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* '''2025-03-04 to 2025-03-08 / 5 days / <span style="background-color:aqua;">Packrafting</span> and hiking/ NOBO / Option 6 / Tomáš&Natalie'''
Not important prelude: We were not going to do this. Several continuous days of rain were forecasted. We meant to take a ferry north from Puerto Chacabuco. However, there were protests and the road to Puerto Aysén was closed on Monday and the buses were cancelled. The first bus of the day at 13:45 only went a few km before Puerto Aysén, where the prostest were. We were supposed to walk through them and board another bus. Locals said that the ferry always leaves later than the schedulet 15:00 and we should make it. But when we reached the protests, somebody called the port and the ship sailed on time. Given we also left our tent poles in Cochrane and were arranging for them to be sent to Coyahaique by bus (thanks Thijmen!!) and then by post (from Coyhaique to Santiago, it is supposed to be fast) and that the forecast was improving somewhat, we took it as a sign to do this option which we have previously mulled, so we returned to Coyhaique instead of hunting the ferry by hitching to Puerto Cisnes, where it would be at 11PM. We cursed ourselves throughout when it was cold, rainy and flooded, but you only truly remember the good stuff later on, so now it feels good. We walked in drysuits 80 percent of the time. We would never want to hike in such a rainy and windy cold weather without drysuits and drybags.
Overall, I think we are the first who have done this hike since it has been promoted from exploratory options. The GPS is correct. Hiking wise it is easy, possibly easier (less exposed, we had no issues doing it in the rain) than RR. Fords are much worse though, at least in rainy weather. Scenic-wise it is hard to compare, we had no views in the clouds. But I assume the RR is prettier. Here you will meet noone, if that is a huge bonus for you, this could be recommended. Or when denied entry on RR when going NOBO or if you have done RR previously. It is also obviously attractive for packrafters as it nicely connects to Rio Paloma/31P-01.
(The rapid under the bridge over Rio Ibanez at Cerro Castillo looked just like big waves (class III?) from the bridge, but do your own scouting, I saw it twice only for 5 seconds each, I just was surprised it did not look that bad.)
On Tuesday morning, we took a bus from Coyhaique to Cochrane and got out at Cerro Castillo, where we waited 4 hours for the bus from Cochrane that carried our poles. A gomeria here -46.12096, -72.16249 sharpened our machete very well and for free! When the poles arrived, we soon got a hitch to -46.13355, -72.41950. In the pouring rain and cursingwind, we assembled the packraft and went 1 km down Rio Ibanez to option 10A. The river was flooded, all of the riverbed was under water. Luckily it was raining less then. Camped in the rain here: -46.11081, -72.40580. The cable car upstream is still there, no idea if it is functional though.
The trail up still exists, but it seems it had not been used this year, so it is not the fastest. Shortly after entering the forrest for the first time somewhere around -46.10651, -72.41083, there is a meadow with some bamboo where the other side of the trail is hard to find even with GPS, but it is there. The trail is good in the forrest, but in the open around -46.10263, -72.41470, it is somewhat overgrown, but not too bad, I did not use the machete. The option 06 is preferable to 06B. I think this is what "Mum, Sis and I" did. 06B is still a trail at least in its beginning and it was done by Jan and he did not seem to like the last BB climb (I talked to him). On our route, I would say the BB&CC should be more CC&BB&TL. First part is easy if steep descent in open terrain. Around here -46.09437, -72.42397, there was a trailhead. I however lost (not hitting "save" on new waypoints is a plague!) the exact coordinates, so look for it. The trail is maybe an animal trail and is steep, but it leads you down to a stream. Cross the stream here: -46.09371, -72.42521, where the animal (?) trail continues. Then keep to the ridge until you exit the forest. The forest is indeed quite open (the more the higher you are) and sometimes there is something that looks like a trail. Good camps with access to water would be -46.09088, -72.43224 and at the end of the BB&CC (not the one indicated in the files). This part took us maybe 2 or 3 hours, but we were slow. Camp without water possible here too: -46.09290, -72.42823. It was starting to rain when we reached the open terrain, so we put on drysuits. The meadows did not seem to be grazed and water was kind of everywhere. The traverse is however easy and not exposed. Safety-wise, we felt good even in the rain and medium visibility. It was not windy but we got cold (took us some time to get warm in the tent). The forest before our campsite somewhere around -46.05323, -72.47485 is very open - count no time penalty for walking there.
Ford 4.9 did not go down overnight, it was under our ùknees. Natalie forded a bit upstream where it is more pushy but boulders and stones give you more grip. I had no issues crossing at the proper ford, where the riverbad is exposed rock. It is not flat and not too slippery though. The rest of the valley is easy and finally it was a sunny day without drysuits! Bridge 30.4 on Option 5 was standing, so that still waits for its first log. It was a sunny Saturday and there were several cars (fisher and tourists) at Bridge 31, so hitching from there seems feasible. There was also some traffic on the less minor road to Lago Caro. We however went down on Rio Paloma on 31-01P.
*'''2025-FEB-26 to 2025-FEB-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''
This is a short but very diverse section with a variety of terrain, picturesque forests, and stunning views. The memory of clambering up steep slopes in the northern part of the stage and then gazing at the imposing, dominating Cerro Castillo (2675 m above sea level) to the south is etched deeply in our minds. The section passes through Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo, which means there is an entry fee and camping is only allowed at designated sites (see below).
Challenges:
Exposed terrain and clambering at kilometers 28.3-30.0. Caution and slow progress are necessary here. It is impassable in bad weather. There is nothing too complicated on BB + CC at kilometers 38.1-38.7; the forest is relatively clear and there is a narrow trail in some places.
Fees:
At the time of our passage, the entry fee for Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo was (for foreigners per person) 18,000 CLP for one day, 24,000 CLP for two days, and 28,000 CLP for three or more days in the park. We paid 24,000 CLP each upon exiting the park (X {32} [60.6/316]) since we spent one night outside the park.
Bivouacing:
Camping within Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo is, according to information from the gatekeepers, only allowed at officially designated campsites marked in OSM map sources:
1) Segundo camping (-46.00818, -72.10410)
2) Camping El Bosque (-46.06429, -72.16909)
3) Camping Los Porteadores. (-46.08888, -72.23543)
We only used the last mentioned site as we chose the fastest route through the national park.
These campsites have designated spots for tents, wooden seating, and dry toilets. They were quite crowded in the evenings. Other campsites found in OSM sources or track files are not official and thus illegal.
Water:
Water is not a problem; the trail frequently crosses a stream or river.
Resupply:
In Villa Frei, we bought supplies for 2.5 days in a small shop with basic groceries, and we had a little left over. In the center of Villa Cerro Castillo, there is a well-stocked shop called Janito, and a bit further along is a stylish food truck made from an old bus.
'''2025-02-23 to 2025-02-26 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 2, RR, Option E, Option 3, Option F / Tyson'''
'''25-02-17- 25-02-19/ 2,5 days / SOBO / OH02-RR-Var. E -RR-OH3-RR / Volker'''
Scenic, easy, short - nice section. Water everywhere, all river crossings dry feet. A highway for gpt standards.