Place: Patagonia Norte, Valle de Cochamó y Parque Pumalin Norte
Meeting Point: Puerto Varas
End of Trip: Puerto Varas
Expedition activities
Trek Cochamó + Sea Kayak Pumalin 7d/6n
During the next seven days we will travel through the best of Cochamó Valley and the Pumalin Park in the Patagonian Andes in Chile. We begin hiking in the Cochamó Valley for 3 days, supported by load horses across old alerce forests dating 3.000 years old. We will cross crystal clear rivers and admire tall waterfalls in the midst of the trees. Then we will go to Pumalin Park where we will row in the fjords of the north portion of the park; enjoy it’s natural hot springs and amaze ourselves with the vertiginous waterfalls that plunge into the see, meeting sea lions and austral dolphins on the way and discover the dramatic landscapes where the Andes Mountains rise from the sea.
Include:
All meals from days 1 to 7, including walk snack, box lunch, breakfasts and dinners with board cheese and wines
All land and water transportation
Lodging in Cochamó refuge for 2 nights and 4 nights in an organized camping
All camping equipment, Mountain Hard Wear tents for 2 people, Therma Rest inflatable mattresses, kitchen tent, awning and 70lt dry bags for your personal equipment.
All kayaking equipment; Kayak with rudder and Prijon equipment (German), double and simple, rows, skirts, row jackets, life jacket, dry bags for your equipment and camera.
Professional First aid kit, GPS, UHF Radios, handy, maps and repair kits, cell phone and more
Bilingual Guides (Spanish-English) accredited by Wilderness First Response, guide of the national school mountain with wide experience in trekking and long trips. Kayak guides also accredited by Wilderness First Response; widely experienced in sea kayak, long trips to remote places.
Local guide and load horses (one every 3 passengers)
Support boat on day 7 for the Cahuelmó - Hornopirén trip to guarantee returning on schedule and have a rested arrival.
Primary assistance insurance
No Include:
Air Trips, hotels, accident or rescue insurance, personal equipment, tips or any other service not mentioned in this program.
Day by Day
Day 1 Puerto Varas / Las Juntas
5hrs / 9km /5.6 mi / 350mts difference
We drive down the scenic coastal road that will take us to the town of Cochamó located by the Reloncavi Estuary, the first Fjord of Patagonia. Here we will meet with the local guide (arriero) to load the horses that are going to carry all our gear. Hike up the valley covered with rainforest and amazing views of granite walls. Once in Las Juntas we will rest and set up camp. With the ones who still have energy we will go around the Juntas Valley BL-D
Day 2 Las Juntas / Arco iris hill
7hrs/4km/2.5 mi/900mt difference
Today is a big day, when the sun rises we will be surrounded by granite mountains. We will climb up and into the forest having a close look of mañíos, coigües, alerces and lenga trees. After 5 hours walking and climbing 2 fix ropes (easy and safe to do) we will be in the highlands of Cochamó Valley, place of Condors and climbers. After a nice lunch we will walk back to Las Juntas to celebrate the day. B-BL-D
Day 3 Las Juntas / Río Puelo
4hrs / 9km /5.6 mi/ 350mts descent
After a big breakfast we will begin our way towards the fjords of Pumalin Park. We will hiker some 9k/5.5mi with the slope on our favour and later reach the road, where our minibus will be waiting to take us to Río Puelo town. There we will spend the night on a camping site that has hot water and bonfires. B-BL-D
Day 4 Río Puelo / Hornopirén
No physical activity
This day we won’t have much physical activity as we go by land to the first era stage of the Austral Road to enjoy ourselves in the Pichicolo spring baths. Later on the day we will visit “Patagonia el Cobre” park where we’ll spend the night in a settled camping within the native forest, facing de Cumao fjord. B-BL-D
Day 5 Hornopirén / Quintupeo Fjord
3,5hrs / 13 km/8 mi
We will go southwards through a penetration road that will take us next to the sea mar with our kayaks: here we will have a safety, rescue and paddling techniques chat before starting our way towards the narrow entrance of the Quintupeo fjord that will take some 4hrs rowing right into the Pumalin Park. This amazing fjord offers massive granite walls and tall waterfalls that plunge straight into the ocean. In this stunning corner of the world we will set camp and rest and enjoy our afternoon. B-BL-D
Day 6 Quintupeo / Cahuelmó
6hrs / 25 km./16 mi
This will be our longest day; we will paddle for 5 to 6 hours, nearly 16mi and depending on the weather and the tide, we might have to do some night sailing, which will give us a different view of the fiord. As every effort is rewarded, we will arrive to Cahuelmó Fjord after about 5 hours, a wonderful place with big mountains that rise from the sea and then go inland amongst narrow valleys just waiting to be explored. We will see a colony of sea lions and once we have reached the end of the fjord we will find the Cahuelmó Hot Springs, a part of the Pumalin Project. We will set camp near the natural pools dug on the rock by local people in the early 30`s. We will enjoy a hot spring bath and the amazing southern latitude sunset followed by dinner and free afternoon. B-BL-D
Day 7 Cahuelmó / Puerto Varas
return in Support boat
On our last day we will go hiking and will enjoy thermal springs while waiting for the boat that will take us to Hornopirén. Here we will meet our private mini bus that will drive us back to Puerto Varas by a different way this time, crossing by ferry the Reloncavi Fjord towards Puerto Montt B-BL
