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→Season 2023/24
==Season 2023/24==
* 2024-03-09 to 2024-03-15 / 7 days / SOBO / Started at border control close to Lagula Del Maule —> 1C, 1B, 1, 2, RR, 6C, 6D, RR, 6F, 6E, 6, 6H, 6I, 7B, 7 - Puente El Ingles / Marilyne
I planned this route to avoid the aggressive dogs that have been mentioned a couple times now as it is my main fear along the GPT! I also wanted to explore some alternative routes as some people mentioned that the road walking was not very interesting. That meant that I didn’t get to visit Irma’s place or Carrizales.
Day 1 ~22km
The timing of my errands in Talca meant that I was ready to start on a Saturday, which is unfortunate as the buses to Termas El Medano don’t run on weekends. After evaluating my options, I decided to just take Uber to right before the border control (75K + big tip). I made sure the driver was ok with it and he seemed quite happy, we chatted the whole way.
Went into the border control building just to make sure that no check was needed since I was not crossing the border and went on my way to Laguna Del Maule where a lot of people were fishing.
Later that day on option 2 slipped twice in wet muddy grassy fields. Fun times :-) Camped close to a gate at -36.15739, -70.61193, before the puestos down the valley on option 2.
Day 2
Long day in a valley with a couple puestos. Dogs around puestos were not aggressive but barked at me as can be expected. Chatted with a couple different arrieros. I feel like Rio Guaiquivilo would make a nice class 3/4 packraft option early in the season, but there would be some required portages.
Day 3
Ended option 2 and rejoined the RR to climb up to Laguna del Dial. Enjoyed the view and the surroundings. Meet a lovely Chilean couple that were camped by the Laguna and invited me to stay with them. They ended up being clients of Don Hector, Irma’s husband. They shared their dinner with me. I got to taste Irma’s cheese that I hadn’t been able to purchase and they gave me a lot of food to take with me. Don Hector told me that the 3 agressive dogs people have been mentioning on the RR and that I was afraid of don’t usually bite… More people on horses showed up at the camp later.
Day 4
Finished the walk along Laguna del Dial and took the 6C/6D option. The trail on that pass is hard to follow at times but sticking to the gps line really helped as in some spots you need to be exactly where it is. After that pass I rejoined the main trail which is at a lower elevation and has trees and shrubbery. Camped close to some puestos, however I did not make my presence known and crossed the river to hide to camp - I’m a woman traveling alone. (-36.52496, -71.10122).
Day 5
Decided to take the 6F route despite few comments on this page about the route and the extra elevation gain and loss. 6E starts at a puesto and I had to duck under a couple fences to make it to the gps line. No one was there when I crossed, I’m unsure if it would have been a problem. The cross country section was somewhat hard and steep. Camped close to the end of 6E
Day 6
I initially intended to take option 6 the rest of the way but somehow missed the warnings about the right of way issue until I got there. Since I’m traveling alone and uninterested in arguing with anyone, I went for option 6 but northbound from the end of 6E to continue on option 6H. 6H was hard to follow but a beautiful valley, not much water up there so plan accordingly. The rest of 6H going down on the other side seemed treacherous to me so I opted for 6I instead. Felt really exhausted at the end of the day. Camped at the 7B/7 junction. I was very dirty and dusty by the end of that day and the lack of water at camp did not help.
Day 7
Did the short 6km walk to Puente El Ingles in the morning. Nothing was opened. Started walking the road towards San Fabian de Alico and got picked up about an hour later by three guys who had gone on a fishing trip to Argentina. They gave me a ride all the way to a village outside of Chillán and from there I quickly caught a bus to Chillán (I had a Starken box to pickup there). Realized when I got to my Airbnb that I had a bunch of dirt on my face :-D.
Once again the little solar panel on my pack kept everything fully charged. This section is not as beautiful as section 6 but I still quite liked it.
*2024-Feb-29 to 2024-Mar-06 / 7 days / Hiking / NOBO / Puente El Inglés - Control Fronterizo Laguna del Maule/ RR + Option 06C + Option H (half) + Option F + Option B +Option 01A, B and C / Alex & Christophe
This section is nice but not our favorite. There is some long dirt road walking in some big valley. But sometimes you can find some fresh fruits in the trees (especially near Carrizales) and the road walk feels a bit less boring. Our favorite part was Pass {07-06C} [1.7/2187] where the view is incredible. Maybe not the most used or maintained path but nothing dangerous and it totally worth the extra hiking hour. The trail and the camps near Laguna Dial were also really nice. And finally, as everybody, we found the Hot Spring {07-F} [0.7/1357] really pleasant after a long, dusty and hot day in the valley.
Here are our points needed to be mentioned :
We started this section after a resupply in San Fabián De Alico. Since there is no more bus to Puente El Inglés, we hitchhiked and got a lift after maybe 30min to 3 km before El Puente Inglés.
When we passed Puesto {07} [86.4/1212] (Irma), we tried to buy some cheese but nobody was here (maybe because it was Sunday). We only found some aggressive dogs on the property. We also encountered 2 or 3 other dogs who where barking and coming to us in this valley. I think they where the most agressives dogs we saw during nearly 3 month on the GPT. Hopefully, we weren't bitten.
The carabineros in Carizales are the nicest we met. They gave us water with harina tostada and even 2 packs of jam when we left.
The fords were all really easy to cross but it is not possible to cross the river at Ford {07} [80.6/1149]. The river bank is too high and you can't go near the water at this place. We just wen't a little bit further and found a place where 4x4 cross the river and it was really easy (maybe at the half of option H).
We finished this section at Control Fronterizo Laguna del Maule at 2pm. We hitchhiked for 45min before being taken. The car drove us directly to Talca to resupply before section 6.
*2024-feb-13 to 2024-feb-19/ 7 days / hiking / NOBO / RR + 0H 1C, part of 1B, 1D, 1E, G / Juliet and Martin
Day 1: We set off from Thermas del Medano after taking the bus from Talca (no bus at weekends, bus from Monday to Friday). We walked for about 1 hour along route 115 before being picked up and given a lift to the border post. We opted for option 1C, which runs along the laguna del Maule, and to take option 1D we used part of option 1B to reach the RR the next day. We camped near Hector's puesto after his agreement. We encountered several puestos along the way. Several watering holes
Day 2. We rejoined the RR to go to carrizales. The little store was open. We were able to get something to eat and drink, in addition to a warm welcome. We went a little further to sleep. We met Danilo, who helped Jan along the way. It was great. Great bivouac spot with water and above all shade! Camp {7} [62,5-1322]. Recommended.
Day 3. On Danilo's advice, we took variant 9 for a few km.
We passed many puestos and were even invited to taste a harissa tostada. We went to buy cheese at Irma's puesto and bivouacked not far away (with her agreement).
Regular water spots. No difficulty in crossing the various rivers.
Day 4. In the morning, we passed through a carabinieros station. They were very kind and gave us internet access as we were worried about the weather based on information given by locals. After being reassured, we climbed up to the laguna del dial. No particular difficulty. We bivouacked a little later at the first camp.
Day 5. A short day along the laguna. It goes up and down, but it's really beautiful. We pass a lot of herds. Less water on this day, but enough not to carry too much.
Day 6. Another short day as we were early and seduced by the Ford camp some 23km before the end of GPT07. Several water spots. Lots of easy downhill.
Day 7. Last day's walk to puente Inglès. Arriving at puente Inglès, we ask at the small store. Apparently, there is no longer a bus running between puente Inglès and san fabian. We were picked up hitchhiking all the way to san fabian.
*2024-Feb-16 to 2024-Feb-24 / 8.5 days / SOBO / / Matthias de Austria
Bus from Talca to El Medano 12:30. Hitchhike up to Laguna del Maule with 3 cars, reach lake at 16:00.
Water: plenty, lots of unmarked sources, never carried more then 1 or 2 liters. Low amount of Tabanos.
No snowfields, all fordings very easy. Weather warm and sunny, except 1 day of rain and cold temperature.
Quite a few closed gates, all easy to open.
Camp at 44.6 is bad, small stream nearby along a cowshitmeadow. Rabbit holes in camp and all full of rabbit poo.
Don't follow the RR at -36.063395, -70.834222 but instead the road. RR leads to a new massive fence with no gate and hard to climb at around Gpt07-01h End.
Shop in Carrizales, 58.2, was open at early sunday afternoon. Tiny room with a few mostly empty shelfs. Got some sugary stuff and a beer. They have WiFi. Local police guy was there too, very friendly, name is Matias, greet him from me when your there or at the local police station you will walk by earlier on RR.
Ford 60.3 has a small log bridge. Warm spring F was totally worth it for me and I spent a few hours there, however if you come from the south you might be disappointed - the hot spring in Gpt 8 is way better. Camp 62.5 was good beside the usuall cow/horseshit. Mid February Rio Guaiquivilo had nice swimming options around -36.20990,-70.90613 and a bit further south. The fording for cars and horses is at -36.271860,-70.923030. Water levels where mostly low and current tame, lots of options to cross.
1kg goat cheese at Irmas for 13500 peso, very delicious, no bred. 3 big white aggressive barking shepperd dogs few hundred meters before Irmas surrounding me and come very close, keep them at distance with my hiking poles.
Around -36.30252,-70.91928 it was very swampy. Friendly police at 92.7, water to refill and got a soda. Laguna Dial was nice for swimming, but very windy from noon to nightfall. Water at 116.3 was dry, but shortly after theres enough water. Rio Cisternas was partly dry, but at camps 116,5 and 114.9 had plenty of water - just not inbetween. No pools though. Warm spring 124.6 isn't worth it, way too tiny. Bridge 137.6 is gone, but dry feet crossing was possible by jumping ovee the rocks under the destroyed Bridge. Little shop in Puente El Inglés was open in the evening and had eggs, noodles, beer, icecream, lots of sugarystuff (don't buy that white packaged and the black packaged chocolate stuff in the backwall of the shop, big package but almost empty inside. Total scam. They had no bred in the evening nor in the next morning, but said in the afternoon bred would be available.
Nice section, best for me was the warm spring and laguna Dial. Spent a lot of time bathing and swimming and just enjoy the view. No difficulties.
Work in progress.
*Feb-1-2024 to Feb-6-2024 / 5 days / SOBO / Oh3, RR, Var H, RR / Matthieu
The bus leaves for Talca at 7:10 am at the bus shed in front of the parking lot, but you have to call in advance as it only goes that far if they know someone is going - +56994741961. Otherwise it leaves from La Mina at 7 am
Annotation (Jan-24):
A handwriten scedule at the Minishop in El Medano indicated that there is another bus at 3:30 pm from El Medano a Talca.
*Bus from Puente Ingles around 7 & 10AM. Confirm times @ the shop. Bus back from San Fabián at 2 and 6 pm
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=
