3. The secret realm of Kunlun under the nine-story demon tower
As a group of travelers, we naturally have to take an unusual path. After leaving Qumalai, our journey has officially begun…
Kunlun Mountain has always been mysterious, known as the sacred mountain, and there are many intriguing stories behind the sacred mountain. According to legend, the herdsmen living in Kunlun Mountains would rather let their cattle and sheep starve to death on the Gobi Desert because there is no grass to eat, and dare not let them enter the luxuriant, ancient and silent Kunlun Mountains. The mountains are covered with furs of wolves, skeletons of bears, steel guns of hunters and solitary tombs on barren hills, and the movie “Nine-Story Demon Tower” casts an even weirder veil on Kunlun Mountain!
Because there is no guide, no detailed information, and no reference to the successful crossing track, it is necessary to replenish supplies, check the vehicle, and add fuel…
I’m coming to the secret Kunlun…
In order to successfully traverse, we made the final preparations. The most important thing is the alternative route and the calculation of supplies. Prepare food according to 20-day routine and 10-day emergency, and carry water according to 10-day consumption. After all, there is nothing to refer to for this route. If it doesn’t work, go back the same way…
After a whole day of preparation, it was considered that everything was ready for loading. After a beautiful meal, I took a bath and rubbed the mud (reminds me that after I came out, someone took a bath and rubbed the dirt to block the bathtub of the hotel). Afterwards, everyone sat around and chatted, all excited and sleepy, so we decided to set off overnight!
Remember that night is just one word, Dian! I don’t know what time it is. Everyone was tired and decided to spend the night sitting in the car. I accidentally discovered the Milky Way hanging upside down in the deep space, so I endured the cold wind and took this photo, but the level is really limited. Say I am ashamed to come here, I have bought the equatorial mount for a year, but I have never used it once, hey!
Just when I was back in the car and was going to sleep after taking the photo, I suddenly found a group of green eyes on the opposite side! Could it be a wolf? I was so scared that I broke out in a cold sweat. You know, I ran a long way to take pictures, but I was too excited to observe the surrounding environment.
I didn’t go far the next day, and I found this group of guys. I chased them by car, and counted them, at least 8. They disappeared after crossing a river, and I didn’t catch up. The last one to retreat should be the wolf king!
70-200 2.8 is 1.4 times shooting, I guess, it may be them last night. I always thought that apart from Zoige, there are very few wolves in Xinjiang. It seems that I was wrong…
I get up early in the morning, the temperature is very low, and some people are still sleeping soundly! quack……
Just packed up and set off, today we can go as far as we can go, we finally officially started the trek, the road ahead is long…
The first day’s itinerary was relatively smooth, there was basically no rescue, and the car got stuck several times and they all succeeded in self-rescue, without any delay. In the evening, everyone sat together and made tea. From the first day, the tea party every night was unstoppable, and there was no mobile phone signal here, so except for me chatting with my family through Haichat, everyone else was using the satellite phone to report that they were safe and then they were all right. The sad thing is, apart from the brick tea I brought (which was intended to be a gift to the herdsmen, the price is very low), no one brought better tea cakes, hey! In addition to talking about the world and talking about the world together, this tea party will also have ghosts crying and howling wolves (someone imitates howling wolves every night in order to attract female wolves to rob the camp)! It’s no wonder that the pressure of work is usually high. Here, chatting and drinking tea, without worries, people’s hearts are closer, the relationship is stronger, the friendship is deeper, quack…
Last time we talked about the first day of time travel. No matter how late we are, we will burn garbage every day. At least we must do environmentally friendly time travel…
Camping at an altitude of 5,000 meters does require courage! For nine days and nine nights, I tried tents, laying flat in the car, the co-pilot, and laying down directly in the back row. The tent is the most comfortable, but sometimes you will wake up from the cold in the middle of the night! Cold Mountain 2PULS performed well, but it was too troublesome to set up, and in the end I couldn’t find the most suitable way to rest.
Hey, because there is no mobile phone signal every night, except for me and someone who use Haichat to communicate with family members, it is Brother Hao who uses Iridium to talk on the phone. Of course, everyone is together, drinking the brick tea that costs more than ten yuan a piece that I brought, and putting some salt, it’s fun! The tea party lasted from the first day to the end. Of course, there were not only happy chats, but also ignorant noises, and almost despairing sadness. Of course, there was also joy after we successfully escaped…
The crossing in the next few days went smoothly, after all, it was a nearly routine route, and there was no difficulty for us. Appreciating almost the same scenery every day, looking at the monotonous animals, I suddenly feel that long-term crossing is just the same thing, there is no special story, except running and running according to the preset trajectory, and arriving according to the preset goal. What lake, what peak, it seems that everything is under control, everything seems to be so smooth. However, here is a foreshadowing first! Of course, there are always episodes, such as someone accidentally getting stuck in a car…
I remember that I posted a circle of friends before, specifically talking about the problem of driving on ice. In fact, I don’t want to drive on ice unless it is a last resort. But when you face the endless ground, in the big and small alluvial fans, when you bump back and forth so that your internal organs are displaced, you will always have a little bit of luck. Someone on the radio always shouted that my neck was broken, and my head hit the top. Thanks to the good performance of nitrogen shock absorption, my Xiaopu didn’t hit the top, but it was not as comfortable as I imagined. So, everyone You look at me, I look at you, in unison, walked towards the ice surface calmly…
This time I discovered that the ARB bar is a kangaroo hit in Australia, and it increases fuel consumption in cities. Of course, it can also be installed with a B. Needless to say, in the desert, in the wilderness, the bar of ARB actually has another function, which is to break the ice… The global warming, the glaciers melted prematurely, and the car fell into it when it was pressed on it. Naturally, the plastic bar has nothing to do. We can only wait for rescue, ARB It’s different, low-speed four-wheel drive, unlock the lock (if there is one), break the ice powerfully, and cut out an icy road, the car behind can pass smoothly. Here I would like to thank Mr. Xi for sacrificing his own ARB fog lights and plastic decorative covers in order to open the road…
Since there is no guide and no successful crossing trajectory reference, sometimes it is inevitable to get off the car to repair the road. Working on the plateau is not as good as on the plains. Everyone works together and takes turns. When the picks and shovels are used up, throw them directly into the compartment of the pickup truck. Only then will you realize how practical Navarre is at this time, which is dragging its feet on the highway. !
After getting a lot of praise from everyone, someone got carried away and explained the gesture, which means the camp at an altitude of 5100 meters
How about an old saying? It’s not a good thing for people to rise, isn’t it? Something went wrong, or Xizong’s atmosphere, he just threw away the Iron Man LP hanging armor. I don’t think Brother Xiaohao’s nickname is for no reason, quack…
PS: This steel is environmentally friendly and can be discarded at will. Plastic products must be taken away, and must be burned if they cannot be taken away.
Of course, such things as road construction will happen frequently.
The first team leader, Han San, took this photo accidentally. The situation at that time was that Han San was wandering alone, left the camp and turned to the back of a mountain, everyone was camping and cooking, suddenly Han San appeared in sight, the distance was relatively far away, and the face could not be seen clearly. Dress up, this dress really scared everyone! Who is this? In the wilderness, there will be no one but us, could it be~~~~~~ From then on, the nickname of the captain of the first team was given to Han San’an.
It should be the fourth day, we decided to drive overnight. Everyone knows that crossing the wasteland is nothing more than rivers and valleys. This time we chose rivers. Going out of the mountain along the river, if it goes well, it will look like more than 200KM. The points on the satellite map have been marked in advance, and judging by the seasons, it should be a frozen river. It should not be difficult, but everything is not as imagined… …
The nightmare has begun. Of course, the daytime is relatively smooth, and the iconic landmarks are also seen…
The sky gradually darkened, and we also walked from the mountains to the river. At first, it was relatively smooth, because the altitude was higher (above 5,000 meters), and as the altitude decreased, the latitude also increased. Theoretically, the temperature should be different. Not too much, but we were wrong! The danger came when the wheels creaked and creaked on the ice. Fortunately, we did have good luck. The width of the river is relatively narrow, and we passed through it relatively smoothly. Otherwise, the consequences would be disastrous…
I followed the car in front closely, and the co-driver of the front car stared at the map, looking for sandbars in the river. Because the sky is dark, we can’t tell the road conditions clearly, so we can only make judgments through GPS satellite maps. With a bang, the car in front fell into the glacier. Fortunately, the river here is wider and the water is not very deep. When I failed to save myself, I dragged the car in front with a winch. The car in front drove around the collapsed ice and drove out of the river, followed by me, with the floor oil on the ground, and rushed out. The third car, Navarra, was not so lucky. It fell directly into the ice, followed by the two 120s behind it! So far, three of the five vehicles have fallen…
Brother Hao’s 120, the three locks were opened, and he succeeded in self-rescue abruptly, but he paid the price of brake failure (the inspection on the next day found that the right front brake pipe burst).
Brother Hao’s 120 lost its rescue capability due to brake failure, so I returned to the glacier from land to prepare for rescue, and stayed on the shore with NPS.
After a brief study of the rescue plan, first rescue Navarra and then the 120 of Xizong. The first plan is that I hold Hao Ge’s car as an anchor, and then Hao Ge uses a winch to drag Navarra. Soon this plan failed, the slippery ice could not stand at all, Navarra took my car and Brother Hao away…
Then I decided to start digging. Pickaxes, water pants, and water sleeves all went into battle. I dug and dragged, and I dug and dug again and again, but it didn’t work. Let me explain here, and I will also scold Nissan. The design of the original tow hook is too bad. Let’s drag the ARB bar, but I am worried that the strength is not enough to dare to drag, so I can only dig and dig. You know, this is a glacier at an altitude of about 4500, and the bitter cold wind howls past. A group of dicks just dig here for 2-3 hours. After freezing through, return to the car to warm up for a while, and then go out to continue digging, for fear that it will freeze in the middle of the night and completely freeze Navarra to death in the glacier. It is the most tragic late-night glacier rescue!
Fortunately, I, and only I, as a pseudo-photography enthusiast, used my mobile phone to record what happened that night.
At the same time, Mr. Xi, who was about 60 meters away, was also constantly saving himself. Ice water poured into Mr. Xi’s shoes, and Mr. Xi’s feet were in danger of frostbite…
There is nothing that can’t be done, only people who can’t do it. Just when I was almost desperate, I suddenly had an idea and decided to pad the sandboard, tie the wheel hub of Navara with a tow rope, and drag it out. The winch was hung up, and the front of the anchor point was propped up. Unfortunately, it was unsuccessful, but it was not ineffective. The front wheel had already floated out of the ice, which was the biggest gain in 4 hours. The whole team rejoiced. In this uninhabited glacier, everyone sang in unison. Nothing can stop me. My yearning for freedom… That scene, that battle, unless you are there, words really cannot describe the situation at that time. The scene still has the mood, don’t abandon, don’t give up, this is the quality that off-road people should have!
The morale of the whole team was high, and all available methods of digging, dragging, and pulling were used, and Navarra managed to get out of trouble abruptly. Because Navarra has relatively low power and there is no winch, Navarra was stopped aside, and everyone began to prepare to rescue Xi Zong who was 60 meters away. Close the door and say a few words, overbearing family affairs, let overbearing do it by himself, it is not up to Mitsubishi and Nissan to intervene.
Practice brings out true knowledge. In the glacier, this U buckle is really not very easy to use. If you don’t pay attention, it will freeze. Hansan has been holding a screwdriver. Keep disassembling and assembling, otherwise it will completely freeze to death in a while.
The rescue plan discussed was to drag Xizong out with a winch. Somehow, Xizong’s 95xps went on strike in the glacier. Because the distance is relatively far, there will always be a risk of another fall when approaching the west, so I plan to use a tow rope to connect it. Sadly, I won’t say what brand it is. There are a lot of U buckles, it seems impossible to pull them directly…
So, I drove close to Xizong, a little closer, and a little closer, I felt the bottom of the car sank, and when it was over, I fell into the glacier too.
It’s fallen, and the rescue is at an impasse! Brother Hao’s 120 has no brakes, Navarra is not decoupled, and the power is too poor. The NPS is the last straw on the shore. You can’t move unless you have to. You can only save yourself, so repeat the series of actions just now…
The winch is dead, so you can’t try to drag it directly. Originally, direct towing was the fastest, most effective, and most direct rescue action. Why did we give up because of the tow hook that Navarra towed just now? Or is it because of the plateau, lack of oxygen in the brain? Or are you so exhausted that you lose judgement? Still the same sentence, the domineering thing, the domineering will handle it by himself. Although Brother Hao’s 120 has no brakes, it has a lot of power! How to say it is 4000, ah, huh, huh. I would like to add here that the bigger the displacement, the better. Power is king. It’s true! Watch Hao Ge’s wonderful performance…
Floor oil, three locks, Mr. Xi and I were dragged out by Brother Hao just like that!
To sum up, analyze calmly and don’t be blind. The domineering original car tow hook under the complaint is better than Nissan’s!
So far, at 6 o’clock in the morning, everyone was out of trouble. Everyone was lying in the car with all their clothes on.
Loss: 2 tow ropes, N U buckles (lost), 2 pairs of sand boards, original Navara tow hooks, Xizong 95xps strike, Haoge brake failure. When you appreciate the magnificent natural scenery, you always have to pay something, don’t you? ? ?
The next morning, when I got up to go to the toilet, I suddenly found that the wolf was only a few tens of meters away from me, and looked at me blankly. I looked at him for a while, maybe this wolf was very confused, and I thought to myself, a group of ** What were you fussing about last night? I quickly took out my phone and took a picture. When I returned to the car to pick up the camera, the wolf was gone, but it must have not gone far, maybe it was still spying on us
The first thing I do when I get up is to check the vehicle. After inspection, the brakes of Haoge 120 were broken by ice slag. Fortunately, Xiao Li’s Navara actually brought brake fluid and FJ’s brake hose. After changing the brake hose, oiling, and exhausting, Hao Ge’s 120 is up again!
PS: Brother Hao’s good axle brake pipe, how can I not think it is genuine?
Looking at the glacier that had been tossing all night last night, I was in a daze. We discussed whether to go back the same way or continue to move forward. Going back the same way means that we may face the glacier again. If we continue to move forward, the altitude will decrease, the temperature will be higher, and the broken glaciers will still exist. What should we do?
Curiosity is something that sometimes gets carried away. I don’t know whether it is because of the shadow of the glacier’s psychology last night, or because I am looking forward to exploring the unknown road ahead. After a group of people discussed it, they set off again hastily.
Valleys and rivers are getting deeper and deeper, the altitude is getting lower and lower, and the temperature is getting higher and higher. All of this laid the groundwork for what happened next. It went smoothly at first, perhaps because the ice surface was relatively firm in the morning, and all the vehicles passed without any danger. Although there were certain difficulties during the period, they were overcome anyway.
It was about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, which is the hottest time of the day, and the NPS of car No. 1 got stuck when it was crossing an ice ridge. This kind of ice has a strange structure, a layer of ice, then flowing water, there is ice under the water, and water continues under the ice. Because the river is relatively narrow, the current here is fast and should not be shallow. And this time, nature didn’t give us any good colors…
It was thought that a simple single winch rescue could get NPS out of trouble, but the situation was not that simple, and the double winch still failed. The water pants were put on again, went into the water, and broke the ice (the layer of ice under the water). The underwater ice surface was broken, and the situation deteriorated. The body of the NPS tilted, and there was a risk of overturning at any time.
A little water has entered the car, so a 120 side B-pillar pulls the NPS, and the Haoge 120 starts winching from the front of the car. Because the angle is not very good, Brother Hao’s winch rope is broken, and the NPS hardly moves; if I use my spider to pull it from behind, the NPS still does not move at all, even if you have already smelled the smell of the motor, the NPS does not move; even if it is three A pulley block composed of two pulleys, it still does not move!
Rescue has come to an impasse… Time passes by, as the temperature rises, the ice and snow continue to melt, and you can see the ice floes continuously flowing down the river. The water flow is about to reach its peak in the day, and Mr. Hu takes the lead and is desperate Going into the water again to break the ice, hoping to save the NPS that may be taken away by the flood, but the current is already very strong at this time, if the winch rope is not pulled by Mr. Hu, maybe Mr. Hu will be taken away by the flood…
The physical fitness has been seriously overdrawn. This is not a plain. This is still the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau at an altitude of 4,200 meters.
So I chose to drag directly, my domineering floor oil, this drag, the NPS trailer bar flew out from 10cm above someone’s head, I was suddenly stupid and scared! Someone also felt that this life was almost left here.
It seems that NPS has lost its direction. At this time, everyone feels that it may be disabled if they are rescued, but no matter what, NPS must be rescued! This is off-road people’s not abandoning, not giving up! The tow rope was directly tied to the rear axle, Brother Hao 120 three locks, continued to exert force, the side of Xizong was always ready to pull the NPS to the right before it rolled over… Hard work paid off, and NPS was finally rescued. There was no sound at the scene, the steering rod of the NPS was broken, there was no cheer of victory, and the NPS couldn’t get out…
Abandon the car?
Waiting for help?
The scene is silent~~~~~~~
Let me fill up the fuel first. So far, all my spare mailboxes have been clipped, and the main and auxiliary fuel tanks can use 150 liters of fuel.
Actually, speaking of this matter today, I don’t want to use words to describe it like a narrative. Everyone’s inner activities are different at this time… You can use your imagination to be as full as possible, just like me, Sit there and think.
or evening dress B
What I regret most is that I didn’t bring a comfortable chair, so I bought three ARB folding chairs when I returned to Xi’an. They are really like a sofa, so comfortable!
You can climb up and overlook without a chair.
Or flirt with wild yaks and brown bears? The former is interested in playing with you, but the latter will run away.
Contacted by satellite phone and decided to wait for the maintenance technician to rescue and repair the NPS and go out together. The maintenance technician replied that he would be there the next day, but the news he got the next day was sad. Just like my judgment, if I can’t get out, you can’t get in either. Of the two vehicles that came to the rescue, one also fell into the glacier, and the other lost its four-wheel drive during the rescue. We were 20km away, but we couldn’t see it!
They are facing the same risks as us, but the rescuers can barely go out. We are looking at the 20km long river, where do we go? Food and water can last for about half a month, there should be no problem, contact again…
However, the worst thing is not these, but Mr. Hu, who fell into the water, has a fever. Anyone with a little common sense knows what will happen if the fever continues and the situation worsens!
Mr. Hu’s condition is deteriorating, and the 39-degree high fever persists…
The wait is always long, and I would like to thank Brother Wu here, who is the fifth brother of Unbounded Team! After the fifth brother got the Haichat message I sent, he studied the map and analyzed the terrain all night in Xi’an, thousands of kilometers away, contacted Waige in Qinghai, determined the route, and kept asking Mr. Hu about his condition, contacting the doctor, and asking about the medicine. At this time, the safety of personnel is the first priority. We wait in place to preserve our strength (avoid abandoning car), save drinking water and food.
Also seriously thanks to Lao Liu, Su Rui modified Lao Liu! In Beijing, which is thousands of kilometers away, I have been contacting friends and asking about the situation, and finally determined the final safeguard measures.
Mr. Hu finally started to get better after taking all the team’s medicines (increased dosage).
However, the reality is always ruthless, there is really no other way to choose, we are in a dilemma! Through external contacts, we learned that the temperature may cool down in the past few days, and there may be a snowstorm. Is this good or bad? The good news is that the glacier may freeze again, and we will be out of trouble; the worry is that if a snowstorm comes, we may not be able to distinguish the road conditions, and we will be completely sleepy.
Where do we go from here? I have eaten hot pot for several days in a row, so that after I came out, I hated eating hot pot the most.
In the past few days, I can understand a lot of things that I can’t understand in the city. I think I have grown up, and I have really grown up and become stronger…
Of course, if there is nothing to do during the day, the car needs to be repaired. Mr. Xi’s winch has been repaired, and the broken rope by Brother Hao has also been connected…
Mr. Hu’s health recovered, but the outsiders who came to rescue NPS were all silent. Maybe this glacier has really become a natural moat. Unconventional crossing is like this. There are always many uncertain factors. The season is different, and the way of walking is also different. Our disadvantage is that it is a little late. If it is a month earlier, Maybe all the things will not happen.
Cooling, strong winds, and snowstorms are coming. Should we go forward or retreat? The return to the original route was accurately calculated, and the fuel was tight, but it was barely enough, but it had to face the continuous heating up in the past few days. Every night at around 2:00, I would check the temperature outside the car. It has risen by about 8 degrees in 4 days, which means that the glaciers coming over may have thawed and face the risk of challenging ice steps; The car speaks for itself, so moving on is clearly not advisable! What’s more, going forward is going down the altitude, and going back is going back to above 5,000 meters. In theory, going back is more rational…
So, on the fourth day, the whole team made a decision to abandon the car! All quit, and come back to rescue NPS! Two road scouting vehicles were dispatched to explore the road with artificial ice picks along the way, marking the road with stones so as not to fall into the glacier when exiting.
After a day of exploration, I basically found a road that can retreat more than ten kilometers, and then the altitude will increase, it should be easier, even if I can’t walk anymore, at least I can retreat to a place 20 kilometers away, and the whole team can start a fire and cook . Deciding to retreat overnight, I reported the position to Brother Wu through Haichat, and Brother Wai also cut in from the other side, hoping to meet up.
This is the last photo I took at the camp. I was going to burn the garbage for a few days. Of course, I also sent a point to NPS.
Thanks to the road exploration during the day, it went smoothly, and we walked about 20 kilometers in just over an hour. The ice surface seemed to be much more stable, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, the road ahead is still long, we decided to make a raid overnight in order to deal with the coming snowstorm.
At one o’clock in the morning, the team was exhausted. Basically out of the glacier, in theory we are safe. The strong wind came as expected, and there were snowflakes in the night. Early the next morning, looking at the vast wilderness, there was no sign of life, no vegetation, I was thinking, this may be the first footprint of human beings here
PS: The altitude of the camp is 5300 meters
Of course, overnight raids are not so easy. Rescue is always available, but it’s just too common.
The next day’s itinerary seemed much easier. We need to rush to the regular route, Brother Wai has already come to pick us up. At this time, even if there is no need for practical rescue, psychological comfort is needed. After all, we were trapped for four days and four nights!
The high-altitude wind and snow is really heavy. It can be seen that last night, the sky was full of snow and snow.
This is my last oil barrel, and I specially marked it. If I have a chance to come back next time, I have to see if it is still there. Maybe it will be picked up by the latecomers, so we are destined.
During the retreat, I kept in touch with Brother Wu through Haichat, and learned that Brother Wai might be very close to us. We adjusted the frequency of the radio station and finally got in touch with Brother Wai! ! ! This exciting moment will never be forgotten!
Then everything went smoothly…
When we keep hearing notifications of WeChat and text messages on our mobile phones, when we see telephone poles, when we see humans and buildings, when we see asphalt roads… the radio is boiling, boiling again and again!
In a simple roadside cart shop, a group of hungry wolves ate up all the rice and steamed buns! Farewell to crooked brother, no matter what, we will stay in a hotel tonight!
With the rapid development of the momentum, the city is getting closer and closer to us. I got my wish, a hot bath, a sumptuous dinner, when I lay on the warm and soft bed of the Hilton Hotel, I was full of thoughts…
The next day, when the team was disbanded, the consignment was checked, and the return journey returned, I rushed to Lanzhou for the bowl of ramen and apricot skin water
PS: Thanks to the cooling down, along the exit track, NPS also escaped smoothly a few days later!
