The officer at the Argentinian border control didn't seem too happy when we told him we had left Chile the day before and camped somewhere in between. But I think that was mainly because he suspected that we had illegally camped on the Argentinian side (at least I believe it's prohibited to camp here, but I'm not sure). We explained that we had camped on the Chilean side and that seemed to be fine. However, he was not too happy that we didn't have exit stamps in our passports. The chilean Carabineros had only put the exit stamp on a printed piece of paper exit form and not inside the passport, which we had thought was weird at the time, too. But they had told us that you don't get an exit stamp in the passport here. Well, after some eye rolling, the officer said "ah, no importa" and gave us our entry stamps. He even shared a tasty tortilla with us. :-)
From there we continued hiking without any issues. The trail is easy and well maintained, just like before. We forded Río Azul here [-42.08661, -71.62103] without issues, the water level was at or just above our knees (we're both around 170 cm tall). If there was rain before, the fording could become a bit of an issue. The views towards the south here are super beautiful! We hiked to the Visitor center of the National Park where the bus departs every full hour ([-42.08902, -71.61789]).
* <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-12-07 to 2025-12-11/ 4.5 days / Packrafting / SOBO+EABO / 21-01 + RR + 21-04A (Packraft El Callao to Rio Blanco) + 21-04 + 21-02 + 21-02B (Refugio Viejo) / Antoine B'''</span>
A section mostly in forest trail with nice highlights: Laguna Questros for camping, crossing Lago de Todos los Santos and sleeping on an isolated beach, ascending El Tronador, enjoying hot spring and isolated farms.
Attractivity: 4
Difficulty: 3 (long forest sections)
Day 1:
Coming from GPT20, I started at las Gaviotas around 18.30 and finished the day hiking up to Laguna Los Questros. Very pleasant path uphill. I met a horse rider coming from la Laguna, who asked for 10k for camping over there. I wasn't sure if he was the owner but paid 5k CLP (it's just a good flat ground with a pit, dry toilets maybe). La Laguna is a great spot to camp and swim in the lake, no one there but birds and cows.
Day 2:
Long day walking on forest trails with tabanos. 2 farms on the way but no one there. Arrived around 18 at Lago de Todos los Santos and packrafted SE for 2.5h until nightfall (barely no wind, clear sky, lucky conditions). The evening light were charming and the surrounding landscapes reminded of many places (Fuji for Osorno, Garda & Annecy lakes)....
Camped on a lovely isolated beach (-41.117963 ; -72.127518), close to the referenced waypoint. Splendid spot.
Day 3:
On the water around 10:30 for 2-3h, a bit of tail wind accelerating me. It wasn't possible to access the last bit in the river meadows (not enough water) and Rio Blanco has too much current, not worth the effort. So I landed in the muddy/woody shore, where a neighbour just left by boat (-41.15470, -72.09983). Short walk along the shore before joining the trail in the forest. Nice walk in the valley, then lots of forest trail, I went eastward towards Tronador and ended up by nightfall at the hot spring spot, by the river close to the farms (thanks for the tips shared here, really a memorable place). Camping ground is perfect.
Day 4:
Started at 12, walked to the 2nd farm and met 4 carabineros visiting the farmer. We hiked back to the puesto together (4h). We sympathized and they invited me for dinner. Lovely company, great memories. Camped at the puesto, free, water available and a little stream for washing. Good news: they just got equipped with solar panel so no more noisy diesel generator as of now.
Day 5:
Relaxing hike up to Refugio Viejo (option 02B), at fast pace (1h30 up). Loved the views (and not carrying any backpack). It's quite fresh and was super windy up there so worth carrying jacket + sun glasses (very reflective with the glaciers). The CC path beyond the refuge, to the edge of the cliff is indeed not to be missed. Ran down in 45mn, amazing feeling after 2 weeks with a 25kg backpack. After chatting again with the carabineros, it took me 3-4h of forest trail to end up in Pampa Linda (17:00). Gendarmería is after the bridge, last building leaving the place. Smooth entry but the bus left (17:00 I think). Hitchhike was not successful for 30mn and I met cool people staying at the camping Vuriloche (~30k ARS if I recall) so I joined them for the night and they drove me the next day to Bariloche.
