Category Hiking
One of the things I enjoy the most when I’m out hiking are the sections of trail that require you to do a bit of actual climbing. Compared with flatter trails, which feel like going for a walk in the forest, those sections fill me with a sense of adventure. The thing is, they don’t need to be particularly difficult to be fun; you can have a route which, by climbing standards, is pretty easy, but the fact that it’s too steep to simply walk up, and you’re out in nature rather than at a climbing gym, makes it feel … Read the rest
A couple of years ago I hiked all five peaks of Five Finger Mountain (五指山). At the end of that hike I came to the conclusion that the ring finger and little finger peaks are only worth hiking if you have the explicit goal of doing all five fingers, but can skip them otherwise. A few weeks ago I went back to Five Finger Mountain to hike what I consider to be the optimal route. Here you can see a map of my route, click it for more details.
It starts by going through the very narrow gorge called … Read the rest
A while back I wrote about going on what I called Tiny Adventures. In the last couple of years, I’ve reduced the frequency of these excursions, opting instead to turn them into proper hikes; although I would hesitate to call them real adventures, hence the title. Several of these hikes, including the one to Gaotai Shan a few months ago, have been worth writing about, but I didn’t have enough to say to make an individual post about each one. Instead I’ve decided to collect them here in one big post.
Youlou Shan (油羅山)
If you’re driving around in … Read the rest
Some time ago I was hiking along the Lion Head Mountain Historic Trail when I noticed an odd shape in the jungle a couple of meters off the side of the trail. Feeling curious I stepped off the trail to investigate and found that it was a statue…actually not just one, but hundreds of statues lined up neatly next to each other in terraced rows. Once upon a time they must have been pristine white, but time and the elements have taken their toll; they’re covered in mold and grime, several of them have pieces missing, and the jungle is … Read the rest
I enjoy hiking and I especially like doing it alone. I feel it’s very relaxing to be able to go at my own pace, slow down or speed up as I want, take as many or as few breaks as I need, and not having to consider other people at all. I also feel there’s something special about being alone in nature, nothing but my own thoughts and the sounds of the animals around me. With that in mind, you’ll understand that I felt quite skeptical when my colleague sent an invitation in our group chat for a bunch of … Read the rest
Every couple of weeks I have a Saturday or Sunday afternoon off to relax by myself without having to worry about my son (my wife gets the same deal). Lately I’ve been trying to turn these afternoons off into little adventures by finding hiking trails that are reasonably challenging yet short enough that you can finish them in a couple of hours. As a busy dad, I find that this kind of hike is a perfect way for me to clear my mind and make my body comfortably tired. So far I’ve been on two such mini adventures
The Xianshan … Read the rest
Like the name suggests, Five Finger Mountain (五指山) has five peaks in a row, like fingers on a hand. Me and the wife were there several years ago but at the time I wasn’t really into hiking so we only hiked the relatively easy Traverse Trail (called crabwise trail on some maps), never reaching any of the peaks. In the last couple of years however I’ve taken more of an interest in hiking so when my friend posted about it on The Map Room I became intrigued; it seemed like a fun hike that would be suitable for me. Due … Read the rest
I’ve previously written about two parks that are underneath major roads in Taiwan; the semi-abandoned Wuri Tank Park and the strange art exhibition/miniature world under the Dali Creek Bridge. Last weekend my wife found another similar place called Shalu Leisure Landscape Trail (沙鹿休閒景觀步道 in Chinese). For some reason, this one also happens to be in Taizhong city; perhaps the citizens of Taizhong really like to utilize the available space.
Like the name suggests, this is a hiking trail, or rather a strolling trail, because to be honest it’s far too flat for any actual hiking. It’s roughly two … Read the rest
My friend runs a website called The Map Room which focuses on hiking, river tracing and other outdoor activities in Taiwan. He has written a series of posts called Learn to Hike in Taiwan which, as can be expected from the name, provide the reader with some basic information about hiking trails suitable for beginners. Since we have to bring our son along for hiking, I figured it could be a good idea to try one or two of the trails from this series, just to see how well it works while carrying a toddler on your back. We started … Read the rest
In my last post I talked about hiking Wuliaojian. I liked it a lot because most of it is proper climbing and not just walking along a smooth trail. However, it’s rather physically demanding which means it’s not suitable for everyone. The same weekend as I went to Wuliajian, me and my wife also decided to bring our son out for a short hike somewhere. My wife found a trail called Xianshan Trail that seemed suitable for us so we went there. It turned out to be an easier, less demanding alternative to Wuliaojian.
The trail head is at … Read the rest