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1. I got the bus to 1KM before El Gato where the RR SOBO goes off road near a campsite to a ford on Rio Nireguao. I continued NOBO 41KM on the X421 gravel road. From El Gato you ascend 300 metres then only a couple of small ascents. Good scenery but it was raining & cloudy when I went through. A shop in El Gato & Cabanas although they normally rent to groups. No facilities after El Gato. When you reach the mine don't follow the track file which goes into the mine (there is a fence and an Entry Restricted sign) but stay on the X421 road which goes around the mine. Go left at a junction then over a bridge, you soon rejoin the track file.
The road is fenced off with very few places to camp: a few KM after the mine where the road forks, the right fork goes past camping spots by the river. 3.7 KM before you reach the main road (Carratera Austral AKA Ruta 7) you can camp near a shrine to San Sebastian. It was a wild day with rain coming in horizontal sheets so I continued to Ruta 7 & hitched to Villa Manihuales. There is a bus stop where you reach Ruta 7 but only 1 or 2 buses a day, it's better to hitch.
3. Route is initially on small dirt roads then through fields & some CC. After you cross a stream near a waterfall you descend a gully choked with trees. Easiest to go down on LHS of gully. Descending to a big field I met some cows & one of them charged me. When I scared it back the cow crashed through a barbed wire fence. So keep your distance if you can. When you reach Rio Baguales there is a small footbridge about 200M upriver from where the RR crosses the stream. From the road I hitched back to Coyhaique.
4. A few kilometres after the Rio Nireguao ford you reach a road. RR goes by a settler's house, he was friendly. He told me there is a bridge over Rio Nireguao. I didn't see it but if it's where he described, it will be on or near the optional route a few km upstream from the RR ford. RR to Laguna Larga is on road. The road continues from the Laguna to Villa Manihuales but you go right on a small road which ends in the forest.
==Summary Table==