Explorations in
Patagonia National Park

We will leave the lodge on foot. We will hike up a trail that shows us the encounter between the Steppe and the Forest. As we go up we can appreciate the captivating Chacabuco Valley's slopes, amid hills and high-plateau lagoons. From Cerro Tamanguito we will have broad views of the Chacabuco Valley basin and Lake Cochrane.

We leave the lodge on foot and take an introductory hike in Patagonia National Park on this exploration. We will begin in sectors where there are streams and low forests with significant presence of chacya (riparian shrub). As we enter the Park, we will begin to hear the songs of a variety of birds, such as churrin and bandurria tapaculo and black-faced ibis). Guanacos can be spotted grazing in this area.

We invite travelers to get to know the Patagonia National Park museum. It presents the landscape and the cultural history of the Chacabuco Valley in an interactive way, incorporating an emotional and inspirational narrative on the importance of National Parks and ecological loss and recovery. We hope to foster a culture of conservation with this museum, inviting visitors to be inspired by the beauty of the park and to get closer to Patagonia's great natural and cultural heritage.

We leave the lodge and head northward, crossing areas with a strong tradition in livestock husbandry. We also flank the famous Baker River, know for its turquoise waters and heavy flows. We will hike to the Baker-Neff confluence, the point where the two rivers meet. The Neff is a river that comes from a glacier tongue that comes down from the northern ice fields. Its gray tones are due to the concentration of sediment that this glacier carries. After this visit we walk to the San Martin Fossils sector. Attended by the owner, we will take a small tour to observe and analyze samples of fossilized rocks with different species of molluscs that inhabited the territory more than 175 million years ago.

We depart from Explora on the Patagonia National Park and travel along the Carretera Austral until taking back roads amid forests, rivers and lagoons until reaching the Calluqueo Glacier. This impressive tongue of ice hangs from the western slope of the solemn Mount San Lorenzo. It then flows into a murky glacial lagoon surrounded by walls of ice thousands of years old that impose themselves on the geography of the place. It is a natural environment that was formed over the course of centuries and millennia, where the scale of time is blurred. The wind causes the clouds surrounding Mount San Lorenzo to put on a shifting and dynamic show. We will be able to sit down and contemplate, walk around, or go down to get our wet feet in the lagoon.

In this exploration we will focus on the Chacabuco River's valleys and route as a natural corridor traveled by nomadic peoples and diverse wildlife since ancestral times. We will discuss the anthropological and paleontological mysteries its rock formations hold, with caves and fossils that are vestiges of a past that it is still possible to bear witness to. These areas are characterized by their lack of snow in the summer and their low vegetation, devoid of trees. This allows you to observe a flat and open landscape where you can feel and live the icy southern wind. It is an experience among the vestiges of pre-Hispanic history and how they relate to the present and conservation.

The Patagonia National Park is a paradise for bird watching. On this exploration we cross a part of the Chacabuco Valley with great potential for observing di8verse types of lagoon and river birds.

We will review the scenographic diversity of the Chacabuco Valley and its corners. We hike to the confluence between the Baker and Neff Rivers, the lead actor in this story of exploration. We will visit various lagoons (Laguna Edita, Laguna Cisnes, Laguna Los Flamencos, Laguna Seca) and forests, observing Patagonian fauna and wildlife in different habitats. The colors and views will change as we visit different areas.

We will leave by van and take our bikes with us. We reach the outskirts of the town of Cochrane, our starting point, after a 40-minute ride. The bike ride will begin in a sector of fields with crops and livestock, the main economic activities in the area. We will approach from the North, flanking the Cochrane River to appreciate its transparent waters and the trees introduced in the days of the pioneers. As we continue our way, we will come across rolling hills that we will tour with calm so we can take advantage of the views the landscape offers. We end at the bridge over the El Salto River, whose waters come from the very ice of Calluqueo.

We will pedal through the scenographic diversit8y Chacabuco Valley and its history. We hike to the meeting point between the Baker and Chacabuco Rivers, the lead actor in this story of exploration. The birds will accompany us and we will have the chance to spot other species of Patagonian fauna.

We ascend through a region with varied ecosystems, where valleys, forests and plateaus contrast. The desert of the heights presents us with a scenery characteristic of the Patagonian mountains. The intense wind and the changing climate gave this exploration its name.

We will visit a rancher's post to learn about part of the Chacabuco Valley's history. We will view its remains and get to now more about the lifestyle of its residents. We take a sloping path among ancient lenga forests, passing lagoons and diverse views. We will pass through transit areas used by huemuls and other species in the Patagonia National Park.

We will cross a thick forest of ñirres and lengas. We will hike along a ridge with a view of the Chacabuco Valley and the Lake Cochrane basin. The marked summit offers a broad view as far as the northern ice field. It is named after Carlos Oportus, who in 1928 studied the situation and the possibilities for residents of the area. This hill reveals a spectacular part of the amazing Patagonia National Park from the heights.

We cross the natural corridors of the Valleys with its contrasts their contrasts and sensations. Birds make their presence felt, as do the condors gliding in the heights. We will cross different environments until we come to an area with broad views of the valleys, some of them historic natural corridors in the area.

This exploration will take us across the steppe to one of the summits of the Patagonia National Park. As we go up we can appreciate the captivating Chacabuco Valley's slopes. The lagoons can be seen amid the depressions in the plateau. We are surrounded by broad and varied views of a significant portion of Patagonian geography.