GPT37P (Lago O'Higgins)

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Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions

Season 2025/26

• GPT37P Option 4 (Packrafting Brazo Poniente), Option 8 (Hiking along valley Rio Cascada and Rio Colorado) and Option 8D (Hiking to Viewpoint Glaciar Oriental) / 2026-01-03 to 07 / 5 days / Meylin Ubilla & Jan Dudeck

About 2 years ago I drafted an exploration route to a viewpoint over Glaciar Oriental based on satellite images. These images did not show any trail but sufficiently open terrain that hiking to this viewpoint seamed worthwhile trying.

Day 1: We packrafted in 2 hours from Rio Manso on Lago O’Higgins to the port La Ramona and walked in 3 hours to the home of Lencho, a settler that lives next to the confluence of Rio Cascada and Rio Colorado.

Luckily, Lencho arrived in the evening after a week of driving cattle and maintaining trails. Years ago, Lencho had investigated the first part of our planned route and confirmed that the forest is traversable.

We stayed in his home and had a filling dinner with him.

We left all our packrafting gear and some food in the home of Lencho to reduce weight.

Day 2: Lencho accompanied us on horseback and showed us the best access to our planned route. Numerous cattle tracks in the forest facilitated walking. Anyway, the mix of weakly visible animal tracks, cross country terrain and a bit of bush bashing require careful navigation with frequent checks of satellite images to avoid denser patches of forest and steep rocky terrain. While gaining altitude, signs of rooming cattle become scarce and disappear above 900 m elevation.

When reaching the first pass (1130 m) the view opens up towards towards Laguna Cascada and Laguna Azul. After the pass, careful navigation is required to sneak through the few gaps in the rocky terrain with partially steep cliffs.

The occasional animal tracks appear to be created by Huemules. Here we saw a young Huemul that appeared somewhat puzzled when seeing us. It steered at us for minutes until deciding to walk away.

We camped on a reasonably dry patch of grass next to a lake where several walls provide decent wind protection.

Day 3: We seeked our way towards Laguna Azul through a labyrinth of lakes, rock walls, patches of dense forests and swamps.

When we reached the drain of Laguna Azul we attempted to ford but this seemed unsafe. The hot sunny weather melted the remaining snow rapidly, increasing the flow rate substantially.

We descended along the river and a further lake to find the perfect ford, where the river becomes nearly 100 m wide. The shallow water posed no challenge at all and left a generous margin for a further increase of the flow rate.

The following kilometer requires traversing a rocky hill next to lake. Numerous gaps in between the rocks and walls allow hikers a safe passage and carefully cross checking satellite images helps to avoid dense patches of forest.

After this last obstacle it’s a generally easy walk up to the viewpoint. The only threat are the remaining snowfields with powerful meltwater streams creating dangerous hidden cavities underneath. We avoided these risks by walking a bit south of the valley and crossing side streams where snow was already molten.

When reaching the pass and an amazing view over the entire glacier oriental opened up. We could see all the way down towards Laguna Oriental and Lago O’Higgins (Brazo Bajo Esperanza) where we explored another access route to this glacier about 1 year ago.

Day 3 and 4: We returned on a similar route camping one more night at the same camp side.

Day 5: To return to Isla Central (our base camp) we could choose between 3 options:

Option 1: Take the walking route to Pocas Pilchas and packraft the 4 km to Isla Central.

Option 2: Walk on the shortest route to Lago O’Higgins and packraft 10 km to Isla Central.

Option 3: Walk on the shortest route to Lago O’Higgins and take the supply boat that was scheduled to travel on this day. We opted for this Option 3.

Conclusion: GPT37P Option 8D adds another highly attractive glacier access to the packraft and hiking routes of Lago O’Higgins. In good weather it’s a worthwhile detour with amazing views and good chances to spot Huemules.

• GPT37P Option 4 and 7 / Lago O‘Higgins, Brazo Poniente, 3 Lakes and 6 Glaciers upstream of Rio Manso /2025-12-31 and 2026-01-01 / Meylin Ubilla & Jan Dudeck

We just attempted a long planned exploration in the vicinity of Lago O’Higgins (valley of Rio Manso at the western terminus of Brazo Poniente). This valley with 3 smaller lakes and 6 glaciers appears quite attractive on satellite images. Settlers (Ana and Jorge) live at the entrance of this valley and offered us one or two years ago to guide us to these lakes.

We used a reasonably calm morning to cross from Isla Central to Rio Turbio (packrafting 6 km in a 1:15 h) but then wind from the west stopped us to paddle further into Brazo Poniente. Therefore we exited the lake and hiked with very heavy backpacks along a partially overgrown trail in 1.5 days to the home of Ana and Jorge. We had to use our packraft to ferry over Rio Manso.

When we reached the settlers, Jorge then explained:

- The valley of Rio Manso is infested by partially aggressive wild cattle („baguales“) making it unsafe to hike in this valley without being accompanied by trained dogs that detect and chase of these animals before they can attack invaders of their territory. Especially territorial bulls may attack humans that walk into this valley. Therefore these settlers don’t permit hikers to explore this valley and these lakes without being accompanied by them.

- Between November and February the meltwater from the glaciers raise the river levels making river crossings on horseback difficult and unsafe (Rio Manso could be crossed safely by packraft, other glacier streams not). Especially on sunny days this becomes an issue. Therefore Jorge could not accompany us to show us the hidden trails.

We therefore aborted this exploration and plan to use the next calm day to packraft back on Lago O‘Higgins to attempt the exploration of Option 8D.

Conclusion: Exploring the inner Rio Manso valley is only advisable in September, October, early November, March or April after careful pre-planning with the settlers. WhatsApp contact information can be provided on request.

Side note: Even without access to these 3 lakes and 6 glaciers the Brazo Poniente of Lago O’Higgins is very attractive route. The impressive glaciers Santa Lucia and Huemul are easily reachable on foot from the western terminus of Brazo Poniente. But a packraft is required to travel these routes in summer due to the high river levels.

Season 2024/25

• GPT 37P (Exploration Lago Chico to Brazo Poniente) / 2025-01-03 to 2025-01-10 / 7.5 days / Hiking & Packrafting / NOBO / Packrafting: Lago Chico PR and Option I, Hiking: Option 14, Option 4, Option 6, Packrafting: Santa Lucia, Hiking: Option 7C, Packrafting: Option 7B, Hiking: New Option: Cerro Tono, Packrafting: crossing to Isla Central / Manon, Robin, Lucie, Thomas

From Lago Chico to Leo Muñoz's place :

Day 1: Woke up around 5am to have conditions as calm as possible. The lake Chico was perfectly calm so we crossed it from la playita to 49°00'03"S 73°03'13"W in ideal conditions following the RP at the beginning and then the packrafting Option I to cross the lake before the island as we saw the conditions were favorable there and could not see the amount of tempanos on the other side of the island. we finally continued neraby the shore to go onshore just at the beginning of Hiking Option 14. Absolutely fantastic !

Then, we hiked Option 14 from km 13.6 to km 0. We did a small summit 48°58'13"S 73°06'38"W from the last pass before heading down the moraine, absolutely stunning views on the Gaea glacier. The way down is relatively easy except the moraine which is tiring. We did not follow the gpt tracks and just went straight down. Jan and Leo told us it is much easier though longer to follow the track. You should stick to the GPT tracks ! Once down the moraine, we attempted to packraft Option 14A (from the bottom of the moraine to Refugio O'Higgins) but the wind was too high so we decided to turn back at the middle and instead hiked Option 14A until the refugio O'Higgins. Wonderful view on the glaciar O'Higgins. We met Jan, May, Leo, Matcha & Misha, Leo Muñoz and Pancho at the refuge. A packraft is needed anyway to cross the river coming down glacier Gaea, don’t attempt to cross it by foot !

Day 2: Early in the morning, we crossed the brazo Suboccidental with Leo's motor boat from Refugio O'Higgins to Leo's place, as this crossing seemed too engaged for our light packrafts. Had a rest day at Leo's place, helped him catch goats on Isla chica, had an asado with the great Jan, Meylin, Misha and Matcha and slept there. Incredible people and incredible place.

Expdetition Brazo Poniente

Thanks to Jan & Meylin, and thanks to Leo & Emma we were able to resupply for the next days. Make sure to contact Leo beforehand if you want him to provide a resupply, as he should order food from the resupply boat that comes every 10 days. Leo & Emma were kind to provide us with bread, sopaipillas, and vegetables from the garden. Jan and Meylin provided us with excess dry food that they had. Jan contacted Ana & Jorge in Rio Manso for an intermediate resupply in sopaipillas and vegetables.

Day 1: We started packrafting around 5am as the lake was really calm early that day, in excellent company of Jan, Meylin, Misha, Matcha and Pancho, for the largest packrafting expedition this lake has ever seen ! We left Leo's place and followed by the shore RP-LK-2 (Lago O'Higgins, Brazo Sudoccidental) from km 71 to km 62.7 (did not cross to isla central) and continued by the shore until Rio Turbio (total packrafting of ~10km).

Next we hiked Option 4H. We stopped briefly at Rio Turbio where we met Marcelo and his wife (very kind and welcoming). Continued Option 4 from km 64 to 55.8 (La Lesna) and we camped on a playita at La Lesna. Absolutely stunning rowing in tempanos, with condors and huemules on the shore. The ultralight packrafts are very slow for this kind of crossing, and we were relieved to hit the beach at rio Turbio !

Day 2: Continued Option 4 from La Lesna to Rio Manso (km 55.8 to km 46). A couple of river crossings (ankle/below knee). The Rio Manso needs to be crossed just before Ana & Jorge's place. Crossed it quite easily (several crossings, knee to below hip height). At Rio Manso, Ana & Jorge had prepared some sopaipillas for our next hiking days after Jan had told them we would pass by. Super nice and welcoming people. When leaving Ana & Jorge's place we followed the beach until it was not doable anymore (because of the lake) and from there found a small path up. It enabled us to contour the big stone/small cliff by above. Mix of bush bashing and small path to go down to Rio Santa Lucia. Too much current to cross Santa Lucia by foot (Jorge had told us) so we followed the rio following Option 6 up to the glaciar lake of Santa Lucia where we camped in the moraine. The moraine at the end is not difficult at all but quite long (lots of ups and downs). Camp at Santa Lucia is absolutely stunning.

Day 3: Early in the morning we packrafted the glaciar lake of Santa Lucia: easy and short route, stunning, lots of beautiful tempanos. Hiked down following the rio on its other bank is way easier as the terrain is flat (Option 7C). Hiked until we hit the Rio going down from the Huemules glaciar for which we did exactly the same: too wide to be crossed, followed the rio up to the glaciar lake, packrafted the glaciar lake following half part of OP-7B. Wonderful view on the glaciar Huemules. We went into the water on some rocks but going out of water was very comfy (nice beach on the North-East side of the glaciar lake 48°37'47"S 73°07'05"W). From there we hiked up ~1400 meters (cross country) to Cerro "Tono" (coordinates: 48°39'32,0"S 73°02'48,4"O, the name was later given to us by La Tola,not official, she named it from her late husband). Views up there were completely breathtaking, probably the most wonderful view that we had during this time at Lago O'Higgins. We wanted to sleep at the summit but the wind was supposed to become stronger during the night so we decided to go down about ~500m and camp next to a lake with a nice view on the Lago O'Higgins 48°39'52"S 73°01'40"W.

Day 4: We went down from our camping to La Tola's place 48°41'31"S 72°59'53"W and spent the rest of the day and the night at her place as the weather was bad and it was a good opportunity to meet a bit better the very welcoming inhabitants of this lake.

Day 5: We followed the shore on option EXP {37P-04} from La Tola's place to Pocas Pilchas. We slept on the peninsula 48°44'59"S 72°54'58"W

Day 6: Early in the morning we packrafted towards Isla Central: first following the peninsula on its east side and then crossing to Isla central (total ~3km of packraft). We arrived at isla central around 8-9am and stayed there for 10 days. We were in constant contact with Andrea through satellite phone as this crossing was hazardous especially with our ultralight setup. In case of troubles she could have picked us up at Pocas Pilchas with her motorboat. We did not plan to stay for so long, but the next resupply boat, La Soberania, was 10 days after, and the conditions were too windy for Andrea to drop us on Peninsula la Florida. Furthermore, Andrea and David are very cautious with the use of their motorboat, and will be reluctant to take you to Peninsula la Florida if La Soberania is coming in a few days after. Remember that your timeline is not theirs, and don’t expect them to take a day off and take a lot of risk just for you to continue hiking. We strongly encourage GPT hikers and packrafters visiting the lake to stay a significant amount of time on this incredible island, with these incredible people. Trust us, you won’t regret it !

• GPT37P Option 8 and 17: Lago O’Higgins circuit from Isla Central to Laguna Larga, Bahia Bajo Esperanza, Lago and Glaciar Oriental and return via Brazo Desagua to Isla Central / 2024-Dec-21 to 2024-Dec-28 / 8 days with 3 full waiting days / Misha Bogdanov, Masha Ovchinnikova, Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck

This route via Laguna Larga is the most suitable return route to Villa O’Higgins for packrafters after visiting the North-West of Lago O’Higgins (Brazo Poniente and Isla Central). In suitable weather the return requires 4 days with one to two calm days for two lake crossings. It provides better wind shelter and shorter open-water crossings then the route via El Taitao when traveling northbound.

Note: The most suitable route from Villa O’Higgins to the North-West of Lago O’Higgins (Brazo Poniente and Isla Central) is the route via El Taitao due to the predominant wind direction but the most suitable return route is via Laguna Larga.

I drafted this route around 2021 based on satellite images and statements from local residents that a route via Laguna Larga had been used in the past.

In January 2024 we investigated the routes to the southern terminus of Laguna Larga and found a well-maintained trail.

For season 2024/25 we planned the full traverse. We called off our original plan to investigate this route starting in Villa O’Higgins as the weather was unsuitable. Suitable weather was predicted to get to Bahia Bajo Esperanza but strong wind and heavy rain would have pinned us down for 3 or 4 days in this remote location. Therefore we traveled directly from Villa O’Higgins to Isla Central to wait for suitable weather on Isla Central and to investigate this route starting from Isla Central.

Day 1: Isla Central to southern terminus of Laguna Larga

We got up at 3 am to depart packrafting from Isla Central with the first light around 5 am. Thanks to calm weather we could paddle in roughly two hours against the predominant wind direction to the trail head to Laguna Larga. We then hiked in roughly 8 hours with heavy backpacks on a well-maintained trail to Laguna Larga. We briefly visited Lencho at his home “Laguna Colerado”. Thanks to Lencho’s advice we found an excellent camping spot next to Laguna Larga which is located on dry ground within an island of forests at the shore of Laguna Larga (the entire surrounding terrain is wetland).

Day 2: Waiting day

Strong wind from the north made a lake crossing impossible and rain would have made hiking unpleasant. Therefore we happily stayed in our tents as the following day promised calm sunny weather.

Day 3: Laguna Larga to Lago O’Higgins

We got up at 3 am to start packrafting with the first light. Moderate wind from north (predominant wind direction of Laguna Larga) slowed us somewhat down but did not prevent a lake crossing. After reaching the northern end of lake we packrafted the river to first cascade, portaged the packraft, packrafted the river again and ported a second cascade (both portages area on the left looking in river flow direction). Then we packrafted a second lake, a river and third lake. After we reached the end of the third lake we packed our backpacks and scouted a route to the beach at Lago O’Higgins (only 2.5 km). The open terrain and remains of an old trail made this land traverse easily walkable. In the forest at the beach we found an old Puesto and suitable dry ground to camp (puesto of Lino Bahmondez who now lives in Villa O’Higgins).

Day 4: Waiting day

In order to packraft to Bahia Bajo Esperanza and to return safely we required two calm weather windows. We asked via InReach Andrea on Isla Central and our friend Tobias Hellwig. Based on their reviews of Windy we rescheduled our packrafting to Bahia Bajo Esperanza for day 5 and the return for day 7 of our trip. This transformed day 4 into a waiting day. The sunny but windy weather made this waiting day a very pleasant day with excellent views to Bahia Ventisquiero.

Day 5: Bahia Laguna Larga, Bahia Bajo Esperanza, Lago and Glaciar Oriental, Bahia Bajo Esperanza, Bahia Laguna Larga

We got up at 3 am to start packrafting with the first light. We reached Bahia Bajo Esperanza in less than 2 hours, packed our backpacks and scouted the route to Lago Oriental. Most of the distance is open, partly muddy terrain and the final bit is an old overgrown trail. At Lago Oriental we inflated our packrafts and paddled amidst the ice blocks from Glaciar Oriental. We then returned on the same route to Lago O’Higgins. When we arrived at Lago O’Higgins at 19:00 the wind had calmed down sufficiently to attempt the 10 km paddle to the beach and camp where we spend the previous two nights. We preferred this camp site as the terrain at Bahia Bajo Esperanza was either wet or with little wind protection. We reached our camp just before 22:00.

Day 6: Waiting day

The predicted wind made day 6 unsuitable for packrafting but day 7, day 8 and day 9 were expected to be calm and suitable for packrafting. Therefore we opted to wait one day instead of returning via Laguna Larga.

Day 7: Packrafting Brazo Desague

We got up at 3 am to start packrafting with the first light. The first two hours of the paddle were calm with barely any wind and waves. Between 7 and 8 am the wind increased. With this, waves increased quickly. We inflated our sails to advance as far as possible before conditions became unsafe. At two exposed points wind and waves became annoying and we had to deflate the sail to not be pushed by the wind against the shore. But then the wind calmed somewhat down and we sailed the following 10 to 12 km. Towards noon the wind calmed down or we entered a wind sheltered area so we had to start paddling again. When reaching the southern end of brazo Desague we exited at the settlement „La Morocha“. In the afternoon a boat was expected to move animals to a different settlement (Rio Turbio). We opted to „hitch-hike“ with this boat to Rio Turbio.

Day 8: Return to Isla Central

On a calm morning we returned from Rio Turbio to Isla Central. This 4 km paddle on a calm morning was a delight.

Lessons learned or confirmed:

1. „Windy“ provides reasonable reliable information to wind conditions but someone must understand how the surrounding mountains redirect, enforce or weaken the wind. Anyway, predictions beyond 4 or 5 days are less reliable. Therefore, packrafters should verify expected wind conditions by InReach with a person with internet access and not rely on wind predictions recorded when leaving on a longer tour. In contrast, wind predictions provided by the InReach Weather feature or often quite inaccurate.

2. Packrafting on Lago O’Higgins and other larger lakes in southern Patagonia require patience and willingness to wait several days for suitable wind conditions (especially during the more windy summer months). Packrafting routes should be selected and customized based the predicted winds. Also, food rations need not include reserves for such waiting days.

3. Settling attempts in remote areas reached a maximum in the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s. Since these decades, many of the more remote settling attempts have been abandoned. Depending on climate, traces of these abandoned settlements are still visible or mostly wiped out.

• GPT37H Option 1D and GPT37P Option 16 / Villa O’Higgins to Lago O‘Higgins (Packrafting access to Brazo Bajo Esperanza) / Round Trip / 2024-Dec-05 to 08 / 4 days / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck

I drafted this exploration route to investigate a possible packrafting access to Brazo Bajo Esperanza of Lago O’Higgins. This north-western portage route shortens the access to Laguna Larga to a 12 km paddle and places the majority of this water route in a somewhat more wind protected area. From there it‘s another 9 km on water to Glaciar Oriental.

My initial draft route minimized portage distance by maximizing packrafting but contained quite some bush bashing. In a later detailed satellite image analysis I discovered some signs of a rarely used trail and I added another option that minimized bush bashing. We now investigated this suspected old trail without packraft to verify if this hiking route is indeed traversable.

From Villa O’Higgins we hiked the well-established trail to Laguna Negra. From there we ascended along the suspected trail towards Lago Toro. Fresh machete cuts (1 year or less) along the ascent indicated that this route is still occasionally used. Once we reached a more open plateau the signs of the old trail became more sporadic and hard to follow but the open terrain facilitated advancing. At the evening we found an excellent camp spot within a small forest.

The next day we continued our ascent towards Lago Toro. We occasionally could see signs of a disused trail but in the rather open terrain we lost this old route which got us in difficult rock terrain. Once we reached Lago Toro we rediscovered the disused trail. To get to the other end of Lago Toro we walked half a kilometer through water to avoid the dense vegetation that reached all the way to lake shore. This is not uncommon for horse trails. During the descent to Lago O’Higgins we again found occasionally signs of a disused trail especially where the geography leaves little options (the few gaps between rocky cliffs). The machete cuts were at least 10 years old. To cross one patch of dense forest we needed our machete. We camped next to Lago O’Higgins.

On the way back we could improve the route and discovered more signs of the disused trail.

This demanding route is useful for packrafters that wish to access the north-western arm of Lago O’Higgins or for hikers that look for a 3 to 4 day adventure around Villa O’Higgins.

This route is more demanding than the packrafting portage route via Laguna Negra to El Taitao about 10 km further south especially when carrying a heavy packraft and plenty of food.

This exploration confirmed some lessons learned from previous years:

1. A tedious analysis of satellite images often pays off and can avoid unnecessary hardship when searching a route. I had multiple options planned and displayed on the GPS.

2. Offline satellite images and detailed topographic maps on the smartphone are essential when “ground-truthing” such an exploration route. We used Gaia GPS (good topographic maps) and BackcountryNavigator (better satellite images).

3. The best research result is archived when the same person or group investigates the route in both directions.

4. The machete was essentially when we hit a dense patch of forest. Due to otherwise rocky terrain this was the only possible bottleneck to descend further and in exactly this patch of forest we rediscovered signs of the disused trail (old machete cuts).

5. Such explorations require reasonable good weather to be enjoyable.

Season 2022/23

• 2022-Dec-18 to 2023-Jan-16 / 30 Days / Packrafting / GPT37P Initial Investigation / Villa O'Higgins, Lago Negro, El Taitao, La Morocha, Isla Central, Brazo Poniente, Rio Condor, Lago Chico / Meylin Ubilla, Masha Ovchinnikova, Misha Bogdanov, Jan Dudeck, Tobias Schorch

In the 10 years of investigating and publishing the GPT this has been the most diverse, intense and longest exploration trip.

Lago O’Higgins is not completely unknown in the travelers world but most hikers and cyclists perceive this lake rather as an obstacle then as a region to explore. Lago O’Higgins is located between the southern terminus of the Carretera Austral and the hiking mecca El Chalten. Hikers and cyclists that wish to connect along the Carretera Austral from Cerro Castillo or Parque Patagonia to El Chalten often take the ferries that cross this lake from Villa O‘Higgins to Candelario Mancilla but furious wind can result in waiting times of more then one week.

While visiting Villa O’Higgins in recent years we learned more about the handful of settlers living remotely on the shores of this lake. The first settlers arrived around 100 years ago by boat coming from the Argentine side of this bi-national lake. And satellite images provided some information about the trails in the vicinity of this octopus-like lake with numerous arm. After years of contemplating we reserved a good part of this season to venture on this lake and to visit the settlers.

Lago O’Higgins is infamous for the often furious wind that can last for days. Especially in summer wind rarely stops making any packrafting attempt an exercise of patience. Of the 30 days at the lake we spend 10 days waiting but these days were “value time” because we stayed at the homesteads of the settlers and tasted their way of life. Highlights of the trip have been:

- Searching and documenting the barely travelled trail from Villa O’Higgins via Lago Negro to El Taitao

- Crossing by packraft Lago O’Higgins at Brazo Desagüe and Bahia Pocas Pilchas

- Spending 10 days with Andrea and Susana Mancilla on Isla Central that became our “base camp” for exploring Brazo Poniente

- Packrafting and hiking Brazo Poniente all the way to the glaciers that creep down from the Southern Patagonian Icefield

- Spending 7 days with Ema Mera and Leo Muñoz at their homestead Rio Condor that became our “base camp” to visit Brazo Sudoccidental and the Southern Patagonian Icefield

- Investigate a new cross-country hiking route to a viewpoint of Glacier O’Higgins that was probably never walked before

- Traversing the Pensinsula La Carmela from Glaciar Gaea to Lago Chico and crossing this lake by packraft next to Glaciar Chico

- Ascending on the Southern Patagonian Icefield along Glaciar Chico to Paso Marconi with the mountain guide Leo Muñoz

- Arranging food shipments with the supply boat that 3 times per month visits the settlers of Lago O’Higgins

The balanced combination of hiking, packrafting and living with the settlers made this 30-day trip an intense but not tiresome experience.

A detailed route description and recommendations will be provided with the next update of the Hikers Manual.

Links to other Resources

Retired Section Article GPT37P - Península La Florida