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==Season 2023/24==
2024-03-29 to 2024-04-02 // 4,5 days // Hiking // NOBO // RR + Variant A // Quentin Clavel
Best section so far in terms of meeting people. Only nice souls are in this area, a lot of great talks with arrieros, carabineros, or just people passing threw.
But in terms of landscapes and hiking, it's pretty much always passing threw looooong valley, that could be a bit annoying because not so diverse.
I had great time anyway, passing these valleys, the Laguna dial is very nice and I was happy it was Easter,
I have been invited for an overnight party with locals, drinking mate, eating cordero, cazuella, had an amazing desajuno before leaving for the rest of the section
I met Dona Irma, after dealing with her crazy aggressive dogs, and spent some time with her, she's definitely a local legend ! Bought cheese and bread for feeding me the rest of the section (10K CLP/kg)
I arrived in the carabineros of carrizales who are the best carabineros of Chile no doubt ! Giving me sopaipillas and cola, then we discuss a lot, took dinner together, turning into an overnight stay here, they make some space for me to sleep inside, we took some
Pisco then going to bed. Best experience with carabineros so far !
No trouble in the junction with the road, a local living in a puesto 1kl earlier invite me to have mate, then the guard at the end of the gravel roads gently opened me the gate and I continued on the long and boring 11klm of road until El Medano.
There's few options to sleep in El medano, but as I was out of the season everything was closed, I have been invited for stay with a local and quite happy about that because it was a very bad weather night !
* 2024-03-09 to 2024-03-15 / 7 days / SOBO / Started at border control close to Lagula Del Maule —> 1C, 1B, 1, 2, RR, 6C, 6D, RR, 6F, 6E, 6, 6H, 6I, 7B, 7 - Puente El Ingles / Marilyne
I planned this route to avoid the aggressive dogs that have been mentioned a couple times now as it is my main fear along the GPT! I also wanted to explore some alternative routes as some people mentioned that the road walking was not very interesting. That meant that I didn’t get to visit Irma’s place or Carrizales.
Day 1 ~22km
The timing of my errands in Talca meant that I was ready to start on a Saturday, which is unfortunate as the buses to Termas El Medano don’t run on weekends. After evaluating my options, I decided to just take Uber to right before the border control (75K + big tip). I made sure the driver was ok with it and he seemed quite happy, we chatted the whole way.
Went into the border control building just to make sure that no check was needed since I was not crossing the border and went on my way to Laguna Del Maule where a lot of people were fishing.
Later that day on option 2 slipped twice in wet muddy grassy fields. Fun times :-) Camped close to a gate at -36.15739, -70.61193, before the puestos down the valley on option 2.
Day 2
Long day in a valley with a couple puestos. Dogs around puestos were not aggressive but barked at me as can be expected. Chatted with a couple different arrieros. I feel like Rio Guaiquivilo would make a nice class 3/4 packraft option early in the season, but there would be some required portages.
Day 3
Ended option 2 and rejoined the RR to climb up to Laguna del Dial. Enjoyed the view and the surroundings. Meet a lovely Chilean couple that were camped by the Laguna and invited me to stay with them. They ended up being clients of Don Hector, Irma’s husband. They shared their dinner with me. I got to taste Irma’s cheese that I hadn’t been able to purchase and they gave me a lot of food to take with me. Don Hector told me that the 3 agressive dogs people have been mentioning on the RR and that I was afraid of don’t usually bite… More people on horses showed up at the camp later.
Day 4
Finished the walk along Laguna del Dial and took the 6C/6D option. The trail on that pass is hard to follow at times but sticking to the gps line really helped as in some spots you need to be exactly where it is. After that pass I rejoined the main trail which is at a lower elevation and has trees and shrubbery. Camped close to some puestos, however I did not make my presence known and crossed the river to hide to camp - I’m a woman traveling alone. (-36.52496, -71.10122).
Day 5
Decided to take the 6F route despite few comments on this page about the route and the extra elevation gain and loss. 6E starts at a puesto and I had to duck under a couple fences to make it to the gps line. No one was there when I crossed, I’m unsure if it would have been a problem. The cross country section was somewhat hard and steep. Camped close to the end of 6E
Day 6
I initially intended to take option 6 the rest of the way but somehow missed the warnings about the right of way issue until I got there. Since I’m traveling alone and uninterested in arguing with anyone, I went for option 6 but northbound from the end of 6E to continue on option 6H. 6H was hard to follow but a beautiful valley, not much water up there so plan accordingly. The rest of 6H going down on the other side seemed treacherous to me so I opted for 6I instead. Felt really exhausted at the end of the day. Camped at the 7B/7 junction. I was very dirty and dusty by the end of that day and the lack of water at camp did not help.
Day 7
Did the short 6km walk to Puente El Ingles in the morning. Nothing was opened. Started walking the road towards San Fabian de Alico and got picked up about an hour later by three guys who had gone on a fishing trip to Argentina. They gave me a ride all the way to a village outside of Chillán and from there I quickly caught a bus to Chillán (I had a Starken box to pickup there). Realized when I got to my Airbnb that I had a bunch of dirt on my face :-D.
Once again the little solar panel on my pack kept everything fully charged. This section is not as beautiful as section 6 but I still quite liked it.
*2024-Feb-29 to 2024-Mar-06 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / Puente El Inglés - Control Fronterizo Laguna del Maule/ RR + Option 06C + Option H (half) + Option F + Option B +Option 01A, B and C / Alex & Christophe
This section is nice but not our favorite. There is some long dirt road walking in some big valley. But sometimes you can find some fresh fruits in the trees (especially near Carrizales) and the road walk feels a bit less boring. Our favorite part was Pass {07-06C} [1.7/2187] where the view is incredible. Maybe not the most used or maintained path but nothing dangerous and it totally worth the extra hiking hour. The trail and the camps near Laguna Dial were also really nice. And finally, as everybody, we found the Hot Spring {07-F} [0.7/1357] really pleasant after a long, dusty and hot day in the valley.
Here are our points needed to be mentioned :
We started this section after a resupply in San Fabián De Alico. Since there is no more bus to Puente El Inglés, we hitchhiked and got a lift after maybe 30min to 3 km before El Puente Inglés.
When we passed Puesto {07} [86.4/1212] (Irma), we tried to buy some cheese but nobody was here (maybe because it was Sunday). We only found some aggressive dogs on the property. We also encountered 2 or 3 other dogs who where barking and coming to us in this valley. I think they where the most agressives dogs we saw during nearly 3 month on the GPT. Hopefully, we weren't bitten.
The carabineros in Carizales are the nicest we met. They gave us water with harina tostada and even 2 packs of jam when we left.
The fords were all really easy to cross but it is not possible to cross the river at Ford {07} [80.6/1149]. The river bank is too high and you can't go near the water at this place. We just wen't a little bit further and found a place where 4x4 cross the river and it was really easy (maybe at the half of option H).
We finished this section at Control Fronterizo Laguna del Maule at 2pm. We hitchhiked for 45min before being taken. The car drove us directly to Talca to resupply before section 6.
*2024-feb-13 to 2024-feb-19/ 7 days / hiking / NOBO / RR + 0H 1C, part of 1B, 1D, 1E, G / Juliet and Martin
Day 1: We set off from Thermas del Medano after taking the bus from Talca (no bus at weekends, bus from Monday to Friday). We walked for about 1 hour along route 115 before being picked up and given a lift to the border post. We opted for option 1C, which runs along the laguna del Maule, and to take option 1D we used part of option 1B to reach the RR the next day. We camped near Hector's puesto after his agreement. We encountered several puestos along the way. Several watering holes
Day 2. We rejoined the RR to go to carrizales. The little store was open. We were able to get something to eat and drink, in addition to a warm welcome. We went a little further to sleep. We met Danilo, who helped Jan along the way. It was great. Great bivouac spot with water and above all shade! Camp {7} [62,5-1322]. Recommended.
Day 3. On Danilo's advice, we took variant 9 for a few km.
We passed many puestos and were even invited to taste a harissa tostada. We went to buy cheese at Irma's puesto and bivouacked not far away (with her agreement).
Regular water spots. No difficulty in crossing the various rivers.
Day 4. In the morning, we passed through a carabinieros station. They were very kind and gave us internet access as we were worried about the weather based on information given by locals. After being reassured, we climbed up to the laguna del dial. No particular difficulty. We bivouacked a little later at the first camp.
Day 5. A short day along the laguna. It goes up and down, but it's really beautiful. We pass a lot of herds. Less water on this day, but enough not to carry too much.
Day 6. Another short day as we were early and seduced by the Ford camp some 23km before the end of GPT07. Several water spots. Lots of easy downhill.
Day 7. Last day's walk to puente Inglès. Arriving at puente Inglès, we ask at the small store. Apparently, there is no longer a bus running between puente Inglès and san fabian. We were picked up hitchhiking all the way to san fabian.
*2024-Feb-16 to 2024-Feb-24 / 8.5 days / SOBO / / Matthias de Austria
Bus from Talca to El Medano 12:30. Hitchhike up to Laguna del Maule with 3 cars, reach lake at 16:00.
Water: plenty, lots of unmarked sources, never carried more then 1 or 2 liters. Low amount of Tabanos.
No snowfields, all fordings very easy. Weather warm and sunny, except 1 day of rain and cold temperature.
Quite a few closed gates, all easy to open.
Camp at 44.6 is bad, small stream nearby along a cowshitmeadow. Rabbit holes in camp and all full of rabbit poo.
Don't follow the RR at -36.063395, -70.834222 but instead the road. RR leads to a new massive fence with no gate and hard to climb at around Gpt07-01h End.
Shop in Carrizales, 58.2, was open at early sunday afternoon. Tiny room with a few mostly empty shelfs. Got some sugary stuff and a beer. They have WiFi. Local police guy was there too, very friendly, name is Matias, greet him from me when your there or at the local police station you will walk by earlier on RR.
Ford 60.3 has a small log bridge. Warm spring F was totally worth it for me and I spent a few hours there, however if you come from the south you might be disappointed - the hot spring in Gpt 8 is way better. Camp 62.5 was good beside the usuall cow/horseshit. Mid February Rio Guaiquivilo had nice swimming options around -36.20990,-70.90613 and a bit further south. The fording for cars and horses is at -36.271860,-70.923030. Water levels where mostly low and current tame, lots of options to cross.
1kg goat cheese at Irmas for 13500 peso, very delicious, no bred. 3 big white aggressive barking shepperd dogs few hundred meters before Irmas surrounding me and come very close, keep them at distance with my hiking poles.
Around -36.30252,-70.91928 it was very swampy. Friendly police at 92.7, water to refill and got a soda. Laguna Dial was nice for swimming, but very windy from noon to nightfall. Water at 116.3 was dry, but shortly after theres enough water. Rio Cisternas was partly dry, but at camps 116,5 and 114.9 had plenty of water - just not inbetween. No pools though. Warm spring 124.6 isn't worth it, way too tiny. Bridge 137.6 is gone, but dry feet crossing was possible by jumping ovee the rocks under the destroyed Bridge. Little shop in Puente El Inglés was open in the evening and had eggs, noodles, beer, icecream, lots of sugarystuff (don't buy that white packaged and the black packaged chocolate stuff in the backwall of the shop, big package but almost empty inside. Total scam. They had no bred in the evening nor in the next morning, but said in the afternoon bred would be available.
Nice section, best for me was the warm spring and laguna Dial. Spent a lot of time bathing and swimming and just enjoy the view. No difficulties.
Work in progress.
*Feb-1-2024 to Feb-6-2024 / 5 days / SOBO / Oh3, RR, Var H, RR / Matthieu
Long section with a lot of nice meetings on the way, espacially at the beginning in the pueblitos. Laguna Dial is magnificient and the water of good temperature. First part of MR a little bit boring though, but plenty of cars to hitch. No particular difficulties except the sun in the part from Rio Guaiquivilo to the pass after the laguna, no trees for shadow. The way may be slippery in this part to, on steep slopes, sometimes have to really take your time.
River crossing : I crossed Rio Guaiquivilo where begin variant H. Lots of division that you can see from the pass before, this way easy to adapt the strategy. Thigh deep with weak current, knee deep with stronger current but nothing hard. No other strong rivers.
Water : plenty on the way, no need to carry liters in the pack, with minor streams not marked on the GPT waypoints.
Camps : everywhere. Special regards to camp 62.5 with the thermas nearby where you can enjoy a good hot bath before sleeping, and camp 104.5 where you can hide from the wind with the big wall of lava.
Variant H : at the beginning, you have the choice to follow GPT tracks (steep slope) or go up the hill on a well marked trail. I recommend to go up the hill, following the steep slope is dangerous at times. The rest of the variant is easy.
Hitched to san fabian before puento Ingles on the minor road.
* 2024-Jan-31 to 2024-Feb-03 / 4 Days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH 01 / Joscha
Day 1:0H07-01C + OH07-01B [5,6-8,4] + 0H07-01D + 0H07-01E + RR [44,6-49,3]
I hitched from El Medano to the Laguna del Maule. The guards at the border control north of Laguna de Maule let me pass without controlling me. At km 6,4 of OH07-01B is a locked gate, but its possible to climb around. You have to ford Rio Saso multiple times, but water is max. ankle high.
Day 2: RR [49,3-62,4] + OH07-F to Hotspring and back + RR [62,4-77,9]
OH07-F is a short detour to a Hotspring. It's big enough for 1 person to lie in. There is a cold stream next to it and a tree offers some shade. Nice break spot. Ford 76,9 was below Knee high in the evening.
Day 3: RR [77,9-107,5]
I forded Rio Guaiquivilo at 9 am at the gpx tracks (km 80,6), but came out a little further downstream. Water went around knee high (I am 191 cm tall).The police at the station km 92,7 took a picture from my passport and wanted my phone number. They were friendly. I forded Rio Paralelo at 2 pm at the gpx tracks (km 95,3). Water went around knee high.
Day 4: RR [107,5-145]
Rio Gonzales is an easy ford. RR [143,2 to 155,3] is a dirtroad. I got a hitch for the last 10 km to puente ingles on a saturday evening.
GPT07 is mostly walking along rivers in different valleys. I really liked Laguna Dial and Laguna de Maule, otherwise its nice but not very spectacular. You will meet a lot of Arrieros on this section.
2024-Jan-10 to Jan-23 / 14 days / SOBO (mostly) / Opt 1B, 3, 4, 4C, 4D, 8 / Kasia and Michael
Day 0
From Molina we took the bus to Talca. The bus from Talca to El Medano still only leaves early in the morning, at 3:00 in the afternoon, and sometime in the evening. We took a bus to San Clemente hoping to catch different transportation, but no luck. The town itself is not particularly charming, however the square is nice and has places to sit and you can find some shade. There is also a coffee shop half a block off the plaza that has decent espresso at a good price. The bus from Talca passes through San Clemente at the bus stop in front of the Unimarc on the main road. We caught the bus to El Medano and arrived there around 5:30. From there we began to walk the road towards Laguna Maule hoping to catch a hitch. After about an hour of walking a couple picked us up and we rode in the back of the truck as far as Cascada Invertida. It is an interesting spot with a waterfall that has a constant wind blowing some of the water back up the waterfall. Worth a stop if you have time. From there we road-walked another two kilometers to a camp site that is popular with local rock climbers. There are plenty of campsites and a pozo for water and washing.
Day 1
From the campsite we walked back to the road and quickly caught a hitch as far as the border control point. No issues getting through border control; there is a separate line for people just going to the lake. We didn't talk to anyone, no one took our documents and we just walked right through one door and out the other. The road up to the lake is a road-walk but not that long. At the lake we started up Option 1B. We hiked up a ways, but there was a tongue of snow that was on a steep angle, extremely slick, and large pieces easily broke off. It seemed dangerous to try to pass, so we opted to hike back down and onto the road. Option 1K is a path that avoids going back through border control and ends on the highway. (If going SOBO and wanting to avoid BCP, look for a broken gate a little less than a half km before BCP and follow the road up.) From there we caught a hitch fairly quickly all the way to the beginning of Opt 3. We walked Opt 3 up for about six kilometers to a campsite marked Puente Enemigo on Gaia. Free public camping with river access. About a half km further on is a similar site.
Day 2
We started walking up the road early. The road is very dusty and the tabanos were pretty unbearable. We caught a hitch with a group of hunters and fishers going out for the weekend. They ended up taking us all the way to the end of Opt 3 and to where Opt 4 begins. We walked to the beginning of Opt 4B, but the water was too high and the current to strong, so we camped near Rio Guaiquivilo for the night.
Day 3
We took Opt 4A up and over the hill, an easy walk. The ford in the river was about crotch height with fairly strong current, however we passed where the cars drive through to get to the other side. We continued on Opt 4 which goes through farmland, a lot of which is swampy. If going through, choose footing carefully. We noticed that where the little white flowers grow is usually more stable ground than where the yellow flowers or just grass are. We went down to the river and camped under a tree just where the path drops to the river level, a little before the marked camping site.
Day 4
We continued on Opt 4 hiking along the river bed. It was slow going and we had to ford many times throughout the day as the river braids back and forth across the valley. All fords were easy, knee height at most but generally lower. It was actually easier crossing rivers than walking along the river bed since there are so many large rocks. We followed the path where it goes up the hill for about a kilometer and a half and then ran into an area where the trail had collapsed. It may have been passable but we felt that it seemed too dangerous so we turned back. When we returned to the river bed we started hiking further up the river bed to see if it was possible to go on a lower route. We camped in the river bed for the night.
Day 5
We got a late start that morning. We walked up the Rio Gonzales spending the entire day in our water shoes. We probably crossed the river two dozen times, excellent training in river fording. Some fords at crotch height, most at knee or lower. The water was a beautiful color, an excellent temperature, and there were plenty of places to go swimming. By 17:00 we had only made it half way to the marked ford point below the pass, so we turned around. We were not able to determine if it would be possible to go all the way to the final river ford before the pass. However, even if it is not possible to get to the pass, if one has time this is worth a day trip. Every bend in the river had interesting things to look at, it was exceptionally beautiful, and just very pleasant to spend a hot day half submerged in the water. Obviously this is only feasible when the water level has dropped for the season. We camped in the same spot as the night before.
Day 6
We decided to try Opt 8. We walked down the river taking Opt 4C until Opt 4D, then crossing the river there and reconnecting with Opt 4. The path up the hill on Opt 4D was a little tricky to find, but it was there; head to the left. We followed Opt 4 NOBO for a bit, then cut across the valley toward a puesto we had noticed on the way up. This is easily visible in the valley as it is marked by several very tall trees (poplars I think) that stand out against the landscape. We passed by there and chatted with the arrieros for a short while who confirmed that the pass to Achibueno was passable and that we could continue on the south side of the river. It was getting late at that point so we camped near the river.
Day 7
We continued parallel to Opt 8 on the south side of the river. First the land is swampy, then dry. Look for an OSM track that is about 2.3 km long. Stay below the canal that the arrieros built until the OSM track begins, then cross over the canal and follow it. When it drops back down to the river, there was a small section of very mucky swamp. We had to build a rock bridge to cross it. After that, cross the river and reconnect with the GPT track. We went up and over the pass, it is a bit difficult but easy to follow. I will heavily caveat this by saying many groups of arrieros had been through this season. I think doing it in a season prior to the arrieros passing through would be challenging. The view at the top of the pass over Laguna Achibueno was absolutely stunning; it looked like something out of a movie. We dropped down to the first camp site marked. It was a grassy plain with relatively little wind, some mosquitoes, and lots of little black bugs that did not seem to bite. Camped there for the night.
Day 8
We got a late start again, being tired since we had not taken a rest day. We went down the other side of the pass. Same as the day before, tricky but absolutely passable, but probably much more challenging prior to arrieros passing through. The valley below was beautiful and green, a lot of Andean oak. We found a camp site a little past the first marked camping. At the bottom past the sign for the Laguna and the sendero, there is a small hill with several large oak trees. Nice views on three sides of mountains and the waterfall, a stream close by.
Day 9-11
We stayed camped in the same spot for a rest day. We got invited to join the festival of San Sebastian that a large group of arrieros and local farmers were holding. We met a lot of really nice people and ate a ton of really amazing asado. Everyone was so incredibly welcoming, kind, and generous. This will absolutely be one of our most enduring memories of the GPT.
Day 12
Refreshed from the rest and all the meat, we continued on Opt 8. The trail out was really enjoyable, lots of Andean oak, very fantasy-like landscape. The bridge over Rio Achibueno was destroyed. We found a ford point about 50 m upstream from the mark on the track. Waist deep and a little tricky, but we managed. Camped at La Gloria down near where the estero meets the river.
Day 13
Continued on Opt 8. Wood plank “bridges” on the esteros from La Gloria on. This is a popular hiking trail, we started seeing lots of day hikers and casual hikers. We took Opt 8 instead of switching to Opt 8A, which we regretted. Opt 8 up is through a very green, but very dry and dusty forest. From the last crossing of the estero there was no water until after the pass. We also hiked it during a heat wave which made it extra challenging. It would be possible to camp on the pass which is low and has a lot of trees and flat space. There is a waterfall a ways down the far side for water. The road down to Estero Los Guayes was not difficult, but half way down you are just waking through a commercial pine plantation. The road is dusty and is mostly fenced in both sides with very infrequent access to the estero. There is also no camping officially allowed according to a resident; they said the Carabineros will come and tell you to leave. We found a spot to stealth camp in front of a small abandoned corral that was not visible from the road. Didn't have any issues. Opt 8A has camping marks on Gaia and is the main access for people driving in to hike, so this seems a better option for either hiking or hitching.
Day 14
Continued to walk out on Opt 8. Hot, dusty, tons of tábanos. After about 3 hours we caught a hitch all the way to Linares.
2024-Jan-12 / 6 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Tanja
Easy hitch from El Medano to the RR trailhead in the morning. No right of way issues. There’s a big gate that was closed but 15 meters to the right the fence is broken. No one there at a Friday morning at 8h30. Even the local guy that gave me a ride knew that there was a trail. Further up where the trail turns at the first river crossing there’s a big landslide of rocks covering the road. Doesn’t look like any/many cars would come through here these days.
Crossed Rio Guaiquivilo on midday further upstream of where the gpx track suggests (-36.27219, -70.92341 is where I came out). River has two arms there and is pretty wide. I’m 1,65m, water up to mid thighs at deepest spot.
I had a first attempt where I felt water was flowing slowly and river had just one arm but way too deep for me. Choose your spot wisely, stay focused and be patient.
Did not meet any other hikers but had several really nice encounters including an asado in one of the puestos.
Heaps of water. Never carried more than a liter. Campsites everywhere.
Lagoon doesn’t have trees but on that little beach in the middle there is an old wooden structure. You could tie a groundsheet or tent fly on top of it to create some shade.
Crossed bridge at km145 over Rio Los Sauces as I wanted to get a ride into San Fabian which worked after a bit of roadwalking. Stayed at Cabanas Nativas. Paid 30.000 CLP for a two person cabin after asking for a discount as I was solo. Was last cabin available. Laundry service is 8.000CLP.
*2023-Dec-22 to 2023-Dec-27 / 5.5days / Hiking / SOBO / {07-03}-{07-04A}-{07-04}-{07-04C}-{07-04}- RR / Lilian
Avoid of right of way dipute and crossing Rio Guaiquivilo, so i go for {07-03}.
{07-03} Km6.1 - km7.2 : Lot of campong spot beside the road.
Pass[11.8/1175] : not a camping place
Shop,camp[16.3/801] : the shop is not at GPS marked, it is at km16.1. When you come down from pass when get close, you can see your left side have a red roof house, with some ice cream+drinks sign at front gate. When i get to there, shop is open but nobody, only a black dog watching me, take me about 10min to figure out the shop owner is working in farm behind the house.
I called him loudly and he noticed me. He is a nice and very friendly guy. I ate canned fish, bread, ice cream and coke in the shop for lunch, yummy yummy!
The shop mostly for alcohol, but you still can buy some small items for chill.
Km17.4 : start from here, lot of possible camping spots beside the dirt road in this valley
Km17.4 - km40 : good cell service.
Bridge[33.1/763]: dont cross it, it is impossible to cross Río Melado come back to this side by {07-08G}
Police[20.5/775] : they'll mark down your basic information, destination and the reason why go in this area. Friendly, they give me some ice cold water to drink!
Shop,camp[25.7/813] : look like is closed, sign for private area
Km29.5 : look like a small shop for drinks and ice cream here, with a sign"BEBDIAS HELADAS CIGARROS" at the front gate. But no luck, nobody home when i was there.
Bridge[38.4/936] : i love this bridge.
Ford[41.9/1031] : look like up tp thighs at road crossing, log bridge for dry feet crossing upstream 50m.
I forget to mark the location, 1 more stream flowing up to knee, also a log bridge upstream 20m for crossing.
Settlter[51.6/1138] : a small stream crossing, bridge downstream 15m.
Water[56.8/1117] : two dirt road crossing the river here, downstream one is deeper like up to waist and much stronger. Upstream one is easier, it break to 2 part by an island, first part go downstream 5m, rock bar underwater, flowing strong and just above knee at late afternoon. After arrive the island, go upstream back to road crossing point, easy crossing there for second part.
OH-MR-V{07-03}[56.8+1.5] : the middle part is washed away by huge flood, you can walk, but no more dirt road.
{07-03} Km59.0 : just like Lukas en Tess said, the river is impossible to cross at this moment. So i turn to {07-04A} then {07-04} to keep going south. Also {07-04B} is impossible to hike too, because it need to cross 2 times of that river.
{07-04} km6.8 : river breaks into 2 parts by an island. There are 2 bridges for crossing, cross the first one, then walk downstream 200m on the island to cross the second bridge.
First bridge : -36.24670, -70.95043
Second bridge: -36.24481, -70.94877
Mostly you can follow a trail on {07-04C} easily until {07-04C} km7.0, then the trail become hard to find and follow, so i walk on the riverbed by my own way. If you want, you can cross the river to join {07-04}, but just remian a little part of trail (others maybe wash away by flood).
Walk to the end of riverbed at {07-04} km18.8, the trail shows you need to cross the river and climb up to the west. Dont cross the river at RR, it is flowing fast and strong, and look like up to waist at afternoon. At downstream 60m, river breaks into 2 parts, just before the breaking, the river becomes wider, cross at the wide point, it is fast too, but just above knee. When you arrive the west side and meet RR, you'll walk on a trail again.
{07-04} Km21.1 : Pass, some flat spots at this area.
Follow the trail in a beautiful valley until km28.7.
Pass[28.7/1959] : excellent view point of Nevado de Chillán! Still lot of snow of the north side! Beautiful!
Hot spring[38.6/1306] : i hope you don't have any expectations on it and the one beside it. It is just a warm spring at the GPS point, maybe 30°C, a little hotter small pool at upstream, but it is surrounded by tons of cow poops. You wouldn't smell sulfur, because the smell all covered by ....... And i saw one of them is floating inside.
Hot spring[38.7/1312] : it is much hotter, like boiled water, but very spread, flowing very weak and no pool.
Puesto[38.8/1304] : after here, you need to cross Rio La Zorra 4 times immediately. Up to knee at morning.
Ford[41.1/1236] : after this river crossing, from here to Puesto[48.5/1102], is overgrown with thorny plants, more up and down and distance than GPX said. Leave more time for it.
Ford[48.6/1109] : RR crossing is impossible for this moment, flowing strong and look like need to swim to cross because too deep my feet can't touch the riverbed.
But there are better crossing point, when you stand at RR crossing, look at upstream, river breaks into 2 parts, go to there. Get to upstream even 50m more than the break. You'll see a huge white rock, cross before it, it is the widest point of the first part, just half of calf, easy.
After you get on the island, continue going upstream a little about 30m, it is the widest point of the second part, also half of calf, easy. You can walk on the rock bar of second part, back to RR, a camping spot with fire ring and log seats there.
OH-MR-V {07-04} [48.7+13.4] : please don't have any expectations on it, it is an overgrown with thorny plants, loose rocks, old and damaged dirt road, you wouldn't enjoy it. Look like no cars running on it for some years.
{07-04} km53.3 : finally!! The road go under tree line, road conditions become nice, easy walking start!
No luck, there was no bus on Wednesday 10am to San Fabián. So i walk a little further to see hitch hike possibilities.
FYI : bridge{07} [155.3+1.7/703](cable car crossing) is chain locked. Look like can't use in some moments. But i find another cable car is at 600m before it.
OH-TL-V {08-A} [1.2], -36.66468, -71.27290
* 2023-dec-17 / 6 days / hiking / NOBO / O7 + O4 + O8 + O8C / Jens
It was all pretty straightforward. The only hard part was on option 8C between the lagoon and where it joins option 3. Rough terrain. No trails. All cross country.
I really enjoyed Option 8. Many huge waterfalls and lush forests.
Done the supply in Talca. At that time buses only ran once a day from La Mina.
Very limited supply in La Mina and El Medano.
7.30 from La Mina to Talca
15.00 from Talca to La Mina
Buses to and from Armadillo are more frequent.
2023-dec-9/ 7 days / hiking / SOBO /7-1B, RR, 7-3, 7-4 / Lukas en Tess
From there we had no issues folowing RR until Rio Las Yeguas. The river was the toughest ford we did but we managed, Tess clamping on to my backpack and moving together. The best place was just where RR crosses, we tried moving up and down the river a couple 100 meters to no avail. We continued al the way down to the termas, the minishop on the way was not open. Termas are great! We met a lot of
Awesome caballeros at the camp and we shared food and drink and they gave us a lot of advice. Some offered to help us cross Rio Guaiquivillo but others argued that is was not possible. One guy crossed with his horse and the water came over the back of the horse!! So turning back and following 7 option 3 seamed the best option. That soon turned into 7 option 4 as we were unable to cross the River at 7-3, K59. We where able to cross with a small bridge at a puesto where we met some great people, they told us a guy passed 3 days before and we were able to track his footprints al the way to the end of section 7. The route option 4 is great at times, horrible at others but the perfect alternative. We didn't get to see Laguna Del Dial but the amazing mountain forests we passed made up for it.
2023-Dec-17 to 2023-Dec- 22 / 6 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + option 4 + option 3 + option 1 / Yannick & Nolwenn
- Water : all markers are good and even more water present
- Snow : a little bit of snow left on the pass and around Laguna del Maule but nothing important.
- Camping spot : easy to find
- River crossing : (1) option 4 at km 7,8 - the water was really high in the afternoon and the current really strong, Nolwenn thankfully got helped by some caballeros to cross it | (2) on RR at km 47,7 Rio Las Yeguas was crossable in the morning, take your time to find a good spot to cross | the other river crossings were easy
- Weather : Sunny
- Resupply : (1) in Carizales at km 58,2, you can ask for Dagoberto he has a little ' negocio where he sells some beverages and he will try to have some food as well to sell | (2) the mini market at El Medano is not enough, (3) we went to Talca because we had to buy new shoes (lot of good hiking shop)
==Season 2022/23==
The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 am at the bus shed in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961. Otherwise it leaves from La Mina at 7 am
Annotation (Jan-24):
A handwriten scedule at the Minishop in El Medano indicated that there is another bus at 3:30 pm from El Medano a Talca.
*Bus from Puente Ingles around 7 & 10AM. Confirm times @ the shop. Bus back from San Fabián at 2 and 6 pm
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=
* Tanja: No right of way issue RR trailhead for me on January 12, 2024. There’s a big gate that was closed but 15 meters to the right the fence is broken. No one at gate on Friday morning. Further up where the trail turns at the first river crossing there’s a big landslide of rocks covering the road. Doesn’t look like any/many cars would come through here these days.
* Martin & Helena: We got into a right of way conflict on 25th of Dec 2022 - for detailed description see our section log from that time. Short version is that we met 2 cars going down the minor road to the security house at km 11. They refused to let us pass, but we believe it was just their good intention and fear of a possible accident. We tried to convince them in every possible way, but with no success, maybe someone with better Spanish could talk his way through. The guard saw us before and didn't care, so it was just a bad luck for us to meet these cars.