Intro
To be honest, it had been a long time since I'd last gone hiking. In my memory, hiking was just heat and exhaustion. I'd planned a night hike, but the night-hiking trail was closed because of the weather, so I had to go during the day.
But Laojun Mountain turned out to be an unexpectedly pleasant climb. I grabbed a bamboo stick to use as a hiking pole, which made things a lot less tiring. Laojun Mountain is high enough that it wasn't so hot up there. Everything just felt good again.
The Climb
Laojun Mountain is split into two sections, and walking up the first one takes quite a while, so I took the cable car. By the time I got up the mountain, the altitude had risen a lot and the temperature had dropped.
With my bamboo pole, I powered up the mountain.
Golden Summit
After a little over two hours of climbing, I reached the Golden Summit.
It was crowded. Clouds and mist swirled around the summit all day, and the Golden Summit took on a new look every few seconds — utterly surreal.
Outro
Maybe because it was the off-season, the accommodation on Laojun Mountain was genuinely cheap and good. For just over a hundred yuan, the guesthouse was really nice.
Food nearby was cheap and tasty, too. Henan really is a great place.
Laojun Mountain