Sometimes in life you get a second chance. Going south on the Carretera we had seen little of Pumalin Douglas Tompkins National Park due to atrocious weather. 2 months later we were back and the sun was shining.
It is all in the name: Pumalin Douglas Tompkins National Park, all 402,392 hectares of it, gifted to Chile in 2017.
It was where the dream started: in 1991 Douglas Tompkins bought the Reñihue Estate to protect 17,000 hectares of temperate rain forest. Later a neighbouring 185,000 hectare property known as Pumalin was acquired and suddenly a great ecological park was feasible. The name ‘Pumalin’ comes from the indigenous Huilliche and means ‘place of water’.
Pumalin is diverse: from lush rainforest to snow capped peaks, from fjords to volcanos, waterfalls and glaciers. Up to 4 metres of rainfall a year keeps everything green, including the mighty alerce trees – some up to 3000 years old – and the southern beech or lenga.
Half of the park’s plant species are found nowhere else on earth. Mosses, ferns, and flowers grow profusely, the bird call is constant.
It is also home to many animals such as bats, mice, foxes, the little güiña cat (very cute!), pumas and deer, amongst others – the most notable being the colocolo opussum. This endemic marsupial is the only surviving species from the Microbiotheria order of marsupials from which all marsupials in South America and Australia originated.
Bizarrely, for all the life that a rain forest harbours, it is virtually impossible to spot any of it! Animals are definitely unlikely but birds are more visible: those we recognised included delicate humming birds and the bold bandurrias which strutted around the campsites.
The park has two sectors. The north is only reachable by boat (multi day kayak trips can be organised from Puerto Varas) whilst the south is readily accessible to visitors. One is immediately in its midst when getting the ferry from Hornopiren to Caleta Gonzalo, the latter the first accessible area designed with tourism infrastructure in mind.
Further along the Carretera Austral, and 25 km south of Chaitén, there is the El Amarillo sector.
El Amarillo
Returning north on the Carretera Austral, this was our first stop in the park. It is a small village where one signs in with the ranger before proceeding to the park, although surprisingly entry was free and so was camping in this section.
There is a 6 km drive on a gravel road to the campsite which wends between tall trees and stretches of open manicured grass – I don’t know if these were once cleared areas of the original farm that have been reseeded but it was all quite pleasing to the eye, like driving through some great botanical garden.
Camping Grande was similar with expanses of grass, fringed by lush, temperate rainforest. We arrived just in time to claim a nice wooden shelter at the top of the area which gave us a view of an impressive snowy peak if one stood in the right place.
Unfortunately CONAF were up to their usual tricks: the loop road at the end of the park was closed, as well as the second campsite Ventisquero. Some of the longer trails were also shut.
In fact we only had two walk options and chose to do the Sendero Ranita de Darwin – or Darwin’s Frog trail, another animal you haven’t a hope in hell of seeing, but it is a pleasant walk through the rainforest with some distant leafy views. The last section crosses the road and then roughly parallels it back to the car park with the trail following the river – there are some pretty mossy waterfalls on the way.
The only other trail that was open on our visit in the area was the El Mirador trail and then only half of it from the Camping Grande side plus one had to walk in two kilometres on the road as that was closed to traffic – going into the high season one would think CONTAF could at least get everything open!
Sadly we did not have time to do this one as well, which is supposed to have a nice view over the glacier. If we had I would have probably continued through on the closed section to near Camping Ventisquero and returned on the road from there, thus making a nice circuit.
It is also possible to take the 10 km Sendero Ventisquero from Camping Ventisquero which has a gentle ascent to an overlook of the Michinmahuida glacier.
Lago Blanco
I could quite happily just move around Chile staying in Doug Tompkins Foundation campsites if it were possible. They have been thoughtfully designed to blend in with their environment whilst creating a delightful experience for their guests.
Leaving El Amarillo, one passes north through Cochrane to access the middle section of the park which lies on each side of the Carretera Austral. There are a variety of walks off this main road and five attractive campsites.
Lago Blanco was no exception. Six wooden shelters lined the lakeside – we chose to stay in Ulmo, the first in line and one of the least rushy. The last in line, Canelo, is supposed to be the best, but was unfortunately already occupied.
We had a fabulous view over the water to the mountains – Simon immediately put our hammock up! It was certainly that sort of place, where one could quite happily curl up for a few days with a good book.
We had actually been very Germanic and had gone to the site early in the day to put our tent up and bag a good spot. However, before we could relax, we had a walk to do!
Sendero Volcán Chaitén
On 2nd May 2008, Chaitén volcano erupted, creating an ash column 17 km high which lasted for 6 hours. The eruption lasted until 8th May with continuous ash emission and intermittent large explosions.
5000 people were evacuated from the town of Chaitén by 5th May, when heavy rainfall remobilized the ash and 80% of the town ended up being damaged with buildings buried up to 5 feet in flood sediment.
On the mountain the pyroclastic flow reached 100 km/hour and uprooted and smashed trees – their huge bone dry carcasses still litter the hillside.
It is probably the most popular walk in Pumalin. We had bypassed it in November due to rain and low cloud but by our January visit it was dry and sunny so we seized our chance.
The walk to the viewpoint on the volcano is only 2.2 km one way but it is steep with an elevation gain of 620 m. For a couple of hundred metres you might think you are in for a nice walk but after crossing the river you will be rapidly disabused. The track is relentlessly up, a near vertical progression of wooden stairs, and in a rather badly maintained state so that there are big steps (one woman told me she gave up as they were above her 5 year old’s head), as well as slippery sections of loose scree.
Also, due to our detour to grab a good campsite, we did not leave until midday on a sunny day which added heat to the equation – there is not much shade on the upper slopes.
After two sticky hours on the rather dodgy track which hadn’t seen any maintenance for a long time we arrived at the top for a satisfyingly good view.
To one side the valley stretched away towards Chaitén with a view out to sea that encompassed Chiloé in the far distance. To the north Lago Blanco nestled amidst the forested mountains and at our feet the rosy hued volcano of Chaitén, whose new crater had added 155 metres to its original height.
Steam still issues from its sides which are covered in a spikey lava coat and water has accumulated at its base. Dead trees, some still upright, littered the flat top and provided welcome but meagre shade patches.
Going down was rather easier than going up, despite the giant eroded steps. Near the bottom we passed a Brazilian 4 x 4 club setting off: they looked far too smart and glossy for such a hike. Simon suggested we should wait and see what they looked like on their return!
It was tempting but Ulmo awaited and putting our feet our feet up in front of that rather fine view.
Later in the evening we were serenaded by a wonderful chorus of happy frogs.
To Caleta Gonzalo
En route to the ferry the following day we stopped a little way up the road at Lago Negro. There is another small campsite with shelters in the forest (2 walk in/2 car accessible) and also a charming virtually flat 800 m walk Sendero Punta del Lago to a lookout over the lake. It follows boardwalks and a crystal clear stream to a little picnic shelter at the end with a fine view over the water.
Two Swiss cyclists were in residence (one still in bed at 10am). The man told us about a hot spring only 3 km to the north so that was our next stop – look for the alerce tree leaning at an angle over the road and the little pool will be found in the dip just below it.
I thought it was good karma: a reward for feeding the Scottish cyclist we had met at Río Ňadis! The hot pot was actually on iOverlander but I had missed it, so was grateful for the recommendation and it proved a pleasant 30° wallow. It is right beside the road, but it is well hidden and there is little traffic.
Los Alerces Trail
Shortly after the hot pool we drove past the trailhead for the Los Alerces walk, the only one we had actually done in November in torrential rain.
It is only 1.1 km long and is virtually flat but is a nicely built loop through atmospheric rainforest (even more atmospheric in the rain!) that visits a huddle of giant alerce trees. Similar to a Californian redwood, some are over 2000 years old. There is a solid swing bridge at the start and the trail is quite well maintained.
Other trails will have to await another occasion: the charming 2 hours return walk to the hidden waterfalls Cascada Escondidas or the longer waterfall walk which is a 3 hour workout from Caleta Gonzalo.
There are lagoon walks and glacier walks too and we left Pumalin quite reluctantly in the end, only grateful that we had had the opportunity to revisit it and see it in good weather – I am not always a huge fan of rainforests but Pumalin is a particularly magical place.
Caleta Gonzalo
Whilst waiting to get the ferry to Hornopiren I had time to explore Caleta Gonzalo, which is a prime example of the Tompkins’ Foundation’s attention to detail, from the wooden light casings and carefully carved interpretive signs to the flag pole (it must be the only flag pole in Chile to not actually fly a flag for some reason!)
There is a huddle of pretty little shingle wood cabins (around the US $200 mark) with fjord views, a restaurant and cafe and various service buildings which make a cohesive whole. The campsite is run by the Lodge and is an expensive CPL 14,000 per person although it is in a nice grassy clearing in the forest and is approached by a fun swing bridge. If you are looking for a picnic spot, check out the shelter on the river, beautifully built around a giant boulder.
Our ferry finally arrived and Pumalin slipped away in our wake. Along with Parque Patagonia (and actually others), Doug Tompkins left a superb legacy which will hopefully endure long into the future.
NOTES
The main transport hub for the area is Chaitén, 56 km south of Caleta Gonzalo. There are daily flights from La Paloma airport in Puerto Montt.
There is a daily – or twice daily in high season – car ferry between Hornopiren (for Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas) to Caleta Gonzalo, taking about 6 hours. Reservations need to be done in advance.
Chaitén also has car ferry services several times a week to Puerto Montt (9 hours) and to Castro on Chiloé island (5 hours).
