2021年12月4日 貓空郊山行 Low altitude mountains of Maokong under a precious winter blue sky

Old name plates of Simiantou-shan

11月に行った馬博拉斯橫斷縱走のあと、左足のヒラメ筋がおそらく疲労のために炎症で、三週間ほどほとんど運動することなく療養した。その結果、痛みはとれ大丈夫のようなので、今回の短時間の近郊低山登山を行った。歩行ルートは、2013年に貓空からスタートして歩いた三玄宮山から四面頭山を経て崎頭崙へと続く尾根である。前回は単独で下りでたったが、今回は公開したところ、天気が良いこともあり十七名のメンバー集まり、逆方向に登り、政治大学キャンパスへと下った。

台湾北部の11月は、雨が多かった。12月に入っても、さっぱりせず曇りや雨である。青空が広がると、実にうれしい気分になる。気温は低く20度以下であるが、台北近郊の山を歩くには最適の天候だ。春から秋にかけ、高度の低い台北近郊の山は、時には暑くて閉口することもある。暑い時期は山上で飲む冷えたビールは歓迎だが。今回は、道も乾いていて、時折吹く風は登りでかいた汗を冷やしてくれた。じっとしていれば、もちろん肌寒い。今回は、方向こそ違うが、以前と同じルートで、尚且つ英語を話すメンバーも参加なので、英語で記述する。

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hike from south to north

The long trek to Mabolasi cross high mountain range route (馬博拉斯橫斷縱走路線) left me a pain in my left calf. The doctor told me that my soleus muscle had been injured probably due to overload and it would take a long time to heal. It surely took me three weeks to get rid of the pain, during which I have had very little exercise, not to mention very little walking around. I once had a similar problem nine years ago and it also took a long time to recover. As my calf was getting better, I came up with a plan to hike this route, which is with a moderate profile of ups and downs as well as the distance is not that long. It would help me find whether my calf has fully recovered or not. I am familiar with the route as I hiked the same route several years ago though in the reversed direction so had no concern of difficulties for the route.

At the summit of Mt. Shiliiufen-shan

I placed the plan of this hiking activity in the Taipei Hiker club page on the Face Book. On the day of the hike, 17 people showed up. The nice weather probably encouraged them to come out and join me. We met at MRT Xindian (新店) station and headed for our staring point, Zhongsheng bridge (中生橋頭站) by bus. Our trail starts just in a short distance from the bus stop along Beiyi highway (北宜公路). We went over five peaks on our way: Mt. Qitoulun (崎頭崙), Mt. Liufen-shan (六分山), Mt. Simaintou-shan (四面頭山) and Mt. Shiliufen-shan (十六分山) and Mt. Sanxuangong-shan (三玄宮山). With an elevation of 520 meters, Mt. Simiantou-shan is the highest and others are in the 400 ~ 500 meters range except Mt. Qitoulun with just a 231-meter elevation. We took the Chaslu trail (茶路步道) and a paved rode down to Zhengzhi University of Muzha (木柵政治大學) to complete our hike. Curiously the names of these peaks all carry numbers except Mt. Qitoulun.

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At Zhongsheng bridge bus stop

Take the right road from Beiyi highway

We arrive at Zhongsheng bridge bus stop at 8:30. This is the last stop of this bus service so all passengers alight. It was just a ten-minute ride from MRT Xindian sattion. The sky is fine blue and promises a nice day for our hike. Eighteen of us set off after preparation. We go up a little along Beiyi highway and take a right road going down for the direction of Guoshiguan (國史館 Academia Histrica). Walking down to the end of the road we see a little path starts by a building with a direction sign. This path leads to Beiyi highway, serving as a shortcut. 

Trail head by the road

Ascending a rope fixed grade

In the past several years Beiyi highway has almost become a race track on week ends. Countless powerful motor cycles and sports cars are speeding up and down the road with very loud exhaust. We carefully cross the road and get to the trail head on the opposite side. This is pretty noticeable as new while ropes are showing themselves in a dark woods. The trail starts with a pretty steep uphill. Ropes are fixed for such steep sections. A large obstructing trunk was cut half, which was done by volunteer hikers, Allied Hikers Corp (聯合艦隊) a month ago. When I hiked in the past, the track was covered with grasses at many locations. They have done a great job!

Morning sun shines in forest

Summit of Mt. Qitoulun

We have a lot of rainy days recently in the northern Taiwan. It rained a couple of days before so I was worried about muddy trails, but it turned out to be dry, which is good for hiking. As we get onto a ridge at 8:56, the steep section ends. Morning light shines into the woods which makes you feel good after passing through the dark forest. Following the ridge trail we come to our first summit, Mt. Qitoulun at 9:05 Another group of hikers are there taking pictures. They say that they have come up from the other trail head. The summit is cleared of weeds and a stone maker is at its center. Surrounding trees prevent any view of landscape.

A nice maintenance path lasts for a short while

climbing under a nicely trimmed bush

The trail from the summit soon meets a trail coming up from our right, by which the other party on the summit must have come up. This part of the trail belongs to electric line maintenance paths of Taiwan Electric and has been kept in good shape to begin with. The maintenance path goes by a transmission tower and leaves the ridge to left where a hiking trail continues on the ridge. The trail goes up on a rocky section. Though the trail is narrower than the maintenance path, it is in good condition and looks well travelled, unlike my last visit here.

Going through bamboos

Ropes are fixed at every steep stretch

Camelia flowers on the trail floor

Junction before Mt. Liufen-shan

Every steep stretch has fixed ropes, which was attached by the volunteer hikers. The trail passes a few places of beautiful bamboo forests, which are pretty common in low altitude mountains. Also common are white camellia flowers (茶花).  You find them lying on the trail floor. After passing many small ups and downs, we come to a junction to the summit of Mt. Liufen-shna (六分山) at 10:10. The left trail goes down to connect Yinhedong trail (銀河洞步道) . We take the right one, which soon goes up a very steep section with bare rocks. Ropes are fixed to secure safe passages. In ten minutes we reach the summit (elevation 462 meters) where a very clear view of the urban Taipei area extends on our left beyond the ridge line of Mt. Daxian-shan (大香山) to Mt. Ejiaoge-shan (鵝角格山).

Steep climb to the summit

A view from Mt. Liufen-shan

At the summit of Mt. Liufen-shan

Sifengyan shrine

Rocky trail

After a 15-minute break we keep on the ridge trail and at 10:49 come down to meet a paved road coming up from Beiyi highway on our right. There is a Tudigong shrine (土地公) called Sifangyan (肆方嚴, elev. 405m), whose altar is a carved-out rock hole. Passing in front of it we make a right turn. A trail diverges left down to the valley. Our trail goes up onto the ridge again and keep climbing the slope with a lot of rocks, big and small. Passing a bunch of bamboo forests again we come up to the summit of Mt. Simiantou-shan (四面頭山) at 11:16. With an elevation of 520 meters, this is the highest point of our hike today. It is also surrounded with bamboos.

Going through bamboos again

Summit of Simiantou-shan

Junction to Mr. Erge-shan

An easy walk of several minutes leads us to a junction where we take left. The right trail leads all the way to Mt. Erge-shan (二格山 or 石尖山). The left trail goes up a little and finds a junction to Mt. Shiliufen-shan (十六分山, elev. 515m) on our right. We take this steep trail up to the summit, which we reach in a matter of three minutes. The once weedy summit is now clear of any grasses. We have a break on it.

Summit of Shliufen-shan

Strolling along a nice trail with stone steps behind

A bar with a notice blocks access to Sanxuangong-shan

Descending to the junction by the same trail we keep on the trail to Mt. Sanxuangong-shan (三玄宮山). This trail goes along the mountain side, not on the ridge. Old looking stone steps are placed at some points, which indicates this must be an old trail travelled by local people in the past. A junction to to the summit of Mt. Sanxuangong-shan shows up at 12:09. We take right and go up to find a bar and a sign prohibiting our passage. The sign says that some hikers left trashes and urinated everywhere so the property owner decided to close the area. We go up anyway and meet the owner who happens to be there. She allows us to have a rest under the hut and have a lunch. She even brings out her harmonica to play music for us. It is very kind of her.

A view from the Shelter of Sanxhuangong-shan

Having a lunch under a hut

A pavilion once stood on this junction square

Handrails have been renewed

The north side of the hut is open and affords a nice view of landscape. You can have a clear view of Taipei and beyond including Yanmingshan (陽明山) and Mt. Guanyin-shan (八里觀音山). Just under you feet you can spot Maokong station of gondolas  (貓空纜車站). Spending good forty minutes we leave the shelter and down to  junction below. To my surprise the pavilion there has gone and only a flat square with pebbles lies. The step trail from the junction has apparently been renewed since my last visit three years ago. We reach the Maokong station at 13:06. Nobody wants to take a ride of bus down and all of us keep going down on foot. We take Chalu trail (茶路步道) from Maokong, which is said to be a part of an  old trail. Farmers carried tea produces down for market along this trail in old days.

Maokong station

Looking back Mt. Sanxuangong-shan

Going down along Chalu trail passing Dongshengyuan

We soon pass by Dongshengyuan (東昇園) restaurant, where we had a lunch gathering several times. This trail belongs to the hiking trail system of Taipei municipal government. It gets maintenance by the authority. Some sections are with stone steps and others are covered with concrete. As we go down, we see Zhinangong temple (指南宮) on the right hilltop. At 13:45 we have a final break just above Zhinan primary school (指南國小) by which this trail ends. 

Zhinangong on the right hilltop

Final leg of our hike along Zhinan road

Reaching Zhinan road (指南路) we take it all the way down to the campus of Zhengzhi university, where we reach at 14:04. We go through the campus and come out to the main gate. A bus stop is just across the street. Everybody takes his or her own bus to end the hike.

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A cat (貓) with a name of Kong (空)??

It proved an easy hike as expected. It took five hours and forty minutes with a lot of rest time. The distance we covered was about 9 kilometers with a total ascent of 532 meters and descent of 565 meters, which calculates the route physical index 19. Under such a beautiful weather, it was a nice break-off from the pain in my left calf, for which I had no exercise for three weeks to recover.