加里山 (Jia li shan) (20 items)

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Day hike to 加里山 (Jia li shan) in 苗栗縣 (Miao li county), about an hour south of 新竹 (Hsinchu). Also nicknamed "training mountain" climbing it involves trails, stairs, and a fair amount of pulling yourself up on roots and ropes.

  • Getting ready for 加里山 (Jia li shan) ...
  • A mushroom "farm" along the way.
  • The first obstacle on the way to 加里山 (Jia li shan) is a creek that has to be crossed. A few hundred meters before this creek we met a young couple who had just turned around because of the high water level. It had indeed rained for a few days before our hike but we didn't want to give up that easily. So, some of us simply took off their shoes ...
  • ... while others jumped across a bunch of large stones making for an extra adrenaline kick. :-)
  • After a bit of jumping, climbing, and wading everybody made it safely to the middle of the stream.
  • From the middle the 佳里小橋 (Little Jia Li bridge) leads across the second half. We're not sure why the bridge's name carries the character 佳 instead of 加, but that's what the sign says, so we're sticking with it. :-)
  • This morning the 佳里小橋 (Little Jia Li bridge) was slightly under water but we made it anyway with only minor amounts of water in our shoes.
  • 加里山山屋 (Jia li shan mountain shelter), a little less than half-way to the peak, is a good place to take a quick rest. (Some less congenial people from other hiking groups also seem to think it's a good place to smoke, but the clean air of a hiking trail never is!)
  • Some people have interesting ways of crossing obstacles.
  • The last quarter of the hiking trail involves a lot of climbing on ropes and roots, which was a bit of a challenge given the wet floor, but nevertheless a lot of fun.
  • After roughly 800 meters of ascent we were finally at the top of 加里山 (Jia li shan), 2220 meters above sea level.
  • Time for a group photo!
  • Happy, yet slightly disappointed over the (inexistent) view we took a brief rest and then got ready to descend a few minutes and find a quiet place to cook lunch.
  • Our lunch: Noodle soup with vegetables, egg, and meat balls.
  • Hiking makes hungry! 吃很大!
  • The descent was almost slower than the way up but certainly entertaining.
  • Because there had again been some light showers in the area we were a little afraid at first that the water level might have risen again. Luckily it hadn't and the 佳里小橋 (Little Jia Li bridge) was already back out of the water - still slightly unstable though as it would dangerously tilt the moment someone stepped on it.
  • View of the refreshing creek ...
  • Crossing 佳里小橋 (Little Jia Li bridge) for the second time.
  • Done! After a solid day of hiking we came to understand how 加里山 (Jia li shan) got its nickname of "training mountain".