2021年5月1日 中嶺山-石碇後山-鳥嘴山-雙坑山縱走 Hiking over Xindian's boarder peaks overlooking Feicui reservoir

石碇後山から望む翡翠水庫 View of Feicui reservoir from Mt. Shidinghou-shan summit

つい最近訪れた翡翠水庫わきの古道は、ボランティアグループによってきれいにされ、登山者を迎えている。こうした道は、人が歩かなくなると草に埋もれ通行が困難になる。時間がたち、また手入れがされ復活する、というパターンが多い。もし、多くの登山者が引き続き訪れれば、自然に帰ってしまうプロセスを遅くできる。10年間台湾の山を歩いてきて、以前にくらべ登山者が増えているのを感じる。それは、台北近郊の低山でも同じだ。つまり、彼らにこうした手入れがされて歩きやすくなっている山々の存在を伝え、訪れる機会を増やすことも道の状態を保つための手助けにもなると思う。

台湾の山を登る登山者は、もちろん圧倒的に台湾人が多い。特に現在の武漢肺炎による半鎖国状態ではなおさらだ。しかし、外国人登山者もいる。日本人もいるが、その数は少ない。実際、このブログのアクセスは日本語の記事と英語の記事を比べると、英語の記事はずっと多い。中国語で台湾の山行記録を残すことはできるが、それは台湾人登山者が多くのブログで行っている。筆者は、英語でこのような近郊やあまり歩かれていない山の紀行文を記していこうと思う。日本人(および日本語を理解する）読者にはすこし申し訳ないが、記事の対象は以前に日本語で書いているところが多く、記事の中にあるハイパーリンクで導く記事をご覧いただきたい。全く新しい地域などは、まずは日本語で記述していく。

My blog marked a first 10th anniversary last month. It carries more than 580 articles by this current one, most of which are written in Japanese. My original intention is to introduce mountains of Taiwan to my fellow Japanese people and hikers. Although Taiwan is close to Japan, its great mountains and alpinism are hardly known even to Japanese hikers. A survey conducted by a Japanese publisher of outdoor activities several years ago reveals that while 90% of hikers show interests in overseas hiking, only 1% (!) of them are interested in Taiwan as their destination of hiking activities. This has been one of my driving forces to keep writing my blog.

A ruin of Aiyong guard camp (隘寮遺址) on Mt. Shidinghou-shan

I place my articles more in English lately and find that they draw more readers than ones in Japanese. In other words there is much more audience to English articles. I have since received some feedbacks telling me that they have visited the places that I had introduced in English. Under the current pandemic environment, it is almost impossible for overseas hikers coming to Taiwan for hike, not to mention from Japan. The destinations of my hikes in English articles are lately ones where trails are recently cleared out by volunteers for easy passage. My intention is to recommend English-speaking hikers to try these routes otherwise left unaware of such nice trails.

Trails of this kind go back to wilderness unless people keep coming in to walk; As soon as volunteers come in to clear trails covered with weeds and fallen trunks, a bunch of hikers come and walk, and then the trails are left unvisted to let wilderness take over again. After a several years of neglect, the same cycle repeats itself. Now we have more hikers partially due to the pandemic which forces people to look for domestic destinations to travel, and I reckon the population of regular hikers indeed has increased. If we have more hikers visiting such trails frequently, the sad cycle may not necessarily repeats itself. I believe that this is where my English articles play a role, however small it may be.

Map of our hike

This article describes trails of the very kind that I have just mentioned. The area of the hike is the same as my article of April 20, the mountains by Feicui reservoir (翡翠水庫) just a little west of the last article. We started from Shuangkeng bus stop (雙坑站) , first going down to the valley of Qingtanxi river (青潭溪) and up to the trail head by a Tudigong shrine (土地公). The three sections of the old trail led us to the main ridge line. We went over three peaks on the ridge and visited Mt. Niaozui-shan (鳥嘴山) , and then down to Zhongsheng road (中生路) by way of Mt. Shuangkeng-shan (雙坑山). The weather was fine and the view of Feizui reservoir from Mt. Shidinghou-shan (石碇後山) was nice.

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Twin-peak of Mt. Jixinjian welcomes us near Shuangkeng bus stop

On the way down to the valley

We meet at MRT Xindian station (捷運新店站) at 7:00 to catch 7:15 Green 12 route bus (綠12). By the time our bus is ready for boarding, a long queue is formed at the gate. The bus leaves on time and arrives at Shuangkeng stop at 7:34. In a few minutes we set off on Shuangfeng road (雙峰路) which diverges from Beiyi highway (北宜公路)  down to the valley. The twin pointing peaks stand right in front as if welcoming us. We get down to the bottom (elevation 117 meters) in 10 minutes or so, cross a bridge and start ascend. The road passes by a dog breeding center with so many dogs barking crazily as we approach. As soon as we see Cuifeng road (翠峰路) breaks off to our right at 8:08 we come to the trail head (elev. 204m) by a Taoist shrine and have a short rest.

The head of old trail by Tudigong shrine

Stone steps of the old trail

A bridge crosses over a small stream

Going up steep trail with white flowers

The old trail is pretty clean and begins with stone steps. It soon gradually goes up by a stream down on our right and in a several minutes comes to cross a stream over a bridge. It then gets onto a ridge and steeply goes up with steps. White flowers of tung oild trees are sprinkled over like a thin white rag at some points. At 8:36 we arrive at a junction (elev. 360m). The right trail leads to a paved road while the left one goes up along the valley and eventually reaches the pass on top connecting to Shifenzi old trail, which we just walked down 10 days ago. The left trail is rather wide going flat for a while and come to a ruin of a stone house. The trail then gets narrower and steeper and soon down to a stream to cross it. The trail is clean and a lot of ropes is attached where necessary. We get to another junction (elev. 455m) at 8:53.

Going along flat trails

A ruin of an old house

Crossing a stream

Trail going up to the main ridge

We make a right turn and follow a level trail to a junction for several minutes. The left weed-covered trail is the one leading to the main ridge in front of Mt. Zhongling-shan (中嶺山). This trail is pretty steep. Many old-looking signs show up as we go up. This seems to have been one of popular routes many years ago. It  has not been cleared by the recent work but it is good enough. We reach the main ridge line at 9:24. Going right for another 10 minutes we get to the summit (elev. 626m). Some of us visited only three weeks ago from another direction. The widely cleaned peaks is under a rather overcast sky but it still offers a view of distance like Mt. Erge-shan (二格山), Mt, Huangdidian-shan (皇帝殿山) and peaks beyond in Pingxi (平溪) area. On the other side buildings of Ankeng (安坑) and Zhonghe (中和) are visible and the flat plateau of Linko (林口) rises far behind them.

Grass covered trail

At the summit of Mt. Zhonglin-shan

Peaks of Pingxi viewed from the summit

View towards Taipei and beyond

Going down a steep path

The trail from the summit is rather steep at some sections. In several minutes we come to a spot free of weeds, which enables a view over the Feicui reservoir and in another two, three minutes come to a junction, We take a left trail to keep our way to Mt. Shidinghou-shan. Shortly after merging a trail from right, our trail starts ascent. The further we go the steeper it gets. At 10:41 we see a pile of stones making a kind of circle on a widely cleaned flat space and a little mound on its left. A triangular maker stone is in the center of the mound showing this is the summit of Mt. Shidinghou-shan (elev. 669m) . The mound is a good vantage point as there is no grasses nor woods to obstruct a view of the Feicui reservoir below and ranges of mountains beyond. When we visited this same place a year go, it was surrounded by thick mist and we had no view at all.  It is rather hot on the mound so we get down and have a rest under trees.

Passing a junction to meet a trail from right

Going up a steep section to Mt. Shidinghou-shan

The summit with a marker stone in its center

Ruin of Aiyong camp view from above

The pile of rocks is in fact a ruin of Aiyong defense line guard camp (隘勇線隘寮). The Aiyong line was a kind of boarder between the territory of indigenous people and the flat land a century ago.  This security system was first established under the regime of Chin dynasty of China to protect immigrants from China to go into mountain areas for cultivation. The indigenous people regarded incoming lowlanders as intruders to their territories and killed them. The system survived after the Japanese regime took over. When the fifth governor-general Sakuma Samata (佐久間左馬太) introduced a stringent policy to indigenous tribes and issues, Aiyong system expanded its area and forces. Many Aiyong lines were established and more guards stationed along the lines. Some lines were equipped with barbed wires, even with electric current to deter approach. A wide band of trees on both sides of the line were cut down to prevent stealth attacks from the indigenous people. As they came under control of the authority, Aiyong lines  had gradually become of less use and the system itself was all abolished by 1926. Some areas in mountain with rather difficult control, a more elaborate system of police patrol road (警備道) took over the Aiyong system. This particular ruin is one of the camps of Aiyong line running on the ridge from Mt. Zhitan-shan (直潭山) to Mt. Leigongpi-shan (雷公埤山)  and further as a part of Jingwei Aiyong line (景尾隘勇線). 

Coming out into an open section with grasses

The summit of Mt. Chijiaolan-shan

View over the reservoir on the way down from Mt. Chijiaolan-shan

Recently cleared trail with new ropes

After a rather long break of twenty some minutes, we head for our next peak of Mt. Chijiaolan-shan (赤腳蘭山) at 11:04. After passing a small hump, the trail starts a gradual decent. At 11:20 we come out of woods to a grass area. You can have a view of Taipei over grasses as you go down. The descent turns to a slight ascent and we reach the summit of Chijiaolan-shan at 11:26. The summit is also a junction point and a trail going down on left leads to Mt. Niaozui-shan (鳥嘴山). The trail is very steep. It is good that a lot of new ropes are fixed. On our way down we run into a group of five people coming up. Some of the members are familiar with us. Ten minutes of decent brings us to a junction. A hiker with a familiar face is resting there. She says that she has come here by herself to join us. We keep our way to the summit of Mt. Niaozui-shan, which is just a few minutes away. We arrive at it after a short final ascent at 11:49. There is a open slit between trees at the end of summit, which yields a limited view over the emerald green water beneath. An old direction sign post still stands. It makes me wonder whether this remote peak once was a popular destination of hike. We return to the junction and have a lunch break.

The summit of Mt. Niaozui-shan with its old direction sign

View of the reservoir from Mt. Niaozui-shan

Going a flat trail along the mountain side

A good long rest is enjoyable, It breezes and is comfortable. We leave at 12:38 for our next destination.　The trail goes rather flat at the side of Mt. Chijiaolan-shan. The last short ascent bring us a four-way junction where the ridge line trail from Mt. Chijiaolan-shan meets.  We go strait to the other side and down to Cuifeng road (翠峰路). The dart road soon turns to be a paved road and some houses and tee tree fields show up by the road. You can have a nice open view over the fields like Taipei and Yangmingshan (陽明山) beyond. Mt. Jixinjian (雞心尖)  is just across the valley. The road merges a another road from a big cemetery. In a few more minutes the road turns right to down where our road to the trail head of Mt. Shuangkeng-shan (雙坑山) diverges. We follow it and come to the trail head at 13:32.

Four-way junction on the ridge

Going along Cuifeng road with an open view over tee trees

The head of trail to Mt. Shuangkeng-shan

At Mt. Shuangkeng-shan

Down the recently cleared old trail

This trail is also a maintenance path of electric transmission towers. We follow it down for a few minutes and see a sign of Mt. Shuangkeng-shan. This is not a summit but just a spot of a triangulation marker and thus gets a name of a peak. The trail gets steeper and goes under a tower. The nature of the trail turns to be one of old trails and soon stone steps and a ruin of stone house show up. The size of the ruin is rather large, hinting that the residents were of power and money. We keep on going down and come out into an open field where the Beiyi highway is apparent up on the hill across the valley. Three precarious looking ladders let us down onto Zhongsheng road (中生路). 

Ruin of an old house

Precarious metal ladders

We walk on Zhongsheng road and pass a large fishing pond where many fishers sit by. Walking under the sun is rather tiresome. We keep a fast pace of our last leg to Zhongshengqiao brige (中生橋) bus stop. At 15:11 We arrive at the bus stop and conclude our hike. A bus of #650 comes and members take it to leave.

A fishing pond by Zhongsheng road

Zhongsheng bridge with mountains of our hike behind

The hike took 7 and a half hours including rests, covering 13.9 kilometers. The total ascent was 990 meters and descent 1110 meters. The route physical index is 28. The weather was fine and it was an enjoyable hike with a nice view over Feicui reservoir and historical objects, If you are interested in Aiyong line, you may as well enjoy visiting Mt. Shizitou-shan (獅子頭山) of Xindian where a protected ruin of a larger Aiyong guard station and other related objects like a memorial stone remain.