The Greater Patagonian Trail Section 16, Volcan Quetrupillan, 12-14/1 2026
An Introduction to the Greater Patagonian Trail (GPT) can be found HERE.
12 January — Monday
I’m going back to the trail! There is no public transport going to Centro de ski from where I will start the Villarrica Traverse — an option to GPT 16 — so I have arranged a ride with Hans, a Swiss guy who has lived in Chile for thirty years. He picks me up at 08:00 and at 8:30, right when the park opens, we are at the park entrance where I have to sign in before I can start hiking. Compeed bandages on, let’s start hiking!
The Villarrica Traverse is an exceptionally beautiful trail, always with the Villarrica volcano in sight. It does however feel a bit weird walking on a good well marked trail, it has been a while since I last did that. In these conditions I make good progress. At around noon, the spectacular views are over as low clouds blow in from the side, limiting vision to about 50-100 meters.
I continue hiking until I reach China which is a campsite where you are legally allowed to camp — no camping in the reserve. However, I would hardly call it a campsite, there are no intended places for pitching a tent. It is all about huts, and for the moment it is not in use at all. Considering it is currently abandoned, I just pitched my tent at one of the BBQ sites.
My achilles flesh wounds have not healed nearly as much as I hoped for, in fact I would argue it has not healed at all, and I’m suffering. It hurts walking. As I peel away the compeed, the blood starts pouring. Not exactly great. That aside, I feel in great shape. Stronger than ever.
Not a single horsefly today. Might I be equally lucky tomorrow? One can only hope.
13 January — Tuesday
I solved my flesh wound issue by not wearing my shoe properly. It is not exactly optimal hiking like this as it puts increased strain on other parts, but it will have to do for the coming days.
I pack up my things and walk to the CONAF office where I meet a very enthusiastic park ranger. I sign the logbook, me and the park ranger chat for a bit, and then I continue with today’s climb. Absolutely fantastic views, volcano after volcano.
Given that it is such an easy trail, relative to my previous experiences, my progress is much faster than anticipated, despite my slight handicap. I had planned to hike to Laguna Azul and sleep there, but given that a few kilometers before the lake the horsefly mayhem starts again, and it is still very early in the day, I start to reconsider that decision and instead hike on. But, as I reach Laguna Azul, most of the horseflies vanish. I can actually sit outside without being too bothered. One bath later, I decided to pitch my tent at the lake. Tomorrow will be a rather easy day anyways I believe. I’m going to an organized camp site with hot springs in Liquine. Should be a good one.
14 January — Wednesday
I now have seven days remaining before going back to Sweden, time to make the most of it. Easy hike south today to Liquine. I followed a trail for the first kilometers, but that later transitioned into a dirt road and the last kilometers into town I walked on asphalt.
In Liquine, I camped at Termas Tarifpan to soak in the hot springs for a few hours. At 7:00 PM it starts raining, exactly as foretold by Garmin GPS. Using the device for all these weeks has left me in a hate-love relationship. There are so many things about the GPS67i I find amazing, and then so much that is so bad.
Tomorrow I will make my way out onto GPT 17H. I’m thinking about trying to use the shoes normally tomorrow as all this weird walking is causing other problems.
My Route With Campsites