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==Season 2023/24==
2024-Feb-12 to 2024-Feb-16 / 4.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 03B, RR, Variant C, E, H, K / Tomáš & Natalie
There was a queue of three hitchhiker groups who did not get picked up while we were doing our shopping so we opted to hire a taxi for 15000 to the start of 03B. Somehow, during our arranging of the taxi, all three groups left. Roadwalking to option 07 was uneventful. Tomáš got a hitch (he eats lunch too slowly so Natalie got ahead) for about 5 km from a family which was exoloring in a car. About 500 m before the diversion to option 07, there is a locked gate with a sign saying the property is private, but one can go over a ladder. At the gate, we met a local with a key who has a house on Option 07, if we got him right. He gave us a ride of 500 m. The start of option 7 is actually a road.
The MR at 24.2 is in a bad shape due to erosion after ford at about 12 km in. Tomáš made a bridge out of a log but managed to jump into the water while doing it. Enjoy the bridge while it lasts as did a Frenchman we met there. He did the circuit NOBO based on wikiloc. He said he keeps coming across GPT, but could not figure out how to get the GPS route. We told him to talk to Jan. Maybe he will come back the next day.
On the way to the Torres, we met 3 pairs of Chilean hikers going back. Tomáš went to Laguna La Plaza (option C). Lake is grey but the valley is nice enough to justify the short detour. It is no BB, there is a trail in the forrest and above the tree line a vague trail or easy CC. The Torres are indeed magnificent. One can easily walk on the sloped polished slab falling into the far side of the second lake before the pass - it is an exhilirating detour. Going down from the pass, when the GPX turns right, Tomáš actually managed to walk over one of the ledges above the GPX and liked it. Just be extremely careful with moss and water, they can make the stones extremely slippery, but he survived that without falling. About 100 m before the lake, there is a at-least-a-ton heavy swing in the form of a loose boulder. Enjoy if you can find it. Camp 63.4 is literally awesome. We had a very warm almost windless night there.
Going down the valley from there, we managed to stay on the northern side of the lake all the way. There is a vague trail most of the way, but is has many many logs over it. It took us 3 hours to walk to the trailhead. We kept our feet dry and were in the shade, but it would have been quicker and far less tiring just following the riverbed and constantly crossing the river.
Ford at 69.8 around noon was slightly above the knees. Ford it diagonally as the trail wants you to - it is shallower that way. Greeted grandfather, Maria and Julio and their three kids and had a short talk with the grandfather. From their place, the trail sort of is wide enough for a car (there is one at their place) but we think it is never or vietually never used by cars. Ford at 81.4 at six in the afternoon was 5 cm under our crotches (we are about 1.70), we forded about 100 upstream of GPX. The river was strong but we did not feel it was dangerous for us. The day was hot and despite not covering even 20 km, we felt superexhausted. Strong sun and spikees got to us!
We camped about 4 km into the road, shortly after the second (both jumpable/bridgable by log) ford. It must be a good place to camp, as Tomáš, who went back to the big ford where he left his sandals the previous day, met a GPT hiker going NOBO who apparently slept in a hearing distance from us. The hiker first started to come to Patagonia decades ago, before it was overrun. Tomáš sadly never asked his name. Met the grandfather again, coming back from the port, horses are fast!
The road is not used by cars but stiĺl quite ugly. Around middle, near option 6, there are two shortcuts (400 and 50 metres) to the zigzags, three of which were marked by cairns by Tomáš. Please add the fourth cairn. Puesto 98.3 is a settler. He tried to lure Natalie, who was ahead alone, inside, maybe beware. Met another pair of GPT hikers, doing just 33. The stretch along the coast is beautiful and very Mediterranean. All day the lake was without waves, even that can happen. Slept at Lake 113.8: nicer, with water and less buggy than camp 200 m earlier.
Variant K misses last water but is easy to follow, nicer than a road and involves only three very easy fence hops. Reached the bus stop for Puerto Ibanez around three. Got lucky and got a hitch from two British tourists to Puerto Ibanez. The shops there stock overpriced pesto and gnocchi, Tomáš is almost as joyful as cherries make him!
Nat's Notes
- For views I would prefer this NOBO. I suffered a new type of "look back" syndrom on most of the route. Plus, if you are walking the lake shore in the afternoon, the sun should be on your downhills and not your uphills (it was insanely hot when we did it and without a whisper of wind).
- Something feels wrong to express joy for the warm and fabulous weather we had. It should not have been ~25degrees and we should not have been able to sleep without a tent/warm clothes at camp63 and be too warm...I
-Pedro Zuleta: +56 993 5786 68 was our driver from Villa Castillo
-In the section notes for 24-45 I think what was meant was that from roughly km36-45,, "there are many small streams and camping spots", this indeed is true. However, from option 3 (the carretral austral) to ~km36 there are no longer many streams to drink from, I remember only one slightly decent one and both sides of the road are fenced so if you want to camp or drink water from the main river then you must jump the fences (cow panels or barb) or ask a settler. Also, strange to say, there is very little shade and can get uncomfortably hot...
- Intersection 45 is not hard to miss anymore, it is marked with an orange ribbon around a tree and a large cairn on your left.
-on Trail#9 (ascent before the first two alpine lakes) I took Veronicas advice about going into the woods where the RR is but rather than trying to follow the gps I followed what seemed to be a trail along the river with some cairns here and there. Eventually it ends above the trees but you should be able to make your way back to the RR once the "coast is clear", ie. no more trees. If you want to walk along the lake then you should do the CC up the boulder field on Variant D.
-Going down from the pass was no problem, like everyone says, "just follow the gps". However with that said, it is very tempting to make your own way bcs there are many good looking ledge systems but after reading Wills experience I backed away from the temptation and followed the GPS.
-So much water everywhere except for the lake camping, if you are smart you will fill up on one of the many streams before getting to the lake...
-When doing the BB/CC section, after the initial elevation loss from the lake there isn't much drinking water apart from the river until near the end of the BB. I think you could make "makeshift" camps. I was tempted to cross the river early to avoid crossing it at km67 but once again I remembered what Will wrote last year about the thorns and cliffs so, I don't think that's a good idea.
-Not a fan of the lake side gate locking technique (remember how it looks before you open it;)
-I surprisingly really enjoyed the lake stretch, it seemed it is where Pantagonia meets the Mediterranean/Arizona. The trail is in good shape, just a few overgrown roses and thorny bushes here and there (regretted shorts only a little bit). If you are coming from the north and still have your sand gaiters, this will be a good time to reuse them :). No exposure, wish there was more wind the day we were there. I am usually the biggest hater of "PUDs"<--thanks for the new word- but these were not annoying because the ups and downs were large and not just a bunch of mini hills like gpt22 or the valley bottoms in Argentina. Water is at pretty much every "notch" in the hillside.
-Water at the bottom of the MR~117.5 and still water at the top 119.9 RR (easier to grab it a little higher up).
From 2023-01-20 to 2023-01-21 // 1,5 day // Hiking // NOBO // option 1 Valle Ibanez // Quentin Clavel
