2019年4月6日 平溪石筍尖北稜 - 薯榔尖北稜 Challenging hike over the very steep ridges in Pingxi

Mt. Shisunjian (right peak) and its north ridge viewed from near Mt. Shulangjian

六年前に平溪三尖のうちの石筍尖と薯榔尖をそれぞれの北稜をつないで歩いた。その時は薯榔尖から石筍尖へと歩いた。今回はその逆方向の歩きだ。また前回は二人だけだったが、今回は22名と大勢の山行となった。前回ほぼ同様のルートをあるいているので、今回は英語で記述する。

A happy company at Mt. Shulangjian summit

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Pingxi district (平溪區) of New Taipei City (新北市) once was a thriving coal mining town and experienced dismay as the mining industry went downhill in 1970's. People left the place and abandoned mining facilities remained. It successfully revived in the last decade as a tourist town with sky lanterns and is known for beautiful water falls and other natural attractions It has since become very popular and tourists fill the old streets even on weekdays. The old towns are located in the valley along Keelong River (基隆河) and mountain peaks on the both sides overlook them. Not only tourists but hikers are also attracted to this place for many hiking trails with various level of difficulty.

The route we walked counter-clockwise

Elevation profile of the hike

Mt. Shulangjian (left) and Mt. Shisunjian viewed from R#102

Major trails are maintained by the local government and safety features are made to them like steps, handrails with steel poles, adequate signage etc. Some minor trails are, on the other hand, supported by volunteer hikers and not necessarily made to a high standard of safety. Hikers have to take certain risk to go over such trails. Mt. Shisunjian (石筍尖) and Mt. Shulangjian (薯榔尖) are towering just north of the old mining town Jingtong (菁桐). Mt. Shisunjian has rocky profile with distinctive big rocks tapping on its top, which look like bamboo shoots. Mt. Shulangjian is a clear triangle pyramid, which was called Pingxi Fuji during the Japanese Era as it resembles Japanese Mt. Fuji. Both peaks have good trails with stone steps, hand rails and appropriate signage, while they also have very steep and precarious trails behind their peak exclusive for experienced hikers.

Crossing the track of Pingxi railway line

All members at the trail head

A official map by the trail head

Quite a few hikers visit the two peaks via　official trails. Some experienced hikers feel dull just following the official trails and opened routes going on the north ridge of the peaks, which have very steep ups and downs with nearly vertical rock-exposed sections. They attached ropes and rudders for easy passing. The routes are challenging and thrilling. The route that we took on this trip is to go over these two north ridge routes. We started from Mt. Shisunjian and followed its north ridge route to Nikuitatouge (肉板峠) pass on Jingtong old trail (菁桐古道) . After lunch break we followed the Wusi trekking route (五四縱走路) to the junction to the north ridge of Mt. Shulangjian. We hiked over it to Mt. Shulangjian and down to Jingtong Erkenkou (二坑口) trail head.

Small shrine by the trail

I posted a notice of this activity on my facebook Taipei Hiker Club page a couple weeks in advance. It turned out be an kind of surprise to me as 20 hikers showed up to join when I alighted the bus at Sanshenggong (三聖宮) bus stop around 8:15. Today is the third day of four-day holiday and the weather is pretty nice. I make a briefing of the activity and explain risks of passing the north ridge routes. We go down from #102 road to a bridge to cross Jilong River, then pass by Jingtong primary school to get on a road parallel to the railway.  Another member having come by his own car join us here. We cross the railway track and head for the mountain.

Walking up on stone steps

There is a map board by the railway grade crossing. It shows trails around the area but no trail of the north ridge. This shows that this route is not recognized by the government. we follow the paved road and pass by a house. We come to a small shrine at 8:37.  The paved footpath begins. It goes down a little and cross a stream and then goes along the side of mountain. In about 10 minutes a small path diverges to Mt. Sankeng (三坑山) on the right. After a short break, we keep on the stone step trail which increase altitude by zigzag way. At 9:00 the steps abruptly ends to a rocky route with hand rails. After going over the steep rock path and a dirt path follows. There are a couple of rock-exposed sections, which is a kind of prelude of the north ridge route.

Steep climb just below the summit

Panoramic view from Mt. Shisunjian summit, overlooking the valley of Pingxi

First rock section, Rope rudder

At 9:12 a trail merges from left. This one is a main route from Jingtong to Mt. Shisunjian. There are also a few rocky sections and we reach the summit  (520 in elevation) at 9:23. We have come up to the top in about one hour. The weather is perfect though the distant mountains are a bit hazy. The summit is pretty narrow and cannot hold so many people at once, so after standing on the top and then members give way to the rest of the group. I wait until all members stand on the summit and start descending the first rock section of the north ridge. It looks almost vertical from the top of the cliff.

First rock section, bottom half

Traversing under the rock wall

Traversing along the rock face over the rog

To tell the truth, I am a bit nervous as I know how dangerous this route can be. I passed this route in the reverse way six years ago and experienced it myself. It was only two of us then and now I have ten times more. If anything happens... Most of the members joined my activities in the past but three of them are new to me and I don't know their level of experiences. All I can do is to call their attention to the risk of this route. I carefully go down the first rock by a rope rudder and further down another vertical rock to the bottom. The path leads under the the rock face which we just come down to the ridge leading to the next small peak.

Look back the summit of Mt. Shisunjian from the second peak on the ridge

A member holds the rope rudder

It takes time for all the members to pass gaps like this rock section. I wait for the rest members safely come down. Going over a very steep up and down, we come to another gap, which is a rock face to traverse over a single log. Another steep clime leads to an bare rock where you can view the summit of Mt. Shisunjian, which looks like two big stone shoots stick out. The rock route that we just came down is between the two shoots but hidden under forage and not visible from here. From the top of this peak, another difficult section begins, a vertical rock face with an unstable rope rudder which swings. I carefully go down the ruder and hold the rope for the next person to come down. By this way, it gets easier. When the next person come down, I further go down and wait for all members to come down.

Another rock section

Steep climb back to the third peak

I resume decent after good twenty some minutes for all members to having come down this section. A few more rocks with aiding rope appear on the way down and then start climbing for another peak, which should be higher than Mt. Shisunjian. This is the last peak on the north ridge route. Passing the last big rock down and we arrive a junction with a normal trail at 12:05. The final member comes down at 12:15 and we complete the challenge of the north ridge of Mt. Shisunjian. It tooks us good two hours and a half to ramble over the north ridge, which is just a half kilometer long. We walk on the good dirt trail, which first goes down and up to merge Jingtong old trail. We come to Nikuitatouge pass at 12:45, at which we have a lunch break.

Final descent to the end of north ridge route

Everyone completes rambling over the north ridge

The junction with Jingtong old trail near Nikuitatouge pass

After a half hour break we resume our hike. We follow the Jingtong old trail to near Panshiling (磐石嶺) and turn left to the Wusi trekking route. The trail over the main ridge is a part of a long mountain range from Taipei to Ruifang, with several well-known peaks like Mt. Sifenwei (四分尾山), Mt. Xiangzilaio (姜子寮山), Mt. Wufen (五分山) and so on. The trail is in good shape and grasses are cleanly cut out. It keeps small ups and down. We come to the junction to the north ridge of Mt. Shulangjian at 13:44. One of the member has a problem of her boots and leaves by herself.

Good Wu-si trekking trail

Steep descent

The path becomes much narrower once we step away from the the Wu-Si trekking trail, though it is kept all right. This route as a whole is easier than the north ridge of Mt. Shisunjian as there are no such big gaps as the other one. It has many small ups and down, though just like Shisunjian's. After passing two small peaks with slippery slopes, we come to a rock section. Passing this section and go over another peak and down to the bottom between the two peaks at 14:47, where we have a break.

And steep ascend back

Traversing by the rock

The peak in front of us stands high with a vertical rock face and we need to go further down to the point where we can ascend on the less steep slope. The way down is very slippery. At the bottom we go around the corner and pass a gap, which there used to be a tree branch to walk on but now it is broken off and making it a little more difficult to pass. We then start a long and steep climb up. We ascend holding bushes by the trail. At 15:17 I reached the top of clime where a bare rock stands. From the top of the rock, the north ridge of Mt. Shisujian with pointing peaks is just across the deep valley. The major part of the ridge is already behind us. We follow the rather flat ridge and make a last ascent to the peak of Mt. Shulangjian. At 15:36 I reach the summit (Elevation 622m) and wait for the rest of team come up. In a few minutes the narrow summit is filled up with our 21 members. The happy company enjoy the last peak over beer and other beverage for twenty minutes.

Commanding over the valley from the top of bare rock on the north ridge of Mt. Shulangjian

Last leg to Mt. Shulangjan

We take the official trail down. Originally I plan to take another rather steep route down, but some members show fatigue and the stone step normal trail is easier to go down by.  This route is longer but we make it to the trail head of Erkengkou in 35 minutes. The members wait at Erkengkou bus stop by the trail head. I feel relieved that the hike has completed without any mishap. The activity lasted a little more than 8 hours, though the distance covered is just 7.7 km.

Going down by the stone step route

The route we took is not for everyone. If you have enough experiences like this route, it would be fun. If not, it will give you a hard time and terror. The level of hardship is 4 of max 5 for the route and level 3 for the physical strength. If the weather is not good, I recommend to stay away from the north ridge, particularly Mt. Shisunjian's.