Cambios

- Water is easy to find all along the route; it can be slightly yellow but causes no issues when filtered.

- There is no phone signal anywhere on the section.

- No resupply options are available during the trek.

- Foxes are present: do not leave food inside your tent, hang it outside and high up; do not leave your tent pitched and unattended, as foxes may destroy it.

- Tide times for Cabo Froward are essential to plan the two main river crossings; both time and water level matter, as a “low tide” at around 1.25m can behave more like a high tide than a true low at 0m.

- If you skip GPT 49, access from Punta Arenas is by bus from the corner of Chiloe and Capitán Ignacio Carrera Pinto streets, departing at 7:45 and 18:30 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday; fare is 1360 CLP cash each way.

- The return bus runs the same days at 9:15 and 19:45, also 1360 CLP in cash.

- The bus drops you about 500m before Bridge {50} [11.6/13], near Google Maps point “Cabañas Suboficiales Ejército”.

- Distance: 72km out-and-back (36km one way) from Punta Árbol (end of Route 9, official start), or 88km out-and-back (44km one way) from the bus drop-off.

- One refuge at 53°48′05.81′′ S 71°01′35.82′′ W (“Casa del caminente” on Google Maps) with space for around 10 people using all available space, a working stove, table, benches, a saw for firewood, and a broom.

- One small tin shelter at 53°50′40.16′′ S 71°07′12.18′′ W for about 4–5 people tightly packed; only a roof and walls.

- Very good bivouac spot 6.5km before the end, only a few metres from a drinking water source: 53°52′51.96′′ S 71°13′39.20′′ W.

- Terrain changes constantly and is rarely pleasant: slippery gravel/pebble beaches, muddy forest, chaotic forest with fallen trees and hard-to-follow markings, peat bog, rocky coast scrambling, and smoother beaches blocked by driftwood.

- The key feature of this trek is fording two tidal rivers that must be crossed at low tide.

- Río Yumbel (waypoint 31.3/13) is crossed using a jam of dead trees acting as a bridge, so tides are not critical.

- Río San Nicolas (first real ford): two markers (branches and a log) help judge if it is crossable; in the outbound direction, it is better to cross to the left of the log where the water is shallower; this river is the wider one at roughly 50m.

- Río Nodales (second real ford), about 6km after Río San Nicolas.

Day 1:

- Start from the bus drop-off before Bridge {50} [11.6/13].

Day 2:

- About 150m after the hut, cross Río Yumbel using tree trunks; water level is not important thanks to the natural “bridge”, but use the trunks furthest right and follow small blue ribbons back into the forest.

Day 3:

- Start at the beginning of low tide along the beach, negotiating many fallen trees, then a rocky section.

Day 4:

- Same route as on the way in back to the end of Route 9.