Cambios

The Greater Patagonian Trail crosses most of Patagonia and the adjacent regions north of it. For this reason I named the trail “Greater Patagonian Trail” to be precise and well descriptive as the same time. I coined the term "Greater Patagonia" when I started publishing the trail in 2014 to combine Patagonia in its traditional limits with the surrounding area like "Greater London" joins adds the city of London with the surroundings.

The limits of Patagonia are as fuzzy as the imaginations of many when they hear “Patagonia”. There are some core ideas that most people connect with “Patagonia” like vastness, wilderness and solitude but few have actual precise knowledge. So are the limits of this region. There is no doubt that Patagonia is part of the Southern Cone but opinions deviate where it exactly starts and ends. The northern limit of Patagonia on the Chilean side can be seen as south as the Estuarió de Reloncaví (latitude 41° 30’ South) or as north as the river Río Biobío (about latitude 37° South if taking the mouth at Concepcion as reference). That’s a difference of about 500 km. On the Argentine side the understanding of the limits can be equally different. Some take the Río Negro with the tributary Río Limay as the northern limit (about latitude 39° South) others the Río Barrancas and the Río Colorado (Latitude 36° South). Also, some the southern limit is fuzzy. Some consider Tierra del Fuego as part of Patagonia others not.

If you try to align Patagonia with the current administrative divisions of Chile and Argentina than the following provinces (Argentina) and regions (Chile) are typically considered to be Patagonia:

So depending on the chosen definition the Greater Patagonian Trail gets in casting distance to Patagonia at the end of section GPT05 where you can view for the first time over the border into Argentina into the province Neuquén. But with a different understanding you enter Patagonia on section GPT13 where you cross ford the Río Biobío, or on section GPT16 where you reach walk into the administrative region XIV (Región de los Ríos) or on section GPT22 where you finally reach the Estuarió de Reloncaví and with this you step on terrain that is doubtless Patagonia.

But all this does not matter if wish to make a formidable hike and if you desire to discover “real Patagonia”. What matters most is an open mind and readiness for the true diversity of this region. If your expectation and knowledge of Patagonia is based on a brief Google search and a few articles about Patagonia than you probably have seen only the three heavily hyped tourist magnets:

* the surrounding of El Chalten with mount Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre.

These are three truly amazing spots on the western edge of the Southern Icefield in the heartland of Patagonia but no not representation of the ample character of Patagonia. “Real Patagonia” it is much more than this and consist of surprisingly disparate zones. There are the vast open plains in the east - a cold . This rather dry and wind battered steppe, a spans from the Andes to the Atlantic cost. The western part of Patagonia is in some regards the opposite. On the western edge you have the rugged very wet Pacific coast with countless islands and fjords and where steep mountains rise out of the sea. An impenetrable tempered rain forest covers most of this land. And in between these unlike parts – in between the west pains in the east and fjords in the west - tower the Patagonian Andes where Chile . Dormant and Argentina agreed in 1881 to divide this region in between themoccasionally active volcanoes rise into the sky. Patagonia is Glaciers cover all higher summits and powerful rivers drain these mountains along deep cut valleys. All this what is part of Patagonia and creates the mystery and magic of this region.