Minton returns to Wugong Mountain
After crossing Wugong Mountain in the rain in October 2021, a group from Minton Law Firm returned to the range in Jiangxi on 9 and 10 November, this time walking the route in the opposite direction. Setting off from the Shenzi village trailhead before dawn, they reached the Golden Summit at 11.30 after five and a half hours, completing what bad weather had prevented three years earlier, then went on over the ridges and down to Longshan village on the afternoon of the second day.
After crossing Wugong Mountain in wind and rain in October 2021, a group from Minton Law Firm set out again for the range, this time walking the route in the opposite direction to see a different side of it and to add another chapter to the firm's outdoor story.
Wugong Mountain in Jiangxi has both fine scenery and a long history. Old paths, temples and stone inscriptions are scattered through the range, and each season has its own character: azaleas in spring, shade and streams in summer, red leaves in autumn and snow in winter. It is known as a walker's paradise.
At 6 am on 9 November the trailhead at Shenzi village in Pingxiang was still in darkness, and the Minton walking team was already ready to set off.
As the sun rose, the path ran sometimes steep and rough, sometimes flat and easy, with peaks on either side and streams running down the gullies. The soils and the alpine meadow change with altitude, and the colours shift as the walkers move through them.
After five and a half hours of climbing the team reached the Golden Summit at 11.30, completing what the weather had prevented three years earlier. That earlier attempt had been muddy and hard, and the summit was never reached, but the rolling cloud and drifting mist of that day stayed with the team. From the summit this time the ridges fell away below, with cloud between them.
The summit was only a third of the way. From there the team went on: at the slope known as Despair they helped one another along, and on Haohan Ridge they encouraged each other on. Climbing the Thousand-Zhang Cliff in the dark, they kept together and moved step by step.
By the afternoon of 10 November the team had reached the end of the walk at Longshan village.
Looking back, it was courage, confidence and a wish to keep going up that drove the team on. The walk tested fitness and hardened will, and it brought the group closer together.