christine-on-big-trip.blogspot.com

you are not 100% free of vertigo and 100% sure-footed you will need a lot of willpower to cope with some of the steep, exposed and eroded trail sections of the GPT. But I learnt on the GPT that it is a big difference to traverse a steep slope on a well maintained dedicated hiking trail in a popular area or on a badly eroded horse trail in the middle of nowhere. On most other trails I take a rest day every seven to ten days, but the GPT was so stressful for me that I took more rest days than normal. On the positive side the GPT is one of the most spectacular trails I have ever hiked.

The descent was as long and dusty as the ascent and when I finally reached the valley bottom I could not even find a campsite! As soon as I had reached the road I came across a mini-market where I could buy some more snacks and delicious freshly baked bread. But when I finally reached the pass the view into the next valley more than rewarded me for all the hard work. As usual the "trail", in this case a faint horse trail" was routed high above the river in the valley and in several places I was afraid of slipping.

This view point was indeed very spectacular but what delighted me a lot more than the alpine panorama was the fact that there was a well maintained hiking trail descending down into the valley - another rarity in Chile ... I considered wild camping but the many old plum trees lured me into the official site where I met Hugo, a Chilean weekend warrior who had injured himself when hiking in and was now waiting for the rest of his group to help him hike out again. Their base camp was in the valley and Veronica was in contact with them via radio. In order to "rescue" her, they had driven up the valley cross country in a military vehicle - and asked me whether I wanted to get a ride to their base camp.

When I finally turned onto horse trail I was passed by a group of friendly carabineros on a patrol ride. The horse trail contoured the steep slopes fifty or hundred meters above the lake. I still could not relax because at the end of this stretch the horse trail took me up to a pass and contoured around a terribly steep slope where a fall would send me down several hundred meters ... What I had thought to be a nice afternoon strollthe river turned out to be more nerve-wracking hiking on eroded horse trail highthe river.