34
ediciones
Cambios
→Season 2024/25
==Season 2024/25==
*2024 Nov 29th to Dec 5th / 6 hiking days & 1 zero day / SOBO / Hiking / RR + detour via new bridge / Michael and Kasia
Quick notes: A very pretty section, also a good warmup section. We found water very consistently, though in a few places finding decent camping next to water was a challenge. We went SOBO, but in our opinion hiking NOBO would have been visually more appealing. The new bridge which bypasses the ford over Rio Cisnes involves a detour off the GPT tracks, but is easy to find and follow.
CAMPS
Night 1: -44.28301, -71.86381 (nice space, flat area, good water access, minimal wind protection)
Night 2: -44.32724, -71.89015 (forest camp, excellent wind protection, no water for 500 m)
Night 3: -44.36489, -71.86605 (next to road, good water access, so-so wind protection, depends on the direction of the wind)
Night 4: -44.44130, -71.82765 (next to road, okay view, good water access, poor wind protection)
Night 5: -44.51738, -71.73189 (flat space for maybe two tents, very good wind protection, water is 300 m away, close to a good view over the lake)
Night 6: same as night 5
WATER
In early December there was water almost every two km except in a couple of stretches. A lot of it did seem to be snow melt, and the snow was disappearing. In later months water may be more scarce.
Day 01 - Nov 29th
We left late. It was sunny and there was a breeze but no real wind. No cars were on the road, just a few horses. It's a very pretty walk. There were several unmarked water points along the way, however I don't know if these will disappear later in the season since they didn't have a lot of water going through then. The first few km were gravel, then at the Private Property sign you leave the road and go onto a trail. There were a few unmarked fords, all very easy, just deep enough to not be dry for crossings. We ended up camping in a flat grassy area next to a steam 5.5 km in, just before the first steep up. It was a really lovely spot. There's not much wind protection in the valley, but we had a windless night, so it was very pleasant.
Day 02 - Nov 30th
We got a late start again. Before we packed up, a group of arrieros drove a herd of cattle through where we had camped. There is a steep up
About 0.5 km after the Settler at 7.0 there was a bridge and water. We did not find water again until the river at Ford 13.3. After the big metal gate there was a fork in the road and a sign for Tapera to the left side of the fork, which was different from the GPT track, and not a road on OSM. We took it and it meets up with the GPT track very soon, so it doesn't matter which side you take. Shortly after the two paths meet again we spotted a bunch of Quiñoto, the spherical mushroom that grows on the beech trees. We harvested about a pint of it. Raw, there is a faint white button mushroom flavor; cooked almost no flavor at all. It was fun to collect, Kasia enjoyed the mushroom flavor, and I enjoyed the texture, which is a little chewy and a little gelatinous, but it isn't something we would ever buy or seek out. Camp 12.9 should be marked Camp Without Water. It is about 400 m one way to the nearest water and it is a rather steep hill, so not exactly convenient. It also has very little wind protection,though a spectacular view. It started to rain a bit and the wind was picking up when we arrived at that point. We headed back toward the beech forest and found a place to camp there. It was even further from the water but was warmer than out on the plateau and had excellent wind protection.
Day 03 - Dec 1st
For the third day we went a fairly short distance. The Ford 13.3 was easy, mostly half calf, up to my knee at one point, and the current wasn't very strong. We found water about every two km or so. We made it to the Water 20.2 mark and camped just on the far side of it under some trees near a fire circle.
Day 04 - Dec 2nd
Woke up to a sunny morning. At km 21.37, there is a road down to a puesto and a field. It has good river access and looks like camping would be possible, though we didn't walk down to check. We saw a few other nice potential camp sites along the way, but it was too cold to enjoy a zero day. In warmer months it would be nice. A really beautiful forest walk for a couple km. There is a river flowing through the valley that does not show up on Gaia or the OSM maps on the Garmin. I think it might be largely seasonal from snow melt. Many, many unmarked fords, all easy, about half calf or less. I think many of them are snow fed and disappear later in the season, or are at least dry-foot crossable. The plateau at the top was amazingly beautiful, with snowy mountains and views of a mini Torres. The road was often muddy, but otherwise clear and easy to follow. We camped at km 31.4 a little down from the plateau. It had minimal wind protection so not ideal, but we came to yet another unanticipated ford and decided we needed to call it a day. Fortunately it was a windless night.
Day 05 - Dec 3rd
At Ford, Puesto 39.4 there is a fork in the road, the left going to a ford, the right going to a gate to the puesto. We went through the gate and were met by Jango, a very friendly guy. He built a private road that he invited us to use. It runs up above the river for about 2 km before dropping back down and reconnecting with the public road and the GPT track just after Ford, Camp 40.9. It skips the forest walk and multiple fords, but does give some amazing views of the mountains. The road is new, so right now a fairly ugly scar. It's a good option if you want to skip fords, or if you prefer mountain views over forest walk. Camp 41.6 should be marked Camp Without Water. We did not see any streams nearby and the river is over a cliff. We walked to Lake, Camp 47.7. We aren't really sure where someone would camp there as the area wasn't that flat, had thorny bushes around, and was fairly wind exposed. Just as the road is about to leave the lake and go into the next valley, there is a footpath heading along the east side of the lake. We followed that all the way back and up and found a protected clearing with a decent flat space. Water was about 300 m away, but I would not recommend camping close to the lake, at least in early December. It seems to be mosquito breeding season. There were thick clouds of them all around the lake. In the clearing there were very few. There was some wind in the night, but it mostly passed right over us.
Day 06 - Dec 4th
Zero day in the same spot. This proved to be a well protected spot from wind. There were periods of the day with strong gusts overhead, but the tent barely moved. It was also a few degrees warmer than just over the hill or down next to the lake. Few mosquitos, but a lot of small black flies. It sprinkled throughout the day, but no real rain.
Day 7 - Dec 5th
Rain in the forecast so we wanted to get across the river ford before it started. The ford at 51.4 was intimidating but not difficult, it's just a very long ford, but most of the time it was half calf, in a few spots knee height and the current was not that strong. From Lake, Camp 59.0 we did not find water again until the new bridge at Rio Cáceres. It rained a lot from mid day on, so we decided to just push on to Tapera. The new bridge is not on the current GPT tracks. If heading SOBO, at around km 64.8 a new road intersects the one that the track files follow. If you take the new road heading east (go left), in about 3.5 km you cross a bridge. If you continue to follow it, going right at the T intersection, you come to a second bridge, then follow the main road west. You will pass the aeródromo, then enter La Tapera from the E rather than the N. This route is approximately 4 km longer than the GPT track between the same two points. After the T intersection there was traffic. We managed to get a hitch and were in Tapera around 18:00. We stayed at Hospedaje Mary, very nice and accommodating hosts.
There are at least 6 shops of various sizes in town and two other places marked Hospedaje. We found the tall skinny gas recharges in three shops from 3800 to 4200, best price at the Super/ferriteria next to the panadero. The guy at the super said he sometimes had the threaded cans, but they weren't in stock when we were there. Shops usually close from about 13:00 until 17:00 for lunch, so take that into account if you are not planning on staying the night. We looked at the ford the next day. It was not possible to say without attempting it, but it did not look fordable at this time. It looked like it might be possible to camp near the ford point. There were a few small picnic shelters along the river.
==Season 2023/24==
