Caoling Historic Trail

This Saturday, a teacher at ICLP organized a hike along the Caoling Historic Trail. Reaching the trail, which lies at the border of New Taipei and Yilan in the east, is surprisingly easy. I was surprised to find that I could simply use my metro card to pay for the train there.  

When we arrived at the train station, we discovered that basically half of Taipei had decided to spend the weekend the same way. For good reason too. Autumn here is sunny and cool, and many visitors, including us, came to see Caoling’s famed silvergrass in bloom. From the bottom of the trail and its cosy rice paddies, we held ranks with the flock of tourists, and were funnelled upwards, single-file, along a paved trail once we entered the forests.

The crowds dispersed after we reached the main resting station overlooking the hillocks of swaying grass. As we walked along the mountain ridge above the sea, we met grazing water buffalo and eased our pace, enjoying the sun, the wind, and the beautiful sight of Taiwan’s mountains in a distant blue haze.

It appears we spent a little too much time in enjoyment, as night started to fall faster than any of us expected. Suddenly entering a panic, we started rushing towards the train station, but all measurements of how the trail was seemed to be wildly mistaken, and so, using our phones as torches, we reached civilisation only once the sky was pitch black.

In subsequent days, my legs hurt for much longer than I care to admit.

 The river at the bottom of the trail
 Bamboo above the same stream
 Picturesque rice paddies
 An impressive tree
 Vibrant blue berries
 People hiking among the tall grass
 Tree ferns among the silvergrass
 Half of Taipei queueing to the top
 Our teacher told us that this that someone once tossed the god's wife and so a new wife had to be purchased for him. However, the first wife was subsequently found, which is why this man now has two wives.
 More of the trail's silvergrass
 This seems to be a hibiscus flower.
 It is impossible to take a picture of the trail without people - exhibit one.
 Exhibit two.
 A cute caterpillar
 A cute dog - shiba inus are immensely popular in Taipei. We met three on this hike alone.
 Walking along the mountain ride.
 More of the same
 More of the same
 Close encounters with buffalo
 Even closer encounters with buffalo
 Finally, a picture without people
 A quiet resting spot
 More of the same
 More of the same
I was not listening attentively and initially thought that the island in the distance was called Ghost Mountain Island (鬼山岛 Guǐshān dǎo). In fact, it is named Turtle Mountain Island (龟山岛 Guīshān dǎo), which sounds much more friendly, if not very similar.
 More of the same
 More of the same
 More of the same
 More of the same but with water
 More of the same but with water buffalo
 The sun setting above silvergrass
 Back in the forest
Pretty yellow flowers

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