Expedition Report
The aim of this expedition was to hike sections of the Greater Patagonian Trail, a trail spanning mountains, forests, and lakes over 1,500km across Southern Chile and Argentina. This is an isolated and relatively unexplored region, and the team of four Imperial College students intended to contribute to the relatively small pool of knowledge of the region to assist future travellers. The journey was accomplished from mid-November 2016 to early January 2017, the summer season, and was to start from the centre of Chile, a region that boasts some of the highest annual rainfall in the world, and to then to head south. At points along the route the group also resorted to hitch- hiking, using buses, ferries, and motorboats.
The first stage of the route was from Coñaripe to Puerto Fuy, during which the group were able to enjoy soaking in hot volcanic springs. They then travelled by buses to Puyehue, and then trekked along muddy trails through the National Park, encountering an out of season ski resort, negotiating thick bamboo forests, and enjoying spectacular views of the Andes mountain range. Having swum across the River Aguas Malas, the group continued into the mountains. A motorboat crossing of Lago Todos los Santos brought the group to Petrohúe, before they took a bus to Ensenda and then to Cochamó. La Junta area of Cochamó provides world-class ascents and many of the campsites in the area were filled with climbers, so the team were able to borrow some equipment to climb the La Luna crag.
The next stage to Segundo Corral on the Chilean-Argentinian border involved walking along the Lago Vidal Gomez and hitching to Llanada Grande, while the journey to Coyhaique, the largest city in Chilean Patagonia, via El Bolsón in Argentina was accomplished through hitching the 660km in pairs in order to make up time. From Coyhaique the group hiked through periods of heavy rain, hail, snow, and strong winds, whilst passing through forests and bogs, traversing a river, and negotiating scree slopes and steep rocky scrambles, as they made their way to Villa Cerro Castillo.
At this point the group were able to hike to Laguna Cerro Castillo to get a stunning view of the glacier, before heading to Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez via a scenic, pretty route whilst accompanied by sunshine. They would spend Christmas there and enjoy a chicken dinner, as well as kayaking on the shores of Lago General Carrera, the second largest lake in South America. The team hitched to Puerto Tranquilo where they were able to visit the capilla de marmol, (marble chapel), caves, and then took buses along the Chilean Patagonian Carretera Austral towards Cochrane. Following further hitching and buses the group arrived at Villa O’Higgins on New Year’s Eve, where they enjoyed the fireworks display and the town fiesta.
In the New Year the team took the ferry across Lago O’Higgins/Lago San Martin, and then crossed the border into Argentina. They trekked along Lago del Desierto where they enjoyed great views of the surrounding mountains and glaciers, including the spectacular Mount Fitzroy. They headed towards the El Chaltén National Park where they followed a boulder field trail towards Mount Fitzroy, whilst enduring strong winds which managed to blow the expedition members to the ground. After being amazed by sight of the glacier piedra blanca, the group spent their final day hiking to the town of El Chaltén.