North Warrior Mountain & Sun Spring Real Mountain

Taiwan 🇹🇼 Quíntuple Mountains ⛰️ (3/5)
Baiyue - The 100 Peaks of Taiwan (6/100)

The name Beidawushan commemorates the aboriginal Taiwanese warriors who fought alongside the Japanese during WW2. They fought facing the enemy to the north, as American forces slowly took control over the islands of the Japanese archipelago. Mt Kavulungan is the aboriginal name of the peak, and was regarded as sacred ground. The Chinese characters that sound out Ritangzhenshan resemble the aboriginal name of the bonus peak.

Brian and Yifang joined me for the outing, which was very helpful since hiking in Taiwan is very complicated for foreigners. We reserved a private shuttle that picked us up at Zuoying Station and took us to the trailhead. We took a wrong turn that took us right below Ritangzhenshan so I ran up the bonus peak on the way in. I was very surprised to see few people on the trail, but now I know why. Afternoon showers are common here, and everyone else was just ahead of us. It slowly got cloudier and mistier then eventually the clouds opened. I’ve never been rained on so hard in my life. We got completely soaked, and we stumbled into the hut at dinner time. The food was delicious and I was able to eat as much as I wanted. The only downside was that a mouse was running about the Kitchen. As I was sleeping the mouse ran on my face and woke me up. Sick!

The next day I woke up for the huts first breakfast at 1:30am and starting hiking at 2:10am. Brian and Yifang were still wet from the day before and did not feel like going for the summit. I was still a little wet, barely got any sleep and had low energy. I could see the stars above me and the lights down in the city. There were some lemur type creatures in the trees. It took me an hour longer than I expected to reach the summit, but I made it. I then stumbled back to the hut, grabbed my gear and started hiking out. I met Brian and Yifang shortly after and we hiked at a very comfortable pace the rest of the way. With less than 2 miles remaining, I noticed the clouds getting thicker so I took off. I learned my lesson from the day before. Now I need to get back to Taipei.