GPT27H - Lago Palena
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Section Logs, Recent Alerts and Suggestions
- GPT27H Option 3 / Lago Rosselot
Dates: 2021-Dec-08 and 09
Direction: Circuit
Participants: Meylin Elisabeth Ubilla González and Jan Dudeck
This scenic lake is located 8 km east of La Junta and certainly worth a visit in good weather when being in the area with a packraft.
The entire circuit on water is about 45 km long and best paddled in two days. Several beaches permit camping.
A public road provides easy access. At the end of the public road are several camp sites.
The predominant wind is southbound on the southern end of the lake and appears to be northbound on the northern end of the lake.
The full circuit is best paddled in two days.
- Martin Lizondo / 8 to 14-Jan-2020 / Hiking Southbound
Río Claro/Quinto currently impossible to cross. Recommended time: February after some days with no or little rain. Best hike northbound to cross this river at the beginning of the traverse. See also log for further recommendations.
- Martin Lizondo / 8 to 14-Jan-2020 / Hiking Southbound
Summary: lot of snow, demanding river crossings, Río Claro/Quinto impossible to cross. Recommended time: February. Hike northbound.
According to settlers from the Azul valley, the regular route isn’t used by horses and cattle, because of a recent land slide. They recommended me to take the alternative pass to Lago Palena, which is the regular packrafting route.
The packrafting route was very well marked. Hard river fording of Estero Matrera (43º 47' 18,67" S, 71º 47' 4,28" O ) Added difficulty was from the fact that I found a lot of fresh knee level snow!
Down at the lake, there’s a carabineros post, which is the last human presence in the area. From that point starts a pretty overground trail that goes to Punta Lopez. Very steepy and risky. The track isn’t recorded in the GPT files (Jan-2020), so ask in the Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/222224388283455/?ref=share).
From Punta Lopez ( 43º 53' 23,16" S, 71º 52' 53,65" O ) the trail is better maintained and much more visible. The refuges of Conaf are empty with no human presence ( 43º 55' 24,16" S, 71º 49' 10,13" O ) . From that point the river crossing becomes very frequent. Expect to ford many times per hour. The path also gets into the water of Lago Quinto.
The fording of Río Claro Solar / Rio Quinto was imposible at this date, so I had to turn all way back to Palena ( 44º 1' 46,21" S, 71º 50' 15,14" O ).
Now (15-Jan-2020) it snowed at the mountains again, so rivers may be impossible to ford. From that reason I consider February to be the best time to hike this section, better going northbound, in order to ford Río Claro/Quinto as soon as possible.
Summary Table
| GPT27H: Lago Palena | Hiking | Packrafting | |||||
| Group | F: Sector Palena | Total | 101.2 km | 32 h | 91.3 km | 29 h | |
| Region | Chile: Los Lagos (X) & Aysén (XI) | Trails (TL) | 66.5 km | 65.7% | 49.4 km | 54.1% | |
| Start | Palena | Minor Roads (MR) | 31.1 km | 30.7% | 31.1 km | 34.1% | |
| Finish | Lago Verde | Primary Roads (PR) | - | - | - | - | |
| Status | Published & Verified | Cross-Country (CC) | 3.6 km | 3.5% | 3.3 km | 3.7% | |
| Traversable | Feb - Mar (Maybe: Dec, Jan, Apr) | Bush-Bashing (BB) | - | - | 0.2 km | 0.3% | |
| Packraft | Very Useful | Ferry (FY) | - | - | - | - | |
| Connects to | GPT26, GPT27P, GPT28H | Investigation (I) | - | - | - | - | |
| Options | 137 km (3 Options & Variants) | Exploration (EXP) | - | - | - | - | |
| Hiking | Packrafting | Total on Water | 7.2 km | 7.9% | |||
| Attraction | 3 (of 5) | 3 (of 5) | River (RI) | - | - | ||
| Difficulty | 4 (of 5) | 4 (of 5) | Lake (LK) | 7.2 km | 7.9% | ||
| Direction | Both ↓↑ | Both ↓↑ | Fjord (FJ) | - | - | ||
| Comment | - | ||||||
| Character | Valdivian Rain Forest, Farmland, Settlers, Unpeopled Areas, Lake Packrafting | ||||||
| Challenges | Demanding River Fords, Exposure to Elements, Bush Bashing, Demanding Navigation | ||||||
Satellite Image Map
Elevation Profile
Elevation Profile of Regular Hiking Route
Elevation Profile of Regular Packrafting Route
[[File:|frame|center|Elevation Profile of Regular Hiking Route (2019)]]