It's said that changpinggou is not easy to play

Generally speaking, to visit Changping Valley, you need to start from Lama Temple, the terminal of inter car in the valley, and walk all the way to the mule lawn at the foot of Siguniang mountain. The whole journey is about 15 kilometers. The first few kilometers of wooden plank road are relatively easy, but the second half is a mountain road mixed with the caravan. As the apprenticeship goes deeper and deeper, the altitude will also rise until the mule camp reaches an altitude of 3760 meters, It is a challenge for me to enter changpinggou for the first time

At about six o'clock in the morning, there was a rustle outside the door. It seems that someone has got up and started to prepare. I raised my hand to open the curtains. The sky was dim outside the window. The sky with the strong wind all night was still cloudy.

Put down the curtains, I lay down and wrapped the quilt again, adjusted my head to a comfortable position, closed my eyes and began to worry about today's trip. Would it be close to the ditch in cloudy days? If so, will the scenery be better?

I groaned, "why is it a cloudy day today..."

"Don't worry, the weather on the plateau is unpredictable. Maybe the clouds will be gone soon..." Sleeping on the opposite side with his back to my Deng Deng suddenly replied.

I couldn't believe it. I asked, "is that right?"

"Generally speaking, it's like this..." A word came from the upper bunk.

I closed my eyes incredulously and said, "OK."

Xiao Wu, the upper bunk, is my companion who is about to hike changpinggou. He came here once before, but he didn't hike to the mule. He said he had to walk to the mule this time. Hatefully, Deng Deng went to changpinggou on the day when he told me to go to shuangqiaogou. He couldn't go there again this time. He was going to rest all day and then climb Siguniangshan peak.

After breakfast, Xiao Wu and I gathered at the mouth of changpinggou, waiting for another girl with us, Simei. Si Mei picked it up at breakfast. She is a lovely girl. She is superstitious, likes and believes in Tibetan Buddhism. Later, she asked me to introduce her to me if she met juem, so as to visit and study in wechat

Three of us went through the gate, got on the coach and arrived at the Lama Temple.

Lama Temple

Lama Temple is a monastery of Gelug Sect of Tibetan Buddhism. It is said that it was built in the early 15th century AD by Chaco awanzaba, a master of zongkaba. Although the scale of the temple site we see is not too large, it has been brilliant for a while in the local Buddhist history. It is said that in its heyday, there were more than 1000 monks and eminent monks.

The temple is built on the hillside. It's said that it's one of the best scenic spots to watch Siguniang mountain. But I look up and see that the gray sky is full of black clouds and fog, and the legendary Siguniang mountain is even more invisible. I didn't care to visit the temple. The snow peak of Siguniang mountain is what we are after, so I skipped it in a hurry

I estimate that the sky will be a lot clearer at noon, but I'm not sure how long it will last. Maybe it will end at noon. As the sun decreases, the temperature will also decrease. The clouds will cover the sky again. At that time, the scenery will be greatly reduced. Therefore, we must rush to the deep valley as far as possible before "see the sun through the clouds", and strive to appear in the right place at the right time

In real time, how correct my opinion is!

The five kilometer wooden plank road from lamasi temple to withered tree beach is all hidden in the primitive forest. Seabuckthorn trees are everywhere, which is also a major feature of Changping ditch, because the most primitive state of seabuckthorn tree growth is preserved here. Affected by the surrounding tall trees, there are more low Seabuckthorn trees, which are delicate and attractive. Seabuckthorn and Salix form a mixed forest. There are three needles, Artemisia and other plants in the lower layer. The ground is covered with mosses, lichens and other plants, some of which are as thick as 20cm. Walking on them is like stepping on a green carpet, which has a fresh and comfortable feeling.

Maybe it's the reason why I'm not very interested in trees. This section of road seems boring and uninteresting, mainly because it has few interesting spots. It also passes several waterfalls, but it's all in the branch of the road section. It's not good-looking, and it will take many wrong roads.

I define this section of road as "fitness trail", because it is long and stable, and the elevation rises smoothly, which is suitable for people to adapt to the high altitude slowly. Moreover, only fast walking can bring its value into play. We only need to keep breathing. Here we need these carbon dioxide to give back to the forest, and the moist and fresh air moistens our lungs, which is comfortable and relaxing

Dead tree beach

Maybe it's when I walk to the withered tree beach that I really experience some amazing landscapes. A tall Seabuckthorn tree sticks straight into the river beach. It is said that the dead tree beach is the remains of the battle between abalanyi and the Murdo family. Murdo uses magic to summon the flood. The flood drowns the army of abalanyi. The dead soldiers become tall tree trunks. Later, the flood recedes, and the tree trunks still stand here

Hippophae rhamnoides is a subspecies of Hippophae in hubaldaceae, which is a deciduous tree species on the ancient river bank. This tree is originally a shrub, which grows in the northwest of China. It is an excellent tree for windbreak and sand fixation. However, in Siguniang mountain, due to the impact of the special ecological environment in the scenic area, they have grown into tall trees, up to 20-30 meters. In the scenic area, there are female trees with a maximum diameter of 193cm, with a maximum age of 2000 years, becoming the "king of trees" in the ditch.

Such a large area of seabuckthorn community is rare in the world. Hippophae rhamnoides has a variety of forms. Its leaves are green. It blooms in May and bears fruit in June. In late autumn, the leaves are filled with small golden fruits. Because of its peculiar shape, painters call it "Chinese painting tree"; because of its growth characteristics, poets call it "myth tree". From the middle of August to the end of November every year, it is the best season to watch Seabuckthorn as a three-dimensional "bonsai".

Ganhaizi

After the dead tree beach, the plank road came to the end. The first stop on Sandu road is two Ganhaizi, which are called shangganhaizi and xiaganhaizi because of the difference of altitude. Ganhaizi, as the name implies, is a sea without water. It is said that these two Haizi originally had rich water sources, which were lakes full of water. But later, because the river changed its course, the two Haizi became the swamp now. Now the water and grass here are very beautiful. They have become a paradise for cattle and sheep

After crossing Ganhaizi, the mountain road gradually becomes straight and straight, continuously over several hills, and a valley appears in front of it. In the valley, there are several people standing on an abandoned bridge and dam which has been demolished. They excitedly shout for their companions under the dam to take photos for them.

I looked up at the sky doubtfully, the thick black cloud suddenly opened a big gap, the blue sky suddenly exposed, the next ice and snow giant peak in the sky towered into the cloud, the clouds around the waist, the sun shining on the mountain through the gap, the mountain suddenly sparkled

Such beautiful scenery, of course, can not be missed! If I want to catch the time when the dark clouds close and rush to the valley, I can't care about the companion behind me. I can only shout and run down the slope

This is the Lianghekou, where the snow water from the snow melting on the snow peak and the river of changpinggou gather. Above the snow mountain, you can see a corner of the glacier. Behind the glacier, there is a very beautiful sea called the pome sea, which can only be seen when you experience outdoor crossing activities.

The following two companions were stunned by the beautiful scenery in front of them, and then excited. They jumped up and down the dam, ignoring the taboo of not being able to move too much in the plateau area, and jumped up, just for the moment of perfect integration with snow mountain

Lianghekou wasted too much time for us, but we were reluctant to leave. When we left, we kept looking back for photos.

Unconsciously, the time has come to noon. The dark clouds no longer seem to block the sky. From time to time, they open a few openings. The sunlight spreads to the hillside through the moving cloud gap. The color forest between the hillsides is particularly crystal clear under the sunshine. After a careful look, we can see that it is the white frost on the leaves. Looking from afar, the colorful frost forest looks like a fairy tale world It's really enjoyable.

Further on, it is the destination of this trip - wooden mules. It seems that the end point is near at hand, and the fruits of victory are at hand, but in fact, the rest of the mountain road is more straight, the road is more tortuous

The road to the mule is hidden under the dense bush. The tall Bush blocks out the sun and almost blocks all the sunshine. It is cool and humid under the tree. When it comes to rain and snow, there will be puddles under the tree. The more people walk, the more muddy the road will be. Especially when cattle and horses pass by, the long and thin hooves will gouge the road. The deeper the road is, the more magical it will become

The most exaggerated road section is uphill and covered with pits trodden out by cattle and horses. Therefore, people are forced to walk on the road shoulder. If they are not careful, they will be covered with black mud, resulting in the feeling that the last four or five kilometers out of the fourteen or five kilometers

The back of Siguniang mountain

In any case, after a lot of hardships, we still drill out of this forest. At the end of the forest, an open grassland suddenly appears in front of us. A quiet river in the grassland flows through and leads a happy life here. The front road leads to a lively wooden house. The grassland in front of the wooden house is full of tourists who have already come on foot. On the wooden house, a huge snow peak stands in the sky. At this moment, our position is just on the back of Siguniang mountain

The three men gasped and walked into the mule camp. As their strength gradually recovered, the world became lovely again, and the two companions began to jump up and down again

Mule lawn

I look up at the snow mountain. The snow peak is clear as if it is close to my eyes. The clouds are gradually thinner, and the exposed rock texture is clear. From time to time, ice and snow fall from the mountain like quicksand! In this place, snow mountains, glaciers, frost forests, meadows, rivers, cows and horses are all framed in picturesque frames, which move everyone's heartstrings imperceptibly, making people intoxicated and forget to return

But there will be an end to the wonderful journey, and we will finally embark on the way back. The strangeness of going to Cheng becomes the familiarity of going back. I don't know when, the sky is no longer dissatisfied with dark clouds, the blue sky is more and more pure, and I pass the tall shrubbery. The sunlight sprinkles mottled fragments through the gap between the leaves, and the small river decorated with red stones is more and more flexible

Hongshi River Beach

We shuttle through it like a deer, the rugged mountain road seems to be no longer rough, the pleasure in our hearts offsets the fatigue of our bodies, and the way back seems to be very close. Before the sunset, we arrived at the gully smoothly. In front of the Lama Temple, we look back at the four girls mountain yaomei'er peak under the sunset, which is as beautiful as a married bride