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→Season 2023/24
* 2024-Jan-19 / 2 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Lauren, Sebastian & Daniel
Day 1: We met fellow GPT Packrafter Daniel and paddled together on this leg. Left camp Abuelo Daniel at 6:45am and it was smooth passage on Lago Rivadavia and Lago Verde (some headwind). If you leave too late, head winds traveling from the Chilean coast inland start around noon. Rio Arrayanes was a relaxing float downstream. By the time we reached Lago Futalaufquen, the wind was strong. As we had good tailwind as the direction of the valley points inland so we now had a good tailwind and set our sails. We camped further down the lake just before turning eastwards around the first corner. We were visited by rangers at around 9pm. They were very clear that wild camping is not allowed in Argentinian National Parks (only official campsites) and we had to excuse our ignorance on this matter. As it was late and the next camp site quite a distance away, they made an exception and only took photos of our passports for registration purposes. We’d like to discourage anyone from doing the same. They were very strict and even though they may have made an exception- be more responsible than we were.
Day 2: We expected to have a calm morning, but winds were not in our favor. We waited until around 11am for the head winds to slow down and then set off paddling towards Villa Futalaufquen. After turning onto the southwards stretch, winds slowly started to shift and we got some tailwind. We set the sails on both boats and continued along the western shore southwards, only to be stopped half way down by officials, which told us that we cannot paddle on the western side of the lake. They mentioned that the beach at the southwestern end of the lake is used as a private landing point for motor boats, and we should stay away from it. They asked us to cross the lake to the eastern side. We continued to sail, now in southeast direction, and landed at about the middle of the lake and concluded a great GPT section.
Overall: A very enjoyable and scenic chill section! Expect lot’s of tourist traffic on the lakes, but we still recommend it for the seamless connection of pristine water bodies. Rivers were not difficult.
