https://wikiexplora.com/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Janboro 2026-09-23T18:19:06Z Contribuciones del usuario MediaWiki 1.26.1 https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT10_(Laguna_El_Barco)&diff=120959 2025-04-07T09:04:50Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> If you are packrafting, put the above info into HTML tags like this (if you follow a hiking route for part of the way, highlight only &quot;packrafting&quot;, as above):<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD, WHAT IS ENCLOSED IN &lt;&gt; MAKES IT BLUE):<br /> * &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;.<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> <br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> *&quot;2025-02-17 to 18/ 2 days, SOBO, RR, Henry and Emilie:&quot;<br /> <br /> Day 1:<br /> After waking up at a beautiful campsite just outside Trapa Trapa we went down to the store where we bought some more sugary snacks as well as half a kilo of fresh honey! (Possibly too much?) We continued South through Trapa and before leaving were also able to buy some fresh eggs. The trail is well troden through the valley and it is very beautiful though dusty. We came across two very easy fjords through the day and camped at (S 37.812384° O 71.274833°). Throughout the day there were a few aggressive puesto dogs, it seemed to me though that they were smart enough to back off when I raised my stick at them.<br /> <br /> Day 2:<br /> After waking up we made our way up to Laguna Liey. A steep but short climb. Getting down to the lake though was another matter. It's steep and for us confusing, we lost the trail on the way down and ended up doing some bush bashing. Made it eventually though, filled up water for the last time until Laguna del Barco (there is no water on the plateau). The way OUT of Laguna Liey was very rough for us. The tracks seemed to lead us straight up a cliff, eventually we made it out my following horse tracks around the cliff to the left. Rest of the day was moderatly easy but long, made it to El Barco after dark and were able to pay for a very slanted campsite (S 37.941382° O 71.284620°) (8000 each). Lots of people selling snacks and bread there and we managed to score some cold beers. The next day we hitch hiked from El Barco back to Los Angeles not completing the section to instead head down South.<br /> <br /> *'''2025-02-19 to 2025-02-20 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / Natalie&amp;Tomas option 3 from GPT11 (border ridge), option 1&amp;2 (Cupahue ascent), RR / Manon, Robin and Thomas'''<br /> <br /> Resume : both Volcan Cupahue option (1&amp;2) and Natalie&amp;Thomas option (3) to connect GPT11 near argentinian border are really amazing and made to be combined if you can do without Guallali food supply. We highly recommand it if the weather is good. (Thanks a lot Natalie&amp;Tomas !)<br /> Coming from GPT11 we camped at the abandonned puesto at -37.978400, -71.141083 (very good camp spot : peasible, water pool, beautiful araucarias with pinones supply).  <br /> Day 1 : Abandonned puesto from GPT 11 &gt; Camp at 2170 under Cupahue <br /> We climbed the ridge dividing the valley in into two following Natalie&amp;Tomas tracks to the north. With the trail slope before the ford, the ascending BB&amp;TL ridge is truely easy. Then easy CC to join the main ridge at about -37.958580, -71.142415 and then following the ridge to the east until the summit/plateau (on the north side sometimes). Really good views on Cupahue and Collaqui following the ridge to the north. We joined and went down the Paso Pucon Mahuida non-used MR until to reach option 1. Passing by the hotsprings which seem ok, we went up until a camp at 2170 under Cupahue glacier at -37.87753, -71.19874. Volcanic ground was pretty easy to hike finally. <br /> Day 2 : Camp at 2170 &gt; Cupahue ascent &gt; Trapa Trapa<br /> Easy CC to the summit (beautiful crater and view) and way down to highest puesto, with also spectacular views to the north. From there, we followed a path with only 100 meters of easy BB (between option 1 and option 1A) and then Option 1 and RR to Trapa Trapa. <br /> We conclued then 6,5 days of GPT 12, 11 and 10 and slept at welcoming Mapuche family home at &quot;Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956]&quot;.<br /> Manon and Robin continued NOBO and I (Thomas) took the daily 6am bus to Los Angeles. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-02-05 - 2024-02-06/ 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Elijah and Michael'''<br /> No water on plateau after Laguna Liay as previous notes.<br /> <br /> Camping at Laguna Barco 8000 CLP per person. Hot food such as sopapaillas, tortillas, completos, etc available. Minishop has snacks, cookies and drinks.<br /> <br /> Shop at Guallil had sufficient options for a limited resupply - soups, ramen, pasta, biscuits, etc. Shop also provided accommodation for 30,000CLP including cena and desayuno. <br /> <br /> <br /> *'''2024-01-31 to 2024-02-03 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Chris &amp; Julia'''<br /> <br /> Beautiful araucarias (and yummi piñones), pretty easy trail, Laguna El Barco less romantic and more overcrowded than expected but nice food! No snow, no fords worth mentioning. Also possible in less time.<br /> <br /> Day 1: started after resupplying in Trapa Trapa (only cookies) in the afternoon. Camped at [S 37° 45' 18.08&quot; W 071° 17' 01.75&quot;] ~6km (first possible camping spot with water and flat ground). A lot of arieros passing. <br /> <br /> Day 2: A lot of puestos. Last water at 14.5km. Trail to the pass is very beautiful, stunning araucarias. We also harvested some low hanging piñones. We reached two by hand (twisting, not pulling, worked for us). For another we used a rope stretched between two long branches. A bit tricky, but it worked. They are not ripe yet, but they taste good raw and even better roasted. We camped at Camp {10-d} [0.1/1658] to avoid walking 19km without water. The Laguna there is really just a dirty pond, we spend hours (!) filtering water for two people with our befree, would not recommend sleeping there.<br /> <br /> Day 3: Nice and easy trail. We followed a wrong trail at [S 37° 56' 01.04&quot; W 071° 18' 15.57&quot;] for ~2.5 km. At Laguna El Barco we had to pay 8000 CPL per person for camping (has bathrooms + showers). It was pretty crowded (guess because of weekend?). But there were 3 small stands with nice food (Tortillas, Sopaipillas, Completos, some meet stuff, <br /> Softdrinks, &amp; Mote con huesillo -&gt; you should try, super nice chilean summerdrink).<br /> <br /> Day 4: Following the trail there is a nice Camp at the Laguna after the official campsite if you prefere a more private spot (we would have camped there if we had known). Met Tobi + Mara from Germany (Viele Grüße :D!). Hitched directly to Ralco from the road. From Ralco there are buses to Los Angeles (at least every 2hours). <br /> <br /> *''' 2024-01-29 to 2024-01-30 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR+OH 10E+RR / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> Day1: A lot of puestos on part till 14.5 km of RR. I had some really interesting talks about the Mapuche conflict and war between Russia and Ukraine. All people were friendly. Camp at Laguna Liay taking OH 10C - easy to find. After that, one woman said to me that near Laguna there is a path where crossed thieves with stolen cows from Guallalli. Very nice and quiet place.<br /> <br /> Day2: I came back to the trail tracking back and found a shortcut. Took water from the lake for the whole day. I had a strange case near Laguna in the forest. A big bird tried to attack me. The plateau is amazing. Descending to Laguna Barco at 32.1/1296 there is a puesto and a gate. I decided not to go through camping at Laguna Barco, as there were a lot of people there. Took variant 10E on MR. At km 6.0 of this variant it is possible to buy soft drinks and ice creams. Night at Guallalli at minishop 11 (0.1/951) fideos, sweets, soft drinks. Bed, breakfast,dinner 30000 CLP. Very nice place. In the evening I had a really interesting talk about the Mapuche and animals. This family is not Mapuche. There is a good net here, Entel.<br /> <br /> *''' 2025-Jan-23 to 2025-Jan-26 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, 10-C, 10-E / Janboro '''<br /> <br /> I combined GPT 09, 10 and 11 and took 6,5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Highlights: Stunning Araucaria forests, encounters with the Pehuenche people living there, Laguna de Liay, puma tracks and puma stories.<br /> <br /> Challenges: No water on the plateau. The creek at S 37°54.077' W 71°18.470' has dried out already by this time of the year.<br /> <br /> I had lots of friendly encounters with the native Pehuenche and some not so friendly ones with their dogs. I’ve made it a habit to greet people in their language (mari mari), then approach them and introduce myself in Spanish with my name and a handshake. This led to a couple of interesting, informative and friendly conversations with lots of mutual learning.<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> Started in the evening in Trapa Trapa and camped at [7.1/1181], where I met Elias, the owner of this land. He told me a lot about Pehuenche history, his hard but also beautiful and tranquil life in the mountains and about other mochileros who camped on his land.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> Started late because of hip pain. Higher up the valley two people independently from each other told me that they frequently see pumas (“leones”) on the edge of the plateau, one told me he has sheep “cuando no los comen los leones”, asked me if I had a revolver to defend myself, then reassured me pumas don’t attack people unless feeling cornered or protecting their offspring. One Pehuenche asked me how I know the way. I showed him my GPS device and showed him the track. He was a bit astonished but didn’t suspect any commercial exploitation as had happened previously according to the manual.<br /> <br /> I shared Volkers feeling of awe when I saw the group of Araucarias right before the ascent to the plateau. It’s simply beautiful. Took a long food and coffee break there and ascended to Laguna Liay. On the way up, the path is partly heavily overgrown and at times difficult to find between other paths.<br /> <br /> Up there I found myself in a fairytale forest in the evening light. I hashed my first glimpse of Laguna Liay shortly before sunset and it was mesmerizing. When looking for the way down to the laguna I lost the path and did some heavy CC BB but after a couple of minutes decided this can’t be the right way, double checked my location using the GPS and found the correct path. Still overgrown, but recognizable and easy to walk.<br /> <br /> Camped close to the spot indicated by Nimrod &amp; Tamar. Pure beauty and tranquility!<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> <br /> Purified and packed enough water for the day and then continued my ascent to the and way over the plateau. Shortly before the intersection X {10} [17.7/1676] I discovered my first puma tracks.<br /> <br /> Checked the little creek at S 37°54.077' W 71°18.470': It has dried out, so the last chance to fill up water before the plateau is at Laguna de Liay (as described in the manual).<br /> <br /> At a rock close by I took a siesta/food/coffee break. Lorenzo, a Pehuenche in his sixties, came up from the valley in his horse with three dogs, and had them drive his cattle downhill. He then turned around, rode towards me and offered to carry my backpack on his horse all the way down to Laguna del Barco. I was amazed by this generous offer, but still wanted to carry it myself, so I thanked him many times but declined. Later met him next to his house at X {10} [32.1/1296], where we took photos together and exchanged numbers.<br /> <br /> Camped at Laguna de Barco and filled my hungry stomach with a churrasco, a huge serving of French fries, a fruit shake and a Coca Cola. The restaurant closes around 21 opens at 8 in the morning.<br /> <br /> Day 4<br /> <br /> Bought a sopaipilla (similar to the hungarian lángos) and two tortilla breads and took the variant 10-E to Guallalí. Bad decision because 10-E seems to be the only way to get from and to Laguna de Barco by car, so I got to eat a lot of dust. Good decision, because I got offered a ride a couple of times (politely declined) and one passing driver gifted me cookies and fruits (gratefully accepted). There’s also a house where they sell ice cream. I asked a couple of people with chicken on their yards, if they sell eggs. None had any because most hens don’t lay that time of the year due to the heat as I learned later at the Guallalí shop. In Guallalí, shortly before the police station, I got invited for a coffee, soft drink, tortilla bread with butter and a friendly and very interested conversation with the elder couple who lives there and their family from Los Ángeles. When I left, they also gifted me cookies.<br /> <br /> Bought a can of tuna and a pack of tomato sauce at the shop in Guallalí and continued to GPT11.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''2025-Jan-18 to 2025-Jan-20 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, OH10C+D (Laguna Liay) / Nimrod &amp; Tamar'''<br /> <br /> 1st day:<br /> After buying some supplies from a family we started hiking up the valley.<br /> There were some unmarked puestos and tons of nice places for camp.<br /> We asked permission from the family in a puesto to camp in their area and camped at (). <br /> <br /> 2nd day:<br /> Last water point is near puesto [14.5/1297]. Next water point is near Laguna El Barco on RR or Laguna Liay.<br /> <br /> There was a trail crossing at approx (-37.83314, -71.27040). We didn't notice it because the trail which is not on the files is much more clear, and walked on it for 200 meters until we felt something is wrong, and turned back. It might be easier trail up.<br /> <br /> OH (10-C) until approx 1 km is partly easy CC because of the fire. From 1 km to 2.1 the trail has changed but it was easy to follow.<br /> <br /> TL(10-D) does not exist and was hard BB so we skipped it. There might be another trail going down to the Laguna but we didn't look for it.<br /> <br /> Camp {10-d} [0.1/1658] is really poor in comparison to the lagoon beach. It was a dirty pond with a lot of cows around. So we hiked back and camped on the beach at (-37.83347, -71.28245).<br /> Had afternoon swim and really nice view!<br /> <br /> 3rd day:<br /> Easy trails until laguna El Barco. We harvested low hanging piñones we found at (-37.84210, -71.27454).<br /> We recommend bringing a 15 meters cord. We had only 4 meters. The piñones were not ripe yet but were sweet, and could be eaten fresh without roasting.<br /> <br /> At Laguna El Barco we had to pay 1000 clp per person only for entrance. There was a small stand which sold fresh tortillas and some junk food. We had a Churrasca, coke, and ice cream 😋.<br /> <br /> We discovered that the bus to Los Angeles departs Gulalli at 5:30 so we put an effort to get there before darkness.<br /> When it was completely dark we saw a bus parking in a yard, 1 km before Gulalli! Happy and excited we discovered it was the driver's house, which let us camp in his garden and take a hot shower in his home.<br /> <br /> The first bus stop is at the police station and the ride takes approx 5 hours and cost us 3500 clp per person.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-JAN-09 to 2025-JAN-10 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Alex '''<br /> Found an excellent campsite: S37° 46.967' W71° 16.896', right on the riverbank and free of cow manure. The river pocket was teeming with trout during the evening feed. A small fly or tenkara gear is recommended for fishing.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-24 &gt; 25 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT09+GPT10+GPT11+GPT12+GPT13<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : non<br /> | Intérêt : 3/5<br /> | Difficulté : 1/5<br /> | Danger : aucun<br /> <br /> Il restait un peu de neige alors j'ai trouvé de l'eau facilement.<br /> Juste avant le Laguna El Barco il y a un camping 5000CLP/nuit pour emplacement, douche glacée, eau potable, électricité et poubelle. J'y suis allé car c'etait marqué qu'il etait interdit de camper près du lac...<br /> <br /> *'''2024-DEC-22 to 2024-DEC-23 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> A straightforward stage dominated by a relatively flat plateau with araucarias. A highlight of the journey was swimming in Laguna El Barco. We set off from Trapa Trapa in the late afternoon along a pleasant gravel road, carrying food for two days. After the ford [9.5/1171], the trail continues through a beautiful and wide river valley, where several puestos are located. We camped at a nice spot, Camp [14.1/1269], under the araucarias. There, we each collected 3 liters of water, as there was none on the plateau, except for one location (-37.90128, -71.30783), where there was a small stream that was not marked in the track files. It’s possible that this stream could be dry during peak summer.<br /> <br /> The ascent to the plateau was taken via a more well-trodden and gradual path (approximately 300 meters longer than in the track files, but more frequently used). The plateau itself is a paradise of araucarias with views of Volcán Callaqui. After descending to Laguna El Barco, we first paid 1000 CLP per person for entry at point Lake, Camp [32.9/1292], and then enjoyed a pleasant picnic by the lake while swimming. It’s a beautiful lake. <br /> <br /> The route to Guallalí mostly follows a pleasant MR, although it can be somewhat monotonous at times. Upon arriving in Guallalí, we stocked up on supplies for two days for the GPT11 stage at a small shop, Shop {11} [0.1/951] (Mini Shop). They had pasta, rice, tuna, jurel, cookies, and soft drinks.<br /> <br /> '''2024-Dec-16 to 2024-Dec-18 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Not much to say for this section it's pretty straight forward. We did it in a relaxed 2.5 days to avoid spending the night in Trapa Trapa but its easily doable in 2.<br /> <br /> 25.2km water - there was a small stream flowing well here. Could have saved us carrying so much water to camp up on the plateau.<br /> <br /> Resupplied at the red shop (S 37.42745, W 71.15386) in trapa trapa, they had ramen cookies, chocolate etc. She also sold us a big loaf of bread. Not great for a full resupply but enough for us to top up for a few days.<br /> <br /> Continued on to 9<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''24-12-11 - 24-12-12/ 2 days/ SOBO / RR/ Volker'''<br /> A section of beauty and peace <br /> There are few technical things to say about this section, perhaps this: on the way from the valley up to the pass use your device more often than you might feel it is necessary. There are many trails and yours is often not the one you see in front of you, but the overgrown or blocked by a broken tree to your right or left. <br /> The moment you arrive at the first Araucaria trees (though some on the way down to Trapa Trapa on gpt09) is just overwhelming. Camped at Laguna Liay, when I arrived there, I just didn’t want to leave this place. <br /> Day 2: After the short first day, this one promised to become a long one. The plateau is just breathtaking, even after 08+09 the days before. At Laguna El Barco no food, no wifi, but a great opportunity to cool down in the lake. Some km later on RR the MR (good to walk, few rubble, shadow) passes a house, the sheep ran away from me, a lamb left behind, I draw the attention of a woman to the lamb - and was invited for lunch with that very nice „spanish“ (not Pehuenche) family. <br /> Arrived at Guallali at 6.30 p.m., presented at the carabineros (very friendly!), the officer brought me to the „shop“, which is hidden in a garden house (don‘t expect any meaningful resupply). <br /> Camped not far, to the right of RR11, in a small valley beyond some Eucalyptus and Araucaria trees (river not far, but deep down). Two women passed by, first sceptical, then offered to join them and get some bred (declined).<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> *'''3Dec2024 - 5dec2024 / hiking SOBO / RR -varC - RR / 2 days / Clara'''<br /> <br /> The ascent and descent of the plateau are awesome, full of araucaria trees and beautiful landscapes of the montains around. Sad that I've to hurry because of bad weather comming. <br /> Fords : easy <br /> Snow : big snow fields from about 1700m alt but easy to cross. <br /> Water : still full on the plateau at this period. <br /> Navigation : often many paths but easy to find the good one with the GPS. A bit more difficult to follow on the ascent after puesto at 14.5. And also around the pass cause the path often goes under the snow fields so needed more gps to stay in the good direction. <br /> Var C : the lake is really nice. Made it with not so much bushbashing by staying closest as possible to the tracks, gps in hand at least at the begining. <br /> Camp : around 8km (water) and camping at laguna el barco was open (5000 CLP/pers/night) <br /> <br /> Arrive in Guallali before the rain : <br /> Eat and sleep at the point mini-market with Romina and her family. <br /> 30kCLP for bed + lunch + dinner + breakfast. <br /> Mini market : pasta, soups. <br /> <br /> Entel phone coverage. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 2024-Nov-26 to 2024-Nov-28 / 2.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - C, D / Karin<br /> <br /> Camp: camp near laguna Liay (km0.1 var D) / Campamento Laguna El Barque (km32.9)<br /> <br /> The MR/trail is easy to follow, except for the ascent after puesto km14.5, where the trail is no well visible. All along the valley from Trapa Trapa to the late puesto were a lot of small streams running over the road. Some were easy to cross without getting wet feet, others were a bit bigger, but never more than mid-calf.<br /> <br /> From an altitude of 1760m was still snow. The snow on the pass and the plateau was managable, but slows down quite a bit and makes navigation more challenging. This on a distance of about 8km. <br /> <br /> As there is still snow, there is a lot of water. Even on the plateau were a few streams, which will probably dry out during summer. <br /> <br /> The camping at the Laguna El Barque was still closed. I asked two men how were working on the cabañas if I could pit up the tent anyways. This was not a problem and they did not charge me for this. At the camping were sanitary instalations, tables...<br /> <br /> I arrived Guallalí at 12hrs. Because of the snow, I decided to go to Los Angeles. The carabineros station was empty, so I went to the minishop (gpt 11 km0.1) and asked when the buses leave. The owner told me that there is only one bus everyday at 5.30 am. But I could try to hichhike. While waiting, two locals came by and told me that in the next community (Chenqueco) are more cars going to/in direction of Ralco and that from there I would be more lucky. <br /> About 5min later a car drove by and took me to this community. From there I hichhiked again.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-18 to 2024-03-19 // 1,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel'''<br /> <br /> I was a bit anxious on that section because of a big fire on the valley of the vokcan Copahue. Everything was under the steam all around, and with a big smell of fire. Few helicopters passed, and I was seriously questioning myself to continue or not. <br /> <br /> Fortunately for me the track change of the valley to reach the beautiful Laguna El Barco. <br /> <br /> It was late on the season so there were absolutely no one there. But In season that would be a great camp spot (event if it's probably popular and not so quiet as there's a lot of camping places). <br /> <br /> Fill your water at the bottom of the valley because when you'll reach the plateau you'll have no water at all, until you go down to the valley. <br /> <br /> Plateau is pretty nice, met a lot of people up there harvesting piñones. Easy horse track to follow. Ground is sandy and very steamy on the way down. Then you arrive on a valley with lot of water and lor of arrieros, great to chat with some of those that are leaving around there. <br /> <br /> I crossed the Ford {10} [9.5/1171] then camo just after that. Had a great and quiet night there, happy to clean myself after a very dusty day, but I reckon it's gonna be like that for few sections further north aha ! <br /> <br /> Then easy track, gravel and road. No more ford to cross. Until the tiny trapa trapa. <br /> <br /> Locals sent me to a kiosco, who Is situated very close to the point X {10} [0.0+0.3/937]. There's a ringtone, then a girl came to open the kiosco for a small resupply (tuna, fideos, chips and sweetness like candies, biscuits, and other stuff with a packaging of 90's that seems to be very bad for your body aha, but took it anyway). <br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-25 to 2024-03-29 / 5 days / SOBO / RR + new route + Copahue summit opt 2. + opt 1 down Copahue + Nathalie/Tomas new route + gpt11 nobo back to Guallalí / Marilyne'''<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Started in Trapa Trapa around 15:30 and walked to right before camp 7.1. Hid in the forest to camp instead of using the nice grassy area as a lot of people on horses were using the trail.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Felt worried about the multiple puesto dogs and the aggressive person along the RR and option 1 so decided to try a new route to eventually rejoin GPT option 2, the trail to the summit of Copahue (pronounced Copaway). Went cross country going South from my 7.1 camp for a while until I started climbing East. Eventually joined a trail that seemed to get good use. There is probably no need to go cross country if you find the start of that trail… Left the trail at -37.78784, -71.25114 and went CC again on the plateau. Met a couple harvesting piñones and chatted with them. As I was leaving, their dog nipped my ankle… so much for avoiding dogs. Stopped by Laguna Negra (-37.81527, -71.21972) for lunch and water. Camped by a small lake at -37.83042, -71.20250. Beautiful views around that area. There were patches of old (last year’s) and new (last week’s) snow. In the evening, I went to investigate a direct route to Copahue up the peak at -37.83807, -71.20001, but felt that it was a little too exposed for me and my big backpack.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Took a slightly lower route on the West side of previously mentioned peak to Copahue from my campsite which worked great. Water at -37.83722, -71.20762 and also further depending on the snow quantity. Rejoined the marked OSM trail up to Copahue at around 2,750 meters of elevation, where I left most of my gear and went to the summit. The hike down from the volcano was very slow going, I followed the OSM route mostly but at times I was in between the GPT line and the OSM line. Went to check out the hot springs, which looked gross to me. Camped at -37.89625, -71.16599, on the road leading to Argentina.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - I wanted to try the new option that Nathalie and Tomas have posted below for this section, so I followed the road to Argentina up to the valley that parallels the border and made my way to the ridge. Views from the ridge are spectacular and I enjoyed that part very much, following the border at first and ending up here: -37.95833, -71.11928. Difficulties came when I tried to come down the ridge following the route posted on FB. I backed out of the proposed “best route” as it was too exposed and scrambling-like for my liking. I ended up going down the steep talus slope for a while, traversing as Natalie described and ended up doing a fair amount of unpleasant bush-bashing to reach the trail at the bottom of the valley. There are probably better routes than the one I took though, I didn’t have the opportunity to study the satellite imagery very well before going :-). Looking back I should have walked in the creek bed earlier rather than fight with all the bamboo. Ended up with a fair amount of scratches and ripped pants. Camped shortly after I found the trail in the valley.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Used GPT11 NOBO to reach Guallalí. Stopped at the hot springs (6.6km/991) on the way to clean up a little. It was a holiday in Chile, Good Friday, and I met two groups of people from the city that were driving around this remote road for fun. Reached Guallalí and went to the carabineros station to ask about camp possibilities. They mentioned a metal bridge about 3 kilometers away but not in the direction that I wanted to go (Ralco). I hung out close to the bus stop thinking about what I would do and eventually two of them came out to talk to me again. They said that they have to be careful with strangers as they are the police and never know people’s intentions but that they’d like to invite me to have some of the lunch they had made. They also let me camp next to the station to catch the 5.30am bus the next morning after checking my passport. I think that the fact that I was a solo woman helped. As I learned from our discussion, new police officers get assigned to this station every month and stay there for the full month, so this might not be offered again in the future.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-26 to 2024-03-28 / 2 days? / NOBO / RR / Fangwen + Tobi'''<br /> <br /> Combined with Sections 10/11 (~8 days, relaxed). See section 12 for our tips on pinones<br /> <br /> Nothing to add that's not described below, except we found the native Pehuenche people friendly. We think it helps to great them in their language (Mari mari - hello; Chaltu may - thank you). This you can find with a bit of digging online. Would love to have interacted with them more - they seem friendlier up the valley at the puestos (not in trappa trappa).<br /> <br /> No luck finding asado in this time of year due to touristic things shutting down (including campsite at Lago El Barco, completely deserted).<br /> <br /> There is no bus out of Trappa on holidays, and didn't find anything but 2 types of cookies and ice cream at resupply point there. You can ask the locals to drive you (for a fee) - they referred to it as &quot;Fleeta&quot;(?)<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Mar-8 to 2024-Mar-11 / 2.5 days / SOBO / RR B / Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> No snowfields, all fordings very easy, plenty of (unmarked) water except from Puesto RR 14.5km (one stream a few hundred meters afterwards last water) to shortly before Laguna El Barco. Tabanos: 2<br /> <br /> The valley south of Trapa-Trapa is first narrow but the open ups to a wide valley with a lot of puestos, mostly inhabited, which means a lot of dogs and cows, horses, sheep around. All marked campsites are completely full of animal feces, every single decimeter is covered. I camped around -37.78551,-71.27975 on sand next to the river, sandy and stony places are the only one without extrem amounts of shit. Stayed there another day just sleeping in the tent bc of all day raining. Next camp was a nice weather camp with great views but no water at -37.89069,-71.30189. Flat spot, no shit, very quiet, some boulders and bushes.<br /> <br /> RR out of the valley up to thea area of Laguna Liay was a bit tricky. Seems part of RR are not in use anymore and overgrown ( -37.83346,-71.2705 ). I just followed the horse tracks which later went back to RR. it seems there are different paths going up.<br /> <br /> Lake, camp 32.9km: camping 8000, picknick 5000. But nobody at the gate, so I just walk in, swimm a little and try to open my first Araucaria seed cone I harvested an hour before. Shortly before I leave someone asks if I paid the entry. Sorry bro, not going to pay 5000 for sitting 30min on a bench, so I just don't understand spanish at all until he gives up.<br /> Next to Laguna El Barco a wildfire puts a lot of smoke on the water, but no fire in the sky. 2 helicopters pour water on it the whole day. RR southeast of the Laguna was not affected, the fire (actually only lots of smoke) was on the other side of the valley about 1km away.<br /> <br /> Rio Lomin had very brown-yellow water, but there are a few small clean unmarked streams further south RR.<br /> <br /> Guallali tiny shop, no sign, just go over the little wooden bridge after the police and shortly before the school. Dog alarms child, child alarms mother. Mother opens shop. Mostly cola and chips, ice cream, some cookies, 3 packs of noodles and (worst quality) toilet paper.<br /> <br /> Some really nice views at the waterless part, first massive amount of Araucaria trees, Laguna El Barco is kinda nice too, finally a lake with trees around! Lots of boring road walking at the beginnig and more so at the end of section with basically no traffic.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Feb 28 to Feb 29 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Juliette and Martin '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 09 and 10 into 5 days of hiking. Beautiful sections with a diversity of landscapes: volcano, meadows, puestos...<br /> <br /> Day 0: Trapa Trapa- Camp -37.76398, -71.28171<br /> <br /> On our last day of the previous section, we hiked the first 7 km to this camp. Great bivouac spot not to be missed, next to a puesto with grass, water, horses and welcoming vegetation. <br /> <br /> Day 1: Camp -37.76398, -71.28171 - Laguna El Barco: <br /> <br /> Truly magnificent scenery and lots of puestos. The climb is pleasant and in the shade. As soon as you cross a river, it's easy (maximum knee-deep). <br /> From laguna Liay to laguna el barco, NO WATER. We initially wanted to camp between the two, but were forced to push on to laguna el barco to get water. The scenery is really beautiful and easy to walk on the plateau, and the aracaunia trees give it a unique atmosphere. <br /> Pay camping at el barco (8,000 pesos per person) with beach and friendly staff.)<br /> <br /> Day 2: Laguna el barco - Guallali <br /> <br /> A short day's descent. We stop at the bus stop indicated in the waypoints at 3pm. Only one bus a day from Guallali to Los Angeles at 5:30 am. <br /> We were lucky and hitchhiked to Ralco.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Feb 13 to Feb 18 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Var C, Var D, some off GPT track / Michael and Kasia '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 9, 10, and 11 together.<br /> <br /> TLDR: beautiful section with some very impressive araucaria forests. Technically easy but navigationally a little challenging due to so many trails branching everywhere. Laguna Liay is definitely worth visiting.<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Feb 13<br /> <br /> After finishing our resupply in Trappa Trappa, we started on RR. The road was fully exposed until we got up a ways into the forest. After that I had to watch the GPS fairly closely. As has been noted previously, the horse trails fork off in different directions, sometimes rejoining and sometimes not. The trail was pretty dusty, but the forest was beautiful. There was very little water access for quite awhile. We arrived at the camp point at km 7.1 with the Mapuche family. No one was at the house so we started looking around. I found Elías in another part of the property. He was very kind and said we were welcome to camp. He showed us a nice spot near a creek set away from the road. We had initially thought to camp more in the open area but he said that the road gets a lot of traffic in the night and the are some “mala gente” that pass through, so the spot he showed us was safer.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Feb 14<br /> <br /> We started hiking early and the morning light on the landscape was absolutely beautiful. We stopped after the first ford, mid calf with little current, to have coffee and enjoy the area. We continued on passing a lot of puestos. Many seemed abandoned or falling apart, though there were people at several of them. We waved and they waved back, but they were fairly far from the road so we didn't go over to talk. We met our first other GPT hikers, Christof and Alex (hi guys! We hope you got the roasted chicken in Antuco!) We crossed the second ford, just under the knee, and had lunch and a nap and then started up to the pass. The path was mostly in forest, and though steep, we didn't find it difficult. We started on Var C to Laguna Liay sticking more to the OSM track than the GPT track. We got down to the lake and wanted to go all the way around to the north side, but part way up the trail started heading up to the plateau. We returned to the bottom and tried to walk in the water counterclockwise around the lake, but after only about 50 m there was a section where I was sinking deep into mud. We walked back to the south side beach and then walked the beach clockwise to get to the north side. There were a few fallen trees to climb over, but otherwise we had no issues going that way. On the north side there was a fairly sizable sand beach with a fire ring. We camped there.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Feb 15<br /> <br /> We took a rest day at the lake. The atmosphere at the lake was so peaceful and the scenery was so beautiful. Not one person passed through that day, and it felt really amazing to have such a quiet, serene and beautiful place all to ourselves. It got hot during the afternoon so we retreated up into the woods a bit to get some shade. In the late afternoon I went to scout Var D for the next day. There isn't a full trail there really, but from the beach looking uphill I could see a brown stripe going up. It was a short BB to get to it and then a steep up. The trail forked after maybe 50 m. I first went left, but after a while it was all dead ends and started to lose elevation. I went back and tried the right fork with a combination BB/CC and was finally able to connect to a path. From there it was easy to get up to the plateau and then to the other marked campsite which was near a pond that had mostly evaporated for the season.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Feb 16<br /> <br /> We started early to get over the pass before it got hot. We took the scouted approximate Var D up and then connected in with RR. The pass was easy and on the far side there was an incredible monkey puzzle forest. As noted there was no water. We took the OSM track up just before the descent to Laguna El Barco for the lookout. The trail down to Laguna El Barco was somewhat steep but easy to follow. At the bottom it passes through a puesto on the way to the road. The guy there also rents camping sites. The El Barco campground is somewhat chaotically managed. We arrived on a Friday and it was packed with vacationing Chilenos. Posted price was 5.000 pp for the picnic area day use and 8.000 pp for camping. They offered 6.000 pp without a table, which we took. It turns out that that is for essentially an unused parking spot next to the road. We would have left, but it was too late to go anywhere else. A very nice couple happened by as we were setting up and said they were about to leave and we could have their spot which had a table and was away from the road. We thanked them and moved up. The shop seems not to be operating this year. The small building it was in was empty and the door was just hanging open. There were two groups selling food, one at the entrance selling tortillla, a fairly large and dense bread cooked directly in the ash in the fire for 2.000 each, some smaller pan amasado, sopaipillas 500 each, a fried dessert bread dusted in powdered sugar 3 for 1.000, and churasco for 4.000. They also had sodas, 1.200 for a 591 ml bottle. The other group was at a camp just past the lower bathrooms, and two of them walked around the campground periodically as well. They had tortilla 2.000 each, sopaipillas 2 for 1.000, and some kind of tea. The second place had our favorite tortillas, we ate several of them. The churrasco was a disappointment. I was thinking Bolivian churasco which is just grilled meat. These were sandwiches with a couple thin strips of meat simmered in liquid in a frying pan and then put on huge breads with a slice of tomato, a bit of lettuce and some mayo. They were okay, but not what I had expected.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Feb 17<br /> <br /> We left late and hiked RR. On the other side is another much smaller and more laid back campground. It is run by the couple that lives there. Price was 6.000 pp with a table. They had a toilet and sinks, no shower. They sold tortillas on request, 2.000 each, but the woman, Clementina, makes them when she's making their food, so it can be awhile. We bought 5 of them and they were larger than the ones in the campground. Wrapped in paper towels and kept in plastic bags, these lasted us almost 5 days.<br /> <br /> Day 6 - Feb 18<br /> <br /> We continued on RR with the intention to head to Guallalí. Along the way we meet a Mapuche arriero, Hector, at his pesto (-37.95912, -71.26119). If you pass by there and he is around, definitely make some time to talk with him. He was incredibly kind and generous, offered us coffee, took us to his animal corral to pet the goats, told us about the political structure in the Mapuche comunidades, and even showed us some of the medicinal plants in the area. He also sells goats and sheep and does asados, but we didn't ask the price. We were about to leave when a friend of his arrived to pick something up for a really important Mapuche ceremony that was finishing that day. His friend gave us a ride, which took us off the GPT track a bit, but dropped us very near a shop at (-38.01007, -71.30695) run by a woman named Maria that actually had a good selection of stuff. We bought pasta, a queso mantecoso from the region that lasted 3 days, her last can of Nescafé, some tomatoes and cucumbers, Zukos, and cookies. She also had eggs, frozen meat, sodas, beer, yogurt, a few other types of cheese, and various other things. Prices were very reasonable. She had a small table and a bench outside the shop and let us stay there to have lunch and repack. More than a dozen cars stopped by to buy things while we were there, so it seems like a pretty popular spot. From there we walked on the highway towards Comunidad Vilcuncura and on towards Comunidad Chenqueco. We passed one other shop at (-38.01473, -71.31626) that looked sizable and had a range of things, though we didn't buy anything there. In Comunidad Chenqenco we connected with GPT11 Opt 5A.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH E / Joscha'''<br /> <br /> I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Day 1: RR [0.0-21.9]<br /> <br /> Both Fords are easy below knee + the RR crosses a few more streams during the first 14 km. There is no water on RR after the Ford at km 14.1 until km 32.1.<br /> <br /> Day 2: RR [21.9-32.1] + OH10-E + RR [45.1-47.5]<br /> <br /> At km 32.1 (right before the start of OH10-E is a creek and some tables around. I think it belongs to a campsite there, but nobody cared that I did a break there. OH10-E is a big dirtroad with no water until km 8.4. I bought some cookies in the mini shop in Guallali + they allowed me to charge my power bank. After that I continued with section 11.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-12 to 2024-Feb-14 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Guallali - Trapa-Trapa / RR + Option D/ Alex &amp; Christophe'''<br /> <br /> It was a nice and easy section. For us, the Laguna Liay would deserve to be on RR. It was one of the most beautiful and peaceful campspot we had this season.<br /> <br /> We also camped on the official campground at Laguna El barco. It was still 8000 CLP pp and the place was crowded with all the Chileans on holiday. The beach is nice but the campground is really dusty (as most of the section). There were also two families selling food (tortillas, sopaipillas and some other things).<br /> <br /> By the way, there is no more snow on the plateau so take plenty of water to cover the distance between Lago El Barco and Laguna Liay.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-14 to 2024-Jan-16 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes'''<br /> <br /> From Trapa Trapa I went in this long valley, it is pretty packed with puestos. Had to check a few times the GPS in there, was quite often on a wrong trail. Many puestos create their own trail network…Went up to Laguna Liay and camped directly at the shore. I figured out two reachable beaches where you can put on one or two tents, one beach at the NW-shore, the other SE-shore. I camped at the second. Option 10D brings you down to it, but actually I could not find a real trail. This Laguna is just an amazing place, for me there was not just silence but peace! The special echo in this place has an effect. Next day I went to Laguna El Barco, for camping you have to pay. A huge laguna, beautiful, but with a check in and all the rules which apply. I do not like this. I went further and a few km before Guallalí I asked a Settler if I could sleep on his Eukalyptus plantation. The 3rd day I walked to Guallalí and stocked up for GPT 11 in the minimarket. For cigarettes I went to a house at -38.050512, -71,272100. There is a woman who sells tobacco and if you kindly ask her she might sell you one of her homemade bread loafs. Ask for the house of Cololo.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-04 to 2024-Jan-05 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {10-C} - RR - {10-E} - RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> After have a nice breakfast with the lovely family, i keep going south.<br /> <br /> Km0 - km13.6 : easy walking, easy to follow.<br /> <br /> Km13.6 : junction of RR and {10-01}.<br /> <br /> Ford[14.1/1269] : if you are not decided go to {10-C} or visit Laguna Liay (lake), it is the last water until km33 Laguna El Barco ( or a stream just before this lake ).<br /> <br /> Km14.47 : climb up start, the entrance is beside the corner of wooden fence.<br /> <br /> Km15.65 : a sharp turning, after here trail become very overgrown, until km15.9. At km15.65 and km15.9, i both saw a clear path going to east, I'm not sure is it a new reroute by local and are they connect or not.<br /> <br /> Km16.1 : junction of RR and {10-C} , I don't decide go for walk around the whole lake, but just want to visit it take a look, and collect some water.<br /> <br /> {10-C} km0.33 : (-37.83379, -71.27817) a sandy slope steep going down, the trail to Laguna Liay (lake) is here, you can see some trail trace on the sandy slope. A little overgrown and sometimes fallen tree block your way, but mostly you can step over them. About 10min you will arrive a sandy beach (-37.83326, -71.28031) at km0.5. Not a camping spot, but here have some big trees fell in the lake, easy walking on them go to the lake for collecting better water. Good view point of Laguna Liay with Volcán Callaqui, i also saw some beautiful ducks with red brown body and blue beak swimming here! <br /> <br /> After collecting water and a long nap, i decided back to RR, i took another trail on the sandy slope that closer to lake side (not shown on map), it is easy to follow and easy walk, lastly join RR at km16.5.<br /> <br /> RR Km16.9 : what a beautiful grassland! Easy trail start, enjoy the land scape changing and Araucaria forest. I love this area!<br /> <br /> Pass RR [20.6/1850] : large flat area ( Most of the section10 is flat area), nice view point of Volcán Callaqui! Also the first view ( for SOBO) of Volcán Tolhuaca!<br /> <br /> Km26.6 : left side, Volcán Copahue!<br /> <br /> Km31.4 : pass, from dirt road to trail going down, but before going down, there is a side trail to south for climbing up a small hill, just distance 500m and climb up 70m, go for it! Excellent view point of Laguna El Barco, Volcán Callaqui, Volcán Copahue and Volcán Lonquimay( Sierra Nevada behind it?) !<br /> <br /> X[31.2/1469] : a campground with picnic table ( i think it is a paid area because a sign at front gate but didn't see anyone when i passed there) and a stream flowing nice with clear water just before it. If you don't decide go to Laguna El Barco for collecting water, it is the only water until Guallalí.<br /> <br /> Because the weather becomes worse, very windy and cloudy, also the forecast said it maybe rain at afternoon, so i took {10-E}, shorter the distance rush to Guallalí.<br /> <br /> Bus {10-E} [8.4/938] didn't find the shop that Martin &amp; Helena said (close to Bus 10-E mark.) I asked the house owner beside the bus stop, and she said no shop there. I saw a sign beside the bus stop is erased away, also a banner looks like said &quot;selling thing&quot; already being discarded on the ground, so maybe the shop is closed no more? ( I'm not sure).<br /> <br /> {10-E} km10.0 rejoin RR.<br /> <br /> RR km46.05 : look like a very old shop, I saw a sign for candy and cigarettes, but the house is broken and no people there any more.<br /> <br /> Shop {11} [0.1/951] : No sign for shop, it is a beautiful looking wooden house, cross a tiny wooden bridge to their front gate. A little better stock than i think before, more than the shop at Trapa Trapa and almost the same as Los Álamos. Pastas, rice, some canned food, biscuits, drinks and chips. Not picky and i resupply for 3 days food here. I asked for accommodation, and the female owner said can stay in their house, 30000 CLP for a single room(4 beds) with light, quilt and electric charger, shower(cold) with shampoo, dinner and breakfast, maybe can use their washer for laundry, but finally i use my hand for washing them, because my clothes are too dusty and don't want to pollut their machine. It has a feeling look like guesthouse at some tourist routes in Nepal, but of course the one in Nepal are much commercial.<br /> <br /> Dinner is delicious for goat and rice! Although not much enough for hiker hunger (never enough), but it is one of the best meal i eaten in Chile so far. They are super friendly, i'm very happy staying here with them!<br /> <br /> I saw a bus arrive Shop {11} [0.1/951] on friday 6pm, but I don't know where it come from.<br /> <br /> (-38.04741, -71.27506) look like is the church that Maks&amp; Gabi said. A tree with beautiful grassland, but no good water resources nearby, the river beside it is flowing brown water, also farming and people living at upstream.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 30 to Dec 31 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR / Ella'''<br /> <br /> TLDR: beautiful secluded camping on plateau but no water. be cognizant of tensions between Pehuenche and non Indigenous people <br /> <br /> Day 1: Trail was beautiful and mostly easy to navigate. Camped that night at around 11 km on the right side of the river, pushed back into the trees quite a bit. Chose not to camp at one of the marked campsites near the puestos because I became a bit worried about the large number of beer cans I was seeing along the way, and I didn’t meet any women at any of the puestos. Though I’m sure there’s mostly very kind people in this valley and I had no encounters that made me feel otherwise, I didn’t feel like taking my chances as a young solo woman given a few past reports on this section. However, it was a challenge to find a camping spot that felt both safely hidden and like I wasn’t on someone’s land without permission (though I probably still was) - there’s many more puestos in this valley now than appear on the waypoints, and there’s also loads of cows and horses grazing! If you find yourself in a similar position to me, I highly recommend just mustering up the energy to hike up to the plateau and camp about a kilometer in. Very nice and secluded spots up there. You would just need to bring a lot of water because there’s none until Laguna El Barco. <br /> <br /> Day 2: Plateau was beautiful, but keep an eye on the GPS. As others have said, you have to pass through what is now a campsite with a gate just before the main road to Laguna El Barco, but no one was there so I didn’t get charged. Laguna El Barco camping was nice and lively on New Year’s eve. The store is still not set up yet, but the staff charged my devices for me. If you continue on the RR for about a km you will find the wooden sign for Entel service which did work for me. Just be aware that you have to walk by what is demarcated as a “dangerous zone” on Pehuenche land. I’m not quite sure what this means, but when I was walking to get service someone I passed warned me of it as well… <br /> <br /> Next day I got a ride from someone leaving the campground to Ralco (2 hour drive!). Bigger market was open even when nothing else was on a national holiday (January 1) and had good options. Camped at Camping Nativo about a 30 min walk outside of town, which is close to a great river spot and has sinks, outlets and even a shower! <br /> <br /> Given the tensions between the Pehuenche and non Indigenous people on the lands that this trail crosses, I’m curious if we, as non Indigenous hikers, should think about having a broader conversation to understand what kind of place we have (if any) in using these lands. Ideally with direct input from Pehuenche people themselves. Both for the sake of respecting the people of these lands and feeling safe as hikers. <br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 22 to Dec 26 / 4,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR &amp; part Option 1 &amp; Completely new option / Tomáš &amp; Natalie'''<br /> <br /> Note: Our path was of course convoluted. We walked the optional route 10-01 to Volcán Copahue last year. It is splendid and recommended for our option, but this time we opted for the RR, as we have not walked it previously. We came back to the area to find a new connection that would avoid almost 25 km of unpleasant roadwalking after Laguna El Barco. We suceeded, see below.<br /> <br /> We followed the regular route to Laguna el Barco. The route and the Laguna are indeed very pleasant. We paid 1000 each to be able to pass through (?) and use the camping tables for lunch. The store was closed even on Saturday (Dec 23). About 300m from the lagoon, there is a sign about Entel coverage and 4g indeed works decently there. We then took the minor road to the hot spring under Volcan Copahue (elevation 1812, name Pucon Mahuida).<br /> <br /> No cars seem to be using the road, especially the second part is quite eroded and after the hot spring it is bordering on impassable for cars. The hot spring is still nice. We then followed the road to an incredibly beautiful valley under Copahue. Few hundred metres before reaching Argentina, we left the road and shortly found a path that traversed into the valley in the south next to the border. The path petered out once we got above the bushes. It was really easy to reach the ridge and folow it (and the Argentinian border) to 37.9575000S, 71.1211474W. With snow all around on the slopes and with condors circling us, it was stunning (the ridge is mostly snow free). Made camp under the summit next to a 10m-high wall of ice for wind protection. There was no path but walking was easy, the ridge is rather flat and wide.<br /> <br /> There are three options we explored from there on. The recommended one is the last one we explored, but here they follow in chronological order. Continuing on the ridge towards Cerro Dedo would require climbing or exposed traversing (if one dropped to Argentina, one could probably find a path to reconnect to GPT after Cerro Dedos if there ius no police in the area). Instead we went down side of the mountain roughly to here: 37.9650794S, 71.1206588W (it was steep but full of stones, so not slippery and we did not think it was dangerous). Then we started traversing (it did not feel exposed, but was a bit strenuous) until about here: 37.9792148S, 71.1245764W, from where we started going down a narrow ridge that was flanked by creeks on both sides. Again it was not dangerous and first half was good CC (like all the previous traverse), the second half was part cow trail (with cow poop), part bush bashing, but surprisingly easy and painless with long sleeeves.<br /> <br /> At the bottom of the valley, we came out on a clearly visible trail. We went up it further into the valley, where there was a deserted puesto on a meadow under enormous araucaria trees with a magnificent views on snowy slopes full of huge waterfalls. We made camp.<br /> <br /> In the evening, Tomáš then went to explore a scary looking ridge to reach this peak: <br /> 37.9767704S, 71.1623784W. It turned out not to be scary. The sidehill up the ridge is mostly without trees or bushes, so it is steep but good CC. Once up the ridge, one can go around the pinacles from the southern side (left facing up), occasionally using the tree branches as support - there is a little of easy climbing, but with no exposure. Then the ridge is steep and somewhat narrow but one can mostly go up only using poles and not hands. Altogether SAC 5. It was fun and pretty, but caution needs to apply. From the top, one could easily traverse north towards here: 37.9611427S, 71.1539942W.<br /> <br /> The next day, we went up a ridge dividing the valley we slept in into two (this one: 37.9714484S, 71.1414231W). There is a trail up that branches off the main valley trail about 300 m downstream of the abandoned puesto. One goes up a slope for about 400m and then down to a ford and then up. There are a variety of cow trails with bamboo cut some time ago. It is partly bush bashing, but very easy and just a few hundred metres. Once up the steep slope, the trail is much clearer. Above the tree line, it is easy CC. Once you get up the main ridge, you can either go right to the peak we slept the days before (a walk up - no need to use hands, the rocky features can be easily skirted, SAC 3-4) or left to the coordinates that end the previous paragraph. From there one could go down to the valley in the north and either CC and ford (probably possible, but unceartain) or follow the road/path that is mapped in OSM (look it online, it was only added in late November) toward El Barco. Navigating this SOBO is much easier, we posted the GPX route of the most tricky part and a rough overall route painted over satellite image in the Facebook group and hopefully it will be included in the GPT next year [November 2024: it is in our suggstions together with a lot of exploratory options].<br /> <br /> Going down the valley to reconnect to the GPT leading from Gaulali is easy 5 km on a clear trail. Once you hit car tracks (almost in the main valley) that will soon turn left, you can probably follow one of the trails going straight and save yourself maybe a 0.5 km detour to a puesto here: 38.0095590S, 71.1391237W. From the puesto, there is a very ugly road that was enlarged this year all the way to Guallali. Going NOBO, you reconnect to the trail going to Cerro Dedos very soon and thus almost entirely eclipsing the roadwalk. Plus our proposed new route is really pretty.<br /> <br /> From Gaullali, there seems to be a daily bus leaving at 5.30 AM from in-front-of-the-turnoff-to-the-carabinieros-station. It goes to Ralco and then to Los Angeles. By mistake we first bought tickets to Ralco for 1300 and then to Los Angeles for 1500. It arrives in Ralco at 8:00 and stops there for 10 or so minutes. Next bigger stop is in Santa Barbara around 9:30. It arrives to Los Angels after 10:30. I think it goes back in the afternoon, possibly at 14:00, but ask at the station.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 dec 12 - dec 14 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR + B + C + F / Frans'''<br /> <br /> Took the bus from Ralco to Trapa Trapa, start of GPT10. 2 busses a day, 4.30 and 16.30. I was at the busstop at 4.10, but the driver probably didn't expect anyone and took a shortcut and therefore didn't pass the busstop. So if you want to take that one, walk 100m further to the crossing of the main road.<br /> 16.30 no problems, plenty of people taking that bus. Total of 2.5hrs to get to Trapa Trapa.<br /> <br /> Missing the bus gave me time to explore Ralco a bit, plenty of shops, turist information center and a Museum about the Pewenche. Small, but worth a visit (1000 CLP).<br /> <br /> Didn't explore anything in Trapa Trapa since I wanted to cover some gound before darkness. Did see some signs of shops tho.<br /> Easy trail, no issues here. Ended up to camp at: Camp 10 [7.1/1181]. Got woken up by some cows and horses in the morning. <br /> <br /> Took the route (C) along the lake, also with the intention to get some extra water for the plateau. Although there was plenty at the plateau (for now), at least 5 good streams and more small ones. All because of the melting snow, so I don't know for how long that will be in the upcoming weeks. <br /> <br /> Walk was easy, pass is easy, some snow/ice walking but all stable. You might be taking a little caution when it starts melting more but walk around the snow is also an easy option.<br /> <br /> I camped at the plateau, almost at the end just before you walk into the greenzone again. On the right side is a flat spot next to some trees and bushes. <br /> <br /> Next day via Laguna el Barco, some people camping there, no one at the entry so didn't had to pay anything. Easy walk again. Took option (F) and first house on the left after crossing the bridge had a sign that they sold ice cream. Stopped there, friendly people and as they told me they will sell more stuff in the future. It also looked like that, they were constructing a store, shelves, counter everything. Just no inventory yet. Unclear when they will, at least to me with my limited Spanish.<br /> <br /> Reached Guillali easily, had a chat with the local Cabaniero. He gave me a Entell Sim-card so I could have cell service. Stayed at Romina. Bed, dinner, breakfast 30.000 CLP. <br /> <br /> Really nice walk all along. Easy navigation, nice views and not really demanding terrain. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec- to 2023-Dec-8 / 2,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + variant G + variant E + variant C / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn &amp; Jens'''<br /> <br /> - Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br /> <br /> - Snow : a little bit of snow around the pass, super easy to navigate <br /> <br /> - Camping spot : easy to find<br /> - River crossing : easy<br /> <br /> - Weather : Sunny<br /> <br /> - Resupply : there is a small 'negocio' in Trapa Trapa, and you can have breakfast with a really nice family at the 'lodging and food' <br /> <br /> - Option roads : Variant C - really nice lake, just a little bit of bushbashing to rejoin the RR<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-07 to 2023-Mar-09 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis '''<br /> <br /> After a night in Guallali, we continued on GPT10. This section is short and awesome, definitely worth hiking! <br /> <br /> On Day 1, we decided to reach the camping of Laguna El Barco (Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292]). We managed to get two rides that shorten the day, and enjoyed an afternoon of rest in the campground (we cooked some pinones). As other as noted, the price is 8pp and the water in the shower ice cold. We were hungry for sopapillas but sadly, this late in the season, the shop was closed. Because we asked, we were able to buy tortillas (2k each) directly from the owners for the next morning. Expect heavy bread - one half is enough for a meal.<br /> <br /> On Day 2, we hiked through the plateau. Of note, X {10} [32.1/1296] is now a gate (and a camp) and we were asked to pay 1pp for the right of way. <br /> The plateau is easy walking with a clear trail while filled with beautiful views. Better pack some water before because we did not find any before reaching the end of the descent in the forest (RR-TL-V {10} [13.6+2.5]). We camped at Camp {10} [9.6/1175], which is in a bosquet and wind sheltered.<br /> <br /> * '''On Day 3, we finished the section until Trapa Trapa and asked for lodging at Mirellas (Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956]). It costs 20k pp for room / dinner / breakfast (no hot water). We were told there are some &quot;thermas&quot; close to -37.69656, -71.29006 but when asking our way, we were told it costs 4pp to use them. It did not seem worth it so we backtracked.'''<br /> The three shops in Trapa Trapa are located at -37.71004, -71.26861 (closed when we passed by), -37.71040, -71.26661 (had various sweets, ice cream) and -37.71234, -71.25523 (the biggest of them). However, expect limited supplies (we could not find batterias nor sunscreen for the next sections).<br /> <br /> Not much more to say on this section. We initially planned to go on 10-01 for the Volcan, but were told it would be a day of heavy rain and thus stayed on the RR (finally, not a single drop, just a little cloudy and windy). <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-07 to 2023-Feb-10 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + option 01 Volcán Copahue / Natalie&amp;Tomàš'''<br /> <br /> The forest fire situation made planning for this extremely difficult. We packed for GPT 09-12 with volcano side trips but we had to skip 09 because of park closure and gamble on starting directly in Trapa Trapa. We took the direct bus to Trapa Trapa from Los Angeles, it was long... 5+hours and it leaves once a day at 2:15pm (Feb,2023). Although it was memorable, we think it would have been faster to bus to Ralco and try to hitch as there are &quot;some&quot; cars. The road condition looked as if it has been recently fixed and is being improved even more.<br /> Arrived in Trapa Trapa at ~7:30pm and started hiking right away. Beautiful town and valley. We were going to camp at km07 but there were people staying there with dogs so we moved on to the next river crossing not great for camping (there are nicer spots just a bit further). <br /> <br /> Day2<br /> Easy walk towards the junction for option 01 to volcán Copahue with a long conversation and piñone testing with &quot;Pedro&quot; from puesto 13.7. We were lucky to hike during the season that the piñones were dropping but sadly we did not find Laureline's cellphone:(. Our plan was to summit Copahue but my stomach bug came back and we stopped very early to camp, we had a few days of excess food so this was no problem. We camped near the large creek separating 01&amp;01a -37.83511, -71.24072. The smoke was also getting us down. There is water here obviously, but there is also a nice water source earlier here: -37.83542, -71.24258. This trail (01) is slightly overgrown and the &quot;aggressive puesto&quot; @ 1.2 was locked up with no one there. <br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> We took option 01a (BB) to the pass. Tomáš had tested it the day before to see if it was BB but there was a path. Although we found the path the day before, we both got lost in the bamboo for the first bit but luckily once you get under the canopy of the Araucarias, the trail is clear and non-bushy, actually it is really pleasant! In the forest there is water here; -37.83520, -71.23177 and a small broken down puesto here; -37.83893, -71.22434. <br /> Out of the forest there is a beautiful grassy (and boggy) plateau with two puestos (one occupied) and lots of water (-37.84756, -71.22044). We spoke with the lady of the puesto and her 5yr old son: genuinely nice people! There is a trail from her puesto (-37.84760, -71.22095) that goes straight up East. The trail exists until you hit a waterfall-fed creek and the rocks start; -37.85161, -71.21874. from there on it is CC on grippy rocks, dirt and boulders. Last water source before the pass is not far; -37.85768, -71.21610 and would make a nice camp. Getting to this pass, although beautiful, took a long time! <br /> At the pass we dropped our bags and followed the osm route for volcán Copahue. The osm route was better than the GPT bcs it followed a firm snow patch for a good while making walking fast. There was a good stream of snow melt on the approach (-37.86132, -71.19051) and the walk to the summit was easy, some loose little boulders. The summit was well worth it as the crater of Copahue is very impressive; a large broken glacier with a beautiful glacier lake. We think apart from our climb of Azul it was the nicest volcano so far. <br /> The way down to Termas de Pucon Mahuida was very slow going. Followed the osm route rather than GPT bcs it seemed more accurate.However it was still CC on rocks almost the whole way. Up high there is water here; -37.87362, -71.20509 and &quot;some&quot; spots for camping. Later there is a scenic valley good for water and camping, nice views of Copahue's glacier; -37.87753, -71.19874. We followed this valley down until we had to cross out of it, once leaving this valley there is no drinking water until the hot springs.<br /> We camped at the hot springs which are a good temperature, one small pool but I think there are more higher up. The area around is not good for camping and very boggy, we found one half decent spot. Unfortunately Tomáš had his turn with the stomach bug and the smoke crept in strongly overnight. We rested late until the next day. <br /> <br /> Day4<br /> We rested until late morning as Tomáš was still barely recovered from his stomach bug and walked the long road to Guallalí.<br /> <br /> The beginning of the road could have been some of my favorite scenery so far, The Araucaria trees surpassed my expectations and especially when they are backdropped with mountains and at one time an orange river (glacier water flowing through sulphur like sediment?), it feels like the era of the dinosaurs. The road for option01 had plenty of good water sources (~5x). Friendliest dogs at this puesto; -37.95898, -71.26155 and a teeny tiny amount of water.<br /> Luckily got a hitch with a local to the bus stop shortly after the intersection with 01 and RR. From there we walked about 3 km to Guallalí.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-25 to 2023-Jan-27 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maks&amp; Gabi'''<br /> <br /> Really quick section. We started about 2 pm on 25.01 and finished about 2 pm on the 27.01.<br /> Nice and easy with visible trail and no problems from the locals (all of them really nice). There is no water between 14 and 33km even after rain. <br /> We stayed at Camping by Laguna el Barco and paid 8 000 for the both of us. The water in the shower is ice cold, but there are few ladies selling fresh, warm bread. <br /> The public transport from the end of the section is the bus at 5.30 (Guallali) or bus point 5.45. We tried to hitchhike but with no luck. We camped in Guallali by the river (next to the church.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-25 to 2023-Jan-27 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Johana &amp; Matouš'''<br /> <br /> We found this section surprisingly attractive - mainly the plateau was breathtaking. We spent the first night at a property of a Mapuche family (waypoint Camp - 7,1 km). Right before the ascent to Laguna Liay, there was a Mapuche family whose father approached us, he acted rather reserved from the start towards tourists (as he told us that they bring litter into the mountains) but we ended up drinking harina tostada with the family which also sold us some bread. We took the optional route which goes around the Laguna Liay and couldn't find the path so we somehow slid down the hill and went around the beach. Laguna Liay was really great to take a swim in and felt private (until a helicopter started hovering above our heads, taking water from the lake). There really seemed to be no water on the plateau - we took it from the Laguna and spent the night on the plateau - lots of space for camping there. The next day we arrived at Laguna El Barco, we didn't have to pay for the entry to the lake. The tienda there was open until 8 p.m. and had tuna, rice, pasta, biscuits, beverages, toilet paper, instant soups. There was a stand that made sopaipillas, churascos, french fries, salad, tortillas. Then there were some ladies going around the beach offering almost the same. We hitchhiked some of the last kilometres of the road to Guallalí. There's a shop as others indicated and a bus going only in the morning as written below. The chances of hitch hiking from there are rather scarce, as our Polish fellow travelers found out. There's a quite nice camping spot by the river further down the road (it's a few metres into the start of the section 11); it's not very private but people that were passing by didn't mind us camping there. Continued to section 11 thereafter. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-12 to 2023-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / detour past Laguna las Totoras / Will '''<br /> <br /> Another quick section, with some super unique Araucaria forests. I decided to try and find the trail to Laguna las Totoras that Jo and Veronica mentioned. The route wasn't exactly traditionally scenic, but I had a good time. The lake was more of a shallow grassy pond surrounded by thick Araucaria forest. To me it was a nice change from all the classic alpine lakes. Flat grassy bank that seemed perfect for camping. The water itself was warm and a bit muddy. I didn't see anyone along the detour, other than a few bulls at the lake.<br /> <br /> I turned off the main trail at -37.90827, -71.30880. I followed some horse tracks curving to the south along the edge of the woods. The tracks went through some sandy clearings before I eventually lost them in the woods. The woods were pretty easy travel, before too long I was out on a grassy plateau where I found tracks leading to the mirador marked on openstreetmap. Went up the road through some inspiring woods to the lake. I then walked south along the not very scenic road back to the main route.<br /> <br /> Could be a nice option to take if you're in the mood for a change from the open alpine trail.<br /> <br /> Other than that I missed the turnoff to the Laguna liay and decided to try bushwhacking straight through. Had a good time going off trail due west to the bottom right corner of the lake, open woods with a few pretty easy scrambles up/down rocky cliffs. Had a worse time trying to head southeast back to the main trail, encountering some thicker woods.<br /> <br /> The bus to Ralco comes at 2pm on Sunday, so I spent two nights at Laguna El Barco with a quick walk Sunday morning to catch the bus. For 15000 I rented a kayak to circle the lake in a bit under two hours, super nice. The campsite was crowded for the weekend. There were some nice ladies selling simple food. The trail to the right of the campsite along the lake is beautiful.<br /> <br /> Had a hard time finding accommodation in Ralco, the first five places I tried were full. Eventually found a spot at Cabañas Nehuen Antu for 30k.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-11 to 2023-Jan-13 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> We continued from Trapa Trapa in the late afternoon to the camp at km 7. Trail is easy to navigate from the beginning. We set the camp actually a few meters before the puesto, in the forrest on the right side that seemed to be more quiet and hidden place. There is a nice spot with water around km 8, before entering the valley. We have seen just a few people around the puestos. Ascent to the pass is not bad, we enjoyed again very different landscape all around. Continuing to laguna, we decided to camp below arucaria trees a little before the official camp (cca 2 km) since we would get there pretty late. Based on comments from other hikers we went through the camp the next morning to check if there is opportunity to buy some food and eventhough the shop was closed, there were two ladies selling tortillas and sopapillas, churrasco and a few other things. The trail after laguna is mostly a dirt road passing around puestos. There was a community festival in Guallalí (1st edition) which was really nice to see, we tried grilled goat and bought some local products, great experience. One of the guys from the festival took us to Ralco in the evening and arranged a cabaña for us (35k CLP). There are 2-3 bigger shops with basically everything, gas is in the one next to the biggest market on the plaza. On the other hand, minishop in Guallalí is very limited, but they have some drinks, ice cream, cookies etc. There is also one small shop on the way to Guallalí, close to Bus 10-E mark.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-09 to 2023-Jan-10 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Trapa Trapa - Laguna El Barco / Anna &amp; Christopher '''<br /> <br /> We started from Trapa Trapa around 11 am after finishing section 9. The first part nearly until Laguna Liay is an easy walk on dirt roads/nice paths with several water sources.<br /> We met some pehuenche people who greated us friendly, only one man mumbled if we had a 'permiso' to pass there (we couldn't understand him very well). But then his friends told him to let us pass, he went away and we continued walking.<br /> On the last km to Laguna Liay there is a lot of bush bashing. But it's definitely worth it, a very nice camping spot up there.<br /> The next day we took option C around the lake, which was a mistake because at some point we couldn't find a path and ended up on a sketchy climb to the top of the plateau. The rest of the way to Laguna el Barco is easy with good paths.There is no water between Laguna Liay and Laguna el Barco.<br /> At the Laguna they charge 5000 CLP p.p. for the picnic/beach and 8000 CLP p.p. for camping. From there we hitchhiked to Ralco to resupply.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-23 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / Option C / Véronica '''<br /> <br /> Route: Trapa Trapa - Laguna Liay - Laguna El Barco - Guallalí<br /> <br /> Two days from Trapa Trapa to Guallalí. Easy trail up the valley towards Laguna Liay. Didn't see anyone, most of the puestos appeared unoccupied. Lovely araucaria grove at the base of the big climb to Laguna Liay. The trail during the climb was overgrown/hard to distinguish in some places, and had a few areas of blowdowns too, which made the going slow during that bit.<br /> <br /> I took Option C around Laguna Liay, which I found to be a frustrating maze of cow paths. One minute it's nice and clear and then it disappears, leaving me to bushwhack my way along until I stumble upon it again. The lake is beautiful though, and it's the last water before Laguna El Barco, so I filled up a couple litres. Met my first other GPT hikers in 3 weeks there too, they were going NOBO. Really beautiful up on the plateau of araucarias. <br /> There was no one at Laguna El Barco when I got there around lunchtime, no one selling food either. Spent over an hour there enjoying the shady picnic tables and the beach. <br /> <br /> Easy trails/4×4 tracks the rest of the way to Guallalí. The two NOBO GPT hikers I met yesterday got charged 10,000 pesos by some local Mapuche folks to pass through this area, but I (again) didn't meet anyone. <br /> The shop in Guallalí is very limited. When I saw the selection, I decided to take the bus the next morning to Ralco, it leaves at 5:30 am. The shop owner was also not offering accommodation, but pointed me to the lovely araucaria grove across the street to camp. There is Entel cell service here :)<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-27 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain '''<br /> <br /> - Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292] : the place is nice, as mentioned there are lot of bins, the camping is also very nice and the showers still very cold. They charged me $5.000 for the night. It was written &quot;with no (something I didn't manage to read)&quot; on the bill so if they charge you $8.000 you can try to specify you don't have car, or I don't know... They removed the panel for the grocery just after I asked for it so it's now fixed, there is no grocery. The family selling cooked food wasn't selling food when I visited them around 11:00, maybe because it was monday morning, maybe because it was the end of summer, I don't know<br /> <br /> - Close to GPT10-C Start there is a point of view on the whole valley, it's beautiful and you can see all the puestos <br /> <br /> - Just after it there are many paths to go down, I haven't taken the one from the GPS but it's very easy to reach it then<br /> <br /> - Around Puesto {10} [14.5/1297] an arriero told me there are 2 paths going down the valley, one on each side of the river, I've followed the GPT to try to reach Trapa Trapa before the night so I didn't go further about them but if someone try<br /> <br /> - Around fords there are often a &quot;bridge&quot; made of one massive plank, the same arriero told me about some so they probably check each year they are usable. You just have to look for it, but it can not be the case at some points<br /> <br /> - The number of puestos in this Valley is impressive, I only had good contacts with the people I met<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-11 to 2022-Feb-12 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional section 10-E straight from Laguna El Barco to Guallalí / Veronika &amp; Jo '''<br /> <br /> In one day from Trapa Trapa to Laguna Liay, camping at the north side. There are many cow trails leading down to the laguna. The one we took seemed suitable for hikers too. Going back up the next day we got lost in the cow maze though, and only by searching for our own footprints from the previous day did we get back on the RR. It may be worth having a look at our GPS tracking data to figure out our initial path.<br /> <br /> The next day continued to Guallalí. Beatiful plateau! Got to harvest our first piñones as well! However, we hurt the araucaria tree by breaking off a small but not insignificant branch when trying to get the green &quot;pinecone&quot; to break off, using the &quot;strong rope&quot; method described in the hiker's manual. Only later we learned you should go for the brownish, &quot;café&quot;-colored cones. Just hit these with your walking stick and the piñones will fall right off. You then collect them from the ground. The threatened araucaria will be much happier not being hurt :)<br /> <br /> When in need of water at the plateau, there should be a path to Laguna Totora from S 37° 54.510', W 071° 18.580', according to an arriero who passed by. Maybe a future optional route?<br /> <br /> The optional routes 10-E and 10-G have become MR instead of TL.<br /> <br /> The lodging at the shop in Guallalí was not avaible, but the shop owner pointed us to an araucaria grove closeby (you can enter via a wooden gate next to the escuela). We camped there: S 38° 02.647', W 071° 16.441'. There were some villagers passing by, so it seems to be public land. There's a small stream to the east with quite clear water. Maybe it's possible to camp more upstream to the north, where there are bridges and where the stream has passed fewer houses.<br /> <br /> Continued to GPT11 immediately after.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-19 /3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa '''<br /> <br /> Between Guallalí and Laguna el Barco is mainly gravel road, but sometimes there are small, discrete paths that connect them, so keep an eye on the GPS.<br /> The camping at Laguna el barco is now 8000 per person. There are toilets, very cold showers and many garbage bins. There is also a family selling tortillas (bread baked in the ash) and sopaipillas, as well as some other people who come down in the evening and morning selling tortillas. There's a shop advertising ice cream, bread, sodas and other stuff, but it's closed. The people at the camping told us that it would open at 13, and then at 20, and then next day. A lady who had stayed there for a week said it had been like that the whole week, so I wouldn't count on it being open. As noted, you can ask the campground people to charge your phone. All in all, it was a nice campsite.<br /> Shortly after, the big climb starts. You have to pass through a fence and by some houses - again keep an eye on the GPS. We were charged 1000 per person, probably wouldn't happen for people going southbound. <br /> As warned, there was no water on the plateau until Laguna Liay. At the camp-waypoint, there is a very small lake, it doesn't look like the best drinking water, and the path directly to the lake seems very overgrown. Instead, we continued around the lake and found a decent campsite on the far side. The path around the lake is faint at best, and we ended up doing some serious scrambling down a cliff, however when we got down we found a path coming more from the right, so maybe there's a better way. The walk around is pretty, though.<br /> After the descent, the rest is easy walking past many puestos.<br /> In Trapa Trapa, we stayed at the house marked &quot;lodging, food&quot;. They charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. Very nice family, they might be away in their puesto sometimes though. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. They were building a cabaña when we were there. Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there. Apart from that there are two other minishops, one in each direction, which we didn't check out.<br /> <br /> The bus apparently leaves for Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends.<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec-03 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option D / Marc Anthony '''<br /> <br /> After finishing GPT9 I went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.<br /> Like already mentioned by others, remember to bring a lot of water for the following section. The plateau you climb up on after El Barco lake was very dry. Next water source with good clean water was at Laguna Liay. I was getting desperate for water, so I took variant D directly down to the laguna. The trail was very overgrown and requires some bush bashing. Frustrating amounts of mosquitos and horseflies in this part of the section, might be worth bringing some mosquito spray!<br /> <br /> Next section towards trapa trapa was nice and easy with perfect weather and plenty of water.<br /> Found two mini-shops in Trapa Trapa with only limited supplies. A bus to Ralco, leaves weekdays 6:00 in the morning. Therefore I spent the night in a room that a local Mapuche family were renting out. Was served a very big plate of grilled sheep meat and really enjoyed talking with the family. Later in the evening the father returned home very drunk. He was nice and talkative but I was getting at bit of a bad vibe from him, so thanked them for the food and went off to bed. Later at night I was awaken by someone vigorously trying to open the door which I thankfully locked. Rest of the family woke up and I heard a mans voice shouting something about “extranjero” and soon after the abuela kicked this guy out of the house.<br /> <br /> Instantly thought I was gonna get robbed, but might just have been a drunk family member or the father who had forgot I was sleeping in their room. Hard to say… Apart from this I really enjoyed interacting with the locals in this region and I’ve had a lot of nice and memorable experiences.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Feb-02 / Incident on GPT10 at Puesto-55 Location S 37* 49‘ 31.79‘‘ / W 71* 16‘ 23.38‘‘ / Published on behalf of Trevor Mattson'''<br /> <br /> &quot;Sad to report that i had a very negative experience about 15km into section 10 on sunday (2/2). I was offered food and a place to camp by a very nice pehuenche lady (miriam, goes by &quot;mila&quot;, the puesto after puesto 55 marked as &quot;puesto, food&quot; at the beginning of the OH route right after it splits from RR) only to have her husband come home later an try to rob me. She was extremely friendly. Although he was noticeably intoxicated, he was also nice at first as we joked, drank maté an collected firewood together. After a couple hours, as the sun was almost completely gone (~10pm), he went inside his puesto, grabbed a knife, an approached me from behind as i sat around the fire with his wife. He marched me to my tent with the knife pressed againt my neck. I allowed him to search it (he kept saying &quot;plata, plata, plata&quot; an his Spanish wasn't very good) which gave me the opportunity to pick up a rock an intimidate him a bit. I had a lot of money an wasn't just gonna let him take it and all of my stuff up in the mountains at night. His wife then came an tried to get between us / protect me (she was pleading him to stop). He was shoving her around, but this gave me just enough time to rip my tent out of the ground, which had all my stuff in it, an quickly drag it to the nearest puesto (~100metres). He followed me on horseback after a minute or two an the family there armed themselves with sticks an told him to f**k off. <br /> <br /> I hiked for a few hours through the night an met an incredible family at around 1700metres on the optional route (papa named exequel). They told me that he (bernardino from &quot;puesto, food&quot;) has robbed a &quot;chino&quot; (means anyone that looks even remotely asian in my latin American experiences) in the past an that &quot;se vuelve loco&quot; when he drinks vine. I bought more cheese from bernardino an his wife than i wanted/needed as a nice gesture an we seemed to get along, so this was reassuring that he was just crazy an it was nothing that i did to provoke him. In other words, i behave according to the manual provided by Jan an it is not at fault.<br /> All in all, the pehuenches an mapuches i've met are all amazing except this guy. I definitely had to inform you all but don't want you to think that they are some uncivilized savages by any means. Bernardino kept telling his wife that i was &quot;solo&quot; as his justification for robbing me as they argued. Therefore i don't recommend passing through there alone, especially not later in the evening. I think if you stick to the regular you will narrowly avoid the puesto entirely. Or definitely worth the extra few KMs to continue to exequel's puesto further up the OH route. Also, i had a few extra pesos in a separate pocket that i was able to pretend like was all the money i had which was clutch. An from now on, I'm not staking anything into the ground until i know the father of the family well. <br /> Anyway, happy trekking, stay safe, an if anyone knows a good place to try an fix tent poles in concepción by chance then that would be awesome!&quot;<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-23 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank '''<br /> <br /> Came in from Trapa Trapa in evening &amp; camped @ Camp 81. There is a Mapuche family living there, talked to them &amp; they were OK with me camping nearby. I was caught out by the sudden transition from river valley to dry plateau, had very little water &amp; was as dry as dirt when I got to stream 1KM before Laguna Barco, drank 3 litres there. 3000CLP camping for 1 person @ Laguna. There is a Mapuche family with a food stall there, they have chips, sopaipillas &amp; tortilla. The tortilla is like a small bread loaf. Next morning as I was leaving around 8:30 the Mapuche woman came round the campsite with fresh sopaipillas &amp; tortilla. Walked in to Guallali from Laguna Barco in about 3 hours. Shop in Guallali is small but Romina who runs the shop provides beds &amp; meals. 20,000 CLP for evening meal (usually goat &amp; rice), bed &amp; breakfast. Walked out 9KM to Comunidad Chanqueco, there is a good shop there. From Chanqueco it's easier to hitch, traffic coming from Laguna Barco but very little from Guallali. Hitched into Ralco, stayed @ Hosteria Montana there, about 15000CLP single.<br /> 2 supermarkets in Ralco, they sometimes have camping gas.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-12 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes'''<br /> <br /> Overview: <br /> This section was well marked/distinguished relative to all the other sections on thus far. There were many Puestos along the way as well. This was also the first section where the araucaria tree is very prevalent across the landscape. This section was my final section on the GPT and the araucaria trees and the lush green landscape provided good contrast to the semi-desert climate south of Santiago de Chile. <br /> <br /> Difficulties: <br /> There was a small 12km ish section without water close to the pass. <br /> <br /> Highlights: <br /> Change in landscape. Great views of the many volcanoes in the area.<br /> <br /> Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-22 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin '''<br /> <br /> Combined sections 9 &amp; 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in &quot;veranadas&quot; were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-15 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie &amp; Tom '''<br /> <br /> The trail was in good condition and we didn’t experience any issues. Possible to resupply at Guallalí but the selection isn’t huge (pasta, dry soups, crackers, tuna etc). If you are looking to bus into Lonquimay, it was leaving at 5:30AM the next morning for us (but we didn’t take it). <br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-10 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> Easy trail and navigation. We got in this really bad weather too. Storm and ice at the pass. In Guallali we had coffee and sopapillas at the carabinieros and spent the night at the same place as Matus, Anna and Linda. We took the bus at 05:30 towards Los Angeles and are staying in Ralco for resupply and drying. <br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-25 to 2019-Dec-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda'''<br /> <br /> - Nice hike with no major difficulties. The plateau with the araucarias after the pass is amazing!!!<br /> <br /> - No river when you leave the valley toward the pass and then down to the other valley BUT, as I wanted to sleep on this plateau (25 km after the start of the section) I found a small river 300 meters on the right from the regular track and camped at this place : S37,895511° O71,308919° Wonderful sunset!!! <br /> <br /> - In Guallali, end of the section, lodging, food and mini shop. Lodging at the way point Minishop very nice = guesthouse with diner and breakfast for 20000 CLP. Very nice family!!!!<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-17 / 3.5 days (11 walking hours) / Hiking / NOBO / RR with hitch hiking between Guallali and Laguna el Barco / Sophie &amp; Hendrik '''<br /> <br /> In total we were 3.5 days on the trail, of which we spend 1 in the tent due to bad weather. The 0.5 day we had left from arriving in Guallali we spend buying food and hitch hiking to the campground at Laguna el Barco. We did so because we expected rain soon and wanted to camp it out. Also we were not too keen for the gravel road part.<br /> <br /> We liked: Nice araucaria trees, an amazing sunset we saw a tad south of Laguna Llai and after section 11 and 12 the easy terrain.<br /> <br /> We did not like so much: The horsflies.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-04 / 3.5 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus &amp; Anna '''<br /> <br /> GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log. <br /> We combined these two sections. It took us 3.5 days via regular trail SOBO.<br /> Trail in both section is in good condition. There is snowfield in first pass as was mentioned. We went left, but it would be worth to check is it's possible to go through rocks on the right as it seems much shorter. <br /> Water is not marked on a map but there is a stream before the pass. <br /> Resuply in Trapa Trapa is very limited. They had few tunas, other caned fish, some pasta, flour, cola, crisps... We didn't check for accomodation. <br /> We stayed in a paid campsite at Laguna el Barco for 5000 both. Around 8 there was a woman selling bread and sweet pastry, but mind that it was weekend. <br /> Resuply in Guallali again very limited. They have tunas, caned fish, pasta, oil, crackers and bit more. We are staying in a house next to the shop.<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> *Trapa Trapa<br /> - Accommodation: The house marked &quot;lodging, food&quot; charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. <br /> <br /> - Shopping: Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there. There is a panel just before the street going to the grocery indicating that the mini-market is 100m away. There are two other minishops.<br /> <br /> - Bus: The bus apparently leaves for Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends.<br /> <br /> *Guallalí<br /> Lodging at the way point Minishop very nice = guesthouse with dinner and breakfast for 20000 CLP. <br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> *Laguna El Barco :<br /> Updated Mar 22<br /> <br /> -The family selling cooked food close to Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292] wasn't selling food when I visited them around 11:00, maybe because it was monday morning, maybe because it was the end of summer, I don't know<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> Bus Guallali - Ralco - Santa Barbara - Los Angeles 05:30<br /> <br /> Updated January 2022:<br /> Bus from Trapa Trapa to Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends<br /> <br /> &lt;u&gt;Updated February 2025:&lt;/u&gt;<br /> &lt;p&gt;Bus from Butalelbún/Trapa Trapa to Los Angeles:&lt;br /&gt;<br /> - at 5:30 am from Monday to Saturday&lt;br /&gt;<br /> - at 14:00 on Sunday&lt;/p&gt;<br /> &lt;p&gt;Bus from Los Angeles to Butalelbún/Trapa Trapa:&lt;br /&gt;<br /> - at 14:00 am from Monday to Saturday&lt;br /&gt;<br /> - at 19:15 on Sunday&lt;/p&gt;<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108664113.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603529.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603527.jpg|thumb|Araucarias at GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603530.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603538.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_1086641189.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT11_(Cerro_Dedos)&diff=120754 2025-03-15T10:05:12Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> == Connecting to Section 12 ==<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;overflow: hidden&quot;&gt;<br /> [[Archivo:GPT 11 to 12.jpg|450px|right|Connections between GPT11 and GPT12]]<br /> <br /> November 2024 [Tomáš]: There are a number of different ways to connect Sections 11 and 12. The regular route is proven and works. Will alone and Tomáš and Natalie together found independently of each other almost identical traverse, that they liked [it is included in their suggestions in the 2024 Track files]. it is pure CC and the terain is not the easiest, but they think it is quite doable. There is one route option which appears to be unexplored, GPT11-04 (and possibly 11-03). Please edit this text on both sections 11 and 12 if you have any updates.<br /> &lt;/div&gt;<br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> *'''2025-02-18 / 1 day / Hiking / NOBO / RR from Banos Pelehue, Natalie&amp;Tomas option 6 to connect GPT10 on the border ridge / Manon, Robin and Thomas'''<br /> <br /> After sandy and borring GPT12 south part, we were looking for path to avoid valley floor minor road &amp; puestos and we found just in time Natalie&amp;Tomas report and tracks about the new border ridge option to connect sections 10 and 11 (thanks!). We followed the route NOBO until Ford 15.7 where we cut CC to join ascending MR at about -38.012762, -71.141337. We followed MR and good TL to easily reach abandonned puesto at -37.978400, -71.141083 where we spent night (very good camp spot : peasible, water pool, beautiful araucarias with pinones supply). <br /> Next morning we climbed the ridge dividing the valley in into two following Natalie&amp;Tomas tracks to the north (&gt; GPT 10 logs). <br /> <br /> *'''2025-01-31 to 2025-02-02 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Dorota Szparaga'''<br /> <br /> Day 1: Easy MR to 14 km. Here I have met 3 arrieros. Rivers easy for me (1.64 km). Camp at 21.6 km<br /> <br /> Day2: Till pass at 27.6 trail easy. Only a little BB between 16 and 17 km. Descending of 3.3 km tricky. And the beginnig there is no snow. Then I chose combination of snow and river. Water cold and strong wind. Camp at 29km at a little moody place.<br /> <br /> Day3: Continued descending river. Still cold. After joining trail at 30.8 really easy. I talked to carabineros, but there was no obligación to registratión. I followed Ana’s house in Ranquil at km 14.3 of variant F. I talked to her. Now she has proteínas and gas. Finally, one family took me to their house in Lonquimay.<br /> <br /> *''' 2025-Jan-26 to 2025-Jan-28 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Janboro '''<br /> <br /> I combined GPT 09, 10 and 11 and took 6,5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Highlights: Stunning views on the ascent to and the pass itself.<br /> <br /> Challenges: Physically exhausting and dangerous descent on steep, loose terrain. Clambering in and around the river end the gorge on the descent.<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> Started in the evening at the shop in Guallalí and camped at the Hot Springs at [6.6/991].<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> Took a warm bath in the hot spring. There was still a little bit left of the cow manure mentioned in previous logs, but I just washed myself right afterwards in the river. The hot spring had a perfect hot bath temperature.<br /> <br /> Met lots of cow herds with calves and overprotective fathers: massive bulls that clearly signal you their willingness to defend their kin if you get too close. Walking detours to keep distance as described in the manual worked well.<br /> <br /> Camped close to [21.2/1349].<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> <br /> Continued the ascent. It got pretty steep but the ways were good. The CC part uphill is also easy to walk. The views on the pass are breathtaking. Took a long food and coffee break there.<br /> <br /> As expected after doing my research here and in the manual, I found the first couple of hundred meters of the CC descent after the pass quite challenging. It was still safe to slide down the snow field for the first hundred meters or so, but doing it this time of the year or later, choose your route and your exit point wisely. I took a snow bridge I could see from atop and hints for possible other snow bridges (water entering the snow field from the side) into consideration and only slid down the first hundred meters or so. From there on downwards, the gorge was full of snow which was unsafe to walk or slide, so I had to walk on the steep scree around it. This is the kind of terrain where you’ll want to check your hiking poles and shoelaces before. It’s still safe to walk down, but only if you choose your route carefully and walk with full focus. As soon as the snow was gone I continued my descent in the gorge right next to the river, which was easy. Then a long way clambering around the river and crossing it countless times. Again very exhausting and partly dangerous.<br /> <br /> Once the CC part is over the path follows a an horse track that’s comfortable to walk. The last 6 km or so are a MR with almost no inclination.<br /> <br /> Arrived at the carabineros around sunset. Ricardo, the police chief, offered me to camp on their property and to use their kitchen. Had a very nice conversation over dinner with him.<br /> <br /> The next morning I took the bus to Lonquimay, which came over an hour later that the carabineros had told me (7 instead of 5:45).<br /> <br /> * '''2025-JAN-10 to 2025-JAN-11 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Alex '''<br /> The designated camp {11} [26.1/1957] has a swamp nearby with significant mosquito activity. I camped about 70 meters higher at S38° 05.114' W71° 05.379', which provided better conditions.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-25 &gt; 26 / 1 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT09+GPT10+GPT11+GPT12+GPT13<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : oui<br /> | Intérêt : 4/5<br /> | Difficulté : 5/5<br /> | Danger : Sentier dans le torrent<br /> <br /> Le Rio Chaviquin n'est pas tres large mais il est assez profond. En fin de journée le debit etait élevé et l'eau trouble, difficile de voir le fond.<br /> Le sentier n'est pas toujours facile a suivre mais le terrain est degagé.<br /> La premiere partie de la descente etait facile car couverte de neige. Impossible si neige glacée. Par contre après il faut suivre le torrent comme on peut. C'est dangereux surtout si grosse fonte ou pluie.<br /> <br /> *'''2024-DEC-24 to 2024-DEC-25 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> This is a short section featuring river crossings, Araucaria forests, and stunning views as you ascend to the pass. From Guallalí to the ford [14.3/1100], follow the MR instead of the TL as indicated in the track files. The hot springs [6.6/991] are in the middle of a pasture and unfortunately were full of cow manure, so there was no Christmas bath. The ford at [10.6/1059] could be crossed with dry feet. The ford at [24.3/1688] could also be bypassed a few meters upstream by jumping from stone to stone, again keeping feet dry. Other fords were crossed in the usual manner.<br /> <br /> The ascent to the highest point of this section was steep but comfortable. We spent the night on the left bank of a creek at Camp [26.1/1967] under the final elevation to the pass. It's a beautiful spot with a great view.<br /> <br /> On the second day, we climbed into the pass [27.6/1974]. The southern side still had significant snow, but the slope was not too steep, and the surface was smooth, allowing for a safe slide down 420 vertical meters to where the snow ended.<br /> <br /> The next part followed a riverbed bordered by steep slopes. For a while, we hopped back and forth between the banks before deciding to wade through the stream. We rejoined the TL, which transitioned into MR near approximately (-38.1333167, -71.0920333), even though it’s still marked as TL in the track files.<br /> <br /> From the police station [38.8/1194], we continued along OH-05F. We tried hitchhiking, but the first car was heading in the opposite direction. The family in the car was on their way to a Christmas barbecue. The driver, who owns a small shop in Ranquil, showed incredible trust by giving us the keys to his house so we could wait there until he returned. So we decided to walk the 13 km along MR.<br /> <br /> Once we arrived, Maximiliano and his wife Ana welcomed us warmly. They provided us with a shower, a bed, laundry service, and cooked us dinner and breakfast. They also allowed us to restock our supplies at their shop, which they try to keep stocked with items suitable for hikers. The shop is located here: (-38.2499555, -71.2323042). <br /> <br /> The next day, they drove us back to the police station [38.8/1194], where we continued at GPT12. For all these services for two hungry hikers, they charged 35,000 CLP.<br /> <br /> Maximiliano and Ana have hosted several GPT hikers before and are making an effort to support the hiking community in this remote area. Their kindness and hospitality were truly remarkable! Ana's phone number: +56984926867<br /> <br /> *'''2024-Dec-14 to 2024-Dec-15 / 2 days / Hiking NOBO / RR + variant C / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Pass 27.6km - snow from 1,700m to the pass on the south side. North side just has a few patches. Following RR worked for us.<br /> <br /> Ford 18km - crossed around 6pm was waist deep (1.61m tall) and strong but manageable.<br /> <br /> We accidentally took variant C - we were pleased about this as the RR looked very boggy. Bridge? 11-C 0.3 doesn't seem to exist though.<br /> <br /> From about 14km to 0km is dirt road, a bit boring but also very fast.<br /> <br /> Water everywhere.<br /> <br /> In Guallali we stayed at Shop 11 0.1 - 30k pp for a bed, lunch, dinner and breakfast. They also sell a few basics; pastas, ramen, tuna, cookies, toilet paper. <br /> <br /> * '''24-12-13 - 24-12-14/ 2 days/ SOBO / RR/ Volker'''<br /> <br /> From the valley of the cows to the canyon of the lezards <br /> I started a Guallali a 7 a.m. for the long MR (indicated as TL) walk into the valley of the cows - they were everywhere. Met 6 arrieros at different places. All indicated water reliable, fords no major problem. Camped some 500 m before the last indicated spot before the pass, great view there. <br /> Day 2: started at 7 p.m. and arrived at 9 at the pass. By then, the snow on the southern side had just begun to become a bit softer on the surface. An hour earlier you need crampons to get down, now I could move very quick.<br /> The second part of the CC section is not difficult if you stay in the river bed. I crossed the river like ten times, when I saw a path (also on OSM) on the left. I tried to get there, but this was a mistake. Just 20 meters, but very steep rubble. It was at that moment, when I probably looked very silly trying to get up this slope, when 2 gpt hikers passed by. I got back down to them, after a short gpt-small-talk they continued NOBO and I SOBO, now staying in the river bed. Arrived at Ranquil at 2. p.m. I had combined sections 08-11 and really ran out of food after the deplorable resupply situation in Trapa Trapa and Guallali. But nobody at the police station in Ranquil and an arriero told me, that buses go only on mondays, wednesdays and fridays. But that in 30 min an animal transporter will arrive. So it was, only that the driver’s cabin was full and the mochilero had to join the cows. 1,5 hours later the cattle and I arrived in Lonquimay.<br /> <br /> * '''6Dec2024 - 9dec2024 / hiking SOBO / RR / 3 days / Clara'''<br /> <br /> Beautiful landscapes all along the way up and down. <br /> <br /> Ford at 15 : went few meters upstream, not upper than knee. <br /> Ford at 18 : cross at the exact point where RR arrive. Water until mid thighs (I'm 1,57) Not strong current even in afternoon. <br /> <br /> Navigation : path is less clear between 16-17 with vegetation a bit overgrown. Same between 22-23.<br /> <br /> Snow : going up to the pass 27 was absolutely not a problem, some patches of snow at the end but easy to cross. <br /> I didn't know at this time if I could go to the over side of the pass and I was prepared to maybe backtrack since it snowed few days before. But arriving there, saw that it could be manageable passing upper to the track on the left side, where the snow is way more thin and you can see ground between patches of snow. Still was a bit steep to traverse like this and I think it could be harder in the opposite way (physically and navigation to avoid dangerous places). <br /> Careful when joining the river down, the snow melt because of the water so sometimes there is only a thin layer that could break if crossing there + difficult to see when arriving from up. <br /> Descending the river after the pass was harder for me. Lots of river crossing, easy at the begining but more and more demanding as the current went harder. Careful when going up because it could lead to really steep face to go down to the river, better stay in the riverbed most of the time. At the end, any crossing was upper than the knee except last one that was mid thigs but I think it's possible to do better. <br /> Then you go back to the trail and it's really easy. <br /> <br /> Water : a lot. <br /> <br /> Camp : 6.6 (the hotspring seems more used by cows by than humans but still a good place to camp). 21.6 nice. <br /> 32 : at the point hot spring. Easy to find from RR, multiple paths. <br /> Hot spring 32 : should be around 40° degrees, just perfect for the used hiking feet.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-17 // 1 day // Hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel'''<br /> <br /> After the baños of oelehue, it was a bit like a mess for me aha, I just switched from RR, to option 1, 3 and finally reach the pass with the option 2. That was pure CC, on a volcanic plateau and I just follow my instinct more than a GPX file, than I reached horse track from option 2 and continude on it until joining the RR. <br /> <br /> On the descent you just find again a animal track that looks so easy to follow after all this CC. You go easily Ans smoothly down, following the valley and finally found a jeep path for the last 15km. <br /> <br /> Then you hit the road until arriving to the tiny tiny guallalli. I knew it's gonna be tricky to ressuply there, but I kind of gambled and needed some food from this place. <br /> <br /> There 5 houses so it's not hard to have the information. I enter in like a private property parrallele to the escuela. There, I met Pedro, that escorted me to the &quot;mini-tiny-micro shop&quot;, just a door ahead. <br /> <br /> When I passed there, he had biscuits, chips, lot of sodas, pasta, tomato sauce, tuna, and most important : Dulce de leche !<br /> <br /> I was quite happy about that ! I continued my way a bit further and found a place to camp in the bush. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-24 to 2024-03-26 / 2 days? / NOBO / RR, Options 02, 04, 02B, 01 / Fangwen + Tobi'''<br /> <br /> Combined with Sections 10/11 (~8 days, relaxed). See section 12 for tips on cooking pinones<br /> <br /> Worth the short detour up to Cerro Dados. A flock (?) of condors make their home on the rock spires, amazing to see them flying up close.<br /> <br /> Initially, we intended on taking the gully scramble route (option 01), but quickly realized this would be a lot slower. We took the CC way (option 01 as well?) down instead, which was very steep and inconsistently rocky/loose, making slow progress. We conclude that probably the RR would be the fastest of all, despite the extra elevation loss.<br /> <br /> There's a great swimming hole around KM25 (?) as the stream turns into a gorge below the burnt down forest.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Mar-11 to 2024-Mar-13 / 2.5 days / SOBO / RR A 01 01B 01C 01D 02 (only the ridge part southeast of pass 11-04 5.4km) 02B 04/ Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> No snowfields, plenty of (unmarked) water, however at X26.8km last water for a while (not far in distance but time consuming terrain). No Tabanos, all fordings very easy.<br /> <br /> Hot Spring 6.6km. Some cowshit next to it and shallow water, but still nice almost hot water and with the cold river next to it to clean and bath. Campside is full of shit, I put my tent in the sand right next to the firepit, there is also a table!<br /> Camp 25.1 and 26.1 very windy and hardly any protection. At 25.1 I followed the stream up a bit until its only bushes on both sides. Shortly before there is a big bush with a one tent flat spot next to it almost directly at the stream. I cleaned this spot from the shit, it is a bit protected but was still very windy.<br /> <br /> RR route around Puesto 10km seems not accurate anymore. The road goes between RR and A and then turns to and follows A.<br /> <br /> Around -38.01624,-71.15993 dont follow the road, check GPS for RR along the river. After ford 14.3 it can get quite swampy for a few hundred meters.<br /> <br /> Beginning of section is a lot of boring walk on very dusty road.<br /> I loved 01, that CC was demanding and time consuming navigation in steep terrain, but a lot of fun. Most of RR was easy hiking in the sections before, so this was welcome difference. The clambering on the ridge is short and not hard (difficult level UIAA 1) but lots of lose rocks, so need to be careful. Some clambering in gullys, it often looked harder from above as it then actually was. Still you need to be really careful and it's going slowly. Very strong and cold winds. First water NOBO at -38,10299,-71.07628. It rained the night before, so I waited until noon, giving wind and sun time to dry the area, as I would only recommend 01 in good weather conditions! <br /> <br /> There is no hotspring at 11-01C 1.7km. The spring is at 11-02B 1.2km. It is warm and with an amazing view, but quite shallow and muddy, still nice to sit in. A small narrow stream of clean cold water nearby but no pool.<br /> I camped next to the spring, there is a stonewalled campside, but no other protection. Next day I went up to Cerro Dedos and hiked the ridge to the southeast. Well worth it, but the winds were very strong and cold. Shortly before the peak of Dedos it is easy walking, the last few meters is light climbing. There are 2 peaks, the higher one is a bit harder and very exposed on top, the lower one is easier and has plenty of flat space and a stoneguy on it. Coming from the east first you will see only the higher peak, but you can easily hike around it.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Feb 19 to Feb 26 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / Opt 5A, Opt 5B, Opt 5, detour to Laguna Blanca / Michael and Kasia'''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 9, 10, and 11 together.<br /> <br /> TLDR : with easy navigation, a well maintained trail, and impressive views, Opt 5 is both a relaxing and impressive route. Comunidad Chenqenco has a good store for resupply. Fundo Guindo charges people to pass through if they are around, but they may not be. Laguna Blanca is apparently a private lake, and while it is possible to camp there, there are complications.<br /> <br /> Day 0 - Feb 18<br /> <br /> We arrived in Comunidad Chenqueco around 19:30. There was one hospedaje in Chenqueco, but it was full. I talked to Luis who runs a small shop next to the big shop and he said there was camping about 2 km on down by the river. We headed down towards the driving bridge. Just before it there was a fence and a gate that was dummy locked. We went through the gate and found a spot a little ways in. There was no river access, and that specific river is not a good quality for drinking or filtering in any case, but there was a small stream cutting across the path that had clear water.<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Feb 19<br /> <br /> We stayed in the same place we camped the night before and walked up to the shop in town to resupply. It was a well stocked store with quite a few options and easy for us to do a good resupply there. Prices were very reasonable. They had instant coffee (Gold, our favorite!), pasta, instant noodles (only in the cups), powdered sauces/cremas and bouillon cubes, crackers, cookies, eggs, canned fish and canned paté, powdered milk, 8 flavors of Zuko, a few types of packaged cheeses, queso crema, peanuts (no other nuts and no raisins though), and even apples, onions, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers. They did not have camping gas but they said sometimes they do have it in stock. We also chatted with them about the toma at Fundó Guindo across the river. The owner, Juan, said there was no issue to pass, we would just need to pay at the gate.<br /> We went back to camp to repack the food. Later two people came by. It turned out that we were camping on private property and the woman was the granddaughter of the owner. We talked to them for a bit and she said that it was okay if we stayed and just asked that we be careful to take all our trash and not start a fire. I asked who could someone in the future go to in order to request permission and she said her father, Jose Luis Benítez. He lives in a house at (-38.06389, -71.35347). If you are walking the main road toward the driving bridge there is a road that goes off to the right down to the school, a large building at the end of that street and easy to spot. Start down that street and his house is the first gate on the left hand side. They also told us that if you keep going across the river on the driving bridge and then go right over the hill and down a path, you can get to a public access beach with a good pozo for swimming in the other river (-38.06677, -71.34947). That may also have been the place Luis was thinking of when he told me about the camping 2 km on.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Feb 20th<br /> <br /> We left early and took Opt 5B to connect with Opt 5A down to a new looking metal footbridge. (This is a better option as staying on 5A requires jumping a barbed wire fence but 5B goes around it). We followed the most used looking path. The whole path was a dirt road, but in good condition and half shaded in the forest. We passed through Fundo Guindo (I think, there were never any signs). We did not see anyone the whole time, only a few cows. Most of the puestos along the way were padlocked shut on the outside or falling down. We arrived at an intersection with a sign for Lonquimay going up the hill. We never came to a gate. I think the gate is actually back on Opt 5 about 240 m before 5A connects into it based on other reports and a gate icon on Gaia. It was almost entirely silent the whole way up to the pass. We didn't see anyone until the bridge over the embalsa.<br /> <br /> Once we got past the bridge, the road had barbed wire fencing on both sides nearly the entire way. It was very challenging to find camping. We found one spot with water and another without, but we wanted to make some distance so we kept going. It started to get dark and we ended up climbing under the fence of Fundo Lolco just after the sign, going across a small field and camping on the far side just out of sight of the road. There was a creek running below.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Feb 21st<br /> <br /> We packed up and got back on the road just before sunrise. Where the road crossed the estero it was fenced on both sides, but the lower side was secured with just two pieces of barbed wire twisted around each other. We undid the wire and sat by the water to have coffee and filter water, then closed the fence on the way out. The entire road runs through Fundo Lolco until you reach RN Nalcas. We saw only two spots where one could reasonably camp along the way without trespassing. Both were right on the side of the road, but the road seems to get very little use. <br /> <br /> When we got to the reserva the guardaparque told us that the reserva was closed as a preventative measure due to the first fires. We told him we had read online that it had reopened and that we had been walking for days to reach the reserva and he finally said it was okay for us to go, just not to have any fires. We did not have to pay and he did not register us. We camped a little ways past the guardaparque residence.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Feb 22nd<br /> <br /> The trail was easy to follow and well maintained. The first few km have a barbed wire fence running along one side of the path with takes away from the beauty a bit, but it ends eventually. The forest was amazing and we had the luck to have an almost completely overcast day, so a slow walk through everything was very pleasant. It was a bit difficult to find camping as much of the trail is on a slope and there is a 4 km section with no water. We camped at (-38.28562, -71.56485). Water was 300 m back down the trail just after the gate.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Feb 23rd<br /> <br /> We woke up to an absolutely beautiful view of sunrise hitting a cloudless Volcan Tolhuaca in the morning, and to our tent frozen stiff in the night. It was our first frost of the season. We found the trail up easy to follow and not particularly demanding. There were several springs cutting across the path so water was not an issue. We had a consistent view of Volcan Tolhuaca for the first few hours with Volcan Callaqui rising up behind us just before the turn, then Volcan Lonquimay after the turn. The entire route is very scenic and beautiful. It was a cloudless, windless day, but there was a slight cool in the air, so very comfortable hiking weather.<br /> <br /> We took a detour down towards Laguna Blanca. The views on the way down are absolutely spectacular, especially in the afternoon. It looks like something out of a fantasy movie or an illustration of the dinosaur era. The forest on the way there is also beautiful.<br /> This is where the problems started. Since this is a longer story and not actually on the GPT route, I'll put the full account at the end of the report for those interested, but the short version is that a very irritable and inhospitable Swiss German woman named Beatrice claims ownership of the entire lake and surrounding area, and if you are not entering via the “normal way” as she referred to it, meaning through her lodge, she gets very, very, very angry. <br /> <br /> Day 6 - Feb 23rd<br /> <br /> We spent the morning talking with the guardaparque at Laguna Blanca and exploring the park, then headed back to a spot we had scouted the day before (-38.35580, -71.61209). It was an amazing camping spot at the bottom of the road down from Volcan Lonquimay inside a ring of oak trees. There was a small stream about 40 m up the hill that had good clean water. It was very peaceful with views of the whole valley and probably one of our favorite campsites so far.<br /> <br /> Day 7 - Feb 24th<br /> <br /> We took a rest day in the same spot. It was very quiet most of the day. We observed some small burrowing mammal, a ground hog or gopher, digging holes. In the afternoon a car drove past on the way to Laguna Verde and returned about 2 hours later, and towards sunset a group of dirt bikers passed through. Other than that we were alone and it was very relaxing.<br /> <br /> Day 8 - Feb 25th<br /> <br /> We got an early start going around the volcano. In a few places we went cross country. It shaved off some distance, but the volcanic rock was challenging to walk on so I think there wasn't much of a time savings. We walked out of the reserva after closing time so we did not have any interactions with CONAF on that end. There was one hostal on the way down the hill, 10.000 pp with a kitchen. It is above a ski gear shop shortly after leaving the reserva. We hitched a ride with a very nice Mapuche couple all the way to Lonquimay. If walking, there was camping around (-38.44185, -71.51361) next to the river. The road up had some beautiful views and I was glad to have seen it, but also grateful to not have to walk it as it was very dusty. There were several people selling tortillas, sopaipillas and cooked piñones along the way. In Lonquimay we stayed at Hostal Rusitko Lonquimay a half block from the square, 35.000 for a private room with private bathroom and hot water. The owner, Hector, was very friendly and helpful. If looking for something cheaper there was another Hostería Follil Pewenche next to the AhorraMás grocery store, 10.000 pp for a bed in a dorm, shared bathroom. <br /> <br /> After resupplying we continued to section 12<br /> <br /> Laguna Blanca detailed account: We walked down the road to the lake. There is no water starting from (-38.35578, -71.61120) on. We arrived at a locked gate with walking passages on either side and 4 signs on 1 wooden board. The uppermost is a wood sign that says “Area Silvestre Protegía” and looks like something in a park. The second is a fairly lengthy laminated paper sign in good condition that says it is private property and there is access with paid ticket, and to go 500 m on to meet their personnel for more information and to pay if you didn't already in the lodge, along with icons for swimming, fishing, canoeing, etc. Below that was another laminated paper sign that was badly water stained and looked old saying “Advertencia Propiedad privada con vigilancia continual No entrar! Solamente autorizados”, and finally a third laminated sign indicating no cars and no motorcycles. We took this to mean, I think understandably, that people can enter, but it is paid. The human sized gaps on either side of the gate looked like they were designed to let hikers through while preventing the cars and motorcycles that were prohibited as per the sign. We walked to reception, passing along the way a few hand painted wood signs for native animals and one with the elements. At the reception area there was a large carved wooden sign with the trails to three beaches and a CONAF insignia at the bottom. There were a few smaller signs, one saying Laguna Blanca Zona Protegía and claiming UNESCO status (it is not), another showing the horario (something not shown at the entrance a half km back), another saying to announce your arrival and departure with the guardaparque, another warning to disinfect fishing gear due to didymo, and another pointing to a cabin indicating reception. There was also a badly water stained paper sign saying no fishing, no hunting and no collecting fruit. The cabin had a window and a sign for a kiosco and there was also an unnecessary wooden sign near the cabin indicating again kiosco. There was also a bathroom with men's and women's signs attached to the respective doors. (There is a reason for the exhaustive detail I am providing here). We called out buenas tardes and a boy, probably around 12 years old came to the window. We asked him about camping and he asked about a ticket. We said we wanted to buy a ticket and he said if we didn't have one that we had entered illegally. We were confused about this, but assumed it was just a misunderstanding on his part. We explained that we came from the gate and were looking for a camping spot and asked how much. He said it was 8.000 pp, but he couldn't take money. No one else was around because his parents had gone to get food. On the door to the cabin was a sign in Spanish, English and German saying if no one was there, they were working elsewhere on the property and to go to one of the beaches and they would find you later. We told him our names and which countries we were from. He told us which beach was best for camping and we told him we would come back in the morning to pay and register, because at this point it was around 20:30. He said okay and we headed to the beach. The trail down was nearly a kilometer even though it could have been less than half that. We set up the tent and started dinner. At the beach there was a sign saying catch and release fishing. About an hour later the guardaparque canning running down to the beach shouting that we were on private property and we had entered illegally. He was very worked up, but we explained our situation and he calmed down. He had a walkie talkie with him that kept interrupting with two other people on the other end. We managed to explain where we were coming from and that Matias had mentioned the place on Facebook and suddenly he lit up, saying oh, yes Matias, you were referred by Matias. The Chilena woman also remembered him, and apparently he was fondly remembered. That changed the dynamic with the guardaparque entirely. Then another woman, speaking Spanish but with a German accent, came over the radio. She made it very clear that she did not care at all who referred us or why we were there, we were on her private property, illegally, and she was very, very angry about it. This went back and forth a bit, the guardaparque sort of trying to help, the radio not working well. Eventually he and I went up to reception (another kilometer back up the hill) to register us. She was on the radio and I actually talked to her directly in English. I explained that we were walking two weeks from Antuco, we had read a nice review from another member of our hiking group, and that we didn't understand that we needed to register at the lodge. She was very disinterested in anything other than the fact that we were on her private property (despite the fact that it is clearly a business) and should not be. She said she didn't want to discuss where we were coming from or how we got into her land over the radio. She also said a number of things that made no sense. First she said that they close the gate at 19:00 “which is quite normal here”. We left the next day and at 16:00 the gate was still closed and locked, because of course it was, there are pedestrian passes on both sides, and the gate is there for cars, ATVs and motorcycles. She said there was a number posted to call to make a reservation for the next day, but that was not true, there were no phone numbers on any of the signs. Furthermore, the guardaparque gave me a flier for the lodge which did have numbers (but you'd have to enter illegally to get it) that clearly stated on the bottom that there was very poor cell signal at the lake. In the end she said we had two choices, pay the entrance fee, which we were going to pay anyway, and a multa of 3.000 pp for “illegal entry” (they were all very fond of that specific wording), or leave immediately (at this point it was 22:00, and as previously mentioned the was no water for several kilometers). I said we would pay, really what choice did we have, and gave the radio back to Carlos, the guardaparque. He was very nice, said it was his fault, he's normally always there and just left for awhile because they were out of food. We talked to him and his partner more the next day. He explained that the fees were 5.000 pp for entry to the lake and another 5.000 pp for camping if you first registered at the lodge. For anyone who doesn't register at the lodge first, regardless of the time they enter, it constitutes “illegal entry” and there is a 3.000 pp multa. Keep in mind that the sign at the front gate says “welcome” “access with ticket” and “you can pay the guardaparque 500 m on if you didn't pay in the lodge”. There is absolutely no mention at the gate of the prices, the hours of entry, how far away the lodge is (it is 7 km further down the highway), or that a multa is issued for “illegal entry”. The whole situation was incredibly frustrating and it's our first truly unpleasant interaction here in Chile. It is also a very suspicious situation. On the OSM map on the GPS the lake is within the reserva, though on Gaia it is outside the reserva. She has a CONAF marked trail sign with her property, but she's claiming it's private, and a sign claiming UNESCO status, which it simply isn't. Bottom line, if you go, be prepared to walk an additional 14 km round trip to register the “normal way”, or to pay a 3.000 pp fine and be yelled at by Beatrice for “illegal entry”. But also maybe just don't go. It's really not that nice and there are better places to camp in the reserva.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-14 to 2024-Feb-15 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Joscha'''<br /> <br /> I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Day 1: RR [0.0-13.7]<br /> <br /> Water at all Water and Ford Waypoints I passed today. But at km 3.1 it's not much more than a trickle. The hotspring at km 6.6 is a little dirty and has some cow poo around. But still worth a little bath. <br /> <br /> Day 2: RR [13.7-32.9]<br /> <br /> Water at all Water and Ford Waypoints I passed today. There is still some snow on the southern side of the Pass (km 27.6), but you can walk around it on the eastern side on a step gravel slope. Be carfull walking down. There are a lot of lose bolders. I didn't take the trail out of the gulch at km 31.1 as Hannes suggested. Its possible to continue in the gulch but I had to get rid of my hiking poles at one point to use both my hands to climb down a mini waterfall. The Hotspring at km 32.0 was pretty dirty and rather warm than hot. I did not went to Ranquil and continued directly with section 12 at km 32.9.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-10 to 2024-Feb-12 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / Section 12 on RR - Guallali / RR + Option 4 until the pass / Alex &amp; Christophe'''<br /> <br /> We directly went on this section after section 12. The way up to the pass in the river wasn't easy and took us more time than we thought. There was only one time were we had to go out of the river to find another way as Hannes as already explained.<br /> <br /> Once, the pass was behind us, all was easy and we really enjoyed Hot Spring, Camp {11} [6.6/991] (Poorly Maintained). It was clean, maybe recently digged and nice after a dusty day on the trail.<br /> <br /> We also ended this section with a light resupply in Guayali and a perfect almuerzo before going on section 10 in Shop {11} [0.1/951] (Mini Shop).<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-16 to 2024-Jan-18 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Nothing worth to mention, which has not already been mentioned before…except the gulch after the pass. At around -38.110511, -71.087826 it gets pretty straight, with fast water flow and river gets deeper and you are not able to figure out what comes after the next 50m because you do not see…I went out there from the river bed and took a trail on the left side (with some BB for the first 20m), you will see this trail…at around -38.111291, -71.087135 I entered the gulch again. Choose yourself.<br /> Afterwards I went out to Ranquil and then to Maximilianos and Anna’s minishop at -38.24995, -71.23238. They let me sleep there. So nice people! Convinced Max to sell Gas in his shop, so should be available soon there.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-01-13/22 / 7 + 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR (sections 12 &amp; 11) / Coline'''<br /> <br /> I hiked GPT12 and 11 in a raw, so to reach the Pelehue hotsprings instead of going to Troyo for resupplying. This ten-days trail was really a great experience ! Sometimes terrifying, but not dangerous – as said in another post.<br /> <br /> My &quot;goal&quot; was to reach each hotspring marked on the map (4). My favourite was the one at the end (near Guallalí), because I meet a chilian family on vacacion there and they had dig the spring large enough for them six !<br /> The baños Coyucos &quot;moved&quot; : there are just below the Camp {12} [20.4/1625], where one's finds a bench, a table and a place for firecamps. <br /> The termas Pelehue definitly disappeared, but the view there is very scenic.<br /> The Hot Spring {11} [32.0/1428] are a bit dirty, sibce ciws like to lie in them, but one's can easily &quot;clean&quot; them a bit and enjoy a warm bath : I choosed the uppermost, and therefore warmer (Yes, there are two).<br /> <br /> The sections 11 &amp; 12 were beautiful to me because of the passes... and difficult for the same reason. First Pass {12} [68.0+0.2/1909] was actually Ok, because the way (northbound) goes slowly up. <br /> The second Pass {12} [57.4/2180] was more difficult, due to the mud, and particularly on the way down for me, since I lost the trail and found myself stuck in a forest of small trees. <br /> <br /> The real DIFFICULTY for me was the last Pass {11} [27.6/2174]. After nine days, my body and mind were really tired. I forgot the advice of previous walkers and tried to go up through the forest (because of the sun exposure in the valley). I lost an hour and had to go down to the river. Moreover, the last 100m, with the snow and rocks, were doable, but the idea of sliding really scarred me.<br /> <br /> Something else scarred me at the beginning of my journey (and it shouln'd have...) : it was the attitud of some &quot;caballeros&quot; towards me, a solo female hiker. Most of the &quot;caballeros&quot; are nice and will help you, but some can be really insisting. (I had to yell at a man asking me for five minutes if I wanted a compagnon for the night... It was 3 a.m. and he had wake me up with his light and dog). But he was not threatening, &quot;just&quot; asking over and over.<br /> <br /> Actually Laguna Verde and Laguna Escondida (where I met those insisting men) are still nice memories to me ! By the way, I recommend the beach on the south side of Laguna Escondida ; the north one is skinny, inhabited by mosquitos and very &quot;escondida&quot; (hidden) in the bushes.<br /> <br /> What else ?<br /> I avoid the Pehuenche Extortioner taking CC road, and it went all good.<br /> There is a bridge some 120m west of the Ford {12} [45.4/1039],... whereas there is no more bridge at Bridge ? {11-C} [0.3/1109], but it seems very easier to cross the Estero Quillaylemu there, rather than on the RR.<br /> The river crossing is Ok, and there is plenty of water all along the way.<br /> As for the resupplying, I don't know about Troyo, but the only shop in Guallalí is very small (no bottle of gas or tobacco for sure). The woman who manages it is very nice though : she indicated me that a bus (with more food) would pass at 8 p.m, she invited me to charge my bateries at her place, let me have a nap, while she prepared me a delicious dish ! I had nice time with the younger kid, and even spend the night there at the end.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-06 to 2024-Jan-07 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {11-C} - RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> Dirt road walking from RR km0 to &quot;Bridge? {11-C} [0.3/1109].<br /> <br /> Lot of nice water flowing across the road.<br /> <br /> Hot spring,camp RR[6.6/991] : i didn't go to check the hot spring, i saw it from high at road, there are lot of cows surrounded and standing in the spring, look like they are enjoying it. And a beautiful grassland is good for camping just beside it. A dirt road just before water[6.8/1035] will lead you to there.<br /> <br /> RR Km11.7 : beautiful view begin!<br /> <br /> If you follow the dirt road walking, it will lead you to Bridge? {11-C} [0.3/1109]. <br /> <br /> Bridge? {11-C} [0.3/1109] : no more bridge here, cross the stream just above ankle. After you cross it, CC back to RR.<br /> <br /> Ford RR [18.0/1199] : Crossing of Río Chaviquin, when you arrive the river, upstream 5m and look at the riverbed underwater, a rock bar there, about 45° downstream to the other side. Water is above half of thighs at noon, luckily flowing not fast and not strong.<br /> <br /> After the crossing, sometimes the trail easily mix with cow paths.<br /> <br /> Water, gate[19.9,136] : locked. Not a friendly gate, not easy climbing.<br /> <br /> Km22 : go into a wildfire dead trees area, for now the trail conditions still ok, but after some years they all fall down, i think it'll be difficult to follow between blowdowns.<br /> <br /> Km23.2 - km23.8 : blowdowns area, RR become difficult to follow, look like some reroute here.<br /> <br /> Ford[24.3/1688] : flowing fast and above half of calf at late afternoon. Flat spot can fit 1 tent after the crossing, surrounded by forest.<br /> <br /> Camp[25.1/1846] , Camp[26.1/1957] : both are beautiful camping spots, but no wind protection, also very wet as now, lot of tiny streams flowing nearby.<br /> <br /> X[26.8/2036] : if you don't look at the GPS, it is a &quot;must&quot; miss junction.<br /> <br /> Pass[27.6/2174] : no need to step on any snow at north side. Still covered by lot of snow at south until km28.6(1850m). You can sit down then slide down, but some rocks appear at 2060m, better control the sliding direction otherwise your butt will cut off. I keep skiing down(with my trail runner) until almost the end of snow. You can walk on some stable ground start at km28.4(1910m). I think this part is difficult for NOBO if in heavy snow conditions. <br /> <br /> Mostly there are no trail, all walk by your own way in the valley. Maybe you'll find some nice trail like the one at km29.15, but all of them will disappear in 5min.<br /> <br /> You will cross the same river 21 times until you met a beautiful trail at km30.8. All the crossing is easy, mostly just calf, all under knee.<br /> <br /> Except km30.15, it is a small waterfall, valley become narrow, no shore for go around or stepping on, I don't know the way to go down. So i turn back to km30.1, follow the trail shown in OSM, climb up on the east side of valley. But when i going down back to the valley, look like a short part of the trail is landslide away, it becomes very steep to go down, be careful.<br /> <br /> km30.8 : trail, easy walk start.<br /> <br /> Km31.3 : locked gate with wire fence, you can go around it at right side.<br /> <br /> Hot spring? [32.0/1428] : nice spot! 2m x 2m pool with good temperature water(about 50°c), although it's not deep also grey colour, but it surprised me, just like a reward after so many cold feet crossing! Some flat spots nearby. I met a friendly family here too!<br /> <br /> Ford[33.2/1403] : crossing of Rio Ranquil, looks like up to thighs and flowing strong. Log crossing at upstream 40m, but not easy. I saw some footprints for locals crossing it, so i crossed here. After the crossing about 100m is a big fire ring and a camping spot can fit 1 tent under a tree. 80m more is a roundabout for dirt road, you can camping here if need, because the dirt road is damaged so no cars coming.<br /> <br /> And then dirt road walking all the way down. Maybe possible for hitching out on weekend if you are lucky, i saw some people driving to here for picnic when i was walking down the road on Sunday.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-dec-23/ 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR / Lukas en Tess'''<br /> <br /> Section 11 went fairly smooth. We followed the advice of the wiki to avoid option 1. RR was perfect, coming through some awesome forrest on the way up, we found wild cilantro and some other stuff. We camped just across the ford on K24,3 for the pools. The pools are good, but I think the next campspot on the map at K25,1 is definitely the most beautiful on the route. With awesome waterfalls not too far to venture into. The pass was no problem, lots of snow on the other side but never to steep. We sat down and went for one of our fastest decends jet :p <br /> Then the pickle began, we needed to restock for section 12, but the busses are only monday, wednesday, and Fridays. And not on public holidays like monday the 25th of dec!!! We tried hitchhiking, but there was no one passing except horses. <br /> In the end, we found a new minishop on the way to Troyo {11-5f} 14.3 k from the end of GPT11. The owners just moved here from Santiago. Maximilian and Anna are probably the nicest people we have met on the trail so far. The shop has everything you need to resupply except gas (maybe in the future). They took us in and we ended up staying with them for 2 days and celibrating Christmas together with some of their friends. It was great!<br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 15 / 1 day / hiking / SOBO / option 05 + 05F + hitchhike / Frans'''<br /> <br /> Reading all the stories and in combination with the upcoming bad weather made me skip the pass and decide to go to Troyo or even Lonquimay and rejoin GPT 12 later. Beautiful walk through the valley tho! Really enjoyed it.<br /> <br /> First rivercrossing after 1.5km, water was pretty strong and for me (194cm) reached my waist even before I was halfway. So decided to turn back and look for a better spot. About 150m downstream the water splits in 2 streams. Much easier, didn't came any higher than my knees. So easy to cross here.<br /> <br /> About 200m before GPT11-05A End there was a gate and a man sitting in front of it. His wife joined immediately. My western interpretation of their verbal and non-verbal communication was they were grumpy and annoyed. But I could understand probably less than 5% of the words they said. I tried to smile and wave, thank them and say how beautiful the area was but it made no impression at all. After taking pictures of my driver license and paying 10k CLP they let me through and continue (and I knew this would happen because it's written here before). <br /> <br /> Got a ride to Lonquimay after joining the main road to Troyo (11-05F) by the first vehicle that passed by. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dex-02 to 2023-Dec-04 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Jens'''<br /> <br /> We combined the two stages 12 and 11. The hot springs after about 7 kilometres gave our weary bones a little rest.<br /> <br /> I had tried the ascent to the pass along the left-hand side. I followed a trail for a few kilometres, but at some point it ended in bush bashing. The better route is probably through and along the river. <br /> <br /> As there was still a lot of snow at the beginning of December, crossing the pass was not easy. The last 100 metres in altitude were particularly steep. I can imagine that the melting of the snow could lead to avalanches in the coming weeks. <br /> <br /> On the other side, I had no further problems. There was still some snow, but I could either avoid it or walk right over it. <br /> <br /> Water: Many options<br /> <br /> Camping: Many options from two kilometres before and after the pass.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-3 to 2023-Dec-5 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 5F + option 5 / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn '''<br /> <br /> We started section 11 and turned around just before the pass because there was too much snow for us and we felt it was dangerous. So we then took the option road to go to Troyo ( rest day) then to Guallali.<br /> <br /> - Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br /> <br /> - Snow : lots of snow on pass, from km 29,14 to km 27,57.<br /> <br /> - Camping spot : easy to find, the natural hot spring matked on the map is present and it's easy to camp next to it<br /> <br /> - River crossing : on RR, following the river is easy from km 30,8 to km 29,12, stay in the river bed. It's not worth it to get out of the river and try to found a way around it. We did it and regretted it. | Rio Chaquilvin on option 5 was easy to cross. (The cable car is locked) <br /> <br /> - Weather : Sunny<br /> <br /> - Option roads : option 5F | (1) gravel road, for us on a Sunday, we didn't encounter a car for the first 12 km then got lucky and got a ride to Troyo - we also got an easy hitch from Toro to Puente qcontraco. Option 5 | (2) easy track. From km 7,15 ( fundo los Guindos) to km 1,2 you are in Mapuche territory. At km 7,15 , two guys with some big knifes hanging on their belt asked us to stop. They were a bit cold and not really welcoming. They explained to us that they were retaking their land and therefore needed to register everyone who was entering.They took a picture of our passport and let us go after saying that we should go to the house at km 2,45 so someone there could help us cross the river ( Rio Chaquilvin) where there is a cable car. Once we arrived to the house, a woman ( really not nice) blackmailed us in order to give her money because we were on her land. When we asked how much for the fee she just said &quot; what do you got ? &quot;. So then we negotiated a little bit but quickly gave her some money ( 7000 pesos), but she was asking more.... There was a big dog behind her and we were feeling really uncomfortable and just wanted to get out of the situation. She didn't help us cross the river and just said &quot; if you die it's your responsibility '. <br /> <br /> - Warning : Mapuche land - read section ' option roads' | A lot of snow at the pass on RR.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-05 to 2023-Mar-05 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis '''<br /> <br /> Continued directly from GPT12 so we started at the end of RR-TL-V {11} [31.3+1.5] . We followed the RR for the whole section. <br /> <br /> On day 1, for RR-CC-A {11} [27.6+3.3], you have to stay in the river stream for the whole duration. You will find plenty of water because you walk in it, and nice pools and little cascade if you want to take a bath. Leaving the stream for higher up is not a good choice : every time we tried it was a mistake. We camped at Camp {11} [26.1/1957]. It was not protected and the night was very windy... Not our best choice.<br /> <br /> On day 2, we continued until Guallali following the RR. The trail around Km15 transforms in a MR that leads you to the village without even checking the GPS. <br /> There, we found the minishop that had limited resupply options (we bought lentils, cookies, snacks and cola). We checked in with the carabineros that were friendly and sayed we could camp wherever was wind protected. We opted for the football field which is a nice flat and grassy place.<br /> <br /> Not much to say about this section, we found the end on the dirt road relatively dull but the beginning in the mountain is awesome <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-11 to 2023-Feb-12 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (option 01+ off route) / Natalie&amp;Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> Combined GPT 10(01)+11+12<br /> Day1<br /> Slept in Guallalí in the growth as others have described, but still asked the shop owner first for permission. Carabineros were nice and told us we did not need to check in although the sign says &quot;obligatory check&quot;. Pedro at the mini shop is also kind and willing to help hikers although there is only a handful of items in his shop: bought some sweets. Pedro also told me that option05 to lLnquimay would require you to pay 10mil to the locals. We took RR. At this time of the year the road is the &quot;dirt-dust type&quot; but still fast until Estero Quillaylemu (14km) which makes for a nice rest. Tomáš checked out the hotsprings at 6.6. There is a table and a pool of nicely hot muddy water directly next to a river. Better camping site than in Guallali. After the Estero Quillaylemu, the track gets harder to follow, but becomes beautiful after the ford and bend towards the pass. Lost the trail a couple of times, but found lots of wild quinoa. Camped at 25.1 behind a boulder by the river to cut the wind, camp at 26.1 looked nicer.<br /> <br /> For the pass we followed the ridge for as long as we could (option 01) and it was fun and straightforward. Luckily, although the winds were strong that day the ridge was almost windless. Made our way down similar to Will. Got off the ridge here; -38.10270, -71.07250 (later than indicated by the GPX), headed to a small dry gully next to and below the &quot;greyish&quot; dirt here; -38.10359, -71.07282, you had to use your edges as the ground was hard&quot;grit&quot;. Entered a small creek bed here;-38.10604, -71.07538 and followed it (some water) until it turned into a scramble. At that point we climbed back up to our left (East), moved south until we went down and up our final gully, just underneath 01B. This last gully was easy as Tomáš found a soft spot, somewhere around here;-38.11039, -71.07474. After this point it was easy to connect to the main route [2024: The track is in our suggestions]. Just the section up to here from the ridge is problematic - maybe two km. Probably fastest would be to go down the regular route and take the first option left, which is probably a trail and only means about 300 m of additional climbing. The route as mapped by the GPX files (option01; second half of the traverse) looks quite steep and exposed and does not save much elevation. It might or might not be possible but to us from below it does not look worth it.<br /> <br /> Lastly there are water sources on the other side of the ridge (SW, the hard side) before the hotsprings if needed.<br /> <br /> Continued onto Section 12 towards Banos Coyucos for the night.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-27 to 2023-Jan-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Johana &amp; Matouš'''<br /> <br /> We camped near the ford on the 18th kilometre (just about 20 metres upstream is a great place to take a bath in). The next day we made it all the way to the end; however, it was an ordeal. The view from the pass was jaw-dropping and parts of the path leading up to it were shaded by beautiful trees, but we feel like the horrible descent (we were doing the regular route) made it not worth it for us. Despite the fact that we were lucky enough to have the best conditions for the descent (only some snowpatches at the top, sunny weather), the terrain felt ankle-spraining. The wobbly stones kept sliding down and it required a lot of focus. We went down through the canyon and after the point where you need to go above it when it becomes too narrow we went down the wrong way and I fell down clutching at straws (literally) not to fall down. So it might be better to go through the river..? To be optimistic, the last part of the path was beautiful again. We hitched a ride and stayed with a really nice family that took us to Lonquimay the next day. It's a nice bigger town with a lot of possibilities to resupply. There are really buses only Mo-We-Fri from Ranquil. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-17 to 2023-Jan-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 1 to the Termas del Pelehue / Will '''<br /> <br /> I took the bus to Guallali, which took me past the Carabineros and directly into town where I set up in the standard grove. A bit after dark two carabineros showed up at my tent. Intimidating at first, they were very friendly after I explained my plans. They just said that next time I should make sure to stop and report to them on my way by.<br /> <br /> The section starts out with a not very interesting road walk, but suddenly became super beautiful 15ish km in. I camped at 25.1, a somewhat sheltered spot by a stream, where the wind rattling my tent made it hard to sleep. A few arrieros came by during the evening. The 26.1 campsite looked similar.<br /> <br /> The horse flies reappeared as I got up closer to the pass. Had flashbacks of sections 7 and 8, trying to determine whether each stab was a horse fly or a burr or a paranoid hallucination. My theory is that they've migrated up to the higher altitudes, now that it's later in the season.<br /> <br /> I took option 1 (diverging a decent amount) to join up with section 12 at the termas de pelehue. It was tough and slow going, taking around 3 hours, but I really enjoyed it. I planned my route to avoid horizontal slope traversals so I never really felt in danger of a serious fall. I did still slip a few times, cutting up my hand a bit.<br /> <br /> I started out with the ridge walk from the pass. Would have been great walking if not for the absurd winds, I spent most of it slightly to the south below the ridge. The slope was pretty gradual there and not slippery. I then went down past the two grass patches following the route on openstreetmap. I descended to the south all the way down to around 1875m, along a stream around 50m to the east of the openstreetmap route. It was easy rock walking at first, but turned into some tricky hands on scrambling as the stream got bigger.<br /> <br /> I wouldn't recommend it if the flow rate is high. Then I climbed back up to the final stretch of the main option route. The climb was steep at first but with enough vegetation and solid rock in the slope to get up. Everything after that was easy, more or less.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-14 to 2023-Jan-16 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> From Guallalí there’s a gravel road for first few kms, easy walking. We didn’t check the hot springs in a hot day, but someone mentioned it is fine. All the fords were easy. We camped around km 21 in a little forrest. The ascent to the pass is pretty gradual and we enjoyed it really. Based on previous comments we chose to stick to the RR which turned out to be a good decision. There was still quite a lot of snow and the terrain is more technical, but it just requires focus. We walked on the right edge of the snowfield and slided down in some parts. When we reached the river we didn’t walk at all on the snow but rather on river banks or even in the river itself. Closer to the junction we once or twice followed the alternative dotted line that is marked in our maps - it just goes higher up from the canyon and back. After the junction we continued to GPT12.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-13 to 2023-Jan-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Guallalí - Termas de Pelehue (junction GPT 11, option 1 and GPT 12) / Anna &amp; Christopher '''<br /> <br /> In Guallalí we camped at the same spot as Veronica after arriving around 20:30.<br /> The first day there is a lot of walking on dirt roads and good paths, so the km went by quickly. We camped at the ford waypoint [24.3/1688], where the way passes a small creek. It has some natural pools, which are amazing to take a bath.<br /> <br /> The next day after arriving on the plateau there is a CC part, so keep an eye on your navigation device. When we reached the pass we accidently went the wrong way and ended up taking option 1 to decrease the detour. Bad idea! Better don't take option 1. There is almost no path, its very steep, a lot of scrambling and there was one very stupidly dangerous descent across some gravel/rock part. It took us around 3,5 hours to cross option 1. We would definetly not do it again. We directly continued to section 12.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-30 / 5.5 days (GPT11 + GPT12) / Hiking /SOBO / RR + OH 2 / Véronica '''<br /> <br /> Route: Guallalí - Junction to Section 11, Option 2 - Ridge Las Monjas - Junction with GPT12, RR-CC-A {12} [12.9+3.5]<br /> <br /> Ralco is a good resupply town, the smaller supermarket had camping gas. Took the bus back to Guallalí at 5 p.m. for 1,000 clp, arrived around 8:30 p.m. I camped in the same araucaria grove as the night before (via the wooden gate next to the escuela). Good and clear path in a pleasant valley, river fords easy. Found some ripe berries/brambles along the trail that were delicious. <br /> <br /> I decided to opt for Option 2 that goes east of Cerro Dedos. I was worried about the likelihood of snow on the steep south side of the pass (2174 m) on the regular route. I didn't need to stop in Ranquil, so figured it was best to stay high on the mountain and take either Option 1 or Option 2 to connect with GTP12. After reading the comments from other hikers, I knew I didn't want to take Option 1. A scree traverse on a south-facing slope didn't sound appealing, especially if you factor in lingering snowbanks this year. So I thought Option 2 would be best. A detailed description of my experience along that route is posted under &quot;Optional Routes&quot; (&quot;its directly under this post - modified by Joscha97&quot;) . The gist of it is - it was very technical, not much solid footing, lots of exposed scrambling. In a couple spots I genuinely feared for my life. Would not do it again. Please stay safe if going that route, and I would definitely not attempt it NOBO!<br /> <br /> Took 1.5 days to meet up with GPT12 at km 12.9<br /> <br /> OH 2:<br /> The trail is good and easy to follow in the initial valley once it splits from the RR. There was no puesto at the second &quot;puesto&quot; waypoint, just remnants of old fences and corrals. Good place to camp, sheltered from the wind. The start of the CC section is an annoying but thankfully short bushwhack to the treeline. Afterwards it's straight up to the top of the ridge, grass turning to scree/rocks higher up. Steep, but quite doable. <br /> Once at the top of the ridge, this is where my troubles started. The ridge is not nice and rounded, but very narrow and jagged, with vertical, rock outcrops/spires blocking the way frequently. You have to go around most of these obstacles (impossible to climb over), and this is the most dangerous part. To go around you need to descend back onto the nearly vertical scree slope, traverse around the rockface, then climb back up to the ridge. All on the most slippery scree/gravel I've ever experienced. It was all extremely precarious. Climbing back up around the very first obstacle, the scree was so loose I was on my hands and knees scrambling upward, trying to climb faster than the rocks falling under my body. One of the most frightening situations of my life honestly, I felt like I could have gone down with the rocks like an avalanche. After miraculously getting back up on the ridge, I couldn't stop shaking and was almost in tears. Couldn't believe what I'd gotten myself into honestly. And then came more scrambling and clambering. Poles were useless, I was using my hands the whole time. I can't stress enough how loose and unreliable most of the rocks were. Very, very difficult. Would not attempt this northbound, ever. And thank goodness the weather was good and calm too. The views were spectacular, out of this world, but not worth risking my life for, and I wouldn't ever do that section again. Don't know if Option 1 would have been better. At least snow wasn't an issue with Option 2. If I had to do it again I would stick to the regular route, go down to Ranquil and climb back up GPT12 via the RR. <br /> Anyway, south of S 38° 06.903', W 071° 02.205', the ridge becomes less steep and more rounded, easy to walk on. You reach the pass {11-04} [5.4/2385], and make a sharp left to go along the Argentina border. Go across a few easy snowfields. Amazing views of snow-capped volcanoes all around. Condors swooping near my head. Felt like I was the only human on earth. Still lots of snow on Cerro Dedos. Once GPT11-02 meets with GPT12, you pick up a faint path and navigation is easier.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-25 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain '''<br /> <br /> - If you cook on campfire or on wood burning stove you have better stay discrete because everything burnt some years ago and the landscapes are still marked.<br /> <br /> - There are a lot of Araucaria trees. You can easily save food just by harvesting piñones on the floor following the path. I would recommend to not rely on it because it depends on the period, but there was plenty.<br /> <br /> - Camp {11} [22.6/1461] : I loved this place. It was very comfortable with grass on the soil, almost flat, protected from the wind even if there is some in the valley, discrete, and I spent much time looking at the stars thanks to a good and warm (or at least not cold as it was the previous days) weather. To get water you have to walk 3 minutes following the point on the GPS which is precise<br /> <br /> - Ford {11} [18.0/1199] : I had good time there, the weather was very good, the place is calm and good to rest, water is still cold but there is enough to wash if you want to<br /> <br /> - From GPT-11C Start to Guallali it's now a Minor Road so it's very easy to follow and you meet a lot cars going in both directions, they just waved me.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-13 to 2022-Feb-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 11-01 (ABCDE) from the pass to Termas Pelehue on GPT12 / Veronika &amp; Jo '''<br /> <br /> The MR out of Guallalí continues until about km 12 on RR-TL-V (another trail that's been jeep-tracked recently) where it veers off to the north. We found out two kilometers too late, but got back to optional route 11-C by CCing through some araucaria forest. This turned out to be a happy little accident, as, this way, we saw a family collecting things from the ground, which turned out to be piñones. Here is where we learned that the ripe cones are &quot;café&quot;, and that the piñones just fall down when the cone is hit with a stick or a rock. It's basically nature's piñata (no etymological relation though!). Before getting back to the track, we found some low-hanging ripe cones, which sprinkled more piñones than we wished to carry. Got a nice free meal out of those we did pick up :)<br /> <br /> Camped in one of the many camp sites deeper in the mountains.<br /> <br /> The next day, we decided to skip the descent to Ranquil after the pass, instead taking the optional route 11-01 (ABCDE). 11-01 stays above 2000m on the slopes of the peaks to get to Termas de Pelehue on GPT12. We had food for three more days and the weather was excellent.<br /> <br /> We regretted this decision. 11-01 is CC without a clear path. Initially you're walking diagonally on a 45° incline of scree and sand, which is technical and requires constant concentration to find the scree-free spots. Later on, you're going from lower-incline slope to slope with little high-incline &quot;gulleys&quot; in between (as usual on a mountain flank). At some point, we did not see how to cross such a gulley at the spot suggested by the track files. We decided to descend to the point where the gulley seemed to have a passable incline, to ascend back on the next slope. This turned out to be a mistake, as the slope became more inclined before the gulley became passable. In the end, we did a lot of clambering, I got some fresh cuts from sliding down high-incline scree, and we narrowly avoided some scary looking cliff edges at the low end of our slope. This was the most dangerous situation we got in so far, and we were not really prepared to handle it well.<br /> <br /> I'm not blaming the track files: it was clear that it was high-altitude CC, and there was a waypoint warning of &quot;demanding clambering&quot; (though it should not be limited to &quot;nobo&quot;). Maybe going up the problematic slope instead of down would have been the better decision. Just be aware of the challenges this optional route brings. Definitely not doable in bad weather (you would just slide down to your death in some spots).<br /> Note that OSM shows a trail a little to the west (a little lower on the slopes) of 11-01, which connects at the beginning and end. We think we saw this path at some points during our traverse. This may be the easier route to follow instead of sticking to the CC points (which was the superior strategy on all other CC sections so far ;)<br /> There's a water spring at S 38° 06.178', W 071° 04.579'.<br /> <br /> Anyway, we were happy to reach the Termas de Pelehue. Sub-par hot spring, but great scenery all around. You can camp there, we went for a small spot protected on most sides by mountain slopes: S 38° 07.407', W 071° 03.775'. There are some non-sulfur water springs as well as a warm river to wash up in the surroundings.<br /> <br /> We continued on GPT12 for one day, getting back to Ranquil via the southern optional route 12-01. This way, we could catch the bus to Lonquimay the morning after (left at 07:55, there's a second one at ~17:00 Mo-We-Fr). Camped opposite the carabineros (on their suggestion) a bit behind the bus stop, close to the river.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-17 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa '''<br /> <br /> We arrived in Ranquil with the bus at 17, and walked about two hours to the hot springs where we camped. They are not very deep, but you can probably lie in them comfortably. Nicely warm. <br /> The ascent towards the pass next to Cerro Moncol follows the riverbed, and as previously noted, it's necessary to cross it multiple times. We were able to cross without getting our feet wet every time, though. The terrain before the pass is difficult, but after it immediately gets easier and the trail is easy to find. We were in a snowstorm and found it easily.<br /> The trail to Guallalí is pretty easy, a long way before Guallalí it becomes a gravel road.<br /> <br /> As described by others, there is a shop in Guallalí with VERY limited supply. It's next to the brown house of big planks, but you enter in front of the little red house to the right. <br /> Romina normally still offers accomodation, but when we were there she was leaving for an appointment in the evening and couldn't have us. She pointed us to the carabineros to camp, but they didn't want us there and told us to go to the camping ground &quot;3 km&quot; down the road. It turned out to be more like 12, and we ended up camping on a field some km from Guallalí<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec-03/ 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony'''<br /> <br /> Took the bus from Lonquimay to Ranquil friday at 15:00 (leaves Monday, Wednesday and Friday). On arrival I met two fellow GPT-hikers. Started off in some pretty bad weather with hail and thunder, but it luckily passed after a few hours.<br /> The first challenge I encountered was walking up the small river towards the first mountain pass (NoBo). To make my way up this section I had to cross the river countless times because of the difficult terrain by the river banks. Getting wet feet was inevitable. Afterwards I encountered a snowfield that leads up to the pass. Definitely possible to avoid the snow by walking along the edge, but I found it easier to just make my way up through the snowfield.<br /> Continued on to guallalí where there is a mini-shop with very limited supplies. (There are no flags or signs that indicate there’s a shop but it’s by the brown house made of rustic wooden planks.)<br /> Went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec / Hiking / NOBO / OH 5 / Franck &amp; Damien '''<br /> <br /> Be aware there are only 2 water spots on the road around the volcano<br /> One at the start (tap by the conaf barrack) and a very small one at the camp before entering the scoria field (not sure if water flows after december).<br /> Make sure you load liters of water, esp. in summer (heat + exposure to sun)<br /> Plenty of water (snow melt) once you passed the volcanoe.<br /> The TL from Contracto bridge to Communidad Chenqueco is now a kind of MR, we crossed several 4WD there (? !!). There is plenty of water there.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-28 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH5 / Martin '''<br /> <br /> 4 days. 120 km. Because of bad weather forecast in the high parts of the cordillera, with strong winds, rain and even snow, we opted to take Alternative route 5 from Chenqueco to Lonquimay Volcanoe. A lot of road walking at the begining but the scenery and trail in the National Park were really amazing and worth it. Beware that in the traverse through the volcanoe to Corralco Ski Resort, there is no water and also difficult to camp. High winds and a lot of rain at the end. We checked many hostels in Lonquimay and the most convenient for us, was Hostal Nativo close to the main square.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-23 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank'''<br /> <br /> 2 days &amp; continued to GPT12<br /> At Pass 2180 wind &amp; rain came in, I diverted onto OH-CC-A@11-03-#001 as described by Linda. Snowfields were old &amp; undercut by stream leaving tunnels 5M deep, definitely not safe to slide on. Walked on edge of snowfields or a little above them on right. Then you enter a gorge, it is best to stay close to the stream &amp; only leave the gorge if you must. In to Ranquil, nothing there apart from Carabineros &amp; no traffic. From Ranquil I continued on OH-TL-V@12-01-#001 to GPT12<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-23 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ty &amp; America '''<br /> <br /> Guayali - Termas de Pelehue<br /> Short &amp; Beautiful. 4:00 Bus Ralco - Guallali. Arrived at carabineros after 8. Luckily they let us camp outside. TONS OF FLIES, so be ready for that. The thermal pools at Pelehue are up by the fumarole. The traverse over there is gnarly, steep, slippery, all the good stuff. Quite small, but with an AMAZING view. The lower one seemed fine to get in, we didn’t as we wanted to make it to the next hot springs on section 12.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-17 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> Start: Guallalí, End: Termas de Pelehue<br /> 2.5 days. We went from Ralco to Guallalí by Fletes (see section &quot;To section start&quot;). It's a bit expensive but we didn't want to take the bus at 16:30, arriving late. Beautiful section. The first hot springs are worth the detour if you have time to clean them and dig a bigger pot (would take you approx. 2h), otherwise you just have a warm foot bath. After the pass we took the optional route #002 leading back to the regular route, then we switched some times between optional and regular route and finally took the optional route directly to the Termas de Pelehue. This part is quite demanding as there are some landslides where you have to find your way through somehow. The hot springs are gone due to lack of maintenance. <br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 5 / Maddie &amp; Tom'''<br /> <br /> 3 days, 120km walking around Volcán Lonquimay. Given section 11 was not feasible due to high levels of snow we took Optional Route 5. For us it was 5 star scenery. It is beautiful and the trail is very easy to follow with trail markings in the CONAF park. We found it to be quite a quick section as a result of the easy navigation and good trail quality. Good resupply options in Lonquimay (we stocked up on food as well as bought some new socks and more 95% alcohol for our stove).<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-09 / 5 days (GPT11+12) / Hiking / SOBO / OH / Matus &amp; Anna '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 11 and 12. It took us 5 days including one zero because of weather. Patagonia showed us bit of it's potential in these two sections. <br /> All walked trails were in good condition and CC sections pretty easy to navigate. In the sadle of section 11, because of strong wind, poor visibility and fresh snow and ice we were forced to take optional to the valley. There is a big snowfield, I don't recomend sliding on it all the way. It the lower parts there were big holes into the stream. <br /> From Ranquil we took optional #002 because we didn't want to climb back up. Uphill is more a minor road, downhill nice trail. <br /> After a laguna we took a optional to the Pass 2180 and road around the Pehuenche Extortioner. We needed to get down from elevation ASAP bacause of wind. We passed puesto early in the morning and no one was around. After rainy day everything above 2000m was white. We took trail to pass 1920m which was just with bit of fresh snow and then took minor road #001 down to valley. So I have no idea about the rest of the trail.<br /> Edit: adding a picture from the last sadle 1920m, we did after &quot;rainy&quot; day.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-27 to 2019-Dec-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 3 / Linda'''<br /> <br /> Regular hiking route until the pass 2180 meters and then Option 3<br /> Nice section ! After the pass, I decided to go down along Option 3 that goes into the canyon. Lot of snow at the beginning, but that was fun cause the slope was not very steep and I could use my bag raincover as a sledge to go down!<br /> Then, I ended up into the canyon, crossing the river at least 20 times but no problem cause the water level is low and the river is tight (compared to GPT07 for instance).<br /> The only difficulty was once the canyon becomes too tight and I had to find a way up and had to face a landslide. Just one part of 5 meters wide but quite dangerous cause very sleepy with the rocks falling down.<br /> After, back into the canyon until I could join the Regular Hiking route. No difficulties until Ranquil.<br /> Was lucky to find people with a car who dropped me in Lonquimai cause I had to resupply. Otherwise, only 3 Buses a week from Ranquil (no tiendas to resupply) to Lonquimai = Monday, Wednesday, Friday<br /> Supermercado with everything to resupply and accommodations in Lonquimai<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-12 / 4.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Sophie &amp; Hendrik '''<br /> <br /> In total we were 5.5 days on the trail, of which we spend 1 in the tent due to bad weather. On Cerro Moncol there was still some snow, which made us very slow, as we either had the options to walk on steep snow or walk higher up in more difficult terrain. Rivercrossings were no problem.<br /> We liked: The amazing views, the condors we met at the northern part of the pass (they came very close to us), the mountain crystals of which there are plenty on the northern side of Cerro Moncol.<br /> We did not like so much: The higher difficulty due to the snow in some parts (Snow on top of Cerro Moncol made the regular route more difficult)<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> Accommodation in Guallali:<br /> Brown house, ask for Romira; bed, dinner and breakfast for 30k<br /> <br /> Supplies:<br /> Hitchhiked to Chenqueco, 10 km, shop with small selection, some veggies, pasta, the essentials<br /> <br /> Bus to Ralco with more options every day at 5.30 am takes 3,5 h<br /> <br /> Same bus to Los Angeles <br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> Ranquil:<br /> new minishop on the way to Troyo {11-5f} 14.3 k from the end of GPT11. The owners just moved here from Santiago. Maximilian and Anna are probably the nicest people we have met on the trail so far. The shop has everything you need to resupply except gas (maybe in the future).<br /> <br /> Resupply on optional road : in Troyo there are 3 small shops enought to resupply for section 10 and 9 ( vegetables, pasta, rice, semoula, galletas, mayonnaise, bread.. ) <br /> <br /> - Accomodation on optional road : in Troyo, we stayed in a cabana for 30000 a night for 2 people. Wood for fire included and kitchen. Just ask at one of the little shop | In Guallali, we stayed with a lovely family in front of the school (wooden house ). 30 000 pesos per person per night - dinner and breakfast included<br /> <br /> *Lonquimay (from Ranquil) <br /> - Supermercado Espinoza next to the bus terminal has most things. A little shop on the left hand shortly after the bus terminal when walking from the bus terminal towards the center has gas. The shop has different air mattresses, clothes and some outdoorsy things in the windows. There's also a ferretería that might have.<br /> Several accommodation options<br /> <br /> (Hannes, JAN2024): Try Camping Lolen, around 16kms from Lonquimay, at entrance/exit OH-MR-12-04, very clean, nice Lady who attends, at river, weekends a bit crowded. 7000 pesos/night...hitchhike or take a bus, station in front.<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> * Ana and Maximiliano's house - https://maps.google.com/?q=-38.249920,-71.232513. Available: accommodation, meal, protein, gas<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> *Guallali<br /> (2020-Jan)<br /> <br /> Bus Ralco-Guallalí 16:30 Mon-Sat, 9PM Sun. (~2.5h) The bus leaves Los Angeles terminal rural around 2PM Mon-Sat, 7:30PM Sun, continuing to Ralco &amp; Guallali<br /> <br /> Fletes: 4x4 Cars in front of the supermercado. They drive you everywhere. CLP 80'000 to Guallalí, but if you find one going there anyway the price is much lower ;-)<br /> <br /> *Ranquil<br /> (2022 Jan)<br /> Bus from Lonquimay Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 15<br /> Other days bus to Troyo can take you most of the way, but hitching the rest might be difficult<br /> <br /> Dec 2024 :<br /> Bus ranquil --&gt; lonquimay : monday, wednesday and friday 2 times/day. Leaving ranquil around 7am or 5pm (and leaving lonquimay around two hours before to go up to ranquil)<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT11 - Cerro Moncol]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> <br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830032.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinaqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830130.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[file:Guayali.jpeg|thumb|1100px|center|Guallalí, Por Norberto Seebach, 1100px|center|[http://www.recorriendochile.cl/ Recorriendo Chile].]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830046.jpg|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830051.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830070.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830082.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830115.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664147.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664155.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664163.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664167.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664189.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108829980.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108829987.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830002.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830021.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> <br /> [[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT01_(Cerro_Purgatorio)&diff=120692 2025-03-11T12:33:17Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> <br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-27 to 2025-MAR-01 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Farah &amp; Jan​'''<br /> <br /> This was our last section of the GPT. For now…<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;We did it in one full day and two relaxed half hiking days. Camped at S 33°38.4840’ W 70°26.9562’ and S 33°40.3236’ W 70°23.5408’<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;The last 5 kilometers of the ascent are pretty steep, as is the first part of the descent. Ways are in good condition and easy to follow. There’s not much vegetation.<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;Found more water sources than expected. Note that last winter had a lot of snow, so you can’t rely on these water sources in low or average snow years. Here are a few of them:<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°37.3970’ W 70°30.2264’<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°37.8949’ W 70°29.4920’<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°40.9963’ W 70°23.1090’<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°40.3226’ W 70°23.5491’<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;Like Arno we saw an incredible amount of wasps along the way, especially close to water sources. Unlike him we can’t confirm they do no harm. Farah got stung in her buttock, Jan in his penis. Be careful when peeing! Apart from that no incidents.<br /> <br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-11 &gt; 12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arno​​'''<br /> <br /> | Weather : sunny and hot<br /> | water : easy<br /> | snow : no<br /> | Interest : 2/5<br /> | Difficulty : 4/5<br /> | Danger : none<br /> <br /> The first part on the road is easy and with no interest.<br /> Then the ascent was pretty steep and hard with the hot weather.<br /> I camped at km 22 and finished the section the next day in the morning.<br /> Note that there were a lot of wasps everywhere I paused. They’re not offensive but can be annoying.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-07 to 2024-12-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT02/RR+OH 02A / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> At the parking lot, I registered. Men took my passport number, name, and phone number. He was very polite. I followed OH-02-A and camped near parking tables -33.70160,-70.34792. Nice spot. I crossed the river using an installed rope. Water -33.72155, -70.34409 okay. Near the next point with water -33.74121, -70.35340, there is a fence to cross. Camp at -33.76414,-70.36564 where there is water. Bushwacking was not so bad. Good spot with water -33.79940,-70.38691 and -33.80875,-70.387783 (22.9 km). Next spot -33.81168,-70.38791 with water. Camp at 27.5 km okay. I found a cave for camp -33.843384, -70.41605. I crossed the river many times without problems (my height is 164 cm). Next spot with water -33.894417,-79.39042. Still, there is field snow, so spikes for safety are needed. I have met nice workers of Minas - they offered me some food:) At the end, I was without water. At the point of the control near Minas (94.7 parking), there is a bar for workers of Minas. There is everything there even<br /> boiled eggs. They also allowed me to use their bathroom. In Coya, I have spent the night in Casa Roja near Ferreteria. I also tried sandwiches in the Catalan Bar - excellent.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-04 to 2024-12-05 / 1.5 day / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01/RR+OH 01-03A+OH 01-03+RR / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> Starting OH 01-03A was complicated. I crossed the barbed fence and couldn’t find the river crossing at point -33.64140, -70.42944. I spent the night there and returned a little bit the next day to take the regular route.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-01-03 to 2024-01-04 / 1.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR and Variants F / Elijah &amp; Michael ​​'''<br /> <br /> Very hot weather, over 30°. Water is available along the river from -33.62292, -70.50342 to bridge 18.7/1302. Thereafter only at waypoints.<br /> <br /> Water not directly accessible from campsite 29.4/1415, had to walk to following bridge (29.7/1389). Bridge had possible room to camp.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-NOV-27 &gt; 28 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT01+GPT02+GPT03<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : non<br /> | Intérêt : 1/5<br /> | Difficulté : 5/5<br /> | Danger : Autorisations de passage<br /> <br /> La premier partie est routière et ne presente aucun interet. J'ai essayé de sortir de la route mais me suis retrouvé face a des portails fermés aux points (-33,6223657, -70,5335623) puis (-33,6129744, -70,5007311) pour enfin trouver un portail ouvert (-33,6110383, -70,4943554) car il y avait des travaux en amont. J'ai monté une pente tres raide en suivant une canalisation, puis j'ai suivi un bisse pour retrouver le sentier. La montée etait tres dure car le soleil tapait fort que je n'avais pas encore mes jambes pour cette premiere etape. J'ai campé juste avant le point haut de l'etape, pret d'un petit ruisseau. Le lendemain la descente etait facile.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-NOV-20 to 2024-NOV-21 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. A,C,D) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> We started our hike in the afternoon from the final metro station at Puente Alto. At the high gate with cameras at the beginning of Variant A, there was a car. After waiting a few minutes, the car drove through, and a kind man allowed us to pass as well. We spent the first night at the camp at km 16.2 . On the second day, it was very hot, which we especially felt during the climb to the pass [24.7 km]. The water marked in the files was indeed available there. In the evening, we reached El Melocotón. The store was officially open until 8:00 PM, but the owner was kind enough to keep it open longer for the people arriving late.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-11-17 to 2024-11-19, 2,5 days, SOBO, gpt00?/01opt5? - Volker'''<br /> <br /> I took the route Tomas suggested and highly recommend it to everyone new on the gpt and early in the season (check your gear, device/s, body on a very scenic route (95% TR, 3%CC, 2%MR); in summer probably very hot, in mid-november it was already quite warm in the lower parts).<br /> The bus C02 does not bring you to the parque San Ramon (1km walk approx. in upper middle-class area), but C37 does. The gate was open, nobody there at 14 p.m. on a sunday. Last person I met was 30 min. before the waterfall. All descriptions of Tomas correct. <br /> If you start late 2 p.m,) as I did, either camp at the waterfall or make sure to take enough water to camp 15min before you reach the 2nd river. The way down is steep and slippery. If you start early you will reach water at 2200 m and camp sites before or at the pass. <br /> Up there very windy, but not too cold, protected camp site 10 min after you reach the pass. Part of the path covered by snow, you can bypass it on the eastern side. Ridge to Cerro San Ramon under snow, probably not to difficult (if you have crampons). 1 steep snowfield on the way down (I used it to try my mini spikes, which was not necessary in the early afternoon, but in the morning you will be very glad to have them). Camped not far from the puesto, didn‘t see anyone, just horses and barking dogs. The path to Rio Maipo valley crosses the river 8 times, fords mostly easy (though 2 far over my knees (1,97m), but one quite hard (I did. 15 min of CC and BB to find a place upwards)). Last 30 min MR. The road ends at a high gate (3m), no way around, the man in the container told me to take another way. I asked a local not far from there, he promised to help, told me to wait at the gate, in 3 min he arrived with his car and drove me down to El Manzano. I just got out of the car, when on the other side of the road a bus driving EABO stopped, I jumped in and got out at El Melocoton to continue with gpt 02 .<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-10/Lukas &amp; Tabea &amp; Basil'''<br /> Gate was open<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Lukas &amp; Sarah'''<br /> <br /> Started from Puente Alto.<br /> Gate Variant A closed.<br /> Gate at 11.3km was open.<br /> Water present at all waypoints.<br /> Camped at Camp 16.09.<br /> You can find a horsepath down to te river with a nice pool for swimming whenwalking a bit backwards.<br /> Next Camp at Bridge Water 29.7. Also really nice for swimming. <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 via new Route:<br /> In the corner at -33.68293, -70.34715, turn on the horsepath. We therefore skipped Gate at 02 and walked out at -33.69654, -70.35062 and walked directly to the river crossing of Variant A. <br /> The horsepath around the hill is in good condition but difficult to find.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-02 / 2 days / Hiking / RR / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Gate at 11.3km was open, presumably because it was a public holiday.<br /> <br /> Water present at all waypoints<br /> <br /> Water at 23.9km just before the pass<br /> <br /> Camped just before pass at 22.7km<br /> <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 so can't comment resupply options<br /> <br /> * '''2024-10-30 to 2024-11-01 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR -a- RR / Karin'''<br /> <br /> The gate at the start of option a was closed when I arrived and did not look easily climbable. After a few minutes a car came and opened the gate. The driver didn't say anything to me so I went through the gate after him. <br /> <br /> The pass was without snow, the water point indicated had all water.<br /> <br /> The bridge [29.7/1389] is non existend (due to the winter?), but the rivers are easy to be crossed. <br /> <br /> There were a lot of small and really annoying flies (I don't think they are tabanos, mainly because they are small, it is a dry area...). They were flying into the face and biting specially near the eyes. Putting a branch on the backpack did not help. I ended up covering my face to have some peace.<br /> <br /> '''Note that in summer 2024, a new option 02 was inserted and the original options 2 and 3 increased their numbering.'''<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> * '''24-Mar-09 to 2024-Mar-11 / 42 hours / Hiking / SOBO / GPT00?, GPT01, option 5? / Tomáš'''<br /> Not sure if on topic as it is technically east of Santiago and not south (but also not north!), but I thought I would share anyway. A nice trail that can be done around Santiago while waiting around. In my opinion, it also better fullfils &quot;starting from Santiago on foot&quot;, as the current start involves quite a long stretch from Puente Alto on road. Here you start walking 100 m from bus stop (C-02, every ten minutes or so from Los Dominicos) integrated into Santiago's public transport system, or 5 km from Los Domincos terminus of the red metro line (but really, why would you not take the bus?). [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1765972160575329/ Pictures].<br /> <br /> The entrance is 3500 CLP, in office hours. No problems having a backapack entering at 1300 when explaining the route (San Ramon to El Manzano). Early in the morning or late in the evening, there is an always-open door next to the gate. Going up to the ridge, there are several variants; I went to the pass just south of Morro las Papas and traversed more or less horizontaly to Salto de Apoquindo. After Patagonia proper, it is funny that such a small waterfall even honours a name. There is a (compostable?) toilet at the waterfall and one could camp there, but it is probably illegal and when I was there, a helicopter kept humming around - maybe it was looking for fires? Late camp and early rise would probably work though. Past this point, you are unlikely to meet anyone (up to there I only met ten people even though it was Saturday). The trail from there to the ridge is more or less clear for GPT standards. Last probably reliable water is around 2230 m of altitude.<br /> <br /> Camped at about 2800 in the pass south of Morro Tamber, the night was windless and warm. Starting late - at noon -, I then went to Cerro San Ramon (up to here everything is on OSM). Took me 2 leisurely hours. The ridge walk is easy and the path is clear. To my surprise, I was there alone on a Sunday afternoon, just with one quite cheeky bird. I went to Punta de Damas and back and then down to Las Manzanas. The path down from the Refuge San Ramones is marked in blue and mostly visible, just a section near the puesto at 2200 m is cross-country. I reached the stream in the valley when darkness fell, walked two hours almost to the end of it to catch my flight, saw some people camping/having a fire. In the morning I got up at six and had to climb over two fences to get out. It has opening times (no longer remember which, but fairly long) and the price was about 8000 for entry, not sure if they would demand something in case of SOBO travers. There seem to be some walk-arounds in OSM (added afterwards by yours truly basde on strava heatmap). The whole trail is in OSM now and also as of 2024 is part of &quot;Not yet incorporated change proposals&quot; of the GPT files, for viewing in Google Earth.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-17/ 2.5 days / SOBO / RR / Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> I took the metro to the last stop, Puente Alto, and started walking from there. The days were extremely hot and there were a lot of tabanero attacks. I waited a few minutes at the closed gate at 11,2 until a car came out. I asked the driver if I could go through, but he said that it was a private area and I wasn't allowed through. When he was gone, I saw that the gate was not completely closed. I was able to reach inside with my arm and open a door in the gate from the inside. There was regular traffic on the road behind it, but everyone just greeted me back in a friendly manner. Might be best just to wait until it opens and then walk through confidentially without asking. The water indicators were correct. Camps: 19.5/1433 (no water), 29.7/1389 (water and small pools, quite nice). Take enough water for the pass at 18.7/1302! No shadow and very hot. After 29.7/1389 there is water a few times and an increasing number of day trippers. Overnight stay in San José de Maipo in the Hostal Maipo for 20k, otherwise no guests, bathroom and fridge dirty and room stuffy, but large kitchen, nice host, lounge and central location with supermarket and bus stop next door. For GPT2 bus to El Melocotón at 7.30am, but get off at the crossroads by the bridge over the Rio Maipo before town.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-8 to 2024-Jan-9/ 1.5 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Tanja'''<br /> <br /> Took same route as Matthias (Filo Purgatorio via the ridge). Not much to add apart from: it’s very hot and there’s no water up there anymore. First stream coming down was at 33.67175, 70.39274<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-24 to 2023-Dec-25 / 2 days / SOBO / RR and variant E / Matthieu'''<br /> <br /> Nice hike to begin with GPT, no particular mountain difficulties. I began in Pirque after taking the buq MB74 at bellavista de la florida. <br /> <br /> Variant : I followed chileans hikers on variant E to the nothern bank of the river el sauce (sendero estero el sauce on OSM, easily followed with the GPS). Seems funnier than the RR, you cross a nice pool. You have other trails to go down at the river and enjoy on the way.<br /> <br /> All water markers are correct. Remember to bring enough water for the pass at water 18,7, it's really hot up there. Water 29,7 very good stream.<br /> <br /> The end of the trail after is a big web of trail along the el sauce river, with places to bath and camp. So the water is not rare. Lots of hikers when I was there (25 december). <br /> <br /> Camp : at bridge water 18.7.<br /> Seems like lots of nice places after water 29,7 when you explore along the river. <br /> <br /> Gate 11,2 : Not possible to go around, electrical and fence. It was opened by a person in a car after 5 minutes waiting. No question about my passage. I then crossed roads with an arriero with horses and another car, on 24th december. Seems like this trail is crowded, so the gate seems not to be a problem with patience. <br /> <br /> The other gate is only for cars, way to go around as a hiker. <br /> <br /> Other : crossed a snake in the middle of the trail. See my section 2 post for more infos.<br /> A very tiny scorpion near my tent in the morning... put some shoes when you go for a pee at night ! <br /> <br /> No river crossings issues<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-5 to 2023-Dec-6/ 2 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Matthias'''<br /> <br /> I started option 2 right from the school (San Juan Oriente). Camp spots on the way to the ridge if you start late in Santiago. Took the route to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio (option 2 - variant B). <br /> <br /> From the summit I continued the ridge southwards (OH-CC-A {01-02B}). That’s a wonderful alpine (I mean andine 😅) cross-country hiking route mostly on steep scree or rock ledge (Schrofen in German), difficulty according to SAC hiking scale T4, I’d guess. No real clambering necessary, hands only occasionally needed for support. The descent from the summit gives you a good impression of the difficulty, it will not become more difficult. Mostly I did not walk directly on the rocky ridge but on the western slope.<br /> <br /> Camped right on the ridge at ca. 33°38'30'' 70°24'47''. Beautiful sunset and sunrise.<br /> <br /> On the descent to GPT02 there is a marked trail (white markers) on the last kms. One can follow that path instead of RR where variant F comes in and avoid the walk on MR. When the path comes to a fence turn right and you’ll hit the RR again.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-15-18 / 72 hours / Hiking / nobo / Option 02, ridge, option 02 / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> Apart from Option 02, I did not actually follow any existing GPT track but the approach has since been added as option 2. [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1715267058979173/ Pictures] I started at the southmost stop of bus MB-74. The bus actually detours to some sidestreets and then comes back the same way again, so do not get off too early. You should be able to start from here: 33.7277389S, 70.5544877W. Just before the bridge, there is a locked gate. Some cars were passing though and let me through, just told me not to make fire. If the gate is locked, use the bridge 200 m downstream and go in the riverbank for 200 northwards - it is dry. There is another gate where the sideroad splits from the road that is still on OSM, roughly here: 33.7412080S, 70.5586867W. Again somobody opened it for me but this one could have been climbed easily.<br /> <br /> The trail is both easily visible on satelite and Strava heatmap. First 2 km it is a road, then a worse road that transforms to path branches to the left to rejoin the road where another gate is - this cca 5 km part is flat. One then follows the fence on a steep slope until 100 m higher one rejoins very clear path. I am sure there is a better way than I took but it was still easy enough. From there a very clear trail goes all the way up to cca Cerro los Crystalles. Met a group of seven people on motorbikes who went up and down in a day. No water until about 2500 m. On Facebook group.<br /> <br /> From the ridge, one could easily follow on GPT02 but I was interested in the ridge between RR and Option 3 roughly from here: 33.8464060S, 70.4211017W to Cerro los Purgatorio through Cerros Loma del Diablo, San Roque and Cruzada Las Hormigas. From the coordinates above, there is a trail that follows the ridge for a few km. Once it starts going down, I traversed back to the ridge. Better would have been to go over the hill than traversing. The ridge can be followed, there is a path that comes and goes so it is a mix of TR and CC. Going down from San Roque is a bit tricky, one needs to sidetrack from the ridge at one point and maybe use a hand here and there. Another a bit challenging part is just before the final ascent to Cruzada Las Hormingas. It is abit exposed in those parts but not too much. In SAC scale, somewhere around 4 or five, but out of 20 km of the ridge, this is only about 1 km at most. And I do not claim to have found the best route, I think some of the clambering parts that were never vertical could probably have been sidetracked.<br /> <br /> This time of the year, even on the ridge I crossed a stream with water three times (I added the streams to OSM), very roughly at km 11, 17 and 20 (this one being on the RR). Only saw cows and condors.<br /> <br /> I then crossed the RR and went on option 02, the ridge walk to Cerro Purgatorio. I would say it is SAC 4 (somewhat easier than the ridge), I used hands but it was very easy and not exposed at all. Descent from Cerro Purgatorio was surprisingly beautiful with all the flowers (which were there all over the ridge too). Even going down, from about 1500, the heat was really strong. Would not recommend any of this from early January till end of february given there might be very little water. Perfect for December and earlier. I hope the ridgewalk is added to GPT. Every day, I would be able to get enough cell phone coverage to receive e-mails and chats but not much more.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-06 / 1 day / Hiking / sobo / RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> I took uber from Providencia to the gate, about 20000CLP and 1hour.<br /> <br /> The gate is locked at 10am on Wednesday. Luckily after 5min a young man drive out and open the gate, he didn't said anything and let me go inside.<br /> Hot but more water resources that i think before, a small grassy stream is still flowing just before the pass 800m, lot of tadpoles swimming inside too.<br /> <br /> Long way going down with rocky dirt road, didn't see any people all the way to the end.<br /> After you join the trail in valley, lot of camping spots you can find.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-17 to 2023-Nov-19 / 1,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR &amp; OH / Jens'''<br /> <br /> In Melocoton I had to cross private property. The guy charged me 2000 pesos. Lots of water and camping south of Cerro Purgatorio.<br /> There is an alternative route that's marked with white paint that is also marked in the OSM data. <br /> <br /> I started NOBO from El Melocoton. I took the exploratory route to Cerro Purgatorio. I have to report that there is no path to the summit from the south. The data and the OSM suggest that there is a path, but I only found rocks that I had to climb over and steep drops. I had to slide down to join the other trail as it was too dangerous to continue.<br /> <br /> The northern route to the summit is fine. But you'd have to go back the same way to rejoin the main PGT route.<br /> <br /> Comment Jan Dudeck: I removed the southern ascent to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio. Now only the the ascent from the west remains in the track files.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-11 to 2023-Nov-12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn '''<br /> <br /> - Gates : all were open, it was a Saturday<br /> <br /> - Water : all the water markers were correct, even more water present<br /> <br /> - Camping spot : km 29,4<br /> <br /> - Weather : cold and cloudy so not a problem for the first big ascent - there is an exceptional cold weather on the Santiago area this year<br /> <br /> - River crossing : 31,65 km (easy)<br /> <br /> - Overall : trail in good condition.Lots of stray dogs on the trail but really friendly.We combined section 1 &amp; 2.<br /> <br /> If you want to see some pictures of the sections and/or ask us some questions, you can find us on Instagram : @2funambules<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-19 to 2023-Feb-20 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Luisa &amp; Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Started in Ramon Supercaseaux 8200 directly at the gate. Pretty hot below 2000m, siesta highly recommended. A lot of bees around everywhere except pass-area. No water in the first spot after the pass, you'll find it about 1-2 kms ahead. A local said that water was cut up there. Weekend with many tourists in Estero El Sauce Valley. Good Kiosk at the valley entrance. Took us 2 days.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-04 / Hiking / SOBO / Option 1: Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> I really wanted to try the option through Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo. I took the bus MB-74 to Pirque. The last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W. There was a sign saying it is prohibited to enter, but some people told me I can pass. From there one can walk along the airport. Once you get to the main road, there is a locked gate, but the fence can be crawled under. I would recommend to take the standard route for cars, the walk was schorching. It was Sunday, I am not sure the other bus lines were in service. I have not seen them, MB74 seemed to be going once every twenty minutes or so for 900 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once on the standard route, I hitched a car going to the reserve, we put my backpack into the trunk, so the CONAF guards did not notice me at all and did not tell me anything. I had a reservation made online, there is a day limit of visitors. It cost 11500 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once in the reserve, I took the trail going west of the stream (so the stream was on my left hand going uphill). Nobody noticed me and then I have not met anybody for 4 days. The trail is fairly clear, one goes up along a stream up until around 1900 metres (up to the last recommended camp). From then on until the next other side of the mountain, there is no reliable water (I slept near a marsh around 2650m, but the water would not have been great).<br /> <br /> The route is quite attractive. Walking in the lower valley in the heat is really sweat inducing. It took me 1,5 days to go up to the border of the reserve, I was weak from not much sleep before and the heat. But also it is quite far and I have not started walking until six or so on the first day as I rested quite a few hours waiting for the heat to pass.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-24 to 2022-Nov-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + GPT01-F / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> We started the first section from the metro station at Puento Alto, which is also a good place to buy some missing supplies and water - mall with Lider shop is right next to the main square. The gate 1 at approx. km 12 opened after less than 15mins and some guy in a car let us in after explaining that we just want to pass and showing the map. The other gate not so far away from the entrance was opened. Following the main route, we spent the night in a nice camp place at km 19.5 with water available just few hundred meters before that (bridge, water 18.7). Keep in mind to carry enough water on the way to the pass! We met the next day 2 families at the bridge, water 29.7 that went there for camping. We decided to finish the section the next day, which was Staturday, and therefore as we were coming closer to the village we met a lot of day hikers at the GPT01-F. Before continuing to the section 2, we stopped to refresh ourselves at Kiosko Los Acacios, on the left side after the bridge on the main road (the other kiosk before the river was closed at the time). They have fried empanadas, amazing natural strawberry juice (jugo frutilla), yogurt with granola and some other small things, everything with reasonable prices.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-09 / Hiking / SOBO / Adrien Kunzli '''<br /> <br /> Start at the reserva natural de clarillo impossible even if i arrived at 8h30 am. No arrangement possible with the guard.<br /> I went by waking through the wasteland (many dogs be carefull but a good stone in the hand frightens them without worries) but Start at GPT01-B impossible : Big Electronic portal and no luck with cars.<br /> Start at GPT 01-03 by the optional tracks ok. After the school you take the left road and almost immediately you have to pass under a fence on the left with a little hole. <br /> Just after San José de Maipo the RR-MR-V (02) (3,6+0,4) at S33°41.069', W070°20.876' was denied to me by some conductors (private propriety). But te other optional road without passing the bridge works perfectly fine.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Okt-31 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannic &amp; Mirjam'''<br /> <br /> We traveled by metro to Puento Alto. Because the bus MB73 did not come (probably because of holiday) we took an Uber to Posta la Puntilla (much cheaper than to Puntilla Rural).<br /> Gate 1 closed, after waiting 2 minutes a car came.<br /> Gate 2 open on the right side.<br /> Water available at all marked spots. <br /> Nice campground with small swimming pool at the back of the small river at Camp 01 [4/29/1415].<br /> Several campsites on the river around El Melocoton.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2021 Nov-19 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&amp;Stiina'''<br /> <br /> We wanted to avoid the boring through-town and road walking so we took the micro-bus from Puente Alto to Puntilla Rural which only left us 2km of road walking. It’s a micro-bus MB73 and it goes right on the same street when you come out of the subway. It doesn’t have a stop so you just have to wave it down when you see it coming, ticket costs 750 pesos. After those 2km on the asphalt road we turned off to a minor road with an impassable gate which is normally closed, but luckily we only waited less than 10 min. and a car came and we just walked in, they didn’t ask us anything so it seemed alright. 2nd gate was open. Water sources were flowing well. Climb was brutal, super steep and very, very hot. We imagine this section could easily be walked a month earlier to avoid the baking in the furnace. Great views from the “Pass”. We camped at the “Bridge, Water” waypoint after the pass, nice place, but unfortunately we had lots of tiny, very hungry biting flies there. We saw a lot of campers in the valley before El Melocotón, which was a bit of a surprise, more than 20 tents, perhaps people enjoying nature on the weekend? We didn’t go in to El Melocotón but continued straight to GPT02. <br /> <br /> For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Nov-09 to 2021-Nov-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Marc Anthony '''<br /> <br /> Started afternoon on first day and arrived in melocotón same time next day. Took a taxi from Puento Alto metro station to the Plaza in Pirque, because I was advised against walking alone through Puente Alto by the locals. Quite a lot of mini shops with empenadas and other food when following the paved road from Pirque. When turning from the paved road onto the first minor road I encountered a big locked gate, which luckily opened because cars were driving through from the other side. After a couple of kilometers another locked gate appears but i walked around the right side and found a smaller open gate that I passed through. When the terrain starts getting steeper, I found it very hot to walk here during the afternoon. Definitely wouldn’t want to walk there in the middle of the day during summer. Also the section right before the mountain pass is very steep. Best to walk here during the morning when you’ll have the shadow of the mountain. Rest of the way was generally easy enough, carried plenty of water with me.<br /> <br /> Found a place called Posada Del Jinete in southern part of El Melocotón with Cabañas for 80.000 and hostal room with to beds for 40.000. Not the cheapest but didn’t find a lot of options nearby. The father and son who are running the place are nice people who can tell a lot about the area. Small tienda/café down the road from hostal with only basic supplies<br /> <br /> Started this section on November 9th. The gate at -33 36.774’ -070 30.027’ is locked. Didn’t find anybody around to ask, but it magically opened up behind me just as I was about to leave, because cars were coming through from the other side. Did see a couple more cars going the same direction as I walked on the minor road. Might be worth waiting around for some time to see if anyone will drive through?<br /> <br /> Found water in all expected places. Would recommend carrying a good amount with you on your way up onto the mountain pass, since this a very hot and steep section especially in the afternoon and it will be awhile before the next water source.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Nov-14 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ricardo Gold'''<br /> <br /> We tried both entrances to the gravel road. Both closed with big gates (RR @KM13). We did an alternative start from Pirque that it did work, but is a significant longer (but nice). I would suggest to review this segment as the two main entrances seems closed for good.<br /> <br /> After you get into the road is very straight forward, very easy to navigate. There is water in all expected points and I think they will last long into the summer. <br /> Indeed, it is very exposed, it will be hard to do in a sunny day, as it will be hot. Alternatively you can start really early or even do it partially at night as it is easy to navigate and not dangerous at all. <br /> <br /> The climb is pretty steep for a maintenance road. it is +20% for ~4km, so I suggest to tackle this section really early in the morning. There is a good water source just before starting and probably also a good camping ground.<br /> <br /> Next water source is ~14km after, but with also ~1000m of uphill, so be mindful of the time to get into there. Btw, this water source has a small cascate and pond that is great to jump in and refresh. Just walk ~10m into the upstream.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-03 to 2020-Jan-04 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank'''<br /> <br /> See transport section if you want to skip the first 13KM roadwalk. Midsummer is not the ideal time for GPT01 as it is very hot, there is little shade &amp; not much water. If you do walk there are several small shops on the road up to KM13.<br /> <br /> It was difficult to access the start. At KM 16.5 on the road, RR-PR-V@01-6.9+4.3 &amp; 700 metres further after the bridge, route sealed by two 15 foot high gates with spikes on top. No one there to ask to open them. Back on RR @ KM13, 2 locked gates. At OH-MR-V@01-A-#002 a resident let me through the locked gate. There is a new fence a little up the road that will probably close off this variant (I got in through a small unfinished section). It is very dry now so RR gates may be closed due to lack of water &amp; fire risk. The only water on RR until 14KM after the pass is on section RR-MR-V@01-16.3+7.8 marked Bridge, Water on GPX, making a camp @ the site 15 mins. walk above (marked Camp No Water) highly advisable. Look for the gas pipeline, route follows it most of the way. Kiosk with drinks &amp; snacks &amp; campsite on the route 3KM before Melocoton are open all week in midsummer, weekends only in low season. No need to go to Melocoton. Get bus to Santiago @ road junction 500 metres down the road after bridge over Rio Maipo<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-13 to 2019-Dec-17 / 5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 and GPT02 / Ian Hikes '''<br /> <br /> Overview: I decided to combine GPT 01 and 02 using the alternative route through Rio Clarillo National Reserve which is something I do recommend. You do have to pay $5.000 to enter the park. You then follow the river up to the pass where it joins the official route. The two sections are very open and exposed with wide open views across the mountains and high mountain passes. <br /> <br /> Difficulties: My biggest difficult in this section was the lack of water. There were many sections that were dry and, on many occasions, found me going 15-20km with water. I would suggest taking extra care planning out water resupply along the route. I usually took 2-4L of water at any given time in these two sections. Also this section is very remote and did not see anyone for 3 days.<br /> <br /> Highlights: High mountain passes and great open views (especially for sunrise and sunset)<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-27 / Hiking / SOBO / Family Size '''<br /> <br /> Locked gate with barbed wire (S 33° 36.795', W 070° 30.049') on the official route. Found someone at the gate up the road (S 33° 36.702', W 070° 29.640') who unlocked that one for me. He said the road behind is no private property, but it's always locked. After another gate (S 33° 37.141', W 070° 29.927'), with a hole on the right to climb climb through, this road connects back to the official route.<br /> <br /> There is plenty of water on the B alternet uphill. Almost at the top it tastes a bit like cow shit after filtering. There is a lot of OK water at the bottom of the downhill and quite a few tourists especially on weekends.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-17 to 2019-Nov-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Matus &amp; Anna'''<br /> <br /> We walked GPT01 in 2 days, including one nero day. We used uber to get to the trail, hope your driver won't be stupid enough to take shortcuts through slums :). There is a gate on the beginning of trail, after a &quot;discussion&quot; (we don't speak spanish) they let us go through. Climb was really hot, make sure you take enough water from the last source on the way up. There is water on the other side, but first marked water source didn't look the best. There is a river cutting a trail a bit down from that point. We stayed in a campsite on the begining of next section which was nice. They have really sticky ferral dogs there which we had a real problem to chase to not hike with us.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-11 to 2019-Nov-13 / 3 days / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo'''<br /> <br /> It took us 3 days as we started late in Santiago and arrived early in Melocoton. As it's still low season everything is shut down in Melocoton so we took the bus (which runs every 30 minutes) to San Alfonso, where we found nice cabañas and three small resupply tiendas.<br /> <br /> We went to Puente Alto and then Pirque by Uber. The drivers know where the protests take place and avoid those areas or areas which got recently destroyed.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Oct-27 / Alert / Jan Dudeck'''<br /> <br /> The Metro line 4 to Puente Alto is currently out of operation due to vandalism during the current protests. Check online for current the status and delete this alert once metro operation to Puente Alto resumes.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2018/19==<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-16 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin Lizondo'''<br /> <br /> Carry plenty of water on this section as water sources might dry out in early summer after all snow has molten.<br /> <br /> Puente Alto is not particular safe area of Santiago, so residents recommend not walking very early in the morning or at night through this outskirt of Santiago.<br /> Old entrance of regular route is closed by gate (S33° 37.320' W70° 32.182'). Better start from the public minor road and you won't have any problem (S33° 36.768' W70° 30.033'). The GPT Track File 2019 incorporates this change so follow the Regular Route if you use the current update.&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Carry as much water as possible just before ascending to the pass (S33° 38.394' W70° 27.191'). There won't be water until 14 km further, and it's not of good quality (S33° 41.000' W70° 23.100').<br /> <br /> Instead of deviating to El Melocotón, you can spend the night in Reserva Coyanco (camping, food, services), from where GPT02 starts. Just turn right at S33° 40.813' W70° 20.812'.<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-15 to 1018-Dec-16 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Austin Davis'''<br /> <br /> http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/<br /> <br /> ==Season 2017/18==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2016/17==<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / GPT02 &amp; GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo / Bethany Hughes, Lauren Reed'''<br /> <br /> https://her-odyssey.org/<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Jan / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo &amp; GPT02 / Gerald Klamer'''<br /> <br /> * '''http://geraldtrekkt.blogspot.com/2017/04/greater-patagonian-trail-1-santiago-coya.html'''<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> ==Start Regular Route: Santiago, Metro Station Puente Alto==<br /> <br /> Plaza De Puente Alto is an underground metro station and the southern terminal station of Line 4 of the Santiago Metro network. Underground trains run frequently between 6 am in the morning and 11 pm in the evening. <br /> <br /> Calculate 1 hour from the city centre to the terminal station Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto buses leave to most towns and villages in the Maipo valley and the surrounding area. (2019)<br /> <br /> If you don't want to walk the first 13KM of the regular route on the road then get bus MB73 from Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> ==Finish Regular Route: El Melocoton==<br /> <br /> See also [[GPT02]]<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following bus gets you to El Melocoton in the Maipo valley: Bus MB-72B<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate a bit over 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Start or Finish Option 1 (Rio Clarillo): Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo==<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following buses get you close to Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo: <br /> <br /> - Bus 978 towards Rio Clarillo (this is the best option, gets you the closest to the entrance to the reserve)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-74 towards El Principal De Pirque (last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-80 towards El Principal De Pirque<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to the regular route but a high gate was build in 2021. If the the gate at waypoint &quot;X, Gate {01} [11.2/787]&quot; is locked, continue 2.1 km on the main road and take Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio).<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Access into Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo is controlled by CONAF at the main entrance near Pirque. The park is intended for daytime visits only and does not provide camp grounds. Cooking inside the park is strictly banned including with camping stoves. A maximum of 800 persons are permitted entry on one day. CONAF park rangers might not permit a southbound traverse and all visitors are probably required to leave the park in the evening at the main gate. The entrance fee is 11,500 CLP (2022) for foreign nationals and 2000 to 4000 CLP for Chileans. The tickets needs to be bought online in advance and there is not cell coverage at the entrance to the reserve.<br /> <br /> A northbound traverse is probably free of charge. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio)==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio). No right-of-way conflicts reported yet. If the gate issue on the RR persists to cause problems and Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio) is recommended by more hikers then Option 2 may become the new Regular Route.<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT01 - Cerro Purgatorio]]<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[San Juan de Pirque - El Toyo]]<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[Río Clarillo]]<br /> <br /> National Park: http://www.conaf.cl/parques/reserva-nacional-rio-clarillo/<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> [[Archivo:gpt01 Cerro Purgatorio.jpg|View to the central Andes, by [http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/ Austin Davis]]]<br /> <br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (6).jpg|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 1]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT01_(Cerro_Purgatorio)&diff=120691 2025-03-11T12:33:03Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> <br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-27 to 2025-MAR-01 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Farah &amp; Jan​'''<br /> <br /> This was our last section of the GPT. For now…<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;We did it in one full day and two relaxed half hiking days. Camped at S 33°38.4840’ W 70°26.9562’ and S 33°40.3236’ W 70°23.5408’<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;The last 5 kilometers of the ascent are pretty steep, as is the first part of the descent. Ways are in good condition and easy to follow. There’s not much vegetation.<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Found more water sources than expected. Note that last winter had a lot of snow, so you can’t rely on these water sources in low or average snow years. Here are a few of them:<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°37.3970’ W 70°30.2264’<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°37.8949’ W 70°29.4920’<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°40.9963’ W 70°23.1090’<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°40.3226’ W 70°23.5491’<br /> <br /> &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;Like Arno we saw an incredible amount of wasps along the way, especially close to water sources. Unlike him we can’t confirm they do no harm. Farah got stung in her buttock, Jan in his penis. Be careful when peeing! Apart from that no incidents.<br /> <br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-11 &gt; 12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arno​​'''<br /> <br /> | Weather : sunny and hot<br /> | water : easy<br /> | snow : no<br /> | Interest : 2/5<br /> | Difficulty : 4/5<br /> | Danger : none<br /> <br /> The first part on the road is easy and with no interest.<br /> Then the ascent was pretty steep and hard with the hot weather.<br /> I camped at km 22 and finished the section the next day in the morning.<br /> Note that there were a lot of wasps everywhere I paused. They’re not offensive but can be annoying.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-07 to 2024-12-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT02/RR+OH 02A / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> At the parking lot, I registered. Men took my passport number, name, and phone number. He was very polite. I followed OH-02-A and camped near parking tables -33.70160,-70.34792. Nice spot. I crossed the river using an installed rope. Water -33.72155, -70.34409 okay. Near the next point with water -33.74121, -70.35340, there is a fence to cross. Camp at -33.76414,-70.36564 where there is water. Bushwacking was not so bad. Good spot with water -33.79940,-70.38691 and -33.80875,-70.387783 (22.9 km). Next spot -33.81168,-70.38791 with water. Camp at 27.5 km okay. I found a cave for camp -33.843384, -70.41605. I crossed the river many times without problems (my height is 164 cm). Next spot with water -33.894417,-79.39042. Still, there is field snow, so spikes for safety are needed. I have met nice workers of Minas - they offered me some food:) At the end, I was without water. At the point of the control near Minas (94.7 parking), there is a bar for workers of Minas. There is everything there even<br /> boiled eggs. They also allowed me to use their bathroom. In Coya, I have spent the night in Casa Roja near Ferreteria. I also tried sandwiches in the Catalan Bar - excellent.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-04 to 2024-12-05 / 1.5 day / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01/RR+OH 01-03A+OH 01-03+RR / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> Starting OH 01-03A was complicated. I crossed the barbed fence and couldn’t find the river crossing at point -33.64140, -70.42944. I spent the night there and returned a little bit the next day to take the regular route.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-01-03 to 2024-01-04 / 1.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR and Variants F / Elijah &amp; Michael ​​'''<br /> <br /> Very hot weather, over 30°. Water is available along the river from -33.62292, -70.50342 to bridge 18.7/1302. Thereafter only at waypoints.<br /> <br /> Water not directly accessible from campsite 29.4/1415, had to walk to following bridge (29.7/1389). Bridge had possible room to camp.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-NOV-27 &gt; 28 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT01+GPT02+GPT03<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : non<br /> | Intérêt : 1/5<br /> | Difficulté : 5/5<br /> | Danger : Autorisations de passage<br /> <br /> La premier partie est routière et ne presente aucun interet. J'ai essayé de sortir de la route mais me suis retrouvé face a des portails fermés aux points (-33,6223657, -70,5335623) puis (-33,6129744, -70,5007311) pour enfin trouver un portail ouvert (-33,6110383, -70,4943554) car il y avait des travaux en amont. J'ai monté une pente tres raide en suivant une canalisation, puis j'ai suivi un bisse pour retrouver le sentier. La montée etait tres dure car le soleil tapait fort que je n'avais pas encore mes jambes pour cette premiere etape. J'ai campé juste avant le point haut de l'etape, pret d'un petit ruisseau. Le lendemain la descente etait facile.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-NOV-20 to 2024-NOV-21 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. A,C,D) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> We started our hike in the afternoon from the final metro station at Puente Alto. At the high gate with cameras at the beginning of Variant A, there was a car. After waiting a few minutes, the car drove through, and a kind man allowed us to pass as well. We spent the first night at the camp at km 16.2 . On the second day, it was very hot, which we especially felt during the climb to the pass [24.7 km]. The water marked in the files was indeed available there. In the evening, we reached El Melocotón. The store was officially open until 8:00 PM, but the owner was kind enough to keep it open longer for the people arriving late.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-11-17 to 2024-11-19, 2,5 days, SOBO, gpt00?/01opt5? - Volker'''<br /> <br /> I took the route Tomas suggested and highly recommend it to everyone new on the gpt and early in the season (check your gear, device/s, body on a very scenic route (95% TR, 3%CC, 2%MR); in summer probably very hot, in mid-november it was already quite warm in the lower parts).<br /> The bus C02 does not bring you to the parque San Ramon (1km walk approx. in upper middle-class area), but C37 does. The gate was open, nobody there at 14 p.m. on a sunday. Last person I met was 30 min. before the waterfall. All descriptions of Tomas correct. <br /> If you start late 2 p.m,) as I did, either camp at the waterfall or make sure to take enough water to camp 15min before you reach the 2nd river. The way down is steep and slippery. If you start early you will reach water at 2200 m and camp sites before or at the pass. <br /> Up there very windy, but not too cold, protected camp site 10 min after you reach the pass. Part of the path covered by snow, you can bypass it on the eastern side. Ridge to Cerro San Ramon under snow, probably not to difficult (if you have crampons). 1 steep snowfield on the way down (I used it to try my mini spikes, which was not necessary in the early afternoon, but in the morning you will be very glad to have them). Camped not far from the puesto, didn‘t see anyone, just horses and barking dogs. The path to Rio Maipo valley crosses the river 8 times, fords mostly easy (though 2 far over my knees (1,97m), but one quite hard (I did. 15 min of CC and BB to find a place upwards)). Last 30 min MR. The road ends at a high gate (3m), no way around, the man in the container told me to take another way. I asked a local not far from there, he promised to help, told me to wait at the gate, in 3 min he arrived with his car and drove me down to El Manzano. I just got out of the car, when on the other side of the road a bus driving EABO stopped, I jumped in and got out at El Melocoton to continue with gpt 02 .<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-10/Lukas &amp; Tabea &amp; Basil'''<br /> Gate was open<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Lukas &amp; Sarah'''<br /> <br /> Started from Puente Alto.<br /> Gate Variant A closed.<br /> Gate at 11.3km was open.<br /> Water present at all waypoints.<br /> Camped at Camp 16.09.<br /> You can find a horsepath down to te river with a nice pool for swimming whenwalking a bit backwards.<br /> Next Camp at Bridge Water 29.7. Also really nice for swimming. <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 via new Route:<br /> In the corner at -33.68293, -70.34715, turn on the horsepath. We therefore skipped Gate at 02 and walked out at -33.69654, -70.35062 and walked directly to the river crossing of Variant A. <br /> The horsepath around the hill is in good condition but difficult to find.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-02 / 2 days / Hiking / RR / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Gate at 11.3km was open, presumably because it was a public holiday.<br /> <br /> Water present at all waypoints<br /> <br /> Water at 23.9km just before the pass<br /> <br /> Camped just before pass at 22.7km<br /> <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 so can't comment resupply options<br /> <br /> * '''2024-10-30 to 2024-11-01 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR -a- RR / Karin'''<br /> <br /> The gate at the start of option a was closed when I arrived and did not look easily climbable. After a few minutes a car came and opened the gate. The driver didn't say anything to me so I went through the gate after him. <br /> <br /> The pass was without snow, the water point indicated had all water.<br /> <br /> The bridge [29.7/1389] is non existend (due to the winter?), but the rivers are easy to be crossed. <br /> <br /> There were a lot of small and really annoying flies (I don't think they are tabanos, mainly because they are small, it is a dry area...). They were flying into the face and biting specially near the eyes. Putting a branch on the backpack did not help. I ended up covering my face to have some peace.<br /> <br /> '''Note that in summer 2024, a new option 02 was inserted and the original options 2 and 3 increased their numbering.'''<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> * '''24-Mar-09 to 2024-Mar-11 / 42 hours / Hiking / SOBO / GPT00?, GPT01, option 5? / Tomáš'''<br /> Not sure if on topic as it is technically east of Santiago and not south (but also not north!), but I thought I would share anyway. A nice trail that can be done around Santiago while waiting around. In my opinion, it also better fullfils &quot;starting from Santiago on foot&quot;, as the current start involves quite a long stretch from Puente Alto on road. Here you start walking 100 m from bus stop (C-02, every ten minutes or so from Los Dominicos) integrated into Santiago's public transport system, or 5 km from Los Domincos terminus of the red metro line (but really, why would you not take the bus?). [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1765972160575329/ Pictures].<br /> <br /> The entrance is 3500 CLP, in office hours. No problems having a backapack entering at 1300 when explaining the route (San Ramon to El Manzano). Early in the morning or late in the evening, there is an always-open door next to the gate. Going up to the ridge, there are several variants; I went to the pass just south of Morro las Papas and traversed more or less horizontaly to Salto de Apoquindo. After Patagonia proper, it is funny that such a small waterfall even honours a name. There is a (compostable?) toilet at the waterfall and one could camp there, but it is probably illegal and when I was there, a helicopter kept humming around - maybe it was looking for fires? Late camp and early rise would probably work though. Past this point, you are unlikely to meet anyone (up to there I only met ten people even though it was Saturday). The trail from there to the ridge is more or less clear for GPT standards. Last probably reliable water is around 2230 m of altitude.<br /> <br /> Camped at about 2800 in the pass south of Morro Tamber, the night was windless and warm. Starting late - at noon -, I then went to Cerro San Ramon (up to here everything is on OSM). Took me 2 leisurely hours. The ridge walk is easy and the path is clear. To my surprise, I was there alone on a Sunday afternoon, just with one quite cheeky bird. I went to Punta de Damas and back and then down to Las Manzanas. The path down from the Refuge San Ramones is marked in blue and mostly visible, just a section near the puesto at 2200 m is cross-country. I reached the stream in the valley when darkness fell, walked two hours almost to the end of it to catch my flight, saw some people camping/having a fire. In the morning I got up at six and had to climb over two fences to get out. It has opening times (no longer remember which, but fairly long) and the price was about 8000 for entry, not sure if they would demand something in case of SOBO travers. There seem to be some walk-arounds in OSM (added afterwards by yours truly basde on strava heatmap). The whole trail is in OSM now and also as of 2024 is part of &quot;Not yet incorporated change proposals&quot; of the GPT files, for viewing in Google Earth.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-17/ 2.5 days / SOBO / RR / Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> I took the metro to the last stop, Puente Alto, and started walking from there. The days were extremely hot and there were a lot of tabanero attacks. I waited a few minutes at the closed gate at 11,2 until a car came out. I asked the driver if I could go through, but he said that it was a private area and I wasn't allowed through. When he was gone, I saw that the gate was not completely closed. I was able to reach inside with my arm and open a door in the gate from the inside. There was regular traffic on the road behind it, but everyone just greeted me back in a friendly manner. Might be best just to wait until it opens and then walk through confidentially without asking. The water indicators were correct. Camps: 19.5/1433 (no water), 29.7/1389 (water and small pools, quite nice). Take enough water for the pass at 18.7/1302! No shadow and very hot. After 29.7/1389 there is water a few times and an increasing number of day trippers. Overnight stay in San José de Maipo in the Hostal Maipo for 20k, otherwise no guests, bathroom and fridge dirty and room stuffy, but large kitchen, nice host, lounge and central location with supermarket and bus stop next door. For GPT2 bus to El Melocotón at 7.30am, but get off at the crossroads by the bridge over the Rio Maipo before town.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-8 to 2024-Jan-9/ 1.5 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Tanja'''<br /> <br /> Took same route as Matthias (Filo Purgatorio via the ridge). Not much to add apart from: it’s very hot and there’s no water up there anymore. First stream coming down was at 33.67175, 70.39274<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-24 to 2023-Dec-25 / 2 days / SOBO / RR and variant E / Matthieu'''<br /> <br /> Nice hike to begin with GPT, no particular mountain difficulties. I began in Pirque after taking the buq MB74 at bellavista de la florida. <br /> <br /> Variant : I followed chileans hikers on variant E to the nothern bank of the river el sauce (sendero estero el sauce on OSM, easily followed with the GPS). Seems funnier than the RR, you cross a nice pool. You have other trails to go down at the river and enjoy on the way.<br /> <br /> All water markers are correct. Remember to bring enough water for the pass at water 18,7, it's really hot up there. Water 29,7 very good stream.<br /> <br /> The end of the trail after is a big web of trail along the el sauce river, with places to bath and camp. So the water is not rare. Lots of hikers when I was there (25 december). <br /> <br /> Camp : at bridge water 18.7.<br /> Seems like lots of nice places after water 29,7 when you explore along the river. <br /> <br /> Gate 11,2 : Not possible to go around, electrical and fence. It was opened by a person in a car after 5 minutes waiting. No question about my passage. I then crossed roads with an arriero with horses and another car, on 24th december. Seems like this trail is crowded, so the gate seems not to be a problem with patience. <br /> <br /> The other gate is only for cars, way to go around as a hiker. <br /> <br /> Other : crossed a snake in the middle of the trail. See my section 2 post for more infos.<br /> A very tiny scorpion near my tent in the morning... put some shoes when you go for a pee at night ! <br /> <br /> No river crossings issues<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-5 to 2023-Dec-6/ 2 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Matthias'''<br /> <br /> I started option 2 right from the school (San Juan Oriente). Camp spots on the way to the ridge if you start late in Santiago. Took the route to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio (option 2 - variant B). <br /> <br /> From the summit I continued the ridge southwards (OH-CC-A {01-02B}). That’s a wonderful alpine (I mean andine 😅) cross-country hiking route mostly on steep scree or rock ledge (Schrofen in German), difficulty according to SAC hiking scale T4, I’d guess. No real clambering necessary, hands only occasionally needed for support. The descent from the summit gives you a good impression of the difficulty, it will not become more difficult. Mostly I did not walk directly on the rocky ridge but on the western slope.<br /> <br /> Camped right on the ridge at ca. 33°38'30'' 70°24'47''. Beautiful sunset and sunrise.<br /> <br /> On the descent to GPT02 there is a marked trail (white markers) on the last kms. One can follow that path instead of RR where variant F comes in and avoid the walk on MR. When the path comes to a fence turn right and you’ll hit the RR again.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-15-18 / 72 hours / Hiking / nobo / Option 02, ridge, option 02 / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> Apart from Option 02, I did not actually follow any existing GPT track but the approach has since been added as option 2. [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1715267058979173/ Pictures] I started at the southmost stop of bus MB-74. The bus actually detours to some sidestreets and then comes back the same way again, so do not get off too early. You should be able to start from here: 33.7277389S, 70.5544877W. Just before the bridge, there is a locked gate. Some cars were passing though and let me through, just told me not to make fire. If the gate is locked, use the bridge 200 m downstream and go in the riverbank for 200 northwards - it is dry. There is another gate where the sideroad splits from the road that is still on OSM, roughly here: 33.7412080S, 70.5586867W. Again somobody opened it for me but this one could have been climbed easily.<br /> <br /> The trail is both easily visible on satelite and Strava heatmap. First 2 km it is a road, then a worse road that transforms to path branches to the left to rejoin the road where another gate is - this cca 5 km part is flat. One then follows the fence on a steep slope until 100 m higher one rejoins very clear path. I am sure there is a better way than I took but it was still easy enough. From there a very clear trail goes all the way up to cca Cerro los Crystalles. Met a group of seven people on motorbikes who went up and down in a day. No water until about 2500 m. On Facebook group.<br /> <br /> From the ridge, one could easily follow on GPT02 but I was interested in the ridge between RR and Option 3 roughly from here: 33.8464060S, 70.4211017W to Cerro los Purgatorio through Cerros Loma del Diablo, San Roque and Cruzada Las Hormigas. From the coordinates above, there is a trail that follows the ridge for a few km. Once it starts going down, I traversed back to the ridge. Better would have been to go over the hill than traversing. The ridge can be followed, there is a path that comes and goes so it is a mix of TR and CC. Going down from San Roque is a bit tricky, one needs to sidetrack from the ridge at one point and maybe use a hand here and there. Another a bit challenging part is just before the final ascent to Cruzada Las Hormingas. It is abit exposed in those parts but not too much. In SAC scale, somewhere around 4 or five, but out of 20 km of the ridge, this is only about 1 km at most. And I do not claim to have found the best route, I think some of the clambering parts that were never vertical could probably have been sidetracked.<br /> <br /> This time of the year, even on the ridge I crossed a stream with water three times (I added the streams to OSM), very roughly at km 11, 17 and 20 (this one being on the RR). Only saw cows and condors.<br /> <br /> I then crossed the RR and went on option 02, the ridge walk to Cerro Purgatorio. I would say it is SAC 4 (somewhat easier than the ridge), I used hands but it was very easy and not exposed at all. Descent from Cerro Purgatorio was surprisingly beautiful with all the flowers (which were there all over the ridge too). Even going down, from about 1500, the heat was really strong. Would not recommend any of this from early January till end of february given there might be very little water. Perfect for December and earlier. I hope the ridgewalk is added to GPT. Every day, I would be able to get enough cell phone coverage to receive e-mails and chats but not much more.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-06 / 1 day / Hiking / sobo / RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> I took uber from Providencia to the gate, about 20000CLP and 1hour.<br /> <br /> The gate is locked at 10am on Wednesday. Luckily after 5min a young man drive out and open the gate, he didn't said anything and let me go inside.<br /> Hot but more water resources that i think before, a small grassy stream is still flowing just before the pass 800m, lot of tadpoles swimming inside too.<br /> <br /> Long way going down with rocky dirt road, didn't see any people all the way to the end.<br /> After you join the trail in valley, lot of camping spots you can find.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-17 to 2023-Nov-19 / 1,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR &amp; OH / Jens'''<br /> <br /> In Melocoton I had to cross private property. The guy charged me 2000 pesos. Lots of water and camping south of Cerro Purgatorio.<br /> There is an alternative route that's marked with white paint that is also marked in the OSM data. <br /> <br /> I started NOBO from El Melocoton. I took the exploratory route to Cerro Purgatorio. I have to report that there is no path to the summit from the south. The data and the OSM suggest that there is a path, but I only found rocks that I had to climb over and steep drops. I had to slide down to join the other trail as it was too dangerous to continue.<br /> <br /> The northern route to the summit is fine. But you'd have to go back the same way to rejoin the main PGT route.<br /> <br /> Comment Jan Dudeck: I removed the southern ascent to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio. Now only the the ascent from the west remains in the track files.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-11 to 2023-Nov-12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn '''<br /> <br /> - Gates : all were open, it was a Saturday<br /> <br /> - Water : all the water markers were correct, even more water present<br /> <br /> - Camping spot : km 29,4<br /> <br /> - Weather : cold and cloudy so not a problem for the first big ascent - there is an exceptional cold weather on the Santiago area this year<br /> <br /> - River crossing : 31,65 km (easy)<br /> <br /> - Overall : trail in good condition.Lots of stray dogs on the trail but really friendly.We combined section 1 &amp; 2.<br /> <br /> If you want to see some pictures of the sections and/or ask us some questions, you can find us on Instagram : @2funambules<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-19 to 2023-Feb-20 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Luisa &amp; Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Started in Ramon Supercaseaux 8200 directly at the gate. Pretty hot below 2000m, siesta highly recommended. A lot of bees around everywhere except pass-area. No water in the first spot after the pass, you'll find it about 1-2 kms ahead. A local said that water was cut up there. Weekend with many tourists in Estero El Sauce Valley. Good Kiosk at the valley entrance. Took us 2 days.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-04 / Hiking / SOBO / Option 1: Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> I really wanted to try the option through Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo. I took the bus MB-74 to Pirque. The last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W. There was a sign saying it is prohibited to enter, but some people told me I can pass. From there one can walk along the airport. Once you get to the main road, there is a locked gate, but the fence can be crawled under. I would recommend to take the standard route for cars, the walk was schorching. It was Sunday, I am not sure the other bus lines were in service. I have not seen them, MB74 seemed to be going once every twenty minutes or so for 900 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once on the standard route, I hitched a car going to the reserve, we put my backpack into the trunk, so the CONAF guards did not notice me at all and did not tell me anything. I had a reservation made online, there is a day limit of visitors. It cost 11500 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once in the reserve, I took the trail going west of the stream (so the stream was on my left hand going uphill). Nobody noticed me and then I have not met anybody for 4 days. The trail is fairly clear, one goes up along a stream up until around 1900 metres (up to the last recommended camp). From then on until the next other side of the mountain, there is no reliable water (I slept near a marsh around 2650m, but the water would not have been great).<br /> <br /> The route is quite attractive. Walking in the lower valley in the heat is really sweat inducing. It took me 1,5 days to go up to the border of the reserve, I was weak from not much sleep before and the heat. But also it is quite far and I have not started walking until six or so on the first day as I rested quite a few hours waiting for the heat to pass.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-24 to 2022-Nov-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + GPT01-F / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> We started the first section from the metro station at Puento Alto, which is also a good place to buy some missing supplies and water - mall with Lider shop is right next to the main square. The gate 1 at approx. km 12 opened after less than 15mins and some guy in a car let us in after explaining that we just want to pass and showing the map. The other gate not so far away from the entrance was opened. Following the main route, we spent the night in a nice camp place at km 19.5 with water available just few hundred meters before that (bridge, water 18.7). Keep in mind to carry enough water on the way to the pass! We met the next day 2 families at the bridge, water 29.7 that went there for camping. We decided to finish the section the next day, which was Staturday, and therefore as we were coming closer to the village we met a lot of day hikers at the GPT01-F. Before continuing to the section 2, we stopped to refresh ourselves at Kiosko Los Acacios, on the left side after the bridge on the main road (the other kiosk before the river was closed at the time). They have fried empanadas, amazing natural strawberry juice (jugo frutilla), yogurt with granola and some other small things, everything with reasonable prices.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-09 / Hiking / SOBO / Adrien Kunzli '''<br /> <br /> Start at the reserva natural de clarillo impossible even if i arrived at 8h30 am. No arrangement possible with the guard.<br /> I went by waking through the wasteland (many dogs be carefull but a good stone in the hand frightens them without worries) but Start at GPT01-B impossible : Big Electronic portal and no luck with cars.<br /> Start at GPT 01-03 by the optional tracks ok. After the school you take the left road and almost immediately you have to pass under a fence on the left with a little hole. <br /> Just after San José de Maipo the RR-MR-V (02) (3,6+0,4) at S33°41.069', W070°20.876' was denied to me by some conductors (private propriety). But te other optional road without passing the bridge works perfectly fine.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Okt-31 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannic &amp; Mirjam'''<br /> <br /> We traveled by metro to Puento Alto. Because the bus MB73 did not come (probably because of holiday) we took an Uber to Posta la Puntilla (much cheaper than to Puntilla Rural).<br /> Gate 1 closed, after waiting 2 minutes a car came.<br /> Gate 2 open on the right side.<br /> Water available at all marked spots. <br /> Nice campground with small swimming pool at the back of the small river at Camp 01 [4/29/1415].<br /> Several campsites on the river around El Melocoton.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2021 Nov-19 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&amp;Stiina'''<br /> <br /> We wanted to avoid the boring through-town and road walking so we took the micro-bus from Puente Alto to Puntilla Rural which only left us 2km of road walking. It’s a micro-bus MB73 and it goes right on the same street when you come out of the subway. It doesn’t have a stop so you just have to wave it down when you see it coming, ticket costs 750 pesos. After those 2km on the asphalt road we turned off to a minor road with an impassable gate which is normally closed, but luckily we only waited less than 10 min. and a car came and we just walked in, they didn’t ask us anything so it seemed alright. 2nd gate was open. Water sources were flowing well. Climb was brutal, super steep and very, very hot. We imagine this section could easily be walked a month earlier to avoid the baking in the furnace. Great views from the “Pass”. We camped at the “Bridge, Water” waypoint after the pass, nice place, but unfortunately we had lots of tiny, very hungry biting flies there. We saw a lot of campers in the valley before El Melocotón, which was a bit of a surprise, more than 20 tents, perhaps people enjoying nature on the weekend? We didn’t go in to El Melocotón but continued straight to GPT02. <br /> <br /> For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Nov-09 to 2021-Nov-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Marc Anthony '''<br /> <br /> Started afternoon on first day and arrived in melocotón same time next day. Took a taxi from Puento Alto metro station to the Plaza in Pirque, because I was advised against walking alone through Puente Alto by the locals. Quite a lot of mini shops with empenadas and other food when following the paved road from Pirque. When turning from the paved road onto the first minor road I encountered a big locked gate, which luckily opened because cars were driving through from the other side. After a couple of kilometers another locked gate appears but i walked around the right side and found a smaller open gate that I passed through. When the terrain starts getting steeper, I found it very hot to walk here during the afternoon. Definitely wouldn’t want to walk there in the middle of the day during summer. Also the section right before the mountain pass is very steep. Best to walk here during the morning when you’ll have the shadow of the mountain. Rest of the way was generally easy enough, carried plenty of water with me.<br /> <br /> Found a place called Posada Del Jinete in southern part of El Melocotón with Cabañas for 80.000 and hostal room with to beds for 40.000. Not the cheapest but didn’t find a lot of options nearby. The father and son who are running the place are nice people who can tell a lot about the area. Small tienda/café down the road from hostal with only basic supplies<br /> <br /> Started this section on November 9th. The gate at -33 36.774’ -070 30.027’ is locked. Didn’t find anybody around to ask, but it magically opened up behind me just as I was about to leave, because cars were coming through from the other side. Did see a couple more cars going the same direction as I walked on the minor road. Might be worth waiting around for some time to see if anyone will drive through?<br /> <br /> Found water in all expected places. Would recommend carrying a good amount with you on your way up onto the mountain pass, since this a very hot and steep section especially in the afternoon and it will be awhile before the next water source.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Nov-14 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ricardo Gold'''<br /> <br /> We tried both entrances to the gravel road. Both closed with big gates (RR @KM13). We did an alternative start from Pirque that it did work, but is a significant longer (but nice). I would suggest to review this segment as the two main entrances seems closed for good.<br /> <br /> After you get into the road is very straight forward, very easy to navigate. There is water in all expected points and I think they will last long into the summer. <br /> Indeed, it is very exposed, it will be hard to do in a sunny day, as it will be hot. Alternatively you can start really early or even do it partially at night as it is easy to navigate and not dangerous at all. <br /> <br /> The climb is pretty steep for a maintenance road. it is +20% for ~4km, so I suggest to tackle this section really early in the morning. There is a good water source just before starting and probably also a good camping ground.<br /> <br /> Next water source is ~14km after, but with also ~1000m of uphill, so be mindful of the time to get into there. Btw, this water source has a small cascate and pond that is great to jump in and refresh. Just walk ~10m into the upstream.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-03 to 2020-Jan-04 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank'''<br /> <br /> See transport section if you want to skip the first 13KM roadwalk. Midsummer is not the ideal time for GPT01 as it is very hot, there is little shade &amp; not much water. If you do walk there are several small shops on the road up to KM13.<br /> <br /> It was difficult to access the start. At KM 16.5 on the road, RR-PR-V@01-6.9+4.3 &amp; 700 metres further after the bridge, route sealed by two 15 foot high gates with spikes on top. No one there to ask to open them. Back on RR @ KM13, 2 locked gates. At OH-MR-V@01-A-#002 a resident let me through the locked gate. There is a new fence a little up the road that will probably close off this variant (I got in through a small unfinished section). It is very dry now so RR gates may be closed due to lack of water &amp; fire risk. The only water on RR until 14KM after the pass is on section RR-MR-V@01-16.3+7.8 marked Bridge, Water on GPX, making a camp @ the site 15 mins. walk above (marked Camp No Water) highly advisable. Look for the gas pipeline, route follows it most of the way. Kiosk with drinks &amp; snacks &amp; campsite on the route 3KM before Melocoton are open all week in midsummer, weekends only in low season. No need to go to Melocoton. Get bus to Santiago @ road junction 500 metres down the road after bridge over Rio Maipo<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-13 to 2019-Dec-17 / 5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 and GPT02 / Ian Hikes '''<br /> <br /> Overview: I decided to combine GPT 01 and 02 using the alternative route through Rio Clarillo National Reserve which is something I do recommend. You do have to pay $5.000 to enter the park. You then follow the river up to the pass where it joins the official route. The two sections are very open and exposed with wide open views across the mountains and high mountain passes. <br /> <br /> Difficulties: My biggest difficult in this section was the lack of water. There were many sections that were dry and, on many occasions, found me going 15-20km with water. I would suggest taking extra care planning out water resupply along the route. I usually took 2-4L of water at any given time in these two sections. Also this section is very remote and did not see anyone for 3 days.<br /> <br /> Highlights: High mountain passes and great open views (especially for sunrise and sunset)<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-27 / Hiking / SOBO / Family Size '''<br /> <br /> Locked gate with barbed wire (S 33° 36.795', W 070° 30.049') on the official route. Found someone at the gate up the road (S 33° 36.702', W 070° 29.640') who unlocked that one for me. He said the road behind is no private property, but it's always locked. After another gate (S 33° 37.141', W 070° 29.927'), with a hole on the right to climb climb through, this road connects back to the official route.<br /> <br /> There is plenty of water on the B alternet uphill. Almost at the top it tastes a bit like cow shit after filtering. There is a lot of OK water at the bottom of the downhill and quite a few tourists especially on weekends.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-17 to 2019-Nov-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Matus &amp; Anna'''<br /> <br /> We walked GPT01 in 2 days, including one nero day. We used uber to get to the trail, hope your driver won't be stupid enough to take shortcuts through slums :). There is a gate on the beginning of trail, after a &quot;discussion&quot; (we don't speak spanish) they let us go through. Climb was really hot, make sure you take enough water from the last source on the way up. There is water on the other side, but first marked water source didn't look the best. There is a river cutting a trail a bit down from that point. We stayed in a campsite on the begining of next section which was nice. They have really sticky ferral dogs there which we had a real problem to chase to not hike with us.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-11 to 2019-Nov-13 / 3 days / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo'''<br /> <br /> It took us 3 days as we started late in Santiago and arrived early in Melocoton. As it's still low season everything is shut down in Melocoton so we took the bus (which runs every 30 minutes) to San Alfonso, where we found nice cabañas and three small resupply tiendas.<br /> <br /> We went to Puente Alto and then Pirque by Uber. The drivers know where the protests take place and avoid those areas or areas which got recently destroyed.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Oct-27 / Alert / Jan Dudeck'''<br /> <br /> The Metro line 4 to Puente Alto is currently out of operation due to vandalism during the current protests. Check online for current the status and delete this alert once metro operation to Puente Alto resumes.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2018/19==<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-16 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin Lizondo'''<br /> <br /> Carry plenty of water on this section as water sources might dry out in early summer after all snow has molten.<br /> <br /> Puente Alto is not particular safe area of Santiago, so residents recommend not walking very early in the morning or at night through this outskirt of Santiago.<br /> Old entrance of regular route is closed by gate (S33° 37.320' W70° 32.182'). Better start from the public minor road and you won't have any problem (S33° 36.768' W70° 30.033'). The GPT Track File 2019 incorporates this change so follow the Regular Route if you use the current update.&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Carry as much water as possible just before ascending to the pass (S33° 38.394' W70° 27.191'). There won't be water until 14 km further, and it's not of good quality (S33° 41.000' W70° 23.100').<br /> <br /> Instead of deviating to El Melocotón, you can spend the night in Reserva Coyanco (camping, food, services), from where GPT02 starts. Just turn right at S33° 40.813' W70° 20.812'.<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-15 to 1018-Dec-16 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Austin Davis'''<br /> <br /> http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/<br /> <br /> ==Season 2017/18==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2016/17==<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / GPT02 &amp; GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo / Bethany Hughes, Lauren Reed'''<br /> <br /> https://her-odyssey.org/<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Jan / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo &amp; GPT02 / Gerald Klamer'''<br /> <br /> * '''http://geraldtrekkt.blogspot.com/2017/04/greater-patagonian-trail-1-santiago-coya.html'''<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> ==Start Regular Route: Santiago, Metro Station Puente Alto==<br /> <br /> Plaza De Puente Alto is an underground metro station and the southern terminal station of Line 4 of the Santiago Metro network. Underground trains run frequently between 6 am in the morning and 11 pm in the evening. <br /> <br /> Calculate 1 hour from the city centre to the terminal station Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto buses leave to most towns and villages in the Maipo valley and the surrounding area. (2019)<br /> <br /> If you don't want to walk the first 13KM of the regular route on the road then get bus MB73 from Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> ==Finish Regular Route: El Melocoton==<br /> <br /> See also [[GPT02]]<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following bus gets you to El Melocoton in the Maipo valley: Bus MB-72B<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate a bit over 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Start or Finish Option 1 (Rio Clarillo): Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo==<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following buses get you close to Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo: <br /> <br /> - Bus 978 towards Rio Clarillo (this is the best option, gets you the closest to the entrance to the reserve)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-74 towards El Principal De Pirque (last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-80 towards El Principal De Pirque<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to the regular route but a high gate was build in 2021. If the the gate at waypoint &quot;X, Gate {01} [11.2/787]&quot; is locked, continue 2.1 km on the main road and take Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio).<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Access into Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo is controlled by CONAF at the main entrance near Pirque. The park is intended for daytime visits only and does not provide camp grounds. Cooking inside the park is strictly banned including with camping stoves. A maximum of 800 persons are permitted entry on one day. CONAF park rangers might not permit a southbound traverse and all visitors are probably required to leave the park in the evening at the main gate. The entrance fee is 11,500 CLP (2022) for foreign nationals and 2000 to 4000 CLP for Chileans. The tickets needs to be bought online in advance and there is not cell coverage at the entrance to the reserve.<br /> <br /> A northbound traverse is probably free of charge. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio)==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio). No right-of-way conflicts reported yet. If the gate issue on the RR persists to cause problems and Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio) is recommended by more hikers then Option 2 may become the new Regular Route.<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT01 - Cerro Purgatorio]]<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[San Juan de Pirque - El Toyo]]<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[Río Clarillo]]<br /> <br /> National Park: http://www.conaf.cl/parques/reserva-nacional-rio-clarillo/<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> [[Archivo:gpt01 Cerro Purgatorio.jpg|View to the central Andes, by [http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/ Austin Davis]]]<br /> <br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (6).jpg|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 1]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT01_(Cerro_Purgatorio)&diff=120690 2025-03-11T12:32:37Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> <br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-27 to 2025-MAR-01 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Farah &amp; Jan​'''<br /> <br /> This was our last section of the GPT. For now…<br /> <br /> We did it in one full day and two relaxed half hiking days. Camped at S 33°38.4840’ W 70°26.9562’ and S 33°40.3236’ W 70°23.5408’<br /> <br /> The last 5 kilometers of the ascent are pretty steep, as is the first part of the descent. Ways are in good condition and easy to follow. There’s not much vegetation.<br /> <br /> Found more water sources than expected. Note that last winter had a lot of snow, so you can’t rely on these water sources in low or average snow years. Here are a few of them:<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°37.3970’ W 70°30.2264’<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°37.8949’ W 70°29.4920’<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°40.9963’ W 70°23.1090’<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°40.3226’ W 70°23.5491’<br /> <br /> Like Arno we saw an incredible amount of wasps along the way, especially close to water sources. Unlike him we can’t confirm they do no harm. Farah got stung in her buttock, Jan in his penis. Be careful when peeing! Apart from that no incidents.<br /> <br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-11 &gt; 12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arno​​'''<br /> <br /> | Weather : sunny and hot<br /> | water : easy<br /> | snow : no<br /> | Interest : 2/5<br /> | Difficulty : 4/5<br /> | Danger : none<br /> <br /> The first part on the road is easy and with no interest.<br /> Then the ascent was pretty steep and hard with the hot weather.<br /> I camped at km 22 and finished the section the next day in the morning.<br /> Note that there were a lot of wasps everywhere I paused. They’re not offensive but can be annoying.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-07 to 2024-12-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT02/RR+OH 02A / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> At the parking lot, I registered. Men took my passport number, name, and phone number. He was very polite. I followed OH-02-A and camped near parking tables -33.70160,-70.34792. Nice spot. I crossed the river using an installed rope. Water -33.72155, -70.34409 okay. Near the next point with water -33.74121, -70.35340, there is a fence to cross. Camp at -33.76414,-70.36564 where there is water. Bushwacking was not so bad. Good spot with water -33.79940,-70.38691 and -33.80875,-70.387783 (22.9 km). Next spot -33.81168,-70.38791 with water. Camp at 27.5 km okay. I found a cave for camp -33.843384, -70.41605. I crossed the river many times without problems (my height is 164 cm). Next spot with water -33.894417,-79.39042. Still, there is field snow, so spikes for safety are needed. I have met nice workers of Minas - they offered me some food:) At the end, I was without water. At the point of the control near Minas (94.7 parking), there is a bar for workers of Minas. There is everything there even<br /> boiled eggs. They also allowed me to use their bathroom. In Coya, I have spent the night in Casa Roja near Ferreteria. I also tried sandwiches in the Catalan Bar - excellent.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-04 to 2024-12-05 / 1.5 day / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01/RR+OH 01-03A+OH 01-03+RR / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> Starting OH 01-03A was complicated. I crossed the barbed fence and couldn’t find the river crossing at point -33.64140, -70.42944. I spent the night there and returned a little bit the next day to take the regular route.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-01-03 to 2024-01-04 / 1.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR and Variants F / Elijah &amp; Michael ​​'''<br /> <br /> Very hot weather, over 30°. Water is available along the river from -33.62292, -70.50342 to bridge 18.7/1302. Thereafter only at waypoints.<br /> <br /> Water not directly accessible from campsite 29.4/1415, had to walk to following bridge (29.7/1389). Bridge had possible room to camp.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-NOV-27 &gt; 28 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT01+GPT02+GPT03<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : non<br /> | Intérêt : 1/5<br /> | Difficulté : 5/5<br /> | Danger : Autorisations de passage<br /> <br /> La premier partie est routière et ne presente aucun interet. J'ai essayé de sortir de la route mais me suis retrouvé face a des portails fermés aux points (-33,6223657, -70,5335623) puis (-33,6129744, -70,5007311) pour enfin trouver un portail ouvert (-33,6110383, -70,4943554) car il y avait des travaux en amont. J'ai monté une pente tres raide en suivant une canalisation, puis j'ai suivi un bisse pour retrouver le sentier. La montée etait tres dure car le soleil tapait fort que je n'avais pas encore mes jambes pour cette premiere etape. J'ai campé juste avant le point haut de l'etape, pret d'un petit ruisseau. Le lendemain la descente etait facile.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-NOV-20 to 2024-NOV-21 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. A,C,D) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> We started our hike in the afternoon from the final metro station at Puente Alto. At the high gate with cameras at the beginning of Variant A, there was a car. After waiting a few minutes, the car drove through, and a kind man allowed us to pass as well. We spent the first night at the camp at km 16.2 . On the second day, it was very hot, which we especially felt during the climb to the pass [24.7 km]. The water marked in the files was indeed available there. In the evening, we reached El Melocotón. The store was officially open until 8:00 PM, but the owner was kind enough to keep it open longer for the people arriving late.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-11-17 to 2024-11-19, 2,5 days, SOBO, gpt00?/01opt5? - Volker'''<br /> <br /> I took the route Tomas suggested and highly recommend it to everyone new on the gpt and early in the season (check your gear, device/s, body on a very scenic route (95% TR, 3%CC, 2%MR); in summer probably very hot, in mid-november it was already quite warm in the lower parts).<br /> The bus C02 does not bring you to the parque San Ramon (1km walk approx. in upper middle-class area), but C37 does. The gate was open, nobody there at 14 p.m. on a sunday. Last person I met was 30 min. before the waterfall. All descriptions of Tomas correct. <br /> If you start late 2 p.m,) as I did, either camp at the waterfall or make sure to take enough water to camp 15min before you reach the 2nd river. The way down is steep and slippery. If you start early you will reach water at 2200 m and camp sites before or at the pass. <br /> Up there very windy, but not too cold, protected camp site 10 min after you reach the pass. Part of the path covered by snow, you can bypass it on the eastern side. Ridge to Cerro San Ramon under snow, probably not to difficult (if you have crampons). 1 steep snowfield on the way down (I used it to try my mini spikes, which was not necessary in the early afternoon, but in the morning you will be very glad to have them). Camped not far from the puesto, didn‘t see anyone, just horses and barking dogs. The path to Rio Maipo valley crosses the river 8 times, fords mostly easy (though 2 far over my knees (1,97m), but one quite hard (I did. 15 min of CC and BB to find a place upwards)). Last 30 min MR. The road ends at a high gate (3m), no way around, the man in the container told me to take another way. I asked a local not far from there, he promised to help, told me to wait at the gate, in 3 min he arrived with his car and drove me down to El Manzano. I just got out of the car, when on the other side of the road a bus driving EABO stopped, I jumped in and got out at El Melocoton to continue with gpt 02 .<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-10/Lukas &amp; Tabea &amp; Basil'''<br /> Gate was open<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Lukas &amp; Sarah'''<br /> <br /> Started from Puente Alto.<br /> Gate Variant A closed.<br /> Gate at 11.3km was open.<br /> Water present at all waypoints.<br /> Camped at Camp 16.09.<br /> You can find a horsepath down to te river with a nice pool for swimming whenwalking a bit backwards.<br /> Next Camp at Bridge Water 29.7. Also really nice for swimming. <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 via new Route:<br /> In the corner at -33.68293, -70.34715, turn on the horsepath. We therefore skipped Gate at 02 and walked out at -33.69654, -70.35062 and walked directly to the river crossing of Variant A. <br /> The horsepath around the hill is in good condition but difficult to find.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-02 / 2 days / Hiking / RR / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Gate at 11.3km was open, presumably because it was a public holiday.<br /> <br /> Water present at all waypoints<br /> <br /> Water at 23.9km just before the pass<br /> <br /> Camped just before pass at 22.7km<br /> <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 so can't comment resupply options<br /> <br /> * '''2024-10-30 to 2024-11-01 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR -a- RR / Karin'''<br /> <br /> The gate at the start of option a was closed when I arrived and did not look easily climbable. After a few minutes a car came and opened the gate. The driver didn't say anything to me so I went through the gate after him. <br /> <br /> The pass was without snow, the water point indicated had all water.<br /> <br /> The bridge [29.7/1389] is non existend (due to the winter?), but the rivers are easy to be crossed. <br /> <br /> There were a lot of small and really annoying flies (I don't think they are tabanos, mainly because they are small, it is a dry area...). They were flying into the face and biting specially near the eyes. Putting a branch on the backpack did not help. I ended up covering my face to have some peace.<br /> <br /> '''Note that in summer 2024, a new option 02 was inserted and the original options 2 and 3 increased their numbering.'''<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> * '''24-Mar-09 to 2024-Mar-11 / 42 hours / Hiking / SOBO / GPT00?, GPT01, option 5? / Tomáš'''<br /> Not sure if on topic as it is technically east of Santiago and not south (but also not north!), but I thought I would share anyway. A nice trail that can be done around Santiago while waiting around. In my opinion, it also better fullfils &quot;starting from Santiago on foot&quot;, as the current start involves quite a long stretch from Puente Alto on road. Here you start walking 100 m from bus stop (C-02, every ten minutes or so from Los Dominicos) integrated into Santiago's public transport system, or 5 km from Los Domincos terminus of the red metro line (but really, why would you not take the bus?). [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1765972160575329/ Pictures].<br /> <br /> The entrance is 3500 CLP, in office hours. No problems having a backapack entering at 1300 when explaining the route (San Ramon to El Manzano). Early in the morning or late in the evening, there is an always-open door next to the gate. Going up to the ridge, there are several variants; I went to the pass just south of Morro las Papas and traversed more or less horizontaly to Salto de Apoquindo. After Patagonia proper, it is funny that such a small waterfall even honours a name. There is a (compostable?) toilet at the waterfall and one could camp there, but it is probably illegal and when I was there, a helicopter kept humming around - maybe it was looking for fires? Late camp and early rise would probably work though. Past this point, you are unlikely to meet anyone (up to there I only met ten people even though it was Saturday). The trail from there to the ridge is more or less clear for GPT standards. Last probably reliable water is around 2230 m of altitude.<br /> <br /> Camped at about 2800 in the pass south of Morro Tamber, the night was windless and warm. Starting late - at noon -, I then went to Cerro San Ramon (up to here everything is on OSM). Took me 2 leisurely hours. The ridge walk is easy and the path is clear. To my surprise, I was there alone on a Sunday afternoon, just with one quite cheeky bird. I went to Punta de Damas and back and then down to Las Manzanas. The path down from the Refuge San Ramones is marked in blue and mostly visible, just a section near the puesto at 2200 m is cross-country. I reached the stream in the valley when darkness fell, walked two hours almost to the end of it to catch my flight, saw some people camping/having a fire. In the morning I got up at six and had to climb over two fences to get out. It has opening times (no longer remember which, but fairly long) and the price was about 8000 for entry, not sure if they would demand something in case of SOBO travers. There seem to be some walk-arounds in OSM (added afterwards by yours truly basde on strava heatmap). The whole trail is in OSM now and also as of 2024 is part of &quot;Not yet incorporated change proposals&quot; of the GPT files, for viewing in Google Earth.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-17/ 2.5 days / SOBO / RR / Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> I took the metro to the last stop, Puente Alto, and started walking from there. The days were extremely hot and there were a lot of tabanero attacks. I waited a few minutes at the closed gate at 11,2 until a car came out. I asked the driver if I could go through, but he said that it was a private area and I wasn't allowed through. When he was gone, I saw that the gate was not completely closed. I was able to reach inside with my arm and open a door in the gate from the inside. There was regular traffic on the road behind it, but everyone just greeted me back in a friendly manner. Might be best just to wait until it opens and then walk through confidentially without asking. The water indicators were correct. Camps: 19.5/1433 (no water), 29.7/1389 (water and small pools, quite nice). Take enough water for the pass at 18.7/1302! No shadow and very hot. After 29.7/1389 there is water a few times and an increasing number of day trippers. Overnight stay in San José de Maipo in the Hostal Maipo for 20k, otherwise no guests, bathroom and fridge dirty and room stuffy, but large kitchen, nice host, lounge and central location with supermarket and bus stop next door. For GPT2 bus to El Melocotón at 7.30am, but get off at the crossroads by the bridge over the Rio Maipo before town.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-8 to 2024-Jan-9/ 1.5 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Tanja'''<br /> <br /> Took same route as Matthias (Filo Purgatorio via the ridge). Not much to add apart from: it’s very hot and there’s no water up there anymore. First stream coming down was at 33.67175, 70.39274<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-24 to 2023-Dec-25 / 2 days / SOBO / RR and variant E / Matthieu'''<br /> <br /> Nice hike to begin with GPT, no particular mountain difficulties. I began in Pirque after taking the buq MB74 at bellavista de la florida. <br /> <br /> Variant : I followed chileans hikers on variant E to the nothern bank of the river el sauce (sendero estero el sauce on OSM, easily followed with the GPS). Seems funnier than the RR, you cross a nice pool. You have other trails to go down at the river and enjoy on the way.<br /> <br /> All water markers are correct. Remember to bring enough water for the pass at water 18,7, it's really hot up there. Water 29,7 very good stream.<br /> <br /> The end of the trail after is a big web of trail along the el sauce river, with places to bath and camp. So the water is not rare. Lots of hikers when I was there (25 december). <br /> <br /> Camp : at bridge water 18.7.<br /> Seems like lots of nice places after water 29,7 when you explore along the river. <br /> <br /> Gate 11,2 : Not possible to go around, electrical and fence. It was opened by a person in a car after 5 minutes waiting. No question about my passage. I then crossed roads with an arriero with horses and another car, on 24th december. Seems like this trail is crowded, so the gate seems not to be a problem with patience. <br /> <br /> The other gate is only for cars, way to go around as a hiker. <br /> <br /> Other : crossed a snake in the middle of the trail. See my section 2 post for more infos.<br /> A very tiny scorpion near my tent in the morning... put some shoes when you go for a pee at night ! <br /> <br /> No river crossings issues<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-5 to 2023-Dec-6/ 2 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Matthias'''<br /> <br /> I started option 2 right from the school (San Juan Oriente). Camp spots on the way to the ridge if you start late in Santiago. Took the route to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio (option 2 - variant B). <br /> <br /> From the summit I continued the ridge southwards (OH-CC-A {01-02B}). That’s a wonderful alpine (I mean andine 😅) cross-country hiking route mostly on steep scree or rock ledge (Schrofen in German), difficulty according to SAC hiking scale T4, I’d guess. No real clambering necessary, hands only occasionally needed for support. The descent from the summit gives you a good impression of the difficulty, it will not become more difficult. Mostly I did not walk directly on the rocky ridge but on the western slope.<br /> <br /> Camped right on the ridge at ca. 33°38'30'' 70°24'47''. Beautiful sunset and sunrise.<br /> <br /> On the descent to GPT02 there is a marked trail (white markers) on the last kms. One can follow that path instead of RR where variant F comes in and avoid the walk on MR. When the path comes to a fence turn right and you’ll hit the RR again.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-15-18 / 72 hours / Hiking / nobo / Option 02, ridge, option 02 / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> Apart from Option 02, I did not actually follow any existing GPT track but the approach has since been added as option 2. [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1715267058979173/ Pictures] I started at the southmost stop of bus MB-74. The bus actually detours to some sidestreets and then comes back the same way again, so do not get off too early. You should be able to start from here: 33.7277389S, 70.5544877W. Just before the bridge, there is a locked gate. Some cars were passing though and let me through, just told me not to make fire. If the gate is locked, use the bridge 200 m downstream and go in the riverbank for 200 northwards - it is dry. There is another gate where the sideroad splits from the road that is still on OSM, roughly here: 33.7412080S, 70.5586867W. Again somobody opened it for me but this one could have been climbed easily.<br /> <br /> The trail is both easily visible on satelite and Strava heatmap. First 2 km it is a road, then a worse road that transforms to path branches to the left to rejoin the road where another gate is - this cca 5 km part is flat. One then follows the fence on a steep slope until 100 m higher one rejoins very clear path. I am sure there is a better way than I took but it was still easy enough. From there a very clear trail goes all the way up to cca Cerro los Crystalles. Met a group of seven people on motorbikes who went up and down in a day. No water until about 2500 m. On Facebook group.<br /> <br /> From the ridge, one could easily follow on GPT02 but I was interested in the ridge between RR and Option 3 roughly from here: 33.8464060S, 70.4211017W to Cerro los Purgatorio through Cerros Loma del Diablo, San Roque and Cruzada Las Hormigas. From the coordinates above, there is a trail that follows the ridge for a few km. Once it starts going down, I traversed back to the ridge. Better would have been to go over the hill than traversing. The ridge can be followed, there is a path that comes and goes so it is a mix of TR and CC. Going down from San Roque is a bit tricky, one needs to sidetrack from the ridge at one point and maybe use a hand here and there. Another a bit challenging part is just before the final ascent to Cruzada Las Hormingas. It is abit exposed in those parts but not too much. In SAC scale, somewhere around 4 or five, but out of 20 km of the ridge, this is only about 1 km at most. And I do not claim to have found the best route, I think some of the clambering parts that were never vertical could probably have been sidetracked.<br /> <br /> This time of the year, even on the ridge I crossed a stream with water three times (I added the streams to OSM), very roughly at km 11, 17 and 20 (this one being on the RR). Only saw cows and condors.<br /> <br /> I then crossed the RR and went on option 02, the ridge walk to Cerro Purgatorio. I would say it is SAC 4 (somewhat easier than the ridge), I used hands but it was very easy and not exposed at all. Descent from Cerro Purgatorio was surprisingly beautiful with all the flowers (which were there all over the ridge too). Even going down, from about 1500, the heat was really strong. Would not recommend any of this from early January till end of february given there might be very little water. Perfect for December and earlier. I hope the ridgewalk is added to GPT. Every day, I would be able to get enough cell phone coverage to receive e-mails and chats but not much more.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-06 / 1 day / Hiking / sobo / RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> I took uber from Providencia to the gate, about 20000CLP and 1hour.<br /> <br /> The gate is locked at 10am on Wednesday. Luckily after 5min a young man drive out and open the gate, he didn't said anything and let me go inside.<br /> Hot but more water resources that i think before, a small grassy stream is still flowing just before the pass 800m, lot of tadpoles swimming inside too.<br /> <br /> Long way going down with rocky dirt road, didn't see any people all the way to the end.<br /> After you join the trail in valley, lot of camping spots you can find.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-17 to 2023-Nov-19 / 1,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR &amp; OH / Jens'''<br /> <br /> In Melocoton I had to cross private property. The guy charged me 2000 pesos. Lots of water and camping south of Cerro Purgatorio.<br /> There is an alternative route that's marked with white paint that is also marked in the OSM data. <br /> <br /> I started NOBO from El Melocoton. I took the exploratory route to Cerro Purgatorio. I have to report that there is no path to the summit from the south. The data and the OSM suggest that there is a path, but I only found rocks that I had to climb over and steep drops. I had to slide down to join the other trail as it was too dangerous to continue.<br /> <br /> The northern route to the summit is fine. But you'd have to go back the same way to rejoin the main PGT route.<br /> <br /> Comment Jan Dudeck: I removed the southern ascent to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio. Now only the the ascent from the west remains in the track files.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-11 to 2023-Nov-12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn '''<br /> <br /> - Gates : all were open, it was a Saturday<br /> <br /> - Water : all the water markers were correct, even more water present<br /> <br /> - Camping spot : km 29,4<br /> <br /> - Weather : cold and cloudy so not a problem for the first big ascent - there is an exceptional cold weather on the Santiago area this year<br /> <br /> - River crossing : 31,65 km (easy)<br /> <br /> - Overall : trail in good condition.Lots of stray dogs on the trail but really friendly.We combined section 1 &amp; 2.<br /> <br /> If you want to see some pictures of the sections and/or ask us some questions, you can find us on Instagram : @2funambules<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-19 to 2023-Feb-20 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Luisa &amp; Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Started in Ramon Supercaseaux 8200 directly at the gate. Pretty hot below 2000m, siesta highly recommended. A lot of bees around everywhere except pass-area. No water in the first spot after the pass, you'll find it about 1-2 kms ahead. A local said that water was cut up there. Weekend with many tourists in Estero El Sauce Valley. Good Kiosk at the valley entrance. Took us 2 days.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-04 / Hiking / SOBO / Option 1: Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> I really wanted to try the option through Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo. I took the bus MB-74 to Pirque. The last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W. There was a sign saying it is prohibited to enter, but some people told me I can pass. From there one can walk along the airport. Once you get to the main road, there is a locked gate, but the fence can be crawled under. I would recommend to take the standard route for cars, the walk was schorching. It was Sunday, I am not sure the other bus lines were in service. I have not seen them, MB74 seemed to be going once every twenty minutes or so for 900 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once on the standard route, I hitched a car going to the reserve, we put my backpack into the trunk, so the CONAF guards did not notice me at all and did not tell me anything. I had a reservation made online, there is a day limit of visitors. It cost 11500 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once in the reserve, I took the trail going west of the stream (so the stream was on my left hand going uphill). Nobody noticed me and then I have not met anybody for 4 days. The trail is fairly clear, one goes up along a stream up until around 1900 metres (up to the last recommended camp). From then on until the next other side of the mountain, there is no reliable water (I slept near a marsh around 2650m, but the water would not have been great).<br /> <br /> The route is quite attractive. Walking in the lower valley in the heat is really sweat inducing. It took me 1,5 days to go up to the border of the reserve, I was weak from not much sleep before and the heat. But also it is quite far and I have not started walking until six or so on the first day as I rested quite a few hours waiting for the heat to pass.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-24 to 2022-Nov-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + GPT01-F / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> We started the first section from the metro station at Puento Alto, which is also a good place to buy some missing supplies and water - mall with Lider shop is right next to the main square. The gate 1 at approx. km 12 opened after less than 15mins and some guy in a car let us in after explaining that we just want to pass and showing the map. The other gate not so far away from the entrance was opened. Following the main route, we spent the night in a nice camp place at km 19.5 with water available just few hundred meters before that (bridge, water 18.7). Keep in mind to carry enough water on the way to the pass! We met the next day 2 families at the bridge, water 29.7 that went there for camping. We decided to finish the section the next day, which was Staturday, and therefore as we were coming closer to the village we met a lot of day hikers at the GPT01-F. Before continuing to the section 2, we stopped to refresh ourselves at Kiosko Los Acacios, on the left side after the bridge on the main road (the other kiosk before the river was closed at the time). They have fried empanadas, amazing natural strawberry juice (jugo frutilla), yogurt with granola and some other small things, everything with reasonable prices.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-09 / Hiking / SOBO / Adrien Kunzli '''<br /> <br /> Start at the reserva natural de clarillo impossible even if i arrived at 8h30 am. No arrangement possible with the guard.<br /> I went by waking through the wasteland (many dogs be carefull but a good stone in the hand frightens them without worries) but Start at GPT01-B impossible : Big Electronic portal and no luck with cars.<br /> Start at GPT 01-03 by the optional tracks ok. After the school you take the left road and almost immediately you have to pass under a fence on the left with a little hole. <br /> Just after San José de Maipo the RR-MR-V (02) (3,6+0,4) at S33°41.069', W070°20.876' was denied to me by some conductors (private propriety). But te other optional road without passing the bridge works perfectly fine.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Okt-31 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannic &amp; Mirjam'''<br /> <br /> We traveled by metro to Puento Alto. Because the bus MB73 did not come (probably because of holiday) we took an Uber to Posta la Puntilla (much cheaper than to Puntilla Rural).<br /> Gate 1 closed, after waiting 2 minutes a car came.<br /> Gate 2 open on the right side.<br /> Water available at all marked spots. <br /> Nice campground with small swimming pool at the back of the small river at Camp 01 [4/29/1415].<br /> Several campsites on the river around El Melocoton.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2021 Nov-19 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&amp;Stiina'''<br /> <br /> We wanted to avoid the boring through-town and road walking so we took the micro-bus from Puente Alto to Puntilla Rural which only left us 2km of road walking. It’s a micro-bus MB73 and it goes right on the same street when you come out of the subway. It doesn’t have a stop so you just have to wave it down when you see it coming, ticket costs 750 pesos. After those 2km on the asphalt road we turned off to a minor road with an impassable gate which is normally closed, but luckily we only waited less than 10 min. and a car came and we just walked in, they didn’t ask us anything so it seemed alright. 2nd gate was open. Water sources were flowing well. Climb was brutal, super steep and very, very hot. We imagine this section could easily be walked a month earlier to avoid the baking in the furnace. Great views from the “Pass”. We camped at the “Bridge, Water” waypoint after the pass, nice place, but unfortunately we had lots of tiny, very hungry biting flies there. We saw a lot of campers in the valley before El Melocotón, which was a bit of a surprise, more than 20 tents, perhaps people enjoying nature on the weekend? We didn’t go in to El Melocotón but continued straight to GPT02. <br /> <br /> For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Nov-09 to 2021-Nov-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Marc Anthony '''<br /> <br /> Started afternoon on first day and arrived in melocotón same time next day. Took a taxi from Puento Alto metro station to the Plaza in Pirque, because I was advised against walking alone through Puente Alto by the locals. Quite a lot of mini shops with empenadas and other food when following the paved road from Pirque. When turning from the paved road onto the first minor road I encountered a big locked gate, which luckily opened because cars were driving through from the other side. After a couple of kilometers another locked gate appears but i walked around the right side and found a smaller open gate that I passed through. When the terrain starts getting steeper, I found it very hot to walk here during the afternoon. Definitely wouldn’t want to walk there in the middle of the day during summer. Also the section right before the mountain pass is very steep. Best to walk here during the morning when you’ll have the shadow of the mountain. Rest of the way was generally easy enough, carried plenty of water with me.<br /> <br /> Found a place called Posada Del Jinete in southern part of El Melocotón with Cabañas for 80.000 and hostal room with to beds for 40.000. Not the cheapest but didn’t find a lot of options nearby. The father and son who are running the place are nice people who can tell a lot about the area. Small tienda/café down the road from hostal with only basic supplies<br /> <br /> Started this section on November 9th. The gate at -33 36.774’ -070 30.027’ is locked. Didn’t find anybody around to ask, but it magically opened up behind me just as I was about to leave, because cars were coming through from the other side. Did see a couple more cars going the same direction as I walked on the minor road. Might be worth waiting around for some time to see if anyone will drive through?<br /> <br /> Found water in all expected places. Would recommend carrying a good amount with you on your way up onto the mountain pass, since this a very hot and steep section especially in the afternoon and it will be awhile before the next water source.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Nov-14 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ricardo Gold'''<br /> <br /> We tried both entrances to the gravel road. Both closed with big gates (RR @KM13). We did an alternative start from Pirque that it did work, but is a significant longer (but nice). I would suggest to review this segment as the two main entrances seems closed for good.<br /> <br /> After you get into the road is very straight forward, very easy to navigate. There is water in all expected points and I think they will last long into the summer. <br /> Indeed, it is very exposed, it will be hard to do in a sunny day, as it will be hot. Alternatively you can start really early or even do it partially at night as it is easy to navigate and not dangerous at all. <br /> <br /> The climb is pretty steep for a maintenance road. it is +20% for ~4km, so I suggest to tackle this section really early in the morning. There is a good water source just before starting and probably also a good camping ground.<br /> <br /> Next water source is ~14km after, but with also ~1000m of uphill, so be mindful of the time to get into there. Btw, this water source has a small cascate and pond that is great to jump in and refresh. Just walk ~10m into the upstream.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-03 to 2020-Jan-04 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank'''<br /> <br /> See transport section if you want to skip the first 13KM roadwalk. Midsummer is not the ideal time for GPT01 as it is very hot, there is little shade &amp; not much water. If you do walk there are several small shops on the road up to KM13.<br /> <br /> It was difficult to access the start. At KM 16.5 on the road, RR-PR-V@01-6.9+4.3 &amp; 700 metres further after the bridge, route sealed by two 15 foot high gates with spikes on top. No one there to ask to open them. Back on RR @ KM13, 2 locked gates. At OH-MR-V@01-A-#002 a resident let me through the locked gate. There is a new fence a little up the road that will probably close off this variant (I got in through a small unfinished section). It is very dry now so RR gates may be closed due to lack of water &amp; fire risk. The only water on RR until 14KM after the pass is on section RR-MR-V@01-16.3+7.8 marked Bridge, Water on GPX, making a camp @ the site 15 mins. walk above (marked Camp No Water) highly advisable. Look for the gas pipeline, route follows it most of the way. Kiosk with drinks &amp; snacks &amp; campsite on the route 3KM before Melocoton are open all week in midsummer, weekends only in low season. No need to go to Melocoton. Get bus to Santiago @ road junction 500 metres down the road after bridge over Rio Maipo<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-13 to 2019-Dec-17 / 5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 and GPT02 / Ian Hikes '''<br /> <br /> Overview: I decided to combine GPT 01 and 02 using the alternative route through Rio Clarillo National Reserve which is something I do recommend. You do have to pay $5.000 to enter the park. You then follow the river up to the pass where it joins the official route. The two sections are very open and exposed with wide open views across the mountains and high mountain passes. <br /> <br /> Difficulties: My biggest difficult in this section was the lack of water. There were many sections that were dry and, on many occasions, found me going 15-20km with water. I would suggest taking extra care planning out water resupply along the route. I usually took 2-4L of water at any given time in these two sections. Also this section is very remote and did not see anyone for 3 days.<br /> <br /> Highlights: High mountain passes and great open views (especially for sunrise and sunset)<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-27 / Hiking / SOBO / Family Size '''<br /> <br /> Locked gate with barbed wire (S 33° 36.795', W 070° 30.049') on the official route. Found someone at the gate up the road (S 33° 36.702', W 070° 29.640') who unlocked that one for me. He said the road behind is no private property, but it's always locked. After another gate (S 33° 37.141', W 070° 29.927'), with a hole on the right to climb climb through, this road connects back to the official route.<br /> <br /> There is plenty of water on the B alternet uphill. Almost at the top it tastes a bit like cow shit after filtering. There is a lot of OK water at the bottom of the downhill and quite a few tourists especially on weekends.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-17 to 2019-Nov-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Matus &amp; Anna'''<br /> <br /> We walked GPT01 in 2 days, including one nero day. We used uber to get to the trail, hope your driver won't be stupid enough to take shortcuts through slums :). There is a gate on the beginning of trail, after a &quot;discussion&quot; (we don't speak spanish) they let us go through. Climb was really hot, make sure you take enough water from the last source on the way up. There is water on the other side, but first marked water source didn't look the best. There is a river cutting a trail a bit down from that point. We stayed in a campsite on the begining of next section which was nice. They have really sticky ferral dogs there which we had a real problem to chase to not hike with us.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-11 to 2019-Nov-13 / 3 days / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo'''<br /> <br /> It took us 3 days as we started late in Santiago and arrived early in Melocoton. As it's still low season everything is shut down in Melocoton so we took the bus (which runs every 30 minutes) to San Alfonso, where we found nice cabañas and three small resupply tiendas.<br /> <br /> We went to Puente Alto and then Pirque by Uber. The drivers know where the protests take place and avoid those areas or areas which got recently destroyed.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Oct-27 / Alert / Jan Dudeck'''<br /> <br /> The Metro line 4 to Puente Alto is currently out of operation due to vandalism during the current protests. Check online for current the status and delete this alert once metro operation to Puente Alto resumes.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2018/19==<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-16 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin Lizondo'''<br /> <br /> Carry plenty of water on this section as water sources might dry out in early summer after all snow has molten.<br /> <br /> Puente Alto is not particular safe area of Santiago, so residents recommend not walking very early in the morning or at night through this outskirt of Santiago.<br /> Old entrance of regular route is closed by gate (S33° 37.320' W70° 32.182'). Better start from the public minor road and you won't have any problem (S33° 36.768' W70° 30.033'). The GPT Track File 2019 incorporates this change so follow the Regular Route if you use the current update.&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Carry as much water as possible just before ascending to the pass (S33° 38.394' W70° 27.191'). There won't be water until 14 km further, and it's not of good quality (S33° 41.000' W70° 23.100').<br /> <br /> Instead of deviating to El Melocotón, you can spend the night in Reserva Coyanco (camping, food, services), from where GPT02 starts. Just turn right at S33° 40.813' W70° 20.812'.<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-15 to 1018-Dec-16 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Austin Davis'''<br /> <br /> http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/<br /> <br /> ==Season 2017/18==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2016/17==<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / GPT02 &amp; GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo / Bethany Hughes, Lauren Reed'''<br /> <br /> https://her-odyssey.org/<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Jan / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo &amp; GPT02 / Gerald Klamer'''<br /> <br /> * '''http://geraldtrekkt.blogspot.com/2017/04/greater-patagonian-trail-1-santiago-coya.html'''<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> ==Start Regular Route: Santiago, Metro Station Puente Alto==<br /> <br /> Plaza De Puente Alto is an underground metro station and the southern terminal station of Line 4 of the Santiago Metro network. Underground trains run frequently between 6 am in the morning and 11 pm in the evening. <br /> <br /> Calculate 1 hour from the city centre to the terminal station Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto buses leave to most towns and villages in the Maipo valley and the surrounding area. (2019)<br /> <br /> If you don't want to walk the first 13KM of the regular route on the road then get bus MB73 from Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> ==Finish Regular Route: El Melocoton==<br /> <br /> See also [[GPT02]]<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following bus gets you to El Melocoton in the Maipo valley: Bus MB-72B<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate a bit over 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Start or Finish Option 1 (Rio Clarillo): Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo==<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following buses get you close to Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo: <br /> <br /> - Bus 978 towards Rio Clarillo (this is the best option, gets you the closest to the entrance to the reserve)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-74 towards El Principal De Pirque (last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-80 towards El Principal De Pirque<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to the regular route but a high gate was build in 2021. If the the gate at waypoint &quot;X, Gate {01} [11.2/787]&quot; is locked, continue 2.1 km on the main road and take Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio).<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Access into Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo is controlled by CONAF at the main entrance near Pirque. The park is intended for daytime visits only and does not provide camp grounds. Cooking inside the park is strictly banned including with camping stoves. A maximum of 800 persons are permitted entry on one day. CONAF park rangers might not permit a southbound traverse and all visitors are probably required to leave the park in the evening at the main gate. The entrance fee is 11,500 CLP (2022) for foreign nationals and 2000 to 4000 CLP for Chileans. The tickets needs to be bought online in advance and there is not cell coverage at the entrance to the reserve.<br /> <br /> A northbound traverse is probably free of charge. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio)==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio). No right-of-way conflicts reported yet. If the gate issue on the RR persists to cause problems and Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio) is recommended by more hikers then Option 2 may become the new Regular Route.<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT01 - Cerro Purgatorio]]<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[San Juan de Pirque - El Toyo]]<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[Río Clarillo]]<br /> <br /> National Park: http://www.conaf.cl/parques/reserva-nacional-rio-clarillo/<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> [[Archivo:gpt01 Cerro Purgatorio.jpg|View to the central Andes, by [http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/ Austin Davis]]]<br /> <br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (6).jpg|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 1]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT01_(Cerro_Purgatorio)&diff=120689 2025-03-11T12:32:24Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> <br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-27 to 2025-MAR-01 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Farah &amp; Jan​'''<br /> <br /> This was our last section of the GPT. For now…<br /> <br /> We did it in one full day and two relaxed half hiking days. Camped at S 33°38.4840’ W 70°26.9562’ and S 33°40.3236’ W 70°23.5408’<br /> <br /> The last 5 kilometers of the ascent are pretty steep, as is the first part of the descent. Ways are in good condition and easy to follow. There’s not much vegetation.<br /> <br /> Found more water sources than expected. Note that last winter had a lot of snow, so you can’t rely on these water sources in low or average snow years. Here are a few of them:<br /> &lt;br&gt;S 33°37.3970’ W 70°30.2264’<br /> S 33°37.8949’ W 70°29.4920’<br /> S 33°40.9963’ W 70°23.1090’<br /> S 33°40.3226’ W 70°23.5491’<br /> <br /> Like Arno we saw an incredible amount of wasps along the way, especially close to water sources. Unlike him we can’t confirm they do no harm. Farah got stung in her buttock, Jan in his penis. Be careful when peeing! Apart from that no incidents.<br /> <br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-11 &gt; 12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arno​​'''<br /> <br /> | Weather : sunny and hot<br /> | water : easy<br /> | snow : no<br /> | Interest : 2/5<br /> | Difficulty : 4/5<br /> | Danger : none<br /> <br /> The first part on the road is easy and with no interest.<br /> Then the ascent was pretty steep and hard with the hot weather.<br /> I camped at km 22 and finished the section the next day in the morning.<br /> Note that there were a lot of wasps everywhere I paused. They’re not offensive but can be annoying.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-07 to 2024-12-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT02/RR+OH 02A / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> At the parking lot, I registered. Men took my passport number, name, and phone number. He was very polite. I followed OH-02-A and camped near parking tables -33.70160,-70.34792. Nice spot. I crossed the river using an installed rope. Water -33.72155, -70.34409 okay. Near the next point with water -33.74121, -70.35340, there is a fence to cross. Camp at -33.76414,-70.36564 where there is water. Bushwacking was not so bad. Good spot with water -33.79940,-70.38691 and -33.80875,-70.387783 (22.9 km). Next spot -33.81168,-70.38791 with water. Camp at 27.5 km okay. I found a cave for camp -33.843384, -70.41605. I crossed the river many times without problems (my height is 164 cm). Next spot with water -33.894417,-79.39042. Still, there is field snow, so spikes for safety are needed. I have met nice workers of Minas - they offered me some food:) At the end, I was without water. At the point of the control near Minas (94.7 parking), there is a bar for workers of Minas. There is everything there even<br /> boiled eggs. They also allowed me to use their bathroom. In Coya, I have spent the night in Casa Roja near Ferreteria. I also tried sandwiches in the Catalan Bar - excellent.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-04 to 2024-12-05 / 1.5 day / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01/RR+OH 01-03A+OH 01-03+RR / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> Starting OH 01-03A was complicated. I crossed the barbed fence and couldn’t find the river crossing at point -33.64140, -70.42944. I spent the night there and returned a little bit the next day to take the regular route.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-01-03 to 2024-01-04 / 1.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR and Variants F / Elijah &amp; Michael ​​'''<br /> <br /> Very hot weather, over 30°. Water is available along the river from -33.62292, -70.50342 to bridge 18.7/1302. Thereafter only at waypoints.<br /> <br /> Water not directly accessible from campsite 29.4/1415, had to walk to following bridge (29.7/1389). Bridge had possible room to camp.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-NOV-27 &gt; 28 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT01+GPT02+GPT03<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : non<br /> | Intérêt : 1/5<br /> | Difficulté : 5/5<br /> | Danger : Autorisations de passage<br /> <br /> La premier partie est routière et ne presente aucun interet. J'ai essayé de sortir de la route mais me suis retrouvé face a des portails fermés aux points (-33,6223657, -70,5335623) puis (-33,6129744, -70,5007311) pour enfin trouver un portail ouvert (-33,6110383, -70,4943554) car il y avait des travaux en amont. J'ai monté une pente tres raide en suivant une canalisation, puis j'ai suivi un bisse pour retrouver le sentier. La montée etait tres dure car le soleil tapait fort que je n'avais pas encore mes jambes pour cette premiere etape. J'ai campé juste avant le point haut de l'etape, pret d'un petit ruisseau. Le lendemain la descente etait facile.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-NOV-20 to 2024-NOV-21 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. A,C,D) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> We started our hike in the afternoon from the final metro station at Puente Alto. At the high gate with cameras at the beginning of Variant A, there was a car. After waiting a few minutes, the car drove through, and a kind man allowed us to pass as well. We spent the first night at the camp at km 16.2 . On the second day, it was very hot, which we especially felt during the climb to the pass [24.7 km]. The water marked in the files was indeed available there. In the evening, we reached El Melocotón. The store was officially open until 8:00 PM, but the owner was kind enough to keep it open longer for the people arriving late.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-11-17 to 2024-11-19, 2,5 days, SOBO, gpt00?/01opt5? - Volker'''<br /> <br /> I took the route Tomas suggested and highly recommend it to everyone new on the gpt and early in the season (check your gear, device/s, body on a very scenic route (95% TR, 3%CC, 2%MR); in summer probably very hot, in mid-november it was already quite warm in the lower parts).<br /> The bus C02 does not bring you to the parque San Ramon (1km walk approx. in upper middle-class area), but C37 does. The gate was open, nobody there at 14 p.m. on a sunday. Last person I met was 30 min. before the waterfall. All descriptions of Tomas correct. <br /> If you start late 2 p.m,) as I did, either camp at the waterfall or make sure to take enough water to camp 15min before you reach the 2nd river. The way down is steep and slippery. If you start early you will reach water at 2200 m and camp sites before or at the pass. <br /> Up there very windy, but not too cold, protected camp site 10 min after you reach the pass. Part of the path covered by snow, you can bypass it on the eastern side. Ridge to Cerro San Ramon under snow, probably not to difficult (if you have crampons). 1 steep snowfield on the way down (I used it to try my mini spikes, which was not necessary in the early afternoon, but in the morning you will be very glad to have them). Camped not far from the puesto, didn‘t see anyone, just horses and barking dogs. The path to Rio Maipo valley crosses the river 8 times, fords mostly easy (though 2 far over my knees (1,97m), but one quite hard (I did. 15 min of CC and BB to find a place upwards)). Last 30 min MR. The road ends at a high gate (3m), no way around, the man in the container told me to take another way. I asked a local not far from there, he promised to help, told me to wait at the gate, in 3 min he arrived with his car and drove me down to El Manzano. I just got out of the car, when on the other side of the road a bus driving EABO stopped, I jumped in and got out at El Melocoton to continue with gpt 02 .<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-10/Lukas &amp; Tabea &amp; Basil'''<br /> Gate was open<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Lukas &amp; Sarah'''<br /> <br /> Started from Puente Alto.<br /> Gate Variant A closed.<br /> Gate at 11.3km was open.<br /> Water present at all waypoints.<br /> Camped at Camp 16.09.<br /> You can find a horsepath down to te river with a nice pool for swimming whenwalking a bit backwards.<br /> Next Camp at Bridge Water 29.7. Also really nice for swimming. <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 via new Route:<br /> In the corner at -33.68293, -70.34715, turn on the horsepath. We therefore skipped Gate at 02 and walked out at -33.69654, -70.35062 and walked directly to the river crossing of Variant A. <br /> The horsepath around the hill is in good condition but difficult to find.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-02 / 2 days / Hiking / RR / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Gate at 11.3km was open, presumably because it was a public holiday.<br /> <br /> Water present at all waypoints<br /> <br /> Water at 23.9km just before the pass<br /> <br /> Camped just before pass at 22.7km<br /> <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 so can't comment resupply options<br /> <br /> * '''2024-10-30 to 2024-11-01 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR -a- RR / Karin'''<br /> <br /> The gate at the start of option a was closed when I arrived and did not look easily climbable. After a few minutes a car came and opened the gate. The driver didn't say anything to me so I went through the gate after him. <br /> <br /> The pass was without snow, the water point indicated had all water.<br /> <br /> The bridge [29.7/1389] is non existend (due to the winter?), but the rivers are easy to be crossed. <br /> <br /> There were a lot of small and really annoying flies (I don't think they are tabanos, mainly because they are small, it is a dry area...). They were flying into the face and biting specially near the eyes. Putting a branch on the backpack did not help. I ended up covering my face to have some peace.<br /> <br /> '''Note that in summer 2024, a new option 02 was inserted and the original options 2 and 3 increased their numbering.'''<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> * '''24-Mar-09 to 2024-Mar-11 / 42 hours / Hiking / SOBO / GPT00?, GPT01, option 5? / Tomáš'''<br /> Not sure if on topic as it is technically east of Santiago and not south (but also not north!), but I thought I would share anyway. A nice trail that can be done around Santiago while waiting around. In my opinion, it also better fullfils &quot;starting from Santiago on foot&quot;, as the current start involves quite a long stretch from Puente Alto on road. Here you start walking 100 m from bus stop (C-02, every ten minutes or so from Los Dominicos) integrated into Santiago's public transport system, or 5 km from Los Domincos terminus of the red metro line (but really, why would you not take the bus?). [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1765972160575329/ Pictures].<br /> <br /> The entrance is 3500 CLP, in office hours. No problems having a backapack entering at 1300 when explaining the route (San Ramon to El Manzano). Early in the morning or late in the evening, there is an always-open door next to the gate. Going up to the ridge, there are several variants; I went to the pass just south of Morro las Papas and traversed more or less horizontaly to Salto de Apoquindo. After Patagonia proper, it is funny that such a small waterfall even honours a name. There is a (compostable?) toilet at the waterfall and one could camp there, but it is probably illegal and when I was there, a helicopter kept humming around - maybe it was looking for fires? Late camp and early rise would probably work though. Past this point, you are unlikely to meet anyone (up to there I only met ten people even though it was Saturday). The trail from there to the ridge is more or less clear for GPT standards. Last probably reliable water is around 2230 m of altitude.<br /> <br /> Camped at about 2800 in the pass south of Morro Tamber, the night was windless and warm. Starting late - at noon -, I then went to Cerro San Ramon (up to here everything is on OSM). Took me 2 leisurely hours. The ridge walk is easy and the path is clear. To my surprise, I was there alone on a Sunday afternoon, just with one quite cheeky bird. I went to Punta de Damas and back and then down to Las Manzanas. The path down from the Refuge San Ramones is marked in blue and mostly visible, just a section near the puesto at 2200 m is cross-country. I reached the stream in the valley when darkness fell, walked two hours almost to the end of it to catch my flight, saw some people camping/having a fire. In the morning I got up at six and had to climb over two fences to get out. It has opening times (no longer remember which, but fairly long) and the price was about 8000 for entry, not sure if they would demand something in case of SOBO travers. There seem to be some walk-arounds in OSM (added afterwards by yours truly basde on strava heatmap). The whole trail is in OSM now and also as of 2024 is part of &quot;Not yet incorporated change proposals&quot; of the GPT files, for viewing in Google Earth.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-17/ 2.5 days / SOBO / RR / Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> I took the metro to the last stop, Puente Alto, and started walking from there. The days were extremely hot and there were a lot of tabanero attacks. I waited a few minutes at the closed gate at 11,2 until a car came out. I asked the driver if I could go through, but he said that it was a private area and I wasn't allowed through. When he was gone, I saw that the gate was not completely closed. I was able to reach inside with my arm and open a door in the gate from the inside. There was regular traffic on the road behind it, but everyone just greeted me back in a friendly manner. Might be best just to wait until it opens and then walk through confidentially without asking. The water indicators were correct. Camps: 19.5/1433 (no water), 29.7/1389 (water and small pools, quite nice). Take enough water for the pass at 18.7/1302! No shadow and very hot. After 29.7/1389 there is water a few times and an increasing number of day trippers. Overnight stay in San José de Maipo in the Hostal Maipo for 20k, otherwise no guests, bathroom and fridge dirty and room stuffy, but large kitchen, nice host, lounge and central location with supermarket and bus stop next door. For GPT2 bus to El Melocotón at 7.30am, but get off at the crossroads by the bridge over the Rio Maipo before town.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-8 to 2024-Jan-9/ 1.5 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Tanja'''<br /> <br /> Took same route as Matthias (Filo Purgatorio via the ridge). Not much to add apart from: it’s very hot and there’s no water up there anymore. First stream coming down was at 33.67175, 70.39274<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-24 to 2023-Dec-25 / 2 days / SOBO / RR and variant E / Matthieu'''<br /> <br /> Nice hike to begin with GPT, no particular mountain difficulties. I began in Pirque after taking the buq MB74 at bellavista de la florida. <br /> <br /> Variant : I followed chileans hikers on variant E to the nothern bank of the river el sauce (sendero estero el sauce on OSM, easily followed with the GPS). Seems funnier than the RR, you cross a nice pool. You have other trails to go down at the river and enjoy on the way.<br /> <br /> All water markers are correct. Remember to bring enough water for the pass at water 18,7, it's really hot up there. Water 29,7 very good stream.<br /> <br /> The end of the trail after is a big web of trail along the el sauce river, with places to bath and camp. So the water is not rare. Lots of hikers when I was there (25 december). <br /> <br /> Camp : at bridge water 18.7.<br /> Seems like lots of nice places after water 29,7 when you explore along the river. <br /> <br /> Gate 11,2 : Not possible to go around, electrical and fence. It was opened by a person in a car after 5 minutes waiting. No question about my passage. I then crossed roads with an arriero with horses and another car, on 24th december. Seems like this trail is crowded, so the gate seems not to be a problem with patience. <br /> <br /> The other gate is only for cars, way to go around as a hiker. <br /> <br /> Other : crossed a snake in the middle of the trail. See my section 2 post for more infos.<br /> A very tiny scorpion near my tent in the morning... put some shoes when you go for a pee at night ! <br /> <br /> No river crossings issues<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-5 to 2023-Dec-6/ 2 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Matthias'''<br /> <br /> I started option 2 right from the school (San Juan Oriente). Camp spots on the way to the ridge if you start late in Santiago. Took the route to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio (option 2 - variant B). <br /> <br /> From the summit I continued the ridge southwards (OH-CC-A {01-02B}). That’s a wonderful alpine (I mean andine 😅) cross-country hiking route mostly on steep scree or rock ledge (Schrofen in German), difficulty according to SAC hiking scale T4, I’d guess. No real clambering necessary, hands only occasionally needed for support. The descent from the summit gives you a good impression of the difficulty, it will not become more difficult. Mostly I did not walk directly on the rocky ridge but on the western slope.<br /> <br /> Camped right on the ridge at ca. 33°38'30'' 70°24'47''. Beautiful sunset and sunrise.<br /> <br /> On the descent to GPT02 there is a marked trail (white markers) on the last kms. One can follow that path instead of RR where variant F comes in and avoid the walk on MR. When the path comes to a fence turn right and you’ll hit the RR again.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-15-18 / 72 hours / Hiking / nobo / Option 02, ridge, option 02 / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> Apart from Option 02, I did not actually follow any existing GPT track but the approach has since been added as option 2. [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1715267058979173/ Pictures] I started at the southmost stop of bus MB-74. The bus actually detours to some sidestreets and then comes back the same way again, so do not get off too early. You should be able to start from here: 33.7277389S, 70.5544877W. Just before the bridge, there is a locked gate. Some cars were passing though and let me through, just told me not to make fire. If the gate is locked, use the bridge 200 m downstream and go in the riverbank for 200 northwards - it is dry. There is another gate where the sideroad splits from the road that is still on OSM, roughly here: 33.7412080S, 70.5586867W. Again somobody opened it for me but this one could have been climbed easily.<br /> <br /> The trail is both easily visible on satelite and Strava heatmap. First 2 km it is a road, then a worse road that transforms to path branches to the left to rejoin the road where another gate is - this cca 5 km part is flat. One then follows the fence on a steep slope until 100 m higher one rejoins very clear path. I am sure there is a better way than I took but it was still easy enough. From there a very clear trail goes all the way up to cca Cerro los Crystalles. Met a group of seven people on motorbikes who went up and down in a day. No water until about 2500 m. On Facebook group.<br /> <br /> From the ridge, one could easily follow on GPT02 but I was interested in the ridge between RR and Option 3 roughly from here: 33.8464060S, 70.4211017W to Cerro los Purgatorio through Cerros Loma del Diablo, San Roque and Cruzada Las Hormigas. From the coordinates above, there is a trail that follows the ridge for a few km. Once it starts going down, I traversed back to the ridge. Better would have been to go over the hill than traversing. The ridge can be followed, there is a path that comes and goes so it is a mix of TR and CC. Going down from San Roque is a bit tricky, one needs to sidetrack from the ridge at one point and maybe use a hand here and there. Another a bit challenging part is just before the final ascent to Cruzada Las Hormingas. It is abit exposed in those parts but not too much. In SAC scale, somewhere around 4 or five, but out of 20 km of the ridge, this is only about 1 km at most. And I do not claim to have found the best route, I think some of the clambering parts that were never vertical could probably have been sidetracked.<br /> <br /> This time of the year, even on the ridge I crossed a stream with water three times (I added the streams to OSM), very roughly at km 11, 17 and 20 (this one being on the RR). Only saw cows and condors.<br /> <br /> I then crossed the RR and went on option 02, the ridge walk to Cerro Purgatorio. I would say it is SAC 4 (somewhat easier than the ridge), I used hands but it was very easy and not exposed at all. Descent from Cerro Purgatorio was surprisingly beautiful with all the flowers (which were there all over the ridge too). Even going down, from about 1500, the heat was really strong. Would not recommend any of this from early January till end of february given there might be very little water. Perfect for December and earlier. I hope the ridgewalk is added to GPT. Every day, I would be able to get enough cell phone coverage to receive e-mails and chats but not much more.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-06 / 1 day / Hiking / sobo / RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> I took uber from Providencia to the gate, about 20000CLP and 1hour.<br /> <br /> The gate is locked at 10am on Wednesday. Luckily after 5min a young man drive out and open the gate, he didn't said anything and let me go inside.<br /> Hot but more water resources that i think before, a small grassy stream is still flowing just before the pass 800m, lot of tadpoles swimming inside too.<br /> <br /> Long way going down with rocky dirt road, didn't see any people all the way to the end.<br /> After you join the trail in valley, lot of camping spots you can find.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-17 to 2023-Nov-19 / 1,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR &amp; OH / Jens'''<br /> <br /> In Melocoton I had to cross private property. The guy charged me 2000 pesos. Lots of water and camping south of Cerro Purgatorio.<br /> There is an alternative route that's marked with white paint that is also marked in the OSM data. <br /> <br /> I started NOBO from El Melocoton. I took the exploratory route to Cerro Purgatorio. I have to report that there is no path to the summit from the south. The data and the OSM suggest that there is a path, but I only found rocks that I had to climb over and steep drops. I had to slide down to join the other trail as it was too dangerous to continue.<br /> <br /> The northern route to the summit is fine. But you'd have to go back the same way to rejoin the main PGT route.<br /> <br /> Comment Jan Dudeck: I removed the southern ascent to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio. Now only the the ascent from the west remains in the track files.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-11 to 2023-Nov-12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn '''<br /> <br /> - Gates : all were open, it was a Saturday<br /> <br /> - Water : all the water markers were correct, even more water present<br /> <br /> - Camping spot : km 29,4<br /> <br /> - Weather : cold and cloudy so not a problem for the first big ascent - there is an exceptional cold weather on the Santiago area this year<br /> <br /> - River crossing : 31,65 km (easy)<br /> <br /> - Overall : trail in good condition.Lots of stray dogs on the trail but really friendly.We combined section 1 &amp; 2.<br /> <br /> If you want to see some pictures of the sections and/or ask us some questions, you can find us on Instagram : @2funambules<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-19 to 2023-Feb-20 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Luisa &amp; Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Started in Ramon Supercaseaux 8200 directly at the gate. Pretty hot below 2000m, siesta highly recommended. A lot of bees around everywhere except pass-area. No water in the first spot after the pass, you'll find it about 1-2 kms ahead. A local said that water was cut up there. Weekend with many tourists in Estero El Sauce Valley. Good Kiosk at the valley entrance. Took us 2 days.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-04 / Hiking / SOBO / Option 1: Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> I really wanted to try the option through Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo. I took the bus MB-74 to Pirque. The last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W. There was a sign saying it is prohibited to enter, but some people told me I can pass. From there one can walk along the airport. Once you get to the main road, there is a locked gate, but the fence can be crawled under. I would recommend to take the standard route for cars, the walk was schorching. It was Sunday, I am not sure the other bus lines were in service. I have not seen them, MB74 seemed to be going once every twenty minutes or so for 900 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once on the standard route, I hitched a car going to the reserve, we put my backpack into the trunk, so the CONAF guards did not notice me at all and did not tell me anything. I had a reservation made online, there is a day limit of visitors. It cost 11500 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once in the reserve, I took the trail going west of the stream (so the stream was on my left hand going uphill). Nobody noticed me and then I have not met anybody for 4 days. The trail is fairly clear, one goes up along a stream up until around 1900 metres (up to the last recommended camp). From then on until the next other side of the mountain, there is no reliable water (I slept near a marsh around 2650m, but the water would not have been great).<br /> <br /> The route is quite attractive. Walking in the lower valley in the heat is really sweat inducing. It took me 1,5 days to go up to the border of the reserve, I was weak from not much sleep before and the heat. But also it is quite far and I have not started walking until six or so on the first day as I rested quite a few hours waiting for the heat to pass.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-24 to 2022-Nov-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + GPT01-F / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> We started the first section from the metro station at Puento Alto, which is also a good place to buy some missing supplies and water - mall with Lider shop is right next to the main square. The gate 1 at approx. km 12 opened after less than 15mins and some guy in a car let us in after explaining that we just want to pass and showing the map. The other gate not so far away from the entrance was opened. Following the main route, we spent the night in a nice camp place at km 19.5 with water available just few hundred meters before that (bridge, water 18.7). Keep in mind to carry enough water on the way to the pass! We met the next day 2 families at the bridge, water 29.7 that went there for camping. We decided to finish the section the next day, which was Staturday, and therefore as we were coming closer to the village we met a lot of day hikers at the GPT01-F. Before continuing to the section 2, we stopped to refresh ourselves at Kiosko Los Acacios, on the left side after the bridge on the main road (the other kiosk before the river was closed at the time). They have fried empanadas, amazing natural strawberry juice (jugo frutilla), yogurt with granola and some other small things, everything with reasonable prices.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-09 / Hiking / SOBO / Adrien Kunzli '''<br /> <br /> Start at the reserva natural de clarillo impossible even if i arrived at 8h30 am. No arrangement possible with the guard.<br /> I went by waking through the wasteland (many dogs be carefull but a good stone in the hand frightens them without worries) but Start at GPT01-B impossible : Big Electronic portal and no luck with cars.<br /> Start at GPT 01-03 by the optional tracks ok. After the school you take the left road and almost immediately you have to pass under a fence on the left with a little hole. <br /> Just after San José de Maipo the RR-MR-V (02) (3,6+0,4) at S33°41.069', W070°20.876' was denied to me by some conductors (private propriety). But te other optional road without passing the bridge works perfectly fine.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Okt-31 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannic &amp; Mirjam'''<br /> <br /> We traveled by metro to Puento Alto. Because the bus MB73 did not come (probably because of holiday) we took an Uber to Posta la Puntilla (much cheaper than to Puntilla Rural).<br /> Gate 1 closed, after waiting 2 minutes a car came.<br /> Gate 2 open on the right side.<br /> Water available at all marked spots. <br /> Nice campground with small swimming pool at the back of the small river at Camp 01 [4/29/1415].<br /> Several campsites on the river around El Melocoton.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2021 Nov-19 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&amp;Stiina'''<br /> <br /> We wanted to avoid the boring through-town and road walking so we took the micro-bus from Puente Alto to Puntilla Rural which only left us 2km of road walking. It’s a micro-bus MB73 and it goes right on the same street when you come out of the subway. It doesn’t have a stop so you just have to wave it down when you see it coming, ticket costs 750 pesos. After those 2km on the asphalt road we turned off to a minor road with an impassable gate which is normally closed, but luckily we only waited less than 10 min. and a car came and we just walked in, they didn’t ask us anything so it seemed alright. 2nd gate was open. Water sources were flowing well. Climb was brutal, super steep and very, very hot. We imagine this section could easily be walked a month earlier to avoid the baking in the furnace. Great views from the “Pass”. We camped at the “Bridge, Water” waypoint after the pass, nice place, but unfortunately we had lots of tiny, very hungry biting flies there. We saw a lot of campers in the valley before El Melocotón, which was a bit of a surprise, more than 20 tents, perhaps people enjoying nature on the weekend? We didn’t go in to El Melocotón but continued straight to GPT02. <br /> <br /> For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Nov-09 to 2021-Nov-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Marc Anthony '''<br /> <br /> Started afternoon on first day and arrived in melocotón same time next day. Took a taxi from Puento Alto metro station to the Plaza in Pirque, because I was advised against walking alone through Puente Alto by the locals. Quite a lot of mini shops with empenadas and other food when following the paved road from Pirque. When turning from the paved road onto the first minor road I encountered a big locked gate, which luckily opened because cars were driving through from the other side. After a couple of kilometers another locked gate appears but i walked around the right side and found a smaller open gate that I passed through. When the terrain starts getting steeper, I found it very hot to walk here during the afternoon. Definitely wouldn’t want to walk there in the middle of the day during summer. Also the section right before the mountain pass is very steep. Best to walk here during the morning when you’ll have the shadow of the mountain. Rest of the way was generally easy enough, carried plenty of water with me.<br /> <br /> Found a place called Posada Del Jinete in southern part of El Melocotón with Cabañas for 80.000 and hostal room with to beds for 40.000. Not the cheapest but didn’t find a lot of options nearby. The father and son who are running the place are nice people who can tell a lot about the area. Small tienda/café down the road from hostal with only basic supplies<br /> <br /> Started this section on November 9th. The gate at -33 36.774’ -070 30.027’ is locked. Didn’t find anybody around to ask, but it magically opened up behind me just as I was about to leave, because cars were coming through from the other side. Did see a couple more cars going the same direction as I walked on the minor road. Might be worth waiting around for some time to see if anyone will drive through?<br /> <br /> Found water in all expected places. Would recommend carrying a good amount with you on your way up onto the mountain pass, since this a very hot and steep section especially in the afternoon and it will be awhile before the next water source.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Nov-14 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ricardo Gold'''<br /> <br /> We tried both entrances to the gravel road. Both closed with big gates (RR @KM13). We did an alternative start from Pirque that it did work, but is a significant longer (but nice). I would suggest to review this segment as the two main entrances seems closed for good.<br /> <br /> After you get into the road is very straight forward, very easy to navigate. There is water in all expected points and I think they will last long into the summer. <br /> Indeed, it is very exposed, it will be hard to do in a sunny day, as it will be hot. Alternatively you can start really early or even do it partially at night as it is easy to navigate and not dangerous at all. <br /> <br /> The climb is pretty steep for a maintenance road. it is +20% for ~4km, so I suggest to tackle this section really early in the morning. There is a good water source just before starting and probably also a good camping ground.<br /> <br /> Next water source is ~14km after, but with also ~1000m of uphill, so be mindful of the time to get into there. Btw, this water source has a small cascate and pond that is great to jump in and refresh. Just walk ~10m into the upstream.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-03 to 2020-Jan-04 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank'''<br /> <br /> See transport section if you want to skip the first 13KM roadwalk. Midsummer is not the ideal time for GPT01 as it is very hot, there is little shade &amp; not much water. If you do walk there are several small shops on the road up to KM13.<br /> <br /> It was difficult to access the start. At KM 16.5 on the road, RR-PR-V@01-6.9+4.3 &amp; 700 metres further after the bridge, route sealed by two 15 foot high gates with spikes on top. No one there to ask to open them. Back on RR @ KM13, 2 locked gates. At OH-MR-V@01-A-#002 a resident let me through the locked gate. There is a new fence a little up the road that will probably close off this variant (I got in through a small unfinished section). It is very dry now so RR gates may be closed due to lack of water &amp; fire risk. The only water on RR until 14KM after the pass is on section RR-MR-V@01-16.3+7.8 marked Bridge, Water on GPX, making a camp @ the site 15 mins. walk above (marked Camp No Water) highly advisable. Look for the gas pipeline, route follows it most of the way. Kiosk with drinks &amp; snacks &amp; campsite on the route 3KM before Melocoton are open all week in midsummer, weekends only in low season. No need to go to Melocoton. Get bus to Santiago @ road junction 500 metres down the road after bridge over Rio Maipo<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-13 to 2019-Dec-17 / 5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 and GPT02 / Ian Hikes '''<br /> <br /> Overview: I decided to combine GPT 01 and 02 using the alternative route through Rio Clarillo National Reserve which is something I do recommend. You do have to pay $5.000 to enter the park. You then follow the river up to the pass where it joins the official route. The two sections are very open and exposed with wide open views across the mountains and high mountain passes. <br /> <br /> Difficulties: My biggest difficult in this section was the lack of water. There were many sections that were dry and, on many occasions, found me going 15-20km with water. I would suggest taking extra care planning out water resupply along the route. I usually took 2-4L of water at any given time in these two sections. Also this section is very remote and did not see anyone for 3 days.<br /> <br /> Highlights: High mountain passes and great open views (especially for sunrise and sunset)<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-27 / Hiking / SOBO / Family Size '''<br /> <br /> Locked gate with barbed wire (S 33° 36.795', W 070° 30.049') on the official route. Found someone at the gate up the road (S 33° 36.702', W 070° 29.640') who unlocked that one for me. He said the road behind is no private property, but it's always locked. After another gate (S 33° 37.141', W 070° 29.927'), with a hole on the right to climb climb through, this road connects back to the official route.<br /> <br /> There is plenty of water on the B alternet uphill. Almost at the top it tastes a bit like cow shit after filtering. There is a lot of OK water at the bottom of the downhill and quite a few tourists especially on weekends.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-17 to 2019-Nov-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Matus &amp; Anna'''<br /> <br /> We walked GPT01 in 2 days, including one nero day. We used uber to get to the trail, hope your driver won't be stupid enough to take shortcuts through slums :). There is a gate on the beginning of trail, after a &quot;discussion&quot; (we don't speak spanish) they let us go through. Climb was really hot, make sure you take enough water from the last source on the way up. There is water on the other side, but first marked water source didn't look the best. There is a river cutting a trail a bit down from that point. We stayed in a campsite on the begining of next section which was nice. They have really sticky ferral dogs there which we had a real problem to chase to not hike with us.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-11 to 2019-Nov-13 / 3 days / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo'''<br /> <br /> It took us 3 days as we started late in Santiago and arrived early in Melocoton. As it's still low season everything is shut down in Melocoton so we took the bus (which runs every 30 minutes) to San Alfonso, where we found nice cabañas and three small resupply tiendas.<br /> <br /> We went to Puente Alto and then Pirque by Uber. The drivers know where the protests take place and avoid those areas or areas which got recently destroyed.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Oct-27 / Alert / Jan Dudeck'''<br /> <br /> The Metro line 4 to Puente Alto is currently out of operation due to vandalism during the current protests. Check online for current the status and delete this alert once metro operation to Puente Alto resumes.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2018/19==<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-16 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin Lizondo'''<br /> <br /> Carry plenty of water on this section as water sources might dry out in early summer after all snow has molten.<br /> <br /> Puente Alto is not particular safe area of Santiago, so residents recommend not walking very early in the morning or at night through this outskirt of Santiago.<br /> Old entrance of regular route is closed by gate (S33° 37.320' W70° 32.182'). Better start from the public minor road and you won't have any problem (S33° 36.768' W70° 30.033'). The GPT Track File 2019 incorporates this change so follow the Regular Route if you use the current update.&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Carry as much water as possible just before ascending to the pass (S33° 38.394' W70° 27.191'). There won't be water until 14 km further, and it's not of good quality (S33° 41.000' W70° 23.100').<br /> <br /> Instead of deviating to El Melocotón, you can spend the night in Reserva Coyanco (camping, food, services), from where GPT02 starts. Just turn right at S33° 40.813' W70° 20.812'.<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-15 to 1018-Dec-16 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Austin Davis'''<br /> <br /> http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/<br /> <br /> ==Season 2017/18==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2016/17==<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / GPT02 &amp; GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo / Bethany Hughes, Lauren Reed'''<br /> <br /> https://her-odyssey.org/<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Jan / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo &amp; GPT02 / Gerald Klamer'''<br /> <br /> * '''http://geraldtrekkt.blogspot.com/2017/04/greater-patagonian-trail-1-santiago-coya.html'''<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> ==Start Regular Route: Santiago, Metro Station Puente Alto==<br /> <br /> Plaza De Puente Alto is an underground metro station and the southern terminal station of Line 4 of the Santiago Metro network. Underground trains run frequently between 6 am in the morning and 11 pm in the evening. <br /> <br /> Calculate 1 hour from the city centre to the terminal station Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto buses leave to most towns and villages in the Maipo valley and the surrounding area. (2019)<br /> <br /> If you don't want to walk the first 13KM of the regular route on the road then get bus MB73 from Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> ==Finish Regular Route: El Melocoton==<br /> <br /> See also [[GPT02]]<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following bus gets you to El Melocoton in the Maipo valley: Bus MB-72B<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate a bit over 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Start or Finish Option 1 (Rio Clarillo): Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo==<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following buses get you close to Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo: <br /> <br /> - Bus 978 towards Rio Clarillo (this is the best option, gets you the closest to the entrance to the reserve)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-74 towards El Principal De Pirque (last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-80 towards El Principal De Pirque<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to the regular route but a high gate was build in 2021. If the the gate at waypoint &quot;X, Gate {01} [11.2/787]&quot; is locked, continue 2.1 km on the main road and take Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio).<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Access into Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo is controlled by CONAF at the main entrance near Pirque. The park is intended for daytime visits only and does not provide camp grounds. Cooking inside the park is strictly banned including with camping stoves. A maximum of 800 persons are permitted entry on one day. CONAF park rangers might not permit a southbound traverse and all visitors are probably required to leave the park in the evening at the main gate. The entrance fee is 11,500 CLP (2022) for foreign nationals and 2000 to 4000 CLP for Chileans. The tickets needs to be bought online in advance and there is not cell coverage at the entrance to the reserve.<br /> <br /> A northbound traverse is probably free of charge. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio)==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio). No right-of-way conflicts reported yet. If the gate issue on the RR persists to cause problems and Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio) is recommended by more hikers then Option 2 may become the new Regular Route.<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT01 - Cerro Purgatorio]]<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[San Juan de Pirque - El Toyo]]<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[Río Clarillo]]<br /> <br /> National Park: http://www.conaf.cl/parques/reserva-nacional-rio-clarillo/<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> [[Archivo:gpt01 Cerro Purgatorio.jpg|View to the central Andes, by [http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/ Austin Davis]]]<br /> <br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (6).jpg|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 1]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT01_(Cerro_Purgatorio)&diff=120688 2025-03-11T12:31:28Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> <br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-27 to 2025-MAR-01 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Farah &amp; Jan​'''<br /> <br /> This was our last section of the GPT. For now…<br /> <br /> We did it in one full day and two relaxed half hiking days. Camped at S 33°38.4840’ W 70°26.9562’ and S 33°40.3236’ W 70°23.5408’<br /> <br /> The last 5 kilometers of the ascent are pretty steep, as is the first part of the descent. Ways are in good condition and easy to follow. There’s not much vegetation.<br /> <br /> Found more water sources than expected. Note that last winter had a lot of snow, so you can’t rely on these water sources in low or average snow years. Here are a few of them:<br /> S 33°37.3970’ W 70°30.2264’<br /> S 33°37.8949’ W 70°29.4920’<br /> S 33°40.9963’ W 70°23.1090’<br /> S 33°40.3226’ W 70°23.5491’<br /> <br /> Like Arno we saw an incredible amount of wasps along the way, especially close to water sources. Unlike him we can’t confirm they do no harm. Farah got stung in her buttock, Jan in his penis. Be careful when peeing! Apart from that no incidents.<br /> <br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-11 &gt; 12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arno​​'''<br /> <br /> | Weather : sunny and hot<br /> | water : easy<br /> | snow : no<br /> | Interest : 2/5<br /> | Difficulty : 4/5<br /> | Danger : none<br /> <br /> The first part on the road is easy and with no interest.<br /> Then the ascent was pretty steep and hard with the hot weather.<br /> I camped at km 22 and finished the section the next day in the morning.<br /> Note that there were a lot of wasps everywhere I paused. They’re not offensive but can be annoying.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-07 to 2024-12-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT02/RR+OH 02A / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> At the parking lot, I registered. Men took my passport number, name, and phone number. He was very polite. I followed OH-02-A and camped near parking tables -33.70160,-70.34792. Nice spot. I crossed the river using an installed rope. Water -33.72155, -70.34409 okay. Near the next point with water -33.74121, -70.35340, there is a fence to cross. Camp at -33.76414,-70.36564 where there is water. Bushwacking was not so bad. Good spot with water -33.79940,-70.38691 and -33.80875,-70.387783 (22.9 km). Next spot -33.81168,-70.38791 with water. Camp at 27.5 km okay. I found a cave for camp -33.843384, -70.41605. I crossed the river many times without problems (my height is 164 cm). Next spot with water -33.894417,-79.39042. Still, there is field snow, so spikes for safety are needed. I have met nice workers of Minas - they offered me some food:) At the end, I was without water. At the point of the control near Minas (94.7 parking), there is a bar for workers of Minas. There is everything there even<br /> boiled eggs. They also allowed me to use their bathroom. In Coya, I have spent the night in Casa Roja near Ferreteria. I also tried sandwiches in the Catalan Bar - excellent.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-04 to 2024-12-05 / 1.5 day / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01/RR+OH 01-03A+OH 01-03+RR / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> Starting OH 01-03A was complicated. I crossed the barbed fence and couldn’t find the river crossing at point -33.64140, -70.42944. I spent the night there and returned a little bit the next day to take the regular route.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-01-03 to 2024-01-04 / 1.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR and Variants F / Elijah &amp; Michael ​​'''<br /> <br /> Very hot weather, over 30°. Water is available along the river from -33.62292, -70.50342 to bridge 18.7/1302. Thereafter only at waypoints.<br /> <br /> Water not directly accessible from campsite 29.4/1415, had to walk to following bridge (29.7/1389). Bridge had possible room to camp.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-NOV-27 &gt; 28 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT01+GPT02+GPT03<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : non<br /> | Intérêt : 1/5<br /> | Difficulté : 5/5<br /> | Danger : Autorisations de passage<br /> <br /> La premier partie est routière et ne presente aucun interet. J'ai essayé de sortir de la route mais me suis retrouvé face a des portails fermés aux points (-33,6223657, -70,5335623) puis (-33,6129744, -70,5007311) pour enfin trouver un portail ouvert (-33,6110383, -70,4943554) car il y avait des travaux en amont. J'ai monté une pente tres raide en suivant une canalisation, puis j'ai suivi un bisse pour retrouver le sentier. La montée etait tres dure car le soleil tapait fort que je n'avais pas encore mes jambes pour cette premiere etape. J'ai campé juste avant le point haut de l'etape, pret d'un petit ruisseau. Le lendemain la descente etait facile.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-NOV-20 to 2024-NOV-21 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. A,C,D) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> We started our hike in the afternoon from the final metro station at Puente Alto. At the high gate with cameras at the beginning of Variant A, there was a car. After waiting a few minutes, the car drove through, and a kind man allowed us to pass as well. We spent the first night at the camp at km 16.2 . On the second day, it was very hot, which we especially felt during the climb to the pass [24.7 km]. The water marked in the files was indeed available there. In the evening, we reached El Melocotón. The store was officially open until 8:00 PM, but the owner was kind enough to keep it open longer for the people arriving late.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-11-17 to 2024-11-19, 2,5 days, SOBO, gpt00?/01opt5? - Volker'''<br /> <br /> I took the route Tomas suggested and highly recommend it to everyone new on the gpt and early in the season (check your gear, device/s, body on a very scenic route (95% TR, 3%CC, 2%MR); in summer probably very hot, in mid-november it was already quite warm in the lower parts).<br /> The bus C02 does not bring you to the parque San Ramon (1km walk approx. in upper middle-class area), but C37 does. The gate was open, nobody there at 14 p.m. on a sunday. Last person I met was 30 min. before the waterfall. All descriptions of Tomas correct. <br /> If you start late 2 p.m,) as I did, either camp at the waterfall or make sure to take enough water to camp 15min before you reach the 2nd river. The way down is steep and slippery. If you start early you will reach water at 2200 m and camp sites before or at the pass. <br /> Up there very windy, but not too cold, protected camp site 10 min after you reach the pass. Part of the path covered by snow, you can bypass it on the eastern side. Ridge to Cerro San Ramon under snow, probably not to difficult (if you have crampons). 1 steep snowfield on the way down (I used it to try my mini spikes, which was not necessary in the early afternoon, but in the morning you will be very glad to have them). Camped not far from the puesto, didn‘t see anyone, just horses and barking dogs. The path to Rio Maipo valley crosses the river 8 times, fords mostly easy (though 2 far over my knees (1,97m), but one quite hard (I did. 15 min of CC and BB to find a place upwards)). Last 30 min MR. The road ends at a high gate (3m), no way around, the man in the container told me to take another way. I asked a local not far from there, he promised to help, told me to wait at the gate, in 3 min he arrived with his car and drove me down to El Manzano. I just got out of the car, when on the other side of the road a bus driving EABO stopped, I jumped in and got out at El Melocoton to continue with gpt 02 .<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-10/Lukas &amp; Tabea &amp; Basil'''<br /> Gate was open<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Lukas &amp; Sarah'''<br /> <br /> Started from Puente Alto.<br /> Gate Variant A closed.<br /> Gate at 11.3km was open.<br /> Water present at all waypoints.<br /> Camped at Camp 16.09.<br /> You can find a horsepath down to te river with a nice pool for swimming whenwalking a bit backwards.<br /> Next Camp at Bridge Water 29.7. Also really nice for swimming. <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 via new Route:<br /> In the corner at -33.68293, -70.34715, turn on the horsepath. We therefore skipped Gate at 02 and walked out at -33.69654, -70.35062 and walked directly to the river crossing of Variant A. <br /> The horsepath around the hill is in good condition but difficult to find.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-02 / 2 days / Hiking / RR / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Gate at 11.3km was open, presumably because it was a public holiday.<br /> <br /> Water present at all waypoints<br /> <br /> Water at 23.9km just before the pass<br /> <br /> Camped just before pass at 22.7km<br /> <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 so can't comment resupply options<br /> <br /> * '''2024-10-30 to 2024-11-01 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR -a- RR / Karin'''<br /> <br /> The gate at the start of option a was closed when I arrived and did not look easily climbable. After a few minutes a car came and opened the gate. The driver didn't say anything to me so I went through the gate after him. <br /> <br /> The pass was without snow, the water point indicated had all water.<br /> <br /> The bridge [29.7/1389] is non existend (due to the winter?), but the rivers are easy to be crossed. <br /> <br /> There were a lot of small and really annoying flies (I don't think they are tabanos, mainly because they are small, it is a dry area...). They were flying into the face and biting specially near the eyes. Putting a branch on the backpack did not help. I ended up covering my face to have some peace.<br /> <br /> '''Note that in summer 2024, a new option 02 was inserted and the original options 2 and 3 increased their numbering.'''<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> * '''24-Mar-09 to 2024-Mar-11 / 42 hours / Hiking / SOBO / GPT00?, GPT01, option 5? / Tomáš'''<br /> Not sure if on topic as it is technically east of Santiago and not south (but also not north!), but I thought I would share anyway. A nice trail that can be done around Santiago while waiting around. In my opinion, it also better fullfils &quot;starting from Santiago on foot&quot;, as the current start involves quite a long stretch from Puente Alto on road. Here you start walking 100 m from bus stop (C-02, every ten minutes or so from Los Dominicos) integrated into Santiago's public transport system, or 5 km from Los Domincos terminus of the red metro line (but really, why would you not take the bus?). [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1765972160575329/ Pictures].<br /> <br /> The entrance is 3500 CLP, in office hours. No problems having a backapack entering at 1300 when explaining the route (San Ramon to El Manzano). Early in the morning or late in the evening, there is an always-open door next to the gate. Going up to the ridge, there are several variants; I went to the pass just south of Morro las Papas and traversed more or less horizontaly to Salto de Apoquindo. After Patagonia proper, it is funny that such a small waterfall even honours a name. There is a (compostable?) toilet at the waterfall and one could camp there, but it is probably illegal and when I was there, a helicopter kept humming around - maybe it was looking for fires? Late camp and early rise would probably work though. Past this point, you are unlikely to meet anyone (up to there I only met ten people even though it was Saturday). The trail from there to the ridge is more or less clear for GPT standards. Last probably reliable water is around 2230 m of altitude.<br /> <br /> Camped at about 2800 in the pass south of Morro Tamber, the night was windless and warm. Starting late - at noon -, I then went to Cerro San Ramon (up to here everything is on OSM). Took me 2 leisurely hours. The ridge walk is easy and the path is clear. To my surprise, I was there alone on a Sunday afternoon, just with one quite cheeky bird. I went to Punta de Damas and back and then down to Las Manzanas. The path down from the Refuge San Ramones is marked in blue and mostly visible, just a section near the puesto at 2200 m is cross-country. I reached the stream in the valley when darkness fell, walked two hours almost to the end of it to catch my flight, saw some people camping/having a fire. In the morning I got up at six and had to climb over two fences to get out. It has opening times (no longer remember which, but fairly long) and the price was about 8000 for entry, not sure if they would demand something in case of SOBO travers. There seem to be some walk-arounds in OSM (added afterwards by yours truly basde on strava heatmap). The whole trail is in OSM now and also as of 2024 is part of &quot;Not yet incorporated change proposals&quot; of the GPT files, for viewing in Google Earth.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-17/ 2.5 days / SOBO / RR / Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> I took the metro to the last stop, Puente Alto, and started walking from there. The days were extremely hot and there were a lot of tabanero attacks. I waited a few minutes at the closed gate at 11,2 until a car came out. I asked the driver if I could go through, but he said that it was a private area and I wasn't allowed through. When he was gone, I saw that the gate was not completely closed. I was able to reach inside with my arm and open a door in the gate from the inside. There was regular traffic on the road behind it, but everyone just greeted me back in a friendly manner. Might be best just to wait until it opens and then walk through confidentially without asking. The water indicators were correct. Camps: 19.5/1433 (no water), 29.7/1389 (water and small pools, quite nice). Take enough water for the pass at 18.7/1302! No shadow and very hot. After 29.7/1389 there is water a few times and an increasing number of day trippers. Overnight stay in San José de Maipo in the Hostal Maipo for 20k, otherwise no guests, bathroom and fridge dirty and room stuffy, but large kitchen, nice host, lounge and central location with supermarket and bus stop next door. For GPT2 bus to El Melocotón at 7.30am, but get off at the crossroads by the bridge over the Rio Maipo before town.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-8 to 2024-Jan-9/ 1.5 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Tanja'''<br /> <br /> Took same route as Matthias (Filo Purgatorio via the ridge). Not much to add apart from: it’s very hot and there’s no water up there anymore. First stream coming down was at 33.67175, 70.39274<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-24 to 2023-Dec-25 / 2 days / SOBO / RR and variant E / Matthieu'''<br /> <br /> Nice hike to begin with GPT, no particular mountain difficulties. I began in Pirque after taking the buq MB74 at bellavista de la florida. <br /> <br /> Variant : I followed chileans hikers on variant E to the nothern bank of the river el sauce (sendero estero el sauce on OSM, easily followed with the GPS). Seems funnier than the RR, you cross a nice pool. You have other trails to go down at the river and enjoy on the way.<br /> <br /> All water markers are correct. Remember to bring enough water for the pass at water 18,7, it's really hot up there. Water 29,7 very good stream.<br /> <br /> The end of the trail after is a big web of trail along the el sauce river, with places to bath and camp. So the water is not rare. Lots of hikers when I was there (25 december). <br /> <br /> Camp : at bridge water 18.7.<br /> Seems like lots of nice places after water 29,7 when you explore along the river. <br /> <br /> Gate 11,2 : Not possible to go around, electrical and fence. It was opened by a person in a car after 5 minutes waiting. No question about my passage. I then crossed roads with an arriero with horses and another car, on 24th december. Seems like this trail is crowded, so the gate seems not to be a problem with patience. <br /> <br /> The other gate is only for cars, way to go around as a hiker. <br /> <br /> Other : crossed a snake in the middle of the trail. See my section 2 post for more infos.<br /> A very tiny scorpion near my tent in the morning... put some shoes when you go for a pee at night ! <br /> <br /> No river crossings issues<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-5 to 2023-Dec-6/ 2 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Matthias'''<br /> <br /> I started option 2 right from the school (San Juan Oriente). Camp spots on the way to the ridge if you start late in Santiago. Took the route to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio (option 2 - variant B). <br /> <br /> From the summit I continued the ridge southwards (OH-CC-A {01-02B}). That’s a wonderful alpine (I mean andine 😅) cross-country hiking route mostly on steep scree or rock ledge (Schrofen in German), difficulty according to SAC hiking scale T4, I’d guess. No real clambering necessary, hands only occasionally needed for support. The descent from the summit gives you a good impression of the difficulty, it will not become more difficult. Mostly I did not walk directly on the rocky ridge but on the western slope.<br /> <br /> Camped right on the ridge at ca. 33°38'30'' 70°24'47''. Beautiful sunset and sunrise.<br /> <br /> On the descent to GPT02 there is a marked trail (white markers) on the last kms. One can follow that path instead of RR where variant F comes in and avoid the walk on MR. When the path comes to a fence turn right and you’ll hit the RR again.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-15-18 / 72 hours / Hiking / nobo / Option 02, ridge, option 02 / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> Apart from Option 02, I did not actually follow any existing GPT track but the approach has since been added as option 2. [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1715267058979173/ Pictures] I started at the southmost stop of bus MB-74. The bus actually detours to some sidestreets and then comes back the same way again, so do not get off too early. You should be able to start from here: 33.7277389S, 70.5544877W. Just before the bridge, there is a locked gate. Some cars were passing though and let me through, just told me not to make fire. If the gate is locked, use the bridge 200 m downstream and go in the riverbank for 200 northwards - it is dry. There is another gate where the sideroad splits from the road that is still on OSM, roughly here: 33.7412080S, 70.5586867W. Again somobody opened it for me but this one could have been climbed easily.<br /> <br /> The trail is both easily visible on satelite and Strava heatmap. First 2 km it is a road, then a worse road that transforms to path branches to the left to rejoin the road where another gate is - this cca 5 km part is flat. One then follows the fence on a steep slope until 100 m higher one rejoins very clear path. I am sure there is a better way than I took but it was still easy enough. From there a very clear trail goes all the way up to cca Cerro los Crystalles. Met a group of seven people on motorbikes who went up and down in a day. No water until about 2500 m. On Facebook group.<br /> <br /> From the ridge, one could easily follow on GPT02 but I was interested in the ridge between RR and Option 3 roughly from here: 33.8464060S, 70.4211017W to Cerro los Purgatorio through Cerros Loma del Diablo, San Roque and Cruzada Las Hormigas. From the coordinates above, there is a trail that follows the ridge for a few km. Once it starts going down, I traversed back to the ridge. Better would have been to go over the hill than traversing. The ridge can be followed, there is a path that comes and goes so it is a mix of TR and CC. Going down from San Roque is a bit tricky, one needs to sidetrack from the ridge at one point and maybe use a hand here and there. Another a bit challenging part is just before the final ascent to Cruzada Las Hormingas. It is abit exposed in those parts but not too much. In SAC scale, somewhere around 4 or five, but out of 20 km of the ridge, this is only about 1 km at most. And I do not claim to have found the best route, I think some of the clambering parts that were never vertical could probably have been sidetracked.<br /> <br /> This time of the year, even on the ridge I crossed a stream with water three times (I added the streams to OSM), very roughly at km 11, 17 and 20 (this one being on the RR). Only saw cows and condors.<br /> <br /> I then crossed the RR and went on option 02, the ridge walk to Cerro Purgatorio. I would say it is SAC 4 (somewhat easier than the ridge), I used hands but it was very easy and not exposed at all. Descent from Cerro Purgatorio was surprisingly beautiful with all the flowers (which were there all over the ridge too). Even going down, from about 1500, the heat was really strong. Would not recommend any of this from early January till end of february given there might be very little water. Perfect for December and earlier. I hope the ridgewalk is added to GPT. Every day, I would be able to get enough cell phone coverage to receive e-mails and chats but not much more.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-06 / 1 day / Hiking / sobo / RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> I took uber from Providencia to the gate, about 20000CLP and 1hour.<br /> <br /> The gate is locked at 10am on Wednesday. Luckily after 5min a young man drive out and open the gate, he didn't said anything and let me go inside.<br /> Hot but more water resources that i think before, a small grassy stream is still flowing just before the pass 800m, lot of tadpoles swimming inside too.<br /> <br /> Long way going down with rocky dirt road, didn't see any people all the way to the end.<br /> After you join the trail in valley, lot of camping spots you can find.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-17 to 2023-Nov-19 / 1,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR &amp; OH / Jens'''<br /> <br /> In Melocoton I had to cross private property. The guy charged me 2000 pesos. Lots of water and camping south of Cerro Purgatorio.<br /> There is an alternative route that's marked with white paint that is also marked in the OSM data. <br /> <br /> I started NOBO from El Melocoton. I took the exploratory route to Cerro Purgatorio. I have to report that there is no path to the summit from the south. The data and the OSM suggest that there is a path, but I only found rocks that I had to climb over and steep drops. I had to slide down to join the other trail as it was too dangerous to continue.<br /> <br /> The northern route to the summit is fine. But you'd have to go back the same way to rejoin the main PGT route.<br /> <br /> Comment Jan Dudeck: I removed the southern ascent to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio. Now only the the ascent from the west remains in the track files.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-11 to 2023-Nov-12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn '''<br /> <br /> - Gates : all were open, it was a Saturday<br /> <br /> - Water : all the water markers were correct, even more water present<br /> <br /> - Camping spot : km 29,4<br /> <br /> - Weather : cold and cloudy so not a problem for the first big ascent - there is an exceptional cold weather on the Santiago area this year<br /> <br /> - River crossing : 31,65 km (easy)<br /> <br /> - Overall : trail in good condition.Lots of stray dogs on the trail but really friendly.We combined section 1 &amp; 2.<br /> <br /> If you want to see some pictures of the sections and/or ask us some questions, you can find us on Instagram : @2funambules<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-19 to 2023-Feb-20 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Luisa &amp; Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Started in Ramon Supercaseaux 8200 directly at the gate. Pretty hot below 2000m, siesta highly recommended. A lot of bees around everywhere except pass-area. No water in the first spot after the pass, you'll find it about 1-2 kms ahead. A local said that water was cut up there. Weekend with many tourists in Estero El Sauce Valley. Good Kiosk at the valley entrance. Took us 2 days.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-04 / Hiking / SOBO / Option 1: Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> I really wanted to try the option through Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo. I took the bus MB-74 to Pirque. The last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W. There was a sign saying it is prohibited to enter, but some people told me I can pass. From there one can walk along the airport. Once you get to the main road, there is a locked gate, but the fence can be crawled under. I would recommend to take the standard route for cars, the walk was schorching. It was Sunday, I am not sure the other bus lines were in service. I have not seen them, MB74 seemed to be going once every twenty minutes or so for 900 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once on the standard route, I hitched a car going to the reserve, we put my backpack into the trunk, so the CONAF guards did not notice me at all and did not tell me anything. I had a reservation made online, there is a day limit of visitors. It cost 11500 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once in the reserve, I took the trail going west of the stream (so the stream was on my left hand going uphill). Nobody noticed me and then I have not met anybody for 4 days. The trail is fairly clear, one goes up along a stream up until around 1900 metres (up to the last recommended camp). From then on until the next other side of the mountain, there is no reliable water (I slept near a marsh around 2650m, but the water would not have been great).<br /> <br /> The route is quite attractive. Walking in the lower valley in the heat is really sweat inducing. It took me 1,5 days to go up to the border of the reserve, I was weak from not much sleep before and the heat. But also it is quite far and I have not started walking until six or so on the first day as I rested quite a few hours waiting for the heat to pass.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-24 to 2022-Nov-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + GPT01-F / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> We started the first section from the metro station at Puento Alto, which is also a good place to buy some missing supplies and water - mall with Lider shop is right next to the main square. The gate 1 at approx. km 12 opened after less than 15mins and some guy in a car let us in after explaining that we just want to pass and showing the map. The other gate not so far away from the entrance was opened. Following the main route, we spent the night in a nice camp place at km 19.5 with water available just few hundred meters before that (bridge, water 18.7). Keep in mind to carry enough water on the way to the pass! We met the next day 2 families at the bridge, water 29.7 that went there for camping. We decided to finish the section the next day, which was Staturday, and therefore as we were coming closer to the village we met a lot of day hikers at the GPT01-F. Before continuing to the section 2, we stopped to refresh ourselves at Kiosko Los Acacios, on the left side after the bridge on the main road (the other kiosk before the river was closed at the time). They have fried empanadas, amazing natural strawberry juice (jugo frutilla), yogurt with granola and some other small things, everything with reasonable prices.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-09 / Hiking / SOBO / Adrien Kunzli '''<br /> <br /> Start at the reserva natural de clarillo impossible even if i arrived at 8h30 am. No arrangement possible with the guard.<br /> I went by waking through the wasteland (many dogs be carefull but a good stone in the hand frightens them without worries) but Start at GPT01-B impossible : Big Electronic portal and no luck with cars.<br /> Start at GPT 01-03 by the optional tracks ok. After the school you take the left road and almost immediately you have to pass under a fence on the left with a little hole. <br /> Just after San José de Maipo the RR-MR-V (02) (3,6+0,4) at S33°41.069', W070°20.876' was denied to me by some conductors (private propriety). But te other optional road without passing the bridge works perfectly fine.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Okt-31 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannic &amp; Mirjam'''<br /> <br /> We traveled by metro to Puento Alto. Because the bus MB73 did not come (probably because of holiday) we took an Uber to Posta la Puntilla (much cheaper than to Puntilla Rural).<br /> Gate 1 closed, after waiting 2 minutes a car came.<br /> Gate 2 open on the right side.<br /> Water available at all marked spots. <br /> Nice campground with small swimming pool at the back of the small river at Camp 01 [4/29/1415].<br /> Several campsites on the river around El Melocoton.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2021 Nov-19 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&amp;Stiina'''<br /> <br /> We wanted to avoid the boring through-town and road walking so we took the micro-bus from Puente Alto to Puntilla Rural which only left us 2km of road walking. It’s a micro-bus MB73 and it goes right on the same street when you come out of the subway. It doesn’t have a stop so you just have to wave it down when you see it coming, ticket costs 750 pesos. After those 2km on the asphalt road we turned off to a minor road with an impassable gate which is normally closed, but luckily we only waited less than 10 min. and a car came and we just walked in, they didn’t ask us anything so it seemed alright. 2nd gate was open. Water sources were flowing well. Climb was brutal, super steep and very, very hot. We imagine this section could easily be walked a month earlier to avoid the baking in the furnace. Great views from the “Pass”. We camped at the “Bridge, Water” waypoint after the pass, nice place, but unfortunately we had lots of tiny, very hungry biting flies there. We saw a lot of campers in the valley before El Melocotón, which was a bit of a surprise, more than 20 tents, perhaps people enjoying nature on the weekend? We didn’t go in to El Melocotón but continued straight to GPT02. <br /> <br /> For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Nov-09 to 2021-Nov-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Marc Anthony '''<br /> <br /> Started afternoon on first day and arrived in melocotón same time next day. Took a taxi from Puento Alto metro station to the Plaza in Pirque, because I was advised against walking alone through Puente Alto by the locals. Quite a lot of mini shops with empenadas and other food when following the paved road from Pirque. When turning from the paved road onto the first minor road I encountered a big locked gate, which luckily opened because cars were driving through from the other side. After a couple of kilometers another locked gate appears but i walked around the right side and found a smaller open gate that I passed through. When the terrain starts getting steeper, I found it very hot to walk here during the afternoon. Definitely wouldn’t want to walk there in the middle of the day during summer. Also the section right before the mountain pass is very steep. Best to walk here during the morning when you’ll have the shadow of the mountain. Rest of the way was generally easy enough, carried plenty of water with me.<br /> <br /> Found a place called Posada Del Jinete in southern part of El Melocotón with Cabañas for 80.000 and hostal room with to beds for 40.000. Not the cheapest but didn’t find a lot of options nearby. The father and son who are running the place are nice people who can tell a lot about the area. Small tienda/café down the road from hostal with only basic supplies<br /> <br /> Started this section on November 9th. The gate at -33 36.774’ -070 30.027’ is locked. Didn’t find anybody around to ask, but it magically opened up behind me just as I was about to leave, because cars were coming through from the other side. Did see a couple more cars going the same direction as I walked on the minor road. Might be worth waiting around for some time to see if anyone will drive through?<br /> <br /> Found water in all expected places. Would recommend carrying a good amount with you on your way up onto the mountain pass, since this a very hot and steep section especially in the afternoon and it will be awhile before the next water source.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Nov-14 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ricardo Gold'''<br /> <br /> We tried both entrances to the gravel road. Both closed with big gates (RR @KM13). We did an alternative start from Pirque that it did work, but is a significant longer (but nice). I would suggest to review this segment as the two main entrances seems closed for good.<br /> <br /> After you get into the road is very straight forward, very easy to navigate. There is water in all expected points and I think they will last long into the summer. <br /> Indeed, it is very exposed, it will be hard to do in a sunny day, as it will be hot. Alternatively you can start really early or even do it partially at night as it is easy to navigate and not dangerous at all. <br /> <br /> The climb is pretty steep for a maintenance road. it is +20% for ~4km, so I suggest to tackle this section really early in the morning. There is a good water source just before starting and probably also a good camping ground.<br /> <br /> Next water source is ~14km after, but with also ~1000m of uphill, so be mindful of the time to get into there. Btw, this water source has a small cascate and pond that is great to jump in and refresh. Just walk ~10m into the upstream.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-03 to 2020-Jan-04 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank'''<br /> <br /> See transport section if you want to skip the first 13KM roadwalk. Midsummer is not the ideal time for GPT01 as it is very hot, there is little shade &amp; not much water. If you do walk there are several small shops on the road up to KM13.<br /> <br /> It was difficult to access the start. At KM 16.5 on the road, RR-PR-V@01-6.9+4.3 &amp; 700 metres further after the bridge, route sealed by two 15 foot high gates with spikes on top. No one there to ask to open them. Back on RR @ KM13, 2 locked gates. At OH-MR-V@01-A-#002 a resident let me through the locked gate. There is a new fence a little up the road that will probably close off this variant (I got in through a small unfinished section). It is very dry now so RR gates may be closed due to lack of water &amp; fire risk. The only water on RR until 14KM after the pass is on section RR-MR-V@01-16.3+7.8 marked Bridge, Water on GPX, making a camp @ the site 15 mins. walk above (marked Camp No Water) highly advisable. Look for the gas pipeline, route follows it most of the way. Kiosk with drinks &amp; snacks &amp; campsite on the route 3KM before Melocoton are open all week in midsummer, weekends only in low season. No need to go to Melocoton. Get bus to Santiago @ road junction 500 metres down the road after bridge over Rio Maipo<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-13 to 2019-Dec-17 / 5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 and GPT02 / Ian Hikes '''<br /> <br /> Overview: I decided to combine GPT 01 and 02 using the alternative route through Rio Clarillo National Reserve which is something I do recommend. You do have to pay $5.000 to enter the park. You then follow the river up to the pass where it joins the official route. The two sections are very open and exposed with wide open views across the mountains and high mountain passes. <br /> <br /> Difficulties: My biggest difficult in this section was the lack of water. There were many sections that were dry and, on many occasions, found me going 15-20km with water. I would suggest taking extra care planning out water resupply along the route. I usually took 2-4L of water at any given time in these two sections. Also this section is very remote and did not see anyone for 3 days.<br /> <br /> Highlights: High mountain passes and great open views (especially for sunrise and sunset)<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-27 / Hiking / SOBO / Family Size '''<br /> <br /> Locked gate with barbed wire (S 33° 36.795', W 070° 30.049') on the official route. Found someone at the gate up the road (S 33° 36.702', W 070° 29.640') who unlocked that one for me. He said the road behind is no private property, but it's always locked. After another gate (S 33° 37.141', W 070° 29.927'), with a hole on the right to climb climb through, this road connects back to the official route.<br /> <br /> There is plenty of water on the B alternet uphill. Almost at the top it tastes a bit like cow shit after filtering. There is a lot of OK water at the bottom of the downhill and quite a few tourists especially on weekends.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-17 to 2019-Nov-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Matus &amp; Anna'''<br /> <br /> We walked GPT01 in 2 days, including one nero day. We used uber to get to the trail, hope your driver won't be stupid enough to take shortcuts through slums :). There is a gate on the beginning of trail, after a &quot;discussion&quot; (we don't speak spanish) they let us go through. Climb was really hot, make sure you take enough water from the last source on the way up. There is water on the other side, but first marked water source didn't look the best. There is a river cutting a trail a bit down from that point. We stayed in a campsite on the begining of next section which was nice. They have really sticky ferral dogs there which we had a real problem to chase to not hike with us.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-11 to 2019-Nov-13 / 3 days / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo'''<br /> <br /> It took us 3 days as we started late in Santiago and arrived early in Melocoton. As it's still low season everything is shut down in Melocoton so we took the bus (which runs every 30 minutes) to San Alfonso, where we found nice cabañas and three small resupply tiendas.<br /> <br /> We went to Puente Alto and then Pirque by Uber. The drivers know where the protests take place and avoid those areas or areas which got recently destroyed.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Oct-27 / Alert / Jan Dudeck'''<br /> <br /> The Metro line 4 to Puente Alto is currently out of operation due to vandalism during the current protests. Check online for current the status and delete this alert once metro operation to Puente Alto resumes.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2018/19==<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-16 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin Lizondo'''<br /> <br /> Carry plenty of water on this section as water sources might dry out in early summer after all snow has molten.<br /> <br /> Puente Alto is not particular safe area of Santiago, so residents recommend not walking very early in the morning or at night through this outskirt of Santiago.<br /> Old entrance of regular route is closed by gate (S33° 37.320' W70° 32.182'). Better start from the public minor road and you won't have any problem (S33° 36.768' W70° 30.033'). The GPT Track File 2019 incorporates this change so follow the Regular Route if you use the current update.&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Carry as much water as possible just before ascending to the pass (S33° 38.394' W70° 27.191'). There won't be water until 14 km further, and it's not of good quality (S33° 41.000' W70° 23.100').<br /> <br /> Instead of deviating to El Melocotón, you can spend the night in Reserva Coyanco (camping, food, services), from where GPT02 starts. Just turn right at S33° 40.813' W70° 20.812'.<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-15 to 1018-Dec-16 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Austin Davis'''<br /> <br /> http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/<br /> <br /> ==Season 2017/18==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2016/17==<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / GPT02 &amp; GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo / Bethany Hughes, Lauren Reed'''<br /> <br /> https://her-odyssey.org/<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Jan / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo &amp; GPT02 / Gerald Klamer'''<br /> <br /> * '''http://geraldtrekkt.blogspot.com/2017/04/greater-patagonian-trail-1-santiago-coya.html'''<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> ==Start Regular Route: Santiago, Metro Station Puente Alto==<br /> <br /> Plaza De Puente Alto is an underground metro station and the southern terminal station of Line 4 of the Santiago Metro network. Underground trains run frequently between 6 am in the morning and 11 pm in the evening. <br /> <br /> Calculate 1 hour from the city centre to the terminal station Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto buses leave to most towns and villages in the Maipo valley and the surrounding area. (2019)<br /> <br /> If you don't want to walk the first 13KM of the regular route on the road then get bus MB73 from Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> ==Finish Regular Route: El Melocoton==<br /> <br /> See also [[GPT02]]<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following bus gets you to El Melocoton in the Maipo valley: Bus MB-72B<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate a bit over 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Start or Finish Option 1 (Rio Clarillo): Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo==<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following buses get you close to Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo: <br /> <br /> - Bus 978 towards Rio Clarillo (this is the best option, gets you the closest to the entrance to the reserve)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-74 towards El Principal De Pirque (last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-80 towards El Principal De Pirque<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to the regular route but a high gate was build in 2021. If the the gate at waypoint &quot;X, Gate {01} [11.2/787]&quot; is locked, continue 2.1 km on the main road and take Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio).<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Access into Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo is controlled by CONAF at the main entrance near Pirque. The park is intended for daytime visits only and does not provide camp grounds. Cooking inside the park is strictly banned including with camping stoves. A maximum of 800 persons are permitted entry on one day. CONAF park rangers might not permit a southbound traverse and all visitors are probably required to leave the park in the evening at the main gate. The entrance fee is 11,500 CLP (2022) for foreign nationals and 2000 to 4000 CLP for Chileans. The tickets needs to be bought online in advance and there is not cell coverage at the entrance to the reserve.<br /> <br /> A northbound traverse is probably free of charge. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio)==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio). No right-of-way conflicts reported yet. If the gate issue on the RR persists to cause problems and Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio) is recommended by more hikers then Option 2 may become the new Regular Route.<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT01 - Cerro Purgatorio]]<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[San Juan de Pirque - El Toyo]]<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[Río Clarillo]]<br /> <br /> National Park: http://www.conaf.cl/parques/reserva-nacional-rio-clarillo/<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> [[Archivo:gpt01 Cerro Purgatorio.jpg|View to the central Andes, by [http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/ Austin Davis]]]<br /> <br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (6).jpg|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 1]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT01_(Cerro_Purgatorio)&diff=120687 2025-03-11T12:31:02Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> <br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-27 to 2025-MAR-01 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Farah &amp; Jan​'''<br /> <br /> This was our last section of the GPT. For now…<br /> <br /> We did it in one full day and two relaxed half hiking days. Camped at S 33°38.4840’ W 70°26.9562’ and S 33°40.3236’ W 70°23.5408’<br /> <br /> The last 5 kilometers of the ascent are pretty steep, as is the first part of the descent. Ways are in good condition and easy to follow. There’s not much vegetation.<br /> <br /> Found more water sources than expected. Note that last winter had a lot of snow, so you can’t rely on these water sources in low snow years. Here are a few of them:<br /> S 33°37.3970’ W 70°30.2264’<br /> S 33°37.8949’ W 70°29.4920’<br /> S 33°40.9963’ W 70°23.1090’<br /> S 33°40.3226’ W 70°23.5491’<br /> <br /> Like Arno we saw an incredible amount of wasps along the way, especially close to water sources. Unlike him we can’t confirm they do no harm. Farah got stung in her buttock, Jan in his penis. Be careful when peeing! Apart from that no incidents.<br /> <br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-FEB-11 &gt; 12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arno​​'''<br /> <br /> | Weather : sunny and hot<br /> | water : easy<br /> | snow : no<br /> | Interest : 2/5<br /> | Difficulty : 4/5<br /> | Danger : none<br /> <br /> The first part on the road is easy and with no interest.<br /> Then the ascent was pretty steep and hard with the hot weather.<br /> I camped at km 22 and finished the section the next day in the morning.<br /> Note that there were a lot of wasps everywhere I paused. They’re not offensive but can be annoying.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-07 to 2024-12-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT02/RR+OH 02A / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> At the parking lot, I registered. Men took my passport number, name, and phone number. He was very polite. I followed OH-02-A and camped near parking tables -33.70160,-70.34792. Nice spot. I crossed the river using an installed rope. Water -33.72155, -70.34409 okay. Near the next point with water -33.74121, -70.35340, there is a fence to cross. Camp at -33.76414,-70.36564 where there is water. Bushwacking was not so bad. Good spot with water -33.79940,-70.38691 and -33.80875,-70.387783 (22.9 km). Next spot -33.81168,-70.38791 with water. Camp at 27.5 km okay. I found a cave for camp -33.843384, -70.41605. I crossed the river many times without problems (my height is 164 cm). Next spot with water -33.894417,-79.39042. Still, there is field snow, so spikes for safety are needed. I have met nice workers of Minas - they offered me some food:) At the end, I was without water. At the point of the control near Minas (94.7 parking), there is a bar for workers of Minas. There is everything there even<br /> boiled eggs. They also allowed me to use their bathroom. In Coya, I have spent the night in Casa Roja near Ferreteria. I also tried sandwiches in the Catalan Bar - excellent.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-12-04 to 2024-12-05 / 1.5 day / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01/RR+OH 01-03A+OH 01-03+RR / Dorota Szparaga '''<br /> Starting OH 01-03A was complicated. I crossed the barbed fence and couldn’t find the river crossing at point -33.64140, -70.42944. I spent the night there and returned a little bit the next day to take the regular route.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-01-03 to 2024-01-04 / 1.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR and Variants F / Elijah &amp; Michael ​​'''<br /> <br /> Very hot weather, over 30°. Water is available along the river from -33.62292, -70.50342 to bridge 18.7/1302. Thereafter only at waypoints.<br /> <br /> Water not directly accessible from campsite 29.4/1415, had to walk to following bridge (29.7/1389). Bridge had possible room to camp.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-NOV-27 &gt; 28 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT01+GPT02+GPT03<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : non<br /> | Intérêt : 1/5<br /> | Difficulté : 5/5<br /> | Danger : Autorisations de passage<br /> <br /> La premier partie est routière et ne presente aucun interet. J'ai essayé de sortir de la route mais me suis retrouvé face a des portails fermés aux points (-33,6223657, -70,5335623) puis (-33,6129744, -70,5007311) pour enfin trouver un portail ouvert (-33,6110383, -70,4943554) car il y avait des travaux en amont. J'ai monté une pente tres raide en suivant une canalisation, puis j'ai suivi un bisse pour retrouver le sentier. La montée etait tres dure car le soleil tapait fort que je n'avais pas encore mes jambes pour cette premiere etape. J'ai campé juste avant le point haut de l'etape, pret d'un petit ruisseau. Le lendemain la descente etait facile.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-NOV-20 to 2024-NOV-21 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. A,C,D) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> We started our hike in the afternoon from the final metro station at Puente Alto. At the high gate with cameras at the beginning of Variant A, there was a car. After waiting a few minutes, the car drove through, and a kind man allowed us to pass as well. We spent the first night at the camp at km 16.2 . On the second day, it was very hot, which we especially felt during the climb to the pass [24.7 km]. The water marked in the files was indeed available there. In the evening, we reached El Melocotón. The store was officially open until 8:00 PM, but the owner was kind enough to keep it open longer for the people arriving late.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-11-17 to 2024-11-19, 2,5 days, SOBO, gpt00?/01opt5? - Volker'''<br /> <br /> I took the route Tomas suggested and highly recommend it to everyone new on the gpt and early in the season (check your gear, device/s, body on a very scenic route (95% TR, 3%CC, 2%MR); in summer probably very hot, in mid-november it was already quite warm in the lower parts).<br /> The bus C02 does not bring you to the parque San Ramon (1km walk approx. in upper middle-class area), but C37 does. The gate was open, nobody there at 14 p.m. on a sunday. Last person I met was 30 min. before the waterfall. All descriptions of Tomas correct. <br /> If you start late 2 p.m,) as I did, either camp at the waterfall or make sure to take enough water to camp 15min before you reach the 2nd river. The way down is steep and slippery. If you start early you will reach water at 2200 m and camp sites before or at the pass. <br /> Up there very windy, but not too cold, protected camp site 10 min after you reach the pass. Part of the path covered by snow, you can bypass it on the eastern side. Ridge to Cerro San Ramon under snow, probably not to difficult (if you have crampons). 1 steep snowfield on the way down (I used it to try my mini spikes, which was not necessary in the early afternoon, but in the morning you will be very glad to have them). Camped not far from the puesto, didn‘t see anyone, just horses and barking dogs. The path to Rio Maipo valley crosses the river 8 times, fords mostly easy (though 2 far over my knees (1,97m), but one quite hard (I did. 15 min of CC and BB to find a place upwards)). Last 30 min MR. The road ends at a high gate (3m), no way around, the man in the container told me to take another way. I asked a local not far from there, he promised to help, told me to wait at the gate, in 3 min he arrived with his car and drove me down to El Manzano. I just got out of the car, when on the other side of the road a bus driving EABO stopped, I jumped in and got out at El Melocoton to continue with gpt 02 .<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-10/Lukas &amp; Tabea &amp; Basil'''<br /> Gate was open<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Lukas &amp; Sarah'''<br /> <br /> Started from Puente Alto.<br /> Gate Variant A closed.<br /> Gate at 11.3km was open.<br /> Water present at all waypoints.<br /> Camped at Camp 16.09.<br /> You can find a horsepath down to te river with a nice pool for swimming whenwalking a bit backwards.<br /> Next Camp at Bridge Water 29.7. Also really nice for swimming. <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 via new Route:<br /> In the corner at -33.68293, -70.34715, turn on the horsepath. We therefore skipped Gate at 02 and walked out at -33.69654, -70.35062 and walked directly to the river crossing of Variant A. <br /> The horsepath around the hill is in good condition but difficult to find.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-01 to 2024-Nov-02 / 2 days / Hiking / RR / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Gate at 11.3km was open, presumably because it was a public holiday.<br /> <br /> Water present at all waypoints<br /> <br /> Water at 23.9km just before the pass<br /> <br /> Camped just before pass at 22.7km<br /> <br /> Combined sections 1 and 2 so can't comment resupply options<br /> <br /> * '''2024-10-30 to 2024-11-01 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR -a- RR / Karin'''<br /> <br /> The gate at the start of option a was closed when I arrived and did not look easily climbable. After a few minutes a car came and opened the gate. The driver didn't say anything to me so I went through the gate after him. <br /> <br /> The pass was without snow, the water point indicated had all water.<br /> <br /> The bridge [29.7/1389] is non existend (due to the winter?), but the rivers are easy to be crossed. <br /> <br /> There were a lot of small and really annoying flies (I don't think they are tabanos, mainly because they are small, it is a dry area...). They were flying into the face and biting specially near the eyes. Putting a branch on the backpack did not help. I ended up covering my face to have some peace.<br /> <br /> '''Note that in summer 2024, a new option 02 was inserted and the original options 2 and 3 increased their numbering.'''<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> * '''24-Mar-09 to 2024-Mar-11 / 42 hours / Hiking / SOBO / GPT00?, GPT01, option 5? / Tomáš'''<br /> Not sure if on topic as it is technically east of Santiago and not south (but also not north!), but I thought I would share anyway. A nice trail that can be done around Santiago while waiting around. In my opinion, it also better fullfils &quot;starting from Santiago on foot&quot;, as the current start involves quite a long stretch from Puente Alto on road. Here you start walking 100 m from bus stop (C-02, every ten minutes or so from Los Dominicos) integrated into Santiago's public transport system, or 5 km from Los Domincos terminus of the red metro line (but really, why would you not take the bus?). [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1765972160575329/ Pictures].<br /> <br /> The entrance is 3500 CLP, in office hours. No problems having a backapack entering at 1300 when explaining the route (San Ramon to El Manzano). Early in the morning or late in the evening, there is an always-open door next to the gate. Going up to the ridge, there are several variants; I went to the pass just south of Morro las Papas and traversed more or less horizontaly to Salto de Apoquindo. After Patagonia proper, it is funny that such a small waterfall even honours a name. There is a (compostable?) toilet at the waterfall and one could camp there, but it is probably illegal and when I was there, a helicopter kept humming around - maybe it was looking for fires? Late camp and early rise would probably work though. Past this point, you are unlikely to meet anyone (up to there I only met ten people even though it was Saturday). The trail from there to the ridge is more or less clear for GPT standards. Last probably reliable water is around 2230 m of altitude.<br /> <br /> Camped at about 2800 in the pass south of Morro Tamber, the night was windless and warm. Starting late - at noon -, I then went to Cerro San Ramon (up to here everything is on OSM). Took me 2 leisurely hours. The ridge walk is easy and the path is clear. To my surprise, I was there alone on a Sunday afternoon, just with one quite cheeky bird. I went to Punta de Damas and back and then down to Las Manzanas. The path down from the Refuge San Ramones is marked in blue and mostly visible, just a section near the puesto at 2200 m is cross-country. I reached the stream in the valley when darkness fell, walked two hours almost to the end of it to catch my flight, saw some people camping/having a fire. In the morning I got up at six and had to climb over two fences to get out. It has opening times (no longer remember which, but fairly long) and the price was about 8000 for entry, not sure if they would demand something in case of SOBO travers. There seem to be some walk-arounds in OSM (added afterwards by yours truly basde on strava heatmap). The whole trail is in OSM now and also as of 2024 is part of &quot;Not yet incorporated change proposals&quot; of the GPT files, for viewing in Google Earth.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-17/ 2.5 days / SOBO / RR / Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> I took the metro to the last stop, Puente Alto, and started walking from there. The days were extremely hot and there were a lot of tabanero attacks. I waited a few minutes at the closed gate at 11,2 until a car came out. I asked the driver if I could go through, but he said that it was a private area and I wasn't allowed through. When he was gone, I saw that the gate was not completely closed. I was able to reach inside with my arm and open a door in the gate from the inside. There was regular traffic on the road behind it, but everyone just greeted me back in a friendly manner. Might be best just to wait until it opens and then walk through confidentially without asking. The water indicators were correct. Camps: 19.5/1433 (no water), 29.7/1389 (water and small pools, quite nice). Take enough water for the pass at 18.7/1302! No shadow and very hot. After 29.7/1389 there is water a few times and an increasing number of day trippers. Overnight stay in San José de Maipo in the Hostal Maipo for 20k, otherwise no guests, bathroom and fridge dirty and room stuffy, but large kitchen, nice host, lounge and central location with supermarket and bus stop next door. For GPT2 bus to El Melocotón at 7.30am, but get off at the crossroads by the bridge over the Rio Maipo before town.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-8 to 2024-Jan-9/ 1.5 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Tanja'''<br /> <br /> Took same route as Matthias (Filo Purgatorio via the ridge). Not much to add apart from: it’s very hot and there’s no water up there anymore. First stream coming down was at 33.67175, 70.39274<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-24 to 2023-Dec-25 / 2 days / SOBO / RR and variant E / Matthieu'''<br /> <br /> Nice hike to begin with GPT, no particular mountain difficulties. I began in Pirque after taking the buq MB74 at bellavista de la florida. <br /> <br /> Variant : I followed chileans hikers on variant E to the nothern bank of the river el sauce (sendero estero el sauce on OSM, easily followed with the GPS). Seems funnier than the RR, you cross a nice pool. You have other trails to go down at the river and enjoy on the way.<br /> <br /> All water markers are correct. Remember to bring enough water for the pass at water 18,7, it's really hot up there. Water 29,7 very good stream.<br /> <br /> The end of the trail after is a big web of trail along the el sauce river, with places to bath and camp. So the water is not rare. Lots of hikers when I was there (25 december). <br /> <br /> Camp : at bridge water 18.7.<br /> Seems like lots of nice places after water 29,7 when you explore along the river. <br /> <br /> Gate 11,2 : Not possible to go around, electrical and fence. It was opened by a person in a car after 5 minutes waiting. No question about my passage. I then crossed roads with an arriero with horses and another car, on 24th december. Seems like this trail is crowded, so the gate seems not to be a problem with patience. <br /> <br /> The other gate is only for cars, way to go around as a hiker. <br /> <br /> Other : crossed a snake in the middle of the trail. See my section 2 post for more infos.<br /> A very tiny scorpion near my tent in the morning... put some shoes when you go for a pee at night ! <br /> <br /> No river crossings issues<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-5 to 2023-Dec-6/ 2 days / SOBO / OH &amp; RR / Matthias'''<br /> <br /> I started option 2 right from the school (San Juan Oriente). Camp spots on the way to the ridge if you start late in Santiago. Took the route to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio (option 2 - variant B). <br /> <br /> From the summit I continued the ridge southwards (OH-CC-A {01-02B}). That’s a wonderful alpine (I mean andine 😅) cross-country hiking route mostly on steep scree or rock ledge (Schrofen in German), difficulty according to SAC hiking scale T4, I’d guess. No real clambering necessary, hands only occasionally needed for support. The descent from the summit gives you a good impression of the difficulty, it will not become more difficult. Mostly I did not walk directly on the rocky ridge but on the western slope.<br /> <br /> Camped right on the ridge at ca. 33°38'30'' 70°24'47''. Beautiful sunset and sunrise.<br /> <br /> On the descent to GPT02 there is a marked trail (white markers) on the last kms. One can follow that path instead of RR where variant F comes in and avoid the walk on MR. When the path comes to a fence turn right and you’ll hit the RR again.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-15-18 / 72 hours / Hiking / nobo / Option 02, ridge, option 02 / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> Apart from Option 02, I did not actually follow any existing GPT track but the approach has since been added as option 2. [https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1715267058979173/ Pictures] I started at the southmost stop of bus MB-74. The bus actually detours to some sidestreets and then comes back the same way again, so do not get off too early. You should be able to start from here: 33.7277389S, 70.5544877W. Just before the bridge, there is a locked gate. Some cars were passing though and let me through, just told me not to make fire. If the gate is locked, use the bridge 200 m downstream and go in the riverbank for 200 northwards - it is dry. There is another gate where the sideroad splits from the road that is still on OSM, roughly here: 33.7412080S, 70.5586867W. Again somobody opened it for me but this one could have been climbed easily.<br /> <br /> The trail is both easily visible on satelite and Strava heatmap. First 2 km it is a road, then a worse road that transforms to path branches to the left to rejoin the road where another gate is - this cca 5 km part is flat. One then follows the fence on a steep slope until 100 m higher one rejoins very clear path. I am sure there is a better way than I took but it was still easy enough. From there a very clear trail goes all the way up to cca Cerro los Crystalles. Met a group of seven people on motorbikes who went up and down in a day. No water until about 2500 m. On Facebook group.<br /> <br /> From the ridge, one could easily follow on GPT02 but I was interested in the ridge between RR and Option 3 roughly from here: 33.8464060S, 70.4211017W to Cerro los Purgatorio through Cerros Loma del Diablo, San Roque and Cruzada Las Hormigas. From the coordinates above, there is a trail that follows the ridge for a few km. Once it starts going down, I traversed back to the ridge. Better would have been to go over the hill than traversing. The ridge can be followed, there is a path that comes and goes so it is a mix of TR and CC. Going down from San Roque is a bit tricky, one needs to sidetrack from the ridge at one point and maybe use a hand here and there. Another a bit challenging part is just before the final ascent to Cruzada Las Hormingas. It is abit exposed in those parts but not too much. In SAC scale, somewhere around 4 or five, but out of 20 km of the ridge, this is only about 1 km at most. And I do not claim to have found the best route, I think some of the clambering parts that were never vertical could probably have been sidetracked.<br /> <br /> This time of the year, even on the ridge I crossed a stream with water three times (I added the streams to OSM), very roughly at km 11, 17 and 20 (this one being on the RR). Only saw cows and condors.<br /> <br /> I then crossed the RR and went on option 02, the ridge walk to Cerro Purgatorio. I would say it is SAC 4 (somewhat easier than the ridge), I used hands but it was very easy and not exposed at all. Descent from Cerro Purgatorio was surprisingly beautiful with all the flowers (which were there all over the ridge too). Even going down, from about 1500, the heat was really strong. Would not recommend any of this from early January till end of february given there might be very little water. Perfect for December and earlier. I hope the ridgewalk is added to GPT. Every day, I would be able to get enough cell phone coverage to receive e-mails and chats but not much more.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-06 / 1 day / Hiking / sobo / RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> I took uber from Providencia to the gate, about 20000CLP and 1hour.<br /> <br /> The gate is locked at 10am on Wednesday. Luckily after 5min a young man drive out and open the gate, he didn't said anything and let me go inside.<br /> Hot but more water resources that i think before, a small grassy stream is still flowing just before the pass 800m, lot of tadpoles swimming inside too.<br /> <br /> Long way going down with rocky dirt road, didn't see any people all the way to the end.<br /> After you join the trail in valley, lot of camping spots you can find.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-17 to 2023-Nov-19 / 1,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR &amp; OH / Jens'''<br /> <br /> In Melocoton I had to cross private property. The guy charged me 2000 pesos. Lots of water and camping south of Cerro Purgatorio.<br /> There is an alternative route that's marked with white paint that is also marked in the OSM data. <br /> <br /> I started NOBO from El Melocoton. I took the exploratory route to Cerro Purgatorio. I have to report that there is no path to the summit from the south. The data and the OSM suggest that there is a path, but I only found rocks that I had to climb over and steep drops. I had to slide down to join the other trail as it was too dangerous to continue.<br /> <br /> The northern route to the summit is fine. But you'd have to go back the same way to rejoin the main PGT route.<br /> <br /> Comment Jan Dudeck: I removed the southern ascent to the summit of Cerro Purgatorio. Now only the the ascent from the west remains in the track files.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Nov-11 to 2023-Nov-12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn '''<br /> <br /> - Gates : all were open, it was a Saturday<br /> <br /> - Water : all the water markers were correct, even more water present<br /> <br /> - Camping spot : km 29,4<br /> <br /> - Weather : cold and cloudy so not a problem for the first big ascent - there is an exceptional cold weather on the Santiago area this year<br /> <br /> - River crossing : 31,65 km (easy)<br /> <br /> - Overall : trail in good condition.Lots of stray dogs on the trail but really friendly.We combined section 1 &amp; 2.<br /> <br /> If you want to see some pictures of the sections and/or ask us some questions, you can find us on Instagram : @2funambules<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-19 to 2023-Feb-20 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Luisa &amp; Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Started in Ramon Supercaseaux 8200 directly at the gate. Pretty hot below 2000m, siesta highly recommended. A lot of bees around everywhere except pass-area. No water in the first spot after the pass, you'll find it about 1-2 kms ahead. A local said that water was cut up there. Weekend with many tourists in Estero El Sauce Valley. Good Kiosk at the valley entrance. Took us 2 days.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-04 / Hiking / SOBO / Option 1: Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> I really wanted to try the option through Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo. I took the bus MB-74 to Pirque. The last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W. There was a sign saying it is prohibited to enter, but some people told me I can pass. From there one can walk along the airport. Once you get to the main road, there is a locked gate, but the fence can be crawled under. I would recommend to take the standard route for cars, the walk was schorching. It was Sunday, I am not sure the other bus lines were in service. I have not seen them, MB74 seemed to be going once every twenty minutes or so for 900 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once on the standard route, I hitched a car going to the reserve, we put my backpack into the trunk, so the CONAF guards did not notice me at all and did not tell me anything. I had a reservation made online, there is a day limit of visitors. It cost 11500 pesos.<br /> <br /> Once in the reserve, I took the trail going west of the stream (so the stream was on my left hand going uphill). Nobody noticed me and then I have not met anybody for 4 days. The trail is fairly clear, one goes up along a stream up until around 1900 metres (up to the last recommended camp). From then on until the next other side of the mountain, there is no reliable water (I slept near a marsh around 2650m, but the water would not have been great).<br /> <br /> The route is quite attractive. Walking in the lower valley in the heat is really sweat inducing. It took me 1,5 days to go up to the border of the reserve, I was weak from not much sleep before and the heat. But also it is quite far and I have not started walking until six or so on the first day as I rested quite a few hours waiting for the heat to pass.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-24 to 2022-Nov-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + GPT01-F / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> We started the first section from the metro station at Puento Alto, which is also a good place to buy some missing supplies and water - mall with Lider shop is right next to the main square. The gate 1 at approx. km 12 opened after less than 15mins and some guy in a car let us in after explaining that we just want to pass and showing the map. The other gate not so far away from the entrance was opened. Following the main route, we spent the night in a nice camp place at km 19.5 with water available just few hundred meters before that (bridge, water 18.7). Keep in mind to carry enough water on the way to the pass! We met the next day 2 families at the bridge, water 29.7 that went there for camping. We decided to finish the section the next day, which was Staturday, and therefore as we were coming closer to the village we met a lot of day hikers at the GPT01-F. Before continuing to the section 2, we stopped to refresh ourselves at Kiosko Los Acacios, on the left side after the bridge on the main road (the other kiosk before the river was closed at the time). They have fried empanadas, amazing natural strawberry juice (jugo frutilla), yogurt with granola and some other small things, everything with reasonable prices.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Nov-09 / Hiking / SOBO / Adrien Kunzli '''<br /> <br /> Start at the reserva natural de clarillo impossible even if i arrived at 8h30 am. No arrangement possible with the guard.<br /> I went by waking through the wasteland (many dogs be carefull but a good stone in the hand frightens them without worries) but Start at GPT01-B impossible : Big Electronic portal and no luck with cars.<br /> Start at GPT 01-03 by the optional tracks ok. After the school you take the left road and almost immediately you have to pass under a fence on the left with a little hole. <br /> Just after San José de Maipo the RR-MR-V (02) (3,6+0,4) at S33°41.069', W070°20.876' was denied to me by some conductors (private propriety). But te other optional road without passing the bridge works perfectly fine.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Okt-31 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Yannic &amp; Mirjam'''<br /> <br /> We traveled by metro to Puento Alto. Because the bus MB73 did not come (probably because of holiday) we took an Uber to Posta la Puntilla (much cheaper than to Puntilla Rural).<br /> Gate 1 closed, after waiting 2 minutes a car came.<br /> Gate 2 open on the right side.<br /> Water available at all marked spots. <br /> Nice campground with small swimming pool at the back of the small river at Camp 01 [4/29/1415].<br /> Several campsites on the river around El Melocoton.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2021 Nov-19 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&amp;Stiina'''<br /> <br /> We wanted to avoid the boring through-town and road walking so we took the micro-bus from Puente Alto to Puntilla Rural which only left us 2km of road walking. It’s a micro-bus MB73 and it goes right on the same street when you come out of the subway. It doesn’t have a stop so you just have to wave it down when you see it coming, ticket costs 750 pesos. After those 2km on the asphalt road we turned off to a minor road with an impassable gate which is normally closed, but luckily we only waited less than 10 min. and a car came and we just walked in, they didn’t ask us anything so it seemed alright. 2nd gate was open. Water sources were flowing well. Climb was brutal, super steep and very, very hot. We imagine this section could easily be walked a month earlier to avoid the baking in the furnace. Great views from the “Pass”. We camped at the “Bridge, Water” waypoint after the pass, nice place, but unfortunately we had lots of tiny, very hungry biting flies there. We saw a lot of campers in the valley before El Melocotón, which was a bit of a surprise, more than 20 tents, perhaps people enjoying nature on the weekend? We didn’t go in to El Melocotón but continued straight to GPT02. <br /> <br /> For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Nov-09 to 2021-Nov-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Marc Anthony '''<br /> <br /> Started afternoon on first day and arrived in melocotón same time next day. Took a taxi from Puento Alto metro station to the Plaza in Pirque, because I was advised against walking alone through Puente Alto by the locals. Quite a lot of mini shops with empenadas and other food when following the paved road from Pirque. When turning from the paved road onto the first minor road I encountered a big locked gate, which luckily opened because cars were driving through from the other side. After a couple of kilometers another locked gate appears but i walked around the right side and found a smaller open gate that I passed through. When the terrain starts getting steeper, I found it very hot to walk here during the afternoon. Definitely wouldn’t want to walk there in the middle of the day during summer. Also the section right before the mountain pass is very steep. Best to walk here during the morning when you’ll have the shadow of the mountain. Rest of the way was generally easy enough, carried plenty of water with me.<br /> <br /> Found a place called Posada Del Jinete in southern part of El Melocotón with Cabañas for 80.000 and hostal room with to beds for 40.000. Not the cheapest but didn’t find a lot of options nearby. The father and son who are running the place are nice people who can tell a lot about the area. Small tienda/café down the road from hostal with only basic supplies<br /> <br /> Started this section on November 9th. The gate at -33 36.774’ -070 30.027’ is locked. Didn’t find anybody around to ask, but it magically opened up behind me just as I was about to leave, because cars were coming through from the other side. Did see a couple more cars going the same direction as I walked on the minor road. Might be worth waiting around for some time to see if anyone will drive through?<br /> <br /> Found water in all expected places. Would recommend carrying a good amount with you on your way up onto the mountain pass, since this a very hot and steep section especially in the afternoon and it will be awhile before the next water source.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Nov-14 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ricardo Gold'''<br /> <br /> We tried both entrances to the gravel road. Both closed with big gates (RR @KM13). We did an alternative start from Pirque that it did work, but is a significant longer (but nice). I would suggest to review this segment as the two main entrances seems closed for good.<br /> <br /> After you get into the road is very straight forward, very easy to navigate. There is water in all expected points and I think they will last long into the summer. <br /> Indeed, it is very exposed, it will be hard to do in a sunny day, as it will be hot. Alternatively you can start really early or even do it partially at night as it is easy to navigate and not dangerous at all. <br /> <br /> The climb is pretty steep for a maintenance road. it is +20% for ~4km, so I suggest to tackle this section really early in the morning. There is a good water source just before starting and probably also a good camping ground.<br /> <br /> Next water source is ~14km after, but with also ~1000m of uphill, so be mindful of the time to get into there. Btw, this water source has a small cascate and pond that is great to jump in and refresh. Just walk ~10m into the upstream.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-03 to 2020-Jan-04 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank'''<br /> <br /> See transport section if you want to skip the first 13KM roadwalk. Midsummer is not the ideal time for GPT01 as it is very hot, there is little shade &amp; not much water. If you do walk there are several small shops on the road up to KM13.<br /> <br /> It was difficult to access the start. At KM 16.5 on the road, RR-PR-V@01-6.9+4.3 &amp; 700 metres further after the bridge, route sealed by two 15 foot high gates with spikes on top. No one there to ask to open them. Back on RR @ KM13, 2 locked gates. At OH-MR-V@01-A-#002 a resident let me through the locked gate. There is a new fence a little up the road that will probably close off this variant (I got in through a small unfinished section). It is very dry now so RR gates may be closed due to lack of water &amp; fire risk. The only water on RR until 14KM after the pass is on section RR-MR-V@01-16.3+7.8 marked Bridge, Water on GPX, making a camp @ the site 15 mins. walk above (marked Camp No Water) highly advisable. Look for the gas pipeline, route follows it most of the way. Kiosk with drinks &amp; snacks &amp; campsite on the route 3KM before Melocoton are open all week in midsummer, weekends only in low season. No need to go to Melocoton. Get bus to Santiago @ road junction 500 metres down the road after bridge over Rio Maipo<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-13 to 2019-Dec-17 / 5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 and GPT02 / Ian Hikes '''<br /> <br /> Overview: I decided to combine GPT 01 and 02 using the alternative route through Rio Clarillo National Reserve which is something I do recommend. You do have to pay $5.000 to enter the park. You then follow the river up to the pass where it joins the official route. The two sections are very open and exposed with wide open views across the mountains and high mountain passes. <br /> <br /> Difficulties: My biggest difficult in this section was the lack of water. There were many sections that were dry and, on many occasions, found me going 15-20km with water. I would suggest taking extra care planning out water resupply along the route. I usually took 2-4L of water at any given time in these two sections. Also this section is very remote and did not see anyone for 3 days.<br /> <br /> Highlights: High mountain passes and great open views (especially for sunrise and sunset)<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-27 / Hiking / SOBO / Family Size '''<br /> <br /> Locked gate with barbed wire (S 33° 36.795', W 070° 30.049') on the official route. Found someone at the gate up the road (S 33° 36.702', W 070° 29.640') who unlocked that one for me. He said the road behind is no private property, but it's always locked. After another gate (S 33° 37.141', W 070° 29.927'), with a hole on the right to climb climb through, this road connects back to the official route.<br /> <br /> There is plenty of water on the B alternet uphill. Almost at the top it tastes a bit like cow shit after filtering. There is a lot of OK water at the bottom of the downhill and quite a few tourists especially on weekends.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-17 to 2019-Nov-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Matus &amp; Anna'''<br /> <br /> We walked GPT01 in 2 days, including one nero day. We used uber to get to the trail, hope your driver won't be stupid enough to take shortcuts through slums :). There is a gate on the beginning of trail, after a &quot;discussion&quot; (we don't speak spanish) they let us go through. Climb was really hot, make sure you take enough water from the last source on the way up. There is water on the other side, but first marked water source didn't look the best. There is a river cutting a trail a bit down from that point. We stayed in a campsite on the begining of next section which was nice. They have really sticky ferral dogs there which we had a real problem to chase to not hike with us.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-11 to 2019-Nov-13 / 3 days / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo'''<br /> <br /> It took us 3 days as we started late in Santiago and arrived early in Melocoton. As it's still low season everything is shut down in Melocoton so we took the bus (which runs every 30 minutes) to San Alfonso, where we found nice cabañas and three small resupply tiendas.<br /> <br /> We went to Puente Alto and then Pirque by Uber. The drivers know where the protests take place and avoid those areas or areas which got recently destroyed.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Oct-27 / Alert / Jan Dudeck'''<br /> <br /> The Metro line 4 to Puente Alto is currently out of operation due to vandalism during the current protests. Check online for current the status and delete this alert once metro operation to Puente Alto resumes.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2018/19==<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-16 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin Lizondo'''<br /> <br /> Carry plenty of water on this section as water sources might dry out in early summer after all snow has molten.<br /> <br /> Puente Alto is not particular safe area of Santiago, so residents recommend not walking very early in the morning or at night through this outskirt of Santiago.<br /> Old entrance of regular route is closed by gate (S33° 37.320' W70° 32.182'). Better start from the public minor road and you won't have any problem (S33° 36.768' W70° 30.033'). The GPT Track File 2019 incorporates this change so follow the Regular Route if you use the current update.&lt;br /&gt;<br /> <br /> Carry as much water as possible just before ascending to the pass (S33° 38.394' W70° 27.191'). There won't be water until 14 km further, and it's not of good quality (S33° 41.000' W70° 23.100').<br /> <br /> Instead of deviating to El Melocotón, you can spend the night in Reserva Coyanco (camping, food, services), from where GPT02 starts. Just turn right at S33° 40.813' W70° 20.812'.<br /> <br /> * '''2018-Dec-15 to 1018-Dec-16 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Austin Davis'''<br /> <br /> http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/<br /> <br /> ==Season 2017/18==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2016/17==<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / GPT02 &amp; GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo / Bethany Hughes, Lauren Reed'''<br /> <br /> https://her-odyssey.org/<br /> <br /> * '''2017-Jan / Hiking / SOBO / GPT01 Option 1 Rio Clarillo &amp; GPT02 / Gerald Klamer'''<br /> <br /> * '''http://geraldtrekkt.blogspot.com/2017/04/greater-patagonian-trail-1-santiago-coya.html'''<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> ==Start Regular Route: Santiago, Metro Station Puente Alto==<br /> <br /> Plaza De Puente Alto is an underground metro station and the southern terminal station of Line 4 of the Santiago Metro network. Underground trains run frequently between 6 am in the morning and 11 pm in the evening. <br /> <br /> Calculate 1 hour from the city centre to the terminal station Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto buses leave to most towns and villages in the Maipo valley and the surrounding area. (2019)<br /> <br /> If you don't want to walk the first 13KM of the regular route on the road then get bus MB73 from Puente Alto.<br /> <br /> ==Finish Regular Route: El Melocoton==<br /> <br /> See also [[GPT02]]<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following bus gets you to El Melocoton in the Maipo valley: Bus MB-72B<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate a bit over 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Start or Finish Option 1 (Rio Clarillo): Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo==<br /> <br /> From Plaza De Puente Alto the following buses get you close to Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo: <br /> <br /> - Bus 978 towards Rio Clarillo (this is the best option, gets you the closest to the entrance to the reserve)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-74 towards El Principal De Pirque (last stop is here: 33.7290444S, 70.5371567W)<br /> <br /> - Bus MB-80 towards El Principal De Pirque<br /> <br /> Buses are frequent and calculate 1 hour for the bus ride. (2019)<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to the regular route but a high gate was build in 2021. If the the gate at waypoint &quot;X, Gate {01} [11.2/787]&quot; is locked, continue 2.1 km on the main road and take Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio).<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Access into Reserva Nacional Rio Clarillo is controlled by CONAF at the main entrance near Pirque. The park is intended for daytime visits only and does not provide camp grounds. Cooking inside the park is strictly banned including with camping stoves. A maximum of 800 persons are permitted entry on one day. CONAF park rangers might not permit a southbound traverse and all visitors are probably required to leave the park in the evening at the main gate. The entrance fee is 11,500 CLP (2022) for foreign nationals and 2000 to 4000 CLP for Chileans. The tickets needs to be bought online in advance and there is not cell coverage at the entrance to the reserve.<br /> <br /> A northbound traverse is probably free of charge. (2019)<br /> <br /> ==Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio)==<br /> No permit or entry fees apply to Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio). No right-of-way conflicts reported yet. If the gate issue on the RR persists to cause problems and Option 2 (Filo Purgatorio) is recommended by more hikers then Option 2 may become the new Regular Route.<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT01 - Cerro Purgatorio]]<br /> <br /> ==Regular Route==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[San Juan de Pirque - El Toyo]]<br /> <br /> ==Option 1 (Rio Clarillo)==<br /> Wikiexplora: [[Río Clarillo]]<br /> <br /> National Park: http://www.conaf.cl/parques/reserva-nacional-rio-clarillo/<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> [[Archivo:gpt01 Cerro Purgatorio.jpg|View to the central Andes, by [http://notabadplacetopee.com/gpt01/ Austin Davis]]]<br /> <br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (6).jpg|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 1]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT15_(Curarrehue)&diff=120349 2025-02-19T22:56:30Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> <br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-Feb-10 to 2025-Feb-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Farah &amp; Jan '''<br /> <br /> Combined GPT14 and 15 and took 6,5 hiking days in total including the Sollipulli Summit ascent.<br /> <br /> Highlights: Araucaria forests, Piñones, fast food, hospitable Mapuches, delicious blackberries<br /> “Challenges”: Fallen trees and spinous blackberry bushes<br /> <br /> Planned to spend our first night on GPT15 at Camp $ {15} [2.4+0.2/819]. Upon arrival we only found a deserted property with an empty house. Augusto, the neighbor at S 39°08.1453’ W 71°28.9760’ told us that the owner wasn’t at home but we could camp there anyways. Few minutes later his daughter Gloria offered us to sleep in a bed in a house on their property house for 20 luca. We happily accepted and got ice cold watermelon and some savory empanadas for second dinner - a stroke of luck after the restaurant in Reigolil was closed.<br /> <br /> In the morning Gloria made a delicious breakfast for us, consisting of huevos revueltos, pan, ají, manjar casero and mate. We gave her 20 luca for the bed and another 20 for the two meals.<br /> <br /> Augusto showed us a small cabaña he is currently building to host more hikers in the future. After using the power supply and internet for some planning and communication, we continued our hike in the afternoon.<br /> <br /> At around S 39°11.0510’ W 71°28.0804’ we met a guy called Roky who offered us accommodation. We declined but noted his phone number for hikers who pass there in the future: +56 9 7820 4656<br /> <br /> At S 39°13.0879’ W 71°26.1168’ we discovered a food truck just 200 m across the bridge from the RR. We ate one serving of delicious fried chicken, one of salchipapas and two soft drinks for a total of 11 luca. The owner told us he had opened this year.<br /> <br /> Camped at S 39°15.0309’ W 71°25.9345’. Not ideal as it’s very close to the street but at least next to the river.<br /> <br /> The next morning we ascended to Laguna Hualalafquén and spent one and a half days there, enjoying this beautiful place. Along the way we found a brand new mini shop (although closed when we passed it at round 8 in the morning) at S 39°17.8526’ W 71°26.0645’. Also picked a lot of delicious blackberries on our ascent.<br /> <br /> On our second day at the laguna, we met fellow GPT hiker Peggy who pitched her tent close to ours and we had a nice chat with her.<br /> <br /> Started early in the morning the next day to walk to Curarrehue. Filled out water bladders at the laguna which would not have been necessary as there is plenty of water on the way down.<br /> <br /> Plenty of fallen trees that had to be climbed over or crawled under slowed us down on the way down. Got caught in blackberry bushes with nasty spines. Also found another locked gate which was super easy to climb around though.<br /> <br /> From Curarrehue we originally wanted to take the next bus to Pucón (they go every 30 min), but then decided to stay a night and then even one more as this little town/village is very beautiful. Strongly recommended for hikers who want to take some time to explore a community where Mapuche culture is lived and celebrated.<br /> <br /> *'''2025-02-11 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / Road+OH 15A+RR / Dorota Szparaga'''<br /> <br /> I followed the advice of the owner of the hostel and took the road which is parallel to the RR. Nice, comfortable road with a lot of houses. He said that here there are fewer cars. There were &quot;zona de carpas&quot; at points -39.23382, -71.43492. In the settlement Maite Aquas Blancas (15-A) [4.2+0.5/526] I crossed the bridge and joined at km 4 var A. There was water at -39.34382, -71.49513. Quiet road in the forest without views. Then I took the RR from km 40.9 of the RR. Night at Curarrehue en Cabana together with Peggy ( she went from stage 16). We paid 50.000 clp. To rooms and salón and kitchen (-39.36245, -71.58551). The village has everything. A lot of supermercados, ferreteria (gaz) -39.36469, -71.58380. Also, you can repair your clothes in two places. One -39.36170, -71.58498. Another at -39.36358, -71.58413. Also, there is a man who can repair shoes, his phone +56961763003.<br /> <br /> *'''2025-01-15 to 2025-01-16 / 1.5 days / NOBO / RR + Option 1 (PN Huerquehue) / Tobias '''<br /> <br /> Arrived at PN Hierquehue with the first Bus from Pucon in the Morning. Could not enter, because the Tickets for the Park were sold out and they didn’t let me cross the park anyway. No one with a big backpack was allowed to enter. Ranger said, that the path to the other side is closed since 9 years. Thought about finding my way around the checkpoint, but there is another checkpoint in the Park and I don’t won’t to complain, so I turned back and hitchhiked to Currarehue. There is a second unofficial entrance to cross Huerquehue down from the lake (-39.11001, -71.74589). I have done that trail 5 years ago and it worked. But to get there you need to do another 20km road walk by the lake. <br /> <br /> From Curarruehue I walked on the boring road. Good thing about walking boring section is that I always meet a lot of people. I was 3 times invited for coffee or mate, ate many cherrys and learned a lot about the Mapuche communities up there. I did not hitchhike, but 2 cars stopped beside me and took me for a while. So all in all, I liked the section.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-JAN-04 / 1 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT14+GPT15+GPT16+GPT17+GPT18+GPT19<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : non<br /> | Intérêt : 1/5<br /> | Difficulté : 0/5<br /> | Danger : aucun<br /> <br /> Bus a 7h45 Reigolil &gt; Maite Centre (km 24,1). Du km 39 au km 41, le sentier n'est plus utilisé par les locaux et la végétation pousse vite. Dans la vallée tout est cloturé, j'ai ouvert le portail au km 41,5 pour prendre de l'eau. La gravel road jusqu'a Curarrehue est arborée et se fait bien.<br /> <br /> *'''2024-DEC-31 to 2025-JAN-02/ 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. A) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> A gravel section, mostly flat, that felt more like a connecting stretch leading to Curarrehue.<br /> <br /> In Reigolil, we resupplied in the evening and walked a few kilometers past the village, where we camped by the river. We spent a peaceful evening by the fire with bottles of wine, marking the last night of 2024. The next morning, we took our time and then started tackling relatively monotonous gravel sections.<br /> <br /> At the Maite Centro crossroads X {15} [24.1/544], we deviated from the RR route and chose variant {15-A}. Shortly after, we came across a brand-new and well-stocked shop that wasn’t listed in the track files (coordinates: -39.29747, -71.43439).<br /> <br /> At the crossroads X {15} [41.5/719], we rejoined the RR route and followed the well-trodden MR path all the way to Curarrehue. This is a great place to resupply, and we even managed to find a gas cartridge at the hardware store located at the end of town (-39.3547505, -71.5930750).<br /> <br /> * &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''December 17–26 2024 / 10 days/  Packrafting / SOBO / New option combining Huella Andina and nearby lakes from Icalma/Villa Pehuenia to Paso Mamuil Mamal (road from  Pucón to Argentina) GPT14 RP?, GPT15-RP???'''&lt;/span&gt;<br /> See our full report on wikiexplora page for GPT 14 for Argentinian packrafting version of GPT15.<br /> <br /> * '''19Dec2024 - 20dec2024 / hiking / OH1 (after GPT14 SOBO) / 2 days / Clara'''<br /> <br /> Nice way to go out of section 14. Sleep at hospedaje Verónica on OH1a<br /> <br /> Road for few km, hitchhike a part but not much cars. Then trail (to go on, need to enter a private property. There is a gate that is not close few meter after the tracks on map). Go back directly on tracks neither it's rapidly BB. Trail throught a dense forest but very well maintained. <br /> <br /> Lake isolda : impossible to camp here cause very dense vegetation and marsh around the lake. Few km further there are 2 glades where it's possible to camp with river flowing around. After lake, path is a bit less maintened and overgrown but still really easy to follow. After few km of trail, you arrive on an old road where cars can't go anymore for sure, easy walking till termas de rio blanco. Some nice views on the valley and montains around but most of time forest hiking. Multiple gates easy to go throught. 2 nice saltos (indicated) before termas de rio blanco where would bu nice to swim if hot weather. <br /> <br /> Camp eco termas (15k for night + enjoy termas really hot and nice). <br /> <br /> Day 2 is mostly trail in forest. Some nice views when up and on the other side on the lake and the villarrica volcan. 2 waterfalls. Up the trail, lago toro (west side), lago verde and lago chico have nice place where you can eat/rest. Then lake tinquilco, many campings, cabañas, restaurant. Conaf there between 8.30-18.30 and theoretically need ticket to go to the national park. Also it's written that path to rio Blanco is closed so maybe it's wouldn't be possible to go in the other way. There were no one when I passed, end of afternoon so they didn't asked me where I came from. <br /> <br /> From there, easy to hitchhike to Pucón. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-dec-08 to 2024-dec-10 / 2.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Karin'''<br /> <br /> Camp: km14 improvised (read text)/ km30.6<br /> <br /> From the village Reigolil to Maite, there are not real possibilities to camp. I was lucky and disovered a improvised place about 3.3km after GPT15-03 Start on the left side of the road, in a little forest, just before the paserelle, at the woodworker. A small stream is there too. It was ok for one night, but not optimal. There is space just for a one person tent between the trees. As it was Saturday nobody was there.<br /> <br /> The gravel road and the trail to the Laguna km30.6 is easy to follow. As the Laguna is quite flat at the border (high water level), the water was lukewarm and nice to take a bath. <br /> <br /> The way down to Settlement km40.9 was sometimes overgrown, or blocked by fallen trees/brunches. From the moment the path gets on the wider &quot;road&quot; (about km39), I would suggest to continue on this &quot;road&quot; (which joins var A) and not to turn left, as this path is not maintained at all and will soon be impossible to walk.<br /> <br /> Curarrehue is a bigger town in the mountain, so there is all kinds of shops for resupply and accomodation.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 nov 14 / 1 day/ hiking/ Sobo/ RR/ Allie'''<br /> <br /> I took the bus from reigolil (at the bridge by the river) to maio centro. From there i started the ascent to lago hualalafquen. Its very straightforward. From the lake to currarehue its easier to lose the trail and lthere are some large tree trunks to climb, but no real obstacles.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 nov 5.-8. / 4 days of hiking SOBO / Option PN Huerquehue / Daina and Arno'''<br /> <br /> We did a combination of GPT 14 &amp; 15 and took the option through the NP Huerquehue. Day 1 was GPT 14. Note: we didn't have the files.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> Almost no traffic at the minor road, but still boring for a hiker.<br /> <br /> At -39.069326, -71.536092 there is a locked gate with a good trail, which leads directly to the shore of Laguna Isolda. But we couldn't find a connection to the trail to the Thermas.<br /> <br /> The log entrys says the correct trail to Laguna Isolda is in good condition, so i assumed it will be easy to find the trail to Laguna Isolda, without knowing the exact position of it. I was totally wrong! I had marked a spot on the map where it could be, but there were two gates very near, both easy to open. We tried 3 different paths, but they all disappeared quickly. After more than one hour of searching, we hiked back to a trail which leads to Laguna Cochor to spend the night. Both sides of the road are fenced with barbed wire. Very difficult to find campspots.<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> <br /> At -39.069326, -71.536092 there is a locked gate with a good trail, which leads directly to the shore of Laguna Isolda. But we couldn't find a connection to the trail to the Thermas. Here the path near the shoreline was very overgrown, until we couldn't find it anymore. We backtracked to the road and lost 3 hours. Frustrated we walked 15km to the Thermas on the road. No cars in our direction, no possibility to hitch. <br /> <br /> The trail to Camping Renahue at the right side was overall in ok condition. We didn't see the left trail. The lower part was very wet due to snowmelt. The steep part was muddy, but without obstacles. May be demanding on a rainy day. Later there were a lot of huge fallen trees on the path, we followed horse tracks. They lead around the blowdowns. 7:15pm we arrived at Camping Renahue. There and at the beginning of the trail we couldn't find signs about a trail closure. <br /> <br /> Day 4<br /> <br /> We choosed the trail down to the Laguna Carburgua to avoid the Conaf. The condition was good, can't complain about it. The roadwalk until the primary road was annoying, again no car in our direction.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Mar 31st to Apr 5th / 4 hiking days / SOBO / Hiking / Opt 1 / Michael and Kasia'''<br /> <br /> We did sections 14 and 15 together. <br /> <br /> TL:DR: Opt 1 is a nice route with lots of forest walking and some termales options; the Renahue sector of PN Huerquehue is still closed, but that also means no one is there.<br /> <br /> Day 1 Mar 31st<br /> <br /> Our hitch dropped us off at the beginning Opt 1. It is a road walk, but the road is not much used, so it wasn't too bad. <br /> <br /> We camped at (-39.06732, -71.51559) just before the bridge. It was a functional campsite. It was right next to the road and the ground was covered in a thin layer of pumice, so not optimal for the tent. But it was flat, and didn't require climbing any fences. Going back a small path it had good river access. It was also clearly used as a campsite by other people. There was a fire ring and a grill hanging in a tree.<br /> <br /> Day 2 Apr 1st<br /> <br /> We continued on the road. We passed the entrance to Opt 1B, though we didn't have time to take it. It is a clearly marked trailhead. We continued on the road to the private property. We tried calling the phone number on the private property sign, but no one answered so we decided to just go ahead. The entrance was through a barbed wire gate, then follow the path along the fence line to the trail. The trail was in pretty good shape except for a few areas where water has rutted it out. We did not find any real access to Laguna Isolada; there was a ring of marsh grass about 3 or 4 meters wide around the whole lake. Where the track gets closest to the lake there was a fallen tree that we sat on for coffee and lunch. At two points there were fairly elaborate wooden barricades, one that we climbed under, the other we climbed around. It was unclear whether they were for animals or people. As has been noted before, the road begins earlier than it shows on the map. We did not see anyone the entire time. We both really enjoy walking in the forest, and the forest was very pretty throughout the day, so we were happy we chose to go this way instead of just hitching all the way to the termas.<br /> <br /> We arrived at the termas area. Eco termas seemed nicer than San Sebastian. The weather forecast was predicting heavy rain and wind up to 60kmph with gusts over 100 kmph the following day, so we wanted to stay in a cabaña instead of the tent and neither of the termales places could accommodate us. We found a cabaña at Cabañas Rio Blanco (-39.10593, -71.61558). It had a well equipped kitchen, wood stove with wood included, and hot water in the shower and sinks. The woman who runs it, Angélica, was incredibly nice and made excellent pan amasado. There is no cell service in the valley and power cuts are a daily thing, though there was power for several hours a day, so plenty of time to charge things.<br /> <br /> Day 3 and 4 April 2nd and 3rd<br /> <br /> We stayed at Cabañas Rio Blanco for two days to wait over the weather. <br /> <br /> Day 5 April 4th<br /> <br /> We left Rio Blanco and started up the trail to PN Huerquehue. The trail was in decent shape, better than we had expected. Along the way we saw a lot of different mushrooms, including some very impressive groups of Amanita muscaria that were so shiny red they almost looked fake. At the Letrero mark on OSM is the welcome sign. There was a laminated piece of paper stapled to it that was so badly faded from water as to be unreadable. If it weren't for Natalie's note from last year we would have had no idea what it said. The Renahue sector is still officially closed, as is the camping. The trail up was sometimes a little hard to keep track of. It was also pretty slippery for a lot of it. I would definitely not recommend doing it in the rain. The forest is pretty though and we really enjoyed the hike. We camped at Renahue. It was fine, though nothing special.<br /> <br /> Day 6 April 5th<br /> <br /> From Renahue we followed the trail toward the entrance. Until Laguna Huerquehue there were still a lot of blow downs to climb over. In some places it looked like recent maintenance had been done, in others not. Laguna Avutardas is a short detour, as is Laguna Huerquehue which is less a laguna and more of a wetland. Laguna Toro was pretty and we stopped there for lunch. There is a campsite marked there on OSM, however the ground was saturated, not sure if from the rain or from the lake, but not a good camp spot. Lago Verde and Lago Chico were also nice. The trail after Lago Chico was in pretty rough shape. It was clear and there was no brush, but it was very wet and extremely slippery. There was no one at the ticket office when we left, however that is not really the exit. There is still more than a km of trail until a road, and then another 2 km until the actual gate. It was about 7:30 and we were about 200 m from the main entrance when a CONAF guard drove up in a truck, on his way to his house I assume. It ended up being a somewhat uncomfortable conversation, he was upset that we had gone that way and he said a number of things that didn't make sense, but the essence was that it was prohibited to cross the park from Rio Blanco. After everything he was a bit more demure and said if we wanted to camp at the CONAF camping it was 20.000 and we could register and pay in the morning, then he left. We were considering camping but a truck was leaving the entrance right as we got there and we caught a lucky hitch all the way to Pucón.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-09 // 1 day // Hiking // NOBO // OPT3 + RR // Quentin Clavel'''<br /> <br /> As the weather was not on my side this week, and that I've got only one sunny day, I did my best to have this nice day for the ascent of the sollipulli volcano. <br /> <br /> So I decided to shortcut this GPT15, by passing threw the vallee Panqui (OPT3). It was not a very attractive section, as the RR I guess, rated 1/5 in terms of attractivity. But it was nor terrible ! <br /> <br /> After the city of Currarehue, you just follow a long and boring gravel road all along the vallee Panqui. Most surprising moment was to meet the polish priest of the city of Currarehue (yes, you read well), that really wanted to speak and know more on my adventure. After long discussions he even pried for me to have a safe end of my trip, and admit some doubt to have a track at the end of the gravel road. Another wtf moment of this GPT. <br /> <br /> The priest was wrong, of course there were a track at the end of the valley ! And I was happy about that because I was quite bored about this gravel. Track is easy to follow, again more when you pass after cross-country motorcycle that made the way again more easy to follow ! <br /> <br /> Best little moment of this section was the view on the pass, af the valley and the sollipulli volcano far away. <br /> <br /> Then you go down and continue the section until reigolil on a gravel road. People down there were very friendly and quite surprised to see me, not sure there's a lot of hikers who are passing threw the area ! <br /> <br /> Reigolil is tiny tiny, not the best choice to resupply, but there's a minimarket in case of emergency. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-14 to 2024-Feb-16 / 2,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / czimahi'''<br /> <br /> from Curarrehue by road, no prob, first drinkable water just before Puesto 15 [37.4/1101]<br /> one spiny fence on the way like on S39°22.000` W71°29.557` but you can just follow the road and then there is another road up. <br /> I slept like 0,5km before Puesto 15 [33.1/1096] with water<br /> The rest to Reigolil no prob, road ripio, I slept just after bridge Quinenahuin in some abandoned terrain<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-16 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {15-03} / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> Km1.07 : camping possibilities at west of the road(without fence)beside the river, some trees for privacy and cover.<br /> <br /> Km4.0 : Dirt road junction, you can follow the dirt road to river side, looks like a large flat area there.<br /> <br /> Km4.85 : large and beautiful grassland with trees and beside the river, some camping trace here. A small stream is flowing across the road 50m more.<br /> <br /> Km7.8 : I crossed to the other side of valley with a bridge at here.<br /> <br /> Settlement[59.8+6.9/767] : also a small shop here, selling some food and drinks, not much selection but good stock. I saw some locals waiting bus at here too. Super friendly.<br /> <br /> Then i continued south to join {15-03}.<br /> <br /> {15-03} km1.45 : i saw a clear trailhead going south at here.<br /> <br /> Km1.6 : junction of road and trail.<br /> <br /> From here to km4.1, {15-03} is a very old, damaged and no more cars running dirt road. Mostly you are following it, walking on it or some horse trail and cow paths to the pass at km4.35. Steep but very easy to follow.<br /> <br /> Km1.68 : a trail junction here, it is a very clear trail to north, i think it is connected with the trailhead at km1.45.<br /> <br /> Km2.25 : side trail to a stream (-39.19811, -71.47021), some people use wood and bamboo made a pipe here, easy to collect water, thank you!<br /> <br /> Km2.75 : beautiful camping spot with grassland.<br /> <br /> Km3.1 : small stream(-39.20079, -71.47549) flowing good, easy to collect.<br /> <br /> Km3.9 : no more trace of road, become a horse trail. Some flat spots at valley(east) side with views but windy.<br /> <br /> The trail is maintained by some people, some sticks just cut off on the ground maybe some weeks before. Trail condition is good and going smooth.<br /> <br /> Km4.35 : some flat spots and an old, small bridge here. Stream under the bridge without flowing.<br /> <br /> Km5.8 : trail condition becomes an old dirt road, also a dirt road junction here.<br /> <br /> Km5.85 : beautiful grassland(-39.21900, -71.48849), with a huge tree can fit lot of tents here. Bridge and a good flow stream nearby(-39.21831, -71.48848).<br /> <br /> Km5.9 : bridge, stream flowing good with clear water under the bridge.<br /> <br /> Km7.55 : stream flowing low beside the road, cross a log to grassland camping spot. After here, no more camping possibilities i can find.<br /> <br /> Km8.1 : a friendly locked gate, easy climb at left side.<br /> <br /> Km8.2 : bridge, stream flowing good with clear water under the bridge.<br /> <br /> Km11.3 : bus stop at the turning, but i don't know about the bus schedule.<br /> <br /> I walked about 4-5km more, a local driver waved hands to me, then i arrived Curarrehue, MAGIC!<br /> <br /> Good town for resupply. Lot of accommodation, some supermarkets and restaurants in Curarrehue, also bus to Pucón and Santiago. I resupply at Supermercado Katty(-39.36219, -71.58473), because locals told me it is the best in Curarrehue, and i find 230g gas canisters at GYG Supermercado (2nd floor)(-39.36043, -71.58693), it just left 2.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-28-12 / 1,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Option 1 + 1a / Jens '''<br /> <br /> I crossed the Huerquehue National Park to the north. Bus from Pucon to the entrance at 8.30am. Be there early, it fills up quickly.<br /> <br /> The warden told me that it was illegal to cross the park because of the trek closure. I assured her that I would come back and ignored her. <br /> <br /> The crossing was easy and beautiful. The trail was mostly maintained with the occasional tree trunk to climb over. <br /> <br /> Camping and water available.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-27 / 4 days / Hiking / 15-O1 NOBO + Solipulli traverse + 14 SOBO / Martial '''<br /> <br /> Very nice expedition starting opposite side from Nat &amp; Tomas cause i skipped GPT11-13 for gear resupply in Pucón (Volcanica outdoors very good btw !).<br /> Started 15-O1 in Parc Huerquehue the 23 in the morning after negociating an entrance ticket with one of the guard off voices who was very comprehensive after i got here without ticket on the 22 at 18pm and parc was fully reserved for 2 more days.. Be more prepared ! Had a lucky price 10mil for Olga’s camping 10mil for 1 person arriving late. Very good value for money ! Crystal clear lake water sunset, hot clean showers, caring owners.. Beers, galletas y pan amasado caliente in the morning ! Had to get back to the CONAF gate in the morning for ticket so wished i had left the mochila in Olga’s 😓 Easy and nice walk up to the lagunas and although i have been warned Renahue sector was shut, i decided to continue as Conaf is not checking exit route. (The sector has been closed for missbehavior of the visitors so obviously don’t make fire or leave basura !!). Starting this sector the trail is volontary left sufficiently overgrown to discourage normal visitor but no GPT hiker 😄 and the way down to the Termas is nice enough. Stayed at ecotermas for 15mil after nice chat with Richard the guardian. Loved to immerge in the termas for hours with a beer and chating with Chileans.<br /> Next morning had in mind to hitchhike but no cars so found nice cascade before turning left to laguna Isolda. The owner put a gate « recinto privado » but you can pass asking for permission.. I bumped into him and his little daughter cleaning the trail to the laguna with machete : very nice guy and thanks to him the trail in this forest till the road is beautiful !<br /> Hitchhiking the road was no better so had to camp next to it on an unmarked camp here -39.06698, -71.51530, rainy night.<br /> The day after finally had a lucky hitch all the way to the entrance of the reserva to Solipulli so could actually make it to the summit on the same day by following the south est ascent. It is CC after the treeline and found a good path climbing to the lake located before the crater for high camp (my specialty it seems 😄 !). Aqui : -38.96789, -71.49060. Weather was getting full sun so no problem and was delightly rewarded by one of the most amazing sunset of my life setting just into a depression of the crater above the glaciar. Mesmerizing and got me smiling for hours despite the crazy windy cold !<br /> After an icy night i used the same path to the ridge scouted before and could join the RR and true summit for midtime before going down on the easy north route heading to CONAF. There was surprisingly no-one there on a sunday early afternoon. Got small supplies from the lodge owner (28mil one p. in the refugio so passed and camped near a lake before last ford : recommended). Met also Franklin family for a few welcome asada meat sandwich treat 🍖 So generous !!<br /> Next day was big MR hiking back 14 sobo so putted earpods and went fullgas to a camp after Reigolil marked on gaia gps (but actually shut so got it free after asking for permision to the abuelo : -39.13615, -71.48404). Very hot and boring no cars after the reserve exit. Happy to reach Curarrehue’s cafeteria for sweet delights after 07:10 bus !<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-20 to 2023-Feb-21 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 1 PN Huerquehue / Natalie &amp; Tomáš '''<br /> <br /> Hitched from the end of GPT14 to the start of the trail to Laguna Isolda (option 01). The start is gated (easily passable) and says private property but we continued. Sign said to call bosquesnalcahue (45) 91 06 59. We anticipated a bushwack but the trail was in surprisingly good conditions and we managed to meet the women responsible for the upkeep later in the park, she guides horse tours through those trails and clears as much as she can.<br /> The trail however is &quot;so so&quot; and you cannot access the lake easily, if you need water there is running water here;-39.10352, -71.54720. The trail turns into a road sooner than it is shown on the map, it turns into a road here;-39.10477, -71.54474 (about 5 km in). The road to the hotsprings has lots of water sources but it is not very interesting and I personally wished I just hitched all the way to the hotsprings to spend more time there. However, there was an interesting deserted logging operation along the way (-39.12617, -71.55411), we learned from the horse guide that the company went bankrupt and just left everything there.<br /> <br /> Camping at the hotsprings; Eco Thermas Rio Blanco and San Sebastian, are 15mil/person. We chose to stay at Rio Blanco because of the pools and a better variety of camping spots. We camped above the booth where you pay and the man who we payed showed us a hidden super hot (adjustable with cold water hose) bath not too far from our camp spot. Tomáš was surprised there by a family at 10 PM so keep some makeshift swimsuits ready. Both campings sell some basic food items but not much. <br /> <br /> There is a sign saying the trail to Huerquehue is closed &quot;Indefinitely&quot; and so is camping Renahue. Quite alarming but since the website said the park was open we continued with the mindset we would have to turn back. The trail was pretty good from the termas to camping renahue and it is here where we met the horse guides that were doing the trail maintenance near Laguna Isolda. The horse guides came up through the trail from lake Caburgua and they said it was an easy trail. This could be a good option if you wanted to avoid any trouble with CONAF and the section closure. However we were still curious about Huerquehue so we continued option 01 thinking we would turn back if we saw another sign or anything saying the trail was closed, to our surprise there were no more signs. Between camping Renahue to lake Huerquehue, there is a lot of blow down but after lake Huerquehue, the trail is pristine. We started seeing people after Lago Toro, so obviously the park was open. With the combination of having a late morning at the hot springs and all the indecisiveness about closures we ended up walking through the park at a great time (530-7pm). There were very few people and we really got to enjoy how beautiful it was there. CONAF website said they close at 530pm but there are no gates and attendants so no problems leaving the park later.<br /> Unfortunately at the lake the camping El Rincon was closed and camping Olga was 18mil a night with a minimum of a two night stay so we managed to get a hitch to Pucón. If needed, you can illegally camp at the CONAF station as that is what others were doing or ask &quot;Alicia&quot; at the old El Rincon campsite if you can pay privately and take care of your washroom needs- supposedly they had to shut down due to washroom problems. <br /> <br /> '''&quot;Trail closure&quot; on option 01PN Huerquehue. When leaving the Eco termas Rio Blanco hot springs there is a sign saying the &quot;Huerquehue trail, camping renahue and the dome&quot; are closed &quot;indefinitely&quot;. The park itself is open but supposedly that section on the trail is closed. We continued bcs we were not sure which trail they were exactly talking about but we were prepared to turn around if we saw something blocked off. The trail was fine except for a lot of blow down up until the lake Huerquehue. If you want to avoid this closure there is a trail in good shape coming from lake Caburgua to camping renahue. We met a horse guide coming from there and said it is fine.'''<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Feb-05 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Frank'''<br /> <br /> I combined GPT15, 16 &amp; 17. It's easy to resupply in Curarrehue &amp; Liquine. 2 short days for GPT15 &amp; continued to GPT16 on 2nd day. Got the bus from Pucon to Reigolil via Currarehue. Didn't go to the lake but continued straight on the main road to Curarrehue. This option is quicker but there are not many places to camp. <br /> <br /> * '''2020-Feb / 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO'''<br /> <br /> We took the dirt road on the west side of river. There is a small coffee about 7km from Currarehue. Very nice with good atmosphere. No particular interest in this section. Hitch if you can, there are quite some people living along this road so it should be easy. There is a bus doing Currarehue/Reigolil every day. Currarehue is nice to resupply with restaurants, supermarkets and accommodation. There is also an ATM. Reigolil there is only one very small shop with not much.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-30 / SOBO / Main road / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> We started to walk on the road on the Western side of the river just to see what will happen. After 2 hours a bus to Curarrehue came ;-)<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Nov-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Shaun C '''<br /> <br /> Straightforward. Took a short 2 days. Rained incessantly, but still very pleasant, especially the misty Laguna Hualalafquen. Water readily available throughout. Only a few patches of snow (above 1200m).<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-15 / 4 days (GPT14 + GPT 15) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus &amp; Anna '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 14 and 15. It took us 3 days and nero.<br /> GPT14 - there are signs that someone tried to clear overgrown part of the trail on the begining and end but middle is still nicely overgrown. Though we didn't have problem to follow.<br /> Part of minor road on regular trail is under construction. They are putting a huge pipe under it. It was evening and workers were not there se we managed to sneak through but I don't think they will let you pass during working hours. It's just before descending to the river before National reserve Villarrica. <br /> In the Conaf campsite was food truck (it was weekend) with churasco, sopapillas, drinks... pure heaven. We paid 4000 per person at conaf.<br /> They are building a dorm at Lodge. It will be ready for next years hikers ;) <br /> Resuply in Reigolil - mini shop on trail seemed abandoned. We found best supplies in shop-4. There is one other shop directly after bridge. <br /> GPT15 - road and trail in good condition. On the climb to the lake bit before last settler there are some wild cherry trees on the left. We stuffed ourselves and left for others too. Enjoy. Multiple shops, accomodation options and restaurants in Curarrehue.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-19 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom &amp; Maddie '''<br /> <br /> Easy walking, road in good condition. Would recommend hitching if you have limited time, but worth doing otherwise to connect sections 14 and 16. Really good resupply in Curarrehue (restaurants, grocery stores, clothing stores, pharmacy etc).<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> *Pucon has a few big supermarkets &amp; several shops with hiking gear. One of the supermarkets has a hardware section where you can buy camping gas. <br /> <br /> *Regioli at the northern start of the section has only one limited shop. <br /> <br /> *Curarrehue, at the southern end, is a decent-sized town with numerous restaurants and shops. <br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> Quentin : Currarehue is kind of a big city, where you'll find easily places to resupply (there's at least 4 supermarkets and 10 minimarkets), foodplaces and accomodation (cabanas, hospedaje and hostel (at the end of the city)). Didn't checked in all supermarkets, but there's a good chance to find Gaz in this city I reckon, if not in supermarkets, probably in ferretería ?<br /> <br /> Reigolil is tiny tiny, not the best choice to resupply, but there's a minimarket in case of emergency.<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> Regioli has limited options. Curarrehue is much better connected.<br /> <br /> [[File:Reigolil.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Timetable January 2020]]<br /> <br /> Bus goes from Pucon to Curarrehue then Reigolil<br /> <br /> As of January 2024<br /> <br /> Bus from Reigolil to Curarrehue at 2pm. 1000 pesos. Two hour bus ride.<br /> <br /> November 2024:<br /> <br /> Direct bus from Pucón (Terminal Pullman) to Reigolil. 2600 CLP. 10:30 a.m. at a tuesday, but better to ask about the correct time at the terminal, because there is no written information.<br /> <br /> SOBO to Parque Huerquehue:<br /> Ask the Termas about chartered buses: Whatsapp;+56946809918, +56992318329.<br /> Otherwise make your way via Cunco or Temuco--&gt;Cunco.<br /> Temuco's Terminal de Buses Rurales (Balmaceda 1475) can be complicated since most buses have their own shop elsewhere. For Cunco go to office &quot;IGI LLAIMA/ Nar Bus&quot;; Balmaceda 997. The bus leaves every 30min. <br /> <br /> From Cunco check with locals about bus to Lago Caburga. Supposedly a bus leaves everyday at 4 or 5pm from Balmaceda corner La Concepción. It will pass by the nice supermarket;Supermercado Hesis on &quot;Colico Sur&quot; aka the S-75. Confirm schedule in the municipality of Cunco before traveling at +56 45 2200147.<br /> <br /> Hitchhiking is easy up until Lago Collico, after that there are cars but not many stop.<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT15 - Curarrehue]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> <br /> [[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095280.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT15]]<br /> [[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095440.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT15 and [[Volcán Lanín]]]]<br /> [[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095350.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095403.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095479.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_9_Curarrehue_109095515.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT14_(Volcan_Sollipulli)&diff=120348 2025-02-19T22:54:38Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> <br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-Feb-05 to 2025-Feb-10 / 4,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, 14-01 (Sollipulli Summit), 14-C / Farah &amp; Jan '''<br /> <br /> Combined GPT14 and 15 and took 6,5 hiking days in total including the Sollipulli Summit ascent.<br /> <br /> Highlights: Araucaria forests, Piñones<br /> Challenges: Overgrown trails<br /> <br /> Started in the afternoon at Laguna Chica de Icalma and camped at a small laguna some hundred meters off the RR at (S 38°52.007' W 71°22.804'). The section indicated in the manual as potentially overgrown, was indeed overgrown. Had to fight our way through vegetation and regretted that we didn’t bring a machete. <br /> <br /> The creek at camp [22.4/1158] had dried out, so we took the 14-C detour to the lake {14-C} [0.9/1535] to fill our water bladders.<br /> <br /> Found an araucaria tree with a low hanging ripe piña that we harvested and later peeled and cooked - sabroso!<br /> <br /> Locked gate at S 38°53.3561’ W 71°27.0191’, that we had to climb over.<br /> <br /> Camped at S 38°53,4797’ W 71°27.8106’ next to the river.<br /> <br /> The next day we climbed another locked gate at S 38°53.6540’ W 71°29.4936’. Hiked only half a day, took the afternoon off and camped at S 38°54.5929’ W 71°29.9113’, at a small camp ground for 10 luca per night for two ppl and one tent.<br /> <br /> Ascended to the Nevados de Sollipulli summit the next morning on the CONAF path (14-1), which was easy to walk. A properly maintained hiking path in the beginning and volcanic gravel further up. Then enjoyed another relaxed afternoon at the camp ground.<br /> <br /> Next day we continued to the camp at [46.9/1091]. Easy road walking on a private road, between a forest and a beautiful river bed with little traffic (only a few 4WDs).<br /> <br /> The next day we bought some food at the Mini Shop at [57.8/856], which had a way better selection than the shops in Reigolil center. Would’ve fully resupplied there, if we had known that already. Continued to the bridge at [59.8/835] and spent some relaxing hours next to and in the river. The fast food restaurant in Reigolil was closed, so no restaurant food for us. Resupplied at the shop at [60.0/838] with a very limited choice of foods and continued onto GPT15.<br /> <br /> <br /> * '''2025-02-08 to 2025-02-10 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RH+Var A+RR+OH01 volcano+RR/ Dorota Szparaga'''<br /> <br /> Day 1: At 3 p.m. from Icalma, I took variant OH1 till km.17.9 of RR. It was Saturday and &quot;feria&quot; en ICalma, so there were a lot of cars on OH1. In ICalma, I bought coffee y sopapillas de piñones. There were fodder tracks and many shops there. Without cars, this option is not so bad because you can admire the lake. I joined RR crossing the fence. Then the trail went through a very calm and beautiful forest. Some fences, but easy to cross. Then I took Var C to camp at the lake.<br /> <br /> Day 2: a little crazy. I started very early to reach the point of the park ranger before 11 a.m. taking RR. Some fences, sometimes I needed to pass under them. There was nobody in &quot;puestos&quot;. Part between km 30.9/29.6 and 31.9/30.9 of 1 km is something like a technical road to the installation managing water from the river. The last part I passed by a big pipe. I was not sure it was safe. I arrived 5 minutes before 11. Guardaparques was very polite and took care of my backpack. After me, two guys passed by the entrance without a problem. But I think that it is better to be there before 11. There is no possibility of camping near the entrance to the trail on Vulcan. Then I took the variant OH1 to Vulcan. The trail was very easy and touristy. The last part from 2000 height there was snow, but the trail is on the left side. The views were amazing. Then I came back the same route. The guardaparques has a camp on var H, point -38.90999,-71.49837 for 10000 clp. It is about 1.5 km before the park and there are good signs to this place. It is a very nice place close to the river: bathrooms, picnic tables, and a place to charge phones. Also, there was a net - Entel.<br /> <br /> Day 3: <br /> Very easy and climatic trail to Ragolil. The rivers are calm and not deep. There is camping before Ragolil &quot;Rayem mapu&quot; at point -39.08640, -71.46810. Before the village Reigolil I met &quot;micro&quot; . The driver stopped to take me to his house - he has &quot;hospedaje&quot; for 15000 beds plus a little dinner ( Lodging (59.2+0.3/843). Very hot water was really nice. In front of their house was a shop. The other one is near the bus, but there were only sweets things to eat. There was also a bar with papas and completos.<br /> <br /> * '''2025-02-02 to 2025-02-05 / 4 days / NOBO / Huerquehue - Sollipulli traverse / Celio, Amalia ​​'''<br /> <br /> We did the huerquehue sollipulli traverse as suggested by Tomas and Natalie report.<br /> First of all thanks to them for this option!<br /> It's a very beautiful traverse but demanding on the south to north summit traverse of the sollipulli.<br /> <br /> Huerquehue :<br /> From Pucón there is 3 buses going to the entrance of the park (8:30am 12am and 16:30pm). There is 3 also living the park (around 1h later than the previous). Pucon was crowded and we decided to stay at the beginning of the trail at camping Olga (amazing place, no wifi and electricity btw, 9000$ each). When you get to the park entrance they will ask you your reservation at the camping and then ask you what's your trail plan and check your reservation for the park.<br /> There we just said that we planned to do the lagos loop, since the traverse is not authorized anymore. We had reserved the entrance in advance for the next day ( careful on monday the park is closed...).<br /> The next day we started early and went by the control &quot;nido de aguila&quot; by 9am and no one was there so we kept going. Once in laguna Huerquehue it's easy to follow the trail going down the other side (blues dots, overgrown a bit). You get to the old camping place reñahue and met with the trail going to termas rio blanco that's well maintained. We stayed at eco termas rio blanco, 15000$ each, amazing therms!<br /> <br /> Next day we followed the dirt road (you pass an old lumber exploitation) until 39.105063° S 71.545074° W. There is a sign saying laguna isolde, there start the trail. Note that you will come over several gates on the dirt road but we asked 2 persons and it's supposedly not a problem. At laguna isolde if you want to reach the shore, seek for the middle west shore, there is a trail following a dry rocky river bed that take you to the shore and a fire place. People camp there.<br /> After that the trail go down to the gravel road, that you follow 2km on the east until you find the start of the lago cochor trail (there is a sign for it).<br /> Going up lago cochor is a very nice trail well maintained and beautiful. Lago cochor is a perfect place to camp and we were not alone! 5 other tent.<br /> <br /> Sollipulli traverse :<br /> Next day we started the sollipulli traverse. There is a visible trail until you get out of the forest then it's less visible until the summit.<br /> At the beginning to avoid the small detour just after lago cochor we shortcut in the forest staying on the ridge (savimg a few meter and elevation) 39.037476° S 71.553153° W.<br /> <br /> After the south summit start the Tomás and Natalie suggestion track for the traverse.<br /> Careful!<br /> It's getting more demanding from this point, more alpine terrain and at the beggining there is a small downclimbimg (going Nobo) to do on a 4m wall. I guess it's was not there when Tomás did it earlier in the season with more snow. It's here 38.999587° S 71.520148° W. <br /> This is where we find out to be the easiest. I guess someone can try higher up on the snow but it's quite steep and on the map is shown as a Glaciar, even if I doubt there is still crevasses...<br /> After that it's walking mostly on moraine ground and volcanic rocks. I recommend to take the lower option of Tomás and especially here, 38.994149° S 71.499742° W, as the more higher option is exposed on a steep snow slope where a fall could &quot;hurt&quot; you.<br /> Also be careful to strictly follow is track here 38.978334° S 71.491617° W, since on the west or east it's a cliff. The way down is steep but on loose rock where you can &quot;ski&quot; down. If you want to avoid it you have to go way more east than the semi transparent blue track of Tomás. Around here I'll say 38.978328° S 71.487167° W. <br /> After this it get easier and we camp at the blue lake just down southeast of the north summit. Next day we joined the option 1 and went down the north face to the park ranger then the gravel road and hitchhiked to melipeuco.<br /> <br /> This traverse is probably a lot more scenic than the RR but it's demanding and require skills on alpine terrain especially later in the season when there is less snow and with that downclimbimg involved.<br /> <br /> * '''2025-01-17 to 2025-01-18 / 2 days / NOBO / RR / Tobias ​​'''<br /> <br /> First night I camped next to Río Machín (-39.03706, -71.46988), 2 km before “Police” {14} [49.3/1000]. There was no police. But at the next Puesto {14} [48.4/1078] the owner wrote down my name. Did not need to pay there. Went up the pass and took option 1 for getting up to Vulcan Sollipulli. Easy trail, amazing place up there!! Then I went down where the conaf trail starts. Rangers did not put any attention on me. I went to hot springs (-38.89384, -71.49345), because I thought about staying there. The owner showed me the place, full of algas and the water is cold, so I continued. Stayed at Camp {14} [22.4/1158] after 38 km of walking. Next day I continued 17 km to laguna chica de Icalma, where I continue packrafting in some days with Mara. For the overgrown part I recommend long trousers. Beautiful section, no bad surprises.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-JAN-02 &gt; 03 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / 14-A &gt; RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT14+GPT15+GPT16+GPT17+GPT18+GPT19<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : non<br /> | Intérêt : 2/5<br /> | Difficulté : 0/5<br /> | Danger : aucun<br /> <br /> Bus Bio-Bio pour Lonquimay le 01 à 11h30, puis bus le 02 à 14h pour Cruzaco, puis auto-stop jusqu'au point X {14-A} [6.8/1319] (compliqué de sortir du GPT...). La rando est top et la piste en parfait etat. Je voulais relier les pistes 14-01 et 14-01B en traversant le cratère du volcan, mais le gardien du parc m'a dit que c'etait impossible. Je suis donc passé par la vallée. Pas de pont au km 33,5 mais facile a traverser. Après le col au km 42, la rando n'est plus interessante. C'est de la gravel road jusqu'a la fin.<br /> <br /> *'''2024-DEC-29 to 2024-DEC-31 / 2 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> This is a relatively easy stage with one challenging BB section; the rest is mostly along MR.<br /> <br /> We departed from Villa Icalma in the afternoon, carrying food supplies for two days. The first night we stayed at a campsite {13} [35.2/1172], where we paid 10,000 CLP for one tent. The locals warned us about the risk of forest fires and asked us not to light any fires.<br /> <br /> At coordinates (-38.8421396, -71.3628436), there is a log bridge to cross the stream. The following TL section is heavily overgrown and littered with fallen trees. Progress was slower here, but the path was still navigable. At the end of this overgrown part, we took a detour to a small, picturesque lake (-38.8676092, -71.3797418), where we refilled our water supplies. There were also a few picnic tables.<br /> <br /> At coordinates (-38.8892305, -71.4503356), we encountered a locked gate that we had to climb over. At Lodge Nevados de Sollipulli [33.4/1188], basic food supplies are available for purchase. However, the nearby bridge [33.8/1188], marked in the track files, was missing, so we had to ford the river.<br /> <br /> The remainder of the stage held no further surprises.<br /> <br /> * &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''December 17–26 2024 / 10 days/  Packrafting / SOBO / New option combining Huella Andina and nearby lakes from Icalma/Villa Pehuenia to Paso Mamuil Mamal (road from  Pucón to Argentina) GPT14 RP?, GPT15-RP???'''&lt;/span&gt;<br /> <br /> TL;DR: If you like people suffering, skip to days 7–9. <br /> <br /> (Note: putting everything here, even though this technically spans two sections - there is no possibility to legally cross borders back to GPT15.)<br /> <br /> Summary: This is a new and quite scenic and varied mostly-not-on-road route. In our opinion, it is a superior alternative to a lot of roadwalking on the RR GPT14-15 and a possible candidate for extending RP (including a river flowing through Aracaurias, which are to be found along all the trail). The last bushbashing (BB) part, while offering an experience in a pristine and untouched forest, is extremely demanding and not exactly safe due to its remoteness and bone breaking/puncture hazards. The forest was an experience for us like no other so far after six months on the GPT in total. The 5km BB took us 3 days. However, before that final section, this route is suitable for hikers as it follows the Huella Andina (&quot;HA&quot;), with some modifications (and using a packraft). Natalie also found a MR route around the bush bashing and last two lakes (with some ridge options) for hikers. In either case, one can than connect to our traverse od the side of Lanin, which we published last year in GPT16. Had this not been our first section this year and had we not carried 1a packraft and food for ten days, this could have been done much faster. I will refer to the KMZ file downloadable from wikiexplora article about HA. This time of the year, we practically never carried water, it was everywhere. It would be probably different at the end of summer. We never met any park rangers, so we do not know if any permits or payments are needed. In Villa Pehuenia, we were told by the tourist information office that HA is only open from Lago Ñorquinco, and indeed it is only marked from there, but the two previous sections exist as trails or roads and to our knowledge are open for hiking. Probably they are not maintained as they are not in any National Park. Outside of the lakes, we met no other overnight hikers and only one daypacker and one group of MTBikers. <br /> <br /> Day 0 - Crossing from Icalma to Villa Pehuenia - 4 km<br /> In Icalma, we asked a local working in a garden whether there was a taxi in Icalma and he offered to drive us to the border for 5 thousand CLP, which we accepted. It was a big help since the border was closing at ~7pm (it may have been 6pm but we only had an hour or so for both crossings). At the border, we were informed that Argentina requires a boat certificate of desinfection by a Chilian officer, but the Argentinians did not ask for it (for details, see this discussion: https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1956717948167415/). We didn't get a hitch between the border controls, but soon after in Argentina the first car took us to Villa Pehuenia. Villa Pehuenia is a tourist town, with no exchange office but seemingly every shop was willing to change US dollars for Argentinian pesos, ask around to get a decent rate. Shops were open until 21. Ressuply is well possible, this being Argentina, but food is now probably cheaper (though of course worse) in Chile (the Argentinian border controls did not check our bags stuffed with food at all). There is a dedicated shop for vegetables and fruits here: -38.88139, -71.18762. Paid 10 thousand to sleep at a run-down but functional ‎Complejo Lagrimitas. Phone Claro internet decent.<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Villa Pehuenia to Moquehue ‐ 15 km<br /> Our first independent packrafting trip meant that we fiddled several hours with packing and loading the boat, so we started at 11 AM. Lake was calm and we reached a beach here: -38.91476, -71.27327 around 14:00. The &quot;puesto&quot; marked in OSM sounds more like a settler, dogs and chickens heard. While we ate, whitecap waves against our direction developed and when paddling, we more or less stood on the ground, so we opted for hiking the rest of the way. The trail to Moquehue is easy but scenic, so we did not regret it. It is a trail, not a road, OSM has it wrong (will be fixed in the summer) until the last 1 km or so. In Moquehue, we managed to buy bread and nuts, ressuply possible, but we had most of our food already. Claro internet (last before end of trip). We followed HA for one km and slept a few hundred metres beyond the town here: -38.95579, -71.32329 (no water). <br /> <br /> Day 2 - Moquehue to ridge above the next valley - 13 km.<br /> We followed HA until just before Filo Cerro Plomo. Appart from first 2 km, it is a 4x4 road (sad) through a beautiful forrest (happy). Sidetrip to viewpoint here -38.96209, -71.32286 worth the ten minutes it takes. The ridge above the HA that should be accessible through OSM path starting here -38.95090, -71.31670 (mapped based on Strava, so might be CC) looked like easy and beautiful walking and is probably preferrable in good weather. Paths around -38.97080, -71.32003 are also mapped based on Strava, might be an artifact of a race or one single mad person doing the same round over and over and might be more CC than trails, but should get you to the ridge too. Anyway, on HA, the trackfiles are a bit wrong, around -39.00634, -71.30802, you will see two trail marks, so leave the road and go up. Met some people with bikes here, only people we met for the next two days. Path is not visible, but forrest is open and you go basically straight up. When reaching low lying beech shrubbery, path reappers that leads you up to the saddle. There is a creek shortly after this turn off (just before the trail marks) you can fill up on water. There is also a cairn at this creek and if you wish to walk the creek bed I think it might be possible as well. From the saddle we opted to follow the ridge NE from HA. It is spectacular and while steep, no hands are needed to advance. It is a bit slowgoing though, especially with a packraft and 10 days of food. We slept near a seasonal lake around -39.03013, -71.28361, very beautiful.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Ridge above the next valley to Lago Ñorquinco - 15 km.<br /> We followed the ridge for two km and then discovered a recently maintained trail down to the valley here: -39.05003, -71.28180. We took it. It took us down through beech shrubbery to here -39.05142, -71.28621. Then it kind of petered out but the forest was open enough for us to easily reach the HA in the valley. The HA is quite a wide path that must have been made with a digger some time back, but it is not used by cars up to -39.08562, -71.30652. We originally wanted to stay on the ridge longer and go down from here: -39.08760, -71.29079. That is open terrain and looking from below, it looked possible, but not wholly certain. However, we would advise to join the ridge straight from Moquehue as suggested previously and get down by this trail we discovered. We followed the HA to Ruta Provincial 11, but it might be advisable to cut to the NW corner of the lake from here: -39.11217, -71.30914 to avoid roadwalking and a detour: Arroyo Nompehuen must be forded anyway and while cold, does not have too much water (knee deep) and there seems to be a path on satellite in the suitable direction and the landscape is reasonably open. We put our packraft in here -39.12056, -71.31909. It is a campsite where noone was in attendance, otherwise day-access is about 4 thousand pesos per person, so you might want to reach the lake farther, should be possible, use OSM and satellite map. There are showers and toilets and trashbin though. It was a bit windy (from West) and rain was coming, so despite the small size of the lake and low fetch, whitecap waves developed. Their direction was suitable for us and we crossed the lake along the southern shore to find a very wind sheltered camp next to a creek behind a bush here: -39.12056, -71.31909. <br /> <br /> Day 4 - Lago Ñorquinco - to Arroyo Calfiquiera - 19 km<br /> The next day we padled to -39.14420, -71.29466 and joined HA from there. According to OSM, the lake can be hiked around from both directions. West side seems preferable. HA starts to be marked here. It is actually mostly a very old eroded road made with a digger probably decades back. It has overwhelmingly the characteristics of a trail. Cascada Coloco is very pretty. Once you reach the pass, where there is a puesto and cows, the trail turns into a road that is very rarely used, it seemed. Vivac Pampa de Castro would probably give you shelter in rain and is open enough for hanta virus not to be a worry. We reached Arroyo Calfiquiera here: -39.22814, -71.27044 (before that it is a wild stream). However, the creek is overgrown just after that, luckily there were two locals living there who were fishing and helped us carry our fully loaded packraft to -39.22933, -71.26945. There was one more narrow and almost overgrown section shortly after (-39.23189, -71.26735), so you might want to put in just after that (follow the 4x4 tracks visible on satellite). From then on, apart from two low lying bridges, no portages were needed (we shortly walked our boat once or twice through some narrow braided passages). We camped at -39.23857, -71.25184 just before a class 1 rapid (that turned out to be the biggest on the river). Tomáš left his scissors from his Victorinox card there, you might find them at the edge of grass. <br /> <br /> Day 5 - Arroyo Calfiquiera to Vivac Malalco Chico - 18 km<br /> In the morning, the rapid turned out to be dangerous only for one's knees. The bridges are here: -39.24453, -71.24944 and -39.24874, -71.21634. There is a creek with fresh water flowing in at -39.24601 -71. 21842. With all the packing and unpacking, it is for sure quicker to walk on HA (which leaves the road for a trail in the valley for at least a part of its length). However, packrafting is recommended as part of the arroyo flows through an aracauria forrest and all along you get nice views of surrounding mountains. It is also good practice for beginners, we thought, being beginners ourselves. Down at the lake, we ferried across an American who said she would climb a mountain north of the lake nearby using a trail disclosed by a local. We did not packraft across the lake and instead got out at the picnic area at the west end of the lake (small stream but walk up a bit bcs there is an outhouse in the stream) and then after lunch made a shortcut to the ridge. After about 500 metres along the lake on the road, we turned right uphill and soon found a trail used by horses recently here: -39.25142, -71.19640. It was easy to follow and joined HA here -39.25310, -71.18395. It would be great if somebody could investigate where in the valley (presumably further up) it originates. There are a few puestos high up on this side so more trails are expected. The HA itself then crosses a very attractive (old volcanic) plateau. It is probably (one of) the nicest part of the HA that we have seen so far (out of a half). We camped at a valley designated by the KMZ files as a bivauc and it is a good camping spot, but do not expect any facilities or people.<br /> <br /> Natalie devised an idea where you would CC from here: -39.25687, -71.23304 onto the ridge, traverse Cerro Rucachoroi and join HA here: -39.31090, -71.20943. It all looked like well passable CC, but we never got a good view of the peak itself and are unsure if it can be sidehilled or crossed. Some of the sub-peaks obstructing the view were rather vertical, but ridges that we saw were passable. <br /> <br /> Day 6 - Vivac Malalco Chico to Lago Quillèn  - 21 km<br /> Going down is straightforward. However, there are some fallen branches. About 200 metres of altitude above the valley, you hit a creek that you will cross several times downstream. After crossing Arroyo Malalco (which looks great for packrafting, but do your research), a local from Comunidad Laf Lefiman offered us a cabaña with Starlink internet for 60 thousand,but it was too early so we went on. When we reached the lake, we saw a family with a paddleboard and kayaks that we saw the previous day at Lago Rucachoroi. Park rangers were nowhere to be seen. It was quite windy and waves looked big, so we used our packraft to cross the outlet from the lake and walked along the beach to join MR that runs along the southern side of the lake until -39.43088, -71.2848, where we camped. We met a group of people fishing there but they soon left. <br /> <br /> Day 7 - Lago Quillèn to Somewhere in bamboo  - 13 km.<br /> We started early (aiming for sunrise, we managed to be in the boat 45 minutes after it) and paddled on lake Quillèn to reach old buildings here: -39.42796, -71.42474. They were a (probably recentishly) abandoned border police station, as far as we could tell. The lake had some waves already in the morning but they were quite managable and it took us about 4 hours to paddle the 13 km or so. Along the way, there would be places to camp, especially on the beach here: -39.42164, -71.36282 where there is fresh water. After the police station, we got onto a beach here: -39.43593, -71.41508. We cleared a place for a tent and entry into the forest, did not check for water but satellite says there is a creek outlet about 50 m NW from there. Then the &quot;fun&quot; part started, at about 15:00. Natalie's many many warnings about the forest looking impenetrable turned out to be true. It is an ancient Chilean beech (Roble/Coigue) forest with a completely native understory of many shrubs but mainly just walls of bamboo. In the grand scheme of things, if we had stuck to the creek bed we would have made the crossing in two (long) days. But because we left the creekbed several times, this 5km crossing took us 3 days.<br /> <br /> At the beginning, while we were not yet on a steep slope, we were moving at a healthy speed of maybe 400m an hour. We found a creek here: -39.43977, -71.41793 that allowed us to walk without obstruction for about 15m. It was turning into a canyon, which we did not like, so we continued to the east of it. Little did we know how foolish that was! In the beginning, as it got steeper, we would sometimes find an area full of flat dead woody bambo that would allow us to jump about twenty metres before fighting the green bamboo again. As we progressed (at a speed of maybe 250m per hour), we noticed we were on a side of a steep canyon made by erosion from water running down the slope. Details of the satellite map revealed that we were two such ravines removed from the main creek. We crossed one over a log, that was maybe 10 m long and was maybe 6 m high above the lowest point of the canyon. It was getting dark so we cleared a somewhat even spot for a camp (sorry forest). After six hours and some zigzagging caused by the canyons, we were about 1 km from where we started. Survey without a backpack (which makes moving around about three times easier) suggested we might be able to rejoin the main canyon the next day which was about 100 m far (and thirty metres below). <br /> <br /> Day 8 - Somewhere in bamboo to dried creekbed - 1 km<br /> New survey in the morning made us go backdown as the main canyon's wall seemed like a landslide and almost vertical. We started to follow down a ravine between us and the main creek, hoping it would join it. After three hours, 400 m of distance and two failed surveys in the direction of the main canyon, we finally manged to make a crossing. A rule for heavy duty bushbashing seems to be: always follow the water. It is not exactly quicker, but psychologically being able to see more than 5 metres in advance and not having to constantly put branches from one's face is a tremendeous benefit. It also helps with orientation and hopefully provides a possible passage. We of course set a turn-back time by which we would turn back if we did not reach the pass, but (Tomáš not being the responsible one), we failed to heed it after deciding we actually still had food for three more somewhat fasting days. We started to go up the creek at a speed of about 200 metres an hour, so after about 5-6 hours, we managed to get under the place where we slept. We agreed that we could have probably gone down there, saving us 5 hours of a detour, the canyon walls being steep, but in some places having enough bamboo to provide good (but never truly certain) holds. At about -39.44779, -71.41624, there was a confluence of two canyons, and we decided to go through a steep dry vegetation-wise more or less open slope to the right . After about 100m, we traversed back left to the main creek. It was now six in the evening. Still hoping to reach the pass (hey, just 500m of distance!) and facing somewhat overgrown waterfall in the main ravine roughly -39.45067, -71.41624, we again opted to go right, onto an even steeper slope. Somehow with the help of trees growing there, we reached a beech-bush combined with bamboo understory, slowing us down to maybe 50 m an hour. After an hour or so, we found a ravine that we partially followed and traversed back to the creek. It still had some waterfalls that turned out to be scalable and after 100 m (our speed returning to a solid 250 m per hour), it turned dry. It now being 9 PM, we built a camp inside of the creekbed. Looking back, especially the second diversion was a mistake and we should have stayed in the canyon (the waterfall was probably scalable with passing backpacks and such). The variety of plant and insect species that live in and around the creekbed was amazing. Luckily very little tabanos or other obnoxious insects, which was true for all these 5 km. <br /> <br /> Day 9 - Dried creekbed to somewhere in bamboo II - 3 km<br /> In the morning, Tomáš went exploring and found the other side of the pass much preferable, so around ten, we set off to continue. After an easy 40-minute 300m traverse to the pass (Lanin looks impressive even through the trees), the character of the valley changed a lot. Almost open beech forrest and relatively regular creekbed (with a creek) enabled us to reach -39.45964, -71.41716 in a superb speed of almost 600m/hour. From there, we followed the river through a dense old and amazing canopy. At about 400 m/ hour, we eventually got to a 20 m cascading (not vertical) waterfall here: -39.47088, -71.41775. To its left, we managed to cut a path with our machete, passing each other our backpacks on the not-entirely vertical somewhat crumbly climb-down. Unfortunately we do not think our holds will last long as we scaled it down in mainly mud and fragile rock (rope or bamboo bushing walkaround should do). Afterwards, our speed again decreased to about 200 m an hour, overcoming many logjams and much smaller waterfalls. We camped around -39.47449, -71.41901. Natalie somehow left her insoles there. All the scrambling we have done both up and down were mangeable (T4 to T5 on SAC scale), though a rope of 10 or 15 m or so would have been at certian moments quite useful. <br /> <br /> Day 10 - Somewhere in bamboo II to Paso Mamuil Mamal - 17 km<br /> In the morning, we took three hours mostly following the creek or bashing bamboo alongisde it to reach the shore (yay!), where Tomáš somehow left his beloved trusty headphones: -39.48276, -71.42544. Should you find them, give them a decent burial. We inflated our packraft and paddled across Lago Tromen (which offers tremendeous views) in about 2,5 hours to outlet of Rio Malleo, meeting people again after several days. Rio Malleo has probably too much of a drop to be packrafted safely but lookes tempting to Tomáš. After a long lunch, eating the last of our last food, we crossed the river and walked along the OSM trail to the National Park office near the border. Nobody paid attention to us there, so we walked to the Argentinian border control, from which we got a hitch all the way to Pucon, seeing Clara hitchhiking around the end of the Villarica Traverse. Pucon did not have Tomáš's favourite icecream like last year and in general did not feel as good as previous years (cherries were perfect though). We were very glad and maybe somehow euphoric we made it . <br /> <br /> Overall, the forest was incredible. However, if we broke a limb or worse, we doubt help would come, so only do this if you are prepared for self-evacuation or face the consequences. We are however convinced that with good navigation, and staying mainly in the creek, it could take two long days to do the BB traverse, one for going up the pass and one down. The BB has difficulty 7 in GPT terms.<br /> <br /> * '''17Dec2024 - 20dec2024 / hiking SOBO / RR from ~km30 - OH1 A/R (cumbre sollipulli) - RR - GPT15 OH1 / 4 days / Clara'''<br /> <br /> Hitchhike from Icalma to Tracura and then Huechelepun (took me half day with multiple cars and still few km of road walking, not much cars) <br /> <br /> OH1 (cumbre sollipulli by north side) : no one of conaf at park 31. It's written that they don't allow people to go up after 11am so may be a problem if they're here (maybe more during full turism season). <br /> Very easy trail for 7km and 1000d+, steep and snow at the top but easy going slow. Really nice full snow cratere on the top !! Descent by same path cause low clouds comming (except took 1a short cut that is good). <br /> <br /> Ruta de Baquedanos (RR) is easy dirt road walking. Camp spots with water almost everywhere (maybe less between 40 and 46). Not many nice views all along. <br /> <br /> Then RR until GPT15 opt1 (a bit after settlment 51.7). <br /> Sleep in hospedaje Veronica that is lower on 15-OH-1a. (15k for bed + private bathroom with cold water + breakfast). She and her husband are really nice. She used to have a cafeteria and sell honey, charcuterias and other products that she did. For now she has family issues so she only keep the hospedaje but she told me that she's thinking to reopen it in january or february. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * '''2024-dec-05 to 2024-dec-08 / 3.5 Days (1 day rest due to bad weather) / Hiking / SOBO / RR - D / Karin'''<br /> <br /> I took the RR through the overgrown part. It was managable, but for some parts I had to look closly on the GPS not to loose track. There were lots of fallen trees/branches blocking the way. With the vegetation growing, I think it will become more difficult to get through. <br /> <br /> Camp spot at km17.9 was very wet and swompy, due to the rain. But, I guess that it would be good on nice days. <br /> <br /> On that kind of plateau (alt. 1500m) was still a bit of snow, but nothing to worry about.<br /> <br /> Camp on km22.4 looked nice (lots of curious cows). After this camp, about 1km, was a locked gate, which was not so easy to climb.<br /> <br /> As it was raining heavily (stronger than perdicted), I took var D in order to find a refuge. After a few km, I found cabañas (Santa Victoria) where I could stay for two nights ever that it is still off season. Very nice people working there. <br /> <br /> At the park ranger km31.8, as I didn't see anybody so I just walked through. <br /> <br /> The bridge at the Laguna (km33.5) was not there, but the river was easy to ford, so as well for the fords all the way up to the pass km41.5. The water was never higher than mid-calf/knee. <br /> <br /> I camped at camp km46.9. Very nice and large spot. <br /> <br /> The Ruta del Baqueano seems to be a high used biking or off road driving track. I meet a lot of cars and bikes.<br /> <br /> As I did GPT 13-15 in one, I did not stop neither in Icalma nor in Reigolil, so I cannot say if there is enough for resupply.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 nov 13 / 1 Day/ Hiking / SOBO/ hitchhiked to huechelepun + RR till reigolil/ Allie '''<br /> <br /> I camped in camping Carilafquen in Huechelepun. I left early in the morning as it was 32km to get to Reigolil. I stopped by the lodge nevados for a coffee and stayed a bit, the place was so lovely. On the highest parts of the regular route there are some patches of snow to cross but nothing sketchy. Watch out for snow bridges though. The river fords are doable as well. <br /> <br /> * '''5.-8.11.2024 / 4 hiking days / Daina and Arno'''<br /> <br /> We did a combination of GPT 14 and 15, although we didn't have the files at this time.<br /> <br /> We took a bus from Pucón to Flor del Valle and arrived later than expected at 1:30 pm. First we hiked into section 14 on the minor road with very few traffic. At -39.01943, -71.458341 we needed to cross a creek, that is not visible in our map. There are huge treetrunks like a natural bridge. Later at -39.014836, -71.456205 there was another wide stream of water at the road, but very easy to ford. <br /> Later we dicided to turn around and hiked to the Laguna Huesquefilo instead, to find a nice campspot. The trail to the Laguna was very smooth, the Laguna itself was beautiful. Next day we continued to GPT 15.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Mar 24th to Mar 31st / 6 hiking days and 2 rest days / SOBO / Hiking / RR, Var C, E, H, G, Opt 1 and 1A, Opt 2 and 2A / Michael and Kasia'''<br /> <br /> We did sections 14 and 15 together.<br /> <br /> TL:DR: a nice section; the summit of Sollipulli is not to be missed!<br /> <br /> Day 1 March 24th<br /> <br /> We left Icalma at 08:30. It was a foggy morning and the air was still, very nice hiking weather and beautiful light. It had rained the day before so the road walk was thankfully not dusty. It was a Sunday morning and very few cars passed.<br /> <br /> We left the highway to keep on RR. It is a dirt road for quite some time. We found a lot of piñones just lying on the ground. There was an unmarked ford at (-38.84187, -71.36345). After that the overgrown section began. It was somewhat challenging for us, not bush bashing per se, but definitely bush pushing. A lot of it was waist high and really slowed us down. Our plan had been to get to the laguna on Var C, but it became obvious that even if we did make it, it would be dark before we got there. Looking at the GPS I noticed what looked like a small laguna at (-38.86766, -71.38010). There was no OSM track for it, but when we got closer, we found a dirt road going to it. There was no sign and no fences. It was a lovely spot. There were a few araucarias dropping piñones, and the laguna was clear and glassy smooth. It was, however, definitely someone's campground. There are flat spots for tents, picnic tables, a shipping container turned into a bathroom (padlocked shut when we were there), and there were signs of more development planned. Point being, if you plan to camp here in future seasons, be aware that, at least during “la temporada”, there may be other people there, and it probably costs money.<br /> <br /> Day 2 March 25th<br /> <br /> We made it a short day. Our packs were extra heavy due to all the piñones we were harvesting. We kept trying to stop, but there is just something about their color and shape that makes them irresistible to pick up. The path from the campground to the laguna on 14-C is a dirt road the whole way. We had to check the GPS a few times as there are a few other roads that break off of it, but the route is easy walking. The laguna is very pretty and the campsite there is nice. It's fairly flat with plenty of space for multiple tents, under some trees, so mixed shade and sun, and easy water access. There was also a fire ring there. We had our first fire of the season and cooked a few batches of piñones. Some people on horseback came by looking for their cows. They said they are beginning the process of collecting the animals and moving them down to the invernadas for the winter. They mentioned that the laguna on 14-C is called Laguna Santa Olga.<br /> <br /> Day 3 March 26th<br /> <br /> Stayed at Laguna Santa Olga for a rest day.<br /> <br /> Day 4 March 27th<br /> <br /> We walked by (Camp 14 [17.9/1538]) on the way back to the road. We could hear a stream trickling in the opposite side of the road from it.<br /> <br /> The forest along the way was beautiful. It was a great time of year to be there as well, sunny but not hot and the light was always nice. We collected another 2 kg of piñones. There were so many everywhere, we definitely could have bought less food and been okay.<br /> <br /> We took Var E to bypass the road construction even though there was no one there by the time we arrived. It was mostly because we were looking for camping and knew there wouldn't be any good spots there. But if someone arrived there after work hours, the gate going SOBO was just closed with wire, and on the other end it was possible to just walk around the fence.<br /> <br /> We then followed Var H on to Var G towards Var F. We camped at Camping Carilafquen (-38.91004, -71.49813) along Var F. We paid 10.000 for the tent space. There was no one else there. The campground was pleasant. It had plenty of space on the grass for tents, picnic tables, and bathrooms with showers, cold water only, no electricity. It was a good option for us because it was only 1.6 km from the CONAF office. If wanting to camp there, just up the road from the property there is a house. A couple who manages the campground lives there. They were very nice, they even gave us sopaipillas. <br /> <br /> Day 5 March 28th<br /> <br /> We arrived at the CONAF office around 09:00. There was no ranger on the office. We started moving things into a small backpack anticipating leaving our bags. By the time we were ready to hike, still no one had shown up. Fortunately a small tour group arrived and parked right next to the CONAF office. They said we could put out bags in their vehicle and they would leave them for us if they got back first.<br /> <br /> The walk up through the forest was beautiful and peaceful. There were a lot of huge, old trees that were very impressive. The trail was well maintained and easy to follow. Higher up it switched to a more lunar landscape with multiple volcanoes and cordilleras of mountains appearing the higher up we got. Towards the top it got a little steep which was slower going. It took us 5 hours to the summit with photo breaks and a snack break. We spent about an hour at the summit with no one else there. The weather was impeccable, full sun and hardly a breeze. The only sound was the river below.<br /> It took us about 3 hours to get back to the bottom. <br /> We ended up camping across the path from the CONAF office next to the picnic tables. There was a facet outside the office and bathrooms.<br /> <br /> Day 6 March 29<br /> <br /> When the CONAF guard arrived in the morning, he came over to talk with us. He said it was fine that we camped for the night, but just asked us to take the tent down, and then we could take as much time as we needed. It seems that camping there is unofficially acceptable as long as you're there after closing and wrapped up before people start to show up in the morning.<br /> <br /> We started to walk along RR. We had been walking less than 30 minutes when a truck stopped and offered us a ride. They were going to Paso Llaima and to collect piñones. We rode in the back with their two dogs getting to watch the beautiful misty forest go by around us. <br /> <br /> From Paso Llaima we continued on RR, then took Opt 2 to Laguna Huequefilo. The trail up is easy to follow and well maintained. The sign at the front says no camping and no fires, but there was no CONAF office and no guardadaparques. When we got to the lake there were several groups camping and having fires. There are a huge number of araucarias there and it is a very popular spot with locals to go to collect them. <br /> <br /> Going down Opt 2A to the SE end of the lake, there is a fairly large sand beach and a creek feeding into the lake that was a good place to get water from. A local family from Ragolil that was camping there suggested a good spot around (-39.05250, -71.43000) that was fairly wind protected but still close to the beach. But if it's not windy, that end of the lake has plenty of space for camping. The lake and the setting is beautiful and for us it was well worth the detour. <br /> <br /> Day 7 March 30th<br /> <br /> We stayed at Laguna Huequefilo for a rest day.<br /> <br /> Day 8 March 31st<br /> <br /> We left Laguna Huequefilo and headed back to finish 14 and start 15. We gathered more piñones along the way. At (-39.05455, -71.46918), around km 52.26 there was a sign for a minimarket. The woman who runs is, Viviana, is very nice. She and her family moved there a couple of years ago from Santiago. We suggested she carry gas for camping and she said she would try to get some to sell in the future. She had canned fish, pasta, rice, 200 g tomato sauce packets, bullion cubes, mermeladas, butter and margarine, and a variety of cookies and candy. Prices were reasonable. We bought some things and got back to the road. We almost immediately caught a hitch to the beginning of GPT15 Opt 1.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Mar-18 to 2024-Mar-19 / 1 day / SOBO / RR 01 01a/ Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> No snowfields, no Tabanos, no Mosquitos. Plenty of water except for the Sollipulli peak area.<br /> <br /> Came from Lonquimay by bus at 12:00 to Icalma, arrival around 14:00. There is a minibus directly going a bit west, but only to the intersection at the end of the lake, so maybe like 3km for 500 peso.<br /> Very little traffic, but luckily got 4 rides until the ranger at 31.8 in just 3 hours. I am a bit in a hurry as I want to hike Sollipulli but the weather turns bad next day evening. There is a minibus coming from Melipeuco to intersection end of Variant I. It turns to the bridge 30.6.<br /> <br /> I did not visit the rangers, as I don't want to go back the same way. Looking for a hidden spot ro camp and early start to the peak the next day.<br /> <br /> Don't camp at Hannes suggestion, every Hilux driver coming downhill will spot you easily. I am sure the actuall place he meant is -38.923355,-71.489118. Well hidden and flat, but the water on the other side of road dried up. There is water on your side too, but don't just follow your ears, you won't reach the water. Instead walk where it is relatively easy in south to south east, you may or may not see path like structure, but ca. in 200m you will reach a good path, just follow it uphill directly to the water at -38.924705,-71.489552. It is a 5 to 10min walk from camp. If you follow this path further it leads you to the OSM dirtroad, which is an offical marked hiking path of the park.<br /> <br /> I am alone all the way, later I heard that the rangers closed the path due the upcoming bad weather. Very strong and cold winds at the peak, a few hours later it will be snowing, I would love to try the traverse, but it is too risky with that forecast. Nice CC back down to the pass 41.5.<br /> <br /> First running water coming from the peak: -38.966463,-71.472000<br /> <br /> Possible camp with water at 01: -38.971581,-71.465207<br /> <br /> Only car on the road picks me up, a tourist couple from Santiago who stayed at the luxury lodge, and we drive to Pucón, while the rain starts.<br /> <br /> Without summiting Sollipulli this would be a drive by section, but Sollipulli makes this section absolutely amazing and I strongly recommend the easy climb up just for those mind blowing views.<br /> <br /> * '''From 2024-03-10 to 2023-03-11 // 2 day // Hiking // NOBO // RR + OPT1 (Summit) // Quentin Clavel'''<br /> <br /> What a section ! <br /> <br /> After a very cold start, early in the morning at the bottom of the vallee of reigolil, you just go slowly but surely in the Villarica reserve. <br /> <br /> The gravel road is transforming into a smaller 4WD track, and the path is lovely, going up gradually, passing threw a nice forest, with many amazing aucaria trees. <br /> <br /> Lucky enough to arrive in this region at the time where piniones are still possible to pick. Didn't had to make a lot of effort, just harvesting the ground was enough to give me way more than what I needed !<br /> <br /> I took the junction to reach the summit. At the very beginning I struggle a bit, when you reach a puesto, there's few possibility of track, I took the wrong one that result on a little fight with the bush, then I managed to come back on track, which is pretty clear until the volcanic plateau. <br /> <br /> No trouble at all with water, as you'll have some along the path, from th beginning to the end. <br /> <br /> Arriving to the plateau, then stick to the track, it will guide you to the summit and the outstanding view on the massive nevados de sollipulli ! That was sick, even with a looooooot of wind. I still stayed there for more than an hour, protected from the wind thanks to some bog rocks, contemplating this amazing landscape, some condors dancing around and the views over lanin and Llaima volcanoes. <br /> <br /> It was finally time to leave this kind of parrallele world. The way down was very easy as the track is marqued. Some crazy views again with Llaima volcán + the aucaria trees around, then I reached the conaf desk. I arrived there late and no-one was still there. <br /> <br /> (Didn't mentionned that going NOBO you don't have to respect a precise timing to go up, there's no conaf desk on that way). <br /> <br /> Then continuing on the way to icalma, passing threw a private pipeline working area. But as it was late on the day, I haven't got any troubles (still easy to avoid, by taking the variant E). <br /> <br /> After passing the Hot Spring {13} [#1/945] (PK28), you'll have to jump a gate, then few gates/fences, and continuing in the forest on a very well marked 4WD track, until the overgrown part, which is not difficult to pass. <br /> <br /> It's overgrown, but nothing to be scared about ! The track is still visible, it's just that the nature want to give you some hugs, very nice and kind, I could even say cute. It's nothing like a fight with the bush ! <br /> <br /> Then you continue till reaching the gravel road until Icalma. There it's possible to resupply Ith multiple minimercado, you have some possibilities to sleep too, bit it's still a tiny city, don't expect a lot. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-16 to 2024-Feb 18 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR /czimahi'''<br /> from Reigolil - no good resupply, no pan- following RR, night camp 46,9; then no prob (cross rio Carilafquen just first bridge after camping, think it is 14E) till point S38°51.753` W71°23.062` where I follow wrong way- for sure this would lead to 14a and to the main road. I decided go back to RR and be hours in bush. At the end I missed the route once more but I found water which I needed (aprox S38°50.483` W71°21.907`) and then meet 14B and back to RR to the camp $ 13, and next day to Icalma pueblo.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Jan 30 to 2024 Feb 01 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH14-C + OH14-E + OH14-01 / Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Hitchhiked to km 5,2. Then I went on RR, found last water at -38.841797 -71.363423, soon after the as overgrown marked trail starts. Trail actually not to bad overgrown, most of the time clearly visible, sometimes I had to stick to GPS, especially at the beginning, there are a few trails there… Till the Laguna {14C} I did not see water anymore, except close to Camp at km 17,9, around 50m down towards the puesto was running a little streamlet, maybe drying out? Laguna on OH 14-C is very nice! Good camping spot, but I headed on, still to early. Camped then at km 28,6. I loved this place! An open air cinema with all the green and birds flying and singing around. At -38.889097 -71.450367 you’ll find a locked? gate, barbed wire fence around. Check if it is really locked, I did not look accurately! I say this, because the next one I encountered outside this valley was just pseudolocked. Anyway, I passed the fence at around -38.889820 -71.449927, around 100ms to the left from gate beneath. Seemed to me the best option, but check out for yourself…Walked on. You’ll find another unlocked gate at -38.901269 -71.504529, private property with a sign that just authorised persons can pass, some company I suppose. I took a detour over OH14 E, but having seen the exit of this company road close to km 30, shortly before the bridge, I would have taken it. There a gate as well, but not locked and either entrance or exit nobody around. Went on to Conaf to take some water. Read about their rules and so I decided to take the unofficial trail up to the volcano shown on the OSMmap at 38.9238605S, 71.4873252W as some others already spotted. My plan was to do the Sollipulli-Traverse over the rim. The thing is: Where this trail (actually more an MR) starts, there is a nearly 100m long fence, hindering you to drop in directly, furthermore at the end of this fence there is an other cabaña, looks like an outpost of CONAF checking who is taking this trail. I do not know who sits in this shack, did not want to know either, did not want to explain my plans. So I went back were the fence starts. This is at -38.92315, -71.48867, there is a signboard with „Sollipulli Lodge, 500ms&quot;. There I dropped into the bushes. There would be actually a pretty nice camp spot for one to two tents at around -38.922156 -71.489928, around 30ms from the MR, but nobody sees you and water nearby at the other side of the road. From there I walked up (little CC) keeping in mind where the OSM trail goes, found a path and somewhere I got on this OSM trail. Went up to the summit. Looked over the rim, realized I had to descent for the next summit towards the south, impossible there to cross over the rim. Went down southeast of the summit to this two beautiful lakes, some bigger snowfields there, but could be done with afternoon sun. Camped at -38.971172 -71.489823, an amazing campsite! But realized there that without micro spikes or crampons I would have to detour some extended snowfields in the morning and loose a lot of time, not knowing what expects me after the next summit. So I skipped my plan for the traverse and went down over OH 14-01. Then all the way out to Reigolil. Difficult for me to hitch a car…<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-13 to 2024-Jan-15 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {14-A} - RR - {14-E} - RR - {14-01} - RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> DON'T SKIP GPT14, the views on Nevados de Sollipulli is one of the most STUNNING views in my life! <br /> <br /> HIGHLY RECOMMEND to you!<br /> <br /> Here is the waypoint description: <br /> <br /> RR road walking.<br /> <br /> Km1.0 : a small shop.<br /> <br /> Km1.1 : tiny shop, look like only have drinks and ice cream. It is closed when i was there at weekend.<br /> <br /> Km5.2 : junction of RR and {14-A}, i go for {14-A} because i want to arrive ranger station RR[31.8/1141] before 11am, {14-A} is a dirt road, the time can be controlled and stable.<br /> <br /> {14-A} km6.3 : ranger station, crowned when i pass here.<br /> <br /> Lot of possible camping spot beside the dirt road of {14-A}, i think it is easy to find a spot here.<br /> <br /> {14-A} km10.9 : water flowing, but it need some BB, about 10m for get close to stream.<br /> <br /> Km11.4 : locked gate, go around itbon right side.<br /> <br /> Km12.5 : huge blowdown, no more cars going up by this road.<br /> <br /> Km13.0 : side trail on valley side, 30m for collecting water, flowing low.<br /> <br /> Km13.3 : {14-A} end, connect with RR km15.7.<br /> <br /> I find one more water spot nearby, at RR km15.6, also a side trail at valley side, a little overgrown about 10m to stream, better water at downstream 10m, you can cross 2 logs there, then you will find a very tiny waterfall, easy to collect.<br /> <br /> Camp RR[17.9/1538] : tiny grassland, some muddy nearby. Water flowing at downstream of the muddy, but in steep valley look like very difficult to collect.<br /> <br /> Camp[22.4/2158] : very beautiful grassland camping spot until km22.95.<br /> <br /> Km23.45 : locked gate with barbed wire fence. Better climb at left side, just the top one is barbed wire, all the wire of right side is barbed.<br /> <br /> Km24.6 : another beautiful grassland camping spot. I heard water flowing good at valley side, but I'm not sure can collect water or not. I think this is the last camping spot before you met settlement and climbing Sollipulli.<br /> <br /> Km25.85 : crossing Estero Huechelepun on bridge, water flowing good under the bridge, it is a steep valley, I don't think it is possible to collect water here.<br /> <br /> Km29.5 : junction of RR, {14-I} and {14-E}. RR is blocked by barbed wire fence. So i go for {14-E} then met RR.<br /> <br /> Honestly, i don't think {14-F}, {14-G} and {14-H} is still usable now. At {14-E} km0.4, {14-F} is blocked by a barbed wire fence(no gate) that taller than human, only this spot the fence is such high, i think it means the owner not welcome other people to go in at here. Also bridge[31.0+0.2/1020] and ford[31.0/1034] is all blocked by gate or barbed wire fence. Even you can climb all over them, {14-F} is going just beside settlement, it will annoys the people there.<br /> <br /> Lastly, ranger station is not at park ranger[31.8/1141], it is at (-38.91796, -71.49481), even you can sneak by {14-F}, rangers are still in front of you. There are no way to go around them, and their windows are towards the road, they see you before you get close (the only method is earlier or later than them at there).<br /> <br /> So, i go for a round trip for Sollipulli, and put my backpack in ranger station.<br /> <br /> For Sollipulli {14-01}:<br /> <br /> Km0 : ranger station, car parking lot, some picnic table, food truck(not open on Sunday when i was there) and toilet. Also you can collect water by Río Carilafquén if need.<br /> <br /> Km1.25 : official viewpoint, but surrounded by some trees taller than the viewpoint 5-20m, i saw nothing here. Some benches here too.<br /> <br /> Km2.1 : junction of {14-01} and {14-01A} (CC route). For GPT hiker, both are in good condition, easy to follow and walk, but of course {14-01} is a little better condition, because of official route.<br /> <br /> Km3.8 : sharp turning, a helipad nearby.<br /> <br /> Km4.73 : official viewpoint.<br /> <br /> Km5.3-km6.1 : snow valley, covered by snow now. Not too steep, no difficult climb up and go down, also there are some day hikers, mostly you can follow their steps or go by yourself.<br /> <br /> Summit [6.3/2145] to km7.05, covered by snow ridge now, very easy to walk on. Km7.1 is a better point for rest, mort quite, more peaceful. Most of the day hikers would not come to here. km7.05, enjoy your moments here.<br /> <br /> For my observation from high, km7.1 to km7.9 are all covered by snow, but easy to walk on. I didn't see any footprints or trace on the snow, so I don't know descent is still work or not. I need to get back my backpack at ranger station, so i didn't go down at here.<br /> <br /> I take a long nap and some relax with amazing views at km7.05, such a good time.<br /> <br /> I took 3 hours for climb up and 1.5 hour to go down.<br /> <br /> Continues on RR :<br /> <br /> Km32.2 : viewpoint of waterfall.<br /> <br /> Bridge[33.5/1188] : no bridge here, wet feet crossing. From here to ford[37.0/1228] you need to cross the same river 6 times, all wet feet crossing but just above ankle, easy.<br /> <br /> Km37.95: flat grassland beside a pond. I saw some people camping here, look nice.<br /> <br /> Camp[39.3/1294] : grassland camping spot with 2 fire ring beside the river.<br /> <br /> Km40.6 : an old dirt road leads you to a grassland beside the river.<br /> <br /> Km43.0 : junction of RR and {14-01}, {14-01} at here is a clear road to west, also one more road is going west after here 80m.<br /> <br /> Lot of small stream if flowing good with clear water across the road after the pass.<br /> <br /> Km44.5 : road junction, a sign &quot;Reigolil Paso Mallin Chileno&quot; here. Nice seat with good view of Sollipulli too.<br /> <br /> Km49 : wet feet or an exciting log crossing.<br /> <br /> Shop[57.8/856] : it is a ferretería, with drinks and ice cream, friendly.<br /> <br /> At last, I didn't cross bridge[59.8/835] to Reigolil and keep going south because i have enough food for GPT15.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 28 - 31 dec / 3 days / NOBO/ Option 01B / Natalie &amp; Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> Last year we wondered if one can avoid roadwalking on GPT 14 and GPT15 by traversing Sollipulli (not the glacier) and it turns out it can be done and is quite a spectacular option (probably a lot more attractive then RR and when done right, not with too many people). The idea is, SOBO, to follow the rim of Sollipulli for about 4 km, then go to Laguna Cochor (14-01B), then to Laguna Isolda, Termas Rio Blanco and NP Huerquehue (15-01) and then Villarica Traverse (16-04). If you hitch (should be easy) or take a bus between the end of 15-01 and beginning of 16-04 through Pucon, you will get quite a nice trail without much roadwalking. See our notes to GPT15 and GPT16 for the rest of this option, here follows the Solipulli bit [November 2024: it is in our suggestions in the Track files].<br /> <br /> Note: to do a one way traverse of Sollipulli, either walk through the CONAF station before about 8 AM or after about 7 PM when the guards should no longer be there or walk past it for about 1 km on the road and take a right at 38.9238605S, 71.4873252W where there is an OSM trail based on Strava heatmap; however that trail needs to be confirmed, but it is almost for certain there.<br /> <br /> Since we climbed Sollipulli last year from the north, this year we opted to do a day trip from Laguna Cochor to the north summit via south summit of Sollipulli, thus proving the traverse is doable and not too hard. The following paragraph (Tl;DR: do not expect to get a ride easily on this road) is about access, so if you are coming from the north, skip it. <br /> <br /> We took a bus from Temuco to Cunco, they go every half an hour and cost a few thousand pesos. There are many terminals, the company you look for is Nar Bus, find its terminal in google maps to save yourself 1 km of going to the rural bus terminal and back. The ride takes cca 80 minutes. From Cunco, there is a daily bus to Laguna Caburga that leaves everyday at 17:00. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, it should go all the way to Termas Rio Blanco (it probably goes back in the morning, do not remember time schedule but we just saw a bus in the morning in the direction of Cunco). In Cunco we missed that bus and had to hitch. It was very easy at the beginning to get to Lago Colico but after that it became extremely difficult all the way to the start of the hike. We had to sleep in the forest by the road that night because no cars were stopping. In the morning, we got a hitch of 3 km and then we walked a few more to the western end of Laguna Caburga. We bought some bread and chips there, waited for four hours for a hitch and killed about twenty horseflies. None of the 15 cars that passed took us. We then walked to the other end of the lake, where we got a hitch to the junction with access to Thermas Rio Blanco. From there, we walked to the start/end of GPT14 option 1B. It took us about 26 hours from Cunco. <br /> <br /> At the entrance to the trail (it is open but seems to lead through private land), there is a sign saying it is not allowed to camp at Laguna Cochor (which is clearly being violated, on our second night there, there was a Chilean tent). Secondly, it says there is no estabilished access to Sollipulli, which is not true, the path leads well above the tree line. The trail is an old road for ~1 km and the rest is very clear, easy and pretty through sometimes dark forrest. At the laguna, there is a beach where one can camp, as we did. There is no good source of water on the way to the laguna or at the laguna (but some streams could be heard in the undergrowth), definitely treat the water in the laguna. <br /> <br /> The next day, we hid our tent and set off to reach the south summit of Sollipulli and then to the northern summit via the ridge (or below the ridge). It was an extremely long day trip (~16hrs out and back) but it should not be a problem if doing a proper traverse, many camping options. If one does not want to camp at Laguna Cochor, first good place is right above the treeline where the TR section ends and CC section begins. A nicer place would be cca 1 km further on, where you traverse to a nice valley. The first cca 2 km of CC are actually more TR&amp;CC, the trail comes and goes and follows the contour line, which is to be recommended. In the valley, there was a stream that can still be jumped in one place or could be easily forded. With less snow, it would probably be jumpable almost everywhere. The way to the summit is uneventful and a bit of a slog. No scrambling is needed (there is just one small rock obstacle, but one can walk through). Above around 1900 m., there was a lot of snow. If going early in the season, check the map where glaciers are and do not walk on them - you do not need to, they are fairly small. From the summit, we looked for several ways to go down and then retraced a bit and actually crossed what on a map is marked as a glacier here: 38.9963315S, 71.5233126W. Judging from satellite photos and our own survey, we think the western part of the glacier has melted and we walked over a snowfield to a soft ridge with a small tarn at the end of it. Getting down from this ridge sharply down left towards a plateau-like valley may or may not be difficult if there is &quot;no&quot; snow. We found a good way down on moderate snow slopes but considering the snow there is still very deep we do not know what the rock would be like, most likely it should be fine without snow. Here Natalie went back as it was already 1500, but Tomáš pressed on. He went across the valley and up the side of the next ridge at roughly 2000 m (there are two places that are not rocky, this one was the lower one, it was steep but fairly easy walking through loose stones and scree), then he went roughly half the way up the ridge, traversed above the two lakes on the way, then got to the rim and walked the ridge, then he got down to the other two lakes on the map and walked up to the summit.<br /> <br /> It was six, so he ate and then spent 6 hours walking back, this time not going to the rim at all and staying under the two more southern lakes and then retracing his steps - this was a faster but less spectacular variant. There seemed to be many possible variants how to cross this six km between two endpoints of GPT, the best variant will depend on your mood, skill level, weather and snowncover. It is however possible to do the traverse without climbing or exposed scrambling (though to make sure, somebody should do this in February when there is no snow), Tomáš practically never used his hands. On the way back, he met a Chilean tent above the treeline.<br /> <br /> Next day, we walked down to the road, walked about six km, got a hitch of 3 km to Reigolil, after 15 min there got a hitch of 5 km, waited for an hour and then got a hitch all the way to Pucón (about 75 min of driving). <br /> <br /> * '''2023 23 - 25 dec / 3 days / SOBO / RR + D + Sollipulli summit / Frans'''<br /> <br /> Trail is mildly overgrown going up to the first campsite but not as bad as expected. Usually until your knees but the trail is still visible, it just slows you down. Keep an eye on your GPS if you think you lost it, it's spot on with the GPX files. Camp 14 [22.4] is such a nice spot! Be aware that if you want to do the Sollipulli summit you have to there before 1100 (according to the sign) or the rangers won't let you up. Still a 2hr walk, but not difficult.<br /> <br /> GPT14-I point there is a gate and private property sign if you want to continue RR. They are doing road construction, and there is a guard house at the end. I didn't see anyone there, but it was weekend. Just keep in mind you might need to do the detour which takes a bit longer to get to the ranger station.<br /> <br /> At the park rangers place you can drop your backpack. I was not allowed to do a one-way trip. Needed to come back. It's definitely worth it! Amazing crater and nice views! Took me 2hrs to get up, 1.5 to get down. <br /> <br /> I walked to Camp 14 [39.3] to spend the night. Also a nice spot. The rest of the trail is not super exiciting but 80% slowly downhill which is nice to speed up this part. I spend the night a few km's into GPT 15 next to the river. There are a few decent spots after about 4km.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-31 to 2023-Feb-02/ 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / including the Sollipulli volcano / Johana &amp; Matouš'''<br /> <br /> One of the best sections so far for us thanks to the Sollipulli volcano. We started at the Icalma lake (the San Alfonso camp was great, 10 000 per two people, hot water (yes!) and access to the beach). There are some restaurants and minishops as well, enough to resupply I believe. The overgrown section had been cleared half a bamboo-metre ago, so sometimes it was tough and felt like the forest wants to suck you in. Nothing impassable, but the two kilometres took us two hours. Another thing - the river where the ascent starts in the forest is for long the only water source there if the weather is dry. There was a gate (S 38° 53.3570' W 071° 27.0191'); there's a hole in the fence on the left that we went under. We camped at a good spot on the right side of the road (S 38°53.4903' W 071° 27.8162'). The next day, we rushed to the CONAF station - we got there a little past 11 AM, but the ranger let us do the ascent anyway, we even had lunch before we went up (not from the stand, sadly, still operates only at the weekends). You can leave your backpacks with the ranger, which was great! We didn't pay anything to enter the park. It took us 5 hours there and back with a longer break at the top. The view from the top is indescribable plus the path leading up to it is also very nice with some snowpatches next to it that you can slide down as you please. <br /> After that we continued further down the road. We tried to outsmart the three fords but ended up fording the river three times anyway since the number of the fences and gates had increased I guess and we got stuck on a private property with nowhere to go. The best option might be to just follow the regular route. <br /> There's a beautiful camping spot that we highly recommend and had been told about by the ranger - a lot of free space, a laguna/pond, nice (not dense!) forest and several safe fireplaces. (S 38°56.3141' W 071°27.6738)<br /> From there on it was easy walking until Reigolil. The shop before the bridge has not many things to resupply but is good to refresh. The shop near the bus stop tuna, rice, pasta, biscuits, chips, beverages, some vegetables as well, enough to resupply. Its owners were so nice that they took us to their lot near the river where they let us pitch our tent. It seems that you can freely camp by the river but there was some Mapuche festival going on at that time. <br /> The bus schedule: 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. from the bus stop by the shop to Pucon. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-18 to 2023-Feb-20 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR starting in Tracura (road to Sollipulli) / Natalie &amp; Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> We used Icalma as a resupply which worked well enough; many &quot;mini- supermercados&quot; and cheap accomodation (we had a cabana for 20mil/10mil each) but as a warning internet is awful! There is a nice pehuenche restaurant at the southern end of town on the main road and a little further than this on the main road you can get the best cell signal. Supposedly a bus goes to Lonquimay Mon-Wed-Fri but I forget the times, I think it was at 6am and 3pm.<br /> <br /> We headed towards parque Sollipulli but hitching out of Icalma was slow, ~2hours combined waiting. We got off at Tracura and walked most of the way to CONAF (minus 4km hitch). Hitching was difficult even though it was a Saturday and there were cars, just no takers. No clean water sources until conaf but you could ask one of the cabana rentals along the way if needed.<br /> No entrance fee at CONAF and although camping is not allowed the &quot;senior&quot; ranger told us we could camp behind the office (I may have persuaded him with piñones). The only thing is we had to wait until everyone was gone (~7-730pm) and then leave early the next day (~7-730am). He didn't want people to know so don't spread the word... There are water, toilets, cold showers and the next morning we were able to keep our things in the other building as we went up Sollipulli. Finally there was a food truck there with sopapillas and juice (it was a Saturday).<br /> <br /> As for Sollipulli it has been the easiest summit so far, there is superb trail and it took ~2hrs up más o menos. There is one intersection where the trail tells you to go right but the climbers trail goes straight and is quicker (staying left is more quick: -38.93399, -71.49659).<br /> The glacier is amazing, 4km in diameter and supposedly 200m deep. I would come back here with glacier gear to cross it and go down the south summit. However Tomáš has his eyes on a way to go around the crater without glacier gear, so it would be a mixture of walking the rim and traversing above treeline towards the south summit where there should be another trail. That would save one cca 20 km of road walking [Nov 2024: this has been proven, see above].<br /> <br /> We wanted to go up the main route and down option 01 but CONAF still requests you come down the same way and since they helped us with camping I wanted to respect their wishes. If you wanted to avoid the rangers we both think you could easily go up before or after they arrive, we saw a few other parties doing this [they live somewhere else, this is just a day station]. Note that there is no water after CONAF, if you were doing the traverse, there are some lakes down to the east from the North summit. We think the traverse looks easy until the treeline. From the other end we later passed the trail going up which is in fact a road - not sure how far it goes as a road.<br /> <br /> The summit was quick, so afterwards we started walking the road that skirts Sollipulli on its east. It was a peaceful road and I have no complaints until it became not fun anymore after the camping at ~46.9. There were two vehicles that passed (no room) but I have no idea how they drove past some of the downed trees, would be a dodgy ride.<br /> The forests here are finally becoming alive! We saw tarantulas and a giant moth carcass and mushrooms finally! There are many fords at the beginning after the lodge so keep sandals on if you have them. It would be worth looking at Google Earth for an alternative trail because we met a guided horse group on GPt15 that told us they went from the south summit of Sollipulli to the lodge without going on the road. It is possible they meant &quot;no road&quot; as in &quot;no asphalt road&quot; but who knows.<br /> We headed to routa S-965 to hitch to GPT15 PN Huerquehue (no cars passed until S-965).<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-23 to 2023-Jan-25 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> This section took us 2 days. Unfortunately we didn’t go to the summit, because we needed to go quickly down to Curarrehue, but otherwise we wouldn’t skip it, just a few kms more and it looks incredible. About the trail, the beginning is a dirt road around the lakes and it continues until the start of overgrown section. That is a little more than 4kms, but from the start its a relatively normal trail, easy to follow. The overgrown part is mainly between km 2-3.5, but not so terrible overall following the gps. We camped at the end of this part that took us around 2 hrs, maybe less. After that you walk on a minor road all the time, in a really nice forrest. All the puestos were empty. Hot Spring waypoint is somewhere around houses so we didn’t even go there. To cross the river before CONAF station we used GPT14-E and the bridge. At the station was one guard, food truck closed, water available. The lodging after 1km is nice but it comes with higher prices, we stopped there to have some drink and beer + cola (cans) cost us 6k CLP. We spent the night in the forrest after the pass, but camp at km 46.9 looked great. The rest of the trail is still the same gravel road. Minishop at 57.8 has only basic food, but also some things for repairs etc. In Reigolil was only one shop on the main road open with very limited supplies, but we got from the lady pastel de choclo and some homemade bread, all delicious! Later we continued to GPT15.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Feb / Hiking / NOBO / '''<br /> <br /> From Reigolil to Solipulli it is a very easy forest road inside the reserva nacional. Carabineros asked some questions and said we could camp where we wanted. Arriving at the CONAF site at Solipulli, there is a small campground, free if you pay the entrance for the volcanoe (4000pp). There is a food truck with sopaipillas and jugos. We hiked the Solipulli and it is a must see. It is incredible and there are not that many people doing it. The CONAF ranger is very friendly. We did not hike from there to Icalma to avoid bushbashing and we wanted to see the big fiesta planned in Melipeuco (every year in late feb). It was worth it as we got to see a celebration of baqueanos. Melipeuco is not this nice but there are several supermarkets and restaurants to resupply. Easy hitch to Icalma (or there are 2 buses / day). We then hitched to Liucura to start section 12.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-30 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> Nothing to add to the previous comments. We arrived at the pipeline construction site during working hours and just followed the indications of the workers, no detour, just some optional route. We spent the night at the CONAF campground and had one of the best breakfasts in Chile at the Sollipulli Lodge (13'000 p.P.). As the rain hasn't stopped by lunchtime we had lunch there too, it was excellent :-D We actually quite liked this section with all the trees. We directly added section 15 after this one. There are several busses per day from Reigolil to Curarrehue but we don't know the schedule. <br /> <br /> * '''15-Jan-2020 / 4 days (GPT 14 + GPT 15) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus &amp; Anna '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 14 and 15. It took us 3 days and nero.<br /> GPT14 - there are signs that someone tried to clear overgrown part of the trail on the begining and end but middle is still nicely overgrown. Though we didn't have problem to follow.<br /> Part of minor road on regular trail is under construction. They are putting a huge pipe under it. It was evening and workers were not there se we managed to sneak through but I don't think they will let you pass during working hours. It's just before descending to the river before National reserve Villarrica. <br /> In the Conaf campsite was food truck (it was weekend) with churasco, sopapillas, drinks... pure heaven. We paid 4000 per person at conaf.<br /> They are building a dorm at Lodge. It will be ready for next years hikers ;) <br /> Resuply in Reigolil - mini shop on trail seemed abandoned. We found best supplies in shop-4. There is one other shop directly after bridge. <br /> GPT15 - road and trail in good condition. On the climb to the lake bit before last settler there are some wild cherry trees on the left. We stuffed ourselves and left for others too. Enjoy. Multiple shops, accomodation options and restaurants in Curarrehue.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-18 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional summit up Volcán Sollipulli / Tom &amp; Maddie '''<br /> <br /> Overgrown trail towards the start is relatively easy to follow. Mostly overgrown around the middle but the tracks towards either end are in decent condition. The rest of the section is easy walking. I would strongly recommend taking a small detour to summit Volcán Sollipulli in the CONAF National park (~30km into the section). When we arrived at the park we had to pay a CLP 4000 fee per person. When speaking to the ranger about where we intended to walk, he advised that the optional route down from the Volcán we planned to take is in very poor condition and would not let us take it. We had to do an out and back. It took us around 3.5-4h to summit and return. The trail is in excellent condition (trail markers are present) and the view is spectacular!! Possibly the best thing I’ve seen on the GPT. We camped in the park for no charge and bought some hot food from the food truck in the evening on the weekend. No issues with the rest of the section.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Feb-02 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR including Sollipulli climb / Frank'''<br /> <br /> 2 long days including Sollipulli climb<br /> They are building the pipeline under the dirt road, when they are finished they will bury the pipe &amp; road should reopen. No issues going through there but it was Sunday &amp; no one was around. You walk on a narrow track above ditch, when you reach a point where two big boulders block the path you need to go down into the ditch to go around them. <br /> Climbing Sollipulli is highly recommended to see the huge summit crater filled with ice &amp; snow. Easy &amp; well marked ascent.<br /> You are not allowed to do the ascent after about 11AM. The food truck 'Sabores de Sollipulli' at the Conaf campsite only operates on weekends, it was closed on Sunday. I believe there is another Conaf site a little off route at Laguna Huaquifilo where you can camp. Nowhere good to camp after that. It was raining so I continued to Reigolil. Just after you cross the bridge there is a shop, they have rooms &amp; provide very basic food. Not recommended but will do if you are stuck.<br /> <br /> A few minor corrections: There is no bridge @ Bridge 46, just ford the river easily. Gate @ far side of ford is marked no entry but walking through appears to be OK.<br /> There is a gravel track that stays on the right side of the river &amp; goes past Ford 133 &amp; Ford 134 so you don't need to cross either of them. It leads to Ford 135 which you do cross.<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> [[File:Reigolil.jpg|thumb|center|600px|Timetable January 2020]]<br /> <br /> Bus goes from Reigolil to Curacautin &amp; Pucon. When I was there it left Reigolil at 7 &amp; 7:50 AM (different to timetable) Confirm times at the shop by the bridge in Reigolil. Frank<br /> <br /> South Summit:<br /> Temuco--&gt;Cunco--&gt;Lago Caburga--&gt;Hitch/Walk. Or ask/phone the business at Termas Rio Blanco &amp; Termas San Sebastián about their own chartered buses, from a brief conversation with an employee there sounded to be a bus every few days.What's app +56946809918, +56992318329<br /> <br /> Temuco's Terminal de Buses Rurales (Balmaceda 1475) can be complicated since most buses have their own shop elsewhere. For Cunco go to office &quot;IGI LLAIMA/ Nar Bus&quot;; Balmaceda 997. The bus leaves every 30min. <br /> <br /> From Cunco check with locals about bus to Lago Caburga. Supposedly a bus leaves everyday at 4 or 5pm from Balmaceda corner La Concepción. It will pass by the nice supermarket;Supermercado Hesis on &quot;Colico Sur&quot; aka the S-75. Confirm schedule in the municipality of Cunco before traveling at +56 45 2200147.<br /> <br /> Hitchhiking is easy up until Lago Collico, after that there are cars but not many stop.<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT14 - Volcán Sollipulli]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> <br /> [[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047041.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045479.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045586.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045611.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045628.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109045648.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046479.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046482.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109046483.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047161.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> [[File:GPT_8_Laguna_Icalma_and_Volcán_Sollipulli_109047207.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT09_(Volcan_Antuco)&diff=119928 2025-02-01T15:45:07Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> If you are packrafting, put the above info into HTML tags like this (if you follow a hiking route for part of the way, highlight only &quot;packrafting&quot;, as above):<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD, WHAT IS ENCLOSED IN &lt;&gt; MAKES IT BLUE):<br /> * &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;.<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> *''' 2025-Jan-22 to 2025-Jan-23 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Janboro '''<br /> <br /> I combined GPT 09, 10 and 11 and took 6,5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> Spent the night before my departure at the cabaña that belongs to Roca Café right next to the last bus stop and is run by Checo.<br /> <br /> Tried to hitchhike to the place where Farah and I stopped the day before, but wasn’t successful. So I took an “Uber”: a local guy who offered to drive me to Piedra del Indio for 50 luca. There, I started my hike in the late afternoon.<br /> <br /> The walk up the valley was straightforward, lots of water and easy terrain.<br /> <br /> I had plenty of encounters with puesto dogs that weren’t all too happy about my uninvited visit on their territory, with one being scary: At the puesto at [46.9/1709], two dogs aggressively barked and approached me while I was still more than a hundred meters away. No owners in sight and nobody reacted to my “holas”. Picking up stones as recommended in the manual didn’t keep the dogs from coming closer, so I decided to turn around, walked back around a hundred meters, crossed the river and made a big detour around the Puesto. I camped one or two kilometers upstream next to the river. Later in the evening, I saw the dueños coming back to their puesto on horses.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> The next morning I ascended the rest of the valley, had another two dogs barking aggressively and approaching me at Puesto at [49.3/1820]. This time picking up stones kept them at a distance of two meters. Also, their dueños were at home and eventually got their dogs to calm down and turn around.<br /> <br /> Shortly after the pass at [50.4/1878], I met a Pehuenche arriero who was on his way to his cattle in Antuco. Had a brief, nice chat with him and continued my descent.<br /> <br /> Way down also with easy terrain and a lot of water. At times the way is pretty steep though and I slipped two times in the sandy underground and fell on my butt.<br /> <br /> At the outskirts of Trapa Trapa I accidentally took the wrong way, walked through a gate and one to two hundred meters later found myself in a fenced-off private property, with two aggressively barking dogs approaching me, one from the front, one from the back. I yelled: “hola?” and a Pehuenche lady came and dot the dogs to leave me alone. Thanked her and apologized a couple of times. Her son opened the exit gate for me, I asked him if I was going the wrong way, he confirmed and pointed towards the correct way.<br /> <br /> In Trapa Trapa I searched for the shop and found it at the location, Ivan, Jakub and Daniel indicated. The selection of products was very limited, but I stilll had plenty of food so I only bought an ice cream and a pack of chicky bum. Continued through Trapa Trapa towards GPT10.<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''2025-Jan-19 to 2025-Jan-20 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / 09-01A, 09-02 / Farah &amp; Jan '''<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> Started at Park Ranger [8.4/1110]. Decided to avoid the CC on the RR as Farah’s knee was still not fully recovered from GPT06 and took the MR (09-02) instead. Took the 09-01A detour, then a pizza break at the Antuco Basecamp. Lots of traffic on the MR, so we ate a lot of dust. Camped around 2 km behind the Monument of the Tragedy of Antuco {09-02} [3.4/1416] right next Laguna Laja.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> Continued on the MR, still lots of dust, and camped at S 37°27.977' W 71°18.332' in the river bed.<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> <br /> The next morning Farahs knee pain got so bad she couldn’t continue, so we decided to tramp back to El Abanico. Close to the camp at {09-C} [1.0/1440], we found a building made of shipping containers and told the people who live there about our problem. Don Leonel, the owner, plans to open a restaurant at that spot within the next 1-2 months. They already have a camping ground with toilets and showers. Ignacio, mountain guide by trade, who works for Leonel, drove us to El Abanico and recommended us to stay at the cabaña of Checo, who also runs Roca Café right next to the last bus stop.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-18 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Nimrod &amp; Tamar<br /> <br /> ''''<br /> We got a ride from our sweet cabaña owner to the entrance to the park. The ranger took our info but we didn't need to pay because we hiked SOBO.<br /> <br /> It was rainy and we decided to camp near the waterfall and climb to the pass tomorrow.<br /> <br /> 2nd day:<br /> All trails were clear and easy.<br /> Camped at (-37.51122, -71.25437).<br /> <br /> 3rd day:<br /> At approx (-37.51590, -71.25192) there was a puesto, and Maurizio invited us to have breakfast with him (eggs, bread, goat meat leftovers).<br /> We camped near ford [54.9/1423].<br /> <br /> 4rth day:<br /> Nothing at the resupply waypoint. We asked a teenager (the only person we saw) where is the store. He told us there is no store in Trapa Trapa, but that he might be able to sell us some stuff. He took us to his home, and his parents fed us and sold us some basic food (flour, harina tostada, pasta, honey).<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''2025-JAN-08 to 2025-JAN-09 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + 09C / Alex '''<br /> The pass {09} [16.8/2043] is now open for safe and direct access in both directions. The regular route (RR) still has a challenging ford at Río de los Piños. Instead, I followed 09C.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-22 &gt; 23 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR &gt; route &gt; RR &gt; Crête / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT09+GPT10+GPT11+GPT12+GPT13<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : beaucoup au col du volcan<br /> | Intérêt : 4/5<br /> | Difficulté : 2/5<br /> | Danger : neige sur pente raide<br /> <br /> Bus de 11h (dimanche) puis auto-stop immédiat jusqu'au depart du sentier.<br /> La seconde moitié de la montée est plus compliquée mais se fait bien. Il y a des cairns dans tous les sens. Enorme congère au col, impossible a faire si la neige est gelée.<br /> J'ai pris la route au pied du volcan car le sentier est faisait un détours non justifié. Au col j'ai pris le sentier de crête. A Trapa Trapa je pensais trouver un resto ou une epicerie mais il n'y a rien a proximité du sentier.<br /> <br /> *'''2024-DEC-21 to 2024-DEC-22 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. B, C, 03B) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> From the bus stop at the end of section 08 var. 06-B [2.9/734], we set out with supplies for two days. We walked 6 km along the main road Q-45 to the start of section 09. At coordinates -37.3983, -71.43998, we reported at the park gate, filled out a form, and paid the entrance fee to the national park, which was 5,700 CLP per person.<br /> <br /> While ascending to the first pass, we crossed a hardened lava field (aprox. 500m), full of sharp rocks. The views of Volcán Antuco and Sierra Velluda were breathtaking there.<br /> <br /> At the pass at km 16.8, there was still a significant amount of snow on the southeastern side. We used our siesta pads to slide down about 100 meters of elevation. Since the trail was buried under the snow, we continued cross-country on the snow. From there, we chose variants B and C.<br /> <br /> We spent the night after the river crossing at km 37.0. After sunset, a local arriero on horseback came to check on us from a nearby puesto.<br /> <br /> The next day, we reached the end of the minor road and, from the pass, opted for variants {09-03} and {09-03B}. In Trapa Trapa, we resupplied with only sweets and instant noodles, as the selection was very limited. However, a kind lady sold us some eggs as well. The small shop is located at coordinates -37.7124106, -71.2564517<br /> <br /> '''2024-Dec-18 to 2024-Dec-19 / 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR (Partly) / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Resupplied at the red shop (S 37.42745, W 71.15386) in trapa trapa, they had ramen cookies, chocolate etc. She also sold us a big loaf of bread. Not great for a full resupply but enough for us to top up for a few days.<br /> <br /> Ford 54.9km - would be possible to camp around here if you wanted a short day in or out of trapa trapa. Water is a available from here all the way up and over the pass at the moment.<br /> <br /> Ford 33.5km (approx) Crossing Rio de Los pinos on the RR was deep and strong for us at 1pm so we decided to hitch the road instead. Not much traffic but we got picked up by the police.<br /> <br /> Pass 16.8km - lots of snow still we decided it was too much for us so hitched to Antuco.<br /> <br /> Antuco has plenty of options to resupply. We found one screw top gas canister in the hardware store opposite the plaza. Big supermarket and other hardware stores had the cartridge type.<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''24-12-06 - 24-12-09 / 3 days / SOBO / RR, OHa / Volker<br /> <br /> A wonderful spring hike!<br /> I hitchhiked from Pelluca (close to Antuco) to the camp site Lagunillas. Conaf registration is now on the road. 10K for day visitors, no fee for those, who continue SOBO. The Conaf guy at the spot indicated in the track files already knew from his colleague, that I am coming. Started there at 2.30 p.m. After the first slope very scenic landscape. The pass was completely under snow, so I walked back a bit to the yellow spot (close to the big red spot), found a spot, that fits for one tent. Very windy and cold - but superscenic with Sierra Velluda so close. <br /> Day 2: Volcan Antuco summit. I didn‘t start earlier than 7:15 as I wanted the sun to melt the surface of the snow before I arrive at the steep slope to the summit. If it‘s frozen, mini-spikes don‘t help. Arrived at the summit at 10:30 and met two guys from Antuco. Great view up there! Back to my tent at 13:30h, took a long siesta in the afternoon sun, but decided not to spend another night on the cold pass. The access to the RR down was blocked by a vertical snow-wall, even cleavages there. I bypassed both by walking 200m to the right and went down CC on steep snowfields (in the afternoon: no problem). RR under snow until it gets less steep down in the valley. I wanted to spend another night close to the impressive Sierra Velluda, so I went CC to OH09a, found water and a nice spot to camp there.<br /> Day 3: A lazy day. I started late and spent much time just enjoying the landscape. More fords than indicated, all easy, but none with dry feet. A none-indicated ford on RR shortly before gpt08-04 end I found to risky, so I crossed only the right river and followed the river bank to a path on the OSM leading to OH09C. Once on the plain, I went CC to join OH09C at the bridge. Camp close to the puesto at 39.6. <br /> Day 4: Very nice walk on RR in a rapidly changing landscape. First moved very quick, in the forest zone I was slowed down, the trail is partly destroyed by water, later quite steep on unpleasant rubble. All river-crossings (6, including the indicated ford): dry feet. Arrived at Trapa Trapa at 4 p.m. and stayed at the indicated spot on 09-03e, simple accomodation (very, very friendly Mapuche hosts).<br /> <br /> * '''2Dec2024 - 3dec2024 / hiking SOBO / OH2 - varC - RH - varD / 1,5 days / Clara'''<br /> <br /> Hitchhiking from antuco to camping parque national.<br /> <br /> Didn't go at pass 16.8km, seems dangerous as karin said + owner of the camping told me there's too much snow. <br /> Hitchhike to km35. Not many cars but first one took me. <br /> <br /> Camp at 47. <br /> <br /> Pass at 50.4 : still snow but easy to cross. <br /> <br /> Fords : still some thick snow fields melting on the top of some rivers on the way, but easy to cross for now. <br /> <br /> Water : plenty at this period<br /> <br /> Arrive at Trapa Trapa for lunch. Eat at point food, lodging. Kind and delicious. 10k CLP for harina tostada + soup with vegetables and pastas + tomatoes + lots of bread + tea. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-22 to 2024-Nov-24 / 2.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - option 1, 2 / Karin'''<br /> <br /> Camp: campamento amfiteatro / km47<br /> <br /> The pass km16 looked doable. And the rangers at the entrance of the parc told me that there is only a small amount of snow. So I decided to take the RR. Snow fields started to appear from about 1860m altitude, but were easily crossable. But the other side of the pass (facing eastwards) is just one big snow field. On the ridge were cracks in the snow, big snow blocks broke out and fell down, and combined with the steepnes of the slope, the risk of avalanches is high. Therefore, I decided to backtrack. <br /> <br /> Next day, two guys from the Departamento de obras offered me a ride and drove me to the landmark km35. From there the road is easy to follow with many small streams crossing it. So plenty of water. <br /> <br /> At the pass km50, there was still some snow. The streams are sometimes covered by the snow. As I had to cross them, it was either possible to walk around and cross the stream a bit up or down stream, or the snow was still hard and thick enough for me to walk on it. Which was risky, because I could not know if this was the case before doing it. It might become dangerous to cross the snow fields over the streams when the snow melts more and therefore becomes less strong. <br /> <br /> The valley to Trapa Trapa is very beautiful. It has a few more fords than indicated, mainly around S 37°40.6835' W071°14.1790' (altitude 1585m). <br /> <br /> I stayed in the home of the very nice family, indicated in Trapa Trapa as &quot;Food, lodging&quot;, for 2 days because of bad weather.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-19 to 2024-03-21 // 2 days (one day off due to the horrible weather) // Hiking // NOBO // RR + VARIANT C + VARIANT B // Quentin Clavel'''<br /> <br /> I then continue my way threw GPT 09 (went from GPT 12 to 09 straight). <br /> <br /> Easy track to follow all along, until the volcanic plateau. It's kind of an highway of arieros! I met a lot, all very nice, some of them quite curious of what my itinerary looks like. <br /> <br /> Pass after trapa trapa was a bit hard because of the heat, and because I began to be a tired, I had to do few breaks. <br /> <br /> Then arriving on a plateau, going down and pretty flat after, very well marques, on some part very sandy. After that you arrive on the big straight lines part, that was so exciting for me, the scenery are so nice that I was even a bit happy to walk on gravel roads aha. Weather begun to be very windy on the plateau that reminds me some hard times on the bloody tierra del fuego ! <br /> <br /> I was absolutely so happy to find an abandoned puesto that was a perfect shelter for an extremely windy, cold and rainy night. This shelter is located few meters on the right after the Ford {09} [37.0/1512]. <br /> <br /> As the weather was terrible the day after (snow on all the summits around and still heavy rain) I stopped for one day. One local, that live in a puesto around was curious and came by, we discuss and asked for the authorisation to stay there, and he said it was not a problem at all. <br /> <br /> Day after was stunning, I was so happy to skip the rain to have this lovely weather for the end of this amazing section ! <br /> <br /> Took variant C, had nice talks with carabineros, no problem at all to pass there now as long as you explain the situation. This option si very scenic, again, I was amazed from the volcan and the nice geometry of it, and the gravel road who's going on the way. <br /> <br /> Then CC on variant B, straight after the big house and the bus that sell food at the middle of nowhere ! <br /> <br /> I was amazed from the landscapes, antuco volcan for sure, but the amazing siella velluda también ! <br /> <br /> Teaching the pass, then continuing CC until reaching PK 11,89, and fond a well marked track until the road. <br /> <br /> I strongly hesitated to go up to the summit, but as there were a lot of fresh snow and it was pretty windy, I decide to continue my way, still very happy of the scenery I saw there ! <br /> <br /> Reaching the road, then hitchhiking to antuco + bus to Los Angeles (7pm) for a porper break, before coming back on this point and going to GPT08. <br /> <br /> AGAIN, I loved this section ! <br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-24 to 2024-03-25 / 2 days / SOBO / RR + var D / Marilyne'''<br /> <br /> Day 1 - It was Sunday and few buses were running so I took a “taxi” from Antuco to the start of the trail up the pass. (Owner of my lodging called up one of his friends who sometimes drives Uber around town). 15k to go to the National Park. Park rangers told me that I didn’t have to pay entrance fees since I was crossing the park and not coming back the same way.<br /> Many other hikers were there on a Sunday on the first part of the trail. Enjoyed the day very much and thought the scenery was beautiful. People at the puesto next to second ford of Rio de los Pinos offered me to stay with them but I declined as I was hoping to do this section in 2 days and wanted to hike a little further. Camped shortly after Ford {09} [37.0/1512].<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Kept going on the RR until Trapa Trapa. Stopped at the kiosco to buy cookies and chocolate (melted as that little hut in the sun gets hot!). Kept going right away on GPT10.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Mar-7 to 2024-Mar-8 / 1.5 days / SOBO / RR 2 C D/ Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> Bus from Antuco to Abanico at 8:30am (tell driver you want out at the junction to Abanico). Partly hiked but mostly hitched up to the lake (very little traffic, I was lucky). I choose Variant 2 (an easy road) as my rucksack was so heavy (plan doing Section 9 to 12). Lots of small memorials spreaded out for the soldiers died in a blizzard a few years ago. There was a military training going on, so I passed a lot of small groups of soldiers. All friendly. Later a local familiy asked if I want a ride, sure! We pass the bordercontrol on C2.5km, police just waives us through from a distance. Soon they reach their picknickspot and I continue walking on that long and empty road.<br /> <br /> No snowfields, plenty of (unmarked) water, fordings very easy, almost no Tabanos.<br /> <br /> Did not see the shop in Trapa-Trapa, but had plenty of food anyway, so put no efford in searching. No cellphone connection in Trapa-Trapa with Movistar.<br /> Nice views of Vulcan Antuco and Laguna de La Laya, otherwise not much to see. Nice, short and easy section (though I did not hiked the pass and had 2 long hitchhikes).<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Feb 25 to Feb 28 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Juliette and Martin '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 09 and 10 into 5 days of hiking. Beautiful sections with a diversity of landscapes: volcano, meadows, puestos...<br /> <br /> Transport to start of section: Albanico <br /> Bus Los Angeles - Albanico at 5 p.m. from rural bus terminal <br /> Hitch-hike to Lagunillas campsite (10,000 pesos pp per night, they also sell empanadas, which are very good, plus there's hot water). <br /> <br /> Day 1: Lagunillas campsite - Bridge (-37.46204, -71.31305)<br /> <br /> Lovely day and beautiful volcanic scenery. Not much shade on the climb. Rather pleasant bivouac spot, along the water, with grass and shade, rather cold night as our wet clothes froze at night. Water nearby (estero del volcano)<br /> <br /> Day 2: Bridge (-37.46204, -71.31305)- Camp -37.62833, -71.24444<br /> <br /> Beautiful day, with a few easy river crossings (maximum knee-deep). There's plenty of vegetation and shade, which is great for breaks. <br /> The camp spot is just a few meters from a puesto, and they offered to let us pitch our tent. Night still cold (frost). <br /> <br /> Day 3: Camp -37.62833, -71.24444 - Trapa Trapa <br /> <br /> Easier and shorter day than the others, but we followed it up with the start of section 10 so as not to sleep in Trapa Trapa. Not much choice in the mini-shops in Trapa Trapa. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb 09 to Feb 13 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Var C, Var D / Michael and Kasia'''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 9, 10, and 11 together.<br /> <br /> Day 0 - Feb 8th<br /> <br /> We left Antuco around 13:00. It took two hitches to get us to Lagunillas campground (also called Parque Antuco camping). We were lucky that the second car was actually going to the campground and took us right to reception. Posted price was 10.000 CLP pp. There are about 20 campsites. Each had a picnic table and an electrical plugin, and one of the two bathrooms had showers with hot water. We were not blown away by the campground, however we were just coming from a hostel rather than coming out of the mountains, and perspective counts for a lot. They ask you to pack your trash out. They have a small tienda where they sell prepared food, but nothing for resupply.<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Feb 9th<br /> <br /> From Lagunillas we took an OSM track directly across the road. The trail is clearly marked and maintained. It goes through native forest with nice views of the mountains and lava fields.<br /> There are at least two waterpoints along the way. The OSM trail connects in with RR.<br /> <br /> The trail up is fairly well maintained, no brush overgrowth in the path and no places where the trail has collapsed. The path through the lava field was amazing, and the views of Sierra Velluda were spectacular. It is a fairly popular path. On a Friday about 15 other people were on the trail.<br /> <br /> We had already decided we wanted to break the pass into two days if possible. We set up camp at the Campamento Anfiteatro or Amphitheatre Camping (-37.42427, -71.41517). It has a nice view of the glacier on Sierra Velluda and some shade in the afternoon. <br /> <br /> If deciding to stay at the amphitheater camping area, there is water on the opposite side of the plane. There is a very large waterfall that is visible from a long distance. Walking toward it, a little to the east (left side) is a smaller waterfall that becomes visible about halfway across. It had very clear water and a pool that is easy to access. There was also a stream that appeared in the late evening about 50 m from the campsite but disappeared again overnight.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Feb 10th<br /> <br /> There was water shortly after beginning up RR from Anfiteatro for some distance. The path is on the right side of the dry river bed as you are going up. We got confused and walked part way up the left side before realizing and had to backtrack to get to the correct side. There was still one very small snow field on the other side of the pass, but the trail curved around the right side of it so there was no need to walk on it. Expansive views of the valley on the way down. The trail was easy to see and follow most of the way. At the bottom we just went cross country. We camped at the larger of the two araucarias (-37.46186, -71.32047) in what looked like a arriero campground. The campsite at the smaller araucaria shortly before it looked a little nicer but required crossing the river and looked less wind protected.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Feb 11th<br /> <br /> We got a late start. It was a Sunday and there was a fair amount of traffic on the road so we decided to go crosscountry from the bridge and cut the loop to connect in with Var C. It was dry in some places, swampy in others, and we eventually had to switch to water shoes to cross the river. It probably didn't save any time, but it was definitely more interesting and avoided getting blasted by dust with every passing car. We rejoined the road on the far side. The afternoon had a cloud cover and actually got fairly cool which made the road walk much more enjoyable. Once we got onto the spur road just before the BCP we didn't see any more cars or people for the rest of the day. We camped on the uphill side of the road around (-37.57617, -71.24087) which looked to be an arriero campground. Very dusty but there was a reasonably flat spot and a small stream nearby.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Feb 12th<br /> <br /> We continued on RR. The valley was pretty, not too much happening. There were a lot of puestos but we saw only a couple of people and not too many animals. We stopped at the estero just before heading up to refill water and have lunch. We were initially going to take Opt 3B because it was shorter, but after seeing how exposed it was and some sketchy parts early on, we turned back and opted for RR. The path was easy to follow and actually in pretty good condition. It went through some beautiful forest which also provided some much needed shade. We took Var D down and did not encounter any dangerous scree. This section is also a little shorter than RR and passed by the river so one can refill if necessary. We were glad we took Var D. We decided to camp about 1km before Trappa Trappa along the river around (-37.70803, -71.24448). It was right next to the road, so far from optimal, but it worked.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Feb 13th<br /> <br /> We walked into Trappa Trappa around 11:00. It was very windy the entire time we were there, and almost no one around. We first went to the shop with the Kiosko sign, but no one was there. A neighbor came out and told us that the guy works in the school till around 14:00, but would be around later. We then went to the shop indicated by the Provisiones sign. She didn't have a lot. She said the food truck was coming that day around 18:00, so I guess we just got unlucky with the timing. We bought some pasta, cookies, yogurts, Zukos, canned fish, crackers, and she made us sopaipillas for 300 each. They were really good but a very different style from the ones we had had with the arrieros, more pastry-like, fried crispy on the outside but still doughy on the inside and more oily. Very filling but I don't think they would work well to carry. We went back to the Kiosko shop and the guy came when we rang the timbre. He had even less stuff, mostly cookies. We bought a few more things there. Finally we went to the shop just at the beginning of Section 10. It is on the left just as you start down the hill, a corrugated metal wall with a large square cut out of the side that acts like a window and the word “Hola” scratched into the side. She had the least amount of things, but she did have fresh onions and carrots, no cheese (she said she makes it in December and when it's gone that's it for the year). Initially she said she didn't have any bread, but as we were talking with her she offered to sell us a bread, a pan amasado that was huge and dense and served us for three meals. From here we continued into GPT10.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-11 to 2024-Feb-13 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH B + C + D / Joscha'''<br /> <br /> I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Day 1: RR [5.8-9.6]<br /> <br /> I hitched in the afternoon from Los Angeles to the entrance of the Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja (around km 5.8). From there I hiked to km 9.6. Here are some nice flat spots to camp + you have a nice view over the Rio Laja valley. But there is no water at the spot.<br /> <br /> Day 2: RR [9.6-20.7] + OH09-B + OH09-C + RR [34.9-47.4]<br /> <br /> Big flat, sandy area around km 11.9 is a good campingspot. There is also a creek flowing not more than 50 meters south of the RR-CC [11.9+4.9]. The RR over the Pass (km 16.8) is completely snow free now. The RR and OH-B cross a creek at km 20.8. There is lots of water on OH B + C + RR [34.9-47.4].<br /> <br /> Day 3: RR [47.4-54.6] + OH09-D + RR [56.4-61.5]<br /> <br /> Ford at km 52.3 is dry. But the RR cross a bunch of streams around the Pass (km 50.4) and it runs along the river of the valley at km 53.2 for a few 100 meters. I just went through Trapa Trapa and continued directly with section 10.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-15 to 2024-Feb-18 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Trapa-Trapa - El Abanaico / RR + Option 01 + Option B + Option C +Option D / Alex &amp; Christophe'''<br /> <br /> We really enjoyed this section even if it wasn't really fast to walk in the sand and lava field.<br /> <br /> We didn't have much to add to what has already been written.<br /> <br /> We tried to summit the Antuco Volcano bit didn't success because it was too steep and too lose so we stopped at 2700m. I would recommend to take crampons if you want to summit, so you can go in the snow (wich was quite hard, even at 2pm) and it should be easier. What I would however recommend to everyone is to go up to 2300m. It is easy to go from the pass and the panorama is incredible.<br /> <br /> We camped after the try on the Volcano at the Amphitheatre Campsite. It was a nice place but I wouldn't recommend it. First, you have to walk a kilometer just to wash yourself and to take some water and second, we had strong wind gusts all night long. The camp is not wind protected.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-12 to 2024-Jan-13 / 2 days / SOBO / RR, OH C, OH 03B and OH 03/ Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Started in Camping Las Lagunillas at around 7 am. Took me about 4 to 5 hours to the pass. On the way up I found water starting from -37.423109 -71.404405 onwards, followed along. Big stream, should not dry out soon or never(?) during summer. At the pass still to much snow to drop in directly to the path on the other side. Instead of walking upwards to the left towards volcano I took short detour to the right, to come around the snowfield, for me worked out well. Slided then down on the lower and not so steep snowfields to get to a basin. Reached from there the RR…Thought could be tough to ford estero Petronquines on the RR, so took the road (OH C)…Two police stations there, nobody checked me, although cars were at each spot… somehow an annoying road to walk on…you could hitchhike a part of it, there is some traffic, but not to much. I did not. Camped at a beautiful spot at the river -37.511560, -71.259157 a few kms before the landmark. There is life here all along the road, lots of puestos, cows, sheep, goats. Next day again along this endless seeming road up to the pass above Trapa Trapa, water all along, even at the pass…From there I took OH 03B, which is the shorter way to the village, OH03 from <br /> -37.69671, -71.25027 was in some parts a light BB till I got on a good trail which brought me down to Trapa. Descending down the pass to the village you’ll get an other version of Chile. Araucania trees are showing up and you are now in Mapuche region, no more chilean flags at every house down there. End of this sector was for me the biggest change on the GPT so far (having done the sections before from Santiago)…other people, language, culture, other flora…a kind of a very welcoming change. Arriving in Trapa Trapa you could give a try at owner of house at -37.71056, -71.26569, junction OH03 and main road. He offered me camping and food if I couldn’t find something in town. If not there is the usual family who takes guests. Miniminishop is at<br /> -37.71240, -71.26355<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-01 to 2024-Jan-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {09-B} - {09-C} - RR - {09-D} - RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> I combined GPT09+10+11+12, first resupply 6 days food in Antuco, then take 2.5 days for 09, stay in Trapa Trapa(save 2 meals), resupply in Trapa Trapa for 1.5 days food(low stock and limited selection). Then take 2 days for 10, stay in Guallalí(save 2 meals), resupply in Guallalí for 2 days food(low stock and limited selection but better than Trapa Trapa). Lastly 2 days for 11, 4 days for 12)<br /> <br /> Nice resupply in Antuco, but most of them are closed because i visit here on the first day of 2024.<br /> <br /> A friendly local give me a ride to the entrance of national park, thank you so much to him! There are some beautiful waterfalls start at RR km2.3 to km4.7, remember to take a look, they are at the mountain side(right side)! Lot of families come to here for enjoy their holidays.<br /> <br /> RR km5.7 : ranger station for vehicles and people control for entering the park. Super nice and let me go in after i told them my route, no need to pay any fee or show any permits.<br /> <br /> Park ranger[8.4/1110] : look like is a ranger station, didn't see anyone when I passed here on 5.30pm.<br /> <br /> Km9.7 : flat area, you can camp here if need, but no water.<br /> <br /> Km11.25 - km11.9 : lava trail, there are some rock cairn for you to follow, not difficult.<br /> <br /> Km11.9 : if you continue going south at the RR sharp turning, about 200m you will met a stream, flowing good with cold and clear water, flat spots nearby too, but I'm not sure it will dry up or not.<br /> <br /> Follow rock cairn to the pass, mostly you'll lost the trail and cairn at km15.6, look at the right side, go down the dry riverbed then climb up to the other side, you'll find cairn again. Don't walk in riverbed, they'll block your way at the end.<br /> <br /> Still lot of snow after the pass, follow Véronica's comment, climb up the ridge to compass NE ( I walk on the top of snow slope, because it is flat and gentle, also i think it is easier than walking on loose sand.)<br /> <br /> At about 2150m, there is a break without snow, a sandy slope that you can walk down. ( -37.43215, -71.36002 )<br /> <br /> Not steep, i think is easy go down but slow, so when i go down a little, i go back to south side to join the snow slope for fast moving, snow slope becomes more gentle when it gets lower.<br /> <br /> By the way, you can climb up and go down the pass without stepping on any snow now.<br /> <br /> Km20.7 : you'll find car track here, you can follow it to dirt road, i take {09-B} here, avoid crossing Petronquines(RR km28.9) at downstream. {09-B} is something look like a very old car track on the ground, no cars running on it anymore, easy walking but not easy to follow.<br /> <br /> {09-B} km1.15 : crossing of Estero El Aguada o El Volcán ( a long name), a stream. A very good crossing point, stream break to 6 parts here, all below half of calf at afternoon. Flowing nice with clear water.<br /> <br /> After the crossing, i can't find any trail or car track on the other side, but after i keep going CC about 400m, a dirt road in good condition at mountain side, it'll lead you to the main dirt road and join {09-C}.<br /> <br /> Bridge {09-C} [1.7/1417] : milky water.<br /> <br /> Border control CL[2.5/1420] : gate for vehicles but not for people. Didn't see anyone when I passed here at 5pm.<br /> <br /> Km3.7: excellent view point of Volcán Antuco and meadows.<br /> <br /> Bridge[5.3/1444] : crossing Petronquines on a bridge, beautiful view and lot of clear water, maybe it is difficult to cross it at downstream (RR) as now. Look like you can camp beside, or under the bridge. But every 0.5 - 1 hour have a border control vehicle patroling the road, I don't know camping beside this road is it a good idea.<br /> <br /> Bridge[7.3/1470] : clear water but no flat spots.<br /> <br /> X RR[34.9/1495] : rejoin RR.<br /> <br /> Ford[37.0/1512] : below half of calf at late afternoon.<br /> <br /> Km39.4 - pass[50.4/1878] : lot of stream crossing the road, have 1-2 need wet feet crossing, just beside the pass is a stream flowing too.<br /> <br /> Pass[50.4/1878] : beautiful grassland, flat and nice for camping, but 20+cows when I passed here.<br /> <br /> RR-TL-V{09} [50.4+9.6] is a nice and maintained trail ,easy to follow, sometimes you'll find orange ribbon leads where you go.<br /> <br /> Ford[52.3/1648] : no river crossing here.<br /> <br /> Km53.15 - km53.65 : you need to cross the stream 4 times, then walk in the stream about 50m, but all dry feet crossing, rock hopping or log bridge will help you.<br /> <br /> Km54.55 : junction of RR and {09-D}, but i miss the turning to RR, so i go for {09-D}.<br /> <br /> {09-D} km0.4: river crossing, rock hopping for dry feet. Also a small grassland can fit 1-3 tents after the crossing 150m.<br /> <br /> Km0.6 : a stream flowing good crossing the trail with a tiny waterfall, you can sit under it to enjoy a cool shower in a hot day. Look like the other side of river have a nice grassland for camping can fit 2-4 tents, but wet feet crossing.<br /> <br /> Km1.1 : rejoin RR.<br /> <br /> Viewpoint RR [57.4/1338] : if you are SOBO, it is the first view of Volcán Callaqui. Also nice view of Trapa Trapa.<br /> <br /> Km58.6 : CAUTION, if you see a red ribbon, DON'T keep going, you are not on the trail, turn back immediately and check your GPS. RR trail is a sharp turning then go down, you are walking away from the trail and towards a very steep slope now.<br /> <br /> Km58.95 : RR have some reroute at here, but mostly you can follow the only trail to main road.<br /> <br /> I stayed at Trapa Trapa with the lovely family at (Lodging,food) waypoint. Simple single room with bed, quilt, chair, light and electric charger, also dinner and breakfast. I buy some sausage from the shop nearby and share with all people here. They are very exciting where i come from, what I'm doing, and what interesting things happened when I'm hiking, it is a warm night, i love them! And they invited me to watch their sterilization of horse, OMG OMG OMG, so shock to me, OMG.<br /> <br /> Shop (-37.71249,-71.25642) : at compass West of (Lodging,food) waypoint, very close just 2 min walking. Two red house here, the small one is shop. Selling drinks, ice cream, biscuits, pasta, coffee, tea and some frozen meat( mostly is sausage). This shop have a sign on the main road, no sign at the front gate and the gate is opened.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 28 to Dec 29 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / Option 2 + RR+ 09-C/ Ella'''<br /> <br /> TLDR: no issue at border control. don’t count on Lagunillas Camping cafeteria or the Lodging, Food waypoint in Trapa Trapa<br /> <br /> Bussed from Los Angeles to Abanico - make sure to go to the terminal for rural busses which will be different from where you might get off an intercity bus. Hitched from there to Lagunillas Camping. Campground was nice and spacious. The host is really kind and helpful. The cafeteria was not open for food when I was there, just coffee and tea. <br /> Day 1: Due to a stormy forecast, I chose to avoid the already sketchy-seeming pass and head for the route around the lake (option 2). To get there, I took the small trails around the main road heading east from the campground, which were scenic for a cloudy day with no mountain view - enjoyed the volcanic landscape and the waterfall Salto Las Chilcas. I then was able to hitch a ride on the road beside the lake to the other side of the Volcano, which was good because there didn’t appear to be many streams or campsite options. I continued on by foot on Variant C. I went through border control and the officer was very thorough, but didn’t try to give me an exit stamp when I explained I wasn’t going to cross the border. He mostly seemed concerned that I was alone and tried to offer food and a bathroom! I camped a few kilometers further along that road by one of the streams that crosses it. Beware of aggressive bulls in the area. <br /> <br /> Day 2: Easy walking all the way to the pass. Water is still available about every kilometer or two along this route. After the pass there are a few points with a bit of landslide risk where you’re walking on very unstable skree. In retrospect it seems Variant D may exist to avoid some of this but I can’t be sure because I didn’t take it. When I got to Trapa Trapa I was dismayed to find no one at the lodging and food point that others had raved about. The small market just beside this point (sign for “provisions” is only on the main road. looks like a small house with the front painted red next to a larger house) was indeed open at 6pm on a Friday after I called out. There were many types of biscuits and cold drinks, pasta sauce (no pasta), coffee, and maybe even some type of meat in the freezer that I wasn’t quite daring enough to buy. Highly recommend the calorific Chiky Bum biscuits for avoiding mental collapse after a nearly 30km day. I asked the owner about the lodging option next door and she said the family was away for a few days, so guess I just got unlucky. Further down the road towards GPT 10 where there is sign “Kiosco”, there’s also a small ice cream shop/market that was closed when I arrived. I didn’t find another market. Went back up the GPT 09 trail just a bit to get out of town and found a nice camping spot along the river for the night. Visits from goats and a baby horse were a welcome occurrence. No Entel service in Trapa Trapa.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 20 to Dec 22 / 2,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR &amp; 09-C/ Tomáš &amp; Natalie'''<br /> <br /> We took a bus at 19:00 from Los Angeles (which has a great system of shared taxis with fixed routes, number eight goes from the big bus station to Jumbo and back to rural bus station for 1000 per person) to Albanico and upon arriving there after five minutes, the first passing car took us to the border of the national park. We pitched our tent in the delta of the river not far from the road but not visible from it. Without the smoke of last year and with the yellow of brooms everywhere and Antuco under snow, the valley was extremely pretty.<br /> <br /> The next day we talked to a CONAF ranger, he said an Argentinian hiker told him there was ice in the pass. We did not pay anything. [Including a nice trail that is on OSM in our suggestions to avoid roadwalking from the Rangers office to the RR up].<br /> <br /> The climb is pretty, in the pass there was a lot of snow. We followed Véronica's suggestion from last year and climbed about 100 m of elevation to the east and then ran down on the snow (see picture here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1720553588450520/ ). The path in the valley was rather invisible. Two lone araucaria trees guard the road. We thought Rio de los Pines would be impossible to ford now with all the thawing (others seem to have passed though) so we took variant C along the main road to Argentina. Carabinieros just looked at our passports and let us go. A car passed about every half an hour. The valley is stunning yet the roadwalk is a drudge. The following minor road seems virtually never to be driven by cars and is in places badly damaged by water. The valley up is nice.<br /> <br /> Going down to Trapa-Trapa, about 1 km after the pass, the path is eroded and new one was created going down to the water. The walk down through the forrest was quite pleasant. We met several groups of arrieros on both side of the pass, they were nice.<br /> <br /> In Trapa-Trapa, we had lunch at &quot;Lodging, Food&quot; waypoint. We could not see any sign. We got tomatoes, cheese, bread, pasta, a piece of down fried in oil (tasty) and maté. We paid them a good price for it, we hope it was not too much. From March 2024, there should be (probably) Entel coverage in the valley, the telecomunication tower is already up. We did not see any shops but did not look for them. Altogether, GPT 09 is quite nice, especially now with the snow.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-dec-18/ 2,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR &amp; 09-A/ Lukas en Tess'''<br /> <br /> As of now the pass on K16,8 is imposible to cross. Going around and taking 09-A is posible but the rock scrambling is a pain. But I would argue the awesome lava field is worth it. <br /> Otherwise the trail was nice and easy, I realy enjoyed the wide open landscape. Arriving in Trapa Trapa we where offered some Harina tostada drink after starting a conversation with some old ladies. We got some cheese at a minishop that is not on the track files. Z37,712542° W71,266816°, something like haloumi, so try roasing it!<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-8 to 2023-Dec- 10 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 2 + cross country for the volcano / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn &amp; Jens'''<br /> <br /> - Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br /> <br /> - Snow : on RR on km 16,8 seems impassable because there was still a lot of snow. Yannick wanted to summit the volcano, he went on the East part and went until 2700m of altitude. The North face had less snow.<br /> <br /> - Camping spot : easy to find<br /> <br /> - River crossing : easy between km 57,9 and km 52,3<br /> <br /> - Weather : Sunny<br /> <br /> - Resupply : in Abanico a little shop and some cabanas, more options in Antuco, everything you need to resupply there - even gaz canister in the ferreteria<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-10 to 2023-Mar-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH-1 / Iris, Alexis '''<br /> <br /> After a rest in Trapa Trapa at Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956], we started GPT09 in the morning. The ascent following RR-TL-V {09} [57.4/50.4+9.6] is a well marked horse trail that clims slowly, perfect for a start. Then, the RR-MR-V {09} [41.8/34.9+13.3] is flat and passes through a nice valley, a bit above the river but multiple streams crosses it. Like others, we took 09-C, but had no luck with hitchhiking and ended up walking the 11km. No problem at the border control. We finally ended up camping close to -37.46277, -71.31864 (aim for the big tree, and you will find some camp spot with firepits) after a pretty long day. <br /> <br /> On Day 2, we followed the RR and took Option 09-01 to climb the summit. We left most of our gear at the Pass {09} [16.8/2043]. It's better to follow the track for the first part, until the conic shape because it goes along a ridge and avoid pointless ups and down. Then, on the conic shape, you are on your own. We followed a trail made by a group of 8 hikers that were a bit ahead when we found it. It definitely helped as the parts without were really clambering. The views on the top and the small crater made it definitely worthwhile for us. Going down is much more easy and fun, you slide on the sand! As it was late in the season, we did not had any snow on our way but it sill took about 4h to go up (and 1 to go down).<br /> We ended up camping at Campamento Anfiteatro (-37.42427, -71.41517) pretty exhausted. The river here is really chalky but clean water is available from the ice cave.<br /> <br /> On Day 3, we took a small detour to see the tunnel of ice (worthy!) and headed down towards Chacay. Then we tried to hitchhike until Abanico with poor luck (on a Sunday morning). Took us 4 rides, but the last one went until Antuco. As there are also limited buses on Sundays, we then did more hitchhike to Los Angeles to ressuply. <br /> <br /> A short section but filled with great landscapes and stunning views. Plus you walk in a lava field! Definitely worth it, we really loved it! <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-14 to 2023-Jan-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + volcan Antuco / Martial / '''<br /> <br /> Combined with Section 10.<br /> Laja national Parc was reopened after fire preventive closure on 13/02. Took the bus from LA to Abanico at 4:30PM arriving late at Campamiento viejo (7000$/n) after walking cause poor hitchhiking at this hour (parc closes 17:30). Next morning much more efficient and someone droped me at the start after giving pre-order entry number to CONAF staff (was not important that my ticket was for the previous day).<br /> The ascent to Amphiteatro camping is quick and really well maintained trail. Then i strongly recommend visiting detour to the waterfall for a unique glaciar tunnel walking experience.<br /> Next CC on Antuco’s lava fields was real fun in perfect cloudy weather. Don’t miss the impressive lava bridge !<br /> After reaching the pass early, legs were feeling like summiting Antuco the same day so i decided to search for a high camp. Mission completed here at 2300m : -37.42532, -71.35615 with flat sand next to fresh clean water ponds from the snow. Summiting 2h after setting camp, sunset rewarded me with unique views on laguna Laja and massive Sierra Veluda. Just don’t get caught by the night or bad weather !!<br /> RR descent is sandy and hot traversing a sand deserted bareland so I strongly recommand the O9-C to avoid struggle like I did before shortening to reach the road. Had a meal from a generous family staying at the next Puesto + a hike to piedra del Indio. Then Vegas de Trapa is quick walking MR with lots of puesto and camping option so personally stoped here : -37.57620, -71.24127. Arrived in Trappa next early afternoon for sweet delights in the only shop fenced and garded by 3 dogs. Directly continued to section 10 for reaching puesto at 7.1 wich i also recommand for it’s comfy grassy camping and amable Mapuche family.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-23 to 2023-Jan-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 9c / Maks &amp; Gabi'''<br /> <br /> Combined with Section 10.<br /> The road is nice and visible. There is no snow on the pass. <br /> At the entrance to the national park, the guards asked for permission, but when we told them that we were going to Trapa Trapa, they let us go. We slept at the camping inside the park (10000/person).<br /> We took a detour to see a waterfall by the glacier. It was about 4 km go and back. <br /> We camped right outside the national park, by the river. There were a lot of cows but none of them aggressive. We the took the optional route 9c and walked by the carabineros station.No problems there. Just explained that we are going to Trapa Trapa, without crossing the border. They checked out passports and let us go. <br /> There were no further surprises, and the road is really well maintained. Just be careful when going down to Trapa Trapa after rain. It's quite slippery. <br /> There is plenty of water along all the trail. <br /> The shop in Trapa Trapa is marked with a sign on the main road. They have some sweetest and noodles but not much more. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-21 to 2023-Jan-23 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Johana &amp; Matouš'''<br /> <br /> We really enjoyed this section. We took a bus from Los Angeles to Abanico at 3 o'clock and then hitchhiked to the end of the main road. We arrived at the CONAF control point with no one there (7 p.m.). We slept at the Lagunillas camping, which was for 10000 per person, they had beers, jugos, empanadas, tortillas..We teamed up with Gabi and Max from Poland and enjoyed their company throughout the section (hello! :⁠-⁠)). The ascent to the volcano was amazing, looked like Mordor. Near the point &quot;Campamento Anfiteatro&quot; there's a waterfall that ends in a snowpatch whereby it creates a cave of ice. It's amazing. You can see it from the distance. There's clean water as well, the next clean water is on the other side of the volcano in the valley. We confirm that there's no need to stay away from the carabineros anymore, they only took down our passport numbers. Then it was easy walking until after the pass. We camped at a nice spot in the forest next to the river (S 37° 40.6391' W 071°14.1985). We somehow didn't manage to find the food/lodging point, but were approached by an older lady who fed us cookies and seemed to know a lot about other hikers. There are said to be three shops in Trapa Trapa, we only found the one next to the school which had only biscuits. Continued to GPT10 straight after.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-10 to 2023-Jan-12 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will '''<br /> <br /> Combined with section 10<br /> Nice easy section, loved crossing the fresh crunchy volcanic wasteland at the start. Everything after that was fast trail. Mild temperatures, no horse flies.<br /> I had some trouble getting back from Antuco to the trail. I got told a couple wrong times for the bus, and had no luck during my quick hitchhiking attempt. Eventually caught a bus to abanico at 2, and then two rides got me into the park. The couple driving me spoke for me at the park entrance, and I ended up having to pay 4500 for the entrance. I probably should have gotten out and talked my way through separately.<br /> I stayed at openstreetmap's amphitheater campsite night 1. Nice sheltered spot at the base of sierra velluda, soft sand.<br /> The camp/puesto markers at km 47 seem a bit out of date. There wasn't much at the puesto maker, and there was a puesto right at the campsite marker. The family at the puesto happily let me camp there.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-06 to 2023-Jan-08 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Anna &amp; Christopher '''<br /> <br /> Antuco - Trapa Trapa<br /> We hitchhiked from Camping Rucue back to the national park. The landscape was really magnificent the first day. There was almost no snow left after the pass.<br /> After the descent walking gets tougher due to the sand and the path is partially hard to find.<br /> But after the second roadcrossing there is a lot of easy walking on dirt roads. <br /> Atfter leaving the river at around km 47, there is still accessible water in the first part of the small ascent. On the plateau there are no watersources until the descent. We carried some water and camped on the plateau, a very nice spot.<br /> Walking down to Trapa Trapa was really nice. We followed the main route. In retrospective we would have taken option 3, because it is shorter.<br /> We met a couple of locals along the way and they all greated us very nicely. Trapa Trapa was pretty empty when we arrived at around 11 am. We continued right to section 10.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-23 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica '''<br /> <br /> combined GPT09 and GPT10<br /> Route: CONAF waypoint - shoulder of Volcán Antuco - road through border control checkpoint - Trapa Trapa <br /> <br /> Two days from national park to Trapa Trapa. From Antuco, I hitched back to the national park and got there around noon. Didn't get charged an entry fee, I just told the entrance staff what trail I planned to take. Nice path most of the way up the volcano, even the CC section has occasional cairns marking the way. You go along a creek as you go up, so lots of accessible water. <br /> <br /> Lots of snow on the southeast side of the pass. Tried to go around on the right along/through the rocks, but it's mostly siltstone, very crumbly, and very steep. Got really precarious there so I backtracked to the pass and went around the snow on the left. This involved climbing an additional 150m through volcanic sand, but it felt much safer. The rest of the way down is pretty much all cross-country, couldn't really find a path, but navigation was simple. There were some water sources on the way down too, courtesy of the melting snow. <br /> <br /> The next morning, I took Option C that goes along the dirt road. There was no one at the border control checkpoint, probably because I went through before 7 a.m. <br /> <br /> Rest of the way to Trapa Trapa is easy, no issues whatsoever. It's nice and forested on the south side of the pass. I didn't investigate resupply or bus options in Trapa Trapa as I went straight through to GPT10. <br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Mar-01 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain '''<br /> <br /> - Camp {09} [47.1/1709] : I slept around 47.5, the place was calm, flat, with grass and close to the water (that was finally not usable because there was too much sand in, but you can easily find drinkable water when going down the valley), many people from the puestos came to talk as it seemed to be the end of the season, it was really pleasant. One offered me to come by him but it was late and I was too tired to move by him, I tried to meet him back the day after but I didn't find his puesto with its indications<br /> <br /> - The valley from Puesto {09} [49.3/1820] to Puesto {09} [39.8/1558] : very pleasant, with nice people in, I really liked this place. The water in the middle isn't usable but you can find fresh drinkable water going down from the hills at some points<br /> <br /> - There is a Puesto around {09} [37.0/1512], people were nice and asked me if I needed anything<br /> <br /> - The way on RR-TL-V {09} just after GPT09-C end isn't easy to find, just stick to the GPS until meeting a road leading to a Puesto close to the river at the Ford on Rio de los Pinos, then it's much easy to follow<br /> <br /> - I got an excellent bath when crossing the river close to GPT08-04 end, the water coming from one river was warm and there was enough depth <br /> <br /> - the CC from GPT08-04 end to GPT09-02 end was beautiful but demanding because of the soil made of earth and sand, it took me more time than I thought. After having cross the river I got close to an other one with many cows next to it, following it at one point a source of clear drinkable water was running on 3-4m to reach the river<br /> <br /> - There is a Campbase with many places cleaned to set up tents and do campfires close to the river following up the road around Bridge {09} [23.3/1409]. It's located at the base of a huge araucaria tree, you can't miss it<br /> <br /> - After the RH-CC-A {09} the RH-TL-V {09} is easily findable just by looking at the GPS and is marked with many cairns<br /> <br /> - National Park : when leaving it I went to see the guards at the entrance and they were ok with that, didn't ask for any information or fee<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-09 to 2022-Feb-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika &amp; Jo '''<br /> <br /> Took the bus from Antuco to Abanico, got a ride by a friendly Chilean to the national park (no camping allowed). Had to pay entry to the park. Took the CC route avoiding the carabineros to camp in the meadows just beyond the park (S 37° 27.927', W 07). There was a spring emptying in the meadows there. Finished after a long hiking day at Elvira's &quot;lodging, food&quot;. Very friendly family, took us in even after 21:00. Understandably there was no goat stew, but we also only payed half price (20.000). Great homemade bread in the morning though :) Continued to GPT10 immediately after.<br /> <br /> In the first morning when breaking down camp, we were greeted by two carabineros on horseback, who may have been surprised at the sight of our tent out of sight next to a sand slope. They asked who we were, where we're from and where we're going too, and didn't mind us camping there. No questions about the border with Argentina after. I guess there's no need to stay away from the carabineros here any longer.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-21 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + Antuco summit / Molly and Melissa '''<br /> <br /> In Trapa Trapa, we stayed at the house marked &quot;lodging, food&quot;. They charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there.<br /> <br /> The path up from Trapa Trapa starts next to the river. Nice path all the way, that transitions to a long gravel road, very easy to follow and many little streams. We camped at the beginning of the next valley at the waypoint &quot;ford&quot;. The second to last puesto, on the right hand, belongs to Felizario whose family has the lodging option in Trapa Trapa. He is open to people camping nearby.<br /> <br /> The cc section is easy navigation-wise, but the sand is tough to walk in, and it is very exposed. There's little water apart from the fords, but enough. The water coming down from the valley next to Volcan Antuco is very chalky though, and at the waypoint &quot;camp&quot; the stream is all dried up. Further in the valley the water is fine, and it might be possible to find a campsite just before leaving the stream on the optional route.<br /> The building at the &quot;police&quot; waypoint is abandoned. We ended up camping by the carabineros at the &quot;boarder control&quot; waypoint.<br /> While walking on the primary road we were stopped by a boarder control car who wanted to see our passports and pase de movilidad (covid-19) and hear about our route. There were no problems with that. He was very convinced we couldn't cross to Abanico through the pass on the regular route because there wasn't a trail on the other side, but he let us try. Absolutely no snow in the pass on Volcán Antuco's shoulder - apparently it's a very low snow year<br /> <br /> Volcán Antuco summit:<br /> We followed the route up, it leads along the ridge to avoid the very strong stream in the valley. This part is not too difficult. The summit itself is very hard, though. It's very steep through loose, big lava rocks that slide everywhere. Tough and a little dangerous. On the other side, the terrain is made of the same kind of rocks for over half of the descent, which makes for a very slow going. Maybe there is a nicer path under the ski lifts, we found one almost in the end. Definitely not worth it for everyone.<br /> The place marked &quot;restaurant, lodging&quot; was closed - apparently they are open only during the ski season. Not too difficult to hitch from there if not too late<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes'''<br /> <br /> Overview: <br /> This section has you cross over a volcanic lava field and over a pass at first and then follows trails south thru and area with many puestos and ranches. The first part of this section involves some route finding and cross country while the second half follows well established dirt roads and dirt trails thru grass Valley.<br /> <br /> Difficulties: <br /> WARNING: Huge snow field at the top of the pass that is untraversable. It is very steep and must be avoided if not yet melted. Must go around so please be safe. My biggest difficult was the sections across the lava rocks. My shoes were almost destroyed by this point and the sharp, jagged and uneven surface of the lava rock caused so much pain in my feet and completely took out what ever life was left in my trail runners. Also, lots of route finding and cross country in this area. <br /> <br /> Highlights: Amazing mountain pass with many views of waterfalls. Glaciers.<br /> <br /> Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-22 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT19) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin '''<br /> <br /> Combined sections 9 &amp; 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in &quot;veranadas&quot; were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-22 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank '''<br /> <br /> 2 days &amp; continued to GPT10 on 2nd day.<br /> There is at least one place to stay in Abanico &amp; as you go on the road past Abanico towards the park there are a few cabins &amp; one campsite. In the park @ small lake 2K before Conaf1 there is a campsite with cabins. You pay 4000CLP entry @ Conaf but I went in before 8AM, no one there. At the pass, around 2050M on the shoulder of Antuco, I was able to slide down the lowest part of the snowfield. Northbound or earlier in the season you may need to go around it. <br /> Virtually no shade on this route. 3 small shops in Trapa Trapa. Last one, Provisiones Bety, has a rest area, she sometimes has bread. <br /> <br /> Went on OH-PR-V@09-B-#002, talked to Carabineros @ Border Control &amp; told them I would stay in Chile &amp; continue to Trapa Trapa. They were OK with that &amp; didn't ask to see my passport, so I would say there is no need to divert around the border post any more.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-15 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie &amp; Tom '''<br /> <br /> Easy hitch from Abanico to the start of the National Park (~10km into the section). The CONAF station at the park entrance took us longer than expected to pass through and explain what we were doing (they appeared to be unsure as to whether we were crossing the border into Argentina or not). However after explaining our route to them they let us pass without paying the entrance fee to the national park. The cross country sections were easy to navigate and overall the trail was of good quality.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-10 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> We passed the big snowfield at the right side through the rocks, as Matus suggested. It was steep but ok and definitively the shorter way around the snow. Nothing to add to the previous comments. In Trapa Trapa we continued straight to Section 10.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-04 / 3.5 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus &amp; Anna '''<br /> <br /> GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log. <br /> We combined these two sections. <br /> Trail in both section is in good condition. There is snowfield in first pass as was mentioned. We went left, but it would be worth to check is it's possible to go through rocks on the right as it seems much shorter. <br /> Water is not marked on a map but there is a stream before the pass. <br /> Resuply in Trapa Trapa is very limited. They had few tunas, other caned fish, some pasta, flour, cola, crisps... We didn't check for accomodation. <br /> We stayed in a paid campsite at Laguna el Barco for 5000 both. Around 8 there was a woman selling bread and sweet pastry, but mind that it was weekend. <br /> Resuply in Guallali again very limited. They have tunas, caned fish, pasta, oil, crackers and bit more. We are staying in a house next to the shop.<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> *Antuco<br /> Many smaller supermarkets, which have most things - easy enough to resupply here.<br /> One of the two ferreterías has gas (the one furthest from Abanico).<br /> Many accommodation options and some restaurants.<br /> There is an ATM at the town square which even gives some smaller notes<br /> <br /> Also panaderias (one selling good sopaipillas for $300 if you haven't tried yet), restaurants but also food truck, brewery<br /> <br /> *Abanico<br /> At least one shop. A pizzeria<br /> Bus to Antuco/Los Angeles<br /> <br /> *Parque antuco :<br /> Camping for 10kCLP/pers/night. <br /> Also cabañas for 2 and 4 pers. <br /> Shower almost hot. <br /> No or very bad phone coverage (entel)<br /> Website : https://www.parqueantuco.cl/<br /> The owner is really nice. Possible to give him a call in antuco (when still phone coverage) to know if open. <br /> <br /> *Trapa Trapa<br /> 3 shops but they are all small. They all have biscuits &amp; soft drinks. First one has ice cream &amp; flour. Second one has pasta, matches, chocolate, canned fish. Third one ( Provisiones Bety) sometimes has bread.<br /> <br /> Accomodation in a small room at the waypoint &quot;lodging, food&quot; - 20,000 pesos for dinner, breakfast and accommodation. <br /> 10,000 for lunch (soup, tomatoes, harina tostada, tea)<br /> <br /> Bus to Ralco<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> Bus from Los Angeles to Antuco about once an hour in daytime. A few of them continue to Abanico or you can hitch fairly easily (also see here: [[Volc%C3%A1n_Antuco#Acceso_en_transporte_p.C3.BAblico_y_autostop]].<br /> <br /> Updated January 2022: Bus from Trapa Trapa to Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends<br /> <br /> - Many people going and coming from the National Park, it hadn't been easy to hitchhike to reach Antuco but it worked<br /> <br /> - Bus from Antuco to Santiago - Terminal Sur leaving at 21:30 and arriving at 6:30<br /> <br /> Company : Nilahue<br /> <br /> $26.300 for semi-cama<br /> <br /> Commentaries : &quot;cheap&quot; company, no USB-plugs, not much space for the legs, the bus stop is at the entrance of Antuco coming from the Andes, it's a shelter made of bricks just next to a food truck selling fries and hamburgers<br /> <br /> Update nov2024 : <br /> <br /> Night bus santiago --&gt; antuco 16k CLP ( not every day but multiple/week). Seets confortables, 2 plugs (TranSantin)<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> Update November 2023: The Chilean Border Control had be relocated and is now closer to the border and not any more on the GPT route. Therefore it is not any more required to sneak around the Chilean Border Control.<br /> <br /> This is the only place where it is strongly recommended to sneak around a police station. This recommendation applies in particular to all non-Chileans going southbound.<br /> The reason: The forward border control Pichachen is located about 20 km before the actual border. And only here the regional superiors of the PDI (Policia de Investigation) came up with the silly rule that everyone that passes the border control post towards Argentina gets stamped out of the country regardless if he leaves Chile or not. They simply ignore the fact that a few kilometers down the main road at Piedra del Indio long before reaching Argentina a horse trail diverts towards the next village in Chile called Trapa Trapa. Should you get an exit stamp into your passport but continue to hike in Chile you will be an illegal alien without a valid tourist visa. This may not instantly cause you a problem but the next time you want to leave Chile orderly i.e. from an airport the immigration system will show that you illegally in Chile and the police will assume that you trespassed into Chile. And that’s taken pretty serious. Forget about your flight and your further travel plans.<br /> Every hikers that passed this border control got into some kind of trouble and caused these officers a headache. Some hikers could convince them after long discussions to pass without an exit stamp. Some hikers got and exit stamp and run into problems later. Some hikers pretended to walk back and took a partly overgrown route to walk around the border control. When we hiked this section in January 2014 I got unasked an exit stamp while they “just checked my documents” but luckily after a long talk I could convince them to give me a new entry stamp.<br /> You can’t blame these poor officials at the border control for this situation; they understand these occasional hikers but their regional superiors gave them strict orders. In short: this place is a potential disaster for hikers and hikers are a disturbance for these officials.<br /> Therefore, to avoid this issue I simply rerouted the regular hiking route to bypass the border control post Pichachen. It’s easier for everyone: for the hikers and for the poor police officer that have to comply with this silly order. The re-routed track leads cross country through the normally dry lake bed of the Laguna de Las Lajas and just crosses the main road at the diversion to Trapa Trapa. Walking around the border control may be suspicious but is not illegal and saves everyone nerves and endless discussions. It actually prevents you from getting into an illegal migration status while staying in Chile.<br /> The Regular Packrafting Route anyway bypasses the border control.<br /> Luckily this is the only border control post I’m aware off where such a stupid rule is applied. In many other forward border controls you need to proactively approach the police and request your exit stamp if you plan to leave Chile. Should you just visit the area between the border control and the actual border you can normally just pass or explain your intentions.<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT09 - Volcán Antuco]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> <br /> [[File:GPT09-Laguna_de_las_Lajas.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> <br /> [[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT10_(Laguna_El_Barco)&diff=119927 2025-02-01T15:42:25Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> If you are packrafting, put the above info into HTML tags like this (if you follow a hiking route for part of the way, highlight only &quot;packrafting&quot;, as above):<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD, WHAT IS ENCLOSED IN &lt;&gt; MAKES IT BLUE):<br /> * &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;.<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> <br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> *''' 2025-Jan-23 to 2025-Jan-26 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, 10-C, 10-E / Janboro '''<br /> <br /> I combined GPT 09, 10 and 11 and took 6,5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Highlights: Stunning Araucaria forests, encounters with the Pehuenche people living there, Laguna de Liay, puma tracks and puma stories.<br /> <br /> Challenges: No water on the plateau. The creek at S 37°54.077' W 71°18.470' has dried out already by this time of the year.<br /> <br /> I had lots of friendly encounters with the native Pehuenche and some not so friendly ones with their dogs. I’ve made it a habit to greet people in their language (mari mari), then approach them and introduce myself in Spanish with my name and a handshake. This led to a couple of interesting, informative and friendly conversations with lots of mutual learning.<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> Started in the evening in Trapa Trapa and camped at [7.1/1181], where I met Elias, the owner of this land. He told me a lot about Pehuenche history, his hard but also beautiful and tranquil life in the mountains and about other mochileros who camped on his land.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> Started late because of hip pain. Higher up the valley two people independently from each other told me that they frequently see pumas (“leones”) on the edge of the plateau, one told me he has sheep “cuando no los comen los leones”, asked me if I had a revolver to defend myself, then reassured me pumas don’t attack people unless feeling cornered or protecting their offspring. One Pehuenche asked me how I know the way. I showed him my GPS device and showed him the track. He was a bit astonished but didn’t suspect any commercial exploitation as had happened previously according to the manual.<br /> <br /> I shared Volkers feeling of awe when I saw the group of Araucarias right before the ascent to the plateau. It’s simply beautiful. Took a long food and coffee break there and ascended to Laguna Liay. On the way up, the path is partly heavily overgrown and at times difficult to find between other paths.<br /> <br /> Up there I found myself in a fairytale forest in the evening light. I hashed my first glimpse of Laguna Liay shortly before sunset and it was mesmerizing. When looking for the way down to the laguna I lost the path and did some heavy CC BB but after a couple of minutes decided this can’t be the right way, double checked my location using the GPS and found the correct path. Still overgrown, but recognizable and easy to walk.<br /> <br /> Camped close to the spot indicated by Nimrod &amp; Tamar. Pure beauty and tranquility!<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> <br /> Purified and packed enough water for the day and then continued my ascent to the and way over the plateau. Shortly before the intersection X {10} [17.7/1676] I discovered my first puma tracks.<br /> <br /> Checked the little creek at S 37°54.077' W 71°18.470': It has dried out, so the last chance to fill up water before the plateau is at Laguna de Liay (as described in the manual).<br /> <br /> At a rock close by I took a siesta/food/coffee break. Lorenzo, a Pehuenche in his sixties, came up from the valley in his horse with three dogs, and had them drive his cattle downhill. He then turned around, rode towards me and offered to carry my backpack on his horse all the way down to Laguna del Barco. I was amazed by this generous offer, but still wanted to carry it myself, so I thanked him many times but declined. Later met him next to his house at X {10} [32.1/1296], where we took photos together and exchanged numbers.<br /> <br /> Camped at Laguna de Barco and filled my hungry stomach with a churrasco, a huge serving of French fries, a fruit shake and a Coca Cola. The restaurant closes around 21 opens at 8 in the morning.<br /> <br /> Day 4<br /> <br /> Bought a sopaipillita (similar to the hungarian lángos) and two tortilla breads and took the variant 10-E to Guallalí. Bad decision because 10-E seems to be the only way to get from and to Laguna de Barco by car, so I got to eat a lot of dust. Good decision, because I got offered a ride a couple of times (politely declined) and one passing driver gifted me cookies and fruits (gratefully accepted). There’s also a house where they sell ice cream. I asked a couple of people with chicken on their yards, if they sell eggs. None had any because most hens don’t lay that time of the year due to the heat as I learned later at the Guallalí shop. In Guallalí, shortly before the police station, I got invited for a coffee, soft drink, tortilla bread with butter and a friendly and very interested conversation with the elder couple who lives there and their family from Los Ángeles. When I left, they also gifted me cookies.<br /> <br /> Bought a can of tuna and a pack of tomato sauce at the shop in Guallalí and continued to GPT11.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-20 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, OH10C+D (Laguna Liay) / Nimrod &amp; Tamar'''<br /> <br /> 1st day:<br /> After buying some supplies from a family we started hiking up the valley.<br /> There were some unmarked puestos and tons of nice places for camp.<br /> We asked permission from the family in a puesto to camp in their area and camped at (). <br /> <br /> 2nd day:<br /> Last water point is near puesto [14.5/1297]. Next water point is near Laguna El Barco on RR or Laguna Liay.<br /> <br /> There was a trail crossing at approx (-37.83314, -71.27040). We didn't notice it because the trail which is not on the files is much more clear, and walked on it for 200 meters until we felt something is wrong, and turned back. It might be easier trail up.<br /> <br /> OH (10-C) until approx 1 km is partly easy CC because of the fire. From 1 km to 2.1 the trail has changed but it was easy to follow.<br /> <br /> TL(10-D) does not exist and was hard BB so we skipped it. There might be another trail going down to the Laguna but we didn't look for it.<br /> <br /> Camp {10-d} [0.1/1658] is really poor in comparison to the lagoon beach. It was a dirty pond with a lot of cows around. So we hiked back and camped on the beach at (-37.83347, -71.28245).<br /> Had afternoon swim and really nice view!<br /> <br /> 3rd day:<br /> Easy trails until laguna El Barco. We harvested low hanging piñones we found at (-37.84210, -71.27454).<br /> We recommend bringing a 15 meters cord. We had only 4 meters. The piñones were not ripe yet but were sweet, and could be eaten fresh without roasting.<br /> <br /> At Laguna El Barco we had to pay 1000 clp per person only for entrance. There was a small stand which sold fresh tortillas and some junk food. We had a Churrasca, coke, and ice cream 😋.<br /> <br /> We discovered that the bus to Los Angeles departs Gulalli at 5:30 so we put an effort to get there before darkness.<br /> When it was completely dark we saw a bus parking in a yard, 1 km before Gulalli! Happy and excited we discovered it was the driver's house, which let us camp in his garden and take a hot shower in his home.<br /> <br /> The first bus stop is at the police station and the ride takes approx 5 hours and cost us 3500 clp per person.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-JAN-09 to 2025-JAN-10 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Alex '''<br /> Found an excellent campsite: S37° 46.967' W71° 16.896', right on the riverbank and free of cow manure. The river pocket was teeming with trout during the evening feed. A small fly or tenkara gear is recommended for fishing.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-24 &gt; 25 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT09+GPT10+GPT11+GPT12+GPT13<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : non<br /> | Intérêt : 3/5<br /> | Difficulté : 1/5<br /> | Danger : aucun<br /> <br /> Il restait un peu de neige alors j'ai trouvé de l'eau facilement.<br /> Juste avant le Laguna El Barco il y a un camping 5000CLP/nuit pour emplacement, douche glacée, eau potable, électricité et poubelle. J'y suis allé car c'etait marqué qu'il etait interdit de camper près du lac...<br /> <br /> *'''2024-DEC-22 to 2024-DEC-23 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> A straightforward stage dominated by a relatively flat plateau with araucarias. A highlight of the journey was swimming in Laguna El Barco. We set off from Trapa Trapa in the late afternoon along a pleasant gravel road, carrying food for two days. After the ford [9.5/1171], the trail continues through a beautiful and wide river valley, where several puestos are located. We camped at a nice spot, Camp [14.1/1269], under the araucarias. There, we each collected 3 liters of water, as there was none on the plateau, except for one location (-37.90128, -71.30783), where there was a small stream that was not marked in the track files. It’s possible that this stream could be dry during peak summer.<br /> <br /> The ascent to the plateau was taken via a more well-trodden and gradual path (approximately 300 meters longer than in the track files, but more frequently used). The plateau itself is a paradise of araucarias with views of Volcán Callaqui. After descending to Laguna El Barco, we first paid 1000 CLP per person for entry at point Lake, Camp [32.9/1292], and then enjoyed a pleasant picnic by the lake while swimming. It’s a beautiful lake. <br /> <br /> The route to Guallalí mostly follows a pleasant MR, although it can be somewhat monotonous at times. Upon arriving in Guallalí, we stocked up on supplies for two days for the GPT11 stage at a small shop, Shop {11} [0.1/951] (Mini Shop). They had pasta, rice, tuna, jurel, cookies, and soft drinks.<br /> <br /> '''2024-Dec-16 to 2024-Dec-18 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Not much to say for this section it's pretty straight forward. We did it in a relaxed 2.5 days to avoid spending the night in Trapa Trapa but its easily doable in 2.<br /> <br /> 25.2km water - there was a small stream flowing well here. Could have saved us carrying so much water to camp up on the plateau.<br /> <br /> Resupplied at the red shop (S 37.42745, W 71.15386) in trapa trapa, they had ramen cookies, chocolate etc. She also sold us a big loaf of bread. Not great for a full resupply but enough for us to top up for a few days.<br /> <br /> Continued on to 9<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''24-12-11 - 24-12-12/ 2 days/ SOBO / RR/ Volker'''<br /> A section of beauty and peace <br /> There are few technical things to say about this section, perhaps this: on the way from the valley up to the pass use your device more often than you might feel it is necessary. There are many trails and yours is often not the one you see in front of you, but the overgrown or blocked by a broken tree to your right or left. <br /> The moment you arrive at the first Araucaria trees (though some on the way down to Trapa Trapa on gpt09) is just overwhelming. Camped at Laguna Liay, when I arrived there, I just didn’t want to leave this place. <br /> Day 2: After the short first day, this one promised to become a long one. The plateau is just breathtaking, even after 08+09 the days before. At Laguna El Barco no food, no wifi, but a great opportunity to cool down in the lake. Some km later on RR the MR (good to walk, few rubble, shadow) passes a house, the sheep ran away from me, a lamb left behind, I draw the attention of a woman to the lamb - and was invited for lunch with that very nice „spanish“ (not Pehuenche) family. <br /> Arrived at Guallali at 6.30 p.m., presented at the carabineros (very friendly!), the officer brought me to the „shop“, which is hidden in a garden house (don‘t expect any meaningful resupply). <br /> Camped not far, to the right of RR11, in a small valley beyond some Eucalyptus and Araucaria trees (river not far, but deep down). Two women passed by, first sceptical, then offered to join them and get some bred (declined).<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> *'''3Dec2024 - 5dec2024 / hiking SOBO / RR -varC - RR / 2 days / Clara'''<br /> <br /> The ascent and descent of the plateau are awesome, full of araucaria trees and beautiful landscapes of the montains around. Sad that I've to hurry because of bad weather comming. <br /> Fords : easy <br /> Snow : big snow fields from about 1700m alt but easy to cross. <br /> Water : still full on the plateau at this period. <br /> Navigation : often many paths but easy to find the good one with the GPS. A bit more difficult to follow on the ascent after puesto at 14.5. And also around the pass cause the path often goes under the snow fields so needed more gps to stay in the good direction. <br /> Var C : the lake is really nice. Made it with not so much bushbashing by staying closest as possible to the tracks, gps in hand at least at the begining. <br /> Camp : around 8km (water) and camping at laguna el barco was open (5000 CLP/pers/night) <br /> <br /> Arrive in Guallali before the rain : <br /> Eat and sleep at the point mini-market with Romina and her family. <br /> 30kCLP for bed + lunch + dinner + breakfast. <br /> Mini market : pasta, soups. <br /> <br /> Entel phone coverage. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 2024-Nov-26 to 2024-Nov-28 / 2.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - C, D / Karin<br /> <br /> Camp: camp near laguna Liay (km0.1 var D) / Campamento Laguna El Barque (km32.9)<br /> <br /> The MR/trail is easy to follow, except for the ascent after puesto km14.5, where the trail is no well visible. All along the valley from Trapa Trapa to the late puesto were a lot of small streams running over the road. Some were easy to cross without getting wet feet, others were a bit bigger, but never more than mid-calf.<br /> <br /> From an altitude of 1760m was still snow. The snow on the pass and the plateau was managable, but slows down quite a bit and makes navigation more challenging. This on a distance of about 8km. <br /> <br /> As there is still snow, there is a lot of water. Even on the plateau were a few streams, which will probably dry out during summer. <br /> <br /> The camping at the Laguna El Barque was still closed. I asked two men how were working on the cabañas if I could pit up the tent anyways. This was not a problem and they did not charge me for this. At the camping were sanitary instalations, tables...<br /> <br /> I arrived Guallalí at 12hrs. Because of the snow, I decided to go to Los Angeles. The carabineros station was empty, so I went to the minishop (gpt 11 km0.1) and asked when the buses leave. The owner told me that there is only one bus everyday at 5.30 am. But I could try to hichhike. While waiting, two locals came by and told me that in the next community (Chenqueco) are more cars going to/in direction of Ralco and that from there I would be more lucky. <br /> About 5min later a car drove by and took me to this community. From there I hichhiked again.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-18 to 2024-03-19 // 1,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel'''<br /> <br /> I was a bit anxious on that section because of a big fire on the valley of the vokcan Copahue. Everything was under the steam all around, and with a big smell of fire. Few helicopters passed, and I was seriously questioning myself to continue or not. <br /> <br /> Fortunately for me the track change of the valley to reach the beautiful Laguna El Barco. <br /> <br /> It was late on the season so there were absolutely no one there. But In season that would be a great camp spot (event if it's probably popular and not so quiet as there's a lot of camping places). <br /> <br /> Fill your water at the bottom of the valley because when you'll reach the plateau you'll have no water at all, until you go down to the valley. <br /> <br /> Plateau is pretty nice, met a lot of people up there harvesting piñones. Easy horse track to follow. Ground is sandy and very steamy on the way down. Then you arrive on a valley with lot of water and lor of arrieros, great to chat with some of those that are leaving around there. <br /> <br /> I crossed the Ford {10} [9.5/1171] then camo just after that. Had a great and quiet night there, happy to clean myself after a very dusty day, but I reckon it's gonna be like that for few sections further north aha ! <br /> <br /> Then easy track, gravel and road. No more ford to cross. Until the tiny trapa trapa. <br /> <br /> Locals sent me to a kiosco, who Is situated very close to the point X {10} [0.0+0.3/937]. There's a ringtone, then a girl came to open the kiosco for a small resupply (tuna, fideos, chips and sweetness like candies, biscuits, and other stuff with a packaging of 90's that seems to be very bad for your body aha, but took it anyway). <br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-25 to 2024-03-29 / 5 days / SOBO / RR + new route + Copahue summit opt 2. + opt 1 down Copahue + Nathalie/Tomas new route + gpt11 nobo back to Guallalí / Marilyne'''<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Started in Trapa Trapa around 15:30 and walked to right before camp 7.1. Hid in the forest to camp instead of using the nice grassy area as a lot of people on horses were using the trail.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Felt worried about the multiple puesto dogs and the aggressive person along the RR and option 1 so decided to try a new route to eventually rejoin GPT option 2, the trail to the summit of Copahue (pronounced Copaway). Went cross country going South from my 7.1 camp for a while until I started climbing East. Eventually joined a trail that seemed to get good use. There is probably no need to go cross country if you find the start of that trail… Left the trail at -37.78784, -71.25114 and went CC again on the plateau. Met a couple harvesting piñones and chatted with them. As I was leaving, their dog nipped my ankle… so much for avoiding dogs. Stopped by Laguna Negra (-37.81527, -71.21972) for lunch and water. Camped by a small lake at -37.83042, -71.20250. Beautiful views around that area. There were patches of old (last year’s) and new (last week’s) snow. In the evening, I went to investigate a direct route to Copahue up the peak at -37.83807, -71.20001, but felt that it was a little too exposed for me and my big backpack.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Took a slightly lower route on the West side of previously mentioned peak to Copahue from my campsite which worked great. Water at -37.83722, -71.20762 and also further depending on the snow quantity. Rejoined the marked OSM trail up to Copahue at around 2,750 meters of elevation, where I left most of my gear and went to the summit. The hike down from the volcano was very slow going, I followed the OSM route mostly but at times I was in between the GPT line and the OSM line. Went to check out the hot springs, which looked gross to me. Camped at -37.89625, -71.16599, on the road leading to Argentina.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - I wanted to try the new option that Nathalie and Tomas have posted below for this section, so I followed the road to Argentina up to the valley that parallels the border and made my way to the ridge. Views from the ridge are spectacular and I enjoyed that part very much, following the border at first and ending up here: -37.95833, -71.11928. Difficulties came when I tried to come down the ridge following the route posted on FB. I backed out of the proposed “best route” as it was too exposed and scrambling-like for my liking. I ended up going down the steep talus slope for a while, traversing as Natalie described and ended up doing a fair amount of unpleasant bush-bashing to reach the trail at the bottom of the valley. There are probably better routes than the one I took though, I didn’t have the opportunity to study the satellite imagery very well before going :-). Looking back I should have walked in the creek bed earlier rather than fight with all the bamboo. Ended up with a fair amount of scratches and ripped pants. Camped shortly after I found the trail in the valley.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Used GPT11 NOBO to reach Guallalí. Stopped at the hot springs (6.6km/991) on the way to clean up a little. It was a holiday in Chile, Good Friday, and I met two groups of people from the city that were driving around this remote road for fun. Reached Guallalí and went to the carabineros station to ask about camp possibilities. They mentioned a metal bridge about 3 kilometers away but not in the direction that I wanted to go (Ralco). I hung out close to the bus stop thinking about what I would do and eventually two of them came out to talk to me again. They said that they have to be careful with strangers as they are the police and never know people’s intentions but that they’d like to invite me to have some of the lunch they had made. They also let me camp next to the station to catch the 5.30am bus the next morning after checking my passport. I think that the fact that I was a solo woman helped. As I learned from our discussion, new police officers get assigned to this station every month and stay there for the full month, so this might not be offered again in the future.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-26 to 2024-03-28 / 2 days? / NOBO / RR / Fangwen + Tobi'''<br /> <br /> Combined with Sections 10/11 (~8 days, relaxed). See section 12 for our tips on pinones<br /> <br /> Nothing to add that's not described below, except we found the native Pehuenche people friendly. We think it helps to great them in their language (Mari mari - hello; Chaltu may - thank you). This you can find with a bit of digging online. Would love to have interacted with them more - they seem friendlier up the valley at the puestos (not in trappa trappa).<br /> <br /> No luck finding asado in this time of year due to touristic things shutting down (including campsite at Lago El Barco, completely deserted).<br /> <br /> There is no bus out of Trappa on holidays, and didn't find anything but 2 types of cookies and ice cream at resupply point there. You can ask the locals to drive you (for a fee) - they referred to it as &quot;Fleeta&quot;(?)<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Mar-8 to 2024-Mar-11 / 2.5 days / SOBO / RR B / Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> No snowfields, all fordings very easy, plenty of (unmarked) water except from Puesto RR 14.5km (one stream a few hundred meters afterwards last water) to shortly before Laguna El Barco. Tabanos: 2<br /> <br /> The valley south of Trapa-Trapa is first narrow but the open ups to a wide valley with a lot of puestos, mostly inhabited, which means a lot of dogs and cows, horses, sheep around. All marked campsites are completely full of animal feces, every single decimeter is covered. I camped around -37.78551,-71.27975 on sand next to the river, sandy and stony places are the only one without extrem amounts of shit. Stayed there another day just sleeping in the tent bc of all day raining. Next camp was a nice weather camp with great views but no water at -37.89069,-71.30189. Flat spot, no shit, very quiet, some boulders and bushes.<br /> <br /> RR out of the valley up to thea area of Laguna Liay was a bit tricky. Seems part of RR are not in use anymore and overgrown ( -37.83346,-71.2705 ). I just followed the horse tracks which later went back to RR. it seems there are different paths going up.<br /> <br /> Lake, camp 32.9km: camping 8000, picknick 5000. But nobody at the gate, so I just walk in, swimm a little and try to open my first Araucaria seed cone I harvested an hour before. Shortly before I leave someone asks if I paid the entry. Sorry bro, not going to pay 5000 for sitting 30min on a bench, so I just don't understand spanish at all until he gives up.<br /> Next to Laguna El Barco a wildfire puts a lot of smoke on the water, but no fire in the sky. 2 helicopters pour water on it the whole day. RR southeast of the Laguna was not affected, the fire (actually only lots of smoke) was on the other side of the valley about 1km away.<br /> <br /> Rio Lomin had very brown-yellow water, but there are a few small clean unmarked streams further south RR.<br /> <br /> Guallali tiny shop, no sign, just go over the little wooden bridge after the police and shortly before the school. Dog alarms child, child alarms mother. Mother opens shop. Mostly cola and chips, ice cream, some cookies, 3 packs of noodles and (worst quality) toilet paper.<br /> <br /> Some really nice views at the waterless part, first massive amount of Araucaria trees, Laguna El Barco is kinda nice too, finally a lake with trees around! Lots of boring road walking at the beginnig and more so at the end of section with basically no traffic.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Feb 28 to Feb 29 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Juliette and Martin '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 09 and 10 into 5 days of hiking. Beautiful sections with a diversity of landscapes: volcano, meadows, puestos...<br /> <br /> Day 0: Trapa Trapa- Camp -37.76398, -71.28171<br /> <br /> On our last day of the previous section, we hiked the first 7 km to this camp. Great bivouac spot not to be missed, next to a puesto with grass, water, horses and welcoming vegetation. <br /> <br /> Day 1: Camp -37.76398, -71.28171 - Laguna El Barco: <br /> <br /> Truly magnificent scenery and lots of puestos. The climb is pleasant and in the shade. As soon as you cross a river, it's easy (maximum knee-deep). <br /> From laguna Liay to laguna el barco, NO WATER. We initially wanted to camp between the two, but were forced to push on to laguna el barco to get water. The scenery is really beautiful and easy to walk on the plateau, and the aracaunia trees give it a unique atmosphere. <br /> Pay camping at el barco (8,000 pesos per person) with beach and friendly staff.)<br /> <br /> Day 2: Laguna el barco - Guallali <br /> <br /> A short day's descent. We stop at the bus stop indicated in the waypoints at 3pm. Only one bus a day from Guallali to Los Angeles at 5:30 am. <br /> We were lucky and hitchhiked to Ralco.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Feb 13 to Feb 18 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Var C, Var D, some off GPT track / Michael and Kasia '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 9, 10, and 11 together.<br /> <br /> TLDR: beautiful section with some very impressive araucaria forests. Technically easy but navigationally a little challenging due to so many trails branching everywhere. Laguna Liay is definitely worth visiting.<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Feb 13<br /> <br /> After finishing our resupply in Trappa Trappa, we started on RR. The road was fully exposed until we got up a ways into the forest. After that I had to watch the GPS fairly closely. As has been noted previously, the horse trails fork off in different directions, sometimes rejoining and sometimes not. The trail was pretty dusty, but the forest was beautiful. There was very little water access for quite awhile. We arrived at the camp point at km 7.1 with the Mapuche family. No one was at the house so we started looking around. I found Elías in another part of the property. He was very kind and said we were welcome to camp. He showed us a nice spot near a creek set away from the road. We had initially thought to camp more in the open area but he said that the road gets a lot of traffic in the night and the are some “mala gente” that pass through, so the spot he showed us was safer.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Feb 14<br /> <br /> We started hiking early and the morning light on the landscape was absolutely beautiful. We stopped after the first ford, mid calf with little current, to have coffee and enjoy the area. We continued on passing a lot of puestos. Many seemed abandoned or falling apart, though there were people at several of them. We waved and they waved back, but they were fairly far from the road so we didn't go over to talk. We met our first other GPT hikers, Christof and Alex (hi guys! We hope you got the roasted chicken in Antuco!) We crossed the second ford, just under the knee, and had lunch and a nap and then started up to the pass. The path was mostly in forest, and though steep, we didn't find it difficult. We started on Var C to Laguna Liay sticking more to the OSM track than the GPT track. We got down to the lake and wanted to go all the way around to the north side, but part way up the trail started heading up to the plateau. We returned to the bottom and tried to walk in the water counterclockwise around the lake, but after only about 50 m there was a section where I was sinking deep into mud. We walked back to the south side beach and then walked the beach clockwise to get to the north side. There were a few fallen trees to climb over, but otherwise we had no issues going that way. On the north side there was a fairly sizable sand beach with a fire ring. We camped there.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Feb 15<br /> <br /> We took a rest day at the lake. The atmosphere at the lake was so peaceful and the scenery was so beautiful. Not one person passed through that day, and it felt really amazing to have such a quiet, serene and beautiful place all to ourselves. It got hot during the afternoon so we retreated up into the woods a bit to get some shade. In the late afternoon I went to scout Var D for the next day. There isn't a full trail there really, but from the beach looking uphill I could see a brown stripe going up. It was a short BB to get to it and then a steep up. The trail forked after maybe 50 m. I first went left, but after a while it was all dead ends and started to lose elevation. I went back and tried the right fork with a combination BB/CC and was finally able to connect to a path. From there it was easy to get up to the plateau and then to the other marked campsite which was near a pond that had mostly evaporated for the season.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Feb 16<br /> <br /> We started early to get over the pass before it got hot. We took the scouted approximate Var D up and then connected in with RR. The pass was easy and on the far side there was an incredible monkey puzzle forest. As noted there was no water. We took the OSM track up just before the descent to Laguna El Barco for the lookout. The trail down to Laguna El Barco was somewhat steep but easy to follow. At the bottom it passes through a puesto on the way to the road. The guy there also rents camping sites. The El Barco campground is somewhat chaotically managed. We arrived on a Friday and it was packed with vacationing Chilenos. Posted price was 5.000 pp for the picnic area day use and 8.000 pp for camping. They offered 6.000 pp without a table, which we took. It turns out that that is for essentially an unused parking spot next to the road. We would have left, but it was too late to go anywhere else. A very nice couple happened by as we were setting up and said they were about to leave and we could have their spot which had a table and was away from the road. We thanked them and moved up. The shop seems not to be operating this year. The small building it was in was empty and the door was just hanging open. There were two groups selling food, one at the entrance selling tortillla, a fairly large and dense bread cooked directly in the ash in the fire for 2.000 each, some smaller pan amasado, sopaipillas 500 each, a fried dessert bread dusted in powdered sugar 3 for 1.000, and churasco for 4.000. They also had sodas, 1.200 for a 591 ml bottle. The other group was at a camp just past the lower bathrooms, and two of them walked around the campground periodically as well. They had tortilla 2.000 each, sopaipillas 2 for 1.000, and some kind of tea. The second place had our favorite tortillas, we ate several of them. The churrasco was a disappointment. I was thinking Bolivian churasco which is just grilled meat. These were sandwiches with a couple thin strips of meat simmered in liquid in a frying pan and then put on huge breads with a slice of tomato, a bit of lettuce and some mayo. They were okay, but not what I had expected.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Feb 17<br /> <br /> We left late and hiked RR. On the other side is another much smaller and more laid back campground. It is run by the couple that lives there. Price was 6.000 pp with a table. They had a toilet and sinks, no shower. They sold tortillas on request, 2.000 each, but the woman, Clementina, makes them when she's making their food, so it can be awhile. We bought 5 of them and they were larger than the ones in the campground. Wrapped in paper towels and kept in plastic bags, these lasted us almost 5 days.<br /> <br /> Day 6 - Feb 18<br /> <br /> We continued on RR with the intention to head to Guallalí. Along the way we meet a Mapuche arriero, Hector, at his pesto (-37.95912, -71.26119). If you pass by there and he is around, definitely make some time to talk with him. He was incredibly kind and generous, offered us coffee, took us to his animal corral to pet the goats, told us about the political structure in the Mapuche comunidades, and even showed us some of the medicinal plants in the area. He also sells goats and sheep and does asados, but we didn't ask the price. We were about to leave when a friend of his arrived to pick something up for a really important Mapuche ceremony that was finishing that day. His friend gave us a ride, which took us off the GPT track a bit, but dropped us very near a shop at (-38.01007, -71.30695) run by a woman named Maria that actually had a good selection of stuff. We bought pasta, a queso mantecoso from the region that lasted 3 days, her last can of Nescafé, some tomatoes and cucumbers, Zukos, and cookies. She also had eggs, frozen meat, sodas, beer, yogurt, a few other types of cheese, and various other things. Prices were very reasonable. She had a small table and a bench outside the shop and let us stay there to have lunch and repack. More than a dozen cars stopped by to buy things while we were there, so it seems like a pretty popular spot. From there we walked on the highway towards Comunidad Vilcuncura and on towards Comunidad Chenqueco. We passed one other shop at (-38.01473, -71.31626) that looked sizable and had a range of things, though we didn't buy anything there. In Comunidad Chenqenco we connected with GPT11 Opt 5A.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH E / Joscha'''<br /> <br /> I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Day 1: RR [0.0-21.9]<br /> <br /> Both Fords are easy below knee + the RR crosses a few more streams during the first 14 km. There is no water on RR after the Ford at km 14.1 until km 32.1.<br /> <br /> Day 2: RR [21.9-32.1] + OH10-E + RR [45.1-47.5]<br /> <br /> At km 32.1 (right before the start of OH10-E is a creek and some tables around. I think it belongs to a campsite there, but nobody cared that I did a break there. OH10-E is a big dirtroad with no water until km 8.4. I bought some cookies in the mini shop in Guallali + they allowed me to charge my power bank. After that I continued with section 11.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-12 to 2024-Feb-14 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Guallali - Trapa-Trapa / RR + Option D/ Alex &amp; Christophe'''<br /> <br /> It was a nice and easy section. For us, the Laguna Liay would deserve to be on RR. It was one of the most beautiful and peaceful campspot we had this season.<br /> <br /> We also camped on the official campground at Laguna El barco. It was still 8000 CLP pp and the place was crowded with all the Chileans on holiday. The beach is nice but the campground is really dusty (as most of the section). There were also two families selling food (tortillas, sopaipillas and some other things).<br /> <br /> By the way, there is no more snow on the plateau so take plenty of water to cover the distance between Lago El Barco and Laguna Liay.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-14 to 2024-Jan-16 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes'''<br /> <br /> From Trapa Trapa I went in this long valley, it is pretty packed with puestos. Had to check a few times the GPS in there, was quite often on a wrong trail. Many puestos create their own trail network…Went up to Laguna Liay and camped directly at the shore. I figured out two reachable beaches where you can put on one or two tents, one beach at the NW-shore, the other SE-shore. I camped at the second. Option 10D brings you down to it, but actually I could not find a real trail. This Laguna is just an amazing place, for me there was not just silence but peace! The special echo in this place has an effect. Next day I went to Laguna El Barco, for camping you have to pay. A huge laguna, beautiful, but with a check in and all the rules which apply. I do not like this. I went further and a few km before Guallalí I asked a Settler if I could sleep on his Eukalyptus plantation. The 3rd day I walked to Guallalí and stocked up for GPT 11 in the minimarket. For cigarettes I went to a house at -38.050512, -71,272100. There is a woman who sells tobacco and if you kindly ask her she might sell you one of her homemade bread loafs. Ask for the house of Cololo.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-04 to 2024-Jan-05 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {10-C} - RR - {10-E} - RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> After have a nice breakfast with the lovely family, i keep going south.<br /> <br /> Km0 - km13.6 : easy walking, easy to follow.<br /> <br /> Km13.6 : junction of RR and {10-01}.<br /> <br /> Ford[14.1/1269] : if you are not decided go to {10-C} or visit Laguna Liay (lake), it is the last water until km33 Laguna El Barco ( or a stream just before this lake ).<br /> <br /> Km14.47 : climb up start, the entrance is beside the corner of wooden fence.<br /> <br /> Km15.65 : a sharp turning, after here trail become very overgrown, until km15.9. At km15.65 and km15.9, i both saw a clear path going to east, I'm not sure is it a new reroute by local and are they connect or not.<br /> <br /> Km16.1 : junction of RR and {10-C} , I don't decide go for walk around the whole lake, but just want to visit it take a look, and collect some water.<br /> <br /> {10-C} km0.33 : (-37.83379, -71.27817) a sandy slope steep going down, the trail to Laguna Liay (lake) is here, you can see some trail trace on the sandy slope. A little overgrown and sometimes fallen tree block your way, but mostly you can step over them. About 10min you will arrive a sandy beach (-37.83326, -71.28031) at km0.5. Not a camping spot, but here have some big trees fell in the lake, easy walking on them go to the lake for collecting better water. Good view point of Laguna Liay with Volcán Callaqui, i also saw some beautiful ducks with red brown body and blue beak swimming here! <br /> <br /> After collecting water and a long nap, i decided back to RR, i took another trail on the sandy slope that closer to lake side (not shown on map), it is easy to follow and easy walk, lastly join RR at km16.5.<br /> <br /> RR Km16.9 : what a beautiful grassland! Easy trail start, enjoy the land scape changing and Araucaria forest. I love this area!<br /> <br /> Pass RR [20.6/1850] : large flat area ( Most of the section10 is flat area), nice view point of Volcán Callaqui! Also the first view ( for SOBO) of Volcán Tolhuaca!<br /> <br /> Km26.6 : left side, Volcán Copahue!<br /> <br /> Km31.4 : pass, from dirt road to trail going down, but before going down, there is a side trail to south for climbing up a small hill, just distance 500m and climb up 70m, go for it! Excellent view point of Laguna El Barco, Volcán Callaqui, Volcán Copahue and Volcán Lonquimay( Sierra Nevada behind it?) !<br /> <br /> X[31.2/1469] : a campground with picnic table ( i think it is a paid area because a sign at front gate but didn't see anyone when i passed there) and a stream flowing nice with clear water just before it. If you don't decide go to Laguna El Barco for collecting water, it is the only water until Guallalí.<br /> <br /> Because the weather becomes worse, very windy and cloudy, also the forecast said it maybe rain at afternoon, so i took {10-E}, shorter the distance rush to Guallalí.<br /> <br /> Bus {10-E} [8.4/938] didn't find the shop that Martin &amp; Helena said (close to Bus 10-E mark.) I asked the house owner beside the bus stop, and she said no shop there. I saw a sign beside the bus stop is erased away, also a banner looks like said &quot;selling thing&quot; already being discarded on the ground, so maybe the shop is closed no more? ( I'm not sure).<br /> <br /> {10-E} km10.0 rejoin RR.<br /> <br /> RR km46.05 : look like a very old shop, I saw a sign for candy and cigarettes, but the house is broken and no people there any more.<br /> <br /> Shop {11} [0.1/951] : No sign for shop, it is a beautiful looking wooden house, cross a tiny wooden bridge to their front gate. A little better stock than i think before, more than the shop at Trapa Trapa and almost the same as Los Álamos. Pastas, rice, some canned food, biscuits, drinks and chips. Not picky and i resupply for 3 days food here. I asked for accommodation, and the female owner said can stay in their house, 30000 CLP for a single room(4 beds) with light, quilt and electric charger, shower(cold) with shampoo, dinner and breakfast, maybe can use their washer for laundry, but finally i use my hand for washing them, because my clothes are too dusty and don't want to pollut their machine. It has a feeling look like guesthouse at some tourist routes in Nepal, but of course the one in Nepal are much commercial.<br /> <br /> Dinner is delicious for goat and rice! Although not much enough for hiker hunger (never enough), but it is one of the best meal i eaten in Chile so far. They are super friendly, i'm very happy staying here with them!<br /> <br /> I saw a bus arrive Shop {11} [0.1/951] on friday 6pm, but I don't know where it come from.<br /> <br /> (-38.04741, -71.27506) look like is the church that Maks&amp; Gabi said. A tree with beautiful grassland, but no good water resources nearby, the river beside it is flowing brown water, also farming and people living at upstream.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 30 to Dec 31 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR / Ella'''<br /> <br /> TLDR: beautiful secluded camping on plateau but no water. be cognizant of tensions between Pehuenche and non Indigenous people <br /> <br /> Day 1: Trail was beautiful and mostly easy to navigate. Camped that night at around 11 km on the right side of the river, pushed back into the trees quite a bit. Chose not to camp at one of the marked campsites near the puestos because I became a bit worried about the large number of beer cans I was seeing along the way, and I didn’t meet any women at any of the puestos. Though I’m sure there’s mostly very kind people in this valley and I had no encounters that made me feel otherwise, I didn’t feel like taking my chances as a young solo woman given a few past reports on this section. However, it was a challenge to find a camping spot that felt both safely hidden and like I wasn’t on someone’s land without permission (though I probably still was) - there’s many more puestos in this valley now than appear on the waypoints, and there’s also loads of cows and horses grazing! If you find yourself in a similar position to me, I highly recommend just mustering up the energy to hike up to the plateau and camp about a kilometer in. Very nice and secluded spots up there. You would just need to bring a lot of water because there’s none until Laguna El Barco. <br /> <br /> Day 2: Plateau was beautiful, but keep an eye on the GPS. As others have said, you have to pass through what is now a campsite with a gate just before the main road to Laguna El Barco, but no one was there so I didn’t get charged. Laguna El Barco camping was nice and lively on New Year’s eve. The store is still not set up yet, but the staff charged my devices for me. If you continue on the RR for about a km you will find the wooden sign for Entel service which did work for me. Just be aware that you have to walk by what is demarcated as a “dangerous zone” on Pehuenche land. I’m not quite sure what this means, but when I was walking to get service someone I passed warned me of it as well… <br /> <br /> Next day I got a ride from someone leaving the campground to Ralco (2 hour drive!). Bigger market was open even when nothing else was on a national holiday (January 1) and had good options. Camped at Camping Nativo about a 30 min walk outside of town, which is close to a great river spot and has sinks, outlets and even a shower! <br /> <br /> Given the tensions between the Pehuenche and non Indigenous people on the lands that this trail crosses, I’m curious if we, as non Indigenous hikers, should think about having a broader conversation to understand what kind of place we have (if any) in using these lands. Ideally with direct input from Pehuenche people themselves. Both for the sake of respecting the people of these lands and feeling safe as hikers. <br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 22 to Dec 26 / 4,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR &amp; part Option 1 &amp; Completely new option / Tomáš &amp; Natalie'''<br /> <br /> Note: Our path was of course convoluted. We walked the optional route 10-01 to Volcán Copahue last year. It is splendid and recommended for our option, but this time we opted for the RR, as we have not walked it previously. We came back to the area to find a new connection that would avoid almost 25 km of unpleasant roadwalking after Laguna El Barco. We suceeded, see below.<br /> <br /> We followed the regular route to Laguna el Barco. The route and the Laguna are indeed very pleasant. We paid 1000 each to be able to pass through (?) and use the camping tables for lunch. The store was closed even on Saturday (Dec 23). About 300m from the lagoon, there is a sign about Entel coverage and 4g indeed works decently there. We then took the minor road to the hot spring under Volcan Copahue (elevation 1812, name Pucon Mahuida).<br /> <br /> No cars seem to be using the road, especially the second part is quite eroded and after the hot spring it is bordering on impassable for cars. The hot spring is still nice. We then followed the road to an incredibly beautiful valley under Copahue. Few hundred metres before reaching Argentina, we left the road and shortly found a path that traversed into the valley in the south next to the border. The path petered out once we got above the bushes. It was really easy to reach the ridge and folow it (and the Argentinian border) to 37.9575000S, 71.1211474W. With snow all around on the slopes and with condors circling us, it was stunning (the ridge is mostly snow free). Made camp under the summit next to a 10m-high wall of ice for wind protection. There was no path but walking was easy, the ridge is rather flat and wide.<br /> <br /> There are three options we explored from there on. The recommended one is the last one we explored, but here they follow in chronological order. Continuing on the ridge towards Cerro Dedo would require climbing or exposed traversing (if one dropped to Argentina, one could probably find a path to reconnect to GPT after Cerro Dedos if there ius no police in the area). Instead we went down side of the mountain roughly to here: 37.9650794S, 71.1206588W (it was steep but full of stones, so not slippery and we did not think it was dangerous). Then we started traversing (it did not feel exposed, but was a bit strenuous) until about here: 37.9792148S, 71.1245764W, from where we started going down a narrow ridge that was flanked by creeks on both sides. Again it was not dangerous and first half was good CC (like all the previous traverse), the second half was part cow trail (with cow poop), part bush bashing, but surprisingly easy and painless with long sleeeves.<br /> <br /> At the bottom of the valley, we came out on a clearly visible trail. We went up it further into the valley, where there was a deserted puesto on a meadow under enormous araucaria trees with a magnificent views on snowy slopes full of huge waterfalls. We made camp.<br /> <br /> In the evening, Tomáš then went to explore a scary looking ridge to reach this peak: <br /> 37.9767704S, 71.1623784W. It turned out not to be scary. The sidehill up the ridge is mostly without trees or bushes, so it is steep but good CC. Once up the ridge, one can go around the pinacles from the southern side (left facing up), occasionally using the tree branches as support - there is a little of easy climbing, but with no exposure. Then the ridge is steep and somewhat narrow but one can mostly go up only using poles and not hands. Altogether SAC 5. It was fun and pretty, but caution needs to apply. From the top, one could easily traverse north towards here: 37.9611427S, 71.1539942W.<br /> <br /> The next day, we went up a ridge dividing the valley we slept in into two (this one: 37.9714484S, 71.1414231W). There is a trail up that branches off the main valley trail about 300 m downstream of the abandoned puesto. One goes up a slope for about 400m and then down to a ford and then up. There are a variety of cow trails with bamboo cut some time ago. It is partly bush bashing, but very easy and just a few hundred metres. Once up the steep slope, the trail is much clearer. Above the tree line, it is easy CC. Once you get up the main ridge, you can either go right to the peak we slept the days before (a walk up - no need to use hands, the rocky features can be easily skirted, SAC 3-4) or left to the coordinates that end the previous paragraph. From there one could go down to the valley in the north and either CC and ford (probably possible, but unceartain) or follow the road/path that is mapped in OSM (look it online, it was only added in late November) toward El Barco. Navigating this SOBO is much easier, we posted the GPX route of the most tricky part and a rough overall route painted over satellite image in the Facebook group and hopefully it will be included in the GPT next year [November 2024: it is in our suggstions together with a lot of exploratory options].<br /> <br /> Going down the valley to reconnect to the GPT leading from Gaulali is easy 5 km on a clear trail. Once you hit car tracks (almost in the main valley) that will soon turn left, you can probably follow one of the trails going straight and save yourself maybe a 0.5 km detour to a puesto here: 38.0095590S, 71.1391237W. From the puesto, there is a very ugly road that was enlarged this year all the way to Guallali. Going NOBO, you reconnect to the trail going to Cerro Dedos very soon and thus almost entirely eclipsing the roadwalk. Plus our proposed new route is really pretty.<br /> <br /> From Gaullali, there seems to be a daily bus leaving at 5.30 AM from in-front-of-the-turnoff-to-the-carabinieros-station. It goes to Ralco and then to Los Angeles. By mistake we first bought tickets to Ralco for 1300 and then to Los Angeles for 1500. It arrives in Ralco at 8:00 and stops there for 10 or so minutes. Next bigger stop is in Santa Barbara around 9:30. It arrives to Los Angels after 10:30. I think it goes back in the afternoon, possibly at 14:00, but ask at the station.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 dec 12 - dec 14 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR + B + C + F / Frans'''<br /> <br /> Took the bus from Ralco to Trapa Trapa, start of GPT10. 2 busses a day, 4.30 and 16.30. I was at the busstop at 4.10, but the driver probably didn't expect anyone and took a shortcut and therefore didn't pass the busstop. So if you want to take that one, walk 100m further to the crossing of the main road.<br /> 16.30 no problems, plenty of people taking that bus. Total of 2.5hrs to get to Trapa Trapa.<br /> <br /> Missing the bus gave me time to explore Ralco a bit, plenty of shops, turist information center and a Museum about the Pewenche. Small, but worth a visit (1000 CLP).<br /> <br /> Didn't explore anything in Trapa Trapa since I wanted to cover some gound before darkness. Did see some signs of shops tho.<br /> Easy trail, no issues here. Ended up to camp at: Camp 10 [7.1/1181]. Got woken up by some cows and horses in the morning. <br /> <br /> Took the route (C) along the lake, also with the intention to get some extra water for the plateau. Although there was plenty at the plateau (for now), at least 5 good streams and more small ones. All because of the melting snow, so I don't know for how long that will be in the upcoming weeks. <br /> <br /> Walk was easy, pass is easy, some snow/ice walking but all stable. You might be taking a little caution when it starts melting more but walk around the snow is also an easy option.<br /> <br /> I camped at the plateau, almost at the end just before you walk into the greenzone again. On the right side is a flat spot next to some trees and bushes. <br /> <br /> Next day via Laguna el Barco, some people camping there, no one at the entry so didn't had to pay anything. Easy walk again. Took option (F) and first house on the left after crossing the bridge had a sign that they sold ice cream. Stopped there, friendly people and as they told me they will sell more stuff in the future. It also looked like that, they were constructing a store, shelves, counter everything. Just no inventory yet. Unclear when they will, at least to me with my limited Spanish.<br /> <br /> Reached Guillali easily, had a chat with the local Cabaniero. He gave me a Entell Sim-card so I could have cell service. Stayed at Romina. Bed, dinner, breakfast 30.000 CLP. <br /> <br /> Really nice walk all along. Easy navigation, nice views and not really demanding terrain. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec- to 2023-Dec-8 / 2,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + variant G + variant E + variant C / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn &amp; Jens'''<br /> <br /> - Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br /> <br /> - Snow : a little bit of snow around the pass, super easy to navigate <br /> <br /> - Camping spot : easy to find<br /> - River crossing : easy<br /> <br /> - Weather : Sunny<br /> <br /> - Resupply : there is a small 'negocio' in Trapa Trapa, and you can have breakfast with a really nice family at the 'lodging and food' <br /> <br /> - Option roads : Variant C - really nice lake, just a little bit of bushbashing to rejoin the RR<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-07 to 2023-Mar-09 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis '''<br /> <br /> After a night in Guallali, we continued on GPT10. This section is short and awesome, definitely worth hiking! <br /> <br /> On Day 1, we decided to reach the camping of Laguna El Barco (Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292]). We managed to get two rides that shorten the day, and enjoyed an afternoon of rest in the campground (we cooked some pinones). As other as noted, the price is 8pp and the water in the shower ice cold. We were hungry for sopapillas but sadly, this late in the season, the shop was closed. Because we asked, we were able to buy tortillas (2k each) directly from the owners for the next morning. Expect heavy bread - one half is enough for a meal.<br /> <br /> On Day 2, we hiked through the plateau. Of note, X {10} [32.1/1296] is now a gate (and a camp) and we were asked to pay 1pp for the right of way. <br /> The plateau is easy walking with a clear trail while filled with beautiful views. Better pack some water before because we did not find any before reaching the end of the descent in the forest (RR-TL-V {10} [13.6+2.5]). We camped at Camp {10} [9.6/1175], which is in a bosquet and wind sheltered.<br /> <br /> * '''On Day 3, we finished the section until Trapa Trapa and asked for lodging at Mirellas (Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956]). It costs 20k pp for room / dinner / breakfast (no hot water). We were told there are some &quot;thermas&quot; close to -37.69656, -71.29006 but when asking our way, we were told it costs 4pp to use them. It did not seem worth it so we backtracked.'''<br /> The three shops in Trapa Trapa are located at -37.71004, -71.26861 (closed when we passed by), -37.71040, -71.26661 (had various sweets, ice cream) and -37.71234, -71.25523 (the biggest of them). However, expect limited supplies (we could not find batterias nor sunscreen for the next sections).<br /> <br /> Not much more to say on this section. We initially planned to go on 10-01 for the Volcan, but were told it would be a day of heavy rain and thus stayed on the RR (finally, not a single drop, just a little cloudy and windy). <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-07 to 2023-Feb-10 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + option 01 Volcán Copahue / Natalie&amp;Tomàš'''<br /> <br /> The forest fire situation made planning for this extremely difficult. We packed for GPT 09-12 with volcano side trips but we had to skip 09 because of park closure and gamble on starting directly in Trapa Trapa. We took the direct bus to Trapa Trapa from Los Angeles, it was long... 5+hours and it leaves once a day at 2:15pm (Feb,2023). Although it was memorable, we think it would have been faster to bus to Ralco and try to hitch as there are &quot;some&quot; cars. The road condition looked as if it has been recently fixed and is being improved even more.<br /> Arrived in Trapa Trapa at ~7:30pm and started hiking right away. Beautiful town and valley. We were going to camp at km07 but there were people staying there with dogs so we moved on to the next river crossing not great for camping (there are nicer spots just a bit further). <br /> <br /> Day2<br /> Easy walk towards the junction for option 01 to volcán Copahue with a long conversation and piñone testing with &quot;Pedro&quot; from puesto 13.7. We were lucky to hike during the season that the piñones were dropping but sadly we did not find Laureline's cellphone:(. Our plan was to summit Copahue but my stomach bug came back and we stopped very early to camp, we had a few days of excess food so this was no problem. We camped near the large creek separating 01&amp;01a -37.83511, -71.24072. The smoke was also getting us down. There is water here obviously, but there is also a nice water source earlier here: -37.83542, -71.24258. This trail (01) is slightly overgrown and the &quot;aggressive puesto&quot; @ 1.2 was locked up with no one there. <br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> We took option 01a (BB) to the pass. Tomáš had tested it the day before to see if it was BB but there was a path. Although we found the path the day before, we both got lost in the bamboo for the first bit but luckily once you get under the canopy of the Araucarias, the trail is clear and non-bushy, actually it is really pleasant! In the forest there is water here; -37.83520, -71.23177 and a small broken down puesto here; -37.83893, -71.22434. <br /> Out of the forest there is a beautiful grassy (and boggy) plateau with two puestos (one occupied) and lots of water (-37.84756, -71.22044). We spoke with the lady of the puesto and her 5yr old son: genuinely nice people! There is a trail from her puesto (-37.84760, -71.22095) that goes straight up East. The trail exists until you hit a waterfall-fed creek and the rocks start; -37.85161, -71.21874. from there on it is CC on grippy rocks, dirt and boulders. Last water source before the pass is not far; -37.85768, -71.21610 and would make a nice camp. Getting to this pass, although beautiful, took a long time! <br /> At the pass we dropped our bags and followed the osm route for volcán Copahue. The osm route was better than the GPT bcs it followed a firm snow patch for a good while making walking fast. There was a good stream of snow melt on the approach (-37.86132, -71.19051) and the walk to the summit was easy, some loose little boulders. The summit was well worth it as the crater of Copahue is very impressive; a large broken glacier with a beautiful glacier lake. We think apart from our climb of Azul it was the nicest volcano so far. <br /> The way down to Termas de Pucon Mahuida was very slow going. Followed the osm route rather than GPT bcs it seemed more accurate.However it was still CC on rocks almost the whole way. Up high there is water here; -37.87362, -71.20509 and &quot;some&quot; spots for camping. Later there is a scenic valley good for water and camping, nice views of Copahue's glacier; -37.87753, -71.19874. We followed this valley down until we had to cross out of it, once leaving this valley there is no drinking water until the hot springs.<br /> We camped at the hot springs which are a good temperature, one small pool but I think there are more higher up. The area around is not good for camping and very boggy, we found one half decent spot. Unfortunately Tomáš had his turn with the stomach bug and the smoke crept in strongly overnight. We rested late until the next day. <br /> <br /> Day4<br /> We rested until late morning as Tomáš was still barely recovered from his stomach bug and walked the long road to Guallalí.<br /> <br /> The beginning of the road could have been some of my favorite scenery so far, The Araucaria trees surpassed my expectations and especially when they are backdropped with mountains and at one time an orange river (glacier water flowing through sulphur like sediment?), it feels like the era of the dinosaurs. The road for option01 had plenty of good water sources (~5x). Friendliest dogs at this puesto; -37.95898, -71.26155 and a teeny tiny amount of water.<br /> Luckily got a hitch with a local to the bus stop shortly after the intersection with 01 and RR. From there we walked about 3 km to Guallalí.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-25 to 2023-Jan-27 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maks&amp; Gabi'''<br /> <br /> Really quick section. We started about 2 pm on 25.01 and finished about 2 pm on the 27.01.<br /> Nice and easy with visible trail and no problems from the locals (all of them really nice). There is no water between 14 and 33km even after rain. <br /> We stayed at Camping by Laguna el Barco and paid 8 000 for the both of us. The water in the shower is ice cold, but there are few ladies selling fresh, warm bread. <br /> The public transport from the end of the section is the bus at 5.30 (Guallali) or bus point 5.45. We tried to hitchhike but with no luck. We camped in Guallali by the river (next to the church.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-25 to 2023-Jan-27 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Johana &amp; Matouš'''<br /> <br /> We found this section surprisingly attractive - mainly the plateau was breathtaking. We spent the first night at a property of a Mapuche family (waypoint Camp - 7,1 km). Right before the ascent to Laguna Liay, there was a Mapuche family whose father approached us, he acted rather reserved from the start towards tourists (as he told us that they bring litter into the mountains) but we ended up drinking harina tostada with the family which also sold us some bread. We took the optional route which goes around the Laguna Liay and couldn't find the path so we somehow slid down the hill and went around the beach. Laguna Liay was really great to take a swim in and felt private (until a helicopter started hovering above our heads, taking water from the lake). There really seemed to be no water on the plateau - we took it from the Laguna and spent the night on the plateau - lots of space for camping there. The next day we arrived at Laguna El Barco, we didn't have to pay for the entry to the lake. The tienda there was open until 8 p.m. and had tuna, rice, pasta, biscuits, beverages, toilet paper, instant soups. There was a stand that made sopaipillas, churascos, french fries, salad, tortillas. Then there were some ladies going around the beach offering almost the same. We hitchhiked some of the last kilometres of the road to Guallalí. There's a shop as others indicated and a bus going only in the morning as written below. The chances of hitch hiking from there are rather scarce, as our Polish fellow travelers found out. There's a quite nice camping spot by the river further down the road (it's a few metres into the start of the section 11); it's not very private but people that were passing by didn't mind us camping there. Continued to section 11 thereafter. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-12 to 2023-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / detour past Laguna las Totoras / Will '''<br /> <br /> Another quick section, with some super unique Araucaria forests. I decided to try and find the trail to Laguna las Totoras that Jo and Veronica mentioned. The route wasn't exactly traditionally scenic, but I had a good time. The lake was more of a shallow grassy pond surrounded by thick Araucaria forest. To me it was a nice change from all the classic alpine lakes. Flat grassy bank that seemed perfect for camping. The water itself was warm and a bit muddy. I didn't see anyone along the detour, other than a few bulls at the lake.<br /> <br /> I turned off the main trail at -37.90827, -71.30880. I followed some horse tracks curving to the south along the edge of the woods. The tracks went through some sandy clearings before I eventually lost them in the woods. The woods were pretty easy travel, before too long I was out on a grassy plateau where I found tracks leading to the mirador marked on openstreetmap. Went up the road through some inspiring woods to the lake. I then walked south along the not very scenic road back to the main route.<br /> <br /> Could be a nice option to take if you're in the mood for a change from the open alpine trail.<br /> <br /> Other than that I missed the turnoff to the Laguna liay and decided to try bushwhacking straight through. Had a good time going off trail due west to the bottom right corner of the lake, open woods with a few pretty easy scrambles up/down rocky cliffs. Had a worse time trying to head southeast back to the main trail, encountering some thicker woods.<br /> <br /> The bus to Ralco comes at 2pm on Sunday, so I spent two nights at Laguna El Barco with a quick walk Sunday morning to catch the bus. For 15000 I rented a kayak to circle the lake in a bit under two hours, super nice. The campsite was crowded for the weekend. There were some nice ladies selling simple food. The trail to the right of the campsite along the lake is beautiful.<br /> <br /> Had a hard time finding accommodation in Ralco, the first five places I tried were full. Eventually found a spot at Cabañas Nehuen Antu for 30k.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-11 to 2023-Jan-13 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> We continued from Trapa Trapa in the late afternoon to the camp at km 7. Trail is easy to navigate from the beginning. We set the camp actually a few meters before the puesto, in the forrest on the right side that seemed to be more quiet and hidden place. There is a nice spot with water around km 8, before entering the valley. We have seen just a few people around the puestos. Ascent to the pass is not bad, we enjoyed again very different landscape all around. Continuing to laguna, we decided to camp below arucaria trees a little before the official camp (cca 2 km) since we would get there pretty late. Based on comments from other hikers we went through the camp the next morning to check if there is opportunity to buy some food and eventhough the shop was closed, there were two ladies selling tortillas and sopapillas, churrasco and a few other things. The trail after laguna is mostly a dirt road passing around puestos. There was a community festival in Guallalí (1st edition) which was really nice to see, we tried grilled goat and bought some local products, great experience. One of the guys from the festival took us to Ralco in the evening and arranged a cabaña for us (35k CLP). There are 2-3 bigger shops with basically everything, gas is in the one next to the biggest market on the plaza. On the other hand, minishop in Guallalí is very limited, but they have some drinks, ice cream, cookies etc. There is also one small shop on the way to Guallalí, close to Bus 10-E mark.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-09 to 2023-Jan-10 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Trapa Trapa - Laguna El Barco / Anna &amp; Christopher '''<br /> <br /> We started from Trapa Trapa around 11 am after finishing section 9. The first part nearly until Laguna Liay is an easy walk on dirt roads/nice paths with several water sources.<br /> We met some pehuenche people who greated us friendly, only one man mumbled if we had a 'permiso' to pass there (we couldn't understand him very well). But then his friends told him to let us pass, he went away and we continued walking.<br /> On the last km to Laguna Liay there is a lot of bush bashing. But it's definitely worth it, a very nice camping spot up there.<br /> The next day we took option C around the lake, which was a mistake because at some point we couldn't find a path and ended up on a sketchy climb to the top of the plateau. The rest of the way to Laguna el Barco is easy with good paths.There is no water between Laguna Liay and Laguna el Barco.<br /> At the Laguna they charge 5000 CLP p.p. for the picnic/beach and 8000 CLP p.p. for camping. From there we hitchhiked to Ralco to resupply.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-23 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / Option C / Véronica '''<br /> <br /> Route: Trapa Trapa - Laguna Liay - Laguna El Barco - Guallalí<br /> <br /> Two days from Trapa Trapa to Guallalí. Easy trail up the valley towards Laguna Liay. Didn't see anyone, most of the puestos appeared unoccupied. Lovely araucaria grove at the base of the big climb to Laguna Liay. The trail during the climb was overgrown/hard to distinguish in some places, and had a few areas of blowdowns too, which made the going slow during that bit.<br /> <br /> I took Option C around Laguna Liay, which I found to be a frustrating maze of cow paths. One minute it's nice and clear and then it disappears, leaving me to bushwhack my way along until I stumble upon it again. The lake is beautiful though, and it's the last water before Laguna El Barco, so I filled up a couple litres. Met my first other GPT hikers in 3 weeks there too, they were going NOBO. Really beautiful up on the plateau of araucarias. <br /> There was no one at Laguna El Barco when I got there around lunchtime, no one selling food either. Spent over an hour there enjoying the shady picnic tables and the beach. <br /> <br /> Easy trails/4×4 tracks the rest of the way to Guallalí. The two NOBO GPT hikers I met yesterday got charged 10,000 pesos by some local Mapuche folks to pass through this area, but I (again) didn't meet anyone. <br /> The shop in Guallalí is very limited. When I saw the selection, I decided to take the bus the next morning to Ralco, it leaves at 5:30 am. The shop owner was also not offering accommodation, but pointed me to the lovely araucaria grove across the street to camp. There is Entel cell service here :)<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-27 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain '''<br /> <br /> - Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292] : the place is nice, as mentioned there are lot of bins, the camping is also very nice and the showers still very cold. They charged me $5.000 for the night. It was written &quot;with no (something I didn't manage to read)&quot; on the bill so if they charge you $8.000 you can try to specify you don't have car, or I don't know... They removed the panel for the grocery just after I asked for it so it's now fixed, there is no grocery. The family selling cooked food wasn't selling food when I visited them around 11:00, maybe because it was monday morning, maybe because it was the end of summer, I don't know<br /> <br /> - Close to GPT10-C Start there is a point of view on the whole valley, it's beautiful and you can see all the puestos <br /> <br /> - Just after it there are many paths to go down, I haven't taken the one from the GPS but it's very easy to reach it then<br /> <br /> - Around Puesto {10} [14.5/1297] an arriero told me there are 2 paths going down the valley, one on each side of the river, I've followed the GPT to try to reach Trapa Trapa before the night so I didn't go further about them but if someone try<br /> <br /> - Around fords there are often a &quot;bridge&quot; made of one massive plank, the same arriero told me about some so they probably check each year they are usable. You just have to look for it, but it can not be the case at some points<br /> <br /> - The number of puestos in this Valley is impressive, I only had good contacts with the people I met<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-11 to 2022-Feb-12 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional section 10-E straight from Laguna El Barco to Guallalí / Veronika &amp; Jo '''<br /> <br /> In one day from Trapa Trapa to Laguna Liay, camping at the north side. There are many cow trails leading down to the laguna. The one we took seemed suitable for hikers too. Going back up the next day we got lost in the cow maze though, and only by searching for our own footprints from the previous day did we get back on the RR. It may be worth having a look at our GPS tracking data to figure out our initial path.<br /> <br /> The next day continued to Guallalí. Beatiful plateau! Got to harvest our first piñones as well! However, we hurt the araucaria tree by breaking off a small but not insignificant branch when trying to get the green &quot;pinecone&quot; to break off, using the &quot;strong rope&quot; method described in the hiker's manual. Only later we learned you should go for the brownish, &quot;café&quot;-colored cones. Just hit these with your walking stick and the piñones will fall right off. You then collect them from the ground. The threatened araucaria will be much happier not being hurt :)<br /> <br /> When in need of water at the plateau, there should be a path to Laguna Totora from S 37° 54.510', W 071° 18.580', according to an arriero who passed by. Maybe a future optional route?<br /> <br /> The optional routes 10-E and 10-G have become MR instead of TL.<br /> <br /> The lodging at the shop in Guallalí was not avaible, but the shop owner pointed us to an araucaria grove closeby (you can enter via a wooden gate next to the escuela). We camped there: S 38° 02.647', W 071° 16.441'. There were some villagers passing by, so it seems to be public land. There's a small stream to the east with quite clear water. Maybe it's possible to camp more upstream to the north, where there are bridges and where the stream has passed fewer houses.<br /> <br /> Continued to GPT11 immediately after.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-19 /3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa '''<br /> <br /> Between Guallalí and Laguna el Barco is mainly gravel road, but sometimes there are small, discrete paths that connect them, so keep an eye on the GPS.<br /> The camping at Laguna el barco is now 8000 per person. There are toilets, very cold showers and many garbage bins. There is also a family selling tortillas (bread baked in the ash) and sopaipillas, as well as some other people who come down in the evening and morning selling tortillas. There's a shop advertising ice cream, bread, sodas and other stuff, but it's closed. The people at the camping told us that it would open at 13, and then at 20, and then next day. A lady who had stayed there for a week said it had been like that the whole week, so I wouldn't count on it being open. As noted, you can ask the campground people to charge your phone. All in all, it was a nice campsite.<br /> Shortly after, the big climb starts. You have to pass through a fence and by some houses - again keep an eye on the GPS. We were charged 1000 per person, probably wouldn't happen for people going southbound. <br /> As warned, there was no water on the plateau until Laguna Liay. At the camp-waypoint, there is a very small lake, it doesn't look like the best drinking water, and the path directly to the lake seems very overgrown. Instead, we continued around the lake and found a decent campsite on the far side. The path around the lake is faint at best, and we ended up doing some serious scrambling down a cliff, however when we got down we found a path coming more from the right, so maybe there's a better way. The walk around is pretty, though.<br /> After the descent, the rest is easy walking past many puestos.<br /> In Trapa Trapa, we stayed at the house marked &quot;lodging, food&quot;. They charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. Very nice family, they might be away in their puesto sometimes though. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. They were building a cabaña when we were there. Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there. Apart from that there are two other minishops, one in each direction, which we didn't check out.<br /> <br /> The bus apparently leaves for Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends.<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec-03 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option D / Marc Anthony '''<br /> <br /> After finishing GPT9 I went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.<br /> Like already mentioned by others, remember to bring a lot of water for the following section. The plateau you climb up on after El Barco lake was very dry. Next water source with good clean water was at Laguna Liay. I was getting desperate for water, so I took variant D directly down to the laguna. The trail was very overgrown and requires some bush bashing. Frustrating amounts of mosquitos and horseflies in this part of the section, might be worth bringing some mosquito spray!<br /> <br /> Next section towards trapa trapa was nice and easy with perfect weather and plenty of water.<br /> Found two mini-shops in Trapa Trapa with only limited supplies. A bus to Ralco, leaves weekdays 6:00 in the morning. Therefore I spent the night in a room that a local Mapuche family were renting out. Was served a very big plate of grilled sheep meat and really enjoyed talking with the family. Later in the evening the father returned home very drunk. He was nice and talkative but I was getting at bit of a bad vibe from him, so thanked them for the food and went off to bed. Later at night I was awaken by someone vigorously trying to open the door which I thankfully locked. Rest of the family woke up and I heard a mans voice shouting something about “extranjero” and soon after the abuela kicked this guy out of the house.<br /> <br /> Instantly thought I was gonna get robbed, but might just have been a drunk family member or the father who had forgot I was sleeping in their room. Hard to say… Apart from this I really enjoyed interacting with the locals in this region and I’ve had a lot of nice and memorable experiences.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Feb-02 / Incident on GPT10 at Puesto-55 Location S 37* 49‘ 31.79‘‘ / W 71* 16‘ 23.38‘‘ / Published on behalf of Trevor Mattson'''<br /> <br /> &quot;Sad to report that i had a very negative experience about 15km into section 10 on sunday (2/2). I was offered food and a place to camp by a very nice pehuenche lady (miriam, goes by &quot;mila&quot;, the puesto after puesto 55 marked as &quot;puesto, food&quot; at the beginning of the OH route right after it splits from RR) only to have her husband come home later an try to rob me. She was extremely friendly. Although he was noticeably intoxicated, he was also nice at first as we joked, drank maté an collected firewood together. After a couple hours, as the sun was almost completely gone (~10pm), he went inside his puesto, grabbed a knife, an approached me from behind as i sat around the fire with his wife. He marched me to my tent with the knife pressed againt my neck. I allowed him to search it (he kept saying &quot;plata, plata, plata&quot; an his Spanish wasn't very good) which gave me the opportunity to pick up a rock an intimidate him a bit. I had a lot of money an wasn't just gonna let him take it and all of my stuff up in the mountains at night. His wife then came an tried to get between us / protect me (she was pleading him to stop). He was shoving her around, but this gave me just enough time to rip my tent out of the ground, which had all my stuff in it, an quickly drag it to the nearest puesto (~100metres). He followed me on horseback after a minute or two an the family there armed themselves with sticks an told him to f**k off. <br /> <br /> I hiked for a few hours through the night an met an incredible family at around 1700metres on the optional route (papa named exequel). They told me that he (bernardino from &quot;puesto, food&quot;) has robbed a &quot;chino&quot; (means anyone that looks even remotely asian in my latin American experiences) in the past an that &quot;se vuelve loco&quot; when he drinks vine. I bought more cheese from bernardino an his wife than i wanted/needed as a nice gesture an we seemed to get along, so this was reassuring that he was just crazy an it was nothing that i did to provoke him. In other words, i behave according to the manual provided by Jan an it is not at fault.<br /> All in all, the pehuenches an mapuches i've met are all amazing except this guy. I definitely had to inform you all but don't want you to think that they are some uncivilized savages by any means. Bernardino kept telling his wife that i was &quot;solo&quot; as his justification for robbing me as they argued. Therefore i don't recommend passing through there alone, especially not later in the evening. I think if you stick to the regular you will narrowly avoid the puesto entirely. Or definitely worth the extra few KMs to continue to exequel's puesto further up the OH route. Also, i had a few extra pesos in a separate pocket that i was able to pretend like was all the money i had which was clutch. An from now on, I'm not staking anything into the ground until i know the father of the family well. <br /> Anyway, happy trekking, stay safe, an if anyone knows a good place to try an fix tent poles in concepción by chance then that would be awesome!&quot;<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-23 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank '''<br /> <br /> Came in from Trapa Trapa in evening &amp; camped @ Camp 81. There is a Mapuche family living there, talked to them &amp; they were OK with me camping nearby. I was caught out by the sudden transition from river valley to dry plateau, had very little water &amp; was as dry as dirt when I got to stream 1KM before Laguna Barco, drank 3 litres there. 3000CLP camping for 1 person @ Laguna. There is a Mapuche family with a food stall there, they have chips, sopaipillas &amp; tortilla. The tortilla is like a small bread loaf. Next morning as I was leaving around 8:30 the Mapuche woman came round the campsite with fresh sopaipillas &amp; tortilla. Walked in to Guallali from Laguna Barco in about 3 hours. Shop in Guallali is small but Romina who runs the shop provides beds &amp; meals. 20,000 CLP for evening meal (usually goat &amp; rice), bed &amp; breakfast. Walked out 9KM to Comunidad Chanqueco, there is a good shop there. From Chanqueco it's easier to hitch, traffic coming from Laguna Barco but very little from Guallali. Hitched into Ralco, stayed @ Hosteria Montana there, about 15000CLP single.<br /> 2 supermarkets in Ralco, they sometimes have camping gas.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-12 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes'''<br /> <br /> Overview: <br /> This section was well marked/distinguished relative to all the other sections on thus far. There were many Puestos along the way as well. This was also the first section where the araucaria tree is very prevalent across the landscape. This section was my final section on the GPT and the araucaria trees and the lush green landscape provided good contrast to the semi-desert climate south of Santiago de Chile. <br /> <br /> Difficulties: <br /> There was a small 12km ish section without water close to the pass. <br /> <br /> Highlights: <br /> Change in landscape. Great views of the many volcanoes in the area.<br /> <br /> Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-22 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin '''<br /> <br /> Combined sections 9 &amp; 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in &quot;veranadas&quot; were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-15 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie &amp; Tom '''<br /> <br /> The trail was in good condition and we didn’t experience any issues. Possible to resupply at Guallalí but the selection isn’t huge (pasta, dry soups, crackers, tuna etc). If you are looking to bus into Lonquimay, it was leaving at 5:30AM the next morning for us (but we didn’t take it). <br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-10 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> Easy trail and navigation. We got in this really bad weather too. Storm and ice at the pass. In Guallali we had coffee and sopapillas at the carabinieros and spent the night at the same place as Matus, Anna and Linda. We took the bus at 05:30 towards Los Angeles and are staying in Ralco for resupply and drying. <br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-25 to 2019-Dec-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda'''<br /> <br /> - Nice hike with no major difficulties. The plateau with the araucarias after the pass is amazing!!!<br /> <br /> - No river when you leave the valley toward the pass and then down to the other valley BUT, as I wanted to sleep on this plateau (25 km after the start of the section) I found a small river 300 meters on the right from the regular track and camped at this place : S37,895511° O71,308919° Wonderful sunset!!! <br /> <br /> - In Guallali, end of the section, lodging, food and mini shop. Lodging at the way point Minishop very nice = guesthouse with diner and breakfast for 20000 CLP. Very nice family!!!!<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-17 / 3.5 days (11 walking hours) / Hiking / NOBO / RR with hitch hiking between Guallali and Laguna el Barco / Sophie &amp; Hendrik '''<br /> <br /> In total we were 3.5 days on the trail, of which we spend 1 in the tent due to bad weather. The 0.5 day we had left from arriving in Guallali we spend buying food and hitch hiking to the campground at Laguna el Barco. We did so because we expected rain soon and wanted to camp it out. Also we were not too keen for the gravel road part.<br /> <br /> We liked: Nice araucaria trees, an amazing sunset we saw a tad south of Laguna Llai and after section 11 and 12 the easy terrain.<br /> <br /> We did not like so much: The horsflies.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-04 / 3.5 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus &amp; Anna '''<br /> <br /> GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log. <br /> We combined these two sections. It took us 3.5 days via regular trail SOBO.<br /> Trail in both section is in good condition. There is snowfield in first pass as was mentioned. We went left, but it would be worth to check is it's possible to go through rocks on the right as it seems much shorter. <br /> Water is not marked on a map but there is a stream before the pass. <br /> Resuply in Trapa Trapa is very limited. They had few tunas, other caned fish, some pasta, flour, cola, crisps... We didn't check for accomodation. <br /> We stayed in a paid campsite at Laguna el Barco for 5000 both. Around 8 there was a woman selling bread and sweet pastry, but mind that it was weekend. <br /> Resuply in Guallali again very limited. They have tunas, caned fish, pasta, oil, crackers and bit more. We are staying in a house next to the shop.<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> *Trapa Trapa<br /> - Accommodation: The house marked &quot;lodging, food&quot; charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. <br /> <br /> - Shopping: Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there. There is a panel just before the street going to the grocery indicating that the mini-market is 100m away. There are two other minishops.<br /> <br /> - Bus: The bus apparently leaves for Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends.<br /> <br /> *Guallalí<br /> Lodging at the way point Minishop very nice = guesthouse with dinner and breakfast for 20000 CLP. <br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> *Laguna El Barco :<br /> Updated Mar 22<br /> <br /> -The family selling cooked food close to Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292] wasn't selling food when I visited them around 11:00, maybe because it was monday morning, maybe because it was the end of summer, I don't know<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> Bus Guallali - Ralco - Santa Barbara - Los Angeles 05:30<br /> <br /> Updated January 2022:<br /> Bus from Trapa Trapa to Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108664113.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603529.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603527.jpg|thumb|Araucarias at GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603530.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603538.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_1086641189.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT11_(Cerro_Dedos)&diff=119925 2025-01-31T23:43:00Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> == Connecting to Section 12 ==<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;overflow: hidden&quot;&gt;<br /> [[Archivo:GPT 11 to 12.jpg|450px|right|Connections between GPT11 and GPT12]]<br /> <br /> November 2024 [Tomáš]: There are a number of different ways to connect Sections 11 and 12. The regular route is proven and works. Will alone and Tomáš and Natalie together found independently of each other almost identical traverse, that they liked [it is included in their suggestions in the 2024 Track files]. it is pure CC and the terain is not the easiest, but they think it is quite doable. There is one route option which appears to be unexplored, GPT11-04 (and possibly 11-03). Please edit this text on both sections 11 and 12 if you have any updates.<br /> &lt;/div&gt;<br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> *''' 2025-Jan-26 to 2025-Jan-28 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Janboro '''<br /> <br /> I combined GPT 09, 10 and 11 and took 6,5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Highlights: Stunning views on the ascent to and the pass itself.<br /> <br /> Challenges: Physically exhausting and dangerous descent on steep, loose terrain. Clambering in and around the river end the gorge on the descent.<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> Started in the evening at the shop in Guallalí and camped at the Hot Springs at [6.6/991].<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> Took a warm bath in the hot spring. There was still a little bit left of the cow manure mentioned in previous logs, but I just washed myself right afterwards in the river. The hot spring had a perfect hot bath temperature.<br /> <br /> Met lots of cow herds with calves and overprotective fathers: massive bulls that clearly signal you their willingness to defend their kin if you get too close. Walking detours to keep distance as described in the manual worked well.<br /> <br /> Camped close to [21.2/1349].<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> <br /> Continued the ascent. It got pretty steep but the ways were good. The CC part uphill is also easy to walk. The views on the pass are beautiful - you can see both Sierra Velluda (right next to Antuco at the start of GPT09) and Sollipulli (GPT14) at the same time. Took a long food and coffee break there.<br /> <br /> As expected after doing my research here and in the manual, I found the first couple of hundred meters of the CC descent after the pass quite challenging. It was still safe to slide down the snow field for the first hundred meters or so, but doing it this time of the year or later, choose your route and your exit point wisely. I took a snow bridge I could see from atop and hints for possible other snow bridges (water entering the snow field from the side) into consideration and only slid down the first hundred meters or so. From there on downwards, the gorge was full of snow which was unsafe to walk or slide, so I had to walk on the steep scree around it. This is the kind of terrain where you’ll want to check your hiking poles and shoelaces before. It’s still safe to walk down, but only if you choose your route carefully and walk with full focus. As soon as the snow was gone I continued my descent in the gorge right next to the river, which was easy. Then a long way clambering around the river and crossing it countless times. Again very exhausting and partly dangerous.<br /> <br /> Once the CC part is over the path follows a an horse track that’s comfortable to walk. The last 6 km or so are a MR with almost no inclination.<br /> <br /> Arrived at the carabineros around sunset. Ricardo, the police chief, offered me to camp on their property and to use their kitchen. Had a very nice conversation over dinner with him.<br /> <br /> The next morning I took the bus to Lonquimay, which came over an hour later that the carabineros had told me (7 instead of 5:45).<br /> <br /> * '''2025-JAN-10 to 2025-JAN-11 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Alex '''<br /> The designated camp {11} [26.1/1957] has a swamp nearby with significant mosquito activity. I camped about 70 meters higher at S38° 05.114' W71° 05.379', which provided better conditions.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-25 &gt; 26 / 1 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT09+GPT10+GPT11+GPT12+GPT13<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : oui<br /> | Intérêt : 4/5<br /> | Difficulté : 5/5<br /> | Danger : Sentier dans le torrent<br /> <br /> Le Rio Chaviquin n'est pas tres large mais il est assez profond. En fin de journée le debit etait élevé et l'eau trouble, difficile de voir le fond.<br /> Le sentier n'est pas toujours facile a suivre mais le terrain est degagé.<br /> La premiere partie de la descente etait facile car couverte de neige. Impossible si neige glacée. Par contre après il faut suivre le torrent comme on peut. C'est dangereux surtout si grosse fonte ou pluie.<br /> <br /> *'''2024-DEC-24 to 2024-DEC-25 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> This is a short section featuring river crossings, Araucaria forests, and stunning views as you ascend to the pass. From Guallalí to the ford [14.3/1100], follow the MR instead of the TL as indicated in the track files. The hot springs [6.6/991] are in the middle of a pasture and unfortunately were full of cow manure, so there was no Christmas bath. The ford at [10.6/1059] could be crossed with dry feet. The ford at [24.3/1688] could also be bypassed a few meters upstream by jumping from stone to stone, again keeping feet dry. Other fords were crossed in the usual manner.<br /> <br /> The ascent to the highest point of this section was steep but comfortable. We spent the night on the left bank of a creek at Camp [26.1/1967] under the final elevation to the pass. It's a beautiful spot with a great view.<br /> <br /> On the second day, we climbed into the pass [27.6/1974]. The southern side still had significant snow, but the slope was not too steep, and the surface was smooth, allowing for a safe slide down 420 vertical meters to where the snow ended.<br /> <br /> The next part followed a riverbed bordered by steep slopes. For a while, we hopped back and forth between the banks before deciding to wade through the stream. We rejoined the TL, which transitioned into MR near approximately (-38.1333167, -71.0920333), even though it’s still marked as TL in the track files.<br /> <br /> From the police station [38.8/1194], we continued along OH-05F. We tried hitchhiking, but the first car was heading in the opposite direction. The family in the car was on their way to a Christmas barbecue. The driver, who owns a small shop in Ranquil, showed incredible trust by giving us the keys to his house so we could wait there until he returned. So we decided to walk the 13 km along MR.<br /> <br /> Once we arrived, Maximiliano and his wife Ana welcomed us warmly. They provided us with a shower, a bed, laundry service, and cooked us dinner and breakfast. They also allowed us to restock our supplies at their shop, which they try to keep stocked with items suitable for hikers. The shop is located here: (-38.2499555, -71.2323042). <br /> <br /> The next day, they drove us back to the police station [38.8/1194], where we continued at GPT12. For all these services for two hungry hikers, they charged 35,000 CLP.<br /> <br /> Maximiliano and Ana have hosted several GPT hikers before and are making an effort to support the hiking community in this remote area. Their kindness and hospitality were truly remarkable! Ana's phone number: +56984926867<br /> <br /> *'''2024-Dec-14 to 2024-Dec-15 / 2 days / Hiking NOBO / RR + variant C / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Pass 27.6km - snow from 1,700m to the pass on the south side. North side just has a few patches. Following RR worked for us.<br /> <br /> Ford 18km - crossed around 6pm was waist deep (1.61m tall) and strong but manageable.<br /> <br /> We accidentally took variant C - we were pleased about this as the RR looked very boggy. Bridge? 11-C 0.3 doesn't seem to exist though.<br /> <br /> From about 14km to 0km is dirt road, a bit boring but also very fast.<br /> <br /> Water everywhere.<br /> <br /> In Guallali we stayed at Shop 11 0.1 - 30k pp for a bed, lunch, dinner and breakfast. They also sell a few basics; pastas, ramen, tuna, cookies, toilet paper. <br /> <br /> * '''24-12-13 - 24-12-14/ 2 days/ SOBO / RR/ Volker'''<br /> <br /> From the valley of the cows to the canyon of the lezards <br /> I started a Guallali a 7 a.m. for the long MR (indicated as TL) walk into the valley of the cows - they were everywhere. Met 6 arrieros at different places. All indicated water reliable, fords no major problem. Camped some 500 m before the last indicated spot before the pass, great view there. <br /> Day 2: started at 7 p.m. and arrived at 9 at the pass. By then, the snow on the southern side had just begun to become a bit softer on the surface. An hour earlier you need crampons to get down, now I could move very quick.<br /> The second part of the CC section is not difficult if you stay in the river bed. I crossed the river like ten times, when I saw a path (also on OSM) on the left. I tried to get there, but this was a mistake. Just 20 meters, but very steep rubble. It was at that moment, when I probably looked very silly trying to get up this slope, when 2 gpt hikers passed by. I got back down to them, after a short gpt-small-talk they continued NOBO and I SOBO, now staying in the river bed. Arrived at Ranquil at 2. p.m. I had combined sections 08-11 and really ran out of food after the deplorable resupply situation in Trapa Trapa and Guallali. But nobody at the police station in Ranquil and an arriero told me, that buses go only on mondays, wednesdays and fridays. But that in 30 min an animal transporter will arrive. So it was, only that the driver’s cabin was full and the mochilero had to join the cows. 1,5 hours later the cattle and I arrived in Lonquimay.<br /> <br /> * '''6Dec2024 - 9dec2024 / hiking SOBO / RR / 3 days / Clara'''<br /> <br /> Beautiful landscapes all along the way up and down. <br /> <br /> Ford at 15 : went few meters upstream, not upper than knee. <br /> Ford at 18 : cross at the exact point where RR arrive. Water until mid thighs (I'm 1,57) Not strong current even in afternoon. <br /> <br /> Navigation : path is less clear between 16-17 with vegetation a bit overgrown. Same between 22-23.<br /> <br /> Snow : going up to the pass 27 was absolutely not a problem, some patches of snow at the end but easy to cross. <br /> I didn't know at this time if I could go to the over side of the pass and I was prepared to maybe backtrack since it snowed few days before. But arriving there, saw that it could be manageable passing upper to the track on the left side, where the snow is way more thin and you can see ground between patches of snow. Still was a bit steep to traverse like this and I think it could be harder in the opposite way (physically and navigation to avoid dangerous places). <br /> Careful when joining the river down, the snow melt because of the water so sometimes there is only a thin layer that could break if crossing there + difficult to see when arriving from up. <br /> Descending the river after the pass was harder for me. Lots of river crossing, easy at the begining but more and more demanding as the current went harder. Careful when going up because it could lead to really steep face to go down to the river, better stay in the riverbed most of the time. At the end, any crossing was upper than the knee except last one that was mid thigs but I think it's possible to do better. <br /> Then you go back to the trail and it's really easy. <br /> <br /> Water : a lot. <br /> <br /> Camp : 6.6 (the hotspring seems more used by cows by than humans but still a good place to camp). 21.6 nice. <br /> 32 : at the point hot spring. Easy to find from RR, multiple paths. <br /> Hot spring 32 : should be around 40° degrees, just perfect for the used hiking feet.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-17 // 1 day // Hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel'''<br /> <br /> After the baños of oelehue, it was a bit like a mess for me aha, I just switched from RR, to option 1, 3 and finally reach the pass with the option 2. That was pure CC, on a volcanic plateau and I just follow my instinct more than a GPX file, than I reached horse track from option 2 and continude on it until joining the RR. <br /> <br /> On the descent you just find again a animal track that looks so easy to follow after all this CC. You go easily Ans smoothly down, following the valley and finally found a jeep path for the last 15km. <br /> <br /> Then you hit the road until arriving to the tiny tiny guallalli. I knew it's gonna be tricky to ressuply there, but I kind of gambled and needed some food from this place. <br /> <br /> There 5 houses so it's not hard to have the information. I enter in like a private property parrallele to the escuela. There, I met Pedro, that escorted me to the &quot;mini-tiny-micro shop&quot;, just a door ahead. <br /> <br /> When I passed there, he had biscuits, chips, lot of sodas, pasta, tomato sauce, tuna, and most important : Dulce de leche !<br /> <br /> I was quite happy about that ! I continued my way a bit further and found a place to camp in the bush. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-24 to 2024-03-26 / 2 days? / NOBO / RR, Options 02, 04, 02B, 01 / Fangwen + Tobi'''<br /> <br /> Combined with Sections 10/11 (~8 days, relaxed). See section 12 for tips on cooking pinones<br /> <br /> Worth the short detour up to Cerro Dados. A flock (?) of condors make their home on the rock spires, amazing to see them flying up close.<br /> <br /> Initially, we intended on taking the gully scramble route (option 01), but quickly realized this would be a lot slower. We took the CC way (option 01 as well?) down instead, which was very steep and inconsistently rocky/loose, making slow progress. We conclude that probably the RR would be the fastest of all, despite the extra elevation loss.<br /> <br /> There's a great swimming hole around KM25 (?) as the stream turns into a gorge below the burnt down forest.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Mar-11 to 2024-Mar-13 / 2.5 days / SOBO / RR A 01 01B 01C 01D 02 (only the ridge part southeast of pass 11-04 5.4km) 02B 04/ Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> No snowfields, plenty of (unmarked) water, however at X26.8km last water for a while (not far in distance but time consuming terrain). No Tabanos, all fordings very easy.<br /> <br /> Hot Spring 6.6km. Some cowshit next to it and shallow water, but still nice almost hot water and with the cold river next to it to clean and bath. Campside is full of shit, I put my tent in the sand right next to the firepit, there is also a table!<br /> Camp 25.1 and 26.1 very windy and hardly any protection. At 25.1 I followed the stream up a bit until its only bushes on both sides. Shortly before there is a big bush with a one tent flat spot next to it almost directly at the stream. I cleaned this spot from the shit, it is a bit protected but was still very windy.<br /> <br /> RR route around Puesto 10km seems not accurate anymore. The road goes between RR and A and then turns to and follows A.<br /> <br /> Around -38.01624,-71.15993 dont follow the road, check GPS for RR along the river. After ford 14.3 it can get quite swampy for a few hundred meters.<br /> <br /> Beginning of section is a lot of boring walk on very dusty road.<br /> I loved 01, that CC was demanding and time consuming navigation in steep terrain, but a lot of fun. Most of RR was easy hiking in the sections before, so this was welcome difference. The clambering on the ridge is short and not hard (difficult level UIAA 1) but lots of lose rocks, so need to be careful. Some clambering in gullys, it often looked harder from above as it then actually was. Still you need to be really careful and it's going slowly. Very strong and cold winds. First water NOBO at -38,10299,-71.07628. It rained the night before, so I waited until noon, giving wind and sun time to dry the area, as I would only recommend 01 in good weather conditions! <br /> <br /> There is no hotspring at 11-01C 1.7km. The spring is at 11-02B 1.2km. It is warm and with an amazing view, but quite shallow and muddy, still nice to sit in. A small narrow stream of clean cold water nearby but no pool.<br /> I camped next to the spring, there is a stonewalled campside, but no other protection. Next day I went up to Cerro Dedos and hiked the ridge to the southeast. Well worth it, but the winds were very strong and cold. Shortly before the peak of Dedos it is easy walking, the last few meters is light climbing. There are 2 peaks, the higher one is a bit harder and very exposed on top, the lower one is easier and has plenty of flat space and a stoneguy on it. Coming from the east first you will see only the higher peak, but you can easily hike around it.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Feb 19 to Feb 26 / 8 days / Hiking / SOBO / Opt 5A, Opt 5B, Opt 5, detour to Laguna Blanca / Michael and Kasia'''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 9, 10, and 11 together.<br /> <br /> TLDR : with easy navigation, a well maintained trail, and impressive views, Opt 5 is both a relaxing and impressive route. Comunidad Chenqenco has a good store for resupply. Fundo Guindo charges people to pass through if they are around, but they may not be. Laguna Blanca is apparently a private lake, and while it is possible to camp there, there are complications.<br /> <br /> Day 0 - Feb 18<br /> <br /> We arrived in Comunidad Chenqueco around 19:30. There was one hospedaje in Chenqueco, but it was full. I talked to Luis who runs a small shop next to the big shop and he said there was camping about 2 km on down by the river. We headed down towards the driving bridge. Just before it there was a fence and a gate that was dummy locked. We went through the gate and found a spot a little ways in. There was no river access, and that specific river is not a good quality for drinking or filtering in any case, but there was a small stream cutting across the path that had clear water.<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Feb 19<br /> <br /> We stayed in the same place we camped the night before and walked up to the shop in town to resupply. It was a well stocked store with quite a few options and easy for us to do a good resupply there. Prices were very reasonable. They had instant coffee (Gold, our favorite!), pasta, instant noodles (only in the cups), powdered sauces/cremas and bouillon cubes, crackers, cookies, eggs, canned fish and canned paté, powdered milk, 8 flavors of Zuko, a few types of packaged cheeses, queso crema, peanuts (no other nuts and no raisins though), and even apples, onions, carrots, tomatoes, and cucumbers. They did not have camping gas but they said sometimes they do have it in stock. We also chatted with them about the toma at Fundó Guindo across the river. The owner, Juan, said there was no issue to pass, we would just need to pay at the gate.<br /> We went back to camp to repack the food. Later two people came by. It turned out that we were camping on private property and the woman was the granddaughter of the owner. We talked to them for a bit and she said that it was okay if we stayed and just asked that we be careful to take all our trash and not start a fire. I asked who could someone in the future go to in order to request permission and she said her father, Jose Luis Benítez. He lives in a house at (-38.06389, -71.35347). If you are walking the main road toward the driving bridge there is a road that goes off to the right down to the school, a large building at the end of that street and easy to spot. Start down that street and his house is the first gate on the left hand side. They also told us that if you keep going across the river on the driving bridge and then go right over the hill and down a path, you can get to a public access beach with a good pozo for swimming in the other river (-38.06677, -71.34947). That may also have been the place Luis was thinking of when he told me about the camping 2 km on.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Feb 20th<br /> <br /> We left early and took Opt 5B to connect with Opt 5A down to a new looking metal footbridge. (This is a better option as staying on 5A requires jumping a barbed wire fence but 5B goes around it). We followed the most used looking path. The whole path was a dirt road, but in good condition and half shaded in the forest. We passed through Fundo Guindo (I think, there were never any signs). We did not see anyone the whole time, only a few cows. Most of the puestos along the way were padlocked shut on the outside or falling down. We arrived at an intersection with a sign for Lonquimay going up the hill. We never came to a gate. I think the gate is actually back on Opt 5 about 240 m before 5A connects into it based on other reports and a gate icon on Gaia. It was almost entirely silent the whole way up to the pass. We didn't see anyone until the bridge over the embalsa.<br /> <br /> Once we got past the bridge, the road had barbed wire fencing on both sides nearly the entire way. It was very challenging to find camping. We found one spot with water and another without, but we wanted to make some distance so we kept going. It started to get dark and we ended up climbing under the fence of Fundo Lolco just after the sign, going across a small field and camping on the far side just out of sight of the road. There was a creek running below.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Feb 21st<br /> <br /> We packed up and got back on the road just before sunrise. Where the road crossed the estero it was fenced on both sides, but the lower side was secured with just two pieces of barbed wire twisted around each other. We undid the wire and sat by the water to have coffee and filter water, then closed the fence on the way out. The entire road runs through Fundo Lolco until you reach RN Nalcas. We saw only two spots where one could reasonably camp along the way without trespassing. Both were right on the side of the road, but the road seems to get very little use. <br /> <br /> When we got to the reserva the guardaparque told us that the reserva was closed as a preventative measure due to the first fires. We told him we had read online that it had reopened and that we had been walking for days to reach the reserva and he finally said it was okay for us to go, just not to have any fires. We did not have to pay and he did not register us. We camped a little ways past the guardaparque residence.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Feb 22nd<br /> <br /> The trail was easy to follow and well maintained. The first few km have a barbed wire fence running along one side of the path with takes away from the beauty a bit, but it ends eventually. The forest was amazing and we had the luck to have an almost completely overcast day, so a slow walk through everything was very pleasant. It was a bit difficult to find camping as much of the trail is on a slope and there is a 4 km section with no water. We camped at (-38.28562, -71.56485). Water was 300 m back down the trail just after the gate.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Feb 23rd<br /> <br /> We woke up to an absolutely beautiful view of sunrise hitting a cloudless Volcan Tolhuaca in the morning, and to our tent frozen stiff in the night. It was our first frost of the season. We found the trail up easy to follow and not particularly demanding. There were several springs cutting across the path so water was not an issue. We had a consistent view of Volcan Tolhuaca for the first few hours with Volcan Callaqui rising up behind us just before the turn, then Volcan Lonquimay after the turn. The entire route is very scenic and beautiful. It was a cloudless, windless day, but there was a slight cool in the air, so very comfortable hiking weather.<br /> <br /> We took a detour down towards Laguna Blanca. The views on the way down are absolutely spectacular, especially in the afternoon. It looks like something out of a fantasy movie or an illustration of the dinosaur era. The forest on the way there is also beautiful.<br /> This is where the problems started. Since this is a longer story and not actually on the GPT route, I'll put the full account at the end of the report for those interested, but the short version is that a very irritable and inhospitable Swiss German woman named Beatrice claims ownership of the entire lake and surrounding area, and if you are not entering via the “normal way” as she referred to it, meaning through her lodge, she gets very, very, very angry. <br /> <br /> Day 6 - Feb 23rd<br /> <br /> We spent the morning talking with the guardaparque at Laguna Blanca and exploring the park, then headed back to a spot we had scouted the day before (-38.35580, -71.61209). It was an amazing camping spot at the bottom of the road down from Volcan Lonquimay inside a ring of oak trees. There was a small stream about 40 m up the hill that had good clean water. It was very peaceful with views of the whole valley and probably one of our favorite campsites so far.<br /> <br /> Day 7 - Feb 24th<br /> <br /> We took a rest day in the same spot. It was very quiet most of the day. We observed some small burrowing mammal, a ground hog or gopher, digging holes. In the afternoon a car drove past on the way to Laguna Verde and returned about 2 hours later, and towards sunset a group of dirt bikers passed through. Other than that we were alone and it was very relaxing.<br /> <br /> Day 8 - Feb 25th<br /> <br /> We got an early start going around the volcano. In a few places we went cross country. It shaved off some distance, but the volcanic rock was challenging to walk on so I think there wasn't much of a time savings. We walked out of the reserva after closing time so we did not have any interactions with CONAF on that end. There was one hostal on the way down the hill, 10.000 pp with a kitchen. It is above a ski gear shop shortly after leaving the reserva. We hitched a ride with a very nice Mapuche couple all the way to Lonquimay. If walking, there was camping around (-38.44185, -71.51361) next to the river. The road up had some beautiful views and I was glad to have seen it, but also grateful to not have to walk it as it was very dusty. There were several people selling tortillas, sopaipillas and cooked piñones along the way. In Lonquimay we stayed at Hostal Rusitko Lonquimay a half block from the square, 35.000 for a private room with private bathroom and hot water. The owner, Hector, was very friendly and helpful. If looking for something cheaper there was another Hostería Follil Pewenche next to the AhorraMás grocery store, 10.000 pp for a bed in a dorm, shared bathroom. <br /> <br /> After resupplying we continued to section 12<br /> <br /> Laguna Blanca detailed account: We walked down the road to the lake. There is no water starting from (-38.35578, -71.61120) on. We arrived at a locked gate with walking passages on either side and 4 signs on 1 wooden board. The uppermost is a wood sign that says “Area Silvestre Protegía” and looks like something in a park. The second is a fairly lengthy laminated paper sign in good condition that says it is private property and there is access with paid ticket, and to go 500 m on to meet their personnel for more information and to pay if you didn't already in the lodge, along with icons for swimming, fishing, canoeing, etc. Below that was another laminated paper sign that was badly water stained and looked old saying “Advertencia Propiedad privada con vigilancia continual No entrar! Solamente autorizados”, and finally a third laminated sign indicating no cars and no motorcycles. We took this to mean, I think understandably, that people can enter, but it is paid. The human sized gaps on either side of the gate looked like they were designed to let hikers through while preventing the cars and motorcycles that were prohibited as per the sign. We walked to reception, passing along the way a few hand painted wood signs for native animals and one with the elements. At the reception area there was a large carved wooden sign with the trails to three beaches and a CONAF insignia at the bottom. There were a few smaller signs, one saying Laguna Blanca Zona Protegía and claiming UNESCO status (it is not), another showing the horario (something not shown at the entrance a half km back), another saying to announce your arrival and departure with the guardaparque, another warning to disinfect fishing gear due to didymo, and another pointing to a cabin indicating reception. There was also a badly water stained paper sign saying no fishing, no hunting and no collecting fruit. The cabin had a window and a sign for a kiosco and there was also an unnecessary wooden sign near the cabin indicating again kiosco. There was also a bathroom with men's and women's signs attached to the respective doors. (There is a reason for the exhaustive detail I am providing here). We called out buenas tardes and a boy, probably around 12 years old came to the window. We asked him about camping and he asked about a ticket. We said we wanted to buy a ticket and he said if we didn't have one that we had entered illegally. We were confused about this, but assumed it was just a misunderstanding on his part. We explained that we came from the gate and were looking for a camping spot and asked how much. He said it was 8.000 pp, but he couldn't take money. No one else was around because his parents had gone to get food. On the door to the cabin was a sign in Spanish, English and German saying if no one was there, they were working elsewhere on the property and to go to one of the beaches and they would find you later. We told him our names and which countries we were from. He told us which beach was best for camping and we told him we would come back in the morning to pay and register, because at this point it was around 20:30. He said okay and we headed to the beach. The trail down was nearly a kilometer even though it could have been less than half that. We set up the tent and started dinner. At the beach there was a sign saying catch and release fishing. About an hour later the guardaparque canning running down to the beach shouting that we were on private property and we had entered illegally. He was very worked up, but we explained our situation and he calmed down. He had a walkie talkie with him that kept interrupting with two other people on the other end. We managed to explain where we were coming from and that Matias had mentioned the place on Facebook and suddenly he lit up, saying oh, yes Matias, you were referred by Matias. The Chilena woman also remembered him, and apparently he was fondly remembered. That changed the dynamic with the guardaparque entirely. Then another woman, speaking Spanish but with a German accent, came over the radio. She made it very clear that she did not care at all who referred us or why we were there, we were on her private property, illegally, and she was very, very angry about it. This went back and forth a bit, the guardaparque sort of trying to help, the radio not working well. Eventually he and I went up to reception (another kilometer back up the hill) to register us. She was on the radio and I actually talked to her directly in English. I explained that we were walking two weeks from Antuco, we had read a nice review from another member of our hiking group, and that we didn't understand that we needed to register at the lodge. She was very disinterested in anything other than the fact that we were on her private property (despite the fact that it is clearly a business) and should not be. She said she didn't want to discuss where we were coming from or how we got into her land over the radio. She also said a number of things that made no sense. First she said that they close the gate at 19:00 “which is quite normal here”. We left the next day and at 16:00 the gate was still closed and locked, because of course it was, there are pedestrian passes on both sides, and the gate is there for cars, ATVs and motorcycles. She said there was a number posted to call to make a reservation for the next day, but that was not true, there were no phone numbers on any of the signs. Furthermore, the guardaparque gave me a flier for the lodge which did have numbers (but you'd have to enter illegally to get it) that clearly stated on the bottom that there was very poor cell signal at the lake. In the end she said we had two choices, pay the entrance fee, which we were going to pay anyway, and a multa of 3.000 pp for “illegal entry” (they were all very fond of that specific wording), or leave immediately (at this point it was 22:00, and as previously mentioned the was no water for several kilometers). I said we would pay, really what choice did we have, and gave the radio back to Carlos, the guardaparque. He was very nice, said it was his fault, he's normally always there and just left for awhile because they were out of food. We talked to him and his partner more the next day. He explained that the fees were 5.000 pp for entry to the lake and another 5.000 pp for camping if you first registered at the lodge. For anyone who doesn't register at the lodge first, regardless of the time they enter, it constitutes “illegal entry” and there is a 3.000 pp multa. Keep in mind that the sign at the front gate says “welcome” “access with ticket” and “you can pay the guardaparque 500 m on if you didn't pay in the lodge”. There is absolutely no mention at the gate of the prices, the hours of entry, how far away the lodge is (it is 7 km further down the highway), or that a multa is issued for “illegal entry”. The whole situation was incredibly frustrating and it's our first truly unpleasant interaction here in Chile. It is also a very suspicious situation. On the OSM map on the GPS the lake is within the reserva, though on Gaia it is outside the reserva. She has a CONAF marked trail sign with her property, but she's claiming it's private, and a sign claiming UNESCO status, which it simply isn't. Bottom line, if you go, be prepared to walk an additional 14 km round trip to register the “normal way”, or to pay a 3.000 pp fine and be yelled at by Beatrice for “illegal entry”. But also maybe just don't go. It's really not that nice and there are better places to camp in the reserva.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-14 to 2024-Feb-15 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Joscha'''<br /> <br /> I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Day 1: RR [0.0-13.7]<br /> <br /> Water at all Water and Ford Waypoints I passed today. But at km 3.1 it's not much more than a trickle. The hotspring at km 6.6 is a little dirty and has some cow poo around. But still worth a little bath. <br /> <br /> Day 2: RR [13.7-32.9]<br /> <br /> Water at all Water and Ford Waypoints I passed today. There is still some snow on the southern side of the Pass (km 27.6), but you can walk around it on the eastern side on a step gravel slope. Be carfull walking down. There are a lot of lose bolders. I didn't take the trail out of the gulch at km 31.1 as Hannes suggested. Its possible to continue in the gulch but I had to get rid of my hiking poles at one point to use both my hands to climb down a mini waterfall. The Hotspring at km 32.0 was pretty dirty and rather warm than hot. I did not went to Ranquil and continued directly with section 12 at km 32.9.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-10 to 2024-Feb-12 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / Section 12 on RR - Guallali / RR + Option 4 until the pass / Alex &amp; Christophe'''<br /> <br /> We directly went on this section after section 12. The way up to the pass in the river wasn't easy and took us more time than we thought. There was only one time were we had to go out of the river to find another way as Hannes as already explained.<br /> <br /> Once, the pass was behind us, all was easy and we really enjoyed Hot Spring, Camp {11} [6.6/991] (Poorly Maintained). It was clean, maybe recently digged and nice after a dusty day on the trail.<br /> <br /> We also ended this section with a light resupply in Guayali and a perfect almuerzo before going on section 10 in Shop {11} [0.1/951] (Mini Shop).<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-16 to 2024-Jan-18 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Nothing worth to mention, which has not already been mentioned before…except the gulch after the pass. At around -38.110511, -71.087826 it gets pretty straight, with fast water flow and river gets deeper and you are not able to figure out what comes after the next 50m because you do not see…I went out there from the river bed and took a trail on the left side (with some BB for the first 20m), you will see this trail…at around -38.111291, -71.087135 I entered the gulch again. Choose yourself.<br /> Afterwards I went out to Ranquil and then to Maximilianos and Anna’s minishop at -38.24995, -71.23238. They let me sleep there. So nice people! Convinced Max to sell Gas in his shop, so should be available soon there.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-01-13/22 / 7 + 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR (sections 12 &amp; 11) / Coline'''<br /> <br /> I hiked GPT12 and 11 in a raw, so to reach the Pelehue hotsprings instead of going to Troyo for resupplying. This ten-days trail was really a great experience ! Sometimes terrifying, but not dangerous – as said in another post.<br /> <br /> My &quot;goal&quot; was to reach each hotspring marked on the map (4). My favourite was the one at the end (near Guallalí), because I meet a chilian family on vacacion there and they had dig the spring large enough for them six !<br /> The baños Coyucos &quot;moved&quot; : there are just below the Camp {12} [20.4/1625], where one's finds a bench, a table and a place for firecamps. <br /> The termas Pelehue definitly disappeared, but the view there is very scenic.<br /> The Hot Spring {11} [32.0/1428] are a bit dirty, sibce ciws like to lie in them, but one's can easily &quot;clean&quot; them a bit and enjoy a warm bath : I choosed the uppermost, and therefore warmer (Yes, there are two).<br /> <br /> The sections 11 &amp; 12 were beautiful to me because of the passes... and difficult for the same reason. First Pass {12} [68.0+0.2/1909] was actually Ok, because the way (northbound) goes slowly up. <br /> The second Pass {12} [57.4/2180] was more difficult, due to the mud, and particularly on the way down for me, since I lost the trail and found myself stuck in a forest of small trees. <br /> <br /> The real DIFFICULTY for me was the last Pass {11} [27.6/2174]. After nine days, my body and mind were really tired. I forgot the advice of previous walkers and tried to go up through the forest (because of the sun exposure in the valley). I lost an hour and had to go down to the river. Moreover, the last 100m, with the snow and rocks, were doable, but the idea of sliding really scarred me.<br /> <br /> Something else scarred me at the beginning of my journey (and it shouln'd have...) : it was the attitud of some &quot;caballeros&quot; towards me, a solo female hiker. Most of the &quot;caballeros&quot; are nice and will help you, but some can be really insisting. (I had to yell at a man asking me for five minutes if I wanted a compagnon for the night... It was 3 a.m. and he had wake me up with his light and dog). But he was not threatening, &quot;just&quot; asking over and over.<br /> <br /> Actually Laguna Verde and Laguna Escondida (where I met those insisting men) are still nice memories to me ! By the way, I recommend the beach on the south side of Laguna Escondida ; the north one is skinny, inhabited by mosquitos and very &quot;escondida&quot; (hidden) in the bushes.<br /> <br /> What else ?<br /> I avoid the Pehuenche Extortioner taking CC road, and it went all good.<br /> There is a bridge some 120m west of the Ford {12} [45.4/1039],... whereas there is no more bridge at Bridge ? {11-C} [0.3/1109], but it seems very easier to cross the Estero Quillaylemu there, rather than on the RR.<br /> The river crossing is Ok, and there is plenty of water all along the way.<br /> As for the resupplying, I don't know about Troyo, but the only shop in Guallalí is very small (no bottle of gas or tobacco for sure). The woman who manages it is very nice though : she indicated me that a bus (with more food) would pass at 8 p.m, she invited me to charge my bateries at her place, let me have a nap, while she prepared me a delicious dish ! I had nice time with the younger kid, and even spend the night there at the end.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-06 to 2024-Jan-07 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {11-C} - RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> Dirt road walking from RR km0 to &quot;Bridge? {11-C} [0.3/1109].<br /> <br /> Lot of nice water flowing across the road.<br /> <br /> Hot spring,camp RR[6.6/991] : i didn't go to check the hot spring, i saw it from high at road, there are lot of cows surrounded and standing in the spring, look like they are enjoying it. And a beautiful grassland is good for camping just beside it. A dirt road just before water[6.8/1035] will lead you to there.<br /> <br /> RR Km11.7 : beautiful view begin!<br /> <br /> If you follow the dirt road walking, it will lead you to Bridge? {11-C} [0.3/1109]. <br /> <br /> Bridge? {11-C} [0.3/1109] : no more bridge here, cross the stream just above ankle. After you cross it, CC back to RR.<br /> <br /> Ford RR [18.0/1199] : Crossing of Río Chaviquin, when you arrive the river, upstream 5m and look at the riverbed underwater, a rock bar there, about 45° downstream to the other side. Water is above half of thighs at noon, luckily flowing not fast and not strong.<br /> <br /> After the crossing, sometimes the trail easily mix with cow paths.<br /> <br /> Water, gate[19.9,136] : locked. Not a friendly gate, not easy climbing.<br /> <br /> Km22 : go into a wildfire dead trees area, for now the trail conditions still ok, but after some years they all fall down, i think it'll be difficult to follow between blowdowns.<br /> <br /> Km23.2 - km23.8 : blowdowns area, RR become difficult to follow, look like some reroute here.<br /> <br /> Ford[24.3/1688] : flowing fast and above half of calf at late afternoon. Flat spot can fit 1 tent after the crossing, surrounded by forest.<br /> <br /> Camp[25.1/1846] , Camp[26.1/1957] : both are beautiful camping spots, but no wind protection, also very wet as now, lot of tiny streams flowing nearby.<br /> <br /> X[26.8/2036] : if you don't look at the GPS, it is a &quot;must&quot; miss junction.<br /> <br /> Pass[27.6/2174] : no need to step on any snow at north side. Still covered by lot of snow at south until km28.6(1850m). You can sit down then slide down, but some rocks appear at 2060m, better control the sliding direction otherwise your butt will cut off. I keep skiing down(with my trail runner) until almost the end of snow. You can walk on some stable ground start at km28.4(1910m). I think this part is difficult for NOBO if in heavy snow conditions. <br /> <br /> Mostly there are no trail, all walk by your own way in the valley. Maybe you'll find some nice trail like the one at km29.15, but all of them will disappear in 5min.<br /> <br /> You will cross the same river 21 times until you met a beautiful trail at km30.8. All the crossing is easy, mostly just calf, all under knee.<br /> <br /> Except km30.15, it is a small waterfall, valley become narrow, no shore for go around or stepping on, I don't know the way to go down. So i turn back to km30.1, follow the trail shown in OSM, climb up on the east side of valley. But when i going down back to the valley, look like a short part of the trail is landslide away, it becomes very steep to go down, be careful.<br /> <br /> km30.8 : trail, easy walk start.<br /> <br /> Km31.3 : locked gate with wire fence, you can go around it at right side.<br /> <br /> Hot spring? [32.0/1428] : nice spot! 2m x 2m pool with good temperature water(about 50°c), although it's not deep also grey colour, but it surprised me, just like a reward after so many cold feet crossing! Some flat spots nearby. I met a friendly family here too!<br /> <br /> Ford[33.2/1403] : crossing of Rio Ranquil, looks like up to thighs and flowing strong. Log crossing at upstream 40m, but not easy. I saw some footprints for locals crossing it, so i crossed here. After the crossing about 100m is a big fire ring and a camping spot can fit 1 tent under a tree. 80m more is a roundabout for dirt road, you can camping here if need, because the dirt road is damaged so no cars coming.<br /> <br /> And then dirt road walking all the way down. Maybe possible for hitching out on weekend if you are lucky, i saw some people driving to here for picnic when i was walking down the road on Sunday.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-dec-23/ 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR / Lukas en Tess'''<br /> <br /> Section 11 went fairly smooth. We followed the advice of the wiki to avoid option 1. RR was perfect, coming through some awesome forrest on the way up, we found wild cilantro and some other stuff. We camped just across the ford on K24,3 for the pools. The pools are good, but I think the next campspot on the map at K25,1 is definitely the most beautiful on the route. With awesome waterfalls not too far to venture into. The pass was no problem, lots of snow on the other side but never to steep. We sat down and went for one of our fastest decends jet :p <br /> Then the pickle began, we needed to restock for section 12, but the busses are only monday, wednesday, and Fridays. And not on public holidays like monday the 25th of dec!!! We tried hitchhiking, but there was no one passing except horses. <br /> In the end, we found a new minishop on the way to Troyo {11-5f} 14.3 k from the end of GPT11. The owners just moved here from Santiago. Maximilian and Anna are probably the nicest people we have met on the trail so far. The shop has everything you need to resupply except gas (maybe in the future). They took us in and we ended up staying with them for 2 days and celibrating Christmas together with some of their friends. It was great!<br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 15 / 1 day / hiking / SOBO / option 05 + 05F + hitchhike / Frans'''<br /> <br /> Reading all the stories and in combination with the upcoming bad weather made me skip the pass and decide to go to Troyo or even Lonquimay and rejoin GPT 12 later. Beautiful walk through the valley tho! Really enjoyed it.<br /> <br /> First rivercrossing after 1.5km, water was pretty strong and for me (194cm) reached my waist even before I was halfway. So decided to turn back and look for a better spot. About 150m downstream the water splits in 2 streams. Much easier, didn't came any higher than my knees. So easy to cross here.<br /> <br /> About 200m before GPT11-05A End there was a gate and a man sitting in front of it. His wife joined immediately. My western interpretation of their verbal and non-verbal communication was they were grumpy and annoyed. But I could understand probably less than 5% of the words they said. I tried to smile and wave, thank them and say how beautiful the area was but it made no impression at all. After taking pictures of my driver license and paying 10k CLP they let me through and continue (and I knew this would happen because it's written here before). <br /> <br /> Got a ride to Lonquimay after joining the main road to Troyo (11-05F) by the first vehicle that passed by. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dex-02 to 2023-Dec-04 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Jens'''<br /> <br /> We combined the two stages 12 and 11. The hot springs after about 7 kilometres gave our weary bones a little rest.<br /> <br /> I had tried the ascent to the pass along the left-hand side. I followed a trail for a few kilometres, but at some point it ended in bush bashing. The better route is probably through and along the river. <br /> <br /> As there was still a lot of snow at the beginning of December, crossing the pass was not easy. The last 100 metres in altitude were particularly steep. I can imagine that the melting of the snow could lead to avalanches in the coming weeks. <br /> <br /> On the other side, I had no further problems. There was still some snow, but I could either avoid it or walk right over it. <br /> <br /> Water: Many options<br /> <br /> Camping: Many options from two kilometres before and after the pass.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-3 to 2023-Dec-5 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 5F + option 5 / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn '''<br /> <br /> We started section 11 and turned around just before the pass because there was too much snow for us and we felt it was dangerous. So we then took the option road to go to Troyo ( rest day) then to Guallali.<br /> <br /> - Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br /> <br /> - Snow : lots of snow on pass, from km 29,14 to km 27,57.<br /> <br /> - Camping spot : easy to find, the natural hot spring matked on the map is present and it's easy to camp next to it<br /> <br /> - River crossing : on RR, following the river is easy from km 30,8 to km 29,12, stay in the river bed. It's not worth it to get out of the river and try to found a way around it. We did it and regretted it. | Rio Chaquilvin on option 5 was easy to cross. (The cable car is locked) <br /> <br /> - Weather : Sunny<br /> <br /> - Option roads : option 5F | (1) gravel road, for us on a Sunday, we didn't encounter a car for the first 12 km then got lucky and got a ride to Troyo - we also got an easy hitch from Toro to Puente qcontraco. Option 5 | (2) easy track. From km 7,15 ( fundo los Guindos) to km 1,2 you are in Mapuche territory. At km 7,15 , two guys with some big knifes hanging on their belt asked us to stop. They were a bit cold and not really welcoming. They explained to us that they were retaking their land and therefore needed to register everyone who was entering.They took a picture of our passport and let us go after saying that we should go to the house at km 2,45 so someone there could help us cross the river ( Rio Chaquilvin) where there is a cable car. Once we arrived to the house, a woman ( really not nice) blackmailed us in order to give her money because we were on her land. When we asked how much for the fee she just said &quot; what do you got ? &quot;. So then we negotiated a little bit but quickly gave her some money ( 7000 pesos), but she was asking more.... There was a big dog behind her and we were feeling really uncomfortable and just wanted to get out of the situation. She didn't help us cross the river and just said &quot; if you die it's your responsibility '. <br /> <br /> - Warning : Mapuche land - read section ' option roads' | A lot of snow at the pass on RR.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-05 to 2023-Mar-05 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis '''<br /> <br /> Continued directly from GPT12 so we started at the end of RR-TL-V {11} [31.3+1.5] . We followed the RR for the whole section. <br /> <br /> On day 1, for RR-CC-A {11} [27.6+3.3], you have to stay in the river stream for the whole duration. You will find plenty of water because you walk in it, and nice pools and little cascade if you want to take a bath. Leaving the stream for higher up is not a good choice : every time we tried it was a mistake. We camped at Camp {11} [26.1/1957]. It was not protected and the night was very windy... Not our best choice.<br /> <br /> On day 2, we continued until Guallali following the RR. The trail around Km15 transforms in a MR that leads you to the village without even checking the GPS. <br /> There, we found the minishop that had limited resupply options (we bought lentils, cookies, snacks and cola). We checked in with the carabineros that were friendly and sayed we could camp wherever was wind protected. We opted for the football field which is a nice flat and grassy place.<br /> <br /> Not much to say about this section, we found the end on the dirt road relatively dull but the beginning in the mountain is awesome <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-11 to 2023-Feb-12 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (option 01+ off route) / Natalie&amp;Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> Combined GPT 10(01)+11+12<br /> Day1<br /> Slept in Guallalí in the growth as others have described, but still asked the shop owner first for permission. Carabineros were nice and told us we did not need to check in although the sign says &quot;obligatory check&quot;. Pedro at the mini shop is also kind and willing to help hikers although there is only a handful of items in his shop: bought some sweets. Pedro also told me that option05 to lLnquimay would require you to pay 10mil to the locals. We took RR. At this time of the year the road is the &quot;dirt-dust type&quot; but still fast until Estero Quillaylemu (14km) which makes for a nice rest. Tomáš checked out the hotsprings at 6.6. There is a table and a pool of nicely hot muddy water directly next to a river. Better camping site than in Guallali. After the Estero Quillaylemu, the track gets harder to follow, but becomes beautiful after the ford and bend towards the pass. Lost the trail a couple of times, but found lots of wild quinoa. Camped at 25.1 behind a boulder by the river to cut the wind, camp at 26.1 looked nicer.<br /> <br /> For the pass we followed the ridge for as long as we could (option 01) and it was fun and straightforward. Luckily, although the winds were strong that day the ridge was almost windless. Made our way down similar to Will. Got off the ridge here; -38.10270, -71.07250 (later than indicated by the GPX), headed to a small dry gully next to and below the &quot;greyish&quot; dirt here; -38.10359, -71.07282, you had to use your edges as the ground was hard&quot;grit&quot;. Entered a small creek bed here;-38.10604, -71.07538 and followed it (some water) until it turned into a scramble. At that point we climbed back up to our left (East), moved south until we went down and up our final gully, just underneath 01B. This last gully was easy as Tomáš found a soft spot, somewhere around here;-38.11039, -71.07474. After this point it was easy to connect to the main route [2024: The track is in our suggestions]. Just the section up to here from the ridge is problematic - maybe two km. Probably fastest would be to go down the regular route and take the first option left, which is probably a trail and only means about 300 m of additional climbing. The route as mapped by the GPX files (option01; second half of the traverse) looks quite steep and exposed and does not save much elevation. It might or might not be possible but to us from below it does not look worth it.<br /> <br /> Lastly there are water sources on the other side of the ridge (SW, the hard side) before the hotsprings if needed.<br /> <br /> Continued onto Section 12 towards Banos Coyucos for the night.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-27 to 2023-Jan-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Johana &amp; Matouš'''<br /> <br /> We camped near the ford on the 18th kilometre (just about 20 metres upstream is a great place to take a bath in). The next day we made it all the way to the end; however, it was an ordeal. The view from the pass was jaw-dropping and parts of the path leading up to it were shaded by beautiful trees, but we feel like the horrible descent (we were doing the regular route) made it not worth it for us. Despite the fact that we were lucky enough to have the best conditions for the descent (only some snowpatches at the top, sunny weather), the terrain felt ankle-spraining. The wobbly stones kept sliding down and it required a lot of focus. We went down through the canyon and after the point where you need to go above it when it becomes too narrow we went down the wrong way and I fell down clutching at straws (literally) not to fall down. So it might be better to go through the river..? To be optimistic, the last part of the path was beautiful again. We hitched a ride and stayed with a really nice family that took us to Lonquimay the next day. It's a nice bigger town with a lot of possibilities to resupply. There are really buses only Mo-We-Fri from Ranquil. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-17 to 2023-Jan-18 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / option 1 to the Termas del Pelehue / Will '''<br /> <br /> I took the bus to Guallali, which took me past the Carabineros and directly into town where I set up in the standard grove. A bit after dark two carabineros showed up at my tent. Intimidating at first, they were very friendly after I explained my plans. They just said that next time I should make sure to stop and report to them on my way by.<br /> <br /> The section starts out with a not very interesting road walk, but suddenly became super beautiful 15ish km in. I camped at 25.1, a somewhat sheltered spot by a stream, where the wind rattling my tent made it hard to sleep. A few arrieros came by during the evening. The 26.1 campsite looked similar.<br /> <br /> The horse flies reappeared as I got up closer to the pass. Had flashbacks of sections 7 and 8, trying to determine whether each stab was a horse fly or a burr or a paranoid hallucination. My theory is that they've migrated up to the higher altitudes, now that it's later in the season.<br /> <br /> I took option 1 (diverging a decent amount) to join up with section 12 at the termas de pelehue. It was tough and slow going, taking around 3 hours, but I really enjoyed it. I planned my route to avoid horizontal slope traversals so I never really felt in danger of a serious fall. I did still slip a few times, cutting up my hand a bit.<br /> <br /> I started out with the ridge walk from the pass. Would have been great walking if not for the absurd winds, I spent most of it slightly to the south below the ridge. The slope was pretty gradual there and not slippery. I then went down past the two grass patches following the route on openstreetmap. I descended to the south all the way down to around 1875m, along a stream around 50m to the east of the openstreetmap route. It was easy rock walking at first, but turned into some tricky hands on scrambling as the stream got bigger.<br /> <br /> I wouldn't recommend it if the flow rate is high. Then I climbed back up to the final stretch of the main option route. The climb was steep at first but with enough vegetation and solid rock in the slope to get up. Everything after that was easy, more or less.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-14 to 2023-Jan-16 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> From Guallalí there’s a gravel road for first few kms, easy walking. We didn’t check the hot springs in a hot day, but someone mentioned it is fine. All the fords were easy. We camped around km 21 in a little forrest. The ascent to the pass is pretty gradual and we enjoyed it really. Based on previous comments we chose to stick to the RR which turned out to be a good decision. There was still quite a lot of snow and the terrain is more technical, but it just requires focus. We walked on the right edge of the snowfield and slided down in some parts. When we reached the river we didn’t walk at all on the snow but rather on river banks or even in the river itself. Closer to the junction we once or twice followed the alternative dotted line that is marked in our maps - it just goes higher up from the canyon and back. After the junction we continued to GPT12.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-13 to 2023-Jan-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Guallalí - Termas de Pelehue (junction GPT 11, option 1 and GPT 12) / Anna &amp; Christopher '''<br /> <br /> In Guallalí we camped at the same spot as Veronica after arriving around 20:30.<br /> The first day there is a lot of walking on dirt roads and good paths, so the km went by quickly. We camped at the ford waypoint [24.3/1688], where the way passes a small creek. It has some natural pools, which are amazing to take a bath.<br /> <br /> The next day after arriving on the plateau there is a CC part, so keep an eye on your navigation device. When we reached the pass we accidently went the wrong way and ended up taking option 1 to decrease the detour. Bad idea! Better don't take option 1. There is almost no path, its very steep, a lot of scrambling and there was one very stupidly dangerous descent across some gravel/rock part. It took us around 3,5 hours to cross option 1. We would definetly not do it again. We directly continued to section 12.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-25 to 2022-Dec-30 / 5.5 days (GPT11 + GPT12) / Hiking /SOBO / RR + OH 2 / Véronica '''<br /> <br /> Route: Guallalí - Junction to Section 11, Option 2 - Ridge Las Monjas - Junction with GPT12, RR-CC-A {12} [12.9+3.5]<br /> <br /> Ralco is a good resupply town, the smaller supermarket had camping gas. Took the bus back to Guallalí at 5 p.m. for 1,000 clp, arrived around 8:30 p.m. I camped in the same araucaria grove as the night before (via the wooden gate next to the escuela). Good and clear path in a pleasant valley, river fords easy. Found some ripe berries/brambles along the trail that were delicious. <br /> <br /> I decided to opt for Option 2 that goes east of Cerro Dedos. I was worried about the likelihood of snow on the steep south side of the pass (2174 m) on the regular route. I didn't need to stop in Ranquil, so figured it was best to stay high on the mountain and take either Option 1 or Option 2 to connect with GTP12. After reading the comments from other hikers, I knew I didn't want to take Option 1. A scree traverse on a south-facing slope didn't sound appealing, especially if you factor in lingering snowbanks this year. So I thought Option 2 would be best. A detailed description of my experience along that route is posted under &quot;Optional Routes&quot; (&quot;its directly under this post - modified by Joscha97&quot;) . The gist of it is - it was very technical, not much solid footing, lots of exposed scrambling. In a couple spots I genuinely feared for my life. Would not do it again. Please stay safe if going that route, and I would definitely not attempt it NOBO!<br /> <br /> Took 1.5 days to meet up with GPT12 at km 12.9<br /> <br /> OH 2:<br /> The trail is good and easy to follow in the initial valley once it splits from the RR. There was no puesto at the second &quot;puesto&quot; waypoint, just remnants of old fences and corrals. Good place to camp, sheltered from the wind. The start of the CC section is an annoying but thankfully short bushwhack to the treeline. Afterwards it's straight up to the top of the ridge, grass turning to scree/rocks higher up. Steep, but quite doable. <br /> Once at the top of the ridge, this is where my troubles started. The ridge is not nice and rounded, but very narrow and jagged, with vertical, rock outcrops/spires blocking the way frequently. You have to go around most of these obstacles (impossible to climb over), and this is the most dangerous part. To go around you need to descend back onto the nearly vertical scree slope, traverse around the rockface, then climb back up to the ridge. All on the most slippery scree/gravel I've ever experienced. It was all extremely precarious. Climbing back up around the very first obstacle, the scree was so loose I was on my hands and knees scrambling upward, trying to climb faster than the rocks falling under my body. One of the most frightening situations of my life honestly, I felt like I could have gone down with the rocks like an avalanche. After miraculously getting back up on the ridge, I couldn't stop shaking and was almost in tears. Couldn't believe what I'd gotten myself into honestly. And then came more scrambling and clambering. Poles were useless, I was using my hands the whole time. I can't stress enough how loose and unreliable most of the rocks were. Very, very difficult. Would not attempt this northbound, ever. And thank goodness the weather was good and calm too. The views were spectacular, out of this world, but not worth risking my life for, and I wouldn't ever do that section again. Don't know if Option 1 would have been better. At least snow wasn't an issue with Option 2. If I had to do it again I would stick to the regular route, go down to Ranquil and climb back up GPT12 via the RR. <br /> Anyway, south of S 38° 06.903', W 071° 02.205', the ridge becomes less steep and more rounded, easy to walk on. You reach the pass {11-04} [5.4/2385], and make a sharp left to go along the Argentina border. Go across a few easy snowfields. Amazing views of snow-capped volcanoes all around. Condors swooping near my head. Felt like I was the only human on earth. Still lots of snow on Cerro Dedos. Once GPT11-02 meets with GPT12, you pick up a faint path and navigation is easier.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-25 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain '''<br /> <br /> - If you cook on campfire or on wood burning stove you have better stay discrete because everything burnt some years ago and the landscapes are still marked.<br /> <br /> - There are a lot of Araucaria trees. You can easily save food just by harvesting piñones on the floor following the path. I would recommend to not rely on it because it depends on the period, but there was plenty.<br /> <br /> - Camp {11} [22.6/1461] : I loved this place. It was very comfortable with grass on the soil, almost flat, protected from the wind even if there is some in the valley, discrete, and I spent much time looking at the stars thanks to a good and warm (or at least not cold as it was the previous days) weather. To get water you have to walk 3 minutes following the point on the GPS which is precise<br /> <br /> - Ford {11} [18.0/1199] : I had good time there, the weather was very good, the place is calm and good to rest, water is still cold but there is enough to wash if you want to<br /> <br /> - From GPT-11C Start to Guallali it's now a Minor Road so it's very easy to follow and you meet a lot cars going in both directions, they just waved me.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-13 to 2022-Feb-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 11-01 (ABCDE) from the pass to Termas Pelehue on GPT12 / Veronika &amp; Jo '''<br /> <br /> The MR out of Guallalí continues until about km 12 on RR-TL-V (another trail that's been jeep-tracked recently) where it veers off to the north. We found out two kilometers too late, but got back to optional route 11-C by CCing through some araucaria forest. This turned out to be a happy little accident, as, this way, we saw a family collecting things from the ground, which turned out to be piñones. Here is where we learned that the ripe cones are &quot;café&quot;, and that the piñones just fall down when the cone is hit with a stick or a rock. It's basically nature's piñata (no etymological relation though!). Before getting back to the track, we found some low-hanging ripe cones, which sprinkled more piñones than we wished to carry. Got a nice free meal out of those we did pick up :)<br /> <br /> Camped in one of the many camp sites deeper in the mountains.<br /> <br /> The next day, we decided to skip the descent to Ranquil after the pass, instead taking the optional route 11-01 (ABCDE). 11-01 stays above 2000m on the slopes of the peaks to get to Termas de Pelehue on GPT12. We had food for three more days and the weather was excellent.<br /> <br /> We regretted this decision. 11-01 is CC without a clear path. Initially you're walking diagonally on a 45° incline of scree and sand, which is technical and requires constant concentration to find the scree-free spots. Later on, you're going from lower-incline slope to slope with little high-incline &quot;gulleys&quot; in between (as usual on a mountain flank). At some point, we did not see how to cross such a gulley at the spot suggested by the track files. We decided to descend to the point where the gulley seemed to have a passable incline, to ascend back on the next slope. This turned out to be a mistake, as the slope became more inclined before the gulley became passable. In the end, we did a lot of clambering, I got some fresh cuts from sliding down high-incline scree, and we narrowly avoided some scary looking cliff edges at the low end of our slope. This was the most dangerous situation we got in so far, and we were not really prepared to handle it well.<br /> <br /> I'm not blaming the track files: it was clear that it was high-altitude CC, and there was a waypoint warning of &quot;demanding clambering&quot; (though it should not be limited to &quot;nobo&quot;). Maybe going up the problematic slope instead of down would have been the better decision. Just be aware of the challenges this optional route brings. Definitely not doable in bad weather (you would just slide down to your death in some spots).<br /> Note that OSM shows a trail a little to the west (a little lower on the slopes) of 11-01, which connects at the beginning and end. We think we saw this path at some points during our traverse. This may be the easier route to follow instead of sticking to the CC points (which was the superior strategy on all other CC sections so far ;)<br /> There's a water spring at S 38° 06.178', W 071° 04.579'.<br /> <br /> Anyway, we were happy to reach the Termas de Pelehue. Sub-par hot spring, but great scenery all around. You can camp there, we went for a small spot protected on most sides by mountain slopes: S 38° 07.407', W 071° 03.775'. There are some non-sulfur water springs as well as a warm river to wash up in the surroundings.<br /> <br /> We continued on GPT12 for one day, getting back to Ranquil via the southern optional route 12-01. This way, we could catch the bus to Lonquimay the morning after (left at 07:55, there's a second one at ~17:00 Mo-We-Fr). Camped opposite the carabineros (on their suggestion) a bit behind the bus stop, close to the river.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-17 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa '''<br /> <br /> We arrived in Ranquil with the bus at 17, and walked about two hours to the hot springs where we camped. They are not very deep, but you can probably lie in them comfortably. Nicely warm. <br /> The ascent towards the pass next to Cerro Moncol follows the riverbed, and as previously noted, it's necessary to cross it multiple times. We were able to cross without getting our feet wet every time, though. The terrain before the pass is difficult, but after it immediately gets easier and the trail is easy to find. We were in a snowstorm and found it easily.<br /> The trail to Guallalí is pretty easy, a long way before Guallalí it becomes a gravel road.<br /> <br /> As described by others, there is a shop in Guallalí with VERY limited supply. It's next to the brown house of big planks, but you enter in front of the little red house to the right. <br /> Romina normally still offers accomodation, but when we were there she was leaving for an appointment in the evening and couldn't have us. She pointed us to the carabineros to camp, but they didn't want us there and told us to go to the camping ground &quot;3 km&quot; down the road. It turned out to be more like 12, and we ended up camping on a field some km from Guallalí<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec-03/ 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Marc Anthony'''<br /> <br /> Took the bus from Lonquimay to Ranquil friday at 15:00 (leaves Monday, Wednesday and Friday). On arrival I met two fellow GPT-hikers. Started off in some pretty bad weather with hail and thunder, but it luckily passed after a few hours.<br /> The first challenge I encountered was walking up the small river towards the first mountain pass (NoBo). To make my way up this section I had to cross the river countless times because of the difficult terrain by the river banks. Getting wet feet was inevitable. Afterwards I encountered a snowfield that leads up to the pass. Definitely possible to avoid the snow by walking along the edge, but I found it easier to just make my way up through the snowfield.<br /> Continued on to guallalí where there is a mini-shop with very limited supplies. (There are no flags or signs that indicate there’s a shop but it’s by the brown house made of rustic wooden planks.)<br /> Went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec / Hiking / NOBO / OH 5 / Franck &amp; Damien '''<br /> <br /> Be aware there are only 2 water spots on the road around the volcano<br /> One at the start (tap by the conaf barrack) and a very small one at the camp before entering the scoria field (not sure if water flows after december).<br /> Make sure you load liters of water, esp. in summer (heat + exposure to sun)<br /> Plenty of water (snow melt) once you passed the volcanoe.<br /> The TL from Contracto bridge to Communidad Chenqueco is now a kind of MR, we crossed several 4WD there (? !!). There is plenty of water there.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-28 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH5 / Martin '''<br /> <br /> 4 days. 120 km. Because of bad weather forecast in the high parts of the cordillera, with strong winds, rain and even snow, we opted to take Alternative route 5 from Chenqueco to Lonquimay Volcanoe. A lot of road walking at the begining but the scenery and trail in the National Park were really amazing and worth it. Beware that in the traverse through the volcanoe to Corralco Ski Resort, there is no water and also difficult to camp. High winds and a lot of rain at the end. We checked many hostels in Lonquimay and the most convenient for us, was Hostal Nativo close to the main square.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-23 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank'''<br /> <br /> 2 days &amp; continued to GPT12<br /> At Pass 2180 wind &amp; rain came in, I diverted onto OH-CC-A@11-03-#001 as described by Linda. Snowfields were old &amp; undercut by stream leaving tunnels 5M deep, definitely not safe to slide on. Walked on edge of snowfields or a little above them on right. Then you enter a gorge, it is best to stay close to the stream &amp; only leave the gorge if you must. In to Ranquil, nothing there apart from Carabineros &amp; no traffic. From Ranquil I continued on OH-TL-V@12-01-#001 to GPT12<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-23 / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ty &amp; America '''<br /> <br /> Guayali - Termas de Pelehue<br /> Short &amp; Beautiful. 4:00 Bus Ralco - Guallali. Arrived at carabineros after 8. Luckily they let us camp outside. TONS OF FLIES, so be ready for that. The thermal pools at Pelehue are up by the fumarole. The traverse over there is gnarly, steep, slippery, all the good stuff. Quite small, but with an AMAZING view. The lower one seemed fine to get in, we didn’t as we wanted to make it to the next hot springs on section 12.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-17 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> Start: Guallalí, End: Termas de Pelehue<br /> 2.5 days. We went from Ralco to Guallalí by Fletes (see section &quot;To section start&quot;). It's a bit expensive but we didn't want to take the bus at 16:30, arriving late. Beautiful section. The first hot springs are worth the detour if you have time to clean them and dig a bigger pot (would take you approx. 2h), otherwise you just have a warm foot bath. After the pass we took the optional route #002 leading back to the regular route, then we switched some times between optional and regular route and finally took the optional route directly to the Termas de Pelehue. This part is quite demanding as there are some landslides where you have to find your way through somehow. The hot springs are gone due to lack of maintenance. <br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH 5 / Maddie &amp; Tom'''<br /> <br /> 3 days, 120km walking around Volcán Lonquimay. Given section 11 was not feasible due to high levels of snow we took Optional Route 5. For us it was 5 star scenery. It is beautiful and the trail is very easy to follow with trail markings in the CONAF park. We found it to be quite a quick section as a result of the easy navigation and good trail quality. Good resupply options in Lonquimay (we stocked up on food as well as bought some new socks and more 95% alcohol for our stove).<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-09 / 5 days (GPT11+12) / Hiking / SOBO / OH / Matus &amp; Anna '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 11 and 12. It took us 5 days including one zero because of weather. Patagonia showed us bit of it's potential in these two sections. <br /> All walked trails were in good condition and CC sections pretty easy to navigate. In the sadle of section 11, because of strong wind, poor visibility and fresh snow and ice we were forced to take optional to the valley. There is a big snowfield, I don't recomend sliding on it all the way. It the lower parts there were big holes into the stream. <br /> From Ranquil we took optional #002 because we didn't want to climb back up. Uphill is more a minor road, downhill nice trail. <br /> After a laguna we took a optional to the Pass 2180 and road around the Pehuenche Extortioner. We needed to get down from elevation ASAP bacause of wind. We passed puesto early in the morning and no one was around. After rainy day everything above 2000m was white. We took trail to pass 1920m which was just with bit of fresh snow and then took minor road #001 down to valley. So I have no idea about the rest of the trail.<br /> Edit: adding a picture from the last sadle 1920m, we did after &quot;rainy&quot; day.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-27 to 2019-Dec-28 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 3 / Linda'''<br /> <br /> Regular hiking route until the pass 2180 meters and then Option 3<br /> Nice section ! After the pass, I decided to go down along Option 3 that goes into the canyon. Lot of snow at the beginning, but that was fun cause the slope was not very steep and I could use my bag raincover as a sledge to go down!<br /> Then, I ended up into the canyon, crossing the river at least 20 times but no problem cause the water level is low and the river is tight (compared to GPT07 for instance).<br /> The only difficulty was once the canyon becomes too tight and I had to find a way up and had to face a landslide. Just one part of 5 meters wide but quite dangerous cause very sleepy with the rocks falling down.<br /> After, back into the canyon until I could join the Regular Hiking route. No difficulties until Ranquil.<br /> Was lucky to find people with a car who dropped me in Lonquimai cause I had to resupply. Otherwise, only 3 Buses a week from Ranquil (no tiendas to resupply) to Lonquimai = Monday, Wednesday, Friday<br /> Supermercado with everything to resupply and accommodations in Lonquimai<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-12 / 4.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Sophie &amp; Hendrik '''<br /> <br /> In total we were 5.5 days on the trail, of which we spend 1 in the tent due to bad weather. On Cerro Moncol there was still some snow, which made us very slow, as we either had the options to walk on steep snow or walk higher up in more difficult terrain. Rivercrossings were no problem.<br /> We liked: The amazing views, the condors we met at the northern part of the pass (they came very close to us), the mountain crystals of which there are plenty on the northern side of Cerro Moncol.<br /> We did not like so much: The higher difficulty due to the snow in some parts (Snow on top of Cerro Moncol made the regular route more difficult)<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> Accommodation in Guallali:<br /> Brown house, ask for Romira; bed, dinner and breakfast for 30k<br /> <br /> Supplies:<br /> Hitchhiked to Chenqueco, 10 km, shop with small selection, some veggies, pasta, the essentials<br /> <br /> Bus to Ralco with more options every day at 5.30 am takes 3,5 h<br /> <br /> Same bus to Los Angeles <br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> Ranquil:<br /> new minishop on the way to Troyo {11-5f} 14.3 k from the end of GPT11. The owners just moved here from Santiago. Maximilian and Anna are probably the nicest people we have met on the trail so far. The shop has everything you need to resupply except gas (maybe in the future).<br /> <br /> Resupply on optional road : in Troyo there are 3 small shops enought to resupply for section 10 and 9 ( vegetables, pasta, rice, semoula, galletas, mayonnaise, bread.. ) <br /> <br /> - Accomodation on optional road : in Troyo, we stayed in a cabana for 30000 a night for 2 people. Wood for fire included and kitchen. Just ask at one of the little shop | In Guallali, we stayed with a lovely family in front of the school (wooden house ). 30 000 pesos per person per night - dinner and breakfast included<br /> <br /> *Lonquimay (from Ranquil) <br /> - Supermercado Espinoza next to the bus terminal has most things. A little shop on the left hand shortly after the bus terminal when walking from the bus terminal towards the center has gas. The shop has different air mattresses, clothes and some outdoorsy things in the windows. There's also a ferretería that might have.<br /> Several accommodation options<br /> <br /> (Hannes, JAN2024): Try Camping Lolen, around 16kms from Lonquimay, at entrance/exit OH-MR-12-04, very clean, nice Lady who attends, at river, weekends a bit crowded. 7000 pesos/night...hitchhike or take a bus, station in front.<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> *Guallali<br /> (2020-Jan)<br /> <br /> Bus Ralco-Guallalí 16:30 Mon-Sat, 9PM Sun. (~2.5h) The bus leaves Los Angeles terminal rural around 2PM Mon-Sat, 7:30PM Sun, continuing to Ralco &amp; Guallali<br /> <br /> Fletes: 4x4 Cars in front of the supermercado. They drive you everywhere. CLP 80'000 to Guallalí, but if you find one going there anyway the price is much lower ;-)<br /> <br /> *Ranquil<br /> (2022 Jan)<br /> Bus from Lonquimay Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 15<br /> Other days bus to Troyo can take you most of the way, but hitching the rest might be difficult<br /> <br /> Dec 2024 :<br /> Bus ranquil --&gt; lonquimay : monday, wednesday and friday 2 times/day. Leaving ranquil around 7am or 5pm (and leaving lonquimay around two hours before to go up to ranquil)<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT11 - Cerro Moncol]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> <br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830032.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinaqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830130.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[file:Guayali.jpeg|thumb|1100px|center|Guallalí, Por Norberto Seebach, 1100px|center|[http://www.recorriendochile.cl/ Recorriendo Chile].]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830046.jpg|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830051.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830070.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830082.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830115.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Marinanqui]]<br /> [[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664147.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664155.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664163.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664167.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_6_Guallali_108664189.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108829980.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108829987.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830002.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:GPT_7_Laguna_Marinanqui_108830021.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> <br /> [[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT10_(Laguna_El_Barco)&diff=119924 2025-01-31T23:41:43Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> If you are packrafting, put the above info into HTML tags like this (if you follow a hiking route for part of the way, highlight only &quot;packrafting&quot;, as above):<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD, WHAT IS ENCLOSED IN &lt;&gt; MAKES IT BLUE):<br /> * &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;.<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> <br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> *''' 2025-Jan-23 to 2025-Jan-26 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, 10-C, 10-E / Janboro '''<br /> <br /> I combined GPT 09, 10 and 11 and took 6,5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Highlights: Stunning Araucaria forests, encounters with the Pehuenche people living there, Laguna de Liay, puma tracks and puma stories.<br /> <br /> Challenges: No water on the plateau. The creek at S 37°54.077' W 71°18.470' has dried out already by this time of the year.<br /> <br /> I had lots of friendly encounters with the native Pehuenche and some not so friendly ones with their dogs. I’ve made it a habit to greet people in their language (mari mari), then approach them and introduce myself in Spanish with my name and a handshake. This led to a couple of interesting, informative and friendly conversations with lots of mutual learning.<br /> <br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> Started in the evening in Trapa Trapa and camped at [7.1/1181], where I met Elias, the owner of this land. He told me a lot about Pehuenche history, his hard but also beautiful and tranquil life in the mountains and about other mochileros who camped on his land.<br /> <br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> Started late because of hip pain. Higher up the valley two people independently from each other told me that they frequently see pumas (“leones”) on the edge of the plateau, one told me he has sheep “cuando no los comen los leones”, asked me if I had a revolver to defend myself, then reassured me pumas don’t attack people unless feeling cornered or protecting their offspring. One Pehuenche asked me how I know the way. I showed him my GPS device and showed him the track. He was a bit astonished but didn’t suspect any commercial exploitation as had happened previously according to the manual.<br /> <br /> I shared Volkers feeling of awe when I saw the group of Araucarias right before the ascent to the plateau. It’s simply beautiful. Took a long food and coffee break there and ascended to Laguna Liay. On the way up, the path is partly heavily overgrown and at times difficult to find between other paths.<br /> <br /> Up there I found myself in a fairytale forest in the evening light. I hashed my first glimpse of Laguna Liay shortly before sunset and it was mesmerizing. When looking for the way down to the laguna I lost the path and did some heavy CC BB but after a couple of minutes decided this can’t be the right way, double checked my location using the GPS and found the correct path. Still overgrown, but recognizable and easy to walk.<br /> <br /> Camped close to the spot indicated by Nimrod &amp; Tamar. Pure beauty and tranquility!<br /> <br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> <br /> Purified and packed enough water for the day and then continued my ascent to the and way over the plateau. Shortly before the intersection X {10} [17.7/1676] I discovered my first puma tracks.<br /> <br /> Checked the little creek at S 37°54.077' W 71°18.470': It has dried out, so the last chance to fill up water before the plateau is at Laguna de Liay (as described in the manual).<br /> <br /> At a rock close by I took a siesta/food/coffee break. Lorenzo, a Pehuenche in his sixties, came up from the valley in his horse with three dogs, and had them drive his cattle downhill. He then turned around, rode towards me and offered to carry my backpack on his horse all the way down to Laguna del Barco. I was amazed by this generous offer, but still wanted to carry it myself, so I thanked him many times but declined. Later met him next to his house at X {10} [32.1/1296], where we took photos together and exchanged numbers.<br /> <br /> The last part of the descent from the plateau to Laguna de Barco is pretty steep and you can easily slip in the sandy terrain.<br /> <br /> Camped at Laguna de Barco and filled my hungry stomach with a churrasco, a huge serving of French fries, a fruit shake and a Coca Cola. The restaurant closes around 21 opens at 8 in the morning.<br /> <br /> <br /> Day 4<br /> <br /> Bought a sopaipillita (similar to the hungarian lángos) and two tortilla breads and took the variant 10-E to Guallalí. Bad decision because 10-E seems to be the only way to get from and to Laguna de Barco by car, so I got to eat a lot of dust. Good decision, because I got offered a ride a couple of times (politely declined) and one passing driver gifted me cookies and fruits (gratefully accepted). There’s also a house where they sell ice cream. I asked a couple of people with chicken on their yards, if they sell eggs. None had any because most hens don’t lay that time of the year due to the heat as I learned later at the Guallalí shop. In Guallalí, shortly before the police station, I got invited for a coffee, soft drink, tortilla bread with butter and a friendly and very interested conversation with the elder couple who lives there and their family from Los Ángeles. When I left, they also gifted me cookies.<br /> <br /> Bought a can of tuna and a pack of tomato sauce at the shop in Guallalí and continued to GPT11.<br /> <br /> <br /> '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-20 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, OH10C+D (Laguna Liay) / Nimrod &amp; Tamar'''<br /> <br /> 1st day:<br /> After buying some supplies from a family we started hiking up the valley.<br /> There were some unmarked puestos and tons of nice places for camp.<br /> We asked permission from the family in a puesto to camp in their area and camped at (). <br /> <br /> 2nd day:<br /> Last water point is near puesto [14.5/1297]. Next water point is near Laguna El Barco on RR or Laguna Liay.<br /> <br /> There was a trail crossing at approx (-37.83314, -71.27040). We didn't notice it because the trail which is not on the files is much more clear, and walked on it for 200 meters until we felt something is wrong, and turned back. It might be easier trail up.<br /> <br /> OH (10-C) until approx 1 km is partly easy CC because of the fire. From 1 km to 2.1 the trail has changed but it was easy to follow.<br /> <br /> TL(10-D) does not exist and was hard BB so we skipped it. There might be another trail going down to the Laguna but we didn't look for it.<br /> <br /> Camp {10-d} [0.1/1658] is really poor in comparison to the lagoon beach. It was a dirty pond with a lot of cows around. So we hiked back and camped on the beach at (-37.83347, -71.28245).<br /> Had afternoon swim and really nice view!<br /> <br /> 3rd day:<br /> Easy trails until laguna El Barco. We harvested low hanging piñones we found at (-37.84210, -71.27454).<br /> We recommend bringing a 15 meters cord. We had only 4 meters. The piñones were not ripe yet but were sweet, and could be eaten fresh without roasting.<br /> <br /> At Laguna El Barco we had to pay 1000 clp per person only for entrance. There was a small stand which sold fresh tortillas and some junk food. We had a Churrasca, coke, and ice cream 😋.<br /> <br /> We discovered that the bus to Los Angeles departs Gulalli at 5:30 so we put an effort to get there before darkness.<br /> When it was completely dark we saw a bus parking in a yard, 1 km before Gulalli! Happy and excited we discovered it was the driver's house, which let us camp in his garden and take a hot shower in his home.<br /> <br /> The first bus stop is at the police station and the ride takes approx 5 hours and cost us 3500 clp per person.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2025-JAN-09 to 2025-JAN-10 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Alex '''<br /> Found an excellent campsite: S37° 46.967' W71° 16.896', right on the riverbank and free of cow manure. The river pocket was teeming with trout during the evening feed. A small fly or tenkara gear is recommended for fishing.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-24 &gt; 25 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT09+GPT10+GPT11+GPT12+GPT13<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : non<br /> | Intérêt : 3/5<br /> | Difficulté : 1/5<br /> | Danger : aucun<br /> <br /> Il restait un peu de neige alors j'ai trouvé de l'eau facilement.<br /> Juste avant le Laguna El Barco il y a un camping 5000CLP/nuit pour emplacement, douche glacée, eau potable, électricité et poubelle. J'y suis allé car c'etait marqué qu'il etait interdit de camper près du lac...<br /> <br /> *'''2024-DEC-22 to 2024-DEC-23 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> A straightforward stage dominated by a relatively flat plateau with araucarias. A highlight of the journey was swimming in Laguna El Barco. We set off from Trapa Trapa in the late afternoon along a pleasant gravel road, carrying food for two days. After the ford [9.5/1171], the trail continues through a beautiful and wide river valley, where several puestos are located. We camped at a nice spot, Camp [14.1/1269], under the araucarias. There, we each collected 3 liters of water, as there was none on the plateau, except for one location (-37.90128, -71.30783), where there was a small stream that was not marked in the track files. It’s possible that this stream could be dry during peak summer.<br /> <br /> The ascent to the plateau was taken via a more well-trodden and gradual path (approximately 300 meters longer than in the track files, but more frequently used). The plateau itself is a paradise of araucarias with views of Volcán Callaqui. After descending to Laguna El Barco, we first paid 1000 CLP per person for entry at point Lake, Camp [32.9/1292], and then enjoyed a pleasant picnic by the lake while swimming. It’s a beautiful lake. <br /> <br /> The route to Guallalí mostly follows a pleasant MR, although it can be somewhat monotonous at times. Upon arriving in Guallalí, we stocked up on supplies for two days for the GPT11 stage at a small shop, Shop {11} [0.1/951] (Mini Shop). They had pasta, rice, tuna, jurel, cookies, and soft drinks.<br /> <br /> '''2024-Dec-16 to 2024-Dec-18 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Not much to say for this section it's pretty straight forward. We did it in a relaxed 2.5 days to avoid spending the night in Trapa Trapa but its easily doable in 2.<br /> <br /> 25.2km water - there was a small stream flowing well here. Could have saved us carrying so much water to camp up on the plateau.<br /> <br /> Resupplied at the red shop (S 37.42745, W 71.15386) in trapa trapa, they had ramen cookies, chocolate etc. She also sold us a big loaf of bread. Not great for a full resupply but enough for us to top up for a few days.<br /> <br /> Continued on to 9<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''24-12-11 - 24-12-12/ 2 days/ SOBO / RR/ Volker'''<br /> A section of beauty and peace <br /> There are few technical things to say about this section, perhaps this: on the way from the valley up to the pass use your device more often than you might feel it is necessary. There are many trails and yours is often not the one you see in front of you, but the overgrown or blocked by a broken tree to your right or left. <br /> The moment you arrive at the first Araucaria trees (though some on the way down to Trapa Trapa on gpt09) is just overwhelming. Camped at Laguna Liay, when I arrived there, I just didn’t want to leave this place. <br /> Day 2: After the short first day, this one promised to become a long one. The plateau is just breathtaking, even after 08+09 the days before. At Laguna El Barco no food, no wifi, but a great opportunity to cool down in the lake. Some km later on RR the MR (good to walk, few rubble, shadow) passes a house, the sheep ran away from me, a lamb left behind, I draw the attention of a woman to the lamb - and was invited for lunch with that very nice „spanish“ (not Pehuenche) family. <br /> Arrived at Guallali at 6.30 p.m., presented at the carabineros (very friendly!), the officer brought me to the „shop“, which is hidden in a garden house (don‘t expect any meaningful resupply). <br /> Camped not far, to the right of RR11, in a small valley beyond some Eucalyptus and Araucaria trees (river not far, but deep down). Two women passed by, first sceptical, then offered to join them and get some bred (declined).<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> *'''3Dec2024 - 5dec2024 / hiking SOBO / RR -varC - RR / 2 days / Clara'''<br /> <br /> The ascent and descent of the plateau are awesome, full of araucaria trees and beautiful landscapes of the montains around. Sad that I've to hurry because of bad weather comming. <br /> Fords : easy <br /> Snow : big snow fields from about 1700m alt but easy to cross. <br /> Water : still full on the plateau at this period. <br /> Navigation : often many paths but easy to find the good one with the GPS. A bit more difficult to follow on the ascent after puesto at 14.5. And also around the pass cause the path often goes under the snow fields so needed more gps to stay in the good direction. <br /> Var C : the lake is really nice. Made it with not so much bushbashing by staying closest as possible to the tracks, gps in hand at least at the begining. <br /> Camp : around 8km (water) and camping at laguna el barco was open (5000 CLP/pers/night) <br /> <br /> Arrive in Guallali before the rain : <br /> Eat and sleep at the point mini-market with Romina and her family. <br /> 30kCLP for bed + lunch + dinner + breakfast. <br /> Mini market : pasta, soups. <br /> <br /> Entel phone coverage. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> 2024-Nov-26 to 2024-Nov-28 / 2.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - C, D / Karin<br /> <br /> Camp: camp near laguna Liay (km0.1 var D) / Campamento Laguna El Barque (km32.9)<br /> <br /> The MR/trail is easy to follow, except for the ascent after puesto km14.5, where the trail is no well visible. All along the valley from Trapa Trapa to the late puesto were a lot of small streams running over the road. Some were easy to cross without getting wet feet, others were a bit bigger, but never more than mid-calf.<br /> <br /> From an altitude of 1760m was still snow. The snow on the pass and the plateau was managable, but slows down quite a bit and makes navigation more challenging. This on a distance of about 8km. <br /> <br /> As there is still snow, there is a lot of water. Even on the plateau were a few streams, which will probably dry out during summer. <br /> <br /> The camping at the Laguna El Barque was still closed. I asked two men how were working on the cabañas if I could pit up the tent anyways. This was not a problem and they did not charge me for this. At the camping were sanitary instalations, tables...<br /> <br /> I arrived Guallalí at 12hrs. Because of the snow, I decided to go to Los Angeles. The carabineros station was empty, so I went to the minishop (gpt 11 km0.1) and asked when the buses leave. The owner told me that there is only one bus everyday at 5.30 am. But I could try to hichhike. While waiting, two locals came by and told me that in the next community (Chenqueco) are more cars going to/in direction of Ralco and that from there I would be more lucky. <br /> About 5min later a car drove by and took me to this community. From there I hichhiked again.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-18 to 2024-03-19 // 1,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel'''<br /> <br /> I was a bit anxious on that section because of a big fire on the valley of the vokcan Copahue. Everything was under the steam all around, and with a big smell of fire. Few helicopters passed, and I was seriously questioning myself to continue or not. <br /> <br /> Fortunately for me the track change of the valley to reach the beautiful Laguna El Barco. <br /> <br /> It was late on the season so there were absolutely no one there. But In season that would be a great camp spot (event if it's probably popular and not so quiet as there's a lot of camping places). <br /> <br /> Fill your water at the bottom of the valley because when you'll reach the plateau you'll have no water at all, until you go down to the valley. <br /> <br /> Plateau is pretty nice, met a lot of people up there harvesting piñones. Easy horse track to follow. Ground is sandy and very steamy on the way down. Then you arrive on a valley with lot of water and lor of arrieros, great to chat with some of those that are leaving around there. <br /> <br /> I crossed the Ford {10} [9.5/1171] then camo just after that. Had a great and quiet night there, happy to clean myself after a very dusty day, but I reckon it's gonna be like that for few sections further north aha ! <br /> <br /> Then easy track, gravel and road. No more ford to cross. Until the tiny trapa trapa. <br /> <br /> Locals sent me to a kiosco, who Is situated very close to the point X {10} [0.0+0.3/937]. There's a ringtone, then a girl came to open the kiosco for a small resupply (tuna, fideos, chips and sweetness like candies, biscuits, and other stuff with a packaging of 90's that seems to be very bad for your body aha, but took it anyway). <br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-25 to 2024-03-29 / 5 days / SOBO / RR + new route + Copahue summit opt 2. + opt 1 down Copahue + Nathalie/Tomas new route + gpt11 nobo back to Guallalí / Marilyne'''<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Started in Trapa Trapa around 15:30 and walked to right before camp 7.1. Hid in the forest to camp instead of using the nice grassy area as a lot of people on horses were using the trail.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Felt worried about the multiple puesto dogs and the aggressive person along the RR and option 1 so decided to try a new route to eventually rejoin GPT option 2, the trail to the summit of Copahue (pronounced Copaway). Went cross country going South from my 7.1 camp for a while until I started climbing East. Eventually joined a trail that seemed to get good use. There is probably no need to go cross country if you find the start of that trail… Left the trail at -37.78784, -71.25114 and went CC again on the plateau. Met a couple harvesting piñones and chatted with them. As I was leaving, their dog nipped my ankle… so much for avoiding dogs. Stopped by Laguna Negra (-37.81527, -71.21972) for lunch and water. Camped by a small lake at -37.83042, -71.20250. Beautiful views around that area. There were patches of old (last year’s) and new (last week’s) snow. In the evening, I went to investigate a direct route to Copahue up the peak at -37.83807, -71.20001, but felt that it was a little too exposed for me and my big backpack.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Took a slightly lower route on the West side of previously mentioned peak to Copahue from my campsite which worked great. Water at -37.83722, -71.20762 and also further depending on the snow quantity. Rejoined the marked OSM trail up to Copahue at around 2,750 meters of elevation, where I left most of my gear and went to the summit. The hike down from the volcano was very slow going, I followed the OSM route mostly but at times I was in between the GPT line and the OSM line. Went to check out the hot springs, which looked gross to me. Camped at -37.89625, -71.16599, on the road leading to Argentina.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - I wanted to try the new option that Nathalie and Tomas have posted below for this section, so I followed the road to Argentina up to the valley that parallels the border and made my way to the ridge. Views from the ridge are spectacular and I enjoyed that part very much, following the border at first and ending up here: -37.95833, -71.11928. Difficulties came when I tried to come down the ridge following the route posted on FB. I backed out of the proposed “best route” as it was too exposed and scrambling-like for my liking. I ended up going down the steep talus slope for a while, traversing as Natalie described and ended up doing a fair amount of unpleasant bush-bashing to reach the trail at the bottom of the valley. There are probably better routes than the one I took though, I didn’t have the opportunity to study the satellite imagery very well before going :-). Looking back I should have walked in the creek bed earlier rather than fight with all the bamboo. Ended up with a fair amount of scratches and ripped pants. Camped shortly after I found the trail in the valley.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Used GPT11 NOBO to reach Guallalí. Stopped at the hot springs (6.6km/991) on the way to clean up a little. It was a holiday in Chile, Good Friday, and I met two groups of people from the city that were driving around this remote road for fun. Reached Guallalí and went to the carabineros station to ask about camp possibilities. They mentioned a metal bridge about 3 kilometers away but not in the direction that I wanted to go (Ralco). I hung out close to the bus stop thinking about what I would do and eventually two of them came out to talk to me again. They said that they have to be careful with strangers as they are the police and never know people’s intentions but that they’d like to invite me to have some of the lunch they had made. They also let me camp next to the station to catch the 5.30am bus the next morning after checking my passport. I think that the fact that I was a solo woman helped. As I learned from our discussion, new police officers get assigned to this station every month and stay there for the full month, so this might not be offered again in the future.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-26 to 2024-03-28 / 2 days? / NOBO / RR / Fangwen + Tobi'''<br /> <br /> Combined with Sections 10/11 (~8 days, relaxed). See section 12 for our tips on pinones<br /> <br /> Nothing to add that's not described below, except we found the native Pehuenche people friendly. We think it helps to great them in their language (Mari mari - hello; Chaltu may - thank you). This you can find with a bit of digging online. Would love to have interacted with them more - they seem friendlier up the valley at the puestos (not in trappa trappa).<br /> <br /> No luck finding asado in this time of year due to touristic things shutting down (including campsite at Lago El Barco, completely deserted).<br /> <br /> There is no bus out of Trappa on holidays, and didn't find anything but 2 types of cookies and ice cream at resupply point there. You can ask the locals to drive you (for a fee) - they referred to it as &quot;Fleeta&quot;(?)<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Mar-8 to 2024-Mar-11 / 2.5 days / SOBO / RR B / Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> No snowfields, all fordings very easy, plenty of (unmarked) water except from Puesto RR 14.5km (one stream a few hundred meters afterwards last water) to shortly before Laguna El Barco. Tabanos: 2<br /> <br /> The valley south of Trapa-Trapa is first narrow but the open ups to a wide valley with a lot of puestos, mostly inhabited, which means a lot of dogs and cows, horses, sheep around. All marked campsites are completely full of animal feces, every single decimeter is covered. I camped around -37.78551,-71.27975 on sand next to the river, sandy and stony places are the only one without extrem amounts of shit. Stayed there another day just sleeping in the tent bc of all day raining. Next camp was a nice weather camp with great views but no water at -37.89069,-71.30189. Flat spot, no shit, very quiet, some boulders and bushes.<br /> <br /> RR out of the valley up to thea area of Laguna Liay was a bit tricky. Seems part of RR are not in use anymore and overgrown ( -37.83346,-71.2705 ). I just followed the horse tracks which later went back to RR. it seems there are different paths going up.<br /> <br /> Lake, camp 32.9km: camping 8000, picknick 5000. But nobody at the gate, so I just walk in, swimm a little and try to open my first Araucaria seed cone I harvested an hour before. Shortly before I leave someone asks if I paid the entry. Sorry bro, not going to pay 5000 for sitting 30min on a bench, so I just don't understand spanish at all until he gives up.<br /> Next to Laguna El Barco a wildfire puts a lot of smoke on the water, but no fire in the sky. 2 helicopters pour water on it the whole day. RR southeast of the Laguna was not affected, the fire (actually only lots of smoke) was on the other side of the valley about 1km away.<br /> <br /> Rio Lomin had very brown-yellow water, but there are a few small clean unmarked streams further south RR.<br /> <br /> Guallali tiny shop, no sign, just go over the little wooden bridge after the police and shortly before the school. Dog alarms child, child alarms mother. Mother opens shop. Mostly cola and chips, ice cream, some cookies, 3 packs of noodles and (worst quality) toilet paper.<br /> <br /> Some really nice views at the waterless part, first massive amount of Araucaria trees, Laguna El Barco is kinda nice too, finally a lake with trees around! Lots of boring road walking at the beginnig and more so at the end of section with basically no traffic.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Feb 28 to Feb 29 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Juliette and Martin '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 09 and 10 into 5 days of hiking. Beautiful sections with a diversity of landscapes: volcano, meadows, puestos...<br /> <br /> Day 0: Trapa Trapa- Camp -37.76398, -71.28171<br /> <br /> On our last day of the previous section, we hiked the first 7 km to this camp. Great bivouac spot not to be missed, next to a puesto with grass, water, horses and welcoming vegetation. <br /> <br /> Day 1: Camp -37.76398, -71.28171 - Laguna El Barco: <br /> <br /> Truly magnificent scenery and lots of puestos. The climb is pleasant and in the shade. As soon as you cross a river, it's easy (maximum knee-deep). <br /> From laguna Liay to laguna el barco, NO WATER. We initially wanted to camp between the two, but were forced to push on to laguna el barco to get water. The scenery is really beautiful and easy to walk on the plateau, and the aracaunia trees give it a unique atmosphere. <br /> Pay camping at el barco (8,000 pesos per person) with beach and friendly staff.)<br /> <br /> Day 2: Laguna el barco - Guallali <br /> <br /> A short day's descent. We stop at the bus stop indicated in the waypoints at 3pm. Only one bus a day from Guallali to Los Angeles at 5:30 am. <br /> We were lucky and hitchhiked to Ralco.<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Feb 13 to Feb 18 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Var C, Var D, some off GPT track / Michael and Kasia '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 9, 10, and 11 together.<br /> <br /> TLDR: beautiful section with some very impressive araucaria forests. Technically easy but navigationally a little challenging due to so many trails branching everywhere. Laguna Liay is definitely worth visiting.<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Feb 13<br /> <br /> After finishing our resupply in Trappa Trappa, we started on RR. The road was fully exposed until we got up a ways into the forest. After that I had to watch the GPS fairly closely. As has been noted previously, the horse trails fork off in different directions, sometimes rejoining and sometimes not. The trail was pretty dusty, but the forest was beautiful. There was very little water access for quite awhile. We arrived at the camp point at km 7.1 with the Mapuche family. No one was at the house so we started looking around. I found Elías in another part of the property. He was very kind and said we were welcome to camp. He showed us a nice spot near a creek set away from the road. We had initially thought to camp more in the open area but he said that the road gets a lot of traffic in the night and the are some “mala gente” that pass through, so the spot he showed us was safer.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Feb 14<br /> <br /> We started hiking early and the morning light on the landscape was absolutely beautiful. We stopped after the first ford, mid calf with little current, to have coffee and enjoy the area. We continued on passing a lot of puestos. Many seemed abandoned or falling apart, though there were people at several of them. We waved and they waved back, but they were fairly far from the road so we didn't go over to talk. We met our first other GPT hikers, Christof and Alex (hi guys! We hope you got the roasted chicken in Antuco!) We crossed the second ford, just under the knee, and had lunch and a nap and then started up to the pass. The path was mostly in forest, and though steep, we didn't find it difficult. We started on Var C to Laguna Liay sticking more to the OSM track than the GPT track. We got down to the lake and wanted to go all the way around to the north side, but part way up the trail started heading up to the plateau. We returned to the bottom and tried to walk in the water counterclockwise around the lake, but after only about 50 m there was a section where I was sinking deep into mud. We walked back to the south side beach and then walked the beach clockwise to get to the north side. There were a few fallen trees to climb over, but otherwise we had no issues going that way. On the north side there was a fairly sizable sand beach with a fire ring. We camped there.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Feb 15<br /> <br /> We took a rest day at the lake. The atmosphere at the lake was so peaceful and the scenery was so beautiful. Not one person passed through that day, and it felt really amazing to have such a quiet, serene and beautiful place all to ourselves. It got hot during the afternoon so we retreated up into the woods a bit to get some shade. In the late afternoon I went to scout Var D for the next day. There isn't a full trail there really, but from the beach looking uphill I could see a brown stripe going up. It was a short BB to get to it and then a steep up. The trail forked after maybe 50 m. I first went left, but after a while it was all dead ends and started to lose elevation. I went back and tried the right fork with a combination BB/CC and was finally able to connect to a path. From there it was easy to get up to the plateau and then to the other marked campsite which was near a pond that had mostly evaporated for the season.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Feb 16<br /> <br /> We started early to get over the pass before it got hot. We took the scouted approximate Var D up and then connected in with RR. The pass was easy and on the far side there was an incredible monkey puzzle forest. As noted there was no water. We took the OSM track up just before the descent to Laguna El Barco for the lookout. The trail down to Laguna El Barco was somewhat steep but easy to follow. At the bottom it passes through a puesto on the way to the road. The guy there also rents camping sites. The El Barco campground is somewhat chaotically managed. We arrived on a Friday and it was packed with vacationing Chilenos. Posted price was 5.000 pp for the picnic area day use and 8.000 pp for camping. They offered 6.000 pp without a table, which we took. It turns out that that is for essentially an unused parking spot next to the road. We would have left, but it was too late to go anywhere else. A very nice couple happened by as we were setting up and said they were about to leave and we could have their spot which had a table and was away from the road. We thanked them and moved up. The shop seems not to be operating this year. The small building it was in was empty and the door was just hanging open. There were two groups selling food, one at the entrance selling tortillla, a fairly large and dense bread cooked directly in the ash in the fire for 2.000 each, some smaller pan amasado, sopaipillas 500 each, a fried dessert bread dusted in powdered sugar 3 for 1.000, and churasco for 4.000. They also had sodas, 1.200 for a 591 ml bottle. The other group was at a camp just past the lower bathrooms, and two of them walked around the campground periodically as well. They had tortilla 2.000 each, sopaipillas 2 for 1.000, and some kind of tea. The second place had our favorite tortillas, we ate several of them. The churrasco was a disappointment. I was thinking Bolivian churasco which is just grilled meat. These were sandwiches with a couple thin strips of meat simmered in liquid in a frying pan and then put on huge breads with a slice of tomato, a bit of lettuce and some mayo. They were okay, but not what I had expected.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Feb 17<br /> <br /> We left late and hiked RR. On the other side is another much smaller and more laid back campground. It is run by the couple that lives there. Price was 6.000 pp with a table. They had a toilet and sinks, no shower. They sold tortillas on request, 2.000 each, but the woman, Clementina, makes them when she's making their food, so it can be awhile. We bought 5 of them and they were larger than the ones in the campground. Wrapped in paper towels and kept in plastic bags, these lasted us almost 5 days.<br /> <br /> Day 6 - Feb 18<br /> <br /> We continued on RR with the intention to head to Guallalí. Along the way we meet a Mapuche arriero, Hector, at his pesto (-37.95912, -71.26119). If you pass by there and he is around, definitely make some time to talk with him. He was incredibly kind and generous, offered us coffee, took us to his animal corral to pet the goats, told us about the political structure in the Mapuche comunidades, and even showed us some of the medicinal plants in the area. He also sells goats and sheep and does asados, but we didn't ask the price. We were about to leave when a friend of his arrived to pick something up for a really important Mapuche ceremony that was finishing that day. His friend gave us a ride, which took us off the GPT track a bit, but dropped us very near a shop at (-38.01007, -71.30695) run by a woman named Maria that actually had a good selection of stuff. We bought pasta, a queso mantecoso from the region that lasted 3 days, her last can of Nescafé, some tomatoes and cucumbers, Zukos, and cookies. She also had eggs, frozen meat, sodas, beer, yogurt, a few other types of cheese, and various other things. Prices were very reasonable. She had a small table and a bench outside the shop and let us stay there to have lunch and repack. More than a dozen cars stopped by to buy things while we were there, so it seems like a pretty popular spot. From there we walked on the highway towards Comunidad Vilcuncura and on towards Comunidad Chenqueco. We passed one other shop at (-38.01473, -71.31626) that looked sizable and had a range of things, though we didn't buy anything there. In Comunidad Chenqenco we connected with GPT11 Opt 5A.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-14 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH E / Joscha'''<br /> <br /> I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Day 1: RR [0.0-21.9]<br /> <br /> Both Fords are easy below knee + the RR crosses a few more streams during the first 14 km. There is no water on RR after the Ford at km 14.1 until km 32.1.<br /> <br /> Day 2: RR [21.9-32.1] + OH10-E + RR [45.1-47.5]<br /> <br /> At km 32.1 (right before the start of OH10-E is a creek and some tables around. I think it belongs to a campsite there, but nobody cared that I did a break there. OH10-E is a big dirtroad with no water until km 8.4. I bought some cookies in the mini shop in Guallali + they allowed me to charge my power bank. After that I continued with section 11.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-12 to 2024-Feb-14 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Guallali - Trapa-Trapa / RR + Option D/ Alex &amp; Christophe'''<br /> <br /> It was a nice and easy section. For us, the Laguna Liay would deserve to be on RR. It was one of the most beautiful and peaceful campspot we had this season.<br /> <br /> We also camped on the official campground at Laguna El barco. It was still 8000 CLP pp and the place was crowded with all the Chileans on holiday. The beach is nice but the campground is really dusty (as most of the section). There were also two families selling food (tortillas, sopaipillas and some other things).<br /> <br /> By the way, there is no more snow on the plateau so take plenty of water to cover the distance between Lago El Barco and Laguna Liay.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-14 to 2024-Jan-16 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Hannes'''<br /> <br /> From Trapa Trapa I went in this long valley, it is pretty packed with puestos. Had to check a few times the GPS in there, was quite often on a wrong trail. Many puestos create their own trail network…Went up to Laguna Liay and camped directly at the shore. I figured out two reachable beaches where you can put on one or two tents, one beach at the NW-shore, the other SE-shore. I camped at the second. Option 10D brings you down to it, but actually I could not find a real trail. This Laguna is just an amazing place, for me there was not just silence but peace! The special echo in this place has an effect. Next day I went to Laguna El Barco, for camping you have to pay. A huge laguna, beautiful, but with a check in and all the rules which apply. I do not like this. I went further and a few km before Guallalí I asked a Settler if I could sleep on his Eukalyptus plantation. The 3rd day I walked to Guallalí and stocked up for GPT 11 in the minimarket. For cigarettes I went to a house at -38.050512, -71,272100. There is a woman who sells tobacco and if you kindly ask her she might sell you one of her homemade bread loafs. Ask for the house of Cololo.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-04 to 2024-Jan-05 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {10-C} - RR - {10-E} - RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> After have a nice breakfast with the lovely family, i keep going south.<br /> <br /> Km0 - km13.6 : easy walking, easy to follow.<br /> <br /> Km13.6 : junction of RR and {10-01}.<br /> <br /> Ford[14.1/1269] : if you are not decided go to {10-C} or visit Laguna Liay (lake), it is the last water until km33 Laguna El Barco ( or a stream just before this lake ).<br /> <br /> Km14.47 : climb up start, the entrance is beside the corner of wooden fence.<br /> <br /> Km15.65 : a sharp turning, after here trail become very overgrown, until km15.9. At km15.65 and km15.9, i both saw a clear path going to east, I'm not sure is it a new reroute by local and are they connect or not.<br /> <br /> Km16.1 : junction of RR and {10-C} , I don't decide go for walk around the whole lake, but just want to visit it take a look, and collect some water.<br /> <br /> {10-C} km0.33 : (-37.83379, -71.27817) a sandy slope steep going down, the trail to Laguna Liay (lake) is here, you can see some trail trace on the sandy slope. A little overgrown and sometimes fallen tree block your way, but mostly you can step over them. About 10min you will arrive a sandy beach (-37.83326, -71.28031) at km0.5. Not a camping spot, but here have some big trees fell in the lake, easy walking on them go to the lake for collecting better water. Good view point of Laguna Liay with Volcán Callaqui, i also saw some beautiful ducks with red brown body and blue beak swimming here! <br /> <br /> After collecting water and a long nap, i decided back to RR, i took another trail on the sandy slope that closer to lake side (not shown on map), it is easy to follow and easy walk, lastly join RR at km16.5.<br /> <br /> RR Km16.9 : what a beautiful grassland! Easy trail start, enjoy the land scape changing and Araucaria forest. I love this area!<br /> <br /> Pass RR [20.6/1850] : large flat area ( Most of the section10 is flat area), nice view point of Volcán Callaqui! Also the first view ( for SOBO) of Volcán Tolhuaca!<br /> <br /> Km26.6 : left side, Volcán Copahue!<br /> <br /> Km31.4 : pass, from dirt road to trail going down, but before going down, there is a side trail to south for climbing up a small hill, just distance 500m and climb up 70m, go for it! Excellent view point of Laguna El Barco, Volcán Callaqui, Volcán Copahue and Volcán Lonquimay( Sierra Nevada behind it?) !<br /> <br /> X[31.2/1469] : a campground with picnic table ( i think it is a paid area because a sign at front gate but didn't see anyone when i passed there) and a stream flowing nice with clear water just before it. If you don't decide go to Laguna El Barco for collecting water, it is the only water until Guallalí.<br /> <br /> Because the weather becomes worse, very windy and cloudy, also the forecast said it maybe rain at afternoon, so i took {10-E}, shorter the distance rush to Guallalí.<br /> <br /> Bus {10-E} [8.4/938] didn't find the shop that Martin &amp; Helena said (close to Bus 10-E mark.) I asked the house owner beside the bus stop, and she said no shop there. I saw a sign beside the bus stop is erased away, also a banner looks like said &quot;selling thing&quot; already being discarded on the ground, so maybe the shop is closed no more? ( I'm not sure).<br /> <br /> {10-E} km10.0 rejoin RR.<br /> <br /> RR km46.05 : look like a very old shop, I saw a sign for candy and cigarettes, but the house is broken and no people there any more.<br /> <br /> Shop {11} [0.1/951] : No sign for shop, it is a beautiful looking wooden house, cross a tiny wooden bridge to their front gate. A little better stock than i think before, more than the shop at Trapa Trapa and almost the same as Los Álamos. Pastas, rice, some canned food, biscuits, drinks and chips. Not picky and i resupply for 3 days food here. I asked for accommodation, and the female owner said can stay in their house, 30000 CLP for a single room(4 beds) with light, quilt and electric charger, shower(cold) with shampoo, dinner and breakfast, maybe can use their washer for laundry, but finally i use my hand for washing them, because my clothes are too dusty and don't want to pollut their machine. It has a feeling look like guesthouse at some tourist routes in Nepal, but of course the one in Nepal are much commercial.<br /> <br /> Dinner is delicious for goat and rice! Although not much enough for hiker hunger (never enough), but it is one of the best meal i eaten in Chile so far. They are super friendly, i'm very happy staying here with them!<br /> <br /> I saw a bus arrive Shop {11} [0.1/951] on friday 6pm, but I don't know where it come from.<br /> <br /> (-38.04741, -71.27506) look like is the church that Maks&amp; Gabi said. A tree with beautiful grassland, but no good water resources nearby, the river beside it is flowing brown water, also farming and people living at upstream.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 30 to Dec 31 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR / Ella'''<br /> <br /> TLDR: beautiful secluded camping on plateau but no water. be cognizant of tensions between Pehuenche and non Indigenous people <br /> <br /> Day 1: Trail was beautiful and mostly easy to navigate. Camped that night at around 11 km on the right side of the river, pushed back into the trees quite a bit. Chose not to camp at one of the marked campsites near the puestos because I became a bit worried about the large number of beer cans I was seeing along the way, and I didn’t meet any women at any of the puestos. Though I’m sure there’s mostly very kind people in this valley and I had no encounters that made me feel otherwise, I didn’t feel like taking my chances as a young solo woman given a few past reports on this section. However, it was a challenge to find a camping spot that felt both safely hidden and like I wasn’t on someone’s land without permission (though I probably still was) - there’s many more puestos in this valley now than appear on the waypoints, and there’s also loads of cows and horses grazing! If you find yourself in a similar position to me, I highly recommend just mustering up the energy to hike up to the plateau and camp about a kilometer in. Very nice and secluded spots up there. You would just need to bring a lot of water because there’s none until Laguna El Barco. <br /> <br /> Day 2: Plateau was beautiful, but keep an eye on the GPS. As others have said, you have to pass through what is now a campsite with a gate just before the main road to Laguna El Barco, but no one was there so I didn’t get charged. Laguna El Barco camping was nice and lively on New Year’s eve. The store is still not set up yet, but the staff charged my devices for me. If you continue on the RR for about a km you will find the wooden sign for Entel service which did work for me. Just be aware that you have to walk by what is demarcated as a “dangerous zone” on Pehuenche land. I’m not quite sure what this means, but when I was walking to get service someone I passed warned me of it as well… <br /> <br /> Next day I got a ride from someone leaving the campground to Ralco (2 hour drive!). Bigger market was open even when nothing else was on a national holiday (January 1) and had good options. Camped at Camping Nativo about a 30 min walk outside of town, which is close to a great river spot and has sinks, outlets and even a shower! <br /> <br /> Given the tensions between the Pehuenche and non Indigenous people on the lands that this trail crosses, I’m curious if we, as non Indigenous hikers, should think about having a broader conversation to understand what kind of place we have (if any) in using these lands. Ideally with direct input from Pehuenche people themselves. Both for the sake of respecting the people of these lands and feeling safe as hikers. <br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 22 to Dec 26 / 4,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR &amp; part Option 1 &amp; Completely new option / Tomáš &amp; Natalie'''<br /> <br /> Note: Our path was of course convoluted. We walked the optional route 10-01 to Volcán Copahue last year. It is splendid and recommended for our option, but this time we opted for the RR, as we have not walked it previously. We came back to the area to find a new connection that would avoid almost 25 km of unpleasant roadwalking after Laguna El Barco. We suceeded, see below.<br /> <br /> We followed the regular route to Laguna el Barco. The route and the Laguna are indeed very pleasant. We paid 1000 each to be able to pass through (?) and use the camping tables for lunch. The store was closed even on Saturday (Dec 23). About 300m from the lagoon, there is a sign about Entel coverage and 4g indeed works decently there. We then took the minor road to the hot spring under Volcan Copahue (elevation 1812, name Pucon Mahuida).<br /> <br /> No cars seem to be using the road, especially the second part is quite eroded and after the hot spring it is bordering on impassable for cars. The hot spring is still nice. We then followed the road to an incredibly beautiful valley under Copahue. Few hundred metres before reaching Argentina, we left the road and shortly found a path that traversed into the valley in the south next to the border. The path petered out once we got above the bushes. It was really easy to reach the ridge and folow it (and the Argentinian border) to 37.9575000S, 71.1211474W. With snow all around on the slopes and with condors circling us, it was stunning (the ridge is mostly snow free). Made camp under the summit next to a 10m-high wall of ice for wind protection. There was no path but walking was easy, the ridge is rather flat and wide.<br /> <br /> There are three options we explored from there on. The recommended one is the last one we explored, but here they follow in chronological order. Continuing on the ridge towards Cerro Dedo would require climbing or exposed traversing (if one dropped to Argentina, one could probably find a path to reconnect to GPT after Cerro Dedos if there ius no police in the area). Instead we went down side of the mountain roughly to here: 37.9650794S, 71.1206588W (it was steep but full of stones, so not slippery and we did not think it was dangerous). Then we started traversing (it did not feel exposed, but was a bit strenuous) until about here: 37.9792148S, 71.1245764W, from where we started going down a narrow ridge that was flanked by creeks on both sides. Again it was not dangerous and first half was good CC (like all the previous traverse), the second half was part cow trail (with cow poop), part bush bashing, but surprisingly easy and painless with long sleeeves.<br /> <br /> At the bottom of the valley, we came out on a clearly visible trail. We went up it further into the valley, where there was a deserted puesto on a meadow under enormous araucaria trees with a magnificent views on snowy slopes full of huge waterfalls. We made camp.<br /> <br /> In the evening, Tomáš then went to explore a scary looking ridge to reach this peak: <br /> 37.9767704S, 71.1623784W. It turned out not to be scary. The sidehill up the ridge is mostly without trees or bushes, so it is steep but good CC. Once up the ridge, one can go around the pinacles from the southern side (left facing up), occasionally using the tree branches as support - there is a little of easy climbing, but with no exposure. Then the ridge is steep and somewhat narrow but one can mostly go up only using poles and not hands. Altogether SAC 5. It was fun and pretty, but caution needs to apply. From the top, one could easily traverse north towards here: 37.9611427S, 71.1539942W.<br /> <br /> The next day, we went up a ridge dividing the valley we slept in into two (this one: 37.9714484S, 71.1414231W). There is a trail up that branches off the main valley trail about 300 m downstream of the abandoned puesto. One goes up a slope for about 400m and then down to a ford and then up. There are a variety of cow trails with bamboo cut some time ago. It is partly bush bashing, but very easy and just a few hundred metres. Once up the steep slope, the trail is much clearer. Above the tree line, it is easy CC. Once you get up the main ridge, you can either go right to the peak we slept the days before (a walk up - no need to use hands, the rocky features can be easily skirted, SAC 3-4) or left to the coordinates that end the previous paragraph. From there one could go down to the valley in the north and either CC and ford (probably possible, but unceartain) or follow the road/path that is mapped in OSM (look it online, it was only added in late November) toward El Barco. Navigating this SOBO is much easier, we posted the GPX route of the most tricky part and a rough overall route painted over satellite image in the Facebook group and hopefully it will be included in the GPT next year [November 2024: it is in our suggstions together with a lot of exploratory options].<br /> <br /> Going down the valley to reconnect to the GPT leading from Gaulali is easy 5 km on a clear trail. Once you hit car tracks (almost in the main valley) that will soon turn left, you can probably follow one of the trails going straight and save yourself maybe a 0.5 km detour to a puesto here: 38.0095590S, 71.1391237W. From the puesto, there is a very ugly road that was enlarged this year all the way to Guallali. Going NOBO, you reconnect to the trail going to Cerro Dedos very soon and thus almost entirely eclipsing the roadwalk. Plus our proposed new route is really pretty.<br /> <br /> From Gaullali, there seems to be a daily bus leaving at 5.30 AM from in-front-of-the-turnoff-to-the-carabinieros-station. It goes to Ralco and then to Los Angeles. By mistake we first bought tickets to Ralco for 1300 and then to Los Angeles for 1500. It arrives in Ralco at 8:00 and stops there for 10 or so minutes. Next bigger stop is in Santa Barbara around 9:30. It arrives to Los Angels after 10:30. I think it goes back in the afternoon, possibly at 14:00, but ask at the station.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 dec 12 - dec 14 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / RR + B + C + F / Frans'''<br /> <br /> Took the bus from Ralco to Trapa Trapa, start of GPT10. 2 busses a day, 4.30 and 16.30. I was at the busstop at 4.10, but the driver probably didn't expect anyone and took a shortcut and therefore didn't pass the busstop. So if you want to take that one, walk 100m further to the crossing of the main road.<br /> 16.30 no problems, plenty of people taking that bus. Total of 2.5hrs to get to Trapa Trapa.<br /> <br /> Missing the bus gave me time to explore Ralco a bit, plenty of shops, turist information center and a Museum about the Pewenche. Small, but worth a visit (1000 CLP).<br /> <br /> Didn't explore anything in Trapa Trapa since I wanted to cover some gound before darkness. Did see some signs of shops tho.<br /> Easy trail, no issues here. Ended up to camp at: Camp 10 [7.1/1181]. Got woken up by some cows and horses in the morning. <br /> <br /> Took the route (C) along the lake, also with the intention to get some extra water for the plateau. Although there was plenty at the plateau (for now), at least 5 good streams and more small ones. All because of the melting snow, so I don't know for how long that will be in the upcoming weeks. <br /> <br /> Walk was easy, pass is easy, some snow/ice walking but all stable. You might be taking a little caution when it starts melting more but walk around the snow is also an easy option.<br /> <br /> I camped at the plateau, almost at the end just before you walk into the greenzone again. On the right side is a flat spot next to some trees and bushes. <br /> <br /> Next day via Laguna el Barco, some people camping there, no one at the entry so didn't had to pay anything. Easy walk again. Took option (F) and first house on the left after crossing the bridge had a sign that they sold ice cream. Stopped there, friendly people and as they told me they will sell more stuff in the future. It also looked like that, they were constructing a store, shelves, counter everything. Just no inventory yet. Unclear when they will, at least to me with my limited Spanish.<br /> <br /> Reached Guillali easily, had a chat with the local Cabaniero. He gave me a Entell Sim-card so I could have cell service. Stayed at Romina. Bed, dinner, breakfast 30.000 CLP. <br /> <br /> Really nice walk all along. Easy navigation, nice views and not really demanding terrain. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec- to 2023-Dec-8 / 2,5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + variant G + variant E + variant C / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn &amp; Jens'''<br /> <br /> - Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br /> <br /> - Snow : a little bit of snow around the pass, super easy to navigate <br /> <br /> - Camping spot : easy to find<br /> - River crossing : easy<br /> <br /> - Weather : Sunny<br /> <br /> - Resupply : there is a small 'negocio' in Trapa Trapa, and you can have breakfast with a really nice family at the 'lodging and food' <br /> <br /> - Option roads : Variant C - really nice lake, just a little bit of bushbashing to rejoin the RR<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-07 to 2023-Mar-09 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Iris, Alexis '''<br /> <br /> After a night in Guallali, we continued on GPT10. This section is short and awesome, definitely worth hiking! <br /> <br /> On Day 1, we decided to reach the camping of Laguna El Barco (Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292]). We managed to get two rides that shorten the day, and enjoyed an afternoon of rest in the campground (we cooked some pinones). As other as noted, the price is 8pp and the water in the shower ice cold. We were hungry for sopapillas but sadly, this late in the season, the shop was closed. Because we asked, we were able to buy tortillas (2k each) directly from the owners for the next morning. Expect heavy bread - one half is enough for a meal.<br /> <br /> On Day 2, we hiked through the plateau. Of note, X {10} [32.1/1296] is now a gate (and a camp) and we were asked to pay 1pp for the right of way. <br /> The plateau is easy walking with a clear trail while filled with beautiful views. Better pack some water before because we did not find any before reaching the end of the descent in the forest (RR-TL-V {10} [13.6+2.5]). We camped at Camp {10} [9.6/1175], which is in a bosquet and wind sheltered.<br /> <br /> * '''On Day 3, we finished the section until Trapa Trapa and asked for lodging at Mirellas (Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956]). It costs 20k pp for room / dinner / breakfast (no hot water). We were told there are some &quot;thermas&quot; close to -37.69656, -71.29006 but when asking our way, we were told it costs 4pp to use them. It did not seem worth it so we backtracked.'''<br /> The three shops in Trapa Trapa are located at -37.71004, -71.26861 (closed when we passed by), -37.71040, -71.26661 (had various sweets, ice cream) and -37.71234, -71.25523 (the biggest of them). However, expect limited supplies (we could not find batterias nor sunscreen for the next sections).<br /> <br /> Not much more to say on this section. We initially planned to go on 10-01 for the Volcan, but were told it would be a day of heavy rain and thus stayed on the RR (finally, not a single drop, just a little cloudy and windy). <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-07 to 2023-Feb-10 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + option 01 Volcán Copahue / Natalie&amp;Tomàš'''<br /> <br /> The forest fire situation made planning for this extremely difficult. We packed for GPT 09-12 with volcano side trips but we had to skip 09 because of park closure and gamble on starting directly in Trapa Trapa. We took the direct bus to Trapa Trapa from Los Angeles, it was long... 5+hours and it leaves once a day at 2:15pm (Feb,2023). Although it was memorable, we think it would have been faster to bus to Ralco and try to hitch as there are &quot;some&quot; cars. The road condition looked as if it has been recently fixed and is being improved even more.<br /> Arrived in Trapa Trapa at ~7:30pm and started hiking right away. Beautiful town and valley. We were going to camp at km07 but there were people staying there with dogs so we moved on to the next river crossing not great for camping (there are nicer spots just a bit further). <br /> <br /> Day2<br /> Easy walk towards the junction for option 01 to volcán Copahue with a long conversation and piñone testing with &quot;Pedro&quot; from puesto 13.7. We were lucky to hike during the season that the piñones were dropping but sadly we did not find Laureline's cellphone:(. Our plan was to summit Copahue but my stomach bug came back and we stopped very early to camp, we had a few days of excess food so this was no problem. We camped near the large creek separating 01&amp;01a -37.83511, -71.24072. The smoke was also getting us down. There is water here obviously, but there is also a nice water source earlier here: -37.83542, -71.24258. This trail (01) is slightly overgrown and the &quot;aggressive puesto&quot; @ 1.2 was locked up with no one there. <br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> We took option 01a (BB) to the pass. Tomáš had tested it the day before to see if it was BB but there was a path. Although we found the path the day before, we both got lost in the bamboo for the first bit but luckily once you get under the canopy of the Araucarias, the trail is clear and non-bushy, actually it is really pleasant! In the forest there is water here; -37.83520, -71.23177 and a small broken down puesto here; -37.83893, -71.22434. <br /> Out of the forest there is a beautiful grassy (and boggy) plateau with two puestos (one occupied) and lots of water (-37.84756, -71.22044). We spoke with the lady of the puesto and her 5yr old son: genuinely nice people! There is a trail from her puesto (-37.84760, -71.22095) that goes straight up East. The trail exists until you hit a waterfall-fed creek and the rocks start; -37.85161, -71.21874. from there on it is CC on grippy rocks, dirt and boulders. Last water source before the pass is not far; -37.85768, -71.21610 and would make a nice camp. Getting to this pass, although beautiful, took a long time! <br /> At the pass we dropped our bags and followed the osm route for volcán Copahue. The osm route was better than the GPT bcs it followed a firm snow patch for a good while making walking fast. There was a good stream of snow melt on the approach (-37.86132, -71.19051) and the walk to the summit was easy, some loose little boulders. The summit was well worth it as the crater of Copahue is very impressive; a large broken glacier with a beautiful glacier lake. We think apart from our climb of Azul it was the nicest volcano so far. <br /> The way down to Termas de Pucon Mahuida was very slow going. Followed the osm route rather than GPT bcs it seemed more accurate.However it was still CC on rocks almost the whole way. Up high there is water here; -37.87362, -71.20509 and &quot;some&quot; spots for camping. Later there is a scenic valley good for water and camping, nice views of Copahue's glacier; -37.87753, -71.19874. We followed this valley down until we had to cross out of it, once leaving this valley there is no drinking water until the hot springs.<br /> We camped at the hot springs which are a good temperature, one small pool but I think there are more higher up. The area around is not good for camping and very boggy, we found one half decent spot. Unfortunately Tomáš had his turn with the stomach bug and the smoke crept in strongly overnight. We rested late until the next day. <br /> <br /> Day4<br /> We rested until late morning as Tomáš was still barely recovered from his stomach bug and walked the long road to Guallalí.<br /> <br /> The beginning of the road could have been some of my favorite scenery so far, The Araucaria trees surpassed my expectations and especially when they are backdropped with mountains and at one time an orange river (glacier water flowing through sulphur like sediment?), it feels like the era of the dinosaurs. The road for option01 had plenty of good water sources (~5x). Friendliest dogs at this puesto; -37.95898, -71.26155 and a teeny tiny amount of water.<br /> Luckily got a hitch with a local to the bus stop shortly after the intersection with 01 and RR. From there we walked about 3 km to Guallalí.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-25 to 2023-Jan-27 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maks&amp; Gabi'''<br /> <br /> Really quick section. We started about 2 pm on 25.01 and finished about 2 pm on the 27.01.<br /> Nice and easy with visible trail and no problems from the locals (all of them really nice). There is no water between 14 and 33km even after rain. <br /> We stayed at Camping by Laguna el Barco and paid 8 000 for the both of us. The water in the shower is ice cold, but there are few ladies selling fresh, warm bread. <br /> The public transport from the end of the section is the bus at 5.30 (Guallali) or bus point 5.45. We tried to hitchhike but with no luck. We camped in Guallali by the river (next to the church.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-25 to 2023-Jan-27 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Johana &amp; Matouš'''<br /> <br /> We found this section surprisingly attractive - mainly the plateau was breathtaking. We spent the first night at a property of a Mapuche family (waypoint Camp - 7,1 km). Right before the ascent to Laguna Liay, there was a Mapuche family whose father approached us, he acted rather reserved from the start towards tourists (as he told us that they bring litter into the mountains) but we ended up drinking harina tostada with the family which also sold us some bread. We took the optional route which goes around the Laguna Liay and couldn't find the path so we somehow slid down the hill and went around the beach. Laguna Liay was really great to take a swim in and felt private (until a helicopter started hovering above our heads, taking water from the lake). There really seemed to be no water on the plateau - we took it from the Laguna and spent the night on the plateau - lots of space for camping there. The next day we arrived at Laguna El Barco, we didn't have to pay for the entry to the lake. The tienda there was open until 8 p.m. and had tuna, rice, pasta, biscuits, beverages, toilet paper, instant soups. There was a stand that made sopaipillas, churascos, french fries, salad, tortillas. Then there were some ladies going around the beach offering almost the same. We hitchhiked some of the last kilometres of the road to Guallalí. There's a shop as others indicated and a bus going only in the morning as written below. The chances of hitch hiking from there are rather scarce, as our Polish fellow travelers found out. There's a quite nice camping spot by the river further down the road (it's a few metres into the start of the section 11); it's not very private but people that were passing by didn't mind us camping there. Continued to section 11 thereafter. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-12 to 2023-Jan-15 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / detour past Laguna las Totoras / Will '''<br /> <br /> Another quick section, with some super unique Araucaria forests. I decided to try and find the trail to Laguna las Totoras that Jo and Veronica mentioned. The route wasn't exactly traditionally scenic, but I had a good time. The lake was more of a shallow grassy pond surrounded by thick Araucaria forest. To me it was a nice change from all the classic alpine lakes. Flat grassy bank that seemed perfect for camping. The water itself was warm and a bit muddy. I didn't see anyone along the detour, other than a few bulls at the lake.<br /> <br /> I turned off the main trail at -37.90827, -71.30880. I followed some horse tracks curving to the south along the edge of the woods. The tracks went through some sandy clearings before I eventually lost them in the woods. The woods were pretty easy travel, before too long I was out on a grassy plateau where I found tracks leading to the mirador marked on openstreetmap. Went up the road through some inspiring woods to the lake. I then walked south along the not very scenic road back to the main route.<br /> <br /> Could be a nice option to take if you're in the mood for a change from the open alpine trail.<br /> <br /> Other than that I missed the turnoff to the Laguna liay and decided to try bushwhacking straight through. Had a good time going off trail due west to the bottom right corner of the lake, open woods with a few pretty easy scrambles up/down rocky cliffs. Had a worse time trying to head southeast back to the main trail, encountering some thicker woods.<br /> <br /> The bus to Ralco comes at 2pm on Sunday, so I spent two nights at Laguna El Barco with a quick walk Sunday morning to catch the bus. For 15000 I rented a kayak to circle the lake in a bit under two hours, super nice. The campsite was crowded for the weekend. There were some nice ladies selling simple food. The trail to the right of the campsite along the lake is beautiful.<br /> <br /> Had a hard time finding accommodation in Ralco, the first five places I tried were full. Eventually found a spot at Cabañas Nehuen Antu for 30k.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-11 to 2023-Jan-13 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> We continued from Trapa Trapa in the late afternoon to the camp at km 7. Trail is easy to navigate from the beginning. We set the camp actually a few meters before the puesto, in the forrest on the right side that seemed to be more quiet and hidden place. There is a nice spot with water around km 8, before entering the valley. We have seen just a few people around the puestos. Ascent to the pass is not bad, we enjoyed again very different landscape all around. Continuing to laguna, we decided to camp below arucaria trees a little before the official camp (cca 2 km) since we would get there pretty late. Based on comments from other hikers we went through the camp the next morning to check if there is opportunity to buy some food and eventhough the shop was closed, there were two ladies selling tortillas and sopapillas, churrasco and a few other things. The trail after laguna is mostly a dirt road passing around puestos. There was a community festival in Guallalí (1st edition) which was really nice to see, we tried grilled goat and bought some local products, great experience. One of the guys from the festival took us to Ralco in the evening and arranged a cabaña for us (35k CLP). There are 2-3 bigger shops with basically everything, gas is in the one next to the biggest market on the plaza. On the other hand, minishop in Guallalí is very limited, but they have some drinks, ice cream, cookies etc. There is also one small shop on the way to Guallalí, close to Bus 10-E mark.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-09 to 2023-Jan-10 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Trapa Trapa - Laguna El Barco / Anna &amp; Christopher '''<br /> <br /> We started from Trapa Trapa around 11 am after finishing section 9. The first part nearly until Laguna Liay is an easy walk on dirt roads/nice paths with several water sources.<br /> We met some pehuenche people who greated us friendly, only one man mumbled if we had a 'permiso' to pass there (we couldn't understand him very well). But then his friends told him to let us pass, he went away and we continued walking.<br /> On the last km to Laguna Liay there is a lot of bush bashing. But it's definitely worth it, a very nice camping spot up there.<br /> The next day we took option C around the lake, which was a mistake because at some point we couldn't find a path and ended up on a sketchy climb to the top of the plateau. The rest of the way to Laguna el Barco is easy with good paths.There is no water between Laguna Liay and Laguna el Barco.<br /> At the Laguna they charge 5000 CLP p.p. for the picnic/beach and 8000 CLP p.p. for camping. From there we hitchhiked to Ralco to resupply.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-23 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / Option C / Véronica '''<br /> <br /> Route: Trapa Trapa - Laguna Liay - Laguna El Barco - Guallalí<br /> <br /> Two days from Trapa Trapa to Guallalí. Easy trail up the valley towards Laguna Liay. Didn't see anyone, most of the puestos appeared unoccupied. Lovely araucaria grove at the base of the big climb to Laguna Liay. The trail during the climb was overgrown/hard to distinguish in some places, and had a few areas of blowdowns too, which made the going slow during that bit.<br /> <br /> I took Option C around Laguna Liay, which I found to be a frustrating maze of cow paths. One minute it's nice and clear and then it disappears, leaving me to bushwhack my way along until I stumble upon it again. The lake is beautiful though, and it's the last water before Laguna El Barco, so I filled up a couple litres. Met my first other GPT hikers in 3 weeks there too, they were going NOBO. Really beautiful up on the plateau of araucarias. <br /> There was no one at Laguna El Barco when I got there around lunchtime, no one selling food either. Spent over an hour there enjoying the shady picnic tables and the beach. <br /> <br /> Easy trails/4×4 tracks the rest of the way to Guallalí. The two NOBO GPT hikers I met yesterday got charged 10,000 pesos by some local Mapuche folks to pass through this area, but I (again) didn't meet anyone. <br /> The shop in Guallalí is very limited. When I saw the selection, I decided to take the bus the next morning to Ralco, it leaves at 5:30 am. The shop owner was also not offering accommodation, but pointed me to the lovely araucaria grove across the street to camp. There is Entel cell service here :)<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-27 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain '''<br /> <br /> - Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292] : the place is nice, as mentioned there are lot of bins, the camping is also very nice and the showers still very cold. They charged me $5.000 for the night. It was written &quot;with no (something I didn't manage to read)&quot; on the bill so if they charge you $8.000 you can try to specify you don't have car, or I don't know... They removed the panel for the grocery just after I asked for it so it's now fixed, there is no grocery. The family selling cooked food wasn't selling food when I visited them around 11:00, maybe because it was monday morning, maybe because it was the end of summer, I don't know<br /> <br /> - Close to GPT10-C Start there is a point of view on the whole valley, it's beautiful and you can see all the puestos <br /> <br /> - Just after it there are many paths to go down, I haven't taken the one from the GPS but it's very easy to reach it then<br /> <br /> - Around Puesto {10} [14.5/1297] an arriero told me there are 2 paths going down the valley, one on each side of the river, I've followed the GPT to try to reach Trapa Trapa before the night so I didn't go further about them but if someone try<br /> <br /> - Around fords there are often a &quot;bridge&quot; made of one massive plank, the same arriero told me about some so they probably check each year they are usable. You just have to look for it, but it can not be the case at some points<br /> <br /> - The number of puestos in this Valley is impressive, I only had good contacts with the people I met<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-11 to 2022-Feb-12 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + optional section 10-E straight from Laguna El Barco to Guallalí / Veronika &amp; Jo '''<br /> <br /> In one day from Trapa Trapa to Laguna Liay, camping at the north side. There are many cow trails leading down to the laguna. The one we took seemed suitable for hikers too. Going back up the next day we got lost in the cow maze though, and only by searching for our own footprints from the previous day did we get back on the RR. It may be worth having a look at our GPS tracking data to figure out our initial path.<br /> <br /> The next day continued to Guallalí. Beatiful plateau! Got to harvest our first piñones as well! However, we hurt the araucaria tree by breaking off a small but not insignificant branch when trying to get the green &quot;pinecone&quot; to break off, using the &quot;strong rope&quot; method described in the hiker's manual. Only later we learned you should go for the brownish, &quot;café&quot;-colored cones. Just hit these with your walking stick and the piñones will fall right off. You then collect them from the ground. The threatened araucaria will be much happier not being hurt :)<br /> <br /> When in need of water at the plateau, there should be a path to Laguna Totora from S 37° 54.510', W 071° 18.580', according to an arriero who passed by. Maybe a future optional route?<br /> <br /> The optional routes 10-E and 10-G have become MR instead of TL.<br /> <br /> The lodging at the shop in Guallalí was not avaible, but the shop owner pointed us to an araucaria grove closeby (you can enter via a wooden gate next to the escuela). We camped there: S 38° 02.647', W 071° 16.441'. There were some villagers passing by, so it seems to be public land. There's a small stream to the east with quite clear water. Maybe it's possible to camp more upstream to the north, where there are bridges and where the stream has passed fewer houses.<br /> <br /> Continued to GPT11 immediately after.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-19 /3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Molly and Melissa '''<br /> <br /> Between Guallalí and Laguna el Barco is mainly gravel road, but sometimes there are small, discrete paths that connect them, so keep an eye on the GPS.<br /> The camping at Laguna el barco is now 8000 per person. There are toilets, very cold showers and many garbage bins. There is also a family selling tortillas (bread baked in the ash) and sopaipillas, as well as some other people who come down in the evening and morning selling tortillas. There's a shop advertising ice cream, bread, sodas and other stuff, but it's closed. The people at the camping told us that it would open at 13, and then at 20, and then next day. A lady who had stayed there for a week said it had been like that the whole week, so I wouldn't count on it being open. As noted, you can ask the campground people to charge your phone. All in all, it was a nice campsite.<br /> Shortly after, the big climb starts. You have to pass through a fence and by some houses - again keep an eye on the GPS. We were charged 1000 per person, probably wouldn't happen for people going southbound. <br /> As warned, there was no water on the plateau until Laguna Liay. At the camp-waypoint, there is a very small lake, it doesn't look like the best drinking water, and the path directly to the lake seems very overgrown. Instead, we continued around the lake and found a decent campsite on the far side. The path around the lake is faint at best, and we ended up doing some serious scrambling down a cliff, however when we got down we found a path coming more from the right, so maybe there's a better way. The walk around is pretty, though.<br /> After the descent, the rest is easy walking past many puestos.<br /> In Trapa Trapa, we stayed at the house marked &quot;lodging, food&quot;. They charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. Very nice family, they might be away in their puesto sometimes though. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. They were building a cabaña when we were there. Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there. Apart from that there are two other minishops, one in each direction, which we didn't check out.<br /> <br /> The bus apparently leaves for Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends.<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec-03 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option D / Marc Anthony '''<br /> <br /> After finishing GPT9 I went directly on to GPT10 and made camp at the camping ground by el barco lake (5000 pesos) you can ask them to charge your electronics by the house where you pay. They didn’t sell any food.<br /> Like already mentioned by others, remember to bring a lot of water for the following section. The plateau you climb up on after El Barco lake was very dry. Next water source with good clean water was at Laguna Liay. I was getting desperate for water, so I took variant D directly down to the laguna. The trail was very overgrown and requires some bush bashing. Frustrating amounts of mosquitos and horseflies in this part of the section, might be worth bringing some mosquito spray!<br /> <br /> Next section towards trapa trapa was nice and easy with perfect weather and plenty of water.<br /> Found two mini-shops in Trapa Trapa with only limited supplies. A bus to Ralco, leaves weekdays 6:00 in the morning. Therefore I spent the night in a room that a local Mapuche family were renting out. Was served a very big plate of grilled sheep meat and really enjoyed talking with the family. Later in the evening the father returned home very drunk. He was nice and talkative but I was getting at bit of a bad vibe from him, so thanked them for the food and went off to bed. Later at night I was awaken by someone vigorously trying to open the door which I thankfully locked. Rest of the family woke up and I heard a mans voice shouting something about “extranjero” and soon after the abuela kicked this guy out of the house.<br /> <br /> Instantly thought I was gonna get robbed, but might just have been a drunk family member or the father who had forgot I was sleeping in their room. Hard to say… Apart from this I really enjoyed interacting with the locals in this region and I’ve had a lot of nice and memorable experiences.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Feb-02 / Incident on GPT10 at Puesto-55 Location S 37* 49‘ 31.79‘‘ / W 71* 16‘ 23.38‘‘ / Published on behalf of Trevor Mattson'''<br /> <br /> &quot;Sad to report that i had a very negative experience about 15km into section 10 on sunday (2/2). I was offered food and a place to camp by a very nice pehuenche lady (miriam, goes by &quot;mila&quot;, the puesto after puesto 55 marked as &quot;puesto, food&quot; at the beginning of the OH route right after it splits from RR) only to have her husband come home later an try to rob me. She was extremely friendly. Although he was noticeably intoxicated, he was also nice at first as we joked, drank maté an collected firewood together. After a couple hours, as the sun was almost completely gone (~10pm), he went inside his puesto, grabbed a knife, an approached me from behind as i sat around the fire with his wife. He marched me to my tent with the knife pressed againt my neck. I allowed him to search it (he kept saying &quot;plata, plata, plata&quot; an his Spanish wasn't very good) which gave me the opportunity to pick up a rock an intimidate him a bit. I had a lot of money an wasn't just gonna let him take it and all of my stuff up in the mountains at night. His wife then came an tried to get between us / protect me (she was pleading him to stop). He was shoving her around, but this gave me just enough time to rip my tent out of the ground, which had all my stuff in it, an quickly drag it to the nearest puesto (~100metres). He followed me on horseback after a minute or two an the family there armed themselves with sticks an told him to f**k off. <br /> <br /> I hiked for a few hours through the night an met an incredible family at around 1700metres on the optional route (papa named exequel). They told me that he (bernardino from &quot;puesto, food&quot;) has robbed a &quot;chino&quot; (means anyone that looks even remotely asian in my latin American experiences) in the past an that &quot;se vuelve loco&quot; when he drinks vine. I bought more cheese from bernardino an his wife than i wanted/needed as a nice gesture an we seemed to get along, so this was reassuring that he was just crazy an it was nothing that i did to provoke him. In other words, i behave according to the manual provided by Jan an it is not at fault.<br /> All in all, the pehuenches an mapuches i've met are all amazing except this guy. I definitely had to inform you all but don't want you to think that they are some uncivilized savages by any means. Bernardino kept telling his wife that i was &quot;solo&quot; as his justification for robbing me as they argued. Therefore i don't recommend passing through there alone, especially not later in the evening. I think if you stick to the regular you will narrowly avoid the puesto entirely. Or definitely worth the extra few KMs to continue to exequel's puesto further up the OH route. Also, i had a few extra pesos in a separate pocket that i was able to pretend like was all the money i had which was clutch. An from now on, I'm not staking anything into the ground until i know the father of the family well. <br /> Anyway, happy trekking, stay safe, an if anyone knows a good place to try an fix tent poles in concepción by chance then that would be awesome!&quot;<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-23 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Frank '''<br /> <br /> Came in from Trapa Trapa in evening &amp; camped @ Camp 81. There is a Mapuche family living there, talked to them &amp; they were OK with me camping nearby. I was caught out by the sudden transition from river valley to dry plateau, had very little water &amp; was as dry as dirt when I got to stream 1KM before Laguna Barco, drank 3 litres there. 3000CLP camping for 1 person @ Laguna. There is a Mapuche family with a food stall there, they have chips, sopaipillas &amp; tortilla. The tortilla is like a small bread loaf. Next morning as I was leaving around 8:30 the Mapuche woman came round the campsite with fresh sopaipillas &amp; tortilla. Walked in to Guallali from Laguna Barco in about 3 hours. Shop in Guallali is small but Romina who runs the shop provides beds &amp; meals. 20,000 CLP for evening meal (usually goat &amp; rice), bed &amp; breakfast. Walked out 9KM to Comunidad Chanqueco, there is a good shop there. From Chanqueco it's easier to hitch, traffic coming from Laguna Barco but very little from Guallali. Hitched into Ralco, stayed @ Hosteria Montana there, about 15000CLP single.<br /> 2 supermarkets in Ralco, they sometimes have camping gas.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-12 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes'''<br /> <br /> Overview: <br /> This section was well marked/distinguished relative to all the other sections on thus far. There were many Puestos along the way as well. This was also the first section where the araucaria tree is very prevalent across the landscape. This section was my final section on the GPT and the araucaria trees and the lush green landscape provided good contrast to the semi-desert climate south of Santiago de Chile. <br /> <br /> Difficulties: <br /> There was a small 12km ish section without water close to the pass. <br /> <br /> Highlights: <br /> Change in landscape. Great views of the many volcanoes in the area.<br /> <br /> Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-22 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin '''<br /> <br /> Combined sections 9 &amp; 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in &quot;veranadas&quot; were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-15 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie &amp; Tom '''<br /> <br /> The trail was in good condition and we didn’t experience any issues. Possible to resupply at Guallalí but the selection isn’t huge (pasta, dry soups, crackers, tuna etc). If you are looking to bus into Lonquimay, it was leaving at 5:30AM the next morning for us (but we didn’t take it). <br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-10 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> Easy trail and navigation. We got in this really bad weather too. Storm and ice at the pass. In Guallali we had coffee and sopapillas at the carabinieros and spent the night at the same place as Matus, Anna and Linda. We took the bus at 05:30 towards Los Angeles and are staying in Ralco for resupply and drying. <br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-25 to 2019-Dec-26 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda'''<br /> <br /> - Nice hike with no major difficulties. The plateau with the araucarias after the pass is amazing!!!<br /> <br /> - No river when you leave the valley toward the pass and then down to the other valley BUT, as I wanted to sleep on this plateau (25 km after the start of the section) I found a small river 300 meters on the right from the regular track and camped at this place : S37,895511° O71,308919° Wonderful sunset!!! <br /> <br /> - In Guallali, end of the section, lodging, food and mini shop. Lodging at the way point Minishop very nice = guesthouse with diner and breakfast for 20000 CLP. Very nice family!!!!<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-17 / 3.5 days (11 walking hours) / Hiking / NOBO / RR with hitch hiking between Guallali and Laguna el Barco / Sophie &amp; Hendrik '''<br /> <br /> In total we were 3.5 days on the trail, of which we spend 1 in the tent due to bad weather. The 0.5 day we had left from arriving in Guallali we spend buying food and hitch hiking to the campground at Laguna el Barco. We did so because we expected rain soon and wanted to camp it out. Also we were not too keen for the gravel road part.<br /> <br /> We liked: Nice araucaria trees, an amazing sunset we saw a tad south of Laguna Llai and after section 11 and 12 the easy terrain.<br /> <br /> We did not like so much: The horsflies.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-04 / 3.5 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus &amp; Anna '''<br /> <br /> GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log. <br /> We combined these two sections. It took us 3.5 days via regular trail SOBO.<br /> Trail in both section is in good condition. There is snowfield in first pass as was mentioned. We went left, but it would be worth to check is it's possible to go through rocks on the right as it seems much shorter. <br /> Water is not marked on a map but there is a stream before the pass. <br /> Resuply in Trapa Trapa is very limited. They had few tunas, other caned fish, some pasta, flour, cola, crisps... We didn't check for accomodation. <br /> We stayed in a paid campsite at Laguna el Barco for 5000 both. Around 8 there was a woman selling bread and sweet pastry, but mind that it was weekend. <br /> Resuply in Guallali again very limited. They have tunas, caned fish, pasta, oil, crackers and bit more. We are staying in a house next to the shop.<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> *Trapa Trapa<br /> - Accommodation: The house marked &quot;lodging, food&quot; charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. <br /> <br /> - Shopping: Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there. There is a panel just before the street going to the grocery indicating that the mini-market is 100m away. There are two other minishops.<br /> <br /> - Bus: The bus apparently leaves for Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends.<br /> <br /> *Guallalí<br /> Lodging at the way point Minishop very nice = guesthouse with dinner and breakfast for 20000 CLP. <br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> *Laguna El Barco :<br /> Updated Mar 22<br /> <br /> -The family selling cooked food close to Lake, Camp $ {10} [32.9/1292] wasn't selling food when I visited them around 11:00, maybe because it was monday morning, maybe because it was the end of summer, I don't know<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> Bus Guallali - Ralco - Santa Barbara - Los Angeles 05:30<br /> <br /> Updated January 2022:<br /> Bus from Trapa Trapa to Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108664113.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603529.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603527.jpg|thumb|Araucarias at GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603530.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_108603538.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]<br /> [[File:GPT_5_Laguna_El_Barco_1086641189.jpg|thumb|center|1100px|GPT10 - Laguna El Barco]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT09_(Volcan_Antuco)&diff=119923 2025-01-31T23:40:15Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> If you are packrafting, put the above info into HTML tags like this (if you follow a hiking route for part of the way, highlight only &quot;packrafting&quot;, as above):<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD, WHAT IS ENCLOSED IN &lt;&gt; MAKES IT BLUE):<br /> * &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;.<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> *''' 2025-Jan-22 to 2025-Jan-23 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Janboro '''<br /> <br /> I combined GPT 09, 10 and 11 and took 6,5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> Spent the night before my departure at the cabaña that belongs to Roca Café right next to the last bus stop and is run by Checo.<br /> <br /> Tried to hitchhike to the place where Farah and I stopped the day before, but wasn’t successful. So I took an “Uber”: a local guy who offered to drive me to Piedra del Indio for 50 luca. There, I started my hike in the late afternoon.<br /> <br /> The walk up the valley was straightforward, lots of water and easy terrain.<br /> <br /> I had plenty of encounters with puesto dogs that weren’t all too happy about my uninvited visit on their territory, with one being scary: At the puesto at [46.9/1709], two dogs aggressively barked and approached me while I was still more than a hundred meters away. No owners in sight and nobody reacted to my “holas”. Picking up stones as recommended in the manual didn’t keep the dogs from coming closer, so I decided to turn around, walked back around a hundred meters, crossed the river and made a big detour around the Puesto. I camped one or two kilometers upstream next to the river. Later in the evening, I saw the dueños coming back to their puesto on horses.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> The next morning I ascended the rest of the valley, had another two dogs barking aggressively and approaching me at Puesto at [49.3/1820]. This time picking up stones kept them at a distance of two meters. Also, their dueños were at home and eventually got their dogs to calm down and turn around.<br /> <br /> Shortly after the pass at [50.4/1878], I met a Pehuenche arriero who was on his way to his cattle in Antuco. Had a brief, nice chat with him and continued my descent.<br /> <br /> Way down also with easy terrain and a lot of water. At times the way is pretty steep though and I slipped two times in the sandy underground and fell on my butt.<br /> <br /> At the outskirts of Trapa Trapa I accidentally took the wrong way, walked through a gate and one to two hundred meters later found myself in a fenced-off private property, with two aggressively barking dogs approaching me, one from the front, one from the back. I yelled: “hola?” and a Pehuenche lady came and dot the dogs to leave me alone. Thanked her and apologized a couple of times. Her son opened the exit gate for me, I asked him if I was going the wrong way, he confirmed and pointed towards the correct way. In Trapa Trapa I searched for the shop and found it at the location, Ivan, Jakub and Daniel indicated. The selection of products was very limited, but I stilll had plenty of food so I only bought an ice cream and a pack of chicky bum. Continued through Trapa Trapa towards GPT10.<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''2025-Jan-19 to 2025-Jan-20 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / 09-01A, 09-02 / Farah &amp; Jan '''<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> Started at Park Ranger [8.4/1110]. Decided to avoid the CC on the RR as Farah’s knee was still not fully recovered from GPT06 and took the MR (09-02) instead. Took the 09-01A detour, then a pizza break at the Antuco Basecamp. Lots of traffic on the MR, so we ate a lot of dust. Camped around 2 km behind the Monument of the Tragedy of Antuco {09-02} [3.4/1416] right next Laguna Laja.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> Continued on the MR, still lots of dust, and camped at S 37°27.977' W 71°18.332' in the river bed.<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> <br /> The next morning Farahs knee pain got so bad she couldn’t continue, so we decided to tramp back to El Abanico. Close to the camp at {09-C} [1.0/1440], we found a building made of shipping containers and told the people who live there about our problem. Don Leonel, the owner, plans to open a restaurant at that spot within the next 1-2 months. They already have a camping ground with toilets and showers. Ignacio, mountain guide by trade, who works for Leonel, drove us to El Abanico and recommended us to stay at the cabaña of Checo, who also runs Roca Café right next to the last bus stop.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-18 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Nimrod &amp; Tamar<br /> <br /> ''''<br /> We got a ride from our sweet cabaña owner to the entrance to the park. The ranger took our info but we didn't need to pay because we hiked SOBO.<br /> <br /> It was rainy and we decided to camp near the waterfall and climb to the pass tomorrow.<br /> <br /> 2nd day:<br /> All trails were clear and easy.<br /> Camped at (-37.51122, -71.25437).<br /> <br /> 3rd day:<br /> At approx (-37.51590, -71.25192) there was a puesto, and Maurizio invited us to have breakfast with him (eggs, bread, goat meat leftovers).<br /> We camped near ford [54.9/1423].<br /> <br /> 4rth day:<br /> Nothing at the resupply waypoint. We asked a teenager (the only person we saw) where is the store. He told us there is no store in Trapa Trapa, but that he might be able to sell us some stuff. He took us to his home, and his parents fed us and sold us some basic food (flour, harina tostada, pasta, honey).<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''2025-JAN-08 to 2025-JAN-09 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + 09C / Alex '''<br /> The pass {09} [16.8/2043] is now open for safe and direct access in both directions. The regular route (RR) still has a challenging ford at Río de los Piños. Instead, I followed 09C.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-22 &gt; 23 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR &gt; route &gt; RR &gt; Crête / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT09+GPT10+GPT11+GPT12+GPT13<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : beaucoup au col du volcan<br /> | Intérêt : 4/5<br /> | Difficulté : 2/5<br /> | Danger : neige sur pente raide<br /> <br /> Bus de 11h (dimanche) puis auto-stop immédiat jusqu'au depart du sentier.<br /> La seconde moitié de la montée est plus compliquée mais se fait bien. Il y a des cairns dans tous les sens. Enorme congère au col, impossible a faire si la neige est gelée.<br /> J'ai pris la route au pied du volcan car le sentier est faisait un détours non justifié. Au col j'ai pris le sentier de crête. A Trapa Trapa je pensais trouver un resto ou une epicerie mais il n'y a rien a proximité du sentier.<br /> <br /> *'''2024-DEC-21 to 2024-DEC-22 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. B, C, 03B) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> From the bus stop at the end of section 08 var. 06-B [2.9/734], we set out with supplies for two days. We walked 6 km along the main road Q-45 to the start of section 09. At coordinates -37.3983, -71.43998, we reported at the park gate, filled out a form, and paid the entrance fee to the national park, which was 5,700 CLP per person.<br /> <br /> While ascending to the first pass, we crossed a hardened lava field (aprox. 500m), full of sharp rocks. The views of Volcán Antuco and Sierra Velluda were breathtaking there.<br /> <br /> At the pass at km 16.8, there was still a significant amount of snow on the southeastern side. We used our siesta pads to slide down about 100 meters of elevation. Since the trail was buried under the snow, we continued cross-country on the snow. From there, we chose variants B and C.<br /> <br /> We spent the night after the river crossing at km 37.0. After sunset, a local arriero on horseback came to check on us from a nearby puesto.<br /> <br /> The next day, we reached the end of the minor road and, from the pass, opted for variants {09-03} and {09-03B}. In Trapa Trapa, we resupplied with only sweets and instant noodles, as the selection was very limited. However, a kind lady sold us some eggs as well. The small shop is located at coordinates -37.7124106, -71.2564517<br /> <br /> '''2024-Dec-18 to 2024-Dec-19 / 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR (Partly) / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Resupplied at the red shop (S 37.42745, W 71.15386) in trapa trapa, they had ramen cookies, chocolate etc. She also sold us a big loaf of bread. Not great for a full resupply but enough for us to top up for a few days.<br /> <br /> Ford 54.9km - would be possible to camp around here if you wanted a short day in or out of trapa trapa. Water is a available from here all the way up and over the pass at the moment.<br /> <br /> Ford 33.5km (approx) Crossing Rio de Los pinos on the RR was deep and strong for us at 1pm so we decided to hitch the road instead. Not much traffic but we got picked up by the police.<br /> <br /> Pass 16.8km - lots of snow still we decided it was too much for us so hitched to Antuco.<br /> <br /> Antuco has plenty of options to resupply. We found one screw top gas canister in the hardware store opposite the plaza. Big supermarket and other hardware stores had the cartridge type.<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''24-12-06 - 24-12-09 / 3 days / SOBO / RR, OHa / Volker<br /> <br /> A wonderful spring hike!<br /> I hitchhiked from Pelluca (close to Antuco) to the camp site Lagunillas. Conaf registration is now on the road. 10K for day visitors, no fee for those, who continue SOBO. The Conaf guy at the spot indicated in the track files already knew from his colleague, that I am coming. Started there at 2.30 p.m. After the first slope very scenic landscape. The pass was completely under snow, so I walked back a bit to the yellow spot (close to the big red spot), found a spot, that fits for one tent. Very windy and cold - but superscenic with Sierra Velluda so close. <br /> Day 2: Volcan Antuco summit. I didn‘t start earlier than 7:15 as I wanted the sun to melt the surface of the snow before I arrive at the steep slope to the summit. If it‘s frozen, mini-spikes don‘t help. Arrived at the summit at 10:30 and met two guys from Antuco. Great view up there! Back to my tent at 13:30h, took a long siesta in the afternoon sun, but decided not to spend another night on the cold pass. The access to the RR down was blocked by a vertical snow-wall, even cleavages there. I bypassed both by walking 200m to the right and went down CC on steep snowfields (in the afternoon: no problem). RR under snow until it gets less steep down in the valley. I wanted to spend another night close to the impressive Sierra Velluda, so I went CC to OH09a, found water and a nice spot to camp there.<br /> Day 3: A lazy day. I started late and spent much time just enjoying the landscape. More fords than indicated, all easy, but none with dry feet. A none-indicated ford on RR shortly before gpt08-04 end I found to risky, so I crossed only the right river and followed the river bank to a path on the OSM leading to OH09C. Once on the plain, I went CC to join OH09C at the bridge. Camp close to the puesto at 39.6. <br /> Day 4: Very nice walk on RR in a rapidly changing landscape. First moved very quick, in the forest zone I was slowed down, the trail is partly destroyed by water, later quite steep on unpleasant rubble. All river-crossings (6, including the indicated ford): dry feet. Arrived at Trapa Trapa at 4 p.m. and stayed at the indicated spot on 09-03e, simple accomodation (very, very friendly Mapuche hosts).<br /> <br /> * '''2Dec2024 - 3dec2024 / hiking SOBO / OH2 - varC - RH - varD / 1,5 days / Clara'''<br /> <br /> Hitchhiking from antuco to camping parque national.<br /> <br /> Didn't go at pass 16.8km, seems dangerous as karin said + owner of the camping told me there's too much snow. <br /> Hitchhike to km35. Not many cars but first one took me. <br /> <br /> Camp at 47. <br /> <br /> Pass at 50.4 : still snow but easy to cross. <br /> <br /> Fords : still some thick snow fields melting on the top of some rivers on the way, but easy to cross for now. <br /> <br /> Water : plenty at this period<br /> <br /> Arrive at Trapa Trapa for lunch. Eat at point food, lodging. Kind and delicious. 10k CLP for harina tostada + soup with vegetables and pastas + tomatoes + lots of bread + tea. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-22 to 2024-Nov-24 / 2.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - option 1, 2 / Karin'''<br /> <br /> Camp: campamento amfiteatro / km47<br /> <br /> The pass km16 looked doable. And the rangers at the entrance of the parc told me that there is only a small amount of snow. So I decided to take the RR. Snow fields started to appear from about 1860m altitude, but were easily crossable. But the other side of the pass (facing eastwards) is just one big snow field. On the ridge were cracks in the snow, big snow blocks broke out and fell down, and combined with the steepnes of the slope, the risk of avalanches is high. Therefore, I decided to backtrack. <br /> <br /> Next day, two guys from the Departamento de obras offered me a ride and drove me to the landmark km35. From there the road is easy to follow with many small streams crossing it. So plenty of water. <br /> <br /> At the pass km50, there was still some snow. The streams are sometimes covered by the snow. As I had to cross them, it was either possible to walk around and cross the stream a bit up or down stream, or the snow was still hard and thick enough for me to walk on it. Which was risky, because I could not know if this was the case before doing it. It might become dangerous to cross the snow fields over the streams when the snow melts more and therefore becomes less strong. <br /> <br /> The valley to Trapa Trapa is very beautiful. It has a few more fords than indicated, mainly around S 37°40.6835' W071°14.1790' (altitude 1585m). <br /> <br /> I stayed in the home of the very nice family, indicated in Trapa Trapa as &quot;Food, lodging&quot;, for 2 days because of bad weather.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-19 to 2024-03-21 // 2 days (one day off due to the horrible weather) // Hiking // NOBO // RR + VARIANT C + VARIANT B // Quentin Clavel'''<br /> <br /> I then continue my way threw GPT 09 (went from GPT 12 to 09 straight). <br /> <br /> Easy track to follow all along, until the volcanic plateau. It's kind of an highway of arieros! I met a lot, all very nice, some of them quite curious of what my itinerary looks like. <br /> <br /> Pass after trapa trapa was a bit hard because of the heat, and because I began to be a tired, I had to do few breaks. <br /> <br /> Then arriving on a plateau, going down and pretty flat after, very well marques, on some part very sandy. After that you arrive on the big straight lines part, that was so exciting for me, the scenery are so nice that I was even a bit happy to walk on gravel roads aha. Weather begun to be very windy on the plateau that reminds me some hard times on the bloody tierra del fuego ! <br /> <br /> I was absolutely so happy to find an abandoned puesto that was a perfect shelter for an extremely windy, cold and rainy night. This shelter is located few meters on the right after the Ford {09} [37.0/1512]. <br /> <br /> As the weather was terrible the day after (snow on all the summits around and still heavy rain) I stopped for one day. One local, that live in a puesto around was curious and came by, we discuss and asked for the authorisation to stay there, and he said it was not a problem at all. <br /> <br /> Day after was stunning, I was so happy to skip the rain to have this lovely weather for the end of this amazing section ! <br /> <br /> Took variant C, had nice talks with carabineros, no problem at all to pass there now as long as you explain the situation. This option si very scenic, again, I was amazed from the volcan and the nice geometry of it, and the gravel road who's going on the way. <br /> <br /> Then CC on variant B, straight after the big house and the bus that sell food at the middle of nowhere ! <br /> <br /> I was amazed from the landscapes, antuco volcan for sure, but the amazing siella velluda también ! <br /> <br /> Teaching the pass, then continuing CC until reaching PK 11,89, and fond a well marked track until the road. <br /> <br /> I strongly hesitated to go up to the summit, but as there were a lot of fresh snow and it was pretty windy, I decide to continue my way, still very happy of the scenery I saw there ! <br /> <br /> Reaching the road, then hitchhiking to antuco + bus to Los Angeles (7pm) for a porper break, before coming back on this point and going to GPT08. <br /> <br /> AGAIN, I loved this section ! <br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-24 to 2024-03-25 / 2 days / SOBO / RR + var D / Marilyne'''<br /> <br /> Day 1 - It was Sunday and few buses were running so I took a “taxi” from Antuco to the start of the trail up the pass. (Owner of my lodging called up one of his friends who sometimes drives Uber around town). 15k to go to the National Park. Park rangers told me that I didn’t have to pay entrance fees since I was crossing the park and not coming back the same way.<br /> Many other hikers were there on a Sunday on the first part of the trail. Enjoyed the day very much and thought the scenery was beautiful. People at the puesto next to second ford of Rio de los Pinos offered me to stay with them but I declined as I was hoping to do this section in 2 days and wanted to hike a little further. Camped shortly after Ford {09} [37.0/1512].<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Kept going on the RR until Trapa Trapa. Stopped at the kiosco to buy cookies and chocolate (melted as that little hut in the sun gets hot!). Kept going right away on GPT10.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Mar-7 to 2024-Mar-8 / 1.5 days / SOBO / RR 2 C D/ Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> Bus from Antuco to Abanico at 8:30am (tell driver you want out at the junction to Abanico). Partly hiked but mostly hitched up to the lake (very little traffic, I was lucky). I choose Variant 2 (an easy road) as my rucksack was so heavy (plan doing Section 9 to 12). Lots of small memorials spreaded out for the soldiers died in a blizzard a few years ago. There was a military training going on, so I passed a lot of small groups of soldiers. All friendly. Later a local familiy asked if I want a ride, sure! We pass the bordercontrol on C2.5km, police just waives us through from a distance. Soon they reach their picknickspot and I continue walking on that long and empty road.<br /> <br /> No snowfields, plenty of (unmarked) water, fordings very easy, almost no Tabanos.<br /> <br /> Did not see the shop in Trapa-Trapa, but had plenty of food anyway, so put no efford in searching. No cellphone connection in Trapa-Trapa with Movistar.<br /> Nice views of Vulcan Antuco and Laguna de La Laya, otherwise not much to see. Nice, short and easy section (though I did not hiked the pass and had 2 long hitchhikes).<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Feb 25 to Feb 28 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Juliette and Martin '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 09 and 10 into 5 days of hiking. Beautiful sections with a diversity of landscapes: volcano, meadows, puestos...<br /> <br /> Transport to start of section: Albanico <br /> Bus Los Angeles - Albanico at 5 p.m. from rural bus terminal <br /> Hitch-hike to Lagunillas campsite (10,000 pesos pp per night, they also sell empanadas, which are very good, plus there's hot water). <br /> <br /> Day 1: Lagunillas campsite - Bridge (-37.46204, -71.31305)<br /> <br /> Lovely day and beautiful volcanic scenery. Not much shade on the climb. Rather pleasant bivouac spot, along the water, with grass and shade, rather cold night as our wet clothes froze at night. Water nearby (estero del volcano)<br /> <br /> Day 2: Bridge (-37.46204, -71.31305)- Camp -37.62833, -71.24444<br /> <br /> Beautiful day, with a few easy river crossings (maximum knee-deep). There's plenty of vegetation and shade, which is great for breaks. <br /> The camp spot is just a few meters from a puesto, and they offered to let us pitch our tent. Night still cold (frost). <br /> <br /> Day 3: Camp -37.62833, -71.24444 - Trapa Trapa <br /> <br /> Easier and shorter day than the others, but we followed it up with the start of section 10 so as not to sleep in Trapa Trapa. Not much choice in the mini-shops in Trapa Trapa. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb 09 to Feb 13 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Var C, Var D / Michael and Kasia'''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 9, 10, and 11 together.<br /> <br /> Day 0 - Feb 8th<br /> <br /> We left Antuco around 13:00. It took two hitches to get us to Lagunillas campground (also called Parque Antuco camping). We were lucky that the second car was actually going to the campground and took us right to reception. Posted price was 10.000 CLP pp. There are about 20 campsites. Each had a picnic table and an electrical plugin, and one of the two bathrooms had showers with hot water. We were not blown away by the campground, however we were just coming from a hostel rather than coming out of the mountains, and perspective counts for a lot. They ask you to pack your trash out. They have a small tienda where they sell prepared food, but nothing for resupply.<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Feb 9th<br /> <br /> From Lagunillas we took an OSM track directly across the road. The trail is clearly marked and maintained. It goes through native forest with nice views of the mountains and lava fields.<br /> There are at least two waterpoints along the way. The OSM trail connects in with RR.<br /> <br /> The trail up is fairly well maintained, no brush overgrowth in the path and no places where the trail has collapsed. The path through the lava field was amazing, and the views of Sierra Velluda were spectacular. It is a fairly popular path. On a Friday about 15 other people were on the trail.<br /> <br /> We had already decided we wanted to break the pass into two days if possible. We set up camp at the Campamento Anfiteatro or Amphitheatre Camping (-37.42427, -71.41517). It has a nice view of the glacier on Sierra Velluda and some shade in the afternoon. <br /> <br /> If deciding to stay at the amphitheater camping area, there is water on the opposite side of the plane. There is a very large waterfall that is visible from a long distance. Walking toward it, a little to the east (left side) is a smaller waterfall that becomes visible about halfway across. It had very clear water and a pool that is easy to access. There was also a stream that appeared in the late evening about 50 m from the campsite but disappeared again overnight.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Feb 10th<br /> <br /> There was water shortly after beginning up RR from Anfiteatro for some distance. The path is on the right side of the dry river bed as you are going up. We got confused and walked part way up the left side before realizing and had to backtrack to get to the correct side. There was still one very small snow field on the other side of the pass, but the trail curved around the right side of it so there was no need to walk on it. Expansive views of the valley on the way down. The trail was easy to see and follow most of the way. At the bottom we just went cross country. We camped at the larger of the two araucarias (-37.46186, -71.32047) in what looked like a arriero campground. The campsite at the smaller araucaria shortly before it looked a little nicer but required crossing the river and looked less wind protected.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Feb 11th<br /> <br /> We got a late start. It was a Sunday and there was a fair amount of traffic on the road so we decided to go crosscountry from the bridge and cut the loop to connect in with Var C. It was dry in some places, swampy in others, and we eventually had to switch to water shoes to cross the river. It probably didn't save any time, but it was definitely more interesting and avoided getting blasted by dust with every passing car. We rejoined the road on the far side. The afternoon had a cloud cover and actually got fairly cool which made the road walk much more enjoyable. Once we got onto the spur road just before the BCP we didn't see any more cars or people for the rest of the day. We camped on the uphill side of the road around (-37.57617, -71.24087) which looked to be an arriero campground. Very dusty but there was a reasonably flat spot and a small stream nearby.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Feb 12th<br /> <br /> We continued on RR. The valley was pretty, not too much happening. There were a lot of puestos but we saw only a couple of people and not too many animals. We stopped at the estero just before heading up to refill water and have lunch. We were initially going to take Opt 3B because it was shorter, but after seeing how exposed it was and some sketchy parts early on, we turned back and opted for RR. The path was easy to follow and actually in pretty good condition. It went through some beautiful forest which also provided some much needed shade. We took Var D down and did not encounter any dangerous scree. This section is also a little shorter than RR and passed by the river so one can refill if necessary. We were glad we took Var D. We decided to camp about 1km before Trappa Trappa along the river around (-37.70803, -71.24448). It was right next to the road, so far from optimal, but it worked.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Feb 13th<br /> <br /> We walked into Trappa Trappa around 11:00. It was very windy the entire time we were there, and almost no one around. We first went to the shop with the Kiosko sign, but no one was there. A neighbor came out and told us that the guy works in the school till around 14:00, but would be around later. We then went to the shop indicated by the Provisiones sign. She didn't have a lot. She said the food truck was coming that day around 18:00, so I guess we just got unlucky with the timing. We bought some pasta, cookies, yogurts, Zukos, canned fish, crackers, and she made us sopaipillas for 300 each. They were really good but a very different style from the ones we had had with the arrieros, more pastry-like, fried crispy on the outside but still doughy on the inside and more oily. Very filling but I don't think they would work well to carry. We went back to the Kiosko shop and the guy came when we rang the timbre. He had even less stuff, mostly cookies. We bought a few more things there. Finally we went to the shop just at the beginning of Section 10. It is on the left just as you start down the hill, a corrugated metal wall with a large square cut out of the side that acts like a window and the word “Hola” scratched into the side. She had the least amount of things, but she did have fresh onions and carrots, no cheese (she said she makes it in December and when it's gone that's it for the year). Initially she said she didn't have any bread, but as we were talking with her she offered to sell us a bread, a pan amasado that was huge and dense and served us for three meals. From here we continued into GPT10.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-11 to 2024-Feb-13 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH B + C + D / Joscha'''<br /> <br /> I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Day 1: RR [5.8-9.6]<br /> <br /> I hitched in the afternoon from Los Angeles to the entrance of the Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja (around km 5.8). From there I hiked to km 9.6. Here are some nice flat spots to camp + you have a nice view over the Rio Laja valley. But there is no water at the spot.<br /> <br /> Day 2: RR [9.6-20.7] + OH09-B + OH09-C + RR [34.9-47.4]<br /> <br /> Big flat, sandy area around km 11.9 is a good campingspot. There is also a creek flowing not more than 50 meters south of the RR-CC [11.9+4.9]. The RR over the Pass (km 16.8) is completely snow free now. The RR and OH-B cross a creek at km 20.8. There is lots of water on OH B + C + RR [34.9-47.4].<br /> <br /> Day 3: RR [47.4-54.6] + OH09-D + RR [56.4-61.5]<br /> <br /> Ford at km 52.3 is dry. But the RR cross a bunch of streams around the Pass (km 50.4) and it runs along the river of the valley at km 53.2 for a few 100 meters. I just went through Trapa Trapa and continued directly with section 10.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-15 to 2024-Feb-18 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Trapa-Trapa - El Abanaico / RR + Option 01 + Option B + Option C +Option D / Alex &amp; Christophe'''<br /> <br /> We really enjoyed this section even if it wasn't really fast to walk in the sand and lava field.<br /> <br /> We didn't have much to add to what has already been written.<br /> <br /> We tried to summit the Antuco Volcano bit didn't success because it was too steep and too lose so we stopped at 2700m. I would recommend to take crampons if you want to summit, so you can go in the snow (wich was quite hard, even at 2pm) and it should be easier. What I would however recommend to everyone is to go up to 2300m. It is easy to go from the pass and the panorama is incredible.<br /> <br /> We camped after the try on the Volcano at the Amphitheatre Campsite. It was a nice place but I wouldn't recommend it. First, you have to walk a kilometer just to wash yourself and to take some water and second, we had strong wind gusts all night long. The camp is not wind protected.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-12 to 2024-Jan-13 / 2 days / SOBO / RR, OH C, OH 03B and OH 03/ Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Started in Camping Las Lagunillas at around 7 am. Took me about 4 to 5 hours to the pass. On the way up I found water starting from -37.423109 -71.404405 onwards, followed along. Big stream, should not dry out soon or never(?) during summer. At the pass still to much snow to drop in directly to the path on the other side. Instead of walking upwards to the left towards volcano I took short detour to the right, to come around the snowfield, for me worked out well. Slided then down on the lower and not so steep snowfields to get to a basin. Reached from there the RR…Thought could be tough to ford estero Petronquines on the RR, so took the road (OH C)…Two police stations there, nobody checked me, although cars were at each spot… somehow an annoying road to walk on…you could hitchhike a part of it, there is some traffic, but not to much. I did not. Camped at a beautiful spot at the river -37.511560, -71.259157 a few kms before the landmark. There is life here all along the road, lots of puestos, cows, sheep, goats. Next day again along this endless seeming road up to the pass above Trapa Trapa, water all along, even at the pass…From there I took OH 03B, which is the shorter way to the village, OH03 from <br /> -37.69671, -71.25027 was in some parts a light BB till I got on a good trail which brought me down to Trapa. Descending down the pass to the village you’ll get an other version of Chile. Araucania trees are showing up and you are now in Mapuche region, no more chilean flags at every house down there. End of this sector was for me the biggest change on the GPT so far (having done the sections before from Santiago)…other people, language, culture, other flora…a kind of a very welcoming change. Arriving in Trapa Trapa you could give a try at owner of house at -37.71056, -71.26569, junction OH03 and main road. He offered me camping and food if I couldn’t find something in town. If not there is the usual family who takes guests. Miniminishop is at<br /> -37.71240, -71.26355<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-01 to 2024-Jan-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {09-B} - {09-C} - RR - {09-D} - RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> I combined GPT09+10+11+12, first resupply 6 days food in Antuco, then take 2.5 days for 09, stay in Trapa Trapa(save 2 meals), resupply in Trapa Trapa for 1.5 days food(low stock and limited selection). Then take 2 days for 10, stay in Guallalí(save 2 meals), resupply in Guallalí for 2 days food(low stock and limited selection but better than Trapa Trapa). Lastly 2 days for 11, 4 days for 12)<br /> <br /> Nice resupply in Antuco, but most of them are closed because i visit here on the first day of 2024.<br /> <br /> A friendly local give me a ride to the entrance of national park, thank you so much to him! There are some beautiful waterfalls start at RR km2.3 to km4.7, remember to take a look, they are at the mountain side(right side)! Lot of families come to here for enjoy their holidays.<br /> <br /> RR km5.7 : ranger station for vehicles and people control for entering the park. Super nice and let me go in after i told them my route, no need to pay any fee or show any permits.<br /> <br /> Park ranger[8.4/1110] : look like is a ranger station, didn't see anyone when I passed here on 5.30pm.<br /> <br /> Km9.7 : flat area, you can camp here if need, but no water.<br /> <br /> Km11.25 - km11.9 : lava trail, there are some rock cairn for you to follow, not difficult.<br /> <br /> Km11.9 : if you continue going south at the RR sharp turning, about 200m you will met a stream, flowing good with cold and clear water, flat spots nearby too, but I'm not sure it will dry up or not.<br /> <br /> Follow rock cairn to the pass, mostly you'll lost the trail and cairn at km15.6, look at the right side, go down the dry riverbed then climb up to the other side, you'll find cairn again. Don't walk in riverbed, they'll block your way at the end.<br /> <br /> Still lot of snow after the pass, follow Véronica's comment, climb up the ridge to compass NE ( I walk on the top of snow slope, because it is flat and gentle, also i think it is easier than walking on loose sand.)<br /> <br /> At about 2150m, there is a break without snow, a sandy slope that you can walk down. ( -37.43215, -71.36002 )<br /> <br /> Not steep, i think is easy go down but slow, so when i go down a little, i go back to south side to join the snow slope for fast moving, snow slope becomes more gentle when it gets lower.<br /> <br /> By the way, you can climb up and go down the pass without stepping on any snow now.<br /> <br /> Km20.7 : you'll find car track here, you can follow it to dirt road, i take {09-B} here, avoid crossing Petronquines(RR km28.9) at downstream. {09-B} is something look like a very old car track on the ground, no cars running on it anymore, easy walking but not easy to follow.<br /> <br /> {09-B} km1.15 : crossing of Estero El Aguada o El Volcán ( a long name), a stream. A very good crossing point, stream break to 6 parts here, all below half of calf at afternoon. Flowing nice with clear water.<br /> <br /> After the crossing, i can't find any trail or car track on the other side, but after i keep going CC about 400m, a dirt road in good condition at mountain side, it'll lead you to the main dirt road and join {09-C}.<br /> <br /> Bridge {09-C} [1.7/1417] : milky water.<br /> <br /> Border control CL[2.5/1420] : gate for vehicles but not for people. Didn't see anyone when I passed here at 5pm.<br /> <br /> Km3.7: excellent view point of Volcán Antuco and meadows.<br /> <br /> Bridge[5.3/1444] : crossing Petronquines on a bridge, beautiful view and lot of clear water, maybe it is difficult to cross it at downstream (RR) as now. Look like you can camp beside, or under the bridge. But every 0.5 - 1 hour have a border control vehicle patroling the road, I don't know camping beside this road is it a good idea.<br /> <br /> Bridge[7.3/1470] : clear water but no flat spots.<br /> <br /> X RR[34.9/1495] : rejoin RR.<br /> <br /> Ford[37.0/1512] : below half of calf at late afternoon.<br /> <br /> Km39.4 - pass[50.4/1878] : lot of stream crossing the road, have 1-2 need wet feet crossing, just beside the pass is a stream flowing too.<br /> <br /> Pass[50.4/1878] : beautiful grassland, flat and nice for camping, but 20+cows when I passed here.<br /> <br /> RR-TL-V{09} [50.4+9.6] is a nice and maintained trail ,easy to follow, sometimes you'll find orange ribbon leads where you go.<br /> <br /> Ford[52.3/1648] : no river crossing here.<br /> <br /> Km53.15 - km53.65 : you need to cross the stream 4 times, then walk in the stream about 50m, but all dry feet crossing, rock hopping or log bridge will help you.<br /> <br /> Km54.55 : junction of RR and {09-D}, but i miss the turning to RR, so i go for {09-D}.<br /> <br /> {09-D} km0.4: river crossing, rock hopping for dry feet. Also a small grassland can fit 1-3 tents after the crossing 150m.<br /> <br /> Km0.6 : a stream flowing good crossing the trail with a tiny waterfall, you can sit under it to enjoy a cool shower in a hot day. Look like the other side of river have a nice grassland for camping can fit 2-4 tents, but wet feet crossing.<br /> <br /> Km1.1 : rejoin RR.<br /> <br /> Viewpoint RR [57.4/1338] : if you are SOBO, it is the first view of Volcán Callaqui. Also nice view of Trapa Trapa.<br /> <br /> Km58.6 : CAUTION, if you see a red ribbon, DON'T keep going, you are not on the trail, turn back immediately and check your GPS. RR trail is a sharp turning then go down, you are walking away from the trail and towards a very steep slope now.<br /> <br /> Km58.95 : RR have some reroute at here, but mostly you can follow the only trail to main road.<br /> <br /> I stayed at Trapa Trapa with the lovely family at (Lodging,food) waypoint. Simple single room with bed, quilt, chair, light and electric charger, also dinner and breakfast. I buy some sausage from the shop nearby and share with all people here. They are very exciting where i come from, what I'm doing, and what interesting things happened when I'm hiking, it is a warm night, i love them! And they invited me to watch their sterilization of horse, OMG OMG OMG, so shock to me, OMG.<br /> <br /> Shop (-37.71249,-71.25642) : at compass West of (Lodging,food) waypoint, very close just 2 min walking. Two red house here, the small one is shop. Selling drinks, ice cream, biscuits, pasta, coffee, tea and some frozen meat( mostly is sausage). This shop have a sign on the main road, no sign at the front gate and the gate is opened.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 28 to Dec 29 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / Option 2 + RR+ 09-C/ Ella'''<br /> <br /> TLDR: no issue at border control. don’t count on Lagunillas Camping cafeteria or the Lodging, Food waypoint in Trapa Trapa<br /> <br /> Bussed from Los Angeles to Abanico - make sure to go to the terminal for rural busses which will be different from where you might get off an intercity bus. Hitched from there to Lagunillas Camping. Campground was nice and spacious. The host is really kind and helpful. The cafeteria was not open for food when I was there, just coffee and tea. <br /> Day 1: Due to a stormy forecast, I chose to avoid the already sketchy-seeming pass and head for the route around the lake (option 2). To get there, I took the small trails around the main road heading east from the campground, which were scenic for a cloudy day with no mountain view - enjoyed the volcanic landscape and the waterfall Salto Las Chilcas. I then was able to hitch a ride on the road beside the lake to the other side of the Volcano, which was good because there didn’t appear to be many streams or campsite options. I continued on by foot on Variant C. I went through border control and the officer was very thorough, but didn’t try to give me an exit stamp when I explained I wasn’t going to cross the border. He mostly seemed concerned that I was alone and tried to offer food and a bathroom! I camped a few kilometers further along that road by one of the streams that crosses it. Beware of aggressive bulls in the area. <br /> <br /> Day 2: Easy walking all the way to the pass. Water is still available about every kilometer or two along this route. After the pass there are a few points with a bit of landslide risk where you’re walking on very unstable skree. In retrospect it seems Variant D may exist to avoid some of this but I can’t be sure because I didn’t take it. When I got to Trapa Trapa I was dismayed to find no one at the lodging and food point that others had raved about. The small market just beside this point (sign for “provisions” is only on the main road. looks like a small house with the front painted red next to a larger house) was indeed open at 6pm on a Friday after I called out. There were many types of biscuits and cold drinks, pasta sauce (no pasta), coffee, and maybe even some type of meat in the freezer that I wasn’t quite daring enough to buy. Highly recommend the calorific Chiky Bum biscuits for avoiding mental collapse after a nearly 30km day. I asked the owner about the lodging option next door and she said the family was away for a few days, so guess I just got unlucky. Further down the road towards GPT 10 where there is sign “Kiosco”, there’s also a small ice cream shop/market that was closed when I arrived. I didn’t find another market. Went back up the GPT 09 trail just a bit to get out of town and found a nice camping spot along the river for the night. Visits from goats and a baby horse were a welcome occurrence. No Entel service in Trapa Trapa.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 20 to Dec 22 / 2,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR &amp; 09-C/ Tomáš &amp; Natalie'''<br /> <br /> We took a bus at 19:00 from Los Angeles (which has a great system of shared taxis with fixed routes, number eight goes from the big bus station to Jumbo and back to rural bus station for 1000 per person) to Albanico and upon arriving there after five minutes, the first passing car took us to the border of the national park. We pitched our tent in the delta of the river not far from the road but not visible from it. Without the smoke of last year and with the yellow of brooms everywhere and Antuco under snow, the valley was extremely pretty.<br /> <br /> The next day we talked to a CONAF ranger, he said an Argentinian hiker told him there was ice in the pass. We did not pay anything. [Including a nice trail that is on OSM in our suggestions to avoid roadwalking from the Rangers office to the RR up].<br /> <br /> The climb is pretty, in the pass there was a lot of snow. We followed Véronica's suggestion from last year and climbed about 100 m of elevation to the east and then ran down on the snow (see picture here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1720553588450520/ ). The path in the valley was rather invisible. Two lone araucaria trees guard the road. We thought Rio de los Pines would be impossible to ford now with all the thawing (others seem to have passed though) so we took variant C along the main road to Argentina. Carabinieros just looked at our passports and let us go. A car passed about every half an hour. The valley is stunning yet the roadwalk is a drudge. The following minor road seems virtually never to be driven by cars and is in places badly damaged by water. The valley up is nice.<br /> <br /> Going down to Trapa-Trapa, about 1 km after the pass, the path is eroded and new one was created going down to the water. The walk down through the forrest was quite pleasant. We met several groups of arrieros on both side of the pass, they were nice.<br /> <br /> In Trapa-Trapa, we had lunch at &quot;Lodging, Food&quot; waypoint. We could not see any sign. We got tomatoes, cheese, bread, pasta, a piece of down fried in oil (tasty) and maté. We paid them a good price for it, we hope it was not too much. From March 2024, there should be (probably) Entel coverage in the valley, the telecomunication tower is already up. We did not see any shops but did not look for them. Altogether, GPT 09 is quite nice, especially now with the snow.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-dec-18/ 2,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR &amp; 09-A/ Lukas en Tess'''<br /> <br /> As of now the pass on K16,8 is imposible to cross. Going around and taking 09-A is posible but the rock scrambling is a pain. But I would argue the awesome lava field is worth it. <br /> Otherwise the trail was nice and easy, I realy enjoyed the wide open landscape. Arriving in Trapa Trapa we where offered some Harina tostada drink after starting a conversation with some old ladies. We got some cheese at a minishop that is not on the track files. Z37,712542° W71,266816°, something like haloumi, so try roasing it!<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-8 to 2023-Dec- 10 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 2 + cross country for the volcano / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn &amp; Jens'''<br /> <br /> - Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br /> <br /> - Snow : on RR on km 16,8 seems impassable because there was still a lot of snow. Yannick wanted to summit the volcano, he went on the East part and went until 2700m of altitude. The North face had less snow.<br /> <br /> - Camping spot : easy to find<br /> <br /> - River crossing : easy between km 57,9 and km 52,3<br /> <br /> - Weather : Sunny<br /> <br /> - Resupply : in Abanico a little shop and some cabanas, more options in Antuco, everything you need to resupply there - even gaz canister in the ferreteria<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-10 to 2023-Mar-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH-1 / Iris, Alexis '''<br /> <br /> After a rest in Trapa Trapa at Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956], we started GPT09 in the morning. The ascent following RR-TL-V {09} [57.4/50.4+9.6] is a well marked horse trail that clims slowly, perfect for a start. Then, the RR-MR-V {09} [41.8/34.9+13.3] is flat and passes through a nice valley, a bit above the river but multiple streams crosses it. Like others, we took 09-C, but had no luck with hitchhiking and ended up walking the 11km. No problem at the border control. We finally ended up camping close to -37.46277, -71.31864 (aim for the big tree, and you will find some camp spot with firepits) after a pretty long day. <br /> <br /> On Day 2, we followed the RR and took Option 09-01 to climb the summit. We left most of our gear at the Pass {09} [16.8/2043]. It's better to follow the track for the first part, until the conic shape because it goes along a ridge and avoid pointless ups and down. Then, on the conic shape, you are on your own. We followed a trail made by a group of 8 hikers that were a bit ahead when we found it. It definitely helped as the parts without were really clambering. The views on the top and the small crater made it definitely worthwhile for us. Going down is much more easy and fun, you slide on the sand! As it was late in the season, we did not had any snow on our way but it sill took about 4h to go up (and 1 to go down).<br /> We ended up camping at Campamento Anfiteatro (-37.42427, -71.41517) pretty exhausted. The river here is really chalky but clean water is available from the ice cave.<br /> <br /> On Day 3, we took a small detour to see the tunnel of ice (worthy!) and headed down towards Chacay. Then we tried to hitchhike until Abanico with poor luck (on a Sunday morning). Took us 4 rides, but the last one went until Antuco. As there are also limited buses on Sundays, we then did more hitchhike to Los Angeles to ressuply. <br /> <br /> A short section but filled with great landscapes and stunning views. Plus you walk in a lava field! Definitely worth it, we really loved it! <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-14 to 2023-Jan-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + volcan Antuco / Martial / '''<br /> <br /> Combined with Section 10.<br /> Laja national Parc was reopened after fire preventive closure on 13/02. Took the bus from LA to Abanico at 4:30PM arriving late at Campamiento viejo (7000$/n) after walking cause poor hitchhiking at this hour (parc closes 17:30). Next morning much more efficient and someone droped me at the start after giving pre-order entry number to CONAF staff (was not important that my ticket was for the previous day).<br /> The ascent to Amphiteatro camping is quick and really well maintained trail. Then i strongly recommend visiting detour to the waterfall for a unique glaciar tunnel walking experience.<br /> Next CC on Antuco’s lava fields was real fun in perfect cloudy weather. Don’t miss the impressive lava bridge !<br /> After reaching the pass early, legs were feeling like summiting Antuco the same day so i decided to search for a high camp. Mission completed here at 2300m : -37.42532, -71.35615 with flat sand next to fresh clean water ponds from the snow. Summiting 2h after setting camp, sunset rewarded me with unique views on laguna Laja and massive Sierra Veluda. Just don’t get caught by the night or bad weather !!<br /> RR descent is sandy and hot traversing a sand deserted bareland so I strongly recommand the O9-C to avoid struggle like I did before shortening to reach the road. Had a meal from a generous family staying at the next Puesto + a hike to piedra del Indio. Then Vegas de Trapa is quick walking MR with lots of puesto and camping option so personally stoped here : -37.57620, -71.24127. Arrived in Trappa next early afternoon for sweet delights in the only shop fenced and garded by 3 dogs. Directly continued to section 10 for reaching puesto at 7.1 wich i also recommand for it’s comfy grassy camping and amable Mapuche family.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-23 to 2023-Jan-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 9c / Maks &amp; Gabi'''<br /> <br /> Combined with Section 10.<br /> The road is nice and visible. There is no snow on the pass. <br /> At the entrance to the national park, the guards asked for permission, but when we told them that we were going to Trapa Trapa, they let us go. We slept at the camping inside the park (10000/person).<br /> We took a detour to see a waterfall by the glacier. It was about 4 km go and back. <br /> We camped right outside the national park, by the river. There were a lot of cows but none of them aggressive. We the took the optional route 9c and walked by the carabineros station.No problems there. Just explained that we are going to Trapa Trapa, without crossing the border. They checked out passports and let us go. <br /> There were no further surprises, and the road is really well maintained. Just be careful when going down to Trapa Trapa after rain. It's quite slippery. <br /> There is plenty of water along all the trail. <br /> The shop in Trapa Trapa is marked with a sign on the main road. They have some sweetest and noodles but not much more. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-21 to 2023-Jan-23 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Johana &amp; Matouš'''<br /> <br /> We really enjoyed this section. We took a bus from Los Angeles to Abanico at 3 o'clock and then hitchhiked to the end of the main road. We arrived at the CONAF control point with no one there (7 p.m.). We slept at the Lagunillas camping, which was for 10000 per person, they had beers, jugos, empanadas, tortillas..We teamed up with Gabi and Max from Poland and enjoyed their company throughout the section (hello! :⁠-⁠)). The ascent to the volcano was amazing, looked like Mordor. Near the point &quot;Campamento Anfiteatro&quot; there's a waterfall that ends in a snowpatch whereby it creates a cave of ice. It's amazing. You can see it from the distance. There's clean water as well, the next clean water is on the other side of the volcano in the valley. We confirm that there's no need to stay away from the carabineros anymore, they only took down our passport numbers. Then it was easy walking until after the pass. We camped at a nice spot in the forest next to the river (S 37° 40.6391' W 071°14.1985). We somehow didn't manage to find the food/lodging point, but were approached by an older lady who fed us cookies and seemed to know a lot about other hikers. There are said to be three shops in Trapa Trapa, we only found the one next to the school which had only biscuits. Continued to GPT10 straight after.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-10 to 2023-Jan-12 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will '''<br /> <br /> Combined with section 10<br /> Nice easy section, loved crossing the fresh crunchy volcanic wasteland at the start. Everything after that was fast trail. Mild temperatures, no horse flies.<br /> I had some trouble getting back from Antuco to the trail. I got told a couple wrong times for the bus, and had no luck during my quick hitchhiking attempt. Eventually caught a bus to abanico at 2, and then two rides got me into the park. The couple driving me spoke for me at the park entrance, and I ended up having to pay 4500 for the entrance. I probably should have gotten out and talked my way through separately.<br /> I stayed at openstreetmap's amphitheater campsite night 1. Nice sheltered spot at the base of sierra velluda, soft sand.<br /> The camp/puesto markers at km 47 seem a bit out of date. There wasn't much at the puesto maker, and there was a puesto right at the campsite marker. The family at the puesto happily let me camp there.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-06 to 2023-Jan-08 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Anna &amp; Christopher '''<br /> <br /> Antuco - Trapa Trapa<br /> We hitchhiked from Camping Rucue back to the national park. The landscape was really magnificent the first day. There was almost no snow left after the pass.<br /> After the descent walking gets tougher due to the sand and the path is partially hard to find.<br /> But after the second roadcrossing there is a lot of easy walking on dirt roads. <br /> Atfter leaving the river at around km 47, there is still accessible water in the first part of the small ascent. On the plateau there are no watersources until the descent. We carried some water and camped on the plateau, a very nice spot.<br /> Walking down to Trapa Trapa was really nice. We followed the main route. In retrospective we would have taken option 3, because it is shorter.<br /> We met a couple of locals along the way and they all greated us very nicely. Trapa Trapa was pretty empty when we arrived at around 11 am. We continued right to section 10.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-23 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica '''<br /> <br /> combined GPT09 and GPT10<br /> Route: CONAF waypoint - shoulder of Volcán Antuco - road through border control checkpoint - Trapa Trapa <br /> <br /> Two days from national park to Trapa Trapa. From Antuco, I hitched back to the national park and got there around noon. Didn't get charged an entry fee, I just told the entrance staff what trail I planned to take. Nice path most of the way up the volcano, even the CC section has occasional cairns marking the way. You go along a creek as you go up, so lots of accessible water. <br /> <br /> Lots of snow on the southeast side of the pass. Tried to go around on the right along/through the rocks, but it's mostly siltstone, very crumbly, and very steep. Got really precarious there so I backtracked to the pass and went around the snow on the left. This involved climbing an additional 150m through volcanic sand, but it felt much safer. The rest of the way down is pretty much all cross-country, couldn't really find a path, but navigation was simple. There were some water sources on the way down too, courtesy of the melting snow. <br /> <br /> The next morning, I took Option C that goes along the dirt road. There was no one at the border control checkpoint, probably because I went through before 7 a.m. <br /> <br /> Rest of the way to Trapa Trapa is easy, no issues whatsoever. It's nice and forested on the south side of the pass. I didn't investigate resupply or bus options in Trapa Trapa as I went straight through to GPT10. <br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Mar-01 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain '''<br /> <br /> - Camp {09} [47.1/1709] : I slept around 47.5, the place was calm, flat, with grass and close to the water (that was finally not usable because there was too much sand in, but you can easily find drinkable water when going down the valley), many people from the puestos came to talk as it seemed to be the end of the season, it was really pleasant. One offered me to come by him but it was late and I was too tired to move by him, I tried to meet him back the day after but I didn't find his puesto with its indications<br /> <br /> - The valley from Puesto {09} [49.3/1820] to Puesto {09} [39.8/1558] : very pleasant, with nice people in, I really liked this place. The water in the middle isn't usable but you can find fresh drinkable water going down from the hills at some points<br /> <br /> - There is a Puesto around {09} [37.0/1512], people were nice and asked me if I needed anything<br /> <br /> - The way on RR-TL-V {09} just after GPT09-C end isn't easy to find, just stick to the GPS until meeting a road leading to a Puesto close to the river at the Ford on Rio de los Pinos, then it's much easy to follow<br /> <br /> - I got an excellent bath when crossing the river close to GPT08-04 end, the water coming from one river was warm and there was enough depth <br /> <br /> - the CC from GPT08-04 end to GPT09-02 end was beautiful but demanding because of the soil made of earth and sand, it took me more time than I thought. After having cross the river I got close to an other one with many cows next to it, following it at one point a source of clear drinkable water was running on 3-4m to reach the river<br /> <br /> - There is a Campbase with many places cleaned to set up tents and do campfires close to the river following up the road around Bridge {09} [23.3/1409]. It's located at the base of a huge araucaria tree, you can't miss it<br /> <br /> - After the RH-CC-A {09} the RH-TL-V {09} is easily findable just by looking at the GPS and is marked with many cairns<br /> <br /> - National Park : when leaving it I went to see the guards at the entrance and they were ok with that, didn't ask for any information or fee<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-09 to 2022-Feb-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika &amp; Jo '''<br /> <br /> Took the bus from Antuco to Abanico, got a ride by a friendly Chilean to the national park (no camping allowed). Had to pay entry to the park. Took the CC route avoiding the carabineros to camp in the meadows just beyond the park (S 37° 27.927', W 07). There was a spring emptying in the meadows there. Finished after a long hiking day at Elvira's &quot;lodging, food&quot;. Very friendly family, took us in even after 21:00. Understandably there was no goat stew, but we also only payed half price (20.000). Great homemade bread in the morning though :) Continued to GPT10 immediately after.<br /> <br /> In the first morning when breaking down camp, we were greeted by two carabineros on horseback, who may have been surprised at the sight of our tent out of sight next to a sand slope. They asked who we were, where we're from and where we're going too, and didn't mind us camping there. No questions about the border with Argentina after. I guess there's no need to stay away from the carabineros here any longer.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-21 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + Antuco summit / Molly and Melissa '''<br /> <br /> In Trapa Trapa, we stayed at the house marked &quot;lodging, food&quot;. They charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there.<br /> <br /> The path up from Trapa Trapa starts next to the river. Nice path all the way, that transitions to a long gravel road, very easy to follow and many little streams. We camped at the beginning of the next valley at the waypoint &quot;ford&quot;. The second to last puesto, on the right hand, belongs to Felizario whose family has the lodging option in Trapa Trapa. He is open to people camping nearby.<br /> <br /> The cc section is easy navigation-wise, but the sand is tough to walk in, and it is very exposed. There's little water apart from the fords, but enough. The water coming down from the valley next to Volcan Antuco is very chalky though, and at the waypoint &quot;camp&quot; the stream is all dried up. Further in the valley the water is fine, and it might be possible to find a campsite just before leaving the stream on the optional route.<br /> The building at the &quot;police&quot; waypoint is abandoned. We ended up camping by the carabineros at the &quot;boarder control&quot; waypoint.<br /> While walking on the primary road we were stopped by a boarder control car who wanted to see our passports and pase de movilidad (covid-19) and hear about our route. There were no problems with that. He was very convinced we couldn't cross to Abanico through the pass on the regular route because there wasn't a trail on the other side, but he let us try. Absolutely no snow in the pass on Volcán Antuco's shoulder - apparently it's a very low snow year<br /> <br /> Volcán Antuco summit:<br /> We followed the route up, it leads along the ridge to avoid the very strong stream in the valley. This part is not too difficult. The summit itself is very hard, though. It's very steep through loose, big lava rocks that slide everywhere. Tough and a little dangerous. On the other side, the terrain is made of the same kind of rocks for over half of the descent, which makes for a very slow going. Maybe there is a nicer path under the ski lifts, we found one almost in the end. Definitely not worth it for everyone.<br /> The place marked &quot;restaurant, lodging&quot; was closed - apparently they are open only during the ski season. Not too difficult to hitch from there if not too late<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes'''<br /> <br /> Overview: <br /> This section has you cross over a volcanic lava field and over a pass at first and then follows trails south thru and area with many puestos and ranches. The first part of this section involves some route finding and cross country while the second half follows well established dirt roads and dirt trails thru grass Valley.<br /> <br /> Difficulties: <br /> WARNING: Huge snow field at the top of the pass that is untraversable. It is very steep and must be avoided if not yet melted. Must go around so please be safe. My biggest difficult was the sections across the lava rocks. My shoes were almost destroyed by this point and the sharp, jagged and uneven surface of the lava rock caused so much pain in my feet and completely took out what ever life was left in my trail runners. Also, lots of route finding and cross country in this area. <br /> <br /> Highlights: Amazing mountain pass with many views of waterfalls. Glaciers.<br /> <br /> Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-22 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT19) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin '''<br /> <br /> Combined sections 9 &amp; 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in &quot;veranadas&quot; were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-22 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank '''<br /> <br /> 2 days &amp; continued to GPT10 on 2nd day.<br /> There is at least one place to stay in Abanico &amp; as you go on the road past Abanico towards the park there are a few cabins &amp; one campsite. In the park @ small lake 2K before Conaf1 there is a campsite with cabins. You pay 4000CLP entry @ Conaf but I went in before 8AM, no one there. At the pass, around 2050M on the shoulder of Antuco, I was able to slide down the lowest part of the snowfield. Northbound or earlier in the season you may need to go around it. <br /> Virtually no shade on this route. 3 small shops in Trapa Trapa. Last one, Provisiones Bety, has a rest area, she sometimes has bread. <br /> <br /> Went on OH-PR-V@09-B-#002, talked to Carabineros @ Border Control &amp; told them I would stay in Chile &amp; continue to Trapa Trapa. They were OK with that &amp; didn't ask to see my passport, so I would say there is no need to divert around the border post any more.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-15 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie &amp; Tom '''<br /> <br /> Easy hitch from Abanico to the start of the National Park (~10km into the section). The CONAF station at the park entrance took us longer than expected to pass through and explain what we were doing (they appeared to be unsure as to whether we were crossing the border into Argentina or not). However after explaining our route to them they let us pass without paying the entrance fee to the national park. The cross country sections were easy to navigate and overall the trail was of good quality.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-10 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> We passed the big snowfield at the right side through the rocks, as Matus suggested. It was steep but ok and definitively the shorter way around the snow. Nothing to add to the previous comments. In Trapa Trapa we continued straight to Section 10.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-04 / 3.5 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus &amp; Anna '''<br /> <br /> GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log. <br /> We combined these two sections. <br /> Trail in both section is in good condition. There is snowfield in first pass as was mentioned. We went left, but it would be worth to check is it's possible to go through rocks on the right as it seems much shorter. <br /> Water is not marked on a map but there is a stream before the pass. <br /> Resuply in Trapa Trapa is very limited. They had few tunas, other caned fish, some pasta, flour, cola, crisps... We didn't check for accomodation. <br /> We stayed in a paid campsite at Laguna el Barco for 5000 both. Around 8 there was a woman selling bread and sweet pastry, but mind that it was weekend. <br /> Resuply in Guallali again very limited. They have tunas, caned fish, pasta, oil, crackers and bit more. We are staying in a house next to the shop.<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> *Antuco<br /> Many smaller supermarkets, which have most things - easy enough to resupply here.<br /> One of the two ferreterías has gas (the one furthest from Abanico).<br /> Many accommodation options and some restaurants.<br /> There is an ATM at the town square which even gives some smaller notes<br /> <br /> Also panaderias (one selling good sopaipillas for $300 if you haven't tried yet), restaurants but also food truck, brewery<br /> <br /> *Abanico<br /> At least one shop. A pizzeria<br /> Bus to Antuco/Los Angeles<br /> <br /> *Parque antuco :<br /> Camping for 10kCLP/pers/night. <br /> Also cabañas for 2 and 4 pers. <br /> Shower almost hot. <br /> No or very bad phone coverage (entel)<br /> Website : https://www.parqueantuco.cl/<br /> The owner is really nice. Possible to give him a call in antuco (when still phone coverage) to know if open. <br /> <br /> *Trapa Trapa<br /> 3 shops but they are all small. They all have biscuits &amp; soft drinks. First one has ice cream &amp; flour. Second one has pasta, matches, chocolate, canned fish. Third one ( Provisiones Bety) sometimes has bread.<br /> <br /> Accomodation in a small room at the waypoint &quot;lodging, food&quot; - 20,000 pesos for dinner, breakfast and accommodation. <br /> 10,000 for lunch (soup, tomatoes, harina tostada, tea)<br /> <br /> Bus to Ralco<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> Bus from Los Angeles to Antuco about once an hour in daytime. A few of them continue to Abanico or you can hitch fairly easily (also see here: [[Volc%C3%A1n_Antuco#Acceso_en_transporte_p.C3.BAblico_y_autostop]].<br /> <br /> Updated January 2022: Bus from Trapa Trapa to Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends<br /> <br /> - Many people going and coming from the National Park, it hadn't been easy to hitchhike to reach Antuco but it worked<br /> <br /> - Bus from Antuco to Santiago - Terminal Sur leaving at 21:30 and arriving at 6:30<br /> <br /> Company : Nilahue<br /> <br /> $26.300 for semi-cama<br /> <br /> Commentaries : &quot;cheap&quot; company, no USB-plugs, not much space for the legs, the bus stop is at the entrance of Antuco coming from the Andes, it's a shelter made of bricks just next to a food truck selling fries and hamburgers<br /> <br /> Update nov2024 : <br /> <br /> Night bus santiago --&gt; antuco 16k CLP ( not every day but multiple/week). Seets confortables, 2 plugs (TranSantin)<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> Update November 2023: The Chilean Border Control had be relocated and is now closer to the border and not any more on the GPT route. Therefore it is not any more required to sneak around the Chilean Border Control.<br /> <br /> This is the only place where it is strongly recommended to sneak around a police station. This recommendation applies in particular to all non-Chileans going southbound.<br /> The reason: The forward border control Pichachen is located about 20 km before the actual border. And only here the regional superiors of the PDI (Policia de Investigation) came up with the silly rule that everyone that passes the border control post towards Argentina gets stamped out of the country regardless if he leaves Chile or not. They simply ignore the fact that a few kilometers down the main road at Piedra del Indio long before reaching Argentina a horse trail diverts towards the next village in Chile called Trapa Trapa. Should you get an exit stamp into your passport but continue to hike in Chile you will be an illegal alien without a valid tourist visa. This may not instantly cause you a problem but the next time you want to leave Chile orderly i.e. from an airport the immigration system will show that you illegally in Chile and the police will assume that you trespassed into Chile. And that’s taken pretty serious. Forget about your flight and your further travel plans.<br /> Every hikers that passed this border control got into some kind of trouble and caused these officers a headache. Some hikers could convince them after long discussions to pass without an exit stamp. Some hikers got and exit stamp and run into problems later. Some hikers pretended to walk back and took a partly overgrown route to walk around the border control. When we hiked this section in January 2014 I got unasked an exit stamp while they “just checked my documents” but luckily after a long talk I could convince them to give me a new entry stamp.<br /> You can’t blame these poor officials at the border control for this situation; they understand these occasional hikers but their regional superiors gave them strict orders. In short: this place is a potential disaster for hikers and hikers are a disturbance for these officials.<br /> Therefore, to avoid this issue I simply rerouted the regular hiking route to bypass the border control post Pichachen. It’s easier for everyone: for the hikers and for the poor police officer that have to comply with this silly order. The re-routed track leads cross country through the normally dry lake bed of the Laguna de Las Lajas and just crosses the main road at the diversion to Trapa Trapa. Walking around the border control may be suspicious but is not illegal and saves everyone nerves and endless discussions. It actually prevents you from getting into an illegal migration status while staying in Chile.<br /> The Regular Packrafting Route anyway bypasses the border control.<br /> Luckily this is the only border control post I’m aware off where such a stupid rule is applied. In many other forward border controls you need to proactively approach the police and request your exit stamp if you plan to leave Chile. Should you just visit the area between the border control and the actual border you can normally just pass or explain your intentions.<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT09 - Volcán Antuco]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> <br /> [[File:GPT09-Laguna_de_las_Lajas.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> <br /> [[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT09_(Volcan_Antuco)&diff=119922 2025-01-31T23:37:43Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> If you are packrafting, put the above info into HTML tags like this (if you follow a hiking route for part of the way, highlight only &quot;packrafting&quot;, as above):<br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD, WHAT IS ENCLOSED IN &lt;&gt; MAKES IT BLUE):<br /> * &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;&lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;'''YYYY-MMM-DD / X days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Your name'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/nowiki&gt;.<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> =Overview=<br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> *'''2025-Jan-19 to 2025-Jan-20 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / 09-01A, 09-02 / Farah &amp; Jan '''<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> Started at Park Ranger [8.4/1110]. Decided to avoid the CC on the RR as Farah’s knee was still not fully recovered from GPT06 and took the MR (09-02) instead. Took the 09-01A detour, then a pizza break at the Antuco Basecamp. Lots of traffic on the MR, so we ate a lot of dust. Camped around 2 km behind the Monument of the Tragedy of Antuco {09-02} [3.4/1416] right next Laguna Laja.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> Continued on the MR, still lots of dust, and camped at S 37°27.977' W 71°18.332' in the river bed.<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> <br /> The next morning Farahs knee pain got so bad she couldn’t continue, so we decided to tramp back to El Abanico. Close to the camp at {09-C} [1.0/1440], we found a building made of shipping containers and told the people who live there about our problem. Don Leonel, the owner, plans to open a restaurant at that spot within the next 1-2 months. They already have a camping ground with toilets and showers. Ignacio, mountain guide by trade, who works for Leonel, drove us to El Abanico and recommended us to stay at the cabaña of Checo, who also runs Roca Café right next to the last bus stop.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''2024-Jan-15 to 2024-Jan-18 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Nimrod &amp; Tamar<br /> <br /> ''''<br /> We got a ride from our sweet cabaña owner to the entrance to the park. The ranger took our info but we didn't need to pay because we hiked SOBO.<br /> <br /> It was rainy and we decided to camp near the waterfall and climb to the pass tomorrow.<br /> <br /> 2nd day:<br /> All trails were clear and easy.<br /> Camped at (-37.51122, -71.25437).<br /> <br /> 3rd day:<br /> At approx (-37.51590, -71.25192) there was a puesto, and Maurizio invited us to have breakfast with him (eggs, bread, goat meat leftovers).<br /> We camped near ford [54.9/1423].<br /> <br /> 4rth day:<br /> Nothing at the resupply waypoint. We asked a teenager (the only person we saw) where is the store. He told us there is no store in Trapa Trapa, but that he might be able to sell us some stuff. He took us to his home, and his parents fed us and sold us some basic food (flour, harina tostada, pasta, honey).<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''2025-JAN-08 to 2025-JAN-09 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + 09C / Alex '''<br /> The pass {09} [16.8/2043] is now open for safe and direct access in both directions. The regular route (RR) still has a challenging ford at Río de los Piños. Instead, I followed 09C.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-22 &gt; 23 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / RR &gt; route &gt; RR &gt; Crête / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT09+GPT10+GPT11+GPT12+GPT13<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : beaucoup au col du volcan<br /> | Intérêt : 4/5<br /> | Difficulté : 2/5<br /> | Danger : neige sur pente raide<br /> <br /> Bus de 11h (dimanche) puis auto-stop immédiat jusqu'au depart du sentier.<br /> La seconde moitié de la montée est plus compliquée mais se fait bien. Il y a des cairns dans tous les sens. Enorme congère au col, impossible a faire si la neige est gelée.<br /> J'ai pris la route au pied du volcan car le sentier est faisait un détours non justifié. Au col j'ai pris le sentier de crête. A Trapa Trapa je pensais trouver un resto ou une epicerie mais il n'y a rien a proximité du sentier.<br /> <br /> *'''2024-DEC-21 to 2024-DEC-22 / 1,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. B, C, 03B) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> From the bus stop at the end of section 08 var. 06-B [2.9/734], we set out with supplies for two days. We walked 6 km along the main road Q-45 to the start of section 09. At coordinates -37.3983, -71.43998, we reported at the park gate, filled out a form, and paid the entrance fee to the national park, which was 5,700 CLP per person.<br /> <br /> While ascending to the first pass, we crossed a hardened lava field (aprox. 500m), full of sharp rocks. The views of Volcán Antuco and Sierra Velluda were breathtaking there.<br /> <br /> At the pass at km 16.8, there was still a significant amount of snow on the southeastern side. We used our siesta pads to slide down about 100 meters of elevation. Since the trail was buried under the snow, we continued cross-country on the snow. From there, we chose variants B and C.<br /> <br /> We spent the night after the river crossing at km 37.0. After sunset, a local arriero on horseback came to check on us from a nearby puesto.<br /> <br /> The next day, we reached the end of the minor road and, from the pass, opted for variants {09-03} and {09-03B}. In Trapa Trapa, we resupplied with only sweets and instant noodles, as the selection was very limited. However, a kind lady sold us some eggs as well. The small shop is located at coordinates -37.7124106, -71.2564517<br /> <br /> '''2024-Dec-18 to 2024-Dec-19 / 1.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR (Partly) / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Resupplied at the red shop (S 37.42745, W 71.15386) in trapa trapa, they had ramen cookies, chocolate etc. She also sold us a big loaf of bread. Not great for a full resupply but enough for us to top up for a few days.<br /> <br /> Ford 54.9km - would be possible to camp around here if you wanted a short day in or out of trapa trapa. Water is a available from here all the way up and over the pass at the moment.<br /> <br /> Ford 33.5km (approx) Crossing Rio de Los pinos on the RR was deep and strong for us at 1pm so we decided to hitch the road instead. Not much traffic but we got picked up by the police.<br /> <br /> Pass 16.8km - lots of snow still we decided it was too much for us so hitched to Antuco.<br /> <br /> Antuco has plenty of options to resupply. We found one screw top gas canister in the hardware store opposite the plaza. Big supermarket and other hardware stores had the cartridge type.<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''24-12-06 - 24-12-09 / 3 days / SOBO / RR, OHa / Volker<br /> <br /> A wonderful spring hike!<br /> I hitchhiked from Pelluca (close to Antuco) to the camp site Lagunillas. Conaf registration is now on the road. 10K for day visitors, no fee for those, who continue SOBO. The Conaf guy at the spot indicated in the track files already knew from his colleague, that I am coming. Started there at 2.30 p.m. After the first slope very scenic landscape. The pass was completely under snow, so I walked back a bit to the yellow spot (close to the big red spot), found a spot, that fits for one tent. Very windy and cold - but superscenic with Sierra Velluda so close. <br /> Day 2: Volcan Antuco summit. I didn‘t start earlier than 7:15 as I wanted the sun to melt the surface of the snow before I arrive at the steep slope to the summit. If it‘s frozen, mini-spikes don‘t help. Arrived at the summit at 10:30 and met two guys from Antuco. Great view up there! Back to my tent at 13:30h, took a long siesta in the afternoon sun, but decided not to spend another night on the cold pass. The access to the RR down was blocked by a vertical snow-wall, even cleavages there. I bypassed both by walking 200m to the right and went down CC on steep snowfields (in the afternoon: no problem). RR under snow until it gets less steep down in the valley. I wanted to spend another night close to the impressive Sierra Velluda, so I went CC to OH09a, found water and a nice spot to camp there.<br /> Day 3: A lazy day. I started late and spent much time just enjoying the landscape. More fords than indicated, all easy, but none with dry feet. A none-indicated ford on RR shortly before gpt08-04 end I found to risky, so I crossed only the right river and followed the river bank to a path on the OSM leading to OH09C. Once on the plain, I went CC to join OH09C at the bridge. Camp close to the puesto at 39.6. <br /> Day 4: Very nice walk on RR in a rapidly changing landscape. First moved very quick, in the forest zone I was slowed down, the trail is partly destroyed by water, later quite steep on unpleasant rubble. All river-crossings (6, including the indicated ford): dry feet. Arrived at Trapa Trapa at 4 p.m. and stayed at the indicated spot on 09-03e, simple accomodation (very, very friendly Mapuche hosts).<br /> <br /> * '''2Dec2024 - 3dec2024 / hiking SOBO / OH2 - varC - RH - varD / 1,5 days / Clara'''<br /> <br /> Hitchhiking from antuco to camping parque national.<br /> <br /> Didn't go at pass 16.8km, seems dangerous as karin said + owner of the camping told me there's too much snow. <br /> Hitchhike to km35. Not many cars but first one took me. <br /> <br /> Camp at 47. <br /> <br /> Pass at 50.4 : still snow but easy to cross. <br /> <br /> Fords : still some thick snow fields melting on the top of some rivers on the way, but easy to cross for now. <br /> <br /> Water : plenty at this period<br /> <br /> Arrive at Trapa Trapa for lunch. Eat at point food, lodging. Kind and delicious. 10k CLP for harina tostada + soup with vegetables and pastas + tomatoes + lots of bread + tea. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Nov-22 to 2024-Nov-24 / 2.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - option 1, 2 / Karin'''<br /> <br /> Camp: campamento amfiteatro / km47<br /> <br /> The pass km16 looked doable. And the rangers at the entrance of the parc told me that there is only a small amount of snow. So I decided to take the RR. Snow fields started to appear from about 1860m altitude, but were easily crossable. But the other side of the pass (facing eastwards) is just one big snow field. On the ridge were cracks in the snow, big snow blocks broke out and fell down, and combined with the steepnes of the slope, the risk of avalanches is high. Therefore, I decided to backtrack. <br /> <br /> Next day, two guys from the Departamento de obras offered me a ride and drove me to the landmark km35. From there the road is easy to follow with many small streams crossing it. So plenty of water. <br /> <br /> At the pass km50, there was still some snow. The streams are sometimes covered by the snow. As I had to cross them, it was either possible to walk around and cross the stream a bit up or down stream, or the snow was still hard and thick enough for me to walk on it. Which was risky, because I could not know if this was the case before doing it. It might become dangerous to cross the snow fields over the streams when the snow melts more and therefore becomes less strong. <br /> <br /> The valley to Trapa Trapa is very beautiful. It has a few more fords than indicated, mainly around S 37°40.6835' W071°14.1790' (altitude 1585m). <br /> <br /> I stayed in the home of the very nice family, indicated in Trapa Trapa as &quot;Food, lodging&quot;, for 2 days because of bad weather.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-19 to 2024-03-21 // 2 days (one day off due to the horrible weather) // Hiking // NOBO // RR + VARIANT C + VARIANT B // Quentin Clavel'''<br /> <br /> I then continue my way threw GPT 09 (went from GPT 12 to 09 straight). <br /> <br /> Easy track to follow all along, until the volcanic plateau. It's kind of an highway of arieros! I met a lot, all very nice, some of them quite curious of what my itinerary looks like. <br /> <br /> Pass after trapa trapa was a bit hard because of the heat, and because I began to be a tired, I had to do few breaks. <br /> <br /> Then arriving on a plateau, going down and pretty flat after, very well marques, on some part very sandy. After that you arrive on the big straight lines part, that was so exciting for me, the scenery are so nice that I was even a bit happy to walk on gravel roads aha. Weather begun to be very windy on the plateau that reminds me some hard times on the bloody tierra del fuego ! <br /> <br /> I was absolutely so happy to find an abandoned puesto that was a perfect shelter for an extremely windy, cold and rainy night. This shelter is located few meters on the right after the Ford {09} [37.0/1512]. <br /> <br /> As the weather was terrible the day after (snow on all the summits around and still heavy rain) I stopped for one day. One local, that live in a puesto around was curious and came by, we discuss and asked for the authorisation to stay there, and he said it was not a problem at all. <br /> <br /> Day after was stunning, I was so happy to skip the rain to have this lovely weather for the end of this amazing section ! <br /> <br /> Took variant C, had nice talks with carabineros, no problem at all to pass there now as long as you explain the situation. This option si very scenic, again, I was amazed from the volcan and the nice geometry of it, and the gravel road who's going on the way. <br /> <br /> Then CC on variant B, straight after the big house and the bus that sell food at the middle of nowhere ! <br /> <br /> I was amazed from the landscapes, antuco volcan for sure, but the amazing siella velluda también ! <br /> <br /> Teaching the pass, then continuing CC until reaching PK 11,89, and fond a well marked track until the road. <br /> <br /> I strongly hesitated to go up to the summit, but as there were a lot of fresh snow and it was pretty windy, I decide to continue my way, still very happy of the scenery I saw there ! <br /> <br /> Reaching the road, then hitchhiking to antuco + bus to Los Angeles (7pm) for a porper break, before coming back on this point and going to GPT08. <br /> <br /> AGAIN, I loved this section ! <br /> <br /> * '''2024-03-24 to 2024-03-25 / 2 days / SOBO / RR + var D / Marilyne'''<br /> <br /> Day 1 - It was Sunday and few buses were running so I took a “taxi” from Antuco to the start of the trail up the pass. (Owner of my lodging called up one of his friends who sometimes drives Uber around town). 15k to go to the National Park. Park rangers told me that I didn’t have to pay entrance fees since I was crossing the park and not coming back the same way.<br /> Many other hikers were there on a Sunday on the first part of the trail. Enjoyed the day very much and thought the scenery was beautiful. People at the puesto next to second ford of Rio de los Pinos offered me to stay with them but I declined as I was hoping to do this section in 2 days and wanted to hike a little further. Camped shortly after Ford {09} [37.0/1512].<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Kept going on the RR until Trapa Trapa. Stopped at the kiosco to buy cookies and chocolate (melted as that little hut in the sun gets hot!). Kept going right away on GPT10.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Mar-7 to 2024-Mar-8 / 1.5 days / SOBO / RR 2 C D/ Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> Bus from Antuco to Abanico at 8:30am (tell driver you want out at the junction to Abanico). Partly hiked but mostly hitched up to the lake (very little traffic, I was lucky). I choose Variant 2 (an easy road) as my rucksack was so heavy (plan doing Section 9 to 12). Lots of small memorials spreaded out for the soldiers died in a blizzard a few years ago. There was a military training going on, so I passed a lot of small groups of soldiers. All friendly. Later a local familiy asked if I want a ride, sure! We pass the bordercontrol on C2.5km, police just waives us through from a distance. Soon they reach their picknickspot and I continue walking on that long and empty road.<br /> <br /> No snowfields, plenty of (unmarked) water, fordings very easy, almost no Tabanos.<br /> <br /> Did not see the shop in Trapa-Trapa, but had plenty of food anyway, so put no efford in searching. No cellphone connection in Trapa-Trapa with Movistar.<br /> Nice views of Vulcan Antuco and Laguna de La Laya, otherwise not much to see. Nice, short and easy section (though I did not hiked the pass and had 2 long hitchhikes).<br /> <br /> * '''2024 Feb 25 to Feb 28 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Juliette and Martin '''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 09 and 10 into 5 days of hiking. Beautiful sections with a diversity of landscapes: volcano, meadows, puestos...<br /> <br /> Transport to start of section: Albanico <br /> Bus Los Angeles - Albanico at 5 p.m. from rural bus terminal <br /> Hitch-hike to Lagunillas campsite (10,000 pesos pp per night, they also sell empanadas, which are very good, plus there's hot water). <br /> <br /> Day 1: Lagunillas campsite - Bridge (-37.46204, -71.31305)<br /> <br /> Lovely day and beautiful volcanic scenery. Not much shade on the climb. Rather pleasant bivouac spot, along the water, with grass and shade, rather cold night as our wet clothes froze at night. Water nearby (estero del volcano)<br /> <br /> Day 2: Bridge (-37.46204, -71.31305)- Camp -37.62833, -71.24444<br /> <br /> Beautiful day, with a few easy river crossings (maximum knee-deep). There's plenty of vegetation and shade, which is great for breaks. <br /> The camp spot is just a few meters from a puesto, and they offered to let us pitch our tent. Night still cold (frost). <br /> <br /> Day 3: Camp -37.62833, -71.24444 - Trapa Trapa <br /> <br /> Easier and shorter day than the others, but we followed it up with the start of section 10 so as not to sleep in Trapa Trapa. Not much choice in the mini-shops in Trapa Trapa. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb 09 to Feb 13 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, Var C, Var D / Michael and Kasia'''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 9, 10, and 11 together.<br /> <br /> Day 0 - Feb 8th<br /> <br /> We left Antuco around 13:00. It took two hitches to get us to Lagunillas campground (also called Parque Antuco camping). We were lucky that the second car was actually going to the campground and took us right to reception. Posted price was 10.000 CLP pp. There are about 20 campsites. Each had a picnic table and an electrical plugin, and one of the two bathrooms had showers with hot water. We were not blown away by the campground, however we were just coming from a hostel rather than coming out of the mountains, and perspective counts for a lot. They ask you to pack your trash out. They have a small tienda where they sell prepared food, but nothing for resupply.<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Feb 9th<br /> <br /> From Lagunillas we took an OSM track directly across the road. The trail is clearly marked and maintained. It goes through native forest with nice views of the mountains and lava fields.<br /> There are at least two waterpoints along the way. The OSM trail connects in with RR.<br /> <br /> The trail up is fairly well maintained, no brush overgrowth in the path and no places where the trail has collapsed. The path through the lava field was amazing, and the views of Sierra Velluda were spectacular. It is a fairly popular path. On a Friday about 15 other people were on the trail.<br /> <br /> We had already decided we wanted to break the pass into two days if possible. We set up camp at the Campamento Anfiteatro or Amphitheatre Camping (-37.42427, -71.41517). It has a nice view of the glacier on Sierra Velluda and some shade in the afternoon. <br /> <br /> If deciding to stay at the amphitheater camping area, there is water on the opposite side of the plane. There is a very large waterfall that is visible from a long distance. Walking toward it, a little to the east (left side) is a smaller waterfall that becomes visible about halfway across. It had very clear water and a pool that is easy to access. There was also a stream that appeared in the late evening about 50 m from the campsite but disappeared again overnight.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Feb 10th<br /> <br /> There was water shortly after beginning up RR from Anfiteatro for some distance. The path is on the right side of the dry river bed as you are going up. We got confused and walked part way up the left side before realizing and had to backtrack to get to the correct side. There was still one very small snow field on the other side of the pass, but the trail curved around the right side of it so there was no need to walk on it. Expansive views of the valley on the way down. The trail was easy to see and follow most of the way. At the bottom we just went cross country. We camped at the larger of the two araucarias (-37.46186, -71.32047) in what looked like a arriero campground. The campsite at the smaller araucaria shortly before it looked a little nicer but required crossing the river and looked less wind protected.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Feb 11th<br /> <br /> We got a late start. It was a Sunday and there was a fair amount of traffic on the road so we decided to go crosscountry from the bridge and cut the loop to connect in with Var C. It was dry in some places, swampy in others, and we eventually had to switch to water shoes to cross the river. It probably didn't save any time, but it was definitely more interesting and avoided getting blasted by dust with every passing car. We rejoined the road on the far side. The afternoon had a cloud cover and actually got fairly cool which made the road walk much more enjoyable. Once we got onto the spur road just before the BCP we didn't see any more cars or people for the rest of the day. We camped on the uphill side of the road around (-37.57617, -71.24087) which looked to be an arriero campground. Very dusty but there was a reasonably flat spot and a small stream nearby.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Feb 12th<br /> <br /> We continued on RR. The valley was pretty, not too much happening. There were a lot of puestos but we saw only a couple of people and not too many animals. We stopped at the estero just before heading up to refill water and have lunch. We were initially going to take Opt 3B because it was shorter, but after seeing how exposed it was and some sketchy parts early on, we turned back and opted for RR. The path was easy to follow and actually in pretty good condition. It went through some beautiful forest which also provided some much needed shade. We took Var D down and did not encounter any dangerous scree. This section is also a little shorter than RR and passed by the river so one can refill if necessary. We were glad we took Var D. We decided to camp about 1km before Trappa Trappa along the river around (-37.70803, -71.24448). It was right next to the road, so far from optimal, but it worked.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Feb 13th<br /> <br /> We walked into Trappa Trappa around 11:00. It was very windy the entire time we were there, and almost no one around. We first went to the shop with the Kiosko sign, but no one was there. A neighbor came out and told us that the guy works in the school till around 14:00, but would be around later. We then went to the shop indicated by the Provisiones sign. She didn't have a lot. She said the food truck was coming that day around 18:00, so I guess we just got unlucky with the timing. We bought some pasta, cookies, yogurts, Zukos, canned fish, crackers, and she made us sopaipillas for 300 each. They were really good but a very different style from the ones we had had with the arrieros, more pastry-like, fried crispy on the outside but still doughy on the inside and more oily. Very filling but I don't think they would work well to carry. We went back to the Kiosko shop and the guy came when we rang the timbre. He had even less stuff, mostly cookies. We bought a few more things there. Finally we went to the shop just at the beginning of Section 10. It is on the left just as you start down the hill, a corrugated metal wall with a large square cut out of the side that acts like a window and the word “Hola” scratched into the side. She had the least amount of things, but she did have fresh onions and carrots, no cheese (she said she makes it in December and when it's gone that's it for the year). Initially she said she didn't have any bread, but as we were talking with her she offered to sell us a bread, a pan amasado that was huge and dense and served us for three meals. From here we continued into GPT10.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-11 to 2024-Feb-13 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH B + C + D / Joscha'''<br /> <br /> I combined section 9 to 12. It took me 7.5 days in total.<br /> <br /> Day 1: RR [5.8-9.6]<br /> <br /> I hitched in the afternoon from Los Angeles to the entrance of the Parque Nacional Laguna del Laja (around km 5.8). From there I hiked to km 9.6. Here are some nice flat spots to camp + you have a nice view over the Rio Laja valley. But there is no water at the spot.<br /> <br /> Day 2: RR [9.6-20.7] + OH09-B + OH09-C + RR [34.9-47.4]<br /> <br /> Big flat, sandy area around km 11.9 is a good campingspot. There is also a creek flowing not more than 50 meters south of the RR-CC [11.9+4.9]. The RR over the Pass (km 16.8) is completely snow free now. The RR and OH-B cross a creek at km 20.8. There is lots of water on OH B + C + RR [34.9-47.4].<br /> <br /> Day 3: RR [47.4-54.6] + OH09-D + RR [56.4-61.5]<br /> <br /> Ford at km 52.3 is dry. But the RR cross a bunch of streams around the Pass (km 50.4) and it runs along the river of the valley at km 53.2 for a few 100 meters. I just went through Trapa Trapa and continued directly with section 10.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-15 to 2024-Feb-18 / 4 days / Hiking / NOBO / Trapa-Trapa - El Abanaico / RR + Option 01 + Option B + Option C +Option D / Alex &amp; Christophe'''<br /> <br /> We really enjoyed this section even if it wasn't really fast to walk in the sand and lava field.<br /> <br /> We didn't have much to add to what has already been written.<br /> <br /> We tried to summit the Antuco Volcano bit didn't success because it was too steep and too lose so we stopped at 2700m. I would recommend to take crampons if you want to summit, so you can go in the snow (wich was quite hard, even at 2pm) and it should be easier. What I would however recommend to everyone is to go up to 2300m. It is easy to go from the pass and the panorama is incredible.<br /> <br /> We camped after the try on the Volcano at the Amphitheatre Campsite. It was a nice place but I wouldn't recommend it. First, you have to walk a kilometer just to wash yourself and to take some water and second, we had strong wind gusts all night long. The camp is not wind protected.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-12 to 2024-Jan-13 / 2 days / SOBO / RR, OH C, OH 03B and OH 03/ Hannes'''<br /> <br /> Started in Camping Las Lagunillas at around 7 am. Took me about 4 to 5 hours to the pass. On the way up I found water starting from -37.423109 -71.404405 onwards, followed along. Big stream, should not dry out soon or never(?) during summer. At the pass still to much snow to drop in directly to the path on the other side. Instead of walking upwards to the left towards volcano I took short detour to the right, to come around the snowfield, for me worked out well. Slided then down on the lower and not so steep snowfields to get to a basin. Reached from there the RR…Thought could be tough to ford estero Petronquines on the RR, so took the road (OH C)…Two police stations there, nobody checked me, although cars were at each spot… somehow an annoying road to walk on…you could hitchhike a part of it, there is some traffic, but not to much. I did not. Camped at a beautiful spot at the river -37.511560, -71.259157 a few kms before the landmark. There is life here all along the road, lots of puestos, cows, sheep, goats. Next day again along this endless seeming road up to the pass above Trapa Trapa, water all along, even at the pass…From there I took OH 03B, which is the shorter way to the village, OH03 from <br /> -37.69671, -71.25027 was in some parts a light BB till I got on a good trail which brought me down to Trapa. Descending down the pass to the village you’ll get an other version of Chile. Araucania trees are showing up and you are now in Mapuche region, no more chilean flags at every house down there. End of this sector was for me the biggest change on the GPT so far (having done the sections before from Santiago)…other people, language, culture, other flora…a kind of a very welcoming change. Arriving in Trapa Trapa you could give a try at owner of house at -37.71056, -71.26569, junction OH03 and main road. He offered me camping and food if I couldn’t find something in town. If not there is the usual family who takes guests. Miniminishop is at<br /> -37.71240, -71.26355<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-01 to 2024-Jan-03 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR - {09-B} - {09-C} - RR - {09-D} - RR / Lilian'''<br /> <br /> I combined GPT09+10+11+12, first resupply 6 days food in Antuco, then take 2.5 days for 09, stay in Trapa Trapa(save 2 meals), resupply in Trapa Trapa for 1.5 days food(low stock and limited selection). Then take 2 days for 10, stay in Guallalí(save 2 meals), resupply in Guallalí for 2 days food(low stock and limited selection but better than Trapa Trapa). Lastly 2 days for 11, 4 days for 12)<br /> <br /> Nice resupply in Antuco, but most of them are closed because i visit here on the first day of 2024.<br /> <br /> A friendly local give me a ride to the entrance of national park, thank you so much to him! There are some beautiful waterfalls start at RR km2.3 to km4.7, remember to take a look, they are at the mountain side(right side)! Lot of families come to here for enjoy their holidays.<br /> <br /> RR km5.7 : ranger station for vehicles and people control for entering the park. Super nice and let me go in after i told them my route, no need to pay any fee or show any permits.<br /> <br /> Park ranger[8.4/1110] : look like is a ranger station, didn't see anyone when I passed here on 5.30pm.<br /> <br /> Km9.7 : flat area, you can camp here if need, but no water.<br /> <br /> Km11.25 - km11.9 : lava trail, there are some rock cairn for you to follow, not difficult.<br /> <br /> Km11.9 : if you continue going south at the RR sharp turning, about 200m you will met a stream, flowing good with cold and clear water, flat spots nearby too, but I'm not sure it will dry up or not.<br /> <br /> Follow rock cairn to the pass, mostly you'll lost the trail and cairn at km15.6, look at the right side, go down the dry riverbed then climb up to the other side, you'll find cairn again. Don't walk in riverbed, they'll block your way at the end.<br /> <br /> Still lot of snow after the pass, follow Véronica's comment, climb up the ridge to compass NE ( I walk on the top of snow slope, because it is flat and gentle, also i think it is easier than walking on loose sand.)<br /> <br /> At about 2150m, there is a break without snow, a sandy slope that you can walk down. ( -37.43215, -71.36002 )<br /> <br /> Not steep, i think is easy go down but slow, so when i go down a little, i go back to south side to join the snow slope for fast moving, snow slope becomes more gentle when it gets lower.<br /> <br /> By the way, you can climb up and go down the pass without stepping on any snow now.<br /> <br /> Km20.7 : you'll find car track here, you can follow it to dirt road, i take {09-B} here, avoid crossing Petronquines(RR km28.9) at downstream. {09-B} is something look like a very old car track on the ground, no cars running on it anymore, easy walking but not easy to follow.<br /> <br /> {09-B} km1.15 : crossing of Estero El Aguada o El Volcán ( a long name), a stream. A very good crossing point, stream break to 6 parts here, all below half of calf at afternoon. Flowing nice with clear water.<br /> <br /> After the crossing, i can't find any trail or car track on the other side, but after i keep going CC about 400m, a dirt road in good condition at mountain side, it'll lead you to the main dirt road and join {09-C}.<br /> <br /> Bridge {09-C} [1.7/1417] : milky water.<br /> <br /> Border control CL[2.5/1420] : gate for vehicles but not for people. Didn't see anyone when I passed here at 5pm.<br /> <br /> Km3.7: excellent view point of Volcán Antuco and meadows.<br /> <br /> Bridge[5.3/1444] : crossing Petronquines on a bridge, beautiful view and lot of clear water, maybe it is difficult to cross it at downstream (RR) as now. Look like you can camp beside, or under the bridge. But every 0.5 - 1 hour have a border control vehicle patroling the road, I don't know camping beside this road is it a good idea.<br /> <br /> Bridge[7.3/1470] : clear water but no flat spots.<br /> <br /> X RR[34.9/1495] : rejoin RR.<br /> <br /> Ford[37.0/1512] : below half of calf at late afternoon.<br /> <br /> Km39.4 - pass[50.4/1878] : lot of stream crossing the road, have 1-2 need wet feet crossing, just beside the pass is a stream flowing too.<br /> <br /> Pass[50.4/1878] : beautiful grassland, flat and nice for camping, but 20+cows when I passed here.<br /> <br /> RR-TL-V{09} [50.4+9.6] is a nice and maintained trail ,easy to follow, sometimes you'll find orange ribbon leads where you go.<br /> <br /> Ford[52.3/1648] : no river crossing here.<br /> <br /> Km53.15 - km53.65 : you need to cross the stream 4 times, then walk in the stream about 50m, but all dry feet crossing, rock hopping or log bridge will help you.<br /> <br /> Km54.55 : junction of RR and {09-D}, but i miss the turning to RR, so i go for {09-D}.<br /> <br /> {09-D} km0.4: river crossing, rock hopping for dry feet. Also a small grassland can fit 1-3 tents after the crossing 150m.<br /> <br /> Km0.6 : a stream flowing good crossing the trail with a tiny waterfall, you can sit under it to enjoy a cool shower in a hot day. Look like the other side of river have a nice grassland for camping can fit 2-4 tents, but wet feet crossing.<br /> <br /> Km1.1 : rejoin RR.<br /> <br /> Viewpoint RR [57.4/1338] : if you are SOBO, it is the first view of Volcán Callaqui. Also nice view of Trapa Trapa.<br /> <br /> Km58.6 : CAUTION, if you see a red ribbon, DON'T keep going, you are not on the trail, turn back immediately and check your GPS. RR trail is a sharp turning then go down, you are walking away from the trail and towards a very steep slope now.<br /> <br /> Km58.95 : RR have some reroute at here, but mostly you can follow the only trail to main road.<br /> <br /> I stayed at Trapa Trapa with the lovely family at (Lodging,food) waypoint. Simple single room with bed, quilt, chair, light and electric charger, also dinner and breakfast. I buy some sausage from the shop nearby and share with all people here. They are very exciting where i come from, what I'm doing, and what interesting things happened when I'm hiking, it is a warm night, i love them! And they invited me to watch their sterilization of horse, OMG OMG OMG, so shock to me, OMG.<br /> <br /> Shop (-37.71249,-71.25642) : at compass West of (Lodging,food) waypoint, very close just 2 min walking. Two red house here, the small one is shop. Selling drinks, ice cream, biscuits, pasta, coffee, tea and some frozen meat( mostly is sausage). This shop have a sign on the main road, no sign at the front gate and the gate is opened.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 28 to Dec 29 / 2 days / hiking / SOBO / Option 2 + RR+ 09-C/ Ella'''<br /> <br /> TLDR: no issue at border control. don’t count on Lagunillas Camping cafeteria or the Lodging, Food waypoint in Trapa Trapa<br /> <br /> Bussed from Los Angeles to Abanico - make sure to go to the terminal for rural busses which will be different from where you might get off an intercity bus. Hitched from there to Lagunillas Camping. Campground was nice and spacious. The host is really kind and helpful. The cafeteria was not open for food when I was there, just coffee and tea. <br /> Day 1: Due to a stormy forecast, I chose to avoid the already sketchy-seeming pass and head for the route around the lake (option 2). To get there, I took the small trails around the main road heading east from the campground, which were scenic for a cloudy day with no mountain view - enjoyed the volcanic landscape and the waterfall Salto Las Chilcas. I then was able to hitch a ride on the road beside the lake to the other side of the Volcano, which was good because there didn’t appear to be many streams or campsite options. I continued on by foot on Variant C. I went through border control and the officer was very thorough, but didn’t try to give me an exit stamp when I explained I wasn’t going to cross the border. He mostly seemed concerned that I was alone and tried to offer food and a bathroom! I camped a few kilometers further along that road by one of the streams that crosses it. Beware of aggressive bulls in the area. <br /> <br /> Day 2: Easy walking all the way to the pass. Water is still available about every kilometer or two along this route. After the pass there are a few points with a bit of landslide risk where you’re walking on very unstable skree. In retrospect it seems Variant D may exist to avoid some of this but I can’t be sure because I didn’t take it. When I got to Trapa Trapa I was dismayed to find no one at the lodging and food point that others had raved about. The small market just beside this point (sign for “provisions” is only on the main road. looks like a small house with the front painted red next to a larger house) was indeed open at 6pm on a Friday after I called out. There were many types of biscuits and cold drinks, pasta sauce (no pasta), coffee, and maybe even some type of meat in the freezer that I wasn’t quite daring enough to buy. Highly recommend the calorific Chiky Bum biscuits for avoiding mental collapse after a nearly 30km day. I asked the owner about the lodging option next door and she said the family was away for a few days, so guess I just got unlucky. Further down the road towards GPT 10 where there is sign “Kiosco”, there’s also a small ice cream shop/market that was closed when I arrived. I didn’t find another market. Went back up the GPT 09 trail just a bit to get out of town and found a nice camping spot along the river for the night. Visits from goats and a baby horse were a welcome occurrence. No Entel service in Trapa Trapa.<br /> <br /> * '''2023 Dec 20 to Dec 22 / 2,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR &amp; 09-C/ Tomáš &amp; Natalie'''<br /> <br /> We took a bus at 19:00 from Los Angeles (which has a great system of shared taxis with fixed routes, number eight goes from the big bus station to Jumbo and back to rural bus station for 1000 per person) to Albanico and upon arriving there after five minutes, the first passing car took us to the border of the national park. We pitched our tent in the delta of the river not far from the road but not visible from it. Without the smoke of last year and with the yellow of brooms everywhere and Antuco under snow, the valley was extremely pretty.<br /> <br /> The next day we talked to a CONAF ranger, he said an Argentinian hiker told him there was ice in the pass. We did not pay anything. [Including a nice trail that is on OSM in our suggestions to avoid roadwalking from the Rangers office to the RR up].<br /> <br /> The climb is pretty, in the pass there was a lot of snow. We followed Véronica's suggestion from last year and climbed about 100 m of elevation to the east and then ran down on the snow (see picture here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/posts/1720553588450520/ ). The path in the valley was rather invisible. Two lone araucaria trees guard the road. We thought Rio de los Pines would be impossible to ford now with all the thawing (others seem to have passed though) so we took variant C along the main road to Argentina. Carabinieros just looked at our passports and let us go. A car passed about every half an hour. The valley is stunning yet the roadwalk is a drudge. The following minor road seems virtually never to be driven by cars and is in places badly damaged by water. The valley up is nice.<br /> <br /> Going down to Trapa-Trapa, about 1 km after the pass, the path is eroded and new one was created going down to the water. The walk down through the forrest was quite pleasant. We met several groups of arrieros on both side of the pass, they were nice.<br /> <br /> In Trapa-Trapa, we had lunch at &quot;Lodging, Food&quot; waypoint. We could not see any sign. We got tomatoes, cheese, bread, pasta, a piece of down fried in oil (tasty) and maté. We paid them a good price for it, we hope it was not too much. From March 2024, there should be (probably) Entel coverage in the valley, the telecomunication tower is already up. We did not see any shops but did not look for them. Altogether, GPT 09 is quite nice, especially now with the snow.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-dec-18/ 2,5 days / hiking / SOBO / RR &amp; 09-A/ Lukas en Tess'''<br /> <br /> As of now the pass on K16,8 is imposible to cross. Going around and taking 09-A is posible but the rock scrambling is a pain. But I would argue the awesome lava field is worth it. <br /> Otherwise the trail was nice and easy, I realy enjoyed the wide open landscape. Arriving in Trapa Trapa we where offered some Harina tostada drink after starting a conversation with some old ladies. We got some cheese at a minishop that is not on the track files. Z37,712542° W71,266816°, something like haloumi, so try roasing it!<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-8 to 2023-Dec- 10 / 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 2 + cross country for the volcano / Yannick &amp; Nolwenn &amp; Jens'''<br /> <br /> - Water : all markers are good and even more water present<br /> <br /> - Snow : on RR on km 16,8 seems impassable because there was still a lot of snow. Yannick wanted to summit the volcano, he went on the East part and went until 2700m of altitude. The North face had less snow.<br /> <br /> - Camping spot : easy to find<br /> <br /> - River crossing : easy between km 57,9 and km 52,3<br /> <br /> - Weather : Sunny<br /> <br /> - Resupply : in Abanico a little shop and some cabanas, more options in Antuco, everything you need to resupply there - even gaz canister in the ferreteria<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-10 to 2023-Mar-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + OH-1 / Iris, Alexis '''<br /> <br /> After a rest in Trapa Trapa at Lodging, Food {09-03E} [0.3/956], we started GPT09 in the morning. The ascent following RR-TL-V {09} [57.4/50.4+9.6] is a well marked horse trail that clims slowly, perfect for a start. Then, the RR-MR-V {09} [41.8/34.9+13.3] is flat and passes through a nice valley, a bit above the river but multiple streams crosses it. Like others, we took 09-C, but had no luck with hitchhiking and ended up walking the 11km. No problem at the border control. We finally ended up camping close to -37.46277, -71.31864 (aim for the big tree, and you will find some camp spot with firepits) after a pretty long day. <br /> <br /> On Day 2, we followed the RR and took Option 09-01 to climb the summit. We left most of our gear at the Pass {09} [16.8/2043]. It's better to follow the track for the first part, until the conic shape because it goes along a ridge and avoid pointless ups and down. Then, on the conic shape, you are on your own. We followed a trail made by a group of 8 hikers that were a bit ahead when we found it. It definitely helped as the parts without were really clambering. The views on the top and the small crater made it definitely worthwhile for us. Going down is much more easy and fun, you slide on the sand! As it was late in the season, we did not had any snow on our way but it sill took about 4h to go up (and 1 to go down).<br /> We ended up camping at Campamento Anfiteatro (-37.42427, -71.41517) pretty exhausted. The river here is really chalky but clean water is available from the ice cave.<br /> <br /> On Day 3, we took a small detour to see the tunnel of ice (worthy!) and headed down towards Chacay. Then we tried to hitchhike until Abanico with poor luck (on a Sunday morning). Took us 4 rides, but the last one went until Antuco. As there are also limited buses on Sundays, we then did more hitchhike to Los Angeles to ressuply. <br /> <br /> A short section but filled with great landscapes and stunning views. Plus you walk in a lava field! Definitely worth it, we really loved it! <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-14 to 2023-Jan-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + volcan Antuco / Martial / '''<br /> <br /> Combined with Section 10.<br /> Laja national Parc was reopened after fire preventive closure on 13/02. Took the bus from LA to Abanico at 4:30PM arriving late at Campamiento viejo (7000$/n) after walking cause poor hitchhiking at this hour (parc closes 17:30). Next morning much more efficient and someone droped me at the start after giving pre-order entry number to CONAF staff (was not important that my ticket was for the previous day).<br /> The ascent to Amphiteatro camping is quick and really well maintained trail. Then i strongly recommend visiting detour to the waterfall for a unique glaciar tunnel walking experience.<br /> Next CC on Antuco’s lava fields was real fun in perfect cloudy weather. Don’t miss the impressive lava bridge !<br /> After reaching the pass early, legs were feeling like summiting Antuco the same day so i decided to search for a high camp. Mission completed here at 2300m : -37.42532, -71.35615 with flat sand next to fresh clean water ponds from the snow. Summiting 2h after setting camp, sunset rewarded me with unique views on laguna Laja and massive Sierra Veluda. Just don’t get caught by the night or bad weather !!<br /> RR descent is sandy and hot traversing a sand deserted bareland so I strongly recommand the O9-C to avoid struggle like I did before shortening to reach the road. Had a meal from a generous family staying at the next Puesto + a hike to piedra del Indio. Then Vegas de Trapa is quick walking MR with lots of puesto and camping option so personally stoped here : -37.57620, -71.24127. Arrived in Trappa next early afternoon for sweet delights in the only shop fenced and garded by 3 dogs. Directly continued to section 10 for reaching puesto at 7.1 wich i also recommand for it’s comfy grassy camping and amable Mapuche family.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-23 to 2023-Jan-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 9c / Maks &amp; Gabi'''<br /> <br /> Combined with Section 10.<br /> The road is nice and visible. There is no snow on the pass. <br /> At the entrance to the national park, the guards asked for permission, but when we told them that we were going to Trapa Trapa, they let us go. We slept at the camping inside the park (10000/person).<br /> We took a detour to see a waterfall by the glacier. It was about 4 km go and back. <br /> We camped right outside the national park, by the river. There were a lot of cows but none of them aggressive. We the took the optional route 9c and walked by the carabineros station.No problems there. Just explained that we are going to Trapa Trapa, without crossing the border. They checked out passports and let us go. <br /> There were no further surprises, and the road is really well maintained. Just be careful when going down to Trapa Trapa after rain. It's quite slippery. <br /> There is plenty of water along all the trail. <br /> The shop in Trapa Trapa is marked with a sign on the main road. They have some sweetest and noodles but not much more. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-21 to 2023-Jan-23 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Johana &amp; Matouš'''<br /> <br /> We really enjoyed this section. We took a bus from Los Angeles to Abanico at 3 o'clock and then hitchhiked to the end of the main road. We arrived at the CONAF control point with no one there (7 p.m.). We slept at the Lagunillas camping, which was for 10000 per person, they had beers, jugos, empanadas, tortillas..We teamed up with Gabi and Max from Poland and enjoyed their company throughout the section (hello! :⁠-⁠)). The ascent to the volcano was amazing, looked like Mordor. Near the point &quot;Campamento Anfiteatro&quot; there's a waterfall that ends in a snowpatch whereby it creates a cave of ice. It's amazing. You can see it from the distance. There's clean water as well, the next clean water is on the other side of the volcano in the valley. We confirm that there's no need to stay away from the carabineros anymore, they only took down our passport numbers. Then it was easy walking until after the pass. We camped at a nice spot in the forest next to the river (S 37° 40.6391' W 071°14.1985). We somehow didn't manage to find the food/lodging point, but were approached by an older lady who fed us cookies and seemed to know a lot about other hikers. There are said to be three shops in Trapa Trapa, we only found the one next to the school which had only biscuits. Continued to GPT10 straight after.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-10 to 2023-Jan-12 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will '''<br /> <br /> Combined with section 10<br /> Nice easy section, loved crossing the fresh crunchy volcanic wasteland at the start. Everything after that was fast trail. Mild temperatures, no horse flies.<br /> I had some trouble getting back from Antuco to the trail. I got told a couple wrong times for the bus, and had no luck during my quick hitchhiking attempt. Eventually caught a bus to abanico at 2, and then two rides got me into the park. The couple driving me spoke for me at the park entrance, and I ended up having to pay 4500 for the entrance. I probably should have gotten out and talked my way through separately.<br /> I stayed at openstreetmap's amphitheater campsite night 1. Nice sheltered spot at the base of sierra velluda, soft sand.<br /> The camp/puesto markers at km 47 seem a bit out of date. There wasn't much at the puesto maker, and there was a puesto right at the campsite marker. The family at the puesto happily let me camp there.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-06 to 2023-Jan-08 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Anna &amp; Christopher '''<br /> <br /> Antuco - Trapa Trapa<br /> We hitchhiked from Camping Rucue back to the national park. The landscape was really magnificent the first day. There was almost no snow left after the pass.<br /> After the descent walking gets tougher due to the sand and the path is partially hard to find.<br /> But after the second roadcrossing there is a lot of easy walking on dirt roads. <br /> Atfter leaving the river at around km 47, there is still accessible water in the first part of the small ascent. On the plateau there are no watersources until the descent. We carried some water and camped on the plateau, a very nice spot.<br /> Walking down to Trapa Trapa was really nice. We followed the main route. In retrospective we would have taken option 3, because it is shorter.<br /> We met a couple of locals along the way and they all greated us very nicely. Trapa Trapa was pretty empty when we arrived at around 11 am. We continued right to section 10.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-23 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica '''<br /> <br /> combined GPT09 and GPT10<br /> Route: CONAF waypoint - shoulder of Volcán Antuco - road through border control checkpoint - Trapa Trapa <br /> <br /> Two days from national park to Trapa Trapa. From Antuco, I hitched back to the national park and got there around noon. Didn't get charged an entry fee, I just told the entrance staff what trail I planned to take. Nice path most of the way up the volcano, even the CC section has occasional cairns marking the way. You go along a creek as you go up, so lots of accessible water. <br /> <br /> Lots of snow on the southeast side of the pass. Tried to go around on the right along/through the rocks, but it's mostly siltstone, very crumbly, and very steep. Got really precarious there so I backtracked to the pass and went around the snow on the left. This involved climbing an additional 150m through volcanic sand, but it felt much safer. The rest of the way down is pretty much all cross-country, couldn't really find a path, but navigation was simple. There were some water sources on the way down too, courtesy of the melting snow. <br /> <br /> The next morning, I took Option C that goes along the dirt road. There was no one at the border control checkpoint, probably because I went through before 7 a.m. <br /> <br /> Rest of the way to Trapa Trapa is easy, no issues whatsoever. It's nice and forested on the south side of the pass. I didn't investigate resupply or bus options in Trapa Trapa as I went straight through to GPT10. <br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Mar-01 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Romain '''<br /> <br /> - Camp {09} [47.1/1709] : I slept around 47.5, the place was calm, flat, with grass and close to the water (that was finally not usable because there was too much sand in, but you can easily find drinkable water when going down the valley), many people from the puestos came to talk as it seemed to be the end of the season, it was really pleasant. One offered me to come by him but it was late and I was too tired to move by him, I tried to meet him back the day after but I didn't find his puesto with its indications<br /> <br /> - The valley from Puesto {09} [49.3/1820] to Puesto {09} [39.8/1558] : very pleasant, with nice people in, I really liked this place. The water in the middle isn't usable but you can find fresh drinkable water going down from the hills at some points<br /> <br /> - There is a Puesto around {09} [37.0/1512], people were nice and asked me if I needed anything<br /> <br /> - The way on RR-TL-V {09} just after GPT09-C end isn't easy to find, just stick to the GPS until meeting a road leading to a Puesto close to the river at the Ford on Rio de los Pinos, then it's much easy to follow<br /> <br /> - I got an excellent bath when crossing the river close to GPT08-04 end, the water coming from one river was warm and there was enough depth <br /> <br /> - the CC from GPT08-04 end to GPT09-02 end was beautiful but demanding because of the soil made of earth and sand, it took me more time than I thought. After having cross the river I got close to an other one with many cows next to it, following it at one point a source of clear drinkable water was running on 3-4m to reach the river<br /> <br /> - There is a Campbase with many places cleaned to set up tents and do campfires close to the river following up the road around Bridge {09} [23.3/1409]. It's located at the base of a huge araucaria tree, you can't miss it<br /> <br /> - After the RH-CC-A {09} the RH-TL-V {09} is easily findable just by looking at the GPS and is marked with many cairns<br /> <br /> - National Park : when leaving it I went to see the guards at the entrance and they were ok with that, didn't ask for any information or fee<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-09 to 2022-Feb-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika &amp; Jo '''<br /> <br /> Took the bus from Antuco to Abanico, got a ride by a friendly Chilean to the national park (no camping allowed). Had to pay entry to the park. Took the CC route avoiding the carabineros to camp in the meadows just beyond the park (S 37° 27.927', W 07). There was a spring emptying in the meadows there. Finished after a long hiking day at Elvira's &quot;lodging, food&quot;. Very friendly family, took us in even after 21:00. Understandably there was no goat stew, but we also only payed half price (20.000). Great homemade bread in the morning though :) Continued to GPT10 immediately after.<br /> <br /> In the first morning when breaking down camp, we were greeted by two carabineros on horseback, who may have been surprised at the sight of our tent out of sight next to a sand slope. They asked who we were, where we're from and where we're going too, and didn't mind us camping there. No questions about the border with Argentina after. I guess there's no need to stay away from the carabineros here any longer.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-21 / 3 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + Antuco summit / Molly and Melissa '''<br /> <br /> In Trapa Trapa, we stayed at the house marked &quot;lodging, food&quot;. They charge 20,000 per person for a room, dinner and breakfast. There's also the option to take a bath in their inflatable swimming pool with shampoo, and they sell some honey. We were served cazuela and loads of sopaipillas for dinner. Right next to them in a little red house behind a black gate there is a minishop, which according to them is the biggest in Trapa Trapa. They had pasta, rice, tuna, sodas, chocolate covered nuts, matches, toilet paper. They were open Saturday when we were there.<br /> <br /> The path up from Trapa Trapa starts next to the river. Nice path all the way, that transitions to a long gravel road, very easy to follow and many little streams. We camped at the beginning of the next valley at the waypoint &quot;ford&quot;. The second to last puesto, on the right hand, belongs to Felizario whose family has the lodging option in Trapa Trapa. He is open to people camping nearby.<br /> <br /> The cc section is easy navigation-wise, but the sand is tough to walk in, and it is very exposed. There's little water apart from the fords, but enough. The water coming down from the valley next to Volcan Antuco is very chalky though, and at the waypoint &quot;camp&quot; the stream is all dried up. Further in the valley the water is fine, and it might be possible to find a campsite just before leaving the stream on the optional route.<br /> The building at the &quot;police&quot; waypoint is abandoned. We ended up camping by the carabineros at the &quot;boarder control&quot; waypoint.<br /> While walking on the primary road we were stopped by a boarder control car who wanted to see our passports and pase de movilidad (covid-19) and hear about our route. There were no problems with that. He was very convinced we couldn't cross to Abanico through the pass on the regular route because there wasn't a trail on the other side, but he let us try. Absolutely no snow in the pass on Volcán Antuco's shoulder - apparently it's a very low snow year<br /> <br /> Volcán Antuco summit:<br /> We followed the route up, it leads along the ridge to avoid the very strong stream in the valley. This part is not too difficult. The summit itself is very hard, though. It's very steep through loose, big lava rocks that slide everywhere. Tough and a little dangerous. On the other side, the terrain is made of the same kind of rocks for over half of the descent, which makes for a very slow going. Maybe there is a nicer path under the ski lifts, we found one almost in the end. Definitely not worth it for everyone.<br /> The place marked &quot;restaurant, lodging&quot; was closed - apparently they are open only during the ski season. Not too difficult to hitch from there if not too late<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-10 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes'''<br /> <br /> Overview: <br /> This section has you cross over a volcanic lava field and over a pass at first and then follows trails south thru and area with many puestos and ranches. The first part of this section involves some route finding and cross country while the second half follows well established dirt roads and dirt trails thru grass Valley.<br /> <br /> Difficulties: <br /> WARNING: Huge snow field at the top of the pass that is untraversable. It is very steep and must be avoided if not yet melted. Must go around so please be safe. My biggest difficult was the sections across the lava rocks. My shoes were almost destroyed by this point and the sharp, jagged and uneven surface of the lava rock caused so much pain in my feet and completely took out what ever life was left in my trail runners. Also, lots of route finding and cross country in this area. <br /> <br /> Highlights: Amazing mountain pass with many views of waterfalls. Glaciers.<br /> <br /> Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-22 / 4 days (GPT9 + GPT19) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin '''<br /> <br /> Combined sections 9 &amp; 10. 4 days. Sierra Velluda and Antuco Volcanoe were amazing. In Trapa Trapa the two small shops were out of stock, so we couldn't buy anything. Pehuenche settlers in &quot;veranadas&quot; were really welcoming and friendly to us. We asked anyway for permission to camp close to their settlements. We were invited by familia Crespo Manquepi for tortillas, tea and some other food and stayed there for a few hours. They are welcome to recieve gpt hikers and in the future sell some food and lodging. Really kind family. Just before the last big climb in section 10. No water for a long stretch after it. Recomend the detour to Laguna Liay, amazing. Resupplied in Ralco.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-22 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mostly) / Frank '''<br /> <br /> 2 days &amp; continued to GPT10 on 2nd day.<br /> There is at least one place to stay in Abanico &amp; as you go on the road past Abanico towards the park there are a few cabins &amp; one campsite. In the park @ small lake 2K before Conaf1 there is a campsite with cabins. You pay 4000CLP entry @ Conaf but I went in before 8AM, no one there. At the pass, around 2050M on the shoulder of Antuco, I was able to slide down the lowest part of the snowfield. Northbound or earlier in the season you may need to go around it. <br /> Virtually no shade on this route. 3 small shops in Trapa Trapa. Last one, Provisiones Bety, has a rest area, she sometimes has bread. <br /> <br /> Went on OH-PR-V@09-B-#002, talked to Carabineros @ Border Control &amp; told them I would stay in Chile &amp; continue to Trapa Trapa. They were OK with that &amp; didn't ask to see my passport, so I would say there is no need to divert around the border post any more.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-15 / 1.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Maddie &amp; Tom '''<br /> <br /> Easy hitch from Abanico to the start of the National Park (~10km into the section). The CONAF station at the park entrance took us longer than expected to pass through and explain what we were doing (they appeared to be unsure as to whether we were crossing the border into Argentina or not). However after explaining our route to them they let us pass without paying the entrance fee to the national park. The cross country sections were easy to navigate and overall the trail was of good quality.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-10 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> We passed the big snowfield at the right side through the rocks, as Matus suggested. It was steep but ok and definitively the shorter way around the snow. Nothing to add to the previous comments. In Trapa Trapa we continued straight to Section 10.<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-04 / 3.5 days (GPT9 + GPT10) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Matus &amp; Anna '''<br /> <br /> GPT09 and GPT10 Season section log. <br /> We combined these two sections. <br /> Trail in both section is in good condition. There is snowfield in first pass as was mentioned. We went left, but it would be worth to check is it's possible to go through rocks on the right as it seems much shorter. <br /> Water is not marked on a map but there is a stream before the pass. <br /> Resuply in Trapa Trapa is very limited. They had few tunas, other caned fish, some pasta, flour, cola, crisps... We didn't check for accomodation. <br /> We stayed in a paid campsite at Laguna el Barco for 5000 both. Around 8 there was a woman selling bread and sweet pastry, but mind that it was weekend. <br /> Resuply in Guallali again very limited. They have tunas, caned fish, pasta, oil, crackers and bit more. We are staying in a house next to the shop.<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> *Antuco<br /> Many smaller supermarkets, which have most things - easy enough to resupply here.<br /> One of the two ferreterías has gas (the one furthest from Abanico).<br /> Many accommodation options and some restaurants.<br /> There is an ATM at the town square which even gives some smaller notes<br /> <br /> Also panaderias (one selling good sopaipillas for $300 if you haven't tried yet), restaurants but also food truck, brewery<br /> <br /> *Abanico<br /> At least one shop. A pizzeria<br /> Bus to Antuco/Los Angeles<br /> <br /> *Parque antuco :<br /> Camping for 10kCLP/pers/night. <br /> Also cabañas for 2 and 4 pers. <br /> Shower almost hot. <br /> No or very bad phone coverage (entel)<br /> Website : https://www.parqueantuco.cl/<br /> The owner is really nice. Possible to give him a call in antuco (when still phone coverage) to know if open. <br /> <br /> *Trapa Trapa<br /> 3 shops but they are all small. They all have biscuits &amp; soft drinks. First one has ice cream &amp; flour. Second one has pasta, matches, chocolate, canned fish. Third one ( Provisiones Bety) sometimes has bread.<br /> <br /> Accomodation in a small room at the waypoint &quot;lodging, food&quot; - 20,000 pesos for dinner, breakfast and accommodation. <br /> 10,000 for lunch (soup, tomatoes, harina tostada, tea)<br /> <br /> Bus to Ralco<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route=<br /> <br /> Bus from Los Angeles to Antuco about once an hour in daytime. A few of them continue to Abanico or you can hitch fairly easily (also see here: [[Volc%C3%A1n_Antuco#Acceso_en_transporte_p.C3.BAblico_y_autostop]].<br /> <br /> Updated January 2022: Bus from Trapa Trapa to Ralco at 6 and 18 every day including weekends<br /> <br /> - Many people going and coming from the National Park, it hadn't been easy to hitchhike to reach Antuco but it worked<br /> <br /> - Bus from Antuco to Santiago - Terminal Sur leaving at 21:30 and arriving at 6:30<br /> <br /> Company : Nilahue<br /> <br /> $26.300 for semi-cama<br /> <br /> Commentaries : &quot;cheap&quot; company, no USB-plugs, not much space for the legs, the bus stop is at the entrance of Antuco coming from the Andes, it's a shelter made of bricks just next to a food truck selling fries and hamburgers<br /> <br /> Update nov2024 : <br /> <br /> Night bus santiago --&gt; antuco 16k CLP ( not every day but multiple/week). Seets confortables, 2 plugs (TranSantin)<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> Update November 2023: The Chilean Border Control had be relocated and is now closer to the border and not any more on the GPT route. Therefore it is not any more required to sneak around the Chilean Border Control.<br /> <br /> This is the only place where it is strongly recommended to sneak around a police station. This recommendation applies in particular to all non-Chileans going southbound.<br /> The reason: The forward border control Pichachen is located about 20 km before the actual border. And only here the regional superiors of the PDI (Policia de Investigation) came up with the silly rule that everyone that passes the border control post towards Argentina gets stamped out of the country regardless if he leaves Chile or not. They simply ignore the fact that a few kilometers down the main road at Piedra del Indio long before reaching Argentina a horse trail diverts towards the next village in Chile called Trapa Trapa. Should you get an exit stamp into your passport but continue to hike in Chile you will be an illegal alien without a valid tourist visa. This may not instantly cause you a problem but the next time you want to leave Chile orderly i.e. from an airport the immigration system will show that you illegally in Chile and the police will assume that you trespassed into Chile. And that’s taken pretty serious. Forget about your flight and your further travel plans.<br /> Every hikers that passed this border control got into some kind of trouble and caused these officers a headache. Some hikers could convince them after long discussions to pass without an exit stamp. Some hikers got and exit stamp and run into problems later. Some hikers pretended to walk back and took a partly overgrown route to walk around the border control. When we hiked this section in January 2014 I got unasked an exit stamp while they “just checked my documents” but luckily after a long talk I could convince them to give me a new entry stamp.<br /> You can’t blame these poor officials at the border control for this situation; they understand these occasional hikers but their regional superiors gave them strict orders. In short: this place is a potential disaster for hikers and hikers are a disturbance for these officials.<br /> Therefore, to avoid this issue I simply rerouted the regular hiking route to bypass the border control post Pichachen. It’s easier for everyone: for the hikers and for the poor police officer that have to comply with this silly order. The re-routed track leads cross country through the normally dry lake bed of the Laguna de Las Lajas and just crosses the main road at the diversion to Trapa Trapa. Walking around the border control may be suspicious but is not illegal and saves everyone nerves and endless discussions. It actually prevents you from getting into an illegal migration status while staying in Chile.<br /> The Regular Packrafting Route anyway bypasses the border control.<br /> Luckily this is the only border control post I’m aware off where such a stupid rule is applied. In many other forward border controls you need to proactively approach the police and request your exit stamp if you plan to leave Chile. Should you just visit the area between the border control and the actual border you can normally just pass or explain your intentions.<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT09 - Volcán Antuco]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> <br /> [[File:GPT09-Laguna_de_las_Lajas.jpg|thumb|center|1100px]]<br /> <br /> [[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT06_(Descabezado)&diff=119570 2025-01-13T22:21:26Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> = Overview =<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;overflow: hidden&quot;&gt;<br /> [[Archivo:GPT 06 options.png|450px|right|GPT 06 route options]]<br /> <br /> ===Routes===<br /> Section 6 leads through the spectacular landscape of the Descabezado volcano. There are three main routes: the regular GPT route, from Parque Ingles to La Mina / Los Cipreses (or vice versa), the Condor Circuit from Parque Ingles to Vilches, which is also popular with non-GPT hikers, and the longer, off-the-beaten-path Descabezado Circuit, which begins at Laguna del Maule and ends in La Mina. Optional trips to volcano peaks include Descabezado Grande, Descabezado Chico and Volcán Azul.<br /> <br /> ===Right of way issues===<br /> Most variations of section 6 will pass by Don Victor at km45.5 of the regular route. Even if you don't pass by there, you are likely to meet him at some point on the trail. He requires prior authorization to go through his land, although only some hikers have been able to obtain such authorization, since he seems to not always reply to messages. Without authorization, it is advisable to try to avoid him, especially on the way into his land, since he might turn you around. This makes a start from Vilches unadvisable. You can minimize the probability of meeting Don Victor by taking a CC route closer to Descabezado Grande, described by Natalie below (as of March 2024 this route is not yet part of the track files), but this is not an easy route, especially if there is snow. An alternative is to do the Descabezado Circuit, but finish in Parque Ingles. This shorter circuit still goes through via almost all highlights, but entirely avoids Don Victor. You can also connect to section 5, which similarly avoids him.<br /> <br /> Starting from Parque Ingles also has restrictions, see the trip reports below. In particular, there are only a limited number of hikers allowed, and you should not disclose your plans to go via Don Victor's land if you don't have authorization.<br /> <br /> Notice that starting from La Mina requires authorization from the hydro company. See the GPT manual on section 6 for details.<br /> &lt;/div&gt;<br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> * '''2025-Jan-03 to 2025-Jan-10 / 7,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Farah &amp; Jan'''<br /> <br /> We started our GPT journey with this section and were amazed by the beauty and diversity of the landscape.<br /> <br /> Challenges were the rocky and sandy terrain, sometimes dangerous paths and the hot summer sun. Sometimes the path disappeared and we lost it, but with a GPS device it was easy to notice and get back on track.<br /> <br /> Dangerous snow bridge at (S 34°31.4980’ W 070°44.8453’). <br /> <br /> River crossings were no problem, one was hip high (we’re 1,75 m and 1,83 m), all the other ones knee high or less.<br /> <br /> Didn’t meet Don Victor.<br /> <br /> Definitely follow Jan Dudeck’s recommendation and use gaitors. We didn’t as we opted for hiking boots instead of low trekking shoes and kept on collecting enough sand and gravel in our boots to build a children’s playground.<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> We took the bus from Molina to Parque Inglés and hiked to El Bolsón on the first day, where we camped. Only had tickets for one day for the Parque Nacional Siete Tazas and weren’t sure if we technically would’ve needed one for two days, but the official let us camp there nonetheless after checking our tickets.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> Hiked to Laguna de las Ánimas where we met Sean &amp; Neele on their way NOBO and had a nice quick chat with them.<br /> <br /> At the end of the ascent out of Valley del Indio, right below the pass, there was an icey snowfield, which we traversed using crampons - it would’ve been possible without but felt safer with them. We camped at Laguna de las Animas, which was beautiful.<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> <br /> From Laguna de las Ánimas we continued over the pass at [19.4/2547] after which we encountered some sketchy paths along steep gravel slopes: At some parts the path had slipped downhill and if doing one wrong step, we would’ve too. Take care at this part of the section! Camped near the Hot Spring del Azufre.<br /> <br /> Day 4<br /> <br /> We weren’t sure if we could drink the water near the hot spring because it all stank like sulfide so we hiked uphill a bit before refilling our water. There, we also encountered the only bigger river crossing at [29.4/2190] - hip high and a bit of a current but still doable at the right spot.<br /> <br /> Higher up that valley (S 34°31.4980’ W 070°44.8453’) we found a pretty dangerous snow bridge over a creek and decided to walk/climb around it which was also a bit dangerous as it took us over very loose rocks right next to an at least 20 m drop but way more controllable than the snow bridge next to it.<br /> <br /> We left the valley behind us and camped at a beautiful spot right next to a river and with a wonderful view of the surrounding rocks and mountains (S 35°31.9714’ W 070°47.4839’).<br /> <br /> Day 5<br /> <br /> Descended the valley, met two French hikers who did the Condor Circuit and had a quick chat with them, passed Descabezado Grande and the Refugio at [45.5/1887] but didn’t meet Don Victor. We camped at the Water/Camp at [48.1/1837] - what a beautiful little oasis!<br /> <br /> Day 6<br /> <br /> Hiked past the Laguna del Caracol and originally wanted to reach the camp at [62.2/1999]. However on the ascent to the pass at [59.3/2518], Farah’s knee started to hurt and the pain got worse, so we decided to take some rest and camped in a small depression right next to a snow field roughly 100 hm below the pass. Despite the exposed location there was almost no wind and we got to enjoy a breathtaking view on the two Descabezados and the valley at their feet.<br /> <br /> Day 7<br /> <br /> Farahs knee got better, we ascended the remaining roughly 100 hm to the pass and from there descended to the water at [73.5/1014] We camped on the shore of the Rio Cipreses nearby.<br /> <br /> Day 8<br /> <br /> In the morning we woke up by the sound of people: Some local fishers from San Clemente walked past our tent, we wished them buenos días and had a friendly chat with them. Later that morning, they gifted us three freshly caught trouts which we happily ate right on spot.<br /> <br /> We then descended the remaining 6 km to the bus stop at {06-E} [0.5/862], where we wanted to catch an afternoon bus to Talca that we found on the bus services Facebook page. However, the bus didn’t come and we learned from the owner of the shop at {06-E} [0.5/856] that the buses only leave once a day at 7 am. He sold us Coca Cola, chips and chocolate bars and rented us a room (without private bathroom but access to his own bathroom) for 30.000 CLP and we spent the night there. The 7 am bus didn’t come either so we hitchhiked to a bus stop west of San Clemente and took a bus to Talca there.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> *&quot;2025-Dec-31 to 2025-Janv-6 / 5.6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 3 (Descabezado) / Peggy &amp; Dorota&quot;<br /> Magnificent, grandiose, and isolated section. Difficulty: dryness, sandy and volcanic rocky terrain, sometimes tiring. No water issues, but be sure to drink plenty.<br /> <br /> First part, each on our own. I (Peggy) started the GPT with this section from El Bolson. I chose to take an Uber to get to the entrance of the Siete Tazas park (30k CLP). I had bought the park ticket online beforehand but it wasn't the right one. I should have purchased a ticket specifically for the El Bolson trail. However, the park ranger was accommodating. On my driver's advice, I paid 7k CLP for the El Bolson camping to enter the park but didn't spend the night there. I was given a document that I had to hand over on my way down. I followed this advice for convenience, although maybe it wouldn't have been an issue if I had just explained where I was going?<br /> <br /> I didn't encounter Don Victor throughout the section, though I had sent him a message he didn't see.<br /> <br /> Upon arriving at Laguna de las Animas, I met Dorota, and we decided to do this section together.<br /> <br /> There was little snow, with a few rare snowfields that were easily passable or avoidable, except for a large section where it helped us cross a river. Indeed, after the Termas de Azufre, at the ford at kilometer 29.4, finding the river too strong in the morning, we followed the right bank of the river until we found snow covering the river. After leaving the dangerous start behind us, we crossed the snow where it was thick and could walk on it for a while before crossing to the other side.<br /> <br /> No problems with the other fords.<br /> <br /> A bit past the refuge at the foot of Descabezado Grande (km 45.5), there are good bivouac spots (S 35°35.7470’ W 070°49.5695’).<br /> <br /> We climbed Descabezado Grande from this refuge, starting early in the morning. We made a big mistake by forgetting to take water! It seems we both had a moment of &quot;temporary unconsciousness&quot;! We also thought we would find water from the snow higher up, which we did, but only in the form of snow. We managed to collect what we could by putting the snow in our bottles to melt a bit. There was also a bit of water flowing from a snowfield but only in the last part. So, make sure to think about water! Moreover, it’s better to sleep on the volcanic plateau to get closer to the summit, avoiding the 2000m elevation gain all at once (that was actually our initial plan…) with water! Especially later in the season when the snow has melted.<br /> <br /> The 2000m elevation gain with little water was difficult, especially moving from 3000m to 4000m with some altitude sickness. Nevertheless, it was a good learning experience for both of us. Once at the top, we could appreciate the magnificent view of the snowy crater of Descabezado and the surrounding scenery. The climb is not technical but can be long if started from the bottom and strenuous. But it’s definitely worth it!<br /> <br /> It took me (Peggy) two days to realize that by keeping my pants on, I no longer suffered from sand and stones in my high-top shoes! And yet, I wasn’t suffering from altitude-induced brain fog! ;)<br /> <br /> In summary, a magnificent, wild, grandiose, and isolated section. Perfect to start with!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''2024-Dec-30 to 2024-Jan-5 / 6.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 6 + option 3 (Descabezado) / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Tldr: beautiful section! No problems with snow. Didn't meet Don Victor. Water at all waypoints plus more due to snow.<br /> <br /> Emailed Natali (natali.veloso@enel.com) to get authorisation to enter NOBO, theres a simple form to complete and return. took the bus from Talca to El Colorado to visit the cabinieros they signed and stamped the completed form Natali sent us. Hitched to Central Cipreces, wasn't too difficult, a worker dropped us off right at gate 78.9km. Security guard was very friendly and helpful he was happy with our authorisation and after filling in another form we were on our way.<br /> <br /> Went up to Volcan Los Hornitos took only 10 minutes to get to the crater rim from the pass. Well worth it.<br /> <br /> Camped near camp 62.2km<br /> <br /> Pass 59.3 a patch of snow on the south side but easy to walk around it to the east.<br /> <br /> We decided to do the option 6 loop to see laguna la turbia. Nice enough and easy, western side of the pass is pretty steep.<br /> <br /> Camped at 56.3km - lots of really nice camping around here we couldn't walk past it.<br /> <br /> At water camp 48.1km we went CC straight to camp without water 5.9km to avoid any right of way disputes and to climb dezcabezado grande in the morning. It worked, not sure if I'd recommend it. <br /> <br /> Plenty of snow for water at camp 5.9km we didn't even need to melt it, it was flowing.<br /> <br /> Descabezado (03) 9.4km was surprisingly simple. 4 hours to the crater rim from camp 5.9km, Another 30 minutes to go to the summit and back, hour and a half down. From around 3,700m to the crater rim routes 03 and 03A separate. We took 03A up and 03 down, 03 is much better I'd recommend it.<br /> <br /> Took option 3 to refuge 45.5km all good.<br /> <br /> Pass 33.8km snow mostly avoidable now. We camped up there snow for water.<br /> <br /> Pass 19.4km - small patch of snow easy to avoid <br /> <br /> Pass 15.4km - small patch of unavoidable snow but easy to cross.<br /> <br /> Camped at El Bolson - pretty busy on a Saturday.<br /> <br /> Short walk out to catch the bus to molina at 11<br /> <br /> No entel signal in parque ingles<br /> <br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-15 to 2024-DEC-21 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, OH option 3, CC not on trail from [5.9/2542] to camp [48.1/1837] / Tamar &amp; Nimrod'''<br /> <br /> In short:<br /> A lot of water everywhere.<br /> A lot of snow as well, but we managed without spikes.<br /> The CC ascenting Descabezado is free of snow. The one ascenting Azul might be covered by snow but we didn't climb it.<br /> <br /> First day- We started from Molina on Sunday, and took the bus from the main station that departed at 9:30am (we think on other days of the week it leaves at 11:00am) to parque ingles. The ride took us about 1.5 hours, and costs 4000 clp. At parque ingles there was no phone signal anymore with entel sim card. We payed in advance online 8900 clp per person for entering the park and sleeping at El Bolson. When we arrived we had to pay another 7000 clp each. <br /> Started walking up to El Bolson at noon and got there at 17:00. A ranger on a motorcycle asked to see our ticket in the middle of the trail. <br /> <br /> 2nd- went towards Laguna Las animas. While Ascending to first pass [15.4/2257] there was a lot of snow but we managed to cross without spikes, though it was quite scarry.<br /> It was a long day because the descending from the second pass [19.4/2547] was harder and longer then expected, some parts felt dangerous so we climbed a little to cross at a place with vegetation Wich was less slipery. <br /> We slept at terms de azufres. Beautiful! Extraordinery! Needed time to find a good pool but it had a lot of algae so we didn't go in. There were many pools with different temperatures. <br /> <br /> 3rd- climbed to pass [33.8/2695] (El astadio) a lot of snow along the trail and patches of snow that had to be crossed very carefully, because if falling ment no coming back. The pass itself was completely covered withe snow field! There was some exhusting walk on the spiky snow but then we found foot prints of a horse and poop of sheep and followed it down the pass. Slept at a beautiful place aprox(-35.54190,-70.79507) with a stream from melted snow waterfall (don't know how long it will last). <br /> <br /> 4th day- went towards refugio. There were some cows but no people. Didn't find hot spring. Walked up to camp without water [5.9/2542]. Very good camp, no wind, but watch out from the glacier that looks like it's going to collapse. Drank water from snow we melted. <br /> <br /> 5th day- DESCABEZADO- woke up before sunrise to ascend. We thought there will be snow on the trail that will be easier to climb when frozen. It was not necessary because although there were snow fields along the way, the trail was snow free. <br /> It took us 6 hours to ascend and 3 hours to descend. The view was amazing! Seems that the trail on Azul has more snow on it. The inside of the mountain was covered with snow.<br /> We walked back to our camp and then walked to camp [48.1/1837], not on a trail, which was ok, and camped there.<br /> <br /> 6th day: we continued on RR and camped near Laguna De Los Hornos - approx. (-35.72217, -70.81903).<br /> Sandy and soft ground but quite windi.<br /> <br /> 7th day: hoped to get to El Medano at noon, but got there only by 18:00 :(.<br /> We ran out of food because we planned 6 days hike, so we stopped in the shop in Los Alamos. We bought canned tuna, cheese, and not very fresh bread.<br /> After paying we were invited to seat and eat in the families yard and given tons of fresh bread, cheese, and coke.<br /> We continued on RR. TL (81.2+1.8), and the start of MR (83.0+0.8) are gone because of a big flood (we were told there was a big flood 2 years ago) and it took us almost 2 frustrating hours to walk this trail.<br /> Finally we made it to the bridge, crossed it, and walked on the PR.<br /> A man in the entrance to El Medano arranged us a cabaña and we accepted it.<br /> We stayed 2 nights and continued to GPT07.<br /> The shop in El Medano is very basic and aiming tourist, and we regretted not buying more food in Los Alamos.<br /> We stayed in: cabañas y colaciones sra. Isabel ±56978397080- jose ±56975762613- Isabel.<br /> Very generous warm and friendly people. Helped us with laundry for free, acomidation for 50,000 clp for a night for 2 people and diner for 8,000 clp per person. Also took us to natural sauna and gave us cheap or free products which we couldn't find in the expensive and basic minimarket.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-17 to 2024-DEC-20 / 4 days / hiking / NOBO / RR+option GPT06-01e / Michal a Anna ​'''<br /> <br /> How to obtain the permit to enter the Hidroeléctrica Los Cipreses:<br /> 1. Contact Mrs. Natali Veloso Zuñiga from Enel (natali.veloso@enel.com) to obtain an authorization to visit. It is a simple form, she replied within a day.<br /> 2. With the authorization visit carabinieros at Reten La Mina or El Colorado and obtain permit to enter Los Cipreses. It is a multi-page document summarizing your trip.<br /> 3. Now you can enter and begin your hike NOBO. :)<br /> <br /> Day1: When we came to the Enel gate [78.9/865] we realised that we have to obtain yet another permit from Carabineros at Reten La Mina (as described above). Getting to Reten and back took us 2 hours but Carabinieros were friendly and helpful and there wasn’t any problem with getting the permit. After that we build our first camp at Laguna de Los Hornos [aprox 64.8].<br /> <br /> Day 2: Pass [59.3/2518] (Hornitos) wasn’t fully under show but we used our microspikes to climb two snowfields more easily, but would be definitly ok without them. Then the out-of-this-world beauty began.<br /> <br /> Day 3: We didn’t meet Don Víctor at Refugio [45.5/1887] or around. Just a few cows. Pass [33.8/2695] (El Estadio) was almost completely under snow, microspikes very useful and made our progress faster. When descending from pass there was a lot of melting snow. At [S 35°31.4964', W 070°44.8531'/2427] where the RR goes on the east side of the valley there was a big snow bridge across creek/waterfall which we consider unsafe to step on. We couldn’t find a safe alternative way (only a combination of short downclimb, ford in steep creek and crumbly longer upclimb), so we decided to turn and came back to X [36.7/2423] where we spent night.<br /> <br /> Day 4: We took a variant [GPT06-01e (Laguna Manatial Pelado)] and without a problem descended to Park Inglesé. At [35°28.61331'S, 70°59.63836'W] is a gate where we were informed that we are on private property. Semi friendly guy opened the gate after a while and some negotiations.<br /> <br /> Generally the trail was ok, but it pays off to be very careful this time of year because of the melting snow and rivers flowing under it creating many snow bridges. It may turn you back. Anyways this section is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been to, we were left speachless many times!<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-09 &gt; 10 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / Variante Volcan Colorado(voir GPT05)&gt;RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT04+GPT05+GPT06<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : beaucoup<br /> | Intérêt : 5/5<br /> | Difficulté : 3/5<br /> | Danger : attaque d'oiseaux<br /> <br /> Des Cairns indiquent souvent la route. Beaucoup de poussière sur cette etape.<br /> J'ai subit 1 attaques d'oiseaux apres le lac Caracol sur la partie herbeuse, puis 1 autre le long du lac Hornitos. J'ai marché sur les parties sableuse et degagées pour ne pas ecraser de nids. Apres le volcan Hornitos, la descente est monotone et sans interet.<br /> DEC-11&gt;12 : Repos Talca. A-R bus.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-DEC-05 to 2024-DEC-07 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. C) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 5 and 6.<br /> <br /> We joined section 6 at the hot springs [27.4/1986]. Most tributaries of the river carrying water from the hot springs are too hot for bathing, but one of them has a reasonable temperature. It’s slightly overgrown and more lukewarm than hot, but fine for washing.<br /> <br /> The fords on the Estero El Volcán river [29.4/2190 and 32.5/2565] were both covered by snow, so we didn’t need to ford. Generally, there is still quite a lot of snow, and the area around the pass is almost entirely covered. However, with good equipment (appropriate clothing, microspikes, sunglasses...), it’s not difficult to cross.<br /> <br /> There is plenty of water everywhere due to the melting snow.<br /> <br /> The water at [44.6/1884] is currently a fairly strong flow. We eventually found a spot where we could hop across dry-footed, but it took some time to find. We were there in the morning; by the afternoon, the water level would likely be higher and will by necessery to ford.<br /> <br /> We didn’t meet Don Victor. However, we met another group of hikers near the refugio.<br /> <br /> The climb to the pass [59.3/2518] (Hornitos) from Laguna del Caracol is almost snow-free, except for a few small patches. On the other hand, the southern slope is still covered by a significant layer of snow. Regardless of the trackfiles, we descended in a way that avoided difficult snow patches. Our route was very close to variant C, and it was fine.<br /> <br /> Around km 68, we left the trail and went cross-country directly south, looking for a good campsite. We eventually found one at -35.7569975, -70.7919536, with a nice flat spot and access to water.<br /> <br /> The shop in Los Alamos, marked as a resupply point, is open. It’s very small, but we managed to buy supplies for the next two days. Don’t worry if it seems hidden in someone’s garden—it’s there!<br /> <br /> On the road on the opposite bank (Variant E), there are several small shops where it might also be possible to resupply. There’s also a nice restaurant, Cordillera, where we celebrated the end of the stage.<br /> <br /> <br /> (2024/Nov/26 -2024/Nov/30)/4 Days/ Hiking/ SOBO/ Entry Variation from 05, RR form Banos del Blanquillo/ Lukas, Basil &amp;Tabea<br /> <br /> The national Park was still closed and entry was not possible so we chose a different entry point over lago frio (La Ruca). The expedition guide from the touring company offert to drop us off at this alternative entry point for 15$ p.p. After 10km on good trials we arrived on variation 05, which we followed until the main route. The route was duable, no critical river crossings or hard snow fields. the mountain pass horintos still had snow on the south side, nobo crossing not advisable. Exit at los zypresses.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024-04-03 to 2024-04-05 // 2,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel (GPT6)'''<br /> <br /> What an amazing section ! <br /> <br /> I was lucky enough to have all the volcanoes and mountains covered by snow as it was heavy rainy just before I begun this section ! <br /> <br /> The result is blowminding landscapes, but struggle near the pass, to deal with the mix of snow and soft volcanic ground aha. <br /> <br /> I started from El medano, where the shop and most of the cabanas were closed (there's few options to sleep here, cabanas and camping too, but as it was the end of the season, everything was closed). I was lucky enough to found a nice habitant that purpose me to stay at his house for the night for 20K CLP and saved me from a big storm and heavy rain.<br /> <br /> I took the option F then E (basically the road from El Medano to the central hydrauelectruca) because I needed to resupply as the shop in El medano was closed. I found my happiness in La Mina where there's two basics shops (pasta, tomato sauce, biscuits, chips... (but no bread, or fresh products like fruits, cheese, ham ...). Here there's possibility to sleep on cabanas as well. There's a hotel/restaurant just one kilometer before La Mina, but no-one was there. <br /> <br /> I arrived at the gate of the central, knowing that it will be hard without authorisation. I've sent an email to Rene gaillardo as mentioned on the hiker's manual, but no answer. So I dealt with the security guards at the entrance.<br /> <br /> After long negociations the best option (and fastest one to let me pass this day) was to have a writing authorisation to pass from the carabineros. I've been driven to the carabineros by the security guard, and then have hard negotiations again. They finally wrote a paper where I had to explain my expedition and give lot of informations. And they asked me to go on a police station when I finished the section for let them know that I'm still alive aha. <br /> <br /> Anyway, this allowed me to pass. <br /> <br /> But if you're going NOBO and don't want to struggle like that, don't contact Rene Gallardo, he's not working at the Central anymore, the key contact is now Natali Veloso, that you can contact on that mail address : Natali.veloso@enel.com<br /> <br /> Then you hike threw the central on a boring gravel, and arrive to the junction where you find lovely volcanic ground and going up up up to the pass of Los Hornitos. From there it's just landscapes from an other planet, with a very easy to follow path, but not in an easy ground as it's quite sandy. <br /> <br /> Views on Laguna del Caracol was amazing ! As the whole circuito condor on RR ! One of the best section of my GPT so far, alone in the world in this absolute incredible landscape ... Blowminding ! <br /> <br /> I continued threw the pass El estadio PK 33,8, here the snow was very present and the path harder to follow. I continued to the amazing spring del Azufres, very nice landscape to have a hot bath and quite big vapores, nice break during the day ! <br /> <br /> The crossing over Estero El Volcan (X2) was quite demanding and I had to figure it out and check during long times for the best way to cross. Then I took the variant H to linked the GPT 6 to GPT 5. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Mar-08 to 2024-Mar-16 / 8.5 days / Hiking / Descabezado Circuit / Control Fronterizo Laguna del Maule - Los Cipreses/ Option 02 + RR + Descabezado Chico / Alex &amp; Christophe '''<br /> <br /> This 170km loop was our last section after 3 months on the GPT. It has been one of the most hard, exhausting, and technical section but also one of the most remote, wild, and magnificient we did. We didn't see any humans during 8 days. The extrem wind and cold temperatures, the infinite CC in open areas, the white landscapes without any shadow, and the D+ in soft sand were constantly forgotten thanks to the lunar landscapes. Here are some added informations for the GPT06-02 to the ones given by Natalie &amp; Tomáš. <br /> <br /> Day 1 : We took the bus at 7:30 from Talca to Armerillo. Then we hitchhiked to the beginning of GPT06-02 and began at 11am. After the first pass (-35.94909, -70.45347), we followed the track but going down thru the landslide seems to be a better option. We slept next to the river where there was a good wind shelter (more or less) at (-35.934832, -70.459308). That's a good spot to have the sun early in the morning, which was appreciated since it was -4°C during the night.<br /> Day 2 : The second path (-35.652, -70.43356) was pretty steep and unstable in the last meters but easily doable. The puesto seemed to be unoccupied. There was water every 1 or 2 hours. Then we took the {06-02F} as it looked to avoid swamps and we slept next to the river at (-35.827017, -70.399535) to have the sun as long as possible and to have it early in the morning.<br /> Day 3 : After the pass at (-35.785707, -70.403584), the landscape changed drastically! We took the {06-02E} to avoid the swamps of the other side. It worked but we had to cross the rio san Francisco. Small ford, but not jumpable. We stopped at (-35.693111, -70.427244). There was a clear source and a blue lagoon to take a quick bath. We had wind all night long, maybe there's a better place next to the lagoon. <br /> Day 4: It must be possible to find a camp spot around (-35.667931, -70.422663). After that point, it begins to climb and there's no more flat place. We took the {06-02D} and it was a good option out of the elevation and the crazy wind. When we arrived at the snow limit, we went 20m down to find a good way in the snow. Then we had to run in the flowing sand to the rocks and had to clamber the last meters between two wind gusts throwing us sand in the eyes. It was pretty scary because of the wind conditions but doable. Finally on the plateau, we had to manage with winds at 80km/h and sandstorms. I would definitely not pass in case of bad weather or with stronger wind. We took a break at (-35.613055, -70.423114), first water since the pass. Then we followed the GPX track but the OSM offers to take the westside of the river and it looked to be better as we had to go up and down in the sand many times. Finally after this exhausting day, we found a camp spot with a kind of wind protection at (-35.560315, -70.441588).<br /> Day 5: After a long morning with a NW crazy constant cold wind, we stopped at the hot springs. We tried many places but never found a source warmer than 30°C. After a quick bath, we filled our water bladder at the last point mentioned by Tomas &amp; Natalie (-35.48544, -70.5994) to go to sleep to the pass. There was still a ton of snow next to the pass but didn't see melting snow on the way. There are different camp possibilities with a stunning view in the last 600m before the pass but we slept at (-35.494194, -70.622529) to climb the Descabezado Chico the next day. Ok wind shelter.<br /> Day 6 : We woke up at 6am to go to Descabezado Chico before the sunrise. We crossed a melting snow river at (-35.49828, -70.621259). Even if the last part is steep rocky and sandy, the climb is easy. We reached the summit in 1h20 and had one of the best sunrises of our lives ! There are some places to be sheltered from the freezing wind and enjoy the view. Back to the pass, we followed more or less the track because there was still a lot of snow and some ways didn't look to be the best to follow. Next to Lago de la Mollera (-35.49782, -70.635864), we went down to the lake because we didn't see how to avoid a snow wall and because it was looking to be a nice path to go down (breaking news : no)... We managed to go up a little bit further (-35.501361, -70.641377). When we arrived below Cerro Colorado, we took water in a blue lagoon and we hiked the crest on the left side to avoid deep sand (-35.524775, -70.661721). Then we stayed on the left side of the Cerro Colorado to go down (-35.525073, -70.670594) until the river. That was a quick and good choice. Finally we managed a flat and more or less wind sheltered camp at (-35.55463, -70.708441).<br /> Day 7: There was still a ton of snow at the pass and made our own track in the snow slope a little bit upper than the GPS track to cross more safely. We wanted to follow the high route described by Natalie &amp; Tomás to avoid Don Víctor but as we saw how much snow there still was, how already tired we were (but not as much as our shoes) we decided to take the RR to go south. When we watched the high route from the RR, there was still a lot of snow patches. We finally stopped at Water, Camp [48.1/1837]. Not the best idea because it becomes a freezing hole during the night.<br /> Day 8-9: We followed the RR, nothing more to add to other posts except that we never met Don Victor !<br /> <br /> * '''2024-02-29 to 2024-03-07 / 7.5 days / Descabezado Circuit - Laguna del Maule to Los Cipreses / option 02, off-trail variant, 03, RR + Descabezado Grande and chico / Marilyne (+Fangwen and Tobi for first 3 days)'''<br /> <br /> First section on the GPT and I found it amazing! I won’t repeat anything that Tobi and Fangwen have mentioned below that also applies to my trip.<br /> On day 5, I used the variant suggested by Natalie&amp;Tomas that avoids Refugio Blanquillo and Don Victor. I had met with 3 park rangers earlier in the day who questioned me about my plans and asked if I was planning to go to Refugio blanquillo. When I assured them that I would not they went on their way. I watched them and their 6 horses run over a steep patch of snow and it gave me the confidence to cross it too, otherwise I may have tried to find a different route as a fall there would have been highly consequential.<br /> <br /> Had to cross many patches of snow on Natalie &amp; Tomas alternate route and it includes a stream crossing that could be very dangerous in the wrong season as it is above a waterfall.<br /> <br /> I climbed Descabezado Chico on day 4 and Descabezado Grande using route 3 on day 6. The Grande climb took 6+ hours and I didn’t have any desire to keep fighting scree fields after so I skipped Azul. At the end of that day all my stuff and me were very dusty from that climb.<br /> On day 8 I exited at the hydroelectric station Los Cipreses. A security guard that saw me running down the road to catch the bus offered me a ride to the main gate and we had a pleasant chat. Caught the 3:30pm bus to Talca around 4pm. They seem to start late from Medano.<br /> Very sunny section, I used a small solar panel on my backpack and ended up the section with all my electronics fully charged. <br /> <br /> * 2024-02-29 to 2024-03-08: Fangwen and Tobi (+ parts together with Marilyne) / 8.5 days Descabezado Circuit variant, Laguna del Maule to Vilches (option 02 -- variant 02D -- RR -- option 05)<br /> <br /> What a fantastic trip! Two experienced GPT teams had independently recommended this circuit to us, and both described it as their favorite experience on the GPT. Natalie&amp;Tomas have an extensive trip report below. I don't have a trip report from Markus&amp;Jenni, who hiked this circuit in 2019, but they provided us with very useful waypoints. If you are interested, message us ([[Special:Emailuser/Tobfang]]) and I'll ask if I can share this data.<br /> <br /> It is advisable to start this trip from Laguna del Maule. This way, you can easily lengthen the trip (by climbing the three volcanos) or shorten it (by exiting in Parque Ingles) towards the end of the trip. Also, you start at 2000m, which is a nice in the summer heat. It took us 8.5 days; we had food for 10 days and intended to climb some volcanoes, but when we got there it was quite windy, so we simply went straight to Vilches.<br /> <br /> This hike is definitely off the beaten path: the arriero Christian at S 35° 50.549', W 070° 24.114' said that we were the first hikers this season (in March!). He was very friendly and shared a delicious melon with us.<br /> Our favorite places were a beautiful valley with white sand, and a refreshing Laguna at S 35° 41.643', W 070° 25.651' and the Laguna Aquas Calientes at S 35° 30.441', W 070° 31.990'. The latter is not actually a hot lake, but there are several small streams of warm water. We camped right at S 35° 30.129', W 070° 31.514', right next to a really nice hot pool.<br /> <br /> Things to watch out for: although water was generally abundant, there are some spots where water is a bit more sparse (especially late in the season) and you might have to carry for up to one day. See Natalie's trip report for details. Additionally, earlier in the season there might be snow fields. The winter in 2023 had a crazy amount of snow, so even though we went in March we had a lot of water from snow melt and the two passes at 02D (S 35° 39.116', W 070° 26.016') and S 35° 33.137', W 070° 44.275' had steep snow fields. It was a bit sketchy, but okay. For the first pass, there are other options up, which may open up earlier. For the second pass, Option 2B traverses a lower pass (we didn't go there). A lot of hiking is on cross country, much of it on sand or gravel of different firmness. Sometimes you sink in, sometimes not. Flat or downhill travel is generally efficient, uphill is slow. Bring (mini)-gaiters, not just because of sand but also spikey plants. Also, sun protection is crucial, you won't have any tree for a week.<br /> <br /> Logistics: Interbus (call them on WhatsApp: +56 9 9886 5872) runs a bus Mon-Fri from Talca to Medano (which is a bit further than la Mina). As of March 2024, this bus left at 12:30 and 19:00, returning to Talca from Médano at 7:20 and 15:30. From Médano hitchhike to the border checkpoint. It's not super easy, and you might only get as far as the furthest mine, roughly 5km before the border checkpoint. Alternatively, use a ride sharing app to go to the border checkpoint. We were able to get via multiple rides all the way to the border checkpoint, but it took some time (we arrived at 5.30pm). If you want to check out Laguna del Maule, tell the border guard that you're not crossing into Argentina, and they will let you pass. But the border checkpoint is closed at night (between 6pm and 9am?) and you're not supposed to cross it then. We quickly went to the lake and back before it closed.<br /> Vilches Alto has a daily bus service to Talca at 12:30 and 16:00.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb- 22 to 2024-Feb-27/ 6days/hiking/SOBO/06/RR + volcano Decabezado/Paulina'''<br /> <br /> Amasing section!<br /> <br /> Day 1 <br /> I took a bus from Talca to Molina ( a lot of buses per day, still in February and later to Parque Ingles ( several buses per day in the season, most of them till 12 pm). <br /> As it was a rainy day, my plan was to walk only to El Bolson. I did not have the entrance because I could not pay on the website with my card. I told to the Rangers that I would like to go to Los Cipreses, they where like I need the permition of the landowner to do it. I just ignored it. At first they were saying that it would not be possible to camp on El Bolson the next 2 days. But I waited about one hour, reasked several times, and finally one of the Rangers went with me to the place where you can buy ticket for camping El Bolson ( 7000 CHP), also they told me that I did not need to buy the park entrance. <br /> The El Bolson camping is just huge, I don't understand all the mess with the acces. When I came up, the guy from the camping just took my name and passport number, but did not ask to show the camping payment confirmation, or park payment. <br /> <br /> Day 2 ( El Bolson- Termas de Azufre)<br /> The trail was visible all the time. At this time of the season, no snow on the pass. Termas de Azufre are amasing, so it's good to come there not very late to enjoy them. Just next to the river, there are a few spots for tents.<br /> This day I also met one chilean couple doing curcuito condor, and at Termas a chilean family with kids on horses with an arriero. <br /> The famous owner of the land did not show up this day and the next days. <br /> <br /> Day 3. To refugio Blanquillo<br /> At first there are a lot of animal trails, so you need to check with gps which one is a good one. <br /> The ford on the river on the way to the pass was short but kind of difficult ( almost to the waist, I'm 1,69 cm, strong current). It's because of a heavy 2 days rain two day before. Later I met people doing curcuito condor from the other side and they told me that the rangers did not want to let them do the trail because of this river high level. But I think that after some.more days of a dray weather it's not a difficult ford.The rest of the trail was easy to follow with beautiful views.<br /> At refugio, I met one couple doing curcuito condor and two chilean couple who came to climb Volvano Decapezado. Very nice meeting.<br /> The refugio was already closed. The hot spring was not really hot.<br /> <br /> Day 4<br /> Together with chilean hikers, we climbed Decapezado Grande. It's a long hiking day, but it's really worth to do it. The way down is easy and very fast. <br /> <br /> Day 5 to Laguna de los Hornos<br /> <br /> About 20 min. from the refugio, there are a lot of different animal paths ,so you will need to consult a gps to see which one is a GPT one.<br /> The views around Laguna Caracol are amasing, I think it was my favourite part on this section of an extreme beauty. No navigation difficulties on the trail. Indeed,laguna de los Hornos is in a big part dried. <br /> <br /> Day 6 till La Mina<br /> <br /> I agree that it's really worth to climb the volcano<br /> Los Hornitos. It's a very short way up.The rest of the trail is at first a descend in a deep sand ( so you can go very fast) and than a walk on a gravel road ( I found the valley very nice, I was amased how fast the landscape changes). I got a ride about 2 km from Los Cipreses, very nice people, they took me to the shop in los Alamos , but as the owner was not there they took me to a shop in La Mina ( 500 m before the restaurant La Cordillera). You can find there several little shops, if you go around you can complete the resupply for the next section ( mostly pasta, tuna, tomato souce, ramen, eggs, instant souls). No camping gas.<br /> I camped in a little, very nice camping/ garden with a grape shade in a restaurant La Cordillera place ( 3000 ChP), they have also cabanas but I don't know the price. A really nice place to stay and chill, you can eat all the fruits in the garden. The lady from the restaurant was very nice, they serve nice,food, not expensive ( I paid 18000 for camping, breakfast, big dinner, juice, and a good portion of pisco sour).<br /> <br /> For the next section, it's kind of easy to hitch-hike ( there are a lot of local workers on the road) to the beginning of the trail. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-18 / 5.5 days / SOBO / RR / Gabriele - Trails of Wander'''<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Parque Ingles - Laguna Las Animas. Hernandez bus from Molina to Parque Ingles 8:10 am. I had park entry and camp permit for El Bolson that I bought on-line. I indicated to the Guardiaparque my 6 days itinerary RR to Los Cipreses, no issues but had been told several areas are private land. Met only one hiker after El Bolson (See note below).<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Laguna Las Animas - Termas de Azufres. <br /> <br /> Day 3 - Termas de Azufres - Camp along Rio Blanquillo near Vegas Manantial Pelado RR + small section of OH-Tl-V 06-01. I did not ford Estero El Volcán at Ford 06 [29.4/2190] as with the high snow/water year I felt it was unsafe or risky at best and made little sense to try at that spot. I continued CC on the right bank of Estero El Volcán for about 300-400 m to reach the snow field where I crossed safely without even touching water at all. The CC section had only a handful of spots requiring short scrambles, but no issues. For reference, I crossed the snowfield to reach RR at -35.31196, -70.44898. Given the current water level condition I think this is an easier and safer option.<br /> Originally intended to camp at Laguna Manantial Pelado for the night but the valley below looked great with all surrounding peaks so I camped there.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Camp near Vegas Manantial Pelado - Camp South of Laguna Caracol (Camp 06 56.3/2034). Based on the conversation I had two days earlier with a Chilean hiker who was doing the Circuito Condor regarding Don Victor the dueno/owner of the land traversed on day 4, including Descabezado Grande, I decided to avoid encountering Don Victor if at all possible. I did not follow the RR directly to the refuge Blanquillo at 45.5/1887 but kept away from it and walked CC to reach RR further South where it climbs up. I did not meet him and cannot say if he was at the refuge, which I only saw from the distance. After reading and listening to multiple reports regarding the situation with Don Victor land ownership it seems to me that the best approach is to avoid or minimize contact with him if possible, in order to reduce escalation of further problems for future hikers, in particular Chileans hikers who appear to really have very hard time gaining approval from him to simply traverse his land.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Camp South of Laguna Caracol - Laguna de los Hornos.<br /> <br /> Day 6 - Laguna de los Hornos - Los Cipreses. I reached Los Cipreses at about 1 pm on Sunday. The guard at the gate of the Hydroelectrico Los Cipreses told me there are no buses down to Talca on Sunday. I hitchhiked on 115 and got a ride to Talca fairly quickly.<br /> <br /> Water was plentiful for the entire route. Limited snowfields traverse with no issues. 100% full sun exposure all day after El Bolson. Windy at higher elevations. Harsh and dry environment with a lot of sand and dust. Lots of steep climbing in sand. Overall easy orientation and easy trails to follow but GPS track needed. Magnificent hike. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-08 to 2024-Feb-14 / 5.5 days / SOBO / RR 01c 01e 03 03a/ Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> Bus from Curicó to Molina at 9am, immediate connecting bus to Parque Inglés. Buy a ticket online for the national park (8500 for foreigners, 100% surcharge! If the international debit card selection doesn't work, just try the national one, my card only worked there). You can also add the authorisation for El Bolsón online, but you have to pay for it in cash at a ticket office in Parque Inglés. 80 people per day are allowed for Bolsón, everything is sold out at lunchtime. Night in Parque Ingles at Hostal Valverde 40k for one person in a 4 bed room (solo use) with own toilet and washbasin but shared shower, towel costs extra, quiet, next to river for bathing (lots of local families though).<br /> <br /> At 8am next day, a Wednesday, there are around 50-60 people at the ticket office for Bolsón. I went to the locked gate at the start of the RR and quickly climb over it hoping noone saw me, as I'm not planning to stay in Bolsón anyway. Better not to mention that to the rangers. Also, only gas cookers are allowed. After about an hour, I'm just a little way off by a stream when a ranger rides past on a motorbike. I don't know if he saw me, maybe he thought I was coming back from Bolsón. So if you hear a motorbike, it's might best to change direction shortly and head towards Parque Inglés, or even better, start much earlier in the morning. <br /> <br /> I bypass Bolsón heading south at 01A, shortly after the bridge at -35.4973,-70.9052 is a large private area, no trespassing sign. I don't want to set a bad example for the numerous day trippers around and take a path along the stream (southern side) to the waterfall. Once out of sight of people and Bolsón, I briefly climb up the steep slope and CC to option 1. Water shortly before start of 01c. Next water at -35.5226,-70.8653, even with a small pool.<br /> <br /> Don Victor is the large landowner in the area. His hut is, as far as I understood, the refuge Blanquillo at 45.5/1887. Hikers used to be welcome on his land, but after they left a lot of rubbish behind and invaded his hut, he no longer allows them and sends them back. However, he (sometimes?) makes exceptions for foreigners. You could ask him for permission via whatsapp, but he was so flooded with requests that he can no longer be contacted during the season. I just took a chance and went to his land. A rider around 37.1/2382 asked me what I was doing here, I asked him if he was Don Victor, to which he replied in the affirmative. I then introduced myself, said what my destination was, where I came from and that I am aware of the problem of dirty hikers, but that I am very careful with nature. He then allowed me to continue. I met him twice more in the following days, at Blanquillo 45.5/1887 and at Water 48.1/1837, and he reminded me not to throw away any rubbish.<br /> <br /> At the refuge I met a Chilean-German couple camping, they came from Los Cipreses and didn't know that it was forbidden to enter this land, but Don Victor allowed them to stay after they argued with German cleanliness (I guess he had never been hiking in the Alps before the regular cleaning teams cleaned everything, otherwise his trust in the Europeans would probably not be so great).<br /> <br /> Fordings: All very easy, path at Laguna del Caracol is no longer under water. No snowfields to cross. The water level of the lagunas (except Manantial Pelado) is dropping rapidly, I estimate about 10 to 15cm per day.<br /> <br /> Water: Plenty, except for hiking up Descabezado. Bring as much as possible from Blanquillo.<br /> <br /> Summit day Descabezado: Very strong, cold winds all day. A good windbreaker, hat and gloves are essential. Only cloudy day since I've been in Chile, 20 minutes after I left the summit it cleared up. Extremely strenuous ascent on very loose gravel, almost every step sinks in deeply and slips (I weigh 100kg), takes 6 hours from base camp to the summit, even on the easier route. Descent effortless, under 2h.<br /> <br /> Camps:<br /> Day 1: Laguna Manantial Pelado <br /> Day 2: Basecamp -35.5978,-70.7957 (I widened it, smoothed it out, deepened it and extended the stone wall. Nevertheless, the winds up there can be massive, you have to brace the tent well.)<br /> Day 3: Next to the not existing anymore hot springs at 45.6<br /> Day 4: Laguna la Turbia<br /> Day 5&amp;6: Laguna des los Hornitos (rest day, just beeing naked all day swimming and lying around in the sun)<br /> Hornitos and Turbia were nice for swimming, the others really cold.<br /> <br /> No problems at Los Ciprese, friendly guard spoke good english, gave me water and wifi.<br /> Bus to Talca (3500 peso) at main street came around 15:50-16:00.<br /> <br /> Absolutely incredible landscape. I'm here for dream routes like this. Perhaps the best hiking week of my life. GPT01-04 was nice, but GPT06 is in a completely different league. I loved it and I deeply miss this kind of remoteness in central europe.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-feb-2 to 2024-feb-6 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Juliet and Martin '''<br /> <br /> Day 1 parque ingles - Lagunas las animas<br /> 18km d+1200 d-100<br /> Departure at 6:30 a.m. to pass the conaf. No worries <br /> First part to el bolson. At el bolson we can refuel with water. The campsite attendant asked us for our conaf ticket. After explaining to him that we were going to laguna animas, he let us pass without any trouble. Continuation to laguna animales without shade but no snow. Bivouac spot on the beach but no shade, or to the west on meadows to pitch your tent, but used by a herd of horses. <br /> The trail is generally easy to follow as it is marked by stone markers.<br /> <br /> Day 2 laguna las animas - Therma de azufre<br /> 11km D+400 D-700<br /> Shade-free day. Lots of trails in the sand. <br /> We didn't manage to find a good bivouac spot (mainly because of the heat coming from the ground). <br /> Water spots regularly, especially early in the day. <br /> <br /> Day 3 Therma de azufre - El banquillo refuge <br /> 20km D+ 900 D- 900<br /> The indicated crossing point was not crossable for us in our opinion (no experience in river crossings), so we decided to walk along the river bank in the rocks for several km. We crossed the river higher than indicated thanks to the snow. <br /> Water spot regularly as several rivers crossed. <br /> Arriving at el banquillo, we were disappointed not to meet Umberto. Very good bivouac spot with several pitches already made. <br /> <br /> Day 4 El banquillo refuge - laguna de los hornitos <br /> 20km D+ 900 D- 900<br /> Most of the climb is up to the pass after the laguna. Quite a physical climb in the sand. But we did it in about 1h30. The rest of the day was pretty much the same. <br /> Regular water stops too. <br /> No problem following the trail. <br /> A little extra for a new encounter with a herd of horses. <br /> Bivouac spot around the lake. Nice possibility before descending to the lake (indicated waypoint camp).<br /> <br /> Day 5 laguna de los hornitos - los alamos<br /> All downhill to los cipreses. The first part is in sand, so it's a quick descent. Once on the road, we were often overtaken by cars. No one asked us for a permit (or offered to hitchhike). <br /> We passed guards at the exit/entrance to the power station, who offered us water and no problem getting through. <br /> In los alamos, a small store selling a few products such as pasta, ice cream, batteries, etc. It's run by a lady and her husband. They also sell beds for sleeping. They're very welcoming<br /> <br /> Buses to Talca at 7.30am and 3.30pm. Not many cars passing through. We didn't get picked up hitchhiking. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-27 to 2024-Jan-30) / 3.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01+03+06/ Joscha'''<br /> <br /> Day 1: RR [0-10,1] + OH06-01A + OH06-01[10,7-25,1] + RR [36,9-44,6]<br /> <br /> A few small streams at OH-01 and one bigger one near Laguna Manantial Pelado (ankle high ford). A few snow patches above 2300 m, but you can easily walk over or around them. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.<br /> <br /> Day 2: RR [44,6-45,8] + to Descabezado and back on OH06-03 and OH06-03A + RR [45,8-55,7]<br /> <br /> River at 44,8 was a little over ankle high ford in the morning. The climb up to Descabezado has a lot of steep gravel slopes, which makes it tiresome. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.<br /> <br /> Day 3: RR [55,7-58,3] + to Los Quillayes and back on OH06-06 and OH06-06A + RR [58,3-59,6] + OH06-C + RR [62-69]<br /> <br /> OH06-06A is a steep gravel climb, but worth it. Really nice view from Los Quillayes (but similar to the view from Pass Hornitos. Pass Hornitos has some bigger snowfields on the southern side, but its easy to walk around them. OH06-C was pretty steep at the end, so maybe the RR is more convenient. Little above ankle high Ford north of Laguna de los Hornos in the afternoon.<br /> <br /> Day 4: RR [69-80] + OH06-E + OH06-F<br /> <br /> Small Shop (I bought some Pasta) and Restaurant in Los Alamos. I tried to continue on the RR from Los Alamos to El Medina. But at 81,3 km the trail vanished and I wasn't able to continue. Therefore I walked back and walked on the paved road OH E+F to El Medano. Camping + Thermas in El Medano costs 7000 Pesos. There is a small shop, but it is very expensive (e.g. 1 Ramen Cup costs 2000 Pesos).<br /> <br /> GPT06 has some really spectacular views. Especially Pass Hornitos and Volcan Descabezado. There is no shade, so the sun is gonna burn you all day. This + the sand/gravel is demanding for your body and your equipment. <br /> <br /> * '''Jan-26-2024 to Jan-30-2024 / 4.5 days / SOBO / Oh5, Oh 3, RR / Matthieu'''<br /> <br /> Amazing section, from the entrance in Vilches to the end in los cipreses. Sand and lack of shadow are the main difficulties. <br /> <br /> Right of way : that was my first fear. Concerning guardia parques : en parque ingles, they say that they cannot let officially hikers go to the volcan, as duenos asked (OH1 passes by 4 differents private properties). But if you have a message by don victor it's ok. So no need for discussion there just take a ticket to el bolson and no more words. El bolson was closed for a few days for maintenance, so i just got out of parque ingles. At Alto de Lircay, guardiaparque told me that it was my responsability to enter don Victor's property without his permission. You can legally turn back into the park (or coming from parque ingles) paying for another day at the end, at the entrance, if you want to come back by altos de Lircay after the volcan. <br /> - Don Victor : I had the chance to meet him near the valle del venado, on a horse. I asked for permission to enter his lands and continue south, that he offered me easily with promess to not let garbage in the zone. I was glad to meet him out of his lands, I don't know how he would react into. He especially asked to guardaparques to say to hikers that it was not permitted to go on his lands because it's always full of trash, and he has to clean it up all the time. He told me that foreigners were more respectfull than locals though. His phone is off all season because it became a public number, and he has to many calls to enter the volcan. So if you want permission better send a message before season. To note, his lands go at least to the laguna caracole, don't know after.<br /> I saw another chilean hiker walking up the volcan, didn't seem to be a problem for him. <br /> <br /> Water : often present on RR, in the lagunas or the oasis. A good stream just before the top of the volcan to. No need to carry kgs of it. <br /> No water at the volcan basecamp though, so I carried it from the puesto. <br /> <br /> Snow : From now on, no snow issues from the entrance in Vilches to the end at los cipreses, so no need for crampons (with entrance by option 5, I don't know for the entrance by RR). Few patches you can easily bypass before and after the third pass 59km. <br /> No patches on the way to the top of volcan. <br /> <br /> River crosses (1.78m) : only once Rio blancillo, at the first Ford (water to knees). Then I stayed on the right side of the river until the end. I had to walk inside for 1 minute, water to hips, but no current so it was easy. I bypassed the two other crosses this way. <br /> <br /> Camp : valle venado (conaf), really friendly worker there. - Basecamp Volcan : beware, I made the mistake to not plant my tent well with heavy rocks, and the pikes in the sand are no use... so when I came back from the volcan it was upside down with strong wind... a whole adventure to pack everything ! - Oasis at water 48km. - Around 70 kms, some nice camping spots near the river at the right side of the road. <br /> <br /> Volcan : up to the top by option 3, then down by variant 3A. Taking the variant directly seems like hell, lot of sand. More rocks on regular option 3. Physically demanding, but no other particular difficulties.<br /> <br /> Proposition of new option : as the right of way may evolve badly in the future, I suggest a new option road from el camping valle venado to tricehue, following the rio claro. I asked to the guardaparque at the campsite, he said that there are people doing it usually. This year the river is to strong though, so maybe in march or next year. <br /> <br /> Buses at the end : the lign is from talca to el medano, a stop at the exit of los alamos on the road. From el medano : buses 7h30 and 15h30, monday to Friday (dont know for week ends).<br /> From talca : 12h30 and 19h<br /> At el colorado, buses to talca more often.<br /> * '''2024-Jan-11 to 2024-Jan-17 / 7 Days / Hiking / NOBO / O5, O3, O3A, RR, O1 / Vlad'''<br /> <br /> A spectacular section to end my 5-week trip on the GPT. I’ve never experienced a landscape like this before and the weather (straight up sunshine for the whole week) was a welcome change after the unrelenting wind and rain of Patagonia. There were no other people outside of the start and end of the trail in national parks. Beautiful and desolate wild camping near the volcano. That said, it was very rough on my gear. The dry sand, abrasive rocks, spiky bushes did some damage to my shoes (erased on tread on the soles after sliding down scree slopes for 2 days), socks (holes after rubbing on rocks since I did not have gaiters), trekking poles (they were in a poor shape already but the rocks and sand finished them and the tips got sanded off), pants (got some holes as well). <br /> <br /> Day 1: I took an overnight bus from Puerto Montt to Talca (22k CLP, very comfortable, booked through Rodovairro.cl). After arriving in Talca, there was a bus to Vilches at 10:30. I got off at the last stop and made it to the PN Altos de Lircay entrance around 1 PM. I asked the ranger about access to Descabezado land since I texted the owner, Don Victor (WhatsApp +56998863554) but he didn’t respond to me. The ranger said that Don Victor doesn’t respond at the moment but he said it was okay for the rangers to allow hikers to leave the park and go to his land. <br /> <br /> I was charged 8.5k CLP for park entrance and 10k CLP for 2 nights camping inside the park. This is because I wasn’t allowed to start hiking to Valle el Venado the first day (trail closes at 11:00 am even though it’s only 19 km 🙃) and had to camp at the park entrance, then another night once I get to Valle el Venado. It was a bummer as I already had limited time for this section, but it allowed me to go for a day hike up the mountain in Altos de Lircay and watch a beautiful sunset. The forest in Altos de Lircay is beautiful with teeming wildlife and abundant wildflowers. I saw a woodpecker, a fox, colorful iguanas, a snake, giant spiders, and endless wildflowers. <br /> <br /> You could maybe get to Altos de Lircay on time to start hiking the same day if you leave on the 7 am bus from Talca. They give you a paper at the park ranger’s office and I was asked for it 3 times by different rangers throughout my trip. <br /> <br /> Day 2: Walked from Altos de Lircay to Valle el Venado with a side trip to see the waterfall. Met a group on horses. A few river fords that were all below knee level. Got to the campsite at Valley el Venado which wasn’t very nice. Horse poop everywhere, had to clear the spot for a tent. No one asked to check if I paid for the campsite. The group on horses camped somewhere up the valley from the refugio as I heard them and saw some come down to use the bathroom. <br /> <br /> Day 3: I did the 3 fords of river Blanquillo as suggested on the GPS track. The first one is at the spot where river is widest, so it was only knee deep. On the second ford, it’s narrower and the current was strong, it was crotch deep for me (178 cm). Third ford knee deep. In hindsight I should’ve just stayed on the left side of the river and only crossed it once in the end. <br /> <br /> It was a very short day, 10 km, but I thought it would be nice to arrive at Blanquillo refugio early in case Umberto was there. However, when I got there, the refugio was empty, and I couldn’t find any hot springs. I don’t think the bathing pool is there anymore. I scouted around for half an hour and only saw horse and cow poop in every little stream and pool of water. I followed one of the streams about 100 m uphill to get clean drinking water but I still saw poop on the banks. <br /> <br /> Since Umberto wasn’t there, I cooked dinner by the refugio and kept going to the Descabezado basecamp (-35.59773, -70.79645) 3.4 km further and 600 m of elevation higher up from the Banquillo refugio, which made the next day’s climb up the volcano shorter.<br /> <br /> The sunset at the Descabezado basecamp was out of this world. <br /> <br /> Day 4: I left from basecamp at sunrise since I didn’t want to walk in the dark. I had to cross a few not steep snow fields at the beginning but nothing at higher elevations. Every snow field higher up is easily bypass-able. That said, the climb up to the crater still felt brutal to me. There’s absolutely no sure footing, everything is just a scree slope. When ascending, you can either climb up the 45 degree scree slope or try to walk on the rocks which are easier to plant your foot on. I chose the rocks but they too were sliding sometimes, even large boulders, so I had to be careful not to let a giant rock fall directly on my other foot. It took me 4.5 hours to reach the crater from the basecamp following the less steep option 3. It was very windy, cold, and the sun was shining directly in my face early in the morning as I was climbing up the volcano so it was a little difficult to see the path sometimes.<br /> <br /> On the way down, I saw my tent and was trying to slide down the scree slope directly towards the basecamp roughly following the steep option 3A. Going down was actually really fun and effortless. But be careful and still check GPS regularly when you descend, as there are some scree slopes that end directly in a vertical plunge down to the ice field below. <br /> <br /> I refilled my water bottles with ice cold water flowing from the snow field here (-35.60455, -70.78525), using my trowel as a spout. I’m glad I did because when I got back to basecamp, the water I stashed there in the morning was as warm as a hot soup after baking in the tent in direct sunlight all day. <br /> <br /> I was considering staying at basecamp location for another night because it’s such a visually stunning spot with gorgeous sunsets and incredible stars at night, but it was just way too hot to remain there so I packed up and went back down to Banquillo refugio. Unfortunately, Umberto was still not there so I just enjoyed the company of cows and went to sleep. <br /> <br /> Day 5: I went north in the white sand dunes following Banquillo river which nurtures a breathtaking oasis in the desert. I thought this area was way more beautiful than the Banquillo refugio (especially with all the cow poop there) so I wished I kept going a little further the previous night and set up camp somewhere by the river in this area (-35.53354, -70.79191). Disclaimer: I didn’t actually look for a spot that was flat and sheltered but that whole area just felt like a paradise so I think one could find a suitable spot for a tent there. <br /> <br /> Right at the fork of the trails where one can choose to take Option 1 or continue on RR to Termas del Azufre, I ran into arrieros transporting hundreds of goats through the snow-covered slopes, it was a beautiful scene and a blessing for me as their footprints helped me find a safe way in some semi-steep snow sections I had to cross after 2400 m. I chose to follow Option 1 to El Bolson because the RR on the right at the fork looked like it had loads of snow still. Even on Option 1, I had to be careful and kick-step my way through the snow fields as I had no crampons and my trail runners had virtually no tread left on them after being ground on the volcanic rocks and sand the previous couple of days.<br /> <br /> One particularly dangerous spot is here (-35.51932, -70.82684) just after Laguna Manantial Pelado. It’s a big snow field that started melting and formed a lake that’s not on the map. It was breathtakingly beautiful going west, but if you were coming from the other direction you could not see the collapse of the snow field until it’s too late and you’re on the edge, so stick to the trail and walk on the side of the valley in that spot. <br /> <br /> I got to El Bolson just before sunset. It was surprisingly a beautiful and scenic campground and not too crowded on a Monday night. I spoke a few words to the people in the refugio, they just told me to set up my tent and didn’t ask to pay for camping. <br /> <br /> At Bolson, I met a group of Chilean students from Talca who spoke really good English and we had a lot of fun eating dinner together, smoking weed and going to swim in the nearby waterfall the next morning. There are trails going down the cliff to the swimming pools here (-35.49801, -70.90767). It’s a really pristine swimming spot, just be careful and don’t get too close to the waterfalls as we heard there was an accident the previous night where a rock fell off and pushed a person over the edge of the waterfall so they plunged down into a pool below. <br /> <br /> Day 6: Hiked from Bolson to Parque Ingles entrance, where the ranger once again asked for my paper registration from Altos de Lircay documenting my trip. The shops at Parque Ingles are really tiny and would not be sufficient for another section resupply in my opinion, I just bought some fresh fruit and hitched a 3 KM ride to Siete Tazas. By the time I got there (19:00) all the trails were closed and the ranger told me to go find camping at Valley de las Catas. It was 13k CLP (ouch) for 1 night camping with inclusion of the ticket for a 3-km loop on the southern bank of river Claro to see Siete Tazas. The campground had a hot shower which was very welcomed, but otherwise I think Siete Tazas was not worth it and I wish I spent my last day attempting to hike up to Laguna de las Animas instead. Though I don’t know if it would even be possible as the entire rim of the mountain seemed snow covered so there must’ve still been a very steep, yet short, snow field one would need to cross to get over the pass. <br /> <br /> Day 7: I took a morning walk out of the campground and caught a 11:30 bus back to Molina, then a bus from Molina to Santiago for a flight home the next day. <br /> <br /> * '''2024 Jan 07 / 4.5 days / SOBO / RR / Anh'''<br /> There are many good reports, so I'll keep it short.<br /> <br /> With my information, I could simply walk from Parque Inglés without registration. But I want to hike legal &amp; support Conaf. So I had to register and pay online (not in cash at other national parks) with my conaf account, then offline paper formular. Fortunately, the 2nd payment for Campsite El Bolsón (compulsory) was in cash (200m from Conaf). It had taken me more than an hour.<br /> <br /> There is a lot of hiking in volcanic sand (rough, fine).<br /> At this time there are still many snowfields from 2000 Hm upwards. There are streams under the snowfields, some of which only have a thin layer of snow (danger of collapse).<br /> Ford km 29.4 is quite critical (hip, strong flow in the morning)<br /> <br /> I met two boys at Refugio Blanquillo. They had been hiking for two days on a different route (no RR GPT06) with a text description from the internet (no hiking map/GPS track). They learned &amp; understood that it was very dangerous and could get lost at any time. Luckily they met a hiker with GPS &amp; inReach, otherwise I would have taken them with me.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-03 to 2024-Jan-08 / 6 days / Hiking / round trip anticlockwise / O5 - O3 - RR - O1 - O1c (Condor Circuit) / Lotti and Alex'''<br /> <br /> Originally we wanted to do the Cóndor Circuit, but after we read about the troubles some of you had, we decided to take the safer option 1 to avoid the snow and landslide above Termas de Azufre. This route felt very safe and the snow was not a problem at all. We ended up with a beautiful round trip from Altos de Lircay to Valle Venado, then to the summit of Descabezado, then Valle del Indio and back to Altos de Lircay. The landscape is incredibly beautiful and diverse, and we enjoyed it a lot. The scariest part for us was fording the Rio Blanquillo on day 2.<br /> <br /> Day 1: Altos de Lircay - Valle Venado on option 5 (Sendero de Chile) <br /> We stayed at Hotel Picamaderos in Altos de Lircay, which is a very nice and relaxed place right next to the park entrance of Altos de Lircay. To enter the park we had to show the CONAF officers the WhatsApp message that Victor send us as a permission for entering his land at Refugio Blanquillo. <br /> The hike through the forest was very nice and shady and we enjoyed the view from the mirador where we got a nice overview of our route for the next days. Crossing Rio Claro was easy, not deeper than knee deep. We camped in a shady spot next to Valle Venado.<br /> <br /> Day 2: Valle Venado - Refugio Blanquillo - Descabezado base camp (option 5 and option 3) <br /> Easy walking until Laguna el Blanquillo which was really beautiful. After that the path crosses Rio Blanquillo several times. We tried to avoid it at first because it looked quite intimidating, so we followed some stone men to climb around and walk higher up the valley. When it was not avoidable any more, we forded it. For me, with just 152cm of height, it was intimidatingly deep (almost to the hip) and it had really strong currents. Alex had to help me across, and with him walking in front of me, it worked. We arrived at an empty Refugio Blanquillo, picked up some water there and walked up to Descabezado base camp which has no water. <br /> <br /> Day 3: Descabezado Summit<br /> We left the base camp early at 6:00 and took the southern option 3 trail which was well marked by stone men at the beginning. We used our crampons to climb up some ice fields effectively, but I think they could have been bypassed as well. On the way down we took the steeper option 3A sliding down on soft pumice stones which was a lot of fun. We picked up our tent, walked back down and set up our camp at Refugio Blanquillo. There we searched a while for the hot springs, but couldn't find them.<br /> <br /> Day 4: Refugio Blanquillo - Valle del Indio (RR and option 1 NOBO)<br /> We walked on the regular route for about 8 km until the junction where we changed to option 1. After that we crossed several smaller streams that were not on our map. Snow started around 2300m, but it was easy to walk on and we didn't need our crampons. Laguna Manantial Pelado was incredibly beautiful with its icy shores. There were some camp spots there, but it was much too windy for us to stay there for the night. We kept walking over the pass and down the valley until we found a shady spot in the middle of the valley floor of Valle del Indio. <br /> <br /> Day 5: Valle del Indio - Altos de Lircay (Option 1C)<br /> After the wild vulcanic landscapes of the days before, this day's scenery was not as spectacular, but the hiking was easy and we even met some wild horses. We camped at Punta 6 inside the park Altos de Lircay, where we found a camping spot right next to a very nice swimming hole in the river and met the first people after 5 days of loneliness. <br /> <br /> Day 6: Altos de Lircay - park entrance<br /> Easy walking in the shade of the forest. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-29 to 2024-Jan-3 / 6 days / NOBO / Variant 5+3+RR+GPT05(VarG+RR)+RR / Matthias + Johanna '''<br /> <br /> The route:<br /> Basically the route is the Condor Circuit: Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay - Descabezado Grande - PN Siete Tazas. <br /> We bypassed the part from km 19.4 (Termas) to km 27.4 (pass Portezuelo Las Cruces) via GPT05(VarG+RR) due to the reports of Lilian and Michael &amp; Cassia. By the time we started our tour, Michael had written only a much less intimidating post on the Facebook group (only indicating difficult route conditions). So it was a lucky ad-hoc decision after the difficult descent from pass La Calle the day before not to try their route!!<br /> <br /> The conditions: <br /> Snow +- above 2250m, rivers below snow-filled watersheds with high water levels! Overall quite demanding to us!<br /> <br /> Day 1+2: Easy walking from park entrance (Lircay) to Vegas Blanquillo („basecamp“ Descabezado).<br /> <br /> Day 3: Ascent to Descabezado <br /> Easier than expected but tedious above 3400m due to volcanic ash and steepness. Snowfields below 3400m can be bypassed or safely crossed (surface like a mogul piste). The steep snowfields above can by bypassed. We climbed the right (southern) „couloirs“ on the right margin (beneath the red rock), loose rocks are the main difficulty.<br /> <br /> Day 4: Vegas Blanquillo - Termas Azufre<br /> About 5 km on snow. Some short steep snow passages, soft snow on snow bridges. High water levels.<br /> Easy walking until a height of ca. 2550 (km 32.5) when going down into the valley of Estero Volcán. Next 250hm downhill tricky as while we tried to avoid the quite steep snow on the slopes, we faced the difficulty of avoiding unstable snow bridges in the valley floor. We were happy to have our microspikes with us! Also parts of the summer path seemed to be washed away (around km 30.5) as seen from afar. Forded the river ca. 500m upstream of the place indicated on the track files (50m south of the now collapsed snow bridge of Lilian). Strong current, water up to mid of thighs. Additional fording of the (today roaring) creek coming down from Cerro Colorado (km28.5).<br /> <br /> Day 5: Termas Azufre - Valle del Indio: Difficult fordings <br /> Trail washed away ca. 1 km after Termas. We went up 100 hm to bypass (possibly you could also bypass by descending ca. 50 hm).<br /> Edgy fording of Estero Volcán at ca. 35°28'56&quot;S 70°46'13&quot;W. Strong current, water up to lower waist on the far side for me (188cm) and up to upper waist for Johanna (163cm). I could give her a hold from a rock there! Then ca. 500m north 2 easier fordings back to the western side of the there split river. <br /> We did not stick to RR here (we did not divert from path at „trailhead“), as there was no possible crossing of the river visible and the path seems to be very difficult with large loose rocks and steep slopes). But possibly one could avoid the two fordings by RR and then climbing the rocks near the riverbed.<br /> There are no further fordings of Estero Volcán (km 24.6) as river is flowing on the eastern side of the valley this season.<br /> Loose volcanic ash on parts of the ascent to pass Portozuelo Las Cruzes. Snowfields easy (could be bypassed or safely crossed on the afternoon of the hot day). Laguna Las Animas partly ice-covered, we swam next to the ice :-)<br /> After the pass going down to Valle del Indio there is steep snowfields (former wedges) on most of the rim. Only 4-5 m, but even with microspikes it was too dangerous for us. You can bypass snow by walking some meters to the right (west) from the pass and walking/climbing down the rock pillar (solid).<br /> <br /> Day 6: Easy walk down to Park entrance Parque Ingles<br /> <br /> Camp sites: Valle Venado - Vegas Blanquillo (Descabezado basecamp) 2 nights - 500m north and 50 m uphill of Termas - valleyfloor Valle los Indios<br /> <br /> Basecamp Descabezado - Right of way:<br /> No access given to hikers without a guide to cross the NP to Descabezado. We chose to hire a local arriero who accompanied us the first three days (Pancho 997635447), who got a permission to camp from the land owner in advance. Even though he is a local and has his own cows feeding up there, he had to discuss at the three „checkpoints“ at park entrance, as he had no written prove with him.<br /> The man living at the basecamp was not there in the end, selling some cows in the valley ! <br /> Nice swimming pool with tepid water 5m north of camping site, for drinking water go the long way round the swampy valley to a source on the other side ca. 20m west of the hut.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-19 to 2024-Dec-25/ 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Michael and Kasia '''<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> We had camped at Rocas Basalticas campground the night before. When we arrived at the gate they asked to see our permission to camp at Bolson. We didn't know that that was required and spent some time going back and forth with them. We finally went to Rocas Basalticas down the road and got them permission to camp at Bolson and they finally let us in. The walk up is pretty, all the snow is gone. All fords are easy. There were a few tábanos, but not many. CONAF did a reroute on a small section of the trail higher up. If you're watching GPS you go off the route, but just follow the sign to Bolson and it goes there. Campground has water and toilets.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> We hiked up through Valle del Indio. The route is a little tricky to find and we were moving slow so getting a lot of meander in the GPS marker. Looking for cairns was helpful. Two thirds of the way up there was still snow. By that time it was slushy. We had opted not to buy crampons at the last minute, so we made our way across kicking into the snow. The last 15 m to the pass was an almost straight up in snow. After the pass there was very little snow until the rise up to Laguna de las Ánimas. After that it was a complete snow field and the lake was frozen. We managed to kick out a pad for the tent and camped in the snow. Really beautiful sky that night.<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> A long day with very little distance covered. Full sun, we both got sunburns despite sunscreen and covering. The snow was heavily pockmarked so it was hard to walk through. It took much longer than we anticipated. We ended up camping just below the pass. We were concerned about wind, so we tied the tent down really well. Fortunately it was a calm night.<br /> <br /> Day 4<br /> We continued on RR. There were several steep ups and downs, mostly on snow, as well as some intimidating traverses. The snow was getting to the point where we were a little uncertain if it would hold or not. We saw a single set of tracks, assume it was Lillian as it looks like she was a day or two ahead of us. 2 km before Termales Azufre we crossed a very steep section of snow. On the way down Kasia fell and hit some small rocks. She got some bruises and cuts, but nothing broken. I tried to slide with the backpack off and in front of me, but I fell too and the bag started tumbling down a steep sandy slope. I chased the bag, fell and rolled twice, and finally managed to jump and tackle the bag about 5 m before it went over the edge. It was a dangerous move, but I had not had a chance to take the GPS off the bag before it started sliding, and without it we couldn't get out and couldn't call for help. It was a long hike back up due to the incline and sand. We made it a little further and then ran into an area of trail wiped out by a landslide where it was impossible to get footing, even without the packs. Every step would cause more sand and rocks to slide down. It was about 18:30 at that point. We backtracked about 100 m to a gap between a snow wall and a large rock and set up a provisional shelter for the night.<br /> <br /> Day 5<br /> After waking up the next day, we tried to see if rest and fresh eyes would give us a better perspective. After discussing it we realized that there was really no way forward or back. We decided it only option was to use the SOS button on the Garmin. I pushed the button at 10:00, and by 16:00 there was a helicopter flying through the valley looking for us. I was surprised that it happened so quickly. They had to land in the valley, and since we could not get ourselves down, they sent a GOPE team of three guys up and the helicopter left for the night. It took them about an hour to get up to us, and then another two hours to do enough provisional maintenance on the trail for us to get down. We camped with them in the valley for the night and the helicopter came to get us in the morning.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-25 to 2023-Dec-26/ 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / off RR / Jens, Nolwenn, Yannick'''<br /> <br /> To enter the Hydroelectrico Los Cipreses you need a permit, which we did not get in advance. The guard at the gate said we could get it by emailing his boss. <br /> As it was Christmas Day, it was not possible to get the permit. <br /> The guard told us to take a route along the perimeter fence. We did that until we couldn't get further. We entered the compound through a hole in the fence and walked to the end of the road on the right side of the river. The bridge on the map is destroyed. The current was too strong to cross. Turned around and went back.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-21 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR+{06-D} / Lilian'''<br /> It is the most amazing section from GPT01 to here so far!<br /> <br /> I hiked RR, it is still covered by tons of snow, i recommend use ice axe and micro spikes if you want to hike from Portezuelo Las Cruces(pass) to El Estadio(pass), there is some really steep snow slope. (RR-TL-V)<br /> <br /> Parque Ingles have a restaurant and a tiny store selling food, fruits, drinks and some 230g gas canisters.<br /> <br /> I hopped the gate to the park at 6:30. No one was there.<br /> <br /> There are 3 main pass for RR.<br /> <br /> First pass, snow start at km14.3(2050m), not difficult for climbing up to pass[15.4/2257].<br /> <br /> Laguna Las Animas(lake)[16.7/2286] is still frozen, very beautiful. I climbed up on some rocks at the north side of the lake, then mostly choose my own way to climb up to pass, because RR look steep.<br /> <br /> Arrive the pass[19.4/2547], if you are not comfortable with snow, it is the LAST CHANCE to turn back.<br /> <br /> Pass is flat and dry, you can camping here but windy.<br /> <br /> There are no RR after the pass because covered by many snow, find a way go down to valley by snow slope, then walk all the way on snow to km20.2, you can see the trail but on the other side at km20.2, steep go down the snow slope then connect to RR.<br /> <br /> Follow the trail about 5min, you will go into a big valley, trail and the whole valley covered by snow, but you can see a trail is at the far away other side of valley.<br /> <br /> Go your own way to water[22.0/2279], i think it is lot ways to go down, but dont too close to cliff side, it is steep and easily to fall off.<br /> <br /> After you arrive water[22.0/2279], then straight forward to km22.6.<br /> <br /> A large flat area can fit lot of tents at the downhill side of km22.6.<br /> <br /> After km22.6, the most dangerous part begins, from here to km26, lot of steep snow slope you need to cross, be careful, kick step and don't slide.<br /> <br /> Km26 is another large flat area for camping, i camped here with nice sunrise.<br /> <br /> Snow continues to km26.6, but easy way. The first pass's snow end.<br /> <br /> About the second pass, snow start at ford[29.4/2190], strong flow and look like up to thighs, i cross it on snow bridge.<br /> <br /> Stay on east side until km31.25, then stay down walking in the valley, easier than on the slope.<br /> <br /> Although full of snow, but I think it is easy to go to the pass[33.8/2695] from here, so i dont mention the details. It is also easy to go down, most of them are gentle slope.<br /> <br /> Snow end at km41.4, but mostly you can find some flat sandy spot start at km39.1.<br /> <br /> Hot spring[45.6/1881] : completely dry. Some camping spots with rock wall nearby.<br /> <br /> Water,camp[48.1/1837] : amazing oasis in desert! Clear and cold water, some shade, also lot of swallows flying in the sky catching some food for their kid.<br /> <br /> Km49.1 - km49.8 : best view point of Volcán Descabezado Grande and Volcán Azul! If you want to camp with stunning views, bring water at oasis then climb up here, lot of sandy spots beside some rocks, enjoy you sleep with volcano.<br /> <br /> Km53.2 - km54.7 : Laguna del Caracol(lake), maybe because too much snow melts? Trail underwater, you need to walk in the lake shore for a while.<br /> <br /> Camp[56.3/2034] : oasis again! Crystal clear and cold water! It is possible to cut off from km56 to x[57.3/2073] directly, stream flowing slow and up to knee.<br /> <br /> Third pass, steep climb up to km57.9, if you follow RR, then you will turn right and face some steep snow climbing up.<br /> <br /> If you look up at left side, there is some foot steps straight climb up on a dry slope, which is no snow but looses sand.<br /> <br /> I go for the left one to the pass, ok but steep and really tried.<br /> <br /> Most of the snow is after pass, from pass[59.3/2518] to km61.5, first go to east side go around the snow, then you will find a trail, follow it a little then go your own way in snow valley. <br /> <br /> I follow RR, mostly easy to go down until km61.5, a steep slope. I don't want to take the risk, so i crossed a snow bridge to a sandy slope at south side. Go down the slope and rejoin RR about km62.1.<br /> <br /> Ford[63.4/1909] : i crossed the river before a huge rock, below knee at morning. The huge rock also provide some wind protection, i saw some camping trace beside it.<br /> <br /> Volcán Los Hornitos : km65.3, {06-D}, just beside RR, no need CC, a trail leads you to the top, just climb up 70m! Go for it!<br /> <br /> Lastly with no luck, i saw a car going down just 10min before i arrived the road, then no more cars, so i walk all the way to Los Cipreses.<br /> <br /> Met a super friendly worker at Los Cipreses, he give me some cherry to eat and a ride to Los Alamos. A tiny shop there , if you are not picky, a little pricey but enough food resupply for 1 people six days. It have a sign &quot;Almacen&quot; at its front gate. You can ask locals where it is, i saw many workers go to there buy things.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-dec-3/ 4 days / hiking / SOBO / RR &amp; 6 option 1 / Lukas en Tess'''<br /> <br /> As this was our first section on the GPT and there still was a lot of snow in the mountains we decided to play it safe and folow option 1 from el Bolsón. It is less steep and less long above the snoweline about 2000m at the time. It went great but Tess burned her eyes so good sunglasses are definetly a must when hiking in the snow. From there we continued the RR at Laguna del Caracol we had to walk in the lake on the edge, no idea if that's normal but it was funny. The next and final big obstacle was the pass on k59 we decided to try and bypass it because it looked very steep with a lot of snow and ice and Tess with her burning eyes had a hard time looking at any snow at her feet. So we went up right next to it (north). Realy though rock scrambling but we managed. Going down the next valley was okay with the snow but crossing rivers covered in snow is tricky so try to avoid it. Walking into los Cipreces we were told we were not supposed to be there but still we had lunch in the cafeteria and they fixed a ride to bring us to the road, realy nice people there. From there we hitchhiked to el colorado where we stayed for two days to let Tess' eyes heal.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-14 to 2023-Mar-19 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Parque Ingles - Los Cipreses / Noemie'''<br /> <br /> Parque Inglés - El Bolsón - Termas de Azufre - Blanquillo - Laguna Hornitos - Los Cipreses<br /> <br /> First try on the GPT and amazing section to start. There were buses from Molina at 10am and 5pm going to Parque Ingles. You must arrive there before 1pm and buy an entrance for El Bolson (with camping) to enter the Park. It's also possible to camp in Parque Ingles (7.000 CLP/night). When I entered, CONAF asked me where I was going, if I had a GPS, and gave me some kind of permit to show in Los Cipreses. I wasn't asked to show it when I arrived there though. <br /> Landscapes and panoramas were extremely beautiful and very impressive. There was still water in all marked points and fords were easy to cross. Trail is easy to follow almost everywhere, except after Termas de Azufre (be careful to look for the right pools on the map and do not go up too much, I ended up in a place with almost boiling water). The whole section is full of beautiful sand dunes, so gaiters were extremely useful. In Blanquillo, you are supposed to get an authorization from the dueño to stay there, but it looks like it is not really enforced. I spent a day in Blanquillo to rest, drink maté and learn how to make sopaipillas with Umberto. I hitchhiked from Los Cipreses to San Clemente (one hostel, two supermarkets, decent to resupply) so I can't comment on the bus schedule. However, to come back to Los Cipreses/Termas del Médano, be aware that there is now only a bus leaving at 3pm from Talca, going up until La Mina. I took a small bus to Colorado on morning (every 45 min.) and hitchhiked easily back until Laguna del Maule for GPT 07.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-21 to 2023-Mar-25 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Vilches — Volcan – Parque Ingles / Iris, Alexis '''<br /> <br /> Our last section on the GPT for this year! We started in Vilches Alto with the option 06-05 because we rented horses with the arriero Jose Lopez. The beginning is placed in the Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, which requires a permit to go until the Volcan. The entrance fee is also 7k pp. We finished our first day at Camp, CONAF {06-05} [10.2/1158]. I believe we mostly followed the GPS track. <br /> <br /> On the second day, we continued with the horses until Hot Spring {06} [45.6/1881] (Banos del Blanquillo) still following the track. We then were disappointed because the arriero left us here whereas our agreement (clearly stated by messages before the rent) was to climb the volcano with the horses (it turns to be not possible, too steep).<br /> Thankfully, we had an excess day of food so we could attempt the climb the next day. We also met Umberto, the guy staying in the refugio, who was extremely friendly. He told us to start the volcano climb early in the night to avoid heavy winds. <br /> <br /> On Day 3, we started the ascent at 2am with our headlights. 6h30 later we were on the top, with the morning lights rewarding us and stunning landscape. The ascent was extremely tiresome (sand material), as always with volcanos, and it was very cold but the crater and the views were very worth it. After a breakfast at the top, the descent, mostly running, took us about 2h. We rested for the rest of day at Banos del Blanquillo and even got a sopapilla making class with Umberto.<br /> <br /> On Day 4, we followed the RR in the beautiful Descabezado landscape. Expect no shade but stunning dunes of white sand. There is plenty of water during the day because you will cross at least 2 rivers that were not dry this late in the season. The trail is easy to follow (because that is the only one) and is also part of the Circuit of the Condores. However, after Ford {06} [29.4/2190], you have about a dozen of options and the navigation until Hot Spring {06} [27.4/1986] (Hot Sping del Azufre) is more challenging. We decided to ignore the GPS and follow our instinct - just aim for the fumerolles. There you can enjoy a hot bath in one of the three hot natural pools (along some weird soft alguees). <br /> <br /> On Day 5, we simply followed the RR until Parque Ingles. The trail is well marked until the end, you just have to enjoy multiple highlights in the landscape. Of note, when reaching El Bolsón, the CONAF ranger forbid us to bath in the pools because it was too late (3PM) and told us to leave the park before 5:30. He was not friendly and also checked the entrance tickets of Livan Ray. We got extremely lucky and caught a bus leaving Parque Ingles when we reached it (it leaves at 5:00).<br /> <br /> This hike concludes our GPT adventure. We loved to start it riding horses to feel a bit more like the trails main user. The final day hiking and the volcano ascent were astonishing, truly one of (or even the) best section of our GPT.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-03 to 2023-Feb-08 / 6 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Louis, Rémi &amp; Noé'''<br /> <br /> Our first trip on the GPT, plenty of water, we didnt carry more than 1.5L each. Here is our trip :<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Laguna Las Animas - 18km - +1200m/-100m<br /> We entered the parc illegally at 7:30 in the morning as some others hikers have done reading the wiki. We did this because the parc was full for the next 3 days. I can only advise you to book in advance on internet (conaf). We slept at a camping in front of the entrance for 7k CLP per person. Plenty of buses goes up there from Molina in 2 hours. At least a dozen. Same for going back. If you buy your ticket online : if you sleep at El Bolson, you can enter the park until 3pm, if you go further with only the El Bolson ticket, you can entered until 11am only!<br /> So, we hiked until the Laguna las Animas, a rather long day for the first one.<br /> The camp on the beach was quite windy too.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Termas de Azufre - 11km - +400m/-700m<br /> A short day, nice to enjoy the hot springs in the afternoon. The pass in the morning was very windy too.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Refugio El Blanquillo - 20km - +800m/-900m<br /> A long but beautiful day. Leave early the camp to avoid hot temperatures while ascending the pass. Well welcomed by the arrierio Umberto ! Very kind.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Volcan Descabezado Grande - 16km - +2000m/-2000m<br /> We did the ascent without our bags, we went back to our camp in the night. It's long and hard. According to Umberto, 12h are needed in total, we did in 10h. Same, Leave early to avoid hot temperatures. <br /> <br /> Day 5 - Laguna los Hornitos - 20km - +900m/-900m<br /> Another nice day, passing next to Laguna Caracol. The descent from the pass is a bit annoying if you didnt follow the track (as we did). So, advice : follow the RR and go down on your right. The Laguna is very dry, just enough to have a bath. Hard to maintain the pitch of the tent in the dry dirt.<br /> <br /> Day 6 - Los Cipreses - 15km - +100m/-1000m<br /> Last short day to end this beautiful section. The gravel road is a bit boring but passing pickup are proposing you to get you down to the main road. Here, only one bus at 7am. And a little shop selling ice cream, chips and drinks. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-30/ 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Martial'''<br /> <br /> First trip 6 days on GPT being a wonderfully intense experience ! Lunar landscapes, silent and remote, few but great people. No particular difficulty.<br /> Started park ingles with a mandatory 7000peso night at quiet camping near the river and bought ticket for Bolsón overnight 8$. Finally did not stay at Bolson a half day walk from entrance and camped in Laguna de las Animas instead. Great spot for Condors watching. After that follow Will’s advice and put on your mandatory gaiters till the end of the section ! + Walking on sand can be tough for the ankle. Don’t resist and don’t do too much !! Learned it the painfull way.. Trail visible but don’t get confused at termas Azufres especially if you try the (very) hot pools ! RR way is up the valley. Camp with water possible before the pass. The way down called « la Calle » is beautifull sandy dune remote desert. Exceptional. Aimed for Blanquillo refugio aka best basecamp for Descabezado intent. Meet Umberto the arriero at the hut and ask him where the termal pool and the drinking water are. He may be offended if you don’t show up and is a nice generous guy ! Also had a Chilean horse riding group intended the Descabezado so were a nice bunch by the camp fire. As weather window was fine, I decided to try a high camp in order to preserve weak foot from a very long ascent (10h). Took plenty of water as they are only glaciar dirty patches up there and aimed for Descabezado to Cerra Azul osm trail just as Nat and Tomas did (so i could have a chance to summit both also). Finally chose not to cross the nasty glaciar but found a very well sheltered highcamp here (-35.60569, -70.76147). Incredible sunset ! Not advisable in case of rain coming (a storm was growing in Argentina so stayed prepared for an emergency descent). Next day summited Descabezado at 11AM with no wind ideal conditions. Dive your front foot flat in sand just like snow climb when it gets to steep ! Nice ski descent sensations straight to the termas for a well deserved rest at the termas ! Also met Carlos a local climbing half way up so we would share joy later at the camp :).<br /> Exit through RR is also nice but regreted haven’t camped here (-35.67102, -70.83649) for there was some playfull trouts to catch with my survival fishing kit !<br /> Beautiful view from the pass to sandyland and then landscape changes and recommend OH variant C descending (less overgrown). Trail not so visible till laguna los hornos witch i climbed volcano to enjoy the crater caldera. After that descent to los Cipreses is kind of boring and hot so was definitely happy to find a camping by the bridge after the gate with lovely Victorina and her family here (-35.81524, -70.83224). They have been incredibly carring, fed me and brought me to the termas caves (also worth it) in El Medano !<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-16 to 2023-Jan-25 / 10 days / Hiking / NOBO / Descabezado Circuit variant: OH 06-02 &amp; 06-03 Laguna Maule to Vilches w/ volcans / Natalie &amp; Tomáš '''<br /> <br /> An extremely long description so my apologies but hopefully it will help someone. We Started in Laguna del Maule and ended in Vilches with inclusion of volcanoes Descabezado Grande, Azul, Descabezado Chico and Colorado.<br /> <br /> All fords super easy or jump-able. Only times water was scarce was Descabezado and Azul (technically there is melt water from glaciers at Azul), the afternoon around Descanezado Chico and also water was scarce around the Laguna Acquas Calientes because I would not trust drinking that water (some springs are cold water though). Weather turned bad only once while we were climbing Azul, the change happened rapidly and we went from blue skies to total white out (~10m or less visibility) within an hour. Other than that weather was amazing, a little cold at night and a little warm in the day.<br /> <br /> Happy we started in Laguna del Maule and finished in Vilches. This saved elevation gain and let us decide whether or not we had enough food in the end to climb Descabezado, Azul, Chico and for Tomáš Colorado.<br /> <br /> Day 1.<br /> Starting in Talca, due to a certain someone (me) I accidentally sent Tomáš and I to Molina on a bus instead of &quot;La Mina&quot;, so our day was very messed up, but we still managed to take a bus to Colorado and hitchhike to the start of this route. Buses from Talca to la Mina go at: 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. We took a bus to Colorado due to time and hitched the rest of the way. The last hitch was in a snowplow truck and he dropped us off miraculously at the start of the trail and before any customs or checks.<br /> <br /> OH-TL-V {06-02} (109.1). Straight away the trail is hard to see, do not take the road-looking trail on the side of the mountain because it ends, stick to the gps. However, soon we were walking on the correct route through the sand and down to a creek with fun boulders. Easy to follow. After this first creek we followed option OH-CC-A (06-02) {98} For only ~5km until making camp in -between a river and canal with flowing water. Bogs in this area slowed us down a lot.<br /> <br /> Day2. <br /> OH- {06-02} -[ (93) &amp; (86) ]<br /> This day seemed long, we crossed two passes, one small (-35.94909, -70.45347) and one much larger (-35.88855, -70.46776). I liked the entire area south of the second pass, many beautiful camp spots, water was available almost to the top of the pass and there is also a nice waterfall/swimming pool located roughly around (-35.90452, -70.45218). Trail to first pass was easy, but trail between first and second was much more cross country, there are many animal tracks, I followed the GPX and Tomáš followed a trail closer to the river and we both ended up at the same spot... After the second pass, the GPX goes cross-country right away, but one can follow a trail that goes left and later reconnects with GPX.<br /> <br /> After the second pass, there is a small plateau and then it follows down a creek with water until you must cross an east hill and go towards your first mountain puesto to the east (noone home). There is only a little bit of water here, better water at the creek you came from and or a few creeks ahead. <br /> <br /> From the puesto (-35.86707, -70.47589), there is a good trail that traverses the slope ahead. We should have camped but we continued. There were a few nice creeks that we passed along the way. We were forced to make a &quot;make-shift&quot; camp before hitting a much nicer plateau because it was dark and I was not having a good day 😅. It is about 6 km between the puesto and the plateau.<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> OH {06-02} [78.6] + [75.7] + [63.6]<br /> Easy day, only one small pass. There is an ex-carabiniero puesto at (-35.84277, -70.40285) and a highlight was two rivers, one at (-35.76317, -70.42051) and one river at (-35.74734, -70.45623). The GPX is marked as trail a bit further than the actual trail goes (the trail continues to a puesto down-river). You need to go down a ridge and ford the river, there were some footsteps that can be followed. We walked near {06-02E} along a river filled with sand and not great for drinking but there is a creek that starts/ends here (-35.72759, -70.44125). We camped near this way point in the sand but it got windy at night, we wished we camped a bit further from the river in the little hills where it was considerably less windy. <br /> <br /> Day4<br /> OH {06-02} [59.6] + [29.1] + {06-02D}<br /> <br /> This day we passed a large pass (-35.65200, -70.43356) via {06-02D}. This option was more direct and involved a very short and easy scramble onto a windy plateau. Surprisingly lots of water up towards the pass, last one being (-35.66343, -70.42666) , however the water available had a lot of sand in it, fyi. From camp we followed a cow trail until a lake like feature (-35.70057, -70.42733) and then went cross country. I hope my cairns marking the turn for {06-02D} survive. <br /> <br /> After the pass the true Descabezado environment begins. We both made note of how terrible it would be to be on this plateau in bad weather, very open and CC. Next water source would be a couple of creeks here (-35.61215, -70.42156). From a break at this creek we ended up going straight down the creek bed. Kind of exhausting mentally and would not be possible in early season due to water levels but it shot us out directly in line for making a green camp here (-35.56164, -70.44009). <br /> <br /> Day 05<br /> OH {06-02} [29.1] + [20]<br /> Laguna Aquas Calientes day. <br /> An easy day with a lot of time spent at Aquas Caliente, true to the name. <br /> Trail from camp was easy to follow until (-35.53519, -70.46551) and then it went CC to the Laguna. If shelter is needed in this open landscape, we found a rock shelter (agains wind, not rain) here (-35.51276, -70.51035). The creek feeding the Laguna was fabulously warm in places - either at the source of the creek or at a spring on the right side about 100m upriver. Tomáš found the proper source of the spring here (-35.50395, -70.52347). It is easy to get sunburn while bathing mid-day though. There are some camping spots near the creek. After this Laguna there is a nasty and windy sand stretch until a creek located here (-35.48980, -70.57667). On this stretch I chose not to follow the sand but detoured on more solid ground to the east (-35.48839, -70.56200) and was glad I did. Later on we found snow melt here (-35.48544, -70.59940) and loaded all the water we would need for night/morning and exploring Descabozado Chico the next day. <br /> <br /> Day 06<br /> OH {06-02} [20] + {06-02C Chico} + [4.5]<br /> Descabozado Chico + Vulcan Colorado (Tomáš)<br /> <br /> Went up and around the crater of Descabozado Chico in the morning which I highly recommend. The crater is easy to walk around and gives an amazing 360 experience. The climb up is tedious but non-dangerous scree that makes for a super fast decent. Make sure you have enough water because water is scarce there. I saw a waterfall on the NE side the lake but did not go to it, Tomáš got water somewhere off trail around here (-35.51226, -70.65626) and I drank out of the next lake -35.52036, -70.65873 (questionable, but nothing happened to me). <br /> From the lake the next pass begins and I stupidly made Tomáš and I carry 5L of water up it because I did not think there would be water on the south side (both of us overlooking the river indicated on the map)...I was wrong, no water high up but lots of water down low. For the pass we opted not to follow the route because it was thick steep sand so we instead climbed a more solid ridge here (-35.52506, -70.66854). Tomáš went to continue up Vulcan Colorado and I boringly traversed to the normal pass and enjoyed a very fun sand ski down the south side. The Vulcan is a steep but not technical hike up, the crater can be walked around with a steep but fun sand descent on the other side in SW direction. This pass would be very tiresome climbing up due to sand. If you are coming from the opposite direction and do not trust the lagoon water, then you should aim for (-35.51226, -70.65626) or bring water.<br /> <br /> Everything this day was CC. I found it to be the hardest day navigation-wise but still not troublesome. We finished the day in a nice valley before the next day's climb here (-35.55427, -70.70793). The water around this area is a bit sandy but better further up.<br /> <br /> Day 07 <br /> Last pass and New route possibly. <br /> <br /> From camp a trail existed to the pass at -35.55228, -70.73791. There was a little bit of snow at the top but since there were already steps made, it was zero problem. Lots of water on the SE of this pass but only a trickle of water on the NW side at -35.54575, -70.75672. This water trickle point is where we left the trail to make a short cut to Descabezado. To our surprise our route worked and in 4hrs we were making a camp at 2630m next to the approach trail to Descabezado, therefore saving a lot of time, distance and elevation. In our route there was only one difficulty and that was a deep gorge and creek &quot;jump&quot; at -35.57904, -70.77929. Personally I would not recommend this in early season because the consequence of falling in the river might take you down a waterfall and the traverse may otherwise be nasty if there are still snowfields around altitude 2700m. The gorge is fed by the glacier in the crater of Descabezado so in the morning, it should be better but the water is very dirty.<br /> <br /> I drew the route on my photos of the pass if anyone wants them. Otherwise here is my description of our route.<br /> <br /> From the small trickle creek at -35.54575, -70.75672 head SW up the creek bed in the direction of this easy pass -35.55513, -70.76977. Nearby spots would work too except for the pass directly above the creek bed, the other side of that one had snow and rocks. After this pass I believe it is easiest to just go straight down and up like a half pipe rather than trying to traverse and keep elevation, we aimed for a middle looking plateau on the other side, this middle plateau took us to the proper crossing of the gorge here, -35.57923, -70.77864 (más o menos). We jumped the gorge and climbed easily up the other side although the other side looks like a scramble, it was actually just walking. We travesed at this altitude for a little longer (although I would suggest easier walking a little lower) until we made camp in a ravine very close to the Descabezado approach route. Our camp even had a small amount of flowing snow melt so it was heaven in my mind! (Camp with water; -35.59280, -70.78723). <br /> <br /> Day 8<br /> Descabezado &amp; Azul.<br /> <br /> This is turning into a novel so I will keep this short. We left our tent in place and set off early to do Descabezado and Azul as a day trip. Descabezado was straightforward, it seems the trail will change slightly every year depending on who makes the tracks (neither the route in OSM or GPT seem to follow the actual trail from about 2600 to 3300). If wanting to make the true summit, it looks like you have to go down into the crater, cross the glacier and approach it from the other side. Coming down Descabezado was very fast but we made a huge mistake and left the GPT trail to follow the other osm route that heads east then west called &quot;Descabezado Grande - Quizapu - cerro Azul&quot;. <br /> <br /> This route should be avoided [2024: Tomáš removed it from OSM] for many reasons apart from the fact that the other route is easier despite elevation gain (we took the other route back). This osm route took us here -35.61301, -70.75604 which was actually a glacier covered in sand with a small hanging glacier above causing a lot of rockfall. It was a very ugly place and we carefully got out of there and made or way to the proper route to Azul. Despite losing almost 2hours on an already tight day we continued (although I wasted an extra 30min due to making up my mind🙄). Once again on the way up to Azul, we did not follow the normal way but went to the east side of the crater of Azul where the bad osm route is. There were a foot print here and there but it was CC. The crater was amazing but too windy to enjoy much, we saw a few fumaroles. We continued CC to the base of Azul, a tiny bit of snow (or glacier remnants?) but posed no difficulties. The base of Azul is beautiful with melt water if needed. We followed the ridge to Azul, it was more involved than Descabezado but no more than a low 3rd class (it is a bit exposed and steep but almost exclusively hiking). There is an interesting summit tower on Azul but because of the wind and time we had no desire to stretch our limits. Weather moved in fast and before we were off the ridge of Azul, we were completely covered in a white out, maybe maximum 10m of visibility. Navigation was incredibly hard, but we took our chances and took the other (&quot;valle&quot;) OSM route down and luckily it was a very easy route and we were down below the clouds and able to see again. The rest of the night was CC back to our camp ~1030pm. It was a good day. <br /> <br /> Day 9.<br /> <br /> From our camp in the ravine we headed CC and then onto the trail that lead to the puesto at basecamp Blancquillo and from then on we were on a good trail. While walking down we opted to stay in sandals and just walk in the river, it was refreshing. We didn't have clean water until the valley bottom at the CONAF camp (valley El Venado) where there was also lots of pear trees and yellow plum-like trees. Many people there (first people seen). We made camp at the river before the pass (Mirador del Valle del Venado) but the walk from the CONAF camp until then was slower than expected because it was along a river bed with confusing tracks.<br /> <br /> Day 10.<br /> <br /> Good trail up and down from Mirador del Valle del Venado with lots of water and trees for shade. Took us almost half the time we thought it would take. Note that you cannot actually camp at campsites/resting areas on this trail after the Mirador. The CONAF guards asked us where we were coming from and when we said Laguna del Maule, he just sounded impressed and let us go on our way. There was a decent restaurant with empanadas, beer, etc. near the bus stop . There was a posted schedule of the bus but it clearly did not follow this schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus. <br /> <br /> Great trip, beautiful views and details and just the right amount of challenge.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-20 to 2023-Jan-23 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ondrej '''<br /> <br /> I got to Parque Inglés from Santiago de Chile by taking a train to Curico (advice: if you want to travel by train, buy a ticket online at least 2 days in advance as it books out quickly). From Curico I took a blue collectivo to Molina and then a bus to Parque Ingles.<br /> <br /> At the park entrance I was turned away by a CONAF officer because I bought a “day trip” ticket (El bolson - para día) and not the one with overnight camping. For the ticket I bought they allow entry only by 11:00am. I did not explain that I will continue beyond El Bolson - maybe I should have done that but did not want to get myself into more unnecessary discussions. CONAF said they cannot change my ticket to the “camping” type and when I tried to book the other one, it was booked out for the next two days, so the advice is book early and the right ticket type (el bolson - camping)!<br /> <br /> I ended up camping at the Rocas Basilicas for the night.<br /> <br /> On the first hike day hopped the gate to the park at 7:00. No one was there so no issues. I hiked to Thermas de Azufre. It was a very long day. There is no shade at all after El Bolson. I made a provisional shade using my tent’s footprint during lunchbreaks. Once I arrived to the Azufre hotsprings, a few arrieros were there. I decided to camp further up the river.<br /> <br /> On the second day I hiked to Refugio Blanquillo, met a settler who resides there for three months each year (if I understood correctly). The scenery before the refugio was otherwoŕldy and beautiful. Gaiters, good hat, sunscreen and sunglasses were my most loved pieces of gear. I camped at the first “camp” waypoint after Refugio Blanquillo. Amazing place to camp (but no grass), with a good stream and even some small shade thanks to the bushes. <br /> <br /> My third day was quite straightforward, I made it almost to Los Cipresses but decided to camp close to the last “water” checkpoint, shortly before the gate with the guard. It was alright but I would recommend walking all the way to the shop and camp there for the night.<br /> <br /> On the fourth day I walked through the gate with the security guard. I also met a number of the power station workers and all were friendly. We waved at each other. The guard at the gate was nice, took my passport number and name. Once at the shop I found it was closed (9am). I needed to get to El Medano to join GPT07 and decided to continue hiking through Los Alamos. It might have been to early (10am) as also the almacén in Los Alamos was closed. The road after Los Almacén was uneventful and a bit sketchy at places, so I forded the river at the “bridge” waypoint after Los Alamos to get to the main road and hitchike to El Medáno. Got a ride in approx 20 min. El Medáno is a great base - the thermals are nice and there is an electricity socket next to the toilets. They have shade for the tent too. There is also a restaurant with filling foods and a small shop.<br /> <br /> Overall a fantstic section but I wasn’t expecting the heat to be that oppresive!<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-3 / 5 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / David and Erika'''<br /> <br /> Get to TH Parque ingle before 1:00 pm, otherwise they close it for entrance. We did get internet and got the correct CONAF ticket -the one heading to El Bolsón. Once you get out of the park and into the Cuesta Las Anima, the wild parts begin. Hope you got your dirty girl gaiters; cause you’re going to need them. Sand city. Gaiters worked great. Remote and desolately beautiful. Water up at the end of Laguna del Caracol, at the river that comes out of the ground, you have a dry climb ahead. Walk out was straightforward. Got a lift from ENEL employee.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-28 to 2022-Dec-29 / 2 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> I connected in Thermas Azufre from GPT 05. I recommend it as a camping spot. I have seen the tracks of people staying on the western side of the valley but I think it is better to ford, there is a nice trail there on the eastern side. There is a place with an island where I needed to remove my shoes just for about three meters (the stream was not strong enough for me to keep the shoes on).<br /> <br /> I took a detour to the lake at the pass - nice. No snow anymore. Reached the Refugio Blanquillo (which is a puesto, an arriero had two dogs and a thousand shep there), met a group of tourists on horses and two Chilean hikers there, so crowded all of a sudden. The pool there is indeed lukewarm. The water from the stream is said not to be good - I filtered it (for the first time on GPT) and was fine. But if not climbing the volcano, I would recommend to camp 2 km further at the next water source. I no longer carry water with me and just drink a lot when I find a source, there is a lot of them, even in the semidesert (the sand is actually white pumice from the volcanoes). It is quite dusty, my hands got dry and that normally does not happen to me. I agree with the recommendation to apply sunscreen at least three times a day! <br /> <br /> The second day I walked all the way to the main road. In the pass, there is still a bit of snow but quite manageable. Going down from the lake, there is no water until around half or one third of the minor road in the valley, beware. Walking-wise, this was the easiest section on GPT for me. At the mainroad, the camping at the shop after the bridge was closed. I hitched somebody in a truck who knew the owners, called them and they came to open it for me. 5000 pesos but I gave the lady 10000 as she had to drive here to open the camping for me. There is electricity and cold shower and shadow. Almost nothing at the shop. The bus is said to leave at seven. I slept and now will try hitchhiking.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will '''<br /> <br /> Amazing trail! It's quite desolate but the landscape varies enough to always keep things interesting. Trudging up the sandy hills could be demoralizing, but getting to run down the other side more than made up for it. Water was still plentiful though not much snow was left, I only had to cross a few small patches. Thankfully heat wasn't a problem at all for me, I even felt cold a few times with the altitude and wind.<br /> <br /> Caught the 5pm bus from Molina to Radal for 3000 pesos, then a van came by a few minutes later to take us to parque inglés for another 3000. Was nice to meet a bunch of Chilean hikers, who were all going to El Bolson and back. We camped at the Rocas Basílicas campsite right at parque inglés, 7000 pesos next to a beautiful river.<br /> <br /> I had phone signal at parque inglés, so I bought the pass online for 8 USD. There was no one at the Conaf office at 7 30 the next morning, so I just hopped the gate and walked through. <br /> <br /> I ran into a few arrieros relaxing at the Azufre hot springs, the only people I saw along the trail. They were friendly but it was tough to understand their heavy Chilean Spanish. They said I could camp with them but there wasn't a ton of room so I walked on.<br /> <br /> There were some geysers shooting up from the muddy riverbank near the gpx track so I took a wider route around. An arriero also told me to take a trail higher up along the dunes so I followed that to the ford. The ford looked tough so I kept walking 2ish km along the other side until I could easily hop across. But it was slow going, probably not worth it.<br /> <br /> I ended up having to camp on a random sand dune. I had some trouble getting my tent to stay up tied to rocks, since I couldn't get stakes in. I'd definitely recommend using tieouts you can really secure to rocks, or even a freestanding tent.<br /> <br /> The rest of the hike went smoothly. I easily made it to los cipreses in three days of hiking from parque inglés. The guard was super friendly, inviting me in and giving me a bunch of water. I camped across the street from the shop near the bus stop, ask at the shop if you want to camp there. The guy running the camping was also super nice, he messaged the bus driver and told me it would be at 9 or 9 30 the next morning, because it was a Saturday (it was also Christmas eve). The bus ended up showing up at 9 45, and costed 3200 pesos to Talca.<br /> <br /> The side trip up Volcan Los Hornitos was very worth it, there's a fairly gradual trail up and you can just sprint straight down. I didn't even need to bring any water (just some gummy bears).<br /> <br /> I got by without gaiters, but bring them if you can. I should have used more sunscreen, the reflection off the sand is strong.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-20 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> Joining section 6 directly from the previous one with a little challenging connection trail (see our comment from section 5), we continued to the Hot Spring del Azufre. On the way there is one steep traverse. We used hot spring to cook our rice which really saved us as we run out of gas. The landscape on the whole section is amazing, we really enjoyed it! Ascent to the pass is nice and gradual, hiking in the sand is a little slower, but the opposite when going down. We camped at the El Estadio, almost no wind that day, great place to sleep . In the morning we continued on a nice and easy trail, great views around the volcanos… short break by the laguna thats great for swimming. We camped a little before the camp marked in the gps, there is one place, probably used by arrieros, with a fireplace and a few rocks around it. Being out of the gas we set a fire using wood that was already in there and some others we gather during the day. The view to the volcanos must be one of the best we have seen here so far! The next day we continued to the last Hornitos pass and through the valley, again really nice hiking on a clear trail. Last few kms on the road and since we missed the only bus to Talca that is leaving early in the morning (7:00) and did not have luck with hitchhiking, we stayed in a camp right next to the road. Its just a few meters before it, in the same direction we came from. On the left side is a house with some old advertisment sign (coca-cola or similir) on its fence, and the lady there has a small shop. The camp is on the other side - cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. Overall, when combining both sections we recommend to plan carefully, but its definitely worth the effort, especially this section 6.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna&amp;Christopher '''<br /> <br /> The section is pretty tough, but beautiful with a quite unique landscape. We definetly would do it again.<br /> <br /> Recomendations: bring lots of suncreme, a good hat, gaiters.<br /> <br /> How to get there:<br /> We took a bus from Santiago (terminal at the metro station Universidad de Santiago) to Curico. Across the street from the bus terminal in Curico leaves a blue bus to Molina for 1k CLP. From Molina we hitchhiked to Parque Inglés.<br /> You have to be there before 3 pm to be allowed to hike up to El Bolson. To camp they charge 8k CLP p.p and the park entry is also 8k CLP p.p.<br /> <br /> The first day we started early from El Bolson. From midday on it was super tough due to the white sand which makes walking really tiring and reflects the sun which makes it super hot without shade. The next day was pretty similar.<br /> The whole section there was plenty of water. There was no much snow left at the passes, so we had no trouble without spikes.<br /> On the last day, after arriving to the dirtroad (8 km from los Cipreses), we got offered a ride after a while and the guy brought us directly to El Médano.<br /> The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).<br /> In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-03 to 2022-Dec-06 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica'''<br /> <br /> Route: Parque Inglés - Laguna Ánimas - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna del Caracol - Laguna de los Hornos - Los Cipreses<br /> <br /> A beautiful, remote section of true mountain wilderness. It took me 4 days, but only 2 hours hiking the dirt road to Los Cipreses on the last day (so very doable in 3 days). The only people I saw were a couple of arrieros at Termas del Blanquillo who told me they hadn't had a winter as snowy as this one in over 10 years. I was glad to have my microspikes for the vast snow fields near/on the passes. A couple places would have felt quite unsafe without them. <br /> <br /> Notable tidbits: <br /> <br /> Took a bus from Molina at 5pm (on a Friday) to El Radal, then hitchhiked to Parque Inglés. I camped there the first night for 7000 pesos. Pricey, but at least I had a beautiful and secluded spot by Rio Claro. <br /> <br /> The stretch between Las Ánimas Pass and Termas de Azufre had some sketchy traverses across disintegrating scree slopes that were downright nerve-wracking. I suppose if you go down to Laguna Mondaca, then back up to the Termas, you may not encounter this hazard. But I did get to observe a condor soar above my head on thermals for an hour as he surveilled his domain, that was super cool. <br /> <br /> For the first ford after Termas de Azufre, I crossed further upstream than indicated on the GPS track (see Carlos's comment below). It looked a lot safer there than downstream. There's continuous snow for about 3 km going over the pass after Thermas de Azufre, best to cross in the morning to avoid postholing when the snow gets too soft. <br /> <br /> Los Hornitos pass has a large, very steep lip of snow (leftover cornice) on its south side. It's possible to go around it by heading north for 50-100 meters and then making your way down on the volcanic sand.<br /> <br /> The spring between Termas del Blanquillo and Laguna del Caracol is a beautiful little desert oasis in an orherwise hot and dry stretch. It was a splendid spot to camp. <br /> <br /> There is LOTS of water. Laguna del Caracol and Laguna de los Hornos are both full of clear, refreshing water. A lot of the &quot;water&quot; GPS waypoints are actually fords this time of year (easy ones), and there's a lot of other water sources not listed on the tracks. But the section is very exposed, no shade, and very hot in the midday sun unless a breeze is blowing. <br /> <br /> No issues with the guards at Los Cipreses, they were friendly and let me pass no problem. From the first bus stop on the road, I hitched easily to Talca to resupply.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-20 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Molly '''<br /> <br /> Amazing section! I found the landscape to be very varied despite the lack of vegetation - and even with many pretty flowers near the streams. I personally found it to be a great ending to my GPT journey, a big contrast to the landscapes further south. Would make for a tough start though.<br /> Plenty of water. Met one hiker doing Circuito el Cóndor and three Chilean tourists on horseback. No arrieros, but plenty of cows and horses. The weather was cold and windy, sometimes veritable sandstorms which meant I almost couldn't open my eyes - maybe sunglasses could have helped. I wore my long pants over my boots instead of gaiters - should have listened to the advice, so much sand! <br /> <br /> Signs on the way to parque inglés say that you can only buy tickets online - don't know how strict they are, but no cell phone coverage at parque inglés and long before in case they insist. You have to be there before 15 to be let through to El Bolsón.<br /> Easy 11 km to El Bolsón through a young forest. No water at the first &quot;ford&quot; waypoint. Campground has toilets and showers, it's the only place you're allowed to camp until after Valle del Indio. Nice enough place next to the impressive Colmillo del Diablo. In hot weather it might be nice to camp here to take the long ascent in the morning.<br /> Laguna de las Animas would be a good campsite plus a nice place to swim. The first &quot;water&quot; waypoint afterwards is also great for camping - there is a nice little meadow.<br /> Las Animas pass is gorgeous!<br /> After Termas Azufre there are many confusing paths. They mostly seem to lead to the same place, but keep an eye on the GPS. When descending from the 2700 m pass towards Termas Blanquillo, you don't have to cross the stream to your right even though many paths do it. As noted by others, the hot springs Baños del Blanquillo are luke warm - but fine if you want to wash yourself a little and the stream is too cold. The refuge is locked.<br /> The next camp waypoint is in a cute valley with many streams, bushes and flowers. No grass, though. <br /> Laguna Caracol is beautiful as well, but very bare, surrounded by sand. I really liked the campsite afterwards, with views of both Volcán Descabezado and Cerro Azul. From there, a small CC section to the ascent where the path picks up again towards the Hornitos pass. Even more gorgeous with great and very different views to each site. Volcán Hornitos and the other little craters look really funny and special. Some hail was coming in, though, so I quickly slided down to the next camp waypoint, again a nice flat meadow. No water on the ascent. The first streams at the top of the pass were dry, but the path crosses a stream in 2100 m altitude. If you fill up at the water waypoint before the pass I agree you wouldn't have to carry extra water, the time between these two water points is around 2-3 hours.<br /> I climbed to the rim of Volcán Hornitos, there's nothing in there, but if you walk to the highest point the view is nice enough. It took me 20 minutes in total, and it was about worth that.<br /> The gravel road is nice the first kilometres, but then it gets pretty boring. The security guard at the end was very nice and welcoming.<br /> I camped at the shop just before the road - nice place by the river, 3000 per person with toilets and a cold shower, or 50,000 for a cabaña. From there I hitched the 3 km down the road to Restaurant Cordillera, nice enough, great with a beer, meat and fries. <br /> Bus left from the bus shed at 7:20 next morning - think it depends whether it goes to El Médano or not <br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-20 to 2022-Jan-25 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Carlos '''<br /> Route: Parque Inglés - El Bolsón (Colmillo del Diablo summit) - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna Caracol - First bus stop on CH115 road.<br /> <br /> I hiked this route only a couple of days after Verónica &amp; Jo. Not much to add except:<br /> <br /> First day just hiked to El Bolsón (easy 4 hours), pitched my tent on the gorgeous campsite, left the heavy load and climbed the imposing &quot;Colmillo del Diablo&quot; (easy hike on a trail that goes around the back of the mountain).<br /> <br /> From Termas del Azufre climbing to the pass I followed a faint track on the steep loose slope instead of crossing at the first river ford. After a few hundred meters the track takes you to a flat wide rocky area (just before the slope becomes impossibly steep), where you can very easily ford the river (I didn't even get my feet wet).<br /> <br /> Plenty of buses Molina - Parque Inglés. But only one bus from el Médano - Los Cipreses to Talca, at around 7 am, which returns at 15:00. Only week days. Basic camping just in front of Los Cipreses shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits): $4.000 pp.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-10 to 2022-Jan-15 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika &amp; Jo '''<br /> <br /> Route: Parque Inglès -&gt; Laguna de las Animas -&gt; Termas de Azufre -&gt; Descabezado base camp -&gt; Laguna del Caracol -&gt; Laguna Hornitos -&gt; First bus stop on 115-CH<br /> <br /> The five nights we just spent in a tent was the longest stretch we have ever gone without a decent bed on a hike. We skipped Radal, Laguna Mondaca and Termas de Medano, but still hiked in 6 days what others did in 3-4. We're basically easing into the GPT, gaining some fitness and experience before taking on the harder challenges.<br /> <br /> As others have said: the views are otherworldly and stunning. We felt like Touaregs traveling from oasis to oasis in the Saharan desert. Except that there actually are plenty of springs and little rivers flowing in most valleys.<br /> <br /> Useful tidbits:<br /> <br /> - There really is no shade after El Bolsòn. Either you make your own (e.g., adapting your tent to not trap heat) or you dress like a Touareg (loose clothing fully blocking the sun). For us, this was the hardest to deal with. We got up early but often stopped hiking at 13:00, enjoying the lakes or even just sitting down doing nothing that takes energy.<br /> <br /> - High-heeled boots and long trousers work well to keep the sand out.<br /> <br /> - Confirming Shn0rhelez: going up from Termas de Azufre until the second ford indeed passes plenty of water, no need to carry any.<br /> <br /> - Laguna Hornitos is drying up and hence less beautiful than the other lakes. Maybe it's better to camp at the start of the Hornitos plateau (SOBO, so north entry) as the area is flat and there is reasonably clean running water there.<br /> <br /> - There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.<br /> <br /> - In supermarkets, you can buy alcohol desnaturalizado cheaply in the nail polish section, or alternatively, use alcohol de quemar from the combustibles section.<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / '''<br /> <br /> From Parque Inglés to the entrance of Reserva Achibueno<br /> Buy your ticket online for “El Bolsón” on the CONAF website and get to the trailhead before 3pm<br /> 4hrs hike to El Bolsón, a great place with waterfall, great views, nice camping spots, hikers<br /> TO CHECK: Bus from Molina to Parque Ingles leaves at 9 am (not positive) on week-ends and holidays <br /> Easy hitch from Radal to Parque Ingles coz lots of campers going there on week-ends<br /> Be careful a ranger told me the park closes on Mondays <br /> It took me around 4 days from Parque Siete Tazas Park entrance to the road Q115 (Central Cipreses)<br /> From Road 115 I hitched to a village by Colbún lake where I resupplied : good supermarkets (a little on the expensive side), food truck , pastry shop <br /> I didn't like Altos de Lircay NP : after El Bolson (4 hrs in) no fucking shade for 3 days and an half except that of a shelter a little off trail, blazing sun all day, sand sand sand, I found the place so inhospitable, monotonous sights : sand dunes for ever, quite some struggling pedalling in the soft sand, plus I had no gaiters (stupid me) and low heels shoes so that was a bummer. However the place is super special, feels like on the moon (beautiful pictures) and I can understand why many love it<br /> Some “hot springs” are actually just luke and others just a hole or boiling hot (I added these informations to the track and waypoints I sent to Jan Dudek) so don't be like me fantasizing all day on that fantastic bath you will get or wait for Jan's update (thanks so so much for all you do mate).<br /> After resupplying I hitched on option 7 XXX all the way the Mellado cañon (really nice, by the river all the time), communities. After hiking South from Carizales (which has a very limited “store”) I was short on time and food and realized bare landscapes over the tree line were not my cup of tea (I prefer hiking below 1700 m in this part of Patagonia) so I left RR and took another option all the way to the West to Reserva Achibueno which I really enjoyed : great landscapes, lakes, rivers and met some cool hikers and fishermen<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec-09 to 2021-Dec-12 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / AR past Laguna Manatial Pelado / Vera &amp; James'''<br /> <br /> We arrived the day before at Parque Ingles and camped the night there. From Molina there is a bus to Radal at 5pm wed-fri, and direct to Parque Ingles on weekends. The only way to pay for park entry is online at www.aspticket.cl.<br /> <br /> As an aside, we really liked Molina. It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.<br /> <br /> Day 1 we headed up the RR as far as just above Laguna de las Animas by 2pm, a brutal climb in the midday sun! At this point the sun disappeared and clouds quickly rolled in, within 10 minutes lightning was hitting the peaks directly around us. We beat a hasty retreat back to El Bolsen and camped there.<br /> <br /> We decided to take the alternate route past Laguna Manatial Pelado. A beautiful route if hot and sandy. We have realised the best time time to take on a long, sandy ascent in sunny weather is very early in the morning, after 9am it was brutally hot. <br /> <br /> We then continued on the regular route. As has been said before, it's remote and stunning. We had some strong winds coming over Pass de Hornitos, and even some sleet on the final day!<br /> <br /> Arrived in Los Cipreses on a Sunday and we didn't see a single person except the security guard. We got mixed messages from him and then the mini shop owner about buses to Talca. I would assume there isn't one on a Sunday. We hitched to El Colorado then got a bus from there to Talca.<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec-03 to 2021-Dec-09 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&amp;Stiina'''<br /> <br /> We also decided to combine sections 5 and 6 to avoid in’n’out to and from Parque Inglés. It took us 6 and a half days and some of it was bloody hard. I have never before experienced my ass being handed over to me by a trail. We got beaten to the point where first signs of weakness started to show and I have to admit we kind of even started discussing a plan B and bailing this ditch trail. But only for a moment, once you hit the rock bottom there is only one way to go - up! It was literally and figuratively, and as terrain improved so did our mood and we laughed off the silly thoughts we had had earlier. <br /> <br /> The first 45km of the section 5 were great, awesome hiking and then shit hit the fan real quick. Ascent up from the ford at km 45 was hard but alright. And then came the descent down to Rio Negro (51km), very steep and very loose scree slope. We wanted to make it to Rio Colorado for the night to cross it early in the morning in case there is no bridge. But because the trail or I must rather say the lack of it was really taking more time than we expected, by the time we got to Rio Negro it was already getting dark. The river was very rapid and murky so you couldn’t gauge the depth of it and couldn’t see where to step, we had to really concentrate to cross it, luckily it was only balls deep.<br /> <br /> It was dark as we got across it and we continued the fun, albeit type 2 fun, illuminated by our headlamps. Then came the insanely steep gully that allowed you to enter the valley of Rio Colorado. Something was off with the elevation lines on Gaia and it showed that we will be descending right over the cliff, it was luckily only a glitch. As we couldn’t see much ahead we kept descending ever so carefully on this very very challenging terrain, I would even go as far as to say that it was stupid and outright dangerous. But there was no other way, you just had to stay focused. There were also some rocks falling off the cliff under which we were descending. In a sense night was a good time to do it because you couldn’t see all the dangers - only what lie within the beam of the headlamp. <br /> <br /> Then came an extremely slow going, pretty much crawling speed traverse down to Rio Colorado, which we fully improvised as there was no trail anyway and got down to Rio colorado about a kilometer before the bridge, where we set up camp abit past midnight. <br /> <br /> So yes, the bridge was there - a decent one, seemed permanent and it was a relief that we at least don’t have to start the day by risking our lives fording Rio Colorado. The river was pretty wide and the current seemed pretty fast, it wasn’t murky though but you couldn’t see how deep it really was. But we think it could have been forded in case there would be no bridge. There were a few places that looked doable with somewhat laminar flow. The excitement of the existence of the bridge didn’t last too long as we were slapped back into reality by the difficult terrain, it wasn’t as dangerous anymore as the previous night but difficult nevertheless. Once we got closer to the pass the trail appeared and it was actually pleasant hiking once again. <br /> <br /> To sum it up the descent down to the Rio Colorado valley, then traversing it and the first part of crawling out of the valley sucks big time, but the rest of the section is really nice and not too challenging terrain-wise. I wouldn’t want to skip this section because it had some breathingtaking views. Just that on the hard part of it you can’t really enjoy any of it as all your effort is elsewhere. <br /> <br /> The guards at Laguna Mondaca were the nicest people we have met in Chile so far. They invited us to stay at the property, gave us food and drinks. They insisted we don’t use any of our supplies or gear. They even provided us with a room with a bed and we got to recharge all of our electronics and got a hot shower aswell. It was perfect! And just to make it clear there are no fancy villas there just a few small simple houses where the owner of the property comes for fishing once in a while. And guards weren’t armed either.<br /> <br /> It took us 4 days to get to Laguna Mondaca and not far after it we joined the section 6 which took 2 and a half more days. <br /> <br /> Section 6 was really something, we haven’t had such a strong otherworldly experience anywhere else. It was really like being on another planet at times. The blue sky was the only thing that gave it away that we were still on Earth. Really bizarre landscape and definitely the most beautiful breathtaking section of the six that we have done so far. <br /> <br /> Regarding the difficulty, compared to section 5 it didn’t feel that difficult at all. Walking on sand is challenging, yes, especially going uphill. But on the other side going down is much easier on the soft sand - you can just run/jog without much impact on your body as the sand absorbs it all. Shoes got completely wrecked and we took many “shoe-emptying” breaks because they were just filled with rocks and coarse sand. <br /> <br /> We even took a dip in one of the lakes close to Descabezado and seeing how water is just coming out of the sand and turning into a river was really really cool, just as the whole landscape around there. <br /> <br /> We camped at the lake about 5km from Los Cipreses. When we arrived to the road to take bus to Talca the bus stop didn’t have any schedule and the shop close by was closed. So we couldn’t find out about the bus schedule and the traffic on the road seemed pretty dead. But luckily after 15 min of waiting a car that was going to Talca picked us up, perfecto! <br /> <br /> Overall plenty of water on both sections, a lot of exposure to the sun, and some challenging terrain. It all together made for a great experience, just what we were looking for. It humbled us and we definitely had to adjust our expectations and recalibrate our way of hiking, it is GPT - not more and not less. <br /> <br /> For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Feb-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH to Laguna Manantial / Frank '''<br /> <br /> At Parque Ingles I registered with Conaf, they record your route &amp; where you will camp. Deregistered by email later. Easy 3 hour walk to El Bolson, lots of people camping there but they don't go any further. Took optional route to Laguna Manantial. At 2160M there is a small meadow &amp; stream, this is last water &amp; last camp before the lake. You go over a pass @ 2560M then drop 80M to the lake. Camped on the lakeshore. <br /> Termas Blanquillo were only tepid. Camped on a small beach @ S end of Laguna de Los Hornos. The lake is nearly dried out, only a little semi stagnant water left. Best to carry water in from one of the streams a little above the lake. Last 11KM are on dirt roads, you could hitch easily if you want. Met 2 security guards, they were both friendly, no access problems if you are Southbound. Small campsite @ shop on way out. Amazing section, some tough uphill on sand but scenery is like Mars. Definitely use small gaiters or you will be emptying sand out of your shoes every 10 mins.<br /> <br /> At the end of GPT06 if you go on the north bank of Rio Maule the route is blocked by a cliff beyond Los Alamos &amp; you need to cross the river to continue. Better to go on the road. After 2KM on the road you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also. At Bridge 17 you can rejoin RR or continue on road but RR is nicer.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-24 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias'''<br /> <br /> Overview: <br /> So, I decided to combine GPT sections 5 and 6 in order to avoid a 30k out and back resupply section into parque ingles. I thought this was a good decision for me and really enjoyed being out there for a week. In my opinion this was the hardest section of the GPT in between sections GPT 01-10. I went the first 5 days without seeing another person which I thought was quite cool. So, these two sections are quite remote, and you are way out there in the mountains. There was also some pretty intense river crossing in “GPT Section 5” that I found to be manageable (keep in mind I’m 185cm and have lots of thru hiking experience.) but still a little difficult. The rivers were also very dark and murky which made it hard to see where you would step. There was also an improvised bridge crossing the Colorado River that I used, and thought was safe to use. These two sections are dominated by a volcanic profile with much of the route on ash and volcanic rock. Most of the route is very exposed and there are not many trees or vegetation that grow in the volcanic ash/rocks. There was plenty of water with springs coming out of the hills everywhere and then disappearing into the sand.<br /> <br /> Difficulties:<br /> It was slow going walking thru the sand, especially when hiking vertically. Exposure to the sun. River crossings. Isolation and remoteness. Hiking up and down lose rock and scree fields.<br /> <br /> Highlights:<br /> Hot Springs. Great views of the volcanic region. Mountain Lakes. Sunrise and Sunsets were epic with the landscape. <br /> <br /> Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Shn0rhelez'''<br /> <br /> Parque Ingles to El Medano southbound/main route ... 7 days duration(2 nights spent on laguna Las Animas)...section passable...Strong sun, no shadow after the park... Gaiters strongly recommended...the SUBsection between termas del azufre and second ford Before the pass (2700m) is full with water... my personal opinion is the backpack weight can be minimized... Good luck! <br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno &amp; Martin'''<br /> <br /> Parque Inglés to El Medano<br /> 5 days for this amazing section. We started in Parque Inglés in Radal 7 Tazas National Park. Had to wait for one more day because of limited hiking permits towards El Bolsón. 80 daily permits allowed and delivered at 8:30 in the morning, to be minded on weekends when the park is full. Followed Regular Route Laguna Las Ánimas, Azufre Hotsprings, Descabezado base camp, Laguna Caracol and then down to Los Cipreses. Cold section and bad weather towards the end, some rain and freezing wind. Had to camp in Laguna Caracol waiting for the storm to pass and hike the last pass. <br /> The use of lightweight gaiters is advised for keeping the sand out of your shoes.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom &amp; Maddie '''<br /> <br /> Parque Ingles to El Medano. Very beautiful (and exposed) section. Lots of water. The track from Los Cipreses to El Medano suffered from a few landslides meaning the route was slower than anticipated. I would consider taking the road next time as there is no loss of scenery. We resupplied in El Medano by basically buying all the food at the tienda (60000 CP for food for two people for the next section). Selection was good enough. <br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-18 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from Vilches Alto / Tyler &amp; America '''<br /> <br /> A Stunning section. Vilches Alto made for a great optional start; rather than returning to Parque Ingles. (We came from Talca by bus - 2100 CP). Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP. All trails were beautiful and a bit more trodden that sections before. Arrieros at thermal pools (not hot) were welcoming and friendly for us to camp. We took our sweet time in the beautiful section. We bussed from the first road access (south of town Los Cipreses/ OH-MR-V@06-E-#001) to Talca for a good re supply before the long next section, 2200 CP. Bus leaves this stop around 11.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-18 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start coming from GPT 5 / Matus &amp; Anna'''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 5 and 6 via optional trail. <br /> GPT06 took us 2 days and bit (first day we did just 4km from 6th section).<br /> I agree with everything what was written in previous updates.<br /> Nice sandy trails. Mornings were freezing cold. No problems while crossing rivers. After optional start regular trail didn't correspond with any trail. We finally took one on the right side and after while they merged. And I don't know who was so commited, but thanks for marking the trail 😊<br /> <br /> There is a small tienda with coke and crisps before entering a main road from Los Cipress. If you continue by main road toward El Medano there is restaurant Cordillera where we refueled again. Accomodation in El Medano. I will edit with ressuply options later. <br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-14 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mainly) / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> As we came from GPT05 and didn't want to go all the way &quot;back&quot; to the Paso Las Animas, we tried the Optional Investigation Route which starts at Parque Ingles right at the other side (South) of Rio Claro. It leads through private property, so we went to the guard, showed him the CONAF Permit (we bought one just in case, and of course they said it's not possible to walk on the other side of the river), explained him that we would only hike through and gave him some cerezas. He informed his Colleagues via radio to let us pass. It was a nice and easy hike. Nothing to add to Linda's remarks for the rest of the trail.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-06 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda '''<br /> <br /> Start = Parque Ingles <br /> Finish = Las Termas El Medano<br /> <br /> GENERAL FEELING<br /> <br /> Amazing section !!!! Incredible mineral landscapes as soon as you go beyond Laguna Las Animas. It was tough because of the passes (and this was also my first hiking days and I carried too much food ... ) and the ground around the volcanoes is sand ! So it makes each step even more difficult. I loved the contrast between the areas around the volcanoes and the Laguna Caracol is just one of the most beautiful place I've ever seen !!! <br /> <br /> LOGISTICS<br /> <br /> - Bus from Molina to El Radal (off season and weekdays = only one bus at 5pm in Molina that stops in El Radal. Weekend : it goes directly to Parque Ingles and the schedule may also be different)<br /> <br /> - Hitchhiked from El Radal to Parque Ingles<br /> <br /> - First night in a camping in Parque Ingles = 5000 CLP<br /> <br /> - The day after, I had to register to CONAF. Office opening at 8:30 am. Entrance fee = 6000 CLP<br /> Some people (5 or 6) were going to El Bolson for the day but after Laguna Las Animas, there was absolutely nobody till the end !<br /> <br /> - Still snow when you go beyond the 2300 meters high<br /> <br /> - Be careful for the last pass Las Hornitos, a lot of snow at the top and it makes it impossible to follow the GPS track to go down. I found my way on the left when you face the valley and then got back to the GPS track<br /> <br /> - No problem to go out from the mine. Actually, workers I met on my way down to Los Cipreses suggestedto drop me by car to the main road. The guard was just smiling when he saw me in the car and when I told him I was hiking<br /> <br /> - Mini market where you can find basic food (eggs, spaghetti, chocolate ...) in Las Termas El Medano<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Feb-07 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arnaud'''<br /> <br /> Amazing but hard section with a lot of denivelation. <br /> As we did not walk the section 5, we took the bus from Molina to Parque Ingles-7 Tazas (many buses, 4-5 buses per day). We registered to the Conaf Office and paid the entrance fee 6000 clp for foreigners. They gave us a mail adress so that we can announce our exit of the parque, to check the security.<br /> We walked the first 11km to the campspot El Bolson. It costs 4000 clp per person but has no interest. As the zone is protected, it is possible to freecamp only after el Bolson, before, it is prohibited.<br /> The Laguna Las Animas is very very beautiful and is welcome for a bath with the heat of this season.<br /> Then the paso las animas is easy and ashes are fun for downhills!<br /> We met nobody on the trail after el Bolson. So great! Except at one spot with termas with full of chilenos there.<br /> We lacked a bit of water at the laguna el Caracol but found 3kms further (just before the strong uphill) a source with drinkable water.<br /> No problem then to exit los cypress. We hitchhiked on the road with workers until the road to los Medanos.<br /> We stayed one day in los termas de los Medanos, at the camping and exit quickly (too many noise, people). The water is hot and nice after a hard section like this one. <br /> We resupplied at los termas (with pasta, arros, pancito, manjar). No gas available there.<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> You need to carry all the food for the entire trail. There is no food supply after Parque Ingles. If you meet arrieros at one of the Puestos you may ask for some goat or lamb meet but if you are not ready to take an entire or at least half an animal they may be reluctant to sell. Refill your water supply at the marked river crossings and the camps. In between these waypoints your will find only ocasinally some trickling water because water trickles away easily into the volcanic soil.<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> * 2023 / Michael and Kasia<br /> Molina: Hostal Nativos is three blocks off the main square. Run by very nice people, they have private rooms with shared bathroom for 25.000 CLP for the room. They also have a nice garden area with space if you need to clean gear. Ferreteria Franco had gas canisters for stoves. Unimarc on the plaza had cans for recharging, but didn't carry the screw route for stoves.<br /> <br /> * 2021 / Vera &amp; James<br /> <br /> Molina: It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> * 2022 / Martin &amp; Helena<br /> <br /> Los Cipresses: small shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits) + camp with cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. <br /> <br /> * 2022 7 Anna&amp;Christopher <br /> <br /> El Médano: The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).<br /> In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.<br /> <br /> * 2020 / Frank <br /> After 2KM on the road after Los Alamos (to El Medano) you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also.<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route= <br /> <br /> ==Parque Ingles==<br /> <br /> During the main season in January and February several buses go from Molina and Curico to Radal and some even go all the way to Parque Ingles. Outside of the main season there is only one daily bus from Molina to Radal leaving in the afternoon from the rural bus station in Molina.<br /> <br /> * Jan-24 / Joscha<br /> The Bus between Molina and Parque Ingles is run by the company &quot;Buses Hernández&quot;. You can check the departure times on their website.<br /> <br /> *2020 / Frank In summer there are 6 buses a day Molina-Parque Ingles.<br /> <br /> Mon-Sat they leave Molina @ 10:20, 11:30, 12:40, 3PM, 6:15PM, 8:15 PM Sunday Molina- Parque Ingles 7:45, 9:30, 2PM, 7:30PM, 10PM 2 hours to Parque Ingles, buses leave from terminal near main plaza in Molina. Parque Ingles-Molina 7:10, 11, 1PM, 3:45PM, 4:45PM, 6:30PM Mon-Sat Sun. 10:30, 1:30PM, 3:30PM, 5:45PM, 6:45PM <br /> <br /> *2019/ Martina &amp; Ivo <br /> <br /> Monday to Thursday: Molina-Radal: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br /> <br /> Friday: Molina-P.Ingles: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br /> <br /> Saturday: Molina-P.Ingles: 11:30 // 13:30 / P.Ingles-Molina: 18:00<br /> <br /> Sunday: Molina-P.Ingles: 09:00 // P.Ingles-Molina: 15:30 / 17:00<br /> <br /> ==Los Cipreses / El Medano ==<br /> <br /> * Dec 2024 / Sean <br /> One bus a day from El Medano to Talca 7:15 and Talca to El Medano 15:00 Monday to Saturday:<br /> [[Archivo:IMG-20241229-WA0000.jpg|thumbnailimage|Talca bus timetable December 2024 - Sean]]<br /> <br /> <br /> * 7 am in front of Los Cipreses - someone has to call in advance for the bus to go all the way to el Médano - loads of tourists there, though, so someone might have called. Other connections should be at 9:15 and 17:20 (one at 1620 l3aves from further downstream). The other way around, the buses leave Talca at 7, 13, 15 and 19, according to the schedule at Talca bus station.<br /> <br /> *This trail section finished at the Route 115 to Talca. Big road with many cars (hitchhiking possible)<br /> <br /> * 2023 / Louis, Rémi &amp; Noé <br /> <br /> From Los Cipreses only one bus at 7am. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)<br /> <br /> * 2023 / Natalie &amp; Tomáš <br /> <br /> Buses from Talca to la Mina go at; 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. <br /> Vilches: bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus. <br /> <br /> * 2022 / Veronika &amp; Jo <br /> <br /> - There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.<br /> <br /> == Vilches ==<br /> <br /> * 2023 / Natalie &amp; Tomáš <br /> <br /> Bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> * CONAF does register all trekkers at Parque Ingles (GPT01-WP004) but does not charge an entrance fee. Camp fires are not permitted within the national park that reaches from Radal (GPT01-WP001) to the Laguna las Ánimas (GPT01-WP013).<br /> <br /> * 2024 SOBO Permit required at Parque Inglés:<br /> - payment 8500 Pesos online! (not in cash) with online your Conaf account<br /> <br /> https:// shop.pasesparques.cl/evento/2564/radal-siete-tazas<br /> <br /> - offline formular at Conaf station<br /> <br /> - payment 7000 Pesos for Campsite El Bolsón in Cash (not possible with credit card, 200m from Conaf Station)<br /> <br /> * 2023<br /> <br /> When starting from Vilches and going northbound, a permit to access the Volcano (or the Condor Circuit) is required. CONAF won't let you enter in Altos de Lircay without it. Call them or write an email to get the correct number. The number ending with 554 works on WhatsApp, and a WhatsApp message from the land owner counts as &quot;written permission&quot;. Moreover, you have to pay the entrance fee to the reserve and it is closed on Mondays in March.<br /> <br /> *2023 <br /> <br /> Start at Parque Ingles: <br /> Entry ticket for Bolsón overnight needed: $10 USD (book it before online at www.aspticket.cl + get to the trailhead before 13:00) It needs to be purchased online in advance. There is good Entel service at the gate for last minute purchases. After purchase one change can be made to the date of the ticket, and there is no additional charge. After that you need to repurchase the ticket. Entrance for the camping permit is until 13:00. After that they refuse entry.<br /> In addition, you need to show CONAF proof of permission to camp at Bolsón, even if you do not plan to camp there. Bolsón is a privately operated concession within the park. Camping is 7.000 CLP pp and you buy the tickets at Rocas Basalticas campground about 50 meters down the road on the opposite side of the street from the entrance. The only way around this is to have contacted land owners that live beyond the park boundary and show CONAF proof of permission to camp on their land.<br /> They also require that you show them your gas stove, as all other cooking systems (alcohol, wood, etc.) are prohibited within the park, so have it handy.<br /> <br /> The parc can be entered illegally in the morning (around 7 pm).<br /> <br /> * 2019<br /> <br /> Optional start Vilches Alto: Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP.<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> <br /> [[File:18 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|In the huge ash field]]<br /> [[File:10 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (9).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]<br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (5).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail]]<br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (17).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|[[Cerro Azul]].]]<br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (11).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 6]]<br /> [[File:01 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|El Bolsón]]<br /> [[File:02 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving El Bolsón]]<br /> [[File:03 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:04 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Las Ánimas.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Las Ánimas]]<br /> [[File:05 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Pass 2560 m.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Pass 2560 m]]<br /> [[File:06 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Approaching Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Approaching Laguna Mondaca]]<br /> [[File:07 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Mondaca.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Mondaca]]<br /> [[File:08 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, that bypasses Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Bypasses Laguna Mondaca]]<br /> [[File:09 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:11 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Termas de Azufre.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Termas de Azufre]]<br /> [[File:12 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:13 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:16 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:17 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:19 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:20 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:21 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:23 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:24 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:25 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:26 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]<br /> [[File:27 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]<br /> [[File:28 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:29 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:31 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:32 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:33 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:34 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:35 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:37 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:38 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:39 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:40 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:41 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:43 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos.jpg|Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br /> [[File:44 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br /> [[File:45 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br /> [[File:46 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:47 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:48 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=GPT06_(Descabezado)&diff=119569 2025-01-13T22:19:51Z

<p>Janboro: /* Season 2024/25 */</p> <hr /> <div>'''[[GPTs|List of all GPT sections]]'''<br /> <br /> = How to a add new entry =<br /> You need to be logged in to save your edits (and on mobile view, you need to be logged in to start editing).<br /> <br /> Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format: <br /> <br /> &lt;!-- IF YOU COPY FROM THIS EDITING VIEW, YOU NEED TO USE THIS TEMPLATE (* TRANSFORMS INTO BULLET, ''' MAKE IT BOLD):<br /> * '''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''<br /> --&gt;<br /> &lt;nowiki&gt;* '''&lt;/nowiki&gt;'''Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or &lt;span style=&quot;background-color:aqua;&quot;&gt;Packrafting&lt;/span&gt; / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias'''&lt;nowiki&gt;'''&lt;/nowiki&gt;<br /> <br /> Include remarks about your route useful for other hikers and packrafters, alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties. Try to be specific. Do not be shy to fix obvious mistakes.<br /> <br /> = Overview =<br /> &lt;div style=&quot;overflow: hidden&quot;&gt;<br /> [[Archivo:GPT 06 options.png|450px|right|GPT 06 route options]]<br /> <br /> ===Routes===<br /> Section 6 leads through the spectacular landscape of the Descabezado volcano. There are three main routes: the regular GPT route, from Parque Ingles to La Mina / Los Cipreses (or vice versa), the Condor Circuit from Parque Ingles to Vilches, which is also popular with non-GPT hikers, and the longer, off-the-beaten-path Descabezado Circuit, which begins at Laguna del Maule and ends in La Mina. Optional trips to volcano peaks include Descabezado Grande, Descabezado Chico and Volcán Azul.<br /> <br /> ===Right of way issues===<br /> Most variations of section 6 will pass by Don Victor at km45.5 of the regular route. Even if you don't pass by there, you are likely to meet him at some point on the trail. He requires prior authorization to go through his land, although only some hikers have been able to obtain such authorization, since he seems to not always reply to messages. Without authorization, it is advisable to try to avoid him, especially on the way into his land, since he might turn you around. This makes a start from Vilches unadvisable. You can minimize the probability of meeting Don Victor by taking a CC route closer to Descabezado Grande, described by Natalie below (as of March 2024 this route is not yet part of the track files), but this is not an easy route, especially if there is snow. An alternative is to do the Descabezado Circuit, but finish in Parque Ingles. This shorter circuit still goes through via almost all highlights, but entirely avoids Don Victor. You can also connect to section 5, which similarly avoids him.<br /> <br /> Starting from Parque Ingles also has restrictions, see the trip reports below. In particular, there are only a limited number of hikers allowed, and you should not disclose your plans to go via Don Victor's land if you don't have authorization.<br /> <br /> Notice that starting from La Mina requires authorization from the hydro company. See the GPT manual on section 6 for details.<br /> &lt;/div&gt;<br /> =Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=<br /> <br /> ==Season 2025/26==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2024/25==<br /> <br /> '''2025-Jan-03 to 2025-Jan-10 / 7,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Farah &amp; Jan'''<br /> <br /> We started our GPT journey with this section and were amazed by the beauty and diversity of the landscape.<br /> <br /> Challenges were the rocky and sandy terrain, sometimes dangerous paths and the hot summer sun. Sometimes the path disappeared and we lost it, but with a GPS device it was easy to notice and get back on track.<br /> <br /> Dangerous snow bridge at (S 34°31.4980’ W 070°44.8453’). <br /> <br /> River crossings were no problem, one was hip high (we’re 1,75 m and 1,83 m), all the other ones knee high or less.<br /> <br /> Didn’t meet Don Victor.<br /> <br /> Definitely follow Jan Dudeck’s recommendation and use gaitors. We didn’t as we opted for hiking boots instead of low trekking shoes and kept on collecting enough sand and gravel in our boots to build a children’s playground.<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> <br /> We took the bus from Molina to Parque Inglés and hiked to El Bolsón on the first day, where we camped. Only had tickets for one day for the Parque Nacional Siete Tazas and weren’t sure if we technically would’ve needed one for two days, but the official let us camp there nonetheless after checking our tickets.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> <br /> Hiked to Laguna de las Ánimas where we met Sean &amp; Neele on their way NOBO and had a nice quick chat with them.<br /> <br /> At the end of the ascent out of Valley del Indio, right below the pass, there was an icey snowfield, which we traversed using crampons - it would’ve been possible without but felt safer with them. We camped at Laguna de las Animas, which was beautiful.<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> <br /> From Laguna de las Ánimas we continued over the pass at [19.4/2547] after which we encountered some sketchy paths along steep gravel slopes: At some parts the path had slipped downhill and if doing one wrong step, we would’ve too. Take care at this part of the section! Camped near the Hot Spring del Azufre.<br /> <br /> Day 4<br /> <br /> We weren’t sure if we could drink the water near the hot spring because it all stank like sulfide so we hiked uphill a bit before refilling our water. There, we also encountered the only bigger river crossing at [29.4/2190] - hip high and a bit of a current but still doable at the right spot.<br /> <br /> Higher up that valley (S 34°31.4980’ W 070°44.8453’) we found a pretty dangerous snow bridge over a creek and decided to walk/climb around it which was also a bit dangerous as it took us over very loose rocks right next to an at least 20 m drop but way more controllable than the snow bridge next to it.<br /> <br /> We left the valley behind us and camped at a beautiful spot right next to a river and with a wonderful view of the surrounding rocks and mountains (S 35°31.9714’ W 070°47.4839’).<br /> <br /> Day 5<br /> <br /> Descended the valley, met two French hikers who did the Condor Circuit and had a quick chat with them, passed Descabezado Grande and the Refugio at [45.5/1887] but didn’t meet Don Victor. We camped at the Water/Camp at [48.1/1837] - what a beautiful little oasis!<br /> <br /> Day 6<br /> <br /> Hiked past the Laguna del Caracol and originally wanted to reach the camp at [62.2/1999]. However on the ascent to the pass at [59.3/2518], Farah’s knee started to hurt and the pain got worse, so we decided to take some rest and camped in a small depression right next to a snow field roughly 100 hm below the pass. Despite the exposed location there was almost no wind and we got to enjoy a breathtaking view on the two Descabezados and the valley at their feet.<br /> <br /> Day 7<br /> <br /> Farahs knee got better, we ascended the remaining roughly 100 hm to the pass and from there descended to the water at [73.5/1014] We camped on the shore of the Rio Cipreses nearby.<br /> <br /> Day 8<br /> <br /> In the morning we woke up by the sound of people: Some local fishers from San Clemente walked past our tent, we wished them buenos días and had a friendly chat with them. Later that morning, they gifted us three freshly caught trouts which we happily ate right on spot.<br /> <br /> We then descended the remaining 6 km to the bus stop at {06-E} [0.5/862], where we wanted to catch an afternoon bus to Talca that we found on the bus services Facebook page. However, the bus didn’t come and we learned from the owner of the shop at {06-E} [0.5/856] that the buses only leave once a day at 7 am. He sold us Coca Cola, chips and chocolate bars and rented us a room (without private bathroom but access to his own bathroom) for 30.000 CLP and we spent the night there. The 7 am bus didn’t come either so we hitchhiked to a bus stop west of San Clemente and took a bus to Talca there.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> *&quot;2025-Dec-31 to 2025-Janv-6 / 5.6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 3 (Descabezado) / Peggy &amp; Dorota&quot;<br /> Magnificent, grandiose, and isolated section. Difficulty: dryness, sandy and volcanic rocky terrain, sometimes tiring. No water issues, but be sure to drink plenty.<br /> <br /> First part, each on our own. I (Peggy) started the GPT with this section from El Bolson. I chose to take an Uber to get to the entrance of the Siete Tazas park (30k CLP). I had bought the park ticket online beforehand but it wasn't the right one. I should have purchased a ticket specifically for the El Bolson trail. However, the park ranger was accommodating. On my driver's advice, I paid 7k CLP for the El Bolson camping to enter the park but didn't spend the night there. I was given a document that I had to hand over on my way down. I followed this advice for convenience, although maybe it wouldn't have been an issue if I had just explained where I was going?<br /> <br /> I didn't encounter Don Victor throughout the section, though I had sent him a message he didn't see.<br /> <br /> Upon arriving at Laguna de las Animas, I met Dorota, and we decided to do this section together.<br /> <br /> There was little snow, with a few rare snowfields that were easily passable or avoidable, except for a large section where it helped us cross a river. Indeed, after the Termas de Azufre, at the ford at kilometer 29.4, finding the river too strong in the morning, we followed the right bank of the river until we found snow covering the river. After leaving the dangerous start behind us, we crossed the snow where it was thick and could walk on it for a while before crossing to the other side.<br /> <br /> No problems with the other fords.<br /> <br /> A bit past the refuge at the foot of Descabezado Grande (km 45.5), there are good bivouac spots (S 35°35.7470’ W 070°49.5695’).<br /> <br /> We climbed Descabezado Grande from this refuge, starting early in the morning. We made a big mistake by forgetting to take water! It seems we both had a moment of &quot;temporary unconsciousness&quot;! We also thought we would find water from the snow higher up, which we did, but only in the form of snow. We managed to collect what we could by putting the snow in our bottles to melt a bit. There was also a bit of water flowing from a snowfield but only in the last part. So, make sure to think about water! Moreover, it’s better to sleep on the volcanic plateau to get closer to the summit, avoiding the 2000m elevation gain all at once (that was actually our initial plan…) with water! Especially later in the season when the snow has melted.<br /> <br /> The 2000m elevation gain with little water was difficult, especially moving from 3000m to 4000m with some altitude sickness. Nevertheless, it was a good learning experience for both of us. Once at the top, we could appreciate the magnificent view of the snowy crater of Descabezado and the surrounding scenery. The climb is not technical but can be long if started from the bottom and strenuous. But it’s definitely worth it!<br /> <br /> It took me (Peggy) two days to realize that by keeping my pants on, I no longer suffered from sand and stones in my high-top shoes! And yet, I wasn’t suffering from altitude-induced brain fog! ;)<br /> <br /> In summary, a magnificent, wild, grandiose, and isolated section. Perfect to start with!<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> '''2024-Dec-30 to 2024-Jan-5 / 6.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 6 + option 3 (Descabezado) / Sean &amp; Neele'''<br /> <br /> Tldr: beautiful section! No problems with snow. Didn't meet Don Victor. Water at all waypoints plus more due to snow.<br /> <br /> Emailed Natali (natali.veloso@enel.com) to get authorisation to enter NOBO, theres a simple form to complete and return. took the bus from Talca to El Colorado to visit the cabinieros they signed and stamped the completed form Natali sent us. Hitched to Central Cipreces, wasn't too difficult, a worker dropped us off right at gate 78.9km. Security guard was very friendly and helpful he was happy with our authorisation and after filling in another form we were on our way.<br /> <br /> Went up to Volcan Los Hornitos took only 10 minutes to get to the crater rim from the pass. Well worth it.<br /> <br /> Camped near camp 62.2km<br /> <br /> Pass 59.3 a patch of snow on the south side but easy to walk around it to the east.<br /> <br /> We decided to do the option 6 loop to see laguna la turbia. Nice enough and easy, western side of the pass is pretty steep.<br /> <br /> Camped at 56.3km - lots of really nice camping around here we couldn't walk past it.<br /> <br /> At water camp 48.1km we went CC straight to camp without water 5.9km to avoid any right of way disputes and to climb dezcabezado grande in the morning. It worked, not sure if I'd recommend it. <br /> <br /> Plenty of snow for water at camp 5.9km we didn't even need to melt it, it was flowing.<br /> <br /> Descabezado (03) 9.4km was surprisingly simple. 4 hours to the crater rim from camp 5.9km, Another 30 minutes to go to the summit and back, hour and a half down. From around 3,700m to the crater rim routes 03 and 03A separate. We took 03A up and 03 down, 03 is much better I'd recommend it.<br /> <br /> Took option 3 to refuge 45.5km all good.<br /> <br /> Pass 33.8km snow mostly avoidable now. We camped up there snow for water.<br /> <br /> Pass 19.4km - small patch of snow easy to avoid <br /> <br /> Pass 15.4km - small patch of unavoidable snow but easy to cross.<br /> <br /> Camped at El Bolson - pretty busy on a Saturday.<br /> <br /> Short walk out to catch the bus to molina at 11<br /> <br /> No entel signal in parque ingles<br /> <br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-15 to 2024-DEC-21 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, OH option 3, CC not on trail from [5.9/2542] to camp [48.1/1837] / Tamar &amp; Nimrod'''<br /> <br /> In short:<br /> A lot of water everywhere.<br /> A lot of snow as well, but we managed without spikes.<br /> The CC ascenting Descabezado is free of snow. The one ascenting Azul might be covered by snow but we didn't climb it.<br /> <br /> First day- We started from Molina on Sunday, and took the bus from the main station that departed at 9:30am (we think on other days of the week it leaves at 11:00am) to parque ingles. The ride took us about 1.5 hours, and costs 4000 clp. At parque ingles there was no phone signal anymore with entel sim card. We payed in advance online 8900 clp per person for entering the park and sleeping at El Bolson. When we arrived we had to pay another 7000 clp each. <br /> Started walking up to El Bolson at noon and got there at 17:00. A ranger on a motorcycle asked to see our ticket in the middle of the trail. <br /> <br /> 2nd- went towards Laguna Las animas. While Ascending to first pass [15.4/2257] there was a lot of snow but we managed to cross without spikes, though it was quite scarry.<br /> It was a long day because the descending from the second pass [19.4/2547] was harder and longer then expected, some parts felt dangerous so we climbed a little to cross at a place with vegetation Wich was less slipery. <br /> We slept at terms de azufres. Beautiful! Extraordinery! Needed time to find a good pool but it had a lot of algae so we didn't go in. There were many pools with different temperatures. <br /> <br /> 3rd- climbed to pass [33.8/2695] (El astadio) a lot of snow along the trail and patches of snow that had to be crossed very carefully, because if falling ment no coming back. The pass itself was completely covered withe snow field! There was some exhusting walk on the spiky snow but then we found foot prints of a horse and poop of sheep and followed it down the pass. Slept at a beautiful place aprox(-35.54190,-70.79507) with a stream from melted snow waterfall (don't know how long it will last). <br /> <br /> 4th day- went towards refugio. There were some cows but no people. Didn't find hot spring. Walked up to camp without water [5.9/2542]. Very good camp, no wind, but watch out from the glacier that looks like it's going to collapse. Drank water from snow we melted. <br /> <br /> 5th day- DESCABEZADO- woke up before sunrise to ascend. We thought there will be snow on the trail that will be easier to climb when frozen. It was not necessary because although there were snow fields along the way, the trail was snow free. <br /> It took us 6 hours to ascend and 3 hours to descend. The view was amazing! Seems that the trail on Azul has more snow on it. The inside of the mountain was covered with snow.<br /> We walked back to our camp and then walked to camp [48.1/1837], not on a trail, which was ok, and camped there.<br /> <br /> 6th day: we continued on RR and camped near Laguna De Los Hornos - approx. (-35.72217, -70.81903).<br /> Sandy and soft ground but quite windi.<br /> <br /> 7th day: hoped to get to El Medano at noon, but got there only by 18:00 :(.<br /> We ran out of food because we planned 6 days hike, so we stopped in the shop in Los Alamos. We bought canned tuna, cheese, and not very fresh bread.<br /> After paying we were invited to seat and eat in the families yard and given tons of fresh bread, cheese, and coke.<br /> We continued on RR. TL (81.2+1.8), and the start of MR (83.0+0.8) are gone because of a big flood (we were told there was a big flood 2 years ago) and it took us almost 2 frustrating hours to walk this trail.<br /> Finally we made it to the bridge, crossed it, and walked on the PR.<br /> A man in the entrance to El Medano arranged us a cabaña and we accepted it.<br /> We stayed 2 nights and continued to GPT07.<br /> The shop in El Medano is very basic and aiming tourist, and we regretted not buying more food in Los Alamos.<br /> We stayed in: cabañas y colaciones sra. Isabel ±56978397080- jose ±56975762613- Isabel.<br /> Very generous warm and friendly people. Helped us with laundry for free, acomidation for 50,000 clp for a night for 2 people and diner for 8,000 clp per person. Also took us to natural sauna and gave us cheap or free products which we couldn't find in the expensive and basic minimarket.<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-17 to 2024-DEC-20 / 4 days / hiking / NOBO / RR+option GPT06-01e / Michal a Anna ​'''<br /> <br /> How to obtain the permit to enter the Hidroeléctrica Los Cipreses:<br /> 1. Contact Mrs. Natali Veloso Zuñiga from Enel (natali.veloso@enel.com) to obtain an authorization to visit. It is a simple form, she replied within a day.<br /> 2. With the authorization visit carabinieros at Reten La Mina or El Colorado and obtain permit to enter Los Cipreses. It is a multi-page document summarizing your trip.<br /> 3. Now you can enter and begin your hike NOBO. :)<br /> <br /> Day1: When we came to the Enel gate [78.9/865] we realised that we have to obtain yet another permit from Carabineros at Reten La Mina (as described above). Getting to Reten and back took us 2 hours but Carabinieros were friendly and helpful and there wasn’t any problem with getting the permit. After that we build our first camp at Laguna de Los Hornos [aprox 64.8].<br /> <br /> Day 2: Pass [59.3/2518] (Hornitos) wasn’t fully under show but we used our microspikes to climb two snowfields more easily, but would be definitly ok without them. Then the out-of-this-world beauty began.<br /> <br /> Day 3: We didn’t meet Don Víctor at Refugio [45.5/1887] or around. Just a few cows. Pass [33.8/2695] (El Estadio) was almost completely under snow, microspikes very useful and made our progress faster. When descending from pass there was a lot of melting snow. At [S 35°31.4964', W 070°44.8531'/2427] where the RR goes on the east side of the valley there was a big snow bridge across creek/waterfall which we consider unsafe to step on. We couldn’t find a safe alternative way (only a combination of short downclimb, ford in steep creek and crumbly longer upclimb), so we decided to turn and came back to X [36.7/2423] where we spent night.<br /> <br /> Day 4: We took a variant [GPT06-01e (Laguna Manatial Pelado)] and without a problem descended to Park Inglesé. At [35°28.61331'S, 70°59.63836'W] is a gate where we were informed that we are on private property. Semi friendly guy opened the gate after a while and some negotiations.<br /> <br /> Generally the trail was ok, but it pays off to be very careful this time of year because of the melting snow and rivers flowing under it creating many snow bridges. It may turn you back. Anyways this section is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been to, we were left speachless many times!<br /> <br /> * ''' 2024-DEC-09 &gt; 10 / 1,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / Variante Volcan Colorado(voir GPT05)&gt;RR / Pierre-Marie ​​'''<br /> <br /> Etape : GPT04+GPT05+GPT06<br /> | Meteo : soleil<br /> | Eau : facile<br /> | Neige : beaucoup<br /> | Intérêt : 5/5<br /> | Difficulté : 3/5<br /> | Danger : attaque d'oiseaux<br /> <br /> Des Cairns indiquent souvent la route. Beaucoup de poussière sur cette etape.<br /> J'ai subit 1 attaques d'oiseaux apres le lac Caracol sur la partie herbeuse, puis 1 autre le long du lac Hornitos. J'ai marché sur les parties sableuse et degagées pour ne pas ecraser de nids. Apres le volcan Hornitos, la descente est monotone et sans interet.<br /> DEC-11&gt;12 : Repos Talca. A-R bus.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-DEC-05 to 2024-DEC-07 / 2,5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (var. C) / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 5 and 6.<br /> <br /> We joined section 6 at the hot springs [27.4/1986]. Most tributaries of the river carrying water from the hot springs are too hot for bathing, but one of them has a reasonable temperature. It’s slightly overgrown and more lukewarm than hot, but fine for washing.<br /> <br /> The fords on the Estero El Volcán river [29.4/2190 and 32.5/2565] were both covered by snow, so we didn’t need to ford. Generally, there is still quite a lot of snow, and the area around the pass is almost entirely covered. However, with good equipment (appropriate clothing, microspikes, sunglasses...), it’s not difficult to cross.<br /> <br /> There is plenty of water everywhere due to the melting snow.<br /> <br /> The water at [44.6/1884] is currently a fairly strong flow. We eventually found a spot where we could hop across dry-footed, but it took some time to find. We were there in the morning; by the afternoon, the water level would likely be higher and will by necessery to ford.<br /> <br /> We didn’t meet Don Victor. However, we met another group of hikers near the refugio.<br /> <br /> The climb to the pass [59.3/2518] (Hornitos) from Laguna del Caracol is almost snow-free, except for a few small patches. On the other hand, the southern slope is still covered by a significant layer of snow. Regardless of the trackfiles, we descended in a way that avoided difficult snow patches. Our route was very close to variant C, and it was fine.<br /> <br /> Around km 68, we left the trail and went cross-country directly south, looking for a good campsite. We eventually found one at -35.7569975, -70.7919536, with a nice flat spot and access to water.<br /> <br /> The shop in Los Alamos, marked as a resupply point, is open. It’s very small, but we managed to buy supplies for the next two days. Don’t worry if it seems hidden in someone’s garden—it’s there!<br /> <br /> On the road on the opposite bank (Variant E), there are several small shops where it might also be possible to resupply. There’s also a nice restaurant, Cordillera, where we celebrated the end of the stage.<br /> <br /> <br /> (2024/Nov/26 -2024/Nov/30)/4 Days/ Hiking/ SOBO/ Entry Variation from 05, RR form Banos del Blanquillo/ Lukas, Basil &amp;Tabea<br /> <br /> The national Park was still closed and entry was not possible so we chose a different entry point over lago frio (La Ruca). The expedition guide from the touring company offert to drop us off at this alternative entry point for 15$ p.p. After 10km on good trials we arrived on variation 05, which we followed until the main route. The route was duable, no critical river crossings or hard snow fields. the mountain pass horintos still had snow on the south side, nobo crossing not advisable. Exit at los zypresses.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2023/24==<br /> <br /> * '''2024-04-03 to 2024-04-05 // 2,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel (GPT6)'''<br /> <br /> What an amazing section ! <br /> <br /> I was lucky enough to have all the volcanoes and mountains covered by snow as it was heavy rainy just before I begun this section ! <br /> <br /> The result is blowminding landscapes, but struggle near the pass, to deal with the mix of snow and soft volcanic ground aha. <br /> <br /> I started from El medano, where the shop and most of the cabanas were closed (there's few options to sleep here, cabanas and camping too, but as it was the end of the season, everything was closed). I was lucky enough to found a nice habitant that purpose me to stay at his house for the night for 20K CLP and saved me from a big storm and heavy rain.<br /> <br /> I took the option F then E (basically the road from El Medano to the central hydrauelectruca) because I needed to resupply as the shop in El medano was closed. I found my happiness in La Mina where there's two basics shops (pasta, tomato sauce, biscuits, chips... (but no bread, or fresh products like fruits, cheese, ham ...). Here there's possibility to sleep on cabanas as well. There's a hotel/restaurant just one kilometer before La Mina, but no-one was there. <br /> <br /> I arrived at the gate of the central, knowing that it will be hard without authorisation. I've sent an email to Rene gaillardo as mentioned on the hiker's manual, but no answer. So I dealt with the security guards at the entrance.<br /> <br /> After long negociations the best option (and fastest one to let me pass this day) was to have a writing authorisation to pass from the carabineros. I've been driven to the carabineros by the security guard, and then have hard negotiations again. They finally wrote a paper where I had to explain my expedition and give lot of informations. And they asked me to go on a police station when I finished the section for let them know that I'm still alive aha. <br /> <br /> Anyway, this allowed me to pass. <br /> <br /> But if you're going NOBO and don't want to struggle like that, don't contact Rene Gallardo, he's not working at the Central anymore, the key contact is now Natali Veloso, that you can contact on that mail address : Natali.veloso@enel.com<br /> <br /> Then you hike threw the central on a boring gravel, and arrive to the junction where you find lovely volcanic ground and going up up up to the pass of Los Hornitos. From there it's just landscapes from an other planet, with a very easy to follow path, but not in an easy ground as it's quite sandy. <br /> <br /> Views on Laguna del Caracol was amazing ! As the whole circuito condor on RR ! One of the best section of my GPT so far, alone in the world in this absolute incredible landscape ... Blowminding ! <br /> <br /> I continued threw the pass El estadio PK 33,8, here the snow was very present and the path harder to follow. I continued to the amazing spring del Azufres, very nice landscape to have a hot bath and quite big vapores, nice break during the day ! <br /> <br /> The crossing over Estero El Volcan (X2) was quite demanding and I had to figure it out and check during long times for the best way to cross. Then I took the variant H to linked the GPT 6 to GPT 5. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Mar-08 to 2024-Mar-16 / 8.5 days / Hiking / Descabezado Circuit / Control Fronterizo Laguna del Maule - Los Cipreses/ Option 02 + RR + Descabezado Chico / Alex &amp; Christophe '''<br /> <br /> This 170km loop was our last section after 3 months on the GPT. It has been one of the most hard, exhausting, and technical section but also one of the most remote, wild, and magnificient we did. We didn't see any humans during 8 days. The extrem wind and cold temperatures, the infinite CC in open areas, the white landscapes without any shadow, and the D+ in soft sand were constantly forgotten thanks to the lunar landscapes. Here are some added informations for the GPT06-02 to the ones given by Natalie &amp; Tomáš. <br /> <br /> Day 1 : We took the bus at 7:30 from Talca to Armerillo. Then we hitchhiked to the beginning of GPT06-02 and began at 11am. After the first pass (-35.94909, -70.45347), we followed the track but going down thru the landslide seems to be a better option. We slept next to the river where there was a good wind shelter (more or less) at (-35.934832, -70.459308). That's a good spot to have the sun early in the morning, which was appreciated since it was -4°C during the night.<br /> Day 2 : The second path (-35.652, -70.43356) was pretty steep and unstable in the last meters but easily doable. The puesto seemed to be unoccupied. There was water every 1 or 2 hours. Then we took the {06-02F} as it looked to avoid swamps and we slept next to the river at (-35.827017, -70.399535) to have the sun as long as possible and to have it early in the morning.<br /> Day 3 : After the pass at (-35.785707, -70.403584), the landscape changed drastically! We took the {06-02E} to avoid the swamps of the other side. It worked but we had to cross the rio san Francisco. Small ford, but not jumpable. We stopped at (-35.693111, -70.427244). There was a clear source and a blue lagoon to take a quick bath. We had wind all night long, maybe there's a better place next to the lagoon. <br /> Day 4: It must be possible to find a camp spot around (-35.667931, -70.422663). After that point, it begins to climb and there's no more flat place. We took the {06-02D} and it was a good option out of the elevation and the crazy wind. When we arrived at the snow limit, we went 20m down to find a good way in the snow. Then we had to run in the flowing sand to the rocks and had to clamber the last meters between two wind gusts throwing us sand in the eyes. It was pretty scary because of the wind conditions but doable. Finally on the plateau, we had to manage with winds at 80km/h and sandstorms. I would definitely not pass in case of bad weather or with stronger wind. We took a break at (-35.613055, -70.423114), first water since the pass. Then we followed the GPX track but the OSM offers to take the westside of the river and it looked to be better as we had to go up and down in the sand many times. Finally after this exhausting day, we found a camp spot with a kind of wind protection at (-35.560315, -70.441588).<br /> Day 5: After a long morning with a NW crazy constant cold wind, we stopped at the hot springs. We tried many places but never found a source warmer than 30°C. After a quick bath, we filled our water bladder at the last point mentioned by Tomas &amp; Natalie (-35.48544, -70.5994) to go to sleep to the pass. There was still a ton of snow next to the pass but didn't see melting snow on the way. There are different camp possibilities with a stunning view in the last 600m before the pass but we slept at (-35.494194, -70.622529) to climb the Descabezado Chico the next day. Ok wind shelter.<br /> Day 6 : We woke up at 6am to go to Descabezado Chico before the sunrise. We crossed a melting snow river at (-35.49828, -70.621259). Even if the last part is steep rocky and sandy, the climb is easy. We reached the summit in 1h20 and had one of the best sunrises of our lives ! There are some places to be sheltered from the freezing wind and enjoy the view. Back to the pass, we followed more or less the track because there was still a lot of snow and some ways didn't look to be the best to follow. Next to Lago de la Mollera (-35.49782, -70.635864), we went down to the lake because we didn't see how to avoid a snow wall and because it was looking to be a nice path to go down (breaking news : no)... We managed to go up a little bit further (-35.501361, -70.641377). When we arrived below Cerro Colorado, we took water in a blue lagoon and we hiked the crest on the left side to avoid deep sand (-35.524775, -70.661721). Then we stayed on the left side of the Cerro Colorado to go down (-35.525073, -70.670594) until the river. That was a quick and good choice. Finally we managed a flat and more or less wind sheltered camp at (-35.55463, -70.708441).<br /> Day 7: There was still a ton of snow at the pass and made our own track in the snow slope a little bit upper than the GPS track to cross more safely. We wanted to follow the high route described by Natalie &amp; Tomás to avoid Don Víctor but as we saw how much snow there still was, how already tired we were (but not as much as our shoes) we decided to take the RR to go south. When we watched the high route from the RR, there was still a lot of snow patches. We finally stopped at Water, Camp [48.1/1837]. Not the best idea because it becomes a freezing hole during the night.<br /> Day 8-9: We followed the RR, nothing more to add to other posts except that we never met Don Victor !<br /> <br /> * '''2024-02-29 to 2024-03-07 / 7.5 days / Descabezado Circuit - Laguna del Maule to Los Cipreses / option 02, off-trail variant, 03, RR + Descabezado Grande and chico / Marilyne (+Fangwen and Tobi for first 3 days)'''<br /> <br /> First section on the GPT and I found it amazing! I won’t repeat anything that Tobi and Fangwen have mentioned below that also applies to my trip.<br /> On day 5, I used the variant suggested by Natalie&amp;Tomas that avoids Refugio Blanquillo and Don Victor. I had met with 3 park rangers earlier in the day who questioned me about my plans and asked if I was planning to go to Refugio blanquillo. When I assured them that I would not they went on their way. I watched them and their 6 horses run over a steep patch of snow and it gave me the confidence to cross it too, otherwise I may have tried to find a different route as a fall there would have been highly consequential.<br /> <br /> Had to cross many patches of snow on Natalie &amp; Tomas alternate route and it includes a stream crossing that could be very dangerous in the wrong season as it is above a waterfall.<br /> <br /> I climbed Descabezado Chico on day 4 and Descabezado Grande using route 3 on day 6. The Grande climb took 6+ hours and I didn’t have any desire to keep fighting scree fields after so I skipped Azul. At the end of that day all my stuff and me were very dusty from that climb.<br /> On day 8 I exited at the hydroelectric station Los Cipreses. A security guard that saw me running down the road to catch the bus offered me a ride to the main gate and we had a pleasant chat. Caught the 3:30pm bus to Talca around 4pm. They seem to start late from Medano.<br /> Very sunny section, I used a small solar panel on my backpack and ended up the section with all my electronics fully charged. <br /> <br /> * 2024-02-29 to 2024-03-08: Fangwen and Tobi (+ parts together with Marilyne) / 8.5 days Descabezado Circuit variant, Laguna del Maule to Vilches (option 02 -- variant 02D -- RR -- option 05)<br /> <br /> What a fantastic trip! Two experienced GPT teams had independently recommended this circuit to us, and both described it as their favorite experience on the GPT. Natalie&amp;Tomas have an extensive trip report below. I don't have a trip report from Markus&amp;Jenni, who hiked this circuit in 2019, but they provided us with very useful waypoints. If you are interested, message us ([[Special:Emailuser/Tobfang]]) and I'll ask if I can share this data.<br /> <br /> It is advisable to start this trip from Laguna del Maule. This way, you can easily lengthen the trip (by climbing the three volcanos) or shorten it (by exiting in Parque Ingles) towards the end of the trip. Also, you start at 2000m, which is a nice in the summer heat. It took us 8.5 days; we had food for 10 days and intended to climb some volcanoes, but when we got there it was quite windy, so we simply went straight to Vilches.<br /> <br /> This hike is definitely off the beaten path: the arriero Christian at S 35° 50.549', W 070° 24.114' said that we were the first hikers this season (in March!). He was very friendly and shared a delicious melon with us.<br /> Our favorite places were a beautiful valley with white sand, and a refreshing Laguna at S 35° 41.643', W 070° 25.651' and the Laguna Aquas Calientes at S 35° 30.441', W 070° 31.990'. The latter is not actually a hot lake, but there are several small streams of warm water. We camped right at S 35° 30.129', W 070° 31.514', right next to a really nice hot pool.<br /> <br /> Things to watch out for: although water was generally abundant, there are some spots where water is a bit more sparse (especially late in the season) and you might have to carry for up to one day. See Natalie's trip report for details. Additionally, earlier in the season there might be snow fields. The winter in 2023 had a crazy amount of snow, so even though we went in March we had a lot of water from snow melt and the two passes at 02D (S 35° 39.116', W 070° 26.016') and S 35° 33.137', W 070° 44.275' had steep snow fields. It was a bit sketchy, but okay. For the first pass, there are other options up, which may open up earlier. For the second pass, Option 2B traverses a lower pass (we didn't go there). A lot of hiking is on cross country, much of it on sand or gravel of different firmness. Sometimes you sink in, sometimes not. Flat or downhill travel is generally efficient, uphill is slow. Bring (mini)-gaiters, not just because of sand but also spikey plants. Also, sun protection is crucial, you won't have any tree for a week.<br /> <br /> Logistics: Interbus (call them on WhatsApp: +56 9 9886 5872) runs a bus Mon-Fri from Talca to Medano (which is a bit further than la Mina). As of March 2024, this bus left at 12:30 and 19:00, returning to Talca from Médano at 7:20 and 15:30. From Médano hitchhike to the border checkpoint. It's not super easy, and you might only get as far as the furthest mine, roughly 5km before the border checkpoint. Alternatively, use a ride sharing app to go to the border checkpoint. We were able to get via multiple rides all the way to the border checkpoint, but it took some time (we arrived at 5.30pm). If you want to check out Laguna del Maule, tell the border guard that you're not crossing into Argentina, and they will let you pass. But the border checkpoint is closed at night (between 6pm and 9am?) and you're not supposed to cross it then. We quickly went to the lake and back before it closed.<br /> Vilches Alto has a daily bus service to Talca at 12:30 and 16:00.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb- 22 to 2024-Feb-27/ 6days/hiking/SOBO/06/RR + volcano Decabezado/Paulina'''<br /> <br /> Amasing section!<br /> <br /> Day 1 <br /> I took a bus from Talca to Molina ( a lot of buses per day, still in February and later to Parque Ingles ( several buses per day in the season, most of them till 12 pm). <br /> As it was a rainy day, my plan was to walk only to El Bolson. I did not have the entrance because I could not pay on the website with my card. I told to the Rangers that I would like to go to Los Cipreses, they where like I need the permition of the landowner to do it. I just ignored it. At first they were saying that it would not be possible to camp on El Bolson the next 2 days. But I waited about one hour, reasked several times, and finally one of the Rangers went with me to the place where you can buy ticket for camping El Bolson ( 7000 CHP), also they told me that I did not need to buy the park entrance. <br /> The El Bolson camping is just huge, I don't understand all the mess with the acces. When I came up, the guy from the camping just took my name and passport number, but did not ask to show the camping payment confirmation, or park payment. <br /> <br /> Day 2 ( El Bolson- Termas de Azufre)<br /> The trail was visible all the time. At this time of the season, no snow on the pass. Termas de Azufre are amasing, so it's good to come there not very late to enjoy them. Just next to the river, there are a few spots for tents.<br /> This day I also met one chilean couple doing curcuito condor, and at Termas a chilean family with kids on horses with an arriero. <br /> The famous owner of the land did not show up this day and the next days. <br /> <br /> Day 3. To refugio Blanquillo<br /> At first there are a lot of animal trails, so you need to check with gps which one is a good one. <br /> The ford on the river on the way to the pass was short but kind of difficult ( almost to the waist, I'm 1,69 cm, strong current). It's because of a heavy 2 days rain two day before. Later I met people doing curcuito condor from the other side and they told me that the rangers did not want to let them do the trail because of this river high level. But I think that after some.more days of a dray weather it's not a difficult ford.The rest of the trail was easy to follow with beautiful views.<br /> At refugio, I met one couple doing curcuito condor and two chilean couple who came to climb Volvano Decapezado. Very nice meeting.<br /> The refugio was already closed. The hot spring was not really hot.<br /> <br /> Day 4<br /> Together with chilean hikers, we climbed Decapezado Grande. It's a long hiking day, but it's really worth to do it. The way down is easy and very fast. <br /> <br /> Day 5 to Laguna de los Hornos<br /> <br /> About 20 min. from the refugio, there are a lot of different animal paths ,so you will need to consult a gps to see which one is a GPT one.<br /> The views around Laguna Caracol are amasing, I think it was my favourite part on this section of an extreme beauty. No navigation difficulties on the trail. Indeed,laguna de los Hornos is in a big part dried. <br /> <br /> Day 6 till La Mina<br /> <br /> I agree that it's really worth to climb the volcano<br /> Los Hornitos. It's a very short way up.The rest of the trail is at first a descend in a deep sand ( so you can go very fast) and than a walk on a gravel road ( I found the valley very nice, I was amased how fast the landscape changes). I got a ride about 2 km from Los Cipreses, very nice people, they took me to the shop in los Alamos , but as the owner was not there they took me to a shop in La Mina ( 500 m before the restaurant La Cordillera). You can find there several little shops, if you go around you can complete the resupply for the next section ( mostly pasta, tuna, tomato souce, ramen, eggs, instant souls). No camping gas.<br /> I camped in a little, very nice camping/ garden with a grape shade in a restaurant La Cordillera place ( 3000 ChP), they have also cabanas but I don't know the price. A really nice place to stay and chill, you can eat all the fruits in the garden. The lady from the restaurant was very nice, they serve nice,food, not expensive ( I paid 18000 for camping, breakfast, big dinner, juice, and a good portion of pisco sour).<br /> <br /> For the next section, it's kind of easy to hitch-hike ( there are a lot of local workers on the road) to the beginning of the trail. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-13 to 2024-Feb-18 / 5.5 days / SOBO / RR / Gabriele - Trails of Wander'''<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Parque Ingles - Laguna Las Animas. Hernandez bus from Molina to Parque Ingles 8:10 am. I had park entry and camp permit for El Bolson that I bought on-line. I indicated to the Guardiaparque my 6 days itinerary RR to Los Cipreses, no issues but had been told several areas are private land. Met only one hiker after El Bolson (See note below).<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Laguna Las Animas - Termas de Azufres. <br /> <br /> Day 3 - Termas de Azufres - Camp along Rio Blanquillo near Vegas Manantial Pelado RR + small section of OH-Tl-V 06-01. I did not ford Estero El Volcán at Ford 06 [29.4/2190] as with the high snow/water year I felt it was unsafe or risky at best and made little sense to try at that spot. I continued CC on the right bank of Estero El Volcán for about 300-400 m to reach the snow field where I crossed safely without even touching water at all. The CC section had only a handful of spots requiring short scrambles, but no issues. For reference, I crossed the snowfield to reach RR at -35.31196, -70.44898. Given the current water level condition I think this is an easier and safer option.<br /> Originally intended to camp at Laguna Manantial Pelado for the night but the valley below looked great with all surrounding peaks so I camped there.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Camp near Vegas Manantial Pelado - Camp South of Laguna Caracol (Camp 06 56.3/2034). Based on the conversation I had two days earlier with a Chilean hiker who was doing the Circuito Condor regarding Don Victor the dueno/owner of the land traversed on day 4, including Descabezado Grande, I decided to avoid encountering Don Victor if at all possible. I did not follow the RR directly to the refuge Blanquillo at 45.5/1887 but kept away from it and walked CC to reach RR further South where it climbs up. I did not meet him and cannot say if he was at the refuge, which I only saw from the distance. After reading and listening to multiple reports regarding the situation with Don Victor land ownership it seems to me that the best approach is to avoid or minimize contact with him if possible, in order to reduce escalation of further problems for future hikers, in particular Chileans hikers who appear to really have very hard time gaining approval from him to simply traverse his land.<br /> <br /> Day 5 - Camp South of Laguna Caracol - Laguna de los Hornos.<br /> <br /> Day 6 - Laguna de los Hornos - Los Cipreses. I reached Los Cipreses at about 1 pm on Sunday. The guard at the gate of the Hydroelectrico Los Cipreses told me there are no buses down to Talca on Sunday. I hitchhiked on 115 and got a ride to Talca fairly quickly.<br /> <br /> Water was plentiful for the entire route. Limited snowfields traverse with no issues. 100% full sun exposure all day after El Bolson. Windy at higher elevations. Harsh and dry environment with a lot of sand and dust. Lots of steep climbing in sand. Overall easy orientation and easy trails to follow but GPS track needed. Magnificent hike. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Feb-08 to 2024-Feb-14 / 5.5 days / SOBO / RR 01c 01e 03 03a/ Matthias de Austria'''<br /> <br /> Bus from Curicó to Molina at 9am, immediate connecting bus to Parque Inglés. Buy a ticket online for the national park (8500 for foreigners, 100% surcharge! If the international debit card selection doesn't work, just try the national one, my card only worked there). You can also add the authorisation for El Bolsón online, but you have to pay for it in cash at a ticket office in Parque Inglés. 80 people per day are allowed for Bolsón, everything is sold out at lunchtime. Night in Parque Ingles at Hostal Valverde 40k for one person in a 4 bed room (solo use) with own toilet and washbasin but shared shower, towel costs extra, quiet, next to river for bathing (lots of local families though).<br /> <br /> At 8am next day, a Wednesday, there are around 50-60 people at the ticket office for Bolsón. I went to the locked gate at the start of the RR and quickly climb over it hoping noone saw me, as I'm not planning to stay in Bolsón anyway. Better not to mention that to the rangers. Also, only gas cookers are allowed. After about an hour, I'm just a little way off by a stream when a ranger rides past on a motorbike. I don't know if he saw me, maybe he thought I was coming back from Bolsón. So if you hear a motorbike, it's might best to change direction shortly and head towards Parque Inglés, or even better, start much earlier in the morning. <br /> <br /> I bypass Bolsón heading south at 01A, shortly after the bridge at -35.4973,-70.9052 is a large private area, no trespassing sign. I don't want to set a bad example for the numerous day trippers around and take a path along the stream (southern side) to the waterfall. Once out of sight of people and Bolsón, I briefly climb up the steep slope and CC to option 1. Water shortly before start of 01c. Next water at -35.5226,-70.8653, even with a small pool.<br /> <br /> Don Victor is the large landowner in the area. His hut is, as far as I understood, the refuge Blanquillo at 45.5/1887. Hikers used to be welcome on his land, but after they left a lot of rubbish behind and invaded his hut, he no longer allows them and sends them back. However, he (sometimes?) makes exceptions for foreigners. You could ask him for permission via whatsapp, but he was so flooded with requests that he can no longer be contacted during the season. I just took a chance and went to his land. A rider around 37.1/2382 asked me what I was doing here, I asked him if he was Don Victor, to which he replied in the affirmative. I then introduced myself, said what my destination was, where I came from and that I am aware of the problem of dirty hikers, but that I am very careful with nature. He then allowed me to continue. I met him twice more in the following days, at Blanquillo 45.5/1887 and at Water 48.1/1837, and he reminded me not to throw away any rubbish.<br /> <br /> At the refuge I met a Chilean-German couple camping, they came from Los Cipreses and didn't know that it was forbidden to enter this land, but Don Victor allowed them to stay after they argued with German cleanliness (I guess he had never been hiking in the Alps before the regular cleaning teams cleaned everything, otherwise his trust in the Europeans would probably not be so great).<br /> <br /> Fordings: All very easy, path at Laguna del Caracol is no longer under water. No snowfields to cross. The water level of the lagunas (except Manantial Pelado) is dropping rapidly, I estimate about 10 to 15cm per day.<br /> <br /> Water: Plenty, except for hiking up Descabezado. Bring as much as possible from Blanquillo.<br /> <br /> Summit day Descabezado: Very strong, cold winds all day. A good windbreaker, hat and gloves are essential. Only cloudy day since I've been in Chile, 20 minutes after I left the summit it cleared up. Extremely strenuous ascent on very loose gravel, almost every step sinks in deeply and slips (I weigh 100kg), takes 6 hours from base camp to the summit, even on the easier route. Descent effortless, under 2h.<br /> <br /> Camps:<br /> Day 1: Laguna Manantial Pelado <br /> Day 2: Basecamp -35.5978,-70.7957 (I widened it, smoothed it out, deepened it and extended the stone wall. Nevertheless, the winds up there can be massive, you have to brace the tent well.)<br /> Day 3: Next to the not existing anymore hot springs at 45.6<br /> Day 4: Laguna la Turbia<br /> Day 5&amp;6: Laguna des los Hornitos (rest day, just beeing naked all day swimming and lying around in the sun)<br /> Hornitos and Turbia were nice for swimming, the others really cold.<br /> <br /> No problems at Los Ciprese, friendly guard spoke good english, gave me water and wifi.<br /> Bus to Talca (3500 peso) at main street came around 15:50-16:00.<br /> <br /> Absolutely incredible landscape. I'm here for dream routes like this. Perhaps the best hiking week of my life. GPT01-04 was nice, but GPT06 is in a completely different league. I loved it and I deeply miss this kind of remoteness in central europe.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-feb-2 to 2024-feb-6 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR / Juliet and Martin '''<br /> <br /> Day 1 parque ingles - Lagunas las animas<br /> 18km d+1200 d-100<br /> Departure at 6:30 a.m. to pass the conaf. No worries <br /> First part to el bolson. At el bolson we can refuel with water. The campsite attendant asked us for our conaf ticket. After explaining to him that we were going to laguna animas, he let us pass without any trouble. Continuation to laguna animales without shade but no snow. Bivouac spot on the beach but no shade, or to the west on meadows to pitch your tent, but used by a herd of horses. <br /> The trail is generally easy to follow as it is marked by stone markers.<br /> <br /> Day 2 laguna las animas - Therma de azufre<br /> 11km D+400 D-700<br /> Shade-free day. Lots of trails in the sand. <br /> We didn't manage to find a good bivouac spot (mainly because of the heat coming from the ground). <br /> Water spots regularly, especially early in the day. <br /> <br /> Day 3 Therma de azufre - El banquillo refuge <br /> 20km D+ 900 D- 900<br /> The indicated crossing point was not crossable for us in our opinion (no experience in river crossings), so we decided to walk along the river bank in the rocks for several km. We crossed the river higher than indicated thanks to the snow. <br /> Water spot regularly as several rivers crossed. <br /> Arriving at el banquillo, we were disappointed not to meet Umberto. Very good bivouac spot with several pitches already made. <br /> <br /> Day 4 El banquillo refuge - laguna de los hornitos <br /> 20km D+ 900 D- 900<br /> Most of the climb is up to the pass after the laguna. Quite a physical climb in the sand. But we did it in about 1h30. The rest of the day was pretty much the same. <br /> Regular water stops too. <br /> No problem following the trail. <br /> A little extra for a new encounter with a herd of horses. <br /> Bivouac spot around the lake. Nice possibility before descending to the lake (indicated waypoint camp).<br /> <br /> Day 5 laguna de los hornitos - los alamos<br /> All downhill to los cipreses. The first part is in sand, so it's a quick descent. Once on the road, we were often overtaken by cars. No one asked us for a permit (or offered to hitchhike). <br /> We passed guards at the exit/entrance to the power station, who offered us water and no problem getting through. <br /> In los alamos, a small store selling a few products such as pasta, ice cream, batteries, etc. It's run by a lady and her husband. They also sell beds for sleeping. They're very welcoming<br /> <br /> Buses to Talca at 7.30am and 3.30pm. Not many cars passing through. We didn't get picked up hitchhiking. <br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-27 to 2024-Jan-30) / 3.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01+03+06/ Joscha'''<br /> <br /> Day 1: RR [0-10,1] + OH06-01A + OH06-01[10,7-25,1] + RR [36,9-44,6]<br /> <br /> A few small streams at OH-01 and one bigger one near Laguna Manantial Pelado (ankle high ford). A few snow patches above 2300 m, but you can easily walk over or around them. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.<br /> <br /> Day 2: RR [44,6-45,8] + to Descabezado and back on OH06-03 and OH06-03A + RR [45,8-55,7]<br /> <br /> River at 44,8 was a little over ankle high ford in the morning. The climb up to Descabezado has a lot of steep gravel slopes, which makes it tiresome. Water is flowing at all the marked locations.<br /> <br /> Day 3: RR [55,7-58,3] + to Los Quillayes and back on OH06-06 and OH06-06A + RR [58,3-59,6] + OH06-C + RR [62-69]<br /> <br /> OH06-06A is a steep gravel climb, but worth it. Really nice view from Los Quillayes (but similar to the view from Pass Hornitos. Pass Hornitos has some bigger snowfields on the southern side, but its easy to walk around them. OH06-C was pretty steep at the end, so maybe the RR is more convenient. Little above ankle high Ford north of Laguna de los Hornos in the afternoon.<br /> <br /> Day 4: RR [69-80] + OH06-E + OH06-F<br /> <br /> Small Shop (I bought some Pasta) and Restaurant in Los Alamos. I tried to continue on the RR from Los Alamos to El Medina. But at 81,3 km the trail vanished and I wasn't able to continue. Therefore I walked back and walked on the paved road OH E+F to El Medano. Camping + Thermas in El Medano costs 7000 Pesos. There is a small shop, but it is very expensive (e.g. 1 Ramen Cup costs 2000 Pesos).<br /> <br /> GPT06 has some really spectacular views. Especially Pass Hornitos and Volcan Descabezado. There is no shade, so the sun is gonna burn you all day. This + the sand/gravel is demanding for your body and your equipment. <br /> <br /> * '''Jan-26-2024 to Jan-30-2024 / 4.5 days / SOBO / Oh5, Oh 3, RR / Matthieu'''<br /> <br /> Amazing section, from the entrance in Vilches to the end in los cipreses. Sand and lack of shadow are the main difficulties. <br /> <br /> Right of way : that was my first fear. Concerning guardia parques : en parque ingles, they say that they cannot let officially hikers go to the volcan, as duenos asked (OH1 passes by 4 differents private properties). But if you have a message by don victor it's ok. So no need for discussion there just take a ticket to el bolson and no more words. El bolson was closed for a few days for maintenance, so i just got out of parque ingles. At Alto de Lircay, guardiaparque told me that it was my responsability to enter don Victor's property without his permission. You can legally turn back into the park (or coming from parque ingles) paying for another day at the end, at the entrance, if you want to come back by altos de Lircay after the volcan. <br /> - Don Victor : I had the chance to meet him near the valle del venado, on a horse. I asked for permission to enter his lands and continue south, that he offered me easily with promess to not let garbage in the zone. I was glad to meet him out of his lands, I don't know how he would react into. He especially asked to guardaparques to say to hikers that it was not permitted to go on his lands because it's always full of trash, and he has to clean it up all the time. He told me that foreigners were more respectfull than locals though. His phone is off all season because it became a public number, and he has to many calls to enter the volcan. So if you want permission better send a message before season. To note, his lands go at least to the laguna caracole, don't know after.<br /> I saw another chilean hiker walking up the volcan, didn't seem to be a problem for him. <br /> <br /> Water : often present on RR, in the lagunas or the oasis. A good stream just before the top of the volcan to. No need to carry kgs of it. <br /> No water at the volcan basecamp though, so I carried it from the puesto. <br /> <br /> Snow : From now on, no snow issues from the entrance in Vilches to the end at los cipreses, so no need for crampons (with entrance by option 5, I don't know for the entrance by RR). Few patches you can easily bypass before and after the third pass 59km. <br /> No patches on the way to the top of volcan. <br /> <br /> River crosses (1.78m) : only once Rio blancillo, at the first Ford (water to knees). Then I stayed on the right side of the river until the end. I had to walk inside for 1 minute, water to hips, but no current so it was easy. I bypassed the two other crosses this way. <br /> <br /> Camp : valle venado (conaf), really friendly worker there. - Basecamp Volcan : beware, I made the mistake to not plant my tent well with heavy rocks, and the pikes in the sand are no use... so when I came back from the volcan it was upside down with strong wind... a whole adventure to pack everything ! - Oasis at water 48km. - Around 70 kms, some nice camping spots near the river at the right side of the road. <br /> <br /> Volcan : up to the top by option 3, then down by variant 3A. Taking the variant directly seems like hell, lot of sand. More rocks on regular option 3. Physically demanding, but no other particular difficulties.<br /> <br /> Proposition of new option : as the right of way may evolve badly in the future, I suggest a new option road from el camping valle venado to tricehue, following the rio claro. I asked to the guardaparque at the campsite, he said that there are people doing it usually. This year the river is to strong though, so maybe in march or next year. <br /> <br /> Buses at the end : the lign is from talca to el medano, a stop at the exit of los alamos on the road. From el medano : buses 7h30 and 15h30, monday to Friday (dont know for week ends).<br /> From talca : 12h30 and 19h<br /> At el colorado, buses to talca more often.<br /> * '''2024-Jan-11 to 2024-Jan-17 / 7 Days / Hiking / NOBO / O5, O3, O3A, RR, O1 / Vlad'''<br /> <br /> A spectacular section to end my 5-week trip on the GPT. I’ve never experienced a landscape like this before and the weather (straight up sunshine for the whole week) was a welcome change after the unrelenting wind and rain of Patagonia. There were no other people outside of the start and end of the trail in national parks. Beautiful and desolate wild camping near the volcano. That said, it was very rough on my gear. The dry sand, abrasive rocks, spiky bushes did some damage to my shoes (erased on tread on the soles after sliding down scree slopes for 2 days), socks (holes after rubbing on rocks since I did not have gaiters), trekking poles (they were in a poor shape already but the rocks and sand finished them and the tips got sanded off), pants (got some holes as well). <br /> <br /> Day 1: I took an overnight bus from Puerto Montt to Talca (22k CLP, very comfortable, booked through Rodovairro.cl). After arriving in Talca, there was a bus to Vilches at 10:30. I got off at the last stop and made it to the PN Altos de Lircay entrance around 1 PM. I asked the ranger about access to Descabezado land since I texted the owner, Don Victor (WhatsApp +56998863554) but he didn’t respond to me. The ranger said that Don Victor doesn’t respond at the moment but he said it was okay for the rangers to allow hikers to leave the park and go to his land. <br /> <br /> I was charged 8.5k CLP for park entrance and 10k CLP for 2 nights camping inside the park. This is because I wasn’t allowed to start hiking to Valle el Venado the first day (trail closes at 11:00 am even though it’s only 19 km 🙃) and had to camp at the park entrance, then another night once I get to Valle el Venado. It was a bummer as I already had limited time for this section, but it allowed me to go for a day hike up the mountain in Altos de Lircay and watch a beautiful sunset. The forest in Altos de Lircay is beautiful with teeming wildlife and abundant wildflowers. I saw a woodpecker, a fox, colorful iguanas, a snake, giant spiders, and endless wildflowers. <br /> <br /> You could maybe get to Altos de Lircay on time to start hiking the same day if you leave on the 7 am bus from Talca. They give you a paper at the park ranger’s office and I was asked for it 3 times by different rangers throughout my trip. <br /> <br /> Day 2: Walked from Altos de Lircay to Valle el Venado with a side trip to see the waterfall. Met a group on horses. A few river fords that were all below knee level. Got to the campsite at Valley el Venado which wasn’t very nice. Horse poop everywhere, had to clear the spot for a tent. No one asked to check if I paid for the campsite. The group on horses camped somewhere up the valley from the refugio as I heard them and saw some come down to use the bathroom. <br /> <br /> Day 3: I did the 3 fords of river Blanquillo as suggested on the GPS track. The first one is at the spot where river is widest, so it was only knee deep. On the second ford, it’s narrower and the current was strong, it was crotch deep for me (178 cm). Third ford knee deep. In hindsight I should’ve just stayed on the left side of the river and only crossed it once in the end. <br /> <br /> It was a very short day, 10 km, but I thought it would be nice to arrive at Blanquillo refugio early in case Umberto was there. However, when I got there, the refugio was empty, and I couldn’t find any hot springs. I don’t think the bathing pool is there anymore. I scouted around for half an hour and only saw horse and cow poop in every little stream and pool of water. I followed one of the streams about 100 m uphill to get clean drinking water but I still saw poop on the banks. <br /> <br /> Since Umberto wasn’t there, I cooked dinner by the refugio and kept going to the Descabezado basecamp (-35.59773, -70.79645) 3.4 km further and 600 m of elevation higher up from the Banquillo refugio, which made the next day’s climb up the volcano shorter.<br /> <br /> The sunset at the Descabezado basecamp was out of this world. <br /> <br /> Day 4: I left from basecamp at sunrise since I didn’t want to walk in the dark. I had to cross a few not steep snow fields at the beginning but nothing at higher elevations. Every snow field higher up is easily bypass-able. That said, the climb up to the crater still felt brutal to me. There’s absolutely no sure footing, everything is just a scree slope. When ascending, you can either climb up the 45 degree scree slope or try to walk on the rocks which are easier to plant your foot on. I chose the rocks but they too were sliding sometimes, even large boulders, so I had to be careful not to let a giant rock fall directly on my other foot. It took me 4.5 hours to reach the crater from the basecamp following the less steep option 3. It was very windy, cold, and the sun was shining directly in my face early in the morning as I was climbing up the volcano so it was a little difficult to see the path sometimes.<br /> <br /> On the way down, I saw my tent and was trying to slide down the scree slope directly towards the basecamp roughly following the steep option 3A. Going down was actually really fun and effortless. But be careful and still check GPS regularly when you descend, as there are some scree slopes that end directly in a vertical plunge down to the ice field below. <br /> <br /> I refilled my water bottles with ice cold water flowing from the snow field here (-35.60455, -70.78525), using my trowel as a spout. I’m glad I did because when I got back to basecamp, the water I stashed there in the morning was as warm as a hot soup after baking in the tent in direct sunlight all day. <br /> <br /> I was considering staying at basecamp location for another night because it’s such a visually stunning spot with gorgeous sunsets and incredible stars at night, but it was just way too hot to remain there so I packed up and went back down to Banquillo refugio. Unfortunately, Umberto was still not there so I just enjoyed the company of cows and went to sleep. <br /> <br /> Day 5: I went north in the white sand dunes following Banquillo river which nurtures a breathtaking oasis in the desert. I thought this area was way more beautiful than the Banquillo refugio (especially with all the cow poop there) so I wished I kept going a little further the previous night and set up camp somewhere by the river in this area (-35.53354, -70.79191). Disclaimer: I didn’t actually look for a spot that was flat and sheltered but that whole area just felt like a paradise so I think one could find a suitable spot for a tent there. <br /> <br /> Right at the fork of the trails where one can choose to take Option 1 or continue on RR to Termas del Azufre, I ran into arrieros transporting hundreds of goats through the snow-covered slopes, it was a beautiful scene and a blessing for me as their footprints helped me find a safe way in some semi-steep snow sections I had to cross after 2400 m. I chose to follow Option 1 to El Bolson because the RR on the right at the fork looked like it had loads of snow still. Even on Option 1, I had to be careful and kick-step my way through the snow fields as I had no crampons and my trail runners had virtually no tread left on them after being ground on the volcanic rocks and sand the previous couple of days.<br /> <br /> One particularly dangerous spot is here (-35.51932, -70.82684) just after Laguna Manantial Pelado. It’s a big snow field that started melting and formed a lake that’s not on the map. It was breathtakingly beautiful going west, but if you were coming from the other direction you could not see the collapse of the snow field until it’s too late and you’re on the edge, so stick to the trail and walk on the side of the valley in that spot. <br /> <br /> I got to El Bolson just before sunset. It was surprisingly a beautiful and scenic campground and not too crowded on a Monday night. I spoke a few words to the people in the refugio, they just told me to set up my tent and didn’t ask to pay for camping. <br /> <br /> At Bolson, I met a group of Chilean students from Talca who spoke really good English and we had a lot of fun eating dinner together, smoking weed and going to swim in the nearby waterfall the next morning. There are trails going down the cliff to the swimming pools here (-35.49801, -70.90767). It’s a really pristine swimming spot, just be careful and don’t get too close to the waterfalls as we heard there was an accident the previous night where a rock fell off and pushed a person over the edge of the waterfall so they plunged down into a pool below. <br /> <br /> Day 6: Hiked from Bolson to Parque Ingles entrance, where the ranger once again asked for my paper registration from Altos de Lircay documenting my trip. The shops at Parque Ingles are really tiny and would not be sufficient for another section resupply in my opinion, I just bought some fresh fruit and hitched a 3 KM ride to Siete Tazas. By the time I got there (19:00) all the trails were closed and the ranger told me to go find camping at Valley de las Catas. It was 13k CLP (ouch) for 1 night camping with inclusion of the ticket for a 3-km loop on the southern bank of river Claro to see Siete Tazas. The campground had a hot shower which was very welcomed, but otherwise I think Siete Tazas was not worth it and I wish I spent my last day attempting to hike up to Laguna de las Animas instead. Though I don’t know if it would even be possible as the entire rim of the mountain seemed snow covered so there must’ve still been a very steep, yet short, snow field one would need to cross to get over the pass. <br /> <br /> Day 7: I took a morning walk out of the campground and caught a 11:30 bus back to Molina, then a bus from Molina to Santiago for a flight home the next day. <br /> <br /> * '''2024 Jan 07 / 4.5 days / SOBO / RR / Anh'''<br /> There are many good reports, so I'll keep it short.<br /> <br /> With my information, I could simply walk from Parque Inglés without registration. But I want to hike legal &amp; support Conaf. So I had to register and pay online (not in cash at other national parks) with my conaf account, then offline paper formular. Fortunately, the 2nd payment for Campsite El Bolsón (compulsory) was in cash (200m from Conaf). It had taken me more than an hour.<br /> <br /> There is a lot of hiking in volcanic sand (rough, fine).<br /> At this time there are still many snowfields from 2000 Hm upwards. There are streams under the snowfields, some of which only have a thin layer of snow (danger of collapse).<br /> Ford km 29.4 is quite critical (hip, strong flow in the morning)<br /> <br /> I met two boys at Refugio Blanquillo. They had been hiking for two days on a different route (no RR GPT06) with a text description from the internet (no hiking map/GPS track). They learned &amp; understood that it was very dangerous and could get lost at any time. Luckily they met a hiker with GPS &amp; inReach, otherwise I would have taken them with me.<br /> <br /> * '''2024-Jan-03 to 2024-Jan-08 / 6 days / Hiking / round trip anticlockwise / O5 - O3 - RR - O1 - O1c (Condor Circuit) / Lotti and Alex'''<br /> <br /> Originally we wanted to do the Cóndor Circuit, but after we read about the troubles some of you had, we decided to take the safer option 1 to avoid the snow and landslide above Termas de Azufre. This route felt very safe and the snow was not a problem at all. We ended up with a beautiful round trip from Altos de Lircay to Valle Venado, then to the summit of Descabezado, then Valle del Indio and back to Altos de Lircay. The landscape is incredibly beautiful and diverse, and we enjoyed it a lot. The scariest part for us was fording the Rio Blanquillo on day 2.<br /> <br /> Day 1: Altos de Lircay - Valle Venado on option 5 (Sendero de Chile) <br /> We stayed at Hotel Picamaderos in Altos de Lircay, which is a very nice and relaxed place right next to the park entrance of Altos de Lircay. To enter the park we had to show the CONAF officers the WhatsApp message that Victor send us as a permission for entering his land at Refugio Blanquillo. <br /> The hike through the forest was very nice and shady and we enjoyed the view from the mirador where we got a nice overview of our route for the next days. Crossing Rio Claro was easy, not deeper than knee deep. We camped in a shady spot next to Valle Venado.<br /> <br /> Day 2: Valle Venado - Refugio Blanquillo - Descabezado base camp (option 5 and option 3) <br /> Easy walking until Laguna el Blanquillo which was really beautiful. After that the path crosses Rio Blanquillo several times. We tried to avoid it at first because it looked quite intimidating, so we followed some stone men to climb around and walk higher up the valley. When it was not avoidable any more, we forded it. For me, with just 152cm of height, it was intimidatingly deep (almost to the hip) and it had really strong currents. Alex had to help me across, and with him walking in front of me, it worked. We arrived at an empty Refugio Blanquillo, picked up some water there and walked up to Descabezado base camp which has no water. <br /> <br /> Day 3: Descabezado Summit<br /> We left the base camp early at 6:00 and took the southern option 3 trail which was well marked by stone men at the beginning. We used our crampons to climb up some ice fields effectively, but I think they could have been bypassed as well. On the way down we took the steeper option 3A sliding down on soft pumice stones which was a lot of fun. We picked up our tent, walked back down and set up our camp at Refugio Blanquillo. There we searched a while for the hot springs, but couldn't find them.<br /> <br /> Day 4: Refugio Blanquillo - Valle del Indio (RR and option 1 NOBO)<br /> We walked on the regular route for about 8 km until the junction where we changed to option 1. After that we crossed several smaller streams that were not on our map. Snow started around 2300m, but it was easy to walk on and we didn't need our crampons. Laguna Manantial Pelado was incredibly beautiful with its icy shores. There were some camp spots there, but it was much too windy for us to stay there for the night. We kept walking over the pass and down the valley until we found a shady spot in the middle of the valley floor of Valle del Indio. <br /> <br /> Day 5: Valle del Indio - Altos de Lircay (Option 1C)<br /> After the wild vulcanic landscapes of the days before, this day's scenery was not as spectacular, but the hiking was easy and we even met some wild horses. We camped at Punta 6 inside the park Altos de Lircay, where we found a camping spot right next to a very nice swimming hole in the river and met the first people after 5 days of loneliness. <br /> <br /> Day 6: Altos de Lircay - park entrance<br /> Easy walking in the shade of the forest. <br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-29 to 2024-Jan-3 / 6 days / NOBO / Variant 5+3+RR+GPT05(VarG+RR)+RR / Matthias + Johanna '''<br /> <br /> The route:<br /> Basically the route is the Condor Circuit: Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay - Descabezado Grande - PN Siete Tazas. <br /> We bypassed the part from km 19.4 (Termas) to km 27.4 (pass Portezuelo Las Cruces) via GPT05(VarG+RR) due to the reports of Lilian and Michael &amp; Cassia. By the time we started our tour, Michael had written only a much less intimidating post on the Facebook group (only indicating difficult route conditions). So it was a lucky ad-hoc decision after the difficult descent from pass La Calle the day before not to try their route!!<br /> <br /> The conditions: <br /> Snow +- above 2250m, rivers below snow-filled watersheds with high water levels! Overall quite demanding to us!<br /> <br /> Day 1+2: Easy walking from park entrance (Lircay) to Vegas Blanquillo („basecamp“ Descabezado).<br /> <br /> Day 3: Ascent to Descabezado <br /> Easier than expected but tedious above 3400m due to volcanic ash and steepness. Snowfields below 3400m can be bypassed or safely crossed (surface like a mogul piste). The steep snowfields above can by bypassed. We climbed the right (southern) „couloirs“ on the right margin (beneath the red rock), loose rocks are the main difficulty.<br /> <br /> Day 4: Vegas Blanquillo - Termas Azufre<br /> About 5 km on snow. Some short steep snow passages, soft snow on snow bridges. High water levels.<br /> Easy walking until a height of ca. 2550 (km 32.5) when going down into the valley of Estero Volcán. Next 250hm downhill tricky as while we tried to avoid the quite steep snow on the slopes, we faced the difficulty of avoiding unstable snow bridges in the valley floor. We were happy to have our microspikes with us! Also parts of the summer path seemed to be washed away (around km 30.5) as seen from afar. Forded the river ca. 500m upstream of the place indicated on the track files (50m south of the now collapsed snow bridge of Lilian). Strong current, water up to mid of thighs. Additional fording of the (today roaring) creek coming down from Cerro Colorado (km28.5).<br /> <br /> Day 5: Termas Azufre - Valle del Indio: Difficult fordings <br /> Trail washed away ca. 1 km after Termas. We went up 100 hm to bypass (possibly you could also bypass by descending ca. 50 hm).<br /> Edgy fording of Estero Volcán at ca. 35°28'56&quot;S 70°46'13&quot;W. Strong current, water up to lower waist on the far side for me (188cm) and up to upper waist for Johanna (163cm). I could give her a hold from a rock there! Then ca. 500m north 2 easier fordings back to the western side of the there split river. <br /> We did not stick to RR here (we did not divert from path at „trailhead“), as there was no possible crossing of the river visible and the path seems to be very difficult with large loose rocks and steep slopes). But possibly one could avoid the two fordings by RR and then climbing the rocks near the riverbed.<br /> There are no further fordings of Estero Volcán (km 24.6) as river is flowing on the eastern side of the valley this season.<br /> Loose volcanic ash on parts of the ascent to pass Portozuelo Las Cruzes. Snowfields easy (could be bypassed or safely crossed on the afternoon of the hot day). Laguna Las Animas partly ice-covered, we swam next to the ice :-)<br /> After the pass going down to Valle del Indio there is steep snowfields (former wedges) on most of the rim. Only 4-5 m, but even with microspikes it was too dangerous for us. You can bypass snow by walking some meters to the right (west) from the pass and walking/climbing down the rock pillar (solid).<br /> <br /> Day 6: Easy walk down to Park entrance Parque Ingles<br /> <br /> Camp sites: Valle Venado - Vegas Blanquillo (Descabezado basecamp) 2 nights - 500m north and 50 m uphill of Termas - valleyfloor Valle los Indios<br /> <br /> Basecamp Descabezado - Right of way:<br /> No access given to hikers without a guide to cross the NP to Descabezado. We chose to hire a local arriero who accompanied us the first three days (Pancho 997635447), who got a permission to camp from the land owner in advance. Even though he is a local and has his own cows feeding up there, he had to discuss at the three „checkpoints“ at park entrance, as he had no written prove with him.<br /> The man living at the basecamp was not there in the end, selling some cows in the valley ! <br /> Nice swimming pool with tepid water 5m north of camping site, for drinking water go the long way round the swampy valley to a source on the other side ca. 20m west of the hut.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-19 to 2024-Dec-25/ 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR/ Michael and Kasia '''<br /> <br /> Day 1<br /> We had camped at Rocas Basalticas campground the night before. When we arrived at the gate they asked to see our permission to camp at Bolson. We didn't know that that was required and spent some time going back and forth with them. We finally went to Rocas Basalticas down the road and got them permission to camp at Bolson and they finally let us in. The walk up is pretty, all the snow is gone. All fords are easy. There were a few tábanos, but not many. CONAF did a reroute on a small section of the trail higher up. If you're watching GPS you go off the route, but just follow the sign to Bolson and it goes there. Campground has water and toilets.<br /> <br /> Day 2<br /> We hiked up through Valle del Indio. The route is a little tricky to find and we were moving slow so getting a lot of meander in the GPS marker. Looking for cairns was helpful. Two thirds of the way up there was still snow. By that time it was slushy. We had opted not to buy crampons at the last minute, so we made our way across kicking into the snow. The last 15 m to the pass was an almost straight up in snow. After the pass there was very little snow until the rise up to Laguna de las Ánimas. After that it was a complete snow field and the lake was frozen. We managed to kick out a pad for the tent and camped in the snow. Really beautiful sky that night.<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> A long day with very little distance covered. Full sun, we both got sunburns despite sunscreen and covering. The snow was heavily pockmarked so it was hard to walk through. It took much longer than we anticipated. We ended up camping just below the pass. We were concerned about wind, so we tied the tent down really well. Fortunately it was a calm night.<br /> <br /> Day 4<br /> We continued on RR. There were several steep ups and downs, mostly on snow, as well as some intimidating traverses. The snow was getting to the point where we were a little uncertain if it would hold or not. We saw a single set of tracks, assume it was Lillian as it looks like she was a day or two ahead of us. 2 km before Termales Azufre we crossed a very steep section of snow. On the way down Kasia fell and hit some small rocks. She got some bruises and cuts, but nothing broken. I tried to slide with the backpack off and in front of me, but I fell too and the bag started tumbling down a steep sandy slope. I chased the bag, fell and rolled twice, and finally managed to jump and tackle the bag about 5 m before it went over the edge. It was a dangerous move, but I had not had a chance to take the GPS off the bag before it started sliding, and without it we couldn't get out and couldn't call for help. It was a long hike back up due to the incline and sand. We made it a little further and then ran into an area of trail wiped out by a landslide where it was impossible to get footing, even without the packs. Every step would cause more sand and rocks to slide down. It was about 18:30 at that point. We backtracked about 100 m to a gap between a snow wall and a large rock and set up a provisional shelter for the night.<br /> <br /> Day 5<br /> After waking up the next day, we tried to see if rest and fresh eyes would give us a better perspective. After discussing it we realized that there was really no way forward or back. We decided it only option was to use the SOS button on the Garmin. I pushed the button at 10:00, and by 16:00 there was a helicopter flying through the valley looking for us. I was surprised that it happened so quickly. They had to land in the valley, and since we could not get ourselves down, they sent a GOPE team of three guys up and the helicopter left for the night. It took them about an hour to get up to us, and then another two hours to do enough provisional maintenance on the trail for us to get down. We camped with them in the valley for the night and the helicopter came to get us in the morning.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-25 to 2023-Dec-26/ 2 days / Hiking / NOBO / off RR / Jens, Nolwenn, Yannick'''<br /> <br /> To enter the Hydroelectrico Los Cipreses you need a permit, which we did not get in advance. The guard at the gate said we could get it by emailing his boss. <br /> As it was Christmas Day, it was not possible to get the permit. <br /> The guard told us to take a route along the perimeter fence. We did that until we couldn't get further. We entered the compound through a hole in the fence and walked to the end of the road on the right side of the river. The bridge on the map is destroyed. The current was too strong to cross. Turned around and went back.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-21 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR+{06-D} / Lilian'''<br /> It is the most amazing section from GPT01 to here so far!<br /> <br /> I hiked RR, it is still covered by tons of snow, i recommend use ice axe and micro spikes if you want to hike from Portezuelo Las Cruces(pass) to El Estadio(pass), there is some really steep snow slope. (RR-TL-V)<br /> <br /> Parque Ingles have a restaurant and a tiny store selling food, fruits, drinks and some 230g gas canisters.<br /> <br /> I hopped the gate to the park at 6:30. No one was there.<br /> <br /> There are 3 main pass for RR.<br /> <br /> First pass, snow start at km14.3(2050m), not difficult for climbing up to pass[15.4/2257].<br /> <br /> Laguna Las Animas(lake)[16.7/2286] is still frozen, very beautiful. I climbed up on some rocks at the north side of the lake, then mostly choose my own way to climb up to pass, because RR look steep.<br /> <br /> Arrive the pass[19.4/2547], if you are not comfortable with snow, it is the LAST CHANCE to turn back.<br /> <br /> Pass is flat and dry, you can camping here but windy.<br /> <br /> There are no RR after the pass because covered by many snow, find a way go down to valley by snow slope, then walk all the way on snow to km20.2, you can see the trail but on the other side at km20.2, steep go down the snow slope then connect to RR.<br /> <br /> Follow the trail about 5min, you will go into a big valley, trail and the whole valley covered by snow, but you can see a trail is at the far away other side of valley.<br /> <br /> Go your own way to water[22.0/2279], i think it is lot ways to go down, but dont too close to cliff side, it is steep and easily to fall off.<br /> <br /> After you arrive water[22.0/2279], then straight forward to km22.6.<br /> <br /> A large flat area can fit lot of tents at the downhill side of km22.6.<br /> <br /> After km22.6, the most dangerous part begins, from here to km26, lot of steep snow slope you need to cross, be careful, kick step and don't slide.<br /> <br /> Km26 is another large flat area for camping, i camped here with nice sunrise.<br /> <br /> Snow continues to km26.6, but easy way. The first pass's snow end.<br /> <br /> About the second pass, snow start at ford[29.4/2190], strong flow and look like up to thighs, i cross it on snow bridge.<br /> <br /> Stay on east side until km31.25, then stay down walking in the valley, easier than on the slope.<br /> <br /> Although full of snow, but I think it is easy to go to the pass[33.8/2695] from here, so i dont mention the details. It is also easy to go down, most of them are gentle slope.<br /> <br /> Snow end at km41.4, but mostly you can find some flat sandy spot start at km39.1.<br /> <br /> Hot spring[45.6/1881] : completely dry. Some camping spots with rock wall nearby.<br /> <br /> Water,camp[48.1/1837] : amazing oasis in desert! Clear and cold water, some shade, also lot of swallows flying in the sky catching some food for their kid.<br /> <br /> Km49.1 - km49.8 : best view point of Volcán Descabezado Grande and Volcán Azul! If you want to camp with stunning views, bring water at oasis then climb up here, lot of sandy spots beside some rocks, enjoy you sleep with volcano.<br /> <br /> Km53.2 - km54.7 : Laguna del Caracol(lake), maybe because too much snow melts? Trail underwater, you need to walk in the lake shore for a while.<br /> <br /> Camp[56.3/2034] : oasis again! Crystal clear and cold water! It is possible to cut off from km56 to x[57.3/2073] directly, stream flowing slow and up to knee.<br /> <br /> Third pass, steep climb up to km57.9, if you follow RR, then you will turn right and face some steep snow climbing up.<br /> <br /> If you look up at left side, there is some foot steps straight climb up on a dry slope, which is no snow but looses sand.<br /> <br /> I go for the left one to the pass, ok but steep and really tried.<br /> <br /> Most of the snow is after pass, from pass[59.3/2518] to km61.5, first go to east side go around the snow, then you will find a trail, follow it a little then go your own way in snow valley. <br /> <br /> I follow RR, mostly easy to go down until km61.5, a steep slope. I don't want to take the risk, so i crossed a snow bridge to a sandy slope at south side. Go down the slope and rejoin RR about km62.1.<br /> <br /> Ford[63.4/1909] : i crossed the river before a huge rock, below knee at morning. The huge rock also provide some wind protection, i saw some camping trace beside it.<br /> <br /> Volcán Los Hornitos : km65.3, {06-D}, just beside RR, no need CC, a trail leads you to the top, just climb up 70m! Go for it!<br /> <br /> Lastly with no luck, i saw a car going down just 10min before i arrived the road, then no more cars, so i walk all the way to Los Cipreses.<br /> <br /> Met a super friendly worker at Los Cipreses, he give me some cherry to eat and a ride to Los Alamos. A tiny shop there , if you are not picky, a little pricey but enough food resupply for 1 people six days. It have a sign &quot;Almacen&quot; at its front gate. You can ask locals where it is, i saw many workers go to there buy things.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-dec-3/ 4 days / hiking / SOBO / RR &amp; 6 option 1 / Lukas en Tess'''<br /> <br /> As this was our first section on the GPT and there still was a lot of snow in the mountains we decided to play it safe and folow option 1 from el Bolsón. It is less steep and less long above the snoweline about 2000m at the time. It went great but Tess burned her eyes so good sunglasses are definetly a must when hiking in the snow. From there we continued the RR at Laguna del Caracol we had to walk in the lake on the edge, no idea if that's normal but it was funny. The next and final big obstacle was the pass on k59 we decided to try and bypass it because it looked very steep with a lot of snow and ice and Tess with her burning eyes had a hard time looking at any snow at her feet. So we went up right next to it (north). Realy though rock scrambling but we managed. Going down the next valley was okay with the snow but crossing rivers covered in snow is tricky so try to avoid it. Walking into los Cipreces we were told we were not supposed to be there but still we had lunch in the cafeteria and they fixed a ride to bring us to the road, realy nice people there. From there we hitchhiked to el colorado where we stayed for two days to let Tess' eyes heal.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2022/23==<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-14 to 2023-Mar-19 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / Parque Ingles - Los Cipreses / Noemie'''<br /> <br /> Parque Inglés - El Bolsón - Termas de Azufre - Blanquillo - Laguna Hornitos - Los Cipreses<br /> <br /> First try on the GPT and amazing section to start. There were buses from Molina at 10am and 5pm going to Parque Ingles. You must arrive there before 1pm and buy an entrance for El Bolson (with camping) to enter the Park. It's also possible to camp in Parque Ingles (7.000 CLP/night). When I entered, CONAF asked me where I was going, if I had a GPS, and gave me some kind of permit to show in Los Cipreses. I wasn't asked to show it when I arrived there though. <br /> Landscapes and panoramas were extremely beautiful and very impressive. There was still water in all marked points and fords were easy to cross. Trail is easy to follow almost everywhere, except after Termas de Azufre (be careful to look for the right pools on the map and do not go up too much, I ended up in a place with almost boiling water). The whole section is full of beautiful sand dunes, so gaiters were extremely useful. In Blanquillo, you are supposed to get an authorization from the dueño to stay there, but it looks like it is not really enforced. I spent a day in Blanquillo to rest, drink maté and learn how to make sopaipillas with Umberto. I hitchhiked from Los Cipreses to San Clemente (one hostel, two supermarkets, decent to resupply) so I can't comment on the bus schedule. However, to come back to Los Cipreses/Termas del Médano, be aware that there is now only a bus leaving at 3pm from Talca, going up until La Mina. I took a small bus to Colorado on morning (every 45 min.) and hitchhiked easily back until Laguna del Maule for GPT 07.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Mar-21 to 2023-Mar-25 / 5 days / Hiking / NOBO / Vilches — Volcan – Parque Ingles / Iris, Alexis '''<br /> <br /> Our last section on the GPT for this year! We started in Vilches Alto with the option 06-05 because we rented horses with the arriero Jose Lopez. The beginning is placed in the Reserva Nacional Altos de Lircay, which requires a permit to go until the Volcan. The entrance fee is also 7k pp. We finished our first day at Camp, CONAF {06-05} [10.2/1158]. I believe we mostly followed the GPS track. <br /> <br /> On the second day, we continued with the horses until Hot Spring {06} [45.6/1881] (Banos del Blanquillo) still following the track. We then were disappointed because the arriero left us here whereas our agreement (clearly stated by messages before the rent) was to climb the volcano with the horses (it turns to be not possible, too steep).<br /> Thankfully, we had an excess day of food so we could attempt the climb the next day. We also met Umberto, the guy staying in the refugio, who was extremely friendly. He told us to start the volcano climb early in the night to avoid heavy winds. <br /> <br /> On Day 3, we started the ascent at 2am with our headlights. 6h30 later we were on the top, with the morning lights rewarding us and stunning landscape. The ascent was extremely tiresome (sand material), as always with volcanos, and it was very cold but the crater and the views were very worth it. After a breakfast at the top, the descent, mostly running, took us about 2h. We rested for the rest of day at Banos del Blanquillo and even got a sopapilla making class with Umberto.<br /> <br /> On Day 4, we followed the RR in the beautiful Descabezado landscape. Expect no shade but stunning dunes of white sand. There is plenty of water during the day because you will cross at least 2 rivers that were not dry this late in the season. The trail is easy to follow (because that is the only one) and is also part of the Circuit of the Condores. However, after Ford {06} [29.4/2190], you have about a dozen of options and the navigation until Hot Spring {06} [27.4/1986] (Hot Sping del Azufre) is more challenging. We decided to ignore the GPS and follow our instinct - just aim for the fumerolles. There you can enjoy a hot bath in one of the three hot natural pools (along some weird soft alguees). <br /> <br /> On Day 5, we simply followed the RR until Parque Ingles. The trail is well marked until the end, you just have to enjoy multiple highlights in the landscape. Of note, when reaching El Bolsón, the CONAF ranger forbid us to bath in the pools because it was too late (3PM) and told us to leave the park before 5:30. He was not friendly and also checked the entrance tickets of Livan Ray. We got extremely lucky and caught a bus leaving Parque Ingles when we reached it (it leaves at 5:00).<br /> <br /> This hike concludes our GPT adventure. We loved to start it riding horses to feel a bit more like the trails main user. The final day hiking and the volcano ascent were astonishing, truly one of (or even the) best section of our GPT.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Feb-03 to 2023-Feb-08 / 6 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Louis, Rémi &amp; Noé'''<br /> <br /> Our first trip on the GPT, plenty of water, we didnt carry more than 1.5L each. Here is our trip :<br /> <br /> Day 1 - Laguna Las Animas - 18km - +1200m/-100m<br /> We entered the parc illegally at 7:30 in the morning as some others hikers have done reading the wiki. We did this because the parc was full for the next 3 days. I can only advise you to book in advance on internet (conaf). We slept at a camping in front of the entrance for 7k CLP per person. Plenty of buses goes up there from Molina in 2 hours. At least a dozen. Same for going back. If you buy your ticket online : if you sleep at El Bolson, you can enter the park until 3pm, if you go further with only the El Bolson ticket, you can entered until 11am only!<br /> So, we hiked until the Laguna las Animas, a rather long day for the first one.<br /> The camp on the beach was quite windy too.<br /> <br /> Day 2 - Termas de Azufre - 11km - +400m/-700m<br /> A short day, nice to enjoy the hot springs in the afternoon. The pass in the morning was very windy too.<br /> <br /> Day 3 - Refugio El Blanquillo - 20km - +800m/-900m<br /> A long but beautiful day. Leave early the camp to avoid hot temperatures while ascending the pass. Well welcomed by the arrierio Umberto ! Very kind.<br /> <br /> Day 4 - Volcan Descabezado Grande - 16km - +2000m/-2000m<br /> We did the ascent without our bags, we went back to our camp in the night. It's long and hard. According to Umberto, 12h are needed in total, we did in 10h. Same, Leave early to avoid hot temperatures. <br /> <br /> Day 5 - Laguna los Hornitos - 20km - +900m/-900m<br /> Another nice day, passing next to Laguna Caracol. The descent from the pass is a bit annoying if you didnt follow the track (as we did). So, advice : follow the RR and go down on your right. The Laguna is very dry, just enough to have a bath. Hard to maintain the pitch of the tent in the dry dirt.<br /> <br /> Day 6 - Los Cipreses - 15km - +100m/-1000m<br /> Last short day to end this beautiful section. The gravel road is a bit boring but passing pickup are proposing you to get you down to the main road. Here, only one bus at 7am. And a little shop selling ice cream, chips and drinks. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-24 to 2023-Jan-30/ 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Descabezado / Martial'''<br /> <br /> First trip 6 days on GPT being a wonderfully intense experience ! Lunar landscapes, silent and remote, few but great people. No particular difficulty.<br /> Started park ingles with a mandatory 7000peso night at quiet camping near the river and bought ticket for Bolsón overnight 8$. Finally did not stay at Bolson a half day walk from entrance and camped in Laguna de las Animas instead. Great spot for Condors watching. After that follow Will’s advice and put on your mandatory gaiters till the end of the section ! + Walking on sand can be tough for the ankle. Don’t resist and don’t do too much !! Learned it the painfull way.. Trail visible but don’t get confused at termas Azufres especially if you try the (very) hot pools ! RR way is up the valley. Camp with water possible before the pass. The way down called « la Calle » is beautifull sandy dune remote desert. Exceptional. Aimed for Blanquillo refugio aka best basecamp for Descabezado intent. Meet Umberto the arriero at the hut and ask him where the termal pool and the drinking water are. He may be offended if you don’t show up and is a nice generous guy ! Also had a Chilean horse riding group intended the Descabezado so were a nice bunch by the camp fire. As weather window was fine, I decided to try a high camp in order to preserve weak foot from a very long ascent (10h). Took plenty of water as they are only glaciar dirty patches up there and aimed for Descabezado to Cerra Azul osm trail just as Nat and Tomas did (so i could have a chance to summit both also). Finally chose not to cross the nasty glaciar but found a very well sheltered highcamp here (-35.60569, -70.76147). Incredible sunset ! Not advisable in case of rain coming (a storm was growing in Argentina so stayed prepared for an emergency descent). Next day summited Descabezado at 11AM with no wind ideal conditions. Dive your front foot flat in sand just like snow climb when it gets to steep ! Nice ski descent sensations straight to the termas for a well deserved rest at the termas ! Also met Carlos a local climbing half way up so we would share joy later at the camp :).<br /> Exit through RR is also nice but regreted haven’t camped here (-35.67102, -70.83649) for there was some playfull trouts to catch with my survival fishing kit !<br /> Beautiful view from the pass to sandyland and then landscape changes and recommend OH variant C descending (less overgrown). Trail not so visible till laguna los hornos witch i climbed volcano to enjoy the crater caldera. After that descent to los Cipreses is kind of boring and hot so was definitely happy to find a camping by the bridge after the gate with lovely Victorina and her family here (-35.81524, -70.83224). They have been incredibly carring, fed me and brought me to the termas caves (also worth it) in El Medano !<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-16 to 2023-Jan-25 / 10 days / Hiking / NOBO / Descabezado Circuit variant: OH 06-02 &amp; 06-03 Laguna Maule to Vilches w/ volcans / Natalie &amp; Tomáš '''<br /> <br /> An extremely long description so my apologies but hopefully it will help someone. We Started in Laguna del Maule and ended in Vilches with inclusion of volcanoes Descabezado Grande, Azul, Descabezado Chico and Colorado.<br /> <br /> All fords super easy or jump-able. Only times water was scarce was Descabezado and Azul (technically there is melt water from glaciers at Azul), the afternoon around Descanezado Chico and also water was scarce around the Laguna Acquas Calientes because I would not trust drinking that water (some springs are cold water though). Weather turned bad only once while we were climbing Azul, the change happened rapidly and we went from blue skies to total white out (~10m or less visibility) within an hour. Other than that weather was amazing, a little cold at night and a little warm in the day.<br /> <br /> Happy we started in Laguna del Maule and finished in Vilches. This saved elevation gain and let us decide whether or not we had enough food in the end to climb Descabezado, Azul, Chico and for Tomáš Colorado.<br /> <br /> Day 1.<br /> Starting in Talca, due to a certain someone (me) I accidentally sent Tomáš and I to Molina on a bus instead of &quot;La Mina&quot;, so our day was very messed up, but we still managed to take a bus to Colorado and hitchhike to the start of this route. Buses from Talca to la Mina go at: 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. We took a bus to Colorado due to time and hitched the rest of the way. The last hitch was in a snowplow truck and he dropped us off miraculously at the start of the trail and before any customs or checks.<br /> <br /> OH-TL-V {06-02} (109.1). Straight away the trail is hard to see, do not take the road-looking trail on the side of the mountain because it ends, stick to the gps. However, soon we were walking on the correct route through the sand and down to a creek with fun boulders. Easy to follow. After this first creek we followed option OH-CC-A (06-02) {98} For only ~5km until making camp in -between a river and canal with flowing water. Bogs in this area slowed us down a lot.<br /> <br /> Day2. <br /> OH- {06-02} -[ (93) &amp; (86) ]<br /> This day seemed long, we crossed two passes, one small (-35.94909, -70.45347) and one much larger (-35.88855, -70.46776). I liked the entire area south of the second pass, many beautiful camp spots, water was available almost to the top of the pass and there is also a nice waterfall/swimming pool located roughly around (-35.90452, -70.45218). Trail to first pass was easy, but trail between first and second was much more cross country, there are many animal tracks, I followed the GPX and Tomáš followed a trail closer to the river and we both ended up at the same spot... After the second pass, the GPX goes cross-country right away, but one can follow a trail that goes left and later reconnects with GPX.<br /> <br /> After the second pass, there is a small plateau and then it follows down a creek with water until you must cross an east hill and go towards your first mountain puesto to the east (noone home). There is only a little bit of water here, better water at the creek you came from and or a few creeks ahead. <br /> <br /> From the puesto (-35.86707, -70.47589), there is a good trail that traverses the slope ahead. We should have camped but we continued. There were a few nice creeks that we passed along the way. We were forced to make a &quot;make-shift&quot; camp before hitting a much nicer plateau because it was dark and I was not having a good day 😅. It is about 6 km between the puesto and the plateau.<br /> <br /> Day 3<br /> OH {06-02} [78.6] + [75.7] + [63.6]<br /> Easy day, only one small pass. There is an ex-carabiniero puesto at (-35.84277, -70.40285) and a highlight was two rivers, one at (-35.76317, -70.42051) and one river at (-35.74734, -70.45623). The GPX is marked as trail a bit further than the actual trail goes (the trail continues to a puesto down-river). You need to go down a ridge and ford the river, there were some footsteps that can be followed. We walked near {06-02E} along a river filled with sand and not great for drinking but there is a creek that starts/ends here (-35.72759, -70.44125). We camped near this way point in the sand but it got windy at night, we wished we camped a bit further from the river in the little hills where it was considerably less windy. <br /> <br /> Day4<br /> OH {06-02} [59.6] + [29.1] + {06-02D}<br /> <br /> This day we passed a large pass (-35.65200, -70.43356) via {06-02D}. This option was more direct and involved a very short and easy scramble onto a windy plateau. Surprisingly lots of water up towards the pass, last one being (-35.66343, -70.42666) , however the water available had a lot of sand in it, fyi. From camp we followed a cow trail until a lake like feature (-35.70057, -70.42733) and then went cross country. I hope my cairns marking the turn for {06-02D} survive. <br /> <br /> After the pass the true Descabezado environment begins. We both made note of how terrible it would be to be on this plateau in bad weather, very open and CC. Next water source would be a couple of creeks here (-35.61215, -70.42156). From a break at this creek we ended up going straight down the creek bed. Kind of exhausting mentally and would not be possible in early season due to water levels but it shot us out directly in line for making a green camp here (-35.56164, -70.44009). <br /> <br /> Day 05<br /> OH {06-02} [29.1] + [20]<br /> Laguna Aquas Calientes day. <br /> An easy day with a lot of time spent at Aquas Caliente, true to the name. <br /> Trail from camp was easy to follow until (-35.53519, -70.46551) and then it went CC to the Laguna. If shelter is needed in this open landscape, we found a rock shelter (agains wind, not rain) here (-35.51276, -70.51035). The creek feeding the Laguna was fabulously warm in places - either at the source of the creek or at a spring on the right side about 100m upriver. Tomáš found the proper source of the spring here (-35.50395, -70.52347). It is easy to get sunburn while bathing mid-day though. There are some camping spots near the creek. After this Laguna there is a nasty and windy sand stretch until a creek located here (-35.48980, -70.57667). On this stretch I chose not to follow the sand but detoured on more solid ground to the east (-35.48839, -70.56200) and was glad I did. Later on we found snow melt here (-35.48544, -70.59940) and loaded all the water we would need for night/morning and exploring Descabozado Chico the next day. <br /> <br /> Day 06<br /> OH {06-02} [20] + {06-02C Chico} + [4.5]<br /> Descabozado Chico + Vulcan Colorado (Tomáš)<br /> <br /> Went up and around the crater of Descabozado Chico in the morning which I highly recommend. The crater is easy to walk around and gives an amazing 360 experience. The climb up is tedious but non-dangerous scree that makes for a super fast decent. Make sure you have enough water because water is scarce there. I saw a waterfall on the NE side the lake but did not go to it, Tomáš got water somewhere off trail around here (-35.51226, -70.65626) and I drank out of the next lake -35.52036, -70.65873 (questionable, but nothing happened to me). <br /> From the lake the next pass begins and I stupidly made Tomáš and I carry 5L of water up it because I did not think there would be water on the south side (both of us overlooking the river indicated on the map)...I was wrong, no water high up but lots of water down low. For the pass we opted not to follow the route because it was thick steep sand so we instead climbed a more solid ridge here (-35.52506, -70.66854). Tomáš went to continue up Vulcan Colorado and I boringly traversed to the normal pass and enjoyed a very fun sand ski down the south side. The Vulcan is a steep but not technical hike up, the crater can be walked around with a steep but fun sand descent on the other side in SW direction. This pass would be very tiresome climbing up due to sand. If you are coming from the opposite direction and do not trust the lagoon water, then you should aim for (-35.51226, -70.65626) or bring water.<br /> <br /> Everything this day was CC. I found it to be the hardest day navigation-wise but still not troublesome. We finished the day in a nice valley before the next day's climb here (-35.55427, -70.70793). The water around this area is a bit sandy but better further up.<br /> <br /> Day 07 <br /> Last pass and New route possibly. <br /> <br /> From camp a trail existed to the pass at -35.55228, -70.73791. There was a little bit of snow at the top but since there were already steps made, it was zero problem. Lots of water on the SE of this pass but only a trickle of water on the NW side at -35.54575, -70.75672. This water trickle point is where we left the trail to make a short cut to Descabezado. To our surprise our route worked and in 4hrs we were making a camp at 2630m next to the approach trail to Descabezado, therefore saving a lot of time, distance and elevation. In our route there was only one difficulty and that was a deep gorge and creek &quot;jump&quot; at -35.57904, -70.77929. Personally I would not recommend this in early season because the consequence of falling in the river might take you down a waterfall and the traverse may otherwise be nasty if there are still snowfields around altitude 2700m. The gorge is fed by the glacier in the crater of Descabezado so in the morning, it should be better but the water is very dirty.<br /> <br /> I drew the route on my photos of the pass if anyone wants them. Otherwise here is my description of our route.<br /> <br /> From the small trickle creek at -35.54575, -70.75672 head SW up the creek bed in the direction of this easy pass -35.55513, -70.76977. Nearby spots would work too except for the pass directly above the creek bed, the other side of that one had snow and rocks. After this pass I believe it is easiest to just go straight down and up like a half pipe rather than trying to traverse and keep elevation, we aimed for a middle looking plateau on the other side, this middle plateau took us to the proper crossing of the gorge here, -35.57923, -70.77864 (más o menos). We jumped the gorge and climbed easily up the other side although the other side looks like a scramble, it was actually just walking. We travesed at this altitude for a little longer (although I would suggest easier walking a little lower) until we made camp in a ravine very close to the Descabezado approach route. Our camp even had a small amount of flowing snow melt so it was heaven in my mind! (Camp with water; -35.59280, -70.78723). <br /> <br /> Day 8<br /> Descabezado &amp; Azul.<br /> <br /> This is turning into a novel so I will keep this short. We left our tent in place and set off early to do Descabezado and Azul as a day trip. Descabezado was straightforward, it seems the trail will change slightly every year depending on who makes the tracks (neither the route in OSM or GPT seem to follow the actual trail from about 2600 to 3300). If wanting to make the true summit, it looks like you have to go down into the crater, cross the glacier and approach it from the other side. Coming down Descabezado was very fast but we made a huge mistake and left the GPT trail to follow the other osm route that heads east then west called &quot;Descabezado Grande - Quizapu - cerro Azul&quot;. <br /> <br /> This route should be avoided [2024: Tomáš removed it from OSM] for many reasons apart from the fact that the other route is easier despite elevation gain (we took the other route back). This osm route took us here -35.61301, -70.75604 which was actually a glacier covered in sand with a small hanging glacier above causing a lot of rockfall. It was a very ugly place and we carefully got out of there and made or way to the proper route to Azul. Despite losing almost 2hours on an already tight day we continued (although I wasted an extra 30min due to making up my mind🙄). Once again on the way up to Azul, we did not follow the normal way but went to the east side of the crater of Azul where the bad osm route is. There were a foot print here and there but it was CC. The crater was amazing but too windy to enjoy much, we saw a few fumaroles. We continued CC to the base of Azul, a tiny bit of snow (or glacier remnants?) but posed no difficulties. The base of Azul is beautiful with melt water if needed. We followed the ridge to Azul, it was more involved than Descabezado but no more than a low 3rd class (it is a bit exposed and steep but almost exclusively hiking). There is an interesting summit tower on Azul but because of the wind and time we had no desire to stretch our limits. Weather moved in fast and before we were off the ridge of Azul, we were completely covered in a white out, maybe maximum 10m of visibility. Navigation was incredibly hard, but we took our chances and took the other (&quot;valle&quot;) OSM route down and luckily it was a very easy route and we were down below the clouds and able to see again. The rest of the night was CC back to our camp ~1030pm. It was a good day. <br /> <br /> Day 9.<br /> <br /> From our camp in the ravine we headed CC and then onto the trail that lead to the puesto at basecamp Blancquillo and from then on we were on a good trail. While walking down we opted to stay in sandals and just walk in the river, it was refreshing. We didn't have clean water until the valley bottom at the CONAF camp (valley El Venado) where there was also lots of pear trees and yellow plum-like trees. Many people there (first people seen). We made camp at the river before the pass (Mirador del Valle del Venado) but the walk from the CONAF camp until then was slower than expected because it was along a river bed with confusing tracks.<br /> <br /> Day 10.<br /> <br /> Good trail up and down from Mirador del Valle del Venado with lots of water and trees for shade. Took us almost half the time we thought it would take. Note that you cannot actually camp at campsites/resting areas on this trail after the Mirador. The CONAF guards asked us where we were coming from and when we said Laguna del Maule, he just sounded impressed and let us go on our way. There was a decent restaurant with empanadas, beer, etc. near the bus stop . There was a posted schedule of the bus but it clearly did not follow this schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus. <br /> <br /> Great trip, beautiful views and details and just the right amount of challenge.<br /> <br /> * '''2023-Jan-20 to 2023-Jan-23 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ondrej '''<br /> <br /> I got to Parque Inglés from Santiago de Chile by taking a train to Curico (advice: if you want to travel by train, buy a ticket online at least 2 days in advance as it books out quickly). From Curico I took a blue collectivo to Molina and then a bus to Parque Ingles.<br /> <br /> At the park entrance I was turned away by a CONAF officer because I bought a “day trip” ticket (El bolson - para día) and not the one with overnight camping. For the ticket I bought they allow entry only by 11:00am. I did not explain that I will continue beyond El Bolson - maybe I should have done that but did not want to get myself into more unnecessary discussions. CONAF said they cannot change my ticket to the “camping” type and when I tried to book the other one, it was booked out for the next two days, so the advice is book early and the right ticket type (el bolson - camping)!<br /> <br /> I ended up camping at the Rocas Basilicas for the night.<br /> <br /> On the first hike day hopped the gate to the park at 7:00. No one was there so no issues. I hiked to Thermas de Azufre. It was a very long day. There is no shade at all after El Bolson. I made a provisional shade using my tent’s footprint during lunchbreaks. Once I arrived to the Azufre hotsprings, a few arrieros were there. I decided to camp further up the river.<br /> <br /> On the second day I hiked to Refugio Blanquillo, met a settler who resides there for three months each year (if I understood correctly). The scenery before the refugio was otherwoŕldy and beautiful. Gaiters, good hat, sunscreen and sunglasses were my most loved pieces of gear. I camped at the first “camp” waypoint after Refugio Blanquillo. Amazing place to camp (but no grass), with a good stream and even some small shade thanks to the bushes. <br /> <br /> My third day was quite straightforward, I made it almost to Los Cipresses but decided to camp close to the last “water” checkpoint, shortly before the gate with the guard. It was alright but I would recommend walking all the way to the shop and camp there for the night.<br /> <br /> On the fourth day I walked through the gate with the security guard. I also met a number of the power station workers and all were friendly. We waved at each other. The guard at the gate was nice, took my passport number and name. Once at the shop I found it was closed (9am). I needed to get to El Medano to join GPT07 and decided to continue hiking through Los Alamos. It might have been to early (10am) as also the almacén in Los Alamos was closed. The road after Los Almacén was uneventful and a bit sketchy at places, so I forded the river at the “bridge” waypoint after Los Alamos to get to the main road and hitchike to El Medáno. Got a ride in approx 20 min. El Medáno is a great base - the thermals are nice and there is an electricity socket next to the toilets. They have shade for the tent too. There is also a restaurant with filling foods and a small shop.<br /> <br /> Overall a fantstic section but I wasn’t expecting the heat to be that oppresive!<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-31 to 2023-Jan-3 / 5 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / David and Erika'''<br /> <br /> Get to TH Parque ingle before 1:00 pm, otherwise they close it for entrance. We did get internet and got the correct CONAF ticket -the one heading to El Bolsón. Once you get out of the park and into the Cuesta Las Anima, the wild parts begin. Hope you got your dirty girl gaiters; cause you’re going to need them. Sand city. Gaiters worked great. Remote and desolately beautiful. Water up at the end of Laguna del Caracol, at the river that comes out of the ground, you have a dry climb ahead. Walk out was straightforward. Got a lift from ENEL employee.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-28 to 2022-Dec-29 / 2 days/ Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tomáš'''<br /> <br /> I connected in Thermas Azufre from GPT 05. I recommend it as a camping spot. I have seen the tracks of people staying on the western side of the valley but I think it is better to ford, there is a nice trail there on the eastern side. There is a place with an island where I needed to remove my shoes just for about three meters (the stream was not strong enough for me to keep the shoes on).<br /> <br /> I took a detour to the lake at the pass - nice. No snow anymore. Reached the Refugio Blanquillo (which is a puesto, an arriero had two dogs and a thousand shep there), met a group of tourists on horses and two Chilean hikers there, so crowded all of a sudden. The pool there is indeed lukewarm. The water from the stream is said not to be good - I filtered it (for the first time on GPT) and was fine. But if not climbing the volcano, I would recommend to camp 2 km further at the next water source. I no longer carry water with me and just drink a lot when I find a source, there is a lot of them, even in the semidesert (the sand is actually white pumice from the volcanoes). It is quite dusty, my hands got dry and that normally does not happen to me. I agree with the recommendation to apply sunscreen at least three times a day! <br /> <br /> The second day I walked all the way to the main road. In the pass, there is still a bit of snow but quite manageable. Going down from the lake, there is no water until around half or one third of the minor road in the valley, beware. Walking-wise, this was the easiest section on GPT for me. At the mainroad, the camping at the shop after the bridge was closed. I hitched somebody in a truck who knew the owners, called them and they came to open it for me. 5000 pesos but I gave the lady 10000 as she had to drive here to open the camping for me. There is electricity and cold shower and shadow. Almost nothing at the shop. The bus is said to leave at seven. I slept and now will try hitchhiking.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-20 to 2022-Dec-24 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Will '''<br /> <br /> Amazing trail! It's quite desolate but the landscape varies enough to always keep things interesting. Trudging up the sandy hills could be demoralizing, but getting to run down the other side more than made up for it. Water was still plentiful though not much snow was left, I only had to cross a few small patches. Thankfully heat wasn't a problem at all for me, I even felt cold a few times with the altitude and wind.<br /> <br /> Caught the 5pm bus from Molina to Radal for 3000 pesos, then a van came by a few minutes later to take us to parque inglés for another 3000. Was nice to meet a bunch of Chilean hikers, who were all going to El Bolson and back. We camped at the Rocas Basílicas campsite right at parque inglés, 7000 pesos next to a beautiful river.<br /> <br /> I had phone signal at parque inglés, so I bought the pass online for 8 USD. There was no one at the Conaf office at 7 30 the next morning, so I just hopped the gate and walked through. <br /> <br /> I ran into a few arrieros relaxing at the Azufre hot springs, the only people I saw along the trail. They were friendly but it was tough to understand their heavy Chilean Spanish. They said I could camp with them but there wasn't a ton of room so I walked on.<br /> <br /> There were some geysers shooting up from the muddy riverbank near the gpx track so I took a wider route around. An arriero also told me to take a trail higher up along the dunes so I followed that to the ford. The ford looked tough so I kept walking 2ish km along the other side until I could easily hop across. But it was slow going, probably not worth it.<br /> <br /> I ended up having to camp on a random sand dune. I had some trouble getting my tent to stay up tied to rocks, since I couldn't get stakes in. I'd definitely recommend using tieouts you can really secure to rocks, or even a freestanding tent.<br /> <br /> The rest of the hike went smoothly. I easily made it to los cipreses in three days of hiking from parque inglés. The guard was super friendly, inviting me in and giving me a bunch of water. I camped across the street from the shop near the bus stop, ask at the shop if you want to camp there. The guy running the camping was also super nice, he messaged the bus driver and told me it would be at 9 or 9 30 the next morning, because it was a Saturday (it was also Christmas eve). The bus ended up showing up at 9 45, and costed 3200 pesos to Talca.<br /> <br /> The side trip up Volcan Los Hornitos was very worth it, there's a fairly gradual trail up and you can just sprint straight down. I didn't even need to bring any water (just some gummy bears).<br /> <br /> I got by without gaiters, but bring them if you can. I should have used more sunscreen, the reflection off the sand is strong.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-17 to 2022-Dec-20 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Martin &amp; Helena'''<br /> <br /> Joining section 6 directly from the previous one with a little challenging connection trail (see our comment from section 5), we continued to the Hot Spring del Azufre. On the way there is one steep traverse. We used hot spring to cook our rice which really saved us as we run out of gas. The landscape on the whole section is amazing, we really enjoyed it! Ascent to the pass is nice and gradual, hiking in the sand is a little slower, but the opposite when going down. We camped at the El Estadio, almost no wind that day, great place to sleep . In the morning we continued on a nice and easy trail, great views around the volcanos… short break by the laguna thats great for swimming. We camped a little before the camp marked in the gps, there is one place, probably used by arrieros, with a fireplace and a few rocks around it. Being out of the gas we set a fire using wood that was already in there and some others we gather during the day. The view to the volcanos must be one of the best we have seen here so far! The next day we continued to the last Hornitos pass and through the valley, again really nice hiking on a clear trail. Last few kms on the road and since we missed the only bus to Talca that is leaving early in the morning (7:00) and did not have luck with hitchhiking, we stayed in a camp right next to the road. Its just a few meters before it, in the same direction we came from. On the left side is a house with some old advertisment sign (coca-cola or similir) on its fence, and the lady there has a small shop. The camp is on the other side - cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. Overall, when combining both sections we recommend to plan carefully, but its definitely worth the effort, especially this section 6.<br /> <br /> Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-14 to 2022-Dec-16 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Anna&amp;Christopher '''<br /> <br /> The section is pretty tough, but beautiful with a quite unique landscape. We definetly would do it again.<br /> <br /> Recomendations: bring lots of suncreme, a good hat, gaiters.<br /> <br /> How to get there:<br /> We took a bus from Santiago (terminal at the metro station Universidad de Santiago) to Curico. Across the street from the bus terminal in Curico leaves a blue bus to Molina for 1k CLP. From Molina we hitchhiked to Parque Inglés.<br /> You have to be there before 3 pm to be allowed to hike up to El Bolson. To camp they charge 8k CLP p.p and the park entry is also 8k CLP p.p.<br /> <br /> The first day we started early from El Bolson. From midday on it was super tough due to the white sand which makes walking really tiring and reflects the sun which makes it super hot without shade. The next day was pretty similar.<br /> The whole section there was plenty of water. There was no much snow left at the passes, so we had no trouble without spikes.<br /> On the last day, after arriving to the dirtroad (8 km from los Cipreses), we got offered a ride after a while and the guy brought us directly to El Médano.<br /> The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).<br /> In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Dec-03 to 2022-Dec-06 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Véronica'''<br /> <br /> Route: Parque Inglés - Laguna Ánimas - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna del Caracol - Laguna de los Hornos - Los Cipreses<br /> <br /> A beautiful, remote section of true mountain wilderness. It took me 4 days, but only 2 hours hiking the dirt road to Los Cipreses on the last day (so very doable in 3 days). The only people I saw were a couple of arrieros at Termas del Blanquillo who told me they hadn't had a winter as snowy as this one in over 10 years. I was glad to have my microspikes for the vast snow fields near/on the passes. A couple places would have felt quite unsafe without them. <br /> <br /> Notable tidbits: <br /> <br /> Took a bus from Molina at 5pm (on a Friday) to El Radal, then hitchhiked to Parque Inglés. I camped there the first night for 7000 pesos. Pricey, but at least I had a beautiful and secluded spot by Rio Claro. <br /> <br /> The stretch between Las Ánimas Pass and Termas de Azufre had some sketchy traverses across disintegrating scree slopes that were downright nerve-wracking. I suppose if you go down to Laguna Mondaca, then back up to the Termas, you may not encounter this hazard. But I did get to observe a condor soar above my head on thermals for an hour as he surveilled his domain, that was super cool. <br /> <br /> For the first ford after Termas de Azufre, I crossed further upstream than indicated on the GPS track (see Carlos's comment below). It looked a lot safer there than downstream. There's continuous snow for about 3 km going over the pass after Thermas de Azufre, best to cross in the morning to avoid postholing when the snow gets too soft. <br /> <br /> Los Hornitos pass has a large, very steep lip of snow (leftover cornice) on its south side. It's possible to go around it by heading north for 50-100 meters and then making your way down on the volcanic sand.<br /> <br /> The spring between Termas del Blanquillo and Laguna del Caracol is a beautiful little desert oasis in an orherwise hot and dry stretch. It was a splendid spot to camp. <br /> <br /> There is LOTS of water. Laguna del Caracol and Laguna de los Hornos are both full of clear, refreshing water. A lot of the &quot;water&quot; GPS waypoints are actually fords this time of year (easy ones), and there's a lot of other water sources not listed on the tracks. But the section is very exposed, no shade, and very hot in the midday sun unless a breeze is blowing. <br /> <br /> No issues with the guards at Los Cipreses, they were friendly and let me pass no problem. From the first bus stop on the road, I hitched easily to Talca to resupply.<br /> <br /> ==Season 2021/22==<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Feb-20 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Molly '''<br /> <br /> Amazing section! I found the landscape to be very varied despite the lack of vegetation - and even with many pretty flowers near the streams. I personally found it to be a great ending to my GPT journey, a big contrast to the landscapes further south. Would make for a tough start though.<br /> Plenty of water. Met one hiker doing Circuito el Cóndor and three Chilean tourists on horseback. No arrieros, but plenty of cows and horses. The weather was cold and windy, sometimes veritable sandstorms which meant I almost couldn't open my eyes - maybe sunglasses could have helped. I wore my long pants over my boots instead of gaiters - should have listened to the advice, so much sand! <br /> <br /> Signs on the way to parque inglés say that you can only buy tickets online - don't know how strict they are, but no cell phone coverage at parque inglés and long before in case they insist. You have to be there before 15 to be let through to El Bolsón.<br /> Easy 11 km to El Bolsón through a young forest. No water at the first &quot;ford&quot; waypoint. Campground has toilets and showers, it's the only place you're allowed to camp until after Valle del Indio. Nice enough place next to the impressive Colmillo del Diablo. In hot weather it might be nice to camp here to take the long ascent in the morning.<br /> Laguna de las Animas would be a good campsite plus a nice place to swim. The first &quot;water&quot; waypoint afterwards is also great for camping - there is a nice little meadow.<br /> Las Animas pass is gorgeous!<br /> After Termas Azufre there are many confusing paths. They mostly seem to lead to the same place, but keep an eye on the GPS. When descending from the 2700 m pass towards Termas Blanquillo, you don't have to cross the stream to your right even though many paths do it. As noted by others, the hot springs Baños del Blanquillo are luke warm - but fine if you want to wash yourself a little and the stream is too cold. The refuge is locked.<br /> The next camp waypoint is in a cute valley with many streams, bushes and flowers. No grass, though. <br /> Laguna Caracol is beautiful as well, but very bare, surrounded by sand. I really liked the campsite afterwards, with views of both Volcán Descabezado and Cerro Azul. From there, a small CC section to the ascent where the path picks up again towards the Hornitos pass. Even more gorgeous with great and very different views to each site. Volcán Hornitos and the other little craters look really funny and special. Some hail was coming in, though, so I quickly slided down to the next camp waypoint, again a nice flat meadow. No water on the ascent. The first streams at the top of the pass were dry, but the path crosses a stream in 2100 m altitude. If you fill up at the water waypoint before the pass I agree you wouldn't have to carry extra water, the time between these two water points is around 2-3 hours.<br /> I climbed to the rim of Volcán Hornitos, there's nothing in there, but if you walk to the highest point the view is nice enough. It took me 20 minutes in total, and it was about worth that.<br /> The gravel road is nice the first kilometres, but then it gets pretty boring. The security guard at the end was very nice and welcoming.<br /> I camped at the shop just before the road - nice place by the river, 3000 per person with toilets and a cold shower, or 50,000 for a cabaña. From there I hitched the 3 km down the road to Restaurant Cordillera, nice enough, great with a beer, meat and fries. <br /> Bus left from the bus shed at 7:20 next morning - think it depends whether it goes to El Médano or not <br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-20 to 2022-Jan-25 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Carlos '''<br /> Route: Parque Inglés - El Bolsón (Colmillo del Diablo summit) - Termas del Azufre - Termas del Blanquillo - Laguna Caracol - First bus stop on CH115 road.<br /> <br /> I hiked this route only a couple of days after Verónica &amp; Jo. Not much to add except:<br /> <br /> First day just hiked to El Bolsón (easy 4 hours), pitched my tent on the gorgeous campsite, left the heavy load and climbed the imposing &quot;Colmillo del Diablo&quot; (easy hike on a trail that goes around the back of the mountain).<br /> <br /> From Termas del Azufre climbing to the pass I followed a faint track on the steep loose slope instead of crossing at the first river ford. After a few hundred meters the track takes you to a flat wide rocky area (just before the slope becomes impossibly steep), where you can very easily ford the river (I didn't even get my feet wet).<br /> <br /> Plenty of buses Molina - Parque Inglés. But only one bus from el Médano - Los Cipreses to Talca, at around 7 am, which returns at 15:00. Only week days. Basic camping just in front of Los Cipreses shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits): $4.000 pp.<br /> <br /> * '''2022-Jan-10 to 2022-Jan-15 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Veronika &amp; Jo '''<br /> <br /> Route: Parque Inglès -&gt; Laguna de las Animas -&gt; Termas de Azufre -&gt; Descabezado base camp -&gt; Laguna del Caracol -&gt; Laguna Hornitos -&gt; First bus stop on 115-CH<br /> <br /> The five nights we just spent in a tent was the longest stretch we have ever gone without a decent bed on a hike. We skipped Radal, Laguna Mondaca and Termas de Medano, but still hiked in 6 days what others did in 3-4. We're basically easing into the GPT, gaining some fitness and experience before taking on the harder challenges.<br /> <br /> As others have said: the views are otherworldly and stunning. We felt like Touaregs traveling from oasis to oasis in the Saharan desert. Except that there actually are plenty of springs and little rivers flowing in most valleys.<br /> <br /> Useful tidbits:<br /> <br /> - There really is no shade after El Bolsòn. Either you make your own (e.g., adapting your tent to not trap heat) or you dress like a Touareg (loose clothing fully blocking the sun). For us, this was the hardest to deal with. We got up early but often stopped hiking at 13:00, enjoying the lakes or even just sitting down doing nothing that takes energy.<br /> <br /> - High-heeled boots and long trousers work well to keep the sand out.<br /> <br /> - Confirming Shn0rhelez: going up from Termas de Azufre until the second ford indeed passes plenty of water, no need to carry any.<br /> <br /> - Laguna Hornitos is drying up and hence less beautiful than the other lakes. Maybe it's better to camp at the start of the Hornitos plateau (SOBO, so north entry) as the area is flat and there is reasonably clean running water there.<br /> <br /> - There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.<br /> <br /> - In supermarkets, you can buy alcohol desnaturalizado cheaply in the nail polish section, or alternatively, use alcohol de quemar from the combustibles section.<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec-26 to 2022-Jan-04 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / '''<br /> <br /> From Parque Inglés to the entrance of Reserva Achibueno<br /> Buy your ticket online for “El Bolsón” on the CONAF website and get to the trailhead before 3pm<br /> 4hrs hike to El Bolsón, a great place with waterfall, great views, nice camping spots, hikers<br /> TO CHECK: Bus from Molina to Parque Ingles leaves at 9 am (not positive) on week-ends and holidays <br /> Easy hitch from Radal to Parque Ingles coz lots of campers going there on week-ends<br /> Be careful a ranger told me the park closes on Mondays <br /> It took me around 4 days from Parque Siete Tazas Park entrance to the road Q115 (Central Cipreses)<br /> From Road 115 I hitched to a village by Colbún lake where I resupplied : good supermarkets (a little on the expensive side), food truck , pastry shop <br /> I didn't like Altos de Lircay NP : after El Bolson (4 hrs in) no fucking shade for 3 days and an half except that of a shelter a little off trail, blazing sun all day, sand sand sand, I found the place so inhospitable, monotonous sights : sand dunes for ever, quite some struggling pedalling in the soft sand, plus I had no gaiters (stupid me) and low heels shoes so that was a bummer. However the place is super special, feels like on the moon (beautiful pictures) and I can understand why many love it<br /> Some “hot springs” are actually just luke and others just a hole or boiling hot (I added these informations to the track and waypoints I sent to Jan Dudek) so don't be like me fantasizing all day on that fantastic bath you will get or wait for Jan's update (thanks so so much for all you do mate).<br /> After resupplying I hitched on option 7 XXX all the way the Mellado cañon (really nice, by the river all the time), communities. After hiking South from Carizales (which has a very limited “store”) I was short on time and food and realized bare landscapes over the tree line were not my cup of tea (I prefer hiking below 1700 m in this part of Patagonia) so I left RR and took another option all the way to the West to Reserva Achibueno which I really enjoyed : great landscapes, lakes, rivers and met some cool hikers and fishermen<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec-09 to 2021-Dec-12 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / AR past Laguna Manatial Pelado / Vera &amp; James'''<br /> <br /> We arrived the day before at Parque Ingles and camped the night there. From Molina there is a bus to Radal at 5pm wed-fri, and direct to Parque Ingles on weekends. The only way to pay for park entry is online at www.aspticket.cl.<br /> <br /> As an aside, we really liked Molina. It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.<br /> <br /> Day 1 we headed up the RR as far as just above Laguna de las Animas by 2pm, a brutal climb in the midday sun! At this point the sun disappeared and clouds quickly rolled in, within 10 minutes lightning was hitting the peaks directly around us. We beat a hasty retreat back to El Bolsen and camped there.<br /> <br /> We decided to take the alternate route past Laguna Manatial Pelado. A beautiful route if hot and sandy. We have realised the best time time to take on a long, sandy ascent in sunny weather is very early in the morning, after 9am it was brutally hot. <br /> <br /> We then continued on the regular route. As has been said before, it's remote and stunning. We had some strong winds coming over Pass de Hornitos, and even some sleet on the final day!<br /> <br /> Arrived in Los Cipreses on a Sunday and we didn't see a single person except the security guard. We got mixed messages from him and then the mini shop owner about buses to Talca. I would assume there isn't one on a Sunday. We hitched to El Colorado then got a bus from there to Talca.<br /> <br /> * '''2021-Dec-03 to 2021-Dec-09 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Kris&amp;Stiina'''<br /> <br /> We also decided to combine sections 5 and 6 to avoid in’n’out to and from Parque Inglés. It took us 6 and a half days and some of it was bloody hard. I have never before experienced my ass being handed over to me by a trail. We got beaten to the point where first signs of weakness started to show and I have to admit we kind of even started discussing a plan B and bailing this ditch trail. But only for a moment, once you hit the rock bottom there is only one way to go - up! It was literally and figuratively, and as terrain improved so did our mood and we laughed off the silly thoughts we had had earlier. <br /> <br /> The first 45km of the section 5 were great, awesome hiking and then shit hit the fan real quick. Ascent up from the ford at km 45 was hard but alright. And then came the descent down to Rio Negro (51km), very steep and very loose scree slope. We wanted to make it to Rio Colorado for the night to cross it early in the morning in case there is no bridge. But because the trail or I must rather say the lack of it was really taking more time than we expected, by the time we got to Rio Negro it was already getting dark. The river was very rapid and murky so you couldn’t gauge the depth of it and couldn’t see where to step, we had to really concentrate to cross it, luckily it was only balls deep.<br /> <br /> It was dark as we got across it and we continued the fun, albeit type 2 fun, illuminated by our headlamps. Then came the insanely steep gully that allowed you to enter the valley of Rio Colorado. Something was off with the elevation lines on Gaia and it showed that we will be descending right over the cliff, it was luckily only a glitch. As we couldn’t see much ahead we kept descending ever so carefully on this very very challenging terrain, I would even go as far as to say that it was stupid and outright dangerous. But there was no other way, you just had to stay focused. There were also some rocks falling off the cliff under which we were descending. In a sense night was a good time to do it because you couldn’t see all the dangers - only what lie within the beam of the headlamp. <br /> <br /> Then came an extremely slow going, pretty much crawling speed traverse down to Rio Colorado, which we fully improvised as there was no trail anyway and got down to Rio colorado about a kilometer before the bridge, where we set up camp abit past midnight. <br /> <br /> So yes, the bridge was there - a decent one, seemed permanent and it was a relief that we at least don’t have to start the day by risking our lives fording Rio Colorado. The river was pretty wide and the current seemed pretty fast, it wasn’t murky though but you couldn’t see how deep it really was. But we think it could have been forded in case there would be no bridge. There were a few places that looked doable with somewhat laminar flow. The excitement of the existence of the bridge didn’t last too long as we were slapped back into reality by the difficult terrain, it wasn’t as dangerous anymore as the previous night but difficult nevertheless. Once we got closer to the pass the trail appeared and it was actually pleasant hiking once again. <br /> <br /> To sum it up the descent down to the Rio Colorado valley, then traversing it and the first part of crawling out of the valley sucks big time, but the rest of the section is really nice and not too challenging terrain-wise. I wouldn’t want to skip this section because it had some breathingtaking views. Just that on the hard part of it you can’t really enjoy any of it as all your effort is elsewhere. <br /> <br /> The guards at Laguna Mondaca were the nicest people we have met in Chile so far. They invited us to stay at the property, gave us food and drinks. They insisted we don’t use any of our supplies or gear. They even provided us with a room with a bed and we got to recharge all of our electronics and got a hot shower aswell. It was perfect! And just to make it clear there are no fancy villas there just a few small simple houses where the owner of the property comes for fishing once in a while. And guards weren’t armed either.<br /> <br /> It took us 4 days to get to Laguna Mondaca and not far after it we joined the section 6 which took 2 and a half more days. <br /> <br /> Section 6 was really something, we haven’t had such a strong otherworldly experience anywhere else. It was really like being on another planet at times. The blue sky was the only thing that gave it away that we were still on Earth. Really bizarre landscape and definitely the most beautiful breathtaking section of the six that we have done so far. <br /> <br /> Regarding the difficulty, compared to section 5 it didn’t feel that difficult at all. Walking on sand is challenging, yes, especially going uphill. But on the other side going down is much easier on the soft sand - you can just run/jog without much impact on your body as the sand absorbs it all. Shoes got completely wrecked and we took many “shoe-emptying” breaks because they were just filled with rocks and coarse sand. <br /> <br /> We even took a dip in one of the lakes close to Descabezado and seeing how water is just coming out of the sand and turning into a river was really really cool, just as the whole landscape around there. <br /> <br /> We camped at the lake about 5km from Los Cipreses. When we arrived to the road to take bus to Talca the bus stop didn’t have any schedule and the shop close by was closed. So we couldn’t find out about the bus schedule and the traffic on the road seemed pretty dead. But luckily after 15 min of waiting a car that was going to Talca picked us up, perfecto! <br /> <br /> Overall plenty of water on both sections, a lot of exposure to the sun, and some challenging terrain. It all together made for a great experience, just what we were looking for. It humbled us and we definitely had to adjust our expectations and recalibrate our way of hiking, it is GPT - not more and not less. <br /> <br /> For more stories of the trail, pictures, videos and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures<br /> <br /> ==Season 2020/21==<br /> <br /> ==Season 2019/20==<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Feb-12 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / OH to Laguna Manantial / Frank '''<br /> <br /> At Parque Ingles I registered with Conaf, they record your route &amp; where you will camp. Deregistered by email later. Easy 3 hour walk to El Bolson, lots of people camping there but they don't go any further. Took optional route to Laguna Manantial. At 2160M there is a small meadow &amp; stream, this is last water &amp; last camp before the lake. You go over a pass @ 2560M then drop 80M to the lake. Camped on the lakeshore. <br /> Termas Blanquillo were only tepid. Camped on a small beach @ S end of Laguna de Los Hornos. The lake is nearly dried out, only a little semi stagnant water left. Best to carry water in from one of the streams a little above the lake. Last 11KM are on dirt roads, you could hitch easily if you want. Met 2 security guards, they were both friendly, no access problems if you are Southbound. Small campsite @ shop on way out. Amazing section, some tough uphill on sand but scenery is like Mars. Definitely use small gaiters or you will be emptying sand out of your shoes every 10 mins.<br /> <br /> At the end of GPT06 if you go on the north bank of Rio Maule the route is blocked by a cliff beyond Los Alamos &amp; you need to cross the river to continue. Better to go on the road. After 2KM on the road you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also. At Bridge 17 you can rejoin RR or continue on road but RR is nicer.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-24 / 7 days (GPT 05 + 06) / Hiking / SOBO / Ian Hikes + Tobias'''<br /> <br /> Overview: <br /> So, I decided to combine GPT sections 5 and 6 in order to avoid a 30k out and back resupply section into parque ingles. I thought this was a good decision for me and really enjoyed being out there for a week. In my opinion this was the hardest section of the GPT in between sections GPT 01-10. I went the first 5 days without seeing another person which I thought was quite cool. So, these two sections are quite remote, and you are way out there in the mountains. There was also some pretty intense river crossing in “GPT Section 5” that I found to be manageable (keep in mind I’m 185cm and have lots of thru hiking experience.) but still a little difficult. The rivers were also very dark and murky which made it hard to see where you would step. There was also an improvised bridge crossing the Colorado River that I used, and thought was safe to use. These two sections are dominated by a volcanic profile with much of the route on ash and volcanic rock. Most of the route is very exposed and there are not many trees or vegetation that grow in the volcanic ash/rocks. There was plenty of water with springs coming out of the hills everywhere and then disappearing into the sand.<br /> <br /> Difficulties:<br /> It was slow going walking thru the sand, especially when hiking vertically. Exposure to the sun. River crossings. Isolation and remoteness. Hiking up and down lose rock and scree fields.<br /> <br /> Highlights:<br /> Hot Springs. Great views of the volcanic region. Mountain Lakes. Sunrise and Sunsets were epic with the landscape. <br /> <br /> Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at ultratrailca@gmail.com<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-23 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Shn0rhelez'''<br /> <br /> Parque Ingles to El Medano southbound/main route ... 7 days duration(2 nights spent on laguna Las Animas)...section passable...Strong sun, no shadow after the park... Gaiters strongly recommended...the SUBsection between termas del azufre and second ford Before the pass (2700m) is full with water... my personal opinion is the backpack weight can be minimized... Good luck! <br /> <br /> * '''2020-Jan-09 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Bruno &amp; Martin'''<br /> <br /> Parque Inglés to El Medano<br /> 5 days for this amazing section. We started in Parque Inglés in Radal 7 Tazas National Park. Had to wait for one more day because of limited hiking permits towards El Bolsón. 80 daily permits allowed and delivered at 8:30 in the morning, to be minded on weekends when the park is full. Followed Regular Route Laguna Las Ánimas, Azufre Hotsprings, Descabezado base camp, Laguna Caracol and then down to Los Cipreses. Cold section and bad weather towards the end, some rain and freezing wind. Had to camp in Laguna Caracol waiting for the storm to pass and hike the last pass. <br /> The use of lightweight gaiters is advised for keeping the sand out of your shoes.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-25 / 3 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tom &amp; Maddie '''<br /> <br /> Parque Ingles to El Medano. Very beautiful (and exposed) section. Lots of water. The track from Los Cipreses to El Medano suffered from a few landslides meaning the route was slower than anticipated. I would consider taking the road next time as there is no loss of scenery. We resupplied in El Medano by basically buying all the food at the tienda (60000 CP for food for two people for the next section). Selection was good enough. <br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-18 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR from Vilches Alto / Tyler &amp; America '''<br /> <br /> A Stunning section. Vilches Alto made for a great optional start; rather than returning to Parque Ingles. (We came from Talca by bus - 2100 CP). Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP. All trails were beautiful and a bit more trodden that sections before. Arrieros at thermal pools (not hot) were welcoming and friendly for us to camp. We took our sweet time in the beautiful section. We bussed from the first road access (south of town Los Cipreses/ OH-MR-V@06-E-#001) to Talca for a good re supply before the long next section, 2200 CP. Bus leaves this stop around 11.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-18 / 2.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR with optional start coming from GPT 5 / Matus &amp; Anna'''<br /> <br /> We combined sections 5 and 6 via optional trail. <br /> GPT06 took us 2 days and bit (first day we did just 4km from 6th section).<br /> I agree with everything what was written in previous updates.<br /> Nice sandy trails. Mornings were freezing cold. No problems while crossing rivers. After optional start regular trail didn't correspond with any trail. We finally took one on the right side and after while they merged. And I don't know who was so commited, but thanks for marking the trail 😊<br /> <br /> There is a small tienda with coke and crisps before entering a main road from Los Cipress. If you continue by main road toward El Medano there is restaurant Cordillera where we refueled again. Accomodation in El Medano. I will edit with ressuply options later. <br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-14 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR (mainly) / Martina &amp; Ivo '''<br /> <br /> As we came from GPT05 and didn't want to go all the way &quot;back&quot; to the Paso Las Animas, we tried the Optional Investigation Route which starts at Parque Ingles right at the other side (South) of Rio Claro. It leads through private property, so we went to the guard, showed him the CONAF Permit (we bought one just in case, and of course they said it's not possible to walk on the other side of the river), explained him that we would only hike through and gave him some cerezas. He informed his Colleagues via radio to let us pass. It was a nice and easy hike. Nothing to add to Linda's remarks for the rest of the trail.<br /> <br /> * '''2019-Dec-06 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Linda '''<br /> <br /> Start = Parque Ingles <br /> Finish = Las Termas El Medano<br /> <br /> GENERAL FEELING<br /> <br /> Amazing section !!!! Incredible mineral landscapes as soon as you go beyond Laguna Las Animas. It was tough because of the passes (and this was also my first hiking days and I carried too much food ... ) and the ground around the volcanoes is sand ! So it makes each step even more difficult. I loved the contrast between the areas around the volcanoes and the Laguna Caracol is just one of the most beautiful place I've ever seen !!! <br /> <br /> LOGISTICS<br /> <br /> - Bus from Molina to El Radal (off season and weekdays = only one bus at 5pm in Molina that stops in El Radal. Weekend : it goes directly to Parque Ingles and the schedule may also be different)<br /> <br /> - Hitchhiked from El Radal to Parque Ingles<br /> <br /> - First night in a camping in Parque Ingles = 5000 CLP<br /> <br /> - The day after, I had to register to CONAF. Office opening at 8:30 am. Entrance fee = 6000 CLP<br /> Some people (5 or 6) were going to El Bolson for the day but after Laguna Las Animas, there was absolutely nobody till the end !<br /> <br /> - Still snow when you go beyond the 2300 meters high<br /> <br /> - Be careful for the last pass Las Hornitos, a lot of snow at the top and it makes it impossible to follow the GPS track to go down. I found my way on the left when you face the valley and then got back to the GPS track<br /> <br /> - No problem to go out from the mine. Actually, workers I met on my way down to Los Cipreses suggestedto drop me by car to the main road. The guard was just smiling when he saw me in the car and when I told him I was hiking<br /> <br /> - Mini market where you can find basic food (eggs, spaghetti, chocolate ...) in Las Termas El Medano<br /> <br /> * '''2020-Feb-07 / 4 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Arnaud'''<br /> <br /> Amazing but hard section with a lot of denivelation. <br /> As we did not walk the section 5, we took the bus from Molina to Parque Ingles-7 Tazas (many buses, 4-5 buses per day). We registered to the Conaf Office and paid the entrance fee 6000 clp for foreigners. They gave us a mail adress so that we can announce our exit of the parque, to check the security.<br /> We walked the first 11km to the campspot El Bolson. It costs 4000 clp per person but has no interest. As the zone is protected, it is possible to freecamp only after el Bolson, before, it is prohibited.<br /> The Laguna Las Animas is very very beautiful and is welcome for a bath with the heat of this season.<br /> Then the paso las animas is easy and ashes are fun for downhills!<br /> We met nobody on the trail after el Bolson. So great! Except at one spot with termas with full of chilenos there.<br /> We lacked a bit of water at the laguna el Caracol but found 3kms further (just before the strong uphill) a source with drinkable water.<br /> No problem then to exit los cypress. We hitchhiked on the road with workers until the road to los Medanos.<br /> We stayed one day in los termas de los Medanos, at the camping and exit quickly (too many noise, people). The water is hot and nice after a hard section like this one. <br /> We resupplied at los termas (with pasta, arros, pancito, manjar). No gas available there.<br /> <br /> =Resupply and Accommodation=<br /> <br /> You need to carry all the food for the entire trail. There is no food supply after Parque Ingles. If you meet arrieros at one of the Puestos you may ask for some goat or lamb meet but if you are not ready to take an entire or at least half an animal they may be reluctant to sell. Refill your water supply at the marked river crossings and the camps. In between these waypoints your will find only ocasinally some trickling water because water trickles away easily into the volcanic soil.<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==<br /> <br /> * 2023 / Michael and Kasia<br /> Molina: Hostal Nativos is three blocks off the main square. Run by very nice people, they have private rooms with shared bathroom for 25.000 CLP for the room. They also have a nice garden area with space if you need to clean gear. Ferreteria Franco had gas canisters for stoves. Unimarc on the plaza had cans for recharging, but didn't carry the screw route for stoves.<br /> <br /> * 2021 / Vera &amp; James<br /> <br /> Molina: It has plenty for resupply whilst being nice and small. There is a fishing shop opposite the Santa Isabel supermarket that sells gas.<br /> <br /> ==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==<br /> <br /> * 2022 / Martin &amp; Helena<br /> <br /> Los Cipresses: small shop (only ice cream, drinks, choco bars, biscuits) + camp with cold shower, toilets, electricity and access to the river, all for 5000 for 2 people. We even got sandwiches for dinner as there was no other place around to eat. <br /> <br /> * 2022 7 Anna&amp;Christopher <br /> <br /> El Médano: The shop there has pasta, rice, bread, tomato salsa, mayo, chips, biscuits/chocolate and suncreme (but quite pricey).<br /> In El Médano we camped for 6k CLP p.p.<br /> <br /> * 2020 / Frank <br /> After 2KM on the road after Los Alamos (to El Medano) you pass 2 shops, better food selection than in El Medano. They have accommodation also.<br /> <br /> =Transport to and from Route= <br /> <br /> ==Parque Ingles==<br /> <br /> During the main season in January and February several buses go from Molina and Curico to Radal and some even go all the way to Parque Ingles. Outside of the main season there is only one daily bus from Molina to Radal leaving in the afternoon from the rural bus station in Molina.<br /> <br /> * Jan-24 / Joscha<br /> The Bus between Molina and Parque Ingles is run by the company &quot;Buses Hernández&quot;. You can check the departure times on their website.<br /> <br /> *2020 / Frank In summer there are 6 buses a day Molina-Parque Ingles.<br /> <br /> Mon-Sat they leave Molina @ 10:20, 11:30, 12:40, 3PM, 6:15PM, 8:15 PM Sunday Molina- Parque Ingles 7:45, 9:30, 2PM, 7:30PM, 10PM 2 hours to Parque Ingles, buses leave from terminal near main plaza in Molina. Parque Ingles-Molina 7:10, 11, 1PM, 3:45PM, 4:45PM, 6:30PM Mon-Sat Sun. 10:30, 1:30PM, 3:30PM, 5:45PM, 6:45PM <br /> <br /> *2019/ Martina &amp; Ivo <br /> <br /> Monday to Thursday: Molina-Radal: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br /> <br /> Friday: Molina-P.Ingles: 17:00 // Radal-Molina: 07:30<br /> <br /> Saturday: Molina-P.Ingles: 11:30 // 13:30 / P.Ingles-Molina: 18:00<br /> <br /> Sunday: Molina-P.Ingles: 09:00 // P.Ingles-Molina: 15:30 / 17:00<br /> <br /> ==Los Cipreses / El Medano ==<br /> <br /> * Dec 2024 / Sean <br /> One bus a day from El Medano to Talca 7:15 and Talca to El Medano 15:00 Monday to Saturday:<br /> [[Archivo:IMG-20241229-WA0000.jpg|thumbnailimage|Talca bus timetable December 2024 - Sean]]<br /> <br /> <br /> * 7 am in front of Los Cipreses - someone has to call in advance for the bus to go all the way to el Médano - loads of tourists there, though, so someone might have called. Other connections should be at 9:15 and 17:20 (one at 1620 l3aves from further downstream). The other way around, the buses leave Talca at 7, 13, 15 and 19, according to the schedule at Talca bus station.<br /> <br /> *This trail section finished at the Route 115 to Talca. Big road with many cars (hitchhiking possible)<br /> <br /> * 2023 / Louis, Rémi &amp; Noé <br /> <br /> From Los Cipreses only one bus at 7am. We hitchiked to El Colorado where plenty of buses are going down to Talca for 2 000 CLP (+ 400 CLP per bag)<br /> <br /> * 2023 / Natalie &amp; Tomáš <br /> <br /> Buses from Talca to la Mina go at; 7:00am, 1:00pm (only to la Suiza), 3:00pm and 7:00pm. <br /> Vilches: bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus. <br /> <br /> * 2022 / Veronika &amp; Jo <br /> <br /> - There is no bus to Talca from Los Cipreses on saturdays or sundays. We asked at the shop and got a ride to Colorado from the brother-in-law of the shopkeeper for 15000 CLP.<br /> <br /> == Vilches ==<br /> <br /> * 2023 / Natalie &amp; Tomáš <br /> <br /> Bus clearly did not follow the posted schedule so if you are there just ask the many locals around what time the bus comes, we caught the 1230 bus.<br /> <br /> =Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=<br /> <br /> * CONAF does register all trekkers at Parque Ingles (GPT01-WP004) but does not charge an entrance fee. Camp fires are not permitted within the national park that reaches from Radal (GPT01-WP001) to the Laguna las Ánimas (GPT01-WP013).<br /> <br /> * 2024 SOBO Permit required at Parque Inglés:<br /> - payment 8500 Pesos online! (not in cash) with online your Conaf account<br /> <br /> https:// shop.pasesparques.cl/evento/2564/radal-siete-tazas<br /> <br /> - offline formular at Conaf station<br /> <br /> - payment 7000 Pesos for Campsite El Bolsón in Cash (not possible with credit card, 200m from Conaf Station)<br /> <br /> * 2023<br /> <br /> When starting from Vilches and going northbound, a permit to access the Volcano (or the Condor Circuit) is required. CONAF won't let you enter in Altos de Lircay without it. Call them or write an email to get the correct number. The number ending with 554 works on WhatsApp, and a WhatsApp message from the land owner counts as &quot;written permission&quot;. Moreover, you have to pay the entrance fee to the reserve and it is closed on Mondays in March.<br /> <br /> *2023 <br /> <br /> Start at Parque Ingles: <br /> Entry ticket for Bolsón overnight needed: $10 USD (book it before online at www.aspticket.cl + get to the trailhead before 13:00) It needs to be purchased online in advance. There is good Entel service at the gate for last minute purchases. After purchase one change can be made to the date of the ticket, and there is no additional charge. After that you need to repurchase the ticket. Entrance for the camping permit is until 13:00. After that they refuse entry.<br /> In addition, you need to show CONAF proof of permission to camp at Bolsón, even if you do not plan to camp there. Bolsón is a privately operated concession within the park. Camping is 7.000 CLP pp and you buy the tickets at Rocas Basalticas campground about 50 meters down the road on the opposite side of the street from the entrance. The only way around this is to have contacted land owners that live beyond the park boundary and show CONAF proof of permission to camp on their land.<br /> They also require that you show them your gas stove, as all other cooking systems (alcohol, wood, etc.) are prohibited within the park, so have it handy.<br /> <br /> The parc can be entered illegally in the morning (around 7 pm).<br /> <br /> * 2019<br /> <br /> Optional start Vilches Alto: Entrance fee was 6000 and camping 3000 PP.<br /> <br /> =Links to other Resources=<br /> <br /> Retired Section Article [[GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]<br /> <br /> =Images=<br /> <br /> [[File:18 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|In the huge ash field]]<br /> [[File:10 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (9).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT06 - Volcán Descabezado]]<br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (5).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail]]<br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (17).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|[[Cerro Azul]].]]<br /> [[Archivo:Greater Patagonian Trail (11).jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Greater Patagonian Trail, section 6]]<br /> [[File:01 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|El Bolsón]]<br /> [[File:02 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving El Bolsón.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving El Bolsón]]<br /> [[File:03 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:04 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Las Ánimas.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Las Ánimas]]<br /> [[File:05 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Pass 2560 m.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Pass 2560 m]]<br /> [[File:06 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Approaching Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Approaching Laguna Mondaca]]<br /> [[File:07 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Mondaca.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Mondaca]]<br /> [[File:08 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, that bypasses Laguna Mondaca.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Bypasses Laguna Mondaca]]<br /> [[File:09 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:11 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Termas de Azufre.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Termas de Azufre]]<br /> [[File:12 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:13 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:16 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:17 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|GPT 06]]<br /> [[File:19 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:20 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:21 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:23 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:24 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:25 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:26 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Leaving the Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]<br /> [[File:27 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande.jpg|thumb|1100px|center|Hot springs at Base Camp Descabezado Grande]]<br /> [[File:28 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:29 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:31 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:32 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:33 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:34 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:35 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:37 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:38 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:39 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:40 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:41 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.PNG|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:43 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos.jpg|Camp near Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br /> [[File:44 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br /> [[File:45 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado, Laguna Los Hornitos.PNG|thumb|1100px|center|Laguna Los Hornitos]]<br /> [[File:46 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:47 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]<br /> [[File:48 Greater Patagonian Trail, Volcan Descabezado.jpg|thumb|1100px|center]]</div>

Janboro https://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=Greater_Patagonian_Trail_track_files&diff=117208 2024-09-01T18:22:36Z

<p>Janboro: /* List of requests */</p> <hr /> <div>[[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]<br /> The track files of the [[Greater Patagonian Trail]] are provided on personal request by [[user:Jandudeck|the author]] free of charge but not unconditionally. Read in the Hiker's Manual chapter '''1.15 Terms and Conditions for Using the Hiker’s Manual and the Trail Files''' to review these conditions and to understand why these conditions were put in place.<br /> <br /> GPT Hikers's Manual: http://bit.ly/GPTmanual<br /> <br /> ==Create an account in Wikiexplora (compulsory)==<br /> [[File:create account wikiexplora.png|frame|Six (very standard) steps to create an account in Wikiexplora]]<br /> To request the files you must first [http://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=Especial:Entrar&amp;type=signup create a Wikiexplora account]. It really takes less than a minute. The form is in spanish, but it's very standard and simple:<br /> #User name<br /> #Password<br /> #Confirm password<br /> #Email. Not compulsory but highly recommended to give us the chance to reach you. Wikiexplora has sent only '''one''' non personal email in 13 years.<br /> #Real name (optional)<br /> #On the final line type '''wikiexplora''', all in lower case<br /> <br /> ==List of requests==<br /> &lt;!-- To unlock the GPT Track Files 2019 you will need in addition the Track File Unlock Code 8: 367661 --&gt;<br /> <br /> Please type your name (or your new Wikiexplora user name or alias) and explain your plan for the GPT that requires the GPT Track Files. Put yourself on top of the list.<br /> <br /> Don't forget to send the email after adding yourself to the list as described in the GPT Hikers' Manual (1.15.7 Access to the GPT Track Files).<br /> <br /> Use the format:<br /> *'''''Farah &amp; Jan''''' Hey Jan, we're planning to hike parts of the GPT in January and February 2025 and would love to get access to the track files to properly plan our trip before taking on such a great adventure. Thank you very much for creating and maintaining the GPT!<br /> <br /> *'''''leo_micklem''''' Hello, I'm Leo. I'm planning to Packraft some sections of the GPT with my brother as part of a wider South America trip. The Packraft portion of the trip will likely take place December 2024 into January 2025. We feel strongly that it is important to be properly prepared for a safe and enjoyable adventure. <br /> <br /> *'''''Allie''''' Hello, I'm Allie (or Aliénor). I'm planning to visit Patagonia from november 2024 to march 2025, and i would like to discover the region mostly on foot. Thank you for your extensive research and comprehensive guide. <br /> <br /> *'''''sigg''''' Hi Jan, I'm Chris and I was thinking about spending some time on the GPT as a solo traveller beginning mid January to beginning of March 25. Yet, as I want to plan thoroughly, I'd love to take a look into the gpx files in order to better understand the terrain to choose to legs I feel confident in mastering. <br /> <br /> *'''''HugoT''''' Hi Jan, I'm Hugo and I'm planning to spend 3 weeks on the GPT. Reading the manual was great, a real change on how I normally prepare for more well-known trails in Scandinavia, Scotland, Iceland or Nepal. In my search for true nature, I would like to start on section GTP06 and go south until 1) the trail beats me or 2) go as far as my feet will take me in the time that I have.<br /> <br /> *'''''veleslavia''''' Hello, I'm Olga and I'm planning to hike and packraft some sections of the Trail in late December 2024 with my partner. Thank you so much for creating the manual and the community around it!<br /> <br /> *'''''Ayrton.debeauffort''''' Hello, first of all thank you so much for all the hard work to put all these incredible resources together. I am looking to travel solo this spring to Patagonia and want to do first 20-30 section of the GPT over 2 months (with flexibility on the number of sections and timing). I have done multi day hikes in the W trek, and Norway and the Dolomites in the past and am looking to do a longer distance trek given I will be taking some time away from work. I look forward to contributing to your amazing research and thank you again!<br /> <br /> *'''''Celio''''' Hola, first thing, thank you very much for the passionate job you made in creating this Hiker's manual, it's a gold mine of infos! We are a french couple living in the alps and planning to do the GPT, starting november and going up north. Having worked 4 years in Tierra del fuego in guiding i'll be very happy to help in contribute and support the job you made ! Thank a lot.<br /> <br /> *'''''TiMa''''' Hi, we are a german couple planning to hike various treks in Patagonia roughly during Jan+Feb 2025. We didn't decide yet on specific sections of the GPT. Thank you and the contributors for all the work!<br /> *&quot;&quot;Morliz&quot;&quot; Hi Jan, I am planning on hiking sections of the GPT from 11/24-5/25, am experienced in long distance (US), alpine (alps, andes, pamir) and would be happy to support the wiki explorer homepage for the GPT during and after the hike. Thank you for the support.<br /> *'''''LukSara''''' Hello Jan, we are Lukas and Sarah, two hikers from the Alps and woud like to hike the first part of the GPT. We are planning to travel to Chile in November 2024. It would be great to hike with your GPS Track Files and of course we would be happy to contribute to your work with your experience. Thank you and everybody who made this possible.<br /> <br /> *'''''ErJo''''' Hello Jan, we are passionate hikers that would like to hike parts of the Greater Patagonian Trail in January and February of 2025. We don`t plan on doing packrafting. We are very grateful for your absolutely awesome work and thank you for making such a trip possible! :)<br /> <br /> *'''''Mathilde and Jordan''''' Hello Jan, first of all thank you very much for your huge and impressive work. We are two frenchies who would like to participate to this adventure and start in november. We'll be happy to share our experience, help with the tracks and give some updates. Passionate about nature, hike and new culture, The GPT is an adventure that we have in mind for a long time. Thank you very much :)<br /> <br /> *'''''Elio''''' Hi Jan, thank you so much for the work you're doing mapping out the most remote parts of Patagonia. I'm a seasoned hiker from France and I'm starting planning my next project (hopefully for December 2024, depending on finance and wife approval :). I would be very interested in the data you've collected over the years to help me come up with a route. I would gladly contribute to this wiki as soon as I find relevant data to provide. Thanks!<br /> <br /> *'''''Stefan''''' Hi Jan, we, my wife and I, are experienced hikers from Germany and are looking for a new long-distance hiking trail that is scenically impressive, remote and not overcrowded. We don't have a concrete schedule yet (probably in a few years, for a few months). In our search we finally came up with GPT and your manual. Both are really impressive! Thank you for your work so far! We would be happy to help supplement the manual and keep it up to date. However, we are still at the very beginning of the planning and would therefore like to use the tracks for further information and preparation.<br /> <br /> *'''''Keili100''''' Hi Jan, we are Kathrin and Matthias from Germany (40yrs/42yrs) and we are both passionate hikers and have already visited lots of countries and its mountains. Since we have a kind of sabbatical in 2025/2026 we are planning to spend around 4 to 5 months on the GPT. My wife is fluent in Spanish and we are both fascinated of exploring remote areas and getting in touch with the locals combined with challenging navigation in barely untouched regions. <br /> Thanks for your unbelievable huge amount of work you are putting on the GPT<br /> <br /> *'''''Karin'''''Hi Jan, I am Karin. I have had the dream of visiting and hiking Patagonia since many years. I am in Latin America for roughly a year for work and I would like to take advantage of being in Latin America to hike in November - December 2024 parts of the GPT. Thank you vera much for your incredible work!<br /> <br /> *'''''Charlie''''' Hi Jan! I'm Charlie. I'm planning to hike either two (7-8) of the northern sections or 32 and 33h in the first two weeks of april. I'm an experienced hiker, have led trips and organized my own in the us and recently completed a 3 week thruhike of sicily. beyond excited to get to patagonia - has been a dream for years.<br /> <br /> *'''''Marion y Augustin''''' Hello Jan, we are a french couple wich aim to try to hike some sections of the GPT beteen April 2024 and July 2024, mixed with bus travel to join Perù. We are reading the Hikers'Manual, thanks a lot for that huge job !<br /> *'''''Sophie y Gaspar (Dr Jabali)''''' Hello Jan, we are a franco-spanish couple wich aim to try to complete the GPT beteen November 2024 and May 2025 and discover these beautiful landscapes and cultures. Thanks<br /> *'''''Paulus''''' Hey Jan, im very impressed by your detailed planning and knowledge of the patagonian mountains. I really enjoyed reading your short manual for the trail even though I should have actually studied for my exams. In Autumn I will finish university and now have finally the time to do a longer hiking trip again. Since im a biology student, the GPT is extremely interesting, since it would serve me as a transect to observe to Vegetation change from the north to the south. Ive always dreamed of seeing Araucarias!<br /> *'''''gitano''''' Hi Jan I enjoy hiking and I have a lot of expirience hiking patagonia for the last 6 years. I grow up in Osorno and i would like to hike my own land. I will love to cooperate and keep up this exelent job!<br /> *'''''Maxfelis''''' Hi Jan, I'm a hiking enthusiast living in Santiago. I recently did &quot;Sendero del Condor&quot;, and I met someone that was doing the GPT06. I would love to collaborate with the GPT project, and explore other sections. Thank you so much for all your work!<br /> <br /> *'''''txrx''''' Hello Jan, I'm a hiking enthusiast living in Bariloche. I am always researching new routes and many times I end up scanning the GPT Hikers Manual. I can't believe how much work and love has been put by all the contributors to build this, thank you very much! I would love to help to keep the GPT growing responsibly.<br /> <br /> *'''''Benoît'''' Hello Jan, I started the GPT from Santiago at the end of 2018, but because of covid I did not continue afterwards. Your resources and your work gave me an incredible experience... I would like to continue from the Antuco Volcano where I left off, and go south! Thanks again for all your work!<br /> <br /> *'''''Bebo'''' Hello Jan, I First heard of GPT while traveling through Peru, Bolivia and Argentina by bike. Rightnow I meet with my Brother in Buenos Aires and we want to hike remote trails for the coming 2 months. The GPT sounds just perfect, so we really would love to get the GPX files. We are aware of the fact that the trails lead through privat Land and nature. We treat both with hugh respect! Thanks for your work! Greetings from germany!<br /> <br /> *'''''Marilynemg''''' Hi Jan! I have been discussing the GPT with hiker friends for the last ten years and I finally will be able to visit Chile in March and April. I want to start with sections 1-8 and I have a couple more on the radar, time and weather dependent. Thank you so much for all your work!<br /> <br /> *'''''Retezepe''''' Hey Jan, we are very grateful for the invaluable resources you have compiled for the GPT. We're looking forward to being a part of this project! My partner and I are currently in Chile and interested in hiking a couple of sections of the GPT. The sections that currently interest us the most are sections 19 and 37H. We will be in Greater Patagonia from February to March.<br /> <br /> *'''''TrailsOfWander''''' Hi Jan. Thank you very much for your envaluable work for the GPT and for your guidance. I am traveling to Chile on Feb 11 to hike GPT06 and partial GPT08 and 09. Unfortunately I don’t have much time for this trip but I will plan future trips for other sections so the Track Files of GPT will be very valuable as the Manual is. Thanks again!<br /> <br /> *'''''AlexNecky''''' Hello Jan, thank you for all the work you've done putting this trail together!! My friend and I have been eyeing the GPT for a while. After much researching using your information and additional sources, we have tickets to Santiago for the beginning of March. Our plan is to start with GPT06 and going SOBO thru GPT10 or as far as we can for the month that we have. We're both super excited about this adventure and look forward to contributing back to the community with our experience!! Thanks again! <br /> <br /> *'''''Dueser''''' Hi Jan. I am deeply impressed by your work. Not only the time you spent on the GPT, but also all the documentation and the manual. During reading the manual I realized that 10 years ago I explored a few GPT stages in the north without knowing about the GPT. This time I'm deliberately heading south. I'll certainly put my experience to good use for the project.<br /> <br /> *'''''CharlieGardner101''''' Hey there Jan! Charlie here! Wow, what an incredible community you've created here. I couldn't be more excited to explore this wonderful and wild part of the world and to become a contributing member of this initiative you've begun! I will be flying into El Chalten in the first week of February and, along with a few friends, hope to hike a variation of GPT sections 38-40. Later on (mid-late march), we hope to move further North to try our hands at a section somewhere between GPT 6 and 12. Thanks for everything you do! Cheers!<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''''Zsu''''' Hi Jan! I would like to hike parts of GPT32-40 in the upcoming weeks. More details in the email. Thank you very much!<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''''Fernanda''''' Hi Jan! First and foremost, a sincere thank you for your impressive work. It is so valuable to have this type of initiatives in Patagonia. I am Chilean and mountains have been my backyard since I was a kid. I am planning to do GPT35 and GPT 36H with my brother Francisco. He is also close to nature and a entrepreneur based partially on Puerto Bertand since 2020. I've shared the hikers manual with him and he was very thankful and impressed with this initiative. I would also be interested in contributing with adding highlights and changes to the track. Global warming is slowly but steadily modifying nature.<br /> <br /> *'''''Daemos''''' Hi Jan! My name is Andrew, and I am a Canadian travelling in Patagonia for the next two months. I was planning to hike the Condor Circuit, but I've read online of some difficulties lately and am interested in investigating one of the variations of GPT6 as an alternative. I would also be interested in adding some highlights of the GPT to my plans as well.<br /> <br /> *'''''PauMau2024''''' Hello Jan! My name is Paulina and I thank you so much for your work. It´s an impressive work that you have done! From february on my partner Flo and I want to explore and hike from Futaleufu to O'Higgins, GPT 71 and GPT35-39. Beginning in Futaleufu we will take around 5 days to get to Chaiten where we will have a resupply and then continue hiking down until the end of the carretera Austral. We are happy to share our GPS log and further information&amp;experience, hopefully support future travelers.<br /> <br /> *'''''madnomad''''' Hi! My name is Elias. We are a couple from Greece travelling around the American continent on a campervan, motorcycle, packraft and hiking equipment! We are already on the road for 5 months and we are currently in the Argentinian part of Patagonia. We love it here and it would be great to try a few sections of the GPT. We are not planning to do anything extreme, just enjoy a few highlights of the GPT at first!<br /> <br /> *'''''acivs''''' Hi! My name is Agnes. I'm from Switzerland and love trekking. I did several hikes in the Alps, the Andes and in Patagonia. In August 2022 I started backpacking through South America and got trapped in Tortel about a year ago. Last March I read for the first time about the GPT and was fascinated by it. For the moment I am planning on doing my first to sections, GPT36H and GPT35.<br /> <br /> *'''''wandering_guanaco''''' Hey all! My name is Jack and I am an American outdoors-person interested in hiking sections 16-23 this austral summer, and hope to continue to complete sections of the GPT as I continue to work in Chile for a few months of the year every year. This project is amazing and I am stunned by the thoroughness of the documents I have read so far. From the intentions of the project as a hike undertaken only by those who are prepared, to the particular comments on the links between fundraising and the inevitable outcome of the trip itself, I really appreciate the time and thought that has been put in to not just the adventure portion, but also the preparation, reputation, and impact of the hike. I feel lucky to have explored chunks of Patagonia in my past and cannot wait to broaden my experiences through these sections and information in the future. <br /> <br /> *'''''bistarai.bistarai''''' Hello! My name is Susie, I’m French-Canadian and planning on hiking sections 6 to 18 (although very flexible) as a first attempt on the GPT which I have been eyeing for a while now. Eventually I’d love to try packrafting in more southern sections in a couple of years!<br /> <br /> *'''''mollycargill''''' Hello, my name is Molly and I am a medical doctor from Australia with a lifelong love of the outdoors and an interest in wilderness medicine. As a part of an Expedition Medicine course I am currently undertaking I need to create an in depth logistics plan for a trip which I want to go on, which I have chosen as packrafting sections 16-25 of the GPT. I have had my eye on the GPT for a while, and hopefully can use the finished product of this assignment to help me finally attempt some of the GPT in the 2024/25 season. <br /> <br /> *'''''HHGTPE''''' (Hitchhikers guide to planet earth) Hey, I am Felix. I hitchhiked around the globe for three years some time ago and now I am doing a semester abroad in Buenos Aires for my uni. While looking for long distance tracks in Patagonia, I came across the GPT and very much fell in love with the whole concept. This year I would like to do some of the shorter and easiest hiking parts of the GPT but hopefully come back in the future to do some longer and connected parts.<br /> <br /> *'''''fabianundcecile''''' Hola de San Rafael, Argentina. We are travelling to southern Patagonia and thought we could hike some sections of the PGT along the way. Maybe starting with GPT 7 southbound. Saludos Cécile y Fabian<br /> <br /> *'''''czimahi'''''Hola Jan, por favor me podrías enviar el file para ir alguna parte entre GPT18 a GPT5? Muchas gracias <br /> <br /> *'''''nico142857''''' Hola desde Chile!. Escribo en español por razones políticas más que practicas. Primero que todo, gracias por recolectar, sintetizar y compartir la información. Me interesa recorrer la parte norte de los 'senderos' y me interesan tener los .kmz para 1) tener una ayuda, 2) no abrir mas senderos y respetar la naturaleza y 3) dar feedback a la comunidad. Saludos<br /> <br /> *'''''Ggeoff88''''' Hello everybody ! My name is Guillaume from France and I'm actually in Bariloche preparing my adventure to go to El Chalten by foot. You guys did an incredible Job of research, documentation and exploration... Today I'd like to inspire of your work in order to prepare my road. It's normal for me and will be a pleasure to share my experience after it.<br /> <br /> *'''''MysticalMarauder''''' Hi my name is Misha and I'm in Chile with an old friend about to the depart on a greand adventure December 2023 onwards. Heading south in the coming days with the zenith of our travels the Punta Arenas/Puerto Natales area. Then turning around and heading back north after a month or 2. Eager to get on the GPT in either direction in the coming months/years? Not sure how long this adventure will last but hopeful to hike many kilometers on this network. Thank yiou to Jan and this commmunity for establishing this route and creating this excellent resource for those excited to get off the well-traveled roads and disappear into the wild for a bit. <br /> <br /> *'''''Lazy_Lemon''''' Kia ora! Looking to get amongst the Patagonia trails so thanks so much for putting all this information together!<br /> <br /> *'''''Sam Odin'''''' Hello! Thank you so much for this impressive work. The detail and love put into the GPT manual is truly a gift to us all. Between January 15 and February 5, my partner Sara and I are planning to explore as much of GPT33 as possible. Beginning in Villa Cerro Castillo we will take 8 to 10 days to get to Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez (where we will have a resupply) and then take about the same time to get back to Villa Cerro Castillo. We would love to share our log and GPS information, hopefully further illuminating future travelers to the less frequented routes and parts of this section<br /> <br /> *'''''Jonathan Mudde'''''' Hi Jan, I'm planning to walk a few sections of the GPT in the very south and in the north. I'll start on the first of January around Ushuaia. And after that I like to use the border close to O'Higgins and hike some parts around Laguna de la laja I'm looking forward to use the gpx files. Thanks in advance! I have read many parts with great respect for your work and honering the lokal people. Regards Jonathan Mudde/Abishaloom<br /> <br /> *'''Matthias''' Küme naqün antü! I've been following this fascinating idea for years, and now I can hopefully explore a small part of it myself and contribute to its long-term existence. I will arrive in Santiago in January, then I would like to follo'''w the GPT southwards, walking until about GPT20. But I am flexible in my plans on the ground, I am open to spontaneity and ever-changing challenges. Alles Leben ist Problemlösen.<br /> <br /> *'''Carina''' Hi! Thank you so much for the detailed GPT resource you have created. It's been a dream of mine to hike/trail run through parts of Patagonia, and it would be really helpful to see the GPT track files to help with my route planning. I'm planning to go in 1-2 years from now, so plenty of time to plan still. Very happy to contribute / provide feedback on route sections once I'm there myself. Thank you :)<br /> <br /> *'''Paulina''' Hello everybody. First of all, I would like to thank you for all the huge job you put into this projekt. I'm really amased. I will start a part of GPT in January, I'm especially interested in GPT because it seems wild, unspoilt and very interesting from cultural point of view. I also love the idea that everyone can create its own trail and that three is no one and the best option. Living in Europe where in some parts of the mountain we focus maybe too much on kilometers and speed, it seems that GPT offers something much more important. I will be more than happy to contibute to this beautiful projekt. <br /> <br /> *'''Mitschu''' Hello, after spending 9 weeks in Patagonia (pre pandemic) I am back with the aim to explore even more :) I thought about starting in Bariloche, explore the lake area going north (following part of Huella Andina) and finally cross over to chile and start at section 16 southbound mid/end of december. I used the pandemic for some long distance hikes in europe (GR5, half of GR10/11 and TMB) and cant wait to enjoy the beauty of patagonia. I will hike solo but open to meet up with fellow hikers if someone happen to be in the area :) I am following the project since 2 years... impressive work. Happy to contribute as well! Looking forward hearing from you! Thanks<br /> <br /> *'''Rainbow16''' Hi Jan &amp; fellow hikers! My name is Tanja and I am currently planning to walk Sections 6-22 starting end of December 2023. Still a bit dizzy from reading the hikers manual (what a great documentation!), I am excited to further explore this Patagonian trail network via the track files. A huge thanks to Jan and Meylin for their adventurous spirit and dedication as well as all other collaborators (what a cool community!). Looking forward to contributing myself once I put my feet on GPT grounds. <br /> <br /> *'''Frans van Driel''' Hi Jan, first and foremost I would like to thank you for all the work you put into the GPT. Truly impressive to read the manual! I'm planning to walk a few sections of the GPT. I'll explain more in detail in the upcoming email. My timeframe will be half December 2023 till half January 2024. I'm looking forward to this amazing experience and would like to start some more detailed planning using the gpx files. Thanks in advance! Sincerely, Frans van Driel<br /> <br /> *'''Owen Hutchison (elhutcho)''' Hey Jan! Am incredibly impressed with what you have been able to put together with the GPT - it’s an amazing achievement for which I’m sure many are thankful. I have been reading through the manual in preparation for a trip in February and March 2024. My partner and I will make our way down from Lago Puelo (GPT 22/23) to El Chalten via a mix of different segments and pack rafting. To assist in planning and preparation, I’d be really grateful to receive the the KMZ/GPX Files. I am very happy to contribute back to the project in anyway I can. Thanks again! Owen<br /> <br /> *'''Piotr Szatkowski''' Hello Jan, primarily I would like to say thank you for the massive amount of dedication you put into creating the whole guide. The quality of it, the precision everything is described with is very impressive.I would like to kindly ask you if you could share with me the KMZ/GPX Files. I am incredibly humbled to be able to discover the beauty of the regions of Patagonia. Can't wait into immerse in to this journey of solitude. I will be starting in end of December for section and or 2 heading south. Will probably hike for 2 months. I am not sure how long exactly.<br /> <br /> *'''Ella Meyer''' Hi Jan, I am planning to walk parts of the GPT as part of a project studying and documenting people's relationships to water along long-distance trails. As per your suggestion when we talked on the phone one year ago, I would like to hike Sections 1-12. I may also skip to Sections 21, 22, 63 and 69. I am hoping to depart Southbound around late December (2023). I am very excited to embark on this journey, and welcome anyone else planning on hiking these sections to connect with me (contact info can be found on my website https://ellameyer.com/)<br /> <br /> *'''Vlad Ivanchuk (vladdi)''' I'm planning to walk some southern sections of GPT northbound from Ushuaia starting in December 2023 for just over a month. I look forward to immersing myself in the landscapes and culture of Patagonia, and I'd appreciate access to GPS files to enable this adventure. <br /> <br /> *'''Robin Marcille''' Hi Jan, hi all, thank you for this immense amount of work. After sailing from France to Ushuaïa, we are planning to walk parts of the GPT norhbound from Puerto Williams on November 2024 for approx. 3 months. We would be very grateful to access the GPS files to prepare our trip ! We are especially interested in the various options between Puerto Williams and Cochrane. We're super excited to participate to this project and would like to propose some mountaineering options !<br /> <br /> *'''Cyril AC'H (Cy)''' Hi, can't wait more to get back with GG on the GPT after 2 years break, from El Bolson southbound toward Cochrane and El Chalten in a packrafting mode for those sections. No rush, side trips to fjords, we will see how far we get ! Thx for the KMZ/GPX Files ! <br /> <br /> *'''Martin_crgt''' Hi all, thanks for your work Jan, and for everyone's contributions to this adventure, My sister and I are planning to do the GPT in February 2024 from section 6 down south. Having the GPS data would be a great help to help us plan. <br /> <br /> *'''maddidunster''' Hi Jan, Tom and I are two Australians planning to hike northbound from El Chalten to wherever we make it with the time we have from February to April 2024. Super excited, can't wait!<br /> <br /> *'''guswimbo''' Hello Jan, thank you for all of your and others' work on putting together this incredible wealth of information! I'm planning on backpacking/packrafting from Cochamo to El Chalten in January/February 2023.<br /> <br /> * '''Oscar Crassous''' Hello Jan, I'm a french men who will travel northbound during 9 months in South America, between november and august. I have planned to walk most of the time and I am very excited to hike some parts of the GPT during my trip. Thanks for your work.<br /> <br /> * '''Matthieu''' Hello Meylin and Jan, former hiker on the GPT (season 2019-2020, northbound), would gladly go back on trail this year to hike some other parts southbound (Santiago-Antuco, Puyehue - Coyhaique)! <br /> <br /> * '''GriffinWagner13''' Hello Jan, planning to travel to Chile/Argentinia in 2025. I'll be doing some of the sections between GPT01 and GPT40, bussing between routes as possible. I definitely want to hit some of the northern volcanoes as well as the southern routes! Super excited to hike it. <br /> <br /> * '''edwinb''' Hello Jan, planning to fly to Santiago in 2 weeks. Thinking about gpt2/3 to do something close to Santiago and especially want to do the tracks in the araucania this time. gpt33h and gpt37h look very attractive to. Thanks again for all the work! Edwin<br /> <br /> * '''lilian''' Hello Jan, i'm planning to have a 3-4 months hike through Greater Patagonia, I will travel to Santiago in mid-November 2023 and maybe end my hike about March to April at somewhere south. I would be interested in the trackfiles from 1 to 69, would be incredibly grateful to have the files for further research and planning. Thank you in advance!<br /> <br /> * '''zipgerm''' Hey Jan, Thank you for your work and contributing the route information to the world! I'll be in Chile/Argentina from beginning of December until April. If my feet are willing, I want to walk parts of the GPT starting with section 05 or 06 southwards. I read a great part of your guide and already bought a GPS with satellite pager - alhough I never used neither of them on my off-track hiking tours before. Looking forward to Chile and the Andes. Matthias<br /> <br /> * '''JordanJennings''' Hi Jan, my plan is to packraft soundbound sections 17-30 over the season, but will likely begin with a few (conditions appropriate) sections between 30-40 from November after completing some packrafting training around Puerto Río Tranquilo. I would like to also thank you for dedication so much time and energy into making this possible for all of us<br /> <br /> *'''LottiRummel''' Hi Jan, thank you for all your fantastic work! We are planning to spend January 2024 in Chile and want to hike starting from around GPT 06 southwards. I hope the gpx tracks will help us decide which sections to plan. Thanks! Alex and Lotti<br /> <br /> *'''Rowe99''' Hi Jan, first of all, many thanks to you and everyone else who contributed to the manual. I have never seen so much information about such a large network for any other region in an open-source manner. I am planning to hike this year (2023) from December to mid-February starting from El Chaltén northwards with a pakraft. Thanks for all the information so far! Cheers Roman!<br /> <br /> *'''Jonas._____''' Hi Jan, I'm planning to hike through Patagonia from December to February/March. I will start in Puerto Montt and then go south from there as far as time and terrain permits. The great GPT Hikers' Manual did already give me a really good insight in what to expect and I would really appreciate having the GPT Track Files as well to prepare for my trip as much as possible! Thanks for your help!<br /> <br /> *'''ColineW''' Hi Jan ! Thank you a lot for the amazing work you did with the &quot;Great Patagonian Trail, Hikers Manual&quot; ! It's full of wize advices and ideas I maybe would havenot find myself. I will go in Chili from mid-december to mid-march, meet up with my father who is currently wandering in the south. We'd like the hike northbound from GPT20 to GPT01. The GPS files would be a great help for you, since I tried my plan an itinerary on Google Earth and, as you know, I lost sight of some roads in the forest. My father has a Garmin66i, so we'll be able to send the datas of our trail to you. Have a nice day !<br /> <br /> *'''Roi Keler''' Hello Jan, First of all, thank you for the amazing work you did and still do, it's a great inspiration for me. I plan to spend 3-4 months in Patagonia and I want to combine several walking sections of the GPT between section GPT01 - GPT16 &amp; GPT32 - GPT46. After reading the hikers' manual and completing the preparations, I decided not to focus on a meticulous plan because it is important for me to be spontaneous and keep the options open. The GPS files in combination with the hikers' manual will allow me to choose the hiking sactions that suit me and then send the information to you and share with the community. Thanks for everything!<br /> <br /> *'''Marmur''' Hi Jan! We are a couple and are planning to hike the GPT from start to end, in 2 seasons (hopefully) starting next season. We have visited Patagonia in the past and can't wait to get to know it more intimately, as we loved it so much. hiking in remote locations with unmarked trails is not new to us, but we are exited about the challenges that are waiting for us at this epic terrain. this is a great chance to thank you for all this impressive work that you've been doing, and you can count on us that after all this ends for us, we will share all inputs and updates with you and the community.<br /> <br /> *'''Lukas Deleu''' Hi Jan, my girlfriend and I are planning to do 3-4 months of hiking through Greater Patagonia starting this december. We chose some of the sections that most appealed to us and hope to connect them by public transport. Gpt 6-12, 16-19, 32-40 is what we have in mind for the moment. Having the trackfiles would be a great help offcourse. Cheers.<br /> <br /> *'''Huemul''' Hello Jan, I'm Frank from Irlanda. I hope to continue southbound in November from El Chalten to Isla Navarino. Thanks for all your help &amp; advice so far. <br /> <br /> *'''RoshiJ''' Hi Jan, what an amazing piece of work you've established in the GPT hiker's manual, and its amazing to see how many people are inspired by it. I am planning on exploring Patagonia starting in November, with no end date as of yet. My only goal is to wander and wonder but I'd like to do so well-informed and as prepared as possible. I already feel so after reading the manual but it would be even better to set out armed with your GPS files. I also love the idea of using wikiexplora as a platform to communicate within a like-minded community with similar goals so am enthusiastic to share my own experiences and read those of others. <br /> <br /> *'''Pieper92''' Holá Jan, Thank you for providing this comprehensive manual. I will travel to Patagonia in November 2023 and want to make my way from santiago to tierra del fuego by feet, on my beloved packraft but also longer sections by bus transport. Have not picked all sections but Lagos Chilenos/argentinos, parts of fjord area and tierra del fuego are in focus. Especially I want to circumvent the spoiled national parks in the south. Your guide has already been a great help up to know but the GPT track files would be extraordinary helpfull. I will especially try to provide novel exploration data by packraft.<br /> <br /> *'''nickcarter884''' Dear Jan, Thank you so much for all the work you have done on this manual and the route, it's fantastic! Some friends and I are planning to do the section around El Chalten in February 2024 and would really like to follow your routes rather than the roads. Please could I have access to the GPS files so we can be in the real nature, not just the road? :-)<br /> <br /> *'''delabien''' Dear Jan, I am very inspired by your manual. My partner and I plan to travel for 4 months starting from the capital Santiago going slowly to the south (starting in November 2023). Thus we would like to hike some of the sections you and the other collaborators assembled. In order to make the expedition more feasible for us we intent to use the local public transportation for some parts. Really looking forward to experience the changing landscapes during the route. Thank you<br /> <br /> *'''wbarab''' Hi Jan, thank you for all the extensive and detailed work put into this manual. My partner and I (American &amp; Spanish)plan to hike the GPT from mid November 2023 until late February or March 2024. So far GPT 6-12, 14-16, 19, and 32-40 have stood out to us as a start, but our investigations continue and we plan to add at least another half dozen sections (plus some &quot;maybes&quot; if time permits)! To continue we would really appreciate access to the trackfiles.<br /> <br /> *'''ranulph24''' Hi Jan, great manual! Thank you for putting so much passion in this project. I consider hiking on the GPT in November 2024 - April 2025. I am mainly aiming for the northern part 5 - 30 and add a smaller section in the south. For refining my plans I would like to study the GPS Track Files in detail. <br /> <br /> *'''MMartinez''' Hi Jan, thank you so much for this incredible amount of work. It is really inspiring and exciting. We are a couple (American and Polish) and we are interested in hiking some of the sections of the GPT later this year. We have been reading the manual and adjusting and readjusting plans the more we learn (there's so much to learn!) We would really appreciate access to the track files to help with the planning. Thank you so much again!<br /> <br /> *'''SeanMaskill''' Hi Jan, Thanks for all of your work! I've wanted to hike sections of the GPT for a few years. I've now started the research seriously and tracks would help me decide which sections I'd like to hike. Cheers Sean.<br /> <br /> *'''MarmotAndBear''' Dear Jan, Thank you for putting in so much dedicated work, to create the Hiker’s Manual, and in doing so helping others to hike and appreciate this part of the world. We are a German-Singaporean couple and we have been following the GPT community for almost one year now. We have quit our jobs not long ago and have started visiting Central Asia, where we’ve been able to do some amazing hikes. Before setting foot on the GPT this coming (southern) summer, we are planning to improve our Spanish in other South American countries. We hope a few weeks of dedicated learning will do the trick. Once on the trail, we are planning to hike and packraft as much of the GPT as we can during the coming season. Let’s see how far our feet and boat will carry us :)<br /> <br /> *'''guaraches80''' Hello and good afternoon Jan. I have been reading and preparing for some sections of the trail you have put together. I, a Mexican American, and a Colombian friend will be backpacking through Brazil and later to Argentina in the coming months and we would love to see some of the wonderful trails you and others have experienced. Obviously, because of our backgrounds we both speak fluent Spanish and have years of backpacking, hiking and bushcrafting experience. This is something I look forward to with the uptmost energy and so will eagerly await the track files to begin further in-depth planning. Thank you for your time. Until next time!<br /> <br /> *'''blissfulmisgivings''' Hi Jan, Thank you for providing so much detailed and helpful information about the GPT! We (two Americans) are excited to try packrafting portions of the GPT beginning in November 2023. The guidance you've provided in the manual has already been invaluable to our preparations, and we look forward to reviewing and using the GPT track files in our journey. Thanks again!<br /> <br /> *'''YannickCOLL''' Hi Jan, Thank you very much for your work and your dedication to the GPT. We are immersing in the GPT universe with pleasure and a growing sense of adventure. We are a couple (French and Belgian) and we’re looking to hike some sections of the GPT between mid-November 2023 until April 2024 (Sections: 1-12 / 16 / 19 / 32-40). These are the sections that we selected so far and that we are more attracted to, knowing that of course it can change. We were wondering if you could grant us access to the GPS tracks in order for us to prepare for the GPT. We understand that this is an unofficial trail and that it is still a work in progress and we are eager to help in any way we can to continue to build this ‘trail’. Nolwenn &amp; Yannick<br /> <br /> *'''daniel.s''' Hi Jan, amazing work with the Hiker's Manual! I hope to meet some of you on the trail next season. I'm planning to do some of the packrafting sections starting at GPT 17. The track files would be very helpful to make it an unforgettable experience. Greetings from Austria, Daniel <br /> <br /> *'''hevike''' Hello fellow hiking community, I'm Jens from Germany looking into hiking sections of the GPT this November until the end of February. Thanks for the amazing work you all have put into this project and I'm looking forward to contribute myself.<br /> <br /> *'''MartinGilles''' Hola Jan, soy Martin de Belgica y estoy planeando hacer una parte del GPT al principio de noviembre hasta el 20 de diciembre. Me gustaria tener the GPS tracks para organisarme y ver lo que me conviene mas. Muchas gracias por lo que hiciste y para permitir la exploracion de esta parte del mundo. Un placer, Martin.<br /> <br /> *'''Marc Altena''' Hi Jan, thanks for all your hard work exploring the hidden trails of Patagonia. I'm hoping to do sections 6 to 10, 16 to 22 and 32 to 40 early next year. The GPS tracks would be helpful. Tanks in advance for sending them. Kind regards, Marc<br /> <br /> *'''Lorenzo''' Hi Jan, I don't have specific plans concerning the GPT yet, but that might change soon. After the reading the first 300 pages of your guidebook it seems to me like a real challenge and an unforgettable experience at the same time. I'll call it a dream to hike at least parts of it, and extensive planning is the first step to make your dreams come true.<br /> <br /> *'''Joscha97''' Hi Jan, I gonna travel to Chile in the beginning of next year and I am really fascinated by the idea of the GPT. I would love to hike some parts of it, starting in Santiago. Thanks for all the work you put into this project. Greetings<br /> <br /> *'''Larix84''' Hello Jan, he hablado contigo con whatsapp hace 2 semanas Mi proyecto de trail para el ano que viene se confirma, un saludo'''<br /> <br /> *'''Noemie''' Hi Jan, thank you so much for making us discover those incredible paths and landscapes in an ethical way. I have been hiking in Chilean Patagonia for a few months now and I wish to keep discovering the region more deeply by hiking through a few sections of the GPT, especially GPT36H (ruta de los Pioneros). Depending on how this goes, and on the weather conditions, I may try to go further north around sections 08-09. Thanks for all your work, the resources you provided have been super helpful!<br /> <br /> *'''TheRebel''' Hey Jan thanks for the big package of information you provide with tha website/pdf I'm in Argentina since 3 months and hiked many km in the official and more marked areas (bariloche, bolson, esquel, el Chaltén, El Calafate, Ushuaia and more) and now I'm on the way back north and wanna end up in Bolivia or maybe even Columbia in the next 6 months... I've heard about your site from a Canadian guy who did some sections more north and I thought it would be nice to do some more trails in a little more remote areas on my way north<br /> Greatings TheRebel<br /> <br /> *'''Jen''' Hi Jan and so, so many thanks for all the incredible work you have done here. I am currently in Peru and planning to fly south to begin the beginning of GPT01 in the next few weeks and see how long I can walk for before things become too off season. I will halt and recommence when the season comes back in. If I manage to journey to Punta Arenas in the end, whenever this might be, then I am happy! Thank you, Jen. <br /> <br /> *'''Ollie''' Hello Jan. I am from Wales and currently is<br /> Brazil after sailing here from Europe. My plan is to work my way towards southern Argentina where I will stop and work for a while. Hopefully improving my Spanish, get to know the culture more and spend my weekends in the mountains to prepare. The idea is to start from Tierra Del Fuego, head north and just take it step by step. The manual has been a great read thank you for being so thorough. Love it. Cheers.<br /> <br /> *'''Silke &amp; Hans''' Hello, We are a Belgian couple currently on a multiyear bikepacking, trekking &amp; mountaineering trip through South-America. We'd been looking forward to do some sections of the GPT for a long time. We are currently in Chile Chico, and planning to do the GPT35 section. We probably want to do some more sections further South.<br /> <br /> *'''Jakub+Veronika''' Hi Jan, we're a couple from Czechia, currently almost one month in Chile getting to know the country, it's history and it's people's culture. We'd like to hike some parts of the GPT south from Puerto Montt, where we are based right now. Thanks for this awesome work!<br /> <br /> *'''Alan''' Hola Jan! I'm Alan from California. I'm interested in doing GPT32 and GPT33H. Thanks for all the resources you have provided so far!<br /> <br /> *'''Diegoara''' Hi! My name is Diego and I am from Chile and I'm interested in the GPT to do de GPT18 &amp; GPT19, i would be a little more than a week, i think that is amazing the work that you do making this GPT in my country.Thanks!<br /> <br /> *'''Jess&amp;Paco''' Hey Jan ! We are from France and we would love to hike the GPT between march and april 2023. We plan to connect a few sections in the great lakes region (between section GPT45 and GPT35, south to north) for about a month. And if the weather is favorable, we would explore in april a little bit of the nothern parts of the GPT (volcanos region) but without necessarily connecting steps, while being around for a workaway. Thanks a lot for all this work !<br /> <br /> *'''blklb''' Hi Jan! I'll be leaving for Chile in a few days and would like to do bits and pieces of the sections between Curico and Conaripe, perhaps farther south. I'll be combining trekking with time spent in towns/cities. This is going to be a leisurely exploration of the GPT, with the possiblity of a longer GPT-specific trip in the future. Thanks!<br /> <br /> *'''Joachim''' Holà Jan! I'm Joachim from France. I'm coming to Chile in a few weeks, and found your website with a lot of valuable informations on this beautiful itinerary! I don't have a fixed plan yet but my idea is to start around Santiago and go South until winter begins. I'd love to get a hand on those gpx files to help me plan properly, I'll be happy to share feedback when coming home. Many thanks for all the work you put in!<br /> <br /> *'''Johnny1968''' Hi Jan! We are a couple from Italy and want to to start mid february 2023 from Santiago for the GPT. We have 2 months of time and want to see how far we get, without hurry, soaking up nature and culture. Thanks for the manual and creating the track files, great respect for the ethics!<br /> <br /> *'''derameisenbaer''' Hi, two people from Germany. We'll be hiking part of the GPT (GPT06-GPT12) in February. If there's time left we might be able to hike part of the more southern sections as well. Really looking forward to it and really aprreciate the great work on this page and the Hikers Manual! <br /> <br /> *'''ebse''' Hello, I'm Ed from England. Would love to help contribute to this mammoth project by hopefully walking GPT01 - GPT20ish in late 2023. Looks like a remarkable experience all round; I'd be very grateful to be part of it. <br /> <br /> *'''Martio''' Saludos, soy Martial ! landing on jan. 14th for a 2 month journey into Chilean natural wonders. I plan to hike a selection of northern GPT sections between 1 and 22. Plans purposely open for this first experience and can't wait to get involved in the community. Ps: Jan, you rock !<br /> <br /> *'''Clemgbl''' I'm Clement from France. Currently hiking in Chile from month, I would like to continue my trek on the GPT next month (january and February 2023). I plan to start in Coyhaique and hike until El Chalten (GPT 31 to GPT 40).<br /> <br /> *'''Jcoxxx''' I'm Jeff from Alaska. Hopefully I'll be hiking and packrafting section 17 to 39, starting this January. I'm really excited to be a part of this project and share my trackfiles. <br /> <br /> *'''Eleebeatriz''' Hi, I'm Elena from Chile. On the 27th of this month we are going to carry out the Gpt7, we will enter through the &quot;Puente Ingles&quot; , in San Fabian de Alico, up to the Polcura mountain range, in Antuco. Greetings and I hope in January I will be editing what I have done to share it with you! <br /> <br /> *'''MarcGPT''' Hola! Last year while hiking around Cochrane, I learned about the GPT. Looking forward to return and contribute to the GPT manual.<br /> <br /> *'''Franzz''' Hi! I'm Franzz from Switzerland. I'm planning to thru-hike my own version of the GPT next year. Using your tracking files would be a great help planning the itinerary :) I would be more than happy to share back my own track files and experiences once I'm back.<br /> <br /> *'''Nicktravels_''' Hey mate, I'm Nick - i'm planning on a hike/packraft of mumtiple segments with my three amigos. Leave only footprints is a big part of our travelling philosophy and I have a lot of respect for the ethos you carry through the information provided. <br /> <br /> *'''Timo''' Hi, I'm Timothée. I'm French but also from Munich Germany! I plan on being in Chile beginning of next year and on doing someof the sections (probably 6-22, 32-40 more or less). I'm super impressed by all the gathered and explained documentations and advices form the Manual and would love to contribute ! <br /> <br /> *'''zozo''' Hi, my name is Zohar. I'm from Israel and plan on doing some trekking in Patagonia in January 2023. planning to do parts of the GPT from south to north starting at section 46. <br /> <br /> *'''florianluca''' Hi, my name is Florian. I'm from Germany and plan on doing some trekking in Chile at the Beginning of next year (2023). I appreciate the work that went into this project and would like to use some of it for planning some of our tour. <br /> <br /> *'''willcampbell444''' Hi, I'm Will from Canada. I'm interested in hiking some of the trail as I make my way south through Chile! I was thinking of starting at section 6 in mid December, depending on the weather. I really appreciate all the work done putting together the trail, and I hope to contribute with my track files and notes.<br /> <br /> *'''Dallas''' Hi, I´m Dallas, from Berkeley, California, USA. I am interested in planning a trip in early 2023 to explore the beauty of Patagonia and indulge in my passion for slow, human-powered travel. This trip is open-ended and intentionally meandering, and the GPT looks like an excellent basis of exploration. <br /> <br /> *'''Nicopo''' Hi, I´m Nicolás, from Buenos Aires. My girlfriend and I have been hiking in Patagonia for the last few years and we are planning on hiking sections of the GPT from December to February. We are already getting started with our planning and are looking forward to contributing with what we can. Thank you!<br /> <br /> *'''Newt, Birdie, and Possum''' Hi! We are on our way back to Patagonia for the third time. The three of us have hiked in Patagonia and many other places in the world together. We will have 1 month to hike a portion of the GPT, specifically focusing on 33H -38H going northbound. We are inspired by this document and we can't wait to become contributing members of this community. Thank you! <br /> <br /> *'''pgantier''' Hi, I'm Pierre from France. I discovered Chile and South America 5 years ago during an exchange semester and look forward to going back there for a long trip (within the next 5 years for around 12 months). I would love to do some part of the Greater Patagonian trail during this future gap year and I want to prepare well it advance to continue to get experience to be ready for this gread adventure !<br /> <br /> *'''Jonny6k''' Hi, im planning on hiking some sections of the GPT from late December until March (or until i get tired!) I am planning on sections 6-22, but nothing is certain yet. I hope to add to the track files and contribute with some notes regarding the trails. i look forward to arriving in chile! Jonny<br /> <br /> *'''felagund''' Hello, I would like to hike the GPT in December-February, from Santiago till as far as I can get and as long as a I enjoy it. So I would be interested in the trackfiles from 1 till about 40, even though I probably won't reach that far. I am a contributor to OSM so I was thinking that would be my main form of contribution, though I would not want to put paths that are disputed there of course. Tomas<br /> <br /> *'''Arnaudlacoste''' Hello Jan! I have been a big fan of the GPT for some years now. I just moved back to Chile after living for the past 8 years in Europe and would love to discover a few sections of the GPT. I will be settling in Araucania region so I would love to have access to the track files and plan which sections I will immerge myself into. I hope I can also contribute to it and meet some of the community in the following months/years. Thanks you and the community for this marvelous work! Cheers, Arnaud. <br /> <br /> *&quot;ChristopherT&quot;Hello! Christopher from Austria here. My girlfriend Anna from Germany and I are planning to do the gpt. We are still trying to figure out which sections we would like to trek.We definetly want to explore and hike in Feuerland though.We would very much appreciate the track files to help us with our decision and on our journey. I hope we can contribute a bit as well. Thank you!<br /> Cheers,<br /> Christopher and Anna<br /> <br /> * '''Matous'''Hi everyone! Here Matous and Johana. Couple from Czechia. We are planning to hike some sections on GPT at the beginning of next year. We are interested in GPT06 - 22. The track files would be great help in planning. And thank you for amazing work. We´ll be happy to contribute.<br /> <br /> * '''guilhermealexs''' Hi! Guilherme Alexsander here from Brazil. Me and some friends are planning to walk some parts of the GPT. We are currently interested in the Los Quenes - Central Cipreces section. I'd like to get the track files to help us with planning. Thanks! <br /> <br /> *&quot;nmakepeace&quot; Hello everyone, Natalie here from Canada, thank you to Jan and everyone for their contributions! My plan is to hike southbound on the GPT starting at Termas del Flaco (connect@ GPT05) because I want to do some specific mountains in Central Chile first. I may also look into connecting Volcán Maipo to coya. To make this all easier and more safe I would be not only grateful for the GPS files but honored! Start: mid/late December until begining of March. Hope to hear tales from you all soon! <br /> <br /> * '''rom1dwker''' My girlfriend and I will cycle southward patagonian roads and ripio from mid december 22 to mid february 23, and we plan to maybe hike some sections of the GPT, especially the ones in Jenimeini where we have already been a few years ago, dependind on how everything goes with the cycling and and the roads we will actually take.<br /> <br /> * '''gornik''' Me and my grilfriend Gabi would like to hike on GPT from January till March 2023. We are on a gap year after our studies, and during that time we would love to enjoy the wilderness of Patagonia. We are planning to first do some singular sections and after gaining some knowledge and experience in Patatagonia hiking, we would like to do some longer distances. We are also exited to combine it with hitchhiking to minimalize environmental impact. <br /> <br /> * '''hannahp24''' My partner Eric &amp; I will hike GPT 32-36 in Dec-Jan 2022/2023. Excited to explore new places and give guidance to what we find here.<br /> <br /> * '''Jmcantin''' Hi Jan, thanks for the hard work in this awesome guide! I am planning a Southbound hike of the GPT from Santiago de Chile in January 2023 for a couple of months. I would love to have the track files to properly plan my route. Thank you for your help :)<br /> <br /> * ''' bforselv''' Hello guys, my wife and I live north of the Artic Circle in Norway and we are planing to go to Chile for hiking January and February. We want to do sections of the GPT.<br /> <br /> * ''' Ishaysachs(Ishay)''' Hello Jan! Ishay from Israel here. Just finished the PCT and looking forward to do some sections of the GPT this January-March. Would love to get access to the files in order to plan my route (: thank you for putting so much effort into this. That's an incredible project and I can't wait to start hiking and share the journey with this great community.<br /> <br /> *''' greenh3624 (Helen and Craig)''' Hello Hello Jan. Thank you so much for providing all this incredible information from the manual, we are both super grateful and are looking forward to contributing. Looking in to sections GPT 16- 05/06 for 2023 and hopefully some southern route sections from there. Just a quick comment to request track files. Your manual is incredible by the way. Mil gracias! <br /> <br /> * ''' Christophe (Alex &amp; Christophe)''' Hi Jan! Thanks a lot for all this informations and for your work. We are now travelling in south America with our van and are planning to sell it and start to hike the GPT in December 2023 for 2 or 3 month. This track files would help us a lot to plan this incredible adventure.<br /> <br /> *'''miguelvdvelden (Miguel)''' Hola Jan! I’m in awe of everything you’ve put together for the GPT. It’s so comprehensive and as a sustainability student I am grateful for the focus on both the environmental and social sustainability of the region and its communities. I am hoping to hike or packraft a part of the GPT over six weeks or so in Jan-Feb 2023. I am in full planning mode now, hence my request here. Muchas gracias por todo. Abrazo.<br /> <br /> *'''nico142857''' Hola Jan! Hace un tiempo habia leido parte del manual y veo que ahora esta actualizado. Desde ese momento que quede maravillado con la rigurosidad de tu trabajo y lo sigo haciendo ahora. Me suscribo a esta lista para poder obtener los track files, pues me interesa recorrer algunas secciones en las proximas vacaciones de verano 2022/2023. Estare muy agradecido si lo puedes mandar. Saludos desde Chile!. nicolas.<br /> <br /> *'''Lore Olivares''' Hola Jan, gracias por compartir esta valiosa información. Soy de Chile y junto a mi amigo queremos hacer la parte norte del GPT desde Santiago. Te agradeceré mucho si nos puedes compartir los datos GPX. Muchas gracias de antemano.<br /> *'''annéesympathique;) (Rémy D.)''' Hi guys, I‘m a student from Belgium and I plan to walk the GPT from december to march. That’s why having the GPX track files would help me realize this project. A big respect about all the work behind the GPT.<br /> * ''' TOBEL ''' Congratulations to the GPT Hikers Manual. I am from Germany and a bit older then the most here. This year I will hike some parts of the GPT, so I would like to get the gpx files.<br /> <br /> * ''' Michaelstabile (Mike &amp; Avery) Hi, Thanks for compiling all of this information. We are Backpacking and Pack rafting Guides in Alaska. We are planning to start in 2023 and Continue through all the way back to Alaska. Hiking, bike packing, Packrafting and sea kayaking. Having this track files would be incredible for us helping with planning for this section of our journey.<br /> <br /> * ''' Martin&amp;Helena (Martin.h)''' Hello guys! Thanks for the amazing work you’re doing with the GPT. We are a couple from Prague, Czech republic, planning to start hiking from the beginning of December, most likely until the end of March. We would use the track files for planning our hike and navigation. Thank you, Martin&amp;Helena<br /> <br /> * '''EDAWILSON (Ed)''' Hello! We are a couple from Scotland who are heading to Patagonia for a couple of months hiking this October/ November, and we are looking to incorporate some elements of the GPT into our trip. 2022 conditions permitting, we will likely explore some sections of the Fjord route; as well as Glacier Chica to El Chaltén; and fingers crossed some sections south of here. I would love to overlay the track files over GE for a better planning experience. We love the spirit of the community you are building here! Great work!<br /> <br /> * '''Ridgepathpictures (Jani)''' Hi! Myself and a couple of friends are planning a packrafting trip in Patagonia at the start of 2023. We will be dipping in and out of the regular packrafting route, so sections 17 to 39. The aid of the track files would be greatly appreciated. I'm honestly astounded by the work you have put into this trail, it's truly very inspiring.<br /> <br /> * '''Slingshot (Jeremy)''' Hi! My soon to be wife and I are planning a 3 month trek from GPT05 southbound and would greatly benefit from the GPT track files. Thank you so much for your hikers manual and for providing access to these files. It has already greatly benefited us.<br /> <br /> * '''Alexis (dm) &amp; Iris''' Hello! We are a 29/28 years old couple from France and are starting a sabbatical in South America for a year in December. We are landing in Puntas Arenas and would like to hike our way, on the GPT or not, through Chile up to the Ecuador. To better plan our trip, we would like to access the GPT track files and are obviously willing to contribute to the initiative. Many thanks. <br /> <br /> *'''Max''': Hello, I am from Germany and I really like to hike. Next year, I plan to hike from Santiago de Chile all the way down to Ushuaia with a Packraft. To do that, I would like to get the gpx files, so I can choose from the routes. Thank you for all of this.<br /> <br /> *'''Ted''': Hi guys, I'm a 33 year old austrian guy and I plan to hike a few sections of the GPT in October and November. it would be great if i could have the gpx data so i can plan the routes better. great community<br /> <br /> *'''Chris and Tara''': Hello!!! We are husband and wife, being 33 and 26 years old respectively. We plan to walk from Barilloche to Santiago incorporating large sections of the GPT. There are no fixed plans for sections and times, just to fully immerse our selves in Patagonia, it’s people and way of life. Thank you and all those who have contributes for your incredible work so far, I look forward to being able to contribute for others to enjoy! <br /> <br /> **'''Wannes''': Hello, I'm a 31 year old belgian who plans a two week trek/run in the beginning of November. I would love to do a part of the GPT. Could I receive the gpt tracks to decide which part would be ok to do? Kind regards. Wonderfull work!<br /> <br /> *'''Yannic &amp; Mirjam''': Hello together. We are Yannic and Mirjam and since one year on a world trip. We plan to spend a few months in Patagonia next and hike parts of the GPT. Which parts exactly we are currently still working out. Would it be possible to get the GPS tracks? Thank you for you incredible work !<br /> <br /> *'''AdriKunz''': Hello, first of all, a huge thank for all your amazing work. I am so grateful for this sharing which will allow me I hope to live a unique experience. I'm a actually working in French Guyana, but were looking for an immersive hick before living this continent. I finally came across this extraordinary adventure, which I think corresponds to me in every way. I plan to try the GTP from Santiago to part 14 or 15 of the GPT in a month and a week. I intend to start the hike in mid november. May i aske you the GPT track of thoses parts ?<br /> <br /> *'''Avisito''': Finally going for it - December 2022! Plan to start at GPT05 and go south for several weeks - would love to start exploring the GPS track files. Thanks!!!!!!!!!! <br /> <br /> *'''Veronica''': Hello, I am Canadian and will be spending six months in South America from October 2022 to March 2023. While I am there I would love to spend a few of these months hiking various portions of the GPT, which is why I would love to obtain the GPS track files. Thank you so much for all this work and to all those who have compiled all this information. I am very much appreciative of all of this! <br /> <br /> *'''Andes et Tentes''': Hello, we are 3 french students taking a year off to explore South America. We are planning to explore Patagonia between February and April 2023 by hiking on some specific sections of the GPT. That's why we are asking for the GPS tracks. Many thanks for the huge work achieved ! It is impressively detailed and complete !<br /> <br /> *'''ondra''': Hello! My name is Ondrej and I am from the Czech Republic. I have been reading about Jan's and others' experiences on the GPT for the past two years. I will finally have a chance to walk a part of the trail myself in January - March 2023. I am adding myself to the list to kindly request the track files. Thank you Jan for putting this together.<br /> <br /> *'''Mat''': Hi! from France. I’m planning a few months hiking trip to discover south America. I’ll most probably walk parts of the Gpt (as much as I can). I would be grateful to receive the necessary gpx files. Thank you for the this very huge and inspiring work. <br /> <br /> *'''Alice &amp; Florian''': Hola! We are Alice &amp; Florian, a french couple who love hiking. We who will travel in South America and especially in Chile in September and October this year (2022), and we read about the GPT and some blogs, which really peaked our interest. Our project is to walk going south along the GPT for about a month, somewhere between September and November. After reading the hiker's manual, we came here in order to do access the GPX files and prepare deeper our project. Muchas Gracias para todo este trabalho. <br /> <br /> *'''Thomas - Chilzin, Brah!''': Hola! I'm a thru hiker planning to do a large part of the GPT mostly continuously before heading north on a huge trip to explore South America. I really appreciate this resource and will do my best to contribute before and while I'm on trail. Thank you!<br /> <br /> *'''Aneso''': Hola! I'm Aneso, a French woman who loves hiking. I heard about the GPT while doing research following my plan to go to South America for 1 year.<br /> My project on the GPT being to leave from the south in the direction of the north, over a period of 1 month (or even a little more) from January 2023.<br /> In my research I am missing the exact GPX files for my GPS.<br /> Thank you in advance and congratulations again for all the work provided and to which we have access.<br /> <br /> *'''Ariane''': Hola! I'm French and I will be hiking in Patagonia in April (and perhaps May); my plans are not yet well defined but I'd like to follow parts of the GPT on my way northward. Thanks for your super useful work!<br /> <br /> *'''OriolGirona''': Hola! I'm from Barcelona but living at nearby Girona. Love hiking and cycling, being my longer tours so far between 4 and 6 weeks on the trail. I hear about the GPT two years ago while looking for new ideas during covid lockdown. I already read the manual a couple of times, and I am thrilled to travel to Santiago next November / December for a couple of month, probably starting from section 1. And at this point of planning I will apreciate to have the GPX tracks to get deeper into this process. Awesome work. Thanks a lot!!!<br /> <br /> *'''JuanchoUgarte''': Hola! I'm a Chilean guy that loves hiking. I hear about the GPT a few years ago. This year while doing the Travesia Cerro Castillo realized that it was part of the GPT and decided to start planning to do it on summer 2023. During 2021 did the GR11 in Spain and want to do something in Chile this time (the GPX tracks would be very useful for all the planning) Probably will start near Parque Inglés. Thanks a lot!!!<br /> <br /> *'''LeanderDc''': Hey hey, we're a crew of 3 hiking-friends from Belgium and Chile. We're planning on walking a part of the GPT starting from around Cochamó till O'Higgins, probably taking some ferries and hitchhikes in between. We're starting to refine our exact route, by reading the manual and analyzing google earth, and would hugely benefit from the exact GPX files. Thanks in advance!<br /> <br /> *'''rowanl''': Hello, I'm an avid hiker from Canada looking to explore trails along the carretera austral especially around Cerro Castillo National Park. I hope to use the track files to help refine my plans. I appreciate all the information provided, Thank you!<br /> <br /> *'''meotr''': Hi! I'm a french engineer planning to hike some parts of the main route between mid-february and mid-march during a 3-4 months period in Chile and Argentina. Thank you for you incredible work !<br /> <br /> *'''Sergio''': Hi! I live in Santiago and I'm planning on hiking some of the first GPTs on early February and hopefully some of the southern parts later on. Thank you very much for all the work you have put into this, it's an incredible thing what you have done!!<br /> <br /> *jdhanlon/Jen and Vince''': Hi! I am planning to hike and packraft a number of sections this season, from Jan - March 2022. Thank you for all your efforts and guidance in sharing information about the trail network!<br /> <br /> *'''Gianluca/Cerna_Beltz''': Salve a tutti, Hi!! I'm italian and I'm planning to hike some part of the GPT from the end of january to mars/avril. Thank you so much for all this information and for your attitude!<br /> <br /> *'''José''': Hi!!. I'm chilean and im planning to hike the GPT05 - 22 southbound. I would really apreciate to have access to the track files. Thank you so much for doing this, its awesome!<br /> <br /> *'''Carlos and Ivan''': Hellow. We'll be in Chile in january and february. Track files would be a great help for planning our hike. Thank you for your great work!<br /> <br /> *'''Mariia and Misha''': Hi! We are two Russian flying to Argentina in end of December. Fully equipped for packrafting. Planed start January 5, 2022 from Lago Puelo southbound. Sections: 1. GPT23-25P Rio Frey and Lago Amutui Quimei. 2. Then flying to Chile and resume GPT26-28P 3. GPT30P-32 4. GPT33H-35 5. GPT36P 6. 36H Northbound. End before March 25. I would be very greatful for the track files. Thank you so much for your awesome guide and work!<br /> <br /> *'''Mawel''': Hello, I'm planning to hike the GPT or at least a part of it. Idealy, I'd like to start from Ushuaïa and travelling up north along the cordilliera. Anything concrete yet but I'm sure the track files will be very helpful to prepare this journey as best as I can.<br /> <br /> *'''Alexey''': I will start my trip on 29.11.2021 from Lago Todos Los Santos to the North, until Lago Ranco.<br /> <br /> *'''Matthias&amp;Janna''': We will hike parts of the GPT in december - february. Track files would be a great help for planning our hike. Thanks for the enormous work done! <br /> <br /> *'''Franck''': I will hike parts of the GPT with a friend in december and january, we're interested in GPT05 to 12, 19 to 22 and 32 to 36. Thanks for the great work !! Can't wait to put my shoes on : D<br /> <br /> *'''Nathaniel''': I will be in Chile for a few months starting in December 2021. I am considering packrafting in the vicinity of the Western Fjord Traverse (GPT90P-GPT92P) as well as hiking/packrafting a section of the main route of the GPT in Zones H and I (possibly including GPT32-40).<br /> <br /> *'''Laurent and Maxime''': Hi there! We are two Canadians flying to Chile in January. We are fully equiped with lightweight equipment for packrafting, endure all sorts of weather and accomplish a great trip on the greater patagonian trail! We have 3 months to travel and we are very grateful of all the precious information you offer us ! Thank you very much !<br /> <br /> *'''Rebeca y Cristián''': Buenas tardes Jan! Estuvimos conociendo distintos lugares de la décima región desde inicios del 2021, &quot;aprovechando&quot; las cuarentenas. Ahora estamos planeando un viaje más largo, el cual incluye packraft. Nos encantaría acceder a los archivos para planificar mejor. Desde ya, muy agradecidos. <br /> <br /> *'''David Batguano''': Good day all. I am heading to Chile at the end of November 2021 to get some hiking in, obviously. Fist I am completing the O circuit at Torres del Paine, then will hopefully complete some of the easier sections of the GPT(I do not wish to bushwack or prove a point). I have no time constraints and will just go where I wish at a leisurely pace. I am on page 400 of the hikers manual working on routing. Though difficult, Jan's work so far is an unbelievable resource. <br /> <br /> *'''Vera &amp; James''': Hi all! We are planning to head over to Chile for 3 months Jan - Mar 2022 and plan to hike on the GPT. Planning is ongoing but current thinking is start at Puyehue and work north. The main motivation is to be in the mountains/wilderness for a period of time. The manual is an incredible resource! Thanks!<br /> <br /> *'''Tobias''': Hi Jan, I'm flying into Chile on the 1 of November. My plan is to hike southwards from Frutillar to El Chaltén and visit Schools along the way. I would be very greatful for the track files GPT 22-40. Thank you so much for your amazing work!<br /> <br /> *'''Kris&amp;Stiina''': Greetings, we are going to Chile in November and we plan to hike some sections of the GPT. Track files would be a great help for planning our hike and logistics. Thanks for the enormous work done! <br /> <br /> *'''Helmut and Beatrice''': Hi JAN, we are planning to spend two months in Patagonia at the beginning of next year. We want to hike around 1000 km and the tracking data would be a great help for us to choose appropriate sections and plan our hiking adventure. High praise for the great manual!<br /> <br /> *'''HolKann &amp; Peanutje''': Hey all, we're planning to visit Chile in January 2022, and hope to hike parts of the GPT for the better part of (at least) 3 months. Our most recent hiking experience was the [https://thepindosway.com Pindos way] in Greece, which consisted of finding &quot;the shadow of an old mule path&quot; to get up or down a mountain ridge, which taught us how to handle packs of angry shepherd dogs, and which forced on us a crash course in rudimentary Greek (as we would have gone hungry otherwise). We hope to get to know Patagonia and its people in the same way, except that our Spanish skills should be a bit better.<br /> <br /> *'''Stephan''': Hi folks, Hi Jan, i'm planning to do the GPT 22,Lago todos los santos, from Petrohue to Cochamo, hiking and packrafting. I have planned to go on October 2021. Thanks for the great work!<br /> *'''Stéphane''': Hi folks, Hi Jan, planing a trail trip next summer in Patagonia walking from Villa Cerro Castillo to Villa o Higgins. Could you please Jan send mi the track files beetween Villa Cerro Castillo and Pto Ibanez passing through Torres el Avellano ? GPT33H. Thx a lot and long life to yout project ! Hug<br /> <br /> *'''Martin and Kim''': Hi, we are planning to spend two oder three months next year in Patagonia. We want to hike round about 1200 km there and the track file would be very helpful to choose sections and plan our adventure. Thanks for the great manual!<br /> <br /> *'''Vicente''': Hi, I'm planning on doing the GPT this spring of 2021, I've done other long trails through Patagonia so I want to take it to the next level. I believe this trail has a great potential to become an icon for my country and its beautiful mountains. I need the track files to prepare the adventure.<br /> <br /> *'''Marc''' : We are two guys from Denmark who are hoping to spend a couple of months on the GPT, if possible we will begin this december. We are eager to get our hands on the track files to help us plan which sections to hike. We have a great amount of respect for all the work you have done to make this adventure possible!<br /> <br /> *'''Simoncashyt''' : Me and my friend are Planning to spend 2.5 months in the area this December. Hoping to get this Track file and review the trail in gis with other historic route databases to really understand the sections topography, climates and route options to explore off the track file. <br /> <br /> *'''Bastian Klein''' : I am a university student from Germany and currently only have vague plans for my hike. With the Covid situation still going on its still to be determined when I will actually get to go hiking, but I think the track files will help me a lot with planing. Greatly appreciate the work done on the GPT manual !.<br /> <br /> *'''Tim''' : We are a couple from Germany and around new year we plan to spend a few weeks in the area around GPT05 to GTP07. If possible we might return some time to see southern patagonia as well for multiple months.<br /> <br /> *'''Léo''' : I plan to travel one year in Chile from sept 2021 ; I want to start from Puertomontt to reach Santiago (in a whole year, so taking my time), and hike some sections of the GPT ! I have not chosen which exacts sections yet.<br /> <br /> *'''Nadfero''': Mi plan is to divide the route in two or three sections, and hike it in the 2021-2022-2023 summers. Obviously it all depends on the covid situation. There is no harm in planning!<br /> <br /> *'''Cristóbal''': Estoy aprovechando la cuarentena para estudiar la ruta y comenzar a hacer tramos en la medida que se levanten las restricciones sanitarias este 2021 y 2022.<br /> <br /> *'''Jo and Ty''': We are a couple planning to trekk for 3 months or so on the GPT. 2021/2022 depends on Covid 19 situation. Propably starting somewhere at GPT08. We are still in the beginning of planning. We require the track files for a lot of planning and for navigating on the trek it self. We are pretty excited!<br /> <br /> *'''Molly og Melissa''': We are two friends, from Denmark. We plan to hike most parts of group B, C and D in December 2021 - February 2022<br /> <br /> *'''Patagonico''': Years ago i did the ruta de los pioneros now i would like to complete the GPT in the next few years.<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''Les Amériques au fil de l'eau''': We are a french couple, planning to use the trail from Puerto Montt to Santiago in 2021-2022 and to realize two short documentary films about wetlands and about the women of America<br /> *'''O Bicho Geográfico''': Para fines de investigación científica, Abril de 2021.<br /> *'''Max Nemeth''': November to Mid-March 21/22, sections to be determined. Thank you for the amazing work on this route!<br /> *'''Memo mcrash''': GPT10 and GPT11. I plan to do it in March with some friends. We are very grateful for the work you have done. Thank you! Guillermo.<br /> *'''nico142857''': GPT01 and GPT02. Im planning to hike these 2 sections on March, and gpx's routes surely will help a lot. Thanks!<br /> *'''MauricioDM''': I am planning to hike the whole trail in parts, but I am not sure where to begin, the GPX will help . Thanks. <br /> *'''Nico busch''': GPT33H. Planning on doing the Torres del Avellano hike. Thanks. <br /> *'''Bjornsether''': GPT 01 to 40. I've been planning a long-distance hike in Chile for some time. February-April 2021 might allow me to spend time on the GPT.<br /> *'''AJForno''':, GPT 01 to 40, I live in Chile and have done some sections, and plan to keep exploring, Thank you! Andres <br /> *'''Thom&amp;Miky''': Hi, we are two friends planning to walk from febrary to april 2021 and we will try to reach from south to north the GPT 14 to GPT 01. Thank you! Thomas and Michael <br /> <br /> *'''WhatDoesMyHeartTellMe''': I am very much interested in GPT 01 to 40. I plan to trek in 2021-2022. This endeavor requires a tremendous amount of planning. I hope you can grant me the track files. Thanks very much!<br /> <br /> *'''Tom Corbett''': Januray 2021, hiking and packrafting sections of GPT 26 to GPT 33.<br /> <br /> *'''Rperezdearce ''': Hi, With my girlfriend we will leave the first days of Nov 2020 from Santiago with the intention of reaching GPT12, then we will try to continue further south.<br /> <br /> *'''Tobi &amp; Fang''': Hiking and potentially packrafting in the &lt;s&gt;2021/2022, 2022/2023&lt;/s&gt; 2023/2024 season.<br /> <br /> *'''Freek van Keulen (Freek)''': Plan to hike 2021-2022 season, starting preparations and research now<br /> <br /> *'''Joaquin Munoz (jqnmunozdiaz)''': Plan to hike sections GPT32-40 southbound on summer 2020-2021 if covid allows. I will likely hike some northern sections as well.<br /> <br /> *'''Quamen''': I am dreaming to hike the GPT01-16 and to hiking/packrafting GPT17-40 southbound this austral summer 2020-2021 season.<br /> <br /> *'''Frambues''': Starting at the end of 2020 if Covid lets. Not sure yet which part to do in one season, but probably start in Santiago.<br /> <br /> *'''Ferdinand''': Hi, Ferdinand from germany, I'd like to hike southbound starting from GPT 05 from Dec 2020 - Apr 2021 and see how far I can get. The GPS files would help a lot planning everything more in detail, thanks!<br /> <br /> <br /> *'''Víctor Valenzuela''': GTP 05-19: Planning on starting end of 2021 with GPT 05-19 and further on. Got one season to explore the GPT.<br /> <br /> *'''Isaac Garza (Try431)''': Planning to hike southbound GPT season from ~December 2020 through ~March/April 2021 (weather/COVID permitting). At the moment, planning to do GPT17P - GPT39, and track files will be very helpful in planning out in more detail :)<br /> <br /> *'''Pipers''': Hi, I'm from Valdivia, chile, and I am planning to hike or ride in my bike the closest parts of the route, as soon as coronavirus lockdown finishes<br /> <br /> *'''Patagoniandreams''': Planning to hike the standard route soundbound, starting at GPT10 until GPT23 and looping back nordbound via the Huella Andina. Due to the Corona crisis we postpone this endeavour to the 2021-2022 season. The hike will be done in family. We will have a 6 year old girl and a 3 year old boy with us. We have 4 months. We have been doing GPT sections back in 2008 - 2010 - 2013.<br /> <br /> *'''Olivier1''': Planning to hike the standard route northbound, starting at GPT 40 for the 2021-2022 season.<br /> <br /> *'''David Brophy (d.brophy)''': Planning to hike the standard route GPT01-GPT40 over two seasons starting as soon as COVID permits. Will use a pack-raft for the second season.<br /> <br /> *'''Peter Mican (ElCondor)''': Planning to hike the GPT in 2020/2021, starting at section 01 and hike as far south as I can, depending on the weather and situations on the track. I am planning to go solo but would be happy to join with a fellow hiker(s) ;-)<br /> <br /> *'''jojohoughton''': Planning on hiking/packrafting southbound to section 40, starting either from section 1 or section 13 depending on the conditions. Will be exploring the GPT for the summer 2020-2021 season.<br /> <br /> *'''Leonhard''': GTP 1-16: Planning on starting end of 2021 with GPT 1-16 and further on. Got one season to explore the GPT.<br /> <br /> *'''Aligator''': GTP 40 to GPT32: Plannning to explore that part of the GPT in February (from 03/02) and March (flexible) with my girlfriend (we both live in Santiago). Thank you for the incredible work you've achieved gathering and updating all those information!<br /> <br /> *'''ConnyPflaume''': GTP 14 &amp; 15 or the area between lago Conguillo and Lago Tinquilco. We will start this weekend, 11.1.20 - would be nice we could be supplied with the map so shorthanded.<br /> <br /> *'''felixrulz''': Will be in the Andes for around 4 months. Have already completed 3 sections, but looking to do more. Joined specifically for the Puyehue section (GPT 19)<br /> <br /> *'''Kelly Swanson''': I plan to solo trek starting at GPT06 in January 2020, continuing till mid March.<br /> <br /> *'''phil ro''': i will start in coihayque in mid-january and will head south for more than 4 weeks with a packraft.<br /> <br /> *'''johannsteffen''': Going to make a backpack trip starting in February on Ushuaya and going to Bariloche in June.<br /> <br /> *'''Claudio Miranda''': Starting from Santiago in January 2020 until April, planing to arrive at least to Chile Chico.<br /> <br /> *'''Trinity''': Travelling to SA for 2 years and plan exploring Patagonia.<br /> <br /> *'''pirre''': Starting in January 2020 on GPT32 and planning to hike south for 6-8 weeks. Thanks!<br /> <br /> *'''Shn0rhelez''': Hi,I am Anton from Sofia,Bulgaria...me and my girlfriend are starting from sec6 in the middle of January...we have around four months...thank you for your remarkable work!!!<br /> <br /> *'''Gatodelmonte''': Starting on 2 January from Santiago, planning to hike South for about 45 days &amp; exit near Pucon (sections 1 to 15)<br /> <br /> *'''Fedepatagon''': Like to pack raft on the area between Bariloche-Osorno and P.N Los Alerces<br /> <br /> *'''Vincent Paquet''': My girlfriend and I are planning to spend 3 weeks walking from december 18 2019 to Jan 10 2020. We're still selecting the exact sections. Cheers!!<br /> <br /> *'''Tmattson425''': Plan for this year is to solo trek sections 1 through 19 (southbound) starting in mid-January 2020. I'm an American expat living in Buenos Aires and plan on returning in following seasons to complete the GPT, try packrafting, and explore alternate routes. Extremely excited an grateful that this trek is possible. Thank you!<br /> <br /> *'''SalomeS''': Planning for a 6 month trip with my husband starting in Nov/Dec 2020. Planning to hike the sections 40 to 16. We would be incredibly grateful to receive the gps track files. Thank you!<br /> <br /> *'''Ianhikes'''* Leaving for Chile in 1 week and looking to spend a month on GPT hiking southbound.<br /> <br /> *'''zc0rp10''': Hi! Planning and preparing for an extended hike together with two friends from November 2020 - Feb 2021.<br /> <br /> *'''ELLI''': together with a friend we plan to hike the sections of the main route but in opposite direction starting in the area around Lago viedma in first days of January 2020, we have approx. 4 month time<br /> <br /> *'''gorskial''': plan to bike/packraft along the carretera austral from Puerto Montt to Villa O'Higgins with hiking side trips. Jan/feb 2020<br /> <br /> *'''pitney''': Solo hiking GPT sections 6-22 Southbound beginning early January, 2020.<br /> <br /> *'''dirtmonger''': GPT sections 1-24; planning underway for an immersion solo hike ‘20 November to ‘21 February. <br /> <br /> *'''bob451''': Planning on solo hiking 2 or 3 sections of the GPT northbound March/April 2019.<br /> <br /> *'''Mgabenesch''' : Planning on hiking most parts of the GPT, starting in Ushuaïa then going North. I have on year off. Starting Dec 2019<br /> <br /> *'''Family Size''': Planning on hiking parts of the GPT southbound. Starting end of November 2019.<br /> <br /> *'''shaunchurch''': Hope to solo hike/packraft a few sections southbound. Section 15 or 17 in Dec 2019. Then maybe a couple more from among sections 21-31 in Jan and Feb 2020. <br /> <br /> *'''iank''':2 months jan and feb 2020. Hope to hike isla navarino, cirque of huemuls and then cochrane to chile chico. More northerly secions maybe 2021.<br /> <br /> *'''dsmit3000''': Solo hiker planning on hiking GPT40-31 northbound November-January 2019.<br /> <br /> *'''2As''': We plan to walk in Chile and Argentina from mid October 2019 to mid march 2020. We don't have precisely planned our trip but the root of our trip is to go by foot through Patagonia and also discover Chile and his people and culture.<br /> *'''A pat''': We plan to do several sections of the GPT (Need to confirm but we are interesting in sections 08-22 and 35- 40) from January to early March 2020.<br /> *'''Aceestrin''': We'll be exploring for 4 weeks in Los Lagos region December-January. <br /> *'''Andrealopezb''': I plan on doing individual sections for the time being, mostly between Santiago-El Maule <br /> *'''annbrnn''': Heya, a friend and I are planning on hiking several sections of the GPT beginning end of December 2019 and are currently in the process of determining our route.<br /> *'''AlexEdge''': Hi, i am planning to hike the lower sections of this route with a couple friends, possibly febuary 2020. thank you!<br /> *'''Arno507''': We plan to do several sections of the GPT starting fom November/December 2019 till early April 2020.<br /> *'''Birdy ''': I plan to mostly walk from Lake Titicaca to Ushuaia starting November 2019.<br /> *'''David''': Hello!! This is David from Barcelona and I'm planning to walk through the Patagonia for 4 month from January 2020. I would love to do all de GPT, but I'm not sure if it's too ambitious... For sure, I'll try it!! :-) I would really appreciate if you can provide me the gps track files. Many thanks!!<br /> *'''Dubrovskiy''': 2 people, January 2020, Foot hiking southern parts, likely around GPT40-33.<br /> *'''Edwinb''': I will be arriving in Chile in Nov and plan to cherry pick parts of the GPT and mix it with other trekking, basically like I did last year. Always interested in a bit of exploring, providing it doesn't get to extreme!<br /> *'''Hendrik Niehaus''': We arrive in Chile early Oktober 2019. From November until January we plan to be on the GPT. Due to the recommendations of the hikers manual we are mainly interested in section 5-16. However, plans might still change and are not too fixed yet. Thank you in advance!<br /> *'''Herman van Horssen''': We plan to do section 47 to 69 of the GPT in 2020.<br /> *'''johansonst333''': Hi! I am planning the sections 30 - 40 during this hiking season, would be incredibly grateful to have the GPS files for further research and planning. Thank you in advance!<br /> *'''Jose Barros''' Hello !Im jose from Santiago de Chile, i will do the sections from Conquillio national park to Puyehue national park, its aprox. 15 days in January, i think it will be great ! If you can provide the track files i will be very thankfull. <br /> *'''Jose Roman''': Hi, my plan is to several sections by bike or hiking staring September 2019 until Abril 2020.<br /> *'''JUNHUI SON''': Hi, I'm from South Korea, I plan to do section 1 to 40 of the GPT in September 2019 till November.<br /> *'''Kendon''': I cycled Patagonia many year ago and have always wanted to return for an extended walk through this wonderful area. I am in preliminary stages of my planning and thank you for your efforts in providing such a great resource. I am looking at the 2020 summer.<br /> *'''Martín H.I.''': Hello, I´m planning to make an attempt to hike from sections GPT01 to GPT22 this summer from December 2019 to February 2020, still deciding on the exact sections, but southbound is my direction. I´m a chilean 25 year old architect who will humbly try to hike this unique trail. Thank you Jan for the amazing creation.<br /> *'''Martin Lizondo''': I will be hiking southbound from Anticura (GPT20) to El Chaltén (GPT39), between December 2019 and February 2020. It's my second season in the GPT, after hiking from Santiago (GPT01) to Anticura (GPT19) in 2018-2019.<br /> *'''martinahaller''': We will be arriving in Chile in Nov and plan to hike parts of the GPT during the next 6 Month, starting in Santiago.<br /> *'''Maturin''': Hi, I am currently figuring out the details to hike GPT06 to GPT08 from the 27th of December 2019 until mid January. I will be doing the Horseriding tour before. I speak fluent spanish and the idea is to go southbound. Thank you!<br /> *'''Matúš Lašan''': We plan to do as much as possible from December 2019 till March 2020.<br /> *'''msantelli''': Hi, Melissa, plan to trek sections 05-22 taking a chance to start mid-late Nov. of ‘19 may need to backtrack and cut a few sections out, if rivers can’t be ford/crossed-flexible schedule<br /> *'''Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck''': We plan to investigate new packrafting and hiking routes in more remote areas between Puerto Montt and El Chalten without making a single long traverse (GPT21 to GPT40, GPT90P to GPT 92P). We will depart in November 2019 and plan to finish in February 2020. Experienced packrafts may join us for these investigations.<br /> *'''Lauric Olrik''': We plan to do several sections of the GPT starting from November 2019, we have a whole year off.<br /> *'''Lea Geibel''': Hi, my plan is to do several sections of the GPT starting fom October/November 2019 until beginning of January 2020 and need to figure out which ones are suitable for such an early start.<br /> *'''Linda''': Hi, I am planning to hike alone southbound the GPT from beginning of December 2019 to mid-February 2020, probably from GPT06 to GPT22, but I am still studying the routes and the sections. I spoke quite good spanish, at least, it will come back there, practicing ! Thank you !<br /> *'''Oreste Marquis''': Hello, i'm planning to hike sections 06-22 and 32-40 if time allows it. My trip will be from January to Abril 2020.<br /> *'''Sanita Heinz''': We plan to do section 1 to 40 of the GPT in December 2019 till March 2020.<br /> *'''Selma''': We are planning to packraft some sections of the GPT during our stay in Nov/Dez '19<br /> *'''Staci Garcia''': Hello, I am planning on doing several sections of the GPT in 2020. I am still in research on what sections.<br /> *'''TrashPanda''': Hi, we plan to do several sections from the end of November 2019 till February 2020.<br /> *'''tom347''': Hola, I plan to do part of parts 1 to 40 with a friend, starting mid october. We will be hitchhiking the parts that are not recomended in particular months. We will be travelling for aproximately 2 months. Gracias.<br /> *'''Tombartlett''': Hello I am planning on hiking many sections over a three month period from November 2019 to February 2020.<br /> *'''Wanderwood18 ''': We plan to make it to El Chalten/Fitz Roy in one season from Santiago. This means I’ll probably skip recommended sections to skip/do what I need to do to make it. I’m flexible, we will see how it goes. My girlfriend, America, and I are planning on starting around Nov. 10th….<br /> *'''LieberWeiter''' Hi, I do not know yet if I ever dare to walk the GPT but meanwhile I would like to plan therefore!<br /> *'''Jarek Wątroba''' Hey, I will spend several months in Patagonia starting in Jan 2024. The information you provided in the Hiker's Guide is already immensely helpful, but the track files would make planning our route so much easier. Thanks.<br /> *'''Wolke7net''' Hi, could you please send me the track without packrafting. Thanks!<br /> <br /> *'''''DoloresMonika''''' Hi,my name is Dorota and I am from Poland. This year I would like to go through all GPT trail. Thanks for preparing this manual and description of trail.<br /> <br /> '''wikiexplora'''</div>

Janboro