2021年4月30日 雙溪口山 - 深按頭山 - 十三分山 - 白匏湖 Hiking in a backyard of Taipei

A bench overlooking Xizhi town

台北は山に囲まれている。登山者にとってはとても良い場所だ。簡単にアクセスできる場所が多い。その中でも、今回の対象地はとても近い場所だ。台北市南港區とすぐお隣の新北市汐止區にまたがるこの山域は、近すぎてあまり注目を受けない。さらに近い南港山は、台北市の親山步道として整備されているので、多くのハイカーが訪れる。今回の場所は、そうした施設はなく、ボランティア登山者が手入れをしている。さらに半時間ほど行けば平溪や石碇の山々がある。それに比べると、見劣りする感がある。最近、藍天隊の草刈り整理があった雙溪口山から登り、以前草深い中を歩いた深按頭山を越え、十三份山から白匏湖に降りた。以前歩いた場所もあるが、天気の良いハイキングは新しい発見もあった。まさに、台北の裏庭を歩くという感覚だ。

I like hiking. I do hiking in all kinds of mountains and hills. I go for trekking to 3000-meter high peaks for several days as well as go for hiking to low mountains and hills near Taipei for a day.  Expeditions to high mountains draw more attention but for me it is equally fun to go for hiking in those nearby mountains. Nangang-shan mountain range (南港山連峰) is one of the most popular areas for hiking near Taipei. It has a nice trail system called Qinshan budao (親山步道) going over the whole range and many trail heads to access to it. The Taipei municipal government spends money on it to maintain. Some of the trails get very crowded in recent years as hiking gets more popular in Taiwan. 

Hiking from south to north crossing over mountains in between

One mountain range just behind Nangang-shan is still very close to the metropolitan Taipei, but visitors to it are remarkably few. It has no such nice trails of the Qinshan trail system of Taipei city. The elevation of its peaks is far from attractive. You may just pass by it when you go to mountains further beyond it like mountains in Pingxi (平溪) where well-known peaks stand. I myself have neglected it for a longtime. When I found that trails to Mt. Shuangxikou-shan (雙溪口山) and its adjacent peaks were very recently cleared by Lantian-dui (藍天隊) team, I immediately decided to visit them out of curiosity. It turned out that trails are very attractive including a lot of ups and downs with ropes and a nice view from Mt. Meizha-shan (煤渣山). A hike only to these peaks would be very short so my plan for the day included Mt. Shenantou-shan (深按頭山) which I once visited several years ago and down to Nangang (南港) / Xizhi (汐止) by way of Mt,. Shisanfen-shan (十三份山) and Baipao-hu lake (白匏湖) . The itinerary made up a whole-day hike.

At the summit of Mt. Shishanfen-shan

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Zhangtanbi bus stop

The bus route #749 and #666 pass our destination Changtanbi (長潭壁) bus stop. Our meeting location is MRT Muzha bus stop and several friends were already in line at the bus stop when I arrived there by 7:25. A very vacant #795 is coming soon and all of us except myself take the bus. I wait for any other member to show up until 7:30 which is the time of our meet-up. A #666 bus comes at 7:30, which I subsequently get aboard. When I arrive at Changtanbi at 8:00, all members are there waiting for me. The bus stop is just by the bridge connecting Wenshan road (文山路) and the Shiding junction (石碇交流道) of Hightway #5 is just nearby. I passed this bus stop so many times in the past on my way to mountains further on the road but never alighted here.

Trail head is just near the #5 highway

Going up a steep ridge line

Today is the first day of three-day labor-day holiday and the weather is so nice. It has turned out that 21 friends show up for the hike. We start at 8:15 by the #106 road, which is just below a large grave of a family. The trail passes by it and goes up a steep incline. This section of the trail is a part of maintenance path of electricity transmission lines (保線路). Two-day rain has made the soil very wet and slippery,  Fallen leaves of bamboo make the surface worse still. We come under the transmission tower at 8:28 and the trail take right turn to go up further. It passes by the marker stone of Mt. Longsheng-shan (隆盛山),  and leads on a rather narrow ridge line to the summit of Mt. Shuangxikou-shan. We get on to the small summit (elevation 208 meters) clean of weeds at 8:43.

Arriving at Shuangxikou-shan summit

Going down to a gap

A rail track going up

We go further on the ridge line for a few minutes and gets down a steep dip. A rail track is coming up from our left. This was used to carry coal refuse to dump. There was a coal mine down in the valley, which of course was abandoned a long time ago just like other mines in Taiwan. The rails are pretty heavy-looking ones unlike flimsy rails used for other mines. We follow the rail track and get up to the summit of Meizha-shan (煤渣山 Coal refuse mound, elev. 223m). The south side of the summit is open enabling a wide view. In front stands Mt. Waishikan-shan (外石崁山) and Mt. Huangdidian-shan (皇帝殿山) behind. In the valley right the highway runs straight, on which cars are bumper to bumper queueing as far as we an see and beyond. They are holiday makers to Yilan and I suppose that they will have to endure this traffic jam first.

The summit of Mt. Meizha-shan

The east bound traffic is heavy

Metal plate eaten by its host tree

A steep way down

Freshly cut grasses are very slippery when we go down from Mt. Meizha-shan. This section was just cut clean a couple days ago. The grasses are all still green.  We follow steep ups and down in woods and come to a junction at 9:19 where we have a rest. The right trail leads to Mt. Shuanxikou-shan east peak (雙溪口山東峰). We just make a round trip to the summit (elev. 280m). An old metal sign plate attached to a tree trunk is now swallowed up by the tree and only its upper half shows. The tree has since grown bigger. We return to the junction and continue our way. The trail soon descends very steeply. Without newly fixed ropes, you would easily fall down on slippery slopes. We finally come down to a gradual slope where a large grave sits and soon down on to Bei 32 county road (北32鄉道) at 10:06.

Head of Xinxingkeng Baojia trail

Going on Baojia trail

We take a right turn and go up along the paved road until a small gap between the wall on or right. This is a head of Xinxingkeng Baojia trail (新興坑保甲路). It steeply ascends to another paved road above. So called Baojia trail is a kind of old trail. Baojia was an administrative institution of Chinese villages in the past until early last century. A household is a base unit of the system. 10 households constitute a Bao (保) and 10 bao,  a Jia (甲)  to maintain its population registry and security. This traditional system of China principally continued under the Japanese regime to administrate villages of Taiwan. Each Baojia system had its police responsibility and they patrolled their neighborhood on trails around them. That is why these trails are called Baojia trails.

Up to another section of Baojia trail

Resting at a junction of Baojia trail

Nice trail

We go up on the paved road for a short while and come to another section of the Baojia trail on our left. It now goes gently up passing by graves and into broad-leaf woods. At a junction we take a break for a few minutes and at 10:36 take right trail further up. The sun is bright and gentle breeze sweeps through, The trail is wide and the incline is generous. This is just the best combination hikers can ever expect!  We pass sections where white flowers of tung oil trees (油桐樹) and tiny yellow flowers of Taiwan acacias (相思樹） spread over, which adds joy of hiking. The nice trail however does not last so long. It comes to an end at 10:56 when it meets a trail from left. The trail pass by a large grave and gets steep. We reach the summit of Mt. Shenpantou-shan (elev. 422m) at 11:07 which a dense bush of thin bamboos surrounds and prevents any view.

Tung oil tree flowers cover the surface

At the bamboo-surrounded summit of Mt. Shenantou-shan

A view of Taipei in distance

A shelter for rest

The same shelter 5 years ago

The descent from the summit continues for about 10 minutes. On our way down we have a view of Taipei beyond Mt. Nangang-shan (南港山) with the top half of the 101 building sticking over the ridge. We come to a shelter on the trail going around Nangang Tea Production demonstration center(南港茶葉製造示範場) and have a rest. A section of the wood railing has been removed for easy passage to get in and out which we had to climb over when we hiked several years ago. The trail that we have just come down was covered with grasses then, which now it is very clean. There is indeed a good improvement of hiking environment lately. 

Elevated wooden trail

Shenantou-shan north peak 

We go down on the elevated trail made of planks to the end and go to a parking space across the road. A short path to Mt. Shenantou-shan nourth peak (深按頭山北峰) opens its mouth at the furthest corner of the space. In a matter of a few minutes we see a marker stone of the peak and return to the parking space. We keep on the paved road of Bei 33 county road (北33鄉道) and pass by Luku incident memorial park (鹿窟事件紀念公園).  The incident took place in 1952, which involved nearly 900 residents of the place. The police force of the time came in the area to arrest some allegedly communism activists, which resulted in 98 convictions of very harsh penalty including 28 death sentences. It is now officially regarded as a white terror and the government (the Control Yuan) issued a report in 2017. The government made a sizable amount of compensation to the victims of the injustice. We go up to Guangming Zen Temple (光明禪寺) , which happened to be used for interrogation at that time. There is a shelter for Buddhist statutes across the road. We have a lunch break under the roof of it.

Luku incident memorial park

Guangming Zen temple

Lunch break under the roof of shelter

Heading through bamboos for the summit 

After 40 minutes of the lunch break we continue on the paved road to get to the head of trail to Mt. Shisanfen-shan (十三份山) at 12:40. The trail looks good. Some sections are not as good as the recently cleared trails of Mt. Shuangxikou-shan this morning, but it is clear enough to easily follow. Except a dip with a steep incline on both sides at midway, the trail follows the ridge line to the summit of Mt. Shisanfen-shan. We see a flat summit (elev, 438m) at 13:20 which is encircled by small trees. The trail descends to a place where only low bushes grow. You can have a view over Xizhi town laying between Mt. Dajian-shan (大尖山) and Mt. Wuzhi-shan (五指山). Going further down you can then have a view of Nangang area of Taipei. The summit yields no view, but this is good enough to compensate it.

The summit of Mt. Shisanfen-shan

View of Xizhi town

View of Taipei

Reaching Baiyun temple

Passing a junction at 13:41 we follow the right trail to Baiyun-si temple which we reach in a few minutes. We have a break under a big banyan tree in front of the temple complex. After 10 minutes or so of rest we follow a paved road from temple to the head of trail to Baipaohu lake below. We enter the trail by a bench and go down a rather steep trail to come out onto another paved road (Bei 33 county road) at 14:31. We take left and follow a mildly ascending road for 10 minutes to another trail head. This trail goes over a small ridge line to Mt. Baipaohu-shan (白匏湖山). 

Going Bei 33 road for a while

Crossing a small stream

The trail goes down for 10 minutes, crosses a small stream and goes up to an electricity transmission tower. Passing a high point where the tower stands, the trail goes down again. Nice gentle wind blows through over the ridge. We have a rest on a nicely cleared surface of the trail at 15:07. There are several trails going around this area and they have all recently been cleared by Lantian team (藍天隊) of volunteer hikers.

Junction for Mt. Baipaohu-shan

Baipaohu lake

Going along the lake shore

Going grassy path

The trail leads to a junction in a matter of a few minutes from the place we had rest. The right trail goes to Mt. Baipaohu-shan. We take a left one and go down. Crossing a small stream we see another junction. The right trail goes along the stream down to Xizhi. We take a left path and climb a steep slope and down again. The second climb leads us to Baipaohu lake (elev, 67m) at 15:30. The lake is large. We go along its shore and come to a junction at 15:42. We take a right trail and go down along it. The wide trail gets narrow in a few minutes and turns to be a small grass-covered path. We further follows it as the map shows it should leads to Xintaiwu road (新台五路). We come to a paved but empty road at 15:57. Our expectation to reach the busy road soon turns to be a disappointment. At the end of the paved road stands a closed tall gate and fences with barbed wire do not allow us to get out. We see a busy traffic on the Xintaiwu road but we have but to return to Baipaohu lake.

Going back to the same junction by the lake

Finally arriving at MRT station

We make a way back to the lake and go further around the lake to a paved road. We take on the paved road down. Passing under the highway #3 we finally reach MRT Nangang Exhibition Center station (南港展覽館站)  at 17:20 to complete our hike. We have hiked 16.1 kilometers with a total ascent 915 meters and descent 955 meters. The whole hike took a little more than 9 hours including rests. The route physical index is 31. If Nangang-shan and Yangming-shan (陽明山) are front gardens of Taipei, the mountains and hills of this hike could be called a backyard of Taipei.

2021年4月20日 石碇翡翠水庫わきの古道歩き Hiking along old trails around Feicui Reservoir in Shiding

翡翠水庫鱷魚島 Alligator island of Feicui resevoir

翡翠水庫は、淡水河の支流北勢溪の水を集め供給する台北地区の主要なダムである。1987年に完成したダムは、その湖底に昔の集落を沈める。小学校もあった集落は、そこそこの規模があり、それら村と周辺を結ぶ道もあった。そうした道は今は集落と一緒に湖底に眠る。ただ、水位が及ばない山の中腹には、当時の古道が残っている。最近この古道がまたボランティアによりきれいにされた。この山域は以前に歩いている。つい最近も訪れている。今回は翡翠水庫を俯瞰できる鱷魚島觀景台を訪れ、その後古道をつないで北宜公路へと下った。今回は英語で記述します。

Feicui-shuiku reservoir (翡翠水庫) is a major water source of the larger Taipei. The construction of the dam was completed as late as in 1987 and the dam has served for thirty some years by now. We take it granted that the dam exists there. There once were villages along Beishixi river (北勢溪) which are now under water. The original residents of course moved out. And there were trails and paths on which the local residents as well as visitors travelled. They are also now under water, though some sections of them above the water level still exist. The remaining sections of the trails however were left unused for a long time.

Hike from east to west

The red rectangle shows the area where the volunteers has worked on

Those old trails have recently been cleared by volunteer hikers of the Allied Hiker Teams (聯合艦隊).  The trails that they worked on are Leigongpi old trail (雷公埤古道), Cheshuanliao old trail (車閂寮古道), Zhukeng old trail (竹坑古道), Shifenzi old trail (十分子古道) and Fanshuliao old trail (蕃薯寮古道), all of which connected points on Beiyi highway (北宜公路) and villages on mountains and in the valley of Beishixi river. As a matter of fact, at the time of original use, there was no such naming to the trails. The names have been given by hikers to easily identify each trail, usually applying the name of the location where the trail passes. After the clearing each trail is in good condition with weeds widely cut out and a lot of aiding ropes fixed. 

All members of the hike

We made a trip to some of the trails early in this month and this is the second time to visit the area this year. We walked from Xiaogetou (小格頭) on the Beiyi highway to Eyudao (鱷魚島) viewing point via Mt. Xiaogetou Xitou-shan (小格頭獅頭山). After enjoying a wonderful view of the Eyudao, we went down to Zhukeng, then took Zhukeng old trail up to Mt. Leigongpi-shan (雷公埤山), further walked Cheshuanliao old trail and Shifenzi old trail to Shifenzi bus stop on the Beiyi highway.

Alight at Xiaogetou

We gather at MRT Xindian station (捷運新店站) and take a green 12 bus (綠12) which leaves at 8:15.  Unlike the earlier bus leaving at 7:15 which we took a a few weeks ago, there is no school children aboard on this bus, though today is a weekday also. A half hour ride brings us to Xiaogetou (小格頭) bus stop. We have 16 members today. It is a very beautiful day today. The sun ray is rather strong, but the air is clean and we feel a nice breeze too, which will surely make our hike enjoyable. Xiaogetou is located on the top of the hill and has an elevation of 470m. 

The trail head to Mt. Xiaogetou Shitou-shan at the end

Trail going through a small tea field, Mt. Leigongpi-shan on right

Xiagetou Shitou-shan summit

At 8:52 we set off and go down Zhukeng Chandao (竹坑產道) road, which starts by the Xiaogetou police station. A sign showing the direction of Eyudao is pasted on to a metal box besides the road. I remember no such sign when I came here 5 years ago. The Eyudao has since became a well-known tourist spot. At 9:00 we come to the trail head of Mt. Xiaogetou Shitou-shan (小格頭獅頭山). The trail first goes through a tea field where you can have a look of Mt. Leigonpi-shan (雷公埤山) on your right and Mt. Zhongling-shan (中嶺山) beyond. We soon enter a forest and pass small ups and downs to the summit (elevation 477 meters), which we reach at 9:12.  

Coming out to an open space

Going down stepped trail

The tree-surrounded small summit avails no view at all and we keep on going. The trail soon descends to an open field. At 9:26 a spectacular view spreads out in front of us. Eyudao, meaning an alligator island, is actually a peninsula stretching out into the water and its shape looks like an alligator from this location. Emerald green water under the blue sky, and all peaks big and small covered with dark green vegetation, it is indeed worth the second visit. When I came here last time, fog covered a half of the scenery. Today everything is crystal clear and you can identify those peaks in a far distance!

 

Wide panorama of the reervoir and mountains behind

Looking up Mt. Leigongpi-shan

Trail end

The path has wooden steps all the way down, which should have been made not so long ago. We com down to the end of the dirt trail at 9:57 where a house stands with an address of Beiyi Street Section 5, Zhukeng Lane No. 28-2 (北宜路5段竹坑巷23號之2, elev. 191m) . This is where the paved Zhukeng Chandao ends. We continue on the paved road, which goes up and levels out in front of two houses.  We stop at Fudegong (竹坑福德宮) temple for rest at 10:06.

Mt. Jiugu-shan (九股山) across water

Going up Zhukeng Chandao road

Broken wooden bridge and approach

We resume our ascent on Zhukeng Chandao road to the head of Zhukeng old trail (elev. 285m) where we come to at 10:30. The old trail dips down to a small stream. There is a precarious wooden bridge over it. We do not dear to cross it so follow the path besides the bridge and go up to the trail. To our surprise, the trail is built on a stone piled platform, which should have costed sizable time and money. The whole construction of bridge and approaching pathway suggests that this trail should have been an important passage for the local people in the past. The trail ascends gradually and then zigzag to a hiker point.

Thick fallen trunk cut out by volunteers

Going up zigzag

Meet local farmers

At 10:55 we come to a junction (elev. 356m). The left one goes further on the slope of Mt. Leigongpi-shan and the other is lead to a paved road above and then a path to the summit. We take the right one and go up. An elderly farmer and his wife are working at bamboo field. Just like anywhere else, only senior people live in such a place. Walking on the paved road for a couple of minutes, we come to the head of path to the summit. This path is in fact a work path (保線路) to maintain high-voltage electricity transmission towers on the mountain slope. The path is pretty steep and a lot of ropes are fixed. We come to a tower at 11:21.

Going up the steep incline

Mt. Huangdidian-shan

Going the ridge path to the summit

The path is yet steep and finally levels out around 11:30. The right side has been cleared and yields an open view. Mt. Hoangdidian-shan (皇帝殿山) reveals its saw-blade profile of peaks and peaks of Pingxi behind it. A junction shows up at 11:38 and we take right to follow the ridge line. After passing small humps we arrive at the summit of Mt. Leigongpi-shan (elev. 548m) at 11:47. We have a lunch rest. The flat summit under trees gives a nice space with an occasional breeze for a long break of almost 50 minutes.

Lunch at the summit

Passing abandoned terrace fields

We take the same path back to the junction and take another path down. Some sections are rather steep and comes to a junction with Leigongpi old trail at 13:10. We follow the trail further down along a water stream running on our right, and soon pass a small shrine in a stone cave. Inside the small shrine stands a table on which a incense vase and two candle stands are placed.  It shows that someone still comes here and pray. This kind of shrines, stone steps and remains of stone houses or terrace fields are important objects that remind us of the old days when the trails were frequently travelled.

Shrine by Leigongpi old trail

The junction of the three trails

Going on a flact section

We go further down on the trail and meet two other trails, one from left Zhukeng old trail and one from right across the stream Cheshuanliao old trail. At the both sides of the stream are wide and flat platforms which are built on stone-piled walls. This place must have been an important junction in the past and probably some houses or huts. At 13:27 we cross the stream and take a steep trail of Cheshuanliao. The steep ascent lasts about 15 minutes and a gradual incline follows to an electric transmission tower. The trail follows a ridge line for a while and then goes on the south side of it. It is wide and rather flat until it comes to a side of small stream at 14:13. Stone steps leads to the top. Passing the highest point the trail goes gradually down along a wide green valley. It meets another trail from right. We follow the trail to left and come out to a house with an address of Xiufeng road No. 105 (秀峰路105號) at 14:25 and have a break.

The final section of Cheshuanliao trail

A view from the house 

The junction with an old sign post

At a junction we take a right one and go up to the ridge. The trail on the ridge line further goes up to a junction to meet a trail from the opposite side where an old sign post still stands. The trail left goes up to the summit of Mt. Zhongling-shan. This is the highest point of our hike today. We go straight and start descent. Some sections are rather steep and a lot of ropes are fixed. We get to the bottom at 15:23 which is a four-way junction. If you go straight you will get to Mt. Jixinjian (雞心尖). We take right one Shifenzi old trail down. 

Going down a steep section

Four-way junction, take right to Shifenzi trail

Going down by bamboo fields

Going down paved road to the end

The trail goes through farming fields for bamboo shoots and gets down onto a freshly paved road. We take left and go down on the paved road, which ends at a house. An aged residents is just out and sprinkling water to his vegetables. Exchanging greetings with him, we get into the bottom section of the old trail by the house. The trail goes up a little along a bare slope with little vegetation where you can see the valley below and the hill over it. It then starts descent, passing a tiny stream and then into woods. We cross Qingtan-xi (青潭溪) stream at the bottom and climb back to the Beiyi highway. We reach Shifenzi bus stop at 16:32. Waiting for about 10 minutes our green 12 line bus has come.

A view from Shifenzi trail

Shifenzi trail head and bus stop 

We walked 10.8 kilometers with a total ascent 852 meters descent 1031 meters, which took us 7 hours and 40 minutes. The route physical index is 26. The last trail, Shifenzi trail is in fact still in use by local people. We met a local man walking the trail and farmers use this trail for their work so it is not in strict sense an old trail.