GPT32 (Cerro Castillo)

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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 2022/23

• 05-Apr-2023 / Hiking / SOBO / Martin & Helena

We really enjoyed this one. It's definitely worth waiting for good weather, not only for safe traverse of the steep part in the northern part of the park and following obstacles that are quite demanding but also for the views that were just incredible.

Starting from Villa Frei in the late afternoon, we made it on that day to the turn before Lago La Paloma, where we camped right behind a fence, before a little river, that you need to cross to follow the RR. There are 2 settlements, but still far enough, so no problem. You have to cross one fence and a gate on the way up. To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side. Crossing them will take you directly to RR, so no bush-bashing is necessary. From there, the trail is pretty straightforward. We liked the view from Option B viewpoint and in good conditions it must be a perfect spot for camping, definitely doable in one day. The steep traverse didn't feel that dangerous for us, but we had really good conditions. The next obstacle, already described by others, is at the end of the traverse. We followed there a small ridge that will take you to the beginning of the grass parts. It's a little steep, but doable. From there we followed the grass parts, which create almost 'stairs' allowing you to climb up. It's again steep, but you can use your hands to pull yourself up, holding the grass patches. After that is the last challenging part, a rock that you need to climb over. We got there already after sunset and without an option to explore the best and safest way over, we decided to follow the old overgrown trail, that descends down without the need to climb over the rock. It seemed to be hard in the beginning, but after we got through the first few trees (without any leaves, just branches), we found a little strip without them, that takes you all the way down to the river, where we camped. It took us around 15 min to get down, so it might be a good alternative. From there you just need to walk through a little part of the forest and then continue by the river, so you are actually avoiding also the descent down, which some described as challenging as well.

After the first marked pass and descent in rocky terrain, the CC part connects to an old trail, that later becomes a MR. The connection was easy to find by following the GPS. We had no problems passing around the rangers house, again by following the track files, at first through the forest and later around the river. From there the trail connects to the official way which makes navigation easy. We spent the night in the official campsite around 2 km before Laguna Carro Castillo, which is the only one open. There were 5-6 other tents, no ranger. The next day the weather got way way worse, which made us skip the last pass and go down from the laguna via one of the official routes. We met a ranger on the way up, pointing us to the official trail around yellow cairns, to sign off from the park. With no intention to pay on our way from the park, we actually followed some old trail (according to the old signs we met) that took us to the main road, right in front of the bridge. We had to cross one fence, but no other problem. It's a faster and safe way from the park.

• 23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR NOBO / Jakub+Veronika:

1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land. 2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.

• Feb 2023 Frank

There is no need for any rock climbing on this route. After the gully where you climb out on grass (described by Veronica) there are two rock bands running perpendicular to the route. You can go below both of them & bypass them at treeline.

Links to other Resources

Retired Section Article GPT32 - Cerro Castillo

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GPT32: Cerro Castillo

GPT32: Cerro Castillo				Hiking		Packrafting
Group	H: Aysen Sur		Total	67.0 km	23 h	90.8 km	30 h
Region	Chile: Aysén (XI)		Trails (TL)	22.2 km	33.1%	20.9 km	23.0%
Start	Villa Frei		Minor Roads (MR)	35.6 km	53.1%	47.5 km	52.3%
Finish	Villa Cerro Castillo		Primary Roads (PR)	-	-	-	-
Status	Published & Verified		Cross-Country (CC)	9.2 km	13.8%	3.8 km	4.2%
Traversable	Dec - Mar (Maybe: Nov, Apr)		Bush-Bashing (BB)	-	-	1.2 km	1.3%
Packraft	Very Useful		Ferry (FY)	-	-	-	-
Connects to	GPT31H, GPT31P, GPT33H, GPT33P		Investigation (I)	-	-	-	-
Options	199 km (8 Options & Variants)		Exploration (EXP)	-	-	-	-
	Hiking	Packrafting		Total on Water		17.5 km	19.2%
Attraction	4 (of 5)	4 (of 5)		River (RI)		-	-
Difficulty	4 (of 5)	4 (of 5)		Lake (LK)		17.5 km	19.2%
Direction	Both ↓↑	Both ↓↑		Fjord (FJ)		-	-
Comment	-
Character	Valdivian Rain Forest, Alpine Terrain, Farmland, Settlers, Lake Packrafting
Challenges	Exposure to Elements, Clambering, Bush Bashing, Demanding Navigation

Elevation Profile of Regular Hiking Route (2019)

Elevation Profile of Regular Hiking Route (2019)