Day 17, May 24: Yellow Mountains

This morning we drove 80 km to the Yellow Mountains.  These mountains are  known for their sunrises, their pine trees,  their  jutting granite peaks, hot springs and snow in winter.  With some peaks over 1850 M high you actually look down on the clouds touching the mountainsides….. and  it is cloudy for more than 197 days of the year.

Once we got to the base it was very misty…..almost a light rain……thus the very stylish yellow rain wear.

We travelled up the mountain for 10 minutes in a cable car and then walked for an additional 2 km to our hotel.  It is quite cool so they provide red down coats to all their guests.

Everything the hotel uses is brought up the mountain by porters who carry up to 200 lbs per trip.  It is hard work but they make good money…..about $40.00 to $50.00 per trip.  They can only make 1 trip per day.

After lunch we went out for a climb.

We continued to climb up to some of the higher peaks

and to a  place they call their Grand Canyon.  You can just see one of the lower peaks jutting up to the right of us.  Thank goodness there is a railing.....you can't see it but it is a long way down.

The locks are put there by couples to represent their everlasting love.

There are some very beautiful windswept pines that take root in the crevices and cling to the side of the mountains.

This tree with its 56 branches used to be called the "Family Tree" but after the one child policy was passed to restrict large families.........they renamed it the "Unity Tree"

By the time we finished our walk we had climbed 78 flights of stairs. The mist was still rolling in but we are hoping for a brighter day tomorrow.  It is June's birthday so our guide carried a birthday cake all the way up the mountain.  We will celebrate tonight but NOT too much……because we are getting up at 4:30 am to see the sunrise.