A GORGE-ous View

Another early wake-up. A van drove us along with some other tourists staying at our hostel 40 miles north along a winding, mountainous road to the town of Qiaotou. Our destination for the next few days was the infamous Tiger Leaping Gorge. Considered the world’s deepest river canyon, the Gorge was absolutely stunning. The mighty Yangtze River flows between two huge snow blanketed mountains – Jade Dragon Snow Mountain & Haba Snow Mountain creating a beautiful, diverse rugged landscape. We weren’t prepared for the sheer power & beauty that lies at this southern-most point of the great Himalayan Mountain Range.

Fertile River Valley at the Start of the Trail

We had researched a lot for this hike because there are many options to take in the gorge. Many people make it a day trip and drive straight to the middle gorge or stop for a few hours on the way from Lijiang to Shangri-La even further north. Located at above 9000 feet, we knew we wanted to hike because we heard it is one of the finest in the world. There’s a low trail along the recently paved road and a more adventurous high trail with waterfalls, cliffs & steep inclines. After the treacherous Mount Huashan experience, we figured the high trail couldn’t be THAT tough.

The Crew About An Hour Into It

We met a couple travelers on the van who we decided to hike with. Mark from Germany and Walter from Belgium. (German travelers are everywhere BTW) Long hikes are much better with company and it was interesting sharing stories with them during the two day hike. We got off the van and proceeded along the unmarked trail. There wasn’t much clear direction. Just little blue signs every once in a while giving us assurance that we weren’t completely lost. We immediately started to go up and before we knew it, we already had a great view of the fertile river valley below. The Jade Dragon Snow Mountain was immediately ahead of us shrouded in mysterious clouds.

Mark Taking a Break from the 28 Bends

After 2 hours of moderate hiking through beautiful terrain, we reached Naxi Family Guesthouse where we stopped for lunch. Most people stop at this guesthouse to recharge & refuel for the infamous 28 bends just ahead. The 28 bends are basically an insanely steep incline of 28 switchbacks straight up this massive hill. Because of the physical torture, extreme altitude & loss of breath, we had to stop every 3-4 minutes or so. Still, it was rewarding to see the views just get better and better as we struggled up and up. Eventually, we leveled off at portion with a gorgeous viewpoint over the Gorge & the powerful Yangtze River way down below. A stunning reward for 45 minutes of physical pain.

Our Reward After an Hour of Torture

Despite it raining on and off for the next 3 hours, the hike was amazing! We passed cascading waterfalls, terrifying rock face cliffs & moaning mountain goats. I can’t really describe the magical aura of the place. Just incredible views & the feeling that we were so miniscule compared to the power & mystique of Mother Nature.

Mountain Goat Man

Goats & Waterfalls

After 6 hours of hiking, the 4 of us reached our destination for the night; The Halfway Guest House. What a crazy place to spend a night. Yes, the rooms weren’t all that nice. Yes there was no heating. Yes it was noisy. Was it all worth it?? Hell yea! We had the most amazing views because it’s located directly in the middle of the Gorge! The open-air toilet looked right out over the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain! We had a wonderful dinner & plenty of Dali beers with the Europeans while soaking in the inspirational views. Their upper deck dining area is coincidentally named Inspiration Point and it speaks for itself. It was a very memorable evening at a very memorable place.

Our Guesthouse For The Night...Inspirational Indeed

More rain the next day. This was supposed to be the dry season! We headed out early and continued our trek across the Gorge. This time, we only had 2 hours of downhill hiking to Tina’s Youth Hostel & the paved road below. The views continued to be spectacular and we arrived around 10AM. We could have ended our Gorge experience at this point and waited for the minibus to pick us up & take us to our next destination Shangri-La, but we still had 4 hours to kill and we weren’t quite satisfied yet.

Despite the ever increasing rain, there was no way we were going to do this incredible hike and not go down to the Yangtze River. We decided to take on the steep climb down the ‘Middle Gorge’ to the Tiger Leaping Rock on the river. This section was actually steeper than the 28 bends we had conquered the day before. Every step brought us closer to the roaring rapids of one of the world’s greatest rivers. After the 30 minute descent & multiple entrance fees we reached the water and were confronted with a scary looking hanging wooden bridge.

Almost to Tiger Leaping Stone

We slowly walked over the bridge to the rock and had it all to ourselves! We had made it to the Yangtze River and were on Tiger Leaping Stone!  Legend says that in order to escape a hunter, a tiger leaped across the narrowest point in the river onto the very rock we were standing on. The rapids were beyond strong. It was scary just being near to the extreme power that such a massive river creates. We spent a long time just soaking in the sheer power & beauty of the scene. The river isn’t navigable. Too dangerous. In fact in the 80’s, four rafters tried to go down the river but were never seen again.

Me & The Mighty Yangtze

Heavenly Ladder

Scary But So Worth It

One the way back up, we decided to take a shortcut and climb the ‘heavenly stairs’. Basically a wobbly vertical ladder 100 feet up, it was exhilarating & scary with the rain coming down. We made it back to the guesthouse with an hour to spare & our Tiger Leaping Gorge Trip had finally come to an end.

Thinking back at it, the Gorge was definitely one of the most naturally stunning places I’ve ever been to. These mountains were so steep that they almost looked like we could hit them with a rock from the other side. 6000 feet up sheer rock faces into the snow & clouds above. I appreciated the fact that although it’s a set trail, we really felt off the beaten path throughout the trek. I’m so glad we fit this excursion into our trip because it’s a place we’ll never forget.