Awesome Day! - Part One: The Hike 超讚的一天

Some days are awesome from beginning to end. This was one of them. We hoped to see the Pingxi 平溪 (pronounced "Ping-She") Sky Lamp Festival, We also hoped to squeeze in a hike because this area of Taiwan recalls the famous Chinese landscape paintings with towering peaks. We did both! This is Part One of that awesome day.



We left the house at 8:20 AM, headed for the BeiTou MRT 北投捷運 station. On the way, we picked up some purple rice fan tuan 紫米飯團. One of the cool things about hiking in Taiwan is the abundance of packable food. This isn't fast food; it's quickly prepared nutrition! We got a baked-potato-size ball of protein, carbs, fiber and real flavor all in a plastic wrap that allows you to eat without getting messy. Stuff it in your pack and you have a great lunch waiting for you. Price? US$1 each. Awesome.

To get to the Taipei Zoo, we changed trains twice. Then we took the shuttle to Pingxi. During the Sky Lamp Festival, buses run constantly from 10:00 AM to midnight. The further we traveled out of Taipei, the more starkly the landscape rose around us.

Once out of the bus, we joined the throng on their way into town. Ping had done her research (as always!) and knew there were trails everywhere. We found one off to the right. Look at that! We could do a very short loop and climb Cimu Ling 慈母嶺, Cimu Feng 慈母峰  and Xiaozi Shan 孝子山 all in one shot! Sweet!

During the bus trip into town, we had noticed evidence of previous Sky Lamp launches. These we found near the trail. We wondered how they collected these from such rugged, densely forested mountains.

At the top of this "flight" of stairs, we got to an old railroad grade. We were deep within Tolkien's Fangorn Forest again. (We would later find ourselves in Lewis' Narnia. Who knew they were both near Pingxi! Read on!)

Now we were really into the mountains! The trail got rougher and more primitive as we climbed. Then we came to a long set of steep steps cut from a near-vertical slab. The picture shows Ping about halfway up.

Not long after that, we came to a junction. Apparently, this was the way to get to Cimu Ling. Um. Okay. That is vertical. Mark climbed it first. It was very solid. Ping always finds a slightly different series of footholds and handholds since her feet and hands are closer together than Mark's. She was particularly grateful we didn't have to come back down this way.

More cut steps and more ropes led to the actual summit. Whoa! Awesome view! (Off in the distance, you can see the peak from the earlier picture.)

"Wait! It's a dead end? We do have to go back down the same way we came up!"

We hiked deeper into Fangorn, following the trail, looking for more ropes. Fortunately, there were plenty more ropes. Some of these giant steps required a little half-step nearby.

From another ridge top, we got a look back at our first summit. (Click on the picture at the right to see where we had been standing on top of Cimu Ling.)

Now we were traversing a tilted slab of ancient ocean floor, the top of which was as wide as Ping's outstretched hands (left). At the thinnest point, it was actually treetop height and about 35cm wide (right).

We were glad to get to the end of that bit! Before we rounded a corner to get to the bottom of the slab, we got a look at the surroundings through a gap in the foliage. Yes! This is where we were hiking! Awesome.

It wasn't until we got around the end of the slab that we realized how much overhang there was on one side! The pictures here on the left and right are oriented straight up and down.

We continued down another section of the slab, still looking for Cimu Feng.

The exposed rock on the far peak is just one more summit in this area that has steps cut all the way up. We still shake our heads in wonder at the strength and skill it took to make these trails!

After climbing a rope-and-step-aided, fully exposed rock face, we stopped for lunch on Cimu Feng. That "tooth" off to the left is Xiazi Shan. By this time, it was 1:00 PM and we were ready for fan tuan! Oh, it was SO GOOD!

On the way down, we got a look back at the face we'd just come up (left). We kept laughing because Mark kept saying: "Oh, but after this, it drops away even more sharply!" He said it at least four times. The last section of steps was more like climbing down a ladder.

Now we got the clearest look at Xiazi Shan. We're going up there? Hmmm...we'll see.

Down below, we came to a junction where one could choose either one of two "stepladders." We decided those were for another day and headed down.

We wandered the trail until we came to a small shelter built over a GuanYin Buddha 觀音菩薩. There was something very peaceful about this place. We found a slightly different Buddha a bit further down.

Then...look, a stone table! We were suddenly in Narnia!

Not much later, we were on our way out toward civilization. On the right is our view looking back up the trail. We decided against climbing Xiazi Shan that day. The two summits and several traverses were satisfying enough, and we wanted our legs to be a bit more rested before we tackled that exposed summit.

A short walk down a paved road brought us right back into town. We memorized the route back to this point so we could find it again...next time!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of Awesome Day! To be continued...