The Great Wall'ker

[robert_loken]

Hello there,

Started this thread to have a place to write about some findings from time to time. Speaking of time - it is fairly time consuming to make writeups while 'on the wall', and to keep a website up and running with pictures every day.

But - her for some fun:
Pictures from where the GW stops by the Yellow river. (37 05 562, 104 17 562)

P1010839.jpg - GW in the Middle (slightly left)

P1010841.jpg - This little addition is great! Look at the first picture again and this little extention is over the edge seen on the first picture about 2-4 metres to the left of the midpoint of the GW you can see in the first picture. I imagine it was an addition to keep extra eager enemies out. Great :-)

P1010843.jpg - The same extension, only taken from the other side. With reference from the first picture, this picture is taken from the right side of the midpoint of the GW you see in the first picture.

P1010845.jpg - Same old same from a different angle. This is where the wall stops - on the left hand side of the picture (apart from that extension... )

P1010830.jpg - I kept my eyes open for what was on the other side. Looking further North from this point, I saw three potential beacon towers (and they were distant from me at the point Andreas :-) ) I also looked closely for evidence of a wall on the opposite side. No immidiate evidence at this place looking Northwards.

After standing on the edge, I moved some hundred metres Southwards. Found what looks like a beacon tower with 5 stove / furnace like smaller structures beside it like I've seen many times before. But the fun thing was that they were all out of stone! The beacon tower was pure stone from what I saw (It had slid out on one side) and the five smaller structures had sturdy stone walls, and rammed earth in the middle. I got all excited thinking this could be a stone beacon tower. Looking toward the Yellow river, I saw lots of stone structures from the remains of a small settlement. Got even more excited. Then i walked a bit further South (to the point where I cold get further without a parachute) and found a deserted stone structure of a house, but thought it looked to new to have anything to do with the Ming GW.

I will upload the last pics tomorrow - will have to make a write up on my website, and make a new picture for tomorrow.

Wishing you a good night, morning, day

Robert

[chinoook]

Wow!
I am more than impressed and also a bit jealous. According to reports of others (impassable, wall ending) I turned about two kilometers before reaching that point. I must return to that point.

Do I see right, there are beacon towers on the eastern bank of the Yellow River?

Did you see any continuation of the GW to the north (i.e. along the Yellow River)? According to our maps (RMM and Mapquest) there should be GW on the western bank north of the point you reached.

What do you think about the impassability of the other (eastern) side?



-chinoook


How did you get back? Walk or public transport?

[Bryan]

Thank you for sharing your awesome adventure with us.

[Kim]

Very interesting location. Thank you very much for sharing

All the best on your continuing adventure.

[lsanderson]

This is very impressive.

I wish continued success for you on your journey. And I wish for continued photos and details.

[robert_loken]

Thank you for the kind responses! I want to thank the members of the GWF for sharing their information with me with regards to the route of the GW.

Without so detailed information, I would be spending a lot more time itching my head trying to figure out the route of the GW!

I didn't get to post the last pics, so here they are:

P1010846.jpg - Stone beacon tower, and five 'stove' structures beside it as I have seen many times before. This is South of where the GW hits the Yellow river)

P1010848.jpg - The abandoned stone village. I got really excited when I saw it, and had a break with food and drink looking down at it with the Yellow river in the background and the farm you can see at the shore of the river.

P1010849.jpg - same as P1010846.jpg, but from the other side

P1010850_enlargement.jpg - a closeup from a little to the left of P1010846.jpg what seems to be a GW structure. Wish I could have flown over to have a closer look!

I will send more pics / info from time to time. Wishing you all a good week.

[Bryan]

Gotta wonder about Robert. No posts on his forum since the 14th and no visits here since the 17th. Has anyone heard anything?

[chinoook]

Not at all. I think he takes some weeks off the wall in and around Beijing. Around 30° C and hilly terrain (though he seems not to follow the Wall itself) is too much. He did the same last year in Yinchuan. I still think we will meet him somewhere in Hebei in September ...


-chinoook

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by chinoook

I still think we will meet him somewhere in Hebei in September ...

That's what I thought until I saw how quickly he made it through Beijing.

Actually, though, we'll be in Hebei in October.

[chinoook]

Temperatures will start to drop at the beginning of September. Let's bet wether we will meet him ;-).


-chinoook