Dykes wrote that he was in pain upon departing Panzhihua, the city at the river's halfway point, but it was not immediately clear what injuries he was suffering from. He is now walking solo and, although he has been finding that a difficult challenge, he explains how some of his previous journeys have prepared him for it.

Soon he happened upon the river's southernmost point. Many other great rivers coming off the Tibetan Plateau, such as the Mekong, Salween and Brahmaputra continue south into Southeast Asia and India. The Yangtze, on the other hand, makes an abrupt change of course in this region and instead heads east-northeast to cross the heartland of China to the East China Sea.

He anticipated the next section of the Yangtze would be a challenge but he gave it his all. He made decent progress bushwacking through thick vegetation and squaring off with steep cliffs and gorges, but in the end, he had to turn back to make a detour.

He has assessed a new route but one that will add many days to the journey. It follows a track that runs parallel to the river but through the mountains. The track will eventually reconnect him with the mighty river.