This is a provincial road hidden in the Qilian Mountains that has been in disrepair for a long time. It has an average daily traffic volume of only 500 vehicles, of which only 20 are small vehicles, and most of the vehicles They are all freight vehicles that transport iron ore between Jingtieshan and Jiugang.
Provincial Highway S215 starts from Jiayuguan Heishan Lake in the north and connects Qinghai Provincial Highway S204 in the south. Since there is not much public information on provincial highways, judging from the map, S204 ends near Daquan Village, Qilian County, Erga Highway, where it merges with G213.
Among China’s famous mountains and rivers, the Qilian Mountains are no stranger to the public. They lie between Gansu and Qinghai and are the symbols defining the second and third ladders in China’s geography. However, many people I know this not from geography books, but from the Xiongnu folk song "Losing my Qilian Mountains, my six animals will not be able to live; losing my Yanzhi Mountain, my married woman will have no color." Although this Xiongnu folk song is widely circulated, not many people have actually visited the Qilian Mountains. It is only an area of ??concern to a few glaciologists and hydrologists.
But when you really walk into the hinterland of the Qilian Mountains and travel along the valley from east to west, from south to north, you can feel its breadth and depth, and understand the significance of geography textbooks and limited literature on the Qilian Mountains. The description is too simple. The geographical significance and cultural connotation of Qilian Mountain are far beyond our imagination.
Jingtieshan, with an altitude of 5206 meters, is located in the western section of Qilian Mountain in Gansu Province. It is rich in iron ore resources and has been mined. Jingtieshan Mine is located in the middle of the Qilian Mountains and within Sunan Yugu Autonomous County. It was discovered in 1955, explored from 1956 to 1958, and was founded in 1958. It is currently the largest and most mechanized ferrous metallurgical pit mining in my country. One of the mountains.
In fact, the journey from Heishan Lake to the mining area is fine. At best, it is only gravel roads, and most roads are still paved.
However, the road conditions dropped sharply after passing the mining area. This may be because there are more vehicles traveling from the mining area to Jiayuguan, so the focus of road maintenance should be on this section.
However, please note that you need an ID card and driving license to register when entering or exiting the mining area. This road is the only way to go from Jiayuguan to Hala Lake. I have been here many times, but because I have never been clear whether photography is allowed in the mining area, I did not take photos of this place, and I will not explain it in detail in this article.
Tol Mountain means "mountain with firewood" in Mongolian. It is also called Mulei Mountain, and also has other names such as Taolai Mountain, Tuolai Mountain and Tuolai Mountain.
Tuole Mountain is located between the Heihe River, Babao River and the upper reaches of Tuolai River and Datong River. It starts near Qingshizui in Menyuan County in the east and extends to the west near Erzhihara Pass. The peak altitude is generally 4000 to 4500 meters. The highest peak is Yincaogao Black Mountain, with an altitude of 4849 meters. There are a small number of modern glaciers on peaks above 4,500 meters. The northwest section of the mountain range is higher and is the main part of Mount Toler, while the southeast section is lower and is called Mount Mole, also called Mount Obo.
This mountain at the junction of Gansu and Qinghai has a rather convoluted name - Erzhihala Mountain. If you want to go from S215 to Qinghai S204, Erzhihala Pass is the only way to pass.
As for Nijihara Pass, snow begins to accumulate around September and October, and the road is narrow and has no guardrails. This attractive provincial road has scared off many tourists. Southern tourists who drove cars and commercial vehicles several times were frightened by the narrow mountain road and the constantly slippery snow-covered road and turned back. Indeed, this road is not as difficult to navigate as a four-wheel drive, so not taking risks is a wise choice.
However, the only part of this section of road that is really difficult to drive is the short section of Erjihara Pass. After passing through, it is basically an open and flat gravel road.
Soon after entering Qinghai, S204 will turn into a newly renovated asphalt road. What you have to worry about here is not to speed!
On both sides of this straight asphalt road are lush pastures, which is an important local pasture.
Not far ahead is Yanglong Township. You can choose to stay here overnight or continue driving along Tuolenan Mountain. Then you can follow the Heihe River and Corridor Nanshan all the way to Yeniugou Township. If you are still not satisfied, you can continue to drive there. Qilian County. Of course, the county towns have the best accommodation and accommodation conditions. Regardless of Yanglong or Yiniugou, accommodation and accommodation conditions are limited, and even the power supply may not be stable 24 hours a day.
This route is a good choice as an off-road self-driving route. Zhangye-Jiayuguan-Jingtieshan-Erzhihala Mountain-Yanglong-Yiniugou-Qilian-Zhangye is the most popular route. The difficulty lies in the "Jingtie Mountain-Erzhihara Mountain", which may encounter unfavorable conditions such as ice and snow roads, difficulty in passing cars, and no signal.
If you have time, hurry up and take a look! One weekend is enough!
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