2021年9月26日 東洗水山 - 洗水山縱走 Dong-Xi traversing (Mt. Dongxishui-shan to Mt. Xishuishan) A long trek with countless small peaks to go over

東洗水山山頂 The summit of Mt. Dongxishui-shan

8月に上島山から洗水山(標高1610m)への縦走を計画し現地で実行をしたが、途中三叉峰(1814峰)までで往路を引き返した。その際には、いずれ予定していた三叉峰から洗水山を経由して下る残りの部分を歩こうと決めた。それを今回は、上島山からではなく、東洗水山(標高2248m)から歩き始めた。

洗水山(左)から伸びる下山の尾根 (2021/8) Mt. Xishui-shan and the ridge we walked down

標高からすれば、高所から低所への歩きだが、途中には多くの越えなければならいピークがあり、一筋縄ではない。名前だけを見れば、一方には東の名を冠し洗水山の東にある山となる。確かに位置は東だが、両者はかなり離れている。前日の馬克縱走は予定より時間がかかり、尚且つ迎えの車が別の登山口で待っていた、など民宿での滞在時間が短く睡眠時間も多く取れなかった。そのことも関係し、本縦走は13時間を費やし、体力的にかなり大変だった。

----------------------------------

On the second day of our two-day expedition to Miaoli (苗栗) mid-height mountains we made a trek from Mt. Dongxishui-shan (東洗水山, elevation 2248 meters) to Mt, Xishui-shan (洗水山, elev. 1610m). The primary objective of this expedition was this long trek, but Mark traversing of day before turned out to be hard.

Trek from south to north, from a high point to a low point

Located in the Xuejian recreation area (雪見區) of Xueba national park (雪霸國家公園), Mt. Dongxieshui-shan is a popular destination of hiking. It stands by the well-maintained former Simaxian forestry road (司馬限林道) and its trail diverges from the forestry road. The trail is very steep but short, just less than one kilometers form the trail head. Mt. Xishui-shan, on the other hand, is a much less visited peak. It is far from any of its trail heads. We have been both of them individually on different occasions in the past.

Locations of the two-day expedition

The two peaks, with a single difference of word "Dong (east)" in their names, are actually very different and far apart each other. In August this year we tried to trek from Mt. Shangdao-shan (上島山 or 鳥嘴山) to Mt. Xishui-shan via Mt. Sancha-feng (三叉峰 ro 1814峰).  We did not make it due to some problems, so this trek is to make up the remaining section of that trek. The originally planed trek in August is by no means easy and this one turned out be very hard too. Our itinerary of this trek is to first walk along the Simaxian forestry road to the Mt. Dongxishui-shan, to clime the peak. We start our long trek on the ridge to Mt. Xishui-shan via Mt. Sancha-feng. From Mt. Xishuji-shan, we take north to go along the Dongguashan trail (冬瓜山步道) down to its foot.

---------------------------------------------

In front of the Xuejian visitor center

We stayed at an inn of Meiyuan-cun (梅園村) last night. The arrival to the inn was pretty late and we had to get up at 4:00 this morning, so we had only five or so hours of sleep. We took off by our transportation car at 5:00 and came up to the gate of Xuejian area at 5:50. The visitor center by the gate is of course not open yet at this early hour. The panel of the visitor center shows that the temperature is16 degrees. I do not feel so cool, though.

Morning sun shines through woods

Well maintained forest road

Three members of our group decides not to take part in our today's activity and to stroll in the recreation area instead. The rest seven of us set off on the forestry road at 6:10. Our first leg is to walk 3.8 kilometers of a good forestry road to the trail head of Mt. Dongxishui-shan. Golden light of the morning sun seeps into the woods and projects bright stripes on the road. We soon get through a gate to block cars to go further. In about twenty minuets a dramatic view of Xueshan mountain range (雪山山脈) appears against the cloudless sky. On our visit last year everything is in dense mist. This is what I longed for. The peaks on the ridge are Mt. Zhongxue-shan (中雪山)  and Mt. Daxue-shan (大雪山), which we travelled a couples years ago. 

West Xueshan range across a deep valley

Mt. Dabajian-shan and Mt. Xiaobajian-shan (left)

Trees on our right block the view for some time and the mountain range shows a different section of it again. Now we can identify Mt. Dabajian-shan (大霸尖山) and Mt. Xiaobajian-shan (小霸尖山). The forestry road is ascending so gently that we can go pretty fast. We cover 3.8 kilometers for less than one hour and arrive at the trail head at 6:55. We have a break at the resting bench and table.

Trail head of Mt. Dongxishui-shan at 3.8K on the forestry road

Climbing a steep stepway

We begin our ascent at 7:19. The trail is pretty good and markers show the distance at every one hundred meters. It leads to a bridge and an unbroken steep grade begins. The whole area is covered with large cedar trees, telling us that this used to be a logging field. At 7:37 we get out of the cedar forest and into broad leaf trees. The stepped trail is still steep. As we go up, a distant view the Xueshan range can be seen at some points. Passing a small peak, following a rather flat ridge we reach the summit with the marker of 0.83km at 7:53. The summit is in a flood of morning sun and presents a wonderful view, which makes us all happy. The long Holly ridge (聖稜線) and the adjacent West ridge (雪山西稜) lie over there in bluish haze. 

Xueshan mountain range seen from the summit of Mt. Dongxishui-shan

At the summit of Mt. Dongxishui-shan

Going down on a fall-leave covered slope

At 8:17 we set for our long trek on the ridge to Mt. Sanchafeng and further to Mt. Xishui-shan. The trail starts by a wooden fence which prevents casual hikers to drift into. The broad and steep slope is covered with thick fallen leaves and the track is no clear. Direction markers are few so you need to be careful to look for the direction. As we go down for 10 minutes, the ridge shows its clear shape. The descent continues for another 20 minutes or so and the trail starts uphill. Passing a round top with rhododendron woods, the ridge goes down again. The trees are of mix of various broad leaf trees and sometime pine trees. A 8:25 we have a break (elve. 1980m).

Crossing over fallen-down trunks

A section of the ridge covered with pine neddles

Keep on the ridge trail

The descent still continues. The track on fallen leaves are not so clear in bright light. To our surprise  a group of five trail runners come up. They say that the have come from Mt. Shangdao-shan and head for Mt. Dongxishui-shan. At 9:55 Slits between trees on our right reveals a distant view across the valley. A triangle peak must be Mt. Jiali-shan (加里山). Around 10:07 we hit the bottom and start a long climb. In another ten minutes we see a discarded blue sheet. This may have been a campsite for hunters.  Going over a top we get into a rhododendron forest. At 10:35 we have another rest.

Mt. Jiali-shan is visible through trees

Going down to the lowest point in a primordial forest

Mt. Sancha-feng is visible beyond bushes

As we go on a flat ridge Mt. Shancha-feng comes in our sight through trees. It is still far. We have to go down and up again to reach it. The last stretch is pretty steep. We get onto a flat and short stretch and go to a point that a marker of the mountain name is placed at 11:09. A familiar sight comes into my sight. We have come again this point (elev. 1814m). It was foggy then and now in bright light. We are happy to see this, but there is still a long way to go. We go down a little and find that something is wrong about the direction. It turns out that we have missed a turn. It is easy to get onto this wrong sub-ridge. We pass by a hallow tree trunk, which is the correct direction. We come across a large stump of cypress covered with green moss. This area must have been a logging area, but no new trees were planted and they left the nature to take care. We come to a flat place with some trashes like empty pet bottles. We have a lunch break at 11:42.

At Sancha-feng

A big cypress stump remains

By now we have completed about a half of the total length of the trek and spent about 6 hours. At 12:15 we resume our way and in a few minutes see a camp complete with a tent and other staff. There is nobody around. This may be another hunters' camp or illegal loggers' (or mountain mice, so called in Taiwan 山老鼠) because there are cypress stumps around. The ridge gets wider then narrow. It is harder to get the right direction on a broader ridge. We pass over a hump and find blue sheets are tangled together and in a few more minutes another blue striped sheet being hung to make a tent. A rather long uphill starts at 13:09, which lasts for about a quarter hour. The forests is getting filled with mist. We have a rest at 13:25 on the top of a hump.

Going on a broad ridge

An untidy camp

Another camp site

More undergrowth in forests

We see more undergrowth as we go down. There has been little undergrowth but fallen leaves so far. Around 14:40 the trail comes into a area where large rocks are scattered around. This should be a kind of rock fall, which is more common on higher mountains. As we progress we hear voices from our rear side. Soon the group of trail runners whom we met in this morning is coming along. They are amazingly fast even though their backpacks are very light. The section of  scattered big rocks last for some time and our trail starts uphill. At 14:35 we have a rest just before a small uphill.

"Rock fall" section, a group of trail runners has just passed us

Going on the final stretch before junction

We pass over a few more humps and finally get to a junction at 15:34. The direction sign at the junction says 6 hours to Mt. Dongxishui-shan. We needed 7 hours (!) even tough we are coming down from it. We take right and go up a short steep ascent. It feels very hard. We arrive at the summit (elev. 1610m) at 15:40. Yesterday's long trek and  a short sleep last night may have taken a toll on us. We still have a long way to go, which is rather depressing.

Finally reaching the junction

The flat and wide summit of Mt. Xishui-shan

Advancing a trail of cedar trees

We leave the summit at 16:00. The trail soon gets steep downwards in a cedar forest. It hit a bottom in 25 minutes and goes up again. On our way up another blue sheet is spread out to make a shelter. We go up another uphill and come to a junction at 16:44. On our last visit to Mt. Xishui-shan we came up here from the left trail. We take a right trail to go down along a steep trail. After it gets flat, it passes a short section of scattered rocks. It then make another steep dip. On our last ascent over a small hill golden sunlight shines in the forest, just like yesterday. We make a rest at 17:25 (elev. 1250m) and take out a head light to prepare for darkness to come soon.

Descending a big-rock section

Going down with a head light on

We still have to descent 600 meters in height. As we start on a very steep section, darkness comes around. When the trail turns its direction to right and traverses on the hillside, we switch on light. Some points of the trail are very narrow and its edge is crumbling. It is good that ropes are fixed for such points. The traversing section ends at 18:05 and we have a final rest. The trail turns in better shape from this point on. As we descent further, wood steps show up. Two members who did not join us for the trek come up to meet us, for which we feel very grateful. We keep on descent on the stepped trail and reach Nantianwo (南天窩, elev. 650m) at 19:00 where our car is waiting. We have completed a long trek at last!!

Our car has been waiting for us

Water melon and beverages prepared by our driver are very welcome. We change clothes and head home at 19:26. On our way home we stop by a convenient store for some food and drinks.  We come back to Taipei by 22:00.

---------------------------------------

A hollowed-out trunk by our trail

This trek was indeed tiring. It took 13 hours. Hard trekking in two consecutive days really takes a toll on our stamina. However strenuous the trek was, I am happy to have completed the remaining section of the original route of last month. The distance was 18.5 kilometers, the total ascent 870m, descent 2030m and the route physical index 39.