Baiyang Waterfall Revisited

The Water Curtain Tunnel

Bilu and Yangtou Mountain, Taroko Gorge National Park

Walking through a frost covered forest in Taroko Gorge National Park

Mount Bilu and Yangtou are located near the top of Taroko Gorge National Park.  Both peaks are above 3000m and can be done as individual days hikes, a mad single day traverse or a 2-3 day traverse with camping.

Day 1

It’s a long drive from Taipei to Dayuling for the start of the hike.  With the restrictions on the Suhua Highway, we had to come via Lishan and it took almost 6 hours to get there.  The trailhead starts next to the Dayuling Tunnel which is the intersection for Lishan, Hehuanshan and Taroko Gorge.

Teapot Mountain and Banping Mountain

Teapot Mountain as seen from Banping Mountain

Teapot Mountain on Taiwan’s north coast has to have some the most amazing views you can get for a day hike from Taipei City.  The hike begins in the rejuvenated Jinguashi Gold Ecological Park. I remember visiting this area years and just thinking how depressing it was, but it’s now fully open and makes for a nice place to visit especially in the morning when the crowds aren’t too bad.

Yushan Single Day Ascent

With Yushan’s Paiyun Cabin still not open, the best way to climb Taiwan’s highest mountain is the tough single day ascent.  Starting at Tatajia you have to ascend and descend some 1700m and cover 26km in a single day.  It’s not for everyone, but is makes for a great challenge for those who are up to it.

Sunrise at the trail to Yushan

Yushan and the New Rules for the Paiyun Cabin

Sunrise as seen from the peak of Yushan

When the new Paiyun Cabin for Yushan opens (if that ever happens!) there’ll be a new policy of charging foreigners $700 to stay there.  Locals will continue to pay the usual $220 as before.  I’m very much against this as I think it’s unfair and it will damage Taiwan’s reputation.

The reason given for the increase is to pay for the new English services, but a blanket charge for foreigners will affect those coming from non-English speaking countries too.  How do they benefit?  I also worry that we’ll see no changes to the poor English on the website/signs in the park etc.

In addition to this change it is also rumoured that when the cabin opens, foreigners will no longer have the option of climbing Yushan as a single day ascent, regardless of experience.  I can only think that this is because the park wants foreigners to stay in the cabin to extract money from them.

If you too are against this, Richard Saunders has set up a petition for anyone who would like to sign it.

Online Petition

Also you can email the national park directly to ask about the new pricing policy.

Email the Yushan National Park

Yuemeikeng Waterfall

The Yue Mei Keng Waterfall in full flow

Richard Saunders let me know about the Yuemeikeng Waterfall sometime ago and he mentioned that it was a relatively unknown and hidden place and so when I visited last year, I decided not to write about it to try and keep it that way.  But now it has been discovered by the masses and the trail is well tagged and well beaten, I think it’s OK to write a quick post.

March Group Hikes

We’re got a couple of great hikes coming up in March.  The first is on March 9th to 11th and we’ll be heading the Shuiyang Forest and the Thousand People Cave in Nantou County.  This is a 2 day, 2 night camping trip.  Sign up via the facebook group!

The Shuiyang Forest and Lake was created during the 921 Earthquake

We'll be camping out under this giant over hanging cliff

The second trip is to Taroko Gorge where we’ll explore some of the gorge’s lesser known and more exciting trails as well as spend an afternoon gently freewheeling our way down the gorge by bicycle.  For this trip we’ll stay in a small B&B in Xincheng for 2 nights.  Again we’re organsing this one through facebook.

Cycling down Taroko Gorge is an unbeatable experience

A bridge that leads to the natural Wenshan Hot Springs

Also, although we’ve been going for a while, I’ve never officially announced the founding of Taiwan Adventures, an outdoor adventure and hiking company.  There are four members of the team, myself, Neil, Ross and Phil.  We’re mostly aimed a hiking, be it day trips around Taipei or longer hike mountain excursions, but we also run photogrpaphy trips, sightseeing tours, eco-tours etc.

Check out the website for information!