The Holy Ridge – 聖稜線

The Holy Ridge is a razor thin ridge of mountains in the Sheipa National Park that runs from north to south connecting Snow Mountain to Dabajianshan.  This was definitely the toughest hike any of us have done, made all the more difficult given the poor weather we encountered on the most hardest day.

The Holy Ridge

A section of the ridge that we traversed

There are several routes that can be taken when doing the Holy Ridge, Barking Deer have some info here.  We chose to do the ‘O’ route in reverse purely because this was the only way we could get permit!

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Snow Mountain 2, Taiwan – 雪山

I blogged about climbing Snow Mountain during the winter earlier in the year so I won’t write many details of the hike.  Last time we went, the mountain was covered in deep snow and despite our best efforts we didn’t get to the top, just shy by 300m.  This time we got a permit at the last minute to be in the 369 hut for Friday night which meant that we had to drive to Wuling Farm after work, hike up to 369 at night, sleep for a few hours (earplugs recommended) then get up, hit the peak and come down on Saturday.  We got lucky with the weather.  It was cool and dry and we made it up and down ok but I would suggest to anyone wanting to do this hike to add an extra day/night.

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Neng Gao Historic Trail – 能高越嶺古道

The Neng Gao Historic Trail 能高越嶺古道, like so many of Taiwan’s Historic trails, was originally built by the Japanese to help control and subdue the aboriginal tribes that lived in that area.  After some time, the occupying Japanese began a project to use the trail to build and maintain power lines that run from the west to the more remote east coast but this was delayed by the onset of World War Two.  Eventually the power lines were built by the Taipower company after the Japanese left Taiwan and they still remian today.

Negotiating the huge landslide

 

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Xinxing Wild Hotsprings, Taoyuan County 新興溫泉

The Xinxing Wild Hotsprings 新興溫泉 are another wonderfully remote hotspring set in the bottom of a steep valley in Taoyuan county.  It takes a while to get there, about 3 hours by motorbike from Taipei but if you like riding, you’ll love the drive out on the number 7.

The Xinxing Hotsprings

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Tapung Fort, Hsinchu County – 李棟山古堡

The front gate of Tapung Fort

The Tapung Fort at the top of Lidong Mountain is a fascinating relic of Taiwan’s past.  It was built by the then occupying Japanese army as a way to control the local Atayl tribes and, even though only the walls and main entrance survive,  it still provides an intriguing glimpse into just how far the Japanese went to gain control over the island.

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Songluo Lake – 松羅湖

Songluohu 松羅湖 is a kind of swampy lake set in a small basin and surrounded by mountains on all sides. It’s a tremendously beautiful place and in some ways very similar to Jialuohu 加羅湖 which is also in Yilan. They are both great places to hike and camp and both can easily be done in a weekend.

We set off on Saturday morning and took the number 9 towards Yilan. It’s a great road to drive on, especially since most of the Taipei to Yilan traffic now goes through the Xueshan tunnel. And the views of the Yilan plain towards the end of the road are spectacular (weather permitting!).

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The Four Beasts and others – 四獸山

The Four Beasts 四獸山 are four small mountains in the Xinyi district that overlook Taipei city and Taipei 101. Separately they’re called Elephant, Leopard, Lion and Tiger mountain (象山、豹山、獅山、虎山). Rising up higher and behind the beasts are the peaks of Nangang mountain and Jiuwufeng.

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Jiuwufeng – 九五峯

Taipei is both blessed and cursed. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides which means that the pollution in the city can be terrible, but it also means you are never far from a hiking trail. The ones around the four beasts are almost all of the paved variety and are lit up at night, which means they can be tackled anytime.

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