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ediciones
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→Season 2024/25
==Season 2024/25==
*'''2025 Apr 5 to Apr 14 / 9 hiking days / SOBO / Hiking / Opt 1, 1B, RR, Var A, Var G / Michael and Kasia'''
QUICK NOTES:
Though it's almost impossible to choose a favorite GPT section, this may be ours. It felt as big and wild as some of the northern sections, and the demanding navigation made it really adventurous. We would definitely recommend budgeting more time for this section to really enjoy it, and to make the route-finding less frustrating. (I spent at least three days carrying the GPS in one hand all day because I had to check it so often there was no point in putting it back on the strap.) We also really enjoyed Opt 1 to Lago Negro. As a bonus, if you choose to do Opt 1 and then take the CC/BB Opt 1B to avoid backtracking, the rest of the route will seem easy by comparison!
CAMPS:
Night 01: -48.48213, -72.66873 (Camp Opt 1 [8.69], in the forest, some wind protection, water access is about 50 m away at the lake, or about 100 m further along there was a clear stream running across the trail)
Night 02: -48.52777, -72.72149 (Lake, Camp Opt 1 [16.2] (wind protected, easy water access)
Night 03: -48.53809, -72.67203 (flat, okay wind protection, nice views of lake and mountains, water from stream about 50 m away)
Night 04: -48.59170, -72.65789 (flat, wind protected, no view, water access is about 300 m away)
Night 05: Camp without water 40.3 (decent wind protection, had a kind of half-corral style wind barrier; there actually was water, at (-48.64095, -72.71988) about 70 m north of the campsite, it's just a little tricky to get to)
Night 06: Camp 49.2 Arollo Derrumbe (most of the site is a bit on a slope, but we did find a pretty flat spot next to the large willow tree just a bit up from the fire ring, good water access on the pebble beach, really nice place to see the sunset)
Night 07: Puesto 53.7 La Pampa (there was a flat area inside the corral at the western side, almost directly opposite the cottonwood trees, wind protection was good, water was from a shallow stream up the hill about 100 m, access was a little tricky)
Night 08: Camp 66.6 Vista Fitz Roy (we don't recommend this as a campsite. Water access is not good, there is no wind protection, if it's early in the season or has been raining there will likely be no place to put the tent that isn’t swampy. We found one dry seasonal lake bed a little below the fire ring that worked, but we imagine that it is often swampy or under water; we would recommend to make this a lunch or coffee break spot and camp a little further along the trail, maybe near the river around Camp 63.5 or 63.6)
Night 09: Stayed at Misael’s
WATER: there is a lot of water
Day 01 - Apr 5th
We booked the boat with Ruedas the day before, arranging for them to pick us up in Bahía Pescado on the 14th (their last sailing of the season). In the morning, we dropped off two boxes of resupply since we were planning to do 37, 38, and 39 together. We started hiking a little after 10:00. The gravel road out is kind of annoying. There was a surprising amount of traffic on it. At X 3.6 there were a couple of picnic tables and a trailhead to the Sendero Altavista trail, which is the beginning of Opt 1 (Lago Negro). We had originally planned to just do the western traverse along RR, but when we saw the sign we checked the wiki, and after reading Volker’s trip report we decided to go with Opt 1. The trail was generally in good shape and easy, though there were a number of muddy spots. The views were amazing and we were lucky to have sun and no wind, so it was very pleasant. Ford Opt 1 [11.5] was easy, mid calf and almost no current. On the other side of the river was a private property sign and a wire fence. The gate (also wire) was padlocked shut, so we lifted the bags over it and then climbed between the wires on a side section to the right in order to not damage the gate. We passed by the buildings, it looked like it was abandoned. We continued onto the lake and camped around the Camp 8.69 waypoint. We found a flattish spot in the woods just above the trail. There was a clear stream running across the trail about 100 m on that was a good water source, but the lake is easily accessible as well.
Day 02 - Apr 6th
We continued around Lago Negro. For the first km or so the trail was easy and in fairly good shape. But after that it oscillated between good to non-existant, open to bush bash. It was definitely slow going. Much of the trail is in the forest, and it is Valdivian rainforest. It is very dark inside and feels like a jungle. Then the trail climbed up onto more exposed areas. There were lots and lots of muddy and marshy sections. It was slow going to work around them and keep our feet dry, but we managed. Somewhere around km 11 the trail drops down to the lake. We put on water shoes and just walked along the bank for about 500 m to avoid all the bush bashing. If the lake level is low enough and the weather is good, we recommend it, it goes much faster. The trail then went up again. Just before Water 12.6 we stopped for lunch on a hilltop overlooking the lake. It was a really great view and a nice break spot. The trail went up and down a few more times. We were tempted towards the end to walk in the water again but decided against it. Looking down from above it seemed like the right call. There were a number of dead trees in the lake that would have been hard to maneuver around. We camped at the south end of the lake . There was a fire ring and the site was set back in the trees a bit so there was some wind protection. The beach was really nice on that end of the lake, and we wished we had time to take a zero day here and just enjoy the atmosphere.
Day 03 - Apr 7th
We took Option 1B up to reconnect with RR to avoid backtracking. It was very, very slow going. At first there seemed to be a bit of a trail, but that ended quite quickly. Nearly the entire route up is a CC/BB the whole way, and much of it was quite steep. It took us almost exactly 8 hours including a couple of short rests to make the 1.3 km up. It never felt unsafe, but it was a lot of work. On the bright side, that put all the route finding for the rest of the section in perspective. There were some amazing views at the top. We camped in the forest along the side of the larger lake that starts at around km 26.5 of Opt 1. We found a flat spot about half way between the beginning and the end of the lake that had a fire ring. There was a clear stream a little before it that was a good water source.
Day 04 - Apr 8th
We continued back toward RR. The fall colors and the light at that time of year were amazing. It was full sun and no wind that day. Somewhere around km 28.9 of Opt 1 we decided to CC southeast to skip a lobe of the trail. It worked out for us, however the area is a marsh and earlier in the season or after rain it might not be passable. At km 29.9 of Opt 1 there was an open field that would have been good for camping and a good stream for water. From the clearing we went CC to RR, similar to Var A, but further south. By staying to the right of the river and going uphill we managed fairly easily. The trail up to the pass was very steep and in sections had scree over hard packed earth, so we did a lot of CC on the way up as well. About half way up we stopped to rest for a couple of minutes. There were a couple of condors flying around. Kasia was about 7 meters away from me. One of the condors dipped to fly by her, maybe just 2 or 3 meters away! It was an absolutely enormous bird. At the top of the pass there is a plateau. There were a couple of small lakes and some streams. We stopped by one of the lakes for lunch. With sun and no wind it was very pleasant. The way down the other side was fairly easy to follow. The valley on the other side looked like it was out of a fairytale, and the fall colors really looked amazing. We wandered around for a while just to explore. About 50 m away from Ford 18.4 there was a large tree that had fallen across the river and made a good bridge. Camping on both sides of the river looked nice, there were flat grassy areas. I would have chosen to camp before crossing just because it was easier water access, but there was a fire ring on the far side. Ford 19.8 was dry when we passed. Ford 20.6 was just above the ankle. We had trouble finding camping around Ford 20.6 as much of the area is rocky, and a lot of the forest had shrubs instead of grass. We found a spot fairly far from the river, but it was flat and had good wind protection, which was good because the wind started over night and continued into the morning.
Day 05 - Apr 9th
We got up early to make as much distance as possible. It was windy and cold. Ford 21.6 was easy, it had a fair amount of current, but was below half calf. Camp 24.6 looked nice. It was inside an open forest and was a place that arrieros camp with a windwall and fire ring. At the Ford mark shortly after, the water was very shallow, but wide. I was able to drop a long branch across it to create a makeshift bridge. The first part of the way around the lake was through forest, but the lake level was fairly low, so by about a third of the way around we could walk on the beach the rest of the way. Camp 29.3 looked okay. It was in a clearing set back from the lake a bit. There was still a fair amount of wind coming through on the day we passed, though I imagine the direction of the wind makes a big difference. Ford, X 30.2 was knee deep but with very little current. Ford 31.7 was half calf with a moderate current. We were not really sure where Camp 37.0 was. It was not near water and there didn’t seem to be any flat place to camp. We don't recommend planning this one for camping if you can avoid it. The rest of the way to the pass was a bit challenging. It was incredibly windy on that side. There isn't really a trail for much of it and it goes back and forth across the river several times. About 100 m before Ford 38.8 was actually the first of several fords. After the fords there were some deep marshy areas. We crossed the pass and camped at Camp 40.3. It was a good spot. There was very little wind there. The wind wall at the site was set up almost like a corral. There's only room for one tent, and the X-Mid 2 just barely fit, but it did fit. We discovered that there is actually a water source there, about 70 m due north of the camp site. The way to it is kind of marshy/muddy, but I was able to access it without getting my feet wet. Earlier in the season that might not be possible.
Day 06 - Apr 10th
We started down early. It was fully overcast but an almost windless day. The muted grey of the clouds combined with the turquoise of the water and the oranges and reds of the trees made for spectacular scenery throughout the day. Despite the descent being listed as CC, a good bit of it actually followed a trail. About 500 m before the trailhead, we decided to do a complete CC heading south-southeast instead of southwest. We headed toward a grassy patch then cut more south, went down a steep animal path and across a marshy field before finally reconnecting with RR. I’m not sure it saved any time or distance, but it was fun to explore. Ford 43.6 was dry foot crossable, we stopped there for lunch. Ford 45.6 appeared a little tricky, but since we had read the reports from Tomas, Roman and Jonas, we were aware of the turn and it was no problem at all. The descent to Camp 39.2 was CC/BB. Towards the end it was possible to cut across the boulder field early and go directly to the camp site rather than to the lake and coming around along the beach. Arrollo Derrumbe was nice and had easy access to a pebble beach. We had an absolutely stunning sunset that night. We camped up next to a willow tree a little ways away from the fire ring because the ground was more level there.
Day 07 - Apr 11th
We were hoping to get to Camp Vista Fitz Roy, but it had rained in the night and even with our rain gear we got soaked just going through the brush. As we got to La Pampa it started to rain. We found a place up in the forest to take shelter to wait it out for a bit. When the rain stopped it was already late in the afternoon and we knew we were unlikely to make it. Reading through notes and looking at topo and satellite imagery we thought it would be fairly unlikely to find another camp at least until km 63.4, so we decided to just camp early. We found a flat and fairly wind protected spot inside the corral on the western side. It had stopped raining and some sun had come out so we strung up a line and hung some of our wet clothes to try to get them dry. For water we went back up the hill to the east about 100 m. Outside the fence there was a shallow stream flowing through a wetland area. It was a little tricky to access.
Day 08 - Apr 12th
We hiked over the pass and then down. There was no issue passing by Bahia Once Hermanos on the RR. It looked like Var E would take you directly to the house, but the RR stays outside the fenced areas of the property. We did not see anyone when we passed. We took Var G. The path wasn’t always clear, but this part of the peninsula was mostly low shrubs so it was easy to find a way. Ford 63.5 was half-calf, mild current. Both the camp before and the camp after the ford looked okay. The one after was cleaner. Water 65.9 was actually a ford similar to Ford 45.6. There was a lot of brush on both sides that encroached on the passage and made it a little tricky. This was also the last place to get running water if staying at Camp 66.6. We were actually fairly disappointed with this campsite (notes above in the Camps section). We would recommend camping elsewhere and just stopping for lunch or a break at this spot.
Day 09 - Apr 13th
It was a cold and windy day. It seemed that the wind had knocked most of the water off the bushes as we did not get nearly as wet as a few days prior. The route was often tricky to find. We got lost towards the top and ended up CCing a steep hill to get to the pass. There was a short little plateau and then it began to drop down the other side. It was even windier on the far side. Miseal was a very hospitable host. We talked for quite awhile. For dinner he made roasted lamb ribs, salad with greens from his garden, and a kind of deep fried yeasted bread cooked in lamb fat, which was really delicious. He explained that the bread was very similar to sopaipilla, with the main difference being that what he made is fried in animal fat and sopaipilla is fried in oil. We preferred his version to the more common sopaipilla. We slept on the floor in a side room that seemed to function as both a storage room and a guest room.
Day 10 - Air 14th
The boat arrived on time. We said goodbye to Misael and got on the boat. The ride was maybe 15 minutes. At the dock on the other side we took the boxes and walked to Ricardo and Maria's place.
*'''2025-MAR-20 to 2025-MAR-21 / 1 day / Hiking / SOBO / RR / Ivan, Jakub, Daniel'''
BOAT CROSSING:
