Racing with time - To Mt. Cising Main Peak (Highest point in Taipei city)

It all began about more than two years ago . In April of that year, 2003, Fred took me to this mountain, where he claimed the best place to ease the pressure, to give my life a different look. This mountain is Mt. Cising which is the highest mountain in the Yang Ming Shan Natiaonal Park as well as in the Taipei City. With the height of 1,120m, it provides the hikers the great view of nearby areas. Gladly I accompanied him to explore this new landmark in my life and found it difficult but worthy after reaching the summit.

Guided Map

Panoramic view from Mt. Cising Main Peak

Total: 4.54 km
Elevation gain: 600 m
Type: out-and-back
Class 1 hike

The trailhead (565m - 51 R 353551 2783259) to the summit trail is located at a place called Miaopu, which is somewhere nearby the 2nd parking lot of the park. Normally hikers will do the preparation in the visitor center, 5 minute walking distance away, and begin the hike to the summit here. The trail is well maintained and mainly stairs. In total, there are more than 2000 stairs in the length of 2.2 km for the one-way trip. The elevation gain from the trailhead to the summit is roughly 600 meters. The trail is all the way up without lossing any elevation.

At first, it seems to be a easy one for most persons to hike the trail as the slope is moderate and the stairs are easy to walk. Once we reached the pavillion (840 m - 51 R 354313 2783936) in the middle of the trail, the real chanlege begins. The slope becomes very steepy and there seems to endless number of stairs. Slowly I walked my steps and opened up my mouth for more airs. The heart was pumping and my feet seemed so heavy at the time. Pretty much I took a small break for every 30 steps I walked. Finally, with Fred's encouragement, I reach the summit (1,120 m -51 R 354223 2784631) and it was so windy up there. On the top, you can find the 1st class triangular point together with the satellite control point. We took a brief break there and headed down with the same way we came in. It took me about 100 minutes to reach the top for the first experince.

1/7/2005

9/11/2005

The 2nd or 3rd time I visited the CiSing Shan mountain was for the TSMC family day held by our division (eCommerce) in the late November of the year 2004 . I reached the top without counting the time but felt like need more training to have a satisified result. In 1/1/2005, I made an important attempt to reach the summit as it snowed that day. The trail was very difficult to walk near the top as it all became icy. Slowly I scrambled toward the summit as most people did at the time. On the summit, I made a dicision to climb this mountain weekly to truly improve my physical condition. I want to race with the time as well as the age.

GPS track log on Google Earth

GPS track log on Motionbased.com

Every week if avaible regardless of the weather condition, I will take the #109 bus to the 2nd parking lot in the park and began my hike there. Gradually my time to the summit improves times over times. On 10/22/2005, I am finally able to reach the summit within 50 minutes which is a milestone I've set for myself. This is the result of more than 30 hikes in the period of one year. With the training, not only I improved my physical c0ndition but also change my propspect of life and more willingly to accept the chanllege. I'm determined to live a better life.