A wide and well maintained gravel road connects Levicán with Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez. Subsidized buses provide public transportation on the morning and the evening on Monday and Friday only. Chances to get a lift when hitchhiking are reasonably good. Water bottles can be refilled where the road gets in close vicinity of Rio Ibañez or at settlers homes. The occasional pastures along the road provide suitable camp sites.
*REGULAR PACKRAFTING ROUTE :
Kilometer 0.0 to 98.7: Same as Regular Hiking Route.
Packrafting Kilometer 98.7 to 131.4: Packrafting the coast of Lago General Carrera from Puerto Avellano to Levicán
Due to the normally strong wind and the resulting high waves packrafting Lago General Carrera is challenging and not inherently safe even if paddling close to the shore and in the predominant wind direction (from Puerto Avellano towards Levicán). This lake is infamous for suddenly starting wind, therefore don’t rely only on your observations but check the wind forecast before inflating the packraft. Only if a sufficiently long window of calm weather is predicted consider packrafting. The steep and rocky coast often inhibits exiting the lake and connecting to the trail. The 8.5 km long segment between [Lake In/Out @33H-104.6] and [Lake In/Out @33H-114.7] is without a suitable connection to the trail.
First 6.6 km till from [Lake In/Out @33H-98.9] to [Lake In/Out @33H-104.6]: Continuously easy lake exit and good trail access
Next 4.3 km till [Emergency Lake Out @33H-109.8]: No safe lake exit and no access to trail
At [Emergency Lake Out @33H-109.8]: Small beach for emergency lake exit but very difficult access to trail
Next 4.2 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-114.7]: No safe lake exit and no access to trail
At [Lake In/Out @33H-114.7]: Easy lake exit and good access to trail
Next 2.0 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-116.7]: No safe lake exit and no access to trail
Next 1.7 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-116.7]: Continuously easy lake exit and good access to trail
Next 10 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-127.7]: At least every 2 km beaches to exit lake but very difficult access to trail
Packrafting from Levicán to Puerto Avellano in south-western direction is not recommended due to the opposite predominant wind direction.
Kilometer 131.4 to 143.8: Walking from Levicán to Rio Ibañez at [River In @33H-143.8]
Packrafting from Levican to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez in northern direction is not recommended due to the opposite predominant wind direction. Therefore packrafter should walk the hiking route from Levicãn to Rio Ibañez at [River In @33H-143.8]. Only when travelling from Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez to Levian packrafting might be considered on an exceptionally calm morning or evening.
Packrafting Kilometer 143.8 to 147.0: Packraft crossing of Rio Ibañez and walk to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez
With a packraft it is normally not necessary to roadwalk 12.6 km via [Bridge @33H-148.7] and [Bridge @33H-149.5] to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañaez but Rio Ibañez can be crossed by packraft. Therefore, packrafters should consider inflating the packraft at [River In @33H-143.8] and take the 3.1 km short cut into town.
*OPTIONALS ROUTE :
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 / 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
*2022 Nov, NoBo, Option 1, Alice and Florian
