IridePow's Blog

Skitour in the Gauli area - April 19 to 22, 2015

2015-05-06T01:25:00.002+02:00

Peter, Andi and I were lucky to spend 4 gorgeous days in the Gauli area in the Bernese Alps. We started at the Handegg (near Guttannen), spent the first night at the unmanned Grueben hut, two nights at the Gauli hut and topped the whole trip off with a push to the Wetterhorn and a memorable run down to Rosenlaui. The weather window could have not been more perfect.

Overview of our 4 day tour. Starting at Handegg, getting out at Rosenlaui.

Overlooking the Grueben area.

The Grueben hut with a thick snow blanket.

On our way up to the Golegghorn after leaving some ballast at the hut.

The last pitch up the couloir to the Golegghorn.

Philippe (a friend we met by coincidence up at the summit) on the way down the north face to the Gauli hut.

We made our way down south again to the Gruebenhut. Peter and Andi overlooking the arena with the Undri Baechlilicken on the lower left.

Our cozy home for the night. Highly recommended.

Start of day two with a look over to the Trift area.

On the way up to the Undri Baechlilicken.

Making our way up the saddle. First it went very well, middle part was bottomless snow. So I crawled my way up somehow and put in a fixed rope to help the others. (Gross Diamantstock in the background)

Andi made it!

Peter still fighting the tricky snow conditions.

Looking from the Undri Baechlilicken over to the Golegghorn and the Grueben hut on the rocky outcrop.

Panorama over to the Trift area as seen on our way up the Baechli glacier.

Reaching the Obri Baechlilicken.

Peter getting ready to head down on the north side of the Obri Baechlilicken. Overlooking the Gauli area.

Andi having some fun!

Looking to the west just below the Obri Baechlilicken (Hiendertenstock, Schreckhorn, Rosenegghorn)

Having a well deserved beer at the Gauli hut.

Morning of day Nr. 3. Another picture perfect sunny day!

Heading up to the Ankenbaelli.

Roping up over a crevasse zone at about 3300 m.

On the summit of the Ankenbaelli. Unbelievable panorama (pics just don't do it justice).

Lauteraarhorn, Schreckhorn, Moench, Eiger.

Peter opening it up on the wide open glacier.

Returning from the Ankenbaelli with the crossing of the Gauli glacier.

Morning glow on day Nr. 4.

Reaching the Raenfenhorn.

Looking west at about 3050 m towards the Mittelhorn and the Wellhornsaddle.

Traverse to the Wellhornsaddle at about 2980 m.

Looking from the Wellhornsaddle towards the Wetterhorn.

At the ski depot at about 3480 m.

After the first pitch just above the key section for today (a rocky, slippery section) looking over to the Mittelhorn.

About one third up the climb. Lauteraarhorn and Schreckhorn watching us.

Peter just reaching the summit of the Wetterhorn. What a view!

The crew on the summit.

Eiger north face with Grindelwald underneath. Kinda small in the picture, but in reality BIG!

On the climb down again in the upper part of the couloir with some very good snow conditions.

Quickly roping up over the rocky section to play it safe.

Mittelhorn and the view towards the Wellhorn saddle.

Skinning up again for a short section to reach the saddle.

Quite a few tracks showing us the way on the Rosenlaui glacier. In case you are the first you better know where to go.

Looking back at around 2800 m. We took the skiers left route (just below the Wellhorn).

Impressive crevasse country.

The last hurddle of the day. Mandatory air, dicey side stepping or straight lining over glare ice.

Peter chose the ice, which was the better option than my side stepping. He just managed to not wipe out.

The massive breakup of the Rosenlaui glacier at 2300 m.

Fighting our way down through some old avy debris.

Before reaching the creek at around 1550 m.

Thanks to the whole crew for an awesome tour in this remarkable area!

Toedi in one day - June 1, 2014

2014-06-04T23:46:00.000+02:00

Last Sunday Thomas and I finished off the ski touring season with a bang and made the Toedi in one day (2900 vertical meters). After a very short night we started at two o'clock in the morning in Tierfehd at 800 m.

All packed up and ready to push and sometimes bike to Hintersand.

After about 1.5 h we reached Hintersand (1300 m), where we left the bikes and hiked towards the snowline.

After about 3 hours of warm up we reached the snow at an altitude of about 1750 m. Quick breakfast and changing on to the snow gear.

Linking the snow patches in the Tentiwang.

Finally on the Biferten glacier with a continuous, but still somewhat pumpy summer snow cover.

Here we already passed the first serac zone and are looking at the second serac zone with the Schneerus (couloir) to the right.

Thomas on his way through the second serac zone.

Look back from the beginning of the second serac zone to the valley floor.

Here we reached about 3100 m.

Look back at the Bifertenstock

Thomas passing some crevasses.

After a bit more than 9 hours we reached the summit. Happy, but with somewhat tired legs.

Chat on the summit with two other fellows, who climbed the West face. Otherwise we were all alone on this gorgeous Sunday.

View from the summit over to the Clariden and the Schaerhorn.

Perfect corn conditions

Taking a break after the upper third.

Navigating past some holes and cracks in the second serac zone. (Unfortunately my old camera shows some slight haze. Need an upgrade soon.)

Opening it up again in on the velvet carpet all the way down to the glacier bottom.

The snow in the Tentiwang was covered with debris and sometimes we had to carry the skis.

Last turns of the 2013/2014 ski season.

Packed up again and hiking out.

Last look back to the Tentiwang.

For me a somewhat mediocre season with only 11 ski tours comes to an end. At least there were a few very good ones mixed in, like the Surettahorn or the Gross Ruchen, and to top it all off this last one to the Toedi was definitely a memorable one!

Strahlhorn and Alphubel - May 4 and 5, 2014

2014-05-08T00:46:00.000+02:00

Spent a nice weekend with Peter, Christoph and Andi in the high country of the Valais. After a not so easy as first thought stroll to the Britannia hut due to white out conditions on Saturday afternoon/evening, we were off to the Strahlhorn (4190 m) on Sunday morning.

On Monday we made our second 4000er for the (extended) weekend with the Alphubel (4206 m) and finished it off with a great long run down to Saas Fee.

Early Sunday morning start to the Strahlhorn

Mathieu my co-worker was that night also at the Britannia hut and went on Sunday towards the Allalinpass and Rimpfischhorn

We went our way to the left, the Strahlhorn

Shortly after the Adlerpass the easy "Autobahn-stroll" was over and we had to make our way through a serac zone

Christoph just below the summit. We were all feeling the thin air above 4000 m at this point.

A bit windy and cold on the summit ridge

However the great views over to the Monte Rosa massif made up for the somewhat breezy conditions

The whole Strahlhorn crew

Returning to the hut with a short hike back up

Britannia hut

Great morning light on Monday morning on our way to the Allalinpass and the Alphubel

Panorama on the Allalinpass with the most prominent summits (Matterhorn, Dent Blanche, Zinalrothorn, Weisshorn)

Peter and Andi making their way over to the traverse onto the Alphubel glacier

Peter on the somewhat dicey traverse. Next time we will take the way below around the rock band.

A group making their way from the Täsch hut towards the Rimpfischhorn

Peter and Andi soaking in the views into the amphitheater of 4000er (and checking in with the loved ones via SMS)

Who doesn't love life when you are in these surroundings?

Making our way from the Alphubeljoch over to the Alphubel (Allalinhorn, Strahlhorn and Rimpfischhorn in the background)

On the summit of the Alphubel (Täschhorn and Dom in the background). Once again that was some hard work in the thin air especially in the steep section just below the summit.

However the views paid off (Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, Dent Blanche the most prominent ones)

Just about done skiing the steeper upper section in the serac zone

Ready for a total downhill of 2400 m all the way down to Saas Fee. The upper part in some prime spring powder. Lower part then as expected in heavy, bottomless slush on the slopes of the closed ski area.

Crossing over a snow bridge to make our way to the ski slopes

Thanks to the whole crew for an awesome weekend!

Freeride Disentis and Staldenfirn - February 16 & 17, 2013

2013-02-20T22:53:00.000+01:00

It has been quite a while since my last post (not that much time anymore to post skiing pictures since the birth of our lovely daughter and son). But after this memorable weekend I thought I might share a few pics.

I went with my brother Alexander, Rene and Max to Disentis for one day freeriding. We stayed Saturday night in the winterroom of the Cavardiras hut. On Sunday we went to the Oberalpstock and followed it up with one of the longest available rides down the Staldenfirn.

We agreed on the dates about 2 month ago, and it turned out that we chose the date wisely. I was on the Staldenfirn two times before in previous years, but never had it been in such prime conditions. Powder from top to bottom. Upper part around 40 cm of fluffy powder and even lower down in the Milchplanggen still 20-30 cm of fresh pow on top of a thick snowpack.

Lift assisted warmup runs (Val Acletta) - Alexander

Even the southern slopes provided some very dry, fluffy powder; however not bottomless, since there was a crust about 30 cm underneath.

Rene

Max is loving it

Afterwards we are trenching our way to the northern slopes.

Unfortunately at that point the clouds started to move in. So there is no photo evidence of the face shot galore that unfolded after this hike over into the Val Strem.

At the end of the day we make the traverse over to the ladder.

Quite some snow this year… usually not that easy to get on it.

Rene on the ladder

Followed by Alexander and Max

Short downhill to the Brunni firn and than a longer flat section to the hut on the horizon.

Last sun rays on the Brunni firn

Just before dark we make it to the Cavardiras hut.

Quite a good winter room, which we shared with 3 other people (the picture does not do it justice). Took a while to get warm, but afterwards nice an cozy.

Next day bluebird

The group is stoked to get going.

Making our way over the brunni firn towards the Oberalpstock.

Max soaking in the views (Gross Duessi to the right, Clariden in the background).

Alexander and Rene on the upper half.

On the summit. This Sunday was actually quite a busy day on the Oberalpstock. We started at 8:30 at the hut and at around 9:10 the first people already started clearing the ladder. There were probably almost 80 people on the summit this day. This was the only minus point on this great day (note to self: next time start one hour earlier at the hut).

Looking from the summit to the Toedi west face.

Looking to the east (Bristen in the foreground).

Entrance to the Staldenfirn. Even though we were in the first third of the bulk of people it has seen already quite some traffic.

Luckily the Staldenfirn is wide and you could still find plenty of room to lay your own tracks.

Alexander halfway down in the Gemsplanggen. What a feeling to surf this wide, long slope in such prime conditions.

Even the Milchplanggen provided still some face shots.

Yes Rene, that was a good day!

Goodbye Maderaner valley.

Thanks to the whole crew for an awesome weekend!

Gemsfairenstock & Clariden - April 24th, 2010

2010-04-29T22:21:00.008+02:00

Gemsfairenstock 2972 m
Clariden 3267 m
Ascent: 1500 m from Fisetenpass
Descent: 1700 m down to Jaegerbalm

Here are a few pictures from a great Saturday tour with Kevin up to the Gemsfairenstock. Followed by a short descent down to the Clariden glacier and climb up to the summit of the Clariden. From the summit we downclimbed the ridge to the Chammlijoch and rode down to the Klausenpass and then to Jaegerbalm, where we finally ran out of snow.

After a 6 AM ride up with the gondola from the Urnerboden we could enjoy a nice sunset on the Fisetenpass.

Looking towards the Klausenpass on the way up to the Gemsfairenstock

Following the ridge (Ober Orthalten)

Getting to the rock wall at 2520 m. In midwinter this can be one of the more difficult parts to get through, but now in spring condition there is no avalanche danger in early morning.

Relatively easy cruising up the slopes

Last pitch on the Lang glacier

Kevin at the summit of the Gemsfairenstock

Look onto the Clariden glacier with the Clariden in the background to the middle right.

I chose the snowboard today as well.

The mighty Toedi

After a quick descent down to the Clariden glacier we got our glacier gear out and proceeded the relatively flat but quite long way on the glacier towards the Clariden.

It was an extremely warm day and we were sweating hard on the glacier.

East face of the Clariden

At this point we are just having another 100 vertical meters before us. In this picture we are looking back the way we came up the glacier.

Kevin and I on the Clariden.

Looking south towards the Gross Duessi (pyramid in the middle) and the Oberalpstock with the great run down the Staldenfirn.

Looking north down to the Urnerboden

After soaking in the great views and the warm sunrays we got ready and walked down the west ridge.

Shortly below the summit the terrain gets quite exposed. The way is secured with chains and it's a good idea to secure yourself with a short rope to it, so just in case you would slip you don't sail for 800 m down the north face.

Kevin hasn't done this kind of exposed climbing ever and his heartrate was pumping, but he was doing great and we made it safely through the rocks.

Climbing up again a bit to the intermediate summit. In the background the ridge from the Clariden summit we just down climbed.

Looking down to the Chammlijoch. We were thrilled when we could finally put our snowboards on and ride down towards the Klausenpass.

Kevin in the Iswaendli

Surfing the middle part. The snow was good to about 2500 m, after that it was extremely heavy snow due to the warm day and we had a somewhat hard time to make our way past the Klausenpass. Sometimes our boards almost stuck to the snow, but we enjoyed it anyways as long as we could.

Using the last patches of snow.

Somewhere around 1550 m we ran out of snow and had to walk down for a short section on the road. Luckily I could hitch a ride back to our car at the Urnerboden. This way the hiking was reduced to an absolute minimum.

Thanks Kevin for the great company on this classic tour. It might have been my last one for this season.... because I have some great news: I became a father shortly after the tour. On Monday, April 26th, 2010 our daughter Anja was born.

See also http://www.backcountry.ch/index.php?option=com_touren_boerse&Itemid=71&task=detailnach&id=290

Bluemberg - February 13th, 2010

2010-02-16T21:37:00.005+01:00

Bluemberg (2405 m)
Ascent: 700 m from the Lidernen hut
Descent: 1800 m down to Muotathal

Here are a few pictures from a great Saturday tour on the Bluemberg and the long ride down to Muotathal. The upper part of the mountain was already a bit tracked out due to our late start, but about halfway down we were in powder heaven.

First a nostalic ride up with the Chaeppeliberg tram (basically just a basket that fits 5 people)

On the ascent just a bit above the Lidernen hut

A pretty steep traverse under the Chaiserstock

The Gross Mythen just peaking above the fog

Relatively easy cruising

The way up to the saddle between Bluemberg and Chronenstock

Almost there

Alexander is feeling that partying in the military is not the best preparation for a backcountry tour

Last pitch up to the summit

Looking over to the Chronenstock

Looking to the east with the pointy Wasserbergfirst in the left foreground

Our crew on the summit

The upper part was already quite tracked out, but lower down we were in powder heaven.
Kevin loving it!

Alexander is right behind him

René

Dave

Dave showing off his telemark skills

Alexander in the deep stuff

René surfing the wave

And then he dives into powder heaven

Kevin on the lower parts

Dave shows how the alpine turn works with a free heel

See also http://www.backcountry.ch/index.php?option=com_touren_boerse&Itemid=52&task=detailnach&id=278&akt=2

Transalp 2009 (Entlebuch - Simplon), Day 4 and 5

2009-11-10T20:55:00.028+01:00

Day 4: Oberems – Moosalp – Stalden – Gspon

Start: 8:15 h
Finish: 19:45 h
Kilometers: 59 km
Vertical meters ascended: 3400 m (plus 150 m for lost topo map recovery)
Vertical meters descended: 2700 m
Maps: Single Trail Map Nr. 34 (Brig/Visp)

The vertical profile from Swiss Map 25
(Swisstopo map software seems to over estimate the vertical meters slightly since it’s not smoothing out anything)

I got an early start today since the weather forecast was not very promising. At first I had to climb up the asphalt road past Oberems and soon I dropped into the gorge of the Turtmanna creek on a nice single trail through the forest.

After crossing the Turtmanna one of the highlights of this whole trip came: The suone of Ergisch
In the canton of Valais there are lots of suones. These channels bring water over large distances to the fields and vineyards and follow with a minimal grade the mountain slopes.

The particular suone is about 3 km long. It is not in use anymore, but you can still follow the trail along it. The trail has the perfect pitch and you are assured that you never have to pedal uphill.
This is near the starting zone of the suone

Soon you get into rockier terrain

Looking back to a section with a considerable drop off, where you have to concentrate a bit harder than usual to stay on the trail.

At this point it starting raining, but I was still quite well protected by the forest and overhanging rocks.

Some more impressing sections where the trail is cut into the rock

After coming out above the village of Ergisch the rain did not stop for the next few hours. I made my way up to Obermatte covered in rain gear. This way you do not get wet from the outside, however you sweat like crazy, so that everything just gets drenched from the inside. From Obermatte I followed the gravel road up to Tschorr and later on got to a nice single trail section. From the Undri Eisschollalp on gravel road down to Waldmatte and then again on a good single trail section uphill. I stayed a bit too long on the single trail uphill and missed the turn off on the single trail over to Gaerlich. So I had to carry my bike over some rocks along a pretty steep slope. After fighting my way through this unintended route I got back on a rideable trail and finally reached the asphalt road up to Moosalp.

Moosalp just before reaching the high point

The constant rain was getting to me and the motivation was low. I made a longer stop in the restaurant on the Moosalp and dried up as much as possible. A hot soup and some fries provided the fuel to get the machine running again.
During the break the rain let up and you could finally see over to the other side of the valley.
Looking from Moosalp over to Gspon.

From the Moosalp you are staying high above the valley and are riding south into the Mattervalley. It’s a pretty interesting single trail slightly up and down. Here I missed again a turn because I did not trust the sign of “Yaktrail”. Yaktrail just did not sound like it’s a single trail for mountainbikes, rather some kind of trample path. Anyway…. The trail I followed further down the valley got quite interesting. I found myself suddenly in a tunnel and had to bring out the torch to see where I am going.

Soon after the big descent was in store. All the way from an altitude of 2100 down to 950.
But that’s also when a slight misfortune happened to me. The map fell out of the sidepocket of my backpack. Luckily I realized it at the next trail crossing. However I still had to make my way up again for 150 vertical meters to get my valuable topo map back. Just for training purposes :-)

Single trail down to Embd

The trail is on such a steep continuous grade that your brakes get extremely hot. I made a few stops and actually cooled the discs with water, which evaporated right away (not sure if that’s a proper way to do this, but hey I thought it’s better than having glowing discs).

Embd is a picture-perfect mountain village in the Mattervalley

A typical Valais spycher (storage shed). The rock plates are there so that the mice can not get into the shed.

A very steep trail led down from Embd to the valley bottom. Don’t get me wrong; I like to ride downhill. However it would be fun to spread those verticals over a bit of a longer distance. From 950 m on is a pleasant ride until you meet the road into Stalden.

Due to the unpleasant weather in the morning and the long break on the Moosalp I was running a bit late. I just quickly fueled up in the supermarket with power bars and made my way up the windy asphalt road towards Gspon.
The 1200 m climb is for the most part on asphalt road (up to Riedji) and not very interesting but hard work.

Look back during the ascent over towards the Moosalp (saddle upper right)

The last 300 vertical meters are on gravel through the forest. It already started to get dark and I was happy when I arrived at the hotel Alpenblick (www.alpenblick-gspon.ch).

Getting to Gspon at 19:45
(in the foreground the Mosji, the other choice for an overnight stay in Gspon)

I had a huge dinner and later on a few beers with some other guests to celebrate my last night on the Transalp. Just when I wanted to go to bed I got invited by two local hunters. We had a few more beers together and they shared some interesting stories about the last few days of the hunting season. Finally at some late hour feeling buzzed and dead tired I climbed into bed.

Day 5: Gspon – Gebidumpass – Nanzlicke – Simplonpass – Iselle

Start: 9:30 h
Finish: 16:00 h
Kilometers: 44 km
Vertical meters ascended: 1600 m
Vertical meters descended: 2850 m
Maps: Single Trail Map Nr. 34 (Brig/Visp)

The vertical profile from Swiss Map 25

This morning looks a lot more promising than all the rain the day before.

After an awesome breakfast (where I could not even eat half of what they offered me) I was on my way for the last stage of the Transalp 2009.

A steady climb on some good trails (like the one on the picture below) brings you up to the Sädolti

After the Sädolti some really fun single trails take you to the Gebidumpass

The last section up to the top of the pass is on gravel road again

Unfortunately there is only a gravel road from the Gebidumpass down to the Nanztal (at least that’s what I thought at the time is the only rideable route)

Too bad you have to ride down these 400 vertical meters on the road. A single trail would be so much more fun. Later at home I found some information that there would be another viable single trail option. From the Gebidumpass you could follow the suone Heida to the end of the valley and then make your way towards the Bistinepass all high above the valley bottom. For more information read this report from some guys who did it in the other direction (in German):
www.schymik.de/wordpress/?p=218
Or a few more pictures from a hiker to wet your appetite: www.hikr.org/tour/post7989.html.

This is probably not a faster alternative since there are quite a few walking sections, but maybe more interesting. I would definitely consider it for another time. (I included it in the GPS track instead of the gravel road)

After you reached the bottom you can only ride for a short section and later on the trail gets really steep. After some walking you would be able to ride again under normal circumstances. However I felt the efforts of the last few days and my batteries were empty. (The beers from the night before probably did not help the cause either). So I ended up walking a large part towards the Bistinepass.
Just every once in a while when the energy came back I rode some of the easier sections like this one about half way up.

Look back towards the Gebidumpass. You see the gravel road quite well. The trail along the suone Heida is hard to make out, but if you look carefully you can see a slight line going upwards from the saddle.

Getting to the first snow from the day or two before.

Shortly before I got to the Bistinepass I took a left and went towards the Innere Nanzlicke. Just behind this hut is the last part up to the Innere Nanzlicke.

Now it was finally time to celebrate. The highest point of the Transalp 2009 was reached at 2579 m. From now on it was going to be all downhill to Italy.

Looking down to the Simplonpass from the Innere Nanzlicke

Now it was time to ride downhill past a large sheep herd, which was also going down with their shepherds to warmer elevations. The first section is on a great flowing trail.

Later on the trail becomes rockier and rockier with large steps, and you have to hang on to the handle bars, but nonetheless a fun ride down to the Simplonpass.

Looking up one more time towards the Nanzlicke.

Afterwards I followed for the most part the Stockalper trail, which has some pretty good single trail sections and goes more or less parallel to the main pass road.
And just when I thought I made the whole trip without a single problem I broke my chain. Good thing I had few brand new bolts with me, however it still took me a considerable amount of time to fix it.

What would be a trip report without a single bridge picture?
Arch bridge south of Simplon village.

Here I just enter the Gondo gorge. I chose to ride from this point on the main road down. My 50’000 single trial map did not show the Stockalper trail properly through the gorge, and the hiking trail sign indicated a walking time of 4h 20min to Gondo. I did not want to experiment around and having to carry my bike uphill again at this point. However I later noticed that you could stay for a bit more on the single trail, at least until an elevation of 1150 m (this is included in the GPS-track, see bottom of page). But sooner or later you would be forced back on the main road.

This way I was flying down across the border to Italy and made easily the 16:40 h train in Iselle back to Zurich. Tired but happy to have completed this solo Transalp trip I was on my way back home.

And now as I am just about to finish this blog entry, I am already dreaming about another Transalp in late August/early September 2010. Any takers?

One more time the route of my Transalp 2009
(Without any improvements done at the Grüenenbergpass and Heida suone. However suggested improvements are given in the GPS-tracks to download, see bottom of page)

Transalp 2009 (Entlebuch - Simplon) on a bigger map

Link to previous stages: Transalp 2009, Day 1 through Day 3

Download GPS data:
www.gps-tracks.com/gps-transalp-wallis-ta-entlebuch-simplon-E01064.html (registration required)
www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=fbmmjvfoiyrtzake (no registration required)

Transalp 2009 (Entlebuch - Simplon), Day 1 through Day 3

2009-11-09T21:18:00.023+01:00

Time: September 13th, 2009 to September 17th, 2009 (5 days and 4 nights)
Start: Entlebuch
Finish: Iselle
Kilometers: 260 km
Vertical meters ascended: 11’700 m
Vertical meters descended: 11’750 m
(Swisstopo map software seems to over estimate the vertical meters slightly since it’s not smoothing out anything)

I had the idea of crossing the Alps with my mountain bike sometime back in June. However things have been extremely busy this spring/summer at work and I simply did not find the time to plan this tour nor even set a certain date for it. As things finally settled down a bit at the end of August I planned a week off in September. This left me with less than two weeks time to plan and prepare for my adventure. Needless to say that I could not find anybody else who was crazy enough to join me on this trip with such short notice.

All the remaining evenings were spent with studying the maps, researching the internet and getting the last few missing pieces of gear together.

I only was riding my mountain bike about 5 times this whole summer season (besides going jogging from time to time), fighting a cold the week before the start plus a less than favorable weather forecast left me with some doubts if this thing is going to be doable for me. However I opted to go for it and maybe just throw in the towel on the way, in case things are not going well.

This is the actual route I took.
(Without any improvements done at the Grüenenbergpass and Heida suone. However suggested improvements are given in the GPS-tracks to download, see bottom of page)

Transalp 2009 (Entlebuch - Simplon) on a bigger map

Day 1: Entlebuch - Grüenenbergpass - Aeschi

Start: 8:30 h
Finish: 18:00 h
Kilometers: 72 km
Vertical meters ascended: 2200 m (plus 200 m for sun glasses)
Vertical meters descended: 2050 m
Maps: Swiss Topo 1:25’000 Print outs, Single Trail Map Nr. 29 (Entlebuch/Emmental) + Nr. 31 (Frutigland)

The vertical profile from Swiss Map 25

I started off with riding along the Kleine Emme. Right at the beginning are a few sections where I had to get off the bike to cross stairs and I was already thinking it’s not that easy as expected, but later on it’s a pleasant ride along the river and great to warm up for the day. I followed the river path up to Schüpfheim and then took the asphalt bike trail past Escholzmatt up to Wiggen. There I switched back to single trail along a little creek and past a campground before being forced back on the main road just before Marbach. Somewhere in Marbach I found a few single trails that are not marked on the map but nonetheless take you further along the creek. After I crossed the main road it kept going on some nice meadow trails; however I was forced constantly to open and close the cow fences. Those nice trails took me up to Schangnau where I crossed the Emme.

I bought the Single Trail Map Nr. 29 Entlebuch/Emmental ( www.singletrailmap.ch) and those maps give you some good possibilities for single trails. However you need to use to use the info also with some pre-caution.

I wanted to follow a recommended singletrail all the way up to the Grüenenbergpass. However I found out pretty soon that even this intermediate (red dotted) single trail is pretty much not rideable uphill. So I pushed my bike almost all the way from the Hintere Buhütte to the Mittlesti Buhütte because the trail was sooo steep. I am really interested what kind of athletes are riding that trail uphill?! Anyway…. I learned my lesson and next time I will take a closer look at the steepness of the red doted trails and leave the black ones who go uphill simply on the side.

The Mittlesti Buhütte and a curious cow checking out who is riding along this way

Then finally was a section on a more moderate road. Not feeling like pushing my bike for another 300 vertical meters uphill, I kept going on that road and did not turn on the trail towards Wimmisalp (as first planned), since that one is marked as difficult single trail (black dotted) and it was going straight uphill as well. I had to leave the road at an altitude of 1280 m and after some more pushing through the forest I finally reached the saddle at point 1452.

I was pretty excited to finally be able to ride a black dotted trail on a straight away or even slight downhill. However the section from the saddle over to the Obere Breitwang was still extremely difficult to ride and no fun for me. At the Obere Breitwang I had to make the gut-wrenching decision to drop down more than 200 vertical meters to the “regular” Grüenenbergpass road. I simply did not feel the urge to push and carry my bike almost all the way up to the pass and rather took my chances on the normal approach.

Look back to the saddle (point 1452) and single trail section that made me drop down the valley and not keep going further on the recommended single trails, because it is simply a HIKING trail and not a mountain bike trail.

I think it probably was the right decision since even that gravel road was not an easy task. At first it was some moderate riding however soon it gets steeper and steeper and gets rockier the further you go. I even ended up walking some parts on that “road”.

Upper part of the Grüenenbergpass road

Finally topped out on the Grüenenbergpass at 1555 m and when sitting down I realized that I forgot my sun glasses somewhere further down the road at the last break. Great! I didn’t really want to leave my glasses behind on the first day and dropped down again to look for my shades. However I could not find it, even though I went back for more than 200 vertical meters. So this was just another effort for training purposes. :-)
(I bought some new glasses on the second day in Kandersteg)

Back on top of the pass was a long descent in store. Too bad that for the most part you have to stay on gravel and asphalt road and just once or twice you can veer off to a hiking trail. Finally at the Säge (1140 m) you are getting on a nice single trail that takes you across the Traubach towards Bolsiten. A bit more ups and downs on the asphalt road over to Schwendi and there you drop down a steep trail to the Lombach. Here I took the wrong single trail down the gorge, but it was a fun section and I did not mind my mistake too much. However the trail spit me out too far down and I had to make up the lost verticals on a gravel road up to point 1071.

From here on I could rest my tired legs a bit on the descent down the gravel road.

Look back towards Grüenenbergpass with Habkern in the foreground. The sun peaked out from time to time but for large parts of the day low hanging clouds covered the hills and peaks around me.

A challenging single trail starts around 900 m. Be prepared for a rough, but fun ride down to Unterseen (Interlaken).

Let the fun begin

Yeah… lost concentration for a second on those steps and had to pay for it. Nothing happened, but still got shaken up a bit and could not even properly focus on this picture.

Paragliders having fun at the Harderkulm above Interlaken

From Unterseen I made my way over to Aeschi and stayed for the most part on the main roads. There would be a few options with short single trails/gravel roads, but nothing on a direct route. You would have to climb and drop back down again multiple times and at this point of the day I was pretty tired already and preferred the most direct route.

Look back towards Interlaken during the climb up to Aeschi with the lake Thun in the foreground

Even on the asphalt road I had to work hard to reach Aeschi at 862 m. I finally reached the simple, but clean and comfortable Gästehaus Seeblick ( www.sternen-aeschi.ch) around 18:00 h.

With a good dinner at the restaurant Sternen, a nice but pretty hard first day came to an end.

Day 2: Aeschi – Suldtal – Kiental – Kandersteg

Start: 9:00 h
Finish: 16:00 h
Kilometers: 39 km
Vertical meters ascended: 2000 m
Vertical meters descended: 1700 m
Maps: Single Trail Map Nr. 31 (Frutigland)

The vertical profile from Swiss Map 25

After a great and fulfilling breakfast buffet I was ready to go around 9 o’clock. Lots of grey, low hanging clouds did not look too promising.

Here is a look up the Frutigen valley

The first few kilometers you are riding on some nice meadow and forest single trails like this one…

… past some curious lamas…

…towards the Suldtal.

All the hill tops were covered in thick clouds and as soon as I entered the Suldtal the rain started. After zipping on all my rain gear I kept riding along the Suld creek. I was feeling pretty good and the rain did not bother me too much. The trail along the creek is a nice mellow ride in a beautiful setting. Sure, it would be a lot better with sunshine, but it still was an enjoyable ride. After crossing the creek and carrying my bike up some cow meadow I was already on my way out of the Suldtal towards the small village of Steiweid. From there follows a quick climb up the road to the point 1115.

Look back towards Aeschi from point 1115 (near Steiweid)

Here I had to make the decision to either go towards the Wätterlatte as first planned or just ride directly towards Kiental along the mountain slope. The rain had stopped in the meantime, but I did not really feel like riding into a thick dark cloud. This “saved” me a hard 700 m climb, but the views on a nice day would have been very impressive from the summit.

I followed some nice single trails into the Kiental. They are interrupted a few times by gravel road sections, but all in all a pretty good alternative to the Wätterlatte. Above Kiental you meet the asphalt road and unfortunately have to fly down that road since there are no other single trail options.

The town of Kiental

A quick lunch break in Kiental was followed up by a strenuous climb up the asphalt road to the top of the gondola station.

View over to Kiental on the climb up

Cow bells proudly displayed on the farmer houses

…. and in action

From the gondola station I had to push my bike for about 100 m up the steep meadow...

...but then a great flowing single trail section over to Chüeweid follows. Does not get much better than this kind of trail.

The only thing I have to complain about are the cow fences during the first two days. Sometimes it really can be a pain in the butt. You are enjoying that great single trail and then boom…. You have to stop every few hundred meters. Especially painful if you are riding alone and have to open and close all by yourself. Anyway…. I might get used to it some day. (Colorado had been a bit different)

Look from Chüeweid over to Aeschi

From Chüeweid you are going along the mountain slope further up the Kandertal looking down to Frutigen. A relatively easy up and down on asphalt road. Later on you get on the single trail that follows the Lötschberg train tracks (Lötschberger Bahnwanderweg). It did not turn out to be that great of a single trail as I expected at first glance from the singletrailmap. There are quite a few sections, where you have to get off the bike (steps, roots), but all in all a decent trail.

The Hotel zur Post (www.hotel-zur-post.ch) where I stayed. A pretty good value for the money.

Day 3: Kandersteg – Gemmipass – Oberems

Start: 9:00 h
Finish: 17:45 h
Kilometers: 46 km
Vertical meters ascended: 2500 m
Vertical meters descended: 2450 m
Maps: Single Trail Map Nr. 31 (Frutigland), Nr. 34 (Brig/Visp) + Swiss Topo 1:25’000 Print outs

The vertical profile from Swiss Map 25

During the night it snowed down to about 2300 m.

At the end of the Kander valley you just see some steep rock walls all around you. The trail goes in front of the Gällihorn (on the right) just straight up the slope, more or less under the gondola. It definitely gets your heart pumping. I was trying hard; but after a short first section of riding I had to give in and had to walk the most part up to an altitude of about 1850 m. The path was simply too steep.

Soon the sun came out and cheered me up during this hard uphill.

Looking down to Kandersteg about half way up the steep section.

Finally the slope eased up and I could get back on my bike.
From here on the trail was rideable all the way to the Gemmipass (except one or two short sections).

Later on you get on a nice high plateau

Crossing the “border” into the Valais

Looking back onto the plateau

Riding past the hotel Schwarenbach

Shortly after you reach the Daubenlake

Up there were quite a few tourist that came up with the Gondola from Leukerbad, but everybody had to bundle up due to the stiff wind blowing in your face.
Looking back one more time to the Daubenlake

Looking over to the Wildstrubel

Look from the Gemmipass into the Valais.
Unfortunately the 4000ers were covered by the clouds, but it was still a satisfying feeling to be looking into the Valais after coming all the way from the canton Luzern by bike.

The Gemmi is quite a wall of rocks, and somewhere in between is a windy trail down to Leukerbad.

That’s probably a relatively new sign, since I did not read anywhere about a bike ban on this route beforehand. Anyway… I kind of overlooked this sign and figured when I do not scare any hikers it’s probably alright. From what I heard this is usually an extremely busy hiking trail, but luckily for me I met less than 20 people on this trail (on September 15th, 2009).

Right on top are a few high steps where I got off the bike. Later on a section you can ride again before you enter the “real” rockwall.

Here you enter the section that is cut into the rock walls.

Lots of steps

and tight turns with an option to sail for a few hundred meters in case you miss the turn (information for wife and mother: I was not riding this section).

Then again some sections are rideable without a problem

You just need to know when to slow down

A nice rideable section that’s cut into the wall

And later on it’s easing up and you can let it run down to the town of Leukerbad.

Looking back up at the Gemmi wall

Looking back at the town of Leukerbad

After Leukerbad started some of the best single trail section I was on during this whole Transalp trip: The trail down to Inden and Varen. It’s all down hill from an altitude of 1400 to the valley floor of about 600.

You can just fly down on some perfect single trails through the meadows and forests.

Taking a break from the speed rush and taking a picture of all the gear for the Transalp 2009 with the Rhone valley in the background.

Then it keeps going on to some more fun single trail through grass and bushes.

Here a hunter scared the crap out of me. He just was laying next to the trail, and I noticed him at the last second. It seemed that almost all men in the Valais go hunting when the season starts in early September. They were all over the place and it felt sometimes a bit eerie when you heard a shot from time to time and you are riding through the forest. However I hope that they can distinguish between a deer and a mountain biker with a yellow helmet.

The path over the Gemmipass has been used extensively in the old days by travelers. In the 18th century even Johan Wolfgang Goethe came through here. Back then there was no easy way yet past the rock wall in the picture above, and they installed some ladders, the Varner-Ladders.
I preferred with my bike the easier way around. It felt good however to be at the same place where Goethe climbed this wall.

Look into the Rhone valley towards Leuk and the Turtmann valley in the background.

Picture taken just above Varen. Looking down valley towards the vineyards.

After Varen you head over to Leuk and then follow some single trails and gravel roads along the Rhone up to Turtmann. After Turtmann was a pretty long climb on the asphalt road up to Ahorne (between Unterems and Oberems) in store.

Looking across Unterems towards the Bietschhorn

Looking one more time back across the Rhone valley towards the way I came from the Dala valley

I arrived at the Restaurant/Pension Schaeferstube in Ahorne, Oberems (www.schaeferstube.ch) at 17:45 h.
There are only two other options in this area. One is the Pension Rhoneblick in Unterems, and the other the Hotel-Restaurant Emshorn in Oberems. The Emshorn looked quite nice from the outside.

The rooms are nothing special at the Schaeferstube, but the venison dinner the owner cooked for me was excellent and hit the spot.

Link to later stages: Transalp 2009, Day 4 and Day 5

Download GPS data:
www.gps-tracks.com/gps-transalp-wallis-ta-entlebuch-simplon-E01064.html (registration required)
www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=fbmmjvfoiyrtzake (no registration required)

Albert Heim Hut – March 22/23, 2009

2009-03-28T21:50:00.012+01:00

Albert Heim Hut 2543 m, Central Switzerland
Start in Realp at 1540m
Saturday crew (Chli Bielenhorn, 2940m): Dave, Danski, Manu, Tom, Vale, Fabian, Oliver
Sunday crew (Tiefenstock, 3515m): Dave, Danski, Manu, Oliver

The weather forecast for this past weekend was bluebird for pretty much all of Switzerland. It was definitely time to put a quality weekend together. Several phone calls were made with some of the crew from www.backcountry.ch
and last minute reservations at the Albert Heim hut for Saturday night arranged. The hut lays just a bit north east of the Furka pass at 2543m.

Skin up starting from Realp

The hut (bottom right) lies in a beautiful setting in front of the Galenstock

Soaking in the sun at lunch break

What’s better than chocolate brownies and whipped cream at 2500 m above sea level?

Galenstock and Tiefenglacier seen directly from the terrace of the hut

Chli Bielenhorn on the left and the Gross Bielenhorn on the right. The goal of the leisurely Saturday afternoon tour.

Tom skinning up the valley

Fabian making his way up towards the Chli Bielenhorn

The panorama from the Chli Bielenhorn towards the south was great.

Even my small point and shoot camera recognized the Matterhorn

Back at the hut feeling a bit patriotic after just soaking in the great Swiss alps scenery

Evening light

The next day we felt ambitious for a higher summit. Unfortunately some clouds started moving in from time to time, but the sun came through still pretty good.

The winds were whipping on the upper parts of the Tiefenglacier, but Dave kept going strong.

The goal of the day: Tiefenstock 3515 m. We had to deposit the skis and splitboard at the bottom of the rock wall.

There is a fixed rope in the lowest section that makes things a bit easier. So we secured ourselves and made our way up.

After the fixed rope we had to climb/scramble for a bit more than 100 vertical meters up the steep and exposed face.
The day before we talked with someone who was just up there and he told us it’s no problem; just bring the crampons. So only one of us brought the ice axe. The other three wished on some of the snow fields they would have had it also, but we managed to get through. But you needed some sure footing!

From the north Tiefensaddle it’s a relatively easy hike up the ridge for the last 200 vertical meters

On the ridge the clouds opened up very nicely and we could enjoy again great views

The north ridge up to the Galenstock. The Rhone glacier is just to the right off the picture.

Unfortunately right when we reached the summit the clouds moved in again, and you only could see for short distances. Here we are looking towards the Goescheneralpsee in the north east.

We still could see over to the Galenstock

Climbing route up from the ski depot to the saddle

Summit shots

On the way down we decided to rope up since a slip would have some serious consequences. Our 40 m rope was just long enough to get us through.

Manu on the upper third where we had a good snow field, and he just secured with the ice axe.

Dave on the lower half

Manu lowering himself down on the fixed rope on the lowest part

On the upper part of the Tiefenglacier we experienced some of the worst sastrugi I have ever ridden in my life. But lower down the bumps smoothed out a bit.

Manu the snowboarder not looking too shabby with skis either.

And about half way down we even could enjoy some nice wind buffed cream

Right when we were down from the saddle the sun came out again in full force. Oh well... we can enjoy the panorama another time. It was not too bad from down here either. The group is loving life!

Always looking out for new goals (the north west face of Piz Lucendro)

After the ride down the glacier we made our way back to the hut and grabbed our stuff. From there another small hike paid off with a 1000 m ride down to Realp. Pic taken on the way down looking towards Andermatt.

It was definitely a memorable weekend with good friends in the mountains. We returned with smiles and sun-tanned faces back to the Unterland.

See also
http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=155509
http://www.backcountry.ch/index.php?option=com_touren_boerse&Itemid=52&task=detailnach&id=236&akt=2
http://splitboard.com/talk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=6604

J+S Guide course, Urnerboden - February 2009

2009-02-25T21:38:00.003+01:00

Here are a few pictures from the J+S guide course (Gruppenleiter Winter) I participated in on the Urnerboden. Monday was mostly theory lessons and some field training with the avalanche beeper.

On Tuesday it was snowing hard all day. We did some training in rope work, glacier travel and at the end of the day we had a nice ride down in about about 40cm blower snow.

It kept snowing most of the night and the next morning we had to break trail through 60 cm of fresh snow.

Thomas Good's group is also on the way up to the Waengi.

The sun came out and it turned blue bird.

Coming by the deeply snowed in trees. Skintrack is hip deep.

Looking east from the Waengi

and further up we go

At the Vorder Orthalten we learned the V-snow digging method, did some snow profiles and later went up to the Fisetengrat. Some of us trying to figure out all the peak names on the wonderful panorama.

Looking towards the Klausenpass

Glatten on the left and the Laeckistock on the right

After some great turns we continued our training. Here we are just done with an emergency bivouac.

After the hard work digging the bivouac it was time for some more fun. Michael is enjoying the deep powder.

Jon is right behind him.

On Thursday the avalanche danger was a bit lower and we went down the valley towards the Klausenpass for a tour on the Rau Stoeckli.

Looking East from the Vorfrutter Huettli.

For once the boarders are first.

Paul (our mountain guide) and Flo are taking a break.

Can you find the huts?

Further up we go past the Maercher Stoeckli.

Looking west from the Klausenpass.

The Schaechentaler Windgaellen.

The Point!

Yes, that's where we are heading.

Our group fully assembled on the Rau Stoeckli.

Even Mr. Mc Chrystal made it onto the Rau Stoeckli. (Peter and Andrea from one of the other groups.)

Snow conditions were great and we could enjoy some awesome turns on the way down. Paul is loving it!

That's some powder farming!

Looking back from the Urnerboden to where we were just about an hour ago.

On Friday the clouds started moving in again and instead of fighting through low visibility on a tour we did another training day. We had a great exercise with riding on the rope, falling into the "crevasse" and hoist the fallen companion up with the Oestereicher system.

After that we did some snow stability test. Here we are preparing for a rutsch keil.

Still holding up after the knee flex.

After a few strong jumps the slope came.

Flo trying out another rutsch block.

Michael inspecting the weak layer.

Flo going up again trying to collapse the lower layers as well.

... and here it goes.

All in all a great course. We could really experience all kind of conditions from strong snowfall to high avalanche danger and bluebird days. A big thank you goes out to all the guides and the "Glarner Fachstelle Sport".

Pischahorn (Davos) - January 31, 2009

2009-02-22T16:52:00.009+01:00

Better late than never! Here are a few pictures from a trip to the Pischahorn and the ride down towards Klosters 3 weeks ago. It's a leisurely skin of about 1.5 hours from the top of the tram up to the summit. The snow conditions were great!

Skin up to the summit

Last few meters

Looking eastwards to the Piz Linard

Looking down the Chlein Hafentaelli

The group on the Pischahorn

Looking down the Hafentaelli

Manu is putting down the first line

Symoni is right behind him

Birk

Looking back

Second skin up to the Lauizughorn

Checking out some possible lines on the Lauizughorn

Birk dropping in

Symoni is enjoying the powder on the lower parts before hitting Monbiel (Klosters)

See also http://www.backcountry.ch/index.php?option=com_touren_boerse&Itemid=52&task=detailnach&id=221&akt=2

Zalöner Grat – December 26, 2008

2008-12-30T12:12:00.000+01:00

We have a really good snow base here in Switzerland, but the recent high temperatures, rain up to higher elevations and the howling winds deteriorated the snowpack considerably in large parts of Switzerland.

So the hopes that we can find some good powder were relatively slim. We did a leisurely tour in the Safiental up to the Zalöner Grat to work off some of the Christmas fat, and were pleasantly surprised to find such good conditions.

Up it goes on a perfect bluebird day

A nice wooden stable

Claudia is trying to catch up with her dad, but he left us already in the dust

Pascal on the way up

The last few meters

Taking a break on the top (Piz Gün in the background)

Looking to the west

Conditions in the middle part were great. Even though I did not catch Pascal in the greatest of postures.

Stefan

Pascal on a shady slope

And one more time

Taking a break after a great 1200 vertikal meter run and soaking in the last sun rays of the day

Freeriding in Andermatt - 13. Dez 08

2008-12-14T18:11:00.001+01:00

10’000+ Höhenmeter of pow pow... konnte meinem Namen wieder mal voll gerecht werden.

Wie die Amerikaner so schön sagen würden: Andermatt did not suck today.

Tom und ich sind am Samstag nach Andermatt gegangen nachdem sie dort je am Donnerstag und Freitag 40cm Neuschnee gemeldet haben. Einzig das Wetter war das grosse Unbekannte, aber zum Glück ist der Schneefall ganz auf der Südseite geblieben. Bei zwar starker Bewölkung aber dennoch guten Sichtverhältnissen konnten wir einen epischen Tag geniessen.

Meine kleine Kamera konnten bei den Sichtverhältnissen zwar nicht die besten Bilder schiessen (vielleicht liegts auch am Fotografen) aber ihr kriegt glaub so die Idee wie es gewesen ist. Weiss, weiss, und noch mehr von dem weissen Zeugs...... wohin man auch gegangen ist.

Die ersten paar Stunden sind wir im offiziellen Skigebiet gefahren und konnten line nach line in die Hänge legen. Danach haben wir unseren Wirkungsradius ein wenig ausgeweitet.

Tom beginnt...

... danach ein paar Speed-Turns…

... vorbei an den paar grossen Felsen die noch durch die rekordverdächtigen Schneemengen gucken...

... und dann geht es ab in den Whiteroom!

Der Whiteroom ist eigentlich der Ort wo wir den grössten Teil des Tages verbrachten.

Hier noch eine kleine Sequenz von einem „Tomjump“. Nicht weil es der grösste ist oder mit der besten Form, aber man kriegt doch einen schönen Eindruck wie der Tag so abgelaufen ist.

Schöne weiche Landung

Und ich verspreche euch, er ist da wirklich irgendwo…. leider seh ich ihn nicht mehr ausser weiss.

Aha... hier ist der Schneemann wieder aufgetaucht.

Hier noch zwei Bilder, die wir während unserem letzten run des Tages nach 16h gemacht haben. Immer noch pow, pow zu haben.

Ein unglaublicher Tag!!!
Wir sind von 8:30h bis nach 16h ohne Pause gefahren. Nur schnell ein paar Riegel und Schoggi beim Warten auf die Gondel reingehauen. Heute Sonntag musste ich meinen Beinen nun eine kleine Pause zugestehen.

ein bisschen Prättigau-Pow (23. Nov 2008)

2008-11-23T20:24:00.005+01:00

Wir sind am Sonntag ein bisschen den Powder auschecken gegangen. Wir haben eine kleine Schneeschuhtour gemacht und ich habe dann auch noch das Snowboard mitgenommen.

Dave (von backcountry.ch) hat gemeint der Eggberg bei St. Antönien sei noch eine sichere Variante bei heiklen Lawinensituationen. Da ich noch nie in diesem Tal war, wollte ich das nun mal anschauen gehen.

Bei der Fahrt nach St. Antönien versprechen die Aussichten schon ein mal Gutes. Tief verschneite Tannen und schneebedeckte Fahrbahn.

Wenn du das Auto im Dorf neben einer 80cm hohen Neuschneebank parkieren musst, ist das auch nie ein schlechtes Zeichen.

Wir sind ein bisschen der Sonne nach ins Tal gewandert. Am Anfang noch entlang dem Strässchen.

Sicht auf den Gämpiflue

Jaya ist am Spur bahnen. War recht harte Arbeit!

Hier auf einem kleinen Nebenhang die ersten Powderturns von 08/09. Auch wenn ich wohl nicht das Cover des Powder-Magazins ziehren werde, kann man diese paar flachen Turns doch schon einmal zählen. (Die Turns vor drei Wochen konnte man noch nicht in die Kategorie Powderturns ablegen.)

Danach sind wir Richtung Eggberg aufgestiegen.
Sicht während dem Aufstieg zum Gämpiflue und Schollberg

Hier ein Blick Richtung Eggberg. Einige Skier haben wie man sieht das Leben genossen.

Im Schattenhang, bei -10C und einem kleinen Windchen ist es dann recht kühlt geworden und Jaya hat etwa auf der Hälfte umgekehrt, bevor ihr die Hände vollends eingefroren sind.
Ich bin noch einige hundert Höhenmeter aufgestiegen bevor ich dann schöne (und auch ein bisschen steilere als vorher) Powderturns zurück zum Auto legen konnte.

Dieser Meter Schnee sollte eine gute Basis für den kommenden Winter legen. Hoffen wir mal es geht in diesem Stil weiter.

Costa Rica

2008-11-10T21:48:00.003+01:00

Here are some pictures from our last stop in South America. It has been over two months since we got back from Costa Rica, but getting settled in Switzerland has kept us pretty busy.

We entered Costa Rica from Panama. The border crossing was a lot less trouble as some other people suggested it might be. We went relatively quickly from Boquete (Panama) via Golfito and a little private boat over the Golfo Dulce to Puerto Jimenez.

This town is on the Osa Peninsula and is the gateway to the beautiful Corcovado National Park.
Before we even entered the National Park we saw so much wildlife! This scarlet macaw was just hanging out in the main plaza eating some nuts. There were actually about 10 of them on this one tree!

There were also plenty of coconuts! They were everywhere in Puerto Jimenez and very accessible. Oliver found this machete (part of the night attendant’s arsenal of weapons) and put it to good use.

More wildlife within this small town. This caiman just hangs out in the main park just looking for a bite!

Puerto Jimenez is also popular for sport fishing. This group just came back with their catch.

Fresh red snapper!

Jaya also tried out her “sport fishing” techniques and caught this cute little fish! You can’t see it well in this picture, but her tool of choice was a plastic bottle that we wrapped with fishing line!

One thing that is unique about Cordova National Park is that it is not very accessible. You have to hike in about 3 hours just to get to the entrance. However, before you start the hike you have to get as close as you can. We hitched a ride on the back of this pickup truck at 6 in the morning. If we didn’t we would have had to walk an additional 2 hours!

The most fun part of the hike was all the river crossings to the entrance. Jaya counted about 23 crossings. Sometimes the water came well above the knees.

In addition to the varied wildlife, the fauna was also very beautiful.

More river crossings. You pretty much just walked up the river bed and had to cross it about every 5 to 10 minutes. It was a lot of fun!

The water was very swift in some parts.

Did I mention that it was rainy season in Costa Rica? Most of the trail looked like this. Here, Jaya is contemplating how to get through the mud without getting completely muddy. By the time we got to the hut, we were covered in mud!

One good thing about the mud was that we saw animal prints clearly. Here is a fresh puma track.

We thought we were done with river crossings, but there were a few more within the jungle.

This anteater was on a mission. He barely paid attention to us and crossed only 2 meters in front of us.

After 10 hours of hiking, we finally reached our lodge. Theoretically you could do it a bit faster, but the muddy trails slowed us down quite a bit. The next morning we ventured out and were greeted with this amazing dark sand beach.

Tracks along the beach, but not a puma. We saw these gigantic tracks throughout the jungle and couldn’t figure out what animal made it. We only knew that it must be a pretty large one.

One morning Oliver strolls along the beach following these tracks and suddenly this big animal comes along. This is a tapir! It is on the endangered species list and most people that come to the park are on a mission to see one. It has a radio collar around it’s neck so it can be tracked, but not tame by any means!

A stroll and a dip in the ocean.

Jaya cooling off in the Rio Clara in Cordova National Park

The water was so clear! We actually saw a snake taking a swim in the river but thank goodness it didn’t want to play.

This macaw injured his foot and the staff at the lodge decided to care for it. After his recuperation, he didn’t want to leave. He was a fulltime guest and a very noisy one at that!

This toucan decided to pay the lodge a visit as well.

On the third day, we took another trail back to civilization that took us along the beach. We had to check the tide levels and could only cross the rivers during low times. Otherwise there might be crocodiles coming up the river. So here we had to cross yet another river…

and scramble over rocks during low tide.

This was the last key location we had to pass before the high tide came in. It would not be too pleasant to get smashed against the rocks when the high waves come in.

Picture perfect beach.

Looks like a racoon? This is a white nosed-coati and they hunt sand crabs. They didn’t seem to mind us taking pictures.

Oliver getting coconuts. We brought water with us, but the sweet coconut water was the best remedy for thirst. I think we “plucked” 12 coconuts on the 7 hour hike back.

The Swiss army knife came in real handy. It takes a little bit of practice opening up coconuts with a small knife, but Oliver got plenty of practice in the last few months.

Oh yeah, Oliver brings the knife and Jaya brings the spoon. The sweet jelly of the coconut was so yummy!

Banana trees along the trail.

The last few miles of the hike were along this amazing beach. It’s quite stunning when you can walk along the empty beach and the huge waves from the Pacific come crashing down on the shore.

Our “ride” back to the Puerto Jimenez. It’s a collectivo taxi. Everybody just piles in the back of this truck.

After the Osa Peninsula we went further up the coast to Dominical where Oliver tried out surfing for a few days. He had to opt for the smaller waves though at the beach of Dominicalito. The waves in Dominical itself are just too big and you could easily get hurt if you do not know what you are doing. This turtle is just chilling on the beach.

After the surf stop in Dominical, we set off to Manuel Antonio Nationalpark. This was a great place with beautiful sand beaches and a variety of wild animals…

and nice waves.

Only in Manuel Antonio will you see a street sign like this! Slow down for sloth and monkeys.

Just hanging out.

This guy was strutting his stuff!

Give me a banana!

It’s kind of hard to make out, but this is a sloth. It was quite easy to take the picture since they move v-e-r-y slow.

These racoons were everywhere in Manuel Antonio.

Our last beach shot in Costa Rica. The water was clear, warm, and so therapeutic!
However we were quite surprised when we saw a crocodile floating in this water. It’s quite rare, but it happens. But yeah…. after that we did not go in the water at that particular location anymore.

From the Pacific coast we headed inland to see the Volcano Arenal.

We hiked to the base of this waterfall.

The other side of Volcano Arenal. This is an active volcano and at night, you can see the lava coming out. The hot rocks would spew out of the volcano and then come crashing down on the side of the volcano. As the rocks burst open, you saw the red lava. The pictures did not come out too well, but it’s quite impressive. Not as spectacular as it has been in previous years, but still something you won’t see everyday.

A trip to Costa Rica would not be complete without a zipline tour.

It was exhilarating!

Oliver coming in for the landing

We visited a butterfly sanctuary and the best shot we got was this one. They all were flying around too much!

We spent our last night in Costa Rica at Baldi Hotsprings. We had a chance to sit back and reflect on our 6.5 months in South America. However, after 4 hours in hot water we both were looking pretty pruney.

Goodbye Costa Rica

Costa Rica was the last country we visited on our six and a half months journey. Our adventure throughout Latin America was an amazing and unforgettable experience. We visited nine countries, encountered so many different cultures, and tasted an array of different cuisines. It is just slowly sinking in what we actually had accomplished. We travelled over 12,000 miles, crossed the equator 2 times, climbed up to 5,000 meters, and hung out at sea level (uncountable number of times).
We did all this and more over a span of a bit more than half a year. What we have posted on our blog site was just a fraction of what we experienced. We thank you for keeping in tune with our travels and experiences. We still would like to do a summary of all the high and lows, but until then.... hasta luego.

This is a quick view of our total route (more than 12’000 miles):
Best online maps are found under this link: http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=-18.39623%7E-61.523438&style=r&lvl=3&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&cid=2CF1823075161E3B%21106&encType=1 or check the simple Google map below.

Panama

2008-09-21T21:37:00.002+02:00

We have been now in Switzerland for about 3 weeks and are trying to get settled in. It has been a bit hectic but going well. I started my job and Jaya is taking some German lessons (as well as learning how to drive a stick).

Here are some more pictures from our time in Latin America. After Ecuador we flew to Panama.

Panama City is quite a modern city and currently a construction boom is happening. Lot’s of new buildings are going up.
This is the skyline as seen from the old centre.

In some spots there are cranes where ever you look.

When you go to Panama you have to go to see the Panama canal. It’s quite an engineering marvel. However, it also took a heavy toll. There are estimates that more than 27’000 people died during the construction of the canal (mostly due to malaria and yellow fever).

We went to the Miraflores locks where there is a nice visitor’s platform. From there you can conveniently overlook the whole process of lifting and lowering of the big ocean vessels.

This is a look towards the north. You can see a big vessel leaving the locks and some vessels lined up and ready to enter.

Now we will go through a whole process of lowering this vessel by about 16 meters. This tanker enters the first chamber of the locks.

Then it is lowered by about 8m in the first chamber.

Here the tanker is going forward and is guided by the mules (electric locomotives) so it does not touch the walls.

The tanker arrived in the second chamber and will be lowered again for about another 8 meters.

Now the tanker is ready and on it’s way to the Pacific. It just came from the Atlantic through the 77km long canal and got lifted by 26 meters and lowered again by 26 meters.

There are all types of vessels coming through, like these big container ships.

After the Miraflores locks we went further up to the Pedro Miguel Locks and just saw this huge thing coming in.

This is a RORO-carrier (rolled on, rolled off). They have big ramps so that wheeled cargo can be loaded such as trailer trucks etc.

Next to the Pedro Miguel Locks is the Centennial bridge.

In Venezuela and Brazil we enjoyed, almost daily, juicy sweet mangos. You can buy them everywhere and very cheap. After that we went to some of the colder countries like Argentina and Chile and could not find any mangoes. In Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador we could not find mangos because they were out of season. Finally in Panama we could find them everywhere again. There were lots of mango trees and you just could collect the ripe mangos from the ground.

Here is a picture of a “chicken bus”. These ex-U.S. yellow school buses, re-repainted and re-designed, are the main form of public transport in Central America (at least for the shorter distances or in urban areas). It seems there is a competition between the buses to be the most vibrant. The word "chicken" refers to the fact that sometimes live animals are transported on such buses. Even though we never witnessed that particular case, we still could share quite a few other remarkable bus stories.

A church in the old centre of Panama City.

From Panama City we went to Bocas del Toro. This is a group of islands on the north western Caribbean coast of Panama. We stayed in the main town there with the same name “Bocas del Toro”.

There is a very laid-backed atmosphere on these islands and numerous world class beaches can be visited with a short boat ride.

Here we went to Bocas del Drago beach.

On Bocas del Drago beach, the water is warm and clear and large star fish are abundant. There are star fishes every where you look on this stretch of beach.

One day we did an organized dolphin watching, snorkelling, and beach tour by boat. We saw many dolphins jumping around.

Here you can even recognize a young dolphin swimming with its mother.

After snorkelling we went to visit Red Frog beach. This is a beautiful white-sand beach on one of the nearby islands.

We visited Panama during the rainy season. The weather during the days was usually pretty nice, but regularly at five o’clock in the afternoon it started pouring down.
One day we rented bikes to explore the island and we had to make our way through one of the huge potholes. Jaya did not really enjoy the bike ride through knee deep muddy water, but I thought it was quite fun.

We wouldn’t mind to have one of those properties with private boat dock.

We went with the bikes to Bluff Beach.

There are plenty of coconuts to have in Panama. Here we enjoyed one in the restaurant.

But actually it’s a lot more fun to go and pick your own. Here I am enjoying one on Bluff beach.

That day we got almost a dozen coconuts.

Exploring the waters with a sea kayak was also very interesting.

You could find some deserted nice little beaches.

After 5 relaxing days on the islands we went to the highlands of Panama to Boquete.

This is the land of coffee. Panama produces some of the highest quality coffee in the world.

There are coffee plantations all over in the surrounding hills.

We did a tour of a coffee plantation. Here the guide explains how the beans get sorted.

Traditional coffee roasters.

Dark, medium and light roasted beans.

A few people in Boquete open their nice gardens to the public and you can go stroll around.

We hiked the Quetzal Trail and had to cross this river. Even though we did not see any Quetzals (long tailed colourful bird) we had a nice time and at least saw a few monkeys.

The valleys around Boquete are very fertile and there are lots of agricultural fields. Here for example onions.

You can see oranges, lime and banana trees everywhere.

And here again is a quick view of our route:
Best online maps are found under this link: http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=-18.39623%7E-61.523438&style=r&lvl=3&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&cid=2CF1823075161E3B%21106&encType=1 or check the simple Google map below.

Ecuador

2008-08-24T20:01:00.005+02:00

We just got back from our Latin America adventure and are currently in Chicago.
In a few days we will be off to Switzerland to begin a new chapter. It’s a sweet and sour time. It’s sad to leave the US behind but we are both excited to see what the future holds for us in Switzerland.

Here are a few more pictures from Ecuador, our last country in South America before we went to Central America. From northern Peru, we went to Puerto Lopez on the Pacific coast. This is a small pleasant fishing village that got popular for whale watching and due to its close proximity to the Isla de la Plata.

Early in the morning we went to the beach to watch the fishermen come back home and unload the fish.

Buckets after buckets get carried to the shore.

The fish gets sorted and cleaned right on the sandy beach and prepared for shipment with small trucks to the markets throughout Ecuador.

Here the employee from the wholesaler (yellow rubber boots) takes measurements of the hammer head sharks.

The hammerhead sharks are often caught by fishermen, but they are an endangered species, and in many other countries they are released back into the wild. Even though conservation groups are calling for urgent measures to set limits on shark catch, fishing for sharks in international waters is unrestricted and I guess in Ecuador they still keep them.

Shrimp

Buckets full of funny looking skinny fish.

This guy had one of the bigger catches of the day.

And then it was also my birthday in Ecuador…. already 33…. getting older, but still enjoying life!

What better way then enjoying the B-day with a sunset at the Pacific…

… and having a tropical drink in hand.

The next day we headed out on a hump-back whale watching tour. We met fishermen on the way and they pointed us in the direction where they just saw a few whales about 10 minutes earlier.

It did not take too long before we found them. They usually hang out in groups and come up quite often to get air.

Every once in a while it seems they just play around for fun. Two times we saw them fully jump out of the water; however it’s quite hard to get that on camera. Here for example I am just about a second too late with the shutter and you only see the big splash.

Lots of times they were really close to the boat.

This guy is flapping with his fin next to another tour boat.

This couple swims in full synchrony.

One day we went on an excursion to the isla de la Plata. This island is the “Galapagos for the poor”. Even though it’s not as impressive as the Galapagos Islands you can find quite a few species that are usually only found on the Galapagos.

Here is a couple of blue footed boobies.

We can’t remember anymore the name of this bird, but they are extremely tame and like to just hang out in the middle of the trail.

Trying to keep its egg warm.

We could watch a sea lion hanging out on the beach below us.

The waved albatross is a highly endangered species and we were very lucky to see them. You can’t tell by the picture, but this is a very large bird, with a wingspan of 11 feet!

After the visit on the island we went snorkelling.

And on the way home we met another group of whales who put up quite a show next to our boat.

From the Pacific coast we went inland to see some volcanoes. The Quilotoa crater is a great place to see a crater from close up and it is actually surrounded by several snow capped volcanoes. However, there were always some low hanging clouds during the days we spent around the crater and we never saw a snow capped volcano.

The view from the rim towards the south.

A curious alpaca.

The mode of transport in this rural area is by “camionetta”. This is a pickup truck taxi where everybody piles in the back.

When we were heading north towards Quito we came past the volcano Cotopaxi. This would be a nice symmetrical snow capped cone. However the clouds did not wanted to lift and the peak stayed again under thick cover.

The next stop was Otavalo. This town is famous for the largest Saturday market in all of South America. However, first we witnessed a special soccer night. Liga (soccer team from Quito, Ecuador) was playing in the Maracana stadium (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) against Fluminense in the Copa Libertadores final. This is comparable with the Champions league final in Europe. Expectations were high when I took this shot at the opening of the game.

Here the celebrations begin. Liga just won the Copa Libertadores as the first Ecuadorian team ever. It was quite a historic moment for whole Ecuador, and they celebrated accordingly.

Some are going for a victory bath in the water fountain.

The streets were jam-packed with honking cars and celebrating people.

The region around Otavalo is well known for its colourful fabrics. We went to the Andrango family for a demonstration in back strap weaving.
Here she shows us how they spin the wool to yarn.

The native women are wearing some of the nicest dresses we have seen during our time in South America. The long dark skirts, nicely embroidered white blouses, shoulder wraps, and gold necklaces make a very pretty outfit.

Here she is showing us how the back strap weaving exactly works. It is a slow process but makes for a very nice fabric.

Not everything is done in manual labour. Here they fabricate hammocks with a weaving machine. However it is also one of the older models out there.

Some kids we met on the street. They were very happy when we gave them some cookies.

The view on our walk to the Lago San Pablo. The clouds are still hanging low and the top of the mountains are hidden.

This is a traditional method of threshing to get the cereal grain separated from the inedible chaff.

Every Saturday there is an enormous market in Otavalo. This is a view from the balcony of our hotel onto plaza de ponchos.

We started the day at the animal market.

All types of animals are being offered. From small chickens...

...to large chickens...

...sheep...

...pigs...

...and cows.

Men wear their hair long and plaited under a hat. They wear white calf-length trousers and a blue poncho.

A woman taking her purchase home.

After the animal market we went to see the produce market.

Eggs anyone??!

On the meat market are always some “special things” to be found. Like here a pig head...

...or chicken heads and legs.

This is a typical street scene. Chickens get carried around live by their feet. Seems cruel to us, but it’s part of normal life around here.

We usually ate on small street stands like this. You can get a large meal for less than $2. The roasted pig tasted great!

The fried fish was tasty as well.

There are hundreds of different colourful fabrics to be found.

After the market in Otavalo we went back to the capital of Ecuador, Quito. This city has one of the best preserved historic centres in Latin America and was declared an UNESCO world heritage site. Unfortunately it was rainy the days we visited the old centre, but it was impressive nonetheless.

We had a wonderful time in Ecuador, even though we didn’t see any of the famed snow-capped volcanoes. We also had one more experience in Quito which I would like to share. There is an unfortunate reality of travelling to third world countries; poverty and crime. Unfortunately, we were a victim of the latter. After travelling for 5 months and never felt threatened, we became a bit relaxed in Ecuador. The Ecuadorians were the nicest people we met on our entire trip and they did not want or expect anything in return. We felt very at ease and that was our downfall. After an evening meal at a Swiss restaurant, we decided to work off the Raclette by walking back to our hotel. We walked to the restaurant that afternoon, which was located in a very well to do area in a very upscale shopping mall. Typically we would take public transportation or a taxi in the evening hours, but the wine and cheese had its effect on us. To make a long story short, as we were walking back we were held up at gun and knife point by 4 youths. They cornered us and began rummaging through our pockets. Since we were not far away from a busy street, some cars stopped and honked their horns which prompted the thugs to move on their way. They did not take anything, since our money was kept in a secret side pocket, but Oliver’s pants got ripped during the scuffle. Although what happened to us can happen in any part of the world, it just made us both realize that personal safety should always be in the forefront. We did leave Quito in somewhat a melancholy state, but were thankful that we left unscathed.

Our last view of Quito from our flight to Panama.

And here again is a quick view of our route:
Best online maps are found under this link: http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=-18.39623%7E-61.523438&style=r&lvl=3&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&cid=2CF1823075161E3B%21106&encType=1 or check the simple Google map below.

Peru - Northern Coast

2008-07-24T02:33:00.002+02:00

After our trek in the Cordillera Blanca we headed to the northern coast of Peru. We went to the little fishing and surfing village of Huanchaco just a bit north of Trujillo.

This village is famous for its narrow pointed fishing rafts made out of reeds.

Here a fisherman is fixing his net and getting it ready for another cast..

Some dogs taking it easy with a nap on the beach.

The fishermen head out to check their nets….

…and returning again with the catch. They can ride these rafts similar to a surfboard.

They caught quite a few fish…

… and crabs.

We are enjoying some of that fresh fish as ceviche.

I surfed in Lima with Alberto and wanted to try out my skills again in Huanchaco. Here I caught a wave… but it does not look like I am making it for too long.

Now the form is a bit better; but it’s not a real wave and rather just whitewash but still fun.

Just south of Huanchaco are the ruins of Chan Chan; the largest adobe city in the world. The Chimu culture lasted for about 600 years from 850 A.D. to 1470, until the Incas conquered them.

After Huanchaco we went further north up the coast to Chicama. I (being the expert surfer after 4 times surfing:-)) wanted to check out the longest wave in the world. When the swell is right you can surf this wave for more than 2 km and the ride would take several minutes.

A surfer dude watching the waves and dreaming of the long ride.

This is the point where it starts breaking and you are supposed to catch it. It’s a bit tricky to get out there with rock scrambling and such. And as soon as you are in the water you have to constantly paddle to not get carried away by the current.

Me sitting on the beach and pretending that I know what I am doing.
I actually never properly caught a wave during the one day I was out there; it’s just not a place for beginners. The strong current does not help and just when I think I am at the right spot, I turn around and get pounded again by a set of big waves.
Anyway… at least I can now say I got my butt whooped by the longest wave in the world.

A nice crab Jaya found on the beach.

One of the common modes of transportation in Peru for the shorter distances.

After Chicama we went to Chiclayo. This is the cathedral in the centre of Chiclayo.

There we visited the Lord of Sipan museum. The exhibit contains the things that were found in the tomb of the Lord of Sipan. This was a king of the great Moche civilization that was located in northern Peru from about AD 100 to AD 800. They are particularly noted for their elaborate painted ceramics, gold work, and irrigation systems.

As usual we went to the large outdoor markets.

Jaya buying Chiramoyas at the market.

The last stop for us in Peru was the surfing town of Mancora. Unfortunately the surf was not really existent the day I was trying to head out, but we had a good time nonetheless.

A far cry from the reed boats in Huanchaco are these rafts.

But they still get the job done.

The sun is setting...

... and some surfers are enjoying a ride into the sunset.

And here again our route:
Best online maps are found under this link: http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=-18.39623%7E-61.523438&style=r&lvl=3&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&cid=2CF1823075161E3B%21106&encType=1 or check the simple Google map below. (yellow marker indicates current location and blue is what is covered in the blog)

Alpamayo Trek, Cordillera Blanca - Peru

2008-07-10T23:45:00.007+02:00

I (Oliver) grew up in Switzerland near the Alps, and I am used to gorgeous mountains. But I have to say the Cordillera Blanca is definitely near the top of the list of what I have seen in my life. It is one of the most magnificent mountain ranges in the world with 33 summits rising above 6000 meters.

The Alpamayo (base camp) trek is a great, challenging high-altitude trek. The area is very remote and you have to cross multiple high passes. There are breath-taking vistas of glaciers and snow covered peaks.

Having spent quite a bit of time in the Cuzco area in May we would have been properly acclimatized. However, then we spent about 10 days on the coast in Nazca and in Lima with friends, so we pretty much lost all of that advantage. We took a bit of a chance when we spent only two nights in Huaraz before heading out on the trek in early June. But we figured we just take it easy during the first few days and it worked out for us.

This mountain is Huascaran as seen from the terrace of our hotel in Huaraz. It is the highest mountain in Peru at 6768m and the fourth highest in South America. Huascaran gives its name to the Huascaran Nationalpark where Alpamayo is located.

Day 1: Hualcayan (3150m) to Jamacuna campsite (4000m) - 5 hours

We took a collectivo from Huaraz to Caraz and from there we went by taxi to Hualcayan. After paying the 5 soles per person to the small local community we were off on our way up the steep hill.

Here the corn is laid out to dry for the winter months.

Almost all of the farming in Peru is done by manual labour or with the help of donkeys and oxen; like the ploughing here near Hualcayan.

The first part of the trek is a brutal climb from 3150m up to the Osoruri Pass at 4860m. It just goes straight up the mountain. The fully loaded backpacks do their part to make you feel the altitude. We went without guides or donkeys and decided to break up this ascent over two days.

Here we are overlooking the valley of the Rio Santa with the village of Hualcayan at the bottom of the slope and the Cordillera Negra (to the east of the Cordillera Blanca) in the background.

The cows, mules and donkeys can roam those slopes freely. These three donkeys were particularly interested in us.

We set up the camp for the first night at an altitude of about 4000m. We chose a place a bit off the main trail since the official site was quite uneven and covered in cow pies.
(you see some interested cows in the background also)

The sun sets over the Cordillera Negra.

We still used the tiny tent we had from Patagonia. It´s great to save weight, but just a bit small for two people. So I slept the night outside again. The problem is that in the Cordillera Blanca the temperatures drop a few degrees below freezing and in the morning I woke up to a frozen sleeping bag. (the following nights I slept with Jaya in the tent)

The cows kept us up for about half the night. They are just really curious animals and you know.... the grass just tastes a lot better next to our tent than somewhere else. We built something like a fence with a few branches and it helped a bit. But it was definitely not the best night we have spent camping.

Day 2: Jamacuna campsite (4000m) to Lagoon Cullicocha (4650m) - 5 hours

Next day we went up again towards the Lagoon Cullicocha.

When you turn the corner you get to see your first glance of the Santa Cruz massif. And what a view it is!

We first planned to just have lunch at the lagoon, but we both felt the altitude and decided to just setup camp at this amazing site.

This is lagoon Cullicocha. The most prominent peak is Santa Cruz Norte (5829m) and the smaller peak to the right is Santa Cruz Chico (5800m).

Another great sunset over the Cordillera Negra.

Alpenglow on the Santa Cruz massif.

Alpenglow on Santa Cruz Norte.

Day 3: Lagoon Cullicocha (4650m), Osoruri Pass (4860m), Pass 4740m, Vientunan Pass (4760m) to Alpamayo Valley (4200m) - 9 hours

From the lagoon we climbed up towards Osoruri Pass. Finally all three of the Santa Cruz peaks are visible (from left to right Santa Cruz Norte, Santa Cruz Chico, Santa Cruz)

Close-up of Santa Cruz.

Close-up of Santa Cruz Norte.

Trying to get the last few verticals behind us on our first pass.

Me celebrating to have reached the highest pass (Osoruri, 4860m) on our trek.

From there it went up and down for a while before reaching the second pass at 4740m. Here it dropped down again about 300m before another steep ascent to the third pass (Vientunan, 4770m) came.
This is the view from the second pass to the third one.

Some flowers on the way.

This is the view from Vientunan Pass towards the Alpamayo valley. At this point we were pretty tired from the earlier climbs and happy that for once a descent was in order. And yes, it was as steep of a descent as there can be!

Looking along the valley floor. The Pampa ruins are in the lower left of the picture.

The first time the pyramid of Alpamayo comes in sight.

We set up camp on the valley bottom below lagoon Jancarurish.

Day 4: “Restday” – sidetrip to the Alpamayo basecamp and beyond

The next day we left the tent where it was and went up to the lagoon Jancarurish. Alpamayo (5947m) is sometimes referred to as “the most beautiful mountain in the world”. I think they are actually talking about the SW face of the mountain. But I think this NW face is quite nice as well.

Lagoon Jancarurish

From there Jaya decided to head back to camp and actually enjoy a rest day. I went further up the valley. This is the view from Alpamayo basecamp up the valley towards Santa Cruz.

The NE face of Santa Cruz.

Here I stand just below Santa Cruz (on the left) and Santa Cruz Chico (on the right) before scrambling up the steep moraine to the first little lagoon.

Look back from the first lagoon over to the NW face of Quitaraju.

At this point I realized that I was only about 100 vertical meters away from breaking the “5000m barrier”. I was already quite exhausted from the previous days and the moraine scrambling, but decided nonetheless to push on to the second lagoon. The chance of going over 5000 meters is pretty rare in the part of the world I live.

This is the second lagoon right below Santa Cruz.

And yes, my altimeter matched the info from the topo map pretty closely.

So it turned out that the rest day was not really a rest day for me, but at least I hiked once with a small daypack instead of lugging all the gear.

The sun lit up the Alpamayo pyramid that evening quite nicely.

Day 5: Alpamayo Valley (4200m), Gara Gara Pass (4830m), Mesapata Pass (4460m) to Huillca (4000m) – 7 hours

The day started up with some tricky creek crossing.

Right after breakfast another strenuous climb was in order. The trail up to the Gara Gara Pass is pretty steep in parts and you have to earn the 600m vertical the hard way.
Looking over to Alpamayo and the lagoon Jancarurish about 1/3 up.

And further up we go.

Last look at the NW face of Alpamayo. To the right you can see the valley were the Alpamayo basecamp is (however most climbers use the one on the east side in the Santa Cruz valley) and where we went for the side trip.

Jaya celebrating on top of Gara Gara pass (4830m) on having another hard climb behind us.

Look back into the Alpamayo valley from Gara Gara pass.

Look forward from Gara Gara pass.

Some cool looking rocks on the way.

Last climb for the day; for once it is a relatively easy one with a gentle slope.

Look from Mesapata pass (4460m) towards the Pucajirca peaks.

We setup camp for night 5 in the Tayapampa valley just a bit before the small village of Huillca.

North face of Alpamayo

Day 6: Huillca (4000m), Yanacon pass (4610m) to lagoon Sactaycocha (4060m) – 6 hours

Looking down the Tayapampa valley towards Huillca.

Walking past the small village of Huillca. There are basically just two or three houses.

Hiking up to the Yanacon pass (4610m).

The climb was another steep one; sometimes you just follow some cow trails. But at least now our packs were a bit lighter on day 6.

We are happy that we made the last pass. We felt that trekking 6 high passes in as many days with carrying all your gear was quite an accomplishment.

Close-up of some of the Pucajirca glaciers.

Look down to the Sactaycocha lagoon.

Some flowers during the descent.

This area is extremely remote and the locals get most of their supplies by hiking 2 days with mules and donkeys.

Our camp for night 6 a short distance above Sactaycocha lagoon.

Day 7: Lagoon Sactaycocha (4060m) to Pomabamba (2950m) – 5 hours

The last day would have been a relatively easy hike out. However I got confused by one of the many cow trails criss-crossing our path and we ended up bushwhacking our way back to the main trail for about an hour.

Looking up the Janca pampa valley towards the Pucajirca massif.

Looking down the Janca pampa valley.

It´s always good to have a few things with you in case you meet local kids. Candies are probably not the best thing to distribute, but it was the only thing we had with us. (best probably would be to carry some extra pasta or bread with you, but our packs were already heavy enough)

At first we thought that is their older sister. However it turns out she is actually the children’s mother!

Then a local in the town of Jancapampa talked us into coming along for the ride with the collectivo instead of walking out the last 2 hours. So we squeezed us like sardines in this minivan and went for a bumpy ride along death defying slopes. We had about 20 people inside the van and also had 3 guys sitting on the roof. Even though we were very tired at this point we still would have preferred to properly hike all the way out. But hey ... it got us finally to the town of Pomabamba.

We heard about the thermals in Pomabamba and were dreaming about relaxing thermal pools at the end of our trek. It turns out that these are pretty much just public showers with thermal water. However they are building a new facility now, so you might get lucky when you go there in a few years.

Day 8 : Bus ride from Pomabamba to Huaraz – 9 hours

A bumpy bus ride through some spectacular scenery brings you back to Huaraz.

You just have to have some faith in your bus driver to bring you in one piece across the Portachuelo pass.

Unfortunately we had quite some low hanging clouds that day. These are the north faces of the Huascaran peaks; but it just wasn´t the best time to shoot great pictures.

This was an extremely satisfying trek that brings you across some amazing scenery. In case you like hiking through some remote mountain valleys it can be highly recommended. We only met a few other groups during this week long trek.

And here again our route:
Best online maps are found under this link: http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=-18.39623%7E-61.523438&style=r&lvl=3&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&cid=2CF1823075161E3B%21106&encType=1 or check the simple Google map below. (yellow marker indicates current location and blue is what is covered in the blog)

Peru - Central Coast

2008-07-06T03:26:00.001+02:00

Here are some pictures from our visit to the central coast of Peru.
From Cuzco we took the bus to Nazca. The ride from the highland to the coast takes you through spectacular scenery. You cross through fertile valleys and come past high mountains. Here is a shot from the bus.

A close-up from the mountain I can not name, but I still thought it looks pretty good.

More farming land (a bit drier as we come closer to the coast)

In Peru there are more than 3´000 different varieties of potatoes. However a pile of potatoes does not really make such a nice picture so I opted for the corn. There is a lot of different variety of corn, and here you see them laid out in the sun so they can be dried and then used for the winter months.

They come in all different kind of colors.

Peruvians also love to eat chicken. You can find a chicken place nearly at every corner. It´s usually slowly grilled over charcoal. It´s very juicy and tastes yummy!

Though every once in a while you get a bit surprised by the chicken. Just like here when you find a chicken foot in your soup!

Instead of going to the grocery store people buy their produce mostly on the markets or on street stands like this.

We went to Nazca to check out the famous Nazca lines. These are a series of figures and lines that have been created by the Nazca culture between 200 BC and AD 700. Why the figures have been built remains a persistent mystery. Several theories exist. Some say that the Nazca´s people motivation was religious; that the images were constructed so the gods in the sky could see them. Some are trying to find an astronomical explanation. Either way... it is quite astonishing that such a long time ago people could make those figures and lines with simple tools.
It would be best to see the figures by little airplane. But just a couple weeks before we arrived in Nazca one of those airplanes crashed and later on some serious issues with the maintenance of the airplanes were discovered. Having already strained our travel budget we opted for the cheaper version and just checked out a few figures from the outlook and a nearby hill.

Here are the “hands” as seen from the outlook.

This is a “tree” (not the best angle, but you can recognize it).

Most of the Peruvian coast is very dry. This is caused by the Humboldt current that brings cold water from the south up the coast. This in turn causes the wind to blow from the land onto the Pacific and dries out the coast line.
The area around Nazca is especially very desert like and there are some huge sand dunes.
This is the Cerro Blanco sand dune as seen from the terrace of our hotel.

This is one of the highest sand dunes in the world at 2080 meters and there you can go sandboarding. Being a big snowboarder I always wanted to try out the sliding on sand.
After an early wake-up call before 4 AM I went together with a guide up to Cerro Blanco. (Jaya opted to stay in bed)

Sunrise just a bit after 6 AM.

For once a different type of skin track my guide is putting in.

Views to the north.

One of the thousands of Peruvian potatoes. Who would have thought they even grow on sand dunes?!

… and up and up we go.

Finally on top!

We actually even had to wax the boards.

View from the top towards Nazca.

First cautious turn.

The guide shows how it’s really done.

Another 500 vertical meters to go.

OK, this is already looking a bit better!

Looking back at the face we came down.

It was a very cool outing. The hike up through the dune landscape was especially impressive. However, I still prefer the sliding on snow; it´s just a lot smoother. Sandboarding involves quite a bit more work to initiate the turns.

After Nazca we headed north up the coast to the capital Lima. Our friends Alberto and Marcelo live there with their son Joaquin. They have lived for several years in Chicago and now back home Lima.

Some surfers enjoying the waves.

You gotta have at least one sunset picture per blog entry!

These are our fabulous hosts. We stayed a whole week in their home and we truly enjoyed the stay. Thanks again to Alberto and Marcela for their hospitality!!!

And the little super man is their son Joaquin.

The cathedral at the Plaza de Armas in the centre of Lima.

Nice wooden balcony at the Archbishop´s Palace next to the cathedral.

One thing you will notice when you are travelling in South America is that people’s risk tolerance seems to be higher than one is used to. Be it the crazy bus drivers who seem to accelerate their already insane speed when you travel through a town or for example this situation. This guy is trying to lock his hatch down. I personally would pull a bit more to the side and lay the other way around. But maybe that is just me. :-)

He probably has full confidence that the Suiza Lab could fix him up if necessary.
(just thought I throw this picture in since I am Swiss)

A good looking crab we saw on the shore.

Being back at the coast meant that we could again enjoy great seafood. Alberto and Marcela took us to a nice little restaurant where we enjoyed a fabulous ceviche. Ceviche is a traditional Peruvian lunch dish. It is prepared with raw chunks of fish that are marinated in lime juice. You then add some hot peppers, onions and cilantro and have a very delicious dish.

Before Bolivia and Peru our diet was lacking some spice. At every meal in Peru we were guaranteed a small bowl of “aji” (delicious hot pepper salsa) and it accompanied the amazing Peruvian cuisine perfectly!

And here again our route:
Best online maps are found under this link: http://www.maps.live.com or check the simple Google map below. (yellow marker indicates current location and blue is what is covered in the blog)

Southern Peru

2008-06-30T03:26:00.009+02:00

Here are the pictures from our time in Southern Peru. We crossed the border from Bolivia and the first stop in Peru was the city of Puno on the shore of Lake Titicaca. From there it was easy to organize a tour to visit some of the islands in Lake Titicaca.

The first islands we saw were the Uros islands. These are man-made floating islands.

The islands are made out of reeds. Here a local is just in the process of cutting those reeds.

The mayor of this island explained to us how they construct the islands.

And you can even eat those reeds.

One of their huts and fireplace in front of it.

There are lots of things that can be built with the reeds, like these big boats.

And off we are to the island of Amantani

Most of the island is terraced to grow grain and corn.

The harvest involves lots of manual labor.

We stayed for a night with a local family with three kids.

Life is very simple on the island of Amantani. The kitchen is just a small room with a wood fire place and dirt floor. Here the mother is just preparing our lunch. Their diet consists mostly of grains, corn, potatoes, and occasionally some fish or chicken. There are no fruits on the island.

At night we dressed up for a party. Note the height difference between our host mother and Jaya. (and Jaya is not really a giant). Oliver had to constantly watch his head when entering the doors.

The youngest comes along everywhere on the back.

The baby is even along for the dance. (excuse the reflecting dust in the air)

Next day we went to the island of Taquile. The island is well known for the knitting men.

From Puno we took the Bus to Cuzco. There is a train, but unfortunately it only runs as a luxury tourist attraction, and we thought we could save the US$ 140 per person, considering that you have the same views from the bus.

On the way we stopped at the Inka ruins of Raqchi. These are the remains of the temple of Wiracocha, which is believed to have been the largest single roof in the Inka Empire.

View from the terrace of our hostel onto the Plaza de Armas in Cuzco.

Close-up with the cathedral in the background.

Cuzco was the capital of the Inka Empire and it is a very fascinating city. There are lots of those nice narrow streets with original Inka walls.

The Inkas were masters of the stonework. They fit huge rocks perfectly together. Most of those walls survived many earthquakes whereas buildings and churches built by the Spaniards who conquered the Inkas got destroyed.

A visit to the local market is always on the program.

In the meat section you can always find some interesting things.

Here is a complete cow head for sale.

When you come to Peru you have to visit Machu Picchu. The fascinating Inka city (also called ¨the lost city of the Inkas¨) is one of the New Seven Wonders of the world. On the recommendation of Jeremy we decided to do the Inka trail trek (Thanks for the tip Jeremy!). This is a 4 day/3 night trek where you arrive on the fourth day at Machu Picchu.
Here our group passes the control point at kilometre 82.

You hike through the heart of the Peruvian Andes and the views are amazing.

Here is a close-up of Veronika mountain.

These are the Inka ruins of Llaqtapata.

Due to the popularity of this hike it is nowadays highly regulated. You can only do the hike with a guided tour. Our tour groups consisted of 14 tourists, 2 guides and 18 porters. Here Jaya gets passed by our porters.

The porters usually just run by you and get ahead and set up everything in camp like dinner tent and all the tents to sleep in.

The Inkas established a wide network of roads in their empire and lots of it looked like the ones we hiked on.

These porters do an amazing job and carry immense loads on their backs. Many of them do not even have proper shoes. Just like this fellow who hikes in his sandals. Our company (Llama Path) claims to treat their porters the best and provide them uniform and shoes.

Taking a break on the second day on the way up to the Dead Woman´s Pass (4200 meters above sea level). This was quite a hard climb and you really could feel the altitude.

Almost there!

Happy to be on top.

View into the next valley. On the opposite site you can barely make out the way up to the second pass. At the bottom of the picture you can see our little red army running ahead to setup the camp for lunch.

It took most of our group about 2 hours to climb from camp up to Dead Woman´s pass. However then we had to wait 3 hours since some in our group overestimated their abilities when they signed up for the trek. I think anybody in decent shape can do this trek, but it is necessary to be somewhat prepared and properly acclimatized. 4 people in our group were not up to it and had to pay the price with a 3 day suffer fest. Finally here the last one of the group arrived.

We came along the Runkuraqay ruins after lunch on our second day on the way up to the second pass.

Morning light at the second camp site (taken from the tent).

This Inka trek is the luxury version of a trek experience. The porter and guides take care of anything. In the morning they wake you up and provide some warm water to wash your face and a hot cup of coca tea and all this in the tent!

Our guide pointing out some of the mountains on the third day.

We had unbelievable luck with the weather and enjoyed perfect conditions during the hike.

After the relatively dry climate during the first days on the high altitude passes you descend on the third day through thick jungle and cloud forest filled with tropical flowers and colourful orchids.

Here is our whole group including porters before descending to our campsite for the 3rd night.

The ruins of Phuyupatamarca (town over the clouds)

From here it went down some very steep stairs into the Urabamba valley. Good thing we had those hiking poles.

The terraces of Intipata.

The Inkas were masters of building the terraces to grow grain and corn. Here you can also recognize how to climb from one terrace to the next with the rock ladders.

The view out of our tent at the third camp site. Not too bad!

The ruins of Winawayna near our third camp site.

On the fourth day we had a very early wake-up call. The control point opens at 5:30 and then everybody tries to race up to the sungate.

Unfortunately it had rained that night and all that moisture caused some thick fog. This is the disappointed crowd trying to figure out if they should wait it out at the sungate or descend down to Machu Picchu.

We ultimately decided to hike down and slowly but surely the fog started lifting. It was quite a mystical experience.

Later on we enjoyed a nice sunny day.

This is the Intihuatana stone. This works similar to a sun clock. At midday on March 21st and September 21st the sun stands directly above the pillar creating no shadow at all.

A panorama of the Machu Picchu site.

My good friend Thomas Fritsche got married that Saturday (May 16th) when we arrived at Machu Picchu and unfortunately we could not join his wedding in Switzerland. However we sent him this congratulation picture a few days later.

The site from another angle.

Later in the day I hiked one more time up to the sungate to check out the view we missed earlier in the day. (in the background you see Machu Picchu) At the Summer Solstice, the sun comes through this notch and hits squarely into the window of the Sun Temple

Afterwards we took the train from Aguas Caliente back to Cuzco.
This trek is a nice way to get to Machu Picchu and enjoy the spectacular scenery and Inka ruins on the way. We had a great time. The problem though nowadays is that it is extremely popular and every day 500 people (including porters and guides) start the trek. Therefore it has lost some of its appeal. There are also other good options like the Salcantay trek.

A few days later we visited the market in Pisac, hiked up to the ruins and checked a few more places out in the sacred valley. This is the view down onto the town of Pisac.

What´s a blog post without a bridge??!

The terraces of Pisac.

Some of the ruins of Pisac.

Afterwards I was supposed to go on a 3-day river rafting on the Apurimac river. Unfortunately I got quite sick and had to recover a few days in the hotel. Still a bit weak from the illness we decided I have to scratch the river rafting trip and instead headed to the coast to Nazca. More about that in the next post.

And here again our route:
Best online maps are found under this link: http://www.maps.live.com or check the simple Google map below. (yellow marker indicates current location and blue is what is covered in the blog)

Bolivia

2008-06-15T22:54:00.003+02:00

Hello everyone!! We are currently in Huanchaco, Peru (on the Pacific coast). We were planning on spending a couple of weeks near the beach since we spent quite a bit of time in the mountains (more on that on the next post). Below is our post and pics from when we were in Bolivia. We heard a lot of mixed stories about Bolivia, but we loved it! We were sorry to have spent only 12 days in Bolivia, but it was jam packed with excitement and great food.

This is our first look at La Paz in Bolivia from our bus. La Paz is situated 3,640 meters (11,942 feet) above sea level and since we were just coming from Arica, Chile which was at sea level, we could definitely feel the shift in altitude.

Most of western Bolivia still clings to its indigenous past (Aymarian culture) and we saw many women wearing traditional clothes. Check out the bowler hat! I tried to do some research on why the women wear them and found this on Wikipedia “Bowler hats have been worn by Quechua and Aymara women in Peru and Bolivia since the 1920's when supposedly a shipment of bowler hats was sent from Europe to Bolivia via Peru for use by Europeans who were working on the construction of the railroads. The hats were found to be too small and were distributed to locals.” I am not sure how much of the preceding is true, but it is certainly interesting.

Typical mode of transport in Bolivia. One can only imagine how many people are packed inside!

Check out this traffic! Notice that they are all taxis or minivans? We barely saw any private vehicles in La Paz. The people simply can not afford having a car.

Typical market stall in La Paz

One thing that was lacking in our travels in Chile and Argentina was fresh squeezed juice, but we found plenty of it in La Paz (typically oranges or mandarins). A cup of juice cost 1 Boliviano which comes out to 10 cents!! Delicious!!

This next picture is quite interesting. These are shoe shine boys but notice that their faces are completely covered? It is not that cold, but since shoe shining is considered a very lowly job, many of the shiners cover their faces to avoid embarrassment and ridicule.

Ah, the most dangerous road picture. You probably also got once some of those crazy pictures that were sent around via email.
The road was built during the 1930’s by Paraguayan prisoners of war and is called the most dangerous road since there were 200-300 deaths a year! Thankfully part of it from La Paz to Coroico is now rebuilt so the ones that mainly use it are crazy downhill bicyclists!

Oh, and here is a picture of one of them. It is Oliver!! To add to the excitement of riding down 56 kilometres (35 miles) of the most dangerous road it, it was raining! See the van in back? That is for bicyclists who get too nervous, get tired, or non-bicyclists who just want to go for a ride (like Jaya) Technically the ride is not very demanding, but the 600 meter vertical drops definitely add some spice to the mix.

I do have to say that although the road was crazy, the views were stunning. This is a look at the Yungas when the morning fog was lifting.

Banana stand in Coroico.

Public transportation is pretty scarce in this part of Bolivia, so some of the trucks take on additional passengers in the back.

In order to get up to Rurrenabaque in the Bolivian jungle we had to take a gruelling, white-knuckling (even Jaya’s knuckles turned white!) 14 hour night bus ride from Coroico. Usually it´s just a one lane road with just a few pullouts so two cars can cross.

This was a typical view down from our bus window. The first 2 hours of the road from Coroico were extremely scary. You are pretty much soiling your pants when you look down a vertical wall of up to 600 meters and your bus’s wheel is just about 30cm away from it.
When we took this picture we felt actually already a bit better since the drop was only about 50 meters. At this point we felt like we have at least a slight chance of survival compared with tumbling down 600 meters. (But chances still would be slim.)

And to make matters worse, our bus had a mechanical failure! Thank goodness it was not on the side of the mountain when it happened.

We did not get any sleep on the bus ride so a snooze in the hammock when we got to our hotel in Rurrenabaque was definitely in order.

The next day we went for a pampas tour.
Flat tires and such are pretty common on that road. Especially with the conditions the tires have in Bolivia. They run them until they are completely bald.

This is the restaurant where we stopped for lunch. Instead of a dog they have a pig (black-lipped peccary) as pet. It cleans up all the little things that drop from the tables.

The pampas is grassy lowland with some bushes and a few single trees. This is a typical scene.

Only mean of transport is the boat. We had a good crew with a local boat rider and a German, Austrian, Israeli, a Polish guy and two Australians.

A caiman catching some sun.

This is a capybara. It is the biggest living rodent on earth.

A cute little chichilo (squirrel) monkey we saw on the way.

There are tons of birds to see.

This one is drying his feather in the sun after he is done fishing for the day.

Our camp in the pampas. There are some hammocks to hang out. But luckily we had some real mattresses to sleep on since as romantic as it sounds; sleeping in hammocks for two full nights is not that comfortable.

The daughter of our camp host

A paradise bird

Another great sunset

The next day we went searching for snakes. You slog with big rubber boots through some swampy ground until you find one. Jaya did not for one second enjoy the thought of just being surprised by a snake.

We were quite lucky that day and found a cobra and anaconda. This is the anaconda.

This was a pretty small one and you did not have to be afraid of being strangled.

We also went swimming with the dolphins. Here you see our Austrian friend and on the right margin of the picture a dolphin is just catching some air.
When you are swimming near the dolphins you are supposedly save from caimans and alligators, but sometimes I was still a bit nervous.

The fresh water dolphins are a bit different from the ocean dolphins. They have a long nose.

A family of turtles

We also went for piranha fishing. It’s not that demanding. You just need a line, a hook and a piece of meat and they will come in masses. The only problem is that you have to be pretty quick before they nipple away all your bait.

They are not very big fish and are quite bony, but you just have to catch a bunch so it makes for a good lunch.

Jaya and I grilled it over the fire and the rest were fried up in the pan.

The mode of transport is quite basic in Bolivia. You will see lots of horses, donkeys and ox carts.

After the pampas tour we went for a jungle trip to the Chalalan Ecolodge.
This Lodge is run by the indigenous community and all the proceeds are invested for a good cause.

At the beginning we made our way through some thick fog. Here are some locals trying to find their way on the river as well.

Later on the fog lifted and we enjoyed a nice sunny day.

The river is sometimes really low and therefore one guy checks in the front with a stick how deep the water is and warns the captain when he has to pull up the engine to avoid damage to the rotor.

Some locals making their way upstream.

Our cabins in the rainforest of the Madidi Nationalpark.

This Ecolodge is located next to the Chalalan Lagoon.

You can take a boat and cruise around looking for caimans, monkeys, birds and turtles.

One of the moriche palms on the shore

We went for several hikes in the rain forest to look for animals and plants.

There is an animal hidden here. Can you find it?
(pretty well camouflaged this frog, isn’t it?)

We were actually really lucky and found besides monkeys and lots of birds also an oscelot and tayra (large member of the weasel family). However taking pictures in the rain forest can be quite a challenge, especially with our little point-and-shoot camera.
Here we found even a horde of wild pigs. The only thing you really can see in the picture are the orange eyes though in the centre of the picture.

Instead of the torturous bus we took to get to Rurrenabaque, we opted to take a short 1 hour flight in a little airplane back to La Paz.

From La Paz we took the bus to the border to Peru. After about a 10 minute ride our cabin starting filling with smoke and we had to stop.

It was too bad for this guy’s backpack that it got loaded next to the exhaust pipe and it burnt quite a hole in his bag. Yes, you have to be prepared for quite some surprises when you are travelling in Bolivia!

View towards the Andes on our bus trip on the altiplano towards the border.

We already mentioned that lots of women still wear the traditional clothes. It’s really cool when you walk around in the crowds. Sometimes you feel like you are on a movie set. Here I just took some random crowd shots on our walk across the border from Desaguadero, Bolivia into Peru.

Everything is very low tech in most parts of Bolivia (and also Peru). Pretty much all the agriculture work is done by hand. Here the grains are put up to dry. This picture is taken on the bus ride along Lake Titicaca.

The community is harvesting the potatoes. (Sorry, most of the pictures are a bit blurry since they are shot out of the moving bus)

Taking a break from the hard work.

The squares in the water are some trout farms.

And here again our route:
(We are currently debating how to finish our trip. Flight out is from Belize, but we do not think that we can do all the Central American countries we planned on first. Still trying to figure things out, so please stay tuned.)
Best online maps are found under this link: http://www.maps.live.com or check the simple Google map below. (yellow marker indicates current location and blue is what is covered in the blog)

Mendoza and transfer to Bolivia

2008-05-24T04:17:00.003+02:00

Right now we are in Peru, but here are some pictures from Mendoza, Argentina and from northern Chile before we crossed over to Bolivia.

This was our first view of the mountains surrounding Mendoza when we came on the bus from Bariloche. Since we were there during their autumn season, you can see the Alamo (Poplar trees) turning a beautiful golden color. The contrast of colors were amazing!

The hostel we stayed in Mendoza was called Hostel Alamo and it is the hostel that Jaya´s best friend, Mona Dizon, opened up with her former boyfriend. The location, staff, and amenities were great. We also had one of the best breakfasts in Argentina. Thanks Mona and Fernando! This is the shot of the courtyard, a great place to chill out or have lunch.

Since Mendoza is the area where Argentina´s finest wines are procuded, we had to do a wine tour but on bikes. The trick is not to “taste” too much wine! The weather that day was perfect and in addition to the vineyards there were a lot of olive orchards.

All the olives are handpicked. No, that is not Jaya picking the olives.

The olive factory we visited.

In the middle of Mendoza we found an oasis of green called Parque San Martin. Since Mendoza has a relatively dry desert climate, all of the tropical trees were transplanted from other parts of the continent.

Inside the San Martin Park is located the Hill of the Glory "Cerro de la Gloria" where an enormous sculpture is set in tribute to the Andes Army. This monument stands as a permanent tribute to San Martin, his liberation army, and the magnificent feat which turned Argentina, Chile and Peru into free nations.

At the recommendation of Mona we treated ourselves to a very nice dinner at Azafran. Instead of showing you a wine list, they take you into their wine cellar so you can handpick your own wine!

A view of a lake set amidst a great background of mountains and golden Alamo trees on the way to our horse back ride. (and yes, there are two clouds in the sky :-))

We have wanted to make a horse back riding trip for a long time and we could not pass up the opportunity while in Mendoza. Yes, that is Jaya on the horse.

Our gaucho and guide.

A beautiful backdrop and great weather to match.

This was the last picture from this day with Jaya in a happy mood. Her horse lost its footing and fell forward taking Jaya down with it. Jaya got a few bruises on hip and elbow but fortunately both her and the horse are doing fine now.

Our stay in Mendoza was too short and we had to continue our journey. Our next destination was Bolivia, but instead of just flying to La Paz from Mendoza, we took the scenic route through Chile via the Andes.

Here is a somewhat cloudy picture of Cerro Aconcagua as seen from the road to Santiago de Chile. This is the highest mountain in the Americas and the highest mountain outside Asia, measuring in at 6,962 metres (22,841 ft).

The road through the Andes was breathtaking, but it can also take your breath away. This was one of the scariest parts on the road down!

Santiago de Chile is infamous for its smog. The one (and only) positive thing about this is however that it can yield a magnificent sunset. We have never seen such a red sky before.

We took a flight from Santiago to Arica (northern Chile). Most of the area between Santiago and the border to Peru and Bolivia is covered by the Atacama Desert. This is the view from the plane before we landed in Arica. If anyone heard of an earthquake that hit Chile towards the end of March, it was in this general area. (we were there about a month later and did not notice any damages). By the way, flying within South America is so easy compared to the States ! (no hazzles with security lines etc.)

In order to get into Bolivia, we took another scenic bus ride from Arica to La Paz through the Lauca Nationalpark. This is the town of Putre in Chile and you can see the snow-capped volcanoes in the background.

When we landed in Arica we were at sea level and as our bus drive to Bolivia lengthened, so did the altitude! We went from sea level to a mountain pass at 4600 meters and down to La Paz at 3500 meters in a matter of a few hours. Oliver did not take it too well and had a pounding headache for a day.

More snow-capped volcanoes.

As we approached the Bolivian border control we had a friendly Alpaca greet us at the crossing!

More about Bolivia on our next post!

And here again our route:
Best online maps are found under this link: http://www.maps.live.com or check the simple Google map below. (yellow marker indicates current location and blue is what is covered in the blog)

Northern Patagonia

2008-05-13T06:00:00.008+02:00

We actually just arrived in Peru, but I am a bit late with posting pictures from our time down in Argentina and Chile. Who knew that travelling can keep you so busy that you do not even have time to post a few pics?! It´s a full-time job. :-)

In Chile Chico we crossed from Argentina back into Chile to do part of the famous Carretera Austral (=Southern Highway). This highway runs more than 1200 km from Puerto Montt to Villa O´Higgins. It is a mostly unpaved road and it runs through some spectacular scenery.

From Chile Chico we took the ferry and crossed over to Puerto Ibanez and from there we went with a minibus to Coihaique.

One of the problems you face if you like to experience the Carretera Austral is which mode of transport to choose. Best would be a one-way rental car, but you would have to pay some horrendous daily rental fees and a hefty one-way drop-off fee. We found another couple interested in renting a car for two days and decided to just do a small roundtrip. Later we were planning on taking buses.

We went from Coihaique south again towards Puerto Rio Tranquilo and back-tracked some of the way we came. It had just snowed that night in the higher elevations.

The cows were also a bit surprised to find a white blanket.

View from the Pass south towards Puerto Ibanez

This is Cerro Castillo; the mountain that has some familiarity to a castle with several towers.

Here is Lukasz, Joanna and Jaya. We met this Polish couple when we were trekking in Torres del Paine and talked about joining forces for a few days to see part of the Carretera Austral. (They usually rent you only some older pick-up trucks since the road is pretty rough)

We drove for several hours south and the scenery was just breathtaking. The snow capped mountain tops made it really impressive.

Patagonia is the land of the gauchos.

Around Lago General Carrera the mountains shot straight out of the water and create this amazing landscape.

A bit south of Puerto Rio Tranquilo are the marble caves. We hired a local and he took us with his boat out there. The water was amazingly clear.

I do not think it is actual marble but this huge rock was formed by the water and made it look like marble. It provides some stunning views nonetheless.

We spent the night in Puerto Rio Tranquilo and could witness another nice sunset that lit up the nearby mountains on the shore of Lago General Carrera.

This is quite a remote area of Chile and the mode of transport is either through public buses, some beat-up old car or horses. Here we see two locals who are accompanied by a bunch of dogs.

After the two day car rental we went with a bus to Puyuhuapi. This is a tranquil fishing village at the shore of the Pacific.

We could witness how a woman and here kids pulled some huge salmons out of the waters.

Some people told us that most of those salmons escaped from the salmon farms in the fjord nearby, and that´s why they are so big. But I thought they get that large in nature also. Either way... it was a spectacle to watch how the locals pulled one salmon after another out of the net.
Here is one of those salmon farms.

Having just witnessed what big fish are swimming around in those waters we wanted to try our luck as well. Luckily there was a local guy who Jaya befriended and let us borrow some of his fishing gear.

It did not take too long and Jaya had one already on the hook. Even without a proper fishing rod, just with the simple line it worked.

A tiny little crab wanted to play with us as well.

There are also some thermal springs nearby and one day we just relaxed and soaked in the hot waters overlooking the fjord.

The low season in Patagonia starts in April and the buses do not run every day anymore on the Carretera Austral. Instead of waiting around another 2 days for a bus we decided to try our luck with hitch-hiking.

There is only very little traffic on the road and it took us more than 2 hours to get a lift for the first 50 kilometers. There we got stuck again for 4 hours and nobody came by to take us along. Good thing there are always some dogs around here in South America and it takes very little to make a few friends, which give you company for a few hours.

We did not have much luck waiting around in town and decided to hike a bit north and came along this little suspension bridge.

North of the bridge in the middle of nowhere we sat down and hoped that at least here somebody is going to feel sorry for us. Luckily the tactic worked out and a German couple in a rental car took us along all the way to Futaleufu.

We could enjoy some great evening light during that ride.

Next day we went for a hike around Futaleufu. Here we hiked along the Rio Futaleufu.

We crossed through the land of a nice estancia.

This fellow liked to get some attention.

Futaleufu is well know for its world class river rafting. But the season was practically over and the temperatures were not very inviting. So we decided to rather try out fly fishing. Here Jaya is practicing the casting.

After we figured out the moves we went with the guide and his boat out on the lake.

Jaya landed a very nice sized trout.

Happy group at the end of the day.

Official measurements in the evening before they went into the oven. (Jaya´s trout was 16in and Oliver´s 14in)

We were in Futaleufu just 2 weeks before the following pictures went around the world.

The long-dormant Chaiten volcano is about 60 kilometers away from Futaleufu and started on May 1 to blast ashes in the sky, forcing the evacuation of tousands. It covered large parts under a thick coat of ash. We highly regret to hear this news, since it will cause lots of hardship to the local people and it is a beautiful area. We hope they can recover from this in the near future.

Futaleufu is close to the border and we decided to hike the next morning early to the border to cross back into Argentina.
I mentioned already the dogs before. You basically pet a dog once or give them a bit of food when they stray around and they will follow you for a while. Here we did not even pay any attention to this dog, but he just decided to accompany us. It took us several tries to make this dog clear that we could not take him along across the border.

Another two hitch-hiking lifts and a bus ride later we arrived in Bariloche.
We rented some bikes and did the Circuito Chico ride.

There is a small "Swiss" village called "Colonia Suiza" and we enjoyed a pretty good cheese fondue for lunch.

Patagonia is also the land of the sheep and you can see them almost anywhere.

The gauchos also perfected how to grill the lambs over the open fire. Finally in Bariloche we tried the "cordero asado"(=grilled lamb) and it tasted great!

One day we hiked up to Cerro Lopez to get a better overview of the Lake region.

The fall colors in full blossom.

View towards Bariloche with refugio Lopez in the foreground.

After Bariloche we headed north to Mendoza. I will post some pictures about our stay in the wine country in a separate post.

And here again our route.
Best online maps are found under this link: http://www.maps.live.com or check the simple Google map below. (The yellow marker indicates the current location and the blue route is covered in the blog.)

Southern Patagonia

2008-04-27T03:36:00.005+02:00

We flew from Buenos Aires to El Calafate in Southern Patagonia near the border to Chile.

Patagonia is a vast, windy and mostly treeless plateau covering southern Chile and Argentina. Patagonia´s appeal lies in its emptiness. Very few people live in this large area, but it offers some spectacular scenery with glaciers, mountains and lakes.

Here we are enjoying a great sunset from the patio of our hostel (America del Sur, El Calafate) looking onto Lago Argentino.

Here is the same lake again at daylight. You can see the sparse vegetation, because most the time a relentless wind blows from the west. (However we actually got pretty lucky and the winds were never that strong) You will also always find those fences everywhere. The estancias (ranches) keep the sheeps and cattle on their land with those.

We visited the Perito Moreno Glacier in the Los Glaciares Nationalpark. This glaciers is actually one of the few glaciers that is still growing even due to the global warming. This glacier is part of the Southern Patagonia Ice Field, which is the third biggest extension of continental ice after Antarctica and Greenland.

This glacier is very active and moves about 2 meters per day. Therefore you can hear constantly the cracking of ice and every once in a while a big chunk of ice falls off and into the water. Quite spectacular!! (even though the picture does not really pay enough justice to this)

We were there at the end of March and beginning of April. The fall was in full swing and the colors were beautiful.

We also did a tour with the boat and you come pretty close to the face of the glacier and you realize a bit better the dimensions.

From El Calafate we crossed into Chile and went to the Torres del Paine Nationalpark. Big parts of Patagonia are flat, but at the Paine massif (and also the Fitz Roy massif near El Chalten further north) are some awesome peaks that come up from the plateau.
Here is the Paine massif. Lots of times the high peaks are surrounded by some clouds.

Some Guanacos we met on the way. They are similar to a lama.

We did the W-trek which is a popular multi-day hike in the southern part of the park. We did the whole route in 6 days (and spent 5 nights camping). Here we are hiking during the first day up to our first camp (Campamento Torres).

Next day we got up early to see the towers lit during sunrise.

It was totally worth it to wake up early and hike with headlamps up to the base of the towers to see them lighting up in orange and red.

The red/orange colors only last for a few minutes before they change over to the more common view.

You have to work your way up and down quite a steep boulder field to get to the towers.

Unfortunately I did not pay enough attention for a split second and severly sprained my ankle. It swolle up quite big but luckily it did not hurt too much and I could continue hiking.

The views during our second day onto the steppe and rolling hills south of the Paine massif.

There are often some stream crossings that make things interesting.

View of the “Los Cuernos” (=Horns) from close up at our campsite. A bit a different perspective than the famous ones you will find on lots of brochures.

Campsite at Los Cuernos. We bought a tiny (but light!!) 1-person tent in Buenos Aires. The weather was great for 5 out of the 6 days and I actually slept 3 nights outside. It was great to hear the wind blowing and wake up and see the stars.

A nice beach we came along on the 3. day. However the water is a bit cold for a swim. In the background you see the entrance to the French Valley.

The hike up into the French Valley is quite steep in some places but the views are spectacular.

There were only 2 other tents up there at campamento Britanico (campsite in the French Valley) and it was a great setting. However it was a bit windy and we had to cook inside our tiny tent.

Next day we got up early for the sunrise.

On the hike out we took a lunch break right under the glaciers.

Every once in a while an ice piece broke off and came roaring down with lots of noise. Here we caught a huge break off on camera that sent a big ice cloud down valley. It was very impressive!

They say when you go trekking in Torres del Paine Nationalpark you have to be prepared for the worst (wind, rain, snow etc.). We however caught the perfect weather window and enjoyed fabulous weather. During the 6 days we had 5 days with sunshine and only one day with a slight rain drizzle. Many days we did not even see a cloud in the sky.

A shaky suspension bridge.

We can highly recommend the W-trek (or if you have more time the whole circuit). The scenery gets better and better by the hour during this trek.

A close-up of the “Los Cuernos”.

Campsite Pehoe (Paine Grande in the background)

A woodpecker we heard hacking away in the trees.

First look at the grey glacier.

One of the best things when trekking in Patagonia is that you can drink untreated water right from the stream. You just have to be a bit smart and not fill up your bottle in a lake or not just downstream of a campsite. No need to carry a water filter or to lug around tons of water. Just fill up your bottle every few hours and you will enjoy some of the best water you ever drank. Here I fill up all our bottles before we get to the campsite; but usually we did not carry more than 1.0 litre for the both of us since you come across a perfect stream about every half an hour.

Jaya always finds some nice flowers along the way.

The campsite Los Guardas is just above the Grey glacier and we hung out there to see if we can witness some more ice beak offs. However this glacier was not as active as the Perito Moreno glacier and nothing broke off right then, but it was still great to just soak in the evening.

On our last day we hiked back in high spirits to the Pehoe camp when the sun was rising.

There we caught the ferry and went then back to El Calafate with the bus.

Last look back at the Paine massif.

From El Calafte we headed north to El Chalten where the mighty Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre massif is. The weather was just so so and we decided to do some short hike around town. Here is the Chorrillo del Salto.

The next day we still could not see the mountain peaks due to thick clouds. We still decided to head out and make our way up to laguna de los tres. However strong winds picked up and the rain came down very hard.

After an hour of miserable weather Jaya had enough and decided to turn back. I carried on as sort of training and went all the way.
The hiking trails were flooded at some places and streams came across the plaines. But it was still good fun!

Here is the Laguna de los tres. In the background would be the mighty Fitz Roy but unfortunately all I could see was a wall of white and grey.

The views down the valley were still good, however the fall colours would be a lot nicer with a bit of sunlight.

Another day went by and the thick clouds around the high peaks did not want to vanish. The weather was a lot friendlier though and we hiked up to Laguna Torre. Cerro Torre would rise here somewhere in the background, but it did not want to come out.

We had the perfect weather in Torres del Paine Nationalpark and thought this is now payback. But fortunately the skies started to clear on our way back to town and we could catch a glimpse of Fitz Roy.

In the evening the sky cleared up all the way and the last sunrays lit up Mount Fitz Roy. This way we still could say happily goodby to El Chalten.

A grueling 12hour bus ride on Ruta 40 was on tap next. This is a quite bumpy gravel road that heads from north to south in Patagonia along the border to Chile. An old lousy bus did not really help to make this journey more enjoyable but we survived.

From the town Perito Moreno we did a one-day excursion to the “Cueva de las Manos”. Those caves are located in a nice canyon.

The site is famous due to the paintings of the hands that indigenous made there some 9000 years ago.

Apparantley there were also a few that had misshaped hands with 6 fingers. (Or maybe they just tried to play a trick on us. =:-))

We saw already quite a few Andean Condors in the Torres del Paine Nationalpark, but now I finally managed to get a decent shot of one of those huge birds. They are the largest flying land bird in the western hemisphere. The Andean Condors have wingspans of up to 3.0 meters and are a national symbol of the South American Andean countries.

Besides the scenery Patagonia is also famous for its fierce winds. And even though we got quite lucky, on some days we could witness it. Here the wind blows lots of dust across the plains.

From here we crossed into Chile again and made our way north on the Carretera Austral. More on that another time.

As I write this we are in Santiago de Chile and are on our way up north to La Paz (Bolivia). I could more or less update the maps and you will find the route that is covered in the blog in blue and the red will be future entries.
Best online maps are found under this link: http://www.maps.live.com or check the simple Google map below.