I am really happy to meet so many nice people and I enjoy today’s hike very much. When we climbed up the log ladder and passed a very low path… the secnery is just so amazing.
:raspberry: :raspberry: :raspberry: :raspberry: to you all.
this weekend sucked azz… i missed this hike and the ramblers… thanks to work. :fume:
Truly a shame, AWOL. We saw four impressive falls, one with a pool to die for that we will be heading to in the hotter months for sure.
We found an abandoned coal mine shaft and went in to find coal carts, tracks, machines, and one sleeping bat.
We stood atop two 40 metre falls, scrambled into a long low cave behind one of the falls, lunched by a clean flowing brook, and in general enjoyed lush, quiet woodlands and open vistas at every turn.
We also did a little river tracing at the end and found a stream with potential for some good swimming spots. Weird blue rocks though in the stream. A vein of precious minerals?
The sun was shining, a breeze was blowing, and there were 12 of us who couldn’t have been happier.
Nice to meet newcomers Sasha and Jen and trail_hackers two pals. Jen, did you drink enough water today? 
aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh. as of nap time saturday i was good to go… had been breaking in new boots all week, lunch packed, water bladder full… gear good to go… woke up to WORK. hmmpphh
glad you guys had what sounds like a blast. super jealous but super excited to get out on the next hike.
As others have already said, everything about the hike was brilliant, even though we didn’t manage to get a swim. The weather was so gloriously sunny and hot that a plunge in the river would have been perfect. It’s hard to imagine how the met. office people could have been so far off with the weather forecast, but how lucky for us that it turned out diametrically opposite to their gloomy predictions. While it would have been better to be forewarned about the sun, which has left me with a burnt neck and face, that’s a small enough price to pay for being blessed with such a summerlike day.
It was good to meet up with you all, newbies and oldies alike. I enjoyed the gabbing with my fellow Englisher, and am glad we didn’t need to nail you up.
It looks like spring has truly arrived! And could it possibly be any lovelier out there this morning? The bird’s are singing their hearts out and the hills are beckoning with enrapturing allure.
yes, it was a great hike and the weather could not have been better! Maybe next time irishstu could bring some veggie pizza as well.
Superb hike!!! Great company and great weather. So glad I managed to make it, and so nice to be back out hiking. Sorry to anyone that was jealous of my
[color=darkred]ALLEYCAT’S PIZZA[/color]
!! 
Mm, Sasha, Omni and me
By the tunnel in Shi fen
Madman on the bridge!
Thanks everyone for a great day. It was a lovely way to celebrate my birthday and engagement. L 
Notice how, in that second picture, we’re about to enter the railway tunnel next to a sign that says: “禁止行人通行”.
But hey, we’re waiguoren, and the sign isn’t in English, so what would we know??
That’s right. Of course we would never have set foot in there if we’d been able to understand it.
Omni, it looks like the blue mineral deposists we found in the riverbed are chalcedony. It is common on the east coast though most deposits have been extracted. New deposits occur when rains wash away river beds to reveal the rock below. Wonder about what we found. Low grade, new unknown deposit? Anyway, pretty cool all around to see such a long streak of blue in the middle of a river and to know it’s natural not manmade. I definitely want to go back to that place and check it out more. We saw red copper or cinnabar deposits and the blue chalcedony. Of course there’s also tons of coal around there. Pretty geologically diverse place. Maybe I’ll take a sample of the mineral. Ratbrain, can your hospital do mineral testing too? 
[quote=“Muzha Man”]Omni, it looks like the blue mineral deposists we found in the riverbed are chalcedony. It is common on the east coast though most deposits have been extracted. New deposits occur when rains wash away river beds to reveal the rock below. Wonder about what we found. Low grade, new unknown deposit? Anyway, pretty cool all around to see such a long streak of blue in the middle of a river and to know it’s natural not manmade. I definitely want to go back to that place and check it out more. We saw red copper or cinnabar deposits and the blue chalcenny. Of course there’s also tons of coal around there. Pretty geologically diverse place. Maybe take a sample of the mineral. Ratbrain, can your hospital do mineral testing too?
72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:j5K … =clnk&cd=6[/quote]
Keep the place hush hush I say… govt geo dudes will be there in no time digging it up.
That’s it for sure, MM. Very interesting!
BTW, I went back to that shop this afternoon to get those maps. At first I was dismayed to find that they didn’t have the Wulai one, and when I inquired about it, the assistant said they’d already sold out. But then he produced the boxed set, so I bought that for NT$1,800. What a treasure!
I know I am a little late, but I finally managed to get the pictures online of those friendly mine inhabitants that let us seek shelter in their home.
My question is, are they going to attack?
Aren’t her eyes beautiful?
I am never going to go in a mine again.
never.
never ever.
I can’t believe I went in there.
what if i touched one?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I’m with Ratbrain on this one! Yikes!
If that bat is as big as it looks (cool), that makes those spiders really &$#@*% huge (uncool).
Looks like something from a really bad flick I saw during a shameful moment of TV desperation: