on friday i woke up early and made my way, via multiple subway lines and eventually (no joke) a gondola, to the little town of maokong, nestled in the foothills at the edge of southeastern taipei. according to my trusty lonely planet guide, maokong was once famous for the varieties of tea grown on its hillsides--but eventually, as the city border pushed farther and farther towards the hills, maokong's reputation for the place to go to drink tea surpassed its reputation as a place to grow it. now there is an abundance of teahouses nestled into the forest, and just a few remaining tea farms. i arrived in maokong, not to drink tea, however, but to summit its tallest peak... ergeshan!
before i dive into my hiking adventures, i have to mention the gondola ride. the gondola is operated by the metro transit authority, the same people who manage the subway, buses, etc. in taipei--so, despite the fact that it consists of tiny little cabins strung high up on steel cables floating over the forest, it is just another form of public transportation. which meant that i used my metro pass to get on, and thus getting to glimpse the most stunning view of taipei city and the surrounding environs set me back just over $1. riding up, i was a little scared, partly because we were swinging way, way above the trees, and every time we went over one of the cable exchanges there was the predictable, yet still unnerving clunk-clunk-clunk of the gears. but partly because, right before i was supposed to climb into one of the gondolas, the young attendant manning the line spun around, yelled what i assumed to be a chinese swear word meaning "oh no!" and ran over to the gondola just ahead, fiddling with something near the doors just as the gondola swung out over the platform. he look relieved as he came back over to where i stood, then pointed at the empty gondola in front of me with a look on his face like, "why haven't you gotten in yet?"
the six other passengers i shared the gondola ride seemed to spend the first half of the journey (which lasted 30 minutes) talking about what had been the problem with that other gondola, judging by their hand gestures. it was one of those moments i really wished i could speak mandarin, especially because the guy across from me was methodically, yet somewhat anxiously, moving his fingers across a string of prayer beads as the others pointed at the door, and the window, and the big hook holding us onto the cable. eventually, everyone seemed to settle down; the guy with the beads relaxed his grip on them a bit, and i think in an attempt to distract himself, asked me, "where you from?" i said seattle--it's the easiest answer-- and he replied, with an earnest grin, "ah, seattle! you get no rest!" which i nodded yes to, and smiled, without understanding what he was saying. only a few minutes later did i realize that he must have been referring to "sleepless in seattle." it was a classic, thoroughly enjoyable, lost in translation moment. made me forget all about those gondola problems, and at any rate, we made it safely to the top. and taipei looked mighty fine against the clear blue sky!
anyways, the hiking: like many of the trails i've explored this week, the climb to ergeshan began with an epic staircase cut into the hillside. earlier in the week, for example, i hiked the tienmu trail at the northern edge of taipei, which follows a path cut by the japanese during their occupation--and began with at least 1000 stone steps which quickly took me high above the city. leaving maokong, the staircase was much shorter, but it still got me pretty winded, more winded than i wanted to be considering i had hours of hiking ahead of me. but i appreciated the efficiency of the trailblazers: why waste all that space with switchbacks when you can just cut to the chase and take a set of stairs straight up?
the stairs deposited me on a narrow ridge, which i followed for about an hour, before coming to an intersection with many assorted signs in chinese--and while i could see many of the signs had the character for mountain (which looks kind of like the top of a fork) on them, i didn't recognize much else. and there was not a soul around (nor would there be for much of the rest of the hike!) to ask. the guidebook had said, "continue taking rights for the first part of the hike, and then follow the signs to continue on the correct trail." so i took a right, and hiking for another hour or so i soon found myself at the summit of a different mountain, this one 460 meters high. great view, a couple of small tea farms alongside the trail, and a few tiny temples-- but not ergeshan. so i turned around, hiked back down, and returning to the same intersection, noticed the chinese characters for "erge" on a small sign on one of the trees.
one of the confusing things was that, all along the trail, there were plastic ribbons tied to the trees, found at predictable intervals, with writing on them and what looked like the insignia of some trail organization. i assumed that they were there to indicate, "you're on the right trail!" because i imagined the trail to ergeshan to be the most popular. standing at the top of the anonymous 460m mountain, i realized that those ribbons--of different colors, some looking older, some newer--were left by people hiking the trail as markers that they were there. they say, "i was here! i hiked this trail in 2001/2004/2007!" not "you're on the way to ergeshan"! feeling a little foolish, i decided that if i ever come back to taiwan, i must learn chinese beyond "thank you" and "noodles" and "mountain" if i want to keep myself out of trouble.
all of this induced me to dig out my compass, which i should have done earlier. the funny thing is, the guidebook mentions that the hike to ergeshan is somewhat grueling--the trail is well maintained but still very rugged, and is steep and rocky almost all of the way--but it does not mention that, even on the correct route, you first climb another peak, then descend, then climb to the top of ergeshan. so another hour or so later, i stood at the top of another unnamed mountain, 550m high, enjoying another beautiful view.
finally, sweaty, very dirty (i was often on all fours, clambering up rocks and logs and muddy trail) and a little dizzy from what you could call "summit fever" (i was going to get to ergeshan, or else!)--i arrived at the top of ergeshan, 678m. and it was well worth it--the narrow trail opened up to a wide wooden platform, from which i could see for miles in every direction. there was taipei, sprawling and shimmery, with the world's tallest building appearing not-so-tall (it's a "measly" 509m--been there! done that!) and then green, lush forest everywhere else. wow.
i pranced on down to the trailhead (and back up to the top of the 550m peak in the process) then emerged onto the main street in maokong feeling a little bit like i was the boy raised by wolves--all around me, women in high heels draped on the arms of men wearing aviator sunglasses, families in clean, starched outfits taking photographs in front of the city skyline. riding the gondola, homeward-bound, i considered that i hadn't really climbed to any extraordinary height that day--i just looked up the height of mt. si, outside of seattle, which as ani and sadie and all of my high school cross-country teammates know, i have attempted to RUN up and it checks in at 1200m-- so why was i so exhausted and bedragled? was it the terrain? the additional 460 and 550m climbs? the furious pace i adopted as summit fever took over? who knows. but i was ready for a big meal, a warm shower, and a good night's rest.
today i returned to the forest--this time in the neidong recreation area, just south of doug's apartment, home of a beautiful three-tiered waterfall and lots of stark rock formations. as for the hike, let's just say it began with yet another staircase.
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