Cambios

We followed the HA to Ruta Provincial 11, but it might be advisable to cut to the NW corner of the lake from here: -39.11217, -71.30914 to avoid roadwalking and a detour. There seems to be a path on satellite in the suitable direction and the landscape is reasonably open. Arroyo Nompehuen must be forded anyway (knee deep on main road).

We put our packraft in here -39.12056, -71.31909. It is a campsite where noone was in attendance, otherwise day-access is about 4 thousand pesos per person, so you might want to reach the lake farther. There are showers and toilets and a trashbin at this camp though. It was a bit windy (from West) and rain was coming, so despite the small size of the lake and low fetch, whitecap waves developed. Their direction was suitable for us and we crossed the lake along the southern shore to find a very wind sheltered camp next to a creek behind a bush here: -39.12056, -71.31909.

Day 4 - Lago Ñorquinco - to Arroyo Calfiquiera - 19 km.

The next day we paddled to -39.14420, -71.29466 and joined HA from there. According to OSM, the lake can be hiked around from both directions. West side seems preferable. HA starts to be marked here. It is actually mostly a very old eroded road made with a digger probably decades back. It has overwhelmingly the characteristics of a trail. Cascada Coloco is very pretty. Once you reach the pass, where there is a puesto and cows, the trail turns into a road that is very rarely used, it seemed. Vivac Pampa de Castro would probably give you shelter in rain and is open enough for hanta virus not to be a worry.

We reached Arroyo Calfiquiera which we planned to paddle here: -39.22814, -71.27044 (before that it is a wild stream). The creek is overgrown just after that, luckily there were two locals living there who were fishing and helped us carry our fully loaded packraft to -39.22933, -71.26945. After that there was one more narrow and almost overgrown section (-39.23189, -71.26735), so you might want to put in just after that (follow the 4x4 tracks visible on satellite). From then on, apart from two low lying bridges, no portages were needed (we shortly walked our boat once or twice through some narrow braided passages). We camped at -39.23857, -71.25184 just before a class 1 rapid (that turned out to be the biggest on the river). Tomáš left his scissors from his Victorinox card there, you might find them at the edge of grass.

Day 5 - Arroyo Calfiquiera to Vivac Malalco Chico - 18 km.

In the morning, the rapid turned out to be dangerous only for one's knees. The bridges are here: -39.24453, -71.24944 and -39.24874, -71.21634. There is a creek with fresh water flowing in at -39.24601 -71. 21842. With all the packing and unpacking, it is for sure quicker to walk on HA (which leaves the road for a trail in the valley for at least a part of its length). However, packrafting is recommended as part of the arroyo flows through an Aracauria forest and all along you get nice views of surrounding mountains. It is also good practice for beginners, we thought, being beginners ourselves. Down at the lake, we ferried across an American who said she would climb a mountain north of the lake nearby using a trail disclosed by a local.

We did not packraft across the lake and instead got out at the picnic area at the west end of the lake (small stream for drinking but walk up a bit bcs there is an outhouse near the stream). After lunch made a shortcut to the ridge.

Natalie devised an idea where you would CC from here: -39.25687, -71.23304 onto the ridge, traverse Cerro Rucachoroi and join HA here: -39.31090, -71.20943. It all looked like well passable CC, but we never got a good view of the peak itself and are unsure if it can be sidehilled or crossed. Some of the sub-peaks obstructing the view were rather vertical, but ridges that we saw were passable. Up for an exploration.

Day 6 - Vivac Malalco Chico to Lago Quillèn - 21 km.

Day 7 - Lago Quillèn to Somewhere in bamboo - 13 km.

At the beginning, while we were not yet on a steep slope, we were moving at a healthy speed of maybe 400m an hour. We found a creek here: -39.43977, -71.41793 that allowed us to walk without obstruction for about 15m. It was turning into a canyon, which we did not like, so we continued to the east of it. Little did we know how foolish that was! In the beginning, as it got steeper, we would sometimes find an area full of flat dead woody bambo that would allow us to jump about twenty metres before fighting the green bamboo again. As we progressed (at a speed of maybe 250m per hour), we noticed we were on a side of a steep canyon made by erosion from water running down the slope. Details of the satellite map revealed that we were two such ravines removed from the main creek. We crossed one over a log, that was maybe 10 m long and was maybe 6 m high above the lowest point of the canyon. It was getting dark so we cleared a somewhat even spot for a camp (sorry forest). After six hours and some zigzagging caused by the canyons, we were about 1 km from where we started. Survey without a backpack suggested we might be able to rejoin the main canyon the next day which was about 100 m far (and thirty metres below).

Day 8 - Somewhere in bamboo to dried creekbed - 1 km.

New survey in the morning made us go backdown as the main canyon's wall seemed like a landslide and almost vertical. We started to follow down a ravine between us and the main creek, hoping it would join it. After three hours, 400 m of distance and two failed surveys in the direction of the main canyon, we finally managed to make a crossing. A rule for heavy duty bushbashing seems to be: always follow the water (Nat doesn’t agree because she says that’s how many accidents happen on the Pacific Northwest. But in this forest the water is a better option). The water way is not exactly quicker, but psychologically being able to see more than 5 metres in advance and not having to constantly fight branches from one's face is a tremendous benefit. It also helps with orientation and hopefully provides a possible passage. We of course set a turn-back time by which we would turn back if we did not reach the pass. However, I (Tomáš) am not the most responsible at times and convinced us both that we forgo the turn around time because we still had food for three more somewhat fasting days. So onwards we went.

We started to go up the creek at a speed of about 200 metres an hour, so after about 5-6 hours, we managed to get under the place where we slept... We agreed that we could have probably gone down there, saving us 5 hours of a detour, the canyon walls being steep, but in some places having enough bamboo to provide good (but never truly certain) holds. At about -39.44779, -71.41624, there was a confluence of two canyons, and we decided to go through a rather open, steep and slope to the right . After about 100m, we traversed back left to the main creek. It was now six in the evening. Still hoping to reach the pass (hey, just 500m of distance!) and facing somewhat overgrown waterfall in the main ravine roughly -39.45067, -71.41624. We again opted to go right but this time it was more of a scramble due to steepness. Above this scramble we reached a beech-bush combined with bamboo understory, slowing us down to maybe 50 m an hour (Bamboo intertwined with concrete like twister sticks is the worst combination). After an hour or so, we found a ravine that we partially followed and traversed back to the main creek. It still had some waterfalls that turned out to be scalable and after 100 m (our speed returning to a solid 250 m per hour), it turned dry. It now being 9 PM, we built a camp inside of the creekbed. Looking back, especially the second diversion was a mistake and we should have stayed in the canyon (the waterfall was probably scalable with passing backpacks and such). The variety of plant and insect species that live in and around the creekbed was amazing. Luckily very little tabanos or other obnoxious insects, which was true for all these 5 km.

Day 9 - Dried creekbed to somewhere in bamboo II - 3 km.

Day 10 - Somewhere in bamboo II to Paso Mamuil Mamal - 17 km.

In the morning, we took three hours mostly following the creek or bashing bamboo alongside it to reach the shore (yay!), where Tomáš somehow left his beloved trusty headphones: -39.48276, -71.42544. Should you find them, give them a decent burial. We inflated our packraft and paddled across Lago Tromen (which offers tremendous views) in about 2,5 hours to outlet of Rio Malleo, meeting people again after several days. Rio Malleo has probably too much of a drop to be packrafted safely but looks tempting to Tomáš. After a long lunch, eating the last meal we had, we crossed the river and walked along the OSM trail to the National Park office near the border. Nobody paid attention to us there, so we walked to the Argentinian border control, from which we got a hitch all the way to Pucon, seeing Clara hitchhiking around the end of the Villarica Traverse. Pucon did not have Tomáš's favourite icecream like last year and in general did not feel as good as previous years (cherries were perfect though). We were very glad and maybe somehow euphoric we made it .