destination: mt. xiao zi (4/2010)

Note: you might want to click the images to enlarge them and get a better feel of the steepness of the trail. Plus, the butterfly looks neater when enlarged =).

For the last few weekends, I've been cooped up inside the house… by choice. There was a long-ish weekend (Monday was a free day) coming up, and so I decided to put on my thick skin and ask my usually-outdoorsy-young-ish couple friends to do something outdoorsy on Monday. Translation: do your usual outdoorsy thing and let me trail along with you. Voila! And so we headed for Mt. Xiao Zi. The weather was perfect. It was all gloomy-ness, and no sun for the most part of the trail.

Xiao Zi trail was the tried and tested trail by the outdoorsy couple. Looking forward to the promised excitement, adventure, and exhilaration, we start our way up on man-made steps... actual steps with edges you can distinguish clearly and that shout "Please step on. I'm not slippery. I'm wide. I'm safe." (so much for the excitement and adventure and exhilaration) Eventually we get to the hike on the narrow trails that were carved for a single-line hike. It wasn't a very long trail. I was a bit disappointed to have reached the peak sooner than expected.

Now this is the best part of the climb. They had to put in a modern steel slippery-as-a-stone-covered-with-moss ladder to connect the two peaks of the mountain. And then it's a very short trail left all the way to the peak. Now I'm not particularly afraid of heights (as long as I was seeing the ropes on both sides of the trail, I was feeling secure), but I did have a moment's panic going up the last few steps to the peak. I had to keep my eyes on the steps in front of me and not look around at the mountain tops that are now eye level. Goodness.

As we looked around... we saw another trail that's just as high (or maybe even higher) than the peak we are currently at. So, we decided to do that one.

And off we go to Ci Mu peak. We walk up nature's trail... and up... and up... stopping at intervals primarily because I had to give some time to the couple and their kid in front of me. It wasn't so bad. It was the perfect excuse to rest without looking like a weakling for huffing and puffing after just a short while into the steep climb. As we continue our hike... I suddenly noticed we have started our descent. Where was the peak? Oh, seems like there's none. It's funny they call this Ci Mu peak when it apparently is just a long trail, and call it Xiao Zi trail when it's actually a peak. Go figure.

(This is the peak of Xiao Zi trail)

The exhilaration has worn off as I just started on the man-made steps on the way back. And my knees were shaking. The trails were short, but the height and the steepness make up for that. It wasn't so much the distance of the trail as the ups and downs that will get to you. Plus the effort exerted in making sure you don't slip and fall over to nothingness.

(A peach tree!!!)

It was a definite go-hiking-and-feel-the-pain-the-day-after activity and I was aware of that. Call me a glutton for pain, but I would go for another round anytime.