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[[File:GPT_Glaciar_O'Higgins.jpg|thumb|500px|GPT38: Glaciar O'Higgins coming down from the Southern Icefield. Image: Jan Dudeck]]

The Greater Patagonian Trail (GPT) is a long distance network of trails in the southern Andes that spans from the outskirts of Santiago all the way to southern Patagonia.

It’s a stunningly beautiful and diverse trail system that guides you in the first part from the semi-desert of the Precordillera into scenic Andes valleys. The trail crosses numerous dormant and active volcanos with partially healed volcanic scars and open wounds from eruptions as recent as 2011. You can take a dip in more than a dozen hot springs along the way to draw from this energy.

Continuing, you will dive into the twilight of lush green tempered rain forest lined by snow covered mountains. Numerous passes and high plains get you above the tree line into barren terrain with broad views. Crystal clear rivers descend from these mountains and feed deep blue lake along the way. If you packraft you can paddle over these lakes and float down these rivers all the way into the Patagonian fjords where the Pacific Ocean hits the ragged coast.

Eventually you reach the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the world's second largest contiguous extra-polar ice field. Here giant rock towers stab into the sky and enormous glaciers calve colossal blocks of ice into wind battered lakes.

On the northern part of the route you will meet solitary herdsmen (In Chile called "arrieros") with their animals that move every spring after the snow melts on higher ground to let their livestock feed on the mountain pastures. The trail later crosses the homeland of the indigenous Pehuenche (one of the tribes of Mapuche Indians) where majestic Araucaria trees tower above the tribal land and provide the traditional food for these sometimes shy and sometimes proud people. When going further south you will meet courageous settlers that have ventured into the challenging back-country of Patagonia. If you are interested you can listen to their stories while sitting around the warm stove (In Spanish: "cocina") and share the traditional drink of this region: Mate. These authentic encounters are part of the beauty of this trail.

In countless locations the trail branches into different routes creating a wide network of tracks that give you many choices. You may either walk the entire distance or you can bring a packraft to float down rivers and to paddle and sail over lakes and fjords. There are also various volcanoes and other summits along the route that can be ascended without rock climbing gear. I have also included optional tracks that get you into literally the last valley and over the last mountain which delineates the border between Chile and Argentina. These remote corners of the southern Andes are of particular interest to hikers that love to venture into remote back-country.

The trail currently spans approximately 3'000 km and the entire network including all options contains more than 12'000 km of tracks.

If this introduction quickened your appetite to explore this trail then don't stop reading here and don't pack your backpack yet. This trail network is quite different from what you expect. Especially if you have thru-hiked the famous long distance trails in the US i.e. the Appalachian Trail (AT), the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) or the Continental Divide Trail (CDT) don't assume this is a similar experience and that you are therefore prepared for this trail. This region and this network of routes is quite different in nature. Some best practices and habits that are key for thru-hiking one of these trails in the US would be foolish in Patagonia and other skills and aptitudes are essential to truly appreciate the Greater Patagonian Trail.

Since I started to publish the trail I have seen around 40 people attempting to walk major parts of the trail and I was in contact with many of the them (seasons 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17). The majority was absolutely amazed by the land and the people and their experience on the trail. But some hikers quickly aborted or changed their plans and missed the best parts of the trail as a consequence. Interestingly, these were partly experienced hikers and athletic walkers.

In the following section I try to rectify potentially incorrect assumptions and outline the essentials for hiking on this trail.