After a short bus ride from Lijiang to Qiatou (small town near the Gorge) we travelled to the start of our 3 day trek through the Tiger Leaping Gorge.
This Gorge is approx 15km in length and is a contender for the worlds deepest river canyon. It is located where the Yangtze river passes between the 5,596m Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (which still had lots of snow on it) and the 5,396m Haba Xueshan (which also was still snow capped)... making it quite chilly.
It is named such because legend says that to escape from a hunter, a tiger jumped across the river at its narrowest point (which is still 25m).
We took the high road which entails walking up and down a series of peaks, most of which were on Day 1. This route is approx 22km.
Along the way we stayed at the “Halfway House” and “Tina’s Guest house” which are trekking huts owned and run by the Naxi people (the local minority group). The Halfway house is famous for its views, especially from the toilet! Although it has to be said that this view makes for a very cold toilet encouter :-)!!
On Day 2, after quite a short 2h walk between guest houses, we took a little side track down into the Gorge to the river’s edge. This was a very steep descent but well worth it! The views were amazing! The Yangtze at this time of year is also stunning. Apparently in summer it is a lot deeper and turns quite a muddy colour. The ascent was also an experience to say the least! To get back up the climb included 2 cliff face ladders. Yes, steel ladders somehow attached to the rock without any safety rails - the idea was slightly concerning. The first ladder was about 20-30m long and the 2nd only about 10m. However we made it and were grateful to reach the road back to the guest house after the 1.5h steep climb back up.
Unfortunately to leave the gorge we had to go by bus due to construction and subsequent landslides which made it to dangerous to walk.
We then changed buses and travelled back to Lijiang for another night.
No comments:
Post a Comment