Itinerary

2 November 2010
We arrive by international flight in Santiago, Chile, continuing by domestic airline to Coihaique.

3–5 November
In Coihaique we stay at the Patagonia Hostel, which is owned and operated by Sandra and Thomas from Germany. We use the time here to pack and prepare our supplies and equipment.

6–7 November
A five-hour drive by minibus takes us to the banks of Rio Baker, where we pitch camp for the night. Rio Baker is a magnificent emerald-green river with impressive flow that offers excellent salmon fishing. In the morning we cross Lago Bertrand by boat.

7–10 November
The next leg of our journey is across Lago Plomo, to the ranch at the bottom of the valley. From here we have one or two days of horse riding up the valley to Nef Glacier. Gauchos (Chilean cowboys) will accompany us on horseback and we’ll camp with them en route. We will travel in two groups, since there are not enough horses for everyone to ride as a single group. The weather is mostly fine and dry on this side of the ice cap. Campfires will keep us warm at night and tasty traditional Chilean food is on the menu.

11–12 November
We find the “keyhole” – the entrance to the Nef Glacier – entering the glacier as high as possible to avoid the crevasses further down. We start on the east side of the ice cap; Nef Glacier is our gateway to the plateau of the Northern Ice Field.

13–20 November
The plateau we cross lies at an altitude of 1500–1600 metres, and is surrounded by majestic mountains and glaciers. We pass through the shadow of Monte San Valentin, at 4058 metres the highest mountain in Patagonia.

We exit the ice cap at San Rafael Glacier, where we need to carefully navigate impressive fields of deep crevasses. Fortunately, we made this journey in 2009 and know the exact location of safe routes through the crevassed areas. As a safety measure, due to crevasses and poor visibility, we will be roped for much of this leg of our expedition. The weather can be very bad in this area of Patagonia, with snow, rain, sleet and strong winds. There will, however, also be clear moments where we can savour the natural beauty of this magnificent, wild region.

San Rafael Glacier stretches long fingers of ice, ending in a lagoon on the west coast of Chile. Due to its unique scenery, this area has been declared a national park. The glacier is steep and heavily crevassed; we will make landfall on the northwest side of the glacier. On our 2009 expedition we found a good track down in 2009, and will follow that route.

Technically the route down is not difficult, although in some places we need to rappel down cliffs. In this area we will walk with about 20 kg heavy backpacks, and we must make parts of the journey twice in order to bring everything down.

One of the unusual attractions we encounter is the “ancient forest”, an area where the trunks of large old trees lie strewn on the ground. At the bottom of the valley we pass through rain forest, a seemingly impenetrable wall of green, but there is a path and we have walked this way before. The scenic landscape down to San Rafael is really special, even for spoiled and jaded travellers.

21–22 November
Finally we arrive at Laguna San Rafael. Here we can use a hut built by the National Park Rangers. There is no road to San Rafael, and we must wait for one of the boats that visit the glacier with tourists several times a week. From the lagoon it is a four–five hour boat ride to Puerto Chacabuco.

23–24 November
Thomas will pick us up in Puerto Chacabuco and drive us back to Coihaique. In Coihaique, celebrations at a good Chilean restaurant are in order. We will need a couple of days to prepare our equipment for the journey home.

25 November
We depart Coihaique – unless of course you’ve been tempted to extend your stay with a private programme. There are excellent opportunities for trout and salmon fishing in the area, you can hire horses, or enjoy shorter or longer excursions on foot.

26 November
Our group departs from Santiago. (Since there are only afternoon flights from Coihaique to Santiago, we need an overnight stay first.)