Lost in Rio Correntoso

Well things don´t always go according to plan. After a day warming up again in Coyhaique (did we mention the salmon is good? Oooh the salmon ...), we headed for a trail along the Rio Correntoso to Cerro Catedral in La Reserva Rio Simpson. Advertised as a fairly remote track which ´had been enthusiastically re-cut by a group of Raleigh International volunteers in 1998´we thought we´d better check with CONAF (Chile´s DoC) whether the track condition was ok, given it was 8 years later. I don´t know the last time the guy had actually been up there but our understanding of "El sendero es bueno" seems to be at odds with his. The main push up the river to the first good camp spot was a bit of a bush bash but when we tried to head further in land it became obvious that the outbreak of bamboo they had had up the valley had pretty much made the rest of the trail impenetrable. So we dropped back to the last campsite and took a mental health day camped out by the river for 2 nights in some pearler weather. Unfortunately the weather turned on day 3 and we had to hike out through some pretty boggy patches. A wrong turn at an abandoned farm gate made the journey a bit longer than expected (doh) but we eventually made it out to the road and hitched a wet ride back to Coyhaique. The one thing the rain did do was create a Milford Track effect with ad-lib waterfalls appearing all along the valley walls. Very nice. Two days to dry out (and eat salmon, mmm) and we´ll fly further south to Punta Arenas to meet up with Jane tomorrow. The weather looks a bit rotten for the next week or so which is a pain because we´re heading to Parque Torres del Paine. At least they don´t have any bamboo down there...

Water and wind in the Rio Correntoso. Lots of it.