2024 Western Sichuan October Tour (4) Daocheng Aden and Dagu Glacier, change and unchanged

Number of days: 3 days
Time: October
Average cost: 1200 yuan
With whom: With friends
Updated: 2024.11.17

Dagu Glacier Lake of Tears

Red flag on the Dagu Glacier

Dagu Lake

4. Daocheng Aden and Dagu Glacier, change and unchanged

In our 2024 October tour of western Sichuan, Daocheng Aden and Dagu Glacier are two important scenic spots in our itinerary, and many group members come for them. We first visited Daocheng Aden, which took a day and a half; Later, I visited the Dagu Glacier for half a day. For these two scenic spots, Ali's feelings can be summed up as "change and unchanged": Daocheng Aden showed its fickleness in our day and a half of play, while the Dagu Glacier seems to remain unchanged but is actually changing.
Daocheng Aden, located in Shangri-La Town, Daocheng County, Ganzi Prefecture, has a total area of 1,457.5 square kilometers, more than 10 peaks above 5,000 meters above sea level, 32 peaks above 4,500 meters above sea level, 62 alpine ancient glacial lakes, and alpine ecological landscapes such as snow-capped mountains, glaciers, lakes, forests, meadows, and streams, of which the milk sea, five-color sea, and pearl sea are the most colorful.
We went in mid-October and the Milk Sea and the Five Colors Sea were closed. Because we lived near the entrance of the scenic spot, we got on the scenic sightseeing bus before nine o'clock in the morning on the first day, and an hour later we arrived at the end of the sightseeing bus at an altitude of 3,900 meters. Here, tourists can choose to take a tour bus to the Luorong Cattle Farm on the left line, or they can choose to hike to the Pearl Sea on the right line, or they can choose the middle line and hike along the plank road by the Gongga Galaxy to the Luorong Cattle Farm.
Ah Li originally planned to take a tour bus to the Luorong Cattle Farm on the right line, but as soon as he walked to the Chonggu Meadow, he was fascinated by everything in front of him: the Gongga Milky Way, which is formed by the collection of snow and water, is clear and beautiful, gurgling; The banks of the river are trees with red or yellow leaves; the surrounding mountains, the top of the mountain is white snow, and the green dense forest below the snow line; The blue sky is beautiful and the sun is high, and the clouds are white and the wind is light. This is really a gorgeous oil painting! Ah Li couldn't help but walk into this painting, walking along the plank road to the upper reaches of the Gongga Galaxy, wanting to walk to the Luorong Cattle Farm.

There are more and more shrubs with golden leaves on both sides of the plank road, forming a golden road that guides Ah Li to keep moving forward. Ah Li stopped from time to time, photographing yellow trees, mangroves, green trees, streams, meadows, snowy peaks, birds playing on the branches, and little squirrels who came out to beg for food when they saw people...... Just walked to Shengshui Lake, still far from the Luorong Cattle Farm, and it was more than two o'clock in the afternoon, and the two group members had returned from the Luorong Cattle Farm. Seeing that Ah Li still wanted to go up, they dissuaded him: The scenery above is similar to here, and now we should go back, and our group stipulates that the gathering time is five o'clock in the afternoon.

Ali then stopped by the holy water lake. From Shengshui Lake to Chonggu Meadow, and then to the Zhaquan Beng sightseeing bus stop, I arrived at the gate of the scenic spot at half past four in the afternoon.
The next morning, we went earlier and got on the sightseeing bus to Zha Guan Beng at about eight o'clock.It was cloudy when we set off, but as soon as the car drove to the mountain, it was snowing heavily outside the window, and the trees on the hillside were still green and yellow yesterday, but now they are all white. The driver stopped the car after driving for a while, took out the snow chain, carefully loaded the tires, and then moved forward slowly. Yesterday it only took an hour to drive to the collapse, but today it took two hours! Yesterday was sunny, today it was snowing! The weather in Daocheng Aden is really fickle!
By the time we got off the sightseeing bus, the snow had stopped. The roads, trees, houses, etc. in the scenic area are covered with thick snow! Yesterday, the golden rice city of Aden disappeared, and what appeared in front of us was a romantic world of ice and snow! The color of Daocheng Aden is also fickle!

According to the plan, Ah Li's goal today is the Pearl Sea on the right line. So I tried my best to take pictures while climbing hard - who could hold back from taking pictures of such a beautiful snowy scene? Finally, after walking from Zha Guan Beng to Chonggu Temple, Ah Li met a group member who returned from the Pearl Sea. He said that the Pearl Sea is still far away, and the team leader has called everyone to go down the mountain in the WeChat group, gather at the gate of the scenic spot at one o'clock at noon, and do not wait for the time. Ah Li looked at the time, it was eleven o'clock in the morning, and the drive back would take at least an hour, so he could only turn around and walk down. At this time, the golden trees on both sides of the plank road were bent over by the white snow, and they were actually connected together to form a golden tunnel, and the snow on the branches and leaves fell from time to time. Ah Li bent down to walk through this golden tunnel, although he was hit by falling snow from time to time, he enjoyed it and didn't feel any back pain or leg pain at all.

In the end, before noon, all of us arrived at the gate of the scenic spot. After asking each other, I realized that only the group member I met on the road arrived at the Pearl Sea, and the rest returned halfway! Later, the group member posted the video of the Pearl Sea he took in the WeChat group, so that those of us who returned halfway could also witness the beauty of the Pearl Sea in the snow.
Daocheng Aden is indeed fickle! But Ah Li likes it very much! Because in the same Daocheng Aden Scenic Area, Ah Li saw two different worlds - on the first day, its main color was gold; The next day, its main color is silver. Although he did not see the sea of milk, the sea of five-colors, and the sea of pearls with his own eyes on this trip, Ah Li was already satisfied.
Dagu Glacier is located in Luhua Town, Heishui County, Aba Prefecture, and "Dagu" is a Tibetan word that means "glacier in a deep ditch". At 3,800 to 5,100 meters above sea level, it is one of the lowest, largest and youngest glaciers in the world, and the closest glacier to the city. To climb to the top of the
snow-capped mountain observation deck at an altitude of 4,860 meters above sea level, you need to take the world's highest Dagu Glacier cableway. It takes more than an hour to take a scenic sightseeing bus from the gate of the scenic spot to the ropeway station, passing through the Golden Monkey Sea, Red Army Lake, Zenacuo, Red Army Bridge, Shenniu Lake, Dagu Lake and other scenic spots along the way.
We arrived at the scenic spot at noon, and then took the sightseeing bus to the ropeway station. It was a sunny day, the sun was warm, and the woods on the hillsides on both sides of the Dagu River were dressed in colorful autumn clothes, stacked red and green, which was particularly gorgeous and dazzling; The lakes you pass along the way are clear and turquoise, reflecting the blue sky and white clouds, and the colorful woods on both sides. Every time the driver drove to a scenic spot, he would stop and let us go down to take pictures, and after a while he would shout: Get in the car! We just got in the car and moved on.

At half past two in the afternoon, we entered the ropeway station and started going up. Sitting on the cable car and looking out the window, the first thing we see is the golden redwood forest on the hillside, and then the redwoods gradually thin out, and some low shrubs begin to appear. As the cable car continued upward, the shrubs were gone, leaving only rocks covered with snow and ice. When I was about to reach the top of the mountain, there were fewer rocks, and all I saw were snowy peaks.

Before three o'clock in the afternoon, Ah Li was standing on the top of the Dagu Glacier. Looking around, in the vast white world, in addition to the ropeway station, there is also an observation deck at the top of the snow-capped mountain at an altitude of 4,860 meters, a plank road for tourists to hike, a five-star red flag fluttering in the wind, a log cabin, the highest café in China, and the highest lake in this scenic spot, called Tear Lake. Ah Li was attracted by the blue lake of tears, stepped on the thick snow, and came to it along the plank road. It is a little different from the Golden Monkey Sea, Zenatsuo, Dagu Lake and other lakes under the mountain, the lake of tears is not big, the color is not rich, and only the snow-capped mountains and the sky are reflected in the lake, but it is on the top of the snow-capped mountains, lying quietly in the embrace of ice and snow, away from the hustle and bustle of the world, otherworldly, ethereal and elegant. What Ah Li was puzzled was: Why is such a beautiful lake named Lake of Tears?

Yes, why is it called Lake of Tears? There is no introduction by the lakeside. Ah Li later checked the information and learned the reason.
Lake of tears is a moraine lake, a lake formed when glaciers melt and retreat at the end. It is a witness and witness to the evolution of the earth's environment. In the context of global warming, the Dagu Glacier is melting rapidly at a rate of 5%-10% per year, and has disappeared by 70% in the past 50 years. If this rate continues, the Dagu Glacier may cease to exist in the next five to ten years. If Dagu Glacier doesn't exist, will Lake of Tears exist? Therefore, the Lake of Tears can be described as the tears of nature and the tears of human beings themselves.
In the past, the Dagu Glacier area was snow-free for only two months a year, but now this snow-free period lasts for three or four months. In summer, all the ice and snow around the Lake of Tears melts, leaving only bare large and small rocks; When autumn comes and the temperature drops, the lake of tears can return to the embrace of ice and snow; When winter comes, the Lake of Tears will be connected with the surrounding ice and snow and become an ice lake; It wasn't until the spring of the following year that it turned back into Lake of Tears.
We were lucky to see the lake of tears surrounded by ice and snow, not the ice lake surrounded by rocks; We saw the unchanging weather and the unchanging beauty of ice and snow of Dagu Glacier! As for the changes in Dagu Glacier and Lake of Tears, we have not witnessed it with our own eyes, is it lucky or unfortunate?
We played on the Dagu Glacier for more than an hour and then took the cable car down. Snow peaks, lakes of tears, rocks, and redwood forests slowly moved away from us. But Ah Li will not forget them, especially the Lake of Tears, which is like the tears of nature.
Daocheng Aden and Dagu Glacier, change and unchanged, are worth a look!
2024、11、15