Cambios

South of Curicó the Andes lower in altitude but remain a continuous high mountain range. Summits rarely exceed 4000 m but most passes are still above 2000 m. Here the Andes are much more suitable for hiking. Therefore the trail follows the main mountain range close to the continental divide. Also here the continental divide constitute the border between Chile and Argentina so the trail is mostly close to the international limit but remains on the Chilean side. In this area a large number of route options provides you many hiking choices. You can often 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. In spring during while the snow melt is melting torrential rivers make this area nearly impassable.

South of Temuco you do not find any more a continuous high mountain chain. Numerous valleys and depressions break partly deep breaches into the main mountains range creating natural low passes between Chile and Argentina. These depressions and valleys were created by immense glaciers during past ice ages and remain partly filled by lakes. Many of these breaches are lower than 1000 m, some are just 200 m above sea level. These deep gaps in the cordillera (Spanish for mountain range) shift the continental divide in some areas far to the east and cause a partly significant offset between the main mountain range and the continent divide. This offset was one reason for more than a century of border disputes between Chile and Argentine that are not fully resolved now. The mountains of the Patagonian Andes are like large islands that are separated by channels of lowland. The higher summits reach mostly an altitude of 2000 m to 3000 m. Only few peeks exceed the 3000 m mark. Below the tree line frequent rain maintains a very dense, nearly impenetrable, forest that is also called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valdivian_temperate_rain_forest Valdivian temperate rain forest]. Due to this geography the GPT goes up and down between the depressions and the island-like mountains. Here having and provides a packraft becomes very beneficial in particular from section GPT17P attractive and varried hiking at least to GPT39finish of GPT22.

'''South of latitude 41° 30’ S: GPT22 Here having a packraft becomes very beneficial in particular from section GPT17P to GPT40'''GPT39 where you can use your inflatable boat on 40% of the distance.

South of At the latitude 46° 30’ S of Lago General Carrera and south of it are two large ice fields, the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Patagonian_Ice_Field Northern Patagonian Ice Field] and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Patagonian_Ice_Field Southern Patagonian Ice Fields]. Here ice fills completely the depressions between the island-like mountains to an altitude of about 1500 m. These are the two remnant parts of the much larger Patagonian Ice Sheet that covered most of Patagonia during previous ice ages. In this area the GPT guides you first though the mountains about 100 km east of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field. Here you can opt between attractive hiking and attractive packrafting routes but weather is volatile and distances between settlements are substantial. Towards the current southern terminus of the GPT you reach the eastern edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field what makes an impressive finish (. From GPT38 to GPT40). Here you can walk and paddle though a rough wind battered land full of milky glacier lakes that get constantly refilled by immense streams of ice that flow down from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.