China - Gongga - Part 4 - The Finale

The next day was one of the best weather days we had so far - which was perfect for viewing the multiple peaks on the way down the valley.



We had to do a little river crossing:


One of the mountains along the chain:




We made one camp, then continued down valley, then back up a side valley to the Gongga Monastery, next to Gongga Mountain - the highest peak in Sichuan.

Inside the Monastery:


Some young monks:


Gongga Mountain as seen from the monastery:


Some other peaks in the area:


We spent 3 nights at the monastery and did a few hikes around the area. I hiked up to over 16,000 feet to get some better views.

Looking down on the monastery from the ridge above:


Looking out west, the monastery can be seen in the bottom center of the picture:


Mr. Yak:


While at the monastary we met up with a couple from Telluride, CO, Peter and Julie. Peter came on a hike with Michelle and I up above the monastery. (While at the monastery we made plans with Peter and Julie to join us on the next leg of our trip.)



We finally left the monastery and headed out over a 15,700-foot pass to get back to the main road system. We met a really cool horseman Bada who helped carry our gear out with a couple horses.

From the pass we got a great view of Gongga Shan.


On the pass with an old Tibetan guy and Bada:


Bada invited us to his home to spend the night, so we accepted. He lived in a really cool old ranch home in the middle of a huge beautiful valley:


Some of the local kids spying on us (the eventually warmed up to us):


A view out Bada's upper deck.


Inside Bada's home:


The next day he took us to the local attraction, a natural geyser and hot springs, with some really cool mineral lakes.
Including this one:


We took the long ride back to Kang Ding that same day. I spent the next couple days retrieving the base camp and then we headed off on our next adventure!