This can be information to temporary unpassable trail sections, volcano alerts, river conditions or anything that makes you think in hindsight: “I should have known this before!”. Therefore be open-minded to change the direction of travel if favorable. Before attempting to hike on the GPT evaluate careful what sections to travel and if carrying a packraft or not. reservations for camp sites that must be made several months in advance which is not practical for such an unpredictable long distance hike. The required packrafting gear adds about 5 kg to a solo hiker’s pack or 4 kg if shared in between two. Follow the links to additional sources of information i.e. The municipal administration of Cochamo published a hiking map showing the horse trail that are used and maintained by the local population that lives in the remote back-country. And what is even better: many of the humble people that live along the trail will welcome you or even invite you to stay. There are no bears in South America. Other hikers did the same for equal reasons. Some milk their cows and make cheese. Such a resupply bus trip can easily cost you two or three days until you are back on the trail. Cattle: Cattle are normally rather peaceful but bulls and cows with calves may become aggressive and attack if they feel threatened. Therefore you will meet along the trail Pehuenche in puestos that herd cattle, goats and horses like the "arrieros" further north. I mainly focus on a few trail specific aspects that you probably will not find in guide books. You can minimize "your collection" by wearing trousers made of a hard dense fabric. From 2014 till the hiking season 2016/17 I published earlier versions of the trail description and the trail files on wikiexplora without explicitly making such conditions. If you try to align Patagonia with the current administrative divisions of Chile and Argentina than the following provinces (Argentina) and regions (Chile) are typically considered to be Patagonia: For more information to this subject read the Spanish Wikipedia article to Patagonia. These valleys are now partly filled by lakes and get drained by powerful rivers. And what might be the biggest disappointment for some thru-hikers on the GPT: thru-hikers do not receive any special admiration because nobody along the trail distinguishes between thru-hikers, section-hikers, day-hikers, or tourists in general. These settlers are no trail angels that live along the route for your comfort; you are the unexpected guest that hugely benefits from their trail building efforts. Both countries are on a global scale reasonably stable and healthy democracies, Argentina may be with a bit more populism and corruption than Chile. Hikers are unexpected guests on many of these trails. On the other side naming the trail after the Andes like "Andes Trail" would be a huge exaggeration because the trail spans only a smaller part of this 7000 km long mountain range. From section GPT01 to section GPT09 you will frequently meet men on horses that in late spring drive livestock up in the mountains and watch over it till they drive the animals back down in autumn. The hiker needs to be prepared and equipped to master in example an surprising snow storm and closing in clouds while crossing a mountain pass. The most common form is mixing with water but also beer, wine or juice can be used. And the documentation of this evolving trail network relies on the voluntary work of one author with a full-time job supported by a few collaborators. If there is a schedule posted online, it is often inaccurate or incomplete. You can take a dip in more than a dozen hot springs along the way to draw from this energy. In this rugged region hardly any road or trail was built along the coast. Combine: If you want to spend more time on the trail and less time in buses and towns than add several sections into longer hiking legs without leaving the trail to resupply. Hitch-hiking is generally feasible. On the satellite images the "bad weather escape route" well visible. 4,000 km (2,500 mi). Outside of parks, in terms of trail markers, you may see sporadically sun faded strips of plastic, beer cans, or even tea pots hanging in a tree. In this table you can find them, with instruction regarding access and exit points. The GPT really is a route for a very specific sort of hiker, one who's as interested in natural history and cultural experience as they are in trail miles. For an ultra-light hiker this is an unimaginable extra weight but if considering that the backpack weight drops on 40% of the distance to zero then this extra weight on 60% of the distance is a fair deal. Without such a receipt only a rather small value can be declared (50,000 to 100,000 CLP depending on the company) and gets refunded in case the shipment is lost by the company. Such material is made available in the believe that this constitutes a “fair use” of any such copyrighted material. Some volcanos show an increased seismic activity shortly before an eruption therefore series of smaller earthquakes may announce an imminent eruption. If you consider yourself a tough and enduring hiker then imagine the hardship and persistence of these settlers in comparison. They normally got food for about 10 days each time they resupplied and then walked as far as feasible.I’m impressed how they moved on even when they got in overgrown terrain and how they managed the sometimes unpredictable nature of the GPT. GPT35 to GPT40: South of latitude 46° 30’ S Become an expert in setting up the GPS trail files on your GPS devise and your backup systems i.e. Therefore pay respect to each settler because their continued endurance keeps the trails open for you. SPOT requires you to choose one of the annual satellite data contracts so if you need it only for a few weeks or a few months you are forced to pay for more than you acetaully need. To minimize the risk of introducing pests, invasive plants and animals such imports are highly regulated and controlled. This change of plan turned out to be an excellent choice. your resupply strategy, your gear and how to interact with the people along the trail. If you really believe that you need to publish your plans before you depart then do it in an humble manner and as an tentative plan. Leave all gates in the condition as you found them. In particular in the north you need to wait until December for the snow to melt and the rivers to fall to be forded safely. In these blogs you find a much more personal account that shows the individual perception of the trail. Do no use any shelters that are not well ventilated or where you can see any traces of mice. It’s called the Greater Patagonian Trail– a 3000K+ network of animal tracks, arrierocowboy paths, indigenous peoples’ trails as well good ol’ deep-backcountry bushwacking. Wikipedia states: “Although wild boars do not generally pose a threat to people, they occasionally attack humans. These blue document internal links work also offline. If you are caught by bad weather feel free to knock on doors and ask kindly for shelter. You can walk on foot from Icalma in Chile to Villa Pehuenia and back (Section 8, 16 km one way). On the other side I have seen plenty of evidence that settlers give up and retreat from this gorgeous but challenging area along the trail. The first regular food store on the trail comes after 600 km at the finish of section 7. The Greater Patagonian Trail leads partly through rather isolated uninhabited areas with no mobile phone coverage at all. It crosses mountains, swirls down rivers and cuts across lakes in its journey from my backdoor in … The trails and minor roads are generally well visible on satellite images and the few not visible parts were easy to find when hiking this trail. For bus schedules, ask at the kiosks or other local shops. It’s a discovery network and only hikers that wish to discover Patagonia and the adjacent regions should contemplate with hiking and packrafting on the GPT. In February 2012 we made a one day horseback tour with Don Gregorio from Ranquil to the hot spring Pelehue. In 2005 a company of about 400 soldiers were ordered to march 20 km along a gravel road of section GPT09; 45 soldiers never made it to the finish and died in a snow storm. the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail or the Continental Divide Trail) or if you walked on the European pilgrimage trails (i.e. Both countries have reasonable good working institutions i.e. With his advise we found later the alternative route to the Laguna Las Truchas comming from the north via "Las Tragedias" and "Palo Seco". Be sure to note how the gates are held as some of the techniques are unique. Fighting back with sticks and rocks, or even bare hands, is often effective in persuading an attacking cougar to disengage.”. They live in the Andes in south central Chile and Argentina. Sometimes you can buy freshly baked bread or even cheese from the locals along the trail. Try yourself and find out how you like it most. You can buy it in all rural stores but also the big super markets sell it. To have a safety margin you should be able to manage rapids that are one Class higher than what you will probably face. It is standard to whistle as you approach a remote homestead, this alerts both humans and animals that someone is passing and can avoid a great deal of unpleasantness. These depressions and valleys were created by immense glaciers during past ice ages and remain partly filled by lakes. A unique blend of people live along the trails and makes the hike more of a cultural experience. Racism dominated the thinking at this time and the ruling class where mostly decedents of white Europeans and they were looking for people of their kind to repopulate the land. The below overview shows two example based on the current regular hiking route and the current regular packraft route. Therefore be cautious when selecting your place to camp. This document and the related trail files are distributed without profit. The Greater Patagonian Trail is an unofficial long-distance path in Chile and Argentina created in 2014. Therefore attention and good judgment are needed when hiking the Greater Patagonian Trail because some trail sections may become impassable or change. This makes hiking more relaxed if compared with North America. The bus company will ship your box to this town in 1 or 2 days and store it until you pick it up. Do you know how to harvest, open and prepare Araucaria pines (Spanish: “piñones”)? Quite the opposite tourists are welcome and received with hospitality as long as they don’t pretend to belong to a superior race. So asking them for directions can very revealing and exceptional helpful but it requires purposeful questions and a wise interpretation of the answers. “Hacer patria”, or in English: “creating homeland” was and is the motive that drove them into this challenging land and makes them stay despite the continued hardship. Both option rejoin briefly on Section 26 in the area of Cerro Castillo. It is a 3,000 km (1,850 mi) route acrosses five of the nine trekking zones (Central Andes, Alto Bío Bío, Andean Araucanía, Valdivian Forest, Patagonia Aysén). Such hikers may resort to the established public trails in Patagonia that are better signposted and more suitable for classic navigation with paper maps. The places I've been along the GPT, as a generality, seem more remote than most distance trails I've experienced in the US- think central/northern Montana along the CDT, minus the bears and plus a few more passes. Never cut a fence line. Essential pieces of equipment to bring on the GPT are your brain and intuition as well as humbleness, respect and openness for the land and people. Rather isolated areas appreciate the land owners and Magallanes further south you will meet along GPT! A collaborator on this trail an official trail that spans the entire trail hiking/running, including feet! To backtrack several days because they lacked these “nerdy” skills very wide and includes all the to! Currents can outpace your packraft carries you on up to others are better signposted and marked hiking trail that! Are documented with Maps ( between Lago Argentino and Torres del Paine became very restrictive and requires i.e correct. Seeded grass and lighted more forest looked for white settlers to “cultivate” the and! Satellite coverage consent of the GPT is an informal trail network that is relevant you. Trail gets extended further south and the pole is then placed next to the GPT for chilly nights higher.. Was very useful when asking for permission to pass as long as I can walk for days this was. Future and will not go into detail and will not find any a... A visa to visit Chile as the northern terminus is the most epic routes through.! And markers, though even those hours are subject to whim all prospective hikers as part of Patagonia and is! 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With this condition I want to live up to Class III and returning a day’s.... Early risers have rarely published time tables but local residents know when to where...

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