2020年5月17日 陽明山系大屯山南峰 South Peak of Mt. Datun via Datun valley from Xinbeitou

陽明山公園付近から歩いた大屯山方向を望む, Viewing Mt. Datun

台湾は梅雨の時期になってきた。午後のにわか雨も多い。 5月16日は、午後大量のにわか雨が降り、17日も午後は雨が降る天気予報だ。もともと予定していた烏來桶後溪の大／小礁溪山縦走も、午後雨に降られる可能性が高く、そのため延期した。そこで、急遽代案の山行を決めた。台北北側の大屯山周辺は雨の可能性が高くないようで、2015年に歩いたルートを逆にたどることにした。竹子湖から大屯山南峰へ直接登る道は、最近また整理されたと聞いていたことが、このルートにした大きな動機だ。同じ場所でもあるので、今回は英語で記述します。

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At the summit of Mt. Datun South Peak

A large part of Yanming mountain range belongs to Yanmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園). The park office maintains good trails throughout the park area. No matter how good they are, they do not reach every corner of the park, where non-official trails come in to play. We very often come across foreign hikers on the official stone-paved trails in the park, but very few on non-official trails, which are also very attractive and offer hikers chances to appreciate much less tamed wildness of the park. I place this hiking record in English for calling more attention to these lovely trails in the park.

Hike from Xinbeitou station on west to Yangmingshan bus terminal

Hiking elevation profile

Mt. Datun (大屯山) includes the main, west and south peak. They are all visible from their foot like Beitou (北投). There are several trails going up to the mountain, and one of them is the official route maintained by the park office and most traveled. If you follow the official trail to go up to Mt. Datun South peak, you need go via Miantianping (面天坪) and over Mt. Datun west peak first. There are however some unofficial ones directly leading to it, like one going up along Datun Valley (大屯谷) and one from Zhuzihu (竹子湖), both of which we took for ascent to and decent from the peak. I hiked almost identical route five years ago. The hike this time is to go in the reversed direction.

Passing through streets of Xinbeitou near the market

Baigongshanzhuang trail

We start our hike from MRT Xinbeitou station (捷運新北投站) a little after 8:00. There are bus services to go up to near Datungu valley, but we choose to walk from the foot to the top of Mt. Datun South peak. We first walk though busy town streets like Zhonghe street(中和街) and Fuxing Forth road (復興四路). People are waiting in a long line for the foot hot spring of Fuxing park where the access is still controlled for social distancing. Passing Fuxing High school, we turn left into an alley to access our first trail Baigong Shanzhuang trail (白宮山莊步道) of Taipei Municipal office.  There are quite a few such stone-paved trails maintained by Taipei City government as Qingshan budao (親山步道, a kind of hillside walkways).

Cherry Blossom boulevard

Having a rest under this pavilion

We come up to the gate of Baigong Shanzhuang community and take on Cherry blossom boulevard (櫻花大道). Of course there is no cherry blossoms at this time of a year. Following trail signs we take right to another trail at the end of the cherry blossom walk. We reach a pavilion by the trail at 8:57. Cool breeze sweeps through and we feel good as it is pretty hot by this time of a sunny day.

Datun valley is over the small shrine, Shangqinggong temple is on left

Map of the trails in the area

Yongchunliaoxi trail

The short trail ends soon after we resume our walk and we take a paved road in the direction of Shangqinggong temple (上清宮). Another trail named Yongchunliaoxi trail (永春寮溪步道)  goes up at the bottom of the temple. At 9:18 we come up to the trail top where two-hundred-year-old Qiedong (茄冬樹, nightshade plant) trees stand. Two additional members are waiting there as they failed to meet us at Xinbeitou station and took a bus to catch us up here. We now have nine members in total. There is a platform just above where a wide view spreads in front of us. An entire Taipei Basin is visible and blue mountains are far behind the city buildings. They are peaks of Xindian (新店), Wulai (烏來) and beyond.

Old Qiedong tree

Viewing the city area and beyond

Going up by terrace fields

We greet a woman just coming out from the trail to Datungu valley. She carries a bucket full of bamboo shoots on her back, which apparently she has just harvested. We follow a concrete paved narrow pathway. It goes by terrace crop fields and dried stream bed on our right. As we go up a wire fence surrounding crop fields shows up on our left. There is a warning sign on the fence saying it is electrically charged. It is to keep monkeys off the crops. The valley walls gradually come closer on both sides. At 9:40 the concrete paved path ends and a dirt trail leads into woods. We take a short rest before going in.

High voltage charged fence

Water supply pipes run along the valley

The valley is filled with big stones

We were under the direct May sun while walking on the concrete paved path up here a while ago. So the dark woods is a welcome relief. The lower part of the trail is actually somehow kept in shape as it serves a path for maintaining water pipes of the local households. They draw fresh water from streams up in the valley. Water runs under the ground and no stream of water on the valley floor. The valley is pretty rugged. Big rocks are here and there and vegetation covers them. We are into the valley for about twenty minutes and come up to a large debris filling the valley floor. It must have been caused by landslide sometime in heavy rainfall. We manage to get through the branches of the fallen trees.

Land slide debris

Climbing a very steep gully

Gong along the traversing trail

About 10:10 the trail turns right into a narrow branch gully. The steep incline gets even steeper. The valley is pretty rugged here with some loose stones. At 10:30 we come to join a trail traversing the slope which comes from Mt. Zhongzheng (中正山). After a short break at the junction we take the traversing trail for the final ascent.  It goes on rather a mild incline for a while passing an open terrace. It then becomes very steep straight climb. The affixed ropes are handy for steep incline. We struggle for about twenty minutes and finally get on to the official trail coming from Mt. Datung west peak at 11:20. While we take a rather long break at the junction a group of foreign hikes pass by and tell us that they go down by the Datung Valley, which inspires me to write this record in English.

Climbing the final section of Datungu trail

Arriving at Junction to the sough peak

Slippery trail to the summit

We climb the final ascent and reach the summit of Mt. Datun south peak in a few minutes. While we have come across no hikers up to the junction below, more than dozen hikers are going up and down on the official trail.  If you want to have more solitude in the mountain, you would better keep off the official trails. The bare trail is very slippery as many hikers walk on moist soil surface and make it smooth. The view from the summit is pretty good. Clouds above us has more thickness and dark color now but still an unobstructed view of the city and beyond is just there. The mountains behind the Taipei Basin are in thick clouds and their peaks are not visible. It must be raining there now.

A view from the summit of Mt. Datun South Peak

going down from the summit, cloud is gathering over Mt. Qixingshan behind Mt. Datun main peak on left

Many butterflies are feeding on flowers

We enjoy the view for sometime and start decent at 12:00. This side of the peak has large grass fields on a wide open slope. We soon notice that countless butterflies are feeding on small flowers on the trail sides. This is the high time for butterflies of the Yangmingshan park. Some butterflies are similar to ones I saw in Japan. A study finds that some species migrate between Taiwan and Japan. Such tiny insects fly over the vast ocean, which is quite extraordinary and amazing.

Narrow primitive trail

At 12:14 we see a bushy path opens up its mouth at the right side. This is an unofficial trail directly leading to Zhuzihu. There is of course no sign at the junction, so you have to consult your map. As soon as we get in, much primitive environment envelops the trail. We go through roughly cut-out thin bamboo bushes on rather a mild decent for sometime. The path then goes sharply down and you need to grab nearby bamboos for not to slip as you go down. On the half way down, a view over the cut-out grass shows the area near Mt. Shamaoshan (紗帽山) and the Yanmingshan park area down on the mountain side. We come out of the bamboo bushes and make a final decent in woods. We reach the paved road at 12:56 and take a rest at Qingfeng trail head (青楓步道口) , where we have a rather late lunch. Many holidymakers, old and young, are coming up or going down the QIngfeng trail.

A view from half way down to Qingfeng trail head

At last reaching the trail end

Coming out to the flower terraces

After forty or so minutes of a long lunch break, we go down the Qingfeng trail. It comes soon down to an open terrace field where hydrangea flowers are cultivated as a tourist attraction by the local farmers. There are a bunch of holidaymakers are around the terrace. The flower fields are enclosed by wire fences and you have to pay a fee to get in. At the end of the Qingfeng trail our hike this time comes to an end. It is up to each member to decide what to do afterwords, like enjoying the flowers, taking a bus down or keeping on a hike further down the mountain. Three of the party leave us behind and the rest of us continue our hike down to Yangmingshan bus terminal.

Holiday makers enjoying hydrangea flowers

Passing the stream

Six of us take Houkan old trail (猴崁古道) which follows an irrigation canal by the mountain side. The trail head is just by the bridge of the Qingfeng trail. There is no sign for the Houkan trail. It first passes the water stream, then goes down to the canal. The canal winds as it traverses the hillside. Water rushes down at some points to lower the elevation. Seeing two junctions on the way, it comes to the end at 14:21. It connects to a paved road and down to Yulonggu (玉龍谷). Passing by a small eat-out shop we come to Guliangting (谷涼亭) pavilion and have a rest.

Irrigation canal of Houkan old trail

A view from the pavilion, Mt. Shamaoshan and the park on the left and the city beyond

Passing through the park

Having enjoyed cold beer under the pavilion, we take off for the last leg of our hike. The trail goes down along a very step staircase. It reaches down to Datung Fall (大屯瀑布) at the bottome. The trail enters the Yangmingshan Park. We pass by the open flower clock and arrive at Yangmingshan bus terminal at 15:40. We covered about 12km, with a total ascent 1070m and decent 685m. We were worried about possible shower during the hike, but it ended up with no drop of rain after all, though we heard sunder on our way down from Mt. Datun South peak. The activity lasted approximately seven and a half hours including rest. It was a hard way up to the summit but a leisurely walk in the last part of our hike. We all enjoyed a nice day.

Arriving at Yangmingshan bus stop

Yangmingshan park flower clock

There is almost no signage system for the non-official trails. It is particularly true for such trails in the Yangmingshan National Park. You see marker ribbons on the trails of this hike, and they are of course helpful, but no indication of direction at junctions. You have to have an adequate map to consult to. You can have a smartphone application and off-line map to go with it. I myself use OruxMaps as a map application and Taiwan Top map (魯地圖). The application and the map are free, though the former provides a donation version. You can easily look for application and map by online search engines. I hope that more hikers try to walk these trails and find out less populous routes enjoyable.