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ediciones
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→Season 2025/2026
==Season 2025/2026==
* '''2026 Feb 2 to Feb 14 / 11 hiking days, 2 zero days / NOBO / Hiking / RR, Var H, Var E, Opt 2 / Michael and Kasia'''
QUICK NOTES: A long and grueling section, but worth it if you get good weather and nice views of the Torres. It is worth making the effort to time this section with the weather, both for enjoyment as well as safety. We think NOBO is the much more attractive direction to go, especially up the Torres valley. The camp at the Torres is only for excellent weather, but worth it. If not planning to do the pass, the bypass valley is really enjoyable and has many nice views of its own.
CAMPS:
Night 1: -46.43813, -71.99556 (Camp 113.9, flat space for multiple tents on grass, good wind protection, no view, water about 200 m away
Night 2: -46.48709, -72.10010 (On the Campo Chico península, flat space for one tent, a little wind protection from west winds but not much, nice view, water from the lake very close by)
Night 3: -46.46164, -72.24432 (Flat space for one tent, wind protection from west winds, some view, water about 200 m away)
Night 4: -46.45153, -72.41652 (Flat, grassy area, space for a few tents, good wind protection, water close by)
Night 5: -46.42558, -72.50041 (Flat space for one tent, water nearby, good wind protection)
Night 6: -46.42178, -72.50672 (Camp 63.4, stellar view, no wind protection, difficult water access)
Night 7: -46.43207, -72.43984 (near Ford 69.8, wind protected, water nearby)
Nights 8-10: -46.36802, -72.43937 (At Puesto? 4.8, flat space for 2 tents, excellent wind protection, no view, water is about 200 m away)
Night 11: -46.26115, -72.40152 (flat spot for 1 tent, water nearby, some wind protection, right on the trail)
Night 12: -46.15244, -72.22080 (Emergency camp, not recommended, no water)
Day 01 - Feb 2nd
We took the bus from Ibáñez to the cruz. The route is well known by the locals and the driver knew the spot. She asked if we were planning to come back via Ibáñez or leaving through Cerro Castillo. (We stayed in Ibáñez at Cabañas Antu, a nice place, we would recommend (+56 9 7996 0067). The owner works for the municipality and confirmed what another report here said, that they will build a road to the port, in part to promote tourism, and they plan to make the Avellanos a protected area. He said they are doing exploration and surveys now, but in about 5 years they will start the road.) The minor road out is easy to follow. There were a couple of locked gates we had to hop. We stopped for lunch near Water 119.9 at the point where Daniel camped. It looked like a good camping spot with easy water access. We met Graham and Gabe headed SOBO and chatted with them for a bit. The road down is steep and sandy. Camp 116.3 had a flattish space but there were the plants with the spikey little balls growing everywhere. We pushed on to Camp 113.9 and were happy with the choice. It was just off the trail (look for the hole in the fence), flat, grassy, and wind protected. We had to go back to the stream about 200 m away for water.
Day 02 - Feb 3rd
The day of ups and downs. For some reason last year we were under the impression that the route went right along cliffs above the water and would be challenging for someone with vertigo (we both have it). We did not find this to be the case at all. There were a few short tricky spots, but nothing particularly bad. This would, however, be very unpleasant to walk in windy or rainy weather. Fortunately it was dry and windless most of the day. As we got closer to the lake there were some BB sections which became tiring. When we got to the lake at one point we put on water shoes and walked the rocky beach to save on the BB. We camped at the Campo Chico península near the east beach. We looked at the area under the willows near the old puesto, but we couldn't see how to put the tent. Many of the branches hung low, the ground was sloped, and there was no good water access. Above the beach we found a spot next to what looked to be another old puesto, there was an old wood stove, a table and some corrugated sheet metal. The wind protection was not great. Camping directly on the beach would probably have been better.
Day 03 - Feb 4th
The last 4 km to the port were mostly easy. Toward the end we switched to water shoes and walked the shore to avoid BB. We walked until we reached a fence built out into the lake. Just up the hill was an open gate and the road to the refugio. It was very windy there. We found a place in the bushes that was wind protected and had lunch. The refugio itself was not that inviting. It looked like a temporary office on a construction site. After lunch we started up the minor road. It was windy and there was a bit of rain on and off. The road and the landscape both felt kind of monotonous. We camped just before Ford 87.2 in the same place Dave and Siyuan camped (and thank you to them for leaving the GPS coordinates in the report, I doubt we would have seen that spot otherwise). It was a flat space big enough for our tent on grass with good wind protection from west winds. Water was about 200 m away at the ford.
Day 04 - Feb 5th
A mild day, no real wind, some sun and some clouds, cool, which we were happy for. We used the open Wi-Fi network at Puesto 81.8 to check the weather again. The network was not password protected and we were able to get signal from the road. We took Var H to only have to cross the river once. The crossing was easier than we expected. We crossed very close to the marked crossing at km 81.2. It was just above the knees at the deepest point (we're both about 165 cm) with decent current but manageable. Shortly after crossing we saw Roberto just as he was taking his ox cart across the river. We waved to each other. No one was around when we passed Maria and Julio's. We took Var E because the RR after the intersection looked like bush bashing through swamp. The trail kept disappearing for the first kilometer or so, but it was in open forest so we just needed to navigate around fallen trees. After a kilometer the trail became much more consistent and easy to follow. We camped at about km 1.4 on the variant. It was a nice, flat grassy spot just after a muddy stream crossing in a clearing that provided good wind protection but with no trees directly overhead, so no risk of falling branches. For water I went up stream a few meters and found an area that was sandy with good flow and ladled the water with my cup, being careful not to stir up sediment. The water tasted surprisingly good, very clean and fresh.
Day 05 - Feb 6th
We got started early to get across the last major ford. The remainder of Var E was in good shape and easy to follow. Ford 71.8 was easy. The two km between it and Ford 69.8 was also in good shape and easy to follow. Ford 69.8 was knee deep for us and actually quite easy. Fortunately there had been several cooler or overcast days without any real rain, so the level was low. The path up to Trailhead 68.5 was very steep for a lot of it. We stopped for lunch at Camp No Water 68.7. It is an old corral. We would not be able to put our tent up there if we wanted to. It was sloped ground, very lumpy, and had lots of shrubs and small trees growing inside of it. At the Trailhead waypoint we followed a dry creek bed down to the river. The level was fairly low, about half calf, and we decided to try walking the river instead of fighting with the forest. For the next three hours we crossed back and forth across the river. I cannot say for certain if it was faster. For us it was a bit easier because our bags are rather heavy which makes going over downfalls cumbersome, and with the water level still relatively low it wasn't too bad. By around 16:00 we got to just before the side valley drainage emptied into the main river and we had to go up into the forest. We were getting tired and as the warm sunny day progressed, the water level and the current both went up. After that we switched between the forest and the river four or five more times before the end of the day. We found a decent place to camp in the woods. It was fairly flat, right near a stream, and had the remains of an old fire ring on the side.
Day 06 - Feb 7th
We took a slow morning. Two other GPTers passed us on their way to the Torres and we had a nice chat. The last 200-300 meters of the route up to the Torres is a steep granite boulder field. It required a bit of scrambling and was quite exhausting. At the campsite there is a short stone wind wall that was too small for our X-Mid 2. We managed to set it up outside the wall, though it was a bit of a challenge. The whole area could accommodate maybe three small tents, one inside the wind wall and two outside of it, but for larger footprint tents it is not so easy. Water is the other issue there. Right as the track reaches the ridge going NOBO, just before it turns right, there was a way to get down to the lake that wasn't too steep. The campsite was another 200 m further on from that point. We had excellent weather for the day, sunny and no wind. The Torres and the other mountains around, which are just as interesting, looked nice after the sun was behind them. The finer details were more visible. The night was surprisingly warm.
Day 07 - Feb 8th
We got up about a half hour before sunrise. We got to see the orange light on the Torres which was very exciting. We stayed for about an hour and a half taking pictures. We found a slightly different way down the boulder field which went quicker. On the way down the hill we found a trail of sorts and followed it as long as we could. Eventually we ended up back in the river crossing back and forth. I used TracBack on the Garmin to look at how we had come up and that took the guess work out of the fording points. It took us about half as long to get down as it did to go up. We were fortunate that the level was relatively low again. The only tricky part was right after the side valley river joined the main one. We decided to camp early and stayed down near Ford (69.8). Just after we set up camp it started to rain a bit.
Day 08 - Feb 9th
We knew that a sistema frontal had been coming, and Tuesday was supposed to be a day of heavy rain and high wind, so we wanted a good place to wait it over. We remembered from last year that the camp at Puesto ? 4.8 was very well wind protected and had flat, grassy space. We started early to get there as early as possible. We arrived around 13:00. The trail was surprisingly good for most of the way. As the flood plain opened up near the swampy area we just followed the river banks, crossing where necessary to avoid BB and trail hunting. The puesto shelter had partially collapsed. We camped in the flat, grassy space just beyond it. There was a short path leading to a small clearing with a log that looked like it had been cut to be a trough.
Day 09 & 10 - Feb 10th & 11th
Took zero days to wait over rain and high wind. The campsite had excellent wind protection.
Day 11 - Feb 12th
A cold but beautiful sunny day. We continued to enjoy the bypass valley. All fords were easy, even after rain and snow up above. On the way up to Puesto 53, 2 guys with a team of horses passed us. After the pass a few of the bridges and wooden culverts had collapsed and we ended up doing several unexpected shoe changes. We camped just off the trail at km 37.
Day 12 - Feb 13th
The MR was in good shape the rest of the way. We passed a group of three hikers going SOBO. Having hiked in on Opt 3B last season, we wanted to hike out on RR. The views of Lago Lapparent, Lago Alto and Lago Verde were very nice. The road gets a bit tiring after a while. Camp 16.9+0.3 would have required a fence jump, and the gate was padlocked from the inside. We didn't know if that meant someone was there and didn't want to risk an issue so we kept on hiking. Camp 9.6+0.2 should be removed from the tracks. On the map it looks as if it is 200 m off the main road and easily accessible via a minor road. In reality there is no road, just a 40 m dropoff, and no access to the campsite or the lake. We ended up climbing through a fence and camping in the woods near an abandoned house in a spot without water. An important note if taking RR there is a 16 km stretch where water is not easily available. We did not find any water between km 19.5 where there was public beach access to Lago Alto until km 3. Despite the number of lakes on the map, the MR goes quite high above them and they are all fenced off, so access is difficult if not impossible. There were some other features on the map that looked like ponds, but they turned out to be seasonal wetlands which were either dry, or muddy, stagnant water. We didn't take enough and ended up camping without water for the night which was not pleasant. Obviously depending on the time of year there might be water here, but in mid-February there wasn't.
Day 13 - Feb 14th
We continued on the road. We walked about 100 m past X 5.5 before realizing that it was beyond a gate and had to walk back to it. The MR is actually nice, starting to disappear and look more like a trail. The views into the surrounding mountains were very nice; there is a panoramic view of Cerro Castillo and the other mountains in the range. We finally found water at (-46.137001, -72.177002) around km 3. There were some pipes going across the trail directing water into three large cisterns. I followed the pipes through the bushes for about 2 m and found enough of a stream to get water. We hiked down to the highway and arrived in Cerro Castillo around noon.
* '''GPT33H / 2026-01-17 to 2026-01-21/ 5 Days / SOBO / Hiking / 3B, RR, 8, 4 / Alex and Aoife.'''
