South America

On the 12th of February, we were happy to wake up to sun and enjoyed the views along some paved roads for a change on route to Villa Cerro Castillo.

In the village, we checked in for one night into Camping Castillo to prepare for our first multiday hike, a 57km trail called 'the Cerro Castillo circuit'. Having a quick look at the forecast, we expected a wet start but the weather expected to improve over the week. On a tight schedule to make our booked O trek start date, we had no time to waste waiting another day for the weather to improve so we set off in the rain the following day on the bus to Coyhaique. On the bus, we met a swiss couple who had attempted to complete the full trek a few days prior but had to abandon before the second pass due to bad weather and hadn't seen any views in the cloud... We hoped we would be luckier!

By the time we arrived at our stop 'Las Horquetas' - the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, the rain was belting down..! Being the only ones getting off the packed bus, everyone looked on sympathetically including the bus driver who climbed on top the bus to collect our already drenched bags. Within the few minutes walk to the rangers hut, our gloves were already soaked through. The rangers offered to quickly warm them on the stove as we signed the register, the only ones checking in on this miserably day. With no other choice, we set off on our trek.

Halfway into the first day, we came across Marcus from Norway and his dutch friend retracing their steps for their missing fishing rod. They had entered the park the night before to escape paying the entrance fee but due to the cold and wet had decided to hike out. More ill prepared than us sporting no waterproofs, a hoody and leather jacket and with their soaked through sleeping bags hanging off the side of their bags, we didn't expect to see them again.

By the time we arrived to our first campsite, the rain stopped and the sun started to shine through the cloud to warm us up. We were cheerily welcomed by Chester, a nice Chilean man who offered us some of his homemade beef jerky. To our surprise, there were a few people at camp who had had hiked in the previous day and were waiting for the following day to complete the first pass. Even further to our surprise, Marcus and his friend with their soaked bags appeared after finding their fishing rod!

However, within the first hour after putting up our tent, a ranger appeared to tell us a Patagonian storm was approaching and the park was closing meaning we would not be allowed to move from camp for the next three days including retreating back to the road. With a disheartened atmosphere in camp, everyone busied themselves for the evening building up defense walls around their tents to defend against the incoming weather.

After a very peaceful night without a puff of wind, we were sceptical of the rangers advice however after discussing with Chester, we decided to hike out as we didn't have enough food, time or patience to be stuck at camp for the next 3 days and did not want to continue to the pass against ranger advice.

During the morning, the weather annoyingly continued to improve as we walked the 15km out. Just as we neared the rangers hut, half a km out, we were amazed to be greeted by at least 15-20 people walking in our direction to find out they had just re-opened the park...!! Tired and in a predicament, Joe mentally had checked out of the walk but my fear of missing out wanted to turn back. Here we met Noah and Jack, twins from Washington that were doppelgangers for Patrick! They provided the American positivity and spirit we needed offering us extra food and gas if we needed, giving us no reason not to turn back! For the third time, we followed the route to the first camp, this time walking it in the fastest time, deep in conversations with the twins, Antonio from Paris and Elena from New York who turned into the best hiking group for the rest of the trek!

The next few days we had glorious weather and got stunning views from the top of El Peñon pass, Laguna glacier peñon, Laguna Cerro Castillo, Cerro Castillo pass and Laguna duff. Elena thought us the hiking game knives, forks and spoons and we enjoyed getting lots of Paris recommendations from Antonio and hearing all about the back country in Washington from the twins. Overall, our first multiday hike was a success, finishing the trek in villa Cerro castillo with 87km completed over 4 nights and 5 days.

Recommendations:
Quieter than Torres Del Paine
Look for a good weather window for the passes
Always cook dinner at a scenic viewpoint- Elena's advice

12/02-17/02Read more

On route to our next national park, we stopped for lunch in Molina and had our first fried empanadas at La Casa De La Empanada- so tasty! We then drove through huasos (Chilean cowboy) country to Reservas Nacional Altos de Lircay. Unfortunately we arrived too late to check into the park campsite "camping antahuara" which closed at 4pm but we did met a friendly CONAF ranger who spoke great English and gave us all the info on our hike for following day! We wild camped just outside the park by the road and met a very friendly chilean called Benjamin who loved to practice his English with us while we prepared dinner! The next morning we set off on a 25km trail to El Enladrillo and Laguna El alto. The top of this mountain has a unique brickwork plain formed by rocks that apparently has been the base of many UFO sightings. From the brickwork we had a great view of the Descabezado Grande, Quizapú and Cerro Azul volcanoes, as well as the El Venado valley. After our hike, we arrived back exhausted to the park campsite and had our first night of our trip in the tent!

20/01-21/01Read more