==Season 2022/23==
* 20232022-JanDec-07 18 to 2023-Jan-07 16 / 6 days 30 Days / Packrafting / GPT37P(H): Peninsula Initial Investigation / Villa O'Higgins, Lago Negro, El Taitao, La Florida. Full "8" route and side hikes (to Cerro Tres Frailes) Morocha, Isla Central, Brazo Poniente, Rio Condor, Lago Chico / Clockwise / Alex Abramov Meylin Ubilla, Masha Ovchinnikova, Misha Bogdanov, Jan Dudeck, Tobias Schorch
179 kmIn the 10 years of investigating and publishing the GPT this has been the most diverse, Solointense and longest exploration trip.
An excellent route ranked Lago O’Higgins is not completely unknown in my top five favorites in Chile. Very scenic, varied, secluded, the travelers world but most hikers and cyclists perceive this lake rather as an obstacle then as a real gemregion to explore. In general, there are no problems with water or camps. Not particularly difficult, but Lago O’Higgins is located between the route has at least two quite demanding fords southern terminus of the Carretera Austral and many sections with complicated navigation the hiking mecca El Chalten. Hikers and annoying thorny bushes (I always use my running shoes)cyclists that wish to connect along the Carretera Austral from Cerro Castillo or Parque Patagonia to El Chalten often take the ferries that cross this lake from Villa O‘Higgins to Candelario Mancilla but furious wind can result in waiting times of more then one week.
My choice While visiting Villa O’Higgins in recent years we learned more about the handful of direction, clockwise, is due to trying challenging fords settlers living remotely on the shores of this lake. The firstsettlers arrived around 100 years ago by boat coming from the Argentine side of this bi-national lake. And satellite images provided some information about the trails in the vicinity of this octopus-like lake with numerous arm. After years of contemplating we reserved a good part of this season to venture on this lake and to visit the settlers.
I am somewhat skeptical about Lago O’Higgins is infamous for the length often furious wind that can last for days. Especially in summer wind rarely stops making any packrafting attempt an exercise of patience. Of the track by Jan, 30 days at the discoverer lake we spend 10 days waiting but these days were “value time” because we stayed at the homesteads of the area, I believe that the real classic “8” will be closer to 150 kmsettlers and tasted their way of life.Crossing the Aro(s) River requires a lot Highlights of care, especially when passing alone. It can be extremely dangerous or impassable in the early season, I put some useful tips in the comment on the FB post.trip have been:
==Season 2021/22==- Searching and documenting the barely travelled trail from Villa O’Higgins via Lago Negro to El Taitao
* 2022-Mar-06 / 3.5 days / 37P: Península La Florida / Tobias Schorcht, Jonas Grünewald Crossing by packraft Lago O’Higgins at Brazo Desagüe and Martin Bahia Pocas Pilchas
Thank you Jan, for sending us your GPS-Trackfiles right Spending 10 days with Andrea and Susana Mancilla on time. It would have been quite difficult, to make Isla Central that became our way over the península without them, because there are numerous good visible cow trails around! We booked a “O’Higgins Glaciar Tour” (120000 Pesos p.P) “base camp” for exploring Brazo Poniente - Packrafting and asked hiking Brazo Poniente all the captain (Markus), way to drop us on our way back at Punta Pescado, where the settlers Nicole, Misael glaciers that creep down from the Southern Patagonian Icefield - Spending 7 days with Ema Mera and there little son are living. They were happy Leo Muñoz at their homestead Rio Condor that became our “base camp” to receive some fresh fruits visit Brazo Sudoccidental and vegetables and invited us for lunch. Nicole and Misael are warm and welcoming people. We left in the afternoon and made our way Southern Patagonian Icefield - Investigate a new cross-country hiking route to “los hermanos” where we camped. The settler who is living there, a viewpoint of Glacier O’Higgins that was not at home. Surprisingly, probably never walked before - Traversing the weather was much better then expected. Locals told us, it’s always warmer (“up Pensinsula La Carmela from Glaciar Gaea to 4 degrees”) Lago Chico and less rainy up here. We had no problems with navigation crossing this lake by packraft next to Glaciar Chico - Ascending on our way back the Southern Patagonian Icefield along Glaciar Chico to Villa. There were no dangerous river crossings and numerous of potential camping spots. The views on Paso Marconi with the mountain guide Leo Muñoz - Arranging food shipments with the supply boat that 3 times per month visits the settlers of Lago O’Higgins The balanced combination of hiking, packrafting and living with the near by mountains have been spectacularsettlers made this 30-day trip an intense but not tiresome experience. We suggest to use gaiters, to avoid scratches A detailed route description and recommendations will be provided with the next update of the sticky bushesHikers Manual. All in all, we recommend this hike! ==Season 2021/22==
==Season 2020/21==
=Images=
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{| border="1" style="border-collapse:collapse"
|+'''GPT37P: Penunsila La Florida'''
| colspan="4" style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| GPT37P: Penunsila La Florida
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Hiking
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Packrafting
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"|Group
| colspan="2" | I: Campo de Hielo Sur 1
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Total
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|'''-'''
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|'''-'''
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| '''84.7 km'''
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"|'''26 h'''
|-
| style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"|Region
| colspan="2" | Chile: Aysén (XI)
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Trails (TL)
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| 66.5 km
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"|78.6%
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Start
| colspan="2" | Villa O'Higgins
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Minor Roads (MR)
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| 1.8 km
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| 2.2%
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Finish
| colspan="2" | Candelario Mancillo
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Primary Roads (PR)
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| 3.1 km
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| 3.7%
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Status
| colspan="2" | To be Verified & Recorded by GPS
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Cross-Country (CC)
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| -
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| -
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Traversable
| colspan="2" | Jan - Apr (Maybe: Nov, Dec, May)
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Bush-Bashing (BB)
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| -
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"|-
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Packraft
| colspan="2" | Required
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Ferry (FY)
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| -
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"|-
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Connects to
| colspan="2" | GPT36H, GPT36P, GPT37H, GPT38
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Investigation (I)
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| (38.6 km)
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| (45.6%)
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Options
| colspan="2" | 75 km (3 Options & Variants)
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Exploration (EXP)
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| (68.9 km)
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"|(81.4%)
|-
|
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Hiking
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Packrafting
| rowspan="4" style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"|
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Total on Water
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| '''13.2 km'''
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| '''15.6%'''
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Attraction
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| 4 (of 5)
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| River (RI)
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| 1.9 km
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| 2.2%
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Difficulty
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|-
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| 6 (of 5)
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Lake (LK)
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| 11.3 km
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| 13.3%
|-
| style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"|Direction
|style="background-color:#ffbfbf;"|None
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"|Both ↓↑
| colspan="2" style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Fjord (FJ)
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"| -
|style="background-color:#c2edfc;"|-
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Comment
| colspan="7" | Hiking: Hiking not feasible
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Character
| colspan="7" | Valdivian Rain Forest, Alpine Terrain, Settlers, Unpeopled Areas, Lake Packrafting
|-
|style="background-color:#bfbfbf;"| Challenges
| colspan="7" | Exposure to Elements, Bush Bashing, Demanding Navigation, Possibly Impassable, Exploration Required
|}
