Phil had briefed us the night before and claimed this was the most stunning section of the Great Wall that we would see. Unfortunately it was rainy and misty so the views weren't brilliant at first but the cooler conditions were not as punishing as the belting heat so that was a slight comfort. As the sun came up thankfully it broke through enough of the mist to allow us to absorb what would indeed prove to be the most stunning scenery we would see.
Our challenge for the day was to climb up to and down from 12 watchtowers. Both the inclines and declines were extremely challenging as the steps were not as formed as steps can be and the paths were gravelly and crumbling in most parts. I think the toughest sections were the steps that varied incredible in depth, height and width with little warning. Some of them were so high I had to lever myself up with my trusty walking pole, looking back I was lucky I had such long legs :)
This was the day I took the most pictures too as we had several breaks in order for the group to remain largely together. Usually I wouldn't have minded so much but since it was really quite cool after 5 minutes rest we were all really quite cold so resorted to doing start jumps and running on the spot!
After a few hours of stopping and starting the decision was made to cut the challenge short by 3 towers. I was really really disappointed as I believe it would have been entirely possible to complete the challenge and certainly could have been done before the conditions had gotten so bad but with the delays and waits it was necessary to turn back. We were all a bit damp by now and conditions underfoot were certainly a lot slippier so the decision was probably for the best in hindsight. I made the most of the rests on the way down and just took in the scenery knowing that I would most likely never be there again, it was a truly magical day.
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