Cambios

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

= Overview =

The crossing over Estero El Volcan (X2) was quite demanding and I had to figure it out and check during long times for the best way to cross. Then I took the variant H to linked the GPT 6 to GPT 5.

* '''2024-Mar-08 to 2024-Mar-16 / 8.5 days / Hiking / Descabezado Circuit / Control Fronterizo Laguna del Maule - Los Cipreses/ Option 02 + RR + Descabezado Chico / Alex & Christophe '''

Day 7: There was still a ton of snow at the pass and made our own track in the snow slope a little bit upper than the GPS track to cross more safely. We wanted to follow the high route described by Natalie & Tomás to avoid Don Víctor but as we saw how much snow there still was, how already tired we were (but not as much as our shoes) we decided to take the RR to go south. When we watched the high route from the RR, there was still a lot of snow patches. We finally stopped at Water, Camp [48.1/1837]. Not the best idea because it becomes a freezing hole during the night.

Day 8-9: We followed the RR, nothing more to add to other posts except that we never met Don Victor !

* '''2024-02-29 to 2024-03-07 / 7.5 days / Descabezado Circuit - Laguna del Maule to Los Cipreses / option 02, off-trail variant, 03, RR + Descabezado Grande and chico / Marilyne (+Fangwen and Tobi for first 3 days)'''

Logistics: Interbus (call them on WhatsApp: +56 9 9886 5872) runs a bus Mon-Fri from Talca to Medano (which is a bit further than la Mina). As of March 2024, this bus left at 12:30 and 19:00, returning to Talca from Médano at 7:20 and 15:30. From Médano hitchhike to the border checkpoint. It's not super easy, and you might only get as far as the furthest mine, roughly 5km before the border checkpoint. Alternatively, use a ride sharing app to go to the border checkpoint. We were able to get via multiple rides all the way to the border checkpoint, but it took some time (we arrived at 5.30pm). If you want to check out Laguna del Maule, tell the border guard that you're not crossing into Argentina, and they will let you pass. But the border checkpoint is closed at night (between 6pm and 9am?) and you're not supposed to cross it then. We quickly went to the lake and back before it closed.

Vilches Alto has a daily bus service to Talca at 12:30 and 16:00.

* '''2024-Feb- 22 to 2024-Feb-27/ 6days/hiking/SOBO/06/RR + volcano Decabezado/Paulina'''

For the next section, it's kind of easy to hitch-hike ( there are a lot of local workers on the road) to the beginning of the trail.

* '''2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-18 / 5.5 days / SOBO / RR / Gabriele - Trails of Wander'''

Water was plentiful for the entire route. Limited snowfields traverse with no issues. 100% full sun exposure all day after El Bolson. Windy at higher elevations. Harsh and dry environment with a lot of sand and dust. Lots of steep climbing in sand. Overall easy orientation and easy trails to follow but GPS track needed. Magnificent hike.

* '''2024-Feb-08 to 2024-Feb-14 / 5.5 days / SOBO / RR 01c 01e 03 03a/ Matthias de Austria'''

Absolutely incredible landscape. I'm here for dream routes like this. Perhaps the best hiking week of my life. GPT01-04 was nice, but GPT06 is in a completely different league. I loved it and I deeply miss this kind of remoteness in central europe.

* '''2024-feb-2 to 2024-feb-6 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Juliet and Martin '''

I met two boys at Refugio Blanquillo. They had been hiking for two days on a different route (no RR GPT06) with a text description from the internet (no hiking map/GPS track). They learned & understood that it was very dangerous and could get lost at any time. Luckily they met a hiker with GPS & inReach, otherwise I would have taken them with me.

* '''2024-Jan-03 to 2024-Jan-08 / 6 days / Hiking / round trip anticlockwise / O5 - O3 - RR - O1 - O1c (Condor Circuit) / Lotti and Alex'''

Day 6: Altos de Lircay - park entrance

Easy walking in the shade of the forest.

* '''2023-Dec-29 to 2024-Jan-3 / 6 days / NOBO / Variant 5+3+RR+GPT05(VarG+RR)+RR / Matthias + Johanna '''

The man living at the basecamp was not there in the end, selling some cows in the valley !

Nice swimming pool with tepid water 5m north of camping site, for drinking water go the long way round the swampy valley to a source on the other side ca. 20m west of the hut.

* '''2023-Dec-19 to 2024-Dec-25/ 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Michael and Kasia '''

Day 5

After waking up the next day, we tried to see if rest and fresh eyes would give us a better perspective. After discussing it we realized that there was really no way forward or back. We decided it only option was to use the SOS button on the Garmin. I pushed the button at 10:00, and by 16:00 there was a helicopter flying through the valley looking for us. I was surprised that it happened so quickly. They had to land in the valley, and since we could not get ourselves down, they sent a GOPE team of three guys up and the helicopter left for the night. It took them about an hour to get up to us, and then another two hours to do enough provisional maintenance on the trail for us to get down. We camped with them in the valley for the night and the helicopter came to get us in the morning.

* '''2023-Dec-25 to 2023-Dec-26/ 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / off RR / Jens, Nolwenn, Yannick'''

First try on the GPT and amazing section to start. There were buses from Molina at 10am and 5pm going to Parque Ingles. You must arrive there before 1pm and buy an entrance for El Bolson (with camping) to enter the Park. It's also possible to camp in Parque Ingles (7.000 CLP/night). When I entered, CONAF asked me where I was going, if I had a GPS, and gave me some kind of permit to show in Los Cipreses. I wasn't asked to show it when I arrived there though.

Landscapes and panoramas were extremely beautiful and very impressive. There was still water in all marked points and fords were easy to cross. Trail is easy to follow almost everywhere, except after Termas de Azufre (be careful to look for the right pools on the map and do not go up too much, I ended up in a place with almost boiling water). The whole section is full of beautiful sand dunes, so gaiters were extremely useful. In Blanquillo, you are supposed to get an authorization from the dueño to stay there, but it looks like it is not really enforced. I spent a day in Blanquillo to rest, drink maté and learn how to make sopaipillas with Umberto. I hitchhiked from Los Cipreses to San Clemente (one hostel, two supermarkets, decent to resupply) so I can't comment on the bus schedule. However, to come back to Los Cipreses/Termas del Médano, be aware that there is now only a bus leaving at 3pm from Talca, going up until La Mina. I took a small bus to Colorado on morning (every 45 min.) and hitchhiked easily back until Laguna del Maule for GPT 07.

* '''2023-Mar-21 to 2023-Mar-25 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Vilches — Volcan – Parque Ingles / Iris, Alexis '''

This hike concludes our GPT adventure. We loved to start it riding horses to feel a bit more like the trails main user. The final day hiking and the volcano ascent were astonishing, truly one of (or even the) best section of our GPT.

* '''2023-Feb-03 to 2023-Feb-08 / 6 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Louis, Rémi & Noé'''

Day 6 - Los Cipreses - 15km - +100m/-1000m

Last short day to end this beautiful section. The gravel road is a bit boring but passing pickup are proposing you to get you down to the main road. Here, only one bus at 7am. And a little shop selling ice cream, chips and drinks. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)

* '''2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-30/ 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Martial'''

Exit through RR is also nice but regreted haven’t camped here (-35.67102, -70.83649) for there was some playfull trouts to catch with my survival fishing kit !

Beautiful view from the pass to sandyland and then landscape changes and recommend OH variant C descending (less overgrown). Trail not so visible till laguna los hornos witch i climbed volcano to enjoy the crater caldera. After that descent to los Cipreses is kind of boring and hot so was definitely happy to find a camping by the bridge after the gate with lovely Victorina and her family here (-35.81524, -70.83224). They have been incredibly carring, fed me and brought me to the termas caves (also worth it) in El Medano !

* '''2023-Jan-16 to 2023-Jan-25 / 10 days / Hiking / NOBO / Descabezado Circuit variant: OH 06-02 & 06-03 Laguna Maule to Vilches w/ volcans / Natalie & Tomáš '''

Great trip, beautiful views and details and just the right amount of challenge.

* '''2023-Jan-20 to 2023-Jan-23 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ondrej '''

Overall a fantstic section but I wasn’t expecting the heat to be that oppresive!

* '''2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-3 / 5 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / David and Erika'''

Get to TH Parque ingle before 1:00 pm, otherwise they close it for entrance. We did get internet and got the correct CONAF ticket -the one heading to El Bolsón. Once you get out of the park and into the Cuesta Las Anima, the wild parts begin. Hope you got your dirty girl gaiters; cause you’re going to need them. Sand city. Gaiters worked great. Remote and desolately beautiful. Water up at the end of Laguna del Caracol, at the river that comes out of the ground, you have a dry climb ahead. Walk out was straightforward. Got a lift from ENEL employee.

* '''2022-Dec-28 to 2022-Dec-29 / 2 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš'''

The second day I walked all the way to the main road. In the pass, there is still a bit of snow but quite manageable. Going down from the lake, there is no water until around half or one third of the minor road in the valley, beware. Walking-wise, this was the easiest section on GPT for me. At the mainroad, the camping at the shop after the bridge was closed. I hitched somebody in a truck who knew the owners, called them and they came to open it for me. 5000 pesos but I gave the lady 10000 as she had to drive here to open the camping for me. There is electricity and cold shower and shadow. Almost nothing at the shop. The bus is said to leave at seven. I slept and now will try hitchhiking.

* '''2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will '''

I got by without gaiters, but bring them if you can. I should have used more sunscreen, the reflection off the sand is strong.

* '''2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-20 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin & Helena'''

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* '''2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna&Christopher '''

The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).

In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.

* '''2022-Dec-03 to 2022-Dec-06 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica'''

I camped at the shop just before the road - nice place by the river, 3000 per person with toilets and a cold shower, or 50,000 for a cabaña. From there I hitched the 3 km down the road to Restaurant Cordillera, nice enough, great with a beer, meat and fries.

Bus left from the bus shed at 7:20 next morning - think it depends whether it goes to El Médano or not

* '''2022-Jan-20 to 2022-Jan-25 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Carlos '''

Plenty of buses Molina - Parque Inglés. But only one bus from el Médano - Los Cipreses to Talca, at around 7 am, which returns at 15:00. Only week days. Basic camping just in front of Los Cipreses shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits): $4.000 pp.

* '''2022-Jan-10 to 2022-Jan-15 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika & Jo '''

- In supermarkets, you can buy alcohol desnaturalizado cheaply in the nail polish section, or alternatively, use alcohol de quemar from the combustibles section.

* '''2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / '''

Some “hot springs” are actually just luke and others just a hole or boiling hot (I added these informations to the track and waypoints I sent to Jan Dudek) so don't be like me fantasizing all day on that fantastic bath you will get or wait for Jan's update (thanks so so much for all you do mate).

After resupplying I hitched on option 7 XXX all the way the Mellado cañon (really nice, by the river all the time), communities. After hiking South from Carizales (which has a very limited “store”) I was short on time and food and realized bare landscapes over the tree line were not my cup of tea (I prefer hiking below 1700 m in this part of Patagonia) so I left RR and took another option all the way to the West to Reserva Achibueno which I really enjoyed : great landscapes, lakes, rivers and met some cool hikers and fishermen

* '''2021-Dec-09 to 2021-Dec-12 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / AR past Laguna Manatial Pelado / Vera & James'''

Arrived in Los Cipreses on a Sunday and we didn't see a single person except the security guard. We got mixed messages from him and then the mini shop owner about buses to Talca. I would assume there isn't one on a Sunday. We hitched to El Colorado then got a bus from there to Talca.

* '''2021-Dec-03 to 2021-Dec-09 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&Stiina'''

For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

At the end of GPT06 if you go on the north bank of Rio Maule the route is blocked by a cliff beyond Los Alamos & you need to cross the river to continue. Better to go on the road. After 2KM on the road you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also. At Bridge 17 you can rejoin RR or continue on road but RR is nicer.

* '''2019-Dec-24 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias'''

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com

* '''2020-Jan-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Shn0rhelez'''

Parque Ingles to El Medano southbound/main route ... 7 days duration(2 nights spent on laguna Las Animas)...section passable...Strong sun, no shadow after the park... Gaiters strongly recommended...the SUBsection between termas del azufre and second ford Before the pass (2700m) is full with water... my personal opinion is the backpack weight can be minimized... Good luck!

* '''2020-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno & Martin'''

5 days for this amazing section. We started in Parque Inglés in Radal 7 Tazas National Park. Had to wait for one more day because of limited hiking permits towards El Bolsón. 80 daily permits allowed and delivered at 8:30 in the morning, to be minded on weekends when the park is full. Followed Regular Route Laguna Las Ánimas, Azufre Hotsprings, Descabezado base camp, Laguna Caracol and then down to Los Cipreses. Cold section and bad weather towards the end, some rain and freezing wind. Had to camp in Laguna Caracol waiting for the storm to pass and hike the last pass.

The use of lightweight gaiters is advised for keeping the sand out of your shoes.

* '''2019-Dec-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom & Maddie '''

Parque Ingles to El Medano. Very beautiful (and exposed) section. Lots of water. The track from Los Cipreses to El Medano suffered from a few landslides meaning the route was slower than anticipated. I would consider taking the road next time as there is no loss of scenery. We resupplied in El Medano by basically buying all the food at the tienda (60000 CP for food for two people for the next section). Selection was good enough.

* '''2019-Dec-18 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from Vilches Alto / Tyler & America '''

A Stunning section. Vilches Alto made for a great optional start; rather than returning to Parque Ingles. (We came from Talca by bus - 2100 CP). Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP. All trails were beautiful and a bit more trodden that sections before. Arrieros at thermal pools (not hot) were welcoming and friendly for us to camp. We took our sweet time in the beautiful section. We bussed from the first road access (south of town Los Cipreses/ OH-MR-V@06-E-#001) to Talca for a good re supply before the long next section, 2200 CP. Bus leaves this stop around 11.

* '''2019-Dec-18 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start coming from GPT 5 / Matus & Anna'''

There is a small tienda with coke and crisps before entering a main road from Los Cipress. If you continue by main road toward El Medano there is restaurant Cordillera where we refueled again. Accomodation in El Medano. I will edit with ressuply options later.

* '''2019-Dec-14 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mainly) / Martina & Ivo '''

As we came from GPT05 and didn't want to go all the way "back" to the Paso Las Animas, we tried the Optional Investigation Route which starts at Parque Ingles right at the other side (South) of Rio Claro. It leads through private property, so we went to the guard, showed him the CONAF Permit (we bought one just in case, and of course they said it's not possible to walk on the other side of the river), explained him that we would only hike through and gave him some cerezas. He informed his Colleagues via radio to let us pass. It was a nice and easy hike. Nothing to add to Linda's remarks for the rest of the trail.

* '''2019-Dec-06 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda '''

- Mini market where you can find basic food (eggs, spaghetti, chocolate ...) in Las Termas El Medano

* '''2020-Feb-07 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arnaud'''

* 2023 / Michael and Kasia

Molina: Hostal Nativos is three blocks off the main square. Run by very nice people, they have private rooms with shared bathroom for 25.000 CLP for the room. They also have a nice garden area with space if you need to clean gear. Ferreteria Franco had gas canisters for stoves. Unimarc on the plaza had cans for recharging, but didn't carry the screw route for stoves.

* 2021 / Vera & James

Mon-Sat they leave Molina @ 10:20, 11:30, 12:40, 3PM, 6:15PM, 8:15 PM Sunday Molina- Parque Ingles 7:45, 9:30, 2PM, 7:30PM, 10PM 2 hours to Parque Ingles, buses leave from terminal near main plaza in Molina. Parque Ingles-Molina 7:10, 11, 1PM, 3:45PM, 4:45PM, 6:30PM Mon-Sat Sun. 10:30, 1:30PM, 3:30PM, 5:45PM, 6:45PM

*2019/ Martina & Ivo

* 7 am in front of Los Cipreses - someone has to call in advance for the bus to go all the way to el Médano - loads of tourists there, though, so someone might have called. Other connections should be at 9:15 and 17:20 (one at 1620 l3aves from further downstream). The other way around, the buses leave Talca at 7, 13, 15 and 19, according to the schedule at Talca bus station.

*This trail section finished at the Route 115 to Talca. Big road with many cars (hitchhiking possible)

* 2023 / Louis, Rémi & Noé

From Los Cipreses only one bus at 7am. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)

* 2023 / Natalie & Tomáš

Buses from Talca to la Mina go at; 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm.

Vilches: bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.

* 2022 / Veronika & Jo

- There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.

== Vilches ==

In addition, you need to show CONAF proof of permission to camp at Bolsón, even if you do not plan to camp there. Bolsón is a privately operated concession within the park. Camping is 7.000 CLP pp and you buy the tickets at Rocas Basalticas campground about 50 meters down the road on the opposite side of the street from the entrance. The only way around this is to have contacted land owners that live beyond the park boundary and show CONAF proof of permission to camp on their land.

They also require that you show them your gas stove, as all other cooking systems (alcohol, wood, etc.) are prohibited within the park, so have it handy.

The parc can be entered illegally in the morning (around 7 pm).

* 2019