Holy Huangshan, Batman!

So I’m back from a little hiatus of blog-writing….I’m sorry if you felt in the least bit neglected by me. Deeply and truly sorry…….Ok, moving on…

As Jon mentioned, we went to Huangshan (“Yellow Mountain’) with our friend and travel companion Ryan a couple of weeks ago. After an 8-hour bus ride and another 1-hour van ride, we arrived in Tangkou, the town at the base of Huangshan. With the help of the powers that be, i.e. LonelyPlanet, we contacted Mr. Hu (Mr. Who??), who we soon found out spoke excellent English, was a great guide and resource for tips and information about the mountain, and…unfortunately….was the owner of a hostel and restaurant with down right terrible food. A Chinese man in China making terrible food?? I hadn’t known it to be possible…a first for everything.

A view of Huangshan from Tangkou

After a somewhat rough night of sleep – honking of car horns is the Chinese version of 24/7 ambience…the kind that beats on your head as if it’s a gong – we sprung up ready to climb Huangshan. We all decided to climb the Western steps because it was more challenging and thus, in our minds, more fun. Also, most people climb up the Eastern steps, so we thought we’d avoid the crowds. Now, let me clarify. We went during the National Holiday, which means that nearly all Chinese folk travel. And where do they all go? Yup. Huangshan. So even when we “avoided” the crowds, we were still quite flooded. It’s all relative, I guess.

The hoards of Chinese tourists

Anyway, the whole way up is steps. One after the other. 15.5 km of concrete steps. After about 1 hour of climbing, I was starting to feel tired, full aware of the 5 hours of climbing that lay ahead of us….taunting me…mocking me. I could feel the muscles in my thighs and hips and butt start to scream and wail at me: “Who do you think you are making me contract like this repeatedly without a break? Without stretching? I was built for yoga and Frisbee, that’s it!!!” And my response? At first: “Please please, try to adjust. Help me out a bit.” But after continued pain, near cramping, and growing tension, the response turned to: “Listen hear, you. You WILL make it up. You don’t have a f*#^ing choice here. I’m gonna get to the top and you’re coming with me!”Porters carrying a snoozing lady who just straight-up opted out of the whole hiking thing

(but I say go big or go home!)

Unnecessarily long story short, I made it to the top. The hike up was absolutely gorgeous. My breath was repeatedly stripped from my mouth as I stood in awe of the natural beauty around me—the contrast of the height of the mountains with depth of the valleys, the picturesque scene of distant peaks fading into subtler shades of blue, the meeting of jagged and smooth rocks, the staggering of green, the intertwining and interweaving of multi-layered clouds and fog surrounding you, the sun shining brightly and providing a warm and sweet blanket through the cool breeze. An experience truly never to be forgotten.

An array of "lovers' lockets" (ours is now one among the many)

A view of the mountain that lay ahead of us

We woke up the next day with, yet again, hundreds of Chinese tourists all around for the sunrise. Every time a new iota of light made its way to some fool’s eyes, I heard an “Uh! Oh! Whoa!”…as if the sun’s rising was a completely new concept. Hysterical.



Later (after a short nap), we hiked around the Western Trail, which was an absolutely stunning panorama of what felt like a personal getaway that very few people knew about. It was particularly nice that all the tourists didn’t crowd that area because a major aspect of my enjoyment was how sparse the people were among the enormity of the mountains and of the vertical drops from the overhanging paths that we walked on. (holy moly was I terrified!).


And finally, I made it down the 7 km down the Eastern steps, tactfully chosen because most people climb up that route and not down.

Ryan, Jon, & Emma

Unfortunately, I paid the price for that climb. Since my muscles were pissed off at me and tight as all hell, it planted the seed for a tweak in my back and hips that would actualize itself at Ultimate Frisbee League a few days later. I pivoted weirdly a few times, and then, well, I just couldn’t move. Sharp pains shot all throughout my back, hips, and legs and I pretty much wanted to die. Thankfully, the wanting-of-death feeling didn’t transfer to the next day; at least I could walk. Now, a week later, my hip still hurts – I can’t even put on my shoes without wincing in aching pain. But I feel significantly better. I went to see a spectacular acupuncturist yesterday (who only costs about $10 for an hour session) who I think will help me to improve greatly. My goal is to be ready to play at the Hong Kong tournament on the October 25-26, which I think is definitely manageable at the rate I’m going (I’m taking it super easy…even missing League tonight!).

Wish me luck!
Em