A day in the life of ...: March 2022

Saturday March 19th, 2022 (cont'd)

We smashed through the second section of the Taipei Grand Hike! I injured myself on this trail last year causing me to give up on my 2021 goal of completing the Grand Hike. Well, that, and a soft lockdown because of Covid. It was a gorgeous day on the peaks and very busy with other hikers. This could quite possibly be the most strenuous section of the Grand Hike. There are a lot of ropes to climb over three peaks that all stand around 900-1,000+ meters. Four sections down, three to go! Getting there!

Climbing up to the first of the Datun Peaks

Nearing the end of the hike during Calla Lily season was awesome and cold and foggy

Saturday March 19th, 2022

The trail from the Datun Peaks to the Calla Lily area of Yangmingshan

Hiking the Datun Peaks on a gorgeous day

Making our way over to the main peak on Mount Datun

It was mucky in certain areas but there are lots of ropes for guidance

Saturday March 12th, 2022 (cont'd)

Today we completed section six of the Grand Hike. It was a gorgeous day, reaching 27˚C. We started at Linguang MRT (麟光站) and hiked a trail that I haven't been on in well over a decade! We made our way up to Elephant Mountain's 95 Peak where we collected the '壯' stamp. We then headed over to the Nangang Mountains (南港山) popping us out near my neighborhood. It was a great day out with a fun group! Three sections down, four more to go! We are getting there! ❤️

Saturday March 12th, 2022

Plenty of steps on section 6 of the Grand Hike

These are trails I used to hike almost daily about 18 years ago

Barely a cloud in the sky

A bunch of pigeons enjoying the clear views

Saturday March 5th, 2022

We completed section 4 of the Taipei Grand Hike, starting at Fengguizui (風櫃嘴) and ending at Dahu Park MRT station. I've hiked this route before in the opposite direction before it was part of the Grand Hike. It's a lovely route with some nice views. The route takes you past the Neihu strawberry farms on the way down which meant we, of course, stopped for some strawberry ice cream! A great reward after a long hike!

Dragonfruit leaves taking over the tree

The trailhead near Fengguizui

I collected two stamps, a '北' and a '南' along with seven more treasures

These guys were buried in greenery years ago .... nice to see them out for all to enjoy

Saturday February 26th, 2022

I started the Taipei Grand Hike again which is a 92KM network of trails around Taipei. The hike can be completed in seven sections. Last year, I completed section 1 and 2 before injuring my knee. After a month or so of physiotherapy, Taiwan went into a soft lockdown which caused the hiking trails to close. It rained most of fall and winter but spring has arrived and we are back at it. I completed section 1 again with the Biji hiking app (健行筆記) so I can collect treasures along each section. Fun! Fun! One section down, six more to go!

Section 1 starts at Guandu MRT and climbs all the way up to Erziping on Yangmingshan

The weather at the bottom of the mountain was sunny and hot

After 900+m in elevation gain, it became cool and cloudy

Saturday February 19th, 2022

Went to the Salvador Dali exhibition at C.K.S. Memorial Hall because Dali never disappoints

Saturday February 19th, 2022

When it rains for almost two months straight, one has to get a bit creative to keep busy. My friend stumbled upon this pop-up exhibition called the Museum of Failure. It was quite interesting and offered some humor on a gloomy day.

These images show some of my favorites of the day! I think the most surprising 'failure' for me were the Jarts Lawn Darts which were banned in 1988 because of thousands of permanent injuries and three deaths. We had them and played with them a lot as kids, indeed! Ha!