I was very lazy this morning and didn’t get up until after 9:00am. I regretted it once I saw the azure sky over Cangshan. I dressed quickly for a hiking and went down for a quick bite to eat. I was already in a tizzy over my late start, but Sarah made it worse when she told me that it was better to go early before the clouds came rolling in. This little bit of information combined with the two cups of caffeine that I consumed brought me close to straight-jacket craziness.
The entrance to the national park is within walking distance of The Lily Pad, and I was grateful to be able to burn off some of that nervous energy. I also got a preview of the festival that is starting tomorrow and will draw crowds from all over the Yunnan. There are booths being set up all along the road that leads to Cangshan. A lot of them contained food items and it was easy to get distracted after a breakfast of fruit and yogurt. I get a little bit homesick for Kansas City when I smell grilling meat, and the fried chicken legs on a stick looked incredibly tempting, but I stuck to my objective and made it to the park entrance without buying a drumstick. There are several ways you can go up the mountain: by cable car; by chairlift; or just by hiking uphill. The first two will cost you Yuan. The last will cost you all of your energy. The grade up that hill is very steep and the rain from the past few days had made the trail slippery, so I just coughed up the cash for the chairlift.
Once you are on the side of the mountain, you have the option of taking the trail to the left or right. I chose the left because some cloud cover had moved in on the right. Besides, there was a point on this trail called Seven Dragon Pool and that name captured my imagination. The trail along the mountainside is actually a beautifully constructed stone walkway that is very pedestrian-friendly. The Chinese have worked hard to make sure that everyone can enjoy this walk and not just the rugged, athletically-inclined adventurer. There were families and couples up there taking strolls along the path as well as the intrepid hikers striding it out. I fit somewhere in the middle of these two groups, keeping a good pace so that I could breathe in the freshly-washed mountain air, but not so quick that I might miss a photo op. The sun appeared and disappeared behind clouds and I took every advantage of the changing light, but mostly, I just enjoyed the walk.
There was one thing that was missing on this hike and it didn’t dawn on me until it was almost over. The hawkers. Where were the folks that would follow you along the path trying to sell photos, books, postcards and cheap trinkets. There weren’t any. There were a few stands when you first got off the chairlift, but the trail was entrepreneur-free. This was unbelievable! I visited an outer section of the Great Wall and I was swarmed with Chinese trying to sell me things, and they would not go away. I practically had to threaten one lady. It is not the steep incline of the trail because when I was on the chair lift to the Great Wall, I saw a woman, who later tried to sell me postcards, take that trail like she was part mountain goat.
Even with some cloud cover the scenery is breath-taking. However, when I arrived at Seven Dragon Pool, I had a difficult time enjoying the twisting-turning nature of the gurgling creek because I had to use the bathroom very, very badly. I found during the course of the day that there is only one toilet in the 10 km between the chairlift and the cable car and I was far from it. Having a man-made structure was not the problem. I can wee outdoors. The problem came from the fact that there was no place to go squat behind a bush and take care of business. There is the trail and then there is straight up and straight down. I had to book it another three kilometers along the trail before I could find a place that would offer any sort of privacy. But let me tell you, I felt like a new woman afterwards.
I hiked until the end of the trail and then turned around to go back to the chairlift. I probably should have turned back sooner, but there was this part of me that wanted to make it to the end and back before the lift closed at 6:00pm. It was 21km round trip, but it was all level and paved so it didn’t seem so arduous. Sarah was right, though. It would have been better to do it earlier because at one point the clouds did come in and shower me with a light rain. But I had mostly good weather, and I when I got off of that mountain, I was ready for a meal. As I walked back towards the guesthouse I passed the food stalls again with the grilled and fried meat. I hustled on past because I had to use the bathroom again. I’ll have my chance. The festival doesn’t even start until tomorrow.
