Trail from Lake Quillén to Rucachoroy

Gustavo Santos, Sendas y Bosques

    Duration: one day.
    Difficulty: high.
    Season: Noviember to March.
    Ranger: In lakes Quillén and Rucachoroy.
    Signalization and Maintenance: The trail is signalled w2ith red and yellow marks on tree trunks, spikes and painted rocks. At the beginning of the trail there are some confusing sites due to cattle traces, and also in the descent to lake Rucachoroy where there are several trails.
    Equipment: regular hiking equipment.
    Start: the trail starts in Lefimán settlement, 45 minutes from Quillén Ranger Station, which is 45 km. from Aluminé.

    FIRST PART:
    From Malalco stream to the sign in Rucachoroy range. Time: 4-5 hs.
    Once in the settlement we turn right to wade Malalco stream.

    The trail crosses a swampy area and in half an hour starts the climb through an attractive araucaria and lenga forest that gradually becomes a pure araucaria forest. Many of these trees are shrubby due to the snow.
    It is a steep climb that reaches the edge of the hill after several turns.
    Then the trail is easier and leads to an enclosed valley used as summer pastureland. To cross this valley we must follow the red arrows on stones in the place where water courses start joining to later form Malalco Chico stream.

The soil is permeable and water saturated.
The trail goes on through the right of the shrubby lenga after crossing the valley. We climb through the rocks and in 15 minutes arrive to a sign indicating the approximate time.

    SECOND PART:
    From the sign to lake Rucachoroy it takes 4 hours.
    The climb reahes the maximun height of this trail, about 1,700 meters above sea level.
    You can see the volcano and lake Quillén again. It is a rocky area with almost no vegetation where the wind is very intense.

This is Rucachoroy range.
After a while at the same level we descend to another valley with pastures, more open than the previous one. Almost at the end of it we get to another rocky area with scarse marks but easy to follow, with the mountains on the left and pasturelands on the right. At the foot of the mountains is the pass to leave Rucachoroy range through a descending trail.

Then you must find a post in the middle of an open space on the left of which you will see a shepperding farm, and start the descent following the red and yellow marks.
Finally we get to lake Rucachoroy, where there is a free campsite and a store.

The araucaria is the dominant species on this hillside, which is more exposed to the sun, while on the other margin Nothofagus predominate.
On the west end of the lake starts a two hour trail to a small lagoon in the middle of the forest.