At the main gate
This was taken by the patrol policemen with the 5 of us in it, me holding the Garfield cat that followed us for quite a distance on the way up. The cat was scratching my gloves probably disliked being held that way. From the right - the pair from Shenzhen and at the front, the 2 uni-students from Hong Kong.
Conquer Huashan, a peaceful and safe life will follow.
Our companion for the initial climb - Mr. Garfield, whom we were to meet again the next morning on the way down.
Me with the 2 Hong Kong students.
See the many locks on the chains? All were carved with names!
This was the one of the steepest and long section to climb.
Under the faint lighting, it looks ominous enough but....it looks even worse in daylight which I found out the next morning!
It was not easy doing the climb in the night with just torch light for the latter sections upwards, adding to that the colder the weather the higher we climbed. Also the air was thinning out too, at least I was gasping for air and I believe the ladies were too! We took a lot of rest stops on the way up which slowed down the pace considerably. We also learnt that the longer we rested, the colder it became so we tried to cut short the resting and fluid replenishment timing and opted for more stops instead. I was at the end of the line as some of the torch lights failed along the way. I slowed down considerably as we got higher, probably due to my age and fitness and recovery levels. We did took a long rest at the place of the night patrol's resting point where they had hot water and heater to keep warm. We reached there at about 10.30 pm I think. We ordered hot drinks and instant noodles. The prices were not that exorbitant. We rested for more than 30 to 45 mins before proceeding on. We were very close to the North Peak aleady - the lowest of the four peaks. The North Peak is also where the end point of the cable car station is located.
At about after 1.00 to 1.30 am I was so tired that I could hardly open my eyes and simply climb with my eyes closed! At one point we were so tired that we were resting with our backs on the gravel and admiring the constellation of stars above. Unfortunately none of our cameras could capture those amazing sights! We were left gazing at the stars and taking in the moments with our eyes and committing those to memory as much as we could. It was an unforgettable moment. We were all star-stricken!
We proceeded on past the North Peak and thereafter everyone was so tired that when we found a place with lodging, everyone agreed to rest until about 5 am before making the final ascend to the East Peak to catch the sunrise. The weather was terribly cold by then and the place came with beds, clean sheets and heater as well as thermal blankets (which I did not know until after I woke up in the morning!). I was simply so tired that I fell asleep instantaneously upon hitting the sheets!
We woke up at about 5.30am and hurriedly left the place after hitting the clogged toilets (due to the freezzing cold). We met 2 ladies from Shanghai who climbed up during the day and stayed at the same place we were staying. One of the lady mentioned that the staff at the resting place gave her directions to a certain nearer place to catch the sunrise instead of the East Peak and so all of us headed to that place instead as there was insufficient time to find the way to the East Peak in time to catch the sunrise anyhow.
We made it to that place just in time before the sunrise and these were what we saw:-
Unforgettable sights to behold!
After catching the sunrise, the 2 Shanghai ladies made their way down and we parted company. The 2 students from Hongkong was so tired that they did not want to climb anymore and also left thereafter. A pity though, because they would be missing the best parts of this trip! Having come so close too! Also we met another Hong Kong guy who also came up yesterday afternoon and had visited most of the peaks except the highest peak - the South Peak, so he joined in with us for the rest of the trip.
That place behind was the East Peak to catch the sunrise. A group did made it there, not sure if they caught the first light though. We were shouting back and forth to make some conversations with them.
East Peak - the one which we skipped!
This was the start of the plankway to the starting point for the dangerous 长空栈道(Plankway protuding into the air??).
Could not believe I paid RMB30 for this!
The makeshift stairs downwards that lead to the mid-air plankway cliff walk.
This was what waited for us at the other end, an observation post with sights to behold:
华山论剑!! Just look at our invisible swords and 剑气! Powerfool right?
Sitting on a tree trunk sticking out of the cliff into the open!
This was the start of the way back:
What lies below where we walked!
Probably the closest I got to sitting on the edge of a cliff! Wicked!!
After that amazing walk, we made our way to the highest point - the South Peak. It was relatively easy as compared to the climb up last night.
The totem pole of Huashan!
I made it to the top! 2154.9 metres!!
Just how cold it was? The mineral water had completely turned into ICE!
Mr. Garfield our old friend! We met again!
There was a legend about this axe and stone broken into 2 in the photos above.
A Taoist temple.
These were the couriers who had to carry supplies up to the various places up in the mountain. It sure was a tough and shitty job and this photo could serve as a "QUIT COMPLAINING" reminder should anyone ever complained about his or her job!
The lodging place where we stayed!
This was where we climb up last night! Looked even more horrendous from up down!
This was the so-called 天梯 (Stairway to Heaven?). A near vertical climb!
Behind was the place where we rested for warmth last night. The cable car station was just a short walk below! All within the proximity of the North Peak.
Scenes below from the cable car ride down.
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