Cambios

We hiked from Maullín Grande to Cochrane by chance. I always wanted to do the stretch from Chile Chico to Cochrane, but we had just 4 days left… When we hitchhiked northbounded from Villa O’Higgins, we luckily got picked up by Pascual Diaz, who is a experienced Mountain Guide (company Kalem) and took us all the way to his refugio in Maullín Grande. He also explained us, how to reach Cochrane on time while doing that crossing. The next day he took us to the end of the Road, where we started hiking around midday (-46,80390, -72,42001). It was a easy walk to the end of the Valley where we camped (-46,87872, -72,34138). The following day was hard, but we went up to the pass (1430m) in perfect sunshine. At (-46,87234, -72,30906) you will face a waterfall in a steep canyon. We recommend to walk on the left side (northwest) through the forest until you meet the riverbed again. The other side is also possible (we went there), but you have to climb higher in difficult terrain. From that point you can easily do a cross country walk up to the pass, where you have to cross the Glaciar (without cracks). It was absolutely stunning! Going down to the laguna is quite steep. I would not do it in bad weather conditions. When you meet the laguna, you can either walk on the left or right side. Both options are not easy. We crossed on the right (southern) side, which is ok in good weather conditions. There is one river crossing in between, which could be impossible with more water. Now we think it would have been easier to walk on the left (northern) side, although we would have had needed to cross the river before and after the laguna. Packrafting is an option as well, but since it only 1.5 km we don’t think it is worth it. Camped in a forest close to the regular trail dry and save. All in all we recommend this option to experienced hikers in good weather conditions. The hike to Cochrane was hard, because we had just 2 days for 80km. So we hitchhiked to the museum of Parque Patagonia and we even saw a puma at the Westwind Campsite! It seems like this puma shows up there regularly. I waited for that moment almost 5 months. My dream came true on my very last evening in nature. Thank you Patagonia for this great gift. 🙏

As recommended by a friend we opted for the following route through the Parque Nacional de Patagonia which is highly recommendable (first two days mainly GPT variants and options, afterwards GPT regular routes. There are several marked senderos in the beginning as 5 Los Huemules, 8 los Pumas, 7 los Guanacos, sendero 9, sendero Lagunas Altas etc.) as you can see in our attached tracking file.

Track files and waypoints: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-98Ou9jk0porCVRp7CSFZ-KciXQ2PBzD

From Chile Chico I got the Bahia Jara bus & got off at the junction, saves a 6KM roadwalk. Walked 2KM up the road then on trail to the high plateau. The settler before the pass wasn't there but his dogs were a bit territorial so I avoided the puesto. I went across the high plateau & camped a bit before the second puesto in one long day. Camp marked on track file below the pass was not very good (boggy & sloping) so I continued down to camp near the stream. The second puesto is above the RR & not visible from it. Camping on the high plateau definitely not recommended. It is very exposed & the wind can & will knock tents. On day 2 I got to CONAF, they said a puma had been there every day the week before. Continued with many river crossings to the hut. There are trails marked with ribbons on LHS of the river SOBO, they go in on small loops which avoid some of the river crossings. Nearing the hut there is a stream flowing into the lake. At the lake it was too deep to cross. Bush bashed for about 40 metres to reach the ford. Camped outside the hut. Several river crossings on the third day. The double crossing is the crux. I avoided it by going over the bluff on LHS of river with a bit of tree bashing but I don't recommend that. The bluff descent is cliffed off with only a narrow breach where you can downclimb on trees. The breach is not obvious from above. Better to ford the river - it was running high but I met several hikers who had crossed it. Got to Casa de Pidera in 1 long day from the hut. You can cook in the Casa (they have a gas stove, electricity & showers) but have to camp outside. There are some trees to shelter from the wind. On the fourth day I started walking Sendero de Siete Lagunas (SSL) but I was using the 2019 track file which doesn't show the SSL. It had not been walked much recently & the route was not obvious. At the lake I lost the SSL in guanaco tracks. I continued around the lake & walked out about 2KM to the road. The descent to the road was cliffed off but I found a way down in a gully. Then I walked out the road past a meadow where hundreds of guanaco were grazing. Past the meadow I went in left on a side road to rejoin the RR. On the fifth day I walked past Daniel Huemul's puesto & was lucky to meet Daniel who was riding out & he showed me the way. He said the direct RR which goes right from the puesto is now overgrown & disused. Instead we went out to the left. There is a small road which goes in a loop & turns towards Lago Cochrane but with his directions I was able to shortcut it. I paid 15,000 CLP for entry & camping at CONAF Lago Jeinemeni & they didn't charge me anything at Casa de Piedra.