Busy but happy here

Hey all,

I'm busy but happy here. I get up around 7:00 at the latest. Often I'm up earlier doing homework. I walk Bagels, get breakfast and shower before heading uphill for class at 8:00. We have class from 8:00 to 11:00. There are eight or nine of us on any given morn. Our teacher is excellent but she gives us a lot of work. I never put in as much as I should, but I try to make it up on the weekends. So far it takes me from an hour and half to two hours to do the homework proper but I also need to spend a great deal of time previewing and reviewing.

After class I head home and my schedule varies from day to day. Bagels gets another walk. I might do some classwork or might have to change and head directly to work. I'm trying to slide in an environmental philosophy class at another university on Thursdays. They have a visiting prof. from the States and enviro. philosophy was one of my favorite topics back in St. Louis.

I'm reading Callicott's work on "The Land Ethic." It's daring work on a system of ethics that breaks away from most traditional theories. Leopold and Callicott suggest that we need to fundamentally change our basis for ethical consideration. They believe we should extend some level of moral evaluation to the entire ecosystem from top to bottom. It's a fun set of ideas to work with.

I work in the afternoons until the early evenings. My shortest day is 5-7 and my longest is 1:30-7. I have to clock in a half-hour early to do prep. work. I might mind all that time if I didn't know how much it helps my class quality. After work I'm pretty beat but I have to head home and get to work on my Chinese as well as I can. My travel time takes too long, nearly an hour and half each day, but I use it to read and I don't consider it a waste.

Saturday is my hardest day. I have one English class from 10-12 and I have a hard time getting myself to work even though I can't afford not to use my time studying. It's just hard not to take the day off. On Sundays I like to do the Hash House Harrier run. It's beautiful and the people you meet are always interesting. That's enough for now.

A Big Hike

On top of CiLai south peak I saw a trail to beautiful to resist. I asked Yu-chi about it and her reply wasn't extremely positive. The trail goes from CiLai south peak, to the main peak and ends at CiLai north peak. I've put up pictures of the north peak before; it's simply breathtaking. When I imagine a mountain, I picture CiLai north peak. It looks daunting and beautiful.

















The ridge that goes from peak to peak to peak is not for the faint-of-heart. I'll include a series of photos I took from the south peak, but they don't quite do it justice. The first ridge from the south to the main peak is a bit precarious. On the right, it's a standard ridge line trail. But on the left it's rather sheer. Thankfully the trail isn't too steep or challenging otherwise. From the main peak to the north peak is different, but certainly not easier. It has sections steep enough to require climbing. Possibly the most difficult aspect of the trip is the overall length. It should take at least four days. That makes it a totally different animal from the two day trip we took before. Yu-chi has been hesitant about making this trip while I'm still inexperienced. She's finally agreed that if we complete a slightly easier 4-day trek to either Yushan or Snow Mountain then we can begin planning this trip.

I took these photos together to show the landscape...they pan from right to left.

Update from Taipei

A great number of things have happened since my last update. I have a new teaching job here and I've been working for about three weeks. It's a good job, a good school to work for. The pay is higher than down south and the students are generally better at English as well. My early class has been a challenge because I have a few kids who speak some English at home and few who've never learned a word. That makes following the curriculum nearly useless. I found that out after two days of silence and mommy-fits. On the third day I just said forget it. I went out and bought some treats and I came up with some extra crafts to do. I looked at their books to see what I could incorporate as we went along. I did my best and some of it worked. But the kids have a good time and I believe the kids look forward to class-time now. Because this is an irregular summer class coming to an end this month, that's just fine.

I went on a couple of short mountain-hiking trips. The were both one night each, though the second was a good bit longer. The first trip, we took the dogs with us and they had a great time. We climbed up HeHuan north peak after camping out the night before at WuLai. We took that short trip to check out my new gear, my clothing and hiking boots. That was my first trip in the boots and my feet were a bit sore from the ascent. They made coming down a lot easier, I was glad to have them. Altogether, that trek was fairly easy because we were able to leave most of our gear in the car.

That was all just prep for our main trip two days later. Originally we intended to go south into Yushan National Park. Unfortunately, a storm the previous weekend had taken out the roads. They can repair them with great speed, but there just wasn't enough time. We had to change our destination at the last minute to try CiLai south peak. It took some doing, but we got things organized. Getting permission to enter the trail was far beyond a formality. A detailed plan for our trip had to be prepared and submitted to the local authorities. We were pressed with challenging questions by a local expert. Before approving our application she needed to be satisfied that our preparations and provisions were sufficient. The trip was spectacular, a total success.

The first day we drove into the mountains, got our approval and began our hike. Getting to the first rest-stop we were a bit disappointed to find the trail was about 4 km longer than we expected. As we were both humping large packs, that was unwelcome news. We took a short break, ate our lunches and got on with the trek. The trail wasn't quite as sturdy as the others I've been on. I was heartened by the fact that a small group of people live in a hostel at the end of a trail. They use motorcycles on the trail to go back and forth quickly. I figured if they could do that, the trail should be manageable for me.

Most of it was pretty run-of-the-mill. A few sections were a bit dicey. That group who lives in the hostel also takes care of the trail. Most of their time seems to be dedicated to a few different sections susceptible to rock slides. They tend to happen during earthquakes and typhoons. Because of the storm the previous weekend a number of those sections were not fully cleared. That means that even though a temporary path had been marked and secured, they hadn't yet reestablished a permanent path. We came across them working on one such section even though a storm was due to hit in two or three days. It's a great lifestyle to think about. Deliciously sisyphean. We made it to the hostel just before the sun went down. It was a gorgeous scene. There's a ridge leading south just beyond the hostel that was beautiful in the sunset.

In the morning that same ridge had waterfall of clouds flowing over it. We got up and started for the peak early the next day. It was much easier going with packs sitting back at camp. The trail had more up and down than the day before but it was really a pleasure. The air was crisp and everything felt fresh. Before long we were too high for any trees; all that covered the ground was short bamboo growth. It looked like long fields of grain. The air was calm and unusually clear.

There was a big typhoon on it's way in during all of this. It was due to hit in two days, so there was no danger to us. It made the skies unusually clear for us though. Near the top, we could see the length of two valleys, one to the east and one to the west. To the east we could see Hualien and to the west was Taizhong. Standing in one spot we could see from the East Coast of Taiwan to the West Coast. Hard to put that into words.

We made it up without much trouble. If we had rushed we could have made a second peak before heading back. Instead we took our time on CiLai's South Peak. It was phenomenal. I tried to see how many mountains I could name. I was surprisingly successful. Living in mountainous Nantou and driving so much had served me well. We were up at the top for at least an hour taking photos, snacking and relaxing on the bamboo grass.

Coming back was fairly swift and easy. There's a burst of energy that hits you when you see the km's ticking away...anticipation of putting your pack down and finally relaxing. It feels great, but you have to be careful it doesn't make you complacent. More than a few hikers have had serious accidents indulging in that joy. Of course we made it back to the car and back to town without any trouble - it was almost an anticlimax.