黑色奇来

Rest at last

I unclasped my bag and let it slide off my back and drop onto the floor. I told myself "I'll sort it out later." I had some fruit, some yogurt, and then drifted off into sleep.
I had just completed of the hardest hikes I've ever experienced. In fact, after this excursion, I would like to graduate myself from hiker to amateur mountain climber. A difficult hike in itself, with the volatile mountain weather, and two fairly difficult - if not out right dangerous - summits. But, I made the journey even more arduous by cutting the hiking time nearly in half, and doing it alone.

The beginning

This story begins nearly 2 weeks ago when I had come back to 高雄 (Gaoxiong) for some rock climbing. Oddly enough I never even got to climb that day, the rope bearers arrived too late and I had already made plans to go to a night market with some of the nurses at the hospital. Among the avid climbers, there are also quite a few hikers...and so naturally I started asking questions about the 南二段, the second southern section of the trail system that follows the 中央山脉 (Central Mountain Range). One girl had done it before, and she offered to let me come along with her group to do a trail called the batongguan (this is actually part of the last section of the 南二段). Naturally, I was excited...and the next day I started to apply online for the necessary permits. Permits are generally required for the longer hiking trails here, but sometimes you can get permits as necessary at police stations near the trailheads. The batongguan is a part of the yushan national park however, so permits must be obtained in advance...and can be a bit of a pain since the government will only permit a limited number of people in at any given time.

Within 2 days my first permit application, I received a rejection email. I knew that trouble was ahead. So, I started making a backup plan. I emailed Richard Saunders, and he made a couple of suggestions, but only one stood out...the 奇来南峰 (Qilai Mountain Southern Peak)

I think it may have been from some pictures I'd seen online, the famous "qilai ridge," 黑色奇来(“Black Peril”Qilai) was where I wanted to go if I couldn't get my permit.

2 days before the start of the hike, I received my second and final rejection for park/mountain entry. Plan B went into effect immediately. The next day as I was making final preparations (buying some food stuffs, etc.) I got a call from the girl who had invited me on the hike. An incoming typhoon had spoiled their plans for the batongguan walk. I felt terrible since they had been planning this for more than a month...but you can't change the weather.

Getting there

Despite the incoming storm, I continued my preparations and headed out by bus from the kaohsiung train station. It was nearly 5 hours to 埔里 (Puli) where I had to change buses to 雾社(Wushe) . Before I left my friends mom tried to give me 10000NT to take with me, I refused and set out with about 1700NT. After the making it to 雾社 I was left with only 1000NT and change. Alternatively you can take a train from 高雄(Gaoxiong) or 台北(Taibei) to 台中(Taizhong), then take a bus to 埔里(Puli) before changing buses to 雾社(Wushe).

I headed straight to the 雾社(Wushe) police station to get my permit...and was rejected on the grounds of bad weather and they told me to check back on the following morning. I had planned on trying to hitch hike up to the trail head and set up camp, but now I had to stick around near the police station for reports of better weather. So, I spent my last 1000NT on a hotel room at a 民宿(MinSu). I got a negotiated rate because I had wandered into a mechanics garage looking for a place to stay and his the 民宿(MinSu) owner was his landlady.

After a good nights rest, a beautiful morning view, and breakfast (included in the price), I called the police station and they told me I could get a permit.

The story was different when I got to the station. When I called the officer didn't realize that I wanted to go in for 3 days. They could read the disappointment on my face. Then, they offered to discuss my plans over tea. "我们喝个茶，谈一谈好不好? (Let's have some tea and talk about this, ok?)," or something like that. After some pleasantries...where are you from? what do you do? what's the salary like for police officers in the states? I pulled out my map and set it on top of the marble tea tray. I told them where I wanted to go and they said, "no." It wasn't exactly a flat out "no," it was more like, "we're not going to give you a permit, but if you go in, don't stay too long." Then, they decided that I should go up to 合欢山 (Hehuan Mountain) for the day, and area on the 14 cross island highway, with a couple of easy walks right off if the road. As they told me, and I'm not sure if he did it on purpose or not, one of the officer's fingers drifted towards a trail on the map. A trail that I hadn't even paid attention to before. It was the path to the 奇来北峰and奇来主峰 (Qilai north peak and main peak), and the trailhead was at right next to the 合欢山东峰 (Hehuan Mountain's east peak), easily accessible right off the highway! Knowingly or not, they had just started my head spinning with a new plan. I thanked them left, and started hitchhiking my way up to 合欢山 (Hehuan Mountain) about 30km uphill from the police station. After changing cars 3 times, I made it...I was a bit disoriented, but I knew I was close to the trail, and then...

Strange fates

The last driver to give me a left, dropped me off at 石门山 (Shimen Mountain)...I think ed's dad went there a few weeks ago when he was here- that blog entry is still pending. In a bit of a daze, I wandered downhill a few hundred meters before I heard some people yelling expressions of shock. As I focussed on the figures in front of me, I saw two Taiwanese guys shouting at me. Go figure, less than one week prior I had run into them as I was exploring a trail (leading to 塔曼山) – that entry is also pending. I couldn't believe it, and neither could they...I mean what are the odds??

After greetings, I asked if I could walk with them for a while. They brought a third with them this time, and I went up to two easy peaks with them and started to discuss my plan for a possible 奇来(Qilai) hike if the weather looked ok. They warned me of "danger," but happily showed me exactly where the trailhead was. Before we parted ways, they took me to the a national park office where I began talking to a "soldier" (a kid doing his obligatory military stint in the civilian service) about my plans. I was also able to take a good picture of a map of the trail I would be taking...it would prove useful over the next few days! I was offered encouragement, as well as advice on staying the night out there after I told him I had less than 100NT on my person. The advice came after I inquired about camping and the kid replied "原则上是不行的 (In principle, aka according to the Regs, it's not allowed)" as he said it he gave a sort of wink and then he repeated himself, louder this time for his boss to hear. Then he took me for a little walk outside the building, explaining I should wait until after 7 to set up tent, and the hot water (for noodles not bathing) would be available all night. He added, if anyone comes and says you can't stay camp here, just pretend to start packing and wait until they leave.

As the sun began to set a decided on a flat spot on a hill just outside of (and out of view of) the building. ( I started to get dinner ready when I found out my lighter was no longer working. I guess it was a really good thing that I didn't make it to the south peak trail or else I would have been three days without hot food! I frantically began looking for smoking tourists on that were stopping at scenic spots along the highway, just below where I was making camp. It didn't take long before I got a taxi driver to part with his lighter. I offered him money, but he said I'd need the lighter out here. I went back up to my sight to cook my instant noodles, and set up the tent. It was still early, but the sun was going down fast, it started raining, and the wind was wipping. I crawled inside my tent, inside my sleeping bag and drifted into sleep. I was anxious, I thought my tent would leak...I thought the wind would knock it down in the middle of the night...I thought I would get caught camping...I thought I wouldn't be able...

I woke up just before sunrise. I had eaten breakfast and had everything ready to go in less than 15 minutes. And with a deep breath, I set off for the trailhead. It was about 2-3km to the giant sign that reads "奇来山登山口." I possed for a self-portrait, then followed two women onto the trail. As I passed them one of them said, "啊，一个人走很危险." I chuckled a bit and explained no one was willing to go with me. Then, I just walked on ahead.

The first stretch of the path is through beautiful "yushan cane" meadows. The weather was perfect and the scenery was amazing. It was hard to believe I less than 2km from the highway.

The further I walked, the harder the terrain got. It was still easy going, with lots of unnessary fixed ropes...for a while. I passed the first cabin, and stopped to fill up on water. I figured I had better top off, and I was right. I didn't stop long, as I had fomulated a plan the night before...I wanted to make it to the main peak by 4pm...a pretty killer pace. Shortly after the cabin, I was shocked to see a group of foreigners coming down the trail, maybe seven or eight of them. They looked beat. They said that they were got stuck on the ridge between the peaks(I'm still not sure how). They couldn't make it to the shelter, and they couldn't pitch their tents. It sounded crazy, and I still don't understand what happened to them.

I let them pass and I continued. Soon, it was time to summit the north peak. I stashed my bag, and only tool my camera, some water, and a soy joy bar with me. Thus began the hardest 1.5km of my hike. It took me nearly 45 minutes to get up the first marker. My heart sank when I realized I had only gone 300 meters...it sank even deeper when I saw a saw that said I could follow the ridge to the cabin from where I was standing instead of back tracking (to get my bag) and having to walk up another steep slope. It would have paid off to pay a little closer attention to the map!

After another hour of climbing up the slope, all the while thinking, "It's gonna be a bitch going down," I finally made pulled myself up onto the summit. The picture now records the highest point I've ever been to on foot...3607 meters (it reads 3605M, but the sign behind it says 3607M. It was unbelievable in the clouds. Absolutely stunning, but terribly windy and cold. I would have liked to stay and enjoy the view longer, but I had a schedule to keep and I knew the weather on the mountain tended to turn bad around 2-3pm (good advice from the other foreign trekkers. So, I finished off my victory soy joy bar, and made the journey down.

It was a bit sketchy going down, but it went quicker than I anticipated. For once I was happy to see fixed ropes. To make things quicker I used them to kind of rappel down in the places where down climbing looked tough. After a lot of loose rock and careful negotiation I made it down, shouldered my pack and continued walking towards the next mountain shelter...and the next peak.

Almost like clockwork (well actually a little earlier than I had thought) the weather turned. Luckily it was only about another hour to the next mountain shelter. I got to the building around 1pm, just as the rain was starting to pick up. The shelter's in pretty good condition and it even has solar panels! The solar panels charge several car batteries, and I think it's all to run a single light inside the cabin.

I had some snacks, and watched the rain...after some heavy downpours, the rain lightened up, and I decided to make a rush for the main peak...and possible try to keeping following the trail past 卡罗楼
山 to 奇来南峰 (a trail leading to the Qilai south peak, another day or 2's walk).

The trail marker said that the main peak was 1.6km away, along the famous qilai ridge line. It's a pity it was so foggy as I imagine the view walking along the ridge at 3000+ meters would have been breathtaking. With the mist and the fog, I can definitely understand why people think qilai is haunted. I mean at this point (10hours of walking) I was already talking to myself...it wouldn't have been a stretch for me to think I was seeing ghosts in the mist.

After another easy 1.5hrs walk, I started my summit climb. It was different terrain than the north peak, it was more like a 20 minute scramble/crawl of loose rock to the top. And upon arriving I was confronted with nothing but fog in all directions, and thunder rolling in the distance. I savored some victory chocolates and quickly started my decent.

As the thunder got louder, and I started seeing flashes of lightning my pace quickened. I stopped just to check out the path to the south peak. It looked rather menacing for me to do on my own, so I decided to head back to the cabin. I practically ran back, all the while talking to myself about not getting stuck on the ridge. Although, I concluded (with myself) that I would make the ridge walk in anything short of hurricane conditions, as it was still a better bet than risking exposure on the ridge.

An hour later with soaked shoes, hat, and half soaked pants I crawled back into the cabin in which I had taken shelter earlier that afternoon. I was able to cook instant noodles, and I ate some special German bread that I found inside the cabin...I think it did funny things to my stomach the next day. I made some tea and ate some more chocolate before turning in for the night.

The decent

It rained heavily all night and it was cold, but the sound was was comforting and my sleeping bag kept me warm. I slept straight through until 4am. It was time to eat and prepare for the walk out. After some more questionable bread and oatmeal I packed up. I pulled on my wet pants, tied up my wet shoes (nothing had dried during the night), and set off as the sun was rising. It was still cold, and I couldn't wait to get moving to warm up.

The walk out from the cabin wasn't bad at all, I had just come that way the day before, so things were familiar. And I carried on feeling accomplished. I told Qilai mountain that when I finished I would summit another mountain (合欢东峰) just to prove she didn't get the best of me.

I stopped 3 times on the walk out. The first time to admire a mountain goat, running effortlessly along the steep slopes of the north peak. The second time to refill on mountain stream water make a quick cup of instant coffee, and greet two hikers that were on their way up the trail (I didn't think they had the heart to make it...but who knows). Then the last time I picked the highest point I could get to in the cane meadow to enjoy the scenery and a quick snack.

I arrived at the trailhead to see a large group of people getting ready to take a walk in the meadow. They wanted me to help them take a picture of the group standing in front of the 奇来山登山口(trail head) marker. I took the picture, but it felt like they were mocking me...mocking anyone whose every actually hiked the trail, and mocking the mountain. I know it's certainly not the hardest trail, not even the hardest trail in Taiwan, but it's still takes a bit of work and heart to do the hike.

One more peak

With a ten minute break, I continued straight to the hehuan east peak, to fulfill my promise. I was moving slowly at this point. A crawl compared to my pace the day before...a crawl even compared to my pace 30 minutes earlier, yet I was still overtaking most of the other hikers up the steps. Yup, there were steps on this one...I hate steps on my mountains! At the top, I ran into a group of 3 admiring the qilai north peak. The oldest was telling about how hard a hike it was to the peak (even though he'd never been there). I confirmed it's difficulty and started taking with his friend and his son, then would be my ride back south.

I hiked down with them then parted ways with them, because I wanted to find a ride straight back to Kaohsiung. They said if they saw me on the road on their way down, they would pick me up and take me to 斗南(Dou nan), as far south as they were heading.

Nice Cars

I walked on the 14 highway back towards 雾社(Wushe). I flagged people down left and right, but no one was heading south. An hour and a half down the road later, the same three folks that I had met on the 合欢山东峰 picked me up and we headed down. I was a bit nervous to get into the Lexus SUV, usually when hitchhiking I don't bother with nice cars since after hiking I'm always dirty. But since they sorta knew me, and they had been walking a little too, I thought it was Okay. They unexpectedly (for me) stopped for a late lunch at a 云南菜 (Yunnan Style) restaurant, a hidden gem on one of the windy mountain side roads. I'm not sure if they didn't like it, or if they just weren't very hungry, but I ended up doing quite a bit of plate cleaning for them at the end. But, I was happy to do the service... as I got to try new things, and some of the flavors were just spot on (even if it was a bit heavy on the salt).

After lunch it was a straight drive to 台中(Taizhong) where we separated. I stayed with the man and his son as they were heading south to 斗南(Dou nan), a bit closer to 高雄(Kaohsiung). The rest of my ride was in their Mercedes, it was a comfortable and quite ride to the 斗南车站 (Dou nan Train Station). I thanked them, exchanged some contact information, and headed to the ticket counter. For the whole car ride I had been wondering how much money I had on me, and if it would be enough to get me back to 高雄 (Kaohsiung). After counting my money, and consulting with the ticket seller, it was clear that the 108NT I had on my person was about half of what I needed. But, the ticket salesman took pity on me for some reason sold me a half price ticket. I now had 11NT leftover!

I'm sorry lady

I walked onto the platform and sat next to an old woman. She soon got up and moved to another bench, leaving behind a purse. At first I thought it was hers, but she kept looking at it, as if it were some strange foreign object. So I ignored it, and got on the train when it arrived a few minutes later. On the train, I sat next to the same old woman. I got up to go to the bathroom, and talk to my girlfriend who had just called me. Standing in the back of the car I saw that woman going batty...I thought she needed to go potty, but was afraid to leave her stuff at the seat. Then I heard heard come up and talk to the train car attendant. They were speaking in Taiwanese, but somehow I heard the word for bag and knew what was up. That was her bag at the station! Then it clicked... back at the station she was staring at me like I was a foreign object (which I am I guess...), not her bag! I told the attendant where the bag was, and she called the station to have see if it was there and collect it. The attendant said everything was fine, but the old woman still felt the need to yell at me...twice (once back at the seat). It wasn't angry yelling, I think it was more like, “why didn't you tell me back at the station.” I thought to myself, “you were starring at your bag the whole time lady!” “Oh wait, you were staring at me!”

A long train ride, and a short walk later, the adventure was over. Another great hiking experience in Taiwan...another great experience I can't write about in my internship report :)