Climbing Snow Mountain

Last weekend Gareth, Kirt, Michael & David visited Snow Mountain, Taiwan's second-highest peak.

After a 5 hour drive from Taipei, we arrived at the trailhead at 11 pm on Friday night, then hiked for an hour in the dark before getting to the Qi Ka Cabin. After a not-too-comfortable night's sleep on the cabin's "beds" (tough plastic mats) we hit the trail at 9 am in the morning.



The trailhead was already 2300m above sea level, and by the time we hiked the 5 km to Snow Mountain's east peak, we were 3150m high. Time to stop for a rest and a meal.


The east peak afforded panoramic views all around. Mountain ranges rippled away in all directions. We could see the valley where we started, and also the road ahead to the summit. I delved into my overloaded backpack for a lunch of fruit, trail mix and a half-squashed tuna sandwich. After lunch we napped in the sun as the mountain breezes rolled across the peak.


True to its' name, the Snow Mountain summit was indeed snow-covered. But we did not scale the summit, since ice axes and crampons were required. It was also too far away, and our motley bunch simply wasn't cut out for it. But the day was still young, and from the east peak we walked another two km over to the next lodging post, the 369 Cabin. After a rest there, it was time to descend back whence we came. That evening we bunked once more at Qi Ka, enjoying some instant noodles and the starry view above.