A Tough but Rewarding Climb Up Mount Hua

July 31, 2009 at 7:08 pm (China, Xi'an)
Tags: hiking, Huashan, Mount Hua, North Peak Hotel, Trekking

Wow! What… a… day! I’m exhausted, my legs are sore, and I’ve never felt better. Finally some good hiking in this trip. Today I climbed the North Peak of Mount Hua (Huashan), about 2 hours out of the city of Xi’an, and what an amazing trek it was.

Marianne and I got up relatively early this morning so that we could get a good start on our day. We checked out of our cozy twin ensuite room and caught a bus to the train station (no cabs would take us). The bus ride was a bit of a hassle since we had all of our packs, but some kind Chinese woman offered to hold it for us in the front. She had a primo seat! Once at the train station, we found our bus #1 headed for Huashan, but we had to wait about half an hour before departure since the buses here only leave when they are full. Luckily though, we met some other foreigners; a couple from Australia, Anna and Mark, and a girl from Portland Oregon named Elisha. We were all off to go do the same thing, climb Mount Hua.

Anna and Marc were staying at the bottom of the mountain whereas Marianne and I were going to stay at the North Peak, which is 1614.7 metres above sea level. An easy hike in normal conditions, but I had made the decision to carry ALL of my gear with me to the top, easily adding an extra 60 pounds to my body. That decision was going to make this the most memorable and difficult hike that I’ve done in a while. Even though I had plenty of opportunities to leave my pack behind and bring only a small daypack, I had refused and claimed that I would be fine, despite the warnings I received from pretty much everyone… Tickets for the mountain were rather expensive at 120 RMB. I really should’ve kept my University of Ottawa student card since that would’ve cut the admission price in half. Oh well, no need to fuss, we were off!

I felt fine for the first bit of the mountain. There were several shops along the way selling fruits, water, red bull, and beer. The prices kept going up the further we got up the mountain, but water was a necessity after I had finished my bottle, and was definitely worth the extra few Yuan we had to pay. We got some stenches of sewage from time to time, but it’s a stench we had grown accustomed to in China, so it wasn’t so bad! (Just kidding, it’s not all that bad). The weather was cloudy and misty, so we didn’t get many sights as we climbed, but I appreciated it more than bright, sunny, and hot weather given the circumstances, my heavy, heavy pack. After about an hour, I thought I had made the biggest mistake ever. I took my pack along, wanting to challenge myself for the climb, and was originally laughed at by Marianne, Anna, and Marc, but I pursued. I didn’t really have a choice; it’s not as if I was going to turn around, drop my stuff off at the bottom, and head back up. I was going for the top, and nothing was going to stop me. And I’m so glad I did!

After that first gruelling hour, my legs started feeling better. A little warm-up was all I needed it seemed. However, I was sweating beyond belief! Dripping everywhere! But I kept a big smile on my face! Legs were still strong, lungs were still good, no need to fret! Plus, almost every Chinese tourist that passed us by either laughed at me, smiled at me, or gave me a solid thumbs up! Most of them opted for the thumbs up, and that made me feel good. I also feel as if I got the respect of those carrying all the food and beverages up and down the mountain as they passed us by. As we went higher and higher, the trail got steeper and steeper. The trail was made of thousand of steps, and that didn’t help at all. Climbing stairs works your thighs much more than a steady incline, and considering that I had a 60 pound pack on my back, my legs were getting a little shaky after the second hour had gone by.

We had eventually gone over the clouds and saw a few of the mountain peaks. There seemed to be some much harder trails up the mountain opposite of us, and those trails are apparently called the Soldier’s Trails. They were STEEP! Pretty much 90 degrees. Might try it tomorrow without my pack. Anyways, the clouds added a sense of mystery to the mountain and compensated for the lack of sunshine. Unfortunately, I didn’t take many pictures on the way up since it was too much of a hassle to take it out all the time, and keeping it out was just as much of a hassle! We took a few breaks on the way up, drank some water and ate some chocolate, and that did body real good and it allowed me to keep going. However, once we got to the 1,000 foot precipice, things were about to get a little harder.

I was enthused to take on the challenge! An insanely steep stair climb that required everyone to grasp the chains on either side to prevent you from falling back. Once again, my pack added just a little but more challenge to this part of the climb. It was a little complicated with tourists going both ways on such a narrow path, but in the end, it worked out good. We had met a little girl, who was climbing with her family but decided to stick with us for the rest of the way up, and we called her “Monkey”. She was FULL of energy, climbing the stairs on four legs, and waiting for us at the top (and laughing at me). I kept smiling, but after that steep climb, my legs gave up. My thighs cramped uncontrollably. I tried to stand up straight, but couldn’t; my muscles were just too tight. I had to take my pack off and take a break. We still had about another 45 minutes to go, so I stretched, sat down for about 5 minutes, and my legs got better, but only temporarily.

The rest of the climb was a little gruelling, especially when we came upon some more stairs. I could feel my muscles tighten with every step. My pack had done its work on me. I had to use the chains and my arms to help pull myself up the stairs, we were almost there, and I still managed to keep up with the others. Once more break all together before one last little push, and 30 minutes later, we were at the North Peak Hotel, Marianne and I’s resting place for the night. We had made it!

I was completely drenched in sweat! I hung my clothes up in my room (which to this minute is still empty) and the sweat was just dripping off of them onto the floor. They reeked! I reeked! No showers here either… I was craving a beer, and the others were waiting for me on the balcony overlooking all the mountain peaks. I changed, put deodorant all over my body, and made my way back outside. I felt so rewarded! Such hard work to get such nice scenery, something that I’ve been chasing for a while since I came on this trip. There were a lot of tourists because there is a cable car that leads to this place, but they all cleared out by 7:00pm. We had a beer with Anna and Marc, exchanged e-mail addresses, and they headed back down the mountain by cable car. Marianne and I are dead tired, but we had to catch a glimpse of the peaks and the other surrounding mountains. Climbing the rest of the North Peak was a breeze without my large pack, and I was finally able to snap some photos (which you can see here). After a bit of trotting around, taking in the scenery as much as possible, we headed down the restaurant for some breakfast and another beer. Delicious! Noodle soup with pork! Halfway through the meal, I noticed that the sky was clearing up and that the sun was setting off to the West. I hurriedly finished my dinner so that we could catch the end of it.

We climbed up the Peak once again, and we were treated to beautiful sunset views. The sun itself was hidden by the mountain peaks to the West, but the rays of red and orange light were visible through the holes in the clouds. I love it. I’ve been sitting on this boulder facing the East and West Peaks of Mount Hua for about two hours now, and I could stay here even longer. I’m even writing this post outside as we speak! The moon is beaming in front of me over the East, West, and South Peaks, the tourist noises have died so I have peace and quiet (but I could still see some climbers making their way up), there’s a sea of stars above me (the clouds have cleared up), and there are fire flies all around! It’s really majestic. I could sleep out here, but it’s a little chilly at this altitude. Nevertheless, I’m still going to stay out here for a little while longer. It’s too peaceful to head back in so soon at 9:20pm. Marianne went to bed, so I’m sitting here alone with my thoughts, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s fantastic, and I can’t stress it enough. I can do this every day. Screw the cities! This is what I came for! The Earth’s natural wonders, but hopefully I can find some that are a little less touristy…

Tomorrow morning, Marianne and I are going for a little circuit around the mountain. We’re going to try to get up at 5:00am to catch the sunrise over the East Peak, and hopefully the sky will be clear enough to allow for a good view. Afterward, we keep climbing, but this time, I’m leaving my pack at the hotel. We start with the East Peak, then up to the South Peak at 2,160m (the highest point), and then down to the West Peak before heading back down the mountain, back to Xi’an, and then off to Chengdu.

Clearly, there’s no Internet up here, so this post will probably only go up once we’re in Chengdu in 2 days. Same goes for the photos, which you can see here.

I know this is a really long post, but so far, today has been my favourite day in China, despite the pain in my legs and the gargantuan amounts of sweat. The pain just makes the destination much more rewarding. I hope the pictures to everything justice, especially the little kitten that was strolling around the hotel to everyone’s amusement!

Bai-bai!

-LL

P.S. I’m getting really disgusted by the constant horking and spitting of the Chinese people. And what’s the deal with rolling your shirt up on hot days? It looks ridiculous!