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==Season Section Log==
*28/01/23-04/02/23. SOBO/ RR + volcán chillàn & volcán Antuco. 7.5 days
Day 1
Got off the bus here (-36.67295, -71.29201) instead of los sauces for an easy ford. The bus driver knew of this place. The ford was here -36.67738, -71.28739, knee-high. We crossed around 3pm. The road section until the cabineros was surprisingly popular on a weekend, we got a 3km hitch but if we started earlier I am sure we could have hitched a lot more. The valley is nice though to walk in.
The cabineros basically just wanted to know if we had a proper gps and map, we could not understand if they were telling us "not" to go close to volcán chillàn or just "warning" us, I checked online the day before and it said the volcano is in green but the cabineros said it was yellow.
Made camp at the 17km way point because it was a good spot. Lots of unmarked water waypoints on the road such as; -36.69615, -71.27770 and -36.72718, -71.26420.
Day 2.
Crossed Nuble with no problems around 9am. The water was not strong but not totally calm and was under our crotches, I am 170cm and Tomáš is ~173cm. Hats off to the others that crossed when water levels were much higher! Remember to turn right and not left after the ford.
The path was better than expected but still can be easily lost until the first pass at 33.2km. Thanks to the tip from Will we took the path on the other side of the river once out of the trees to avoid the blow down, somewhere around or close to camp 29.5. Hot pass.
We made camp at the hotsprings after the second pass, their beauty and heat made up for the long day. There are a couple perfect spots near the hotsprings with some cold water for drinking, -36.90156, -71.35089. Spent two nights here. The hot springs are regular creeks, most of which in the valley are hot. Saw some locals camping in other spots, seems like a popular place.
Day 3.
Volcán Chillàn. Easy climb following the standard route but the last 600m was slow sandish-like material which made for a very quick descent. Instead of going back the way we came we followed an unmarked/unmapped "road" on the south side of volcán Chillàn that lead to switchbacks down to the hotsprings that we saw earlier that morning. Basically if coming from volcán follow the road east from here -36.89199, -71.38543 and aim for the switchbacks to the hotsprings camp here -36.90336, -71.36145. There is some dirty water on the way but very interesting and scenic. I am slightly worried about posting this because it is likely not meant to be walked, also not sure it actually saves time in compared to the normal trail but it allows for a nice rounddtrip. One can get Internet on the way to the volcano when the ski resorts is visible. Camped again at the hotsprings.
Day4
Nothing to add for this day, trail was nice and under trees a lot of the way, all fords easy or jump-able. Met two French who were doing the GPT northbound. Camped near the puesto 61.7 before the hotsprings, path was always there, just a little overgrown.
Day5
Trail to hotsprings was not that bad, just overgrown bamboo but otherwise nice. The hotsprings is not actually CONAF but a concession. Prices were as described 14mil for camping and 7mil just for hotsprings. If you want to buy food from them I recommend going at the beginning of the month as that is when they restock, for us there was still lots of food left but nothing fresh or good, very expensive.
On the road we used option C to avoid the hill as others suggested (seems like the main road now) and as for variant D we did not see anything so we back tracked a bit and took a different unmarked trail here that was successful -37.06894, -71.39599 and forded river here -37.06857, -71.39158 to meet the RR.
The trailhead at 81.0 is hard to see, be ready.
That trail from 81.0 to the pass was more overgrown in my mind than the rest of the days but still not terrible. Camped on the other side 88.9 (actually a bit further down were nicer camp-spots with lovely short grass)
Day6
Somehow at camp 88.9 we woke up to frost over everything. Have no idea what kind of phenomenon this is because I don't think it froze (forecast was for 16 in the night) but even the little moisture in my breakfast bowl froze shortly after eating it...
Quick trail to Laguna el roble except the trail is easy to loose just before the Laguna in the grassy section, keep climbing left towards an unmarked puesto here -37.20868, -71.33023.
There should technically be a better water source than the lake itself at camp 98.8 but I just took water from the lake:S. The next pass towards the ridge was hot but easy. Good trail until you hit the X at 105.9. Then the path is harder to follow. The camp at 107.1 seems silly and would be better higher above the listed water source. We ended up going cross country all the way from a pass like structure here -37.25066, -71.38499 to Laguna Hermosa because there was a trail on the other side (a bit lower than official RR so it made sense to follow it elevation-wise) that eventually faded away.
Laguna Hermosa was worth it as others have stated but unfortunately very heavy winds crept in that night. It was way less windy ok the East side of the lagoonwhich we only noticed in the morning.
Day7
Very heavy winds. We made a small short cut to the RR from the Laguna by heading west sooner. We considered turning around on the ridge as the winds were likely around 80km/hr at one point near the pylons but luckily since the route is not actually on the ridge the rest of the way was okay, still windy but not pushing us over. The rest of the ridge was no problem for us, slower of course since there is sidehilling and edging but nothing scary or exposed. There was no snow though.
El Puesto at 121 had two dogs but did not see anyone. We camped at Laguna Laja (not nice) to climb Antuco the next day. To no surprise the restaurant and cafe at the ski resort are closed. Other than the water in the lake there are no good water sources past the last water source before El puesto if heading in this direction. There is Enter 3G coverage here.
Day8
Started early to beat the heat for Antuco. I turned back after the top of the ski lift because of a stomach bug (probably food but still nicer to vomit in the shade...) but Tomáš went on to finish the climb. The climb was was not worth it. The volcán is not black sand but rather loose rock (boulders to pebbles) which made especially going down annoying. After the ski lift there is virtually no trail. Plus the fact there was only a small crater on top and the weather was very hot and windy in the early morning. I think we were there during a small heat wave, supposedly the day before was 38°C in Antuco proper. After the climb we hitched to the campsite Lagunillas (10mil/person) in hopes of going back to los Angeles but after analyzing the smoke situation of the forest fires we stayed here and used it as a base for preparing for GPT09-10.
It took us 168 hours but without climbing the Volcans the trail could have been walked in five full walking days. End of January means there were virtually no horseflies.
Nice trip but due to foot issues, things breaking down and a stomach bug at the end it was a bit of a suffer-fest for Natálie (Tomáš's new shoes are unfortunately painful too). However, the hotsprings, volcán Chillán, Laguna Hermose and the trees (especially the ones with usnea) made it worth while!
* 2023-Feb-02-07 / SOBO / RR + Option 08-C / Ondrej / Puente Inglés - Camping Las Lagunillas / 6 days
San Fabian is a great place, loved swimming in the Ñuble River when it got hot. The owner of Cabañas San Fabian is super kind. I hitched back to the trail because I didn't want to wait all day for the bus that leaves at 6pm.
Registered with the carabineros at El Roble, but I could not ford Río Ñuble at the RR crossing. Current was very strong, and has I been able to stand up in it, the water would have easily reached my chest (I'm165 cm). I tried several times to ford the river at three different places, several km apart from each other, with no success. I would advance in the stream until I felt I couldn't take another step without being swept, and couldn't get halfway across. I suppose I should have expected this - it's a very high snow year and mid-December. Ieven I even tried calling out for help at the puesto on the west side of the river near the "no trespassing" gates, but no one was there. The long walk back to Los Sauces felt very defeating. Also, the "wooden bridges" described by Jo and Veronika are actually only cable crossings, and inaccessible by two barbed wire fences. Not possible to cross the river there either. Ríos Los Sauces and Las Truchas only came up mid-thigh though.
Regained the GPT at Termas de Chillán, Option 2. Basicall took almost the whole second day to hitch there. Beautiful trail, but steep. You get to ford hot creeks, which was pretty cool.