There’s a range of head-in-the-cloud peaks in Taiwan named ‘Wuling Quadruple Mountains’ in Shei-Pa National Park. They’re famous for those who want to summit 4 peaks in some proximity and/or those checking off Taiwan’s Tallest 100 peaks.

To tackle these peaks, you can follow one map route that looks like a uterus, but it’s technically 2 trails up to a 10 kilometer-long ridgeline that bridges the peaks. Pickles attempted to veto this visual description, but he was overruled. At the base of the uterus is the trailhead, then heading up along the right side of this uterus towards the right ovary is Mt. Kalahei 3,133 m (10,278 f), then backtracking across the top of the uterus is Mt. Tao 3,325 m (10,908), then Mt. Chihyou 3,303 m (10,908), and then sitting high and mighty on the left ovary is Mt. Pintian 3,524 m (11,561). Follow the left side of the uterus to head out. We hiked 50% of these peaks, which isn’t half bad. All puns intended.

High Elevation Tears

There are 9 National Parks in Taiwan, which is impressive for a country that fits inside the state of Oregon THREE times. Four of the parks we have not visited yet, and one is off limits to tourists. Of the five we have played in, Shei-Pa is our favorite! Aside from ‘Wuling Quadruple Mountains’ it’s most famous for Taiwan’s second-highest peak, Snow Mountain, at a whooping 3,886 m (12,749 f) which we summited in 2020 (featured on our holiday card that year). It’s an incredibly wild, quiet and unpopulated park. It’s exactly the sort of place we wanted to be on May 14, the one-year anniversary of my dad’s death. High elevation with a side of puffy clouds is one place we feel really close to him.

Shuǐ, nǐ zài nǎlǐ?
Water, Where Are You?

After we applied for our permits, a country-wide water drought turned severe in early spring. Not a single typhoon touched land in 2020 and as a result the reservoirs were bone dry. Taiwan actually depends on several typhoons a year to fill the reservoirs, so no typhoons = no water. There were rolling water usage restrictions for everyone. In our district, it meant no water Tuesday and Wednesday for a couple of months. It was the worst drought in 56 years. No showers, washing dishes, or laundry two days a week was a small inconvenience. However, we were counting on natural resources in the mountains and/or collection reservoirs at the huts for our backcountry trip. The park said not to expect any water, so we decided to BYO and carry a purifier pump for the swampy “coffee water” pits that “may be there”, which we would reach on day 2.

In The Clouds

This hike is a stunner and bun burner. It’s up, up, and up. The lower elevation is shady and sun dappled with pine needled paths. The air is dry and cool (particularly compared to the low elevation of the muggy city). The pine needles are baked by the sun, so the air smells incredible! As we got higher up around 2,500-3,000 meters there are Pure Chinese Hemlock forests (feature photo), Taiwan White Fir, Yushan Cane, Single Seed Juniper, loads of pink and snow-white alpine rhododendron, and many wild flowers we didn’t identify, but admired. Memorable sounds were wind in the tree canopy, and unknown birds chirping at every elevation (we didn’t haul the bird book or binocs due to weight).

When our permit was approved, the park called our Taiwanese emergency contact, Betty. She said, “I got a call from Shei-Pa National Park about your mountain permit. The officer would like to know if you know the mountain you would like to climb is not easy, especially Pintian“ and included 2 photos of the mountain’s steep face. This is so Taiwanese. Can you imagine a US Nat. Park personally calling anyone to double-check on your route? We already knew this and had zero interest in Pintian due to its steepness, but we included it in our route, but only to hike to the base of it and look up at it. We wanted to enjoy ourselves and relax as much as one can… you know… while carrying 2 days of water. We were able to climb two peaks, Tao and Chihyou, but not Kalahei due to lack of water.

Day 1, First Summit

Day 2, Second Summit

Shei-Pa National Park

In total, we camped 1 night near the base of Snow Mountain in our van, then 2 separate locations at high elevation near Tao Mountain, and the last night outside the park at a b&b in…

Sqoyaw Village

Rearranged

It took me/us a long time to craft this blog post due to the emotions surrounding the trip, but here it is, forever locked in our pixel-based diary. I know my dad would have loved being on this hike with us. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what grief feels like until this trip, mostly because it often feels like a million things, but I decided it’s rearranged. I feel rearranged, life feels rearranged, and as expatriates away from family it feels extra rearranged. This unavoidable event which we will all face, can’t prepare for, and don’t get to choose if it’s timely and expected, or unexpected, will 100% rearrange you. Some days I wrestle with it, others I sit with it, trying to better understand it. I know being in places like this is healing. They help unwind the complexity just a little more, and so we’re thankful to have access to them. That’s something my dad quietly taught me to appreciate.

Well-timed Therapy

On May 17, the day after we exited the Park, Taiwan went to a Level 3 lock down due to guess what… COVID! Luckily, we had already received our first vaccination shot in April, and are proud to say we are now FULLY VACCINATED AT THE TIME OF THIS POSTING on August 1! Science, it’s like magic, but real. 🙂

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