Travel notes related to Shennvxi

Exploring the cliff-there is no road here, so the villagers who walk in front have to cut a "road" with firewood knives.

/kloc-In the Three Gorges in October/February, the north wind hunted and the wind crossed the river, raising cold water mist and stabbing it in the face. This is not the season for traveling, but entrusted by my friend, I braved the cold wind to shoot in Goddess Creek. There are four cameras, a lot of lenses and heavy tripods, knives, medicines, winter clothes, long ropes, fishing gear and cookers in the high backpack behind me ... just like moving.

Our plan is to go deep into the upper reaches of Goddess Creek by land, and then go down the river by rubber boat. There are few people around Shennvxi and there is no ready-made road, so I invited two local villagers as guides. Early in the morning, with the morning fog, we set out from Qingshi Town and went upstream along the Goddess Creek. The river is full of steep rocks, so we can't go anywhere. We can only walk on the mountainside hundreds of meters away from the river. The mountainside is not easy to walk, and the trees are dense, so the villagers who walk in front have to cut a "road" with firewood knives. I carried a heavy bag on my back and stepped on a shallow heel, and soon I was sweating like a pig. Very easy to find a gentle place to sit down and rest, look around, only to find themselves in a dazzling red. That's the red leaves in late autumn. Looking down, the Goddess Creek twists and turns like a ribbon between the peaks.

The weather in the middle of winter is changeable. It was sunny just now, but it turned cloudy in the blink of an eye, so we had to speed up our trip. The dense jungle is almost impossible to move, and people at this time have lost their usual heroic spirit. Everyone walked silently and difficultly through the mountain stream with no road and climbed the dangerous cliff again and again.

There are also two engineers from Inner Mongolia Architectural Design Institute. The guide leads the way and I'll take care of the rear. There is a steep cliff ahead. Everyone began to rub forward carefully, and one person, two people and three people passed safely. I adjusted my backpack to climb the cliff, only to find that the engineer in front stopped in the middle of the cliff. Everyone passing by shouted and gestured at me, asking me to give him a hand. This cliff is about 5 meters long, and below it is a deep rock stream of several hundred meters. I approached the engineer slowly, only to see his hands shaking and his face pale. Sweat on his forehead fell straight down, and the cold wind blew his hair in a mess. It turned out that when he passed by, he didn't mean to look down. This is an abyss of several hundred meters. Goddess Creek looks like a thin white line. I had to tell him not to be nervous, let the person in front hold his left hand, and I grabbed his back at the back and escorted him through with difficulty.

However, at this moment, my trouble came. Just where he stopped, a prickly plant, commonly known as "the ox king thorn", hooked my camera vest. My toes stand on a rock wall less than 5 cm wide, and the place where my hands climb is only 3 cm wide. If I'm not careful, I'll fall to the bottom and break into pieces. I carefully released one hand and had a hard time pulling out the thorn that caught my clothes. Everyone cheered when I passed smoothly. I sat down feebly and looked at the foot of the mountain. I really feel like I've passed through the gate of hell.

The rest of the journey is more difficult. We stopped and walked all the way. When it was getting dark, we arrived at the first day's destination-Jingtanfeng Power Station. Once the nervous mood is relaxed, the sense of fatigue will sweep through, and before we can savor it, we have fallen into a deep sleep.

Save from adversity-despair, roaring streams, biting winds, deadly cliffs three meters away. ...

Early in the morning, I was awakened by the singing of birds outside the window, so I quickly picked up my camera and went out. As soon as I went out, a strange peak came into view. Because it is backlit, I can only see its profile, and the vivid one is Chairman Mao's profile portrait. I was secretly surprised when the stationmaster of the power station came over and asked me with a smile: "This is the Great Man Peak. Do you think it looks like it? " His words brought me to my senses. I quickly set up a tripod and photographed this magical mountain.

The sky is getting brighter, but the fog around it is getting thicker and thicker.

The plan for this day is to drift along Fairy Creek and shoot the scenery along the way. Before we set off, we packed our drifting equipment: two rubber boats and two tents. According to my past experience, I have prepared some homemade equipment that I may use: three thick branches more than four meters long. Later experience proved that these preparations almost saved our lives.

Ready to sail, and then look back at the hazy mirror altar peak, we set off. With the swift current, the boat carried us to the depths of the mysterious goddess stream.

Because it is inaccessible, the canyon maintains relatively primitive vegetation. The dense trees on both sides of the river are lush, and the rock wall by the stream is covered with many yellow Lycoris flowers. I sat at the front end of the rubber dinghy, absorbed in the situation ahead, and had little time to enjoy the beautiful scenery in the canyon. The sound of the water is getting louder and louder, and gradually becomes a roar.

Suddenly, I found a steep cliff about ten meters in front of us! The swift current is carrying the boat at full speed, and I realize that it will be very dangerous if I don't stop the boat and dock at once. I called my companions and pushed them into the water with thick branches prepared in advance. However, the current is too fast and the bottom of the water is extremely smooth. No matter how difficult it is, the ship is drifting hopelessly forward.

When the cliff approached, I broke out in a cold sweat and felt my heart in my throat. Extremely nervous, I lost my original composure, picked up branches and plunged into the bottom of the water at random, shouting: "Quick! Come on! Steady! Steady! " In the panic, the boat finally stopped about three meters from the edge of the cliff. Let's calm down. You look at me, I look at you, knowing that the situation is still very dangerous and we must find a way to land.

As the most experienced person in my field, I thought I should calm down so as not to affect the morale of the army, so I looked around for ways to escape. Because the people at the stern and I both supported the boat with branches, we had to ask the companion sitting in the middle of the boat to take out the long rope prepared in advance, tie a ring similar to the harness at the top, and then look at a protruding rock on the rock and throw it hard. Maybe I was too nervous, I didn't get caught the first time, the second time, the third time, the fourth time ... I felt my hands supporting the branches start to shake, I was almost exhausted, and my partner who threw the noose hadn't trapped the rock yet.

Despair flooded, roaring streams, biting winds, and deadly cliffs three meters away ... I kept telling myself to calm down, then calm down. Suddenly, I remembered why not use the remaining branches. So I asked my partner in the middle to tie the lasso to the thick branches so that the branches could get stuck between the rocks. Another throw, this time finally succeeded!

At that time, I didn't even think about it. In fact, it is even more dangerous. If he throws the branches over without blocking the rocks, the branches will be washed away by the rapids and we will be taken off the cliff.

Everyone grabbed the rope together and slowly approached the rock wall. When they got ashore, they found that everyone's hands were soaked with blood beads. Walk slowly to the edge of the cliff and have a look. Oh, my God! The drop here is more than ten meters high, and there are many rocks inside. If you really slide in, there is almost no chance of survival.

Trace of Jedi Wolf Warriors —— It's dangerous to take out a flashlight and see a pair of eyes with faint green light watching us drifting in the Goddess Creek in the dark forest. A few years ago, the director of the county transportation bureau died while investigating the drifting of the Goddess River. However, no matter how many unpredictable dangers lie ahead, we have no choice but to drift downward. After resting on the shore for about an hour, everyone cheered up and moved on. We wrapped all the equipment in plastic bags and tied it to the rubber boat, put the boat down with a long rope, and then people climbed down from the rock wall. When you get to the gentle place below, take a rubber boat and continue to drift down.

I often shoot in mountainous areas and know many plants, but I haven't seen many species here. Although it is winter, the two sides are still lush. After drifting through the rapids, there is a valley with a gentle current. The stream is clear and transparent as glass, with a water depth of about three meters. Gravel as small as sesame seeds can be clearly seen at the bottom of the river, and countless small fish swim around in the water. At the junction of the shore and the water, the long dark green moss floats in the water like jade gauze. I only feel that I am walking in the painting, thinking that the scenery of the gods is so much.

Sometimes, traces left by ancient glaciers can be found on the shore and beside the water. They vary in size, but their inner walls are as smooth as mirrors. According to legend, they are the bathtubs where the twelve sisters of the goddess bathe, only twelve. There is a stalactite like a relief on the rock wall, and one of them looks like a naked woman standing on the rock wall vividly. I guess it must be the goddess.

Further on, we came to an open place. We docked the boat and decided to camp here. Set up the tent, and my companions and I will collect firewood. The river is full of dry trees, the size of a washbasin.

After dinner, the sky gradually darkened, leaving one person to watch the fire and others to take turns to rest. I was lying in a cold tent, shivering with cold, and it was useless to cover my down jacket. Tossing and turning, I couldn't sleep, so I got up and sat by the fire to keep warm and chat with two other companions. It was dark all around, except for the sound of running water, which was horribly quiet. Suddenly, the stone rolled down the hill from the other side of the river, and we were very nervous. We took out our flashlights and saw a pair of eyes staring at us with faint green light in the dark Woods. A companion was frightened and his voice trembled. I told him not to be afraid. Judging from my experience, it won't be any fierce beasts, because the ecological environment here is deteriorating year by year, and those beasts have basically disappeared. But in fact, I have been playing drums in my heart. No one can tell. There may be wolves. Fortunately, our camp was chosen on a prominent rock in the middle of the river, which was relatively safe. In addition, with fire, wild animals dare not invade rashly. However, I still warn you to prepare machetes, sticks and other weapons in case of accidents.

Just stick to it until dawn. When the east turned white, two companions fell asleep by the fire because they were too tired. I didn't wake them. I went fishing by the water with fishing gear. The bait is ground beef jerky. When they woke up, the delicious fish soup had been cooked.

End of movement

After breakfast, continue to set out. Taking photos along the way, all kinds of peaks and rocks are "films".

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, we finally drifted all the way back to Qingshi Town.

The familiar goddess peak appeared before my eyes again. Looking back, Fairy Creek is still flowing briskly, but it feels like a lifetime ago.