Trip Report: Leaping Tiger Gorge, day 2

What kind of flower is this? It looks like a lotus but there was no swampiness
nearby.

I felt wonderfully refreshed when I woke up on the second day and enjoyed
watching the sun rise over tall jagged peaks across the gorge. Mike and I set
off on the rest of our hike. It was a warm, sunny day.

If you take a close look at this photo, you'll see a red splotch on the trail.
That's Anthea, waving from up-trail.

here is Mike, following behind me.

The road we followed linked villages in the gorge.

the gorge and the rapids of the yangze river below us.

We finished the hike half way through the second day. Sometime shortly
thereafter, Mike lost his camera. He lost all the photos he had taken and was
stuck with my pics for the rest of the trip. What a bummer.

We hooked up with two other hikers and started making our way for the ferry. We
ended up getting a ride in the back of a narrow canvas covered truck, with some
farm equipment, groceries and gasoline. The truck sped through the remaining
part of the gorge, around narrow turns and over a landslide. It was, uh,
freaky. I took these from the back of the truck:

We were dropped off at a trail and hiking down into the gorge to the ferry
crossing. The ferry is operated by some men that live in what appears to be a
religious cave next to a small waterfall.

here is a closeup of their cave

After crossing the river, we hiked up to Daju, a little town, where we ran into
Stephie and Anthea again. There we waited many hours for a ride back to
Lijiang. The wait was dull, highlighted by hop scotch and peanut butter
sandwiches. The ride back was harrowing.

We sped along cobblestone roads, winding our way over mountains. Out the window,
I could see the Milky Way outlining the mountains around us. It was continuous
bumpiness, with only a short section paved on the three hour drive back to
Lijiang.

Impressions of the second day:

Bleating of goats in the shrubs

Bright sun and blue sky

Shady path going down towards the gorge

Snowy black jagged mountains off to the right all day long

Tiny purple flowers