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| Stage 4 |
01-Jul-2010 02:58:19 AM [(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi]
Gobi March (China) 2010 |
Hi, I have had an early start at 6 am after we were taken by coaches to a place and head for checkpoint 1 and 2 which is the exact whereabouts of Flamming Mountain. Beautiful sceneries all around although the terrain is full of sand dune - the decision to keep my broken piece of trekking poles has been good and that half piece still helps me a lot in doing those uphills. After a bit of water filling, we headed to the final section which is the never-ending gullies around the desert area - this labyrinth like of trails at the centre of desert seemed to be very hot (over 40C) and I got severe headache after completion. On my way in the gullies I saw an American and Canadian having problems, they were actually having medical treatment at checkpoint 2 but still chosen to continue. I tried to walk faster trying to get help from RtP staff and it took about 30 min before I can find one. Hope those people will be ok. We will be having the Long March (100km) on tomorrow and I need to make sure I have enough sleep tonight. I shall try my best.
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Comments (10)
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| Stages 2 & 3 completed |
29-Jun-2010 09:34:00 AM [(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi]
Gobi March (China) 2010 |
Hi, I finished stage 2 yesterday but could not update my blog because of congestion at the cybertent. Stage 2 was a pleasant one with a lot of beautiful scenaries - we started off having rolling hills and plains. The fact that I broke one of my trekking poles in stage 1 had caused me a bit of trouble on down-sloping as I need to be extremely cautious to making sure I do not break my remaining one. We then passed through a dry river bed and a large canyon and ended up spending another wonderful night on top of a cliff. Stage 2 was comparatively easier - and the weather was much warmer compared with the previous 2 nights. Today we had an early start at 8am, and the terrain is deemed to be moderate and difficult. It's canyon again we have to cross rivers 6 times - and I have to take off my shoes and socks to prevent blisters from developing. It was then followed by a long 11km upsloping through gravels and it reallly hurts the feet. I managed to go along with other tentmates and headed to camp 4 without major troubles. A bit of stockcount - 10 toenails remain intact, with one and a half turning purple. Luckily, no blister so far. We will have a descent to Turpon Basin (Flamming Mountain) tomorrow and I just heard that it is going to be an early start and everybody has to leave camp by 4am and it will take us 3 hours to travel. It's going to be hot tomorrow and the strategy is not to hurt in the first 4 days to pave way for the 100km long march. Will keep you posted.
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Comments (3)
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| Stage One completed but |
27-Jun-2010 08:28:46 AM [(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi]
Gobi March (China) 2010 |
| Hi, Elizabeth and I completed stage one today. The event briefing said stage one is supposed to be moderate but it's even harder than doing hiking at Nam She Tsim (Snake Peak) in HK with your 10kg backpack. I had a bit of of bad luck, and I slipped over from a quite steep slope on the downhill walk and broke one of my trekking poles - now it is a bit difficult to tell if it has any effect on future stages. The backpack is heavy and I've got a bit of backpain now..and some cold too night time it gets really cole, probably 8C with chilly wind around 4am. Tomorrow will be onto high hills and plains - so need to take a good rest tonight. |
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Comments (13)
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| Pre Race |
26-Jun-2010 09:14:56 AM [(GMT+08:00) Beijing, Chongqing, Hong Kong, Urumqi]
Gobi March (China) 2010 |
| We departed from hotel for Camp 1 at 3:30 pm. It took us longer time than expected to reach Camp 1 due to some hiccups - as you may understand, large coaches through those narrow countryside roads and somehow we were trapped in loose gravels / mud. We arrived at Camp 1 at around 8:15 pm, and everybody has been busy preparing for dinner, I had a pack of freeze dried meal (800 kcal) and it was easy to prepare - just put in hot water and within 3 min the food is soaked and ready to serve. The taste is of course awful and now I realise that my wife can actually cook much better food than I thought for the past 17 years and I missed her instant Japanese noodle. I just attended a lesson on how to tape feet to prevent blisters and I'm going to tape mine tmw morning. We will be starting at 9am tmw for the stage 1 - 32km which starts on dusty road before heading up into the hill and plains, and down to Camp 2. The weather is chilly at around 15C and I hope I could have a good and safe start tomorrow. By the way, I still need to trash some of the stuff and it is still very heavy. Anyway will keep you posted. |
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