Hiking at Dakeng

My alarm rings. I shoot up out of my sleep to check the clock. It’s now Sunday, June 12th, the morning after my night of clubbing. Having come home at 6am I should have been exhausted, but I committed to following through with my plan for today: going on a hike at the infamous Dakeng hiking trails with my friend Michelle. Dakeng is one of Taichung’s best hiking areas for people to explore given its massive nature and fairly close proximity to the city. Boasting 10 trails, one through four, and six through ten being the easiest, Dakeng offers a plethora of trails for hikers of all experience levels making it either a pleasurable first experience for beginner hikers such as myself or a proving ground for hardened veteran hikers who wish to be challenged by nature’s might. The largest appeal for hiking at Dakeng for me was the new experience of being on a mountainous region. Being from Florida, mountains, hills, even relatively large slopes are foreign to us and the prospect of being in a high-altitude region overlooking the city makes for fantastic views and wonderful pictures. The new experience is what drove me to force myself out of bed and get ready for my hike despite my exhaustion and lingering hang over. Fortunately for me, everyone was running late today so I had a few more hours of recuperation and preparation. By 2pm my friend Michelle and her two friends I have yet to meet, Fan Luli and Zhong Yun, Taiwanese soldiers (and potentially partners) picked me up from my hotel and we embarked on our journey towards Dakeng.

A mild 30-minute drive later we reached the base of the mountainous region and started driving up the hill. Considering this was Luli’s first time driving up a mountain she did a great job; however, we were all a bit nervous. Eventually, we got lost, but it’s not about the destination it’s about the memories made along the way. After eventually finding a suitable place to park we sought out our desired trail: trail number 7. We started at the top of the trail and had to hike all the way down, then go all the way back up. I did my best to keep up with the pace of the group but by the halfway point on our journey down I was drenched in sweat. Focusing on my breathing and make sure I bend my knees at steep-ish drops, I tried my best to maintain pace without having to force the group to take a rest break.

Finally, we made it all the way down trail 7 embracing our victory only to quickly remember that the easiest part had just passed. The real challenge: hiking uphill, was our next objective. At first, I thought the climb uphill might not be too awful, but I was quickly humbled by Dakeng. The exhaustion coupled with the violent heat was destroying my body. At the midway point we celebrated with cute victory pictures and admired the view of Taichung city from such a high altitude. At about 75% up the trail, I was breathing super heavily but I was determined to finish. By about 90% up the hill, I knew I just needed to hang on just a little longer, but I had to make us rest. Eventually we were finally at the last stretch, and I overcame my exhaustion to finish the trail. Overjoyed, we finally rested for a while enjoying the shade and a pleasant surprise from a food vendor: free red bean buns.

Finishing our trip off with a drive to the Feng Chia night market for some food and a massive bowl of ice cream, we continued our post hike celebration. Despite the major language barrier between me and Michelle’s friends, I had one of the best times with them. Not only did they ensure to make me feel comfortable and taken care of on our adventure, but they also treated me to a watermelon drink and taught me some more Taiwanese phrases. One important takeaway from traveling overbroad is that language barriers should not stop anyone from making meaningful connections and friendships. Our efforts to relate with one another, have patience when confusion arose, and have understanding in regard to linguistic confusion significantly aided in our ability to quickly get along.