Cambios

Then at S 45° 56.288', W 072° 05.184', you reach the end of the bad scree and end up in a deep gully with a vertical wall face on the other side. Figuring out how to get up that cliff was hard for me. I left my pack at the bottom and tried climbing up various different ways with no success, only tiring myself out and getting myself in precarious situations where I could barely climb back down. I finally figured out the best way was to try and get to the lowest grassy patch to the left of the vertical rock wall. The easiest way to reach that grassy patch was to go upstream a bit, then traverse on the hard slippery sand northward, instead of trying to climb vertically straight up to it. Once you reach the grass, you can use the traction and stability of vegetation to clamber up and out of the gully.

On the other side of this wall, you can finally see where the trees end, and the lovely river you are supposed to climb down to reach. But there is still more scree to traverse here, and it is slow and unstable again. I tried taking a shortcut down a shallow gully filled with grass. I figured it would be safer than the rocks, but it was very steep and got unexpectedly muddy at one point, and I ended up slipping and sliding down the mountainside about 10 meters before being able to stop myself. Didn't get seriously hurt, just bruised up, but it really shook me and just added to the stress and fear of this whole section. So I guess my advice here is to again follow the GPS tracks across the scree and go down gradually to the river instead of trying to go straight down.

We've walked all section 32 from Villa Frei to Villa Cerro Castillo. The part from Lago Paloma to Rio Turbio is very difficult and might be even dangerous (especially in bad weather). The CC travers on the stones (in our case with strong wind and snow) was the hardest part. The MR leading down to the valley is partially overgrown. The second part is well marked with good camping possibilities. After heavy rains on Sunday 25th, the park has been closed for more than a week. There are 2 alerts on the road (see above).

Walked from Villa Frei. After about 12KM there is a food truck next to the road. Owners live there so should open for you. The owner of the private land wasn't there so had no access issues. You can camp in a big meadow @ 1250 metres or in good weather at a pass @ about 1325 metres (not marked on track file) just before the difficult CC section begins. Followed Veronica's advice to get up the gully on grass which worked well, thanks Veronica. There is no need for any rock climbing on this route. After the gully there are two rock bands running perpendicular to the route. You can go below both of them & bypass them at treeline. The second bypass is not very obvious but stay at the treeline & you will get through easily. After the pass, descending scree you come to a waterfall. Go left into the forest immediately before the waterfall - you may see a small cairn marking the spot. Just footprints at first but pick up a small trail as you go in. Leaving the park the RR to the left goes through private land. The optional route straight down is now the main trail, it goes down to a checkpoint just before the road. Checkpoint is at a stile over a fence so can't be avoided. It is run as a private 'concession' from CONAF. The workers were friendly & didn't charge me anything. However next year the concession will be run by a different company so depends who is there.