GPT31H - Valle Simpson
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Recent Alerts and Suggestions
Season Section Log
- 03-Apr-2023 / Hiking / NOBO / Martin & Helena
Easy section that connects Coyhaique and Villa Frei. Minor road will take you around few lakes and local settlements, which makes some nice sceneries with surrounding mountains. They were partly covered with fresh snow in our case. Taking a bus from Coyhaique terminal to Villa Frei in the morning, we started quite early for our standards, and therefore we made it easily in 1 day, coming back to Coyhaique in the late afternoon. Because of a light rain, the road was not that dusty, but it might be annoying in dry weather, especially the last part around airport, that was also quite busy.
Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka
- 2022 Nov 22 Frank 1 day RR NOBO
Got the bus to Villa Frei & walked back to Coyhaique. One small shop in Villa Frei & lots of dogs, a stick may be useful. Didn't see any place to stay there. I agree with all the comments below. This must be the least interesting section on RR GPT1-40. No facilities along the route & didn't see anywhere good to camp. As you approach Coyhaique it gets dustier & going past the airport is nasty with lots of traffic throwing up blinding clouds of dust. The last 2KM is quiet.
- 2022 Feb: 04-05, SoBo, RR, Kris&Stiina
The whole section is a gravel road, except for a few km in the beginning where it is asphalt. We hitched the first 16km and then continued on foot the traffic wasn’t too bad but it wasn’t great for peaceful hiking either, lots of dust eating with every passing car. Chileans do love their fences so everything was well fenced off on both sides of the road for most of the section. We were lucky that some cattle did not agree with the local politics of fencing off the open water and had broken a fence to access the Burgos Lake. Which is where we camped at and had a nice swim. It was right next to the road but bushes helped with making it somewhat private. What they didn’t help that much with was the dust cloud that the passing cars generated, but luckily the traffic was not too bad. The next day we hiked/hitched to the end of the section, as the road was just too boring and we wanted to get on some trails already. Unless you are super into connecting footsteps then we would recommend to just try and get a hitch to the start of next section.
For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures
Summary Table
| GPT31H: Valle Simpson | Hiking | Packrafting | |||||
| Group | G: Aysen Norte | Total | 36.6 km | 9 h | - | - | |
| Region | Chile: Aysén (XI) | Trails (TL) | - | - | - | - | |
| Start | Coyhaique | Minor Roads (MR) | 20.7 km | 56.6% | - | - | |
| Finish | Villa Frei | Primary Roads (PR) | 15.9 km | 43.4% | - | - | |
| Status | Published & Verified | Cross-Country (CC) | - | - | - | - | |
| Traversable | Sep - May | Bush-Bashing (BB) | - | - | - | - | |
| Packraft | Only Burden | Ferry (FY) | - | - | - | - | |
| Connects to | GPT30H, GPT32 | Investigation (I) | - | - | - | - | |
| Options | 8 km (Variants Only) | Exploration (EXP) | - | - | - | - | |
| Hiking | Packrafting | Total on Water | - | - | |||
| Attraction | 1 (of 5) | - | River (RI) | - | - | ||
| Difficulty | 1 (of 5) | - | Lake (LK) | - | - | ||
| Direction | Both ↓↑ | - | Fjord (FJ) | - | - | ||
| Comment | - | ||||||
| Character | Farmland, Settlers, Road Walking | ||||||
| Challenges | - | ||||||
Satellite Image Map
Elevation Profile
Elevation Profile of Regular Hiking Route
Elevation Profile of Regular Packrafting Route
[[File:|frame|center|Elevation Profile of Regular Hiking Route (2019)]]
Section Planning Status
Recommended Travel Period
Benefits of Hiking and Packrafting
Recommended Travel Direction
Section Length and Travel Duration
Suitable Section Combinations
Section Attractiveness
Section Difficulty
Resupply
Resupply Town
Shopping: Food
2 supermarkets in Coyhaique. 2 small shops in Villa Frei but they will not be open when the first bus arrives.
Shopping: Fuel
Several shops in Coyhaique sell camping gas. Shop around as prices vary a lot.
Shopping: Equipment
There are several hiking shops in Coyahique.
Services: Restaurants
Lots of restaurants in Coyhaique. They generally open around 10AM. Moneda de Oro on the main street is good.
Services: Laundry
Services: ATM and Money Exchange
2 exchange offices in Coyhaique, rates may be poor. Several banks & ATMs. All ATMs will be closed outside bank opening hours. Banco Estado opens on Saturday mornings.
Accommodation: Hostals and Hotels
Lots of places in Coyhaique. Bosque Patagonia hospedaje at the side of the Unimarc supermarket is one of the best cheap options.
Accommodation: Cabañas
Accommodation: Camping
Transport: Ground Transport
Transport: Ferries
Transport: Shipping Services
Resupply on the Trail
Location, Names, Available Items and Services
Access to Route and Return
Access to Start
2023 info: Buses to Villa Frei from Coyhaique bus terminal: Monday 7:30, 8:15, 15:30, 17:00, 19:30 Tuesday to Friday 8:15, 15:30, 17:30, 19:30 Saturday 08:00 No bus on Sunday. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Villa Frei & the bus generally turns around immediately & goes back to Coyhaique