2021年3月19日 三貂嶺頂坑山 登頂一座のみの気楽な登山

修復工事進行中の舊三貂嶺隧道、頂坑山はちょうどこの上

台北付近の低山は、過去十年でだいぶカバーし、未踏の場所は少なくなっている。そうした中で、まだ足跡を残していない山の一つが今回の頂坑山。もともと訪れる登山者が少ない山で、おととし一度登頂を企画したが、実際に行ってみると登山口が草でふさがれ、ほとんど踏跡もないさまを見て諦めた。昨年この山を含む山域がボランティアにより整備され、山頂へのいくつかの道はすっきり歩きやすくなった。ところが、昨年秋に予定した新路尾山からの尾根道は、この整備対象ではなく、ここも草深く諦めた。そんなことで、今回のこの一座だけの登山を企画した。

西の三貂嶺駅から山を越えて牡丹駅へ

歩行高度

瑞芳の奥、基隆河にそって進む山稜の一つである頂坑山は、三貂嶺とも呼ばれる。この山の下を鉄道線路の三貂嶺隧道が貫いている。現在の三貂嶺隧道は複線で1985年からの使用である。日本時代の1919年に台北から侯硐まで鉄道が敷設された。しかし宜蘭へは三貂嶺が立ちはだかる。そこで旧三貂嶺隧道が開かれ1922年9月に使用開始される。その後1985年に新トンネルが開通すると、旧トンネルは廃棄された。同じく日本時代の宜蘭線上の長いトンネル舊草嶺隧道と同様に、サイクリングロードの一部として復活することが決まり、ちょうど修復工事が進行中だ。旧三貂嶺隧道の瑞芳側入口（正確には短い三瓜子隧道とそのすぐ後に続く長い三貂嶺隧道があり、瑞芳側入口は三瓜子隧道の入口になる）上には、明石元二郎総督の筆跡による「至誠動天地」という石碑がはめられている。今回の行動中、修復工事を見た。

頂坑山山頂のメンバー

地下道をくぐって線路を反対側へ

台湾北部は、冬から初春まで東北季節風の影響で、雨が多い。天気も変わりやすい。そんなことで、本来20日に予定していたが、一日早めて19日（金曜日）に変更した。平日であるが、10人のメンバーが出発点の三貂嶺駅に集まった。活動時間も短いので、今日は出発も遅い。9時25分、三貂嶺駅から歩き始める。線路沿いに進む。左に基隆河を挟んで旧三貂嶺隧道の入口が見える。以前は草木に覆われていた入口は、現在修復工事が進行中だ。本来は、鉄橋がトンネル入口へつないでいたが、その橋はもうすでにない。線路下地下道をくぐり、平溪線にそって進む。同じ電車で降りた大勢のパーティは、線路を渡り三貂嶺瀑布へと向かう。我々は、鉄橋を渡り対岸の幼坑古道入口へと進む。入口脇の涼亭で小休憩をとる。

幼坑古道入口近くから見る基隆河対岸と平溪線の橋

幼坑古道の鞍部、ここから左へ尾根を頂坑山へ

草が刈られロープが取り付けられている

9時47分、古道を歩き始める。階段を上ること数分で暗部に着く。今日はここから左に頂坑山へと尾根道をとる。その前に、数名で魚寮山へ往復する。すでに歩いたことのある数名は、鞍部で待っている。10分ほどで、鞍部にもどり予定の尾根道を歩き始める。登り始めて間もなく、古い墓の脇を通り過ぎる。放置されたものもあるし、今でも墓参りがあるものも見かける。墓場を過ぎると、山道は尾根を忠実に追っていく。草もしっかり刈られ、ロープが多くの箇所に取り付けられている。小さな上り下りがあり、ちょっと面倒だ。

前方に尖った燦光寮山，草山、手前は三貂大崙，三貂嶺山

283峰

10時15分、草木が刈られた小ピークに上がる。基隆河対岸の山は、遠くは草山や燦光寮山が見える。その手前は、前回頂坑山へ登ろうとして計画し通過した、三貂嶺山や三貂大崙だ。さらに小さな上り下りが続く。ちょっとした長い急坂を登りきると、10時33分283峰という標識のある小ピークを越す。我々より年長者のグループに追いつく。樹木が邪魔しない場所からは、基隆河の谷間と両側の山々が望める。三貂嶺駅や線路もはっきり見える。その谷には、雲海が入り始めた。おそらく暖かい海からの蒸気が、冷たい風に吹かれ雲が発生しているのだろう。

283峰から谷を見下ろす、その先には雲海

前方に頂坑山山頂が見えた

頂坑山山頂の筆者

尾根道を追っていく。一部は尾根のすぐ下山腹を行く。10時59分、右に新路尾古道への分岐を過ぎる。その先、左に石壁坑產道への道を分け、坂を上って11時5分、小ピークに着く。小休憩をとる。尾根道はまだ続く。11時20分、また新路尾古道への道を分ける。偽ピークが現れ、頂坑山山頂はなかなか辿り着かない。11時32分、山頂が見える。一度下って登り返し、数分で草がしっかり刈り取られた山頂（標高370m）に着く。天気がよい今日は、気温も高くここまでしっかり汗をかいた。昼食休憩をとる。

尾根上を下る

旧トンネルの排気煙突

約50分ほどの昼食休憩後、12時半牡丹駅へと下り始める。尾根から山腹を行き、また尾根へと登り返す。山頂から直接降りてくる尾根上には、おそらく岩場かなにか困難な場所があり、そのために迂回しているだろうか。越嶺保甲路という表示なので、この道は古道の部類だ。尾根から谷間に降りていく。13時、小沢を越す。そのすぐ先にガジュマロ樹に抱かれたレンガの煙突がある。山の中に突如現れた煙突は、実は旧三貂嶺トンネルの通気用トンネルだ。蒸気機関車からの煙などがここから排出されたのだろう。近くには、石積の土留壁もある。以前はこの付近に保守用の施設などがあったのではないか。

石臼が残る廃屋の石壁

泥のぬかるみ

谷間をさらに10数分下ると、石臼が残る旧家屋の石壁を見る。以前はここでの暮らしがあった場所だ。今はだいぶ壊れた壁が残るだけだ。その先はかなり泥が深い道を過ぎ、沢に降りる。沢沿を二、三回渡渉し、13時35分広い道に降りる。少し休憩し、長靴の泥を洗う。さらに下り、左に三貂嶺トンネルの入口を見る。こちら側も修復工事が進行中だ。もと線路だった道をいく。左に新しい建物が建設中だ。トンネルが一般開放された後に使われるビジターセンターのようだ。その先すぐ右に尪仔崙坑の基石を見る。線路だった道は、右に現在を線路わきで終わり、そこからは道路を行く。

沢を下る

舊三貂嶺隧道の南口も修復工事進行中

牡丹老街、ガード下で壁画が描かれている

14時8分、右に川沿いの牡丹老街をみて橋を渡る。次の電車まで20数分時間があるので、コーヒーショップの前でアイスキャンディーを食べる。14時23分、牡丹駅に入る。武漢肺炎のために、ホームに入る前に検温をする。地下道をくぐり、上り線のホームで待つ。14時37分、区間電車がやってきた。休憩込み活動時間4時間50分、累計登坂459m、下降475m、距離6.1㎞、コース定数は15、予定通りの気楽なハイキングであった。

2021年3月13日 桃園復興鄉拉號山 - 嘎色鬧山 - 那結山 A challenging hike to Mt. Najie shan via less travelled trails

The pointing peak of Mt. Najie (far right) viewed from Jiaobanshan (Mar. 2015)

桃園市復興區にある那結山は、2015年に初訪し、その後昨年また訪れた。 漢口溪にそって山奥へ進む北横公路の入口に近いところにある、当座は尖った山頂を有し遠くから判別しやすい。尖った山頂は、当然急坂に囲まれどの方向からでも、垂直に近い急坂をロープや木の根をつかんでよじ登ることが強いられる。登山者もそこそこ多く、天候に問題がなければ週末には登山者に出会う。今回の東側からの登頂は、6年前のルートと重なるが、上りにはそのルートの尾根から北に延びる拉號山から嘎色鬧山をへて登った。下山は、6年前登ったルートを大灣登山口へ下った。同一峰の三度目の訪問なので、英語で記述します。

If you have ever been to Jiaobanshan (角板山) by Beiheng highway (北橫公路, the North Cross Island Highway) in Fuxing ward of Taoyuan municipality (桃園市復興區),   you might have noticed a pointing peak in the southern sky. That is Mt. Najie shan(那結山). The pointing peak means a steep incline from any direction and you have to climb to its summit with your feet as well as hands. As a matter of fact, the two final trails leading to its summit have very steep sections, including almost vertical slope near the top. It is challenging as well as fun. If you are lucky enough, you would be able to view Shimen Dam (石門水庫) at your feet and the urban area of Taoyuan in the far end. In between there are many well-known peaks such as Mt. Nanzhatian (南插天山), Mt. Dongyan (東眼山) and so on.

North view from the summit of Mt. Najie, Shemen dam is visible down at left  (Jan. 2015)

East view from the summit, Mt. Nanchatian with cloud on its top (Jan. 2015)

I have been to Mt. Najie twice in the past, six years ago from Dawan (大灣) trail head on the east and  last year from Shuitian (水田) trail head on the west. On this hiking we took the east route for the final section but we went first up to Mt. Lahao (拉號山) and followed the ridge route going over Mt. Gasenao (嘎色鬧山) and met the route from Dawan for the fianl ascent. We took a route down to Dawan after climbing to the summit of Mt. Najie. The Gasenao ridge route has long existed but it was very hard to pass it as very few hikers took this route. Luckily a group of volunteer hikers, Taoyuan Liandao hiking team (桃園鐮刀登山隊) cleared the trail and renewed signage a couple months ago, which made the hike via the Lahao - Gasenao ridge route feasible.

Start from the north side

Elevation profile

The long ridge, a north part of which is this hike section

The ridge on which we hiked in fact is the northmost section of a long ridge going along Hangoxi river (漢口溪) and its sub streams. This long ridge rises at Loufu (羅浮) of Fuxin and going all the way south to Mt. Jingjie (境界山) in Jianshi manucipality of Xinzhu prefecture (新竹縣尖石鄉), extending almost 40 kilometers in length.  We visited many peaks on this long ridge section by section in the past and this hike left another our footprint on this long ridge.

At the summit of Mt. Najie shan

Beiheng zhi Xing rest area and our bus

We have as many as twenty people, which enabled to hire a 20 seater mini bus. We gathered at 6:30 in Taipei and left for our destination, Beiheng zhi xing  (北橫之星 Star of the Beiheng highway) . The bus runs very smoothly on the No. 3 Highway and gets onto No. 7 Beiheng road. This road connecting Daxi (大溪) on the west and Sanxing (三星) on the east goes over a pass which divides Taoyuan and Yilan (宜蘭). The current road is wide enough for cars, which was formerly a footpath built for security purpose under the Japanese regime and converted to a car road after the war. We pass by Luofu and see the peaks in front which we will go up later. We arrive at Beiheng zhi Xing (elevation 480m) at 8:10.

Flat section in a bamboo forest

A steep section

The sky is wonderfully blue, promising a nice day ahead. We start off a little after 8:20 and enter our trail, which begins by a small restaurant across the Beiheng road. The trail goes flat for a few minutes in bamboos and then a very steep climb starts. At 8:33 passing by a junction which leads to a water fall down on our left, we keep on steep ascent. In another 8 minutes we see a newly posted sign showing a trail leading a water supply spot. The incline is yet very steep for another few minutes and the trail goes down to a small stream. The water is very little, which should be running down to the water fall. If we had visited the waterfall, it would not have been so rewarding as the water is so little. We had a very dry winter this year, which brought a severest draught for a half century in mid and southern Taiwan. 

New sign showing the direction for water supply

A small stream with little water running

Very steep incline in a bamboo forest

A flatter section of the trail

The incline is yet very steep. The path is clear among tall bamboos, which otherwise would be not easy to follow in such dense bamboo forest. At 9:23 we have a rest where the path gets flatter (elev. 875m). We have gained about 400 meters in height, which is more than a half way to our first summit of Mt. Lahao at 1039m in altitude.  Another 10 minutes of steep climb, the path gets flatter, which looks likes an ex-logging trail. We soon enter a large man-planted cedar forest and start a steep climb again. At 9:47 we get on the ridge between Mt. Lahao and Mt. Gasenao. We take a right turn and head for the summit. A gentle incline leads to the summit of Lahao (1039m elev.) in ten minutes, which is just a small open area among trees.

Going up in the cedar forest

The summit of Mt. Lahao shan

The junction with a red sign board

After 15 minutes or so on the summit, we take the same route back to the junction and keep on our hike on the ridge to Mt. Gasenao. There are ups and downs between the two peaks and, so we first goes down. A red sign of the forestry bureau at the junction cautions that the trail ahead to Mt. Najie is very far and long so no to go alone. We go over two peaks before getting onto the final approach to Mt. Gasenao. Thanks to the volunteer hikers to have cleared the trails, there are very few obstacles like thick vegetation. Rusty steel wires are on the trail, which were left after the logging business was over decades ago. The final climb to the summit of Mt. Gasenao is rather steep and you have to employ hands as well. We get to the small summit (1050m elev.) at 11:05, which is open on the east side enabling a view towards Mt. Nanchatian. 

The trail was cleared by volunteers

The summit of Mt. Gasenao

A small peak of lunch time

Mt. Gasenao is almost at the midway point of the ridge between Mt. Lahao and Mt. Najie, which is gradually rises its height and gets much steeper close to Mt. Najie. We continue our hike for a half hour and have a lunch break at a top of small peak. We have had sweating ascent to the Mt. Lahao and Mt. Gasenao, but here it feels a little too cool as wind sweeps over the ridge.  We take a half hour break and resume our way up to Mt. Najie. The trail first goes down to the bottom and a ceaseless steep climb starts. At 12:45 we pass a junction where a path down to Gasenao village diverges to our right. 

Junction to Gasenao village to right

Going up in a cedar forest

As we go up, a large area of cedar forest spreads up in front. We keep our ascent in the beautiful forest for a while. We enter a hardwood forest and soon get to a junction at 13:27. This is a three way junction where a trial from Dawan to Mt. Najie meets the trail we have just come through. Two hikers are just coming down from Mt. Najie and greet us. They are friends of one of our members and say that the have gone through the same route like us from Mt. Lahao. Thought they started earlier than us, they hike amazingly fast. After a short rest at the junction we take right up to Mt. Najie.

The junction right to Mt. Najie

Steep section wih ropes

Passing over a little peak we meet a trail directly from Gasenao village at 13:40, which is a more common route to Mt. Najie. The trail obviously becomes much clearer and we soon meet a couple of hiker groups one after another coming down from the summit. The closer we get to the summit, the steeper the ascent becomes. We pass over a small fake summit and then go up  a final nearly vertical cliff which we need to hold ropes and bare roots of trees to go up.  At 14:23 I get onto the one of the two summit's humps and go onto the other hump where a triangulation maker is installed (1520m elev.). Other members come up one by one and we all have a rest. It is a little pity that mist has come up and hid almost all view from the summit.

another steep bare rock section

Summit of Mt. Najie

Climbing down the cliff

The vertical section is more difficult to decent than ascent. Climbing back to small peaks on the way down makes you feel tired. We get back to the junction at 16:00. There is four or five kilometers left to go down and we have to hurry, otherwise it gets dark while we are on our way. The section on the ridge has some steep incline. We reach a junction at 16:34 where the trail to Dawan diverges to our left. The trail going on the ridge to Mt. Ronghua (榮華山) was cleared recently and looks much better than on our last hike there six years ago.

Junction left to Gasenao village

Steep descent

Junction left to Dawan trail head

Going down on weed-covered trail

Our trail leaves the ridge and gradually descend along the mountain side. A lengthy section goes in the cedar forest. The trail looks a little miserable compared with the one we have just come through. Vegetation is thicker and the path is less clear. We come across a small land slide on our trail. Luckily it is passable and some hikers still left new marker ribbons for others to follow. At 17:10 we finally come into a bamboo forest where the trail turns much better. In another 10 minutes we pass by a junction and soon run into a wide patch of open area where all bamboos have been cut out. I am happy because this means that the trail ahead should be very good as the workers have to commute the trail and must have kept it in good shape.

Keep going down on the grassy trail

Cleared bamboo forest; the ridge at far end is the one we went up in the moring

Coming down to the bottom of cleared area

There is still more than one kilometer to go. The sunset takes place about 18:00 at this time of a year and I am confident we can make it before dark at our current pace. We reenter bamboo forest where the trail goes steeply down. As we hit the bottom of the clearing area again, the trail goes along a small stream. At 18:00 we come down to the trail head of Dawan (500m elev.) by the Beiheng road at last. We had no rest on our all way down. Our bus has been waiting for us by a small food shop where we have a dinner together. In fact I had a dinner at this shop six year ago too. We left for Taipei at 19:15 with our stomach full and happy.

Trail head by Beiheng road

At the small eat-out shop

The total distance we covered was 11.6 kilometers with the total ascent of 1400 meters and 1340 meters descent, which took us 9 hours and 40 minutes. The route physical index is 36, rather strenuous. It has a very steep and exposed section near the summit of Mt. Najie shan. This is definitely not for beginners. You have to havskills for such sections as well as to be fit for a long hike. If you love such kind of challenge, this route meets your expectation.