4 miles of hiking • 0' elevation gain •
During National Day (Chinese, one week off) my friend and I headed to western Sichuan, China to test out my new camera (Canon 50D, with 17-40mm) and avoid boredom. We left the town of Moxi, and rode the tourist bus for one hour up to the trailhead/cable-car. We chose to walk (the cable car will take you to a bluff with some Buddhist building and viewing pavilion, not accessible by foot). Moderate uphill through temperate forest very similar to western Washington and Oregon. After passing a viewing platform you head downhill a short way until you step onto Hailou Valley Glacier. It is continually swarming with Chinese tourists. You can rent a traditional minority outfit to take pictures in. The footing is often slippery. You are only permitted to ascend, maybe, 200-300 yards. After that the crevaces become treacherous: tall, steep, narrow ledges. If the clouds clear out, you can see the mountains ahead. But, the best view of the cascading upper glacier can only be seen by taking the cable-car.
Another valley heading north back to Kangding (capital of the prefecture or county) has rugged crags from which a river of red covered rocks (algae, or other nitrogen creating life, I think).
