Jiaming Lake: same hike, a different perspective
I’ve been to Jiaming Lake two times now, once during Halloween (happy to say I managed to come up with a low effort costume — a lost hiker — though perhaps a little too realistic), and the second time, at the start of December. Both trips were three days long and more or less on the same trail. For the first trip, we took a route called Jiemaosi, and walked the standard route in reverse, starting from a sketchy looking opening into the woods on the side of the road, and the second time, we did the standard route, out and back.
FIRST TRIP: Orange-Green Route
After weeks of begging my friends to go on this hike with me, I finally succeeded in convincing one in joining me (an ex-golf teammate)— though she was definitely reluctant at first. Having finished the hike, I’d like to think that she thought it was worth it, but from her constant “I’m ready to go home” in response to my “hanging in there?” during the better part of the three days, I’d say that she probably would’ve opted for an easier route if she had known. To be fair, it was an extremely challenging hike, and I’m glad we both made it in the end. PS: for those of you who still don’t think that golf is a sport, perhaps you can reconsider seeing that two golfers successfully completed a 36 km hike with a 15 kg pack — I guess all those times walking five hours in the rain with the weight of our clubs on our backs was not entirely pointless — thanks a lot, coach.
Anyways, when we were dropped off at the so-called trailhead for this hike, I actually thought the car had broken down or something because we literally stopped right in the middle of a mountain road with steep, sloping forests to our right. I quickly found out that we were to climb vertically up from an opening into the daunting looking trees. The next two days were spent walking through dense forests, on an unmarked path, with an incredibly beautiful sea of cloud peeking through from the gaps between the trees. Our nights were spent camping under the stars, with Formosan samba deers coming up to our tents to sniff at our food at various points in the night. It was a truly beautiful experience.
Okay, now here come the less beautiful bits of the trip which include having to rid our tents of ticks among other creepy crawlies that we had no intention of accidentally swallowing in the middle of our sleep, dig holes in the dirt floor in order to create a makeshift toilet then burying up our body waste, and pluck leeches off of our skin (sprinkling some salt worked wonders). Plus, my partner got high altitude sickness on the last day, so really kudos to her for even finishing the trip. Note that it was also the end of October, and temperatures did get to 0 degrees Celsius during the night time so my partner also had to conquer some pretty chilly nights (I dunno why but I was pretty warm and toasty in my sleeping bag, but I do prefer being in cold environments more AND also the last time I slept next to a lake, I got zero sleep because I was shivering in my teeshirt and shorts — lesson learned). So, if you’re ever thinking of camping outdoors, make sure you bring enough layers so you don’t freeze.
The last day was definitely the best but also the hardest because we had to walk 23 km over seven smaller peaks, and on the way, bag two of Taiwan’s Baiyues (there are 100 Baiyues in Taiwan, all peaks >3000m). We couldn’t have asked for better weather — the sun was shining, and the sky was so blue. As we walked past Jiaming Lake, also known as the angel’s tear (which according to my partner should be renamed as “our tears”), the image of the surrounding hills was reflected, without distortion, onto the surface of the still lake. The sunrise on the horizon created colours of red, blue, and orange, and gave me the impression that we were in outer space. After about twelve hours, we made it to the trailhead, and my partner let out a huge sigh of relief. I think after this trip, I was able to better understand the phrase “tough times brings people together” — in all seriousness, if you want to grow your friendship with someone, simply head out into the woods, walk until you’re lost, then try to find your way back together…but, I guess this could either end one of two ways, I’ll let you figure that one out for yourself. In my case, even though my partner was ready to stab her hiking stick through me by the end, I’d say that we were able to bond over our crazy experiences in the wild, and for that, I’m grateful.
SECOND TRIP: Green Route Out and Back
This time, I went with three other friends (David, Patty, Joy), and it was by far the most relaxing hiking trip I’ve ever done. We chose to do it in three days when it could’ve easily been done in two, which gave us more time to relax, enjoy being surrounded by nature, and take in all the different terrain that this hike had to offer (hemlock forests, fir forests, rocky cliffs, Yushan Cane grasslands, mountain ridges, to name a few). In comparison with the Jiemaosi route, the standard route was extremely well maintained with actual hiking trails for the most part, and we were able to sleep in the cabins at night — a very different experience from camping out in the wild.
Despite the laid back pace of the trip, the six or so peaks that we had to ascend then descend on the way over to Sancha Mountain was enough to make me question why I subject myself to so much physical pain, and so here’s reason number two for why I hike: to experience the metaphorical ups and downs of life — cheesy, I know, but in that moment, it was like an emotional roller coaster of “Oh wait, I think I see the top of the mountain in the distance, we’re almost there!” to “Oh dammit, there’s another peak in between, and it was just shrouded by the clouds and fog…” to “Why the hell aren’t we there yet?” to “fk this!”. When we did eventually reach the top, an immediate rush of, “that was definitely worth the pain” came surging, and it’s this mental challenge and attitude of not giving up that I enjoy about hiking.
On the way back, the rocky uphill scramble to the top of Xiang Yang Mountain was quite a workout too, and David was particularly breathless by the time he got to the top. This brings me to reason number three of why I hike, and that is, to see my friends suffer. Okay wait, let me explain, I can assure you that I’m not a sadist in any way, even though that’s what you’re probably thinking right now. Essentially, you can suffer with your friends, and through trying times, build a deeper bond…is what I tell myself. To be honest, in that moment, my mind was probably going more along the lines of, “Remember that time you fucked with me, well karma’s a bitch isn’t it?” (Don’t worry, we’re still friends) Or, you know, if you really are a sadist, you could drag your friends on an especially challenging hike and watch them suffer, only if that’s your thing, to each their own I guess. (Please note that I am in no way condoning sadism, but you wouldn’t have thought that about me anyway right?)
