October Holiday 1 -- Tiger Leaping Gorge

9 October 2005

If the legendary namesake of Tiger Leaping Gorge (Hutiao Xia) were to make its impossible leap across the raging Yangze River (Jinsha Jiang) now rather than in times of old, it would be to escape the hundreds of tourists pouring from noisy buses above the leap point, rather than from hunters in chase. The recent addition of a road, cut into the steep southern flanks of the Gorge, provides access for tour groups that disgorge, march to the river, snap a photograph, and then slog back to their buses to be whisked to the next point of interest.

Luckily for us and for other moderately ambitious tourists, the upper trail through the Gorge, while popular, remains far above the masses, noise and exhaust. We set out for Qiatou, the start point, on the first day of our October Holiday and spent 3 days walking across steep slopes and relaxing in the comfortable guest houses that are scattered along the route. The hike could be done in a day, but why hurry when there are such nice places to sleep and eat? It’s hard to beat sitting on a deck perched high above the river, sipping a cold Dali beer and trying to pick out an imaginary route up the complex north face of Yulung Snow Mountain as bits of it are revealed through the swirling fog.

Tiger Leaping Gorge is a 16 km long canyon pinched between the Yulong Xueshan on the south and the Haba Xueshan on the north. Between the Yangze River raging through rockslide debris in the canyon bottom and the glaciated summits of the two peaks are 3900 vertical meters of complex limestone and marble buttresses, crashing waterfalls, thickly forested slopes, talus fields and bamboo stands. There are probably many other places in Yunnan that are as spectacular, but few that are as logistically easy to enjoy.

Our trip is probably best described with photos. We are at the tail end of the rainy season and clouds still obscure the views and dull the light, but these pictures may give a taste of the trip.

The trip started at the bustling little town of Qiaotou (chow-toe) up a small tributary to the Yangze at the western end of the hike. Our first order of business, after fighting our way to the trailhead through the tangle of tour buses, was to hire a ride for Bei, since long walks are not yet part of her repertoire. The going price for a day -- 100 yuan ($12.50 U.S.) and we quickly tapped into a group of donkey drivers who were eager for the money. So eager that they fought among themselves until we threatened to just leave. Somehow that solved the problem and we set off.



The trail is popular, especially at holiday time when all of China is on vacation, but it is not SO popular as to be unpleasant. Things were a little busy near the start of the gorge but soon the hikers spread out and one could enjoy the walking. This shot was taken near Qiaotou as we entered the canyon. Bei is on the second to the last donkey.



We stopped for a late lunch at the "Naxi Family Guest House" where we enjoyed a good meal and a break from the rain. Jacqueline (New Zealand) has her back to the camera. Susanna and her son Ned (Wales) are on the left, Tony (Australia) is to the right of them and Ellen and Bei are on the far right. Later in the trip we met up with some of our friends from Shanghai (Charlie and Skye were with our group there in August) but here it was just the Lijiang crowd.



The fall harvest is in full swing and corn drying in lofts and on wooden racks is common. There are lots of beautiful red chilis drying in the valleys along the roads, but we saw less of them in the Gorge.



Bei contemplates life in the saddle. She rode happily for two days and on the third, in the absence of a donkey, she walked was carried the short distance to the road at the end of the trip. She's absolutely comfortable riding through exciting terrain--a far cry from the timid pony rides she took at the children's park in Fort Collins only a year ago.



The Yangze settles into the Gorge before being stirred into a frenzy by landslide debris further downstream.



Bei at our lunch stop on the first day. People enjoy decorating her hair with flowers and she enjoys being decorated.



These Chinese hikers from Kunming (Yunnan's capital) followed us all through the route. This is early morning, just after crawling out of bed after an active evening of beer swilling. The guy in the foreground was smoking his morning cigarette through the bong, though he was no stranger to the other smokables that grow in abundance along the route. His group was funny and friendly though and we enjoyed their company.



Here he is setting out for a days walk, obviously well-provisioned for the trip. Bei loved these guys and had fun dancing with them in the evenings: "Do you disco?" they asked us. We declined ("We don't disco") but Bei was enthusiastic.



Bei on her donkey along the trail. The cliffs in the background are the lower flanks of Yulong Snow Mountain. From our apartment in Lijiang we contemplate the other side of the same mountain.



A goat herder minding his herd of goats that graze on the steep slopes below.



The vegetation was lush and diverse all through the gorge. Spring is reported to be beautiful here when the flowers are all blooming. Even in fall there are lots of flowers.



Ellen and Jacqueline on the deck in front of our rooms at the Halfway Guest House (2nd night). On the second day we hiked only a short distance since this guest house was so appealing.



A flower along the trail.



Morning coffee on the deck of the Halfway Guest House.



The rest of these photos are shots of Yulong Snow Mountain from different vantage points along the trail. It's spectacular to view nearly 12,000 feet of complex vertical terrain in any weather, and though the clouds prevented alpenglow and nice sunsets, they swirled around the peaks and added to the immensity.











At the end of the hike we caught a bus north to Zhongdian via Baishuitai. I'll describe those places in separate posts to follow.