Hike! 2010 East Hebei trek

[Bryan]

This thread is for planning my 2010 Great Wall trip. On each successive trip I take to the Great Wall, I get more ambitious. The plan for 2010 is to trek the entire distance from Shanhaiguan to Huangyaguan. Currently, this trek is in the very early planning stages.

Original thread on 2009 trip

Previous thread on 2009 east Hebei trek

2008 trip thread

I originally envisioned doing this trek alone, but fortunately, Kim has expressed interest in joining me. There are a lot of advantages to doing this trek as a team instead of individually, so I am very pleased at this prospect and I hope it works out. Kim and I share a mutual, intense interest in the Great Wall and I think we would get along well. Who knows? We may eventually end up covering the entire distance to Jiayuguan, and this would be a great way to get started!

[Bryan]

Here are some of the parameters I feel pretty confident about:

• Begin around the first of September, 2010.
• Start at Laolongtou, Old Dragon’s Head, where the Great Wall meets the sea near Shanhaiguan. I don’t claim this to be the eastern end of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall. It’s just a good starting point.
• Trek the entire distance. Take detours when necessary, but in general, try to follow the path of the Wall. No transportation other than walking.
• No ropes. When free climbing is too risky, go around.
• Use hotels and guest houses when possible, and camp when necessary.
• Maintain a leisurely pace. Savor the trip rather than pushing to finish it. Stop to explore when the desire arises. The purpose of the trek is enjoyment, not completion.
• When there are branches or multiple paths, such as around Banchangyu, don’t skip them. This means there will be some doubling back.
• Try to reach Huangyaguan, thereby covering the entire stretch of Great Wall in Hebei province to the east of Beijing province, and at least part of the Tianjin span.

[Bryan]

Here are some of my current questions about the East Hebei trek:

• How much time will be needed? I don’t have any deadlines, but I think Kim will need to know how long to expect to be away from his work.
• How much food and water to carry? I would like to have a better idea of how frequently it will be possible to replenish supplies.
• What kind of maps to carry? Maybe a good topographical map including the Great Wall for GPS receivers will become available. Otherwise we will need paper maps. Currently, less than 40% of the route is covered in Google Earth in high enough resolution for planning the route. Maybe this will change. I have pretty fine scaled paper maps, and the Army Map Service (AMS) Topographic Maps of China are helpful too, but there are discrepancies on where these different maps show the location of the Great Wall. Satellite photos aren’t prone to these errors!
• Will it be necessary to be evasive? I have read that the path is closed once you pass Jiumenkou heading west (Bradt Great Wall of China page 120). There could be more areas where progress could be impeded.

[Bryan]

It's very early in the planning process and hopefully by discussing here and elsewhere, and researching more, the details of the plans will begin to materialize.

[Kim]

Jiumenkou is closed at the end of the repaired section, so we need to find a way around it. Other areas are also very difficult to climb including the Weiziyu section.

By looking at Google Earth the trek is roughly 280 km (175 miles) but since it is in the mountains maybe closer to 350 km (220 miles). Normal walk pace is about 5 km/h so if we calculate 2 km/h and 10 hours per day that would be 20 days including 3 days for resting.

The problem is that there is not many cities in this area and most of them are small villages so it might be difficult to get supplies but I think it should be possible to rely on buying dinner (maybe lunch) in some villages. Apart from that maybe it will be possible to arrange to get supplies and clean clothes at some predecided locations.

About the map, other people have done the trek before so it should be possible to get some GPS data to plan the trip.

[Bryan]

Jiumenkou: I hope Google Earth will come up with some high resolution imagery in this area before we go; that would help in finding ways around. There may be ways to use "diplomacy" as well. There has to be a way around, but the most expeditious way would of course be best.

Weiziyu: I've seen photos and I think that this is an area where we will likely want to make some detours. I would like to walk on the Wall when it's reasonable to do so, but taking risks is not reasonable in my mind.

I think 20 days sounds reasonable. 2 kilometers per hour sounds conservative, but 10 hours per day may be hard to achieve day after day. At least I feel pretty confident that we can comfortably complete the journey in less than 30 days including rest days and rain days.

How much time will you be able to get off work? What's a good date for you? What time do you think would give us the best weather? If we wait for Fall colors, do you think it would be too cold at night?

If we make Huangyaguan in 20 days or less then I will be tempted to continue to Jiangjunguan. From there, there is little remaining Great Wall until one reaches Bailingguan, so that would be a natural stopping point.

Then, will we already be planning our Beijing, west Hebei, Shanxi, and following section hikes?

I have only been able to get mapping info from Mark Scholinz, and he didn't appear to follow the route that we want to take. For example, it seems that he skipped Huangyaguan and in fact the whole Tianjin section, and everything between Taolinkou and Dongjiakou (119°1'E to 119°40'E). If we could get maps from Emma Nicholas and Brendan Fletcher, that would be great, but I believe that they have yet to make them available. Even in the absense of GPS tracks I feel pretty confident that we could find our way with a GPS receiver, paper maps, and local help.

I will try to start putting together a map that includes towns where we can stop. We don't want to go too far out of the way, obviously. This will help to figure an approximate number of days between each civilization we will reach and therefore how much food and water to carry. I can use Photoshop and make multiple layers of the different maps that are available which have been resized to a matching scale.

[Kim]

I have some fairly good maps of the Hebei province but unfortunately I don't have a scanner at home but I will try to borrow one.

Weiziyu is the most dangerous section I've seen so far, and I surely wouldn't want to risk my life to hike that section. I think it's possible but then we need some ropes and some mountain climbing experience.

Maybe 10 hours per day is too much especially in the end, but I think 2 km/h is ok since we will be going up and down - and take a lot of photos

I don't think it should be a problem to get 20 day off work, or more.

I my opinion it would be a shame not the trek the Donjiakou-Taolinkou, since that is probably one of the best parts in eastern Hebei.

In my experience September should be a perfect time to do the trek, the weather is still very nice and the chance of rain is low. If we wait much longer it will begin to get colder, especially in the night, and then we need to carry more clothes, however October should also be ok.

[Kim]

Maybe we should make a list of places, where I can do some recon if I have the time. So far I have:

• Jiaoshan (how to continue from the top of the mountain)

• Jiumenkou (finding a way around)

From the bridge, after hiking westward for half an hour, the wall ends directly in front of a high cliff, a strategic wall formed by nature. If one wishes to avoid paying and to see the wild wall, one can climb up the trail which starts in the village at the eastern end of the bridge. On the top, you will find the Wall extending in three directions ¨east, northeast, and west. The northeast one terminates on the very next hill overlooking the Pass. The one going east (recommended for a pleasant 4-5 hour hike) first goes down a steep valley, traverses a riverbed which has water only in the summer, then heads in a straight line directly to the base of the mountain range visible on the horizon, with broken watchtowers every 50-100 metres. The one to west is connected with Jiumenkou(Nine Gate Pass).

[sophie]

This trip sounds like a big adventure. Can I go???

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by sophie

This trip sounds like a big adventure. Can I go???

可能