Hi!

“So so” was the “Austral Summer” in the National Park “Tierra del Fuego”, so that I had to
stay in my tent for several days due to the cold and rainy weather.

With accumulated energy I´d been wandering at sunshine on the “Costera Trail” along the
20 km wide “Beagle Channel”, where are the magnificant 2000 m high Andes of Chile at
the other side.

If it,s true, that a mountaineer remembers the summits with the worst weather for the
longest time, I never will forget the “Cerro Guanaco”, one of the southernmost mountains
in the world! Because at my “birthday-hike” to there I gota ll four seasons within 1000 m
altitude – the Winter of course right at the top …!

Masses of tourists destroy the beautiness of this park. They use the train to get there (like
the prisoners in the ancient times, who had to cut trees) or the shuttle bus. Also the
decreasing snow borderline and icy nights made it not too hard for me to leave Ushuaia,
the only city of Argentine at the other side of the mountain ridge!

On the way back from that 200 km long (!) dead end to the “End of the world” I decided to
do the 150 km longer “Variant B” on bumpy gravel through monotone landscapes, that
leads to a colony of King Pinguins – with almost one meter altitude and black “jacket” like I
always imagined a “real” pinguin in my childhood!

Crossing Tierra del Fuego from east to west the permanent blowing headwind up to 100
km/h was so strong, that it didn´t make any sense to keep on cycling. But the distances
inner between the grocery stores had been that far, that I had to fight against it, so that I
crossed the strait of Magallan quite exhausted, so that I would have liked to buy
everything in the first supermarket of Punta Arenas …!

Having changed the direction towards north also the wind changed, so that other cyclists
coming in front of me didn´t have to pedal at all …! So I had to struggle one more time to
reach “Puerto Natales”, that was 250 km away. But the views to the snow covered peaks
of the Andes and the fjords of the Chillean westcoast equalized all the pain I had in my
legs!

Quite motivated I cycled to the National park “Torres del Paine”, where I went up to the
viewpoint “Base de los Torres” at perfect weather, in order to admire those three rock
towers of pure granit in front of the turkes green lake in front, that was like a mirror.
Some more viewpoints made me doing the 6-day-circuit (or “O-trail”), but had been sent
back by the park guards due to missing “campsite-reservations” …! Complaining against
this reservation system, that ignores completely the weather changes in this instable
climatical zone and abuses the tourism just to make the “big money” (additionally to the
incredible high entrance fee!) I left this world heritage site, that is exploited too
intensively!

Back in Argentina I had immense technical problems with my hub at the rear wheel, that I
luckily reached a filling station in the middle of the pampas, where I had to hitchhike the
first time of my journey to reach the 250 km far “El Calafate” (thanks, Andrea & Nancy and
Lisa!), where the next bike shop was. After a long lasting reparation I turned back to my
bicycle after two days, to cycle to that touristic town and even to the “Perito Moreno”
glacier, that is 80 km away, with my own force. There I´d been amazed about the 5 km
wide, blue shining glacier tongue, from whose ice wall house high calibers had been
cracking and dropping into lake “Argentino”.

On the way back from this spectacular place I decided to make a loop to “Lago Roca” with
its 1000 m high mountain “Cerro Cristal”, with a panoramic view to the Chilean and
Argentinean Andes with its National Parks “Torres del Paine” and “Los Glaciares”!

In order to visit the Trekking-Eldorado “El Chalten” I´d been fighting one more time
against the wind, that calmed down short before reaching my destination! In the need
village I started from my “Base” in the “Hostel del Lago”
(hosteldellago_elchalten@yahoo.com.ar), where I could leave my “Bock” for three (!)
weeks (thanks, Jean Franco!), to do some excursions in the mountainous surroundings.

Equipped with harness I did the “Vuelta de Huemul”, for sure the most adventurous and
impressive Hiking-Tour of my life! On the 4-day-roundtrip (that I stretched up to six days
due to the beautiful weather …) I had to cross to rivers hanging just at the shaking rope to
reach “Paso del Viento”, where my breath was taken not only by the corporal challenge,
but also by the view to the gigantic “Viedma” glacier: It seemed, like the “Antarctica” with
its enormous ice dessert with its snow white mountains would have benn connected with
the American continent!

Fascinated and with maintaining impressions I used the stabile weather conditions for
camping close to various lookouts to (normally always cloud covered) “Mt. Fitz Roy” (or
“El Chalten”) and “Cerro Torre” whose peaks are known to be the most difficult ones in
the world!

On the wild-romantic paths the leaves of the forest trees changed their colors from
lightning yellow to dark red during the beginning of the “Indian Summer”, that was great
for wandering – but also a warning signal to continue my way to “Santiago de Chile” in
order of not to be overtaken by the “Austral Winter” …!
“Happy Easter” to all my friends all over the world,

Michael Öfele