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→Season 2023/24
==Season 2023/24==
* 2024-Apr-14 to 2024-Apr-17 / 3.5 days / Hiking / RR (W-Treck) / Joscha
Day 1. I got the bus going to Laguna Amarga & got out at the junction 14KM from Laguna Azul. Not much traffic, I got a lift for 11KM then walked 3KM to Laguna Azul. The : RR bypasses the Laguna Azul park office & continues outside the park[114. About 28-121.5KM up the road there is a puesto (not on the map, I marked its location for the 2024 track file update) The puesto owner was concerned about me getting lost (although navigation is easy) & asked me to report back to him on my return, which I did. There is a good puesto about 2KM before the river. The ford was thigh deep & fast. The best place I found to cross was by going upstream until the near bank cliffs out & crossing just before the cliff, After the crossing an old jeep track (no longer driveable) continues to the second puesto. There are several streams along the way & some sheltered places you can camp on the track but I continued to the puesto, which is about 1KM from the frontier, in 1 long day. Forded the river easily (it was knee deep) before the puesto. There was no one there & I slept in the puesto.]
Because I could not reserve the Campsites from Las Torres online, I decided to not pay for anything in advance and just go to the Torres del Paine park. I went there by bus and at the park entrance a rangerin entered the bus and "controlled" our tickets. She just took a foto from each ticket without looking at it. I had clicked myself a ticket for children below 12 years which is free and she didn't notice. At the Camping Central Sur I just passed by the reception and went to the back end of the campsite. No one checked and therefore I camped for free. Day 2: RR [121.1-150.6] I went up to the Torres for sunrise. It took me 2 hours and 45 minutes from camping Central Sur with my full weight pack and including a few water breaks. At km 150.6 the official park trail to Camping Paine Grande leaves the RR. I followed it until Rio del Frances. I crossed the bridge and than left the official park trail by going south directly after the bridge on another trail. The trail vanished after 20 meters and I continued on the riverside a little further. I found a good tentspot at -51.032528, -73.045562 and camped there. Its wind and view protected. Day 3: RR [150.6-169.0] + OH03 [65.5-55.0] RR between 161.7 and 162.8 is closed. The official Park trail branches off the RR at km 150.6 and rejoines RR at km 162.8. I camped at Camp Grey. I also just passed the reception and set up my tent at the back end in the forest. I saw some mice, so hang your food (you should probably hang your food at every campsite in this park). Day 4: OH03 [55.0-65.5] + RR [169.0-191.6] RR after km 169.0 (Camp Paine Grande) is a nice, easy trail. I only meet two other hikers which was a nice change to the crowded W-Treck. The ranger station at the finish of Section 45 has Wifi. The password is printed inside the station. Additional Infos: Camping Chileno, Frances and Paine Grande all have wood platforms for the tents. So if you have a tent thats not free standing you might struggle to set it up. *Feb-25-2024 to March-2-2024 / 7 days / circuit O (OH3) / Matthieu I won't expand on the parc. If you're a GPT lover you will suffer from the crowd and the luxury campsites, even on the O circuit. Everything is forbidden (cooking in the nature, bathing in lakes, going off the trail...), for obvious massive crowd reasons that I don't question. I think that they kinda keep the parc in good condition with there rules. I did it with a group of friends so we got all reserved and programmed before, with very expensive cost, but you can easily do it legally and cheaper with a bit of preparation and talk to people in puerto natales. The internet sites of vertice and las torres, the 2 campsites companies, don't work well (or do they ?...), they say that cheap tent spots are full even if there are plenty free when you arrive... better call directly, advise given by a camp worker with whom i spoke about it). There is no difficulties on the way, I did most of the parc with open summer shoes. Of course bad climate conditions can change the experience. The only thing is the massive presence of mosquitos the 2 first days (camp seron and dickson, ruin your cooking time). I was so happy to have a net on my head, but my friends didnt and suffered from it ! Take your net or your repellant with you ! Apart from this, the mountain, the glaciar, the valleys, the torres, are all wonderful things to see. Oh2 to connect with rio serrano and GPT46 seems amazing but i hitchhiked this part (See my post on GPT46). The road to rio serrano from the east park entrance is really beautiful also, with miradores and cascadas. *Frank 03/01 to 06/01 2024 4 days RR & optional route SOBO 1. I got the bus going to Laguna Amarga & got out at the junction 14KM from Laguna Azul. Not much traffic, I got a lift for 11KM then walked 3KM to Laguna Azul. The RR bypasses the Laguna Azul park office & continues outside the park. About 2.5KM up the road there is a puesto (not on the map, I marked its location for the 2024 track file update) The puesto owner was concerned about me getting lost (although navigation is easy) & asked me to report back to him on my return, which I did. There is a good puesto about 2KM before the river. The ford was thigh deep & fast. The best place I found to cross was by going upstream until the near bank cliffs out & crossing just before the cliff. After the crossing an old jeep track (no longer driveable) continues to the second puesto. There are several streams along the way & some sheltered places you can camp on the track but I continued to the puesto, which is about 1KM from the frontier, in 1 long day. Forded the river easily (it was knee deep) before the puesto. There was no one there & I slept in the puesto. 2. I returned to Laguna Azul& slept at the Laguna Azul campsite (see accomodation section) About 7KM from Laguna Azul NOBO a road goes right over a bridge & the RR goes left. There are a few vehicles a day going over the bridge & none continue on the RR. Just as I got to the bridge a van came & I hitched the last 7KM to Laguna Azul. Bought my park entry for the next day online using the campsite wifi. 3. Above Laguna Azul the RR goes SOBO CC on no trail. I continued on the road & after 3.5KM there isa good marked trail going in right which joins & becomes the RR. Followed it to a road junction where the RR again continues CC. I walked on the road to the park entrance. Continued mostly on road to Camping Pehoe. Not recommended as you are on pampa & it's very exposed & windy. At times it was hard to move forward against the wind. This is the main park road & there is quite a bit of traffic so it's dusty. Short section on trail from Laguna Larga. Once you are in the Paine river valley you get some shelter from the wind. 4, Continued from Camping Pehoe to the park exit at Rio Serrano partly on road & sometimes on a faint trail near the road. Walked to Villa Rio Serrano & continued onto GPT46 without entering the village.
From 01/12/2023 to 05/12/2023 // 5 days // hiking // NOBO // RR // Quentin Clavel
=Permits, Entry Fees and Right-of-Way Issues=
You can no longer buy tickets at the park entrances & should get them online instead. There is no wifi or phone signal at the Laguna Amarga entrance.
Park entry is currently $35 US for up to 3 days or $49 for more than 3 days (January 2024 prices) for foreigners. Chileans pay 8000 pesos for up to 3 days & 11,500 for more than 3 days.
=Links to other Resources=