Wikiexplora - Contribuciones del usuario [es]

GPT50 (Cabo Froward)

2024-02-22T22:10:49Z

Pieper92: /* Links to other Resources */

GPT50 (Cabo Froward)

2024-02-22T22:09:57Z

Pieper92: /* Links to other Resources */

GPT50 (Cabo Froward)

2024-02-22T22:03:55Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT40 (Glaciar Viedma)

2024-02-22T21:18:41Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT40 (Glaciar Viedma)

2024-02-18T22:50:33Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT40 (Glaciar Viedma)

2024-02-18T22:50:10Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT40 (Glaciar Viedma)

2024-02-18T22:49:48Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT39 (Monte Fitzroy)

2024-02-18T22:32:08Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT38 (Glaciar Chico)

2024-01-27T22:19:20Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT38 (Glaciar Chico)

2024-01-27T22:13:22Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT36P (Rio Baker)

2024-01-04T02:22:25Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT35 (Parque Patagonia)

2024-01-04T02:20:50Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

{{Table all GPTs}}

 

Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format:

''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias

Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.

Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').

=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

==Season 2023/24==

*2023-Dec-30 / 1 day / Packrafting / SOBO / Option 10 C / Tom Pieper

I attempted this option as an alternative starting point for section 36G. Hitchhiked to the bridge of Carreterra Austral over Rio Chacabuco. I scouted rapid {35-10C} [2.3/121] from 100 m above and it looked feasible. This was not true when I approached on the river after entering just before the bridge. The rapid was impassable (late afternoon) which brought me into serious troubles. The canyon is pretty steep here and there is no way back. It was not fun to climb the steep slopes cliffs to escape the 100 m deep canyon. Its really dangerous. The rapid is pretty hard to investigate from above. I would recommend to only go later in the season and only in the morning or at least with company.

*2023-Dec-21 / 8 day / Hiking + Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Option 10 + Old and new tracks to Administration Parque Patagonia Valle Chacabuco / Tom Pieper

Most have been described by Kris and Stina. The plateau and the entire track is awesome. After the kind Arriero at the puesto {35} [15.8/1075] (actually its his house) I found it a little bit tricky to find a good route first but then just ascended and found a nice cross country route. Camped before the plateau. There are nice spots just before 1400 m, after that its just rocky until you descend to the Water {35} [23.9/1586]. Camp {35} [32.6/1300] was a little bit swampy. Found a better spot 300 m south. Try to be early at the road if you want to hitchhike. I was lucky and got the last car passing at 14.00 to the park at day. On the 25/12 the park entrance (but only the entrance) is always closed! Keep in mind if you come around christmas. At the park entrance you must disinfect your packrafting gear due to Didymo algae. I could not packraft lago jenimeni and verde due to wind but its still stunning. Between Water {35} [75.5/937] and Ford {35} [79.3/846] there is a approx. 3-4 steep bluff. I felt really uncomfortable with my heavy backpack as a lot of erosion happened to the steep ‘steps’. Maybe exploring an additional bush bashing route is feasible here. The ford was rather deep and could be a problem for shorter persons but I crossed in the evening, so in the morning it should be fine. Collapsed Refuge {35} [81.0/819] makes a nice camp spot. The other forts were fine. Stayed one night at Casa Piedra were I met Tobi and Fangwen and spend dinner and breakfast together the next day. CONAF first denied to packraft Rio Chacabuco due to conservation reasons, but after I mentioned that I came along all the track with my gear and rangers et sector jenimeni they were fine with me going on that river. The river is a bit unspectacular. I left at the River Out {35} [119.8/277] and I followed the old trail/road to Park Ranger, Refuge, Camp {35} [123.2/263]. There is a new picknick hut and I spend the night in there with a spectacular view of the valle chacabuco to the rims of campo hielo norte. The next day I continued the old track right side of the river (not in the GPT track files) until the bridge {35-10} [4.7/265]. Track is still in good conditions and occasionally used by the horses and guanacos there. A wonderful hike with massive views. I than continued on the CONAF trail (also not in the GPT track files) to Park administracion at Lodging $$$ {35-03} [1.9/340]. Would not recommend the restaurant. 65 $ for a 3 course meal but nothing fancy. Better spend for dinner in Cochrane. But for a post hike drink at the bar it is a lovely place and staff is kind. Also liked the museum and stayed the night at the campsite approximately 2 km away. The puma still seems to be there occasionally. Next day I hitchhiked out to Cochrane.

*2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-23/ 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris

Got a taxi for the first 8 kilometers of the roadwalk. Nobody present at the farm where the dirtroad starts to go uphill, gates easy to get through, friendly dog. We hiked just 6km and made camp by a stream.

The next day passed the puesto at km15.8, owner seemed friendly and waved. Slowly climbed up to the plateau, lots of water everywhere, very few snowpatches en route. Perfect day - not much wind. Saw lots of guanacos, hares, flamingos. Moving cross-country was ok throughout. Climbed a few barbed-wire fences. Finally found the dirt road, hiked to camp at km42.9.

In the morning hitched a ride to the park entry with a ranger. We had no online booking as we didn't know when we'd arrive, they had us make one on site. Super friendly guys, said that there is currently fewer visitors than normally at this time. The route between Rio San Antonio crossing and Camp Raleigh has been changed, partially new trail built; follows mainly the Lago Esmeralda trail. There is now a brand new hanging bridge over Rio San Antonio right next to Camp Raleigh, avoiding all the needless crossings.

After the camp there trail seems new in places, but then resorts to many rivercrossings again. The way up and down the Puertozuela La Gloria is steep and loose. After Lago Verde there are a million more crossings until you turn South. Here the trail is not much maintained, lots of fallen trees. The next 25km to Casa Piedra the trail is a bit harder to see at first but then gets much better. The guy (not a ranger) at Casa Piedra informed us that the Siete Lagos trail is closed but couldn't say why. It's definitely overgrown in parts, lots of fallen trees - need to keep track on the gpx at all times. After settler at km135.2 the trail has been recently maintained and bushes cut.

For photos and stories, you can follow us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures

==Season 2022/23==

* 2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena

We enjoyed this section a lot, especially with all the beautiful autumn colors in early April and basically without people until the last part before Cochrane. PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.

Just like others we found the plateau between km 20-28 very very windy. Definitely don’t count with camping there. We found a good spot right after the secound pass, aprox. 500m down the hill where you can find a wind protected place. The descent down is a little slow but with nice views, guanacos, horses.. simply amazing. Once back on the road, it’s not too far to the PN entrance where we met a guard, but fortunately were able to get a permission as described above. The trail from Lago Jeinemeni was one of our favorites. All the fords were easy, but expect quite slow progress in the CC parts. We camped in a forrest at km 81 where is a destroyed refugio but still a good spot for camping. The rest of the trail to Casa Del Piedra is again straightforward and the landscape is somehow more dry. We didn’t cross the first bridge but went with the J option which turned out to be a good decision as we met a xx of guanacos that let us come really close to them. Closed and locked refugio still provides a good shelter, but when open it must be a perfect stop in the middle of this long section. Water was turned off as well but there is a stream behind the house.

We spent the next night on the beach of Lago Gutierrez where is enough space to build a tent - bushes around the trail are otherwise very thorny and sharp. After the ascent to the pass was a good stream of water, probably the last place to safely take unfiltered water for the next couple of kms. The trail from there leads around all the lakes and is nice and easy. We spent the night in a refugio at km 134. This one was the only one standing from what we have seen and its a good shelter when it rains, however we decided to stay in our tent anyway. You can make fire inside. Closest water is actually the one in a lake uphill, the stream on the other side of the path was very dirty and hard to gather anyway.

From there its a one more day until the finish with a good pace. We haven’t met the settler Daniel, but he’s definitely still living there. Beautiful beach of Lago Cochrane and from there we started to meet more and more tourists, doing just a day hike or some circuit around the lake - might be a good option as well in this beautiful region. The last kms felt a little long for us as we were looking forward to have some rest and enjoy all the fun in town. At the official campsite were a few people but no one asked us about anything. There are nice toilets and shower. From there its around 30m to Cochrane. Good to remember they celebrate Easter holidays in Chile as well, but we still managed to find some shop and bakery open.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* 12/03/2023 - 18/03/2023 / RR SOBO / Jakub+Veronika:

Doing section 35 was due to closure of the Patagonia NP caused by heavy rains with helicopter rescue of several tourists from Valle Hermoso quite complicated, we did walk all we could in Tamango reserve and later (when it was opened) in Chacabuco valley. Be sure not to miss the museum. It's really worth it. The northern part was opened as the last one, that's why we've skipped it and hitchhiked back to Caretera. All paths in great condition. When going from Tamango to Chacabuco there's one suggestion:

It seems that on RR (35, km 141) ends new 11km long track ”Huemules” which starts at the parking in Chacabuco valley on RP (35, km 132.5). That trail might be a nice alternative to RR (mud road) leading over private land of settler David Huemul.

*8.02. - 05.03.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO, Chile Chico - Cochrane

We started in Chile Chico around 5 pm walking the first km on the road. After a while we got a ride to the Bahía Jara cross and camped a few hundred meters further near the street (we carried water from Chile Chico).

The ascent to the plateau is mostly easy dirtroad walking and the last CC part easy to navigate. The whole stretch on the plateau until the street at km 41.5 we had extreme wind, which made walking super tiring and nearly blew us away a few times. We found a tiny and steep, but wind protected place to set up our tent at around km 28 in the ridge dug by the river. We had to get a bit inventive to set it up and to be able to sleep properly there. There were almost no other places that were protected by the wind until you get off the plateau. As almost all previous entries say, it's better to camp off the plateau. But it's really worth doing it because you can see Guanacos and flamingos on it :)

When we reached the street at km 41.5 we were lucky and a car passed by a few minutes later, which brought us to the entrance of Parque Patagonia. We payed 15k CLP p.p. and walked to the camp Raleigh at Lago verde. There are some sheltered places to set up the tent, with an unfamiliar amount of people for the GPT. Lago Verde is beautiful though.

The next day involves lots of river- and stream crossings and it started to rain not particularly heavy, but after some hours we were completely wet. Therefore the rivercrossing at km 82.6 was really hard for Anna (1,63 m) but we managed by inertlocking our arms and doing it step by step slowly. After that the trails get really good and you can walk way faster. We camped at the unofficial camp site at km 84.7.

We had good weather the next day and the trail was really good until Lago Gutierrez. Up to the pass the trail gets a bit worse with some navigation issues, but you always find a good path again. As the others wrote there are only some tiny streams within the first km after the pass until the next Laguna, so we filled up our bottles there and camped somewhere in the forest soon afterwards once it started to rain again.

The next day there were still not too much water sources and we fetched the first water at the first Laguna which wasn't super easy to access. The trail until Lago Cochrane wasn't in bad condition neither. We also took Option L, which follows the 'regular' siete lagunas trail. The stretch from Lago Cochrane until the Conaf office at the end of the lake is absolutely amazing with great views of one of the clearest lakes in the world. We camped at km 145.7 and took a bath in the lake.

The last 8 km to Cochrane went super fast on an easy trail until Conaf and 4 km road walking to the town, so happily we could escape from the starting rain.

* 20 to 24 of February 2023 / Silke & Hans / Loop - Fachinal -> Chile Chico

We didn't do the regular route, but read about an intresting loop starting in Fachinal and entering the normal route at Valley Hermoso. We then continued along the regular route to the entrance at Laguna Jeinimeni, and back to Chile Chico. The first 3 days from Fachinal we didn't see any other hikers, but it was pretty clear why. The trail was completely overgrown, full of fallen trees and a lot of the time there is no trail at all. But we managed our way through pretty good, and is was an awesome alternative to enter the Park. We recorded our GPX for others, waypointed some POI's and added some photo's to it: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/114121493

DAY 1 / 18km / +740m /
Although we heard of a bus to Fachinal from Chile Chico, nobody really appeared to know any information about it.. In the terminal the people we spoke said there were none. So we started hitchhiking the following morning. But after 3-4h of no luck we went back to the terminal, and all of a sudden there was a bus leaving at 11:30. 10.000 pesos pp, a little expensive but being unsuccesfull hitchhiking we took it. We had lunch at the turnoff, and starting hiking around 13:00. The first part is on a clear double track, but soons turns into a clear singletrack. We took the wrong intersection twice (waypointed on our GPX). We camped right before the first big river crossing. There is one steel cable, so if you bring a harness you could tiroller across.

DAY 2 / 22km / +1100m /
First up, we crossed the river. The water level didn't seem a lot lower than the day before, and at the deepest part it was about halfway our thighs. After taking another wrong intersection and backtracking, we reach the second river crossing. Again a steel cable is provided but the crossing was pretty straightforward, and the water level was only slighty above our knees. Just across the river is a an old cabin, and then short after a very new refugio (locked, used by a trekking agency). The trail gets super dense after this, climbs steeply on the mountain side and dissapears completely on numerous occasions. After the climb it flattens out, opens up and you reach a laguna. After the laguna it's the easiest to just follow the river bed down to the open valley floor (possible sheltered campsite in the forest). Follow the valley floor to another amazing laguna where you can camp near a second locked refugio.

DAY 3 / 14km / +440m /
We started the day with a side-trip to a mirador looking over the glacier high above. Takes about 1,5-2 hours return. We then packed up camp and headed for Valley Hermoso. You pass another beautiful laguna and follow the river down to the main valley. Lots of river crossing here. We camped at the Refugio Valley Hermoso, arriving earlier than expected.

DAY 4 / 15km / +200m /
Very short and easy daytrip to another laguna. About 3 hours return. We just chilled the rest of the day.

DAY 5 / 36km / +830m /
Final day along the normal route to the entrance of Laguna Jeinimeni. The day started off with some heavy rain for a couple of hours, but all the river crossings were still very doable. We arrived at the entrance around 13:00, and there was no sign of anybody leaving soon. So we decided to continue hiking untill we could find a ride along the way. We ended up hiking an extra 19km before finally a car was willing to take us along. There is an established campsite at the entrance for 3000 pesos pp.

* 19 to 24 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO, regular route

Not too much to add on this one. I had a good time but the section felt long.

On the way up to the first plateau there were a few somewhat sheltered places to camp past the puesto. I camped around km 19, just before the last steep climb up to the plateau. Lots of streams around there.

None of the river crossings went above my knees, after a dry week.

I liked the detour up to the Lago Jeinemeni mirador. I also took variant I out and back to a glacier lake, I'm less sure whether that was worth it. I couldn't find any real trail, it was nice easy cross country walking through the woods followed by some open rocky ground. The glacial lake was cool, but not as spectacular as some of the ones I've seen in other sections.

I camped at the casa de piedras and took a luxurious warm shower. The ranger said you're supposed to pay at the office in valle Chacabuco, but since our route doesn't go there she just let me stay for free. She also said that sendero de siete lagunas (our route) was closed, but that I could do it since I had my gps and satellite communicator. She made it sound tough/dangerous though it turned out to be fairly quick trail.

Not much water or campsites along the siete lagunas. There's a nice campsite at the tip of the pencil lake just after the (still intact!) refugio at 133.9.

* 2023-Feb-12-19 / NOBO / RR + Option 35-L / Ondrej and Bara / Cochrane - Chile Chico / 7.5 days

We really enjoyed this section! We went from Cochrane to Chile Chico. Our favourite parts were the descent through Valle Hermoso and the descent on the cross country section to Chile Chico. We spent 7.5 days on this section, taking a relaxed pace and including a half day break.

We only had to pay 9,000 CLP per person entrance fee at the Cochrane park gate (sector Tamango). We then showed the pass three days later to a ranger at Casa de Piedras and he let us go. The final checkpoint for us was the CONAF park exit/entrance at Lago Jeinemeni. The ranger there didn’t want to see our pass at all, he just asked from where we hiked (we said Casa de Piedras).

Some details: - Starting from Cochrane, the trail is easy walking up until km 144.9. As you leave Lago Cochrane, the trail is harder to follow. Fortunately this lasts only up to km 138, where the trail becomes easy to follow again. We camped next to the refuge on km133.9. The refuge has a good roof and can serve as an emergency shelter. There is no good water next to it though - we needed to climb the hill to the laguna to refill. - From roughly km 125 to km 99, the RR follows the old Siete Lagunas trail, which is not maintained anymore. Expect some fallen trees and slightly overgrown parts but the trail is beautiful and easy to navigate in general. - We took Option L to cut some overgrown road walking as recommended by others. We really liked it. - We camped next to the destroyed refuge at Laguna Guagua (km 118.3) and really loved the place - there is an amazing pebble beach at the laguna. - If you don’t want to camp at Casa de Piedras, there is a place for a small tent and a stream at roughly km 97 (-47.07463, -72.20439). We camped there. - The river crossings in Valle Aviles and Vale Hermoso were maximum to our knees. The deepest one was at Lago Verde (km 66.1). However, the river levels can change rapidly when it rains the days before - do check the weather. - We camped at the eastern shore of Lago Verde (km 61.7; campsite Raleigh) and really loved it - it has picnic tables and a spacious cooking/eating shelter. - We hitchhiked the part on the road between km 53 and 41.5. Few cars go by but the hitch was easy - we stopped the first car. - The cross country section from km 41.5 is very different from the rest - semi-desert like and lots of animals. We saw llamas, flamimgos, condors and hares (among sheep, cows and horses). - Between km 38 and 33 the path goes along a fence. We had to get over the fence once (we scrambled below it without problems). - If you are going NOBO, expect stunning views of the General Carrera Lake and Torres del Avelano when coming from the last pass (km 20.8) down to Chile Chico.

A ranger in Casa de Piedras wanted to prevent us to walk the RR NOBO from Casa de Piedras to Valle Hermoso. He claimed that route is closed now as the rivers are too high to cross. To avoid conflict, we said that we will only do the “loop trail” which is basically the RR from Casa de Piedras up until the bridge where the RR joins Option J. The Option J is then used to return back to Casa de Piedras. When doing the loop, we met several hikers in the opposite direction who confirmed that all river crossings are fine. In light of this we decided to continue on the RR and indeed the deepest ford was to our knees. Therefore if faced with a ranger claiming that the rivers are too high, we suggest to start with the loop trail (rangers should be okay with that) and get more info on the river levels from the hikers going the opposite direction.

*2023 last week January NoBo (6 days but could have very easily been done in less) / Helen and Craig + (Caro, Ali and Gabby)

>Such lovely camp sites. Beautiful places to stay the night the whole way around

>Very very easy trails. River crossing section isn't bad at all and the Valle hermosa lives up to its name.

>1st and last camp site particularly lovely

>Keep eyes peeled for pumas! I would have easily missed the sighting if I hadn't been looking the right way at the right time. They were super close. 10m or less away. Two cubs outside the refugio at casa peidra. Not where they are commonly seen in the park at all Aparently around west winds camp they are more commenly seen.

>Museum in the middle of the section worth checking out. Very visual and quite hard hitting environmental museum

> Can hitch easy enough to Chile Chico but leave last camp early in the morning. There's often a driver with a 4x4 who drives hikers in to the park and will take you back for 10,000p/p. Hikers who were a few hours behind us had no luck hitching as demand can often overtake spaces.

*27 of January to 1 of February 2023 / Véronica & Zach / GPT35 RR SOBO / 5.5 days

Route: Chile Chico - Lago Jeinimeni - Valle Hermoso - Casa de Piedra - Lago Cochrane - Cochrane

What a beautiful and diverse stretch of the GPT! I hiked half of this section with Zach, up to Casa de Piedras at km 98.9. We were unable to get a hitch out of Chile Chico, so we ended up walking the road to where the trail begins. No navigation issues, but the entire cross-country section to Río de las Nieves (waypoint at 42.7 km) is very exposed and was very windy when we crossed. We ended up camping at the water at 23.9 km, but the wind blew very strongly all night and I was worried it might take my tent. If you can, it is better to camp off this plateau unless the weather is calm. Lots of guanaco trails to follow :)

At the CONAF office at km 53.0, we each paid 9,000 clp for entry to the national park, plus 6,000 clp for passage/camping along the trail to Casa de Piedras in the Valles Hermoso and Aviles. Beautiful trail the whole way, popular and well-maintained, with cairns and markers to follow. There is an awesome shelter and camping area with picnic tables on the eastern shore of Lago Verde, at the end of Option D. In my opinion it was nicer than the popular refugio in Valle Hermoso (km 68.1) that everyone talks about.

We had no issues with fords, except the one at km 82.6 which flows into Río Aviles. It was the end of a warm sunny day, so the flow was quite high and strong. Had I been on my own I would have camped on the north side and waited till morning to cross. However, this time I was able to cross by linking arms with Zach as he is much taller than me and was more stable in the current.

At Casa de Piedras, Zach and I parted ways as he wanted to packraft down the Río Chacabuco. The ranger at the Casa told me the Sendero de las Siete Lagunas (which begins at km 99.5) was no longer maintained. This is true, there were stretches in the desertlike brush that were hard to follow, and I checked the GPS frequently. Generally it was better when the trail went into wooded areas. I also found this trail to be dry — the only water I found was the water from the lagunas and a tiny trickle about a kilometer south of the pass. Lots of spiky plants that get stuck in your socks and shoes. I took Option L to cut out some overgrown minor road walking. It's sad that this trail is being neglected and left to be swallowed up by nature, because otherwise it is quite scenic.

The horse trail that goes from the puesto of Daniel Huemul (km 143.3) to Lago Cochrane was also rough and overgrown. Everything gets easier once you reach Lago Cochrane though, nice, maintained trails all the way to Cochrane with beautiful places to camp along the lake.

* GPT35 / Yannic & Mirjam / 2022-Dec-13

Much is already detailed below, so we will keep it short

1 day: from Chile Chico to the entrance of the National Park. We camped one night before the pass at S 46.61639 W 71.81632. Water right next to the camp. Pass is very windy.

2 days: from the National Park to the Refugio. Nice refugio with small house where you can make a fire inside to dry things. From the Refugio to Casa Piedra is possible in one day. But it is a long day with many kilometres.

2.5 days: Casa Piedra to Cochrane. Leaving Casa Piedra, after a few hundred metres the trail leaves the Minor Road and enters the trail (where there is a large stone marker). The trail is officially closed and partly in bad condition. There are many fallen trees on the trail, some of it is overgrown and not completely clear. We therefore checked the GPS regularly. We took OH-TL-V{35-L}, which saves a few kilometres of (overgrown) minor road.
We spent one night at Laguna Guagua (Refugio is completely destroyed) and one at Lago Cochrane.
When we left the national park, no one was at the office. We therefore simply went through...

* GPT35 Variant P, Option 3, 3C, 3D / Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck / 2022-Dec-12 and 13 / 1.5 days

While waiting in the village Cochrane for our friends to catch up, we did a little 1.5 day hike higher up next to Lago Cochrane that we visited at least 3 times by packraft in past years. For the first time this year we waked with a light backpack without packrafting gear.

We took Variant P eastbound that slowly climbs on a gravel road to an altitude of 500 m and then continues as a panorama trail in this altitude.

Apparently, this is not authorized access to Parque Patagonia (Sector Tamango) and two gates need to be climbed but there was nobody to be seen on this route. The normal access to the park is down next Rio Cochrane and Lago Cochrane.

Nearly the entire route was scenic and worth the effort.

The settler “El Húngaro” apparently sold the land and became part of the national park. There is an open building that might be used as a refuge in case of emergency but camping is probably more comfortable.

The refuge at {35-P} [4.0/501] is collapsed but camping is pleasant on this pasture.

The trail section OH-TL-V {35-03} [0.0+5.2] is not maintained for several years making this route inconvenient to walk. The route south of both lakes is easy walking.

As long as Parque Patagonia does not challenge hikers to make a full traverse from Cochrane to Chile Chico it is prudent to take the official route which is the current regular route and pay the entrance fee near Cochrane when hiking northbound.

But should longer multi-day traverses be denied, then it might be less bothersome to take Variant P which avoids the entrance.

Packrafters can travel east and westbound on Lago Cochrane and will not pass any park entrance.

* Alice & Florian / 4 to 10 November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound

Here's our story of our GPT35. We really enjoyed this section, it is really diverse, beautiful landscapes and we saw heaps of animals.

As we wanted to do the trail in the northbound direction, we took the bus from chile chico to Cochrane, arriving in chile chico from argentina from the south (border o'higgins closed...). It tales 4 hours and leaves on sunday at 14 (return Monday 7 Am), Monday 16 (return Tuesday 7 AM),Wednesday and Friday 7 Am (return 16).

We took the option north of Cochrane because we were not sure if they would allow us to sleep in the tamango reserve. But, indeed you have to pass a no entry sign, a gate and a sign saying that entering the park that way is prohibited so we do not recommend it when it is written on the conaf website that it is allowed to sleep in tamango section.

We took the sendero de los huemules and slept at camp 1 waypoint. There was plenty of water at that time and a beautiful view.

After that we took the option OH-TL-V 35-P to avoid going downhill. The entry of this trail is about 150m before what is indicated on the GPT so be aware. I don't think the trail is an official one from the park so you have to fight your way through some bushes. But apart from that, it is clear. Then we joined the regular route, which since the 2022 version does follow the siete lagunas trail. You will join the siete lagunas trail at the kilometer 11 more or less. We then camped around the km 13 of the 7 lagunas trail.

We found water just before climbing at the pass at S47°06.0856' W072°17.592' and there is more at the top. However, it is true that it is drier on the other side of the pass, so if you are going Southbound, pack enough water from Lago Gutierrez to climb the pass.

We spent the third night at casa de Piedra where you have all facilities (electricity, hot shower, kitchen). Unfortunately for us they were on strike so they wouldn't allow us to go further on the trail. We did anyway as going out to jeiminini or through the road to chacabuco would take the same time.
By the way various national parks - including Torres del Paine were on strike at the moment.

The second part in the aviles valley is really clear, the trail is really nice and easy and with a lot of water available. Exiting the casa de piedra you should take the option OH-TI-V 35-J instead of the regular route, it will save you 600 m and two river crossings, and the view is similar. Starting at km 20, you will have to reduce your pace because the trail is busy with a lot of fallen trees, bushes and rocks. Between the km 22 and 23 of the valle aviles trail, the trail has been swept away by the river this winter so you have to cross the river two more times to go around. The kilometers indications disappear more or less after the pass, at km 25.

After that you enter the valle Hermoso. We camped at the waypoint 17/Camp Valle Hermoso but we do not recommend it. It was really small and close to the river, so if there is a sudden level rise because of heavy rain or a flooding because of a glaciar outburst (GLOF), you might get wet... Better sleep st the small caban near km23 if you don't think you will reach the refugio in valle Hermoso.

Once you reach Lago Verde, follow the GPT track and not the trail that leads to the lake, or you will have to turn back. After the pass it's more river crossings but you can save some kilometers in the river bed by taking the option OH-TI-V 35-E and then OH-TI-V 35-D until the rio jeimenini (the first part of the option OH-TI-V 35-D does not exist anymore). We did not have any trouble to cross the Rio between the 2 lakes even though we were in the middle of the afternoon. It was about thigh deep for me but I'm tall.

After that it's really easy to the Parc entrance. We went back to Chile Chico walking on the road instead of taking the cross country option, because0 there were still snow on the mountain. The first part is still pretty until the intersection, once you enter the valley of the Rio it is a bit more monotonous. Halfway there is an access to an annex of the national park, to go see the Cueva de las manos and valle lunar.

* Adrien Kunzli / 31-Oct-2022-04-November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound

All rivers crossing are easy to pass at this time of year. One tricky passage on the snow at the entrance of lago verde, very steep, but it was to avoid walking in the lake (frozen feet early in the morning).

No guards at the entrance at Tamango so i didnt pay the fee but didnt get my pass. Tamara gently gave me one at the camping of casa del piedra (apparently if i didnt have this pass i could not be admitted at Jeinimeni.) At Jeinimeni pass, again, nobody. So i were to the houses near and finaly find the guy. He took my pass and i get no fee in this NOBO direction.
Nice shortcut after the bridge of Rio de las Nieves (S 46° 47.274', W 071° 54.665') that can avoid you a little bit of the 4x4 unfinshing road and get you directly into the heart of this amazing and beautifull last part. So:
In front of the end of the bridge, you go up the big hill and go diagonally (or directly if you feel better) to join the path (pretty wild) of the gps (S 46° 45.843', W 071° 54.359'). Small stretches of paths are drawn rather well along this shortcut.

Not much good water between the bridge (brown water) and the puesto but the the puesto's water is of much better quality.

==Season 2021/22==

* GPT 35: Parque Patagonia/ Exploration Route via Valle Maullín Grande/ 2022 March-12/ 4 days / Tobias Schorcht, Jonas Grünewald

We hiked from Maullín Grande to Cochrane by chance. I always wanted to do the stretch from Chile Chico to Cochrane, but we had just 4 days left… When we hitchhiked northbounded from Villa O’Higgins, we luckily got picked up by Pascual Diaz, who is a experienced Mountain Guide (company Kalem) and took us all the way to his refugio in Maullín Grande. He also explained us, how to reach Cochrane on time while doing that crossing. The next day he took us to the end of the Road, where we started hiking around midday (-46,80390, -72,42001). It was a easy walk to the end of the Valley where we camped (-46,87872, -72,34138). The following day was hard, but we went up to the pass (1430m) in perfect sunshine. At (-46,87234, -72,30906) you will face a waterfall in a steep canyon. We recommend to walk on the left side (northwest) through the forest until you meet the riverbed again. The other side is also possible (we went there), but you have to climb higher in difficult terrain. From that point you can easily do a cross country walk up to the pass, where you have to cross the Glaciar (without cracks). It was absolutely stunning! Going down to the laguna is quite steep. I would not do it in bad weather conditions. When you meet the laguna, you can either walk on the left or right side. Both options are not easy. We crossed on the right (southern) side, which is ok in good weather conditions. There is one river crossing in between, which could be impossible with more water. Now we think it would have been easier to walk on the left (northern) side, although we would have had needed to cross the river before and after the laguna. Packrafting is an option as well, but since it only 1.5 km we don’t think it is worth it. Camped in a forest close to the regular trail dry and save. All in all we recommend this option to experienced hikers in good weather conditions. The hike to Cochrane was hard, because we had just 2 days for 80km. So we hitchhiked to the museum of Parque Patagonia and we even saw a puma at the Westwind Campsite! It seems like this puma shows up there regularly. I waited for that moment almost 5 months. My dream came true on my very last evening in nature. Thank you Patagonia for this great gift. 🙏

*Christmas2021 / GPT 35, NOBO, participants Janna & Matthias, dec 2021, duration 6 days from Cochrane to Conaf center at Lago Jeinimeni, then hitchhiked to Chile Chico

As recommended by a friend we opted for the following route through the Parque Nacional de Patagonia which is highly recommendable (first two days mainly GPT variants and options, afterwards GPT regular routes. There are several marked senderos in the beginning as 5 Los Huemules, 8 los Pumas, 7 los Guanacos, sendero 9, sendero Lagunas Altas etc.) as you can see in our attached tracking file.

All in all the trails were easy to find, some seemed to be still unhiked this year. To enter the park from Cochrane we had to pass a prohibition sign and climb over a no entrar gate. We didn't meet anyone on the first day, the settler didn't seem to be around. The following days we met two to three other hikers per day, but no rangers until the end at Conaf Center near Lago Jeinimeni, where we easily paid the park fees in arrears (8000 pp park entrance fee and an additional 6000 pp overnight stays in the park). We deliberately skipped the Conaf center in Valle Chacabuco on the advice of our friend.

Good to know:
- There is no water anymore at S 47.198557, W 72.474927 near the camping site but instead at S 47.203460, W 72.480747 and S 47.179332, W 72.465807
- There were many lagoons on our day 3 that weren't visibly well marked neither on our apps nor on the Garmin GPS.
- All the marked refugios along the trail are heavily damaged except Casa de Piedra
(closed on the 24th of dec) and Refugio Valle Hermoso (where we could even dry our
soaked shoes from the many river crossings next to the fireplace).
- From the refugio Valle Hermoso we did a side trip to the first glacier lake in the Valle
Estero Ventisquero without all the luggage.
- The río Jeinimeni water level was up to our waists and strong (note it had rained the
night before). According to others it was supposed to be knee-deep.
- Hitchhiking from Conaf center Jeinimeni to Chile Chico is possible when camping or day guests are leaving. As we arrived later in the afternoon we spent an extra night there.
- The supermercado sur in Chile Chico sells gas.

Track files and waypoints: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-98Ou9jk0porCVRp7CSFZ-KciXQ2PBzD

[[file:Greater Patagonian Trail (7).jpg|thumb|GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]

*30 Nov RR 5 days SOBO Frank

From Chile Chico I got the Bahia Jara bus & got off at the junction, saves a 6KM roadwalk. Walked 2KM up the road then on trail to the high plateau. The settler before the pass wasn't there but his dogs were a bit territorial so I avoided the puesto. I went across the high plateau & camped a bit before the second puesto in one long day. Camp marked on track file below the pass was not very good (boggy & sloping) so I continued down to camp near the stream. The second puesto is above the RR & not visible from it. Camping on the high plateau definitely not recommended. It is very exposed & the wind can & will knock tents. On day 2 I got to CONAF, they said a puma had been there every day the week before. Continued with many river crossings to the hut. There are trails marked with ribbons on LHS of the river SOBO, they go in on small loops which avoid some of the river crossings. Nearing the hut there is a stream flowing into the lake. At the lake it was too deep to cross. Bush bashed for about 40 metres to reach the ford. Camped outside the hut. Several river crossings on the third day. The double crossing is the crux. I avoided it by going over the bluff on LHS of river with a bit of tree bashing but I don't recommend that. The bluff descent is cliffed off with only a narrow breach where you can downclimb on trees. The breach is not obvious from above. Better to ford the river - it was running high but I met several hikers who had crossed it. Got to Casa de Pidera in 1 long day from the hut. You can cook in the Casa (they have a gas stove, electricity & showers) but have to camp outside. There are some trees to shelter from the wind. On the fourth day I started walking Sendero de Siete Lagunas (SSL) but I was using the 2019 track file which doesn't show the SSL. It had not been walked much recently & the route was not obvious. At the lake I lost the SSL in guanaco tracks. I continued around the lake & walked out about 2KM to the road. The descent to the road was cliffed off but I found a way down in a gully. Then I walked out the road past a meadow where hundreds of guanaco were grazing. Past the meadow I went in left on a side road to rejoin the RR. On the fifth day I walked past Daniel Huemul's puesto & was lucky to meet Daniel who was riding out & he showed me the way. He said the direct RR which goes right from the puesto is now overgrown & disused. Instead we went out to the left. There is a small road which goes in a loop & turns towards Lago Cochrane but with his directions I was able to shortcut it. I paid 15,000 CLP for entry & camping at CONAF Lago Jeinemeni & they didn't charge me anything at Casa de Piedra.

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

*2020-Mar-18 , Tyler Wood, 7 Days Sobo

Amazing section to end my season with. I got a couple short hitches on the way up past Chile Chico. Up past the last puesto are some great areas to camp along a big boulder field. Maybe 2 km more. Beautiful and surrounded by Guanacos. Plenty of water too. Up near the top of the pass was very cold, but very beautiful, and even saw a bunch of flamingoes in the lakes.

On the way down the pass I tried to find the fore-mentioned route to the puesto to take the road the rest of the way down and didn’t really have any luck...found my way anyways and camped down by Rio sucio under a willow.

Into Jenimeni I got another little hitch. Once you cross the deeper river by Laguna esmeralda just keep those water shoes on, you’ll be crossing many more times.

I also was told by a ranger that sendero siete Lagunas wasn’t habilitado, but went for it anyways. Water is Not after Laguna Gutiérrez for a while, so make sure you fill up around there. After the pass there are a few more small
Streams to fill up.

The road walking to Tmango reserve seemed to take forever, but Walking/camping by Lago Cochrane was all worth it. At puesto Huemul Is when I got my first advice that the corona virus was a big deal. The woman told me there were 3 confirmed cases in Cochrane, I went there and booked my tickets straight home. Hasta le vista baby!!!

*2020-February-08 / 7 days / Southbound

Long and beautiful section. No major difficulties. Great diversity. Without hitchhiking, it took me 173 kilometers.

1st part / 2 days / Chile Chico to Div 217
At the beginning of the cross country, valley full of Guanacos. I camped just after the puesto, about 2 kilometers after the beginning of the cross country, before the pass, where there are still rocks to protect from the wind.
As related in previous reports, after camp 279, you will stumbled upon a fence. Go on the East along the fence, cross it, and you will find a trail to the next Puesto and then the trail goes down from the puesto to the dirt road. You will avoid cross country this way.

2nd part / 2,5 days to Casa de Piedra
Popular part. Groups of hikers along the way. 8000CLP entrance fee + 6000 CLP for 2 nights sleeping inside the park.

3rd part / 2,5 days / Sendero de las 7 lagunas
After Casa de Piedra, I followed the GPS regular route which took me to the beginning of the Sendero of 7 lagunas. CONAF said it was not "habilitado" but it is actually well marked. The good thing is that there will be no hikers on this part, except when you approach the end, along the lago Cochrane. The trail is very different from the GPS tracks but no difficulties to find it. So, don't worry not having the GPS tracks.
At S 47º08.015' W 72º18.948', there is a nice place to camp and also, the trail will merge with the optional route OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 You can then follow this track and then go back to the Regular Route to reach Cochrane.

* Martin Lizondo / 28-Jan-2020 / Regular Hiking Southbound

The section took me 6 days. Some tips:

The first part from Chile Chico has a +20 km cross country walk. The wind is extremly strong and the route very high, with no forest protection. I recommend spending the first night behind the trees of El Ciprés (the settler Orlando Vazquez allows people to pass and is very kind) or near to the puesto at the end of the minor road at 46º 36' 5,3" S, 71º 48' 45,05" O (Miguel Pacheco is very kind too). Enough water all along the route.

The Jeinimeni section of Parque Patagonia is very easy and well marked. Entrance to foreigners costs CLP 8000 plus 6000 if spending the night. There’s a shelter with place for fire and tents after 18 km.

Valley Aviles to Casa de Piedra is also easy and beautifull, with many free camping spots. Casa de Piedra costs CLP 8000 per night.

The rest of the gps track is very different from the actual trail, called “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas”. I recommend taking this route instead of the old gps track, as it’s very well maintained. At Lago la Pepa ( 47º 7' 45,19" S, 72º 18' 41,54" O ) the trail crosses an old overgrown minor road, which coincides with the gps track and takes to Puesto Huemul (47º 11' 25,31" S, 72º 26' 6,98" O). If going to the left, you’ll reach the puesto, if going up to the right you’ll end the official “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas” near to the main park center. Other hiking options are possible from that point, but the regular route to Puesto Huemul is the shortest.

From Puesto Huemul, the trail goes down near to the lake Cochrane through Sendero “Coigües” and “Carpinteros”. Well marked and signed, this trails will take you to the start of Tamango section, very near to Cochrane.

*2020-Jan-27 / GPT35 New Route: Lago General Carrera (Fachinal) to Parque Patagonia (Lago Jenimeni or “Casa de Piedra”) / 5 days / Meylin Meylin Elisabeth Ubilla González and Jan Dudeck

Based on a recommendation from Tobias Hellwig W and Daniel Mahn Borkowsky we investigated a new route that I did no had on my radar until a few weeks ago. This route provides an alternative access from the southern coast of Lago General Carrera into the Parque Patagonia and is of interest for packrafters and hikers.

The route is a traditional animal trail that was used by the settlers of Fachinal to drive cattle to a large summer pasture that is now part of Parque Patagonia (sector Jenimeni). With the enforcement of keeping domestic animals out of the protected park area a 5 km trail section inside Parque Patagonia lacks maintenance but is still quite well traversable for GPT standards. Apart from this short trail section most of the route is very scenic and nice to walk but practically unknown. Only one tourism company runs guided hiking trips along this route about once per months. Apart from this occasionally use the full traverse seams not to be done anymore.

Due to lack of trail markings we spend about one extra day in searching and following the poorly maintained 5 km trail section but with our GPS record other hikers should struggle much less than we did and will be able to walk in 4 to 5 moderate hiking days from Fachinal at the southern shore of Lago General Carrera to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia in the Valle Chacabuco.

We hiked the route northbound as we considered the option to cross Lago General Carretera at its shortest narrow by packraft. Here the lake is only 3.2 km wide but we finally did not cross this rather dangerous lake due to suboptimal wind conditions.

Fachinal to Rio Aviles River Crossing:

A well maintained “cattle highway” leads from Fachinal from the road bridge of Rio Aviles along the western/southern side of Rio Aviles to the limit of Parque Patagonia. This roughly 20 km long trail section gets regularly cleaned with chain saws to facilitate access to the pastures along Rio Aviles for free-rooming cattle. Most of the trees that have fallen on the trail have been cut to keep the trail easily traversable. Some hikers might find the “pointless up and down” annoying but this trail was created by men that move on horses that did not had to ascent and descent themself. About 1 km before crossing the Rio Aviles two signs indicate the limit of Parque Patagonia (Sector Jenimeni) and ban access for unauthorized people and domestic animals (without providing any clue who might be authorized and who not ;-). From the park limit the trail descents steep to Rio Aviles but remain well maintained to ford.

This trail section requires two possibly demanding river crossings that can become impossible during snow melt in spring, after heavy rain or on the afternoon or evening of hot days (melting water from glaciers!). To keep the route traversable in such circlesumstances the tourism company has installed in both locations steel ropes (to cross these two rivers hooked up in harness to the steel rope without even touching the water).

Rio Aviles River Crossing to the Pass (1150 m above Sea Level):

After the river crossing the trail condition suddenly changes. Fallen trees don’t get cut anymore and undergrowth is not cleaned by machete. It’s mainly the remaining path on the ground that indicates the former animal trail. Advance is slow and in various locations care must be taken to not loose the trail. Here you will need to climb over fall trees and push occasionally through dense vegetation until reaching an altitude of 950 m. At this altitude the forest floor opens up (no dense undergrowth any more) and the trail disappears completely. Here walking becomes easy again. Walk the following kilometer through the open forest following roughly the GPS track until reaching the end of the forest and the small lake after the 1150 m high pass.

An advise for northbound hikers:

Finding the first signs of the trail in the open forest was a struggle as we had no information where exactly the trail starts to descent. I searched at least 3 or 4 hours in a 400 m wide and 1200 m long section of open forest till I found a first old machete mark on a tree that indicated the location of the trail. Carefully searching and following similar marks I finally found the descending trail.

Searching northbound we lost the trail again when reaching Rio Aviles at the bottom of the valley and searched half a day for the correct continuation. A well visible and noticeably used trail next to Rio Aviles leads directly to an suitable river ford but from there a well maintained trail continues 1 km in the wrong direction (upstream). Only after bushbashing 1 km along the river shore downstream we recognized with surprise a second river ford (now the correct river ford) which connects to the well maintained trail section in the correct direction. In hindsight we understood that the well maintained trail simply continues upstream along Rio Aviles and that this trail crosses twice the Rio Aviles. Due to a partially not evident trail section on the other side of we did not recognize this when hitting this trail on the bottom of the valley and took the wrong direction to the wrong river ford.

Now hikers with our GPS record and a GPS should not struggle to find and follow this trail as we did.

Pass (1150 m above Sea Level) to Valle Hermoso Refugio:

After leaving the forest at the 1150 m high pass the most scenic part of this route starts. A roughly 15 km long cross country route leads over pastures and river sediments past 3 lakes and two glaciers to the Refugio Valle Hermoso. Occasionally signs of a trail are visible but due to the open landscape a continuous trail neither exists nor is needed.

Near the Refuge Valle Hermoso this route connects with regular route that leads along Valle Aviles (diffrent river with the same name!) to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia.

Access to Trail Head at Fachinal:

There are multiple buses per week from Chile Chico to Puerto Tranquilo on the Carretera Austral that pass Fachinal.

Monday and Friday runs a subsidized bus from Chile Chico to Fachinal and back to Chile Chico (One round trip in the morning and a second one in the evening).
8:30 leaving Chile Chico
9:30 in Fachinal
11:00 returning to Chile Chico
17:30 leaving Chile Chico
18:30 in Fachinal
20:00 returning to Chile Chico

If you wish to cross Lago General Carrera to continue hiking in the Cordillera Avellano North of the lake speak to Carloz Amoros in Fachinal (mobile: +56 9 76267029 / price around 30‘000 CLP) or Pascual Diaz de Mallin Grande.

*2020-January 23 / Oreste Marquis/ Northbound : 8 days

Going northbound. I followed the route until the second settler at the puesto Tejuela. From there, until the optional route @35-02e#001,
I could not find the approximate trail in the files. I manage to find another one which is call siete Lagunas. It is really easy to follow and really beautiful! I find it near km 18 and keep walking on it until km 38. It is the end of it and is at the campground near Lago Gutiérrez. For more informations go reed Martin post in recent alerts and suggestion. I met him on the trail and he updated the wikiexplora before me. From the beginning to Casa Piedra took me 3 days. Then I hiked to the end of the reserve in an other 3 days. Lots of rivers to cross but felt pretty safe for all of them even the one higher between Lagos Jeinimeni and Verde. The cross country part the next day was my favorite of the hole trip! Awesome views, a lot of wildlife, just need to check a little bit more the gps! Last day, I headed to Chile Chico without any problem. Overall, I love it! Enjoyed it as much as GPT40.

* 2020-January / Matthieu / Northbound : 7.5 days "tranquilito"
Incredible trekk, lots of different type of views and soil, my favorite since El Chalten. Money required for passing by the reserves !!
I hitchhiked 10 km on the road to Casa Piedra, and 12 km between Jeinemini qnd the beginning of the trail that goes north in the mountain to join Chile Chico.

'''1st part : Reserve Tamango''' : 6000 CLP the entry
I took the old "Huemul trail" in the Tamango reserve, taking the left route at the "Camp 284" It is an old trail for 4x4, so very easy, and closed to vehicles now.

'''2nd part : The road to Casa Piedra :''' the rangers I crossed were all agreed that it was not permitted to camp aside of the road (so the information is different that in Nov). One officiql camping at the end of Tamango reserve (WestWind) and one at Casa Piedra 26 km after. 8000 CLP each. At Westwind (not verified, only inforñqtions for guardaparques): no accomodations, only baño. At Casa Piedra . real big house, hot shower, electricity, place to cook.

'''3rd part : Reserve Jenemeni :''' Entry 8000 CLP. For the camping, the ranger told me that it was permitted to camp wherever I wanted, so the information differs too from november. And at the exit, I told the ranger about my "savage" camping in the conversation, and he didnt tic at all, so no stress. The rangers are very nice !
Good trekk, easy to follow. One very good refuge in the valle Hermoso where fire is possible. a more open refuge/camping site by the east shore of Lago Verde.
Many river crossing, all safe except one, before the Laguna Esmeralda. Strong current, and people choose many different way with different profundness. Better do it in the morning, being a glaciar river (I could effectively compare between late in the afternoon and the morning and it is very different).

'''Last part, to Chile Chico by the mountain :''' Amazing views, totaly different climate, more dry and with only bushes.
At the beginning of the Cross country after the 4x4 road, I would advise to go a few meters west from the GPS tracks, to the east side of the river. There is effectively a fence on the west ridge, and a good trail on the east ridge that can avoid you the difficult crossing of many bushes, and that goes directly to the puesto.
Two puestos, The 135 of metal being used by the locals (real bed inside), so just putted the tent outside. The second one 134 is actually a real house. Two mens were here when I arrived, working with the animals. I could put the tent near the house and take water from the sink outside. Many dogs, all nice.

*GPT35 Summary:
Mum, Sis and I. Southbound. 11 days.*

Well. What an interesting and varied section. Also the longest walk I think we'd all done. It took us 11 days in the end with a couple of longer side trips. Interestingly, when we emerged from the park it was closed, there was martial law in effect, a curfew in place. Borders closed. Only a week to get back to Santiago to catch the last flights back to Australia... Anyway. We're heading back now. Got temperature tested as we reentered Chili Chico this morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake mañana in la mañana. No buses out of town. Enough rambling...

As always, thanks to the others before us that have taken the time to comment and provide feedback. Here's my two cents.

Firstly here are some landmarks to make it easier for others to orient themselves:

El Ciprés
http://ge0.me/oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés
ge0://oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés
Casa Piedra
http://ge0.me/4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29
ge0://4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29
Westwind
http://ge0.me/wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind
ge0://wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind

Camping in Chile Chico:
El Carro is supposed to be the cheapest place to stay in town. Though if you want a hot shower it's the same as Kon-aiken next door. We stayed at neither so can't really comment, but there were a lot of people staying at Kon-aiken and next to none at El Carro which might be indicitive of value for money or just the fact they are a little closer to the centre of town.
El Carro however was the only one willing to look after some things for us.
We also visited a hostel, but the owner was unfortunately very rude.

El carro
4k frío
5k caliente
1k por día por mochila

Kon-aiken
5k pp / noche
No baggage service

Part 1: Chili Chico to Jeinemeni
In the end we decided to cache things in the bushes just outside of town. Mum and my sister got a lift to the Bahía Jara cruz whist I was caching. Unfortunately I had to walk all the way to El Ciprés where my mum and sister had been enjoying a nice conversation with Orlando Vazquez who allowed us to pass but emphasised the dangers and didn't really recommend crossing.
Passing through the gate a couple of utes were exiting. Apparently there is a new mine up in the mountains and they didn't really want us to walk up. They admitted they just worked there.
Turn off the main rd that assumably heads to the mine about here: -46.57775, -71.82666
Goucho Miguel Pacheco passed us on the way up herding some cattle and we talked to him at the puesto for a while. We also gave him one of the Australian coins we'd been carrying around. He seemed to believe it was everyone's right to pass. "People pass through here all the time "."Just yesterday a lad passed by "."It's the shortest route across the mountains "
Anyway. We camped in the rocks just outside the park boundaries (as mentioned by??).
We then camped two nights up on the windy plateau. Our side trip to Valle Lunes was amazing. I'd recommend it. But be careful with wind. Oh and did anyone mention the guanacos?
Unfortunately I think the water wasn't very clean on this part. Sheep, cows, guanacos, birds... It's the first time in Chile I've wished I took my water filter along. We had some sore stomachs.
Dropping down the other side we hit the mentioned fence (about here -46.72574, -71.90211). We crossed, but would recommend following it to the left until you get to a corner. I'm not sure where it starts, but there is a trail running on the outside of the fence to the puesto. We then followed a sheep trail that ran high on the left (east) of the valley. Very good but it bypassed Las Abutardas completely and seemed to be heading towards Laguna los Flamencos instead. We ended up cutting down to the road where León passed us heading into town, a little confused why we hadn't taken the 'proper trail'.
We camped the night at the Río El Sucio camp. Not really recommended.
We walked the road and stayed at Río Las Vacas for a bit which is at the border of the park and a nicer place to camp. (There is a good stream between the two).

Part 2: Jeinemeni to Casa Piedra
It was 8k to enter the park (for foreigners) and an additional 6k for camping in Valle Hermoso. The section to the refugio (-46.84092, -72.14078) was very nice. This is the only shelter still standing. The others included in the track files were not really enterable.
Heading to the refugio (where everyone seems to camp) you cross the small ankle deep creek exiting Laguna Esmeralda and then the deeper river between Lago Verde and Jeinemeni. This might have been the trickiest but when we crossed it wasn't really bad. We then had two more smaller crossings before passing through Portezuela La Gloria (1100m) to cross Estero Ventisquero and the other river running down the main valley.
The next day we did the popular side trip to the glacier in this valley: -46.80924, -72.20116
We wondered if it was the same way Jan et al entered recently?
From the refugio to Valle Avilés there are no compulsory river crossings if you stick to the somewhat scrubby trail to the left (south) of the valley. The first crossing we did was Río Avilés shortly followed by the tributary. So only 8 crossings (wet feet) on the RR.

We walked from the refugio to Casa Piedra in a day. It was closed so we camped on the other side of the Rd.

Part 3: Casa Piedra to Cochrane
From casa piedra we took the aforementioned Sendero las Siete Lagunas. It is not it the track files but indeed very well marked with numbered markers every kilometre. I'll upload a kml with the markers I recorded as well as some of the water bodies I sketched.
After the stream running into Lago Gutiérrez there wasn't much water until Lago la Pepa.
You will briefly intersect with a road here: -47.14006, -72.37138. The road seems to run down to Puesto Tejuela coinciding with OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 which I think is incorrectly labelled as TL. Part of RH-TL-I@35-99.0+30.0 too should be marked as MR. You'll intersect this road before taking it down to Lago Cochrane.
We passed the occupied dwelling (Daniel Huemul?) but the man wearing a shirt emblazoned with Parque Patagonia seemed afraid to approach us (another hint the world had gone Corona crazy). He wouldn't let us take the RR so we followed the road for a bit before taking another newly made trail also not in the track files.
Everything after that was very easy to follow.
Everything was abandoned at the entrance and the gate locked. People avoided us on the streets and covered their face when passing us.
We grabbed some needed food (we were very short after 11 days!) and got on the WiFi. Wow! How things had changed! Martial law in place and a curfew in place, we slept under a bridge with some Colombians and caught a bus back to Chili Chico in the morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake tomorrow now.

Links to files :
Kilometre markers: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fuzt4xacxjjvvg4/kms.kmz?dl=0
Water bodies: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uz1ei95s1913xvb/water.bodies.kmz?dl=0
Other planning:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uk9ym56gufwk4zq/planning.kmz?dl=0

* 2019 Dec / Olrik/ Northbound

Amazing part of the GPT, from Cochrane ou enter in the Tamango national reserve and pay 6000CLP for the entrance. We took several trails to get to Valle Chacabuco : Las Aguilas, Las Lengasm Los Condores, Laguna Altas. Great views. We had a snow storm at the pass though. There you end up in a paid campground. From there we walked the dirt road to Casa Piedras in Valle Chacabuco, it was beautiful with lots of guanacos. Then we took the Las Aviles sendero. We camped near the first river crossing as it was late and waited for the morning to cross. It is normally not possible to wild camp in the park but the guardaparque told us to camp there if the river crossing is not sage. The rest of the trail is easy to follow next to the river. There is a pass then you descend to Valle Hermoso and to lago Jeinimeni. It was just gorgeous and easy to follow with great weather. Be aware of the numerous river crossings. In lago Jeinimeni there is a paid campground. From there you can hitchhike, walk, or pay a transportation at the entrance of the park (15000Clp pp) but I'm not sure if this is a regular thing. We ended up hitchhiking to get to Chile Chico.

* 2019-Nov-28/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 5.5days/ Northbound / Regular Hiking Route (Cochrane to Chile Chico) with OH-32-2-#003/

This section might have been our favorite out of the whole Group H, where the diversity of the landscape was our favorite part (also including weather and trail conditions). The NP was entered at Tamango just outside of Cochrane. Registration is mandatory, the entrance fee is at 8000 CLP. The ranger asked us to explain our route and since the regular Hiking route did not seem familiar to them, they told us to take the optionals route going north over the pass to WestWinds campground and then do the road walk Eastwards.
The pass had some snow patches on the Southern side but was easy to traverse. At the Valley Chacabuco (another entrance to the national park) we got asked for our permits and the route we plan on taking. We heard different information on if it is allowed to camp at the road or not (there were signs that told us not to do it but the ranger said it is okay). After the roadwalk, we passed another ranger station where we had to register and sign a responsibility form telling that we plan to leave at Lago Jeinimeni (and telling that we're only allowed to stay at designated campsites). The hike from there is extremely beautiful and super diverse, the trail well maintained. The rivers were at higher flow but all fords were doable.
We camped next to the Refugio because we still weren't sure about the camping rules (other hikers we met said they were told that it's okay to camp everywhere along the river). Leaving the NP at Lago Jeinimeni was straightforward, but it's mandatory to check out at the rangers office. The cross-country section after the road walk was a bit slow on the way up due to many bushes and hilly terrain. We found a nice trail next to the fence leading up to the puesto when going up the ridge on the Eastern side. From the puesto we took a short steep uphill after which the terrain became more open and easier to travel on. It was very windy and snowy in the mountains, which made it difficult to walk at times and it felt like the temperatures were rather low.
The lagoons on the way up are filled with exciting birds (flamingos!) and guanacos are running around on the whole plain. Once reaching the plateau we headed down in a pretty straight line which was easier than the uphill until we reached the road

==Season 2018/19==

==Season 2017/18==

==Season 2016/17==

=Resupply and Accommodation=

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

*Chile Chico has two supermarkets. Sell gas.

*Cochrane is a decently sized town with three mid-range supermarkets. The largest one, which is a grocery and department store, is located adjacent to the town square. There are many lodging and restaurant options. Be sure to withdraw an ample amount of money here because most of the businesses in the next town, Villa O’Higgins, only take cash and there is no ATM.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

=Transport to and from Route=

=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=

*2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena

PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]

=Images=

GPT36P (Rio Baker)

2024-01-04T02:03:02Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT36P (Rio Baker)

2024-01-04T02:02:32Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT35 (Parque Patagonia)

2024-01-03T17:51:02Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

{{Table all GPTs}}

 

Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format:

''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias

Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.

Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').

=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

==Season 2023/24==

*2023-Dec-21 / 8 day / Hiking + Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Option 10 + Old and new tracks to Administration Parque Patagonia Valle Chacabuco / Tom Pieper

Most have been described by Kris and Stina. The plateau and the entire track is awesome. After the kind Arriero at the puesto {35} [15.8/1075] (actually its his house) I found it a little bit tricky to find a good route first but then just ascended and found a nice cross country route. Camped before the plateau. There are nice spots just before 1400 m, after that its just rocky until you descend to the Water {35} [23.9/1586]. Camp {35} [32.6/1300] was a little bit swampy. Found a better spot 300 m south. Try to be early at the road if you want to hitchhike. I was lucky and got the last car passing at 14.00 to the park at day. On the 25/12 the park entrance (but only the entrance) is always closed! Keep in mind if you come around christmas. At the park entrance you must disinfect your packrafting gear due to Didymo algae. I could not packraft lago jenimeni and verde due to wind but its still stunning. Between Water {35} [75.5/937] and Ford {35} [79.3/846] there is a approx. 3-4 steep bluff. I felt really uncomfortable with my heavy backpack as a lot of erosion happened to the steep ‘steps’. Maybe exploring an additional bush bashing route is feasible here. The ford was rather deep and could be a problem for shorter persons but I crossed in the evening, so in the morning it should be fine. Collapsed Refuge {35} [81.0/819] makes a nice camp spot. The other forts were fine. Stayed one night at Casa Piedra were I met Tobi and Fangwen and spend dinner and breakfast together the next day. CONAF first denied to packraft Rio Chacabuco due to conservation reasons, but after I mentioned that I came along all the track with my gear and rangers et sector jenimeni they were fine with me going on that river. The river is a bit unspectacular. I left at the River Out {35} [119.8/277] and I followed the old trail/road to Park Ranger, Refuge, Camp {35} [123.2/263]. There is a new picknick hut and I spend the night in there with a spectacular view of the valle chacabuco to the rims of campo hielo norte. The next day I continued the old track right side of the river (not in the GPT track files) until the bridge {35-10} [4.7/265]. Track is still in good conditions and occasionally used by the horses and guanacos there. A wonderful hike with massive views. I than continued on the CONAF trail (also not in the GPT track files) to Park administracion at Lodging $$$ {35-03} [1.9/340]. Would not recommend the restaurant. 65 $ for a 3 course meal but nothing fancy. Better spend for dinner in Cochrane. But for a post hike drink at the bar it is a lovely place and staff is kind. Also liked the museum and stayed the night at the campsite approximately 2 km away. The puma still seems to be there occasionally. Next day I hitchhiked out to Cochrane.

*2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-23/ 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris

Got a taxi for the first 8 kilometers of the roadwalk. Nobody present at the farm where the dirtroad starts to go uphill, gates easy to get through, friendly dog. We hiked just 6km and made camp by a stream.

The next day passed the puesto at km15.8, owner seemed friendly and waved. Slowly climbed up to the plateau, lots of water everywhere, very few snowpatches en route. Perfect day - not much wind. Saw lots of guanacos, hares, flamingos. Moving cross-country was ok throughout. Climbed a few barbed-wire fences. Finally found the dirt road, hiked to camp at km42.9.

In the morning hitched a ride to the park entry with a ranger. We had no online booking as we didn't know when we'd arrive, they had us make one on site. Super friendly guys, said that there is currently fewer visitors than normally at this time. The route between Rio San Antonio crossing and Camp Raleigh has been changed, partially new trail built; follows mainly the Lago Esmeralda trail. There is now a brand new hanging bridge over Rio San Antonio right next to Camp Raleigh, avoiding all the needless crossings.

After the camp there trail seems new in places, but then resorts to many rivercrossings again. The way up and down the Puertozuela La Gloria is steep and loose. After Lago Verde there are a million more crossings until you turn South. Here the trail is not much maintained, lots of fallen trees. The next 25km to Casa Piedra the trail is a bit harder to see at first but then gets much better. The guy (not a ranger) at Casa Piedra informed us that the Siete Lagos trail is closed but couldn't say why. It's definitely overgrown in parts, lots of fallen trees - need to keep track on the gpx at all times. After settler at km135.2 the trail has been recently maintained and bushes cut.

For photos and stories, you can follow us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures

==Season 2022/23==

* 2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena

We enjoyed this section a lot, especially with all the beautiful autumn colors in early April and basically without people until the last part before Cochrane. PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.

Just like others we found the plateau between km 20-28 very very windy. Definitely don’t count with camping there. We found a good spot right after the secound pass, aprox. 500m down the hill where you can find a wind protected place. The descent down is a little slow but with nice views, guanacos, horses.. simply amazing. Once back on the road, it’s not too far to the PN entrance where we met a guard, but fortunately were able to get a permission as described above. The trail from Lago Jeinemeni was one of our favorites. All the fords were easy, but expect quite slow progress in the CC parts. We camped in a forrest at km 81 where is a destroyed refugio but still a good spot for camping. The rest of the trail to Casa Del Piedra is again straightforward and the landscape is somehow more dry. We didn’t cross the first bridge but went with the J option which turned out to be a good decision as we met a xx of guanacos that let us come really close to them. Closed and locked refugio still provides a good shelter, but when open it must be a perfect stop in the middle of this long section. Water was turned off as well but there is a stream behind the house.

We spent the next night on the beach of Lago Gutierrez where is enough space to build a tent - bushes around the trail are otherwise very thorny and sharp. After the ascent to the pass was a good stream of water, probably the last place to safely take unfiltered water for the next couple of kms. The trail from there leads around all the lakes and is nice and easy. We spent the night in a refugio at km 134. This one was the only one standing from what we have seen and its a good shelter when it rains, however we decided to stay in our tent anyway. You can make fire inside. Closest water is actually the one in a lake uphill, the stream on the other side of the path was very dirty and hard to gather anyway.

From there its a one more day until the finish with a good pace. We haven’t met the settler Daniel, but he’s definitely still living there. Beautiful beach of Lago Cochrane and from there we started to meet more and more tourists, doing just a day hike or some circuit around the lake - might be a good option as well in this beautiful region. The last kms felt a little long for us as we were looking forward to have some rest and enjoy all the fun in town. At the official campsite were a few people but no one asked us about anything. There are nice toilets and shower. From there its around 30m to Cochrane. Good to remember they celebrate Easter holidays in Chile as well, but we still managed to find some shop and bakery open.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* 12/03/2023 - 18/03/2023 / RR SOBO / Jakub+Veronika:

Doing section 35 was due to closure of the Patagonia NP caused by heavy rains with helicopter rescue of several tourists from Valle Hermoso quite complicated, we did walk all we could in Tamango reserve and later (when it was opened) in Chacabuco valley. Be sure not to miss the museum. It's really worth it. The northern part was opened as the last one, that's why we've skipped it and hitchhiked back to Caretera. All paths in great condition. When going from Tamango to Chacabuco there's one suggestion:

It seems that on RR (35, km 141) ends new 11km long track ”Huemules” which starts at the parking in Chacabuco valley on RP (35, km 132.5). That trail might be a nice alternative to RR (mud road) leading over private land of settler David Huemul.

*8.02. - 05.03.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO, Chile Chico - Cochrane

We started in Chile Chico around 5 pm walking the first km on the road. After a while we got a ride to the Bahía Jara cross and camped a few hundred meters further near the street (we carried water from Chile Chico).

The ascent to the plateau is mostly easy dirtroad walking and the last CC part easy to navigate. The whole stretch on the plateau until the street at km 41.5 we had extreme wind, which made walking super tiring and nearly blew us away a few times. We found a tiny and steep, but wind protected place to set up our tent at around km 28 in the ridge dug by the river. We had to get a bit inventive to set it up and to be able to sleep properly there. There were almost no other places that were protected by the wind until you get off the plateau. As almost all previous entries say, it's better to camp off the plateau. But it's really worth doing it because you can see Guanacos and flamingos on it :)

When we reached the street at km 41.5 we were lucky and a car passed by a few minutes later, which brought us to the entrance of Parque Patagonia. We payed 15k CLP p.p. and walked to the camp Raleigh at Lago verde. There are some sheltered places to set up the tent, with an unfamiliar amount of people for the GPT. Lago Verde is beautiful though.

The next day involves lots of river- and stream crossings and it started to rain not particularly heavy, but after some hours we were completely wet. Therefore the rivercrossing at km 82.6 was really hard for Anna (1,63 m) but we managed by inertlocking our arms and doing it step by step slowly. After that the trails get really good and you can walk way faster. We camped at the unofficial camp site at km 84.7.

We had good weather the next day and the trail was really good until Lago Gutierrez. Up to the pass the trail gets a bit worse with some navigation issues, but you always find a good path again. As the others wrote there are only some tiny streams within the first km after the pass until the next Laguna, so we filled up our bottles there and camped somewhere in the forest soon afterwards once it started to rain again.

The next day there were still not too much water sources and we fetched the first water at the first Laguna which wasn't super easy to access. The trail until Lago Cochrane wasn't in bad condition neither. We also took Option L, which follows the 'regular' siete lagunas trail. The stretch from Lago Cochrane until the Conaf office at the end of the lake is absolutely amazing with great views of one of the clearest lakes in the world. We camped at km 145.7 and took a bath in the lake.

The last 8 km to Cochrane went super fast on an easy trail until Conaf and 4 km road walking to the town, so happily we could escape from the starting rain.

* 20 to 24 of February 2023 / Silke & Hans / Loop - Fachinal -> Chile Chico

We didn't do the regular route, but read about an intresting loop starting in Fachinal and entering the normal route at Valley Hermoso. We then continued along the regular route to the entrance at Laguna Jeinimeni, and back to Chile Chico. The first 3 days from Fachinal we didn't see any other hikers, but it was pretty clear why. The trail was completely overgrown, full of fallen trees and a lot of the time there is no trail at all. But we managed our way through pretty good, and is was an awesome alternative to enter the Park. We recorded our GPX for others, waypointed some POI's and added some photo's to it: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/114121493

DAY 1 / 18km / +740m /
Although we heard of a bus to Fachinal from Chile Chico, nobody really appeared to know any information about it.. In the terminal the people we spoke said there were none. So we started hitchhiking the following morning. But after 3-4h of no luck we went back to the terminal, and all of a sudden there was a bus leaving at 11:30. 10.000 pesos pp, a little expensive but being unsuccesfull hitchhiking we took it. We had lunch at the turnoff, and starting hiking around 13:00. The first part is on a clear double track, but soons turns into a clear singletrack. We took the wrong intersection twice (waypointed on our GPX). We camped right before the first big river crossing. There is one steel cable, so if you bring a harness you could tiroller across.

DAY 2 / 22km / +1100m /
First up, we crossed the river. The water level didn't seem a lot lower than the day before, and at the deepest part it was about halfway our thighs. After taking another wrong intersection and backtracking, we reach the second river crossing. Again a steel cable is provided but the crossing was pretty straightforward, and the water level was only slighty above our knees. Just across the river is a an old cabin, and then short after a very new refugio (locked, used by a trekking agency). The trail gets super dense after this, climbs steeply on the mountain side and dissapears completely on numerous occasions. After the climb it flattens out, opens up and you reach a laguna. After the laguna it's the easiest to just follow the river bed down to the open valley floor (possible sheltered campsite in the forest). Follow the valley floor to another amazing laguna where you can camp near a second locked refugio.

DAY 3 / 14km / +440m /
We started the day with a side-trip to a mirador looking over the glacier high above. Takes about 1,5-2 hours return. We then packed up camp and headed for Valley Hermoso. You pass another beautiful laguna and follow the river down to the main valley. Lots of river crossing here. We camped at the Refugio Valley Hermoso, arriving earlier than expected.

DAY 4 / 15km / +200m /
Very short and easy daytrip to another laguna. About 3 hours return. We just chilled the rest of the day.

DAY 5 / 36km / +830m /
Final day along the normal route to the entrance of Laguna Jeinimeni. The day started off with some heavy rain for a couple of hours, but all the river crossings were still very doable. We arrived at the entrance around 13:00, and there was no sign of anybody leaving soon. So we decided to continue hiking untill we could find a ride along the way. We ended up hiking an extra 19km before finally a car was willing to take us along. There is an established campsite at the entrance for 3000 pesos pp.

* 19 to 24 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO, regular route

Not too much to add on this one. I had a good time but the section felt long.

On the way up to the first plateau there were a few somewhat sheltered places to camp past the puesto. I camped around km 19, just before the last steep climb up to the plateau. Lots of streams around there.

None of the river crossings went above my knees, after a dry week.

I liked the detour up to the Lago Jeinemeni mirador. I also took variant I out and back to a glacier lake, I'm less sure whether that was worth it. I couldn't find any real trail, it was nice easy cross country walking through the woods followed by some open rocky ground. The glacial lake was cool, but not as spectacular as some of the ones I've seen in other sections.

I camped at the casa de piedras and took a luxurious warm shower. The ranger said you're supposed to pay at the office in valle Chacabuco, but since our route doesn't go there she just let me stay for free. She also said that sendero de siete lagunas (our route) was closed, but that I could do it since I had my gps and satellite communicator. She made it sound tough/dangerous though it turned out to be fairly quick trail.

Not much water or campsites along the siete lagunas. There's a nice campsite at the tip of the pencil lake just after the (still intact!) refugio at 133.9.

* 2023-Feb-12-19 / NOBO / RR + Option 35-L / Ondrej and Bara / Cochrane - Chile Chico / 7.5 days

We really enjoyed this section! We went from Cochrane to Chile Chico. Our favourite parts were the descent through Valle Hermoso and the descent on the cross country section to Chile Chico. We spent 7.5 days on this section, taking a relaxed pace and including a half day break.

We only had to pay 9,000 CLP per person entrance fee at the Cochrane park gate (sector Tamango). We then showed the pass three days later to a ranger at Casa de Piedras and he let us go. The final checkpoint for us was the CONAF park exit/entrance at Lago Jeinemeni. The ranger there didn’t want to see our pass at all, he just asked from where we hiked (we said Casa de Piedras).

Some details: - Starting from Cochrane, the trail is easy walking up until km 144.9. As you leave Lago Cochrane, the trail is harder to follow. Fortunately this lasts only up to km 138, where the trail becomes easy to follow again. We camped next to the refuge on km133.9. The refuge has a good roof and can serve as an emergency shelter. There is no good water next to it though - we needed to climb the hill to the laguna to refill. - From roughly km 125 to km 99, the RR follows the old Siete Lagunas trail, which is not maintained anymore. Expect some fallen trees and slightly overgrown parts but the trail is beautiful and easy to navigate in general. - We took Option L to cut some overgrown road walking as recommended by others. We really liked it. - We camped next to the destroyed refuge at Laguna Guagua (km 118.3) and really loved the place - there is an amazing pebble beach at the laguna. - If you don’t want to camp at Casa de Piedras, there is a place for a small tent and a stream at roughly km 97 (-47.07463, -72.20439). We camped there. - The river crossings in Valle Aviles and Vale Hermoso were maximum to our knees. The deepest one was at Lago Verde (km 66.1). However, the river levels can change rapidly when it rains the days before - do check the weather. - We camped at the eastern shore of Lago Verde (km 61.7; campsite Raleigh) and really loved it - it has picnic tables and a spacious cooking/eating shelter. - We hitchhiked the part on the road between km 53 and 41.5. Few cars go by but the hitch was easy - we stopped the first car. - The cross country section from km 41.5 is very different from the rest - semi-desert like and lots of animals. We saw llamas, flamimgos, condors and hares (among sheep, cows and horses). - Between km 38 and 33 the path goes along a fence. We had to get over the fence once (we scrambled below it without problems). - If you are going NOBO, expect stunning views of the General Carrera Lake and Torres del Avelano when coming from the last pass (km 20.8) down to Chile Chico.

A ranger in Casa de Piedras wanted to prevent us to walk the RR NOBO from Casa de Piedras to Valle Hermoso. He claimed that route is closed now as the rivers are too high to cross. To avoid conflict, we said that we will only do the “loop trail” which is basically the RR from Casa de Piedras up until the bridge where the RR joins Option J. The Option J is then used to return back to Casa de Piedras. When doing the loop, we met several hikers in the opposite direction who confirmed that all river crossings are fine. In light of this we decided to continue on the RR and indeed the deepest ford was to our knees. Therefore if faced with a ranger claiming that the rivers are too high, we suggest to start with the loop trail (rangers should be okay with that) and get more info on the river levels from the hikers going the opposite direction.

*2023 last week January NoBo (6 days but could have very easily been done in less) / Helen and Craig + (Caro, Ali and Gabby)

>Such lovely camp sites. Beautiful places to stay the night the whole way around

>Very very easy trails. River crossing section isn't bad at all and the Valle hermosa lives up to its name.

>1st and last camp site particularly lovely

>Keep eyes peeled for pumas! I would have easily missed the sighting if I hadn't been looking the right way at the right time. They were super close. 10m or less away. Two cubs outside the refugio at casa peidra. Not where they are commonly seen in the park at all Aparently around west winds camp they are more commenly seen.

>Museum in the middle of the section worth checking out. Very visual and quite hard hitting environmental museum

> Can hitch easy enough to Chile Chico but leave last camp early in the morning. There's often a driver with a 4x4 who drives hikers in to the park and will take you back for 10,000p/p. Hikers who were a few hours behind us had no luck hitching as demand can often overtake spaces.

*27 of January to 1 of February 2023 / Véronica & Zach / GPT35 RR SOBO / 5.5 days

Route: Chile Chico - Lago Jeinimeni - Valle Hermoso - Casa de Piedra - Lago Cochrane - Cochrane

What a beautiful and diverse stretch of the GPT! I hiked half of this section with Zach, up to Casa de Piedras at km 98.9. We were unable to get a hitch out of Chile Chico, so we ended up walking the road to where the trail begins. No navigation issues, but the entire cross-country section to Río de las Nieves (waypoint at 42.7 km) is very exposed and was very windy when we crossed. We ended up camping at the water at 23.9 km, but the wind blew very strongly all night and I was worried it might take my tent. If you can, it is better to camp off this plateau unless the weather is calm. Lots of guanaco trails to follow :)

At the CONAF office at km 53.0, we each paid 9,000 clp for entry to the national park, plus 6,000 clp for passage/camping along the trail to Casa de Piedras in the Valles Hermoso and Aviles. Beautiful trail the whole way, popular and well-maintained, with cairns and markers to follow. There is an awesome shelter and camping area with picnic tables on the eastern shore of Lago Verde, at the end of Option D. In my opinion it was nicer than the popular refugio in Valle Hermoso (km 68.1) that everyone talks about.

We had no issues with fords, except the one at km 82.6 which flows into Río Aviles. It was the end of a warm sunny day, so the flow was quite high and strong. Had I been on my own I would have camped on the north side and waited till morning to cross. However, this time I was able to cross by linking arms with Zach as he is much taller than me and was more stable in the current.

At Casa de Piedras, Zach and I parted ways as he wanted to packraft down the Río Chacabuco. The ranger at the Casa told me the Sendero de las Siete Lagunas (which begins at km 99.5) was no longer maintained. This is true, there were stretches in the desertlike brush that were hard to follow, and I checked the GPS frequently. Generally it was better when the trail went into wooded areas. I also found this trail to be dry — the only water I found was the water from the lagunas and a tiny trickle about a kilometer south of the pass. Lots of spiky plants that get stuck in your socks and shoes. I took Option L to cut out some overgrown minor road walking. It's sad that this trail is being neglected and left to be swallowed up by nature, because otherwise it is quite scenic.

The horse trail that goes from the puesto of Daniel Huemul (km 143.3) to Lago Cochrane was also rough and overgrown. Everything gets easier once you reach Lago Cochrane though, nice, maintained trails all the way to Cochrane with beautiful places to camp along the lake.

* GPT35 / Yannic & Mirjam / 2022-Dec-13

Much is already detailed below, so we will keep it short

1 day: from Chile Chico to the entrance of the National Park. We camped one night before the pass at S 46.61639 W 71.81632. Water right next to the camp. Pass is very windy.

2 days: from the National Park to the Refugio. Nice refugio with small house where you can make a fire inside to dry things. From the Refugio to Casa Piedra is possible in one day. But it is a long day with many kilometres.

2.5 days: Casa Piedra to Cochrane. Leaving Casa Piedra, after a few hundred metres the trail leaves the Minor Road and enters the trail (where there is a large stone marker). The trail is officially closed and partly in bad condition. There are many fallen trees on the trail, some of it is overgrown and not completely clear. We therefore checked the GPS regularly. We took OH-TL-V{35-L}, which saves a few kilometres of (overgrown) minor road.
We spent one night at Laguna Guagua (Refugio is completely destroyed) and one at Lago Cochrane.
When we left the national park, no one was at the office. We therefore simply went through...

* GPT35 Variant P, Option 3, 3C, 3D / Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck / 2022-Dec-12 and 13 / 1.5 days

While waiting in the village Cochrane for our friends to catch up, we did a little 1.5 day hike higher up next to Lago Cochrane that we visited at least 3 times by packraft in past years. For the first time this year we waked with a light backpack without packrafting gear.

We took Variant P eastbound that slowly climbs on a gravel road to an altitude of 500 m and then continues as a panorama trail in this altitude.

Apparently, this is not authorized access to Parque Patagonia (Sector Tamango) and two gates need to be climbed but there was nobody to be seen on this route. The normal access to the park is down next Rio Cochrane and Lago Cochrane.

Nearly the entire route was scenic and worth the effort.

The settler “El Húngaro” apparently sold the land and became part of the national park. There is an open building that might be used as a refuge in case of emergency but camping is probably more comfortable.

The refuge at {35-P} [4.0/501] is collapsed but camping is pleasant on this pasture.

The trail section OH-TL-V {35-03} [0.0+5.2] is not maintained for several years making this route inconvenient to walk. The route south of both lakes is easy walking.

As long as Parque Patagonia does not challenge hikers to make a full traverse from Cochrane to Chile Chico it is prudent to take the official route which is the current regular route and pay the entrance fee near Cochrane when hiking northbound.

But should longer multi-day traverses be denied, then it might be less bothersome to take Variant P which avoids the entrance.

Packrafters can travel east and westbound on Lago Cochrane and will not pass any park entrance.

* Alice & Florian / 4 to 10 November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound

Here's our story of our GPT35. We really enjoyed this section, it is really diverse, beautiful landscapes and we saw heaps of animals.

As we wanted to do the trail in the northbound direction, we took the bus from chile chico to Cochrane, arriving in chile chico from argentina from the south (border o'higgins closed...). It tales 4 hours and leaves on sunday at 14 (return Monday 7 Am), Monday 16 (return Tuesday 7 AM),Wednesday and Friday 7 Am (return 16).

We took the option north of Cochrane because we were not sure if they would allow us to sleep in the tamango reserve. But, indeed you have to pass a no entry sign, a gate and a sign saying that entering the park that way is prohibited so we do not recommend it when it is written on the conaf website that it is allowed to sleep in tamango section.

We took the sendero de los huemules and slept at camp 1 waypoint. There was plenty of water at that time and a beautiful view.

After that we took the option OH-TL-V 35-P to avoid going downhill. The entry of this trail is about 150m before what is indicated on the GPT so be aware. I don't think the trail is an official one from the park so you have to fight your way through some bushes. But apart from that, it is clear. Then we joined the regular route, which since the 2022 version does follow the siete lagunas trail. You will join the siete lagunas trail at the kilometer 11 more or less. We then camped around the km 13 of the 7 lagunas trail.

We found water just before climbing at the pass at S47°06.0856' W072°17.592' and there is more at the top. However, it is true that it is drier on the other side of the pass, so if you are going Southbound, pack enough water from Lago Gutierrez to climb the pass.

We spent the third night at casa de Piedra where you have all facilities (electricity, hot shower, kitchen). Unfortunately for us they were on strike so they wouldn't allow us to go further on the trail. We did anyway as going out to jeiminini or through the road to chacabuco would take the same time.
By the way various national parks - including Torres del Paine were on strike at the moment.

The second part in the aviles valley is really clear, the trail is really nice and easy and with a lot of water available. Exiting the casa de piedra you should take the option OH-TI-V 35-J instead of the regular route, it will save you 600 m and two river crossings, and the view is similar. Starting at km 20, you will have to reduce your pace because the trail is busy with a lot of fallen trees, bushes and rocks. Between the km 22 and 23 of the valle aviles trail, the trail has been swept away by the river this winter so you have to cross the river two more times to go around. The kilometers indications disappear more or less after the pass, at km 25.

After that you enter the valle Hermoso. We camped at the waypoint 17/Camp Valle Hermoso but we do not recommend it. It was really small and close to the river, so if there is a sudden level rise because of heavy rain or a flooding because of a glaciar outburst (GLOF), you might get wet... Better sleep st the small caban near km23 if you don't think you will reach the refugio in valle Hermoso.

Once you reach Lago Verde, follow the GPT track and not the trail that leads to the lake, or you will have to turn back. After the pass it's more river crossings but you can save some kilometers in the river bed by taking the option OH-TI-V 35-E and then OH-TI-V 35-D until the rio jeimenini (the first part of the option OH-TI-V 35-D does not exist anymore). We did not have any trouble to cross the Rio between the 2 lakes even though we were in the middle of the afternoon. It was about thigh deep for me but I'm tall.

After that it's really easy to the Parc entrance. We went back to Chile Chico walking on the road instead of taking the cross country option, because0 there were still snow on the mountain. The first part is still pretty until the intersection, once you enter the valley of the Rio it is a bit more monotonous. Halfway there is an access to an annex of the national park, to go see the Cueva de las manos and valle lunar.

* Adrien Kunzli / 31-Oct-2022-04-November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound

All rivers crossing are easy to pass at this time of year. One tricky passage on the snow at the entrance of lago verde, very steep, but it was to avoid walking in the lake (frozen feet early in the morning).

No guards at the entrance at Tamango so i didnt pay the fee but didnt get my pass. Tamara gently gave me one at the camping of casa del piedra (apparently if i didnt have this pass i could not be admitted at Jeinimeni.) At Jeinimeni pass, again, nobody. So i were to the houses near and finaly find the guy. He took my pass and i get no fee in this NOBO direction.
Nice shortcut after the bridge of Rio de las Nieves (S 46° 47.274', W 071° 54.665') that can avoid you a little bit of the 4x4 unfinshing road and get you directly into the heart of this amazing and beautifull last part. So:
In front of the end of the bridge, you go up the big hill and go diagonally (or directly if you feel better) to join the path (pretty wild) of the gps (S 46° 45.843', W 071° 54.359'). Small stretches of paths are drawn rather well along this shortcut.

Not much good water between the bridge (brown water) and the puesto but the the puesto's water is of much better quality.

==Season 2021/22==

* GPT 35: Parque Patagonia/ Exploration Route via Valle Maullín Grande/ 2022 March-12/ 4 days / Tobias Schorcht, Jonas Grünewald

We hiked from Maullín Grande to Cochrane by chance. I always wanted to do the stretch from Chile Chico to Cochrane, but we had just 4 days left… When we hitchhiked northbounded from Villa O’Higgins, we luckily got picked up by Pascual Diaz, who is a experienced Mountain Guide (company Kalem) and took us all the way to his refugio in Maullín Grande. He also explained us, how to reach Cochrane on time while doing that crossing. The next day he took us to the end of the Road, where we started hiking around midday (-46,80390, -72,42001). It was a easy walk to the end of the Valley where we camped (-46,87872, -72,34138). The following day was hard, but we went up to the pass (1430m) in perfect sunshine. At (-46,87234, -72,30906) you will face a waterfall in a steep canyon. We recommend to walk on the left side (northwest) through the forest until you meet the riverbed again. The other side is also possible (we went there), but you have to climb higher in difficult terrain. From that point you can easily do a cross country walk up to the pass, where you have to cross the Glaciar (without cracks). It was absolutely stunning! Going down to the laguna is quite steep. I would not do it in bad weather conditions. When you meet the laguna, you can either walk on the left or right side. Both options are not easy. We crossed on the right (southern) side, which is ok in good weather conditions. There is one river crossing in between, which could be impossible with more water. Now we think it would have been easier to walk on the left (northern) side, although we would have had needed to cross the river before and after the laguna. Packrafting is an option as well, but since it only 1.5 km we don’t think it is worth it. Camped in a forest close to the regular trail dry and save. All in all we recommend this option to experienced hikers in good weather conditions. The hike to Cochrane was hard, because we had just 2 days for 80km. So we hitchhiked to the museum of Parque Patagonia and we even saw a puma at the Westwind Campsite! It seems like this puma shows up there regularly. I waited for that moment almost 5 months. My dream came true on my very last evening in nature. Thank you Patagonia for this great gift. 🙏

*Christmas2021 / GPT 35, NOBO, participants Janna & Matthias, dec 2021, duration 6 days from Cochrane to Conaf center at Lago Jeinimeni, then hitchhiked to Chile Chico

As recommended by a friend we opted for the following route through the Parque Nacional de Patagonia which is highly recommendable (first two days mainly GPT variants and options, afterwards GPT regular routes. There are several marked senderos in the beginning as 5 Los Huemules, 8 los Pumas, 7 los Guanacos, sendero 9, sendero Lagunas Altas etc.) as you can see in our attached tracking file.

All in all the trails were easy to find, some seemed to be still unhiked this year. To enter the park from Cochrane we had to pass a prohibition sign and climb over a no entrar gate. We didn't meet anyone on the first day, the settler didn't seem to be around. The following days we met two to three other hikers per day, but no rangers until the end at Conaf Center near Lago Jeinimeni, where we easily paid the park fees in arrears (8000 pp park entrance fee and an additional 6000 pp overnight stays in the park). We deliberately skipped the Conaf center in Valle Chacabuco on the advice of our friend.

Good to know:
- There is no water anymore at S 47.198557, W 72.474927 near the camping site but instead at S 47.203460, W 72.480747 and S 47.179332, W 72.465807
- There were many lagoons on our day 3 that weren't visibly well marked neither on our apps nor on the Garmin GPS.
- All the marked refugios along the trail are heavily damaged except Casa de Piedra
(closed on the 24th of dec) and Refugio Valle Hermoso (where we could even dry our
soaked shoes from the many river crossings next to the fireplace).
- From the refugio Valle Hermoso we did a side trip to the first glacier lake in the Valle
Estero Ventisquero without all the luggage.
- The río Jeinimeni water level was up to our waists and strong (note it had rained the
night before). According to others it was supposed to be knee-deep.
- Hitchhiking from Conaf center Jeinimeni to Chile Chico is possible when camping or day guests are leaving. As we arrived later in the afternoon we spent an extra night there.
- The supermercado sur in Chile Chico sells gas.

Track files and waypoints: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-98Ou9jk0porCVRp7CSFZ-KciXQ2PBzD

[[file:Greater Patagonian Trail (7).jpg|thumb|GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]

*30 Nov RR 5 days SOBO Frank

From Chile Chico I got the Bahia Jara bus & got off at the junction, saves a 6KM roadwalk. Walked 2KM up the road then on trail to the high plateau. The settler before the pass wasn't there but his dogs were a bit territorial so I avoided the puesto. I went across the high plateau & camped a bit before the second puesto in one long day. Camp marked on track file below the pass was not very good (boggy & sloping) so I continued down to camp near the stream. The second puesto is above the RR & not visible from it. Camping on the high plateau definitely not recommended. It is very exposed & the wind can & will knock tents. On day 2 I got to CONAF, they said a puma had been there every day the week before. Continued with many river crossings to the hut. There are trails marked with ribbons on LHS of the river SOBO, they go in on small loops which avoid some of the river crossings. Nearing the hut there is a stream flowing into the lake. At the lake it was too deep to cross. Bush bashed for about 40 metres to reach the ford. Camped outside the hut. Several river crossings on the third day. The double crossing is the crux. I avoided it by going over the bluff on LHS of river with a bit of tree bashing but I don't recommend that. The bluff descent is cliffed off with only a narrow breach where you can downclimb on trees. The breach is not obvious from above. Better to ford the river - it was running high but I met several hikers who had crossed it. Got to Casa de Pidera in 1 long day from the hut. You can cook in the Casa (they have a gas stove, electricity & showers) but have to camp outside. There are some trees to shelter from the wind. On the fourth day I started walking Sendero de Siete Lagunas (SSL) but I was using the 2019 track file which doesn't show the SSL. It had not been walked much recently & the route was not obvious. At the lake I lost the SSL in guanaco tracks. I continued around the lake & walked out about 2KM to the road. The descent to the road was cliffed off but I found a way down in a gully. Then I walked out the road past a meadow where hundreds of guanaco were grazing. Past the meadow I went in left on a side road to rejoin the RR. On the fifth day I walked past Daniel Huemul's puesto & was lucky to meet Daniel who was riding out & he showed me the way. He said the direct RR which goes right from the puesto is now overgrown & disused. Instead we went out to the left. There is a small road which goes in a loop & turns towards Lago Cochrane but with his directions I was able to shortcut it. I paid 15,000 CLP for entry & camping at CONAF Lago Jeinemeni & they didn't charge me anything at Casa de Piedra.

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

*2020-Mar-18 , Tyler Wood, 7 Days Sobo

Amazing section to end my season with. I got a couple short hitches on the way up past Chile Chico. Up past the last puesto are some great areas to camp along a big boulder field. Maybe 2 km more. Beautiful and surrounded by Guanacos. Plenty of water too. Up near the top of the pass was very cold, but very beautiful, and even saw a bunch of flamingoes in the lakes.

On the way down the pass I tried to find the fore-mentioned route to the puesto to take the road the rest of the way down and didn’t really have any luck...found my way anyways and camped down by Rio sucio under a willow.

Into Jenimeni I got another little hitch. Once you cross the deeper river by Laguna esmeralda just keep those water shoes on, you’ll be crossing many more times.

I also was told by a ranger that sendero siete Lagunas wasn’t habilitado, but went for it anyways. Water is Not after Laguna Gutiérrez for a while, so make sure you fill up around there. After the pass there are a few more small
Streams to fill up.

The road walking to Tmango reserve seemed to take forever, but Walking/camping by Lago Cochrane was all worth it. At puesto Huemul Is when I got my first advice that the corona virus was a big deal. The woman told me there were 3 confirmed cases in Cochrane, I went there and booked my tickets straight home. Hasta le vista baby!!!

*2020-February-08 / 7 days / Southbound

Long and beautiful section. No major difficulties. Great diversity. Without hitchhiking, it took me 173 kilometers.

1st part / 2 days / Chile Chico to Div 217
At the beginning of the cross country, valley full of Guanacos. I camped just after the puesto, about 2 kilometers after the beginning of the cross country, before the pass, where there are still rocks to protect from the wind.
As related in previous reports, after camp 279, you will stumbled upon a fence. Go on the East along the fence, cross it, and you will find a trail to the next Puesto and then the trail goes down from the puesto to the dirt road. You will avoid cross country this way.

2nd part / 2,5 days to Casa de Piedra
Popular part. Groups of hikers along the way. 8000CLP entrance fee + 6000 CLP for 2 nights sleeping inside the park.

3rd part / 2,5 days / Sendero de las 7 lagunas
After Casa de Piedra, I followed the GPS regular route which took me to the beginning of the Sendero of 7 lagunas. CONAF said it was not "habilitado" but it is actually well marked. The good thing is that there will be no hikers on this part, except when you approach the end, along the lago Cochrane. The trail is very different from the GPS tracks but no difficulties to find it. So, don't worry not having the GPS tracks.
At S 47º08.015' W 72º18.948', there is a nice place to camp and also, the trail will merge with the optional route OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 You can then follow this track and then go back to the Regular Route to reach Cochrane.

* Martin Lizondo / 28-Jan-2020 / Regular Hiking Southbound

The section took me 6 days. Some tips:

The first part from Chile Chico has a +20 km cross country walk. The wind is extremly strong and the route very high, with no forest protection. I recommend spending the first night behind the trees of El Ciprés (the settler Orlando Vazquez allows people to pass and is very kind) or near to the puesto at the end of the minor road at 46º 36' 5,3" S, 71º 48' 45,05" O (Miguel Pacheco is very kind too). Enough water all along the route.

The Jeinimeni section of Parque Patagonia is very easy and well marked. Entrance to foreigners costs CLP 8000 plus 6000 if spending the night. There’s a shelter with place for fire and tents after 18 km.

Valley Aviles to Casa de Piedra is also easy and beautifull, with many free camping spots. Casa de Piedra costs CLP 8000 per night.

The rest of the gps track is very different from the actual trail, called “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas”. I recommend taking this route instead of the old gps track, as it’s very well maintained. At Lago la Pepa ( 47º 7' 45,19" S, 72º 18' 41,54" O ) the trail crosses an old overgrown minor road, which coincides with the gps track and takes to Puesto Huemul (47º 11' 25,31" S, 72º 26' 6,98" O). If going to the left, you’ll reach the puesto, if going up to the right you’ll end the official “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas” near to the main park center. Other hiking options are possible from that point, but the regular route to Puesto Huemul is the shortest.

From Puesto Huemul, the trail goes down near to the lake Cochrane through Sendero “Coigües” and “Carpinteros”. Well marked and signed, this trails will take you to the start of Tamango section, very near to Cochrane.

*2020-Jan-27 / GPT35 New Route: Lago General Carrera (Fachinal) to Parque Patagonia (Lago Jenimeni or “Casa de Piedra”) / 5 days / Meylin Meylin Elisabeth Ubilla González and Jan Dudeck

Based on a recommendation from Tobias Hellwig W and Daniel Mahn Borkowsky we investigated a new route that I did no had on my radar until a few weeks ago. This route provides an alternative access from the southern coast of Lago General Carrera into the Parque Patagonia and is of interest for packrafters and hikers.

The route is a traditional animal trail that was used by the settlers of Fachinal to drive cattle to a large summer pasture that is now part of Parque Patagonia (sector Jenimeni). With the enforcement of keeping domestic animals out of the protected park area a 5 km trail section inside Parque Patagonia lacks maintenance but is still quite well traversable for GPT standards. Apart from this short trail section most of the route is very scenic and nice to walk but practically unknown. Only one tourism company runs guided hiking trips along this route about once per months. Apart from this occasionally use the full traverse seams not to be done anymore.

Due to lack of trail markings we spend about one extra day in searching and following the poorly maintained 5 km trail section but with our GPS record other hikers should struggle much less than we did and will be able to walk in 4 to 5 moderate hiking days from Fachinal at the southern shore of Lago General Carrera to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia in the Valle Chacabuco.

We hiked the route northbound as we considered the option to cross Lago General Carretera at its shortest narrow by packraft. Here the lake is only 3.2 km wide but we finally did not cross this rather dangerous lake due to suboptimal wind conditions.

Fachinal to Rio Aviles River Crossing:

A well maintained “cattle highway” leads from Fachinal from the road bridge of Rio Aviles along the western/southern side of Rio Aviles to the limit of Parque Patagonia. This roughly 20 km long trail section gets regularly cleaned with chain saws to facilitate access to the pastures along Rio Aviles for free-rooming cattle. Most of the trees that have fallen on the trail have been cut to keep the trail easily traversable. Some hikers might find the “pointless up and down” annoying but this trail was created by men that move on horses that did not had to ascent and descent themself. About 1 km before crossing the Rio Aviles two signs indicate the limit of Parque Patagonia (Sector Jenimeni) and ban access for unauthorized people and domestic animals (without providing any clue who might be authorized and who not ;-). From the park limit the trail descents steep to Rio Aviles but remain well maintained to ford.

This trail section requires two possibly demanding river crossings that can become impossible during snow melt in spring, after heavy rain or on the afternoon or evening of hot days (melting water from glaciers!). To keep the route traversable in such circlesumstances the tourism company has installed in both locations steel ropes (to cross these two rivers hooked up in harness to the steel rope without even touching the water).

Rio Aviles River Crossing to the Pass (1150 m above Sea Level):

After the river crossing the trail condition suddenly changes. Fallen trees don’t get cut anymore and undergrowth is not cleaned by machete. It’s mainly the remaining path on the ground that indicates the former animal trail. Advance is slow and in various locations care must be taken to not loose the trail. Here you will need to climb over fall trees and push occasionally through dense vegetation until reaching an altitude of 950 m. At this altitude the forest floor opens up (no dense undergrowth any more) and the trail disappears completely. Here walking becomes easy again. Walk the following kilometer through the open forest following roughly the GPS track until reaching the end of the forest and the small lake after the 1150 m high pass.

An advise for northbound hikers:

Finding the first signs of the trail in the open forest was a struggle as we had no information where exactly the trail starts to descent. I searched at least 3 or 4 hours in a 400 m wide and 1200 m long section of open forest till I found a first old machete mark on a tree that indicated the location of the trail. Carefully searching and following similar marks I finally found the descending trail.

Searching northbound we lost the trail again when reaching Rio Aviles at the bottom of the valley and searched half a day for the correct continuation. A well visible and noticeably used trail next to Rio Aviles leads directly to an suitable river ford but from there a well maintained trail continues 1 km in the wrong direction (upstream). Only after bushbashing 1 km along the river shore downstream we recognized with surprise a second river ford (now the correct river ford) which connects to the well maintained trail section in the correct direction. In hindsight we understood that the well maintained trail simply continues upstream along Rio Aviles and that this trail crosses twice the Rio Aviles. Due to a partially not evident trail section on the other side of we did not recognize this when hitting this trail on the bottom of the valley and took the wrong direction to the wrong river ford.

Now hikers with our GPS record and a GPS should not struggle to find and follow this trail as we did.

Pass (1150 m above Sea Level) to Valle Hermoso Refugio:

After leaving the forest at the 1150 m high pass the most scenic part of this route starts. A roughly 15 km long cross country route leads over pastures and river sediments past 3 lakes and two glaciers to the Refugio Valle Hermoso. Occasionally signs of a trail are visible but due to the open landscape a continuous trail neither exists nor is needed.

Near the Refuge Valle Hermoso this route connects with regular route that leads along Valle Aviles (diffrent river with the same name!) to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia.

Access to Trail Head at Fachinal:

There are multiple buses per week from Chile Chico to Puerto Tranquilo on the Carretera Austral that pass Fachinal.

Monday and Friday runs a subsidized bus from Chile Chico to Fachinal and back to Chile Chico (One round trip in the morning and a second one in the evening).
8:30 leaving Chile Chico
9:30 in Fachinal
11:00 returning to Chile Chico
17:30 leaving Chile Chico
18:30 in Fachinal
20:00 returning to Chile Chico

If you wish to cross Lago General Carrera to continue hiking in the Cordillera Avellano North of the lake speak to Carloz Amoros in Fachinal (mobile: +56 9 76267029 / price around 30‘000 CLP) or Pascual Diaz de Mallin Grande.

*2020-January 23 / Oreste Marquis/ Northbound : 8 days

Going northbound. I followed the route until the second settler at the puesto Tejuela. From there, until the optional route @35-02e#001,
I could not find the approximate trail in the files. I manage to find another one which is call siete Lagunas. It is really easy to follow and really beautiful! I find it near km 18 and keep walking on it until km 38. It is the end of it and is at the campground near Lago Gutiérrez. For more informations go reed Martin post in recent alerts and suggestion. I met him on the trail and he updated the wikiexplora before me. From the beginning to Casa Piedra took me 3 days. Then I hiked to the end of the reserve in an other 3 days. Lots of rivers to cross but felt pretty safe for all of them even the one higher between Lagos Jeinimeni and Verde. The cross country part the next day was my favorite of the hole trip! Awesome views, a lot of wildlife, just need to check a little bit more the gps! Last day, I headed to Chile Chico without any problem. Overall, I love it! Enjoyed it as much as GPT40.

* 2020-January / Matthieu / Northbound : 7.5 days "tranquilito"
Incredible trekk, lots of different type of views and soil, my favorite since El Chalten. Money required for passing by the reserves !!
I hitchhiked 10 km on the road to Casa Piedra, and 12 km between Jeinemini qnd the beginning of the trail that goes north in the mountain to join Chile Chico.

'''1st part : Reserve Tamango''' : 6000 CLP the entry
I took the old "Huemul trail" in the Tamango reserve, taking the left route at the "Camp 284" It is an old trail for 4x4, so very easy, and closed to vehicles now.

'''2nd part : The road to Casa Piedra :''' the rangers I crossed were all agreed that it was not permitted to camp aside of the road (so the information is different that in Nov). One officiql camping at the end of Tamango reserve (WestWind) and one at Casa Piedra 26 km after. 8000 CLP each. At Westwind (not verified, only inforñqtions for guardaparques): no accomodations, only baño. At Casa Piedra . real big house, hot shower, electricity, place to cook.

'''3rd part : Reserve Jenemeni :''' Entry 8000 CLP. For the camping, the ranger told me that it was permitted to camp wherever I wanted, so the information differs too from november. And at the exit, I told the ranger about my "savage" camping in the conversation, and he didnt tic at all, so no stress. The rangers are very nice !
Good trekk, easy to follow. One very good refuge in the valle Hermoso where fire is possible. a more open refuge/camping site by the east shore of Lago Verde.
Many river crossing, all safe except one, before the Laguna Esmeralda. Strong current, and people choose many different way with different profundness. Better do it in the morning, being a glaciar river (I could effectively compare between late in the afternoon and the morning and it is very different).

'''Last part, to Chile Chico by the mountain :''' Amazing views, totaly different climate, more dry and with only bushes.
At the beginning of the Cross country after the 4x4 road, I would advise to go a few meters west from the GPS tracks, to the east side of the river. There is effectively a fence on the west ridge, and a good trail on the east ridge that can avoid you the difficult crossing of many bushes, and that goes directly to the puesto.
Two puestos, The 135 of metal being used by the locals (real bed inside), so just putted the tent outside. The second one 134 is actually a real house. Two mens were here when I arrived, working with the animals. I could put the tent near the house and take water from the sink outside. Many dogs, all nice.

*GPT35 Summary:
Mum, Sis and I. Southbound. 11 days.*

Well. What an interesting and varied section. Also the longest walk I think we'd all done. It took us 11 days in the end with a couple of longer side trips. Interestingly, when we emerged from the park it was closed, there was martial law in effect, a curfew in place. Borders closed. Only a week to get back to Santiago to catch the last flights back to Australia... Anyway. We're heading back now. Got temperature tested as we reentered Chili Chico this morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake mañana in la mañana. No buses out of town. Enough rambling...

As always, thanks to the others before us that have taken the time to comment and provide feedback. Here's my two cents.

Firstly here are some landmarks to make it easier for others to orient themselves:

El Ciprés
http://ge0.me/oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés
ge0://oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés
Casa Piedra
http://ge0.me/4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29
ge0://4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29
Westwind
http://ge0.me/wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind
ge0://wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind

Camping in Chile Chico:
El Carro is supposed to be the cheapest place to stay in town. Though if you want a hot shower it's the same as Kon-aiken next door. We stayed at neither so can't really comment, but there were a lot of people staying at Kon-aiken and next to none at El Carro which might be indicitive of value for money or just the fact they are a little closer to the centre of town.
El Carro however was the only one willing to look after some things for us.
We also visited a hostel, but the owner was unfortunately very rude.

El carro
4k frío
5k caliente
1k por día por mochila

Kon-aiken
5k pp / noche
No baggage service

Part 1: Chili Chico to Jeinemeni
In the end we decided to cache things in the bushes just outside of town. Mum and my sister got a lift to the Bahía Jara cruz whist I was caching. Unfortunately I had to walk all the way to El Ciprés where my mum and sister had been enjoying a nice conversation with Orlando Vazquez who allowed us to pass but emphasised the dangers and didn't really recommend crossing.
Passing through the gate a couple of utes were exiting. Apparently there is a new mine up in the mountains and they didn't really want us to walk up. They admitted they just worked there.
Turn off the main rd that assumably heads to the mine about here: -46.57775, -71.82666
Goucho Miguel Pacheco passed us on the way up herding some cattle and we talked to him at the puesto for a while. We also gave him one of the Australian coins we'd been carrying around. He seemed to believe it was everyone's right to pass. "People pass through here all the time "."Just yesterday a lad passed by "."It's the shortest route across the mountains "
Anyway. We camped in the rocks just outside the park boundaries (as mentioned by??).
We then camped two nights up on the windy plateau. Our side trip to Valle Lunes was amazing. I'd recommend it. But be careful with wind. Oh and did anyone mention the guanacos?
Unfortunately I think the water wasn't very clean on this part. Sheep, cows, guanacos, birds... It's the first time in Chile I've wished I took my water filter along. We had some sore stomachs.
Dropping down the other side we hit the mentioned fence (about here -46.72574, -71.90211). We crossed, but would recommend following it to the left until you get to a corner. I'm not sure where it starts, but there is a trail running on the outside of the fence to the puesto. We then followed a sheep trail that ran high on the left (east) of the valley. Very good but it bypassed Las Abutardas completely and seemed to be heading towards Laguna los Flamencos instead. We ended up cutting down to the road where León passed us heading into town, a little confused why we hadn't taken the 'proper trail'.
We camped the night at the Río El Sucio camp. Not really recommended.
We walked the road and stayed at Río Las Vacas for a bit which is at the border of the park and a nicer place to camp. (There is a good stream between the two).

Part 2: Jeinemeni to Casa Piedra
It was 8k to enter the park (for foreigners) and an additional 6k for camping in Valle Hermoso. The section to the refugio (-46.84092, -72.14078) was very nice. This is the only shelter still standing. The others included in the track files were not really enterable.
Heading to the refugio (where everyone seems to camp) you cross the small ankle deep creek exiting Laguna Esmeralda and then the deeper river between Lago Verde and Jeinemeni. This might have been the trickiest but when we crossed it wasn't really bad. We then had two more smaller crossings before passing through Portezuela La Gloria (1100m) to cross Estero Ventisquero and the other river running down the main valley.
The next day we did the popular side trip to the glacier in this valley: -46.80924, -72.20116
We wondered if it was the same way Jan et al entered recently?
From the refugio to Valle Avilés there are no compulsory river crossings if you stick to the somewhat scrubby trail to the left (south) of the valley. The first crossing we did was Río Avilés shortly followed by the tributary. So only 8 crossings (wet feet) on the RR.

We walked from the refugio to Casa Piedra in a day. It was closed so we camped on the other side of the Rd.

Part 3: Casa Piedra to Cochrane
From casa piedra we took the aforementioned Sendero las Siete Lagunas. It is not it the track files but indeed very well marked with numbered markers every kilometre. I'll upload a kml with the markers I recorded as well as some of the water bodies I sketched.
After the stream running into Lago Gutiérrez there wasn't much water until Lago la Pepa.
You will briefly intersect with a road here: -47.14006, -72.37138. The road seems to run down to Puesto Tejuela coinciding with OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 which I think is incorrectly labelled as TL. Part of RH-TL-I@35-99.0+30.0 too should be marked as MR. You'll intersect this road before taking it down to Lago Cochrane.
We passed the occupied dwelling (Daniel Huemul?) but the man wearing a shirt emblazoned with Parque Patagonia seemed afraid to approach us (another hint the world had gone Corona crazy). He wouldn't let us take the RR so we followed the road for a bit before taking another newly made trail also not in the track files.
Everything after that was very easy to follow.
Everything was abandoned at the entrance and the gate locked. People avoided us on the streets and covered their face when passing us.
We grabbed some needed food (we were very short after 11 days!) and got on the WiFi. Wow! How things had changed! Martial law in place and a curfew in place, we slept under a bridge with some Colombians and caught a bus back to Chili Chico in the morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake tomorrow now.

Links to files :
Kilometre markers: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fuzt4xacxjjvvg4/kms.kmz?dl=0
Water bodies: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uz1ei95s1913xvb/water.bodies.kmz?dl=0
Other planning:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uk9ym56gufwk4zq/planning.kmz?dl=0

* 2019 Dec / Olrik/ Northbound

Amazing part of the GPT, from Cochrane ou enter in the Tamango national reserve and pay 6000CLP for the entrance. We took several trails to get to Valle Chacabuco : Las Aguilas, Las Lengasm Los Condores, Laguna Altas. Great views. We had a snow storm at the pass though. There you end up in a paid campground. From there we walked the dirt road to Casa Piedras in Valle Chacabuco, it was beautiful with lots of guanacos. Then we took the Las Aviles sendero. We camped near the first river crossing as it was late and waited for the morning to cross. It is normally not possible to wild camp in the park but the guardaparque told us to camp there if the river crossing is not sage. The rest of the trail is easy to follow next to the river. There is a pass then you descend to Valle Hermoso and to lago Jeinimeni. It was just gorgeous and easy to follow with great weather. Be aware of the numerous river crossings. In lago Jeinimeni there is a paid campground. From there you can hitchhike, walk, or pay a transportation at the entrance of the park (15000Clp pp) but I'm not sure if this is a regular thing. We ended up hitchhiking to get to Chile Chico.

* 2019-Nov-28/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 5.5days/ Northbound / Regular Hiking Route (Cochrane to Chile Chico) with OH-32-2-#003/

This section might have been our favorite out of the whole Group H, where the diversity of the landscape was our favorite part (also including weather and trail conditions). The NP was entered at Tamango just outside of Cochrane. Registration is mandatory, the entrance fee is at 8000 CLP. The ranger asked us to explain our route and since the regular Hiking route did not seem familiar to them, they told us to take the optionals route going north over the pass to WestWinds campground and then do the road walk Eastwards.
The pass had some snow patches on the Southern side but was easy to traverse. At the Valley Chacabuco (another entrance to the national park) we got asked for our permits and the route we plan on taking. We heard different information on if it is allowed to camp at the road or not (there were signs that told us not to do it but the ranger said it is okay). After the roadwalk, we passed another ranger station where we had to register and sign a responsibility form telling that we plan to leave at Lago Jeinimeni (and telling that we're only allowed to stay at designated campsites). The hike from there is extremely beautiful and super diverse, the trail well maintained. The rivers were at higher flow but all fords were doable.
We camped next to the Refugio because we still weren't sure about the camping rules (other hikers we met said they were told that it's okay to camp everywhere along the river). Leaving the NP at Lago Jeinimeni was straightforward, but it's mandatory to check out at the rangers office. The cross-country section after the road walk was a bit slow on the way up due to many bushes and hilly terrain. We found a nice trail next to the fence leading up to the puesto when going up the ridge on the Eastern side. From the puesto we took a short steep uphill after which the terrain became more open and easier to travel on. It was very windy and snowy in the mountains, which made it difficult to walk at times and it felt like the temperatures were rather low.
The lagoons on the way up are filled with exciting birds (flamingos!) and guanacos are running around on the whole plain. Once reaching the plateau we headed down in a pretty straight line which was easier than the uphill until we reached the road

==Season 2018/19==

==Season 2017/18==

==Season 2016/17==

=Resupply and Accommodation=

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

*Chile Chico has two supermarkets. Sell gas.

*Cochrane is a decently sized town with three mid-range supermarkets. The largest one, which is a grocery and department store, is located adjacent to the town square. There are many lodging and restaurant options. Be sure to withdraw an ample amount of money here because most of the businesses in the next town, Villa O’Higgins, only take cash and there is no ATM.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

=Transport to and from Route=

=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=

*2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena

PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]

=Images=

GPT35 (Parque Patagonia)

2024-01-03T17:48:39Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

{{Table all GPTs}}

 

Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format:

''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias

Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.

Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').

=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

==Season 2023/24==

*2023-Dec-21 / 8 day / Hiking + Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Option 10 + Old and new tracks to Administration Parque Patagonia Valle Chacabuco / Tom Pieper

Most have been described by Kris and Stina. The plateau and the entire track is awesome. After the kind Arriero at the puesto {35} [15.8/1075] (actually its his house) I found it a little bit tricky to find a good route first but then just ascended and found a nice cross country route. Camped before the plateau. There are nice spots just before 1400 m, after that its just rocky until you descend to the Water {35} [23.9/1586]. Camp {35} [32.6/1300] was a little bit swampy. Found a better spot 300 m south. Try to be early at the road if you want to hitchhike. I was lucky and got the last car passing at 14.00 to the park at day. On the 25/12 the park entrance (but only the entrance) is always closed! Keep in mind if you come around christmas. At the park entrance you must disinfect your packrafting gear due to Didymo algae. I could not packraft lago jenimeni and verde due to wind but its still stunning. Between Water {35} [75.5/937] and Ford {35} [79.3/846] there is a approx. 3-4 steep bluff. I felt really uncomfortable with my heavy backpack as a lot of erosion happened to the steep ‘steps’. Maybe exploring an additional bush bashing route is feasible here. The ford was rather deep and could be a problem for shorter persons but I crossed in the evening, so in the morning it should be fine. Collapsed Refuge {35} [81.0/819] makes a nice camp spot. The other forts were fine. Stayed one night at Casa Piedra were I met Tobi and Fangwen and spend dinner and breakfast together the next day. CONAF first denied to packraft Rio Chacabuco, but after I mentioned that I came along all the track with my gear and rangers et sector jenimeni they were fine with me going on that river. The river is unspectacular. I left at the River Out {35} [119.8/277] and I followed the old trail/road to Park Ranger, Refuge, Camp {35} [123.2/263]. There is a new picknick hut and I spend the night in there with a spectacular view of the valle chacabuco to the rims of campo hielo norte. The next day I continued the old track right side of the river (not in the GPT track files) until the bridge {35-10} [4.7/265]. Track is still in good conditions and occasionally used by the horses and guanacos there. A wonderful hike with massive views. I than continued on the CONAF trail (also not in the GPT track files) to Park administracion at Lodging $$$ {35-03} [1.9/340]. Would not recommend the restaurant. 65 $ for a 3 course meal but nothing fancy. Better spend for dinner in Cochrane. But for a post hike drink at the bar it is a lovely place and staff is kind. Also liked the museum and stayed the night at the campsite approximately 2 km away. The puma still seems to be there occasionally. Next day I hitchhiked out to Cochrane.

*2023-Dec-18 to 2023-Dec-23/ 5.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Stiina & Kris

Got a taxi for the first 8 kilometers of the roadwalk. Nobody present at the farm where the dirtroad starts to go uphill, gates easy to get through, friendly dog. We hiked just 6km and made camp by a stream.

The next day passed the puesto at km15.8, owner seemed friendly and waved. Slowly climbed up to the plateau, lots of water everywhere, very few snowpatches en route. Perfect day - not much wind. Saw lots of guanacos, hares, flamingos. Moving cross-country was ok throughout. Climbed a few barbed-wire fences. Finally found the dirt road, hiked to camp at km42.9.

In the morning hitched a ride to the park entry with a ranger. We had no online booking as we didn't know when we'd arrive, they had us make one on site. Super friendly guys, said that there is currently fewer visitors than normally at this time. The route between Rio San Antonio crossing and Camp Raleigh has been changed, partially new trail built; follows mainly the Lago Esmeralda trail. There is now a brand new hanging bridge over Rio San Antonio right next to Camp Raleigh, avoiding all the needless crossings.

After the camp there trail seems new in places, but then resorts to many rivercrossings again. The way up and down the Puertozuela La Gloria is steep and loose. After Lago Verde there are a million more crossings until you turn South. Here the trail is not much maintained, lots of fallen trees. The next 25km to Casa Piedra the trail is a bit harder to see at first but then gets much better. The guy (not a ranger) at Casa Piedra informed us that the Siete Lagos trail is closed but couldn't say why. It's definitely overgrown in parts, lots of fallen trees - need to keep track on the gpx at all times. After settler at km135.2 the trail has been recently maintained and bushes cut.

For photos and stories, you can follow us on Instagram: @smallfootprint_bigadventures

==Season 2022/23==

* 2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena

We enjoyed this section a lot, especially with all the beautiful autumn colors in early April and basically without people until the last part before Cochrane. PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.

Just like others we found the plateau between km 20-28 very very windy. Definitely don’t count with camping there. We found a good spot right after the secound pass, aprox. 500m down the hill where you can find a wind protected place. The descent down is a little slow but with nice views, guanacos, horses.. simply amazing. Once back on the road, it’s not too far to the PN entrance where we met a guard, but fortunately were able to get a permission as described above. The trail from Lago Jeinemeni was one of our favorites. All the fords were easy, but expect quite slow progress in the CC parts. We camped in a forrest at km 81 where is a destroyed refugio but still a good spot for camping. The rest of the trail to Casa Del Piedra is again straightforward and the landscape is somehow more dry. We didn’t cross the first bridge but went with the J option which turned out to be a good decision as we met a xx of guanacos that let us come really close to them. Closed and locked refugio still provides a good shelter, but when open it must be a perfect stop in the middle of this long section. Water was turned off as well but there is a stream behind the house.

We spent the next night on the beach of Lago Gutierrez where is enough space to build a tent - bushes around the trail are otherwise very thorny and sharp. After the ascent to the pass was a good stream of water, probably the last place to safely take unfiltered water for the next couple of kms. The trail from there leads around all the lakes and is nice and easy. We spent the night in a refugio at km 134. This one was the only one standing from what we have seen and its a good shelter when it rains, however we decided to stay in our tent anyway. You can make fire inside. Closest water is actually the one in a lake uphill, the stream on the other side of the path was very dirty and hard to gather anyway.

From there its a one more day until the finish with a good pace. We haven’t met the settler Daniel, but he’s definitely still living there. Beautiful beach of Lago Cochrane and from there we started to meet more and more tourists, doing just a day hike or some circuit around the lake - might be a good option as well in this beautiful region. The last kms felt a little long for us as we were looking forward to have some rest and enjoy all the fun in town. At the official campsite were a few people but no one asked us about anything. There are nice toilets and shower. From there its around 30m to Cochrane. Good to remember they celebrate Easter holidays in Chile as well, but we still managed to find some shop and bakery open.

Contact: @martin_hanzelka @helenneka

* 12/03/2023 - 18/03/2023 / RR SOBO / Jakub+Veronika:

Doing section 35 was due to closure of the Patagonia NP caused by heavy rains with helicopter rescue of several tourists from Valle Hermoso quite complicated, we did walk all we could in Tamango reserve and later (when it was opened) in Chacabuco valley. Be sure not to miss the museum. It's really worth it. The northern part was opened as the last one, that's why we've skipped it and hitchhiked back to Caretera. All paths in great condition. When going from Tamango to Chacabuco there's one suggestion:

It seems that on RR (35, km 141) ends new 11km long track ”Huemules” which starts at the parking in Chacabuco valley on RP (35, km 132.5). That trail might be a nice alternative to RR (mud road) leading over private land of settler David Huemul.

*8.02. - 05.03.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO, Chile Chico - Cochrane

We started in Chile Chico around 5 pm walking the first km on the road. After a while we got a ride to the Bahía Jara cross and camped a few hundred meters further near the street (we carried water from Chile Chico).

The ascent to the plateau is mostly easy dirtroad walking and the last CC part easy to navigate. The whole stretch on the plateau until the street at km 41.5 we had extreme wind, which made walking super tiring and nearly blew us away a few times. We found a tiny and steep, but wind protected place to set up our tent at around km 28 in the ridge dug by the river. We had to get a bit inventive to set it up and to be able to sleep properly there. There were almost no other places that were protected by the wind until you get off the plateau. As almost all previous entries say, it's better to camp off the plateau. But it's really worth doing it because you can see Guanacos and flamingos on it :)

When we reached the street at km 41.5 we were lucky and a car passed by a few minutes later, which brought us to the entrance of Parque Patagonia. We payed 15k CLP p.p. and walked to the camp Raleigh at Lago verde. There are some sheltered places to set up the tent, with an unfamiliar amount of people for the GPT. Lago Verde is beautiful though.

The next day involves lots of river- and stream crossings and it started to rain not particularly heavy, but after some hours we were completely wet. Therefore the rivercrossing at km 82.6 was really hard for Anna (1,63 m) but we managed by inertlocking our arms and doing it step by step slowly. After that the trails get really good and you can walk way faster. We camped at the unofficial camp site at km 84.7.

We had good weather the next day and the trail was really good until Lago Gutierrez. Up to the pass the trail gets a bit worse with some navigation issues, but you always find a good path again. As the others wrote there are only some tiny streams within the first km after the pass until the next Laguna, so we filled up our bottles there and camped somewhere in the forest soon afterwards once it started to rain again.

The next day there were still not too much water sources and we fetched the first water at the first Laguna which wasn't super easy to access. The trail until Lago Cochrane wasn't in bad condition neither. We also took Option L, which follows the 'regular' siete lagunas trail. The stretch from Lago Cochrane until the Conaf office at the end of the lake is absolutely amazing with great views of one of the clearest lakes in the world. We camped at km 145.7 and took a bath in the lake.

The last 8 km to Cochrane went super fast on an easy trail until Conaf and 4 km road walking to the town, so happily we could escape from the starting rain.

* 20 to 24 of February 2023 / Silke & Hans / Loop - Fachinal -> Chile Chico

We didn't do the regular route, but read about an intresting loop starting in Fachinal and entering the normal route at Valley Hermoso. We then continued along the regular route to the entrance at Laguna Jeinimeni, and back to Chile Chico. The first 3 days from Fachinal we didn't see any other hikers, but it was pretty clear why. The trail was completely overgrown, full of fallen trees and a lot of the time there is no trail at all. But we managed our way through pretty good, and is was an awesome alternative to enter the Park. We recorded our GPX for others, waypointed some POI's and added some photo's to it: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/114121493

DAY 1 / 18km / +740m /
Although we heard of a bus to Fachinal from Chile Chico, nobody really appeared to know any information about it.. In the terminal the people we spoke said there were none. So we started hitchhiking the following morning. But after 3-4h of no luck we went back to the terminal, and all of a sudden there was a bus leaving at 11:30. 10.000 pesos pp, a little expensive but being unsuccesfull hitchhiking we took it. We had lunch at the turnoff, and starting hiking around 13:00. The first part is on a clear double track, but soons turns into a clear singletrack. We took the wrong intersection twice (waypointed on our GPX). We camped right before the first big river crossing. There is one steel cable, so if you bring a harness you could tiroller across.

DAY 2 / 22km / +1100m /
First up, we crossed the river. The water level didn't seem a lot lower than the day before, and at the deepest part it was about halfway our thighs. After taking another wrong intersection and backtracking, we reach the second river crossing. Again a steel cable is provided but the crossing was pretty straightforward, and the water level was only slighty above our knees. Just across the river is a an old cabin, and then short after a very new refugio (locked, used by a trekking agency). The trail gets super dense after this, climbs steeply on the mountain side and dissapears completely on numerous occasions. After the climb it flattens out, opens up and you reach a laguna. After the laguna it's the easiest to just follow the river bed down to the open valley floor (possible sheltered campsite in the forest). Follow the valley floor to another amazing laguna where you can camp near a second locked refugio.

DAY 3 / 14km / +440m /
We started the day with a side-trip to a mirador looking over the glacier high above. Takes about 1,5-2 hours return. We then packed up camp and headed for Valley Hermoso. You pass another beautiful laguna and follow the river down to the main valley. Lots of river crossing here. We camped at the Refugio Valley Hermoso, arriving earlier than expected.

DAY 4 / 15km / +200m /
Very short and easy daytrip to another laguna. About 3 hours return. We just chilled the rest of the day.

DAY 5 / 36km / +830m /
Final day along the normal route to the entrance of Laguna Jeinimeni. The day started off with some heavy rain for a couple of hours, but all the river crossings were still very doable. We arrived at the entrance around 13:00, and there was no sign of anybody leaving soon. So we decided to continue hiking untill we could find a ride along the way. We ended up hiking an extra 19km before finally a car was willing to take us along. There is an established campsite at the entrance for 3000 pesos pp.

* 19 to 24 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO, regular route

Not too much to add on this one. I had a good time but the section felt long.

On the way up to the first plateau there were a few somewhat sheltered places to camp past the puesto. I camped around km 19, just before the last steep climb up to the plateau. Lots of streams around there.

None of the river crossings went above my knees, after a dry week.

I liked the detour up to the Lago Jeinemeni mirador. I also took variant I out and back to a glacier lake, I'm less sure whether that was worth it. I couldn't find any real trail, it was nice easy cross country walking through the woods followed by some open rocky ground. The glacial lake was cool, but not as spectacular as some of the ones I've seen in other sections.

I camped at the casa de piedras and took a luxurious warm shower. The ranger said you're supposed to pay at the office in valle Chacabuco, but since our route doesn't go there she just let me stay for free. She also said that sendero de siete lagunas (our route) was closed, but that I could do it since I had my gps and satellite communicator. She made it sound tough/dangerous though it turned out to be fairly quick trail.

Not much water or campsites along the siete lagunas. There's a nice campsite at the tip of the pencil lake just after the (still intact!) refugio at 133.9.

* 2023-Feb-12-19 / NOBO / RR + Option 35-L / Ondrej and Bara / Cochrane - Chile Chico / 7.5 days

We really enjoyed this section! We went from Cochrane to Chile Chico. Our favourite parts were the descent through Valle Hermoso and the descent on the cross country section to Chile Chico. We spent 7.5 days on this section, taking a relaxed pace and including a half day break.

We only had to pay 9,000 CLP per person entrance fee at the Cochrane park gate (sector Tamango). We then showed the pass three days later to a ranger at Casa de Piedras and he let us go. The final checkpoint for us was the CONAF park exit/entrance at Lago Jeinemeni. The ranger there didn’t want to see our pass at all, he just asked from where we hiked (we said Casa de Piedras).

Some details: - Starting from Cochrane, the trail is easy walking up until km 144.9. As you leave Lago Cochrane, the trail is harder to follow. Fortunately this lasts only up to km 138, where the trail becomes easy to follow again. We camped next to the refuge on km133.9. The refuge has a good roof and can serve as an emergency shelter. There is no good water next to it though - we needed to climb the hill to the laguna to refill. - From roughly km 125 to km 99, the RR follows the old Siete Lagunas trail, which is not maintained anymore. Expect some fallen trees and slightly overgrown parts but the trail is beautiful and easy to navigate in general. - We took Option L to cut some overgrown road walking as recommended by others. We really liked it. - We camped next to the destroyed refuge at Laguna Guagua (km 118.3) and really loved the place - there is an amazing pebble beach at the laguna. - If you don’t want to camp at Casa de Piedras, there is a place for a small tent and a stream at roughly km 97 (-47.07463, -72.20439). We camped there. - The river crossings in Valle Aviles and Vale Hermoso were maximum to our knees. The deepest one was at Lago Verde (km 66.1). However, the river levels can change rapidly when it rains the days before - do check the weather. - We camped at the eastern shore of Lago Verde (km 61.7; campsite Raleigh) and really loved it - it has picnic tables and a spacious cooking/eating shelter. - We hitchhiked the part on the road between km 53 and 41.5. Few cars go by but the hitch was easy - we stopped the first car. - The cross country section from km 41.5 is very different from the rest - semi-desert like and lots of animals. We saw llamas, flamimgos, condors and hares (among sheep, cows and horses). - Between km 38 and 33 the path goes along a fence. We had to get over the fence once (we scrambled below it without problems). - If you are going NOBO, expect stunning views of the General Carrera Lake and Torres del Avelano when coming from the last pass (km 20.8) down to Chile Chico.

A ranger in Casa de Piedras wanted to prevent us to walk the RR NOBO from Casa de Piedras to Valle Hermoso. He claimed that route is closed now as the rivers are too high to cross. To avoid conflict, we said that we will only do the “loop trail” which is basically the RR from Casa de Piedras up until the bridge where the RR joins Option J. The Option J is then used to return back to Casa de Piedras. When doing the loop, we met several hikers in the opposite direction who confirmed that all river crossings are fine. In light of this we decided to continue on the RR and indeed the deepest ford was to our knees. Therefore if faced with a ranger claiming that the rivers are too high, we suggest to start with the loop trail (rangers should be okay with that) and get more info on the river levels from the hikers going the opposite direction.

*2023 last week January NoBo (6 days but could have very easily been done in less) / Helen and Craig + (Caro, Ali and Gabby)

>Such lovely camp sites. Beautiful places to stay the night the whole way around

>Very very easy trails. River crossing section isn't bad at all and the Valle hermosa lives up to its name.

>1st and last camp site particularly lovely

>Keep eyes peeled for pumas! I would have easily missed the sighting if I hadn't been looking the right way at the right time. They were super close. 10m or less away. Two cubs outside the refugio at casa peidra. Not where they are commonly seen in the park at all Aparently around west winds camp they are more commenly seen.

>Museum in the middle of the section worth checking out. Very visual and quite hard hitting environmental museum

> Can hitch easy enough to Chile Chico but leave last camp early in the morning. There's often a driver with a 4x4 who drives hikers in to the park and will take you back for 10,000p/p. Hikers who were a few hours behind us had no luck hitching as demand can often overtake spaces.

*27 of January to 1 of February 2023 / Véronica & Zach / GPT35 RR SOBO / 5.5 days

Route: Chile Chico - Lago Jeinimeni - Valle Hermoso - Casa de Piedra - Lago Cochrane - Cochrane

What a beautiful and diverse stretch of the GPT! I hiked half of this section with Zach, up to Casa de Piedras at km 98.9. We were unable to get a hitch out of Chile Chico, so we ended up walking the road to where the trail begins. No navigation issues, but the entire cross-country section to Río de las Nieves (waypoint at 42.7 km) is very exposed and was very windy when we crossed. We ended up camping at the water at 23.9 km, but the wind blew very strongly all night and I was worried it might take my tent. If you can, it is better to camp off this plateau unless the weather is calm. Lots of guanaco trails to follow :)

At the CONAF office at km 53.0, we each paid 9,000 clp for entry to the national park, plus 6,000 clp for passage/camping along the trail to Casa de Piedras in the Valles Hermoso and Aviles. Beautiful trail the whole way, popular and well-maintained, with cairns and markers to follow. There is an awesome shelter and camping area with picnic tables on the eastern shore of Lago Verde, at the end of Option D. In my opinion it was nicer than the popular refugio in Valle Hermoso (km 68.1) that everyone talks about.

We had no issues with fords, except the one at km 82.6 which flows into Río Aviles. It was the end of a warm sunny day, so the flow was quite high and strong. Had I been on my own I would have camped on the north side and waited till morning to cross. However, this time I was able to cross by linking arms with Zach as he is much taller than me and was more stable in the current.

At Casa de Piedras, Zach and I parted ways as he wanted to packraft down the Río Chacabuco. The ranger at the Casa told me the Sendero de las Siete Lagunas (which begins at km 99.5) was no longer maintained. This is true, there were stretches in the desertlike brush that were hard to follow, and I checked the GPS frequently. Generally it was better when the trail went into wooded areas. I also found this trail to be dry — the only water I found was the water from the lagunas and a tiny trickle about a kilometer south of the pass. Lots of spiky plants that get stuck in your socks and shoes. I took Option L to cut out some overgrown minor road walking. It's sad that this trail is being neglected and left to be swallowed up by nature, because otherwise it is quite scenic.

The horse trail that goes from the puesto of Daniel Huemul (km 143.3) to Lago Cochrane was also rough and overgrown. Everything gets easier once you reach Lago Cochrane though, nice, maintained trails all the way to Cochrane with beautiful places to camp along the lake.

* GPT35 / Yannic & Mirjam / 2022-Dec-13

Much is already detailed below, so we will keep it short

1 day: from Chile Chico to the entrance of the National Park. We camped one night before the pass at S 46.61639 W 71.81632. Water right next to the camp. Pass is very windy.

2 days: from the National Park to the Refugio. Nice refugio with small house where you can make a fire inside to dry things. From the Refugio to Casa Piedra is possible in one day. But it is a long day with many kilometres.

2.5 days: Casa Piedra to Cochrane. Leaving Casa Piedra, after a few hundred metres the trail leaves the Minor Road and enters the trail (where there is a large stone marker). The trail is officially closed and partly in bad condition. There are many fallen trees on the trail, some of it is overgrown and not completely clear. We therefore checked the GPS regularly. We took OH-TL-V{35-L}, which saves a few kilometres of (overgrown) minor road.
We spent one night at Laguna Guagua (Refugio is completely destroyed) and one at Lago Cochrane.
When we left the national park, no one was at the office. We therefore simply went through...

* GPT35 Variant P, Option 3, 3C, 3D / Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck / 2022-Dec-12 and 13 / 1.5 days

While waiting in the village Cochrane for our friends to catch up, we did a little 1.5 day hike higher up next to Lago Cochrane that we visited at least 3 times by packraft in past years. For the first time this year we waked with a light backpack without packrafting gear.

We took Variant P eastbound that slowly climbs on a gravel road to an altitude of 500 m and then continues as a panorama trail in this altitude.

Apparently, this is not authorized access to Parque Patagonia (Sector Tamango) and two gates need to be climbed but there was nobody to be seen on this route. The normal access to the park is down next Rio Cochrane and Lago Cochrane.

Nearly the entire route was scenic and worth the effort.

The settler “El Húngaro” apparently sold the land and became part of the national park. There is an open building that might be used as a refuge in case of emergency but camping is probably more comfortable.

The refuge at {35-P} [4.0/501] is collapsed but camping is pleasant on this pasture.

The trail section OH-TL-V {35-03} [0.0+5.2] is not maintained for several years making this route inconvenient to walk. The route south of both lakes is easy walking.

As long as Parque Patagonia does not challenge hikers to make a full traverse from Cochrane to Chile Chico it is prudent to take the official route which is the current regular route and pay the entrance fee near Cochrane when hiking northbound.

But should longer multi-day traverses be denied, then it might be less bothersome to take Variant P which avoids the entrance.

Packrafters can travel east and westbound on Lago Cochrane and will not pass any park entrance.

* Alice & Florian / 4 to 10 November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound

Here's our story of our GPT35. We really enjoyed this section, it is really diverse, beautiful landscapes and we saw heaps of animals.

As we wanted to do the trail in the northbound direction, we took the bus from chile chico to Cochrane, arriving in chile chico from argentina from the south (border o'higgins closed...). It tales 4 hours and leaves on sunday at 14 (return Monday 7 Am), Monday 16 (return Tuesday 7 AM),Wednesday and Friday 7 Am (return 16).

We took the option north of Cochrane because we were not sure if they would allow us to sleep in the tamango reserve. But, indeed you have to pass a no entry sign, a gate and a sign saying that entering the park that way is prohibited so we do not recommend it when it is written on the conaf website that it is allowed to sleep in tamango section.

We took the sendero de los huemules and slept at camp 1 waypoint. There was plenty of water at that time and a beautiful view.

After that we took the option OH-TL-V 35-P to avoid going downhill. The entry of this trail is about 150m before what is indicated on the GPT so be aware. I don't think the trail is an official one from the park so you have to fight your way through some bushes. But apart from that, it is clear. Then we joined the regular route, which since the 2022 version does follow the siete lagunas trail. You will join the siete lagunas trail at the kilometer 11 more or less. We then camped around the km 13 of the 7 lagunas trail.

We found water just before climbing at the pass at S47°06.0856' W072°17.592' and there is more at the top. However, it is true that it is drier on the other side of the pass, so if you are going Southbound, pack enough water from Lago Gutierrez to climb the pass.

We spent the third night at casa de Piedra where you have all facilities (electricity, hot shower, kitchen). Unfortunately for us they were on strike so they wouldn't allow us to go further on the trail. We did anyway as going out to jeiminini or through the road to chacabuco would take the same time.
By the way various national parks - including Torres del Paine were on strike at the moment.

The second part in the aviles valley is really clear, the trail is really nice and easy and with a lot of water available. Exiting the casa de piedra you should take the option OH-TI-V 35-J instead of the regular route, it will save you 600 m and two river crossings, and the view is similar. Starting at km 20, you will have to reduce your pace because the trail is busy with a lot of fallen trees, bushes and rocks. Between the km 22 and 23 of the valle aviles trail, the trail has been swept away by the river this winter so you have to cross the river two more times to go around. The kilometers indications disappear more or less after the pass, at km 25.

After that you enter the valle Hermoso. We camped at the waypoint 17/Camp Valle Hermoso but we do not recommend it. It was really small and close to the river, so if there is a sudden level rise because of heavy rain or a flooding because of a glaciar outburst (GLOF), you might get wet... Better sleep st the small caban near km23 if you don't think you will reach the refugio in valle Hermoso.

Once you reach Lago Verde, follow the GPT track and not the trail that leads to the lake, or you will have to turn back. After the pass it's more river crossings but you can save some kilometers in the river bed by taking the option OH-TI-V 35-E and then OH-TI-V 35-D until the rio jeimenini (the first part of the option OH-TI-V 35-D does not exist anymore). We did not have any trouble to cross the Rio between the 2 lakes even though we were in the middle of the afternoon. It was about thigh deep for me but I'm tall.

After that it's really easy to the Parc entrance. We went back to Chile Chico walking on the road instead of taking the cross country option, because0 there were still snow on the mountain. The first part is still pretty until the intersection, once you enter the valley of the Rio it is a bit more monotonous. Halfway there is an access to an annex of the national park, to go see the Cueva de las manos and valle lunar.

* Adrien Kunzli / 31-Oct-2022-04-November-2022 / Regular Hiking Northbound

All rivers crossing are easy to pass at this time of year. One tricky passage on the snow at the entrance of lago verde, very steep, but it was to avoid walking in the lake (frozen feet early in the morning).

No guards at the entrance at Tamango so i didnt pay the fee but didnt get my pass. Tamara gently gave me one at the camping of casa del piedra (apparently if i didnt have this pass i could not be admitted at Jeinimeni.) At Jeinimeni pass, again, nobody. So i were to the houses near and finaly find the guy. He took my pass and i get no fee in this NOBO direction.
Nice shortcut after the bridge of Rio de las Nieves (S 46° 47.274', W 071° 54.665') that can avoid you a little bit of the 4x4 unfinshing road and get you directly into the heart of this amazing and beautifull last part. So:
In front of the end of the bridge, you go up the big hill and go diagonally (or directly if you feel better) to join the path (pretty wild) of the gps (S 46° 45.843', W 071° 54.359'). Small stretches of paths are drawn rather well along this shortcut.

Not much good water between the bridge (brown water) and the puesto but the the puesto's water is of much better quality.

==Season 2021/22==

* GPT 35: Parque Patagonia/ Exploration Route via Valle Maullín Grande/ 2022 March-12/ 4 days / Tobias Schorcht, Jonas Grünewald

We hiked from Maullín Grande to Cochrane by chance. I always wanted to do the stretch from Chile Chico to Cochrane, but we had just 4 days left… When we hitchhiked northbounded from Villa O’Higgins, we luckily got picked up by Pascual Diaz, who is a experienced Mountain Guide (company Kalem) and took us all the way to his refugio in Maullín Grande. He also explained us, how to reach Cochrane on time while doing that crossing. The next day he took us to the end of the Road, where we started hiking around midday (-46,80390, -72,42001). It was a easy walk to the end of the Valley where we camped (-46,87872, -72,34138). The following day was hard, but we went up to the pass (1430m) in perfect sunshine. At (-46,87234, -72,30906) you will face a waterfall in a steep canyon. We recommend to walk on the left side (northwest) through the forest until you meet the riverbed again. The other side is also possible (we went there), but you have to climb higher in difficult terrain. From that point you can easily do a cross country walk up to the pass, where you have to cross the Glaciar (without cracks). It was absolutely stunning! Going down to the laguna is quite steep. I would not do it in bad weather conditions. When you meet the laguna, you can either walk on the left or right side. Both options are not easy. We crossed on the right (southern) side, which is ok in good weather conditions. There is one river crossing in between, which could be impossible with more water. Now we think it would have been easier to walk on the left (northern) side, although we would have had needed to cross the river before and after the laguna. Packrafting is an option as well, but since it only 1.5 km we don’t think it is worth it. Camped in a forest close to the regular trail dry and save. All in all we recommend this option to experienced hikers in good weather conditions. The hike to Cochrane was hard, because we had just 2 days for 80km. So we hitchhiked to the museum of Parque Patagonia and we even saw a puma at the Westwind Campsite! It seems like this puma shows up there regularly. I waited for that moment almost 5 months. My dream came true on my very last evening in nature. Thank you Patagonia for this great gift. 🙏

*Christmas2021 / GPT 35, NOBO, participants Janna & Matthias, dec 2021, duration 6 days from Cochrane to Conaf center at Lago Jeinimeni, then hitchhiked to Chile Chico

As recommended by a friend we opted for the following route through the Parque Nacional de Patagonia which is highly recommendable (first two days mainly GPT variants and options, afterwards GPT regular routes. There are several marked senderos in the beginning as 5 Los Huemules, 8 los Pumas, 7 los Guanacos, sendero 9, sendero Lagunas Altas etc.) as you can see in our attached tracking file.

All in all the trails were easy to find, some seemed to be still unhiked this year. To enter the park from Cochrane we had to pass a prohibition sign and climb over a no entrar gate. We didn't meet anyone on the first day, the settler didn't seem to be around. The following days we met two to three other hikers per day, but no rangers until the end at Conaf Center near Lago Jeinimeni, where we easily paid the park fees in arrears (8000 pp park entrance fee and an additional 6000 pp overnight stays in the park). We deliberately skipped the Conaf center in Valle Chacabuco on the advice of our friend.

Good to know:
- There is no water anymore at S 47.198557, W 72.474927 near the camping site but instead at S 47.203460, W 72.480747 and S 47.179332, W 72.465807
- There were many lagoons on our day 3 that weren't visibly well marked neither on our apps nor on the Garmin GPS.
- All the marked refugios along the trail are heavily damaged except Casa de Piedra
(closed on the 24th of dec) and Refugio Valle Hermoso (where we could even dry our
soaked shoes from the many river crossings next to the fireplace).
- From the refugio Valle Hermoso we did a side trip to the first glacier lake in the Valle
Estero Ventisquero without all the luggage.
- The río Jeinimeni water level was up to our waists and strong (note it had rained the
night before). According to others it was supposed to be knee-deep.
- Hitchhiking from Conaf center Jeinimeni to Chile Chico is possible when camping or day guests are leaving. As we arrived later in the afternoon we spent an extra night there.
- The supermercado sur in Chile Chico sells gas.

Track files and waypoints: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-98Ou9jk0porCVRp7CSFZ-KciXQ2PBzD

[[file:Greater Patagonian Trail (7).jpg|thumb|GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]

*30 Nov RR 5 days SOBO Frank

From Chile Chico I got the Bahia Jara bus & got off at the junction, saves a 6KM roadwalk. Walked 2KM up the road then on trail to the high plateau. The settler before the pass wasn't there but his dogs were a bit territorial so I avoided the puesto. I went across the high plateau & camped a bit before the second puesto in one long day. Camp marked on track file below the pass was not very good (boggy & sloping) so I continued down to camp near the stream. The second puesto is above the RR & not visible from it. Camping on the high plateau definitely not recommended. It is very exposed & the wind can & will knock tents. On day 2 I got to CONAF, they said a puma had been there every day the week before. Continued with many river crossings to the hut. There are trails marked with ribbons on LHS of the river SOBO, they go in on small loops which avoid some of the river crossings. Nearing the hut there is a stream flowing into the lake. At the lake it was too deep to cross. Bush bashed for about 40 metres to reach the ford. Camped outside the hut. Several river crossings on the third day. The double crossing is the crux. I avoided it by going over the bluff on LHS of river with a bit of tree bashing but I don't recommend that. The bluff descent is cliffed off with only a narrow breach where you can downclimb on trees. The breach is not obvious from above. Better to ford the river - it was running high but I met several hikers who had crossed it. Got to Casa de Pidera in 1 long day from the hut. You can cook in the Casa (they have a gas stove, electricity & showers) but have to camp outside. There are some trees to shelter from the wind. On the fourth day I started walking Sendero de Siete Lagunas (SSL) but I was using the 2019 track file which doesn't show the SSL. It had not been walked much recently & the route was not obvious. At the lake I lost the SSL in guanaco tracks. I continued around the lake & walked out about 2KM to the road. The descent to the road was cliffed off but I found a way down in a gully. Then I walked out the road past a meadow where hundreds of guanaco were grazing. Past the meadow I went in left on a side road to rejoin the RR. On the fifth day I walked past Daniel Huemul's puesto & was lucky to meet Daniel who was riding out & he showed me the way. He said the direct RR which goes right from the puesto is now overgrown & disused. Instead we went out to the left. There is a small road which goes in a loop & turns towards Lago Cochrane but with his directions I was able to shortcut it. I paid 15,000 CLP for entry & camping at CONAF Lago Jeinemeni & they didn't charge me anything at Casa de Piedra.

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

*2020-Mar-18 , Tyler Wood, 7 Days Sobo

Amazing section to end my season with. I got a couple short hitches on the way up past Chile Chico. Up past the last puesto are some great areas to camp along a big boulder field. Maybe 2 km more. Beautiful and surrounded by Guanacos. Plenty of water too. Up near the top of the pass was very cold, but very beautiful, and even saw a bunch of flamingoes in the lakes.

On the way down the pass I tried to find the fore-mentioned route to the puesto to take the road the rest of the way down and didn’t really have any luck...found my way anyways and camped down by Rio sucio under a willow.

Into Jenimeni I got another little hitch. Once you cross the deeper river by Laguna esmeralda just keep those water shoes on, you’ll be crossing many more times.

I also was told by a ranger that sendero siete Lagunas wasn’t habilitado, but went for it anyways. Water is Not after Laguna Gutiérrez for a while, so make sure you fill up around there. After the pass there are a few more small
Streams to fill up.

The road walking to Tmango reserve seemed to take forever, but Walking/camping by Lago Cochrane was all worth it. At puesto Huemul Is when I got my first advice that the corona virus was a big deal. The woman told me there were 3 confirmed cases in Cochrane, I went there and booked my tickets straight home. Hasta le vista baby!!!

*2020-February-08 / 7 days / Southbound

Long and beautiful section. No major difficulties. Great diversity. Without hitchhiking, it took me 173 kilometers.

1st part / 2 days / Chile Chico to Div 217
At the beginning of the cross country, valley full of Guanacos. I camped just after the puesto, about 2 kilometers after the beginning of the cross country, before the pass, where there are still rocks to protect from the wind.
As related in previous reports, after camp 279, you will stumbled upon a fence. Go on the East along the fence, cross it, and you will find a trail to the next Puesto and then the trail goes down from the puesto to the dirt road. You will avoid cross country this way.

2nd part / 2,5 days to Casa de Piedra
Popular part. Groups of hikers along the way. 8000CLP entrance fee + 6000 CLP for 2 nights sleeping inside the park.

3rd part / 2,5 days / Sendero de las 7 lagunas
After Casa de Piedra, I followed the GPS regular route which took me to the beginning of the Sendero of 7 lagunas. CONAF said it was not "habilitado" but it is actually well marked. The good thing is that there will be no hikers on this part, except when you approach the end, along the lago Cochrane. The trail is very different from the GPS tracks but no difficulties to find it. So, don't worry not having the GPS tracks.
At S 47º08.015' W 72º18.948', there is a nice place to camp and also, the trail will merge with the optional route OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 You can then follow this track and then go back to the Regular Route to reach Cochrane.

* Martin Lizondo / 28-Jan-2020 / Regular Hiking Southbound

The section took me 6 days. Some tips:

The first part from Chile Chico has a +20 km cross country walk. The wind is extremly strong and the route very high, with no forest protection. I recommend spending the first night behind the trees of El Ciprés (the settler Orlando Vazquez allows people to pass and is very kind) or near to the puesto at the end of the minor road at 46º 36' 5,3" S, 71º 48' 45,05" O (Miguel Pacheco is very kind too). Enough water all along the route.

The Jeinimeni section of Parque Patagonia is very easy and well marked. Entrance to foreigners costs CLP 8000 plus 6000 if spending the night. There’s a shelter with place for fire and tents after 18 km.

Valley Aviles to Casa de Piedra is also easy and beautifull, with many free camping spots. Casa de Piedra costs CLP 8000 per night.

The rest of the gps track is very different from the actual trail, called “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas”. I recommend taking this route instead of the old gps track, as it’s very well maintained. At Lago la Pepa ( 47º 7' 45,19" S, 72º 18' 41,54" O ) the trail crosses an old overgrown minor road, which coincides with the gps track and takes to Puesto Huemul (47º 11' 25,31" S, 72º 26' 6,98" O). If going to the left, you’ll reach the puesto, if going up to the right you’ll end the official “Sendero de las Siete Lagunas” near to the main park center. Other hiking options are possible from that point, but the regular route to Puesto Huemul is the shortest.

From Puesto Huemul, the trail goes down near to the lake Cochrane through Sendero “Coigües” and “Carpinteros”. Well marked and signed, this trails will take you to the start of Tamango section, very near to Cochrane.

*2020-Jan-27 / GPT35 New Route: Lago General Carrera (Fachinal) to Parque Patagonia (Lago Jenimeni or “Casa de Piedra”) / 5 days / Meylin Meylin Elisabeth Ubilla González and Jan Dudeck

Based on a recommendation from Tobias Hellwig W and Daniel Mahn Borkowsky we investigated a new route that I did no had on my radar until a few weeks ago. This route provides an alternative access from the southern coast of Lago General Carrera into the Parque Patagonia and is of interest for packrafters and hikers.

The route is a traditional animal trail that was used by the settlers of Fachinal to drive cattle to a large summer pasture that is now part of Parque Patagonia (sector Jenimeni). With the enforcement of keeping domestic animals out of the protected park area a 5 km trail section inside Parque Patagonia lacks maintenance but is still quite well traversable for GPT standards. Apart from this short trail section most of the route is very scenic and nice to walk but practically unknown. Only one tourism company runs guided hiking trips along this route about once per months. Apart from this occasionally use the full traverse seams not to be done anymore.

Due to lack of trail markings we spend about one extra day in searching and following the poorly maintained 5 km trail section but with our GPS record other hikers should struggle much less than we did and will be able to walk in 4 to 5 moderate hiking days from Fachinal at the southern shore of Lago General Carrera to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia in the Valle Chacabuco.

We hiked the route northbound as we considered the option to cross Lago General Carretera at its shortest narrow by packraft. Here the lake is only 3.2 km wide but we finally did not cross this rather dangerous lake due to suboptimal wind conditions.

Fachinal to Rio Aviles River Crossing:

A well maintained “cattle highway” leads from Fachinal from the road bridge of Rio Aviles along the western/southern side of Rio Aviles to the limit of Parque Patagonia. This roughly 20 km long trail section gets regularly cleaned with chain saws to facilitate access to the pastures along Rio Aviles for free-rooming cattle. Most of the trees that have fallen on the trail have been cut to keep the trail easily traversable. Some hikers might find the “pointless up and down” annoying but this trail was created by men that move on horses that did not had to ascent and descent themself. About 1 km before crossing the Rio Aviles two signs indicate the limit of Parque Patagonia (Sector Jenimeni) and ban access for unauthorized people and domestic animals (without providing any clue who might be authorized and who not ;-). From the park limit the trail descents steep to Rio Aviles but remain well maintained to ford.

This trail section requires two possibly demanding river crossings that can become impossible during snow melt in spring, after heavy rain or on the afternoon or evening of hot days (melting water from glaciers!). To keep the route traversable in such circlesumstances the tourism company has installed in both locations steel ropes (to cross these two rivers hooked up in harness to the steel rope without even touching the water).

Rio Aviles River Crossing to the Pass (1150 m above Sea Level):

After the river crossing the trail condition suddenly changes. Fallen trees don’t get cut anymore and undergrowth is not cleaned by machete. It’s mainly the remaining path on the ground that indicates the former animal trail. Advance is slow and in various locations care must be taken to not loose the trail. Here you will need to climb over fall trees and push occasionally through dense vegetation until reaching an altitude of 950 m. At this altitude the forest floor opens up (no dense undergrowth any more) and the trail disappears completely. Here walking becomes easy again. Walk the following kilometer through the open forest following roughly the GPS track until reaching the end of the forest and the small lake after the 1150 m high pass.

An advise for northbound hikers:

Finding the first signs of the trail in the open forest was a struggle as we had no information where exactly the trail starts to descent. I searched at least 3 or 4 hours in a 400 m wide and 1200 m long section of open forest till I found a first old machete mark on a tree that indicated the location of the trail. Carefully searching and following similar marks I finally found the descending trail.

Searching northbound we lost the trail again when reaching Rio Aviles at the bottom of the valley and searched half a day for the correct continuation. A well visible and noticeably used trail next to Rio Aviles leads directly to an suitable river ford but from there a well maintained trail continues 1 km in the wrong direction (upstream). Only after bushbashing 1 km along the river shore downstream we recognized with surprise a second river ford (now the correct river ford) which connects to the well maintained trail section in the correct direction. In hindsight we understood that the well maintained trail simply continues upstream along Rio Aviles and that this trail crosses twice the Rio Aviles. Due to a partially not evident trail section on the other side of we did not recognize this when hitting this trail on the bottom of the valley and took the wrong direction to the wrong river ford.

Now hikers with our GPS record and a GPS should not struggle to find and follow this trail as we did.

Pass (1150 m above Sea Level) to Valle Hermoso Refugio:

After leaving the forest at the 1150 m high pass the most scenic part of this route starts. A roughly 15 km long cross country route leads over pastures and river sediments past 3 lakes and two glaciers to the Refugio Valle Hermoso. Occasionally signs of a trail are visible but due to the open landscape a continuous trail neither exists nor is needed.

Near the Refuge Valle Hermoso this route connects with regular route that leads along Valle Aviles (diffrent river with the same name!) to “Casa de Piedra” in the center of Parque Patagonia.

Access to Trail Head at Fachinal:

There are multiple buses per week from Chile Chico to Puerto Tranquilo on the Carretera Austral that pass Fachinal.

Monday and Friday runs a subsidized bus from Chile Chico to Fachinal and back to Chile Chico (One round trip in the morning and a second one in the evening).
8:30 leaving Chile Chico
9:30 in Fachinal
11:00 returning to Chile Chico
17:30 leaving Chile Chico
18:30 in Fachinal
20:00 returning to Chile Chico

If you wish to cross Lago General Carrera to continue hiking in the Cordillera Avellano North of the lake speak to Carloz Amoros in Fachinal (mobile: +56 9 76267029 / price around 30‘000 CLP) or Pascual Diaz de Mallin Grande.

*2020-January 23 / Oreste Marquis/ Northbound : 8 days

Going northbound. I followed the route until the second settler at the puesto Tejuela. From there, until the optional route @35-02e#001,
I could not find the approximate trail in the files. I manage to find another one which is call siete Lagunas. It is really easy to follow and really beautiful! I find it near km 18 and keep walking on it until km 38. It is the end of it and is at the campground near Lago Gutiérrez. For more informations go reed Martin post in recent alerts and suggestion. I met him on the trail and he updated the wikiexplora before me. From the beginning to Casa Piedra took me 3 days. Then I hiked to the end of the reserve in an other 3 days. Lots of rivers to cross but felt pretty safe for all of them even the one higher between Lagos Jeinimeni and Verde. The cross country part the next day was my favorite of the hole trip! Awesome views, a lot of wildlife, just need to check a little bit more the gps! Last day, I headed to Chile Chico without any problem. Overall, I love it! Enjoyed it as much as GPT40.

* 2020-January / Matthieu / Northbound : 7.5 days "tranquilito"
Incredible trekk, lots of different type of views and soil, my favorite since El Chalten. Money required for passing by the reserves !!
I hitchhiked 10 km on the road to Casa Piedra, and 12 km between Jeinemini qnd the beginning of the trail that goes north in the mountain to join Chile Chico.

'''1st part : Reserve Tamango''' : 6000 CLP the entry
I took the old "Huemul trail" in the Tamango reserve, taking the left route at the "Camp 284" It is an old trail for 4x4, so very easy, and closed to vehicles now.

'''2nd part : The road to Casa Piedra :''' the rangers I crossed were all agreed that it was not permitted to camp aside of the road (so the information is different that in Nov). One officiql camping at the end of Tamango reserve (WestWind) and one at Casa Piedra 26 km after. 8000 CLP each. At Westwind (not verified, only inforñqtions for guardaparques): no accomodations, only baño. At Casa Piedra . real big house, hot shower, electricity, place to cook.

'''3rd part : Reserve Jenemeni :''' Entry 8000 CLP. For the camping, the ranger told me that it was permitted to camp wherever I wanted, so the information differs too from november. And at the exit, I told the ranger about my "savage" camping in the conversation, and he didnt tic at all, so no stress. The rangers are very nice !
Good trekk, easy to follow. One very good refuge in the valle Hermoso where fire is possible. a more open refuge/camping site by the east shore of Lago Verde.
Many river crossing, all safe except one, before the Laguna Esmeralda. Strong current, and people choose many different way with different profundness. Better do it in the morning, being a glaciar river (I could effectively compare between late in the afternoon and the morning and it is very different).

'''Last part, to Chile Chico by the mountain :''' Amazing views, totaly different climate, more dry and with only bushes.
At the beginning of the Cross country after the 4x4 road, I would advise to go a few meters west from the GPS tracks, to the east side of the river. There is effectively a fence on the west ridge, and a good trail on the east ridge that can avoid you the difficult crossing of many bushes, and that goes directly to the puesto.
Two puestos, The 135 of metal being used by the locals (real bed inside), so just putted the tent outside. The second one 134 is actually a real house. Two mens were here when I arrived, working with the animals. I could put the tent near the house and take water from the sink outside. Many dogs, all nice.

*GPT35 Summary:
Mum, Sis and I. Southbound. 11 days.*

Well. What an interesting and varied section. Also the longest walk I think we'd all done. It took us 11 days in the end with a couple of longer side trips. Interestingly, when we emerged from the park it was closed, there was martial law in effect, a curfew in place. Borders closed. Only a week to get back to Santiago to catch the last flights back to Australia... Anyway. We're heading back now. Got temperature tested as we reentered Chili Chico this morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake mañana in la mañana. No buses out of town. Enough rambling...

As always, thanks to the others before us that have taken the time to comment and provide feedback. Here's my two cents.

Firstly here are some landmarks to make it easier for others to orient themselves:

El Ciprés
http://ge0.me/oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés
ge0://oGvL0ey6_7/El_Ciprés
Casa Piedra
http://ge0.me/4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29
ge0://4GvJGSxqPH/Casa_Piedra_%28Stone_House%29
Westwind
http://ge0.me/wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind
ge0://wGvC_gnJaX/Westwind

Camping in Chile Chico:
El Carro is supposed to be the cheapest place to stay in town. Though if you want a hot shower it's the same as Kon-aiken next door. We stayed at neither so can't really comment, but there were a lot of people staying at Kon-aiken and next to none at El Carro which might be indicitive of value for money or just the fact they are a little closer to the centre of town.
El Carro however was the only one willing to look after some things for us.
We also visited a hostel, but the owner was unfortunately very rude.

El carro
4k frío
5k caliente
1k por día por mochila

Kon-aiken
5k pp / noche
No baggage service

Part 1: Chili Chico to Jeinemeni
In the end we decided to cache things in the bushes just outside of town. Mum and my sister got a lift to the Bahía Jara cruz whist I was caching. Unfortunately I had to walk all the way to El Ciprés where my mum and sister had been enjoying a nice conversation with Orlando Vazquez who allowed us to pass but emphasised the dangers and didn't really recommend crossing.
Passing through the gate a couple of utes were exiting. Apparently there is a new mine up in the mountains and they didn't really want us to walk up. They admitted they just worked there.
Turn off the main rd that assumably heads to the mine about here: -46.57775, -71.82666
Goucho Miguel Pacheco passed us on the way up herding some cattle and we talked to him at the puesto for a while. We also gave him one of the Australian coins we'd been carrying around. He seemed to believe it was everyone's right to pass. "People pass through here all the time "."Just yesterday a lad passed by "."It's the shortest route across the mountains "
Anyway. We camped in the rocks just outside the park boundaries (as mentioned by??).
We then camped two nights up on the windy plateau. Our side trip to Valle Lunes was amazing. I'd recommend it. But be careful with wind. Oh and did anyone mention the guanacos?
Unfortunately I think the water wasn't very clean on this part. Sheep, cows, guanacos, birds... It's the first time in Chile I've wished I took my water filter along. We had some sore stomachs.
Dropping down the other side we hit the mentioned fence (about here -46.72574, -71.90211). We crossed, but would recommend following it to the left until you get to a corner. I'm not sure where it starts, but there is a trail running on the outside of the fence to the puesto. We then followed a sheep trail that ran high on the left (east) of the valley. Very good but it bypassed Las Abutardas completely and seemed to be heading towards Laguna los Flamencos instead. We ended up cutting down to the road where León passed us heading into town, a little confused why we hadn't taken the 'proper trail'.
We camped the night at the Río El Sucio camp. Not really recommended.
We walked the road and stayed at Río Las Vacas for a bit which is at the border of the park and a nicer place to camp. (There is a good stream between the two).

Part 2: Jeinemeni to Casa Piedra
It was 8k to enter the park (for foreigners) and an additional 6k for camping in Valle Hermoso. The section to the refugio (-46.84092, -72.14078) was very nice. This is the only shelter still standing. The others included in the track files were not really enterable.
Heading to the refugio (where everyone seems to camp) you cross the small ankle deep creek exiting Laguna Esmeralda and then the deeper river between Lago Verde and Jeinemeni. This might have been the trickiest but when we crossed it wasn't really bad. We then had two more smaller crossings before passing through Portezuela La Gloria (1100m) to cross Estero Ventisquero and the other river running down the main valley.
The next day we did the popular side trip to the glacier in this valley: -46.80924, -72.20116
We wondered if it was the same way Jan et al entered recently?
From the refugio to Valle Avilés there are no compulsory river crossings if you stick to the somewhat scrubby trail to the left (south) of the valley. The first crossing we did was Río Avilés shortly followed by the tributary. So only 8 crossings (wet feet) on the RR.

We walked from the refugio to Casa Piedra in a day. It was closed so we camped on the other side of the Rd.

Part 3: Casa Piedra to Cochrane
From casa piedra we took the aforementioned Sendero las Siete Lagunas. It is not it the track files but indeed very well marked with numbered markers every kilometre. I'll upload a kml with the markers I recorded as well as some of the water bodies I sketched.
After the stream running into Lago Gutiérrez there wasn't much water until Lago la Pepa.
You will briefly intersect with a road here: -47.14006, -72.37138. The road seems to run down to Puesto Tejuela coinciding with OH-TL-V@35-02F-#001 which I think is incorrectly labelled as TL. Part of RH-TL-I@35-99.0+30.0 too should be marked as MR. You'll intersect this road before taking it down to Lago Cochrane.
We passed the occupied dwelling (Daniel Huemul?) but the man wearing a shirt emblazoned with Parque Patagonia seemed afraid to approach us (another hint the world had gone Corona crazy). He wouldn't let us take the RR so we followed the road for a bit before taking another newly made trail also not in the track files.
Everything after that was very easy to follow.
Everything was abandoned at the entrance and the gate locked. People avoided us on the streets and covered their face when passing us.
We grabbed some needed food (we were very short after 11 days!) and got on the WiFi. Wow! How things had changed! Martial law in place and a curfew in place, we slept under a bridge with some Colombians and caught a bus back to Chili Chico in the morning. Waiting for the boat across the lake tomorrow now.

Links to files :
Kilometre markers: https://www.dropbox.com/s/fuzt4xacxjjvvg4/kms.kmz?dl=0
Water bodies: https://www.dropbox.com/s/uz1ei95s1913xvb/water.bodies.kmz?dl=0
Other planning:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uk9ym56gufwk4zq/planning.kmz?dl=0

* 2019 Dec / Olrik/ Northbound

Amazing part of the GPT, from Cochrane ou enter in the Tamango national reserve and pay 6000CLP for the entrance. We took several trails to get to Valle Chacabuco : Las Aguilas, Las Lengasm Los Condores, Laguna Altas. Great views. We had a snow storm at the pass though. There you end up in a paid campground. From there we walked the dirt road to Casa Piedras in Valle Chacabuco, it was beautiful with lots of guanacos. Then we took the Las Aviles sendero. We camped near the first river crossing as it was late and waited for the morning to cross. It is normally not possible to wild camp in the park but the guardaparque told us to camp there if the river crossing is not sage. The rest of the trail is easy to follow next to the river. There is a pass then you descend to Valle Hermoso and to lago Jeinimeni. It was just gorgeous and easy to follow with great weather. Be aware of the numerous river crossings. In lago Jeinimeni there is a paid campground. From there you can hitchhike, walk, or pay a transportation at the entrance of the park (15000Clp pp) but I'm not sure if this is a regular thing. We ended up hitchhiking to get to Chile Chico.

* 2019-Nov-28/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 5.5days/ Northbound / Regular Hiking Route (Cochrane to Chile Chico) with OH-32-2-#003/

This section might have been our favorite out of the whole Group H, where the diversity of the landscape was our favorite part (also including weather and trail conditions). The NP was entered at Tamango just outside of Cochrane. Registration is mandatory, the entrance fee is at 8000 CLP. The ranger asked us to explain our route and since the regular Hiking route did not seem familiar to them, they told us to take the optionals route going north over the pass to WestWinds campground and then do the road walk Eastwards.
The pass had some snow patches on the Southern side but was easy to traverse. At the Valley Chacabuco (another entrance to the national park) we got asked for our permits and the route we plan on taking. We heard different information on if it is allowed to camp at the road or not (there were signs that told us not to do it but the ranger said it is okay). After the roadwalk, we passed another ranger station where we had to register and sign a responsibility form telling that we plan to leave at Lago Jeinimeni (and telling that we're only allowed to stay at designated campsites). The hike from there is extremely beautiful and super diverse, the trail well maintained. The rivers were at higher flow but all fords were doable.
We camped next to the Refugio because we still weren't sure about the camping rules (other hikers we met said they were told that it's okay to camp everywhere along the river). Leaving the NP at Lago Jeinimeni was straightforward, but it's mandatory to check out at the rangers office. The cross-country section after the road walk was a bit slow on the way up due to many bushes and hilly terrain. We found a nice trail next to the fence leading up to the puesto when going up the ridge on the Eastern side. From the puesto we took a short steep uphill after which the terrain became more open and easier to travel on. It was very windy and snowy in the mountains, which made it difficult to walk at times and it felt like the temperatures were rather low.
The lagoons on the way up are filled with exciting birds (flamingos!) and guanacos are running around on the whole plain. Once reaching the plateau we headed down in a pretty straight line which was easier than the uphill until we reached the road

==Season 2018/19==

==Season 2017/18==

==Season 2016/17==

=Resupply and Accommodation=

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

*Chile Chico has two supermarkets. Sell gas.

*Cochrane is a decently sized town with three mid-range supermarkets. The largest one, which is a grocery and department store, is located adjacent to the town square. There are many lodging and restaurant options. Be sure to withdraw an ample amount of money here because most of the businesses in the next town, Villa O’Higgins, only take cash and there is no ATM.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

=Transport to and from Route=

=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=

*2023-Mar-31 to 2023-Apr-06 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Option J / Martin & Helena

PN Patagonia closed some sectors on the first Monday in April, so we were the last ones to get a permission and do this section ‘legally’. Be prepared for this if you want to do this part in April or later. The problem is they close Casa Del Piedra and probably won’t let you pass to that sector from Lago Jeinemeni, where the entrance stays open for longer time. Sneaking around the guards house early in the morning or just not be specific about your plans might work if needed, its very unlikely you would meet anyone on the way from the main entrance.

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT35 - RN Lago Jeinimeni]]

=Images=

GPT33P (Rio Ibanez)

2023-12-19T16:11:03Z

Pieper92: /* Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns */

GPT27P (Alto Rio Palena)

2023-12-19T16:08:15Z

Pieper92: /* Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns */

GPT32 (Cerro Castillo)

2023-12-19T03:47:24Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

{{Table all GPTs}}

 

Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format:

''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias

Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.

Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').

=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

==Season 2023/24==

*2023-Dec-12 / 6 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Variant D + Variant F / Tom Pieper
An Uber from Cohayique to Villa Simpson is about 9.000 Peso. From there I easily found rides to Lago Elizalde. A older man told me that there was also a camino from Lago Elizalde to Lago Azul passing cerro sombrero a couple of years ago. I really liked the walking through the valley to lago desierto. It passes a beautiful farmland landscape sprinkled with little lush patches of forest and creeks. Camping is easy there. But if you want to speed up there are also cars from time to time and hitchhiking is possible. At S 45° 52.495 W 072° 16.913 is a little shelter surrounded by some old tractors and a big mate cup installation. A farmer passing by told me I am welcome to stay there. To reach lago desierto you have to climb a locked gate (well described by Kara Davis). I crossed lago desierto and camped at the isthmus between it and lago azul. There is a nice camp spot at waypoint Lake {32} [38.3/337] surrounded by old gooseberry bushes and an abandoned van. The central lodging building is collapsed so its seems to be an abandoned place now except the cattle. Next day I crossed lago azul. The wind increased dramatically forming up to 1 m waves. There are some emergency exits on the left even after the shore gets steeper after the settlers on the lefthand side. At the end of lago azul you reach a huge private hacienda on the isthmus, with a big park like forest and buildings within. I tried to sneak between the buildings but to reach the path to the mountains you finally have to pass a big meadow. There was a greenkeeper around and it was no problem for him to let me pass. The family was not around. The track to the mountains is steep and part of a big network of mountainbike trails. This network spans nearly the entire valley! I met six young chilenos who told me that they are working the summer to maintain the trails only for that family – I have never seen such a giant mountainbike network! Incredible how much effort and money must spend here only to satisfy a family’s hobby. The Chilenos were very friendly and even turned back to offer me a ride to the end of the valley as rain increased but I kept walking. This track is in really good conditions up to the bush bashing section. And here comes the problem: 1.) the bush bashing is wrong annotated. In reality it starts for 1.2 km at the end of the annotated section 2.) the track is mostly gone were it reaches the river bed. Landslides have washed away a big part. Don’t cross the landslide! It seems super instable! When you have forded the riverbed at the landslide don’t put on your shoes, yet. The following part has turned into swamp land. I suggest to make the entire 1.2 km in your fording footwear. After that the track to the las horquetas trail is mostly overgrown or blocked by trees but still visible. It was pretty hard for me as temperatures dropped to 4 °C and at this point it had not stopped raining for 48 hr. In bad weather that’s definitely no fun. The ranger hut was my salvation as it was abandoned but open and had a stove and even some firewood. The next day the weather was perfect and I continued towards cerro Castillo. There had been recent work around Camping Rio Turbio and the track is still in good condition. Paso Penón has heaps of snow and I found myself sinking to the hips from time to time. But in good weather it is ok. The views from the pass and the following valley even outcompeted the view from laguna castillo. After the paso penón the rest is fine. I used Variant F to descend. As mentioned before it now follows a different way in the end due to right of way conflict and you reach the street at approximately half way between villa cerro Castillo and the national park entrance.

==Season 2022/23==

* 05-Apr-2023 / Hiking / SOBO / Martin & Helena

We really enjoyed this one. It's definitely worth waiting for good weather, not only for safe traverse of the steep part in the northern part of the park and following obstacles that are quite demanding but also for the views that were just incredible.

Starting from Villa Frei in the late afternoon, we made it on that day to the turn before Lago La Paloma, where we camped right behind a fence, before a little river, that you need to cross to follow the RR. There are 2 settlements, but still far enough, so no problem. You have to cross one fence and a gate on the way up. To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side. Crossing them will take you directly to RR, so no bush-bashing is necessary. From there, the trail is pretty straightforward. We liked the view from Option B viewpoint and in good conditions it must be a perfect spot for camping, definitely doable in one day. The steep traverse didn't feel that dangerous for us, but we had really good conditions. The next obstacle, already described by others, is at the end of the traverse. We followed there a small ridge that will take you to the beginning of the grass parts. It's a little steep, but doable. From there we followed the grass parts, which create almost 'stairs' allowing you to climb up. It's again steep, but you can use your hands to pull yourself up, holding the grass patches. After that is the last challenging part, a rock that you need to climb over. We got there already after sunset and without an option to explore the best and safest way over, we decided to follow the old overgrown trail, that descends down without the need to climb over the rock. It seemed to be hard in the beginning, but after we got through the first few trees (without any leaves, just branches), we found a little strip without them, that takes you all the way down to the river, where we camped. It took us around 15 min to get down, so it might be a good alternative. From there you just need to walk through a little part of the forest and then continue by the river, so you are actually avoiding also the descent down, which some described as challenging as well.

After the first marked pass and descent in rocky terrain, the CC part connects to an old trail, that later becomes a MR. The connection was easy to find by following the GPS. We had no problems passing around the rangers house, again by following the track files, at first through the forest and later around the river. From there the trail connects to the official way which makes navigation easy. We spent the night in the official campsite around 2 km before Laguna Carro Castillo, which is the only one open. There were 5-6 other tents, no ranger. The next day the weather got way way worse, which made us skip the last pass and go down from the laguna via one of the official routes. We met a ranger on the way up, pointing us to the official trail around yellow cairns, to sign off from the park. With no intention to pay on our way from the park, we actually followed some old trail (according to the old signs we met) that took us to the main road, right in front of the bridge. We had to cross one fence, but no other problem. It's a faster and safe way from the park.

*5 to 7 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO / 3 days

Amazing section! I was worried about the tricky part, but sticking to the gpx track it didn't feel dangerous to me. Though I did have to leave the track to find easier ways around the cliffs.

There weren't any buses south out of Coyhaique on Sunday (except maybe early morning?). I ended up taking an Uber to villa frei, for a bearable 14000 pesos. The road walk was beautiful except for the wind trying to blow me into the cars. I caught a ride to Lago Monreal, from where I walked back up to variant L and then to the 23.6 campsite.

I didn't have any right of way trouble, I just had to pass through a few unlocked gates with no people or buildings in sight. There were even a few groups of day hikers who passed by my camp on the way to the Lago Paloma mirador (variant B - must see!).

I also took variant D up to the glacier lake, worth it if it fits your schedule. I didn't have time to keep going up to the glacier itself, it looked like steeper rocky cross country.

Even in the touristy parts the trail was surprisingly slow and rocky. I ran into a few rangers, who look like normal hikers except with red and white baseball hats. They were ok with me not having a ticket once I explained my weird route.

*15.02.23 -18.02.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO
Coyhaique - Villa Cerro Castillo

We hitchhiked from Coyhaique to Lago Paloma and started walking around 13:30 pm following the main path.

The trail at the beginning is pretty good. At the junction with the option at km 17,5 you can walk further uphill along the fence for a couple of meters to enter the fence through a gate. This option is not in the gpx files. We decided to follow that to avoid the settlers after all.Then you can follow the dirtroad through two more gates until you reach a fence that you have to jump to the right to get to a meadow with beehives. There is another gate there and then you reach the main route again. In total we only had to jump two fences.

Then we followed the main route. Soon after we went through the gate of the National park Cerro Castillo and we (unfortunately) met two guardians of the park. After some back and forth they made us turn around, telling us that this path is closed and we have to enter the park via the main entrance and pay the 30.000 clp. So we had to take the option to las Horquetas.

After a few good km on a dirtroad, the path of option 1 gets bad. It seems like it hasn't been used for a long time. It was often hard to find and involved some bushbashing. It took us quite some time to get through there. Once you are at the river it gets much better. We forded the river next to the entrance to avoid the detour until Horquetas. The option was not very nice. Mostly just walking in the forest with BB so we would definetly recommend to try the main route.

The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets. The park guardians tell you that there is no water crossing both passes and you have to carry it from the official camps, which is simply not true. There is only no water after Laguna Castillo.

At the exit (following the RR) we had to register us again. From there we planned to hitchhike to Villa Cerro Castillo, but there were no cars passing by. In the afternoon/evening it's probably easier to get a ride, because lots of cars parked at the exit. We would recommend Option E to avoid the dull roadwalk to Villa Cerro Castillo.

We stayed at Camping El Rincon, which was only 4.000 clp p.p., with no electricity, but the owner washed our clothes after we asked and we received it dry the next morning :)

*18 to 21 of January 2023 / Véronica / GPT32 RR SOBO / 3.5 days

Route: Villa Freí - Lago La Paloma - north part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo - Las Horquetas trail (south part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo) - Villa Cerro Castillo
First off I want to say that I think this section deserves a 5 on the Attractiveness Scale. It is simply mind-blowingly beautiful and definitely on par with other sections further north that have a 5 on this scale. I also think the Difficulty Rating should be upped to a 5 as well, due to the technical, and arguably dangerous at times, section in the northern part of the park on the Regular Route. Wish I had someone with me during this stretch, but oh well, such is life.

I was lucky and caught a hitch most of the way to Lago La Paloma on the first day. It was hot and I don't think the road walk has any water sources until you get to the end. I then followed the new RR which bypasses the problematic right-of-way settler in the Lago Monreal area. However, this new detour is not fun. It involves climbing over (or crawling through/under) multiple barbed wire fences. I lost count after the 5th or 6th one. Also, the path and cross-country area are full of thorny plants, they got everywhere on my pack and clothing. I think it would just be better to take Option 32-L and chat with the settler instead to try and get through. Once you reach RH-MR-V {32} [18.9+4.7], it's all good, easy walking until the camp at 23.6 km.

I reccomend taking Option 32-A after the campsite instead of the CC straight through the cow pasture. It is wet and muddy, whereas 32-A remains dry and easy to follow in the forest at the edge of the meadow. I also strongly recommend taking the short detour to the mirador at the end of Option 32-B. The views there of the cliffs and mountains surrounding Lago La Paloma are incredible. You could even camp there if you brought sufficient water and the weather is calm.

Now for the difficult part in the 8-km cross-country section. This section was physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding. The first pass is at S 45° 55.740', W 072° 04.501'. It is easy walking up past the treeline into the alpine up to this point. The first challenge is a steep and unstable scree traverse, which begins at S 45° 56.019', W 072° 04.567'. Follow the GPS tracks here. At first I tried to go lower, right along the treeline, which was a big mistake that got me stuck in a terrible gully of slippery hard-packed sand. Very treacherous and scary trying to traverse it on all fours. After that ordeal, I scrambled back up to the altitude of the GPS tracks. This first scree traverse lasts about a km, the rocks are loose and it is very steep. I was tense and went very slowly. Got harassed by tábanos the whole way, but at least the weather was good.

Then at S 45° 56.288', W 072° 05.184', you reach the end of the bad scree and end up in a deep gully with a vertical wall face on the other side. Figuring out how to get up that cliff was hard for me. I left my pack at the bottom and tried climbing up various different ways with no success, only tiring myself out and getting myself in precarious situations where I could barely climb back down. I finally figured out the best way was to try and get to the lowest grassy patch to the left of the vertical rock wall. The easiest way to reach that grassy patch was to go upstream a bit, then traverse on the hard slippery sand northward, instead of trying to climb vertically straight up to it. Once you reach the grass, you can use the traction and stability of vegetation to clamber up and out of the gully.

The next big obstacle is at S 45° 56.320', W 072° 05.446'. Like others have written, this is the vertical rock wall that spans up and down the mountain and that you have to climb over. I scouted ways up without my pack at first, trying to find the easiest way. At least with this rock wall, the handholds and footholds are solid — no slippery gravel/sand/scree. But it does require actual rock climbing moves. If you fall you would likely tumble down the mountain, so please be very careful. A light backpack makes it relatively safer and easier.

On the other side of this wall, you can finally see where the trees end, and the lovely river you are supposed to climb down to reach. But there is still more scree to traverse here, and it is slow and unstable again. I tried taking a shortcut down a shallow gully filled with grass. I figured it would be safer than the rocks, but it was very steep and got unexpectedly muddy at one point, and I ended up slipping and sliding down the mountainside about 10 meters before being able to stop myself. Didn't get seriously hurt, just bruised up, but it really shook me and just added to the stress and fear of this whole section. So I guess my advice here is to again follow the GPS tracks across the scree and go down gradually to the river instead of trying to go straight down.

Once you reach the riverbed, it is easy walking to the top of the pass, with occasional cairns (and some good swimming holes). Down the south side of the pass, there are still a couple scree sections, but not nearly as bad as before. Lots of boulders, so slow going, but at least they felt more solid.

As Martin Lizondo has written, finding the start of RH-MR-V {32} [34.1+1.7] is tricky. It is not a minor road, it is an old footpath. The cross-country section ends at a creek as it turns into a high and steep waterfall. You have to cross the creek and look up to find a faint, overgrown trail that goes up into the forest. Once you find it though, it is simple enough to follow. There is a stretch though of several hundred meters where it is more of a bushwhack than anything else, nature has taken over.

I followed the regular route that cuts through the forest to Río Turbío, I assume this is to avoid the ranger station nearby. The "bushbashing" section is easy through a mature forest, and then you just follow the bouldery riverbank.

Once you get to the popular Las Horquetas trail, everything is easy until the end of the section. Some snow at the top of the first pass (Paso Peñón), but very manageable. The views of the saw-toothed mountains, lakes, and glaciers are spectacular. Despite reports of the park being "overrun," I only met a handful of other hikers in this trail, and most of them after Laguna Castillo. No rangers at all.

I think the Regular Route in its current configuration avoids the blue payment tent at the end of the park trail, but I didn't know that when I passed through, and ended up just following the riverbank down to the minor road to be safe (and avoid paying the ridiculous 30,000 clp access fee). The road walk to Cerro Castillo was Easy and uneventful.

*23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR SOBO / Louis, Rémi & Noé :

We started at Lago La Paloma, taking the bus from Coyhaique to Villa Frei (leaves at 8:15,15:30,17:30&19:30 from monday to friday and at 8:00 and 14:00 on saturday (no bus on sunday)). Then we hitchiked to the lake without problem and we camped there. Ready to start in the morning the next day.

Day 1 - Campamento Rio Turbio - 26.5km - +1800m/-1200m A big day but we hadnt the choice : heavy rain was announced for the next day... Cross country is demanding, better follow the tracks all the way long. A great camp site if you want to split this day is at the end of Option B. No water, windy but incredible view. The waypoint camp before is nice too.

Day 2 - Campamento El Bosque - 10km - +800m/-800m The 2 camps sites on the GPT at47.8 and at 50.3 are now forbidden. The new campsite is approx at km 49, in the middle. There is guardaparques, but no need to show the permit for us.

Day 3 - Cerro Castillo - 11km - +800m/-1500m The pass after Cerro Castillo was closed due to the wind. If you want to go to the other side, you have to get down at the park entrance and to go up again at the other entrance. We just went to the town. The regular route going down from there, from the Cerro Castillo, is not the one on the GPT. Actually, it goes more on the west side. At the end, there is a guardaparque, we checked out (even though we didn’t checked in) but no need to pay. Fortunately. Luck was with us.

* 23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR NOBO / Jakub+Veronika:

1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.

We've walked all section 32 from Villa Frei to Villa Cerro Castillo. The part from Lago Paloma to Rio Turbio is very difficult and might be even dangerous (especially in bad weather). The CC travers on the stones (in our case with strong wind and snow) was the hardest part. The MR leading down to the valley is partially overgrown. The second part is well marked with good camping possibilities. After heavy rains on Sunday 25th, the park has been closed for more than a week. There are 2 alerts on the road (see above).

*Feb 17 RR 3 days SOBO Frank

Walked from Villa Frei. After about 12KM there is a food truck next to the road. Owners live there so should open for you. The owner of the private land wasn't there so had no access issues. You can camp in a big meadow @ 1250 metres or in good weather at a pass @ about 1325 metres (not marked on track file) just before the difficult CC section begins. Followed Veronica's advice to get up the gully on grass which worked well, thanks Veronica. There is no need for any rock climbing on this route. After the gully there are two rock bands running perpendicular to the route. You can go below both of them & bypass them at treeline. The second bypass is not very obvious but stay at the treeline & you will get through easily. After the pass, descending scree you come to a waterfall. Go left into the forest immediately before the waterfall - you may see a small cairn marking the spot. Just footprints at first but pick up a small trail as you go in. Leaving the park the RR to the left goes through private land. The optional route straight down is now the main trail, it goes down to a checkpoint just before the road. Checkpoint is at a stile over a fence so can't be avoided. It is run as a private 'concession' from CONAF. The workers were friendly & didn't charge me anything. However next year the concession will be run by a different company so depends who is there.

==Season 2021/22==

*2022 Feb: 05-07, SoBo, RR, Kris&Stiina

We continued into this section straight from the previous one - 31H and the start of it, about first 16km, is like the whole previous section - dirt road. We hiked about 5 of those 16km and hitched the rest which I think was possible quite easy because it was weekend and a lot of cars with families were going to the Lago La Paloma.

The interesting part started once we were at the gate after crossing the outflow of Lago Monreal. The big sign was posted there stating that this is not some Sendero de Chile and that passing through here is strictly forbidden. We saw a guy at the gate when we were approaching, but as it was lunch time for us we stayed at the stream. Afterwards the guy was gone and there was no phone signal to call the nr. that Martin Lizondo has provided. After considering options of different routes we decided to keep it cool and climbed over the gate with fingers crossed. There were houses a few hundred meters up the road, but nobody seemed to be at home at that point, perhaps working in the field somewhere in the back, so we walked through the forbidden land without anyone intercepting, luck was with us. A few more gates later we climbed up into the forest and finally the Cerro Castillo National park with a big old welcoming sign. We stayed at the first marked campsite at 22,7km, there is a stream.

Next morning as we were having our breakfast about 30 cows showed up and were completely dazzled by our presence. They stared at us for about 15min until they finally relaxed a bit, but not fully. As we were packing our camp some sudden movement must have scared them and they all went running for their lives as if a Kraken himself was after them, silly cows, we thought. Once we were all packed and ready to go we crossed the stream into the next meadow, and saw all the cows about 200m to our left. I am not exactly sure how cows work, but as soon as they saw us they organized a gang and all of them started running right at us. We of course were standing our ground so the cows would stop just 5m from us and look all tough. I would try to scare them away by counter attack in the form of a shouting, hiking pole waving lunatic. It worked to some extent, as we could slowly walk out of it, but the cows kept persistently be really close and walk/run at us. I guess they were trying to protect their pasture, maybe someone can enlighten me about cow-dynamics.

After the great battle of 2022, we disappeared in the forest and enjoyed the nice forest path while it lasted. Once out of the three line the path disappeared so we more or less followed the GPS marking. Neither of our maps showed the mentioned old path descending down into the valley, it was actually matching with the GPS, more or less. Up to the first pass, which is not marked, but is at about 26,8km the cross country was easy and then as mentioned before it got pretty difficult. If it would just be steep scree slope it would be alright, but this one had hard packed sand under the scree or sometimes no scree on it so it was very slippery (in dry conditions). Lots of prayers went to the Gods of Friction which helped us with traversing the treacherous slopes, with plenty of chances to become a statistic. I don’t think that that traverse is possible in wet conditions, not without crampons. And as for every good cake there is always a cherry on top, which was a little rock climbing session, which I personally didn’t mind, but I am not sure other hikers would appreciate. After that we still had to descend a steep scree down to the river. If there is a potential trail or option to go down the valley after the pass and then follow the river bank up, I think it is definitely a better, faster and safer option, especially if weather is not favorable. And looking from above down the valley it seemed like a feasible option to follow the river as the river itself was easily crossable and we didn’t spot any cliffs there, maybe next time.

After reaching the river at the valley bottom the way up to the second pass was easy and straight forward, even though still “sin sendero”. The way down from the pass is steep and bouldery but not dangerous and after a short bit some first signs of an old trail can be noticed, some cairs appear. Then once the trail gets down to the tree line there are a few bushy places, but nothing too bad and the closer to the actual trail you get the better it becomes. We also somewhat followed the GPS track but stayed more in the forest rather than beach to avoid the ranger hut.

Once we made it to the Las Horquetas trail all our worries were behind us and we could enjoy the nice trail and magnificent views. I don’t think I have ever seen tree line ending almost at the edge of the glacier in Europe it was happening a century ago, pretty cool stuff. We camped at the “segundo camping” with many other hikers, none doing the GPT though. And an interesting thing we observed was that people would just drink straight from the silty glacier stream without filtering or treating their water at all. Observation was made of different groups of people at different campsites. Is that a Chilean thing? Very impressive gut, if they can do it, unless ignorance is a bliss or they knew something that we didn’t.

Nevertheless, two more mountain passes and we were heading down to Villa Cerro Castillo, with crowds of day-hikers that had come up to the Mirador Cerro Castillo. From there we actually didn’t follow the GPS track but headed down straight to the town. The ticket office with the park official is actually around this area: (46º 6.7520' S, 72º 12.0032' W). And the trail leading there is the official trail. The one that seemed on the map like the official, was actually not in use, not sure why. The satellite view on Gaia and info on the maps is somehow outdated. We tried to sneak past the office to avoid all explaining we had to do, but it’s kind of strategically placed so it wasn’t possible and we ended up just talking to the girl that was making sure everyone is checking out of the park. We had to pay 18.000 pesos per person which is the ticket for foreigners that want to go up to the mirador. We didn’t spill the beans about camping in the park and our small backpacks kept the suspicion low, so in the end it all worked out pretty good. From there it is still almost 5km to the town on a very dusty road, but with all the day hikers leaving a hitch was not a problem.

The town is really nice with plenty of shops and accommodations options. The only thing we didn’t manage to find was the threaded gas canister, but we found a few half-empty ones left in the Nordic Patagonia mess tent.

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

*Section 32, Option 7: Valle Balboa. Southbound. 11 days (including waiting out a snow storm). Party (3): Mum, Sis and I.

After walking Section 35 we emerged in Cochrane to a world changed by the virus. We retreated to the now unfriendly Chili Chico and caught the ferry across to Ibáñez in the morning. For my mum and sister, getting back to Santiago to catch a flight home had been the priority, but on the way they shifted more to the stance I was taking: what was the point? Get stuck in Australia, or here? Patagonia didn't seem all that bad, and apart from facemasks and hand sanitiser, there were no shortages like back home. By the time we reached Coyhaique we'd all decided to stay a week or so to hatch a plan. We met up with Aldo and camped in his backyard for almost a week. I helped build his house a bit, but time was mostly filled with playing chess, dice, cards and guitar. The atmosphere seemed to encourage a lethargic state, blurring the days together and bending time. Finally however, we packed and walked into the town centre to make a start on the interesting option #007 of Section 32 through Valle Balboa, (traversing roughly from Lago Desierto to Río Ibáñez). With the virus and public transport on hold, it seemed unlikely the bus to Villa Freí (that we took last time for the RR of Section 32) would be running. We asked a taxi driver for a quote to drive us out. We grabbed some more supplies, and then caught a taxi with a much friendlier driver to Lago Elizalde ($15k). The driver showed us a great public camping spot on the shore of the lake. There were many established camp sites back from [close to] the beach. It was such a nice spot that we decided to lay back and spend the afternoon and night there.

In the morning, we walked the road to Río Paloma, scoring a lift for 5ks or so. We camped by the river not far before the end of the road.

In the morning we walked the last bit of the public road to where it ends at the very rickety bridge over Río Mogote. There is a nice little camping spot here (-45.91100, -72.31823). Climbing over the locked gate, we walked the private road to the ford. We tossed up visiting Lago Desierto and the people living next to it, but with the virus decided against it. This meant we didn't actually have to cross the river, instead locating the old road to the south. (The track files follow the road, but it is no longer used by vehicles and it is actually easier to head back down the main road a couple of hundred metres to where a cattle trail exists (-45.91601, -72.30806)).

Following this distinct road for some time, it seemed to be used for horse riding tours as there were coloured signs like "Spanglish" and "Toobooku" on the side. You will soon reach the gate included in the track files. Here there is also access to a bridge across Estero Balboa. It looks like you can then access trails most of the way up to Cerró Negro. This might be interesting if someone wants to explore.

A couple hundred metres after the gate the old road ends and an obvious trail continues to a miskept farmhouse. Continue along the well defined trail that gets a bit scrubby/overgrown before entering the forest. The trail is then very well maintained although quite muddy in spots (I could see it being quite bad after rain). You will need to ford a tributary not marked in the track files (-45.95592, -72.35114). Shortly afterwards is a junction (-45.95654, -72.35216). The route up the side valley could be explored if someone wants - we went only a short way to a corral. The track will dip back down to the river where there is an established camp (-45.97039, -72.35461). Continuing up the valley, there are many more established camps - the best are generally in close proximity to the fords.

The first time you cross the estero is about here: (-45.98105, -72.36205). There is only one ford, not two as the track files indicate. At the next couple of fords, the actual track deviates slightly from the track files. If you follow the current track files, you will avoid crossing the river at all, but will end up bush bashing briefly. We crossed the next two fords, but by staying on the west side of the river they should also be easily avoidable.

The trail exits the forest (-46.02116, -72.42538)(the camp marked in the track files here is a swamp - go further up the valley!) from where it is cross country walking, not actually a trail as indicated. We camped next to the puesto which incorporates some pieces of a crashed plane (we found another piece whist exploring, but not the actual crash site). The route up to the Laguna Campana is also open and straight forward.

We waited out a rainy day only to wake to a snow storm the next!... and the next!. We ended up waiting 4 nights experimenting with some different bread recipes whilst we waited out the inclement weather.

Finally a sunny day! Continue up the valley, CC walking past an old corral. At the Nacimiento del Estero Balboa you again briefly enter the trees. Like the previous marked camp, again this whole area was very swampy and I didn't see a suitable place to camp. The camp included in the track files is in the middle of a swamp! We picked up fragments of a track heading up through the trees, but I think it is very vague or overgrown. That said, we had nearly a foot of snow in places so we could have easily missed things! There is a very obvious section of track here : (-46.05648, -72.47298). You'll quickly exit the trees (-46.05923, -72.47005) and start a long CC section in the alpine. We found some sections of trail, but for us it was mostly cross country walking. Plenty of water options the whole way.

When you enter the forest after completing the alpine section (-46.08687, -72.43537), you will be bush bashing for a long time! There was no discernible track even when we criss-crossed over the track files searching for it (no snow here anymore). Approaching the deep gorge, I decided to lead us a different, less steep way. This worked well and we camped at a very nice spot by the stream at the bottom (-46.09414, -72.42582).

The next day we were debating simply following the river down (I wish we had!). Instead, we headed straight up the other side of the gorge. We located part of an old track here (-46.09685, -72.42463) but quickly lost it as we passed through the saddle (I think maybe it continues north?). Rejoining the suggested investigation route (EXP-OP-TL-I@32-07-#003), there is a good stream (-46.10202, -72.42403) and some camping on its banks.

After some horrible bush bashing, we finally made it to a ravine gashing steeply down the mountain (-46.10598, -72.41534). There were many drops and it was impossible to go directly down. We later found out that the only other party to do this part had a rope! I can't really recommend going down here [and my sister can't recommend it at all! - "This is shit!"] Again, I'd recommend taking the main valley. The climbs we did were much more difficult than those on the northern part of Section 32 RR that people complain about. Also, if doing this option, it would be much easier travelling north! You could also consult the settlers on a better route. We finally reached the bottom where it opens up after about ~6hrs!

Continuing, if you do follow EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, the track files indicate there is a trail, but it is not quite so. There are CC sections and a labyrinth of cattle trails. You will need to use them to your advantage where they exist, and leave them when they go the wrong way. We went this way for a little while, but then tried following a primary cattle track that seemed to be heading directly down to the river... but we got stopped by a swamp (-46.11623, -72.41080). Continuing along EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, you will get CC walking from the woods (after a cliff) about here: (-46.11546, -72.42372) If we were there again we would follow EXP-OP-CC-A@32-07-#004 down past the settler to the river. It then looked easy to walk along the river north to the cable car.

The cable car: Don't use this by yourself! Don't use it if you are only two! Use it with three people minimum! I can't stress this enough. There is a lot of fiction and the locals we talked to here don't even consider it safe. They used the boat which has its own steel cable allowing you to tack across with relative ease. You will get wet feet if using the boat.

Taking the cable car, we only just made it across with one in the car and two hauling on the rope, and at one point it looked like my sister might get stranded on the far side (she had a nightmare that night!).

Carretera Austral: We waited the entire day by the Carretera Austral. Finally catching a colectivo late in the afternoon. With the virus, it was hard/imposible to hitchhike. We paid an inflated price ($3kpp) for transport to Cerró Castillo.

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

*2020-March-6 / Ty & America / 4.5 Days SOBO RR. Start @ El Blanco

We started in El Blanco, opting to hike by Lago Montreal, which was pretty nice. No traffic though, so if you’re wanting a hitch the regular start in Villa freí may be a better option. Settlers in Lago Montreal are super friendly. There’s a bit of water there as you pass by the lake. We camped there. I recommend going further to the marked camp though because the next day is a big challenge. RH-CC-A@32-25.2+7.9 Is the Cruz of the section. After this all good. I do not recommend doing this unless you’re very comfortable on your feet and have a lightweight pack.

-stick to the treeline/marked path on this. The traversing is tough, but completely doable. 2-3 km in is the gully with the very difficult climb. Keep the the grassy patch, getting to the base of it was the most dangerous part for us. Very slippery rock. I had America drop her pack. High risk, but I was MUCH more comfortable.

-about a k after is the second dangerous area. This is a straight rock wall that spans all the way up& down the mountain. The only way through is to climb around. I checked below it and didn’t find a way through the trees. I took both Sanita & America’s packs through this section; as again, it’s very high risk..with an actual climbing move involved. Again, it’s important you’re very comfortable with your pack to get through these parts.

After these dangerous sections we were wiped out and camped in the valley before the pass. Lots of places to camp with good water. Be aware of slight rockfall risk. There’s an amazing place to camp with ideal conditions at the top of the pass.

Going on, all smooth, both marked camps on the way up the second pass are actually closed...there’s an open camp right between the two.

Amazing places to camp up by Laguna Castillo.

We snuck around the riverbed once we saw the blue tent at the bottom (where you might have to pay) and got by with no problems.

*Jan 2020 GPT32 South 7days / Felix

_____________________ Coyhaique to Villa Freí: There is a bus from the bus terminal in Coyhaique to Villa Freí. From there it was a hot dusty road.

_____________________ Accessing the park : You have to pass through 4 private properties to enter the first sector of the park. We met some people. Had short friendly chats, but no problems with access. Just before you enter the park (where there are two trail options) there is easy access to the river via a cow trail. However water in general was no issue and I didn't carry water for the entire 7 days through the park.

The camp site used to be an official campsite before the sector was closed due to access problems. The dunny is in great shape.

_____________________ Through the first sector : The trail is in great shape until after the mirador. You then cut upwards into the alpine which is also easy walking. After passing through a saddle, you contour around above the treeline. This is the most difficult part of the section. Quite a bit of step scree traversing. Not for everyone. Once you drop into the valley waking is again easier. There are some occasional cairns that become more and more frequent as you drop into the other valley. As you contour left an intermittent trail is evident. When you enter the lenga forest (-45.97321, -72.10278) there is a great trail down that turns into a road here : (-45.97886, -72.10358) (Jan: maybe you want to update the track files to reflect this?) Then is road walking to join the popular walk.

_____________________ Popular sector of Cerró Castillo : There are some side trips not included in the track files. They're on the map you get. Note that the old Bosque site (-46.06197, -72.16016) and La Tetera (-46.07200, -72.18390) are now closed. You can not camp there. For most people this means camping at the new el Bosque : (-46.06418, -72.16964)(Jan : maybe you want to update the track files?) Get to Laguna Cerró Castillo before 12 to beat the walkers heading up for the day. But this shouldn't be an issue as you need to cross the pass early : an important thing we would have liked to know is that the pass (-46.08030, -72.21103) can be closed in the afternoon due to strong winds. There is literally a ranger there that can turn people around. Not much water over the pass either. And the poza cerca mirador doesn't look welcoming. Carry water here. In the next valley there were more rangers and we saw some people get checked for permits. It's a shame this park is now being comercialalised :(

_____________________ Getting back to Coyhaique : Not much traffic. The last bus heads back at 6pm

_____________________ I'll try upload some map photos and a breakdown of the entrance fees when I get the photos off my camera.

Cheers, Felix.

* 2020-Jan-18 and 19 / Regular Hiking Southbound / Martin Lizondo

The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge. I met other day hikers going to « El Mirador ». Snow was easy at the passes. The trail was in good conditions until the cross country. There are two spots which I consider dangerous, so I don’t recomend doing this section alone: 1) the gps tracks passes through a very vertical rocky (nearly climbing). I was scared and I can’t recommend doing it, except you asume this risk. I could see later in a map that the original route went all way down in the valley through lenga forest, but if there was a trail it’s invisible now. 2) When the cross country leaves the tree line and becomes a small trail into the lenga forest at 45º 58' 23,54" S, 72º 6' 10,02" O (“minor road” starts later, despite the gps track info); it’s very stepy and unmaintained. I made a mistake and started to follow the stream all way down, but you have to look up and search the beginning of the hidden path. It’s very vertical and easy to fell down, because of recent land slides. Be extremely carefull. The rest of Cerro Castillo from Las Horquetas is well maintained, beautifull and enjoyable. Cons: Lots of people. When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.

* Jan 2020 / RH Northbound / Matthieu

No technical difficulties in the park, just following the trail and enjoying the views.

To follow the GPT northbound, leave the parc trail to go north. It is an "old sendero" in the forest, but well maintained and easy to follow during the beginning (it is marked on maps of the parc). In this direction, no problem to leave the forest in a safe spot, but southbound, looking behind, seemed hard to find the entrance of the forest and of the safe trail ! No technical difficulties until the first pass, rocky terrain like the rest of the park.

The dangerous part is indeed between the 2 passes. You dont go in the valley in front of you but follow the altitude line until the pass that you see at the right side of the valley. Very steepy rolling stones path. I was a little bit afraid. I tried to be smarter than the tracks, trying more uphill... this was a dangerous mistake that took me long to repair and go back to the tracks. There are indeed two river crossing (no dangerous waterstream) but they are circled by cliffs, so not easily crossable.
The track follow mostly the tree line (I.e the separations between the little trees and the stones) So my recommendations :
- follow the gps tracks : they follow the tree line who is safer with a solid ground and grass. Sometimes you have to cross the stones, no choice, so go slowly, choose your paces wisely and it's doable. Try to aim for the grounds of grass in the middle, which are solid, or the stones with foam on them, which mostly didn't move for a while. For the rivercrossing, it aims a good spot with no need to climb down or up.
- choose a good weather day : for me it was sunny and no wind, so perfect day, and it was already mentally hard (not speaking of the horseflies getting you crazy during the hard moments !). I wouldn't try it with rain or big wind in this river of rolling stones.
- if you don't feel it, easy escape by the normal trail of the parc

However, I can assure that the prize for the effort, going northbound, is amazing !! But I won't spoil !
After the second pass, no technical difficulties, you find a Conaf trail easily, and I even cross some tourists with a guide.

*2019-Nov-29/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 3days / Northbound / Regular Hiking Route with OH-MR-V (Villa Cerro Castillo to Las Horquetas)

The section follows the rather popular tourist Hiking route Las Horquetas for the first two days, meaning there will be less solitude but also rather well maintained trails. The national park and the region around Cerro Castillo was very impressive, we especially enjoyed to take all the side trails and visit the numerous beautiful glacier lagoons. The only unpleasant part of the hike was the organization of the national park. The exorbitant high entrance fees are in no relation to the other parks, which is due to a high ratio of private land in the area but makes the park rather unattractive for tourists. some rangers seemed poorly informed and couldn't give much information (e.g. insisted that passes were "closed" and only after asking numerous times agreed to check with his colleagues that told that they are "open"). They also said it is not possible to hike the regular route of the GPT, because we have to check out of the NP at the checkpoint Las Horquetas. There is an optional hiking route continuing North from there. Due to bad weather coming up we ended up not finishing the northern stretch of the trail and just followed the entire Las Horquetas Route at the Carretera Austral.

* 2019-Nov-29 / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe

Snow line is at around 1200 Meters but all passes are safely traversable.
The National Park Entrance Fee got raised to 29000 CLP per person for overnight hikes in season 19/20. The park generally seemed very poorly organized, we were told the passes are "closed" at first, whereas they were easy and safe to traverse. The ranger insisted that we could not hike the normal route northbound but have to sign out of the park at the Las Horquetas checkpoint. In high season, the ranger station in the park is manned, so maybe it is possible so sign out there and head northbound.

* 2019-Nov-12 / Eva Havlová

There is still lots of snow in the National Park. I arrived to Villa Cerro Castillo 3 days ago (Novembre 12, 2019) and planed to hike nortbound but rangers didn't let me go. I saw the pass they were talking about (avalanche risk) and I don't think any avalanche could occure, but the thuth is that there is lots of water runing down and the trail is like a stream. They said it might be possible to do it next week.

==Season 2018/19==

* 2019 Jan/ OIlrik / Northbound

We ended up doing the normal Cerro Castillo hike as the weather was forecasting heavy rain and snow so we did not want to be on the pass. The regular trail is just gorgeous and the park is beautiful. The trail in the north is not on the new CONAF maps but is marked on the old ones.

==Season 2017/18==

*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:

A sandy beach with a visible structure in the grass is the take-out for Lago Elizalde. After exiting, make your way through the farmland until encountering a gravel road that leads past the house at the top of the hill up to Ruta X-686.

Ruta X-686 is a lightly trafficked but well-formed gravel road that is fenced on either side. After crossing the Río Paloma, Ruta X-686 makes a sharp left and begins to climb. 4 km after the sharp left turn, cross a bridge to the left and climb to a wooden gate. If you descend the steep slope to the left of the gate, there is camping under some trees.

The wooden gate marks the beginning of a very long driveway to a house located near the lake. The route takes you along this driveway until a river crossing. After crossing the river, walk northeast along its shore towards the Río Paloma. After reaching the end of the fenceline near the Río Paloma, turn east and walk along the fenceline until reaching Lago Desierto. At the river outlet, there is a nice beach to put in to Lago Desierto.

There is no camping along the shores of Lago Desierto. The take-out is a rocky beach at the base of a bluff. Walk up the bluff and cross country through the farmland to Lago Azul. At the east end of the farm, descend down a road to a rocky beach at the Lago Azul shoreline with a metal structure.

There are a couple of potential camping options along the shoreline of Lago Azul. There are also several residences on the north shore. The take-out is a long rocky beach set before a well manicured forest. On the east end of the land near Lago La Paloma is an expensive looking house surrounded by several other buildings.

There is a 4WD track to the west of the smaller red house located south of the big residence. Ascend the steep climb on a well-formed road that is criss-crossed with several smaller tracks labeled in english with wooden signs. Due to the steep slopes on either side of the cut out road, there is no camping here.

Eventually, the route turns off of the road onto an overgrown 4WD track. Camping off the track is still difficult because of prickly vegetation and steep terrain. This track ends 2.5 km from where the Regular Packrafting Route joins the Regular Hiking Route. From here, the route involves some bushwhacking and following a small trail as it winds in and out of existence. Just before joining with the Regular Hiking Route, the route widens into an old 4WD track that passes some destroyed structures.

The routes join up at a large rock cairn and continues to follow a 4WD track until reaching a large wooden sign with a map of the Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo. Here there is also a campsite and ranger station. There is a 5.000 CLP fee to enter the reserve.

The route from here is a popular track for backpackers with designated campsites. The trail is well-formed and winds through the forest. When the trail becomes less obvious, the way is shown with yellow markers. In this area there is a designated campsite with a latrine.

At treeline, follow the cairns and rocks painted with white and red stripes through the scree up and over the first pass (approximate elevation 1.450 m). After the steep descent, reenter the trees. There is a campsite, Camping El Bosque, soon after reaching treeline (approximately elevation 940 m) with water and a latrine.

The trail begins to wind up through the forest toward Laguna Castillo. The sights from Laguna Castillo, which is at the base of the pass, are stunning. There are two tracks that climb up to the pass. Make sure to take the path that climbs to the south instead of continuing southeast over the obvious saddle.

The track down to Ruta X-720 is well formed, marked, and popular, but occasionally braided. Follow it until reaching the wooden stile with a rangers hut. From there join Ruta X-720, a dirt road which leads to Highway 7 and Villa Cerro Castillo.

==Season 2016/17==

=Resupply and Accommodation=

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

*Town: Villa Cerro Castillo. Villa Cerro Castillo has several restaurants, small markets, and plenty of lodging options, including a popular backpacker camping destination on the east side of town.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

=Transport to and from Route=

*Buses to Villa Frei from Coyhaique bus terminal: Monday 7:30, 8:15, 15:30, 17:00, 19:30 Tuesday to Friday 8:15, 15:30, 17:30, 19:30 Saturday 08:00 and 14:00. No bus on Sunday. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Villa Frei & the bus generally turns around immediately & goes back to Coyhaique.

=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=

*2023/ Martin & Helena
To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side.

*2023/ Jakub+Veronika:
1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.

*2023 / Anna & Christopher
The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets.

*2020 / Martin Lizondo
The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge.
(...)
When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT32 - Cerro Castillo]]

=Images=

GPT33P (Rio Ibanez)

2023-12-19T03:27:02Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

GPT32 (Cerro Castillo)

2023-12-19T03:10:46Z

Pieper92: /* Season 2023/24 */

{{Table all GPTs}}

 

Add a new log entry always on top in the appropriate season sub-chapter and use format:

''*'' Start Date to Finish Date (use Format YYYY-MMM-DD) / Duration in Days / Hiking or Packrafting / Travel Direction (SOBO for Southbound or NOBO Northbound) / Chosen Route and/or Option Name (RR for Regular Route) / Names or Alias

Summary with remarks to route that are considered useful for other hikers and packrafters. Include alerts, suggestions and personal perception of attractiveness and difficulties.

Add a sub-chapter by placing two "=" before and after the new sub-chapter heading ('==Sub-Chapter Heading==').

=Section Log, Alerts and Suggestions=

==Season 2025/26==

==Season 2024/25==

==Season 2023/24==

*2023-Dec-12 / 6 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RR + Variant D + Variant F / Tom Pieper
An Uber from Cohayique to Villa Simpson is about 9.000 Peso. From there I easily found rides to Lago Elizalde. A older man told me that there was also a camino from Lago Elizalde to Lago Azul passing cerro sombrero a couple of years ago. I really liked the walking through the valley to lago desierto. It passes a beautiful farmland landscape sprinkled with little lush patches of forest and creeks. Camping is easy there. But if you want to speed up there are also cars from time to time and hitchhiking is possible. At is a little shack surrounded by some old tractors and a big mate cup installation. A farmer passing by car told me I am welcome to stay there. To reach lago desierto you have to climb a locked gate (well described by Kara Davis). I crossed lago desierto and camped at the isthmus between it at lago azul. There is a nice camp spot surrounded by old gooseberry bushes and an abandoned van. The central lodging building is collapsed so its seems to be an abandoned place now except the cattle. Next day I crossed lago azul. The wind increased dramatically forming up to 1 m waves. There are some emergency exits on the left even after the shore gets steeper after the settlers on the lefthand side. At the end of lago azul you reach a huge private hacienda on the isthmus, with a big park like forest and buildings within. I tried to sneak between the buildings but to reach the path to the mountains you finally have to pass a big meadow. There was a greenkeeper around and it was no problem for him to let me pass. The family was not around. The track to the mountains is steep and part of a big network of mountainbike trails. This network spans nearly the entire valley! I met six young chilenos who told me that they are working the summer to maintain the trails only for that family – I have never seen such a giant mountainbike network! Incredible how much effort and money must spend here only to satisfy a family’s hobby. They Chilenos were very friendly and even turned back to offer me a ride to the end of the valley as rain increased but I kept walking. This track is in really good conditions up to the bush bashing section. And here comes the problem: 1.) the bush bashing is wrong annotated. In reality it starts for 1.2 km at the end of the annotated section 2.) the track is mostly gone were it reaches the river bed. Landslides have washed away a big part. Don’t cross the landslide! It seems super instable! When you have forded the riverbed at the landslide don’t put on your shoes, yet. The following part has turned into swamp land. I suggest to make the entire 1.2 km in your fording footwear. After that the track to the las horquetas trail is mostly overgrown or blocked by trees but still visible. It was pretty hard for me as temperatures dropped to 4 °C and at this point it had not stopped raining for 48 hr. In bad weather that’s definitely no fun. The ranger hut was my salvation as it was abandoned but open and had a stove and even some firewood. The next day the weather was perfect and I continued towards cerro Castillo. There had been recent work around Camping Rio Turbio and the track is still in good condition. Paso Penón has heaps of snow and I found myself sinking to the hips from time to time. But in good weather it is ok. The views from the pass and the following valley even outcompeted the view from laguna castillo. After the paso penón the rest is fine. I used Variant F to descend. As mentioned before It now follows a different way in the end due right of way and you reach the street at approximately half way between villa cerro Castillo and the national park entrance.

==Season 2022/23==

* 05-Apr-2023 / Hiking / SOBO / Martin & Helena

We really enjoyed this one. It's definitely worth waiting for good weather, not only for safe traverse of the steep part in the northern part of the park and following obstacles that are quite demanding but also for the views that were just incredible.

Starting from Villa Frei in the late afternoon, we made it on that day to the turn before Lago La Paloma, where we camped right behind a fence, before a little river, that you need to cross to follow the RR. There are 2 settlements, but still far enough, so no problem. You have to cross one fence and a gate on the way up. To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side. Crossing them will take you directly to RR, so no bush-bashing is necessary. From there, the trail is pretty straightforward. We liked the view from Option B viewpoint and in good conditions it must be a perfect spot for camping, definitely doable in one day. The steep traverse didn't feel that dangerous for us, but we had really good conditions. The next obstacle, already described by others, is at the end of the traverse. We followed there a small ridge that will take you to the beginning of the grass parts. It's a little steep, but doable. From there we followed the grass parts, which create almost 'stairs' allowing you to climb up. It's again steep, but you can use your hands to pull yourself up, holding the grass patches. After that is the last challenging part, a rock that you need to climb over. We got there already after sunset and without an option to explore the best and safest way over, we decided to follow the old overgrown trail, that descends down without the need to climb over the rock. It seemed to be hard in the beginning, but after we got through the first few trees (without any leaves, just branches), we found a little strip without them, that takes you all the way down to the river, where we camped. It took us around 15 min to get down, so it might be a good alternative. From there you just need to walk through a little part of the forest and then continue by the river, so you are actually avoiding also the descent down, which some described as challenging as well.

After the first marked pass and descent in rocky terrain, the CC part connects to an old trail, that later becomes a MR. The connection was easy to find by following the GPS. We had no problems passing around the rangers house, again by following the track files, at first through the forest and later around the river. From there the trail connects to the official way which makes navigation easy. We spent the night in the official campsite around 2 km before Laguna Carro Castillo, which is the only one open. There were 5-6 other tents, no ranger. The next day the weather got way way worse, which made us skip the last pass and go down from the laguna via one of the official routes. We met a ranger on the way up, pointing us to the official trail around yellow cairns, to sign off from the park. With no intention to pay on our way from the park, we actually followed some old trail (according to the old signs we met) that took us to the main road, right in front of the bridge. We had to cross one fence, but no other problem. It's a faster and safe way from the park.

*5 to 7 of February 2023 / Will / SOBO / 3 days

Amazing section! I was worried about the tricky part, but sticking to the gpx track it didn't feel dangerous to me. Though I did have to leave the track to find easier ways around the cliffs.

There weren't any buses south out of Coyhaique on Sunday (except maybe early morning?). I ended up taking an Uber to villa frei, for a bearable 14000 pesos. The road walk was beautiful except for the wind trying to blow me into the cars. I caught a ride to Lago Monreal, from where I walked back up to variant L and then to the 23.6 campsite.

I didn't have any right of way trouble, I just had to pass through a few unlocked gates with no people or buildings in sight. There were even a few groups of day hikers who passed by my camp on the way to the Lago Paloma mirador (variant B - must see!).

I also took variant D up to the glacier lake, worth it if it fits your schedule. I didn't have time to keep going up to the glacier itself, it looked like steeper rocky cross country.

Even in the touristy parts the trail was surprisingly slow and rocky. I ran into a few rangers, who look like normal hikers except with red and white baseball hats. They were ok with me not having a ticket once I explained my weird route.

*15.02.23 -18.02.23 / Anna & Christopher / SOBO
Coyhaique - Villa Cerro Castillo

We hitchhiked from Coyhaique to Lago Paloma and started walking around 13:30 pm following the main path.

The trail at the beginning is pretty good. At the junction with the option at km 17,5 you can walk further uphill along the fence for a couple of meters to enter the fence through a gate. This option is not in the gpx files. We decided to follow that to avoid the settlers after all.Then you can follow the dirtroad through two more gates until you reach a fence that you have to jump to the right to get to a meadow with beehives. There is another gate there and then you reach the main route again. In total we only had to jump two fences.

Then we followed the main route. Soon after we went through the gate of the National park Cerro Castillo and we (unfortunately) met two guardians of the park. After some back and forth they made us turn around, telling us that this path is closed and we have to enter the park via the main entrance and pay the 30.000 clp. So we had to take the option to las Horquetas.

After a few good km on a dirtroad, the path of option 1 gets bad. It seems like it hasn't been used for a long time. It was often hard to find and involved some bushbashing. It took us quite some time to get through there. Once you are at the river it gets much better. We forded the river next to the entrance to avoid the detour until Horquetas. The option was not very nice. Mostly just walking in the forest with BB so we would definetly recommend to try the main route.

The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets. The park guardians tell you that there is no water crossing both passes and you have to carry it from the official camps, which is simply not true. There is only no water after Laguna Castillo.

At the exit (following the RR) we had to register us again. From there we planned to hitchhike to Villa Cerro Castillo, but there were no cars passing by. In the afternoon/evening it's probably easier to get a ride, because lots of cars parked at the exit. We would recommend Option E to avoid the dull roadwalk to Villa Cerro Castillo.

We stayed at Camping El Rincon, which was only 4.000 clp p.p., with no electricity, but the owner washed our clothes after we asked and we received it dry the next morning :)

*18 to 21 of January 2023 / Véronica / GPT32 RR SOBO / 3.5 days

Route: Villa Freí - Lago La Paloma - north part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo - Las Horquetas trail (south part of Parque Nacional Cerro Castillo) - Villa Cerro Castillo
First off I want to say that I think this section deserves a 5 on the Attractiveness Scale. It is simply mind-blowingly beautiful and definitely on par with other sections further north that have a 5 on this scale. I also think the Difficulty Rating should be upped to a 5 as well, due to the technical, and arguably dangerous at times, section in the northern part of the park on the Regular Route. Wish I had someone with me during this stretch, but oh well, such is life.

I was lucky and caught a hitch most of the way to Lago La Paloma on the first day. It was hot and I don't think the road walk has any water sources until you get to the end. I then followed the new RR which bypasses the problematic right-of-way settler in the Lago Monreal area. However, this new detour is not fun. It involves climbing over (or crawling through/under) multiple barbed wire fences. I lost count after the 5th or 6th one. Also, the path and cross-country area are full of thorny plants, they got everywhere on my pack and clothing. I think it would just be better to take Option 32-L and chat with the settler instead to try and get through. Once you reach RH-MR-V {32} [18.9+4.7], it's all good, easy walking until the camp at 23.6 km.

I reccomend taking Option 32-A after the campsite instead of the CC straight through the cow pasture. It is wet and muddy, whereas 32-A remains dry and easy to follow in the forest at the edge of the meadow. I also strongly recommend taking the short detour to the mirador at the end of Option 32-B. The views there of the cliffs and mountains surrounding Lago La Paloma are incredible. You could even camp there if you brought sufficient water and the weather is calm.

Now for the difficult part in the 8-km cross-country section. This section was physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding. The first pass is at S 45° 55.740', W 072° 04.501'. It is easy walking up past the treeline into the alpine up to this point. The first challenge is a steep and unstable scree traverse, which begins at S 45° 56.019', W 072° 04.567'. Follow the GPS tracks here. At first I tried to go lower, right along the treeline, which was a big mistake that got me stuck in a terrible gully of slippery hard-packed sand. Very treacherous and scary trying to traverse it on all fours. After that ordeal, I scrambled back up to the altitude of the GPS tracks. This first scree traverse lasts about a km, the rocks are loose and it is very steep. I was tense and went very slowly. Got harassed by tábanos the whole way, but at least the weather was good.

Then at S 45° 56.288', W 072° 05.184', you reach the end of the bad scree and end up in a deep gully with a vertical wall face on the other side. Figuring out how to get up that cliff was hard for me. I left my pack at the bottom and tried climbing up various different ways with no success, only tiring myself out and getting myself in precarious situations where I could barely climb back down. I finally figured out the best way was to try and get to the lowest grassy patch to the left of the vertical rock wall. The easiest way to reach that grassy patch was to go upstream a bit, then traverse on the hard slippery sand northward, instead of trying to climb vertically straight up to it. Once you reach the grass, you can use the traction and stability of vegetation to clamber up and out of the gully.

The next big obstacle is at S 45° 56.320', W 072° 05.446'. Like others have written, this is the vertical rock wall that spans up and down the mountain and that you have to climb over. I scouted ways up without my pack at first, trying to find the easiest way. At least with this rock wall, the handholds and footholds are solid — no slippery gravel/sand/scree. But it does require actual rock climbing moves. If you fall you would likely tumble down the mountain, so please be very careful. A light backpack makes it relatively safer and easier.

On the other side of this wall, you can finally see where the trees end, and the lovely river you are supposed to climb down to reach. But there is still more scree to traverse here, and it is slow and unstable again. I tried taking a shortcut down a shallow gully filled with grass. I figured it would be safer than the rocks, but it was very steep and got unexpectedly muddy at one point, and I ended up slipping and sliding down the mountainside about 10 meters before being able to stop myself. Didn't get seriously hurt, just bruised up, but it really shook me and just added to the stress and fear of this whole section. So I guess my advice here is to again follow the GPS tracks across the scree and go down gradually to the river instead of trying to go straight down.

Once you reach the riverbed, it is easy walking to the top of the pass, with occasional cairns (and some good swimming holes). Down the south side of the pass, there are still a couple scree sections, but not nearly as bad as before. Lots of boulders, so slow going, but at least they felt more solid.

As Martin Lizondo has written, finding the start of RH-MR-V {32} [34.1+1.7] is tricky. It is not a minor road, it is an old footpath. The cross-country section ends at a creek as it turns into a high and steep waterfall. You have to cross the creek and look up to find a faint, overgrown trail that goes up into the forest. Once you find it though, it is simple enough to follow. There is a stretch though of several hundred meters where it is more of a bushwhack than anything else, nature has taken over.

I followed the regular route that cuts through the forest to Río Turbío, I assume this is to avoid the ranger station nearby. The "bushbashing" section is easy through a mature forest, and then you just follow the bouldery riverbank.

Once you get to the popular Las Horquetas trail, everything is easy until the end of the section. Some snow at the top of the first pass (Paso Peñón), but very manageable. The views of the saw-toothed mountains, lakes, and glaciers are spectacular. Despite reports of the park being "overrun," I only met a handful of other hikers in this trail, and most of them after Laguna Castillo. No rangers at all.

I think the Regular Route in its current configuration avoids the blue payment tent at the end of the park trail, but I didn't know that when I passed through, and ended up just following the riverbank down to the minor road to be safe (and avoid paying the ridiculous 30,000 clp access fee). The road walk to Cerro Castillo was Easy and uneventful.

*23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR SOBO / Louis, Rémi & Noé :

We started at Lago La Paloma, taking the bus from Coyhaique to Villa Frei (leaves at 8:15,15:30,17:30&19:30 from monday to friday and at 8:00 and 14:00 on saturday (no bus on sunday)). Then we hitchiked to the lake without problem and we camped there. Ready to start in the morning the next day.

Day 1 - Campamento Rio Turbio - 26.5km - +1800m/-1200m A big day but we hadnt the choice : heavy rain was announced for the next day... Cross country is demanding, better follow the tracks all the way long. A great camp site if you want to split this day is at the end of Option B. No water, windy but incredible view. The waypoint camp before is nice too.

Day 2 - Campamento El Bosque - 10km - +800m/-800m The 2 camps sites on the GPT at47.8 and at 50.3 are now forbidden. The new campsite is approx at km 49, in the middle. There is guardaparques, but no need to show the permit for us.

Day 3 - Cerro Castillo - 11km - +800m/-1500m The pass after Cerro Castillo was closed due to the wind. If you want to go to the other side, you have to get down at the park entrance and to go up again at the other entrance. We just went to the town. The regular route going down from there, from the Cerro Castillo, is not the one on the GPT. Actually, it goes more on the west side. At the end, there is a guardaparque, we checked out (even though we didn’t checked in) but no need to pay. Fortunately. Luck was with us.

* 23/02/2023 - 25/02/2023 / RR NOBO / Jakub+Veronika:

1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.

We've walked all section 32 from Villa Frei to Villa Cerro Castillo. The part from Lago Paloma to Rio Turbio is very difficult and might be even dangerous (especially in bad weather). The CC travers on the stones (in our case with strong wind and snow) was the hardest part. The MR leading down to the valley is partially overgrown. The second part is well marked with good camping possibilities. After heavy rains on Sunday 25th, the park has been closed for more than a week. There are 2 alerts on the road (see above).

*Feb 17 RR 3 days SOBO Frank

Walked from Villa Frei. After about 12KM there is a food truck next to the road. Owners live there so should open for you. The owner of the private land wasn't there so had no access issues. You can camp in a big meadow @ 1250 metres or in good weather at a pass @ about 1325 metres (not marked on track file) just before the difficult CC section begins. Followed Veronica's advice to get up the gully on grass which worked well, thanks Veronica. There is no need for any rock climbing on this route. After the gully there are two rock bands running perpendicular to the route. You can go below both of them & bypass them at treeline. The second bypass is not very obvious but stay at the treeline & you will get through easily. After the pass, descending scree you come to a waterfall. Go left into the forest immediately before the waterfall - you may see a small cairn marking the spot. Just footprints at first but pick up a small trail as you go in. Leaving the park the RR to the left goes through private land. The optional route straight down is now the main trail, it goes down to a checkpoint just before the road. Checkpoint is at a stile over a fence so can't be avoided. It is run as a private 'concession' from CONAF. The workers were friendly & didn't charge me anything. However next year the concession will be run by a different company so depends who is there.

==Season 2021/22==

*2022 Feb: 05-07, SoBo, RR, Kris&Stiina

We continued into this section straight from the previous one - 31H and the start of it, about first 16km, is like the whole previous section - dirt road. We hiked about 5 of those 16km and hitched the rest which I think was possible quite easy because it was weekend and a lot of cars with families were going to the Lago La Paloma.

The interesting part started once we were at the gate after crossing the outflow of Lago Monreal. The big sign was posted there stating that this is not some Sendero de Chile and that passing through here is strictly forbidden. We saw a guy at the gate when we were approaching, but as it was lunch time for us we stayed at the stream. Afterwards the guy was gone and there was no phone signal to call the nr. that Martin Lizondo has provided. After considering options of different routes we decided to keep it cool and climbed over the gate with fingers crossed. There were houses a few hundred meters up the road, but nobody seemed to be at home at that point, perhaps working in the field somewhere in the back, so we walked through the forbidden land without anyone intercepting, luck was with us. A few more gates later we climbed up into the forest and finally the Cerro Castillo National park with a big old welcoming sign. We stayed at the first marked campsite at 22,7km, there is a stream.

Next morning as we were having our breakfast about 30 cows showed up and were completely dazzled by our presence. They stared at us for about 15min until they finally relaxed a bit, but not fully. As we were packing our camp some sudden movement must have scared them and they all went running for their lives as if a Kraken himself was after them, silly cows, we thought. Once we were all packed and ready to go we crossed the stream into the next meadow, and saw all the cows about 200m to our left. I am not exactly sure how cows work, but as soon as they saw us they organized a gang and all of them started running right at us. We of course were standing our ground so the cows would stop just 5m from us and look all tough. I would try to scare them away by counter attack in the form of a shouting, hiking pole waving lunatic. It worked to some extent, as we could slowly walk out of it, but the cows kept persistently be really close and walk/run at us. I guess they were trying to protect their pasture, maybe someone can enlighten me about cow-dynamics.

After the great battle of 2022, we disappeared in the forest and enjoyed the nice forest path while it lasted. Once out of the three line the path disappeared so we more or less followed the GPS marking. Neither of our maps showed the mentioned old path descending down into the valley, it was actually matching with the GPS, more or less. Up to the first pass, which is not marked, but is at about 26,8km the cross country was easy and then as mentioned before it got pretty difficult. If it would just be steep scree slope it would be alright, but this one had hard packed sand under the scree or sometimes no scree on it so it was very slippery (in dry conditions). Lots of prayers went to the Gods of Friction which helped us with traversing the treacherous slopes, with plenty of chances to become a statistic. I don’t think that that traverse is possible in wet conditions, not without crampons. And as for every good cake there is always a cherry on top, which was a little rock climbing session, which I personally didn’t mind, but I am not sure other hikers would appreciate. After that we still had to descend a steep scree down to the river. If there is a potential trail or option to go down the valley after the pass and then follow the river bank up, I think it is definitely a better, faster and safer option, especially if weather is not favorable. And looking from above down the valley it seemed like a feasible option to follow the river as the river itself was easily crossable and we didn’t spot any cliffs there, maybe next time.

After reaching the river at the valley bottom the way up to the second pass was easy and straight forward, even though still “sin sendero”. The way down from the pass is steep and bouldery but not dangerous and after a short bit some first signs of an old trail can be noticed, some cairs appear. Then once the trail gets down to the tree line there are a few bushy places, but nothing too bad and the closer to the actual trail you get the better it becomes. We also somewhat followed the GPS track but stayed more in the forest rather than beach to avoid the ranger hut.

Once we made it to the Las Horquetas trail all our worries were behind us and we could enjoy the nice trail and magnificent views. I don’t think I have ever seen tree line ending almost at the edge of the glacier in Europe it was happening a century ago, pretty cool stuff. We camped at the “segundo camping” with many other hikers, none doing the GPT though. And an interesting thing we observed was that people would just drink straight from the silty glacier stream without filtering or treating their water at all. Observation was made of different groups of people at different campsites. Is that a Chilean thing? Very impressive gut, if they can do it, unless ignorance is a bliss or they knew something that we didn’t.

Nevertheless, two more mountain passes and we were heading down to Villa Cerro Castillo, with crowds of day-hikers that had come up to the Mirador Cerro Castillo. From there we actually didn’t follow the GPS track but headed down straight to the town. The ticket office with the park official is actually around this area: (46º 6.7520' S, 72º 12.0032' W). And the trail leading there is the official trail. The one that seemed on the map like the official, was actually not in use, not sure why. The satellite view on Gaia and info on the maps is somehow outdated. We tried to sneak past the office to avoid all explaining we had to do, but it’s kind of strategically placed so it wasn’t possible and we ended up just talking to the girl that was making sure everyone is checking out of the park. We had to pay 18.000 pesos per person which is the ticket for foreigners that want to go up to the mirador. We didn’t spill the beans about camping in the park and our small backpacks kept the suspicion low, so in the end it all worked out pretty good. From there it is still almost 5km to the town on a very dusty road, but with all the day hikers leaving a hitch was not a problem.

The town is really nice with plenty of shops and accommodations options. The only thing we didn’t manage to find was the threaded gas canister, but we found a few half-empty ones left in the Nordic Patagonia mess tent.

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

*Section 32, Option 7: Valle Balboa. Southbound. 11 days (including waiting out a snow storm). Party (3): Mum, Sis and I.

After walking Section 35 we emerged in Cochrane to a world changed by the virus. We retreated to the now unfriendly Chili Chico and caught the ferry across to Ibáñez in the morning. For my mum and sister, getting back to Santiago to catch a flight home had been the priority, but on the way they shifted more to the stance I was taking: what was the point? Get stuck in Australia, or here? Patagonia didn't seem all that bad, and apart from facemasks and hand sanitiser, there were no shortages like back home. By the time we reached Coyhaique we'd all decided to stay a week or so to hatch a plan. We met up with Aldo and camped in his backyard for almost a week. I helped build his house a bit, but time was mostly filled with playing chess, dice, cards and guitar. The atmosphere seemed to encourage a lethargic state, blurring the days together and bending time. Finally however, we packed and walked into the town centre to make a start on the interesting option #007 of Section 32 through Valle Balboa, (traversing roughly from Lago Desierto to Río Ibáñez). With the virus and public transport on hold, it seemed unlikely the bus to Villa Freí (that we took last time for the RR of Section 32) would be running. We asked a taxi driver for a quote to drive us out. We grabbed some more supplies, and then caught a taxi with a much friendlier driver to Lago Elizalde ($15k). The driver showed us a great public camping spot on the shore of the lake. There were many established camp sites back from [close to] the beach. It was such a nice spot that we decided to lay back and spend the afternoon and night there.

In the morning, we walked the road to Río Paloma, scoring a lift for 5ks or so. We camped by the river not far before the end of the road.

In the morning we walked the last bit of the public road to where it ends at the very rickety bridge over Río Mogote. There is a nice little camping spot here (-45.91100, -72.31823). Climbing over the locked gate, we walked the private road to the ford. We tossed up visiting Lago Desierto and the people living next to it, but with the virus decided against it. This meant we didn't actually have to cross the river, instead locating the old road to the south. (The track files follow the road, but it is no longer used by vehicles and it is actually easier to head back down the main road a couple of hundred metres to where a cattle trail exists (-45.91601, -72.30806)).

Following this distinct road for some time, it seemed to be used for horse riding tours as there were coloured signs like "Spanglish" and "Toobooku" on the side. You will soon reach the gate included in the track files. Here there is also access to a bridge across Estero Balboa. It looks like you can then access trails most of the way up to Cerró Negro. This might be interesting if someone wants to explore.

A couple hundred metres after the gate the old road ends and an obvious trail continues to a miskept farmhouse. Continue along the well defined trail that gets a bit scrubby/overgrown before entering the forest. The trail is then very well maintained although quite muddy in spots (I could see it being quite bad after rain). You will need to ford a tributary not marked in the track files (-45.95592, -72.35114). Shortly afterwards is a junction (-45.95654, -72.35216). The route up the side valley could be explored if someone wants - we went only a short way to a corral. The track will dip back down to the river where there is an established camp (-45.97039, -72.35461). Continuing up the valley, there are many more established camps - the best are generally in close proximity to the fords.

The first time you cross the estero is about here: (-45.98105, -72.36205). There is only one ford, not two as the track files indicate. At the next couple of fords, the actual track deviates slightly from the track files. If you follow the current track files, you will avoid crossing the river at all, but will end up bush bashing briefly. We crossed the next two fords, but by staying on the west side of the river they should also be easily avoidable.

The trail exits the forest (-46.02116, -72.42538)(the camp marked in the track files here is a swamp - go further up the valley!) from where it is cross country walking, not actually a trail as indicated. We camped next to the puesto which incorporates some pieces of a crashed plane (we found another piece whist exploring, but not the actual crash site). The route up to the Laguna Campana is also open and straight forward.

We waited out a rainy day only to wake to a snow storm the next!... and the next!. We ended up waiting 4 nights experimenting with some different bread recipes whilst we waited out the inclement weather.

Finally a sunny day! Continue up the valley, CC walking past an old corral. At the Nacimiento del Estero Balboa you again briefly enter the trees. Like the previous marked camp, again this whole area was very swampy and I didn't see a suitable place to camp. The camp included in the track files is in the middle of a swamp! We picked up fragments of a track heading up through the trees, but I think it is very vague or overgrown. That said, we had nearly a foot of snow in places so we could have easily missed things! There is a very obvious section of track here : (-46.05648, -72.47298). You'll quickly exit the trees (-46.05923, -72.47005) and start a long CC section in the alpine. We found some sections of trail, but for us it was mostly cross country walking. Plenty of water options the whole way.

When you enter the forest after completing the alpine section (-46.08687, -72.43537), you will be bush bashing for a long time! There was no discernible track even when we criss-crossed over the track files searching for it (no snow here anymore). Approaching the deep gorge, I decided to lead us a different, less steep way. This worked well and we camped at a very nice spot by the stream at the bottom (-46.09414, -72.42582).

The next day we were debating simply following the river down (I wish we had!). Instead, we headed straight up the other side of the gorge. We located part of an old track here (-46.09685, -72.42463) but quickly lost it as we passed through the saddle (I think maybe it continues north?). Rejoining the suggested investigation route (EXP-OP-TL-I@32-07-#003), there is a good stream (-46.10202, -72.42403) and some camping on its banks.

After some horrible bush bashing, we finally made it to a ravine gashing steeply down the mountain (-46.10598, -72.41534). There were many drops and it was impossible to go directly down. We later found out that the only other party to do this part had a rope! I can't really recommend going down here [and my sister can't recommend it at all! - "This is shit!"] Again, I'd recommend taking the main valley. The climbs we did were much more difficult than those on the northern part of Section 32 RR that people complain about. Also, if doing this option, it would be much easier travelling north! You could also consult the settlers on a better route. We finally reached the bottom where it opens up after about ~6hrs!

Continuing, if you do follow EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, the track files indicate there is a trail, but it is not quite so. There are CC sections and a labyrinth of cattle trails. You will need to use them to your advantage where they exist, and leave them when they go the wrong way. We went this way for a little while, but then tried following a primary cattle track that seemed to be heading directly down to the river... but we got stopped by a swamp (-46.11623, -72.41080). Continuing along EXP-OP-TL-V@32-07A-#003, you will get CC walking from the woods (after a cliff) about here: (-46.11546, -72.42372) If we were there again we would follow EXP-OP-CC-A@32-07-#004 down past the settler to the river. It then looked easy to walk along the river north to the cable car.

The cable car: Don't use this by yourself! Don't use it if you are only two! Use it with three people minimum! I can't stress this enough. There is a lot of fiction and the locals we talked to here don't even consider it safe. They used the boat which has its own steel cable allowing you to tack across with relative ease. You will get wet feet if using the boat.

Taking the cable car, we only just made it across with one in the car and two hauling on the rope, and at one point it looked like my sister might get stranded on the far side (she had a nightmare that night!).

Carretera Austral: We waited the entire day by the Carretera Austral. Finally catching a colectivo late in the afternoon. With the virus, it was hard/imposible to hitchhike. We paid an inflated price ($3kpp) for transport to Cerró Castillo.

==Season 2020/21==

==Season 2019/20==

*2020-March-6 / Ty & America / 4.5 Days SOBO RR. Start @ El Blanco

We started in El Blanco, opting to hike by Lago Montreal, which was pretty nice. No traffic though, so if you’re wanting a hitch the regular start in Villa freí may be a better option. Settlers in Lago Montreal are super friendly. There’s a bit of water there as you pass by the lake. We camped there. I recommend going further to the marked camp though because the next day is a big challenge. RH-CC-A@32-25.2+7.9 Is the Cruz of the section. After this all good. I do not recommend doing this unless you’re very comfortable on your feet and have a lightweight pack.

-stick to the treeline/marked path on this. The traversing is tough, but completely doable. 2-3 km in is the gully with the very difficult climb. Keep the the grassy patch, getting to the base of it was the most dangerous part for us. Very slippery rock. I had America drop her pack. High risk, but I was MUCH more comfortable.

-about a k after is the second dangerous area. This is a straight rock wall that spans all the way up& down the mountain. The only way through is to climb around. I checked below it and didn’t find a way through the trees. I took both Sanita & America’s packs through this section; as again, it’s very high risk..with an actual climbing move involved. Again, it’s important you’re very comfortable with your pack to get through these parts.

After these dangerous sections we were wiped out and camped in the valley before the pass. Lots of places to camp with good water. Be aware of slight rockfall risk. There’s an amazing place to camp with ideal conditions at the top of the pass.

Going on, all smooth, both marked camps on the way up the second pass are actually closed...there’s an open camp right between the two.

Amazing places to camp up by Laguna Castillo.

We snuck around the riverbed once we saw the blue tent at the bottom (where you might have to pay) and got by with no problems.

*Jan 2020 GPT32 South 7days / Felix

_____________________ Coyhaique to Villa Freí: There is a bus from the bus terminal in Coyhaique to Villa Freí. From there it was a hot dusty road.

_____________________ Accessing the park : You have to pass through 4 private properties to enter the first sector of the park. We met some people. Had short friendly chats, but no problems with access. Just before you enter the park (where there are two trail options) there is easy access to the river via a cow trail. However water in general was no issue and I didn't carry water for the entire 7 days through the park.

The camp site used to be an official campsite before the sector was closed due to access problems. The dunny is in great shape.

_____________________ Through the first sector : The trail is in great shape until after the mirador. You then cut upwards into the alpine which is also easy walking. After passing through a saddle, you contour around above the treeline. This is the most difficult part of the section. Quite a bit of step scree traversing. Not for everyone. Once you drop into the valley waking is again easier. There are some occasional cairns that become more and more frequent as you drop into the other valley. As you contour left an intermittent trail is evident. When you enter the lenga forest (-45.97321, -72.10278) there is a great trail down that turns into a road here : (-45.97886, -72.10358) (Jan: maybe you want to update the track files to reflect this?) Then is road walking to join the popular walk.

_____________________ Popular sector of Cerró Castillo : There are some side trips not included in the track files. They're on the map you get. Note that the old Bosque site (-46.06197, -72.16016) and La Tetera (-46.07200, -72.18390) are now closed. You can not camp there. For most people this means camping at the new el Bosque : (-46.06418, -72.16964)(Jan : maybe you want to update the track files?) Get to Laguna Cerró Castillo before 12 to beat the walkers heading up for the day. But this shouldn't be an issue as you need to cross the pass early : an important thing we would have liked to know is that the pass (-46.08030, -72.21103) can be closed in the afternoon due to strong winds. There is literally a ranger there that can turn people around. Not much water over the pass either. And the poza cerca mirador doesn't look welcoming. Carry water here. In the next valley there were more rangers and we saw some people get checked for permits. It's a shame this park is now being comercialalised :(

_____________________ Getting back to Coyhaique : Not much traffic. The last bus heads back at 6pm

_____________________ I'll try upload some map photos and a breakdown of the entrance fees when I get the photos off my camera.

Cheers, Felix.

* 2020-Jan-18 and 19 / Regular Hiking Southbound / Martin Lizondo

The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge. I met other day hikers going to « El Mirador ». Snow was easy at the passes. The trail was in good conditions until the cross country. There are two spots which I consider dangerous, so I don’t recomend doing this section alone: 1) the gps tracks passes through a very vertical rocky (nearly climbing). I was scared and I can’t recommend doing it, except you asume this risk. I could see later in a map that the original route went all way down in the valley through lenga forest, but if there was a trail it’s invisible now. 2) When the cross country leaves the tree line and becomes a small trail into the lenga forest at 45º 58' 23,54" S, 72º 6' 10,02" O (“minor road” starts later, despite the gps track info); it’s very stepy and unmaintained. I made a mistake and started to follow the stream all way down, but you have to look up and search the beginning of the hidden path. It’s very vertical and easy to fell down, because of recent land slides. Be extremely carefull. The rest of Cerro Castillo from Las Horquetas is well maintained, beautifull and enjoyable. Cons: Lots of people. When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.

* Jan 2020 / RH Northbound / Matthieu

No technical difficulties in the park, just following the trail and enjoying the views.

To follow the GPT northbound, leave the parc trail to go north. It is an "old sendero" in the forest, but well maintained and easy to follow during the beginning (it is marked on maps of the parc). In this direction, no problem to leave the forest in a safe spot, but southbound, looking behind, seemed hard to find the entrance of the forest and of the safe trail ! No technical difficulties until the first pass, rocky terrain like the rest of the park.

The dangerous part is indeed between the 2 passes. You dont go in the valley in front of you but follow the altitude line until the pass that you see at the right side of the valley. Very steepy rolling stones path. I was a little bit afraid. I tried to be smarter than the tracks, trying more uphill... this was a dangerous mistake that took me long to repair and go back to the tracks. There are indeed two river crossing (no dangerous waterstream) but they are circled by cliffs, so not easily crossable.
The track follow mostly the tree line (I.e the separations between the little trees and the stones) So my recommendations :
- follow the gps tracks : they follow the tree line who is safer with a solid ground and grass. Sometimes you have to cross the stones, no choice, so go slowly, choose your paces wisely and it's doable. Try to aim for the grounds of grass in the middle, which are solid, or the stones with foam on them, which mostly didn't move for a while. For the rivercrossing, it aims a good spot with no need to climb down or up.
- choose a good weather day : for me it was sunny and no wind, so perfect day, and it was already mentally hard (not speaking of the horseflies getting you crazy during the hard moments !). I wouldn't try it with rain or big wind in this river of rolling stones.
- if you don't feel it, easy escape by the normal trail of the parc

However, I can assure that the prize for the effort, going northbound, is amazing !! But I won't spoil !
After the second pass, no technical difficulties, you find a Conaf trail easily, and I even cross some tourists with a guide.

*2019-Nov-29/ Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe/ 3days / Northbound / Regular Hiking Route with OH-MR-V (Villa Cerro Castillo to Las Horquetas)

The section follows the rather popular tourist Hiking route Las Horquetas for the first two days, meaning there will be less solitude but also rather well maintained trails. The national park and the region around Cerro Castillo was very impressive, we especially enjoyed to take all the side trails and visit the numerous beautiful glacier lagoons. The only unpleasant part of the hike was the organization of the national park. The exorbitant high entrance fees are in no relation to the other parks, which is due to a high ratio of private land in the area but makes the park rather unattractive for tourists. some rangers seemed poorly informed and couldn't give much information (e.g. insisted that passes were "closed" and only after asking numerous times agreed to check with his colleagues that told that they are "open"). They also said it is not possible to hike the regular route of the GPT, because we have to check out of the NP at the checkpoint Las Horquetas. There is an optional hiking route continuing North from there. Due to bad weather coming up we ended up not finishing the northern stretch of the trail and just followed the entire Las Horquetas Route at the Carretera Austral.

* 2019-Nov-29 / Lea Geibel, Kevin Moe

Snow line is at around 1200 Meters but all passes are safely traversable.
The National Park Entrance Fee got raised to 29000 CLP per person for overnight hikes in season 19/20. The park generally seemed very poorly organized, we were told the passes are "closed" at first, whereas they were easy and safe to traverse. The ranger insisted that we could not hike the normal route northbound but have to sign out of the park at the Las Horquetas checkpoint. In high season, the ranger station in the park is manned, so maybe it is possible so sign out there and head northbound.

* 2019-Nov-12 / Eva Havlová

There is still lots of snow in the National Park. I arrived to Villa Cerro Castillo 3 days ago (Novembre 12, 2019) and planed to hike nortbound but rangers didn't let me go. I saw the pass they were talking about (avalanche risk) and I don't think any avalanche could occure, but the thuth is that there is lots of water runing down and the trail is like a stream. They said it might be possible to do it next week.

==Season 2018/19==

* 2019 Jan/ OIlrik / Northbound

We ended up doing the normal Cerro Castillo hike as the weather was forecasting heavy rain and snow so we did not want to be on the pass. The regular trail is just gorgeous and the park is beautiful. The trail in the north is not on the new CONAF maps but is marked on the old ones.

==Season 2017/18==

*Route description by Kara Davis after Season 2017/18:

A sandy beach with a visible structure in the grass is the take-out for Lago Elizalde. After exiting, make your way through the farmland until encountering a gravel road that leads past the house at the top of the hill up to Ruta X-686.

Ruta X-686 is a lightly trafficked but well-formed gravel road that is fenced on either side. After crossing the Río Paloma, Ruta X-686 makes a sharp left and begins to climb. 4 km after the sharp left turn, cross a bridge to the left and climb to a wooden gate. If you descend the steep slope to the left of the gate, there is camping under some trees.

The wooden gate marks the beginning of a very long driveway to a house located near the lake. The route takes you along this driveway until a river crossing. After crossing the river, walk northeast along its shore towards the Río Paloma. After reaching the end of the fenceline near the Río Paloma, turn east and walk along the fenceline until reaching Lago Desierto. At the river outlet, there is a nice beach to put in to Lago Desierto.

There is no camping along the shores of Lago Desierto. The take-out is a rocky beach at the base of a bluff. Walk up the bluff and cross country through the farmland to Lago Azul. At the east end of the farm, descend down a road to a rocky beach at the Lago Azul shoreline with a metal structure.

There are a couple of potential camping options along the shoreline of Lago Azul. There are also several residences on the north shore. The take-out is a long rocky beach set before a well manicured forest. On the east end of the land near Lago La Paloma is an expensive looking house surrounded by several other buildings.

There is a 4WD track to the west of the smaller red house located south of the big residence. Ascend the steep climb on a well-formed road that is criss-crossed with several smaller tracks labeled in english with wooden signs. Due to the steep slopes on either side of the cut out road, there is no camping here.

Eventually, the route turns off of the road onto an overgrown 4WD track. Camping off the track is still difficult because of prickly vegetation and steep terrain. This track ends 2.5 km from where the Regular Packrafting Route joins the Regular Hiking Route. From here, the route involves some bushwhacking and following a small trail as it winds in and out of existence. Just before joining with the Regular Hiking Route, the route widens into an old 4WD track that passes some destroyed structures.

The routes join up at a large rock cairn and continues to follow a 4WD track until reaching a large wooden sign with a map of the Reserva Nacional Cerro Castillo. Here there is also a campsite and ranger station. There is a 5.000 CLP fee to enter the reserve.

The route from here is a popular track for backpackers with designated campsites. The trail is well-formed and winds through the forest. When the trail becomes less obvious, the way is shown with yellow markers. In this area there is a designated campsite with a latrine.

At treeline, follow the cairns and rocks painted with white and red stripes through the scree up and over the first pass (approximate elevation 1.450 m). After the steep descent, reenter the trees. There is a campsite, Camping El Bosque, soon after reaching treeline (approximately elevation 940 m) with water and a latrine.

The trail begins to wind up through the forest toward Laguna Castillo. The sights from Laguna Castillo, which is at the base of the pass, are stunning. There are two tracks that climb up to the pass. Make sure to take the path that climbs to the south instead of continuing southeast over the obvious saddle.

The track down to Ruta X-720 is well formed, marked, and popular, but occasionally braided. Follow it until reaching the wooden stile with a rangers hut. From there join Ruta X-720, a dirt road which leads to Highway 7 and Villa Cerro Castillo.

==Season 2016/17==

=Resupply and Accommodation=

==Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns==

*Town: Villa Cerro Castillo. Villa Cerro Castillo has several restaurants, small markets, and plenty of lodging options, including a popular backpacker camping destination on the east side of town.

==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==

=Transport to and from Route=

*Buses to Villa Frei from Coyhaique bus terminal: Monday 7:30, 8:15, 15:30, 17:00, 19:30 Tuesday to Friday 8:15, 15:30, 17:30, 19:30 Saturday 08:00 and 14:00. No bus on Sunday. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Villa Frei & the bus generally turns around immediately & goes back to Coyhaique.

=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=

*2023/ Martin & Helena
To avoid right-of-way conflict, we followed Cristopher & Anna's advice (thanks guys!) and turned right after the first gate behind the beginning of the optional trail. From there you just need to follow MR, cross a few gates and you will end up on a fenced field with bee hives on one side.

*2023/ Jakub+Veronika:
1) Lago La Paloma, right of way conflict on RH (32, km 17.5): Owner of the land (and nearby houses) is called Cesar, according to him, the right way is by the mud road (OH 32-L) and not on the trail, which passes some 20m next to his house. The reason why there was a conflict might have been caused by Cesar's relative who didn't like tourists walking on their land.
2) Trail has been changed 3 years ago because of right of way conflict between CONAF and private owners on the OH (32-E). The new official trail (with official park entrance) leads on OH (32-E) for the first 2km, then turns right and goes down towards Rio Ibáñez to RR (32, km 85), well marked by metal yellow triangles.

*2023 / Anna & Christopher
The entrance closes at 2 pm but the guards there were much nicer than the first two, and it was also no problem to get in at 3 pm. We had to register us and pay the 30.000 clp p.p. though. The rest of the trek we were not asked to show the tickets.

*2020 / Martin Lizondo
The starting minor road gets into the private propiety of Pedro Sangüesa (+56 9 9099 9083) at 45º 52' 15,55" S, 72º 2' 46,28" O. He didn’t like people to pass through and denied that there was a trail, but it turned out to be a Conaf’s well signed area. He said in the future he will ask for money, but finally left me pass for no charge.
(...)
When leaving at the Nezoelandes entrance, you’ll have to pass near to the payment cabin. I didn’ t have to pay, but it was because I spent only a short time in the park. The cost for foreigners is normaly CLP 29,000.

=Links to other Resources=

Retired Section Article [[GPT32 - Cerro Castillo]]

=Images=

GPT28P (Bajo Rio Palena)

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GPT27P (Alto Rio Palena)

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GPT19 (Volcan Puyehue)

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GPT27P (Alto Rio Palena)

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GPT19 (Volcan Puyehue)

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GPT18 (Lago Pirihueico)

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GPT18 (Lago Pirihueico)

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GPT17P (Neltume)

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GPT18 (Lago Pirihueico)

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GPT17P (Neltume)

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GPT17P (Neltume)

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Pieper92:

GPT17P (Neltume)

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Pieper92:

Greater Patagonian Trail track files

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Pieper92:

[[category:Greater Patagonian Trail]]
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.

GPT Hikers's Manual: http://bit.ly/GPTmanual

==Create an account in Wikiexplora (compulsory)==
[[File:create account wikiexplora.png|frame|Six (very standard) steps to create an account in Wikiexplora]]
To request the files you must first [http://wikiexplora.com/index.php?title=Especial:Entrar&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:
#User name
#Password
#Confirm password
#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.
#Real name (optional)
#On the final line type '''wikiexplora''', all in lower case

==List of requests==


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.

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).

Use the format:

*'''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.

*'''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? :-)

*'''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

*'''wbarab''' Hi Jan, thank you for all the extensive and detailed work put into this manual. My partner and I (American & 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 "maybes" if time permits)! To continue we would really appreciate access to the trackfiles.

*'''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.

*'''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!

*'''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.

*'''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 :)

*'''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!

*'''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!

*'''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 & Yannick

*'''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

*'''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.

*'''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.

*'''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

*'''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.

*'''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

*'''Larix84''' Hello Jan, he hablado contigo con whatsapp hace 2 semanas Mi proyecto de trail para el ano que viene se confirma, un saludo'''

*'''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!

*'''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
Greatings TheRebel

*'''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.

*'''Ollie''' Hello Jan. I am from Wales and currently is
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.

*'''Silke & Hans''' Hello, We are a Belgian couple currently on a multiyear bikepacking, trekking & 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.

*'''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!

*'''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!

*'''Diegoara''' Hi! My name is Diego and I am from Chile and I'm interested in the GPT to do de GPT18 & 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!

*'''Jess&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 !

*'''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!

*'''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!

*'''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!

*'''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!

*'''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.

*'''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 !

*'''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).

*'''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.

*'''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 "Puente Ingles" , 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!

*'''MarcGPT''' Hola! Last year while hiking around Cochrane, I learned about the GPT. Looking forward to return and contribute to the GPT manual.

*'''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.

*'''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.

*'''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 !

*'''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.

*'''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.

*'''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.

*'''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.

*'''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!

*'''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!

*'''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 !

*'''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

*'''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

*'''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.

*"ChristopherT"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!
Cheers,
Christopher and Anna

* '''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.

* '''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!

*"nmakepeace" 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!

* '''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.

* '''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.

* '''hannahp24''' My partner Eric & I will hike GPT 32-36 in Dec-Jan 2022/2023. Excited to explore new places and give guidance to what we find here.

* '''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 :)

* ''' 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.

* ''' 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.

*''' 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!

* ''' Christophe (Alex & 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.

*'''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.

*'''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.

*'''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.
*'''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.
* ''' 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.

* ''' Michaelstabile (Mike & 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.

* ''' Martin&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&Helena

* '''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!

* '''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.

* '''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.

* '''Alexis (dm) & 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.

*'''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.

*'''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

*'''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!

**'''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!

*'''Yannic & 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 !

*'''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 ?

*'''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!!!!!!!!!!

*'''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!

*'''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 !

*'''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.

*'''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.

*'''Alice & Florian''': Hola! We are Alice & 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.

*'''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!

*'''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.
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.
In my research I am missing the exact GPX files for my GPS.
Thank you in advance and congratulations again for all the work provided and to which we have access.

*'''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!

*'''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!!!

*'''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!!!

*'''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!

*'''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!

*'''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 !

*'''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!!

*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!

*'''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!

*'''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!

*'''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!

*'''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!

*'''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.

*'''Alexey''': I will start my trip on 29.11.2021 from Lago Todos Los Santos to the North, until Lago Ranco.

*'''Matthias&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!

*'''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

*'''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).

*'''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 !

*'''Rebeca y Cristián''': Buenas tardes Jan! Estuvimos conociendo distintos lugares de la décima región desde inicios del 2021, "aprovechando" 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.

*'''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.

*'''Vera & 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!

*'''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!

*'''Kris&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!

*'''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!

*'''HolKann & 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 "the shadow of an old mule path" 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.

*'''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!
*'''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

*'''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!

*'''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.

*'''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!

*'''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.

*'''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 !.

*'''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.

*'''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.

*'''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!

*'''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.

*'''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!

*'''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

*'''Patagonico''': Years ago i did the ruta de los pioneros now i would like to complete the GPT in the next few years.

*'''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
*'''O Bicho Geográfico''': Para fines de investigación científica, Abril de 2021.
*'''Max Nemeth''': November to Mid-March 21/22, sections to be determined. Thank you for the amazing work on this route!
*'''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.
*'''nico142857''': GPT01 and GPT02. Im planning to hike these 2 sections on March, and gpx's routes surely will help a lot. Thanks!
*'''MauricioDM''': I am planning to hike the whole trail in parts, but I am not sure where to begin, the GPX will help . Thanks.
*'''Nico busch''': GPT33H. Planning on doing the Torres del Avellano hike. Thanks.
*'''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.
*'''AJForno''':, GPT 01 to 40, I live in Chile and have done some sections, and plan to keep exploring, Thank you! Andres
*'''Thom&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

*'''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!

*'''Tom Corbett''': Januray 2021, hiking and packrafting sections of GPT 26 to GPT 33.

*'''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.

*'''Tobi & Fang''': Hiking and potentially packrafting in the <s>2021/2022, 2022/2023</s> 2023/2024 season.

*'''Freek van Keulen (Freek)''': Plan to hike 2021-2022 season, starting preparations and research now

*'''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.

*'''Quamen''': I am dreaming to hike the GPT01-16 and to hiking/packrafting GPT17-40 southbound this austral summer 2020-2021 season.

*'''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.

*'''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!

*'''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.

*'''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 :)

*'''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

*'''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.

*'''Olivier1''': Planning to hike the standard route northbound, starting at GPT 40 for the 2021-2022 season.

*'''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.

*'''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) ;-)

*'''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.

*'''Leonhard''': GTP 1-16: Planning on starting end of 2021 with GPT 1-16 and further on. Got one season to explore the GPT.

*'''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!

*'''ConnyPflaume''': GTP 14 & 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.

*'''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)

*'''Kelly Swanson''': I plan to solo trek starting at GPT06 in January 2020, continuing till mid March.

*'''phil ro''': i will start in coihayque in mid-january and will head south for more than 4 weeks with a packraft.

*'''johannsteffen''': Going to make a backpack trip starting in February on Ushuaya and going to Bariloche in June.

*'''Claudio Miranda''': Starting from Santiago in January 2020 until April, planing to arrive at least to Chile Chico.

*'''Trinity''': Travelling to SA for 2 years and plan exploring Patagonia.

*'''pirre''': Starting in January 2020 on GPT32 and planning to hike south for 6-8 weeks. Thanks!

*'''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!!!

*'''Gatodelmonte''': Starting on 2 January from Santiago, planning to hike South for about 45 days & exit near Pucon (sections 1 to 15)

*'''Fedepatagon''': Like to pack raft on the area between Bariloche-Osorno and P.N Los Alerces

*'''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!!

*'''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!

*'''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!

*'''Ianhikes'''* Leaving for Chile in 1 week and looking to spend a month on GPT hiking southbound.

*'''zc0rp10''': Hi! Planning and preparing for an extended hike together with two friends from November 2020 - Feb 2021.

*'''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

*'''gorskial''': plan to bike/packraft along the carretera austral from Puerto Montt to Villa O'Higgins with hiking side trips. Jan/feb 2020

*'''pitney''': Solo hiking GPT sections 6-22 Southbound beginning early January, 2020.

*'''dirtmonger''': GPT sections 1-24; planning underway for an immersion solo hike ‘20 November to ‘21 February.

*'''bob451''': Planning on solo hiking 2 or 3 sections of the GPT northbound March/April 2019.

*'''Mgabenesch''' : Planning on hiking most parts of the GPT, starting in Ushuaïa then going North. I have on year off. Starting Dec 2019

*'''Family Size''': Planning on hiking parts of the GPT southbound. Starting end of November 2019.

*'''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.

*'''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.

*'''dsmit3000''': Solo hiker planning on hiking GPT40-31 northbound November-January 2019.

*'''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.
*'''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.
*'''Aceestrin''': We'll be exploring for 4 weeks in Los Lagos region December-January.
*'''Andrealopezb''': I plan on doing individual sections for the time being, mostly between Santiago-El Maule
*'''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.
*'''AlexEdge''': Hi, i am planning to hike the lower sections of this route with a couple friends, possibly febuary 2020. thank you!
*'''Arno507''': We plan to do several sections of the GPT starting fom November/December 2019 till early April 2020.
*'''Birdy ''': I plan to mostly walk from Lake Titicaca to Ushuaia starting November 2019.
*'''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!!
*'''Dubrovskiy''': 2 people, January 2020, Foot hiking southern parts, likely around GPT40-33.
*'''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!
*'''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!
*'''Herman van Horssen''': We plan to do section 47 to 69 of the GPT in 2020.
*'''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!
*'''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.
*'''Jose Roman''': Hi, my plan is to several sections by bike or hiking staring September 2019 until Abril 2020.
*'''JUNHUI SON''': Hi, I'm from South Korea, I plan to do section 1 to 40 of the GPT in September 2019 till November.
*'''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.
*'''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.
*'''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.
*'''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.
*'''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!
*'''Matúš Lašan''': We plan to do as much as possible from December 2019 till March 2020.
*'''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
*'''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.
*'''Lauric Olrik''': We plan to do several sections of the GPT starting from November 2019, we have a whole year off.
*'''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.
*'''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 !
*'''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.
*'''Sanita Heinz''': We plan to do section 1 to 40 of the GPT in December 2019 till March 2020.
*'''Selma''': We are planning to packraft some sections of the GPT during our stay in Nov/Dez '19
*'''Staci Garcia''': Hello, I am planning on doing several sections of the GPT in 2020. I am still in research on what sections.
*'''TrashPanda''': Hi, we plan to do several sections from the end of November 2019 till February 2020.
*'''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.
*'''Tombartlett''': Hello I am planning on hiking many sections over a three month period from November 2019 to February 2020.
*'''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….
*'''LieberWeiter''' Hi, I do not know yet if I ever dare to walk the GPT but meanwhile I would like to plan therefore!
*'''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.
*'''Wolke7net''' Hi, could you please send me the track without packrafting. Thanks!
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