Last day in Ushuaia!

Today I had my last night in a hotel in Ushuaia! I shared the room with a man from the east coast of America! He used to be a helicopter pilot and was even flighing in Vietnam during war times! Very interesting and nice person! He gave me some medicine against sea-sickness! He has the full arsenal against it, also hand wrists..

But I will share the cabin with 2 other persons that I dont know yet! One is from Sweden and the other from the US! There are around 180 passengers and 30 staff! Many come from the US and China! Lu, Gu, Ling I found as names! ;-) Then there are also people from Russia, Canada, New Zealand! There is no other German on the passenger list but 2 Germans work as staff!

I have still 6h on mainland but I will only relax! When coming back on 3.12 I will spend another 4 days in Ushuaia! Then I might do some little hikes in the mountains! 10 years ago I have seen beaver dams and was very impressed by them! There was a wall that was 2m high built by beavers! ;-) this region here is fantastic!

Internet is already very slow in the hotel and on the ship you would even need more patience! I decided to not use it at all! But I will just write my blog and send it with my own Satellite messenger to my website and to facebook! I will also send waypoints in realtime to my website! It is nice for myself to watch the route afterwards! I like that Satellite messenger!

So thats it from th most southern town in the world! Adventurous greetings from Ushuaia Frank

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Thoughts from Ushuaia

14.11 Thoughts from Ushuaia

There is a nice animation on the world, that shows current wind direction and levels:

http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=293.99,-59.96,1567

Currently the weather is not optimal here! It is cloudy, rainy and very cold, though it should be spring here! At least the calendar says so! ;-) In the mountains of Ushuaia there is already snow at a level of around 300m altitude! I am a bit surprised but that's how it is in the extreme south of our world!

Anyway I love to feel the weather and this is the right place for it as the wind never seems to stop here! Other places than Patagonia with such characteristics are Iceland, New Zealand and also the Kingdom of Mustang! There is very often wind developing and with that it very seldom gets boring! You often have nice cloud formations then..

I am really looking forward for ths cruise ship adventure as it is a new experience for me! Usually I have to carry lots of stuff on my back during my hiking adventures! This time is different and looks like much comfort and luxury! And encouters with interesting people from all over the world!

Finally some food for thought:

"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but...will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones." - Marcus Aurelius

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Greetings from Ushuaia!

The travel to Ushuaia went very well though I was surprised that I needed to change the airport in Buenous Aires! So I had a longer taxi drive through the center of that huge city! I had a crazy taxi driver that agressively overtook other cars in a traffic jam whenever it was possible! With 60USD it was a very expensive taxi drive, but I was not in the mood to negotiate the prize!

Ushauaia I like very much! A long time ago I had a fantastic hike here in the mountains! It is a beautiful, but very windy place! Many colorful houses and its size seems to have been growing a lot over the last 10 years!

I met the first passengers already today and they were from New Zealand, one of my favorite countries in the world! I have been there 6 times and know many of those great walks there! Especially I love the South Island and should go there again at some point! I did run the Kepler Challenge 3 times! It is one of the classic mountain runs in the world! I love it! That couple immediately felt my compassion for New Zealand! ;-)

I am always wondering on people that mostly stay at home and go only for "second or third class" travels! Some people are already happy by spending a holiday in Switzerland, Germany, Austria or Italy! But believe me there are much better places to go for! Travelling around the world showed me really beautiful places! So beautiful, that I tend to believe even in a god, who created this beauty! I only mention here a few places so that you might become aware that there is something bigger to explore: New Zealand, Nepal, Alaska, Patagonia, all of Scandinavia, Peru/Bolivia, Chile and hopefully Antarctica which I will visit very soon!

So tomorrow is a rest day in Ushuaia and I will change the hotel to meet all other passengers there! On Saturday the cruise ship will start then. But now it is time to sleep and recover from the very long exhausting travel! ;-) It is a great hotel: www.altoandinohotel.com

In the next weeks there will be a blog and live-tracking in the News section of my website

www.franktschoepe.com

Please share this with your friends!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Surprise in Buenos Aires! There are 2 airports here and I was surprised that I had to go for the other for my inland flight! So I am now in a taxi and it will take 1h (hopefully!) and it costs 55USD! ;-) Sunny day with clear sky here!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Changed plan!

I changed my plan and will now go to Claridenhut instead of Fridolinhut! It is a bit longer, but today it will be better for photography! So next I have to climb 500m up (2h) and then it is a 3h steep downhill to my car! It is very sunny and warm now! A few clouds developing!

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

7am Planurahut 2947m, Greetings from high altitudes

I have clear sky and the sun is expected in half an hour! It is very windy here and the snow is hard and icy! i have to take care not to slip outside the hut on the ice! Yesterday it was water and now it is ice on the ground!

I am to lazy today for setting up my Gorillapod but will instead do some freehand shots! I just pur the oven on for some hot water! But the rooms here are cold at about 3-5 degrees and there is no light, so I am using my flashlight here!

It is a great place though with directly positioned between T�di and Clariden! I plan to hike down the easiest route, but I tend to wait a few hours until the sun has made the snow softer! I do not like to put on my crampons for this icy, frozen downward slope, so I just wait until it is less slippery and less dangerous!

The wind makes some noise! ;-) Otherwise it was a quite night! No one snoring, as far as I can judge! ;-) ;-) ;-)

Special Greetings today to C.A. (Only 2 persons on earth know what the C. stands for!)

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Sunset at Planura Hut at 18:30

Today was a great sunny day and tonight I am the only person here at 2944m in the Planura hut! I did some photography, but without clouds most shots are rather uninteresting! Then I did a mistake and my camera fell from 30cm on some stones! The glass of the filter broke to pieces, but otherwise the rest seems to be OK! Only a very little scratch on my 70-200mm lens!

The guy from Finland was very interesting. He slept on a hanging mattress in a forest! Nice idea! Today i wore no T-Shirt, though it was only 10 degrees warm! I think they are used to colder temperatures in Heldinki! ;-)

Then I photographed helicopters! One of them had a longer break at Planura hut and I had a longer conversation with the pilot: you need 30.000EUR and 1year to get the licence! And you can reach 1000km with one load of fuel! 800EUR would it cost you as a tourist for one hour flying! Some years ago i had a nice deal with one pilot: I had a free flight with him around T�di and I paid him with high-quality pictures of his helicopter! ;-)

I am still thinking about which route to descend! Maybe I hike via Fridolinshut as I am not sure on the snow condition at Isw�ndli! I cannot see any traces of other people and that makes it difficult being the first on a snowy ridge! So maybe I go for the easier descent! ;-) I really expected some people here that already prepared the rote with their footsteps! It makes things so much easier! Also with respect to possible crevasses..

I am currently deeply impressed by the smooth light. The sun just disappeared! No clouds at all! I will go to bed soon and read some books! It will be a very cold and quite night, as the room is not heated! But with my warm sleeping bag it should work very well! ;-)

So will get up esrly tomorrow for photography and then decide which route to take! Easiest would be via Fridolin-Hut and I am likely to go for that route!

Good night! ;-)

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Reached Obersand at1930m after 3h in the shadows of mountains

Here on the first plateau I have my first break and I am also enjoying the sun! It is fantastic here! I love T�di (3600m) the highest mountain in this area. I climbed it twice with snowshoes in winter! One of the more spectacular, easy climbs! Google "T�di Frank Tsch�pe" and you will find nice pictures with T�di in F�hn!

The last 500m were quite steep and exhausting, though I only have 30kg with me today! The next passage is a bit easier and I will pass fossils from the past! They found dinosaur bones and traces in the stones about 7-8y ago! Very interesting!

The last section before the hut might be the crux of today! If there is snow or ice then I would put on my crampons there at about 2800m altitude! It is beautiful here and so far I have not met any other person! But I see already "Claridenfirn" (Google pictures and you see a nice glacier)

So I have lunch now ;-) I forgot mineral drink tablets, but instead I have 0.5l of German Weizenbier! ;-)

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Message from Frank Tschöpe

Solo Autumn Hike to Planura Hut

It is 6:15am and I am in Tierfehd and will start to Planura hut in a few moments! There are no cars here, so I will be the first and maybe only person doing this hike today! It is still dark with clear sky and stars in the sky! 7 Degrees here at 800m altitude! The hut is at about 3000m and I will expect a cold night there! ;-) But I wear short trousers today! I should warm up after starting on the first steep slopes! Please watch me as I will send a waypoint automatically each 15min! My next blog I will be sent from Planura hut this evening! If you dont see the waypoint moving anymore (say for 3h) then please think carefully whether I am just sleeping, photographing or if something serious might had happened! Dont come by feet then but just send a helicopter ;-)

Special greetings to beautiful Iceland and A...

Frank

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Day 14: Last day and finish of Alpamayo Circuit!

Yesterday I had my final stage of the hike around Alpamayo! Again it was a sunny, hot day, even above 4000m altitude! Luckily it was only a long descent from 4650m to 3100m! I met a couple of french hikers who gave me some food and also changeg some USD to Peruan Sole!

When I reached the first village I bought some drinks and bread, as I was very hungry! I also decided not to complete the whole circuit (about 2h hiking missing), as for photography reasons it didnt make sense at all to walk this last little route to Chesapampa! A friendly farmer offered me a taxi to Caraz for about 25USD: a rough ride of 1h on sandy mountain roads! Then I immediately got the bus to Huaraz, which costs 2USD! So I am back to civilization and enjoyed a hot shower after 14 days camping in the wilderness! OK, this time no big, wild animals, though!

I will write a summary in about 2 weeks and will also provide nice pictures! You can subscribe to the newsletter on

http://www.franktschoepe.com/news/#/articles/

So now I will recover for the next few days! I lost about 5kg, as I burnt many more calories than I was able to add each day!

Great mountains and very idyllic farming life in Peru! It feels like no change in the last 100 years! Some farmers live very isolated and I have not seen any electricity or modern machines! People are very kind, although I did not speak a word of Spanish! And in the mountains no word of English was spoken at all!

I liked the donkeys even more than horses! It think it was a pleasure for them having me as a client! As I gave them only 20-25kg which is an easy load for them! I have seen other loads of about 75-100kg! Even then they seem not to care and easily bring those loads over the high passes!

So these were some impressions from one of the most beautiful hikes on earth with the most beautiful mountain Alpamayo!

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