Leader Ⓨ had been to Pingfeng Mountain four times before, but that was before the new trail was opened. Since there's a Pingfeng Mountain trip planned for next year, he wanted to check out the condition of the new trail, so he invited several people to go scouting (ⓎⓂⒼⒾ). ⓎⓂ and I had walked Tianmu Old Trail together before, but the group was large at that time and I didn't have much impression, so this was also my first time joining an "online self-organized group" 🤣. After meeting at Yongning Station, we set off in Ⓨ's car.

We resupplied at a convenience store when passing through Puli, but since it was still early, we had dinner at Wushe. However, it seemed like there weren't many open restaurants.

Although it wasn't raining, the road surface was wet. According to the weather forecast, the weather would only start improving tomorrow. We chatted a bit in the common room and then rested.

After waking up and devouring a large amount of bread, we set off.

We searched for parking spots near the trailhead, finally parking a bit further in the Dayuling direction, and walked to the trailhead as a warm-up. It wasn't dawn yet, and the road surface was wet with misty rain.

When preparing to set off at the trailhead, we saw a gentleman getting out of a car, and we would meet again on Pingfeng Mountain later. The initial section was steeply downhill, and combined with the wet conditions, it was quite strenuous. As expected, I slipped on a large rock, and my left trekking pole snapped directly. Fortunately, I had brought another pole with a missing tip as a replacement, otherwise the tent couldn't have been set up (planned to set up the tent outside the hut first, then go light to Pingfeng Mountain. Originally hoped to walk more easily, so brought an extra pole that was broken but could still support the tent).

We descended steeply all the way to the river. The sky gradually brightened, and the weather gradually improved. There was reportedly a temporary bridge set up by Captain Jin on the river, which greatly reduced the difficulty of crossing.

Although it was a former campsite, it was covered with rocks, and there were signs of wild boars having lived at the edges. It seemed like it would be hard to sleep there.

First time seeing the legendary Pingfong Cabin, but since I had already stayed at Guangao Cabin twice, seeing the small Pingfong Cabin didn't feel like much. The hut is in the forest, with many open spaces nearby for camping. It's said that some people come here specifically to camp. After arriving, we observed the campsite conditions a bit, then started setting up our tents.

After setting up camp, we set off for Pingfeng Mountain. I followed the plan and left my overnight gear at the campsite, directly carrying my large backpack with rain gear, a synthetic jacket, and all the food.

Ⓖ had back pain, and with a long-distance hike coming up in two weeks, so after helping fetch water, stayed at the campsite to rest. Since I was only staying one night, my backpack was very light, so I simply carried over four liters of water to the campsite, eliminating the need to fetch and filter water. The water source is on the path behind the hut heading towards Pingfeng Mountain, just over a small slope.

It was a wet and slippery steep climb all the way, with not much scenery (two sacred trees) and no difficult terrain. Ⓨ's condition wasn't very good, probably because driving consumed too much energy.

Heard that the old triangulation marker was lost, and the current one is new. The hikers ahead placed two red chili peppers on the marker (medium spicy?). There was also a couple, who were reportedly the hikers we passed at the trailhead.

After returning to the cabin, Ⓨ started cooking bubble tea to share. Then I planned to hold out until five o'clock before starting dinner, so I chatted around the campsite and observed the nearby yellow-throated martens. They seemed to be less afraid of people now, with several eating behind the hut, apparently from food scraps. Later, two of them went directly in and out of the neighboring team's campsite (when no one was there). Remembering all the rumors about yellow-throated martens, I didn't dare to be careless at all.

The night wasn't very cold, so my extra down jacket was of no use. After getting up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, I actually couldn't tell which direction was which, and had to take a small detour to get back to the tent. The neighboring team's fancy camp light flashed all night, and when I woke up in the middle of the night, I was confused and thought there was a campfire.

Planned to depart at seven for the return trip. I got up at five-thirty and started slowly packing. The tent had some condensation. In theory, the vestibule should be half-open in the middle of the night, but I really didn't want to deal with yellow-throated martens, so I waited until after getting up to fully open it for ventilation. Although the bottom of the tent was a bit wet, since the trip was short, I was too lazy to deal with it. After packing, we took a group photo with the cabin manager Captain Jin and set off.

Before descending to the crossing point, there was a large steep slope with loose soil and rocks. When going up the day before, I was worried that the downhill return would be difficult, but at this time the weather had improved and the ground was drier, so going down wasn't too difficult.

Originally estimated it would take four hours to return to the trailhead, but we arrived at ten o'clock. After a brief preparation, we headed to Cingjing Farm Lu Mama for lunch.