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==Recent Alerts and Suggestions==
*2 to 8 of February 2023 / Véronica & Zach / GPT36H RR SOBO / 7 days
Route: Cochrane - Mirador Glaciar Colluqueo - Río Pedregoso - Paso La Picota - Río Bravo - Lago Christie - Río Mayer - Villa O'Higgins
We stayed at Camping Calafate while we were in Cochrane. Great camping area with a kitchen, laundry service, hot showers, and wifi for 6,000 clp per person. The owner is very kind too.
We were quite fortunate this section to enjoy good weather almost the whole way. We were able to hitch the first few km on the Carretera Austral. Then Zach packrafted across Laguna Esmeralda while I took the primary road on the RR to the east of it. Very little traffic on the primary road, and we walked most of it, only ended up being able to hitch a ride for the last 10 km or so, to the junction at 39.9 km where the RR becomes a minor road.
At that point it was getting late, and we wanted to camp at the waypoint Lake, Camp {36H} [109.8/334] along the minor road. We set up our tents, but after it was dark, around 10:30 p.m., we were surprised by the arrival of a man with a dog and a horse. Talking with him, we realized he was the owner of the land we were on, and his house was right nearby (we hadn't seen it when we initially set up camp). He said it was ok and that we could camp here though, that we didn't have to move.
The next morning, around 8 a.m., we packed our things and walked to the house, with the intention of thanking the man for letting us camp on his property. There were no signs of life around his house, so we assumed he might be still sleeping or was already out and about. So we left along the dirt road again. His dog followed us. We figured it would eventually return home. Afted ~6km, we were surprised by the settler coming at us down the road on his horse with his whip raised in a threatening way. He was very angry and upset at us about his missing dog, and initially thought we had taken his dog with us on purpose. We did our best to explain that the dog had simply followed us, we did not coax it or feed it, and that we were very sorry it followed us and had no bad intentions. After a bit of discussion, the settler calmed down and we were able to chat about where we were hiking and such. We seemed to part on good terms, but it wasn't a pleasant experience, and we wished we'd known that the land on the south shore of the lake where we camped belonged to a settler, and is not really a viable wild camping place. The GPS tracks only indicate "buildings" nearby, but that waypoint should say "settler" instead, and perhaps the camping waypoint by the lake should be removed. S 47° 30.166', W 072° 31.809' is where the settler house is.
The rest of the trail went well. The views of the various glaciers were wonderful, and we had mostly good weather the whole way. Zach took Option 36H-B that necessitates fording La Picota. It was early in the morning and he was able to ford it with the water reaching his waist. I took the regular route further west, which was a bit steep on shale rocks at first, but easy to follow.
The ford at km 77.4 was the most difficult ford in this section for me, the current was strong and cold and went up to my hips. Fording Río Bravo was easier, and we only did it once, next to the laguna. Option 36H-D had virtually no bushwhacking — there was a clear path to follow in the forest.
There were regular water sources between Puesto La Pampa (km 83.9) and Puesto Tablas (km 98.4), as well as occasional good spots to camp.
Once we got to Lago Alegre, I walked the regular hiking route east of the lake while Zach packrafted across with a good tailwind. Very beautiful trail, loads of crowberries and Calafate berries to eat too. I took Option 36H-G, where there is a large tree trunk you can walk across over the river. Zach packrafted Lago Christie as well, although the wind was much stronger in the afternoon. The refuge at the south end of Lago Christie is a good place to sleep out of the wind.
The roadwalk to town was quite scenic, with a few refuges along the way. Zach took the packrafting route while I stayed on the minor road. I ended up walking all of it except for the final 8 km. There was very little traffic, and I didn't mind walking through the gorgeous landscapes.
* GPT36H and Option 2 / Yannic & Mirjam / 22-Dec-2022 / Southbound
Regular Route to Option 2