In this day and age, is there still a real "adventure"?
When Motuo became the last county town in China to open a highway, Mount Everest was crowded with people rushing to the top, and the hinterland of the desert became a popular spot for Internet celebrities to check in.
Those real inaccessible places, hidden in the mountains, seem to have been hidden in history, becoming distant legends, only glimpsed in the imagination of novels and movie lenses.
But when I saw the information about the route of the Kashtar Ancient Road, there was no doubt that the expedition existed.
Kashtar Ancient Road is the route of the fourth season of the "Wilderness Project" launched by "Outdoor Adventure", the captain Wang Tienan has been exploring the ancient road in Xinjiang for a long time, and the familiar routes such as the Keriya Ancient Road, the Keriyang Ancient Road, and the Sangzhu Ancient Road have been passed by Wang Tienan in recent years.
Compared with the above ancient roads, the Kashgar Tash line is more mysterious and more primitive and wild. Wang Tienan said that walking on other ancient roads, you can still see the traces of predecessors in history along the way. But here, you can't even see the traces of the ancient road, which sleeps in the depths of the Kunlun Mountains, forgotten by history and forgotten by humans, and the roads are covered with the footprints of snow leopards and rock sheep.
After two explorations in July and October, this ancient road, which had been unexplored for hundreds of years, was finally opened. In the view of the members of the exploration team, the difficulty of the Kashgar Tash Ancient Road can rank first among all the ancient roads in Xinjiang.
In the summer of 2022, Lucy, a hiking enthusiast, received a message from Wang Tienan, "Don't you like to walk? There are still some ancient roads near Kunlun Mountain that have not yet been walked, such as near Kangwaxi, you can check its information." ”
At that time, Wang Tienan was confined to his home due to the epidemic, trying to find an untraveled road, and the area of Kangwasi caught his attention. Lucy checked the information and found that the highway from Hotan to Cornwasi (G580), which is under construction, was built along the historical "Indidash Road".
▲ Overseas Ancient Road Land
Today, the trail is open to traffic, but there is another pass from the southern Kunlun Mountains to Hotan, just northeast of the village of Dahongtan, which was founded in 1865 by W. William Johnson of the Bureau of Investigation. H. Johnson) crossing. Johnson was forced to walk this difficult and treacherous road due to civil unrest on the regular trade route, and after returning from his expedition, he compiled a report on his expedition, which became famous in the expedition world, and this road became known as the Johnson Trail.
40 years later, the British archaeologist Stein followed Johnson's footsteps to Kunlun Mountain, in order to find the Johnson Ancient Road that made him dream, he entered the village of Karanggutag and Nisa twice, and finally confirmed the specific location of the road, but lost all his right toe due to frostbite, and finally failed to walk, and then Johnson Road was unattended for more than 100 years.
It took Lucy three months to translate the expedition report, verifying every town, mountain pass, and river valley, and in the midst of the difficult old English, the ancient roads that had been silent for a hundred years were re-revealed.
After a lot of copywriting work, Wang Tienan decided to go to the field. In July this year, Wang Tienan organized a 15-member expedition to the ancient road, which set off from Nisa Village to prepare for crossing. Because the first village where this ancient road entered Hotan was Kashtar Township, Wang Tienan named this ancient road "Kashtar Ancient Road".
Before setting out, they carefully looked at every river and canyon and every Daban on the map countless times, but when they actually set foot on the ancient road, the danger was still beyond imagination.
The real starting point of the Kashtarsh Ancient Road can be counted from the village of Black Mountain. Black Mountain Village, also known as Karang Gutag Village, is a remote mountain village in the deepest part of the Kunlun Mountains. From here you can hire villagers and donkeys and walk along the pasture roads and cliffs to Pitilek Akiz.
Pitilek Akiz is the last grazing spot in the region and the last place where humans live along the way. Further south, there is a steep mountain road that even a donkey cannot pass.
The road is steep, and the team often has to cut through the steep hillside, next to the abyss, once they deviate from the route, not only will they not go down to the bottom, but there is also a risk of slipping.
The steep road is just the daily routine of exploring unknown routes. In addition to this, in Xinjiang in July, there is an even more dangerous factor - crossing the river.
Xinjiang's rivers are characterized by rapid currents, low water temperatures, and complex river bottoms, with many stones and debris. It is easy to get punctured or swept away by the current when crossing the river without preparation, and there are not many cases of accidents due to crossing the river.
The Birenqiga River Valley is more than 20 kilometers long, with high mountains and deep valleys, and there are many rocks. Viewed from above, the valley is extremely thin and narrow by the towering mountains on either side, meaning that it is difficult to find wide riverbeds and relatively gentle currents. In July, when the temperature is the highest in Kunlun, the melting of the glacier intensifies, and the river begins to rise at 12 o'clock, and the clear river water begins to become muddy, and at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the flood with mud rushes in, and huge stones roll in the river under the impact of the flood and make a rumbling sound.
In addition, although it is an ancient road, it has not been set foot in 158 years, and there is no way to find it in the river valley. The expedition team walked about a kilometer downstream along the river before finding a place where the water was relatively gentle, and it took nearly an hour to cross the first river. However, the risks of crossing the river increased day by day, and they climbed the valley for three days, covering only 8 kilometers.
The road is blocked at the point where the Birenchiga valley stretches to the west, from here the steep gorge is steeper, deeper and more meandering, and the river channel becomes narrower. Team leader Cui Yong took the lead in looking for a way to cross the river, and after a long time of not returning, Wang Tienan went to look for them, and after a while, the remaining team members heard Wang Tienan shouting, "Go back!"
The turbulent river forced Wang Tienan to make the decision to retreat. At that time, photographer Qin Chaoping used a drone to fly a kilometer west along the river valley, and the image showed that the canyon in front of him was extremely steep, and the river water continued unabated, so if you walked forward, you could only walk in the river. After crossing the river, there are two Daban rivers above 5,000 meters, the 16-kilometer-long Harnenwei River and the 27-kilometer Yangpa River waiting for them.
Adventure is not an adventure, perennial in no one to open up a new road, Wang Tienan has a very sensitive judgment system for risk, once you feel that the situation is out of control, you will retreat in time, know the difficulty and retreat, in recent years, the ancient road has been walked twice, "the ancient road is always there, if you don't succeed, you can go again next time, life is always the most important." ”
The first crossing was blocked by the river, so Wang Tienan set the next crossing time for October, when the river began to freeze, the water level was low, and it was easy to cross the river, but the low temperature and deep snow would make the route much more difficult.
In October, the Kunlun Mountains were already snowing heavily, and the members of the expedition team climbed the knee-deep snow with difficulty, looking around, the Kunlun Mountains stretched continuously until they were out of sight. The thick snow was smooth without a single fold, and only the path they had walked formed a snowy trail, showing the footprints of humans.
On October 17, Wang Tienan organized the team to restart the Kashgar Tash Ancient Road, and the number of explorers was reduced to a team of 5 people, with one team member responsible for backup, and only 4 people actually crossed. All 4 members of the team are experienced outdoor players, with an average age of over 60 years old.
This time, they chose to enter from the end point of the first crossing, Dahongliutan, and on the first day, they climbed over the Kashgar Tashdaban at an altitude of 5,855 meters, so that they could return in time if they encountered problems. If you enter from the village of Karanggutag, once you cross the Daban and encounter heavy snow on the mountain, the team will be in a dilemma, which is very dangerous.
This season, the Kunlun Mountains have entered winter, and the temperature in the entire valley has dropped to below zero, and the temperature above 5,000 meters can reach minus 20 degrees. Puffer pants, thickened tents, gas canisters and other supplies needed to be prepared, and the expedition team chose lightweight equipment, and the food only brought sacs, pickles and camel milk powder, and the meat was discarded, and these cold dry food would support them for 8 days and 7 nights. Even with the minimum, the weight of the backpack still reaches 20 kg.
This is a very big challenge to climb over two Dabans above 5,000 meters in Kashtar and Naya Khan Daban, the slopes are quite steep, the snow under your feet is covered with rocks, and wrestling and even slipping are the norm.
As the expedition approached Naya Khan Daban, three huge glaciers lay in front of them, and they had to climb up the rocky slopes on the east side of Daban, because they had wrestled so much that their brand new trousers were scratched by the rocks.
The road to Shimosaka is even more dangerous, as the expedition team has to descend from the ridge to the Birenkiga Ranch (3,850 meters), and the huge moraine on the way is covered with snow-covered rocks. They can only grope slowly with trekking poles, carefully and step by step. The descent was 7.5 kilometers and the drop was 1,390 meters, and they walked for 8 hours.
The altitude is high, the road conditions are complicated, and it is normal for the team members to go to exhaustion. When he was about to walk out of Naya Khan Daban, the team photographer Lu Jun was already exhausted, and when the other members retreated to the end, they watched him sit down from a distance, and after resting for a while, he got up and sat down again, and then another member of the team vigorously turned back and picked him up.
Lu Jun once climbed Mount Everest, and when he took him down, he said, "I have never climbed a mountain in my life, and I have never been unable to walk." ”
They had planned to cross Naya Khan Daban in one day, but the journey was more difficult than they had imagined, and it was nearly dark before they reached the top. The steep slopes made it impossible to set up camp, so they had to leave the predetermined route and climb along a slope to the east of the ridge, which was 5,240 meters above sea level, higher than Naya Khan Daban (5,115 meters).
It is dangerous to camp on a ridge above 5,000 meters, and the nights are so cold that their lightweight tents are completely unsupportable when the wind blows. But when they reached the ridge, the sun had already set, and the snow was so deep that they could not move a single step, so they had to break the routine and camp on the ridge.
There was no water on Daban, so they melted some water with snow and hastily ate a few mouthfuls of sacs. This is also their daily food, because they do not bring enough gas, they usually boil a pot of hot water in the morning, and then have to drink cold water. Lu Jun already had symptoms of high reaction at this time, and Wang Tienan also drank some goat milk powder that night to replenish his strength, and he couldn't swallow a mouthful of food, which also caused Shisaka's physical strength to be exhausted the next day.
At night, the temperature in Dasaka reached minus 20 degrees, and they all wore down jackets and down pants and got into their sleeping bags, but it was still quite cold, and their bodies couldn't stop shivering after lying down, and they couldn't recover until the second half of the night.
At night, Wang Tienan has been worried about the mountain wind, as soon as the wind comes, their lightweight tent will definitely not be able to withstand the attack of the strong wind, so they are so confused until dawn, fortunately the wind did not come. But on the north side of the ridge is a steep glacier covered with 50 centimeters of snow, which is in danger of avalanches at any time. As soon as the day dawned, they didn't care about breakfast, so they could only retreat quickly.
Because the journey was so difficult, many times they could not find a suitable camp, so they had to camp on a dangerous ridge, and the conditions were very difficult. So much so that when they arrived at the Birchenqiga pasture, they camped on the meadow, and at night it was minus 10 degrees, and they could faintly hear the wolf howling in the distance, but lying on the soft meadow, they all felt that it was the warmest and most comfortable night they had ever spent.
Along the way, the team members have never let go of their hanging hearts, and the most important thing they think about every day is how the journey is today and how to ensure safety.
In such a deep mountain, once an accident happens, there is no way to rescue. The rescue team had to wade through mountains and rivers, and it was difficult to get people out, even if it was a helicopter, it could not hover over the narrow terrain of the canyon. This psychological pressure has been hanging over the players.
On their first day on the road, they had an accident. When crossing the Kashtar Tashidaban, the team members vigorously showed symptoms of high reaction, and when they arrived at the camp, they had a splitting headache, they didn't drink any water, and they fell asleep in the tent. Unable to continue the retreat that day, they were forced to camp in the snow at 5,100 meters.
If Dali did develop mountain sickness, they would have to return with Dali to climb over a 5,800-meter mountain, which is almost impossible. That night, Wang Tienan looked at the way back, Kashgar Tashi Daban stretched, so high, as if in the sky, he felt hopeless. Fortunately, the next day, they recovered vigorously, and they were able to move forward.
After crossing Naya Khan Daban, the trip was already halfway through. Wang Tienan asked the rescue vehicle that was picked up at Dahongliutan to wait for them at the end of the line, Karangtash Village, through a satellite phone. This means that there is no way for them to return at all. At this time, we also made up our minds, and there was no way back but to continue to move forward. Wang Tienan said.
In the Kunlun Mountains in winter, although the temperature has dropped below zero, the river water is not completely frozen. The Kashtar Ancient Road passes through many river valleys such as the Yangpa River Valley, the Harenwei River Valley, and the Birenqiga River Valley, and the team members spent 6 days wading in the water during the 8-day trip.
Since they had been wading through the river non-stop, they didn't even have time to take off their wading shoes, so they had to throw them away and cross the river directly in hiking shoes. As a result, their shoes were wet every day, and in the morning they were frozen as hard as popsicles, and it took half an hour to slowly roast them until they could be put in.
In winter, the river water is cold and biting, the water is knee-deep, and after walking in the water for a long time, the legs have become numb, and the slightest carelessness will fall into the water.
The hardest part was through the Birenqiga Valley, where they returned in July. In winter, the temperature of about -10 degrees Celsius caused a thick layer of ice on both sides of the river, and the stones washed by the water were also covered with a thin layer of ice.
However, the bottom of the river is not flat, and the drop is relatively large. The old pirate of the team accidentally stepped on the air and fell into a two-meter-deep pool while wading through the water, and he quickly unloaded his bag before climbing up from the pool. But all the clothes, gear, sleeping bags were wet. At night, I can only change into my teammates' dry clothes and sleep in a sleeping bag with water vapor. The fall also caused the old pirate to fracture his tailbone, which has not yet healed.
On that day, three of the four players were injured. Wang Tienan sprained his ankle while climbing a big rock, and after falling hard, his ribs hit the big rock, but his ribs were cracked, and he could feel pain when breathing. The next day they took Fenbide for pain relief and then continued to walk, the instructions were to take 2 tablets in 4 hours, and they had to take 2 tablets every 2 hours. The 14-kilometer journey took two days.
Another dangerous aspect of the valley is the rockfall. The valleys on both sides are quite steep, and the sound of falling stones can be heard when wading through the water. When I crossed the Birenqiga Valley, I was injured on the first day and could not move forward, so I had to camp in a place where there was a risk of falling rocks. At night, they could all hear the clatter of stones rolling down the mountain.
Fortunately, the Birenqiga Valley is the last checkpoint, and then you will pass the camp of Pitilek and then cross the Hakhal Daban to reach the mouth of the ditch in the village of Montenegro. When he crossed the last Daban, Wang Tienan said to the team, "We are safe." ”
As they crossed the Yampa River Valley, the team traveled eastward along the Yampa River, discovering four human-inhabited ruins under a large rock face along the way. There are stone houses with stoves in them, and the traces of smoke on the rock walls are obvious. Not far from the ruins of the house, there are also two burial mounds and two pieces of stone more than one meter high standing on the head of the tomb.
These monuments stand quietly here, bearing the imprint of a long time, and it tells us that the Kashgar Tash Ancient Road exists. British explorer Johnson and his entourage were not the first expedition to cross this ancient road, and the ancestors of the Hotan area had already left their footprints on this ancient road.
Compared with other hiking routes in Xinjiang, the scenery of the Kashgar Tash Ancient Road is slightly desolate, surrounded by countless snow-capped mountains and glaciers, and there is no end in sight.
But compared with the scenery of green mountains and green waters, Wang Tienan loves this sense of vicissitudes and desolation, because it always reveals a mysterious atmosphere, and walking into it is like a dialogue with the distant past and history.
Now, with the development of transportation, there are fewer and fewer ancient roads like Kashtar that have not been walked, but the stories and spirits of the explorers who have walked into the ancient roads will always remain.
Overall Crossing Situation:
The expedition team only walked a part of the Kashtar Ancient Road and the Hotan area, a total of 110 kilometers. There are a total of 6 members of the crossing team, of which Lucy temporarily withdrew due to family affairs, team member Qin Chaoping was supported in the periphery, and the remaining four expedition members, led by Wang Tienan, Liu Zhanlin, Liang Xinde (vigorously), and photographer Lu Jun entered the mountain from Dahongliutan on October 18, 2023, and went out of Heishan Village, which lasted 8 days and successfully crossed the Kashgar Tash Ancient Road.
Climate of the trail:
The climate of the Kunlun Mountains is divided into two seasons, July enters the summer, the temperature in the valley below 4,500 meters is above zero, and the temperature in the mountains is higher in July and August, and the melting of glaciers intensifies, causing the river to swell and become impassable.
In October, the temperature in the valley drops below zero, and the river begins to freeze, reaching minus 20 degrees Celsius above 5,000 meters.
Crossing schedule:
Day1: Climb over Kashtar Daban (5855 meters above sea level), walk 8.46 kilometers, gain 500 meters above sea level, descend 750 meters, and camp on the ridge at night.
Day 2: Crossing the Yampa River Valley, wading continuously for 14.7 kilometers in one day.
Day3: Continuing eastward along the Yampa River, the continuous climbers ran out of energy and failed to reach the foot of Naya Khan Daban as originally planned, and camped near the exit of the Haenwi River Valley, covering 9.71 kilometers that day.
Day4: Climbed over Naya Khan Daban (5,115 meters above sea level) and camped on a nearby ridge (5,240 meters) due to the team's physical exhaustion.
Day 5: Descent from the ridge to Birenqiga Ranch (3850m), 7.5 km, 1390m drop, camped at Biringchiga Ranch and spent the most comfortable night.
Day6: Crossing the Birenqiga River Valley, he walked only 8 kilometers due to injuries to his teammates and set up camp at a place where there was a risk of falling rocks.
Day7: Crossed the Birenchiga Valley and arrived at Camp Pitilek.
Day8: Leaving the Pitilek camp, it took 8 and a half hours, 13 kilometers to travel, crossed the Hakhalk Daban, and arrived safely at the ditch mouth of the Black Mountain Village through the Pausati Ranch.
In order to introduce the story of this expedition to you in more detail, "Outdoor Adventure" will hold an offline sharing session of "Wilderness Project" in Beijing on December 16, and Wang Tienan, the representative of the routing team, and the initiator of Wilderness Project will come to the scene to share the story of this journey, and I hope you will continue to pay attention.
If you are interested in participating in the offline sharing session, please send a private message to the editor to pre-register.