China-2023: Langshan, pt. two – Pepper Peak.

After our first Langshan experience – climbing steps up through super-narrow crevices – we were back for more: specifically – Langshan’s Pepper Peak…

Well, I guess it does resemble one of those long and thin red (or green or yellow) peppers. I couldn’t see it at first, but then it clicked!…

Regular tourists aren’t allowed up to the top of the highest peak, but they can get up the one next to it, which features a viewing platform up top:

Here’s the map with the route – basically a big circle with a few possible detours. It’s recommended to go round anti-clockwise, but we for some reason (like true Buddhists) went clockwise.

“Two hours” states the sign; and it took us exactly that to complete the trek ->

Inevitably: steps ->

At the base of the “Pepper”:

What… up there?! ->

The French Spider-Man‘s Spidey feats noted here too ->

Up the steps we go. Sure – the going was tough ->

We reach the viewing platform up top. Clearly it’s not intended for many visitors. Btw – the total number of other tourists we saw here, besides us: 0!

Here’s the view of Pepper Peak; alas – no bridge between the two “fingers” like at Fanjing ->

The views all around – radically rocky and perfectly picturesque ->

Pepper Peak:

And here’s another peak near Pepper:

And the views to be had therefrom ->

Time to head back down…

The rock these constructions are made of is really interesting. It’s not sedimentary rock, and it’s not limestone. It’s made up of larger shapes – bigger than beach sand:

In among the assorted mixture of stones – occasionally marble:

And these ->

So, just how did these rock formations/mountains form? It sure looks like others came before them, which were at some point destroyed – crushed up into scree, and then pressed together again to form new rock. Alas, I didn’t get an answer to my question while there, so descended further back down in a state of unsatisfied curiosity…

And that was that for Langshan – pt. 2. But we weren’t done yet; still to come on this day was pt. 3 – coming up in the next post…

The rest of the photos from China-2023 are here.