GPT27P (Alto Rio Palena)

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Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions

Season 2022/23

• General information :

The section is best paddled between January and May. The primary danger would be a high and fast river, typically most common early in the season, or after heavy rain. The river can only be paddled westwards.

Section 27P is 103.5km and takes 2-2.5 days to complete. Together with Section 28P, the two sections are a total of 180km and take around 4 days.

The section is stunning, interesting, unpopulated and fun. Although, in reality, much of 27P is not too far from a road or occasional buildings, these are rarely visible and the river feels remote. Even more so for the continuation onto Section 28P. Alto Río Palena passes through farmland with a mountainous backdrop. It is very scenic. The many rapids and constantly changing features of the river make it stimulating. Combined with 28P, paddling on one river from the mountains to the Pacific is a wonderful experience. A very attractive section.

Río Palena may not be suitable for beginners. There are many rapids, countless tree and rock obstacles, and occasional strong currents and whirlpools. At times of high river levels, the river will not only be faster, but there will be fewer places to get out or scout. There are many more rapids than indicated in the track file. That said, the rapids are generally not above Class 2, and some of the earliest and most challenging ones, can be portered around. Plus, the many obstacles in the river are avoidable.

Season 2020/21

• January 16-21/ Zach / Palena to Puerto Raúl Marín Balmaceda (27P & 28P) + Rio Frío (75P) / 6 Days easy

As Shaun mentioned, Kara Davis and Jen Ni described this section quite well. I combined 27P, 28P, and the Rio Frío which was totally worth the added transport effort. If you enjoy the rapids of the upper Palena, you’ll love the Rio Frío. La Junta was a nice lunch stop and upon meeting some familiar cycle tourists, turned into an afternoon off. Note that the take out/camp here is a popular swimming spot, so take care of your belongings when going to town. I left my headphones in the sun to dry and they were gone when I returned. Despite that and rain the final day, I have nothing but good things to say about Rio Palena. The termas are aptly named. The surrounding moss and tannin in the water make you feel like a gingerbread man soaking in a forest gnome’s tea kettle. After seeing no one on the river except 1 fishing tour, I was very surprised to encounter a group of 50 paddlers as part of the Decenso Colectivo Ruta de Palena. This is an organized group that paddles from Palena to Puerto Raul Marin in 4 days this time each year. The ferry still runs Thursdays and Sundays, although it left around 11:30, not 9:40 as the website states. No problem to buy a ticket upon boarding.

Season 2019/20

• 2020-Jan-22 / Shaun / Regular Packrafting route

I combined this section with GPT28P. These two sections are spectacular, varied, fun and challenging. I barely saw another person the entire time, and there’s something very satisfying about following a single river all the way out to the ocean. Very enjoyable and memorable.

I found the wiki comments of Kara Davis (below) and the Facebook comments of Jen Ni (Jan 5 2019) and Gerald Klamer (March 27, 2018) to be very helpful. Jen’s categorization of 27P and 28P into five sub-sections is very good. My impressions were similar to all of theirs and I don’t have much to add.

Not having much whitewater experience, I started 27P around km23, just west of the cable ferry and a series of early rapids. However, I was fine with the many rapids after that, so with hindsight I would have started from Palena. 27P and 28P each took me about a day and a half for a total of just over three days for the two combined. Apparently, the river was at a normal level for this time of year. It ran around 5-8kph for most of 27P and until about km40 of 28P, then maybe at 2-3kph thereafter. There were countless tree and rock hazards throughout, plus a number of whirlpools (often at sharp turns) - but these were all avoidable. As the river widened in 28P, I encountered fierce headwinds in several places, and a noticeable incoming tide toward the end.

At Raúl Marin Balmaceda, I took the 11 hour ferry to Puerto Cisnes (departs Thursdays and Sundays) which technically completed the section, in its current form. The views were stunning.

Season 2018/19

• Comments posted on Facebook by Jen Ni January 5 2019

GPT27P and 28P (Alto and Bajo Rio Palena) Packrafting Westbound (😉): Palena to Raul Marin Balmaceda 2019-Jan-01 to 2019-Jan-04

Our impression was that the river can be separated into 5 subsections, each with different character. All parts are attractive and felt quite remote. For camping you generally have the choice between sandy/rocky river banks and farm land.

1. (0-25km) Small river, many rapids: In this subsection the river is still relatively small and often shallow, ground contact can be a serious issue. At least every kilometer there's a small rapid (usually WW-1, sometimes class 2). There are many more rapids than mapped and those are not necessarily the most difficult. Usually the rapids are only deep enough to be run in a narrow part where the main current is. We only had problems with one rapid at Lat -43.62009 Lon -71.86343 where a tree blocked the main current making it impossible to run safely. The most difficult two rapids (class 2+) are at 22km (2km after the ferry) where many large rocks in the middle of the river make scouting and very precise maneuvering necessary. Depending on water levels they may not be runnable at all. Both rapids can be viewed and portaged (individually or together) by taking out on the beach on the left side. The river flowed with ~5kph.

2. (25-65km) Small river, few rapids, many trees: By now the river has grown a bit and ground contact becomes less of an issue. There are noticably fewer rapids and the largest challenge becomes maneuvering between the many trees lying in the water. The average velocity of the current was actually a bit higher than before.

3. (65-105km) Fast and medium-sized river with few obstacles: After Río Frío has joined the river at the 180° turn the river grows significantly and ground contact is almost no more issue. In this subsection, the river flows fastest (8kph) and we had a lot of fun with the relatively easy and broad rapids here. There are fewer trees in the water that can be easily avoided in the broad river. We found a lovely campsite on grass that did not seem to be used for grazing at Lat -43.89160 Lon -72.37914.

4. (105-155km) Big river, fast current: Close to La Junta, the river is joined by Río Rosselot and becomes huge and mostly calm. We were surprised to see that it still flows with high velocity (5-8kph) and still has a noticable gradient that makes progress fast. The few trees can be easily avoided but may be difficult to spot sometimes. The main challenge that may arise here are strong head winds that make maneuvering quite difficult.

5. (155km-sea) Big and slow river, tidal effects: Starting at the large 270° loop, the massive river becomes noticably slower (2-3kph) and wind and tidal effects determine the speed of your progress. We found that the tides are approx. 30min after the times shown for Pto. Montt by the Android app (by 7th gear). Paddling here feels more like being on a lake and waves build up due to the wind.

Resupply and Accommodation

Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns

• La Junta In La Junta, there are plenty of lodging options, from hotels and cabañas to camping, as well as a couple medium sized grocery stores adequate for resupply. There is a tourist information center located at the edge of the main plaza.

• Franco, the owner of Los Rosadita hotel in Palena, can share expert knowledge of Rio Palena. The hotel is also a nice play to stay and makes good pizzas.

Links to other Resources

Retired Section Article GPT27P - Alto Río Palena

Images

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GPT27P: Alto Río Palena

GPT27P: Alto Río Palena				Hiking		Packrafting
Group	F: Sector Palena		Total	-	-	103.5 km	21 h
Region	Chile: Los Lagos (X) & Aysén (XI)		Trails (TL)	-	-	-	-
Start	Palena		Minor Roads (MR)	-	-	-	-
Finish	Río Palena (La Junta)		Primary Roads (PR)	-	-	2.3 km	2.2%
Status	Published & Verified		Cross-Country (CC)	-	-	-	-
Traversable	Jan - May (Maybe: Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec)		Bush-Bashing (BB)	-	-	-	-
Packraft	Required		Ferry (FY)	-	-	-	-
Connects to	GPT26, GPT27H, GPT28P, GPT30P, GPT72		Investigation (I)	-	-	-	-
Options	124 km (Variants Only)		Exploration (EXP)	-	-	-	-
	Hiking	Packrafting		Total on Water		101.3 km	97.8%
Attraction	-	5 (of 5)		River (RI)		101.3 km	97.8%
Difficulty	-	4 (of 5)		Lake (LK)		-	-
Direction	None	Only ↓		Fjord (FJ)		-	-
Comment	Hiking: Hiking not feasible
Character	Valdivian Rain Forest, Farmland, Settlers, River Packrafting
Challenges	-

Elevation Profile of Regular Hiking Route (2019)