2015年3月16日 陽明山系二子山 - 楓樹湖古道 - 天元宮 Relaxed hiking for cherry blossoms

At Teanyuangong temple

陽明山山系の北側三芝は、多く植えられた桜で有名である。二月初めから三月半ばまで、台湾山桜や八重桜、そして吉野桜などが次々に咲き、訪れるものを楽しませてくれる。桜以外にも木蓮などの花も開き、花を鑑賞するにはとても良いコースを提供している。花を鑑賞するには気持ちもゆったり、ルートもゆったりという歩き方が望ましい。そこで、今回は二子坪から出発、登りは二子山のみで、そのあとは面天古道と楓樹湖古道を経てずっと基本下りのコースを、吉野桜で有名な天元宮へ歩いた。英語を話すメンバーが中心の山行であったので、今回の記録は英語で記述する。

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We walked from east to west

Hiking elevation profile, mainly downhill

At Erziping parking sparce, Mt. Xiaoguanyin in the back

Located on the north slope of Mt. Miantiansna (面天山) and adjacent peaks like Mt.Erzishan (二子山) and Mt. Caigongkengshan 菜公坑山, Sanzhi district (三芝區) of New Taipei City is well known for its cherry blossoms which the district office has long planted on various spots for decades. The most famous among those spots is Tianyuangong temple (天元宮) with its late blooming Yoshino cherry blossoms. As the time of its full blooming at the temple drew near. I called for an easy hiking from Mt. Erziping all the way down to Tianyuangong temple in Fasebook's Taipei Hiker Club . A few friends responded to it and twelve of us walked a leisurely hike.

Excellent Erziping trail

At an elevation of 880 meters, Mt. Erzishan is an inconspicuous peak next to more profound Mt. Miantinshan. Mt. Erzishan has two humps on its top, West peak and East peak and it looks just like a little hill viewed from Erziping, in contrast to a majestic Mt. Datunshan (大屯山) on the opposite side. There is a little footpath leading to the peak of Mr. Erzishan and down to meet anther little footpath of Miantian old trail (面天古道). After we wend over the Mr. Erzishan and then down to Miantian old trail, we walked to Bailaka highway (百拉卡公路). We walked down along Bailaka highway for a short while to connect to another old trail, Fengshufu trail (楓樹湖古道). This old trail follows on a small ridge all the way to a paved driveway at the mountain foot. We then went along this level road and ascended to a observation deck where we had a lunch break. After a lunch we went down to Tianyungong temple to enjoy cherry blossoms just in full bloom.

Erziping, Mt. Erzishan is on the right and Mt. Miantianshan is in the distacne over the corner

Climb to Mt. Erzishan

We meet at MRT Jiantan station (劍潭站) at 8:00 and take a ride to Yangmingshan bus terminus (陽明山總站) by a R5 bus. Today is Monday and a bus is full of students commuting to Chinese Culture University (中華文化大學) . After students get off, there are only a few passengers left except us. We arrive at a little before 9:00 and takes another bus #108 at 9:00. A second ride of fifteen minutes takes us Erziping parking space where we start our hike. The sun is still in clouds but you can see Mt. Xiaguanyinshan (小觀音山) clearly just behind the parking space. We start walking at 9:25 for Erziping.

Steep descent from Mt. Erzishan

The hiking trail to Erziping is very good. It even has a parallel paved path for wheelchairs. As a matter of fact, it is called a hiking trail for the handicapped. We proceed the gravel-paved wide road under trees. It feels very relaxing. There is small ups and downs but you don't feel any hard to go along. In twenty minutes we come to Erziping, where a small pond is located in its center and several peaks surround it. You can see Mt. Miantainshan in a far end beyond the corner. There are cherry trees planted around the pond but most of the trees have already fresh green leaves and only one or two trees still have cherry blossoms. We cross a wood bridge over the pond and go up stone steps to a terrace though a wood-roofed corridor. A thermometer is fixed on a tree trunk. It shows 21 degree C.

Iris flower field under trees

Miantian old trail goes through a large tree nursery

A little footpath is ascending in the woods. This is a way to Mr. Erzishan west peak and pretty different from what we have just walked from the Erziping parking space. Up we go steep dirt path and soon the incline gets moderate. Fallen leaves pile onto the path ant it feels very good. This is really a natural and primitive trail. Only after a few minutes of struggle, the path flattens and we reach the west peak of Mt. Erzishan (elevation 880m) at 10:00. This is the highest point of today's hike. The rest of the hike is basically downhill. We start decent. The more we go down, the steeper the path gets. The path that we take looks rather new and the ground is a little soft. There aren't much aids except only one affixed rope at one point. Some members are new to this kind of footpath and they are having hard time. As the incline gets moderate we pass bamboo woods where bamboo shoots are harvested. After a half hour of descent we come to meet Miantian old trail.

Bailaka highway, A shop is on the side 

We go along this flat old trail and pass by a beautiful flower field under trees. The whole area is filled with white iris flowers. This must be a kind of flower farm cultivated by a local farmer. There is another flower field to show up as we proceed. We then come in a large tree nursery and a path goes through it and down to Bailaka highway (百拉卡公路). There is a small shop by the road and we have a rest by it. Mr. Erzishan that we have just gone over stands high behind the shop. The time is 11:00.

A view from Bailaka highway

Members going down Fengshuhu old trail

After a rest we stride down the Bailaka highway for a few minutes and come to an entrance to Fengshuhu old trail. This dirt trail is well traveled and the passage is clear. After we pass an junction, the trail goes diwb along a small ridge. As we go down, the slope gets steeper. We pass two more junctions, which we both take left. At a little after 12:00 we come down to a paved driveway. After all of us reach this point, we have a short rest.

Some sections of Fengshuhu old trail is very steep

Turn left here to continue old trail

The most difficult part of the hike is now over. The rest is rather moderate downhill and paths are good. We take left here and go along the paved road to an junction with a tall sign in a few minutes. We take left in the direction the sign shows Fengshuhu old trail. This short section is a dirt path. In a matter of a minute or two we come to another junction and take left to go up. The sign shows observation deck. This section is a good stone steps. The footpath goes by purple magnolia flowers in full bloom. The uphill last just for a few minutes and we reach the observation deck at 12:20. We have a long lunch break. The weather is cloudy and we cannot view the far distance from the deck, but it is better than a strong sun shining directly upon us. Some of our members feed a big black dog that has come along with us for a while. He looks old and is friendly. He eats anything including tomato!

A view from the observation deck

A member feeding the dog tomato

Forty leisurely minutes of lunch break have passed and we head for our final destination at 13:10. We take a paved road from the observation deck. The road goes down moderately and at some point in zigzag. We come across various kind of flowers as we go down. At 13:22 we have come to a junction. At first the sign on the left road shows this is no way through and we try the right one, but soon find it is wrong. We then figure out that the sign means one road diverting from the left road ends up at a house and the left road itself is not an dead end. We take left here and march on. The road turns into a dirt road and ends at Shifangchanlin temple (十方禪林). We take a junction to right and continue downhill. We then follow signs showing Tianyuangong temple. At 13:40 we come to a point where the temple area is visible under our feet. The temple tower is surrounded by pinkish Yoshino cherry blossoms. In another ten minutes we come to the temple and complete today's hike.

Flowers along the road down to Tianyuangong

Flowers

More flowers

Cherry blossoms and Tower of Tianyuangong in the back

Cherry blossoms at Tianyuangong

The temple was full of people even on a week day. It would be wise to avoid weekends to visit this place.We walked for four hours and a half including breaks to cover approximately 8 kilometers. This route is for anybody but if you follow exactly what we walked this time, you need to be prepared to walk steep dirt footpaths. The course is rated level 3 while stamina, 2. It would be best to visit this route during late February to early March when all kinds of flowers are in full bloom. Mid march and later would be too late for cherry blooms of Taiwan native cherries except Yoshino cherries are blooming at Tianyuangong temple.