Big Black Mountain to the Walled Village, 2016/3/13
18 photos from our hike from Big Black Mountain over to the Walled Village.
This hike was one of our old favourites, but we stopped doing it because the starting point got all concreted over.
We went out to do some scouting for a new starting point, and found a good trail that avoided most of the concrete – good enough for us to start doing this hike again.
And we picked a great day for the first time back – cool and clear, with big blue skies.

Just a 5-minute walk in from the main road.

Getting off road and into the chestnut orchards.

We followed farmers’ field trails.

After about thirty minutes we took a break on a concrete path.

A short walk later and we were into a wilder area.

We stopped at the peak to check the views.

Great spot for photos – but what’s he taking a photo of?

From up on the ridge we had views of the Little West Lake and the Huanghuacheng Great Wall far below.

The hike continued down into the valley, passing a big patch of ice. Below the ice is a spring.

We stopped for a snack break.

Later on we hiked up to the Great Wall above Zhuangdaokou Village.

The option was to rest in the sun, or climb the wall.

He’s a regular here, selling hats and small souvenirs.

The restored side of the wall here.

Some hikers climbed up to this tower.

We continued to the Walled Village, passing a farmer who was out collecting firewood.

Approaching the Walled Village, in previous times a barracks for Ming Dynasty soldiers.

From the Walled Village it was a just a short walk to the bus.