Top 5 hikes of 2010

Looks like the weather doesn’t make hiking a likely possibility this weekend, so felt like writing this…!

Top 5 hikes in Taiwan this year:

ShueiSheshan. A 3 day hike beginning at Itashao village on the S.E. shore of Sun Moon Lake. First night at a shelter with a magnificent view of the lake at dusk and far enough away to avoid the noise. Summitted the next day to meet a pack of shy dogs living there and came down to a forestry road with big views of the Central Mountain Range beyond the river.Camped in a scenic spot near an old tea field. The following day joined a back road down to Puli.

Lala Shan to Songlou Lake. Starts off with the Shenmu reservation and follows the ridge line with several peaks and then following an up and down route via a series of lakes before dropping down to a stream and then leaving that to come out at Songlou Lake. Weather wasn’t so good on the last day but still had mega views on several occasions.Did it in 3 but 4 days is more sensible. Quite an adventure.

Shimen Dam to Shwekou (JienShyr township).3 Days. Of several routes going from the North Cross-Island over to JienShyr, this one was quite good. After walking for several miles on the south bank road, then turning up a side valley and reaching the end village I reached the trailhead and from there the path rises quite steeply to the ridge campsite. The next day with the winter sunrise shining down from behind SiangBaling, the task was to summit the peak at 1,520 meters for one of the best views looking back down valley to the North Cross.From there it’s along the ridge to Wai Niao Zui Shan and then further on to the narrow mountain road that goes down to ShweKou. Finding a west facing lawn on the way, camped out and enjoyed a cool sunset.

Dong’ao (Dōng’ào / 東澳) to Su’ao Xin (Sū’ào Xīn / 蘇澳新). 2 days. This route linked up some previous routes I’d explored before such as the quarry road coming up from Dong Shan and a very rough trail going from Dong’ao to the quarry above Yongle. It was a bushwack, first tracing a stream in the north west part of that Dong’ao drainage that looks like an impregnable wall. There was a lot of evidence of barking deer nests and one wandered into my bivouac that night. Near the top ridge an old quarry road made an appearance and it was possible to enjoy some views and wander down by that road to the lower part of a branch of the Dongshan river and the road turns off to the train station at Su’ao Xin.

JuMei to Shanlinxi (Shānlínxī / 杉林溪). JuMei is a small village on a little plateau above the 21 going from Shuili (Shuǐli / 水里) to Tungpu in Nantou County. There are some farm roads in the hills behind that are quite a maze but heading further north to the next village and behind that is an old forestry road that used to go all the way up and over the ridge to Shanlinxi. At the turn off someone had spray painted to Shanlinxi in red on the road surface which gave me confidence to persist because the trail itself was very scarcely tagged. After a few kilometers the road fizzled out into a path at a crumbling forestry workers shack where a blue truck was parked. I met the owners of that truck several hours later: 3 generations of hunters - father,son and gramps - as they were tying their quarry (two barking deer) before setting out back home.They said the route was okay and the path got steeper and steeper, crossing the remnants of the old road. The path turned left at the pass following the remains of the road in the direction of the monkey rock branch line near Alishan. On the way was a solitary giant red cedar - just absolutely massive. After several kilometers the path peeled off down to ShuiYang Forest, an earthquake lake that submerged part of a forest, a place that is firmly on the radar of local hikers and there were several groups camped there that night. The next day went on to Shanlinxi via LuChuShan which qualifies this hike’s inclusion here because the firebreak along the ridge afforded quite a lot of great views.

Outside Taiwan:

Manaslu Circuit (Nepal). Compared to hiking in Taiwan this was a piece of cake. Long, at 18 days, but this hike needs a special permit, porters and a guide, so our party only had to carry day packs.We stayed at rudimentary lodges-usually a community room that local traders use - and ate daal bhat, and further up the valley, potatoes. We only needed our tents and camping food for the night below the pass. Going over the pass at 5100 meters was tiring though! The reward: views of Manaslu peak and on the other side three glaciers merged into one large one and further down walking through the rhododendron forest was a highlight.

Seasons greetings to all hikers…let’s see what 2011 brings!

Damn! That’s a good year! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Didn’t you do some hiking in Glacier National Park and Washington as well?

Time to write another book.

Glacier N.P. was 2009. No plans for any book!

Sounds like some great adventures there ! Surprised Taiwan mountains tougher then Nepalese?