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==Season 2025/26==
* '''GPT07 | 2025-12-27 to 2026-01-01 I 5 days | hiking | SOBO I Route: option 10 - 1D - 1B - 1E - 1H - 1 - D - RR - Variant F - RR - Variant L | Michaela '''
• I hitchhiked to Laguna del Maule.
• At the border post, the officers were unsure whether I needed to register or not. Three people discussed it and finally decided that registration was not necessary.
• The selected route options at the beginning were very beautiful, both the view at Laguna del Maule and later the valley.
• There are many plum trees around Carrizales with very tasty, ripe plums.
• I did not meet anyone at the police post in Carrizales.
• At the shop in Carrizales, I bought cola and chocolate. There is also well-functioning Wi-Fi there.
• I really liked the hot springs near Carrizales. The water is very pleasant and warm, with only a few algae. I repeatedly switched between the warm hot spring and the cold river next to it.
• I bought cheese and bread from Irma.
• All river crossings were easy. The water level was at most knee-deep.
• I arrived in Puente Inglés on January 1st (public holiday). A police officer who was delivering hay for the police horses gave me a lift to San Fabián, where I am spending two rest days at Cabañas Nativa.
1. Camp: -36.076696, -70.741539 ,
2. Camp: -36.139711, -70.898629 ,
3. Camp: -36.372434, -70.908755 ,
4. Camp: -36.455999, -71.046771 (my best spot at this section) ,
5. Camp: -36.567818, -71.210619 (water 200m away) ,
Attraction: 3/5, Difficulty 2/5
'''2025-12-17 / 9 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR, RH, OH, Option 4,6,7,8 / Anh'''
It was a beautiful section with lots of water. The weather was very good, even very warm. The heat is not as annoying as horseflies. To my surprise, there were no more snowfields, not even at 2300 Highmeters. The rivers had little water, so crossing them (Ford) was no problem. The options are rarely used, so the paths are very difficult to find. Sometimes I couldn't find the path and had to invent BB or detours. So the options are sometimes more dangerous than RR.
'''2025-12-17 to 2025-12-21 / 4.5 Days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 10 + Option 1D,
1B, 1E, 1H + Option 1 + RR + Variant L / Martin Ankel '''
Day 01
Started with hitchhiking from Los Alamos towards Laguna de Maul. A pick-up truck with water company workers drove me most of the way, I walked the last 6
kilometers on the main road, i.e., Option 10.
Passed the border control and hiked Option 1D + Option 1B + Option 1E + Option 1H + Option 1 to connect to the regular route. A good route, many views.
I recommend it.
They were in the process of moving cattle up the valley so I had many encounters where I had to step aside to let the animals pass.
I camped here [36.057258, 70.820546]. Good flat piece of grass, easy to pitch the tent. No immediate nearby water, but many opportunities to fill up before the campsite.
Day 02
Continued walking to Carrizales, where I registered with the Cabinerros. They were extremely friendly, asked me if I needed anything. Overall they seemed happy to see a hiker.
I bought some bread, cheese and eggs at the resupply location — very limited resupply — before continuing hiking. Took the variant 7 detour to look at the hot spring. Good temperature, but overgrown with algae.
Found a good campsite here [36.272752, 70.925621], dry, flat, grass and nearby water.
New Puesto here [36.170581, 70.904965].
Day 03
Continued walking and passed the other police station. Also very friendly.
Camped at {07} [105.4/1607]. Nice place.
Day 04
In the last valley leading down to Los Sauce they were full swing herding cattle. Unfortunately this bit also includes several choke points where you simply have to sit and wait for all cattle to pass. At one time I had to sit down and wait for 1 hour, yes I timed it, while a thousand cows or so crossed one of the choke points.
I found a flat piece of grass/gravel to pitch my tent in here [36.567565,
71.210629], with water only about 200 meters away (Water {07} [141.9/970]).
Puesto {07} [129.0/1341] is destroyed. Can remove marker.
Bridge {07} [138.7/1041] is destroyed. New bridge built 50 meters upstream, but lies within the settlement barbed wire fence. Easy to fjord the river though.
Day 05
Low clouds cover the slopes of the regular route so decided to take Variant L into Los Sauce. To limited resupply opportunities to continue on GPT 08. Hitchhiked to San Fabian, ate like a starving dog, and booked two nights at Casa Domo San Fabian for 70 000 CLP. Nice accommodation, I recommend it. I will rest one day and embark on GPT 08 on Tuesday by hitchhiking back to Los Sauce.
All fjords are easy and all water are reliable.
'''GPT07/2025-12-13 to 2025-12-18/ 5 days + 1 Zero/ SOBO/RR + Variant B + OH 4/Graham'''
Beautiful and challenging section. Was beaten down by the heat, limited sombra for sure.
Variant B to avoid sketchy Horse Trail along cliff.
Stayed at Victor’s Puesto at Km 95. Very nice.
Got humbled by some cows…then got a terrible stomach bug. Took a rest day.
Took Variant L to avoid final climb, picked up by two friendly guys who drive me to San Fabian about 2km from Puente Inglés.
A lot to learn…need more sunscreen!
'''GPT07/2025-12-5 to 2025-12-10/5 days/SOBO/RR/variant L Denis and Robert'''
We had police control while entering Carrizales. Resupply in Carrizales is fine, it is needed to ask to open.
We took the variant L with the hope that we would catch the first bus at 7:30 or so , but the first bus went at 10 am even there is written 9 at e the bus. 1000 pesos per person
Overall it was very easygoing section, with option to resupply. No conflicts about right of the way. Water almost everywhere, no big river fording. Many puestos and arrieros all around the trail.
Difficulty 2/5
Attractiveness 3/5
*'''2025-08-09: Track file update 2025 and investigation suggestions of Jan Dudeck'''
- The southern terminus of the regular route was updated in 2025 to minimize road walking. The regular route now suggest the trail on the eastern side of the of the valley adds a 600 m climb. Exhausted hikers might take Variant L (previous regular route) which is the gravel road to El Ingles.
- GPT07 Option 3 (Camino Valle Melado) and Option 4 (Termas Las Zorras): At the beginning or the end of the season, the options 3 and 4 offer a lower and shorter route with presumably more feasible river crossing. It's a lot more road walking but certainly faster.
- GPT07 Option 6 (Las Truchas) and Option 7 (Cordillera la Mortandad): Southbound hikers that have enough food left might take these options. Option 7 was updated in 2025.
==Season 2024/25==
*'''2025-02-14 to 2025-02-23 / 9 days / Hiking / SOBO / Option 3 (Atajo Camino Melado), RR / Eric and Jakob'''
Route:
We chose to start with the Option 3 (Atajo Camino Melado) because we wanted to have more options to resupply so we can reduce the weight in our backpacks. We hitchhiked from the shop in Los Alamos to the start of the option, which saved us some kilometres on a pretty big and busy street. The option is not very pretty since it simply is a very long gravel road. Many people stopped and asked us if they could give us a lift. Would probably save around two days when taking a lift instead of walking the whole street. In Carrizales we went back to the main route.
Permissions:
No Permissions needed.
Resupply:
Resupplying on this section is easier than on GPT06. On the Option we had a couple of small shops which allowed us to stretch our food supplies for another couple of days. The shop in Carrisales owned by Dagoberto also sold pasta. We also came across another Irma which is on the optional route (S 35 59.577 W 070 57.394). She owns a shop and was really nice. She allowed us to camp in her garden, cooked dinner as well as breakfast for us and provided us with a bathroom. At the marked point at km 86.4 “Irma” we bought six pieces of bread for 2000 Pesos. She also sold cheese which we didn’t buy. After the second Irma there is no other possibility to resupply. When finishing GPT07 we went to the Shop at Puente el Ingles but it didn’t provide enough food for us to resupply for the next Section. So we asked the owner of the shop (Rigo) if he could drive us to a supermarket in San Fabian which he did for 60 euros. Normally one could also take a bus to San Fabian but since we arrived on a Sunday no buses were travelling to San Fabian.
Attractiveness: 2-3/5
Difficulty: 2/5
* '''GPT07 / 2025-02-27 to 2025-03-03/ 4.5 days / NOBO / RR until Carrizales / Mara & Tobias* '''