Switchback Great Wall Hike

Last week I booked a hiking trip to a part of the Great Wall through Beijing Hikers (http://www.beijinghikers.com/). I am finally starting to feel a bit better which was great news to me because I didn't want to cancel the hike. We departed at 8:00am and traveled 2 hours North-West of Beijing to a section of the Great Wall called Switchback. This section was constructed near the end of the Ming Dynasty.

Our guides were knowledgable and fun. One of them wore a t-shirt for the entire hike, which is ridiculous because it was cold and snowing. He said he has been taking cold showers for 18 years and rarely gets cold! I managed to lose my Buff on the commute to the pick-up point. This doesn't surprise me because I have a tendency to misplace/lose a lot of things. This seniors moment was unfortunate because I didn't take an extra hat with me. Thankfully my hood provided me with enough protection. Maybe I should consider taking cold showers from now on so I don't end up in these predicaments..

The hike was a lot of fun. Everyone was friendly and easy to get along with. It snowed the morning of the hike and the winds were strong. There were several steep ascends and descends with the highest peak being close to 1200m. The snow on the stone made for slippery conditions. A few people fell along the way, but nothing serious. Overall, it was a great route with a lot of variety.

One of the participants was from Halifax and went to STU and UNB. I love those small world experience. She is the first Maritimer I have met since arriving in China.

8.5km later we made it back to the village where we ate a small meal. We piled on the bus and headed back to the city. I will admit that I haven't been doing much in terms of physical activity, so this hike definitely tuckered me out. I slept like a baby :)