The Great Wall

Climbing the Great Wall was a big highlight of this trip. About an hour outside of Beijing, we visited a section of the wall in Juyongguan. It protected an important mountain pass, and on one side of the valley, it reached the highest altitude of all 1000+ miles of the wall.

My buddy Victor is a tri-athlete at U of A, so we charged it together. We climbed the taller side first. It is amazingly steep! Some parts you are on all fours it is so steep. When we started I had my normal soft, girlish legs. By the half way point of the climb, my calves were made out of steel. By the time I reached the top, my ass was chiseled out of stone. No joke.

It took us about two hours to climb both sides. I can’t even grasp how hard it was to build this thing. Over one thousand miles is beyond my comprehension. Simply amazing.