Climb High

During my five months in China, I have witnessed many different pagodas. Usually situated in a tranquil setting to help initiate meditation, these buildings of prayer range from small, like a backyard pavilion, to large, like a multi-story spire. This small pagoda sits on a ridge overlooking a tight river valley northwest of Kunming. This pagoda's perches on the opposite side of the valley from where a small group of KIA staff members and students spent the day rockclimbing on 22 December 2006. As the sun rose over the mountain we climbed, the light illuminated this tiny red-roofed temple. After taking the picture, I offered up a short praise and request for the beauty and for the events of the day.
After about an hours drive and a half-hour hike, our small band stood perched above a tiny river valley, looking up a sheer face and looking down at the meandering flow. Consisting of four adults--Miss Carpenter (5th grade), Todd (her friend from the states who had just flown in for the holidays), Mr. Legue (an arborist whose senior son is in my literature class), and me--and nine students, ranging from seventh grade to a junior, we prepared to set up three routes on which to test our climbing skills. Some of the students had climbed before. However, many of them ventured up for the first time ever. Three of the adults--not me--held extensive climbing experience. I just enjoyed being in the mountains.
Between the moments I stood on belay, I took the opportunity to snap these photos. The narrow road on the opposite side of the valley consisted of two tight lanes. In fact, when the road came to a bend, it narrowed to one lane. When a vehicle approached one of these bends, the driver delivered a few short blasts on his horn before barreling around the blind corner. This man drove his small herd of goats up the valley road. I worried about his safety, but he appeared comfortable with his surroundings. He eventually navigated the blind corner toward which he was headed and continued up the valley.
Much of the art here in China depicts the misty, mystical mountain landscapes I was used to seeing in the States. I figured that these paintings held as much realism as the Romantic art of the early 1800s in the United States. However, as I found out on our rockclimbing expedition, the mist actually enfolds the mountains of China. I looked up the valley to see the fog settling into the valley, as the sun started to peek over the rock formations. He painted a beautiful landscape, the likes of which even the Chinese artists struggle to duplicate.
This last photo shows Miss Carpenter setting the first route. As of right now, she will not be returning next school year. She has been here for six years, and may be moving to another school in South America. Her students love her, and the rest of the student body enjoys her adventure club--rockclimbing and mountain biking. I know I could never lead a rockclimbing club, but I hope to learn the mountainbiking trails in the Western Hills so that I can continue the riding side of the adventure club.