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ediciones
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sin resumen de edición
==Season 2025/26==
*''' 2025.15.12 to 2025.17.12 / 2 days / Hiking / SOBO / RR + Opt. 2 / Kris and Stiina'''
We combined sections 10, 11 and 12 via some options. Butalelbún to Lonquimay. 5 days in total. 2 days for the Section 10. 1 day for Section 11 and 2 days for Section 12. Originally we planned to hike all the way to Liucura but due to an ankle injury we had to change our plans and finish this section in Lonquimay via option 2.
(Continued from Section 11)
In the afternoon of day 3 we joined the GPT 12 RR around here -38.13160, -71.08637 and started ascending right away on the steep trail towards Cerro Dedos.
Camp Without Water {11} [32.5+0.7/1706] was actually a really nice spot by an abandoned puesto and I believe the water could be found in the gully to the west. Because when we crossed it higher up there was a small stream flowing in it.
On the first part of the ascent the weather did seem to be improving and we thought we had made the right call to continue the day and to go high up again. However the higher we got the more we realized it was actually a mistake and we should have called it a day and camped already by lunch lower down in the valley, oh well, hindsight 20/20.
The slivers of clear sky had disappeared and it was fully overcast and the very cold wind was blasting us once again. From around 2000m elevation it was again miserable and very cold. Which was a real shame because the surrounding area was just stunningly beautiful, but because of our mistake we couldn’t take time to fully enjoy it.
The Hot Spring {11-02B} [1.2/2113] (Banos de Pelehue) was actually a nice area with smoking ground some sheltered campsites made from stone walls and a one really nice looking pool with an old showel next to it to excavate it deeper.
Would be an epic campsite in good weather!
But for us the cold wind was so intense that we didn’t linger around for too long. And only after the termas the really cold part of the ascent started, we were wearing all of the clothes that we had while walking uphill quickly and we were still cold, the wind was numbingly cold.
And it was a long 4km gradual ascent which would have been a delight in good weather.
We had some views below the cloud level which was roughly at 2400m but it was way too intense cold to enjoy any of them, we just kept moving to not freeze to death.
The last km before the pass -38.14220, -71.02670 got to borderline extreme the wind was so strong it was pushing us around like ragdolls and the cold was unbearable. The only other time we had wind so strong on the trail was in Patagonia on GPT40 Paso Huemul but even then it wasn’t nearly as cold as it was now.
Anyway, getting over the pass and starting the descent was a relief, since the wind was coming from the west most of it stayed on the other side of the pass.
Our goal was to get to Camp {12} [20.4/1625] (Banos Coyucos) but when we already got to the Camp {12} [17.0/1794] we were pretty tired and decided to settle there for the night which was another mistake. Even though the forecast didn’t promise freezing temperatures at night it did drop below 0C and our tent and all surroundings got covered in frost at night, and it was very damp and cold location, we had a rough night.
Day 4 - Finally the sun and the warmth was back, hallelujah! We enjoyed a slow morning partially because it was just nice and warm that we hadn’t experienced what felt like in a while and partially because we were just mentally and physically, really tired.
Luckily it seemed like an easy and straightforward day terrain wise, which it was.
Because of the 3 cold days we had eaten more of our food than we should’ve which meant we would have to ration it to make it last until Liucura what for now was still the goal.
Termas/Baños Coyucos - was a really nice campsite with tables and fireplace and even a dry toilet that unfortunately was locked. The termas needed some work though, the hot water coming from the mountain was mixing with the cold river. The barrier separating the two had seemingly eroded and needed to be restored. There was also some sort of a wooden roof over the shallow pool, so potentially even good in rain.
Almost for the whole day yesterday and still today we saw footprints of two people going in the opposite direction which we could only assume were two other GPT hikers? We figured out that we had probably missed them by a few hours while having lunch on GPT 10 before joining the GPT11 since they probably took the RR there not the 1C.
Also it had been 3 days since we last saw another person but just before lunch we met an ariero going up the valley and a bit later we met 3 Chilean hikers coming from an overnight camp by Laguna Mariñanqui.
All the fords on Rio Pulul were very easy. Tabanos had returned but not with the same force they had before the cold spell was upon the area.
After the lunch Stiina’s ankle had started to show some signs of discomfort, initially we thought it’s just the shoe that needs adjustment but by the time we got to X {12} [44.9/1048] it was clear that the next two days to get to Liucura would be very tough with the ankle pain that she had developed. Additionally to that our food situation wasn’t looking great, if it was only for the food we would have continued but it was also the ankle. So for once probably a smart decision was made to not continue all the way to Liucura and to make an exit on Option 2 to Lonquimay. We would sleep on it and see if there were any improvements the following day.
We forded Rio Rahue -38.34630, -71.15760 which was an easy, shallow ford with a pleasant water temperature.
We camped here: -38.34625, -71.15846 under some tall araucarias.
Day 5 - Stiina’s ankle was still painful so we continued with our Plan B - Option 2 to Lonquimay. An easy walk past quite a few groups of our favorite animal the bloody cow. No scary encounters but we were followed by a few to make sure we leave.
About a km before the raft crossing of Rio BioBio a car of official Chilean Ministry of Agriculture workers were passing and offered us a ride to Lonquimay, perfect, what a luck!
What they did was, they stopped by the last house before the raft -38.40919, -71.24454 and summoned a guy who would operate the raft and take us all across. Not sure how that would work coming from the other direction. And I would say the river did look crossable a bit downstream from the raft. We didn’t really talk to any of the workers or the guy because we were sitting outside in the back of a truck.
We got to Lonquimay for lunch and after that took a bus to Temuco for some rest and recovery time. Next we are off to attempt sections 16-22.
For more stories, photos, videos on the trail and in case you want to ask us anything you can find us on IG: @smallfootprint_bigadventures
*'''2025-08-09: Track file update 2025 and investigation suggestions of Jan Dudeck'''