Over the Chinese New Year holiday, we took part in four hikes. Here are the highlights:
Jiajiuliao Hike (Tuesday)
Intrepid hikers about to start.
This scene reminded me of the lyrics of a Leonard Cohen song: "And she shows you where to look among the garbage and the flowers":
On the main trail from Wulai to Sanxia.
An Aboriginal Christian shrine at a major resting point on the trail. Notice the little Jesus and Mary statues. There's also a Santa Claus. The corner where this shrine is located marks the point where a side trail descends to one of our favorite swimming holes, where there's a natural water slide. We went straight on.
Red tree in a green forest.
Crossing the rickety bridge.
A picnic lunch in the shelter. This is a place where we usually encounter local Aborigines brewing tea and enjoying the day. We had the place to ourselves this time.
Here's the shelter from the outside.
Next to it is what we call the FarEasTone Hotel...a hut with a platform where you can sleep should you decide for some reason to camp out here for the night. Bring your own sleeping gear.
We trudged on through the mud and drizzle, until we came to a stream crossing. We stayed here and chatted for a bit before heading back. On a finer day, with an earlier start, we could follow the trail all the way to Xiongkong (Bear Hollow) near Sanxia.
Xindian Hike (Wednesday)
It was a beautiful day, and we itched to get out. It was just Kitty and me this time. We started at Bitan.
A lot of people were here enjoying the day. It's a popular place to rent paddleboats.
We crossed the famous suspension bridge. It was a little unnerving walking across with the bridge swaying erratically.
We walked along the road to a hill community, just to explore. I had the sudden need to go to the bathroom. The guy at the community guardhouse was kind enough to let me use the loo. While Kitty was waiting, she discovered a big sign with a map to the trail we were looking for.
We passed through a butterfly trail, but there weren't too many butterflies to be seen at this time of year.
On the way up, I found a maqaw tree (Litsea cubeba). This is the spice that the Atayal people use, mentioned in my Trip to Wulai entry. The berries have a strong lemony scent.
We climbed to the top of Hemeishan, which overlooks Bitan.
Then we went down and had roti at Athula's Curry and some stinky tofu in the Bitan night market.
Sishoushan Hike (Thursday)
This is an easy hike accessible from downtown near Taipei 101. We started out by climbing Elephant Mountain. In fact, this is an ideal place to take photos of Taipei 101...when the air is clear. (It was a little hazy this day.)
A butterfly fluttered by. This is a female staff sergeant (Athyma selenophora laeta).
Two dogs (Canis lupus familiaris).
Like most trails close to the city center, it is well paved and maintained.
Here's an image well-known to hikers in the area. Some guy hikes along trails in the area leaving his mark: this smiling visage. Nobody knows who this vandal is, but local hikers call him the 笑臉怪客 (smiley face weirdo).
After a steep climb up the trail, we came to the ridge. Here we found an aerial lift used for transporting equipment (and perhaps staff) up to a TV relay station.
Nine-Five Peak
And we ended up at Cihui Temple, at the base of Tiger Mountain.
Maokong Hike (Sunday)
Jenny's friend Filippo, who's in Taiwan for a semester, joined us. We hiked up the Thousand Steps from the back of National Chengchi University up to Zhinan Temple, then along the Tea Pickers' Trail to Maokong. We lunched at Xiaomuwu (The Little Cabin), our favorite restaurant up there (I had the carbonara). Then we continued on to the ridge above Maokong.
Here we are at the arrival point on the ridge:
Back down in Maokong, we came to this area where people were selling food. The woman on the right is selling corn dogs. Pictured here are Filippo, Patty, Kitty and Kate.
After that, we walked to Zhangshan Temple before heading back down to Muzha.
Divining blocks at Zhangshan Temple. Locals take a pair of these, say a prayer, and throw them on the ground. If, three times in a row, they land one flat-side up and one flat-side down...
...then they can proceed to Step 2, which is to randomly select a divining rod from this holder. On the rod is a number that corresponds to one of the drawers on the side.
Inside the drawer is a slip of paper with obscure writing on it. The devotee then takes it to the temple office to have it interpreted.
