Riding the wind of rebirth

The colors of the native forest belt in late autumn become rich and colorful, including purple, red, orange, yellow, brown, and green, as if nature had overturned its palette, rendering the entire hillside colorful, forming a wonderful contrast with the tall, neat but monotonous pine green above, creating a magical effect of "clear distinction".

The native forest is also rich in resources. On one side, separated by a ridge, you can only see a few squirrels and mountain magpies, but on this side, there are many more birds with bright or dull colors and loud or melodious voices.

Many birds gathered in large flocks and were not very afraid of people. Only when the horse team got close did they suddenly fly up from the bushes in large numbers, with perhaps one or two hundred birds in a flock.

"It's so beautiful..." Mai Xiaomiao couldn't help but raise his camera and started taking pictures.

Zhou Zhi also raised his camera, but he took a picture of Mai Xiaomiao who was riding on a horse and holding up the camera excitedly.

"Look over there, that's our destination!" Jike Azi pointed to a cloud of mist rising from behind a distant hill. Against the backdrop of the pure blue sky, the cloud was very far away, but it was particularly eye-catching at the junction of the colorful forest and the pine forest: "That's the hot spring."

"It doesn't seem close, about fifteen miles." Zhou Zhi calculated the distance.

"Twenty miles." Jike Azi corrected, "But the road is easier to walk on the edge of the pine forest."

The team continued to move forward, and now the road was basically determined, walking on the edge of the pine forest and native forest.

There are more tree species on the side of the native forest, but the trunks are thinner. Many vines are entangled on the trees, competing with them for sunlight. The forest is relatively humid and there are relatively more creatures. Occasionally there is a clear stream or pond. When people get close, they can see many small fish in the water scattering like lightning into the cracks of rocks far away from people.

On the muddy ground around the pond, one can see footprints of some large animals. The ones Zhouzhi can identify are sheep, deer, wild boars, and one that is suspected to be a cow, but it is definitely not the buffalo raised by the Yi people at the foot of the mountain, the yellow cattle halfway up the mountain, or the yaks on the plateau meadows.

But what is incredible is that the boundary between the native forest and the aerial seeding regenerated forest is quite obvious. This boundary is also the boundary between the coniferous forest and the broad-leaved forest. The transition zone is very narrow. Even when riding a horse, you can see pine needles on the left side of the road and red leaves on the right side. It feels very magical.

Although this scenery looks pleasing to the eye, and it allows one to enjoy both the pine forest and the colorful forest, and the road is relatively easy and comfortable to walk on, the cause of this phenomenon has sparked curious discussions.

First of all, we need to rule out the temperature as the reason. The slope here is not too steep, and the climate difference between the left and right sides of the road is not so great that only coniferous leaves can grow on one side and only broad leaves can grow on the other.

For the same reason, the relationship between water and humidity can also be ruled out. Although the soil on the pine forest side is obviously drier and the soil on the broad-leaved forest side is moister, that is more likely because there is not much grass under the pine forest and the two types of forests have different water-holding capacities. The cause and effect relationship cannot be reversed.

Eventually, everyone attributed the cause to the soil. The nutrient-rich humus soil on the left side of the road was washed down the mountain by rain, and perhaps it just happened to reach here when the country began aerial seeding afforestation.

Because the native forest belt requires relatively rich humus soil, they stopped growing on the right side.

The terrible competition among plants in the native forest killed the possibility of normal growth of the pine seedlings, so they could only grow on the relatively poor soil on the left side of the road without competition from the native forest.

The real agricultural and forestry experts were not here, so everyone was just guessing. It didn't matter who was right or wrong. It was fun to have a lot of noise along the way. The pheasants had already gone up the mountain in this season. The rich pine needles provided them with a dry, warm and comfortable nesting place, while the broad-leaved forest on the other side provided abundant food. Therefore, the two sides of the road became the best "attendance area" for the pheasants.

From time to time, pheasants would be frightened and jump out from the woods or pine needles, or even fly over the height of the horses' heads. Their beautiful figures often caused everyone to scream in surprise.

There are not only many squirrels in the pine forests in this area, but also another kind of bird resting in the tree holes and branches.

When this bird stands quietly on a tree or at the entrance of a cave, it blends in perfectly with the pine bark. Zhou Zhi pointed for a long time, but Mai Xiaomiao and Wu Renzhong couldn't see where it was. It was not until the bird opened one of its big eyes and flexibly twisted its neck 270 degrees that Mai Xiaomiao shouted in surprise: "Owl! How do you say elbow in Chinese?"

"Owl." Zhou Zhi said proudly: "This is the advantage of Chinese. It carries enough information and you can understand what it means as soon as you hear it."

Because there was a packhorse, Zhou Zhi brought a portrait lens and a telephoto lens this time. The owl on the tree was a suitable target for novices. Several girls had never played with a digital camera before, and now they were quite interested in this huge and bulky equipment. If they didn’t have enough strength, they would take turns playing with it. Their love of beauty made them ignore the weight of the machine.

It would still take some time for people to walk the 20-mile mountain road. In fact, the speed of riding a horse is not much faster than walking. However, there is no need to stop when riding a horse, and the road is always along the pine forest. The elevation difference is not much, and it is not much different from walking on flat ground. It took about two hours for everyone to arrive at a high place in a mountain valley.

There was fog floating in the valley. After entering the forest, the fog became very thick, and then came out from the upper part of the high mountain forest and floated into the sky. This should be the reason why Zhou Zhi and his friends could see a group of white clouds here from a distance.

"This kind of cloud only appears in autumn and winter. It cannot be seen in spring and summer," said Jike Azi.

This is easy to explain. The temperature is low in autumn and winter, and the rising water vapor easily forms clouds. The different scenes around the university's water room in different seasons are the best proof of this.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"Let's go down!" After riding for two or three hours, everyone was a little tired. Seeing the green water below the colorful forest with steaming clouds, they couldn't help but be moved. Wu Renzhong shouted, "This place is so beautiful! Grandpa Chi Ri actually hid it! He kept it from me for so long!"

"What the hell are you doing?" Zhou Zhi said disdainfully, "Don't you know what you were like before? Can Grandpa Chi Ri let you run so far without worry?"

"What's the big deal?" Wu Renzhong didn't care and shouted, "Don't we have a guide like Ah Zi?"

“Hehehe…” Shama Ricong stretched out his hand and grabbed Wu Renzhong’s ear, gritting his teeth and saying, “Then Grandpa Chi Ri must be more cautious. I find that some people in Renzhong still don’t have a clear understanding of their own positioning…”

"Oh, aunt, please let go. I was just thinking about bringing you here to play..."

"Hahahaha..." Everyone laughed, and Zhou Zhi quickly raised his camera. Of course, he couldn't let go of such good material. (End of this chapter)