volcano. Loose sand, difficult but stunning day. Decided to stay another day at the camp beside Glaciar. We highly recommend to take this option to get up to the summit because it is much faster than OH-CC-A {06-03A}. Thank you Adrian for the advice!

Day 4: Went OH-CC-A {06-02H} and RR to hot spring Azure, where we camped. It stinks a bit during the night, but the hot springs have perfect temperatures.

Day 5: Short day on RR to laguna las animas. Enjoyed the hot springs in the morning, took some fotos with condors.

Day 6: Went down to Parque Ingles without difficulties.

*'''2025-MAR-10 to 2025-MAR-15 / 6,5 days / Hiking / Alex, Andrey, Anton / GPT06 NOBO (Option7, Option2, Option8: a new traverse of the Calabozos volcano), GPT05 SOBO (RR)'''
This traverse from Laguna Maule to Reserva Nacional Radal Siete Tazas offers a memorable—and surprisingly straightforward—journey from south to north. Although not technically difficult, the route presents extended stretches of deep sand and volcanic ash that demand physical endurance.
Key Considerations:
There are numerous sections without a defined trail; navigation relies on waypoint guidance.
Glaciers lie concealed beneath sand in several locations—refer to waypoint comments for exact coordinates and cautionary notes.
Reliable water sources are found throughout the route.
Early‑season fords can be hazardous; plan crossings carefully and monitor snowmelt levels.
Our newly established Calabozos volcano traverse direction from the southern approach is strongly advised. The northern slopes feature steep, deep‑sand sections that are more strenuous when tackled uphill.
Mondaca Valley bears signs indicating private property. During our traverse, valley guards granted passage without issue, but this should not be assumed as guaranteed access. Exiting via Mondaca Valley tends to be easier than entering.
The track and more photos at Wikiloc:
https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/sand-traverse-laguna-maule-to-reserva-nacional-radal-siete-tazas-205862875

*'''2025-02-09 to 2025-02-14 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 1 (Altos de Lircay) 01, RR / Eric and Jakob'''

Route:
To avoid Camp Bolson and CONAF we started by taking the Option 1 (Altos de Lircay) 01, which is really beautiful but we recommend taking more water than usual when coming across some water spots since most of the rivers are dry. After completing the Option we continued on the main route until the end.

Travel:
We started from Parque Ingles. Got there by taking a train from Santiago to Curico. After that we took a bus to Molina and another one driving to Parque Ingles. Worked without any complications. Did cost all together around 50 euros for the two of us.

Permissions:
As mentioned by other people it is really hard to contact Don Victor. We wrote him a text message but we didn’t get an answer. We talked with Don Victor and got to know a really kind and respectful man, who simply tries to keep his land less crowded and free of trash. As Thomas describes in his section log, permits are available through his daughter. The number is provided by Thomas. Therefore it is necessary that every hiker who is trying to hike GPT06 is doing their utmost to get the permission from Don Victors daughter in order to respect his land and his priorities. If you are not able to get a permission the best and only option is to skip this section and continue with a different one.
Since we didn’t have an official permit we tried to avoid CONAF as recommended which worked out fine for us by taking an alternative route in the beginning to avoid Camp Bolson. Not getting the CONAF permission and trying to avoid them was a mistake we aren’t proud of and wouldn’t do again. We don’t recommend doing it this way. The experience can be enjoyed way more when getting every permission necessary before starting with the hike.

Resupply:
There is no way to resupply on the trail. After the trail there is the possibility in Los Alamos to resupply in a small shop which got everything a hiker needs. We were also offered an apartment for one night in Los Alamos. It included a kitchen, a bath and two sleeping dorms for 46 euros per night. The name of the owner is Samuel.

Attractiveness: 5/5
Difficulty: 3/5

* ''' 2025-FEB-15 to 2025-FEB-17 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin '''

Combined sections 5 and 6.
Joined section 6 at the hot springs [27.4/1986]. Got there around 7 pm. And there were two Chilean guys sitting in a hot pool so I joined. It was good to finally meet someone.

I took the lower camping spot and the ground was a bit warm, so the night wasn’t cold.

Next day, I went up to the pass. The soft sand makes the climb hard. The way down to the refugio was easier, but still not easy. No sign of Don Victor. The Chileans entered via Parque Inglés and didn’t know about him at all.

The landscape is out of this world and amazing, but the suck factor on the sand is high for me. I got to camp at km 56.3. Beautiful place for camping. But very cold night. I left the water bottle in the tent vestibule and there was a good amount of ice in it in the morning.

The last climb was an again challenging for me. Also because I got a cold and I was cold, so I didn’t sleep much.

Then the way down is more sand. I wanted to get it over with, so I was going fast, around 2000 vertical m/hour. When I got to the gravel road, I had sand everywhere. I do have light gaiters, but they just couldn’t keep up.

Then it was just a few hours in the heat on the road. I got to the small shop after the bridge over Rio Maule. Got ice cream and coke for 3500 or so.

Then I washed in the river and tried to hitch hike to Talca. I stayed there from 17:15 to 18:00, but no luck. Not many cars to begin with. So I got to Hostal La Rivera as somebody suggested. Single room with breakfast was 25 USD and together with pasta for dinner and beer it was 35 USD or 36000 pesos. Paid by debit card. I will take the 7 am bus from Medano to Talca. Should be here on the main road around 7:20.

* ''' 2025-02-10 to 2025-02-13 / 3,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 5 (vilches alto), option 3 (Descabezado Grande), RR / Thomas '''

As right-of-way issues increased recently, and parque ingles CONAF seemed to be more and more intransigent, I chose to take my chances on Vilches Alto entry (which is easily reached by direct bus from Talca).
I arrived on sunday morning but the park was closed with wildfire red alert. I waited there the opening on next morning.
Walking at the park entrance, I was lucky and met Sebastian, Anete y Tono which was started the Condor Circuit. A week ago, they contacted Don Victor daughter, Tamara, which gave a permit to cross the property. Rangers verified carefuly the permit to let them go. I take my chance then and contact Tamara to ask the same permit.

>> There is usefull information to planify GPT6 with serenity :

- From this year, Don Victor's family exiges a permit to enter the property in order to limit the area crowd and waste associated

- Permits are given by Tamara Galdames, Don Victor daughter : +56987397559

- She asks for passport picture and a bank transfer of 25,000 per persona to make the permit

- She told me that she only give permit to 3 people or more

- CONAF rangers (at least at Vilches) verify very carefully the Tamarla autorization

- Don Victor checks also every hiker/horse rider he can see at this period (at least between laguna Caracole and Refugio Blanquillo)

So I was very lucky to met Sebastian & co and I told her I can walk with them, and she said OK. A ranger directly called Tamarly after to make sure I'm not tcheating.

Day 1 : Vilches Alto > Valle Venado camping
No difficulties, a lot of shadow during the ascent, good views from the valle venado mirador. The camping is fine (shower) but without spectacular view.

Day 2 : Valle Venado > Camp without water {06-03} [5,9]
Path to Blanquillo refuge is well marked (also a lot of horse poop). Only difficulty : a water canal crossing at the end of the Blanquillo lake (water until my hips with 1m77), but without any flow.
I met Don Victor at Blanquillo refuge which verified my permit (I show him my WhatsApp conversation with Tamara and it was fine). Then he was pretty warm with me and show me water source.
The beginning of Descabezado ascent is well marked equally. At Camp without water [3,3], it becomes easy CC to the second camp [5,9].
Amazing moon landscape there !!

Day 3 : Descabezado ascent > Laguna de los Hornos by the RR
Start at 6:40, summit at 9:20, only 35min to get back to the camp. Wonderfull sunlights on the moonfield and area volcanos. The way up is demanding, but without any difficulty issue (I followed option 3). The only water source near of the trail is the glaciar crater at this time.
I returned to Blanquillo refuge to get water and met Don Victor and his guests again. They asked me about the volcan and we tchated about previous visitor incivilities and how they want to limit affluence in there.
Then I followed RR SOBO without any issue during the rest of the day until Laguna de los Hornos where I camped. Very scenic and variated views, I definitively recomand this part of RR !
Near los Hornos, I met a group with guid, horses and montain bike which has been kindly returned by Don Victor the day before at the laguna Caracole because they don't have the permit (and potentially because Victor doesn't like the idea of bikes on the montain...).

Day 4 morning : Laguna Los Hornos > Los Cipreses
The Volcan los Hornitos ascent and tour worth the extra mile. Easy sandy descent to the minor road and half hitchhike the minor road.

* ''' 2025-02-05 to 2025-02-10 / 5.5 days / Hiking /SOBO / RR/ Emilie '''

Day 1: departed from Molina at 9:30 with the bus. Arrived at the trail (parque ingles) and had purchased a day pass for the park. Seeing my big backpack the guards asked me where I was planning to sleep, I said laguna the las animas and they said I couldn’t go there without proper authorization. I then asked if I could simply change my plans and sleep at el bolson (campsite inside the park) and they said it was full for the next 2 days. I was really disappointed and asked where I could find some wifi to look at other passes/trails I could do, they sent me 3kms down at the Conaf office of Radal Sieste Tazas. I walked about 300m and saw the gate and decided to try my luck and jump it to bypass them. It worked although I was really stressed and surely enough I ran into a guard on a motorcycle checking the entry permits. I showed him the day pass but Conaf is supposed to give a registration card which I did not have. He asked me how I came in and I had to explain that I jumped the gate. He was ready to send me back (VHF radio in hand and all) but I asked him if I could try to explain myself which I did, showed him my planned route, explained that I knew abt don victor etc, I told him I would be out of the park by nightfall. He agreed to let me pass but it was a close one. You should definitely buy a pass for el bolson campsite, even if you don’t camp there, you look suspicious with your backpack. Went all the way to laguna las animas and camped there.

Day 2: started my day with an encounter with wild horses! They ran towards me, there were about 15 of them! Saw them running down a hill up until 2m of me, they were curious and friendly. It’s was surreal. Camped at S (35.508517° O 70.751605°) on an empty pasture that was not wet.

Day 3: woke up to that empty pasture being filled with cows! One was trying to snatch my bag which woke me up. They were curious and friendly aswell. Hiked until the Refugio camped right next to it (S 35.594815° O 70.825999°) there were other Chileans aswell. All super friendly!

Day 4: my feet were extremely blistered after day 3. I initially wanted to hike up the volcano but decided for an afternoon at the beach instead to rest my feet; hiked about 8km until Laguna del Caracol where I spent the afternoon, reading swimming and cooking, it was great.

Day 5: it was a big day, I hiked all the way to water at [73.5/1014] camped right next to it on the shore of the river (S 35.775444° O 70.802768°). Initially wanted to camp at Laguna de los Hornos but the lake seemed pretty eutrophized (? Not sure if it’s the right word) and I did not want to drink it, even filtered. Since it’s downhill from there, it wasn’t too too long.

Day 6: hiked the remaining few Kms and hitchhiked to Talca. If ever you need accomodation here Hostel 1760 is like a peaceful haven; 30 000cpl and there’s a pool and the rooms are around an interior garden with a fountain. Exactly what I needed.

The takeaway is to definitely not underestimate the terrain, it is rough on your feet, the sand and dust will stick to your face and lips which made me feel thirsty all the way, I always started the day with 2,5L of water which isn’t necessary since there are a lot of streams but I was still always glad to not have to ration my drinking. The river crossing for me was knee high, not sure if I crossed at the wrong place, the water was lower or if I’m especially tall;) did not meet don victor.

*'''2Fev2025 - 6fev2025 / hiking SOBO / RR - OH2A-2-2H - OH3A-3 - RR / 5 days / Clara'''

Parque Ingles : I did the same as Volker (see below) to enter the park cause I couldn't buy a ticket for the park the day before. But I was afraid and I think it would have been bad if I encountered a park ranger. Hopefully I didn't and they didn't ask for park reservation at El Bolson Camping. When I said that I won't come back by this path but go further he didn't say anything (only the owner).

Camp at laguna las animas. Very nice camp spot and lake to swim. No shade. Some stonewall to pitch the tent and protect a bit from the wind.

Ford 29.4 : not so easy, up to mid thighs (1.57) but fast flowing in the begining of afternoon. Then it's a loooong way up in soft volcanic sand, very physical. Lot's of water all the way up till ford 32.5. Then there are also still some smaller water flowing around begining of OH2H and the place I camped.

Camp here -35,54404, -70,75932 : I found a good wind protected spot (for the NNO wind, less for the NNE of the night end but hopefully it decreased) and I made an almost flat spot there. There is multiple little streams with good water flowing just around that spot.

Up to the pass on 2H was easier that I thought but walking down (or more traverse) on the other side was way more harder. Very steep ups and downs in some canyons in soft sand or sometimes big but no stable rocks, snow covered by sand. Last and only water for now after the pass of 2H is at the ford. Took me almost 4h to get to OH3A.

I took an OSM path before 3A to gain few meters, a trail is well visible when you arrive from 2H. Around 2900m I went CC to joined OH3A and I found on the way, few meters left to the 3A tracks, some footsteps going up on either big stable rocks or not so soft sand until around 3300m, looks easier than exactly on tracks for the ascent ! Then it's physical soft sand. Went with very small backpack and took me a bit more than 3h to the summit. Descent way much faster.

Descending at Don Victor refuge, I met a group of chileans. They offered me harina tostada and food (maybe when they see my terrible face after this exhausting day), and we ended up sharing dinner, fried fishes and evening there. If I understood well, they told me that since this year, Don Victor make people pay (25k?!) to camp at his place (or just pass through?), not the locals but the tourists. But since he was not here I didn't need to care about this.

They learned me their fishing technic the day after at Laguna del Caracol and I had 2!! (They had 10kg in half day). Magic encounters with theses so generous and nice persons. Camp at 62.2 (just a bit upper than the waypoint) is nice.

Nothing special to add for the last day except not much workers going down the MR even on week days.

* ''' 2024-01-20 to 2024-01-22 / 2.5 days / Hiking /SOBO / RR, option 2 & 2H, option 3 & 3A (Ascended Descabezado), Variants G / Elijah & Michael '''

Plenty of available water from the pass to Descabezado (option 2), however no water available on the climb up. Almost no water around Descabezado, but was able to locate small flow from a snow field. No water available south of Descabezado until end of option 3.

Descabezado climb took approx 4.5 hours, 1 hour descent. Incredibly draining due to soft ground and fall-line trail.

Shop at bridge after Los Cipreses had snacks and accomodation but not appropriate for resupply.

Hostal La Rivera in Los Alamos offered great accommodation for 50,000 CLP per night (including desayuno). Hostal able to provide lunches and dinner.

Almarcen in Los Alamos looked like it had good options but was closed in afternoon (4pm) and morning (10am) and no one was around.

Minimarket in La Mina had limited options, possible but difficult resupply.

Minimarket in El Medano had slightly better options, but still limited resupply.

* '''25-01-13- 25-01-18/ 5,5 days / SOBO/ RR-OH2A-OH2H-OH3-OH3A-OH4-OH3-RR / Volker / Flowers on the moon… Just a magic section / Parque Ingles - Volcan Descabezado Grande - Volcan Azul - Laguna del Caracol - La Mina'''

Day 1: Bus from Molina, terminal rural, to Parque Ingles at 8.20. Started there at 10.30. Avoided Conaf: The bus carried a group for the camping in P.I. and stopped 200m after the Conaf. Instead of going back to register (or taking the MR of OH1) I turned left before the bridge and walked on a path along Rio Claro, a fence to my left. After 500m an open gate allows you to go left and enter a huge camping (nobody there). At the very end of the camping the fence is down, once out, I walked CC to join the RR. Minimum three dozens of young Chileans on their way to El Bolson, when I arrived, still nobody there except the owner, who asked me to register. I told him, I go to Laguna Las Animas - all fine. Camped at the Laguna, short day.

Day 2: 30 min after the Laguna another, smaller lake with camp spots. At the pass I made the short detour for Cerro Las Animas (nice view back on the Laguna) then along volcanic slopes with a lot of various flowers to the hot spring (no bassin, just a hot swamp, go for Fango). For various reasons I changed my original plan to continue on Option 2b direction V. Descabezado Chico, one reason was the (non indicated) ford, which looked very dangerous, at least for a solo hiker. So I continued on RR, quite swampy, the trail dissappears in wet meadows. If you know you want to continue on the RR - better don‘t go down to the river and the hot ‚spring‘, but cut this CC without elevation loss. Lots of cows on the way to the pass. Many small rivers, which all feed Estero El Volcan, therefore the two fords on the RR are way easier. I took Option 2A, then Option 2 and then Option 2H and camped not far from the start of 2H.

Day 3: On 2H CC to the pass and then down to the start of Option 3a for the V. Descabezado. Ford easy. At S 35.592096° W 70.786105° don‘t go down into the canyon as indicated, but bypass it left by going a bit upwards. Started with a small backpack on option 3a for the summit at noon, arrived at 2.30. At 3400m ff. easy rock climbing some 20 meters left of the indicated route - less physical and more fun than on the gravel/sand. Almost no wind on the summit, just wonderful, highly recommend it! Very quick down to the backpack, while resting there for 15min 6 condors in the air, circling very low directly over me. Breathtaking minutes. Then continued until camp at 06-03: 5,9. The indicated spot is protected, as there was close to no wind, I climbed the next dune with an extraordinary view to the west (sunset!) and camped there.

Day 4: Volcan Azul - What a great summit! You might think, Descabezado is the highest, why climb another volcano, which is so close? Nothing could be more wrong. They are completely different and V. Azul beats Descabezado in nearly every sense: the landscape, the views (on Laguna La Invernada), the geology. You even can climb the finger at the summit (only the last two meters are technical, there’s a fixed rope, use it, if you trust it, I didn’t). But V. Azul is also way more demanding and you should have a good head for heights for the ascent on the ridge. Very important: when on the ridge, always look, if there are other hikers above or below you: I was alone, but when going down, I several times caused very dangerous falling rocks. All in all the whole way up and down is not difficult, just very steep. But the gravel is very different from Descabezado. This is felt mainly when going down. In large parts you can‘t ski or hop down as on Descabezado. Either the sort of gravel doesn‘t allow it, or the underground (hidden rocks, e.g.). So you have to walk very carefully (it makes no difference if you follow the track files or an OSM route). This slows you down very much and partly is as physical as going up. I started at 6.30 a.m. and it took me 7,5 hours to go up and down (sure, you can camp closer to the ascent, but as I wanted to take option 2H and then option 3 to join the RR at the hot springs, I didn‘t want to walk back with my big backpack). Water: At noon running on the east side of the glacier in the crater, took also snow). Back from the summit I walked the mentioned CC options (however stayed lower to the left and even found a path there, sometimes marked with cairns). When approaching the junction with the RR I saw a lot of horses and people at the refuge. Don Victor had guests. I decided not to bypass them, but to show up and explain, what I am doing here. Good decision! I was offered bread and wine, we chatten, nevertheless I was asked, if I had a permission (could honestly answer, that asking for it is why I came here). Before I left Don Victor and I took a joint selfie… He is not at all a bad guy, he just wants you to show, that you respect his property rights. I also took water there, which allowed me to camp on the magic plateau, that follows on the RR, instead of going down to the indicated camp at 48,1.

Day 5; A short day, very easy on RR to camp at 62,2. Just enjoyed the landscape and the lagunas. After the pass at 59,3 on the way down I went CC left of the RR, crossed 5 brooks to join variant C. In this part a multitude of flowers, at least a dozen different species in all colours: an integral and unforgettable part of this volcano section.

Day 6: Very short day, Down to the MR, then an 8km walk to La Mina. The last 2 km I got a ride from a local, who also drove me to the shops on the PR. The changing nature makes the MR walking more interesting, than one might think. You come from a lunar landscape and some hours later almond trees and ripe mirabels! For NOBO hikers: Chilean day-hikers parked their car at the end of the MR. So it should be possible to get a permit from Entel for the entry by car (Uber or arrangement with a local).

* '''2025-Jan-13 to 2025-Jan-18 / 5,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Chris & Jule'''

TLDR: no problems with snow, dusty & exhausting gravel/ashes, absolutely stunning views all along, Don Victor was busy.

We had an issue with our GPSMAP67 (updated the firmware just prior departure), resulted in weird frozen mode with full backlight brightness in three occasions which drained half the battery. Due to this (despite backups) I was a bit paranoid, so the GPS remained mostly off and we followed footsteps & paths. This worked very well, only one time followed a valley too long. The paths are very obvious, it was easy to navigate.

Water: in all marked locations and many more. Usually every 1-2hrs we passed some stream. We had expected much worse and were a bit overprepared in the beginning. The ashes take water easily, but also give it as easy.

Rivercrossings: one, hip-high, quite some current but managable. we crossed where the OSM path crosses the river. Besides, dry feet all along.

Snow: some snowfields, one at the descend towards laguna las animas had to be crossed, all others were avoided.

Due the GPS turned off we were very surprised as we suddenly stood infront of Don Victors refugio. We waved and yelled hola, there were about 5-ish tents, so we thought he may have opened a camping space recently. As we wanted to go a bit further, we continued. He either didnt see us, or wasnt too happy - none from the refugio waved back. One person standing at the tents waved back though.
Next morning we met Volker who had gone to Don Victor and had a good chat and a drink with him. He had visitors, therefore was too busy to care for us. Later that day a group from the refugio passed on horses, everyone just friendly hola-ed back to us.
We met some chilean hiker that had tried to obtain all permits for a certain hike, CONAF told them, that since a few days Don Victor does not allow anyone anymore.

Going back to Talca: we heard busses leave at 7am, 1pm, 3pm, 7pm (at least on saturdays).
We ended up hitchhiking as we didnt want to want for 2hrs. It took us maybe 10min (maybe fourth car) to squeeze into a ride with wonderful chileans returning from bathing in some hotsprings.

* '''2025-Jan-03 to 2025-Jan-10 / 7,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Farah & Jan'''

We started our GPT journey with this section and were amazed by the beauty and diversity of the landscape.

Challenges were the rocky and sandy terrain, sometimes dangerous paths and the hot summer sun. Sometimes the path disappeared and we lost it, but with a GPS device it was easy to notice and get back on track.

Dangerous snow bridge at (S 34°31.4980’ W 070°44.8453’).

River crossings were no problem, one was hip high (we’re 1,75 m and 1,83 m), all the other ones knee high or less.

Didn’t meet Don Victor.

Definitely follow Jan Dudeck’s recommendation and use gaitors. We didn’t as we opted for hiking boots instead of low trekking shoes and kept on collecting enough sand and gravel in our boots to build a children’s playground.

Day 1

We took the bus from Molina to Parque Inglés and hiked to El Bolsón on the first day, where we camped. Only had tickets for one day for the Parque Nacional Siete Tazas and weren’t sure if we technically would’ve needed one for two days, but the official let us camp there nonetheless after checking our tickets.

Day 2

Hiked to Laguna de las Ánimas where we met Sean & Neele on their way NOBO and had a nice quick chat with them.

At the end of the ascent out of Valley del Indio, right below the pass, there was an icey snowfield, which we traversed using crampons - it would’ve been possible without but felt safer with them. We camped at Laguna de las Animas, which was beautiful.

Day 3

From Laguna de las Ánimas we continued over the pass at [19.4/2547] after which we encountered some sketchy paths along steep gravel slopes: At some parts the path had slipped downhill and if doing one wrong step, we would’ve too. Take care at this part of the section! Camped near the Hot Spring del Azufre.

Day 4

We weren’t sure if we could drink the water near the hot spring because it all stank like sulfide so we hiked uphill a bit before refilling our water. There, we also encountered the only bigger river crossing at [29.4/2190] - hip high and a bit of a current but still doable at the right spot.

Higher up that valley (S 34°31.4980’ W 070°44.8453’) we found a pretty dangerous snow bridge over a creek and decided to walk/climb around it which was also a bit dangerous as it took us over very loose rocks right next to an at least 20 m drop but way more controllable than the snow bridge next to it.

We left the valley behind us and camped at a beautiful spot right next to a river and with a wonderful view of the surrounding rocks and mountains (S 35°31.9714’ W 070°47.4839’).

Day 5

Descended the valley, met two French hikers who did the Condor Circuit and had a quick chat with them, passed Descabezado Grande and the Refugio at [45.5/1887] but didn’t meet Don Victor. We camped at the Water/Camp at [48.1/1837] - what a beautiful little oasis!

Day 6

Hiked past the Laguna del Caracol and originally wanted to reach the camp at [62.2/1999]. However on the ascent to the pass at [59.3/2518], Farah’s knee started to hurt and the pain got worse, so we decided to take some rest and camped in a small depression right next to a snow field roughly 100 hm below the pass. Despite the exposed location there was almost no wind and we got to enjoy a breathtaking view on the two Descabezados and the valley at their feet.

Day 7

Farahs knee got better, we ascended the remaining roughly 100 hm to the pass and from there descended to the water at [73.5/1014] We camped on the shore of the Rio Cipreses nearby.

Day 8

In the morning we woke up by the sound of people: Some local fishers from San Clemente walked past our tent, we wished them buenos días and had a friendly chat with them. Later that morning, they gifted us three freshly caught trouts which we happily ate right on spot.

We then descended the remaining 6 km to the bus stop at {06-E} [0.5/862], where we wanted to catch an afternoon bus to Talca that we found on the bus services Facebook page. However, the bus didn’t come and we learned from the owner of the shop at {06-E} [0.5/856] that the buses only leave once a day at 7 am. He sold us Coca Cola, chips and chocolate bars and rented us a room (without private bathroom but access to his own bathroom) for 30.000 CLP and we spent the night there. The 7 am bus didn’t come either so we hitchhiked to a bus stop west of San Clemente and took a bus to Talca there.

* '''2025-Dec-31 to 2025-Janv-6 / 5.6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 3 (Descabezado) / Peggy & Dorotà'''
Magnificent, grandiose, and isolated section. Difficulty: dryness, sandy and volcanic rocky terrain, sometimes tiring. No water issues, but be sure to drink plenty.

First part, each on our own. I (Peggy) started the GPT with this section from El Bolson. I chose to take an Uber to get to the entrance of the Siete Tazas park (30k CLP). I had bought the park ticket online beforehand but it wasn't the right one. I should have purchased a ticket specifically for the El Bolson trail. However, the park ranger was accommodating. On my driver's advice, I paid 7k CLP for the El Bolson camping to enter the park but didn't spend the night there. I was given a document that I had to hand over on my way down. I followed this advice for convenience, although maybe it wouldn't have been an issue if I had just explained where I was going?

I didn't encounter Don Victor throughout the section, though I had sent him a message he didn't see.

Upon arriving at Laguna de las Animas, I met Dorota, and we decided to do this section together.

There was little snow, with a few rare snowfields that were easily passable or avoidable, except for a large section where it helped us cross a river. Indeed, after the Termas de Azufre, at the ford at kilometer 29.4, finding the river too strong in the morning, we followed the right bank of the river until we found snow covering the river. After leaving the dangerous start behind us, we crossed the snow where it was thick and could walk on it for a while before crossing to the other side.

No problems with the other fords.

A bit past the refuge at the foot of Descabezado Grande (km 45.5), there are good bivouac spots (S 35°35.7470’ W 070°49.5695’).

We climbed Descabezado Grande from this refuge, starting early in the morning. We made a big mistake by forgetting to take water! It seems we both had a moment of "temporary unconsciousness"! We also thought we would find water from the snow higher up, which we did, but only in the form of snow. We managed to collect what we could by putting the snow in our bottles to melt a bit. There was also a bit of water flowing from a snowfield but only in the last part. So, make sure to think about water! Moreover, it’s better to sleep on the volcanic plateau to get closer to the summit, avoiding the 2000m elevation gain all at once (that was actually our initial plan…) with water! Especially later in the season when the snow has melted.

The 2000m elevation gain with little water was difficult, especially moving from 3000m to 4000m with some altitude sickness. Nevertheless, it was a good learning experience for both of us. Once at the top, we could appreciate the magnificent view of the snowy crater of Descabezado and the surrounding scenery. The climb is not technical but can be long if started from the bottom and strenuous. But it’s definitely worth it!

It took me (Peggy) two days to realize that by keeping my pants on, I no longer suffered from sand and stones in my high-top shoes! And yet, I wasn’t suffering from altitude-induced brain fog! ;)

In summary, a magnificent, wild, grandiose, and isolated section. Perfect to start with!

'''2024-Dec-30 to 2025-Jan-5 / 6.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 6 + option 3 (Descabezado) / Sean & Neele'''

Tldr: beautiful section! No problems with snow. Didn't meet Don Victor. Water at all waypoints plus more due to snow.

Emailed Natali (natali.veloso@enel.com) to get authorisation to enter NOBO, theres a simple form to complete and return. took the bus from Talca to El Colorado to visit the cabinieros they signed and stamped the completed form Natali sent us. Hitched to Central Cipreces, wasn't too difficult, a worker dropped us off right at gate 78.9km. Security guard was very friendly and helpful he was happy with our authorisation and after filling in another form we were on our way.

Went up to Volcan Los Hornitos took only 10 minutes to get to the crater rim from the pass. Well worth it.

Camped near camp 62.2km

Pass 59.3 a patch of snow on the south side but easy to walk around it to the east.

We decided to do the option 6 loop to see laguna la turbia. Nice enough and easy, western side of the pass is pretty steep.

Camped at 56.3km - lots of really nice camping around here we couldn't walk past it.

At water camp 48.1km we went CC straight to camp without water 5.9km to avoid any right of way disputes and to climb dezcabezado grande in the morning. It worked, not sure if I'd recommend it.

Plenty of snow for water at camp 5.9km we didn't even need to melt it, it was flowing.

Descabezado (03) 9.4km was surprisingly simple. 4 hours to the crater rim from camp 5.9km, Another 30 minutes to go to the summit and back, hour and a half down. From around 3,700m to the crater rim routes 03 and 03A separate. We took 03A up and 03 down, 03 is much better I'd recommend it.

Took option 3 to refuge 45.5km all good.

Pass 33.8km snow mostly avoidable now. We camped up there snow for water.

Pass 19.4km - small patch of snow easy to avoid

Pass 15.4km - small patch of unavoidable snow but easy to cross.

Camped at El Bolson - pretty busy on a Saturday.

Short walk out to catch the bus to molina at 11

No entel signal in parque ingles

* ''' 2024-DEC-15 to 2024-DEC-21 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, OH option 3, CC not on trail from [5.9/2542] to camp [48.1/1837] / Tamar & Nimrod'''

In short:
A lot of water everywhere.
A lot of snow as well, but we managed without spikes.
The CC ascenting Descabezado is free of snow. The one ascenting Azul might be covered by snow but we didn't climb it.

First day- We started from Molina on Sunday, and took the bus from the main station that departed at 9:30am (we think on other days of the week it leaves at 11:00am) to parque ingles. The ride took us about 1.5 hours, and costs 4000 clp. At parque ingles there was no phone signal anymore with entel sim card. We payed in advance online 8900 clp per person for entering the park and sleeping at El Bolson. When we arrived we had to pay another 7000 clp each.
Started walking up to El Bolson at noon and got there at 17:00. A ranger on a motorcycle asked to see our ticket in the middle of the trail.

2nd- went towards Laguna Las animas. While Ascending to first pass [15.4/2257] there was a lot of snow but we managed to cross without spikes, though it was quite scarry.
It was a long day because the descending from the second pass [19.4/2547] was harder and longer then expected, some parts felt dangerous so we climbed a little to cross at a place with vegetation Wich was less slipery.
We slept at terms de azufres. Beautiful! Extraordinery! Needed time to find a good pool but it had a lot of algae so we didn't go in. There were many pools with different temperatures.

3rd- climbed to pass [33.8/2695] (El astadio) a lot of snow along the trail and patches of snow that had to be crossed very carefully, because if falling ment no coming back. The pass itself was completely covered withe snow field! There was some exhusting walk on the spiky snow but then we found foot prints of a horse and poop of sheep and followed it down the pass. Slept at a beautiful place aprox(-35.54190,-70.79507) with a stream from melted snow waterfall (don't know how long it will last).

4th day- went towards refugio. There were some cows but no people. Didn't find hot spring. Walked up to camp without water [5.9/2542]. Very good camp, no wind, but watch out from the glacier that looks like it's going to collapse. Drank water from snow we melted.

5th day- DESCABEZADO- woke up before sunrise to ascend. We thought there will be snow on the trail that will be easier to climb when frozen. It was not necessary because although there were snow fields along the way, the trail was snow free.
It took us 6 hours to ascend and 3 hours to descend. The view was amazing! Seems that the trail on Azul has more snow on it. The inside of the mountain was covered with snow.
We walked back to our camp and then walked to camp [48.1/1837], not on a trail, which was ok, and camped there.

6th day: we continued on RR and camped near Laguna De Los Hornos - approx. (-35.72217, -70.81903).
Sandy and soft ground but quite windi.

7th day: hoped to get to El Medano at noon, but got there only by 18:00 :(.
We ran out of food because we planned 6 days hike, so we stopped in the shop in Los Alamos. We bought canned tuna, cheese, and not very fresh bread.
After paying we were invited to seat and eat in the families yard and given tons of fresh bread, cheese, and coke.
We continued on RR. TL (81.2+1.8), and the start of MR (83.0+0.8) are gone because of a big flood (we were told there was a big flood 2 years ago) and it took us almost 2 frustrating hours to walk this trail.
Finally we made it to the bridge, crossed it, and walked on the PR.
A man in the entrance to El Medano arranged us a cabaña and we accepted it.
We stayed 2 nights and continued to GPT07.
The shop in El Medano is very basic and aiming tourist, and we regretted not buying more food in Los Alamos.
We stayed in: cabañas y colaciones sra. Isabel ±56978397080- jose ±56975762613- Isabel.
Very generous warm and friendly people. Helped us with laundry for free, acomidation for 50,000 clp for a night for 2 people and diner for 8,000 clp per person. Also took us to natural sauna and gave us cheap or free products which we couldn't find in the expensive and basic minimarket.

* ''' 2024-DEC-17 to 2024-DEC-20 / 4 days / hiking / NOBO / RR+option GPT06-01e / Michal a Anna '''

How to obtain the permit to enter the Hidroeléctrica Los Cipreses:
1. Contact Mrs. Natali Veloso Zuñiga from Enel (natali.veloso@enel.com) to obtain an authorization to visit. It is a simple form, she replied within a day.
2. With the authorization visit carabinieros at Reten La Mina or El Colorado and obtain permit to enter Los Cipreses. It is a multi-page document summarizing your trip.
3. Now you can enter and begin your hike NOBO. :)

Day1: When we came to the Enel gate [78.9/865] we realised that we have to obtain yet another permit from Carabineros at Reten La Mina (as described above). Getting to Reten and back took us 2 hours but Carabinieros were friendly and helpful and there wasn’t any problem with getting the permit. After that we build our first camp at Laguna de Los Hornos [aprox 64.8].

Day 2: Pass [59.3/2518] (Hornitos) wasn’t fully under show but we used our microspikes to climb two snowfields more easily, but would be definitly ok without them. Then the out-of-this-world beauty began.

Day 3: We didn’t meet Don Víctor at Refugio [45.5/1887] or around. Just a few cows. Pass [33.8/2695] (El Estadio) was almost completely under snow, microspikes very useful and made our progress faster. When descending from pass there was a lot of melting snow. At [S 35°31.4964', W 070°44.8531'/2427] where the RR goes on the east side of the valley there was a big snow bridge across creek/waterfall which we consider unsafe to step on. We couldn’t find a safe alternative way (only a combination of short downclimb, ford in steep creek and crumbly longer upclimb), so we decided to turn and came back to X [36.7/2423] where we spent night.

Day 4: We took a variant [GPT06-01e (Laguna Manatial Pelado)] and without a problem descended to Park Inglesé. At [35°28.61331'S, 70°59.63836'W] is a gate where we were informed that we are on private property. Semi friendly guy opened the gate after a while and some negotiations.

Generally the trail was ok, but it pays off to be very careful this time of year because of the melting snow and rivers flowing under it creating many snow bridges. It may turn you back. Anyways this section is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been to, we were left speachless many times!

* ''' 2024-DEC-09 > 10 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / Variante Volcan Colorado(voir GPT05)>RR / Pierre-Marie '''

Etape : GPT04+GPT05+GPT06
| Meteo : soleil
| Eau : facile
| Neige : beaucoup
| Intérêt : 5/5
| Difficulté : 3/5
| Danger : attaque d'oiseaux

Des Cairns indiquent souvent la route. Beaucoup de poussière sur cette etape.
J'ai subit 1 attaques d'oiseaux apres le lac Caracol sur la partie herbeuse, puis 1 autre le long du lac Hornitos. J'ai marché sur les parties sableuse et degagées pour ne pas ecraser de nids. Apres le volcan Hornitos, la descente est monotone et sans interet.
DEC-11>12 : Repos Talca. A-R bus.

* '''2024-DEC-05 to 2024-DEC-07 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. C) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''

We combined sections 5 and 6.

We joined section 6 at the hot springs [27.4/1986]. Most tributaries of the river carrying water from the hot springs are too hot for bathing, but one of them has a reasonable temperature. It’s slightly overgrown and more lukewarm than hot, but fine for washing.

The fords on the Estero El Volcán river [29.4/2190 and 32.5/2565] were both covered by snow, so we didn’t need to ford. Generally, there is still quite a lot of snow, and the area around the pass is almost entirely covered. However, with good equipment (appropriate clothing, microspikes, sunglasses...), it’s not difficult to cross.

There is plenty of water everywhere due to the melting snow.

The water at [44.6/1884] is currently a fairly strong flow. We eventually found a spot where we could hop across dry-footed, but it took some time to find. We were there in the morning; by the afternoon, the water level would likely be higher and will by necessery to ford.

We didn’t meet Don Victor. However, we met another group of hikers near the refugio.

The climb to the pass [59.3/2518] (Hornitos) from Laguna del Caracol is almost snow-free, except for a few small patches. On the other hand, the southern slope is still covered by a significant layer of snow. Regardless of the trackfiles, we descended in a way that avoided difficult snow patches. Our route was very close to variant C, and it was fine.

Around km 68, we left the trail and went cross-country directly south, looking for a good campsite. We eventually found one at -35.7569975, -70.7919536, with a nice flat spot and access to water.

The shop in Los Alamos, marked as a resupply point, is open. It’s very small, but we managed to buy supplies for the next two days. Don’t worry if it seems hidden in someone’s garden—it’s there!

On the road on the opposite bank (Variant E), there are several small shops where it might also be possible to resupply. There’s also a nice restaurant, Cordillera, where we celebrated the end of the stage.

(2024/Nov/26 -2024/Nov/30)/4 Days/ Hiking/ SOBO/ Entry Variation from 05, RR form Banos del Blanquillo/ Lukas, Basil &Tabea

The national Park was still closed and entry was not possible so we chose a different entry point over lago frio (La Ruca). The expedition guide from the touring company offert to drop us off at this alternative entry point for 15$ p.p. After 10km on good trials we arrived on variation 05, which we followed until the main route. The route was duable, no critical river crossings or hard snow fields. the mountain pass horintos still had snow on the south side, nobo crossing not advisable. Exit at los zypresses.

==Season 2023/24==

* '''2024-04-03 to 2024-04-05 // 2,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel (GPT6)'''

What an amazing section !

I was lucky enough to have all the volcanoes and mountains covered by snow as it was heavy rainy just before I begun this section !

The result is blowminding landscapes, but struggle near the pass, to deal with the mix of snow and soft volcanic ground aha.

I started from El medano, where the shop and most of the cabanas were closed (there's few options to sleep here, cabanas and camping too, but as it was the end of the season, everything was closed). I was lucky enough to found a nice habitant that purpose me to stay at his house for the night for 20K CLP and saved me from a big storm and heavy rain.

I took the option F then E (basically the road from El Medano to the central hydrauelectruca) because I needed to resupply as the shop in El medano was closed. I found my happiness in La Mina where there's two basics shops (pasta, tomato sauce, biscuits, chips... (but no bread, or fresh products like fruits, cheese, ham ...). Here there's possibility to sleep on cabanas as well. There's a hotel/restaurant just one kilometer before La Mina, but no-one was there.

I arrived at the gate of the central, knowing that it will be hard without authorisation. I've sent an email to Rene gaillardo as mentioned on the hiker's manual, but no answer. So I dealt with the security guards at the entrance.

After long negociations the best option (and fastest one to let me pass this day) was to have a writing authorisation to pass from the carabineros. I've been driven to the carabineros by the security guard, and then have hard negotiations again. They finally wrote a paper where I had to explain my expedition and give lot of informations. And they asked me to go on a police station when I finished the section for let them know that I'm still alive aha.

Anyway, this allowed me to pass.

But if you're going NOBO and don't want to struggle like that, don't contact Rene Gallardo, he's not working at the Central anymore, the key contact is now Natali Veloso, that you can contact on that mail address : Natali.veloso@enel.com

Then you hike threw the central on a boring gravel, and arrive to the junction where you find lovely volcanic ground and going up up up to the pass of Los Hornitos. From there it's just landscapes from an other planet, with a very easy to follow path, but not in an easy ground as it's quite sandy.

Views on Laguna del Caracol was amazing ! As the whole circuito condor on RR ! One of the best section of my GPT so far, alone in the world in this absolute incredible landscape ... Blowminding !

I continued threw the pass El estadio PK 33,8, here the snow was very present and the path harder to follow. I continued to the amazing spring del Azufres, very nice landscape to have a hot bath and quite big vapores, nice break during the day !

The crossing over Estero El Volcan (X2) was quite demanding and I had to figure it out and check during long times for the best way to cross. Then I took the variant H to linked the GPT 6 to GPT 5.

* '''2024-Mar-08 to 2024-Mar-16 / 8.5 days / Hiking / Descabezado Circuit / Control Fronterizo Laguna del Maule - Los Cipreses/ Option 02 + RR + Descabezado Chico / Alex & Christophe '''

This 170km loop was our last section after 3 months on the GPT. It has been one of the most hard, exhausting, and technical section but also one of the most remote, wild, and magnificient we did. We didn't see any humans during 8 days. The extrem wind and cold temperatures, the infinite CC in open areas, the white landscapes without any shadow, and the D+ in soft sand were constantly forgotten thanks to the lunar landscapes. Here are some added informations for the GPT06-02 to the ones given by Natalie & Tomáš.

Day 1 : We took the bus at 7:30 from Talca to Armerillo. Then we hitchhiked to the beginning of GPT06-02 and began at 11am. After the first pass (-35.94909, -70.45347), we followed the track but going down thru the landslide seems to be a better option. We slept next to the river where there was a good wind shelter (more or less) at (-35.934832, -70.459308). That's a good spot to have the sun early in the morning, which was appreciated since it was -4°C during the night.
Day 2 : The second path (-35.652, -70.43356) was pretty steep and unstable in the last meters but easily doable. The puesto seemed to be unoccupied. There was water every 1 or 2 hours. Then we took the {06-02F} as it looked to avoid swamps and we slept next to the river at (-35.827017, -70.399535) to have the sun as long as possible and to have it early in the morning.
Day 3 : After the pass at (-35.785707, -70.403584), the landscape changed drastically! We took the {06-02E} to avoid the swamps of the other side. It worked but we had to cross the rio san Francisco. Small ford, but not jumpable. We stopped at (-35.693111, -70.427244). There was a clear source and a blue lagoon to take a quick bath. We had wind all night long, maybe there's a better place next to the lagoon.
Day 4: It must be possible to find a camp spot around (-35.667931, -70.422663). After that point, it begins to climb and there's no more flat place. We took the {06-02D} and it was a good option out of the elevation and the crazy wind. When we arrived at the snow limit, we went 20m down to find a good way in the snow. Then we had to run in the flowing sand to the rocks and had to clamber the last meters between two wind gusts throwing us sand in the eyes. It was pretty scary because of the wind conditions but doable. Finally on the plateau, we had to manage with winds at 80km/h and sandstorms. I would definitely not pass in case of bad weather or with stronger wind. We took a break at (-35.613055, -70.423114), first water since the pass. Then we followed the GPX track but the OSM offers to take the westside of the river and it looked to be better as we had to go up and down in the sand many times. Finally after this exhausting day, we found a camp spot with a kind of wind protection at (-35.560315, -70.441588).
Day 5: After a long morning with a NW crazy constant cold wind, we stopped at the hot springs. We tried many places but never found a source warmer than 30°C. After a quick bath, we filled our water bladder at the last point mentioned by Tomas & Natalie (-35.48544, -70.5994) to go to sleep to the pass. There was still a ton of snow next to the pass but didn't see melting snow on the way. There are different camp possibilities with a stunning view in the last 600m before the pass but we slept at (-35.494194, -70.622529) to climb the Descabezado Chico the next day. Ok wind shelter.
Day 6 : We woke up at 6am to go to Descabezado Chico before the sunrise. We crossed a melting snow river at (-35.49828, -70.621259). Even if the last part is steep rocky and sandy, the climb is easy. We reached the summit in 1h20 and had one of the best sunrises of our lives ! There are some places to be sheltered from the freezing wind and enjoy the view. Back to the pass, we followed more or less the track because there was still a lot of snow and some ways didn't look to be the best to follow. Next to Lago de la Mollera (-35.49782, -70.635864), we went down to the lake because we didn't see how to avoid a snow wall and because it was looking to be a nice path to go down (breaking news : no)... We managed to go up a little bit further (-35.501361, -70.641377). When we arrived below Cerro Colorado, we took water in a blue lagoon and we hiked the crest on the left side to avoid deep sand (-35.524775, -70.661721). Then we stayed on the left side of the Cerro Colorado to go down (-35.525073, -70.670594) until the river. That was a quick and good choice. Finally we managed a flat and more or less wind sheltered camp at (-35.55463, -70.708441).
Day 7: There was still a ton of snow at the pass and made our own track in the snow slope a little bit upper than the GPS track to cross more safely. We wanted to follow the high route described by Natalie & Tomás to avoid Don Víctor but as we saw how much snow there still was, how already tired we were (but not as much as our shoes) we decided to take the RR to go south. When we watched the high route from the RR, there was still a lot of snow patches. We finally stopped at Water, Camp [48.1/1837]. Not the best idea because it becomes a freezing hole during the night.
Day 8-9: We followed the RR, nothing more to add to other posts except that we never met Don Victor !

* '''2024-02-29 to 2024-03-07 / 7.5 days / Descabezado Circuit - Laguna del Maule to Los Cipreses / option 02, off-trail variant, 03, RR + Descabezado Grande and chico / Marilyne (+Fangwen and Tobi for first 3 days)'''

First section on the GPT and I found it amazing! I won’t repeat anything that Tobi and Fangwen have mentioned below that also applies to my trip.
On day 5, I used the variant suggested by Natalie&Tomas that avoids Refugio Blanquillo and Don Victor. I had met with 3 park rangers earlier in the day who questioned me about my plans and asked if I was planning to go to Refugio blanquillo. When I assured them that I would not they went on their way. I watched them and their 6 horses run over a steep patch of snow and it gave me the confidence to cross it too, otherwise I may have tried to find a different route as a fall there would have been highly consequential.

Had to cross many patches of snow on Natalie & Tomas alternate route and it includes a stream crossing that could be very dangerous in the wrong season as it is above a waterfall.

I climbed Descabezado Chico on day 4 and Descabezado Grande using route 3 on day 6. The Grande climb took 6+ hours and I didn’t have any desire to keep fighting scree fields after so I skipped Azul. At the end of that day all my stuff and me were very dusty from that climb.
On day 8 I exited at the hydroelectric station Los Cipreses. A security guard that saw me running down the road to catch the bus offered me a ride to the main gate and we had a pleasant chat. Caught the 3:30pm bus to Talca around 4pm. They seem to start late from Medano.
Very sunny section, I used a small solar panel on my backpack and ended up the section with all my electronics fully charged.

* 2024-02-29 to 2024-03-08: Fangwen and Tobi (+ parts together with Marilyne) / 8.5 days Descabezado Circuit variant, Laguna del Maule to Vilches (option 02 -- variant 02D -- RR -- option 05)

What a fantastic trip! Two experienced GPT teams had independently recommended this circuit to us, and both described it as their favorite experience on the GPT. Natalie&Tomas have an extensive trip report below. I don't have a trip report from Markus&Jenni, who hiked this circuit in 2019, but they provided us with very useful waypoints. If you are interested, message us ([[Special:Emailuser/Tobfang]]) and I'll ask if I can share this data.

It is advisable to start this trip from Laguna del Maule. This way, you can easily lengthen the trip (by climbing the three volcanos) or shorten it (by exiting in Parque Ingles) towards the end of the trip. Also, you start at 2000m, which is a nice in the summer heat. It took us 8.5 days; we had food for 10 days and intended to climb some volcanoes, but when we got there it was quite windy, so we simply went straight to Vilches.

This hike is definitely off the beaten path: the arriero Christian at S 35° 50.549', W 070° 24.114' said that we were the first hikers this season (in March!). He was very friendly and shared a delicious melon with us.
Our favorite places were a beautiful valley with white sand, and a refreshing Laguna at S 35° 41.643', W 070° 25.651' and the Laguna Aquas Calientes at S 35° 30.441', W 070° 31.990'. The latter is not actually a hot lake, but there are several small streams of warm water. We camped right at S 35° 30.129', W 070° 31.514', right next to a really nice hot pool.

Things to watch out for: although water was generally abundant, there are some spots where water is a bit more sparse (especially late in the season) and you might have to carry for up to one day. See Natalie's trip report for details. Additionally, earlier in the season there might be snow fields. The winter in 2023 had a crazy amount of snow, so even though we went in March we had a lot of water from snow melt and the two passes at 02D (S 35° 39.116', W 070° 26.016') and S 35° 33.137', W 070° 44.275' had steep snow fields. It was a bit sketchy, but okay. For the first pass, there are other options up, which may open up earlier. For the second pass, Option 2B traverses a lower pass (we didn't go there). A lot of hiking is on cross country, much of it on sand or gravel of different firmness. Sometimes you sink in, sometimes not. Flat or downhill travel is generally efficient, uphill is slow. Bring (mini)-gaiters, not just because of sand but also spikey plants. Also, sun protection is crucial, you won't have any tree for a week.

Logistics: Interbus (call them on WhatsApp: +56 9 9886 5872) runs a bus Mon-Fri from Talca to Medano (which is a bit further than la Mina). As of March 2024, this bus left at 12:30 and 19:00, returning to Talca from Médano at 7:20 and 15:30. From Médano hitchhike to the border checkpoint. It's not super easy, and you might only get as far as the furthest mine, roughly 5km before the border checkpoint. Alternatively, use a ride sharing app to go to the border checkpoint. We were able to get via multiple rides all the way to the border checkpoint, but it took some time (we arrived at 5.30pm). If you want to check out Laguna del Maule, tell the border guard that you're not crossing into Argentina, and they will let you pass. But the border checkpoint is closed at night (between 6pm and 9am?) and you're not supposed to cross it then. We quickly went to the lake and back before it closed.
Vilches Alto has a daily bus service to Talca at 12:30 and 16:00.

* '''2024-Feb- 22 to 2024-Feb-27/ 6days/hiking/SOBO/06/RR + volcano Decabezado/Paulina'''

Amasing section!

Day 1
I took a bus from Talca to Molina ( a lot of buses per day, still in February and later to Parque Ingles ( several buses per day in the season, most of them till 12 pm).
As it was a rainy day, my plan was to walk only to El Bolson. I did not have the entrance because I could not pay on the website with my card. I told to the Rangers that I would like to go to Los Cipreses, they where like I need the permition of the landowner to do it. I just ignored it. At first they were saying that it would not be possible to camp on El Bolson the next 2 days. But I waited about one hour, reasked several times, and finally one of the Rangers went with me to the place where you can buy ticket for camping El Bolson ( 7000 CHP), also they told me that I did not need to buy the park entrance.
The El Bolson camping is just huge, I don't understand all the mess with the acces. When I came up, the guy from the camping just took my name and passport number, but did not ask to show the camping payment confirmation, or park payment.

Day 2 ( El Bolson- Termas de Azufre)
The trail was visible all the time. At this time of the season, no snow on the pass. Termas de Azufre are amasing, so it's good to come there not very late to enjoy them. Just next to the river, there are a few spots for tents.
This day I also met one chilean couple doing curcuito condor, and at Termas a chilean family with kids on horses with an arriero.
The famous owner of the land did not show up this day and the next days.

Day 3. To refugio Blanquillo
At first there are a lot of animal trails, so you need to check with gps which one is a good one.
The ford on the river on the way to the pass was short but kind of difficult ( almost to the waist, I'm 1,69 cm, strong current). It's because of a heavy 2 days rain two day before. Later I met people doing curcuito condor from the other side and they told me that the rangers did not want to let them do the trail because of this river high level. But I think that after some.more days of a dray weather it's not a difficult ford.The rest of the trail was easy to follow with beautiful views.
At refugio, I met one couple doing curcuito condor and two chilean couple who came to climb Volvano Decapezado. Very nice meeting.
The refugio was already closed. The hot spring was not really hot.

Day 4
Together with chilean hikers, we climbed Decapezado Grande. It's a long hiking day, but it's really worth to do it. The way down is easy and very fast.

Day 5 to Laguna de los Hornos

About 20 min. from the refugio, there are a lot of different animal paths ,so you will need to consult a gps to see which one is a GPT one.
The views around Laguna Caracol are amasing, I think it was my favourite part on this section of an extreme beauty. No navigation difficulties on the trail. Indeed,laguna de los Hornos is in a big part dried.

Day 6 till La Mina

I agree that it's really worth to climb the volcano
Los Hornitos. It's a very short way up.The rest of the trail is at first a descend in a deep sand ( so you can go very fast) and than a walk on a gravel road ( I found the valley very nice, I was amased how fast the landscape changes). I got a ride about 2 km from Los Cipreses, very nice people, they took me to the shop in los Alamos , but as the owner was not there they took me to a shop in La Mina ( 500 m before the restaurant La Cordillera). You can find there several little shops, if you go around you can complete the resupply for the next section ( mostly pasta, tuna, tomato souce, ramen, eggs, instant souls). No camping gas.
I camped in a little, very nice camping/ garden with a grape shade in a restaurant La Cordillera place ( 3000 ChP), they have also cabanas but I don't know the price. A really nice place to stay and chill, you can eat all the fruits in the garden. The lady from the restaurant was very nice, they serve nice,food, not expensive ( I paid 18000 for camping, breakfast, big dinner, juice, and a good portion of pisco sour).

For the next section, it's kind of easy to hitch-hike ( there are a lot of local workers on the road) to the beginning of the trail.

* '''2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-18 / 5.5 days / SOBO / RR / Gabriele - Trails of Wander'''

Day 1 - Parque Ingles - Laguna Las Animas. Hernandez bus from Molina to Parque Ingles 8:10 am. I had park entry and camp permit for El Bolson that I bought on-line. I indicated to the Guardiaparque my 6 days itinerary RR to Los Cipreses, no issues but had been told several areas are private land. Met only one hiker after El Bolson (See note below).

Day 2 - Laguna Las Animas - Termas de Azufres.

Day 3 - Termas de Azufres - Camp along Rio Blanquillo near Vegas Manantial Pelado RR + small section of OH-Tl-V 06-01. I did not ford Estero El Volcán at Ford 06 [29.4/2190] as with the high snow/water year I felt it was unsafe or risky at best and made little sense to try at that spot. I continued CC on the right bank of Estero El Volcán for about 300-400 m to reach the snow field where I crossed safely without even touching water at all. The CC section had only a handful of spots requiring short scrambles, but no issues. For reference, I crossed the snowfield to reach RR at -35.31196, -70.44898. Given the current water level condition I think this is an easier and safer option.
Originally intended to camp at Laguna Manantial Pelado for the night but the valley below looked great with all surrounding peaks so I camped there.

Day 4 - Camp near Vegas Manantial Pelado - Camp South of Laguna Caracol (Camp 06 56.3/2034). Based on the conversation I had two days earlier with a Chilean hiker who was doing the Circuito Condor regarding Don Victor the dueno/owner of the land traversed on day 4, including Descabezado Grande, I decided to avoid encountering Don Victor if at all possible. I did not follow the RR directly to the refuge Blanquillo at 45.5/1887 but kept away from it and walked CC to reach RR further South where it climbs up. I did not meet him and cannot say if he was at the refuge, which I only saw from the distance. After reading and listening to multiple reports regarding the situation with Don Victor land ownership it seems to me that the best approach is to avoid or minimize contact with him if possible, in order to reduce escalation of further problems for future hikers, in particular Chileans hikers who appear to really have very hard time gaining approval from him to simply traverse his land.

Day 5 - Camp South of Laguna Caracol - Laguna de los Hornos.

Day 6 - Laguna de los Hornos - Los Cipreses. I reached Los Cipreses at about 1 pm on Sunday. The guard at the gate of the Hydroelectrico Los Cipreses told me there are no buses down to Talca on Sunday. I hitchhiked on 115 and got a ride to Talca fairly quickly.

Water was plentiful for the entire route. Limited snowfields traverse with no issues. 100% full sun exposure all day after El Bolson. Windy at higher elevations. Harsh and dry environment with a lot of sand and dust. Lots of steep climbing in sand. Overall easy orientation and easy trails to follow but GPS track needed. Magnificent hike.

* '''2024-Feb-08 to 2024-Feb-14 / 5.5 days / SOBO / RR 01c 01e 03 03a/ Matthias de Austria'''

Bus from Curicó to Molina at 9am, immediate connecting bus to Parque Inglés. Buy a ticket online for the national park (8500 for foreigners, 100% surcharge! If the international debit card selection doesn't work, just try the national one, my card only worked there). You can also add the authorisation for El Bolsón online, but you have to pay for it in cash at a ticket office in Parque Inglés. 80 people per day are allowed for Bolsón, everything is sold out at lunchtime. Night in Parque Ingles at Hostal Valverde 40k for one person in a 4 bed room (solo use) with own toilet and washbasin but shared shower, towel costs extra, quiet, next to river for bathing (lots of local families though).

At 8am next day, a Wednesday, there are around 50-60 people at the ticket office for Bolsón. I went to the locked gate at the start of the RR and quickly climb over it hoping noone saw me, as I'm not planning to stay in Bolsón anyway. Better not to mention that to the rangers. Also, only gas cookers are allowed. After about an hour, I'm just a little way off by a stream when a ranger rides past on a motorbike. I don't know if he saw me, maybe he thought I was coming back from Bolsón. So if you hear a motorbike, it's might best to change direction shortly and head towards Parque Inglés, or even better, start much earlier in the morning.

I bypass Bolsón heading south at 01A, shortly after the bridge at -35.4973,-70.9052 is a large private area, no trespassing sign. I don't want to set a bad example for the numerous day trippers around and take a path along the stream (southern side) to the waterfall. Once out of sight of people and Bolsón, I briefly climb up the steep slope and CC to option 1. Water shortly before start of 01c. Next water at -35.5226,-70.8653, even with a small pool.

Don Victor is the large landowner in the area. His hut is, as far as I understood, the refuge Blanquillo at 45.5/1887. Hikers used to be welcome on his land, but after they left a lot of rubbish behind and invaded his hut, he no longer allows them and sends them back. However, he (sometimes?) makes exceptions for foreigners. You could ask him for permission via whatsapp, but he was so flooded with requests that he can no longer be contacted during the season. I just took a chance and went to his land. A rider around 37.1/2382 asked me what I was doing here, I asked him if he was Don Victor, to which he replied in the affirmative. I then introduced myself, said what my destination was, where I came from and that I am aware of the problem of dirty hikers, but that I am very careful with nature. He then allowed me to continue. I met him twice more in the following days, at Blanquillo 45.5/1887 and at Water 48.1/1837, and he reminded me not to throw away any rubbish.

At the refuge I met a Chilean-German couple camping, they came from Los Cipreses and didn't know that it was forbidden to enter this land, but Don Victor allowed them to stay after they argued with German cleanliness (I guess he had never been hiking in the Alps before the regular cleaning teams cleaned everything, otherwise his trust in the Europeans would probably not be so great).

Fordings: All very easy, path at Laguna del Caracol is no longer under water. No snowfields to cross. The water level of the lagunas (except Manantial Pelado) is dropping rapidly, I estimate about 10 to 15cm per day.

Water: Plenty, except for hiking up Descabezado. Bring as much as possible from Blanquillo.

Summit day Descabezado: Very strong, cold winds all day. A good windbreaker, hat and gloves are essential. Only cloudy day since I've been in Chile, 20 minutes after I left the summit it cleared up. Extremely strenuous ascent on very loose gravel, almost every step sinks in deeply and slips (I weigh 100kg), takes 6 hours from base camp to the summit, even on the easier route. Descent effortless, under 2h.

Camps:
Day 1: Laguna Manantial Pelado
Day 2: Basecamp -35.5978,-70.7957 (I widened it, smoothed it out, deepened it and extended the stone wall. Nevertheless, the winds up there can be massive, you have to brace the tent well.)
Day 3: Next to the not existing anymore hot springs at 45.6
Day 4: Laguna la Turbia
Day 5&6: Laguna des los Hornitos (rest day, just beeing naked all day swimming and lying around in the sun)
Hornitos and Turbia were nice for swimming, the others really cold.

No problems at Los Ciprese, friendly guard spoke good english, gave me water and wifi.
Bus to Talca (3500 peso) at main street came around 15:50-16:00.

Absolutely incredible landscape. I'm here for dream routes like this. Perhaps the best hiking week of my life. GPT01-04 was nice, but GPT06 is in a completely different league. I loved it and I deeply miss this kind of remoteness in central europe.

* '''2024-feb-2 to 2024-feb-6 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Juliet and Martin '''

Day 1 parque ingles - Lagunas las animas
18km d+1200 d-100
Departure at 6:30 a.m. to pass the conaf. No worries
First part to el bolson. At el bolson we can refuel with water. The campsite attendant asked us for our conaf ticket. After explaining to him that we were going to laguna animas, he let us pass without any trouble. Continuation to laguna animales without shade but no snow. Bivouac spot on the beach but no shade, or to the west on meadows to pitch your tent, but used by a herd of horses.
The trail is generally easy to follow as it is marked by stone markers.

Day 2 laguna las animas - Therma de azufre
11km D+400 D-700
Shade-free day. Lots of trails in the sand.
We didn't manage to find a good bivouac spot (mainly because of the heat coming from the ground).
Water spots regularly, especially early in the day.

Day 3 Therma de azufre - El banquillo refuge
20km D+ 900 D- 900
The indicated crossing point was not crossable for us in our opinion (no experience in river crossings), so we decided to walk along the river bank in the rocks for several km. We crossed the river higher than indicated thanks to the snow.
Water spot regularly as several rivers crossed.
Arriving at el banquillo, we were disappointed not to meet Umberto. Very good bivouac spot with several pitches already made.

Day 4 El banquillo refuge - laguna de los hornitos
20km D+ 900 D- 900
Most of the climb is up to the pass after the laguna. Quite a physical climb in the sand. But we did it in about 1h30. The rest of the day was pretty much the same.
Regular water stops too.
No problem following the trail.
A little extra for a new encounter with a herd of horses.
Bivouac spot around the lake. Nice possibility before descending to the lake (indicated waypoint camp).

Day 5 laguna de los hornitos - los alamos
All downhill to los cipreses. The first part is in sand, so it's a quick descent. Once on the road, we were often overtaken by cars. No one asked us for a permit (or offered to hitchhike).
We passed guards at the exit/entrance to the power station, who offered us water and no problem getting through.
In los alamos, a small store selling a few products such as pasta, ice cream, batteries, etc. It's run by a lady and her husband. They also sell beds for sleeping. They're very welcoming

Buses to Talca at 7.30am and 3.30pm. Not many cars passing through. We didn't get picked up hitchhiking.

* '''2024-Jan-27 to 2024-Jan-30) / 3.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01+03+06/ Joscha'''

Day 1: RR [0-10,1] + OH06-01A + OH06-01[10,7-25,1] + RR [36,9-44,6]

A few small streams at OH-01 and one bigger one near Laguna Manantial Pelado (ankle high ford). A few snow patches above 2300 m, but you can easily walk over or around them. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.

Day 2: RR [44,6-45,8] + to Descabezado and back on OH06-03 and OH06-03A + RR [45,8-55,7]

River at 44,8 was a little over ankle high ford in the morning. The climb up to Descabezado has a lot of steep gravel slopes, which makes it tiresome. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.

Day 3: RR [55,7-58,3] + to Los Quillayes and back on OH06-06 and OH06-06A + RR [58,3-59,6] + OH06-C + RR [62-69]

OH06-06A is a steep gravel climb, but worth it. Really nice view from Los Quillayes (but similar to the view from Pass Hornitos. Pass Hornitos has some bigger snowfields on the southern side, but its easy to walk around them. OH06-C was pretty steep at the end, so maybe the RR is more convenient. Little above ankle high Ford north of Laguna de los Hornos in the afternoon.

Day 4: RR [69-80] + OH06-E + OH06-F

Small Shop (I bought some Pasta) and Restaurant in Los Alamos. I tried to continue on the RR from Los Alamos to El Medina. But at 81,3 km the trail vanished and I wasn't able to continue. Therefore I walked back and walked on the paved road OH E+F to El Medano. Camping + Thermas in El Medano costs 7000 Pesos. There is a small shop, but it is very expensive (e.g. 1 Ramen Cup costs 2000 Pesos).

GPT06 has some really spectacular views. Especially Pass Hornitos and Volcan Descabezado. There is no shade, so the sun is gonna burn you all day. This + the sand/gravel is demanding for your body and your equipment.

* '''Jan-26-2024 to Jan-30-2024 / 4.5 days / SOBO / Oh5, Oh 3, RR / Matthieu'''

Amazing section, from the entrance in Vilches to the end in los cipreses. Sand and lack of shadow are the main difficulties.

Right of way : that was my first fear. Concerning guardia parques : en parque ingles, they say that they cannot let officially hikers go to the volcan, as duenos asked (OH1 passes by 4 differents private properties). But if you have a message by don victor it's ok. So no need for discussion there just take a ticket to el bolson and no more words. El bolson was closed for a few days for maintenance, so i just got out of parque ingles. At Alto de Lircay, guardiaparque told me that it was my responsability to enter don Victor's property without his permission. You can legally turn back into the park (or coming from parque ingles) paying for another day at the end, at the entrance, if you want to come back by altos de Lircay after the volcan.
- Don Victor : I had the chance to meet him near the valle del venado, on a horse. I asked for permission to enter his lands and continue south, that he offered me easily with promess to not let garbage in the zone. I was glad to meet him out of his lands, I don't know how he would react into. He especially asked to guardaparques to say to hikers that it was not permitted to go on his lands because it's always full of trash, and he has to clean it up all the time. He told me that foreigners were more respectfull than locals though. His phone is off all season because it became a public number, and he has to many calls to enter the volcan. So if you want permission better send a message before season. To note, his lands go at least to the laguna caracole, don't know after.
I saw another chilean hiker walking up the volcan, didn't seem to be a problem for him.

Water : often present on RR, in the lagunas or the oasis. A good stream just before the top of the volcan to. No need to carry kgs of it.
No water at the volcan basecamp though, so I carried it from the puesto.

Snow : From now on, no snow issues from the entrance in Vilches to the end at los cipreses, so no need for crampons (with entrance by option 5, I don't know for the entrance by RR). Few patches you can easily bypass before and after the third pass 59km.
No patches on the way to the top of volcan.

River crosses (1.78m) : only once Rio blancillo, at the first Ford (water to knees). Then I stayed on the right side of the river until the end. I had to walk inside for 1 minute, water to hips, but no current so it was easy. I bypassed the two other crosses this way.

Camp : valle venado (conaf), really friendly worker there. - Basecamp Volcan : beware, I made the mistake to not plant my tent well with heavy rocks, and the pikes in the sand are no use... so when I came back from the volcan it was upside down with strong wind... a whole adventure to pack everything ! - Oasis at water 48km. - Around 70 kms, some nice camping spots near the river at the right side of the road.

Volcan : up to the top by option 3, then down by variant 3A. Taking the variant directly seems like hell, lot of sand. More rocks on regular option 3. Physically demanding, but no other particular difficulties.

Proposition of new option : as the right of way may evolve badly in the future, I suggest a new option road from el camping valle venado to tricehue, following the rio claro. I asked to the guardaparque at the campsite, he said that there are people doing it usually. This year the river is to strong though, so maybe in march or next year.

Buses at the end : the lign is from talca to el medano, a stop at the exit of los alamos on the road. From el medano : buses 7h30 and 15h30, monday to Friday (dont know for week ends).
From talca : 12h30 and 19h
At el colorado, buses to talca more often.
* '''2024-Jan-11 to 2024-Jan-17 / 7 Days / Hiking / NOBO / O5, O3, O3A, RR, O1 / Vlad'''

A spectacular section to end my 5-week trip on the GPT. I’ve never experienced a landscape like this before and the weather (straight up sunshine for the whole week) was a welcome change after the unrelenting wind and rain of Patagonia. There were no other people outside of the start and end of the trail in national parks. Beautiful and desolate wild camping near the volcano. That said, it was very rough on my gear. The dry sand, abrasive rocks, spiky bushes did some damage to my shoes (erased on tread on the soles after sliding down scree slopes for 2 days), socks (holes after rubbing on rocks since I did not have gaiters), trekking poles (they were in a poor shape already but the rocks and sand finished them and the tips got sanded off), pants (got some holes as well).

Day 1: I took an overnight bus from Puerto Montt to Talca (22k CLP, very comfortable, booked through Rodovairro.cl). After arriving in Talca, there was a bus to Vilches at 10:30. I got off at the last stop and made it to the PN Altos de Lircay entrance around 1 PM. I asked the ranger about access to Descabezado land since I texted the owner, Don Victor (WhatsApp +56998863554) but he didn’t respond to me. The ranger said that Don Victor doesn’t respond at the moment but he said it was okay for the rangers to allow hikers to leave the park and go to his land.

I was charged 8.5k CLP for park entrance and 10k CLP for 2 nights camping inside the park. This is because I wasn’t allowed to start hiking to Valle el Venado the first day (trail closes at 11:00 am even though it’s only 19 km 🙃) and had to camp at the park entrance, then another night once I get to Valle el Venado. It was a bummer as I already had limited time for this section, but it allowed me to go for a day hike up the mountain in Altos de Lircay and watch a beautiful sunset. The forest in Altos de Lircay is beautiful with teeming wildlife and abundant wildflowers. I saw a woodpecker, a fox, colorful iguanas, a snake, giant spiders, and endless wildflowers.

You could maybe get to Altos de Lircay on time to start hiking the same day if you leave on the 7 am bus from Talca. They give you a paper at the park ranger’s office and I was asked for it 3 times by different rangers throughout my trip.

Day 2: Walked from Altos de Lircay to Valle el Venado with a side trip to see the waterfall. Met a group on horses. A few river fords that were all below knee level. Got to the campsite at Valley el Venado which wasn’t very nice. Horse poop everywhere, had to clear the spot for a tent. No one asked to check if I paid for the campsite. The group on horses camped somewhere up the valley from the refugio as I heard them and saw some come down to use the bathroom.

Day 3: I did the 3 fords of river Blanquillo as suggested on the GPS track. The first one is at the spot where river is widest, so it was only knee deep. On the second ford, it’s narrower and the current was strong, it was crotch deep for me (178 cm). Third ford knee deep. In hindsight I should’ve just stayed on the left side of the river and only crossed it once in the end.

It was a very short day, 10 km, but I thought it would be nice to arrive at Blanquillo refugio early in case Umberto was there. However, when I got there, the refugio was empty, and I couldn’t find any hot springs. I don’t think the bathing pool is there anymore. I scouted around for half an hour and only saw horse and cow poop in every little stream and pool of water. I followed one of the streams about 100 m uphill to get clean drinking water but I still saw poop on the banks.

Since Umberto wasn’t there, I cooked dinner by the refugio and kept going to the Descabezado basecamp (-35.59773, -70.79645) 3.4 km further and 600 m of elevation higher up from the Banquillo refugio, which made the next day’s climb up the volcano shorter.

The sunset at the Descabezado basecamp was out of this world.

Day 4: I left from basecamp at sunrise since I didn’t want to walk in the dark. I had to cross a few not steep snow fields at the beginning but nothing at higher elevations. Every snow field higher up is easily bypass-able. That said, the climb up to the crater still felt brutal to me. There’s absolutely no sure footing, everything is just a scree slope. When ascending, you can either climb up the 45 degree scree slope or try to walk on the rocks which are easier to plant your foot on. I chose the rocks but they too were sliding sometimes, even large boulders, so I had to be careful not to let a giant rock fall directly on my other foot. It took me 4.5 hours to reach the crater from the basecamp following the less steep option 3. It was very windy, cold, and the sun was shining directly in my face early in the morning as I was climbing up the volcano so it was a little difficult to see the path sometimes.

On the way down, I saw my tent and was trying to slide down the scree slope directly towards the basecamp roughly following the steep option 3A. Going down was actually really fun and effortless. But be careful and still check GPS regularly when you descend, as there are some scree slopes that end directly in a vertical plunge down to the ice field below.

I refilled my water bottles with ice cold water flowing from the snow field here (-35.60455, -70.78525), using my trowel as a spout. I’m glad I did because when I got back to basecamp, the water I stashed there in the morning was as warm as a hot soup after baking in the tent in direct sunlight all day.

I was considering staying at basecamp location for another night because it’s such a visually stunning spot with gorgeous sunsets and incredible stars at night, but it was just way too hot to remain there so I packed up and went back down to Banquillo refugio. Unfortunately, Umberto was still not there so I just enjoyed the company of cows and went to sleep.

Day 5: I went north in the white sand dunes following Banquillo river which nurtures a breathtaking oasis in the desert. I thought this area was way more beautiful than the Banquillo refugio (especially with all the cow poop there) so I wished I kept going a little further the previous night and set up camp somewhere by the river in this area (-35.53354, -70.79191). Disclaimer: I didn’t actually look for a spot that was flat and sheltered but that whole area just felt like a paradise so I think one could find a suitable spot for a tent there.

Right at the fork of the trails where one can choose to take Option 1 or continue on RR to Termas del Azufre, I ran into arrieros transporting hundreds of goats through the snow-covered slopes, it was a beautiful scene and a blessing for me as their footprints helped me find a safe way in some semi-steep snow sections I had to cross after 2400 m. I chose to follow Option 1 to El Bolson because the RR on the right at the fork looked like it had loads of snow still. Even on Option 1, I had to be careful and kick-step my way through the snow fields as I had no crampons and my trail runners had virtually no tread left on them after being ground on the volcanic rocks and sand the previous couple of days.

One particularly dangerous spot is here (-35.51932, -70.82684) just after Laguna Manantial Pelado. It’s a big snow field that started melting and formed a lake that’s not on the map. It was breathtakingly beautiful going west, but if you were coming from the other direction you could not see the collapse of the snow field until it’s too late and you’re on the edge, so stick to the trail and walk on the side of the valley in that spot.

I got to El Bolson just before sunset. It was surprisingly a beautiful and scenic campground and not too crowded on a Monday night. I spoke a few words to the people in the refugio, they just told me to set up my tent and didn’t ask to pay for camping.

At Bolson, I met a group of Chilean students from Talca who spoke really good English and we had a lot of fun eating dinner together, smoking weed and going to swim in the nearby waterfall the next morning. There are trails going down the cliff to the swimming pools here (-35.49801, -70.90767). It’s a really pristine swimming spot, just be careful and don’t get too close to the waterfalls as we heard there was an accident the previous night where a rock fell off and pushed a person over the edge of the waterfall so they plunged down into a pool below.

Day 6: Hiked from Bolson to Parque Ingles entrance, where the ranger once again asked for my paper registration from Altos de Lircay documenting my trip. The shops at Parque Ingles are really tiny and would not be sufficient for another section resupply in my opinion, I just bought some fresh fruit and hitched a 3 KM ride to Siete Tazas. By the time I got there (19:00) all the trails were closed and the ranger told me to go find camping at Valley de las Catas. It was 13k CLP (ouch) for 1 night camping with inclusion of the ticket for a 3-km loop on the southern bank of river Claro to see Siete Tazas. The campground had a hot shower which was very welcomed, but otherwise I think Siete Tazas was not worth it and I wish I spent my last day attempting to hike up to Laguna de las Animas instead. Though I don’t know if it would even be possible as the entire rim of the mountain seemed snow covered so there must’ve still been a very steep, yet short, snow field one would need to cross to get over the pass.

Day 7: I took a morning walk out of the campground and caught a 11:30 bus back to Molina, then a bus from Molina to Santiago for a flight home the next day.

* '''2024 Jan 07 / 4.5 days / SOBO / RR / Anh'''
There are many good reports, so I'll keep it short.

With my information, I could simply walk from Parque Inglés without registration. But I want to hike legal & support Conaf. So I had to register and pay online (not in cash at other national parks) with my conaf account, then offline paper formular. Fortunately, the 2nd payment for Campsite El Bolsón (compulsory) was in cash (200m from Conaf). It had taken me more than an hour.

There is a lot of hiking in volcanic sand (rough, fine).
At this time there are still many snowfields from 2000 Hm upwards. There are streams under the snowfields, some of which only have a thin layer of snow (danger of collapse).
Ford km 29.4 is quite critical (hip, strong flow in the morning)

I met two boys at Refugio Blanquillo. They had been hiking for two days on a different route (no RR GPT06) with a text description from the internet (no hiking map/GPS track). They learned & understood that it was very dangerous and could get lost at any time. Luckily they met a hiker with GPS & inReach, otherwise I would have taken them with me.

* '''2024-Jan-03 to 2024-Jan-08 / 6 days / Hiking / round trip anticlockwise / O5 - O3 - RR - O1 - O1c (Condor Circuit) / Lotti and Alex'''

Originally we wanted to do the Cóndor Circuit, but after we read about the troubles some of you had, we decided to take the safer option 1 to avoid the snow and landslide above Termas de Azufre. This route felt very safe and the snow was not a problem at all. We ended up with a beautiful round trip from Altos de Lircay to Valle Venado, then to the summit of Descabezado, then Valle del Indio and back to Altos de Lircay. The landscape is incredibly beautiful and diverse, and we enjoyed it a lot. The scariest part for us was fording the Rio Blanquillo on day 2.

Day 1: Altos de Lircay - Valle Venado on option 5 (Sendero de Chile)
We stayed at Hotel Picamaderos in Altos de Lircay, which is a very nice and relaxed place right next to the park entrance of Altos de Lircay. To enter the park we had to show the CONAF officers the WhatsApp message that Victor send us as a permission for entering his land at Refugio Blanquillo.
The hike through the forest was very nice and shady and we enjoyed the view from the mirador where we got a nice overview of our route for the next days. Crossing Rio Claro was easy, not deeper than knee deep. We camped in a shady spot next to Valle Venado.

Day 2: Valle Venado - Refugio Blanquillo - Descabezado base camp (option 5 and option 3)
Easy walking until Laguna el Blanquillo which was really beautiful. After that the path crosses Rio Blanquillo several times. We tried to avoid it at first because it looked quite intimidating, so we followed some stone men to climb around and walk higher up the valley. When it was not avoidable any more, we forded it. For me, with just 152cm of height, it was intimidatingly deep (almost to the hip) and it had really strong currents. Alex had to help me across, and with him walking in front of me, it worked. We arrived at an empty Refugio Blanquillo, picked up some water there and walked up to Descabezado base camp which has no water.

Day 3: Descabezado Summit
We left the base camp early at 6:00 and took the southern option 3 trail which was well marked by stone men at the beginning. We used our crampons to climb up some ice fields effectively, but I think they could have been bypassed as well. On the way down we took the steeper option 3A sliding down on soft pumice stones which was a lot of fun. We picked up our tent, walked back down and set up our camp at Refugio Blanquillo. There we searched a while for the hot springs, but couldn't find them.

Day 4: Refugio Blanquillo - Valle del Indio (RR and option 1 NOBO)
We walked on the regular route for about 8 km until the junction where we changed to option 1. After that we crossed several smaller streams that were not on our map. Snow started around 2300m, but it was easy to walk on and we didn't need our crampons. Laguna Manantial Pelado was incredibly beautiful with its icy shores. There were some camp spots there, but it was much too windy for us to stay there for the night. We kept walking over the pass and down the valley until we found a shady spot in the middle of the valley floor of Valle del Indio.

Day 5: Valle del Indio - Altos de Lircay (Option 1C)
After the wild vulcanic landscapes of the days before, this day's scenery was not as spectacular, but the hiking was easy and we even met some wild horses. We camped at Punta 6 inside the park Altos de Lircay, where we found a camping spot right next to a very nice swimming hole in the river and met the first people after 5 days of loneliness.

Day 6: Altos de Lircay - park entrance
Easy walking in the shade of the forest.

* '''2023-Dec-29 to 2024-Jan-3 / 6 days / NOBO / Variant 5+3+RR+GPT05(VarG+RR)+RR / Matthias + Johanna '''

The route:
Basically the route is the Condor Circuit: Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay - Descabezado Grande - PN Siete Tazas.
We bypassed the part from km 19.4 (Termas) to km 27.4 (pass Portezuelo Las Cruces) via GPT05(VarG+RR) due to the reports of Lilian and Michael & Cassia. By the time we started our tour, Michael had written only a much less intimidating post on the Facebook group (only indicating difficult route conditions). So it was a lucky ad-hoc decision after the difficult descent from pass La Calle the day before not to try their route!!

The conditions:
Snow +- above 2250m, rivers below snow-filled watersheds with high water levels! Overall quite demanding to us!

Day 1+2: Easy walking from park entrance (Lircay) to Vegas Blanquillo („basecamp“ Descabezado).

Day 3: Ascent to Descabezado
Easier than expected but tedious above 3400m due to volcanic ash and steepness. Snowfields below 3400m can be bypassed or safely crossed (surface like a mogul piste). The steep snowfields above can by bypassed. We climbed the right (southern) „couloirs“ on the right margin (beneath the red rock), loose rocks are the main difficulty.

Day 4: Vegas Blanquillo - Termas Azufre
About 5 km on snow. Some short steep snow passages, soft snow on snow bridges. High water levels.
Easy walking until a height of ca. 2550 (km 32.5) when going down into the valley of Estero Volcán. Next 250hm downhill tricky as while we tried to avoid the quite steep snow on the slopes, we faced the difficulty of avoiding unstable snow bridges in the valley floor. We were happy to have our microspikes with us! Also parts of the summer path seemed to be washed away (around km 30.5) as seen from afar. Forded the river ca. 500m upstream of the place indicated on the track files (50m south of the now collapsed snow bridge of Lilian). Strong current, water up to mid of thighs. Additional fording of the (today roaring) creek coming down from Cerro Colorado (km28.5).

Day 5: Termas Azufre - Valle del Indio: Difficult fordings
Trail washed away ca. 1 km after Termas. We went up 100 hm to bypass (possibly you could also bypass by descending ca. 50 hm).
Edgy fording of Estero Volcán at ca. 35°28'56"S 70°46'13"W. Strong current, water up to lower waist on the far side for me (188cm) and up to upper waist for Johanna (163cm). I could give her a hold from a rock there! Then ca. 500m north 2 easier fordings back to the western side of the there split river.
We did not stick to RR here (we did not divert from path at „trailhead“), as there was no possible crossing of the river visible and the path seems to be very difficult with large loose rocks and steep slopes). But possibly one could avoid the two fordings by RR and then climbing the rocks near the riverbed.
There are no further fordings of Estero Volcán (km 24.6) as river is flowing on the eastern side of the valley this season.
Loose volcanic ash on parts of the ascent to pass Portozuelo Las Cruzes. Snowfields easy (could be bypassed or safely crossed on the afternoon of the hot day). Laguna Las Animas partly ice-covered, we swam next to the ice :-)
After the pass going down to Valle del Indio there is steep snowfields (former wedges) on most of the rim. Only 4-5 m, but even with microspikes it was too dangerous for us. You can bypass snow by walking some meters to the right (west) from the pass and walking/climbing down the rock pillar (solid).

Day 6: Easy walk down to Park entrance Parque Ingles

Camp sites: Valle Venado - Vegas Blanquillo (Descabezado basecamp) 2 nights - 500m north and 50 m uphill of Termas - valleyfloor Valle los Indios

Basecamp Descabezado - Right of way:
No access given to hikers without a guide to cross the NP to Descabezado. We chose to hire a local arriero who accompanied us the first three days (Pancho 997635447), who got a permission to camp from the land owner in advance. Even though he is a local and has his own cows feeding up there, he had to discuss at the three „checkpoints“ at park entrance, as he had no written prove with him.
The man living at the basecamp was not there in the end, selling some cows in the valley !
Nice swimming pool with tepid water 5m north of camping site, for drinking water go the long way round the swampy valley to a source on the other side ca. 20m west of the hut.

* '''2023-Dec-19 to 2024-Dec-25/ 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Michael and Kasia '''

Day 1
We had camped at Rocas Basalticas campground the night before. When we arrived at the gate they asked to see our permission to camp at Bolson. We didn't know that that was required and spent some time going back and forth with them. We finally went to Rocas Basalticas down the road and got them permission to camp at Bolson and they finally let us in. The walk up is pretty, all the snow is gone. All fords are easy. There were a few tábanos, but not many. CONAF did a reroute on a small section of the trail higher up. If you're watching GPS you go off the route, but just follow the sign to Bolson and it goes there. Campground has water and toilets.

Day 2
We hiked up through Valle del Indio. The route is a little tricky to find and we were moving slow so getting a lot of meander in the GPS marker. Looking for cairns was helpful. Two thirds of the way up there was still snow. By that time it was slushy. We had opted not to buy crampons at the last minute, so we made our way across kicking into the snow. The last 15 m to the pass was an almost straight up in snow. After the pass there was very little snow until the rise up to Laguna de las Ánimas. After that it was a complete snow field and the lake was frozen. We managed to kick out a pad for the tent and camped in the snow. Really beautiful sky that night.

Day 3
A long day with very little distance covered. Full sun, we both got sunburns despite sunscreen and covering. The snow was heavily pockmarked so it was hard to walk through. It took much longer than we anticipated. We ended up camping just below the pass. We were concerned about wind, so we tied the tent down really well. Fortunately it was a calm night.

Day 4
We continued on RR. There were several steep ups and downs, mostly on snow, as well as some intimidating traverses. The snow was getting to the point where we were a little uncertain if it would hold or not. We saw a single set of tracks, assume it was Lillian as it looks like she was a day or two ahead of us. 2 km before Termales Azufre we crossed a very steep section of snow. On the way down Kasia fell and hit some small rocks. She got some bruises and cuts, but nothing broken. I tried to slide with the backpack off and in front of me, but I fell too and the bag started tumbling down a steep sandy slope. I chased the bag, fell and rolled twice, and finally managed to jump and tackle the bag about 5 m before it went over the edge. It was a dangerous move, but I had not had a chance to take the GPS off the bag before it started sliding, and without it we couldn't get out and couldn't call for help. It was a long hike back up due to the incline and sand. We made it a little further and then ran into an area of trail wiped out by a landslide where it was impossible to get footing, even without the packs. Every step would cause more sand and rocks to slide down. It was about 18:30 at that point. We backtracked about 100 m to a gap between a snow wall and a large rock and set up a provisional shelter for the night.

Day 5
After waking up the next day, we tried to see if rest and fresh eyes would give us a better perspective. After discussing it we realized that there was really no way forward or back. We decided it only option was to use the SOS button on the Garmin. I pushed the button at 10:00, and by 16:00 there was a helicopter flying through the valley looking for us. I was surprised that it happened so quickly. They had to land in the valley, and since we could not get ourselves down, they sent a GOPE team of three guys up and the helicopter left for the night. It took them about an hour to get up to us, and then another two hours to do enough provisional maintenance on the trail for us to get down. We camped with them in the valley for the night and the helicopter came to get us in the morning.

* '''2023-Dec-25 to 2023-Dec-26/ 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / off RR / Jens, Nolwenn, Yannick'''

To enter the Hydroelectrico Los Cipreses you need a permit, which we did not get in advance. The guard at the gate said we could get it by emailing his boss.
As it was Christmas Day, it was not possible to get the permit.
The guard told us to take a route along the perimeter fence. We did that until we couldn't get further. We entered the compound through a hole in the fence and walked to the end of the road on the right side of the river. The bridge on the map is destroyed. The current was too strong to cross. Turned around and went back.

* '''2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-21 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR+{06-D} / Lilian'''
It is the most amazing section from GPT01 to here so far!

I hiked RR, it is still covered by tons of snow, i recommend use ice axe and micro spikes if you want to hike from Portezuelo Las Cruces(pass) to El Estadio(pass), there is some really steep snow slope. (RR-TL-V)

Parque Ingles have a restaurant and a tiny store selling food, fruits, drinks and some 230g gas canisters.

I hopped the gate to the park at 6:30. No one was there.

There are 3 main pass for RR.

First pass, snow start at km14.3(2050m), not difficult for climbing up to pass[15.4/2257].

Laguna Las Animas(lake)[16.7/2286] is still frozen, very beautiful. I climbed up on some rocks at the north side of the lake, then mostly choose my own way to climb up to pass, because RR look steep.

Arrive the pass[19.4/2547], if you are not comfortable with snow, it is the LAST CHANCE to turn back.

Pass is flat and dry, you can camping here but windy.

There are no RR after the pass because covered by many snow, find a way go down to valley by snow slope, then walk all the way on snow to km20.2, you can see the trail but on the other side at km20.2, steep go down the snow slope then connect to RR.

Follow the trail about 5min, you will go into a big valley, trail and the whole valley covered by snow, but you can see a trail is at the far away other side of valley.

Go your own way to water[22.0/2279], i think it is lot ways to go down, but dont too close to cliff side, it is steep and easily to fall off.

After you arrive water[22.0/2279], then straight forward to km22.6.

A large flat area can fit lot of tents at the downhill side of km22.6.

After km22.6, the most dangerous part begins, from here to km26, lot of steep snow slope you need to cross, be careful, kick step and don't slide.

Km26 is another large flat area for camping, i camped here with nice sunrise.

Snow continues to km26.6, but easy way. The first pass's snow end.

About the second pass, snow start at ford[29.4/2190], strong flow and look like up to thighs, i cross it on snow bridge.

Stay on east side until km31.25, then stay down walking in the valley, easier than on the slope.

Although full of snow, but I think it is easy to go to the pass[33.8/2695] from here, so i dont mention the details. It is also easy to go down, most of them are gentle slope.

Snow end at km41.4, but mostly you can find some flat sandy spot start at km39.1.

Hot spring[45.6/1881] : completely dry. Some camping spots with rock wall nearby.

Water,camp[48.1/1837] : amazing oasis in desert! Clear and cold water, some shade, also lot of swallows flying in the sky catching some food for their kid.

Km49.1 - km49.8 : best view point of Volcán Descabezado Grande and Volcán Azul! If you want to camp with stunning views, bring water at oasis then climb up here, lot of sandy spots beside some rocks, enjoy you sleep with volcano.

Km53.2 - km54.7 : Laguna del Caracol(lake), maybe because too much snow melts? Trail underwater, you need to walk in the lake shore for a while.

Camp[56.3/2034] : oasis again! Crystal clear and cold water! It is possible to cut off from km56 to x[57.3/2073] directly, stream flowing slow and up to knee.

Third pass, steep climb up to km57.9, if you follow RR, then you will turn right and face some steep snow climbing up.

If you look up at left side, there is some foot steps straight climb up on a dry slope, which is no snow but looses sand.

I go for the left one to the pass, ok but steep and really tried.

Most of the snow is after pass, from pass[59.3/2518] to km61.5, first go to east side go around the snow, then you will find a trail, follow it a little then go your own way in snow valley.

I follow RR, mostly easy to go down until km61.5, a steep slope. I don't want to take the risk, so i crossed a snow bridge to a sandy slope at south side. Go down the slope and rejoin RR about km62.1.

Ford[63.4/1909] : i crossed the river before a huge rock, below knee at morning. The huge rock also provide some wind protection, i saw some camping trace beside it.

Volcán Los Hornitos : km65.3, {06-D}, just beside RR, no need CC, a trail leads you to the top, just climb up 70m! Go for it!

Lastly with no luck, i saw a car going down just 10min before i arrived the road, then no more cars, so i walk all the way to Los Cipreses.

Met a super friendly worker at Los Cipreses, he give me some cherry to eat and a ride to Los Alamos. A tiny shop there , if you are not picky, a little pricey but enough food resupply for 1 people six days. It have a sign "Almacen" at its front gate. You can ask locals where it is, i saw many workers go to there buy things.

* '''2023-dec-3/ 4 days / hiking / SOBO / RR & 6 option 1 / Lukas en Tess'''

As this was our first section on the GPT and there still was a lot of snow in the mountains we decided to play it safe and folow option 1 from el Bolsón. It is less steep and less long above the snoweline about 2000m at the time. It went great but Tess burned her eyes so good sunglasses are definetly a must when hiking in the snow. From there we continued the RR at Laguna del Caracol we had to walk in the lake on the edge, no idea if that's normal but it was funny. The next and final big obstacle was the pass on k59 we decided to try and bypass it because it looked very steep with a lot of snow and ice and Tess with her burning eyes had a hard time looking at any snow at her feet. So we went up right next to it (north). Realy though rock scrambling but we managed. Going down the next valley was okay with the snow but crossing rivers covered in snow is tricky so try to avoid it. Walking into los Cipreces we were told we were not supposed to be there but still we had lunch in the cafeteria and they fixed a ride to bring us to the road, realy nice people there. From there we hitchhiked to el colorado where we stayed for two days to let Tess' eyes heal.

==Season 2022/23==

* '''2023-Mar-14 to 2023-Mar-19 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Parque Ingles - Los Cipreses / Noemie'''

Parque Inglés - El Bolsón - Termas de Azufre - Blanquillo - Laguna Hornitos - Los Cipreses

First try on the GPT and amazing section to start. There were buses from Molina at 10am and 5pm going to Parque Ingles. You must arrive there before 1pm and buy an entrance for El Bolson (with camping) to enter the Park. It's also possible to camp in Parque Ingles (7.000 CLP/night). When I entered, CONAF asked me where I was going, if I had a GPS, and gave me some kind of permit to show in Los Cipreses. I wasn't asked to show it when I arrived there though.
Landscapes and panoramas were extremely beautiful and very impressive. There was still water in all marked points and fords were easy to cross. Trail is easy to follow almost everywhere, except after Termas de Azufre (be careful to look for the right pools on the map and do not go up too much, I ended up in a place with almost boiling water). The whole section is full of beautiful sand dunes, so gaiters were extremely useful. In Blanquillo, you are supposed to get an authorization from the dueño to stay there, but it looks like it is not really enforced. I spent a day in Blanquillo to rest, drink maté and learn how to make sopaipillas with Umberto. I hitchhiked from Los Cipreses to San Clemente (one hostel, two supermarkets, decent to resupply) so I can't comment on the bus schedule. However, to come back to Los Cipreses/Termas del Médano, be aware that there is now only a bus leaving at 3pm from Talca, going up until La Mina. I took a small bus to Colorado on morning (every 45 min.) and hitchhiked easily back until Laguna del Maule for GPT 07.

* '''2023-Mar-21 to 2023-Mar-25 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Vilches — Volcan – Parque Ingles / Iris, Alexis '''

Our last section on the GPT for this year! We started in Vilches Alto with the option 06-05 because we rented horses with the arriero Jose Lopez. The beginning is placed in the Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, which requires a permit to go until the Volcan. The entrance fee is also 7k pp. We finished our first day at Camp, CONAF {06-05} [10.2/1158]. I believe we mostly followed the GPS track.

On the second day, we continued with the horses until Hot Spring {06} [45.6/1881] (Banos del Blanquillo) still following the track. We then were disappointed because the arriero left us here whereas our agreement (clearly stated by messages before the rent) was to climb the volcano with the horses (it turns to be not possible, too steep).
Thankfully, we had an excess day of food so we could attempt the climb the next day. We also met Umberto, the guy staying in the refugio, who was extremely friendly. He told us to start the volcano climb early in the night to avoid heavy winds.

On Day 3, we started the ascent at 2am with our headlights. 6h30 later we were on the top, with the morning lights rewarding us and stunning landscape. The ascent was extremely tiresome (sand material), as always with volcanos, and it was very cold but the crater and the views were very worth it. After a breakfast at the top, the descent, mostly running, took us about 2h. We rested for the rest of day at Banos del Blanquillo and even got a sopapilla making class with Umberto.

On Day 4, we followed the RR in the beautiful Descabezado landscape. Expect no shade but stunning dunes of white sand. There is plenty of water during the day because you will cross at least 2 rivers that were not dry this late in the season. The trail is easy to follow (because that is the only one) and is also part of the Circuit of the Condores. However, after Ford {06} [29.4/2190], you have about a dozen of options and the navigation until Hot Spring {06} [27.4/1986] (Hot Sping del Azufre) is more challenging. We decided to ignore the GPS and follow our instinct - just aim for the fumerolles. There you can enjoy a hot bath in one of the three hot natural pools (along some weird soft alguees).

On Day 5, we simply followed the RR until Parque Ingles. The trail is well marked until the end, you just have to enjoy multiple highlights in the landscape. Of note, when reaching El Bolsón, the CONAF ranger forbid us to bath in the pools because it was too late (3PM) and told us to leave the park before 5:30. He was not friendly and also checked the entrance tickets of Livan Ray. We got extremely lucky and caught a bus leaving Parque Ingles when we reached it (it leaves at 5:00).

This hike concludes our GPT adventure. We loved to start it riding horses to feel a bit more like the trails main user. The final day hiking and the volcano ascent were astonishing, truly one of (or even the) best section of our GPT.

* '''2023-Feb-03 to 2023-Feb-08 / 6 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Louis, Rémi & Noé'''

Our first trip on the GPT, plenty of water, we didnt carry more than 1.5L each. Here is our trip :

Day 1 - Laguna Las Animas - 18km - +1200m/-100m
We entered the parc illegally at 7:30 in the morning as some others hikers have done reading the wiki. We did this because the parc was full for the next 3 days. I can only advise you to book in advance on internet (conaf). We slept at a camping in front of the entrance for 7k CLP per person. Plenty of buses goes up there from Molina in 2 hours. At least a dozen. Same for going back. If you buy your ticket online : if you sleep at El Bolson, you can enter the park until 3pm, if you go further with only the El Bolson ticket, you can entered until 11am only!
So, we hiked until the Laguna las Animas, a rather long day for the first one.
The camp on the beach was quite windy too.

Day 2 - Termas de Azufre - 11km - +400m/-700m
A short day, nice to enjoy the hot springs in the afternoon. The pass in the morning was very windy too.

Day 3 - Refugio El Blanquillo - 20km - +800m/-900m
A long but beautiful day. Leave early the camp to avoid hot temperatures while ascending the pass. Well welcomed by the arrierio Umberto ! Very kind.

Day 4 - Volcan Descabezado Grande - 16km - +2000m/-2000m
We did the ascent without our bags, we went back to our camp in the night. It's long and hard. According to Umberto, 12h are needed in total, we did in 10h. Same, Leave early to avoid hot temperatures.

Day 5 - Laguna los Hornitos - 20km - +900m/-900m
Another nice day, passing next to Laguna Caracol. The descent from the pass is a bit annoying if you didnt follow the track (as we did). So, advice : follow the RR and go down on your right. The Laguna is very dry, just enough to have a bath. Hard to maintain the pitch of the tent in the dry dirt.

Day 6 - Los Cipreses - 15km - +100m/-1000m
Last short day to end this beautiful section. The gravel road is a bit boring but passing pickup are proposing you to get you down to the main road. Here, only one bus at 7am. And a little shop selling ice cream, chips and drinks. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)

* '''2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-30/ 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Martial'''

First trip 6 days on GPT being a wonderfully intense experience ! Lunar landscapes, silent and remote, few but great people. No particular difficulty.
Started park ingles with a mandatory 7000peso night at quiet camping near the river and bought ticket for Bolsón overnight 8$. Finally did not stay at Bolson a half day walk from entrance and camped in Laguna de las Animas instead. Great spot for Condors watching. After that follow Will’s advice and put on your mandatory gaiters till the end of the section ! + Walking on sand can be tough for the ankle. Don’t resist and don’t do too much !! Learned it the painfull way.. Trail visible but don’t get confused at termas Azufres especially if you try the (very) hot pools ! RR way is up the valley. Camp with water possible before the pass. The way down called « la Calle » is beautifull sandy dune remote desert. Exceptional. Aimed for Blanquillo refugio aka best basecamp for Descabezado intent. Meet Umberto the arriero at the hut and ask him where the termal pool and the drinking water are. He may be offended if you don’t show up and is a nice generous guy ! Also had a Chilean horse riding group intended the Descabezado so were a nice bunch by the camp fire. As weather window was fine, I decided to try a high camp in order to preserve weak foot from a very long ascent (10h). Took plenty of water as they are only glaciar dirty patches up there and aimed for Descabezado to Cerra Azul osm trail just as Nat and Tomas did (so i could have a chance to summit both also). Finally chose not to cross the nasty glaciar but found a very well sheltered highcamp here (-35.60569, -70.76147). Incredible sunset ! Not advisable in case of rain coming (a storm was growing in Argentina so stayed prepared for an emergency descent). Next day summited Descabezado at 11AM with no wind ideal conditions. Dive your front foot flat in sand just like snow climb when it gets to steep ! Nice ski descent sensations straight to the termas for a well deserved rest at the termas ! Also met Carlos a local climbing half way up so we would share joy later at the camp :).
Exit through RR is also nice but regreted haven’t camped here (-35.67102, -70.83649) for there was some playfull trouts to catch with my survival fishing kit !
Beautiful view from the pass to sandyland and then landscape changes and recommend OH variant C descending (less overgrown). Trail not so visible till laguna los hornos witch i climbed volcano to enjoy the crater caldera. After that descent to los Cipreses is kind of boring and hot so was definitely happy to find a camping by the bridge after the gate with lovely Victorina and her family here (-35.81524, -70.83224). They have been incredibly carring, fed me and brought me to the termas caves (also worth it) in El Medano !

* '''2023-Jan-16 to 2023-Jan-25 / 10 days / Hiking / NOBO / Descabezado Circuit variant: OH 06-02 & 06-03 Laguna Maule to Vilches w/ volcans / Natalie & Tomáš '''

An extremely long description so my apologies but hopefully it will help someone. We Started in Laguna del Maule and ended in Vilches with inclusion of volcanoes Descabezado Grande, Azul, Descabezado Chico and Colorado.

All fords super easy or jump-able. Only times water was scarce was Descabezado and Azul (technically there is melt water from glaciers at Azul), the afternoon around Descanezado Chico and also water was scarce around the Laguna Acquas Calientes because I would not trust drinking that water (some springs are cold water though). Weather turned bad only once while we were climbing Azul, the change happened rapidly and we went from blue skies to total white out (~10m or less visibility) within an hour. Other than that weather was amazing, a little cold at night and a little warm in the day.

Happy we started in Laguna del Maule and finished in Vilches. This saved elevation gain and let us decide whether or not we had enough food in the end to climb Descabezado, Azul, Chico and for Tomáš Colorado.

Day 1.
Starting in Talca, due to a certain someone (me) I accidentally sent Tomáš and I to Molina on a bus instead of "La Mina", so our day was very messed up, but we still managed to take a bus to Colorado and hitchhike to the start of this route. Buses from Talca to la Mina go at: 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. We took a bus to Colorado due to time and hitched the rest of the way. The last hitch was in a snowplow truck and he dropped us off miraculously at the start of the trail and before any customs or checks.

OH-TL-V {06-02} (109.1). Straight away the trail is hard to see, do not take the road-looking trail on the side of the mountain because it ends, stick to the gps. However, soon we were walking on the correct route through the sand and down to a creek with fun boulders. Easy to follow. After this first creek we followed option OH-CC-A (06-02) {98} For only ~5km until making camp in -between a river and canal with flowing water. Bogs in this area slowed us down a lot.

Day2.
OH- {06-02} -[ (93) & (86) ]
This day seemed long, we crossed two passes, one small (-35.94909, -70.45347) and one much larger (-35.88855, -70.46776). I liked the entire area south of the second pass, many beautiful camp spots, water was available almost to the top of the pass and there is also a nice waterfall/swimming pool located roughly around (-35.90452, -70.45218). Trail to first pass was easy, but trail between first and second was much more cross country, there are many animal tracks, I followed the GPX and Tomáš followed a trail closer to the river and we both ended up at the same spot... After the second pass, the GPX goes cross-country right away, but one can follow a trail that goes left and later reconnects with GPX.

After the second pass, there is a small plateau and then it follows down a creek with water until you must cross an east hill and go towards your first mountain puesto to the east (noone home). There is only a little bit of water here, better water at the creek you came from and or a few creeks ahead.

From the puesto (-35.86707, -70.47589), there is a good trail that traverses the slope ahead. We should have camped but we continued. There were a few nice creeks that we passed along the way. We were forced to make a "make-shift" camp before hitting a much nicer plateau because it was dark and I was not having a good day 😅. It is about 6 km between the puesto and the plateau.

Day 3
OH {06-02} [78.6] + [75.7] + [63.6]
Easy day, only one small pass. There is an ex-carabiniero puesto at (-35.84277, -70.40285) and a highlight was two rivers, one at (-35.76317, -70.42051) and one river at (-35.74734, -70.45623). The GPX is marked as trail a bit further than the actual trail goes (the trail continues to a puesto down-river). You need to go down a ridge and ford the river, there were some footsteps that can be followed. We walked near {06-02E} along a river filled with sand and not great for drinking but there is a creek that starts/ends here (-35.72759, -70.44125). We camped near this way point in the sand but it got windy at night, we wished we camped a bit further from the river in the little hills where it was considerably less windy.

Day4
OH {06-02} [59.6] + [29.1] + {06-02D}

This day we passed a large pass (-35.65200, -70.43356) via {06-02D}. This option was more direct and involved a very short and easy scramble onto a windy plateau. Surprisingly lots of water up towards the pass, last one being (-35.66343, -70.42666) , however the water available had a lot of sand in it, fyi. From camp we followed a cow trail until a lake like feature (-35.70057, -70.42733) and then went cross country. I hope my cairns marking the turn for {06-02D} survive.

After the pass the true Descabezado environment begins. We both made note of how terrible it would be to be on this plateau in bad weather, very open and CC. Next water source would be a couple of creeks here (-35.61215, -70.42156). From a break at this creek we ended up going straight down the creek bed. Kind of exhausting mentally and would not be possible in early season due to water levels but it shot us out directly in line for making a green camp here (-35.56164, -70.44009).

Day 05
OH {06-02} [29.1] + [20]
Laguna Aquas Calientes day.
An easy day with a lot of time spent at Aquas Caliente, true to the name.
Trail from camp was easy to follow until (-35.53519, -70.46551) and then it went CC to the Laguna. If shelter is needed in this open landscape, we found a rock shelter (agains wind, not rain) here (-35.51276, -70.51035). The creek feeding the Laguna was fabulously warm in places - either at the source of the creek or at a spring on the right side about 100m upriver. Tomáš found the proper source of the spring here (-35.50395, -70.52347). It is easy to get sunburn while bathing mid-day though. There are some camping spots near the creek. After this Laguna there is a nasty and windy sand stretch until a creek located here (-35.48980, -70.57667). On this stretch I chose not to follow the sand but detoured on more solid ground to the east (-35.48839, -70.56200) and was glad I did. Later on we found snow melt here (-35.48544, -70.59940) and loaded all the water we would need for night/morning and exploring Descabozado Chico the next day.

Day 06
OH {06-02} [20] + {06-02C Chico} + [4.5]
Descabozado Chico + Vulcan Colorado (Tomáš)

Went up and around the crater of Descabozado Chico in the morning which I highly recommend. The crater is easy to walk around and gives an amazing 360 experience. The climb up is tedious but non-dangerous scree that makes for a super fast decent. Make sure you have enough water because water is scarce there. I saw a waterfall on the NE side the lake but did not go to it, Tomáš got water somewhere off trail around here (-35.51226, -70.65626) and I drank out of the next lake -35.52036, -70.65873 (questionable, but nothing happened to me).
From the lake the next pass begins and I stupidly made Tomáš and I carry 5L of water up it because I did not think there would be water on the south side (both of us overlooking the river indicated on the map)...I was wrong, no water high up but lots of water down low. For the pass we opted not to follow the route because it was thick steep sand so we instead climbed a more solid ridge here (-35.52506, -70.66854). Tomáš went to continue up Vulcan Colorado and I boringly traversed to the normal pass and enjoyed a very fun sand ski down the south side. The Vulcan is a steep but not technical hike up, the crater can be walked around with a steep but fun sand descent on the other side in SW direction. This pass would be very tiresome climbing up due to sand. If you are coming from the opposite direction and do not trust the lagoon water, then you should aim for (-35.51226, -70.65626) or bring water.

Everything this day was CC. I found it to be the hardest day navigation-wise but still not troublesome. We finished the day in a nice valley before the next day's climb here (-35.55427, -70.70793). The water around this area is a bit sandy but better further up.

Day 07
Last pass and New route possibly.

From camp a trail existed to the pass at -35.55228, -70.73791. There was a little bit of snow at the top but since there were already steps made, it was zero problem. Lots of water on the SE of this pass but only a trickle of water on the NW side at -35.54575, -70.75672. This water trickle point is where we left the trail to make a short cut to Descabezado. To our surprise our route worked and in 4hrs we were making a camp at 2630m next to the approach trail to Descabezado, therefore saving a lot of time, distance and elevation. In our route there was only one difficulty and that was a deep gorge and creek "jump" at -35.57904, -70.77929. Personally I would not recommend this in early season because the consequence of falling in the river might take you down a waterfall and the traverse may otherwise be nasty if there are still snowfields around altitude 2700m. The gorge is fed by the glacier in the crater of Descabezado so in the morning, it should be better but the water is very dirty.

I drew the route on my photos of the pass if anyone wants them. Otherwise here is my description of our route.

From the small trickle creek at -35.54575, -70.75672 head SW up the creek bed in the direction of this easy pass -35.55513, -70.76977. Nearby spots would work too except for the pass directly above the creek bed, the other side of that one had snow and rocks. After this pass I believe it is easiest to just go straight down and up like a half pipe rather than trying to traverse and keep elevation, we aimed for a middle looking plateau on the other side, this middle plateau took us to the proper crossing of the gorge here, -35.57923, -70.77864 (más o menos). We jumped the gorge and climbed easily up the other side although the other side looks like a scramble, it was actually just walking. We travesed at this altitude for a little longer (although I would suggest easier walking a little lower) until we made camp in a ravine very close to the Descabezado approach route. Our camp even had a small amount of flowing snow melt so it was heaven in my mind! (Camp with water; -35.59280, -70.78723).

Day 8
Descabezado & Azul.

This is turning into a novel so I will keep this short. We left our tent in place and set off early to do Descabezado and Azul as a day trip. Descabezado was straightforward, it seems the trail will change slightly every year depending on who makes the tracks (neither the route in OSM or GPT seem to follow the actual trail from about 2600 to 3300). If wanting to make the true summit, it looks like you have to go down into the crater, cross the glacier and approach it from the other side. Coming down Descabezado was very fast but we made a huge mistake and left the GPT trail to follow the other osm route that heads east then west called "Descabezado Grande - Quizapu - cerro Azul".

This route should be avoided [2024: Tomáš removed it from OSM] for many reasons apart from the fact that the other route is easier despite elevation gain (we took the other route back). This osm route took us here -35.61301, -70.75604 which was actually a glacier covered in sand with a small hanging glacier above causing a lot of rockfall. It was a very ugly place and we carefully got out of there and made or way to the proper route to Azul. Despite losing almost 2hours on an already tight day we continued (although I wasted an extra 30min due to making up my mind🙄). Once again on the way up to Azul, we did not follow the normal way but went to the east side of the crater of Azul where the bad osm route is. There were a foot print here and there but it was CC. The crater was amazing but too windy to enjoy much, we saw a few fumaroles. We continued CC to the base of Azul, a tiny bit of snow (or glacier remnants?) but posed no difficulties. The base of Azul is beautiful with melt water if needed. We followed the ridge to Azul, it was more involved than Descabezado but no more than a low 3rd class (it is a bit exposed and steep but almost exclusively hiking). There is an interesting summit tower on Azul but because of the wind and time we had no desire to stretch our limits. Weather moved in fast and before we were off the ridge of Azul, we were completely covered in a white out, maybe maximum 10m of visibility. Navigation was incredibly hard, but we took our chances and took the other ("valle") OSM route down and luckily it was a very easy route and we were down below the clouds and able to see again. The rest of the night was CC back to our camp ~1030pm. It was a good day.

Day 9.

From our camp in the ravine we headed CC and then onto the trail that lead to the puesto at basecamp Blancquillo and from then on we were on a good trail. While walking down we opted to stay in sandals and just walk in the river, it was refreshing. We didn't have clean water until the valley bottom at the CONAF camp (valley El Venado) where there was also lots of pear trees and yellow plum-like trees. Many people there (first people seen). We made camp at the river before the pass (Mirador del Valle del Venado) but the walk from the CONAF camp until then was slower than expected because it was along a river bed with confusing tracks.

Day 10.

Good trail up and down from Mirador del Valle del Venado with lots of water and trees for shade. Took us almost half the time we thought it would take. Note that you cannot actually camp at campsites/resting areas on this trail after the Mirador. The CONAF guards asked us where we were coming from and when we said Laguna del Maule, he just sounded impressed and let us go on our way. There was a decent restaurant with empanadas, beer, etc. near the bus stop . There was a posted schedule of the bus but it clearly did not follow this schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.

Great trip, beautiful views and details and just the right amount of challenge.

* '''2023-Jan-20 to 2023-Jan-23 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ondrej '''

I got to Parque Inglés from Santiago de Chile by taking a train to Curico (advice: if you want to travel by train, buy a ticket online at least 2 days in advance as it books out quickly). From Curico I took a blue collectivo to Molina and then a bus to Parque Ingles.

At the park entrance I was turned away by a CONAF officer because I bought a “day trip” ticket (El bolson - para día) and not the one with overnight camping. For the ticket I bought they allow entry only by 11:00am. I did not explain that I will continue beyond El Bolson - maybe I should have done that but did not want to get myself into more unnecessary discussions. CONAF said they cannot change my ticket to the “camping” type and when I tried to book the other one, it was booked out for the next two days, so the advice is book early and the right ticket type (el bolson - camping)!

I ended up camping at the Rocas Basilicas for the night.

On the first hike day hopped the gate to the park at 7:00. No one was there so no issues. I hiked to Thermas de Azufre. It was a very long day. There is no shade at all after El Bolson. I made a provisional shade using my tent’s footprint during lunchbreaks. Once I arrived to the Azufre hotsprings, a few arrieros were there. I decided to camp further up the river.

On the second day I hiked to Refugio Blanquillo, met a settler who resides there for three months each year (if I understood correctly). The scenery before the refugio was otherwoŕldy and beautiful. Gaiters, good hat, sunscreen and sunglasses were my most loved pieces of gear. I camped at the first “camp” waypoint after Refugio Blanquillo. Amazing place to camp (but no grass), with a good stream and even some small shade thanks to the bushes.

My third day was quite straightforward, I made it almost to Los Cipresses but decided to camp close to the last “water” checkpoint, shortly before the gate with the guard. It was alright but I would recommend walking all the way to the shop and camp there for the night.

On the fourth day I walked through the gate with the security guard. I also met a number of the power station workers and all were friendly. We waved at each other. The guard at the gate was nice, took my passport number and name. Once at the shop I found it was closed (9am). I needed to get to El Medano to join GPT07 and decided to continue hiking through Los Alamos. It might have been to early (10am) as also the almacén in Los Alamos was closed. The road after Los Almacén was uneventful and a bit sketchy at places, so I forded the river at the “bridge” waypoint after Los Alamos to get to the main road and hitchike to El Medáno. Got a ride in approx 20 min. El Medáno is a great base - the thermals are nice and there is an electricity socket next to the toilets. They have shade for the tent too. There is also a restaurant with filling foods and a small shop.

Overall a fantstic section but I wasn’t expecting the heat to be that oppresive!

* '''2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-3 / 5 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / David and Erika'''

Get to TH Parque ingle before 1:00 pm, otherwise they close it for entrance. We did get internet and got the correct CONAF ticket -the one heading to El Bolsón. Once you get out of the park and into the Cuesta Las Anima, the wild parts begin. Hope you got your dirty girl gaiters; cause you’re going to need them. Sand city. Gaiters worked great. Remote and desolately beautiful. Water up at the end of Laguna del Caracol, at the river that comes out of the ground, you have a dry climb ahead. Walk out was straightforward. Got a lift from ENEL employee.

* '''2022-Dec-28 to 2022-Dec-29 / 2 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš'''

I connected in Thermas Azufre from GPT 05. I recommend it as a camping spot. I have seen the tracks of people staying on the western side of the valley but I think it is better to ford, there is a nice trail there on the eastern side. There is a place with an island where I needed to remove my shoes just for about three meters (the stream was not strong enough for me to keep the shoes on).

I took a detour to the lake at the pass - nice. No snow anymore. Reached the Refugio Blanquillo (which is a puesto, an arriero had two dogs and a thousand shep there), met a group of tourists on horses and two Chilean hikers there, so crowded all of a sudden. The pool there is indeed lukewarm. The water from the stream is said not to be good - I filtered it (for the first time on GPT) and was fine. But if not climbing the volcano, I would recommend to camp 2 km further at the next water source. I no longer carry water with me and just drink a lot when I find a source, there is a lot of them, even in the semidesert (the sand is actually white pumice from the volcanoes). It is quite dusty, my hands got dry and that normally does not happen to me. I agree with the recommendation to apply sunscreen at least three times a day!

The second day I walked all the way to the main road. In the pass, there is still a bit of snow but quite manageable. Going down from the lake, there is no water until around half or one third of the minor road in the valley, beware. Walking-wise, this was the easiest section on GPT for me. At the mainroad, the camping at the shop after the bridge was closed. I hitched somebody in a truck who knew the owners, called them and they came to open it for me. 5000 pesos but I gave the lady 10000 as she had to drive here to open the camping for me. There is electricity and cold shower and shadow. Almost nothing at the shop. The bus is said to leave at seven. I slept and now will try hitchhiking.

* '''2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will '''

Amazing trail! It's quite desolate but the landscape varies enough to always keep things interesting. Trudging up the sandy hills could be demoralizing, but getting to run down the other side more than made up for it. Water was still plentiful though not much snow was left, I only had to cross a few small patches. Thankfully heat wasn't a problem at all for me, I even felt cold a few times with the altitude and wind.

Caught the 5pm bus from Molina to Radal for 3000 pesos, then a van came by a few minutes later to take us to parque inglés for another 3000. Was nice to meet a bunch of Chilean hikers, who were all going to El Bolson and back. We camped at the Rocas Basílicas campsite right at parque inglés, 7000 pesos next to a beautiful river.

I had phone signal at parque inglés, so I bought the pass online for 8 USD. There was no one at the Conaf office at 7 30 the next morning, so I just hopped the gate and walked through.

I ran into a few arrieros relaxing at the Azufre hot springs, the only people I saw along the trail. They were friendly but it was tough to understand their heavy Chilean Spanish. They said I could camp with them but there wasn't a ton of room so I walked on.

There were some geysers shooting up from the muddy riverbank near the gpx track so I took a wider route around. An arriero also told me to take a trail higher up along the dunes so I followed that to the ford. The ford looked tough so I kept walking 2ish km along the other side until I could easily hop across. But it was slow going, probably not worth it.

I ended up having to camp on a random sand dune. I had some trouble getting my tent to stay up tied to rocks, since I couldn't get stakes in. I'd definitely recommend using tieouts you can really secure to rocks, or even a freestanding tent.

The rest of the hike went smoothly. I easily made it to los cipreses in three days of hiking from parque inglés. The guard was super friendly, inviting me in and giving me a bunch of water. I camped across the street from the shop near the bus stop, ask at the shop if you want to camp there. The guy running the camping was also super nice, he messaged the bus driver and told me it would be at 9 or 9 30 the next morning, because it was a Saturday (it was also Christmas eve). The bus ended up showing up at 9 45, and costed 3200 pesos to Talca.

The side trip up Volcan Los Hornitos was very worth it, there's a fairly gradual trail up and you can just sprint straight down. I didn't even need to bring any water (just some gummy bears).

I got by without gaiters, but bring them if you can. I should have used more sunscreen, the reflection off the sand is strong.

* '''2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-20 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena'''

Joining section 6 directly from the previous one with a little challenging connection trail (see our comment from section 5), we continued to the Hot Spring del Azufre. On the way there is one steep traverse. We used hot spring to cook our rice which really saved us as we run out of gas. The landscape on the whole section is amazing, we really enjoyed it! Ascent to the pass is nice and gradual, hiking in the sand is a little slower, but the opposite when going down. We camped at the El Estadio, almost no wind that day, great place to sleep . In the morning we continued on a nice and easy trail, great views around the volcanos… short break by the laguna thats great for swimming. We camped a little before the camp marked in the gps, there is one place, probably used by arrieros, with a fireplace and a few rocks around it. Being out of the gas we set a fire using wood that was already in there and some others we gather during the day. The view to the volcanos must be one of the best we have seen here so far! The next day we continued to the last Hornitos pass and through the valley, again really nice hiking on a clear trail. Last few kms on the road and since we missed the only bus to Talca that is leaving early in the morning (7:00) and did not have luck with hitchhiking, we stayed in a camp right next to the road. Its just a few meters before it, in the same direction we came from. On the left side is a house with some old advertisment sign (coca-cola or similir) on its fence, and the lady there has a small shop. The camp is on the other side - cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. Overall, when combining both sections we recommend to plan carefully, but its definitely worth the effort, especially this section 6.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* '''2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna&Christopher '''

The section is pretty tough, but beautiful with a quite unique landscape. We definetly would do it again.

Recomendations: bring lots of suncreme, a good hat, gaiters.

How to get there:
We took a bus from Santiago (terminal at the metro station Universidad de Santiago) to Curico. Across the street from the bus terminal in Curico leaves a blue bus to Molina for 1k CLP. From Molina we hitchhiked to Parque Inglés.
You have to be there before 3 pm to be allowed to hike up to El Bolson. To camp they charge 8k CLP p.p and the park entry is also 8k CLP p.p.

The first day we started early from El Bolson. From midday on it was super tough due to the white sand which makes walking really tiring and reflects the sun which makes it super hot without shade. The next day was pretty similar.
The whole section there was plenty of water. There was no much snow left at the passes, so we had no trouble without spikes.
On the last day, after arriving to the dirtroad (8 km from los Cipreses), we got offered a ride after a while and the guy brought us directly to El Médano.
The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).
In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.

* '''2022-Dec-03 to 2022-Dec-06 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica'''

Route: Parque Inglés - Laguna Ánimas - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna del Caracol - Laguna de los Hornos - Los Cipreses

A beautiful, remote section of true mountain wilderness. It took me 4 days, but only 2 hours hiking the dirt road to Los Cipreses on the last day (so very doable in 3 days). The only people I saw were a couple of arrieros at Termas del Blanquillo who told me they hadn't had a winter as snowy as this one in over 10 years. I was glad to have my microspikes for the vast snow fields near/on the passes. A couple places would have felt quite unsafe without them.

Notable tidbits:

Took a bus from Molina at 5pm (on a Friday) to El Radal, then hitchhiked to Parque Inglés. I camped there the first night for 7000 pesos. Pricey, but at least I had a beautiful and secluded spot by Rio Claro.

The stretch between Las Ánimas Pass and Termas de Azufre had some sketchy traverses across disintegrating scree slopes that were downright nerve-wracking. I suppose if you go down to Laguna Mondaca, then back up to the Termas, you may not encounter this hazard. But I did get to observe a condor soar above my head on thermals for an hour as he surveilled his domain, that was super cool.

For the first ford after Termas de Azufre, I crossed further upstream than indicated on the GPS track (see Carlos's comment below). It looked a lot safer there than downstream. There's continuous snow for about 3 km going over the pass after Thermas de Azufre, best to cross in the morning to avoid postholing when the snow gets too soft.

Los Hornitos pass has a large, very steep lip of snow (leftover cornice) on its south side. It's possible to go around it by heading north for 50-100 meters and then making your way down on the volcanic sand.

The spring between Termas del Blanquillo and Laguna del Caracol is a beautiful little desert oasis in an orherwise hot and dry stretch. It was a splendid spot to camp.

There is LOTS of water. Laguna del Caracol and Laguna de los Hornos are both full of clear, refreshing water. A lot of the "water" GPS waypoints are actually fords this time of year (easy ones), and there's a lot of other water sources not listed on the tracks. But the section is very exposed, no shade, and very hot in the midday sun unless a breeze is blowing.

No issues with the guards at Los Cipreses, they were friendly and let me pass no problem. From the first bus stop on the road, I hitched easily to Talca to resupply.

==Season 2021/22==

* '''2022-Feb-20 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Molly '''

Amazing section! I found the landscape to be very varied despite the lack of vegetation - and even with many pretty flowers near the streams. I personally found it to be a great ending to my GPT journey, a big contrast to the landscapes further south. Would make for a tough start though.
Plenty of water. Met one hiker doing Circuito el Cóndor and three Chilean tourists on horseback. No arrieros, but plenty of cows and horses. The weather was cold and windy, sometimes veritable sandstorms which meant I almost couldn't open my eyes - maybe sunglasses could have helped. I wore my long pants over my boots instead of gaiters - should have listened to the advice, so much sand!

Signs on the way to parque inglés say that you can only buy tickets online - don't know how strict they are, but no cell phone coverage at parque inglés and long before in case they insist. You have to be there before 15 to be let through to El Bolsón.
Easy 11 km to El Bolsón through a young forest. No water at the first "ford" waypoint. Campground has toilets and showers, it's the only place you're allowed to camp until after Valle del Indio. Nice enough place next to the impressive Colmillo del Diablo. In hot weather it might be nice to camp here to take the long ascent in the morning.
Laguna de las Animas would be a good campsite plus a nice place to swim. The first "water" waypoint afterwards is also great for camping - there is a nice little meadow.
Las Animas pass is gorgeous!
After Termas Azufre there are many confusing paths. They mostly seem to lead to the same place, but keep an eye on the GPS. When descending from the 2700 m pass towards Termas Blanquillo, you don't have to cross the stream to your right even though many paths do it. As noted by others, the hot springs Baños del Blanquillo are luke warm - but fine if you want to wash yourself a little and the stream is too cold. The refuge is locked.
The next camp waypoint is in a cute valley with many streams, bushes and flowers. No grass, though.
Laguna Caracol is beautiful as well, but very bare, surrounded by sand. I really liked the campsite afterwards, with views of both Volcán Descabezado and Cerro Azul. From there, a small CC section to the ascent where the path picks up again towards the Hornitos pass. Even more gorgeous with great and very different views to each site. Volcán Hornitos and the other little craters look really funny and special. Some hail was coming in, though, so I quickly slided down to the next camp waypoint, again a nice flat meadow. No water on the ascent. The first streams at the top of the pass were dry, but the path crosses a stream in 2100 m altitude. If you fill up at the water waypoint before the pass I agree you wouldn't have to carry extra water, the time between these two water points is around 2-3 hours.
I climbed to the rim of Volcán Hornitos, there's nothing in there, but if you walk to the highest point the view is nice enough. It took me 20 minutes in total, and it was about worth that.
The gravel road is nice the first kilometres, but then it gets pretty boring. The security guard at the end was very nice and welcoming.
I camped at the shop just before the road - nice place by the river, 3000 per person with toilets and a cold shower, or 50,000 for a cabaña. From there I hitched the 3 km down the road to Restaurant Cordillera, nice enough, great with a beer, meat and fries.
Bus left from the bus shed at 7:20 next morning - think it depends whether it goes to El Médano or not

* '''2022-Jan-20 to 2022-Jan-25 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Carlos '''
Route: Parque Inglés - El Bolsón (Colmillo del Diablo summit) - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna Caracol - First bus stop on CH115 road.

I hiked this route only a couple of days after Verónica & Jo. Not much to add except:

First day just hiked to El Bolsón (easy 4 hours), pitched my tent on the gorgeous campsite, left the heavy load and climbed the imposing "Colmillo del Diablo" (easy hike on a trail that goes around the back of the mountain).

From Termas del Azufre climbing to the pass I followed a faint track on the steep loose slope instead of crossing at the first river ford. After a few hundred meters the track takes you to a flat wide rocky area (just before the slope becomes impossibly steep), where you can very easily ford the river (I didn't even get my feet wet).

Plenty of buses Molina - Parque Inglés. But only one bus from el Médano - Los Cipreses to Talca, at around 7 am, which returns at 15:00. Only week days. Basic camping just in front of Los Cipreses shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits): $4.000 pp.

* '''2022-Jan-10 to 2022-Jan-15 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo '''

Route: Parque Inglès -> Laguna de las Animas -> Termas de Azufre -> Descabezado base camp -> Laguna del Caracol -> Laguna Hornitos -> First bus stop on 115-CH

The five nights we just spent in a tent was the longest stretch we have ever gone without a decent bed on a hike. We skipped Radal, Laguna Mondaca and Termas de Medano, but still hiked in 6 days what others did in 3-4. We're basically easing into the GPT, gaining some fitness and experience before taking on the harder challenges.

As others have said: the views are otherworldly and stunning. We felt like Touaregs traveling from oasis to oasis in the Saharan desert. Except that there actually are plenty of springs and little rivers flowing in most valleys.

Useful tidbits:

- There really is no shade after El Bolsòn. Either you make your own (e.g., adapting your tent to not trap heat) or you dress like a Touareg (loose clothing fully blocking the sun). For us, this was the hardest to deal with. We got up early but often stopped hiking at 13:00, enjoying the lakes or even just sitting down doing nothing that takes energy.

- High-heeled boots and long trousers work well to keep the sand out.

- Confirming Shn0rhelez: going up from Termas de Azufre until the second ford indeed passes plenty of water, no need to carry any.

- Laguna Hornitos is drying up and hence less beautiful than the other lakes. Maybe it's better to camp at the start of the Hornitos plateau (SOBO, so north entry) as the area is flat and there is reasonably clean running water there.

- There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.

- In supermarkets, you can buy alcohol desnaturalizado cheaply in the nail polish section, or alternatively, use alcohol de quemar from the combustibles section.

* '''2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / '''

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

* '''2021-Dec-09 to 2021-Dec-12 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / AR past Laguna Manatial Pelado / Vera & James'''

We arrived the day before at Parque Ingles and camped the night there. From Molina there is a bus to Radal at 5pm wed-fri, and direct to Parque Ingles on weekends. The only way to pay for park entry is online at www.aspticket.cl.

As an aside, we really liked Molina. It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.

Day 1 we headed up the RR as far as just above Laguna de las Animas by 2pm, a brutal climb in the midday sun! At this point the sun disappeared and clouds quickly rolled in, within 10 minutes lightning was hitting the peaks directly around us. We beat a hasty retreat back to El Bolsen and camped there.

We decided to take the alternate route past Laguna Manatial Pelado. A beautiful route if hot and sandy. We have realised the best time time to take on a long, sandy ascent in sunny weather is very early in the morning, after 9am it was brutally hot.

We then continued on the regular route. As has been said before, it's remote and stunning. We had some strong winds coming over Pass de Hornitos, and even some sleet on the final day!

Arrived in Los Cipreses on a Sunday and we didn't see a single person except the security guard. We got mixed messages from him and then the mini shop owner about buses to Talca. I would assume there isn't one on a Sunday. We hitched to El Colorado then got a bus from there to Talca.

* '''2021-Dec-03 to 2021-Dec-09 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&Stiina'''

We also decided to combine sections 5 and 6 to avoid in’n’out to and from Parque Inglés. It took us 6 and a half days and some of it was bloody hard. I have never before experienced my ass being handed over to me by a trail. We got beaten to the point where first signs of weakness started to show and I have to admit we kind of even started discussing a plan B and bailing this ditch trail. But only for a moment, once you hit the rock bottom there is only one way to go - up! It was literally and figuratively, and as terrain improved so did our mood and we laughed off the silly thoughts we had had earlier.

The first 45km of the section 5 were great, awesome hiking and then shit hit the fan real quick. Ascent up from the ford at km 45 was hard but alright. And then came the descent down to Rio Negro (51km), very steep and very loose scree slope. We wanted to make it to Rio Colorado for the night to cross it early in the morning in case there is no bridge. But because the trail or I must rather say the lack of it was really taking more time than we expected, by the time we got to Rio Negro it was already getting dark. The river was very rapid and murky so you couldn’t gauge the depth of it and couldn’t see where to step, we had to really concentrate to cross it, luckily it was only balls deep.

It was dark as we got across it and we continued the fun, albeit type 2 fun, illuminated by our headlamps. Then came the insanely steep gully that allowed you to enter the valley of Rio Colorado. Something was off with the elevation lines on Gaia and it showed that we will be descending right over the cliff, it was luckily only a glitch. As we couldn’t see much ahead we kept descending ever so carefully on this very very challenging terrain, I would even go as far as to say that it was stupid and outright dangerous. But there was no other way, you just had to stay focused. There were also some rocks falling off the cliff under which we were descending. In a sense night was a good time to do it because you couldn’t see all the dangers - only what lie within the beam of the headlamp.

Then came an extremely slow going, pretty much crawling speed traverse down to Rio Colorado, which we fully improvised as there was no trail anyway and got down to Rio colorado about a kilometer before the bridge, where we set up camp abit past midnight.

So yes, the bridge was there - a decent one, seemed permanent and it was a relief that we at least don’t have to start the day by risking our lives fording Rio Colorado. The river was pretty wide and the current seemed pretty fast, it wasn’t murky though but you couldn’t see how deep it really was. But we think it could have been forded in case there would be no bridge. There were a few places that looked doable with somewhat laminar flow. The excitement of the existence of the bridge didn’t last too long as we were slapped back into reality by the difficult terrain, it wasn’t as dangerous anymore as the previous night but difficult nevertheless. Once we got closer to the pass the trail appeared and it was actually pleasant hiking once again.

To sum it up the descent down to the Rio Colorado valley, then traversing it and the first part of crawling out of the valley sucks big time, but the rest of the section is really nice and not too challenging terrain-wise. I wouldn’t want to skip this section because it had some breathingtaking views. Just that on the hard part of it you can’t really enjoy any of it as all your effort is elsewhere.

The guards at Laguna Mondaca were the nicest people we have met in Chile so far. They invited us to stay at the property, gave us food and drinks. They insisted we don’t use any of our supplies or gear. They even provided us with a room with a bed and we got to recharge all of our electronics and got a hot shower aswell. It was perfect! And just to make it clear there are no fancy villas there just a few small simple houses where the owner of the property comes for fishing once in a while. And guards weren’t armed either.

It took us 4 days to get to Laguna Mondaca and not far after it we joined the section 6 which took 2 and a half more days.

Section 6 was really something, we haven’t had such a strong otherworldly experience anywhere else. It was really like being on another planet at times. The blue sky was the only thing that gave it away that we were still on Earth. Really bizarre landscape and definitely the most beautiful breathtaking section of the six that we have done so far.

Regarding the difficulty, compared to section 5 it didn’t feel that difficult at all. Walking on sand is challenging, yes, especially going uphill. But on the other side going down is much easier on the soft sand - you can just run/jog without much impact on your body as the sand absorbs it all. Shoes got completely wrecked and we took many “shoe-emptying” breaks because they were just filled with rocks and coarse sand.

We even took a dip in one of the lakes close to Descabezado and seeing how water is just coming out of the sand and turning into a river was really really cool, just as the whole landscape around there.

We camped at the lake about 5km from Los Cipreses. When we arrived to the road to take bus to Talca the bus stop didn’t have any schedule and the shop close by was closed. So we couldn’t find out about the bus schedule and the traffic on the road seemed pretty dead. But luckily after 15 min of waiting a car that was going to Talca picked us up, perfecto!

Overall plenty of water on both sections, a lot of exposure to the sun, and some challenging terrain. It all together made for a great experience, just what we were looking for. It humbled us and we definitely had to adjust our expectations and recalibrate our way of hiking, it is GPT - not more and not less.

For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

* '''2020-Feb-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH to Laguna Manantial / Frank '''

At Parque Ingles I registered with Conaf, they record your route & where you will camp. Deregistered by email later. Easy 3 hour walk to El Bolson, lots of people camping there but they don't go any further. Took optional route to Laguna Manantial. At 2160M there is a small meadow & stream, this is last water & last camp before the lake. You go over a pass @ 2560M then drop 80M to the lake. Camped on the lakeshore.
Termas Blanquillo were only tepid. Camped on a small beach @ S end of Laguna de Los Hornos. The lake is nearly dried out, only a little semi stagnant water left. Best to carry water in from one of the streams a little above the lake. Last 11KM are on dirt roads, you could hitch easily if you want. Met 2 security guards, they were both friendly, no access problems if you are Southbound. Small campsite @ shop on way out. Amazing section, some tough uphill on sand but scenery is like Mars. Definitely use small gaiters or you will be emptying sand out of your shoes every 10 mins.

At the end of GPT06 if you go on the north bank of Rio Maule the route is blocked by a cliff beyond Los Alamos & you need to cross the river to continue. Better to go on the road. After 2KM on the road you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also. At Bridge 17 you can rejoin RR or continue on road but RR is nicer.

* '''2019-Dec-24 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias'''

Overview:
So, I decided to combine GPT sections 5 and 6 in order to avoid a 30k out and back resupply section into parque ingles. I thought this was a good decision for me and really enjoyed being out there for a week. In my opinion this was the hardest section of the GPT in between sections GPT 01-10. I went the first 5 days without seeing another person which I thought was quite cool. So, these two sections are quite remote, and you are way out there in the mountains. There was also some pretty intense river crossing in “GPT Section 5” that I found to be manageable (keep in mind I’m 185cm and have lots of thru hiking experience.) but still a little difficult. The rivers were also very dark and murky which made it hard to see where you would step. There was also an improvised bridge crossing the Colorado River that I used, and thought was safe to use. These two sections are dominated by a volcanic profile with much of the route on ash and volcanic rock. Most of the route is very exposed and there are not many trees or vegetation that grow in the volcanic ash/rocks. There was plenty of water with springs coming out of the hills everywhere and then disappearing into the sand.

Difficulties:
It was slow going walking thru the sand, especially when hiking vertically. Exposure to the sun. River crossings. Isolation and remoteness. Hiking up and down lose rock and scree fields.

Highlights:
Hot Springs. Great views of the volcanic region. Mountain Lakes. Sunrise and Sunsets were epic with the landscape.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com

* '''2020-Jan-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Shn0rhelez'''

Parque Ingles to El Medano southbound/main route ... 7 days duration(2 nights spent on laguna Las Animas)...section passable...Strong sun, no shadow after the park... Gaiters strongly recommended...the SUBsection between termas del azufre and second ford Before the pass (2700m) is full with water... my personal opinion is the backpack weight can be minimized... Good luck!

* '''2020-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno & Martin'''

Parque Inglés to El Medano
5 days for this amazing section. We started in Parque Inglés in Radal 7 Tazas National Park. Had to wait for one more day because of limited hiking permits towards El Bolsón. 80 daily permits allowed and delivered at 8:30 in the morning, to be minded on weekends when the park is full. Followed Regular Route Laguna Las Ánimas, Azufre Hotsprings, Descabezado base camp, Laguna Caracol and then down to Los Cipreses. Cold section and bad weather towards the end, some rain and freezing wind. Had to camp in Laguna Caracol waiting for the storm to pass and hike the last pass.
The use of lightweight gaiters is advised for keeping the sand out of your shoes.

* '''2019-Dec-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom & Maddie '''

Parque Ingles to El Medano. Very beautiful (and exposed) section. Lots of water. The track from Los Cipreses to El Medano suffered from a few landslides meaning the route was slower than anticipated. I would consider taking the road next time as there is no loss of scenery. We resupplied in El Medano by basically buying all the food at the tienda (60000 CP for food for two people for the next section). Selection was good enough.

* '''2019-Dec-18 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from Vilches Alto / Tyler & America '''

A Stunning section. Vilches Alto made for a great optional start; rather than returning to Parque Ingles. (We came from Talca by bus - 2100 CP). Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP. All trails were beautiful and a bit more trodden that sections before. Arrieros at thermal pools (not hot) were welcoming and friendly for us to camp. We took our sweet time in the beautiful section. We bussed from the first road access (south of town Los Cipreses/ OH-MR-V@06-E-#001) to Talca for a good re supply before the long next section, 2200 CP. Bus leaves this stop around 11.

* '''2019-Dec-18 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start coming from GPT 5 / Matus & Anna'''

We combined sections 5 and 6 via optional trail.
GPT06 took us 2 days and bit (first day we did just 4km from 6th section).
I agree with everything what was written in previous updates.
Nice sandy trails. Mornings were freezing cold. No problems while crossing rivers. After optional start regular trail didn't correspond with any trail. We finally took one on the right side and after while they merged. And I don't know who was so commited, but thanks for marking the trail 😊

There is a small tienda with coke and crisps before entering a main road from Los Cipress. If you continue by main road toward El Medano there is restaurant Cordillera where we refueled again. Accomodation in El Medano. I will edit with ressuply options later.

* '''2019-Dec-14 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mainly) / Martina & Ivo '''

As we came from GPT05 and didn't want to go all the way "back" to the Paso Las Animas, we tried the Optional Investigation Route which starts at Parque Ingles right at the other side (South) of Rio Claro. It leads through private property, so we went to the guard, showed him the CONAF Permit (we bought one just in case, and of course they said it's not possible to walk on the other side of the river), explained him that we would only hike through and gave him some cerezas. He informed his Colleagues via radio to let us pass. It was a nice and easy hike. Nothing to add to Linda's remarks for the rest of the trail.

* '''2019-Dec-06 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda '''

Start = Parque Ingles
Finish = Las Termas El Medano

GENERAL FEELING

Amazing section !!!! Incredible mineral landscapes as soon as you go beyond Laguna Las Animas. It was tough because of the passes (and this was also my first hiking days and I carried too much food ... ) and the ground around the volcanoes is sand ! So it makes each step even more difficult. I loved the contrast between the areas around the volcanoes and the Laguna Caracol is just one of the most beautiful place I've ever seen !!!

LOGISTICS

- Bus from Molina to El Radal (off season and weekdays = only one bus at 5pm in Molina that stops in El Radal. Weekend : it goes directly to Parque Ingles and the schedule may also be different)

- Hitchhiked from El Radal to Parque Ingles

- First night in a camping in Parque Ingles = 5000 CLP

- The day after, I had to register to CONAF. Office opening at 8:30 am. Entrance fee = 6000 CLP
Some people (5 or 6) were going to El Bolson for the day but after Laguna Las Animas, there was absolutely nobody till the end !

- Still snow when you go beyond the 2300 meters high

- Be careful for the last pass Las Hornitos, a lot of snow at the top and it makes it impossible to follow the GPS track to go down. I found my way on the left when you face the valley and then got back to the GPS track

- No problem to go out from the mine. Actually, workers I met on my way down to Los Cipreses suggestedto drop me by car to the main road. The guard was just smiling when he saw me in the car and when I told him I was hiking

- Mini market where you can find basic food (eggs, spaghetti, chocolate ...) in Las Termas El Medano

* '''2020-Feb-07 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arnaud'''

Amazing but hard section with a lot of denivelation.
As we did not walk the section 5, we took the bus from Molina to Parque Ingles-7 Tazas (many buses, 4-5 buses per day). We registered to the Conaf Office and paid the entrance fee 6000 clp for foreigners. They gave us a mail adress so that we can announce our exit of the parque, to check the security.
We walked the first 11km to the campspot El Bolson. It costs 4000 clp per person but has no interest. As the zone is protected, it is possible to freecamp only after el Bolson, before, it is prohibited.
The Laguna Las Animas is very very beautiful and is welcome for a bath with the heat of this season.
Then the paso las animas is easy and ashes are fun for downhills!
We met nobody on the trail after el Bolson. So great! Except at one spot with termas with full of chilenos there.
We lacked a bit of water at the laguna el Caracol but found 3kms further (just before the strong uphill) a source with drinkable water.
No problem then to exit los cypress. We hitchhiked on the road with workers until the road to los Medanos.
We stayed one day in los termas de los Medanos, at the camping and exit quickly (too many noise, people). The water is hot and nice after a hard section like this one.
We resupplied at los termas (with pasta, arros, pancito, manjar). No gas available there.

=Resupply and Accommodation=

You need to carry all the food for the entire trail. There is no food supply after Parque Ingles. If you meet arrieros at one of the Puestos you may ask for some goat or lamb meet but if you are not ready to take an entire or at least half an animal they may be reluctant to sell. Refill your water supply at the marked river crossings and the camps. In between these waypoints your will find only ocasinally some trickling water because water trickles away easily into the volcanic soil.

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

* 02-2025 / Clara :
Los alamos : Hostal la Riviera 25k/n con desayuno. Possible to have lunch and dinner also (9500).

El colorado is a good for full resupply. Several bus per days to and from Talca. 1 per day to and from El medano

* 2023 / Michael and Kasia
Molina: Hostal Nativos is three blocks off the main square. Run by very nice people, they have private rooms with shared bathroom for 25.000 CLP for the room. They also have a nice garden area with space if you need to clean gear. Ferreteria Franco had gas canisters for stoves. Unimarc on the plaza had cans for recharging, but didn't carry the screw route for stoves.

* 2021 / Vera & James

Molina: It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

* 2022 / Martin & Helena

Los Cipresses: small shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits) + camp with cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat.

* 2022 7 Anna&Christopher

El Médano: The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).
In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.

* 2020 / Frank
After 2KM on the road after Los Alamos (to El Medano) you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also.

=Transport to and from Route=

==Parque Ingles==

During the main season in January and February several buses go from Molina and Curico to Radal and some even go all the way to Parque Ingles. Outside of the main season there is only one daily bus from Molina to Radal leaving in the afternoon from the rural bus station in Molina.

* Jan-24 / Joscha
The Bus between Molina and Parque Ingles is run by the company "Buses Hernández". You can check the departure times on their website.

*2020 / Frank In summer there are 6 buses a day Molina-Parque Ingles.

Mon-Sat they leave Molina @ 10:20, 11:30, 12:40, 3PM, 6:15PM, 8:15 PM Sunday Molina- Parque Ingles 7:45, 9:30, 2PM, 7:30PM, 10PM 2 hours to Parque Ingles, buses leave from terminal near main plaza in Molina. Parque Ingles-Molina 7:10, 11, 1PM, 3:45PM, 4:45PM, 6:30PM Mon-Sat Sun. 10:30, 1:30PM, 3:30PM, 5:45PM, 6:45PM

*2019/ Martina & Ivo

Monday to Thursday: Molina-Radal: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30

Friday: Molina-P.Ingles: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30

Saturday: Molina-P.Ingles: 11:30 // 13:30 / P.Ingles-Molina: 18:00

Sunday: Molina-P.Ingles: 09:00 // P.Ingles-Molina: 15:30 / 17:00

==Los Cipreses / El Medano ==

* Dec 2024 / Sean
One bus a day from El Medano to Talca 7:15 and Talca to El Medano 15:00 Monday to Saturday:
[[Archivo:IMG-20241229-WA0000.jpg|thumbnailimage|Talca bus timetable December 2024 - Sean]]

* 7 am in front of Los Cipreses - someone has to call in advance for the bus to go all the way to el Médano - loads of tourists there, though, so someone might have called. Other connections should be at 9:15 and 17:20 (one at 1620 l3aves from further downstream). The other way around, the buses leave Talca at 7, 13, 15 and 19, according to the schedule at Talca bus station.

*This trail section finished at the Route 115 to Talca. Big road with many cars (hitchhiking possible)

* 2023 / Louis, Rémi & Noé

From Los Cipreses only one bus at 7am. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)

* 2023 / Natalie & Tomáš

Buses from Talca to la Mina go at; 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm.
Vilches: bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.

* 2022 / Veronika & Jo

- There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.

== Vilches ==

* 2023 / Natalie & Tomáš

Bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.

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

* CONAF does register all trekkers at Parque Ingles (GPT01-WP004) but does not charge an entrance fee. Camp fires are not permitted within the national park that reaches from Radal (GPT01-WP001) to the Laguna las Ánimas (GPT01-WP013).

* 2024 SOBO Permit required at Parque Inglés:
- payment 8500 Pesos online! (not in cash) with online your Conaf account

https:// shop.pasesparques.cl/evento/2564/radal-siete-tazas

- offline formular at Conaf station

- payment 7000 Pesos for Campsite El Bolsón in Cash (not possible with credit card, 200m from Conaf Station)

* 2023

When starting from Vilches and going northbound, a permit to access the Volcano (or the Condor Circuit) is required. CONAF won't let you enter in Altos de Lircay without it. Call them or write an email to get the correct number. The number ending with 554 works on WhatsApp, and a WhatsApp message from the land owner counts as "written permission". Moreover, you have to pay the entrance fee to the reserve and it is closed on Mondays in March.

*2023

Start at Parque Ingles:
Entry ticket for Bolsón overnight needed: $10 USD (book it before online at www.aspticket.cl + get to the trailhead before 13:00) It needs to be purchased online in advance. There is good Entel service at the gate for last minute purchases. After purchase one change can be made to the date of the ticket, and there is no additional charge. After that you need to repurchase the ticket. Entrance for the camping permit is until 13:00. After that they refuse entry.
In addition, you need to show CONAF proof of permission to camp at Bolsón, even if you do not plan to camp there. Bolsón is a privately operated concession within the park. Camping is 7.000 CLP pp and you buy the tickets at Rocas Basalticas campground about 50 meters down the road on the opposite side of the street from the entrance. The only way around this is to have contacted land owners that live beyond the park boundary and show CONAF proof of permission to camp on their land.
They also require that you show them your gas stove, as all other cooking systems (alcohol, wood, etc.) are prohibited within the park, so have it handy.

The parc can be entered illegally in the morning (around 7 pm).

* 2019

Optional start Vilches Alto: Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP.

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]

=Images=

[[File:18 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|In the huge ash field]]
[[File:10 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (9).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (5).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail]]
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (17).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|[[Cerro Azul]].]]
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (11).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 6]]
[[File:01 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|El Bolsón]]
[[File:02 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving El Bolsón]]
[[File:03 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:04 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Las Ánimas.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Las Ánimas]]
[[File:05 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Pass 2560 m.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Pass 2560 m]]
[[File:06 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Approaching Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Approaching Laguna Mondaca]]
[[File:07 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Mondaca.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Mondaca]]
[[File:08 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, that bypasses Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Bypasses Laguna Mondaca]]
[[File:09 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:11 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Termas de Azufre.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Termas de Azufre]]
[[File:12 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:13 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:16 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:17 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:19 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:20 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:21 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:23 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:24 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:25 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:26 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]
[[File:27 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]
[[File:28 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:29 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:31 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:32 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:33 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:34 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:35 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:37 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:38 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:39 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:40 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:41 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:43 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos.jpg|Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos]]
[[File:44 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]
[[File:45 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]
[[File:46 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:47 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:48 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]

GPT06 (Descabezado)

2025-03-29T16:38:22Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2024/25 */

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

= How to a add new entry =
You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).

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>

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 =
<div style="overflow: hidden">
[[Archivo:GPT 06 options.png|450px|right|GPT 06 route options]]

===Routes===
Section 6 leads through the spectacular landscape of the Descabezado volcano. There are three main routes: the regular GPT route, from Parque Ingles to La Mina / Los Cipreses (or vice versa), the Condor Circuit from Parque Ingles to Vilches, which is also popular with non-GPT hikers, and the longer, off-the-beaten-path Descabezado Circuit, which begins at Laguna del Maule and ends in La Mina. Optional trips to volcano peaks include Descabezado Grande, Descabezado Chico and Volcán Azul.

===Right of way issues===
Most variations of section 6 will pass by Don Victor at km45.5 of the regular route. Even if you don't pass by there, you are likely to meet him at some point on the trail. He requires prior authorization to go through his land, although only some hikers have been able to obtain such authorization, since he seems to not always reply to messages. Without authorization, it is advisable to try to avoid him, especially on the way into his land, since he might turn you around. This makes a start from Vilches unadvisable. You can minimize the probability of meeting Don Victor by taking a CC route closer to Descabezado Grande, described by Natalie below (as of March 2024 this route is not yet part of the track files), but this is not an easy route, especially if there is snow. An alternative is to do the Descabezado Circuit, but finish in Parque Ingles. This shorter circuit still goes through via almost all highlights, but entirely avoids Don Victor. You can also connect to section 5, which similarly avoids him.

Starting from Parque Ingles also has restrictions, see the trip reports below. In particular, there are only a limited number of hikers allowed, and you should not disclose your plans to go via Don Victor's land if you don't have authorization.

Notice that starting from La Mina requires authorization from the hydro company. See the GPT manual on section 6 for details.
</div>
=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

*'''2025-03-24 to 2025-03-28 / 4,5 days / SOBO / RR, Option 2, 3 (Descabezado), 6a, 6D (Cumbre Descabezado) / Thijmen Scholten'''

As for the permit I met mister Victor and he was not happy to meet me without permit. So if you want to take the RR route apply for a permit (described by Thomas)! If you don't want to, take the high mountain route (variant 2 and 3). Even though you are still on his terrain, you will probably avoid him this way. Going SOBO CONAF will ask for this permit so you have to say you just go to EL Bolson (buy a ticket online?) or you have to sneak past (like Volker explained).

- First day I hitched from Molina to Parque Ingles , I did not have any ticket or permit but luckely it was Monday which meant CONAF was closed and I could just walk trough the gate on the trail.
- I met the guard of El Bolson campsite and he was cool with me passing by, even though the park was closed. I wanted to pay him the entrance fee but he wouldn't accept it.
- Camped after the pass at water point 22.0. water point 17.8 before the pass is also a good campspot.
- Look out after the pass on option 02H that you do not decent too much. I had to climb 200m up again
- Continued to the high mountain route (02H). There is no water here so fill up at the indicated ford. It's muddy glacial water so if you want to have clear water you have to fill up before the pas. Camped at camp without water.
- It would have been nice to have some gaiters and sunglasses
- Summit Descabezado. Take route 03 don't follow the track perfectly but walk on the rocky ridge that's the easiest way to get up.
- I wanted to climb Vulcan Azul on the same day but when I got to the start of the climb it looked like it was a sandy accent. So I returned packed my tent and went down. Afterwards when I saw the summit from a distance next day I regretted it. I went down to RR and camped at Laguna del Caracol.
- Next day option 06A which is nice if you have enough time.
- Look out that you take the right las Hornitos pass and not the one before, I had to climb up again -_-.
- Camped at Laguna los hornos and next morning down and got a ride from the workers to Talca.

*'''2025-03-18 to 2025-03-23 / 5.5 days / NOBO / Option 3 (Cumbre Descabezado) + OH-CC-A {06-02H} + RR / Tim & Tobias'''

We did a relaxed hike through this beautiful section. Got the permission to enter NOBO (Los Cypreces) from natali.veloso@enel.com within 3 days. Visit the carabineros in Colorado, they printed and stamped the form and we hitched to the entry.

Day 1: Went up to Camp {06} [62.2/1999] at 11 a.m from the security guard, where we had to fill in another form. Struggled a bit on the way up because Río Cipreces is dried out and we had little water. Last source is Bridge {06} [72.4/1018] (NOBO).

Day 2: To avoid Don Victor, we took Option 3 and camped beside a little Glaciar at -35.60736 -70.78212, close to Camp NO Water {06-03} [5.9/2542]. Filtert the water from the Glaciar. Great spot.

Day 3: Took Option 3 to get up to the top of the volcano. Loose sand, difficult but stunning day. Decided to stay another day at the camp beside Glaciar. We highly recommend to take this option to get up to the summit because it is much faster than OH-CC-A {06-03A}. Thank you Adrian for the advice!

Day 4: Went OH-CC-A {06-02H} and RR to hot spring Azure, where we camped. It stinks a bit during the night, but the hot springs have perfect temperatures.

Day 5: Short day on RR to laguna las animas. Enjoyed the hot springs in the morning, took some fotos with condors.

Day 6: Went down to Parque Ingles without difficulties.

*'''2025-MAR-10 to 2025-MAR-15 / 6,5 days / Hiking / Alex, Andrey, Anton / GPT06 NOBO (Option7, Option2, Option8: a new traverse of the Calabozos volcano), GPT05 SOBO (RR)'''
This traverse from Laguna Maule to Reserva Nacional Radal Siete Tazas offers a memorable—and surprisingly straightforward—journey from south to north. Although not technically difficult, the route presents extended stretches of deep sand and volcanic ash that demand physical endurance.
Key Considerations:
There are numerous sections without a defined trail; navigation relies on waypoint guidance.
Glaciers lie concealed beneath sand in several locations—refer to waypoint comments for exact coordinates and cautionary notes.
Reliable water sources are found throughout the route.
Early‑season fords can be hazardous; plan crossings carefully and monitor snowmelt levels.
Our newly established Calabozos volcano traverse direction from the southern approach is strongly advised. The northern slopes feature steep, deep‑sand sections that are more strenuous when tackled uphill.
Mondaca Valley bears signs indicating private property. During our traverse, valley guards granted passage without issue, but this should not be assumed as guaranteed access. Exiting via Mondaca Valley tends to be easier than entering.
The track and more photos at Wikiloc:
https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/sand-traverse-laguna-maule-to-reserva-nacional-radal-siete-tazas-205862875

*'''2025-02-09 to 2025-02-14 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 1 (Altos de Lircay) 01, RR / Eric and Jakob'''

Route:
To avoid Camp Bolson and CONAF we started by taking the Option 1 (Altos de Lircay) 01, which is really beautiful but we recommend taking more water than usual when coming across some water spots since most of the rivers are dry. After completing the Option we continued on the main route until the end.

Travel:
We started from Parque Ingles. Got there by taking a train from Santiago to Curico. After that we took a bus to Molina and another one driving to Parque Ingles. Worked without any complications. Did cost all together around 50 euros for the two of us.

Permissions:
As mentioned by other people it is really hard to contact Don Victor. We wrote him a text message but we didn’t get an answer. We talked with Don Victor and got to know a really kind and respectful man, who simply tries to keep his land less crowded and free of trash. As Thomas describes in his section log, permits are available through his daughter. The number is provided by Thomas. Therefore it is necessary that every hiker who is trying to hike GPT06 is doing their utmost to get the permission from Don Victors daughter in order to respect his land and his priorities. If you are not able to get a permission the best and only option is to skip this section and continue with a different one.
Since we didn’t have an official permit we tried to avoid CONAF as recommended which worked out fine for us by taking an alternative route in the beginning to avoid Camp Bolson. Not getting the CONAF permission and trying to avoid them was a mistake we aren’t proud of and wouldn’t do again. We don’t recommend doing it this way. The experience can be enjoyed way more when getting every permission necessary before starting with the hike.

Resupply:
There is no way to resupply on the trail. After the trail there is the possibility in Los Alamos to resupply in a small shop which got everything a hiker needs. We were also offered an apartment for one night in Los Alamos. It included a kitchen, a bath and two sleeping dorms for 46 euros per night. The name of the owner is Samuel.

Attractiveness: 5/5
Difficulty: 3/5

* ''' 2025-FEB-15 to 2025-FEB-17 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin '''

Combined sections 5 and 6.
Joined section 6 at the hot springs [27.4/1986]. Got there around 7 pm. And there were two Chilean guys sitting in a hot pool so I joined. It was good to finally meet someone.

I took the lower camping spot and the ground was a bit warm, so the night wasn’t cold.

Next day, I went up to the pass. The soft sand makes the climb hard. The way down to the refugio was easier, but still not easy. No sign of Don Victor. The Chileans entered via Parque Inglés and didn’t know about him at all.

The landscape is out of this world and amazing, but the suck factor on the sand is high for me. I got to camp at km 56.3. Beautiful place for camping. But very cold night. I left the water bottle in the tent vestibule and there was a good amount of ice in it in the morning.

The last climb was an again challenging for me. Also because I got a cold and I was cold, so I didn’t sleep much.

Then the way down is more sand. I wanted to get it over with, so I was going fast, around 2000 vertical m/hour. When I got to the gravel road, I had sand everywhere. I do have light gaiters, but they just couldn’t keep up.

Then it was just a few hours in the heat on the road. I got to the small shop after the bridge over Rio Maule. Got ice cream and coke for 3500 or so.

Then I washed in the river and tried to hitch hike to Talca. I stayed there from 17:15 to 18:00, but no luck. Not many cars to begin with. So I got to Hostal La Rivera as somebody suggested. Single room with breakfast was 25 USD and together with pasta for dinner and beer it was 35 USD or 36000 pesos. Paid by debit card. I will take the 7 am bus from Medano to Talca. Should be here on the main road around 7:20.

* ''' 2025-02-10 to 2025-02-13 / 3,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 5 (vilches alto), option 3 (Descabezado Grande), RR / Thomas '''

As right-of-way issues increased recently, and parque ingles CONAF seemed to be more and more intransigent, I chose to take my chances on Vilches Alto entry (which is easily reached by direct bus from Talca).
I arrived on sunday morning but the park was closed with wildfire red alert. I waited there the opening on next morning.
Walking at the park entrance, I was lucky and met Sebastian, Anete y Tono which was started the Condor Circuit. A week ago, they contacted Don Victor daughter, Tamara, which gave a permit to cross the property. Rangers verified carefuly the permit to let them go. I take my chance then and contact Tamara to ask the same permit.

>> There is usefull information to planify GPT6 with serenity :

- From this year, Don Victor's family exiges a permit to enter the property in order to limit the area crowd and waste associated

- Permits are given by Tamara Galdames, Don Victor daughter : +56987397559

- She asks for passport picture and a bank transfer of 25,000 per persona to make the permit

- She told me that she only give permit to 3 people or more

- CONAF rangers (at least at Vilches) verify very carefully the Tamarla autorization

- Don Victor checks also every hiker/horse rider he can see at this period (at least between laguna Caracole and Refugio Blanquillo)

So I was very lucky to met Sebastian & co and I told her I can walk with them, and she said OK. A ranger directly called Tamarly after to make sure I'm not tcheating.

Day 1 : Vilches Alto > Valle Venado camping
No difficulties, a lot of shadow during the ascent, good views from the valle venado mirador. The camping is fine (shower) but without spectacular view.

Day 2 : Valle Venado > Camp without water {06-03} [5,9]
Path to Blanquillo refuge is well marked (also a lot of horse poop). Only difficulty : a water canal crossing at the end of the Blanquillo lake (water until my hips with 1m77), but without any flow.
I met Don Victor at Blanquillo refuge which verified my permit (I show him my WhatsApp conversation with Tamara and it was fine). Then he was pretty warm with me and show me water source.
The beginning of Descabezado ascent is well marked equally. At Camp without water [3,3], it becomes easy CC to the second camp [5,9].
Amazing moon landscape there !!

Day 3 : Descabezado ascent > Laguna de los Hornos by the RR
Start at 6:40, summit at 9:20, only 35min to get back to the camp. Wonderfull sunlights on the moonfield and area volcanos. The way up is demanding, but without any difficulty issue (I followed option 3). The only water source near of the trail is the glaciar crater at this time.
I returned to Blanquillo refuge to get water and met Don Victor and his guests again. They asked me about the volcan and we tchated about previous visitor incivilities and how they want to limit affluence in there.
Then I followed RR SOBO without any issue during the rest of the day until Laguna de los Hornos where I camped. Very scenic and variated views, I definitively recomand this part of RR !
Near los Hornos, I met a group with guid, horses and montain bike which has been kindly returned by Don Victor the day before at the laguna Caracole because they don't have the permit (and potentially because Victor doesn't like the idea of bikes on the montain...).

Day 4 morning : Laguna Los Hornos > Los Cipreses
The Volcan los Hornitos ascent and tour worth the extra mile. Easy sandy descent to the minor road and half hitchhike the minor road.

* ''' 2025-02-05 to 2025-02-10 / 5.5 days / Hiking /SOBO / RR/ Emilie '''

Day 1: departed from Molina at 9:30 with the bus. Arrived at the trail (parque ingles) and had purchased a day pass for the park. Seeing my big backpack the guards asked me where I was planning to sleep, I said laguna the las animas and they said I couldn’t go there without proper authorization. I then asked if I could simply change my plans and sleep at el bolson (campsite inside the park) and they said it was full for the next 2 days. I was really disappointed and asked where I could find some wifi to look at other passes/trails I could do, they sent me 3kms down at the Conaf office of Radal Sieste Tazas. I walked about 300m and saw the gate and decided to try my luck and jump it to bypass them. It worked although I was really stressed and surely enough I ran into a guard on a motorcycle checking the entry permits. I showed him the day pass but Conaf is supposed to give a registration card which I did not have. He asked me how I came in and I had to explain that I jumped the gate. He was ready to send me back (VHF radio in hand and all) but I asked him if I could try to explain myself which I did, showed him my planned route, explained that I knew abt don victor etc, I told him I would be out of the park by nightfall. He agreed to let me pass but it was a close one. You should definitely buy a pass for el bolson campsite, even if you don’t camp there, you look suspicious with your backpack. Went all the way to laguna las animas and camped there.

Day 2: started my day with an encounter with wild horses! They ran towards me, there were about 15 of them! Saw them running down a hill up until 2m of me, they were curious and friendly. It’s was surreal. Camped at S (35.508517° O 70.751605°) on an empty pasture that was not wet.

Day 3: woke up to that empty pasture being filled with cows! One was trying to snatch my bag which woke me up. They were curious and friendly aswell. Hiked until the Refugio camped right next to it (S 35.594815° O 70.825999°) there were other Chileans aswell. All super friendly!

Day 4: my feet were extremely blistered after day 3. I initially wanted to hike up the volcano but decided for an afternoon at the beach instead to rest my feet; hiked about 8km until Laguna del Caracol where I spent the afternoon, reading swimming and cooking, it was great.

Day 5: it was a big day, I hiked all the way to water at [73.5/1014] camped right next to it on the shore of the river (S 35.775444° O 70.802768°). Initially wanted to camp at Laguna de los Hornos but the lake seemed pretty eutrophized (? Not sure if it’s the right word) and I did not want to drink it, even filtered. Since it’s downhill from there, it wasn’t too too long.

Day 6: hiked the remaining few Kms and hitchhiked to Talca. If ever you need accomodation here Hostel 1760 is like a peaceful haven; 30 000cpl and there’s a pool and the rooms are around an interior garden with a fountain. Exactly what I needed.

The takeaway is to definitely not underestimate the terrain, it is rough on your feet, the sand and dust will stick to your face and lips which made me feel thirsty all the way, I always started the day with 2,5L of water which isn’t necessary since there are a lot of streams but I was still always glad to not have to ration my drinking. The river crossing for me was knee high, not sure if I crossed at the wrong place, the water was lower or if I’m especially tall;) did not meet don victor.

*'''2Fev2025 - 6fev2025 / hiking SOBO / RR - OH2A-2-2H - OH3A-3 - RR / 5 days / Clara'''

Parque Ingles : I did the same as Volker (see below) to enter the park cause I couldn't buy a ticket for the park the day before. But I was afraid and I think it would have been bad if I encountered a park ranger. Hopefully I didn't and they didn't ask for park reservation at El Bolson Camping. When I said that I won't come back by this path but go further he didn't say anything (only the owner).

Camp at laguna las animas. Very nice camp spot and lake to swim. No shade. Some stonewall to pitch the tent and protect a bit from the wind.

Ford 29.4 : not so easy, up to mid thighs (1.57) but fast flowing in the begining of afternoon. Then it's a loooong way up in soft volcanic sand, very physical. Lot's of water all the way up till ford 32.5. Then there are also still some smaller water flowing around begining of OH2H and the place I camped.

Camp here -35,54404, -70,75932 : I found a good wind protected spot (for the NNO wind, less for the NNE of the night end but hopefully it decreased) and I made an almost flat spot there. There is multiple little streams with good water flowing just around that spot.

Up to the pass on 2H was easier that I thought but walking down (or more traverse) on the other side was way more harder. Very steep ups and downs in some canyons in soft sand or sometimes big but no stable rocks, snow covered by sand. Last and only water for now after the pass of 2H is at the ford. Took me almost 4h to get to OH3A.

I took an OSM path before 3A to gain few meters, a trail is well visible when you arrive from 2H. Around 2900m I went CC to joined OH3A and I found on the way, few meters left to the 3A tracks, some footsteps going up on either big stable rocks or not so soft sand until around 3300m, looks easier than exactly on tracks for the ascent ! Then it's physical soft sand. Went with very small backpack and took me a bit more than 3h to the summit. Descent way much faster.

Descending at Don Victor refuge, I met a group of chileans. They offered me harina tostada and food (maybe when they see my terrible face after this exhausting day), and we ended up sharing dinner, fried fishes and evening there. If I understood well, they told me that since this year, Don Victor make people pay (25k?!) to camp at his place (or just pass through?), not the locals but the tourists. But since he was not here I didn't need to care about this.

They learned me their fishing technic the day after at Laguna del Caracol and I had 2!! (They had 10kg in half day). Magic encounters with theses so generous and nice persons. Camp at 62.2 (just a bit upper than the waypoint) is nice.

Nothing special to add for the last day except not much workers going down the MR even on week days.

* ''' 2024-01-20 to 2024-01-22 / 2.5 days / Hiking /SOBO / RR, option 2 & 2H, option 3 & 3A (Ascended Descabezado), Variants G / Elijah & Michael '''

Plenty of available water from the pass to Descabezado (option 2), however no water available on the climb up. Almost no water around Descabezado, but was able to locate small flow from a snow field. No water available south of Descabezado until end of option 3.

Descabezado climb took approx 4.5 hours, 1 hour descent. Incredibly draining due to soft ground and fall-line trail.

Shop at bridge after Los Cipreses had snacks and accomodation but not appropriate for resupply.

Hostal La Rivera in Los Alamos offered great accommodation for 50,000 CLP per night (including desayuno). Hostal able to provide lunches and dinner.

Almarcen in Los Alamos looked like it had good options but was closed in afternoon (4pm) and morning (10am) and no one was around.

Minimarket in La Mina had limited options, possible but difficult resupply.

Minimarket in El Medano had slightly better options, but still limited resupply.

* '''25-01-13- 25-01-18/ 5,5 days / SOBO/ RR-OH2A-OH2H-OH3-OH3A-OH4-OH3-RR / Volker / Flowers on the moon… Just a magic section / Parque Ingles - Volcan Descabezado Grande - Volcan Azul - Laguna del Caracol - La Mina'''

Day 1: Bus from Molina, terminal rural, to Parque Ingles at 8.20. Started there at 10.30. Avoided Conaf: The bus carried a group for the camping in P.I. and stopped 200m after the Conaf. Instead of going back to register (or taking the MR of OH1) I turned left before the bridge and walked on a path along Rio Claro, a fence to my left. After 500m an open gate allows you to go left and enter a huge camping (nobody there). At the very end of the camping the fence is down, once out, I walked CC to join the RR. Minimum three dozens of young Chileans on their way to El Bolson, when I arrived, still nobody there except the owner, who asked me to register. I told him, I go to Laguna Las Animas - all fine. Camped at the Laguna, short day.

Day 2: 30 min after the Laguna another, smaller lake with camp spots. At the pass I made the short detour for Cerro Las Animas (nice view back on the Laguna) then along volcanic slopes with a lot of various flowers to the hot spring (no bassin, just a hot swamp, go for Fango). For various reasons I changed my original plan to continue on Option 2b direction V. Descabezado Chico, one reason was the (non indicated) ford, which looked very dangerous, at least for a solo hiker. So I continued on RR, quite swampy, the trail dissappears in wet meadows. If you know you want to continue on the RR - better don‘t go down to the river and the hot ‚spring‘, but cut this CC without elevation loss. Lots of cows on the way to the pass. Many small rivers, which all feed Estero El Volcan, therefore the two fords on the RR are way easier. I took Option 2A, then Option 2 and then Option 2H and camped not far from the start of 2H.

Day 3: On 2H CC to the pass and then down to the start of Option 3a for the V. Descabezado. Ford easy. At S 35.592096° W 70.786105° don‘t go down into the canyon as indicated, but bypass it left by going a bit upwards. Started with a small backpack on option 3a for the summit at noon, arrived at 2.30. At 3400m ff. easy rock climbing some 20 meters left of the indicated route - less physical and more fun than on the gravel/sand. Almost no wind on the summit, just wonderful, highly recommend it! Very quick down to the backpack, while resting there for 15min 6 condors in the air, circling very low directly over me. Breathtaking minutes. Then continued until camp at 06-03: 5,9. The indicated spot is protected, as there was close to no wind, I climbed the next dune with an extraordinary view to the west (sunset!) and camped there.

Day 4: Volcan Azul - What a great summit! You might think, Descabezado is the highest, why climb another volcano, which is so close? Nothing could be more wrong. They are completely different and V. Azul beats Descabezado in nearly every sense: the landscape, the views (on Laguna La Invernada), the geology. You even can climb the finger at the summit (only the last two meters are technical, there’s a fixed rope, use it, if you trust it, I didn’t). But V. Azul is also way more demanding and you should have a good head for heights for the ascent on the ridge. Very important: when on the ridge, always look, if there are other hikers above or below you: I was alone, but when going down, I several times caused very dangerous falling rocks. All in all the whole way up and down is not difficult, just very steep. But the gravel is very different from Descabezado. This is felt mainly when going down. In large parts you can‘t ski or hop down as on Descabezado. Either the sort of gravel doesn‘t allow it, or the underground (hidden rocks, e.g.). So you have to walk very carefully (it makes no difference if you follow the track files or an OSM route). This slows you down very much and partly is as physical as going up. I started at 6.30 a.m. and it took me 7,5 hours to go up and down (sure, you can camp closer to the ascent, but as I wanted to take option 2H and then option 3 to join the RR at the hot springs, I didn‘t want to walk back with my big backpack). Water: At noon running on the east side of the glacier in the crater, took also snow). Back from the summit I walked the mentioned CC options (however stayed lower to the left and even found a path there, sometimes marked with cairns). When approaching the junction with the RR I saw a lot of horses and people at the refuge. Don Victor had guests. I decided not to bypass them, but to show up and explain, what I am doing here. Good decision! I was offered bread and wine, we chatten, nevertheless I was asked, if I had a permission (could honestly answer, that asking for it is why I came here). Before I left Don Victor and I took a joint selfie… He is not at all a bad guy, he just wants you to show, that you respect his property rights. I also took water there, which allowed me to camp on the magic plateau, that follows on the RR, instead of going down to the indicated camp at 48,1.

Day 5; A short day, very easy on RR to camp at 62,2. Just enjoyed the landscape and the lagunas. After the pass at 59,3 on the way down I went CC left of the RR, crossed 5 brooks to join variant C. In this part a multitude of flowers, at least a dozen different species in all colours: an integral and unforgettable part of this volcano section.

Day 6: Very short day, Down to the MR, then an 8km walk to La Mina. The last 2 km I got a ride from a local, who also drove me to the shops on the PR. The changing nature makes the MR walking more interesting, than one might think. You come from a lunar landscape and some hours later almond trees and ripe mirabels! For NOBO hikers: Chilean day-hikers parked their car at the end of the MR. So it should be possible to get a permit from Entel for the entry by car (Uber or arrangement with a local).

* '''2025-Jan-13 to 2025-Jan-18 / 5,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Chris & Jule'''

TLDR: no problems with snow, dusty & exhausting gravel/ashes, absolutely stunning views all along, Don Victor was busy.

We had an issue with our GPSMAP67 (updated the firmware just prior departure), resulted in weird frozen mode with full backlight brightness in three occasions which drained half the battery. Due to this (despite backups) I was a bit paranoid, so the GPS remained mostly off and we followed footsteps & paths. This worked very well, only one time followed a valley too long. The paths are very obvious, it was easy to navigate.

Water: in all marked locations and many more. Usually every 1-2hrs we passed some stream. We had expected much worse and were a bit overprepared in the beginning. The ashes take water easily, but also give it as easy.

Rivercrossings: one, hip-high, quite some current but managable. we crossed where the OSM path crosses the river. Besides, dry feet all along.

Snow: some snowfields, one at the descend towards laguna las animas had to be crossed, all others were avoided.

Due the GPS turned off we were very surprised as we suddenly stood infront of Don Victors refugio. We waved and yelled hola, there were about 5-ish tents, so we thought he may have opened a camping space recently. As we wanted to go a bit further, we continued. He either didnt see us, or wasnt too happy - none from the refugio waved back. One person standing at the tents waved back though.
Next morning we met Volker who had gone to Don Victor and had a good chat and a drink with him. He had visitors, therefore was too busy to care for us. Later that day a group from the refugio passed on horses, everyone just friendly hola-ed back to us.
We met some chilean hiker that had tried to obtain all permits for a certain hike, CONAF told them, that since a few days Don Victor does not allow anyone anymore.

Going back to Talca: we heard busses leave at 7am, 1pm, 3pm, 7pm (at least on saturdays).
We ended up hitchhiking as we didnt want to want for 2hrs. It took us maybe 10min (maybe fourth car) to squeeze into a ride with wonderful chileans returning from bathing in some hotsprings.

* '''2025-Jan-03 to 2025-Jan-10 / 7,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Farah & Jan'''

We started our GPT journey with this section and were amazed by the beauty and diversity of the landscape.

Challenges were the rocky and sandy terrain, sometimes dangerous paths and the hot summer sun. Sometimes the path disappeared and we lost it, but with a GPS device it was easy to notice and get back on track.

Dangerous snow bridge at (S 34°31.4980’ W 070°44.8453’).

River crossings were no problem, one was hip high (we’re 1,75 m and 1,83 m), all the other ones knee high or less.

Didn’t meet Don Victor.

Definitely follow Jan Dudeck’s recommendation and use gaitors. We didn’t as we opted for hiking boots instead of low trekking shoes and kept on collecting enough sand and gravel in our boots to build a children’s playground.

Day 1

We took the bus from Molina to Parque Inglés and hiked to El Bolsón on the first day, where we camped. Only had tickets for one day for the Parque Nacional Siete Tazas and weren’t sure if we technically would’ve needed one for two days, but the official let us camp there nonetheless after checking our tickets.

Day 2

Hiked to Laguna de las Ánimas where we met Sean & Neele on their way NOBO and had a nice quick chat with them.

At the end of the ascent out of Valley del Indio, right below the pass, there was an icey snowfield, which we traversed using crampons - it would’ve been possible without but felt safer with them. We camped at Laguna de las Animas, which was beautiful.

Day 3

From Laguna de las Ánimas we continued over the pass at [19.4/2547] after which we encountered some sketchy paths along steep gravel slopes: At some parts the path had slipped downhill and if doing one wrong step, we would’ve too. Take care at this part of the section! Camped near the Hot Spring del Azufre.

Day 4

We weren’t sure if we could drink the water near the hot spring because it all stank like sulfide so we hiked uphill a bit before refilling our water. There, we also encountered the only bigger river crossing at [29.4/2190] - hip high and a bit of a current but still doable at the right spot.

Higher up that valley (S 34°31.4980’ W 070°44.8453’) we found a pretty dangerous snow bridge over a creek and decided to walk/climb around it which was also a bit dangerous as it took us over very loose rocks right next to an at least 20 m drop but way more controllable than the snow bridge next to it.

We left the valley behind us and camped at a beautiful spot right next to a river and with a wonderful view of the surrounding rocks and mountains (S 35°31.9714’ W 070°47.4839’).

Day 5

Descended the valley, met two French hikers who did the Condor Circuit and had a quick chat with them, passed Descabezado Grande and the Refugio at [45.5/1887] but didn’t meet Don Victor. We camped at the Water/Camp at [48.1/1837] - what a beautiful little oasis!

Day 6

Hiked past the Laguna del Caracol and originally wanted to reach the camp at [62.2/1999]. However on the ascent to the pass at [59.3/2518], Farah’s knee started to hurt and the pain got worse, so we decided to take some rest and camped in a small depression right next to a snow field roughly 100 hm below the pass. Despite the exposed location there was almost no wind and we got to enjoy a breathtaking view on the two Descabezados and the valley at their feet.

Day 7

Farahs knee got better, we ascended the remaining roughly 100 hm to the pass and from there descended to the water at [73.5/1014] We camped on the shore of the Rio Cipreses nearby.

Day 8

In the morning we woke up by the sound of people: Some local fishers from San Clemente walked past our tent, we wished them buenos días and had a friendly chat with them. Later that morning, they gifted us three freshly caught trouts which we happily ate right on spot.

We then descended the remaining 6 km to the bus stop at {06-E} [0.5/862], where we wanted to catch an afternoon bus to Talca that we found on the bus services Facebook page. However, the bus didn’t come and we learned from the owner of the shop at {06-E} [0.5/856] that the buses only leave once a day at 7 am. He sold us Coca Cola, chips and chocolate bars and rented us a room (without private bathroom but access to his own bathroom) for 30.000 CLP and we spent the night there. The 7 am bus didn’t come either so we hitchhiked to a bus stop west of San Clemente and took a bus to Talca there.

* '''2025-Dec-31 to 2025-Janv-6 / 5.6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 3 (Descabezado) / Peggy & Dorotà'''
Magnificent, grandiose, and isolated section. Difficulty: dryness, sandy and volcanic rocky terrain, sometimes tiring. No water issues, but be sure to drink plenty.

First part, each on our own. I (Peggy) started the GPT with this section from El Bolson. I chose to take an Uber to get to the entrance of the Siete Tazas park (30k CLP). I had bought the park ticket online beforehand but it wasn't the right one. I should have purchased a ticket specifically for the El Bolson trail. However, the park ranger was accommodating. On my driver's advice, I paid 7k CLP for the El Bolson camping to enter the park but didn't spend the night there. I was given a document that I had to hand over on my way down. I followed this advice for convenience, although maybe it wouldn't have been an issue if I had just explained where I was going?

I didn't encounter Don Victor throughout the section, though I had sent him a message he didn't see.

Upon arriving at Laguna de las Animas, I met Dorota, and we decided to do this section together.

There was little snow, with a few rare snowfields that were easily passable or avoidable, except for a large section where it helped us cross a river. Indeed, after the Termas de Azufre, at the ford at kilometer 29.4, finding the river too strong in the morning, we followed the right bank of the river until we found snow covering the river. After leaving the dangerous start behind us, we crossed the snow where it was thick and could walk on it for a while before crossing to the other side.

No problems with the other fords.

A bit past the refuge at the foot of Descabezado Grande (km 45.5), there are good bivouac spots (S 35°35.7470’ W 070°49.5695’).

We climbed Descabezado Grande from this refuge, starting early in the morning. We made a big mistake by forgetting to take water! It seems we both had a moment of "temporary unconsciousness"! We also thought we would find water from the snow higher up, which we did, but only in the form of snow. We managed to collect what we could by putting the snow in our bottles to melt a bit. There was also a bit of water flowing from a snowfield but only in the last part. So, make sure to think about water! Moreover, it’s better to sleep on the volcanic plateau to get closer to the summit, avoiding the 2000m elevation gain all at once (that was actually our initial plan…) with water! Especially later in the season when the snow has melted.

The 2000m elevation gain with little water was difficult, especially moving from 3000m to 4000m with some altitude sickness. Nevertheless, it was a good learning experience for both of us. Once at the top, we could appreciate the magnificent view of the snowy crater of Descabezado and the surrounding scenery. The climb is not technical but can be long if started from the bottom and strenuous. But it’s definitely worth it!

It took me (Peggy) two days to realize that by keeping my pants on, I no longer suffered from sand and stones in my high-top shoes! And yet, I wasn’t suffering from altitude-induced brain fog! ;)

In summary, a magnificent, wild, grandiose, and isolated section. Perfect to start with!

'''2024-Dec-30 to 2025-Jan-5 / 6.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 6 + option 3 (Descabezado) / Sean & Neele'''

Tldr: beautiful section! No problems with snow. Didn't meet Don Victor. Water at all waypoints plus more due to snow.

Emailed Natali (natali.veloso@enel.com) to get authorisation to enter NOBO, theres a simple form to complete and return. took the bus from Talca to El Colorado to visit the cabinieros they signed and stamped the completed form Natali sent us. Hitched to Central Cipreces, wasn't too difficult, a worker dropped us off right at gate 78.9km. Security guard was very friendly and helpful he was happy with our authorisation and after filling in another form we were on our way.

Went up to Volcan Los Hornitos took only 10 minutes to get to the crater rim from the pass. Well worth it.

Camped near camp 62.2km

Pass 59.3 a patch of snow on the south side but easy to walk around it to the east.

We decided to do the option 6 loop to see laguna la turbia. Nice enough and easy, western side of the pass is pretty steep.

Camped at 56.3km - lots of really nice camping around here we couldn't walk past it.

At water camp 48.1km we went CC straight to camp without water 5.9km to avoid any right of way disputes and to climb dezcabezado grande in the morning. It worked, not sure if I'd recommend it.

Plenty of snow for water at camp 5.9km we didn't even need to melt it, it was flowing.

Descabezado (03) 9.4km was surprisingly simple. 4 hours to the crater rim from camp 5.9km, Another 30 minutes to go to the summit and back, hour and a half down. From around 3,700m to the crater rim routes 03 and 03A separate. We took 03A up and 03 down, 03 is much better I'd recommend it.

Took option 3 to refuge 45.5km all good.

Pass 33.8km snow mostly avoidable now. We camped up there snow for water.

Pass 19.4km - small patch of snow easy to avoid

Pass 15.4km - small patch of unavoidable snow but easy to cross.

Camped at El Bolson - pretty busy on a Saturday.

Short walk out to catch the bus to molina at 11

No entel signal in parque ingles

* ''' 2024-DEC-15 to 2024-DEC-21 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, OH option 3, CC not on trail from [5.9/2542] to camp [48.1/1837] / Tamar & Nimrod'''

In short:
A lot of water everywhere.
A lot of snow as well, but we managed without spikes.
The CC ascenting Descabezado is free of snow. The one ascenting Azul might be covered by snow but we didn't climb it.

First day- We started from Molina on Sunday, and took the bus from the main station that departed at 9:30am (we think on other days of the week it leaves at 11:00am) to parque ingles. The ride took us about 1.5 hours, and costs 4000 clp. At parque ingles there was no phone signal anymore with entel sim card. We payed in advance online 8900 clp per person for entering the park and sleeping at El Bolson. When we arrived we had to pay another 7000 clp each.
Started walking up to El Bolson at noon and got there at 17:00. A ranger on a motorcycle asked to see our ticket in the middle of the trail.

2nd- went towards Laguna Las animas. While Ascending to first pass [15.4/2257] there was a lot of snow but we managed to cross without spikes, though it was quite scarry.
It was a long day because the descending from the second pass [19.4/2547] was harder and longer then expected, some parts felt dangerous so we climbed a little to cross at a place with vegetation Wich was less slipery.
We slept at terms de azufres. Beautiful! Extraordinery! Needed time to find a good pool but it had a lot of algae so we didn't go in. There were many pools with different temperatures.

3rd- climbed to pass [33.8/2695] (El astadio) a lot of snow along the trail and patches of snow that had to be crossed very carefully, because if falling ment no coming back. The pass itself was completely covered withe snow field! There was some exhusting walk on the spiky snow but then we found foot prints of a horse and poop of sheep and followed it down the pass. Slept at a beautiful place aprox(-35.54190,-70.79507) with a stream from melted snow waterfall (don't know how long it will last).

4th day- went towards refugio. There were some cows but no people. Didn't find hot spring. Walked up to camp without water [5.9/2542]. Very good camp, no wind, but watch out from the glacier that looks like it's going to collapse. Drank water from snow we melted.

5th day- DESCABEZADO- woke up before sunrise to ascend. We thought there will be snow on the trail that will be easier to climb when frozen. It was not necessary because although there were snow fields along the way, the trail was snow free.
It took us 6 hours to ascend and 3 hours to descend. The view was amazing! Seems that the trail on Azul has more snow on it. The inside of the mountain was covered with snow.
We walked back to our camp and then walked to camp [48.1/1837], not on a trail, which was ok, and camped there.

6th day: we continued on RR and camped near Laguna De Los Hornos - approx. (-35.72217, -70.81903).
Sandy and soft ground but quite windi.

7th day: hoped to get to El Medano at noon, but got there only by 18:00 :(.
We ran out of food because we planned 6 days hike, so we stopped in the shop in Los Alamos. We bought canned tuna, cheese, and not very fresh bread.
After paying we were invited to seat and eat in the families yard and given tons of fresh bread, cheese, and coke.
We continued on RR. TL (81.2+1.8), and the start of MR (83.0+0.8) are gone because of a big flood (we were told there was a big flood 2 years ago) and it took us almost 2 frustrating hours to walk this trail.
Finally we made it to the bridge, crossed it, and walked on the PR.
A man in the entrance to El Medano arranged us a cabaña and we accepted it.
We stayed 2 nights and continued to GPT07.
The shop in El Medano is very basic and aiming tourist, and we regretted not buying more food in Los Alamos.
We stayed in: cabañas y colaciones sra. Isabel ±56978397080- jose ±56975762613- Isabel.
Very generous warm and friendly people. Helped us with laundry for free, acomidation for 50,000 clp for a night for 2 people and diner for 8,000 clp per person. Also took us to natural sauna and gave us cheap or free products which we couldn't find in the expensive and basic minimarket.

* ''' 2024-DEC-17 to 2024-DEC-20 / 4 days / hiking / NOBO / RR+option GPT06-01e / Michal a Anna '''

How to obtain the permit to enter the Hidroeléctrica Los Cipreses:
1. Contact Mrs. Natali Veloso Zuñiga from Enel (natali.veloso@enel.com) to obtain an authorization to visit. It is a simple form, she replied within a day.
2. With the authorization visit carabinieros at Reten La Mina or El Colorado and obtain permit to enter Los Cipreses. It is a multi-page document summarizing your trip.
3. Now you can enter and begin your hike NOBO. :)

Day1: When we came to the Enel gate [78.9/865] we realised that we have to obtain yet another permit from Carabineros at Reten La Mina (as described above). Getting to Reten and back took us 2 hours but Carabinieros were friendly and helpful and there wasn’t any problem with getting the permit. After that we build our first camp at Laguna de Los Hornos [aprox 64.8].

Day 2: Pass [59.3/2518] (Hornitos) wasn’t fully under show but we used our microspikes to climb two snowfields more easily, but would be definitly ok without them. Then the out-of-this-world beauty began.

Day 3: We didn’t meet Don Víctor at Refugio [45.5/1887] or around. Just a few cows. Pass [33.8/2695] (El Estadio) was almost completely under snow, microspikes very useful and made our progress faster. When descending from pass there was a lot of melting snow. At [S 35°31.4964', W 070°44.8531'/2427] where the RR goes on the east side of the valley there was a big snow bridge across creek/waterfall which we consider unsafe to step on. We couldn’t find a safe alternative way (only a combination of short downclimb, ford in steep creek and crumbly longer upclimb), so we decided to turn and came back to X [36.7/2423] where we spent night.

Day 4: We took a variant [GPT06-01e (Laguna Manatial Pelado)] and without a problem descended to Park Inglesé. At [35°28.61331'S, 70°59.63836'W] is a gate where we were informed that we are on private property. Semi friendly guy opened the gate after a while and some negotiations.

Generally the trail was ok, but it pays off to be very careful this time of year because of the melting snow and rivers flowing under it creating many snow bridges. It may turn you back. Anyways this section is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been to, we were left speachless many times!

* ''' 2024-DEC-09 > 10 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / Variante Volcan Colorado(voir GPT05)>RR / Pierre-Marie '''

Etape : GPT04+GPT05+GPT06
| Meteo : soleil
| Eau : facile
| Neige : beaucoup
| Intérêt : 5/5
| Difficulté : 3/5
| Danger : attaque d'oiseaux

Des Cairns indiquent souvent la route. Beaucoup de poussière sur cette etape.
J'ai subit 1 attaques d'oiseaux apres le lac Caracol sur la partie herbeuse, puis 1 autre le long du lac Hornitos. J'ai marché sur les parties sableuse et degagées pour ne pas ecraser de nids. Apres le volcan Hornitos, la descente est monotone et sans interet.
DEC-11>12 : Repos Talca. A-R bus.

* '''2024-DEC-05 to 2024-DEC-07 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. C) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''

We combined sections 5 and 6.

We joined section 6 at the hot springs [27.4/1986]. Most tributaries of the river carrying water from the hot springs are too hot for bathing, but one of them has a reasonable temperature. It’s slightly overgrown and more lukewarm than hot, but fine for washing.

The fords on the Estero El Volcán river [29.4/2190 and 32.5/2565] were both covered by snow, so we didn’t need to ford. Generally, there is still quite a lot of snow, and the area around the pass is almost entirely covered. However, with good equipment (appropriate clothing, microspikes, sunglasses...), it’s not difficult to cross.

There is plenty of water everywhere due to the melting snow.

The water at [44.6/1884] is currently a fairly strong flow. We eventually found a spot where we could hop across dry-footed, but it took some time to find. We were there in the morning; by the afternoon, the water level would likely be higher and will by necessery to ford.

We didn’t meet Don Victor. However, we met another group of hikers near the refugio.

The climb to the pass [59.3/2518] (Hornitos) from Laguna del Caracol is almost snow-free, except for a few small patches. On the other hand, the southern slope is still covered by a significant layer of snow. Regardless of the trackfiles, we descended in a way that avoided difficult snow patches. Our route was very close to variant C, and it was fine.

Around km 68, we left the trail and went cross-country directly south, looking for a good campsite. We eventually found one at -35.7569975, -70.7919536, with a nice flat spot and access to water.

The shop in Los Alamos, marked as a resupply point, is open. It’s very small, but we managed to buy supplies for the next two days. Don’t worry if it seems hidden in someone’s garden—it’s there!

On the road on the opposite bank (Variant E), there are several small shops where it might also be possible to resupply. There’s also a nice restaurant, Cordillera, where we celebrated the end of the stage.

(2024/Nov/26 -2024/Nov/30)/4 Days/ Hiking/ SOBO/ Entry Variation from 05, RR form Banos del Blanquillo/ Lukas, Basil &Tabea

The national Park was still closed and entry was not possible so we chose a different entry point over lago frio (La Ruca). The expedition guide from the touring company offert to drop us off at this alternative entry point for 15$ p.p. After 10km on good trials we arrived on variation 05, which we followed until the main route. The route was duable, no critical river crossings or hard snow fields. the mountain pass horintos still had snow on the south side, nobo crossing not advisable. Exit at los zypresses.

==Season 2023/24==

* '''2024-04-03 to 2024-04-05 // 2,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel (GPT6)'''

What an amazing section !

I was lucky enough to have all the volcanoes and mountains covered by snow as it was heavy rainy just before I begun this section !

The result is blowminding landscapes, but struggle near the pass, to deal with the mix of snow and soft volcanic ground aha.

I started from El medano, where the shop and most of the cabanas were closed (there's few options to sleep here, cabanas and camping too, but as it was the end of the season, everything was closed). I was lucky enough to found a nice habitant that purpose me to stay at his house for the night for 20K CLP and saved me from a big storm and heavy rain.

I took the option F then E (basically the road from El Medano to the central hydrauelectruca) because I needed to resupply as the shop in El medano was closed. I found my happiness in La Mina where there's two basics shops (pasta, tomato sauce, biscuits, chips... (but no bread, or fresh products like fruits, cheese, ham ...). Here there's possibility to sleep on cabanas as well. There's a hotel/restaurant just one kilometer before La Mina, but no-one was there.

I arrived at the gate of the central, knowing that it will be hard without authorisation. I've sent an email to Rene gaillardo as mentioned on the hiker's manual, but no answer. So I dealt with the security guards at the entrance.

After long negociations the best option (and fastest one to let me pass this day) was to have a writing authorisation to pass from the carabineros. I've been driven to the carabineros by the security guard, and then have hard negotiations again. They finally wrote a paper where I had to explain my expedition and give lot of informations. And they asked me to go on a police station when I finished the section for let them know that I'm still alive aha.

Anyway, this allowed me to pass.

But if you're going NOBO and don't want to struggle like that, don't contact Rene Gallardo, he's not working at the Central anymore, the key contact is now Natali Veloso, that you can contact on that mail address : Natali.veloso@enel.com

Then you hike threw the central on a boring gravel, and arrive to the junction where you find lovely volcanic ground and going up up up to the pass of Los Hornitos. From there it's just landscapes from an other planet, with a very easy to follow path, but not in an easy ground as it's quite sandy.

Views on Laguna del Caracol was amazing ! As the whole circuito condor on RR ! One of the best section of my GPT so far, alone in the world in this absolute incredible landscape ... Blowminding !

I continued threw the pass El estadio PK 33,8, here the snow was very present and the path harder to follow. I continued to the amazing spring del Azufres, very nice landscape to have a hot bath and quite big vapores, nice break during the day !

The crossing over Estero El Volcan (X2) was quite demanding and I had to figure it out and check during long times for the best way to cross. Then I took the variant H to linked the GPT 6 to GPT 5.

* '''2024-Mar-08 to 2024-Mar-16 / 8.5 days / Hiking / Descabezado Circuit / Control Fronterizo Laguna del Maule - Los Cipreses/ Option 02 + RR + Descabezado Chico / Alex & Christophe '''

This 170km loop was our last section after 3 months on the GPT. It has been one of the most hard, exhausting, and technical section but also one of the most remote, wild, and magnificient we did. We didn't see any humans during 8 days. The extrem wind and cold temperatures, the infinite CC in open areas, the white landscapes without any shadow, and the D+ in soft sand were constantly forgotten thanks to the lunar landscapes. Here are some added informations for the GPT06-02 to the ones given by Natalie & Tomáš.

Day 1 : We took the bus at 7:30 from Talca to Armerillo. Then we hitchhiked to the beginning of GPT06-02 and began at 11am. After the first pass (-35.94909, -70.45347), we followed the track but going down thru the landslide seems to be a better option. We slept next to the river where there was a good wind shelter (more or less) at (-35.934832, -70.459308). That's a good spot to have the sun early in the morning, which was appreciated since it was -4°C during the night.
Day 2 : The second path (-35.652, -70.43356) was pretty steep and unstable in the last meters but easily doable. The puesto seemed to be unoccupied. There was water every 1 or 2 hours. Then we took the {06-02F} as it looked to avoid swamps and we slept next to the river at (-35.827017, -70.399535) to have the sun as long as possible and to have it early in the morning.
Day 3 : After the pass at (-35.785707, -70.403584), the landscape changed drastically! We took the {06-02E} to avoid the swamps of the other side. It worked but we had to cross the rio san Francisco. Small ford, but not jumpable. We stopped at (-35.693111, -70.427244). There was a clear source and a blue lagoon to take a quick bath. We had wind all night long, maybe there's a better place next to the lagoon.
Day 4: It must be possible to find a camp spot around (-35.667931, -70.422663). After that point, it begins to climb and there's no more flat place. We took the {06-02D} and it was a good option out of the elevation and the crazy wind. When we arrived at the snow limit, we went 20m down to find a good way in the snow. Then we had to run in the flowing sand to the rocks and had to clamber the last meters between two wind gusts throwing us sand in the eyes. It was pretty scary because of the wind conditions but doable. Finally on the plateau, we had to manage with winds at 80km/h and sandstorms. I would definitely not pass in case of bad weather or with stronger wind. We took a break at (-35.613055, -70.423114), first water since the pass. Then we followed the GPX track but the OSM offers to take the westside of the river and it looked to be better as we had to go up and down in the sand many times. Finally after this exhausting day, we found a camp spot with a kind of wind protection at (-35.560315, -70.441588).
Day 5: After a long morning with a NW crazy constant cold wind, we stopped at the hot springs. We tried many places but never found a source warmer than 30°C. After a quick bath, we filled our water bladder at the last point mentioned by Tomas & Natalie (-35.48544, -70.5994) to go to sleep to the pass. There was still a ton of snow next to the pass but didn't see melting snow on the way. There are different camp possibilities with a stunning view in the last 600m before the pass but we slept at (-35.494194, -70.622529) to climb the Descabezado Chico the next day. Ok wind shelter.
Day 6 : We woke up at 6am to go to Descabezado Chico before the sunrise. We crossed a melting snow river at (-35.49828, -70.621259). Even if the last part is steep rocky and sandy, the climb is easy. We reached the summit in 1h20 and had one of the best sunrises of our lives ! There are some places to be sheltered from the freezing wind and enjoy the view. Back to the pass, we followed more or less the track because there was still a lot of snow and some ways didn't look to be the best to follow. Next to Lago de la Mollera (-35.49782, -70.635864), we went down to the lake because we didn't see how to avoid a snow wall and because it was looking to be a nice path to go down (breaking news : no)... We managed to go up a little bit further (-35.501361, -70.641377). When we arrived below Cerro Colorado, we took water in a blue lagoon and we hiked the crest on the left side to avoid deep sand (-35.524775, -70.661721). Then we stayed on the left side of the Cerro Colorado to go down (-35.525073, -70.670594) until the river. That was a quick and good choice. Finally we managed a flat and more or less wind sheltered camp at (-35.55463, -70.708441).
Day 7: There was still a ton of snow at the pass and made our own track in the snow slope a little bit upper than the GPS track to cross more safely. We wanted to follow the high route described by Natalie & Tomás to avoid Don Víctor but as we saw how much snow there still was, how already tired we were (but not as much as our shoes) we decided to take the RR to go south. When we watched the high route from the RR, there was still a lot of snow patches. We finally stopped at Water, Camp [48.1/1837]. Not the best idea because it becomes a freezing hole during the night.
Day 8-9: We followed the RR, nothing more to add to other posts except that we never met Don Victor !

* '''2024-02-29 to 2024-03-07 / 7.5 days / Descabezado Circuit - Laguna del Maule to Los Cipreses / option 02, off-trail variant, 03, RR + Descabezado Grande and chico / Marilyne (+Fangwen and Tobi for first 3 days)'''

First section on the GPT and I found it amazing! I won’t repeat anything that Tobi and Fangwen have mentioned below that also applies to my trip.
On day 5, I used the variant suggested by Natalie&Tomas that avoids Refugio Blanquillo and Don Victor. I had met with 3 park rangers earlier in the day who questioned me about my plans and asked if I was planning to go to Refugio blanquillo. When I assured them that I would not they went on their way. I watched them and their 6 horses run over a steep patch of snow and it gave me the confidence to cross it too, otherwise I may have tried to find a different route as a fall there would have been highly consequential.

Had to cross many patches of snow on Natalie & Tomas alternate route and it includes a stream crossing that could be very dangerous in the wrong season as it is above a waterfall.

I climbed Descabezado Chico on day 4 and Descabezado Grande using route 3 on day 6. The Grande climb took 6+ hours and I didn’t have any desire to keep fighting scree fields after so I skipped Azul. At the end of that day all my stuff and me were very dusty from that climb.
On day 8 I exited at the hydroelectric station Los Cipreses. A security guard that saw me running down the road to catch the bus offered me a ride to the main gate and we had a pleasant chat. Caught the 3:30pm bus to Talca around 4pm. They seem to start late from Medano.
Very sunny section, I used a small solar panel on my backpack and ended up the section with all my electronics fully charged.

* 2024-02-29 to 2024-03-08: Fangwen and Tobi (+ parts together with Marilyne) / 8.5 days Descabezado Circuit variant, Laguna del Maule to Vilches (option 02 -- variant 02D -- RR -- option 05)

What a fantastic trip! Two experienced GPT teams had independently recommended this circuit to us, and both described it as their favorite experience on the GPT. Natalie&Tomas have an extensive trip report below. I don't have a trip report from Markus&Jenni, who hiked this circuit in 2019, but they provided us with very useful waypoints. If you are interested, message us ([[Special:Emailuser/Tobfang]]) and I'll ask if I can share this data.

It is advisable to start this trip from Laguna del Maule. This way, you can easily lengthen the trip (by climbing the three volcanos) or shorten it (by exiting in Parque Ingles) towards the end of the trip. Also, you start at 2000m, which is a nice in the summer heat. It took us 8.5 days; we had food for 10 days and intended to climb some volcanoes, but when we got there it was quite windy, so we simply went straight to Vilches.

This hike is definitely off the beaten path: the arriero Christian at S 35° 50.549', W 070° 24.114' said that we were the first hikers this season (in March!). He was very friendly and shared a delicious melon with us.
Our favorite places were a beautiful valley with white sand, and a refreshing Laguna at S 35° 41.643', W 070° 25.651' and the Laguna Aquas Calientes at S 35° 30.441', W 070° 31.990'. The latter is not actually a hot lake, but there are several small streams of warm water. We camped right at S 35° 30.129', W 070° 31.514', right next to a really nice hot pool.

Things to watch out for: although water was generally abundant, there are some spots where water is a bit more sparse (especially late in the season) and you might have to carry for up to one day. See Natalie's trip report for details. Additionally, earlier in the season there might be snow fields. The winter in 2023 had a crazy amount of snow, so even though we went in March we had a lot of water from snow melt and the two passes at 02D (S 35° 39.116', W 070° 26.016') and S 35° 33.137', W 070° 44.275' had steep snow fields. It was a bit sketchy, but okay. For the first pass, there are other options up, which may open up earlier. For the second pass, Option 2B traverses a lower pass (we didn't go there). A lot of hiking is on cross country, much of it on sand or gravel of different firmness. Sometimes you sink in, sometimes not. Flat or downhill travel is generally efficient, uphill is slow. Bring (mini)-gaiters, not just because of sand but also spikey plants. Also, sun protection is crucial, you won't have any tree for a week.

Logistics: Interbus (call them on WhatsApp: +56 9 9886 5872) runs a bus Mon-Fri from Talca to Medano (which is a bit further than la Mina). As of March 2024, this bus left at 12:30 and 19:00, returning to Talca from Médano at 7:20 and 15:30. From Médano hitchhike to the border checkpoint. It's not super easy, and you might only get as far as the furthest mine, roughly 5km before the border checkpoint. Alternatively, use a ride sharing app to go to the border checkpoint. We were able to get via multiple rides all the way to the border checkpoint, but it took some time (we arrived at 5.30pm). If you want to check out Laguna del Maule, tell the border guard that you're not crossing into Argentina, and they will let you pass. But the border checkpoint is closed at night (between 6pm and 9am?) and you're not supposed to cross it then. We quickly went to the lake and back before it closed.
Vilches Alto has a daily bus service to Talca at 12:30 and 16:00.

* '''2024-Feb- 22 to 2024-Feb-27/ 6days/hiking/SOBO/06/RR + volcano Decabezado/Paulina'''

Amasing section!

Day 1
I took a bus from Talca to Molina ( a lot of buses per day, still in February and later to Parque Ingles ( several buses per day in the season, most of them till 12 pm).
As it was a rainy day, my plan was to walk only to El Bolson. I did not have the entrance because I could not pay on the website with my card. I told to the Rangers that I would like to go to Los Cipreses, they where like I need the permition of the landowner to do it. I just ignored it. At first they were saying that it would not be possible to camp on El Bolson the next 2 days. But I waited about one hour, reasked several times, and finally one of the Rangers went with me to the place where you can buy ticket for camping El Bolson ( 7000 CHP), also they told me that I did not need to buy the park entrance.
The El Bolson camping is just huge, I don't understand all the mess with the acces. When I came up, the guy from the camping just took my name and passport number, but did not ask to show the camping payment confirmation, or park payment.

Day 2 ( El Bolson- Termas de Azufre)
The trail was visible all the time. At this time of the season, no snow on the pass. Termas de Azufre are amasing, so it's good to come there not very late to enjoy them. Just next to the river, there are a few spots for tents.
This day I also met one chilean couple doing curcuito condor, and at Termas a chilean family with kids on horses with an arriero.
The famous owner of the land did not show up this day and the next days.

Day 3. To refugio Blanquillo
At first there are a lot of animal trails, so you need to check with gps which one is a good one.
The ford on the river on the way to the pass was short but kind of difficult ( almost to the waist, I'm 1,69 cm, strong current). It's because of a heavy 2 days rain two day before. Later I met people doing curcuito condor from the other side and they told me that the rangers did not want to let them do the trail because of this river high level. But I think that after some.more days of a dray weather it's not a difficult ford.The rest of the trail was easy to follow with beautiful views.
At refugio, I met one couple doing curcuito condor and two chilean couple who came to climb Volvano Decapezado. Very nice meeting.
The refugio was already closed. The hot spring was not really hot.

Day 4
Together with chilean hikers, we climbed Decapezado Grande. It's a long hiking day, but it's really worth to do it. The way down is easy and very fast.

Day 5 to Laguna de los Hornos

About 20 min. from the refugio, there are a lot of different animal paths ,so you will need to consult a gps to see which one is a GPT one.
The views around Laguna Caracol are amasing, I think it was my favourite part on this section of an extreme beauty. No navigation difficulties on the trail. Indeed,laguna de los Hornos is in a big part dried.

Day 6 till La Mina

I agree that it's really worth to climb the volcano
Los Hornitos. It's a very short way up.The rest of the trail is at first a descend in a deep sand ( so you can go very fast) and than a walk on a gravel road ( I found the valley very nice, I was amased how fast the landscape changes). I got a ride about 2 km from Los Cipreses, very nice people, they took me to the shop in los Alamos , but as the owner was not there they took me to a shop in La Mina ( 500 m before the restaurant La Cordillera). You can find there several little shops, if you go around you can complete the resupply for the next section ( mostly pasta, tuna, tomato souce, ramen, eggs, instant souls). No camping gas.
I camped in a little, very nice camping/ garden with a grape shade in a restaurant La Cordillera place ( 3000 ChP), they have also cabanas but I don't know the price. A really nice place to stay and chill, you can eat all the fruits in the garden. The lady from the restaurant was very nice, they serve nice,food, not expensive ( I paid 18000 for camping, breakfast, big dinner, juice, and a good portion of pisco sour).

For the next section, it's kind of easy to hitch-hike ( there are a lot of local workers on the road) to the beginning of the trail.

* '''2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-18 / 5.5 days / SOBO / RR / Gabriele - Trails of Wander'''

Day 1 - Parque Ingles - Laguna Las Animas. Hernandez bus from Molina to Parque Ingles 8:10 am. I had park entry and camp permit for El Bolson that I bought on-line. I indicated to the Guardiaparque my 6 days itinerary RR to Los Cipreses, no issues but had been told several areas are private land. Met only one hiker after El Bolson (See note below).

Day 2 - Laguna Las Animas - Termas de Azufres.

Day 3 - Termas de Azufres - Camp along Rio Blanquillo near Vegas Manantial Pelado RR + small section of OH-Tl-V 06-01. I did not ford Estero El Volcán at Ford 06 [29.4/2190] as with the high snow/water year I felt it was unsafe or risky at best and made little sense to try at that spot. I continued CC on the right bank of Estero El Volcán for about 300-400 m to reach the snow field where I crossed safely without even touching water at all. The CC section had only a handful of spots requiring short scrambles, but no issues. For reference, I crossed the snowfield to reach RR at -35.31196, -70.44898. Given the current water level condition I think this is an easier and safer option.
Originally intended to camp at Laguna Manantial Pelado for the night but the valley below looked great with all surrounding peaks so I camped there.

Day 4 - Camp near Vegas Manantial Pelado - Camp South of Laguna Caracol (Camp 06 56.3/2034). Based on the conversation I had two days earlier with a Chilean hiker who was doing the Circuito Condor regarding Don Victor the dueno/owner of the land traversed on day 4, including Descabezado Grande, I decided to avoid encountering Don Victor if at all possible. I did not follow the RR directly to the refuge Blanquillo at 45.5/1887 but kept away from it and walked CC to reach RR further South where it climbs up. I did not meet him and cannot say if he was at the refuge, which I only saw from the distance. After reading and listening to multiple reports regarding the situation with Don Victor land ownership it seems to me that the best approach is to avoid or minimize contact with him if possible, in order to reduce escalation of further problems for future hikers, in particular Chileans hikers who appear to really have very hard time gaining approval from him to simply traverse his land.

Day 5 - Camp South of Laguna Caracol - Laguna de los Hornos.

Day 6 - Laguna de los Hornos - Los Cipreses. I reached Los Cipreses at about 1 pm on Sunday. The guard at the gate of the Hydroelectrico Los Cipreses told me there are no buses down to Talca on Sunday. I hitchhiked on 115 and got a ride to Talca fairly quickly.

Water was plentiful for the entire route. Limited snowfields traverse with no issues. 100% full sun exposure all day after El Bolson. Windy at higher elevations. Harsh and dry environment with a lot of sand and dust. Lots of steep climbing in sand. Overall easy orientation and easy trails to follow but GPS track needed. Magnificent hike.

* '''2024-Feb-08 to 2024-Feb-14 / 5.5 days / SOBO / RR 01c 01e 03 03a/ Matthias de Austria'''

Bus from Curicó to Molina at 9am, immediate connecting bus to Parque Inglés. Buy a ticket online for the national park (8500 for foreigners, 100% surcharge! If the international debit card selection doesn't work, just try the national one, my card only worked there). You can also add the authorisation for El Bolsón online, but you have to pay for it in cash at a ticket office in Parque Inglés. 80 people per day are allowed for Bolsón, everything is sold out at lunchtime. Night in Parque Ingles at Hostal Valverde 40k for one person in a 4 bed room (solo use) with own toilet and washbasin but shared shower, towel costs extra, quiet, next to river for bathing (lots of local families though).

At 8am next day, a Wednesday, there are around 50-60 people at the ticket office for Bolsón. I went to the locked gate at the start of the RR and quickly climb over it hoping noone saw me, as I'm not planning to stay in Bolsón anyway. Better not to mention that to the rangers. Also, only gas cookers are allowed. After about an hour, I'm just a little way off by a stream when a ranger rides past on a motorbike. I don't know if he saw me, maybe he thought I was coming back from Bolsón. So if you hear a motorbike, it's might best to change direction shortly and head towards Parque Inglés, or even better, start much earlier in the morning.

I bypass Bolsón heading south at 01A, shortly after the bridge at -35.4973,-70.9052 is a large private area, no trespassing sign. I don't want to set a bad example for the numerous day trippers around and take a path along the stream (southern side) to the waterfall. Once out of sight of people and Bolsón, I briefly climb up the steep slope and CC to option 1. Water shortly before start of 01c. Next water at -35.5226,-70.8653, even with a small pool.

Don Victor is the large landowner in the area. His hut is, as far as I understood, the refuge Blanquillo at 45.5/1887. Hikers used to be welcome on his land, but after they left a lot of rubbish behind and invaded his hut, he no longer allows them and sends them back. However, he (sometimes?) makes exceptions for foreigners. You could ask him for permission via whatsapp, but he was so flooded with requests that he can no longer be contacted during the season. I just took a chance and went to his land. A rider around 37.1/2382 asked me what I was doing here, I asked him if he was Don Victor, to which he replied in the affirmative. I then introduced myself, said what my destination was, where I came from and that I am aware of the problem of dirty hikers, but that I am very careful with nature. He then allowed me to continue. I met him twice more in the following days, at Blanquillo 45.5/1887 and at Water 48.1/1837, and he reminded me not to throw away any rubbish.

At the refuge I met a Chilean-German couple camping, they came from Los Cipreses and didn't know that it was forbidden to enter this land, but Don Victor allowed them to stay after they argued with German cleanliness (I guess he had never been hiking in the Alps before the regular cleaning teams cleaned everything, otherwise his trust in the Europeans would probably not be so great).

Fordings: All very easy, path at Laguna del Caracol is no longer under water. No snowfields to cross. The water level of the lagunas (except Manantial Pelado) is dropping rapidly, I estimate about 10 to 15cm per day.

Water: Plenty, except for hiking up Descabezado. Bring as much as possible from Blanquillo.

Summit day Descabezado: Very strong, cold winds all day. A good windbreaker, hat and gloves are essential. Only cloudy day since I've been in Chile, 20 minutes after I left the summit it cleared up. Extremely strenuous ascent on very loose gravel, almost every step sinks in deeply and slips (I weigh 100kg), takes 6 hours from base camp to the summit, even on the easier route. Descent effortless, under 2h.

Camps:
Day 1: Laguna Manantial Pelado
Day 2: Basecamp -35.5978,-70.7957 (I widened it, smoothed it out, deepened it and extended the stone wall. Nevertheless, the winds up there can be massive, you have to brace the tent well.)
Day 3: Next to the not existing anymore hot springs at 45.6
Day 4: Laguna la Turbia
Day 5&6: Laguna des los Hornitos (rest day, just beeing naked all day swimming and lying around in the sun)
Hornitos and Turbia were nice for swimming, the others really cold.

No problems at Los Ciprese, friendly guard spoke good english, gave me water and wifi.
Bus to Talca (3500 peso) at main street came around 15:50-16:00.

Absolutely incredible landscape. I'm here for dream routes like this. Perhaps the best hiking week of my life. GPT01-04 was nice, but GPT06 is in a completely different league. I loved it and I deeply miss this kind of remoteness in central europe.

* '''2024-feb-2 to 2024-feb-6 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Juliet and Martin '''

Day 1 parque ingles - Lagunas las animas
18km d+1200 d-100
Departure at 6:30 a.m. to pass the conaf. No worries
First part to el bolson. At el bolson we can refuel with water. The campsite attendant asked us for our conaf ticket. After explaining to him that we were going to laguna animas, he let us pass without any trouble. Continuation to laguna animales without shade but no snow. Bivouac spot on the beach but no shade, or to the west on meadows to pitch your tent, but used by a herd of horses.
The trail is generally easy to follow as it is marked by stone markers.

Day 2 laguna las animas - Therma de azufre
11km D+400 D-700
Shade-free day. Lots of trails in the sand.
We didn't manage to find a good bivouac spot (mainly because of the heat coming from the ground).
Water spots regularly, especially early in the day.

Day 3 Therma de azufre - El banquillo refuge
20km D+ 900 D- 900
The indicated crossing point was not crossable for us in our opinion (no experience in river crossings), so we decided to walk along the river bank in the rocks for several km. We crossed the river higher than indicated thanks to the snow.
Water spot regularly as several rivers crossed.
Arriving at el banquillo, we were disappointed not to meet Umberto. Very good bivouac spot with several pitches already made.

Day 4 El banquillo refuge - laguna de los hornitos
20km D+ 900 D- 900
Most of the climb is up to the pass after the laguna. Quite a physical climb in the sand. But we did it in about 1h30. The rest of the day was pretty much the same.
Regular water stops too.
No problem following the trail.
A little extra for a new encounter with a herd of horses.
Bivouac spot around the lake. Nice possibility before descending to the lake (indicated waypoint camp).

Day 5 laguna de los hornitos - los alamos
All downhill to los cipreses. The first part is in sand, so it's a quick descent. Once on the road, we were often overtaken by cars. No one asked us for a permit (or offered to hitchhike).
We passed guards at the exit/entrance to the power station, who offered us water and no problem getting through.
In los alamos, a small store selling a few products such as pasta, ice cream, batteries, etc. It's run by a lady and her husband. They also sell beds for sleeping. They're very welcoming

Buses to Talca at 7.30am and 3.30pm. Not many cars passing through. We didn't get picked up hitchhiking.

* '''2024-Jan-27 to 2024-Jan-30) / 3.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01+03+06/ Joscha'''

Day 1: RR [0-10,1] + OH06-01A + OH06-01[10,7-25,1] + RR [36,9-44,6]

A few small streams at OH-01 and one bigger one near Laguna Manantial Pelado (ankle high ford). A few snow patches above 2300 m, but you can easily walk over or around them. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.

Day 2: RR [44,6-45,8] + to Descabezado and back on OH06-03 and OH06-03A + RR [45,8-55,7]

River at 44,8 was a little over ankle high ford in the morning. The climb up to Descabezado has a lot of steep gravel slopes, which makes it tiresome. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.

Day 3: RR [55,7-58,3] + to Los Quillayes and back on OH06-06 and OH06-06A + RR [58,3-59,6] + OH06-C + RR [62-69]

OH06-06A is a steep gravel climb, but worth it. Really nice view from Los Quillayes (but similar to the view from Pass Hornitos. Pass Hornitos has some bigger snowfields on the southern side, but its easy to walk around them. OH06-C was pretty steep at the end, so maybe the RR is more convenient. Little above ankle high Ford north of Laguna de los Hornos in the afternoon.

Day 4: RR [69-80] + OH06-E + OH06-F

Small Shop (I bought some Pasta) and Restaurant in Los Alamos. I tried to continue on the RR from Los Alamos to El Medina. But at 81,3 km the trail vanished and I wasn't able to continue. Therefore I walked back and walked on the paved road OH E+F to El Medano. Camping + Thermas in El Medano costs 7000 Pesos. There is a small shop, but it is very expensive (e.g. 1 Ramen Cup costs 2000 Pesos).

GPT06 has some really spectacular views. Especially Pass Hornitos and Volcan Descabezado. There is no shade, so the sun is gonna burn you all day. This + the sand/gravel is demanding for your body and your equipment.

* '''Jan-26-2024 to Jan-30-2024 / 4.5 days / SOBO / Oh5, Oh 3, RR / Matthieu'''

Amazing section, from the entrance in Vilches to the end in los cipreses. Sand and lack of shadow are the main difficulties.

Right of way : that was my first fear. Concerning guardia parques : en parque ingles, they say that they cannot let officially hikers go to the volcan, as duenos asked (OH1 passes by 4 differents private properties). But if you have a message by don victor it's ok. So no need for discussion there just take a ticket to el bolson and no more words. El bolson was closed for a few days for maintenance, so i just got out of parque ingles. At Alto de Lircay, guardiaparque told me that it was my responsability to enter don Victor's property without his permission. You can legally turn back into the park (or coming from parque ingles) paying for another day at the end, at the entrance, if you want to come back by altos de Lircay after the volcan.
- Don Victor : I had the chance to meet him near the valle del venado, on a horse. I asked for permission to enter his lands and continue south, that he offered me easily with promess to not let garbage in the zone. I was glad to meet him out of his lands, I don't know how he would react into. He especially asked to guardaparques to say to hikers that it was not permitted to go on his lands because it's always full of trash, and he has to clean it up all the time. He told me that foreigners were more respectfull than locals though. His phone is off all season because it became a public number, and he has to many calls to enter the volcan. So if you want permission better send a message before season. To note, his lands go at least to the laguna caracole, don't know after.
I saw another chilean hiker walking up the volcan, didn't seem to be a problem for him.

Water : often present on RR, in the lagunas or the oasis. A good stream just before the top of the volcan to. No need to carry kgs of it.
No water at the volcan basecamp though, so I carried it from the puesto.

Snow : From now on, no snow issues from the entrance in Vilches to the end at los cipreses, so no need for crampons (with entrance by option 5, I don't know for the entrance by RR). Few patches you can easily bypass before and after the third pass 59km.
No patches on the way to the top of volcan.

River crosses (1.78m) : only once Rio blancillo, at the first Ford (water to knees). Then I stayed on the right side of the river until the end. I had to walk inside for 1 minute, water to hips, but no current so it was easy. I bypassed the two other crosses this way.

Camp : valle venado (conaf), really friendly worker there. - Basecamp Volcan : beware, I made the mistake to not plant my tent well with heavy rocks, and the pikes in the sand are no use... so when I came back from the volcan it was upside down with strong wind... a whole adventure to pack everything ! - Oasis at water 48km. - Around 70 kms, some nice camping spots near the river at the right side of the road.

Volcan : up to the top by option 3, then down by variant 3A. Taking the variant directly seems like hell, lot of sand. More rocks on regular option 3. Physically demanding, but no other particular difficulties.

Proposition of new option : as the right of way may evolve badly in the future, I suggest a new option road from el camping valle venado to tricehue, following the rio claro. I asked to the guardaparque at the campsite, he said that there are people doing it usually. This year the river is to strong though, so maybe in march or next year.

Buses at the end : the lign is from talca to el medano, a stop at the exit of los alamos on the road. From el medano : buses 7h30 and 15h30, monday to Friday (dont know for week ends).
From talca : 12h30 and 19h
At el colorado, buses to talca more often.
* '''2024-Jan-11 to 2024-Jan-17 / 7 Days / Hiking / NOBO / O5, O3, O3A, RR, O1 / Vlad'''

A spectacular section to end my 5-week trip on the GPT. I’ve never experienced a landscape like this before and the weather (straight up sunshine for the whole week) was a welcome change after the unrelenting wind and rain of Patagonia. There were no other people outside of the start and end of the trail in national parks. Beautiful and desolate wild camping near the volcano. That said, it was very rough on my gear. The dry sand, abrasive rocks, spiky bushes did some damage to my shoes (erased on tread on the soles after sliding down scree slopes for 2 days), socks (holes after rubbing on rocks since I did not have gaiters), trekking poles (they were in a poor shape already but the rocks and sand finished them and the tips got sanded off), pants (got some holes as well).

Day 1: I took an overnight bus from Puerto Montt to Talca (22k CLP, very comfortable, booked through Rodovairro.cl). After arriving in Talca, there was a bus to Vilches at 10:30. I got off at the last stop and made it to the PN Altos de Lircay entrance around 1 PM. I asked the ranger about access to Descabezado land since I texted the owner, Don Victor (WhatsApp +56998863554) but he didn’t respond to me. The ranger said that Don Victor doesn’t respond at the moment but he said it was okay for the rangers to allow hikers to leave the park and go to his land.

I was charged 8.5k CLP for park entrance and 10k CLP for 2 nights camping inside the park. This is because I wasn’t allowed to start hiking to Valle el Venado the first day (trail closes at 11:00 am even though it’s only 19 km 🙃) and had to camp at the park entrance, then another night once I get to Valle el Venado. It was a bummer as I already had limited time for this section, but it allowed me to go for a day hike up the mountain in Altos de Lircay and watch a beautiful sunset. The forest in Altos de Lircay is beautiful with teeming wildlife and abundant wildflowers. I saw a woodpecker, a fox, colorful iguanas, a snake, giant spiders, and endless wildflowers.

You could maybe get to Altos de Lircay on time to start hiking the same day if you leave on the 7 am bus from Talca. They give you a paper at the park ranger’s office and I was asked for it 3 times by different rangers throughout my trip.

Day 2: Walked from Altos de Lircay to Valle el Venado with a side trip to see the waterfall. Met a group on horses. A few river fords that were all below knee level. Got to the campsite at Valley el Venado which wasn’t very nice. Horse poop everywhere, had to clear the spot for a tent. No one asked to check if I paid for the campsite. The group on horses camped somewhere up the valley from the refugio as I heard them and saw some come down to use the bathroom.

Day 3: I did the 3 fords of river Blanquillo as suggested on the GPS track. The first one is at the spot where river is widest, so it was only knee deep. On the second ford, it’s narrower and the current was strong, it was crotch deep for me (178 cm). Third ford knee deep. In hindsight I should’ve just stayed on the left side of the river and only crossed it once in the end.

It was a very short day, 10 km, but I thought it would be nice to arrive at Blanquillo refugio early in case Umberto was there. However, when I got there, the refugio was empty, and I couldn’t find any hot springs. I don’t think the bathing pool is there anymore. I scouted around for half an hour and only saw horse and cow poop in every little stream and pool of water. I followed one of the streams about 100 m uphill to get clean drinking water but I still saw poop on the banks.

Since Umberto wasn’t there, I cooked dinner by the refugio and kept going to the Descabezado basecamp (-35.59773, -70.79645) 3.4 km further and 600 m of elevation higher up from the Banquillo refugio, which made the next day’s climb up the volcano shorter.

The sunset at the Descabezado basecamp was out of this world.

Day 4: I left from basecamp at sunrise since I didn’t want to walk in the dark. I had to cross a few not steep snow fields at the beginning but nothing at higher elevations. Every snow field higher up is easily bypass-able. That said, the climb up to the crater still felt brutal to me. There’s absolutely no sure footing, everything is just a scree slope. When ascending, you can either climb up the 45 degree scree slope or try to walk on the rocks which are easier to plant your foot on. I chose the rocks but they too were sliding sometimes, even large boulders, so I had to be careful not to let a giant rock fall directly on my other foot. It took me 4.5 hours to reach the crater from the basecamp following the less steep option 3. It was very windy, cold, and the sun was shining directly in my face early in the morning as I was climbing up the volcano so it was a little difficult to see the path sometimes.

On the way down, I saw my tent and was trying to slide down the scree slope directly towards the basecamp roughly following the steep option 3A. Going down was actually really fun and effortless. But be careful and still check GPS regularly when you descend, as there are some scree slopes that end directly in a vertical plunge down to the ice field below.

I refilled my water bottles with ice cold water flowing from the snow field here (-35.60455, -70.78525), using my trowel as a spout. I’m glad I did because when I got back to basecamp, the water I stashed there in the morning was as warm as a hot soup after baking in the tent in direct sunlight all day.

I was considering staying at basecamp location for another night because it’s such a visually stunning spot with gorgeous sunsets and incredible stars at night, but it was just way too hot to remain there so I packed up and went back down to Banquillo refugio. Unfortunately, Umberto was still not there so I just enjoyed the company of cows and went to sleep.

Day 5: I went north in the white sand dunes following Banquillo river which nurtures a breathtaking oasis in the desert. I thought this area was way more beautiful than the Banquillo refugio (especially with all the cow poop there) so I wished I kept going a little further the previous night and set up camp somewhere by the river in this area (-35.53354, -70.79191). Disclaimer: I didn’t actually look for a spot that was flat and sheltered but that whole area just felt like a paradise so I think one could find a suitable spot for a tent there.

Right at the fork of the trails where one can choose to take Option 1 or continue on RR to Termas del Azufre, I ran into arrieros transporting hundreds of goats through the snow-covered slopes, it was a beautiful scene and a blessing for me as their footprints helped me find a safe way in some semi-steep snow sections I had to cross after 2400 m. I chose to follow Option 1 to El Bolson because the RR on the right at the fork looked like it had loads of snow still. Even on Option 1, I had to be careful and kick-step my way through the snow fields as I had no crampons and my trail runners had virtually no tread left on them after being ground on the volcanic rocks and sand the previous couple of days.

One particularly dangerous spot is here (-35.51932, -70.82684) just after Laguna Manantial Pelado. It’s a big snow field that started melting and formed a lake that’s not on the map. It was breathtakingly beautiful going west, but if you were coming from the other direction you could not see the collapse of the snow field until it’s too late and you’re on the edge, so stick to the trail and walk on the side of the valley in that spot.

I got to El Bolson just before sunset. It was surprisingly a beautiful and scenic campground and not too crowded on a Monday night. I spoke a few words to the people in the refugio, they just told me to set up my tent and didn’t ask to pay for camping.

At Bolson, I met a group of Chilean students from Talca who spoke really good English and we had a lot of fun eating dinner together, smoking weed and going to swim in the nearby waterfall the next morning. There are trails going down the cliff to the swimming pools here (-35.49801, -70.90767). It’s a really pristine swimming spot, just be careful and don’t get too close to the waterfalls as we heard there was an accident the previous night where a rock fell off and pushed a person over the edge of the waterfall so they plunged down into a pool below.

Day 6: Hiked from Bolson to Parque Ingles entrance, where the ranger once again asked for my paper registration from Altos de Lircay documenting my trip. The shops at Parque Ingles are really tiny and would not be sufficient for another section resupply in my opinion, I just bought some fresh fruit and hitched a 3 KM ride to Siete Tazas. By the time I got there (19:00) all the trails were closed and the ranger told me to go find camping at Valley de las Catas. It was 13k CLP (ouch) for 1 night camping with inclusion of the ticket for a 3-km loop on the southern bank of river Claro to see Siete Tazas. The campground had a hot shower which was very welcomed, but otherwise I think Siete Tazas was not worth it and I wish I spent my last day attempting to hike up to Laguna de las Animas instead. Though I don’t know if it would even be possible as the entire rim of the mountain seemed snow covered so there must’ve still been a very steep, yet short, snow field one would need to cross to get over the pass.

Day 7: I took a morning walk out of the campground and caught a 11:30 bus back to Molina, then a bus from Molina to Santiago for a flight home the next day.

* '''2024 Jan 07 / 4.5 days / SOBO / RR / Anh'''
There are many good reports, so I'll keep it short.

With my information, I could simply walk from Parque Inglés without registration. But I want to hike legal & support Conaf. So I had to register and pay online (not in cash at other national parks) with my conaf account, then offline paper formular. Fortunately, the 2nd payment for Campsite El Bolsón (compulsory) was in cash (200m from Conaf). It had taken me more than an hour.

There is a lot of hiking in volcanic sand (rough, fine).
At this time there are still many snowfields from 2000 Hm upwards. There are streams under the snowfields, some of which only have a thin layer of snow (danger of collapse).
Ford km 29.4 is quite critical (hip, strong flow in the morning)

I met two boys at Refugio Blanquillo. They had been hiking for two days on a different route (no RR GPT06) with a text description from the internet (no hiking map/GPS track). They learned & understood that it was very dangerous and could get lost at any time. Luckily they met a hiker with GPS & inReach, otherwise I would have taken them with me.

* '''2024-Jan-03 to 2024-Jan-08 / 6 days / Hiking / round trip anticlockwise / O5 - O3 - RR - O1 - O1c (Condor Circuit) / Lotti and Alex'''

Originally we wanted to do the Cóndor Circuit, but after we read about the troubles some of you had, we decided to take the safer option 1 to avoid the snow and landslide above Termas de Azufre. This route felt very safe and the snow was not a problem at all. We ended up with a beautiful round trip from Altos de Lircay to Valle Venado, then to the summit of Descabezado, then Valle del Indio and back to Altos de Lircay. The landscape is incredibly beautiful and diverse, and we enjoyed it a lot. The scariest part for us was fording the Rio Blanquillo on day 2.

Day 1: Altos de Lircay - Valle Venado on option 5 (Sendero de Chile)
We stayed at Hotel Picamaderos in Altos de Lircay, which is a very nice and relaxed place right next to the park entrance of Altos de Lircay. To enter the park we had to show the CONAF officers the WhatsApp message that Victor send us as a permission for entering his land at Refugio Blanquillo.
The hike through the forest was very nice and shady and we enjoyed the view from the mirador where we got a nice overview of our route for the next days. Crossing Rio Claro was easy, not deeper than knee deep. We camped in a shady spot next to Valle Venado.

Day 2: Valle Venado - Refugio Blanquillo - Descabezado base camp (option 5 and option 3)
Easy walking until Laguna el Blanquillo which was really beautiful. After that the path crosses Rio Blanquillo several times. We tried to avoid it at first because it looked quite intimidating, so we followed some stone men to climb around and walk higher up the valley. When it was not avoidable any more, we forded it. For me, with just 152cm of height, it was intimidatingly deep (almost to the hip) and it had really strong currents. Alex had to help me across, and with him walking in front of me, it worked. We arrived at an empty Refugio Blanquillo, picked up some water there and walked up to Descabezado base camp which has no water.

Day 3: Descabezado Summit
We left the base camp early at 6:00 and took the southern option 3 trail which was well marked by stone men at the beginning. We used our crampons to climb up some ice fields effectively, but I think they could have been bypassed as well. On the way down we took the steeper option 3A sliding down on soft pumice stones which was a lot of fun. We picked up our tent, walked back down and set up our camp at Refugio Blanquillo. There we searched a while for the hot springs, but couldn't find them.

Day 4: Refugio Blanquillo - Valle del Indio (RR and option 1 NOBO)
We walked on the regular route for about 8 km until the junction where we changed to option 1. After that we crossed several smaller streams that were not on our map. Snow started around 2300m, but it was easy to walk on and we didn't need our crampons. Laguna Manantial Pelado was incredibly beautiful with its icy shores. There were some camp spots there, but it was much too windy for us to stay there for the night. We kept walking over the pass and down the valley until we found a shady spot in the middle of the valley floor of Valle del Indio.

Day 5: Valle del Indio - Altos de Lircay (Option 1C)
After the wild vulcanic landscapes of the days before, this day's scenery was not as spectacular, but the hiking was easy and we even met some wild horses. We camped at Punta 6 inside the park Altos de Lircay, where we found a camping spot right next to a very nice swimming hole in the river and met the first people after 5 days of loneliness.

Day 6: Altos de Lircay - park entrance
Easy walking in the shade of the forest.

* '''2023-Dec-29 to 2024-Jan-3 / 6 days / NOBO / Variant 5+3+RR+GPT05(VarG+RR)+RR / Matthias + Johanna '''

The route:
Basically the route is the Condor Circuit: Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay - Descabezado Grande - PN Siete Tazas.
We bypassed the part from km 19.4 (Termas) to km 27.4 (pass Portezuelo Las Cruces) via GPT05(VarG+RR) due to the reports of Lilian and Michael & Cassia. By the time we started our tour, Michael had written only a much less intimidating post on the Facebook group (only indicating difficult route conditions). So it was a lucky ad-hoc decision after the difficult descent from pass La Calle the day before not to try their route!!

The conditions:
Snow +- above 2250m, rivers below snow-filled watersheds with high water levels! Overall quite demanding to us!

Day 1+2: Easy walking from park entrance (Lircay) to Vegas Blanquillo („basecamp“ Descabezado).

Day 3: Ascent to Descabezado
Easier than expected but tedious above 3400m due to volcanic ash and steepness. Snowfields below 3400m can be bypassed or safely crossed (surface like a mogul piste). The steep snowfields above can by bypassed. We climbed the right (southern) „couloirs“ on the right margin (beneath the red rock), loose rocks are the main difficulty.

Day 4: Vegas Blanquillo - Termas Azufre
About 5 km on snow. Some short steep snow passages, soft snow on snow bridges. High water levels.
Easy walking until a height of ca. 2550 (km 32.5) when going down into the valley of Estero Volcán. Next 250hm downhill tricky as while we tried to avoid the quite steep snow on the slopes, we faced the difficulty of avoiding unstable snow bridges in the valley floor. We were happy to have our microspikes with us! Also parts of the summer path seemed to be washed away (around km 30.5) as seen from afar. Forded the river ca. 500m upstream of the place indicated on the track files (50m south of the now collapsed snow bridge of Lilian). Strong current, water up to mid of thighs. Additional fording of the (today roaring) creek coming down from Cerro Colorado (km28.5).

Day 5: Termas Azufre - Valle del Indio: Difficult fordings
Trail washed away ca. 1 km after Termas. We went up 100 hm to bypass (possibly you could also bypass by descending ca. 50 hm).
Edgy fording of Estero Volcán at ca. 35°28'56"S 70°46'13"W. Strong current, water up to lower waist on the far side for me (188cm) and up to upper waist for Johanna (163cm). I could give her a hold from a rock there! Then ca. 500m north 2 easier fordings back to the western side of the there split river.
We did not stick to RR here (we did not divert from path at „trailhead“), as there was no possible crossing of the river visible and the path seems to be very difficult with large loose rocks and steep slopes). But possibly one could avoid the two fordings by RR and then climbing the rocks near the riverbed.
There are no further fordings of Estero Volcán (km 24.6) as river is flowing on the eastern side of the valley this season.
Loose volcanic ash on parts of the ascent to pass Portozuelo Las Cruzes. Snowfields easy (could be bypassed or safely crossed on the afternoon of the hot day). Laguna Las Animas partly ice-covered, we swam next to the ice :-)
After the pass going down to Valle del Indio there is steep snowfields (former wedges) on most of the rim. Only 4-5 m, but even with microspikes it was too dangerous for us. You can bypass snow by walking some meters to the right (west) from the pass and walking/climbing down the rock pillar (solid).

Day 6: Easy walk down to Park entrance Parque Ingles

Camp sites: Valle Venado - Vegas Blanquillo (Descabezado basecamp) 2 nights - 500m north and 50 m uphill of Termas - valleyfloor Valle los Indios

Basecamp Descabezado - Right of way:
No access given to hikers without a guide to cross the NP to Descabezado. We chose to hire a local arriero who accompanied us the first three days (Pancho 997635447), who got a permission to camp from the land owner in advance. Even though he is a local and has his own cows feeding up there, he had to discuss at the three „checkpoints“ at park entrance, as he had no written prove with him.
The man living at the basecamp was not there in the end, selling some cows in the valley !
Nice swimming pool with tepid water 5m north of camping site, for drinking water go the long way round the swampy valley to a source on the other side ca. 20m west of the hut.

* '''2023-Dec-19 to 2024-Dec-25/ 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Michael and Kasia '''

Day 1
We had camped at Rocas Basalticas campground the night before. When we arrived at the gate they asked to see our permission to camp at Bolson. We didn't know that that was required and spent some time going back and forth with them. We finally went to Rocas Basalticas down the road and got them permission to camp at Bolson and they finally let us in. The walk up is pretty, all the snow is gone. All fords are easy. There were a few tábanos, but not many. CONAF did a reroute on a small section of the trail higher up. If you're watching GPS you go off the route, but just follow the sign to Bolson and it goes there. Campground has water and toilets.

Day 2
We hiked up through Valle del Indio. The route is a little tricky to find and we were moving slow so getting a lot of meander in the GPS marker. Looking for cairns was helpful. Two thirds of the way up there was still snow. By that time it was slushy. We had opted not to buy crampons at the last minute, so we made our way across kicking into the snow. The last 15 m to the pass was an almost straight up in snow. After the pass there was very little snow until the rise up to Laguna de las Ánimas. After that it was a complete snow field and the lake was frozen. We managed to kick out a pad for the tent and camped in the snow. Really beautiful sky that night.

Day 3
A long day with very little distance covered. Full sun, we both got sunburns despite sunscreen and covering. The snow was heavily pockmarked so it was hard to walk through. It took much longer than we anticipated. We ended up camping just below the pass. We were concerned about wind, so we tied the tent down really well. Fortunately it was a calm night.

Day 4
We continued on RR. There were several steep ups and downs, mostly on snow, as well as some intimidating traverses. The snow was getting to the point where we were a little uncertain if it would hold or not. We saw a single set of tracks, assume it was Lillian as it looks like she was a day or two ahead of us. 2 km before Termales Azufre we crossed a very steep section of snow. On the way down Kasia fell and hit some small rocks. She got some bruises and cuts, but nothing broken. I tried to slide with the backpack off and in front of me, but I fell too and the bag started tumbling down a steep sandy slope. I chased the bag, fell and rolled twice, and finally managed to jump and tackle the bag about 5 m before it went over the edge. It was a dangerous move, but I had not had a chance to take the GPS off the bag before it started sliding, and without it we couldn't get out and couldn't call for help. It was a long hike back up due to the incline and sand. We made it a little further and then ran into an area of trail wiped out by a landslide where it was impossible to get footing, even without the packs. Every step would cause more sand and rocks to slide down. It was about 18:30 at that point. We backtracked about 100 m to a gap between a snow wall and a large rock and set up a provisional shelter for the night.

Day 5
After waking up the next day, we tried to see if rest and fresh eyes would give us a better perspective. After discussing it we realized that there was really no way forward or back. We decided it only option was to use the SOS button on the Garmin. I pushed the button at 10:00, and by 16:00 there was a helicopter flying through the valley looking for us. I was surprised that it happened so quickly. They had to land in the valley, and since we could not get ourselves down, they sent a GOPE team of three guys up and the helicopter left for the night. It took them about an hour to get up to us, and then another two hours to do enough provisional maintenance on the trail for us to get down. We camped with them in the valley for the night and the helicopter came to get us in the morning.

* '''2023-Dec-25 to 2023-Dec-26/ 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / off RR / Jens, Nolwenn, Yannick'''

To enter the Hydroelectrico Los Cipreses you need a permit, which we did not get in advance. The guard at the gate said we could get it by emailing his boss.
As it was Christmas Day, it was not possible to get the permit.
The guard told us to take a route along the perimeter fence. We did that until we couldn't get further. We entered the compound through a hole in the fence and walked to the end of the road on the right side of the river. The bridge on the map is destroyed. The current was too strong to cross. Turned around and went back.

* '''2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-21 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR+{06-D} / Lilian'''
It is the most amazing section from GPT01 to here so far!

I hiked RR, it is still covered by tons of snow, i recommend use ice axe and micro spikes if you want to hike from Portezuelo Las Cruces(pass) to El Estadio(pass), there is some really steep snow slope. (RR-TL-V)

Parque Ingles have a restaurant and a tiny store selling food, fruits, drinks and some 230g gas canisters.

I hopped the gate to the park at 6:30. No one was there.

There are 3 main pass for RR.

First pass, snow start at km14.3(2050m), not difficult for climbing up to pass[15.4/2257].

Laguna Las Animas(lake)[16.7/2286] is still frozen, very beautiful. I climbed up on some rocks at the north side of the lake, then mostly choose my own way to climb up to pass, because RR look steep.

Arrive the pass[19.4/2547], if you are not comfortable with snow, it is the LAST CHANCE to turn back.

Pass is flat and dry, you can camping here but windy.

There are no RR after the pass because covered by many snow, find a way go down to valley by snow slope, then walk all the way on snow to km20.2, you can see the trail but on the other side at km20.2, steep go down the snow slope then connect to RR.

Follow the trail about 5min, you will go into a big valley, trail and the whole valley covered by snow, but you can see a trail is at the far away other side of valley.

Go your own way to water[22.0/2279], i think it is lot ways to go down, but dont too close to cliff side, it is steep and easily to fall off.

After you arrive water[22.0/2279], then straight forward to km22.6.

A large flat area can fit lot of tents at the downhill side of km22.6.

After km22.6, the most dangerous part begins, from here to km26, lot of steep snow slope you need to cross, be careful, kick step and don't slide.

Km26 is another large flat area for camping, i camped here with nice sunrise.

Snow continues to km26.6, but easy way. The first pass's snow end.

About the second pass, snow start at ford[29.4/2190], strong flow and look like up to thighs, i cross it on snow bridge.

Stay on east side until km31.25, then stay down walking in the valley, easier than on the slope.

Although full of snow, but I think it is easy to go to the pass[33.8/2695] from here, so i dont mention the details. It is also easy to go down, most of them are gentle slope.

Snow end at km41.4, but mostly you can find some flat sandy spot start at km39.1.

Hot spring[45.6/1881] : completely dry. Some camping spots with rock wall nearby.

Water,camp[48.1/1837] : amazing oasis in desert! Clear and cold water, some shade, also lot of swallows flying in the sky catching some food for their kid.

Km49.1 - km49.8 : best view point of Volcán Descabezado Grande and Volcán Azul! If you want to camp with stunning views, bring water at oasis then climb up here, lot of sandy spots beside some rocks, enjoy you sleep with volcano.

Km53.2 - km54.7 : Laguna del Caracol(lake), maybe because too much snow melts? Trail underwater, you need to walk in the lake shore for a while.

Camp[56.3/2034] : oasis again! Crystal clear and cold water! It is possible to cut off from km56 to x[57.3/2073] directly, stream flowing slow and up to knee.

Third pass, steep climb up to km57.9, if you follow RR, then you will turn right and face some steep snow climbing up.

If you look up at left side, there is some foot steps straight climb up on a dry slope, which is no snow but looses sand.

I go for the left one to the pass, ok but steep and really tried.

Most of the snow is after pass, from pass[59.3/2518] to km61.5, first go to east side go around the snow, then you will find a trail, follow it a little then go your own way in snow valley.

I follow RR, mostly easy to go down until km61.5, a steep slope. I don't want to take the risk, so i crossed a snow bridge to a sandy slope at south side. Go down the slope and rejoin RR about km62.1.

Ford[63.4/1909] : i crossed the river before a huge rock, below knee at morning. The huge rock also provide some wind protection, i saw some camping trace beside it.

Volcán Los Hornitos : km65.3, {06-D}, just beside RR, no need CC, a trail leads you to the top, just climb up 70m! Go for it!

Lastly with no luck, i saw a car going down just 10min before i arrived the road, then no more cars, so i walk all the way to Los Cipreses.

Met a super friendly worker at Los Cipreses, he give me some cherry to eat and a ride to Los Alamos. A tiny shop there , if you are not picky, a little pricey but enough food resupply for 1 people six days. It have a sign "Almacen" at its front gate. You can ask locals where it is, i saw many workers go to there buy things.

* '''2023-dec-3/ 4 days / hiking / SOBO / RR & 6 option 1 / Lukas en Tess'''

As this was our first section on the GPT and there still was a lot of snow in the mountains we decided to play it safe and folow option 1 from el Bolsón. It is less steep and less long above the snoweline about 2000m at the time. It went great but Tess burned her eyes so good sunglasses are definetly a must when hiking in the snow. From there we continued the RR at Laguna del Caracol we had to walk in the lake on the edge, no idea if that's normal but it was funny. The next and final big obstacle was the pass on k59 we decided to try and bypass it because it looked very steep with a lot of snow and ice and Tess with her burning eyes had a hard time looking at any snow at her feet. So we went up right next to it (north). Realy though rock scrambling but we managed. Going down the next valley was okay with the snow but crossing rivers covered in snow is tricky so try to avoid it. Walking into los Cipreces we were told we were not supposed to be there but still we had lunch in the cafeteria and they fixed a ride to bring us to the road, realy nice people there. From there we hitchhiked to el colorado where we stayed for two days to let Tess' eyes heal.

==Season 2022/23==

* '''2023-Mar-14 to 2023-Mar-19 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Parque Ingles - Los Cipreses / Noemie'''

Parque Inglés - El Bolsón - Termas de Azufre - Blanquillo - Laguna Hornitos - Los Cipreses

First try on the GPT and amazing section to start. There were buses from Molina at 10am and 5pm going to Parque Ingles. You must arrive there before 1pm and buy an entrance for El Bolson (with camping) to enter the Park. It's also possible to camp in Parque Ingles (7.000 CLP/night). When I entered, CONAF asked me where I was going, if I had a GPS, and gave me some kind of permit to show in Los Cipreses. I wasn't asked to show it when I arrived there though.
Landscapes and panoramas were extremely beautiful and very impressive. There was still water in all marked points and fords were easy to cross. Trail is easy to follow almost everywhere, except after Termas de Azufre (be careful to look for the right pools on the map and do not go up too much, I ended up in a place with almost boiling water). The whole section is full of beautiful sand dunes, so gaiters were extremely useful. In Blanquillo, you are supposed to get an authorization from the dueño to stay there, but it looks like it is not really enforced. I spent a day in Blanquillo to rest, drink maté and learn how to make sopaipillas with Umberto. I hitchhiked from Los Cipreses to San Clemente (one hostel, two supermarkets, decent to resupply) so I can't comment on the bus schedule. However, to come back to Los Cipreses/Termas del Médano, be aware that there is now only a bus leaving at 3pm from Talca, going up until La Mina. I took a small bus to Colorado on morning (every 45 min.) and hitchhiked easily back until Laguna del Maule for GPT 07.

* '''2023-Mar-21 to 2023-Mar-25 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Vilches — Volcan – Parque Ingles / Iris, Alexis '''

Our last section on the GPT for this year! We started in Vilches Alto with the option 06-05 because we rented horses with the arriero Jose Lopez. The beginning is placed in the Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, which requires a permit to go until the Volcan. The entrance fee is also 7k pp. We finished our first day at Camp, CONAF {06-05} [10.2/1158]. I believe we mostly followed the GPS track.

On the second day, we continued with the horses until Hot Spring {06} [45.6/1881] (Banos del Blanquillo) still following the track. We then were disappointed because the arriero left us here whereas our agreement (clearly stated by messages before the rent) was to climb the volcano with the horses (it turns to be not possible, too steep).
Thankfully, we had an excess day of food so we could attempt the climb the next day. We also met Umberto, the guy staying in the refugio, who was extremely friendly. He told us to start the volcano climb early in the night to avoid heavy winds.

On Day 3, we started the ascent at 2am with our headlights. 6h30 later we were on the top, with the morning lights rewarding us and stunning landscape. The ascent was extremely tiresome (sand material), as always with volcanos, and it was very cold but the crater and the views were very worth it. After a breakfast at the top, the descent, mostly running, took us about 2h. We rested for the rest of day at Banos del Blanquillo and even got a sopapilla making class with Umberto.

On Day 4, we followed the RR in the beautiful Descabezado landscape. Expect no shade but stunning dunes of white sand. There is plenty of water during the day because you will cross at least 2 rivers that were not dry this late in the season. The trail is easy to follow (because that is the only one) and is also part of the Circuit of the Condores. However, after Ford {06} [29.4/2190], you have about a dozen of options and the navigation until Hot Spring {06} [27.4/1986] (Hot Sping del Azufre) is more challenging. We decided to ignore the GPS and follow our instinct - just aim for the fumerolles. There you can enjoy a hot bath in one of the three hot natural pools (along some weird soft alguees).

On Day 5, we simply followed the RR until Parque Ingles. The trail is well marked until the end, you just have to enjoy multiple highlights in the landscape. Of note, when reaching El Bolsón, the CONAF ranger forbid us to bath in the pools because it was too late (3PM) and told us to leave the park before 5:30. He was not friendly and also checked the entrance tickets of Livan Ray. We got extremely lucky and caught a bus leaving Parque Ingles when we reached it (it leaves at 5:00).

This hike concludes our GPT adventure. We loved to start it riding horses to feel a bit more like the trails main user. The final day hiking and the volcano ascent were astonishing, truly one of (or even the) best section of our GPT.

* '''2023-Feb-03 to 2023-Feb-08 / 6 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Louis, Rémi & Noé'''

Our first trip on the GPT, plenty of water, we didnt carry more than 1.5L each. Here is our trip :

Day 1 - Laguna Las Animas - 18km - +1200m/-100m
We entered the parc illegally at 7:30 in the morning as some others hikers have done reading the wiki. We did this because the parc was full for the next 3 days. I can only advise you to book in advance on internet (conaf). We slept at a camping in front of the entrance for 7k CLP per person. Plenty of buses goes up there from Molina in 2 hours. At least a dozen. Same for going back. If you buy your ticket online : if you sleep at El Bolson, you can enter the park until 3pm, if you go further with only the El Bolson ticket, you can entered until 11am only!
So, we hiked until the Laguna las Animas, a rather long day for the first one.
The camp on the beach was quite windy too.

Day 2 - Termas de Azufre - 11km - +400m/-700m
A short day, nice to enjoy the hot springs in the afternoon. The pass in the morning was very windy too.

Day 3 - Refugio El Blanquillo - 20km - +800m/-900m
A long but beautiful day. Leave early the camp to avoid hot temperatures while ascending the pass. Well welcomed by the arrierio Umberto ! Very kind.

Day 4 - Volcan Descabezado Grande - 16km - +2000m/-2000m
We did the ascent without our bags, we went back to our camp in the night. It's long and hard. According to Umberto, 12h are needed in total, we did in 10h. Same, Leave early to avoid hot temperatures.

Day 5 - Laguna los Hornitos - 20km - +900m/-900m
Another nice day, passing next to Laguna Caracol. The descent from the pass is a bit annoying if you didnt follow the track (as we did). So, advice : follow the RR and go down on your right. The Laguna is very dry, just enough to have a bath. Hard to maintain the pitch of the tent in the dry dirt.

Day 6 - Los Cipreses - 15km - +100m/-1000m
Last short day to end this beautiful section. The gravel road is a bit boring but passing pickup are proposing you to get you down to the main road. Here, only one bus at 7am. And a little shop selling ice cream, chips and drinks. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)

* '''2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-30/ 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Martial'''

First trip 6 days on GPT being a wonderfully intense experience ! Lunar landscapes, silent and remote, few but great people. No particular difficulty.
Started park ingles with a mandatory 7000peso night at quiet camping near the river and bought ticket for Bolsón overnight 8$. Finally did not stay at Bolson a half day walk from entrance and camped in Laguna de las Animas instead. Great spot for Condors watching. After that follow Will’s advice and put on your mandatory gaiters till the end of the section ! + Walking on sand can be tough for the ankle. Don’t resist and don’t do too much !! Learned it the painfull way.. Trail visible but don’t get confused at termas Azufres especially if you try the (very) hot pools ! RR way is up the valley. Camp with water possible before the pass. The way down called « la Calle » is beautifull sandy dune remote desert. Exceptional. Aimed for Blanquillo refugio aka best basecamp for Descabezado intent. Meet Umberto the arriero at the hut and ask him where the termal pool and the drinking water are. He may be offended if you don’t show up and is a nice generous guy ! Also had a Chilean horse riding group intended the Descabezado so were a nice bunch by the camp fire. As weather window was fine, I decided to try a high camp in order to preserve weak foot from a very long ascent (10h). Took plenty of water as they are only glaciar dirty patches up there and aimed for Descabezado to Cerra Azul osm trail just as Nat and Tomas did (so i could have a chance to summit both also). Finally chose not to cross the nasty glaciar but found a very well sheltered highcamp here (-35.60569, -70.76147). Incredible sunset ! Not advisable in case of rain coming (a storm was growing in Argentina so stayed prepared for an emergency descent). Next day summited Descabezado at 11AM with no wind ideal conditions. Dive your front foot flat in sand just like snow climb when it gets to steep ! Nice ski descent sensations straight to the termas for a well deserved rest at the termas ! Also met Carlos a local climbing half way up so we would share joy later at the camp :).
Exit through RR is also nice but regreted haven’t camped here (-35.67102, -70.83649) for there was some playfull trouts to catch with my survival fishing kit !
Beautiful view from the pass to sandyland and then landscape changes and recommend OH variant C descending (less overgrown). Trail not so visible till laguna los hornos witch i climbed volcano to enjoy the crater caldera. After that descent to los Cipreses is kind of boring and hot so was definitely happy to find a camping by the bridge after the gate with lovely Victorina and her family here (-35.81524, -70.83224). They have been incredibly carring, fed me and brought me to the termas caves (also worth it) in El Medano !

* '''2023-Jan-16 to 2023-Jan-25 / 10 days / Hiking / NOBO / Descabezado Circuit variant: OH 06-02 & 06-03 Laguna Maule to Vilches w/ volcans / Natalie & Tomáš '''

An extremely long description so my apologies but hopefully it will help someone. We Started in Laguna del Maule and ended in Vilches with inclusion of volcanoes Descabezado Grande, Azul, Descabezado Chico and Colorado.

All fords super easy or jump-able. Only times water was scarce was Descabezado and Azul (technically there is melt water from glaciers at Azul), the afternoon around Descanezado Chico and also water was scarce around the Laguna Acquas Calientes because I would not trust drinking that water (some springs are cold water though). Weather turned bad only once while we were climbing Azul, the change happened rapidly and we went from blue skies to total white out (~10m or less visibility) within an hour. Other than that weather was amazing, a little cold at night and a little warm in the day.

Happy we started in Laguna del Maule and finished in Vilches. This saved elevation gain and let us decide whether or not we had enough food in the end to climb Descabezado, Azul, Chico and for Tomáš Colorado.

Day 1.
Starting in Talca, due to a certain someone (me) I accidentally sent Tomáš and I to Molina on a bus instead of "La Mina", so our day was very messed up, but we still managed to take a bus to Colorado and hitchhike to the start of this route. Buses from Talca to la Mina go at: 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. We took a bus to Colorado due to time and hitched the rest of the way. The last hitch was in a snowplow truck and he dropped us off miraculously at the start of the trail and before any customs or checks.

OH-TL-V {06-02} (109.1). Straight away the trail is hard to see, do not take the road-looking trail on the side of the mountain because it ends, stick to the gps. However, soon we were walking on the correct route through the sand and down to a creek with fun boulders. Easy to follow. After this first creek we followed option OH-CC-A (06-02) {98} For only ~5km until making camp in -between a river and canal with flowing water. Bogs in this area slowed us down a lot.

Day2.
OH- {06-02} -[ (93) & (86) ]
This day seemed long, we crossed two passes, one small (-35.94909, -70.45347) and one much larger (-35.88855, -70.46776). I liked the entire area south of the second pass, many beautiful camp spots, water was available almost to the top of the pass and there is also a nice waterfall/swimming pool located roughly around (-35.90452, -70.45218). Trail to first pass was easy, but trail between first and second was much more cross country, there are many animal tracks, I followed the GPX and Tomáš followed a trail closer to the river and we both ended up at the same spot... After the second pass, the GPX goes cross-country right away, but one can follow a trail that goes left and later reconnects with GPX.

After the second pass, there is a small plateau and then it follows down a creek with water until you must cross an east hill and go towards your first mountain puesto to the east (noone home). There is only a little bit of water here, better water at the creek you came from and or a few creeks ahead.

From the puesto (-35.86707, -70.47589), there is a good trail that traverses the slope ahead. We should have camped but we continued. There were a few nice creeks that we passed along the way. We were forced to make a "make-shift" camp before hitting a much nicer plateau because it was dark and I was not having a good day 😅. It is about 6 km between the puesto and the plateau.

Day 3
OH {06-02} [78.6] + [75.7] + [63.6]
Easy day, only one small pass. There is an ex-carabiniero puesto at (-35.84277, -70.40285) and a highlight was two rivers, one at (-35.76317, -70.42051) and one river at (-35.74734, -70.45623). The GPX is marked as trail a bit further than the actual trail goes (the trail continues to a puesto down-river). You need to go down a ridge and ford the river, there were some footsteps that can be followed. We walked near {06-02E} along a river filled with sand and not great for drinking but there is a creek that starts/ends here (-35.72759, -70.44125). We camped near this way point in the sand but it got windy at night, we wished we camped a bit further from the river in the little hills where it was considerably less windy.

Day4
OH {06-02} [59.6] + [29.1] + {06-02D}

This day we passed a large pass (-35.65200, -70.43356) via {06-02D}. This option was more direct and involved a very short and easy scramble onto a windy plateau. Surprisingly lots of water up towards the pass, last one being (-35.66343, -70.42666) , however the water available had a lot of sand in it, fyi. From camp we followed a cow trail until a lake like feature (-35.70057, -70.42733) and then went cross country. I hope my cairns marking the turn for {06-02D} survive.

After the pass the true Descabezado environment begins. We both made note of how terrible it would be to be on this plateau in bad weather, very open and CC. Next water source would be a couple of creeks here (-35.61215, -70.42156). From a break at this creek we ended up going straight down the creek bed. Kind of exhausting mentally and would not be possible in early season due to water levels but it shot us out directly in line for making a green camp here (-35.56164, -70.44009).

Day 05
OH {06-02} [29.1] + [20]
Laguna Aquas Calientes day.
An easy day with a lot of time spent at Aquas Caliente, true to the name.
Trail from camp was easy to follow until (-35.53519, -70.46551) and then it went CC to the Laguna. If shelter is needed in this open landscape, we found a rock shelter (agains wind, not rain) here (-35.51276, -70.51035). The creek feeding the Laguna was fabulously warm in places - either at the source of the creek or at a spring on the right side about 100m upriver. Tomáš found the proper source of the spring here (-35.50395, -70.52347). It is easy to get sunburn while bathing mid-day though. There are some camping spots near the creek. After this Laguna there is a nasty and windy sand stretch until a creek located here (-35.48980, -70.57667). On this stretch I chose not to follow the sand but detoured on more solid ground to the east (-35.48839, -70.56200) and was glad I did. Later on we found snow melt here (-35.48544, -70.59940) and loaded all the water we would need for night/morning and exploring Descabozado Chico the next day.

Day 06
OH {06-02} [20] + {06-02C Chico} + [4.5]
Descabozado Chico + Vulcan Colorado (Tomáš)

Went up and around the crater of Descabozado Chico in the morning which I highly recommend. The crater is easy to walk around and gives an amazing 360 experience. The climb up is tedious but non-dangerous scree that makes for a super fast decent. Make sure you have enough water because water is scarce there. I saw a waterfall on the NE side the lake but did not go to it, Tomáš got water somewhere off trail around here (-35.51226, -70.65626) and I drank out of the next lake -35.52036, -70.65873 (questionable, but nothing happened to me).
From the lake the next pass begins and I stupidly made Tomáš and I carry 5L of water up it because I did not think there would be water on the south side (both of us overlooking the river indicated on the map)...I was wrong, no water high up but lots of water down low. For the pass we opted not to follow the route because it was thick steep sand so we instead climbed a more solid ridge here (-35.52506, -70.66854). Tomáš went to continue up Vulcan Colorado and I boringly traversed to the normal pass and enjoyed a very fun sand ski down the south side. The Vulcan is a steep but not technical hike up, the crater can be walked around with a steep but fun sand descent on the other side in SW direction. This pass would be very tiresome climbing up due to sand. If you are coming from the opposite direction and do not trust the lagoon water, then you should aim for (-35.51226, -70.65626) or bring water.

Everything this day was CC. I found it to be the hardest day navigation-wise but still not troublesome. We finished the day in a nice valley before the next day's climb here (-35.55427, -70.70793). The water around this area is a bit sandy but better further up.

Day 07
Last pass and New route possibly.

From camp a trail existed to the pass at -35.55228, -70.73791. There was a little bit of snow at the top but since there were already steps made, it was zero problem. Lots of water on the SE of this pass but only a trickle of water on the NW side at -35.54575, -70.75672. This water trickle point is where we left the trail to make a short cut to Descabezado. To our surprise our route worked and in 4hrs we were making a camp at 2630m next to the approach trail to Descabezado, therefore saving a lot of time, distance and elevation. In our route there was only one difficulty and that was a deep gorge and creek "jump" at -35.57904, -70.77929. Personally I would not recommend this in early season because the consequence of falling in the river might take you down a waterfall and the traverse may otherwise be nasty if there are still snowfields around altitude 2700m. The gorge is fed by the glacier in the crater of Descabezado so in the morning, it should be better but the water is very dirty.

I drew the route on my photos of the pass if anyone wants them. Otherwise here is my description of our route.

From the small trickle creek at -35.54575, -70.75672 head SW up the creek bed in the direction of this easy pass -35.55513, -70.76977. Nearby spots would work too except for the pass directly above the creek bed, the other side of that one had snow and rocks. After this pass I believe it is easiest to just go straight down and up like a half pipe rather than trying to traverse and keep elevation, we aimed for a middle looking plateau on the other side, this middle plateau took us to the proper crossing of the gorge here, -35.57923, -70.77864 (más o menos). We jumped the gorge and climbed easily up the other side although the other side looks like a scramble, it was actually just walking. We travesed at this altitude for a little longer (although I would suggest easier walking a little lower) until we made camp in a ravine very close to the Descabezado approach route. Our camp even had a small amount of flowing snow melt so it was heaven in my mind! (Camp with water; -35.59280, -70.78723).

Day 8
Descabezado & Azul.

This is turning into a novel so I will keep this short. We left our tent in place and set off early to do Descabezado and Azul as a day trip. Descabezado was straightforward, it seems the trail will change slightly every year depending on who makes the tracks (neither the route in OSM or GPT seem to follow the actual trail from about 2600 to 3300). If wanting to make the true summit, it looks like you have to go down into the crater, cross the glacier and approach it from the other side. Coming down Descabezado was very fast but we made a huge mistake and left the GPT trail to follow the other osm route that heads east then west called "Descabezado Grande - Quizapu - cerro Azul".

This route should be avoided [2024: Tomáš removed it from OSM] for many reasons apart from the fact that the other route is easier despite elevation gain (we took the other route back). This osm route took us here -35.61301, -70.75604 which was actually a glacier covered in sand with a small hanging glacier above causing a lot of rockfall. It was a very ugly place and we carefully got out of there and made or way to the proper route to Azul. Despite losing almost 2hours on an already tight day we continued (although I wasted an extra 30min due to making up my mind🙄). Once again on the way up to Azul, we did not follow the normal way but went to the east side of the crater of Azul where the bad osm route is. There were a foot print here and there but it was CC. The crater was amazing but too windy to enjoy much, we saw a few fumaroles. We continued CC to the base of Azul, a tiny bit of snow (or glacier remnants?) but posed no difficulties. The base of Azul is beautiful with melt water if needed. We followed the ridge to Azul, it was more involved than Descabezado but no more than a low 3rd class (it is a bit exposed and steep but almost exclusively hiking). There is an interesting summit tower on Azul but because of the wind and time we had no desire to stretch our limits. Weather moved in fast and before we were off the ridge of Azul, we were completely covered in a white out, maybe maximum 10m of visibility. Navigation was incredibly hard, but we took our chances and took the other ("valle") OSM route down and luckily it was a very easy route and we were down below the clouds and able to see again. The rest of the night was CC back to our camp ~1030pm. It was a good day.

Day 9.

From our camp in the ravine we headed CC and then onto the trail that lead to the puesto at basecamp Blancquillo and from then on we were on a good trail. While walking down we opted to stay in sandals and just walk in the river, it was refreshing. We didn't have clean water until the valley bottom at the CONAF camp (valley El Venado) where there was also lots of pear trees and yellow plum-like trees. Many people there (first people seen). We made camp at the river before the pass (Mirador del Valle del Venado) but the walk from the CONAF camp until then was slower than expected because it was along a river bed with confusing tracks.

Day 10.

Good trail up and down from Mirador del Valle del Venado with lots of water and trees for shade. Took us almost half the time we thought it would take. Note that you cannot actually camp at campsites/resting areas on this trail after the Mirador. The CONAF guards asked us where we were coming from and when we said Laguna del Maule, he just sounded impressed and let us go on our way. There was a decent restaurant with empanadas, beer, etc. near the bus stop . There was a posted schedule of the bus but it clearly did not follow this schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.

Great trip, beautiful views and details and just the right amount of challenge.

* '''2023-Jan-20 to 2023-Jan-23 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ondrej '''

I got to Parque Inglés from Santiago de Chile by taking a train to Curico (advice: if you want to travel by train, buy a ticket online at least 2 days in advance as it books out quickly). From Curico I took a blue collectivo to Molina and then a bus to Parque Ingles.

At the park entrance I was turned away by a CONAF officer because I bought a “day trip” ticket (El bolson - para día) and not the one with overnight camping. For the ticket I bought they allow entry only by 11:00am. I did not explain that I will continue beyond El Bolson - maybe I should have done that but did not want to get myself into more unnecessary discussions. CONAF said they cannot change my ticket to the “camping” type and when I tried to book the other one, it was booked out for the next two days, so the advice is book early and the right ticket type (el bolson - camping)!

I ended up camping at the Rocas Basilicas for the night.

On the first hike day hopped the gate to the park at 7:00. No one was there so no issues. I hiked to Thermas de Azufre. It was a very long day. There is no shade at all after El Bolson. I made a provisional shade using my tent’s footprint during lunchbreaks. Once I arrived to the Azufre hotsprings, a few arrieros were there. I decided to camp further up the river.

On the second day I hiked to Refugio Blanquillo, met a settler who resides there for three months each year (if I understood correctly). The scenery before the refugio was otherwoŕldy and beautiful. Gaiters, good hat, sunscreen and sunglasses were my most loved pieces of gear. I camped at the first “camp” waypoint after Refugio Blanquillo. Amazing place to camp (but no grass), with a good stream and even some small shade thanks to the bushes.

My third day was quite straightforward, I made it almost to Los Cipresses but decided to camp close to the last “water” checkpoint, shortly before the gate with the guard. It was alright but I would recommend walking all the way to the shop and camp there for the night.

On the fourth day I walked through the gate with the security guard. I also met a number of the power station workers and all were friendly. We waved at each other. The guard at the gate was nice, took my passport number and name. Once at the shop I found it was closed (9am). I needed to get to El Medano to join GPT07 and decided to continue hiking through Los Alamos. It might have been to early (10am) as also the almacén in Los Alamos was closed. The road after Los Almacén was uneventful and a bit sketchy at places, so I forded the river at the “bridge” waypoint after Los Alamos to get to the main road and hitchike to El Medáno. Got a ride in approx 20 min. El Medáno is a great base - the thermals are nice and there is an electricity socket next to the toilets. They have shade for the tent too. There is also a restaurant with filling foods and a small shop.

Overall a fantstic section but I wasn’t expecting the heat to be that oppresive!

* '''2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-3 / 5 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / David and Erika'''

Get to TH Parque ingle before 1:00 pm, otherwise they close it for entrance. We did get internet and got the correct CONAF ticket -the one heading to El Bolsón. Once you get out of the park and into the Cuesta Las Anima, the wild parts begin. Hope you got your dirty girl gaiters; cause you’re going to need them. Sand city. Gaiters worked great. Remote and desolately beautiful. Water up at the end of Laguna del Caracol, at the river that comes out of the ground, you have a dry climb ahead. Walk out was straightforward. Got a lift from ENEL employee.

* '''2022-Dec-28 to 2022-Dec-29 / 2 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš'''

I connected in Thermas Azufre from GPT 05. I recommend it as a camping spot. I have seen the tracks of people staying on the western side of the valley but I think it is better to ford, there is a nice trail there on the eastern side. There is a place with an island where I needed to remove my shoes just for about three meters (the stream was not strong enough for me to keep the shoes on).

I took a detour to the lake at the pass - nice. No snow anymore. Reached the Refugio Blanquillo (which is a puesto, an arriero had two dogs and a thousand shep there), met a group of tourists on horses and two Chilean hikers there, so crowded all of a sudden. The pool there is indeed lukewarm. The water from the stream is said not to be good - I filtered it (for the first time on GPT) and was fine. But if not climbing the volcano, I would recommend to camp 2 km further at the next water source. I no longer carry water with me and just drink a lot when I find a source, there is a lot of them, even in the semidesert (the sand is actually white pumice from the volcanoes). It is quite dusty, my hands got dry and that normally does not happen to me. I agree with the recommendation to apply sunscreen at least three times a day!

The second day I walked all the way to the main road. In the pass, there is still a bit of snow but quite manageable. Going down from the lake, there is no water until around half or one third of the minor road in the valley, beware. Walking-wise, this was the easiest section on GPT for me. At the mainroad, the camping at the shop after the bridge was closed. I hitched somebody in a truck who knew the owners, called them and they came to open it for me. 5000 pesos but I gave the lady 10000 as she had to drive here to open the camping for me. There is electricity and cold shower and shadow. Almost nothing at the shop. The bus is said to leave at seven. I slept and now will try hitchhiking.

* '''2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will '''

Amazing trail! It's quite desolate but the landscape varies enough to always keep things interesting. Trudging up the sandy hills could be demoralizing, but getting to run down the other side more than made up for it. Water was still plentiful though not much snow was left, I only had to cross a few small patches. Thankfully heat wasn't a problem at all for me, I even felt cold a few times with the altitude and wind.

Caught the 5pm bus from Molina to Radal for 3000 pesos, then a van came by a few minutes later to take us to parque inglés for another 3000. Was nice to meet a bunch of Chilean hikers, who were all going to El Bolson and back. We camped at the Rocas Basílicas campsite right at parque inglés, 7000 pesos next to a beautiful river.

I had phone signal at parque inglés, so I bought the pass online for 8 USD. There was no one at the Conaf office at 7 30 the next morning, so I just hopped the gate and walked through.

I ran into a few arrieros relaxing at the Azufre hot springs, the only people I saw along the trail. They were friendly but it was tough to understand their heavy Chilean Spanish. They said I could camp with them but there wasn't a ton of room so I walked on.

There were some geysers shooting up from the muddy riverbank near the gpx track so I took a wider route around. An arriero also told me to take a trail higher up along the dunes so I followed that to the ford. The ford looked tough so I kept walking 2ish km along the other side until I could easily hop across. But it was slow going, probably not worth it.

I ended up having to camp on a random sand dune. I had some trouble getting my tent to stay up tied to rocks, since I couldn't get stakes in. I'd definitely recommend using tieouts you can really secure to rocks, or even a freestanding tent.

The rest of the hike went smoothly. I easily made it to los cipreses in three days of hiking from parque inglés. The guard was super friendly, inviting me in and giving me a bunch of water. I camped across the street from the shop near the bus stop, ask at the shop if you want to camp there. The guy running the camping was also super nice, he messaged the bus driver and told me it would be at 9 or 9 30 the next morning, because it was a Saturday (it was also Christmas eve). The bus ended up showing up at 9 45, and costed 3200 pesos to Talca.

The side trip up Volcan Los Hornitos was very worth it, there's a fairly gradual trail up and you can just sprint straight down. I didn't even need to bring any water (just some gummy bears).

I got by without gaiters, but bring them if you can. I should have used more sunscreen, the reflection off the sand is strong.

* '''2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-20 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena'''

Joining section 6 directly from the previous one with a little challenging connection trail (see our comment from section 5), we continued to the Hot Spring del Azufre. On the way there is one steep traverse. We used hot spring to cook our rice which really saved us as we run out of gas. The landscape on the whole section is amazing, we really enjoyed it! Ascent to the pass is nice and gradual, hiking in the sand is a little slower, but the opposite when going down. We camped at the El Estadio, almost no wind that day, great place to sleep . In the morning we continued on a nice and easy trail, great views around the volcanos… short break by the laguna thats great for swimming. We camped a little before the camp marked in the gps, there is one place, probably used by arrieros, with a fireplace and a few rocks around it. Being out of the gas we set a fire using wood that was already in there and some others we gather during the day. The view to the volcanos must be one of the best we have seen here so far! The next day we continued to the last Hornitos pass and through the valley, again really nice hiking on a clear trail. Last few kms on the road and since we missed the only bus to Talca that is leaving early in the morning (7:00) and did not have luck with hitchhiking, we stayed in a camp right next to the road. Its just a few meters before it, in the same direction we came from. On the left side is a house with some old advertisment sign (coca-cola or similir) on its fence, and the lady there has a small shop. The camp is on the other side - cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. Overall, when combining both sections we recommend to plan carefully, but its definitely worth the effort, especially this section 6.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* '''2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna&Christopher '''

The section is pretty tough, but beautiful with a quite unique landscape. We definetly would do it again.

Recomendations: bring lots of suncreme, a good hat, gaiters.

How to get there:
We took a bus from Santiago (terminal at the metro station Universidad de Santiago) to Curico. Across the street from the bus terminal in Curico leaves a blue bus to Molina for 1k CLP. From Molina we hitchhiked to Parque Inglés.
You have to be there before 3 pm to be allowed to hike up to El Bolson. To camp they charge 8k CLP p.p and the park entry is also 8k CLP p.p.

The first day we started early from El Bolson. From midday on it was super tough due to the white sand which makes walking really tiring and reflects the sun which makes it super hot without shade. The next day was pretty similar.
The whole section there was plenty of water. There was no much snow left at the passes, so we had no trouble without spikes.
On the last day, after arriving to the dirtroad (8 km from los Cipreses), we got offered a ride after a while and the guy brought us directly to El Médano.
The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).
In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.

* '''2022-Dec-03 to 2022-Dec-06 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica'''

Route: Parque Inglés - Laguna Ánimas - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna del Caracol - Laguna de los Hornos - Los Cipreses

A beautiful, remote section of true mountain wilderness. It took me 4 days, but only 2 hours hiking the dirt road to Los Cipreses on the last day (so very doable in 3 days). The only people I saw were a couple of arrieros at Termas del Blanquillo who told me they hadn't had a winter as snowy as this one in over 10 years. I was glad to have my microspikes for the vast snow fields near/on the passes. A couple places would have felt quite unsafe without them.

Notable tidbits:

Took a bus from Molina at 5pm (on a Friday) to El Radal, then hitchhiked to Parque Inglés. I camped there the first night for 7000 pesos. Pricey, but at least I had a beautiful and secluded spot by Rio Claro.

The stretch between Las Ánimas Pass and Termas de Azufre had some sketchy traverses across disintegrating scree slopes that were downright nerve-wracking. I suppose if you go down to Laguna Mondaca, then back up to the Termas, you may not encounter this hazard. But I did get to observe a condor soar above my head on thermals for an hour as he surveilled his domain, that was super cool.

For the first ford after Termas de Azufre, I crossed further upstream than indicated on the GPS track (see Carlos's comment below). It looked a lot safer there than downstream. There's continuous snow for about 3 km going over the pass after Thermas de Azufre, best to cross in the morning to avoid postholing when the snow gets too soft.

Los Hornitos pass has a large, very steep lip of snow (leftover cornice) on its south side. It's possible to go around it by heading north for 50-100 meters and then making your way down on the volcanic sand.

The spring between Termas del Blanquillo and Laguna del Caracol is a beautiful little desert oasis in an orherwise hot and dry stretch. It was a splendid spot to camp.

There is LOTS of water. Laguna del Caracol and Laguna de los Hornos are both full of clear, refreshing water. A lot of the "water" GPS waypoints are actually fords this time of year (easy ones), and there's a lot of other water sources not listed on the tracks. But the section is very exposed, no shade, and very hot in the midday sun unless a breeze is blowing.

No issues with the guards at Los Cipreses, they were friendly and let me pass no problem. From the first bus stop on the road, I hitched easily to Talca to resupply.

==Season 2021/22==

* '''2022-Feb-20 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Molly '''

Amazing section! I found the landscape to be very varied despite the lack of vegetation - and even with many pretty flowers near the streams. I personally found it to be a great ending to my GPT journey, a big contrast to the landscapes further south. Would make for a tough start though.
Plenty of water. Met one hiker doing Circuito el Cóndor and three Chilean tourists on horseback. No arrieros, but plenty of cows and horses. The weather was cold and windy, sometimes veritable sandstorms which meant I almost couldn't open my eyes - maybe sunglasses could have helped. I wore my long pants over my boots instead of gaiters - should have listened to the advice, so much sand!

Signs on the way to parque inglés say that you can only buy tickets online - don't know how strict they are, but no cell phone coverage at parque inglés and long before in case they insist. You have to be there before 15 to be let through to El Bolsón.
Easy 11 km to El Bolsón through a young forest. No water at the first "ford" waypoint. Campground has toilets and showers, it's the only place you're allowed to camp until after Valle del Indio. Nice enough place next to the impressive Colmillo del Diablo. In hot weather it might be nice to camp here to take the long ascent in the morning.
Laguna de las Animas would be a good campsite plus a nice place to swim. The first "water" waypoint afterwards is also great for camping - there is a nice little meadow.
Las Animas pass is gorgeous!
After Termas Azufre there are many confusing paths. They mostly seem to lead to the same place, but keep an eye on the GPS. When descending from the 2700 m pass towards Termas Blanquillo, you don't have to cross the stream to your right even though many paths do it. As noted by others, the hot springs Baños del Blanquillo are luke warm - but fine if you want to wash yourself a little and the stream is too cold. The refuge is locked.
The next camp waypoint is in a cute valley with many streams, bushes and flowers. No grass, though.
Laguna Caracol is beautiful as well, but very bare, surrounded by sand. I really liked the campsite afterwards, with views of both Volcán Descabezado and Cerro Azul. From there, a small CC section to the ascent where the path picks up again towards the Hornitos pass. Even more gorgeous with great and very different views to each site. Volcán Hornitos and the other little craters look really funny and special. Some hail was coming in, though, so I quickly slided down to the next camp waypoint, again a nice flat meadow. No water on the ascent. The first streams at the top of the pass were dry, but the path crosses a stream in 2100 m altitude. If you fill up at the water waypoint before the pass I agree you wouldn't have to carry extra water, the time between these two water points is around 2-3 hours.
I climbed to the rim of Volcán Hornitos, there's nothing in there, but if you walk to the highest point the view is nice enough. It took me 20 minutes in total, and it was about worth that.
The gravel road is nice the first kilometres, but then it gets pretty boring. The security guard at the end was very nice and welcoming.
I camped at the shop just before the road - nice place by the river, 3000 per person with toilets and a cold shower, or 50,000 for a cabaña. From there I hitched the 3 km down the road to Restaurant Cordillera, nice enough, great with a beer, meat and fries.
Bus left from the bus shed at 7:20 next morning - think it depends whether it goes to El Médano or not

* '''2022-Jan-20 to 2022-Jan-25 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Carlos '''
Route: Parque Inglés - El Bolsón (Colmillo del Diablo summit) - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna Caracol - First bus stop on CH115 road.

I hiked this route only a couple of days after Verónica & Jo. Not much to add except:

First day just hiked to El Bolsón (easy 4 hours), pitched my tent on the gorgeous campsite, left the heavy load and climbed the imposing "Colmillo del Diablo" (easy hike on a trail that goes around the back of the mountain).

From Termas del Azufre climbing to the pass I followed a faint track on the steep loose slope instead of crossing at the first river ford. After a few hundred meters the track takes you to a flat wide rocky area (just before the slope becomes impossibly steep), where you can very easily ford the river (I didn't even get my feet wet).

Plenty of buses Molina - Parque Inglés. But only one bus from el Médano - Los Cipreses to Talca, at around 7 am, which returns at 15:00. Only week days. Basic camping just in front of Los Cipreses shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits): $4.000 pp.

* '''2022-Jan-10 to 2022-Jan-15 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo '''

Route: Parque Inglès -> Laguna de las Animas -> Termas de Azufre -> Descabezado base camp -> Laguna del Caracol -> Laguna Hornitos -> First bus stop on 115-CH

The five nights we just spent in a tent was the longest stretch we have ever gone without a decent bed on a hike. We skipped Radal, Laguna Mondaca and Termas de Medano, but still hiked in 6 days what others did in 3-4. We're basically easing into the GPT, gaining some fitness and experience before taking on the harder challenges.

As others have said: the views are otherworldly and stunning. We felt like Touaregs traveling from oasis to oasis in the Saharan desert. Except that there actually are plenty of springs and little rivers flowing in most valleys.

Useful tidbits:

- There really is no shade after El Bolsòn. Either you make your own (e.g., adapting your tent to not trap heat) or you dress like a Touareg (loose clothing fully blocking the sun). For us, this was the hardest to deal with. We got up early but often stopped hiking at 13:00, enjoying the lakes or even just sitting down doing nothing that takes energy.

- High-heeled boots and long trousers work well to keep the sand out.

- Confirming Shn0rhelez: going up from Termas de Azufre until the second ford indeed passes plenty of water, no need to carry any.

- Laguna Hornitos is drying up and hence less beautiful than the other lakes. Maybe it's better to camp at the start of the Hornitos plateau (SOBO, so north entry) as the area is flat and there is reasonably clean running water there.

- There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.

- In supermarkets, you can buy alcohol desnaturalizado cheaply in the nail polish section, or alternatively, use alcohol de quemar from the combustibles section.

* '''2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / '''

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

* '''2021-Dec-09 to 2021-Dec-12 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / AR past Laguna Manatial Pelado / Vera & James'''

We arrived the day before at Parque Ingles and camped the night there. From Molina there is a bus to Radal at 5pm wed-fri, and direct to Parque Ingles on weekends. The only way to pay for park entry is online at www.aspticket.cl.

As an aside, we really liked Molina. It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.

Day 1 we headed up the RR as far as just above Laguna de las Animas by 2pm, a brutal climb in the midday sun! At this point the sun disappeared and clouds quickly rolled in, within 10 minutes lightning was hitting the peaks directly around us. We beat a hasty retreat back to El Bolsen and camped there.

We decided to take the alternate route past Laguna Manatial Pelado. A beautiful route if hot and sandy. We have realised the best time time to take on a long, sandy ascent in sunny weather is very early in the morning, after 9am it was brutally hot.

We then continued on the regular route. As has been said before, it's remote and stunning. We had some strong winds coming over Pass de Hornitos, and even some sleet on the final day!

Arrived in Los Cipreses on a Sunday and we didn't see a single person except the security guard. We got mixed messages from him and then the mini shop owner about buses to Talca. I would assume there isn't one on a Sunday. We hitched to El Colorado then got a bus from there to Talca.

* '''2021-Dec-03 to 2021-Dec-09 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&Stiina'''

We also decided to combine sections 5 and 6 to avoid in’n’out to and from Parque Inglés. It took us 6 and a half days and some of it was bloody hard. I have never before experienced my ass being handed over to me by a trail. We got beaten to the point where first signs of weakness started to show and I have to admit we kind of even started discussing a plan B and bailing this ditch trail. But only for a moment, once you hit the rock bottom there is only one way to go - up! It was literally and figuratively, and as terrain improved so did our mood and we laughed off the silly thoughts we had had earlier.

The first 45km of the section 5 were great, awesome hiking and then shit hit the fan real quick. Ascent up from the ford at km 45 was hard but alright. And then came the descent down to Rio Negro (51km), very steep and very loose scree slope. We wanted to make it to Rio Colorado for the night to cross it early in the morning in case there is no bridge. But because the trail or I must rather say the lack of it was really taking more time than we expected, by the time we got to Rio Negro it was already getting dark. The river was very rapid and murky so you couldn’t gauge the depth of it and couldn’t see where to step, we had to really concentrate to cross it, luckily it was only balls deep.

It was dark as we got across it and we continued the fun, albeit type 2 fun, illuminated by our headlamps. Then came the insanely steep gully that allowed you to enter the valley of Rio Colorado. Something was off with the elevation lines on Gaia and it showed that we will be descending right over the cliff, it was luckily only a glitch. As we couldn’t see much ahead we kept descending ever so carefully on this very very challenging terrain, I would even go as far as to say that it was stupid and outright dangerous. But there was no other way, you just had to stay focused. There were also some rocks falling off the cliff under which we were descending. In a sense night was a good time to do it because you couldn’t see all the dangers - only what lie within the beam of the headlamp.

Then came an extremely slow going, pretty much crawling speed traverse down to Rio Colorado, which we fully improvised as there was no trail anyway and got down to Rio colorado about a kilometer before the bridge, where we set up camp abit past midnight.

So yes, the bridge was there - a decent one, seemed permanent and it was a relief that we at least don’t have to start the day by risking our lives fording Rio Colorado. The river was pretty wide and the current seemed pretty fast, it wasn’t murky though but you couldn’t see how deep it really was. But we think it could have been forded in case there would be no bridge. There were a few places that looked doable with somewhat laminar flow. The excitement of the existence of the bridge didn’t last too long as we were slapped back into reality by the difficult terrain, it wasn’t as dangerous anymore as the previous night but difficult nevertheless. Once we got closer to the pass the trail appeared and it was actually pleasant hiking once again.

To sum it up the descent down to the Rio Colorado valley, then traversing it and the first part of crawling out of the valley sucks big time, but the rest of the section is really nice and not too challenging terrain-wise. I wouldn’t want to skip this section because it had some breathingtaking views. Just that on the hard part of it you can’t really enjoy any of it as all your effort is elsewhere.

The guards at Laguna Mondaca were the nicest people we have met in Chile so far. They invited us to stay at the property, gave us food and drinks. They insisted we don’t use any of our supplies or gear. They even provided us with a room with a bed and we got to recharge all of our electronics and got a hot shower aswell. It was perfect! And just to make it clear there are no fancy villas there just a few small simple houses where the owner of the property comes for fishing once in a while. And guards weren’t armed either.

It took us 4 days to get to Laguna Mondaca and not far after it we joined the section 6 which took 2 and a half more days.

Section 6 was really something, we haven’t had such a strong otherworldly experience anywhere else. It was really like being on another planet at times. The blue sky was the only thing that gave it away that we were still on Earth. Really bizarre landscape and definitely the most beautiful breathtaking section of the six that we have done so far.

Regarding the difficulty, compared to section 5 it didn’t feel that difficult at all. Walking on sand is challenging, yes, especially going uphill. But on the other side going down is much easier on the soft sand - you can just run/jog without much impact on your body as the sand absorbs it all. Shoes got completely wrecked and we took many “shoe-emptying” breaks because they were just filled with rocks and coarse sand.

We even took a dip in one of the lakes close to Descabezado and seeing how water is just coming out of the sand and turning into a river was really really cool, just as the whole landscape around there.

We camped at the lake about 5km from Los Cipreses. When we arrived to the road to take bus to Talca the bus stop didn’t have any schedule and the shop close by was closed. So we couldn’t find out about the bus schedule and the traffic on the road seemed pretty dead. But luckily after 15 min of waiting a car that was going to Talca picked us up, perfecto!

Overall plenty of water on both sections, a lot of exposure to the sun, and some challenging terrain. It all together made for a great experience, just what we were looking for. It humbled us and we definitely had to adjust our expectations and recalibrate our way of hiking, it is GPT - not more and not less.

For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

* '''2020-Feb-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH to Laguna Manantial / Frank '''

At Parque Ingles I registered with Conaf, they record your route & where you will camp. Deregistered by email later. Easy 3 hour walk to El Bolson, lots of people camping there but they don't go any further. Took optional route to Laguna Manantial. At 2160M there is a small meadow & stream, this is last water & last camp before the lake. You go over a pass @ 2560M then drop 80M to the lake. Camped on the lakeshore.
Termas Blanquillo were only tepid. Camped on a small beach @ S end of Laguna de Los Hornos. The lake is nearly dried out, only a little semi stagnant water left. Best to carry water in from one of the streams a little above the lake. Last 11KM are on dirt roads, you could hitch easily if you want. Met 2 security guards, they were both friendly, no access problems if you are Southbound. Small campsite @ shop on way out. Amazing section, some tough uphill on sand but scenery is like Mars. Definitely use small gaiters or you will be emptying sand out of your shoes every 10 mins.

At the end of GPT06 if you go on the north bank of Rio Maule the route is blocked by a cliff beyond Los Alamos & you need to cross the river to continue. Better to go on the road. After 2KM on the road you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also. At Bridge 17 you can rejoin RR or continue on road but RR is nicer.

* '''2019-Dec-24 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias'''

Overview:
So, I decided to combine GPT sections 5 and 6 in order to avoid a 30k out and back resupply section into parque ingles. I thought this was a good decision for me and really enjoyed being out there for a week. In my opinion this was the hardest section of the GPT in between sections GPT 01-10. I went the first 5 days without seeing another person which I thought was quite cool. So, these two sections are quite remote, and you are way out there in the mountains. There was also some pretty intense river crossing in “GPT Section 5” that I found to be manageable (keep in mind I’m 185cm and have lots of thru hiking experience.) but still a little difficult. The rivers were also very dark and murky which made it hard to see where you would step. There was also an improvised bridge crossing the Colorado River that I used, and thought was safe to use. These two sections are dominated by a volcanic profile with much of the route on ash and volcanic rock. Most of the route is very exposed and there are not many trees or vegetation that grow in the volcanic ash/rocks. There was plenty of water with springs coming out of the hills everywhere and then disappearing into the sand.

Difficulties:
It was slow going walking thru the sand, especially when hiking vertically. Exposure to the sun. River crossings. Isolation and remoteness. Hiking up and down lose rock and scree fields.

Highlights:
Hot Springs. Great views of the volcanic region. Mountain Lakes. Sunrise and Sunsets were epic with the landscape.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com

* '''2020-Jan-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Shn0rhelez'''

Parque Ingles to El Medano southbound/main route ... 7 days duration(2 nights spent on laguna Las Animas)...section passable...Strong sun, no shadow after the park... Gaiters strongly recommended...the SUBsection between termas del azufre and second ford Before the pass (2700m) is full with water... my personal opinion is the backpack weight can be minimized... Good luck!

* '''2020-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno & Martin'''

Parque Inglés to El Medano
5 days for this amazing section. We started in Parque Inglés in Radal 7 Tazas National Park. Had to wait for one more day because of limited hiking permits towards El Bolsón. 80 daily permits allowed and delivered at 8:30 in the morning, to be minded on weekends when the park is full. Followed Regular Route Laguna Las Ánimas, Azufre Hotsprings, Descabezado base camp, Laguna Caracol and then down to Los Cipreses. Cold section and bad weather towards the end, some rain and freezing wind. Had to camp in Laguna Caracol waiting for the storm to pass and hike the last pass.
The use of lightweight gaiters is advised for keeping the sand out of your shoes.

* '''2019-Dec-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom & Maddie '''

Parque Ingles to El Medano. Very beautiful (and exposed) section. Lots of water. The track from Los Cipreses to El Medano suffered from a few landslides meaning the route was slower than anticipated. I would consider taking the road next time as there is no loss of scenery. We resupplied in El Medano by basically buying all the food at the tienda (60000 CP for food for two people for the next section). Selection was good enough.

* '''2019-Dec-18 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from Vilches Alto / Tyler & America '''

A Stunning section. Vilches Alto made for a great optional start; rather than returning to Parque Ingles. (We came from Talca by bus - 2100 CP). Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP. All trails were beautiful and a bit more trodden that sections before. Arrieros at thermal pools (not hot) were welcoming and friendly for us to camp. We took our sweet time in the beautiful section. We bussed from the first road access (south of town Los Cipreses/ OH-MR-V@06-E-#001) to Talca for a good re supply before the long next section, 2200 CP. Bus leaves this stop around 11.

* '''2019-Dec-18 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start coming from GPT 5 / Matus & Anna'''

We combined sections 5 and 6 via optional trail.
GPT06 took us 2 days and bit (first day we did just 4km from 6th section).
I agree with everything what was written in previous updates.
Nice sandy trails. Mornings were freezing cold. No problems while crossing rivers. After optional start regular trail didn't correspond with any trail. We finally took one on the right side and after while they merged. And I don't know who was so commited, but thanks for marking the trail 😊

There is a small tienda with coke and crisps before entering a main road from Los Cipress. If you continue by main road toward El Medano there is restaurant Cordillera where we refueled again. Accomodation in El Medano. I will edit with ressuply options later.

* '''2019-Dec-14 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mainly) / Martina & Ivo '''

As we came from GPT05 and didn't want to go all the way "back" to the Paso Las Animas, we tried the Optional Investigation Route which starts at Parque Ingles right at the other side (South) of Rio Claro. It leads through private property, so we went to the guard, showed him the CONAF Permit (we bought one just in case, and of course they said it's not possible to walk on the other side of the river), explained him that we would only hike through and gave him some cerezas. He informed his Colleagues via radio to let us pass. It was a nice and easy hike. Nothing to add to Linda's remarks for the rest of the trail.

* '''2019-Dec-06 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda '''

Start = Parque Ingles
Finish = Las Termas El Medano

GENERAL FEELING

Amazing section !!!! Incredible mineral landscapes as soon as you go beyond Laguna Las Animas. It was tough because of the passes (and this was also my first hiking days and I carried too much food ... ) and the ground around the volcanoes is sand ! So it makes each step even more difficult. I loved the contrast between the areas around the volcanoes and the Laguna Caracol is just one of the most beautiful place I've ever seen !!!

LOGISTICS

- Bus from Molina to El Radal (off season and weekdays = only one bus at 5pm in Molina that stops in El Radal. Weekend : it goes directly to Parque Ingles and the schedule may also be different)

- Hitchhiked from El Radal to Parque Ingles

- First night in a camping in Parque Ingles = 5000 CLP

- The day after, I had to register to CONAF. Office opening at 8:30 am. Entrance fee = 6000 CLP
Some people (5 or 6) were going to El Bolson for the day but after Laguna Las Animas, there was absolutely nobody till the end !

- Still snow when you go beyond the 2300 meters high

- Be careful for the last pass Las Hornitos, a lot of snow at the top and it makes it impossible to follow the GPS track to go down. I found my way on the left when you face the valley and then got back to the GPS track

- No problem to go out from the mine. Actually, workers I met on my way down to Los Cipreses suggestedto drop me by car to the main road. The guard was just smiling when he saw me in the car and when I told him I was hiking

- Mini market where you can find basic food (eggs, spaghetti, chocolate ...) in Las Termas El Medano

* '''2020-Feb-07 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arnaud'''

Amazing but hard section with a lot of denivelation.
As we did not walk the section 5, we took the bus from Molina to Parque Ingles-7 Tazas (many buses, 4-5 buses per day). We registered to the Conaf Office and paid the entrance fee 6000 clp for foreigners. They gave us a mail adress so that we can announce our exit of the parque, to check the security.
We walked the first 11km to the campspot El Bolson. It costs 4000 clp per person but has no interest. As the zone is protected, it is possible to freecamp only after el Bolson, before, it is prohibited.
The Laguna Las Animas is very very beautiful and is welcome for a bath with the heat of this season.
Then the paso las animas is easy and ashes are fun for downhills!
We met nobody on the trail after el Bolson. So great! Except at one spot with termas with full of chilenos there.
We lacked a bit of water at the laguna el Caracol but found 3kms further (just before the strong uphill) a source with drinkable water.
No problem then to exit los cypress. We hitchhiked on the road with workers until the road to los Medanos.
We stayed one day in los termas de los Medanos, at the camping and exit quickly (too many noise, people). The water is hot and nice after a hard section like this one.
We resupplied at los termas (with pasta, arros, pancito, manjar). No gas available there.

=Resupply and Accommodation=

You need to carry all the food for the entire trail. There is no food supply after Parque Ingles. If you meet arrieros at one of the Puestos you may ask for some goat or lamb meet but if you are not ready to take an entire or at least half an animal they may be reluctant to sell. Refill your water supply at the marked river crossings and the camps. In between these waypoints your will find only ocasinally some trickling water because water trickles away easily into the volcanic soil.

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

* 02-2025 / Clara :
Los alamos : Hostal la Riviera 25k/n con desayuno. Possible to have lunch and dinner also (9500).

El colorado is a good for full resupply. Several bus per days to and from Talca. 1 per day to and from El medano

* 2023 / Michael and Kasia
Molina: Hostal Nativos is three blocks off the main square. Run by very nice people, they have private rooms with shared bathroom for 25.000 CLP for the room. They also have a nice garden area with space if you need to clean gear. Ferreteria Franco had gas canisters for stoves. Unimarc on the plaza had cans for recharging, but didn't carry the screw route for stoves.

* 2021 / Vera & James

Molina: It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

* 2022 / Martin & Helena

Los Cipresses: small shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits) + camp with cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat.

* 2022 7 Anna&Christopher

El Médano: The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).
In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.

* 2020 / Frank
After 2KM on the road after Los Alamos (to El Medano) you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also.

=Transport to and from Route=

==Parque Ingles==

During the main season in January and February several buses go from Molina and Curico to Radal and some even go all the way to Parque Ingles. Outside of the main season there is only one daily bus from Molina to Radal leaving in the afternoon from the rural bus station in Molina.

* Jan-24 / Joscha
The Bus between Molina and Parque Ingles is run by the company "Buses Hernández". You can check the departure times on their website.

*2020 / Frank In summer there are 6 buses a day Molina-Parque Ingles.

Mon-Sat they leave Molina @ 10:20, 11:30, 12:40, 3PM, 6:15PM, 8:15 PM Sunday Molina- Parque Ingles 7:45, 9:30, 2PM, 7:30PM, 10PM 2 hours to Parque Ingles, buses leave from terminal near main plaza in Molina. Parque Ingles-Molina 7:10, 11, 1PM, 3:45PM, 4:45PM, 6:30PM Mon-Sat Sun. 10:30, 1:30PM, 3:30PM, 5:45PM, 6:45PM

*2019/ Martina & Ivo

Monday to Thursday: Molina-Radal: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30

Friday: Molina-P.Ingles: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30

Saturday: Molina-P.Ingles: 11:30 // 13:30 / P.Ingles-Molina: 18:00

Sunday: Molina-P.Ingles: 09:00 // P.Ingles-Molina: 15:30 / 17:00

==Los Cipreses / El Medano ==

* Dec 2024 / Sean
One bus a day from El Medano to Talca 7:15 and Talca to El Medano 15:00 Monday to Saturday:
[[Archivo:IMG-20241229-WA0000.jpg|thumbnailimage|Talca bus timetable December 2024 - Sean]]

* 7 am in front of Los Cipreses - someone has to call in advance for the bus to go all the way to el Médano - loads of tourists there, though, so someone might have called. Other connections should be at 9:15 and 17:20 (one at 1620 l3aves from further downstream). The other way around, the buses leave Talca at 7, 13, 15 and 19, according to the schedule at Talca bus station.

*This trail section finished at the Route 115 to Talca. Big road with many cars (hitchhiking possible)

* 2023 / Louis, Rémi & Noé

From Los Cipreses only one bus at 7am. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)

* 2023 / Natalie & Tomáš

Buses from Talca to la Mina go at; 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm.
Vilches: bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.

* 2022 / Veronika & Jo

- There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.

== Vilches ==

* 2023 / Natalie & Tomáš

Bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.

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

* CONAF does register all trekkers at Parque Ingles (GPT01-WP004) but does not charge an entrance fee. Camp fires are not permitted within the national park that reaches from Radal (GPT01-WP001) to the Laguna las Ánimas (GPT01-WP013).

* 2024 SOBO Permit required at Parque Inglés:
- payment 8500 Pesos online! (not in cash) with online your Conaf account

https:// shop.pasesparques.cl/evento/2564/radal-siete-tazas

- offline formular at Conaf station

- payment 7000 Pesos for Campsite El Bolsón in Cash (not possible with credit card, 200m from Conaf Station)

* 2023

When starting from Vilches and going northbound, a permit to access the Volcano (or the Condor Circuit) is required. CONAF won't let you enter in Altos de Lircay without it. Call them or write an email to get the correct number. The number ending with 554 works on WhatsApp, and a WhatsApp message from the land owner counts as "written permission". Moreover, you have to pay the entrance fee to the reserve and it is closed on Mondays in March.

*2023

Start at Parque Ingles:
Entry ticket for Bolsón overnight needed: $10 USD (book it before online at www.aspticket.cl + get to the trailhead before 13:00) It needs to be purchased online in advance. There is good Entel service at the gate for last minute purchases. After purchase one change can be made to the date of the ticket, and there is no additional charge. After that you need to repurchase the ticket. Entrance for the camping permit is until 13:00. After that they refuse entry.
In addition, you need to show CONAF proof of permission to camp at Bolsón, even if you do not plan to camp there. Bolsón is a privately operated concession within the park. Camping is 7.000 CLP pp and you buy the tickets at Rocas Basalticas campground about 50 meters down the road on the opposite side of the street from the entrance. The only way around this is to have contacted land owners that live beyond the park boundary and show CONAF proof of permission to camp on their land.
They also require that you show them your gas stove, as all other cooking systems (alcohol, wood, etc.) are prohibited within the park, so have it handy.

The parc can be entered illegally in the morning (around 7 pm).

* 2019

Optional start Vilches Alto: Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP.

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]

=Images=

[[File:18 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|In the huge ash field]]
[[File:10 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (9).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (5).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail]]
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (17).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|[[Cerro Azul]].]]
[[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (11).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 6]]
[[File:01 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|El Bolsón]]
[[File:02 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving El Bolsón]]
[[File:03 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:04 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Las Ánimas.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Las Ánimas]]
[[File:05 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Pass 2560 m.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Pass 2560 m]]
[[File:06 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Approaching Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Approaching Laguna Mondaca]]
[[File:07 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Mondaca.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Mondaca]]
[[File:08 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, that bypasses Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Bypasses Laguna Mondaca]]
[[File:09 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:11 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Termas de Azufre.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Termas de Azufre]]
[[File:12 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:13 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:16 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:17 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]
[[File:19 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:20 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:21 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:23 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:24 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:25 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:26 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]
[[File:27 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]
[[File:28 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:29 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:31 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:32 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:33 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:34 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:35 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:37 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:38 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:39 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:40 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:41 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:43 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos.jpg|Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos]]
[[File:44 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]
[[File:45 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]
[[File:46 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:47 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]
[[File:48 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]

GPT35 (Parque Patagonia)

2025-03-07T23:29:25Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2024/25 */

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

= How to a add new entry =
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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==

'''2025-02-25 to 2025-03-02 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, variant R,S. Leaving trough option 3,/ Thijmen Scholten'''</span

* I stayed in Hospedaje Rio Baker in Chile Chico it's cheap and very friendly, recommended.
* The pass/Platform very weather exposed, so check the weather forecast before you go.
* You can camp sheltered just before the pass
* Besides all the guanacos There are also Some nice oyster like stones
* I could not really find a trail on the first part but it's a easy CC at which you do not have to be perfectly on the indicated trail. Just more or less in the same direction.
* I found a truly beautiful stone but forgot it and it's at the source of water source 30.6. it's heavy but I wanted to give it to the people who would take me hitchhiking or at the park entrance office. So if you want this beautiful stone you can take it !
* Camped somewhere next to the river on the way down. Took CC shortcut to bridge at 42.7
* next day hitchhiked , pay entrance , easy walk.
* After camp valley Hermosa there were many river crossings (ankle to knee deep). Best to keep your sandals or (non gortex) shoes on and just accept you will have cold feet in the next hour.
* Camped: 100m before refuge 94.7 at an nice little windfree spot next to the river.
* 7 Laguna's trail. About 1km before end of lake and about 1 and 4km after pass are decent streams to get water from. For the rest only water from the lakes.
* Trail fairly easy to follow in forest because of sawn trunks and in grassland because one plant species grows everywhere expect on the trail.
* Trail is not maintained anymore. Therefore would be nice if everyone did some trail maintenance (remove some branches from trail, break some branches , indicate wrong trail with row of stones etc.
* Internet entell at end of the pass 111.6
* Look out that you don't miss the junction at the last lake.
* Option R: is badly overgrown with spiky Plants and seeds! I went 1/3 of the way and turned back. I would not take it
* Variant 3: is nice and clear. At Valle Chacabuco there is a very nice Museum! And a bus to Cocrane @17.00 cost 15.00 CLP.

''' 2025-FEV-21 > 25 / 4,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR > 35-02 > 35-03A > 35-03 > 35-R > RR / Pierre-Marie '''

Etape : GPT35
| Meteo : soleil
| Eau : parfois difficile
| Neige : non
| Intérêt : 5/5
| Difficulté : 3/5
| Danger : chenilles urticantes, rivière

J'ai laissé ma machette à Coyhaique pour m'alléger. J'ai dormi à l'hostel Ayékan à Chile Chico puis j'ai commencé la randonnée à 9h. J'ai eu du mal à faire de l'auto-stop mais après 4 km de marche une voiture m'a emmenée au km 8. Il y a pas mal d'eau sur le plateau, bien plus qu'indiqué sur le GPS. Il y avait beaucoup de vent sur le plateau mais il faisait beau alors ça s'est bien passé. J'ai campé au km 36 mais il y avait de petites mouches qui piquent, pas super pour se laver. Malheureusement le vent s'est levé et il a pas mal plu dès 20h alors j'ai passé une nuit difficile. J'ai eu beaucoup de chance et j'ai pu faire du stop du km 45 au km 53. Très peu de voitures sur cette gravel road. Les arbres n'ont plus de feuilles car des chenilles ravagent tout dans le parc (https://laderasur.com/articulo/cuncunas-espinosas-a-la-vista-los-impactos-de-una-especie-que-ha-defoliado-miles-de-hectareas-de-lenga-en-chile/). Comme il a bien plu pendant la nuit, toutes les rivières sont en crues. C'est bien car les sentiers sont désert, mais les ford sont très dangereux. Le ranger et un monsieur du coin m'a dit que je pouvais tout franchir en faisant attention. Il n'y a pas de refuges aux km 81,8, 94,7 et 119,1. A partir du km 98, il n'y a plus de rivière, juste de petits ruisseau vaseux et les lacs bien sûr. Au km 10,4 du 35-R, le bâtiment peu servir de refuge. Il est très propre et je n'ai pas vu de rongeurs malgré la mise en garde. Le seul problème c'est qu'il n'y a pas d'eau. Il a neigé au dessus de 1000m. Je suis arrivé à 10h à Cochrane alors j'ai pris un hotel pour y passer la journée.

'''2025-FEB-16 to 2025-FEB-22 / 7 hiking days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Nimrod & Tamar
'''
Beautiful section! Very special for us, and we were lucky to have good weather! first part had a lot of animals. second part had many tourquize lakes and snowy mountains around+ black caterpillars. third part had pampa terrain and 8 beautiful blue lakes.

Day 1- started walking at noon from Chile Chico. There were a lot of hichhikers, so decided to walk the PR. A dog followed us and slept the night with us at camp (14.1/923).

Day 2- started walking with the dog (even though we tried getting rid of him he was very stubborn). Got to puesto (15.8/1075) and asked Claudio the settler if he would like to adopt the sweet dog, which he happily agreed to. Claudio invited us to watch him slaughter a sheep and for breakfast.
Continued walking, saw many guanacos (they make such silly sounds!), and some flamingos as well. Camped at (-46.722612, -71.904105) like Miamzelt-thanks!. Was a long day for us.

Day 3- walked to national park. Until the MR it can be a bit swampy a times- best to keep near fence for dry feet. Saw many dead guanacos near the fence - was interesting to see their anatomy but also sad because it looks like they get traped in the fence and die miserably.
On MR got a ride for last 10k.
In national park payed online for entrance fee- 11,000 each, free wifi. We asked about whether as well and figured we'll have only 2 more days until it will start raining for many days. We decided we would not want to walk in the rain and try to walk longer days then planed to try and finish before the rain and from Casa Piedra take a hitch. Walked up to valle hermoso camp site- great views on the way a few fords before the campsite- easy but cold.

Day 4- after valle hermoso many fords in the morning- more then written in gps files, easy but cold.
Lovely scenary.
Very high and cool bridge at the end of the day. Shelter 94.7 was a bit dirty, we found a nice cozy spot between the trees sheltered from the wind. About 100 meters before the shelter.

Day 5-: thought this will be our last day- but when we got to Casa Piedra we checked the wether again and no rain for the next few days! Decided to continue as planed at first. The first lake we passed had a lot of rip calafate- delicious and juicy! Slept in (-47.09768, -72.28546) as suggested below. Small stream, wind sheltered by the trees, and flat. Thank you!

Day 6- walked though many lakes. Crazy wind! A tree fell 20 meters from us right on the trail- be alert while walking for sounds of cracking trees! Maybe not a good time for airpods. Slept near the lake in camp 138.4. We later discovered that there are two wood shelters a few meters from where we slept. Was not locked and looked pretty clean.

Day 7- walked to Cochrane. Last kms where with many day hikers. Were Many comfortable places to take a dip in the lake.

'''2025 Feb 02 to Feb 14 / 10 hiking days, 3 zero days / SOBO, NOBO / Hiking / RR, Opt 6 Fachinal / Michael and Kasia'''

Quick notes: The plateau at the beginning of RR is best done in good weather, but definitely worth it; the park is beautiful, though in summer there were a fair amount of people, though less than Cerro Castillo; Opt 6 Fachinal is a really beautiful and adventurous optional route and well worth it, though in our opinion better as an exit than an entrance to the section.

CAMPS:

Night 01: -46.60658, -71.80980 (nice views, water is about 150 m away, can be semi-protected by the hill depending on which way the winds come from)

Night 02: -46.66455, -71.84387 (some wind protection from the hill if the winds come from the west, water is about 170 m away, only really good in good weather)

Night 03: -46.73523, -71.89404 (water is close, not wind protected)

Night 04: El Silencio campground

Night 05 and 06 : Camp Raleigh

Night 07 to 09: Camp Valle Hermoso

Night 10: -46.75834, -72.22028 (good water access, not that wind protected, ground is difficult to get tent stakes into)

Night 11: -46.69923, -72.22451 (some wind protection, water not close)

Night 12: -46.62948, -72.27663 (some wind protection, water about 200 m away)

WATER: water was generally easy to find throughout the section, even on the plateau

Day 01 - Feb 02

We took the bus from Chile Chico. The company was Buses Interlagos, +56 9 9038 6338. We made a reservation. There is a sign in the terminal in Chile Chico that says they leave at 09:00, but when I messaged to make the reservation they said they would leave at 08:00. It is due to regular road closures for road work, so it is recommended to message in advance to get the correct time if you take the bus. Also, the bus driver knew about a trail to Parque Patagonia, but it wasn't the GPT track, so it's good to watch the map to not overshoot. He charged us 2.000 each for the 8 km ride. The route up initially was just a road so easy going. There were multiple places to get water. At Puesto 15.8 we met Claudio who invited us in. His wife and son had passed us going the opposite way as we hiked up. We stayed and talked with Claudio for about an hour. He was very friendly and hospitable. He said a lot of backpackers go through there, some to the park, but a lot for a rock climbing area nearby. We camped at (-46.60658, -71.80980), water was a little ways away. It snowed briefly just before we set up the tent, then cleared up and was sunny for the rest of the day. The night was completely calm.

Day 02 - Feb 03

We headed up to the pass. We followed the OSM track more than the GPT track which worked well. The landscape on the way up was very impressive and we saw our first guanacos. On the plateau it was pretty windy, but as others have said, there are spots where the topography shields you from the wind and you can get a break from it. We had seen on Windy before leaving that the next day on the plateau was supposed to be essentially windless and with full sun, so we wanted to stay for the night. We found a spot that was protected from the prevailing winds which were from the west that day and had a peaceful night.

Day 03 - Feb 04

We woke up to a silent morning that was quite warm. We took the whole day to walk across the plateau, carefully observed by guanacos the whole way. They seemed to work in shifts with at least one acting as lookout at all times. We found it very endearing. We stopped at a lake for lunch and watched 8 flamingos there as well as other birds. We also came across a curious hill that appeared to be made largely of giant ancient seashells. They looked like oyster shells, and some still looked like they had bits of mother of pearl on the inside. It was just the one hill. The descent was easy, gradual and with nice views. We found camping a little below camp 32.6 in a grassy area near the stream. It was not wind protected but we had a quiet night.

Day 04 - Feb 05

We wrapped up camp quickly, just before it started raining. We went under a fence and did CC between the GPT track and the OSM track. Around km 36.6, just before where the OSM and GPT tracks join, we found a well maintained trail that was not on the map that led down to a puesto. The man who lives there, Leopoldo, was friendly. He opened the gate for us and took us to another gate close by and pointed us to a 2 track road that rejoined with the GPT track after about 500 m. On the main road to the park, few cars passed and they were all full. We had lunch at the Bridge 42.7. The Camp 42.9 looked reasonably good, but it was visible from the road, so not that private. We walked about 1 km before we finally caught a hitch to the park entrance. The park office had an open StarLink wifi network. We bought tickets, 11.400 each. Camping 53.3, Camping El Silencio, was free. Each site had a covered area with tables and benches. Water spigots at the sites were not working so we took water from the outflow of the lake next to the bridge. The caterpillar apocalypse was definitely not overstated. Live, dead, dying, they were everywhere, most ominously in some places as enormous mounds of dead ones, like something out of a horror movie. The park office had to close the main bathrooms due to them and opened a temporary one at the office. They let us charge our devices in the office overnight and pick them up in the morning.

Day 05 - Feb 06

We had a short day just hiking to Camp Raleigh. We stopped and had lunch on the beach of Lago Jenimeni. We passed several groups of day hikers on the way, but were the only ones called for the night. The caterpillars were not as bad there.

Day 06 - Feb 07

We took a zero day to wait out an all day rain event. Two other groups showed up part way through the day, one going either direction. Both intended to keep moving but after two hours of waiting and no break in the rain, they both decided to stay and move the next day.

Day 07 - Feb 08

The hike to Valle Hermoso was fairly easy. All fords were below the knee. At the last ford we went a little higher up and towards a small beach as the direct crossing to the trail marker was quite deep. Up to the pass was easy. On the way down the other side there were a few areas where it was steep and the trail was covered in scree, and a few places where the trail had been washed out, but nothing very difficult. There were some amazing views on the way down. All the fords until the camp were knee deep or below. Four other groups were staying at Valle Hermoso camp that night.

Day 08 - Feb 09

We took another zero day to wait out another all day rain event. All but one of the other groups stayed as well. The river went up about 15 cm over the course of the day and turned completely brown from all the sediment.

Day 09 - Feb 10

We had intended to do some exploration toward Opt 7 Mallin Grande because Garmin weather report said it was supposed to be partly sunny for the day. It turned out to be very cloudy with high winds and very cold, alternating light rain and some snow. The valley was also mostly covered in clouds and fog so we decided to just take another zero day.

Day 10 - Feb 11

We had good weather in the morning. We left for Opt 6 Fachinal. It was a really beautiful walk up. We were in water shoes until the first lake as there were many stream crossings. The first lake is a popular side trip from Valle Hermoso. One of the Chileans at the campsite mentioned that the valley was called Valle de los Glaciers. I'm not sure if that's an official name or just a common name, but we did see three huge glaciers, one above Ventisquero, and the other above the second lake. We passed a private refuge (-46.79249, -72.20797) that was locked, however they had prepped camp sites and an outhouse with running water, so it was possible to use the outdoor facilities if no one was there (if you use the toilet or sink, the water gate is down on the floor to the left of the toilet). It was too early to stop so we continued on. The trail around the bowl above the lake was faint but we were able to follow it. Over the pass the next valley opens up and is mostly flat. A lot of it was wetland, but we were able to find dry foot crossings by staying more on the west side. Occasionally we would come across a bit of trail and then it would disappear again. Around (-46.76362, -72.22212) where the track turns sharply east before heading north again, we switched to water shoes to cross the river. After that point we just left them on. As the track goes north again it enters a shallow canyon and we had to cross back and forth several times. We found a place to set up the tent near the stream at (-46.75834, -72.22028). A very short distance away (-46.75795, -72.22048) was a spot under some trees that was too small for an X-Mid 2, but would be nice for a 1-person tent or a smaller 2-person tent. It was fairly flat with nothing spikey and had great wind protection.

Day 11 - Feb 12

We started the day in water shoes. All the way to the pass we crossed back and forth across the stream. It was never deeper than half-calf, and no serious current. There is a really beautiful lake at the top just before they pass. There is a trail along the west side, but it was so overgrown and muddy that we just walked in the water along the edge of the lake. The pass is a low pass. Going down the other side we struggled through a lot of it. We would find what looked like a good trail and follow it, and then it would just abruptly end leaving us to bushwack for some distance before finding another piece of it. It was strange how some sections would look almost meticulously maintained and then suddenly it would look as if there had never been a trail at all. The track files were very helpful, especially since there were other trail sections that led in different directions. At (-46.69923, -72.22451) there was an abandoned puesto with a single grave next to it. We camped inside the corral of the puesto. Just before it we had passed by the second private refuge. That one did not have as good of quality campsites and the toilet was a latrine with no water. Water access was further down the trail in the direction of the first Tyrolean traverse. That last 400 m is currently marked as CC in the track files, however a trail now exists there and is very easy to follow.

Day 12 - Feb 13

We got up early to do the first ford. Water was crotch height (we're both about 165 cm) and with a good amount of current. The water was icy cold, milky and so hard to see through, and the bottom of the river had very large rocks so it was very uneven. It was one of the more challenging fords we've done. There is a second ford point listed in the track files, but we would not recommend using that point. It looks like a much easier ford, however in the far side there is a rock slide with very large rocks between it and the way to go forward on the trail. It looked to us like the area around the Tyrolean traverse was the only suitable place to cross. After the cross the trail follows the river for a couple hundred meters then heads very steeply up for a few hundred meters. Once up it was fairly easy to follow the trails, but we recommend again keeping an eye on the GPS as there were several trails, and while they often reconnected, sometimes they didn't. The second ford was just above the knee and with less current than the first, much easier for us. There was a flat area that would be good for camping on the far side. The trail then passed through open forest with a fairly clear trail, and through a few pastures where the trail disappeared. There seems to be less trail maintenance than in previous reports with a lot of downed trees not cleared. At around km 31 the trail heads downhill along a fence. There is a path that goes left to stay on the trail or goes right. We went right about 100 m and found an old puesto that has been completely broken down, but that has a nice flat area (-46.62948, -72.27663). We camped there for the night. Water was back out along the track through the fence. There was a side stream feeding into the river.

Day 13 - Feb 14

We had to use water shoes to ford the side stream as even in the morning we couldn't find a suitable place to cross dry foot. The day was warm and sunny and the trail was very pleasant. In a few places other trails showed up. They usually rejoined later. A section of the GPT track had been washed out by the river, so there were a few CC areas. Towards the end the trail passes through an area where a fire has gone through a few years prior. We made it down to the road around 14:00. Hitching was not easy. Very few cars passed by and nearly all of them were full. After about two and a half hours someone picked us up and dropped us off in Puerto Guadal.

We really enjoyed Opt 6 Fachinal and were very happy we chose to walk it. It was beautiful and had a varied landscape, and it felt very “GPT” compared to the park routes. We didn't see anyone else while we were on it. However we would recommend it as an exit since there is a lot of up and down and BB in parts that would be much easier without a full resupply. We would also recommend, if going NOBO, knowing the schedule for buses that pass along the road as it did seem that hitchhiking was not easy, and it was about 45 km or so of rather unpleasant, exposed and dusty road walking in either direction to the nearest towns. During the 24/25 season there were supposedly buses passing one direction or the other at least once during the day every day except Saturday.

''' 2025-Jan-28 to 2025-Jan-30/3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RH / Davide Materia '''

I pretty much had the same experience of MiamZelt, with same camping locations as him.
Details:
1- day. I would probably camp either a bit up than were he suggested, or a bit further down, as there are spots of grass created by dried pond, which if dry enough are perfect location for a tent, in general the location of the first camp is not ideal, many rocks and not that easy to find a spot. This mountain can get pretty windy, I would in general restrain myself from starting the section in bad weather, as even in good weather the wind is really strong, this also suggest why good care must be paid for the location of the tent.
2 trail is next to impossible to keep without gps, I doubt it even exist a real single trail. One good trick here is to jump over the fence and stay always on the right but following the fence until the gpx track and the former diverge. At that point there is a bit more of "grass-bashing" but you are getting closer to the off-track road. For the rest, I hitchhiked to the park once I reached the road and went to camping valle Hermosa, and damn Hermosa it was!!! Resting next to the river under the sun was the best moment in this section.
3 I kept following the track. Many fordings, more than the 2nd day. Luckily I restrained myself from the temptation of packrafting the river beside the trail as ~15km before Casa Piedra it gets inside canyons and becomes a deathtrap, there's a reason if Jan didn't do it by packraft, as always.
Camping Casa Piedra actually has hot shower if the stove warming up the water has been turned on quite in advance, no such luck for me...

4-The next day after deciding to not do Rio chacabuco given all the bad reports of previous years I hiked around 2 hours on the road until some locals picked me up to cochrane.

Awesome section, one I will remember for a long time

'''2025-Jan-23 to 2025-Jan-28 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Sean & Neele'''

Took the bus at 9am to skip the paved road walk.

After puesto 15.8km the gpx files are CC but there's a trail on OSM which we loosely followed to pass 20.8km, worked out well.

Very exposed and windy from 19km to 32km.

Camp 32.6km was wet, we camped about 500m further.

Got a hitch around 43.5km to park ranger 53km. Paid 11,400 each entrance.

Camp 53.3km and 61.7km have been taken over by caterpillars.

Ford 66.4km about knee deep at about 6pm on a rainy day.

Camped at valle hermosa 68.1km - well sheltered in the forest but lots of people.

Fords 68.4 - 71.6km, 79.3, 82.6, 86.2 all below the knee and easy in the morning after a rainy day.

Camped at 88.6km - slight protected from the wind.

Camped at 98.9km Casa Piedra to wait out some bad weather. 8k pp. WiFi, cooking room, warm showers.

Camped at Refuge 118.3km some wind protection but not great.

Easy walk out, camp 136.9km looked nice we debated staying but walked out instead.
Trail condition is really good after 139.1km so is pretty fast

*'''2025-Jan-13 to 2025-Jan-17 / 5 days Hiking / SOBO/ RR + Variant L / MiaimZelt'''

I very much enjoyed this lovely section. Took the bus to skip the first 6.5km of Roadwalk. CC was indeed easy, on the way up i didn't follow the Track very closely. Crazy windy between km 19-30. Surprinsingly there were some small areas that had way less wind. Guess it should be possible to find a campspot somehow sheltered by the curves of the landscape, when you can't make it further. Camp {35} [32.6/1300] is exposed and has no shelter besides from the tiny stonewall. Camped here: -46.722612, -71.904105. Was sheltered by the valley and fits a 1 person tent, wind was ok. 100m below there is a spot which can fit a 2 person tent. While sitting in the tent 2 german GPT hikers arrived and took the spot below. I very much enjoyed their company.

Day 2 i could follow animal trails very often. Walked 4km on the road until i got a hitch. Entrance fee was 11400 for foreigner. You have to pay online, but they have WiFi. Tons of black caterpillars everywhere, gets better after Laguna Verde. Trail was in very good shape. Ford {35} [67.0/877] was up to the knees. Stayed at Camp Valle Hermoso, which is very good sheltered by the forest.

Day 3 i met no one, until i reached the camp. Trail was 99% in good shape, few meters overgrown with young beech trees. -46.89382, -72.161099 campspots with shelter from the forest. All fords were easy. Stayed at Camping Casa Piedra. 8000 per person, can pay cash or card. They have WiFi, Room to cook inside and a shower (not hot). Most campspots are sheltered by trees or buildings. Spots next to buildings were occupied by carcampers. Trees provided good protection, although 80km/h winds according to Windy.

Sendero 7 Lagunas was mostly in good to ok shape,
only in few parts the trail isn't visible at all. -47.094236, -72.286568 near pass has lots of flat space and is sheltered by the forest. Small stream here: -47.097866, -72.285581. Also flat areas nearby to create a makeshift campsite. Later the only sources for water were the lakes. Refuge, X {35} [119.1/716] is collapsed, but flat space protected by trees and bushes for one bigger tent. Water from the lake. Stayed at small flat space with very little wind here -47.140176, -72.372035 and listened to the birds.

Day 5 was mostly straight forward. Saw 2 Huemuls near the Minor Road. Lago Cochrane is a real gem. Open and abandoned huts here: -47.198091, -72.457465. There was a sign, saying danger becaus of rodents. Maybe not good to sleep in, but would be a good shelter in heavy rain. 1km later i saw the first dayhikers. Lot's of steep ups and downs at Sendero Carpinteros, but very beautiful. Got a hitch to Cochrane after 1.5km on the paved road.

*'''GPT 35 SOBO RR // hiking, hitchhiking // 4 days 1-4.01.2025 Maks & Gabi'''

Simply magical section with lots of guanacos, birds and beautiful landscapes. We hitchhiked the first 8 km and then from Casa de Piedra to Cochrane.
CC parts were quite easy and visible, later on when entering the park by Lago Jeinimeni the trail is incredibly well maintained. You can buy a ticket by the entrance because the is a wi-fi.

One thing that is worth taking into account when planning the hike, are insects - there are tons of mosquitos and quite a lot of horseflies. Furthermore the ranger (Jeinimeni entrance) warned us about black worms that are in the forests (not sure what is the name in eng). For that reason we did not sleep at the camping by the lake (see pictures), choosing a camp spot by the bridge at 50.0 km instead. It is better not to camp by the trees.
If you have a spare moment we really recommend the visitors center near Casa de Piedra as they have a really nice museum. If you already bought a ticket to the park it is free of charge.

About trail itself it's hard to say something new compare to the previous notes. There was no snow, all ford's easy to cross.

*'''2024-Nov-08 to 2024-Nov-16 / 8.5 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Jonas'''
Day 01: 08.11.2024
Arrived by ferry from Puerto Ibanez in Chile Chico at 1430. Started walking right away. Caught a ride for about 3 km. After street, needed to open fence and door.
Dog kept following all day. Couldn't make him leave.
Settlers (mother & daughter) offered a ride but kept walking. Camp spot at 14.1 was too wet to stay there. Looked for another spot. Nothing was good, wanted to look after puesto at 15.8. settlers offered me mate and asked if I wanna pitch my tent here since it got late. Stayed close to their place. Same settler family who offered me a ride.

Day 02: 09.11.2024
Starting from the settlers puesto CC had light snow when packing my tent. Didn't follow the route exactly. On the way to the first pass, saw the first guanacos. Started snowing stronger. Didn't follow the track or the OSM path to avoid snowfields. Tried to follow the trails but not always possible. Stronger snow and windy. After the first pass went too far to the east to avoid snowfields, thought it'd be easy to come back to the trail but took a longer detour. At least saw the first flamingos! In the plateau it was crazy windy. Sometimes followed track, sometimes OSM. Often in between because of snowfields. Snowfields were not steep, just wanted to avoid them. More guanacos only on the way down. Camp at 32.6 was too wet. ~250 m further down found a protected spot close to a small river/creek.

Day 03: 10.11.2024
Woke up late. Water in pot was frozen about 1 cm thick. Walked down, saw a lot of bones. Followed not the OSM track. Crossed the fence relatively far to the west. CC walking was nice. Maybe as others mentioned there is a path sooner if you cross/stay further east. Hit the dirt road and walked to the main dirt road. Already afternoon. First Pick Up stopped and gave me a ride to the park entrance. Didn't book the ticket before. You can book it at the CONAF station with their WiFi for the same day. 11.400 CLP for the entrance. Camping is free. Walked to camp Raleigh (about two hours) and found a nice spot there.

Day04: 11.11.2024
Short day. Started late, trail easy to follow. In the beginning keep left if other trails are there. First fording section is well marked in the track files. Keep your shoes off until Ford Stop. Climb to pass is sometimes steep but easy. Climb down is ready with stunning view of Valle Hermoso. Some parts with some rock slides. After descend two rivers to ford. Until camp Valle Hermoso some stretches in wind protected first in the river bed, some stretches in open river bed. Easy to follow. Camp Valle Hermoso has two roofed areas.

Day 05 12.11.2024
Started from camp Valle Hermoso. If you keep south you can avoid all the fords. At least at this time of the year.
Trail is easy walking, landscape is stunning! Did a detour to Laguna Escondida. Nice and windy up there. To get there keep close to the track files.
Only needed to take the boots off for the ford at 79.3. The rest was easy to navigate around or enough rocks/trees in the river.
Camped at refuge 81.0 at the broken down cabin.

Day 06: 13.11.2024
Easy walking all day. Trail was easy to follow. Needed to ford once.
The bridge at 90.9 is something if you're afraid of heights.
Arrived early at Casa Piedra. Could use the infrastructure including warmish water. Since I said I won't pass the ranger station it was fine without paying.

Day 07: 14.11.2024
Trail is easy to follow. Lago Gutierrez looks amazing and quite windy. Some beach walking off track is nice. After Lago Gutierrez the trail is mainly easy to follow. Checked the GPS every now and then. Climb to the pass takes some time. Filled water up at a stream at the end of Lago Gutierrez. There was on running stream in the middle of the stretch to the pass. Not sure if it has water all year. Way down is through a beautiful forest. Nice views of the valley along the way. Some trees on the path but easy enough to climb them or walk around them.
Stayed at the collapsed refuge. Enough wind protection even though it was quite windy.

Day 08: 15.11.2024
Trail was easy to follow in the forest. Outside the forest check your GPS when you think you might be off trail.
Water in the beginning mainly from the lakes, later streams existed as well. Took the MR on the RR easy fast walking, no GPS checking necessary. Settler at 138.7 wasn't there passed by his house and followed the RR on a horse trail. Camped at around 142 at Lago Cochrane. Beautiful lake with clear water.

Day 09: 16.11.2024
For the last 12 km it was easy to follow the trail. Quite some up and down. Nice views on the lake. Arrived the CONAF office at lunch time. Did a self checkout. Stayed in Cochrane for two nights before the next bus to Villa O'Higgins left.

Really nice hike! Due to the time of the year I only met one other hiker. It snowed a bit in the first days but not too much. Trails were generally easy to follow. Fording was not too much, might be different at another time.

* '''2024-Dec-14 to 2024-Dec-18 / 4.5 / Hiking / SOBO/ RR + Variant J, L / Roman'''

Route: Hitchhiked from Chile Chico to X {35} [8.1/505]. Hiked to X {35} [41.5/768]. Hitchhiked from there to Park Ranger {35} [53.0/843] and hiked from there to -47.244414, -72.529165 and hitchhiked from there to Cochrane.

Started in the Morning in Chile Chico and and started hiking at X {35} [8.1/505]. It's a small easy hiking road up to Puesto {35} [15.8/1075]. It's easy CC. I camped at Camp {35} [32.6/1300]. The next day was a easy hike to X {35} [41.5/768]. I was waiting 25 minutes for the first car to come by which picked me up around 11:30 AM - so prepared to either walk or wait quite some time. At the Ranger Station (Park Ranger {35} [53.0/843]) is fesh water, a toilet. There you have free internet via starlink. I have heard multiple stories and read multiple prices for entry. I would recommend to just show up. You will scan the QR code and buy the ticket online. I said that I hike to "Casa Piedra camping". I had to buy the ticket "Parque Nacional Patagonia - Sector Chacabuco" for 5.200 CLP. Link here: https://tickets.pasesparques.cl/events/parque-nacional-patagonia-sector-chacabuco . From there i hiked to Camped at Refuge {35} [69.0/867] there are multiple fordings (river bed walking) which had a few banks and tables and a shelter hut. The next day hiked to Camp $, Refuge {35} [99.8/379] (Casa dePiedra). The Camp has electricity and a warm (not hot ;)) shower and toilets and 3 rooms with benches and tables for cooking etc. I was staying there with 2 other people and the Ranger. Apparently the Ranger doesn't collect/want money - i/we didn't needed to pay. There is Apparently a lady coming from time to time to collect a fee - so we were lucky. The trail was maintained and easy to hike. At the beginning there was some fording.

The next day I camped at Refuge {35} [131.2/556] which is only a emergency shelter but has some flat spots to pich a tent. The trail is not maintained and is sometimes very good or not visible at all - you need you GPS! Overall good easy to hike with some fallen trees. There is a bridge at -47.160823, -72.407796 also with water which makes the Refuge a great place to say. Picture of bridge https://imgur.com/a/ZydIQ7f and Refuge: https://imgur.com/a/NDMT0FP . After that it's a easy hike all the way to -47.244414, -72.529165 where I hitchhiked to Cochrane. I haven't camped there but this location looked like the best stay you could get in the trail here: https://imgur.com/a/rtak82Q. -47.198106, -72.457406 close to Camp {35} [138.4/173].

Stayed at Camping, Refugio ,Cabaña y HostelCochrane which i can highly recommend (camping 7k, dorm 9k, laundry 5k and a supermarket across the street)

Contact: https://linktr.ee/RundW

* ''' 2024-Dec-13 to 2024-Dec-17 / 5 days / GPT35 SOBO RR / wiiiim
Relatively uncomplicated & fast section, lots of info exists so just a summary here. In essence it feels like 3 parts

- part 1 Chile Chico to the park entrance: mostly cross country over a barren plateau with lots of animals. I arranged a taxi out of Chile Chico to skip the first 9km of road walk at 7am for an early start - Alexis +56 9 7971 5823. Surprisingly lots of water on this section.

- part 2 Park entrance to Casa de Piedra, park fee is 11400, very easy going, well marked trail, lots of water

- part 3 Casa de piedra to Cochrane, somewhat overgrown, less water, mostly from the lagunas so good to have a filter

I took the bus from Cochrane to Villa O’Higgins, it runs every Monday, Wednesday & Saturday at 8:30am (returning the next day), it’s a small publicly funded bus (8400 pesos) with about 25 seats, they typically want you to buy a ticket in person in Cochrane in the bus terminal upstairs (I believe the company is Gardy?), I got a ticket the afternoon before and it had 5 seats left.

* ''' 2024-Dec-12 to 2024-Dec-14 / 3 days go and back / GPT35 SOBO option 1 by car and Regular Road with a little part of option D and OH-CC-A-{35-06} to the first laguna/ Julien Mamari

All the way to the Releigh Camp is really easy and try with bridges.
Into the Releigh Camp and the 3rd camp you have 2 rivers to cross with the Gloria pass but it's really easy with sandals... Water to the knees maximum (on my time)
If you go to the first Laguna (option 6) on the right sise of valley better beguin on the left side for around 1km then you have obligation to cross and the best its to keep always on de right side, it's dry.

* '''2024-Nov-07 to 2024-Nov-10 / 4 days with one day of rest at home of Daniel “Huemul” / GPT35 Regular Route SOBO from Kilometer 100 to 150 / Sendero 7 Lagunas / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck'''

This scenic route inside Parque Patagonia is officially closed due to lack of trail maintenance but still easily traversable. As we entered from the north we did not speak with any Conaf personnel and learned about the closure when exiting this route in Cochrane.

The GPT track file 2024 precisely documents the official route of Sendero 7 Lagunas from Kilometer 37 to Kilometer 5 (GPT35 Regular Route) where the Regular Route connects on other trails to Cochrane. Note that the OSM data is in large parts incorrect. OSM is showing a now partially overgrown and less attractive routing on disused trails and minor roads. So all topographic maps based on OSM data are unreliable in this respect.

About 30% of the trail is clearly visible, about 60% of the trail is vaguely visible and 10% of the trail are invisible as trail. There is just a trail mark every kilometer but no other visual aids to follow the official trail. This makes frequent GPS verifications essential. Without a GPS and without the correct tracks loaded to the GPS hikers get inevitably lost numerous times and it would be very time consuming to find the correct trail just based on visual references. But with a GPS it’s easy to stay on the trail.

There was no snow left on the 1126 m high pass.

In the forest numerous fallen trees block the trail but there is always an easy way around.

There are no noteworthy river crossings and the trail is dry. Water can be obtained regularly at smaller streams or at the lakes.

There are numerous potential camp sites except from the northern trail head and the 1126 m high pass. This northern end is mostly wind exposed with very little shelter to pitch a tent.

* '''2024-Nov-02 to 2024-Nov-05 / 4 days (but 50 km hitchhiked) / Hiking / SOBO / Option 4 (Ruta RP41 in Argentina) / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck'''

This option provides an alternative to the weather-exposed regular route of GPT35. Therefore this option should be considered early or late in the season (October, November or April) or whenever poor weather makes the regular route of GPT35 unsafe. This option is east of the Andes main mountain chain in Argentina and the clouds that typically come from the west unload most snow and rain while crossing the higher peaks in Chile. Anyway, the maximum altitude of just under 1500 m should not be undermined. Up on the pass area, weather can become unpleasant all year around.

This road walking option is certainly not as attractive as the regular route but the insignificant traffic and the scenic scenery makes it a worthwhile hiking choice. The landscape is that attractive that one tour company in Los Antiguos offers guided excursions along this route.

This option connects back to regular route of GPT35 at the trailhead of “Sendero 7 Lagunas” that becomes also traversable early in the season (October or November).

Route description:

The border crossing from Chile to Argentina is a 13 km hike or hitchhike as there is not organized public transport. Argentines rarely check luggage of backpackers, therefore bringing all supplies from Chile should not cause problems. Don’t be surprised when Argentine border controls don’t stamp your passport on entry. It’s not any more a given, that all travelers with passports receive an entry stamp when crossing into Argentina.

Before starting on RP41 consider a good meal in Los Antiguos.

The first 43 km on RP41 from Los Antiguos to Estancia Los Alamos are wind-exposed and dry. We were lucky to ride most of this stretch on the back of a pickups truck. From the road we could only see one more reliable water source at kilometer 39.5. And descending 100 to 200 m into gorge of Rio Jenimeni just to refill water supplies seams an ordeal that should be avoided.

The owners of Estancia Los Alamos are welcoming and helpful. We were invited for lunch and offered a bed for a night. But to get moving we opted to start hiking in the afternoon.

Estancia La Frontera at kilometer 46 of RP41 just after the bridge over Rio Zaballos seams also to offer accommodation on request. And here starts the more scenic part with patches of forest and more regular water streams crossing the road.

At kilometer 54 of RP41 by-passes are welcome to camp just next to Rio Lincoln. Here we spend our first night.

At kilometer 64 of RP41 the last patches of forest are left behind and exposed but scenic landscape is crossed.

The highest point of RP41 (“portezuelo”) is reached at kilometer 76 with just under 1500 m. The last snowmelt washed a part of road away stopping currently most transit traffic but hikers and bikers can cross this damaged road section without problems.

While walking from Rio Lincoln up to the “portezuelo” the wind and the light snowfall increased. But compared to the weather in Chile at the same time our conditions where quite manageable. The lack of wind-sheltered places keep us moving to kilometer 79 of RP41. Here, an unlocked puesto with a wood stove provided a surprisingly convenient shelter for our second night en route. We just had to seal some gaps in the walls to reduce the wind and snow from entering our temporary refuge. When getting up on the next morning a thin layer of fresh snow covered everything around us.

The descent to Paso Roballos at kilometer 96 of RP41 traverses open but scenic landscape with little natural shelter.

The best places to camp after the pass are:
Kilometer 79: unlocked puesto
Kilometer 87: maybe near puesto at 47°06'47"S 71°50'00"W
Kilometer 96: the crossing to Paso Roballos 2 km before the Argentine border control

At the Argentine border control camping is not permitted.

When exiting Argentina make sure to get an exit stamp. This stamp is required to enter into Chile.

Another good option is the abandoned Chilean military post 4 km after the Argentine border control. Most buildings of this small compound are sealed closed but one shelter is open and one mostly closed veranda provided good shelter for us for one night while rain and snow made pitching a tent less pleasant.

The Chilean border control is 11 km inland from the border.

From the Chilean border control it’s another 26 km to the trail head of “Sendero 7 Lagunas” with a brilliant camp site halfway (“camping alto valle”).

* '''Note:''' The RR was changed between Lago Jeinemeni and Lago Verge in October 2024, so numbering of options in the reports below might be slightly off.

==Season 2023/24==

* '''2024 Mar 14 to 2024 Mar 19 / 5.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Maddi and Tom'''

Day 1: Hiked out of Cochrane after lunch in light rain. Hiked up Sendero Las Aguilas then Las Lengas, easy trail and well defined. Rain got heavier as we approached Laguna El Cangrejo. Camped on the west side of the lake, started snowing lightly as we set up. One of the colder nights and we considered turning back and taking the lower route as we weren't sure how passable Laguna Altas would be in the snow.

Day 2: Woke up to a snowy morning so decided to wait it out in the tent. Packed up once it stopped around 11am and followed Sendero Los Condores. Luckily had a bit of sun as we went over the pass but as we were coming down the other side the rain and wind picked up. Abandoned our plans to hike the Lagunas Altas circuit and instead followed it straight down to Westwind campsite. Sat there for a bit hoping to see a puma but only guanaco in sight. Hiked towards Valle Chacabuco hoping for a hitch but no cars came past. Kept walking along Paso Roballos trying for a hitch, eventually a couple from the UK picked us up and dropped us at Casa Piedra. Spent the night there and got a hot shower which was excellent after all the rain and snow. Didn't end up paying any entry fees for the park or the camping as noone asked.

Day 3: Got up fairly early to overcast day but no rain. Followed the eastern branch of the Sendero Aviles which was clearly marked and easy to follow. The bridge over the canyon is fun to rejoin the west branch of the trail. Kept following the track along, easy going until you hit the river bed and then there are many crossings back and forth. We did a bit of dodgy scrambling up the banks to avoid getting wet feet. We were going to push on but it started raining lightly about 4pm so we set up camp in the trees along the river. Another group joined us later that night as it was raining heavily and it was the first flat and clear spot.

Day 4: Started along the track, excellent views as you pass Cerro Jeinimeni. Fairly easy track down to the next river, followed by a lot of walking in the river bed. Gave in and just walked through the water to Lago Verde. Crossings were never really over ankle deep. Track around Lago Verde is fine to follow with excellent views. Very windy as we got over the pass and the path down is quite eroded (but manageable). Hiked around to Raleigh. There is a new suspension bridge over the river at Raleigh that connects to Sendero Laguna Esmerelda. It isn't marked on Gaia or Maps Me so a group behind us went around the other way and had to do a hip deep river crossing. Going via Raleigh and Sendero Esmerelda avoids all river crossings and is an easy track to follow. Hiked all the way to El Silencio for the night, noone there so didn't pay any fees.

Day 5: Started the hike out along the road hoping for a hitch but no cars went by. Headed up the plateau following a minor road, then relying on GPS and animal tracks. Lots of guanaco. Kept hiking up the hill as the wind picked up. Found a camp spot somewhat out of the wind towards the top of the plateau with a small river passing by for water. Started snowing as we went to sleep.

Day 6: Woke up to a few cms of snow on the ground and tent and started a very frosty walk up and over the plateau. Lots of guanaco around but not much else other than snow. Luckily the sun came out as we were coming back down the other side as it was freezing up the top and was difficult navigating with the snow cover. Once it cleared we had awesome views of the Torres de Avellano and the lake. The descent track is pretty eroded and very slippery in parts where mud is hidden under small stones. Eventually joined up to the minor road and followed it down to Ruta 265. I had a weird phenomenon with my shoes picking up enormous amounts of sticky mud on the minor road, making my feet a few kgs heavier and having to scrape it off every 100m. Got a hitch to Chile Chico from Ruta 265.

* '''2024-Mar-12 to 2024-Mar-17 / 4 + 2×0.5 = 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH D + F / Joscha'''

Day 1: RR [0.0-16.7]

I startet around 2 pm and did not try to hitch the first 8 km on the primary road. There is a good flowing stream at the water marker (km 12.2) and at the camp (km 14.1). The flat spot that is camp 14.1 is swampy and therefore not ideal for camping. I camped at -46.60658, -71.80980 which is at least a little bit wind protected. There is also a stream on the other side of the RR close to this spot.

Day 2: RR [16.7-48.2]

There was plenty of water. The RR was covered in snow from about km 23 to 28. I took a CC shortcut from km 40.8 to 42.7. I camped at -46.810258, -71.965073.

Day 3: RR [48.2-59.1] + OSM trail to Laguna Verde + OH35-D + RR [62.4-88.9] + OH35-F + RR [70.3-78.9]

The park gate at km 50.1 is open from 9 am to 5 pm. But the ranger didn't mind, that I entered before 9 am. I paid 17000 Pesos at the ranger station (km 53). This fee allows camping at all the Campgrounds in the park. I followed the official park trail which branches off at km 59,1 to Laguna Verde. From there it returns via OH35-D to the RR. All fords today were below my knees. After km 75.5 the RR was partially flooded and you had to walk through some branches. Therefore I sometimes walked in the river bed on the eastern side of Rio Aviles. I camped at km 78.9. Its an official campground of the park, but there is nothing. But its flat and wind protected.

Day 4: RR [78.9-106.3]

The roof of the refuge at km 93.9 is collapsed. Casa de Piedra is a real house with bathrooms and some common rooms to hang out and probably sleep. I camped on the lakeshore at -47.074614, -72.25701. I would not recommend this spot for windy nights.

Day 5: RR [106.3-137.6]

The next reliable water source after Lago Gutierrez (km 106.3) is a stream at km 113.8. Its possible to camp just south of the pass (km 110.8). I did a shortcut from km 129.1 to 130.3. I had to cross a small swampy area for that. Camping at km 137.6 is nice.

Day 6: RR [137.6-150.4]

Nice campsite at km 146.0 (RN Tamango) with sheltered tables and spots for camping. I stayed at camping calafate in Cochrane (-47.254013, -72.568419). It has a kitchen with common area (heated by wood oven), wifi and hot showers for 7000 pp.

* '''2024-Feb-24 to 2024-Mar-01 / 6.5 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RR+RP / Lauren & Seb'''

Much has been said about this section, so we will share only our impressions.

Day 1: After reaching wp Settler {35} [8.9/539] by taxi in the early evening, we hiked a short distance and camped at wp Camp {35} [14.1/923]. On a windy day it’s basically unprotected in a narrow valley. There was no wind that day, making it a spot with a great view.

Day 2: Upon reaching the plateau, it felt like a guanaco/flamencos safari as previously described. To get up there, you have to CC on one manageable steep stretch. Follow the dotted line in OSM relatively far to the left and not the GPT files. We camped north of wp Water {35} [28.1/1579].

Day 3: We headed across the pass and amazing views opened up before us. On the downhill, follow the GPT line until you reach a fence. Go through the fence on the left end and follow the fence line towards wp Puesto {35} [34.6/1191]. From the side of the puesto, you can easily follow well trodded horse tracks along the fence line until -46.75064, -71.89899. Follow the trails along the river towards the south until you hit the MR. We stopped for the night at wp Camp {35} [42.9+0.2/713].

Day 4: Cars did not appear until after 10am but we eventually got a ride to the park entrance. From here, the more touristy part begins. Once inside the park we decided to walk the MR around Lago Jeinemeni and only inflated the packraft at Lago Verde. This was an absolutely great paddle on the most turquoise waters and we were lucky with the afternoon wind. We stayed the night at Refuge {35} [68.1/867].

Day 5: The next part has lots of fording so expect slow progress. We left our crocs on for the next 3 km. Well marked trail through the forest and across the pass. On the other side, however there is a new official route which starts here -46.87696, -72.17213 and requires more fording. The old trail still exists and no fording was necessary. Stick to the GPS here if you want to save time taking your shoes off! The rest of the way down the valley was enjoyable and we stayed the night just before wp Ford {35} [82.6/805].

Day 6: Easy hiking down to Camp Piedra where we stayed and camped early.

Day 7: We started paddling Rio Chacabuco the next morning, but I would advise packrafters against doing so (at least in the late season). Conditions of the river included low water levels with frequent ground contact and many trees in the water. The river splits often, making the already low water even lower and obstacles in the tightly winding corners become even more tricky. First time that we hit a tree since we are on the GPT. As if that wasn’t enough, wind picked up early and forced us out of the water. We decided to water-out here -47.05177, -72.29040 and hiked up the road, where a car took us towards Cochrane after 2 hours.

* '''2024-Feb-27 to 2024-Mar-04 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {35-S} - {35-D} - RR - {35-J} - RR - {35-L} - RR / Lilian & Rainbow '''

Safari = GPT35, we saw foxes, bunny, flamingos, ostrich, owl, woodpecker, and more than 100 guanacos at this section!

We standing at the end of town more than 1 hour and found that it is really difficult to hitch out by low traffic. So we go to tourist information ask for help maybe a ride, a man at there said he can take us to x[8.1/505] for 10k CLP, but lastly he just took us to the junction at km5.9, and said he don't want to drive on a non paved road, then don't wait us to respond and throw our backpacks out from his car immediately, and ask for the money.

So, DON'T ask any ride in tourist information at Chile Chico, they cheated our trust.

Km12 : flat spot (-46.57669, -71.82779) can fit some tents at other side of a stream, the stream is flowing good and dry feet crossable by rock hopping.

Km12.75 : viewpoint(-46.58294, -71.82549) of a valley with sky blue colour, super beautiful, don't miss it!

Camp[14.1/923] : grassland spot, a small stream is flowing low beside it.

Km16.6 : flat spot(-46.60658, -71.80980), have some covers can stay away from the wind tunnel in valley at north.(wind from north)

After this spot, no more camping spot or flat spot have wind protection until camp[32.6/1300]. Wind is crazy at the plateau.

Camp[32.6/1300] : tiny wind protection from a rock wall, just fit 1 tent for it. Better wind protection nearby camp[42.9/713].

Short cut CC from 38.2 to 42.7, it doesn't save much time, better follow GPX track, MR is completely finished and super easy to walk. It also walk beside some beautiful meadows that are nice to camp(no wind protection).

Camp[42.9/713] : spots at a wet muddy road. Better spots nearby at (-46.79053, -71.91127), dry and 2-3 sides wind protection by bushes, can fit many tents there.

Didn't see any cars going south at morning, so road walking all the way to entrance. 11k CLP for entrance fee, 6k CLP for camping fee, total 17k CLP, can pay by credit card.

Camp,$,bridge,lake[53.3/852] : El Silencio campsite and Lago Jeinemeni. This campsite is a little bit crown with car camping, and the lake is amazing beautiful!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND walking on the shore of lake from km56.65 - km57.75(from the junction of viewpoint, to the point that trail met the beach), easy, dry feet and excellent beautiful!

Bridge[58.9/856] : after this bridge, follow south route ( {35-S} & RP{35} ) to Lago Verde, then take the bridge(-46.86056, -72.07982) to cross the river. Lastly follow {35-D} rejoin RR. Dry feet.

Lake [59.2/840] : Laguna Esmeralda. Didn't find any camping possibilities. Better views at trail.

Refuge[61.7/856] : beside Laguna Esmeralda, a super blue lake. This refuge is not a cabin, just a shelter with 3 side wooden wall, good wind protection, but I'm not sure about heavy rain, because i saw many holes at the wall. Better camping spot with views beside the lake(not much wind protection).

Ford start/end[63.4/896] : late season, all the way easy dry feet crossing, walking on log or rock hopping.

Pass[64.5/1132] : no camping spot here, the spot shown on OSM, is already covered by many blowdowns. Nice viewpoint(-46.84093, -72.10324) of Lago Verde just SW of here.

Ford[66.1/877] : better river crossing point at (-46.83741, -72.11991), there is a sign at another side of river. Below knee, easy.

Ford[66.4/859] : river breaks into some parts, below knee, easy.

Refuge[68.1/867] : shelter with 2 walls, nice weather protection. Refuge with 4 walls, but huge air tunnel at ceiling, so just wind protection. A sign book inside refuge too. Camping spots at here can fit lot of tents, mostly have some wind protection, but not much, because trees are too tall, and just 1 spot behind a blowdowns have well wind protection.

Fords[68.4/869] - [71.6/905] : lot of river crossing, some trail can go around the river, but not much help and they are overgrown, so finally you need to be crossing and crossing then wet feet.

Km74.7 : camping spot(-46.87204, -72.17630), can fit 3-4 tents with some weather protection by the forest. Have a shelter made by logs here, can squat 1-2 hiker inside for emergency, but not much help, because it is really small and too many holes on it.

Km75.7 : camping spot(-46.87886, -72.16954), can fit 3-4 tents with some weather protection by the forest.

Km78.9 :camping spot(-46.90498, -72.15591), and some more spots nearby, total can fit 4-6 tents with some weather protection by the forest.

Ford[79.3/846] : Below knee, easy.

Refuge[81.0/819] : no refuge, no shelter. Camping spot with views can fit 2 tents but no protection.

Ford[82.6/805] : Below knee. Camping spot(-46.93485, -72.15869), can fit 2 tents with not much weather protection by the bushes, before the crossing.

Km83.3 : camping spot(-46.94089, -72.15600), can fit 2-3 tents with some weather protection by some trees. Also one spot at south but not much protection.

Km84.7 : camping spot(-46.95268, -72.15123), can fit 1 tent with some weather protection by some brushes.

Km88.6 : camping spot(-46.98397, -72.15988), can fit 2 tents with weather protection by some trees and brushes. Flat area nearby can fit many tents with good views but no protection.

Bridge[90.9/635] : classic bridge! Worth to take a look and walk on it!

We took {35-J} instead RR here, because less puds, also walking on a plateau looks like more scenic.

{35-J} Km5 : viewpoint(-47.03902, -72.19077) of the whole valley, very beautiful! Don't miss it!

Camp,$,refuge[98.9/379] : Casa de Piedra campground. Have some shelters with picnic table for cooking, and a refuge with hot(warm) shower, toilet and some tables for meals. If you decide to camp here, please expect sleep late. This spot mostly are campers and tourists. They'll speaking and cooking until 10 or 11 or midnight.

You can take a shuttle form here to Cochrane(30k CLP per person) or Camping Los West Wind(15k CLP per person)

Time schedule: 9am Cochrane - 9.45am Museo, 10am Museo - 10.15am Camping Los West Wind, 10.30am Camping Los West Wind - 10.45am Museo, 12noon Museo - 1pm Camping Casa de Piedra, 4.30pm Camping Casa de Piedra - 5.15pm Museo, 5.30pm Museo - 6.30pm Cochrane

Start from here, the trail is not maintained anymore, but still in good condition.

Km103 : Lago Gutierrez, amazing beautiful lake, have some minutes i thought back to Norway again.

Km103.85 : a small stream(-47.07911, -72.22738) flowing good with clear water, easy to collect.

Pass[110.8/1126] : some fresh snow remain at here.

Km112.45 : emergency camping spot(-47.10718, -72.28893), the ground is a little soft, but is flat and some wind protection, can fit many tents here.

Km116.9 : Laguna Guagua. Camping spot(-47.13350, -72.30170), can fit 2-3 tents with some wind protection from west by bushes, SW of the spot have a side trail to lake. BUT, DON'T go for {35-02A} back to RR, it is completely CC and BB with spike plants, not fun. Better CC climbing up to RR from camping spot directly.

Refuge,X[118.3/716] : no refuge, it is collapsed. The woods becomes a super small shelter here. If you lost your backpack, crawling inside maybe can save your life. Otherwise just for photos snapping function.

From here to km125.0, you will walk beside 3 lakes, didn't see any wind protection camping spots there, but if you have good luck at a no wind night, you maybe find some spots at the last lake.

Km125.0 : road walking start. Flat spot with some wind protection on the road can fit 1-2 tents at here too.

Km125.9 : junction of RR and {35-L}, because the road is too easy to walk and follow, we completely miss this junction and walk a long time then realised RR is a different way, so we keep going on {35-L} and rejoin RR later.

{35-L} km3.6 : a small stream(-47.17383, -72.37063) flowing good with clear water, easy to collect. Flat spot can fit 1-2 tents after the crossing.

We walked the whole way{35-L} and rejoin RR at km130.8.

RR Km132.4 : flat spot(-47.17220, -72.42231) can fit 1 tent at the end of lake. With some wind protection by forest.

Camp[136.9/162] : can fit 2-4 tents with weather protection by forest, but if the wind is come from south, it is not much help. Excellent views on the beach.

Camp[137.6/173] : can fit 2-3 tents with wind protection from east and north by trees. Excellent views on the beach. Just beside a port, looks like can take a boat to here.

Km138.3 : camping spot(-47.20064, -72.46718), total can fit 3-5 tents at several stage, some spots have good wind protection by trees and bushes.

From here to km146.0, lot of up and down beside some cliffs (maybe slippery in rain), but it is a trail with lot of amazing views, we are really enjoyed it.

Km139.77 : a tiny stream(-47.20803, -72.47813) flowing good with clear water, easy to collect.

Km141.73 : side trail to viewpoint(-47.21986, -72.49280) and cell service for Movistar.

Km142.15 : flat grassland(-47.22231, -72.49623) can fit 4 tents just beside the beautiful lake, some wind protection by valley itself.

X[143.9/244] : cell service for Entel(-47.23128, -72.50780)

Km146.0 : RN Tamango campground, some shelters for cooking, large arae for camping, hot shower and trash can, 7k CLP per person.

Km146.5 : the last flat spot(-47.24353, -72.53067) before Cochrane, some wind protection by brushes, can fit 1-3 tents with nice sunrise, you can arrive there by a clear trail beside ranger station, the trail is shown on OSM map.

Cochrane :

Lot of accommodation, markets and restaurants, and 2 outdoor gear shops.

230g gas canisters, power bank, chargers and tent stakes at Supermercado Melero(-47.25386, -72.57414).

Sunglasses, micro spikes, snow shoes and some clothes at La Ruta 7 Patagonia(-47.25591, -72.57320).

Sleeping bag, tents, boots(just 1 trail runner), socks, base layer, warm clothes and pants at Kalfu Patagonia(-47.25474, -72.57018).

Clothes at Vansy(-47.25417, -72.57431), not a outdoor gear shop, but some sporty clothes and pants for a low price at here.

Some campground and lot of indoor stays at Cochrane. The only hostel is Camping, Refugio ,Cabaña y Hostel(a long name) (-47.25446, -72.57497). And most of the rooms here include breakfast(without kitchen), 20k CLP per person. The only one we found with kitchen(but no breakfast) is Casa Raíces Hostal(-47.25113, -72.56848).

Bus terminal to Coyhaique, Villa Cerro Castillo, Villa O' Higgins, Chile Chico, Puerto Rio Tranquilo and Tortel at (-47.25137, -72.57317).

Tourist information(-47.25439, -72.57283).

I recommend La Martica(-47.25112, -72.57266), local restaurant with nice food in a good price.

* '''24-Feb-17 to 2024-Feb-22 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Variant L / Tomáš & Natalie'''

There were several hitchhiker groups out of Chile Chico so we took a taxi (990250968) to the settler at 8.9 for 10,000 CLP. Nobody was there, but there is a locked gate so it would not be possible to take a taxi further up. For pedestrians, there is an unlocked door. One can shortcut the first zigzag of the road thereafter and several others, it is open terrain. We camped in a dry lakebed (for windprotection) about 1 km after the first pass. Despite strong wind in Chile Chico and a forecast of wind gusts over 60km/hr, the night was largely peaceful with just one hour of wind. The plateau has terrain features and it seemed to us it is not that impossible to camp there, but maybe we were just lucky.

The next day was like a safari, lots of animals and little wind. Pawprints on lake bed turned out to be a big dog and not a puma according to the rangers though. Going down from the plateau, it is possible to shortcut the GPX track to the SE and end near the puesto at 34.6. Trail starts above the puesto but is not so easy to follow and the GPX does not seem to be the most precise. It is advisable to take a CC shortcut to bridge at 42.7 as mentioned by Adrien Kunzli: about 1 km before the end of MR 38.2, veer right aiming for a black outcrop on the mountain on the other side of the valley and you will pop out above the bridge. We got lucky and got a ride at around 16:30 to the parkoffice. We paid 15000 CLP only for one person - they forget to charge the other one. They were friendly and told us the weather forecast. We did not get any receipt or pass though. Walked two hours to campsite Raleigh, there were two other foreign tents there. The new trail is technically the old "laguna Esmeralda" (RP 59.2) trail with a new bridge, so keep left to avoid fords, combined with variant D it seems preferable to RR even when not intending to camp [November 20224: this is not RR].

From Raleigh, the first fords were possible to cross without fording thanks to logs and stones. The next valley is indeed beautiful, especially Lago Verde. There were about ten tents but no people near the refugio at 67.6. Tomáš tried to go around the second fords through the forest on the left and he eventually reached variant F, which exists but partially goes through a marsh and does not avoid fording anyway: it is pointless, just ford. Initially the start of the fords seem like a marsh, go around it from the right through the river, it is a nice riverbed thereafter. Rio Aviles was kneedeep and ok. Ford 71.2 is mighty - go downstream about 200 m, it splits and is easy there (there is a cairn in the middle). We camped at a camping site marked on OSM about 2 km further down from there. There is a place for one tent about 20 m from a creek. Very nice spot. Having a headstart to people starting from the park office, we only met three groups of foreigners all day.

Variant J does not avoid any substabtial fords, water at 96.1 is easily jumpable and the river is bridged on both J and RR.
Casa de Piedra is a nice spot with resident guanacos (and some tourists). Tomáš had a hot shower! We were asked for our passes - we explained we were not given them and it was ok. We went on. The Siete Lagunas trail is surprisingly in a rather good shape. It is little used but not much overgrown and generally easy to follow, needing a GPS only occasionally. Tomáš liked it tremendeously. Did not meet anyone on it.

We slept near the pass next to a marsh. It rained most of the night but stopped before morning, luckily the trail was not too wet the next day. The first stream after the pass is very weak (not flowing if not raining?); it flows from the marsh by which we slept and is about 500 m after the pass waypoint. The next stream is about 1 km further down, it had more water. After that, water is only in the lakes. Tomáš cleaned a lot of the logs and branches from the trail, if you can spare a moment, please do likewise. We could not see any traces of option 02A or option K. We took option L near km 129.9 - we were confused by other reports because we thought people were taking the much longer part of L that follows a MR. RR leaves the Siete lagunas trail at the end of option L after 29 km. The trail probably goes to Valle Chacabuco. [OSM has Variant F and L marked as "Sendero 7 Lagunas", this is wrong. Variant K looks to be indeed CC and variant L looks to be an unnecessary detour on a MR (overgrown and with logs at first when RR is on this MR - when you cross the MR again after four km on RR, it no longer looks that overgrown). November 2024: OSM has been corrected.] On L, one can easily take a CC shortcut from top of the hill to MR. We found two shortcutting trails to the MR. We met Daniel who was coming back from cutting invasive pines with his chainsaw, he had a friendly and humorous attitude. Camped at the lake at the wind protected camp.

The night brought surprisingly strong wind and rain - try to camp deeper in the forest. We followed a faint trail tracing the shore of the lake instead of CC 137.6, in the middle of it there was an apple tree that will be ripe in March probably. Did not meet anybody until the viewpoint above the lake that says "signal Movistar" (we have Entel, which has a sign 2 km further on but it did not work, just wait one hour until Cochrane proper), from then on, there were daytrippers. CONAF had a lunch break so we passed unnoticed. Cochrane as a town is ok.

Nat's Notes:
The Bulk shop in Chile Chico (Güenta Emporio) is not open on weekends, they have weird hours and sometimes need to call before; Andrea +56 9 9540 1708. I recommend the hospedaje Rio Baker, 15mil pp which is the general price here.
The plateau
- Besides Descabezado, this area was one of the most visually interesting sections for me. I haven't had that much fun taking photos in a long time. At first the guanacos scared me a little, I felt like I was surrounded by ninjas, eventually I warmed up to them. A good place for a zoom camera.
-For me the going was slow, besides being tired and equipped with rash-covered feet I found the navigation tricky. I kept aiming for the wrong pass because there are many rolling hills. However I found things got better near and after pass km28.8.
- Water in the plateau is still frequent. If one wants to camp as close to the plateau as possible (SOBO) I suggest this spot:-46.62397, -71.81920. Also there is a nice grassy and fairly sheltered spot near water km23.9: -46.66437, -71.84393 and a big flat grass patch at water 30.6. There is a huge boulder for wind protection if needed here; -46.65469, -71.83997. In the valley bottom near the puesto, there are less/no camping spots. I did not like all the dogs at puesto 34.6, so I purposely avoided it.
- When finishing the plateau section, I filled up on water at the last stream that wasn't the main river here: -46.72842, -71.89633, as I didn't think we would get a hitch to the park office.

Sendero Avilés
- The descent from pass km64.5 is nothing, just a bit of dirt dust that makes traction hard. The only part on this track that I would worry about safety-wise (apart from the two river crossings) is a new steep traverse 2ish kms after pass km74.1: -46.88996, -72.16428. I decided to throw my bag down 5m instead of walking down the "free fall". (Alternatively you could ford rio Aviles twice.)
- The series of mini river crossings were all fine, there is a nice water source before pass km74 in the forest once you finish all the fords, it comes from a waterfall not far away.
- Near the end I took Variant J bcs I thought it avoided a river crossing (no rivers to cross but RR doesn't either). If you do this option I recommend still going to the hanging bridge at the X of J and RR bcs it is a fun and unique bridge!
- Cassandra at Case Piedra was nice and easy to get along with.

Siete Lagunas
- The water we took from the marsh was probably the grossest water I have had to drink, lots of algae and oil, I filtered and boiled. (The second stream was much better.)
- As noted the trail is not hard to follow at this moment, only a handful of times I lost it. That being said it could be because we were walking near the end of the season and therefore it was obvious where ppl had been walking (pushed down grass), I think it would be a lot harder at the beginning of the season. Another bonus was that most spikees were gone.
- Near to camp 136.9, there is a water source. It is at the end of the beach, 200-300m west of camp. There are two or three more water sources on the first part of the trail but after the look-out, there are no more.

* '''2024-Feb-6 to 2024-Feb-11 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + option L / Yannick & Nolwenn & Tess & Lukas'''

- Trail condition : really nice overall // the trail is sometimes overgrown and easy to loose from km 113,5 to km 122, so just keep an eye on the gps
- Water : easy to find plenty of rivers and lagunas
- Camping spot : we camped at km 32,6 and it was a bad idea, too exposed and we got snow and a lot of wind during the night, would really recommend to go down more // we camped near the lago Gutiérrez at km 106,15 there is place for 2 tents
- Weather : windy, sunny, snow, rain
- River crossing : easy
- Resupply : in Chile Chico (a bulk shop just opened in front of the camping Nandu) // in Cochrane everything you need
- Entrance fee : for park Patagonia 11 000 pesos per pp + 6 000 pesos for camping per pp
- Overall : really nice section, we were happy to encounter 3 huemuls

*'''2024-Jan- 18 to 2024-Jan-24/ 7 days/hiking/SOBO/ 35/ 35-02a( from 47.1567357S, 72.4154650W)/ 35-02 ( from S 47.12123, W 072.46099) /35-03 ( from S 47.11712 W072.48494)/35-03c ( from Laguna El Cangrejo)/35-03d/ 35 from Lago Cochrane/ Paulina'''
Long, beautiful tour in Parque Patagonia, as I mixed different variants, it allowed me to see all the divercity of the park. Almost no people, a lot of guanacos, a really beautiful section!

Day 1 The way from Chile Chico to Lago Jeinimeni. I was prepared to walk all the way, but as some cars stoped and it was a very hot day, I took a lift ( I have walked maybe 8 km in total ). I stopped at 46.7304997S, 71.7415019W, to do the loop of about 7 km in the first reserve of Jeinimeni. The entrance is paid 6000 CLP but the ticket is valid later, at the main entrance at Lago Jeinimeni ( the next 2 days). It's really worth to walk on this place. The rock formations are amasing. It takes about 3h and you can leave your backpack at the park reception After that, another car stoped and took me to the main entrance of Lago Jeinimeni. The views from the road are really scenic, it's a pity not to walk some parts of this road, lucky my car was old and slow so I could admire the views.

Day 2 From Lago Jeinimeni to the refugio and camping at 46.8406732S, 72.1409082W. The first part of the trail to Portezuelo La Gloria is rather easy, it stays mostly in the valley, the ascent to the pass is not very difficult and rather short. On the way down from the pass there are some steeper moments and there are some places where the trail is distroyed by a kind of stone avalanche so you have to find your way thru the stones. Amasing views on Laguna Verde. Once you are down at Laguna, there are some fords, when I was there, the highest one was till knees.

Day 3 A lot of fords all the way in Valle Hermoso, there were all easy to cross. Also, you can't clearly see the path but anyway, you have to follow the valley. Sometimes there are signes so you will always find the way. This day, the only a bit more difficult place you can find around S 46.89032 W 072.16461. Going SOBO it's a steep descent, it's very short but steep. Can be dangerous after the rain. Later the views on the canyon on Aviles river became really amasing, it was for me one of the most beautiful part in all the park.

Day 4/5 I had 6 km till Casa de Piedra ( there was a tiny spot for one tent with a stream at this distance) and I started the part Siete Lagunas. At Casa de Piedra I asked the ranger if the trail was walkable and he confirmed that it was ok and I could go. But, as the others already mentioned , the trail is not maintained anymore. Till the end of Laguna Gutierrez it's rather easy to find the way without gps, but later, there are some places where the path is not at all visible. With trail on gps is not very difficult to find the way, but without this, can be very difficult to follow this trail. There are also a lot of fallen trees, some BB. If they do nothing, I think in 2 years the path will completely disapear. But it's a beautiful trail, wild, you meet nobody, a pure and intacked nature. Just take enough water, the first day of this sendero the water was at Lago Gutierrez and later about 1h after the pass.

Day 6 Instead to continue on RR I went to Valle Chacabuco to discoverer also this sector. I started with the trail Lagunas Atlas. Well marked, beautiful, various views, it was the most frequented part of the park, but still I can't say it was crowded. Beautiful camp on Laguna el Cangrejo.

Day 7 The views on Lago Cochrane are really amasing. The landscapes and the vegetation are in this part different than before.

To conclude, I did not encontered really difficult places on this long hike. As I walked through all sections of the park, it allowed me to see all the divercity of the area. Except maybe 3 h in Valle Chacabuco, I did not really meet people in the park. It was a beautiful section! In Cochrane, you will find a lot of shops where you can find everything you need for next section. There are several campings ( I liked a lot Camping Lorenzo not crowded, nice place to cook with gaz, friendly owner, spots with twin protection

* '''2023-Dec-28 to 2024-Jan-04 / 8 days / RR / SOBO / Roshi'''

I hitchhiked from Chile Chico to X{35}[8.1/505] and did not see the settler at El Ciprés. It was very windy and I decided to cross the plateau at midday which was maybe not the best idea. The cross country I found very challenging and the extreme head wind across the plateau was in relentless. Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed the amazing landscape and the challenge, although a less windy day or starting earlier would have made it more enjoyable. I camped close to Camp 32.6/1300 at a dry spot and the next day followed the fence down to the road and walked to the Park entrance at Jenimeni. The park rangers told me of an alternative route to the start of the Avilés trail to Casa de Piedra and gave me some maps and info, they were very friendly. I paid 3000 pesos for park entry. I camped at Valle Hermoso which lives up to its name and then did a day hike to the glacial lake leaving my tent at the Refugio Valle Hermoso and following Estero Ventisquero or part of OH-CC-A {35-06} After packing up I then hiked a couple of kms down to a next campsite (there are a couple of established places to set up your tent on the way to Casa de Piedra). From Casa de Piedra I followed the Site Laguna's trail which was overgrown and difficult to follow and navigate and for me probably my least favourite part. The kms are marked but you really have to follow the GPS me there aren't many places to pitch if you don't feel like hiking anymore. I think going down into Chacobuco (which I had done previously) would have been nicer. I loved the Lago Cochrane and Tamango reserve the views and colours were amazing and the trails very easy to follow and not very busy. I got a lift into Cochrane halfway from the entrance but the road walk is not long anyway and I was not actively hitching.

Annoyances were horse flies but I got good advice to "out Zen" them and to be honest once you let it go and enjoy the views and being in nature generally they are easy to deal with. Just don't stop between 2 and 8 PM ;)
And from Jenimeni to Casa de Piedra is lots of river crossings so just accept wet feet :) and try do river crossings in the morning especially on hot days ( esp Avilés) Be safe and sensible obviously!
I would have maybe even liked to stay longer on this part of the trail, there were lots of little day hikes and alternative routes I'd have loved to explore, but I didn't have enough food. It's a beautiful part of the world, enjoy it!

* '''From 2023-01-15 to 2023-01-19 // 5 days // Hiking // NOBO // VARIANT P + OPT3 + OPT3A + RR + VARIANT J + VARIANT I + VARIANT D + Sendero Laguna Esmeralda (no variant on that one yet) + RR // Quentin Clavel'''

From Cochrane, I thought it was sad to go straight along the Lago Cochrane without checking what's going up there, and have a view over the vallee Chacabuco. So that's what I did.

I just took the beginning of Variant P, you have to pass threw a gate saying "no passar" then you have to bifurcate to the option 3 (tamango) to reach the pass between vallée tamango and chacabuco. Very nice views. Then instead of going down into vallée Chacabuco, I went straight, and continue on the sendero de las siete lagunas, wich is an old track, sometimes hard to guess, so check the GPS, but mostly easy to folllow (you still have the mark every kilometers).

Really loved the colours at the end of Lago guitterrez !

Main difficulties on the section are these horrible horseflies, and the no less terrible little spiky plants that stay sticks in your shoes and socks.

Then you reach casa de piedras. I took the variant J to don't have to put my crocs for the river crossing (yeah, I'm a lazy walker aha).

Then follow the river until the vallée hermoso, wich lives up to its name. And at this time it's just a mix between walking and crossing rivers. No need to ask, I putted my crocs on aha !

The pass up to Lago Verde was steep but the view so outstanding and the colours .. same amazing colours on Lago jeinemeni !

Didn't stayed at, but the Raleigh camp is very nice if you may choose a camp around !

Second part of NP was CC, and that was so cool ! Just have the directions and go straight to this point. Passing from mountains to others, surrounded by an unnumerable number of curious guanacos !

Hardest part is to deal with the strong wind during the ascend and at the highest point. And the descent is quite unstable, stay close to the GPX tracks, I tried to shorttrack but it led me down to slippery slopes, so I had to backtrack to find again the GPX.

Then it's 15 km down to reach Chile Chico (8km on the asphalt). Settler wasn't angry against me and saluate me kindly when I passed threw his land.

Very nice stretch. Very diversificate, great landscapes, wildlife. I loved it !

And about the entrance fees, It was not my intention, but I haven't paid for as I entered by variant P which is not a porper enter. And haven't seen any guardaparque at all.

* '''2023-Dec-30 / 1 day / Packrafting / SOBO / Option 10 C / Tom Pieper'''

I attempted this option as an alternative starting point for section 36G. Hitchhiked to the bridge of Carreterra Austral over Rio Chacabuco. I scouted rapid {35-10C} [2.3/121] from 100 m above and it looked feasible. This was not true when I approached on the river after entering just before the bridge. The rapid was impassable (late afternoon) which brought me into serious troubles. The canyon is pretty steep here and there is no way back. It was not fun to climb the steep slopes cliffs to escape the 100 m deep canyon. Its really dangerous. The rapid is pretty hard to investigate from above. I would recommend to only go later in the season and only in the morning or at least with company.

* '''2023-Dec-21 / 8 day / Hiking + Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Option 10 + Old and new tracks to Administration Parque Patagonia Valle Chacabuco / Tom Pieper'''

Most have been described by Kris and Stina. The plateau and the entire track is awesome. After the kind Arriero at the puesto {35} [15.8/1075] (actually its his house) I found it a little bit tricky to find a good route first but then just ascended and found a nice cross country route. Camped before the plateau. There are nice spots just before 1400 m, after that its just rocky until you descend to the Water {35} [23.9/1586]. Camp {35} [32.6/1300] was a little bit swampy. Found a better spot 300 m south. Try to be early at the road if you want to hitchhike. I was lucky and got the last car passing at 14.00 to the park at day. On the 25/12 the park entrance (but only the entrance) is always closed! Keep in mind if you come around christmas. At the park entrance you must disinfect your packrafting gear due to Didymo algae. I could not packraft lago jenimeni and verde due to wind but its still stunning. Between Water {35} [75.5/937] and Ford {35} [79.3/846] there is a approx. 3-4 steep bluff. I felt really uncomfortable with my heavy backpack as a lot of erosion happened to the steep ‘steps’. Maybe exploring an additional bush bashing route is feasible here. The ford was rather deep and could be a problem for shorter persons but I crossed in the evening, so in the morning it should be fine. Collapsed Refuge {35} [81.0/819] makes a nice camp spot. The other forts were fine. Stayed one night at Casa Piedra were I met Tobi and Fangwen and spend dinner and breakfast together the next day. CONAF first denied to packraft Rio Chacabuco due to conservation reasons, but after I mentioned that I came along all the track with my gear and rangers et sector jenimeni they were fine with me going on that river. The river is a bit unspectacular. I left at the River Out {35} [119.8/277] and I followed the old trail/road to Park Ranger, Refuge, Camp {35} [123.2/263]. There is a new picknick hut and I spend the night in there with a spectacular view of the valle chacabuco to the rims of campo hielo norte. The next day I continued the old track right side of the river (not in the GPT track files) until the bridge {35-10} [4.7/265]. Track is still in good conditions and occasionally used by the horses and guanacos there. A wonderful hike with massive views. I than continued on the CONAF trail (also not in the GPT track files) to Park administracion at Lodging $$$ {35-03} [1.9/340]. Would not recommend the restaurant. 65 $ for a 3 course meal but nothing fancy. Better spend for dinner in Cochrane. But for a post hike drink at the bar it is a lovely place and staff is kind. Also liked the museum and stayed the night at the campsite approximately 2 km away. The puma still seems to be there occasionally. Next day I hitchhiked out to Cochrane.

* '''2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-23/ 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris'''

Got a taxi for the first 8 kilometers of the roadwalk. Nobody present at the farm where the dirtroad starts to go uphill, gates easy to get through, friendly dog. We hiked just 6km and made camp by a stream.

The next day passed the puesto at km15.8, owner seemed friendly and waved. Slowly climbed up to the plateau, lots of water everywhere, very few snowpatches en route. Perfect day - not much wind. Saw lots of guanacos, hares, flamingos. Moving cross-country was ok throughout. Climbed a few barbed-wire fences. Finally found the dirt road, hiked to camp at km42.9.

In the morning hitched a ride to the park entry with a ranger. We had no online booking as we didn't know when we'd arrive, they had us make one on site. Super friendly guys, said that there is currently fewer visitors than normally at this time. The route between Rio San Antonio crossing and Camp Raleigh has been changed, partially new trail built; follows mainly the Lago Esmeralda trail. There is now a brand new hanging bridge over Rio San Antonio right next to Camp Raleigh, avoiding all the needless crossings.

After the camp there trail seems new in places, but then resorts to many rivercrossings again. The way up and down the Puertozuela La Gloria is steep and loose. After Lago Verde there are a million more crossings until you turn South. Here the trail is not much maintained, lots of fallen trees. The next 25km to Casa Piedra the trail is a bit harder to see at first but then gets much better. The guy (not a ranger) at Casa Piedra informed us that the Siete Lagos trail is closed but couldn't say why. It's definitely overgrown in parts, lots of fallen trees - need to keep track on the gpx at all times. After settler at km135.2 the trail has been recently maintained and bushes cut.

For photos and stories, you can follow us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures

==Season 2022/23==

* '''2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena'''

We enjoyed this section a lot, especially with all the beautiful autumn colors in early April and basically without people until the last part before Cochrane. PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.

Just like others we found the plateau between km 20-28 very very windy. Definitely don’t count with camping there. We found a good spot right after the secound pass, aprox. 500m down the hill where you can find a wind protected place. The descent down is a little slow but with nice views, guanacos, horses.. simply amazing. Once back on the road, it’s not too far to the PN entrance where we met a guard, but fortunately were able to get a permission as described above. The trail from Lago Jeinemeni was one of our favorites. All the fords were easy, but expect quite slow progress in the CC parts. We camped in a forrest at km 81 where is a destroyed refugio but still a good spot for camping. The rest of the trail to Casa Del Piedra is again straightforward and the landscape is somehow more dry. We didn’t cross the first bridge but went with the J option which turned out to be a good decision as we met a xx of guanacos that let us come really close to them. Closed and locked refugio still provides a good shelter, but when open it must be a perfect stop in the middle of this long section. Water was turned off as well but there is a stream behind the house.

We spent the next night on the beach of Lago Gutierrez where is enough space to build a tent - bushes around the trail are otherwise very thorny and sharp. After the ascent to the pass was a good stream of water, probably the last place to safely take unfiltered water for the next couple of kms. The trail from there leads around all the lakes and is nice and easy. We spent the night in a refugio at km 134. This one was the only one standing from what we have seen and its a good shelter when it rains, however we decided to stay in our tent anyway. You can make fire inside. Closest water is actually the one in a lake uphill, the stream on the other side of the path was very dirty and hard to gather anyway.

From there its a one more day until the finish with a good pace. We haven’t met the settler Daniel, but he’s definitely still living there. Beautiful beach of Lago Cochrane and from there we started to meet more and more tourists, doing just a day hike or some circuit around the lake - might be a good option as well in this beautiful region. The last kms felt a little long for us as we were looking forward to have some rest and enjoy all the fun in town. At the official campsite were a few people but no one asked us about anything. There are nice toilets and shower. From there its around 30m to Cochrane. Good to remember they celebrate Easter holidays in Chile as well, but we still managed to find some shop and bakery open.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* '''12/03/2023 - 18/03/2023 / RR SOBO / Jakub+Veronika:'''

Doing section 35 was due to closure of the Patagonia NP caused by heavy rains with helicopter rescue of several tourists from Valle Hermoso quite complicated, we did walk all we could in Tamango reserve and later (when it was opened) in Chacabuco valley. Be sure not to miss the museum. It's really worth it. The northern part was opened as the last one, that's why we've skipped it and hitchhiked back to Caretera. All paths in great condition. When going from Tamango to Chacabuco there's one suggestion:

It seems that on RR (35, km 141) ends new 11km long track ”Huemules” which starts at the parking in Chacabuco valley on RP (35, km 132.5). That trail might be a nice alternative to RR (mud road) leading over private land of settler David Huemul.

*8.02. - 05.03.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO, Chile Chico - Cochrane

We started in Chile Chico around 5 pm walking the first km on the road. After a while we got a ride to the Bahía Jara cross and camped a few hundred meters further near the street (we carried water from Chile Chico).

The ascent to the plateau is mostly easy dirtroad walking and the last CC part easy to navigate. The whole stretch on the plateau until the street at km 41.5 we had extreme wind, which made walking super tiring and nearly blew us away a few times. We found a tiny and steep, but wind protected place to set up our tent at around km 28 in the ridge dug by the river. We had to get a bit inventive to set it up and to be able to sleep properly there. There were almost no other places that were protected by the wind until you get off the plateau. As almost all previous entries say, it's better to camp off the plateau. But it's really worth doing it because you can see Guanacos and flamingos on it :)

When we reached the street at km 41.5 we were lucky and a car passed by a few minutes later, which brought us to the entrance of Parque Patagonia. We payed 15k CLP p.p. and walked to the camp Raleigh at Lago verde. There are some sheltered places to set up the tent, with an unfamiliar amount of people for the GPT. Lago Verde is beautiful though.

The next day involves lots of river- and stream crossings and it started to rain not particularly heavy, but after some hours we were completely wet. Therefore the rivercrossing at km 82.6 was really hard for Anna (1,63 m) but we managed by inertlocking our arms and doing it step by step slowly. After that the trails get really good and you can walk way faster. We camped at the unofficial camp site at km 84.7.

We had good weather the next day and the trail was really good until Lago Gutierrez. Up to the pass the trail gets a bit worse with some navigation issues, but you always find a good path again. As the others wrote there are only some tiny streams within the first km after the pass until the next Laguna, so we filled up our bottles there and camped somewhere in the forest soon afterwards once it started to rain again.

The next day there were still not too much water sources and we fetched the first water at the first Laguna which wasn't super easy to access. The trail until Lago Cochrane wasn't in bad condition neither. We also took Option L, which follows the 'regular' siete lagunas trail. The stretch from Lago Cochrane until the Conaf office at the end of the lake is absolutely amazing with great views of one of the clearest lakes in the world. We camped at km 145.7 and took a bath in the lake.

The last 8 km to Cochrane went super fast on an easy trail until Conaf and 4 km road walking to the town, so happily we could escape from the starting rain.

* '''20 to 24 of February 2023 / Silke & Hans / Loop - Fachinal -> Chile Chico'''

We didn't do the regular route, but read about an intresting loop starting in Fachinal and entering the normal route at Valley Hermoso. We then continued along the regular route to the entrance at Laguna Jeinimeni, and back to Chile Chico. The first 3 days from Fachinal we didn't see any other hikers, but it was pretty clear why. The trail was completely overgrown, full of fallen trees and a lot of the time there is no trail at all. But we managed our way through pretty good, and is was an awesome alternative to enter the Park. We recorded our GPX for others, waypointed some POI's and added some photo's to it: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/114121493

DAY 1 / 18km / +740m /
Although we heard of a bus to Fachinal from Chile Chico, nobody really appeared to know any information about it.. In the terminal the people we spoke said there were none. So we started hitchhiking the following morning. But after 3-4h of no luck we went back to the terminal, and all of a sudden there was a bus leaving at 11:30. 10.000 pesos pp, a little expensive but being unsuccesfull hitchhiking we took it. We had lunch at the turnoff, and starting hiking around 13:00. The first part is on a clear double track, but soons turns into a clear singletrack. We took the wrong intersection twice (waypointed on our GPX). We camped right before the first big river crossing. There is one steel cable, so if you bring a harness you could tiroller across.

DAY 2 / 22km / +1100m /
First up, we crossed the river. The water level didn't seem a lot lower than the day before, and at the deepest part it was about halfway our thighs. After taking another wrong intersection and backtracking, we reach the second river crossing. Again a steel cable is provided but the crossing was pretty straightforward, and the water level was only slighty above our knees. Just across the river is a an old cabin, and then short after a very new refugio (locked, used by a trekking agency). The trail gets super dense after this, climbs steeply on the mountain side and dissapears completely on numerous occasions. After the climb it flattens out, opens up and you reach a laguna. After the laguna it's the easiest to just follow the river bed down to the open valley floor (possible sheltered campsite in the forest). Follow the valley floor to another amazing laguna where you can camp near a second locked refugio.

DAY 3 / 14km / +440m /
We started the day with a side-trip to a mirador looking over the glacier high above. Takes about 1,5-2 hours return. We then packed up camp and headed for Valley Hermoso. You pass another beautiful laguna and follow the river down to the main valley. Lots of river crossing here. We camped at the Refugio Valley Hermoso, arriving earlier than expected.

DAY 4 / 15km / +200m /
Very short and easy daytrip to another laguna. About 3 hours return. We just chilled the rest of the day.

DAY 5 / 36km / +830m /
Final day along the normal route to the entrance of Laguna Jeinimeni. The day started off with some heavy rain for a couple of hours, but all the river crossings were still very doable. We arrived at the entrance around 13:00, and there was no sign of anybody leaving soon. So we decided to continue hiking untill we could find a ride along the way. We ended up hiking an extra 19km before finally a car was willing to take us along. There is an established campsite at the entrance for 3000 pesos pp.

* '''19 to 24 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO, regular route'''

Not too much to add on this one. I had a good time but the section felt long.

On the way up to the first plateau there were a few somewhat sheltered places to camp past the puesto. I camped around km 19, just before the last steep climb up to the plateau. Lots of streams around there.

None of the river crossings went above my knees, after a dry week.

I liked the detour up to the Lago Jeinemeni mirador. I also took variant I out and back to a glacier lake, I'm less sure whether that was worth it. I couldn't find any real trail, it was nice easy cross country walking through the woods followed by some open rocky ground. The glacial lake was cool, but not as spectacular as some of the ones I've seen in other sections.

I camped at the casa de piedras and took a luxurious warm shower. The ranger said you're supposed to pay at the office in valle Chacabuco, but since our route doesn't go there she just let me stay for free. She also said that sendero de siete lagunas (our route) was closed, but that I could do it since I had my gps and satellite communicator. She made it sound tough/dangerous though it turned out to be fairly quick trail.

Not much water or campsites along the siete lagunas. There's a nice campsite at the tip of the pencil lake just after the (still intact!) refugio at 133.9.

* '''2023-Feb-12-19 / NOBO / RR + Option 35-L / Ondrej and Bara / Cochrane - Chile Chico / 7.5 days'''

We really enjoyed this section! We went from Cochrane to Chile Chico. Our favourite parts were the descent through Valle Hermoso and the descent on the cross country section to Chile Chico. We spent 7.5 days on this section, taking a relaxed pace and including a half day break.

We only had to pay 9,000 CLP per person entrance fee at the Cochrane park gate (sector Tamango). We then showed the pass three days later to a ranger at Casa de Piedras and he let us go. The final checkpoint for us was the CONAF park exit/entrance at Lago Jeinemeni. The ranger there didn’t want to see our pass at all, he just asked from where we hiked (we said Casa de Piedras).

Some details: - Starting from Cochrane, the trail is easy walking up until km 144.9. As you leave Lago Cochrane, the trail is harder to follow. Fortunately this lasts only up to km 138, where the trail becomes easy to follow again. We camped next to the refuge on km133.9. The refuge has a good roof and can serve as an emergency shelter. There is no good water next to it though - we needed to climb the hill to the laguna to refill. - From roughly km 125 to km 99, the RR follows the old Siete Lagunas trail, which is not maintained anymore. Expect some fallen trees and slightly overgrown parts but the trail is beautiful and easy to navigate in general. - We took Option L to cut some overgrown road walking as recommended by others. We really liked it. - We camped next to the destroyed refuge at Laguna Guagua (km 118.3) and really loved the place - there is an amazing pebble beach at the laguna. - If you don’t want to camp at Casa de Piedras, there is a place for a small tent and a stream at roughly km 97 (-47.07463, -72.20439). We camped there. - The river crossings in Valle Aviles and Vale Hermoso were maximum to our knees. The deepest one was at Lago Verde (km 66.1). However, the river levels can change rapidly when it rains the days before - do check the weather. - We camped at the eastern shore of Lago Verde (km 61.7; campsite Raleigh) and really loved it - it has picnic tables and a spacious cooking/eating shelter. - We hitchhiked the part on the road between km 53 and 41.5. Few cars go by but the hitch was easy - we stopped the first car. - The cross country section from km 41.5 is very different from the rest - semi-desert like and lots of animals. We saw llamas, flamimgos, condors and hares (among sheep, cows and horses). - Between km 38 and 33 the path goes along a fence. We had to get over the fence once (we scrambled below it without problems). - If you are going NOBO, expect stunning views of the General Carrera Lake and Torres del Avelano when coming from the last pass (km 20.8) down to Chile Chico.

A ranger in Casa de Piedras wanted to prevent us to walk the RR NOBO from Casa de Piedras to Valle Hermoso. He claimed that route is closed now as the rivers are too high to cross. To avoid conflict, we said that we will only do the “loop trail” which is basically the RR from Casa de Piedras up until the bridge where the RR joins Option J. The Option J is then used to return back to Casa de Piedras. When doing the loop, we met several hikers in the opposite direction who confirmed that all river crossings are fine. In light of this we decided to continue on the RR and indeed the deepest ford was to our knees. Therefore if faced with a ranger claiming that the rivers are too high, we suggest to start with the loop trail (rangers should be okay with that) and get more info on the river levels from the hikers going the opposite direction.

*2023 last week January NoBo (6 days but could have very easily been done in less) / Helen and Craig + (Caro, Ali and Gabby)

>Such lovely camp sites. Beautiful places to stay the night the whole way around

>Very very easy trails. River crossing section isn't bad at all and the Valle hermosa lives up to its name.

>1st and last camp site particularly lovely

>Keep eyes peeled for pumas! I would have easily missed the sighting if I hadn't been looking the right way at the right time. They were super close. 10m or less away. Two cubs outside the refugio at casa peidra. Not where they are commonly seen in the park at all Aparently around west winds camp they are more commenly seen.

>Museum in the middle of the section worth checking out. Very visual and quite hard hitting environmental museum

> Can hitch easy enough to Chile Chico but leave last camp early in the morning. There's often a driver with a 4x4 who drives hikers in to the park and will take you back for 10,000p/p. Hikers who were a few hours behind us had no luck hitching as demand can often overtake spaces.

* '''27 of January to 1 of February 2023 / Véronica & Zach / GPT35 RR SOBO / 5.5 days '''

Route: Chile Chico - Lago Jeinimeni - Valle Hermoso - Casa de Piedra - Lago Cochrane - Cochrane

What a beautiful and diverse stretch of the GPT! I hiked half of this section with Zach, up to Casa de Piedras at km 98.9. We were unable to get a hitch out of Chile Chico, so we ended up walking the road to where the trail begins. No navigation issues, but the entire cross-country section to Río de las Nieves (waypoint at 42.7 km) is very exposed and was very windy when we crossed. We ended up camping at the water at 23.9 km, but the wind blew very strongly all night and I was worried it might take my tent. If you can, it is better to camp off this plateau unless the weather is calm. Lots of guanaco trails to follow :)

At the CONAF office at km 53.0, we each paid 9,000 clp for entry to the national park, plus 6,000 clp for passage/camping along the trail to Casa de Piedras in the Valles Hermoso and Aviles. Beautiful trail the whole way, popular and well-maintained, with cairns and markers to follow. There is an awesome shelter and camping area with picnic tables on the eastern shore of Lago Verde, at the end of Option D. In my opinion it was nicer than the popular refugio in Valle Hermoso (km 68.1) that everyone talks about.

We had no issues with fords, except the one at km 82.6 which flows into Río Aviles. It was the end of a warm sunny day, so the flow was quite high and strong. Had I been on my own I would have camped on the north side and waited till morning to cross. However, this time I was able to cross by linking arms with Zach as he is much taller than me and was more stable in the current.

At Casa de Piedras, Zach and I parted ways as he wanted to packraft down the Río Chacabuco. The ranger at the Casa told me the Sendero de las Siete Lagunas (which begins at km 99.5) was no longer maintained. This is true, there were stretches in the desertlike brush that were hard to follow, and I checked the GPS frequently. Generally it was better when the trail went into wooded areas. I also found this trail to be dry — the only water I found was the water from the lagunas and a tiny trickle about a kilometer south of the pass. Lots of spiky plants that get stuck in your socks and shoes. I took Option L to cut out some overgrown minor road walking. It's sad that this trail is being neglected and left to be swallowed up by nature, because otherwise it is quite scenic.

The horse trail that goes from the puesto of Daniel Huemul (km 143.3) to Lago Cochrane was also rough and overgrown. Everything gets easier once you reach Lago Cochrane though, nice, maintained trails all the way to Cochrane with beautiful places to camp along the lake.

* '''GPT35 / Yannic & Mirjam / 2022-Dec-13'''

Much is already detailed below, so we will keep it short

1 day: from Chile Chico to the entrance of the National Park. We camped one night before the pass at S 46.61639 W 71.81632. Water right next to the camp. Pass is very windy.

2 days: from the National Park to the Refugio. Nice refugio with small house where you can make a fire inside to dry things. From the Refugio to Casa Piedra is possible in one day. But it is a long day with many kilometres.

2.5 days: Casa Piedra to Cochrane. Leaving Casa Piedra, after a few hundred metres the trail leaves the Minor Road and enters the trail (where there is a large stone marker). The trail is officially closed and partly in bad condition. There are many fallen trees on the trail, some of it is overgrown and not completely clear. We therefore checked the GPS regularly. We took OH-TL-V{35-L}, which saves a few kilometres of (overgrown) minor road.
We spent one night at Laguna Guagua (Refugio is completely destroyed) and one at Lago Cochrane.
When we left the national park, no one was at the office. We therefore simply went through...

* '''GPT35 Variant P, Option 3, 3C, 3D / Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck / 2022-Dec-12 and 13 / 1.5 days'''

While waiting in the village Cochrane for our friends to catch up, we did a little 1.5 day hike higher up next to Lago Cochrane that we visited at least 3 times by packraft in past years. For the first time this year we waked with a light backpack without packrafting gear.

We took Variant P eastbound that slowly climbs on a gravel road to an altitude of 500 m and then continues as a panorama trail in this altitude.

Apparently, this is not authorized access to Parque Patagonia (Sector Tamango) and two gates need to be climbed but there was nobody to be seen on this route. The normal access to the park is down next Rio Cochrane and Lago Cochrane.

Nearly the entire route was scenic and worth the effort.

The settler “El Húngaro” apparently sold the land and became part of the national park. There is an open building that might be used as a refuge in case of emergency but camping is probably more comfortable.

The refuge at {35-P} [4.0/501] is collapsed but camping is pleasant on this pasture.

The trail section OH-TL-V {35-03} [0.0+5.2] is not maintained for several years making this route inconvenient to walk. The route south of both lakes is easy walking.

As long as Parque Patagonia does not challenge hikers to make a full traverse from Cochrane to Chile Chico it is prudent to take the official route which is the current regular route and pay the entrance fee near Cochrane when hiking northbound.

But should longer multi-day traverses be denied, then it might be less bothersome to take Variant P which avoids the entrance.

Packrafters can travel east and westbound on Lago Cochrane and will not pass any park entrance.

* '''Alice & Florian / 4 to 10 November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound'''

Here's our story of our GPT35. We really enjoyed this section, it is really diverse, beautiful landscapes and we saw heaps of animals.

As we wanted to do the trail in the northbound direction, we took the bus from chile chico to Cochrane, arriving in chile chico from argentina from the south (border o'higgins closed...). It tales 4 hours and leaves on sunday at 14 (return Monday 7 Am), Monday 16 (return Tuesday 7 AM),Wednesday and Friday 7 Am (return 16).

We took the option north of Cochrane because we were not sure if they would allow us to sleep in the tamango reserve. But, indeed you have to pass a no entry sign, a gate and a sign saying that entering the park that way is prohibited so we do not recommend it when it is written on the conaf website that it is allowed to sleep in tamango section.

We took the sendero de los huemules and slept at camp 1 waypoint. There was plenty of water at that time and a beautiful view.

After that we took the option OH-TL-V 35-P to avoid going downhill. The entry of this trail is about 150m before what is indicated on the GPT so be aware. I don't think the trail is an official one from the park so you have to fight your way through some bushes. But apart from that, it is clear. Then we joined the regular route, which since the 2022 version does follow the siete lagunas trail. You will join the siete lagunas trail at the kilometer 11 more or less. We then camped around the km 13 of the 7 lagunas trail.

We found water just before climbing at the pass at S47°06.0856' W072°17.592' and there is more at the top. However, it is true that it is drier on the other side of the pass, so if you are going Southbound, pack enough water from Lago Gutierrez to climb the pass.

We spent the third night at casa de Piedra where you have all facilities (electricity, hot shower, kitchen). Unfortunately for us they were on strike so they wouldn't allow us to go further on the trail. We did anyway as going out to jeiminini or through the road to chacabuco would take the same time.
By the way various national parks - including Torres del Paine were on strike at the moment.

The second part in the aviles valley is really clear, the trail is really nice and easy and with a lot of water available. Exiting the casa de piedra you should take the option OH-TI-V 35-J instead of the regular route, it will save you 600 m and two river crossings, and the view is similar. Starting at km 20, you will have to reduce your pace because the trail is busy with a lot of fallen trees, bushes and rocks. Between the km 22 and 23 of the valle aviles trail, the trail has been swept away by the river this winter so you have to cross the river two more times to go around. The kilometers indications disappear more or less after the pass, at km 25.

After that you enter the valle Hermoso. We camped at the waypoint 17/Camp Valle Hermoso but we do not recommend it. It was really small and close to the river, so if there is a sudden level rise because of heavy rain or a flooding because of a glaciar outburst (GLOF), you might get wet... Better sleep st the small caban near km23 if you don't think you will reach the refugio in valle Hermoso.

Once you reach Lago Verde, follow the GPT track and not the trail that leads to the lake, or you will have to turn back. After the pass it's more river crossings but you can save some kilometers in the river bed by taking the option OH-TI-V 35-E and then OH-TI-V 35-D until the rio jeimenini (the first part of the option OH-TI-V 35-D does not exist anymore). We did not have any trouble to cross the Rio between the 2 lakes even though we were in the middle of the afternoon. It was about thigh deep for me but I'm tall.

After that it's really easy to the Parc entrance. We went back to Chile Chico walking on the road instead of taking the cross country option, because0 there were still snow on the mountain. The first part is still pretty until the intersection, once you enter the valley of the Rio it is a bit more monotonous. Halfway there is an access to an annex of the national park, to go see the Cueva de las manos and valle lunar.

* '''Adrien Kunzli / 31-Oct-2022-04-November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound'''

All rivers crossing are easy to pass at this time of year. One tricky passage on the snow at the entrance of lago verde, very steep, but it was to avoid walking in the lake (frozen feet early in the morning).

No guards at the entrance at Tamango so i didnt pay the fee but didnt get my pass. Tamara gently gave me one at the camping of casa del piedra (apparently if i didnt have this pass i could not be admitted at Jeinimeni.) At Jeinimeni pass, again, nobody. So i were to the houses near and finaly find the guy. He took my pass and i get no fee in this NOBO direction.
Nice shortcut after the bridge of Rio de las Nieves (S 46° 47.274', W 071° 54.665') that can avoid you a little bit of the 4x4 unfinshing road and get you directly into the heart of this amazing and beautifull last part. So:
In front of the end of the bridge, you go up the big hill and go diagonally (or directly if you feel better) to join the path (pretty wild) of the gps (S 46° 45.843', W 071° 54.359'). Small stretches of paths are drawn rather well along this shortcut.

Not much good water between the bridge (brown water) and the puesto but the the puesto's water is of much better quality.

==Season 2021/22==

* '''GPT 35: Parque Patagonia/ Exploration Route via Valle Maullín Grande/ 2022 March-12/ 4 days / Tobias Schorcht, Jonas Grünewald '''

We hiked from Maullín Grande to Cochrane by chance. I always wanted to do the stretch from Chile Chico to Cochrane, but we had just 4 days left… When we hitchhiked northbounded from Villa O’Higgins, we luckily got picked up by Pascual Diaz, who is a experienced Mountain Guide (company Kalem) and took us all the way to his refugio in Maullín Grande. He also explained us, how to reach Cochrane on time while doing that crossing. The next day he took us to the end of the Road, where we started hiking around midday (-46,80390, -72,42001). It was a easy walk to the end of the Valley where we camped (-46,87872, -72,34138). The following day was hard, but we went up to the pass (1430m) in perfect sunshine. At (-46,87234, -72,30906) you will face a waterfall in a steep canyon. We recommend to walk on the left side (northwest) through the forest until you meet the riverbed again. The other side is also possible (we went there), but you have to climb higher in difficult terrain. From that point you can easily do a cross country walk up to the pass, where you have to cross the Glaciar (without cracks). It was absolutely stunning! Going down to the laguna is quite steep. I would not do it in bad weather conditions. When you meet the laguna, you can either walk on the left or right side. Both options are not easy. We crossed on the right (southern) side, which is ok in good weather conditions. There is one river crossing in between, which could be impossible with more water. Now we think it would have been easier to walk on the left (northern) side, although we would have had needed to cross the river before and after the laguna. Packrafting is an option as well, but since it only 1.5 km we don’t think it is worth it. Camped in a forest close to the regular trail dry and save. All in all we recommend this option to experienced hikers in good weather conditions. The hike to Cochrane was hard, because we had just 2 days for 80km. So we hitchhiked to the museum of Parque Patagonia and we even saw a puma at the Westwind Campsite! It seems like this puma shows up there regularly. I waited for that moment almost 5 months. My dream came true on my very last evening in nature. Thank you Patagonia for this great gift. 🙏

* '''2022-Feb / Packrafting / Mikhail Bogdanov&Masha Ovchinnikova'''

See for Rio Chacabuco and picturesamd discussion of the canyons.

https://web.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1319249015247648/

* '''Christmas2021 / GPT 35, NOBO, participants Janna & Matthias, dec 2021, duration 6 days from Cochrane to Conaf center at Lago Jeinimeni, then hitchhiked to Chile Chico'''

As recommended by a friend we opted for the following route through the Parque Nacional de Patagonia which is highly recommendable (first two days mainly GPT variants and options, afterwards GPT regular routes. There are several marked senderos in the beginning as 5 Los Huemules, 8 los Pumas, 7 los Guanacos, sendero 9, sendero Lagunas Altas etc.) as you can see in our attached tracking file.

All in all the trails were easy to find, some seemed to be still unhiked this year. To enter the park from Cochrane we had to pass a prohibition sign and climb over a no entrar gate. We didn't meet anyone on the first day, the settler didn't seem to be around. The following days we met two to three other hikers per day, but no rangers until the end at Conaf Center near Lago Jeinimeni, where we easily paid the park fees in arrears (8000 pp park entrance fee and an additional 6000 pp overnight stays in the park). We deliberately skipped the Conaf center in Valle Chacabuco on the advice of our friend.

Good to know:
- There is no water anymore at S 47.198557, W 72.474927 near the camping site but instead at S 47.203460, W 72.480747 and S 47.179332, W 72.465807
- There were many lagoons on our day 3 that weren't visibly well marked neither on our apps nor on the Garmin GPS.
- All the marked refugios along the trail are heavily damaged except Casa de Piedra
(closed on the 24th of dec) and Refugio Valle Hermoso (where we could even dry our
soaked shoes from the many river crossings next to the fireplace).
- From the refugio Valle Hermoso we did a side trip to the first glacier lake in the Valle
Estero Ventisquero without all the luggage.
- The río Jeinimeni water level was up to our waists and strong (note it had rained the
night before). According to others it was supposed to be knee-deep.
- Hitchhiking from Conaf center Jeinimeni to Chile Chico is possible when camping or day guests are leaving. As we arrived later in the afternoon we spent an extra night there.
- The supermercado sur in Chile Chico sells gas.

Track files and waypoints: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-98Ou9jk0porCVRp7CSFZ-KciXQ2PBzD

*'''30 Nov RR 5 days SOBO Frank'''

From Chile Chico I got the Bahia Jara bus & got off at the junction, saves a 6KM roadwalk. Walked 2KM up the road then on trail to the high plateau. The settler before the pass wasn't there but his dogs were a bit territorial so I avoided the puesto. I went across the high plateau & camped a bit before the second puesto in one long day. Camp marked on track file below the pass was not very good (boggy & sloping) so I continued down to camp near the stream. The second puesto is above the RR & not visible from it. Camping on the high plateau definitely not recommended. It is very exposed & the wind can & will knock tents. On day 2 I got to CONAF, they said a puma had been there every day the week before. Continued with many river crossings to the hut. There are trails marked with ribbons on LHS of the river SOBO, they go in on small loops which avoid some of the river crossings. Nearing the hut there is a stream flowing into the lake. At the lake it was too deep to cross. Bush bashed for about 40 metres to reach the ford. Camped outside the hut. Several river crossings on the third day. The double crossing is the crux. I avoided it by going over the bluff on LHS of river with a bit of tree bashing but I don't recommend that. The bluff descent is cliffed off with only a narrow breach where you can downclimb on trees. The breach is not obvious from above. Better to ford the river - it was running high but I met several hikers who had crossed it. Got to Casa de Pidera in 1 long day from the hut. You can cook in the Casa (they have a gas stove, electricity & showers) but have to camp outside. There are some trees to shelter from the wind. On the fourth day I started walking Sendero de Siete Lagunas (SSL) but I was using the 2019 track file which doesn't show the SSL. It had not been walked much recently & the route was not obvious. At the lake I lost the SSL in guanaco tracks. I continued around the lake & walked out about 2KM to the road. The descent to the road was cliffed off but I found a way down in a gully. Then I walked out the road past a meadow where hundreds of guanaco were grazing. Past the meadow I went in left on a side road to rejoin the RR. On the fifth day I walked past Daniel Huemul's puesto & was lucky to meet Daniel who was riding out & he showed me the way. He said the direct RR which goes right from the puesto is now overgrown & disused. Instead we went out to the left. There is a small road which goes in a loop & turns towards Lago Cochrane but with his directions I was able to shortcut it. I paid 15,000 CLP for entry & camping at CONAF Lago Jeinemeni & they didn't charge me anything at Casa de Piedra.

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

*'''2020-Mar-18 , Tyler Wood, 7 Days Sobo'''

Amazing section to end my season with. I got a couple short hitches on the way up past Chile Chico. Up past the last puesto are some great areas to camp along a big boulder field. Maybe 2 km more. Beautiful and surrounded by Guanacos. Plenty of water too. Up near the top of the pass was very cold, but very beautiful, and even saw a bunch of flamingoes in the lakes.

On the way down the pass I tried to find the fore-mentioned route to the puesto to take the road the rest of the way down and didn’t really have any luck...found my way anyways and camped down by Rio sucio under a willow.

Into Jenimeni I got another little hitch. Once you cross the deeper river by Laguna esmeralda just keep those water shoes on, you’ll be crossing many more times.

I also was told by a ranger that sendero siete Lagunas wasn’t habilitado, but went for it anyways. Water is Not after Laguna Gutiérrez for a while, so make sure you fill up around there. After the pass there are a few more small
Streams to fill up.

The road walking to Tmango reserve seemed to take forever, but Walking/camping by Lago Cochrane was all worth it. At puesto Huemul Is when I got my first advice that the corona virus was a big deal. The woman told me there were 3 confirmed cases in Cochrane, I went there and booked my tickets straight home. Hasta le vista baby!!!

* '''2020-February-08 / 7 days / Southbound'''

Long and beautiful section. No major difficulties. Great diversity. Without hitchhiking, it took me 173 kilometers.

1st part / 2 days / Chile Chico to Div 217
At the beginning of the cross country, valley full of Guanacos. I camped just after the puesto, about 2 kilometers after the beginning of the cross country, before the pass, where there are still rocks to protect from the wind.
As related in previous reports, after camp 279, you will stumbled upon a fence. Go on the East along the fence, cross it, and you will find a trail to the next Puesto and then the trail goes down from the puesto to the dirt road. You will avoid cross country this way.

2nd part / 2,5 days to Casa de Piedra
Popular part. Groups of hikers along the way. 8000CLP entrance fee + 6000 CLP for 2 nights sleeping inside the park.

3rd part / 2,5 days / Sendero de las 7 lagunas
After Casa de Piedra, I followed the GPS regular route which took me to the beginning of the Sendero of 7 lagunas. CONAF said it was not "habilitado" but it is actually well marked. The good thing is that there will be no hikers on this part, except when you approach the end, along the lago Cochrane. The trail is very different from the GPS tracks but no difficulties to find it. So, don't worry not having the GPS tracks.
At S 47º08.015' W 72º18.948', there is a nice place to camp and also, the trail will merge with the optional route OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 You can then follow this track and then go back to the Regular Route to reach Cochrane.

* Martin Lizondo / 28-Jan-2020 / Regular Hiking Southbound

The section took me 6 days. Some tips:

The first part from Chile Chico has a +20 km cross country walk. The wind is extremly strong and the route very high, with no forest protection. I recommend spending the first night behind the trees of El Ciprés (the settler Orlando Vazquez allows people to pass and is very kind) or near to the puesto at the end of the minor road at 46º 36' 5,3" S, 71º 48' 45,05" O (Miguel Pacheco is very kind too). Enough water all along the route.

The Jeinimeni section of Parque Patagonia is very easy and well marked. Entrance to foreigners costs CLP 8000 plus 6000 if spending the night. There’s a shelter with place for fire and tents after 18 km.

Valley Aviles to Casa de Piedra is also easy and beautifull, with many free camping spots. Casa de Piedra costs CLP 8000 per night.

The rest of the gps track is very different from the actual trail, called “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas”. I recommend taking this route instead of the old gps track, as it’s very well maintained. At Lago la Pepa ( 47º 7' 45,19" S, 72º 18' 41,54" O ) the trail crosses an old overgrown minor road, which coincides with the gps track and takes to Puesto Huemul (47º 11' 25,31" S, 72º 26' 6,98" O). If going to the left, you’ll reach the puesto, if going up to the right you’ll end the official “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas” near to the main park center. Other hiking options are possible from that point, but the regular route to Puesto Huemul is the shortest.

From Puesto Huemul, the trail goes down near to the lake Cochrane through Sendero “Coigües” and “Carpinteros”. Well marked and signed, this trails will take you to the start of Tamango section, very near to Cochrane.

* '''2020-Jan-27 / GPT35 New Route: Lago General Carrera (Fachinal) to Parque Patagonia (Lago Jenimeni or “Casa de Piedra”) / 5 days / Meylin Meylin Elisabeth Ubilla González and Jan Dudeck'''

Based on a recommendation from Tobias Hellwig W and Daniel Mahn Borkowsky we investigated a new route that I did no had on my radar until a few weeks ago. This route provides an alternative access from the southern coast of Lago General Carrera into the Parque Patagonia and is of interest for packrafters and hikers.

The route is a traditional animal trail that was used by the settlers of Fachinal to drive cattle to a large summer pasture that is now part of Parque Patagonia (sector Jenimeni). With the enforcement of keeping domestic animals out of the protected park area a 5 km trail section inside Parque Patagonia lacks maintenance but is still quite well traversable for GPT standards. Apart from this short trail section most of the route is very scenic and nice to walk but practically unknown. Only one tourism company runs guided hiking trips along this route about once per months. Apart from this occasionally use the full traverse seams not to be done anymore.

Due to lack of trail markings we spend about one extra day in searching and following the poorly maintained 5 km trail section but with our GPS record other hikers should struggle much less than we did and will be able to walk in 4 to 5 moderate hiking days from Fachinal at the southern shore of Lago General Carrera to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia in the Valle Chacabuco.

We hiked the route northbound as we considered the option to cross Lago General Carretera at its shortest narrow by packraft. Here the lake is only 3.2 km wide but we finally did not cross this rather dangerous lake due to suboptimal wind conditions.

Fachinal to Rio Aviles River Crossing:

A well maintained “cattle highway” leads from Fachinal from the road bridge of Rio Aviles along the western/southern side of Rio Aviles to the limit of Parque Patagonia. This roughly 20 km long trail section gets regularly cleaned with chain saws to facilitate access to the pastures along Rio Aviles for free-rooming cattle. Most of the trees that have fallen on the trail have been cut to keep the trail easily traversable. Some hikers might find the “pointless up and down” annoying but this trail was created by men that move on horses that did not had to ascent and descent themself. About 1 km before crossing the Rio Aviles two signs indicate the limit of Parque Patagonia (Sector Jenimeni) and ban access for unauthorized people and domestic animals (without providing any clue who might be authorized and who not ;-). From the park limit the trail descents steep to Rio Aviles but remain well maintained to ford.

This trail section requires two possibly demanding river crossings that can become impossible during snow melt in spring, after heavy rain or on the afternoon or evening of hot days (melting water from glaciers!). To keep the route traversable in such circlesumstances the tourism company has installed in both locations steel ropes (to cross these two rivers hooked up in harness to the steel rope without even touching the water).

Rio Aviles River Crossing to the Pass (1150 m above Sea Level):

After the river crossing the trail condition suddenly changes. Fallen trees don’t get cut anymore and undergrowth is not cleaned by machete. It’s mainly the remaining path on the ground that indicates the former animal trail. Advance is slow and in various locations care must be taken to not loose the trail. Here you will need to climb over fall trees and push occasionally through dense vegetation until reaching an altitude of 950 m. At this altitude the forest floor opens up (no dense undergrowth any more) and the trail disappears completely. Here walking becomes easy again. Walk the following kilometer through the open forest following roughly the GPS track until reaching the end of the forest and the small lake after the 1150 m high pass.

An advise for northbound hikers:

Finding the first signs of the trail in the open forest was a struggle as we had no information where exactly the trail starts to descent. I searched at least 3 or 4 hours in a 400 m wide and 1200 m long section of open forest till I found a first old machete mark on a tree that indicated the location of the trail. Carefully searching and following similar marks I finally found the descending trail.

Searching northbound we lost the trail again when reaching Rio Aviles at the bottom of the valley and searched half a day for the correct continuation. A well visible and noticeably used trail next to Rio Aviles leads directly to an suitable river ford but from there a well maintained trail continues 1 km in the wrong direction (upstream). Only after bushbashing 1 km along the river shore downstream we recognized with surprise a second river ford (now the correct river ford) which connects to the well maintained trail section in the correct direction. In hindsight we understood that the well maintained trail simply continues upstream along Rio Aviles and that this trail crosses twice the Rio Aviles. Due to a partially not evident trail section on the other side of we did not recognize this when hitting this trail on the bottom of the valley and took the wrong direction to the wrong river ford.

Now hikers with our GPS record and a GPS should not struggle to find and follow this trail as we did.

Pass (1150 m above Sea Level) to Valle Hermoso Refugio:

After leaving the forest at the 1150 m high pass the most scenic part of this route starts. A roughly 15 km long cross country route leads over pastures and river sediments past 3 lakes and two glaciers to the Refugio Valle Hermoso. Occasionally signs of a trail are visible but due to the open landscape a continuous trail neither exists nor is needed.

Near the Refuge Valle Hermoso this route connects with regular route that leads along Valle Aviles (diffrent river with the same name!) to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia.

Access to Trail Head at Fachinal:

There are multiple buses per week from Chile Chico to Puerto Tranquilo on the Carretera Austral that pass Fachinal.

Monday and Friday runs a subsidized bus from Chile Chico to Fachinal and back to Chile Chico (One round trip in the morning and a second one in the evening).
8:30 leaving Chile Chico
9:30 in Fachinal
11:00 returning to Chile Chico
17:30 leaving Chile Chico
18:30 in Fachinal
20:00 returning to Chile Chico

If you wish to cross Lago General Carrera to continue hiking in the Cordillera Avellano North of the lake speak to Carloz Amoros in Fachinal (mobile: +56 9 76267029 / price around 30‘000 CLP) or Pascual Diaz de Mallin Grande.

* '''2020-January 23 / Oreste Marquis/ Northbound : 8 days '''

Going northbound. I followed the route until the second settler at the puesto Tejuela. From there, until the optional route @35-02e#001,
I could not find the approximate trail in the files. I manage to find another one which is call siete Lagunas. It is really easy to follow and really beautiful! I find it near km 18 and keep walking on it until km 38. It is the end of it and is at the campground near Lago Gutiérrez. For more informations go reed Martin post in recent alerts and suggestion. I met him on the trail and he updated the wikiexplora before me. From the beginning to Casa Piedra took me 3 days. Then I hiked to the end of the reserve in an other 3 days. Lots of rivers to cross but felt pretty safe for all of them even the one higher between Lagos Jeinimeni and Verde. The cross country part the next day was my favorite of the hole trip! Awesome views, a lot of wildlife, just need to check a little bit more the gps! Last day, I headed to Chile Chico without any problem. Overall, I love it! Enjoyed it as much as GPT40.

* '''2020-January / Matthieu / Northbound : 7.5 days "tranquilito"'''
Incredible trekk, lots of different type of views and soil, my favorite since El Chalten. Money required for passing by the reserves !!
I hitchhiked 10 km on the road to Casa Piedra, and 12 km between Jeinemini qnd the beginning of the trail that goes north in the mountain to join Chile Chico.

'''1st part : Reserve Tamango''' : 6000 CLP the entry
I took the old "Huemul trail" in the Tamango reserve, taking the left route at the "Camp 284" It is an old trail for 4x4, so very easy, and closed to vehicles now.

'''2nd part : The road to Casa Piedra :''' the rangers I crossed were all agreed that it was not permitted to camp aside of the road (so the information is different that in Nov). One officiql camping at the end of Tamango reserve (WestWind) and one at Casa Piedra 26 km after. 8000 CLP each. At Westwind (not verified, only inforñqtions for guardaparques): no accomodations, only baño. At Casa Piedra . real big house, hot shower, electricity, place to cook.

'''3rd part : Reserve Jenemeni :''' Entry 8000 CLP. For the camping, the ranger told me that it was permitted to camp wherever I wanted, so the information differs too from november. And at the exit, I told the ranger about my "savage" camping in the conversation, and he didnt tic at all, so no stress. The rangers are very nice !
Good trekk, easy to follow. One very good refuge in the valle Hermoso where fire is possible. a more open refuge/camping site by the east shore of Lago Verde.
Many river crossing, all safe except one, before the Laguna Esmeralda. Strong current, and people choose many different way with different profundness. Better do it in the morning, being a glaciar river (I could effectively compare between late in the afternoon and the morning and it is very different).

'''Last part, to Chile Chico by the mountain :''' Amazing views, totaly different climate, more dry and with only bushes.
At the beginning of the Cross country after the 4x4 road, I would advise to go a few meters west from the GPS tracks, to the east side of the river. There is effectively a fence on the west ridge, and a good trail on the east ridge that can avoid you the difficult crossing of many bushes, and that goes directly to the puesto.
Two puestos, The 135 of metal being used by the locals (real bed inside), so just putted the tent outside. The second one 134 is actually a real house. Two mens were here when I arrived, working with the animals. I could put the tent near the house and take water from the sink outside. Many dogs, all nice.

* '''Mum, Sis and I / Southbound / 11 days '''

Well. What an interesting and varied section. Also the longest walk I think we'd all done. It took us 11 days in the end with a couple of longer side trips. Interestingly, when we emerged from the park it was closed, there was martial law in effect, a curfew in place. Borders closed. Only a week to get back to Santiago to catch the last flights back to Australia... Anyway. We're heading back now. Got temperature tested as we reentered Chili Chico this morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake mañana in la mañana. No buses out of town. Enough rambling...

As always, thanks to the others before us that have taken the time to comment and provide feedback. Here's my two cents.

Firstly here are some landmarks to make it easier for others to orient themselves:

El Ciprés
http://ge0.me/oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés
ge0://oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés
Casa Piedra
http://ge0.me/4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29
ge0://4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29
Westwind
http://ge0.me/wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind
ge0://wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind

Camping in Chile Chico:
El Carro is supposed to be the cheapest place to stay in town. Though if you want a hot shower it's the same as Kon-aiken next door. We stayed at neither so can't really comment, but there were a lot of people staying at Kon-aiken and next to none at El Carro which might be indicitive of value for money or just the fact they are a little closer to the centre of town.
El Carro however was the only one willing to look after some things for us.
We also visited a hostel, but the owner was unfortunately very rude.

El carro
4k frío
5k caliente
1k por día por mochila

Kon-aiken
5k pp / noche
No baggage service

Part 1: Chili Chico to Jeinemeni
In the end we decided to cache things in the bushes just outside of town. Mum and my sister got a lift to the Bahía Jara cruz whist I was caching. Unfortunately I had to walk all the way to El Ciprés where my mum and sister had been enjoying a nice conversation with Orlando Vazquez who allowed us to pass but emphasised the dangers and didn't really recommend crossing.
Passing through the gate a couple of utes were exiting. Apparently there is a new mine up in the mountains and they didn't really want us to walk up. They admitted they just worked there.
Turn off the main rd that assumably heads to the mine about here: -46.57775, -71.82666
Goucho Miguel Pacheco passed us on the way up herding some cattle and we talked to him at the puesto for a while. We also gave him one of the Australian coins we'd been carrying around. He seemed to believe it was everyone's right to pass. "People pass through here all the time "."Just yesterday a lad passed by "."It's the shortest route across the mountains "
Anyway. We camped in the rocks just outside the park boundaries (as mentioned by??).
We then camped two nights up on the windy plateau. Our side trip to Valle Lunes was amazing. I'd recommend it. But be careful with wind. Oh and did anyone mention the guanacos?
Unfortunately I think the water wasn't very clean on this part. Sheep, cows, guanacos, birds... It's the first time in Chile I've wished I took my water filter along. We had some sore stomachs.
Dropping down the other side we hit the mentioned fence (about here -46.72574, -71.90211). We crossed, but would recommend following it to the left until you get to a corner. I'm not sure where it starts, but there is a trail running on the outside of the fence to the puesto. We then followed a sheep trail that ran high on the left (east) of the valley. Very good but it bypassed Las Abutardas completely and seemed to be heading towards Laguna los Flamencos instead. We ended up cutting down to the road where León passed us heading into town, a little confused why we hadn't taken the 'proper trail'.
We camped the night at the Río El Sucio camp. Not really recommended.
We walked the road and stayed at Río Las Vacas for a bit which is at the border of the park and a nicer place to camp. (There is a good stream between the two).

Part 2: Jeinemeni to Casa Piedra
It was 8k to enter the park (for foreigners) and an additional 6k for camping in Valle Hermoso. The section to the refugio (-46.84092, -72.14078) was very nice. This is the only shelter still standing. The others included in the track files were not really enterable.
Heading to the refugio (where everyone seems to camp) you cross the small ankle deep creek exiting Laguna Esmeralda and then the deeper river between Lago Verde and Jeinemeni. This might have been the trickiest but when we crossed it wasn't really bad. We then had two more smaller crossings before passing through Portezuela La Gloria (1100m) to cross Estero Ventisquero and the other river running down the main valley.
The next day we did the popular side trip to the glacier in this valley: -46.80924, -72.20116
We wondered if it was the same way Jan et al entered recently?
From the refugio to Valle Avilés there are no compulsory river crossings if you stick to the somewhat scrubby trail to the left (south) of the valley. The first crossing we did was Río Avilés shortly followed by the tributary. So only 8 crossings (wet feet) on the RR.

We walked from the refugio to Casa Piedra in a day. It was closed so we camped on the other side of the Rd.

Part 3: Casa Piedra to Cochrane
From casa piedra we took the aforementioned Sendero las Siete Lagunas. It is not it the track files but indeed very well marked with numbered markers every kilometre. I'll upload a kml with the markers I recorded as well as some of the water bodies I sketched.
After the stream running into Lago Gutiérrez there wasn't much water until Lago la Pepa.
You will briefly intersect with a road here: -47.14006, -72.37138. The road seems to run down to Puesto Tejuela coinciding with OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 which I think is incorrectly labelled as TL. Part of RH-TL-I@35-99.0+30.0 too should be marked as MR. You'll intersect this road before taking it down to Lago Cochrane.
We passed the occupied dwelling (Daniel Huemul?) but the man wearing a shirt emblazoned with Parque Patagonia seemed afraid to approach us (another hint the world had gone Corona crazy). He wouldn't let us take the RR so we followed the road for a bit before taking another newly made trail also not in the track files.
Everything after that was very easy to follow.
Everything was abandoned at the entrance and the gate locked. People avoided us on the streets and covered their face when passing us.
We grabbed some needed food (we were very short after 11 days!) and got on the WiFi. Wow! How things had changed! Martial law in place and a curfew in place, we slept under a bridge with some Colombians and caught a bus back to Chili Chico in the morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake tomorrow now.

Links to files :
Kilometre markers: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fuzt4xacxjjvvg4/kms.kmz?dl=0
Water bodies: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uz1ei95s1913xvb/water.bodies.kmz?dl=0
Other planning:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uk9ym56gufwk4zq/planning.kmz?dl=0

* '''2019 Dec / Olrik/ Northbound '''

Amazing part of the GPT, from Cochrane ou enter in the Tamango national reserve and pay 6000CLP for the entrance. We took several trails to get to Valle Chacabuco : Las Aguilas, Las Lengasm Los Condores, Laguna Altas. Great views. We had a snow storm at the pass though. There you end up in a paid campground. From there we walked the dirt road to Casa Piedras in Valle Chacabuco, it was beautiful with lots of guanacos. Then we took the Las Aviles sendero. We camped near the first river crossing as it was late and waited for the morning to cross. It is normally not possible to wild camp in the park but the guardaparque told us to camp there if the river crossing is not sage. The rest of the trail is easy to follow next to the river. There is a pass then you descend to Valle Hermoso and to lago Jeinimeni. It was just gorgeous and easy to follow with great weather. Be aware of the numerous river crossings. In lago Jeinimeni there is a paid campground. From there you can hitchhike, walk, or pay a transportation at the entrance of the park (15000Clp pp) but I'm not sure if this is a regular thing. We ended up hitchhiking to get to Chile Chico.

* '''2019-Nov-28/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 5.5days/ Northbound / Regular Hiking Route (Cochrane to Chile Chico) with OH-32-2-#003/'''

This section might have been our favorite out of the whole Group H, where the diversity of the landscape was our favorite part (also including weather and trail conditions). The NP was entered at Tamango just outside of Cochrane. Registration is mandatory, the entrance fee is at 8000 CLP. The ranger asked us to explain our route and since the regular Hiking route did not seem familiar to them, they told us to take the optionals route going north over the pass to WestWinds campground and then do the road walk Eastwards.
The pass had some snow patches on the Southern side but was easy to traverse. At the Valley Chacabuco (another entrance to the national park) we got asked for our permits and the route we plan on taking. We heard different information on if it is allowed to camp at the road or not (there were signs that told us not to do it but the ranger said it is okay). After the roadwalk, we passed another ranger station where we had to register and sign a responsibility form telling that we plan to leave at Lago Jeinimeni (and telling that we're only allowed to stay at designated campsites). The hike from there is extremely beautiful and super diverse, the trail well maintained. The rivers were at higher flow but all fords were doable.
We camped next to the Refugio because we still weren't sure about the camping rules (other hikers we met said they were told that it's okay to camp everywhere along the river). Leaving the NP at Lago Jeinimeni was straightforward, but it's mandatory to check out at the rangers office. The cross-country section after the road walk was a bit slow on the way up due to many bushes and hilly terrain. We found a nice trail next to the fence leading up to the puesto when going up the ridge on the Eastern side. From the puesto we took a short steep uphill after which the terrain became more open and easier to travel on. It was very windy and snowy in the mountains, which made it difficult to walk at times and it felt like the temperatures were rather low.
The lagoons on the way up are filled with exciting birds (flamingos!) and guanacos are running around on the whole plain. Once reaching the plateau we headed down in a pretty straight line which was easier than the uphill until we reached the road

=Resupply and Accommodation=

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

*Chile Chico has two supermarkets. Sell gas.

*Cochrane is a decently sized town with three mid-range supermarkets. The largest one, which is a grocery and department store, is located adjacent to the town square. There are many lodging and restaurant options. Be sure to withdraw an ample amount of money here because most of the businesses in the next town, Villa O’Higgins, only take cash and there is no ATM.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

=Transport to and from Route=

*2025 / MiaimZelt
Buses (starting at Terminal de buses in Chile Chico) that enable you to skip the first 7-8km of Roadwalk when hiking SoBo:

Turismo Tramal. Chile Chico - Bahia Jara. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday 8:30 & 16:30.
WhatsApp: +56 9 7538 0178

Buses Interlagos from Chile Chico to Puerto Rio Tranquilo: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday 9:00.

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

*2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena

PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]

=Images=
[[file:Greater Patagonian Trail (7).jpg|left|GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]

GPT35 (Parque Patagonia)

2025-03-03T17:42:01Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2024/25 */

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

= How to a add new entry =
You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).

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-FEV-21 > 25 / 4,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR > 35-02 > 35-03A > 35-03 > 35-R > RR / Pierre-Marie '''

Etape : GPT35
| Meteo : soleil
| Eau : parfois difficile
| Neige : non
| Intérêt : 5/5
| Difficulté : 3/5
| Danger : chenilles urticantes, rivière

J'ai laissé ma machette à Coyhaique pour m'alléger. J'ai dormi à l'hostel Ayékan à Chile Chico puis j'ai commencé la randonnée à 9h. J'ai eu du mal à faire de l'auto-stop mais après 4 km de marche une voiture m'a emmenée au km 8. Il y a pas mal d'eau sur le plateau, bien plus qu'indiqué sur le GPS. Il y avait beaucoup de vent sur le plateau mais il faisait beau alors ça s'est bien passé. J'ai campé au km 36 mais il y avait de petites mouches qui piquent, pas super pour se laver. Malheureusement le vent s'est levé et il a pas mal plu dès 20h alors j'ai passé une nuit difficile. J'ai eu beaucoup de chance et j'ai pu faire du stop du km 45 au km 53. Très peu de voitures sur cette gravel road. Les arbres n'ont plus de feuilles car des chenilles ravagent tout dans le parc (https://laderasur.com/articulo/cuncunas-espinosas-a-la-vista-los-impactos-de-una-especie-que-ha-defoliado-miles-de-hectareas-de-lenga-en-chile/). Comme il a bien plu pendant la nuit, toutes les rivières sont en crues. C'est bien car les sentiers sont désert, mais les ford sont très dangereux. Le ranger et un monsieur du coin m'a dit que je pouvais tout franchir en faisant attention. Il n'y a pas de refuges aux km 81,8, 94,7 et 119,1. A partir du km 98, il n'y a plus de rivière, juste de petits ruisseau vaseux et les lacs bien sûr. Au km 10,4 du 35-R, le bâtiment peu servir de refuge. Il est très propre et je n'ai pas vu de rongeurs malgré la mise en garde. Le seul problème c'est qu'il n'y a pas d'eau. Il a neigé au dessus de 1000m. Je suis arrivé à 10h à Cochrane alors j'ai pris un hotel pour y passer la journée.

'''2025-FEB-16 to 2025-FEB-22 / 7 hiking days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Nimrod & Tamar
'''
Beautiful section! Very special for us, and we were lucky to have good weather! first part had a lot of animals. second part had many tourquize lakes and snowy mountains around+ black caterpillars. third part had pampa terrain and 8 beautiful blue lakes.

Day 1- started walking at noon from Chile Chico. There were a lot of hichhikers, so decided to walk the PR. A dog followed us and slept the night with us at camp (14.1/923).

Day 2- started walking with the dog (even though we tried getting rid of him he was very stubborn). Got to puesto (15.8/1075) and asked Claudio the settler if he would like to adopt the sweet dog, which he happily agreed to. Claudio invited us to watch him slaughter a sheep and for breakfast.
Continued walking, saw many guanacos (they make such silly sounds!), and some flamingos as well. Camped at (-46.722612, -71.904105) like Miamzelt-thanks!. Was a long day for us.

Day 3- walked to national park. Until the MR it can be a bit swampy a times- best to keep near fence for dry feet. Saw many dead guanacos near the fence - was interesting to see their anatomy but also sad because it looks like they get traped in the fence and die miserably.
On MR got a ride for last 10k.
In national park payed online for entrance fee- 11,000 each, free wifi. We asked about whether as well and figured we'll have only 2 more days until it will start raining for many days. We decided we would not want to walk in the rain and try to walk longer days then planed to try and finish before the rain and from Casa Piedra take a hitch. Walked up to valle hermoso camp site- great views on the way a few fords before the campsite- easy but cold.

Day 4- after valle hermoso many fords in the morning- more then written in gps files, easy but cold.
Lovely scenary.
Very high and cool bridge at the end of the day. Shelter 94.7 was a bit dirty, we found a nice cozy spot between the trees sheltered from the wind. About 100 meters before the shelter.

Day 5-: thought this will be our last day- but when we got to Casa Piedra we checked the wether again and no rain for the next few days! Decided to continue as planed at first. The first lake we passed had a lot of rip calafate- delicious and juicy! Slept in (-47.09768, -72.28546) as suggested below. Small stream, wind sheltered by the trees, and flat. Thank you!

Day 6- walked though many lakes. Crazy wind! A tree fell 20 meters from us right on the trail- be alert while walking for sounds of cracking trees! Maybe not a good time for airpods. Slept near the lake in camp 138.4. We later discovered that there are two wood shelters a few meters from where we slept. Was not locked and looked pretty clean.

Day 7- walked to Cochrane. Last kms where with many day hikers. Were Many comfortable places to take a dip in the lake.

'''2025 Feb 02 to Feb 14 / 10 hiking days, 3 zero days / SOBO, NOBO / Hiking / RR, Opt 6 Fachinal / Michael and Kasia'''

Quick notes: The plateau at the beginning of RR is best done in good weather, but definitely worth it; the park is beautiful, though in summer there were a fair amount of people, though less than Cerro Castillo; Opt 6 Fachinal is a really beautiful and adventurous optional route and well worth it, though in our opinion better as an exit than an entrance to the section.

CAMPS:

Night 01: -46.60658, -71.80980 (nice views, water is about 150 m away, can be semi-protected by the hill depending on which way the winds come from)

Night 02: -46.66455, -71.84387 (some wind protection from the hill if the winds come from the west, water is about 170 m away, only really good in good weather)

Night 03: -46.73523, -71.89404 (water is close, not wind protected)

Night 04: El Silencio campground

Night 05 and 06 : Camp Raleigh

Night 07 to 09: Camp Valle Hermoso

Night 10: -46.75834, -72.22028 (good water access, not that wind protected, ground is difficult to get tent stakes into)

Night 11: -46.69923, -72.22451 (some wind protection, water not close)

Night 12: -46.62948, -72.27663 (some wind protection, water about 200 m away)

WATER: water was generally easy to find throughout the section, even on the plateau

Day 01 - Feb 02

We took the bus from Chile Chico. The company was Buses Interlagos, +56 9 9038 6338. We made a reservation. There is a sign in the terminal in Chile Chico that says they leave at 09:00, but when I messaged to make the reservation they said they would leave at 08:00. It is due to regular road closures for road work, so it is recommended to message in advance to get the correct time if you take the bus. Also, the bus driver knew about a trail to Parque Patagonia, but it wasn't the GPT track, so it's good to watch the map to not overshoot. He charged us 2.000 each for the 8 km ride. The route up initially was just a road so easy going. There were multiple places to get water. At Puesto 15.8 we met Claudio who invited us in. His wife and son had passed us going the opposite way as we hiked up. We stayed and talked with Claudio for about an hour. He was very friendly and hospitable. He said a lot of backpackers go through there, some to the park, but a lot for a rock climbing area nearby. We camped at (-46.60658, -71.80980), water was a little ways away. It snowed briefly just before we set up the tent, then cleared up and was sunny for the rest of the day. The night was completely calm.

Day 02 - Feb 03

We headed up to the pass. We followed the OSM track more than the GPT track which worked well. The landscape on the way up was very impressive and we saw our first guanacos. On the plateau it was pretty windy, but as others have said, there are spots where the topography shields you from the wind and you can get a break from it. We had seen on Windy before leaving that the next day on the plateau was supposed to be essentially windless and with full sun, so we wanted to stay for the night. We found a spot that was protected from the prevailing winds which were from the west that day and had a peaceful night.

Day 03 - Feb 04

We woke up to a silent morning that was quite warm. We took the whole day to walk across the plateau, carefully observed by guanacos the whole way. They seemed to work in shifts with at least one acting as lookout at all times. We found it very endearing. We stopped at a lake for lunch and watched 8 flamingos there as well as other birds. We also came across a curious hill that appeared to be made largely of giant ancient seashells. They looked like oyster shells, and some still looked like they had bits of mother of pearl on the inside. It was just the one hill. The descent was easy, gradual and with nice views. We found camping a little below camp 32.6 in a grassy area near the stream. It was not wind protected but we had a quiet night.

Day 04 - Feb 05

We wrapped up camp quickly, just before it started raining. We went under a fence and did CC between the GPT track and the OSM track. Around km 36.6, just before where the OSM and GPT tracks join, we found a well maintained trail that was not on the map that led down to a puesto. The man who lives there, Leopoldo, was friendly. He opened the gate for us and took us to another gate close by and pointed us to a 2 track road that rejoined with the GPT track after about 500 m. On the main road to the park, few cars passed and they were all full. We had lunch at the Bridge 42.7. The Camp 42.9 looked reasonably good, but it was visible from the road, so not that private. We walked about 1 km before we finally caught a hitch to the park entrance. The park office had an open StarLink wifi network. We bought tickets, 11.400 each. Camping 53.3, Camping El Silencio, was free. Each site had a covered area with tables and benches. Water spigots at the sites were not working so we took water from the outflow of the lake next to the bridge. The caterpillar apocalypse was definitely not overstated. Live, dead, dying, they were everywhere, most ominously in some places as enormous mounds of dead ones, like something out of a horror movie. The park office had to close the main bathrooms due to them and opened a temporary one at the office. They let us charge our devices in the office overnight and pick them up in the morning.

Day 05 - Feb 06

We had a short day just hiking to Camp Raleigh. We stopped and had lunch on the beach of Lago Jenimeni. We passed several groups of day hikers on the way, but were the only ones called for the night. The caterpillars were not as bad there.

Day 06 - Feb 07

We took a zero day to wait out an all day rain event. Two other groups showed up part way through the day, one going either direction. Both intended to keep moving but after two hours of waiting and no break in the rain, they both decided to stay and move the next day.

Day 07 - Feb 08

The hike to Valle Hermoso was fairly easy. All fords were below the knee. At the last ford we went a little higher up and towards a small beach as the direct crossing to the trail marker was quite deep. Up to the pass was easy. On the way down the other side there were a few areas where it was steep and the trail was covered in scree, and a few places where the trail had been washed out, but nothing very difficult. There were some amazing views on the way down. All the fords until the camp were knee deep or below. Four other groups were staying at Valle Hermoso camp that night.

Day 08 - Feb 09

We took another zero day to wait out another all day rain event. All but one of the other groups stayed as well. The river went up about 15 cm over the course of the day and turned completely brown from all the sediment.

Day 09 - Feb 10

We had intended to do some exploration toward Opt 7 Mallin Grande because Garmin weather report said it was supposed to be partly sunny for the day. It turned out to be very cloudy with high winds and very cold, alternating light rain and some snow. The valley was also mostly covered in clouds and fog so we decided to just take another zero day.

Day 10 - Feb 11

We had good weather in the morning. We left for Opt 6 Fachinal. It was a really beautiful walk up. We were in water shoes until the first lake as there were many stream crossings. The first lake is a popular side trip from Valle Hermoso. One of the Chileans at the campsite mentioned that the valley was called Valle de los Glaciers. I'm not sure if that's an official name or just a common name, but we did see three huge glaciers, one above Ventisquero, and the other above the second lake. We passed a private refuge (-46.79249, -72.20797) that was locked, however they had prepped camp sites and an outhouse with running water, so it was possible to use the outdoor facilities if no one was there (if you use the toilet or sink, the water gate is down on the floor to the left of the toilet). It was too early to stop so we continued on. The trail around the bowl above the lake was faint but we were able to follow it. Over the pass the next valley opens up and is mostly flat. A lot of it was wetland, but we were able to find dry foot crossings by staying more on the west side. Occasionally we would come across a bit of trail and then it would disappear again. Around (-46.76362, -72.22212) where the track turns sharply east before heading north again, we switched to water shoes to cross the river. After that point we just left them on. As the track goes north again it enters a shallow canyon and we had to cross back and forth several times. We found a place to set up the tent near the stream at (-46.75834, -72.22028). A very short distance away (-46.75795, -72.22048) was a spot under some trees that was too small for an X-Mid 2, but would be nice for a 1-person tent or a smaller 2-person tent. It was fairly flat with nothing spikey and had great wind protection.

Day 11 - Feb 12

We started the day in water shoes. All the way to the pass we crossed back and forth across the stream. It was never deeper than half-calf, and no serious current. There is a really beautiful lake at the top just before they pass. There is a trail along the west side, but it was so overgrown and muddy that we just walked in the water along the edge of the lake. The pass is a low pass. Going down the other side we struggled through a lot of it. We would find what looked like a good trail and follow it, and then it would just abruptly end leaving us to bushwack for some distance before finding another piece of it. It was strange how some sections would look almost meticulously maintained and then suddenly it would look as if there had never been a trail at all. The track files were very helpful, especially since there were other trail sections that led in different directions. At (-46.69923, -72.22451) there was an abandoned puesto with a single grave next to it. We camped inside the corral of the puesto. Just before it we had passed by the second private refuge. That one did not have as good of quality campsites and the toilet was a latrine with no water. Water access was further down the trail in the direction of the first Tyrolean traverse. That last 400 m is currently marked as CC in the track files, however a trail now exists there and is very easy to follow.

Day 12 - Feb 13

We got up early to do the first ford. Water was crotch height (we're both about 165 cm) and with a good amount of current. The water was icy cold, milky and so hard to see through, and the bottom of the river had very large rocks so it was very uneven. It was one of the more challenging fords we've done. There is a second ford point listed in the track files, but we would not recommend using that point. It looks like a much easier ford, however in the far side there is a rock slide with very large rocks between it and the way to go forward on the trail. It looked to us like the area around the Tyrolean traverse was the only suitable place to cross. After the cross the trail follows the river for a couple hundred meters then heads very steeply up for a few hundred meters. Once up it was fairly easy to follow the trails, but we recommend again keeping an eye on the GPS as there were several trails, and while they often reconnected, sometimes they didn't. The second ford was just above the knee and with less current than the first, much easier for us. There was a flat area that would be good for camping on the far side. The trail then passed through open forest with a fairly clear trail, and through a few pastures where the trail disappeared. There seems to be less trail maintenance than in previous reports with a lot of downed trees not cleared. At around km 31 the trail heads downhill along a fence. There is a path that goes left to stay on the trail or goes right. We went right about 100 m and found an old puesto that has been completely broken down, but that has a nice flat area (-46.62948, -72.27663). We camped there for the night. Water was back out along the track through the fence. There was a side stream feeding into the river.

Day 13 - Feb 14

We had to use water shoes to ford the side stream as even in the morning we couldn't find a suitable place to cross dry foot. The day was warm and sunny and the trail was very pleasant. In a few places other trails showed up. They usually rejoined later. A section of the GPT track had been washed out by the river, so there were a few CC areas. Towards the end the trail passes through an area where a fire has gone through a few years prior. We made it down to the road around 14:00. Hitching was not easy. Very few cars passed by and nearly all of them were full. After about two and a half hours someone picked us up and dropped us off in Puerto Guadal.

We really enjoyed Opt 6 Fachinal and were very happy we chose to walk it. It was beautiful and had a varied landscape, and it felt very “GPT” compared to the park routes. We didn't see anyone else while we were on it. However we would recommend it as an exit since there is a lot of up and down and BB in parts that would be much easier without a full resupply. We would also recommend, if going NOBO, knowing the schedule for buses that pass along the road as it did seem that hitchhiking was not easy, and it was about 45 km or so of rather unpleasant, exposed and dusty road walking in either direction to the nearest towns. During the 24/25 season there were supposedly buses passing one direction or the other at least once during the day every day except Saturday.

''' 2025-Jan-28 to 2025-Jan-30/3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RH / Davide Materia '''

I pretty much had the same experience of MiamZelt, with same camping locations as him.
Details:
1- day. I would probably camp either a bit up than were he suggested, or a bit further down, as there are spots of grass created by dried pond, which if dry enough are perfect location for a tent, in general the location of the first camp is not ideal, many rocks and not that easy to find a spot. This mountain can get pretty windy, I would in general restrain myself from starting the section in bad weather, as even in good weather the wind is really strong, this also suggest why good care must be paid for the location of the tent.
2 trail is next to impossible to keep without gps, I doubt it even exist a real single trail. One good trick here is to jump over the fence and stay always on the right but following the fence until the gpx track and the former diverge. At that point there is a bit more of "grass-bashing" but you are getting closer to the off-track road. For the rest, I hitchhiked to the park once I reached the road and went to camping valle Hermosa, and damn Hermosa it was!!! Resting next to the river under the sun was the best moment in this section.
3 I kept following the track. Many fordings, more than the 2nd day. Luckily I restrained myself from the temptation of packrafting the river beside the trail as ~15km before Casa Piedra it gets inside canyons and becomes a deathtrap, there's a reason if Jan didn't do it by packraft, as always.
Camping Casa Piedra actually has hot shower if the stove warming up the water has been turned on quite in advance, no such luck for me...

4-The next day after deciding to not do Rio chacabuco given all the bad reports of previous years I hiked around 2 hours on the road until some locals picked me up to cochrane.

Awesome section, one I will remember for a long time

'''2025-Jan-23 to 2025-Jan-28 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Sean & Neele'''

Took the bus at 9am to skip the paved road walk.

After puesto 15.8km the gpx files are CC but there's a trail on OSM which we loosely followed to pass 20.8km, worked out well.

Very exposed and windy from 19km to 32km.

Camp 32.6km was wet, we camped about 500m further.

Got a hitch around 43.5km to park ranger 53km. Paid 11,400 each entrance.

Camp 53.3km and 61.7km have been taken over by caterpillars.

Ford 66.4km about knee deep at about 6pm on a rainy day.

Camped at valle hermosa 68.1km - well sheltered in the forest but lots of people.

Fords 68.4 - 71.6km, 79.3, 82.6, 86.2 all below the knee and easy in the morning after a rainy day.

Camped at 88.6km - slight protected from the wind.

Camped at 98.9km Casa Piedra to wait out some bad weather. 8k pp. WiFi, cooking room, warm showers.

Camped at Refuge 118.3km some wind protection but not great.

Easy walk out, camp 136.9km looked nice we debated staying but walked out instead.
Trail condition is really good after 139.1km so is pretty fast

*'''2025-Jan-13 to 2025-Jan-17 / 5 days Hiking / SOBO/ RR + Variant L / MiaimZelt'''

I very much enjoyed this lovely section. Took the bus to skip the first 6.5km of Roadwalk. CC was indeed easy, on the way up i didn't follow the Track very closely. Crazy windy between km 19-30. Surprinsingly there were some small areas that had way less wind. Guess it should be possible to find a campspot somehow sheltered by the curves of the landscape, when you can't make it further. Camp {35} [32.6/1300] is exposed and has no shelter besides from the tiny stonewall. Camped here: -46.722612, -71.904105. Was sheltered by the valley and fits a 1 person tent, wind was ok. 100m below there is a spot which can fit a 2 person tent. While sitting in the tent 2 german GPT hikers arrived and took the spot below. I very much enjoyed their company.

Day 2 i could follow animal trails very often. Walked 4km on the road until i got a hitch. Entrance fee was 11400 for foreigner. You have to pay online, but they have WiFi. Tons of black caterpillars everywhere, gets better after Laguna Verde. Trail was in very good shape. Ford {35} [67.0/877] was up to the knees. Stayed at Camp Valle Hermoso, which is very good sheltered by the forest.

Day 3 i met no one, until i reached the camp. Trail was 99% in good shape, few meters overgrown with young beech trees. -46.89382, -72.161099 campspots with shelter from the forest. All fords were easy. Stayed at Camping Casa Piedra. 8000 per person, can pay cash or card. They have WiFi, Room to cook inside and a shower (not hot). Most campspots are sheltered by trees or buildings. Spots next to buildings were occupied by carcampers. Trees provided good protection, although 80km/h winds according to Windy.

Sendero 7 Lagunas was mostly in good to ok shape,
only in few parts the trail isn't visible at all. -47.094236, -72.286568 near pass has lots of flat space and is sheltered by the forest. Small stream here: -47.097866, -72.285581. Also flat areas nearby to create a makeshift campsite. Later the only sources for water were the lakes. Refuge, X {35} [119.1/716] is collapsed, but flat space protected by trees and bushes for one bigger tent. Water from the lake. Stayed at small flat space with very little wind here -47.140176, -72.372035 and listened to the birds.

Day 5 was mostly straight forward. Saw 2 Huemuls near the Minor Road. Lago Cochrane is a real gem. Open and abandoned huts here: -47.198091, -72.457465. There was a sign, saying danger becaus of rodents. Maybe not good to sleep in, but would be a good shelter in heavy rain. 1km later i saw the first dayhikers. Lot's of steep ups and downs at Sendero Carpinteros, but very beautiful. Got a hitch to Cochrane after 1.5km on the paved road.

*'''GPT 35 SOBO RR // hiking, hitchhiking // 4 days 1-4.01.2025 Maks & Gabi'''

Simply magical section with lots of guanacos, birds and beautiful landscapes. We hitchhiked the first 8 km and then from Casa de Piedra to Cochrane.
CC parts were quite easy and visible, later on when entering the park by Lago Jeinimeni the trail is incredibly well maintained. You can buy a ticket by the entrance because the is a wi-fi.

One thing that is worth taking into account when planning the hike, are insects - there are tons of mosquitos and quite a lot of horseflies. Furthermore the ranger (Jeinimeni entrance) warned us about black worms that are in the forests (not sure what is the name in eng). For that reason we did not sleep at the camping by the lake (see pictures), choosing a camp spot by the bridge at 50.0 km instead. It is better not to camp by the trees.
If you have a spare moment we really recommend the visitors center near Casa de Piedra as they have a really nice museum. If you already bought a ticket to the park it is free of charge.

About trail itself it's hard to say something new compare to the previous notes. There was no snow, all ford's easy to cross.

*'''2024-Nov-08 to 2024-Nov-16 / 8.5 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Jonas'''
Day 01: 08.11.2024
Arrived by ferry from Puerto Ibanez in Chile Chico at 1430. Started walking right away. Caught a ride for about 3 km. After street, needed to open fence and door.
Dog kept following all day. Couldn't make him leave.
Settlers (mother & daughter) offered a ride but kept walking. Camp spot at 14.1 was too wet to stay there. Looked for another spot. Nothing was good, wanted to look after puesto at 15.8. settlers offered me mate and asked if I wanna pitch my tent here since it got late. Stayed close to their place. Same settler family who offered me a ride.

Day 02: 09.11.2024
Starting from the settlers puesto CC had light snow when packing my tent. Didn't follow the route exactly. On the way to the first pass, saw the first guanacos. Started snowing stronger. Didn't follow the track or the OSM path to avoid snowfields. Tried to follow the trails but not always possible. Stronger snow and windy. After the first pass went too far to the east to avoid snowfields, thought it'd be easy to come back to the trail but took a longer detour. At least saw the first flamingos! In the plateau it was crazy windy. Sometimes followed track, sometimes OSM. Often in between because of snowfields. Snowfields were not steep, just wanted to avoid them. More guanacos only on the way down. Camp at 32.6 was too wet. ~250 m further down found a protected spot close to a small river/creek.

Day 03: 10.11.2024
Woke up late. Water in pot was frozen about 1 cm thick. Walked down, saw a lot of bones. Followed not the OSM track. Crossed the fence relatively far to the west. CC walking was nice. Maybe as others mentioned there is a path sooner if you cross/stay further east. Hit the dirt road and walked to the main dirt road. Already afternoon. First Pick Up stopped and gave me a ride to the park entrance. Didn't book the ticket before. You can book it at the CONAF station with their WiFi for the same day. 11.400 CLP for the entrance. Camping is free. Walked to camp Raleigh (about two hours) and found a nice spot there.

Day04: 11.11.2024
Short day. Started late, trail easy to follow. In the beginning keep left if other trails are there. First fording section is well marked in the track files. Keep your shoes off until Ford Stop. Climb to pass is sometimes steep but easy. Climb down is ready with stunning view of Valle Hermoso. Some parts with some rock slides. After descend two rivers to ford. Until camp Valle Hermoso some stretches in wind protected first in the river bed, some stretches in open river bed. Easy to follow. Camp Valle Hermoso has two roofed areas.

Day 05 12.11.2024
Started from camp Valle Hermoso. If you keep south you can avoid all the fords. At least at this time of the year.
Trail is easy walking, landscape is stunning! Did a detour to Laguna Escondida. Nice and windy up there. To get there keep close to the track files.
Only needed to take the boots off for the ford at 79.3. The rest was easy to navigate around or enough rocks/trees in the river.
Camped at refuge 81.0 at the broken down cabin.

Day 06: 13.11.2024
Easy walking all day. Trail was easy to follow. Needed to ford once.
The bridge at 90.9 is something if you're afraid of heights.
Arrived early at Casa Piedra. Could use the infrastructure including warmish water. Since I said I won't pass the ranger station it was fine without paying.

Day 07: 14.11.2024
Trail is easy to follow. Lago Gutierrez looks amazing and quite windy. Some beach walking off track is nice. After Lago Gutierrez the trail is mainly easy to follow. Checked the GPS every now and then. Climb to the pass takes some time. Filled water up at a stream at the end of Lago Gutierrez. There was on running stream in the middle of the stretch to the pass. Not sure if it has water all year. Way down is through a beautiful forest. Nice views of the valley along the way. Some trees on the path but easy enough to climb them or walk around them.
Stayed at the collapsed refuge. Enough wind protection even though it was quite windy.

Day 08: 15.11.2024
Trail was easy to follow in the forest. Outside the forest check your GPS when you think you might be off trail.
Water in the beginning mainly from the lakes, later streams existed as well. Took the MR on the RR easy fast walking, no GPS checking necessary. Settler at 138.7 wasn't there passed by his house and followed the RR on a horse trail. Camped at around 142 at Lago Cochrane. Beautiful lake with clear water.

Day 09: 16.11.2024
For the last 12 km it was easy to follow the trail. Quite some up and down. Nice views on the lake. Arrived the CONAF office at lunch time. Did a self checkout. Stayed in Cochrane for two nights before the next bus to Villa O'Higgins left.

Really nice hike! Due to the time of the year I only met one other hiker. It snowed a bit in the first days but not too much. Trails were generally easy to follow. Fording was not too much, might be different at another time.

* '''2024-Dec-14 to 2024-Dec-18 / 4.5 / Hiking / SOBO/ RR + Variant J, L / Roman'''

Route: Hitchhiked from Chile Chico to X {35} [8.1/505]. Hiked to X {35} [41.5/768]. Hitchhiked from there to Park Ranger {35} [53.0/843] and hiked from there to -47.244414, -72.529165 and hitchhiked from there to Cochrane.

Started in the Morning in Chile Chico and and started hiking at X {35} [8.1/505]. It's a small easy hiking road up to Puesto {35} [15.8/1075]. It's easy CC. I camped at Camp {35} [32.6/1300]. The next day was a easy hike to X {35} [41.5/768]. I was waiting 25 minutes for the first car to come by which picked me up around 11:30 AM - so prepared to either walk or wait quite some time. At the Ranger Station (Park Ranger {35} [53.0/843]) is fesh water, a toilet. There you have free internet via starlink. I have heard multiple stories and read multiple prices for entry. I would recommend to just show up. You will scan the QR code and buy the ticket online. I said that I hike to "Casa Piedra camping". I had to buy the ticket "Parque Nacional Patagonia - Sector Chacabuco" for 5.200 CLP. Link here: https://tickets.pasesparques.cl/events/parque-nacional-patagonia-sector-chacabuco . From there i hiked to Camped at Refuge {35} [69.0/867] there are multiple fordings (river bed walking) which had a few banks and tables and a shelter hut. The next day hiked to Camp $, Refuge {35} [99.8/379] (Casa dePiedra). The Camp has electricity and a warm (not hot ;)) shower and toilets and 3 rooms with benches and tables for cooking etc. I was staying there with 2 other people and the Ranger. Apparently the Ranger doesn't collect/want money - i/we didn't needed to pay. There is Apparently a lady coming from time to time to collect a fee - so we were lucky. The trail was maintained and easy to hike. At the beginning there was some fording.

The next day I camped at Refuge {35} [131.2/556] which is only a emergency shelter but has some flat spots to pich a tent. The trail is not maintained and is sometimes very good or not visible at all - you need you GPS! Overall good easy to hike with some fallen trees. There is a bridge at -47.160823, -72.407796 also with water which makes the Refuge a great place to say. Picture of bridge https://imgur.com/a/ZydIQ7f and Refuge: https://imgur.com/a/NDMT0FP . After that it's a easy hike all the way to -47.244414, -72.529165 where I hitchhiked to Cochrane. I haven't camped there but this location looked like the best stay you could get in the trail here: https://imgur.com/a/rtak82Q. -47.198106, -72.457406 close to Camp {35} [138.4/173].

Stayed at Camping, Refugio ,Cabaña y HostelCochrane which i can highly recommend (camping 7k, dorm 9k, laundry 5k and a supermarket across the street)

Contact: https://linktr.ee/RundW

* ''' 2024-Dec-13 to 2024-Dec-17 / 5 days / GPT35 SOBO RR / wiiiim
Relatively uncomplicated & fast section, lots of info exists so just a summary here. In essence it feels like 3 parts

- part 1 Chile Chico to the park entrance: mostly cross country over a barren plateau with lots of animals. I arranged a taxi out of Chile Chico to skip the first 9km of road walk at 7am for an early start - Alexis +56 9 7971 5823. Surprisingly lots of water on this section.

- part 2 Park entrance to Casa de Piedra, park fee is 11400, very easy going, well marked trail, lots of water

- part 3 Casa de piedra to Cochrane, somewhat overgrown, less water, mostly from the lagunas so good to have a filter

I took the bus from Cochrane to Villa O’Higgins, it runs every Monday, Wednesday & Saturday at 8:30am (returning the next day), it’s a small publicly funded bus (8400 pesos) with about 25 seats, they typically want you to buy a ticket in person in Cochrane in the bus terminal upstairs (I believe the company is Gardy?), I got a ticket the afternoon before and it had 5 seats left.

* ''' 2024-Dec-12 to 2024-Dec-14 / 3 days go and back / GPT35 SOBO option 1 by car and Regular Road with a little part of option D and OH-CC-A-{35-06} to the first laguna/ Julien Mamari

All the way to the Releigh Camp is really easy and try with bridges.
Into the Releigh Camp and the 3rd camp you have 2 rivers to cross with the Gloria pass but it's really easy with sandals... Water to the knees maximum (on my time)
If you go to the first Laguna (option 6) on the right sise of valley better beguin on the left side for around 1km then you have obligation to cross and the best its to keep always on de right side, it's dry.

* '''2024-Nov-07 to 2024-Nov-10 / 4 days with one day of rest at home of Daniel “Huemul” / GPT35 Regular Route SOBO from Kilometer 100 to 150 / Sendero 7 Lagunas / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck'''

This scenic route inside Parque Patagonia is officially closed due to lack of trail maintenance but still easily traversable. As we entered from the north we did not speak with any Conaf personnel and learned about the closure when exiting this route in Cochrane.

The GPT track file 2024 precisely documents the official route of Sendero 7 Lagunas from Kilometer 37 to Kilometer 5 (GPT35 Regular Route) where the Regular Route connects on other trails to Cochrane. Note that the OSM data is in large parts incorrect. OSM is showing a now partially overgrown and less attractive routing on disused trails and minor roads. So all topographic maps based on OSM data are unreliable in this respect.

About 30% of the trail is clearly visible, about 60% of the trail is vaguely visible and 10% of the trail are invisible as trail. There is just a trail mark every kilometer but no other visual aids to follow the official trail. This makes frequent GPS verifications essential. Without a GPS and without the correct tracks loaded to the GPS hikers get inevitably lost numerous times and it would be very time consuming to find the correct trail just based on visual references. But with a GPS it’s easy to stay on the trail.

There was no snow left on the 1126 m high pass.

In the forest numerous fallen trees block the trail but there is always an easy way around.

There are no noteworthy river crossings and the trail is dry. Water can be obtained regularly at smaller streams or at the lakes.

There are numerous potential camp sites except from the northern trail head and the 1126 m high pass. This northern end is mostly wind exposed with very little shelter to pitch a tent.

* '''2024-Nov-02 to 2024-Nov-05 / 4 days (but 50 km hitchhiked) / Hiking / SOBO / Option 4 (Ruta RP41 in Argentina) / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck'''

This option provides an alternative to the weather-exposed regular route of GPT35. Therefore this option should be considered early or late in the season (October, November or April) or whenever poor weather makes the regular route of GPT35 unsafe. This option is east of the Andes main mountain chain in Argentina and the clouds that typically come from the west unload most snow and rain while crossing the higher peaks in Chile. Anyway, the maximum altitude of just under 1500 m should not be undermined. Up on the pass area, weather can become unpleasant all year around.

This road walking option is certainly not as attractive as the regular route but the insignificant traffic and the scenic scenery makes it a worthwhile hiking choice. The landscape is that attractive that one tour company in Los Antiguos offers guided excursions along this route.

This option connects back to regular route of GPT35 at the trailhead of “Sendero 7 Lagunas” that becomes also traversable early in the season (October or November).

Route description:

The border crossing from Chile to Argentina is a 13 km hike or hitchhike as there is not organized public transport. Argentines rarely check luggage of backpackers, therefore bringing all supplies from Chile should not cause problems. Don’t be surprised when Argentine border controls don’t stamp your passport on entry. It’s not any more a given, that all travelers with passports receive an entry stamp when crossing into Argentina.

Before starting on RP41 consider a good meal in Los Antiguos.

The first 43 km on RP41 from Los Antiguos to Estancia Los Alamos are wind-exposed and dry. We were lucky to ride most of this stretch on the back of a pickups truck. From the road we could only see one more reliable water source at kilometer 39.5. And descending 100 to 200 m into gorge of Rio Jenimeni just to refill water supplies seams an ordeal that should be avoided.

The owners of Estancia Los Alamos are welcoming and helpful. We were invited for lunch and offered a bed for a night. But to get moving we opted to start hiking in the afternoon.

Estancia La Frontera at kilometer 46 of RP41 just after the bridge over Rio Zaballos seams also to offer accommodation on request. And here starts the more scenic part with patches of forest and more regular water streams crossing the road.

At kilometer 54 of RP41 by-passes are welcome to camp just next to Rio Lincoln. Here we spend our first night.

At kilometer 64 of RP41 the last patches of forest are left behind and exposed but scenic landscape is crossed.

The highest point of RP41 (“portezuelo”) is reached at kilometer 76 with just under 1500 m. The last snowmelt washed a part of road away stopping currently most transit traffic but hikers and bikers can cross this damaged road section without problems.

While walking from Rio Lincoln up to the “portezuelo” the wind and the light snowfall increased. But compared to the weather in Chile at the same time our conditions where quite manageable. The lack of wind-sheltered places keep us moving to kilometer 79 of RP41. Here, an unlocked puesto with a wood stove provided a surprisingly convenient shelter for our second night en route. We just had to seal some gaps in the walls to reduce the wind and snow from entering our temporary refuge. When getting up on the next morning a thin layer of fresh snow covered everything around us.

The descent to Paso Roballos at kilometer 96 of RP41 traverses open but scenic landscape with little natural shelter.

The best places to camp after the pass are:
Kilometer 79: unlocked puesto
Kilometer 87: maybe near puesto at 47°06'47"S 71°50'00"W
Kilometer 96: the crossing to Paso Roballos 2 km before the Argentine border control

At the Argentine border control camping is not permitted.

When exiting Argentina make sure to get an exit stamp. This stamp is required to enter into Chile.

Another good option is the abandoned Chilean military post 4 km after the Argentine border control. Most buildings of this small compound are sealed closed but one shelter is open and one mostly closed veranda provided good shelter for us for one night while rain and snow made pitching a tent less pleasant.

The Chilean border control is 11 km inland from the border.

From the Chilean border control it’s another 26 km to the trail head of “Sendero 7 Lagunas” with a brilliant camp site halfway (“camping alto valle”).

* '''Note:''' The RR was changed between Lago Jeinemeni and Lago Verge in October 2024, so numbering of options in the reports below might be slightly off.

==Season 2023/24==

* '''2024 Mar 14 to 2024 Mar 19 / 5.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Maddi and Tom'''

Day 1: Hiked out of Cochrane after lunch in light rain. Hiked up Sendero Las Aguilas then Las Lengas, easy trail and well defined. Rain got heavier as we approached Laguna El Cangrejo. Camped on the west side of the lake, started snowing lightly as we set up. One of the colder nights and we considered turning back and taking the lower route as we weren't sure how passable Laguna Altas would be in the snow.

Day 2: Woke up to a snowy morning so decided to wait it out in the tent. Packed up once it stopped around 11am and followed Sendero Los Condores. Luckily had a bit of sun as we went over the pass but as we were coming down the other side the rain and wind picked up. Abandoned our plans to hike the Lagunas Altas circuit and instead followed it straight down to Westwind campsite. Sat there for a bit hoping to see a puma but only guanaco in sight. Hiked towards Valle Chacabuco hoping for a hitch but no cars came past. Kept walking along Paso Roballos trying for a hitch, eventually a couple from the UK picked us up and dropped us at Casa Piedra. Spent the night there and got a hot shower which was excellent after all the rain and snow. Didn't end up paying any entry fees for the park or the camping as noone asked.

Day 3: Got up fairly early to overcast day but no rain. Followed the eastern branch of the Sendero Aviles which was clearly marked and easy to follow. The bridge over the canyon is fun to rejoin the west branch of the trail. Kept following the track along, easy going until you hit the river bed and then there are many crossings back and forth. We did a bit of dodgy scrambling up the banks to avoid getting wet feet. We were going to push on but it started raining lightly about 4pm so we set up camp in the trees along the river. Another group joined us later that night as it was raining heavily and it was the first flat and clear spot.

Day 4: Started along the track, excellent views as you pass Cerro Jeinimeni. Fairly easy track down to the next river, followed by a lot of walking in the river bed. Gave in and just walked through the water to Lago Verde. Crossings were never really over ankle deep. Track around Lago Verde is fine to follow with excellent views. Very windy as we got over the pass and the path down is quite eroded (but manageable). Hiked around to Raleigh. There is a new suspension bridge over the river at Raleigh that connects to Sendero Laguna Esmerelda. It isn't marked on Gaia or Maps Me so a group behind us went around the other way and had to do a hip deep river crossing. Going via Raleigh and Sendero Esmerelda avoids all river crossings and is an easy track to follow. Hiked all the way to El Silencio for the night, noone there so didn't pay any fees.

Day 5: Started the hike out along the road hoping for a hitch but no cars went by. Headed up the plateau following a minor road, then relying on GPS and animal tracks. Lots of guanaco. Kept hiking up the hill as the wind picked up. Found a camp spot somewhat out of the wind towards the top of the plateau with a small river passing by for water. Started snowing as we went to sleep.

Day 6: Woke up to a few cms of snow on the ground and tent and started a very frosty walk up and over the plateau. Lots of guanaco around but not much else other than snow. Luckily the sun came out as we were coming back down the other side as it was freezing up the top and was difficult navigating with the snow cover. Once it cleared we had awesome views of the Torres de Avellano and the lake. The descent track is pretty eroded and very slippery in parts where mud is hidden under small stones. Eventually joined up to the minor road and followed it down to Ruta 265. I had a weird phenomenon with my shoes picking up enormous amounts of sticky mud on the minor road, making my feet a few kgs heavier and having to scrape it off every 100m. Got a hitch to Chile Chico from Ruta 265.

* '''2024-Mar-12 to 2024-Mar-17 / 4 + 2×0.5 = 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH D + F / Joscha'''

Day 1: RR [0.0-16.7]

I startet around 2 pm and did not try to hitch the first 8 km on the primary road. There is a good flowing stream at the water marker (km 12.2) and at the camp (km 14.1). The flat spot that is camp 14.1 is swampy and therefore not ideal for camping. I camped at -46.60658, -71.80980 which is at least a little bit wind protected. There is also a stream on the other side of the RR close to this spot.

Day 2: RR [16.7-48.2]

There was plenty of water. The RR was covered in snow from about km 23 to 28. I took a CC shortcut from km 40.8 to 42.7. I camped at -46.810258, -71.965073.

Day 3: RR [48.2-59.1] + OSM trail to Laguna Verde + OH35-D + RR [62.4-88.9] + OH35-F + RR [70.3-78.9]

The park gate at km 50.1 is open from 9 am to 5 pm. But the ranger didn't mind, that I entered before 9 am. I paid 17000 Pesos at the ranger station (km 53). This fee allows camping at all the Campgrounds in the park. I followed the official park trail which branches off at km 59,1 to Laguna Verde. From there it returns via OH35-D to the RR. All fords today were below my knees. After km 75.5 the RR was partially flooded and you had to walk through some branches. Therefore I sometimes walked in the river bed on the eastern side of Rio Aviles. I camped at km 78.9. Its an official campground of the park, but there is nothing. But its flat and wind protected.

Day 4: RR [78.9-106.3]

The roof of the refuge at km 93.9 is collapsed. Casa de Piedra is a real house with bathrooms and some common rooms to hang out and probably sleep. I camped on the lakeshore at -47.074614, -72.25701. I would not recommend this spot for windy nights.

Day 5: RR [106.3-137.6]

The next reliable water source after Lago Gutierrez (km 106.3) is a stream at km 113.8. Its possible to camp just south of the pass (km 110.8). I did a shortcut from km 129.1 to 130.3. I had to cross a small swampy area for that. Camping at km 137.6 is nice.

Day 6: RR [137.6-150.4]

Nice campsite at km 146.0 (RN Tamango) with sheltered tables and spots for camping. I stayed at camping calafate in Cochrane (-47.254013, -72.568419). It has a kitchen with common area (heated by wood oven), wifi and hot showers for 7000 pp.

* '''2024-Feb-24 to 2024-Mar-01 / 6.5 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RR+RP / Lauren & Seb'''

Much has been said about this section, so we will share only our impressions.

Day 1: After reaching wp Settler {35} [8.9/539] by taxi in the early evening, we hiked a short distance and camped at wp Camp {35} [14.1/923]. On a windy day it’s basically unprotected in a narrow valley. There was no wind that day, making it a spot with a great view.

Day 2: Upon reaching the plateau, it felt like a guanaco/flamencos safari as previously described. To get up there, you have to CC on one manageable steep stretch. Follow the dotted line in OSM relatively far to the left and not the GPT files. We camped north of wp Water {35} [28.1/1579].

Day 3: We headed across the pass and amazing views opened up before us. On the downhill, follow the GPT line until you reach a fence. Go through the fence on the left end and follow the fence line towards wp Puesto {35} [34.6/1191]. From the side of the puesto, you can easily follow well trodded horse tracks along the fence line until -46.75064, -71.89899. Follow the trails along the river towards the south until you hit the MR. We stopped for the night at wp Camp {35} [42.9+0.2/713].

Day 4: Cars did not appear until after 10am but we eventually got a ride to the park entrance. From here, the more touristy part begins. Once inside the park we decided to walk the MR around Lago Jeinemeni and only inflated the packraft at Lago Verde. This was an absolutely great paddle on the most turquoise waters and we were lucky with the afternoon wind. We stayed the night at Refuge {35} [68.1/867].

Day 5: The next part has lots of fording so expect slow progress. We left our crocs on for the next 3 km. Well marked trail through the forest and across the pass. On the other side, however there is a new official route which starts here -46.87696, -72.17213 and requires more fording. The old trail still exists and no fording was necessary. Stick to the GPS here if you want to save time taking your shoes off! The rest of the way down the valley was enjoyable and we stayed the night just before wp Ford {35} [82.6/805].

Day 6: Easy hiking down to Camp Piedra where we stayed and camped early.

Day 7: We started paddling Rio Chacabuco the next morning, but I would advise packrafters against doing so (at least in the late season). Conditions of the river included low water levels with frequent ground contact and many trees in the water. The river splits often, making the already low water even lower and obstacles in the tightly winding corners become even more tricky. First time that we hit a tree since we are on the GPT. As if that wasn’t enough, wind picked up early and forced us out of the water. We decided to water-out here -47.05177, -72.29040 and hiked up the road, where a car took us towards Cochrane after 2 hours.

* '''2024-Feb-27 to 2024-Mar-04 / 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {35-S} - {35-D} - RR - {35-J} - RR - {35-L} - RR / Lilian & Rainbow '''

Safari = GPT35, we saw foxes, bunny, flamingos, ostrich, owl, woodpecker, and more than 100 guanacos at this section!

We standing at the end of town more than 1 hour and found that it is really difficult to hitch out by low traffic. So we go to tourist information ask for help maybe a ride, a man at there said he can take us to x[8.1/505] for 10k CLP, but lastly he just took us to the junction at km5.9, and said he don't want to drive on a non paved road, then don't wait us to respond and throw our backpacks out from his car immediately, and ask for the money.

So, DON'T ask any ride in tourist information at Chile Chico, they cheated our trust.

Km12 : flat spot (-46.57669, -71.82779) can fit some tents at other side of a stream, the stream is flowing good and dry feet crossable by rock hopping.

Km12.75 : viewpoint(-46.58294, -71.82549) of a valley with sky blue colour, super beautiful, don't miss it!

Camp[14.1/923] : grassland spot, a small stream is flowing low beside it.

Km16.6 : flat spot(-46.60658, -71.80980), have some covers can stay away from the wind tunnel in valley at north.(wind from north)

After this spot, no more camping spot or flat spot have wind protection until camp[32.6/1300]. Wind is crazy at the plateau.

Camp[32.6/1300] : tiny wind protection from a rock wall, just fit 1 tent for it. Better wind protection nearby camp[42.9/713].

Short cut CC from 38.2 to 42.7, it doesn't save much time, better follow GPX track, MR is completely finished and super easy to walk. It also walk beside some beautiful meadows that are nice to camp(no wind protection).

Camp[42.9/713] : spots at a wet muddy road. Better spots nearby at (-46.79053, -71.91127), dry and 2-3 sides wind protection by bushes, can fit many tents there.

Didn't see any cars going south at morning, so road walking all the way to entrance. 11k CLP for entrance fee, 6k CLP for camping fee, total 17k CLP, can pay by credit card.

Camp,$,bridge,lake[53.3/852] : El Silencio campsite and Lago Jeinemeni. This campsite is a little bit crown with car camping, and the lake is amazing beautiful!

HIGHLY RECOMMEND walking on the shore of lake from km56.65 - km57.75(from the junction of viewpoint, to the point that trail met the beach), easy, dry feet and excellent beautiful!

Bridge[58.9/856] : after this bridge, follow south route ( {35-S} & RP{35} ) to Lago Verde, then take the bridge(-46.86056, -72.07982) to cross the river. Lastly follow {35-D} rejoin RR. Dry feet.

Lake [59.2/840] : Laguna Esmeralda. Didn't find any camping possibilities. Better views at trail.

Refuge[61.7/856] : beside Laguna Esmeralda, a super blue lake. This refuge is not a cabin, just a shelter with 3 side wooden wall, good wind protection, but I'm not sure about heavy rain, because i saw many holes at the wall. Better camping spot with views beside the lake(not much wind protection).

Ford start/end[63.4/896] : late season, all the way easy dry feet crossing, walking on log or rock hopping.

Pass[64.5/1132] : no camping spot here, the spot shown on OSM, is already covered by many blowdowns. Nice viewpoint(-46.84093, -72.10324) of Lago Verde just SW of here.

Ford[66.1/877] : better river crossing point at (-46.83741, -72.11991), there is a sign at another side of river. Below knee, easy.

Ford[66.4/859] : river breaks into some parts, below knee, easy.

Refuge[68.1/867] : shelter with 2 walls, nice weather protection. Refuge with 4 walls, but huge air tunnel at ceiling, so just wind protection. A sign book inside refuge too. Camping spots at here can fit lot of tents, mostly have some wind protection, but not much, because trees are too tall, and just 1 spot behind a blowdowns have well wind protection.

Fords[68.4/869] - [71.6/905] : lot of river crossing, some trail can go around the river, but not much help and they are overgrown, so finally you need to be crossing and crossing then wet feet.

Km74.7 : camping spot(-46.87204, -72.17630), can fit 3-4 tents with some weather protection by the forest. Have a shelter made by logs here, can squat 1-2 hiker inside for emergency, but not much help, because it is really small and too many holes on it.

Km75.7 : camping spot(-46.87886, -72.16954), can fit 3-4 tents with some weather protection by the forest.

Km78.9 :camping spot(-46.90498, -72.15591), and some more spots nearby, total can fit 4-6 tents with some weather protection by the forest.

Ford[79.3/846] : Below knee, easy.

Refuge[81.0/819] : no refuge, no shelter. Camping spot with views can fit 2 tents but no protection.

Ford[82.6/805] : Below knee. Camping spot(-46.93485, -72.15869), can fit 2 tents with not much weather protection by the bushes, before the crossing.

Km83.3 : camping spot(-46.94089, -72.15600), can fit 2-3 tents with some weather protection by some trees. Also one spot at south but not much protection.

Km84.7 : camping spot(-46.95268, -72.15123), can fit 1 tent with some weather protection by some brushes.

Km88.6 : camping spot(-46.98397, -72.15988), can fit 2 tents with weather protection by some trees and brushes. Flat area nearby can fit many tents with good views but no protection.

Bridge[90.9/635] : classic bridge! Worth to take a look and walk on it!

We took {35-J} instead RR here, because less puds, also walking on a plateau looks like more scenic.

{35-J} Km5 : viewpoint(-47.03902, -72.19077) of the whole valley, very beautiful! Don't miss it!

Camp,$,refuge[98.9/379] : Casa de Piedra campground. Have some shelters with picnic table for cooking, and a refuge with hot(warm) shower, toilet and some tables for meals. If you decide to camp here, please expect sleep late. This spot mostly are campers and tourists. They'll speaking and cooking until 10 or 11 or midnight.

You can take a shuttle form here to Cochrane(30k CLP per person) or Camping Los West Wind(15k CLP per person)

Time schedule: 9am Cochrane - 9.45am Museo, 10am Museo - 10.15am Camping Los West Wind, 10.30am Camping Los West Wind - 10.45am Museo, 12noon Museo - 1pm Camping Casa de Piedra, 4.30pm Camping Casa de Piedra - 5.15pm Museo, 5.30pm Museo - 6.30pm Cochrane

Start from here, the trail is not maintained anymore, but still in good condition.

Km103 : Lago Gutierrez, amazing beautiful lake, have some minutes i thought back to Norway again.

Km103.85 : a small stream(-47.07911, -72.22738) flowing good with clear water, easy to collect.

Pass[110.8/1126] : some fresh snow remain at here.

Km112.45 : emergency camping spot(-47.10718, -72.28893), the ground is a little soft, but is flat and some wind protection, can fit many tents here.

Km116.9 : Laguna Guagua. Camping spot(-47.13350, -72.30170), can fit 2-3 tents with some wind protection from west by bushes, SW of the spot have a side trail to lake. BUT, DON'T go for {35-02A} back to RR, it is completely CC and BB with spike plants, not fun. Better CC climbing up to RR from camping spot directly.

Refuge,X[118.3/716] : no refuge, it is collapsed. The woods becomes a super small shelter here. If you lost your backpack, crawling inside maybe can save your life. Otherwise just for photos snapping function.

From here to km125.0, you will walk beside 3 lakes, didn't see any wind protection camping spots there, but if you have good luck at a no wind night, you maybe find some spots at the last lake.

Km125.0 : road walking start. Flat spot with some wind protection on the road can fit 1-2 tents at here too.

Km125.9 : junction of RR and {35-L}, because the road is too easy to walk and follow, we completely miss this junction and walk a long time then realised RR is a different way, so we keep going on {35-L} and rejoin RR later.

{35-L} km3.6 : a small stream(-47.17383, -72.37063) flowing good with clear water, easy to collect. Flat spot can fit 1-2 tents after the crossing.

We walked the whole way{35-L} and rejoin RR at km130.8.

RR Km132.4 : flat spot(-47.17220, -72.42231) can fit 1 tent at the end of lake. With some wind protection by forest.

Camp[136.9/162] : can fit 2-4 tents with weather protection by forest, but if the wind is come from south, it is not much help. Excellent views on the beach.

Camp[137.6/173] : can fit 2-3 tents with wind protection from east and north by trees. Excellent views on the beach. Just beside a port, looks like can take a boat to here.

Km138.3 : camping spot(-47.20064, -72.46718), total can fit 3-5 tents at several stage, some spots have good wind protection by trees and bushes.

From here to km146.0, lot of up and down beside some cliffs (maybe slippery in rain), but it is a trail with lot of amazing views, we are really enjoyed it.

Km139.77 : a tiny stream(-47.20803, -72.47813) flowing good with clear water, easy to collect.

Km141.73 : side trail to viewpoint(-47.21986, -72.49280) and cell service for Movistar.

Km142.15 : flat grassland(-47.22231, -72.49623) can fit 4 tents just beside the beautiful lake, some wind protection by valley itself.

X[143.9/244] : cell service for Entel(-47.23128, -72.50780)

Km146.0 : RN Tamango campground, some shelters for cooking, large arae for camping, hot shower and trash can, 7k CLP per person.

Km146.5 : the last flat spot(-47.24353, -72.53067) before Cochrane, some wind protection by brushes, can fit 1-3 tents with nice sunrise, you can arrive there by a clear trail beside ranger station, the trail is shown on OSM map.

Cochrane :

Lot of accommodation, markets and restaurants, and 2 outdoor gear shops.

230g gas canisters, power bank, chargers and tent stakes at Supermercado Melero(-47.25386, -72.57414).

Sunglasses, micro spikes, snow shoes and some clothes at La Ruta 7 Patagonia(-47.25591, -72.57320).

Sleeping bag, tents, boots(just 1 trail runner), socks, base layer, warm clothes and pants at Kalfu Patagonia(-47.25474, -72.57018).

Clothes at Vansy(-47.25417, -72.57431), not a outdoor gear shop, but some sporty clothes and pants for a low price at here.

Some campground and lot of indoor stays at Cochrane. The only hostel is Camping, Refugio ,Cabaña y Hostel(a long name) (-47.25446, -72.57497). And most of the rooms here include breakfast(without kitchen), 20k CLP per person. The only one we found with kitchen(but no breakfast) is Casa Raíces Hostal(-47.25113, -72.56848).

Bus terminal to Coyhaique, Villa Cerro Castillo, Villa O' Higgins, Chile Chico, Puerto Rio Tranquilo and Tortel at (-47.25137, -72.57317).

Tourist information(-47.25439, -72.57283).

I recommend La Martica(-47.25112, -72.57266), local restaurant with nice food in a good price.

* '''24-Feb-17 to 2024-Feb-22 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Variant L / Tomáš & Natalie'''

There were several hitchhiker groups out of Chile Chico so we took a taxi (990250968) to the settler at 8.9 for 10,000 CLP. Nobody was there, but there is a locked gate so it would not be possible to take a taxi further up. For pedestrians, there is an unlocked door. One can shortcut the first zigzag of the road thereafter and several others, it is open terrain. We camped in a dry lakebed (for windprotection) about 1 km after the first pass. Despite strong wind in Chile Chico and a forecast of wind gusts over 60km/hr, the night was largely peaceful with just one hour of wind. The plateau has terrain features and it seemed to us it is not that impossible to camp there, but maybe we were just lucky.

The next day was like a safari, lots of animals and little wind. Pawprints on lake bed turned out to be a big dog and not a puma according to the rangers though. Going down from the plateau, it is possible to shortcut the GPX track to the SE and end near the puesto at 34.6. Trail starts above the puesto but is not so easy to follow and the GPX does not seem to be the most precise. It is advisable to take a CC shortcut to bridge at 42.7 as mentioned by Adrien Kunzli: about 1 km before the end of MR 38.2, veer right aiming for a black outcrop on the mountain on the other side of the valley and you will pop out above the bridge. We got lucky and got a ride at around 16:30 to the parkoffice. We paid 15000 CLP only for one person - they forget to charge the other one. They were friendly and told us the weather forecast. We did not get any receipt or pass though. Walked two hours to campsite Raleigh, there were two other foreign tents there. The new trail is technically the old "laguna Esmeralda" (RP 59.2) trail with a new bridge, so keep left to avoid fords, combined with variant D it seems preferable to RR even when not intending to camp [November 20224: this is not RR].

From Raleigh, the first fords were possible to cross without fording thanks to logs and stones. The next valley is indeed beautiful, especially Lago Verde. There were about ten tents but no people near the refugio at 67.6. Tomáš tried to go around the second fords through the forest on the left and he eventually reached variant F, which exists but partially goes through a marsh and does not avoid fording anyway: it is pointless, just ford. Initially the start of the fords seem like a marsh, go around it from the right through the river, it is a nice riverbed thereafter. Rio Aviles was kneedeep and ok. Ford 71.2 is mighty - go downstream about 200 m, it splits and is easy there (there is a cairn in the middle). We camped at a camping site marked on OSM about 2 km further down from there. There is a place for one tent about 20 m from a creek. Very nice spot. Having a headstart to people starting from the park office, we only met three groups of foreigners all day.

Variant J does not avoid any substabtial fords, water at 96.1 is easily jumpable and the river is bridged on both J and RR.
Casa de Piedra is a nice spot with resident guanacos (and some tourists). Tomáš had a hot shower! We were asked for our passes - we explained we were not given them and it was ok. We went on. The Siete Lagunas trail is surprisingly in a rather good shape. It is little used but not much overgrown and generally easy to follow, needing a GPS only occasionally. Tomáš liked it tremendeously. Did not meet anyone on it.

We slept near the pass next to a marsh. It rained most of the night but stopped before morning, luckily the trail was not too wet the next day. The first stream after the pass is very weak (not flowing if not raining?); it flows from the marsh by which we slept and is about 500 m after the pass waypoint. The next stream is about 1 km further down, it had more water. After that, water is only in the lakes. Tomáš cleaned a lot of the logs and branches from the trail, if you can spare a moment, please do likewise. We could not see any traces of option 02A or option K. We took option L near km 129.9 - we were confused by other reports because we thought people were taking the much longer part of L that follows a MR. RR leaves the Siete lagunas trail at the end of option L after 29 km. The trail probably goes to Valle Chacabuco. [OSM has Variant F and L marked as "Sendero 7 Lagunas", this is wrong. Variant K looks to be indeed CC and variant L looks to be an unnecessary detour on a MR (overgrown and with logs at first when RR is on this MR - when you cross the MR again after four km on RR, it no longer looks that overgrown). November 2024: OSM has been corrected.] On L, one can easily take a CC shortcut from top of the hill to MR. We found two shortcutting trails to the MR. We met Daniel who was coming back from cutting invasive pines with his chainsaw, he had a friendly and humorous attitude. Camped at the lake at the wind protected camp.

The night brought surprisingly strong wind and rain - try to camp deeper in the forest. We followed a faint trail tracing the shore of the lake instead of CC 137.6, in the middle of it there was an apple tree that will be ripe in March probably. Did not meet anybody until the viewpoint above the lake that says "signal Movistar" (we have Entel, which has a sign 2 km further on but it did not work, just wait one hour until Cochrane proper), from then on, there were daytrippers. CONAF had a lunch break so we passed unnoticed. Cochrane as a town is ok.

Nat's Notes:
The Bulk shop in Chile Chico (Güenta Emporio) is not open on weekends, they have weird hours and sometimes need to call before; Andrea +56 9 9540 1708. I recommend the hospedaje Rio Baker, 15mil pp which is the general price here.
The plateau
- Besides Descabezado, this area was one of the most visually interesting sections for me. I haven't had that much fun taking photos in a long time. At first the guanacos scared me a little, I felt like I was surrounded by ninjas, eventually I warmed up to them. A good place for a zoom camera.
-For me the going was slow, besides being tired and equipped with rash-covered feet I found the navigation tricky. I kept aiming for the wrong pass because there are many rolling hills. However I found things got better near and after pass km28.8.
- Water in the plateau is still frequent. If one wants to camp as close to the plateau as possible (SOBO) I suggest this spot:-46.62397, -71.81920. Also there is a nice grassy and fairly sheltered spot near water km23.9: -46.66437, -71.84393 and a big flat grass patch at water 30.6. There is a huge boulder for wind protection if needed here; -46.65469, -71.83997. In the valley bottom near the puesto, there are less/no camping spots. I did not like all the dogs at puesto 34.6, so I purposely avoided it.
- When finishing the plateau section, I filled up on water at the last stream that wasn't the main river here: -46.72842, -71.89633, as I didn't think we would get a hitch to the park office.

Sendero Avilés
- The descent from pass km64.5 is nothing, just a bit of dirt dust that makes traction hard. The only part on this track that I would worry about safety-wise (apart from the two river crossings) is a new steep traverse 2ish kms after pass km74.1: -46.88996, -72.16428. I decided to throw my bag down 5m instead of walking down the "free fall". (Alternatively you could ford rio Aviles twice.)
- The series of mini river crossings were all fine, there is a nice water source before pass km74 in the forest once you finish all the fords, it comes from a waterfall not far away.
- Near the end I took Variant J bcs I thought it avoided a river crossing (no rivers to cross but RR doesn't either). If you do this option I recommend still going to the hanging bridge at the X of J and RR bcs it is a fun and unique bridge!
- Cassandra at Case Piedra was nice and easy to get along with.

Siete Lagunas
- The water we took from the marsh was probably the grossest water I have had to drink, lots of algae and oil, I filtered and boiled. (The second stream was much better.)
- As noted the trail is not hard to follow at this moment, only a handful of times I lost it. That being said it could be because we were walking near the end of the season and therefore it was obvious where ppl had been walking (pushed down grass), I think it would be a lot harder at the beginning of the season. Another bonus was that most spikees were gone.
- Near to camp 136.9, there is a water source. It is at the end of the beach, 200-300m west of camp. There are two or three more water sources on the first part of the trail but after the look-out, there are no more.

* '''2024-Feb-6 to 2024-Feb-11 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + option L / Yannick & Nolwenn & Tess & Lukas'''

- Trail condition : really nice overall // the trail is sometimes overgrown and easy to loose from km 113,5 to km 122, so just keep an eye on the gps
- Water : easy to find plenty of rivers and lagunas
- Camping spot : we camped at km 32,6 and it was a bad idea, too exposed and we got snow and a lot of wind during the night, would really recommend to go down more // we camped near the lago Gutiérrez at km 106,15 there is place for 2 tents
- Weather : windy, sunny, snow, rain
- River crossing : easy
- Resupply : in Chile Chico (a bulk shop just opened in front of the camping Nandu) // in Cochrane everything you need
- Entrance fee : for park Patagonia 11 000 pesos per pp + 6 000 pesos for camping per pp
- Overall : really nice section, we were happy to encounter 3 huemuls

*'''2024-Jan- 18 to 2024-Jan-24/ 7 days/hiking/SOBO/ 35/ 35-02a( from 47.1567357S, 72.4154650W)/ 35-02 ( from S 47.12123, W 072.46099) /35-03 ( from S 47.11712 W072.48494)/35-03c ( from Laguna El Cangrejo)/35-03d/ 35 from Lago Cochrane/ Paulina'''
Long, beautiful tour in Parque Patagonia, as I mixed different variants, it allowed me to see all the divercity of the park. Almost no people, a lot of guanacos, a really beautiful section!

Day 1 The way from Chile Chico to Lago Jeinimeni. I was prepared to walk all the way, but as some cars stoped and it was a very hot day, I took a lift ( I have walked maybe 8 km in total ). I stopped at 46.7304997S, 71.7415019W, to do the loop of about 7 km in the first reserve of Jeinimeni. The entrance is paid 6000 CLP but the ticket is valid later, at the main entrance at Lago Jeinimeni ( the next 2 days). It's really worth to walk on this place. The rock formations are amasing. It takes about 3h and you can leave your backpack at the park reception After that, another car stoped and took me to the main entrance of Lago Jeinimeni. The views from the road are really scenic, it's a pity not to walk some parts of this road, lucky my car was old and slow so I could admire the views.

Day 2 From Lago Jeinimeni to the refugio and camping at 46.8406732S, 72.1409082W. The first part of the trail to Portezuelo La Gloria is rather easy, it stays mostly in the valley, the ascent to the pass is not very difficult and rather short. On the way down from the pass there are some steeper moments and there are some places where the trail is distroyed by a kind of stone avalanche so you have to find your way thru the stones. Amasing views on Laguna Verde. Once you are down at Laguna, there are some fords, when I was there, the highest one was till knees.

Day 3 A lot of fords all the way in Valle Hermoso, there were all easy to cross. Also, you can't clearly see the path but anyway, you have to follow the valley. Sometimes there are signes so you will always find the way. This day, the only a bit more difficult place you can find around S 46.89032 W 072.16461. Going SOBO it's a steep descent, it's very short but steep. Can be dangerous after the rain. Later the views on the canyon on Aviles river became really amasing, it was for me one of the most beautiful part in all the park.

Day 4/5 I had 6 km till Casa de Piedra ( there was a tiny spot for one tent with a stream at this distance) and I started the part Siete Lagunas. At Casa de Piedra I asked the ranger if the trail was walkable and he confirmed that it was ok and I could go. But, as the others already mentioned , the trail is not maintained anymore. Till the end of Laguna Gutierrez it's rather easy to find the way without gps, but later, there are some places where the path is not at all visible. With trail on gps is not very difficult to find the way, but without this, can be very difficult to follow this trail. There are also a lot of fallen trees, some BB. If they do nothing, I think in 2 years the path will completely disapear. But it's a beautiful trail, wild, you meet nobody, a pure and intacked nature. Just take enough water, the first day of this sendero the water was at Lago Gutierrez and later about 1h after the pass.

Day 6 Instead to continue on RR I went to Valle Chacabuco to discoverer also this sector. I started with the trail Lagunas Atlas. Well marked, beautiful, various views, it was the most frequented part of the park, but still I can't say it was crowded. Beautiful camp on Laguna el Cangrejo.

Day 7 The views on Lago Cochrane are really amasing. The landscapes and the vegetation are in this part different than before.

To conclude, I did not encontered really difficult places on this long hike. As I walked through all sections of the park, it allowed me to see all the divercity of the area. Except maybe 3 h in Valle Chacabuco, I did not really meet people in the park. It was a beautiful section! In Cochrane, you will find a lot of shops where you can find everything you need for next section. There are several campings ( I liked a lot Camping Lorenzo not crowded, nice place to cook with gaz, friendly owner, spots with twin protection

* '''2023-Dec-28 to 2024-Jan-04 / 8 days / RR / SOBO / Roshi'''

I hitchhiked from Chile Chico to X{35}[8.1/505] and did not see the settler at El Ciprés. It was very windy and I decided to cross the plateau at midday which was maybe not the best idea. The cross country I found very challenging and the extreme head wind across the plateau was in relentless. Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed the amazing landscape and the challenge, although a less windy day or starting earlier would have made it more enjoyable. I camped close to Camp 32.6/1300 at a dry spot and the next day followed the fence down to the road and walked to the Park entrance at Jenimeni. The park rangers told me of an alternative route to the start of the Avilés trail to Casa de Piedra and gave me some maps and info, they were very friendly. I paid 3000 pesos for park entry. I camped at Valle Hermoso which lives up to its name and then did a day hike to the glacial lake leaving my tent at the Refugio Valle Hermoso and following Estero Ventisquero or part of OH-CC-A {35-06} After packing up I then hiked a couple of kms down to a next campsite (there are a couple of established places to set up your tent on the way to Casa de Piedra). From Casa de Piedra I followed the Site Laguna's trail which was overgrown and difficult to follow and navigate and for me probably my least favourite part. The kms are marked but you really have to follow the GPS me there aren't many places to pitch if you don't feel like hiking anymore. I think going down into Chacobuco (which I had done previously) would have been nicer. I loved the Lago Cochrane and Tamango reserve the views and colours were amazing and the trails very easy to follow and not very busy. I got a lift into Cochrane halfway from the entrance but the road walk is not long anyway and I was not actively hitching.

Annoyances were horse flies but I got good advice to "out Zen" them and to be honest once you let it go and enjoy the views and being in nature generally they are easy to deal with. Just don't stop between 2 and 8 PM ;)
And from Jenimeni to Casa de Piedra is lots of river crossings so just accept wet feet :) and try do river crossings in the morning especially on hot days ( esp Avilés) Be safe and sensible obviously!
I would have maybe even liked to stay longer on this part of the trail, there were lots of little day hikes and alternative routes I'd have loved to explore, but I didn't have enough food. It's a beautiful part of the world, enjoy it!

* '''From 2023-01-15 to 2023-01-19 // 5 days // Hiking // NOBO // VARIANT P + OPT3 + OPT3A + RR + VARIANT J + VARIANT I + VARIANT D + Sendero Laguna Esmeralda (no variant on that one yet) + RR // Quentin Clavel'''

From Cochrane, I thought it was sad to go straight along the Lago Cochrane without checking what's going up there, and have a view over the vallee Chacabuco. So that's what I did.

I just took the beginning of Variant P, you have to pass threw a gate saying "no passar" then you have to bifurcate to the option 3 (tamango) to reach the pass between vallée tamango and chacabuco. Very nice views. Then instead of going down into vallée Chacabuco, I went straight, and continue on the sendero de las siete lagunas, wich is an old track, sometimes hard to guess, so check the GPS, but mostly easy to folllow (you still have the mark every kilometers).

Really loved the colours at the end of Lago guitterrez !

Main difficulties on the section are these horrible horseflies, and the no less terrible little spiky plants that stay sticks in your shoes and socks.

Then you reach casa de piedras. I took the variant J to don't have to put my crocs for the river crossing (yeah, I'm a lazy walker aha).

Then follow the river until the vallée hermoso, wich lives up to its name. And at this time it's just a mix between walking and crossing rivers. No need to ask, I putted my crocs on aha !

The pass up to Lago Verde was steep but the view so outstanding and the colours .. same amazing colours on Lago jeinemeni !

Didn't stayed at, but the Raleigh camp is very nice if you may choose a camp around !

Second part of NP was CC, and that was so cool ! Just have the directions and go straight to this point. Passing from mountains to others, surrounded by an unnumerable number of curious guanacos !

Hardest part is to deal with the strong wind during the ascend and at the highest point. And the descent is quite unstable, stay close to the GPX tracks, I tried to shorttrack but it led me down to slippery slopes, so I had to backtrack to find again the GPX.

Then it's 15 km down to reach Chile Chico (8km on the asphalt). Settler wasn't angry against me and saluate me kindly when I passed threw his land.

Very nice stretch. Very diversificate, great landscapes, wildlife. I loved it !

And about the entrance fees, It was not my intention, but I haven't paid for as I entered by variant P which is not a porper enter. And haven't seen any guardaparque at all.

* '''2023-Dec-30 / 1 day / Packrafting / SOBO / Option 10 C / Tom Pieper'''

I attempted this option as an alternative starting point for section 36G. Hitchhiked to the bridge of Carreterra Austral over Rio Chacabuco. I scouted rapid {35-10C} [2.3/121] from 100 m above and it looked feasible. This was not true when I approached on the river after entering just before the bridge. The rapid was impassable (late afternoon) which brought me into serious troubles. The canyon is pretty steep here and there is no way back. It was not fun to climb the steep slopes cliffs to escape the 100 m deep canyon. Its really dangerous. The rapid is pretty hard to investigate from above. I would recommend to only go later in the season and only in the morning or at least with company.

* '''2023-Dec-21 / 8 day / Hiking + Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Option 10 + Old and new tracks to Administration Parque Patagonia Valle Chacabuco / Tom Pieper'''

Most have been described by Kris and Stina. The plateau and the entire track is awesome. After the kind Arriero at the puesto {35} [15.8/1075] (actually its his house) I found it a little bit tricky to find a good route first but then just ascended and found a nice cross country route. Camped before the plateau. There are nice spots just before 1400 m, after that its just rocky until you descend to the Water {35} [23.9/1586]. Camp {35} [32.6/1300] was a little bit swampy. Found a better spot 300 m south. Try to be early at the road if you want to hitchhike. I was lucky and got the last car passing at 14.00 to the park at day. On the 25/12 the park entrance (but only the entrance) is always closed! Keep in mind if you come around christmas. At the park entrance you must disinfect your packrafting gear due to Didymo algae. I could not packraft lago jenimeni and verde due to wind but its still stunning. Between Water {35} [75.5/937] and Ford {35} [79.3/846] there is a approx. 3-4 steep bluff. I felt really uncomfortable with my heavy backpack as a lot of erosion happened to the steep ‘steps’. Maybe exploring an additional bush bashing route is feasible here. The ford was rather deep and could be a problem for shorter persons but I crossed in the evening, so in the morning it should be fine. Collapsed Refuge {35} [81.0/819] makes a nice camp spot. The other forts were fine. Stayed one night at Casa Piedra were I met Tobi and Fangwen and spend dinner and breakfast together the next day. CONAF first denied to packraft Rio Chacabuco due to conservation reasons, but after I mentioned that I came along all the track with my gear and rangers et sector jenimeni they were fine with me going on that river. The river is a bit unspectacular. I left at the River Out {35} [119.8/277] and I followed the old trail/road to Park Ranger, Refuge, Camp {35} [123.2/263]. There is a new picknick hut and I spend the night in there with a spectacular view of the valle chacabuco to the rims of campo hielo norte. The next day I continued the old track right side of the river (not in the GPT track files) until the bridge {35-10} [4.7/265]. Track is still in good conditions and occasionally used by the horses and guanacos there. A wonderful hike with massive views. I than continued on the CONAF trail (also not in the GPT track files) to Park administracion at Lodging $$$ {35-03} [1.9/340]. Would not recommend the restaurant. 65 $ for a 3 course meal but nothing fancy. Better spend for dinner in Cochrane. But for a post hike drink at the bar it is a lovely place and staff is kind. Also liked the museum and stayed the night at the campsite approximately 2 km away. The puma still seems to be there occasionally. Next day I hitchhiked out to Cochrane.

* '''2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-23/ 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris'''

Got a taxi for the first 8 kilometers of the roadwalk. Nobody present at the farm where the dirtroad starts to go uphill, gates easy to get through, friendly dog. We hiked just 6km and made camp by a stream.

The next day passed the puesto at km15.8, owner seemed friendly and waved. Slowly climbed up to the plateau, lots of water everywhere, very few snowpatches en route. Perfect day - not much wind. Saw lots of guanacos, hares, flamingos. Moving cross-country was ok throughout. Climbed a few barbed-wire fences. Finally found the dirt road, hiked to camp at km42.9.

In the morning hitched a ride to the park entry with a ranger. We had no online booking as we didn't know when we'd arrive, they had us make one on site. Super friendly guys, said that there is currently fewer visitors than normally at this time. The route between Rio San Antonio crossing and Camp Raleigh has been changed, partially new trail built; follows mainly the Lago Esmeralda trail. There is now a brand new hanging bridge over Rio San Antonio right next to Camp Raleigh, avoiding all the needless crossings.

After the camp there trail seems new in places, but then resorts to many rivercrossings again. The way up and down the Puertozuela La Gloria is steep and loose. After Lago Verde there are a million more crossings until you turn South. Here the trail is not much maintained, lots of fallen trees. The next 25km to Casa Piedra the trail is a bit harder to see at first but then gets much better. The guy (not a ranger) at Casa Piedra informed us that the Siete Lagos trail is closed but couldn't say why. It's definitely overgrown in parts, lots of fallen trees - need to keep track on the gpx at all times. After settler at km135.2 the trail has been recently maintained and bushes cut.

For photos and stories, you can follow us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures

==Season 2022/23==

* '''2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena'''

We enjoyed this section a lot, especially with all the beautiful autumn colors in early April and basically without people until the last part before Cochrane. PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.

Just like others we found the plateau between km 20-28 very very windy. Definitely don’t count with camping there. We found a good spot right after the secound pass, aprox. 500m down the hill where you can find a wind protected place. The descent down is a little slow but with nice views, guanacos, horses.. simply amazing. Once back on the road, it’s not too far to the PN entrance where we met a guard, but fortunately were able to get a permission as described above. The trail from Lago Jeinemeni was one of our favorites. All the fords were easy, but expect quite slow progress in the CC parts. We camped in a forrest at km 81 where is a destroyed refugio but still a good spot for camping. The rest of the trail to Casa Del Piedra is again straightforward and the landscape is somehow more dry. We didn’t cross the first bridge but went with the J option which turned out to be a good decision as we met a xx of guanacos that let us come really close to them. Closed and locked refugio still provides a good shelter, but when open it must be a perfect stop in the middle of this long section. Water was turned off as well but there is a stream behind the house.

We spent the next night on the beach of Lago Gutierrez where is enough space to build a tent - bushes around the trail are otherwise very thorny and sharp. After the ascent to the pass was a good stream of water, probably the last place to safely take unfiltered water for the next couple of kms. The trail from there leads around all the lakes and is nice and easy. We spent the night in a refugio at km 134. This one was the only one standing from what we have seen and its a good shelter when it rains, however we decided to stay in our tent anyway. You can make fire inside. Closest water is actually the one in a lake uphill, the stream on the other side of the path was very dirty and hard to gather anyway.

From there its a one more day until the finish with a good pace. We haven’t met the settler Daniel, but he’s definitely still living there. Beautiful beach of Lago Cochrane and from there we started to meet more and more tourists, doing just a day hike or some circuit around the lake - might be a good option as well in this beautiful region. The last kms felt a little long for us as we were looking forward to have some rest and enjoy all the fun in town. At the official campsite were a few people but no one asked us about anything. There are nice toilets and shower. From there its around 30m to Cochrane. Good to remember they celebrate Easter holidays in Chile as well, but we still managed to find some shop and bakery open.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* '''12/03/2023 - 18/03/2023 / RR SOBO / Jakub+Veronika:'''

Doing section 35 was due to closure of the Patagonia NP caused by heavy rains with helicopter rescue of several tourists from Valle Hermoso quite complicated, we did walk all we could in Tamango reserve and later (when it was opened) in Chacabuco valley. Be sure not to miss the museum. It's really worth it. The northern part was opened as the last one, that's why we've skipped it and hitchhiked back to Caretera. All paths in great condition. When going from Tamango to Chacabuco there's one suggestion:

It seems that on RR (35, km 141) ends new 11km long track ”Huemules” which starts at the parking in Chacabuco valley on RP (35, km 132.5). That trail might be a nice alternative to RR (mud road) leading over private land of settler David Huemul.

*8.02. - 05.03.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO, Chile Chico - Cochrane

We started in Chile Chico around 5 pm walking the first km on the road. After a while we got a ride to the Bahía Jara cross and camped a few hundred meters further near the street (we carried water from Chile Chico).

The ascent to the plateau is mostly easy dirtroad walking and the last CC part easy to navigate. The whole stretch on the plateau until the street at km 41.5 we had extreme wind, which made walking super tiring and nearly blew us away a few times. We found a tiny and steep, but wind protected place to set up our tent at around km 28 in the ridge dug by the river. We had to get a bit inventive to set it up and to be able to sleep properly there. There were almost no other places that were protected by the wind until you get off the plateau. As almost all previous entries say, it's better to camp off the plateau. But it's really worth doing it because you can see Guanacos and flamingos on it :)

When we reached the street at km 41.5 we were lucky and a car passed by a few minutes later, which brought us to the entrance of Parque Patagonia. We payed 15k CLP p.p. and walked to the camp Raleigh at Lago verde. There are some sheltered places to set up the tent, with an unfamiliar amount of people for the GPT. Lago Verde is beautiful though.

The next day involves lots of river- and stream crossings and it started to rain not particularly heavy, but after some hours we were completely wet. Therefore the rivercrossing at km 82.6 was really hard for Anna (1,63 m) but we managed by inertlocking our arms and doing it step by step slowly. After that the trails get really good and you can walk way faster. We camped at the unofficial camp site at km 84.7.

We had good weather the next day and the trail was really good until Lago Gutierrez. Up to the pass the trail gets a bit worse with some navigation issues, but you always find a good path again. As the others wrote there are only some tiny streams within the first km after the pass until the next Laguna, so we filled up our bottles there and camped somewhere in the forest soon afterwards once it started to rain again.

The next day there were still not too much water sources and we fetched the first water at the first Laguna which wasn't super easy to access. The trail until Lago Cochrane wasn't in bad condition neither. We also took Option L, which follows the 'regular' siete lagunas trail. The stretch from Lago Cochrane until the Conaf office at the end of the lake is absolutely amazing with great views of one of the clearest lakes in the world. We camped at km 145.7 and took a bath in the lake.

The last 8 km to Cochrane went super fast on an easy trail until Conaf and 4 km road walking to the town, so happily we could escape from the starting rain.

* '''20 to 24 of February 2023 / Silke & Hans / Loop - Fachinal -> Chile Chico'''

We didn't do the regular route, but read about an intresting loop starting in Fachinal and entering the normal route at Valley Hermoso. We then continued along the regular route to the entrance at Laguna Jeinimeni, and back to Chile Chico. The first 3 days from Fachinal we didn't see any other hikers, but it was pretty clear why. The trail was completely overgrown, full of fallen trees and a lot of the time there is no trail at all. But we managed our way through pretty good, and is was an awesome alternative to enter the Park. We recorded our GPX for others, waypointed some POI's and added some photo's to it: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/114121493

DAY 1 / 18km / +740m /
Although we heard of a bus to Fachinal from Chile Chico, nobody really appeared to know any information about it.. In the terminal the people we spoke said there were none. So we started hitchhiking the following morning. But after 3-4h of no luck we went back to the terminal, and all of a sudden there was a bus leaving at 11:30. 10.000 pesos pp, a little expensive but being unsuccesfull hitchhiking we took it. We had lunch at the turnoff, and starting hiking around 13:00. The first part is on a clear double track, but soons turns into a clear singletrack. We took the wrong intersection twice (waypointed on our GPX). We camped right before the first big river crossing. There is one steel cable, so if you bring a harness you could tiroller across.

DAY 2 / 22km / +1100m /
First up, we crossed the river. The water level didn't seem a lot lower than the day before, and at the deepest part it was about halfway our thighs. After taking another wrong intersection and backtracking, we reach the second river crossing. Again a steel cable is provided but the crossing was pretty straightforward, and the water level was only slighty above our knees. Just across the river is a an old cabin, and then short after a very new refugio (locked, used by a trekking agency). The trail gets super dense after this, climbs steeply on the mountain side and dissapears completely on numerous occasions. After the climb it flattens out, opens up and you reach a laguna. After the laguna it's the easiest to just follow the river bed down to the open valley floor (possible sheltered campsite in the forest). Follow the valley floor to another amazing laguna where you can camp near a second locked refugio.

DAY 3 / 14km / +440m /
We started the day with a side-trip to a mirador looking over the glacier high above. Takes about 1,5-2 hours return. We then packed up camp and headed for Valley Hermoso. You pass another beautiful laguna and follow the river down to the main valley. Lots of river crossing here. We camped at the Refugio Valley Hermoso, arriving earlier than expected.

DAY 4 / 15km / +200m /
Very short and easy daytrip to another laguna. About 3 hours return. We just chilled the rest of the day.

DAY 5 / 36km / +830m /
Final day along the normal route to the entrance of Laguna Jeinimeni. The day started off with some heavy rain for a couple of hours, but all the river crossings were still very doable. We arrived at the entrance around 13:00, and there was no sign of anybody leaving soon. So we decided to continue hiking untill we could find a ride along the way. We ended up hiking an extra 19km before finally a car was willing to take us along. There is an established campsite at the entrance for 3000 pesos pp.

* '''19 to 24 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO, regular route'''

Not too much to add on this one. I had a good time but the section felt long.

On the way up to the first plateau there were a few somewhat sheltered places to camp past the puesto. I camped around km 19, just before the last steep climb up to the plateau. Lots of streams around there.

None of the river crossings went above my knees, after a dry week.

I liked the detour up to the Lago Jeinemeni mirador. I also took variant I out and back to a glacier lake, I'm less sure whether that was worth it. I couldn't find any real trail, it was nice easy cross country walking through the woods followed by some open rocky ground. The glacial lake was cool, but not as spectacular as some of the ones I've seen in other sections.

I camped at the casa de piedras and took a luxurious warm shower. The ranger said you're supposed to pay at the office in valle Chacabuco, but since our route doesn't go there she just let me stay for free. She also said that sendero de siete lagunas (our route) was closed, but that I could do it since I had my gps and satellite communicator. She made it sound tough/dangerous though it turned out to be fairly quick trail.

Not much water or campsites along the siete lagunas. There's a nice campsite at the tip of the pencil lake just after the (still intact!) refugio at 133.9.

* '''2023-Feb-12-19 / NOBO / RR + Option 35-L / Ondrej and Bara / Cochrane - Chile Chico / 7.5 days'''

We really enjoyed this section! We went from Cochrane to Chile Chico. Our favourite parts were the descent through Valle Hermoso and the descent on the cross country section to Chile Chico. We spent 7.5 days on this section, taking a relaxed pace and including a half day break.

We only had to pay 9,000 CLP per person entrance fee at the Cochrane park gate (sector Tamango). We then showed the pass three days later to a ranger at Casa de Piedras and he let us go. The final checkpoint for us was the CONAF park exit/entrance at Lago Jeinemeni. The ranger there didn’t want to see our pass at all, he just asked from where we hiked (we said Casa de Piedras).

Some details: - Starting from Cochrane, the trail is easy walking up until km 144.9. As you leave Lago Cochrane, the trail is harder to follow. Fortunately this lasts only up to km 138, where the trail becomes easy to follow again. We camped next to the refuge on km133.9. The refuge has a good roof and can serve as an emergency shelter. There is no good water next to it though - we needed to climb the hill to the laguna to refill. - From roughly km 125 to km 99, the RR follows the old Siete Lagunas trail, which is not maintained anymore. Expect some fallen trees and slightly overgrown parts but the trail is beautiful and easy to navigate in general. - We took Option L to cut some overgrown road walking as recommended by others. We really liked it. - We camped next to the destroyed refuge at Laguna Guagua (km 118.3) and really loved the place - there is an amazing pebble beach at the laguna. - If you don’t want to camp at Casa de Piedras, there is a place for a small tent and a stream at roughly km 97 (-47.07463, -72.20439). We camped there. - The river crossings in Valle Aviles and Vale Hermoso were maximum to our knees. The deepest one was at Lago Verde (km 66.1). However, the river levels can change rapidly when it rains the days before - do check the weather. - We camped at the eastern shore of Lago Verde (km 61.7; campsite Raleigh) and really loved it - it has picnic tables and a spacious cooking/eating shelter. - We hitchhiked the part on the road between km 53 and 41.5. Few cars go by but the hitch was easy - we stopped the first car. - The cross country section from km 41.5 is very different from the rest - semi-desert like and lots of animals. We saw llamas, flamimgos, condors and hares (among sheep, cows and horses). - Between km 38 and 33 the path goes along a fence. We had to get over the fence once (we scrambled below it without problems). - If you are going NOBO, expect stunning views of the General Carrera Lake and Torres del Avelano when coming from the last pass (km 20.8) down to Chile Chico.

A ranger in Casa de Piedras wanted to prevent us to walk the RR NOBO from Casa de Piedras to Valle Hermoso. He claimed that route is closed now as the rivers are too high to cross. To avoid conflict, we said that we will only do the “loop trail” which is basically the RR from Casa de Piedras up until the bridge where the RR joins Option J. The Option J is then used to return back to Casa de Piedras. When doing the loop, we met several hikers in the opposite direction who confirmed that all river crossings are fine. In light of this we decided to continue on the RR and indeed the deepest ford was to our knees. Therefore if faced with a ranger claiming that the rivers are too high, we suggest to start with the loop trail (rangers should be okay with that) and get more info on the river levels from the hikers going the opposite direction.

*2023 last week January NoBo (6 days but could have very easily been done in less) / Helen and Craig + (Caro, Ali and Gabby)

>Such lovely camp sites. Beautiful places to stay the night the whole way around

>Very very easy trails. River crossing section isn't bad at all and the Valle hermosa lives up to its name.

>1st and last camp site particularly lovely

>Keep eyes peeled for pumas! I would have easily missed the sighting if I hadn't been looking the right way at the right time. They were super close. 10m or less away. Two cubs outside the refugio at casa peidra. Not where they are commonly seen in the park at all Aparently around west winds camp they are more commenly seen.

>Museum in the middle of the section worth checking out. Very visual and quite hard hitting environmental museum

> Can hitch easy enough to Chile Chico but leave last camp early in the morning. There's often a driver with a 4x4 who drives hikers in to the park and will take you back for 10,000p/p. Hikers who were a few hours behind us had no luck hitching as demand can often overtake spaces.

* '''27 of January to 1 of February 2023 / Véronica & Zach / GPT35 RR SOBO / 5.5 days '''

Route: Chile Chico - Lago Jeinimeni - Valle Hermoso - Casa de Piedra - Lago Cochrane - Cochrane

What a beautiful and diverse stretch of the GPT! I hiked half of this section with Zach, up to Casa de Piedras at km 98.9. We were unable to get a hitch out of Chile Chico, so we ended up walking the road to where the trail begins. No navigation issues, but the entire cross-country section to Río de las Nieves (waypoint at 42.7 km) is very exposed and was very windy when we crossed. We ended up camping at the water at 23.9 km, but the wind blew very strongly all night and I was worried it might take my tent. If you can, it is better to camp off this plateau unless the weather is calm. Lots of guanaco trails to follow :)

At the CONAF office at km 53.0, we each paid 9,000 clp for entry to the national park, plus 6,000 clp for passage/camping along the trail to Casa de Piedras in the Valles Hermoso and Aviles. Beautiful trail the whole way, popular and well-maintained, with cairns and markers to follow. There is an awesome shelter and camping area with picnic tables on the eastern shore of Lago Verde, at the end of Option D. In my opinion it was nicer than the popular refugio in Valle Hermoso (km 68.1) that everyone talks about.

We had no issues with fords, except the one at km 82.6 which flows into Río Aviles. It was the end of a warm sunny day, so the flow was quite high and strong. Had I been on my own I would have camped on the north side and waited till morning to cross. However, this time I was able to cross by linking arms with Zach as he is much taller than me and was more stable in the current.

At Casa de Piedras, Zach and I parted ways as he wanted to packraft down the Río Chacabuco. The ranger at the Casa told me the Sendero de las Siete Lagunas (which begins at km 99.5) was no longer maintained. This is true, there were stretches in the desertlike brush that were hard to follow, and I checked the GPS frequently. Generally it was better when the trail went into wooded areas. I also found this trail to be dry — the only water I found was the water from the lagunas and a tiny trickle about a kilometer south of the pass. Lots of spiky plants that get stuck in your socks and shoes. I took Option L to cut out some overgrown minor road walking. It's sad that this trail is being neglected and left to be swallowed up by nature, because otherwise it is quite scenic.

The horse trail that goes from the puesto of Daniel Huemul (km 143.3) to Lago Cochrane was also rough and overgrown. Everything gets easier once you reach Lago Cochrane though, nice, maintained trails all the way to Cochrane with beautiful places to camp along the lake.

* '''GPT35 / Yannic & Mirjam / 2022-Dec-13'''

Much is already detailed below, so we will keep it short

1 day: from Chile Chico to the entrance of the National Park. We camped one night before the pass at S 46.61639 W 71.81632. Water right next to the camp. Pass is very windy.

2 days: from the National Park to the Refugio. Nice refugio with small house where you can make a fire inside to dry things. From the Refugio to Casa Piedra is possible in one day. But it is a long day with many kilometres.

2.5 days: Casa Piedra to Cochrane. Leaving Casa Piedra, after a few hundred metres the trail leaves the Minor Road and enters the trail (where there is a large stone marker). The trail is officially closed and partly in bad condition. There are many fallen trees on the trail, some of it is overgrown and not completely clear. We therefore checked the GPS regularly. We took OH-TL-V{35-L}, which saves a few kilometres of (overgrown) minor road.
We spent one night at Laguna Guagua (Refugio is completely destroyed) and one at Lago Cochrane.
When we left the national park, no one was at the office. We therefore simply went through...

* '''GPT35 Variant P, Option 3, 3C, 3D / Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck / 2022-Dec-12 and 13 / 1.5 days'''

While waiting in the village Cochrane for our friends to catch up, we did a little 1.5 day hike higher up next to Lago Cochrane that we visited at least 3 times by packraft in past years. For the first time this year we waked with a light backpack without packrafting gear.

We took Variant P eastbound that slowly climbs on a gravel road to an altitude of 500 m and then continues as a panorama trail in this altitude.

Apparently, this is not authorized access to Parque Patagonia (Sector Tamango) and two gates need to be climbed but there was nobody to be seen on this route. The normal access to the park is down next Rio Cochrane and Lago Cochrane.

Nearly the entire route was scenic and worth the effort.

The settler “El Húngaro” apparently sold the land and became part of the national park. There is an open building that might be used as a refuge in case of emergency but camping is probably more comfortable.

The refuge at {35-P} [4.0/501] is collapsed but camping is pleasant on this pasture.

The trail section OH-TL-V {35-03} [0.0+5.2] is not maintained for several years making this route inconvenient to walk. The route south of both lakes is easy walking.

As long as Parque Patagonia does not challenge hikers to make a full traverse from Cochrane to Chile Chico it is prudent to take the official route which is the current regular route and pay the entrance fee near Cochrane when hiking northbound.

But should longer multi-day traverses be denied, then it might be less bothersome to take Variant P which avoids the entrance.

Packrafters can travel east and westbound on Lago Cochrane and will not pass any park entrance.

* '''Alice & Florian / 4 to 10 November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound'''

Here's our story of our GPT35. We really enjoyed this section, it is really diverse, beautiful landscapes and we saw heaps of animals.

As we wanted to do the trail in the northbound direction, we took the bus from chile chico to Cochrane, arriving in chile chico from argentina from the south (border o'higgins closed...). It tales 4 hours and leaves on sunday at 14 (return Monday 7 Am), Monday 16 (return Tuesday 7 AM),Wednesday and Friday 7 Am (return 16).

We took the option north of Cochrane because we were not sure if they would allow us to sleep in the tamango reserve. But, indeed you have to pass a no entry sign, a gate and a sign saying that entering the park that way is prohibited so we do not recommend it when it is written on the conaf website that it is allowed to sleep in tamango section.

We took the sendero de los huemules and slept at camp 1 waypoint. There was plenty of water at that time and a beautiful view.

After that we took the option OH-TL-V 35-P to avoid going downhill. The entry of this trail is about 150m before what is indicated on the GPT so be aware. I don't think the trail is an official one from the park so you have to fight your way through some bushes. But apart from that, it is clear. Then we joined the regular route, which since the 2022 version does follow the siete lagunas trail. You will join the siete lagunas trail at the kilometer 11 more or less. We then camped around the km 13 of the 7 lagunas trail.

We found water just before climbing at the pass at S47°06.0856' W072°17.592' and there is more at the top. However, it is true that it is drier on the other side of the pass, so if you are going Southbound, pack enough water from Lago Gutierrez to climb the pass.

We spent the third night at casa de Piedra where you have all facilities (electricity, hot shower, kitchen). Unfortunately for us they were on strike so they wouldn't allow us to go further on the trail. We did anyway as going out to jeiminini or through the road to chacabuco would take the same time.
By the way various national parks - including Torres del Paine were on strike at the moment.

The second part in the aviles valley is really clear, the trail is really nice and easy and with a lot of water available. Exiting the casa de piedra you should take the option OH-TI-V 35-J instead of the regular route, it will save you 600 m and two river crossings, and the view is similar. Starting at km 20, you will have to reduce your pace because the trail is busy with a lot of fallen trees, bushes and rocks. Between the km 22 and 23 of the valle aviles trail, the trail has been swept away by the river this winter so you have to cross the river two more times to go around. The kilometers indications disappear more or less after the pass, at km 25.

After that you enter the valle Hermoso. We camped at the waypoint 17/Camp Valle Hermoso but we do not recommend it. It was really small and close to the river, so if there is a sudden level rise because of heavy rain or a flooding because of a glaciar outburst (GLOF), you might get wet... Better sleep st the small caban near km23 if you don't think you will reach the refugio in valle Hermoso.

Once you reach Lago Verde, follow the GPT track and not the trail that leads to the lake, or you will have to turn back. After the pass it's more river crossings but you can save some kilometers in the river bed by taking the option OH-TI-V 35-E and then OH-TI-V 35-D until the rio jeimenini (the first part of the option OH-TI-V 35-D does not exist anymore). We did not have any trouble to cross the Rio between the 2 lakes even though we were in the middle of the afternoon. It was about thigh deep for me but I'm tall.

After that it's really easy to the Parc entrance. We went back to Chile Chico walking on the road instead of taking the cross country option, because0 there were still snow on the mountain. The first part is still pretty until the intersection, once you enter the valley of the Rio it is a bit more monotonous. Halfway there is an access to an annex of the national park, to go see the Cueva de las manos and valle lunar.

* '''Adrien Kunzli / 31-Oct-2022-04-November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound'''

All rivers crossing are easy to pass at this time of year. One tricky passage on the snow at the entrance of lago verde, very steep, but it was to avoid walking in the lake (frozen feet early in the morning).

No guards at the entrance at Tamango so i didnt pay the fee but didnt get my pass. Tamara gently gave me one at the camping of casa del piedra (apparently if i didnt have this pass i could not be admitted at Jeinimeni.) At Jeinimeni pass, again, nobody. So i were to the houses near and finaly find the guy. He took my pass and i get no fee in this NOBO direction.
Nice shortcut after the bridge of Rio de las Nieves (S 46° 47.274', W 071° 54.665') that can avoid you a little bit of the 4x4 unfinshing road and get you directly into the heart of this amazing and beautifull last part. So:
In front of the end of the bridge, you go up the big hill and go diagonally (or directly if you feel better) to join the path (pretty wild) of the gps (S 46° 45.843', W 071° 54.359'). Small stretches of paths are drawn rather well along this shortcut.

Not much good water between the bridge (brown water) and the puesto but the the puesto's water is of much better quality.

==Season 2021/22==

* '''GPT 35: Parque Patagonia/ Exploration Route via Valle Maullín Grande/ 2022 March-12/ 4 days / Tobias Schorcht, Jonas Grünewald '''

We hiked from Maullín Grande to Cochrane by chance. I always wanted to do the stretch from Chile Chico to Cochrane, but we had just 4 days left… When we hitchhiked northbounded from Villa O’Higgins, we luckily got picked up by Pascual Diaz, who is a experienced Mountain Guide (company Kalem) and took us all the way to his refugio in Maullín Grande. He also explained us, how to reach Cochrane on time while doing that crossing. The next day he took us to the end of the Road, where we started hiking around midday (-46,80390, -72,42001). It was a easy walk to the end of the Valley where we camped (-46,87872, -72,34138). The following day was hard, but we went up to the pass (1430m) in perfect sunshine. At (-46,87234, -72,30906) you will face a waterfall in a steep canyon. We recommend to walk on the left side (northwest) through the forest until you meet the riverbed again. The other side is also possible (we went there), but you have to climb higher in difficult terrain. From that point you can easily do a cross country walk up to the pass, where you have to cross the Glaciar (without cracks). It was absolutely stunning! Going down to the laguna is quite steep. I would not do it in bad weather conditions. When you meet the laguna, you can either walk on the left or right side. Both options are not easy. We crossed on the right (southern) side, which is ok in good weather conditions. There is one river crossing in between, which could be impossible with more water. Now we think it would have been easier to walk on the left (northern) side, although we would have had needed to cross the river before and after the laguna. Packrafting is an option as well, but since it only 1.5 km we don’t think it is worth it. Camped in a forest close to the regular trail dry and save. All in all we recommend this option to experienced hikers in good weather conditions. The hike to Cochrane was hard, because we had just 2 days for 80km. So we hitchhiked to the museum of Parque Patagonia and we even saw a puma at the Westwind Campsite! It seems like this puma shows up there regularly. I waited for that moment almost 5 months. My dream came true on my very last evening in nature. Thank you Patagonia for this great gift. 🙏

* '''2022-Feb / Packrafting / Mikhail Bogdanov&Masha Ovchinnikova'''

See for Rio Chacabuco and picturesamd discussion of the canyons.

https://web.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1319249015247648/

* '''Christmas2021 / GPT 35, NOBO, participants Janna & Matthias, dec 2021, duration 6 days from Cochrane to Conaf center at Lago Jeinimeni, then hitchhiked to Chile Chico'''

As recommended by a friend we opted for the following route through the Parque Nacional de Patagonia which is highly recommendable (first two days mainly GPT variants and options, afterwards GPT regular routes. There are several marked senderos in the beginning as 5 Los Huemules, 8 los Pumas, 7 los Guanacos, sendero 9, sendero Lagunas Altas etc.) as you can see in our attached tracking file.

All in all the trails were easy to find, some seemed to be still unhiked this year. To enter the park from Cochrane we had to pass a prohibition sign and climb over a no entrar gate. We didn't meet anyone on the first day, the settler didn't seem to be around. The following days we met two to three other hikers per day, but no rangers until the end at Conaf Center near Lago Jeinimeni, where we easily paid the park fees in arrears (8000 pp park entrance fee and an additional 6000 pp overnight stays in the park). We deliberately skipped the Conaf center in Valle Chacabuco on the advice of our friend.

Good to know:
- There is no water anymore at S 47.198557, W 72.474927 near the camping site but instead at S 47.203460, W 72.480747 and S 47.179332, W 72.465807
- There were many lagoons on our day 3 that weren't visibly well marked neither on our apps nor on the Garmin GPS.
- All the marked refugios along the trail are heavily damaged except Casa de Piedra
(closed on the 24th of dec) and Refugio Valle Hermoso (where we could even dry our
soaked shoes from the many river crossings next to the fireplace).
- From the refugio Valle Hermoso we did a side trip to the first glacier lake in the Valle
Estero Ventisquero without all the luggage.
- The río Jeinimeni water level was up to our waists and strong (note it had rained the
night before). According to others it was supposed to be knee-deep.
- Hitchhiking from Conaf center Jeinimeni to Chile Chico is possible when camping or day guests are leaving. As we arrived later in the afternoon we spent an extra night there.
- The supermercado sur in Chile Chico sells gas.

Track files and waypoints: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-98Ou9jk0porCVRp7CSFZ-KciXQ2PBzD

*'''30 Nov RR 5 days SOBO Frank'''

From Chile Chico I got the Bahia Jara bus & got off at the junction, saves a 6KM roadwalk. Walked 2KM up the road then on trail to the high plateau. The settler before the pass wasn't there but his dogs were a bit territorial so I avoided the puesto. I went across the high plateau & camped a bit before the second puesto in one long day. Camp marked on track file below the pass was not very good (boggy & sloping) so I continued down to camp near the stream. The second puesto is above the RR & not visible from it. Camping on the high plateau definitely not recommended. It is very exposed & the wind can & will knock tents. On day 2 I got to CONAF, they said a puma had been there every day the week before. Continued with many river crossings to the hut. There are trails marked with ribbons on LHS of the river SOBO, they go in on small loops which avoid some of the river crossings. Nearing the hut there is a stream flowing into the lake. At the lake it was too deep to cross. Bush bashed for about 40 metres to reach the ford. Camped outside the hut. Several river crossings on the third day. The double crossing is the crux. I avoided it by going over the bluff on LHS of river with a bit of tree bashing but I don't recommend that. The bluff descent is cliffed off with only a narrow breach where you can downclimb on trees. The breach is not obvious from above. Better to ford the river - it was running high but I met several hikers who had crossed it. Got to Casa de Pidera in 1 long day from the hut. You can cook in the Casa (they have a gas stove, electricity & showers) but have to camp outside. There are some trees to shelter from the wind. On the fourth day I started walking Sendero de Siete Lagunas (SSL) but I was using the 2019 track file which doesn't show the SSL. It had not been walked much recently & the route was not obvious. At the lake I lost the SSL in guanaco tracks. I continued around the lake & walked out about 2KM to the road. The descent to the road was cliffed off but I found a way down in a gully. Then I walked out the road past a meadow where hundreds of guanaco were grazing. Past the meadow I went in left on a side road to rejoin the RR. On the fifth day I walked past Daniel Huemul's puesto & was lucky to meet Daniel who was riding out & he showed me the way. He said the direct RR which goes right from the puesto is now overgrown & disused. Instead we went out to the left. There is a small road which goes in a loop & turns towards Lago Cochrane but with his directions I was able to shortcut it. I paid 15,000 CLP for entry & camping at CONAF Lago Jeinemeni & they didn't charge me anything at Casa de Piedra.

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

*'''2020-Mar-18 , Tyler Wood, 7 Days Sobo'''

Amazing section to end my season with. I got a couple short hitches on the way up past Chile Chico. Up past the last puesto are some great areas to camp along a big boulder field. Maybe 2 km more. Beautiful and surrounded by Guanacos. Plenty of water too. Up near the top of the pass was very cold, but very beautiful, and even saw a bunch of flamingoes in the lakes.

On the way down the pass I tried to find the fore-mentioned route to the puesto to take the road the rest of the way down and didn’t really have any luck...found my way anyways and camped down by Rio sucio under a willow.

Into Jenimeni I got another little hitch. Once you cross the deeper river by Laguna esmeralda just keep those water shoes on, you’ll be crossing many more times.

I also was told by a ranger that sendero siete Lagunas wasn’t habilitado, but went for it anyways. Water is Not after Laguna Gutiérrez for a while, so make sure you fill up around there. After the pass there are a few more small
Streams to fill up.

The road walking to Tmango reserve seemed to take forever, but Walking/camping by Lago Cochrane was all worth it. At puesto Huemul Is when I got my first advice that the corona virus was a big deal. The woman told me there were 3 confirmed cases in Cochrane, I went there and booked my tickets straight home. Hasta le vista baby!!!

* '''2020-February-08 / 7 days / Southbound'''

Long and beautiful section. No major difficulties. Great diversity. Without hitchhiking, it took me 173 kilometers.

1st part / 2 days / Chile Chico to Div 217
At the beginning of the cross country, valley full of Guanacos. I camped just after the puesto, about 2 kilometers after the beginning of the cross country, before the pass, where there are still rocks to protect from the wind.
As related in previous reports, after camp 279, you will stumbled upon a fence. Go on the East along the fence, cross it, and you will find a trail to the next Puesto and then the trail goes down from the puesto to the dirt road. You will avoid cross country this way.

2nd part / 2,5 days to Casa de Piedra
Popular part. Groups of hikers along the way. 8000CLP entrance fee + 6000 CLP for 2 nights sleeping inside the park.

3rd part / 2,5 days / Sendero de las 7 lagunas
After Casa de Piedra, I followed the GPS regular route which took me to the beginning of the Sendero of 7 lagunas. CONAF said it was not "habilitado" but it is actually well marked. The good thing is that there will be no hikers on this part, except when you approach the end, along the lago Cochrane. The trail is very different from the GPS tracks but no difficulties to find it. So, don't worry not having the GPS tracks.
At S 47º08.015' W 72º18.948', there is a nice place to camp and also, the trail will merge with the optional route OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 You can then follow this track and then go back to the Regular Route to reach Cochrane.

* Martin Lizondo / 28-Jan-2020 / Regular Hiking Southbound

The section took me 6 days. Some tips:

The first part from Chile Chico has a +20 km cross country walk. The wind is extremly strong and the route very high, with no forest protection. I recommend spending the first night behind the trees of El Ciprés (the settler Orlando Vazquez allows people to pass and is very kind) or near to the puesto at the end of the minor road at 46º 36' 5,3" S, 71º 48' 45,05" O (Miguel Pacheco is very kind too). Enough water all along the route.

The Jeinimeni section of Parque Patagonia is very easy and well marked. Entrance to foreigners costs CLP 8000 plus 6000 if spending the night. There’s a shelter with place for fire and tents after 18 km.

Valley Aviles to Casa de Piedra is also easy and beautifull, with many free camping spots. Casa de Piedra costs CLP 8000 per night.

The rest of the gps track is very different from the actual trail, called “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas”. I recommend taking this route instead of the old gps track, as it’s very well maintained. At Lago la Pepa ( 47º 7' 45,19" S, 72º 18' 41,54" O ) the trail crosses an old overgrown minor road, which coincides with the gps track and takes to Puesto Huemul (47º 11' 25,31" S, 72º 26' 6,98" O). If going to the left, you’ll reach the puesto, if going up to the right you’ll end the official “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas” near to the main park center. Other hiking options are possible from that point, but the regular route to Puesto Huemul is the shortest.

From Puesto Huemul, the trail goes down near to the lake Cochrane through Sendero “Coigües” and “Carpinteros”. Well marked and signed, this trails will take you to the start of Tamango section, very near to Cochrane.

* '''2020-Jan-27 / GPT35 New Route: Lago General Carrera (Fachinal) to Parque Patagonia (Lago Jenimeni or “Casa de Piedra”) / 5 days / Meylin Meylin Elisabeth Ubilla González and Jan Dudeck'''

Based on a recommendation from Tobias Hellwig W and Daniel Mahn Borkowsky we investigated a new route that I did no had on my radar until a few weeks ago. This route provides an alternative access from the southern coast of Lago General Carrera into the Parque Patagonia and is of interest for packrafters and hikers.

The route is a traditional animal trail that was used by the settlers of Fachinal to drive cattle to a large summer pasture that is now part of Parque Patagonia (sector Jenimeni). With the enforcement of keeping domestic animals out of the protected park area a 5 km trail section inside Parque Patagonia lacks maintenance but is still quite well traversable for GPT standards. Apart from this short trail section most of the route is very scenic and nice to walk but practically unknown. Only one tourism company runs guided hiking trips along this route about once per months. Apart from this occasionally use the full traverse seams not to be done anymore.

Due to lack of trail markings we spend about one extra day in searching and following the poorly maintained 5 km trail section but with our GPS record other hikers should struggle much less than we did and will be able to walk in 4 to 5 moderate hiking days from Fachinal at the southern shore of Lago General Carrera to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia in the Valle Chacabuco.

We hiked the route northbound as we considered the option to cross Lago General Carretera at its shortest narrow by packraft. Here the lake is only 3.2 km wide but we finally did not cross this rather dangerous lake due to suboptimal wind conditions.

Fachinal to Rio Aviles River Crossing:

A well maintained “cattle highway” leads from Fachinal from the road bridge of Rio Aviles along the western/southern side of Rio Aviles to the limit of Parque Patagonia. This roughly 20 km long trail section gets regularly cleaned with chain saws to facilitate access to the pastures along Rio Aviles for free-rooming cattle. Most of the trees that have fallen on the trail have been cut to keep the trail easily traversable. Some hikers might find the “pointless up and down” annoying but this trail was created by men that move on horses that did not had to ascent and descent themself. About 1 km before crossing the Rio Aviles two signs indicate the limit of Parque Patagonia (Sector Jenimeni) and ban access for unauthorized people and domestic animals (without providing any clue who might be authorized and who not ;-). From the park limit the trail descents steep to Rio Aviles but remain well maintained to ford.

This trail section requires two possibly demanding river crossings that can become impossible during snow melt in spring, after heavy rain or on the afternoon or evening of hot days (melting water from glaciers!). To keep the route traversable in such circlesumstances the tourism company has installed in both locations steel ropes (to cross these two rivers hooked up in harness to the steel rope without even touching the water).

Rio Aviles River Crossing to the Pass (1150 m above Sea Level):

After the river crossing the trail condition suddenly changes. Fallen trees don’t get cut anymore and undergrowth is not cleaned by machete. It’s mainly the remaining path on the ground that indicates the former animal trail. Advance is slow and in various locations care must be taken to not loose the trail. Here you will need to climb over fall trees and push occasionally through dense vegetation until reaching an altitude of 950 m. At this altitude the forest floor opens up (no dense undergrowth any more) and the trail disappears completely. Here walking becomes easy again. Walk the following kilometer through the open forest following roughly the GPS track until reaching the end of the forest and the small lake after the 1150 m high pass.

An advise for northbound hikers:

Finding the first signs of the trail in the open forest was a struggle as we had no information where exactly the trail starts to descent. I searched at least 3 or 4 hours in a 400 m wide and 1200 m long section of open forest till I found a first old machete mark on a tree that indicated the location of the trail. Carefully searching and following similar marks I finally found the descending trail.

Searching northbound we lost the trail again when reaching Rio Aviles at the bottom of the valley and searched half a day for the correct continuation. A well visible and noticeably used trail next to Rio Aviles leads directly to an suitable river ford but from there a well maintained trail continues 1 km in the wrong direction (upstream). Only after bushbashing 1 km along the river shore downstream we recognized with surprise a second river ford (now the correct river ford) which connects to the well maintained trail section in the correct direction. In hindsight we understood that the well maintained trail simply continues upstream along Rio Aviles and that this trail crosses twice the Rio Aviles. Due to a partially not evident trail section on the other side of we did not recognize this when hitting this trail on the bottom of the valley and took the wrong direction to the wrong river ford.

Now hikers with our GPS record and a GPS should not struggle to find and follow this trail as we did.

Pass (1150 m above Sea Level) to Valle Hermoso Refugio:

After leaving the forest at the 1150 m high pass the most scenic part of this route starts. A roughly 15 km long cross country route leads over pastures and river sediments past 3 lakes and two glaciers to the Refugio Valle Hermoso. Occasionally signs of a trail are visible but due to the open landscape a continuous trail neither exists nor is needed.

Near the Refuge Valle Hermoso this route connects with regular route that leads along Valle Aviles (diffrent river with the same name!) to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia.

Access to Trail Head at Fachinal:

There are multiple buses per week from Chile Chico to Puerto Tranquilo on the Carretera Austral that pass Fachinal.

Monday and Friday runs a subsidized bus from Chile Chico to Fachinal and back to Chile Chico (One round trip in the morning and a second one in the evening).
8:30 leaving Chile Chico
9:30 in Fachinal
11:00 returning to Chile Chico
17:30 leaving Chile Chico
18:30 in Fachinal
20:00 returning to Chile Chico

If you wish to cross Lago General Carrera to continue hiking in the Cordillera Avellano North of the lake speak to Carloz Amoros in Fachinal (mobile: +56 9 76267029 / price around 30‘000 CLP) or Pascual Diaz de Mallin Grande.

* '''2020-January 23 / Oreste Marquis/ Northbound : 8 days '''

Going northbound. I followed the route until the second settler at the puesto Tejuela. From there, until the optional route @35-02e#001,
I could not find the approximate trail in the files. I manage to find another one which is call siete Lagunas. It is really easy to follow and really beautiful! I find it near km 18 and keep walking on it until km 38. It is the end of it and is at the campground near Lago Gutiérrez. For more informations go reed Martin post in recent alerts and suggestion. I met him on the trail and he updated the wikiexplora before me. From the beginning to Casa Piedra took me 3 days. Then I hiked to the end of the reserve in an other 3 days. Lots of rivers to cross but felt pretty safe for all of them even the one higher between Lagos Jeinimeni and Verde. The cross country part the next day was my favorite of the hole trip! Awesome views, a lot of wildlife, just need to check a little bit more the gps! Last day, I headed to Chile Chico without any problem. Overall, I love it! Enjoyed it as much as GPT40.

* '''2020-January / Matthieu / Northbound : 7.5 days "tranquilito"'''
Incredible trekk, lots of different type of views and soil, my favorite since El Chalten. Money required for passing by the reserves !!
I hitchhiked 10 km on the road to Casa Piedra, and 12 km between Jeinemini qnd the beginning of the trail that goes north in the mountain to join Chile Chico.

'''1st part : Reserve Tamango''' : 6000 CLP the entry
I took the old "Huemul trail" in the Tamango reserve, taking the left route at the "Camp 284" It is an old trail for 4x4, so very easy, and closed to vehicles now.

'''2nd part : The road to Casa Piedra :''' the rangers I crossed were all agreed that it was not permitted to camp aside of the road (so the information is different that in Nov). One officiql camping at the end of Tamango reserve (WestWind) and one at Casa Piedra 26 km after. 8000 CLP each. At Westwind (not verified, only inforñqtions for guardaparques): no accomodations, only baño. At Casa Piedra . real big house, hot shower, electricity, place to cook.

'''3rd part : Reserve Jenemeni :''' Entry 8000 CLP. For the camping, the ranger told me that it was permitted to camp wherever I wanted, so the information differs too from november. And at the exit, I told the ranger about my "savage" camping in the conversation, and he didnt tic at all, so no stress. The rangers are very nice !
Good trekk, easy to follow. One very good refuge in the valle Hermoso where fire is possible. a more open refuge/camping site by the east shore of Lago Verde.
Many river crossing, all safe except one, before the Laguna Esmeralda. Strong current, and people choose many different way with different profundness. Better do it in the morning, being a glaciar river (I could effectively compare between late in the afternoon and the morning and it is very different).

'''Last part, to Chile Chico by the mountain :''' Amazing views, totaly different climate, more dry and with only bushes.
At the beginning of the Cross country after the 4x4 road, I would advise to go a few meters west from the GPS tracks, to the east side of the river. There is effectively a fence on the west ridge, and a good trail on the east ridge that can avoid you the difficult crossing of many bushes, and that goes directly to the puesto.
Two puestos, The 135 of metal being used by the locals (real bed inside), so just putted the tent outside. The second one 134 is actually a real house. Two mens were here when I arrived, working with the animals. I could put the tent near the house and take water from the sink outside. Many dogs, all nice.

* '''Mum, Sis and I / Southbound / 11 days '''

Well. What an interesting and varied section. Also the longest walk I think we'd all done. It took us 11 days in the end with a couple of longer side trips. Interestingly, when we emerged from the park it was closed, there was martial law in effect, a curfew in place. Borders closed. Only a week to get back to Santiago to catch the last flights back to Australia... Anyway. We're heading back now. Got temperature tested as we reentered Chili Chico this morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake mañana in la mañana. No buses out of town. Enough rambling...

As always, thanks to the others before us that have taken the time to comment and provide feedback. Here's my two cents.

Firstly here are some landmarks to make it easier for others to orient themselves:

El Ciprés
http://ge0.me/oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés
ge0://oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés
Casa Piedra
http://ge0.me/4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29
ge0://4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29
Westwind
http://ge0.me/wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind
ge0://wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind

Camping in Chile Chico:
El Carro is supposed to be the cheapest place to stay in town. Though if you want a hot shower it's the same as Kon-aiken next door. We stayed at neither so can't really comment, but there were a lot of people staying at Kon-aiken and next to none at El Carro which might be indicitive of value for money or just the fact they are a little closer to the centre of town.
El Carro however was the only one willing to look after some things for us.
We also visited a hostel, but the owner was unfortunately very rude.

El carro
4k frío
5k caliente
1k por día por mochila

Kon-aiken
5k pp / noche
No baggage service

Part 1: Chili Chico to Jeinemeni
In the end we decided to cache things in the bushes just outside of town. Mum and my sister got a lift to the Bahía Jara cruz whist I was caching. Unfortunately I had to walk all the way to El Ciprés where my mum and sister had been enjoying a nice conversation with Orlando Vazquez who allowed us to pass but emphasised the dangers and didn't really recommend crossing.
Passing through the gate a couple of utes were exiting. Apparently there is a new mine up in the mountains and they didn't really want us to walk up. They admitted they just worked there.
Turn off the main rd that assumably heads to the mine about here: -46.57775, -71.82666
Goucho Miguel Pacheco passed us on the way up herding some cattle and we talked to him at the puesto for a while. We also gave him one of the Australian coins we'd been carrying around. He seemed to believe it was everyone's right to pass. "People pass through here all the time "."Just yesterday a lad passed by "."It's the shortest route across the mountains "
Anyway. We camped in the rocks just outside the park boundaries (as mentioned by??).
We then camped two nights up on the windy plateau. Our side trip to Valle Lunes was amazing. I'd recommend it. But be careful with wind. Oh and did anyone mention the guanacos?
Unfortunately I think the water wasn't very clean on this part. Sheep, cows, guanacos, birds... It's the first time in Chile I've wished I took my water filter along. We had some sore stomachs.
Dropping down the other side we hit the mentioned fence (about here -46.72574, -71.90211). We crossed, but would recommend following it to the left until you get to a corner. I'm not sure where it starts, but there is a trail running on the outside of the fence to the puesto. We then followed a sheep trail that ran high on the left (east) of the valley. Very good but it bypassed Las Abutardas completely and seemed to be heading towards Laguna los Flamencos instead. We ended up cutting down to the road where León passed us heading into town, a little confused why we hadn't taken the 'proper trail'.
We camped the night at the Río El Sucio camp. Not really recommended.
We walked the road and stayed at Río Las Vacas for a bit which is at the border of the park and a nicer place to camp. (There is a good stream between the two).

Part 2: Jeinemeni to Casa Piedra
It was 8k to enter the park (for foreigners) and an additional 6k for camping in Valle Hermoso. The section to the refugio (-46.84092, -72.14078) was very nice. This is the only shelter still standing. The others included in the track files were not really enterable.
Heading to the refugio (where everyone seems to camp) you cross the small ankle deep creek exiting Laguna Esmeralda and then the deeper river between Lago Verde and Jeinemeni. This might have been the trickiest but when we crossed it wasn't really bad. We then had two more smaller crossings before passing through Portezuela La Gloria (1100m) to cross Estero Ventisquero and the other river running down the main valley.
The next day we did the popular side trip to the glacier in this valley: -46.80924, -72.20116
We wondered if it was the same way Jan et al entered recently?
From the refugio to Valle Avilés there are no compulsory river crossings if you stick to the somewhat scrubby trail to the left (south) of the valley. The first crossing we did was Río Avilés shortly followed by the tributary. So only 8 crossings (wet feet) on the RR.

We walked from the refugio to Casa Piedra in a day. It was closed so we camped on the other side of the Rd.

Part 3: Casa Piedra to Cochrane
From casa piedra we took the aforementioned Sendero las Siete Lagunas. It is not it the track files but indeed very well marked with numbered markers every kilometre. I'll upload a kml with the markers I recorded as well as some of the water bodies I sketched.
After the stream running into Lago Gutiérrez there wasn't much water until Lago la Pepa.
You will briefly intersect with a road here: -47.14006, -72.37138. The road seems to run down to Puesto Tejuela coinciding with OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 which I think is incorrectly labelled as TL. Part of RH-TL-I@35-99.0+30.0 too should be marked as MR. You'll intersect this road before taking it down to Lago Cochrane.
We passed the occupied dwelling (Daniel Huemul?) but the man wearing a shirt emblazoned with Parque Patagonia seemed afraid to approach us (another hint the world had gone Corona crazy). He wouldn't let us take the RR so we followed the road for a bit before taking another newly made trail also not in the track files.
Everything after that was very easy to follow.
Everything was abandoned at the entrance and the gate locked. People avoided us on the streets and covered their face when passing us.
We grabbed some needed food (we were very short after 11 days!) and got on the WiFi. Wow! How things had changed! Martial law in place and a curfew in place, we slept under a bridge with some Colombians and caught a bus back to Chili Chico in the morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake tomorrow now.

Links to files :
Kilometre markers: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fuzt4xacxjjvvg4/kms.kmz?dl=0
Water bodies: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uz1ei95s1913xvb/water.bodies.kmz?dl=0
Other planning:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uk9ym56gufwk4zq/planning.kmz?dl=0

* '''2019 Dec / Olrik/ Northbound '''

Amazing part of the GPT, from Cochrane ou enter in the Tamango national reserve and pay 6000CLP for the entrance. We took several trails to get to Valle Chacabuco : Las Aguilas, Las Lengasm Los Condores, Laguna Altas. Great views. We had a snow storm at the pass though. There you end up in a paid campground. From there we walked the dirt road to Casa Piedras in Valle Chacabuco, it was beautiful with lots of guanacos. Then we took the Las Aviles sendero. We camped near the first river crossing as it was late and waited for the morning to cross. It is normally not possible to wild camp in the park but the guardaparque told us to camp there if the river crossing is not sage. The rest of the trail is easy to follow next to the river. There is a pass then you descend to Valle Hermoso and to lago Jeinimeni. It was just gorgeous and easy to follow with great weather. Be aware of the numerous river crossings. In lago Jeinimeni there is a paid campground. From there you can hitchhike, walk, or pay a transportation at the entrance of the park (15000Clp pp) but I'm not sure if this is a regular thing. We ended up hitchhiking to get to Chile Chico.

* '''2019-Nov-28/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 5.5days/ Northbound / Regular Hiking Route (Cochrane to Chile Chico) with OH-32-2-#003/'''

This section might have been our favorite out of the whole Group H, where the diversity of the landscape was our favorite part (also including weather and trail conditions). The NP was entered at Tamango just outside of Cochrane. Registration is mandatory, the entrance fee is at 8000 CLP. The ranger asked us to explain our route and since the regular Hiking route did not seem familiar to them, they told us to take the optionals route going north over the pass to WestWinds campground and then do the road walk Eastwards.
The pass had some snow patches on the Southern side but was easy to traverse. At the Valley Chacabuco (another entrance to the national park) we got asked for our permits and the route we plan on taking. We heard different information on if it is allowed to camp at the road or not (there were signs that told us not to do it but the ranger said it is okay). After the roadwalk, we passed another ranger station where we had to register and sign a responsibility form telling that we plan to leave at Lago Jeinimeni (and telling that we're only allowed to stay at designated campsites). The hike from there is extremely beautiful and super diverse, the trail well maintained. The rivers were at higher flow but all fords were doable.
We camped next to the Refugio because we still weren't sure about the camping rules (other hikers we met said they were told that it's okay to camp everywhere along the river). Leaving the NP at Lago Jeinimeni was straightforward, but it's mandatory to check out at the rangers office. The cross-country section after the road walk was a bit slow on the way up due to many bushes and hilly terrain. We found a nice trail next to the fence leading up to the puesto when going up the ridge on the Eastern side. From the puesto we took a short steep uphill after which the terrain became more open and easier to travel on. It was very windy and snowy in the mountains, which made it difficult to walk at times and it felt like the temperatures were rather low.
The lagoons on the way up are filled with exciting birds (flamingos!) and guanacos are running around on the whole plain. Once reaching the plateau we headed down in a pretty straight line which was easier than the uphill until we reached the road

=Resupply and Accommodation=

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

*Chile Chico has two supermarkets. Sell gas.

*Cochrane is a decently sized town with three mid-range supermarkets. The largest one, which is a grocery and department store, is located adjacent to the town square. There are many lodging and restaurant options. Be sure to withdraw an ample amount of money here because most of the businesses in the next town, Villa O’Higgins, only take cash and there is no ATM.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

=Transport to and from Route=

*2025 / MiaimZelt
Buses (starting at Terminal de buses in Chile Chico) that enable you to skip the first 7-8km of Roadwalk when hiking SoBo:

Turismo Tramal. Chile Chico - Bahia Jara. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday 8:30 & 16:30.
WhatsApp: +56 9 7538 0178

Buses Interlagos from Chile Chico to Puerto Rio Tranquilo: Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday 9:00.

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

*2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena

PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]

=Images=
[[file:Greater Patagonian Trail (7).jpg|left|GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]

GPT33H (Torres de Avellano)

2025-02-24T20:47:43Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2024/25 */

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

= How to a add new entry =
You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).

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=
The GPT manual has an extensive description of this route and all its options.

=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

'''2025-02-19 to 2025-02-23 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 3B, RR, variant C,H, / Thijmen Scholten'''</span

* I started hitchiking from Cerro Castillo, but barely any cars passed and Around 10.00 de bus came
* Took option 3 and first day is only road walking , the first part untill the last settler (30.8) is really really really boring ! Hitching did not work. You can get a taxi from Cero de Castillo's it will cost 70.000 pesos.
* Water: On option 3 and the road walks of the RR there is not much water. For the rest water is no problem
* Camping : Many camp places everywhere.
* Option C the Laguna is nice
* I camped at crosspoint to the Laguna (option C), nice place but many dead trees and branches so lookout where you put your tent when it's windy
* Around km 49 I followed the Osmo trail trough the forest instead of the presumely swampy grassland trail (it rained all night)
* It rained all day and also next day so I opted to take option 8 instead. But I am very glad I did continue on the RR because the view on the other side of the pass is beautiful!
* Scrambling down from the pass was ok even in the rain. Just be sure to follow the gpx carefully ! Otherwise you will end up at a ledge
* The camp site at the lake is very wind exposed my tent blew away. Decided to pack it again and camp down in the beautiful forest.
* As for the bushbash part. I followed the right side of the river (looking downstream). There was a trail which I lost often but easy to walk. Even saw campfire traces so probably it's used more often. I don't know if it's easier than the right side. But the BB/CC part took me less than 2 hours this side.
* The first official fjord (69.8) was already above my waist and very difficult (crossed it diagonal as supposed). It rained all night so probably the river is not only affected by glacial melt but also by rain alot.
* Talked to Roberto (he lives around km 80) and he confirmed the river was high due to the rain. He adviced me to cross at his house where the river has 3 arms. I did that and the crossing was just doable the water was untill my waist.
* Roberto also offered me to cross with his horse if it was impossible on foot.
* Took variant H to avoid crossing 2 more times
* The road walk has not alot of nice camping places. Found 1 grassy patch with water around 5km before the lake.
* When the hiking trail next to the lake starts , just go straight to the beach otherwise you have to bushbash.
* The trail next to the lake is sometimes covered by vegetation I break some branches to make a way. Is everyone does this (or with Macheti) the trail will stay walkable (look out for thorns).
* There is internet (Entel) from around halfway the trail.
* I Camped at the end of the trail (km 117.6) close to the lake, there is little stream there as well.
* Road walk to Ibanez is very very very boring as well.
* At water source 135.3 the creek is very small but there is a black hose laying around at the left side of the road which you can use to fill your bottle.
* After 3 hours the first car passed and I got a hitch to town.

25-02-19-25-02-23 / 4 days (interrupted)/ SOBO / OH 03B-RR/ Volker
Patagonia at its best (and its worst)

Day 0: After gpt32 and resupply in Villa Cerro Castillo too many people hitchhiking on the Carreterra, so I called Pedro Zuleta (+56 993 5786), who drove me for 20k to the start of 03B in the late afternoon. Walked until the pass at S 46.198129° W 72.357921° and camped there (nice place, but very windy).
Day 1: Light rain all the day long. Because of the weather I decided not to take the mountain route (OH07) and continued on the RR (though technically a MR, blocked for cars by fallen trees) and feels like a trail), one non-indicated (very easy) ford. With the rain getting heavier and only few feasible camp spots along the way, early camp at S 46.280118° W 72.435213°. Heavy rain all the night long.
Day 2: The day started with a non-indicated ford 50m behind my camp spot. All further river crossings (including the indicated ford at 52,0: dry feet, broken trees serving as a bridge). Weather better than forecasted, the light rain ceased during the morning and by noon the sun came out. Instead of following the track file and crossing the swampy meadow CC, I stayed on the left side, where a trail leads along the edge of the forest (not without stepping out on the meadow for the scenic view on Cerro los Pumas, which now came out of the clouds). A river bank at the end of the meadow allowed me to dry my tent and cook the warm meal I had skipped the evening before. After the puesto steep down and on the RR very nice along the river. After the steep ascent to the upper valley, though indicated as CC, the trail continues, partly along the river, partly more to the right, avoiding swamps. In the rocky parts, it‘s marked with cairns. My plan was to reach the indicated camp at 63,4, however a storm with hurricane-like blasts made the scrambling across rocks and broken trees very dangerous. Even in easy terrain I could hardly stand it. With a suicidal ford (one blast during the fording: game over) and 2km through wind-exposed rocky terrain ahead I found a flat spot in a wood at S 46.391614° W 72.494383°. Impossible to raise a tent without the protection of the dense wood! And it has to be a wood with young trees (many branches and even some trunks broke that night in forests with older and higher trees). Take this into account, when thinking about OH07 (and read the comments by Alexey, who opened up this route).
Day 3: Though the storm had subsided and the ford was doable, given the overall situation (3km of BB/CC, several fords, bad weather, possibly another storm in the afternoon and 90km ahead with a shortage of food, if slowed down too much by the conditions) I decided to walk back. Rain made the trail very swampy and slippery, 3 creeks, that I crossed dry feet the day before, now to be forded. Camped at the same spot as the day before.
Day 4: Rain the whole night long, not ceasing in the morning. I was very lucky: just arrived at the settler, where the MR gets passable for cars, when the same driver, who drove me to the start of 03B 4 days before, dropped 3 Chileans there (he had offered to drive me there for 70k) and gave me a free ride back to Villa CC.

* '''2025-02-19 to 2025-02-23 / 4,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 3B, RR, variant C,H, / Thijmen Scholten'''</span

* I started hitchiking from Cerro Castillo, but barely any cars passed and Around 10.00 de bus came
* Took option 3 and first day is only road walking , the first part untill the last settler (30.8) is really really really boring ! Hitching did not work. You can get a taxi from Cero de Castillo's it will cost 70.000 pesos.
* Water: On option 3 and the road walks of the RR there is not much water. For the rest water is no problem
* Camping : Many camp places everywhere.
* Option C the Laguna is nice
* I camped at crosspoint to the Laguna (option C), nice place but many dead trees and branches so lookout where you put your tent when it's windy
* Around km 49 I followed the Osmo trail trough the forest instead of the presumely swampy grassland trail (it rained all night)
* It rained all day and also next day so I opted to take option 8 instead. But I am very glad I did continue on the RR because the view on the other side of the pass is beautiful!
* Scrambling down from the pass was ok even in the rain. Just be sure to follow the gpx carefully ! Otherwise you will end up at a ledge
* The camp site at the lake is very wind exposed my tent blew away. Decided to pack it again and camp down in the beautiful forest.
* As for the bushbash part. I followed the right side of the river (looking downstream). There was a trail which I lost often but easy to walk. Even saw campfire traces so probably it's used more often. I don't know if it's easier than the right side. But the BB/CC part took me less than 2 hours this side.
* The first official fjord (69.8) was already above my waist and very difficult (crossed it diagonal as supposed). It rained all night so probably the river is not only affected by glacial melt but also by rain alot.
* Talked to Roberto (he lives around km 80) and he confirmed the river was high due to the rain. He adviced me to cross at his house where the river has 3 arms. I did that and the crossing was just doable the water was untill my waist.
* Roberto also offered me to cross with his horse if it was impossible on foot.
* Took variant H to avoid crossing 2 more times
* The road walk has not alot of nice camping places. Found 1 grassy patch with water around 5km before the lake.
* When the hiking trail next to the lake starts , just go straight to the beach otherwise you have to bushbash.
* The trail next to the lake is sometimes covered by vegetation I break some branches to make a way. Is everyone does this (or with Macheti) the trail will stay walkable (look out for thorns).
* There is internet (Entel) from around halfway the trail.
* I Camped at the end of the trail (km 117.6) close to the lake, there is little stream there as well.
* Road walk to Ibanez is very very very boring as well.
* At water source 135.3 the creek is very small but there is a black hose laying around at the left side of the road which you can use to fill your bottle.
* After 3 hours the first car passed and I got a hitch to town.

* ''' 2025-FEV-15 > 19 / 4 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR > 33-B > RR > 33-D > RR > 33-H > RR / Pierre-Marie '''

Etape : <strike>GPT31</strike>+GPT32+GPT33
| Meteo : soleil nuages et vent
| Eau : difficile au début
| Neige : non
| Intérêt : 5/5
| Difficulté : 4/5
| Danger : Rivière, éboulis

J'ai fais quelques courses et j'ai mangé au restaurant à Villa Cerro Castillo. Ensuite j'ai repris la randonnée. Attention l'eau est difficilement accessible car les lacs sont clôturés et en contrebas de la route. Sur la gravel road j'ai réussi à faire 4 km d'auto-stop. J'ai mal préparé ma randonnée et j'ai raté la 33-A. Mais je n'avais pas encore dépassé la 33-B alors je l'ai prise. Il y a un petit ruisseau devant le settler du km 0,7. Je n'ai pas pu faire de stop sur la gravel road car je n'ai vu aucun vehicule. Il y a un ford au km 36 quand le sentier traverse la rivière. Au km 52 un arbre permet de passer la rivière. Je suis passé par la 33-D pour aller voir les lacs. Je suis content d'avoir eu du soleil car la descente après le km 62 est vraiment raide sur des pierres lisse et des éboulis. Il n'y a pas de bush-bashing sur cette section du GPT. La descente après le lac se fait bien puis on entre dans un bois ou il n'y a pas de végétation au sol. Ensuite il faut suivre la rivière en marchand dans l'eau jusqu'au km 68,5 où la rivière se transforme en rapide et on trouve un sentier dans le sous-bois. Il faudrait trouver une autre couleur pour les sections de randonnées où on marche dans l'eau. Les fords des km 71,8, 73,5, 78,3 et 89,5 se font sans mettre les pieds dans l'eau. Le chemin est innondé au km 75,5, difficile à éviter car il est entouré de marais. Le ford du km 81,2 était dangereux car le courant était très fort même avec 60cm d'eau. Au km 98,5 il faut aller directement sur la plage. Le chemin le long du lac est parfois envahi par la végétation surtout dans les zones humide. A partir du km 130 c'est la gravel road peu frequentée X-735. J'ai eu du mal à faire de l'auto-stop mais j'ai reussi à faire les 15 derniers km avec un camion. Je n'ai pas pu m'arrêter à la cataracte du km 148,4, c'est mon seul regret car le vent était si violent que j'avais du mal à avancer.
FEV-20: Repos Coyhaique.

''' 2025-FEB-7 to 2025-FEB-15 / 8 hiking days / Hiking / SOBO / option 03B, RR, option 02 / Nimrod & Tamar '''

Good camps for bad weather (more info below): (-46.172528, -72.273827) Hut near km 52. puesto?[4.8/745] (-46.48726, -72.10065)

We think that its worth mentioning that if the weather is bad and you choose option 02 you should expect hard fords and having hard time following the trail until connecting back to RR.

Day 1:

Hitchhiked from Coyhaique - 3 rides 5 hours. Started walking at 17:00, camped at (-46.116414, -72216049). It was a little wind protected.

Day 02:

Rain all night and all day. Got a lift for 5 km by 2 chilean hikers that went to the Torres and back. Camped at: (-46.172528, -72.273827). Rain and wind all night and the camp location was well protected.

Day 03:

Finally sun came out, so we dried our gear. Camped at km 62. Great view and wind protection. The weather became bad again.

Day 04:

Started hailing in the morning and it should have became worse along the day. We climbed to the pass early in the morning. Got a glimpse of the Torres and made our way to camp at km 52. Near the camp there is an abandoned small hut where we stayed until the next day. The hut is well protected from rain and wind, and you can even make a fire inside.

Day 05:

Our Inreach forecast lied us (again...) and the rain didn't stop until evening. Took option 2 - Rio Avalleno. The river was swollen because of the rain and the fords were quite difficult for us. The trail was gone under the water in a lot of parts, and in some parts it was just CC. Track files was irrelevant in many parts. Camped at puesto?[4.8/745]. Like described before - it's actually a wooden built wall which protects from the wind. The wind was crazy and it gave us great wind protection to pitch our tent and to enjoy a fire.

Day 06:

Finally a nice day. Untill we connected to the RR the trail was in bad condition, and again the track files not very helpful. You can skip 2 fords at km 9 if you stick to the nice and visible trail on the east side.

Maria and Julio not at home. Camped at (-46.276123, -72.204873) There was some wind protection and no water.

Day 07:

At (-46.275422, -72.198820) we met Ricardo (we are not sure if he is a settler or a woreke), which kindly suggested to help us cross the Avellano on his horse back. The river was quite swollen from the rain but it's hard for us to say if it was crossable by foot. Camped at (-46.48726, -72.10065) by the small lake. The wind was strong and the campsite was well protected by the big rocks. We filtered water from the small lake/swamp. It might be flooded earlier in the season though.

Day 08:

Walked all the way to X[130.4/311] and camped near the junction. Not wind protected but the weather was good. There were a lot of water at variant N.

Woke up late and took the bus at 9:00. About one hour ride, 1000 clp. Times like MiaimZelt has written.

'''2025-Feb-02 to 2025-Jan-05 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / Hiking / Opt 3B, RR, Opt 8 / Tom'''

Day 1 - Rainy: I hitchhiked from Villa Castillo to the junction at the beginning of 3B. Great views, but if you can afford to pay for transportation to the end of the road, it's worth it. I camped at -46.2647991, -72.41223312025. Due to the rain, there were several streams, and some areas offered wind protection.

Day 2 - Rainy: A simple day, just following the route. Be mindful of the exit point from the road—I was focused on the rain and missed it. The Mallín (wetland) can be challenging at times, but nothing too difficult.

I arrived at Camp 57.2, where four students had waited for a day, hoping for clear skies.

Day 3 - Sunny: I started early, around 6:45 AM. It took about 2.5 hours to reach the viewpoint. Around -46.3870597, -72.4916724, there's a more recent landslide. Nothing too difficult, just loose rocks and fallen trees. Another 2.5 hours to return. On the same day, I started Opt 8 at 1 PM. This section took me 6.5 hours. It's a cattle trail, poorly marked—you really need to follow the GPS carefully, as there are many paths that lead nowhere. I recommend checking the contour lines since there is significant elevation gain. I arrived at Camp ? 11.6, which is Puesto Aguero—it appears to be in use, with sleeping bags and food inside. The camping area isn't ideal, as the ground retains a lot of moisture.

Day 4 - Rain/Sunny: I started at 2 PM when the rain stopped. The river was quite high, so unlike Michael and Kasia, I used the "punte" (a makeshift crossing). It's a fairly slender tree, but there's a rope to help with balance. I had no issues, but if the river were lower, I would have crossed directly through the water. At the beginning, the route is quite muddy but clear. The first half can be a bit more challenging at times, but the trail is well-marked towards the end. It took 4.5 hours to reach Bahía Muerta.

General Notes: From Route 7 to the Torres viewpoint, it's quite straightforward and well-marked. The difficult section is between Camp 57.2 and Camp ? 11.6. I know there's a route from Camp ? 11.6 to another viewpoint of the Torres, which is not included in current GPS tracks. It seems to be a trail that guides from Avellano Bahía Muerta are currently working on.

'''2024-Jan-17 to 2024-Jan-21 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH03B RR + variant D + variant H / Sean & Neele'''

Took the bus at 10 from Villa Cerro Castillo to the start of Option 03B. We'd hope to hitch the dirt road but we literally saw only one car.

Bridge 25.7km - good place to get water

Camped just before junction for option C (46.5km roughly) by the stream in the woods. Great wind protection.

49km to 50.8km - track files go CC but on OSM there's a trail we followed it and it worked well. CC route looked wet and boggy in places.

Ford 52km - lots of downed trees so can cross with dry feet.

Took variant D - easy and beautiful would recommend it.

Pass 60km small patch of snow on South side no problem without spikes

Camped at camp 63.4km - very beautiful but no wind protection, we were lucky the wind was pretty calm.

CC & BB 64.3 + 4.2 - we just stuck with the stream the whole way down worked out well.

Ford 81.2km - about 550m before the waypoint the trail gets close to the river for us it looked easy at this point so we just crossed here. Just over knee deep at 4pm on a hot sunny day, no rain for the past few days.

Took variant H to skip the other 2 fords.

Camped at 93.3km (S 46° 28.690', W 072° 11.674') nice grassy area with a small stream.

98.5km - shortly after leaving the road RR take you through some bushwhacking but it's avoidable just go straight to the beach.

Camped on the beach around 116km

Road walked to 138.5km where we saw the first car of the day and got a hitch to Puerto Ibanez.

* '''2025 Jan 02 to Jan 11 / 10 hiking days / SOBO, NOBO, WEBO / Hiking / Opt 3B, RR, Opt 2, Opt 8 / Michael and Kasia'''

Quick notes:

A nice section with some great views and some good optionals. It is a fairly popular trail up to the Torres; we met 11 other hikers on the RR. Opt 2 is a really pretty and peaceful valley. Opt 8 is an adventurous alternative route, probably better to exit GPT33 than to enter it on full resupply weight.

CAMPS:

Night 01: -46.25532, -72.38365 (good water access, decent wind protection (look up before you set your tent, there were some widow makers), next to the road, no view)

Night 02: -46.34592, -72.49822 (Camp 57.2) (decent view, excellent water access, minimal wind protection, surrounded by dead trees, not safe in windy conditions, a lot of spots to choose from)

Night 03: -46.40655, -72.49601 (amazing view, decent water access, no wind protection)

Night 04: same as night 3

Night 05: -46.35732, -72.45379 (flat space for two tents, wind protected, just off the trail, water is a little ways away)

Night 06: -46.36802, -72.43937 (flat space for 2 tents, excellent wind protection, no view, water is a little ways away, accompanied by the sturdy arrieros shelter)

Night 07: same as night 6

Night 08: same as night 2

Night 09: -46.39734, -72.58201 (Camp ? 11.6) (not much truly flat space, but if you aren't picky there's lots of space, no wind protection, water is down a steep hill,next to the used puesto)

WATER:

On 3B and into RR on the road it was difficult to find at times. On all trail sections it was easy to find.

Day 01 - Jan 2nd

We got the bus from the terminal in Coyhaique. It was a bit of an ordeal. The buses hadn't been running for two days on account of the holiday, and we had not purchased tickets in advance. There was quite a line and it seemed they had been sold out much earlier. We went and talked to the driver after he finished loading most of the luggage. He said to give him a minute to check. He luckily had two empty seats to Cerro Castillo, and we paid him cash at the break point in Cerro Castillo, 8.000 pp, the normal price. He dropped us at the beginning of Opt 3B. There was a bus stop there. Opt 3B is a gravel road. There is some nice scenery, but overall it's a road walk. There isn't much traffic, but hitchhiking is possible. RR from km 24 where Opt 3B meets it is also gravel road until km 45.5. There isn't a huge grade and the road is in good condition, so it's easy if somewhat underwhelming walking. Water is not so easily accessible. All the little side creeks had dried up or were just water trickling through mud. Much of the time we were too high above the water, or it was fenced off. At km 24.9 there is an unmarked bridge. There was good water access there. There was also a very nice campsite there at (-46.21595, -72.34452). It had flat space for at least one tent, maybe two, trees and good water access close by. The next good water spot we found was at Settler 29.4. There was easy water access next to the bridge down to the barn. We didn't find water again until km 35.5 when we camped for the night. Camp 32.0 should be marked “Camp with No Water”. We did not see any water nearby or anything that looked like there is water at another time of year. At km 31.9 there was a locked gate with a No Trespassing sign, but a set of stairs to walk over the fence on the left hand side. The stairs were solid and in good condition. At km 32.9 was an easy open gate with a No Trespassing sign facing the other direction. It looked like someone had been working there recently, lots of fresh wood cuts, but we didn't see anyone. We camped just off the road at km 35.5 in a little clearing, just after a gate. There was access to the estero there.

Day 02 - Jan 3rd

We continued the road walk. The trail in the forest was very nice. The meadows were a little marshy but we moved through them fairly quickly. Ford 52.0 was easy, top of the calf and not much current. There was actually a fallen tree that could work as a bridge to do a dry foot crossing. We camped at Camp 52.7 next to a stream. This would not be a good site if it is windy. Fortunately we had a windless night. No issues finding water this day. We met three other hikers on their way out of Avellanos.

Day 03 - Jan 4th

The trail to the Trailhead 57.0 is easy to follow and, except in a few places, in good shape. There were a few places where it disappeared for a bit. Where they diverged, sometimes GPT track files were better, sometimes OSM, we just chose what seemed the most traveled. After Trailhead 57.0 the track is a little more difficult to follow. The OSM track was a little more accurate for the CC sections. There was only one ford at the end of the valley a little before it goes up into the woods, around km 59.3, just below the knee, not a strong current. The way through the woods at the end was difficult to follow. It is fairly overgrown in parts and we ended up walking a bit above the GPT track pushing through trees until the boulder field. We were trying to make it to Camp 61.2 above the pass. After the Trailhead 57.0 we did not see another suitable place to camp until close to Camp 61.2; everything was wet or on a slope, either covered in rock or trees. We camped at (-46.40655, -72.49601), about 400 m before Camp 61.2 in a flat area. There was no wind protection, but the night was calm. The site has a great view of the mountains and one of the lakes. We met five other hikers heading out over the course of the day.

Day 04 - Jan 5th

We did a packless day trip up to the pass to see the Torres. The weather was good, full sun and light wind. We spent about an hour on the pass. The Torres are nice; the one in the middle looked to us like it had the face of the rock eating monster from Neverending Story. As nice as the Torres were, we actually preferred the view on the mountains on the north side of the pass. On the way back down we looked at the area around Camp 61.2. We didn't really see any spaces suitable for a tent, certainly not for something the size of the X-Mid 2. There seemed to be a few options for bivys. There were strong gusts of wind in the night and part of our tent collapsed. We managed to get it back up and it stayed up for the rest of the night.

Day 05 - Jan 6th

We headed back NOBO on RR. We met Mia who was heading SOBO at the ford. It was nice to cross paths with another GPTer. At the X 54.5 we switched to Opt 2 Avellanos Bypass. We were interested to see the valley. The trail in places is in great shape, especially the higher areas, and in places non-existant, especially in low, wet areas, or where the river has washed it out. At one point we saw a huemul, our first one. It was walking up stream in the river very slowly and pausing often. We watched it for about 15 minutes before it finally got up on the hill on the opposite side and climbed into the trees. A little while later there was a huge waterfall coming down from one of the mountains. We camped in a sandy area under some trees a ways away from the river. All fords were more of a blessing in the scolding sun than a challenge. The riverbed moved in some places into the land where the GPS tracks were but it was very easy to navigate.

Day 06 - Jan 7th

We walked further downriver to Puesto ? 4.9. It is not actually a puesto, but a stopover half-shelter with fire pit for people driving animals. It was a great wind barrier, and a place to hang out on our rest/”waiting rain over” day. Just a few meters away we found a nice flat area with space for two tents that was very well wind protected and we were expecting 90 km/h winds to come next day. We left our packs and went further down river. The valley is really beautiful and has some great views. For a while the trail is in excellent condition, then it starts to disappear. It was not possible to follow the GPT track for all of it, but we found other paths. The river fords got increasingly more challenging as we went down stream. More drainages joined the river and added water. We turned around at Ford 8.2 and we noticed the increase in river level just over those few hours. The most difficult ford was mid-thigh with a good amount of current (at 6pm, earlier around 3 pm it was good 20 cm lower).

Day 07 - Jan 8th

We took a zero day. Rain and high wind all day. The camp site worked very well for inclement weather.

Day 08 - Jan 9th

We backtracked the rest of Opt 2 and arrived midday back at Camp 57.2. We were planning to exit 33H on Opt 8 but didn't want to start it the same day. We enjoyed a half rest day with sun and no wind at the campsite. We passed three other tents during the day.

Day 09 - Jan 10th

We started Opt 8 in the morning. For the first 7 km or so it is actually fairly easy to follow. The GPX tracks aren't always spot on, but we followed them as closely as we could and we managed to find the trail more often than not. The landslide seemed to be quite small and we just walked below it. The two fords at that point are just over a side stream, so probably dry foot crossable a little later in the season. Everything after that until Camp ? 11.6 where we stopped for the night was a bit of a challenge. In areas the trail is in excellent shape and then it just disappears into slopes of grass and blow downs. We would lose the track and CC for a while, finding it again a couple hundred meters on. I just walked with the Garmin in one hand for most of the way since I had to check it so frequently. The last few km to the campsite were very muddy. It ended up being a very long and very exhausting day. We did not see any serviceable campsites for our tent between the beginning and Camp ? 11.6. Camp ? 11.6 is a puesto with a sign saying it is called Puesto Agüero. There is also a sign saying “No Dejar Basura”, which we took to mean that the puesto is used, at least unofficially, for public camping, but just to pack your trash out. The site does not have good wind protection, but we had a windless night.

Day 10 - Jan 11th

Ford 11.5 had the same makeshift bridge that Maggie & Julien reported last season. We decided to ford instead of use the bridge. We forded a little lower than the waypoint. It was above the knee and with a fair amount of current. The path after the ford was generally very easy to follow. In the pastures we kept an eye on the GPS as there are animal trails that go all over, but in the forested areas it was very clear. It was very muddy for the first half and mostly dry for the second half. There are some nice views of the river along the way, and of the valley toward the end of the section. The MR at the end has been extended further up the valley and now starts about 1.5 km sooner than indicated in the track files. We walked into Puerto Murta around 18:30. We had no particular difficulty with Opt 8, and it was not overgrown enough that we wished we had a machete at any point. Though it doesn't look like it from the elevation profile in Gaia, due to the constant ups and downs there is an enormous amount of cumulative elevation gain and loss. For this reason we think that this is a much better option for exiting the section, so the pack can be as light as possible.

* '''2025 Jan 4th to Jan 9th / 5.5 hiking days / SOBO / Hiking / Opt 3B, RR, Opt D & E & H / MiaimZelt'''

This section indeed is a real gem, but also challenging. Weather was hot and sunny, too warm in my opinion.

Day 1: Wanted to hitchhike from Villa Cerro Castillo to the start of Opt 3B, but then a bus came an took me. Mostly boring hiking along a minor road.

Day 2: Continued along the minor road, soon it got smaller and wasn't passable for cars anymore. At -46.254893, -72.381462 is a new fence, theoretically it could be opened, but you need to be strong. I crawled under it... Here -46.260122, -72.397627 is a large rather open field with lot's of flat space to pitch a tent. Water nearby. -46.260547, -72.400255 small building, which was unoccupied. The horsetrail is in good condition. Camped here: -46.352094, -72.488826, but there is only space for small tents.

Day 3: The ascend in the forest was also in good condition. Later you have to sharpen your eyes and look for the cairns. Met Kasia and Michael, was nice to meet other GPT hikers. Option D is marked with cairns, but there is no trail and i had to cross the river 2 more times. Especially the first lake is a real gem.
Hike up to the pass was not difficult, just take your time.
Way down is more challenging. I had to cross a large and steep patch of snow, which was ok without microspikes. Than you have to climb down a steep slope with lots of boulders, but they have good traction. The middle part was the hardest, because both smartphone and Garmin didn't show my correct position and wanted me to hike down a small waterfall. According to the smartphone there had to be a lake, but there was a forest instead, which wasn't shown neither on the Garmin nor on the Smartphone. Hiked down left of the waterfall, which looked much safer. The last part before you arrive at the glacier lagoon, is a large field of XXL-boulders which you have to cross. The views at the lake were awesome!
The bushbashing was mostly easy or at least not difficult. The worst was the stretch along Rio Ventisquero to the Trailhead. In the beginning i tried to walk in the riverbed, which often means to walk in the river, not just crossing the river. But when a 2nd river was added, the water was up to middle thigh and had a stromg current - not a good idea to continue this way. Hiked at the left side in the forest instead. Sometimes there was a vague animal trail, but it disappeared very often. This was really annoying with a lot of bushbashing. Camped at Camp Without Water {33H} [68.7/766].

Day 4: Crossing of Rio Ventisquero was just up to my knees and not diffucult. Enjoyed the horsetrail along Rio Avellano, but i took Option E, because the RR was i overgrown in this area. Option E is in better condition. Didn't met Maria & Julio, later i saw to guys on horseback. Ford {33H} [81.4/492] was up to my crotch (i'm 1.74cm) and had a strong current, but i made it. My feet had traction, but couldn't place my trekkingpoles correctly due to the strong current. You have to cross 3 times here, but the other two were easy.
The Minor road is not like a real road, it's more a 4x4 track used by horses with sandy ground and vegetation in the middle. It's hard to find a camp at this minor road, because of the thorny vegetation. Camped here: -46.478173, -72.19456. It's a patch of flat gras with enough space for several tents, has a small stream and good protection from the wind.

Day 5: According to my Inreach the wind gusts should reach up to 101km/h. Was indeed very windy, but fortunately it came from the back and the wind was warm. The trail along Lago General Carrera is very scenic and mostly visible, but also strenuous. Some (fortunately very short parts) are badly overgrown - a machete would be useful. Almost every plant in this area has thorns. The ups and downs a very steep, which i didn't like in the heat. Lot's of water. Used Camp {33H} [116.3/239] which has a great protection from the wind. But be aware of the thorny plants while searching where to pitch you tent - there are only 2 places without them.

Day 6: The last stretch until the minor road was much faster. The first part of the minor road has vegetation on it and isn't used by cars. Brought all the water from the lake, but it wasn't necessary. Small streams here: -46.403664, -71.975755 and next to the road at Settler {33H} [121.8/643]. The settler wasn't at home and the wooden gates were locked, had to climb over them. There are several minor roads, not just one. Bridge {33H} [129.3/304] is a deep canyon, didn't see a possibility to get water there. Walked two hours along the road between Levican and Puerto Ibañez, until i got a hitch.

* '''Dec 6-11 / 03B + RR SOBO / wiiiim'''

Great route, still early season, weather was sunny but still cold, rivers were low, the infamous crossing of the lower rio Avellano just above knee height.
The crux of the route was the South side of the pass, sections of snow, I crossed later in the day when it was softer, avoided most of the snow on the East rock flank, but around 1200m the rock slabs were wet & the gullies in between were filled with snow. A bit of a maze, it took some time and back tracking, I used micro spikes but its probably okay without, I think knowing how to self arrest on snow with hiking poles is always a good skill to have, lots of videos exist on that.
Laguna la Plaza is a short/easy side trip well worth it, the North side of the pass is fast going & pretty well indicated (ciarns), on the South side section of CC once on the valley floor it seems easier to wade through the (spectacular) river.
I was pleasantly surprised with the walk along the lake, it’s really different and beautiful.
I was lucky to get a ride out from the MR to Puerto Ibáñez quite quickly from around -46.36065, -71.90255 but it’s usually very quiet.

At -46.26604, -72.41735 there is an established rock bivvy that could also fit a medium size tent.

Overall I would probably recommend the regular route NOBO to cut out most of the start/end road sections: organise a ride from Puerto Ibanez to the trail head (it will be worth the money) and on the other end the finish of 03B on the carretera austral will have plenty of traffic to hitch a ride

• '''2024-Dec-09 to 2024-Dec-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Opt.A + Opt.01A + Opt.01/ Julien'''

Following the road to Puerto Ibáñez
Just a little difficulty about finding water because most of lakes and rivers are private now.

* '''2024-Nov-28 to 30 / 3 day / Hiking / Circuit / GPT33H Option 5 and 5A Valle Miller from Puerto Alarcon to Valle Jaramillo and return to Puerto Sanchez / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck'''

The Cordillera de Avallano between Rio Ibanez and Lago General Carrera is one of the hidden treasures of Patagonia. And Valle Miller is one possible entrance into this mountain range.

After packrafting to Puerto Alarcon we packed our packrafting gear and hiked up Valle Miller along the minor road to the bridge over Rio Miller to crossing “X {33H-05} [7.8/611]”. There are numerous possible camp sites and water sources along this minor road.

A few hundred meters after crossing “X {33H-05} [7.8/611]” is the last pasture with suitable camp sites.

Valle Jaramillo is a very scenic side valley of Valle Miller that can be explored in one day.

This side valley has no distinct trail but the forest is reasonably open. Therefore ascending and descending through the forest is not really bush bashing but just a slalom around the numerous fallen trees.

Once the open terrain is reached, hikers can see the very scenic valley with some remaining smaller glaciers.

The cross country walk to the 1679 m high pass is very rewarding in good weather. From an altitude of 1400 m the terrain was in parts covered by snow fields as we visited this early in the season.

We returned to Puerto Sanchez which is the alternative starting Point for hikers.

==Season 2023/24==

* '''2024 Mar 22 to 2024 Mar 28 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Maddi, Tom and Jordan'''

Day 1: Got the public bus from Puerto Ibanez to Levican for about 1000CLP each. We were the only ones on the bus and the driver dropped us at the trailhead. After walking along the road for a while we miraculously got a hitch in the back of a pick up for a couple of kms. Trail down to the lake was a little confusing but just head down and you'll hit the main trail eventually. Trail along the lake has plenty of up and down but nothing too strenuous. We had a perfect, windless day with not too much sun so it was pretty easy going, plenty of spots to get water once down near the lake. The notes said there was some scary exposure but we didn't really encounter any along this section, the path is pretty solid and clearly used by horses. Set up camp on the lake on the small rocky beach at (-46.47634,-72.08138). Just enough room for our Zpacks Triplex and Jordan's free standing tent. Jordan caught a fish that night but chucked it back.

Day 2: Great sunrise over the lake but then it started to rain. Jordan caught another fish which the boys had for breakfast. Walked along the lake in light rain until the old road where we went up the steep hill and started inland. One apple tree along this section but the apples weren't great. Followed the disused road until the end and then started along the track. Hit our first ford at about (-46.46161,-72.24620) which was above the knee on me (174cm tall) and quite fast flowing/muddy from all the rain. Tom slipped climbing up the bank here and fell backwards into the water but somehow avoided getting swept away. Kept walking along until we hit the refugio, unfortunately it was locked. Set up camp next to it so we could use the porch for shelter then went to scout the next ford just past it. This one was way too high and fast to cross so we were hoping it would go down overnight. Rio Avellano also looked impossible but that was a problem for the next day.

Day 3: Luckily the tributary into the Rio Avellano had gone down significantly overnight and we were able to cross without issues, although it was still fairly fast flowing at about knee height. Had a go at crossing the Rio Avellano just after this ford where it is marked on the GPX and others had mentioned it was doable but we had no luck, even employing the three astern. Decided to try the settler's place up on the hill to see if we could get help crossing but noone seemed to be around. Kept following the track along the river, hoping for a place to cross. Jordan somehow manage to cross using the eddies formed by a large tree that had fallen into the river. He had to come back across to help me get over with Tom but it was a near miss. Water level just below hip and quite fast flowing. Massive relief to make it across and get to enjoy the sun a bit. Had lunch near Maria and Julio's but still didn't run into anyone other than sheep. Enjoyed an awesome section walking along through ankle deep water in the autumn colours with snowy peaks in the background. Hit another fairly fast flowing ford, just above the knee, but manageable now we were getting good at crossing 3 astern. Thought we would make it to camp just below the towers but unfortunately hit another ford that even Jordan couldn't cross. Much higher consequence with huge rapids downstream and the water level above the hip. Tried to walk upstream a km or so to see if we could cross but ends up high above the river as it enters a canyon section. Scrambled back down and camped for the night on the track in the forest with the hope of lower water in the morning.

Day 4: Water was much lower in the morning and we were able to cross with no issues. Still over the knee and fast flowing but the group of 3 works wonders. Headed into the forest and up past the old corral then into the swampy section. This was super rough going as the swamp was over the knee in parts. We constantly switched between climbing between the tangle of tree or wading through the swamp. It was raining lightly and getting quite cold by this point. We made it to a clearing along the river at about 11am but the towers were in complete fog and I was shivering hard. Decided to set up camp in the forest and try for the towers the next day in the hope of more visibility. Found a nice camp spot in the forest at (-46.42932,-72.49572) with easy access to the river for water. Snuggled down to try to warm up all afternoon, only emerging for meals.

Day 5: Set off through the forest up towards the towers. Says bush bashing but was actually pretty easy walking up the hill. Towers still in a bit of cloud but made it up there mid morning and spent some time scrambling around the lake to take a look around. Camp site in the rocks was flooded from yesterday so glad we didn't try to get up there to camp. Scramble over the boulder field and up to the pass isn't too bad, although some snow patches made it a bit slippery. Cool granite slabs on the way up. Super windy once we got over the pass so hurried down the valley. No navigation issues but definitely got wet feet walking along the river. Camped at the refugio.

Day 6: Hiked along clear trail until we got to the minor road. Hoped to get a rare hitch but didn't really see anyone. Decided to hike along the river just before the bridge toward Lago Lapparent to find somewhere to camp. Found a few awesome spots along the crystal clear water for our last night.

Day 7: Headed back to the road and followed it back to the Carretera Austral. Got a hitch in about 15 minutes all the way to Coyhaique but there is a bus stop there if you can time it right.

* '''2024-02-23 to 2024-02-27 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH03B + RR + OH08 / Maggie & Julian '''

Trail attractiveness: 4/5;
Difficulty: 3/5
(keep in mind that this is our first GPT hike)

Day 1: ‘GPT33H-03B start’ to (-46.2570, -72.3711):

We entered from Carretera Austral at Laguna Verde (Option 03B) after being dropped off by the morning bus from Coyhaique (heading to Cochrane). Arrived at the crossroads at 11:30am with Don Carlos bus.
Whole day was walking on roads and relatively easy to make distance.
At (-46.2671, -72.3561) there was a sign reading "se prohibe la entrada al predio" and a locked gate with a ladder to climb over the side. There is a campsite (Camp, X {33H} [32.0/700]) pinned shortly after, but we decided to keep going because of the sign. At (-46.2621, -72.3613) there is an end to the property (same sign facing opposite direction, no gate). We camped on an area used for chopping wood at (-46.2570, -72.3711). Short scramble down to the river.

Day 2: (-46.2570, -72.3711) to Camp {33H} [52.7/953]:

Large part of the day was also road walking, afterwards trails and some cross country.
Camped by Camp {33H} [52.7/953]. Camping around Puesto {33H} [53.0/946] has better mountain views, Puesto itself was being used, possibly for guided horseback trekking.

Day 3: Camp {33H} [52.7/953] to Pass {33H} [62.0/1314] and back:

We left our tent set up and most things at Camp. The way up was sometimes hard to find. Trail markers made more sense on the return. Had an extended lunch a little after Pass {33H} [62.0/1314] and then returned the way we had come.

Day 4: Camp {33H} [52.7/953] to Camp ? {33H-08} [11.6/548]:

Probably hardest day in navigation, trail disappeared often, but manageable.
The former landslide section at (-46.3853, -72.5520) did not pose any difficulties for us as the water level was not too high and the main river flow now goes near the northwestern side of the valley. We just had to step over the remaining side stream. With more water some fording might still be necessary, but I imagine you could get away with staying near the southeastern bank for this section.
At Camp ? {33H-08} [11.6/548] there is a puesto that seems to be in use, but we saw no one and camped a little lower near the river.

Day 5: Camp ? {33H-08} [11.6/548] to ‘GPT33H-08 start’:

Right after camp there was a makeshift bridge to cross the stream (tree and rope, very rickety).
Trail seemed to be used and maintained on this part of option 08.
Shortly before Camp {33H-08} [6.9/435] there was a previously washed-out section with a new path already laid out. In heavy rainfall this could wash out again but should not pose a big hindrance.

Notes:

- RR + option 08 is a great short alternative without much backtracking.

- Our hitch out of Puerto Murta happened to be local members of an association that wants to bring more tourism to their town and the Torres del Avellano. If their plans are fruitful, traffic and trail maintenance may increase on option 08.

- We organized the transport of our non-trekking items from Coyhaique to Puerto Río Tranquilo by encomienda. Ines, the lady working at the Sao Paulo bus office in Coyhaique terminal was kind enough to hold our boxes until we arrived and called her from Puerto Rio Tranquilo. Our things arrived the day after we called at around 1pm. We shipped a rather large quantity of items (enough items to fill 50L bag) for 12000 CLP. Sao Paulo bus Coyhaique telephone: +56 672 255 726

* '''30/01/2024 - 01/02/2024 / 3 days, 78 km / Options 06 and 07 / Alex + Andrey'''
South bound (east bound).
“Mountain route”,

a combination of Options 06 and 07 which are now passed and confirmed.

Difficulty: Difficult/Very Difficult

Most of the route is off-trail
Thanks to Jan for the suggested routes and clues.
Short resume:

This mountain route is a more difficult and demanding alternative to the regular route but can be an interesting option for those looking for a challenge.
The combination with a regular route allows to form a full-fledged “eight”, a trip of 6-10 days.

Option 07 is a shorter, although more difficult, alternative to the regular route in case the Avellano River cannot be forded NOBO.
Notes and recommendations.

Option 07:

All fords do not pose any significant difficulty.
Due to the height and southern exposure the areas between Pass 1 and Pass 2 (Pass {33H-07} [17.0/1755]) and descents from Pass 2 in the early to mid-season have extensive areas of snow where microspikes or crampons may be required.
The main difficulty on the descent is overcoming several side washouts, which are small but deep and steep canyons.

Option 06:

There is no water during the first 4-5 hours of ascent to the valley.
The open area of the upper valley at Camp 2 and beyond throughout the ridge is a resort for very strong winds. Setting up camp may be difficult or impossible. A strong hiker can combine and complete this section in one day.
The predominant wind exposure makes passage from west to east highly recommended.
The last reliable source of water is before reaching High Pass 3. Further east there is no water until the junction with the regular route, except for temporary streams from seasonal snow.

The track and additional information are here:
https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/avellano-mountain-route-chilean-patagonia-160489118

* '''2024-Mar-04 to 2024-Mar-08 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 03B + RR + OH D + K / Joscha'''

Day 1: OH33H-03B + RR [24.2-41.2]

I tried to hitch from Villa Cerro Castillo to the start of OH33H-03B. After 1 hour a Bus arrived and took me to the start for 2000 Pesos. The Bus runs from Cohayique to Chile Chico on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It starts in Coyhaique at 9 am and stopps in Villa Cerro Castillo at around 10:30 am. From the brigde at km 25.7 until km 35.8 there is no water on the RR. You walk close to some rivers but I didn't check if its possible to acces them. After km 35.8 there is plenty of water. At km 38.5 is a big flat field for camping with a creek next to it. I camped just before the crossing of the river at km 41.2.

Day 2: RR [41.2-58.3] + OH33H-D + RR [61.0-63.4]

There was plenty of water all along the trail. Camping possible at -46.291963, -72.470389 just before the Pass (km 44.4), at the start of OH33H-C and along the CC section from km 49.0 to 50.8. I can recommend OH33H-D. I especially liked the first Laguna. Camp 63.4 has awesome views, but is only slightly wind protected and the spots are only good for small tents.

Day 3: RR [63.4-93.2]

I stayed inside the riverbed for the last 2.5 km of the CC&BB section. I had to cross the river about 20 times, but its the fastest and easiest way. The ford at km 83.6 was just below my crotch (I am 191 cm) and the current was pretty strong at around 5 pm. It would have been difficult for smaller persons. All the other fords today were at max. knee hight. There is plenty of water all along the route. I camped next to the RR on a flat, grassy field at km 93.2.

Day 4: RR [93.2-116.3]

Plenty of water along this part of the RR.

Day 5: RR [116.3-119.6] + OH33H-K + RR [122.6-141.0]

OH33H-K is easy to walk but does not offer any great views. If you choose OH33H-K, than there is no water between km 117.5 and 138.5 (at km 135.2 is a water marker, but I didn't see any as I walked by. Maybe I missed it, because I wasn't looking for it). There is water at km 140.3. I got a hitch from km 141.0 to Puerto Ibanez. But there are very few cars on the road, so don't count on getting a hitch.

* '''2024-Feb-12 to 2024-Feb-16 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 03B, RR, Variant C, E, H, K / Tomáš & Natalie'''
There was a queue of three hitchhiker groups who did not get picked up while we were doing our shopping, so we opted to hire a taxi for 15000 to the start of 03B (Pedro Zuleta: +56 993 5786 68). Somehow, during our arranging of the taxi, all three groups left. Roadwalking to option 07 was uneventful. Tomáš got a hitch (he eats lunch too slowly so Natalie got ahead) for about 5 km from a family which was exploring in a car. About 500 m before the diversion to option 07, there is a locked gate with a sign saying the property is private, but one can go over a ladder. At the gate, we met a local with a key who has a house on Option 07, if we got him right. He gave us a ride of 500 m. The start of option 7 is actually a road.

The MR at 24.2 is in a bad shape due to erosion after ford at about 12 km in. Tomáš made a bridge out of a log but managed to jump into the water while doing it. Enjoy the bridge while it lasts as did a Frenchman we met there. He did the circuit NOBO based on Wikiloc. He said he keeps coming across GPT, but could not figure out how to get the GPS route. We told him to talk to Jan. Maybe he will come back the next season.

On the way to the Torres, we met 3 pairs of Chilean hikers going back. Tomáš went to Laguna La Plaza (option C). Lake is grey but the valley is nice enough to justify the short detour. It is no BB, there is a trail in the forest and above the tree line a vague trail or easy CC. The Torres are indeed magnificent. One can easily walk on the sloped polished slab falling into the far side of the second lake before the pass - it is an exhilirating detour. Going down from the pass, when the GPX turns right, Tomáš actually managed to walk over one of the ledges above the GPX and liked it. Just be extremely careful with moss and water, they can make the stones extremely slippery, but he survived that without falling. About 100 m before the lake, there is a at-least-a-ton heavy swing in the form of a loose boulder. Enjoy if you can find it. Camp 63.4 is literally awesome. We had a very warm almost windless night there.

After the boulder field under camp 63 we loss the rest of the elevation on the right side of the creek and then when the swamp appeared on the right we went to the left and stayed on that side (North) for the entire BB/CC. There is a vague trail most of the way, but is has many many logs over it. It took us 3 hours to walk to the trailhead. We kept our feet dry and were in the shade, but it would have been quicker and far less tiring just following the riverbed and constantly crossing the river.

Ford at 69.8 around noon was slightly above the knees. Ford it diagonally as the trail wants you to - it is shallower that way (ie a little further down than where the trail spits you out). Greeted grandfather, Maria and Julio and their three kids and had a short talk with the grandfather, nice to see the whole family working together on projects. From their place, the trail sort of is wide enough for a car (there is one at their place) but we think it is never or virtually never used by cars. Ford at 81.4 at six in the afternoon was 5 cm under our crotches (we are about 1.70), we forded about 100 upstream of GPX. The river was strong but we did not feel it was dangerous for us. We forded the widest part of the river just before a dead end fence (if you are coming from the other direction, after the grey river and around the dead end ford you will see the widest part of the river).The day was hot and despite not covering even 20 km, we felt superexhausted. Strong sun and spikees got to us!

We camped about 4 km along the road, shortly after the second (both jumpable) ford. It must be a good place to camp, as Tomáš, who went back to the big ford where he left his sandals the previous day, met a GPT hiker going NOBO who apparently slept in a hearing distance from us. The hiker first started to come to Patagonia decades ago, before it was overrun. Tomáš sadly never asked his name. Met the grandfather again, coming back from the port, horses are fast!

The road is not used by cars but stiĺl quite ugly. Around middle, near option 6, there are two shortcuts (400 and 50 metres) to the zigzags, three of which were marked by cairns by Tomáš. Please add the fourth cairn. Puesto 98.3 is a settler. He offered Natalie to come inside and rest but she didn't feel right stopping at that moment and kind of got the "heeby jeebies" from him. Met another pair of GPT hikers, doing just 33. The stretch along the coast is beautiful and very Mediterranean. All day the lake was without waves, even that can happen. Slept at Lake 113.8: nicer, with water and less buggy than camp 200 m earlier (just beware if the wind picks, up the waves can be very loud).

Variant K misses last water but is easy to follow, nicer than a road and involves only three very easy fence hops. Reached the bus stop for Puerto Ibanez around three. Got lucky and received a hitch from two British tourists to Puerto Ibanez. The shops there are larger than expected and stock overpriced pesto and gnocchi, Tomáš is almost as joyful as cherries make him!

Nat's Notes:

- For views I would prefer this NOBO. I suffered a new type of "look back" syndrom on most of the route. Plus, if you are walking the lake shore in the afternoon, the sun should be on your downhills and not your uphills (it was insanely hot when we did it and without a whisper of wind).

- In the section notes for km24-45 I think what was meant was that from roughly km36-45, "there are many small streams and camping spots", this is indeed true. However, between km 24-36 and option 3 there are NO longer many STREAMS to drink from, I remember only one slightly decent one and both sides of the road are fenced so if you want to camp or drink water from the main river, then you must jump the fences (cow panels or barb) or ask a settler. Also, strange to say, there is very little shade and can get uncomfortably hot...

- Intersection 45 is not hard to miss anymore, it is marked with an orange ribbon around a tree and a large cairn on your left.

- On Trail#9 (ascent before the first two alpine lakes) I took Veronicas advice about going into the woods where the RR is but rather than trying to follow the GPS, I followed what seemed to be a trail along the creek with some cairns here and there. Eventually it ends above the trees but you should be able to make your way back to the RR once the "coast is clear", ie. no more trees. If you want to walk along the lake then you should do the CC up the boulder field on Variant D.

- Going down from the pass was no problem, like everyone says, "just follow the gps". However with that said, it is very tempting to make your own way bcs there are many good looking ledge systems but after reading Wills experience, I backed away from the temptation and followed the GPS. I also slipped on some wet moss on RR.

- So much water everywhere except for the lake camping, if you are smart you will fill up on one of the many streams before getting to the lake...

- When doing the BB/CC section, after the initial elevation loss from the lake, there isn't much drinking water apart from the river until near the end of the BB. I think you could make "makeshift" camps. I was tempted to cross the river early to avoid crossing it at km69 but once again I remembered what Will wrote last year about the thorns and cliffs so I don't think that's a good idea.

- Not a fan of the lakeside gate locking technique (remember how it looks before you open it;)

- I surprisingly really enjoyed the lake stretch, it seemed it is where Pantagonia meets the Mediterranean/Arizona. The trail is in good shape, just a few overgrown roses and thorny bushes here and there (regretted shorts only a little bit). If you are coming from the north and still have your sand gaiters, this will be a good time to reuse them :). No exposure, wish there was more wind the day we were there. I am usually the biggest hater of "PUDs" - thanks for the new word - but these were not annoying. These PUDs are just a few large hills rather than a bunch of steep micro hills like gpt22 or the valley bottoms in Argentina. Water is at pretty much every "notch" in the hillside.

- Water is at the bottom of the MR~117.5 and there is still water at the top 119.9 RR (easier to grab it a little higher up).

* '''2024-Jan-30 to 2024-Feb-4 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick & Nolwenn & Tess & Lukas'''

- Trail condition : gpx easy to follow / between km 63,7 and km 68,5 we mostly stayed on the left of the river
- Water : easy to find plenty of rivers and lagunas
- Camping spot : easy to find and the one at km 68.7 is nice // the refugio near the lake at km 98.5 is perfect - make fire, sleep inside, we even could ask for some bread
- Weather : some rainy and cloudy days but overall the weather was ok
- River crossing :at km 69.8 we crossed the river early in the morning and the current was strong and the water up to the middle of the thighs but manageable // at km 81,2 the river was strong and up to our hips, we crossed it in the rain, it was also manageable for us that already jave a little bit of experience
- Resupply : in Villa Cerro Castillo and in Chile Chico ( a bulk shop just opened in front of the camping Nandu) // at km 76,7 we could buy some bread, cheese and eggs at Maria and Julio's house
- Overall : we absolutely loved this section ! The views are spectacular and really diverse from one day to another // we got a hitchike at the end on the gravel road to go to Puerto Ibanez.

* '''01.27.2024 / 5 days / Hiking / SoBo / RR + Option 8 to Bahía Murta / Milton Cea + 4 more'''

Considering that we would venture to make this route a journey from Villa Cerro Castillo to Bahía Murta, we have decided to pay Pedro Zuleta, who is dedicated to transportation in the surrounding areas (+56 9 9357 8668), to take us to the entrance of the route at the registration booth. There, we encountered a pair of muleteers who did not pay much attention to our passing, however, we spoke with them to ask for their permission and inquire about the condition of the path.

We started with the regular route, a bit late, and for that reason, we camped the first night at Mallín Grande, which is a very good option, as watching the sunrise in this beautiful place is worthwhile.

Starting early the next day, we reached the "Los puestos" sector and from there, leaving our camp set up, we headed towards the towers. We were only able to reach the first lagoon at the base of the massif, as we went a bit late and our conversation with some other hikers we met extended. I would recommend leaving early to take advantage of the views from the portezuelo lookout.

The next day we began the crossing through the "Río Resbalón" Valley, as the locals call it, following an animal trail that sometimes tends to get lost among new vegetation or fallen trees, accompanied by other hikers who decided to join the journey.
It is a part of the route that can be slightly complex if you do not have a good reading of the surroundings, finding the animal traffic trail, and considering that you navigate through a forest that can easily disorient. This changes when you already walk with the "Resbalin/Resbalón" river to your right, as it is quite useful to follow its course. Always on the left side of the river.
On the way, there are some fallen trees and abandoned muleteer posts that can be used as camping space if necessary, although I would not recommend camping in this old forest.
Upon reaching the point of the road collapse, the crossing of the scree can be done at the level of its arrival, but to continue the route, you must climb a few meters up the mountain until you find the entrance to the continuation of the route. This point took some time from us, and we decided to camp near the river, towards the rock beach in the middle of a young forest with a mossy floor, very comfortable and restorative. We also decided to place some pircas at this point, as there was no mark to help resume the path towards Murta, since the difference in height was noticeable and it can be easy to believe that the path continues by the river side, but no, from here the path separates from the river and goes up the mountain.

Finally, after this last abandoned stretch, where the vegetation is abundant in some parts, we ended up arriving at the Puesto de Los Agüeros and decided to spend a night there, as we were very tired from constantly finding the route. It's worth mentioning that we couldn't find a GPS track before the trip.

The next day, after a night of intense rain, we took the official route traced from "Bahía Murta" at opossite direction and arrived in the town at dusk.
If you want the track and the Waypoints of the journey, feel free to write to me at '''milton.1902@gmail.com''' =)

* '''From 2023-01-20 to 2023-01-21 // 1,5 day // Hiking // NOBO // option 1 Valle Ibanez // Quentin Clavel'''

When I arrived in Puerto Ingeniero Ibàñez, I had to make a choice, as the weather window were pretty short. I had only 3 days and a half ahead of nice weather followed by one entire week of rain.

So I made the hard choice to skip Torres del Avelano, and go straight to Cerro Castillo by the OPT1 to explore the NP of CERRO CASTILLO.

This section was not so bad. Even if it was gravel road until the Lago tamango, I had nice views, and was not too bored from this stretch, but well yeah, it's gravel road for 30 km, so of course it was not all the time so funny aha !

Then I went to the small track along Lago tamango. Very quiet, pretty well marked thanks to these sticks with red and white colours on top, and with some scenic views.

You'll end up at the parking of the touristic sendero sitio archeologico de manos pintadas (Paredón de las Manos (1000CLP for children's, 2000CLP for adults. From Tuesday to Sunday 10h00-17h00). Then it's gravel road, following by 1,3 km on the carretera austral to reach Villa cerro castillo.

I was expecting worse for this section. Quite happy about it. That's a nice alternative if, for a reason, you want or have to skip Torres de Avelano

* '''2024-Jan- 14 to 2024-Jan-16/ 3 days/hiking/SOBO/ 33h/ 33h-b/33h-a/ 33h-P/Paulina'''

At first, I wanted to do RR, but as the recent reports about the river crossing where not very encouraging, I decided to play it safelty, so I just mixed some sections.
I started in Villa Cerro Castillo, till X 33h [ 5.5/554] it was a very peaceful, nice trail, with beautiful views on Cerra Castillo. There were some fence crossing, but not very annoying.
After the intersection, so once I joined the road X-725, it was less interesting, walk on a gravel road. I think this part of RR is better to hitch-hike ( it's possible and not very difficult to catch a car on this way).
Once I reached the big lakes ( beautiful views!) and some wanderful camping spots [ S 46.17790 W 072.32049] between Lago Alto and Lago Lapparet, I took 33h-b. At the beginning the trail was l crossing a forest used by locals as wood supply, but later ( around the place where it joined 33h-a), the landscape was amazing! Especially the part with lakes and settlers.

The last section was on 33h-01A. The cannion of Rio Claro and later the waterfall are beautiful, but for some hikers a long distance on gravel road on this section can be annoying so it's probably better to hitch-hike ( not a lot of cars but still possible).

I bought my ticket for ferry from Puerto Ibanez to Chile Chico without any problem 1h30 before the ferry departure.

The mix of these 4 sections + hitch-hiking it's a good option for bad weather or high river level on RR. Some parts are very beautiful, and the less interesting parts ( long distances on gravel roads) it's possible to cover by car.

* '''2024-01-02 to 2024-01-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR & Options: 03, 03B, 04C, 04 & Variant E / Roman'''

Route: Hitchhiked along Option 03 to X {33H-03} [18.6/315]. Hiked via Option 03B to X {33H} [24.2/462] and than continued RR to Ford, X {33H} [71.8/602]. Here used Variant E and back to RR all the way to Settler {33H} [85.0/462] (Luis Diaz). Continued on Option 04C to X {33H-04} [73.9/559]. From here used option 04 all to way to Bahía Murta.

Decided to go SoBo to get the tricky parts done with a good weather forecast. Hitchhiked along Option 03 because it's easier to get a lift. Was at X {33H-03} [18.6/315] 12:35 PM. From there it's a super easy to hike street all the way to X {33H} [45.5/1088] via Option 03C and than 03. Sadly there where no cars going in the correct direction. Towards the end (last 5km) there are some rivers crossing the street, nothing bad, you can get over them dry feet if jumping on the rocks. Continued the RR, the trail is clearly visible and easy to hike all the way to Camp {33H} [52.7/953]. Arrived there at 09:30 PM. It's a awsome place to pitch a tent! It was absolutely woth it to go for such a long day. Met 2 locals who went with a truck all the way to this point: -46.26754, -72.419667. Met also Cy & GG (see GPT 23). We continued the next day. Trail was in a good condition and CC was easy no snow up to the pass Pass {33H} [62.0/1314]. Absolutely beautiful view! There is some snow on the south side on the way down. It's mostly melted to you can decide if you want the first 150-200m of elevation go down in snow or trough the boulders. It was a sunny day therefore quite easy to get down to the lake. From there we went down a boulder field to the BB (Bush bashing) section (400m). This is trivial - no macheta required. It's just walking trough the forest. From there the CC&BB is at the beginning easy. We found a animal trail on the southern side of the river. Than the swamp started which was annoying. We started, after finishing the swamp section, to walk in the river bed around here -46.438037, -72.469247 which was fast progress but wet feet. Jumped on the trail and camped at Camp Without Water {33H} [68.7/766]. There is a lot of water at the river and it's just a 10 minute walk so we filled the bottles. The Camp is good, stayed there with 3 tents. Continued the next day (it was moderate rain during the night and at the morning) to the X, Ford {33H} [69.8/634]. This was at the limit what is safely possible. Fast flowing river - hip deep (iam 180). From there on the trail was clearly visible and easy to hike fast. Continued the RR and did Variant E. Check you GPS, we didn’t intend to do it we just followed the most clearly visible trail and ended up at the Puesto {33H-E} [0.8/619] so we continued. The statement from above is still valid all the way to Settler {33H} [85.0/462] (Luis Diaz) for the RR ;). After that is a easy trail, at Settler {33H} [76.7/535] (Maria & Julio) I met Julio and they had a car there to the trail from this point on is even easier. I split up here with Cy & GG because of different plans and it was questionable if the Ford at Ford {33H} [81.2/490] (Rio Avellano) is even possible so I wanted to speed up. Reached the point around 05:00 PM. It was not possible to Ford - way to deep and to much current! So I used my packraft and crossed the river. Got in the water here: -46.456627, -72.320677 and followed than the RR. Ford {33H} [81.4/492] was also impossible by foot. Used the same tactic and crossed it by boat. Got in the water here: -46.453523, -72.316373 and crossed by boat. After that easy trail and continued the RR. Ford {33H} [83.6/467] (Rio Avellano) was also absolutely impossible so also did it by boat. After that I camped here: -46.463767, -72.26597.

interim conclusion: if the weather is not stable (I knew it wasn't [would reccomend checking with meteoblue] go SoBo and be aware that the crossing can be impossible - I would reccomend bringing you packraft so you habe more options even though it's the H route. Otherwise you have to wait, potentially for days or you need the help of a local (this is how Cy & GG managed it).

Next day continued 04C. The trail to the pass is clearly visible and beautiful to hike. From there it's hard to find a few times because of a lot of animal tracks. Follow the GPS. The trail is again visible from this point on: -46.486009, -72.212428. Trail condition generally good with some bushes hanging in the trail. Reached X {33H-04} [73.9/559]. Same here a lot if animal trail - follow the GPS. The trail is clearly visible from this point on: -46.49591, -72.205307 up to Bahía Murta. Condition is good. The Pass {33H-04} [71.5/958] is definetly a highlight. Camped at Camp {33H-04} [66.2/209] - great place. Next day was long no changes on the trail condition - good and easy - hiked to Ford, Camp {33H-04} [37.5/259]. Camping there is a bit tricky to find a good place but manageable. Met a guy at the gosttown Puerto Cristal. The trail is according to him also used by tourists groups. I asked before the trial if there is a ferry connection - there is none only one company goes there by boat for tourist. Maybe you can arrange a transfer ( https://turismopuertocristal.cl/ very fast response time via WhatsApp 10 minutes). The Pass {33H-04} [43.3/840] is also a highlight. The Ford, Camp {33H-04} [37.5/259] is challenging hip deep. After that it's easy road walk to Bahía Murta. Got a lift at -46.520007, -72.636049.

Overall: I would recommend SoBo because the difficult sections are at the beginning and weather dependent. Go if you have a few stable non rainy days. Bring you packraft to have more options for fording. The entry via Option 03 & 03B is in my opinion easy due to hitchhiking & ou find a grop and book a lift The views are amazing at the passes. The BB is trivial. BB&CC is annoying but done within 2 hours. The Option 4 is absolutely beautiful and if you are a bit luckier than me avoids a lot of road walking. Would definitely reccomend the section. The reason for me to go with Option 04 is to easy connect to 82P.

Contact: https://linktr.ee/RundW

* '''2023-12-22 / 3 days / RR / SOBO / Anh'''

Just a quick info: The first part of RR is not marked but very easy to hike. After the pass (km 62) I had a hard time with the 2km CC. At first the snowfields were very steep (60 slope). The snow thickness was only 20-80cm, underneath are very big steep boulders and the melting snow makes the hollows big. Then there are the streams under the snowfields. I was a few times with a foot in it, fortunately not whole body. I had to go up and down in the forest, on the edge, on the rocks... My goal was to be safe, it took me 2 hours to cover the 2km.

==Season 2022/23==
* '''2023-Mar-30 to 2023-Mar-31 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 1 / Martin & Helena'''

We started from Villa Cerro Castillo around 11 AM and took ferry from the port the next day at noon. The former RR trail follows path of Sendero de Chile, and starting with no expectations we were quite impressed with what it offers, especially all the amazing views of Cerro Castillo. It's definitely a good short alternative to the Torres del Avellano detour that we were forced to skip. Trail is easy to follow and you can find many camp spots along the way. There are many small shops in Puerto Ibáñez. Knowing the ferry schedule we went directly to the port where were just a few others in this time of the year.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* '''26/02/2023 - 02/03/2023 / RR SOBO with emergency exit on a boat on Lago General Carrera / Louis, Rémi & Noé :'''

Day 1 - From Lago Verde - 15.5km - +700m/-300m We first hitchiked from Villa Cerro Castillo to Lago Verde on the Carretera Austral. We hiked then the gravel road until the camp next to the free check in point, in the forest.

Day 2 - Laguna La Plazza - 16.5km - +800m/-500m We kept going on the minor road before the well maintained horse trail. We took option to the Laguna La Plazza and we camped there but the weather was quite bad with a lot of wind. Would recommend to camp in the pasture down there in these conditions.

Day 3 - Lagunas before the pass - 17km - +1000m/-900m The trail was still very easy to follow this day. A bit of cross country at the end but nothing difficult as there are kerns. There is a spot to pitch tents next to the second lake, between it and the waypoint "camp" (that we didn't find btw). Very nice there and without the clouds, the view should be incredible.

Day 4 - CC until diversion @km69.8 - 14km - +500m/-1100m The troubles began for us this day. Noé injured his knee just after the pass. With Rémi, we alternated carrying his bag in addition to ours. That's why we hadn't moved a lot. The bush bashing is demanding and under the rain, fording is a real challenge. I would recommend you to be south of the Rio after the diversion/ford. We camped on the north side, a few hundred meters after the div.

Day 5 - Lago General Carrera - 30km - +700m/-1000m As we were a bit late, we decided to walk directly to the lake. We forded the Rio in order to be south of it and we found the horse trail, it was easier then ! We crossed the Rio a last time @km81.2, still manageable with the rain but a bit hard (water until the hips, we are 1m80 tall) with a strong current. Then, the minor road. We didn't leave it until the lake. A bit of ups and downs but the road is nice so it is fast. Here, at the lake. There is mobile coverage and so we contacted numeros given on the PDF on WhatsApp to find a boat to bring us back to civilisation. With the third bag to carry, it was too hard for us to keep hiking. I let you the contact of Jairo, that can bring you back to Puerto Tranquilo... for 400.000 CLP... we didn't had the choice as the settler living just in front of the lake wasn’t there. Jairo : +56 9 6633 9507 He transported us the next day.

* '''2023-Feb-21-27 / NOBO / RR + Option 3B / Ondrej and Bara / Puerto Ibanez - Vila Cerro Castillo / 6.5 days'''

Gorgerous section. Unfortunately, we were struck by bad weather mid-way which took out the joy and brought a few very difficult moments for us.

We went NOBO and on the 3rd day camped in the valley close to Maria & Julio (76.7 km). It started raining early morning and while the rain stopped around midday, it was enough to turn streams into rivers and cross country paths into swamps. We were unable to ford the river at km 69.8 at two different places. To continue, we decided to make a risky choice and bush-bash upstream on the other side of the river, hoping to ford it in an upper section and rejoin the trail. This eventually worked out. We forded the river at -46.43642, -72.45456 and rejoined the trail. This 1.2km diversion took us about 2 hours. Bush-bashing through forest was okay but in the middle of the diversion we struggled through 300m of thorny bushes which took forever to get across.

From around 1000m of altitude, we had fresh snow on the slopes. This made the boulder field more challenging than we wanted (fortunately still manageable). We crossed the exposed pass at km62.0 and continued on the other side, firstly through snow and then again through muddy cross country parts until we joined the trailhead at km 57.0. Afterwards the trail was easy all the way until the end.

We also met Anna and Christopher going the opposite direction - really great to meet fellow hikers!

* '''2023-Feb-20-24 / NOBO / RR shortend on the road sections / Zohar / Road to Levicán - Carterra Austeral / 5 days'''

I tried to shorten the section because of the upcoming bad weather, which hit on the last day, but I was lucky to catch a ride out with a family that came to collect wood from their land.

I arrived on Monday to pureto Ibañez spoke with the van to levicán that left at 17.40 to Levicán got off on the way where the rout leave the main road and walked till the shore of Lago General Carrera. Day 2 I followed the horse trail along the lake, which was very visible and easy to follow. Then, I followed a miner till I found a stable campsite. Day 3 was the hardest. I was determined to sleep at the base of the torres, so I had a lot of trail to cover, and the route was hard to follow, but the direction was clear. Day 4 started with a beautiful sun rise on the clear torres de avellano. The bolder field wasn't as hard as I itentenly thought, but be careful. After the pass, I met 4 young hikers going to the torres and back. Day 5 was wet, but at least on a minor road and about 9 km before the road, I was picked up and taken to Villa Cerro Castillo.

I don't advise doing the section in 5 days thay where long, big days, and it is better to enjoy the surroundings. if the weather was better, I would have taken 7 days. This section is beautiful and highly recommended

* '''20.02. - 24.02.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO, Villa Cerro Castillo - Puerto Ibáñez'''

In the afternoon we started hitchhiking the Carretera Austral to where Option 3B starts. There were lots of people trying to hitchhike directly from Villa Cerro Castillo, so we figuered to have a better chance if we walk further up the Carretera Austral. We soon got lucky. That day we walked the dirtroad until km 4.4 and camped there next to a small stream.

The next day was mostly easy walking on dirtroads until the crossing at km 45.5 (which is relatively easy to miss!). We camped at km 49 at the edge of the forest.

The next day the weather turned bad once we reached the section with all the boulders on the ascent to the pass. We did some unnecessary climbing by not sticking to the main route. When descending we lost the main route again and briefly tried to descend without it, which we soon realised is a bad idea, so we climbed back up to where we lost it. We spent the night at the camp at km 63.4.

The next morning we woke up with a clear blue sky and finally saw the Torres del Avellano. Really amazing rock formations. The following bushbashing part seemed ok to us, we had worse ones on the GPT so far ;). First we walked on to the right of the river following a good animal path. Once it ended we changed to the left side and stayed there. About 2/3 of the route is a realtively good path and the rest was some easy BB and climbing over fallen trees. Luckily the ford at km 69.8 was easy to cross. We took variant E from where on the trail was in a great condition and we could walk pretty fast. The river crossing at km 81.1 was more demanding and went almost up to Annas hips (1,63m). We camped soon after that at approx. km 81.5.

We continued on variant H the easy trail on the dirtroad until the lake, where it gets more demanding (we underestimated the continous ups and downs). The views are amazing though. It gets pretty windy next to the lake. We camped at a tiny spot at km 109.3 next to a small stream.

On the final day we walked to the bus station (6 pm) and took the ferry to Chile Chico the same day (8 pm). This section was great :)

* '''11-18 February 2023 / Maks&Gabi / SOBO / RR, 33H-E, 33H-H ( hichhiking from km136 to Puerto Ibanez)'''

We started from Villa Cerro Castillo. If you can, try not to skip the first part of road walking. It's beautiful with the view over Lagunas and Cerro Castillo. The terrain is also different than in later parts of the section.

There are some problems - lot of fences and gates on the first 5 km. Then many aggressive dogs and limited access to water (steep descents and fences around the lakes). The camping spots, marked on track files, can be hard to access (private properties with new fences). We camped by the bridge around 25km (the bridge is not marked).

We than waited half a day for the rain to stop. The rest of the road is also well maintained with occasional river crossing (all easy).

The next trail part (until km 57) is mostly visible. Some problem can occur by the CC part, especially during heavy rain - it was all floded. We weren't exactly expecting it, but it was snowing and the temperature during the night was about -4. Next day we waited until 11 am to dry our stuff, as the sun finally came out.

As Veronica wrote, when going up to the pass try to follow the cairns (33H-D). The part between the lakes and the pass is quite easy.

Going down from the pass we followed the GPS and we found it quite manageable (actually for us it seemed to be much easier going SOBO than NOBO at that point, even though it was slippery and with a lot of small streams going down the rock). We reached the camp at km 63.4 at 4 pm. First 400 m of BB is easy as the forest is not overgrown. It's getting worse in the valley. If possible try to be close to the river. We were fording it multiple times. Finally we stayed at the left side of the river, bushbashing for the next 3 km (that's where the trail starts). We slept next to the ford at km 69.8.

We forded the river in the morning. It's possible, but the current was strong (for us it was the worst ford on this section with water above our knees - I'm 175 cm). After the next ford we followed 33H-E as we couldn't find the entrance to the RR. It's a very well maintained path with a big puesto nearby.

After fords at km 81 we followed 33H-H as we didn't want to cross the river anymore. For those of you, who are planning to go there during the next few days, be carefull - somewhere around km 91 there is a fresh dead cow near to the water.

The lake part's quite exhausting. We were blessed with sunny and windless weather so we found it astonishing and not so dangerous. We started our last day at camp km 113.8 . Ascent on the road (117.5) is ok and there was water on km 119.9 (small stream). The rest of the road walking is easy (with occasional fences) but there's no water on km 135.2 (water on 129.3 is hard to access).

We hitchhiked from km 136 to Puerto Ibanez. During the weekend there is only one ferry a day (Saturday morning and Sunday evening).

* '''8 to 13 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO from Laguna Verde / 6 data'''

This one was an ordeal for me, I don't recommend starting with a week straight of rain in the forecast. At first I appreciated the ambiance after six completely dry weeks in the north, but after a few days it started to get me down. Thankfully to keep my morale up I encountered some kind settlers, a few pairs of GPT hikers, and some sun in the final stretch.

The rains never got too heavy, generally off and on light rain. The temperatures were fairly cold from the nearly constant cloud cover.

To start out I hitched out of Villa Cerro Castillo to Laguna Verde, teaming up with some of the many hitchhikers. The initial road walk was beautiful, some podcasts helped me power through the rest.

The pass was tough in the rain, but manageable. Things were slippery but there's enough to grab onto in the boulder fields to keep you stable, as long as you're focused and moving slowly. The ascent was nice boulder field the whole way, on the decent things looked scarier. Instead of boulders there was a lot of large smooth slab with water flowing down. The gpx route there was good, following boulders and vegetation around the slab. Things only felt dangerous once, when I went slightly off the track and ended up trapped between a cliff and a water slide. After some scary experimentation I found that I could get good traction on the waterslide using a crab walk technique, on my back with hands and feet and butt all resting on the slab. This let me traverse the waterslide back to safety.

The little bush bashing section after the pass was easy, I camped in there. Things got bad again once I got back out to the river and the cross country+bush bashing marker. My feet got worryingly numb after a bunch of river crossings and marshland traversal, I tried to stick to the woods after that.

I then took two big questionable detours from the tracks, staying to the south of the rio avellano and avoiding crossing it all the way until I reached the lake. I'll quickly describe them here but they were both uncomfortable and not worth it unless the river is impassable. The cold and rain seem to damage my decision making quite a bit, I refused to backtrack or to take breaks to think things through.

To skip the crossing at 69.8 I stayed in the woods south of the river starting at around km 67.5. Initially nice cow path, followed by a tricky wooded boulder field, followed by a horrific stretch crawling over thorny bushes. Eventually I made my way up to the base of some cliffs where things got a bit easier. Following the cliffs I reached a cow path, leading to some open woods through which I rejoined the trail around km 70.5. Never thought I'd be so happy to find cow poop.

I dropped a blue and black stone bracelet somewhere before or during the 71.8 river crossing, let me know if you come across it!

Some of the minor streams merging into the river were tough to cross. 71.8 was up to my thighs with a strong current.

To skip the first major crossing of the Rio Avellano at 81.2 I followed some horse trail to the big white rock hill, and climbed to the top. The rock was super grippy even in the rain. I then traversed along the slope to the east, staying between an elevation of 700 and 750m. There was some cow path making it easier to walk, I wonder how they get up there. A few tough bushy sections descending and climbing out of crevasses/streams before I got to a gradual stream at -46.46385, -72.30601 which I scrambled down to the river.

I ran into the settlers Luis and Jaqueline at their house by the river. They generously took me in for the night and gave me a chance to dry out some of my stuff.

From there I followed option 4C down to the lake, hoping that the river crossing there would be less scary with the river fanned out wider. The option was decent trail over some low passes to the lake, though at times it was hard to follow. It's tough to choose where to cross the river because you can't see the bottom through the silt. I decided to cross near the gpx line where it was wide with lots of debris and sand bars to rest in between the channels. At the worst points it was crotch deep and powerful, the rocks under my feet sliding back from the force. Pretty scary.

I camped in the willow grove by campo chico, and the next day (Monday) I raced to the bus stop at 130.4. It turns out that the bus is now at 6pm, I got there just in time. I took the bus to Puerto Ibáñez and got straight on the 8pm ferry to Chile Chico.

A small cut on my ankle ended up getting infected, I'm now in town out of commission with a ton of swelling. Should have been more careful!

* '''Feb 12 Direct Route SOBO 1 day Frank'''

I walked straight from Villa Cerro Castillo to Puerto Ibanez in one long day. A few KM out on a dirt road there is a museum on your left & a short trail on the right which goes to some rock paintings. You pass by a lake with good views of Cerro Castillo. Salto Rio Ibanez waterfall is impressive.

*Helen and Craig + (Caro and Ali)
5th-10th February NoBo<- only direction to do it! So pretty!

almost got stung by the ferry from Chile chico. Make sure when you go to the office as the online booking doesn't seen to be working, that you specify your a foot passenger. And if they refuse ask to be put on the waiting list for the next ferry (which means you'll get on just fine) pretty sure you could probably just turn up and ask very nicely and they would let you across. Looked in to the boats from Carlos and Pascual to join 33 missing the coast section from levican but Carlos is not in the area at the moment and Pascuals boat is currently non functional, sad times but the coastal section I would have been sad to miss!

-Decided to do Torres del avellano northbound. Highly recommend doing it this way and thankyou to the others who pointed out this point before us. Veiws were great and much easier to get over the bolder scramble going up.

-We walked in a group of 4 so payed for a transfere to levican and a pick up from lago lapparent. 60,000 each time.
-Phone signal from Puerto del avellano to levican
-The river valleys of avellano and venti were incredibly beautiful to the south.
-Route was better marked and easier to navigate than exsepted. Very Easy going apart from km 68.7-62. if you've done GPT 40 or 37, then you'll find 33 delightfully a breeze. (We did have good weather, in bad weather even just a little rain I imagine a very diffence and worse exsperience)
-In the BB/CC river valley of Rio avellano walk on the north shore of the river rather than going to the south. The forest is mostly easily passable or can hop out to the river valley to walk more freely. The south side of the river is calf/ knee high swampy bush bashing which leads to very cold feet and frustration.
-keep eyes peeled for humels! We spotted a male humel on the bushbash/cross country section and had the most amazing sighting!

* '''22 to 26 of January 2023 / Véronica / GPT33H RR SOBO / via GPT33H-03B / 4.5 days'''

Route: Villa Cerro Castillo - Laguna Verde (Río Alto valley) - Upper Río Avellano valley - Torres del Avellano viewpoint - Lower Río Avellano valley - Lago General Carrera - Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez

Simply beautiful section. Lots of excellent info is written about it in the Hiker's Manuel too. I only met 4 other hikers, with two of them being northbounding GPT hikers! Great to meet you, Yannic and Mirjam :)

From Villa Cerro Castillo I hitched easily on the Carretera Austral to Laguna Verde, where Option 3B begins. I wanted to cut some of the initial road walking because poor weather was incoming the next day and I wanted to try and beat it to have a chance at seeing the Torres. The road walk in the Río Alto valley was actually quite pleasant and scenic. There is a little self-registration booth across the road from the settler at km 30.8, where hikers are asked to "check in" before proceeding down the private road towards the Río Avellano valley. There is no charge.

The camp at 52.7 km is very nice with a little stream running through, lots of dead wood around to make a fire, and relatively sheltered. There is an old puesto/refuge there too that is open and has a fireplace. Could be a good spot to hole up if the weather is bad.

When you diverge from the Río Avellano valley to head up the pass, don't try and follow the GPS. Instead take the path of least resistance (or the path that looks the clearest) through the woods and across the rocks near the river. There are occasional cairns to mark the way too, although not always obvious to spot. Only the last cross-country section before the pass did I follow closely with the GPS, as it goes across a boulder field and the GPS line seemed to be the easiest way up to the pass.

On the south side of the pass is where you finally see the Torres del Avellano proper. Absolutely incredible, and I managed to get the great views only a couple of hours before the rain started and clouds engulfed everything.

I followed the GPS track closely going down through the granite boulder field, since it guided a safe way around the steeper cliffs. It was slow going down through the boulders, but it didn't feel unsafe as the rocks were grippy and solid.

The initial "bushbashing" segment at km 63.9 was very easy through a mature forest. I didn't follow the GPS here, just followed an old animal trail alongside a creek until it joined with Río Ventisquero. Again, the CC&BB section starting at km 64.4 was quite easy at first. I forded the river multiple times to walk along whichever side looked easier/less swampy. About midway through this section though it got tougher because Río Ventisquero got silty and the flow increased, so that I didn't want to ford it much anymore, so I stuck to the left (north) side of the river, mostly in the forest. There were some areas of unavoidable blowdowns and marshy terrain, and everything was wet from the rain coming down too.

When I reached the waypoint X, Ford at 69.8 km, I camped there for the night because Río Ventisquero was a torrent and looked unsafe to ford. There are a few nice, flat places to pitch a tent in this area, under large mature trees. Early the next morning, it was very cold and still raining, and I couldn't tell if the river had gone down at all or not. There was fresh snow higher on the mountaintops. I ended up fording the river slightly downstream from where the trail crosses it, and the water came up just below my hips (I'm 165 cm). The water is silty so you can't see the bottom, but the rocks underneath had surprisingly good traction, which I was grateful for because the current was strong.

It might be better to take Option 33H-E than the regular route. That trail looked well-maintained and clear, whereas the RR between 71.8 and 73.5 km was hard to follow and overgrown at times. There were no signs of life at the homestead of Maria and Julio when I passed through.

I was strategic when I forded Río Avellano at km 81.2, crossing multiple branches at their shallowest points. The water went midway up my thighs at the deepest point. Afterwards though I didn't want to cross it two more times, so I took Option 33H-H which stayed north of the river.

The refugio at km 98.5+0.2 on the shore of Lago General Carrera is nice and clean. There is a woodstove and some tables and chairs. It was crazy windy when I got there though, and I can't reccomend it as a good place to camp unless you sleep inside the refuge — the wind gusts were coming from all directions and there wasn't a spot that was sheltered outdoors. Further along the path at Campo Chico, there is a grove of mature willow trees that is probably a much better camp spot.

Very beautiful hiking along Lago General Carrera, but it was wildly windy for me that day. At times it was hard to stay on the trail due to the strong gusts trying to blow me off the path. Lots of water sources.

RH-MR&CC-V {33H} [19.5/118.0+4.6] is all minor road, no cross-country involved at all. I met the settler at km 121.8, he kindly let me pass through his property (and many gates) no problem.

I got to the minor road from Levican (waypoint at 130.4) at 7:40 a.m. on a Thursday. There is a little bus shelter there to protect from the wind. It was very cold and windy when I got there, and I waited until almost noon, hoping to hitch a ride. Not a single car passed by that whole time. So I resigned myself to the road walk, walked for about an hour in extremely windy conditions, and then a car finally came by and picked me up and drove me into Puerto Ibáñez :) Very grateful!!!

* '''2023 Jan / Yannic & Mirjam / Northbound'''

From Puerto Ibanez we made the first kilometres to junction 130.4 by car stop. Then we hiked on to Camp 113.4. We didn't stay at the location, but a little further ahead where the river flows into the lake. Along the lake was nice with a lot of ups and downs and then we camped somewhere on the side of the Minor Road. Along the Rio Avellano we stayed on the northern side so that we only had to cross the river once (at 81.2). The water came up to my waist (I am 180 cm). Surprisingly, there was another Ford at 69.8. Again, very strong current and loose ground, so it was difficult to find a good footing. Right after this Ford we spent the night in the forest.

On the climb at the start of the cross country section (at trailhead 68.5) be sure to get the right entry point as there are several small streams coming down the valley. We thought we saw a trail further into the forest that we could follow. Unfortunately, this was a mistake and led to us having to bush bash back onto the trail for a few hundred metres. In general, the trail was mostly better close to the river than deeper in the forest. The camping spot at the Torres was incredible and worth getting up for sunrise. The climb up the pass was very doable with the GPS tracks and not too difficult. On the other side of the pass, the trail got surprisingly good. We met a group of horses that were probably trekking to the lakes. Because the weather got worse, we took option 03 on the Carretera Austral and stopped at Ceroo Castillo.

*GPT section 33 7 days, 84 miles, 14K ft ascent Dec. 21 to 27, 2022 David and Erika NOBO

Ferry from Chili Chico runs just once a week (Mondays at 8:00 am) we missed it by hours and were stuck at the hotel California in Chili Chico for a day. “You can enter any time you like but you can never leave” got to be the feeling after residential bus after residential bus filled with residents and would not take us. Eventually got to Sierra Castillo and then hitched to Puerto Inginiero Ibanez. The tourist office there got her husband to give us a lift further 24 km to the end of the road. Well worth the 25,000 pesos. Road hike from there straightforward but new gates are being installed at the last road (NOBO) before you hit Lago General Carrera. Lots of wind. Last Refugio on the lake is legitimate. Good place to camp. Lower Rio Avellano was fordable. We thought we could avoid the 2nd and 3rd ford by taking the path over the hill. Don’t. It doesn’t go…Don’t worry, it gets worse. Ultimately, you’ll be hiking through the river all the way to Torres de Avellano. Note on that. The route takes you up to the lake. Beautiful, but then you go through a 2 km boulder field. We found the start of a trial before exiting the river that seems to lead right up to the pass. Might go, we don’t know. Instead, we took the boulder route, broke through a snow bridge, and put a deep gauge in Erika’s leg. Could have used stiches but had no sutures. Might be worth investigating.

*'''2022 Nov, NoBo, Option 1, Alice and Florian'''

We chose to do the option 1 taking the sendero de chile from Puerto Ibañez to Cerro castillo. Most of it is a trail road (first 25km, and the last 4) so it is quite tiring for the knees as some point. But it seems quite easy to do hitchhiking at least on the first 25 km if needed. Nevertheless it is quite a nice road. You first arrive to a very nice waterfall after 5km, them walk through a canyon with nice scenic views. The 10km pass through a forest trail near lakes, it is really nice as well.

* '''2022 Nov / GPT33H Option 11 and Parts of Regular Route / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck'''

GPT33H/GPT34P: Northern coast of Lago General Carrera from Puerto Sanchez to Levican (packrafting and hiking)

From 2022-Nov-20 to 2022-Nov-24 we (Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck) packrafted and hiked in 5 days from Puerto Sanchez to Levican along the northern coast of Lago General Carrera.

This lake is infamous for the frequent strong gusty wind, therefore packrafting requires a careful monitoring of the weather to depart only onto the lake when a period with calmer conditions is approaching. Luckily, there is reasonable good mobile phone coverage what facilities checking the weather and wind forecast frequently.

Given the wind conditions any packrafting attempt on Lago General Carrera requires to my opinion:

- decked packraft, a longer tandem is strongly preferable (faster, more stable) - a sail (to get quicker to an exit point) - packrafting experience in the region (to anticipate typical weather and wind patterns) - smartphone with entel SIM card or entel rooming - YR weather App, Windy weather App

The predominant wind is eastbound therefore only eastbound packrafting is advisable.

I’m left with the impression that wind gets generally stonger towards the east (towards Levican and Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez) and that calm periods are more frequent and longer towards the west (Puerto Tranquilo, Puerto Sanchez).

Also, calmer conditions are more likely in the early morning just after sunrise but strong wind all night is also common.

During a previous hike in February 2020 we experienced an entire summer day with barely any wind but such days are as frequent as unicorns and no travel plan should be build on exceptional favorable circumstances.

There is a trail along the northern shore but due to the steep coast there are sections of up to 13 km on the lake without a connection from the shoreline to this trail.

Emergency exits are more frequent along the coast but using such an exit means waiting for the wind to calm down what can take days. Therefore it is generally favorable to exit the water only in a location from where the trail can be reached easily.

We packrafted most of the distance from Puerto Sanchez to the Avellano river delta on 3 mornings in about 9 hours on the water but from there we hiked in two days to Levican because we had no similar promising calm weather windows in following early mornings. In hindsight the wind remained manageable in the morning hours till about noon but there was no point in reversing our decision to hike (and we urgently needed some exercise to get used to hike with heavy backpacks again).

Crossing from Puerto Tranquilo to Puerto Sanchez is reasonable feasible by packraft in calm weather (typically either very early in the morning or later in the evening). The crossing is 3 km wide and best started 1 km north of Puerto Tranquilo in a hidden bay with a nice protected spot to pitch a tent (46.6146°S / 72.6838°W · 210 m). If preparing the packraft at the beach of Puerto Tranquilo officials may stop packrafters as there are numerous restrictions and requirements applicable (in example accompanying motor boat with two licensed boat drivers).

Packrafters should depart in north-eastern direction to compensate for a south-eastern wind drift in case wind increases.

A very nice protected camp site is approximately 8 km from the recommended exit point near Puerto Tranquilo.

GPT33H: Bus Levican - Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez

The last 26 km from Levican to Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez are rather dull road walking. Therefore hikers that arrive at the right day and time can take the subsidized bus.

Monday and Friday only: 08:00 Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez -> Levican 09:00 Levican -> Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez 18:00 Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez -> Levican 19:00 Levican -> Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez Price: 1000 CLP

Transport at other times can be arranged for a substantially higher cost (estimated 40‘000 to 60‘000 CLP per vehicle).

Paty: +56 9 9506 3176

Luis: +56 9 8648 4075

==Season 2021/22==

* '''2022 Feb: 10-14, SoBo, RR, Kris&Stiina'''

Even though the first few days out of town is a road walk, the first part of it is actually really scenic and worth walking, the lakes are just very beautiful one the way. The second part was mostly in the forest and our feet, knees and hips were already hurting from all the road walking but once we got on trail it got better right away. The trail was surprisingly well maintained I would even say better than in Cerro Castillo National Park. Another unexpected surprise was the amount of people that we met on the trail a total of about 25 people in different size groups were hiking to see Torres de Avellano. We really didn’t expect that, there also seemed to be some sort of backpack hauling and guiding service that the local arrieros were offering. We unfortunately didn’t manage to talk to them to find out, but it seems that the place is getting popular. Which is not a surprise because it’s very very beautiful there, probably is correct what the manual says, that it’s going to be the next Torres del Paine, time will tell.

On day 3 about 2-3km before the pass the trail disappeared and the going got tougher and tougher, mostly just bolder hopping up and over the pass. The descent was pretty steep on large granite slabs which offered plenty of good grip but I am not sure how well would it work in wet conditions. I think the pass is doable in not good weather conditions but only if one feels very confident in own abilities on wet rocks. Also it’s a good idea to follow the gps on the way down because otherwise you end up on a cliff edge and have to track back up. The ground finally eases up once you enter the forest, but then starts the bushwhacky part all the way until ford/div at 69,7km.

That was as far as we could make it that day because the river was pretty fast in the evening. So we decided to camp right there and cross it in the morning when the flow would be a bit more manageable and our decision payed off. In the morning the river was about 10cm lower than the evening before, so if you ar a shorter person it could save you. The flow was pretty strong and water was still about hips deep. Both of us crossed it together by standing in a line, me in front and Stiina supporting me from behind, it worked great. After that it was easy cruising for the next 32km, however we had to cross that river once again at 81,2km. It was still challenging but we managed to do it the traditional way one by one, facing upstream. But the current was still very strong and pushing our feet out from under us, challenging our balance. After that we didn’t want to cross it two more times as gps suggested so we just stayed on the left coast all the way to the lake. There were some cow trails to follow and also to bypass the cliffs it was no problem.

The lake is really beautiful with all the islands and it wasn’t too windy when we arrived. We camped about a kilometer from Campo Chico on the rocky stream bed and managed to cook on the fire that night without causing fire hazard. And there were apple, pear and plum trees at the 98,3km, plums were very ripe but the apples and pears still need a week or two to get ready, but it was a very nice treat nevertheless.

Next day was Monday which meant that we could avoid the 26km road walk at the end of the section which we were determined to do. We had 30km to goto get to the road junction were the bus is passing by and according to the manual the bus would pass there some time after 20:00 which is when it starts from Levican. So we pushed the whole day over the steep, sandy, bushy terrain and made it to the junction by 19:00, great, we thought. But after bus didn’t show up we called the phone nr that Janna & Matthias had provided and it turned out that the bus actually leaves Levican at 18:00 and is long gone. But the bus driver was nice enough to offer us a ride to Puerto Ibañez, however for a hefty 45.000 pesos. We were out of food, out of water and pretty spent from getting ourselves there so we accepted the offer. The car ride showed that it would be a pretty dull road walk aswell if we would have had to do it so in the end it all worked out and we got to town just as we wanted.

The town was a bit disappointing, people were somehow not very helpful and also all accommodations were full, but we managed to camp at Las Cabañitas about a km out of town. The next day we went to the port to catch the ferry to Chile Chico, but due to strong winds all ferries were canceled and nobody could even give us a guess of when the ferries would restart. We didn’t want to spend another day in Puerto Ibañez so we hitched back to Villa Cerro Castillo in hopes to get bus or a hitch around the lake. There are definitely daily buses to Cochrane.

In the end our plans changed and we decided that we are content with our experience on GPT this season, so we left it at that. Thanks for kicking our butts GPT and showing us beauty we haven’t seen before! :)

For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures

* '''GPT 33H Option 4 (Puerto Cristal)/ Torres de Avellano/ Packrafting Route / 2022 Feb-4 / 7 days / Tobias Schorcht and Jonas Grünewald'''

I started Packrafting from Puerto Tranquilo to Puerto Sanches in the calm morning hours. Since Jonas doesn‘t have a Packraft, we booked a full Marvel Caves Tour by boat for him and asked the Captain, to leave him in Puerto Sanches, which was possible without any extra paying. We hiked northbounded along Lago Vidal Gormez and visited the left behind abandoned village Puerto Cristal. It was an impressive experience to see the old facilities of the Mining Company! The good visible trail is partly overgrown with spiky bushes and contains a lot of altitude. We have been rewarded with stunning views on the Lago General Carrera and recommend this option anyway. We went up to the Torres with good weather knowing, that some wind and rain have been predicted for the night. It took us many hours to cross the valley (-46,43300, -72,48867) because we mainly followed the “cow-trails” through the forest and wetland (as an alternative to walk up the river). We reached the camp (-46,42178, -72,50672) late and sheltered the spot with rocks against the wind. You are welcome to use our cozy spot free of charge 😉. Took the trail from the Torres down to Cerro Castillo without difficulties.

We have to say, that this part of the GPT was challenging but absolutely worth the struggle.

Disfrutas las cosas 🙏

* '''NoBo, January 2022, 6.5 days, Participants: Janna & Matthias'''

Day 1: We took the ferry from Chile Chico to Puerto Ibañez (ferry schedule online).There still runs a government-subsidised bus (+56 9 89448847) between Puerto Ibañez and Levicàn on Mondays and Fridays at 8am & 5pm (summer). We decided to spend the afternoon rain relaxing at the pizzeria in Puerto Ibañez and then catch the bus. We called and found out that the bus stop is now in front of the Supermercado Jelvez. The driver let us off at Div 130.4/311 at about 6pm ($1000 per person cash) and we hiked for another hour or so. At bridge 129.3/304 you cannot get water (a kind of gorge), maybe at the marked "Water?" about 15min downstream. We had enough with us and camped sheltered from the wind between the monoculture trees (S 46.377764 W 71.922459).

Day 2: We continued through / over many gates and past empty houses down to the water. Attention if NoBo: at gate 122.6/628 there are two gates - the GPT splits behind the left one, so take that one. The first water before the lake and two good camps at the lake are marked. The path along Lago Carrera was easy to find, sandy and rough in places but we could follow old riders' tracks. We really enjoyed the fantastic view over the lake and had a tábano-free time thanks to the strong wind. About 2 km before Campo Chico (S 46.478295 W 72.086034) we found a west wind-protected and very nice camping spot.

Day 3: Further camping possibilities would be as already described on wikiexplora at Campo Chico and at Puerto Avellano. Along the lake there are streams/rivers for drinking water every 1-2h. There is a wild apple tree on the trail here: S 46.487073 W 72.102247 in case you come by at the right time of year. After Puerto Avellano there is about 15km of a former mine road that is easy to follow. We had a wonderful view of the mountains the whole day. The first two Fords are easy to pass with little water. Water sources again every 1-2h. Our camp 3 was here: S 46.457910 W 72.299412 - beautiful, next to the water, sheltered from the wind.

Day 4: Ford-day - in total we forded rivers more than 20 times, all of them were easy to knee deep except Río Avellano at 81.2/490 which reached almost to our hips and required a lot of effort. We met and chatted with settler Maria who was on her way to have some work done. At Div/Ford 69.7/634 the mountain peaks remained hidden in the clouds and the weather forecast was not so sparkling why we opted for the bypass (option 2) which is also very nice to walk with imposing mountain massifs on both sides, enchanted fairytale forests, a waterfall and easy-to-find cow tracks. Only the large swamp around S 46.386387 W 72.422623 was very unpleasant and foul-smelling, about shin deep. It may be worth looking for a path along the water there. Camp 4: S 46.371434 W 72.432519, quiet and nice under curious observation of two horses on the other side of the river.

Day5: At Div 54.5/841 we checked the weather again but as it still looked bad and everything in the valley further up was already in fog we finally decided against the Torres. At this Div there was an unmarked Ford when coming from option 2. If NoBo hiking directly after this Div take the path higher up the hill and not the marked route directly along the water, because the latter is slipped and to climb. At Puesto 53.0/946 (if NoBo) do not go through the gate but continue on the east side. A Horse Trail runs along the eastern edge of Mallin Grande. Our Camp 5 was here: S 46.281253 W 72.436128.

Day 6: Continued on the gravel road, passing many settlers and pastures. The Estero Alto flows much lower than the road, there is water at Bridge 25.7/454 and otherwise only at the lakes. There is a fence almost everywhere to the left and right of the road. To get to Camp 16.9+0.3/598 you have to climb over a locked gate (S 46.178222 W 72.312583). The two buildings in the pasture are a ruin (S 46.182635 W 72.311414) and a stable (S 46.183119 W 72.310509).

Day 7: Continued along the gravel road we almost missed Div 5.5/554 where a sandy path continues. The path is blocked by a wire fence at S 46.143124 W 72.184071 but a little further to the right you can slip through. No problems to get to Villa Cerro Castillo

==Season 2020/21==

* '''February 2021 from Bahía Murta to Torres del Avellano to Carretera Austral / Northbound, 5 days. Valle Resfalín/Resfalón (Option 8) + Mirador Torres del Avellano + Regular Hike + Escape to Carretera Austral (Option 3B) + Hitchhiking to Villa Cerro Castillo'''

Day 1: Bahia Murta to Camp #5 (Camp ? @33H-08-#005) / 11.5 km / 6 hours

The hike started at Bahía Murta, on a steep hillside. We used the GPS tracks to find the path, and from there on it’s pretty easy to follow the path (when in doubt, we checked the GPS). It’s a very nice hike, and at the end of the day it’s necessary to cross the river. We both had trekking sandals, which came in handy every time we had to cross a river. Just after the river there is a camp option. We found a nice spot on the other side of the wooden fence, but there are many more options up the small hill. It was a perfect place for sleeping, with the soothing sound of the river.

Day 2: Camp #5 (Camp ? @33H-08-#005) to Regular Route at Mallín Quemado (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) / 11.7 km / 8 hours

This was one of the longest days for us, mainly because we underestimated how much time it takes to walk through a path that’s been reclaimed by nature. The day started with a steep uphill, where we lost the path for a while and then had to check the GPS to find it again. There are streams on the way where it’s possible to refill the water bottles. About a third way in, at (-46.38537, -72.55201), the path collapsed, probably washed out by the river. We took a look around and decided it was way safer to cross the river than to continue on the collapsed path (it was late February, so the river was not so full). We crossed to the other side, and 100m ahead crossed back. This is definitively the trickiest part of the day (although a bit farther ahead we found ourselves in the middle of a caterpillar forest...not really pleasant). Just after the crossing the are two camp sites (Camp ? @33H-08-#008 and Camp ? @33H-08-#009), but we would recommend keep going as the second part of the day is definitively easier than the first. Farther ahead we found two more camp site options: at (-46.36768, -72.53116) on this side of the river and at (-46.36722, -72.53088) on the other side of the river. We considered sleeping there, because we were exhausted, but in the end we decided to keep going as we still had some hours of daylight left. This was the right choice, because that way we could sleep at Mallín Quemado and then the next day do the day trip to Torres del Avellano. Mallín Quemado is the name the locals use for the big forest area that was “burned” by the ashes of Volcan Hudson. It’s near (Puesto @33H-53.0) and it’s a perfect place for sleeping. We decided to boil the water from the small stream, because there were some cattle grazing around.

Day 3: Camp #10 (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) to Mirador Laguna y Torres del Avellano and back to Camp #10 / 7.1 km (each way) / 3 hours (each way)

We started early and with a lot of motivation to go and see the Torres del Avellano. Sadly the day was a bit cloudy, but nonetheless it was totally worth it: the views from up there are breathtaking! A lot of glaciers and superstreams with the purest water you can ask for. When we arrived back at the camp, we met the first person in 3 days: Francisco, a teacher from Puerto Aysen. He came up the other way, from Villa Cerro Castillo, and was planning on going to Torres del Avellano on the next day, and then head back to Villa Cerro Castillo.

Day 4: Camp #10 (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) to Camp at (-46.26244, -72.35118) / 21.6 km / 8 hours

Another long day, but without any difficult parts. This section of the hike is way more popular than Valle Resfalín/Resfalón, so the path is way easier to follow. The first section, until the car road, is really beautiful. We even saw some (semi) wild horses! We knew that once the car road started there wouldn’t be so many camp site options, so we kept our eyes open. The car road goes through a narrow valley, and then comes a steep down hill. At the bottom of the hill, on the left side, there is a small meadow, where it’s possible to pitch a tent (-46.26244, 72.35118). Water is available 100m down a steep hill.

Day 5: Camp at (-46.26244, -72.35118) to Carretera Austral / 14.8 km / 4 hours

Following the main car road to Carretera Austral it’s impossible to get lost. We didn’t find any stream on the way, but in case of needing water there are many houses. Just be sure to ask nicely :) Once on the Carretera Austral we hitchhiked to Villa Cerro Castillo. We only had to wait for 30 minutes to get a ride, and considering that we did this during covid times...not too bad. We also had the backup plan of Francisco, who would be driving to Villa Cerro Castillo later that day. Funny enough, we ran into Francisco by chance in Villa Cerro Castillo and he invited us to an ice cream. It was a nice way of ending the trip.

We are extremely grateful to Jan and all the people from wikiexplora for making this adventure possible!

==Season 2019/20==

*'''Section 33: RR(New!) from Ibáñez. Exit via Option 8 to Bahía Murta.'''
Westbound. 11 days. Party (3): Mum, Sis and I.

Ibáñez y Península Levican: Continuing our extended stay in Chile we caught a government subsidised bus from Cerró Castillo to Ibáñez where we learnt after a somewhat lengthy process: talking to the ticket office, boat personnel and then the carabineros (an officer and then his jefe!), everyone passing the buck; that without a certificado de salud (not available in town, and only online) we couldn't board the vessel. The upside was that the Naviera Austral had fantastic baños (yes! they were open!) and the cleaning lady let us have a quick body wash and even do a little laundry before she had to close up. There was also limited WiFi connectivity (only WhatsApp would work) and powerpoints where we could charge our things. It also happens that we bumped into a Zulema Amoroz who was born in Fachinal, most likely a relative of Carloz Amoros who offers the boat service from Fachinal across the lake (we contacted him but no boats were allowed on the lake). If you hang around near where the ferry docks you might find her selling coffee and alfajores.

We quickly decided to walk the new Section 33 Jan recently published, but end in Bahía Murta instead (i.e. explore option 8). Some effort was exhausted trying to organise a lift out to Península Levican. We did find someone for $30k, (it seemed a little steep but that's roughly what to expect), but it wouldn't be till the following day and we needed to get out of town to spend the night. We stocked up on food and started out on foot on the old RR (now Option 1) camping before we reached Río Ibáñez.

I had a little concern about water on the way to Levican, but there are two or three good streams along the way: (-46.31022, -71.97272) (-46.32470, -71.96457) (-46.34091, -71.94069)

In Puerto Ray a lady (also named Zulema!) warmed up to us and let us camp in her fruit orchard. In the morning we bought some eggs and 'bread' from them. Her husband was tanning a chivo hide; he had such a jolly step!

Along Lago General Carrera: We went back to the junction (Div Levican @33H-131.4) where a good emergency shelter exists. The road is still very clear from here, but don't expect any traffic. I think it was a rare sight that we saw an old Mercedes truck full of wood lumbering (pun intended ;) out. The rd deviates a little from the track files maybe due to the pine plantations. There are many new rds., so take care you don't go the wrong way. Taking the RR you will pass through a locked gate (-46.38234, -71.96692), after this keep an eye out for a gate on the left. It's not in the track files and we didn't look for it, so maybe it's not there. The issue we had was that the road continues up the hill, deviating from the RR around (-46.38448, -71.97642). Here you should already be on the small road on the other side of the fence (someone traveling towards Levican/Ibáñez will find this easier to scope I imagine). Though it's not recommended to cross fences, we carefully crossed instead of heading back. A very minor Rd continues down to a dilapidated puesto and a couple of portóns. The road didn't seem to continue as indicated in the track files... but I wasn't following my gps. We CCed across a field until we encountered another road that led back to the RR.

You will finally encounter your first reliable water source since Levican (-46.40196, -71.97831), especially if you are heading towards Ibáñez, make sure you fill up here!

The two camps in the track files at km117 and km114 were the best we saw. The next obvious choice would be around Campo Chico I think, quite a bit further along. Plenty of water along the lake and we had plenty of apples seeing we were walking so late in the walking season. Amazing autumn colours! The track is also in good shape, someone had very recently 'cleaned' the way! The refugio at Los Álamos was a very welcome sight, a great place to spend a night (it's there because of the high winds possible on the lake). The nearby settler was resonably friendly and his dog Puestero even more so! He told us that it was him who 'cleaned' the track along Lago General. It made our walking so much easier! Thanks Armando!

Valle Avellano y Ventisquiero: The old mining road through Valle Avellano was easy to follow. The road actually continues significantly further than indicated in the track files. Taking Variation F to avoid extra crossings of the river we found the road ended about here: (-46.45730, -72.30207). There is an unmarked ford here: (-46.46107, -72.24636)

We took Variation D and just caught Maria and Julio before they headed out with their kids on a horse ride. We bought some bread from them. They called it a tortilla, but I think my Mexican friends would strongly argue the point ;)

Easy walking up into Valle Ventisquiero. Read Jan's track notes. They are quite thorough. The trail to remeet Río Avellano is a little unused (also as mentioned in his write up), but easy to follow. Some good camping before the river. We met some gouchos using the puesto, they were not overly friendly; I think a little scared because of the virus. They pointed out a nearby shelter we could use made from a very old technique using U-shaped logs (I met a carpenter in Murta who told me a little about it).

Option 8: Valle Resbalín/Resfalón(?): It was snowing in the morning. We decided to take Option 8 to Bahía Murta. This meant less road walking and involved a part marked as 'I' (investigation) which would be nice to document. It appears that this route down Valle Resbalín (or "Resfalón" as some locals in Murta told me it was named... anyone know?) is no longer used; quite overgrown, vague and in places difficult to detect at all. Sometimes all we could see was the occasional chainsawed log; and in some chutes: machete marks. Water was plentiful. There was a very old but partially functional puesto en route.

There is a junction ('div') here: (-46.37495, -72.53695). The trail heading up the side valley actually looked quite distinct. I'm not sure what it's name is, or what's up there, but the water was a nice glacier blue and it had a higher flow than the 'main' named river.

The only tricky spot to find the track was where it was washed away by the river, about here: (-46.38527, -72.55201). I cut steps in the bank, crossed, and dropped a rope down for the others. It would be much safer to walk in the river. We explored options to bypass via skirting around in the bosque, but they didn't seem practical. The nearby camp site marked in the track files (Camp ? @33H-08-#008) is not really good. Better to camp 200m upstream If camping around here. We camped at the confluence with Estero Sur, which is the best spot to camp we saw in the entire valley. From this point down the valley, the track is in use: plenty of fresh signs of cattle (maybe they graze in the side valleys?). Ford Estero Sur (-46.39815, -72.58224) and follow the track down the valley with ease. There is camping at (Camp ? @33H-08-#004) but better 300m down the valley near a corral. 50m down valley of (Camp ? @33H-08-#002) camping is possible next to the vague ruins of an old puesto. Further down the valley are several grassy areas good for camping, the most obvious is here (-46.43778, -72.65597) in the vicinity of the old puesto. The track (as opposed to Rd) continues much further than indicated in the track files. The road only starts about here (-46.44697, -72.66655) once you are nearly in Murta. We rested a full day in Murta and I happened to run into Felepé who we'd meet before the trip in Cerró Castillo. Loco!

Thanks Jan for making this trip possible, Tobias Hellwig for recommending the reroute, and all the people on wikiexplora who explored and documented the tracks.

If anyone has any information on the history of Valle Resbalín/Resfalón(?), the mining prospectors in Valle Avellano, or the settlers that abandoned the coast of Lago General Carrera, I'd love to read a bit.

I hope this helps someone. Thanks!

Oh! and we're back in Cochrane now and planning to be in Coyhaique in a week or so. Cheers.

* '''BE AWARE THAT THE BELOW LOGS refer to Option 1 and not to the new Regular Route:'''
Until 2019 the Regular Route followed the Sendero de Chile in the vicinity of Rio Ibañez what is now Option 1. Tobias Hellwig suggested to reroute the GPT via the Torres de Avellano to incorporate this hidden treasure. This proposed new route was investigated and documented in February 2020 by the founders of the GPT. By this time multiple segments of this new route were already published on Wikiexplora by other authors. Only the route from Kilometer 62.2 to 69.9 remained undocumented and had to be researched and ground-proved.

* '''10 Mar 2020 / RH SOBO / Ty / 1 day'''

Super easy in general. I was able to get a hitch for like the last 10 kilometers. There’s a lot of different trail you can wander off on at the start of the sendero de Chile, so just be aware of your navigation at the start. The only good easily accessible water I found was between the two lakes before the intersection where you start walking the road. The ferry to Chile Chico leaves around 8 and takes a couple hours. Otherwise the next ferry leaves at 11 am....but make sure to confirm these times yourself. When arriving in Chile Chico, I climbed up to the viewpoint/mirador close to the ferry landing and found a place protected on the wind and slept on the ground. There is also an abandoned house marked in I-overlander that has an area in a room big enough for a 2 person tent. It’s on your right just before the climb up to the mirador.

* '''Jan 2020 / RH Northbound / Matthieu / 2 days'''

No technical difficulties on this part. However, I was stopped, when the GPT leave the road to go between the two lakes, by a sign : área protegida, ingreso no permitido. For me, it was cristal clear, so I just continued the road, disappointed. I spoke to one of the settler not far, who told me that it was only for cars and it s ok for walkers, and that it is part of the "Sendero de Chile". So the way seems open finally. Anyway, there is another little path just before the lago Ardillas that goes north, and join the GPS tracks above the Valley Ibanez. Well maintained, in the hills, lots of cows, good experience.

* '''2019 Jan/ Olrik / Northbound'''

From Ibanez you walk on a dirt road to the entrance of a Reserva Natural. You are on the Sendero de Chile so it is well marked. In the reserva the trail is easy to follow and there was no one. You end up in Cerro Castillo. We did it in 2.5 days but could be done in 1 day if beginning early.

* '''2019-Nov-28/ Lea Geibel/ 1 day / Northbound / Regular Hiking Route (Puerto Ibañez to Villa Cerro Castillo)'''

After arriving with the ferry at 10.30 a.m., the section can be hiked in one day (around 8 hours of walking). Most of the section is on a dirt road with very little traffic. The part that is following a trail is marked with posts with red / white rings on them. Occasionally the trail is not very visible but numerous animals tracks are usually heading in the right direction before eventually meeting up with a trail marker again.

=Resupply and Accommodation=

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

*2025 / Michael & Kasia:
If entering or exiting via Opt 8 or Opt 4, Bahía Murta (Puerto Murta) has several places that rent cabañas or camping space. There are at least 5 shops in town. The two largest both had tall skinny gas recharge canisters (Minimercado Gemaniar 3.000, Minimercado Estribo 4.000), but no screw type for backpacking stoves. Minimarket Gemaniar across from the tourist information office had generally the best prices and a good selection. The panadería across from the plaza had good pan amasado.

*Section GPT33H starts in Villa Cerro Castillo and terminates in Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez (Resupply information see GPT34H). Hikers that continue southbound may also resupply in Chile Chico after the ferry crossing of Lago General Carrera (Resupply information see GPT35).

*Several shops sell food and camping gas canisters.

*Restaurants offer filling meals.

*Accommodation is provided by hostels, cabañas and camp sites in these towns.

*Hikers that walk GPT33H and its adjacent sections with continuous footsteps can resupply in Cerro Castillo, Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez and Chile Chico and do not need to leave the route to resupply.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

*There is no plannable resupply along the entire Regular Route but some food may be obtained at the two homestead farms on the route.

[Settler (Maria & Julio) @33H-76.9]: Maria and Julio are one of the few settlers that still make cheese for sale in such a remote location. If you are short on foot you might also ask if they may sell some bread, milk or meat.

[Settler (Luis Diaz) @33H-85.2]: Luis : When passing his home consider a visit. You may also ask if he has bread or meat to sell.

[Puesto @33H-98.5]: The puesto 250 m north of Puerto Avellano is rarely occupied by their owners but the fruit trees might provide some well desired vitamins in summer and early autumn.

=Transport to and from Route=

*2025 / MiaimZelt
Subsidized bus between Puerto Ibañez and Levican every Monday & Friday: Ibañez/levican 8:15 & 17:00, Levican/ibañez 9:00 & 18:00.
Transportes Freddy Morales (+56 9 9506 2906)

*2023 / Maks&Gabi
We hitchhiked from km 136 near Levican to Puerto Ibanez. During the weekend there is only one ferry a day (Saturday morning and Sunday evening).

*2023 / Louis, Rémi & Noé :
Here, at the lake. There is mobile coverage and so we contacted numerus given on the PDF on WhatsApp to find a boat to bring us back to civilisation. I let you the contact of Jairo, that can bring you back to Puerto Tranquilo... for 400.000 CLP.. Jairo : +56 9 6633 9507

*Most buses to Villa Cerro Castillo leave Coyhaique in the morning around 08:00 and pass Villa Cerro Castillo approximately 1:30 hours later. In the opposite direction buses pass Cerro Castillo in the early afternoon.

*Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez has regular public transportation to Coyhaique (1:45 hour by bus) and Chile Chico (2:15 hour by ferry). The ferry over Lago General Carrera that connects Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez with Chile Chico does two round trips each day, one in the morning and one the evening. Buses to and from Coyhaique operate synchronized to these ferries.
Best Call Buses Alejandro: +56 9 7652 9546

*Subsidized bus from Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez to Levicán: Monday and Friday, Approx. 1’000 CLP Morning round trip: Leaving Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez at 08:00, arriving in Levican around 09:00 and returning immediately to Ibañez around 09:00 and arriving at Ibanez around 10:00. Evening round trip: Leaving Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez at 17:00, arriving in Levican around 18:00 and returning to Ibañez at 18:00 arriving at Ibanez at 19:00.

*Private transport from Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez to Levicán: Anytime, Approx. 35´000 CLP
Try to call Luis: +56 9 8648 4075

*Combining GPT35 with GPT33H

Northbound hikers may consider connecting GPT35 directly with GPT33H by exiting Parque Patagonia towards Fachinal and crossing Lago General Carrera by motorboat from Fachinal to the Desembocadura Rio Avellano. Here Lago General Carrera is only 3.5 km wide and a motorboat crossing does not take more than 20 minutes. Unfortunately, in summer this requires some patience as the normally strong wind often impedes this. In the morning or the evening the wind occasionally calms down but rarely during the day.

Carlos Amoroz, a settler in Fachinal owns a motorboat and offers this service on request. Pascual Diaz, a tour operator from Mallin Grande, can also provide this service but he must first haul his motorboat the 42 km on trailer from Mallin Grande to Fachinal what makes his service substantially more expensive.

Settler with motorboat in Fachinal (Location: -46.5568°S / -72.2120°W) Name: Carlos Amoroz Mobile: +56-9-76267029 Price: Approx. 30’000 CLP for 2 persons

Tour operator with motorboat in Mallin Grande Name: Pascual Diaz (Company: “Kalem Patagonia”) Mobile: +56-9-7391 7881 Price: Presumably more expensive and advance notice required

This section combination of GPT35 with GPT33H seems more practical in northbound direction as hikers can first talk directly to the settler with the motorboat in Fachinal, resupply in Chile Chico (by taking a motorized transport from Fachinal to Chile Chico and back) and then cross Lago General Carrera with a refilled backpack. While waiting for the wind to calm down hikers can pitch their tent at a nice wind protected camp site on the shore of Lago General Carrera.

Thanks to the reasonably good mobile phone coverage in Fachinal hikers can check the weather and wind forecast and call the settler with the motorboat when approaching Fachinal. This permits hikers to anticipate or discard a motorboat crossing on arrival.

Hikers that attempt a more complicated southbound crossing of Lago General Carrera should make arrangements with the settler with the motorboat at least one or two weeks before arriving at Puerto Avellano, test communication devices (i.e. InReach to mobile phone), agree on the precise pick-up location (Puerto Avellano or Desembocadura Rio Avellano) and carry enough food to wait some time in Puerto Avellano. Hikers should be prepared that the wind may not calm down while waiting several days in Puerto Avellano. In this case the motorboat transfer should canceled, and the hiker should walk out to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez before the food reserves deplete. There is mobile phone coverage at Puerto Avellano (entel if I recall correctly).

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

*To my knowledge paddling on Lago General Carrera requires a permit from the Armada de Chile but complying with all requirements might not be possible even for a well equipped packrafter (i.e. distress signal rockets).

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT33H - Puerto Ibañez]]

Retired Section Article [[GPT33H - Torres del Avellano]]

For additional information see the Wikiexplora Articles:

[[Península de Levican - El Avellano]]

[[Torres del Avellano]]

[[Laguna La Plaza]]

For more information see the Wikiexplora Article:

[[Puerto Cristal]]

For more information see the Wikiexplora Articles:

[[Valle Miller]]

[[Estero Jaramillo]]

A part of this route is described in the Wikiexplora Article:

[[Mirador Este de las Torres de Avellano]]

=Images=

GPT33H (Torres de Avellano)

2025-02-23T19:50:11Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2024/25 */

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

= How to a add new entry =
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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=
The GPT manual has an extensive description of this route and all its options.

=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

* '''2025-02-19 to 2025-02-23 / 4,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 3B, RR, variant C,H, / Thijmen Scholten'''</span

* I started hitchiking from Cerro Castillo, but barely any cars passed and Around 10.00 de bus came
* Took option 3 and first day is only road walking , the first part untill the last settler (30.8) is really really really boring ! Hitching did not work. You can get a taxi from Cero de Castillo's it will cost 70.000 pesos.
* Water: On option 3 and the road walks of the RR there is not much water. For the rest water is no problem
* Camping : Many camp places everywhere.
* Option C the Laguna is nice
* I camped at crosspoint to the Laguna (option C), nice place but many dead trees and branches so lookout where you put your tent when it's windy
* Around km 49 I followed the Osmo trail trough the forest instead of the presumely swampy grassland trail (it rained all night)
* It rained all day and also next day so I opted to take option 8 instead. But I am very glad I did continue on the RR because the view on the other side of the pass is beautiful!
* Scrambling down from the pass was ok even in the rain. Just be sure to follow the gpx carefully ! Otherwise you will end up at a ledge
* The camp site at the lake is very wind exposed my tent blew away. Decided to pack it again and camp down in the beautiful forest.
* As for the bushbash part. I followed the right side of the river (looking downstream). There was a trail which I lost often but easy to walk. Even saw campfire traces so probably it's used more often. I don't know if it's easier than the right side. But the BB/CC part took me less than 2 hours this side.
* The first official fjord (69.8) was already above my waist and very difficult (crossed it diagonal as supposed). It rained all night so probably the river is not only affected by glacial melt but also by rain alot.
* Talked to Roberto (he lives around km 80) and he confirmed the river was high due to the rain. He adviced me to cross at his house where the river has 3 arms. I did that and the crossing was just doable the water was untill my waist.
* Roberto also offered me to cross with his horse if it was impossible on foot.
* Took variant H to avoid crossing 2 more times
* The road walk has not alot of nice camping places. Found 1 grassy patch with water around 5km before the lake.
* When the hiking trail next to the lake starts , just go straight to the beach otherwise you have to bushbash.
* The trail next to the lake is sometimes covered by vegetation I break some branches to make a way. Is everyone does this (or with Macheti) the trail will stay walkable (look out for thorns).
* There is internet (Entel) from around halfway the trail.
* I Camped at the end of the trail (km 117.6) close to the lake, there is little stream there as well.
* Road walk to Ibanez is very very very boring as well.
* At water source 135.3 the creek is very small but there is a black hose laying around at the left side of the road which you can use to fill your bottle.
* After 3 hours the first car passed and I got a hitch to town.

* ''' 2025-FEV-15 > 19 / 4 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR > 33-B > RR > 33-D > RR > 33-H > RR / Pierre-Marie '''

Etape : <strike>GPT31</strike>+GPT32+GPT33
| Meteo : soleil nuages et vent
| Eau : difficile au début
| Neige : non
| Intérêt : 5/5
| Difficulté : 4/5
| Danger : Rivière, éboulis

J'ai fais quelques courses et j'ai mangé au restaurant à Villa Cerro Castillo. Ensuite j'ai repris la randonnée. Attention l'eau est difficilement accessible car les lacs sont clôturés et en contrebas de la route. Sur la gravel road j'ai réussi à faire 4 km d'auto-stop. J'ai mal préparé ma randonnée et j'ai raté la 33-A. Mais je n'avais pas encore dépassé la 33-B alors je l'ai prise. Il y a un petit ruisseau devant le settler du km 0,7. Je n'ai pas pu faire de stop sur la gravel road car je n'ai vu aucun vehicule. Il y a un ford au km 36 quand le sentier traverse la rivière. Au km 52 un arbre permet de passer la rivière. Je suis passé par la 33-D pour aller voir les lacs. Je suis content d'avoir eu du soleil car la descente après le km 62 est vraiment raide sur des pierres lisse et des éboulis. Il n'y a pas de bush-bashing sur cette section du GPT. La descente après le lac se fait bien puis on entre dans un bois ou il n'y a pas de végétation au sol. Ensuite il faut suivre la rivière en marchand dans l'eau jusqu'au km 68,5 où la rivière se transforme en rapide et on trouve un sentier dans le sous-bois. Il faudrait trouver une autre couleur pour les sections de randonnées où on marche dans l'eau. Les fords des km 71,8, 73,5, 78,3 et 89,5 se font sans mettre les pieds dans l'eau. Le chemin est innondé au km 75,5, difficile à éviter car il est entouré de marais. Le ford du km 81,2 était dangereux car le courant était très fort même avec 60cm d'eau. Au km 98,5 il faut aller directement sur la plage. Le chemin le long du lac est parfois envahi par la végétation surtout dans les zones humide. A partir du km 130 c'est la gravel road peu frequentée X-735. J'ai eu du mal à faire de l'auto-stop mais j'ai reussi à faire les 15 derniers km avec un camion. Je n'ai pas pu m'arrêter à la cataracte du km 148,4, c'est mon seul regret car le vent était si violent que j'avais du mal à avancer.
FEV-20: Repos Coyhaique.

''' 2025-FEB-7 to 2025-FEB-15 / 8 hiking days / Hiking / SOBO / option 03B, RR, option 02 / Nimrod & Tamar '''

Good camps for bad weather (more info below): (-46.172528, -72.273827) Hut near km 52. puesto?[4.8/745] (-46.48726, -72.10065)

We think that its worth mentioning that if the weather is bad and you choose option 02 you should expect hard fords and having hard time following the trail until connecting back to RR.

Day 1:

Hitchhiked from Coyhaique - 3 rides 5 hours. Started walking at 17:00, camped at (-46.116414, -72216049). It was a little wind protected.

Day 02:

Rain all night and all day. Got a lift for 5 km by 2 chilean hikers that went to the Torres and back. Camped at: (-46.172528, -72.273827). Rain and wind all night and the camp location was well protected.

Day 03:

Finally sun came out, so we dried our gear. Camped at km 62. Great view and wind protection. The weather became bad again.

Day 04:

Started hailing in the morning and it should have became worse along the day. We climbed to the pass early in the morning. Got a glimpse of the Torres and made our way to camp at km 52. Near the camp there is an abandoned small hut where we stayed until the next day. The hut is well protected from rain and wind, and you can even make a fire inside.

Day 05:

Our Inreach forecast lied us (again...) and the rain didn't stop until evening. Took option 2 - Rio Avalleno. The river was swollen because of the rain and the fords were quite difficult for us. The trail was gone under the water in a lot of parts, and in some parts it was just CC. Track files was irrelevant in many parts. Camped at puesto?[4.8/745]. Like described before - it's actually a wooden built wall which protects from the wind. The wind was crazy and it gave us great wind protection to pitch our tent and to enjoy a fire.

Day 06:

Finally a nice day. Untill we connected to the RR the trail was in bad condition, and again the track files not very helpful. You can skip 2 fords at km 9 if you stick to the nice and visible trail on the east side.

Maria and Julio not at home. Camped at (-46.276123, -72.204873) There was some wind protection and no water.

Day 07:

At (-46.275422, -72.198820) we met Ricardo (we are not sure if he is a settler or a woreke), which kindly suggested to help us cross the Avellano on his horse back. The river was quite swollen from the rain but it's hard for us to say if it was crossable by foot. Camped at (-46.48726, -72.10065) by the small lake. The wind was strong and the campsite was well protected by the big rocks. We filtered water from the small lake/swamp. It might be flooded earlier in the season though.

Day 08:

Walked all the way to X[130.4/311] and camped near the junction. Not wind protected but the weather was good. There were a lot of water at variant N.

Woke up late and took the bus at 9:00. About one hour ride, 1000 clp. Times like MiaimZelt has written.

'''2025-Feb-02 to 2025-Jan-05 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / Hiking / Opt 3B, RR, Opt 8 / Tom'''

Day 1 - Rainy: I hitchhiked from Villa Castillo to the junction at the beginning of 3B. Great views, but if you can afford to pay for transportation to the end of the road, it's worth it. I camped at -46.2647991, -72.41223312025. Due to the rain, there were several streams, and some areas offered wind protection.

Day 2 - Rainy: A simple day, just following the route. Be mindful of the exit point from the road—I was focused on the rain and missed it. The Mallín (wetland) can be challenging at times, but nothing too difficult.

I arrived at Camp 57.2, where four students had waited for a day, hoping for clear skies.

Day 3 - Sunny: I started early, around 6:45 AM. It took about 2.5 hours to reach the viewpoint. Around -46.3870597, -72.4916724, there's a more recent landslide. Nothing too difficult, just loose rocks and fallen trees. Another 2.5 hours to return. On the same day, I started Opt 8 at 1 PM. This section took me 6.5 hours. It's a cattle trail, poorly marked—you really need to follow the GPS carefully, as there are many paths that lead nowhere. I recommend checking the contour lines since there is significant elevation gain. I arrived at Camp ? 11.6, which is Puesto Aguero—it appears to be in use, with sleeping bags and food inside. The camping area isn't ideal, as the ground retains a lot of moisture.

Day 4 - Rain/Sunny: I started at 2 PM when the rain stopped. The river was quite high, so unlike Michael and Kasia, I used the "punte" (a makeshift crossing). It's a fairly slender tree, but there's a rope to help with balance. I had no issues, but if the river were lower, I would have crossed directly through the water. At the beginning, the route is quite muddy but clear. The first half can be a bit more challenging at times, but the trail is well-marked towards the end. It took 4.5 hours to reach Bahía Muerta.

General Notes: From Route 7 to the Torres viewpoint, it's quite straightforward and well-marked. The difficult section is between Camp 57.2 and Camp ? 11.6. I know there's a route from Camp ? 11.6 to another viewpoint of the Torres, which is not included in current GPS tracks. It seems to be a trail that guides from Avellano Bahía Muerta are currently working on.

'''2024-Jan-17 to 2024-Jan-21 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH03B RR + variant D + variant H / Sean & Neele'''

Took the bus at 10 from Villa Cerro Castillo to the start of Option 03B. We'd hope to hitch the dirt road but we literally saw only one car.

Bridge 25.7km - good place to get water

Camped just before junction for option C (46.5km roughly) by the stream in the woods. Great wind protection.

49km to 50.8km - track files go CC but on OSM there's a trail we followed it and it worked well. CC route looked wet and boggy in places.

Ford 52km - lots of downed trees so can cross with dry feet.

Took variant D - easy and beautiful would recommend it.

Pass 60km small patch of snow on South side no problem without spikes

Camped at camp 63.4km - very beautiful but no wind protection, we were lucky the wind was pretty calm.

CC & BB 64.3 + 4.2 - we just stuck with the stream the whole way down worked out well.

Ford 81.2km - about 550m before the waypoint the trail gets close to the river for us it looked easy at this point so we just crossed here. Just over knee deep at 4pm on a hot sunny day, no rain for the past few days.

Took variant H to skip the other 2 fords.

Camped at 93.3km (S 46° 28.690', W 072° 11.674') nice grassy area with a small stream.

98.5km - shortly after leaving the road RR take you through some bushwhacking but it's avoidable just go straight to the beach.

Camped on the beach around 116km

Road walked to 138.5km where we saw the first car of the day and got a hitch to Puerto Ibanez.

* '''2025 Jan 02 to Jan 11 / 10 hiking days / SOBO, NOBO, WEBO / Hiking / Opt 3B, RR, Opt 2, Opt 8 / Michael and Kasia'''

Quick notes:

A nice section with some great views and some good optionals. It is a fairly popular trail up to the Torres; we met 11 other hikers on the RR. Opt 2 is a really pretty and peaceful valley. Opt 8 is an adventurous alternative route, probably better to exit GPT33 than to enter it on full resupply weight.

CAMPS:

Night 01: -46.25532, -72.38365 (good water access, decent wind protection (look up before you set your tent, there were some widow makers), next to the road, no view)

Night 02: -46.34592, -72.49822 (Camp 57.2) (decent view, excellent water access, minimal wind protection, surrounded by dead trees, not safe in windy conditions, a lot of spots to choose from)

Night 03: -46.40655, -72.49601 (amazing view, decent water access, no wind protection)

Night 04: same as night 3

Night 05: -46.35732, -72.45379 (flat space for two tents, wind protected, just off the trail, water is a little ways away)

Night 06: -46.36802, -72.43937 (flat space for 2 tents, excellent wind protection, no view, water is a little ways away, accompanied by the sturdy arrieros shelter)

Night 07: same as night 6

Night 08: same as night 2

Night 09: -46.39734, -72.58201 (Camp ? 11.6) (not much truly flat space, but if you aren't picky there's lots of space, no wind protection, water is down a steep hill,next to the used puesto)

WATER:

On 3B and into RR on the road it was difficult to find at times. On all trail sections it was easy to find.

Day 01 - Jan 2nd

We got the bus from the terminal in Coyhaique. It was a bit of an ordeal. The buses hadn't been running for two days on account of the holiday, and we had not purchased tickets in advance. There was quite a line and it seemed they had been sold out much earlier. We went and talked to the driver after he finished loading most of the luggage. He said to give him a minute to check. He luckily had two empty seats to Cerro Castillo, and we paid him cash at the break point in Cerro Castillo, 8.000 pp, the normal price. He dropped us at the beginning of Opt 3B. There was a bus stop there. Opt 3B is a gravel road. There is some nice scenery, but overall it's a road walk. There isn't much traffic, but hitchhiking is possible. RR from km 24 where Opt 3B meets it is also gravel road until km 45.5. There isn't a huge grade and the road is in good condition, so it's easy if somewhat underwhelming walking. Water is not so easily accessible. All the little side creeks had dried up or were just water trickling through mud. Much of the time we were too high above the water, or it was fenced off. At km 24.9 there is an unmarked bridge. There was good water access there. There was also a very nice campsite there at (-46.21595, -72.34452). It had flat space for at least one tent, maybe two, trees and good water access close by. The next good water spot we found was at Settler 29.4. There was easy water access next to the bridge down to the barn. We didn't find water again until km 35.5 when we camped for the night. Camp 32.0 should be marked “Camp with No Water”. We did not see any water nearby or anything that looked like there is water at another time of year. At km 31.9 there was a locked gate with a No Trespassing sign, but a set of stairs to walk over the fence on the left hand side. The stairs were solid and in good condition. At km 32.9 was an easy open gate with a No Trespassing sign facing the other direction. It looked like someone had been working there recently, lots of fresh wood cuts, but we didn't see anyone. We camped just off the road at km 35.5 in a little clearing, just after a gate. There was access to the estero there.

Day 02 - Jan 3rd

We continued the road walk. The trail in the forest was very nice. The meadows were a little marshy but we moved through them fairly quickly. Ford 52.0 was easy, top of the calf and not much current. There was actually a fallen tree that could work as a bridge to do a dry foot crossing. We camped at Camp 52.7 next to a stream. This would not be a good site if it is windy. Fortunately we had a windless night. No issues finding water this day. We met three other hikers on their way out of Avellanos.

Day 03 - Jan 4th

The trail to the Trailhead 57.0 is easy to follow and, except in a few places, in good shape. There were a few places where it disappeared for a bit. Where they diverged, sometimes GPT track files were better, sometimes OSM, we just chose what seemed the most traveled. After Trailhead 57.0 the track is a little more difficult to follow. The OSM track was a little more accurate for the CC sections. There was only one ford at the end of the valley a little before it goes up into the woods, around km 59.3, just below the knee, not a strong current. The way through the woods at the end was difficult to follow. It is fairly overgrown in parts and we ended up walking a bit above the GPT track pushing through trees until the boulder field. We were trying to make it to Camp 61.2 above the pass. After the Trailhead 57.0 we did not see another suitable place to camp until close to Camp 61.2; everything was wet or on a slope, either covered in rock or trees. We camped at (-46.40655, -72.49601), about 400 m before Camp 61.2 in a flat area. There was no wind protection, but the night was calm. The site has a great view of the mountains and one of the lakes. We met five other hikers heading out over the course of the day.

Day 04 - Jan 5th

We did a packless day trip up to the pass to see the Torres. The weather was good, full sun and light wind. We spent about an hour on the pass. The Torres are nice; the one in the middle looked to us like it had the face of the rock eating monster from Neverending Story. As nice as the Torres were, we actually preferred the view on the mountains on the north side of the pass. On the way back down we looked at the area around Camp 61.2. We didn't really see any spaces suitable for a tent, certainly not for something the size of the X-Mid 2. There seemed to be a few options for bivys. There were strong gusts of wind in the night and part of our tent collapsed. We managed to get it back up and it stayed up for the rest of the night.

Day 05 - Jan 6th

We headed back NOBO on RR. We met Mia who was heading SOBO at the ford. It was nice to cross paths with another GPTer. At the X 54.5 we switched to Opt 2 Avellanos Bypass. We were interested to see the valley. The trail in places is in great shape, especially the higher areas, and in places non-existant, especially in low, wet areas, or where the river has washed it out. At one point we saw a huemul, our first one. It was walking up stream in the river very slowly and pausing often. We watched it for about 15 minutes before it finally got up on the hill on the opposite side and climbed into the trees. A little while later there was a huge waterfall coming down from one of the mountains. We camped in a sandy area under some trees a ways away from the river. All fords were more of a blessing in the scolding sun than a challenge. The riverbed moved in some places into the land where the GPS tracks were but it was very easy to navigate.

Day 06 - Jan 7th

We walked further downriver to Puesto ? 4.9. It is not actually a puesto, but a stopover half-shelter with fire pit for people driving animals. It was a great wind barrier, and a place to hang out on our rest/”waiting rain over” day. Just a few meters away we found a nice flat area with space for two tents that was very well wind protected and we were expecting 90 km/h winds to come next day. We left our packs and went further down river. The valley is really beautiful and has some great views. For a while the trail is in excellent condition, then it starts to disappear. It was not possible to follow the GPT track for all of it, but we found other paths. The river fords got increasingly more challenging as we went down stream. More drainages joined the river and added water. We turned around at Ford 8.2 and we noticed the increase in river level just over those few hours. The most difficult ford was mid-thigh with a good amount of current (at 6pm, earlier around 3 pm it was good 20 cm lower).

Day 07 - Jan 8th

We took a zero day. Rain and high wind all day. The camp site worked very well for inclement weather.

Day 08 - Jan 9th

We backtracked the rest of Opt 2 and arrived midday back at Camp 57.2. We were planning to exit 33H on Opt 8 but didn't want to start it the same day. We enjoyed a half rest day with sun and no wind at the campsite. We passed three other tents during the day.

Day 09 - Jan 10th

We started Opt 8 in the morning. For the first 7 km or so it is actually fairly easy to follow. The GPX tracks aren't always spot on, but we followed them as closely as we could and we managed to find the trail more often than not. The landslide seemed to be quite small and we just walked below it. The two fords at that point are just over a side stream, so probably dry foot crossable a little later in the season. Everything after that until Camp ? 11.6 where we stopped for the night was a bit of a challenge. In areas the trail is in excellent shape and then it just disappears into slopes of grass and blow downs. We would lose the track and CC for a while, finding it again a couple hundred meters on. I just walked with the Garmin in one hand for most of the way since I had to check it so frequently. The last few km to the campsite were very muddy. It ended up being a very long and very exhausting day. We did not see any serviceable campsites for our tent between the beginning and Camp ? 11.6. Camp ? 11.6 is a puesto with a sign saying it is called Puesto Agüero. There is also a sign saying “No Dejar Basura”, which we took to mean that the puesto is used, at least unofficially, for public camping, but just to pack your trash out. The site does not have good wind protection, but we had a windless night.

Day 10 - Jan 11th

Ford 11.5 had the same makeshift bridge that Maggie & Julien reported last season. We decided to ford instead of use the bridge. We forded a little lower than the waypoint. It was above the knee and with a fair amount of current. The path after the ford was generally very easy to follow. In the pastures we kept an eye on the GPS as there are animal trails that go all over, but in the forested areas it was very clear. It was very muddy for the first half and mostly dry for the second half. There are some nice views of the river along the way, and of the valley toward the end of the section. The MR at the end has been extended further up the valley and now starts about 1.5 km sooner than indicated in the track files. We walked into Puerto Murta around 18:30. We had no particular difficulty with Opt 8, and it was not overgrown enough that we wished we had a machete at any point. Though it doesn't look like it from the elevation profile in Gaia, due to the constant ups and downs there is an enormous amount of cumulative elevation gain and loss. For this reason we think that this is a much better option for exiting the section, so the pack can be as light as possible.

* '''2025 Jan 4th to Jan 9th / 5.5 hiking days / SOBO / Hiking / Opt 3B, RR, Opt D & E & H / MiaimZelt'''

This section indeed is a real gem, but also challenging. Weather was hot and sunny, too warm in my opinion.

Day 1: Wanted to hitchhike from Villa Cerro Castillo to the start of Opt 3B, but then a bus came an took me. Mostly boring hiking along a minor road.

Day 2: Continued along the minor road, soon it got smaller and wasn't passable for cars anymore. At -46.254893, -72.381462 is a new fence, theoretically it could be opened, but you need to be strong. I crawled under it... Here -46.260122, -72.397627 is a large rather open field with lot's of flat space to pitch a tent. Water nearby. -46.260547, -72.400255 small building, which was unoccupied. The horsetrail is in good condition. Camped here: -46.352094, -72.488826, but there is only space for small tents.

Day 3: The ascend in the forest was also in good condition. Later you have to sharpen your eyes and look for the cairns. Met Kasia and Michael, was nice to meet other GPT hikers. Option D is marked with cairns, but there is no trail and i had to cross the river 2 more times. Especially the first lake is a real gem.
Hike up to the pass was not difficult, just take your time.
Way down is more challenging. I had to cross a large and steep patch of snow, which was ok without microspikes. Than you have to climb down a steep slope with lots of boulders, but they have good traction. The middle part was the hardest, because both smartphone and Garmin didn't show my correct position and wanted me to hike down a small waterfall. According to the smartphone there had to be a lake, but there was a forest instead, which wasn't shown neither on the Garmin nor on the Smartphone. Hiked down left of the waterfall, which looked much safer. The last part before you arrive at the glacier lagoon, is a large field of XXL-boulders which you have to cross. The views at the lake were awesome!
The bushbashing was mostly easy or at least not difficult. The worst was the stretch along Rio Ventisquero to the Trailhead. In the beginning i tried to walk in the riverbed, which often means to walk in the river, not just crossing the river. But when a 2nd river was added, the water was up to middle thigh and had a stromg current - not a good idea to continue this way. Hiked at the left side in the forest instead. Sometimes there was a vague animal trail, but it disappeared very often. This was really annoying with a lot of bushbashing. Camped at Camp Without Water {33H} [68.7/766].

Day 4: Crossing of Rio Ventisquero was just up to my knees and not diffucult. Enjoyed the horsetrail along Rio Avellano, but i took Option E, because the RR was i overgrown in this area. Option E is in better condition. Didn't met Maria & Julio, later i saw to guys on horseback. Ford {33H} [81.4/492] was up to my crotch (i'm 1.74cm) and had a strong current, but i made it. My feet had traction, but couldn't place my trekkingpoles correctly due to the strong current. You have to cross 3 times here, but the other two were easy.
The Minor road is not like a real road, it's more a 4x4 track used by horses with sandy ground and vegetation in the middle. It's hard to find a camp at this minor road, because of the thorny vegetation. Camped here: -46.478173, -72.19456. It's a patch of flat gras with enough space for several tents, has a small stream and good protection from the wind.

Day 5: According to my Inreach the wind gusts should reach up to 101km/h. Was indeed very windy, but fortunately it came from the back and the wind was warm. The trail along Lago General Carrera is very scenic and mostly visible, but also strenuous. Some (fortunately very short parts) are badly overgrown - a machete would be useful. Almost every plant in this area has thorns. The ups and downs a very steep, which i didn't like in the heat. Lot's of water. Used Camp {33H} [116.3/239] which has a great protection from the wind. But be aware of the thorny plants while searching where to pitch you tent - there are only 2 places without them.

Day 6: The last stretch until the minor road was much faster. The first part of the minor road has vegetation on it and isn't used by cars. Brought all the water from the lake, but it wasn't necessary. Small streams here: -46.403664, -71.975755 and next to the road at Settler {33H} [121.8/643]. The settler wasn't at home and the wooden gates were locked, had to climb over them. There are several minor roads, not just one. Bridge {33H} [129.3/304] is a deep canyon, didn't see a possibility to get water there. Walked two hours along the road between Levican and Puerto Ibañez, until i got a hitch.

* '''Dec 6-11 / 03B + RR SOBO / wiiiim'''

Great route, still early season, weather was sunny but still cold, rivers were low, the infamous crossing of the lower rio Avellano just above knee height.
The crux of the route was the South side of the pass, sections of snow, I crossed later in the day when it was softer, avoided most of the snow on the East rock flank, but around 1200m the rock slabs were wet & the gullies in between were filled with snow. A bit of a maze, it took some time and back tracking, I used micro spikes but its probably okay without, I think knowing how to self arrest on snow with hiking poles is always a good skill to have, lots of videos exist on that.
Laguna la Plaza is a short/easy side trip well worth it, the North side of the pass is fast going & pretty well indicated (ciarns), on the South side section of CC once on the valley floor it seems easier to wade through the (spectacular) river.
I was pleasantly surprised with the walk along the lake, it’s really different and beautiful.
I was lucky to get a ride out from the MR to Puerto Ibáñez quite quickly from around -46.36065, -71.90255 but it’s usually very quiet.

At -46.26604, -72.41735 there is an established rock bivvy that could also fit a medium size tent.

Overall I would probably recommend the regular route NOBO to cut out most of the start/end road sections: organise a ride from Puerto Ibanez to the trail head (it will be worth the money) and on the other end the finish of 03B on the carretera austral will have plenty of traffic to hitch a ride

• '''2024-Dec-09 to 2024-Dec-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Opt.A + Opt.01A + Opt.01/ Julien'''

Following the road to Puerto Ibáñez
Just a little difficulty about finding water because most of lakes and rivers are private now.

* '''2024-Nov-28 to 30 / 3 day / Hiking / Circuit / GPT33H Option 5 and 5A Valle Miller from Puerto Alarcon to Valle Jaramillo and return to Puerto Sanchez / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck'''

The Cordillera de Avallano between Rio Ibanez and Lago General Carrera is one of the hidden treasures of Patagonia. And Valle Miller is one possible entrance into this mountain range.

After packrafting to Puerto Alarcon we packed our packrafting gear and hiked up Valle Miller along the minor road to the bridge over Rio Miller to crossing “X {33H-05} [7.8/611]”. There are numerous possible camp sites and water sources along this minor road.

A few hundred meters after crossing “X {33H-05} [7.8/611]” is the last pasture with suitable camp sites.

Valle Jaramillo is a very scenic side valley of Valle Miller that can be explored in one day.

This side valley has no distinct trail but the forest is reasonably open. Therefore ascending and descending through the forest is not really bush bashing but just a slalom around the numerous fallen trees.

Once the open terrain is reached, hikers can see the very scenic valley with some remaining smaller glaciers.

The cross country walk to the 1679 m high pass is very rewarding in good weather. From an altitude of 1400 m the terrain was in parts covered by snow fields as we visited this early in the season.

We returned to Puerto Sanchez which is the alternative starting Point for hikers.

==Season 2023/24==

* '''2024 Mar 22 to 2024 Mar 28 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Maddi, Tom and Jordan'''

Day 1: Got the public bus from Puerto Ibanez to Levican for about 1000CLP each. We were the only ones on the bus and the driver dropped us at the trailhead. After walking along the road for a while we miraculously got a hitch in the back of a pick up for a couple of kms. Trail down to the lake was a little confusing but just head down and you'll hit the main trail eventually. Trail along the lake has plenty of up and down but nothing too strenuous. We had a perfect, windless day with not too much sun so it was pretty easy going, plenty of spots to get water once down near the lake. The notes said there was some scary exposure but we didn't really encounter any along this section, the path is pretty solid and clearly used by horses. Set up camp on the lake on the small rocky beach at (-46.47634,-72.08138). Just enough room for our Zpacks Triplex and Jordan's free standing tent. Jordan caught a fish that night but chucked it back.

Day 2: Great sunrise over the lake but then it started to rain. Jordan caught another fish which the boys had for breakfast. Walked along the lake in light rain until the old road where we went up the steep hill and started inland. One apple tree along this section but the apples weren't great. Followed the disused road until the end and then started along the track. Hit our first ford at about (-46.46161,-72.24620) which was above the knee on me (174cm tall) and quite fast flowing/muddy from all the rain. Tom slipped climbing up the bank here and fell backwards into the water but somehow avoided getting swept away. Kept walking along until we hit the refugio, unfortunately it was locked. Set up camp next to it so we could use the porch for shelter then went to scout the next ford just past it. This one was way too high and fast to cross so we were hoping it would go down overnight. Rio Avellano also looked impossible but that was a problem for the next day.

Day 3: Luckily the tributary into the Rio Avellano had gone down significantly overnight and we were able to cross without issues, although it was still fairly fast flowing at about knee height. Had a go at crossing the Rio Avellano just after this ford where it is marked on the GPX and others had mentioned it was doable but we had no luck, even employing the three astern. Decided to try the settler's place up on the hill to see if we could get help crossing but noone seemed to be around. Kept following the track along the river, hoping for a place to cross. Jordan somehow manage to cross using the eddies formed by a large tree that had fallen into the river. He had to come back across to help me get over with Tom but it was a near miss. Water level just below hip and quite fast flowing. Massive relief to make it across and get to enjoy the sun a bit. Had lunch near Maria and Julio's but still didn't run into anyone other than sheep. Enjoyed an awesome section walking along through ankle deep water in the autumn colours with snowy peaks in the background. Hit another fairly fast flowing ford, just above the knee, but manageable now we were getting good at crossing 3 astern. Thought we would make it to camp just below the towers but unfortunately hit another ford that even Jordan couldn't cross. Much higher consequence with huge rapids downstream and the water level above the hip. Tried to walk upstream a km or so to see if we could cross but ends up high above the river as it enters a canyon section. Scrambled back down and camped for the night on the track in the forest with the hope of lower water in the morning.

Day 4: Water was much lower in the morning and we were able to cross with no issues. Still over the knee and fast flowing but the group of 3 works wonders. Headed into the forest and up past the old corral then into the swampy section. This was super rough going as the swamp was over the knee in parts. We constantly switched between climbing between the tangle of tree or wading through the swamp. It was raining lightly and getting quite cold by this point. We made it to a clearing along the river at about 11am but the towers were in complete fog and I was shivering hard. Decided to set up camp in the forest and try for the towers the next day in the hope of more visibility. Found a nice camp spot in the forest at (-46.42932,-72.49572) with easy access to the river for water. Snuggled down to try to warm up all afternoon, only emerging for meals.

Day 5: Set off through the forest up towards the towers. Says bush bashing but was actually pretty easy walking up the hill. Towers still in a bit of cloud but made it up there mid morning and spent some time scrambling around the lake to take a look around. Camp site in the rocks was flooded from yesterday so glad we didn't try to get up there to camp. Scramble over the boulder field and up to the pass isn't too bad, although some snow patches made it a bit slippery. Cool granite slabs on the way up. Super windy once we got over the pass so hurried down the valley. No navigation issues but definitely got wet feet walking along the river. Camped at the refugio.

Day 6: Hiked along clear trail until we got to the minor road. Hoped to get a rare hitch but didn't really see anyone. Decided to hike along the river just before the bridge toward Lago Lapparent to find somewhere to camp. Found a few awesome spots along the crystal clear water for our last night.

Day 7: Headed back to the road and followed it back to the Carretera Austral. Got a hitch in about 15 minutes all the way to Coyhaique but there is a bus stop there if you can time it right.

* '''2024-02-23 to 2024-02-27 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH03B + RR + OH08 / Maggie & Julian '''

Trail attractiveness: 4/5;
Difficulty: 3/5
(keep in mind that this is our first GPT hike)

Day 1: ‘GPT33H-03B start’ to (-46.2570, -72.3711):

We entered from Carretera Austral at Laguna Verde (Option 03B) after being dropped off by the morning bus from Coyhaique (heading to Cochrane). Arrived at the crossroads at 11:30am with Don Carlos bus.
Whole day was walking on roads and relatively easy to make distance.
At (-46.2671, -72.3561) there was a sign reading "se prohibe la entrada al predio" and a locked gate with a ladder to climb over the side. There is a campsite (Camp, X {33H} [32.0/700]) pinned shortly after, but we decided to keep going because of the sign. At (-46.2621, -72.3613) there is an end to the property (same sign facing opposite direction, no gate). We camped on an area used for chopping wood at (-46.2570, -72.3711). Short scramble down to the river.

Day 2: (-46.2570, -72.3711) to Camp {33H} [52.7/953]:

Large part of the day was also road walking, afterwards trails and some cross country.
Camped by Camp {33H} [52.7/953]. Camping around Puesto {33H} [53.0/946] has better mountain views, Puesto itself was being used, possibly for guided horseback trekking.

Day 3: Camp {33H} [52.7/953] to Pass {33H} [62.0/1314] and back:

We left our tent set up and most things at Camp. The way up was sometimes hard to find. Trail markers made more sense on the return. Had an extended lunch a little after Pass {33H} [62.0/1314] and then returned the way we had come.

Day 4: Camp {33H} [52.7/953] to Camp ? {33H-08} [11.6/548]:

Probably hardest day in navigation, trail disappeared often, but manageable.
The former landslide section at (-46.3853, -72.5520) did not pose any difficulties for us as the water level was not too high and the main river flow now goes near the northwestern side of the valley. We just had to step over the remaining side stream. With more water some fording might still be necessary, but I imagine you could get away with staying near the southeastern bank for this section.
At Camp ? {33H-08} [11.6/548] there is a puesto that seems to be in use, but we saw no one and camped a little lower near the river.

Day 5: Camp ? {33H-08} [11.6/548] to ‘GPT33H-08 start’:

Right after camp there was a makeshift bridge to cross the stream (tree and rope, very rickety).
Trail seemed to be used and maintained on this part of option 08.
Shortly before Camp {33H-08} [6.9/435] there was a previously washed-out section with a new path already laid out. In heavy rainfall this could wash out again but should not pose a big hindrance.

Notes:

- RR + option 08 is a great short alternative without much backtracking.

- Our hitch out of Puerto Murta happened to be local members of an association that wants to bring more tourism to their town and the Torres del Avellano. If their plans are fruitful, traffic and trail maintenance may increase on option 08.

- We organized the transport of our non-trekking items from Coyhaique to Puerto Río Tranquilo by encomienda. Ines, the lady working at the Sao Paulo bus office in Coyhaique terminal was kind enough to hold our boxes until we arrived and called her from Puerto Rio Tranquilo. Our things arrived the day after we called at around 1pm. We shipped a rather large quantity of items (enough items to fill 50L bag) for 12000 CLP. Sao Paulo bus Coyhaique telephone: +56 672 255 726

* '''30/01/2024 - 01/02/2024 / 3 days, 78 km / Options 06 and 07 / Alex + Andrey'''
South bound (east bound).
“Mountain route”,

a combination of Options 06 and 07 which are now passed and confirmed.

Difficulty: Difficult/Very Difficult

Most of the route is off-trail
Thanks to Jan for the suggested routes and clues.
Short resume:

This mountain route is a more difficult and demanding alternative to the regular route but can be an interesting option for those looking for a challenge.
The combination with a regular route allows to form a full-fledged “eight”, a trip of 6-10 days.

Option 07 is a shorter, although more difficult, alternative to the regular route in case the Avellano River cannot be forded NOBO.
Notes and recommendations.

Option 07:

All fords do not pose any significant difficulty.
Due to the height and southern exposure the areas between Pass 1 and Pass 2 (Pass {33H-07} [17.0/1755]) and descents from Pass 2 in the early to mid-season have extensive areas of snow where microspikes or crampons may be required.
The main difficulty on the descent is overcoming several side washouts, which are small but deep and steep canyons.

Option 06:

There is no water during the first 4-5 hours of ascent to the valley.
The open area of the upper valley at Camp 2 and beyond throughout the ridge is a resort for very strong winds. Setting up camp may be difficult or impossible. A strong hiker can combine and complete this section in one day.
The predominant wind exposure makes passage from west to east highly recommended.
The last reliable source of water is before reaching High Pass 3. Further east there is no water until the junction with the regular route, except for temporary streams from seasonal snow.

The track and additional information are here:
https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/avellano-mountain-route-chilean-patagonia-160489118

* '''2024-Mar-04 to 2024-Mar-08 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 03B + RR + OH D + K / Joscha'''

Day 1: OH33H-03B + RR [24.2-41.2]

I tried to hitch from Villa Cerro Castillo to the start of OH33H-03B. After 1 hour a Bus arrived and took me to the start for 2000 Pesos. The Bus runs from Cohayique to Chile Chico on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It starts in Coyhaique at 9 am and stopps in Villa Cerro Castillo at around 10:30 am. From the brigde at km 25.7 until km 35.8 there is no water on the RR. You walk close to some rivers but I didn't check if its possible to acces them. After km 35.8 there is plenty of water. At km 38.5 is a big flat field for camping with a creek next to it. I camped just before the crossing of the river at km 41.2.

Day 2: RR [41.2-58.3] + OH33H-D + RR [61.0-63.4]

There was plenty of water all along the trail. Camping possible at -46.291963, -72.470389 just before the Pass (km 44.4), at the start of OH33H-C and along the CC section from km 49.0 to 50.8. I can recommend OH33H-D. I especially liked the first Laguna. Camp 63.4 has awesome views, but is only slightly wind protected and the spots are only good for small tents.

Day 3: RR [63.4-93.2]

I stayed inside the riverbed for the last 2.5 km of the CC&BB section. I had to cross the river about 20 times, but its the fastest and easiest way. The ford at km 83.6 was just below my crotch (I am 191 cm) and the current was pretty strong at around 5 pm. It would have been difficult for smaller persons. All the other fords today were at max. knee hight. There is plenty of water all along the route. I camped next to the RR on a flat, grassy field at km 93.2.

Day 4: RR [93.2-116.3]

Plenty of water along this part of the RR.

Day 5: RR [116.3-119.6] + OH33H-K + RR [122.6-141.0]

OH33H-K is easy to walk but does not offer any great views. If you choose OH33H-K, than there is no water between km 117.5 and 138.5 (at km 135.2 is a water marker, but I didn't see any as I walked by. Maybe I missed it, because I wasn't looking for it). There is water at km 140.3. I got a hitch from km 141.0 to Puerto Ibanez. But there are very few cars on the road, so don't count on getting a hitch.

* '''2024-Feb-12 to 2024-Feb-16 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 03B, RR, Variant C, E, H, K / Tomáš & Natalie'''
There was a queue of three hitchhiker groups who did not get picked up while we were doing our shopping, so we opted to hire a taxi for 15000 to the start of 03B (Pedro Zuleta: +56 993 5786 68). Somehow, during our arranging of the taxi, all three groups left. Roadwalking to option 07 was uneventful. Tomáš got a hitch (he eats lunch too slowly so Natalie got ahead) for about 5 km from a family which was exploring in a car. About 500 m before the diversion to option 07, there is a locked gate with a sign saying the property is private, but one can go over a ladder. At the gate, we met a local with a key who has a house on Option 07, if we got him right. He gave us a ride of 500 m. The start of option 7 is actually a road.

The MR at 24.2 is in a bad shape due to erosion after ford at about 12 km in. Tomáš made a bridge out of a log but managed to jump into the water while doing it. Enjoy the bridge while it lasts as did a Frenchman we met there. He did the circuit NOBO based on Wikiloc. He said he keeps coming across GPT, but could not figure out how to get the GPS route. We told him to talk to Jan. Maybe he will come back the next season.

On the way to the Torres, we met 3 pairs of Chilean hikers going back. Tomáš went to Laguna La Plaza (option C). Lake is grey but the valley is nice enough to justify the short detour. It is no BB, there is a trail in the forest and above the tree line a vague trail or easy CC. The Torres are indeed magnificent. One can easily walk on the sloped polished slab falling into the far side of the second lake before the pass - it is an exhilirating detour. Going down from the pass, when the GPX turns right, Tomáš actually managed to walk over one of the ledges above the GPX and liked it. Just be extremely careful with moss and water, they can make the stones extremely slippery, but he survived that without falling. About 100 m before the lake, there is a at-least-a-ton heavy swing in the form of a loose boulder. Enjoy if you can find it. Camp 63.4 is literally awesome. We had a very warm almost windless night there.

After the boulder field under camp 63 we loss the rest of the elevation on the right side of the creek and then when the swamp appeared on the right we went to the left and stayed on that side (North) for the entire BB/CC. There is a vague trail most of the way, but is has many many logs over it. It took us 3 hours to walk to the trailhead. We kept our feet dry and were in the shade, but it would have been quicker and far less tiring just following the riverbed and constantly crossing the river.

Ford at 69.8 around noon was slightly above the knees. Ford it diagonally as the trail wants you to - it is shallower that way (ie a little further down than where the trail spits you out). Greeted grandfather, Maria and Julio and their three kids and had a short talk with the grandfather, nice to see the whole family working together on projects. From their place, the trail sort of is wide enough for a car (there is one at their place) but we think it is never or virtually never used by cars. Ford at 81.4 at six in the afternoon was 5 cm under our crotches (we are about 1.70), we forded about 100 upstream of GPX. The river was strong but we did not feel it was dangerous for us. We forded the widest part of the river just before a dead end fence (if you are coming from the other direction, after the grey river and around the dead end ford you will see the widest part of the river).The day was hot and despite not covering even 20 km, we felt superexhausted. Strong sun and spikees got to us!

We camped about 4 km along the road, shortly after the second (both jumpable) ford. It must be a good place to camp, as Tomáš, who went back to the big ford where he left his sandals the previous day, met a GPT hiker going NOBO who apparently slept in a hearing distance from us. The hiker first started to come to Patagonia decades ago, before it was overrun. Tomáš sadly never asked his name. Met the grandfather again, coming back from the port, horses are fast!

The road is not used by cars but stiĺl quite ugly. Around middle, near option 6, there are two shortcuts (400 and 50 metres) to the zigzags, three of which were marked by cairns by Tomáš. Please add the fourth cairn. Puesto 98.3 is a settler. He offered Natalie to come inside and rest but she didn't feel right stopping at that moment and kind of got the "heeby jeebies" from him. Met another pair of GPT hikers, doing just 33. The stretch along the coast is beautiful and very Mediterranean. All day the lake was without waves, even that can happen. Slept at Lake 113.8: nicer, with water and less buggy than camp 200 m earlier (just beware if the wind picks, up the waves can be very loud).

Variant K misses last water but is easy to follow, nicer than a road and involves only three very easy fence hops. Reached the bus stop for Puerto Ibanez around three. Got lucky and received a hitch from two British tourists to Puerto Ibanez. The shops there are larger than expected and stock overpriced pesto and gnocchi, Tomáš is almost as joyful as cherries make him!

Nat's Notes:

- For views I would prefer this NOBO. I suffered a new type of "look back" syndrom on most of the route. Plus, if you are walking the lake shore in the afternoon, the sun should be on your downhills and not your uphills (it was insanely hot when we did it and without a whisper of wind).

- In the section notes for km24-45 I think what was meant was that from roughly km36-45, "there are many small streams and camping spots", this is indeed true. However, between km 24-36 and option 3 there are NO longer many STREAMS to drink from, I remember only one slightly decent one and both sides of the road are fenced so if you want to camp or drink water from the main river, then you must jump the fences (cow panels or barb) or ask a settler. Also, strange to say, there is very little shade and can get uncomfortably hot...

- Intersection 45 is not hard to miss anymore, it is marked with an orange ribbon around a tree and a large cairn on your left.

- On Trail#9 (ascent before the first two alpine lakes) I took Veronicas advice about going into the woods where the RR is but rather than trying to follow the GPS, I followed what seemed to be a trail along the creek with some cairns here and there. Eventually it ends above the trees but you should be able to make your way back to the RR once the "coast is clear", ie. no more trees. If you want to walk along the lake then you should do the CC up the boulder field on Variant D.

- Going down from the pass was no problem, like everyone says, "just follow the gps". However with that said, it is very tempting to make your own way bcs there are many good looking ledge systems but after reading Wills experience, I backed away from the temptation and followed the GPS. I also slipped on some wet moss on RR.

- So much water everywhere except for the lake camping, if you are smart you will fill up on one of the many streams before getting to the lake...

- When doing the BB/CC section, after the initial elevation loss from the lake, there isn't much drinking water apart from the river until near the end of the BB. I think you could make "makeshift" camps. I was tempted to cross the river early to avoid crossing it at km69 but once again I remembered what Will wrote last year about the thorns and cliffs so I don't think that's a good idea.

- Not a fan of the lakeside gate locking technique (remember how it looks before you open it;)

- I surprisingly really enjoyed the lake stretch, it seemed it is where Pantagonia meets the Mediterranean/Arizona. The trail is in good shape, just a few overgrown roses and thorny bushes here and there (regretted shorts only a little bit). If you are coming from the north and still have your sand gaiters, this will be a good time to reuse them :). No exposure, wish there was more wind the day we were there. I am usually the biggest hater of "PUDs" - thanks for the new word - but these were not annoying. These PUDs are just a few large hills rather than a bunch of steep micro hills like gpt22 or the valley bottoms in Argentina. Water is at pretty much every "notch" in the hillside.

- Water is at the bottom of the MR~117.5 and there is still water at the top 119.9 RR (easier to grab it a little higher up).

* '''2024-Jan-30 to 2024-Feb-4 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick & Nolwenn & Tess & Lukas'''

- Trail condition : gpx easy to follow / between km 63,7 and km 68,5 we mostly stayed on the left of the river
- Water : easy to find plenty of rivers and lagunas
- Camping spot : easy to find and the one at km 68.7 is nice // the refugio near the lake at km 98.5 is perfect - make fire, sleep inside, we even could ask for some bread
- Weather : some rainy and cloudy days but overall the weather was ok
- River crossing :at km 69.8 we crossed the river early in the morning and the current was strong and the water up to the middle of the thighs but manageable // at km 81,2 the river was strong and up to our hips, we crossed it in the rain, it was also manageable for us that already jave a little bit of experience
- Resupply : in Villa Cerro Castillo and in Chile Chico ( a bulk shop just opened in front of the camping Nandu) // at km 76,7 we could buy some bread, cheese and eggs at Maria and Julio's house
- Overall : we absolutely loved this section ! The views are spectacular and really diverse from one day to another // we got a hitchike at the end on the gravel road to go to Puerto Ibanez.

* '''01.27.2024 / 5 days / Hiking / SoBo / RR + Option 8 to Bahía Murta / Milton Cea + 4 more'''

Considering that we would venture to make this route a journey from Villa Cerro Castillo to Bahía Murta, we have decided to pay Pedro Zuleta, who is dedicated to transportation in the surrounding areas (+56 9 9357 8668), to take us to the entrance of the route at the registration booth. There, we encountered a pair of muleteers who did not pay much attention to our passing, however, we spoke with them to ask for their permission and inquire about the condition of the path.

We started with the regular route, a bit late, and for that reason, we camped the first night at Mallín Grande, which is a very good option, as watching the sunrise in this beautiful place is worthwhile.

Starting early the next day, we reached the "Los puestos" sector and from there, leaving our camp set up, we headed towards the towers. We were only able to reach the first lagoon at the base of the massif, as we went a bit late and our conversation with some other hikers we met extended. I would recommend leaving early to take advantage of the views from the portezuelo lookout.

The next day we began the crossing through the "Río Resbalón" Valley, as the locals call it, following an animal trail that sometimes tends to get lost among new vegetation or fallen trees, accompanied by other hikers who decided to join the journey.
It is a part of the route that can be slightly complex if you do not have a good reading of the surroundings, finding the animal traffic trail, and considering that you navigate through a forest that can easily disorient. This changes when you already walk with the "Resbalin/Resbalón" river to your right, as it is quite useful to follow its course. Always on the left side of the river.
On the way, there are some fallen trees and abandoned muleteer posts that can be used as camping space if necessary, although I would not recommend camping in this old forest.
Upon reaching the point of the road collapse, the crossing of the scree can be done at the level of its arrival, but to continue the route, you must climb a few meters up the mountain until you find the entrance to the continuation of the route. This point took some time from us, and we decided to camp near the river, towards the rock beach in the middle of a young forest with a mossy floor, very comfortable and restorative. We also decided to place some pircas at this point, as there was no mark to help resume the path towards Murta, since the difference in height was noticeable and it can be easy to believe that the path continues by the river side, but no, from here the path separates from the river and goes up the mountain.

Finally, after this last abandoned stretch, where the vegetation is abundant in some parts, we ended up arriving at the Puesto de Los Agüeros and decided to spend a night there, as we were very tired from constantly finding the route. It's worth mentioning that we couldn't find a GPS track before the trip.

The next day, after a night of intense rain, we took the official route traced from "Bahía Murta" at opossite direction and arrived in the town at dusk.
If you want the track and the Waypoints of the journey, feel free to write to me at '''milton.1902@gmail.com''' =)

* '''From 2023-01-20 to 2023-01-21 // 1,5 day // Hiking // NOBO // option 1 Valle Ibanez // Quentin Clavel'''

When I arrived in Puerto Ingeniero Ibàñez, I had to make a choice, as the weather window were pretty short. I had only 3 days and a half ahead of nice weather followed by one entire week of rain.

So I made the hard choice to skip Torres del Avelano, and go straight to Cerro Castillo by the OPT1 to explore the NP of CERRO CASTILLO.

This section was not so bad. Even if it was gravel road until the Lago tamango, I had nice views, and was not too bored from this stretch, but well yeah, it's gravel road for 30 km, so of course it was not all the time so funny aha !

Then I went to the small track along Lago tamango. Very quiet, pretty well marked thanks to these sticks with red and white colours on top, and with some scenic views.

You'll end up at the parking of the touristic sendero sitio archeologico de manos pintadas (Paredón de las Manos (1000CLP for children's, 2000CLP for adults. From Tuesday to Sunday 10h00-17h00). Then it's gravel road, following by 1,3 km on the carretera austral to reach Villa cerro castillo.

I was expecting worse for this section. Quite happy about it. That's a nice alternative if, for a reason, you want or have to skip Torres de Avelano

* '''2024-Jan- 14 to 2024-Jan-16/ 3 days/hiking/SOBO/ 33h/ 33h-b/33h-a/ 33h-P/Paulina'''

At first, I wanted to do RR, but as the recent reports about the river crossing where not very encouraging, I decided to play it safelty, so I just mixed some sections.
I started in Villa Cerro Castillo, till X 33h [ 5.5/554] it was a very peaceful, nice trail, with beautiful views on Cerra Castillo. There were some fence crossing, but not very annoying.
After the intersection, so once I joined the road X-725, it was less interesting, walk on a gravel road. I think this part of RR is better to hitch-hike ( it's possible and not very difficult to catch a car on this way).
Once I reached the big lakes ( beautiful views!) and some wanderful camping spots [ S 46.17790 W 072.32049] between Lago Alto and Lago Lapparet, I took 33h-b. At the beginning the trail was l crossing a forest used by locals as wood supply, but later ( around the place where it joined 33h-a), the landscape was amazing! Especially the part with lakes and settlers.

The last section was on 33h-01A. The cannion of Rio Claro and later the waterfall are beautiful, but for some hikers a long distance on gravel road on this section can be annoying so it's probably better to hitch-hike ( not a lot of cars but still possible).

I bought my ticket for ferry from Puerto Ibanez to Chile Chico without any problem 1h30 before the ferry departure.

The mix of these 4 sections + hitch-hiking it's a good option for bad weather or high river level on RR. Some parts are very beautiful, and the less interesting parts ( long distances on gravel roads) it's possible to cover by car.

* '''2024-01-02 to 2024-01-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR & Options: 03, 03B, 04C, 04 & Variant E / Roman'''

Route: Hitchhiked along Option 03 to X {33H-03} [18.6/315]. Hiked via Option 03B to X {33H} [24.2/462] and than continued RR to Ford, X {33H} [71.8/602]. Here used Variant E and back to RR all the way to Settler {33H} [85.0/462] (Luis Diaz). Continued on Option 04C to X {33H-04} [73.9/559]. From here used option 04 all to way to Bahía Murta.

Decided to go SoBo to get the tricky parts done with a good weather forecast. Hitchhiked along Option 03 because it's easier to get a lift. Was at X {33H-03} [18.6/315] 12:35 PM. From there it's a super easy to hike street all the way to X {33H} [45.5/1088] via Option 03C and than 03. Sadly there where no cars going in the correct direction. Towards the end (last 5km) there are some rivers crossing the street, nothing bad, you can get over them dry feet if jumping on the rocks. Continued the RR, the trail is clearly visible and easy to hike all the way to Camp {33H} [52.7/953]. Arrived there at 09:30 PM. It's a awsome place to pitch a tent! It was absolutely woth it to go for such a long day. Met 2 locals who went with a truck all the way to this point: -46.26754, -72.419667. Met also Cy & GG (see GPT 23). We continued the next day. Trail was in a good condition and CC was easy no snow up to the pass Pass {33H} [62.0/1314]. Absolutely beautiful view! There is some snow on the south side on the way down. It's mostly melted to you can decide if you want the first 150-200m of elevation go down in snow or trough the boulders. It was a sunny day therefore quite easy to get down to the lake. From there we went down a boulder field to the BB (Bush bashing) section (400m). This is trivial - no macheta required. It's just walking trough the forest. From there the CC&BB is at the beginning easy. We found a animal trail on the southern side of the river. Than the swamp started which was annoying. We started, after finishing the swamp section, to walk in the river bed around here -46.438037, -72.469247 which was fast progress but wet feet. Jumped on the trail and camped at Camp Without Water {33H} [68.7/766]. There is a lot of water at the river and it's just a 10 minute walk so we filled the bottles. The Camp is good, stayed there with 3 tents. Continued the next day (it was moderate rain during the night and at the morning) to the X, Ford {33H} [69.8/634]. This was at the limit what is safely possible. Fast flowing river - hip deep (iam 180). From there on the trail was clearly visible and easy to hike fast. Continued the RR and did Variant E. Check you GPS, we didn’t intend to do it we just followed the most clearly visible trail and ended up at the Puesto {33H-E} [0.8/619] so we continued. The statement from above is still valid all the way to Settler {33H} [85.0/462] (Luis Diaz) for the RR ;). After that is a easy trail, at Settler {33H} [76.7/535] (Maria & Julio) I met Julio and they had a car there to the trail from this point on is even easier. I split up here with Cy & GG because of different plans and it was questionable if the Ford at Ford {33H} [81.2/490] (Rio Avellano) is even possible so I wanted to speed up. Reached the point around 05:00 PM. It was not possible to Ford - way to deep and to much current! So I used my packraft and crossed the river. Got in the water here: -46.456627, -72.320677 and followed than the RR. Ford {33H} [81.4/492] was also impossible by foot. Used the same tactic and crossed it by boat. Got in the water here: -46.453523, -72.316373 and crossed by boat. After that easy trail and continued the RR. Ford {33H} [83.6/467] (Rio Avellano) was also absolutely impossible so also did it by boat. After that I camped here: -46.463767, -72.26597.

interim conclusion: if the weather is not stable (I knew it wasn't [would reccomend checking with meteoblue] go SoBo and be aware that the crossing can be impossible - I would reccomend bringing you packraft so you habe more options even though it's the H route. Otherwise you have to wait, potentially for days or you need the help of a local (this is how Cy & GG managed it).

Next day continued 04C. The trail to the pass is clearly visible and beautiful to hike. From there it's hard to find a few times because of a lot of animal tracks. Follow the GPS. The trail is again visible from this point on: -46.486009, -72.212428. Trail condition generally good with some bushes hanging in the trail. Reached X {33H-04} [73.9/559]. Same here a lot if animal trail - follow the GPS. The trail is clearly visible from this point on: -46.49591, -72.205307 up to Bahía Murta. Condition is good. The Pass {33H-04} [71.5/958] is definetly a highlight. Camped at Camp {33H-04} [66.2/209] - great place. Next day was long no changes on the trail condition - good and easy - hiked to Ford, Camp {33H-04} [37.5/259]. Camping there is a bit tricky to find a good place but manageable. Met a guy at the gosttown Puerto Cristal. The trail is according to him also used by tourists groups. I asked before the trial if there is a ferry connection - there is none only one company goes there by boat for tourist. Maybe you can arrange a transfer ( https://turismopuertocristal.cl/ very fast response time via WhatsApp 10 minutes). The Pass {33H-04} [43.3/840] is also a highlight. The Ford, Camp {33H-04} [37.5/259] is challenging hip deep. After that it's easy road walk to Bahía Murta. Got a lift at -46.520007, -72.636049.

Overall: I would recommend SoBo because the difficult sections are at the beginning and weather dependent. Go if you have a few stable non rainy days. Bring you packraft to have more options for fording. The entry via Option 03 & 03B is in my opinion easy due to hitchhiking & ou find a grop and book a lift The views are amazing at the passes. The BB is trivial. BB&CC is annoying but done within 2 hours. The Option 4 is absolutely beautiful and if you are a bit luckier than me avoids a lot of road walking. Would definitely reccomend the section. The reason for me to go with Option 04 is to easy connect to 82P.

Contact: https://linktr.ee/RundW

* '''2023-12-22 / 3 days / RR / SOBO / Anh'''

Just a quick info: The first part of RR is not marked but very easy to hike. After the pass (km 62) I had a hard time with the 2km CC. At first the snowfields were very steep (60 slope). The snow thickness was only 20-80cm, underneath are very big steep boulders and the melting snow makes the hollows big. Then there are the streams under the snowfields. I was a few times with a foot in it, fortunately not whole body. I had to go up and down in the forest, on the edge, on the rocks... My goal was to be safe, it took me 2 hours to cover the 2km.

==Season 2022/23==
* '''2023-Mar-30 to 2023-Mar-31 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 1 / Martin & Helena'''

We started from Villa Cerro Castillo around 11 AM and took ferry from the port the next day at noon. The former RR trail follows path of Sendero de Chile, and starting with no expectations we were quite impressed with what it offers, especially all the amazing views of Cerro Castillo. It's definitely a good short alternative to the Torres del Avellano detour that we were forced to skip. Trail is easy to follow and you can find many camp spots along the way. There are many small shops in Puerto Ibáñez. Knowing the ferry schedule we went directly to the port where were just a few others in this time of the year.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* '''26/02/2023 - 02/03/2023 / RR SOBO with emergency exit on a boat on Lago General Carrera / Louis, Rémi & Noé :'''

Day 1 - From Lago Verde - 15.5km - +700m/-300m We first hitchiked from Villa Cerro Castillo to Lago Verde on the Carretera Austral. We hiked then the gravel road until the camp next to the free check in point, in the forest.

Day 2 - Laguna La Plazza - 16.5km - +800m/-500m We kept going on the minor road before the well maintained horse trail. We took option to the Laguna La Plazza and we camped there but the weather was quite bad with a lot of wind. Would recommend to camp in the pasture down there in these conditions.

Day 3 - Lagunas before the pass - 17km - +1000m/-900m The trail was still very easy to follow this day. A bit of cross country at the end but nothing difficult as there are kerns. There is a spot to pitch tents next to the second lake, between it and the waypoint "camp" (that we didn't find btw). Very nice there and without the clouds, the view should be incredible.

Day 4 - CC until diversion @km69.8 - 14km - +500m/-1100m The troubles began for us this day. Noé injured his knee just after the pass. With Rémi, we alternated carrying his bag in addition to ours. That's why we hadn't moved a lot. The bush bashing is demanding and under the rain, fording is a real challenge. I would recommend you to be south of the Rio after the diversion/ford. We camped on the north side, a few hundred meters after the div.

Day 5 - Lago General Carrera - 30km - +700m/-1000m As we were a bit late, we decided to walk directly to the lake. We forded the Rio in order to be south of it and we found the horse trail, it was easier then ! We crossed the Rio a last time @km81.2, still manageable with the rain but a bit hard (water until the hips, we are 1m80 tall) with a strong current. Then, the minor road. We didn't leave it until the lake. A bit of ups and downs but the road is nice so it is fast. Here, at the lake. There is mobile coverage and so we contacted numeros given on the PDF on WhatsApp to find a boat to bring us back to civilisation. With the third bag to carry, it was too hard for us to keep hiking. I let you the contact of Jairo, that can bring you back to Puerto Tranquilo... for 400.000 CLP... we didn't had the choice as the settler living just in front of the lake wasn’t there. Jairo : +56 9 6633 9507 He transported us the next day.

* '''2023-Feb-21-27 / NOBO / RR + Option 3B / Ondrej and Bara / Puerto Ibanez - Vila Cerro Castillo / 6.5 days'''

Gorgerous section. Unfortunately, we were struck by bad weather mid-way which took out the joy and brought a few very difficult moments for us.

We went NOBO and on the 3rd day camped in the valley close to Maria & Julio (76.7 km). It started raining early morning and while the rain stopped around midday, it was enough to turn streams into rivers and cross country paths into swamps. We were unable to ford the river at km 69.8 at two different places. To continue, we decided to make a risky choice and bush-bash upstream on the other side of the river, hoping to ford it in an upper section and rejoin the trail. This eventually worked out. We forded the river at -46.43642, -72.45456 and rejoined the trail. This 1.2km diversion took us about 2 hours. Bush-bashing through forest was okay but in the middle of the diversion we struggled through 300m of thorny bushes which took forever to get across.

From around 1000m of altitude, we had fresh snow on the slopes. This made the boulder field more challenging than we wanted (fortunately still manageable). We crossed the exposed pass at km62.0 and continued on the other side, firstly through snow and then again through muddy cross country parts until we joined the trailhead at km 57.0. Afterwards the trail was easy all the way until the end.

We also met Anna and Christopher going the opposite direction - really great to meet fellow hikers!

* '''2023-Feb-20-24 / NOBO / RR shortend on the road sections / Zohar / Road to Levicán - Carterra Austeral / 5 days'''

I tried to shorten the section because of the upcoming bad weather, which hit on the last day, but I was lucky to catch a ride out with a family that came to collect wood from their land.

I arrived on Monday to pureto Ibañez spoke with the van to levicán that left at 17.40 to Levicán got off on the way where the rout leave the main road and walked till the shore of Lago General Carrera. Day 2 I followed the horse trail along the lake, which was very visible and easy to follow. Then, I followed a miner till I found a stable campsite. Day 3 was the hardest. I was determined to sleep at the base of the torres, so I had a lot of trail to cover, and the route was hard to follow, but the direction was clear. Day 4 started with a beautiful sun rise on the clear torres de avellano. The bolder field wasn't as hard as I itentenly thought, but be careful. After the pass, I met 4 young hikers going to the torres and back. Day 5 was wet, but at least on a minor road and about 9 km before the road, I was picked up and taken to Villa Cerro Castillo.

I don't advise doing the section in 5 days thay where long, big days, and it is better to enjoy the surroundings. if the weather was better, I would have taken 7 days. This section is beautiful and highly recommended

* '''20.02. - 24.02.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO, Villa Cerro Castillo - Puerto Ibáñez'''

In the afternoon we started hitchhiking the Carretera Austral to where Option 3B starts. There were lots of people trying to hitchhike directly from Villa Cerro Castillo, so we figuered to have a better chance if we walk further up the Carretera Austral. We soon got lucky. That day we walked the dirtroad until km 4.4 and camped there next to a small stream.

The next day was mostly easy walking on dirtroads until the crossing at km 45.5 (which is relatively easy to miss!). We camped at km 49 at the edge of the forest.

The next day the weather turned bad once we reached the section with all the boulders on the ascent to the pass. We did some unnecessary climbing by not sticking to the main route. When descending we lost the main route again and briefly tried to descend without it, which we soon realised is a bad idea, so we climbed back up to where we lost it. We spent the night at the camp at km 63.4.

The next morning we woke up with a clear blue sky and finally saw the Torres del Avellano. Really amazing rock formations. The following bushbashing part seemed ok to us, we had worse ones on the GPT so far ;). First we walked on to the right of the river following a good animal path. Once it ended we changed to the left side and stayed there. About 2/3 of the route is a realtively good path and the rest was some easy BB and climbing over fallen trees. Luckily the ford at km 69.8 was easy to cross. We took variant E from where on the trail was in a great condition and we could walk pretty fast. The river crossing at km 81.1 was more demanding and went almost up to Annas hips (1,63m). We camped soon after that at approx. km 81.5.

We continued on variant H the easy trail on the dirtroad until the lake, where it gets more demanding (we underestimated the continous ups and downs). The views are amazing though. It gets pretty windy next to the lake. We camped at a tiny spot at km 109.3 next to a small stream.

On the final day we walked to the bus station (6 pm) and took the ferry to Chile Chico the same day (8 pm). This section was great :)

* '''11-18 February 2023 / Maks&Gabi / SOBO / RR, 33H-E, 33H-H ( hichhiking from km136 to Puerto Ibanez)'''

We started from Villa Cerro Castillo. If you can, try not to skip the first part of road walking. It's beautiful with the view over Lagunas and Cerro Castillo. The terrain is also different than in later parts of the section.

There are some problems - lot of fences and gates on the first 5 km. Then many aggressive dogs and limited access to water (steep descents and fences around the lakes). The camping spots, marked on track files, can be hard to access (private properties with new fences). We camped by the bridge around 25km (the bridge is not marked).

We than waited half a day for the rain to stop. The rest of the road is also well maintained with occasional river crossing (all easy).

The next trail part (until km 57) is mostly visible. Some problem can occur by the CC part, especially during heavy rain - it was all floded. We weren't exactly expecting it, but it was snowing and the temperature during the night was about -4. Next day we waited until 11 am to dry our stuff, as the sun finally came out.

As Veronica wrote, when going up to the pass try to follow the cairns (33H-D). The part between the lakes and the pass is quite easy.

Going down from the pass we followed the GPS and we found it quite manageable (actually for us it seemed to be much easier going SOBO than NOBO at that point, even though it was slippery and with a lot of small streams going down the rock). We reached the camp at km 63.4 at 4 pm. First 400 m of BB is easy as the forest is not overgrown. It's getting worse in the valley. If possible try to be close to the river. We were fording it multiple times. Finally we stayed at the left side of the river, bushbashing for the next 3 km (that's where the trail starts). We slept next to the ford at km 69.8.

We forded the river in the morning. It's possible, but the current was strong (for us it was the worst ford on this section with water above our knees - I'm 175 cm). After the next ford we followed 33H-E as we couldn't find the entrance to the RR. It's a very well maintained path with a big puesto nearby.

After fords at km 81 we followed 33H-H as we didn't want to cross the river anymore. For those of you, who are planning to go there during the next few days, be carefull - somewhere around km 91 there is a fresh dead cow near to the water.

The lake part's quite exhausting. We were blessed with sunny and windless weather so we found it astonishing and not so dangerous. We started our last day at camp km 113.8 . Ascent on the road (117.5) is ok and there was water on km 119.9 (small stream). The rest of the road walking is easy (with occasional fences) but there's no water on km 135.2 (water on 129.3 is hard to access).

We hitchhiked from km 136 to Puerto Ibanez. During the weekend there is only one ferry a day (Saturday morning and Sunday evening).

* '''8 to 13 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO from Laguna Verde / 6 data'''

This one was an ordeal for me, I don't recommend starting with a week straight of rain in the forecast. At first I appreciated the ambiance after six completely dry weeks in the north, but after a few days it started to get me down. Thankfully to keep my morale up I encountered some kind settlers, a few pairs of GPT hikers, and some sun in the final stretch.

The rains never got too heavy, generally off and on light rain. The temperatures were fairly cold from the nearly constant cloud cover.

To start out I hitched out of Villa Cerro Castillo to Laguna Verde, teaming up with some of the many hitchhikers. The initial road walk was beautiful, some podcasts helped me power through the rest.

The pass was tough in the rain, but manageable. Things were slippery but there's enough to grab onto in the boulder fields to keep you stable, as long as you're focused and moving slowly. The ascent was nice boulder field the whole way, on the decent things looked scarier. Instead of boulders there was a lot of large smooth slab with water flowing down. The gpx route there was good, following boulders and vegetation around the slab. Things only felt dangerous once, when I went slightly off the track and ended up trapped between a cliff and a water slide. After some scary experimentation I found that I could get good traction on the waterslide using a crab walk technique, on my back with hands and feet and butt all resting on the slab. This let me traverse the waterslide back to safety.

The little bush bashing section after the pass was easy, I camped in there. Things got bad again once I got back out to the river and the cross country+bush bashing marker. My feet got worryingly numb after a bunch of river crossings and marshland traversal, I tried to stick to the woods after that.

I then took two big questionable detours from the tracks, staying to the south of the rio avellano and avoiding crossing it all the way until I reached the lake. I'll quickly describe them here but they were both uncomfortable and not worth it unless the river is impassable. The cold and rain seem to damage my decision making quite a bit, I refused to backtrack or to take breaks to think things through.

To skip the crossing at 69.8 I stayed in the woods south of the river starting at around km 67.5. Initially nice cow path, followed by a tricky wooded boulder field, followed by a horrific stretch crawling over thorny bushes. Eventually I made my way up to the base of some cliffs where things got a bit easier. Following the cliffs I reached a cow path, leading to some open woods through which I rejoined the trail around km 70.5. Never thought I'd be so happy to find cow poop.

I dropped a blue and black stone bracelet somewhere before or during the 71.8 river crossing, let me know if you come across it!

Some of the minor streams merging into the river were tough to cross. 71.8 was up to my thighs with a strong current.

To skip the first major crossing of the Rio Avellano at 81.2 I followed some horse trail to the big white rock hill, and climbed to the top. The rock was super grippy even in the rain. I then traversed along the slope to the east, staying between an elevation of 700 and 750m. There was some cow path making it easier to walk, I wonder how they get up there. A few tough bushy sections descending and climbing out of crevasses/streams before I got to a gradual stream at -46.46385, -72.30601 which I scrambled down to the river.

I ran into the settlers Luis and Jaqueline at their house by the river. They generously took me in for the night and gave me a chance to dry out some of my stuff.

From there I followed option 4C down to the lake, hoping that the river crossing there would be less scary with the river fanned out wider. The option was decent trail over some low passes to the lake, though at times it was hard to follow. It's tough to choose where to cross the river because you can't see the bottom through the silt. I decided to cross near the gpx line where it was wide with lots of debris and sand bars to rest in between the channels. At the worst points it was crotch deep and powerful, the rocks under my feet sliding back from the force. Pretty scary.

I camped in the willow grove by campo chico, and the next day (Monday) I raced to the bus stop at 130.4. It turns out that the bus is now at 6pm, I got there just in time. I took the bus to Puerto Ibáñez and got straight on the 8pm ferry to Chile Chico.

A small cut on my ankle ended up getting infected, I'm now in town out of commission with a ton of swelling. Should have been more careful!

* '''Feb 12 Direct Route SOBO 1 day Frank'''

I walked straight from Villa Cerro Castillo to Puerto Ibanez in one long day. A few KM out on a dirt road there is a museum on your left & a short trail on the right which goes to some rock paintings. You pass by a lake with good views of Cerro Castillo. Salto Rio Ibanez waterfall is impressive.

*Helen and Craig + (Caro and Ali)
5th-10th February NoBo<- only direction to do it! So pretty!

almost got stung by the ferry from Chile chico. Make sure when you go to the office as the online booking doesn't seen to be working, that you specify your a foot passenger. And if they refuse ask to be put on the waiting list for the next ferry (which means you'll get on just fine) pretty sure you could probably just turn up and ask very nicely and they would let you across. Looked in to the boats from Carlos and Pascual to join 33 missing the coast section from levican but Carlos is not in the area at the moment and Pascuals boat is currently non functional, sad times but the coastal section I would have been sad to miss!

-Decided to do Torres del avellano northbound. Highly recommend doing it this way and thankyou to the others who pointed out this point before us. Veiws were great and much easier to get over the bolder scramble going up.

-We walked in a group of 4 so payed for a transfere to levican and a pick up from lago lapparent. 60,000 each time.
-Phone signal from Puerto del avellano to levican
-The river valleys of avellano and venti were incredibly beautiful to the south.
-Route was better marked and easier to navigate than exsepted. Very Easy going apart from km 68.7-62. if you've done GPT 40 or 37, then you'll find 33 delightfully a breeze. (We did have good weather, in bad weather even just a little rain I imagine a very diffence and worse exsperience)
-In the BB/CC river valley of Rio avellano walk on the north shore of the river rather than going to the south. The forest is mostly easily passable or can hop out to the river valley to walk more freely. The south side of the river is calf/ knee high swampy bush bashing which leads to very cold feet and frustration.
-keep eyes peeled for humels! We spotted a male humel on the bushbash/cross country section and had the most amazing sighting!

* '''22 to 26 of January 2023 / Véronica / GPT33H RR SOBO / via GPT33H-03B / 4.5 days'''

Route: Villa Cerro Castillo - Laguna Verde (Río Alto valley) - Upper Río Avellano valley - Torres del Avellano viewpoint - Lower Río Avellano valley - Lago General Carrera - Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez

Simply beautiful section. Lots of excellent info is written about it in the Hiker's Manuel too. I only met 4 other hikers, with two of them being northbounding GPT hikers! Great to meet you, Yannic and Mirjam :)

From Villa Cerro Castillo I hitched easily on the Carretera Austral to Laguna Verde, where Option 3B begins. I wanted to cut some of the initial road walking because poor weather was incoming the next day and I wanted to try and beat it to have a chance at seeing the Torres. The road walk in the Río Alto valley was actually quite pleasant and scenic. There is a little self-registration booth across the road from the settler at km 30.8, where hikers are asked to "check in" before proceeding down the private road towards the Río Avellano valley. There is no charge.

The camp at 52.7 km is very nice with a little stream running through, lots of dead wood around to make a fire, and relatively sheltered. There is an old puesto/refuge there too that is open and has a fireplace. Could be a good spot to hole up if the weather is bad.

When you diverge from the Río Avellano valley to head up the pass, don't try and follow the GPS. Instead take the path of least resistance (or the path that looks the clearest) through the woods and across the rocks near the river. There are occasional cairns to mark the way too, although not always obvious to spot. Only the last cross-country section before the pass did I follow closely with the GPS, as it goes across a boulder field and the GPS line seemed to be the easiest way up to the pass.

On the south side of the pass is where you finally see the Torres del Avellano proper. Absolutely incredible, and I managed to get the great views only a couple of hours before the rain started and clouds engulfed everything.

I followed the GPS track closely going down through the granite boulder field, since it guided a safe way around the steeper cliffs. It was slow going down through the boulders, but it didn't feel unsafe as the rocks were grippy and solid.

The initial "bushbashing" segment at km 63.9 was very easy through a mature forest. I didn't follow the GPS here, just followed an old animal trail alongside a creek until it joined with Río Ventisquero. Again, the CC&BB section starting at km 64.4 was quite easy at first. I forded the river multiple times to walk along whichever side looked easier/less swampy. About midway through this section though it got tougher because Río Ventisquero got silty and the flow increased, so that I didn't want to ford it much anymore, so I stuck to the left (north) side of the river, mostly in the forest. There were some areas of unavoidable blowdowns and marshy terrain, and everything was wet from the rain coming down too.

When I reached the waypoint X, Ford at 69.8 km, I camped there for the night because Río Ventisquero was a torrent and looked unsafe to ford. There are a few nice, flat places to pitch a tent in this area, under large mature trees. Early the next morning, it was very cold and still raining, and I couldn't tell if the river had gone down at all or not. There was fresh snow higher on the mountaintops. I ended up fording the river slightly downstream from where the trail crosses it, and the water came up just below my hips (I'm 165 cm). The water is silty so you can't see the bottom, but the rocks underneath had surprisingly good traction, which I was grateful for because the current was strong.

It might be better to take Option 33H-E than the regular route. That trail looked well-maintained and clear, whereas the RR between 71.8 and 73.5 km was hard to follow and overgrown at times. There were no signs of life at the homestead of Maria and Julio when I passed through.

I was strategic when I forded Río Avellano at km 81.2, crossing multiple branches at their shallowest points. The water went midway up my thighs at the deepest point. Afterwards though I didn't want to cross it two more times, so I took Option 33H-H which stayed north of the river.

The refugio at km 98.5+0.2 on the shore of Lago General Carrera is nice and clean. There is a woodstove and some tables and chairs. It was crazy windy when I got there though, and I can't reccomend it as a good place to camp unless you sleep inside the refuge — the wind gusts were coming from all directions and there wasn't a spot that was sheltered outdoors. Further along the path at Campo Chico, there is a grove of mature willow trees that is probably a much better camp spot.

Very beautiful hiking along Lago General Carrera, but it was wildly windy for me that day. At times it was hard to stay on the trail due to the strong gusts trying to blow me off the path. Lots of water sources.

RH-MR&CC-V {33H} [19.5/118.0+4.6] is all minor road, no cross-country involved at all. I met the settler at km 121.8, he kindly let me pass through his property (and many gates) no problem.

I got to the minor road from Levican (waypoint at 130.4) at 7:40 a.m. on a Thursday. There is a little bus shelter there to protect from the wind. It was very cold and windy when I got there, and I waited until almost noon, hoping to hitch a ride. Not a single car passed by that whole time. So I resigned myself to the road walk, walked for about an hour in extremely windy conditions, and then a car finally came by and picked me up and drove me into Puerto Ibáñez :) Very grateful!!!

* '''2023 Jan / Yannic & Mirjam / Northbound'''

From Puerto Ibanez we made the first kilometres to junction 130.4 by car stop. Then we hiked on to Camp 113.4. We didn't stay at the location, but a little further ahead where the river flows into the lake. Along the lake was nice with a lot of ups and downs and then we camped somewhere on the side of the Minor Road. Along the Rio Avellano we stayed on the northern side so that we only had to cross the river once (at 81.2). The water came up to my waist (I am 180 cm). Surprisingly, there was another Ford at 69.8. Again, very strong current and loose ground, so it was difficult to find a good footing. Right after this Ford we spent the night in the forest.

On the climb at the start of the cross country section (at trailhead 68.5) be sure to get the right entry point as there are several small streams coming down the valley. We thought we saw a trail further into the forest that we could follow. Unfortunately, this was a mistake and led to us having to bush bash back onto the trail for a few hundred metres. In general, the trail was mostly better close to the river than deeper in the forest. The camping spot at the Torres was incredible and worth getting up for sunrise. The climb up the pass was very doable with the GPS tracks and not too difficult. On the other side of the pass, the trail got surprisingly good. We met a group of horses that were probably trekking to the lakes. Because the weather got worse, we took option 03 on the Carretera Austral and stopped at Ceroo Castillo.

*GPT section 33 7 days, 84 miles, 14K ft ascent Dec. 21 to 27, 2022 David and Erika NOBO

Ferry from Chili Chico runs just once a week (Mondays at 8:00 am) we missed it by hours and were stuck at the hotel California in Chili Chico for a day. “You can enter any time you like but you can never leave” got to be the feeling after residential bus after residential bus filled with residents and would not take us. Eventually got to Sierra Castillo and then hitched to Puerto Inginiero Ibanez. The tourist office there got her husband to give us a lift further 24 km to the end of the road. Well worth the 25,000 pesos. Road hike from there straightforward but new gates are being installed at the last road (NOBO) before you hit Lago General Carrera. Lots of wind. Last Refugio on the lake is legitimate. Good place to camp. Lower Rio Avellano was fordable. We thought we could avoid the 2nd and 3rd ford by taking the path over the hill. Don’t. It doesn’t go…Don’t worry, it gets worse. Ultimately, you’ll be hiking through the river all the way to Torres de Avellano. Note on that. The route takes you up to the lake. Beautiful, but then you go through a 2 km boulder field. We found the start of a trial before exiting the river that seems to lead right up to the pass. Might go, we don’t know. Instead, we took the boulder route, broke through a snow bridge, and put a deep gauge in Erika’s leg. Could have used stiches but had no sutures. Might be worth investigating.

*'''2022 Nov, NoBo, Option 1, Alice and Florian'''

We chose to do the option 1 taking the sendero de chile from Puerto Ibañez to Cerro castillo. Most of it is a trail road (first 25km, and the last 4) so it is quite tiring for the knees as some point. But it seems quite easy to do hitchhiking at least on the first 25 km if needed. Nevertheless it is quite a nice road. You first arrive to a very nice waterfall after 5km, them walk through a canyon with nice scenic views. The 10km pass through a forest trail near lakes, it is really nice as well.

* '''2022 Nov / GPT33H Option 11 and Parts of Regular Route / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck'''

GPT33H/GPT34P: Northern coast of Lago General Carrera from Puerto Sanchez to Levican (packrafting and hiking)

From 2022-Nov-20 to 2022-Nov-24 we (Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck) packrafted and hiked in 5 days from Puerto Sanchez to Levican along the northern coast of Lago General Carrera.

This lake is infamous for the frequent strong gusty wind, therefore packrafting requires a careful monitoring of the weather to depart only onto the lake when a period with calmer conditions is approaching. Luckily, there is reasonable good mobile phone coverage what facilities checking the weather and wind forecast frequently.

Given the wind conditions any packrafting attempt on Lago General Carrera requires to my opinion:

- decked packraft, a longer tandem is strongly preferable (faster, more stable) - a sail (to get quicker to an exit point) - packrafting experience in the region (to anticipate typical weather and wind patterns) - smartphone with entel SIM card or entel rooming - YR weather App, Windy weather App

The predominant wind is eastbound therefore only eastbound packrafting is advisable.

I’m left with the impression that wind gets generally stonger towards the east (towards Levican and Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez) and that calm periods are more frequent and longer towards the west (Puerto Tranquilo, Puerto Sanchez).

Also, calmer conditions are more likely in the early morning just after sunrise but strong wind all night is also common.

During a previous hike in February 2020 we experienced an entire summer day with barely any wind but such days are as frequent as unicorns and no travel plan should be build on exceptional favorable circumstances.

There is a trail along the northern shore but due to the steep coast there are sections of up to 13 km on the lake without a connection from the shoreline to this trail.

Emergency exits are more frequent along the coast but using such an exit means waiting for the wind to calm down what can take days. Therefore it is generally favorable to exit the water only in a location from where the trail can be reached easily.

We packrafted most of the distance from Puerto Sanchez to the Avellano river delta on 3 mornings in about 9 hours on the water but from there we hiked in two days to Levican because we had no similar promising calm weather windows in following early mornings. In hindsight the wind remained manageable in the morning hours till about noon but there was no point in reversing our decision to hike (and we urgently needed some exercise to get used to hike with heavy backpacks again).

Crossing from Puerto Tranquilo to Puerto Sanchez is reasonable feasible by packraft in calm weather (typically either very early in the morning or later in the evening). The crossing is 3 km wide and best started 1 km north of Puerto Tranquilo in a hidden bay with a nice protected spot to pitch a tent (46.6146°S / 72.6838°W · 210 m). If preparing the packraft at the beach of Puerto Tranquilo officials may stop packrafters as there are numerous restrictions and requirements applicable (in example accompanying motor boat with two licensed boat drivers).

Packrafters should depart in north-eastern direction to compensate for a south-eastern wind drift in case wind increases.

A very nice protected camp site is approximately 8 km from the recommended exit point near Puerto Tranquilo.

GPT33H: Bus Levican - Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez

The last 26 km from Levican to Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez are rather dull road walking. Therefore hikers that arrive at the right day and time can take the subsidized bus.

Monday and Friday only: 08:00 Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez -> Levican 09:00 Levican -> Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez 18:00 Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez -> Levican 19:00 Levican -> Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez Price: 1000 CLP

Transport at other times can be arranged for a substantially higher cost (estimated 40‘000 to 60‘000 CLP per vehicle).

Paty: +56 9 9506 3176

Luis: +56 9 8648 4075

==Season 2021/22==

* '''2022 Feb: 10-14, SoBo, RR, Kris&Stiina'''

Even though the first few days out of town is a road walk, the first part of it is actually really scenic and worth walking, the lakes are just very beautiful one the way. The second part was mostly in the forest and our feet, knees and hips were already hurting from all the road walking but once we got on trail it got better right away. The trail was surprisingly well maintained I would even say better than in Cerro Castillo National Park. Another unexpected surprise was the amount of people that we met on the trail a total of about 25 people in different size groups were hiking to see Torres de Avellano. We really didn’t expect that, there also seemed to be some sort of backpack hauling and guiding service that the local arrieros were offering. We unfortunately didn’t manage to talk to them to find out, but it seems that the place is getting popular. Which is not a surprise because it’s very very beautiful there, probably is correct what the manual says, that it’s going to be the next Torres del Paine, time will tell.

On day 3 about 2-3km before the pass the trail disappeared and the going got tougher and tougher, mostly just bolder hopping up and over the pass. The descent was pretty steep on large granite slabs which offered plenty of good grip but I am not sure how well would it work in wet conditions. I think the pass is doable in not good weather conditions but only if one feels very confident in own abilities on wet rocks. Also it’s a good idea to follow the gps on the way down because otherwise you end up on a cliff edge and have to track back up. The ground finally eases up once you enter the forest, but then starts the bushwhacky part all the way until ford/div at 69,7km.

That was as far as we could make it that day because the river was pretty fast in the evening. So we decided to camp right there and cross it in the morning when the flow would be a bit more manageable and our decision payed off. In the morning the river was about 10cm lower than the evening before, so if you ar a shorter person it could save you. The flow was pretty strong and water was still about hips deep. Both of us crossed it together by standing in a line, me in front and Stiina supporting me from behind, it worked great. After that it was easy cruising for the next 32km, however we had to cross that river once again at 81,2km. It was still challenging but we managed to do it the traditional way one by one, facing upstream. But the current was still very strong and pushing our feet out from under us, challenging our balance. After that we didn’t want to cross it two more times as gps suggested so we just stayed on the left coast all the way to the lake. There were some cow trails to follow and also to bypass the cliffs it was no problem.

The lake is really beautiful with all the islands and it wasn’t too windy when we arrived. We camped about a kilometer from Campo Chico on the rocky stream bed and managed to cook on the fire that night without causing fire hazard. And there were apple, pear and plum trees at the 98,3km, plums were very ripe but the apples and pears still need a week or two to get ready, but it was a very nice treat nevertheless.

Next day was Monday which meant that we could avoid the 26km road walk at the end of the section which we were determined to do. We had 30km to goto get to the road junction were the bus is passing by and according to the manual the bus would pass there some time after 20:00 which is when it starts from Levican. So we pushed the whole day over the steep, sandy, bushy terrain and made it to the junction by 19:00, great, we thought. But after bus didn’t show up we called the phone nr that Janna & Matthias had provided and it turned out that the bus actually leaves Levican at 18:00 and is long gone. But the bus driver was nice enough to offer us a ride to Puerto Ibañez, however for a hefty 45.000 pesos. We were out of food, out of water and pretty spent from getting ourselves there so we accepted the offer. The car ride showed that it would be a pretty dull road walk aswell if we would have had to do it so in the end it all worked out and we got to town just as we wanted.

The town was a bit disappointing, people were somehow not very helpful and also all accommodations were full, but we managed to camp at Las Cabañitas about a km out of town. The next day we went to the port to catch the ferry to Chile Chico, but due to strong winds all ferries were canceled and nobody could even give us a guess of when the ferries would restart. We didn’t want to spend another day in Puerto Ibañez so we hitched back to Villa Cerro Castillo in hopes to get bus or a hitch around the lake. There are definitely daily buses to Cochrane.

In the end our plans changed and we decided that we are content with our experience on GPT this season, so we left it at that. Thanks for kicking our butts GPT and showing us beauty we haven’t seen before! :)

For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures

* '''GPT 33H Option 4 (Puerto Cristal)/ Torres de Avellano/ Packrafting Route / 2022 Feb-4 / 7 days / Tobias Schorcht and Jonas Grünewald'''

I started Packrafting from Puerto Tranquilo to Puerto Sanches in the calm morning hours. Since Jonas doesn‘t have a Packraft, we booked a full Marvel Caves Tour by boat for him and asked the Captain, to leave him in Puerto Sanches, which was possible without any extra paying. We hiked northbounded along Lago Vidal Gormez and visited the left behind abandoned village Puerto Cristal. It was an impressive experience to see the old facilities of the Mining Company! The good visible trail is partly overgrown with spiky bushes and contains a lot of altitude. We have been rewarded with stunning views on the Lago General Carrera and recommend this option anyway. We went up to the Torres with good weather knowing, that some wind and rain have been predicted for the night. It took us many hours to cross the valley (-46,43300, -72,48867) because we mainly followed the “cow-trails” through the forest and wetland (as an alternative to walk up the river). We reached the camp (-46,42178, -72,50672) late and sheltered the spot with rocks against the wind. You are welcome to use our cozy spot free of charge 😉. Took the trail from the Torres down to Cerro Castillo without difficulties.

We have to say, that this part of the GPT was challenging but absolutely worth the struggle.

Disfrutas las cosas 🙏

* '''NoBo, January 2022, 6.5 days, Participants: Janna & Matthias'''

Day 1: We took the ferry from Chile Chico to Puerto Ibañez (ferry schedule online).There still runs a government-subsidised bus (+56 9 89448847) between Puerto Ibañez and Levicàn on Mondays and Fridays at 8am & 5pm (summer). We decided to spend the afternoon rain relaxing at the pizzeria in Puerto Ibañez and then catch the bus. We called and found out that the bus stop is now in front of the Supermercado Jelvez. The driver let us off at Div 130.4/311 at about 6pm ($1000 per person cash) and we hiked for another hour or so. At bridge 129.3/304 you cannot get water (a kind of gorge), maybe at the marked "Water?" about 15min downstream. We had enough with us and camped sheltered from the wind between the monoculture trees (S 46.377764 W 71.922459).

Day 2: We continued through / over many gates and past empty houses down to the water. Attention if NoBo: at gate 122.6/628 there are two gates - the GPT splits behind the left one, so take that one. The first water before the lake and two good camps at the lake are marked. The path along Lago Carrera was easy to find, sandy and rough in places but we could follow old riders' tracks. We really enjoyed the fantastic view over the lake and had a tábano-free time thanks to the strong wind. About 2 km before Campo Chico (S 46.478295 W 72.086034) we found a west wind-protected and very nice camping spot.

Day 3: Further camping possibilities would be as already described on wikiexplora at Campo Chico and at Puerto Avellano. Along the lake there are streams/rivers for drinking water every 1-2h. There is a wild apple tree on the trail here: S 46.487073 W 72.102247 in case you come by at the right time of year. After Puerto Avellano there is about 15km of a former mine road that is easy to follow. We had a wonderful view of the mountains the whole day. The first two Fords are easy to pass with little water. Water sources again every 1-2h. Our camp 3 was here: S 46.457910 W 72.299412 - beautiful, next to the water, sheltered from the wind.

Day 4: Ford-day - in total we forded rivers more than 20 times, all of them were easy to knee deep except Río Avellano at 81.2/490 which reached almost to our hips and required a lot of effort. We met and chatted with settler Maria who was on her way to have some work done. At Div/Ford 69.7/634 the mountain peaks remained hidden in the clouds and the weather forecast was not so sparkling why we opted for the bypass (option 2) which is also very nice to walk with imposing mountain massifs on both sides, enchanted fairytale forests, a waterfall and easy-to-find cow tracks. Only the large swamp around S 46.386387 W 72.422623 was very unpleasant and foul-smelling, about shin deep. It may be worth looking for a path along the water there. Camp 4: S 46.371434 W 72.432519, quiet and nice under curious observation of two horses on the other side of the river.

Day5: At Div 54.5/841 we checked the weather again but as it still looked bad and everything in the valley further up was already in fog we finally decided against the Torres. At this Div there was an unmarked Ford when coming from option 2. If NoBo hiking directly after this Div take the path higher up the hill and not the marked route directly along the water, because the latter is slipped and to climb. At Puesto 53.0/946 (if NoBo) do not go through the gate but continue on the east side. A Horse Trail runs along the eastern edge of Mallin Grande. Our Camp 5 was here: S 46.281253 W 72.436128.

Day 6: Continued on the gravel road, passing many settlers and pastures. The Estero Alto flows much lower than the road, there is water at Bridge 25.7/454 and otherwise only at the lakes. There is a fence almost everywhere to the left and right of the road. To get to Camp 16.9+0.3/598 you have to climb over a locked gate (S 46.178222 W 72.312583). The two buildings in the pasture are a ruin (S 46.182635 W 72.311414) and a stable (S 46.183119 W 72.310509).

Day 7: Continued along the gravel road we almost missed Div 5.5/554 where a sandy path continues. The path is blocked by a wire fence at S 46.143124 W 72.184071 but a little further to the right you can slip through. No problems to get to Villa Cerro Castillo

==Season 2020/21==

* '''February 2021 from Bahía Murta to Torres del Avellano to Carretera Austral / Northbound, 5 days. Valle Resfalín/Resfalón (Option 8) + Mirador Torres del Avellano + Regular Hike + Escape to Carretera Austral (Option 3B) + Hitchhiking to Villa Cerro Castillo'''

Day 1: Bahia Murta to Camp #5 (Camp ? @33H-08-#005) / 11.5 km / 6 hours

The hike started at Bahía Murta, on a steep hillside. We used the GPS tracks to find the path, and from there on it’s pretty easy to follow the path (when in doubt, we checked the GPS). It’s a very nice hike, and at the end of the day it’s necessary to cross the river. We both had trekking sandals, which came in handy every time we had to cross a river. Just after the river there is a camp option. We found a nice spot on the other side of the wooden fence, but there are many more options up the small hill. It was a perfect place for sleeping, with the soothing sound of the river.

Day 2: Camp #5 (Camp ? @33H-08-#005) to Regular Route at Mallín Quemado (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) / 11.7 km / 8 hours

This was one of the longest days for us, mainly because we underestimated how much time it takes to walk through a path that’s been reclaimed by nature. The day started with a steep uphill, where we lost the path for a while and then had to check the GPS to find it again. There are streams on the way where it’s possible to refill the water bottles. About a third way in, at (-46.38537, -72.55201), the path collapsed, probably washed out by the river. We took a look around and decided it was way safer to cross the river than to continue on the collapsed path (it was late February, so the river was not so full). We crossed to the other side, and 100m ahead crossed back. This is definitively the trickiest part of the day (although a bit farther ahead we found ourselves in the middle of a caterpillar forest...not really pleasant). Just after the crossing the are two camp sites (Camp ? @33H-08-#008 and Camp ? @33H-08-#009), but we would recommend keep going as the second part of the day is definitively easier than the first. Farther ahead we found two more camp site options: at (-46.36768, -72.53116) on this side of the river and at (-46.36722, -72.53088) on the other side of the river. We considered sleeping there, because we were exhausted, but in the end we decided to keep going as we still had some hours of daylight left. This was the right choice, because that way we could sleep at Mallín Quemado and then the next day do the day trip to Torres del Avellano. Mallín Quemado is the name the locals use for the big forest area that was “burned” by the ashes of Volcan Hudson. It’s near (Puesto @33H-53.0) and it’s a perfect place for sleeping. We decided to boil the water from the small stream, because there were some cattle grazing around.

Day 3: Camp #10 (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) to Mirador Laguna y Torres del Avellano and back to Camp #10 / 7.1 km (each way) / 3 hours (each way)

We started early and with a lot of motivation to go and see the Torres del Avellano. Sadly the day was a bit cloudy, but nonetheless it was totally worth it: the views from up there are breathtaking! A lot of glaciers and superstreams with the purest water you can ask for. When we arrived back at the camp, we met the first person in 3 days: Francisco, a teacher from Puerto Aysen. He came up the other way, from Villa Cerro Castillo, and was planning on going to Torres del Avellano on the next day, and then head back to Villa Cerro Castillo.

Day 4: Camp #10 (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) to Camp at (-46.26244, -72.35118) / 21.6 km / 8 hours

Another long day, but without any difficult parts. This section of the hike is way more popular than Valle Resfalín/Resfalón, so the path is way easier to follow. The first section, until the car road, is really beautiful. We even saw some (semi) wild horses! We knew that once the car road started there wouldn’t be so many camp site options, so we kept our eyes open. The car road goes through a narrow valley, and then comes a steep down hill. At the bottom of the hill, on the left side, there is a small meadow, where it’s possible to pitch a tent (-46.26244, 72.35118). Water is available 100m down a steep hill.

Day 5: Camp at (-46.26244, -72.35118) to Carretera Austral / 14.8 km / 4 hours

Following the main car road to Carretera Austral it’s impossible to get lost. We didn’t find any stream on the way, but in case of needing water there are many houses. Just be sure to ask nicely :) Once on the Carretera Austral we hitchhiked to Villa Cerro Castillo. We only had to wait for 30 minutes to get a ride, and considering that we did this during covid times...not too bad. We also had the backup plan of Francisco, who would be driving to Villa Cerro Castillo later that day. Funny enough, we ran into Francisco by chance in Villa Cerro Castillo and he invited us to an ice cream. It was a nice way of ending the trip.

We are extremely grateful to Jan and all the people from wikiexplora for making this adventure possible!

==Season 2019/20==

*'''Section 33: RR(New!) from Ibáñez. Exit via Option 8 to Bahía Murta.'''
Westbound. 11 days. Party (3): Mum, Sis and I.

Ibáñez y Península Levican: Continuing our extended stay in Chile we caught a government subsidised bus from Cerró Castillo to Ibáñez where we learnt after a somewhat lengthy process: talking to the ticket office, boat personnel and then the carabineros (an officer and then his jefe!), everyone passing the buck; that without a certificado de salud (not available in town, and only online) we couldn't board the vessel. The upside was that the Naviera Austral had fantastic baños (yes! they were open!) and the cleaning lady let us have a quick body wash and even do a little laundry before she had to close up. There was also limited WiFi connectivity (only WhatsApp would work) and powerpoints where we could charge our things. It also happens that we bumped into a Zulema Amoroz who was born in Fachinal, most likely a relative of Carloz Amoros who offers the boat service from Fachinal across the lake (we contacted him but no boats were allowed on the lake). If you hang around near where the ferry docks you might find her selling coffee and alfajores.

We quickly decided to walk the new Section 33 Jan recently published, but end in Bahía Murta instead (i.e. explore option 8). Some effort was exhausted trying to organise a lift out to Península Levican. We did find someone for $30k, (it seemed a little steep but that's roughly what to expect), but it wouldn't be till the following day and we needed to get out of town to spend the night. We stocked up on food and started out on foot on the old RR (now Option 1) camping before we reached Río Ibáñez.

I had a little concern about water on the way to Levican, but there are two or three good streams along the way: (-46.31022, -71.97272) (-46.32470, -71.96457) (-46.34091, -71.94069)

In Puerto Ray a lady (also named Zulema!) warmed up to us and let us camp in her fruit orchard. In the morning we bought some eggs and 'bread' from them. Her husband was tanning a chivo hide; he had such a jolly step!

Along Lago General Carrera: We went back to the junction (Div Levican @33H-131.4) where a good emergency shelter exists. The road is still very clear from here, but don't expect any traffic. I think it was a rare sight that we saw an old Mercedes truck full of wood lumbering (pun intended ;) out. The rd deviates a little from the track files maybe due to the pine plantations. There are many new rds., so take care you don't go the wrong way. Taking the RR you will pass through a locked gate (-46.38234, -71.96692), after this keep an eye out for a gate on the left. It's not in the track files and we didn't look for it, so maybe it's not there. The issue we had was that the road continues up the hill, deviating from the RR around (-46.38448, -71.97642). Here you should already be on the small road on the other side of the fence (someone traveling towards Levican/Ibáñez will find this easier to scope I imagine). Though it's not recommended to cross fences, we carefully crossed instead of heading back. A very minor Rd continues down to a dilapidated puesto and a couple of portóns. The road didn't seem to continue as indicated in the track files... but I wasn't following my gps. We CCed across a field until we encountered another road that led back to the RR.

You will finally encounter your first reliable water source since Levican (-46.40196, -71.97831), especially if you are heading towards Ibáñez, make sure you fill up here!

The two camps in the track files at km117 and km114 were the best we saw. The next obvious choice would be around Campo Chico I think, quite a bit further along. Plenty of water along the lake and we had plenty of apples seeing we were walking so late in the walking season. Amazing autumn colours! The track is also in good shape, someone had very recently 'cleaned' the way! The refugio at Los Álamos was a very welcome sight, a great place to spend a night (it's there because of the high winds possible on the lake). The nearby settler was resonably friendly and his dog Puestero even more so! He told us that it was him who 'cleaned' the track along Lago General. It made our walking so much easier! Thanks Armando!

Valle Avellano y Ventisquiero: The old mining road through Valle Avellano was easy to follow. The road actually continues significantly further than indicated in the track files. Taking Variation F to avoid extra crossings of the river we found the road ended about here: (-46.45730, -72.30207). There is an unmarked ford here: (-46.46107, -72.24636)

We took Variation D and just caught Maria and Julio before they headed out with their kids on a horse ride. We bought some bread from them. They called it a tortilla, but I think my Mexican friends would strongly argue the point ;)

Easy walking up into Valle Ventisquiero. Read Jan's track notes. They are quite thorough. The trail to remeet Río Avellano is a little unused (also as mentioned in his write up), but easy to follow. Some good camping before the river. We met some gouchos using the puesto, they were not overly friendly; I think a little scared because of the virus. They pointed out a nearby shelter we could use made from a very old technique using U-shaped logs (I met a carpenter in Murta who told me a little about it).

Option 8: Valle Resbalín/Resfalón(?): It was snowing in the morning. We decided to take Option 8 to Bahía Murta. This meant less road walking and involved a part marked as 'I' (investigation) which would be nice to document. It appears that this route down Valle Resbalín (or "Resfalón" as some locals in Murta told me it was named... anyone know?) is no longer used; quite overgrown, vague and in places difficult to detect at all. Sometimes all we could see was the occasional chainsawed log; and in some chutes: machete marks. Water was plentiful. There was a very old but partially functional puesto en route.

There is a junction ('div') here: (-46.37495, -72.53695). The trail heading up the side valley actually looked quite distinct. I'm not sure what it's name is, or what's up there, but the water was a nice glacier blue and it had a higher flow than the 'main' named river.

The only tricky spot to find the track was where it was washed away by the river, about here: (-46.38527, -72.55201). I cut steps in the bank, crossed, and dropped a rope down for the others. It would be much safer to walk in the river. We explored options to bypass via skirting around in the bosque, but they didn't seem practical. The nearby camp site marked in the track files (Camp ? @33H-08-#008) is not really good. Better to camp 200m upstream If camping around here. We camped at the confluence with Estero Sur, which is the best spot to camp we saw in the entire valley. From this point down the valley, the track is in use: plenty of fresh signs of cattle (maybe they graze in the side valleys?). Ford Estero Sur (-46.39815, -72.58224) and follow the track down the valley with ease. There is camping at (Camp ? @33H-08-#004) but better 300m down the valley near a corral. 50m down valley of (Camp ? @33H-08-#002) camping is possible next to the vague ruins of an old puesto. Further down the valley are several grassy areas good for camping, the most obvious is here (-46.43778, -72.65597) in the vicinity of the old puesto. The track (as opposed to Rd) continues much further than indicated in the track files. The road only starts about here (-46.44697, -72.66655) once you are nearly in Murta. We rested a full day in Murta and I happened to run into Felepé who we'd meet before the trip in Cerró Castillo. Loco!

Thanks Jan for making this trip possible, Tobias Hellwig for recommending the reroute, and all the people on wikiexplora who explored and documented the tracks.

If anyone has any information on the history of Valle Resbalín/Resfalón(?), the mining prospectors in Valle Avellano, or the settlers that abandoned the coast of Lago General Carrera, I'd love to read a bit.

I hope this helps someone. Thanks!

Oh! and we're back in Cochrane now and planning to be in Coyhaique in a week or so. Cheers.

* '''BE AWARE THAT THE BELOW LOGS refer to Option 1 and not to the new Regular Route:'''
Until 2019 the Regular Route followed the Sendero de Chile in the vicinity of Rio Ibañez what is now Option 1. Tobias Hellwig suggested to reroute the GPT via the Torres de Avellano to incorporate this hidden treasure. This proposed new route was investigated and documented in February 2020 by the founders of the GPT. By this time multiple segments of this new route were already published on Wikiexplora by other authors. Only the route from Kilometer 62.2 to 69.9 remained undocumented and had to be researched and ground-proved.

* '''10 Mar 2020 / RH SOBO / Ty / 1 day'''

Super easy in general. I was able to get a hitch for like the last 10 kilometers. There’s a lot of different trail you can wander off on at the start of the sendero de Chile, so just be aware of your navigation at the start. The only good easily accessible water I found was between the two lakes before the intersection where you start walking the road. The ferry to Chile Chico leaves around 8 and takes a couple hours. Otherwise the next ferry leaves at 11 am....but make sure to confirm these times yourself. When arriving in Chile Chico, I climbed up to the viewpoint/mirador close to the ferry landing and found a place protected on the wind and slept on the ground. There is also an abandoned house marked in I-overlander that has an area in a room big enough for a 2 person tent. It’s on your right just before the climb up to the mirador.

* '''Jan 2020 / RH Northbound / Matthieu / 2 days'''

No technical difficulties on this part. However, I was stopped, when the GPT leave the road to go between the two lakes, by a sign : área protegida, ingreso no permitido. For me, it was cristal clear, so I just continued the road, disappointed. I spoke to one of the settler not far, who told me that it was only for cars and it s ok for walkers, and that it is part of the "Sendero de Chile". So the way seems open finally. Anyway, there is another little path just before the lago Ardillas that goes north, and join the GPS tracks above the Valley Ibanez. Well maintained, in the hills, lots of cows, good experience.

* '''2019 Jan/ Olrik / Northbound'''

From Ibanez you walk on a dirt road to the entrance of a Reserva Natural. You are on the Sendero de Chile so it is well marked. In the reserva the trail is easy to follow and there was no one. You end up in Cerro Castillo. We did it in 2.5 days but could be done in 1 day if beginning early.

* '''2019-Nov-28/ Lea Geibel/ 1 day / Northbound / Regular Hiking Route (Puerto Ibañez to Villa Cerro Castillo)'''

After arriving with the ferry at 10.30 a.m., the section can be hiked in one day (around 8 hours of walking). Most of the section is on a dirt road with very little traffic. The part that is following a trail is marked with posts with red / white rings on them. Occasionally the trail is not very visible but numerous animals tracks are usually heading in the right direction before eventually meeting up with a trail marker again.

=Resupply and Accommodation=

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

*2025 / Michael & Kasia:
If entering or exiting via Opt 8 or Opt 4, Bahía Murta (Puerto Murta) has several places that rent cabañas or camping space. There are at least 5 shops in town. The two largest both had tall skinny gas recharge canisters (Minimercado Gemaniar 3.000, Minimercado Estribo 4.000), but no screw type for backpacking stoves. Minimarket Gemaniar across from the tourist information office had generally the best prices and a good selection. The panadería across from the plaza had good pan amasado.

*Section GPT33H starts in Villa Cerro Castillo and terminates in Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez (Resupply information see GPT34H). Hikers that continue southbound may also resupply in Chile Chico after the ferry crossing of Lago General Carrera (Resupply information see GPT35).

*Several shops sell food and camping gas canisters.

*Restaurants offer filling meals.

*Accommodation is provided by hostels, cabañas and camp sites in these towns.

*Hikers that walk GPT33H and its adjacent sections with continuous footsteps can resupply in Cerro Castillo, Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez and Chile Chico and do not need to leave the route to resupply.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

*There is no plannable resupply along the entire Regular Route but some food may be obtained at the two homestead farms on the route.

[Settler (Maria & Julio) @33H-76.9]: Maria and Julio are one of the few settlers that still make cheese for sale in such a remote location. If you are short on foot you might also ask if they may sell some bread, milk or meat.

[Settler (Luis Diaz) @33H-85.2]: Luis : When passing his home consider a visit. You may also ask if he has bread or meat to sell.

[Puesto @33H-98.5]: The puesto 250 m north of Puerto Avellano is rarely occupied by their owners but the fruit trees might provide some well desired vitamins in summer and early autumn.

=Transport to and from Route=

*2025 / MiaimZelt
Subsidized bus between Puerto Ibañez and Levican every Monday & Friday: Ibañez/levican 8:15 & 17:00, Levican/ibañez 9:00 & 18:00.
Transportes Freddy Morales (+56 9 9506 2906)

*2023 / Maks&Gabi
We hitchhiked from km 136 near Levican to Puerto Ibanez. During the weekend there is only one ferry a day (Saturday morning and Sunday evening).

*2023 / Louis, Rémi & Noé :
Here, at the lake. There is mobile coverage and so we contacted numerus given on the PDF on WhatsApp to find a boat to bring us back to civilisation. I let you the contact of Jairo, that can bring you back to Puerto Tranquilo... for 400.000 CLP.. Jairo : +56 9 6633 9507

*Most buses to Villa Cerro Castillo leave Coyhaique in the morning around 08:00 and pass Villa Cerro Castillo approximately 1:30 hours later. In the opposite direction buses pass Cerro Castillo in the early afternoon.

*Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez has regular public transportation to Coyhaique (1:45 hour by bus) and Chile Chico (2:15 hour by ferry). The ferry over Lago General Carrera that connects Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez with Chile Chico does two round trips each day, one in the morning and one the evening. Buses to and from Coyhaique operate synchronized to these ferries.
Best Call Buses Alejandro: +56 9 7652 9546

*Subsidized bus from Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez to Levicán: Monday and Friday, Approx. 1’000 CLP Morning round trip: Leaving Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez at 08:00, arriving in Levican around 09:00 and returning immediately to Ibañez around 09:00 and arriving at Ibanez around 10:00. Evening round trip: Leaving Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez at 17:00, arriving in Levican around 18:00 and returning to Ibañez at 18:00 arriving at Ibanez at 19:00.

*Private transport from Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez to Levicán: Anytime, Approx. 35´000 CLP
Try to call Luis: +56 9 8648 4075

*Combining GPT35 with GPT33H

Northbound hikers may consider connecting GPT35 directly with GPT33H by exiting Parque Patagonia towards Fachinal and crossing Lago General Carrera by motorboat from Fachinal to the Desembocadura Rio Avellano. Here Lago General Carrera is only 3.5 km wide and a motorboat crossing does not take more than 20 minutes. Unfortunately, in summer this requires some patience as the normally strong wind often impedes this. In the morning or the evening the wind occasionally calms down but rarely during the day.

Carlos Amoroz, a settler in Fachinal owns a motorboat and offers this service on request. Pascual Diaz, a tour operator from Mallin Grande, can also provide this service but he must first haul his motorboat the 42 km on trailer from Mallin Grande to Fachinal what makes his service substantially more expensive.

Settler with motorboat in Fachinal (Location: -46.5568°S / -72.2120°W) Name: Carlos Amoroz Mobile: +56-9-76267029 Price: Approx. 30’000 CLP for 2 persons

Tour operator with motorboat in Mallin Grande Name: Pascual Diaz (Company: “Kalem Patagonia”) Mobile: +56-9-7391 7881 Price: Presumably more expensive and advance notice required

This section combination of GPT35 with GPT33H seems more practical in northbound direction as hikers can first talk directly to the settler with the motorboat in Fachinal, resupply in Chile Chico (by taking a motorized transport from Fachinal to Chile Chico and back) and then cross Lago General Carrera with a refilled backpack. While waiting for the wind to calm down hikers can pitch their tent at a nice wind protected camp site on the shore of Lago General Carrera.

Thanks to the reasonably good mobile phone coverage in Fachinal hikers can check the weather and wind forecast and call the settler with the motorboat when approaching Fachinal. This permits hikers to anticipate or discard a motorboat crossing on arrival.

Hikers that attempt a more complicated southbound crossing of Lago General Carrera should make arrangements with the settler with the motorboat at least one or two weeks before arriving at Puerto Avellano, test communication devices (i.e. InReach to mobile phone), agree on the precise pick-up location (Puerto Avellano or Desembocadura Rio Avellano) and carry enough food to wait some time in Puerto Avellano. Hikers should be prepared that the wind may not calm down while waiting several days in Puerto Avellano. In this case the motorboat transfer should canceled, and the hiker should walk out to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez before the food reserves deplete. There is mobile phone coverage at Puerto Avellano (entel if I recall correctly).

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

*To my knowledge paddling on Lago General Carrera requires a permit from the Armada de Chile but complying with all requirements might not be possible even for a well equipped packrafter (i.e. distress signal rockets).

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT33H - Puerto Ibañez]]

Retired Section Article [[GPT33H - Torres del Avellano]]

For additional information see the Wikiexplora Articles:

[[Península de Levican - El Avellano]]

[[Torres del Avellano]]

[[Laguna La Plaza]]

For more information see the Wikiexplora Article:

[[Puerto Cristal]]

For more information see the Wikiexplora Articles:

[[Valle Miller]]

[[Estero Jaramillo]]

A part of this route is described in the Wikiexplora Article:

[[Mirador Este de las Torres de Avellano]]

=Images=

GPT33H (Torres de Avellano)

2025-02-23T19:34:24Z

Thijmen:

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

= How to a add new entry =
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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=
The GPT manual has an extensive description of this route and all its options.

=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

* '''2025-02-19 to 2025-02-23 / 4,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 3B, RR, variant C,H, / Thijmen Scholten'''</span

* I started hitchiking from Cerro Castillo, but barely any cars passed and Around 10.00 de bus came
* Took option 3 and first day is only road walking , the first part untill the last settler (30.8) is really really really boring ! Hitching did not work. You can get a taxi from Cero de Castillo's it will cost 70.000 pesos.
* Water: On option 3 and the road walks of the RR there is not much water. For the rest water is no problem
* Camping : Many camp places everywhere.
* Option C the Laguna is nice
* I camped at crosspoint to the Laguna (option C), nice place but many dead trees and branches so lookout where you put your tent when it's windy
* Around km 49 I followed the Osmo trail trough the forest instead of the presumely swampy grassland trail (it rained all night)
* It rained all day and also next day so I opted to take option 8 instead. But I am very glad I did continue on the RR because the view on the other side of the pass is beautiful!
* Scrambling down from the pass was ok even in the rain. Just be sure to follow the gpx carefully ! Otherwise you will end up at a ledge
* The camp site at the lake is very wind exposed my tent blew away. Decided to pack it again and camp down in the beautiful forest.
* As for the bushbash part. I followed the right side of the river (looking downstream). There was a trail which I lost often but easy to walk. Even saw campfire traces so probably it's used more often. I don't know if it's easier than the right side. But the BB/CC part took me less than 2 hours this side.
* The first official fjord (69.8) was already above my waist and very difficult (crossed it diagonal as supposed). It rained all night so probably the river is not only affected by glacial melt but also by rain alot.
* Talked to Roberto (he lives around km 80) and he confirmed the river was high due to the rain. He adviced me to cross at his house where the river has 3 arms. I did that and the crossing was just doable the water was untill my waist.
* Roberto also offered me to cross with his horse if it was impossible on foot.
* Took variant H to avoid crossing 2 more times
* The road walk has not alot of nice camping places. Found 1 grassy patch with water around 5km before the lake.
* When the hiking trail next to the lake starts , just go straight to the beach otherwise you have to bushbash.
* The trail next to the lake is sometimes covered by vegetation I break some branches to make a way. Is everyone does this (or with Macheti) the trail will stay walkable (look out for thorns).
* There is internet (Entel) from around halfway the trail.
* I Camped at the end of the trail (km 117.6) close to the lake, there is little stream there as well.
* Road walk to Ibanez is very very very boring as well.
* At water source 135.3 the creek is very small but there is a black hose laying around at the left side of the road which you can use to fill your bottle.
* After 3 hours the first car passed and I got a hitch to town.

* ''' 2025-FEV-15 > 19 / 4 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR > 33-B > RR > 33-D > RR > 33-H > RR / Pierre-Marie '''

Etape : <strike>GPT31</strike>+GPT32+GPT33
| Meteo : soleil nuages et vent
| Eau : difficile au début
| Neige : non
| Intérêt : 5/5
| Difficulté : 4/5
| Danger : Rivière, éboulis

J'ai fais quelques courses et j'ai mangé au restaurant à Villa Cerro Castillo. Ensuite j'ai repris la randonnée. Attention l'eau est difficilement accessible car les lacs sont clôturés et en contrebas de la route. Sur la gravel road j'ai réussi à faire 4 km d'auto-stop. J'ai mal préparé ma randonnée et j'ai raté la 33-A. Mais je n'avais pas encore dépassé la 33-B alors je l'ai prise. Il y a un petit ruisseau devant le settler du km 0,7. Je n'ai pas pu faire de stop sur la gravel road car je n'ai vu aucun vehicule. Il y a un ford au km 36 quand le sentier traverse la rivière. Au km 52 un arbre permet de passer la rivière. Je suis passé par la 33-D pour aller voir les lacs. Je suis content d'avoir eu du soleil car la descente après le km 62 est vraiment raide sur des pierres lisse et des éboulis. Il n'y a pas de bush-bashing sur cette section du GPT. La descente après le lac se fait bien puis on entre dans un bois ou il n'y a pas de végétation au sol. Ensuite il faut suivre la rivière en marchand dans l'eau jusqu'au km 68,5 où la rivière se transforme en rapide et on trouve un sentier dans le sous-bois. Il faudrait trouver une autre couleur pour les sections de randonnées où on marche dans l'eau. Les fords des km 71,8, 73,5, 78,3 et 89,5 se font sans mettre les pieds dans l'eau. Le chemin est innondé au km 75,5, difficile à éviter car il est entouré de marais. Le ford du km 81,2 était dangereux car le courant était très fort même avec 60cm d'eau. Au km 98,5 il faut aller directement sur la plage. Le chemin le long du lac est parfois envahi par la végétation surtout dans les zones humide. A partir du km 130 c'est la gravel road peu frequentée X-735. J'ai eu du mal à faire de l'auto-stop mais j'ai reussi à faire les 15 derniers km avec un camion. Je n'ai pas pu m'arrêter à la cataracte du km 148,4, c'est mon seul regret car le vent était si violent que j'avais du mal à avancer.
FEV-20: Repos Coyhaique.

''' 2025-FEB-7 to 2025-FEB-15 / 8 hiking days / Hiking / SOBO / option 03B, RR, option 02 / Nimrod & Tamar '''

Good camps for bad weather (more info below): (-46.172528, -72.273827) Hut near km 52. puesto?[4.8/745] (-46.48726, -72.10065)

We think that its worth mentioning that if the weather is bad and you choose option 02 you should expect hard fords and having hard time following the trail until connecting back to RR.

Day 1:

Hitchhiked from Coyhaique - 3 rides 5 hours. Started walking at 17:00, camped at (-46.116414, -72216049). It was a little wind protected.

Day 02:

Rain all night and all day. Got a lift for 5 km by 2 chilean hikers that went to the Torres and back. Camped at: (-46.172528, -72.273827). Rain and wind all night and the camp location was well protected.

Day 03:

Finally sun came out, so we dried our gear. Camped at km 62. Great view and wind protection. The weather became bad again.

Day 04:

Started hailing in the morning and it should have became worse along the day. We climbed to the pass early in the morning. Got a glimpse of the Torres and made our way to camp at km 52. Near the camp there is an abandoned small hut where we stayed until the next day. The hut is well protected from rain and wind, and you can even make a fire inside.

Day 05:

Our Inreach forecast lied us (again...) and the rain didn't stop until evening. Took option 2 - Rio Avalleno. The river was swollen because of the rain and the fords were quite difficult for us. The trail was gone under the water in a lot of parts, and in some parts it was just CC. Track files was irrelevant in many parts. Camped at puesto?[4.8/745]. Like described before - it's actually a wooden built wall which protects from the wind. The wind was crazy and it gave us great wind protection to pitch our tent and to enjoy a fire.

Day 06:

Finally a nice day. Untill we connected to the RR the trail was in bad condition, and again the track files not very helpful. You can skip 2 fords at km 9 if you stick to the nice and visible trail on the east side.

Maria and Julio not at home. Camped at (-46.276123, -72.204873) There was some wind protection and no water.

Day 07:

At (-46.275422, -72.198820) we met Ricardo (we are not sure if he is a settler or a woreke), which kindly suggested to help us cross the Avellano on his horse back. The river was quite swollen from the rain but it's hard for us to say if it was crossable by foot. Camped at (-46.48726, -72.10065) by the small lake. The wind was strong and the campsite was well protected by the big rocks. We filtered water from the small lake/swamp. It might be flooded earlier in the season though.

Day 08:

Walked all the way to X[130.4/311] and camped near the junction. Not wind protected but the weather was good. There were a lot of water at variant N.

Woke up late and took the bus at 9:00. About one hour ride, 1000 clp. Times like MiaimZelt has written.

'''2025-Feb-02 to 2025-Jan-05 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / Hiking / Opt 3B, RR, Opt 8 / Tom'''

Day 1 - Rainy: I hitchhiked from Villa Castillo to the junction at the beginning of 3B. Great views, but if you can afford to pay for transportation to the end of the road, it's worth it. I camped at -46.2647991, -72.41223312025. Due to the rain, there were several streams, and some areas offered wind protection.

Day 2 - Rainy: A simple day, just following the route. Be mindful of the exit point from the road—I was focused on the rain and missed it. The Mallín (wetland) can be challenging at times, but nothing too difficult.

I arrived at Camp 57.2, where four students had waited for a day, hoping for clear skies.

Day 3 - Sunny: I started early, around 6:45 AM. It took about 2.5 hours to reach the viewpoint. Around -46.3870597, -72.4916724, there's a more recent landslide. Nothing too difficult, just loose rocks and fallen trees. Another 2.5 hours to return. On the same day, I started Opt 8 at 1 PM. This section took me 6.5 hours. It's a cattle trail, poorly marked—you really need to follow the GPS carefully, as there are many paths that lead nowhere. I recommend checking the contour lines since there is significant elevation gain. I arrived at Camp ? 11.6, which is Puesto Aguero—it appears to be in use, with sleeping bags and food inside. The camping area isn't ideal, as the ground retains a lot of moisture.

Day 4 - Rain/Sunny: I started at 2 PM when the rain stopped. The river was quite high, so unlike Michael and Kasia, I used the "punte" (a makeshift crossing). It's a fairly slender tree, but there's a rope to help with balance. I had no issues, but if the river were lower, I would have crossed directly through the water. At the beginning, the route is quite muddy but clear. The first half can be a bit more challenging at times, but the trail is well-marked towards the end. It took 4.5 hours to reach Bahía Muerta.

General Notes: From Route 7 to the Torres viewpoint, it's quite straightforward and well-marked. The difficult section is between Camp 57.2 and Camp ? 11.6. I know there's a route from Camp ? 11.6 to another viewpoint of the Torres, which is not included in current GPS tracks. It seems to be a trail that guides from Avellano Bahía Muerta are currently working on.

'''2024-Jan-17 to 2024-Jan-21 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH03B RR + variant D + variant H / Sean & Neele'''

Took the bus at 10 from Villa Cerro Castillo to the start of Option 03B. We'd hope to hitch the dirt road but we literally saw only one car.

Bridge 25.7km - good place to get water

Camped just before junction for option C (46.5km roughly) by the stream in the woods. Great wind protection.

49km to 50.8km - track files go CC but on OSM there's a trail we followed it and it worked well. CC route looked wet and boggy in places.

Ford 52km - lots of downed trees so can cross with dry feet.

Took variant D - easy and beautiful would recommend it.

Pass 60km small patch of snow on South side no problem without spikes

Camped at camp 63.4km - very beautiful but no wind protection, we were lucky the wind was pretty calm.

CC & BB 64.3 + 4.2 - we just stuck with the stream the whole way down worked out well.

Ford 81.2km - about 550m before the waypoint the trail gets close to the river for us it looked easy at this point so we just crossed here. Just over knee deep at 4pm on a hot sunny day, no rain for the past few days.

Took variant H to skip the other 2 fords.

Camped at 93.3km (S 46° 28.690', W 072° 11.674') nice grassy area with a small stream.

98.5km - shortly after leaving the road RR take you through some bushwhacking but it's avoidable just go straight to the beach.

Camped on the beach around 116km

Road walked to 138.5km where we saw the first car of the day and got a hitch to Puerto Ibanez.

* '''2025 Jan 02 to Jan 11 / 10 hiking days / SOBO, NOBO, WEBO / Hiking / Opt 3B, RR, Opt 2, Opt 8 / Michael and Kasia'''

Quick notes:

A nice section with some great views and some good optionals. It is a fairly popular trail up to the Torres; we met 11 other hikers on the RR. Opt 2 is a really pretty and peaceful valley. Opt 8 is an adventurous alternative route, probably better to exit GPT33 than to enter it on full resupply weight.

CAMPS:

Night 01: -46.25532, -72.38365 (good water access, decent wind protection (look up before you set your tent, there were some widow makers), next to the road, no view)

Night 02: -46.34592, -72.49822 (Camp 57.2) (decent view, excellent water access, minimal wind protection, surrounded by dead trees, not safe in windy conditions, a lot of spots to choose from)

Night 03: -46.40655, -72.49601 (amazing view, decent water access, no wind protection)

Night 04: same as night 3

Night 05: -46.35732, -72.45379 (flat space for two tents, wind protected, just off the trail, water is a little ways away)

Night 06: -46.36802, -72.43937 (flat space for 2 tents, excellent wind protection, no view, water is a little ways away, accompanied by the sturdy arrieros shelter)

Night 07: same as night 6

Night 08: same as night 2

Night 09: -46.39734, -72.58201 (Camp ? 11.6) (not much truly flat space, but if you aren't picky there's lots of space, no wind protection, water is down a steep hill,next to the used puesto)

WATER:

On 3B and into RR on the road it was difficult to find at times. On all trail sections it was easy to find.

Day 01 - Jan 2nd

We got the bus from the terminal in Coyhaique. It was a bit of an ordeal. The buses hadn't been running for two days on account of the holiday, and we had not purchased tickets in advance. There was quite a line and it seemed they had been sold out much earlier. We went and talked to the driver after he finished loading most of the luggage. He said to give him a minute to check. He luckily had two empty seats to Cerro Castillo, and we paid him cash at the break point in Cerro Castillo, 8.000 pp, the normal price. He dropped us at the beginning of Opt 3B. There was a bus stop there. Opt 3B is a gravel road. There is some nice scenery, but overall it's a road walk. There isn't much traffic, but hitchhiking is possible. RR from km 24 where Opt 3B meets it is also gravel road until km 45.5. There isn't a huge grade and the road is in good condition, so it's easy if somewhat underwhelming walking. Water is not so easily accessible. All the little side creeks had dried up or were just water trickling through mud. Much of the time we were too high above the water, or it was fenced off. At km 24.9 there is an unmarked bridge. There was good water access there. There was also a very nice campsite there at (-46.21595, -72.34452). It had flat space for at least one tent, maybe two, trees and good water access close by. The next good water spot we found was at Settler 29.4. There was easy water access next to the bridge down to the barn. We didn't find water again until km 35.5 when we camped for the night. Camp 32.0 should be marked “Camp with No Water”. We did not see any water nearby or anything that looked like there is water at another time of year. At km 31.9 there was a locked gate with a No Trespassing sign, but a set of stairs to walk over the fence on the left hand side. The stairs were solid and in good condition. At km 32.9 was an easy open gate with a No Trespassing sign facing the other direction. It looked like someone had been working there recently, lots of fresh wood cuts, but we didn't see anyone. We camped just off the road at km 35.5 in a little clearing, just after a gate. There was access to the estero there.

Day 02 - Jan 3rd

We continued the road walk. The trail in the forest was very nice. The meadows were a little marshy but we moved through them fairly quickly. Ford 52.0 was easy, top of the calf and not much current. There was actually a fallen tree that could work as a bridge to do a dry foot crossing. We camped at Camp 52.7 next to a stream. This would not be a good site if it is windy. Fortunately we had a windless night. No issues finding water this day. We met three other hikers on their way out of Avellanos.

Day 03 - Jan 4th

The trail to the Trailhead 57.0 is easy to follow and, except in a few places, in good shape. There were a few places where it disappeared for a bit. Where they diverged, sometimes GPT track files were better, sometimes OSM, we just chose what seemed the most traveled. After Trailhead 57.0 the track is a little more difficult to follow. The OSM track was a little more accurate for the CC sections. There was only one ford at the end of the valley a little before it goes up into the woods, around km 59.3, just below the knee, not a strong current. The way through the woods at the end was difficult to follow. It is fairly overgrown in parts and we ended up walking a bit above the GPT track pushing through trees until the boulder field. We were trying to make it to Camp 61.2 above the pass. After the Trailhead 57.0 we did not see another suitable place to camp until close to Camp 61.2; everything was wet or on a slope, either covered in rock or trees. We camped at (-46.40655, -72.49601), about 400 m before Camp 61.2 in a flat area. There was no wind protection, but the night was calm. The site has a great view of the mountains and one of the lakes. We met five other hikers heading out over the course of the day.

Day 04 - Jan 5th

We did a packless day trip up to the pass to see the Torres. The weather was good, full sun and light wind. We spent about an hour on the pass. The Torres are nice; the one in the middle looked to us like it had the face of the rock eating monster from Neverending Story. As nice as the Torres were, we actually preferred the view on the mountains on the north side of the pass. On the way back down we looked at the area around Camp 61.2. We didn't really see any spaces suitable for a tent, certainly not for something the size of the X-Mid 2. There seemed to be a few options for bivys. There were strong gusts of wind in the night and part of our tent collapsed. We managed to get it back up and it stayed up for the rest of the night.

Day 05 - Jan 6th

We headed back NOBO on RR. We met Mia who was heading SOBO at the ford. It was nice to cross paths with another GPTer. At the X 54.5 we switched to Opt 2 Avellanos Bypass. We were interested to see the valley. The trail in places is in great shape, especially the higher areas, and in places non-existant, especially in low, wet areas, or where the river has washed it out. At one point we saw a huemul, our first one. It was walking up stream in the river very slowly and pausing often. We watched it for about 15 minutes before it finally got up on the hill on the opposite side and climbed into the trees. A little while later there was a huge waterfall coming down from one of the mountains. We camped in a sandy area under some trees a ways away from the river. All fords were more of a blessing in the scolding sun than a challenge. The riverbed moved in some places into the land where the GPS tracks were but it was very easy to navigate.

Day 06 - Jan 7th

We walked further downriver to Puesto ? 4.9. It is not actually a puesto, but a stopover half-shelter with fire pit for people driving animals. It was a great wind barrier, and a place to hang out on our rest/”waiting rain over” day. Just a few meters away we found a nice flat area with space for two tents that was very well wind protected and we were expecting 90 km/h winds to come next day. We left our packs and went further down river. The valley is really beautiful and has some great views. For a while the trail is in excellent condition, then it starts to disappear. It was not possible to follow the GPT track for all of it, but we found other paths. The river fords got increasingly more challenging as we went down stream. More drainages joined the river and added water. We turned around at Ford 8.2 and we noticed the increase in river level just over those few hours. The most difficult ford was mid-thigh with a good amount of current (at 6pm, earlier around 3 pm it was good 20 cm lower).

Day 07 - Jan 8th

We took a zero day. Rain and high wind all day. The camp site worked very well for inclement weather.

Day 08 - Jan 9th

We backtracked the rest of Opt 2 and arrived midday back at Camp 57.2. We were planning to exit 33H on Opt 8 but didn't want to start it the same day. We enjoyed a half rest day with sun and no wind at the campsite. We passed three other tents during the day.

Day 09 - Jan 10th

We started Opt 8 in the morning. For the first 7 km or so it is actually fairly easy to follow. The GPX tracks aren't always spot on, but we followed them as closely as we could and we managed to find the trail more often than not. The landslide seemed to be quite small and we just walked below it. The two fords at that point are just over a side stream, so probably dry foot crossable a little later in the season. Everything after that until Camp ? 11.6 where we stopped for the night was a bit of a challenge. In areas the trail is in excellent shape and then it just disappears into slopes of grass and blow downs. We would lose the track and CC for a while, finding it again a couple hundred meters on. I just walked with the Garmin in one hand for most of the way since I had to check it so frequently. The last few km to the campsite were very muddy. It ended up being a very long and very exhausting day. We did not see any serviceable campsites for our tent between the beginning and Camp ? 11.6. Camp ? 11.6 is a puesto with a sign saying it is called Puesto Agüero. There is also a sign saying “No Dejar Basura”, which we took to mean that the puesto is used, at least unofficially, for public camping, but just to pack your trash out. The site does not have good wind protection, but we had a windless night.

Day 10 - Jan 11th

Ford 11.5 had the same makeshift bridge that Maggie & Julien reported last season. We decided to ford instead of use the bridge. We forded a little lower than the waypoint. It was above the knee and with a fair amount of current. The path after the ford was generally very easy to follow. In the pastures we kept an eye on the GPS as there are animal trails that go all over, but in the forested areas it was very clear. It was very muddy for the first half and mostly dry for the second half. There are some nice views of the river along the way, and of the valley toward the end of the section. The MR at the end has been extended further up the valley and now starts about 1.5 km sooner than indicated in the track files. We walked into Puerto Murta around 18:30. We had no particular difficulty with Opt 8, and it was not overgrown enough that we wished we had a machete at any point. Though it doesn't look like it from the elevation profile in Gaia, due to the constant ups and downs there is an enormous amount of cumulative elevation gain and loss. For this reason we think that this is a much better option for exiting the section, so the pack can be as light as possible.

* '''2025 Jan 4th to Jan 9th / 5.5 hiking days / SOBO / Hiking / Opt 3B, RR, Opt D & E & H / MiaimZelt'''

This section indeed is a real gem, but also challenging. Weather was hot and sunny, too warm in my opinion.

Day 1: Wanted to hitchhike from Villa Cerro Castillo to the start of Opt 3B, but then a bus came an took me. Mostly boring hiking along a minor road.

Day 2: Continued along the minor road, soon it got smaller and wasn't passable for cars anymore. At -46.254893, -72.381462 is a new fence, theoretically it could be opened, but you need to be strong. I crawled under it... Here -46.260122, -72.397627 is a large rather open field with lot's of flat space to pitch a tent. Water nearby. -46.260547, -72.400255 small building, which was unoccupied. The horsetrail is in good condition. Camped here: -46.352094, -72.488826, but there is only space for small tents.

Day 3: The ascend in the forest was also in good condition. Later you have to sharpen your eyes and look for the cairns. Met Kasia and Michael, was nice to meet other GPT hikers. Option D is marked with cairns, but there is no trail and i had to cross the river 2 more times. Especially the first lake is a real gem.
Hike up to the pass was not difficult, just take your time.
Way down is more challenging. I had to cross a large and steep patch of snow, which was ok without microspikes. Than you have to climb down a steep slope with lots of boulders, but they have good traction. The middle part was the hardest, because both smartphone and Garmin didn't show my correct position and wanted me to hike down a small waterfall. According to the smartphone there had to be a lake, but there was a forest instead, which wasn't shown neither on the Garmin nor on the Smartphone. Hiked down left of the waterfall, which looked much safer. The last part before you arrive at the glacier lagoon, is a large field of XXL-boulders which you have to cross. The views at the lake were awesome!
The bushbashing was mostly easy or at least not difficult. The worst was the stretch along Rio Ventisquero to the Trailhead. In the beginning i tried to walk in the riverbed, which often means to walk in the river, not just crossing the river. But when a 2nd river was added, the water was up to middle thigh and had a stromg current - not a good idea to continue this way. Hiked at the left side in the forest instead. Sometimes there was a vague animal trail, but it disappeared very often. This was really annoying with a lot of bushbashing. Camped at Camp Without Water {33H} [68.7/766].

Day 4: Crossing of Rio Ventisquero was just up to my knees and not diffucult. Enjoyed the horsetrail along Rio Avellano, but i took Option E, because the RR was i overgrown in this area. Option E is in better condition. Didn't met Maria & Julio, later i saw to guys on horseback. Ford {33H} [81.4/492] was up to my crotch (i'm 1.74cm) and had a strong current, but i made it. My feet had traction, but couldn't place my trekkingpoles correctly due to the strong current. You have to cross 3 times here, but the other two were easy.
The Minor road is not like a real road, it's more a 4x4 track used by horses with sandy ground and vegetation in the middle. It's hard to find a camp at this minor road, because of the thorny vegetation. Camped here: -46.478173, -72.19456. It's a patch of flat gras with enough space for several tents, has a small stream and good protection from the wind.

Day 5: According to my Inreach the wind gusts should reach up to 101km/h. Was indeed very windy, but fortunately it came from the back and the wind was warm. The trail along Lago General Carrera is very scenic and mostly visible, but also strenuous. Some (fortunately very short parts) are badly overgrown - a machete would be useful. Almost every plant in this area has thorns. The ups and downs a very steep, which i didn't like in the heat. Lot's of water. Used Camp {33H} [116.3/239] which has a great protection from the wind. But be aware of the thorny plants while searching where to pitch you tent - there are only 2 places without them.

Day 6: The last stretch until the minor road was much faster. The first part of the minor road has vegetation on it and isn't used by cars. Brought all the water from the lake, but it wasn't necessary. Small streams here: -46.403664, -71.975755 and next to the road at Settler {33H} [121.8/643]. The settler wasn't at home and the wooden gates were locked, had to climb over them. There are several minor roads, not just one. Bridge {33H} [129.3/304] is a deep canyon, didn't see a possibility to get water there. Walked two hours along the road between Levican and Puerto Ibañez, until i got a hitch.

* '''Dec 6-11 / 03B + RR SOBO / wiiiim'''

Great route, still early season, weather was sunny but still cold, rivers were low, the infamous crossing of the lower rio Avellano just above knee height.
The crux of the route was the South side of the pass, sections of snow, I crossed later in the day when it was softer, avoided most of the snow on the East rock flank, but around 1200m the rock slabs were wet & the gullies in between were filled with snow. A bit of a maze, it took some time and back tracking, I used micro spikes but its probably okay without, I think knowing how to self arrest on snow with hiking poles is always a good skill to have, lots of videos exist on that.
Laguna la Plaza is a short/easy side trip well worth it, the North side of the pass is fast going & pretty well indicated (ciarns), on the South side section of CC once on the valley floor it seems easier to wade through the (spectacular) river.
I was pleasantly surprised with the walk along the lake, it’s really different and beautiful.
I was lucky to get a ride out from the MR to Puerto Ibáñez quite quickly from around -46.36065, -71.90255 but it’s usually very quiet.

At -46.26604, -72.41735 there is an established rock bivvy that could also fit a medium size tent.

Overall I would probably recommend the regular route NOBO to cut out most of the start/end road sections: organise a ride from Puerto Ibanez to the trail head (it will be worth the money) and on the other end the finish of 03B on the carretera austral will have plenty of traffic to hitch a ride

• '''2024-Dec-09 to 2024-Dec-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Opt.A + Opt.01A + Opt.01/ Julien'''

Following the road to Puerto Ibáñez
Just a little difficulty about finding water because most of lakes and rivers are private now.

* '''2024-Nov-28 to 30 / 3 day / Hiking / Circuit / GPT33H Option 5 and 5A Valle Miller from Puerto Alarcon to Valle Jaramillo and return to Puerto Sanchez / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck'''

The Cordillera de Avallano between Rio Ibanez and Lago General Carrera is one of the hidden treasures of Patagonia. And Valle Miller is one possible entrance into this mountain range.

After packrafting to Puerto Alarcon we packed our packrafting gear and hiked up Valle Miller along the minor road to the bridge over Rio Miller to crossing “X {33H-05} [7.8/611]”. There are numerous possible camp sites and water sources along this minor road.

A few hundred meters after crossing “X {33H-05} [7.8/611]” is the last pasture with suitable camp sites.

Valle Jaramillo is a very scenic side valley of Valle Miller that can be explored in one day.

This side valley has no distinct trail but the forest is reasonably open. Therefore ascending and descending through the forest is not really bush bashing but just a slalom around the numerous fallen trees.

Once the open terrain is reached, hikers can see the very scenic valley with some remaining smaller glaciers.

The cross country walk to the 1679 m high pass is very rewarding in good weather. From an altitude of 1400 m the terrain was in parts covered by snow fields as we visited this early in the season.

We returned to Puerto Sanchez which is the alternative starting Point for hikers.

==Season 2023/24==

* '''2024 Mar 22 to 2024 Mar 28 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Maddi, Tom and Jordan'''

Day 1: Got the public bus from Puerto Ibanez to Levican for about 1000CLP each. We were the only ones on the bus and the driver dropped us at the trailhead. After walking along the road for a while we miraculously got a hitch in the back of a pick up for a couple of kms. Trail down to the lake was a little confusing but just head down and you'll hit the main trail eventually. Trail along the lake has plenty of up and down but nothing too strenuous. We had a perfect, windless day with not too much sun so it was pretty easy going, plenty of spots to get water once down near the lake. The notes said there was some scary exposure but we didn't really encounter any along this section, the path is pretty solid and clearly used by horses. Set up camp on the lake on the small rocky beach at (-46.47634,-72.08138). Just enough room for our Zpacks Triplex and Jordan's free standing tent. Jordan caught a fish that night but chucked it back.

Day 2: Great sunrise over the lake but then it started to rain. Jordan caught another fish which the boys had for breakfast. Walked along the lake in light rain until the old road where we went up the steep hill and started inland. One apple tree along this section but the apples weren't great. Followed the disused road until the end and then started along the track. Hit our first ford at about (-46.46161,-72.24620) which was above the knee on me (174cm tall) and quite fast flowing/muddy from all the rain. Tom slipped climbing up the bank here and fell backwards into the water but somehow avoided getting swept away. Kept walking along until we hit the refugio, unfortunately it was locked. Set up camp next to it so we could use the porch for shelter then went to scout the next ford just past it. This one was way too high and fast to cross so we were hoping it would go down overnight. Rio Avellano also looked impossible but that was a problem for the next day.

Day 3: Luckily the tributary into the Rio Avellano had gone down significantly overnight and we were able to cross without issues, although it was still fairly fast flowing at about knee height. Had a go at crossing the Rio Avellano just after this ford where it is marked on the GPX and others had mentioned it was doable but we had no luck, even employing the three astern. Decided to try the settler's place up on the hill to see if we could get help crossing but noone seemed to be around. Kept following the track along the river, hoping for a place to cross. Jordan somehow manage to cross using the eddies formed by a large tree that had fallen into the river. He had to come back across to help me get over with Tom but it was a near miss. Water level just below hip and quite fast flowing. Massive relief to make it across and get to enjoy the sun a bit. Had lunch near Maria and Julio's but still didn't run into anyone other than sheep. Enjoyed an awesome section walking along through ankle deep water in the autumn colours with snowy peaks in the background. Hit another fairly fast flowing ford, just above the knee, but manageable now we were getting good at crossing 3 astern. Thought we would make it to camp just below the towers but unfortunately hit another ford that even Jordan couldn't cross. Much higher consequence with huge rapids downstream and the water level above the hip. Tried to walk upstream a km or so to see if we could cross but ends up high above the river as it enters a canyon section. Scrambled back down and camped for the night on the track in the forest with the hope of lower water in the morning.

Day 4: Water was much lower in the morning and we were able to cross with no issues. Still over the knee and fast flowing but the group of 3 works wonders. Headed into the forest and up past the old corral then into the swampy section. This was super rough going as the swamp was over the knee in parts. We constantly switched between climbing between the tangle of tree or wading through the swamp. It was raining lightly and getting quite cold by this point. We made it to a clearing along the river at about 11am but the towers were in complete fog and I was shivering hard. Decided to set up camp in the forest and try for the towers the next day in the hope of more visibility. Found a nice camp spot in the forest at (-46.42932,-72.49572) with easy access to the river for water. Snuggled down to try to warm up all afternoon, only emerging for meals.

Day 5: Set off through the forest up towards the towers. Says bush bashing but was actually pretty easy walking up the hill. Towers still in a bit of cloud but made it up there mid morning and spent some time scrambling around the lake to take a look around. Camp site in the rocks was flooded from yesterday so glad we didn't try to get up there to camp. Scramble over the boulder field and up to the pass isn't too bad, although some snow patches made it a bit slippery. Cool granite slabs on the way up. Super windy once we got over the pass so hurried down the valley. No navigation issues but definitely got wet feet walking along the river. Camped at the refugio.

Day 6: Hiked along clear trail until we got to the minor road. Hoped to get a rare hitch but didn't really see anyone. Decided to hike along the river just before the bridge toward Lago Lapparent to find somewhere to camp. Found a few awesome spots along the crystal clear water for our last night.

Day 7: Headed back to the road and followed it back to the Carretera Austral. Got a hitch in about 15 minutes all the way to Coyhaique but there is a bus stop there if you can time it right.

* '''2024-02-23 to 2024-02-27 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH03B + RR + OH08 / Maggie & Julian '''

Trail attractiveness: 4/5;
Difficulty: 3/5
(keep in mind that this is our first GPT hike)

Day 1: ‘GPT33H-03B start’ to (-46.2570, -72.3711):

We entered from Carretera Austral at Laguna Verde (Option 03B) after being dropped off by the morning bus from Coyhaique (heading to Cochrane). Arrived at the crossroads at 11:30am with Don Carlos bus.
Whole day was walking on roads and relatively easy to make distance.
At (-46.2671, -72.3561) there was a sign reading "se prohibe la entrada al predio" and a locked gate with a ladder to climb over the side. There is a campsite (Camp, X {33H} [32.0/700]) pinned shortly after, but we decided to keep going because of the sign. At (-46.2621, -72.3613) there is an end to the property (same sign facing opposite direction, no gate). We camped on an area used for chopping wood at (-46.2570, -72.3711). Short scramble down to the river.

Day 2: (-46.2570, -72.3711) to Camp {33H} [52.7/953]:

Large part of the day was also road walking, afterwards trails and some cross country.
Camped by Camp {33H} [52.7/953]. Camping around Puesto {33H} [53.0/946] has better mountain views, Puesto itself was being used, possibly for guided horseback trekking.

Day 3: Camp {33H} [52.7/953] to Pass {33H} [62.0/1314] and back:

We left our tent set up and most things at Camp. The way up was sometimes hard to find. Trail markers made more sense on the return. Had an extended lunch a little after Pass {33H} [62.0/1314] and then returned the way we had come.

Day 4: Camp {33H} [52.7/953] to Camp ? {33H-08} [11.6/548]:

Probably hardest day in navigation, trail disappeared often, but manageable.
The former landslide section at (-46.3853, -72.5520) did not pose any difficulties for us as the water level was not too high and the main river flow now goes near the northwestern side of the valley. We just had to step over the remaining side stream. With more water some fording might still be necessary, but I imagine you could get away with staying near the southeastern bank for this section.
At Camp ? {33H-08} [11.6/548] there is a puesto that seems to be in use, but we saw no one and camped a little lower near the river.

Day 5: Camp ? {33H-08} [11.6/548] to ‘GPT33H-08 start’:

Right after camp there was a makeshift bridge to cross the stream (tree and rope, very rickety).
Trail seemed to be used and maintained on this part of option 08.
Shortly before Camp {33H-08} [6.9/435] there was a previously washed-out section with a new path already laid out. In heavy rainfall this could wash out again but should not pose a big hindrance.

Notes:

- RR + option 08 is a great short alternative without much backtracking.

- Our hitch out of Puerto Murta happened to be local members of an association that wants to bring more tourism to their town and the Torres del Avellano. If their plans are fruitful, traffic and trail maintenance may increase on option 08.

- We organized the transport of our non-trekking items from Coyhaique to Puerto Río Tranquilo by encomienda. Ines, the lady working at the Sao Paulo bus office in Coyhaique terminal was kind enough to hold our boxes until we arrived and called her from Puerto Rio Tranquilo. Our things arrived the day after we called at around 1pm. We shipped a rather large quantity of items (enough items to fill 50L bag) for 12000 CLP. Sao Paulo bus Coyhaique telephone: +56 672 255 726

* '''30/01/2024 - 01/02/2024 / 3 days, 78 km / Options 06 and 07 / Alex + Andrey'''
South bound (east bound).
“Mountain route”,

a combination of Options 06 and 07 which are now passed and confirmed.

Difficulty: Difficult/Very Difficult

Most of the route is off-trail
Thanks to Jan for the suggested routes and clues.
Short resume:

This mountain route is a more difficult and demanding alternative to the regular route but can be an interesting option for those looking for a challenge.
The combination with a regular route allows to form a full-fledged “eight”, a trip of 6-10 days.

Option 07 is a shorter, although more difficult, alternative to the regular route in case the Avellano River cannot be forded NOBO.
Notes and recommendations.

Option 07:

All fords do not pose any significant difficulty.
Due to the height and southern exposure the areas between Pass 1 and Pass 2 (Pass {33H-07} [17.0/1755]) and descents from Pass 2 in the early to mid-season have extensive areas of snow where microspikes or crampons may be required.
The main difficulty on the descent is overcoming several side washouts, which are small but deep and steep canyons.

Option 06:

There is no water during the first 4-5 hours of ascent to the valley.
The open area of the upper valley at Camp 2 and beyond throughout the ridge is a resort for very strong winds. Setting up camp may be difficult or impossible. A strong hiker can combine and complete this section in one day.
The predominant wind exposure makes passage from west to east highly recommended.
The last reliable source of water is before reaching High Pass 3. Further east there is no water until the junction with the regular route, except for temporary streams from seasonal snow.

The track and additional information are here:
https://www.wikiloc.com/hiking-trails/avellano-mountain-route-chilean-patagonia-160489118

* '''2024-Mar-04 to 2024-Mar-08 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 03B + RR + OH D + K / Joscha'''

Day 1: OH33H-03B + RR [24.2-41.2]

I tried to hitch from Villa Cerro Castillo to the start of OH33H-03B. After 1 hour a Bus arrived and took me to the start for 2000 Pesos. The Bus runs from Cohayique to Chile Chico on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It starts in Coyhaique at 9 am and stopps in Villa Cerro Castillo at around 10:30 am. From the brigde at km 25.7 until km 35.8 there is no water on the RR. You walk close to some rivers but I didn't check if its possible to acces them. After km 35.8 there is plenty of water. At km 38.5 is a big flat field for camping with a creek next to it. I camped just before the crossing of the river at km 41.2.

Day 2: RR [41.2-58.3] + OH33H-D + RR [61.0-63.4]

There was plenty of water all along the trail. Camping possible at -46.291963, -72.470389 just before the Pass (km 44.4), at the start of OH33H-C and along the CC section from km 49.0 to 50.8. I can recommend OH33H-D. I especially liked the first Laguna. Camp 63.4 has awesome views, but is only slightly wind protected and the spots are only good for small tents.

Day 3: RR [63.4-93.2]

I stayed inside the riverbed for the last 2.5 km of the CC&BB section. I had to cross the river about 20 times, but its the fastest and easiest way. The ford at km 83.6 was just below my crotch (I am 191 cm) and the current was pretty strong at around 5 pm. It would have been difficult for smaller persons. All the other fords today were at max. knee hight. There is plenty of water all along the route. I camped next to the RR on a flat, grassy field at km 93.2.

Day 4: RR [93.2-116.3]

Plenty of water along this part of the RR.

Day 5: RR [116.3-119.6] + OH33H-K + RR [122.6-141.0]

OH33H-K is easy to walk but does not offer any great views. If you choose OH33H-K, than there is no water between km 117.5 and 138.5 (at km 135.2 is a water marker, but I didn't see any as I walked by. Maybe I missed it, because I wasn't looking for it). There is water at km 140.3. I got a hitch from km 141.0 to Puerto Ibanez. But there are very few cars on the road, so don't count on getting a hitch.

* '''2024-Feb-12 to 2024-Feb-16 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 03B, RR, Variant C, E, H, K / Tomáš & Natalie'''
There was a queue of three hitchhiker groups who did not get picked up while we were doing our shopping, so we opted to hire a taxi for 15000 to the start of 03B (Pedro Zuleta: +56 993 5786 68). Somehow, during our arranging of the taxi, all three groups left. Roadwalking to option 07 was uneventful. Tomáš got a hitch (he eats lunch too slowly so Natalie got ahead) for about 5 km from a family which was exploring in a car. About 500 m before the diversion to option 07, there is a locked gate with a sign saying the property is private, but one can go over a ladder. At the gate, we met a local with a key who has a house on Option 07, if we got him right. He gave us a ride of 500 m. The start of option 7 is actually a road.

The MR at 24.2 is in a bad shape due to erosion after ford at about 12 km in. Tomáš made a bridge out of a log but managed to jump into the water while doing it. Enjoy the bridge while it lasts as did a Frenchman we met there. He did the circuit NOBO based on Wikiloc. He said he keeps coming across GPT, but could not figure out how to get the GPS route. We told him to talk to Jan. Maybe he will come back the next season.

On the way to the Torres, we met 3 pairs of Chilean hikers going back. Tomáš went to Laguna La Plaza (option C). Lake is grey but the valley is nice enough to justify the short detour. It is no BB, there is a trail in the forest and above the tree line a vague trail or easy CC. The Torres are indeed magnificent. One can easily walk on the sloped polished slab falling into the far side of the second lake before the pass - it is an exhilirating detour. Going down from the pass, when the GPX turns right, Tomáš actually managed to walk over one of the ledges above the GPX and liked it. Just be extremely careful with moss and water, they can make the stones extremely slippery, but he survived that without falling. About 100 m before the lake, there is a at-least-a-ton heavy swing in the form of a loose boulder. Enjoy if you can find it. Camp 63.4 is literally awesome. We had a very warm almost windless night there.

After the boulder field under camp 63 we loss the rest of the elevation on the right side of the creek and then when the swamp appeared on the right we went to the left and stayed on that side (North) for the entire BB/CC. There is a vague trail most of the way, but is has many many logs over it. It took us 3 hours to walk to the trailhead. We kept our feet dry and were in the shade, but it would have been quicker and far less tiring just following the riverbed and constantly crossing the river.

Ford at 69.8 around noon was slightly above the knees. Ford it diagonally as the trail wants you to - it is shallower that way (ie a little further down than where the trail spits you out). Greeted grandfather, Maria and Julio and their three kids and had a short talk with the grandfather, nice to see the whole family working together on projects. From their place, the trail sort of is wide enough for a car (there is one at their place) but we think it is never or virtually never used by cars. Ford at 81.4 at six in the afternoon was 5 cm under our crotches (we are about 1.70), we forded about 100 upstream of GPX. The river was strong but we did not feel it was dangerous for us. We forded the widest part of the river just before a dead end fence (if you are coming from the other direction, after the grey river and around the dead end ford you will see the widest part of the river).The day was hot and despite not covering even 20 km, we felt superexhausted. Strong sun and spikees got to us!

We camped about 4 km along the road, shortly after the second (both jumpable) ford. It must be a good place to camp, as Tomáš, who went back to the big ford where he left his sandals the previous day, met a GPT hiker going NOBO who apparently slept in a hearing distance from us. The hiker first started to come to Patagonia decades ago, before it was overrun. Tomáš sadly never asked his name. Met the grandfather again, coming back from the port, horses are fast!

The road is not used by cars but stiĺl quite ugly. Around middle, near option 6, there are two shortcuts (400 and 50 metres) to the zigzags, three of which were marked by cairns by Tomáš. Please add the fourth cairn. Puesto 98.3 is a settler. He offered Natalie to come inside and rest but she didn't feel right stopping at that moment and kind of got the "heeby jeebies" from him. Met another pair of GPT hikers, doing just 33. The stretch along the coast is beautiful and very Mediterranean. All day the lake was without waves, even that can happen. Slept at Lake 113.8: nicer, with water and less buggy than camp 200 m earlier (just beware if the wind picks, up the waves can be very loud).

Variant K misses last water but is easy to follow, nicer than a road and involves only three very easy fence hops. Reached the bus stop for Puerto Ibanez around three. Got lucky and received a hitch from two British tourists to Puerto Ibanez. The shops there are larger than expected and stock overpriced pesto and gnocchi, Tomáš is almost as joyful as cherries make him!

Nat's Notes:

- For views I would prefer this NOBO. I suffered a new type of "look back" syndrom on most of the route. Plus, if you are walking the lake shore in the afternoon, the sun should be on your downhills and not your uphills (it was insanely hot when we did it and without a whisper of wind).

- In the section notes for km24-45 I think what was meant was that from roughly km36-45, "there are many small streams and camping spots", this is indeed true. However, between km 24-36 and option 3 there are NO longer many STREAMS to drink from, I remember only one slightly decent one and both sides of the road are fenced so if you want to camp or drink water from the main river, then you must jump the fences (cow panels or barb) or ask a settler. Also, strange to say, there is very little shade and can get uncomfortably hot...

- Intersection 45 is not hard to miss anymore, it is marked with an orange ribbon around a tree and a large cairn on your left.

- On Trail#9 (ascent before the first two alpine lakes) I took Veronicas advice about going into the woods where the RR is but rather than trying to follow the GPS, I followed what seemed to be a trail along the creek with some cairns here and there. Eventually it ends above the trees but you should be able to make your way back to the RR once the "coast is clear", ie. no more trees. If you want to walk along the lake then you should do the CC up the boulder field on Variant D.

- Going down from the pass was no problem, like everyone says, "just follow the gps". However with that said, it is very tempting to make your own way bcs there are many good looking ledge systems but after reading Wills experience, I backed away from the temptation and followed the GPS. I also slipped on some wet moss on RR.

- So much water everywhere except for the lake camping, if you are smart you will fill up on one of the many streams before getting to the lake...

- When doing the BB/CC section, after the initial elevation loss from the lake, there isn't much drinking water apart from the river until near the end of the BB. I think you could make "makeshift" camps. I was tempted to cross the river early to avoid crossing it at km69 but once again I remembered what Will wrote last year about the thorns and cliffs so I don't think that's a good idea.

- Not a fan of the lakeside gate locking technique (remember how it looks before you open it;)

- I surprisingly really enjoyed the lake stretch, it seemed it is where Pantagonia meets the Mediterranean/Arizona. The trail is in good shape, just a few overgrown roses and thorny bushes here and there (regretted shorts only a little bit). If you are coming from the north and still have your sand gaiters, this will be a good time to reuse them :). No exposure, wish there was more wind the day we were there. I am usually the biggest hater of "PUDs" - thanks for the new word - but these were not annoying. These PUDs are just a few large hills rather than a bunch of steep micro hills like gpt22 or the valley bottoms in Argentina. Water is at pretty much every "notch" in the hillside.

- Water is at the bottom of the MR~117.5 and there is still water at the top 119.9 RR (easier to grab it a little higher up).

* '''2024-Jan-30 to 2024-Feb-4 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick & Nolwenn & Tess & Lukas'''

- Trail condition : gpx easy to follow / between km 63,7 and km 68,5 we mostly stayed on the left of the river
- Water : easy to find plenty of rivers and lagunas
- Camping spot : easy to find and the one at km 68.7 is nice // the refugio near the lake at km 98.5 is perfect - make fire, sleep inside, we even could ask for some bread
- Weather : some rainy and cloudy days but overall the weather was ok
- River crossing :at km 69.8 we crossed the river early in the morning and the current was strong and the water up to the middle of the thighs but manageable // at km 81,2 the river was strong and up to our hips, we crossed it in the rain, it was also manageable for us that already jave a little bit of experience
- Resupply : in Villa Cerro Castillo and in Chile Chico ( a bulk shop just opened in front of the camping Nandu) // at km 76,7 we could buy some bread, cheese and eggs at Maria and Julio's house
- Overall : we absolutely loved this section ! The views are spectacular and really diverse from one day to another // we got a hitchike at the end on the gravel road to go to Puerto Ibanez.

* '''01.27.2024 / 5 days / Hiking / SoBo / RR + Option 8 to Bahía Murta / Milton Cea + 4 more'''

Considering that we would venture to make this route a journey from Villa Cerro Castillo to Bahía Murta, we have decided to pay Pedro Zuleta, who is dedicated to transportation in the surrounding areas (+56 9 9357 8668), to take us to the entrance of the route at the registration booth. There, we encountered a pair of muleteers who did not pay much attention to our passing, however, we spoke with them to ask for their permission and inquire about the condition of the path.

We started with the regular route, a bit late, and for that reason, we camped the first night at Mallín Grande, which is a very good option, as watching the sunrise in this beautiful place is worthwhile.

Starting early the next day, we reached the "Los puestos" sector and from there, leaving our camp set up, we headed towards the towers. We were only able to reach the first lagoon at the base of the massif, as we went a bit late and our conversation with some other hikers we met extended. I would recommend leaving early to take advantage of the views from the portezuelo lookout.

The next day we began the crossing through the "Río Resbalón" Valley, as the locals call it, following an animal trail that sometimes tends to get lost among new vegetation or fallen trees, accompanied by other hikers who decided to join the journey.
It is a part of the route that can be slightly complex if you do not have a good reading of the surroundings, finding the animal traffic trail, and considering that you navigate through a forest that can easily disorient. This changes when you already walk with the "Resbalin/Resbalón" river to your right, as it is quite useful to follow its course. Always on the left side of the river.
On the way, there are some fallen trees and abandoned muleteer posts that can be used as camping space if necessary, although I would not recommend camping in this old forest.
Upon reaching the point of the road collapse, the crossing of the scree can be done at the level of its arrival, but to continue the route, you must climb a few meters up the mountain until you find the entrance to the continuation of the route. This point took some time from us, and we decided to camp near the river, towards the rock beach in the middle of a young forest with a mossy floor, very comfortable and restorative. We also decided to place some pircas at this point, as there was no mark to help resume the path towards Murta, since the difference in height was noticeable and it can be easy to believe that the path continues by the river side, but no, from here the path separates from the river and goes up the mountain.

Finally, after this last abandoned stretch, where the vegetation is abundant in some parts, we ended up arriving at the Puesto de Los Agüeros and decided to spend a night there, as we were very tired from constantly finding the route. It's worth mentioning that we couldn't find a GPS track before the trip.

The next day, after a night of intense rain, we took the official route traced from "Bahía Murta" at opossite direction and arrived in the town at dusk.
If you want the track and the Waypoints of the journey, feel free to write to me at '''milton.1902@gmail.com''' =)

* '''From 2023-01-20 to 2023-01-21 // 1,5 day // Hiking // NOBO // option 1 Valle Ibanez // Quentin Clavel'''

When I arrived in Puerto Ingeniero Ibàñez, I had to make a choice, as the weather window were pretty short. I had only 3 days and a half ahead of nice weather followed by one entire week of rain.

So I made the hard choice to skip Torres del Avelano, and go straight to Cerro Castillo by the OPT1 to explore the NP of CERRO CASTILLO.

This section was not so bad. Even if it was gravel road until the Lago tamango, I had nice views, and was not too bored from this stretch, but well yeah, it's gravel road for 30 km, so of course it was not all the time so funny aha !

Then I went to the small track along Lago tamango. Very quiet, pretty well marked thanks to these sticks with red and white colours on top, and with some scenic views.

You'll end up at the parking of the touristic sendero sitio archeologico de manos pintadas (Paredón de las Manos (1000CLP for children's, 2000CLP for adults. From Tuesday to Sunday 10h00-17h00). Then it's gravel road, following by 1,3 km on the carretera austral to reach Villa cerro castillo.

I was expecting worse for this section. Quite happy about it. That's a nice alternative if, for a reason, you want or have to skip Torres de Avelano

* '''2024-Jan- 14 to 2024-Jan-16/ 3 days/hiking/SOBO/ 33h/ 33h-b/33h-a/ 33h-P/Paulina'''

At first, I wanted to do RR, but as the recent reports about the river crossing where not very encouraging, I decided to play it safelty, so I just mixed some sections.
I started in Villa Cerro Castillo, till X 33h [ 5.5/554] it was a very peaceful, nice trail, with beautiful views on Cerra Castillo. There were some fence crossing, but not very annoying.
After the intersection, so once I joined the road X-725, it was less interesting, walk on a gravel road. I think this part of RR is better to hitch-hike ( it's possible and not very difficult to catch a car on this way).
Once I reached the big lakes ( beautiful views!) and some wanderful camping spots [ S 46.17790 W 072.32049] between Lago Alto and Lago Lapparet, I took 33h-b. At the beginning the trail was l crossing a forest used by locals as wood supply, but later ( around the place where it joined 33h-a), the landscape was amazing! Especially the part with lakes and settlers.

The last section was on 33h-01A. The cannion of Rio Claro and later the waterfall are beautiful, but for some hikers a long distance on gravel road on this section can be annoying so it's probably better to hitch-hike ( not a lot of cars but still possible).

I bought my ticket for ferry from Puerto Ibanez to Chile Chico without any problem 1h30 before the ferry departure.

The mix of these 4 sections + hitch-hiking it's a good option for bad weather or high river level on RR. Some parts are very beautiful, and the less interesting parts ( long distances on gravel roads) it's possible to cover by car.

* '''2024-01-02 to 2024-01-07 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR & Options: 03, 03B, 04C, 04 & Variant E / Roman'''

Route: Hitchhiked along Option 03 to X {33H-03} [18.6/315]. Hiked via Option 03B to X {33H} [24.2/462] and than continued RR to Ford, X {33H} [71.8/602]. Here used Variant E and back to RR all the way to Settler {33H} [85.0/462] (Luis Diaz). Continued on Option 04C to X {33H-04} [73.9/559]. From here used option 04 all to way to Bahía Murta.

Decided to go SoBo to get the tricky parts done with a good weather forecast. Hitchhiked along Option 03 because it's easier to get a lift. Was at X {33H-03} [18.6/315] 12:35 PM. From there it's a super easy to hike street all the way to X {33H} [45.5/1088] via Option 03C and than 03. Sadly there where no cars going in the correct direction. Towards the end (last 5km) there are some rivers crossing the street, nothing bad, you can get over them dry feet if jumping on the rocks. Continued the RR, the trail is clearly visible and easy to hike all the way to Camp {33H} [52.7/953]. Arrived there at 09:30 PM. It's a awsome place to pitch a tent! It was absolutely woth it to go for such a long day. Met 2 locals who went with a truck all the way to this point: -46.26754, -72.419667. Met also Cy & GG (see GPT 23). We continued the next day. Trail was in a good condition and CC was easy no snow up to the pass Pass {33H} [62.0/1314]. Absolutely beautiful view! There is some snow on the south side on the way down. It's mostly melted to you can decide if you want the first 150-200m of elevation go down in snow or trough the boulders. It was a sunny day therefore quite easy to get down to the lake. From there we went down a boulder field to the BB (Bush bashing) section (400m). This is trivial - no macheta required. It's just walking trough the forest. From there the CC&BB is at the beginning easy. We found a animal trail on the southern side of the river. Than the swamp started which was annoying. We started, after finishing the swamp section, to walk in the river bed around here -46.438037, -72.469247 which was fast progress but wet feet. Jumped on the trail and camped at Camp Without Water {33H} [68.7/766]. There is a lot of water at the river and it's just a 10 minute walk so we filled the bottles. The Camp is good, stayed there with 3 tents. Continued the next day (it was moderate rain during the night and at the morning) to the X, Ford {33H} [69.8/634]. This was at the limit what is safely possible. Fast flowing river - hip deep (iam 180). From there on the trail was clearly visible and easy to hike fast. Continued the RR and did Variant E. Check you GPS, we didn’t intend to do it we just followed the most clearly visible trail and ended up at the Puesto {33H-E} [0.8/619] so we continued. The statement from above is still valid all the way to Settler {33H} [85.0/462] (Luis Diaz) for the RR ;). After that is a easy trail, at Settler {33H} [76.7/535] (Maria & Julio) I met Julio and they had a car there to the trail from this point on is even easier. I split up here with Cy & GG because of different plans and it was questionable if the Ford at Ford {33H} [81.2/490] (Rio Avellano) is even possible so I wanted to speed up. Reached the point around 05:00 PM. It was not possible to Ford - way to deep and to much current! So I used my packraft and crossed the river. Got in the water here: -46.456627, -72.320677 and followed than the RR. Ford {33H} [81.4/492] was also impossible by foot. Used the same tactic and crossed it by boat. Got in the water here: -46.453523, -72.316373 and crossed by boat. After that easy trail and continued the RR. Ford {33H} [83.6/467] (Rio Avellano) was also absolutely impossible so also did it by boat. After that I camped here: -46.463767, -72.26597.

interim conclusion: if the weather is not stable (I knew it wasn't [would reccomend checking with meteoblue] go SoBo and be aware that the crossing can be impossible - I would reccomend bringing you packraft so you habe more options even though it's the H route. Otherwise you have to wait, potentially for days or you need the help of a local (this is how Cy & GG managed it).

Next day continued 04C. The trail to the pass is clearly visible and beautiful to hike. From there it's hard to find a few times because of a lot of animal tracks. Follow the GPS. The trail is again visible from this point on: -46.486009, -72.212428. Trail condition generally good with some bushes hanging in the trail. Reached X {33H-04} [73.9/559]. Same here a lot if animal trail - follow the GPS. The trail is clearly visible from this point on: -46.49591, -72.205307 up to Bahía Murta. Condition is good. The Pass {33H-04} [71.5/958] is definetly a highlight. Camped at Camp {33H-04} [66.2/209] - great place. Next day was long no changes on the trail condition - good and easy - hiked to Ford, Camp {33H-04} [37.5/259]. Camping there is a bit tricky to find a good place but manageable. Met a guy at the gosttown Puerto Cristal. The trail is according to him also used by tourists groups. I asked before the trial if there is a ferry connection - there is none only one company goes there by boat for tourist. Maybe you can arrange a transfer ( https://turismopuertocristal.cl/ very fast response time via WhatsApp 10 minutes). The Pass {33H-04} [43.3/840] is also a highlight. The Ford, Camp {33H-04} [37.5/259] is challenging hip deep. After that it's easy road walk to Bahía Murta. Got a lift at -46.520007, -72.636049.

Overall: I would recommend SoBo because the difficult sections are at the beginning and weather dependent. Go if you have a few stable non rainy days. Bring you packraft to have more options for fording. The entry via Option 03 & 03B is in my opinion easy due to hitchhiking & ou find a grop and book a lift The views are amazing at the passes. The BB is trivial. BB&CC is annoying but done within 2 hours. The Option 4 is absolutely beautiful and if you are a bit luckier than me avoids a lot of road walking. Would definitely reccomend the section. The reason for me to go with Option 04 is to easy connect to 82P.

Contact: https://linktr.ee/RundW

* '''2023-12-22 / 3 days / RR / SOBO / Anh'''

Just a quick info: The first part of RR is not marked but very easy to hike. After the pass (km 62) I had a hard time with the 2km CC. At first the snowfields were very steep (60 slope). The snow thickness was only 20-80cm, underneath are very big steep boulders and the melting snow makes the hollows big. Then there are the streams under the snowfields. I was a few times with a foot in it, fortunately not whole body. I had to go up and down in the forest, on the edge, on the rocks... My goal was to be safe, it took me 2 hours to cover the 2km.

==Season 2022/23==
* '''2023-Mar-30 to 2023-Mar-31 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option 1 / Martin & Helena'''

We started from Villa Cerro Castillo around 11 AM and took ferry from the port the next day at noon. The former RR trail follows path of Sendero de Chile, and starting with no expectations we were quite impressed with what it offers, especially all the amazing views of Cerro Castillo. It's definitely a good short alternative to the Torres del Avellano detour that we were forced to skip. Trail is easy to follow and you can find many camp spots along the way. There are many small shops in Puerto Ibáñez. Knowing the ferry schedule we went directly to the port where were just a few others in this time of the year.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* '''26/02/2023 - 02/03/2023 / RR SOBO with emergency exit on a boat on Lago General Carrera / Louis, Rémi & Noé :'''

Day 1 - From Lago Verde - 15.5km - +700m/-300m We first hitchiked from Villa Cerro Castillo to Lago Verde on the Carretera Austral. We hiked then the gravel road until the camp next to the free check in point, in the forest.

Day 2 - Laguna La Plazza - 16.5km - +800m/-500m We kept going on the minor road before the well maintained horse trail. We took option to the Laguna La Plazza and we camped there but the weather was quite bad with a lot of wind. Would recommend to camp in the pasture down there in these conditions.

Day 3 - Lagunas before the pass - 17km - +1000m/-900m The trail was still very easy to follow this day. A bit of cross country at the end but nothing difficult as there are kerns. There is a spot to pitch tents next to the second lake, between it and the waypoint "camp" (that we didn't find btw). Very nice there and without the clouds, the view should be incredible.

Day 4 - CC until diversion @km69.8 - 14km - +500m/-1100m The troubles began for us this day. Noé injured his knee just after the pass. With Rémi, we alternated carrying his bag in addition to ours. That's why we hadn't moved a lot. The bush bashing is demanding and under the rain, fording is a real challenge. I would recommend you to be south of the Rio after the diversion/ford. We camped on the north side, a few hundred meters after the div.

Day 5 - Lago General Carrera - 30km - +700m/-1000m As we were a bit late, we decided to walk directly to the lake. We forded the Rio in order to be south of it and we found the horse trail, it was easier then ! We crossed the Rio a last time @km81.2, still manageable with the rain but a bit hard (water until the hips, we are 1m80 tall) with a strong current. Then, the minor road. We didn't leave it until the lake. A bit of ups and downs but the road is nice so it is fast. Here, at the lake. There is mobile coverage and so we contacted numeros given on the PDF on WhatsApp to find a boat to bring us back to civilisation. With the third bag to carry, it was too hard for us to keep hiking. I let you the contact of Jairo, that can bring you back to Puerto Tranquilo... for 400.000 CLP... we didn't had the choice as the settler living just in front of the lake wasn’t there. Jairo : +56 9 6633 9507 He transported us the next day.

* '''2023-Feb-21-27 / NOBO / RR + Option 3B / Ondrej and Bara / Puerto Ibanez - Vila Cerro Castillo / 6.5 days'''

Gorgerous section. Unfortunately, we were struck by bad weather mid-way which took out the joy and brought a few very difficult moments for us.

We went NOBO and on the 3rd day camped in the valley close to Maria & Julio (76.7 km). It started raining early morning and while the rain stopped around midday, it was enough to turn streams into rivers and cross country paths into swamps. We were unable to ford the river at km 69.8 at two different places. To continue, we decided to make a risky choice and bush-bash upstream on the other side of the river, hoping to ford it in an upper section and rejoin the trail. This eventually worked out. We forded the river at -46.43642, -72.45456 and rejoined the trail. This 1.2km diversion took us about 2 hours. Bush-bashing through forest was okay but in the middle of the diversion we struggled through 300m of thorny bushes which took forever to get across.

From around 1000m of altitude, we had fresh snow on the slopes. This made the boulder field more challenging than we wanted (fortunately still manageable). We crossed the exposed pass at km62.0 and continued on the other side, firstly through snow and then again through muddy cross country parts until we joined the trailhead at km 57.0. Afterwards the trail was easy all the way until the end.

We also met Anna and Christopher going the opposite direction - really great to meet fellow hikers!

* '''2023-Feb-20-24 / NOBO / RR shortend on the road sections / Zohar / Road to Levicán - Carterra Austeral / 5 days'''

I tried to shorten the section because of the upcoming bad weather, which hit on the last day, but I was lucky to catch a ride out with a family that came to collect wood from their land.

I arrived on Monday to pureto Ibañez spoke with the van to levicán that left at 17.40 to Levicán got off on the way where the rout leave the main road and walked till the shore of Lago General Carrera. Day 2 I followed the horse trail along the lake, which was very visible and easy to follow. Then, I followed a miner till I found a stable campsite. Day 3 was the hardest. I was determined to sleep at the base of the torres, so I had a lot of trail to cover, and the route was hard to follow, but the direction was clear. Day 4 started with a beautiful sun rise on the clear torres de avellano. The bolder field wasn't as hard as I itentenly thought, but be careful. After the pass, I met 4 young hikers going to the torres and back. Day 5 was wet, but at least on a minor road and about 9 km before the road, I was picked up and taken to Villa Cerro Castillo.

I don't advise doing the section in 5 days thay where long, big days, and it is better to enjoy the surroundings. if the weather was better, I would have taken 7 days. This section is beautiful and highly recommended

* '''20.02. - 24.02.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO, Villa Cerro Castillo - Puerto Ibáñez'''

In the afternoon we started hitchhiking the Carretera Austral to where Option 3B starts. There were lots of people trying to hitchhike directly from Villa Cerro Castillo, so we figuered to have a better chance if we walk further up the Carretera Austral. We soon got lucky. That day we walked the dirtroad until km 4.4 and camped there next to a small stream.

The next day was mostly easy walking on dirtroads until the crossing at km 45.5 (which is relatively easy to miss!). We camped at km 49 at the edge of the forest.

The next day the weather turned bad once we reached the section with all the boulders on the ascent to the pass. We did some unnecessary climbing by not sticking to the main route. When descending we lost the main route again and briefly tried to descend without it, which we soon realised is a bad idea, so we climbed back up to where we lost it. We spent the night at the camp at km 63.4.

The next morning we woke up with a clear blue sky and finally saw the Torres del Avellano. Really amazing rock formations. The following bushbashing part seemed ok to us, we had worse ones on the GPT so far ;). First we walked on to the right of the river following a good animal path. Once it ended we changed to the left side and stayed there. About 2/3 of the route is a realtively good path and the rest was some easy BB and climbing over fallen trees. Luckily the ford at km 69.8 was easy to cross. We took variant E from where on the trail was in a great condition and we could walk pretty fast. The river crossing at km 81.1 was more demanding and went almost up to Annas hips (1,63m). We camped soon after that at approx. km 81.5.

We continued on variant H the easy trail on the dirtroad until the lake, where it gets more demanding (we underestimated the continous ups and downs). The views are amazing though. It gets pretty windy next to the lake. We camped at a tiny spot at km 109.3 next to a small stream.

On the final day we walked to the bus station (6 pm) and took the ferry to Chile Chico the same day (8 pm). This section was great :)

* '''11-18 February 2023 / Maks&Gabi / SOBO / RR, 33H-E, 33H-H ( hichhiking from km136 to Puerto Ibanez)'''

We started from Villa Cerro Castillo. If you can, try not to skip the first part of road walking. It's beautiful with the view over Lagunas and Cerro Castillo. The terrain is also different than in later parts of the section.

There are some problems - lot of fences and gates on the first 5 km. Then many aggressive dogs and limited access to water (steep descents and fences around the lakes). The camping spots, marked on track files, can be hard to access (private properties with new fences). We camped by the bridge around 25km (the bridge is not marked).

We than waited half a day for the rain to stop. The rest of the road is also well maintained with occasional river crossing (all easy).

The next trail part (until km 57) is mostly visible. Some problem can occur by the CC part, especially during heavy rain - it was all floded. We weren't exactly expecting it, but it was snowing and the temperature during the night was about -4. Next day we waited until 11 am to dry our stuff, as the sun finally came out.

As Veronica wrote, when going up to the pass try to follow the cairns (33H-D). The part between the lakes and the pass is quite easy.

Going down from the pass we followed the GPS and we found it quite manageable (actually for us it seemed to be much easier going SOBO than NOBO at that point, even though it was slippery and with a lot of small streams going down the rock). We reached the camp at km 63.4 at 4 pm. First 400 m of BB is easy as the forest is not overgrown. It's getting worse in the valley. If possible try to be close to the river. We were fording it multiple times. Finally we stayed at the left side of the river, bushbashing for the next 3 km (that's where the trail starts). We slept next to the ford at km 69.8.

We forded the river in the morning. It's possible, but the current was strong (for us it was the worst ford on this section with water above our knees - I'm 175 cm). After the next ford we followed 33H-E as we couldn't find the entrance to the RR. It's a very well maintained path with a big puesto nearby.

After fords at km 81 we followed 33H-H as we didn't want to cross the river anymore. For those of you, who are planning to go there during the next few days, be carefull - somewhere around km 91 there is a fresh dead cow near to the water.

The lake part's quite exhausting. We were blessed with sunny and windless weather so we found it astonishing and not so dangerous. We started our last day at camp km 113.8 . Ascent on the road (117.5) is ok and there was water on km 119.9 (small stream). The rest of the road walking is easy (with occasional fences) but there's no water on km 135.2 (water on 129.3 is hard to access).

We hitchhiked from km 136 to Puerto Ibanez. During the weekend there is only one ferry a day (Saturday morning and Sunday evening).

* '''8 to 13 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO from Laguna Verde / 6 data'''

This one was an ordeal for me, I don't recommend starting with a week straight of rain in the forecast. At first I appreciated the ambiance after six completely dry weeks in the north, but after a few days it started to get me down. Thankfully to keep my morale up I encountered some kind settlers, a few pairs of GPT hikers, and some sun in the final stretch.

The rains never got too heavy, generally off and on light rain. The temperatures were fairly cold from the nearly constant cloud cover.

To start out I hitched out of Villa Cerro Castillo to Laguna Verde, teaming up with some of the many hitchhikers. The initial road walk was beautiful, some podcasts helped me power through the rest.

The pass was tough in the rain, but manageable. Things were slippery but there's enough to grab onto in the boulder fields to keep you stable, as long as you're focused and moving slowly. The ascent was nice boulder field the whole way, on the decent things looked scarier. Instead of boulders there was a lot of large smooth slab with water flowing down. The gpx route there was good, following boulders and vegetation around the slab. Things only felt dangerous once, when I went slightly off the track and ended up trapped between a cliff and a water slide. After some scary experimentation I found that I could get good traction on the waterslide using a crab walk technique, on my back with hands and feet and butt all resting on the slab. This let me traverse the waterslide back to safety.

The little bush bashing section after the pass was easy, I camped in there. Things got bad again once I got back out to the river and the cross country+bush bashing marker. My feet got worryingly numb after a bunch of river crossings and marshland traversal, I tried to stick to the woods after that.

I then took two big questionable detours from the tracks, staying to the south of the rio avellano and avoiding crossing it all the way until I reached the lake. I'll quickly describe them here but they were both uncomfortable and not worth it unless the river is impassable. The cold and rain seem to damage my decision making quite a bit, I refused to backtrack or to take breaks to think things through.

To skip the crossing at 69.8 I stayed in the woods south of the river starting at around km 67.5. Initially nice cow path, followed by a tricky wooded boulder field, followed by a horrific stretch crawling over thorny bushes. Eventually I made my way up to the base of some cliffs where things got a bit easier. Following the cliffs I reached a cow path, leading to some open woods through which I rejoined the trail around km 70.5. Never thought I'd be so happy to find cow poop.

I dropped a blue and black stone bracelet somewhere before or during the 71.8 river crossing, let me know if you come across it!

Some of the minor streams merging into the river were tough to cross. 71.8 was up to my thighs with a strong current.

To skip the first major crossing of the Rio Avellano at 81.2 I followed some horse trail to the big white rock hill, and climbed to the top. The rock was super grippy even in the rain. I then traversed along the slope to the east, staying between an elevation of 700 and 750m. There was some cow path making it easier to walk, I wonder how they get up there. A few tough bushy sections descending and climbing out of crevasses/streams before I got to a gradual stream at -46.46385, -72.30601 which I scrambled down to the river.

I ran into the settlers Luis and Jaqueline at their house by the river. They generously took me in for the night and gave me a chance to dry out some of my stuff.

From there I followed option 4C down to the lake, hoping that the river crossing there would be less scary with the river fanned out wider. The option was decent trail over some low passes to the lake, though at times it was hard to follow. It's tough to choose where to cross the river because you can't see the bottom through the silt. I decided to cross near the gpx line where it was wide with lots of debris and sand bars to rest in between the channels. At the worst points it was crotch deep and powerful, the rocks under my feet sliding back from the force. Pretty scary.

I camped in the willow grove by campo chico, and the next day (Monday) I raced to the bus stop at 130.4. It turns out that the bus is now at 6pm, I got there just in time. I took the bus to Puerto Ibáñez and got straight on the 8pm ferry to Chile Chico.

A small cut on my ankle ended up getting infected, I'm now in town out of commission with a ton of swelling. Should have been more careful!

* '''Feb 12 Direct Route SOBO 1 day Frank'''

I walked straight from Villa Cerro Castillo to Puerto Ibanez in one long day. A few KM out on a dirt road there is a museum on your left & a short trail on the right which goes to some rock paintings. You pass by a lake with good views of Cerro Castillo. Salto Rio Ibanez waterfall is impressive.

*Helen and Craig + (Caro and Ali)
5th-10th February NoBo<- only direction to do it! So pretty!

almost got stung by the ferry from Chile chico. Make sure when you go to the office as the online booking doesn't seen to be working, that you specify your a foot passenger. And if they refuse ask to be put on the waiting list for the next ferry (which means you'll get on just fine) pretty sure you could probably just turn up and ask very nicely and they would let you across. Looked in to the boats from Carlos and Pascual to join 33 missing the coast section from levican but Carlos is not in the area at the moment and Pascuals boat is currently non functional, sad times but the coastal section I would have been sad to miss!

-Decided to do Torres del avellano northbound. Highly recommend doing it this way and thankyou to the others who pointed out this point before us. Veiws were great and much easier to get over the bolder scramble going up.

-We walked in a group of 4 so payed for a transfere to levican and a pick up from lago lapparent. 60,000 each time.
-Phone signal from Puerto del avellano to levican
-The river valleys of avellano and venti were incredibly beautiful to the south.
-Route was better marked and easier to navigate than exsepted. Very Easy going apart from km 68.7-62. if you've done GPT 40 or 37, then you'll find 33 delightfully a breeze. (We did have good weather, in bad weather even just a little rain I imagine a very diffence and worse exsperience)
-In the BB/CC river valley of Rio avellano walk on the north shore of the river rather than going to the south. The forest is mostly easily passable or can hop out to the river valley to walk more freely. The south side of the river is calf/ knee high swampy bush bashing which leads to very cold feet and frustration.
-keep eyes peeled for humels! We spotted a male humel on the bushbash/cross country section and had the most amazing sighting!

* '''22 to 26 of January 2023 / Véronica / GPT33H RR SOBO / via GPT33H-03B / 4.5 days'''

Route: Villa Cerro Castillo - Laguna Verde (Río Alto valley) - Upper Río Avellano valley - Torres del Avellano viewpoint - Lower Río Avellano valley - Lago General Carrera - Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez

Simply beautiful section. Lots of excellent info is written about it in the Hiker's Manuel too. I only met 4 other hikers, with two of them being northbounding GPT hikers! Great to meet you, Yannic and Mirjam :)

From Villa Cerro Castillo I hitched easily on the Carretera Austral to Laguna Verde, where Option 3B begins. I wanted to cut some of the initial road walking because poor weather was incoming the next day and I wanted to try and beat it to have a chance at seeing the Torres. The road walk in the Río Alto valley was actually quite pleasant and scenic. There is a little self-registration booth across the road from the settler at km 30.8, where hikers are asked to "check in" before proceeding down the private road towards the Río Avellano valley. There is no charge.

The camp at 52.7 km is very nice with a little stream running through, lots of dead wood around to make a fire, and relatively sheltered. There is an old puesto/refuge there too that is open and has a fireplace. Could be a good spot to hole up if the weather is bad.

When you diverge from the Río Avellano valley to head up the pass, don't try and follow the GPS. Instead take the path of least resistance (or the path that looks the clearest) through the woods and across the rocks near the river. There are occasional cairns to mark the way too, although not always obvious to spot. Only the last cross-country section before the pass did I follow closely with the GPS, as it goes across a boulder field and the GPS line seemed to be the easiest way up to the pass.

On the south side of the pass is where you finally see the Torres del Avellano proper. Absolutely incredible, and I managed to get the great views only a couple of hours before the rain started and clouds engulfed everything.

I followed the GPS track closely going down through the granite boulder field, since it guided a safe way around the steeper cliffs. It was slow going down through the boulders, but it didn't feel unsafe as the rocks were grippy and solid.

The initial "bushbashing" segment at km 63.9 was very easy through a mature forest. I didn't follow the GPS here, just followed an old animal trail alongside a creek until it joined with Río Ventisquero. Again, the CC&BB section starting at km 64.4 was quite easy at first. I forded the river multiple times to walk along whichever side looked easier/less swampy. About midway through this section though it got tougher because Río Ventisquero got silty and the flow increased, so that I didn't want to ford it much anymore, so I stuck to the left (north) side of the river, mostly in the forest. There were some areas of unavoidable blowdowns and marshy terrain, and everything was wet from the rain coming down too.

When I reached the waypoint X, Ford at 69.8 km, I camped there for the night because Río Ventisquero was a torrent and looked unsafe to ford. There are a few nice, flat places to pitch a tent in this area, under large mature trees. Early the next morning, it was very cold and still raining, and I couldn't tell if the river had gone down at all or not. There was fresh snow higher on the mountaintops. I ended up fording the river slightly downstream from where the trail crosses it, and the water came up just below my hips (I'm 165 cm). The water is silty so you can't see the bottom, but the rocks underneath had surprisingly good traction, which I was grateful for because the current was strong.

It might be better to take Option 33H-E than the regular route. That trail looked well-maintained and clear, whereas the RR between 71.8 and 73.5 km was hard to follow and overgrown at times. There were no signs of life at the homestead of Maria and Julio when I passed through.

I was strategic when I forded Río Avellano at km 81.2, crossing multiple branches at their shallowest points. The water went midway up my thighs at the deepest point. Afterwards though I didn't want to cross it two more times, so I took Option 33H-H which stayed north of the river.

The refugio at km 98.5+0.2 on the shore of Lago General Carrera is nice and clean. There is a woodstove and some tables and chairs. It was crazy windy when I got there though, and I can't reccomend it as a good place to camp unless you sleep inside the refuge — the wind gusts were coming from all directions and there wasn't a spot that was sheltered outdoors. Further along the path at Campo Chico, there is a grove of mature willow trees that is probably a much better camp spot.

Very beautiful hiking along Lago General Carrera, but it was wildly windy for me that day. At times it was hard to stay on the trail due to the strong gusts trying to blow me off the path. Lots of water sources.

RH-MR&CC-V {33H} [19.5/118.0+4.6] is all minor road, no cross-country involved at all. I met the settler at km 121.8, he kindly let me pass through his property (and many gates) no problem.

I got to the minor road from Levican (waypoint at 130.4) at 7:40 a.m. on a Thursday. There is a little bus shelter there to protect from the wind. It was very cold and windy when I got there, and I waited until almost noon, hoping to hitch a ride. Not a single car passed by that whole time. So I resigned myself to the road walk, walked for about an hour in extremely windy conditions, and then a car finally came by and picked me up and drove me into Puerto Ibáñez :) Very grateful!!!

* '''2023 Jan / Yannic & Mirjam / Northbound'''

From Puerto Ibanez we made the first kilometres to junction 130.4 by car stop. Then we hiked on to Camp 113.4. We didn't stay at the location, but a little further ahead where the river flows into the lake. Along the lake was nice with a lot of ups and downs and then we camped somewhere on the side of the Minor Road. Along the Rio Avellano we stayed on the northern side so that we only had to cross the river once (at 81.2). The water came up to my waist (I am 180 cm). Surprisingly, there was another Ford at 69.8. Again, very strong current and loose ground, so it was difficult to find a good footing. Right after this Ford we spent the night in the forest.

On the climb at the start of the cross country section (at trailhead 68.5) be sure to get the right entry point as there are several small streams coming down the valley. We thought we saw a trail further into the forest that we could follow. Unfortunately, this was a mistake and led to us having to bush bash back onto the trail for a few hundred metres. In general, the trail was mostly better close to the river than deeper in the forest. The camping spot at the Torres was incredible and worth getting up for sunrise. The climb up the pass was very doable with the GPS tracks and not too difficult. On the other side of the pass, the trail got surprisingly good. We met a group of horses that were probably trekking to the lakes. Because the weather got worse, we took option 03 on the Carretera Austral and stopped at Ceroo Castillo.

*GPT section 33 7 days, 84 miles, 14K ft ascent Dec. 21 to 27, 2022 David and Erika NOBO

Ferry from Chili Chico runs just once a week (Mondays at 8:00 am) we missed it by hours and were stuck at the hotel California in Chili Chico for a day. “You can enter any time you like but you can never leave” got to be the feeling after residential bus after residential bus filled with residents and would not take us. Eventually got to Sierra Castillo and then hitched to Puerto Inginiero Ibanez. The tourist office there got her husband to give us a lift further 24 km to the end of the road. Well worth the 25,000 pesos. Road hike from there straightforward but new gates are being installed at the last road (NOBO) before you hit Lago General Carrera. Lots of wind. Last Refugio on the lake is legitimate. Good place to camp. Lower Rio Avellano was fordable. We thought we could avoid the 2nd and 3rd ford by taking the path over the hill. Don’t. It doesn’t go…Don’t worry, it gets worse. Ultimately, you’ll be hiking through the river all the way to Torres de Avellano. Note on that. The route takes you up to the lake. Beautiful, but then you go through a 2 km boulder field. We found the start of a trial before exiting the river that seems to lead right up to the pass. Might go, we don’t know. Instead, we took the boulder route, broke through a snow bridge, and put a deep gauge in Erika’s leg. Could have used stiches but had no sutures. Might be worth investigating.

*'''2022 Nov, NoBo, Option 1, Alice and Florian'''

We chose to do the option 1 taking the sendero de chile from Puerto Ibañez to Cerro castillo. Most of it is a trail road (first 25km, and the last 4) so it is quite tiring for the knees as some point. But it seems quite easy to do hitchhiking at least on the first 25 km if needed. Nevertheless it is quite a nice road. You first arrive to a very nice waterfall after 5km, them walk through a canyon with nice scenic views. The 10km pass through a forest trail near lakes, it is really nice as well.

* '''2022 Nov / GPT33H Option 11 and Parts of Regular Route / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck'''

GPT33H/GPT34P: Northern coast of Lago General Carrera from Puerto Sanchez to Levican (packrafting and hiking)

From 2022-Nov-20 to 2022-Nov-24 we (Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck) packrafted and hiked in 5 days from Puerto Sanchez to Levican along the northern coast of Lago General Carrera.

This lake is infamous for the frequent strong gusty wind, therefore packrafting requires a careful monitoring of the weather to depart only onto the lake when a period with calmer conditions is approaching. Luckily, there is reasonable good mobile phone coverage what facilities checking the weather and wind forecast frequently.

Given the wind conditions any packrafting attempt on Lago General Carrera requires to my opinion:

- decked packraft, a longer tandem is strongly preferable (faster, more stable) - a sail (to get quicker to an exit point) - packrafting experience in the region (to anticipate typical weather and wind patterns) - smartphone with entel SIM card or entel rooming - YR weather App, Windy weather App

The predominant wind is eastbound therefore only eastbound packrafting is advisable.

I’m left with the impression that wind gets generally stonger towards the east (towards Levican and Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez) and that calm periods are more frequent and longer towards the west (Puerto Tranquilo, Puerto Sanchez).

Also, calmer conditions are more likely in the early morning just after sunrise but strong wind all night is also common.

During a previous hike in February 2020 we experienced an entire summer day with barely any wind but such days are as frequent as unicorns and no travel plan should be build on exceptional favorable circumstances.

There is a trail along the northern shore but due to the steep coast there are sections of up to 13 km on the lake without a connection from the shoreline to this trail.

Emergency exits are more frequent along the coast but using such an exit means waiting for the wind to calm down what can take days. Therefore it is generally favorable to exit the water only in a location from where the trail can be reached easily.

We packrafted most of the distance from Puerto Sanchez to the Avellano river delta on 3 mornings in about 9 hours on the water but from there we hiked in two days to Levican because we had no similar promising calm weather windows in following early mornings. In hindsight the wind remained manageable in the morning hours till about noon but there was no point in reversing our decision to hike (and we urgently needed some exercise to get used to hike with heavy backpacks again).

Crossing from Puerto Tranquilo to Puerto Sanchez is reasonable feasible by packraft in calm weather (typically either very early in the morning or later in the evening). The crossing is 3 km wide and best started 1 km north of Puerto Tranquilo in a hidden bay with a nice protected spot to pitch a tent (46.6146°S / 72.6838°W · 210 m). If preparing the packraft at the beach of Puerto Tranquilo officials may stop packrafters as there are numerous restrictions and requirements applicable (in example accompanying motor boat with two licensed boat drivers).

Packrafters should depart in north-eastern direction to compensate for a south-eastern wind drift in case wind increases.

A very nice protected camp site is approximately 8 km from the recommended exit point near Puerto Tranquilo.

GPT33H: Bus Levican - Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez

The last 26 km from Levican to Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez are rather dull road walking. Therefore hikers that arrive at the right day and time can take the subsidized bus.

Monday and Friday only: 08:00 Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez -> Levican 09:00 Levican -> Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez 18:00 Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez -> Levican 19:00 Levican -> Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez Price: 1000 CLP

Transport at other times can be arranged for a substantially higher cost (estimated 40‘000 to 60‘000 CLP per vehicle).

Paty: +56 9 9506 3176

Luis: +56 9 8648 4075

==Season 2021/22==

* '''2022 Feb: 10-14, SoBo, RR, Kris&Stiina'''

Even though the first few days out of town is a road walk, the first part of it is actually really scenic and worth walking, the lakes are just very beautiful one the way. The second part was mostly in the forest and our feet, knees and hips were already hurting from all the road walking but once we got on trail it got better right away. The trail was surprisingly well maintained I would even say better than in Cerro Castillo National Park. Another unexpected surprise was the amount of people that we met on the trail a total of about 25 people in different size groups were hiking to see Torres de Avellano. We really didn’t expect that, there also seemed to be some sort of backpack hauling and guiding service that the local arrieros were offering. We unfortunately didn’t manage to talk to them to find out, but it seems that the place is getting popular. Which is not a surprise because it’s very very beautiful there, probably is correct what the manual says, that it’s going to be the next Torres del Paine, time will tell.

On day 3 about 2-3km before the pass the trail disappeared and the going got tougher and tougher, mostly just bolder hopping up and over the pass. The descent was pretty steep on large granite slabs which offered plenty of good grip but I am not sure how well would it work in wet conditions. I think the pass is doable in not good weather conditions but only if one feels very confident in own abilities on wet rocks. Also it’s a good idea to follow the gps on the way down because otherwise you end up on a cliff edge and have to track back up. The ground finally eases up once you enter the forest, but then starts the bushwhacky part all the way until ford/div at 69,7km.

That was as far as we could make it that day because the river was pretty fast in the evening. So we decided to camp right there and cross it in the morning when the flow would be a bit more manageable and our decision payed off. In the morning the river was about 10cm lower than the evening before, so if you ar a shorter person it could save you. The flow was pretty strong and water was still about hips deep. Both of us crossed it together by standing in a line, me in front and Stiina supporting me from behind, it worked great. After that it was easy cruising for the next 32km, however we had to cross that river once again at 81,2km. It was still challenging but we managed to do it the traditional way one by one, facing upstream. But the current was still very strong and pushing our feet out from under us, challenging our balance. After that we didn’t want to cross it two more times as gps suggested so we just stayed on the left coast all the way to the lake. There were some cow trails to follow and also to bypass the cliffs it was no problem.

The lake is really beautiful with all the islands and it wasn’t too windy when we arrived. We camped about a kilometer from Campo Chico on the rocky stream bed and managed to cook on the fire that night without causing fire hazard. And there were apple, pear and plum trees at the 98,3km, plums were very ripe but the apples and pears still need a week or two to get ready, but it was a very nice treat nevertheless.

Next day was Monday which meant that we could avoid the 26km road walk at the end of the section which we were determined to do. We had 30km to goto get to the road junction were the bus is passing by and according to the manual the bus would pass there some time after 20:00 which is when it starts from Levican. So we pushed the whole day over the steep, sandy, bushy terrain and made it to the junction by 19:00, great, we thought. But after bus didn’t show up we called the phone nr that Janna & Matthias had provided and it turned out that the bus actually leaves Levican at 18:00 and is long gone. But the bus driver was nice enough to offer us a ride to Puerto Ibañez, however for a hefty 45.000 pesos. We were out of food, out of water and pretty spent from getting ourselves there so we accepted the offer. The car ride showed that it would be a pretty dull road walk aswell if we would have had to do it so in the end it all worked out and we got to town just as we wanted.

The town was a bit disappointing, people were somehow not very helpful and also all accommodations were full, but we managed to camp at Las Cabañitas about a km out of town. The next day we went to the port to catch the ferry to Chile Chico, but due to strong winds all ferries were canceled and nobody could even give us a guess of when the ferries would restart. We didn’t want to spend another day in Puerto Ibañez so we hitched back to Villa Cerro Castillo in hopes to get bus or a hitch around the lake. There are definitely daily buses to Cochrane.

In the end our plans changed and we decided that we are content with our experience on GPT this season, so we left it at that. Thanks for kicking our butts GPT and showing us beauty we haven’t seen before! :)

For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures

* '''GPT 33H Option 4 (Puerto Cristal)/ Torres de Avellano/ Packrafting Route / 2022 Feb-4 / 7 days / Tobias Schorcht and Jonas Grünewald'''

I started Packrafting from Puerto Tranquilo to Puerto Sanches in the calm morning hours. Since Jonas doesn‘t have a Packraft, we booked a full Marvel Caves Tour by boat for him and asked the Captain, to leave him in Puerto Sanches, which was possible without any extra paying. We hiked northbounded along Lago Vidal Gormez and visited the left behind abandoned village Puerto Cristal. It was an impressive experience to see the old facilities of the Mining Company! The good visible trail is partly overgrown with spiky bushes and contains a lot of altitude. We have been rewarded with stunning views on the Lago General Carrera and recommend this option anyway. We went up to the Torres with good weather knowing, that some wind and rain have been predicted for the night. It took us many hours to cross the valley (-46,43300, -72,48867) because we mainly followed the “cow-trails” through the forest and wetland (as an alternative to walk up the river). We reached the camp (-46,42178, -72,50672) late and sheltered the spot with rocks against the wind. You are welcome to use our cozy spot free of charge 😉. Took the trail from the Torres down to Cerro Castillo without difficulties.

We have to say, that this part of the GPT was challenging but absolutely worth the struggle.

Disfrutas las cosas 🙏

* '''NoBo, January 2022, 6.5 days, Participants: Janna & Matthias'''

Day 1: We took the ferry from Chile Chico to Puerto Ibañez (ferry schedule online).There still runs a government-subsidised bus (+56 9 89448847) between Puerto Ibañez and Levicàn on Mondays and Fridays at 8am & 5pm (summer). We decided to spend the afternoon rain relaxing at the pizzeria in Puerto Ibañez and then catch the bus. We called and found out that the bus stop is now in front of the Supermercado Jelvez. The driver let us off at Div 130.4/311 at about 6pm ($1000 per person cash) and we hiked for another hour or so. At bridge 129.3/304 you cannot get water (a kind of gorge), maybe at the marked "Water?" about 15min downstream. We had enough with us and camped sheltered from the wind between the monoculture trees (S 46.377764 W 71.922459).

Day 2: We continued through / over many gates and past empty houses down to the water. Attention if NoBo: at gate 122.6/628 there are two gates - the GPT splits behind the left one, so take that one. The first water before the lake and two good camps at the lake are marked. The path along Lago Carrera was easy to find, sandy and rough in places but we could follow old riders' tracks. We really enjoyed the fantastic view over the lake and had a tábano-free time thanks to the strong wind. About 2 km before Campo Chico (S 46.478295 W 72.086034) we found a west wind-protected and very nice camping spot.

Day 3: Further camping possibilities would be as already described on wikiexplora at Campo Chico and at Puerto Avellano. Along the lake there are streams/rivers for drinking water every 1-2h. There is a wild apple tree on the trail here: S 46.487073 W 72.102247 in case you come by at the right time of year. After Puerto Avellano there is about 15km of a former mine road that is easy to follow. We had a wonderful view of the mountains the whole day. The first two Fords are easy to pass with little water. Water sources again every 1-2h. Our camp 3 was here: S 46.457910 W 72.299412 - beautiful, next to the water, sheltered from the wind.

Day 4: Ford-day - in total we forded rivers more than 20 times, all of them were easy to knee deep except Río Avellano at 81.2/490 which reached almost to our hips and required a lot of effort. We met and chatted with settler Maria who was on her way to have some work done. At Div/Ford 69.7/634 the mountain peaks remained hidden in the clouds and the weather forecast was not so sparkling why we opted for the bypass (option 2) which is also very nice to walk with imposing mountain massifs on both sides, enchanted fairytale forests, a waterfall and easy-to-find cow tracks. Only the large swamp around S 46.386387 W 72.422623 was very unpleasant and foul-smelling, about shin deep. It may be worth looking for a path along the water there. Camp 4: S 46.371434 W 72.432519, quiet and nice under curious observation of two horses on the other side of the river.

Day5: At Div 54.5/841 we checked the weather again but as it still looked bad and everything in the valley further up was already in fog we finally decided against the Torres. At this Div there was an unmarked Ford when coming from option 2. If NoBo hiking directly after this Div take the path higher up the hill and not the marked route directly along the water, because the latter is slipped and to climb. At Puesto 53.0/946 (if NoBo) do not go through the gate but continue on the east side. A Horse Trail runs along the eastern edge of Mallin Grande. Our Camp 5 was here: S 46.281253 W 72.436128.

Day 6: Continued on the gravel road, passing many settlers and pastures. The Estero Alto flows much lower than the road, there is water at Bridge 25.7/454 and otherwise only at the lakes. There is a fence almost everywhere to the left and right of the road. To get to Camp 16.9+0.3/598 you have to climb over a locked gate (S 46.178222 W 72.312583). The two buildings in the pasture are a ruin (S 46.182635 W 72.311414) and a stable (S 46.183119 W 72.310509).

Day 7: Continued along the gravel road we almost missed Div 5.5/554 where a sandy path continues. The path is blocked by a wire fence at S 46.143124 W 72.184071 but a little further to the right you can slip through. No problems to get to Villa Cerro Castillo

==Season 2020/21==

* '''February 2021 from Bahía Murta to Torres del Avellano to Carretera Austral / Northbound, 5 days. Valle Resfalín/Resfalón (Option 8) + Mirador Torres del Avellano + Regular Hike + Escape to Carretera Austral (Option 3B) + Hitchhiking to Villa Cerro Castillo'''

Day 1: Bahia Murta to Camp #5 (Camp ? @33H-08-#005) / 11.5 km / 6 hours

The hike started at Bahía Murta, on a steep hillside. We used the GPS tracks to find the path, and from there on it’s pretty easy to follow the path (when in doubt, we checked the GPS). It’s a very nice hike, and at the end of the day it’s necessary to cross the river. We both had trekking sandals, which came in handy every time we had to cross a river. Just after the river there is a camp option. We found a nice spot on the other side of the wooden fence, but there are many more options up the small hill. It was a perfect place for sleeping, with the soothing sound of the river.

Day 2: Camp #5 (Camp ? @33H-08-#005) to Regular Route at Mallín Quemado (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) / 11.7 km / 8 hours

This was one of the longest days for us, mainly because we underestimated how much time it takes to walk through a path that’s been reclaimed by nature. The day started with a steep uphill, where we lost the path for a while and then had to check the GPS to find it again. There are streams on the way where it’s possible to refill the water bottles. About a third way in, at (-46.38537, -72.55201), the path collapsed, probably washed out by the river. We took a look around and decided it was way safer to cross the river than to continue on the collapsed path (it was late February, so the river was not so full). We crossed to the other side, and 100m ahead crossed back. This is definitively the trickiest part of the day (although a bit farther ahead we found ourselves in the middle of a caterpillar forest...not really pleasant). Just after the crossing the are two camp sites (Camp ? @33H-08-#008 and Camp ? @33H-08-#009), but we would recommend keep going as the second part of the day is definitively easier than the first. Farther ahead we found two more camp site options: at (-46.36768, -72.53116) on this side of the river and at (-46.36722, -72.53088) on the other side of the river. We considered sleeping there, because we were exhausted, but in the end we decided to keep going as we still had some hours of daylight left. This was the right choice, because that way we could sleep at Mallín Quemado and then the next day do the day trip to Torres del Avellano. Mallín Quemado is the name the locals use for the big forest area that was “burned” by the ashes of Volcan Hudson. It’s near (Puesto @33H-53.0) and it’s a perfect place for sleeping. We decided to boil the water from the small stream, because there were some cattle grazing around.

Day 3: Camp #10 (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) to Mirador Laguna y Torres del Avellano and back to Camp #10 / 7.1 km (each way) / 3 hours (each way)

We started early and with a lot of motivation to go and see the Torres del Avellano. Sadly the day was a bit cloudy, but nonetheless it was totally worth it: the views from up there are breathtaking! A lot of glaciers and superstreams with the purest water you can ask for. When we arrived back at the camp, we met the first person in 3 days: Francisco, a teacher from Puerto Aysen. He came up the other way, from Villa Cerro Castillo, and was planning on going to Torres del Avellano on the next day, and then head back to Villa Cerro Castillo.

Day 4: Camp #10 (Camp ? @33H-08-#010) to Camp at (-46.26244, -72.35118) / 21.6 km / 8 hours

Another long day, but without any difficult parts. This section of the hike is way more popular than Valle Resfalín/Resfalón, so the path is way easier to follow. The first section, until the car road, is really beautiful. We even saw some (semi) wild horses! We knew that once the car road started there wouldn’t be so many camp site options, so we kept our eyes open. The car road goes through a narrow valley, and then comes a steep down hill. At the bottom of the hill, on the left side, there is a small meadow, where it’s possible to pitch a tent (-46.26244, 72.35118). Water is available 100m down a steep hill.

Day 5: Camp at (-46.26244, -72.35118) to Carretera Austral / 14.8 km / 4 hours

Following the main car road to Carretera Austral it’s impossible to get lost. We didn’t find any stream on the way, but in case of needing water there are many houses. Just be sure to ask nicely :) Once on the Carretera Austral we hitchhiked to Villa Cerro Castillo. We only had to wait for 30 minutes to get a ride, and considering that we did this during covid times...not too bad. We also had the backup plan of Francisco, who would be driving to Villa Cerro Castillo later that day. Funny enough, we ran into Francisco by chance in Villa Cerro Castillo and he invited us to an ice cream. It was a nice way of ending the trip.

We are extremely grateful to Jan and all the people from wikiexplora for making this adventure possible!

==Season 2019/20==

*'''Section 33: RR(New!) from Ibáñez. Exit via Option 8 to Bahía Murta.'''
Westbound. 11 days. Party (3): Mum, Sis and I.

Ibáñez y Península Levican: Continuing our extended stay in Chile we caught a government subsidised bus from Cerró Castillo to Ibáñez where we learnt after a somewhat lengthy process: talking to the ticket office, boat personnel and then the carabineros (an officer and then his jefe!), everyone passing the buck; that without a certificado de salud (not available in town, and only online) we couldn't board the vessel. The upside was that the Naviera Austral had fantastic baños (yes! they were open!) and the cleaning lady let us have a quick body wash and even do a little laundry before she had to close up. There was also limited WiFi connectivity (only WhatsApp would work) and powerpoints where we could charge our things. It also happens that we bumped into a Zulema Amoroz who was born in Fachinal, most likely a relative of Carloz Amoros who offers the boat service from Fachinal across the lake (we contacted him but no boats were allowed on the lake). If you hang around near where the ferry docks you might find her selling coffee and alfajores.

We quickly decided to walk the new Section 33 Jan recently published, but end in Bahía Murta instead (i.e. explore option 8). Some effort was exhausted trying to organise a lift out to Península Levican. We did find someone for $30k, (it seemed a little steep but that's roughly what to expect), but it wouldn't be till the following day and we needed to get out of town to spend the night. We stocked up on food and started out on foot on the old RR (now Option 1) camping before we reached Río Ibáñez.

I had a little concern about water on the way to Levican, but there are two or three good streams along the way: (-46.31022, -71.97272) (-46.32470, -71.96457) (-46.34091, -71.94069)

In Puerto Ray a lady (also named Zulema!) warmed up to us and let us camp in her fruit orchard. In the morning we bought some eggs and 'bread' from them. Her husband was tanning a chivo hide; he had such a jolly step!

Along Lago General Carrera: We went back to the junction (Div Levican @33H-131.4) where a good emergency shelter exists. The road is still very clear from here, but don't expect any traffic. I think it was a rare sight that we saw an old Mercedes truck full of wood lumbering (pun intended ;) out. The rd deviates a little from the track files maybe due to the pine plantations. There are many new rds., so take care you don't go the wrong way. Taking the RR you will pass through a locked gate (-46.38234, -71.96692), after this keep an eye out for a gate on the left. It's not in the track files and we didn't look for it, so maybe it's not there. The issue we had was that the road continues up the hill, deviating from the RR around (-46.38448, -71.97642). Here you should already be on the small road on the other side of the fence (someone traveling towards Levican/Ibáñez will find this easier to scope I imagine). Though it's not recommended to cross fences, we carefully crossed instead of heading back. A very minor Rd continues down to a dilapidated puesto and a couple of portóns. The road didn't seem to continue as indicated in the track files... but I wasn't following my gps. We CCed across a field until we encountered another road that led back to the RR.

You will finally encounter your first reliable water source since Levican (-46.40196, -71.97831), especially if you are heading towards Ibáñez, make sure you fill up here!

The two camps in the track files at km117 and km114 were the best we saw. The next obvious choice would be around Campo Chico I think, quite a bit further along. Plenty of water along the lake and we had plenty of apples seeing we were walking so late in the walking season. Amazing autumn colours! The track is also in good shape, someone had very recently 'cleaned' the way! The refugio at Los Álamos was a very welcome sight, a great place to spend a night (it's there because of the high winds possible on the lake). The nearby settler was resonably friendly and his dog Puestero even more so! He told us that it was him who 'cleaned' the track along Lago General. It made our walking so much easier! Thanks Armando!

Valle Avellano y Ventisquiero: The old mining road through Valle Avellano was easy to follow. The road actually continues significantly further than indicated in the track files. Taking Variation F to avoid extra crossings of the river we found the road ended about here: (-46.45730, -72.30207). There is an unmarked ford here: (-46.46107, -72.24636)

We took Variation D and just caught Maria and Julio before they headed out with their kids on a horse ride. We bought some bread from them. They called it a tortilla, but I think my Mexican friends would strongly argue the point ;)

Easy walking up into Valle Ventisquiero. Read Jan's track notes. They are quite thorough. The trail to remeet Río Avellano is a little unused (also as mentioned in his write up), but easy to follow. Some good camping before the river. We met some gouchos using the puesto, they were not overly friendly; I think a little scared because of the virus. They pointed out a nearby shelter we could use made from a very old technique using U-shaped logs (I met a carpenter in Murta who told me a little about it).

Option 8: Valle Resbalín/Resfalón(?): It was snowing in the morning. We decided to take Option 8 to Bahía Murta. This meant less road walking and involved a part marked as 'I' (investigation) which would be nice to document. It appears that this route down Valle Resbalín (or "Resfalón" as some locals in Murta told me it was named... anyone know?) is no longer used; quite overgrown, vague and in places difficult to detect at all. Sometimes all we could see was the occasional chainsawed log; and in some chutes: machete marks. Water was plentiful. There was a very old but partially functional puesto en route.

There is a junction ('div') here: (-46.37495, -72.53695). The trail heading up the side valley actually looked quite distinct. I'm not sure what it's name is, or what's up there, but the water was a nice glacier blue and it had a higher flow than the 'main' named river.

The only tricky spot to find the track was where it was washed away by the river, about here: (-46.38527, -72.55201). I cut steps in the bank, crossed, and dropped a rope down for the others. It would be much safer to walk in the river. We explored options to bypass via skirting around in the bosque, but they didn't seem practical. The nearby camp site marked in the track files (Camp ? @33H-08-#008) is not really good. Better to camp 200m upstream If camping around here. We camped at the confluence with Estero Sur, which is the best spot to camp we saw in the entire valley. From this point down the valley, the track is in use: plenty of fresh signs of cattle (maybe they graze in the side valleys?). Ford Estero Sur (-46.39815, -72.58224) and follow the track down the valley with ease. There is camping at (Camp ? @33H-08-#004) but better 300m down the valley near a corral. 50m down valley of (Camp ? @33H-08-#002) camping is possible next to the vague ruins of an old puesto. Further down the valley are several grassy areas good for camping, the most obvious is here (-46.43778, -72.65597) in the vicinity of the old puesto. The track (as opposed to Rd) continues much further than indicated in the track files. The road only starts about here (-46.44697, -72.66655) once you are nearly in Murta. We rested a full day in Murta and I happened to run into Felepé who we'd meet before the trip in Cerró Castillo. Loco!

Thanks Jan for making this trip possible, Tobias Hellwig for recommending the reroute, and all the people on wikiexplora who explored and documented the tracks.

If anyone has any information on the history of Valle Resbalín/Resfalón(?), the mining prospectors in Valle Avellano, or the settlers that abandoned the coast of Lago General Carrera, I'd love to read a bit.

I hope this helps someone. Thanks!

Oh! and we're back in Cochrane now and planning to be in Coyhaique in a week or so. Cheers.

* '''BE AWARE THAT THE BELOW LOGS refer to Option 1 and not to the new Regular Route:'''
Until 2019 the Regular Route followed the Sendero de Chile in the vicinity of Rio Ibañez what is now Option 1. Tobias Hellwig suggested to reroute the GPT via the Torres de Avellano to incorporate this hidden treasure. This proposed new route was investigated and documented in February 2020 by the founders of the GPT. By this time multiple segments of this new route were already published on Wikiexplora by other authors. Only the route from Kilometer 62.2 to 69.9 remained undocumented and had to be researched and ground-proved.

* '''10 Mar 2020 / RH SOBO / Ty / 1 day'''

Super easy in general. I was able to get a hitch for like the last 10 kilometers. There’s a lot of different trail you can wander off on at the start of the sendero de Chile, so just be aware of your navigation at the start. The only good easily accessible water I found was between the two lakes before the intersection where you start walking the road. The ferry to Chile Chico leaves around 8 and takes a couple hours. Otherwise the next ferry leaves at 11 am....but make sure to confirm these times yourself. When arriving in Chile Chico, I climbed up to the viewpoint/mirador close to the ferry landing and found a place protected on the wind and slept on the ground. There is also an abandoned house marked in I-overlander that has an area in a room big enough for a 2 person tent. It’s on your right just before the climb up to the mirador.

* '''Jan 2020 / RH Northbound / Matthieu / 2 days'''

No technical difficulties on this part. However, I was stopped, when the GPT leave the road to go between the two lakes, by a sign : área protegida, ingreso no permitido. For me, it was cristal clear, so I just continued the road, disappointed. I spoke to one of the settler not far, who told me that it was only for cars and it s ok for walkers, and that it is part of the "Sendero de Chile". So the way seems open finally. Anyway, there is another little path just before the lago Ardillas that goes north, and join the GPS tracks above the Valley Ibanez. Well maintained, in the hills, lots of cows, good experience.

* '''2019 Jan/ Olrik / Northbound'''

From Ibanez you walk on a dirt road to the entrance of a Reserva Natural. You are on the Sendero de Chile so it is well marked. In the reserva the trail is easy to follow and there was no one. You end up in Cerro Castillo. We did it in 2.5 days but could be done in 1 day if beginning early.

* '''2019-Nov-28/ Lea Geibel/ 1 day / Northbound / Regular Hiking Route (Puerto Ibañez to Villa Cerro Castillo)'''

After arriving with the ferry at 10.30 a.m., the section can be hiked in one day (around 8 hours of walking). Most of the section is on a dirt road with very little traffic. The part that is following a trail is marked with posts with red / white rings on them. Occasionally the trail is not very visible but numerous animals tracks are usually heading in the right direction before eventually meeting up with a trail marker again.

=Resupply and Accommodation=

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

*2025 / Michael & Kasia:
If entering or exiting via Opt 8 or Opt 4, Bahía Murta (Puerto Murta) has several places that rent cabañas or camping space. There are at least 5 shops in town. The two largest both had tall skinny gas recharge canisters (Minimercado Gemaniar 3.000, Minimercado Estribo 4.000), but no screw type for backpacking stoves. Minimarket Gemaniar across from the tourist information office had generally the best prices and a good selection. The panadería across from the plaza had good pan amasado.

*Section GPT33H starts in Villa Cerro Castillo and terminates in Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez (Resupply information see GPT34H). Hikers that continue southbound may also resupply in Chile Chico after the ferry crossing of Lago General Carrera (Resupply information see GPT35).

*Several shops sell food and camping gas canisters.

*Restaurants offer filling meals.

*Accommodation is provided by hostels, cabañas and camp sites in these towns.

*Hikers that walk GPT33H and its adjacent sections with continuous footsteps can resupply in Cerro Castillo, Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez and Chile Chico and do not need to leave the route to resupply.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

*There is no plannable resupply along the entire Regular Route but some food may be obtained at the two homestead farms on the route.

[Settler (Maria & Julio) @33H-76.9]: Maria and Julio are one of the few settlers that still make cheese for sale in such a remote location. If you are short on foot you might also ask if they may sell some bread, milk or meat.

[Settler (Luis Diaz) @33H-85.2]: Luis : When passing his home consider a visit. You may also ask if he has bread or meat to sell.

[Puesto @33H-98.5]: The puesto 250 m north of Puerto Avellano is rarely occupied by their owners but the fruit trees might provide some well desired vitamins in summer and early autumn.

=Transport to and from Route=

*2025 / MiaimZelt
Subsidized bus between Puerto Ibañez and Levican every Monday & Friday: Ibañez/levican 8:15 & 17:00, Levican/ibañez 9:00 & 18:00.
Transportes Freddy Morales (+56 9 9506 2906)

*2023 / Maks&Gabi
We hitchhiked from km 136 near Levican to Puerto Ibanez. During the weekend there is only one ferry a day (Saturday morning and Sunday evening).

*2023 / Louis, Rémi & Noé :
Here, at the lake. There is mobile coverage and so we contacted numerus given on the PDF on WhatsApp to find a boat to bring us back to civilisation. I let you the contact of Jairo, that can bring you back to Puerto Tranquilo... for 400.000 CLP.. Jairo : +56 9 6633 9507

*Most buses to Villa Cerro Castillo leave Coyhaique in the morning around 08:00 and pass Villa Cerro Castillo approximately 1:30 hours later. In the opposite direction buses pass Cerro Castillo in the early afternoon.

*Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez has regular public transportation to Coyhaique (1:45 hour by bus) and Chile Chico (2:15 hour by ferry). The ferry over Lago General Carrera that connects Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez with Chile Chico does two round trips each day, one in the morning and one the evening. Buses to and from Coyhaique operate synchronized to these ferries.
Best Call Buses Alejandro: +56 9 7652 9546

*Subsidized bus from Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez to Levicán: Monday and Friday, Approx. 1’000 CLP Morning round trip: Leaving Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez at 08:00, arriving in Levican around 09:00 and returning immediately to Ibañez around 09:00 and arriving at Ibanez around 10:00. Evening round trip: Leaving Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez at 17:00, arriving in Levican around 18:00 and returning to Ibañez at 18:00 arriving at Ibanez at 19:00.

*Private transport from Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez to Levicán: Anytime, Approx. 35´000 CLP
Try to call Luis: +56 9 8648 4075

*Combining GPT35 with GPT33H

Northbound hikers may consider connecting GPT35 directly with GPT33H by exiting Parque Patagonia towards Fachinal and crossing Lago General Carrera by motorboat from Fachinal to the Desembocadura Rio Avellano. Here Lago General Carrera is only 3.5 km wide and a motorboat crossing does not take more than 20 minutes. Unfortunately, in summer this requires some patience as the normally strong wind often impedes this. In the morning or the evening the wind occasionally calms down but rarely during the day.

Carlos Amoroz, a settler in Fachinal owns a motorboat and offers this service on request. Pascual Diaz, a tour operator from Mallin Grande, can also provide this service but he must first haul his motorboat the 42 km on trailer from Mallin Grande to Fachinal what makes his service substantially more expensive.

Settler with motorboat in Fachinal (Location: -46.5568°S / -72.2120°W) Name: Carlos Amoroz Mobile: +56-9-76267029 Price: Approx. 30’000 CLP for 2 persons

Tour operator with motorboat in Mallin Grande Name: Pascual Diaz (Company: “Kalem Patagonia”) Mobile: +56-9-7391 7881 Price: Presumably more expensive and advance notice required

This section combination of GPT35 with GPT33H seems more practical in northbound direction as hikers can first talk directly to the settler with the motorboat in Fachinal, resupply in Chile Chico (by taking a motorized transport from Fachinal to Chile Chico and back) and then cross Lago General Carrera with a refilled backpack. While waiting for the wind to calm down hikers can pitch their tent at a nice wind protected camp site on the shore of Lago General Carrera.

Thanks to the reasonably good mobile phone coverage in Fachinal hikers can check the weather and wind forecast and call the settler with the motorboat when approaching Fachinal. This permits hikers to anticipate or discard a motorboat crossing on arrival.

Hikers that attempt a more complicated southbound crossing of Lago General Carrera should make arrangements with the settler with the motorboat at least one or two weeks before arriving at Puerto Avellano, test communication devices (i.e. InReach to mobile phone), agree on the precise pick-up location (Puerto Avellano or Desembocadura Rio Avellano) and carry enough food to wait some time in Puerto Avellano. Hikers should be prepared that the wind may not calm down while waiting several days in Puerto Avellano. In this case the motorboat transfer should canceled, and the hiker should walk out to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez before the food reserves deplete. There is mobile phone coverage at Puerto Avellano (entel if I recall correctly).

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

*To my knowledge paddling on Lago General Carrera requires a permit from the Armada de Chile but complying with all requirements might not be possible even for a well equipped packrafter (i.e. distress signal rockets).

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT33H - Puerto Ibañez]]

Retired Section Article [[GPT33H - Torres del Avellano]]

For additional information see the Wikiexplora Articles:

[[Península de Levican - El Avellano]]

[[Torres del Avellano]]

[[Laguna La Plaza]]

For more information see the Wikiexplora Article:

[[Puerto Cristal]]

For more information see the Wikiexplora Articles:

[[Valle Miller]]

[[Estero Jaramillo]]

A part of this route is described in the Wikiexplora Article:

[[Mirador Este de las Torres de Avellano]]

=Images=

GPT32 (Cerro Castillo)

2025-02-18T19:22:35Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2024/25 */

GPT27P (Alto Rio Palena)

2025-02-14T19:17:24Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2024/25 */

GPT72 (Bajo Rio Futaleufu)

2025-02-14T12:25:21Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2024/25 */

GPT72 (Bajo Rio Futaleufu)

2025-02-14T12:24:57Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT72 (Bajo Rio Futaleufu)

2025-02-14T12:23:50Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT24P (PN Los Alerces Agua)

2025-02-06T11:20:11Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT23 (PN Lago Puelo)

2025-02-04T20:34:24Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT23 (PN Lago Puelo)

2025-02-02T16:18:45Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT23 (PN Lago Puelo)

2025-02-02T16:17:56Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT22 (Cochamo)

2025-01-29T01:51:47Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT21 (Lago Todos Los Santos)

2025-01-25T00:18:58Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT21 (Lago Todos Los Santos)

2025-01-25T00:18:28Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT19 (Volcan Puyehue)

2025-01-25T00:17:44Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT19 (Volcan Puyehue)

2025-01-25T00:15:17Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT17P (Neltume)

2025-01-25T00:13:03Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT17P (Neltume)

2025-01-25T00:12:36Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */

GPT17P (Neltume)

2025-01-25T00:10:12Z

Thijmen: /* Season 2025/26 */