Yushan (玉山) 3952+, Taiwan – The Jade Mountain Ascent
The ascent to Yushan was as grueling as it gets, partner it with the below zero temperature and the altitude which is a thousand meters higher than that of Mt. Apo.
Join us in this adventure as we reach the highest mountain in Taiwan!
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Yushan/ Jade Mountain (3,952+)
Yushan National Park, Central Taiwan
Major Jumpoff: Paiyun Visitor Center, No. 151 Taiping Lane, Sinyi Township, Nantou County, Taiwan
LLA: 23°28′12″N 120°57′26.16″E , 3952+MASL
Days required / Hours to summit: 2 days / 8-12 hours
Specs: Major Climb
Part II (第二部分,Dì èr bùfèn)
Paiyun Visitor Center
Waking up to 3°C was a welcome change, our breaths billowed smoke under our noses and the first thing we were looking for was a cup of hot coffee.
Around 05:30 in the morning, we started packing up and wore layers of shirt under our jacket. After a quick breakfast, we bid goodbye to the lady in the front desk and set out to the Paiyun Visitor Center.
We arrived into a cabin-like building with signage of the Yushan National Park. We were then approached by their staff and asked for the documents needed for the hike.
With Yushan National Park being least accessible and visited among the nine (9) national parks of Taiwan, it is still one of the favorites of both local and foreign Mountaineers. Peak braggers often combine this with Gunung Kinabalu in Malaysia and Mt. Fuji in Japan to complete the Asian Trilogy Peak Challenge.
The park uses a complex process of raffling out permits making it difficult to hike. In addition, this is also their way of limiting the number of hikers in the park.
The lodges are of limited capacity: Dongpu with 32 beds and Paiyun with 116.
Check out how to get a permit here and what to expect inside the Lodges, click the links here: Jade Mountain Travel Guide, The Taiwan Alpine Experience – Dongpu Lodge, The Taiwan Alpine Experience – Paiyun Lodge.
Tataka Saddle
After checking and printing all the necessary documents, we were asked to pay for 480NTD fee each for our reservation for the Paiyun Lodge accommodation. Mountain Permit is free so is the Police Permit. Afterwards we were asked to present our papers at the Tataka Police just next door and completed the process in fifteen (15) minutes.
We left some of our things at the center and rode the shuttle van that took us to the Tataka Anbu/ Mt. Jade Trail head. It is located three (3) kilometers away from the highway, we paid 100NTD each.
The easiest way to climb Yushan is to join organized tours. But this comes with a hefty cost that is way much higher than the actual costs.
It was still cold but the sun has risen out from the horizon and good weather was on our side. The saddle point has a big rock on the entrance with Chinese characters etched on the surface. At 08:00am and around 2610MASL of starting elevation, we started the hike!
Monroe Pavillion
In hiking Yushan, you are on your own, there are no guides nor porters to support you. Being self-contained is every hiker’s priority when climbing this mountain.
The path was well laid as it hugged the mountain sides grounded in gravel and pebbles. From afar the Nanxing Forest Road snaked from left to right of the Linzhi Mountain (2854MASL).
In fact, the valleys and mountains of the Battongguan and Tefuye Historic Trails drenched in the warm morning rays of the sun.
Further in, we encountered cliffs that are evidences of the broken geology at this side of the park. In addition, earthquakes commonly caused rock slides along the many faces of Yushan.
There are markings every 500 meters from Tataka Anbu to Paiyun Lodge and vice versa. Although the trail is really clear and no forks or intersections are seen since this is not a migratory foot path for the locals, it nearly is impossible to get lost in here.
Just after an hour, we arrived at the first stop over, the Monroe Pavilion that sits at 2792MASL. Originally this area is a ravine located through an avalanche prone area where rocks would always fall down from its face due to severed geology of the area.
It is also said that around this area and the Tataka Saddle, Formosan Black Bears (Ursus thibetanus formosanus), are commonly spotted.
White Forest Observation Deck
Just a few meters away, lies a little cabin with an eco-friendly toilet. Further in the trail, along wooden bridges and ravines with views of the mountain ranges of the Yushan National Park, we arrived at the White Forest Observation Deck.
This is around 3042MASL, just below the West Peak, there are already groups of hikers having snacks for the long day ahead.
From this area, the vegetation changed dramatically since this is now a sub-alpine zone. Moreover, the secondary grasslands are now composed of swaths of Yushan Canes (Yushania niitakayamensis). Also, there are now willowy Taiwan Hemlocks (Tsuga chinensis) and Taiwan Spruce (Picea morrisonicola) filling the vast expanse of the mountain side with the snow capped peaks of the Main and East Peaks.
The sun was covered in dense clouds that is slowly casting an eerie shroud of fog along the area. We had brief breaks several times to appreciate the area.
Just a few hundred meters away lies a steep stone wall commonly called as the “Daciaobi” or the Great Yushan Cliff (3187MASL). It is said that this rock wall used to be a shallow sea bed. Consequently after the movement of the plates, it rose out from the sea and formed what is now known as the Jade Mountain, the highest point in the Tropic of Cancer.
This also explains why there are trace fossils of marine life were found at the peaks of this mountain range.
Paiyun Lodge
Temperature even dropped low during noon time, that although we were warm from all the trekking, sweat still refused to come out.
I counted all the bridges we passed by as we aimed to reach Paiyun Lodge after lunch. Already down to bridge number 82 when I heard noises not too far from where we were. So, just a few minutes more along steps carved along the trail, I reached a three-storey building that looks newly built that they call as the Paiyun Lodge.
This lodge sits at a mighty 3402 meters above sea level, just 500 meters short of the Yushan Main Peak. The flag of Taiwan flutters along with the chilly wind.
At last! we have finally arrived at our target destination for the day at 02:00 in the afternoon. The Park Ranger asked for our permit again and our passports before letting us inside.
While we were about to rest, we eventually learned that the weather forecast the following day will be rainy and it will be much more harder to reach the peak. So we did the same and followed other groups an hour after our team settled in our respective beds.
Yushan Summit Bid
At around 04:00 in the afternoon, we set out and started the hike to reach the summit just before nightfall on a 2.2 kilometer long trail.
another twist of event happened and instead of hiking it the following day, here we are, day hiking the highest mountain in Northeast Asia. This massif sits in the central portion of the Yushan National Park and is located in one of the most bio diverse region in the country, the central backbone of Taiwan.
Yushan gained its highest international prominence when it was voted into the shortlist of the New Seven Natural Wonders of the World in 2009. It is the tallest point in Taiwan, at 3,952 meters and 143 meters shorter than Gunung Kinabalu (4095+) of Malaysia. Moreover, this is 176 meters higher than Mt. Fuji (3776+) of Japan.
We were wearing thick jackets under several layers of clothing but it feels like it was not enough. The initial first kilometer of the path went through the zigzagging portions of the summit base until the Juniper Trees. From here snow was evident at some parts, most of it might have melted during noon time.
Five hundred meters more and I felt the altitude getting the best out of me. I was already tired and out of breath.
I looked back to see that even my companions are suffering the same ordeal as I am. It was already 05:20pm, just half an hour before the sun sets.
Two more steps, three more, and a hundred more, blood pumping at my temples were three times faster than the usual. I decided to look back and saw that my friends were now just tiny specks from where I was standing after all the elevation I gained.
The Wind Tunnel
Almost slipping twice from the snow scattered along the trail, I steeled my nerves and held on to the steel chains until I reached the wind tunnel.
I inched closer to the rock monument, just a couple of hundred meters away from the very summit. The sun was about to hide away its radiant face from the horizon, I couldn’t help but think, is this what I really came for?
From the junction of Fengkou (Wind Gap) the sky blasted away streaks of tinges of yellow and blue in contradistinction. The vibrant hues slowly turned into myriads of purple and red – it’s already 5:45pm.
Steel chains along tubular posts now guided the very steep portion of the summit base. In addition, it was filled with shards, loose gravel and broken slates cracking with each step my shoe takes on the path.
The view from where I am standing was the best one I have seen to date. Further into the final ascent, there are ridges filled with ice and cotton like clouds settling in at the lower peaks. Everything was drenched in ethereal colors of the setting sun in its last dying breath.
The path now more perilous, I scrambled up to the last marker before the summit. I was out of breath not just with the view but with the altitude at that very moment. As a result, I was dazed and groggy with my temples still throbbing, I just wondered in desperation If I could still reach the summit.
玉山
It was already 06:15 in the evening when I arrived at the summit of Jade Mountain!
There it was, the most coveted summit stone marker of Mt. Jade sitting on top of a concrete pedestal.
Looking down, the trail of two grueling hours laid in front of me, much of the view from all sides were fascinating. It was like standing on top of the world and all the ridges are still smeared in milky white ice caps.
I took much of the photos I can until my hands went numb, it turned almost as dead as blue that my fingers can not even touch the buttons of my camera anymore.
After spending ten minutes on top, I decided to get down somewhere where I could wait for my friends. My headache’s gone terribly awful to bear. In fact, I was thinking that the steeper sections are much harder to navigate going down. Add the freezing temperature and pitch black darkness.
Continue reading HERE. Yushan (玉山) 3952+, Taiwan – The Jade Mountain Descent
Things to Remember When in Paiyun Lodge – The Yushan Experience
Yushan (玉山) 3952+, Taiwan – The Jade Mountain Ascent
Yushan (玉山) 3952+, Taiwan – The Jade Mountain Descent
Yushan (玉山) 3952+, Taiwan – Tatajia and Alishan Scenic Areas
The Jade Mountain Experience – Dongpu Lodge
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Updated March 05, 2018
