Sept 1, 2011 进山了！Start hiking

王雷

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王雷

Sept 1, 2011
Start hiking 进山了！
9月1 日 从聂拉木3700米到4000米营地9月2日 从4000米营地到4700米营地从北京到加德满都到聂拉木，在城市间穿梭了一周后，我们终于迈开双腿进山了！在这之前，我没意识到我们的队伍其实有多么庞大。当我得知我们要用60头牦牛把物资运到大本营（最后又有些后续物资要运进来，最终演变成了85头牦牛和30名赶牦牛的），着实吃了一惊。虽然就攀登队伍来讲，我们才4个人，但我们同时还要带20名汕大的师生一起到大本营进行野外探险生活的培训。同时，还有11名摄影团队将跟随学生团队记录他们的学习体验过程。对于这些学生和摄影团队，不仅登山生活对他们来说是新鲜的，这样的高海拔对他们来说也是全新的经历。要保障他们的安全，我们不得不需要一支十人的协助团队帮助组织管理这样大的队伍。第一天还比较轻松。从聂拉木到4000米的营地，只有3小时的轻松路程。到达营地前要过一条河，算是这段路上最有意思的一段了。河水好急啊，两条金属板做成的小桥摇摇晃晃挺恐怖的，感觉好像人要被水冲走了。第二天要辛苦多了。700米的海拔爬升对多数人来说都不是轻松的，不要说还要在这样的海拔上走上6、7个小时。最开始的300多米爬升就是爬我们营地背后的那个陡坡，然后是漫长的缓缓的爬坡。最后几个小时开始下雨，因为我们走入了积雨云当中了。在山里，几乎每天下午都是这样。虽然今天的行程很辛苦，学生团队保持了整齐的节奏。到达营地时，虽然大家都挺累，大家依然积极地参与营地的建设。由于下雨和牦牛们的小脾气，一些宿营的装备出了偏差，大家依然很团结、态度积极地一同解决问题。摄影团队们也很辛苦。不仅要跟着大部队适应海拔，还要关注镜头。不管学生们是在行进还是在休息，他们都要忙着工作。本人状态很好。毕竟到过高海拔好几次了，身体是有记忆力的，所以很快就能适应。

Sept 1, 2011 From Nyalam 3700m to 4000m Camp

Sept 2, 2011 From 4000m Camp to 4700m Camp

Finally, after nearly a week of traveling from city to city, we started hiking!

It didn’t come across my mind before that how huge a team we actually are. I was shocked to learn that we actually need 60 yaks to carry our bags to base camp (and it later evolved into 85 yaks and 30 yak men total as a more stuff need to be sent up later). Though this is almost the smallest climbing team I have been on with only 4 climbers, we are also taking 20 students and faculties from ShanTou University to base camp for experiential learning. Accompanying the student group, there is a filming crew of 11 to document their learning experience. To manage such a big crowd of people who had no previous experience in mountaineering and have never been to such high altitude, there is a support group of 10 who would help organize the huge logistics details and supervise the student group and filming crew.

The first day is an easy day, just three hours easy walk along the valley to our first camp at 4000m. It’s just after the river and at the foot of a steep uphill. The river crossing was an interesting one. The water was running so rapid that I felt like I would be washed away while making my steps across the simple bridge made of two pieces of narrow metal plate.

The second day is a hard one for many people. 700 meters of elevation gain is quite a lot in one day for normal people, and 6-7 hours walk at such an altitude is quite a challenge for many people. Half of the elevation gain is to go up that steep hill behind our campsite, followed by a long walk on the high plateau with gradual elevation gain. It started raining during the last couple hours as we walked into the rain clouds typical for an afternoon in the mountains. The student group handled the long and hard day pretty well. They kept a good pace as a team and arrived mostly in good energy to help setting up the camp site. Even though some of the camping equipment got messed up during yak transportation and rain, students still coped with the imperfection impressively well. The filming crew also worked really hard. Just managing oneself at high altitude is already a lot work, not to say try to focus your mind on the lens and the shooting objects. They need to be in working mode at all times, when students are walking, when students are resting, even  when they may be feeling pain of altitude themselves.

Having been to high altitude enough times that my body remembers how to handle it well.  So far it has been pretty easy for me to feel ease at each camp.

在花园中行走徒步进山的一路就像走在花园里。远远看来，满山就是一片片的草地和花的海洋，令我不忍心下脚，只能小心地择步，尽量少踩那些让我心动的花儿。每当我把镜头对准一朵花时，就发现旁边的一朵更美，然后那边还有一朵更美的，令我干脆趴在地上别起来了！这里实在就是一个植物园。我一次次地惊叹在小小的一块地皮上能发现多少种不同的植物！试试你能在我的照片里（有几张特意照的是很多种植物在一起）找到多少品种？而且，高寒地区的花儿在为适应环境长成其独特的形状时，还不忘了各具夺目的灿烂颜色，他们真是很懂得时尚的！据当地人说，叫不出名字的花就叫格桑花。我真希望自己是植物学家，而不必带着惭愧地都叫它们格桑花。在视觉盛宴的同时，这一路也是嗅觉的享受。有几种植物的芳香气味特别强烈，在我不经意时，一阵阵地扑来，提醒我时时感激它们的存在。这段进山的路还有一点特别就是独特，就是没有游客的踪迹。相比于珠峰，爬希夏邦马的就少多了，特别是南坡。这一路上，我们就是唯一一支队伍。一路上，没有村庄，没有居民，除了偶尔看到放牦牛的，几乎没有人迹。像一位学生谈感想时提到，我们自私地希望这座山永远不要变成旅游胜地，让大自然永远保持其本来的美丽。

The beautiful walk

The hike has been like a walk through alpine gardens for the past couple days. What looks from far away just some beautiful grass land is actually a botanic wonderland
that I often even felt guilty to put my step down. Once I started to aim lens at one follower I noticed, I would immediately discover many more next to it that I found myself glued to the ground. It’s amazing just how many varieties of plants you can find in one small patch of soil.  Try to see how many varieties can you find in my pictures! Alpine followers are also surprisingly colorful and they adapt to the environmental challenge with their unique shape. I realized that I have never looked into alpine plants with so much detail and was so impressed with their surviving skills. I felt like becoming an botanist on this trip.

Not surprisingly, so many followers are not only a feast for the eyes, but also a luxury enjoyment for the nose. The refreshing smell from some special plants comes from time to time that reminds me of the smell of sierra deserts. Comparing to the dusty trail on the way to Everest base camp, the lush greenness on this trip is such a treat.

Another factor that makes this trip very different is the non-existence of tourist traffic. Comparing to Everest, Shishapangma is a much less climbed mountain and the south face is even less so.  As the only group going toward the south face, we had the whole mountain to ourselves. There is no village, no residence, and barely any human trace for the whole way except occasional yak herds. As one of students said, we selfishly hope this mountain will never become a tourist spot so we could keep the beautiful mountain as it is forever.

frankie123

美景不胜尽收眼底，祝此行平安