Hike! Yumenguan to Tiger Mountain

[Mick Barrett]

I will be publishing my gps route so people can see exactly where I have been.

The work we have been concentrating on for the last 3-4 months has been working with the charity and trying to get people involved in the cause. I realise now is the best time to start to look at the route and finalise it. I will look at the maps you guys have and the route of Robert Loken and try to make one which suits my desires for the walk as well as one that sees me one the wall as much as possible.

I really appreciate your advice Bryan and see a lot of sense in it. This trek is about two things- one is to fullfill a dream with an adventure of a lifetime that has been presented to me, I am a very blessed, lucky person to be able to even think about attempting this, and second- and the most important, to raise awareness and money for some of the poorest areas in Latin America which I see with my own eyes everyday.

I will look at the route options carefully over the next two weeks and let you know when I have something that I think is a good route, and if it is ok I will ask you to have a quick look at it and give me your opinion?

Thanking you again.

Mick

[chinoook]

As stated above: My help with a route will depend on whether the result will be published or not. I definitely will not help to work out a route which will be published later.

To be more precise: There is no reason to publish an outline of what has been walked. But an exact published GPS track will never get my assistance. For the reasons I gave above.


-chinoook

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by Mick Barrett

I will look at the route options carefully over the next two weeks and let you know when I have something that I think is a good route, and if it is ok I will ask you to have a quick look at it and give me your opinion?

Please do so.

Thru-hiking should involve the main, most prominent line of the Great Wall and therefore won't in my opinion be disclosing any Great Wall paths that aren't well known or easy to find. Satellite imagery, Panoramio content, etc., is becoming more detailed all the time and the Great Wall is already plain to see between Jiayuguan and Shanhaiguan. There isn't much Great Wall to speak of between Yumenguan and Jiayuguan or in Liaoning and so the vast majority of these parts of the trek will not be along any Great Wall.

I do hope Mick will learn to appreciate the sensitivity of the Great Wall and do his share in spreading the word on the importance of conservation and protection. The net result of his, and indeed any, Great Wall trek should be beneficial to the Great Wall rather than a detriment. Mick will have a lot of time before, during, and after his trek to help this cause and I hope he will take good advantage of it. He should leave the Great Wall in better condition than he found it. He would also do well to learn about Chinese language, culture, and customs in order to treat the many Chinese he will meet with respect while earning their respect for himself and promoting good relations.

[JoeCool]

Good luck with your thru-hike Mick. Some good advice from the experts in this forum, hope it helps you.

[nightofadrenalin]

He should leave the Great Wall in better condition than he found it.

Bryan that was a great advice ,not only for Mick but for everyone who is going up the Great Wall .I shall take a vow to do exactly that .

Good luck Mick.I hope you have a safe and a fruitful trip .

[Kim]

Originally Posted by Bryan

He should leave the Great Wall in better condition than he found it.

How can he or anyone else possibly do that? Anyone setting foot on the Great Wall will leave the wall in worse condition than it was.

Of cause he can remove some small trees that will slowly destroy the wall if they are not remove, but that is not much help compared to millions of tourist that visit and damaged the wall every year - tourists that might even be encouraged to visit the wall after reading about his hike.

[Kim]

Originally Posted by Mick Barrett

... and second- and the most important, to raise awareness and money for some of the poorest areas in Latin America which I see with my own eyes everyday.
Mick

I admire the purpose of this hike, but why would a hike along the Great Wall of China help to raise awareness and money for the poor in Latin America?

A hike trough these areas in Latin America - and possibly other parts of America - ought to raise much more money and more important awareness to these people as long as the hike is well published in news papers, blogs, television and photoblogs than a hike in a country far away could every do because it will raise attention and document the life in these areas of Latin America.

[Ken]

Having just seen the route, Mick has actually by-passed the most interesting Ningxia Ming Wall. I think anyway, disclosure of the track etc should be copyrighted or at least have reference to this forum. As an Approved user, we know that we won't disclose information randomly to anyone. As Chinoook and Bryan knows, the amount of pilfrage and damage to the Towers and Beacons in order to find antiques and artifacts are well-known. It is unfortunate but the reality is that some people in this modern age don't care about the GW and only benefit it by grabbing things. Note what happened to the inscriptions on the wall in Beijing and Hebei.
I always admire the amount of work and effort that guys have done to detail the locations and route of the Great Wall. It would be a great shame if people used that effort to damage and even destroy the very thing it was supposed to protect. During the last few years, I have become sensitive to the exploitation and commercialisation of the Great Wall. No doubt, this is a double edged sword scenario.


It seems that this hike is hiking "some parts" of the Great Wall. Even when I hiked the Wall, there are invariably some damage to the wall especially the rammed-earth sections compared to the brick sections.

[Mick Barrett]

Hey guys how is everyone?

To kim if you read the profile of my site you will have your answer for that question about why hike in china for a purpose in latin America, it is a good question that has popped up a few times before.

The other topic of discussion is will I leave the great wall in as good condition as it was before I was there. This is a promise impossible for me to keep. But one thing I can say is that I will do everything I can to try. I will do all I can to preserve its strength and condition.

Thanks to those with the words of encouragement and support, it does mean a lot.

Mick

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by Kim

How can he or anyone else possibly do that?

I always leave the Great Wall in better condition than it was when I arrived, by picking up trash, and occasionally by replacing bricks that have been dislodged. And I am very careful not to cause any damage by avoiding fragile parts and treading carefully.

Originally Posted by Kim

Of cause he can remove some small trees that will slowly destroy the wall if they are not remove, but that is not much help compared to millions of tourist that visit and damaged the wall every year - tourists that might even be encouraged to visit the wall after reading about his hike.

This is a key point. Millions of tourists visit the wall yearly. A few more that thru-hike it or are encouraged by thru-hikers aren't going to make much difference in the number of visitors. What they can do is raise awareness of conservation and protection thereby helping the cause.

I don't think people that travel a long way to see the Great Wall are going to willingly damage it. It's the casual visitors that just want to be able to say they've been there that are most likely to cause damage because the Great Wall isn't really important to them. These are the people that need educating.