Last weekend was a really good time. Nathan and I went with Bill, Nancy and Jarry. Bill is Jarry’s friend. Jarry and Nancy both work on our floor. We left for Taishan on the 2:30 train. The train ride was really interesting. A little girl who was 6 years old came up to us and started asking all sorts of questions in English. I thought it was funny and it made for an enjoyable train ride. After we got to Taian we went from the train station to an Ancient house/garden/palace/temple. We walked around there for an hour and a half taking a look at all the interesting trees and buildings. After we walked to the base of the mountain and we ate supper. After the supper we started our ascent.

We started off at around 9. It seemed like we only climbed for 45 minutes and it began to rain. We took cover from the storm in a shop on the mountain. The owner was happy to let us stay inside while the storm blew over. So after about an hour and a half of waiting we again started the climb. I thought the climb was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the physical challenge that it brought on. I think we got to the top in about 4 hours of climbing but it took us more time due to all of the breaks that we seemed to be taking. The breaks weren’t about us being tired, they were to help better time we reached the top. The top of the mountain was colder but not that cold. The coldness came from the strong gusty wind. We made sure to bring our jackets along so we didn’t need to rent any jackets.

The weather for the sunrise couldn’t have been any better. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky which made for a really good view of the sunrise. So at 4:52 in the morning we got to see the sun peak over the horizon. I made sure to take a lot of pictures. After the sunrise we had accomplished our goal. . to climb to the top and see the sunrise. The next step was the walk back down. Coming down was a lot easier. . I was going down really fast. . I was going at a half run pace skipping along 2 steps at a time. The way down also involved less breaks so I thought it was a lot faster paced. After 3 or so hours we finally made our way back to the entrance. Then from here we got onto the bus and returned to the train station. Then we got our tickets back to Jinan. It was a two hour wait so we just sat in the waiting room. Then was the hour long train ride. Back in Jinan we were all fealing the effects of fatigue. As soon as we got home at 4:30 we all went to sleep. We had all been up for 32 hours or so. The next day my muscles felt felt alright. I thought it was going to be worse but I think the stretching I did helped out. Looking back at the climb I think it wasn’t that hard and I’m sure I could do it again no problem. I think it makes for good exercise.

I have a gallery with all my pictures!