Hin's 5th C.O.U.N.T. 1,000,000 steps (Sep 20th – Oct 13th, 2013)

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4: Shucks, stop by the guards!

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Thean Hin Ooi <ooithin@gmail.com>   Sat, Oct 5, 2013 at 10:23 PM

 

These mountains are real dangerous especially to trek alone, one wrong turn and you could be surrounded by cliffs on all sides.

 

Anyway, we decided to trek the beautiful sections from Gubeikou to Simatai, and what a fairy-tale hike.

 

26/9  06:00 – 16:40.  Gubeikou – Simatai. 21.8 km, 35,849steps. TA 1321m, MA 607m.

 

Took early morning start, snapping away at the made-famous great wall scenery, just outside Gubeikou, by the British mariner on the despatched King George’s entourage to pay homage to the Qing Emperor Wudi.

 

After which we went up the Panlongshan mountain great wall and before long got sprung upon by 2 cheerful women ticket collectors on the wall. Paid our dues and proceeded to enjoy the beautiful wall coursing through magnificent towers, only to be warned by detour signs indicating that we are barred from entering the military area.

 

We were told to keep squeaky quiet in case the villagers may stop us and demand toll money to bypass through their vicinity. 3km later, entered Jinshanling (Gold Mountain Ridge), and what a wonderful sight - there are the most numbers of towers in this section than anywhere on the great wall - simply wonderfully fairyland like. I was dreaming, I could stay up there for weeks just enjoying the scene, only to be rudely awaken by another ticket collector as we stepped inside a palatial tower.

 

Well the walk was so wonderful, we hardly noticed the best distance covered on this trip. We were eagerly looking forward to continue to the fairy-tale section of Simatai, but was stopped by a young guard from proceeding as the section is being renovated and is not due to open for a while yet.

 

Dreams shattered, we back-tracked to the Jinshanling exit and spent the night at Tangjiazhai village in Simatai. At dinner, we were treated to deliciously home cooked dishes but our interests were perked by picturesque wall photos of the Sky Bridge linking Wangjinglou (the highest point in Simatai) to the fairy tower - bought the village head/photographer’s (Mr Shi) negatives and were inspired to climb up to view the Sky Bridge.

 

27/9  05:30 – 15:45. Tangjiazhai - Wangjinglou then HFK - QLX. 13.4 km, 22,010 steps. TA 1069m, MA 882m.

 

Highly inspired, we headed out early and before long, decided to call for a guide (turns out to be Mrs Shi), to not waste time searching for the path up. She caught up with us in no time and led us up, narrating where beautiful photo spots were.

 

Our excitement was complete when we reached Wangjinglou, took numerous shots from different angles and carefully wandered over to the Sky Bridge - awesome sight, incline at 85degrees, with walkway of only 24". With "Hin, No" murmurings, I edged towards the bridge with my sports camera tightened round my head - I could really feel the adrenaline in full flow but decided to revert back. It gave a great rush but I guess the Fairy Tower across will have to wait for a more daring Prince.

 

Came back down abuzz and satisfied that we reached the highest point (where on a clear day, one can see Beijing). We then drove back to Hefengkou to re-trek back to Qinglongxia, where we could not cross from QLX to HFK previously. With determined effort, we scaled up a 5m gap in between rocks around the "sealed" point, and made our way into the QLX resort. 2 burly guards were waiting for us and initially wanted us to exit the resort where we entered illegally, but it turns out that they were only interested to ensure we bought our entrance tickets, which we gladly paid and took the cable car down.

 

2 days, stopped by guards but it turned out OK and spent a good night at a good hotel in QLX before the Singhas return home the following day.

 

Getting late. Will try to post some photos later.

 

Take care.

Rgds,

Hin

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