Mt. Chihsingshan

see all photos »

Not too much going on here in Taipei land. This weekend we went on a couple of motorcycle rides, including one to the nearby mountain of Yangmingshan. The temperature outside has gotten cooler, so I made sure to wear my sweatshirt for the hour ride to the mountain. Once there we navigated through the confusing park roads until finding the trail head for Mt. Chihsingshan, 1120m tall and the highest peak of Yangmingshan. On our way up the mountain we passed many Chinese hikers with stereos on their backpacks, which played very Asian sounding Chinese ballads. The area also reeked of sulfur because of underground pockets. The trail was easy consisting of a stone path and steps leading upwards. Near the top, the woods we were walking through faded away and only tall grass remained. The afternoon was still very chill, and we couldn’t see very far because of the fog blowing over the path and blocking the views. The top of the mountain had a large Chinese obelisk and rocks scattered around where people sat and talked. In one corner a couple took out a portable gas heated teapot and made some fresh cups of tea. We sat down for awhile, when I found an ant walking along my leg, then another one. Getting up I realized I was sitting on a huge mass of ants. Oy! I swear they weren’t there when I sat down. That was enough sitting for me. I looked around for a bit longer, and when the fog cleared momentarily I was left with a beautiful view of grassy mountains and a town far below.

Going back down the mountain was a little trickier. We found ourselves on a path we didn’t recognize, so had to backtrack about 15 minutes. Then we took the other path down the mountain, just to discover we had taken the wrong path and were now on the opposite side of the mountain from the bike! Dismissing the idea of waiting around for a bus, we walked back up, past the intersection where we had taken the incorrect path and to a small turnoff we hadn’t noticed before. After about 20 minutes on this path we realized it also didn’t look familiar, but at least we were going in the correct direction. And it did empty into the correct parking lot – finally! It was a pleasant hike, but it felt even better to be on the back of the bike riding down the mountain and looking forward to a hot shower.