Cambios

The Greater Patagonian Trail snakes mostly through the southern Andes but also diverts to the west into the Patagonian fjords and descents in to east where the vast plains and the Patagonian steppe begins. Therefore you can taste this sample from the full variety when walking on the GPT.

In the northern part of the trail from Santiago to about latitude 35° S (about 150 km direct line) the Andes are very high with several summits exceeding 6000 m. Here passes exceed 4000 m altitude and steep rocky walls and glaciers impede walking along the main mountain chain. Therefore in this northern zone the trail climbs through the Precordillera mainly along the first mountain range next just east of the central valley. But don’t misunderstand “Precordillera”as low; here the regular route reached the highest point with 3300 m. The mostly semi-desert like vegetation is adapted to the dry and hot climate.

From about latitude 35° S to about 39° S (roughly 450 km direct line) the Andes get substantially lower but remain a continuous high mountain range. Summits rarely exceed 4000 m but most passes are still above 2000 m. Here the terrain is much more suitable for hiking. Therefore the trail passes along the main mountain range close to the continental divide that also . Here the continental divide forms also the border between Chile and Argentina. A large number of options provides you many hiking choices in this area. You can opt between lower trails and higher more demanding routes that get you in very remote areas of the Andes. Climate during summer is still quite dry but provides sufficient precipitation to maintain a relative open forest in the valleys.

South of latitude 39° S you do not find any more a continuous high mountain chain. The higher summits are still above 3000 m but numerous depressions create form deep breaches in the main maintain range. These valleys were created by immense glaciers during past glacial periods ice ages and remain partly filled by lakes. Many of the passes between Chile and Argentina are in these depressions and often below 1000 m, some are as low as 200 m. Regular rain maintains a very dense forest that is also called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdivian_temperate_rain_forest Valdivian temperate rain forest]. Due to this geography the trail route goes up and down between these depressions and the island-like mountains that rise out of a wild sea of dense tempered rain forest. Here having a packraft becomes beneficial.