Hiking photos - Zhuangdaokou to the Walled Village, 2011/11/13

From our starting point we could just make out the Great Wall in the distance. Later, we'd be climbing it.

Retranslated, the sign says that it’s forbidden to make fires in the forest.

We followed a paved trail up to the Great Wall.

A view down the valley to the village where we began the walk.

We headed up the wall for a look—some sections were rather steep!

A little further up, the wall was a little less steep – a good spot for a photo opportunity. On the left is Betsy Taylor, our resident naturalist. On this hike, she found quite a few interesting things for us to learn about.

Looking back the other way, we could see the Great Wall winding along a high ridgeline

From the highest point, we could see the Huanghuacheng Reservoir. Later in the day, we took a short climb up the wall on the other side of the reservoir.

On the way to the Walled Village we followed a trail in the valley, with views of Great Wall on the ridgeline behind large chestnut orchards.

In one of the courtyards in the Walled Village we saw black dates being dried on tabletops.

A reflection of a Great Wall tower is seen in the water below the reservoir dam.