31
ediciones
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==Season 2025/26==
* <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-12-30 to 2026-01-02 / 2 Days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Michel, Lisa & Antoine'''</span>
A lovely section where the river nature and landscapes keep changing. Relaxed, fast flowing and many camping options.
Attractivity: 4.5 (more remote/wilder would be a 5)
Difficulty: 2 (our experience given the exceptional weather and favourable winds)
Day 1
We took the bus running from Palena to Futaleufú at 13:30 for 5mn and got out at Bridge (27P} (2.3/194]. We put in and started paddling down the beautiful river. The rapids were not an issue and we paddled all but rapid 24.3 (??). Antoine in his 1 person boat paddled it though. There are many places along the river that look like great campsites. Many of them are most likely on private land since there are settlers and cows everywhere (it should be easy to hide though). We continued to [-43.64793, -71.91816] in 2 h 30 min where we found a really nice campsite at the confluence of Rio Palena, Tigre and another small stream. The land owner was cutting wood nearby in the forest and we asked him if we could camp there. He said yes of course and didn't seem to mind one bit. Best to ask anyways if you can I guess.
Day 2
We continued down the river without any issues. The canyon scenery was splendid and felt wild. Rapids were all fine to navigate, even though we got sucked into the wrong line on one of them. After paddling 5 h we found a really nice camp spot here [-43.71026, -72.16098] with a big old log for wind shelter, an open area with beautiful views of the mountains and sheltered spots among the trees to pitch our tent. Had a warm relaxed afternoon, swam in the river and celebrated new year with a bottle of wine and Antoine even managed to make a small fire in the still pretty fierce wind (with a lot of wind protection of course).
Day 3
The views from the river were absolutely stunning today and it got pretty warm with sun all day long (just like the last days). Rapid {27P} (47.1/104] was really easy, without any problems. The confluence of Rio Frío is wonderful and the water color changes so much! We did 32 km and camped on a rocky bank (no wind or sun protection though), here: [-43.73649, -72.34523]. On the other side of the river there seem to be nice grassy spots that are more sheltered from wind and sun, so that would be an option for camp, too. It's closer to the road though.
Day 4
We paddled to La Junta quite efficiently thanks to a good flow. Especially closer to La Junta the flow was good so we just floated. In the village we bought some additional food and continued directly with GPT28P.
* <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-12-10 & 2025-12-16 to 2025-12-18 / 4 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Dave & Siyuan'''</span>.
Day 1: Nice easy paddle on the river. Several rapids, but nothing over grade 2. All are easily portaged by those in flatwater rafts. We had a strong headwind all day. We exited at the El Tranquilo cable ferry. There was bad weather forecast so we hitch hiked back to Palena to wait it out.
Day 2: After the storm we rejoined at the same spot. Again, nice easy river with just a couple of easily portaged grade 2 rapids. We camped at a great spot at -43.74537, -72.27095.
Day 3: Again very easy river with no notable rapids. The river widens and slows quite a bit today. We camped at a great spot at -43.87958, -72.37532.
Day 4: River widens and slows again, no notable rapids. We exited at La Junta.
==Season 2024/25==
<span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-02-11 to 2025-02-12 / 1day / Packrafting / SOBO / regular (partly) / Thijmen Scholten'''</span> * Water level was low at least 1m under the algae line on the rocks* Due to low waterlevel Rapid 7.9/168 was dangerous because all of the current went underneath strainers. So I walked. * Read river early and go were most water goes, to avoid hitting rocks. * It's beautiful!! Alot of small little rapids. * Many campspots next to river and good fishing. * After rapid 23.4/135 There is a split in the river take left even though it's shallow! I got suck into strainers and had to jump and abandon my packraft that was sucked under. I think with high water levels you can easily avoid the trees but now with low water levels it's impossible. * <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-02-11 to 2025-02-13 / 3 days / Packrafting/ SOBO/ RP / Tomáš&Natalie'''</span> BUS INFO: From Futaleufu, we tried to take the 10am bus to Chaiten with the plan to get off at Puerto Ramírez, but it was full. Apparently the 6am bus was full too (Buses every day @ 6am & 10am). You need to reserve at least a day in advance. The ticket office opens at 10am and is closed Sundays, expect a queue in the morning. They said this does not apply for the bus to Palena (Tuesdays 9am & 430pm, Thursdays 430pm)- for that you just show up at the terminal. We did not want to wait, so we hitched: it took us 4 cars and 5 hours. We arrived in Palena 18:00, so we slept in a hospidaje here: -43.61753, -71.79944. 40 thousand for two with an early breakfast.Buses from Chaiten to Palena go daily at 12 and 16:30. From Palena to Chaiten they go at 6 and 11. To Valle California (27H Option 1) Monday and Thursday at 8 and 16, going back an hour later. Buses that go along the Palena river to El Tranquilo (-43.73151, -72.16549) leave Monday at 8:30, Wednesday and Friday at 11 (going back at 11 and 14 respectively). This bus could be used to shorten the Palena or used for the first 5 km of 27H. ROUTE:Walking from Palena, you do not need to cross the bridge, there is a staircase to a beach on the left just before the bridge. What others said about the river largely holds, we had even lower water than most reports. The river was probably half a meter under its maximum (in narrower places more in wider less). At the beggining ground contact was a concern, but could mostly be avoided. In the second section, there are indeed trees, but largely easy to avoid and there is not that many of them compared to 17P. The first section goes through a beautiful gorge. In the second, there are magnificent pointy mountains on the left. We wondered if they have ever been climbed, given their relative remoteness, namelessness and moderate prominence and altitude (~2000m). Side streams for drinking were pretty regular until km 85.5, after that until the sea you can easily got 10–15 km between drinkable accessible streams. Entel internet good in Palena and La Junta, also about 20 km downstream from Palena, there must be a tower as our e-mails got randomly downloaded. In La Junta, we spent too much time shopping, so ended up camping 50 m downstream from the takeout, where there is a table, but it probably belongs to someone.As for the rapids:- In 4.2, there is a tree trunk in the middle, complicating it, but one can go left of it. More complicated in shallow water as your line gets narrower.- We walked 7.9 as the main current runs you into willows.- 23.4 was easy on the left, it is a rock garden (two, actually, with a break in the middle). Class II at this river level, it could be harder with more water.- 47.0, where mad nomad capsized, is an uncomplicated class II rapid with high (~1m) waves if you manage to hit the V between the trunks. However, it then pushes you against a head wall with some speed, so remember to exit it in time. We did not and hit the wall at a slow speed (via backpaddling), regained strength in an eddy along the wall, and then exited- but it wasn't easy. Overall we took our time with this section, late mornings and early evenings but it was very nice and the landscape was surprisingly beautiful - try to get a weather window! Nat's Notes:-Jen Ni's 5 part Wiki post is a great general overview, a must read. -At this point in time I would not say post Rio Frio was "fast flowing", maybe only moderately fast in the bits with rapids. There was a lot more padding than expected, I think we averaged only 6kph.-Loved the mountain scenery! * <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-Jan-15 to 2025-Jan-17 / 3 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Davide Materia'''</span> I started the palena bridge the morning of 15th of January. Right from the beginning I realized the water level was unusually low, in the first 200m I already had to get out of the packraft to walk on the riverbed. It got better afterwards and along the river I never had to portage anymore for the next five days. The first day there was not much of a log problem, this deteriorated the next days with always more and more logs present in the river bed. The low water level allowed to see most of them but also made so that some branches of passages were completely blocked by logs. In some section you might have a window as tight as 2m to pass, with the rest of the width being blocked. Still, I would consider the river viable and safe enough to be packrafted for the whole duration, but I don't know for how much longer of the dry season this will be valid. As for the days in details:15th-palena to S 43,670578° O 72,094896°, camped on the eroding cliff of the riverbed a bit further from the erosion border. The whole day was characterized by strong headwinds which made packrafting the ~0-gradient sections of the river quite unpleasant, East-bound wind of up to 25kph, this was definitely the worst day wind wise16th-Nothing to mention here in particular. Camped again on the erosion cliff at S 43,729461° O 72,342124°on a grazing property after asking to the owner. Wind had picken up against me a bit later than the prior day and we're much calmer, still I didn't feel like forcing my way through them to la Junta and so I camped a bit after the union of Rio palena with Rio frio.17th- easy day with almost no wind since the river goes SOBO. Pleasant and quick packrafting, I only did half the day to stop at camping agua vida in La Junta, which replenished my strengths and allowed to clean up clothes and body. Furthermore, it has easy access to the river so that I didn't have to pack everything and unpack, I just carried the packraft to the river with all the gear already in the cargo. I continue with the rest of the report in the 28P page * <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2024-Dec-08 to 2024-Dec-09 / 2 days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP / Roman'''</span>
Route: Did the normal RP route
I was very cautious but all rapids were doable and I only scouted Rapid {27P} [4.2/178] and Rapid {27P} [23.4/135]. The previous descriptions regarding "take them left right etc. are all valid and i followed them.
Camp after day 1 here: -43.745365, -72.270947 which was annoying a perfect nice flat grass spot.
Day 2 no special remarks - camped in La Junta at Camping and Cabañas Vientos del Sur can reccomend.
* Palena: Hostal Alto Patagonia has very tidy rooms and bathroom. Its 25.000 Peso per person including breakfast. Yolanda is a very kind host!
* There is a shop that sells a very good selection of unpackaged goods ideal for hikers (nuts, seeds, granola, lentils, etc.) called Emporio Canelo in Futaleufú, here: [-43.18619, -71.86853]. It doesn't seem to be on Google Maps currently.
* In Palena the resupply options are rather limited. We managed to find a medium gas canister (with thread) in one of the shops, vegetable Selection was sub par, at least for us coming from the north.
* Palena has a nice bakery that sells really good (sourdough?) bread.
* In Palena, the café close to the bus stop sells dry nuts and has a good selection of cakes
==Resupply and Accommodation along the Route==
*Zach
The ferry still runs Thursdays and Sundays, although it left around 11:30, not 9:40 as the website states. No problem to buy a ticket upon boarding.
* There's a bus twice a week from Futaleufú to Palena and in the other direction. It runs Tuesdays (F->P: 9am, 4pm) and Fridays (9am).
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=