#huangdidian

[austral-asia-adventures-blog]

Hiking Huang Di Dian

[austral-asia-adventures-blog]

Huang Di Dian

I came across the blog “Hiking Taiwan” while I was doing research on the different hikes I could do around Taiwan. I forget how I ended up picking the Huang Di Dian hike, but I’m so glad I did because my dad and I really enjoyed it! The blog was such a great resource with really great pictures and descriptions of the trail as well as directions on how to get to the start.

Just like the blog suggests, we got to Shiding by taking the MRT to Muzha and then transferring onto a bus. My dad and I wander around the small town of Shiding for a bit before finding the temple/gate, which is one of the entrances to the hike. The first half hour of the hike was torture for me - just a never ending set of stairs. We couldn’t even stop to rest our legs for very long because we had forgotten to bring mosquito repellent and would get eaten alive every time we stopped moving. After what felt like forever, we reached a fork in the road and finally made it to the fun part of the hike! I finally got to do some scrambling over some small rocky outcrops and use ropes to lower myself down. There were also 4 sets of ladders to climb up before getting to the top of West Peak. Towards the top, it started lightly raining but we were still able to enjoy the view. We saw Taipei 101 peeking out from behind the mountains and also found an abandoned temple, which looked like it had a swastika on it. Dad explained that the sign was actually an indication for a Buddhist temple.

We got a little lost looking for the East Peak so ultimately decided to head back the way we came instead of ending at a different location like we had originally planned. Even though the rain/stairs/bugs combination sucked, the view at the top and all the scrambling in the last part of the trail definitely made it all worth it! :)

[callme-jojo]

Huang Di Dian- 皇帝殿

This hike is dangerously close to being my new favorite. The views are a bit better than WuLiaoJian, but there aren't as many cool rope parts. I still can't believe we're getting this weather in late January. It was perfect. And as you can see from the last photo, the weather was so nice hat the guys just had to take their shirts off.  I grew up in a city where weekend activities like this were never an option....and now I can't imagine living in a place where it isn't.