I live in Hong Kong, but I’d like to have the opportunity to do some challenging high mountain hikes in Taiwan. I get quite excited reading about “hikes” like the holy ridge, and would like to try that, but first think I should do some easier scrambles to gain some familiarity with Taiwan’s terrain/weather/etc. I have some high mountain experience in the Swiss/French alps (one 4000m summit), and some scrambling experience from the UK, but do not have any experience with multi-day hikes where you carry all your gear/food with you.
Anyway, my question is, are there groups of people I can team up with to go up some mountains? For unfamiliar scrambling terrain, I’d rather not go alone. I could of course hire a private guide, but that’s probably quite expensive (haven’t checked) given that I’m alone and have nobody to share the cost with. Unfortunately, I don’t know anybody here who is remotely interested in setting foot on a mountain. I know Taiwan Adventures do some regular hikes up Snow mountain, and I’m considering joining, but I would prefer something involving more scrambling. I’m sure the hike up Snow mountain is lovely, but then again, for hiking on a well-established route, I don’t really need a guided group (maybe just someone to organise the permits!).
Any advice/suggestions? I’m hoping to have a free long weekend around the end of October/early November to spend in Taiwan.
Don’t hike alone in the high mountains here. Several foreigners have died or gotten into serious accidents that way.
If you do want to get into the high mountains, Taiwan Adventures or Barking Deer would probably be your best bet. The permits are a real hassle and you won’t be able to get to the trail heads on public transportation.
If you want to explore on your own, Richard Saunders books are an excellent place to start. Here is his blog with other resources. taiwandiscovery.wordpress.com/
Thanks. As you say, I prefer not to go alone and this is the point of this thread…
I’ll take a look at your links and perhaps organise something with Taiwan Adventures or Barking Deer (who haven’t replied to my emails) if nothing else materialises.
Almost all of the high mountains in Taiwan are trekking peaks, but they vary quite a bit in difficulty and duration. From a hiking perspective, they can be divided into two categories: those with huts and those where tents have to be carried. Routes like Snow Mtn, Jade Mtn, Cilai Shan, BeiDaWu Shan, Tao Shan, Holy Ridge, DaBaJien Shan,PingTien Shan, NanHuDa Shan, JiaMing Hu (and the connecting route to Tungpu - The Southern Section 2) all have huts, so carrying a tent is unnecessary. This means that the number of people climbing Jade Mtn and Snow Mtn is particularly busy especially at the weekend. The demand for permits and reserving a spot in the huts has to be done well in advance which makes it quite a gamble as far as the weather is concerned. Taiwan Adventures offer scheduled trips where you join a group but only to those few mountain peaks that can be reached in a weekend (or the occasional 3 day extended weekend) such as Snow, Jade, PingTien Shan and a few others. Just because the abovementioned mountains have huts doesn’t mean they are risk free. The only reason some of the peaks are not mountaineering peaks (Holy Ridge and Cilai Shan especially) is because over the years ropes and chains have been installed or footholds chiselled into a rockface. Also, to make a comparison, the mountain paths here are steeper and much wilder than say Nepal’s LangTang or Annapurna Circuit even though they are at lower altitude. People focus on the altitude and think well, this is lower than what I did in Colorado or my trip to Ladakh without realising that National Parks in the U.S. have better maintained paths, or that in Taiwan there isn’t a clearly defined trekking season with guaranteed good weather like Ladakh in the summer months.One has to carry so much more stuff when you have to cook your own food and add a tent on to that and you are looking at 20 kilos. In rainy, windy or foggy weather or when a cold front suddenly blows in, it’s a challenge to keep warm and reasonably dry and avoid slipping and tumbling before reaching shelter. The weather in the mountains is extremely changeable and paths and signs aren’t always clear. It’s surprisingly easy to get lost and over the years numerous locals have disappeared without trace.
Since you are unfamiliar with the trekking challenges that Taiwan’s peaks provide and also doubtful about carrying a heavy load, your best bet would be to keep checking Taiwan Adventure FB page and see if any of their group hikes appeal to you. I think Barking Deer and Taiwan Adventures can also arrange solo permits for Jade and Snow since they are well-trodden routes that don’t pose quite as much risk as other rougher trails. If so, go on a weekday.
a note on beidawu shan/mountain, last time we were up that area they had the sleeping areas closed for renovations, no idea if its done and i think its probably listed somewhere in chinese, but as of last time we went a couple months back it was tent only. to the OP, this is only a 2 day (full days) hike, but as mentioned getting to trail heads can be tricky. Beidawu also losses more road every year, and they dont seem too keen on fixing it much past that last town.
and as you likely know, rain can get real bad here, so if rain happens dont be shy about calling it quits and returning home, mountains here can be incredibly dangerous in storms.