At the end of our 10 day China trip we had an amazing albeit grueling two day hike over 27 kilometers of the Tiger Leaping Gorge in Yunaan Province of China adjacent to Shangrila.

Here we are looking rested and energetic at the start of the hike with our friends Lu Wei and Joshua who traveled with us.

Here’s the scenery as we got underway. It was one of the most stunning places I had ever been to.

    

But now I know why there were no other children on the trail – it was really intense and we were all battling head colds with associated sinus infections which were amazingly about the only illnesses we had in our entire year overseas.

This man with the donkeys for hire dogged Tess like a vulture from the start, having identified what he was sure was our weakest link. Let’s just say that Tess is not a fan of hiking.

We finally relented since our children were exhausted and in tears and hired the donkeys to carry Tess and Finn up the “28 bends.” It is the toughest part of the trail that you come to after hiking a rigorous uphill climb for four hours on your first day.

Louis was seriously dragging due to his illness and I think he may have shed a tear or two himself.  I asked him for a selfie and he was flipping me the bird while we took this one.

Tess was particularly rosy after her donkey ride.

 

It was depressing to see all the trash dumps along the way. Hillside villages hurl their garbage down ravines, and hikers think nothing of contributing as they pass through. Made me proud albeit even more daunted to be consulting for the Plastic Pollution Coalition in the coming months.

Here’s where I went a little Ansel Adams for you.