Hiking from Jiaoxi

Jiaoxi, 10Km north of Yilan, is a hot springs spa town, the first of many on this tour of east Asia.  Our interest is in hiking.  We made two different trips there from Yilan.

The first day, since weather looked somewhat rainy, we had a half day walk on the Paomaguda (跑马古道) , an old logging trail.  The trail is part ways on the side of the mountain.  There were views back to town.  There were monkeys that ran away from us.  The highlight had to be the pangolin that cross the road right in front of us.

The second day started out fabulously.  We had an early start to get going on on the Linmeishipan (林美石磐) trail at 8 o'clock.  The trail is really a 1Km path that follows a rushing creek in a gorge with bridges and steps.  It's super fun and scenic.  I wish it'd go on forever.  I even had a pheasant calmly crossing the trail right in front of me.

Next, we planned to take a trail that on the offline map app looks to be no more than 2Km with less than 200m elevation gain and loss to connect us the main trail going up to a Maria (as in the mother of Jesue) shrine at 900m.a.s.l.  It ended up being the most difficult four hours of hiking ever. Ever.

• Many places the trail was overgrown with giant tropical plants.
• Every step was on slippery, uneven ground, on steep mountain slopes.  It took tremendous concentration to evaluate, test, and execute each step.
• We crossed numerous streams, some seemed like waterfall crossings, one we had to ford through rushing water calf deep.  
• There were leeches too, including one that came home on the sole of John's boot, until he went to clean it after dinner.

This is not "Amazing Race."  It's "Survivor."  We could see, hear, and feel monkeys around us.  I was wondering if I should miss a step and fall down the side of mountain unconscious, would they come to rob my food or come to my rescue?  We'll stick to only major trails for a while.

When we finally came out on the Marie (Marian) Trail, instead of going up the 900m.a.s.l Marie, we headed down hill to Wufengqi (五峰旗) waterfalls,  The upper falls were closed.  We were relieved -- no need to walk up.  When we got to the parking lot, we waited for the shuttle bus instead of walking to the station.  We were whipped.

PS. Bonus: MY photo of John putting back his socks made Flickr in explore,  every day 500 photos are picked by Flickr's Interestingness algorithm, does not appear very smart to me.

In addition to many fee-based hot spring spas in Jiaoxi, there is a public park where one can soak one's feet for free.

When searching online, the start of the Paoma Historic Trail and it's route are harder to find then should be. Thus we are happy to finally be at the trail head. Of course the locals know it well as it's the perfect place for a morning stroll.




Good views of the rice paddies that abound in this part of Yilan County.


Fern.


Great drainage on this trail.


We pass a shrine to the Mountain Spirit.


In addition to local strollers we saw these trail runners.


At ~500 m.a.s.l the trial up was closed so we walked around km out to the highway and turned around.


And that's when we saw this pangolin (endangered species) Wow! [Not an armadillo.]


And back down the way we came. Giant fern tree - love these.


Lunch break selfie.


Another view to Jiaoxi city center.


The next morning it's up even earlier to catch the train to Jiaoxi and then the shuttle bus to the start of the Linmei Shipan Trail. Linmei means "beautiful forest".




At the start of the trail there is a lake. We hung out on the viewing platform for a long while, watching and listening to waterbirds and admiring the flora. It's worth turning your sound on for the first 20 seconds of the video below.


The link to the video is here.

We spotted many waterbirds and I kinda on-the-spot figured out how to use the zoom on my point-and-shoot plus the right exposure setting to get a decent long shot. Bonus.


The first 1K of the trail was packed with overlooks, bridges, waterfalls, boulders, and giant lush vegetation.






Here are some airplants and a giant fern tree.




All leading up to Lin Mei Falls.


Link here.

We then head on the "Survivor Trail". First some nice views of the misty tropical forest.


Hiking clubs sometimes mark trails with ribbons.


This stream is not crossable without taking our shoes off. We go back up to where we came from.


Along the trail.


View below to the stream, now a river, that we did not cross.




The trail gets more and more overgrown. Thankfully there are hiking club ribbons to follow.




Have not yet ID'ed this blue fruit/berry we saw...Anyone?


View from the power lines back to Yilan.








Lunch in the jungle. ;-)






Even though we had to take our boots off and wade across, Sun-Ling is smiling as this is the final stream crossing of the day and we are a few hundred meters from a major trail. 4 hours to go about 1.5 kms as the crow flies. Whew!


And me too. Oh, and I had to knock a leech off the sole of my boot. Yikes!


Looking back at the final ford.


Looks like this trail used to be a road.


And we are on the Marian Trail headed downhill.


Oh no! Another stream crossing. Easy.


The Sanctuary of Our Lady of WuFengQi has a view down to Yilan and up to the waterfalls.




Done! Down to Jiaoxi Station. And bck to Yilan where is try this Spanish beer. So-so.