Tackling Tiger Leaping Gorge

You can't go to Southwest China without hearing about Tiger Leaping Gorge. The 2-3 day trek through its canyons and mountainside has become sort of a rite of passage amongst backpackers to the region. Deservedly so. The centerpiece of the Gorge is the mighty Yangzi River. Its emerald green waters course through the twists and turns of the canyon formed by two chains of snow-capped mountains, Haba Xueshan to its west and the jagged, steep Yuelong Xueshan to its East. The mountainside trail carving through the towering peaks of Haba Xueshan - complete with steep ascents and even steeper drop-offs - make for some of the most truly humbling vistas that I’ve ever encountered.

I think the most remarkable part of the Tiger Leaping Gorge trek has to be the variety of milieu. We went through bamboo thickets and wove in and out of passages through the middle of cliff faces. Red guide arrows led us past villages resting in seas of stacked rice terraces hugging the mountains. We saw countless roosters, chickens, oxen, horses, wild boar, and bulls. The next day would see us crossing waterfalls hundreds of meters high and overtaking flocks of goats and their Shepards on the same trail. We found large boulders to rest on, each offering their own views of the peaks and the canyon below. The beauty of Tiger Leaping Gorge is so thick and vast that you can’t help but think that you’re only staring at an elaborate oil painting on the largest canvas imaginable. It’s that intangible. It was simply surreal.

And Matt got spanked (not figuratively) by a middle-aged Naxi woman who became increasingly insulted at his refusal to pay her 8 yuan fee for having 'cleared' the most dramatic viewpoint of the gorge. It was absolutely hilarious. That was maybe our greatest moment of cultural exchange on the trip thus far.