25 July, 2020
Because of COVID-19, many activities such as business, social life, travel, sports…etc have been restricted. However, Taiwan has performed the prevention very well, so that we still can live as usual.
The area of Taiwan is not big, but mountains and hills occupy more than three-quarters. It sounds funny, but it was my first time to climb “One Hundred Peaks” actually, and Hehuan Mountain is one of them. Firstly, we need to define what “One Hundred Peaks” is. It is defined by a group of senior mountaineers. After they explored and discussed, they selected one hundred Taiwan peaks which the elevation is more than 3000 meters and also with strange, dangerous, steep, and beautiful characteristics.
Before this year, I need to admit that mountain climbing is not something I like, because it is not cool enough, and it is also not competitive as the other sports. Until one day, I received my friend’s invitation and he hoped me can climb with him. At the time, I was going through the low point, so I thought maybe it was a way I can relax and also release my pressure. The mountain as we climbed is in our city. It is the highest one in our city, but only 859 meters. However, the mountain is not easy to climb as imagined, because the route is composed of many woods, and it is very steep. My knees and soles were not so comfortable to walk it. The physical discomfort made me feel tired, but slowly and quietly listening my breathing, and saw the beautiful scenery in front of me. As if I was already immersed in the beauty of nature. At that moment, I thought “I fell in love with all the beauty, and appreciated the best gift as this land gives us".
After training many times, I thought why I didn't challenge One Hundred Peaks. However, I’m still not an experienced mountaineer. So, I decided to select the easier one - Hehuan North Peak - the elevation is 3422 meters. The weather was good, it was not so hot, and also no raining. Half of route is steep, but another half is relatively flat. The round trip is around 4~5 hours. Especially, I want to say thank you to my wife, Havva Yang. She has mild mountain sickness and carsickness, but she still overcame her physical discomfort to complete it with me. Except admiring the magic and beauty of the nature, I was also excited that I completed the first One Hundred Peaks in my life. What is the next one? I will start to plan about it.
Written by Ecosyn, Mike Chen