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Jeinimeni-Avilés Traverse

Patagonia National Park, Chile

 

This is a page with tips for those who want to do Patagonia Natinal Park Traverse, being a complement to the book The Most Beautiful Trails of Patagonia. In this page you can see some photos and the list of trails that are part of the book. To purchase your book, send your zip code and country to livros@ricardoferes.com or WhatsApp +55 11 99314-3211 and I will send you the total cost, including shipping.

Days: 3
Distance: 59 km / 36 mi
Total ascent: 1,550 m / 5,085 ft
Baixar tracklog no Wikiloc

Best season
The driest season runs from mid-November to mid-March, but the trail is open from October to April.

How to get there
As for Cerro Castillo National Park, the nearest airport is Balmaceda, in Coyhaique. There are buses to the two cities closest to the north and south entrances of Parque Patagonia (Chile Chico and Cochrane), but to get to the park, you will need to hire a shuttle or hitchhike.

Costs
National park admission: Ch$ 8,000 for foreigners, free for children under 12.

Lago Jeinimeni campsite (not necessary for the traverse, only if you want to spend more time): From Ch$ 3,000 to Ch$ 6,000

Casa de Piedra campsite (not necessary for the traverse, only if you want to spend more time): Ch$ 8,000

Free campsites during the traverse.

Where to eat, sleep and trail marking
In general, the trail is well marked, but you need to pay attention because in many sections you stop walking on the dry riverbed and enter the forest, so you don’t have to cross the river. Anyway, be sure to bring a map and / or GPS.

It is necessary to bring food and all equipment for wild camping, there are no supply points or shelters.

Day by day
The Jeinimeni-Avilés traverse, also called Jeinimeni-Casa de Piedra or Ruta de los Valles (official name but never used), is usually done in the north-south direction, as this way you will walk downhill more than uphill. However, the elevation, in any sense, is very small, so do it according to the logistics you find best, even because of all the trails in the book The Most Beautiful Trails of Patagonia, this is the one with the least physical demand.

In almost all reports, you will see that the trail is recommended to be done in 4 days, but as there are few climbs and descents, it can be done in 3 days if you are in good shape. The advantage of doing it in one less day is in case you have a small good weather window, which is common in this region.

Because of the large number of rivers and streams crossings, it is recommended to have shoes that can get wet, so you will do the crossings with your feet protected and will not spend more time putting on and off your shoes than walking. The number of crossings varies a lot, depending on the rain or high temperature, that can melt the glaciers faster.

As it is a short traverse, try to organize your trip to also visit Cerro Castillo National Park, spending another 4 days doing Las Horquetas Traverse.

Day 1
Guardería Jeinimeni – Refugio Valle Hermoso
Distance: 16.6 km / 10.3 mi
Total ascent: 650 m / 2,132 ft

The traverse begins bordering the beautiful Jeinimeni Lake. If the weather is good, there is a side trail that leads to a lookout with a beautiful view to the lake. It is popular by those who do day hikes but it is worthy to do this short climb before going on.

The trail is almost always flat until you reach the climb to Portezuelo La Gloria, which, in my opinion, has the most beautiful view of the entire park. However, to have this view you need to leave the trail as soon as you reach the top of Portezuelo, and go to the left, so that you can see the opening photo of this page. The path is not marked because it is not official and, at one point, it is necessary to make a short scrambling, but if you are used to it, do not miss it!

After the descent of Portezuelo there is a narrow river but, if the water level rises, it is deep and with a strong current. There is a tree trunk over the river but it stays underwater when the water is very high.

Despite the name Refugio Valle Hermoso, it is not a shelter and you need to camp, there is only one bathroom and a covered area for cooking.

Day 2
Refugio Valle Hermoso – Campamento Valle Chacabuco 2
Distance: 20.5 km / 12.7 mi
Total ascent: 350 m / 1,148

In this day you have three options:
1. Leave the campsite with all your equipment to Laguna Ventisqueros and then, head to Valle Chacabuco;
2. Leave the equipment at Refugio to go lighter to Laguna Ventisqueros and return a little to get your backpack, then go to Valle Chacabuco;
3. Spend another night at Refugio Valle Hermoso and have more time to enjoy Valle de los Glaciares, also going to the lake and the glacier that are 2 km (1.2 mi) after Laguna Ventisqueros.

What is the best option? It depends on your endurance, how much time you have and the climate. The most important is not missing Valle de los Glaciares, not only because the view is beautiful, but also because it’s where you’re more likely to see huemules, like it happened to me.

If you choose to sleep one more night at Refugio Valle Hermoso, you can also include a visit to Valle Hermoso Glacier, but be aware that it is not as beautiful as Valle de los Glaciares. By the way, I saw people going to Valle Hermoso Glacier thinking they were at Valle de los Glaciares, don’t do the same mistake and pay attention to the map!

Between Valle Hermoso and Valle Avilés there is a small hill to cross and, then, you will have 3 campsites to choose, depending on your tiredness. I chose Campamento 2 to divide the distances of days 2 and 3 in a more or less similar way, but it is up to you to walk a little more or less, see the points on the map and tracklog that can be downloaded on Wikiloc.

Day 3
Campamento Valle Chacabuco 2 – Camping Casa de Piedra
Distance: 22 km / 13.6 mi
Total ascent: 550 m / 1,804 ft

On the third day you will always walk at Avilés Valley, with beautiful views of the mountains and waterfalls in the distance, but it is not as remarkable as the first two days. Anyway, always keep your eyes open in search of animals, since it was in this valley that I spotted and photographed a puma, remembering that they usually appear at the end of the day, just before dusk.

Useful links