While walking on the path that leads to the golden summit, I went through several temples. At one of them, I drank some water from a spring that is reputed to heal illnesses. I will have to wait and see about that.
The steps became somewhat icy due to hail that started to come down. I am actually very glad for the hail, because if it had been rain I would have gotten soaked and would have been very cold. The hail, at least, bounced off me. It wasn't that difficult to walk on, because it remained crunchy.
While walking along, I came to a promontory where about 12-24 birds were flittering about in the trees singing. I am not sure if they were agitated at me, but their songs filled up the misty woods and made for a great moment.
The steps were very icy and snow accumulated.
At a cliff temple, there was an incense offering bowl that literally extended out over the cliff edge. At this spot, devotees had to walk backwards to the offering bowl, because turning one's back on the god is not allowed. This made offerings at this particular temple a rather risky maneuver.
After I passed the temples, I had a very long hike to the summit. At intervals, the path is broken up with gates. Each is inscribed. The following is the 3rd gate of heaven.
This is the view through the 3rd gateway of heaven.
Just outside the gateway was a piece of carving that seemed to have fallen on the ground. There were many tablets in the woods and ensconced in the rock face along the path. At one point there must have been more temples or shrines. Some have been abandoned.
Below is one of the many small shrines I came across. Some have statues in them, some are empty.
Many pilgrims leave stones propped up in niches in the rock wall along the path. There are also small piles of stones left as a form of devotion of some sort.
As I got higher and higher up the mountain, the hail had turned the forest into a very quiet and pretty frozen place. The branches had beads of ice all over them. As I entered the monastery, I turned the corner from the backside of the mountain and found that the front of the mountain was covered in wind driven snow. Passing through a last gate, I came into the front of the mountain.
The path was very steep and snowy. Along the handrails were lengths of chain to hold onto. Lovers and couples attach locks to the chain along the path to give their relationships longevity.
Inside the monastery are several temples. There are many monks and taoist priests there as well. One monk was interested in the pictures I took of the snow on the roof of one of the buildings. He smiled and gave me a big thumbs up sign. hehehe
At the summit I did a counter clockwise route through the main temple of the Golden Summit. Just as I reached the top of the mountain, the sun broke through the sky and I could see a tiny bit of blue. It was a great feeling to finally be at the top, looking down and to have the warm sun shining. The actual temple on the top of the mountain is a piece of solid bronze.
Below is a view down the steps from the summit.
The next is a picture of me near the summit.
As I made my way back down through the monastery, I heard a loud announcement over the intercom, telling me to hurry with speed to the gondola tramway because the service was ended soon. I scampered down in time to catch one of the last gondolas.
All the way down, the gondola passed through rain and fog. I was so glad to have made the summit and seen the sun.
I had a very good experience on the mountain. I personally enjoy misty weather and was very glad it didn't rain. It was really a perfect weather day because it kept the throngs of tourists away and gave me a chance to be alone on the paths of the mountain.
The steps became somewhat icy due to hail that started to come down. I am actually very glad for the hail, because if it had been rain I would have gotten soaked and would have been very cold. The hail, at least, bounced off me. It wasn't that difficult to walk on, because it remained crunchy.
While walking along, I came to a promontory where about 12-24 birds were flittering about in the trees singing. I am not sure if they were agitated at me, but their songs filled up the misty woods and made for a great moment.
The steps were very icy and snow accumulated.
At a cliff temple, there was an incense offering bowl that literally extended out over the cliff edge. At this spot, devotees had to walk backwards to the offering bowl, because turning one's back on the god is not allowed. This made offerings at this particular temple a rather risky maneuver.
After I passed the temples, I had a very long hike to the summit. At intervals, the path is broken up with gates. Each is inscribed. The following is the 3rd gate of heaven.
This is the view through the 3rd gateway of heaven.
Just outside the gateway was a piece of carving that seemed to have fallen on the ground. There were many tablets in the woods and ensconced in the rock face along the path. At one point there must have been more temples or shrines. Some have been abandoned.
Below is one of the many small shrines I came across. Some have statues in them, some are empty.
Many pilgrims leave stones propped up in niches in the rock wall along the path. There are also small piles of stones left as a form of devotion of some sort.
All throughout the forest, the trees were coated with ice.
As I got higher and higher up the mountain, the hail had turned the forest into a very quiet and pretty frozen place. The branches had beads of ice all over them. As I entered the monastery, I turned the corner from the backside of the mountain and found that the front of the mountain was covered in wind driven snow. Passing through a last gate, I came into the front of the mountain.
The path was very steep and snowy. Along the handrails were lengths of chain to hold onto. Lovers and couples attach locks to the chain along the path to give their relationships longevity.
Inside the monastery are several temples. There are many monks and taoist priests there as well. One monk was interested in the pictures I took of the snow on the roof of one of the buildings. He smiled and gave me a big thumbs up sign. hehehe
At the summit I did a counter clockwise route through the main temple of the Golden Summit. Just as I reached the top of the mountain, the sun broke through the sky and I could see a tiny bit of blue. It was a great feeling to finally be at the top, looking down and to have the warm sun shining. The actual temple on the top of the mountain is a piece of solid bronze.
Below is a view down the steps from the summit.
The next is a picture of me near the summit.
As I made my way back down through the monastery, I heard a loud announcement over the intercom, telling me to hurry with speed to the gondola tramway because the service was ended soon. I scampered down in time to catch one of the last gondolas.
All the way down, the gondola passed through rain and fog. I was so glad to have made the summit and seen the sun.
I had a very good experience on the mountain. I personally enjoy misty weather and was very glad it didn't rain. It was really a perfect weather day because it kept the throngs of tourists away and gave me a chance to be alone on the paths of the mountain.
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