I made it back safe and sound

Whenever I told anyone I was going to Hua Shan, they would tell me to be careful, that it was dangerous. From what I had read, though, that wasn't really the case, and fortunately this turned out to be one of the few situations in which the guidebook was right. Sure, I could have fallen off of the mountain if I had wanted to, but it wasn't likely to happen by accident. Unlike most mountains I've walked around on, this one was covered with stairs and railings and chains to hold onto, and dotted with hotels and small restaurants and souvenir vendors. Not exactly the "untamed wilderness," but there were trees and rock and some squirrels. The view would probably be excellent on a clear day, but there was dense fog all day long at ground level, so from the top I could really only see other mountains and hills poking their way through the white blanket down below, and up above there were more clouds still. It was a fun time, though, but quite tiring since like walking up any mountain, the goal is to get to the top, which inevitably takes more energy than you planned for. In fact, I'm still feeling all those steps in my calves, so I'm going to head off to bed to hopefully let them rest before standing and teaching all day tomorrow. I'll put up some pictures and more information tomorrow.