Hey Everyone.
I'm editing an email I originally sent to Erik. It took forever to write, so I'll just tweak it a bit for this blog entry in order to save time and effort.
Photo credits to Carolyn and Alison. Thanks!
So, the hiking trip. I don't even know where to start, so I'll start from the beginning.
It's been National Holiday week, so a lot of people have the week off. So do we. Carol and I were going to go to Macau (another colony on Chinese soil like Hong Kong, but this time it's Portuguese rather than British). Macau (Ma-cow) is Asia's Las Vegas. There's lots of gambling, but there is also lots of other stuff too. Turned out we couldn't go, because our work visas are still only Single Entry at this point, so we can't leave mainland China.
Alison was going hiking with her friends, and they ended up inviting us along too. Her friends are Jon and Mei. Jon is from Kelowna in BC, and Mei is his wife. They met teaching English. Mei is a local, and Jon's been in Guangzhou for about 4 or 5 years and speaks some solid Mandarin. They're both 28ish. They teach at Alison's school. Another one of their friends is Smitty (yes, real name) who is also teaching English. He's from LA but is Thai. Mei got word of this trip, and decided we should go. We each paid 400RMB (60 dollars) for four days. We had a guide and everything. The trip had 16 people on it, and the others were Chinese. Apparently we were the first foreigners on one of these trips, while the others tend to meet up a few times a year for trips like this.
Carol's
Living Abroad in China book said that people here don't camp for fun, so it's an odd idea for most. Well, turns out some people do camp for fun, and I think we were with Guangzhou's faithful. Out of 10 million people, there are something like 10 hikers. The gear is not North American gear for the most part, and I only saw one or two pairs of North Face shorts. Otherwise, it was Chinese stuff. My rented tent was the Traveler brand. It said "Traveler: Best for Outdoor" and some other gear said "BigPack: Ideas for Outdoor". So, I think the term for hiking is translated to "Outdoor." Chinese goods like to have English writing on them.
We were told we needed a pack, a knife, a sleeping bag, a sleeping mat, and enough clothes. We would have some meals provided, and were to bring 2 lunches and 1 breakfast for ourselves. Carol and I both had packs already in China, and rented our tents and sleeping mats. I had my Marmot sleeping bag, and Carol bought a sweet one for 100RMB (15 dollars) that rolled up pretty small and was perfect for the 15-20C night temperatures. We also went to the supermarket and tried to find things to bring on the trip. Since the food's not familiar to us, I didn't know what one brings on a hiking trip in China. I ended up bringing some fruit and some bread, and some ramen noodles. I couldn't find zip lock bags to buy, so anything that would fit in them was out.
Jon invited us on the trip, and I believe he has done a fair amount of trips back home in BC and here in Asia. When I asked him about it, he said he figured it wouldn't be too intense. Jon figured it would be 4 hours of hiking in the morning, having lunch, and setting up camp. That would give us the whole afternoon to hang out. So, I asked if they'd bring Settlers along, since we'd have hours to fill. Since China is all cities and factories and people, I figured it would be like hiking in a Conservation Area or something. This was supported by the guide telling us previously that running shoes would work fine for the trip, and boots were not necessary. I decided to buy my North Face boots anyway. Alison and Smitti had borrowed gear from Jon who has lots. They both had packs as big as a large school bag, or a small day pack, so not too big. Carol and I felt we were overpacked. I was embarrassed I'd be lugging my 70L pack around a manicured conservation area. It was a 4 hour drive from Guangzhou, I was told.
We were going to be picked up at Alison's school, and after a 7 dollar cab ride we were there. The shuttle was stuck in holiday traffic, so we all had dinner (total came to 50RMB, so 7RMB/person. About $1.40) at a small restaurant with the rest of Team Foreigner (to be coined later): Jon, Carol, Alison, Mei, Smitti, and myself. Then, we were picked up by the passenger van, who had already collected the rest of the trippers, whom we ended up calling Team Sino. Both Team Foreigner and Team Sino had a fairly even male/female ratio. Our ride was most like a Ford Savannah cargo van. It could fit 16 people. We filled up all the seats, and the luggage was put in the aisle. It was very cramped. It was a Chinese brand of vehicle, so leg room was sparse. Since there was lots of Holiday traffic, it took us 8 hours to get there. But even without the traffic, I think the 4 hour estimation was way wrong. It took forever. We left Gunagzhou at about 8:30 or so, and the trip was finished at about 4:30am. The cramped conditions compounded the tiredness we all felt when we piled out of the van.
We were dropped off at our first campsite, which was on the basketball court at a (seemingly abandoned) school in the boons. It was dark when we got there, so we set up our tents by the lights of the van. It was cool to see stars though, since we hadn't seen them much since we got to China. I was given the bedroll and the 2 person tent I'd rented. The roll was like a classic blue mat, but with a reflective side for ground insulation. The tent was a standard dome, but on the square side. It was probably a two person tent, and a two Chinese person tent at that. It was pretty short, so I was happy to have it all to myself so I could lay diagonally. With my sleeping bag and gear, it was the perfect size for one gear laden foreign hiker. Carol, Smitti , Alison, and myself had our own tents. Some of Team Sino had their own, others shared. I fell asleep fairly quickly I'm guessing, because the sleep didn't seem to last too long.
We were awakened at about 8, after a solid 3 or 4 hours of sleep. It was time to hike!
We crawled out of our tents to find we were surrounded my mountains, and we learned we were going to be at the top of the closest one by mid afternoon. They were 2500m peaks, and I don't know if that referred to their elevation or vertical drop. Either way, it's big. Mont-Sainte-Anne had a vertical drop of 2000ft, (600m?)and these mountains def looked bigger that MSA. Didn't look to be a walk through a manicured conservation area anymore!
I could see some of the others' gear by this point. Lots of running shoes. Team Sino had mostly Chinese branded gear, and some people were really into it with quickdry-type pants and biners hanging off their packs. The Chinese gear looked to be of good quality. Others were wearing small shoes like Adidas Superstars and Puma-like suede numbers. Our guide, Archie (his Chinese name vaguely sounded like Archie, so that's what Smitti named him. We liked it, and used it for the trip.) had a big pack and had two pots lashed to the top of it, which ended up being taller than his head. He knew what was up gear-wise.
We hiked through a small village and began to wind our way up a dirt road toward the top of the mountain. It wasn't too technical, but very demanding since it was all climbing. We took a few shortcuts between switchbacks which were cool. There were very old stone stairways built into the side of the mountain, and we used those. All our water was gone within an hour, and the rest of the hikers had no qualms with filling their water bottles in a mountainside stream. I was nervous at first, since I figured it was all polluted. But, it was either an empty water bottle or some possibly sketchy water. I chose the water, and so did everyone in the end. Alison relieved my fears by telling me the water
looked clean. And besides, all the most dangerous microbes are the ones you can't see in the first place. Thanks Alison.
There was a newly wed couple along. The girl had a backpack on that was the size of a school bag. Judging by it's size, I figure she was carrying a couple water bottles and some food in it. The zipper would have had no trouble closing. Even with the pack's meagre size, it proved to be too much for her, as she made her husband carry it for most of the first day. We all scoffed. He was lugging a huge pack with their tent, mats, clothes, food and everything on his back, and then carried her little day pack on his front. I'm not sure if the husband was being very chivalrous, or if the wife was being ultra needy. I'm leaning toward the needy option.
After about 3 or 4 hours of hiking up the mountain road, we came to a small village where we had lunch. It was awesome. We were in the middle of a huge mountain, and there's a small village there where people are washing green onions, chickens are running around, there are terraced fields like I'd seen in pictures, and all the rest of it. The locs (locals!) were happy to have us, and lent us their kitchen to cook the rice. The village had about 10 houses in it. There were streams of fresh water all over the mountain, and these people had strung long lengths of plastic hose from their origins to their houses. The water was always flowing, so the hoses were just running off into the gutters and ditches if the water wasn't needed. It was a very pastoral village, and I loved it. Mei said the house was more than 100 years old. There were ducks hanging around, chickens, roosters, and feral dogs with matted fur. We waited and ate there for 2 hours...too long in my opinion, but the vibe of the houses and the terraced fields was sweet, so I guess it wasn't that bad. Soon we donned our packs and began climbing again.
After a few more hours, we began to see signs of logging. Locals were cutting down trees by hand, and lugging them one by one (or sometimes two at a time) through the woods on their backs. We'd meet them on the trail. The logs they were schlepping around the mountain were about 5-6 feet long and a solid 9 or 10 inches in diameter. So they're big, and heavy! Some of the people carrying them were at least 60 years old too. It was nice seeing manual forestry, and selective logging. Every once in awhile we'd come to a bark stripping place, where tonnes of bark was left on the trail. At some of these places the stripped bark seemed pretty deep, so I got the idea that these places had been used for bark stripping for years and years and years. I liked thinking about the long history of the area. The trail we were walking on was mostly rock, put there probably more than 100 years ago, like the village we were just in. It was either flat rocks, or rock steps. Very cool, and very steep. It seemed so old. It would have taken whoever it was a very long time to construct this rock trail through the woods. I was happy for my boots. The loggers were negotiating the rock trails and steps in small canvas shoes with hundreds of pounds of wood on their backs and a machete around their waists. The Chinese are hard workers.
By this time, we'd been walking straight uphill for a good six or seven hours, and were told camp wasn't too far away. During the hike, a sort of hierarchy was being formed. Archie, our guide, led the way, and the other keeners jostled for position behind him. There were two or three fit Chinese men, and two or three Chinese woman who knew what was going on. One girl was funny, and I would sometimes try to get in front of her. She had biners in the shapes of dog bones on her pack, and spent some time looking at her phone and texting people while on the mountain. She seemed to be pretty high maintenance, and also seemed to have the hots for Archie, our leader. We thought that was a bit funny, thinking she came on the trip to pick up. Hahaha, silly high maintenance girl hiker!
We were told our camping spot was about an hour away. We now came to more intense hand logging. They'd stripped whole swaths of trees from the mountain, getting them to the roads by pushing them down by hand. The terrain was really steep, so it was a good way to get the logs off the land. Everything was manual, except I think dynamite was used to make the roads. Because of this hand-clearcutting, our stone trail was gone. We had to climb over trees and logs and other stuff for the final hour. It was tough...ducking under fallen trees, around stacks of timber, and making our own trail where we thought the old one used to be. Some members of both teams were having a tough time, and began to cry in frustration. In these situations, there was always support from other members, encouraging the troubled hikers to keep moving.
We reached the camping spot to discover that the loggers had set up a semi-permanent camp there. Archie said the area had changed so much since the last time he'd been there. The camp looked like army camps you see in movies...big tents set up, either canvas or plastic. They used logs hewn from the land to make the poles. It was sort of neat. Dogs ran around, and little children stared at us with dirty faces. Actually, everyone stared at us. This time, it wasn't because we were foreigners, but rather because there were 16 people in the middle of nowhere with big packs on. We couldn't camp at this site, so we walked back down the dynamited road for maybe 400m to a smaller logging camp we passed earlier. Maybe it was a rival camp, I don't know. This camp had two tents, one for sleeping and one for food preparation. We camped on the road there. I wonder if these tents were like the ones used in Canadian tree planting camps.
We were grumpy since we'd walked for 8 hours up a mountain, and had to camp on a logging road that was really rocky and uneven and rough. Jon spoke for a lot of us when he said that after a tough day of hiking, a nice campsite is your reward. We were not being rewarded...it seemed like we were being punished for our efforts instead.
There was talk about posting a guard at the tents all night, since some people were worried about theft. I thought the same thing. Team Foreigner was worried about camping so close to a bunch of loggers in the middle of nowhere. Team Sino was worried about the loggers taking their stuff too. We had to clear rocks to put our tents up, and the local loggers surprised me (and maybe everyone) by giving us a hoe and a broom to use. These were pivotal tools that we needed, as there were both little pebbles on the road that needed to be swept away, and also big stones that needed to hoed away.
In the end, we got along well with the logging locals, and they let us use their kitchen tent to cook rice. They had hoses hooked up to mountain streams too, and had one for drinking, and an area set aside for washing too. The washing place was neat. It was a bunch of hoses all brought together, draining into a bamboo tube that acted like a shower. It always flowed, and everyone used it for washing and teeth brushing and everything. Anyway, we ate with them in their tent. It was more like a tarp overhead with no walls. The sleeping tent was more tent-like though. I was really tired, so I tapped out and went to sleep after we ate, while the others stuck around and had rice wine with the locs. There were maybe 10 loggers and 4 women, and 3 children under 2. It was neat. I only slept for an hour or so, before I woke up again. We built a fire, and brought logs to sit on, and we had a nice fire with Team Foreigner, Team Sino, and Team Forrester in attendance. It was neat...we all tried to communicate with eachother, and sing songs. Finally, we all knew ABC (next time won't you sing with me...) so that was the hit of the night. Team Sino spoke mainly Cantonese, so my small Mandarin words weren't that helpful. Well, they seemed to understand them anyway. Mei knows Cantonese and Mandarin, so she did a lot of translating. Jon got by with his Mandarin. Smitti knows some and used it, and Alison, Carol, and I stumbled along witn almost no words.
We woke up to a sunrise the next morning. Our campsite turned out to be pretty sweet... it faced east, toward a majestic valley. Alison was up early, so she prodded us to wake up and experience it, so that was good. The mountains around us are very tall and rough looking, but also covered in trees. The effect was really neat, with the sun, the mountains, and only a few roads to see. Very natural, and very very very secluded. I had thought that China was all pollution and people, but now I know that there is lots of really deep and dense wilderness out there.
We started hiking by 8 the next morning. Our intended trail was totally gone, with this manual clear cutting. So Archie and a few of the keeners blazed a trail for us. The plan was to hike over a ridge, and then over another mountain to a camping spot the next ridge over, and sleep there. We would be close to the peak, so there was going to be an option to hike a bit to the top and see the sun rise. Day Two was going to be another big day of hiking, and we figured it would be 8 hours worth like yesterday. So much for our thoughts that this would be 4 hours of hiking in the AM, and chilling for the whole afternoon.
We walked along a riverbed for an hour or so, and through the woods. Nothing too major. There was no trail really, but it was still sort of annoying. Archie blazed the trail, using his machete he brought along to cut away pesky vines and such. It was slower going, but still a good pace. It was annoying in parts though, because with 16 people walking in single file, there were always traffic jams.
We were told before the trip that a highlight would be the bamboo forest. Well, we got to the bamboo forest and it wasn't the highlight! Instead of seeing it, we had to hike right through it. It was dense. This particular bamboo was small, maybe the width of your little finger. It was about eight to ten feet tall, and it was everywhere. Archie hacked through it with his machete, and we followed. We were told to get rid of our walking sticks since we'd need both hands, and to go boy-girl-boy-girl, to make sure everyone was safe. Yikes!
This was a really annoying stretch, because the bamboo was always catching on my sleeping pad and pack, forcing me to free myself. I was the tallest in the group so I had to crawl on my hands and knees with my pack on a few more times than everyone else, to get through some tight situations. This section was relatively flat, so we didn't have too much climbing or descending to do. I'd say we hiked through the bamboo for a couple hours. It was annoying. I began to think that our guide was failing. Why would he bring us here? It sure didn't seem like it was in the plan. Gosh. I began to be upset with the trip, because I felt we were lost and wandering aimlessly around the mountains. Archie said a few hours ago that we were going to find the trail soon, and we hadn't found a trail. Then he said a few hours later that we were going to find the camping spot soon too. I doubted this, as we hacked through dense bamboo with no direction in mind.
We came to a small clearing and stopped for a snack. There was to be no formal lunch today, as we didn't have time. We were to eat during our small breaks. At this, I knew we were lost! If it's only 1PM, and we're running out of time, imagine the situation we must be in!
The next section was more bamboo forest, but this time it was straight downhill. The bamboo was smaller too...about 1 cm in diameter, and maybe five feet high. There were a few big trees around too. We had to make it through this section by grasping the bamboo in both hands, and rappelling down that way, facing the dirt, and hoping the baby bamboo didn't uproot while we depended on it. It was very steep and tough. There were a few rocks along the way, and sometimes one would come loose and crash down the mountain. It was so steep that once a rock was moving, it would gain a lot of speed. We had to warn others below of the rock, so they could duck it. A simple yell of "ROCK!" would have to do.
We were making our way down this steep slope one at a time, with about 20 or 30 feet between us. This was so that if someone fell, they wouldn't collide with the next person, creating a huge cascading death ball of hikers rolling down the mountain. A few times a very big boulder was loosened, and crashed through the bamboo making quite a racket. When this happened, I would look up expecting to see a mass of flailing arms and legs. Happily it was always just a rock, and not one of our hiking friends. In this section, Smitti was just in front of me, and Carol was in front of him. Alison was above me, and Jon and Mei were pulling up the rear. Most of Team Sino were ahead of us, except for the husband and wife. We were happy to note that the wife was carrying her own pack now. Smitti and Carol made up a sort of team, helping and encouraging each other as they descended, and Alison and I did the same.
This section was very steep. It wouldn't even have been ridable on my big bike, and I've ridden some really steep, gnarly stuff. I don't think this was even possible to climb up. The only way was down, and the only way to get down was to go feet first, facing the ground, holding on to baby bamboo with both hands to slow your descent. It was like climbing down a ladder, but instead of rungs, we had to use the sides of the ladder as handles, and hold on tight. If we fell, we'd likely slip all the way down. You would not be able to stop, unless you hit a tree or a rock. And if you did hit that tree or rock, you'd likely fold yourself fatally around it, since you'd be traveling so fast. So, it was very dangerous. If we slipped, we would definitely get really hurt. If we fell backwards, pack first, you'd most likely cartwheel down the whole mountain even faster, and be more than hurt. There was no Plan B...we simply had to be successful. There was very little room for error, as any emergency could not be delt with in this environment.
The ground leveled, and we got a small break from the bamboo sliding section soon, and stopped to eat. We probably slid holding onto baby bamboo for the last two hours, so I was mentally tired, and physically too. It's taxing, dodging rocks and serious injury. I was even more frustrated with our trip leaders at this point, now that I was done the bamboo and could put my mind elsewhere. Mei translated that the trip originally included some bushwacking. It's called "Barefoot Hiking" in Chinese, and the keeners were really experienced with it. They had been in the army, and some had taken special survival courses about finding trails and appropriate ways to navigate the wilderness. It seemed like they were trying to make it seem like this was all on purpose, and everyone was having a good time. I figured it wasn't on purpose though, no matter what they said. We were told we were going to find the trail, and we never did. We were told we were going to find the campsite soon, and never did. Now, they're saying it's on purpose that we're risking our lives? I doubt it! I grew very frustrated with the organization of the trip, and the cavalier attitude of Archie, bringing novices into this absolute wilderness, risking our lives, and implying it was all part of the plan. Why not turn back when we had the chance? I was mad and frustrated.
Our next task was to skirt the side of the mountain. The leaders found a small trail, and we followed it. This trail clung to the mountainside, with a big drop to our left. It was scary. We were totally exposed on our left, looking over a very large, lush, dense valley, with mountains towering up all around us, with no sign of civilization or human activity. In any other circumstance, this place would have been absolutely amazing and beautiful. Smitti was commenting on how great it was that we were here, because no other circumstance could have brought us to this place in this absolute wilderness. I didn't share his optimism, since I felt like massive injury or death was a real possibility. On our right were lots of steep rocks and trees. The path was about one foot wide, and didn't look like it'd been used in 25 years. On our left, the drop was very steep, punctuated with trees and more baby bamboo. It wasn't a sheer cliff, so that provided some visual security. But if you fell, that vegetation wouldn't help at all. You'd fall all the way to the bottom, which was really far down...you'd be out of sight before you landed, for sure. Death would be certain. We had not other option but to keep going, and not to fall. We went slowly, being sure of our steps.
We rounded the ridge about 15 minutes later, and came to see a much better view of the rest of the valley. There was talk before of a small town where we'd camp if it was raining, and I could see this settlement from here. This provided me with some much needed confidence. It was still really far away, and we were still really really high up, clinging to the side of a mountain, but it looked like if I had to, I could make it to those houses. The end looked possible, and I realized we weren't lost anymore. Whether this was the town in question or not, it didn't matter. I saw a small town way down there, with maybe 3 houses in it. At least it could provide shelter, and a way to a road. My attitude improved, although I was still upset at being brought here in the first place. I was still frustrated with the irresponsible guiding, and the feeling that I had been led to possible death. Now though, I saw an end, and saw the possibility of reaching a good camp site. Up until that point, I thought sleeping on the trail in my sleeping bag might be a real possibility.
Our next section was as steep as the bamboo sliding section, but this time there was no bamboo to grab hold of. There were a few big trees, and the odd rock. We slid down on our bums, digging our heels into the dirt to stop ourselves. Again, it was really dangerous. We had to side down aiming for one solid object at a time, using them to stop and rest. There was no other way to do it, as there was nothing to hold on to. A few times I began to slide pretty fast, and got nervous. Happily I was able to dig in my hands and heels and stop myself before I reached a terminal velocity. We needed to keep a good space between us, again so that if one person fell, a cascading death ball of hikers wouldn't be the result. It was slow going. The dirt was sort of moist, so it was tacky enough to give some grip. I'm happy it wasn't as dry as sand, as that would have made it impossible.
This dirt section saw Smitti in the lead, with Alison following him. I was next, and Carol followed me. Smitti and Alison helped eachother, and Carol and I supported eachother. Most of Team Sino was now out of sight and earshot, having a much easier time with this terrain. Mei and Jon and the newly-weds brought up the rear.
This dirt sliding section gradually morphed into a section of loose rocks and shale. It was still very steep, but we had to change our method of descending. Now, we had to face the mountain again, and climb down like we were climbing a ladder. There were rocks to hold on to, but they were very loose and unreliable. So we had to pick our way slowly, feeling for secure rocks to use as hand and foot holds. Again, big rocks would gain momentem very fast, like in the bamboo sliding section. In this part though, there were way more rocks to kick lose, warn about, and avoid. We were dodging more tumbling rocks than ever. Most were the size of baseballs, some the size of cantalopes. Again, it was very steep. There were a few stretches, not more than ten feet long, where we could stand up and walk upright, but still it was on the verge of slipping. Apart from those stretches though, it could only be done on all fours, facing the rocks. We treated it like rock climbing at a gym, going slowly finding hand and foot holds. It was hard to do with a 45 pound pack on. This section was the most dangerous by far. It was steep, loose, and rocks kept raining down on us. One came bounding towards me, about the size of a softball. I realized it was going to hit me, so I turtled a bit, and aimed my back to it rather than my face. It thudded into my side, and smashed into my back ribs, then continued to roll down the hill. I wasn't hurt, but I heard later that it sounded pretty bad. Some others were hit by rocks in the same way, but happily nobody was hurt. While we were climbing down this section, a bouncing rock could easily have dislodged our hands or feet, causing us to tumble down the hill to our deaths. It was important to either get our of the way, or hang on tight.
Carolyn began to fall behind the group, and soon teamed up with Mei and Jon. Alison, Smitti and I formed another group of three. The going was slow, because we had to pick our way through the rocks trying not to disturb them, and try to find rocks that were safe to put our weight on. By now, Team Sino was definitely out of the picture, so Smitti had no one to follow. He guinea-pigged a lot of sections, and would yell to Alison about the best way to negotiate them. Alison would pass the info on to me. Archie had decided to climb back up and help the girls, and was helping Carolyn descend for the last hour and a half. Sometimes I could glimpse her up on the rocks, but most often I could not because she was far away, the forest was dense, and I needed to focus on my task at hand. When I could see her, I would yell encouragement and she would reply in kind. It was important for me to know that she was OK, so I was happy to hear that Archie was helping her down.
We rock climbed for another two hours or so, and by now it was 5:30 and darkness wasn't too far off. We could hear a stream in the bottom of the valley, and hear the voices of those that had already completed the treacherous trek. The worst was still to come though...the steep rock sections were punctuated by sheer cliffs that were 5 to 8 feet tall. These took real rock climbing skill, and were very stressful. When I would get to a really tough section that required absolute focus, I found I would begin to breath very heavily, like I was running a 10K. You know, sucking in a lot of air, and blowing out through big puffed out cheeks. I think it was a strategy that helped me focus on the task, although it made others around me pretty nervous, thinking I was hyperventilating. Maybe I was, I don't know.
The last sheer cliff was the hardest. We could see most of Team Sino below, having completed the section much before. The last cliff was about ten feet high, with no footholds that amateurs could find or use. We took off our packs, and with the help of Archie the guide and the other keeners, we took on this section one at a time. They offered their shoulders for us, their hands and their thighs, as platforms for us to stand on. This section had my breathing going like it had never before, and I could not really help it. I was hanging onto baby bamboo that was ripping out, searching for alternative holds. I couldn't feel foot holds, and I was close to panic. Archie offered his shoulder, so I used that quickly, and somehow got myself down. The other keeners helped usher me to a natural water spring, which was about 20 feet up the cliff from the bottom, where we could rest and wait. Alison was already there, and told me the water was good. I drank and drank and drank. It was the best water I've ever tasted. It was cold, sweet, and just plain awesome. It was good to find this water, because I began to see sheets and sheets of raindrops coming from the sky, across my whole field of vision. I asked if it was raining, and I was told that it was not. I think it was the first stages of dehydration messing with my vision. At this, I drank even more.
One at a time, everyone was helped down the last section, to the security of the natural spring. Archie and the keeners were there to help every single person, and he didn't take a break until everyone was down. It was tough work for Archie...a waterbottle was found, and we filled it in the spring for him. He was working really hard. It was getting dark, so time was important. By the time we had all met at the spring, it was dusk. We all drank our fills, and talked about how this whole day of hiking had been one of the hardest experiences ever for us. I was still on edge, because I wasn't at the bottom yet...there was still one move to make. One move until the security of the logging road. It was getting really dark now, and we all took turns finding the one foot hold, as we leaned over the edge, holding on to foliage. If that foliage gave way, it was a 20 foot free-fall down to the logging road. We then had to swing around on a bamboo tree, to the last rock platform. After that, a short shale section was all that separated us from the logging road, and the valley.
The last person got down, and it was so dark that flashlights had to be pointed at the rocks so she could find her way. We had all taken off our packs for this last part, and now had to get them down. It would have been quite a task hefting them down the tough rock sections, so we ended up dropping them 10feet down the mountain over a sheer cliff . Archie and Jon dropped the 45-50lb packs, and Smitti and I caught them. Some we caught perfectly, some we didn't. But in the end, nothing was broken and the packs were all safely at the logging road.
By this point, my attitude had changed dramatically. Seeing the way Archie and the rest of Team Sino had helped us down the mountain by offering their shoulders, hands, and helping any way they could, I realized that we were all in this together. The original path hadn't worked out, and we had to find another way down the mountain. They were as happy as we were to get everyone off the mountain safely. Archie was the last to come down, and he kissed the ground when he got there. He had just worked really hard for more than 2 hours helping novice rock climbers survive. If anyone had gotten hurt, there was no option. The only option was to get everyone out safely, and Archie did it. While I used to feel that Archie was screwing me, I now saw that he was pretty much saving our lives. The way the rest of Team Sino helped out too was incredible. They all wanted to make sure that Team Foreigner and the other slow hikers were safe and happy. It was a dramatic attitude shift for me, and I was all of a sudden very grateful that they were there, helping us.
After the tough rock climbing was done, we walked down the logging road for an hour in the dark, using our flashlights, until we came to a house. The owners let us set up our tents on their rice drying pad. The owners brought light bulbs out and lit the the pad, and we all set up camp. They then let us use their kitchen to cook our rice. They offered the girls hot water to bathe with, after heating it on their wood-fired stove. The whole family came out to visit; grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, a baby, and a 5 year old girl. Everyone visited with the hikers, and were happy to have us. I was really impressed by their hospitality. We busted out a game of Settlers, and talked about how we all almost died.
The mood was fantastic. We then went to bed, and woke up the next morning to some amazing scenery! The house was surrounded by three mountains, and had a stream running through the property. They had terraced fields where they grew rice and some other things. They also had a water buffalo that roamed around in the fields and the stream, ready to plow if he needed to. We had a slow morning, relishing in our accomplishment. We ate breakfast and lounged in this little piece of pastoral paradise. I played Chinese hackey sack with what looked like a modified badminton birdie. We visited more with the family, and explored the area. Some Team Sino members found a persimmon tree, and brought back fruit for all. At about 10 or 11, we packed up, and walked an hour to where our shuttle van was parked. The trip was over, and I was OK. It was a relief!
Remember the girl I was mentioning that was doing her hair, texting on the trip, and being a bit high maintenance? Well, turned out she brought a parasol along in her pack, and hiked with it on the last day. At the beginning, I scoffed at her. But then, I realized that she dominated me on the mountain...she finished the hike three hours faster than I did, and did it all with confidence, while I was almost breaking down. So even if she primps before meals, texts during breaks, and has biners shaped like dog bones on her pack, she still had more courage and skill than me when it comes to hiking!
Now that it's over, I'm glad I had to do it. Situations like that don't come up very often...I was tested more emotionally than anything. Plus, when I look back on everything, the scenery was beautiful. I got to hang out with Chinese loggers at their logging camp, and with a pastoral family who lived in a valley. Everyone we met was happy to help us, and offered their meager resources. It was great, and I loved how generous the locals we bumped into were. It was an experience of a lifetime, seeing and interacting with rural Chinese people who were working hard for a living. It wasn't a tourist trip, and I got to be in the most dense wilderness I've ever been in. I saw that China is not just people and pollution, but realized that there's lot of deep almost impenetrable wilderness around. So all in all, it was a great growing experience, where I learned a lot about myself, and all that kind of stuff. My high point of the whole trip was experiencing the hospitality of the Chinese people we came upon, who helped us out, shared their water, and enjoyed our company.
Anyway, this was the most core trip I've ever done, and one of the only times where I was had to fully concentrate for a long time, or risk injury or death. We hiked from 8 until 7 that last day, and most of it was intense If-you-fall-you-die hiking. It strained me physically, but more mentally...I was able to keep it together, but just barely! I was a bit disappointed in my lack of leadership though. I would have liked to have been able to help others more, but I just couldn't...I could only try and get myslef back safely. If I'm ever in a similar high-stress situation, I think I'll perform better, just because I know I've survived once before.
So, if you ever decide to go hiking in China, beware! It's dangerous out here!
