Red Trail Revisited

Duration: 8 Days

Average group size: 5-10

2010 Dates: September 30-October 7

History and adventure combine in this route, followed by the Red Army during the Long March in April 1935. Twenty thousand Reds raced from the historic town of Lijiang to the Jinsha River, which they crossed in small boats and hand-made rafts before fighting their way over the snow-covered Mt Yaha and onto the Tibetan Plateau. We will be trekking in reverse direction, beginning this richly varied journey in a broad Tibetan valley peopled by yak herders and small farmers. From the eastern foot of Mt Yaha, we ascend to a herders' camp close to the pass, 3,900 meters above sea level. Once over the mountain, the trail plunges through dense forest into the Jinsha River valley, peopled by a mixture of Naxi, Lisu and Han. Leaving our mule team at the tiny town of Shangjiang, we then raft gently downstream for a day and a half, camping one night on a lovely sandy beach, before reaching the ancient town of Shigu and the celebrated First Bend in the Yangtze, and the Jinsha becomes known further downstream.

HIGHLIGHTS