A day in the life of ...: 2019

Saturday December 14th, 2019

Move along clouds — at Huangdidian (皇帝殿)

The weather forecasts have been quite inaccurate over the past month or so. Days that have been calling for sunshine have been bringing quite the opposite. The weather on this day was supposed to be excellent but we were lightly sprinkled on for most of the hike. This was, perhaps, the only patch of blue sky we saw all day! We still made the best of it and had a very fun day out!

Hiking along the ridge at Huangdidian

Waiting for the bus back to the MRT — in Shiding (石碇)

Sunday December 1st, 2019 (cont'd)

Going through the old mining tunnels on Teapot Mountain (茶壺山)

Silver Grass season! (芒花季)

Stunning views

Looking out along the northern coast of Taiwan

Sunday December 1st, 2019

Hiking at Teapot Mountain (茶壺山) on a gorgeous day

Discovering some new trails on Teapot Mountain

One of my favorite views

Rest stop #1

Saturday November 30th, 2019 (cont'd)

Taipei 101

Thumb Mountain (拇指山)

Taipei 101 from Thumb Mountain

A cool rock wall along the Elephant Mountain (象山) trails

Saturday November 30th, 2019

A drizzly morning hike on Elephant Mountain (象山)

Skies starting to clear in the later morning

The sun! The sun!

Taipei is starting to look like Christmas — at the Miramar Mall (美麗華)

Saturday November 16th, 2019 (cont'd)

Silver grass (芒花) season has arrived

Heading up to the main peak of Datun Mountain (大屯山) on Yangmingshan (陽明山)

At the main peak of Datun Mountain at 1,092m

Saturday November 16th, 2019

Silver grass (芒花) season has arrived

At the main peak of Datun Mountain (大屯山) on Yangming Mountain (陽明山) at 1,092m

Looking back at the main peak of Datun Mountain

Enjoy the sun and the views from the West Peak of Datun Mountain at 982m

Saturday November 9th, 2019 (cont'd)

Hiking at Guanyinshan (觀音山)

At the peak of Guanyinshan

A cool rock face we found after we popped out of the trails

A statue at a small park we found after we popped out of the trails

Saturday November 9th, 2019

Hiking at Guanyinshan (觀音山)

A small park (with no name) that had a few statues in it

At the peak of Guanyinshan

Dragonfruit leaves snaking up (or down?!) the side of the rock

Saturday November 2nd, 2019 (cont'd)

This house is over 100 years old. We finally got to meet the owner who has been living here for 60 years! There are no roads to this house. If one wants to get supplies, they need to walk down the mountain for at least one hour. I feel sorry for the gas guy who has to carry their canisters up!

Heading down to the 100+ year old teahouse on Monkey Mountain

Rice fields at the 100+ year old teahouse

Silver grass season has arrived!

Saturday November 2nd, 2019

A restaurant with a lovely view

Nothing like taking your group to the wrong starting point! I must have been half asleep for the first part of our trip!

I took eight Taipei Hikers out for the day! We were to start our hike at the parking lot of the Zhinan Temple but since the weather wasn't cooperating, I suggested we take a miss of the temple and head to the trailhead which is just above the temple.

We arranged three taxis to take us to the Maokong Gondola. On the way up the mountain, I thought the ride seemed long and the road unfamiliar. When I got out of the taxi, I was surprised as I'd never been dropped off there before and wasn't sure where we were exactly. I was momentarily confused until I saw the name of the station. I had asked the drivers to take us to the Maokong Gondola station not the Zhinan Temple station which drops you off above the temple where the trailhead is. Oops! Duh!

My group was very understanding and offered to buy me a coffee! Ha! According to Google Maps and the signs for "The Grand Hike" it suggested that the walk to the temple was 2.5KM along a small mountain road with little to no traffic. We were above the temple which meant the walk would be downhill. At some point we began to realize that 2.5KM couldn't be correct. I checked Google Maps again and it said we still had about 4KM to walk before getting to the temple. Sigh.

The day was sooooo not turning out the way it was supposed to. Thankfully the tiny mountain road had some interesting things to look at and the group was happy to be out and about doing stuff. About half way to the temple, I recognized a bus stop that I had waited at a number of times in the past. I knew where some trails were that would take us up on the mountain to where we wanted to be. It was a fun climb up on an off the beaten path trail and it brought us exactly we needed to be! Perfect!