21
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→Season 2024/25
==Season 2024/25==
* ''' 2024-12-21 to 2024-12-25 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR to Ford [68.9/2340] (Rio San Pedro) / Dorota'''
Generally, very extreme stage, especially for women alone of 1.64 cm height.
I started in Quénes, which in this period was very empty. I passed the night in the restaurant in front of the pizzeria, but I could not recommend it. 20.000 clp with cold water. First, for MR, it was very easy, but you needed to take water. But then difficulties started. First, passing Río Colorado [33.1/1455]. I tried to cross it in the evening. I crossed one bank, but the other was not. So I put my tent between the banks, which was not safe. In the morning, I went upstream and I found a better place for crossing the river using mainly rocks. But still, it was exhausting. All operations took me one hour. And after that, I was so tired that I slept for one hour. Other fords [45.2/1919] (Río Baroso) and [51.2/1940] (Río Negro) were also difficult for me - the water was to knee level. There was a very good bridge on Río Colorado (55.0). But the descent to the valley of Rio Colorado was very demanding. At point -35.32681, -70.65340, it starts downhill to Río. At the start, I could not find a safe way of going down because the track leads you into hell. But after that, at a point below, I found a sign of the route (acouple of rocks). The ascent after it is also demanding because of navigation. All the time, I was checking the route on GPS. Finally, my adventure with stage 5 finished at km 68.9/2340 Río San Pedro. I tried to cross it in the afternoon, but I fell into the river because of the strong current. The level was only to the knee. I put up my tent. Very early in the morning, I tried again. After two steps, I fell into the river and started going down. I thought that it was my end. Trying to catch any rock, I lost my sticks. Finally, I was rescued. I was frightened, wet, and felt very cold. I put up my tent and for the whole day thought about what to do. Without sticks, I could not cross any river, and I still had 13 km to join stage 6 and cross the river. Each option had rivers. The next day, in the morning, I put a signal SOS on my reach. After two hours, a helicopter with three soldiers came. They took me to the hospital in Curicó. Despite the fact that I did not have any injuries. It is a procedure. In the hospital, they took me to the emergency room, made an examination, and gave me electrolytes. In this hospital, it was the first rescue . Everybody was interested in me, which was really embarrassing. Then, the carabineros went to make a report. In the hospital, they were very polite, also the carabineros. After that, they took me to a hostel. After the accident, I did not know what to do and for a month had something like a type of trauma that something could happen again. Finally, I decided to continue stage 6 from the start. But I registered at the point of the carabineros, the same carabineros which were in the hospital. They took my data and each day I sent them information that everything was okay. They said to me that if they did not have a signal, they would start a rescue. I made stage 6 to Termas but again I could not cross the river near Termas because of trauma de rios. I came back and I met Peggy at Laguna Animas. We continued together and step by step I started to think that I still could continue the trail.
After 2 months (25.02.2025) from this accident, I know why it happened. And it is not easy to share such a type of accident. But I hope that this description could help other persons.
I did not have any experience with crossing rivers. I made it wrong. Now I can cross this river without any problem. Also, this stage is very exhaustive because of the terrain. So after a few days on this stage, my muscles were not strong enough to confront the strong current. My recommendation especially for women solo: try to find anybody who teaches you but practically not theoretically how to cross rivers. Now I am on stage 21 and I am really happy that I have decided to continue the trail.
* ''' 2025-FEB-12 to 2025-FEB-15 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. H)/ Martin '''