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==Season 2023/24==
*2023-Dec-7/ 6 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP-LK-2 + RR-MR + RR-MR&BB + OH-BB&TL / Lauren & Sebastian
We were not stopped by authorities from entering the lake. Lago Pirihueico was enjoyable with strong backwind which allowed us to use our sail on a run. Recommend to stop at the beautiful beach at Los Baños. We camped at Camp {18} [22.2/615]-not recommended on hindsight as we wasted time setting up the boat to get to the trail entry point and repacking. Suggest to camp right at the trail head (good campsite).
The way up to the pass has no mentionable difficulties until 1300m. The last 150m were still under a blanket of snow, however it was substantially less than what was reported by Tom 2 weeks ago, so walking was smooth but slow. Amazing views above the tree line! We camped at Camp {18} [55.4/871].
We decided to stay on RR-MR&BB to give the infamous bushbashing a try. After Bridge {18} [64.2/652] the path is single track with at first not much difficulty to navigate. This changes quickly, as in the dense forest there were many fallen large trees, which made wayfinding and passing through with the packrafting equipment a challenge. We camped at -40.0942, -71.8924 which was a decent flat spot next to the river.
Generally we cleared a path with our machete. We strongly advise to bring one given the overgrown conditions. Progress was slowed down as crawling is required near the end of this segment. We forded at Ford {18} [72.2/463], demanding and unnecessary because on the other side there was no trail visible, only an impenetrable fortress of bamboo. Even the trail after the wall as mentioned by Frank is now taken over. We forded back and followed OH-BB&TL which was a better choice. Horse tracks indicate frequent use by the settlers in this area. We camped at a beautiful logging spot at intersection of OH-BB&TL-V and OH-MR-I.
The reward for 2 days in the dense forest was a sweet camp site with hot springs. We stayed an extra night there. Last part to Lago Maihue we mostly hitchhiked as much of the road is now asphalt. There are several well-stocked shops along the way to resupply.
* Recommendation Jan Dudeck in November 2023: Based on the STRAVA Heat Global Heatmap (https://www.strava.com/heatmap#11.72/-71.93115/-40.05048/hot/all) the route GPT18 Option 1 is more used. It remains unclear if this route gets hikers in the right-of-way dispute. Anyway, it seams worthwhile attempting this route especially when walking southbound. This should avoid demanding bush bashing and also prevents some more difficult river crossings.