Rough Edge

And so it goes on, the road snakes further and further through the most awesome mountain ranges. At certain corners there are small concrete bollards to prevent the unwitting driver from tumbling into the abyss. After a while though these seem to peter out and the metalled road is still under construction. From a small town at 2050m the road climbs for an amazing 67Km (that’s over 40 miles) to reach a dizzy height at the top of the pass of 4160m (that’s over 12,000ft). The reward is in the view as you are treated to the first glimpses of snow capped mountains that soar and stretch way to the beyond. The road workers are working mainly by hand – it must be extremely tough living and working at this altitude in these conditions (not many jobs command such a world beating view though 🙂 (4160m in the sky, on the bus to Deqin 18 July)

Rough Edge, Adventure, Logistics, Breathtaking, Wales,

DofE Gold, Expedition,

Peter found the early part of the walk tough, because we had to climb 160m or so to reach the coll and get out of the Wenhai valley to the other side where we could start to lose height. Farm animals were free to roam, unconstrained by field boundaries. I wanted to advise all three pigs NOT to choose straw, but held myself back.Very slowly,we started to descend into the wide open valley below and ultimately hitched a ride on the tiniest of trucks, so small the driver chose a footpath as a shortcut down to the village below! Here we would re-plan and rest a while. (Down from Wenhai 13 July)

Rough Edge, Adventure, Logistics, mountain, navigation training,  worldwide, trekking, Breathtaking, Scotland,

DofE Gold, Expedition,

Breakfast was shouted at eight o’clock. Peter had become dizzy and ill during the night, I knew it was the altitude that was affecting him and I decided we would lose some height and find an alternative route to Tiger Leaping Gorge. Measly Mr Gobby brought me an egg fritter, it was OK. Peter was sleeping, feeling very tired indeed. There was no sign of anything else edible or drinkable, so I got out the jetboil and made coffee which I drank with ‘France Bread’ – kind of weightless pre-packed sweet rolls I had picked up in the supermarket in Lijiang for this very occasion. Byebye Mr Gobby, bye bye barking dogs, bye bye fleapit ‘restaurant’ Ni Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaau! (still just as funny) (Escape from Wenhai’s worst host 13 July)

Rough Edge, Adventure, Logistics, mountain, navigation training,  worldwide, trekking, Breathtaking, Scotland,

DofE Gold, Expedition,