This is a great trip to see two of the highest passes just a few hours from Chengdu that are both over 4000 meters. We didn’t want to spend so much time climbing dozens of kms to get to the top so this is a great lazy bones tour. Starting at the top of both passes and going down.
4/29
We met at my place around 8. It was me driving, another American, a French guy and 3 Chinese people. By the time we got everything together it was almost 930 by the time we left. Since the weekend was a 3 day labor day holiday, it was no surprise that the highways were super busy. Taking the back road would probably take the same amount of time. We stopped past Dujiangyan for lunch and continued up to the top of Balang shan, which had snow the last 3 kms or so to the top, which is nearly 4500 meters or almost 15,000 feet.
It was to cold and slippery at the top so I went down a few kms so they could continue downhill. The downhill from the top is about a 50 kms downhill to Dawei town where we turn to go back up Jiajin mountain. The 2 girls were inexperienced. I told them to go very slow and they didn’t so they did slip but were ok luckily. When everyone got to the bottom at the turn off I loaded the bikes back on and we went up the mountain a bit to the campground we planned to stay at. It was a little cold but at least the sleeping bags were made for freezing temperatures. There is a shop next to the campground and we were able to use their grill and get food and drinks which makes it more convenient. We had a great bbq and then headed to sleep. There was a little rain but not too bad.
4/30
We got up the next morning and continued up in the van to Jiajin shan, which is over 4000 meters and had more snow and ice then balang shan the day before. For that reason, there was a lot of traffic problems near the top because a large truck was stuck. Luckily they put chains on the tires and were able to make it by. Most of the top of the road was so narrow because of snow that only one car could get through at a time and it was super icy. We had some bbq at the top and took some photos. Obviously it was super cold and icy there so I went down a little ways where it was safer for them too bike. From there the rest of the trip is downhill. The road is not as busy as the main road in or around Balang shan, but its much more beat up and uneven, with some rocks and occasional debris so one should be careful. We got down to a place to have a nice lunch and continued past a beautiful reservoir in a Qiang peoples area. We got a hotel just passed the lake where I had stayed before.
5/1
The next day they were supposed to continue but it was raining so they all decided we to skip the biking and head back. We stopped for lunch in Maoxian and continued on the back road for the most part which wasn’t too bad. We got back around dinner time and everyone had a nice trip. We were lucky to have some nice views which isn’t always the case.