Advertisement
Published: June 15th 2009
Hop in...
The cable car was new and in great working condition...which helped, because we were high, very high, and the wind was howling even at 8am...After the turbulent bus ride to Tangkou, all I could think about when I got off and looked around was, where is hotel and how far of a walk is it? A friendly man in a dark blue Adidas track suit greeted us, pulled out a card with his restaurant (in English!), and began chatting with us. He wasn't selling anything, he was just friendly. He introduced himself and asked us where we were staying. He knew where our hotel was and said he would take us to the hotel. Our instincts were good and sure enough, within minutes we were in the hotel parking lot unpacking our suitcases from his car. At the check-in to the hotel, the host asked for our passports and I looked around and my life flashed before my eyes. I was so busy lugging our big suitcases off the bus I had forgotten my backpack in the back seat of the bus. Our passports, traveling money, my laptop computer, maps, train tickets, my camera...all in the backpack...I wanted to scream but I didn't, instead I just waited for Jennifer to do it for both of us. She did. Several times...
Screaming but thinking at
Nice view up...
A view from the cable car...definitely woke us up. the same time, Jenny ran out and flagged down Mr. Hu who was just driving off in his little VW. In seconds he was on the phone and talking to the bus driver and a friend who was also on the bus. I hopped in and off we went - chasing down the bus as it was heading on to another town over an hour away. A few more phone calls and less than half an hour we pulled over on the side of a mountain road and there was the bus, waiting at idle, it's passengers standing about, kicking pebbles, chatting on cell phones, waiting for the dumb American to come and claim his backpack. I've been in this country long enough to know how to say, "Sorry!", but they all laughed and they escorted me back on board and to the backpack, which was now in the middle of the isle all by itself. I quickly opened it up while laughing and sure enough, everything was there, nothing had even been touched, which didn't surprise me really, the Chinese overall are very honest from my experience. I laughed some more, thanked them all loudly, and hopped in the
Almost done with car #1...
This is the view from the first cable car, there are two others in the Huang Shan mountain range... car and was once again very, very grateful to Mr. Hu and I told him all the way back to our hotel.
We had a nice dinner at his restaurant, Mr. Hu's, then crashed knowing it was going to be a long day tomorrow. Got up at 5am, went over and ate a delicious breakfast at Mr. Hu's place (real hash browns, toast with jelly, fried eggs, and bacon), then he dropped us off at a taxi stand where another one of his friend drove us for about 25 minutes up to the base of the mountain. We were waking up slowly and the fog was just starting to lift as we were driven up steep roads that cut through sheer 100 to 300 foot drops off to our right and left. We went through forests of bamboo, green shafts of steel grass so thick I could not get both of my hands around one, probably at least 10 - 12" in diameter, the largest bamboo stalks I have ever seen. We finally arrived at another drop-off point, paid the driver 50yuan ($7) and looked for a sign leading us to the cable car.
We had been planning
Saluting Monkey...
The little monkey says to be on the look out for Monkeys in the area, not to feed them...we didn't see or hear any monkeys, just some squirrels and lots of Chinese guided tour leaders with hand held megaphones... this trip for a few weeks and learned that the best way to see these mountains is to take the cable car up near Wengquan and get off and explore the Lianhua Feng (Lotus Flower Peak), Tiandu Feng (Celestial Capital Peak) and then take the Western Trail if we have time, or take another cable car up to an area called Guangming Ding (Bright Peak Summit) which is an impressive 6,035ft above sea level. From there another cable car will take you up all the way to Tiaping and Qingliang Tai which is the view from the top. Although the main peak is under 6,200 ft. the 70 sheer rock cliffs are spectacular to hike, and the winding concrete steps are usually very crowded, but not so much today. We also purchased a map from Mr. Hu so we were set.
This is how we started off, but we did not end up staying with this strategy for but a few hours. We began smoothly enough, the cable car up was breathtaking so early in the morning. It was a very modern cableway with very steep climbs and stiff winds bounced us around a bit but the views were
Towards the Fairy Bridge...
Typical path, except this one has guard rails...many spots of path do not...very steep. stunning already. The views kept us mesmerized as we climbed higher and higher and the rocks, trees, even the weather all seemed to change together. Light green became darker green, ghost clouds became gray, drizzling clouds. Warm morning breezes became chilled, cutting breezes. The views opened up to mountain vista as far as our eyes could see. There are endless precipitous peaks, bamboo groves, and ancient, twisted pine forests that were unusually beautiful. We both knew we were seeing much more than just a famous mountain in another country, we were headed to perhaps some of the most beautiful nature we have ever seen in our lives.
Within minutes we realized our map was useless, irritatingly inaccurate pocket trash, which meant wasted energy for us as we tried to navigate quickly because the last cable car on the mountain closed at 5pm. We exited the cable car and took off up and East, jostling through the crowds, avoiding the yellow, red, and blue hats (private tours that are bumper-car crowded, hyena-loud, and clueless to anyone else on the mountains) and hit as many scenic spots on the East side as we could plod through, around, and over.
After
It's the walls...
Of granite that make the mountain range so spectacular. Lone pine trees growing from unbelievable locations dotting endless peaks of granite...gorgeous. about an hour or two we looked at each other regularly in dazed looks of total disbelief. How many people die every week here? Hell, every day? The mountains are well-marked but dangerously unforgiving of any mistakes, either from missteps or mis-attention or just not being hyper-aware - each path and trail has small cul de sacs where a short climb up offered views across mountain peaks as far you could see. And one slip would be met with only a fog-muffled scream down granite walls several hundred and in some places up to 1,000 foot drops to your death. We just could not believe how steep, how slippery, how insane some of the paths were, in some cases stairs are simply cut into granite wedges where both sides of the thin trail drop hundreds of feet down into deep, lush, nothingness. We are so high up we can not see the bottom, just walls and walls of granite. We laughed all day telling each other how we would never, ever see anything like this natural attraction in the States. Paths with no handrails leading up to rock formations inviting a quick climb, still slippery from the morning dew. Not
Beginning to Believe Peak...
The peak is right above Jenny's head in this shot... a handrail, guardrail, warning sign in sight - nowhere in the States would you ever see such a tacit understanding that you are completely responsible for your own behavior here, and on these mountains this means your life is in your hands. In less than two or three hours we also noticed we did not see anybody younger than twenty either - not a child in site when the rain started around noontime.
The Eastern route took us about four hours as we climbed up granite stairs so steep you could lean forward and kiss them, or crawl up them with your hands and feet if you were so inclined. We sat and had a beer at one of the few hotels built right on the different mountains, the Beginning to Believe peaks, rising above woodland and glistening streams, offering us one of the most spectacular views at Huang Shan. We trekked over the Immortal's Bridge, the Fairy Bridge, and caught our breath and got vertigo too many times to mention. It started to rain and we laughed as we began slipping a bit, knowing we could be in trouble if it did not stop. It didn't, and still
we didn't. We said hello to a friendly couple who was going back the way we had just came and they explained the cable car was shutting down because of rain and the West side would be the only way back if we did not turn around. I was disappointed, I wanted us to go on. Jenny said no, let's call it a day and backtrack and see if we can make the cablecar before it closes at 5pm. We had been walking for five hours. I said okay, let's just walk back the way we came. Turns out it was a critical decision and we made the right one.
Here is some info on what we would have encountered, in the rain, if we had continued on towards the
Western Trail.
By the time we got back to the cable car on the East side we had been walking over seven hours and we were both cringing and moaning and griping under our breath as each boot crashed down, right, left, right, left, as we plodded back down all the concrete stairs it took hours climbing up. Anyone who has hiked knows that going down can be much
One of two warnings...
One of the two only warnings we saw all day...plenty of trash bins, good signs, clean steps, but nothing telling you where or when to not do anything...I love this country - no rules!! more painful than going up. We hurt together, but made it off the mountain unscathed, just tired and thirsty and a bit smelly and damp. We even sacrificed our luggage lock and latched it on top of the thousands of other "lovers locks" scattered throughout the mountain, sometimes in unbelievably dangerous locations.
We agreed, as we were pouring orange juice down our throats and watching lush pine forests get closer and closer to the bottom of our cable car, that these mountains, Yellow Mountain, was the most beautiful thing we have ever seen in nature. And to me that means it is more impressive than even the Grand Canyon, or the Italian Alps, or even the highlands of Scotland - it is certainly more dangerous, deadly dangerous. Definitely the most beautiful mountain range in China, but I will wait to say the World...😊
Advertisement
Tot: 0.131s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 10; qc: 64; dbt: 0.0552s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Tim
non-member comment
remember
Sean, Do you remember the lyrics from the Rush song I sent you a while back? I believe it was about this mountain and place. Just an interesting side note. Glad you made it out alive.