Nanhu Mountain (南湖大山, 3742m), 27-30Apr 2014
Another year has passed since my last climb to Mt
Qilal back in May 2013. I have been wanting to see Mt Nanhu (南湖大山, 3742m)
myself after seeing the scenic pictures from climbers who have done it back in
2013 but settle for Mt Qilai which ended being one of the most dangerous yet
fulfilling experience I had in mountain trekking. Mt Nanhu is a 4 day climbing
trip and this will be my first 4 day up in the Taiwan Mountains. With a very
focus objective, I got friends to form a climbing group, engaged the usual
mountain climbing company in Taiwan and off we set off for Taiwan.
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| Mt NanHu Main Peak, 3742m (rightmost peak) |
Mt Nanhu is the highest peak in the Taroko National
Park, ranked 8th out of 100 as the most spectacular peaks in Taiwan, sits at
the northern edge of the Central Mountain Range (中央山脉).On
the map stands in the area where 3 county of Yilan, Hualien and Taichung meet. The
climb itself requires the carrying of our full load backpacks for the 1st 2
days of the climb as we made our way to the mountain lodge of Yunlin Lodge (雲稜山莊)
and Nanhu Lodge (南湖圈谷山屋). Only the
summiting of the Nanhu main peak and east peak can you carry a light pack to
the top. In our case due to weather conditions we skipped the Nanhu East peak
and only covered the main peak (南湖主峰) and the north peak (南湖北峰)
which is on the way during our descent ( or ascent). The entire climb had us climbing over rocks
and century old tree roots clinging on the steep ridge lines. At times we were
welcomed to the cooling shades of the forest canopy, and steep hard climbs to
be greeted one after another not knowing when will be the last one.
Day 0 : Leaving for Taiwan
Morning around 3am in Singapore, we left our cozy beds to begin
the journey to Taiwan for our climb. Took the morning 7am flight on Jetstar and
landed at Taoyuan International Airport close to 12 noon. We have friends
coming on different flights and airline and scheduled meet up was 7pm at the
Taipei Main railway station. Taking the usual bus ride from airport to Taipei,
we reached Taipei around 2pm to start our logistical preparation for the climb,
which is getting our 3 days of lunches for the climb. After dropping our big
backpacks into a single big locker at the railway station, we went to the
iconic shops of Taiwan, the convenient stores of 7-eleven, Family Mart,
Hi-Life, which never fails to fascinate me. We got breads and some mineral
water just for the climb. Since there was time, I brought my group of friends
to the nearby hiking shops just beside the railway station along 中山北路一段. After our dinner at the underground shopping mall, we
collected our heavy bags and met up with the guide and loaded up our bags onto
the mini bus to begin our 4 day trek.
The mini bus left Taipei city and went via the Snow Mountain
Tunnel (雪山隧道), which is nowhere near Xueshan, just that the tunnel cuts into
the Snow Mountain range and so named as Snow Mountain Tunnel. This tunnel
brings people from Taipei to Yilan in the fastest possible time. We made a short
stop along some street in Yialan where the guide and driver went for their
dinner. For us it was again another visit to the 7-eleven store to see what’s
for snacking while we wait for them. The stay for the night was at the NanShan
Village (南山村) in a home stay (民宿) located on the upper
floors above a provision shop that is beside the main road of highway 7A. It
was about 10pm when we reached there. The main road was dimly lighted just
enough to see closed shops. Surprisingly the home stay has quite a number of
rooms and I presumed this is the climbing company’s regular accommodations for
climbers venturing into the Taroko and XueShan National park.
Day 1: Starting the Climb
Morning call was 6am but
in Taiwan, esp. in the mountain areas, the skies got brighten up earlier than
usual. Breakfast was provided by the provision shop owners. Slightly different
from the usual porridge and dishes over a table, we were rationed out 2 x buns (满头) and a bottle of warm
soya milk. The way the owner asked if we had taken the items already when we
walked over to pick up our share gave me the impression that they are very
calculative over the their profits. But the way they talked to the guide and
the friendliness is totally different.
And so we took some stools and sat by the roadside munching our buns and
warm soya milk. A different experience but with the higher altitude came with
the cool weather, I would say it was a good feeling to watch trucks and cars
drove past us while we munched the hot buns away.
After about 30mins drive, we reach the start point of our trek
at the SiYuan trail head (思源啞口登山口). Weather was good as the skies were blue and
the morning sun of golden rays. This is the place where we the guides
distributed their weights especially the food rations that they were bringing
along. As we opted out for the food ration sharing, the guides would have to
start off with a very much heavier load.
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| At the dropoff point near the trail head | | |
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| Path leading from the road to the zig-zag farmland trail |
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| Walking besides the farmland |
It was around 7:30am and we started off on our 4 day
trek, bidding goodbye to the mini-bus driver and also to civilization for the
next 4 days. This starting trail wasn’t the usual trail which a nicely
decorated trail head board or stone tablet, and we were walking across some
farmland in a zig zag manner up to reach
the forest line. It was only when we returned did the guide bring us to the
actual trail head location but because the trail was badly damaged and
dangerous, so we ended up doing different start route. As we walked pass the
barren farmlands (likely it was not the season to harvest, more like preparing
the soil for seeding), we were greeted by barking dogs from the houses where
the farmers lived. The Zig zag path continued for 40mins before we reached the
forest line where we had our first rest point. Even this was just the first
rest point, my shoulder was aching already and knowing that is was a full gear
trekking trip since we would be carry full gear to almost everywhere we go
except the summiting the main peak. Maybe it was just the warming up signs that
said that I should tune up a bit more before the climb.
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| Taking a break at the 1st rest point of the trek |
After about 15mins of
rest time, we started climbing through the forest trail climbing along the
small ridge line of the forest finding our way up the mountain. The trail was
really like a new trail as the vegetation was still dense from sides leaving a
single person width path only at places. It was a cooling morning trek across
the forest undergrowth. From what I could tell, we were trying to climb along
the ridge line to get to the top of that forest hill.
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| Walking through the forest hills. |
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| 1st trail markers. Another 6.9km to lodge |
After an hour of climbing, we seemed to reach the top
of the forest trail and the trail started to level off. A trail marker showed
that we have cleared 2.3Km from where we came from and we were just 6.9km away
from our night’s accommodation at YunLing Lodge(雲稜山莊). We
were told that at that junction the other trail was where the original
trail head was.
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| Walking along the shady forest trail |
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| Looking through a forest opening. |
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| At the forest clearing, so relaxing. |
The area was really comfortable, the ground was soft
and the sun helps to warm up our body as we rested at the area. At high
attitude there is always this technique of wearing what is needed during
climbing. When you are climbing, you need to wear less to prevent our body
heating up and perspire too much that may give us a cold. And when we stop to
rest, the cold comes in and we need to put on some warm clothing like fleece or
jacket.
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| Another 4.9km to YunLing Lodge |
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| Off to a steep climb |
We took an hour of rest at this site and resumed our
climb around 10:50am. The distance from here to the YunLing Lodge(雲稜山莊)
was 4.9km and being told this was a steep climb, I took it based on my pass
pacing of 1hr per 1km, it would take us about 3-4pm to reach the lodge.
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| Trail marker with a tag saying there is mobile reception |
At
12:45pm, we reached the 3.2km marker away from YunLing Lodge and from here we
kept on going taking short breaks only. With our packs on our backs, it wasn’t
the tiredness and cardio that slow me down, but the aching pain problem I had
when carrying my backpack for long hours.
Had been a year since my last climb with a pack and so just kept
enduring until the body got used to it.
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| YunLing Lodge around 2900m |
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| Trail marker just outside YunLing Lodge |
At 4:00pm, we reached our 1st day of accommodation in the
mountains, the YunLing Lodge(雲稜山莊).
The guides wasted no time when they reached the lodge and immediately when to
prepare dinner for us. This is the good
thing about joining a guided climbing company where you can just wait for your
meal after a long tiring climb. When we were at the lodge, students of the same group started trickling
down the mountain path as they made their way back from their days’ descent and
back to Yunling Lodge. These students will be heading back home the next
day. Instead of resting inside the warm
lodge, they had gathered outside the lodge, forming a circle to share their
experiences on the climb itself. Overhead that these students were there for
their graduation climb, a common activity whereby students after the exams and
before they graduate from the school, they would come together for a mountain
climbing adventure.
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| Students sharing their days' end experiences |
Day 2: Hardest day of the trek
Morning call was about
6am as we slowly packed up our gear and got ready for breakfast. The morning
weather was great and the outside temperature was just nice for a morning trek
to our next destination, 南湖圈谷山屋. Today was the day that we would climb over
the famous 五岩峰 which stands precariously along the windy ridge line
before we arrive at the 圈谷山屋 (lodge of the round valley, Yuan-Gu Lodge). From the Yuan-Ling Lodge, it was downhill
along the forest trail and the path was wet and slippery due to the morning
mist and could also be part of some water trail. As we made our way down the
muddy rock path., thoughts came along on tackling this part of the trail on our
return journey.
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| Climbing up the forest trail |
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| Tree roots covering up the path |
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| At the top of the forest hill after a hard climb up the roots |
About an hour of
descend, we started the climbing cycle again within the forest trail and by now
golden rays of the morning sun started piercing throw the forest canopy. The
sight of a good day morning sun definitely added some motivational boost for
this stretch of the climb. We followed the trail and reached a place where
exposed roots of trees clinged onto the narrow path which was like the only
nature’s stairway to the next joining mountain path. Took quite some hard
breathing before we cleared them and was greeted by flat carpeted forest trail;
and after we cleared the tree line, we were rewarded with an open view of the
Nanhu mountain range with Mt Nanhu main peak in sight. With the great weather and first view of the
mountain range, cameras were out snapping away needless to say.
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| Clear blue skies after clearing the forest trail |
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| Looking back at how high we are. |
Around 9am, we
reached the 1st hundred peaks of our trek, the 審馬陣大山 (
3141m). The summit marker for this mountain is just a 5 min climb from the main
trail, and so we just dropped our bags along that trail and just walked up with
only cameras in hand. There was not much of view as it was surrounded by alpine
bushes (sorry, me no geologist or botanist). It was just a marker tucked into a
corner among the trees. For some of our
climbing members, this is their 1st peak among the Taiwan’s famous
Hundred Peaks (百岳).
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| Me at the 審馬陣大山 (
3141m) |
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| Here, there and where we came from |
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| Halfway there to our nights' accommodation |
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| Feels great walking in the open with great weather |
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| Making our way to the 五岩峰 |
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| Good day for a trek!! |
We spent about
30mins at this location taking pictures and resting our feet with some drinks
and snacks.; after which was off on the trail towards the famous 五岩峰. A
quick reference to the trail makers showed that we were still 4.6km to our
mountain lodge for day 2, but the weather was great and walking along unblock
views of the mountain washed away the tiredness and the strain on our backs. Mt
Nanhu main peak was always in sight and at many times, the cameras were just
snapping away.
At about 12 noon, we reached another trail marker saying that we
were 2km away from the 南湖圈谷山屋 and the五岩峰 was just in front of us. We had gained
much altitude and sometimes looking back at the distance we left behind, a
sense of accomplishment was felt. 五岩峰,
from the name sounded like there should be 5 peaks to cross. Much of the path
here are rocky stone path with ropes and steel chains running along the trail.
The sense of seeing them there tells the amount of danger that the trail presents.
On a fine weather day, these safety provisions may seem like for cosmetic
purpose but comes bad weather with strong winds, these ropes and chains are
critical to give the climbers the confidence and comfort in cross them. These 五岩峰
trail passes through many wind tunnels which are places where strong winds
crosses the mountain ridge line. Clouds that come from one side of the mountain
will get block by the mountain walls and
can only climbs up and over the wind tunnel path to cross over to the other side.
On our way back, these ropes and chains were what many of us hanged on for our lives when we crossed the 五岩峰.
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| Approaching the 1st part of 五岩峰, Mt Nanhu at the background. |
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| Zig-zag ropes along the wind tunnel path. |
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| Going on all 4s to scale the 五岩峰 |
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| Making my way along a narrow path on 五岩峰 |
At about 1:30pm, we cleared the 五岩峰 and
reach the last trail marker before our mountain lodge, the 南湖圈谷山屋. This is a very high vintage point that we
could see the lodge far down below in
the round valley. Left and right are steep loose rock trails and ropes
were seen to tell climbers that this part of the trail that you definitely need
them either to go down or come up.
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| Rock sliding or abseiling? |
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| Arriving at 南湖圈谷山屋 |
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| Mt Nanhu Main Peak standing like an emperor's throne. |
As I started my descent down the rocky path,
it reminded me of the Mt Fuji descent trail that you could sand-slide all the
way down. To me it is like a mix of fast walking or running down the loose
gravel trail, the loose rocks underneath our hiking shoes will shift as we put
our weight down. Once you get accustomed and some balancing tricks, you can
slide down at a very good pace but at times need to do some braking if the
speed tends to gain and you risk of tumbling over. If you have a phobia of slipping, then a
careful placement of the feet on big rocks will help as they tend not to shift
much. Within an hour, we reached our mountain lodge for the day. Some of the
climb members were glad that they could make it so far out and now they were
surrounded by the majestic mountain walls of Nanhu.
If based on the plan trekking arrangement, reached the lodge here would be the end of the day activities, but the guide came and told us that tomorrow weather would be bad and climbing to the summit might not be possible and even dangerous. Since we still had few hours of daylight, a consensus was made and after taking a quick 30mins break, we were ready to scale the main peak of Mt Nanhu with just light gear. The feeling of no longer needing to carry my main pack gave me extra energy to continuing on. The sight of snow patches dotted the mountain walls told us that we could be in for a bonus as we could play on the snow and true enough we had to make a few crossing across small patches of snow fields. The patches are snow on the mountain walls gave me a dejavu feeling from those days touring around the alpine villages of Switzerland.
At 3:20pm, we left the mountain lodge in light gear ( a small pack of water, snacks and camera), and walked in a line towards the summit. A few hundred meters down the trail, some members had signs of mountain sickness by vomiting and breathing hard. 2 of our friends went back to the lodge to rest. The trail from here climbs up the mountain valley taking the route of some prehistoric glacier trail. Just within 40mins of the climb, we saw our first patch of snow and the further we went, the amount of snow patches got wider and deeper.
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| Making our way to the summit of Mt Nanhu Main peak in light gear |
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| A picture of where we came down from the 五岩峰 |
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| Walking along the rock wall of Mt Nanhu |
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| Walking cautiously on the snow. |
At 4:30pm, we reached the trail marker indicating that
we were just 800m away from the summit. Distance has lesser meaning here
because it doesn’t tell the altitude that you still need to clear. The distance
to the Nanhu East peak was seen to be 1.3Km away and that peak was supposed to
be our next morning summit climb if the weather is climb but it didn’t. The last leg of the 800km to the main peak
was easy as in you do not need to go down on all 4s just to cross the
obstacles. The climb was still demanding than that on a normal climbing trail
and being higher up with the thinner air, it does bring out the extra cardio
exercise to scale to the top.
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| Signs of Spring and Winter together |
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| Just 800m from the main peak. 1.3km to East Peak |
At 5:15pm, after 1hr 45 mins, we reached our Mt Nanhu
main peak, 南湖大山主峰, 3742m. The wind was much stronger here as there is
nothing left to cushion the speed of the win. The clouds had covered the sun
and we could not see beyond the whiteness of the clouds. On a clear day, the
view would be fantastic and spectacular , maybe seeing the far horizon of the
Pacific Ocean pass the township of Hualien. The wind was strong but bearable
but temperature at the top was dropping fast as the sun was totally obscured by
the clouds.
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| Looking down at the valley below us. Can you see our lodge? |
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| Summit of the main peak |
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| Another mountain summit to my accomplished list. |
After a group photo, we returned our cameras back into our warmer
small packs and started our descent down back to the lodge. The trail before we
reach the snowfields, required some climbing over big rocks and care had to be
taken because falling into those rocks crevices could give a nasty outcome. Daylight was running out fast and being in
the mountains, darkness come even faster when you are blocked by a mountain
wall and temperature will start to fall along with the arrival of nightfall.
The return journey to me seemed longer even we are going downhill, maybe the
excitement was no longer there compared to scaling to the summit. Darkness
befall before we reached our mountain lodge and headlamps once again were put
to good use. Fog was coming in fast as well and with the trails running across
rocks, it got more easily to get lost or drift off to the wrong trail. The trail as mentioned earlier could be a
glacier path that moved big rocks in the past and so some portions of the trail
will go around rocks and sometimes in wide open spaces that with the fog, it
can get more difficult to continue on the right path. Some climbing members were considerate enough
to wait for the rest with their headlamps on. Could not remember the exact time
but should be around 730pm that we returned back to the lodge. The fog got
thicker and the small toilet building about 60m away was unable to be easily
seen from the lodge, but luckily for a dim light source at the toilet made it
more easily. The same applied to the mountain lodge as well with a beeping red
light to guide climbers still making their way to the lodge at night.. For me
just going to the toilet, I ended up being on another side of the path away
from the toilet. Fog at night does play tricks on your sense of direction esp.
when the paths are all open.
Today was really a tired day for all of us, pushing
ourselves to cover one of the main summit challenge to the same day when we
should be just be reaching the lodge only. It is always good to keep some juice
inside your body to cater to the unexpected.
Dinner was prepared by the guide and his assistant for us after a long
hard day of walking, but the guides were starting to be more chatty and merrier
as the load on their backs gradually lightened up as we ate their weights away
in our stomach.
Day 3: Bad Weather to start off with
The weather really turned out bad as what the guide
forecast. The original plan was to see the weather conditions to determine
should the group go ahead with scaling the Mt Nanhu East peak for the sunrise
view. The east peak was meant to be part
of the ascending route to the main peak in order not to waste the legwork
getting from the lodge to the trail junction that splits the east peak to the
main peak. The wind was howling and slamming the toilet door with loud periodic
bangs. The guide did wake up around 5am to collect water for us from the nearby
stream and he mentioned to us when we had breakfast round 7am that he got
drenched just getting to the stream. The wind was strong with rain from all
sides. I guess I myself was also tired
out from the previous day climb and there is one part of me saying in relieve
that we don’t have to do the East Peak. We woke up around 630am for breakfast
and the weather was more stable now at the valley. The clouds on the mountain
was still thick but down at the valley
where our lodge was, it was misty but calm. This was the disguise that the
valley offer, but up at the ridge line that we had to go pass the 五岩峰
again, it could be a totally different story which it did.
Our guide advised us about the possible strong winds
at the top and could get a little dangerous, we were warned to suit up our
waterproof gear and ready for the elements.
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| All wrap up and ready to go. |
I got myself readied for winter climbing, (except my
fleece in my pack, don’t want to get overcooked inside). At 8:30am, gears were
on, and we started the steep loose rock path up to五岩峰. As
we scaled slowly up the steep valley walls, winds came to attack us from all
sides. It was strong powerful winds and coupled with the unstable gradient
trail, I spent many moments trying to stand on my ground. At times, I was really blown off my balance
and with 2 hiking sticks and 2 feet on the ground, I felt that I was standing
like a 4 legged mountain deer. It was really a challenge or fight against the
elements and was glad that my outer shell held on to its price tag.
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| Starting the steep climb to the top of the valley |
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| Strong winds were blowing and small rocks are moving on their own. |
The 45mins
climb to the top of the ridge line was tough, some members were showing signs of
weathered battered faces. There was no place to stop and rest and the
continuous walk among the high winds only ended after we clear the 1st
peak of the 五岩峰 which offered a small sheltered area behind the alpine
shrubs. It was already 9:45am, and everyone while waiting for the rest of the
team members to cross the windy tunnel. I was really crossing the wind
tunnel in a low swat position as the
wind was pushing us off balance and with the big backpack like a small sail, it
caught much of the wind and shoving us around at times.
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| The only spot along the windy 五岩峰 to seek shelter |
It took us an hour to clear the五岩峰 to a
rest place at the trail marker that shows the way to the Mt Nanhu North peak.
We did not cover this peak and was planned to cover it on our way back. The peak was just a mere 5mins walk from this
marker spot. Again bags off and just a camera,
not even any small pack, we made our way to the summit marker. At
11:30am, all of us were standing at the Mt Nanhu East Peak (南湖北山.
3536m). Time for another group photo which all of us were in the picture.
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| Dropping our bags here for the short walk to the North Peak |
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| At the Mt Nanhu North Peak (3536m) |
As we made our descent to the lower altitude,
we left the thick clouds behind us and our surroundings started to clear up.
The trail was no longer wet and we could see the distant mountain walls. The Mt
Nanhu main peak had it top enshrouded in thick clouds like a false ceiling over
them.
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| Weather was good once we went underneath the rain clouds |
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| Making our way back to 雲稜山莊 |
The remaining part of the trek was
all the way back to our day 1 accommodation,
the 雲稜山莊. Couldn’t remember what time we reached but could be
around 4pm and dinner was served close to 5:30pm. Being on the last day in the
mountain, after dinner instead of hitting the bunks to sleep, we ended up
chatting with the guide and every one of us into the evening. We talked about
other hiking routes around Taiwan and joked about the experiences everyone had
for the climb so far.
Day 4: Leaving the mountains behind
Morning call was around 6am, and breakfast was served
as the guide would be clearing up whatever food remaining in their ration
packs. The weather was great and we could see the blue skies above us with high
white clouds showing no signs of any bad weather. For me personally, going back
doesn’t require good weather, I could rough
it out all the way as I know at the end of the day I will be in a cozy
and comfortable bed in some hotel back in Taipei.
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| Morning view outside the 雲稜山莊 |
Around 6:45am, we left the 雲稜山莊
behind us and started our last day journey back to civilization. After an hour
on the trail, the sight of seeing a sea of clouds brought out cameras from our
packs and I stood behind the pack to take pictures. Even though not my first
experience with sea of clouds (云海), each encounter with them always
seems new and different.
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| A sea of clouds |
The temperature
started to warm up and jackets were off and stored back into our packs for
good. Going downhill may sound easy, yes for the cardio but no for the knees
and legs, the constant impact of the shoes to the ground with the bag pack does
put strains on the lower limbs. Not much
of interest to take pictures and more focus to returning to the minibus waiting
for us at the pickup point. But at times, really was looking forward to a rest
stop at a major checkpoint, and that was realized when we reached the big open
forested area when we dropped our mountain permit into the Taroko Park permit
box. Could not remember the time, but it should be around 10am when we reached
there and it was really a rest time needed indeed. Even with our packs lighter than the ascent,
the days of trekking for me seems to offset the lighter back pack load.
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| Back at the farmlands |
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| Traversing the zig zag path of the barren farmland |
At 12 noon, we were back at the farmland when
we started the climb. The un-farmed land even though not pleasant looking but
seeing commercial activities gave the assurance that we were back in
civilization. And being a victim of modern social networking , my smart phone
was powering up and I was texting my wife who was on her way to Taipei to meet
up with me for our touring. I was immediately transformed from a mountain hiker
looking always up at the mountains to a smart phone guy glue to the screen. The
last 30mins of walk to the minibus seemed longer than usual. Maybe with the
heat and the constant discomfort from the toe knocking to loosen hiking shoe it
seemed longer.
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| Finally back to civilization. The welcoming mini bus. |
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| A quick stop at the original trail head (trail was heavily damaged) |
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| Trekking map of Mt Nanhu |
The grand finale that for me was the comfort on being back in
the minibus again and as always cold isotonic or a can of coke to quench the
thirst. We had our celebratory lunch at
a restaurant at the NanShan village before making our drive back to Taipei via
the same Snow Mountain tunnel highway. It
was a Sunday and it’s the well known Apr-2014 students’ strike against the trade deal between China and Taiwan, and
the bus was unable to drop us back at the Taipei main railway station where our
hotels were. We were eventually dropped at
one of the MRT station in Taipei and we took to the MRT to get back to our
hotels. It was quite a stressful decision making situation back then as were
told that we could not even alight at the main railway station. But we took the
chance and it all turned out well as the station was still operating as per
normal and everyone was in a calm manner going about the norm. We do see quite
a few students in black tees to show their support for the cause. Luckily we
didn’t stink that much to board the train and also being in hiking clothing was
not an uncommon sight considering mountain trekking is a common activity among
the locals.
This climb for me is also a trial to see if I am
comfortable and confident enough to do a 4 day trekking trip, and it’s turned
out for me to be fine. I will be looking out for more trekking adventures in
Taiwan and maybe one day I could do those 7 days trek within Taiwan beautiful
mountains. Climb-on !!!
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