Mt. Jade: Main, West & North Peaks　D2 Waypoint

D2 Itinerary

I got up at 2:00 am for breakfast and set out for Mt. Jade North Peak around 2:33. Not long after starting, the trail begins climbing in switchbacks; about 2 kilometers gets you to the Wind Gap railing. Just past the railing there's a three-way sign: turning right takes you 0.3K toward Mt. Jade Main Peak, while going straight ahead takes you 2.1K along the Chained scree and rock-wall section toward Mt. Jade North Peak.

Mt. Jade North Peak
Since my plan was to shoot the sunrise over Mt. Jade Main Peak from North Peak, I decided to shelter from the wind at the North Peak weather station, so I didn't linger here and kept going toward the Chained scree and rock-wall section. This whole area is scree, so move carefully — I'd still recommend holding onto the chain as you descend. On day two of this trip it was cold and windy, so not only were the chains and rocks frosted, the wind was also blowing from behind, making the descent even more dangerous — you have to move one careful step at a time! In particular, the frosted chain conducts cold fast and will soak your gloves, so make sure you have gloves with a waterproof outer layer and a warm inner layer to keep feeling in your hands while gripping the chain.

Past this 'boss' slope, the trail becomes simple again with no terrain that needs special attention — just follow the cairns or the reflective markers from the Yushan National Park Headquarters to reach the North Peak weather station. A few things about the weather station:

• The weather station provides hot water.
• The weather station lends visitors a large NT$1,000-style towel for photos.
• The plaza right in front of the main door window is the exact spot pictured on the NT$1,000 bill.
• You can find open ground near the weather station to photograph the sunrise over Mt. Jade Main Peak.

To the right facing the weather station's front door, there's a small path that climbs up to Mt. Jade North Peak at 3858m elevation. Then retrace your steps back to the weather station. When you return the same way from the weather station through the scree and rock-wall section, climbing up is a bit safer than descending, but since it's all loose scree, if you don't want to take two steps forward and one step back, I'd again recommend wearing your gloves and making good use of your trekking poles, climbing step by step back to the three-way sign at the Wind Gap railing.

Mt. Jade Main Peak
From the three-way sign at the Wind Gap railing, turn left and climb toward Mt. Jade Main Peak. This section is also scree, but after two rounds of the tougher scree and rock-wall sections, this stretch toward Main Peak just needs careful footing and a firm grip on the chain to move through smoothly. Because of the way Main Peak is oriented, it doesn't take the full force of the wind the way the scree and rock-wall section does, so it's relatively much safer — even in cold, overcast weather with frost on the chains and rocks underfoot, about 20 minutes of careful, slow walking gets you to the summit of Mt. Jade Main Peak.

(Yushan East Peak)
Yushan East Peak is reached from Mt. Jade Main Peak. Given the strong wind this time, and frost on both the chains and the ground, I decided to save Yushan East Peak for a future visit, and instead retraced the route back to Paiyun Lodge and out to the trailhead.