Taiwan: Trekking in Shei-Pa and Yushan National Parks (October-November 2015)
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Few people
outside Taiwan know that, except for a relatively narrow coastal plain on the
west, most of Taiwan is a long mountain range between the southern and
northern tips of the island (green area in the map on the left). This range
contains 275 peaks (山, shan)
above 3000m, the highest two being Yu Shan (or Jade Mountain, 3952m) in Yushan National Park and Xue
Shan (or Snow Mountain, 3886m) in Shei-Pa National Park. See the list of mountains in Taiwan. These
mountains offer excellent trekking opportunities, but the trails are often
quite rough and steep, and occasionally dangerous. Below 3000m the terrain is
usually covered by thick vegetation (typically mini-bamboos, 1 to 3 feet
high). Hiking outside trails is then almost impossible. Weather is
notoriously unstable. For non-residents, trekking in Taiwan is made even
harder, as each trek requires obtaining both a trekking permit from the
corresponding National Park and a police permit. Permits are delivered for
specific dates that cannot be adjusted in case of bad weather. On the other
hand, the NPs provide free, strategically distributed huts (also called
cabins), so that trekking may not require carrying a tent. Despite high
humidity and frequent rain, good water is relatively rare along the trails,
but rain water is collected and filtered into tanks at each hut (nevertheless
huts sometimes run out of water). My goals for this trip were to do
three treks in three different National Parks: Shei-Pa (6 days), Taroko (6 days), and Yushan (7
days). Unfortunately, due to an approaching typhoon and bad weather forecast,
I had to shorten the Shei-Pa trek to 4 days and cancel the Taroko trek. However, I was able to do the Yushan trek as initially planned. I did each trek with a Taiwanese
porter/guide. To see photos of the two treks and their detailed itineraries
click the following links:
The low average speeds are a good
indication of the trail difficulty. Except at the beginning and the end of
the treks, I encountered no other hiker during the Shei-Pa trek and only two
during the Yushan trek. Excellent
25K topographic maps covering most of the mountain areas can be obtained from
Sunriver.
The NP websites (Shei-Pa and Yushan)
provide updated information on the trails, but no detailed maps. Many of the trails have been built
relatively recently and are maintained by volunteers, who have done a
remarkable job in difficult terrain prone to landslides. Some other trails
are old ancestral trails created by aboriginal people. |
For this trip I
received invaluable assistance from Professors Tsai-Yen Li (National Chengchi University) and Wen-Kai Tai (National
Taiwan University of Science and Technology). Professor Tai, who has done much
trekking in Taiwan, obtained the NP and police permits for me and arranged the
guides/porters. Professor Li helped me make hotel, camping, and transportation
arrangements during the entire trip. Without them, this trip would have not
been possible. The two guides/porters (one for the Shei-Pa trek, the other for
the Yushan trek) were arranged by Professor Tai
through Mr. Chiang-ching Chuan
(全蔣清, himself a famous mountaineer in
Taiwan:
- +886-0921-486-289,
- diandian0583@gmail.com, https://www.facebook.com/people/%E5%85%A8%E8%94%A3%E6%B8%85/100003768951071.
Both guides/porters
were outstanding.
In addition to these
two treks, I visited other places in Taiwan: Taipei, Penghu Islands, Taitung (and around), Puli, and Taichung. I added some
photos of these places to my Taiwan
travel webpage. During the period of time that I had scheduled for the Taroko trek, I left Taiwan‛s bad weather and flew to
Java instead, where I spent a few days in and around Yogyakarta. See here
for photos of this side-trip.
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