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| 大海を望む和美山(蚊子坑山)山頂 Summit of Mt. Hemei-shan commanding the oecean |
筆者が台湾北東部海外沿いの山を初めて訪れたのは、もう
15年前のことになる。その時は、山から海が眺められるこの山塊をすぐ好きになった。今でもそれは変わらない。特に今回のように快晴の冬に登った時は、その感を強くした。この場所は、日本でも知られている観光地九份・金瓜石からさらに東の海よりの場所である。日本統治時代、東アジアで最大の金産出を誇ったゴールドの街は、その付近の漁港や農村には大きな存在であったと思う。九份・金瓜石へと続く山並みの谷間には、棚田を開墾しそこの暮らす住人がいた。その当時の古道が残る。さらに古道だけでなく、山歩きのための山道も歩かれるようになり、いわゆる東北角の山々は多くの登山者が訪れるようになった。
今回の山行は、一部を除いて以前に歩いている場所の再訪がメインだ。そのうち一部は昨年11月に訪れたが、その際は休日で大人数団体と遭遇したため、思うように歩けなかったところもある。今回は平日であったので、そうしたことはなく十分に山と海の景色を堪能できた。冬の東北角は、季節風が噴き出すタイミングだと雨風が強く大変だが、好天に巡り合えば透き通った空気で、山海の大景観が展開する。蚊子坑古道や和美山～門牙岩までの間は、去年からボランティアグループの草刈整備で、道の状態が良くなっている。それも今回山歩きの動機の一つである。最後の門牙岩から海岸までの道は、最近はほとんど歩かれていないようで、ヤタケやススキが道筋を覆い隠していた。
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Following the last visit in November 2025, we visited this area of mountains again. The route that we took includes some stretches of the last hike there. On our last visit we run into a large group of hikers and the situation did not allow us good views of some points. This visit took place on a week day and we enjoyed without such restrictions.
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| Hike from the east clockwise to the north |
The mountains of the Northeast Coast command a wide ocean. If the weather is good like this visit, you can make out the faraway horizon and even tiny islands far off the coast. Under blue and clear sky, this scenery is the best you can get only on a sunny winter day. Air contains much moisture in other seasons and makes distant scenery somewhat blurry. Seasonal cold spell brings a lot of rain to this region in winter. Occasional fine days are good chances to visit and have a nice hike after rain washed all particles in the air.
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| At the summit of Mt. Kumingling |
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| #886 bus just arrived at Longdong Bay Park |
Just like our visit of last November, we came to Ruifang(瑞芳) train station by #4006 fast local train and walked down to the bus stop. Unlike the last time, we had very few other passengers for #886 bus so that all 16 of us got aboard and almost filled all seats on the small vehicle. The driver was very hiker-friendly and asked us where to alight. We arrived at Longdong Bay Park stop (龍洞灣公園) at 7:48.
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| Advancing Longdongkeng trail alongside a creek |
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| Take the left trail across the steam |
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| Going up by a small brook |
The first stretch of our hike was Longdongkeng trail (龍洞坑古道) which is the same as last November but we left it after about a half-hour walk. At a junction across the stream along which we had come, we took a left trail that connects to another trail called Wenzikeng trail (蚊子坑古道) above the hill. This connecting short path is obviously not traveled much but markers are enough to guide us without wondering the direction. It passed some abandoned terrace paddies along a brook and then leave it for ascent among sparce groves. At 8:47 we reached a junction with Wenzikeng trail where a Tudingong (土地公) shrine stands at one side of the large junction square.
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| Ascending among sparse woods |
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| A junction square of a Tudigong shrine |
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| Advancing Wenzikeng trail |
I came down to
this place twelve years ago from above (right side). After a short rest we head for the peak of Mt. Hemei-shan (和美山). The trail goes in a forest of sparce groves. In several minutes found small flat square with a stone sink buried in the ground and next to it a mortar. Obviously this is a remnant of some human activities in the past. Beyond this place found a stone piled wall with an opening by the trail which looks like a charcoal kiln. We followed the trail along a stream down in the valley bottom and up to a large tableland after passing two streams. A small grave stone and a stone bowl are by the trail. These objects suggest that there were some residents living here on this land sometime in the past.
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| A mortar and sink |
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| Charcoal kiln? |
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| Crossing a steam |
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| A tomb stone by the trail |
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| Hemei pond |
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| Look like step stones |
At 9:55 we came to a pond called Hemei pond (和美池). In the context with those objects that we have found this pond must have been for irrigationuse. Beyond this pond the trail gets steeper and comes to the bottom of a short climb to a junction on a ridge where another trail merges. The merged ridge trail is also very steep. At a point where we get out of trees provides a good view for the mountains and the ocean. The trail gets into woods again and soon meets a train on the main ridge. We took left at the junction and reached the summit of Hemei-shan (elevation 355meters) at 9:55. Weeds and bushes have been neatly eliminated and a nice and wide view towards the ocean shows up in front of us.
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| Up to the junction on the ridge |
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| Steep climb on the ridge |
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| Reaching the junction on the main ridge |
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| Resting on the summit |
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| Wide view of the ocean and mountains |
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| Crossing a small stream at the bottom |
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| A nasty fallen branch on uphill |
After 15-minute rest we took the same trail back and passed the junction to further down. At the bottom we crossed a brook and struggled a very steep climb. On the way up a sizable fallen tree branch blocked the passage, which was indeed a nasty obstacle. To our next peak, Mt. Kumingling (苦命嶺, meaning a peak of hard life), the trail is ascending with short flat sections. At 10:44 we came to the bottom of final precipitous climb, which lasted about 10 minutes. At the top of the climb is a junction and we took left to the summit of Kumingling (elev. 428m) which we reached at 10:58. We had a good rest for lunch around the wide summit.
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| Keep climbing |
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| Last stretch under the summit |
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| Struggling the steep grade |
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| Junction near the summit of Mt. Kumingling |
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| Kumingling summit |
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| Ocean view from the trail near Kumingling summit |
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| Descending a steep grade |
The Kumingling summit is the highest and halfway point of our hike today. At 11:40 we went back to the junction and took another trail down. The trail at this side is also steep for its first half. In about 20 minutes the trail entered a dense forest on the wider ridge. You have to pay a closer attention to follow the track in a such forest otherwise you would end up losing the direction. At 12:15 we reached a junction where the Longdongkeng trail meets and this is where we came up on our visit last November. We would follow the same trail for a while.
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| Going in the forest |
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| Junction with Longdongkeng trail |
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| At the summit of Kulingling |
Passing over Mt. Kulingling (苦苓嶺, elev. 295m) and Mt. Nangya-shan West peak (南雅山西峰), we reached Mt. Nangya-shan (elev. 270m). Its side terrace is a nice vantage point. You have a very wide and good command over the blue ocean and Menya Rock (門牙岩, "Incisor" Rock) across the valley, and even peaks of Yangming-shan range (陽明山) and Yeilou Cape (野柳) in a very far distance. We had a long rest near the peak as some members showed some fatigue.
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| Looking for Mt. Hemei-shan of our morning visit |
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| Nanya-shan West peak |
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| Vantage point beside Nanya-shan summit |
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| Westward view of Yangming-shan and Jilongyu island |
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| Junction at the bottom |
At 13:17 we headed for our next target, Menya Rock. We dipped down to a junction and up to the Rock. The strangely shaped rocks have three blocks, one independent pillar between long side rocks. We first went up to the nearest long rock and had a view over the other side and down to the bottom of the middle pillar. It has a hole at its bottom, just like a cavity of a teeth. We ducked through the "cavity" and got to the other side. We then went up to the other rock and had a view over the rock where we were just a while ago.
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| Up to the top of Menya Rock |
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| A view from the edge of the Rock |
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| The bottom of center rock |
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| Sneaking out of the bottom hole |
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| A view from the edge of the other rock, Hemei-shan and Kumingling in background |
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| Grassy trail |
From the base of the rock starts a trail down to the coast. A weather beaten direction sign suggested that the trail ahead would not be in good shape. Once we stepped onto it, my guess proved correct. The track under trees was OK, but it soon turned out to be thick grass-covered. You would have to swim in the sea of grasses to go down. We came onto the edge of a cliff under which the busy coastal highway runs. The trail went further down along the edge and brought us to a house ruin at 14:51.
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| Coming closer to the cliff edge |
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| Swimming a sea of grasses |
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| Track is completely covered with grasses |
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| A house ruin |
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| Finally coming out to the trail head |
The coast is pretty close by now and you can hear traffic down along the highway, but the track is not clear. We spent some time to look for the correct direction and finally reached the trail head by the road at 15:08. The traffic on the highway was pretty heavy with many big lorries coming and going. We walked along the road for a couple of kilometers and came to an area of curiously shaped rocks by the seashore. We spent some time to enjoy the scenery. Finally we reached Nangya tourist visitor center (南雅遊客中心) bus stop (which happed to be under renovation) at 16:15 and completed our hike.
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| Walking along the busy coastal highway |
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| Enjoying strangely shaped rocks of Nanya coast |
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| A woman collecting seaweeds |
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The total time was 8 hours and a half including an hour or so to appreciate the coastal view. On such a good winter day, it would be a pity to rush back home without having fun for nice scenery along the coast. The hiking over mountains was also very enjoyable. In short, it was a nice and memorable hike. We hiked about 12 kilometers with a total ascent 640meters. The route physical index is 24.
