At 3,886m or 12,749 ft, Hsuehshan or Snow Mountain 雪山 is the second highest peak in Taiwan. Hsuehshan is located in the Shei-Pa National Park (雪霸國家公園) in central northern Taiwan. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Hsuehshan was known to the West as Mt. Sylvia. In 1923, the mountain gained the name Tsugitakayama (次高山) or "Second High Mountain", because it was the second highest mountain in Japan at the time.
The weather had been rainy and unusually constantly cold in Taipei for three weeks. Bruce and Philip drive down from Taipei late Friday night, driving in light rain and fog up the Lanyang river 蘭陽溪 valley and arriving in Wuling Farms 武陵農場 at 1730m after 2AM where the temperature is just below zero. We are up for breakfast after 6AM Saturday morning. We drive the 10km to the trail head where a park warden collects our mountain permit and reminds us that we needed a second permit to enter the national park. We're on the trail just before 8AM.
We walk out to the trailhead about an hour after nightfall guided by moonlight.
