Hiking Jiali Mountain through the forest 加里山杉樹林

Last Saturday we were having dinner with a friend and he invited us to go hiking with him the next day. I immediately said yes as he always chooses some really nice routes. Then he said he’ll pick us up at 7am!!! I nearly spat out my drink as I’m a night owl, and that means I have to get up at 6.15am ?

上星期六跟朋友吃晚餐，他邀請我們隔天去爬山。朋友是爬山達人，所以我們二話不說馬上答應。然後聽到他說明早7.00來接我們，嚇到我幾乎把口裡的飲料吐出來!天噢！我是貓頭鷹一族，7.00出門，我鬧鐘就要調6.15! ?

Next morning, the drive to Jiali Mountain at Miaoli took us over 2 hours, so luckily I could get some sleep on the way. At 2220m tall, Jiali mountain is the tallest in Miaoli county and is famous for its Japanese Cedar forest and roots path.
我們要去的是苗栗縣的加里山，車程大概兩小時，正好讓我可以在車上小睡片刻。加里山是苗栗第一高峰，有2220米高，以巍然聳立的杉林和樹根步道著名。

The hike up to the mountain is only 3.2km, but takes about 6.5 hours hours return. Here’s the entrance to the hike.

登山路線有3.2公里，但來回大概需要6.5小時。這是步道入口。

About 0.5km into the hike, we came across this lovely stream, the water was very clear and you could see the pebbles at the bottom of the pool from quite far way. There was a narrow bamboo bridge just enough for one person to pass, we had to go cross this first before we start to start zig zag up the mountain.

走了大概半公里，我們到了這小溪。溪水很清澈，從遠處也可以看到水底的小卵石。前面有一條小竹橋剛好夠一個人過，走過後才開始登山。

This first part of the route is relatively easy. Most of the hike goes through these amazing Japanese cedar forest. Needless to say, photo stops took up quite a bit of time.

前半段步道比較容易走，風景也很美。大部分的時間都經過這些杉木森林。我當然要在這裏花點時間拍照。

Another distinctive feature of this hike are the roots on the path. Save for some steps and a few bridges, we were walking on the tree roots all the time. Since we were in the forest and it was quite foggy, there was quite a lot of moist making it very slippery and more difficult for us.

加里山另外一個特色，就是沿途上都是踏著這些長滿樹根的步道。除了少量梯級及幾條小橋，大部分的時間我們都是踏著這些杉樹的根部走。因為我們在森林裏面，而且有霧，所以空氣較潮濕，令到樹根表面很滑，一定要小心翼翼地走。

There were some wild mushrooms here and there along the route, and my favourite one was this bunch which looks like coral.

沿途上有不少野菇生長在枯木上。我最喜歡就是這一群，有點像海裏的珊瑚。

During the Japanese occupied period, this forest used to produce a lot of timber, so the trees in this part of the forest are all part of a reforestation programme that’s why they are all so neat and uniform. Remnants of those days can be seen from parts of the old narrow railway track used transport the timber.
在日本統治時代，加里山是木材產區。在登山途中還看到一些當年的遺跡，就是以前運木的火車路軌。所以現在我們看到整整齊齊的杉樹，都是木場關閉後居民再種植的。

Along the route, there were many big boulders in the middle of the forest. It looks like it’s been there for a very long time. Do you think this one looks like a dinosaur?

另外在森林裏有很多大石頭生長在杉樹之間。表面已長滿青苔，應該是很久以前從山上滾下來的。你覺得這一個大石頭有點像恐龍怪獸嗎？

By 12.30 noon we had hiked for 3 hours and covered 2.65km, still 550m to go. We decided to stop for a rest here and have our light lunch before we try to conquer the most challenging part.

到中午12.30，我們已走了3小時，2.65路程，還有550米就到山頂。我們決定在這裏休息片刻才再繼續。

After lunch, we started the ascend up the mountain. This is where the challenge starts and takes about 45 minutes or half an hour if you’re tough. The path has disappeared and now we’re trekking along quite difficult terrain like these gaps along the boulders, rock climbing, and ascending up the mountain with the aid of the roots and ropes.

小休片刻後，我們繼續起行挑戰最後30至45分鐘，也是最困難的一段。從這裏開始，之前的步道已不見了。取而代之是地勢艱苦的路，例如大石中的罅隙，和用繩子踏著樹根往上爬。

I’ve always wanted to go and try one of those indoor rock climbing centres, but never thought that my first attempt would be in natural outdoors environment. Each section was around 3 to 5 metres and sometimes I found it a bit difficult when I couldn’t find a strong enough root to step on. Here’s my other half and he’s a lot taller than me.

我一直也想很去室內爬石中心嘗試玩攀岩，沒想過，第一次攀岩就在戶外攀真的岩石和山坡。每一段的岩石大概有3至5米高，有些地方我真是覺得有點困難，找不到罅隙或樹根可以踏上去。相片中是我另一半，個子當然比我高，所以我覺得頗吃力。

Around 40 minutes later at around 1.30pm we had climbed maybe 200m and I figured we weren’t going to make to up to the top of the mountain and all the way back down before dark. So we stopped here while our friend went ahead on his own. Apparently on a good day, you can get a magnificent view at the top of the mountain, but as you can see here, we’re amongst the fog already so that was another reason why I figured it wasn’t worth the extra effort.

爬了大概40分鐘，已經是1.30但大概只走了約200米。這個時候，我發覺我根本沒有可能爬上山，再在天黑之前回到起點。所以我們決定在這裏放棄登山，讓我的朋友自己繼續往前走。聽說如果是天氣好，加里山頂風景是一望無際，非常值得登山。但當天我們在這個高度，周圍已是一片薄霧什麼也看不到。這也是另外一個我決定不再繼續走的原因。

We waited for my friend at the lunch stop from earlier on, and by the time he returned it was already 3.30pm, and he’s a good strong hiker! I think if I did the ascend with him, I might have to end up camping overnight at the top of the mountain. By this time, we were amongst one of the last groups around and the thick fog was starting to set in. The descend down the mountain in theory should take less time, but due to the slippery roots we had to be very careful. Climbing down the ropes sections was easier than going up as I could just let myself drop pretty much the entire body height each time.

休息一陣子，我們開始落山回到剛才小休那個地點等我的朋友。結果他到3.30才從山上回來，而且他還是一個爬山蠻強的人噢！我相信如果我跟他一起登山，可能當天沒辦法在天黑之前下山，需要在山上過一夜！這個時候霧開始有點濃厚，而我們也是最後一批離開山上的人，所以趕快腳步。 一般說，下山應該比上山容易，但因為樹根步道比早上還要滑，我們要加倍小心。但我發現拉繩子落山那部份就比較容易，可以讓整個身體往下滑落，不用找很多處踏腳。

When we finished our hike, it was already dark, and we had to use our mobile phones to guide ourselves out of the forest for the last hundred meters (note to self: bring a torch next time). Having said that, I’ve never hiked in the dark before, so overall, the enchanting forest and the rock climbing definitely made this a memorable hike.

到我們返回起點時，已經是天黑，而最後那100米我們還需要用手機的電筒照着走路。(以後去爬山記得一定要帶電筒喔!) 總括來說，我覺得這次爬山的感受很不一樣。從來未有在黑夜中爬山，迷人杉樹森林，及第一次攀石岩，整個過程真的十分難忘。