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Hike to Yading's Milk and Five Color Lake (牛奶海 - 五色海)

Ganzi Zangzuzizhizhou, China

Details

Distance

13.7 miles

Elevation Gain

1968.5 ft

Route Type

Out-and-Back

Description

Added by Kyle Obermann

Two truly beautiful azure lakes at the base of 6000m holy mountains and glaciers. Accessible for people of all levels of fitness. 

Start from Chongu Monastery and go toLuorong Pasture. To get here you can either walk 6km on the boardedpathways or take a ~20minute electric cart for 80RMB round trip or50RMB one way. The Luorong Pasture offers some great views of thesurrounding peaks, especially a famous and jaw-dropping view of theshear Jampelyang peak.

From Luorong it is about a 300-400mascent over 5k to Milk and Five Color Lake, at elevations 4480m and4530m respectively. Many Chinese tourists take horses up, but hikingis still an excellent option. Both lakes lie in glacial bowls at theintersection between holy Mt. Jamelyang (5958m) and Mt. Chenresig(6032m). They are some of the most stunning in China, showing off ashades of blue which rival anywhere else in the world.

Opinions on rules of camping here differ, but inmy last trip here we heard stories and witnessed people camping insheltered areas a bit away from the lakes. We camped on a high screeridge 250m or so above the lakes and it was magnificent.

Best time to go is in the fall fromSeptember through early November when it's the dry season, best fallcolors are around mid-October. To avoid the tourist high season, don't go the first week of October. 

See this great link for more info.

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Features

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