Hiking matters #212: The descent from 369 Hut to Wuling Farm

TAIPEI, TAIWAN – More than a year after my first hiking trip, I have taken time to reminisce my previous hikes in this country and I realized that I have failed to write about Day 3 of the Snow Mountain hike! For the sake of completion, I will try to narrate this beautiful day of trekking in this blog entry.

Day 2 saw our dramatic ascent up the summit; it was dramatic because the weather was quite terrible and yet we succeeded in reaching 3886 MASL, the second highest point in the country! So our mood was festive that night at 369 Hut, even as the weather remained gloomy by the time we fell asleep.

When we woke up, however, the weather was perfect! We could see the other peaks in Shei-Pa National Park, as well as the pine forests that the other night mesmerized us the day before – the Black Forest. And we likewise had a wonderful outdoor breakfast before starting our descent.

We were so happy with the descent because we finally saw the summit of Snow Mountain, and all the way to the East Peak everything was splendid, including the arrow bamboo grasslands, and eventually, the junipers, the spruces, and the pines! Moreover, it just took us three hours to return to the trailhead from 369 Hut!

At Wuling Farm, we enjoyed the autumn leaves, oblivious of the problem that would confront us an hour later: the public bus that would bring us back to Taipei was nowhere in sight because of a landslide! Apparently this is not uncommon in this part of the world, due to the sheer geographic conditions in Central Taiwan. Fortunately, the very helpful hotel concierge helped us rent a van which took us to Taichung; from there we took the high-speed rail back to Taiwan, making it safety in time for the flight back to Manila!

Thank you so much Lear, Mafel, Julian, Doc Koko, Farah, and Coby for joining this hike that started my fascination for Taiwan’s outdoors!