Cambios

If you are considering exploring the Greater Patagonian Trail and wish to enjoy the experience, you must be open to experiencing the unknown diversity of this region.   If your expectation of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patagonia Patagonia] is based on a brief Google search and a few articles about Patagonia than you probably have seen primarily these three heavily hyped tourist magnets:

These are three truly amazing spots on the eastern edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field and are internationally known highlights of Patagonia. But these three frequently pictured attractions do not represent the Patagonian variety. If your primary interest is visiting the heavily trod, famous places of Patagonia then stick to the national parks and bus in between.  Don't assume that the Greater Patagonian Trail is more of the same. Only towards the finish, near the southern ends in El Chalten and on the last three sections (GPT38, GPT39 and GPT40) will you walk through this kind landscape of glaciers and skyscraper mountains.  The GPT is much more than this. The Greater Patagonian Trail is rather rather like a gourmet menu of different courses that allow you to experience different tastes and textures. The menu contains some world famous dishes, but mainly courses of unknown exotic ingredients in unexpected combinations. So this gourmet menu is nothing for someone who just wants to eat a burger or a steak. 

The Greater Patagonian Trail crosses most of Patagonia and the adjacent regions to the north. For this reason I named the trail “Greater Patagonian Trail” when I started publish¬ing it in 2014. I coined the term "Greater Patagonia" to combine Patagonia in its traditional limits with the adjacent regions like "Greater London" includes the city of London and the surroundings. The limits of Patagonia are as fuzzy as the imaginations of many when they hear “Pata¬gonia”. There are some core ideas that most people connect with “Patagonia” like vast¬ness, wilderness and solitude but few have precise knowledge.

For me this discussion about the limits of Patagonia is irrelevant as long as I can walk and paddle through pristine and varied terrain. Actually the little known region north of Patagonia is for me the one most attractive for hiking. Here you walk more distance high up in the mountains with broad views, here you find the more attractive trails and cross country routes and here you meet the arrieros and native Pehuenche people. Also the climate is more favorable for hiking. During summer rain is infrequent and short and you can mostly enjoy sunny weather.  In contrast when reaching "real Patagonia" get ready for frequent and enduring rain. Also don't expect to walk high up in the mountains as there are simply no continuously high mountain ranges. In Patagonia high mountains are rather like islands that rise out of a wild sea of dense tempered rain forest. These island-like mountains are separated by wide valleys that were carved by giant glaciers during past glacial periods.  Therefore "real Patagonia" is best traveled by packraft. You find more to this subject in chapter [#Packrafting on the GPT|Packrafting on the GPT].

The mountains of the Patagonian Andes are like large islands that are separated by these "channels" of lowland. The higher summits reach mostly an altitude of 2000 m to 3000 m. Only few peeks exceed the 3000 m mark. Below the tree line frequent rain maintains a very dense, nearly impenetrable, forest that is also called Valdivian temperate rain forest. Due to this geography the GPT goes up and down between the depressions and the island-like mountains and provides a very attractive and varied hiking at least to the finish of section GPT22. Here having a packraft becomes very beneficial in particular from section GPT17P to GPT39 where you can use your inflatable boat on 40% of the distance.

In this region of Chile even the most important road; the Carretera Austral; has a 50 km wide gap that can only be crossed by ferry. There is not even a horse trail or a foot path that bridges this gap; just impenetrable dense forest and cragged mountains. Here most land routes are further inland in the valleys and depressions that cut through the Patagonian Andes. Due to this geography the GPT crosses on section GPT22 into Argentina and does not return to Chile until section GPT26. Only passionate and highly experienced packrafters may try the very challenging investigation routes GPT30P, GPT76P and GPT77P that provide a water connection through the fjords and channels on the Chilean side. In Central Patagonia in particular from GPT28H to GPT31H hiking is less attractive because several historic horse trails have been upgraded to dirt roads. But packrafting in this area is just stunning. Here you can paddle over crystal clear mountain lakes and float down long mostly calm rivers with impressive mountains on either side of your inflatable raft until reaching on these rivers the Patagonian fjords.

 At the latitude of Lago General Carrera and south of it are two large ice fields, the Northern Patagonian Ice Field and the Southern Patagonian Ice Fields. Here ice completely fills the depressions between the island-like mountains to an altitude of about 1500 m. These are the two remnant parts of the much larger Patagonian Ice Sheet that covered most of Patagonia during previous ice ages.  In this area the GPT guides you first though the mountains about 100 km east of the Northern Patagonian Ice Field. Here you can opt between attractive hiking and attractive packrafting routes but weather is volatile and distances between settlements are substantial. Towards the current southern terminus of the GPT you reach the eastern edge of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field what makes an impressive finish. From GPT38 to GPT40 you can walk and paddle through a rough wind battered land full of milky glacier lakes that get constantly refilled by immense streams of ice that flows from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.