Hiking in Kalajun (07): Birthday Song

After taking pictures of the sunset, we calmly walked down the mountain. Just after we went to sleep, some cows or horses ran to the tent to eat grass, but they were chased away by the dragon loudly. There was the faint roar of motorcycles and the neighing of horses on the mountains behind. When I woke up in the middle of the night, the stars in the sky were so bright that I hadn't seen them in many years.

The third day of hiking was my 50th birthday. Only Yangyang knew that when climbing Haba Snow Mountain, I said that I would go on a long route in mid-June, such as hiking in Xinjiang, western Sichuan or Gannan. As soon as the Kalajun event came out I signed up, and she asked me if it was my birthday? I said yes, but don't tell anyone else, I didn't want the whole world to know. Although sometimes jokingly said that I am half a hundred years old, I am the youngest in our group of 5 people, and I am also on the younger side among the group hiking in Kalajun. Before going to bed, Yangyang said, wish me a happy birthday in advance. I said, OK, thank you, let’s have fun together.

I walked out of the tent before 6 o'clock. It was close to the end of the lunar calendar. The crescent moon hung in the mid-air in the east. The morning star was clearly visible. There was another star a little further down, which was not as bright as the morning star. I didn't care about waiting for Longlong and started climbing alone first.

The dew in the morning was very heavy, and the grass blades were densely covered with water droplets. When I put my foot down, a layer of water was sprinkled on the shoes, just like rain. The shoes on my feet have average waterproof performance, I thought. Want bad things. Because it was already very bright in the east, I didn’t care about which grass was deep and which was shallow, and climbed up as fast as possible. Walking halfway up the mountain, I felt like I should take a photo of the moon and the morning star. Although the stars and moonlight were much dim, I could still see it. When I looked back, I saw that Longlong had already climbed a section, and he could take a stroll later. , I waited for a while and found that their speed was a bit slow, and the stroll seemed to have stopped. Today's sunrise has special meaning to me, so I speeded up again and headed towards the top of the mountain.

After crossing the slope change line, the dragons and strollers below the hillside are no longer visible. Around 6:40, I reached the top of the mountain, but I was dumbfounded. Judging from the shape and position of the morning glow, the sun was blocked by the mountain behind the camp (to the north), and the blockage was serious. There was no hope of watching the sunrise from this position. . I hesitated for a moment, and immediately ran downhill quickly towards the ridge in front of me, and then went up another slope, but there was still no angle, and there was almost no time. I then ran downhill and uphill again, and again, I ran downhill and uphill again. Try your best to go south. On the Tianshan Mountain with an altitude of about 2600m, I was out of breath while jogging all the way up. Finally, I reached the top of the mountain for the third time. The sun had just touched the north side of the mountain and the clouds had emerged. It was just right!
In order to take a more comprehensive picture, I walked southward until ten minutes later, when I set foot on the return journey. After I returned to the camp, Longlong told me that you were running too fast. You had run so far and you didn’t see the sunrise or sunset. I said I saw it. The sunrise on this day was really ordinary, not spectacular at all. For everyone, there was really no loss in seeing it. The biggest gain is that I ran a long way south and got closer to the snow-capped mountains. I was able to take more clear photos of the scene of the Jinshan Mountains illuminated by the sun. Maybe my skills were not good enough, so I didn’t have that eye-catching effect.

Snowy mountains and grassland are so peaceful under the morning light. The sunlight shines flatly on the grassland, dyeing it golden. I have always liked yellowish colors. The golden color cast by the sunlight on the grassland makes me even more intoxicated. I am lonely, enjoying this peaceful beauty.
Because there is a mountain in the middle, I don’t know when Longlong and the others went down the mountain. Because they can’t see the sunrise from their place, they don’t need to stay for a long time. In order to save time and energy, I have no choice. Go back to the top of that hill and instead head straight up the slope to the campsite. The dew has completely soaked my hiking boots, and my feet feel as if the uppers will soon be soaked.
From a distance, I saw two people driving a large group of cattle and sheep, one on a horse and the other on a motorcycle, walking toward each other on the hillside. Among them, the man riding a motorcycle was waiting for me far away in the direction of my progress. Maybe he thought it was strange that I was alone in this barren mountain and was wearing such thin clothing. I met a young man in his 20s. I told him that we camped at the bottom of a ditch at the foot of the mountain last night. He also told me that they were in transition and needed to walk for three consecutive days without resting at night. Before going to bed at night, the sound of motorcycles and horses braying in the mountains behind the camp was the result of their overnight journey. There were not many cattle and sheep in their herd, almost all of them were sheep. Perhaps they were the property of one family. When the cattle and sheep saw a pool of water on the grass, they all rushed towards it. It seemed that they also liked water very much.
Saying goodbye to the passing herdsmen, I continued to rush down to the camp. After crossing a ditch, I met another group of free-range horses, also bathed in gold. There was another one flying freely in the sky. eagle.
Maybe many people will think it is worth it. In fact, why do we need to figure out whether it is worth it or not? What you enjoy does not harm other people, and you have the ability to do it, then do it. As for the result , really don’t care about it. The sun was slowly rising, so I just took a few photos while on the road. Then I saw the flowers in the grass. On impulse, I didn’t care whether the dew was on or not, so I lay down on the ground and took a few photos. Good or bad, it doesn't matter. On this particular morning, I wanted to record something more.

Back at the camp, everyone was packing up. Longlong and the others had packed up my tent for me. Yangyang and Yundan also boiled a lot of water and prepared a portion of camellia for me. Yangyang filled a bottle with the remaining The boiling water poured in again, and the pot was full, so that I, a self-proclaimed buffalo, had a full stomach. What a happy feeling. Perhaps happiness is this silent and natural expression of care.
Around 8:30, Longlong, I, and Yangyang set off with the team last. The lack of water in the first two days made me a little scared, so I packed the equivalent of a standard mineral water bottle in my bag. 9 bottles of water. Of course, the thermos must be full. This also depends on my physical strength. In the old style, the team started walking straight away as soon as they set off. We also adhered to the old style. I took pictures slowly in the front, and Longlong took care of Yangyang in the back, and at the same time took some "Dragon Eyes to See the World" photos. In recent years, I have taken more pictures of large scenes and less of small scenes. Perhaps my mentality has changed and I have become much more peaceful, and I like big scenes more.

The dew was still very heavy. Soon after I started hiking, the water finally penetrated the uppers of my shoes and reached the tops of my feet. Soon my socks were completely wet, and the blisters were even more painful. I thought they would burst soon, but I didn’t care. Not to mention those.
After 20 minutes, we reached the top of the first slope. Strictly speaking, this place is not the top of the slope, it is just a slope change point. The slope above has become a little gentler, but it is still going uphill. The person in front just disappeared from the top of the higher and gentler slope, pointing the way for us. The grass in the grassland is very dense and green, but it is not the kind of wind-blown grass that makes cattle and sheep visible. The grass is shallow, usually only a few centimeters high, and even some taller flowers and plants are rarely more than a foot tall. feet.
There was a herdsman on the top of the mountain, riding a horse and driving a group of cattle and sheep. He guessed that he was also rushing to higher summer pastures. He gradually disappeared in the distance and into the embrace of the blue sky and green grass. . Looking back at the place where we camped the day before, it was almost blocked by the hillside. The hillside looked very steep, at least steeper than what I felt when I climbed up. The hilltop where I took the sunrise photo in the morning can now be seen clearly. It was basically the same height as it. He showed Yangyang and Longlong with his fingers which mountain he had reached and how he got there. Longlong pretended to be dismissive. When I turned around and walked forward, he said to Yangyang, "This kid can really run." He and Wan Wan took a look from behind and said, come on, stop chasing.

There are some rocks exposed on the top of the mountain. We have been seeing only green grass for 2 days and no rocks. The rocks have become rare things. We carefully looked at the large and small rocks. From Looking at it from different angles, you can imagine it as different teams, such as lions, sheep, turtles, and camels. It's up to you to play. Whether it's right or wrong, whether others recognize it or not, is just a matter of laughter. However, the flowers around the stone bloom more colorfully and grow taller than other places. We have no idea why, but they bring us laughter.

The scenery on this day was better and more open than the previous few days, and the scenes were larger and more magnificent. Maybe it was because I had seen too much, and I was a little tired of the eyes. Yangyang looked particularly tired due to physiological factors. The team has descended the mountain in front of us, crossed the valley, and started to climb the hillside in front of us. However, the team has also been stretched out, and the time difference between the three of us and the front of the team has not shortened. Not long after climbing up from the valley, we caught up with Yu'er and his wife. We felt that their posture was very poor, but we couldn't help them. We just reminded them to walk according to their own physical strength and not to chase the team beyond their physical strength. Later, From the text written by Yu'er, I learned that they were in super physical condition. Her lover hadn't eaten anything for two days and was almost at the limit of his physical ability. It was really not easy.
I saw a few eagles circling on the top of a gently sloping mountain from a distance. The sun also made me dizzy. I didn’t want to change to a telephoto shot. What I didn’t expect was that there was an airplane flying high. The high ground flew over our area, very high, and looked like a mosquito. There are two houses on the top of the mountain, which should be used by herdsmen to live in while grazing. The roofs are also covered with green grass, blending in with the surroundings. The eagle was circling around the top of the mountain. I thought that the low cliff might be the eagle's nest. I knew that eagles like to build their nests on cliffs. Only that place is suitable. Suddenly, I found that the top of the mountain where the eagle was circling was together with the nest. Another hilltop not far away looked very similar to a girl's breasts, so they asked Longlong and Yangyang to see if they looked like it. Longlong said, "It's just that your thoughts are not pure. I said, I don't have any evil intentions at all." It’s just the magic of nature.

The road keeps going up, but the slope is not big, so it is not very strenuous to walk. A large group of cattle and sheep are grazing on the hillside on the right, scattered for hundreds of meters, but no shepherds or a group of horses are seen. On the left side, I was also grazing leisurely, but I also didn’t see the shepherd. Later, another group of horses ran sideways in front of us. Yangyang was so excited that she ran to chase her, but the position she ran almost blocked my viewing angle. It seemed that she still didn't cooperate tacitly.
When we reached the top of the mountain, the place we were in turned into a wide mountain ridge. On the right hand side were still the snow-capped mountains that had been with us for many days, while the scenery on the left hand side (north) had changed and turned into a long stretch of mountains. The green hills are far away, but you can see clearly that they are trees and not grassland.
On the slope in the direction of the advance, there is a pool of water. It is not big and looks very turbid. Longlong said that he was going to take pictures of reflections of snow-capped mountains. I took a look and doubted whether I could take a picture. I was chasing the team, so I didn’t follow him. Later, he played back the photos to me. It was such a magnificent reflection of the snow-capped mountains, grassland, and blue sky. I regretted it. It turns out that a grand scene does not necessarily require boundless scenery. The venue can be cashed in! But time does not allow me to go back and take pictures, so I can only hope for the rest of the journey. The only gain is that I have learned an experience, or more accurately, a lesson.
Soon, I saw another waterhole, which seemed to have an angle that could capture the reflection of the snow-capped mountains. However, a group of horses descended into the waterhole before me, and my hopes were shattered much faster than they arrived.

A little after 11 o'clock, we reached the highest point of today's trip, about 2900m above sea level, which is also the highest point of this hike. After that, it was downhill, and everyone relaxed a lot. Here, there happens to be a small stone peak, which is very suitable for taking pictures. We can enjoy it either alone or in a group of three or five. From the stone crevice at the top of the mountain to the road, Shan Lan discovered Rhodiola rosea in the stone crevice. She was very interested in plants and could recognize most of the plants she met. This was also the first time I saw Rhodiola rosea. Sedum has very beautiful flowers.
The grass at the foot of the hillside was even more beautiful, and the flowers were exceptionally bright and lush. I simply unloaded my bag and lay down among the flowers to enjoy the happiness. After walking only a few steps, there was a cliff, towering over the grass. It was easy to go up. I asked Yangyang and Longlong to go up and use my wide angle to experience the vastness of the world.
After leaving the highest point, within a short period of time, we met a caravan returning and a ten-member outdoor team from Hebei. Their itinerary was opposite to ours. During the conversation, we learned that their itinerary was more It is suitable for viewing the scenery. The scenery becomes more beautiful the further they walk, but it is more uphill and more tiring.

The road downhill was actually not easy to walk, and the sun was very poisonous and made me sleepy. The scenery became a bit silent, and I gradually lost interest in taking pictures. However, after passing the highest point, it is obvious that there are more people's activities. From time to time, you can see herdsmen's houses, and dogs tied next to the houses barking loudly. The houses are made of logs, which is the same as what I saw a few days ago. Every family is hundreds of meters or even miles apart. After all, it is no longer the no-man's land of the past few days. On the grass in front of a house, we also had a few words with the herdsmen. The herdsmen told us that there is water on the hillside of this place.
I made a special detour to a large water pool. There is a ridge between the water pool and the snow-capped mountains. From here, I can only take pictures of the reflection of white clouds, but the snow-capped mountains are invisible. The water is very turbid, red, that kind of sauce red, and has a foul smell. You can't see this in the photos, but it still feels very beautiful. Therefore, I often say that photos are very deceiving.

Along the way, I drank a lot of water, but I still felt thirsty and sweated profusely. It was also the first time that I covered my head and neck with the hood of my sun protection clothing. Just like that, I still felt sunburned, maybe because I was a little tired.
We hid in the shade of a tree and prepared our lunch, which consisted of two packs of camellia oleifera and a big pot of it. Yangyang said she felt uncomfortable and didn’t want to eat, so she gave me her share. Before preparing lunch, I took off my shoes and socks. My feet were soaked and turned white. I put the socks and shoes in the sun to dry.
The teams had already moved forward separately. Wandering and Yundan took the first step. Longlong and I waited for Yangyang to finish processing before moving on. There were many eagles in the sky, and the shadows they cast on the ground were 2-3 meters wide. I observed it several times and found it difficult to grasp the angle. The sun was too glaring, and I was too lazy to take out a telephoto lens to capture the photo. While crossing a small ridge, several eagles swooped down to the bottom of the hillside. Below, a group of white things could not be seen clearly from a distance. I thought they were eagles holding sheep in their mouths. I changed the lens to a long lens and took a big picture. I didn't understand it for a while. When I came back and enlarged the picture, I realized that there was a dead cow and a group of vultures went to clean up the battlefield.
Yangyang was afraid of delaying the trip, so she left alone without waiting for Longlong and me. When we put away the telephoto lens and chased her, she was already three to five hundred meters away. When we caught up with her, she said She was scared to death. There were so many eagles flying around her. She was afraid that the eagles would bite her. We also disappeared. She felt even more scared, so she walked hard. But I especially hoped that there would be an eagle flying beside me, but I completely missed it. Later, I saw this scene in the photos I took while walking.

Before arriving at Tarim, there was a long flat road. The grass on the road and the people or horses passing by made one, two, or even three paths. The dragon walked behind us, saying that there was a kind of harmony. The feeling of separation after a long time, and the feeling of being together after a long time separation. If I want to shoot this artistic conception later, I told Yangyang, then you can shoot it. It is a common way of the world to separate and reunite, but I prefer it to last forever.
The clouds were constantly changing and there was even a rendition of "Golden Apples". At 4:30, we arrived in Tarim. Xian Xian and Yundan had already ordered food at the farmhouse, as well as a large plate of chicken and beer...
In the evening, we stayed at an inn in Tarim, took a hot shower, and sat next to the inn. In the pavilion on the top of the hill, I ate melon seeds for a while, which was very pleasant.
Tomorrow, there are no conditions for taking pictures of the sunrise, so you can sleep in. All electrical equipment and batteries should be fully charged before going to bed.