Cambios

==Season 2023/24==

I was a bit anxious on that section because of a big fire on the valley of the vokcan Copahue. Everything was under the steam all around, and with a big smell of fire. Few helicopters passed, and I was seriously questioning myself to continue or not.

Locals sent me to a kiosco, who Is situated very close to the point X {10} [0.0+0.3/937]. There's a ringtone, then a girl came to open the kiosco for a small resupply (tuna, fideos, chips and sweetness like candies, biscuits, and other stuff with a packaging of 90's that seems to be very bad for your body aha, but took it anyway).

Day 1 - Started in Trapa Trapa around 15:30 and walked to right before camp 7.1. Hid in the forest to camp instead of using the nice grassy area as a lot of people on horses were using the trail.

Day 5 - Used GPT11 NOBO to reach Guallalí. Stopped at the hot springs (6.6km/991) on the way to clean up a little. It was a holiday in Chile, Good Friday, and I met two groups of people from the city that were driving around this remote road for fun. Reached Guallalí and went to the carabineros station to ask about camp possibilities. They mentioned a metal bridge about 3 kilometers away but not in the direction that I wanted to go (Ralco). I hung out close to the bus stop thinking about what I would do and eventually two of them came out to talk to me again. They said that they have to be careful with strangers as they are the police and never know people’s intentions but that they’d like to invite me to have some of the lunch they had made. They also let me camp next to the station to catch the 5.30am bus the next morning after checking my passport. I think that the fact that I was a solo woman helped. As I learned from our discussion, new police officers get assigned to this station every month and stay there for the full month, so this might not be offered again in the future.

Combined with Sections 10/11 (~8 days, relaxed). See section 12 for our tips on pinones

There is no bus out of Trappa on holidays, and didn't find anything but 2 types of cookies and ice cream at resupply point there. You can ask the locals to drive you (for a fee) - they referred to it as "Fleeta"(?)

No snowfields, all fordings very easy, plenty of (unmarked) water except from Puesto RR 14.5km (one stream a few hundred meters afterwards last water) to shortly before Laguna El Barco. Tabanos: 2

Some really nice views at the waterless part, first massive amount of Araucaria trees, Laguna El Barco is kinda nice too, finally a lake with trees around! Lots of boring road walking at the beginnig and more so at the end of section with basically no traffic.

We combined sections 09 and 10 into 5 days of hiking. Beautiful sections with a diversity of landscapes: volcano, meadows, puestos...

We were lucky and hitchhiked to Ralco.

We combined sections 9, 10, and 11 together.

We continued on RR with the intention to head to Guallalí. Along the way we meet a Mapuche arriero, Hector, at his pesto (-37.95912, -71.26119). If you pass by there and he is around, definitely make some time to talk with him. He was incredibly kind and generous, offered us coffee, took us to his animal corral to pet the goats, told us about the political structure in the Mapuche comunidades, and even showed us some of the medicinal plants in the area. He also sells goats and sheep and does asados, but we didn't ask the price. We were about to leave when a friend of his arrived to pick something up for a really important Mapuche ceremony that was finishing that day. His friend gave us a ride, which took us off the GPT track a bit, but dropped us very near a shop at (-38.01007, -71.30695) run by a woman named Maria that actually had a good selection of stuff. We bought pasta, a queso mantecoso from the region that lasted 3 days, her last can of Nescafé, some tomatoes and cucumbers, Zukos, and cookies. She also had eggs, frozen meat, sodas, beer, yogurt, a few other types of cheese, and various other things. Prices were very reasonable. She had a small table and a bench outside the shop and let us stay there to have lunch and repack. More than a dozen cars stopped by to buy things while we were there, so it seems like a pretty popular spot. From there we walked on the highway towards Comunidad Vilcuncura and on towards Comunidad Chenqueco. We passed one other shop at (-38.01473, -71.31626) that looked sizable and had a range of things, though we didn't buy anything there. In Comunidad Chenqenco we connected with GPT11 Opt 5A.

I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.

At km 32.1 (right before the start of OH10-E is a creek and some tables around. I think it belongs to a campsite there, but nobody cared that I did a break there. OH10-E is a big dirtroad with no water until km 8.4. I bought some cookies in the mini shop in Guallali + they allowed me to charge my power bank. After that I continued with section 11.

It was a nice and easy section. For us, the Laguna Liay would deserve to be on RR. It was one of the most beautiful and peaceful campspot we had this season.

By the way, there is no more snow on the plateau so take plenty of water to cover the distance between Lago El Barco and Laguna Liay.

From Trapa Trapa I went in this long valley, it is pretty packed with puestos. Had to check a few times the GPS in there, was quite often on a wrong trail. Many puestos create their own trail network…Went up to Laguna Liay and camped directly at the shore. I figured out two reachable beaches where you can put on one or two tents, one beach at the NW-shore, the other SE-shore. I camped at the second. Option 10D brings you down to it, but actually I could not find a real trail. This Laguna is just an amazing place, for me there was not just silence but peace! The special echo in this place has an effect. Next day I went to Laguna El Barco, for camping you have to pay. A huge laguna, beautiful, but with a check in and all the rules which apply. I do not like this. I went further and a few km before Guallalí I asked a Settler if I could sleep on his Eukalyptus plantation. The 3rd day I walked to Guallalí and stocked up for GPT 11 in the minimarket. For cigarettes I went to a house at -38.050512, -71,272100. There is a woman who sells tobacco and if you kindly ask her she might sell you one of her homemade bread loafs. Ask for the house of Cololo.

After have a nice breakfast with the lovely family, i keep going south.

(-38.04741, -71.27506) look like is the church that Maks& Gabi said. A tree with beautiful grassland, but no good water resources nearby, the river beside it is flowing brown water, also farming and people living at upstream.

TLDR: beautiful secluded camping on plateau but no water. be cognizant of tensions between Pehuenche and non Indigenous people

Given the tensions between the Pehuenche and non Indigenous people on the lands that this trail crosses, I’m curious if we, as non Indigenous hikers, should think about having a broader conversation to understand what kind of place we have (if any) in using these lands. Ideally with direct input from Pehuenche people themselves. Both for the sake of respecting the people of these lands and feeling safe as hikers.

Note: Our path was of course convoluted. We walked the optional route 10-01 to volcan Copahue last year. It is splendid and recommended for our option. We came back to the area to find a new connection that would avoid almost 25 km of unpleasant roadwalking after Laguna El Barco. We suceeded, see below.

From Gaullali, there seems to be a daily bus leaving at 5.30 AM from in front of the turnoff to the carabinieros station. It goes to Ralco and then to Los Angeles. By mistake we first bought tickets to Ralco for 1300 and then to Los Angeles for 1500. It arrives in Ralco at 8:00 and stops there for 10 or so minutes. Next bigger stop is in Santa Barbara around 9:30. It arrives to Los Angels after 10:30. I think it goes back in the afternoon, possibly at 14:00, nut ask at the station.

Took the bus from Ralco to Trapa Trapa, start of GPT10. 2 busses a day, 4.30 and 16.30. I was at the busstop at 4.10, but the driver probably didn't expect anyone and took a shortcut and therefore didn't pass the busstop. So if you want to take that one, walk 100m further to the crossing of the main road.

Really nice walk all along. Easy navigation, nice views and not really demanding terrain.

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

==Season 2022/23==

After a night in Guallali, we continued on GPT10. This section is short and awesome, definitely worth hiking!

The plateau is easy walking with a clear trail while filled with beautiful views. Better pack some water before because we did not find any before reaching the end of the descent in the forest (RR-TL-V {10} [13.6+2.5]). We camped at Camp {10} [9.6/1175], which is in a bosquet and wind sheltered.

The three shops in Trapa Trapa are located at -37.71004, -71.26861 (closed when we passed by), -37.71040, -71.26661 (had various sweets, ice cream) and -37.71234, -71.25523 (the biggest of them). However, expect limited supplies (we could not find batterias nor sunscreen for the next sections).

Not much more to say on this section. We initially planned to go on 10-01 for the Volcan, but were told it would be a day of heavy rain and thus stayed on the RR (finally, not a single drop, just a little cloudy and windy).

The forest fire situation made planning for this extremely difficult. We packed for GPT 09-12 with volcano side trips but we had to skip 09 because of park closure and gamble on starting directly in Trapa Trapa. We took the direct bus to trapa trapa from Los Angeles, it was long...5+hours and leaves once a day at 2:15pm (Feb,2023). Although it was memorable we think it would have been faster to bus to Ralco and try to hitch as there are "some" cars. The road condition looked as if it has been recently fixed and is being improved even more.

Luckily got a hitch with a local to the bus stop shortly after the intersection with 01 and RR.

Really quick section. We started about 2 pm on 25.01 and finished about 2 pm on the 27.01.

The public transport from the end of the section is the bus at 5.30 (Guallali) or bus point 5.45. We tried to hitchhike but with no luck. We camped in Guallali by the river (next to the church.

We found this section surprisingly attractive - mainly the plateau was breathtaking. We spent the first night at a property of a Mapuche family (waypoint Camp - 7,1 km). Right before the ascent to Laguna Liay, there was a Mapuche family whose father approached us, he acted rather reserved from the start towards tourists (as he told us that they bring litter into the mountains) but we ended up drinking harina tostada with the family which also sold us some bread. We took the optional route which goes around the Laguna Liay and couldn't find the path so we somehow slid down the hill and went around the beach. Laguna Liay was really great to take a swim in and felt private (until a helicopter started hovering above our heads, taking water from the lake). There really seemed to be no water on the plateau - we took it from the Laguna and spent the night on the plateau - lots of space for camping there. The next day we arrived at Laguna El Barco, we didn't have to pay for the entry to the lake. The tienda there was open until 8 p.m. and had tuna, rice, pasta, biscuits, beverages, toilet paper, instant soups. There was a stand that made sopaipillas, churascos, french fries, salad, tortillas. Then there were some ladies going around the beach offering almost the same. We hitchhiked some of the last kilometres of the road to Guallalí. There's a shop as others indicated and a bus going only in the morning as written below. The chances of hitch hiking from there are rather scarce, as our Polish fellow travelers found out. There's a quite nice camping spot by the river further down the road (it's a few metres into the start of the section 11); it's not very private but people that were passing by didn't mind us camping there. Continued to section 11 thereafter.

Another quick section, with some super unique Araucaria forests. I decided to try and find the trail to Laguna las Totoras that Jo and Veronica mentioned. The route wasn't exactly traditionally scenic, but I had a good time. The lake was more of a shallow grassy pond surrounded by thick Araucaria forest. To me it was a nice change from all the classic alpine lakes. Flat grassy bank that seemed perfect for camping. The water itself was warm and a bit muddy. I didn't see anyone along the detour, other than a few bulls at the lake.

Had a hard time finding accommodation in Ralco, the first five places I tried were full. Eventually found a spot at Cabañas Nehuen Antu for 30k.

We continued from Trapa Trapa in the late afternoon to the camp at km 7. Trail is easy to navigate from the beginning. We set the camp actually a few meters before the puesto, in the forrest on the right side that seemed to be more quiet and hidden place. There is a nice spot with water around km 8, before entering the valley. We have seen just a few people around the puestos. Ascent to the pass is not bad, we enjoyed again very different landscape all around. Continuing to laguna, we decided to camp below arucaria trees a little before the official camp (cca 2 km) since we would get there pretty late. Based on comments from other hikers we went through the camp the next morning to check if there is opportunity to buy some food and eventhough the shop was closed, there were two ladies selling tortillas and sopapillas, churrasco and a few other things. The trail after laguna is mostly a dirt road passing around puestos. There was a community festival in Guallalí (1st edition) which was really nice to see, we tried grilled goat and bought some local products, great experience. One of the guys from the festival took us to Ralco in the evening and arranged a cabaña for us (35k CLP). There are 2-3 bigger shops with basically everything, gas is in the one next to the biggest market on the plaza. On the other hand, minishop in Guallalí is very limited, but they have some drinks, ice cream, cookies etc. There is also one small shop on the way to Guallalí, close to Bus 10-E mark.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

We started from Trapa Trapa around 11 am after finishing section 9. The first part nearly until Laguna Liay is an easy walk on dirt roads/nice paths with several water sources.

At the Laguna they charge 5000 CLP p.p. for the picnic/beach and 8000 CLP p.p. for camping. From there we hitchhiked to Ralco to resupply.

Route: Trapa Trapa - Laguna Liay - Laguna El Barco - Guallalí

==Season 2021/22==

- Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292] : the place is nice, as mentioned there are lot of bins, the camping is also very nice and the showers still very cold. They charged me $5.000 for the night. It was written "with no (something I didn't manage to read)" on the bill so if they charge you $8.000 you can try to specify you don't have car, or I don't know... They removed the panel for the grocery just after I asked for it so it's now fixed, there is no grocery. The family selling cooked food wasn't selling food when I visited them around 11:00, maybe because it was monday morning, maybe because it was the end of summer, I don't know

- The number of puestos in this Valley is impressive, I only had good contacts with the people I met

In one day from Trapa Trapa to Laguna Liay, camping at the north side. There are many cow trails leading down to the laguna. The one we took seemed suitable for hikers too. Going back up the next day we got lost in the cow maze though, and only by searching for our own footprints from the previous day did we get back on the RR. It may be worth having a look at our GPS tracking data to figure out our initial path.

Continued to GPT11 immediately after.

Between Guallalí and Laguna el Barco is mainly gravel road, but sometimes there are small, discrete paths that connect them, so keep an eye on the GPS.

The bus apparently leaves for Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends.

After finishing GPT9 I went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.

==Season 2019/20==

"Sad to report that i had a very negative experience about 15km into section 10 on sunday (2/2). I was offered food and a place to camp by a very nice pehuenche lady (miriam, goes by "mila", the puesto after puesto 55 marked as "puesto, food" at the beginning of the OH route right after it splits from RR) only to have her husband come home later an try to rob me. She was extremely friendly. Although he was noticeably intoxicated, he was also nice at first as we joked, drank maté an collected firewood together. After a couple hours, as the sun was almost completely gone (~10pm), he went inside his puesto, grabbed a knife, an approached me from behind as i sat around the fire with his wife. He marched me to my tent with the knife pressed againt my neck. I allowed him to search it (he kept saying "plata, plata, plata" an his Spanish wasn't very good) which gave me the opportunity to pick up a rock an intimidate him a bit. I had a lot of money an wasn't just gonna let him take it and all of my stuff up in the mountains at night. His wife then came an tried to get between us / protect me (she was pleading him to stop). He was shoving her around, but this gave me just enough time to rip my tent out of the ground, which had all my stuff in it, an quickly drag it to the nearest puesto (~100metres). He followed me on horseback after a minute or two an the family there armed themselves with sticks an told him to f**k off.

Anyway, happy trekking, stay safe, an if anyone knows a good place to try an fix tent poles in concepción by chance then that would be awesome!"

Came in from Trapa Trapa in evening & camped @ Camp 81. There is a Mapuche family living there, talked to them & they were OK with me camping nearby. I was caught out by the sudden transition from river valley to dry plateau, had very little water & was as dry as dirt when I got to stream 1KM before Laguna Barco, drank 3 litres there. 3000CLP camping for 1 person @ Laguna. There is a Mapuche family with a food stall there, they have chips, sopaipillas & tortilla. The tortilla is like a small bread loaf. Next morning as I was leaving around 8:30 the Mapuche woman came round the campsite with fresh sopaipillas & tortilla. Walked in to Guallali from Laguna Barco in about 3 hours. Shop in Guallali is small but Romina who runs the shop provides beds & meals. 20,000 CLP for evening meal (usually goat & rice), bed & breakfast. Walked out 9KM to Comunidad Chanqueco, there is a good shop there. From Chanqueco it's easier to hitch, traffic coming from Laguna Barco but very little from Guallali. Hitched into Ralco, stayed @ Hosteria Montana there, about 15000CLP single.

2 supermarkets in Ralco, they sometimes have camping gas.

Overview:

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

Combined sections 9 & 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in "veranadas" were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.

The trail was in good condition and we didn’t experience any issues. Possible to resupply at Guallalí but the selection isn’t huge (pasta, dry soups, crackers, tuna etc). If you are looking to bus into Lonquimay, it was leaving at 5:30AM the next morning for us (but we didn’t take it).

Easy trail and navigation. We got in this really bad weather too. Storm and ice at the pass. In Guallali we had coffee and sopapillas at the carabinieros and spent the night at the same place as Matus, Anna and Linda. We took the bus at 05:30 towards Los Angeles and are staying in Ralco for resupply and drying.

- Nice hike with no major difficulties. The plateau with the araucarias after the pass is amazing!!!

- In Guallali, end of the section, lodging, food and mini shop. Lodging at the way point Minishop very nice = guesthouse with diner and breakfast for 20000 CLP. Very nice family!!!!

In total we were 3.5 days on the trail, of which we spend 1 in the tent due to bad weather. The 0.5 day we had left from arriving in Guallali we spend buying food and hitch hiking to the campground at Laguna el Barco. We did so because we expected rain soon and wanted to camp it out. Also we were not too keen for the gravel road part.

We did not like so much: The horsflies.

GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log.