November 28 Huangshan Climb Review

Two girls, one has climbed Huashan and Taishan, the other has climbed Laojun Mountain. This time was my first time planning a trip myself. Before setting off, I scoured various posts but still missed many details. Now, I’m reviewing the experience for friends who want to climb Huangshan to refer to. —— 🚏Route Left at 7 a.m. on the 28th, after breakfast the host drove us from the guesthouse to the South Gate. The route: Yungu Cableway up → Shixin Peak → Mengbi Shenghua → Monkey Watching the Sea → back the same way to Black Tiger Pine → Bright Summit Peak → Flying-over Rock → Paiyun Pavilion → West Sea Grand Canyon → took the small train up → Tianhai Station → Aoyu Peak → Aoyu Cave → Hundred-step Cloud Ladder → Yuping Cableway down. ⚠️Trip Review: ❶Time management was poor; we spent too long in the front mountain area, where the scenery is quite similar. We only reached Bright Summit Peak at noon and waited in a long line at the monument before taking photos; ❷After Bright Summit Peak, we planned to go to Flying-over Rock but followed the crowd and mistakenly went down to Tianhai Food Plaza, which involved a long flight of stairs, causing extra energy consumption on the return; ❸We only officially started the West Sea Grand Canyon loop at 2 p.m. The small train arrived at Tianhai Station at exactly 4 p.m., leaving only about an hour before the Yuping Cableway closed. This forced us to jog down Aoyu Peak and the Hundred-step Cloud Ladder. After a full day, we were really exhausted by then; ❹We underestimated the difficulty. Before setting off, we had booked Tiandu Peak for the 29th, planning to ascend from the new route and descend the old. But after descending on the 28th, our calves were clearly sore, and walking the next morning was painful, so we had to give up Tiandu Peak. Huangshan punishes anyone who is stubborn! —— 👚Outfit Top: quick-dry shirt + fleece jacket + shell jacket Bottom: thermal leggings + quick-dry pants Shoes: sneakers Perfect for morning and evening, but hot at noon, so the fleece jacket needs to be taken off —— 🍰Food Brought a lot of snacks but barely ate them. If you bring self-heating meals, no need for snacks; if not, bring bread, eggs, and other filling foods. —— Expenses Transport: High-speed train round trip 118×2 + South Gate to train station bus 30×2 Tickets: Entrance 185 + Yungu Cableway 75 + small train 100 + Yuping Cableway 85 + shuttle bus 19×2 Guesthouse: 107×2 Meals: Stinky mandarin fish meal for two 92 + clay pot chicken meal for two 155 Miscellaneous: snacks, breakfast, small expenses 100 Total: about 1100 per person —— Random Thoughts ✔West Sea Grand Canyon is beautiful and fun! A must-go!! Although we rushed to Yuping Cableway at the end, we caught a stunning sunset! The strange rocks and ancient pines looked especially gentle. If the morning scenery is like Huangshan in a Chinese textbook, then the evening Huangshan shows its softest side. ✔Go out more, stay longer in places without ceilings. At this moment, we are no longer students or workers; we have no identity. A stranger’s comment, “Young lady, you’re so energetic,” or “Youth is wonderful,” suddenly made me realize how insignificant papers, meetings, and work are in the vast energy field of nature, diluted to nothing. Not making it to Tiandu Peak is a big regret, but I will definitely come back for a second round.