The Cerro Castillo Circuit – A Stunning Range of Patagonia’s Best!

06/02 ~ 10/02

Chile

Introduction

Cerro Castillo is a 2675m peak in a cathedral-like range with many pointed spires. It’s regarded as one of the best multi-day hikes in Patagonia and it certainly lived up to that. The intention was to hike the Cerro Castillo Circuit, which ventures near this mountain. We had mixed weather, with some extended cloud cover over the peaks, but it was mostly fine. It was a damn good hike!

The Cerro Castillo Circuit

Mon (06/02)

The bus from Coyhaique dropped myself and a few other Chilean travellers at the northern trailhead. Cam, Conrey and Ben (also on the bus) were all dropping excess items in Villa Castillo, a tiny village at the end of the trail. 

They planned to rejoin me the next morning, as I was going to camp at the beginning of the trail. Keren, Jeff, Nathan and Rumbles all were coming the following day and meeting us at the first major campsite the following night. Alicia (who I met on the same bus to Coyhaique) also planned to find us there the same night but had alternate travel plans.

I still had my box full of groceries to sort out at this point. So I very quickly removed bulky packaging, and threw the food in my food bag. The rum I transferred to my foldable poptop water bottle which kind of just became a permanent rum bottle haha. I left the box and packaging with a 5000 peso tip jammed in a coke bottle top for whoever picked it up. I figured it wasn’t littering this way.

The start of the hike was 500m of crossing a paddock with cows, and I then camped on the other side of the gate. As i began to pitch my tent, the herd of cows and calves all came over an watched me. 

It was pretty funny as one moment they were on the other side of the paddock, and then boom , they were right there! It was a nice quiet night by myself, and good to be back in my tent again. I saw a fox scurry across the paddock before closing my tent. Sleep came with ease.

Tues (07/02)

After coffee and breakfast, I packed up and sat  waiting for Cam, Conrey and Ben to arrive on the Cerro Castillo Circuit. They came around 8:30am, and we all set off. They said there was no box on the road, so my plan worked! 

The initial part of the hike was flat and largely uninteresting as it was all farmland. After several hours, the trail became smaller and started to wind uphill, becoming more vegetated into forests. We passed the rangers station where we were meant to pay 5000 pesos, but there was no one there, so we moved on.

We reached the next campsite – a beech forest by a glacial river, and set up camp. Another guy from the US joined us, called Toby, whom Cam and Conrey had met earlier. A few hours later Jeff and Keren also found us in the evening. They told us Nathan and Rumbles didn’t make it because Rumbles had food poisoning  but they aimed to meet us from the opposite side of the trail the next day.

We cooked dinner and had some drinks, and then four of us went out onto the riverbed and made s small fire and took some night shots. Toby also brought out his ukulele and strummed a few tunes. It was a great evening!

Wed (08/02)

Most of the walk had been flat and easy do far, bit today we had to cross through a pass and into the glacial valley. The climb was rocky, and the pass was a V shape off rocky scree, and we were walked in the apex. 

Jeff mentioned that according to his lonely planet guide, there should be a hanging glacier here. We asked him how old the book was and he said it was 14 years old! It was pretty funny, we all had some laughs haha. We realised that we actually were walking on the buried remains glacier when we found deep holes in the rocks and visible ice.

As we exited the pass into the next valley, the view opened up – a side view of Cerro Castillo, and a huge glacier on the right with hundreds of cascading flows of glacial water streaming down the rock face below. 

To date, it was the most beautiful thing I had seen in my life and a photo couldn’t capture the moment. We timed it well with the sun beaming through right above and the fast moving clouds streaming overhead.

We reached the river and followed it around the other side of Cerro Castillo into a forested area. We were almost at Camp, but the last kilometer was a steep uphill and we were all fairly drained by this point. It was reliving to see the campsite at this point. It was small, and because we arrived quite late, there want much room. 

We decided to camp out in the open on a somewhat grassy area behind a moraine just below the lake. It turned out to be a great choice with no wind that evening (and it was much flatter than the campsite). However, before we set up, we decided a glacial lake swim was a fantastic idea. We all went in, and I don’t think anyone lasted thirty seconds! Damn it was beautiful!

We all made dinner, mine being a cheesy salami pasta (kind of a hiking staple now). Toby offered me some of his conglomeration of mackerel, pasta, lentils and who knows what else. I told him the mackerel was basically cat food, but tried it anyway. Yep, cat food! Whilst intoxicated, Cam found wood from somewhere (there were no trees?) and we had a small campfire sharing some beverages at the side of the camp until midnight before heading to bed.

Thurs (09/02)

I awoke early, and could hear the rustling in the tent nearby. Someone was also up – Jeff. I opened my tent and boom, there the view was. There’s something magical about camping below glaciers, especially when shrouded in mist. A brew of coffee whilst taking in the view is one of my favourite things to do on a hike. You’re all warm and snug in your sleeping bag, yet outside is icy cold.

After breakfast I looked at my InReach GPS. I had previously been expecting a message from Nathan and Rumbles, who also had an InReach. I never got one  but I checked again, and there it was from 11pm the night before. 

Nathan and Rumbles had made it, and were camped close to the lake! I messaged him back and he found us shortly after. ‘Damn it’s handy when multiple people have InReach devices‘, I thought to myself. There’s no other way to communicate out here in the mountains. I packed up camp and headed over to where the UK boys were camping. Luckily, Rumbles was feeling much better now.

Eventually we all arrived and started the hike up the mountain. We didn’t plan for a long day of hiking, but it was tough. The usual rocky scree slopes, but added strong winds this time, making it bone chillingly cold.

The downhill climb was long and I was still cold. I was hiking fast by this point. I stopped for lunch about half way down and the others caught up and joined in. The campsite wasn’t far from this point – nestled amongst trees with only limited spots we set up before others could take over.

Our plan was to head the Lake Duff that afternoon, but only a few went. Toby had to pick up his motorbike, so we planned to head out early and meet us in town later the next day. Most of us chilled out and planned to do the hike in the morning. 

That evening we ran into Alicia – the girl I met on the bus three days earlier! She was also camping there with a few people she met. We all gathered wood and made a huge campfire and shared beverages again. ‘Are we drunks?‘, was a common thought for a lot of us, but we decided that alcohol was a great social tool at the end of a days hike haha. You never drink as much when hiking alone, that’s for sure!

Fri (10/02)

An early rise for a big day ahead. We were heading to Lake Duff, then backtracking to the campsite for lunch; then we’d pack up and head to Villa Castillo, the small town near the end of the trail. The walk to the lake was easy, but coming over the boulders and moraines was tedious. The lake was nice, and we had periodic views of the spire peaks there.

After the Lake it was downhill for the rest of the day until the road. We met Jeff on the way down who slept in. The realisation that it was probably the last time we’d all see him became apparent, as he had different plans. 

So, we farewelled and parted ways and had lunch back at the campsite.  Nathan and Rumbles decided to camp there another night too, so we also had to farewell them. Alicia had also gone by this point, which meant all the UK guys/gal have left us it seemed.

We packed up and continued on down the hill. My knees were sore by the end, and Cam was in a similar state. We took it slower than the others. When we got the road we had to jump over a fence and head to town. The road took forever and it was monotonous! Luckily, a trail angel appeared! A bike with a scruffy recognisable character on board – Toby! He brought us beer and cake! What a legend! We thanked him, and the four of us trudged on.

Cam, Conrey, Keren and myself arrived in town and booked into the campground where Toby and Ben were waiting. We visited a local brewer and ate some food. I had a massive completo which was a huge sandwich that was super filling.

That evening we chilled out drinking beer and Pisco (a type of spirit)  with some others at the campsite. We were all pretty drunk! A victory drink from the trail!

Trip Summary

The Good:

• The hanging glaciers were breathtaking
• Beautiful lakes and forests
• The Cerro Castillo Circuit was a challenging yet accessible hike
• Great company!

The Bad:

• The first day was kind of boring walking through farm land
• The last road walk sucked!

~ Continue my Patagonian travels with ‘Puerto Rio Tranquillo, Marble Caves & Cochrane – Patagonia‘ ~

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