8
ediciones
Cambios
→Season 2025/26: Added experience Isabelle and sander
==Season 2025/26==
*''' 2026-02-12 to 2026-02-15 / 3.5 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR until El Manso / Isabelle and Sander'''
This is actually called the horseshoe hike, sendero la herradura. Lots of water along the trail and nice settlers. Some additions to great earlier reports:
Day 1 - Cochamo to Refugio El Arco
Sixto from hostel bicycleta brought us with three other day hikers to the end of the road for 10k pesos. There an army of volunteers awaited al hikers for registration. They actually do a great job informing everyone about best practices on the trails. We also saw a photo of a ‘no loteos’ protest. We had the impression there’s a local effort to keep the park nice and accessible without any tickets or reservations. Up to the first campings it’s busy, but after that we only saw none or max two groups a day. Nice to speak with some people on the busy parts, it’s more like a cultural experience.
After two days heavy rain the trail was very muddy and especially a few km before and after El Arco the trail was very bad and made us slow.
At Refugio El Arco we camped like 50 meters to the south following a little trail to a nice open place with grass.
Day 2 - to Lago Vidal
Many small fords but with wet feet up to the pass, good for cleaning the mud. Before and after the pass the path was extremely muddy and we were very slow and worried about the rest of the trail, but improved a lot as we got closer to Lago Vidal. Camped next to lake on osm camping, some very small flat spots but super nice.
Day 3 - to El Steffen
Walked to Doña Luisa who got us a nice breakfast (8k). Next day was her 70th birthday so all her children were present!
At Steffen many cows and horses, but we were very chill with us camping in their field. Calfs and foals running happy around.
Day 4 - to El Manso
Easy walk to the brewery. Very happy it was open (Sunday afternoon), nice beers and some simple food. Quite nice minimarket with also fresh fruits and vegetables. Stayed to camp for 5k pp, there’s an outside cold shower, clean toilet and WiFi. Took the next day the bus around 12 towards Puelo to move further south.
*''' 2025.04.01 / 3.5 days / Hiking / NOBO / RR + H, “Op.4 (Laguna Tagua Tagua)”-Bus / Kris and Stiina'''
We combined sections 22N and 21 from El Manso to Colonia Suiza - 8 days total. 3,5 days for section 22N from El Manso to Cochamó via La Junta.
A resupply in Cochamó and hitch to Ralún (El Cruce) for Section 21. 4.5 days for section 21 options 2 & 3.
Day 1 - 8:00 Bus from Puerto Mont to Laguna Tagua Tagua. We got there half an hour early, as recommended, but the bus didn’t really fill up and by the time we got to Cochamo by 10:30 the bus was half empty. It could be that on Sunday it is different than on other days on this particular route, less busy perhaps. The bus did one longer stop an hour before Cochamó and also a longer stop in Rio Puelo before continuing to Laguna Tagua Tagua. The bus ticket from Puerto Mont to Punta Canelo cost 8k CLP and we got there around 12:30. There are 7 ferries a day during the high season (Dec.-Mar.) earliest at 7:00 and the last one at 20:00 and two ferries run between Punta Canelo and Punta Maldonado simultaneously. We took the one at 13:00 and the ticket cost 1340 CLP. In Punta Maldonado we walked for a few hundred metres along the dirt road where there was a bus waiting at a small parking lot. There were also two food trucks selling a variety of different fast foods, mainly for all the people waiting in line in their cars to get on the ferry as each ferry can only take 8-12 cars at a time, the car queue was pretty long.
We took the bus to “Settlement, Shop, Bus {22N} [40.7/36] (El Manso)” there is a camp and a local El Puelo microbrewery. It would be a perfect place to end the day, but unfortunately since we were starting we didn’t try the beer, but they also sold a delicious homemade kombucha. The bus to El Manso cost 500 CLP.
For some reason our bags were very heavy once again and it also happened to be +32C when we started hiking around 14:00 so we only walked for about 7km before calling it a day pretty early, the heat got to us.
There was a rocky pebble beach and the osm map had a campsite marked: -41.69227, -71.96916. The water temperature in Rio Manso felt surprisingly warm, perfect for a long dip. We had a few hour nap in the shade on the pebbles before setting up the tent. However we didn’t camp on the beach, we set the tent up right by the trail on a small grassy patch, where the little side trail goes down to the beach. Two arieros passed by in the evening and our tent scared their horses, so not an ideal place for a pitch. The beach was campable, just rocky.
Day 2 - Good trail, very undulating, lots of ups and downs, Bridge {22N} [51.7/146] (Rio Steffen) is broken but there is sort of a driftwood dam on which it is possible to go across, otherwise fording also looked simple. Other bridges all good. First 3 km along the Lago Vidal very undulating with lots of muddy places. Pretty much all day in the foest, no views until the Lago Vidal, then at least some views of the lake opened up.
We camped here: -41.48798, -71.94550 in someone’s yard in front of a house. The house seemed disused. The whole yard was a bit slanted but there was one nice flat spot and the yard was full of pretty meadow flowers. Water from a stream nearby.
Day 3 - The trail along the lake slightly improved. The Bridge {22N} [79.4/612] is just a log across the river.
If coming from the north the Settler {22N} [79.7/611] has an information plaque on his gate with two WhatsApp numbers and a free WiFi that actually works so you can request a boat ride across the lake. They also sell some homemade products. In case you want to arrange the boat ahead of time the WhatsApp nrs. are: Andrés +57 954 799 902 & Máximo + 57 997 115 003
After that the trail goes into the forest once again and more or less stays in the forest until La Junta, some views around Lago Grande. The trail from around Lago Chico to La Junta ir pretty poor, though it is maintained it is very muddy in many places and very slow going. Also it somehow felt that from the pass going down to La Junta there was as much uphill as there was downhill.
The nicer campsite by Lago Grande was this one - Camp {22N} [84.9/1012]. The campsite marked on the OSM near the Arco waterfall smelled heavily like horse piss and wasn’t nice.
This place Bridge, Camp, Refuge ? {22N} [94.2/418] (Rio Valverde) had a nice meadow for camping even with some remnants of what used to be a dry toilet however the horseflies around there were more than anywhere else and also not sure where you would go for the water because the bridge was over a ravine.
In this area Camp ? {22N} [95.6/342] definitely many campsites possible, but there was an easy to ignore sign somewhere saying that it is a private property, go figure.
We rocked up in La Junta campsite and since we didn’t notice the gate and started walking straight through, following the RR the staff working there immediately noticed us. They were nice and explained to us that the correct route now is the variant H if we wanted to continue to Cochamó. We told them that we have no reservations whatsoever they actually invited us to stay at the campground if we wanted. Since the place was epic and definitely the highlight of the whole section we couldn’t refuse such an offer. Looking out of our tent at the sunset colors on the granite giants was amazing. A very nice well kept campground that did not feel crowded at all and had very good facilities. Showers, cold only but still good!
So yes the RR should be rerouted along the variant H, you can’t just walk through their campground.
The campground next door Trawen sells bread, coffee, hot chocolate, though at a price.
Day 4 - The trail after La Junta did improve but only marginally, still all in the forest with plenty of mud. However on the way we made a Chilean friend and chatted the whole way which was very nice and made the otherwise dull walking more interesting.
We got to Centro de Visitantes Valle Cochamó before midday and had to register our visit, no problem, the people were nice.
At the parking lot by Los Arieros cafe, a few hundred meters after the visitor center, you can hire a mule/horse service for your bag and buy some completos con papas fritas y sopapillas y bebidas diferentes. The lady working there absolutely hated her job and was calling everyone stupid.
The bus from there to Puerto Mont is leaving at 13:30ish, closer to 14:00.
After walking about 3km down the road we got a hitch all the way to Cochamó which concluded our section 22N.
After resupplying in Cochamó we continued on to section 21 going nobo and then optioning towards Colonia Suiza.
(Continued in section 21)
Overall for the part of the section 22N that we did I would say that unless you are a big fan of forest hiking and muddy obstacles, it’s not a section worth the effort. I know of some nicer forest walks closer to home. The views around La Junta are worth though, so I would just hike-in for those, spend a night or two doing the variants and hike back out.
For more stories, photos, videos on the trail and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on IG: @smallfootprint_bigadventures
* <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-12-15 to 2025-12-17 / 3 Days / Packrafting / SOBO / RP + RH / Michel & Lisa'''</span>
Day 1
We took the 8:00 bus from the Puerto Montt bus terminal with the company "Rio Puelo" (more details in the transportation section below). It filled incredibly quickly and left completely full, so we were glad to have gotten there 20 min early.
We passed Cochamo at ~10:30 and the bus was still full, it would've been difficult to impossible to get on the bus there I think.
Got to the ferry by bus at about 12:20. After the ferry on the other end of the lake, the next bus was waiting and took us further. It actually drove up Río Manso all the way to this point: [-41.70165, -71.98239]. But you might have to ask the driver to do that if you wanted to go there since it seemed we just dropped off a few passengers there. This would be an option if you wanted to packraft the Río Manso option (22-07).
We got to X{22-01} [25.0/187] (known to the bus driver as Lago Totoral) at around 14:30. The bus driver told us that we could not camp down the road at the lake (Lago Azul, i.e. Camp (22-02A} (3.7/222]) though he didn't say why. We started walking towards it anyways and found a closed gate with a "private property, do not enter" sign in our path after a few hundred meters. While we were looking at it, an elderly man came to us and started chatting from the other side of the fence. He seemed to be the owner of the land. We politely asked him if we could go down to the lake here to cross it in our boat or camp at the lake if the wind didn't permit crossing. He said yes and mentioned something about maybe helping him out for using his land if we did camp, though we didn't understand him very well. In the end he let us pass without any payment. There's a nicely kept campground a few hundred meters after the gate, which seemed to be his. We continued on the very well kept road to the lake, where there's some boating infrastructure. It seems that there are paying guests here sometimes (maybe in summer). You could camp here at the lake (i.e. Camp (22-02A} (3.7/222]), but there are quite a few structures around, better continue to the other end of the lake like we did (or, if you are fast and have the energy, go all the way to the next lake which would be a really nice place where there are no buildings at all, here: [-41.99745, -71.83223]. Practically no wind on Lago Azul made us put in and start. We had some light tailwind later on but didn't take out the sail and made it in 1 h 40 min, arriving at 18:20 at Settler {22-02} [3.9/217]. There are a couple of houses here and many nice campsites. As we arrived, three arrieros on horses came by who greeted us but didn't come to talk to us. We figured they didn't care much if we camped here, so we chose a site nicely sheltered from the wind close to the small stream (about here [-41.98298, -71.84432]). Some cows came to check us out but they seemed relaxed and friendly, so we stayed (very unlike our experience on GPT16, haha).
Day 2
Got an early start (early for us, anyways) and left by 8:00. The morning was fresh but not cold. We had to open and close some gates at the settler's property and were amazed by all the animals they have here - cows, sheep, horses, pigs, chicken, peacocks. You don't have to cross the little stream that flows towards their houses (we did, only to cross back again). The trail starts a little further up and is very clear. We got to the small lake, where it would be amazing to camp (as mentioned before, no buildings, nice flat grassland to put your tent, here: [-41.99745, -71.83223].) Got to Lago de los Rocas soon thereafter and put in at 10:00 with practically no wind on the lake and got to the end of the lake in 1 h 20 min with some tailwind and sailing. Especially once we reached the narrow end [-42.06854, -71.81438] the wind got stronger and then once we landed (12:30) it picked up even more (ideal for sailing, not too strong). So it could be a good idea to do this lake a bit later, more sailing that way. ;-)
The end of Lago de los Rocas would be fine to camp, but there's a ton of horse poop and two football goals on the big (flat) grass, so it's not that appealing (Camp {22S} [21.8/314]).
We hiked to the carabineros who were really friendly and chatty though a bit disorganized, haha. They said it was absolutely no problem to camp in between here and the argentinian border post. We didn't tell them about our packraft (also weren't asked) but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have cared. I can imagine it depends a lot on the officer who's in charge at the moment what treatment you get...
We went on to Lake (22S) [20.9/201] where there are nice campsites as well and put up our tent for the night (and afternoon, we arrived at 13:30). It's nice and sheltered here. :-) The two level-ish spots close to the water are not very big, but our two-person tent just fit on one of them.
Day 3
There was some slight rain at night and in the morning which delayed our departure a bit. There was already some wind and waves on the lake but the wind was in the right direction (westerly). We started paddling on Lago Inferior at 8:30 and made the 4 km to the end in 45 min. The waves were almost too big but we managed. After we arrived the wind picked up even more. We then continued hiking and didn't even try packrafting Lago Puelo since we were pretty sure that the wind would be prohibitive.
The officer at the Argentinian border control didn't seem too happy when we told him we had left Chile the day before and camped somewhere in between. But I think that was mainly because he suspected that we had illegally camped on the Argentinian side (at least I believe it's prohibited to camp here, but I'm not sure). We explained that we had camped on the Chilean side and that seemed to be fine. However, he was not too happy that we didn't have exit stamps in our passports. The chilean Carabineros had only put the exit stamp on a printed piece of paper exit form and not inside the passport, which we had thought was weird at the time, too. But they had told us that you don't get an exit stamp in the passport here. Well, after some eye rolling, the officer said "ah, no importa" and gave us our entry stamps. He even shared a tasty tortilla with us. :-)
From there we continued hiking without any issues. The trail is easy and well maintained, just like before. We forded Río Azul here [-42.08661, -71.62103] without issues, the water level was at or just above our knees (we're both around 170 cm tall). If there was rain before, the fording could become a bit of an issue. The views towards the south here are super beautiful! We hiked to the Visitor center of the National Park where the bus departs every full hour ([-42.08902, -71.61789]).
* <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-11-28 to 2025-12-02 / 5 days / Packrafting / NOBO / RP (partial) + Option 8 (Rio Ventisquiero) (partial) / Dave & Siyuan'''</span>
Day 01: we got the 8AM bus from Puerto Montt to Lago Tagua-Tagua (7000 CLP), ferry (1340 CLP) and the bus to Primera Coral (2000 CLP), arriving at about 3PM. We followed Option 8 alongside the Rio Ventisquero on a 4x4 track. We stashed our food where the train meets the river for the first time -41.99928, -71.93188. The side stream Rio Correntoso at -42.01706, -71.94015 was a little too deep to ford so we used the packrafting to ferry across. After the crossing the 4x4 trail ended and the trail was tricky to follow. Eventually you’ll find yourself in farmland at -42.02391, -71.95023 with lots of barbed wire fences. We made the mistake of descending down to the river to camp.
Day 02: The farm is very easy to navigate - you should head straight for the gate by the building at -42.02519, -71.94891, then exit the farm through the gate at -42.02704, -71.94878. This then joins a very good trail which continues all the way along Rio Ventisquiero. We didn’t quite get all the way along the GPX track, deciding to get on the river at about the 15km point: -42.01938, -72.05608. The paddle down Rio Ventisquiero was absolutely stunning. Mostly grade 1 rapids, with a couple of easy grade 2 sections. Very little wood in the river made the paddle stress free. After picking up our food stash we continued to the confluence and on down Rio Puelo to a camp at -41.96241, -71.91332, which was secluded but just sand so pegs had to be reinforced with rocks. We got Entel 3G coverage at this camp site.
Day 03: The Rio Puelo was beautiful, but lots of wood in the water meant we were kept on our toes. We exited the river as indicated and found a relatively well defined trail. This continued as far as the farmland at -41.88868, -71.96327. After that the trail was very difficult to follow and very overgrown. We made use of our machete and made very slow progress for a couple of hours. Gradually the trail got better but we only managed to get about half way through this section before calling it a day. We found an excellent camp site next to the big rapid at -41.85605, -71.98205.
Day 04: We put in directly after the main rapid at -41.85389, -71.98136. There were three other rapids to portage:
1: -41.85020, -71.97891, grade 3.
2: -41.83783, -71.97900, grade 3.
3: -41.83532, -71.97799, grade 2.
We portaged #1 on the rocky beach on the left. This was simple, but the large rocks made portage difficult.
Rapid #2 is not visible on our satellite images, and we believe is it newly formed from landslides from the creek on the right of the river. It was easily portaged on the right. We needed to paddle hard to ferry across to the beach above #3 on the left.
Rapid #3 is at the start of the right channel of an island. There is also a smaller rapid at the start of the left channel. You should portage the rapids from the island. We portaged #3 on the left or the right channel. On inspection, both channels around the island would have been ok to paddle, but visibility down the right channel was better, so that’s what we chose.
After these rapids, the rest of the days paddle was very relaxing in comparison. There was quite a bit of wood in the river, but as the river widened be became easier to avoid. We reached the ferry terminal at 18:00 and waited for the 19:00 ferry. It wasn’t until the next morning we realised we were at the wrong location, and the ferry terminal was 5 minutes walk down the road.
Wrong location (toilets): -41.69748, -72.11422
Correct location for ferry: -41.69885, -72.11884
We slept in the unmanned building at -41.69748, -72.11422 which made a great shelter for the night, and had lights, flushing toilets, running water and power outlets.
Day 05: we got on the river at a great spot 500m from the ferry terminal at -41.64383, -72.17079. The river is straightforward apart from the rapid section as mentioned in the waypoints. We almost had a disaster and lost a paddle where one of the streams was blocked with wood. After an hour of searching we eventually found it. I don’t have any recommendations for a safe route through this section. There are several rapids, max grade 2+, but very shallow and rocky. The shallows were rocky and covered in algae, so very slippery.
The waypoint instructions to stay right is a good plan, but would involve lots of hauling your raft over rocks. Some of the rapids might be possible to paddle depending on your boat and water levels. Take care because there’s a lot of wood in this section!
After the rapids, the river widens and is much more relaxing. We exited the river and finished the section at -41.65247, -72.30067. We missed our bus so stayed overnight in an outstanding cabin in Puelo at -41.66261, -72.29580 for 40k CLP (https://maps.app.goo.gl/B8nh4TJS3Tw5aXFq9 WhatsApp: https://wa.me/56996127975).
* <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-11-30 to 2025-12-02 / 2,5 days / Packrafting / SOBO / OP (02A) / 02D / RH / 22S / Daniel.s'''</span>
In short: from Cochamó by public transport to near Lago Azul, then Lago Las Rocas, Lago Inferior, Lago Puelo
Day 1:
Bus from Cochamó to Lago Tagua Tagua leaves every day between 10 and 10:30 (coming from Pto. Montt). From there you hop directly onto the ferry and from the ferry you can take the next bus towards Segundo Coral (hop off anywhere you want, just let the driver know). I got off at "acceso Lago Azul" by Lago Totoral X {22-01} [25.0/187] and started hiking. The land owner charges (in my opinion illegally) 6k clp for access to the lake. Once up at the lake it depends on the wind if it's safe to paddle. I had low winds, was on the other side in ~2hrs. Camped at the beach S 41° 58.959', W 071° 50.706'.
Day 2:
Hiked the short section to Lago Las Rocas, strong tailwind already in the morning. Reached Carabineros at noon (they're open till 8pm), no Salvoconducto needed. They email PDI and get a reply before he finishes filling out the paperwork. Camping between borders is an option (around 2kms after Chilean border post) needs to be communicated with Carabineros. Paddling Lagos Inferior and Puelo is also allowed. I opted to hike until Lake {22S} [26.8/213], because of too strong winds on Lago Inferior. Lago Puelo is a little sheltered in the beginning, no problem paddling until Argentinian border post (open 8am till 8pm). Immigration no problem, camped there.
Day 3:
Wind picked up over night and waves were massive, so paddling was not an option. Hiked the 7 kms to the National Park entrance S 42° 05.344', W 071° 37.075' on RH (no issues there, it's a popular trail), bus leaves from there to Lago Puelo village and El Bolson every full hour until midnight (yes, I double checked, midnight) The bus driver was happy to change CLP or USD (small amount) do i vould psy the fare. You get everything you need in Lago Puelo village.
==Season 2024/25==
* '''2025-03-05 to 2025-03-15 / 11 days (2 days rest) / Hiking+horse+boats / RR 22N+Valle Verde+22S / Dorota''' This stage was exceptional due to the people I have met on my road. Day 1:I took Uber from Ralun to the entrance to Valle Cochamo (20.000 clp, +56 9 9866 2101 Miguel). I was there at 8:58, so I still had 2 minutes to enter. I said that I would like to go to Arco. I have registered and got a lot of information about the route. On the road to La Junta I met Ariero, Javier. He was returning to his house in Valle Verde. He took part of my luggage. The trail was muddy. There were some tourists but not too many. Two boys were looking for a girl who had lost last night on the trail near Junta. Rio La Junta (98.9) till knee for women of 1.64 cm and Rio Traidor (97.4) also. I spent the night at Milico (Ariero said to me about this place) before the Arco (-41.42665,-72.05549). Water from Rio Cochamo. Day 2:It started to rain in the night. The trail was very moody. It was a really hard day. As I know, Javier and I were the only persons who made this day stage from el Arco to Laguna Vidal. We started at 7. Rio El Arco had a water level to my knee. But at 12 a.m I had a big problem crossing the river [80.9]. There was no bridge. I tried two times, but I resigned. In the middle, the current was too strong and the water was to my waist. I waited one hour, rested a little, and crossed the river. But it was really demanding. The night ended at the end of Laguna Dial, in Casa de Dona Luisa. The night, dinner, and breakfast cost 31,000 clp. I met a group of Argentinos who had waited for better weather. Day3:I had an invitación to the house of Javier at Valle Verde at Morros. It is 5 km from the trail. It was the next day with rain, so I was happy that I had a roof. Javier is a local guide. He can organize horse trips and pesca, and also has hospedaje. @cabalgatasypescavalleverde, +56 9 4945 9601. Day4: rest en Valle Verde. Day5:I came back to trail on horse with Javier. It was amazing because it was my first time on horseback. I survived 17 km on horseback, also crossing a river. After that, I walked to Steffen. I spent the night at 53.5km. Here is a "fugon" house with a place for a fire. Here, I met arrieros de Lago Vidal. They invited me for asado and wine. In the night, it was raining. Day6:I crossed Rio Steffen (till knee) without a problem. In the morning it was raining, after that it was sunny. In mini shop 43.0 you can buy a lot of things. I asked for a boat to cross Rio Puelo. Women said to me that I needed to go to cabanas de señora Oco and from there call for a boat. In Manso I took a really good bear. At cabana de senora Oco (Fabian,+56 9 6102 0535 ), a man called for a boat. I went to playa and after one hour came somebody. He took me to the other side for 20.000 clp at point -41.74885,-72.065492. About 1.7 km from the house of Ricardo Garardo (28.9). I put up a tent at -41.76425,-72.05840, close to the house of Ricardo. Day7:In the morning, I returned to Ricardo’s house because his three perros followed me. He invited me for breakfast. Finally, I spent the night at his house. In the evening, we collected cows and sheep on his motocross, giving apples to the pigs, and made bread. And also, he showed me how to use the cable car for crossing the river. It was a really interesting day. Day8:Ricardo +56 9 6473 8749 took me on his boat to cross Rio Traidor for 30,000 clp. But I have not paid for hospedaje y food. In my opinion, if you take a boat from Playa de Dona Oco, you should like to cross Rio Puelo y Rio Traidor. I continued RR from 24 km. It is a good place for camping at -41.85365, -71.98192. And from this point, you have some bushwalking and till puesto 7.7 km trail is not clear. Wife of Christian invited me for the night. I helped her with carrying different things. We spent a very nice evening together. Her husband was in Puerto Montt. Day9: She also said to me that in Puerto Urutia from 9 to 12 and from 15-17 is Dario with a boat for crossing the river 1000 clp. Hostel Puelo Libre is only with a reservation. I took the road to avoid discussion at puesto 7.2. On the trail I met Roberto (he lives at lago rocas at -42.01945, -71.86015). You can ask him to put up a tent. He crossed with me a landslide. After Laguna Mosquitos the trail is complicated because of fallen trees. Finally I spent the night in the middle of BB but there was no water. (-4×.05604,-71.83066) Day10:Day without problems. Crossing borders easy. Control point AR is at 34 km not 30. I spent night at camping agreste. Day11:I took variant 22-03 to Lago Puelo at 1.7 km before Rio Azul. Men said to me that he had water level till his hips. At Lago Puelo I have found a fantastic place for stay. Hostel La Estación 15.000 ars for a night. There are a lot of shops. The most economical supermercado is Todo, the most expensive is Anónima. You can withdraw money, a maximum of 60.000 ars with a commission of 14.000 ars. '''2025-02-01 to 2025-02-05 / 5 days / Hiking / SOBO (partly) / option 8 / Steve Behaeghel & Katrijn + kids Lotta (9ys), Bosse (6ys), Pelle (3ys)''' When we hiked/packrafted the GPT21-GPT22 back in 2013 we had some very nice stays with settlers in the valle ventisquero, so we decided to come back with our kids this season. We did a 4 day trek starting at rancho Velazquez-Alegria (-42.02312, -71.93288) after an extensive almuerzo with the campesinos which we had not seen since 2013.There is a bridge over the Rio Correntoso (-42.02938, -71.94279) where you can leave a car, so no need to do difficult ford near the mouth of the ice stream into the ventisquero river. The first 5km it's all ripio walking where it changes in a trail just next to a ranch. There is nice camping on the river banks at (-42.01151, -72.02404).There are safe cable crossings for Río Alicia (-42.02393, -72.05756) and Rio Unniverso (-42.03852, -72.12473).There are several settlers in the valley which offer camping (see picture on FB page, rincon bonita is glamping with fly-in guests, so skip that one). Our objective of the hike was Bernaditta Alegria which offers camping at 6000CLP/person with hot showers included. Bernaditta also offers half board (delicious food) sleeping in a bed for 45000CLP/pers/night. She has starlink internet nowadays, which is free to use when she puts on the solar battery 2-3 times a day for like half an hour. She still remembers well when we stayed at her ranch back in 2013, because on the night when we camped there, a puma came out of the mountain which killed a sheep somewhere 50m from our tent. It's a lovely place to go with kids.There are a lot of wasps because of the fruit trees, so in autumn they might become very aggresive. <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-01-25 to 2025-01-27 / 3 days / Packrafting / SOBO (partly) / RP / Thijmen Scholten'''</span> * Primer Coral has a very nice campspot. Chance there will be kayakers around doing the upper section of Rio Puelo with class 5 rapids you can watch them paddle it, it's insane. * I heard there is a cabin you can stay up on Río Ventisquero would be a nice option and you can leave part of your gear/food at the camping. And do an overnight trip. Rio Ventusquero supposed to be very nice. * I was lucky to go with another group of Kayakers into the Rio Puelo and into the rapids at the Canyon. I had no whitewater experience but the camping owner convinced me it was doable and safe even if I fall. It was nice to paddle the Canyon and the waves felt huge. I had a decked packraft that still filled with water, which was nice and made it more stable. * So if you are here and get the chance on going with a group of Kayakers into the Canyon and rapids , it will be a nice experience * First I would continue after the rapids and the pickup would take my backpack. But I decided to go back with the pickup to Primer Coral and continue next day towards Argentinia. * First part of the trail from primer coral to Lago de Las Rocas is closed the settler there told me. You can join the trail from road V723. But I went from Lago Azul. - The trail (blue line) towards Lago Azul already started earlier. * From the road at you left side there is already a sign with trail towards Lago Azul. * Lago de Las Rocas went fast with wind in the back. * I had to stay at the border crossing because they only had electricity at 7 p.m. to register me. Next morning from 8.00 I could pick up my passport. I did not fill in am online form beforehand and that was no problem. * I went to the Argentinian border crossing that is indicated at the map. But because I was with a boat they did not let me. I had to get my passport stamped at the maritime office at the end of the lake at the beach of lago Puelo. So if you decide to skip lago Puelo/El Bolson than you better not show that you are by boat and pretend you are walking. *'''25Jan2024 - 28jan2024 / hiking NOBO / RR (El Manso to Cochamo) / 3 days / Clara''' From Cochamo to get to El manso, there is the bus - ferry (lake tagua tagua) - bus. First bus pass at Cochamo every day around 10am. It comes from Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas before. First bus is 3k. Boat 1.3k. 2nd bus 500. At El manso there are 2 little negocios. In front of the first one there is a cervecería with a nice terrasse, artisanal beer and wifi. Sadly it was closed on this super hot begining of afternoon ! There is an inconstant but working phone coverage there (entel). Lago Vidal Gomez. Possible to ask at the camping to cross the lake by boat, Francisco do the traverse during summer. 35k that can be devided until 4 people. May make you pay less if he has to go to the other side anyway to get other people. The family here also sell good bread, vegetables, beers, sweets,... Because of rainy night, I slept on the north side of the lake at the first house. Marguerita has a sort of barn where you can sleep/pitch a tent and also make fire (for 5k). Dry toilets and water. Then trail was on better conditions than I expected. Camp sites along lago grande are really nice. Refugio El Arco is a really good shelter if bad weather (all in wood, nice roof, closing windows). Between El arco and la junta very muddy trail but nothing impassable even after a rainy night. It just slow down a lot. The valley is really nice. La Junta - Cochamo : overrun +++. There are multiple buses going back to Cochamo from the end of the trail *'''2025-JAN-20 to 2025-JAN-27 / 7 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + OH (Var. 01 / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel)''' Stage 22 is one of the longest sections of the GPT, but from our perspective (also thanks to our route choice), it wasn’t particularly difficult. Due to health issues and plenty of time (we had a scheduled meeting in Bariloche on a specific date), we took the stage quite leisurely. The first part to La Junta is very busy, with a large number of day hikers. That wasn’t really our thing, so we rushed ahead into the wilderness, which starts right after the camps in La Junta. In the Rio Puelo valley, due to health issues, we chose Variant 01 and rejoined the RR at Puerto Urrutia at the start of 22S. The most surprising and interesting stop on the trail for us was meeting señira Alexandra at Lago Verde, where we spent an entire morning on the lake on boats and doing deep water solo climbing. (More details in the BIVOUACING section.) ENTRY INTO VALLE COCHAMÓ The first major challenge is entering Cochamó Valley, but it’s not as complicated as it might seem. The entry checkpoint is at Road End {22N} [109.8/58], and access to the valley is free. However, due to high visitor numbers, there are relatively strict regulations. To be allowed entry, you need to follow these rules: If you want to camp near La Junta, you must have a reservation through www.reservasvallecochamo.org and bring confirmation of your reservation to the checkpoint. Entry is permitted between 7:00 AM and 3:00 PM. If you want to camp at Refugio El Arco, no reservation is needed, but entry is only allowed between 7:00 AM and 9:00 AM. The time restrictions aren’t enforced too strictly, but you shouldn’t arrive much later. According to locals, it’s also theoretically possible to enter very early in the morning before any staff arrive, avoiding the need to follow these rules. However, we personally recommend adhering to the official regulations. There are many visitors (often with little or no experience), and if the beauty of this valley is to be preserved, some regulation and monitoring are necessary. This is also why camping outside of the designated campsites in the valley is prohibited. For GPT hikers, the best option is to enter the valley in the morning, explain your plans, and then hike to El Arco, where there is plenty of space for tents and camping is free. (Although volunteers manage the site and, like at the entry point, record visitor details.) If you follow this approach, there’s no reason you wouldn’t be allowed in, and you will still comply with all the rules. CHALLENGES Ford at Rio Traidor {22N} [95.9/340] was very easy. All other fords on this section were also crossable with dry feet, except for the final fords over Rio Azul at the very end. Bridge {22N} [80.9/645] doesn’t exist, but the river can be crossed on fallen logs. Bridge {22N} [51.8/146] (Rio Steffen) was washed away. There is a cable car alternative, or you can cross using fallen logs. At Settler {22S} [7.2/215], a man yelled at us from a house, saying we shouldn’t walk there. He seemed angry, and we didn’t feel like arguing. Instead, we walked a short stretch along the road and then rejoined the trail by climbing over a valley (near coordinates -41.98297, -71.88292). This involved a short bush-bash and crossing a creek on fallen logs. The trail around Las Rocas is quite overgrown in one section, with many fallen logs. This rough stretch is between km 17.8 {22S} (-42.05306, -71.83367) and km 19.9 {22S} (-42.06622, -71.81971). We believe it may be possible to bypass this section using other trails, as well-maintained paths connect before and after it, but we didn’t try it ourselves and just bush-bashed through. Border control was quick and completely problem-free on both sides. BIVOUACING The first night, we camped at La Frontera Camp at the entrance to Cochamó Valley. It’s a small and very nice eco-camp, where making a reservation is a good idea. Staying here was a special experience for us, as it is run by Pavel, a fellow Czech. At El Arco, there’s a shelter, though it doesn’t have much sleeping space. However, right next to it is a large grassy area with plenty of room for tents. At -41.56978, -71.93585 (km ~64.3 {22N}), there’s a beautiful flat campsite with a refugio. At Bridge {22N} [63.0/337] (Rio El Colorado), there’s a fire pit with benches and a small tent spot. One night, we camped in the backyard of Valle Puelo Brewery. They let us stay for free, but the roosters woke us up early. At -41.96567, -71.90571 (Lago Verde), there is a settlement run by a very kind woman named Alexandra and her brother. They offer cabins for rent, but they also allowed us to camp in our tents for 8,000 CLP per person. The price included free kayak rental for a paddle on the lake. We highly recommend staying here. It is also the only reasonable access point to the lake. Elsewhere, the shoreline is covered with dense vegetation or cliffs. WATER There is plenty of water available. The trail runs along rivers and crosses many smaller streams. RESUPPLY Cochamó has several minimarkets, a hardware store (where you can buy gas cartridge), a pharmacy, post office, and plenty of restaurants and food stalls. At the Road End {22N} [109.8/58] (Valle Cochamó entry checkpoint), there is a food truck open in summer with fast food, and a small store nearby selling snacks and some basic groceries. We bypassed Camp La Junta via Toboganes, so we have no info on current shopping options there. At Lake, Settler, Camp $ {22N} [70.9/602], we bought very good and reasonably priced fresh cheese and beer. They likely have some other basic supplies as well. Shop {22N} [43.0/49] is operational. It’s small but sufficient for basic resupply. Settlement, Shop, Bus {22N} [40.7/36] (El Manso) is a complex of brewery with the best beer we've had in Chile so far. The store is slightly better stocked than the previous one and sells gas cartridges. Llanada Grande has a fairly large and well-stocked supermarket. At the start of 22S, there’s a restaurant with its own brewery (Hostal Puelo Libre). TRANSPORT A bus from Lago Puelo to El Bolsón runs every hour (around the full hour) and costs 1,800 ARS per person. * <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-01-24 to 2025-01-26/ 2days / Packrafting/ SOBO/ Option 02, RP, Option 09, Option 03/ Natalie & Tomáš'''</span> Coming from Cochamo, where we had to organize getting a new neck gasket, we once again set off towards Lago Azul. The bus for the ferry left at 10:30am (around here, -41.49304, -72.30553). It came five minutes after the bus that goes from Puerto Montt to the Cochamo TH. We left Rio Puelo at 12:00 after ten minute break but missed the docked ferry by a minute or two. Only had to wait ~30min for the next one and the busses on the other side were still there. Lots of people, so Entel did not work. The bus did its regular stop at Llande Grande (~10min - they have a very good non industrial salami there) and then we got off where the road to Lago Azul goes around 15:30. We managed to get a hitch quickly, but it was short lived. There is a man watching a gate (7mil for the car owner, nothing for us) and the car was only allowed to go ~1km further (maybe because it wasn't 4-wheel drive, and/ or they only allow certain [local?] people to go all the way, not sure). The road to the lake has recently been "upgraded" and is quite ugly. 02B and 02C are probably roads too, based on satellite and a little foot survey where 02B joins 02A. At the beach there were a stand selling empanadas, a toilet, about 20 people and 4 cars parked. We started paddling around 18:00. First going west for ~600m to check out an alternative trail Tomáš was interested in that is on OSM leading to here: -41.92170, -71.87635. The trail exists, but might be somewhat unused, as there seems to be a new road for cars built above it. Anyway, it looks like a more attractive and shorter approach to Azul, somebody needs to investigate it (we only noticed the trail half way on 02A). The start of the lake outlet (20 m) is magical with its blue-green water, a nice detour. The waves got stronger near the middle of the lake but then eased quickly. Near the end of the lake we had calm water. We camped at a spot we noted last year when hiking: -41.98306, -71.84801. It has a small flowing creek but is near a cottage. Both years of being here we have not seen anyone in it, you can camp in the trees and be mostly hidden. People vacation in tents 200m along the lake shore. Lago Azul is very pretty. The next day was straightforward. Lago Los Rocas was "reflection-like" calm, despite starting around 11:00. We were worried about the boat and the Chilean Carabineros (read Jan's description in the manual) so we put the boat and equipment into the duffel bag and placed it all outside the Carabineros building, entering without our luggage. Everything went well because the men were nice (same ones from last year). However, we were almost busted when they asked us specifically if we were going to Argentina on foot or by boat. At first we said boat, but then they asked who was taking us, and when we struggled to come up with an explanation, they seemed to take our silence as a language misunderstanding and asked us again, so to make things easier, we said we were walking. We then slipped down using Variant U. If you are uncomfortable about this, it might be worth just putting your boat in your bag and walking the 3km to the next beach along RH. Variant S does not exist. Lago Inferior was once again sadly not windy, we started around 16:00 but no horsepower from the wind.Tomáš and I had a small misunderstanding about our end goal at the lake. Tomáš wanted to walk up the river to scout the rapids and possibly run them back and I, being completely unaware of the obvious, agreed. I thought we most likely wouldn't run them and just walk on the other OSM trail. What I didn't know was that the river flowed against us, despite looking at satellite images and saying, "why does it look like the rapids are going in the wrong direction?" and noticing it's called"lake inferior". Like I said, unaware of the obvious. When I realized the river went against us I instantly hated the idea, but we were already past the normal take out point, so in the end we went for it. The first longish set of rapids (class II, -42.10240, -71.73502) is north (river right), so you cannot just connect to the OSM trail next to the river. We crossed to southern shore of the river and had a slow 400m walk and 100m paddle up to a point we could safely ferry back to the northern side, -42.10413, -71.73233. It was slow because of the algae/didymo being very slippery and rocks in the river bed having gaps in between them. You will appreciate how easy entrapment could be here if water was deeper and faster. A pole in one hand will greatly improve your stability and also a leash for the boat (walk the dog). We paddled up to the second short rapid(class II+?, -42.10487, -71.72934). Walking along it's side was more involved as we had to lift the boat over some rocks and it was a bit sketchy trusting our dollar store locking carabiners on our leash. The last rapid (class III, -42.10487, -71.72934) was much easier to walk along, once again on our north/river-right. We filled up on water after the last rapid and paddled towards the lake. Surprisingly there was not much wind and the waves only started to be not small just before the Argentinian border patrol, so it was a bit slower than expected. All in all this option was probably a little slower than just packing your boat and walking to the border control and about as fast as deflating your boat, walking the 2km portage and reinflating your boat. If you are careful, it is not dangerous (slips permitting). When water levels are high, it might be a different story. It took us 75 minutes. If you go down river, NOBO, the first (going from Lago Puelo) rapid had some undercuts, so better walk it down on the right, but the rest can probably be run (after scouting!) or walked. The camping at the border was once again packed, and this time all toilets were locked or non-functional, pretty gross considering the amount of people. There is a stream on the west side. The evening was quiet but fierce wind picked up around 3am, the wind was better in the morning but still not great. The check-in with Argentina (open from 8 till 20) was very easy and we got our passports stamped. I had a bit of "boat fever" and wanted to walk out, plus I wanted to be conservative with the waves at this lake. Tomáš felt it would be totally manageable so he sailed on down to Lago pueblo and I hiked out to La Pasarela. It was an okay hike with a little bit of water along the way. It was up and down basically the whole way and very warm. La Pasarela is extremely popular. There is a restaurant and a smoothie joint and many other food stands. Somehow I didn't get a hitch. There is a bus stop when you hit the main road around here; -42.05087, -71.59679. I went into town and caught the bus out front the hospital here; -42.05924, -71.59776 @ 14:15. It was 1.700mil and paid only in cash. The earlier bus stop would have been fine. Plum season is almost here, red ones are tart but edible, yellow ones need at least 2-4more weeks. Tomáš: waves were sizable (75 cm maximum difference top to bottom?), from the camp I had to ferry to get out of the cove, but then I mostly paddled only to keep the boat in the right position and let the wind push me to the lake end. A huge parking lot by the beach, hitching does not work but the bus does. * <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''2025-01-15 to 2025-01-22 / 7 days / Packrafting/ NOBO (flip flop)/ Option 8 (extended), RP / Natalie & Tomáš'''</span> For hikers: the RR west of Rio Puelo is actually attractive and the part we walked was no bushbashing, do not all shun it :-). Summary Last year we were inspired by Tobi and Fangwen's (T&F) trip into the Ventisquero valley and tried but didn't finish due to time and weather. On the flip side, that meant we were able to return this year with a packraft, which made the return trip much more interesting. It is a stunning valley and a beautiful river to be in a packraft (a must for packrafters, Tomáš thinks). There were virtually no tabanos which was a biggie after the mid-January infestation of 20 and 21! Tomáš did the upper Ventisquero river after the view-hike in Rincon Bonito and I chose to go higher on the mountain of the view-hike as T&F considered, both not in GPT yet. The Ventisquero river was easy, class II at most, we hit our knees on occasion. The Upper Puelo before the hike was very easy with a faster flow, just a bit of wood (nothing that couldn't be avoided), probably class l. We skipped the first rapids of the Gorge (6.2), they are surprisingly powerful and should not be paddled by anyone unskilled or without a team. The hike was actually nice, not that overgrown and pretty easy to follow. Tomáš went back into the river a little earlier and skipped the last 6km of hiking. He had to walk one more rapid and ride two. The rest of the Puelo until the lake was once again easy. Upon approaching Lago Tagua the headwind was strong and paddling was slow. We planned to paddle to the parque Tagua (Option 11) but the waves and wind were very strong so we camped and crossed the lake the next morning, skipping the hike. Lake was easy and fast in the morning but the lower Puelo was slow for the first 5km before the rapids. We skipped the first rapid there and went down river right, putting in a bit earlier than Jan suggests, crossing a few small rapids and hitting our knees once. The rest of the lower Puelo was a bit slow but overall the whole thing was very beautiful. Day zero: the bus We again took the bus at 8:38 near Hostel Apel in Puerto Varas to Cochamo, we were told the bus that goes to the ferry (Laguna Tagua Tagua) was 10min behind the Cochamo-only bus. The ferry bus supposedly leaves here: 41.3160641S, 72.9853782W at 8:15 and then probably goes around town, taking a long time. The plan was to get off the first bus, look for Tomáš's inReach he had lost and then catch the second bus. Unfortunately, while we were looking for the inReach, the Ferry bus passed and we were unable to stop it, it was the only bus of the day. On the bright side, with more time to spare, Tomáš managed to wake up the land owner of Camp {21} [79.3/7], and it turned out they had found the inReach the day before and gave it back to us, yay! Soon after all of this (~10:15) we were able to catch another bus to Cochamo (later we learnt Cochamo buses leave @ 8,9,10,11,12 and 16:00 from Puerto Montt). In Cochamo, we waited until a bit after 12:00 for a bus to Rio Puelo (but no more buses to the ferry). We reached Rio Puelo at about 13:45. Since both of us were underslept due to Tomáš having spent the night vomitting (and having had little luck with hitchhiking on that road last year), we found a very nice two-room cabaña for 50.000 here: -41.66243, -72.29821, WhatsApp +56 9 4243 2328. (Entel internet in town functional.) Day one: the bus and the walk, 4 km The bus from Rio Puelo is said to be at 11:30 but didn't arrive until 12:15. If one is stopping in Puelo for re-supply, there is a small vegan bakery with good sourdough loafs (-41.6599144, -72.2974946; not open Mondays). Also Supermercado El Maiten sold gas canister's for 7mil. By one o'clock and 1.5mil per person shorter, we were at the ferry. There you get out of the bus and catch a new one waiting at the other side (there are two on the other side, be sure to take the correct one). It takes over half an hour and costs 1.3mil (slow but functioning 3G Entel most of the lake ferry, but not at the end, telecom tower at the northern terminal). The ferries are three and at least two of them go 7 times a day each way (December- March), so you are likely to wait less than an hour. The buses on each side of the ferry are coordinated The bus to primer coral costs 1.5mil. It still stops in Llamada Grande (10-15min) and the Entel internet mostly not functioning (receiving e-mails and text messages at most). We got to Primer Corral at 16:00. Our plan was to stash extra food near Ford 37.5 (not fordable, maybe in February or better March). It seems it is regularly used for camping. We read T&F got their food stolen so we made sure to hide/bury our duffel bag of food very well. Unfortunately, after I hid it and carried on to the first ford, Tomáš met a pig. The pig tried to invade his backpack despite Tomáš only standing a meter away. He realized quickly our food stash had no hope against this invader. Since he did not know where I hid it, he started to pursue me, which only came to fruition at the river "Correntos", which has a fitting name. Therefore our first day was extremely short. Tomáš took both our backpacks across the ford (had to cross up river near the top of the islands where it divides into three: -42.01786, -71.93876 ) and made camp (lots of spots near the OSM path). The river was above his knees (173cm), but the length of the crossing, doing it three times and coldness made it somewhat challenging. I went back to make the duffel pig-proof, taking the OSM route that follows the river in my way (-42.00228, -71.93336). It was a lot nicer than the road, recommended. Day two: Ford camp to outside Ricon Bonito, 16 km Since we were both still struggling to get over our stomach bugs, we had a late morning and a very easy day. The simple 16km walk to Ricon Bonito felt a lot harder than it should have. As T&F described this section before, it is partially a MR, with a short detour, turning into a trail midway. From our river camp, the GPT track files follow an old trail used probably mostly by cows, until a settler: -42.02520, -71.94877. At the settler, who was not at home, we had to zig zag through gates and over one fence until reaching the MR: -42.02707, -71.94872 (it makes a detour probably to cross Rio Correntoso over a bridge). The way to Rincon Bonito is signed with little red arrows. Our first water was located here: -42.01995, -71.98929, shortly after the MR ends and trail begins. The last few kilometres of the MR were recently "upgraded", so it is quite ugly, and they may expand it more, but who knows. On the trail, there were two more simple fords. The first ford was a calm creek: -42.01840, -72.04246. There looked to be good camping just before it, would have been a nice place to aim for the first night. The second ford [15.8/164] has a cable car, where the GPT files indicate a bridge. Tomáš went to verify this after we forded and saw other tents camping there as well. Not sure if it was organized or not, probably yes. A little further ahead there is a settler with their own cell tower. Tomáš (who is from Europe) got full bars but my Canadian phone got nothing. There is still water just before the turn off to the viewpoint trail as T&F have noted. We went into Ricon Bonito to see what they would charge us for camping. We were surprised to meet a group of American packrafters who had flown in that day to paddle down to the fjord. There were 5 of them sharing the 200mil cabin, so not terribly expensive, but the plane from Puerto Montt was 600mil. Kind of nice to know we had a group of river guides near. In the end we were not allowed to camp at this glamping site, it is for reservations only. The men that worked there recommend us to camp at the Bernardita Alegría's (referred to as "abuela" in earlier seasons) 2km up the valley but they said it was 25mil a night per person, which sounded far too expensive for camping (maybe it included half board?) so we found a place in the forest not far from Ricon Bonito and once again had an early night. It seems that while the valley is privately owned (by several landowners? - settlers still live up there), there are no right of ways issue, yet... Day three: Stealth Ricon camp to Ventisquero river camp, 20-25 km The trail to the view point is steep but easy (~930m in 4km). The men working at Ricon Bonito had cleared the brush the day before, so Tomáš finally didn't need his machete. There was a little bit of water on the way up ( -42.03631, -72.09700), but probably best to fill at the bottom. You do not have to go all the way up for a view, there is a view point after 450m of elevation gain. At the top we decided to split and go on two different adventures. Tomáš wanted to explore the upper Ventisquero river with the boat and I wanted to explore the upper Ventisquero mountain (aka go to the highpoint above the view point like T&F considered). Luckily we both had successes and you can read Tomáš's description below. As for extending the trail to a highpoint at 1600m I HIGHLY recommend it. By using satellite imagery and intuition, the bushbashing was not bad at all. The bush is that dwarf alpine Lenga that is usually very stiff to walk through, but luckily it was not so dwarf. It was taller than me which made it possible to slither through the understory without much fight. There is roughly 500m of BB, the rest is CC. At the beginning I zig zagged between hidden open spots and then eventually made my way to a ridge-like feature that had many breaks from the bush, and some interesting views. You have to play with this ridge a bit because it is not continuous. Ridge around here -42.05122, -72.09511. Eventually you break free from the bush and enter a dry basin just below the highpoint. It is an easy walk from there and if there is snow you might come across a few small meltwater streams as I did. The views were amazing. If we did not have a plan to start paddling that day I would have explored the ridge. It easily goes to 1700m and then from there it looks you could connect to the main mountain, it will be a fun trip for one lucky person. As for meeting Tomáš, we planned to meet where the track files hit the river. However I was unable to get to that spot as there were blackberries and cliffs, so I ended up taking the main trail to the river in Ricon Bonito: no one said anything. But when you take this trail down you will hit the bottom and eventually walk along two small boardwalks, just after these boardwalks, the main trail goes left, but dont go left, a better way in is to the right after the boardwalks. It is a sneaky path but it is there and leads you to a nice small beach. Luckily I was ahead of Tomáš and warned him of this new point; -42.02492, -72.09604. We had a nice evening paddle of only a few kilometers, filled up on water at the cable car ford and then made camp in a sheltered bay. Unfortunately the day ended with a torn neck gasket: I ripped my neck gasket all the way to the bottom when taking off my drysuit. I was terribly sad and in disbelief. I had been trying hard to treat it well, not pulling it, covering my face with a balaclava when putting it on, covering it with a balaclava from sun, treating it with 303 and so on. Luckily Tomáš had one bar of internet ať the camp site so I managed to find a store in Pucón that could ship a spare neck gasket to Cochamo (do not do that, ship things to Puerto Varras instead). Tomáš's trip up the Ventisquero valley:This goes beyond what is in the GPT files - I was not sure why they end up only in the middle of the valley. when one can clearly see buildings and meadows higher up the valley on satellite.Turns out there is a trail to them indeed. There is one more settler, Fredy Alvarado living here with his family: -42.03933, -72.13376. He is signposted, maybe he would provide lodging and stuff too. Up to him, there is an OSM trail. You can divert from it to a cable car over a river here -42.03852, -72.12473 (signposted by Ricon Bonito). From Fredy, the trail continues, it seems to be used by animals and is still fairly clear. When you enter one clearing, trail can be a bit difficult to find, join it here: -42.04754, -72.16677. Then here -42.04773, -72.17127, the trail fell into the river with trees (obstructing it, this part needs to be walked in packraft through a shallow side channel). It is just 50m and can be easily walked around. The meadows are abandoned puestoes that still seem to be grazed. I put in here: -42.04244, -72.18400. One could probably walk further up in the braided river bed if willing to ford, the valley is really pretty with lots of waterfalls and glacier views and the river would be packraftable for a few kilometres more. River itself is stunning (more scenic and wild than Rio Puelo I think) and easily navigable until Bernardita's place here -42.03202, -72.11899, where II or II+ rapids start (sorry, I am only apporixmate in rating). With a bit of scouting and skill (I am not very skilled though), the rapids are navigable though, as I ran them. The second and third are the biggest, and those are the ones I scouted, the following ones are a bit smaller but could have been scouted too. One can also portage and supposedly there is a path maintained by Ricon Bonito along the river bank (see OSM) so bailing out should be easy. Where there is the OSM path to the side valley, there were some cables so I assume a cable car, but did not see it and cables could be for water too, I did not get a good look. Rapids end around our meeting point with Natalie. I definitely recommend this extension especially for packrafters. Day four: Ventisquero camp to Puelo Gorge exit, 26 km We spent the morning organizing the online neck gasket purchase with one bar of internet and then set off quite late. The Ventisquero river is indeed gorgeous and at this time of year unlikely II+, the rapids are small and easily portaged if need be. Tomáš thinks II+ is for the rapid section he did alone - or possibly for spring months with more water. We scouted a few rapids but overall there were no surprises, and obstacles were easily passed. There was very little wood, and the wood that was there was big and obvious with lots of room to go around. I saw only one rapid with possibly dangerous strainers ( -42.02042, -72.06173 if we postidentified it well). There are two possibly low class II rapids here: -42.01429, -71.99931 and here: -42.01853, -71.99523. The first one is straightforward, the second one has a good line on the left of the main current. I personally agree with Jan's description that the river is shallow, we hit our knees a few times (canoe seat). Tomáš thinks it is "Moderate with occasional ground contact" at most - and this more in the upper part than the part we did with Natalie, that is as long as you pick the correct main line to run rapids, anyway it has a lot more water than Rio Huenuhuenu. There was one more water source for drinking further down the river on river right (-42.01882, -71.98949) and then Rio Correntoso if you trust that. I wish I filled up more because it was the last water until Bridge {22N} [7.4/137]. We got to our food stash near Ford 37.5 in ~3hrs. After lunch we headed towards the gorge entrance/hiking section (Rapids Start 6.2). This part of Rio Puelo seemed easier but flowing faster and with more water, no more shallows. There was more wood than the Ventisquero but once again easily avoided. However, there were a couple of underwater logs we almost hit. Tomáš thinks the river is at most I+, when Jan mentions "up to class III" in the manual, that either applies to November or is wrong, you can avoid all of the small rapids if you want and keep it strictly class I. We were totally surprised when we hit the gorge because we were fighting a headwind and thought we were moving slow. Turns out we were still moving fast (~13km in 1.5hrs) and therefore missed the exit by a hundred metres- you do not want to miss the exit! (the gorge is more than half a kilometre after the exit). We had to walk back up the river and ferry across it to get to the start of the hiking section. It was 17:30 so we just camped there and boiled river water. There is a telecom tower above Puerto Urrutia but we did not test it. Lots of didymo algae. Day five: Gorge to end of hiking section, 12 km The bypass trail turned out to be a nice up and down trail. It is only very little overgrown with some beautiful views of the gorge and powerful rapids within. There was drinking water throughout. We started late and stopped somewhat early. The first ~2km to Settler 7.7 (Christian) was very easy and clear but Bridge 7.4 is not there anymore, there is a new log bridge just up the creek bed (go left after the gate). Two men on stunning horses were there but we didn't talk for long. The overgrown bit technically starts after this settler but it was ~80% easy to see and follow. The meadow sections are the only places easy to loose it and it was only badly overgrown at the first beach after Settler's 7.7 gate (locked). There, the GPX wants you to walk on the river shore, which is probably a lot easier than the overgrown trail, as long as you find the entrance back to the trail again: -41.87870, -71.96787. Later, it would have been very overgrown after the last hill climb before Settler 15.3 but it had been recently cleared. I was very lucky as it seemed to have been cleared that morning or day before. There were fresh cuts, prints and horse poo. I often found the GPX was off by ~20m, which can be annoying in the forest at times. At the third beach (~6km before end), Tomáš and I split. He wanted to paddle the last bit as he believed it could be a good alternative river in, the rapids looked easily portaged. I was less inclined, so I walked and he took most of the weight and we met back at the normal put in. See Tomáš's notes below. Camping at the end of the hike, beach under Settler "Castanos", is very nice. There are lots of camping spots on the beach or grass meadow above and some tables as well. Near his boat, there is a tarp set up, if you want shelter from the rain. You can fill up on water at the top near Castanos or ferry across the river to a creek. Tomáš: Rio Puelo in the section that is portaged looks like at least solid class III (that was also the assessment of the Americans we met earlier - they said the start of the gorge is 500m of big waves without holes, surveying from an airplane on their way to Rincon Bonito) and technically probably can be run by people who know what they are doing (but do your own research), as the Americans presumably did (but they were river guides). Possibly, you could even put in (somewhat precariously from a rock) at the end of the first beach Natalie mentions above, walking the rapids (the gorge is mostly not closed from then on where there are rapids) if you have got the skills (they are still mostly class III). From what we saw, I am unsure only whether rapid at -41.86224, -71.97834 can be walked, as we could not see the rapid properly. Also possible there are more rapids than we saw. Make your own assessment first. Anyway, I put here: -41.85388, -71.98151. This is also a very pretty and comfortable campspot with access to water. There were three more rapids. First one well visible on satellite at -41.85019, -71.97913. It is II or II+, but short and straightforward to run through the center. Could be walked on the left, especially if you have a rope. Then there is a rapid at -41.83779, -71.97925. The main current is probably still III, I did not like it, so I walked it on the right, which was easy (and short, like 10-15 m). The last rapid is here: -41.86224, -71.97834, I would say it is II (or possibly II+) and I ran it. Natalie was faster as I ate, took forever to set up the boat and scouted all the rapids, which I would recommend you do too. Even with the scouting, it took me about an hour to do this section. The last two rapids were not visible on satellite, so Jan's waypoint ending the rapids is correct. According to my GPS, Puelo drops from 80 m to 45 m over this section, which is about 15m more than the manual says. The gorge is beautiful (but you will see it even if you put where recommened by Jan, it is not over there yet). Puelo here has a lot of that nasty didymo algea thing, it is ugly and do wash your boats after leaving. Day six: End of hike to Laguna Tagua Tagua, 28 km Rio Puelo was again pretty calm (and pretty) but then somewhat slow nearing the lake. Fresh (last that we saw) water not coming from humans here: -41.80219, -71.99786. We found a nice lunch spot here with picnic tables and nice views: -41.70008, -72.09018. No water but I recommend camping here if you know the lake is going to be too windy to cross and you don't want to take the ferry. However it looks like it sees day trip visitors. Our plan after lunch was to paddle to the start of the Parque Tagua Tagua hike. However, close to the ferry port the base valve in our middle seat inflation tube ripped (obviously a weak point in our boat as the same spot ripped on the main compartment while on the Rio Ñuble). Luckily it was just the seat. I stupidly put Aquaseal FD on it rather than taping it and doing the permanent fix later, so we had to be very careful for the rest of the day. The Aquaseal was a battle. I had been keeping the valve clean but the first few centimeters of aquaseal in the tube had turned to concrete and we had to make a new hole to get some out, I wish I had two tubes (FD + UV). In the end it didn't matter too much because the waves and wind were so strong at the lake that we decided not to cross the lake to get to the hike. For camping we went into the trees and found a wind sheltered patch of grass: -41.70132, -72.11486. We boiled water from the lake, probably not great considering the ferry port was right there. It is probably 4-5 hours of paddling from end of gorge to the lake. Day seven: Laguna Tagua Tagua to Bridge 79.3, 23 km We got started fairly early and the lake was easy to cross in about 100 minutes, even with some light tailwind. We stopped for internet at the north side. The first 5km of the Puelo before Rapids 68.9 were more like an extension of the lake, very slow (but pretty). It was easy to stay right at the small gorge before Rapids 68.9. We stopped to scout them and although they were not as strong as the rapids in the first gorge, they had many features we did not like. If there was more water it would have been possible to stay to the far right of them, but at this time it looked impossible to do so without hitting rocks on our knees (it is possible to walk the boat through here too). So we walked the boat to the far right as GPX indicates, there is not enough water to float the whole way. At the end of the walk (-41.61433, -72.21046), there is a a rapid you enter downstream if you want to re-enter the river. After that we stayed right the whole way, passing some more minor rapids directly after. We hit our knees badly on the last shallow rapid because at the end we went to the left of a center rock, we should have gone right (that was here: -41.60956, -72.21677). We found a nice water supply here: -41.61519, -72.24686. The rest of the Puelo that day was easy and it got slow, we had to paddle against the waves for the last few kms before Bridge 79.3 (it pays to follow the current, not chasing the shortest route). There was a fun small feature (possibly a hole) here: -41.63345, -72.25323 that we rode to the side channel of the river. At the bridge we got out and caught a hitch easily to Cochamo, and prepared ourselves to deal with the broken gear and online orders (the Post office in Cochamo is delivered to only on Mondays, so order your stuff to Puerto Varras instead - we had to go to retrieve the stuff in transit in Puerto Montt as to not wait in Cochamo for days). In Cochamo there are many hospedajes, the going rate seems to be 17mil per person. We chose Hostal Arcoíris (-41.49402, -72.30973), we got a small private room for 34mil. There is a large grass area in the back with outside showers to make cleaning the packraft easy, only downfall was it is very popular for Chilean campers. Good fruit shop here: -41.49456, -72.29692. * ''' 2025-JAN-18 > 22 / 4,5 jours / Randonnée / SOBO / 22N > 22-01 > 22S / Pierre-Marie ''' Etape : GPT20+GPT21+GPT22| Meteo : soleil| Eau : facile| Neige : non| Intérêt : 3/5| Difficulté : 2/5| Danger : aucun Après quelques achats à Cochamo, je continue ma journée pleine de surprises. Sans que je fasse d'auto-stop, une dame s'arrête et je fais 4km avec elle sur la gravel road qui mène au barrage de la CONAF. Il est alors 15h30 et il n'est plus possible de passer depuis 15h, dernière montée possible seulement avec une preuve de réservation au camping La Junta. Pour passer sans réservation il faut se présenter entre 7h et 9h. Je dors au camping 200m avant le barrage. Le dimanche matin, je me fais dépasser par des dizaines de coureurs. Après La Junta, il n'y a plus personne et le sentier est plus difficile et boueux. Jusqu'au km 45, ce sont des montagnes russe. On a toujours l'impression de monter. Je prend la 22-01 puisque le RR est fait pour le packraft, et surtout parce qu'après l'échec du GPT20 pour demander un bateau, je préfère éviter de recommencer, 3 fois qui plus est.J'ai fait de l'auto-stop 20km sur les 30. J'ai fait quelques courses à Llanada Grande, le supermarché est vraiment bien. Je n'ai pas vu de bateau au km 0 du 22S, preuve que j'ai fais le bon choix. Ensuite sur le RR ça alterne entre route de terre carrossable et chemin ou il faut pousser quelques branches, et enjamber des arbres en travers de la route. Mais le chemin est relativement bon. Attention aux ronces qui sont plutôt répandues ici. Aucun taon. Les 4km avant de croiser la 22-X sont en très mauvais état. Attention à bien passer par les postes frontière Chilien et Argentin, le premier pour sortir administrativement du Chili et le second pour entrer administrativement en Argentine.JAN-23: Repos Lago Puelo * '''23rd of december / 1 day/ hiking/ sobo/ var 12 + boat (rio puelo) + rr (lago inferior) + var 3 / allie''' I started in segundo corral where I stayed in a hospedaje. The dueña helped me with the logistics of the boat transfer +56 9 2050 2809. The border control went smooth on both sides. The trail is well maintained and stunning views. When i got to the village lago puelo i tried to cross the rio azul but the current was too strong and it was very deep. I couldnt pass (im 165cm). I went back to the argentinian border control to ask for a boat. They called for one through the radio but no responses. so i had to take the detour to get to la paserela (var 3) which was an extra 13 km more or less to get to lago puelo alto. I passed some people that managed to pass the rio azul 5 km away from the pasarela. But they were quite tall. * <span style="background-color:aqua;">'''(2024/Dez/19-2024/Dec/23) 5 Days/ Packrafting/ NOBO/ Route K/ Lukas, Basil, Maxi and Tabea)'''</span>
Entry point at Lago Pueblo and took the bridge over Rio Azul, which looked not easy fordable. The path to the border was easy to find and well kept.
Rafting after Lago TagoTago is easy, the rapids need to be skipped. pay attention of water vortex.
* '''(2024/Dez/12-2024/Dec/17) 6 Days/ Hiking/ SOBO/ Route N/ Lukas, Basil and Tabea'''
Entry point at Cochamo. Dont forget to register in advance for the park, they will send you away otherwise. In the park the path is well kept and easy to walk on, aldough although a bit mudymuddy. Up to the camping la junta many tourist are on the way.
From el Manso, after the loop, we took a bus to secundo corral. The bus leaves daily at 2pm on the main road.
* '''From 2024-12-07 to 2024-12-11 // 4 days //Hiking // NOBO // RR + Puerto Urrutia to La Junta // Mo'''
Transfer from Cochamo to Puerto Urrutia and the other side of Rio Puelo with Bus/Ferry/Bus/Bote was easy, then nice walking next to the river, in really short parts completely overgrown, otherwise easy walking until the river crossings where no settler was there but I was lucky to find others to get me over, from El Manso to La Junta you have a minimarket in El Manso and a little further (knocked on the door of the farm house) and a farmer sells eggs (I just asked for eggs) after Lake Viedma. In La Junta there is an expensive minimarket. Other settlers (like in Terrentosa) might also sell food.
* '''From 2024-12-04 to 2024-12-10 // 6.5 days //Hiking // NOBO // RR + Pasarela option, Option 2 (Lago de las Rocas east side) + Gravelroad between Llanada Grande and Rio Manso // DainaMiaimZelt'''
In general: no dofficult river crossings, the biggest challenge was the mud between Rio Manso and La Junta. Navigation was mostly without difficulties.
=Transport to and from Route=
* December 2025
Bus company Rio Puelo leaves every day at 8:00 from the Bus Terminal in Puerto Montt (booth #47) to Cochamo and onwards. We were there at 7:40 and by 7:42 the bus was already almost completely full on a Monday morning. So it might be a good idea to arrive early. Their buses leave from "gates" (andenes) 38-40. It seems there are one or two other companies that also have salidas at 12:00 and 15:00 though I'm not sure they always exist, the day before (Sunday) the 15:00 bus was cancelled. Better double check. The booths of the other companies that have buses are next to the booth of Rio Puelo.
* February 2023 / Gerald
