While much of the top of the wall is overgrown and parts are now maybe only half the original width, this section is not dangerous as such - the only issue would be getting caught out in a thunder storm which accounted for a pair of walkers a few months ago. The wall takes a couple of dog leg turns before reaching its highest point in the area above the watch tower in the foreground - thereafter it doubles back on itself and there is nothing at all on the right at the top except a couple of radio towers and an extremely steep drop.

This is the same tower with the wall winding back towards where we had first joined it (behind the hill in the middle background). Yuehong does not function at all well in hot humid conditions.

From where she was sitting, she could see across to the next section with the highest tower of Jiankou - I came in this way with my son Chris. Up ahead was another long climb to the summit followed by a descent to get to the overgrown tower seen in the foreground. 

What she didn't know yet was that I had spotted a path which offered a short cut across the gap. No wonder she was smiling fifteen minutes later when we all posed for the 2009 birthday family shot, it must have saved us well over half an hour.

This was the end of our 'wall walk' as we immediately dived down into the forest. Last time we had turned right (and down) at the first junction here, so this time we went left (and up) in the hope of avoiding a scramble through the bush which had resulted then when the path expired.

In a couple of minutes we crossed a col with a view down to our intended destination, the entrance to the tourist base for the Jiankou section of the Great Wall, Sizhazi, and in due course we emerged into the cultivated area.

On the way down Yuehong and Yiran inspected the signs erected to instruct visitors on the right way to behave ('countryside code').

This was our final wonderful view of the Great Wall as we left the forest.

This village appears, for the moment, to be almost unspoiled even though it sports a couple of small guest houses, the people in the village were the first we had seen for the best part of three hours, amazing in this part of China!

Fortunately, if anyone had asked, this was the first of these signs we had seen all day and we were on our way out. Of course, if you do the walk in the anti-clockwise direction you will have to pass this although, in fact, there is no physical barrier and at least midweek no one to stop you.

Total journey time from road to road was just under 6 hours although it would not have been difficult to do it in 5 hours in more pleasant conditions. We had hoped to catch the 17.15 bus from Badaohe, some 4 or 5 km down the valley but by the time we walked there we were too late. Instead Yuehong chartered a mini 3 wheeler to take us the fifteen minutes back home to Jiaojiehe. It was quite a birthday outing, we were all very tired and it seems despite the cloud cover I had got mild sunstroke. A day off the beer next day was a small price to pay.