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 departing |
 HeHuan |
 weather |
 improving |
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 through DaYuLing tunnel |
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 Fall colors |
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 leaving Taroko Park |
 lunch |
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 Tammy |
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We left Taipei (台北) mid-afternoon on Sunday 12/8, driving to FengYuan (豐原), through Puli (埔里) and WuShe (霧社) to HeHuanShan (合歡山) where we spent the night at the lodge. The weather is intermittently rainy driving down from Taipei. The last hour of driving is the most difficult in rain, up steep inclines on a road surface damaged by landslides with heavy trucks unable to stop their heavy loads of marble suddenly bearing out of the thick fog.
We arrive at the lodge after 10 PM. The caretaker has gone to bed so we let ourselves in, glad to get out of the cold rain and high winds. We all have minor symptoms of the altitude at just over 3,000 meters elevation. In the morning we have warm bowls of rice gruel (稀飯) and consider our options as the heavy rain seems to make biking unlikely.
As we drive down the few kilometers to DaYuLing (大禹嶺), the weather quickly breaks up revealing stunning high-mountain fall scenery under a blue sky. We drive through the tunnel to the south where the weather is even more inviting. We start riding here, taking turns, two driving while the other drives the car down, often changing clothes for the temperature extremes of pushing uphill and coasting downhill. Our original plan had been to ride up from WuShe (霧社) to HeHuan (合歡山) and down to Chilan (棲蘭). After 60 kilometers, a little past WuLing Farms (武陵農場), the weather has exhausted us and we cut short our adventure for another time.
 area access (1.6 MB) |
