Villa O’higgins was a nice little town, few supermarkets, a library, friendly people and many dogs!I spent few days resting and fattening up for the next part. Extra things were mailed back and shoes were glued back together, hope they last. All in all - there were just about 15 days worth of food there and it should be enough to last me until Argentina. There were no trails on any of the digital maps and I nerviously took photos of possible trails and jotted down waypoints when something like a trail was visible from google satellite (and actually bing satellite too - which seems to have better coverage of this area). You could see far and notice if there is a beach to land, maybe a possibly sheltered bay, trails appearing and disappearing along the way and even roofs, which could be houses or refugios. The hostel owner where I camped had done Ruta de los Pioneros 2 years ago and actually knew which places were inhabited and that last year a couple of kayakers had gone that way. If they could take a river kayak through there, i can surely bring over my boat!

having googled how to properly put on the spray deck and use of the Tzip, the boat looked quite a bit better. Shoes, tent & other things were stowed inside the raft.

there was a nice float down a river to Lago Ciervo where I had to go straight up against the wind. It wasn’t ideal but I was moving forward. With the spray deck on properly, i was mostly dry and warm.

It was great timing to get a little bit of sun just as I had to pack up. The backpack was all armed and there was just a little bit of a bush walk to reach the more open terrain where i can look for the trail. Just had to make sure that i do not grab and try to hold onto a thorny plant!

Once found the trail was all there and good toward Lago Negro. But the lake itself was definitely not something you’d go in until its a little calmer

I was out on the water by 7 and it was a great paddle most of the way, with one drone flight and one surprisingly windy point

Now landing a drone on an inflatable boat in the water is something I will never repeat, especially in such windy conditions and a drone that is full of errors. The coast on the other hand is amazing and i try but fail to see where the trail on the map would pass through.

Then its my turn on the trail, it starts off pretty well but easy to lose in places

The trees are odd looking and there are signs of improved trail!

Now, I am stuck with following the faint trail in another direction or going up the final gully directly. I chose the latter

with the backpack full of food (over 15 days) this was a bad idea.

then I rejoin the faint trail and look onto Lake Ohiggins, thats a big lake.

The shore on the other side at maximum zoom looks great with easy places to land

but the lake, does not look so great. Can you see the tent?

solar panel also makes great wind cover

I sat until almost 1pm as it rained and the wind roared. Eventually it got a little better and I decided to go. Not sure where the photos went but I was taking videos. Trail was there but could get lost in the more overgrown parts.

There were signs of humans but not very recent

it was a tough walk through the bush to the shore but I arrived at a nice beach just before it was about to start pouring

It cleared up at night but the wind never stopped. I got up at 5am and concluded that it was too stormy when I could barely see the waves. It didn’t get better the bay where I was was very calm but once you leave the cover the lake was too windy

and for the first time I got to see one of those amazing sunsets since leaving villa ohiggins

maybe it will get better tomorrow. It didn’t, checking every 30min since 5am. Then at 7am I just decided to go for it.

I aimed to a point further down and started paddling, leaving the bay the waves were cold and the wind was strong. I was leaving a little point and if I aimed to another point on the other shore, the straight line to the west crossing would only be about 2.5-3km, just gotta let the wind blow me down to the other point after that.

it worked out great and after that I had partial cover and none of these big waves.

there was a big summer camp here, nobody in at the moment.

a more pronounced trail lead out of it and I was happy to follow it. I did not want to spend any more time in the water.

other than some gringo with a boat, it was a pretty normal life for the wildlife here

the trail was splendid and easy to follow

I often checked the lake and it looked like it would not have been too bad to paddle if i stayed on it.

There was a house further down and i wondered if anybody would be there.

my next option if the lake is too windy to paddle west was along the rocks

and looking to the other option which would be the point to the right and the route to the border

I approach the house, letting the dogs bark at me for a little while before heading closer.
”Hello, hello…”
a girl comes out sees me, jumps and goes back in. I have never seen anybody jump in surprise. A moment later her grandmother, Mirta comes out and greets me. I meet don Chicho and they tell me that nobody goes there except for the ferry which passes once every 10 days if the weather permits.

and more on that in the next post about the West Arm of Lake OHiggins