Activity Summary
Thursday 30th November - Day 422
Drive to Puyuhuapi
Friday 1st December - Day 423
Queulat National Park
Hanging Glacier / Mirador Ventisquero Colgante
Sendero Laguna Témpanos
Saturday 2nd December - Day 424
Lunch at El Muelle
Drive to Chaitén
Summary
Puyuhuapi
Another small town / village with little here. Barely had a Panaderia which turned out to be a locals house.
Queulat National Park
One of the more complicated NPs to arrange a visit as it was closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Not a whole lot of walking options here but the hanging glacier offered quality views.
Transport
Coyhaique -> Puyuhuapi
Probably one of the worst parts of the journey
50/50 tarmac and gravel
The worst part of the drive is the hairpin climb on pot holed and gravel road by Salto Padre García. Going the other way was straight up horrible, but not so bad on the way down.
Seriously bad pot holes and gravel road from Salto Padre García to Puyuhuapi
Accommodation
Puyuhuapi - Airbnb
Number of nights - 2
Price per night per person - £26
Positives:
Apartment
Comfortable space to relax
Kitchen well kitted out
WiFi worked well
Negatives:
No electric heating, only log burner
Recommend?
Yes
Diary
Thursday 30th November - Day 422
The drive from Coyhaique to Puyuhuapi is one of the worst legs. Going this way however we got to roll down the spaghetti road rather than have the stress of going up.
The potholes are also pretty severe and streams of water eroding the road leaving huge ditches even our SUV had difficulty clearing. The one and only time we clattered the nose of the car.
We set off early from Coyhaique so Luke could do his last interview. We arrived around 2pm, had a rio roaring fire already burning, was done with his call by 4pm and we had our Austral wind down.
Friday 1st December - Day 423
The fire was great during the day when Luke was able to keep it going but at night it got absolutely freezing. By morning we were very cold and the lack of thick duvets made it so much worse. Luke ended up using the gas burners for some semblance of heat.
What the cold did do was get us out of bed early and over to the Queulat National Park. This proved to be a stellar hidden positive as the weather was great for our hanging glacier summit and then turned as we were descending.
The NP was a quick drive by Patagonia standards and the usual faff was completed for the last time (thank the lord) at the check in point.
Queulat National Park details:
Cost per person = CLP11k
Payment = card or cash in person
Sector = Ventisquero
CONAF Reservation = yes - they check
Once parked at the trailhead we set off to the Hanging Glacier / Mirador Ventisquero Colgante.
The hike was all uphill to start and Nicola was lacking a bit of energy through insufficient feeding.
The previous days downpours meant it was very wet so after a while the hike was more Takeshi's castle than pleasant walk.
It was a boggy, rocky, rooty challenge with plenty of pools of water.
But the forest was mighty juicy.
The first mirador had a nice lookout over Puyuhuapi.
The peak challenge came when crossing a full blown waterfall. Good fun though.
The hike topped out at the Hanging glacier mirador which got a nice ‘phwoar’ seal of approval.
To its left was another peak with falling snowfall and the two together were cracking constantly as snow, ice and water poured down the sides.
The pano over the lake as well was grand. All the rain made it like Fiordlands should have been while we were there, streams running in all directions.
Hilariously it was the highest concentration of westerners we’ve seen for weeks.
Going down was a whole lot easier.
Last stop was quickly going over to the Sendero Laguna Témpanos. Here we stopped for something to eat and waited for the mass of tourists to get on a boat to get closer to the glacier, the easy way. Not overly expensive at CLP15k mind.
With the peace came the heavy rain and we departed.
Distance = 10.69km
Elevation = 378m
Max elevation = 379m
Walking time = 2hrs 53mins
Elapsed time = 3hrs 35mins
Bar Nicola getting some bread, we didn’t leave the Airbnb due to the rain and spent all evening in front of the fire. Although it seemed to not really cut through the cold all that well.
Saturday 2nd December - Day 424
It was a nice late 12pm check out so we didn’t leave the cabin, Luke now finally starting to get the hang of how to start a fire.
In Puyuhuapi was a nice restaurant called El Muelle which was both affordable (by Chilean standards), substantial and the fish was quality. There was however a serious lack of heat in the place but our coats served us alright for the short visit.
Post lunch we drove to Chaitén.
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