Sweet Home

Left early and arrived at Nangang Transfer Station early. There weren't many passengers, so I could leave later next time.

Nangang Transfer Station

While on the bus, I suddenly remembered I forgot to bring the printed park permit, so I immediately used FamilyMart cloud printing (I confused the Hi-Life outside Yilan Transfer Station with FamilyMart, but fortunately there was a FamilyMart inside the transfer station).

Qingquan Red Bridge Villa

Qingquan Red Bridge Villa is about 200 meters from the forest road entrance, requiring a short steep climb. 800 NTD per night including breakfast the next day. I stayed in the owner's guest room, with the mattress placed on a plastic fruit basket, which was interesting. The owner seemed like a friendly person. When he heard my dinner was only one rice triangle and a banana, he gave me a pack of Uni-President braised pork noodles and let me use the kitchen utensils. Since I already had a pack of Uni-President braised pork noodles arranged for the next day's dinner, I didn't eat it. While organizing equipment in the room, the owner was watching talk shows in the living room.

It was quite cold when it first got dark, but okay at other times. There was a dog outside that would occasionally bark a few times. With nothing to do, I went to bed very early, waking up and sleeping intermittently throughout the night. Should I bring a Kindle next time?

Qingquan Red Bridge Villa

The owner came to knock on the door - turns out there's also an alarm service? I responded and started final packing of equipment. The owner continued watching talk shows. I ate some porridge and then set out, but forgot to refill water. I still had about 250ml of water in my water bottle, plus a bottle of about 650ml mineral water, and a bottle of about 600ml backup water (tea, which I didn't open and brought back home).

Departure in Darkness

Initially, I would walk by the stream, couldn't see anything, but walking along the forest road was completely fine. The first few kilometers of the forest road were still flat.

11.7K Wooden Gate

Before the wooden gate, I encountered two guard dogs, one with a broken front leg. They would approach and bark, but didn't seem to intend to attack. I didn't encounter them on the return trip.

The wooden gate was just a broken fence, and I didn't see the red fence mentioned before.

After the wooden gate, there were three dangerous small terrain sections: one with a rope (and a protruding rock, almost all videos have captured this), one with a water pipe to hold onto, and one requiring free climbing. None were difficult, but somewhat dangerous (small footholds, if you slip you'd need rescue, but the section shown in videos can be climbed back to the road).

From the wooden gate to the 16K abandoned area, I would cross four streams (according to the map), one with a small flow, one slightly larger, others without water. Water supply was sufficient.

Erwuxi Junction

Saw a large Rhino tent (later, hikers I met at the 24.5K campsite said they left most of their food there, planning to go to Yuanduozhi Mountain the next day).

Encountered three groups coming down the mountain.

Shuan Mountain Gate

Started looking for a campsite for the second night. Shuan Mountain Gate looked suitable. There were many places to camp after that, and I even left the forest road to look at a nice campsite, but the issue was water source.

At the campsite around 22K, I saw traces of a campfire. Considering the time spent from departure to here, I thought the next night's campsite should at least be pushed back to this point to have a better chance of catching the bus on time.

Shuan Mountain Trailhead

When I reached the Shuan Mountain trailhead, I was already 40 minutes behind schedule, plus I had already walked 23 kilometers uphill. I decisively gave up the idea of climbing Shuan Mountain on the first day, rested for a while, then continued forward.

Originally planned to camp at the campsite marked on the map, but the stream there had no water, and the area looked very close to broken rocks with limited space, so I continued toward the worker's lodge.

Encountered a large fallen tree. Having seen it in videos, I needed to lie on the tree and roll over. Not stepping properly and sliding down would be dangerous. After climbing over, I discovered there was a hole above that I could crawl through.

Live Water Source

Passed the water pipe source, water supply was sufficient. The old red brick house water source had no water. The original plan was to go directly down the mountain the next day if there was no water source.

Arrived at a flat camping area and encountered two people going to the water source to "take a sponge bath." After putting down my backpack, I took my summit pack and containers to get water, directly filtering 5.25 liters at the water pipe, plus 2.6 liters unfiltered. Drinking water stock reached 8.45 liters (2L summit pack bladder, 2.5L plastic bottle, 0.75L action water bottle, 0.6L small plastic bottle, 2L filter bladder, 0.6L backup tea).

Chatted with the two gentlemen who were boiling hot water for sponge baths. They had hired a guide and two porters, and mentioned there was signal on the forest road near the worker's lodge. After getting water and returning to the campsite, I encountered someone looking for them (the guide).

Worker's Lodge

Reported safe arrival and checked the route, planning to depart before dawn the next day. As a result, I hit my head on a fallen tree while walking back.

Camping

Returned to the campsite to set up camp, cook dinner, and sleep. Didn't encounter any animals, but there were constant bird calls. There were often strong wind sounds coming and going, but it felt like they were skimming over the treetops. The tent was set up in the forest, so I didn't feel the wind, and it was quieter than the Piaodan campsite.

Started being able to sleep, though still intermittently, but each period was longer. The next day seemed to recover quite well.

Originally planned to wake up at 03:00, but finally changed to 04:00. I wasn't confident about walking unfamiliar routes in the dark, so I hoped to move when it was a bit lighter.

Breaking Camp

Woke up on time. Since I planned to camp closer to Qingquan Bridge tonight to minimize the distance walking out of the forest road the next day (to catch the bus), I started packing equipment first, then began eating breakfast after packing.

Ate a small pack of pork floss, felt it was too dry and not suitable for direct consumption. Drank a pack of Milo. Boiling Milo directly would make the water boil over and flow out of the pot, finally getting on the stove head and gas canister.

After finishing breakfast, I started taking down the tent and separating the summit pack. According to plan, I put all the food in the summit pack (overly cautious?), then tied the large backpack to a tree trunk. The two-person team from yesterday was slowly heading toward Erwuxi with their guide. I suddenly knew what speed to use for walking in the dark, so I started moving, but it was almost light when I reached the worker's lodge.

Rendai Mountain North Peak

Took the Rendai Mountain route. Although the ridge had dense arrow bamboo, the wind was quite strong. There were one or two dangerous terrain sections (holding onto trees and making big strides in the air). Although there was a lot of arrow bamboo, the trail was generally clear. However, between Rendai Mountain North Peak and Rendai Mountain seemed to get no sun, some sections were slippery, and I slipped for the first time.

Rendai Mountain

Rendai Mountain had good views, but I felt that since I was going to Lingming Mountain, there was no need to linger here (Lingming Mountain's views are better).

There was still some distance from Rendai Mountain to Lingming Mountain. After the ridge grassland before climbing Lingming Mountain, the wind became very strong. Fortunately, before reaching the grassland, I felt the wind was too strong and a bit cold, so I found the only tree on the trail and hid under it to put on my synthetic jacket.

Lingming Mountain

The views from Lingming Mountain were excellent. To the south was a sea of clouds, with mountain ranges rising above the cloud layer. In one direction, you could see the horizon, surrounded by mountains.

On the way down, I felt the Rendai Mountain direction might not be easy to walk. I didn't want to descend steeply, and some terrain was still slippery, so I decided to take the forest road direction, but I still slipped. The forest road terrain wasn't very safe either, with some sections having unclear trails (crossing dry stream valleys), requiring searching for trail markers.

Before reaching the landslide, I saw one male and one female Mikado pheasant, a long-haired goat (unsure, but bigger than a Formosan serow), and a monkey's big butt.

After reaching the landslide, I observed the terrain, which was similar to videos online, and I passed through successfully. The view from the lowest point was nice, but I didn't take photos because I was afraid of falling rocks from the landslide.

Worker's Lodge

It took a long time to get back to the forest road, and another long time to get back to the worker's lodge (felt like forever). Back at the campsite, I shouldered my backpack and carried 3.1 liters of water to head toward the Shuan Mountain trailhead. On the way, I stepped on a loose rock and fell flat.

Shuan Mountain Trailhead

Saw two large backpacks, one of which was a Mammut. Rested and ate, then started climbing up. Felt there was still plenty of time. On the way, I met the owner of the Mammut backpack, who said it takes about one and a half hours one way. In the end, I took two hours and fifteen minutes to reach the summit. My stamina still wasn't great. Before departure, I estimated 90 minutes, completely wrong, but fortunately there was plenty of time.

There was a lot of arrow bamboo on the way, with some sections having particularly tall arrow bamboo, making the path tunnel-like. Some places had mud, but overall there were no dangerous terrain sections.

Shuan Mountain

After walking over several false summits, I finally arrived. Shuan Mountain summit had less than 180° of views.

When walking back to the trailhead, it was almost five o'clock. Although much slower than estimated, fortunately I didn't have to descend in the dark. After resting briefly, I shouldered my backpack and started walking back, hoping to camp as far out as possible.

Campfire Campsite

Because there were traces of a campfire on the ground, I named it this. It was the furthest campsite set the previous day. Since it was completely dark, I started setting up camp and having dinner. There was signal here, so I reported the itinerary to my brother and Nina, then went to sleep.

Slept better tonight, and didn't encounter any animals. Planned to wake up at 03:00 to start packing and eating breakfast, depart at 05:00.

Campfire Campsite

Woke up and ate breakfast hiding in the tent as usual. Today I didn't want to eat the planned pork floss and Milo, only ate sea salt Russian bread and braised egg.

After packing, I estimated I only needed 2L of water to return to Qingquan Bridge, and there were opportunities to refill water on the way, so I poured out about 2.1L of completely unused water, leaving about 2L (including backup tea).

At this time, I achieved the poop achievement, took out the cat shovel and dug a small hole under a tree, and properly buried it after finishing.

Actually, I was packed before 05:00, but because it was very dark, I kept resisting walking at night, so I kept delaying until 05:20 before making up my mind to start walking.

Along the way, I encountered two or three groups. Seeing I was solo hiking, they all said I was amazing. Did they think I was returning from Wuming Ganshu?

Abandoned Motorcycle

First major rest and meal today. The next time I put down my backpack was when I reached Qingquan Bridge.

Wooden Gate

After walking back to the wooden gate, my speed started to slow down. On one hand, if calculated at 3 km/h, there was still plenty of time, and I didn't want to spend too much time waiting at the station; on the other hand, I was also starting to feel tired. Plus, the first 11 kilometers of the forest road had many rocky sections. Although walking wasn't breathless, it was a test for the legs. Later, I felt my calves might cramp (fortunately they didn't).

Today I didn't encounter the two fierce dogs from the first day. As a result, I kept thinking I still had a long way to go, but unconsciously walked to "Heping Branch Huan Mountain Checkpoint." Apparently, some hikers spent D0 here.

Approaching Qingquan Bridge, I passed through a landslide area and finally saw the complete appearance clearly. The small stream valley was quite beautiful, but the cliff walls looked like they could have landslides at any time.

Qingquan Bridge

Qingquan Bridge

Boarded the bus back to Luodong.