Gubei Kou day hike

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Gubei Kou day hike



Tuesday arrived with a thunderstorm, wind and cold weather. We woke up around 6 AM due to the wind blowing cold and the rain drops on our tent's roof. We waited a bit util the rain slowed down a bit and when not did we quickly grabbed the tent and put it down under the tower. We were thankful this tower had shelter. We grabbed our backpacks and cooking utensils as well and put them also under the tower. We started to cook a warm oatmeal breakfast and black tea to warm up a bit and in the mean time read and chilled while the rain passed. After breakfast we were very cold and so we took a mid morning nap ( in the tent) until about 10 AM. We woke up and the rain had passed and there was sunshine and blue skies. We started to discuss our plans for the day and the next few days and time passed quickly so we decided to take it easy and do a day hike up to the highest tower in Gubei Kou and stay at the same camp site until the next day. We packed our backpacks and tent and his then in some bushes grabbed our small backpacks and headed out for a hike. It was about 3:30 so we had about 4 hours before it got dark. Determined to get to he highest tower we climbed at a steady pace. The first part was easy along the wall trough a not too narrowed trails and then up some uneven steps. Wee brutally we got to a dirt path that we had to take to get to the next tower. There were some Chinese couples, families and friend groups climbing the wall and they all looked very unprepared with flats. No flashlights and very little water. We passed a few and they were awed and WOWED at Kyle's climbing skills and tried to help me with very little success or even worse their attempt to help was so strong and rough that I ended. Up stumbling tripping and losing my balance, so I politely had to say " Mai you, wo coui" ( not help i can do it) or " wo hao da" ( I am ok). At some point Kyle took a steep rock climbing short cut while I took the long and steep but easy trail along the mountain. It was a beautiful afternoon for a hike, the weather was warmish with a bit of a cool breeze and blue skies. The scenery was beautiful mountains and trees around it and occasionally we would run into a few birds, butterflies, lizards and squirrels. It was a different China, so peaceful, serene, quiet, clean and beautiful! We reached the second most highest tower around 5: 30 PM and even though we had a few 30 minutes not daylight we decided to go up the next highest tower. The climbed was steep and long and it started to get dark long before we reached the top, but with headlights and being careful we r watched he top. It was totally worth it! We took some pictures and headed back to our campsite. It was dark by now so we had on our headlights . We took the mountain side path most of the way and when we reached back the wall we saw a lift which belonged to the cell phone of one of the young Chinese guys and gals we had see going up. They stopped us and ask for directions and asked us to fire them down. They were two gals and three guys dressed in jeans and sneakers , but not the hiking type and had no lights ( except for the lights of their cellphones) and a small bottle of water. This, again, did not surprised us as Chinese are famous for hiking with very little hiking equipment, very unprepared and well dressed as I'd they were going to the prom or a wedding LOL! We guided them up to a point were then path divided and even though Kyle was going to helped them to go all the way down as I set camp again they chose to go by themselves. After about 15 more minutes we got to our campsite and unpacked noir backpacks, pitched the tent and cooked dinner, which tonight was one of our favorite dishes: risotto!

The night was clear and we could see the stars and moon, but it was also cold and windy.i was wearing my two pants, a tank top, a long sleeve dry fit shirt, a sweater, a jacket , scarf, gloves and a hat and I was still cold! Kyle who tolerates cold better than me was so cold wearing pants, two pairs of socks, a jacket and all crumbled up. Cooking as the last two nights went very slow and we had to cooked he veggies in small parts for them to cook properly, then cooked the rice and he. Mixed everything again for a final cook. By the time we both had eaten it was around 11 PM and it was very cold. We got in bed and fell asleep right away.

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