Posted on: 04/02/26 10 minute read

Introduction

My Senior year in highschool marks the 6th year I've spent learning in Taiwan. Yet, in all that time I've somehow convinced myself that Taiwan's hikes are too hot, too humid, and too heavily infested with mosquitoes despite my never having experienced a Taiwan backpacking trip. However, this year I had a change of heart; for in my last year in Taiwan, I wanted to know that I did everything in my power to truly experience the wonders of Formosa (the name coined by Dutch Explorers meaning "Beautiful Island") before I leave to college and engage in bigger and better things. As such, I obtained my permits, yoinked a hiking buddy, and set off on my first and highest altitude backpacking trip in Taiwan. Together, we completed this 3 day hike in just two days with hours to spare.

Table of Contents

• - The Route
• - Permits
• - Preparation
• - Day 1 – Trailhead -> Jiaming Lake Refuge Cabin
• - Day 2 – Cabin -> Jiaming Lake -> Trailhead
• - Reflection




The Route




Jiaming Lake National Trail is a backpacking route like no other that I've previously experienced. The trail itself is very well developed with many sections being graveled and having stairs to reduce the strain on knees. There are still many rock scrambles throughout the trail, however in the dry weather conditions, none of them are particularly dangerous. Additionally, instead of having to pack your own tent like in the United States, there are two cabins along the trail and backcountry chefs that can cook your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. To make things even easier, there is cell service throughout the entirety of the trail, allowing hikers to update their loved ones with just their cell phone (hikers should still carry a satellite communication device). With all these amenities, the difficulty of a typical backpacking route is greatly reduced and the trail is made more accessible.
That being said, the hike still isn't a walk in the park. The elevation gain for the trail is as high as 2600 meters, distance as far as 27.2 km, and the highest altitude being 3600 meters at sub-zero temperatures. The weather conditions I hiked in were also very foggy, so visibility at times was as low as 5 meters and wind speeds ranged between 10-15 m/s. I was lucky to not have encountered any rainy conditions on trail, lest it should have made my trip a lot more risky due to slipping risks in rocky scrambles. There are three reliable water sources on trail, but they may be limited in usage and must be filtered or boiled before consumption.


The three reliable sources of water are as follows:
• Trailhead (0 km)
• Siangyang Mountain Hut (4.3 km)
• Jiaming Lake Refuge Cabin (8.4 km)(Limited)

Those who ordered the backcountry chef service will have boiled water provided to them at the cabins; otherwise, be prepared to treat your own water. Hikers can theoretically filter at Jiaming Lake, however it looks ridiculous and ruins my beautiful lakeside view, so please only do so if aliens hold a rifle to your head.



Permits (Written 04/2026)

The permit system in Taiwan is spotty at best. When applying for the permit, please remember:

• - Use the Chinese site, because the English site may not be functional
• - The permit booking sites (especially the police site and hike smart Taiwan) fails FREQUENTLY. If it is not working, try again later.
• - Permit regulations stipulate the group leader (permit booker) must be a Taiwanese national



Book the Mountain Hut

The mountain hut is lottery based, and as such the earlier you apply the higher your chance of getting a reservation. The lottery opens up about 2 months in advance and close 5 days before. Apply for a mountain hut reservation here You do not need to use the Hike Smart Taiwan Service. Using the Jiaming Lake National Trail site is enough.

Apply for a Police Permit

Police permits need to be applied for at least 3 days in advance. Apply for the police permit here after obtaining the Mountain Hut reservation. Apply for a police permit here
You are able to obtain all the necessary documents for his hike just by visiting these two sites. You will know when your mountain hut booking succeeded when they send you an email asking you to pay for the booking. After which, 5 days before the scheduled date, you will need to navigate back on to the hut booking site and print out your reservation. Once you obtain all your documents, you're good to start planning your trip!




My Packing List

First Aid Kit	Sleeping Bag	Hiking Poles	3–4 Liters of Water
Food	Permit, ID, Life Support certification	Phone	Map
Compass/Thermometer	Lightweight Power Bank	Satcom Device (TEST IT!)	Water Filter
Headlamp	Jetboil (stove)	Oxygen	Granola Bars
Trowel	Gloves	Freeze Dried Pasta / Rice	Bananas & Oranges
Bread	7/11 Onigiri	Peanuts/Almonds	Toilet Paper
Trash Bag	Sleeping Mattress	Diamox	Utensils & Bowl

The weight of my pack was around 15 kg (33 lbs), which was a little more than half the weight of my four-day backpacking trip. I could have made by pack much lighter by utilizing the backcountry chef service, but I only learned of such service when I started hiking. Sleeping items like the mattress and sleeping bag can also be rented via a 3rd party service operating in the hut to further reduce weight. Ironically though, if I were to redo this backpacking trip again my pack could actually get heavier as I would opt to bring my tent in lieu of sleeping in the cabins. More on this later.

Usually, this is trail is a 3 day hike with 1 day of acclimating to the altitude at Xiangyang Mountain Hut. This reduces the risk of acute mountain sickness (AMS) because when you sleep at a medium altitude, you are acclimating your body for higher altitudes. Instead of doing this however, I brought Diamox pills to help mitigate the risks of acute mountain sickness. Since AMS is caused by the body not being able to intake as much oxygen as it is accustomed to, Diamox works by increasing the oxygen intake in the body. Seeing that no member in my party experienced AMS symptoms, I can say that the medication probably worked. Please keep in mind that I am not a physician and this is not medical advice.




The Hike

Day 0 – Docs and Arrival

Most high-altitude backpacking trips in Taiwan don't just require permits, they also require hikers (or at least the trip leader) to hold a valid life support certification. Whether or not this ordinance applies to Jiaming Lake is ambiguous as a very small section of the trail passes through Hualien county- which does require life support certification. As such, I spent the the entirety of 3/28 in Tamsui (淡水) obtaining a Basic Life Saving (BLS) certification from the Taiwan Red Cross. Instruction was in mandarin which was no problem, but I encountered some difficulties when I began taking the paper test written entirely in Chinese. Though, the instructors were very kind and allowed me to translate the questions to English and I was able to obtain the necessary certification without much difficulty.

Being my first backpacking trip in Taiwan, I was also very worried that I could be unknowingly missing a necessary document for the hike. I would soon find the next day, though, that I did have all necessary documentation. You may download a redacted version of my documents below to cross reference with yours by clicking on them below (PDF DOWNLOAD).

• Police Permit
• Mountain Hut Reservation
• Name List
• Government Issued ID for all Hikers (ex. ID, passport, ARC)


Those are all the documents you need to legally hike the trail. I explain how to obtain these documents in the Permits Section
After my class terminated, I rode down to Taipei Main Station and caught the Puyuma Express train to Chishang (池上), arriving at 11:51 PM. I stayed the night in a hostel and at 5:30 in the morning a driver picked us up and drove us to the trailhead. Excellent driver, HIGHLY recommend if you don't plan on driving there yourself.

Day 1 – Trailhead -> Jiaming Lake Refuge Cabin

At 9AM, my driver turned into the trailhead, revealing a very small parking lot, a ranger station, and a police station. The ranger called me over and directed me to the Police station to first provide my mountain entry permit, then to return for a rules run down. I was then offered an opportunity to support trail development by carrying a kilogram or more of gravel 5.3 km up the trail. Being my first time on trail in a while, I was concerned about my safety due to not knowing enough about the trail, so I declined, promising to participate the next time I visit.


The path near the trailhead was very well paved but also quite steep. As such, I was unsurprised to find myself above the clouds in no time. And the view above the clouds was nothing short of breathtaking; hailing from the dry desert region of California, I was not used to seeing a seas of clouds, even from the summits of the highest mountains. Only in Taiwan could I oversee lush green peaks protruding over an endless sea of clouds. This was one of those times where I truly felt really proud to call this country mine.




Pictured above is the vista adjacent to Black Lake, and Xiangyang Tree (向陽名樹) which is about 800-900 years old and shaped by strong alpine winds.
After passing by these landmarks, I made it to the Xiangyang Mountain Portal where I saw many backpackers lay their gear against some rocks as they departed to summit Xiangyang Mountain. This puzzled me because I would personally be very afraid to leave my gear unattended, so when they returned, I inquired. The hikers laughed at my inquiry, and explained that the Taiwan hiking community is full of kind and honest people who would not bother carrying an extra 15 kilos down a mountain. Despite their convincing answer, I still didn't feel comfortable leaving my backpack unattended, so I skipped the Xiangyang Mountain summit and headed directly for our Jiaming Cabin.

Arriving at the Cabin, I pulled out my cabin reservation and searched in the bedrooms for my permit-marked bed section "0". But as I quietly searched amongst the sleeping guests for section number 0, I realized that the bed sections numbered from 1 to 60. Panicked, I left the cabin and pulled out my online permit reservation PDF to confirm my bed reservation, and as I was doing so the door suddenly opened in front of me, revealing a tall individual wearing a blue rainjacket indoors- totally pure backpacker core. He introduced himself as the Cabin manager and checked me in, assigning me and my homie top bunks 48-51; later, at 4 PM, he went over the cabin rules and guidelines with all backpackers:
• - Quiet hours are from 7 PM to 6 AM
• - Water is very limited, so brushing your teeth and washing your hands are highly discouraged
• - Try your best to finish your food from the chefs, because all waste/leftovers has to be packed out
• - Hang your bags off the floor (or else rats will pee on your pillow lol)
• - Pack out all waste
• - Be courteous to the other guests (EVERYONE VIOLATED THIS RULE 😡😡😡)

After listening through all the rules, I visited the kitchen and was surprised to find that the chefs offered us a buffet-style meal despite us not ordering anything. The food was absolutely delicious, and I'm extremely grateful for their generosity. I will be sure to pass on the kindness in my future hikes and maintain the amicable hiking culture in Taiwan.
Later on, the sun began to fall and I prepared for bed. Taking off some layers, I climbed into my sleeping bag to cower from the 0 degree night's breath. As I closed my eyes, I imagined the warm embrace of my blankee, WHEN SUDDENLY! A discord ping notification rang from across the room. My eyes shot open, my head turned towards the source of the sound and I glared in the general direction. It's ok, I thought. They now know to shut down their phone, or at the very least put it on silent mode. My eyes closed once more and I fell back into the warm embrace of my sleeping bag when sUDDENLY! Another discord ping came on, and this time followed by the default iphone alarm sound. I came to terms that I was not going to get a good nights sleep and forced myself into my inflatable mattress. Throughout that night, I woke up a total of 9 times due to these disturbances, so at 2:30 AM, I came to terms that I was not going to fall asleep again and packed my bags. By this time, half the people in the cabin had already departed for Jiaming Lake. They were trying to catch the sunrise. I caught a few backpackers on their way out, and they advised that I leave most of my gear at the cabins so that I can hike to Jiaming Lake with haste. I agreed with that decision, repacked my bags, and patiently waited for my hiking homie to wake up.

Day 2 – Jiaming Lake Cabin -> Jiaming Lake -> Trailhead

4 AM. Hiking Homie is awake and packed. The sky is pitch black, so I knocked on my headlight and departed from the cabin. As I walked further and further away, the fog thickened and my visibility decreased to just 5 meters. My sense of direction came solely from the reflective 100 meter post marks and the nearby rocks that lined the trail. But as I hiked on, the sun began to rise and the fog slowly cleared away as I ascended to higher altitudes. The scenery shifted from a fog of war to packs of clouds racing each other over mountains.
It took a while after that, but after I bagged Mt. Sancha (三叉山), one of Taiwan's Baiyue (100 Peaks), I finally made it to Jiaming Lake.
Being an out-and-back trail, the next reasonable step after admiring the beautiful alpine lake was to hike 13.8 kilometers all the way back to the trailhead, eating our lunch on the way. My backpacking homie and I ended up making it back at 2:20 PM, almost 3 hours ahead of our planned return time of 5.
Though when I left the trail, I got held up on the road until 5 PM due to ongoing construction, so despite ending the hike early, I was only able to get home at 12:19 AM the following day.

Reflection

Hiking through Jiaming Lake was an experience that taught me what Taiwan was all about; by being the recipient of random acts of kindness on the trail, sharing laughs with my fellow backpackers, and braving through the elevation gains with my hiking homie, I learned that Taiwan isn't just the "Formosa", the beautiful towering mountains surrounded by a sea of endless clouds and the most cuddly endemic flora and fauna, but rather Taiwan is defined and shaped by the people that co-inhabit the island with me.

I'm very grateful to my hiking homie for making my first Taiwan backpacking trip as fun as it was, and I'm also very grateful for my fellow backpackers, the chefs, and my mountain road driver showing me kindness and making this trip truly one to remember. I don't usually consider redoing hikes again, but Jiaming Lake is one that I will happily re-experience without a skip of a heartbeat.