2025年11月16日 紗帽山秘徑：Adventurous routes on the little Mt. Shamao-shan

A new shinny marker of 605(606) Peak summit

今年9月に紗帽山をあまり歩かれていない非官製路経由で登った。登頂したときに天気が急変したので、下山は官製石段道で下山した。そのため、今回はまた前回予定して歩かなかった、当山の南側と東側のルートを歩いて、9月の時の目的を果たした。この小さい山には、それでもまだ走破していない部分も残る。いずれ機会があったら、それを補う形でいっても面白いかもしれない。このような歩き方は、当座を初めて登るには、ちょっと適さないが。行きは天母古道、下山は翠峰瀑布を経由して歩いた。

Hiked counter-clock wise

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Mt. Shamao-shan (紗帽山) stands in front of Mt. Qixing-shan (七星山) as a little servant to its master. Its distinctive shape resembles a hat of ancient Chinese officials, so has got its name. This mountain has a good official trail from two sides and attracts countless hikers throughout a year. This little mountain (well, at 645metes in elevation, height wise not so little compared with other mountains, though) has a special attraction for experienced hikers up its sleeve.

Shamao-shan, summit on its left peak, 605 Peak on the right

If you look at a map of the mountain, you find three ring paths going around at a low, middle and high level of its slope of three hundred meter in height. Besides three circular paths several up-and-down paths connecting the ring ones, as if making a web of paths. Why and how such trails? It is a work of volunteer hikers. I do not know who they are but surely they are working on this project(?). Thanks to their work, this uneventful mountain has got a special feature.

members at the summit viewing deck

After I came to know this trail web, my friends and I went to Shamao-shan to hike along paths on the west and north sides and up to the summit in this September. As soon as we got there, shower started falling as a typhoon were approaching, and abandoned my original plan to go down by paths of the other sides. We went down by the official stone-step trail, instead. This is our second hike of this sort and hiked the east and south sides to supplement the original plan of September.

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Tianmu trail head

A large water pipe parallel to the trail

Ten of us met at Tianmu (天母) and started climbing along Tianmu historical trail (天母古道) at a little before 8:30. This trail is very well-known and the author walked up and down many times in the past. Tianmu itself is a nice residential area on a gentle slope. The trail goes up about 200 meters from the trail head and continues on a flat section for another couple of kilometers. We were up at the end of a steep step way at 8:52 and followed the flat section for another twenty minutes to reach a rest spot with a few benches. On our way along the flat section saw a group of monkeys playing around. A female monkey held a very small baby in her arms that looks just born recently. They were not afraid of human at all.

a tiny baby monkey in mother's arm

Down to the valley

After a short break we continued our way to the top of the trail's final ascending section and went down to a valley bottom to cross a brook. Because the water contains iron the brook bed and stones are all of reddish color. Climbing back to Shamao road (紗帽路) found the trail head of our first path in a small gap of the retaining wall across the road. If you do not know it, you would surely not notice.

An obscure trail head😂

The trail is like this

At 9:37 we squeeze into the gap to start our ascent. The trail is pretty primitive and its track is rather obscure but traceable. As we climb we pass rope sections and hit a fork with a bottom ring trail at 9:55.  In order to explore the web of trails, we take this bottom ring path for some time. It soon diverges a path going up and keeps along the slope with many ups and downs. The track surface is pretty soft, meaning seldom travelled. In thirty minutes the path has brought us to another fork with an ascending path. We take this and up for a  while to find a good point to have a rest for a few minutes.

Pangolin's nest looks abandoned

Many ups and downs on traversing path

Thankfully ropes are fixed for steep climb

Approaching the middle level trail

An open filed among woods

Ten minutes ascent from the rest spot has brought us to a fork with a middle level ring trail. We take left there to meet another path that goes up to a upper ring path. The ascending path crosses the upper path and has led us to the summit of 605 Peak, which we have reached at 11:21. At a corner of circle of cleared weeds finds a shiny marker that shows "Buttock" peak (臀翹峰) and 606m (see the top of this article). This stainless steel marker looks recently planted. The map shows the elevation is 605m, which in fact does not matter much. The name should have been derived from the shape of the mountain skyline. We had a lunch break there.

Fallen trees are not few

Top of 605 Peak just ahead

Lunch break

Up the stone steps to the summit

At 11:55 we head for the main peak of the mountain. The descending path met the stone step official trail. My original plan was to continue the unofficial path across the stone trail, but we were not able to find it where the map shows so we followed the stone trail to reach the summit, which we reached at 12:08. This is our destination of the day. There are a dozen of hikers around the summit and its adjacent viewing platform. This is quite a contrast with the route we have come up. Mt. Qixing-shan was covered with white cloud when we were on the platform.

A panorama from the viewing deck

Going down by primitive trail

Crawling under fallen trees and branches

Steep but good track

We went down by more unofficial trails, first down to the upper ring path and follow it to meet a descending one. The descending trail parallel to the official trail is pretty steep but ropes are fixed for almost all steep stretches. This track looks pretty solid without weeds compared with the ones along which we have come so far. This must have been opened for some long time and traveled often.  At the point where this path turns to right we take another path to get to the official stone trail.  We pop out onto the stone trail in a few minutes and follow it all the way down to its trail head. We were down at the trail head by Shamao Road at 13:05 and had a short rest there.

Pop out onto the stone step way

Down to the trail head

We were climbing this side of the mountain a while ago

Back at Tianmu grail

We went back along Shamao Road for the Tianmu trail and back onto it until reaching the junction where a trail goes down to Cuifeng water fall (翠峰瀑布).  As we went down the water fall’s noise was getting louder. We reached the valley bottom at 13:47 where the water fall shows its plentiful water flowing down. It is very impressive. The stream bed is of reddish color here too. We had our final break by the water fall. A member shared her beer with others. It was a nice and leisurely ending of our hike today.

Down to the waterfall

Almost there

Plastic pipe replaced the original canal

Our final leg of the hike was walking along Houdongzhun canal trail (猴洞圳古道) and then onto Zhongshan North Road section 7 lane 219 (中山北路1段219巷) back to Tianmu. Shortly after our arrival at Tiamnu bus stop 14:47, our bus (Red 19 紅19) bound for MRT Shipai station (捷運石牌站) has come. We have spent 6 hours and 40 minutes inclusive of rests, approximately 9.5 kilometers. The total ascent 670 meters with the route physical index 22.

Walking by the river

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Although we visited Shamao-shan twice to walk those flimsy trails, there are still more left untraced. We may do it again to cover more paths but for the time being this kind of activity would not be repeated.  If you are an experienced hiker able to read a map and want to try something unconventional, you can try those crisscrossing trails around Shamaoshan. It is a kind of little adventure that can be done in a familiar environment.