Taiwan is almost entirely mountainous in nature. Once upon a time, the plates around the South China Sea trembled and pushed inwards, resulting in the long range of central mountains that run the entire length of the island. There are 3 cross-island highways, each twisting and turning through the country's mountainous interior before flattening out to reach the coast. Only two of these highways actually make it to the other side; the Central Cross Highway was taken out of commission by a devastating earthquake in 1999 and has remained like the elevator-to-nowhere ever since.
I'd heard that the South Cross Highway (Hwy 20) was the most beautiful and least trafficked, and so it began. After a year of feeling trapped in Taipei, I was finally going to be able to a) stretch my hiking legs and b) (arguably more exciting) experience Taiwan on a weekday, without the hoards of people that had disappointed many a weekend of the past. The plan was to rent a car and drive across the island, from Tainan to Taitung, with a few stops in between to hike the surrounding peaks, including a 3-day jaunt up to Jiaming Lake.
I'm going to pause here to give a hearty thanks to Richard from Barking Deer. I had trouble finding English info on the hike, and I threw out a posting on the Formosa forum (which is a great resource for hikers in Taiwan, btw). Richard served me up a whole bevvy of it, not just on Jiaming, but about other hikes off Hwy 20 as well. What a star! I never got to meet him or treat him to the beer I'd promised him, but he incredibly helpful in planning the logistics of our trek, down to the tiniest detail- from weather and permit info to trail descriptions and choice camping spots. Much obliged, thanks Richard!
From Tainan, we made it to Meishankou by early afternoon. The friendly police processed our permits on the spot, one for our day hike to Guanshanlingshan and one for our 3-day trek to Jiaming Lake. By 4pm, the fog had set in, giving the forested scenery between Tienchi and Yakou an atmospheric mist a la Lord of the Rings. On the other side of the Yakou tunnel, it was as if someone had turned the fog switch off. The climate was completely different- the air was crisp and dry, not wet and misty, and the sun even looked like it'd been out and about. At the lookout, we gawked at the infamous Sea of Clouds, a phenomenon whereby all the surrounding peaks look like distant islands washed over by wave after wave of puffy whiteness. At over 2700m, Yakou is the highest point on the SCH, and as such, probably the stupidest place to choose to camp. But we were high on scenery adrenaline and the promise of a beautiful sunrise was too much to pass up, so we secured our tent and settled in under one of the lookout gazebos. That night, I froze....
Onwards.
Jiaming Lake is one of the youngest meteor lakes in the world, a crater bowl set amongst alpine grass in a rolling mountainous valley 3300 metres up. The trailhead starts on the back end of the Siangyang Forest Recreation Area, on Hwy 20 just east of Yakou Tunnel. From here to Siangyang Cabin it's a gentle switchback trail through a beautiful mossy forest. The path is of the soft, spongy forest floor variety, with the usual confusion of tangled roots for steps. Could've all been nature's design, for all I could tell. I was especially happy that the trail is made with special care to those of us with short legs. As a small girl, I tend to... not so much hike as shuffle along a path, trying to exert as little energy as possible. Normal steps for other people can end up feeling like hurdles for me, and can really kill my stamina on long hauls. But the Jiaming trail is perfect, easy on the legs... well, at least for the first hour.
From Siangyang cabin, the trail climbs steeply. I have to admit that for this stretch, I was mostly doing one of 3 things: looking uphill, looking at my feet, and asking everyone that passed me how much further to the next cabin. The path here is a little more savagely cut; we were scrambling up long narrow ditches cut by rock slides, mercilessly steep and somewhat precarious at points. As we climbed, the altitude began to take effect. I felt like I was hyperventilating every 5 minutes, the cold air just couldn't feed my lungs fast enough.
The scenery changed too, the alpine climate gave rise to a rougher tougher breed of plants- bonsai variations, gruff porous pines, and my favourite, the white trees. Trunks burnt hollow by forest fires, the dead and naked. There was something about the bareness of the forest that really struck me, always does. I had old imaginings of the forest in action, of the trees in dramatic pose, communicating elaborate messages to me and each other. As the wind grew stronger, I saw my old green-haired goddess friends stretched in yogic prostration, reaching out to wrestle the wind.
The 2km before Jiaming Cabin was awingly beautiful, even despite (or especially because of) the fact that the fog had set in and everything beyond a couple hundred metres was completely whited out. Naked bushy-haired bonsais bowing low amongst yellow alpine underbrush, along a dramatic ridge down down down into the fog. After 7 hours and about 500m gained in altitude, we arrived at Jiaming cabin. I was achy, exhausted, and filthy. But fuck, was it beautiful.
I'd heard that the South Cross Highway (Hwy 20) was the most beautiful and least trafficked, and so it began. After a year of feeling trapped in Taipei, I was finally going to be able to a) stretch my hiking legs and b) (arguably more exciting) experience Taiwan on a weekday, without the hoards of people that had disappointed many a weekend of the past. The plan was to rent a car and drive across the island, from Tainan to Taitung, with a few stops in between to hike the surrounding peaks, including a 3-day jaunt up to Jiaming Lake.
I'm going to pause here to give a hearty thanks to Richard from Barking Deer. I had trouble finding English info on the hike, and I threw out a posting on the Formosa forum (which is a great resource for hikers in Taiwan, btw). Richard served me up a whole bevvy of it, not just on Jiaming, but about other hikes off Hwy 20 as well. What a star! I never got to meet him or treat him to the beer I'd promised him, but he incredibly helpful in planning the logistics of our trek, down to the tiniest detail- from weather and permit info to trail descriptions and choice camping spots. Much obliged, thanks Richard!
From Tainan, we made it to Meishankou by early afternoon. The friendly police processed our permits on the spot, one for our day hike to Guanshanlingshan and one for our 3-day trek to Jiaming Lake. By 4pm, the fog had set in, giving the forested scenery between Tienchi and Yakou an atmospheric mist a la Lord of the Rings. On the other side of the Yakou tunnel, it was as if someone had turned the fog switch off. The climate was completely different- the air was crisp and dry, not wet and misty, and the sun even looked like it'd been out and about. At the lookout, we gawked at the infamous Sea of Clouds, a phenomenon whereby all the surrounding peaks look like distant islands washed over by wave after wave of puffy whiteness. At over 2700m, Yakou is the highest point on the SCH, and as such, probably the stupidest place to choose to camp. But we were high on scenery adrenaline and the promise of a beautiful sunrise was too much to pass up, so we secured our tent and settled in under one of the lookout gazebos. That night, I froze....Onwards.
Jiaming Lake is one of the youngest meteor lakes in the world, a crater bowl set amongst alpine grass in a rolling mountainous valley 3300 metres up. The trailhead starts on the back end of the Siangyang Forest Recreation Area, on Hwy 20 just east of Yakou Tunnel. From here to Siangyang Cabin it's a gentle switchback trail through a beautiful mossy forest. The path is of the soft, spongy forest floor variety, with the usual confusion of tangled roots for steps. Could've all been nature's design, for all I could tell. I was especially happy that the trail is made with special care to those of us with short legs. As a small girl, I tend to... not so much hike as shuffle along a path, trying to exert as little energy as possible. Normal steps for other people can end up feeling like hurdles for me, and can really kill my stamina on long hauls. But the Jiaming trail is perfect, easy on the legs... well, at least for the first hour.From Siangyang cabin, the trail climbs steeply. I have to admit that for this stretch, I was mostly doing one of 3 things: looking uphill, looking at my feet, and asking everyone that passed me how much further to the next cabin. The path here is a little more savagely cut; we were scrambling up long narrow ditches cut by rock slides, mercilessly steep and somewhat precarious at points. As we climbed, the altitude began to take effect. I felt like I was hyperventilating every 5 minutes, the cold air just couldn't feed my lungs fast enough.
The scenery changed too, the alpine climate gave rise to a rougher tougher breed of plants- bonsai variations, gruff porous pines, and my favourite, the white trees. Trunks burnt hollow by forest fires, the dead and naked. There was something about the bareness of the forest that really struck me, always does. I had old imaginings of the forest in action, of the trees in dramatic pose, communicating elaborate messages to me and each other. As the wind grew stronger, I saw my old green-haired goddess friends stretched in yogic prostration, reaching out to wrestle the wind.
The 2km before Jiaming Cabin was awingly beautiful, even despite (or especially because of) the fact that the fog had set in and everything beyond a couple hundred metres was completely whited out. Naked bushy-haired bonsais bowing low amongst yellow alpine underbrush, along a dramatic ridge down down down into the fog. After 7 hours and about 500m gained in altitude, we arrived at Jiaming cabin. I was achy, exhausted, and filthy. But fuck, was it beautiful.
