Saturday, October 4, 2008

The Great Wall

In the beginning there was lunch. And it was good! There were 12 of us.
Then 'twas time to head up the mountain. We would be camping half-way up this portion of the wall.


There's always time for goofing off along the way. Matt is skilled in playing the guitar as well. (I think.)

Along the way we had to pay the troll to continue along our path.

It was a treacherous climb.
We took a break to gather firewood from the troll's woodshed.
Death defying rock climbing was required to get to our campsite.
We were not alone...
Not alone at all!

But there was magma and terriffic sleeping bags so all was well!
There was good music and good food...

Good people as well. A bit of fire breathing and story-telling too.

Who needs to sleep in a tent when the most beautiful canopy of stars hangs above? I stayed up for hours making silly wishes on falling ones. It was breath-taking. Only two hours of sleep and I still woke at sunrise to finish my climb up the mountain.

THIS mountain. The path is NOT as easy as it looks. The stairs are very steep and crumbly.
Me at the camp just after sunrise.

Our campsite from above.
We made it to the top!!!

Yes, we were here.
It was the most amazing experience in my life, this trip. Just look at it! It's awe-inspiring.

All good things must end! I hope to do this again one day.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Absolutely incredible! Thanks for sharing those wonderful pics!

Extravaganza of Cartoons said...

A goat climbs better than a lion.

Unknown said...

God Awsome!


Jackie Oh
said...

More pics can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=43369&l=f2371&id=513111657

Constance said...

That looks like the most amazing adventure to have had! You are a true explorer now. That giant scorpion thingy would have been a bit much for me though, not to mention the steep crumbling steps that could easily have plummeted me to my death. You are one brave lady! One thing is kind of making me scratch my chin though, how did you get the shots of your campsite from overhead?

Constance said...

Btw, I have another chin scratcher for you. Who is the troll you keep mentioning?


Jackie Oh
said...

The pics from above the campsite were taken on my hike up the mountain. That part of the wall was SO vertical that we could just look down and see everything.

The troll, LOL, he's the Chinese man with the gate across the path that wanted to charge us 50 RMB to go up to the wall.