After a full breakfast at Teddy Bear Cafe near the base camp, we took a bus to Wannian Si, a temple near the base of the mountain. We began hiking around 11:30 a.m., slogging through muddy paths surround by verdant greenery. By around 3:00 p.m., we saw snow on the ground, and by 3:30 the path itself had become snow and ice-covered. We stopped for a bite to eat at a small monastery.

The monk on duty sold us a bowl of fried rice and the "local specialty" -- a bowl of sweet vinegary soup with globs of rice flour dough, and dough. I didn't love this, truthfully.

He also sold us ice clamps, which came in quite handy for the next portion of the trip, which was all ice. We clip-clopped for the next three hours, finally reaching Xixiang Chi right before nightfall.

A restaurant located just below the monastery informed us that the monks were sleeping, and he cooked us up a meal to take to our rooms.

We got fried rice again, and eggplant, pork and mushroom -- for an outrageous price. It was after dark when we ascended the stairs and got our room. After hiking all day, this meal hit the spot.

And we woke up the next morning to find that we had climbed above the cloud level. The sun was shining, and we had indeed made it to a beautiful spot.

Before an hour before hitting the summit (a straight uphill climb), we saw the monkeys. Then we stopped for noodles.

These were nothing to sneeze at, though they did refuel our energy.

We hit the summit around 3:00 p.m. And oh my goodness was it gorgeous.

We splurged on the monorail to see the other two peaks, including the tippity-top. And you really felt like you were on top of the world. With scenery like this, it's hard to think about food.