2021年12月8日 萬里大坪から磺嘴山を登り赤石六山経由で下山 Mt. Huangzui-shan & Mt. Chishiliu-shan of Wanli

Mt. Huangzui-shan viewed from Jinshan, building in front is Taiwan university hospital(Nov. 2020)

陽明山國家公園に属する磺嘴山は、七万年前に噴火した休火山である。山頂は灌木がほとんどなくカヤに覆われている。冬の季節風に晒され樹木が育たない。海側金山や萬里から見上げると、たおやかな山頂をいただく。天気が良ければ絶好の展望台だ。その北東に延びる尾根を追っていくと、赤石六山がある。ちょっと変わった名前の当座は、実は3年前に登った。当時は草や樹木に覆われ、本来は大坪へ下る予定の変更を余儀なくされ直接下山した。

先月初めに雨の中で歩いた鹿堀坪古道や大坪古道の途中から磺嘴山へ登る道が二つあるが、ともに9月に藍天隊により草刈り整備が行われていた。その道をへて磺嘴山を登頂、もう一つの道を下って大坪古道の峠に降り、そこからさらに稜線を追って、三年ぶりに赤石六山を登頂した。前回の無念を晴らした形だ。磺嘴山は、擎天崗から風櫃嘴へと延びる、陽明山公園のオフィシャルルート途中から往復する登山者は多い。大坪側から登る登山者は、カヤに覆われ道筋すらはっきりしない道を経なければならず、かなり少ない。藍天隊の作業のおかげで、このルートもアクセスがとてもよくなった。一方、赤石六山は相変わらず、不人気山である。峠から一歩赤石六山へと踏み入れると、ほとんど踏み跡がない。マーカーリボンも部分的には少なく、GPSと地形をにらんで方向を定める必要があった。

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Travel from south to north

Mt. Huangzui-shan (磺嘴山 elevation 912 meters), with its massive body, dominates the southern sky line of Jinshan (金山). Swept by winter seasonal northeast gale, the upper body of the mountain has very few trees but is covered with tall silver grasses. This is one of special features of Yanmingshan mountain range (陽明山山區), and this peak clearly represents its characteristic. So the whole mountain range once was called Caoshan (草山,  grass mountains). Summits of such mountains are good vantage points on a clear sunny day. The dense grass field is very hard to pass through if trails are covered with grasses. Most of the hikers to Mt. Huangzui-shan come south from Qingtiangang (擎天崗) via an official trail. This route is well kept in shape, while hikers to follow trails north from Daping (大坪) are not that lucky. They have to struggle to find the direction and swim (or dive) through a sea of vast tall grasses.

On the summit of Huangzui-shan

Lantiandui (藍天隊) of volunteer hiker group came in Daping this September and cleared two trails from Daping to the summit. This would give hikers a very good chance to visit the peak from Daping. We hiked Daping old trail (大坪古道) last month, which was also cleared by the Langtiandui, and noticed a trail diverging from the old trail. On this hike we went up to the summit via one of the two trails and down along the other. At the north east of Mt. Huangzui-shan stands Mt. Chishiliu-shan (赤石六山, elev. 462m) and is connected to Mt. Huangzhui-shan via a ridge of small peaks in between. We visited Mt. Chishiliu=shan three years ago. This peak is very little visited and its trails are not good. We had a hard time to get to the summit and had to gave up to continue our way to Daping but to went directly down to its foot. We were successfully pass the ridge route and to the summit of Mt. Chiliushi-shan after coming down from Mt. Huangzui-shan this time.

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Mt. Huangzui-shan viewed from taxi on our way up

Trail head of Laoliaohu, Huangzxui-shan in far front

Just like our trip to Daping (大坪) last month, we meet at Wanliqiaotou (萬里橋頭) bus stop at 8:30. When my #1068 bus with three friends on board arrives there, two members out of the total six today are waiting. Also like the last trip, we take two taxies to our starting point of the day. The taxies shortly go up to Daping plateau. When we get on to the edge of the plateau, Mt. Huangzui-shan shows up in front. We pass by a bus stop of Daping where we took left to the head of Luquping old trail (鹿堀坪古道) last month and keep on going straight for our destination this time. Our taxies climb a final and short uphill and reach a junction to Liaoliaohu (老寮湖) tudigong shrine (土地公) at 8:51. The taxi fare to this point is NT$300 each car.

A notice board of Yangmingshan park

Strangely shaped tree by the trail

We go up a little passing by the tudigong high up on our left and see a sign of Luquping old trail (鹿堀坪古道). This is where we begin our hike today (elevation 435 meters). Mt. Huangzui-shan stands much nearer than when I saw on our way up. This dirt trail must have been an important work path for the local people in the past. We go up along the trail for twenty minutes and come in cedar trees. A notice board of the Yangmingshan park authority states that you are entering an ecological reserve area. You have to have a permit to go in. We applied for it last week and obtained for all of us. There is a quota for the number of daily entries. You will have more chances to get it for weekdays.

A junction of old trail to Mt.huangzui-shan

Top of the mountain over grasses

Getting out of cedar trees we keep on our ascent for another twenty minutes to reach a junction at 9:36. A trail diverges right to Mt. Huangzuishan. The left trail goes down to meet a trail going along Touqianxi river (頭前溪). We take the right one to keep ascending. In a few minutes we come into a silver grass field where we can see the top of the mountain. We again go into woods. A low stone wall lies long on a rather flat field with flimsy bushes. This must have been piled up by local people in the past for some use, which we cannot figure out.

A low stone piled wall

Steep climb in woods

The trail traverses flat along the hillside for some time and changes its direction for a steep uphill. At 10:03 we get out of woods and see a vast grass field. The work of Lantiandui group is obvious. A single path cut out of tall grasses leads upwards in front of us. As we are out of woods, a wide view of landscape spreads over a sea of grasses under a cloudy sky. Another twenty-minutes climb brings us up to the edge of the mountain which circles around a depressed center of the resting volcano. It is said that Mt. Huangzui-shan exploded Seventy thousand years ago.

Getting into grass field

A trail between tall grasses

We take left and go long the ridge to the summit. The path gradually goes up passing patches of small meadows devoid of tall silver grasses. We reach the summit (elev. 912m) at 10:39. A large flat summit is encircled with tall grasses. Standing the edge allows a better view. On the north mountains of Jinshan (金山) and Wanli (萬里)  are rolling down to the sea coast. Yeliou (野柳) peninsula is poking into the ocean. You can identify as far as Mt. Jilong-shan (基隆山) of Jiufen (九份). The Daping plateau reveals its large side at the foot of this mountain. On the other side we can see Mt. Qixing-shan (七星山) beyond waving grasses of gentle slopes. Mt. Dajian-shan (大尖山) is very close from here. Even the buildings of National cemetery of Wuzhishan is visible. This is my third visit to the summit and gives me the best view ever.

Mountain top over a sea of grasses

Reaching the erim of mountain

Summit of Mt. Huangzui-shan

Mountains of Jiufen in far distance and Daping plateau in front

Yeliou Peninsula

Mt. Qixing-shan

Only dense grass field with no trail to north peak

Having enjoyed a nice twenty-minutes break on the summit, during which the sun shows up, we leave at 11:02. We follow back the path that we have come and go beyond the junction. The trail leaves the grassy edge and down to the depressed open filed. We soon see the path goes down on our right. Originally we plan to go to the north peak but we see only endless grass field but no trail. Looking for it for a while yields no result. We decide to give up because we have yet a long way to cover.

Going down a steep stream bed

The trail goes down along a rocky stream bed with no water for a while. It leads into a grass filed in a few minutes. At 11:22 we pass by a site of abandoned charcoal kiln surrounded by thin trees. Local people used to come up here to produce charcoal in the past. The trail again gets into a sea of grasses with a steep downhill. Over the grasses we can identify Mt. Chishiliu-shan lying low in distance. We finally come into woods around 11:30. The grade gets flat after another 15 minutes of steep descent. At 11:57 we reach a four-way junction of Daping old trail (elev. 540m) to have a lunch break.  

Abandoned charcoal kiln

Mt. Chishiliu-shan beneath in front

Junction of Daping old trail

Trail to Mt. Chishiliu-shan

It was dark here at the junction in rain last month while it is much brighter now and generates a totally different impression. We spend a good half hour to enjoy our lunch. A direction sign showing the way to Mt. Chishiliu-sha is brand new but as soon as you step in, you find that the trail is anything but clear. Obviously very few hikers take this route. There are markers tied to tree branches but they are rather sporadic and some are pretty old. We go over a couple of small humps and we get almost lost at one point. We try a few directions but they don't look right. We get back to where we got lost. Comparing our GPS and the terrain, we find out the right way. From there on the track is more visible and it is easier to follow. We finally come out onto a maintenance path of electric transmission towers at 12:56.

Pass by a electric transmission tower

A good path is only up to this point

No visible track but easy to advance on such locations

Ducking through nasty thorny rotang palms

Final approach to Mt. Chishiliu-shan

We pass by a tower and follow the path down. This good path lasts only for a few minutes and leaves the ridge to left. A good and clear path is over and another flimsy trail takes over to go on the ridge. Fortunately this section has more markers to help us navigate. The ridge is mostly covered with thin broad leaf trees with very little undergrowth. The track is not so clear but it is much easier to go on such locations than ones with dense vegetation. Only once in a while rotang palms (黃藤) hook our cloth if not careful. There are small ups and downs on the ridge to pass over. We reach a junction at 13:46. This is where a ridge from other side meets. We came from that direction last time. We take right to follow a descending ridge. A small opening with a sign of Mt. Chishiliu-shan shows up at 13:57. Four of us have come this summit again. We are happy to have made it through this time. 

Summit of Mt. Chishiliu-shan

A view from summit

Going down a steep slope

Our way down is pretty steep. The trail soon gets down on a precipitous and slippery slope. You have to concentrate on where to place your feet for not to slip. Safely ropes are fixed, though they look mostly old. A big gap of rocks shows up after about 10 minutes of descent. Everybody carefully passes the gap and continues down. In about another ten minutes sound of stream is coming up from the valley below, indicating the steep descent will soon be over. We arrive at the stream side at 13:49. The rest is to follow a path by the stream. A pond shows up by the stream and our dirt trail ends by a farm house (達天吳家農場 elev. 220m) at 14:50. Our hard time is over! 

Passing through a rocky gap

Farm house

Take a walkway on the right

Having a final rest in front of the house we take on a long way down to Binhai highway (濱海公路) at 15:03. We still have more than three kilometers to get to our destination, Dapeng primary school (大鵬國小) bus stop. There is little traffic on the paved rode in this remote corner. We pass by a shrine of tudigong on our left. A stepped walk way goes down by the stream, which we take to walk down. It meets the winding-down paved road. We continue our way down on the paved road again.  

A old banyang tree

Mt. Chishiliu-shan is far and high

Passing by another shrine with a big banyang old tree (老榕樹) we cross the stream over a bridge. Looking back from the bridge, Mt. Chishilu-shan is already far and high. The road passes by a park of Huangtan community (磺潭社區) on our left. We make a right turn after passing Weiduo-si temple (韋馱寺) with a many luohan (羅漢) statutes in front. We reach the bus stop on Binhai hiighway at 15:53. Mt. Huangzui-shan with Mt. Chishilu-shan in its front stands far over Yuantan-xi river (員潭溪)  as if saying goodbye to us.

Mt. Chishiliu-shan (left) and Mt. Huangzuishan

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Our trip lasted seven hours including rest time to cover a little over 10 kilometers. We descended more than ascended, 951 meters and 524 meters respectively. The route physical index amounts to 21.

Unlike our last visit in November, the weather was OK throughout our activity, sometime sunny and sometime cloudy. The good weather afforded a splendid view from the top of Mt. Huangzui-shan. It is a good hike to climb Mt. Huangzui-shan on a such fine day. Though you have to apply for a permit, it is well worth it. One drawback though: the authority of Yangmingshan national park requires a citizen ID for application, meaning only Taiwan nationals can do it for you if you are not. The paths among tall silver grasses will probably be clogged by fast growing  grasses in a few months. Hurry if you want to climb Mt. Huangzui-shan from Daping like us.