Site-seeing and a chestnut orchard at Dalaoling.
On our last day at Dalaoling, our hosts took us to several sites around the park. We started out the day checking out the highest point in the park. It's about 2005 meters, though it seems they may have changed it to 2008 meters, just for this year (???). It was a breathtaking site. The bus could only go to about 1958 meters, and our hosts gave us the option of hiking on to the top, but, because of "lack of time" noone but me wanted to go : (
Oh well. The sites were beautiful nonetheless.
We then spent a couple of hours with a little more data collection. This was a different site than where we had previously been taking data, probably about a mile or so away (I'll have to confirm that). We walked through a thicket of dense but short (about 4-5 feet tall) bamboo on our way to a slope that had many C. henryi, C. mollissima, and at least one C. seguinii.
After that, we drove down. And down. And down. And down. And on down this muddy, slightly trecherous road almost all the way to the bottom of the valley. At that point there is a small village. There we had lunch with a local farmer/hunter/innkeeper. It was a great meal. At the end, they both got dressed up in their best clothes to take a picture with us.
Our group then travelled on down the road to a point where the bus could go no further. At that point, we hoofed it further down the road and got to a trail that we learned would take us to some a beautiful waterfall. The waterfall was called "Tiger Roar Falls" or "Hu Shao Pu" in Chinese. It was a wonderful hike, thrilling at times, and well worth the site at the end.
After our hike, we went to a small chesntut orchard just up the road. The owner was having some trouble with early bur death and browning that was significantly hurting his productivity. It appeared to be a fungus, but none of us knew the exact cause. The problem also seemed to be affecting only one of the two cultivars he had planted there. The recommendation was to either use a fungicide or replace the trees with a less-susceptible cultivar.
Leaves of Chinese chestnut at top elevation for Dalaoling.
Lunch at the Farmers house. Note: that ain't soda he's pouring in to my glass. It's actually the local moonshine. Now, I'm of Irish heritage _and_ a proud West Virginian, but I just couldn't drink the stuff. If only they had aged it in some fine oak barrels.
Picture of our group with the farmer and his wife in front. Unfortunately, I didn't catch their names.
Beware of falling down, indeed!! Most of the bridges to Tiger Roar Falls were done in a very . . . local style.
Tiger Roar Falls. Of course this picture doesn't do it justice. But you can imagine why they call it the "Roar" part. And the "Falls" part. The Tiger part comes from the rock in the upper left-hand corner of the pic. Unfortunately, I didn't know that until after we started back, so I didn't get a good pic of it. Anyway, it looks kind of like the head of a tiger.
Our first visit to a Chinese chesntut orchard in China. The nuts are just about perfect for harvest at this orchard.
Oh well. The sites were beautiful nonetheless.
We then spent a couple of hours with a little more data collection. This was a different site than where we had previously been taking data, probably about a mile or so away (I'll have to confirm that). We walked through a thicket of dense but short (about 4-5 feet tall) bamboo on our way to a slope that had many C. henryi, C. mollissima, and at least one C. seguinii.
After that, we drove down. And down. And down. And down. And on down this muddy, slightly trecherous road almost all the way to the bottom of the valley. At that point there is a small village. There we had lunch with a local farmer/hunter/innkeeper. It was a great meal. At the end, they both got dressed up in their best clothes to take a picture with us.
Our group then travelled on down the road to a point where the bus could go no further. At that point, we hoofed it further down the road and got to a trail that we learned would take us to some a beautiful waterfall. The waterfall was called "Tiger Roar Falls" or "Hu Shao Pu" in Chinese. It was a wonderful hike, thrilling at times, and well worth the site at the end.
After our hike, we went to a small chesntut orchard just up the road. The owner was having some trouble with early bur death and browning that was significantly hurting his productivity. It appeared to be a fungus, but none of us knew the exact cause. The problem also seemed to be affecting only one of the two cultivars he had planted there. The recommendation was to either use a fungicide or replace the trees with a less-susceptible cultivar.
Leaves of Chinese chestnut at top elevation for Dalaoling.
Fred H. takes a picture of the highest point in Dalaoling. The Chinese chestnut tree is located behind us.
Another view from our vantage point. The highest point is up to the left of this picture.
Fred H. and Songlin get ready to take a height reading on a tree, probably a C. henryi. The furrowed trees along the path behind them are either chestnuts or local oaks that look much like chestnut oaks and/or sawtooth oaks.
Also at site 2. Doesn't this look like poison ivy? I could have sworn this was poison ivy. Our guides swore up and down, though, that it wasn't a poisonous plant. Still, I wasn't about to go near it. Though I didn't see him do it, I think Fred H. touched it. About a day later, sure enough, he had a rash/blisters on his hands that looked exactly like poison ivy. Just another plant that closely mimics what one finds in the forests of the eastern US.
Another view from our vantage point. The highest point is up to the left of this picture.
Fred H. and Songlin get ready to take a height reading on a tree, probably a C. henryi. The furrowed trees along the path behind them are either chestnuts or local oaks that look much like chestnut oaks and/or sawtooth oaks.
Also at site 2. Doesn't this look like poison ivy? I could have sworn this was poison ivy. Our guides swore up and down, though, that it wasn't a poisonous plant. Still, I wasn't about to go near it. Though I didn't see him do it, I think Fred H. touched it. About a day later, sure enough, he had a rash/blisters on his hands that looked exactly like poison ivy. Just another plant that closely mimics what one finds in the forests of the eastern US.
Lunch at the Farmers house. Note: that ain't soda he's pouring in to my glass. It's actually the local moonshine. Now, I'm of Irish heritage _and_ a proud West Virginian, but I just couldn't drink the stuff. If only they had aged it in some fine oak barrels.
Picture of our group with the farmer and his wife in front. Unfortunately, I didn't catch their names.
Beware of falling down, indeed!! Most of the bridges to Tiger Roar Falls were done in a very . . . local style.
Tiger Roar Falls. Of course this picture doesn't do it justice. But you can imagine why they call it the "Roar" part. And the "Falls" part. The Tiger part comes from the rock in the upper left-hand corner of the pic. Unfortunately, I didn't know that until after we started back, so I didn't get a good pic of it. Anyway, it looks kind of like the head of a tiger.
Our first visit to a Chinese chesntut orchard in China. The nuts are just about perfect for harvest at this orchard.
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