Lesser Patagonian Trail : Ensenada to Anticura

Kilometres this section : 132

Kilometres completed : 2,457

Ensenada is a good place for a day off, well, to be honest I mostly relax, but the minimarket is well stocked, and a short walk away there's the national park, Parque Nacional Vicente Peréz Rosales.  Nice not to have to pay to get in, and just inside there is walking for sane people, a short but very scenic trail alongside Laguna Verde - this one actually is green.  I buy lots of food, and cut strips of the fabric instruction panel attached to my tent bag, then glue them over the various holes in my shoes.  Will this work?  We'll see...  It does seem that they are mostly set up for day trippers here, the restaurants mainly shut early.  But one opens later, and on my second evening I get Chupa de Salmon, fish in sauce topped with cheese, and then quiche!  OK, it would be good if there was pastry, but plenty of calories.

I confess I've been a little concerned about the next bit of trail.  It involves climbing from near sea level to over 1,000m, the thing is somewhat ominously named 'Sendero Paso Desolación', and of course it is in a national park - will they even let me do it?  Well, the 16km to the start, along route 225CH, goes quickly enough, and a little after midday I'm on the trail - and, it's a fantastic walk.  Clearly well used, I see many day hikers, the climb is gentle enough, and the views are superb - Volcán Osorno growing closer on one side, Lago Todos Los Santos on the other.  I'm reminded of Tenerife, the path is volcanic rock and sand, and of course there is the volcano itself.  I don't climb the thing though!  Up to the pass and over, onto a gravel road gently sloping down, easy again, just one small hiccup - the river here, which I'd hoped to get water from, is dry.  Good thing I've made such good time, I've walked 37km before I find some water and camp, way further than I expected.  And it's not even 7pm!

Day two out of Ensenada, my route is on road all day, barring a section 10km in, where there should be a short bit of track, then 500 metres of straight line across the map, including crossing a river.  It will be fine, I am sure.  Well, I walk through a farm, nobody objects, not even a guy who drives past me on the track.  I cross a field to Río Coihueco, looks an easy ford, but, on the other side is a cliff, maybe twenty metres high, oops.  Well I follow the river, get my feet wet, and find a spot where it is only a couple of metres - looks like cows have come down here?  I pull myself up, and yes, thankfully, a cow trail through the bamboo gets me to the road.  Lots of farming here, the countryside green, rolling hills, reminiscent of England - at least, on this cloudy day, when you can't see the various large volcanoes.  I walk to, then alongside, Lago Rupanco, very scenic and a popular place, lots of holiday homes, a place for wealthy Chileans to do things in boats, I think.  There's even an airstrip!

There's 15km of road to the end of the lake, then trail, it's OK at first, uphill but fine, after all I do have to climb past Volcán Casablanca.  Then I reach a junction, my route goes right, but on map it is just a line of dots, this suggests no real path.  On the ground there is a path, but it is veering off east, I just can't trust it, so, back to the other way, it is longer but at least it's following the trail on the map, OK.  Except, quickly the path becomes so overgrown I can barely see it, steep too, makes for very slow going.  I struggle on, it is only a few more km to the treeline, but it takes all afternoon, six hours to do 10km.  Such a relief to hit open country, grass and rocks, OK I can do this, looks like the route is heading for a pass, up and over and that will will do.  But, when I get to the pass, the route carries on up to the right, up a ridge, I've failed to plan properly here I fear.  A fine walk for a sunny afternoon I am sure, but maybe not best to be starting it at past 7pm.  Up and up I go, to 1800m, I walk on snow to avoid a rocky outcrop, the high point is maybe 1900m, it is past 8:30, not much daylight left.  I get to go down now at least, but not far,  I really have to camp, some flat gravel at over 1800m will have to do.  For the first time this trip, I wear all my clothes inside the sleeping bag.

I wake around 6am, something is not right, ah, the tent.  Well I am in an exposed spot, the wind has pulled one of the guy ropes off the peg, the wind isn't that strong but the volcanic gravel just doesn't hold the pegs well.  OK, getting light, I may as well get up - pretty cool to see the dawn here at least, blue sky above, below a carpet of cloud with volcanoes poking out here and there.  So, only twenty or so km of trail to do, well the first five is fine walking over the bare high ground.  Then down into the trees, of course an overgrown path, but maybe not so bad - at least it's downhill.  Then with 10km to go, a proper vehicle track, wow - I reach my planned destination, Anticura, basically just a campsite plus restaurant, before 4pm, and even more good news, they take credit cards!  Bring on a large plate of grilled fish, and indeed 'pie de limón' - yes, lemon meringue pie.

Lesser Patagonian Trail : Lago Puelo to Ensenada

Kilometres this section : 202

Kilometres completed : 2,325

My day off in Lago Puelo went very well, but there was just one moment I could have done without - the ladies in the tourist information office telling me that the nearby border crossing, the trail leading to it, and indeed all the trails, were shut.  Too much risk of fire, they said.  Well, I have to try, this is the pass I need to go through, the best alternative I can see would be a couple of hundred kilometres north, a fair bit of that on a highway.  Also I am down to my last 6,000 Argentine Pesos, enough for one pint of beer...  Well, the short route out of town seems well walked, I do have to wade Río Azul, waist deep but no current.  From there, a well maintained trail in the national park, I see plenty of signs, saying how far to the border and so on, nothing saying it's shut.  In fact it's an easy 9km through the woods to the border post, where the friendly guard assures me that yes, I can cross.  He seems impressed by my adventure, and even shares his 'mate' with me, something of an honour.  It's not unlike tea.  Anyway, the day continues, close to one lake after another, Lago Puelo of course, then Lago Inferior after the border.  I only get glimpses of the water though as the trail, still good, stays in the trees.  To the Chilean border post, with a real life other hiker, I have not seen many.  Again the guard is super friendly, that is my last crossing of the trip done!  One more lake, Lago de las Rocas, and some difficult walking, several km of little used trail, lots of clambering over trees.  Later, there's some tricky bouldering by the lake, but still over 30km done, it will do.  Once again I saw animals on the trail, if not very exotic ones - at one point, surely a feral pig, then later three very cute piglets!

For another 10km or so, a mix of well maintained trail, not so well maintained, and some nice logging track.  Then I hit a road, route V729, next to Río Puelo.  The river is broad, deep, and fast flowing, and my planned route involves crossing it, then again later on.  Yes, I think this is a bit of the GPT.  Honestly after the last week I am not up for this, I don't have much faith in there actually being a trail on the other side, and how to cross?  I think the idea is to pay a local with a motor boat?  Well no, I can stay on the road for the rest of today, as a bonus this saves 12km.  Not easy though, plenty of steep up and down, not terribly scenic either as I walk between trees, briefly glimpsing yet another Lago Verde.  Still, seems a popular tourist destination, many campsites and cabins, this explains why this dead end road has so much traffic I guess.  Also why the tiny village of Llanada Grande has a large supermarket, I really didn't need to carry so much food from Argentina.  Well, I get some bonus biscuits, and why not, a carton of wine to celebrate my return to the country.

From my camp by Río Manso, the route follows the river upstream, trail for the next 70km or so, as ever the question is, will the trail be walkable, or even exist?  Well it starts off just fine, then I meet an actual hiker!  He is even English, and tells me the trail is just fine, if a bit muddy, this is good.  Of course it does involve plenty of gruelling ascent, I can cope with this, and in fact there is little mud.  Plenty of people too, I stand aside for a big party of Americans, and later a group of horses barrel towards me, some with riders.  One guy warns me of wasps, I guess a horse got stung?  They don't bother me anyway - thankfully I have been largely untroubled by insects for a while.  Anyway, more climbing through woods, with respite from time to time as the trail passes through pasture.  More, smaller rivers, Río los Morros, then Río Desague, which leads me to a campsite by Lago Vidal Gormaz - facilities may be pretty basic, but 7 dollars gets me a place and a can of beer, splendid.

There's more trail before I return to civilization, to begin with an easy enough bit past the lake - it doesn't even climb much.  At the north end, a guy greets me and I assume he also has a little campsite - there are tents!  But in fact he is some kind of official, and wants to know my name, passport number, etc., well fine.  Then more climbing, past Lago Chico, then Lago Grande, and finally a pass, anticlimactic as it is just a little way above the last lake.  So all downhill now, more or less, should be OK - or maybe not.  I meet a Scandinavian couple, they say the trail is really bad, they have taken nine hours to do 14km, so starting from where I want to finish today.  At that pace I'll get there around midnight...  Well, it is downhill, steeply at first, then following Río Cochamó downstream, without too much random uphill.  The problem is the mud, yes there's a lot and it is pretty bad.  But I struggle through it, reaching a campsite before 8pm, just short of La Junta where there's actually a store, I doubt they'd take credit cards up here though.  I suspect I ought to pay to camp here too...

Well, an early start, I get asked for my details again but payment is not mentioned.  There really are a lot of people here, this makes me more confident about the last 10km of trail, and indeed at first it is not so bad.  All along Río Cochamó I've walked on decaying boardwalks and steps, but here there's new construction, even bridges.  But still a lot of mud, the worst is where passage of water and horses has worn a long tunnel into the ground, the bottom is a pit of mud... Only 10km though, it is done by midday, and then it is very nice to walk on road, a couple of hours to Cochamó the town.  I only need three things here, food for lunch, gas for cooking and some cash.  The last proves impossible, in a town that clearly subsists on tourism there is no ATM, aargh.  I eventually find gas, and a store that can get their card reader to work, but wow, two and a half hours wasted.  Onwards, Ruta V69 is a lovely walk, with long, long Estuario de Reloncaví to my left - yes, I am basically on the Pacific here.  I'd been aiming for a campsite on my map at around 35km for the day, but passing another a km or two early, I can't resist.  Yay, they take cards, camping and a couple of beers for eleven dollars, all good.

One more day of walking and I can have a rest, fortunately it is an easy day, road all the way.  I enjoy glorious panoramic views of the estuary, then briefly climb, mostly this is pretty flat going though.  It's clearly all about the tourism here, seems like every few hundred metres there's a campsite or store.  As I walk, a looming presence appears ahead, the massive cone of Volcán Osorno - I also start to see signs indicating I'm on an evacuation route, with a little picture of an erupting volcano.  Hmm.  Well, I reach Ensenada safely, it is just a little collection of campsites, cabañas and restaurants, but what more do I need.  Yay, a bed to sleep in, and yes, beer and pizza.

Lesser Patagonian Trail : Villa Lago Rivadavia to Lago Puelo

Kilometres this section : 97

Kilometres completed : 2,123

Villa Lago Rivadavia is no place for a zero day, and it's only 97km to a decent sized town, so I press on, starting on road, provincial route 71, there's not much traffic, then route A32, more easy walking. Onto a dirt track alongside Lago Cholila, it's very pretty, then with 28km done, time for some trail. A steep climb, but the trail is good, I pass lots of sawn up deadfalls, this is glorious walking through an area recovering from fire, dead trees bleached white poke through newer growth. Ahead, there are rocky mountainsides, with plenty of snow on the move distant slopes. I ford Arroyo del Turco, it's no problem, but after that the trail deteriorates, there's little sign of use or maintenance. But I struggle on to my planned camp, 37km done, hopefully things will get easier as I climb towards a pass tomorrow.

The line on my map follows Arroyo del Turco upstream, crossing it a few times. On the ground there is no trail. I maybe see a footprint a few times? Hacking through the forest is so slow, instead I walk up the arroyo much of the way, the water is icy cold and fast flowing but at least I make progress. Then a climb, and for a few minutes some respite, boggy grass at the high point. Down again, I briefly walk on snow, then by a stream that rapidly grows bigger in a steep ravine, there's still no path so I walk in the stream for a while, it does at least get less steep. Then an insane near vertical climb, bad enough but at the top there are dense woods, this is so hard. Over and down again, it's getting late, I have ripped one of the hems on my trousers half off, sigh. I nearly make it to the pass, so less than 15km done, this is not good.

After an hour more of struggle I reach the pass, rewarded by an awesome view of Río Turbio - yes, another one - far below, and many snowy mountains behind. I have to descend of course, and of course there's no path, but also no trees, good. The line on my GPS at least helps me avoid cliffs, but still it's very steep, I am very glad to hit a cow track. I manage to go wrong though, I get all the way down, but find myself a couple of hundred metres from the line, OK, best get back to it. Easier said than done, a new horror appears, spiky plants, brambles and something worse, I simply can't push through them as the little barbs embed themselves in my clothes and flesh. Right, this won't break me, I shorten my walking poles, together they make a decent club, which I use to beat a path. Good thing the cheap poles are pretty heavy, but this takes so long. Midday passes, I haven't managed 5km, how long will this take? I have food for maybe three more days, can I keep going without food? Thank heavens, I make it back to the line, there's another a cow track, which soon becomes a real trail, in good condition and gently downhill. I meet actual people! They say Lago Puelo the town is only a day away. Such a relief, I make good time to the lake itself, I'm in a national park now, on a trail alongside the lake, of course it climbs to hundreds of metres above it, so what, it's not too steep and it is a real path! Shame there's nowhere to camp, steep slopes with dense vegetation to either side, I walk until nine before finding a spot, well, it's distance I don't have to do tomorrow.

Obviously from my camp, after five minutes walk I am at the level of the lake, abundant camping here, flat walking too, vehicle tracks through farmland, an arm of the lake stretches east here, I walk around then cross a bridge. From here, well, I just walked 10km along Lago Puelo, in Parque Nacional Lago Puelo, and now I want to continue alongside the lake to reach the town of Lago Puelo. So is there a trail? Well, sort of. It certainly hasn't been maintained for a while, but some time ago somebody came out here with some paint and painted an awful lot of blue and white blazes. It's hard going but I'm not stopping now, and things get easier as I get towards the end of the trail. Amusingly, the town has it's own variant on 'routes that only exist on the map' - I walk several hundred metres before hitting houses where my map has a road. Still, only 3pm, and as I walk into town I find a panadería and buy pan de queso, so good, haven't had these since Brazil. Not far from here to a nice campsite, yay. And just over the road, a bar with craft beer and burgers, what more do I need.

Actually I do need more things, several in fact, but Lago Puelo provides. My ripped, filthy trousers go in a bin, the new pair, from a hardware store, are I think aimed at men who enjoy fishing, works for me. The shoes from Trevelin have performed well, but the toes are coming unstuck just a little - no problem, the same store has shoe glue - el secreto de los zapateros'! Also I buy many more panes de queso - which actually they call chipas around here. I even get a haircut, honestly this place is awesome. Perhaps that explains the way it is both a tourist town, with maybe ten campsites, and many bar-restos, but also it seems a popular place for wealthy Argentines to build a house, there are some impressive mansions and even a mini castle.

Lesser Patagonian Trail : Trevelin to Villa Lago Rivadavia

Kilometres this section : 98

Kilometres completed : 2,026

From Trevelin I head north on provincial road 71, it is surprisingly busy which is less than ideal.  Easy walking at least, I am still being lazy, only 30km per day or so for the next few days.  A fine view over Laguna Terraplén towards looming mountains, then a little later a looming obstacle - it's another national park.  Will they let me in - yes!  OK, I have to pay $20, but whatever, the lady does not seem interested in where I am going or how, good.  My plan has me staying on the road all day, but the map shows a trail I can detour off on, this turns out to be an excellent option, a gently climbing dirt track with no cars.  I'm a bit sad to have dumped those heroic shoes, but wow it is nice to walk without bits of grit and seeds continually getting in, and the new pair is even waterproof up to a couple of inches.  I reach a high point, from here it is a lovely walk, looking towards Lago Futalaufquen nestled among the mountains.  Before I know it I am there, Villa Futalaufquen - glad I didn't have to say that name much - is a few houses, plus a large campsite, complete with a restaurant that provides beer and yes, another pizza.  I guess the whole, living in the wilderness subsisting on what I can carry thing is on hold for the moment.

My second day in the park starts with another 20km on road, then some trail, staying near the road. The first bit is squeezed between the road and the lake, still it somehow manages to involve quite a bit of up and down.  Then across the road, and a crazy steep ascent of course, up to Laguna Escondida, it is indeed hidden, just a glimpse through the trees, although there's a good view back over Lago Futalaufquen, and as seems the norm here paths are well maintained too, lots of sawn up deadfalls.  Then steeply down, overtaking some day hikers, to another paid campsite, where there's more beer, I eschew even more pizza though, really should cook the pasta I am carrying.

An early start next day, after that climb yesterday I am a bit concerned about today, it's mostly trails.  A lovely start at least, straight out of the campsite on a well walked path through the woods, I pass through more campsites, clearly this is a popular place.  Then back to the road for a few km, oh wait, a trail sign off to the right, looks to run through a grassy meadow, I guess they made a new trail?  Not on my map, but better than the road, surely?  I follow a well walked trail, plenty of recently sawn logs - but it is turning away from the road, and more and more steeply uphill.  I hate to turn back, and keep pressing on, but eventually I am on a cow track, heading the wrong way, high above the lake, with no choice but to backtrack.  Of course, almost back to the road, I spot the sign I missed, the trail continuing close to the road.  Two hours wasted, well I walk the road rather than a big detour on the trail, then a nice bit of path, more road, tempting to stay on the road all the way and reach Villa Lago Rivadavia for 5:30 or so.  But I really should do the last bit of trail, how hard can it be?  Super hard is the answer, up, up, more up, to a mirador, where there's a sign saying the rest of the trail is closed, aargh.  I don't have time to struggle through a mountain path that isn't being maintained, no choice but to backtrack for a second time.  Forced march on the road, I get there for 7pm, wow, nothing here, well, campsite seems closed, a woman opens the door but tells me, no.  Well, I find a shop, a restaurant with beer and pizza so huge I can't eat it all, good enough.  At some point today I passed the landmark of 2,000km walked - though with all the back and forth I'm not sure exactly where.

Lesser Patagonian Trail : Palena to Trevelin

Kilometres this section : 104

Kilometres completed : 1,928

I opt to not take a day off in Palena, despite the hard work over the last few days. It's not much of a place, and in three days time I should be in Trevelin, a substantial town. Easy enough to get there too, only 100km or so, almost all on roads, starting with 10km of gentle climb on route 235. This leads to a potential obstacle - I need to cross back into Argentina here, at Paso Río Encuentro, and I am looking a little worse for wear after two months of walking. Will the border guards approve of this apparent vagrant wanting to cross, I wonder? In the event it's not a problem, the guards on both sides are friendly, and the crossing doesn't take long. Even better, as I hoped the village just into Argentina, Carrenleufú, has a panadería where I buy many baked products for lunch. More easy walking, the road is now gravel, after fresh tarmac on the Chilean side, the surroundings green, wooded hills. A bridge over Río Corcovado, locals are picnicking and swimming, I collect some water and head north on a more minor road, route A30 - back to gravel, it's more authentic I suppose. Just a little way to my planned stop, with 35km done, quite a few buildings around here but I find a sheltered spot in the woods. Then as I'm putting up the tent, a couple of dogs turn up, oops - I must be pretty near someone's home. Fortunately they just look at me briefly then depart, rather than furiously barking. Given it has just started to rain, I really didn't need somebody coming to tell me I can't camp here!

I survive the night undetected, and walk off, quickly reaching a small village, Cerro Centinela, no sign of any stores here, although it does see the road surface change to tarmac, so easy. I join provincial route 17 and walk past Laguna Theobald, with a fine view to the snowy mountains that mark the border. Then a road so minor it has no number, and is no more than a dirt track - maybe private, though there was no sign. Well, easy enough, a gentle ascent, I am making good time. I did want to give myself some leeway today, the last few km will be the start of a short section that is not a road - will it be a barely detectable path? In fact, after a few km of vehicle track I do get a bit of horse trail, but it's in good condition and flat enough. Actually the only problem is the Patagonian flora, which often tends to have annoying spiky seeds, they're particularly bad here. Still I have no trouble doing 40km, only 29 left to Trevelin. Oh, and interesting animal life makes a return, I think a skunk? Sure was a friendly little critter anyway.

Just a little more horse trail, then a gravel track, and I am on a public road again, Ruta Nacional 259 even - still a gravel track, but there's a fair bit of traffic, going very slowly. Good to get off it, minor roads and even a bit more trail, and I am in Trevelin by 3pm. Not quite as big as I imagined, but I have an actual apartment booked, and there are restaurants here with menus and beer on tap, oh yes. I enjoy a large pizza and a glass or two, surprisingly enough. Interesting place this, mostly settled by Welsh people back in the day, a sign near my apartment informs me that the first store in town was built there, opened by Señor Robert Bobbie Williams. There are even bilingual signs in Spanish and Welsh! More importantly for me there's a decent supermarket, I acquire yet more socks, and new trekking poles. An even more momentous purchase is a new pair of shoes, obviously I started in a pair from Decathlon which have lasted nearly 2,000km, hopefully the new ones will survive some decent fraction of that.

Lesser Patagonian Trail : Lago Verde to Palena

Kilometres this section : 96

Kilometres completed : 1,824

I make a late start from Lago Verde, the hospedaje is indeed hospitable and it is hard to leave, well the walking goes easily enough for the first 20km or so, on the usual gravel track. Then a horse trail, with actual cowboys, one driving a bunch of cows, and some more going the same way as me, I see them a few times. It's hard to find the way now, makes for slow going, and then a thigh deep ford, OK I can do that. The path returns to this river, so it should be flat, right? Haha, no it's a brutal slog up, to 900m or so, and worse, there are so many deadfall trees, I either clamber over or detour around. Clearly at one time there was a trail here, massive sawn logs, and even occasionally a post marking so many kilometres, bear witness to the work of the ancients who laid it out, but now little of their work survives, it takes over four hours to do 8km, but I need to get back to that river for water and somewhere flat to camp, just have to keep going - it is past 9pm when I get there.

Second day of this section, the path is a bit better, flatter, with fewer deadfalls, this is actually nice walking through the forest. Still slow going though, I have to face it, I'm not making this section in three days as I'd hoped, but no matter, I've actually planned for this and have enough food for four days. So, after yesterday's heroics, I only need to do 20km today, how hard can it be? Well, there is lots more water, I walk beside a lake, mostly in the lake as it turns out, and also in a freezing river for a while. The worst bit is late in the day, my map has the trail as a dead straight line, but of course that is not the reality. So, when I lose the trail, I have no way to find it again, no choice but to struggle through the dense woods as best I can for several km, this is such hard work. All the while a light rain is falling, no problem in itself, but of course the plants I am pushing through are wet, soon my trousers are soaked. At least, I find a nice grassy spot to camp at, and I did the 20km.

Another day, and I am looking to do 20km again, but, a there's a problem with not following a path - I basically walked a straight line last night, I know where I need to be, at one end of Lago Palena, so I headed towards that point. It turns out I am way above it, the descent without a path is very slow, and the path is little better when I finally reach it, there's no sign anybody ever comes here. I struggle on, walking in the lake for a bit, checking my watch the first 6km today has taken over 4 hours, at this rate I will need another day, and one with no food at that. But, the path up from the lake is better, sure it's super steep but it seems used. Even better, it takes me above the tree line, to some lovely mountain walking, oh wow there are no deadfalls here! Of course now it's down again, but the path is still good, though I lose it for a while, and walk along Río Azul instead, this includes much wading, nonetheless I manage 18km, and Palena is now only 27km away.

So, I was assuming that the remaining 9km or so of trail would be just as hard as what I've done over the last two days - not so much, it turns out. Before very long I'm walking along a track used by vehicles, oh so easy, and then it turns out I got the distance to Palena wrong, it is two kilometres less than I thought, oh no. I enjoy a few hours of easy enough walking, and reach Palena before 4pm, this is good, I have time to find a hostal and do shopping, including desperately needed new socks. This week I learned - if the sole of your sock is full of holes, you can still get some use from it by wearing the thing back to front!

Lesser Patagonian Trail : Villa Amengual to Lago Verde

Kilometres this section : 125

Kilometres completed : 1,728

After doing 40km or more each day for a while, I am taking it easy for a bit, more like 35 or even less.  So a late start from Villa Amengual, on yet another gravel surfaced minor road, the X25.  It follows Río Cisnes upstream, so yes I have to climb, but it is mostly gentle enough, the river running through a steep sided, tree lined valley with the road some way up one side.  Not the most exciting walk, the most notable moment is when I am stopped for lunch and realise that large numbers of little red beetles are crawling over my stuff, and indeed me.  They seem harmless enough, looking a lot like my favourite bugs, ladybirds - these things seem unable to fly though.  Today I had planned to camp by the river, but it becomes clear that isn't happening, even when I am only a hundred metres or so from it the water is still a long way down.  Well, I get water from a little stream instead, and find a lovely grassy spot for the tent.  A large fox watches me set it up, the animal doesn't seem at all concerned by my presence - it is not getting any of my food though!  And yes, I do find numerous beetles have hitched a ride in my pack.

On a lovely sunny day, I continue to climb on the X25, the banks of the river growing less steep and the surroundings looking increasingly dry.  To yet another village, La Tapera, more bonus biscuits for me.  And for the first time in several days, I leave the public roads behind.  Obviously this means I immediately have to ford the Cisnes, well it is broad but only calf deep.  And yes, the dirt track I am on climbs steeply up to over 1,000m, and even the horseflies - tábanos they're called - are back.  For all this it's good to be back in the wild, and there is a nice view from the hill.  Of course, from there I descend again, to a lovely camp spot by a pond fed by a little waterfall.

Another river to ford, Río Cáceres - I don't see any other water on my map until maybe the end of the day, so take the opportunity to fill my bottles.  Then glorious walking, I climb slowly through terrain that is sometimes pretty arid looking, at others green with trees.  I'm making my way up to a pass, snowy mountains on one side, to the other the bare, and extremely pointy, Cerro de los Contrabandistas.  As with the Ruta de los Pioneros a few weeks back, I often pass little parches of pasture, and indeed, on reaching the pass, some 1'240m above sea level, it is an open, grassy place, complete with cows grazing.  A couple of cowboys - well, cowgirl in one case - even turn up, presumably to check on the animals, I explain where I am going and I think they are OK with it.  Honestly, I often have no idea what the people out in the countryside here are saying.  Anyway, down - very steeply from the pass, and obviously I am following a river, as I have for most of the day, including multiple fords.  There were even substantial lakes...

I've failed a bit when it comes to only averaging 35km per day, my camp next to a river is only 20km or so from the village of Lago Verde, end of this section.  Well, good to take it easy - relatively, there's some steep climbing, still on a vehicle track, then onto a horse trail which descends precipitously, I am glad of my poles.  Stopping for a break, I notice little red berries down at ground level - wild strawberries!  Apparently this species is one of two that were hybridised to create the commonly eaten variety - the original is tasty, but small.  Anyway, not far to Lago Verde, and wow, not much of a place, I am worried I won't find anywhere to stay, but no, near the pioneer monument there's an hospedaje, 25 whole dollars here.  Mind you that is with full board - yes this involves much potato, although dinner on the second night is a bit of a change, stir fried chicken with rice - plenty of carbs either way.

Lesser Patagonian Trail : Coyhaique to Villa Amengual

Kilometres this section : 161

Kilometres completed : 1,603

I am not feeling terribly enthusiastic about the next few days, as the only route I could find north from Coyhaique involves lots of road walking, much of it along the Carretera Austral highway. Had I managed to walk the trail through Cerro Castillo, this would have been a nice change and a bit of a rest, as it is I just walked on roads for three days, it could get a little boring. But in fact, a few km out of town the traffic heads off towards Puerto Aysén on route 240, and the Carretera Austral becomes another gravel track, pleasant walking through very green country, grassy meadows with abundant wild flowers, woods, with of course towering hills all around. I think it must rain reasonably often here, in fact I get a few showers, on what is a very windy day - fortunately my route is mainly sheltered from it. After lunch I turn off the 'highway' onto route X555, no traffic at all here, and the sun comes out, all good. A nice camp spot to finish too, plenty of grass growing in the woods here.

More gravel road - the X45 now, through hilly, wooded country, up to a pass then down along a river valley. Seems to be quite populous around here, lots of little homesteads, and villages too, Villa Ortega yesterday, and now I am approaching the implausibly named Ñirehuao. As I decend towards the place, there's a really rather awesome view beyond it to the east, a broad, barren looking plain, with many rocky promontories sticking out of it. Maybe the tops of ancient mountains, almost drowned by the land that has somehow risen among them. It is a bit disappointing to turn back west, impressive enough though the actual snowy mountain that way is. And again, to camp, a nice spot by a river tonight.

A little way north the next morning, and another little settlement, El Gato. Not much more than a single farm here, but it does have a school, and even a shop - I get some extra biscuits, why not. From here, the road climbs steeply, this is rocky country, sheer cliff faces all around. Then down and past a substantial mine, with its own little collection of houses for the workers. Not sure what is being mined, but it looks like people have been digging for a while in these parts, I follow a river through a gorge, and on the far bank there are several dark tunnels leading into the rock. It's a wet and windy day, the rain not heavy, but less than pleasant when the wind is driving it at me, thankfully that isn't too often. And, another day of easy walking done, camping by the substantial Río Mañihuales tonight.

The last day of this section is a return to the Carretera Austral, still only a single carriageway with not much traffic, but a modern tarmac surface. As usual I wonder why most hikers apparently hate this kind of walking, for me it makes a nice change, Indeed I can really power along. So good to be able to walk with my whole foot, touch down on the heel, roll forward, push off with the toes, and at no point is there any chance of skidding on a loose stone. A lovely walk too, sheer rock faces, tall mountains and rushing rivers. It's another cloudy, damp day, though the rain is never heavy and the sun comes out often enough. Still, very green here, and wow, quite a lot of bamboo growing in these parts. And, so easy this, I finish before 5pm, hmm, Villa Amengual really is not big, I walk around the whole place, not seeing a restaurant, or an open shop... wait, here's a place with a sign saying 'supermercado'? Well, it is a minimarket at best, but, they also have rooms - 15 dollars a night! And indeed dinner, which involves much potato, and given the minimarket is right there, I get beer at shop prices. I should move in to this place!

Lesser Patagonian Trail : Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez to Coyhaique

Kilometres this section : 150

Kilometres completed : 1,443

After finding the last eight days or so of walking very hard work indeed, I decide to take things a bit easier, from Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez it is around 40km to another small town, Villa Cerro Castillo, and I am doing it in two days.  So, I don't even start until 11:30, walking north on provincial road X735.  As is often the way, the road is a lovely walk, following Río Ibáñez but without any need for steep up and down.  I stop for lunch by the astonishing Salto del Río Ibáñez, vast quantities of water gushing down the rocky hillside.  Then a gentle enough climb, onto route X723 which runs alongside Río Claro in a dramatic gorge.  Then up to a pass, the road levels off despite the rocky cliffs rising on all sides, and an early camp, not even 6pm yet.  I am so lazy.  I don't work much harder the next day of course, a little more road, then one of the best footpaths I've encountered here, passing between Lago Central and Lago Tamango, before climbing into glorious natural parkland, pine trees and grassy clearings, with a view north to the towering mountains I'll be walking through next.  The route is regularly marked by poles with red and white stripes, and the gates even have steps for walkers!  By mid-afternoon I am in Villa Cerro Castillo, another lovely campsite, and a fine dinner, a massive salmon fillet with 'mil hojas de papas' - basically pommes dauphinoise.

Right, into the mountains then, this route is supposed to be pretty special, through the Cerro Castillo national park.  Six kilometres out of town to the trailhead, I am expecting to have to pay to get in, but in fact it's much worse, the official simply won't accept my plan to walk north.  Apparently there is a rule, you see, this route can only be walked the other way - from here it would be difficult, and steeply uphill.  The horror!  Well, no help for it, I retrace my steps, then head up the Carretera Austral.  It certainly is a very scenic road, climbing via a series of switchbacks to a viewpoint looking back over Río Ibáñez.  From here, easy walking up to a high point, between dramatic walls of rock, and a gentle descent alongside a river.  Eventually I reach Las Horquetas, the other end of the oh so difficult trail - recommended pace for it is four days, I gather, although my route involved veering off north before here.  Well, an easy enough day at least, and I find a sneaky spot to camp by the river without difficulty.

I think I am only 60km or so from Coyhaique, along the Carretera Austral - it is annoying not to be on my planned route, which has waypoints every 5km so I always know the distance pretty well.  So anyway, my thinking is, rather than walk the highway all the way there, I can detour onto minor roads, avoid the traffic, and even get back to my route this afternoon.  Well, the first detour, on route X678, works well, it is indeed traffic free, barring a couple of friendly Carabineros.  Lovely countryside here too, seems more agricultural than what I have seen prior to now, lots of cows and mown fields with bales of fresh hay.  Back to the highway, wow, lots of cars now, I can't wait to get off it, onto route X674 now.  Again charming, through green Valle Simpson, with mountains ahead.  But when, getting into late afternoon, I see a sign reading, 'Villa Frei 20km' I am not best pleased, this means I am still nearly 60km from Coyhaique.  Nothing for it but a forced march until 8pm or so before camping.  From Villa Frei I take route X648, there are signs telling me I am on the Sendero de Chile, well nice to be on a named trail, and indeed it is a pretty route, winding past numerous lakes.  I can see why this way is so much longer than the highway, the road snakes back and forth, but it's pretty flat and I make good time.  I could really do without the resurfacing work on the last 10km past the airport though.  But I make it before 6pm, time enough to check in to a hostal, and have a shower before heading out for beer and yes, a giant burger.  Coyhaique - a fun name for non-native speakers of Spanish to say - is the provincial capital, big enough to have supermarkets and a variety of restaurants.  Still not the most impressive place, but good enough for me.

Incidentally, keen readers (ha) may notice that I have changed the name of this little adventure.  It turns out that Mr. Dudeck, who came up with the name 'Greater Patagonian Trail', feels a... strong sense of ownership of the name, and the idea of a collection of routes with that name.  Out of respect for that, and given that I am walking my own route which only sometimes follows his, I am changing the name.  At time of writing, posts prior to this one still use the GPT name, but I will go back and edit them at some point, adding a note to the first post.

Greater Patagonian Trail : Cochrane to Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez

Kilometres this section : 154

Kilometres completed : 1,293

A few km of road takes me out of Cochrane, and to the entrance of Parque Nacional Tamango, I am expecting to pay a fee to get in, but the office is empty, it is New Year's Day I suppose.  There are various trails running through the park and I head off along one, Los Carpinteros, it runs alongside Rio Cochrane, then another trail, Los Coigues, skirts the western end of the huge Lago Cochrane.  Of course this means a series of near vertical ascents and descents, but here it is a lovely walk, these tracks are well maintained, there are wooden stairs and bridges, and someone has even cut back the grass!  The views over the lake to forested hills and snowy mountains are simply majestic, and I even see a huemul, a member of an endangered species of deer native to the region.  Only problem, it is slow going, I worry about getting to the next town in the four days I've planned, which would be annoying as I have a hotel booked.  So, on leaving the well maintained trails, I really need the next bit to be walkable.  Thankfully I get a well used path, even flat for a bit, then a steep climb on a track clearly used by vehicles, good enough, and from the high point, easy walking through lovely green valleys.  Still I only make 33km before camping, I will need to do better tomorrow.

My second day of the section starts with an easy, pleasant 20km on road X83, into Parque Nacional Patagonia.  Then onto Sendero Valle Avilés, following the river Avilés upstream, but this is not so bad, almost all up over many km, and not much down so the ascent is gentle enough, I make a decent pace.  The route has me wading the river just before I plan to camp, I hope it is OK, but in fact I hit a nasty crossing of a creek a few km earlier.  It's only a couple of metres across, but the middle is waist deep and the current is so strong, I can't get stable enough to take another step, I try and over I go, and end up floundering to the other side somehow.  A good thing it is a warm day, no harm done, and I cross the river itself easily enough.  I walk a couple more km to dry off, making for a rather better 41km today.  Lots of fords on the route for tomorrow, hopefully nothing that bad again.

As it turns out, the fords are OK, but there are so many of them.  It's a long walk down Valle Hermoso, it is indeed pretty, a broad gravel bed with a braided river threading through it, easy enough but with repeated crossings, I keep having to stop to empty stones out of my shoes.  Also the wretched insects are back, I think the spray helps a bit.  To Lago Verde, more blue than green, and of course, staying close to a lake means a brutal slog up to Portezuelo La Gloria, and it's just as steep going down, then it's time for more gravel and repeated wading.  It is very nice to reach Laguna Jeinimeni, which has an actual flat dirt road along the bank.  This leads to a popular campsite with various wooden shelters, and unbelievable numbers of caterpillars, I can't stop here though.  There's still 10 more km along a minor road, and I camp at 8 again.  But now, only 44km remain before that hotel room in Chile Chico.

It's so good to walk a gravel surfaced minor road, no need to wade raging rivers or watch every step lest I trip.  I can walk and enjoy the stupendous mountain scenery, and pause by Laguna Los Flamencos, where there are indeed flamingos.  The road follows Rio Jeinimeni, which is also the border with Argentina - I think I could wade it but probably best not.  All told, a lovely walk this, people even give me things, water from one nice lady, then a car stops, three locals I met yesterday, plus German Sophia who I walked with for a while, they give me almonds!  Only a shame it is so long, honestly I screwed up here, should have taken five days for this.  Well, a forced march gets me to Chile Chico, there is beer, and carne mechada, served like a hotdog, then because I am still hungry, on top of chips.  All good.  Indeed Chile Chico is a lovely place, on the shore of Lago General Carrera, Chile's largest lake, a great place for a rest.  I paddle in the chilly water, climb up to the Mirador de las Banderas, but mostly just relax.  Then, a vehicle journey!  A decent sized ferry takes me across the lake, to Puerto Ingeniero Ibáñez - nice to see a town named for an engineer.  It is not the biggest place in the world, but the cabaña I have booked is lovely, and the site has what seems to be the only open restaurant in this tiny town.  They provide me with an enormous grilled trout fillet, oh yes.