Where: New Patagonia National Park — Chile
When: March 16-19 (3 nights 4 days on trail)
Distance: ~100 Kilometers
Route: https://caltopo.com/m/SSME
Difficulty: Medium High
Water: Everywhere. No need to cary more than 1 liter at any time
Beauty and Solitude: Better than the Garden of Eden.
Challenges: Lots of very cold water crossings. Just getting to the trial head. Keeping body warm and dry.
Cost: $2,000 per person US including flight From Austin Texas. It could be done much cheaper, but I’m at he stage in life where I value good meals and time over money. Mind you we were not extravagant. but we did spend 4 nights off trail and enjoyed Chile in general.
We hiked essentially the same rout as reported by Alan Dixon. ( http://www.adventurealan.com/patagonia-national-park-trek/ ). It was some of the best hiking we have ever done.
We flew from Santiago to Balmaceda. Then down to Chile Chico by bus/Ferry. We were picked up at out hotel in Chile Chico at 6:30 AM by <span data-sheets-value=”{"1":2,"2":"Jeinimeni Adventures"}” data-sheets-userformat=”{"2":285443,"3":{"1":0},"4":[null,2,15922165],"11":0,"12":0,"14":[null,2,3561625],"15":"system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, \".SFNSText-Regular\", sans-serif","17":1,"21":1}”>Jeinimeni Adventures ( [email protected] WhatsApp +56979733122) for 50,000 Chilean Pesos were driven to the trial head and arrived at 8 AM –Just as the ranger station was opening. We checked in paid “the tariff” for one night in Reserva Jeinimeni. </span>
We hiked 9 miles the first day. The first 4 were simple, flat and easy. After that it was a series of river crossings. 3 or 4 were challenging 30 more were just impossible to keep you feet totally dry. We did however get some “Launch Socks” from Chill cheaters.( https://www.chillcheater.com/gloves-and-footwear/aquatherm-waterproof-thigh-high-socks ) And we added some cheap water shoes to the bottoms. This was about perfect as we could virtually ignore the water crossing and still maintain dry feet. _- I would suggest a stringer sole than the water shoes however. The rocks are pretty tough on the feet after a few miles. The brief but very steep clim to Lago Verde was tough and complicated by billion of caterpillars in a 400 years square area. It was creepy biblical stuff out of a Steven King movie. There was no way to walk with killing a few every other step. Lago Verde is beautiful beyond words. We shared the designated campsite with 3 other couples. (We encountered only 2 other people the entire first day)
Day two we did 21-23 miles. All the way down to the stone house – Casa Piedra. Most folks stop at the Refugio half way , but it is very possible to push the enter way. We are not weak. But we are 50+ in age. Every single ridge, corner or rise we came over had amazing views. Sometimes you missed them because 180 degrees in the other direction was too stunning to take you eyes off. There was only 2 other guys at the Stone House campground.
Day 3 was a 16 mile road walk. Many things we read said hitchhike the road. Bu the road was as pleasant as any trail I have even walked. During the entire 16 miles we sam maybe 10 cars. 3 f which offered us a ride– we refused. This brought us into the New Patagonia National Park. we woke on day three after sleet that night and looked back at the passes we came from. The mountains were not snow covered. I suspect the trails were just fine.
The park has a very swanky restaurant. (in fact he most expensive meal we had in Chile we ate there — probably because of the two bottles of wine) There is also pub fare in the bar up until 6 PM. The the bar we were fortunate enough to meet Kris Tomkins (Former CEO of Patagonia and widow of Doug Tomkins Founder of The North Face) who is gifting all the land that, along with 2 Chilean government parcels will become Patagonia National Park on April 1, 2019.
The campground (Westwinds) is nothing too special. Its clean. but it is a drive up site and there were maybe 50 people camped that night. We got in late and left early. Slept like logs (lots of miles and wine will do that to you)
Day 4 we hiked up out of the park and headed for Cochrane. It was an all day walk into some more staggering beauty. Hardest of the 4 days as the climbs were tough. And the descents into Cochrane made my quads scream by the time we finally descended.
In total we saw lass than a dozen people in 4 days (outside the main park complex). Other than the cars on the road we had no engines or sounds of civilization other than 1 helicopter one time. We saw no litter — not one single twist tie, not one single bottle cap or even scrap of toilet paper.
Would I recommend this route: Yes. More than any other hike I have taken. Its difficult to get too — and that, along with the really cold water crossings, keeps the light weights away. You earn the beauty. Unlike say The Long Trial in Vermont. — after you struggle up a good clime, You have it to yourself. There is no chair lift or access by road.
Changes I would make:
2 pair of trial runners. One for wet one for dry.
Im might extend the hike one more day and take the longer lake loop out of the park to Cochrane.I would invent caterpillar repellent
One final note: On the ferry to Chile Chico we met a guide who was taking 15~20 Rhodes Scholars from Oxford on the route we traveled in the first two nights. They planned on doing that in 5 days Nice kids. Bu they had heavy boots 85 Liter backs. Camera cases and lots of brand new gear from REI., My wife nicknamed the guide “Pretty boy”. Pretty boy was down right rude and made it clear that we would never make it to Cochrane in 5 days. — So a big FU to pretty boy. We did it in four.
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