2018年7月7日~9日 南二段嘉明湖 Second visit to Jaminghu lake

Jiaminghu lake (嘉明湖) with Mt. Bulakesang (布拉克桑山) behind

台湾は日本と同じように台風が多く訪れる。去年はとても少なかったが、今年は空梅雨のあと南部を中心に豪雨、そして7月初旬に発生した瑪麗亞（マリア、日本では台風8号）台風が台湾北部海上を通過した。台湾の高山にある山道は、多くは林務局や国家公園の管理下にあり、台風による警報がでると閉鎖される。もともとは、向陽山から秀姑巒山までの中央山脈南二段を八日かけて縦走する予定であった。ところが、入山初日7月8日に、向陽管理所で台風による閉鎖が予想されるということ、台風の経路も当初より南よりになり台湾にやってくる可能性が高い。三叉山から一旦縦走を始めてしまうと逃げ道がない。そうしたことで、予定を変更嘉明湖を往復し下山することにした。

Peaks of the South Section Two (南二段山峰) and Mt. Jade (玉山) in far end

筆者は昨年5月に、嘉明湖を訪れている。今回七名パーティーのうちの五名はまだであり、台北から数時間をかけてここまでやってきたので、二日だけになっても価値がある。さらに、昨年は雨でほとんど見えなかった南部の山々を望むことができた。南二段縦走は、いずれまた計画を立てて訪れることになるだろう。今回は、二回目の訪問になるので、英語で記述します。

The South Section Two of the Central Mountain Ridge (中央山脈南二段)

Taiwan's backbone, the Central Mountain Range (中央山脈), runs 340 kilometers north-south wise. For trekking purpose the entire range is divided into six sections and hikers usually refer to it when they talk about where they hike. It goes like the North Section One to Three to the middle point and further goes southwards the South Section Three down to One. Our original plan this time was to trek the entire section of the South Section Two, which starts at Mt. Xiugulanshan (秀姑巒山), the highest peak in the entire central mountain range at the north side all the way down to Mt. Guanshanlingshan (關山嶺山), where it meets the South Cross-Island Highway (南橫公路).

The two-day route

Two-day elevation profile of the trip

This strech of tail is controlled and maintained by two separate entities of Taiwan central government, namely Forestry Bureau (林務局) and Yushan National Park (玉山國家公園). When an official typhoon warning is issued, they close the trails regardless of you having permits for entry. We had a hard time to secure bed spaces at Jiaminghu lodge (嘉明湖避難山屋) under Forestry Bureau and other huts under the national park as they are independent and you have to apply for each, which may not match each other. It was really a pain in the neck to get the permits from the two authorities. So we were very disappointed when we found that typhoon Maria was changing its course closer to Taiwan than before our departure from Taipei and the prospect of trail closing is more imminent. The trail of the South Section Two has no escape route once you go past Jiaminghu lake (嘉明湖). When a typhoon hits Taiwan in the middle of our trekking, we will be stranded. We had no choice but change our original plan. Before the typhoon comes closer enough to get the trail closed, we had two days and we just made two-day trip to Jiaminghu Lake, which I visited last year.

All members at Jiaminghu lake

It turned out that the weather was very good and we enjoyed spectacular view of high mountains surrounding Jiaminhu lake, which I did not due to the bad weather on my last visit. We had more food as the original plan was eight-day trek, and left a part of it at our hiking shuttle service car and headed for Jiaminghu. The first day was to cover from the trail head to Jiaminghu lodge, which took us six hours for almost all ascent. On the second day, we made a round trip to Jiaminghu lake in the early morning and descended to the trail head in the afternoon, which totaled 11 hours including rest. An official typhoon warning was issued  in late afternoon of the second day, by which time we were already on our way home.


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Day One July 8: Trail head - Xiangyang lodge (向陽山屋）- Mt. Xiangyang (向陽山) - Jiaminghu lodge (嘉明湖避難山屋)

Hike from the trail head in south to Jiaminghu lodge

Elevation profile of the first day

Going on Suhua highway near Heping (蘇花公路和平段)

We left Taipei on July 7 noon. We hired a shuttle service car and we rode all the way from Taipei to Chishang (池上) near the South Cross-Island Highway, which leads to the trail head, Siangyang Forest Recreation Area (向陽森林遊樂區). We went down via No. 9 highway. As we came closer to our destination, we ran into heavy shower but by the time we had supper at Chishang it subsided. We checked in an inn at 19:45. It costed NT$500 each of us. The latest information about the typhoon shows that it would be more likely to come closer to Taiwan, which made us uneasy.

Passing through a section under road repair

On July 8 we get up at 4:00 to get ready for an early start. We have a breakfast at a nearby small shop where the inn keeper takes us as the meal is included in the cost of accommodation. The sky is clear and promises a good weather. We ride on the car and leave for Xiangyang trail head at 5:25. We get onto the Cross-Island highway after we pass a bridge over a very wide Beinan River (卑南溪). This highway was originally a foot trail of Guanshan Over-Pass Trail (關山越嶺道) built during the Japanese era. It was built to control indigenous Bunun tribes (布農族) living deep in the mountains. Later under Kuomintang regime it was converted to a car road. It goes through many precarious sections on the sides of high mountain where land slides often happen. Typhoon Morakot brought devastating damages to the highway in 2009 and it is still under repair after all those yeas. The section beyond Xiangyang is closed for public access.

Peaks of the South Section One are visible over the valley

At the gate of Xiangyang Control post

We soon enter a narrow valley and gain height as the car climbs along the gorge. We pass by a couple sections under repair work. After an hour or so of ride, our car climbs high enough to view peaks of the South Section One of  the Central Mountain range in a near distance. We arrive at Xiangyang a little before 7:00. It was an hour and half ride from Chishang. When we check in at Xiangyang control post (向陽工作站), we learn that we may well be stuck in the midway as Typhoon Maria is expected to approach Taiwan around July 11. After discussion we decide to change the plan and just go as far as Jiaminghu lake and return. We ask the shuttle car to stay until tomorrow for us to ride back to Taipei.

The trail at a junction: we go straight here, the right one leads to trail head too

Little Tiger, the dog at the observation deck

The altitude of Xiangyang is 2330 meters and we need to ascend something like 1100 meters to reach the Jiaminghu lodge today. We produce documents of entry permit to the control post as well as the police station. The thermometer on the wall of the police station shows 18 degree. It is very cool up here. We leave the gate at 7:45 and start our trip. We pass by a visitor center of the Recreation Area which seems to be in no use. I doubt few tourists except hikers like us visit this area to begin with. There are two trails leading up to the hiking trail and we take a left one. It is a wide dirt road and goes gradually up.

The view of the South Section Two from observation deck

Land slide and a detour on its top

Each member carries something like 15 ~ 17 kilograms of stuff on his/her back. Some of food has been removed as we will just stay two days on the mountain, but it still feels heavy. In a little more than twenty minutes of walk, we come to a pavilion and have a short rest. As we go up, the number on the kilopost increases by one hundred meters. At a observation platform by the trail we see peaks of the South Section One stand just across the deep valley. The Island-Cross highway traverses on the side of mountains. A dog named Little Tiger, which we later run into many times during our trip, rests on the platform. She is a slim mountain dog of Taiwan local breed. As we resume our walk, she comes along and stays with us for a while, then goes somewhere away.

Pine needle covered trail at 3K

The trail gains height by a couple times of zigzag. At the kilopost of 2.7K the wide trail ends and meets a narrow hiking trail. To my surprise the end of the wide trail has been flushed away and a narrow detour has been made on the top edge of the land slide. It was intact when I came here last year. After a short rest, we cross a bridge and step onto the hiking trail at 9:07. The trail goes through pine woods and is covered by needles of pine trees. We go up by steep steps and then the trail levels out on the side of hill.

Going up a steep grade with steps

We run into a couple of teams of hikers on their way down. This is indeed a popular route. We descend slightly to a stream and cross it. We finish a short and steep climb at 10:07 and reach Xiangyang lodge, which stands at 4.3K. It took us two hours and fifteen minutes from the trail head at the control post. We find the dog, Little Tiger, is lying flat on the wooden deck of the lodge bathing in the sun. She has outran us and is resting here already!

Xiangyang Lodge

Going through pine woods

Going up endless steps

We resume our hike at 10:17. The trail goes steeply up. Fog is gathering and fills woods. After fifty minutes of struggle we come to a wide open space under trees at 5.5K and have a rest. I remember that there was a camp of workers who repaired the trail above this point, but now there is no camp. Endless steps leads to the ridge above. As we go up, trees by the trail become thin and low and we come onto the ridge at 11:39. Fog prevents any view on the both sides of the ridge, which is now with no high trees and just covered by Yushan cane (玉山箭竹). It is good that there is no rain, though fog is thick. At 11:43 we come to the famous juniper tree (向陽名樹) and have a break. Juniper trees (圓柏) live in very harsh environments and grow very slowly. This tree may be more than hundred years old. Strong wind and cold weather created this shape, which looks like Bonsai. Our members g to the tree and take pictures with it.

Xiangyang Juniper Tree (向陽名樹)

Climb a steep grade on the wide ridge

At 12:09 we come to a sign shows a picture of Xiangyang Cliff (向陽斷崖) and indicates that we are standing on the top of the cliff, but fog is filled in the valley and we cannot appreciate it. Shortly after passing 6.5K, we have a long lunch break at 12:20. When we start for the last leg of the hike, a few rain drops are coming down and fog has thicken. It does not look good. We put on a rain jacket and pants. Luckily rain does not turn heavy. A steep grade lasts twenty minutes or so. The trail then goes around at the left side of a small hill.  We come to the junction to the summit of Mt. Xiangyangshan (向陽山) at 13:24. One member and myself has been to the summit, which seems to have no view under this thick fog, and decide go down to Jiaminghu lodge (嘉明湖山屋) while the rest of the team goes to the summit first.Two of us go down for another kilometer and reach the lodge at 13:55.

The junction to Mt. Xiangyang summit

Going down through rock section

The lodge belongs to Forestry Bureau and run by a company under contract. Unlike many mountain huts belonging to the National Parks, a lodge keeper is stationed here. We produce the document to him and he assigns bed positions. As popular as this route is, the demand for bed positions is pretty high. You have to go through drawing by the authority in advance. If you are lucky to be drawn, you pay NT$400 as a fee in advance. The system is as such and only Taiwanese nationals with ID can apply for it. Foreign hikers have to find a Taiwanese person to do it for them, which is pretty awkward and impractical.

Jiaminghu lodge

Inside the lodge

Each of us cooks supper outside in front of the lodge around 17:30. LED light, which is powered by solar cells on the roof, is turned on between 18:00 and 20:00. We will get up very early tomorrow morning. We go to bed after supper. Chattering of hikers dies down by 19:00 and snoring start coming from here and there. I remember hearing shower outside sometime in the midnight.











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Day Two July 9: Jiaminghu lodge - Mt. Sanchashan (三叉山) - Jiaminghu lake (嘉明湖) - Jiaminghu lodge - Xianghang Lodge - Trail head

Round trip the lake first and go down the mountain

Elevation profile of the second day

Cook breakfast by the lodge

I hear noises of chattering after 1:30 or so. We originally set it to 2:30 to get up, but due to the noise we also get up earlier. After having breakfast, we leave the lodge a 3:14, a little earlier than the original schedule of 3:30. Stars are visible in the clear sky. We will have a long day and we start very early. The thermometer by the front door shows 7 degree. We rely on head light but have no problem as the trail is in good shape. We pass by 9K at 3:33. We see lights in far distance on our right, which should be coming from the east coast towns. We make a steady progress and come to 10.5K (2.5K to the lake) at 4:10. We see a group of hiker down on the ridge in front with their head light on. There is light also on the side of Mt. Sanchashan, who must have left the lodge much earlier than us.

On the way to Mt. Sanchashan, a team is ahead of us

A crescent is up in the sky

We go down to the lowest part on the route and go up again. A crescent hangs above the shadow of Mt. Sanchashan. At 4:47 we reach a junction and we take a left path to Mt. Sanchashan first. The bottom of the night shows meager white light telling dawn is near. As we go up, a spectacular scenery of mountains starts showing up in twilight. Mt. Sanchashan is massive and very flat with no trees, and you can see clearly all around you. On our left Mt. Jade (玉山) stands in far end beyond Mt. Yunfeng (雲峰). We go up a last steep grade and get onto the flat top ridge. The triangulation marker is on the far end of the ridge and we walk over there against cold and strong wind. As we reach the summit with the marker at 5:10, the sun is just climbing over the horizon. It is so cold here that I bring out a jacket form the backpack and put it on.

Walking up on the vast open space of Mt. Sanchasan, then pointing peak of Mt. Xiangyang is behind

Seeing the sun is rising over the horizon at the flat summit

A northward view at dawn from Mt. Sanchashan

A southward view

Mt. Xingkangshan on right in the distance

On the summit a 360-degree view is just there. Peaks of the South Section Two stand one after another and lead to massive Mt. Xiuguluanshan. On your right in bright yellow light stands chunky Mt. Xinkangshan (新康山). If you look back, Mt. Xiangyangshan and the peaks of the South Section One queue towards south with their top in red morning light. I feel really pity that we cannot continue our trek over the South Section Two as the clear peaks are really inviting. Cold wind awakens us that it is the time to go down.

Heading down to the Lake

Four-way junction

We go down to a four-way junction down at the bottom of Mt. Sanchashan. This is where a trail leads to the peaks of the Section Two and a traversing trail on the side of Mt. Sanchashan meet. We take a straight one down to Jiaminghu lake. The lake reveals in the bottom of a depression surrounded by hills. It calmly leis down there, which I hardly made out in thick mist on my last visit. It looks totally different. Over the lake stands Mt. Bulakesangshan (布拉克桑山), one of the Taiwan 100 peaks. We wait for light shines on the lake until 6:04 and commence our way back to the lodge.

The lake is in the depression surrounded by hills and no way out

A massive body of Mt. Sanchashan, a traversing trail on its side is visible

Viewing Mt. Xiangyang and its north peak

We go back to the junction and take the traversing trail on our left. It goes along the massive side of Mt. Sanchashan. At 6:27 it joins the trail to Mt. Sanchashan summit which we took earlier. Mt. Xiangyangshan and its north peak stand in full day light and the trail over the rigde is clearly seen. The Jiaminghu lodge is also visible on the side of Mt. Xiangyang. We pass by the bottom of the trail at 6:47 and climb back 200 meters of the gap to the Mt. Xiangyang north peak. On the way up we run into Little Tiger the dog coming down with a hiker. We reach the top of the grade at 7:19 and four of us visit the summit of the North Peak, which takes only a few minutes. From the top we enjoy a wide northward view.

Passing the bottom and climbing back to the north peak

Little Tiger is coming down with a hiker

A panoramic northward view from Mt.Xiangyang north peak

We are almost back at the lodge

Leaving the lodge with a heavy pack

We continue our way back while we enjoy splendid view extending on both sides and reach the lodge at 8:14. The round trip took us 5 hours. After one hour rest, we start for the last leg of our trip with a heavy load. We struggle to go up to the junction to Mt. Xiangyang summit and reach there at 9:52, ascent of a little more than a half hour from the lodge. This is the last long ascent and it makes us happy.  Cloud is already rising from the valley and it obscures the summit of Mt. Xiangyang. If the sky were clear we would go up to the summit for nice view. But this cloud would not allow it and we give up the idea.

Back at the junction to Mt. Xiangyang summit

The right side of the ridge is still without cloud

Mt. Yusuishan (玉穗山)

We resume our way down after a rest. As we cross over the ridge, we are surprised to find that the other side of the mountain is still clear and Mt. Yunfeng and Mt. Yusuishan are visible over the deep valley. Mt. Yusuishan is a kind of obscurity to most of hikers but it is very significant in Taiwan's history. Under the Japanese regime, indigenous tribes resisted the regime and its control. A tribe after tribe gave in particularly after rigorous controls with fire power under the fifth governor Sakuma Samata during his 1906 - 1915 tenure was placed. However one village, Tamaho (玉穗社) of Bunun tribe under the leadership of Lahu Ali moved from Dafun (大分) to the foot of this mountain and kept its own independence. The village was very remote in the valley and it was not easy for the police troops to reach there. After Guanshan over-pass patrol trail (關山越嶺警備道) was built, which made access to the area easy, he surrendered in 1933 ending 18 years of resistance.

Going down on the wide ridge with fog gathering

Porters carrying up food and other stuff

At 10:11 we start a steep descent leaving the all mountain scenery behind. Fog raises over the very wide ridge and prevent us from seeing distant mountains. We pass by the Juniper tree and leave the ridge to the steep descent with countless steps. We run into three porters who carry foods and other stuff to the lodge. They work for a company which offers food and sleeping bags at the lodges, also conduct trips to the lake. This route is very popular and many new hikers are coming, so there is such demand.

The visitor center is just below, we are back

We get down to Xiangyang lodge at 11:27 and have a long rest. While we are resting two young men come down with Little Tiger on leash. She looks very obedient. After a half hour rest we complete our last section of way down and reach the gate at 13:20. We get on the shuttle car, which was waiting for us and leave the gate at 13:50 for a long 8 hours ride home. The total cost for this trip including the shuttle car service, insurance, the lodge and the inn at Chishang was NT$3800 per person.

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Writer on a rock with Mt. Yunfeng and Mt. Jade behind

We are helpless before the mighty power of nature. Typhoon Maria indeed came and passed by Taiwan with a small margin. It left some damage to northern Taiwan though the influence was rather limited. Southern Taiwan was not hit hard and I suppose that damage to the South Section Two was minor if any. If we had stayed one or two days at a hut letting the typhoon pass by, we might have completed our original plan. But safety should come first. Mountains are still there for us to trek if we are healthy. I am already considering when and how to hike the route again.