GPT25H (Aldea Escolar)

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* Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias

Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.

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Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions

Season 2023/24

From 2024-02-13 to 2024-02-13 // 1 day // Hiking // NOBO // VARIANT H + RR // Quentin Clavel

I started from Trevelin (was going a bit further than aldea escolar on last section to resupply, have comfort in hostal and enjoy great food in a bigger city), I took the variant H then I continue on the RR.

It was a crazy hot day and there were unfortunately not a lot of trees to get some shadow. The section is pretty easy to follow. A bit overgrown on some rare part, and with these horrible spiky little plants that stay stuck in your shoes, socks and legs.

You'll pass threw a whole area that has been destroyed by fire few years ago, strange and sad atmosphere.

Then you reach the very nice Lago futalaufquen, as a gift for ending this little section !

Following the RR avoid you the entrance of the parc. So no need to pay. And I haven't been checked by guardaparque inside the park.

Season 2022/23

• General Recommendations: The Regular Route is best hiked from November to April. Hiking in either a northbound or southbound direction is feasible and recommended. The section is 40km long and takes about a day and a half to complete. Due to the ocasional overgrown state of the trail, bush bashing is required in several places and progress is a bit slow in many other places. However, the trail has been passable throughout. There are panoramic views, and an openness not common in adjacent sections. There are also a few kms of interesting bamboo forest. Previously, the opening few southbound kms of this section were officially closed, but they have since reopened. There is clear evidence of past fire damage in the opening segment and this has contributed to the openness of that segment.

• 2023-Mar-05 / SOBO / RR + 25H-F and 25H-01 / 1.5 days / Martin & Helena

We followed RR for the first 10kms until the barbed wire fence. It was well marked and maintained. We spent the night before settler waypoint at around km 8, there are many good campspots around this part with nice view of the mountains and lake, but no water, that is actually after the settlement. At around km 10 we jumped on the main road to save some time as the trail seemed to become a little less visible and with barbed wire fences in front of us. Later we continued with the F option to connect back to RR.

Once back on the RR, we were not sure which way to take next, bc recent report stated that bush-bashing is involved on the RR. We decided to go with the shorter, but suspiciously straight Option 1. It is nice MR in the beginning, later leading into the forest where you follow a clear trail. It kind of disappears after reaching the river, where you have 2 options. It seemed like the trail continues with the western option but we soon run into a very thorny bush field with some barbed wires on the ground which made us to look for a different way. We tried to go around without success bc of dense bamboo, so we got back to try the other, a little shorter C option. It turned out to be pure bush bashing without any trail to follow, full of fallen trees and dense bush. Very slow pace. After around 2 hrs we connected back to the RR trail that is marked with little color flags. We have seen them from different directions so there might be some path to follow, that would avoid that long BB. After you reach the MR, there is a settler waypoint, that is now a refugio, but we didn’t check. The way down is without problem. Couple of small shops in Aldea Escolar. We asked for cabana in the first one we met and were lucky.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

• 2023 January / Hiking / GPT25 Southbound / Mostly Regular Route / Martin Lizondo

Sections 23, 24, 25 southbound (RR Hiking)

GPT 23: I recently posted that this section is now possible to hike mostly on trail and without bushbashing (alternative route from El Turbio to Lago Cholila via Cerro Plataforma). Also the trail inside burned forest near Lago Puelo is maintained.

GPT 24: Good news. All trails of Huella Andina are now easy to walk, maintained and well marked. Only a few fallen trees can interrupt the easy walking in very specific areas.

GPT 25: walkable, but with some bush bashing following the barbered wire at lat. -43.043163 long. -71.538541.

Happy hiking.

• 2022 Nov 13-14 Frank SOBO

As rivers were running high & the route was officially closed I went around it on the road. 1 day Villa Futalaufquen-Trevelen then 2 hours to Aldea Escolar. The Information centre at Villa Futalaufquen said the trail is closed, no one has hiked there in 2 years & there are a lot of fallen trees across the trail.

Season 2019/20

• 2020-Jan-15-16 / Shaun / Regular hiking route southbound

The southbound start of this section is now open and so there is no need to initially re-route along the road. The trail is overgrown in a number of places which slows progress. But the only tricky piece was a few kms around km14 where the trail disappeared several times under bushes or fallen bamboo for a little while. But it always reappeared exactly where the gps projected. There were lovely views in many places along the section, especially early on where the past fire damage allows you to see a ring of mountains in every direction.

Season 2017/18

• Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18

This section was not completed. We left the route after 24.5 km and went into Trevelin due to sickness. See below for notes about the part we did complete. Alternate: At the Villa Futalaufquen information center, a ranger informed us that the part of GPT25H in Parque Nacional Los Alerces is closed due to fire closure. She could not give us any information about when the trail would reopen. To bypass this part, walk along highway RP71 to the entrance gate for the national park. 2 to 3 kilometers past the national park entrance, turn off onto a gravel road that heads south southwest to rejoin the regular route. The route becomes a maze of dirt trails that can be hard to follow. There was heavy GPS use in this section. Within a few kilometers, the trail disappears into thick brush and begins to follow a fenceline. It is slow going through here. After reaching the end of the fenceline, we decided to go to Trevelin for a week of illness and misery.

Resupply and Accommodation

Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns

• Trevelin/Esquel.

Trevelin is a large town with all necessary amenities for resupply and rest.La Anonima supermarket is 2KM south of the centre. There are 2 shops with hiking gear. Lodging options are primarily cabañas, but there is one local hospidaje. A bus to Esquel, a slightly larger town with more grocery and lodging options, runs every hour for 42 pesos.

• HOSPITAL : in both towns. Although we spent a fair amount of time in the Esquel hospital, we heard rumours the Trevelin one was way nicer.

• In Aldea Escolar itself, there are at least three basic food shops and accommodation at Cabañas Rosa.

Links to other Resources

Retired Section Article GPT25H - Aldea Escolar