Kung Fu Mountain (武功山 Wu Gong Shan)

I can't stop talking about Wugong shan. This was my last big trip with a group of students before heading home indefinitely. This is before we got tired and sweaty. We are about to ascend to the highest point in Jiangxi Province. 

On the climb up I was overwhelmed by the beauty around me. This trip was so refreshing for me. With 65 lbs. on my back it seemed like my body was crying out to stop but I didn't even care because it was so awesome to be out there in it all. Breathtaking views distracted me at almost every turn.

Here you can see the typical responses to climbing a mountain of the two genders. The climb took us about 4.5 hours and we cheated by taking a lift half of the distance.

As soon as we got to the top we set up camp and pulled out the frisbee for some mountain disc before the sun went down and it started cooling off.

We woke up early to see the sunrise come up over the mountains and it was chilly.

In the clouds!

We took 45 minutes for a retreat of silence 

As we got ready to leave there was a beautiful mix of cloud and Sun that was best captured here with Chase bringing back memories of The Sound of Music.

We descended the second day of our trip which was painful because our legs were so sore from the climb. I ended up literally jogging down the mountain because it hurt so much to stop my weight on every step so I just let it carry me down.

  

One of my best friends in China on one of our last adventures...for now. 

I think this was the best trip I have been on. Perhaps it had been far too long since I had been out in nature. Perhaps it was because the students who went on this trip were really close friends. Perhaps it was the fact that it was a physical challenge. All I know is that this was too short and I want to go back with enough time to wander some of the trails up at the top. I've heard of people hiking 4 days out in this area. Who's with me?