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The GPT is an informal route network that consists mostly of trails, roads and cross country routes that were not made for hiking nor especially prepared for created with hikersin mind. Most of the trails were made by the local population to solely serve their purposes, i.e. to drive animals to summer pastures, to get to remote settlements and outposts or to extract wood from the forest. The routes that the GPT is composed of include:

* a few short stretches of bush bashingthrough thick growth,

* Packrafters Additionally, packrafters can cross in addition mountain lakes, float down generally calm rivers and even paddle on the Patagonian fjords.

This diversity is what makes the GPT so authentic but also so inconsistent and challenging , in partssome sections, challenging.

Since the GPT is an informal route network practically no signposts and only few trail markers facilitate route finding. The locals that regularly use these trails don't need them as they know their trails inside out and nobody else is expected to come. Through some Parks there is signage and markers, though these are often unmaintained and inconsistent. Outside of parks, in terms of trail markers, you may see sporadically sun faded strips of plastic, beer cans, or even tea pots hanging in a tree.

On many of these trails a customary right-of-way applies but some routes cross private land and you often can’t know what is where the case. Therefore when you venture onto the GPT you are mostly an unexpected guest on trails that were not made for you and you will trespass over private properties. So be at least a respectful and friendly trespasser that can explain in Spanish what he is doing there. It is standard to whistle as you approach a remote homestead, this alerts both humans and animals that someone is passing and can avoid a great deal of unpleasantness.

 One must also consider the rhythm of Patagonia in neither rushed nor focused on efficiency. One significant way hikers will encounter this is with siesta, strictly observed in almost every small and many of the larger towns throughout the region. Businesses close (roughly) between 1-4 pm, though even those hours are subject to whim. Shops rarely have posted hours and even if they do, these are not observed. You may note on some a small white buzzer which you must press to call attention. Do not be shy in these circumstances, ring the bell and be prepared to wait patiently. If you bustle in brusquely, expect for services to be rendered even more slowly.  For profit buses, like businesses, operate at their leisure. If there is a schedule posted online, it is often inaccurate or incomplete. For bus schedules, ask at the kiosks or other local shops. Do not expect bus stops to have signs posted. Here again, communicating with locals will play an integral role to your experience and that will be defined by how you approach and treat them.  I know, sooner or later someone will try to thru-hike the trail in one season and may even succeed if he is lucky with the weather. But attempting this, especially this early in the development of the trail and the support system along and around the trail, seems foolish. This focus will mean needing to rush and take less attractive short cuts. It inhibits slowing down to fully appreciate the land and share time with the people along the route. And more important: someone who tries to thru-hike the GPT in one season needs to take unreasonable risks by throwing himself in torrential rivers and climbing to high elevations when fierce blizzards can kill. And remember, when you walk on these trails you are a guest on the land of someone else. Just the idea of racing through strangers' backyards feels wrong for me.  Therefore the appropriate pace on this trail network is the "appreciation pace". This pace might vary substantially between hikers but gives you the time to make an attractive detour, i.e. to climb a summit next to the trail without worrying about your schedule. This adequate rate of advance permits you to accept the invitation of a settler to share some cups of mate or to sit out a day of torrential rain in shelter (here called "puesto") with an arriero. This adapted velocity allows you to wait in front of a pass if the weather is too volatile to climb up or to spend a day or two waiting at a lake if it is too windy to paddle with your packraft. For these reasons it is advisable to carry at least an extra day worth of food on many sections of the GPT.  This trail is therefore not suitable for hikers who are out to race a clock, that need to have full control and that who measure their success in kilometers or miles. Its a trail for thoughtful discoverers that who can accept to be being just guests. It's for hikers for which whom completion or distance covered is irrelevant or at least secondary but that count their enjoyable and eventful days in a pristine and diverse nature instead. All this makes the GPT to a discovery network with a good portion of unpredictability but an impressive authenticity.