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About Yushan
The Difficulty Rating: ★★★☆☆ (Yushan Front Five Peaks)
Yushan (or Mt. Jade 玉山) is not only the highest mountain in Taiwan, it is also a symbol of Taiwan, the image on TWD1000 note; hiking to Yushan is regarded as one of the three things a Taiwanese must accomplish in the life. (The other two tasks are swimming across Sun-Moon Lake (日月潭) and traveling around the island Taiwan.)
It is absolutely the most popular hiking trail in high mountains and likely the trail you can meet most international hikers in Taiwan; According to the news there were about half million of people applied for a park permit every year. The probability that you can secure a bed in Paiyun Lodge (排雲山莊) by winning a draw can be as low as 3 ~4 % on the peak days.
Technically hiking to Yushan Main Peak at 3952 m (玉山主峰) is not very difficult on a fine day without snow or ice on the trail as long as you are reasonably fit and do not have severe response to a high altitude. The trails are signed and regularly maintained; the chance of going missing is low. Cellphone communication is possible at many spots along the trails.
The hikes to all Yushan Peaks
Including the Main Peak there are nine peaks on the same trail network which are listed as Baiyue (百岳), meaning the top 100 mountains in Taiwan. Hikers may climb all these peaks on one, two or even more trips depending on the availability of either Paiyun Lodge or Yuanfong Cabin / Campground (Yuanfeng Cabin 圓峰山屋).
In most of the cases hikers could only stay one or two nights but rarely more than three nights as the probability of winning the draws for more days is low.
Basically the hikes to all nine peaks can be divided into two parts: they are usually called Yushan Front Five Peaks (Yushan Front, West, East, North and the Main Peak; 玉山前五峰) and the Yushan Rear Four Peaks (Yushan South Peak, Nanyushan, East Xiaonan Peak* and Lushan; 玉山後四峰).
Hikers generally regard the former hike is easier than the latter. Ideally if you are fortunate you can stay in Paiyun Lodge as a basecamp for two nights to hike the Front Five Peaks (but you may climb either the West Peak or Front Peak on the last day when you are on the way to the trail head) and then move to Yuanfong Cabin for the additional two nights to climb the Rear Four Peaks. This is a standard 5-day hike for all Yushan Peaks but many hikers do this on two trips. For beginners or people with limited time, hiking only to the Main Peak on a 2-day trip is very common.
Our hike on Yushan Front Five Peaks
My first visit to Yushan was on a mission to sample a willow species in 2010 when Paiyun Lodge was under a major renovation. My partner and I went to the Front Five Peaks and stayed in Yuanfong Cabin for two nights. I recalled that we were the only two people in the cabin on the first day and several other hikers turned out on the next day. I guess hikers are not very keen to climb Yushan without the convenience from Paiyun Lodge. In the following 12 years I was back to the trail four times and all stayed in Yuanfong Cabin or its campsite.
Hiking to the Front, West and Main Peak was straightforward and so I did not have any strong impression. But I do remember the chains to assist the scramble to the East Peak and the long way to North Peak, where the weather station is located.
*The English names of this peak (東小南山) may include Dongxiaonanshan, Siaonan East Peak, East Siaonan Peak or Xiaonan East Peak; the first one is a word for word pronunciation.
The campground by the cabin further increases the odds of getting a park permit because many hikers coming to Yushan are novices who tent to stay in a luxurious lodge rather than a tent.
Pros: it might be easier to win the draw, free of charge, has campsites, better view, quiet, less hikers, less likely your gears being stolen, a much better place for photographer;
Cons: no modern facilities, a pit toilet without a roof, no catering service (unless you hire your own), water tank may be empty (but you can walk down the ridge to find a spring underneath the campsite), the higher altitude here may cause altitude illness, more distant from the Main Peak, less likely to get help if you are in trouble.
In short, Yuanfong Cabin / Campground is suitable for hikers who know how to take care of themselves.
In 1966 when the old estimate of Yushan’s height was 3997 m, a 3-meter statue of a politician was erected here to top up the elevation to 4000 m (but the new height of Yushan is actually 3952 m). The statue was beheaded in 1995 but was restored later. In 1996 it suddenly vanished, being entirely demolished by someone still unknown today.
Probably out of conservation awareness or prevention for further vandalism the authority decided to erect a rock monument in place of that statue. Click to read the story.
The station looks like a castle in the sky; also a frustrating feeling reminds hikers that there is still a long way to climb.
