In preparation for our trip, we buy some fruit, nuts, water and a fake north face backpack. One of the lifts we get from Ganzi to the base of Zuo Da mountain is in a pickup truck with six people in the cabin, and nine (including us) in the rear tray.
Altitude at the beginning of our ascent: 3651m
We realise early on that the path we took is not the one we were directed to by the Tibetan boy we’d met the day before, and are soon making our way through sharp bushes and over rocks that slide down the mountain as we step on them.
Our bag starts falling apart within twenty minutes of starting our climb and we repair it in true Macgyver fashion using a cigarette to burn holes through the straps to tie them together.
After several hours of climbing the non-existant path and almost giving up several times, we make it to a clearing where we decide to stop for lunch (lightening the load of the bag in hopes of having it last the entire trip).
The clearing where we stop for lunch.
After several more hours of climbing, we can see the peak, and as we forgot to bring some celebratory scotch, we decide to have a smoke instead.
Gregor and myself in front of the peak of Zuo Da Shan.
Circumnavigating the peak, we come across a valley and can see mountains so large, their peaks are obscured by clouds.
Valley with mountains behind Zuo Da mountain.
Five hours after beginning the climb, we reach the highest point of the climb, 4821m, an ascent of 1170m. From this point, I take a 360 degree panorama of the view.
The peak of Zuo Da Shan is the peak on the far right of the image, an estimated fifty metres from where we stop climbing.
After admiring the view and celebrating our climb, we begin the journey down following the path we should have taken for our ascent.
On the way down the mountain, we pass numerous yak and horses.
The condition of our bag for most of the trip. One of the straps broke, both straps were separated from the bag and the main zipper also broke, yet somehow the bag lasted the entire trip with Macgyver ingenuity.
At the base of the mountain, we impress some local Tibetans with our story and the photos of the peak while we wait for a lift back.
Our lift back to Ganzi comes in the form of two foreigners (Elyse from France and Ben from Belgium), who’d hired motorbikes for the day.
When we return to Ganzi we decide to have dinner together.
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...mountains so large, their peaks are obscured by clouds. ;^)