Hiking & Camping In The Mountains Of Western Sichuan, China

So it's a Sunday morning behind me, not them, that is Mount Gonga, the king of Sichuan mountain. Western Sichuan is slowly entering one of the best seasons for trekking and at the end of May I got the opportunity to join a small team to scout a new trail where you can see Mount Gonga, the king of Sichuan's mountains. This is George. He's a local Sichuanese who's good at pretty much every outdoor sport. He also runs an outdoor company that does customized trekking trips for international travelers and that's one of the reasons why I'm here. This is Camille, an experienced trekking guide who speaks perfect English and a passionate traveler. Once backpacked solo from Xinjiang I could listen to her travel story all day. Oh and she also loves dancing. This is Brittany and she's one of those people who instantly make everyone around her feel comfortable. She ended up doing me a huge favor during my stay in Chengdu. And this is me doing a high altitude backpacking trek for the first time. Like many hikers coming to Western Sichuan, I used Chengdu as my base. I arrived the night before and met up with the team the next day. They were super welcoming and took me to a few local restaurants that I probably would never have discovered on my own. Getting to the trailhead takes a long time. Our first stop was Kangding where we spent the night acclimatizing. Kangding is a popular gateway town for hikers to acclimatize before heading deeper into Western Sichuan. The route itself is actually quite easy. Over two days, the total distance is around 10 kilometers with roughly 500 meters of elevation gain. Most of it on the first day. Although this wasn't my first time trekking at high altitude, it was my first time doing a high altitude backpacking trek and also the highest altitude I've ever spent a night at. A lot of people don't realize that there's a big difference between briefly hiking to high altitude and actually sleeping there. Spending the night is generally more challenging because your breathing naturally slows down while you're asleep, which means taking in less oxygen and potentially increasing the risk of altitude sickness. And well, I ended up throwing up in the middle of the night. Between that and barely getting any sleep, I didn't feel much at all. But when I saw the views the next morning, it was all worth it. I was still worried about getting sick again, so I barely ate anything that morning. The team was so kind. They took turns to help carry my backpack while I wandered around with my camera and tripod, filming absolutely everything. Overall, this is a pretty easy hike, but if you get altitude sickness, it can feel a lot tougher. But I think it's a great introduction to high altitude backpacking for anyone looking to gain some experience in this kind of environment. And this is just the beginning. I'm planning to stay for a while in Chengdu and explore more trails in western Sichuan. I'm also preparing for my first technical alpine climb next week, so I'll be spending more time training and improving my climbing skills. So I just finished my first top rope. Thanks to George, he's a great coach and has been helping me get ready for it. Along the way, I will also be documenting what it's like living as a digital nomad in Chengdu. So if that sounds interesting, make sure to subscribe and follow along for the journey.