Following the Wall From Hebei to Beijing

23 August

Last weekend I went out with the Beijing Hikers on yet another Great Wall hike. I assure you that it doesn't get old. As I explained two posts ago, is so much of the Great Wall to see, and around Beijing the landscape changes greatly. At Jiankou and Mutianyu the wall is wrapped in mists and the lanscape gives it a dramatic backdrop. Gubeikou and Jinshanling host a wall that clings to the spine of rolling hills before sweeping away in the distance on the back of the dragon. Both of them, vastly different, were both walls. Strong, towering and yes crumbling in places, but still a wall. The hike in Yangqing Country of Hebei Province follows a mounded pile of rocks, packed earth, and loose stones masquerading as a wall.

Now that is a great wall ....



View out the bus as we follow the switchbacks to the trailhead.


The start of this hike was fairly entertaining not because we pulled off on the side of the road; used the wilderness; stocked up on water; and then jumped the drainage ditches to get to the 'trail', but because I fell 50 meters behind at least to take photos. This caused the lead guides to radio back to us in the rear guard, "What is wrong? Is she okay? Will you have to go back to the bus?" I apparently got everybody worried that I was a) dehydrated b) twisted an ankle c) pyhsically incompetant to start the hike, let alone finish it.

The valley below

I can understand their concern, but there was no way I could let such blue skys, white clouds, and green hills pass me by. So yes, I stopped maybe every 15 to 20 feet because this angle was more interesting, maybe, than the other one. Or the light shifted because of the clouds.

The colors here were just breathtaking

It also didn't help that the trail while sweat inducing was not terribly difficult before lunch. My trailing guide told me as long as we kept visual of the people in front of us, he didn't care how slow we went. And so he would wait paitently or slowly amble off as I fussed with the camera, and the lighting, and the framing once he realized that I was able to catch up to where we had be in about a minute. One of the other guides told me later that he thought it was fabulous. Apparently they sent him out to 'clear' a trail yesterday, and he was so tired he overslept and almost missed the days hike. So he was very well pleased with my lazy hiking style.

The wall construction here is consitent with what I was scrambling on
for the entire day.

My way of hiking actually might have been more physically demanding because the lead pack would stop and rest for 10 minutes or so. This was to take photos, and keep the gaps between the groups as small as possible. By the time I wandered into the 'rest stops' the leading guide would call out, "ok, everybody, lets go" or would already be gone. Thus, I hiked the whole morning with no stop until lunch.

Not looking too worse for wear if I say so.

Now that I have put in my obligatory, "I was there" photo. Let me show you the super fun parts we got to hike on.

My fellow hikers already hard at it.

The way behind

And now you are thinking, I thought you said the hard part was after lunch. Indeed you are correct! This beginning from 11:00 am till 2:00 pm was nothing compared to what came after. In the early afternoon we were following the wall, but for a good portion were also skirting the crumbling sections by way of valleys filled with waist high grass and overgrown shrubs. Now below is the first high point after lunch. And if you squint really hard you can see a weather station on the horizon. That is the end point of our hike --- though we still have to get back to the bus after we get there!

Notice the very flat, sturdy walking surface.

The best was yet to come though. Because then we hit about five steep ascents. Each one had to be at least 60 degrees. And with the wind whipping at you, things can get a bit dicey. I damn near lost my hat (thrice!!) and got blown into the wall once when it caught me off guard. The ground isn't more than 10 feet down, but it is covered in small shrub/tree plants that would be no fun to land on. Plus, any of the wall that has crumbled down that way. Definitly not what you want to do.

Super fun!!!

Yep, I hiked that!!!

But like I said, once we hit the tower there was still more trekking to be done. We had to follow the paved trail till it hit the Hebei/ Beijing boundary. Once there go down the stairs till you find the lake/reservoir - skirt that and you will find more stairs. Go down those stairs, but beware the baby crazed Chinese taking photos all over the path. You reach a car park with no bus, so you keep walking, and walking, and walking. At this point you realize it is past 5:00 pm you have been out here for 6 + hours and it is just a motion now to keep your feet moving. You have to be hailed twice before you look up and see a leading guide pointing to a building. He says the one magical word that could possible give you the energy to be excited about finishing this endurance trek: "Cold Beer".

Once last look before I go ....

And the Beijing sunrise I woke up to the next day

I hesitate to give you the album link because something happened when I was uploading, and all of the photos are out of order. So if you do go look, just bear in mind there is no sequence to them now -- hopefully I can fix it when I get to Shanghai.

https://plus.google.com/photos/108488715129842232914/albums/5913225478542631169?authkey=CK_E9tvq_9jacw