Katie and I at the wall.
The Great Wall is a highlight of any visit to China. What a lot of people don't know is that the wall doesn't exist in one continuous stretch. Instead, the Great Wall has many sections, some totally restored, others original. In many sections, you can walk for hours without seeing anyone. You can even camp on the wall. Beijing (my current home) is less than two hours from the wall, so I've had many chances to go, to different sections and in different seasons.
The Jiankou section.
Parts of the wall are crumbling.
Some of the down-climbs are dodgy.
One of the famous guard towers.
Hiking the Jiankou section.
The wall tends to follow the top of hills and mountain passes.
Katie is making her way down an unrestored section.
Humpty Dumpty.
The scenery is spectacular.
A particularly hilly section.
On another weekend, we went to a different section.
Our goal is to get somewhere back there.
A really nice guard tower.
From a tower overlooking the valley.
Sometimes it's good to take it all in.
We camped on top of the wall.
Find a nice spot and stop for the night.
The wall seems to go on forever. You can't see it from space, though.
Relax.
I went back in the winter with my mom.
Looking out over the wall.
From inside a tower after getting a few inches of snow.
Climb to the top... if you dare!
The wild wall in winter.
