Fellow Virtual Travelers and Historians,
Happy May Day! The month of May brings the hope of life blossoming and new beginnings! It is celebrated in the U.S. and in China it's a national holiday.
Our last email detailed the incredible cableway ride up to the West Peak of Huashan (including raw footage of some of the cable car ride):
http://www.sacredmountainodysseys.com/blog/2017/4/1/huashan-cableway
This month, we continue on that journey to see more details of our day on Hua Mountain in October 2016. According to the Garmin Trek, in 3 hours and 45 minutes, we hiked 2.3 miles on Hua's West and East Peaks. Our ascent was 986 feet with an overall descent of 1003 feet.
Here is an overview of the territory we covered on Huashan (zoom in and out to get a sense of this huge mountain):
Huashan's granite peaks, slopes and cliffs are as old as time itself. Its inaccessibility and treacherous nature served the purpose of the hermits who wished to pursue their lives with no interference from external forces.
Monks and martial arts practitioners living on Huashan over the centuries, developed training that is as unique and challenging as it is to be on the mountain itself. Powerful, fluid movements, high strikes, low strikes, and majestic poses that showcase the nature of this ancient enclave.
We discovered on our first research expedition in 2002, that the martial arts of Huashan had already been lost in China. Hua Mountain has become a religious sanctuary (and tourist trap) and the knowledge of ancient martial arts forms like the "Roads of Hua" have long been lost. We have not been able to find any martial arts schools on the mountain, or in the town of Huayin City (at the base of the mountain).
While our U.S. Kung Fu schools teach martial arts forms that were developed on Huashan, there is very little information about Huashan's martial arts online. This clip is the closest we could find although it is more of a gymnastic art, not a martial art and the moves do not match our forms:
In spite of the loss of martial arts knowledge, there are still colorful legends to document. For example stories surrounding:
Lao Tzu's Pills of Immortality
Dr. Hua Tuo - the great physician
General Kwang Kung
The Chess Pavilion
As you enjoy the included photography, imagine performing moves from the YouTube video mentioned above, in some of these locations!
HuaTrek - This is the raw GPS data we gathered on our GPS watch. Data points 1250 - 1921 represent the hike on the mountain. The orange route is our hiking trek.
Our Day on Huashan
The Garmin Huashan trek overlaid on GoogleEarth. Mapping the GPS data to the online GoogleEarth service shows the diverse terrain we covered that day.
Windswept Huashan plateaus. Even the trees develop a toughness, in order to survive on this mountain. Life up there isn't easy, even if you're a tree.
The West Peak cornice with the plains and Huayin City in the distance. In 2002, after spending the night on the mountain to capture the sunrise, Dennis (and others on that expedition) walked to and sat atop the cornice on West Peak. The cornice is the middle peak in this photograph. Beyond that you can see the plains where Hauyin City spreads out.
Zoomed in on the precipitous West Peak cornice. Zooming in on the cornice precipice, Dennis didn't realize until later, the potential danger he had been in, hanging out on rock that looks like it could break away at any time.
One of the hundreds (probably thousands) of bold and craggy outcroppings on Huashan. Step after step for thousands of steps, a hiker will come across views of bold and craggy outcroppings. To be on this mountain truly makes one realize just how small we human beings really are.
A distant view of the Chess Pavilion on Huashan. This location pays homage to a legend that is unique to Huashan. We've posted pictures of this pavilion before. Find the roof top along the edge of the closest mountain and follow the rim down and to the right. Atop the next plateau is the Chess Pavilion.
Reaching out with the camera lens to 'touch' the Chess Pavilion. It is still a long ways away! In this photograph you see both the building above and the pavilion below. While we ourselves have not been out to the pavilion, we know people who have. The report is that the 'path' to this piece of legend is highly dangerous, at best. One's sense of balance had better be pretty good!
From lofty heights, looking down on Huayin City at the base of this famous mountain. From one of the plateaus, glimpses of the city below can be seen through the humid air.
Some of the raw, stark and wild beauty of this granite gem called Huashan! The raw and stark beauty of this mountain never ceases to amaze us.
Thanks for visiting Huashan with us - this is Dennis' favorite sacred mountain!
Blessings,
Dennis & Anita