Queñes to Las Peñas and through to Puente Alto, AKA Officially getting to Santiago by foot!

A reprieve from the heat

Leaving Queñes, we began a routine that would carry us through the rest of the investigatory sections of the Greater Patagonia Trail. The general pattern is: leave town on a road, go up a valley to a pass, over a pass or so, and back down a valley to a road that goes into our next town.

The trail isn't overgrown...yet.

From the road out of Queñes, we walked through a friendly gentleman's property, and then began following a stream uphill into the valley it had formed over the millenia. We were still in a fog of firesmoke during a heat wave, so the breathing was difficult, as the air was thick with smoke and humidity. We were happy to stop for lunch at a well-kept campsite where we were told by some locals about the swimming hole nearby. We jumped in the water, and it was such sweet relief from the heat! After a well-enjoyed break, we continued up the valley following horse paths. We camped near treeline that night and continued up the valley in the morning. As we neared the first pass, the horse paths faded into harder to follow animal paths. We were able to continue above tree line and find intermittent paths that took us along the ridge line and down to another campsite.

Looking from our first pass along the trail to our 2nd pass

The area was dry, being a ridge line, but we were able to find water as soon as we dropped down, so we camped for the night and went over the saddle in the morning, heading down another valley to a large river crossing. The river running along the base of the valley was swift moving and narrow with many rapids. We spent a good part of the morning walking along and deciding where to cross (The creator of the route had a couple of options marked on the route he shared with us). When I finally stepped into the water, I was grateful we had planned carefully and found a wider part of the river with smaller rapids. The water was still very strong where we crossed, and a coffee table-sized rock beneath the surface impeded my progress for a few moments. In the end, we were both able to get across safely and had lunch on the other side of the river in celebration.

Fidgit looking out on the firesmoke-filled valley

From the river crossing, we followed more horse/animal paths along a smaller river up another valley and were able to make it nearly to the last pass before town before setting up camp for the night. Waking up, the forest fire smoke that had been irritating our lung and mucus membranes for days seemed to have begun dissipating. Not altogether gone, but I could see more of the sky as we progressed the rest of the way up to the passes we would cross. Again nearing the passes, the horse trail faded at about treeline, though we had become accustomed to changes/disappearances in trail and found our way to the first pass, and then 200 meters down and up to the second pass. Following well-worn animal path, we made it to the third pass, up, over, and down to a beautiful valley and well-worn horse path that led us into the small community of Las Peñas.

Road walking to Aguas Buenas

One of the many human traces at the mouth of the valley

After a short town stay to resupply and use the internet to connect with people, we moved on, road walking through Puente Negro and Agua Buena to our next valley. There are times when we feel like we're in the middle of nowhere, and there are times we notice more human 'prints' through areas - this valley was one of the latter. As we walked further into the valley, the signs of humanity dissipated and we climbed up (you guessed it) to a pass. We were concerned about water as we ascended, so we were sure to fill up before the stream ended. Investigating these routes north of the 'official' GPT reminded us at least every day how nice it was to have a route that someone else had investigated for us while preparing us for the rest of this trip (route finding, mapping, not taking water for granted). We continued up and over the pass, bush-bashing our way through after the animal trail faded out.

Re-entering the forest

We descended the other side of the pass, and again walked for a few kilometers without trail before discovering an old campsite. We found horse trail from the campsite that we were able to follow the entire way (about a day's walk) down the valley. The horse trail took us along the mountainside and past a couple of well-worn camp sites before it spat us out onto the road which led us into the town of Coya. We caught a bus from Coya to meet some people in Santiago.

Making it into Santiago by bus, we met up with some friends of Fidgit's that had offered to bring some goodies down for us - thanks for the pole tips, new gadgets, and goodies, Matt, Mike, and Chris!! After hanging out with those guys and getting semi-cleaned up, we went to meet (in person finally!) Jan and Meylin, the creators/initial explorers of the GPT, who were only in Santiago for a short time. We were able to spend a full day and a half with all of these people in Santiago before bussing back down to Coya.

Fidgit knew what these were, I had never seen them before.

Found horse path along the way

Returning to the trail after our first day off since Talca (nearly a month before) was difficult, but we were still determined to make it to Santiago on foot before we allowed ourselves a proper rest. We knew a dry ridge walk was our next challenge so we made sure to fill up our waters. As we ascended and followed the ridge, we slowly got to see the extent of why we had to go to the ridge - one of Chile's largest copper mines was nestled in the valley below. We traversed the ridgeline all day, slowly draining our water before making the descent past a retaining pond to follow a road. This was right about the time we had both run out of water, so we were eyeing the pond, but its mass of deposits from the mine deterred us. We were able to walk a few more kilometers and find a small stream not coming out of the mine to fill our water containers with. After a night's rest, we followed the road the mine was building, up and up, to our highest pass yet. As we walked along the road, multiple trucks stopped; the workers inside the vehicles offered us water, fruit, and even their sandwiches from their lunch.

Fidgit, Meylin, Jan, and me in Santiago!

We made it up and over the 3,200 meter pass and worked our way down into Reserva Rio Clarillo, where we found an easy to follow horse path along the valley. As we neared the entry most people would be coming through, the main gate, we were stopped by a couple of young men. They worked for the reserve and asked us how we had come through. When we told them, they relayed that the park was closed because of the fires along the coast, so to leave ASAP because we were in the park illegally. As we were already on our way out, Fidgit and I had no trouble finding our way to the entry gate and walking down the road past two more groups of park workers who were re-routing people. They were all quite genial, and we made it to our road walk without incident.

Road walking into the city of Santiago was very different than it would have been in the states. The campo pretty much abuts the city with a small village in-between.  There were no sprawling suburbs filled with McMansions and strip malls; there were no shady characters leering from the edges of shadows. Instead, there were people out walking their dogs, talking to their neighbors, and riding their horse into town. As soon as we crossed the bridge into Puente Alto, the city began. People were everywhere, selling wares, walking along the wide sidewalks, doing whatever it is city people do. Fidgit and I walked straight to the subway station and hopped on the subway towards where we would be staying. We had just walked from the southern tip of South America (near Ushuaia, Argentina) to Santiago, Chile!

Some of my gear was struggling too

As we neared Santiago, it was like my clothes knew
and began falling apart, one piece at a time.

Looking down at the mine from the ridge we walked
along it.

Fidgit walking up the road, along the caracoles

Thanks for the juice, passing trucks!

The view from near our 3,200 meter pass

Fidgit looking down into Reserva Rio Clarillo

Some horses visited us at our camp the evening
before we reached Santiago

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.

Fidgit walking up the valley

Going down a steep, scree-laden slope to Rio Colorado
Find Fidgit in the photo!

Ascending Cuesta los Hormigos

A landslide area at the crossing
of Rio Negro

Looking and pondering after our '4.1km' day

Helpful men at Puesto Vacas Gordas

Helpful and kind people along the roadwalk into Queñes.

Roadwalking into town.

Puente Ingles to Ruta 115 and Talca

Some men from Puente Ingles preparing for the
 San Sebastian Fiesta/Asado

We were able to catch a bus back out to Puente Ingles to continue north along the Greater Patagonia Trail route. It is helpful that many people in the campos don't have roads to their houses, much less cars, so the buses go deep into the backcountry towns/communities of Chile. As we walked along debating which route to take out of Puente Ingles- horse path or road- we came upon some locals and they (as forcefully as a Chilean can) urged us to take the road, because the horse path was more dangerous. They told us a story of how a man had died recently, and said we should be careful. We took their advice, as we have learned over time and a lot of practice to listen to the locals.

Paola on the bridge in front of her Puesto

Following trail along the valley up to Laguna Dial

We didn't get far before night fall, though we were able to get the road walk out of the way during the cool morning hours the next day. Nearly right when we turned off the road to a horse trail, the temperatures seemed to be heating up for another hot day in Chile. It has been warm all summer, and the temperatures for the forseeable future were in the 30s Celsius, or the 90s Fahrenheit. So, hot. As we pressed on into the afternoon, we came upon a lovely shade tree and stopped to have lunch. The tree was in front of a puesto, and as we settled in to eat, some Caribeneros and a young woman came out and the policemen asked us a string of questions before being satisfied enough to get on their horses and ride away to continue patrolling. The woman came up and talked with us after they had left, being excited to speak with some women, as it's mostly men who pass through. So as we ate, we also talked. Well, Fidgit did most of the talking, because I'm still working on my Spanish language skills and also prefer to listen. We both enjoyed our chat with Paola, but had to get going to get some more kilometers in before camp time, so we packed up and moved on, thanking her profusely for the use of her tree's shade.

Fidgit enjoying the sunset/moonrise at camp

As we ascended towards Laguna Dial and were making our way around the beast (lake) the next day, I was wistfully remembering the shade of that tree. It was intensely hot, and the lack of shade and sun's reflection off the pristine waters of the lake were not helping. If I were to guess, I would say it reached at least 98*F that day. We would try and cool ourselves by dipping our hats and bananas in water before placing them back on. By mid-morning, my shirt was soaked with sweat, not a cloud in the sky. We were grateful when the sun set and we were left in the cooling evening air. A breeze even came up and cooled us off more.

Laguna Dial

Fidgit walking along the shores of Laguna Dial

The next day, we made it the last few kilometers around Laguna Dial and started down the valley towards Carrizales, a tiny community at the other end. As the day again grew warmer, we began seeing a cluster of trees in the distance. They were tall, and proffering shade like only the first trees we had seen in 2 days could. As we walked up to them, we realized that there was a Caribeneros station nestled into the center of the trees with about 6 police officers sitting at a table outside. We didn't care, though we did politely ask if we could eat our lunch there. They kindly said yes, and we talked about where we had come from, where we were going, who else had passed through recently, and how it is to be a policeman at a remote station. After eating, photos, and goodbyes, we made our way down the valley following an old road. This led us to a woman named Irma and her family, who also generously shared their shade with us. We were basically trying to shade hop as much as possible because of the oppressive heat, and luckily we were encountering kind people with shade to spare.

Grateful to still be in the shade of the mountain,
going up to a high point along Laguna Dial

As we broke camp the next morning, I was hoping for a cooler day with a light breeze and more shade. We ended up getting slightly more shade and were able to walk past a few abandoned estancias with fruit trees and shade trees, so I got to enjoy even more than I had hoped for. Fresh off the tree plums and cherries! There were also pear trees; unfortunately those weren't yet ripe. It is not often we get fresh fruit out here, and I was very grateful we were able to find some. We walked along a dirt road that turned to horsepath that turned to road again, and we made it into Carrizales by evening. We sat on the porch of the kiosko owner's house and talked with them for some time. We ended up camping in one of their fields, fenced in from their goat herd.

We ran into a large herd of goats being herded past us.

We packed up the next morning and headed on our way, road walking the entire day - a first in a long time. It was a lesser-used dirt road mostly, so it stayed quiet until we got closer to the main road and cars began passing us with more frequency. As we were looking for a camp spot, we saw two hikers coming toward us. It was Buck-30 and Skittles, 2 thru-hikers from the U.S. we had been in contact with about planning their hike along the Greater Patagonia Trail! We made camp together and stayed up late exchanging information and stories. I was glad we were able to finally meet these guys in person and have a conversation, and we parted ways amicably in the morning, us pushing toward town and them off to complete Section 2 of the GPT.

We found more shade for a few moments!

We made it to Ruta 115 by about lunch time - road walking is much faster than route finding and trail walking, though I prefer trail. We hitch-hiked into San Clemente from a bus stop in case a bus came past, decided the larger town of Talca would better suit our needs, and got on a local bus to take us down the road. We arrived, and it was a bit overwhelming, though we were able to quickly find a place to stay and some food. We then self-sequestered to get work done; thankfully the place we stayed was able to wash our clothes, as it had been about a month since their last proper washing. We left town smelling less bad and rode the bus back out to begin where we had left off along the side of Ruta 115 outside of HydroStation Cipreses.

The Caribeneros Outpost

The Caribineros and us.
 The wind was blowing dust in my face.

Where's the shade?! A hot, dry stretch

Fresh plums!

The plum trees were weighed down with ripe fruit

Cowgirl Camping and making faces

Walking down the road along the Rio

We got to meet Skittles and Buck-30!