Monday, May 22, 2006
May 21-22: Tiger Leaping Gorge
The Tiger Leaping Gorge is the deepest gorge in the world, and contains a turbulent Yangtze. The river is set at around 2500m elevation, and the mountains around it go up another 3000m from there. In places, the gorge is very tight, the river very fast and very rough, and it is said that a tiger once leaped across the gorge after being pursued. Or something.
I can tell you that if the tiger leaped and didn't make the other side, it's definitely in deep shit. There were some scary-looking rapids down there.
Anyway, we set off from Mama Naxi's on Sunday morning for a 3-hour drive to Qaiotou, the jumpoff point for the trek. 14 people left in two minibusses, both of which looked like they were going to crap out at the first excuse. Among the attendees were:
We spent the night at a guesthouse that advertised hot showers and great food. The sign said "halfway house" which should have been a warning. All in all, it was very nice, except there were no hot showers. There were cold showers. COLD. Brrrrr... not what you need after a day of hiking.
The hike of the second day consisted largely of going down to the river itself, at a point roughly 2/3 of the way from our starting point. The family that built that section of the trail decided to extort tourists, so this cost money, but it's definitely well worth it. Why? Because the views are even more stunning. Fast, furious class 4 or class 5 rapids. A waterfall. A place to take a bath (if you're Israeli and a little nuts) or dunk your head in the icy water (if your name is Alex). Oh, so GOOD.
Now, this is where the plot thickens. From the magical spot by the river, we could have actually continued further along the gorge, and in fact four people set off ahead of us and did that. I stayed behind with the Israelis and with some other people, and we followed shortly (after paying a 5 kuai tax to the bridge troll, of course). The problem is that our fearless leader, "Pita" Tal, said "oh, we go this way" and took us away from the amazing route through the bottom of the gorge and up to the Sky Ladder.
Instead of some spectacular hiking that I heard about later in the evening, I got to do a hike that was the 28 bends all over again (though not quite as high) and climbed a very scary 20-30m ladder along the way. Yikes. We ended up near where we dropped into the gorge to begin with, and never managed to hike the whole gorge through. I was disappointed - but only when I heard about what we missed. Ignorance is bliss.
All in all, though, this was without a doubt one of the most spectacular hikes of my life, if not the most spectacular. Words can't do this place justice. Pictures might, and pictures are coming... but that's what I always say and never deliver.
I'm back in Lijiang, but I think I'll go to Lugu Lake tomorrow for another overnight trip. Alpine lakes good. I am on a tight schedule, and I aim to be in Hong Kong on Sunday or Monday.
I can tell you that if the tiger leaped and didn't make the other side, it's definitely in deep shit. There were some scary-looking rapids down there.
Anyway, we set off from Mama Naxi's on Sunday morning for a 3-hour drive to Qaiotou, the jumpoff point for the trek. 14 people left in two minibusses, both of which looked like they were going to crap out at the first excuse. Among the attendees were:
- Three Israeli guys, named Odad ("Hummus"), Nadav ("Theena") and Tal ("Pita").
- Brennan and Wes, a couple from Victoria.
- Dave and Layton, dudes from Australia who've trekked in Nepal for two months earlier this year.
- Sonia, a lawyer-to-be from Switzerland.
- For a trekker, Dave was walking quite slowly. Hmm.
- Hummus decided to go bushwhacking in the first part of the trip, got lost, and miraculously made an appearance, shirtless, late in the afternoon on the first day. In fact, Hummus had quite the look to him: sandals with the rear straps undone because of blisters, shorts rolled up for reasons unclear to me, scruffy beard, and a hairy chest. Mmm-mmm sexy.
- The hike has a part called the 28 bends, which should rightly be called the 28 painful horrifying switchbacks in pounding sunlight. But, the view from the top is magnificent.
- The Israeli crew came prepared for anything, which included bringing a stove to make tea on the trail, and bringing swimsuits to take dips in the mountain runoff. Hmmm....
We spent the night at a guesthouse that advertised hot showers and great food. The sign said "halfway house" which should have been a warning. All in all, it was very nice, except there were no hot showers. There were cold showers. COLD. Brrrrr... not what you need after a day of hiking.
The hike of the second day consisted largely of going down to the river itself, at a point roughly 2/3 of the way from our starting point. The family that built that section of the trail decided to extort tourists, so this cost money, but it's definitely well worth it. Why? Because the views are even more stunning. Fast, furious class 4 or class 5 rapids. A waterfall. A place to take a bath (if you're Israeli and a little nuts) or dunk your head in the icy water (if your name is Alex). Oh, so GOOD.
Now, this is where the plot thickens. From the magical spot by the river, we could have actually continued further along the gorge, and in fact four people set off ahead of us and did that. I stayed behind with the Israelis and with some other people, and we followed shortly (after paying a 5 kuai tax to the bridge troll, of course). The problem is that our fearless leader, "Pita" Tal, said "oh, we go this way" and took us away from the amazing route through the bottom of the gorge and up to the Sky Ladder.
Instead of some spectacular hiking that I heard about later in the evening, I got to do a hike that was the 28 bends all over again (though not quite as high) and climbed a very scary 20-30m ladder along the way. Yikes. We ended up near where we dropped into the gorge to begin with, and never managed to hike the whole gorge through. I was disappointed - but only when I heard about what we missed. Ignorance is bliss.
All in all, though, this was without a doubt one of the most spectacular hikes of my life, if not the most spectacular. Words can't do this place justice. Pictures might, and pictures are coming... but that's what I always say and never deliver.
I'm back in Lijiang, but I think I'll go to Lugu Lake tomorrow for another overnight trip. Alpine lakes good. I am on a tight schedule, and I aim to be in Hong Kong on Sunday or Monday.
# posted by Alex Perel @ 10:18 AM 
