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| 登山道の黄色のカーペット Yellow carpet on a trail |
天上山は、新北市の中和區から土城區に至る辺地の南に伸びる山脈である。最高峰が標高430の天上山だ。人口密集地に近く、山もそれほど高くない。つまりは都市に近い自然がある場所であり、また市民の憩いの場所でもある。アクセスも簡単である。筆者は、かなり前にほとんどルートを歩いている。その後数年ずっと訪れることがなかった。
今回、ちょうど油桐花の時期なので久しぶりに訪れることにした。全く同じルートでは、面白くないので、少し変化をつけたり下りにとった道を登るなどして歩いた。期待していた油桐花は、時期を過ぎていたようで遠目にみても山肌の白い花は少なかった。また道に散った白い花も、あまり見かけなった。目立ったのは、小さな相思樹の黄色の小さな花や、その他地元民が植えた鑑賞用の花であった。それはそれで、春が過ぎ夏の到来を予告している。天気は曇りで、気温もあまり高くなく楽であった。
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| Map of our hike |
Tianshang-shan (天上山) means a mountain of above sky. It is of course up to each person to judge whether this name fits a peak of just 430 meters in elevation. That being said, the peak is the highest point of a mountain range that runs about 20 kilometers south of the densely populated area of New Taipei City, including districts of Zhonghe (中和), Banqiao (板橋) and Tucheng (土城). The mountain range is very close to residential zones, so residents can easily access all parts of the range. It is in a sense a back yard of the nearby residents. Even a whole community has been developed on a nearly the top of the mountain range like Lvyexiangpo (綠野香坡) just next to Mt. Wenbi-shan (文筆山).
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| Fallen tung flowers |
Not high the mountains are, they offer good vistas of the whole Taipei metropolitan and beyond because nothing stands between the mountain range and the flat land below. Every spring brings numerous flowers to this mountain range. One species worth mentioning is Tung flower (Vernicia, 油桐花), of which white flowers come in full bloom in late April through May and covers a large part of mountain green. The fallen flowers cover trails as if white snow covers, so they are called May snow. The Tianshang-shan mountain range holds countless tung flower trees and let us enjoy their white flowers in spring. I visited the place for that purpose more than a couples times in the past.
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| All members in front of the large stone sing of Tainshang-shan trail |
The season of tung flowers this year seemed to have come earlier to Tianshang-shan. By the time we visited on this occasion more than a half of all trees had already lost their flowers and we did not see as much as the past. Instead we saw more of little yellow flowers of acacia trees. This species of acacia trees originates in southern Taiwan and was transplanted throughout theTaiwan rural areas during the Japanese era. The timber of the acacia is good for agricultural tools and furniture, and was used as material for charcoal production. Tung trees on the other hand produce seeds from which oil was extracted for industrial use. This species come from southern China a couple of hundred years ago to Taiwan and was planted at countless locations. It is associated with Hakka people (客家人), who are known for their diligence. A story goes that tung trees have very strong resilience and endure hash environments, which would represent the characteristics of the Hakka people.
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| Lane 587 of Qingyun street |
Since it turned into May this year, we have had more rains. It rained a lot during the labor-day holidays. I fount it raining in early this morning. The weather forecast showed that it should turn OK later, so I decided to go as planned and told my friends so. When I arrived at Banqiao bus terminus (新北板橋公車站) for a #245 line of bus, 6 friends showed up. A #245 bus came around at 7:40 and we took a ride of it for Qinghuali bus stop (清化里站). Another member happened to be on the same bus and one more member showed up there in a short while, which added up to the total nine of us.
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| Going up along a winding road in the valley |
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| Trail head |
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| Old ties are reused as steps |
We set off at 8:24 and walk along lane 587 of Qingyunlu street (青雲路587巷). A sign post stands just at the lane entrance by a convenient shop. The lane goes through residential buildings for a short while and gets windingly into a valley. The road surface is still wet. In ten minutes we come to a trail head. A brand new direction post with a route map has been installed by it and two new toilet booths stand besides. Old railway ties are reused as steps on the trail. At 8:44 we come up a junction on the ridge. We take a left trail and head for Qingfengling (青峰嶺). White tung flowers are on the trail. We further go up to a narrow top of Qingfengling (elevation 178 meters), which is a small rocky summit surrounded by vegetation
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| A platform of Qingfengling |
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| Climbing up |
There is a platform just below the summit where two local people are exercising. Some exercise equipment are placed around, which local people brouth up for regular use. In fact you find many such platforms along the trails over this mountain range and other mountains near Taipei as well. The mountains are their backyard indeed. We come down to the original trail and keep going up along it for Mt. Qingshui_dajian-shan (清水大尖山), our next destination. Rain of the past few days made the trails muddy, but stairs made of wood help prevent from slipping. We come up a viewing deck at 9:00. We are at an elevation of some 190 meters above sea level and this deck affords a wide view towards the metropolitan. Mountains behind the buildings are too hazy for us to make out their skyline.
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| Planks are used as steps |
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| A good vista from the viewing deck |
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| An old gravestone of year 1823 by the trail |
On our way further up we pass two more platforms with a hut built by local people and an electric transmission tower to reach the summit at 9:20. The rather small summit of Qingshui dajian-shan is encircled with trees except a north corner, which arrows a vista over the Taipei basin. At the altitude of 274m, it reveals wider view than the observation deck of a while ago.
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| Another platform with a hut |
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| Climbing by an electric tower |
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| Qingshui_dajian-shan |
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| Stone steps to go down |
A stone paved trail leads down from the summit and branches a trail to the right. We keep on the main trail and down to a paved road where a house stand. The trail takes a left turn by the house and further down to a junction. A name plate indicates that this section of the trail is called Qingshan Lvshui trail (青山綠水步道). It looks to be maintained by a group of local volunteers. At 9;46 we come to a junction leading to a hilltop called Singapore (新加坡). A nice little garden of flamingo flowers (珊瑚花 or 串心花) runs along the trail. The stone-stepped trail soon climbs steeply along the hillside and gets to "Singapore" flat top in a few minutes. There are two shanties at a corner of the platform and some exercise equipment is placed nearby. I wonder how this place has gotten a name of Singapore.
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| A nice trail maintained by local volunteers |
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| A trail to "Singapore" with a small garden of flamingo flowers along it |
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| "Singapore" hilltop |
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| Summit of Mt. Niuputou-shan |
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| Take a trail up to Mt. Wujian-shan at a junciton below |
A dirt trail on the ridge from the Singapore place meets a stone paved trail. We take right and soon see another dirt trail splits to the left. This muddy trail leads to a summit of Mt. Niuputou-shan (牛埔頭山, elev. 277m). We take this trail and hit the summit in a matter of a few minutes. We then return to the original trail and follow it further. At 10:23 we come to a junction to the summit of Mt. Wujian-shan (五尖山). A climb on a steep ridge slope for a few minutes brings us to the summit (elev. 310m) of Wujian-shan. A stone marker is placed behind a wire fence, but there is a big opening in the fence and you can get in and have a look of it.
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| Summit of Wujian-shan |
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| Walking on ridge trail |
We follow the ridge trail down to a untidy bottom where trashes are scattered and climb back onto the ridge. The ridge runs above the community of Lvye Xiangpo. The community area is pretty big with many residential buildings from bottom to top of the hillside. Another mountain range of Mt. Shizitou-shan (獅子頭山) to Mt. Xiongkong-shan (熊空山) across the valley is seen over the community buildings. The ridge trail further goes up to the summit of Mt. Wenbi-shan (文筆山, 375m) just by an electric tower, which we get to at 11:01.
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| Community buildings are just under the ridge |
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| Summit of Wenbi-shan |
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| Northward view from Wenbi-shan |
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| A platform under Wenbi-shan summit |
A trail keeps going on the ridge to our next destination Mt. Wucheng-shan (五城山), which I traveled a couple times in the past. We do not follow it this time but to go down to Shanzhonghu lake (山中湖) first and climb back to it instead. We take the trail going down. It passes a rather large platform with a good solid hut and carpeted yard with some exercise equipment. From an open side of the platform, a peak of Mt. Qingshui_dajian-shan is visible. We were there only two hours ago. Our stone paved trail goes long way down and branches a trail to the right down to Shanzhonghu lake . We take this trail further down and reach the lake at 11:27. We have a short rest under a Chinese style shelter called Zideting (自得亭) by the lake.
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| A view of Qingshui_dajian-shan and beyond |
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| A junction to Shanzhonghu lake |
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| Shanzhonghu lake |
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| Enter a traversing trail from the lake |
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| An intersection on the ridge and we take left here |
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| Steep trail to Wucheng-shan |
Shanzhonghu lake, though called a lake, is not that big. Its one side is a fishing bank under a roof. A trail branches off from a road along the lake. We take it and traverse a mountain side. Some sections of the trail are paved with stones. The trail gets onto a ridge coming down from Taijiling (太極嶺) at its lowest point. We take left and climb a steep slope of the ridge trail. We pass bare rocks at some points on our way up. The summit of Wucheng-shan (elev. 417m) which we reach a little after 12:00 has two levels: a small and higher level has a nameplate attached to a tree nearby while lower level is much wider and has a hut and exercise equipment. A tall electric tower stands at the edge of the platform.
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| At summit of Wucheng-shan |
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| Lower level of the summit |
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| A final climb to Tianshang-shan |
We continue our march further to Mt. Tianshang-shan via a long ridge trail of about 1.5 kilometers. At one point sees a yellow carpet of acacia small flowers with white tung flowers scattered above it. Passing small ups and downs we come to a final climb to the peak of Tianshang-shan. At 12:40 we reach the summit (elev. 430m) without the original wooden deck. Currently a new steel deck is under construction. To our happy surprise vegetation including tall trees has been cut out to make the summit a wonderful vantage point. A 360 degree view spreads out under a cloudy sky. There are many hikers all around on a narrow summit. We leave the summit and down to reach Wangyueting (望月亭) shelter in about 10 minutes and have a long lunch break.
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| Summit of Tianshang-shan, a new deck under construction |
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| Even large trees have been cut down to secure a wide vista |
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| Wangyueting shelter |
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| Small ups and downs show up one after another |
Wangyueting shelter stands on a platform where four trails meet. At 13:40 we follow a trail that keeps going on the ridge. This section of the ridge route passes a lot of ups and downs on bare rocks and reaches a platform called Sanliban (三粒半). The platform also has a shelter built by local people. Our trail goes further down and finally meets a paved road.
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| Sanliban platform |
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| Keep going on to Huoyan-shan |
We cross the paved road and get onto another trail to go up. Our trail crosses another paved road in a few minutes and leads to the summit of Mt.Huoyan-shan (火焰山, elev. 373m). An observation deck stands by the summit facing north west. All peaks of today's hike, from Mt. Qingshuidajian-shan to Mt. Tianshang-shan, are there for us to identify.
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| Viewing deck of Huoyan-shan |
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| Viewing the peaks that we have came across |
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| Going on a short-cut |
At 14:40 we start our decent. Our trail is all good of stone paved one with short-cuts of dirt path at some point. Red tromanthe (紫背竹芋) flowers are in bloom on both sides of the trail, attracting our attention. Passing another platform on the way, we come down to a wide trail from Chengtian-si temple (承天寺). This is one of the major hiking trails to Tianshang-shan and should be one of the most traveled. Many hikers are coming up and going down along it. We finally reach the end of the trail with a gate at 15:12.
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| Trail gate |
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| Going along Shibixi wooden trail |
We wash our dirty boots by a toilet across the street and set off for our final leg along a wooden elevated trail called Shibixi trail(石壁溪棧道) parallel to its namesake river. The wooden trail goes all way down for about 15 minutes. We then leave the trail and walk along streets among factory buildings to MRT Yongning station (永寧站). We complete our hike at 15:42.
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| Tromanthe flowers by the trail |
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