Trek Wild Chile!

Patagonia National Park, Aysén Region – a five night backpack and Carretera Austral adventure

This is the new national park established in 2017, with hundreds of thousands of hectares donated by the Thompkins Conservation Foundation.

From the lovely Jeinemeni Valley in the north to the stunning and historic Chacabuco Valley to the south, we will travel with a handful of Chilean guides and porters from Patagonia Huts. These men and women will no doubt once again enrich our travels with their Chilean style as well as lighten our loads of tents, food, fuel and cookware.

Below is an itinerary, followed by some maps and photos from a Martha’s Heli Hikes trek in February 2017. This trek is a spectacular and completely wild 5 night backpack. Last time we saw only two other parties!

I do hope this itinerary, maps and photos give you a good sense of this five day immersion into the heart of Chilean Patagonia, with its gaucho ranching history, beautiful rivers, steppe and forest, and the warm, informative and helpful Chileans who are so proud of their culture and great at telling us about it all.

Meet our 2017 guide/porters Hugo 1, Hugo 2 and Luis who may be keen to join us again! This photo is in the southern Aviles Valley, looking back where we have just come from:

Day 1
Fly from North American cities to Santiago overnight.

Day 2
Flights continue from Santiago to Balmaceda airport.
Transfer to the southern city of Coyhaique and to Patagonia House or Raices Bed and Breakfast for one night, and breakfast. Meet our Chilean guides and porters and have dinner at Patagonia House.

Day 3
Drive with our guide/porters south to the Lago General Carrera by noon (2.5 hr), and ferry across to Chile Chico town (3 hours) for the night. Excellent dinner at our hotel, Hosteria Patagonia.

Day 4
We will continue our drive to our trailhead (2.5 hours mostly along Jeinemeni River), stop midway for a 3 hour walk to the Totem Pole and Lunascape, then head to our first night trailhead camping on the Lago Jeinemeni.

(Option: Days 3 and 4 can be 1 longer day, without the Totem Pole walk)

Day 5
Start our hike by walking around Lago Jeinemeni and Lago Verde, finding our first campsite next to the river and a shelter in the Valle Hermoso (beautiful valley). We start with small water crossings, climb up an over a large hump, then cross the larger inlet of Lago Verde (see photo).

Day 6:
Continue in Valle Hermosa for a side trip with a night in a cabin in Valle Ventisqueros, courtesy of PatagoniaHuts.com, a beautiful valley which we can explore with just small packs. (see Pat Morrow photos)

Day 7:
Depart Valle Hermosa and walk through a forest that brings us to the rustic Laguna Escondido campsite for lunch, and continue to the open steppe of the Valle Aviles. We will camp at a lovely meadow next to Rio Aviles that was the site of an old ranch.

Day 8:
Continue our hike in the Valle Aviles. We will round corners and find numerous great new vistas that become the distinctly Patagonian wide open and golden grasslands as we near the main Valle Chacabuco. We will arrive at the trailhead and enjoy a celebration afternoon meal at The Lodge at Valle Chacabuco with their wonderful El Rincon Gaucho bar and restaurant. After lunch will be driven by van up the Carretera Austral highway to Green Baker Lodge for the night.

Day 9:
A 5-7 hour road trip adventure today, back to Coyhaique up the spectacular and always adventurous Carretera Austral. Return to Patagonia House or for our last night in the southern city of Coyhaique.

Day 10:
Transfer back to Balmaceda airport for our noon flights to Santiago, and spend a night in the lively Lastarria district at Hotel Cumbres Lastarria.

Day 11:
Early transfer to Santiago airport to catch our flights back to our North American destinations.

Martha will be delighted to organize and lead this trip for a group of 8 or so guests. Contact Martha with your small group of friends and plan dates to suit you, and Martha will help fill the extra spots and make this adventure happen!
GST not applicable.
Flexibility: We can lengthen this trip with more time in the Valle Ventisqueros or Valle Chacabuco, or shorten it with a charter flight from Cochrane to Balmaceda.

Included in this tour is the following:

• All guiding, transportation, meals and accommodation from your arrival in Balmaceda to your departure time from there.

Alcohol, gratuities and your flights are not included.

Map 1: Map showing full area, Coyhaique to Cochrane
Map 2: The red line on the map below is the five day hike. We start at the top right and camp on day 4 at the Jeinemeni Guardaparques. Day 5 we camp in Valle Hermoso, Day 6 up the side valley to the north, Day 7 about a third of the way down the Valle Aviles, and Day 8 in the Valle Chacabuco.
Map 3: The full Parque nacional patagonia map showing details of Chacabuco valley. We leave the park to the left to get to Cochrane