39
ediciones
Cambios
→Season 2025/26
==Season 2025/26==
* <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2026-02-11 to 2026-02-14 / 4 Days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Antoine, Lisa & Michel'''</span>
Key take aways
- Rio Baker is a different level then the rivers we previously did on the GPT, large amount of water and big boils and whirls that appear out of nowhere kept us attentive.
- Enjoyable fast flowing river makes for a relaxed way down the river, except for the strong headwinds that can appear.
- Lots of beautiful campsites all along the river, never had to look long for one.
- If paddling all the way into Tortel: with high tide it should be possible to take one of the smaller channels to get a shortcut into town, don‘t depend on it though or be prepared to portage - we talked with locals and they weren‘t absolutely sure. BThe wind in the fjords can change very quickly and there seems to be a dangerous riptide so only do it in good conditions.
- Tortel is a very interesting town that although touristy had a lot of charme to us and was well worth visiting. Resupplying here is hard, very expensive groceries and small selection.
- camps: Day one [-47.35958, -72.87020], day 2: ~ [-47.35958, -72.87020], day 3: [-47.76292, -73.26723]
In more Details:
Day 1
We started in Cochrane, taking the bus (6:30am) to a few km north (Balsa Baker). Cold and early start. A bit of sun. Easy going at first. Wind picked up in the afternoon. Views kept getting better. Went through First rapid after scouting. Michel and Lisa took the right gate, powerful eddies became even scarier when one of their paddles broke. Antoine went for the left most gate, this requires to stick to the current line but worked best. Camped few km later in the forest as paddling with less than half of the paddle on one side proofed difficult. Managed to fix the paddle by glueing it together with epoxy - worth to bring it with us after all. Without it getting out would have been difficult.
Day 2
Start at 11:15, sunny but windy day. Feels tiring paddling against the wind and reduces the speed. Views were incredible, with big mountains around, snow-covered tops. Strong eddies at river turns kept Antoine entertained but were not too much of Lisa/Michel's liking - the fixed paddle was not fully trustworthy.
Stopped right before the second rapid "Gonzalez". Portaged as per the track file, then Antoine studied the river for ~1h before running it solo (all gear transferred to the 2nd packraft), with the double packraft further down as safety.
Antoines analysis: there was a rather safe line on the very right, with some wave/rock to overcome at the very beginning, then eddies to account for. The middle line has the major wave train and quite chaotic waves that suddenly appear/crash/vanish (definitely variable). It could be tempting to take it and move right to avoid the major waves but may prove tricky. In the end I went for the left line which has the fastest flow and minimises the central waves but lies finely between currents (repulsive currents coming from the shore/cliffs and the waves in the middle). Sticking to the line was challenging and I got drawn into some of the central waves. These were quite unbalancing, sometimes spinning the packraft sideways and filling it (no spraydeck, making it difficult to manoeuvre at the end). I managed to run the rapid overall (close to capsizing twice). Definitely challenging and full of adrenaline :)
(Equipment: solo open packraft, dry suit, full PFD, some white water experience).
We then ran down the river a few more km until the confluence with Rio Ñadis, where we found a nice campsite. There is a camping 1km off the shore (8k CLP for the night, another 8k for the sauna and they sell some dry food, eggs, bread, milk, drinks... We chose to not hike over but just slept on the riverside. Saw two beautiful big magellanic horned owls there, incredible.
Day 3
Start at 8:50. The double packraft T-Zip started leaking slightly once inflated (even after cleaning it). Rising sun on the river among fog in the fresh hours, along with beautiful cirrus sky and no wind. Big canyons giving a feel of Tarn canyon (France). Incredible landscapes all day long, very close mountains, wandering rivers surrounded by nice woods and views on glaciers and snow covered peaks. El Salto rapid portaged. Wind started around 11-12. Lunch on the water, collecting miles by the clock. Stronger winds in the afternoon but still fast river. Stopped after ~53km.
Day 4
Waking up at 7, left at 8.40 with no wind.
Easy going, nice scenery. Wind started a bit later, with some light drizzle but overall an enjoyable ride down on the last section. Took the left arm to the aeródromo at ... which barely had any flow so it was slower than expected. However timing was perfect as we arrived right when a small private jet plane landed on the short runway. Nice chat with the pilot and soon with 2 sailors (Gabriel-CL, Tim-US, Aspen) who came by to pick up rocks. I gave them a hand and they offered a ride on their motor boat to Tortel. Great views, sunny and calm weather on the shore. We got invited to Tim's house (a former restaurant) for a late lunch and tea. So enjoyable arriving by the sea to this pirate-looking harbour and sharing their company.
*'''GPT36 // 2025 Dec 3-5 // NOBO // 3 days // hiking // Bailey and Ohad'''