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.