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

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

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Season 2025/26

Season 2024/25

Season 2023/24

Season 2022/23

• REGULAR PACKRAFTING ROUTE :

Kilometer 0.0 to 98.7: Same as Regular Hiking Route.

Packrafting Kilometer 98.7 to 131.4: Packrafting the coast of Lago General Carrera from Puerto Avellano to Levicán

Due to the normally strong wind and the resulting high waves packrafting Lago General Carrera is challenging and not inherently safe even if paddling close to the shore and in the predominant wind direction (from Puerto Avellano towards Levicán). This lake is infamous for suddenly starting wind, therefore don’t rely only on your observations but check the wind forecast before inflating the packraft. Only if a sufficiently long window of calm weather is predicted consider packrafting. The steep and rocky coast often inhibits exiting the lake and connecting to the trail. The 8.5 km long segment between [Lake In/Out @33H-104.6] and [Lake In/Out @33H-114.7] is without a suitable connection to the trail.

First 6.6 km till from [Lake In/Out @33H-98.9] to [Lake In/Out @33H-104.6]: Continuously easy lake exit and good trail access

Next 4.3 km till [Emergency Lake Out @33H-109.8]: No safe lake exit and no access to trail

At [Emergency Lake Out @33H-109.8]: Small beach for emergency lake exit but very difficult access to trail

Next 4.2 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-114.7]: No safe lake exit and no access to trail

At [Lake In/Out @33H-114.7]: Easy lake exit and good access to trail

Next 2.0 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-116.7]: No safe lake exit and no access to trail

Next 1.7 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-116.7]: Continuously easy lake exit and good access to trail

Next 10 km till [Lake In/Out @33H-127.7]: At least every 2 km beaches to exit lake but very difficult access to trail

Packrafting from Levicán to Puerto Avellano in south-western direction is not recommended due to the opposite predominant wind direction.

Kilometer 131.4 to 143.8: Walking from Levicán to Rio Ibañez at [River In @33H-143.8]

Packrafting from Levican to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez in northern direction is not recommended due to the opposite predominant wind direction. Therefore packrafter should walk the hiking route from Levicãn to Rio Ibañez at [River In @33H-143.8]. Only when travelling from Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez to Levian packrafting might be considered on an exceptionally calm morning or evening.

Packrafting Kilometer 143.8 to 147.0: Packraft crossing of Rio Ibañez and walk to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez

With a packraft it is normally not necessary to roadwalk 12.6 km via [Bridge @33H-148.7] and [Bridge @33H-149.5] to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañaez but Rio Ibañez can be crossed by packraft. Therefore, packrafters should consider inflating the packraft at [River In @33H-143.8] and take the 3.1 km short cut into town.

OPTIONAL PACKRAFTING ROUTE:

GPT33H Option 9 Laguna Verde

Packrafters that hike the section GPT33H northbound i.e. after crossing Lago General Carrera from Fachinal to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez best terminate this section via Option 9 to use the packraft on the final 21 km to Villa Cerro Castillo. For more information see Combining GPT33H with GPT32.

GPT33H Option 10 Río Murta

This option is attractive for packrafters that use public transportation to cherry-pick easily accessible water routes or that plan to hike Option 4, Option 5 and Option 8 or that want to packraft GPT33H Option 11 along the shore of Lago General Carrera.

Rio Murta is a beautiful turquoise river that meanders through a wide valley and is surrounded by snow-covered peaks. The 44 km long river section from the recommended put-in till the outlet into Lago General Carrera is free of rapids and can be packrafted southbound only. The river descends gradually 70 m (elevation difference) over these 44 km what results in a moderate to fast river speed. The water volume changes substantially between seasons and depending on rain. Especially in late summer and autumn this river can be rather shallow even for a packraft resulting in ground contacts. A bigger hazard for packrafters are the dead trees in the bends where the current often accelerates. Many wide gravel banks facilitate entering and exiting the river. The nearby Carretera Austral can be easily reached in various locations

GPT33H Option 11 Lago General Carrera Oeste

Packrafters that look for a special challenge may consider paddling along the shore of Lago General Carrera. But only patient packrafters without a tight schedule may attempt this route should as the normally strong wind makes packrafting most of the time unsafe. During spring or autumn chances are better to have some days with less wind than during summer.

The proposed route follows the shoreline close to lake exits and in parallel to land routes to continue walking if wind impedes packrafting. Due to the predominant wind direction this route can only be paddled in westbound direction. The crossing from Puerto Tranquilo to Puerto Sanchez requires particular caution and should only be attempted on a very calm morning or evening [ OP-LK-2@33H-11-#002]. It is not advisable to packraft between [Lake In/Out @33H-11-#006] and [Lake In/Out @33H-11-#007] as the steep and particular wind exposed coast impedes exiting the lake in this 12 km long area. The advises to the #Regular Packrafting Route are equally applicable.

• 2022 Nov / GPT33H Option 11 and Parts of Regular Route / Meylin Ubilla and Jan Dudeck

GPT33H/GPT34P: Northern coast of Lago General Carrera from Puerto Sanchez to Levican (packrafting and hiking)

From 2022-Nov-20 to 2022-Nov-24 we (Meylin Ubilla, Jan Dudeck) packrafted and hiked in 5 days from Puerto Sanchez to Levican along the northern coast of Lago General Carrera.

This lake is infamous for the frequent strong gusty wind, therefore packrafting requires a careful monitoring of the weather to depart only onto the lake when a period with calmer conditions is approaching. Luckily, there is reasonable good mobile phone coverage what facilities checking the weather and wind forecast frequently.

Given the wind conditions any packrafting attempt on Lago General Carrera requires to my opinion:

- decked packraft, a longer tandem is strongly preferable (faster, more stable) - a sail (to get quicker to an exit point) - packrafting experience in the region (to anticipate typical weather and wind patterns) - smartphone with entel SIM card or entel rooming - YR weather App, Windy weather App

The predominant wind is eastbound therefore only eastbound packrafting is advisable.

I’m left with the impression that wind gets generally stonger towards the east (towards Levican and Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez) and that calm periods are more frequent and longer towards the west (Puerto Tranquilo, Puerto Sanchez).

Also, calmer conditions are more likely in the early morning just after sunrise but strong wind all night is also common.

During a previous hike in February 2020 we experienced an entire summer day with barely any wind but such days are as frequent as unicorns and no travel plan should be build on exceptional favorable circumstances.

There is a trail along the northern shore but due to the steep coast there are sections of up to 13 km on the lake without a connection from the shoreline to this trail.

Emergency exits are more frequent along the coast but using such an exit means waiting for the wind to calm down what can take days. Therefore it is generally favorable to exit the water only in a location from where the trail can be reached easily.

We packrafted most of the distance from Puerto Sanchez to the Avellano river delta on 3 mornings in about 9 hours on the water but from there we hiked in two days to Levican because we had no similar promising calm weather windows in following early mornings. In hindsight the wind remained manageable in the morning hours till about noon but there was no point in reversing our decision to hike (and we urgently needed some exercise to get used to hike with heavy backpacks again).

Crossing from Puerto Tranquilo to Puerto Sanchez is reasonable feasible by packraft in calm weather (typically either very early in the morning or later in the evening). The crossing is 3 km wide and best started 1 km north of Puerto Tranquilo in a hidden bay with a nice protected spot to pitch a tent (46.6146°S / 72.6838°W · 210 m). If preparing the packraft at the beach of Puerto Tranquilo officials may stop packrafters as there are numerous restrictions and requirements applicable (in example accompanying motor boat with two licensed boat drivers).

Packrafters should depart in north-eastern direction to compensate for a south-eastern wind drift in case wind increases.

A very nice protected camp site is approximately 8 km from the recommended exit point near Puerto Tranquilo.

GPT33H: Bus Levican - Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez

The last 26 km from Levican to Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez are rather dull road walking. Therefore hikers that arrive at the right day and time can take the subsidized bus.

Monday and Friday only: 08:00 Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez -> Levican 09:00 Levican -> Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez 18:00 Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez -> Levican 19:00 Levican -> Puerto Ingeniero Ibanez Price: 1000 CLP

Transport at other times can be arranged for a substantially higher cost (estimated 40‘000 to 60‘000 CLP per vehicle).

Paty: +56 9 9506 3176 Luis: +56 9 8648 4075

Season 2021/22

Season 2020/21

Season 2019/20

Season 2018/19

Season 2017/18

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

Walk out of Villa Cerro Castillo along a dirt road to the put-in for Río Ibañez located at a rocky beach. At the time of our hike, there was construction going on in this area so don’t be surprised if the put-in changes. The river is wide, slow moving, and at lower flows there are many sandbars hidden just below the surface that will beach even packrafts. After about 20.5 km, packrafters must take out to portage around a Class V+ waterfall at a sandy beach surrounded by steep gravel slopes. The portage is a short cross-country route through farmland which ends at a gate. Just past the gate is Highway X-735. The put-in for the second part of the Río Ibañez float is at a sandy beach. This section of the river to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez is also very slow moving. Strong winds may make packrafting impractical.

Town: Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez is a small town with a few food options and a small grocery store. The docks for the ferry to Chile Chico across Lago General Carrera is located on the southeast edge of town.

Season 2016/17

Resupply and Accommodation in nearby Towns

Resupply and Accommodation along the Route

• The Regular Route of GPT33H was developed for hiking and a packraft is neither needed nor recommended even if a packraft may be deployed in northbound and southbound direction.

Most packrafters that travel southbound will probably opt for section GPT33P to float on the lower Rio Ibañez from Villa Cerro Castillo to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez. This packrafting route has a water proportion of 80%. In comparison, on GPT33H the water proportion is in best case 20%. But this water proportion can only be archived on an exceptionally calm day when wind permits packrafting all the way from Puerto Avellano to Levicán along the shore of Lago General Carrera. On most summer days strong wind and resulting high waves will impede packrafting.

But for packrafters that travel northbound GPT33H provides an interesting option. These packrafters might attempt to cross Lago General Carrera from Fachinal to Puerto Avellano either with a motorboat or by packraft, then hike the very attractive centerpiece of GPT33H past the Torres de Avellano and conclude this section by packrafting the final 21 km (Rio Sin Nombre, Laguna Verde and the upper Rio Ibañez) to finish in Villa Cerro Castillo. For more information to this option see the section description of GPT34P and the comment to the section combination GPT33H with GPT32.

• Combining GPT33H with GPT32

If hiking GPT33H with a packraft northbound than the packraft can be inflated at the bridge over Rio Sin Nombre to paddle 2 km downstream on this river, cross the 1 km wide Laguna Verde on its western shore and continue to the upper Rio Ibañez to float down 18 km on the upper Rio Ibañez towards Villa Cerro Castillo. From the last recommended exit on the upper Rio Ibañez it is only a 3 km walk into Villa Cerro Castillo. This route combines GPT33H Option 3 with GPT33H Option 8 and GPT32 Option 6.

Retired Section Article GPT33P - Río Ibañez

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Elevation Profile of Regular Packrafting Route

Elevation Profile of Regular Hiking Route (2019)