This Adventure Called Life: Ruta 115 through to Queñes

Fidgit walking under the water pipelines
in Hydro Cipreses land.

Life perseveres.

We had already gotten permission (via Fidgit emailing them during work hours) from Hydro Station Cipreses to go through their property on the northern side of Ruta 115, so we were able to get past the guard station at the gate without much issue. We filled out their required form saying if we die it's not their fault and that we won't hurt their flora and fauna, and we were on our way! The temperatures weren't getting any cooler, so we had waited until later in the day to begin and enjoyed walking in the shade of the trees planted along the road out to where we would start our long climb up to Paso Hornitos.

Fidgit on the road walk through
Hydro Cipreses

My first view of Laguna Hornitos! I was so
glad to get to water after that climb.

Walking up towards Paso Hornitos

We began our ascent early to make it to the laguna and be able to refill on water before heading the rest of the way up to 2040m in elevation. The trail was visible to the laguna, though there was little shade. After enjoying the shade of a rock and water at the lake, we walked on, finding the trail and following it up the narrowing valley. As we neared the top, the trail dissipated and the ash we had been walking on became looser. Up and up we went, wondering when we would arrive at the pass. We ate lunch at a small stream and continued up, arriving to the pass in the afternoon, nine hours after leaving camp. We looked out in awe, as the next couple days of hiking were laid out in front of us- black ash turned to white, open, exposed valleys unfurling as far as my eyes could see. We left the pass and shoe-slid down the ash to the valley floor near Laguna Caracol, walked around it, and made our way to some marked hot springs. Trail was easy to follow again and there wasn't much elevation change, so we made it to the springs as the sun was setting, only to find out they were more like tepid springs, not hot. We made camp and I fell asleep quickly from such an exhausting day.

Looking out on our next few days of hiking

The next day, we made our way across what looked like another planet, minus the few flower-speckled streams we crossed. The ash turned definitively white, the rocks were sparse and the shade was non-existent. We walked across and then up the valley, and up across another pass. Walking was tough because of the cat-litter consistency of what we were walking across, so I was glad when we could go downhill; it was much faster to slide down than up. Following the next valley down, we ended up at another hot springs. This time we could smell the sulfur as we approached and saw some sulfur steam vents across the river. Much to Fidgit's delight, these hot springs were actually hot, and she spent the evening soaking and smiling. I enjoyed them for a bit, and then sauntered off to bed, tired from adding-up days of sun exposure.

Fidgit walking to Laguna Caracole

Laughing in the evening- someone had written
"Send Nudes"in giant letters with
stones near the Hot Springs.

We left the hot springs the next morning, immediately climbing up and around an escarpment to then descend steeply into the river valley. Walking along the river valley, we came upon our 'official' turn- we were leaving Section One of the Greater Patagonia Trail and beginning a northern extension investigation that Jan (the creator of the GPT) had routed out and would take us into Santiago. We started along the investigatory route and were soon being questioned by some caretakers of a property. After they showed us around and taught us how to fish, we were eventually allowed to pass through. We walked up and across the valley, coming upon a puesto and a group of men. They were kind and gracious. One of them had even ridden the route we were hoping to do and was able to give us information on what he remembered. The boss of the group, a rich man out who owned the property, shared many stories and his food with us. We left late in the day after it had cooled off a bit, walking up the valley and over a ridge to Rio Los Patos, where we set up camp.

White ash and sun were mesmerizing
and boiling my brain in the same moment.

In the morning, we hiked up to a large laguna and it became decision time. Jan had created three route options choose from that may take us down into the valley of Rio Colorado. We had been debating which and after researching, we went with the one labeled 'difficulty?' because it seemed do-able and more direct. We were able to follow a valley for most of the way, and then the end of said valley dropped off and our route became more of a down climb for about an hour. We alternated walking/scooting down a steep drainage covered in loose rocks a variety of sizes. When we made it down to the valley floor again, I marked on our GPS 'Impassable southbound'.

Beautiful flowers in bloom

We then made our way to the river crossing marked along Rio Colorado. Looking out at the whitewater upstream and downstream, I was glad that Jan had marked it. I watched Fidgit struggle to cross the belly-button-deep rushing waters with baited breath. She made it! My turn. I stepped into the frigid waters and immediately knew this is not a river to be messed with. Facing upstream, I made sure each of my poles and a foot were firmly in place before inching my other foot deeper and deeper into the current. I had made it into the center of the strongest flow after a few minutes, and that's where my feet began to slip from the strength of the water. I desperately tried to feel a solid foot placement along the bottom of the river bed to no avail, and nearly fell face-first into the waters, soaking the front of my shirt. In a last ditch effort, I put all my effort into forcing my body towards a nearby rock, knowing if I could get downstream of it, it would block the strength of the river. I somehow propelled myself that way, and made it! After I recovered my footing, I was able to cross the rest of the river with minimal incident, and we lunched on the bank, allowing time for clothing to dry and us to catch our breath. After a morning like that, I was grateful that the rest of the day was uneventful. We were able to follow an animal path along the river to a campsite where we both fell into an exhausted sleep.

Fidgit walking down the valley

The next morning, we followed the path along the river for a few kilometers before heading straight up the north side of the valley at a place called 'Cuesta las Hormigas' We spent the morning going up a steep drainage, gaining 1,000m in elevation and spent the afternoon continuing up a valley, crossing Rio Negro, (not as deep though just as strong as Rio Colorado- crossed with minimal incidents) and continuing up another 800 meters or so to a dry camp. According to our DeLorme InReach that night, we were 4.1km "as the condor flies" from the previous nights' camp. We had, however, gained about 2,000 meters in elevation, plus whatever we did going down to Rio Negro and coming back up.

Some kind caretakers showed us how to fish

The men at a Puesto shared their shade with us

In the morning, we went up and crossed into another valley, following a narrow animal path to Rio Barroso. Crossing that river was the easiest yet, and we were able to find and follow a solid animal-turning-to-more-worn path up and then down again over a pass and down to Puesto Vacas Gordas. We shared some shade and a late lunch with the two caretakers there. They shared their information of the area, as well as information about the forest fires along the coast that had been burning for a few weeks. We were starting to notice an increasing amount of smoke in the air as we walked, so we wanted to make sure the fires were staying west of Ruta 5. Thanking the Arrieros for the information and shade, we walked down to the beginning of a dirt track. We found camp, ready to be in town after this long stretch between resupplies.

Walking the road into Las Queñes and its valley, the smoke thickened and the fires were all over the news channels in town, so we got some more information. It seemed as though we were safe to continue along north. Spending an evening in town, we were able to get all our chores done (other than internet-dependent ones) and headed out in the morning, determined to get to Santiago.