Skip the day-tripper and tourist hotspots and head to the Yangmingshan east-west vertical traverse for some serious hiking

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 11, 2015
By: Edward Jones  /  Staff reporter

It may surprise some readers, as did me, to know that Yangmingshan (陽明山) is more than

Descent from Qixing Mountain.
Photo: Edward Jones, Taipei Times

just a place for a leisurely stroll amongst the cherry blossoms in spring, or a soak at a hot spring during the colder months. There’s some leg-busting hiking to be done among the verdant green hills of the famous national park; and best of all it’s right on Taipei’s doorstep. Aside from staggeringly-beautiful scenery, the park is also home to an extraordinary variety of flora and fauna, as well as many other unexpected surprises.

The Yangmingshan east-west vertical traverse (陽明山東西大縱走) is an approximately 24km route that takes in seven peaks and can be completed in approximately 10 hours if you decide to tackle the whole stretch in one go. The route is used by many hikers as a training session in preparation for climbing Taiwan’s high altitude peaks such as Jade Mountain (玉山). Alternatively, you can split the route in two to make it more manageable, as I did on a recent trip with three hiking companions.     [FULL  STORY]