Hike Area
We follow the old road West of the Nanshixi 南勢溪 from Honghegu 紅河谷 (JiaJiuLiao 加九寮) to Wulai 烏來 under warm overcast skies
We turn off Hsinwu Rd 新烏路 (9甲) at Chenggung 成功 and drive down a steep half kilometer to Honghe 紅河 (red river) where the replacement bridge over the Nanshixi 南勢溪 is nearly complete but not yet passable. The original bridge was washed away by a typhoon in the summer of 2004. The new bridge is built a few meters higher than the old one. We walk back through the village and find the suspension bridge that takes us over the river. Our plan had been to walk in on the Youmu 有木 trail southwest towards JiaJiuLing 加九寮, but once we cross the river we discover the old road running downstream towards Wulai. Starting south we run across a large flock (30 to 50) of minivets in the trees below us along the river. The trail is freshly cleared, wide and flat.
The trail is very pleasant to walk, being mostly flat as it follows the Japanese-era railway bed. Railway ties have been repurposed to build bridges. The trail goes through several tunnels and deep cuts through the mountain. Hot water pipes follow the path and then cross the river to the opposite banks to feed the hot spring spa resorts.
The trail and river bed below offer samples of the sedimented geology at every turn.
The eye-height mountain wall along the path presents easy close ups of life on the rocks.
We get a lunch of local ferns and a baked pumpkin and egg dish in ChengGung on our way home.
We heard the Crested Serpent Eagle (Spilornis cheela) 大冠鷲 and Large-billed Crow (Corvus macrorhynchos) 巨嘴鴉 and saw the Plumbeous Redstart (male) (Rhyacornis fuliginosus) 鉛色水鶇 in the river, and Varied Tit (Parus varius) 赤腹山雀 in the trees near the minivets. We also heard Swinhoe's brown frog 斯文豪氏赤蛙 Rana swinhoana.
