posted by Donald on 03/26/09

The trailhead

Yu Shan! Po Hau’s invitation and orchestration efforts all paid off on March 6 and 7 when he and his brother Po Song, three from Nan Jung Junior High School, four others and I met up for an intense two-day hike.
The school schedule allowed a couple days of preparation--and a chunk of time was spent chopping chunks of chocolate for the hikeMany things for the hike came from friends including this backpack from Teacher Ting-Un from NJJH
The first night was spent not far from the Tatung Vistor Center, and for the second night the Lord provided room in the Lodge just a few kilometers from the peak.
Po Hau's brother Po Song joined us, as he had on Bei Da Wu ShanHere is where we stayed the first night--and where I spotted my first Collared Bush RobinI was glad that Mr. Hsu, from NJJH, also came with usThrough the woodsOn the Tropic of Cancer the forests are called subtropicalThe hail was a big amazementGood spirits despite the weather. (Those are vegetables I'm snacking on)Due to the weather, Paiyun Lodge was as far as we gotNature Valley granola bars are good on the mountaintop tooI was tremendously grateful for the raincoat from Po HauHigh altitudeThis is a good example of what the trail was like; This is teacher Huang and our guide.I was glad that the climb didn't include scaling this huge slippery rock faceShoe repairThe ladies took things really wellA rare experience in Taiwan (The guide had seen hail only twice in a ten-year career)Through many pine forests, some with white woodSometimes the trail was a stream. My plastic-bag-lined shoes did well, but not like the guide\'s reinforced rubber boots.\"Gently down the stream\"In the cloudsThe road back down provided better picture opportunities (The guide is in orange, Chen Po Hao took the picture, one member not present)A great teamA little like West Virginia!The town of Chaiyi was lower than some clouds and higher than some clouds!

“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 58:13-14).

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 6:50 pm and is filed under Possessing the Land, The Bright Side. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.