Sanxia — Manyueyuan Forest

October 2, 2010 — Sanxia, Manyueyuan Forest

A few days earlier, Lisa's school had given the children a physical fitness assessment. Her teacher wrote in the communication notebook that the Zebra Class needed more exercise to improve their flexibility, muscular endurance, and balance. So that weekend, I decided to take Lisa into the forest for some extra training!!

Lisa on the trail at Manyueyuan Forest — After the school fitness assessment, the weekend forest training officially began.

I figured that if we couldn't get up early, a walk on Pillow Mountain would do just fine XD

But Lisa had already settled into an early-to-bed, early-to-rise routine. At the crack of dawn, she came to wake me up: “Daddy...Mr. Sun is out...let's go have a picnic~~”

Lisa setting out early for the hike — Lisa, who had announced at dawn that it was time for a picnic, had more energy than Dad.

Sanxia wasn't too far from Taipei, followed by another drive after leaving the freeway. The catch was that walking from the entrance to Manyue Waterfall would take about an hour. With Lisa treating a hike like a leisurely shopping trip, I was already beginning to regret the idea @.@'"

Lisa walking along the Manyueyuan forest trail — On the way from the entrance to the waterfall, Lisa kept her relaxed, shopping-trip pace.

Fortunately, the trail climbed alongside the stream and stayed mostly shaded by the trees ^.^

After about half an hour, we reached the visitor center. We sat down for breakfast and a short break before continuing uphill.

A breakfast break at the Manyueyuan visitor center — After half an hour of walking, we stopped at the visitor center for breakfast.

The stream was remarkably clear, with small flows of water appearing here and there along the mountainside.

Water trickling down a mountainside at Manyueyuan — Water trickled down the mountainside here and there along the forest trail.

Lisa continuing along the streamside trail — More than forty minutes into the streamside hike, Lisa was still going strong.

We had been walking for more than forty minutes, and Lisa was still full of energy. Not bad at all. Maybe next time I could bring her along on one of my company's hiking-club outings ^.^

Ta-da...after an hour of walking, we finally reached the viewing pavilion at the top.

Arriving at the viewing pavilion at Manyueyuan — After an hour of walking, we finally reached the upper viewing pavilion.

A hiking souvenir photo near the viewing pavilion — At the pavilion, we paused to mark the end of the long climb.

Whew...I was tired. Time for some water ^.^

The air around the pavilion felt wonderfully fresh, and cool breezes kept drifting over from Manyue Waterfall.

The viewing pavilion and surrounding forest at Manyueyuan — Cool air drifting from the waterfall made the pavilion a perfect resting place.

We had split into two groups that day: Lisa and I came to Manyueyuan, while Mom and Belle climbed Pillow Mountain. With no one else around to handle the camera, Lisa and I had to help each other, and she took a souvenir photo of me ^.^

We rested at the pavilion for quite a while. As more and more visitors arrived, we finally began our leisurely walk back down.

Manyueyuan has two waterfalls: Virgin Waterfall and Manyue Waterfall. Since this was Lisa's first proper hike, there was no need to be greedy. We saved some energy for the return trip—and left ourselves a reason to come back.

Near the entrance on our way down, I unexpectedly ran into Frank, a colleague who had joined the company at the same time as me. He said his family had visited Manyueyuan at least a hundred times, but usually stopped at Virgin Waterfall because that was the best spot...

Whoosh~~ Ah...a cold wind just blew past T.T

November 21, 2010 — Manyueyuan Forest, Part II

Virgin Waterfall with a strong flow after the rain — Back at Manyueyuan for a second visit, this time with Virgin Waterfall as the goal.

It had rained for several weekends in a row, so this clear day was a welcome surprise ^.^ My mother-in-law suggested a trip into the countryside. With no better destination coming to mind, we returned to Manyueyuan to tackle the waterfall we had missed last time.

The family hiking toward Virgin Waterfall — With the rain finally gone, the family set out for the route missed last time.

This time my mother-in-law and brother-in-law came along, so we also brought Belle—who had just turned three—to take on the hike~~

Three-year-old Belle hiking at Manyueyuan — Belle, newly three years old, joined the hiking challenge too.

The family walking together on the Manyueyuan trail — Grandma and Uncle came along, giving the children two more hiking companions.

As it turned out, reaching Virgin Waterfall was every bit as tiring as reaching Manyue Waterfall ~"~ Luckily, my brother-in-law was there to help; otherwise, we might genuinely have given up halfway. It wasn't a lack of stamina. The trail had plenty of steep stairs, and spring water running down the mountainside left the path wet and slippery, so we had to be especially careful with the children.

Belle did amazingly well. She walked most of the route on her own. Several times she tried to give up and demanded a piggyback ride, but hikers along the way kept saying, “Wow...what a great little girl...you're doing so well!” That gave her enough determination to finish the entire hike by herself @.@'"

Belle during a rest on the hike — Encouragement from passing hikers gave Belle the determination to finish on foot.

When we stopped for a break, I noticed that her big sister looked terribly sulky. It turned out she was jealous: everyone along the trail had praised her little sister, but nobody had praised her ~.~'"

Such a sensitive Pisces @.@'"