Cambios

Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format:

=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

I was quite happy about that ! I continued my way a bit further and found a place to camp in the bush.

* 2024-03-24 to 2024-03-26 / 2 days? / NOBO / RR, Options 02, 04, 02B, 01 / Fangwen + Tobi

There is no hotspring at 11-01C 1.7km. The spring is at 11-02B 1.2km. It is warm and with an amazing view, but quite shallow and muddy, still nice to sit in. A small narrow stream of clean cold water nearby but no pool.

I camped next to the spring, there is a stonewalled campside, but no other protection. Next day I went up to Cerro Dedos and hiked the ridge to the southeast. Well worth it, but the winds were very strong and cold. Shortly before the peak of Dedos it is easy walking, the last few meters is light climbing. There are 2 peaks, the higher one is a bit harder and very exposed on top, the lower one is easier and has plenty of flat space and a stoneguy on it. Coming from the east first you will see only the higher peak, but you can easily hike around it.

*2024 Feb 19 to Feb 26 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / Opt 5A, Opt 5B, Opt 5, detour to Laguna Blanca / Michael and Kasia

Laguna Blanca detailed account: We walked down the road to the lake. There is no water starting from (-38.35578, -71.61120) on. We arrived at a locked gate with walking passages on either side and 4 signs on 1 wooden board. The uppermost is a wood sign that says “Area Silvestre Protegía” and looks like something in a park. The second is a fairly lengthy laminated paper sign in good condition that says it is private property and there is access with paid ticket, and to go 500 m on to meet their personnel for more information and to pay if you didn't already in the lodge, along with icons for swimming, fishing, canoeing, etc. Below that was another laminated paper sign that was badly water stained and looked old saying “Advertencia Propiedad privada con vigilancia continual No entrar! Solamente autorizados”, and finally a third laminated sign indicating no cars and no motorcycles. We took this to mean, I think understandably, that people can enter, but it is paid. The human sized gaps on either side of the gate looked like they were designed to let hikers through while preventing the cars and motorcycles that were prohibited as per the sign. We walked to reception, passing along the way a few hand painted wood signs for native animals and one with the elements. At the reception area there was a large carved wooden sign with the trails to three beaches and a CONAF insignia at the bottom. There were a few smaller signs, one saying Laguna Blanca Zona Protegía and claiming UNESCO status (it is not), another showing the horario (something not shown at the entrance a half km back), another saying to announce your arrival and departure with the guardaparque, another warning to disinfect fishing gear due to didymo, and another pointing to a cabin indicating reception. There was also a badly water stained paper sign saying no fishing, no hunting and no collecting fruit. The cabin had a window and a sign for a kiosco and there was also an unnecessary wooden sign near the cabin indicating again kiosco. There was also a bathroom with men's and women's signs attached to the respective doors. (There is a reason for the exhaustive detail I am providing here). We called out buenas tardes and a boy, probably around 12 years old came to the window. We asked him about camping and he asked about a ticket. We said we wanted to buy a ticket and he said if we didn't have one that we had entered illegally. We were confused about this, but assumed it was just a misunderstanding on his part. We explained that we came from the gate and were looking for a camping spot and asked how much. He said it was 8.000 pp, but he couldn't take money. No one else was around because his parents had gone to get food. On the door to the cabin was a sign in Spanish, English and German saying if no one was there, they were working elsewhere on the property and to go to one of the beaches and they would find you later. We told him our names and which countries we were from. He told us which beach was best for camping and we told him we would come back in the morning to pay and register, because at this point it was around 20:30. He said okay and we headed to the beach. The trail down was nearly a kilometer even though it could have been less than half that. We set up the tent and started dinner. At the beach there was a sign saying catch and release fishing. About an hour later the guardaparque canning running down to the beach shouting that we were on private property and we had entered illegally. He was very worked up, but we explained our situation and he calmed down. He had a walkie talkie with him that kept interrupting with two other people on the other end. We managed to explain where we were coming from and that Matias had mentioned the place on Facebook and suddenly he lit up, saying oh, yes Matias, you were referred by Matias. The Chilena woman also remembered him, and apparently he was fondly remembered. That changed the dynamic with the guardaparque entirely. Then another woman, speaking Spanish but with a German accent, came over the radio. She made it very clear that she did not care at all who referred us or why we were there, we were on her private property, illegally, and she was very, very angry about it. This went back and forth a bit, the guardaparque sort of trying to help, the radio not working well. Eventually he and I went up to reception (another kilometer back up the hill) to register us. She was on the radio and I actually talked to her directly in English. I explained that we were walking two weeks from Antuco, we had read a nice review from another member of our hiking group, and that we didn't understand that we needed to register at the lodge. She was very disinterested in anything other than the fact that we were on her private property (despite the fact that it is clearly a business) and should not be. She said she didn't want to discuss where we were coming from or how we got into her land over the radio. She also said a number of things that made no sense. First she said that they close the gate at 19:00 “which is quite normal here”. We left the next day and at 16:00 the gate was still closed and locked, because of course it was, there are pedestrian passes on both sides, and the gate is there for cars, ATVs and motorcycles. She said there was a number posted to call to make a reservation for the next day, but that was not true, there were no phone numbers on any of the signs. Furthermore, the guardaparque gave me a flier for the lodge which did have numbers (but you'd have to enter illegally to get it) that clearly stated on the bottom that there was very poor cell signal at the lake. In the end she said we had two choices, pay the entrance fee, which we were going to pay anyway, and a multa of 3.000 pp for “illegal entry” (they were all very fond of that specific wording), or leave immediately (at this point it was 22:00, and as previously mentioned the was no water for several kilometers). I said we would pay, really what choice did we have, and gave the radio back to Carlos, the guardaparque. He was very nice, said it was his fault, he's normally always there and just left for awhile because they were out of food. We talked to him and his partner more the next day. He explained that the fees were 5.000 pp for entry to the lake and another 5.000 pp for camping if you first registered at the lodge. For anyone who doesn't register at the lodge first, regardless of the time they enter, it constitutes “illegal entry” and there is a 3.000 pp multa. Keep in mind that the sign at the front gate says “welcome” “access with ticket” and “you can pay the guardaparque 500 m on if you didn't pay in the lodge”. There is absolutely no mention at the gate of the prices, the hours of entry, how far away the lodge is (it is 7 km further down the highway), or that a multa is issued for “illegal entry”. The whole situation was incredibly frustrating and it's our first truly unpleasant interaction here in Chile. It is also a very suspicious situation. On the OSM map on the GPS the lake is within the reserva, though on Gaia it is outside the reserva. She has a CONAF marked trail sign with her property, but she's claiming it's private, and a sign claiming UNESCO status, which it simply isn't. Bottom line, if you go, be prepared to walk an additional 14 km round trip to register the “normal way”, or to pay a 3.000 pp fine and be yelled at by Beatrice for “illegal entry”. But also maybe just don't go. It's really not that nice and there are better places to camp in the reserva.

*2024-Feb-14 to 2024-Feb-15 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Joscha

Water at all Water and Ford Waypoints I passed today. But at km 3.1 it's not much more than a trickle. The hotspring at km 6.6 is a little dirty and has some cow poo around. But still worth a little bath.

Day 2: RR [13.7-32.9]

Water at all Water and Ford Waypoints I passed today. There is still some snow on the southern side of the Pass (km 27.6), but you can walk around it on the eastern side on a step gravel slope. Be carfull walking down. There are a lot of lose bolders. I didn't take the trail out of the gulch at km 31.1 as Hannes suggested. Its possible to continue in the gulch but I had to get rid of my hiking poles at one point to use both my hands to climb down a mini waterfall. The Hotspring at km 32.0 was pretty dirty and rather warm than hot. I did not went to Ranquil and continued directly with section 12 at km 32.9.

*2024-Feb-10 to 2024-Feb-12 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / Section 12 on RR - Guallali / RR + Option 4 until the pass / Alex & Christophe

*2024-Jan-16 to 2024-Jan-18 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes

Nothing worth to mention, which has not already been mentioned before…except the gulch after the pass. At around -38.110511, -71.087826 it gets pretty straight, with fast water flow and river gets deeper and you are not able to figure out what comes after the next 50m because you do not see…I went out there from the river bed and took a trail on the left side (with some BB for the first 20m), you will see this trail…at around -38.111291, -71.087135 I entered the gulch again. Choose yourself.

Afterwards I went out to Ranquil and then to Maximilianos and Anna’s minishop at -38.24995, -71.23238. They let me sleep there. So nice people! Convinced Max to sell Gas in his shop, so should be available soon there.

*2024-01-13/22 / 7 + 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR (sections 12 & 11) / Coline

The river crossing is Ok, and there is plenty of water all along the way.

As for the resupplying, I don't know about Troyo, but the only shop in Guallalí is very small (no bottle of gas or tobacco for sure). The woman who manages it is very nice though : she indicated me that a bus (with more food) would pass at 8 p.m, she invited me to charge my bateries at her place, let me have a nap, while she prepared me a delicious dish ! I had nice time with the younger kid, and even spend the night there at the end.

*2024-Jan-06 to 2024-Jan-07 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {11-C} - RR / Lilian

Ford RR [18.0/1199] : Crossing of Río Chaviquin, when you arrive the river, upstream 5m and look at the riverbed underwater, a rock bar there, about 45° downstream to the other side. Water is above half of thighs at noon, luckily flowing not fast and not strong.

After the crossing, sometimes the trail easily mix with cow paths.

X[26.8/2036] : if you don't look at the GPS, it is a "must" miss junction.

Pass[27.6/2174] : no need to step on any snow at north side. Still covered by lot of snow at south until km28.6(1850m). You can sit down then slide down, but some rocks appear at 2060m, better control the sliding direction otherwise your butt will cut off. I keep skiing down(with my trail runner) until almost the end of snow. You can walk on some stable ground start at km28.4(1910m). I think this part is difficult for NOBO if in heavy snow conditions.

And then dirt road walking all the way down. Maybe possible for hitching out on weekend if you are lucky, i saw some people driving to here for picnic when i was walking down the road on Sunday.

2023-dec-23/ 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR / Lukas en Tess

Then the pickle began, we needed to restock for section 12, but the busses are only monday, wednesday, and Fridays. And not on public holidays like monday the 25th of dec!!! We tried hitchhiking, but there was no one passing except horses.

In the end, we found a new minishop on the way to Troyo {11-5f} 14.3 k from the end of GPT11. The owners just moved here from Santiago. Maximilian and Anna are probably the nicest people we have met on the trail so far. The shop has everything you need to resupply except gas (maybe in the future). They took us in and we ended up staying with them for 2 days and celibrating Christmas together with some of their friends. It was great!

2023 Dec 15 / 1 day / hiking / SOBO / option 05 + 05F + hitchhike / Frans

Got a ride to Lonquimay after joining the main road to Troyo (11-05F) by the first vehicle that passed by.

2023-Dex-02 to 2023-Dec-04 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Jens

Not much to say about this section, we found the end on the dirt road relatively dull but the beginning in the mountain is awesome

*2023-Feb-11 to 2023-Feb-12 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (option 01+ off route) / Natalie&Tomáš

Continued onto Section 12 towards Banos Coyucos for the night.

* 2023-Jan-27 to 2023-Jan-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Johana & Matouš

We camped near the ford on the 18th kilometre (just about 20 metres upstream is a great place to take a bath in). The next day we made it all the way to the end; however, it was an ordeal. The view from the pass was jaw-dropping and parts of the path leading up to it were shaded by beautiful trees, but we feel like the horrible descent (we were doing the regular route) made it not worth it for us. Despite the fact that we were lucky enough to have the best conditions for the descent (only some snowpatches at the top, sunny weather), the terrain felt ankle-spraining. The wobbly stones kept sliding down and it required a lot of focus. We went down through the canyon and after the point where you need to go above it when it becomes too narrow we went down the wrong way and I fell down clutching at straws (literally) not to fall down. So it might be better to go through the river..? To be optimistic, the last part of the path was beautiful again. We hitched a ride and stayed with a really nice family that took us to Lonquimay the next day. It's a nice bigger town with a lot of possibilities to resupply. There are really buses only Mo-We-Fri from Ranquil.

*2023-Jan-17 to 2023-Jan-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 1 to the Termas del Pelehue / Will

I wouldn't recommend it if the flow rate is high. Then I climbed back up to the final stretch of the main option route. The climb was steep at first but with enough vegetation and solid rock in the slope to get up. Everything after that was easy, more or less.

* 2023-Jan-14 to 2023-Jan-16 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

*2023-Jan-13 to 2023-Jan-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Guallalí - Termas de Pelehue (junction GPT 11, option 1 and GPT 12) / Anna & Christopher

The next day after arriving on the plateau there is a CC part, so keep an eye on your navigation device. When we reached the pass we accidently went the wrong way and ended up taking option 1 to decrease the detour. Bad idea! Better don't take option 1. There is almost no path, its very steep, a lot of scrambling and there was one very stupidly dangerous descent across some gravel/rock part. It took us around 3,5 hours to cross option 1. We would definetly not do it again. We directly continued to section 12.

*2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-30 / 5.5 days (GPT11 + GPT12) / Hiking /SOBO / RR + OH 2 / Véronica

==Season 2021/22==

*2022-Feb-25 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain

- From GPT-11C Start to Guallali it's now a Minor Road so it's very easy to follow and you meet a lot cars going in both directions, they just waved me.

*2022-Feb-13 to 2022-Feb-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 11-01 (ABCDE) from the pass to Termas Pelehue on GPT12 / Veronika & Jo

We continued on GPT12 for one day, getting back to Ranquil via the southern optional route 12-01. This way, we could catch the bus to Lonquimay the morning after (left at 07:55, there's a second one at ~17:00 Mo-We-Fr). Camped opposite the carabineros (on their suggestion) a bit behind the bus stop, close to the river.

*2022-Jan-17 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa

As described by others, there is a shop in Guallalí with VERY limited supply. It's next to the brown house of big planks, but you enter in front of the little red house to the right.

Romina normally still offers accomodation, but when we were there she was leaving for an appointment in the evening and couldn't have us. She pointed us to the carabineros to camp, but they didn't want us there and told us to go to the camping ground "3 km" down the road. It turned out to be more like 12, and we ended up camping on a field some km from Guallalí

*2021-Dec-03/ 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony

Continued on to guallalí where there is a mini-shop with very limited supplies. (There are no flags or signs that indicate there’s a shop but it’s by the brown house made of rustic wooden planks.)

Went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.

*2021-Dec / Hiking / NOBO / OH 5 / Franck & Damien

==Season 2019/20==

*2020-Jan-28 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH5 / Martin

4 days. 120 km. Because of bad weather forecast in the high parts of the cordillera, with strong winds, rain and even snow, we opted to take Alternative route 5 from Chenqueco to Lonquimay Volcanoe. A lot of road walking at the begining but the scenery and trail in the National Park were really amazing and worth it. Beware that in the traverse through the volcanoe to Corralco Ski Resort, there is no water and also difficult to camp. High winds and a lot of rain at the end. We checked many hostels in Lonquimay and the most convenient for us, was Hostal Nativo close to the main square.

*2020-Jan-23 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank

2 days & continued to GPT12

At Pass 2180 wind & rain came in, I diverted onto OH-CC-A@11-03-#001 as described by Linda. Snowfields were old & undercut by stream leaving tunnels 5M deep, definitely not safe to slide on. Walked on edge of snowfields or a little above them on right. Then you enter a gorge, it is best to stay close to the stream & only leave the gorge if you must. In to Ranquil, nothing there apart from Carabineros & no traffic. From Ranquil I continued on OH-TL-V@12-01-#001 to GPT12

*2020-Jan-23 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ty & America

Guayali - Termas de Pelehue

Short & Beautiful. 4:00 Bus Ralco - Guallali. Arrived at carabineros after 8. Luckily they let us camp outside. TONS OF FLIES, so be ready for that. The thermal pools at Pelehue are up by the fumarole. The traverse over there is gnarly, steep, slippery, all the good stuff. Quite small, but with an AMAZING view. The lower one seemed fine to get in, we didn’t as we wanted to make it to the next hot springs on section 12.

*2020-Jan-17 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina & Ivo

Start: Guallalí, End: Termas de Pelehue

2.5 days. We went from Ralco to Guallalí by Fletes (see section "To section start"). It's a bit expensive but we didn't want to take the bus at 16:30, arriving late. Beautiful section. The first hot springs are worth the detour if you have time to clean them and dig a bigger pot (would take you approx. 2h), otherwise you just have a warm foot bath. After the pass we took the optional route #002 leading back to the regular route, then we switched some times between optional and regular route and finally took the optional route directly to the Termas de Pelehue. This part is quite demanding as there are some landslides where you have to find your way through somehow. The hot springs are gone due to lack of maintenance.

* 2020-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 5 / Maddie & Tom

3 days, 120km walking around Volcán Lonquimay. Given section 11 was not feasible due to high levels of snow we took Optional Route 5. For us it was 5 star scenery. It is beautiful and the trail is very easy to follow with trail markings in the CONAF park. We found it to be quite a quick section as a result of the easy navigation and good trail quality. Good resupply options in Lonquimay (we stocked up on food as well as bought some new socks and more 95% alcohol for our stove).

* 2020-Jan-09 / 5 days (GPT11+12) / Hiking / SOBO / OH / Matus & Anna

After a laguna we took a optional to the Pass 2180 and road around the Pehuenche Extortioner. We needed to get down from elevation ASAP bacause of wind. We passed puesto early in the morning and no one was around. After rainy day everything above 2000m was white. We took trail to pass 1920m which was just with bit of fresh snow and then took minor road #001 down to valley. So I have no idea about the rest of the trail.

Edit: adding a picture from the last sadle 1920m, we did after "rainy" day.

*2019-Dec-27 to 2019-Dec-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 3 / Linda

Was lucky to find people with a car who dropped me in Lonquimai cause I had to resupply. Otherwise, only 3 Buses a week from Ranquil (no tiendas to resupply) to Lonquimai = Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Supermercado with everything to resupply and accommodations in Lonquimai

* 2019-Dec-12 / 4.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Sophie & Hendrik

We liked: The amazing views, the condors we met at the northern part of the pass (they came very close to us), the mountain crystals of which there are plenty on the northern side of Cerro Moncol.

We did not like so much: The higher difficulty due to the snow in some parts (Snow on top of Cerro Moncol made the regular route more difficult)

==Season 2018/19==

==Season 2016/17==

=Resupply and Accommodation=

=Transport to and from Route=

*Guallali

Bus from Ranquil to Lonquimay Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7:30

=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=

=Links to other Resources=