Just a little note: by the parking lot there was a row of Formosan sweetgum trees (Liquidambar formosana). There were more growing naturally in the park, but they were hard to photograph given lighting and perspective problems.
Starting up the trail near the rear of the park.
The trail starts with several switchbacks that are quite steep. But after that, there's a long stretch in which the path is either flat or gently undulates. Here's Robert coming around the corner:
The forest is quite lush here, with camphor trees, crape myrtles, oaks, machilus, laurels and Japanese cedars, the latter planted long ago during the Japanese occupation. Wildlife here include squirrels, monkeys and barking deer, the latter of which are generally heard, not seen. And there are birds of all kinds here.
Eventually we came to a flat area near a water source that is ideal for camping. Just beyond that are the dreaded stairs. Pretty much the rest of the hike up to the ridge consists of these seemingly endless stairs.
Soon we came to an area where the trail intersects with the top of a landslide.
One more typhoon, and the trail could become a victim to nature. But this place afforded a spectacular view of the mountains across the valley, with clouds constantly rolling over the peaks and spilling downward before evaporating. (The landslide also enabled me to pinpoint this spot on Google Earth!)
Eventually, we arrived at the ridge, where a number of trails intersect. We stopped for lunch. We noticed that the majority of trees were some kind of strange oak, which had acorns, but had a trunk like a fig tree and leaves like a laurel. After some googling, I've found it's most certainly a kind of Rock Oak (Lithocarpus sp.), probably L. hancei. The edges of the leaves are smooth and the acorn is quite round.
After lunch and a rest, we took the trail to the left, which leads toward Beichatianshan (literally "north sky-penetrating mountain"). This is the trail that goes past the grove of big trees. Most of the trail is relatively even, but near the end there are some natural staircases of roots to climb. At one point we crossed a stream which is a popular rest spot for hikers. The locals call the spot "shuiyuandi" (water source). We trudged on, and the ground started getting muddy. Eventually we arrived at a place where the trail widens, which we call the French Quarter (last time we were here, we encountered some rude Frenchmen). This is the place: from here, you climb down a long, muddy natural root stairway and arrive at the final goal: the Big Trees!
These gigantic trees, the endangered Formosan Cypress (Chamaecyparis formosensis), are around 2000 years old or more.
While I was taking a rest, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. Up on one of the big trees was a snake! The lighting was terrible, so it was hard to get a good picture of it, but we believe it's a Mountain Keelback (Pseudoxenodon stejnegeri). It's not poisonous.
Then we headed back down. The way down is easier, but still takes a long time....about 3 hours from the big trees to the park. (It took 4 hours of straight walking, not including breaks, to get up to the trees; add time for breaks and exploration, plus walking in and out of the park itself, and the entire hike took us 9 hours.)
On the way down, the sole came off my hiking boot. I started slipping around, and didn't know why, so I checked my boot and the sole was gone! Robert was behind me, and he said he saw a sole on the trail. I climbed up to get it, and then Robert had some plastic ties that we used to temporarily re-attach the sole to my boot. It worked like a charm! The last hour or so was in the dark, but fortunately we brought headlamps along!
After we left the park and were walking toward the car, we encountered a juvenile Banded Krait (Bungarus multicinctus) on the road. This is the fifth species of poisonous snake I've encountered in Taiwan. We used our walking sticks to move it off the road to safety.
What a day! Two snakes, big trees, gorgeous scenery, and a lost sole! But we had one treat left...we went to Belgian Pie's new restaurant in Sanxia, named Patio 28., to enjoy delicious Belgian food and Belgian beer! Here's the owner, a friend of ours, Marc (aka Belgian Pie):
What a great way to end a great day!
