Galugarin: Mt Xueshan (Snow Mountain)

Altitude: 3886 masl
Location: Taichung City Taiwan
March 06 - 10, 2013
Players: Abe, Ernie, Roselle, Kuya Ohlit, Kuya Efren, Trisha, JM and Joanna.
Bonus trips: Mt Hehuanshan (3416 masl), Mt Shihmen (3227 masl), Taroko Gorge (Baiyang Waterfalls Trail,
Swallow Grotto, Shakadang Trail), Yongchungang Park, and Taipei 101.

March 05, The Meet Up.

Backpack (✓)

Hiking stuffs (✓)

Passport (✓)

Camera (✓)

Phone (✓)

Is everything ✓ ??

I am very excited and I am sure the rest of the players too. I have a baggage to check-in that is why I need to be early at the Changi International Airport. Nobody wants to be late, so right after my work, I went straight to our HDB, recheck my hiking stuffs & everything that I need to bring. Our flight from Singapore is 12:55 in the morning of the next day, it's a 4 hours & 30 minutes travel time - we will arrive at Taiwan at 5:25AM and there is no time difference between the two countries. Check-in done! We are now ready for departure. Yeah!

March 06, Touchdown!

Taoyuan International Airport

While the plane is preparing to depart, I cannot help myself but to bring back the memories that I build in this country. I worked before in Taiwan and the idea of going back once again is really exciting! But my body cannot hold the excitement, I felt tire and sleepy, so I take a nap. Just after a few hours, I woke up and here we are at Taoyuan International Airport - situated at the northern part of Taiwan. After we passed the immigration section, we took our baggages then went straight to the arrival area where our local guide, Mr Lih-Kai, is waiting for us. He guided us to the parking area where a L300 van is waiting and this will be our service for the whole tour. The weather outside is a bit cold and that was great! For our breakfast, Mr Lih-Kai bring us to a small cafeteria where we tried the local foods. Communicating with the locals are hard if you don't know some basic knowledge in Mandarin. Good thing our guide is a Taiwanese and can speak well in english too, and I do too know some basic of their native language.

Wu - Ling National Forest Recreation Area

After we're done with our breakfast, we don't wanna waste any time so we went back on the road. It took us almost 3 hours to reach our next destination, the Wu - Ling National Forest Recreation Area, where we will have our lunch before we go to the final stop. The JOP is just a few minutes away from this area so there's no need to hurry, we took our time to eat and rest.

We arrived at the JOP around 2PM. Prepare ourselves and our stuffs needed for the hike. And those stuffs that are not yet needed , we just leave it inside the van. After done preparing, we watched a short film, a short briefing from our guide and we are ready to go!

let the battle begin!

Cika Hut

Mount Xueshan is situated in Taichung City. It's the 2nd highest mountain in Taiwan at 3886 meters above sea level and has a 10.90 km long trail. Xueshan literally means "Snow Mountain" & during winter season, the mountain is cover with snow. But that time the winter season is almost over, that was the first week of March. At the entrance of the trail, you can't see any trace of ice. But I am hoping that we can see some along the way. We start to ascend around 3PM, the trail is established and clean. After an hour of trekking we arrived at Cika Hut where we will stay for the night.

March 07, The Summit.

Zero degree Celsius!

Crying slope info

I heard my alarm, I get up and get ready then have a quick breakfast. It's still dark outside since we need to start early. The temperature is 0°C and it's freaking cold! Wow we need to start trekking or else we'll freeze. After a short prayer, we start walking and move forward. Since it is still dark, you cannot see anything around you. My headlamp is the only light that guide me to see the trail. After a few hours the sun starts to show up. By that time we are at the base of the "Crying Slope." This is a steep trail that could take you 30 minutes to reach the end. We keep on ascending to this trail until we reached the top of it. We rest for a while, take a picture and continue to watch the sunrise. This time that the sun is out, you can see the beautiful scenario, breathtaking indeed!

Base of the Crying Slope

On top of the Crying Slope

Group picture at the East Peak

East Peak (3201 masl)

We resumed our trek until we reach Mt Xueshan's East Peak (3201 masl). You can see from here that we are surrounded by mountains. A few meters away from this peak you can see a helipad along the way. It still cold even the sun is already out and you can see the clear blue sky above you. After a few hours, finally we reach the next and the last hut, the 369 cabin. We took a quick break, took photos and appreciate the spectacular view!

369 Cabin

We continued our trek to a long zigzag trail of grass. Then enter the black forest where our guide told us that there are time that a bear can be seen here. Inside this forest we see some melting icicles. And a few meters after the end of the forest, you can see the summit and lucky us, there are still some parts of the mountain that are cover of snow. Finally, at exactly 12:22PM we reach the summit weee!