It all started in late spring of 2006, when we trekked along a previously unexplored (by us) trail starting from a farmhouse on Highway 007, and headed downhill along the Daxi River, which flows out at the fishing town of Daxi on the east coast, north of Yilan. I still remember the farmer's words of warning to us as we began the trek: "You won't make it by nightfall." Turned out he was right: we spent the last hour hiking through the woods on a leechy, overgrown trail in pitch dark, with just a couple of tiny flashlights to light our way. (But oooh, the fireflies!) Our hopes were finally buoyed when we saw, on the opposite hillside, a house with the lights on. We knew a road had to be nearby, and that we were coming to civilization.
That hike was a mixed bag: a mixture of tribulations and amazing discoveries. The biggest discovery of all was a fantastic-looking waterfall we observed from far up on the hillside trail. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera that day.
On the way, we crossed the river a number of times, noticing that it seemed easily walkable. We were determined to come back someday and walk up the river to the waterfall.
The day came a couple months later.
We organized a group of perhaps 6 or 7 people, and "river traced" up the Daxi River.
Along the way, we scrambled over boulders and stopped to cool off in refreshing pools.
The surrounding mountains and jungle were gorgeous, and we noticed as we hiked up that there were no traces of human presence: not a scrap of litter or any artificial structures. The water was crystal clear, teeming with fish, including Taiwan shoveljaw carp (Varicorhinus barbatulus), which flash their silvery bodies in the sun.
As we hiked up, the trail got rockier. On our first hike, we stopped by a pool and had lunch, wondering how much farther it would be until we got to the elusive waterfall.
One member of our group went on to explore as we waited, and found our destination just 10 minutes beyond:
The waterfall!
Since that day, we've made this an annual hike, ideal for summer because of the cool water and the beauty of the place. And after each hike, we'd go and have a seafood dinner in Daxi, often buying fish at the harbor fish market and having a local restaurant cook it up for us.
Daxi Fish Market
The following year, we went there again. Here, Robert and Christian discovered a trail that brought them around to the top of the waterfall:
On this watery trail there are other interesting diversions, like the Massage Waterfall:
And the Power Waterfall
Robert taking in the power
Paradise Lost
After several memorable visits in 2006 and 2007, we decided to go again in 2008. This time wasn't so enjoyable. First, the air was filled with smoke from several brush fires that were burning along the river. We decided to quicken our pace by hiking along the trail that was up on the hillside. But when we were getting close to the waterfall area, we encountered some illegal hunters who didn't want us there scaring the game away. (They were presumably hunting barking deer and/or wild boar.) We took a trail down to the river, where we encountered yet another person, who seemed concerned that we were there. (It turned out he was the guy who lives at the house on the hillside, the same house that had given us hope a couple years before.) Dejected, we went back with the feeling that our secret paradise had been spoiled.
Paradise Regained
We went back on September 6, 2009. The weather looked promising and, according to Trailhacker, who owns a house near the trailhead, the local mulberry trees were bearing ripe fruit.
So we went. The weather was perfect, and the mulberries were delicious! And the area was teeming with butterflies. And the water and air were clear. We hiked up the river, as usual, and encountered no one. (Only bad point: we did find a few piles of garbage farther upstream, evidence of illegal fishing activities, since this is a closed stream. We cleaned up all the garbage we found.)
I had forgotten my camera, so I started using my cell phone as a backup. But early into the hike, my cell phone fell into the river. I managed to grab it after it was submerged for a second, and took it apart and let it dry for 24-hours. Surprisingly, it works fine now!! So anyway, all the photos below from Sunday's hike were taken by Robert.
An extraordinary specimen of Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya)
Four species
Common Jay (Graphium doson postianum)
Common Bluebottle (Graphium sarpedon connectens)
Chocolate Albatross (Appias lyncida formosana)
Common Mapwing (Cyrestis thyodamas formosana)
Mulberries!
And of course, this time we made it all the way to the waterfall, where we had a nice swim!
And discovered that those funny little fish behind the waterfall are juvenile Monk Goby: they climb up the wet rock walls eating algae, using their front pair of fins like arms. Later they swim downriver out to sea to mate, returning to the river to spawn. More than one hiker has mistaken them for leeches.
Monk Goby (Sicyopterus japonicus)
It was a truly enjoyable day, which, as usual, we topped off with a meal at the seafood restaurant. The meal included Yellowtail Barracuda! (A little bony, but very tasty!)
Dinner: Yellowtail Barracuda (Sphyraena flavicauda)
And this is the view of Turtle Island as we round a corner on the road from the trailhead, driving toward the coast (photo taken by me in 2006):
