Cambios

I joined forces with a hiker I met in Parque Patagonia who was hesitant to do it on his own. It made for a great fit as he was a native Spanish speaker. Really which led to amazing interactions with locals on the way that I would not have been able to manage on my own. We hitched on the front and back end avoiding a lot of the road walking, which allowed us to take a zero on Lago Alegre. Overall, the trail was in much better shape than I expected. Quite clear, and well-trodden in most places (with the usual cow trails to contend with at times) and the pass has a lot of cairns. No trouble with water or crossings. Keep an eye out for mushrooms. The best online resource I found for identification was CIEFAP (at your own risk of course). A really special section.

Day 1: [RR] We started out of Cochrane ~9:30, walking across the river before trying to thumb it. Got a ride to the X-901 turnoff, and continued to walk. After a half hour we Two hitches got another ride us all the way to Glaciar Calluqueo - massive timesaver. We were on the Ruta by 1pm. We camped at the outlet to a shallow lake at -47.697970, -72.498393. This is next to a shallow still pond, so I imagine this spot can get covered up by mosquitoes at certain times, but they were minimal while we were there. There is a small stream just up the hill with good water.

Day 2: [RR, option B, option D] Up to Paso La Picota. We took option B to Picota. This , which is only possible when the water is low as it was for us late in the season. The spot to descend and cross was well-marked with a cairn that had an old shovel and pick stuck in it. On the way to the Pass/Border [71.5/1304] and down to Rio Bravo there were plenty of cairns to help guide the way. We saw some other SOBO hikers after the Pass/Border who turned out to be a Chilean family led by a swaggering gentleman by the name of Papo. After having the good fortune to cross paths a few times on the trail, we were to learn learned that Papo is in fact the owner of a number of the puestos on the Ruta, born and raised in the area and raising his own family in Villa O’higgins. When not out tending his cattle in the wilderness, he has a tourism business (Bajo Baguales), and he and his lovely wife Lorena run Hospedaje Fabiana in Villa O’higgins (recommended). Real salt of the earth Patagones. If you need some inspiration before the hike, check out the documentary “Gaucho” (search “Gaucho Journeyman Pictures” on youtube), featuring a younger Papo. He also has a boat on Lago Alegre. We didn’t ask, but if anyone is looking for a guide, or possibly a boat ride, or to fish with a local, or to arrange a true cordero a palo, I’m sure Papo is the man for it. Just search for Bajo Baguales in google maps. It will point you to a restaurant north of town by that name that currently has his number. Or you could inquire at Hospedaje Fabiana.

Day 3: [RR] We lunched at Puesto El Burro [92.3/660] (unoccupied), and camped in the woods near Puesto Las Tablas [98.4/553] (unoccupied), where Papo’s crew caught up with us again late that night and beat us to the trail the following morning. A NOBO hiker that we didn’t have the chance to meet (Laura?) arrived late in the evening at the puesto. Papo was amazed that he ran into two separate sets of hikers on his trip.

Day 4: [RR] We caught up to Papo where the terrain flattens out between Rio Bravo and the outlet for Lago Alegre. Papo guided us through the shortcut that avoids going down towards Puesto El Depleye [107.4/479], and puts you at Camp [185.7/487] (another of Papo’s puestos but more open shed style). The shortcut starts somewhere around -47.985545, -72.558281. You’ll see an intersection where the RR goes downhill and the shortcut goes to the left keeping to the current elevation. It goes through mature forest and then to the outlet of Lago Alegre. Just keep the current elevation and head towards the Camp. Lunched with Papo and crew who were finishing up their hike and boating out the next day.

Day 6: [RR] Pretty clear trail going south. We swung by No one home at Settler [118.9/486] (Margarita Bustos). There was Apparently no one home. We heard later from Don Rubio that Margarita Bustos no longer lives there and that now but the property is managed by her son now. We picked some wild yarrow (milenrama) from the pasture for tea later and then moved on. All along the lakes, we also were finding a lot of changle (fungi). At the southern end of Lago Alegre just north of Refuge [126.1/512] we ran into a small group of fly fisherman camped. We chatted and it turned out that they would be leaving After chatting, we thought we had a good chance of hitch with them from Rio Perez the next afternoon, giving us the possibility of a hitch the next afternoon.

We made Made it to Don Ruben’s about ~6pm, Settler [132.8/525] (Ruben Pradano). A really lovely farm on the water, full of all kinds of animals. Don Ruben rode up after a few minutes of us getting there with some very enthusiastic dogs, all of whom and greeted us warmly. After a short chat, Don Ruben he offered us his spare room for the night as well as food. We ate beef and tortas fritas, and thanks to my travel companion we were able to talk for quite a while. Don Ruben lives on the ranch full time including through the winter and rarely goes into town. He seemed quite content to have some company. Among other things he told us that there had been some 40 hikers that passed through this past season.

Day 7: [RR] After some eggs and tortas with We asked Don Ruben we asked what we could help him with at on the farm. We , and spent about an hour with him chopping some sections of logs into firewood and stacking it. After, we had a bit of mate and went on our way. Made it to X [142.0/550] by ~2pm. There is a picnic table above the road that we made the mistake of stopping at for a snack. As we munched on our foodate in the rain, we watched two cars pass by that turned out to be our only possibilities for a hitch for the rest of the day. Pro tip: snack on the road where you at least have a chance of thumbing a passing car.

We spent the The rest of the day roadwalking we roadwalked in worsening weather. Refuge [148.6/464] at the turnoff for Entrada Mayer is quite clean, and we would have been make for fine camping there, but we went on. Our fisherman friends were not at the bridge over Rio Perez, so we resigned ourselves to the long roadwalk to Villa. We made Made it to Refuge [156.8/418] just past the bridge. Not nice at all: broken chimney, everything absolutely covered in clay dust, benches too short to sleep on, rodent sign. Amazingly, just before we were about to set up camp in the muck outside the refuge, my hiking companion waved down a single truck passing in the night. We got to Villa O’higgins quite late that night but still managed to get a cabana with a wood stove after inquiring at Mercado San Gabriel.