Message from Frank Tschöpe

Camp on Pass Alfo de Pucaraju at 4640m

Today morning was very foggy and I started at 8:30 with a wet tent, which adds about 1kg to my backpack! It was cloudy all the time and actually good hiking weather, as with the sun a 500m climb with 45kg is very brutal! In the valley I met an organized group of Australians with about 10 porters and 10 donkeys! They could not believe that I carry that heavy backpack alone! Yes, the climb was indeed tough, but I used the trick of disection: 250m=5x50m, 50m=5x10m. This way if you are unfit and untrained you could even go for a marathon! Just run 21 times 2km! You can even take a 5min-break after each section!

I reached the pass after 3h hiking and decided just to camp here on top! The view is superb, my tent is storm-proof and I am not in a hurry! Maybe I prolong this hike to 14days! My only problem here is that I have only 1.5l of water left! And I do not expect to find any water nearby! But I will do with this till tomorrow morning, though I am a bit dehydrated! Interesting to see whether there will be any other hiker today on this pass. If so I will ask them for water! :-)

So waiting for the sun and hopefully for some photography! But today there is plenty of hours left till darkness which starts at 18:30!

Greetings from high altitudes in Peru!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

First Pass: Punta Union 4760m

Today I had my first photography session of Alpamayo! I had clear sky and tried some night photography! But very difficult to focus sharply in darkness! Otherwise some nice shots of Alpamayo. From the north side that mountain will be even more spectacular! My donkey and porter were again too fast for me! I had problems with the altitude, but finally reached the pass Punta Union! Here I paid the porter and from now I have to walk solo the next days and it will be a very tough time for me! I still have food for 12days and a second camera that I havn't used yet. Overall 45kg and tomorrow there is another high pass at 4640m! My 130l Bergans backpack is huge and in addition I carry a black bag in front of myself! Now I am the donkey!

The views and scenery is amazing here with mountains higher than 6000m. The summits are are in beautiful white! Google "Alpamayo" and you see a typical summit! Some mountains here are more impressive than the Eiger Northface! Today I camp at 4400m near a lake, where I took a bathe this afternoon! Here I am the only one. No other people and also no animals! During the day the sun is very hot even at high altitudes but the nights are very cold though! Sometimes below zero degrees! Sometimes snow, which melts during the morning!

My plan is to slow down a bit, so tomorrow I will only reach Lake Huecrucocha and on Saturday I hope to reach Jancapamba! Here I have hope to hire another donkey for the next days. At least there are a few farmers living there! I think I will concentrate on this circuit and will not go for another circuit! But this way there will be a reason to come back to Peru!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

WANTED: Strong, attractive, good-looking donkey!

Tomorrow I am going via Punta Union (4760m) to Lake Piramide. On Friday 15.8 I continue to Jancapampa, which is close (about 10km) to the village Pomabamba (2947m). I will camp there and stay till 12:00am lunch! Would it be possible to organize a donkey for 16.8 12:00 at Jancapamba to go then for Alpamayo North Base Camp? I will pay 20USD per day for donkey and porter! I have about 15-20kg for the donkey! Especially I ask you at Hostal Universal in Huaraz? If possible let the donkey bring 6 beer and a bottle of red wine with him! I will pay for this, too! No problem! Please send me the reply till Thursday evening? Also if you couldn't organize a donkey! Many thanks!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Close to Alpamayo basecamp at about 4300m altitude

Today it was 4h30 to get near to Alpamayo basecamp! I started with my nice donkey, a porter (the son of yesterday's porter and a limping dog, that uses only 3 of his four legs!) The pace today was very good for me and it was cloudy with some little rainfall in the end! Overall 500m of altitude but finally I had to let the donkey go again, as I dont want to compete against a very strong, well acclimatized donkey! If possible then I would take this donkey with me to Switzerland for helping me on the hikes there! It is a very nice animal, that I really like!

Finally I found an excellent camp site near a creek and protected by a huge stone, so I used only half of my pegs for stabilization! Besides "Alpamayo" I might produce a "Donkey"-calendar! i would need only 10 great shots, as for November I might take Putin and for December I have Obama!

Hopefully the clouds disappear and give a free view to Alpamayo! Maybe tomorrow morning! We will start very early, as tommorrow is a high pass of 4760m and my guide will then already return! So then I will have lost my nice, helpful donkey! That is very sad, as then it is me carrying 45kg in high altitude!

I would appreciate very much if you promote this blog also to your friends! To all people that love the outdoors and who love hiking the great places on earth! Many thanks! Last but not least many thanks also to Kasachstan, India and Bangladesh for helping me with finetuning and implementing SEO for my webpage!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Close to Alpamayo basecamp at about 4300m altitude

Today it was 4h30 to get near to Alpamayo basecamp! I started with my nice donkey, a porter (the son of yesterday's porter and a limping dog, that uses only 3 of his four legs!) The pace today was very good for me and it was cloudy with some little rainfall in the end! Overall 500m of altitude but finally I had to let the donkey go again, as I dont want to compete against a very strong, well acclimatized donkey! If possible then I would take this donkey with me to Switzerland for helping me on the hikes there! It is a very nice animal, that I really like!

Finally I found an excellent camp site near a creek and protected by a huge stone, so I used only half of my pegs for stabilization! Besides "Alpamayo" I might produce a "Donkey"-calendar! i would need only 10 great shots, as for November I might take Putin and for December I have Obama!

Hopefully the clouds disappear and give a free view to Alpamayo! Maybe tomorrow morning! We will start very early, as tommorrow is a high pass of 4760m and my guide will then already return! So then I will have lost my nice, helpful donkey! That is very sad, as then it is me carrying 45kg in high altitude!

I would appreciate very much if you promote this blog also to your friends! To all people that love the outdoors and who love hiking the great places on earth! Many thanks! Last but not least many thanks also to Kasachstan, India and Bangladesh for helping me with finetuning and implementing SEO for my webpage!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Day 1: Cashapampa (2900m) to Llamacorral (3700m)

The bus drive to Jaraz was very dangerous! The road was good, the car was also good, but the bus driver was a nightmare: there were no seatbelts and the driver was about 60y old and thought it is a kind of formula one race! Always too fast and extremely risky passing manevreus! Maybe he had too much coca leaves! I dont know! But it was the most dangerous part of my Peru stay! The next bus to Cashapampa was OK! The road was smaller and dusty but it worked quite well! So I reached Cashapampa already at 10:30! Here I negotiated a bit with non-English speaking porters and finally I hired a quite old guy (maybe 60y old) for the first 3 days! I paid him extremely well with about 300 Soles (120 USD) for 3 days help of a grey donkey and he has to return then alone on the 4th day! Today the donkey got 12kg and myself still about 34kg! My porter looked not sporty at all with sandals and it became clear that he would ride on a very nice, black horse instead of walking! They were much faster than me, so I sent them to the first camp and finally after 5h I found my black bag there! The porter was not there - I think he continued to base camp of Alpamayo or he was looking for a shelter in the mountains for the cold night! He told me that he will not need a tent but knows a protected place where he will sleep!

For me it was exhausting, as of thin air at 3800m and because of a very sunny hot day! Yes it is winter but feels like summer, even at 3800m altitude! I have seen plants and birds that I have never seen before in my life! Then a lot of donkeys, horses and cows! I like the donkeys most! Currently they are around my tent and eating grass! Very nice animals! And more intelligent than horses! Though they have only 62 chromosoms, horses have 64! And mules 63! And how many chromosoms do you have? :-)

I have coca with me for 3 months! The helpful guy of the hostel not only guided me through Huaraz for more than 2h, helping me in organizing everything (park permission, maps etc), but he also gave me huge packages of Coca leaves! So I start today with a nice Coca tea!

Great campsite here with soft grass and some other hikers! i met a young couple from Switzerland! They and other hikers acted as translators! :-)

So I will sleep very well tonight! Tomorrow I will give my donkey 5-10kg more! They wont complain those nice animals! And I have it easier hiking to the next place, which is already at 4200m altitude! Today porter with horse and donkey was at least an hour faster than me, so 4h whereas it was 5h for me!

Good night!

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Last blog from civilization!

Last blog from civilization

Today I will continue my journey and travel by 2 little buses to the starting point of the track! Hopefully I can go for the first stage then, which would bring me in 5h to about 3600m. The next day is already 4200m and then its 4750m. It will be very tough for me with not sufficient acclimitization. Thats why I will try to hire a donkey or a mule! So 63 or 62 chromosoms, that is the question here! Hopefully I find a porter who speaks a few words of English and who has his own tent and food! A donkey would be better for photography, but a mule could be the easier animal! I hope to have the same pace as the donkey with some photography stops!

Depending on how things will go I might think about another circuit after the Alpamayo one. My favorite is the one, where Joe Simpson had his accident, which made him a legend! Google him and you know why!

I have already stomach problems. At the pharmacy they gave my antibiotic tablets, but difficult to judge, when and how many to take! First I keep using coca leaves! That should be a universal healing method for all diseases! The hotel gave me as much coca as I wanted for free, so I am well prepared for fighting possible altitude sickniss. Better coca than Diamox! :-)

Next blog will be from the hike by satellite messenger!

Von meinem iPad gesendet

Impressions from Huaraz

Impressions from Huaraz (3100m)

I already managed to get all stuff like fuel, permission end entry fee, maps, chocolade and I an ready to go to Caraz by bus tomorrow morning! A very kind joung guy helped me today on my shopping tour in Huaraz! So I got everything quickly!

I will get as much coca from the hotel as I need for the hike! I think it is a good doping which makes me feel better in high altitudes! Have to find out how much I should chew or add to my tea! :-)

It is a very lively town here at 3100m altitude with more than 50.000 inhabitants and here you get fresh fruits from Peru, like pineapples, bananas, oranges! The offer is unbeliavable here and everything is quite cheap. The bus tomorrow to Carraz is only 2USD for 66km! A mule with porter will be around 15-20USD per day! So very affordable for me, but I would like a very nice-looking, fit donkey! Fitter than myself would be best! :-)

So more I will write while on my hike around Alpamayo! The weather is great! It is winter here and even at 3100m altitude it is sunny and warm enough to wear only shorts and T-Shirt!

Peru is a great place! :-) Fantastico!

Interesting thoughts on travel and photography

A) Interesting thoughts on my travel:

Here at the hotel in Huaraz nobody speaks English! This means: No single word at all! They picked up a friend who acted as a translator. Even then it is not so easy, but it finally worked!
In Caraz they even do not speak Spanish but a very rare traditional language. So there I have to use hands and feet for communication! I would like to hire a mule there! :-) But a mule alone would not work for me, as I dont expect that mule to understand my English orders!
Tomorrow I have to organise everything. I hope to find some gas cannisters in the town. And chocolade as a legal drug!
They recommended tea with coca leaves! It sounds a bit like a drug, but it tastes very well and I like it! Dont know why the are not common in Europe! I will take some leaves with me on the hike! I hope it has no negative side-effects! I heard it should lessen altitude sickness problems! But I will avoid alcohol as it is anyway to heavy and unhealthy!
As always: The locals cannot believe that I go solo and they think I am crazy! :-) They never saw such a huge 130l Bergans backpack! Actually it is so heavy that it is very difficult to steal! Most people are not able to carry that backpack a few hundred meters! :-) By the way: Here in Huaraz I feel very safe! In Lima however I do not feel safe at all! There are too many poor people who have nothing to loose! Thats why there are armed robberies and lots of criminals..the drugs and casinos are also a source for criminals..
I will try to get over the first pass (around 4800m) after about 4-5 days from now! This is the fastest plan that I think makes sense! In case I am fast on the circuit I already have another great hiking idea! More on this at a later point! In peru I could spend 3 months alone for all zhose beautiful hikes! The Inka Empire is of course another topic..

B) Hints on photography

I was asked for some tips and tricks on photography. Here are some very basic ones:

Essential: always shoot in RAW and try to find out the strengths of each lenses, that you own! Usually you should reduce the open aperture by 2 full stops to have maximum quality. Stay close to this aperture! If your lens is f2.8 then f5.6-f8 usually results in the sharpest pictures. As a maximum I would not go beyond f13! Only in cases where the centrum is the central topic you should go for open Aperture!
Try to find your strengths! Which focal distance do you like most? Wide angle 10-30mm or Tele 200-400mm. Or do you have an eye on macro photography! Which focal distance did you use for your best shots so far? Concentrate on this! 70-200mm often produces great shots! This will be my major lens on the Alpamayo circuit! Sometimes it is even a nice exercise to have only one fixed lens with you! For example: only 35mm lens!
Concentrate on one topic? Think a lot before shooting? Do your homework! Go for unusual compositions? Try different settings and walk around your subject! Be patient to wait for good light and invest some time before the final shot! Also go for details and avoid distracting elements in the composition!
If possible use a tripod? At least use mirror lock-up and use a remote control to avoid any shakes!
Go for the best light either in the morning or evening! Or wait for attractive clouds! Clear sky is often the worst situation for photography! Go for thunderstorms and changing weather patterns!
Find interesting compositions! There are many books on this topic! Lines, Frames, Fibonacci Rule, Empty spaces, In general: The main subject should be very seldom in the middle of a picture!

Message from Frank Tschöpe

Very impressive bus drive above 4000m altitude!

This was a very impressive bus drive today in very thin air! It is amazing that there are little villages even at 4000m altitude and also cows and donkeys! Some women wear stylish hats and colorful clothing! This is already a great trip after 2 days! I would have stopped several times if I had the say but unfortunately I am sitting in a bus that stops not at all!

I know people that always spend there holidays in Europe, some even bought another holiday flat there! They are just stuck to those boring place! Most of them will never experience the most beautiful spots on earth, that I have visited over the last years. And they are definetely not in the European Alps. Peru is another highlight for myself and a candidate for one of the more beautiful places on earth! Apart from Lima, of course!

I think I will spend 2 nights here at 3100m altitude to get a bit acclimatised to these heights! I also need some fuel and even more important some chololade for my hike around Alpamayo!

Good night for today!

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