There is a secret place in Ganzi, Sichuan. The journey is difficult and only a handful of people have ever reached it, but it is fascinating.

Every once in a while, some deep and mysterious niches in western Sichuan will be discovered by some travel friends. Danngling, located in the northern section of the Snowy Mountains in the northern section of the Hengduan Mountains, is also such a place. Over the years, its beautiful photos have amazed the world. However, because it is not on the traditional Western Sichuan Ring Road, the transportation is not very convenient, and the altitude is high. , to truly appreciate its beauty, you need to arrange a full-day hike. So not many people actually set foot there.

It is its mysterious beauty that attracts me. Even though I know the journey is difficult, I still want to see the true face of Dangling.

The entire Dangling Snow Mountain slopes from northwest to southeast, running in a north-south direction. The main peak is Qiangla, which means Beauty and Fairy Mountain in Tibetan. It is 5,470 meters above sea level. It has always been listed by local Tibetans as one of the most beautiful mountains centered in Melbourne. One of the important sacred mountains in the surrounding mountains, we made an appointment with a local driver to pick us up early in the morning. The road to Danngling is really a winding road with deep valleys. We walked along the winding mountain road and passed through scattered mountains. Living in hiding, deep in the mountains of Hengduan Mountains.

The driver is a Tibetan from Danba, his name is Dorje. As soon as I got on the bus, I started chatting with him. Getting to know the locals has been my greatest pleasure in traveling over the years. First, let’s start with driving in the snow. When we talked about the topic that he was good at, Duoji opened up his chat box and told us that the road in the shade of the mountain may be covered with dark ice. You can’t tell it if you don’t look carefully. Sometimes if you accidentally drive on the dark ice, your car will be damaged. It might slip sideways. So we can't drive too fast along the way, especially we have to slow down before turning into a corner...

Duoji seems to be quite interested in my life of traveling around all day long, and the more we talk, the happier he becomes. He originally planned to wait for us in Danling Village to take us back to Jiaju after we hiked down the mountain, but I tricked him into going up the mountain to be our guide. We later learned that outsiders were not allowed to come in as guides in Dangling. It would cost hundreds of dollars to hire a guide from the village. Duoji happened to know the village chief, so he could go up the mountain with us.

This is Dorje’s car. Cheerful Tibetan songs were played all the way in the car, accompanying us all the way to Dangling.

In this mysterious mountain, there is an isolated small village in the vast primeval rainforest-Dangling Village. Passing this gate is the Danngling Nature Reserve. There is a person at the gate to collect fees. If you are staying in the village chief's B&B, you can say hello in advance and this fee will be waived. It is 70 kilometers from Jiaju Zangzhai to Danling Village, but it took a full hour and a half to drive there. This shows that the road is steep and winding, and it is not easy to walk.

Dangling Village has ushered in early winter, and the whole village is covered with snow, making it a vast expanse of white. Danngling Snow Mountain is also the highest altitude snow mountain that the Red Army climbed during the Long March. Many Red Army stone slogans are still preserved in Danling Mountain.

This is also a paradise for outdoor hiking enthusiasts. Today we can finally plunge into the embrace of this outdoor holy land ourselves.

This is the village chief’s home in Danling Village. Most people who hike to Danling stay here. You can rent horses from here to the airport, but the horses can never reach our destination, Huluhai. Moreover, we mainly wanted to take pictures, and riding a horse was inconvenient. Since we didn’t plan to rent a horse, we had a simple breakfast here and then went up the mountain.

Dangling Village is surrounded by uninhabited forests. The small village has only become associated with the world since the 1960s because the country opened the way for the exploitation of forest resources! But in recent years, the country has banned the exploitation of forest resources, and the roads in the small village have become quiet again, and it has regained its original color.

The primeval forest here retains its most natural and primitive features. Even the people of Danba County praised it as "resembling Tao Yuanming's paradise."

Our hiking goal is Calabash Sea. There is an altitude climb of nearly 800 meters from Danling Village to Huluhai, which is 4200 meters above sea level. Before going up the mountain, I could say I knew nothing about it. I didn’t expect the snow to fall so early, so I wore a pair of heavy jackets. CAT work shoes came, and I didn’t even prepare hiking shoes or mountaineering boots.

After leaving the village, we faced a big test. A super large slope was right in front of us. When we looked up, it was at least a kilometer away.

The trails that are usually trampled by outdoor enthusiasts are covered with ice and snow. You can only go up the mountain along the thinly frozen streams. However, if you are not careful, you will step on the ice and break the whole foot. Into the freezing snow water. My feet got wet just after leaving the village. Anyone who has tried it knows the sour feeling of wet socks in the ice and snow.

The most charming season in Danling is the golden autumn season in late October, when the scenic spot is shrouded in charming autumn colors, and the colorful forests all over the mountains and plains will turn even a stone-hearted person into a soft-hearted person. It is now November, and the autumn clothes here have faded away and put on white winter clothes. Only some coniferous forests that are evergreen all year round still stand firm in the ice and snow without changing their expressions.

A horse ran down from the mountain. It was obviously the horse used by people in Danling Village to go up the mountain. There was no one traveling with them on the road at the moment. Duoji told us that we had good weather today. The weather on Tianshan Mountain was so bad that no one dared to come. So I guess there were only three of us along the way.

The sunshine melted the snow on the treetops. Although all that is left now is coniferous forest, it still has some color.

Climbing up to the halfway point of the hillside in one go, I looked back at Danngling Village and took a breather. Climbing on the plateau is really more strenuous than usual. In addition, I was walking on a mountain road with mild snow, so I still lacked experience. Don't dare to rush too hard all at once.

This is really not a place suitable for leisure travel, but an outdoor adventure activity with a certain degree of difficulty. Being as ill-prepared as I was was a false example. I would like to warn all latecomers to be fully prepared, prepare appropriate road meals, and wear hiking boots and outdoor jackets before coming to Dangling. Otherwise, in addition to facing several times the difficulties, you also have to be extra careful. If you fall, the consequences may be quite serious.

From time to time on the road, we saw some birds looking for food in the piles of dead leaves, not paying any attention to our arrival. I don’t know if the people here never bother them, or if they have nowhere to go. Still minding his own business, he lowered his head and looked for food.

As the altitude gradually rises, the snow becomes thicker and thicker. The mountains are covered with snow and are very beautiful. The dark green coniferous forests and white snowflakes blend together, as if this is a fairy tale world.

When enjoying the beautiful scenery, it is still very important to allocate your physical strength reasonably, after all, the hiking here is quite intense. As the altitude increases, the scenery on the mountain becomes better and better. Above the slope is a large flat pine forest. The terrain here is flat and you can take a rest and eat some road meals. From here you can see the snow-capped mountains in the distance. When there is snow, your feet crunch on the snow, leaving pairs of footprints behind you.

Altitude is not the only enemy. From time to time, small rivers block the way. Carrying a heavy set of photography equipment, you have to be really careful when crossing the river.

The aircraft apron is a suitable place for rest during the hike to Dangling. It is vast and flat. It is actually a flat and broad mountain grassland.

The name of the airport is not just because of the openness and flatness here, but because it was actually used as an apron. It is said that the Kuomintang troops took off and landed planes here, hence the name.

The airstrip is very open. We have to cross this grassland. Although the cabin can be seen vaguely in the distance, don't forget the saying "looking at the mountain and running to death". In fact, it is not close. It will take about half an hour to reach the foot of the distant mountain.

The cabin belongs to a Tibetan family. They usually run some simple catering here. We drank a bowl of butter tea and chatted with them for a while. They said that the weather was bad a few days ago and they didn't open a store on the mountain. We were lucky to see them opening a store when we came up today. Moreover, the mountain will be closed due to heavy snow soon, and no one will come in a few days. They will also go down the mountain to take a winter break.

When you get to this sign, even if you rent a horse, the horse cannot get up. The sign says that it takes 20-30 minutes to reach Huluhai. If you believe it, you would be too naive. From here it’s really a steep climb. A road that even horses can no longer walk. One can imagine. Anyway, it took us at least more than two hours to walk on the snow.

This section of the road is the most difficult section of the Danngling climb. At this time, the altitude is already very high and the snow is deep into the calf. Especially on the icy and snowy road with a slope of 50 or 60 degrees, my The work boots were inevitably slippery, and since I didn’t have a hiking pole, I had to use my hands and feet together and rely on the branches on both sides to continue moving forward.

When there is no snow, this section of the road is similar to the usual mountaineering section through dense forests, but this time it is a thick snow-covered road, which increases the difficulty, so you must be particularly careful every step forward. Therefore, this section of the road will take more than an hour and is only a few hundred meters long.

After passing a section of dense forest, we saw an open hillside again. My teammates led the way, but I took photos along the way and walked even slower.

At this time, we found a native dog on the roadside. To be precise, it discovered us. Leading us all the way to clear the way for us. Because it knows we will feed it. At first glance, it seems that the travel companion who usually follows the mountain has a lot of food.

So it kept following us. We didn’t see anyone along the way. It was rare to have a companion, and it was very happy.

Every time I give it something to eat, it always enjoys it.

As we get closer and closer to Calabash Sea, the road becomes more difficult to walk. The stream flowing down from the Calabash Sea flooded the road. The rocks above the water were covered with snow again. I don’t know the depth when walking on it, and I worry about slipping. So every step is taken carefully.

My companion had already arrived at Calabash Sea, and he was so excited that he shouted for me to come up quickly.

The altitude of Huluhai is 4,200 meters. The wind here is very strong, and the reflection from the lake makes it almost difficult to open your eyes.

We obviously missed the most beautiful scenery of Dangling in the golden autumn. The strong wind wrinkled the lake surface, and there was no beautiful reflection. It feels a bit like birds flying across thousands of mountains and people disappearing across thousands of paths.

Don’t look at the bright sun shining in front of you. But it was actually very cold and the strong wind made people very uncomfortable.

The drone I had been carrying finally came into use, and I flew in the Calabash Sea. Calabash Lake is a plateau barrier lake formed after the retreat of Quaternary glaciers. It is shaped like a gourd, a fiddle, or a precious mirror. On the side of Haizi, there are tall and powerful redwood trees. When the weather is good, the lake is clear and calm, with wonderful reflections and strange lights.

There are far more seas in Danling than Calabash Sea. Going further up, there are all kinds of seas, big and small, like pearls scattered in the world. There are more than 30 smoky alpine lakes in Danling, such as Huluhai, Zhuoyongcuo, Macuo, Sianye, and Ayumcuo. They are moraine barrier lakes formed after the retreat of ancient glaciers in the Quaternary Period. and Cirque Lake, while Calabash Lake is only the most accessible and most ornamental lake in Dangling. Halfway up the mountain above Huluhai is Zhuoyongcuo. It takes about 2 hours to travel from Huluhai to Zhuoyongcuo. Zhuoyongcuo is a little-known place. She is a jade hidden in the sacred mountains of Shalaqiang. Her appearance is the best expression for those who come from afar.

Only by using aerial photography can Huluhai and Zhuoyongcuo be included in the shot at the same time.

This is an aerial view of Zhuoyongcuo. After we finished shooting, we descended. The wind in Huluhai was so strong that I was blown to my knees, so if you encounter strong winds, be sure to keep warm. Going up the mountain relies on physical strength, while going down the mountain relies on technique. Especially in snowy mountains, you have to pay attention not only to preventing slipping, but also to protecting your knees. In addition, you get a headache from being blown up there, so going down the mountain is not as easy as going up the mountain.

When we went down the mountain to Danling Village, the sky was getting dark. Duoji drove me out of Danba County along the winding path. I was in a daze all the way due to my high fever. It wasn't until I returned to Jiaju Tibetan Village and turned on the heater that I gradually recovered.