Shiding’s Hidden Corner: Yong’an Scenic Trail

July 28, 2013 — Shiding’s Hidden Corner: Yong’an Scenic Trail

For some reason, stories about a “hidden corner of Shiding” had been following me everywhere. Reports compared its winding waterway to Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River ~.~'" So today I decided to bring Lisa and Belle along to see it for ourselves.

We followed the Beiyi Highway toward Yilan, turned at the Sheng’an Temple junction near the 27-kilometer marker, and continued for another three kilometers. The signs made the route easy to follow. Near the trail, the road split again: left for the north entrance and right for the south entrance. I had done my homework and knew the north entrance was closer, so left we went.

The road and junction leading to the north entrance of Yong’an Scenic Trail — At the junction, we turned toward the closer north entrance.

Here we are—the north entrance to the Yong’an trail ^.^

The north entrance to Yong’an Scenic Trail — We reached the north entrance, where the walk properly began.

All right, let’s go!

The children setting out along Yong’an Scenic Trail — Lisa and Belle set off from the trailhead.

The first few hundred meters were paved with stone and fairly easy to walk.

The stone-paved opening section of Yong’an Scenic Trail — Neat stone paving made the early stretch relatively easy.

Then the paving quietly disappeared, leaving us with a path carpeted in fallen leaves ~.~'"

A leaf-covered woodland section of Yong’an Scenic Trail — The paving gave way to a woodland path covered in fallen leaves.

Unlike the Xinxian Trail in Wulai, there were no little streams or waterfalls everywhere—only an occasional drip escaping from a joint in a water pipe @.@'"

The children pausing to watch water dripping from a pipe joint — A few drips from a pipe joint were enough to keep the girls happily occupied.

Just look at those two. They had settled in and refused to move .

The trail was about 1,050 meters long, and it took us roughly half an hour to finish.

A rougher section of Yong’an Scenic Trail — Despite its short length, the trail included some rough and awkward footing.

Some sections were awkward underfoot, though, and the mosquitoes were biting. The moment the girls heard they would have to walk all the way back, they flatly refused ~.~'" Even worse, I had finally talked my wife into joining us, and the outing had been thoroughly voted down @.@'"

They decided to take the road toward the junction between the two entrances and meet me there. Poor Dad had to hike back alone, fetch the car, and come rescue them—cue the tears～～

A twisting trail bordered by thorny, overgrown vegetation — On Dad’s solitary return to the car, the twisting overgrown path matched the mood perfectly.

The twisting path ahead, crowded with thorny plants, was a perfect portrait of Dad’s lonely state of mind as he trudged back to the car. T.T

Back at the north entrance, I raised my phone to take a few more pictures when an older man suddenly said, “What can you possibly photograph with a phone?” Gasp!! How rude—he was looking down on my phone! Anger!!

An older woman beside him laughed and said, “With one sentence, you’ve offended two people…heh heh～～” It turned out she was holding up her phone to take pictures too. Ha ^.^

The man smiled sheepishly, pointed toward the trail, and asked, “What’s it like in there?” I guessed he wanted to know whether it was worth walking.

After an intense inner struggle and a careful review of the entire journey—lasting about one and a half seconds—I delivered my professional assessment: “If you want exercise, go in and have a walk. If you want scenery, the best view is right here. XD”

Oh, right. I had nearly forgotten the three stranded members of my family waiting to be rescued. I hurriedly took a few more shots, mounted my “black steed,” and sped off to collect them.

A broad valley view near the north entrance of Yong’an Scenic Trail — One last panorama near the north entrance before Dad drove off to the rescue.

The road from the north entrance toward the south entrance was brutally steep. If the three of them had tried to walk the whole way up, their legs would never have forgiven me.

I kept driving downhill. We were almost at the lakeside—where had they gone? After a broad U-turn, I finally spotted Lisa sitting in the shade beside the road, waving at me～～

My wife explained, “The slope was so steep that we regretted it after two steps. Then we found a shady corner with a nice view, sat down, and didn’t want to move. When we saw my husband riding in on his black steed to rescue us, all our anger disappeared. Muah～” XD

Back at the junction, we saw a group heading down a lane toward the Bagua Tea Plantation. A sign pointed to “Shiding Thousand Island Lake” @.@'" I turned to my wife and said that since we probably would not come back this way, we might as well take a look. XD

Wow～～ We did not find a thousand islands, but the scenery was lovely ^.^

A lake valley and green hills viewed near the Bagua Tea Plantation in Shiding — The detour near the Bagua Tea Plantation opened onto an unexpectedly beautiful lake valley.

I called the two girls over for a picture, but the sun was so bright that neither could keep her eyes open @.@'"

Two children posing in bright sunlight with the Shiding landscape behind them — The girls posed in the blazing sun, squinting through the picture.

A high view over hillsides and winding water in Shiding — Hillsides and winding water unfolded in layers across the Shiding landscape.

A sunlit green valley and shoreline in Shiding — Sunlight over the green valley brought our little trail outing to a close.

The landscape around this reservoir watershed left a lasting impression. I only hoped everyone who came would treat it with care and keep litter and pollution away from the mountains and water.

More family hikes

A Half-Day at Xinxian Waterfall, Wulai Linmei Shipan Trail, Jiaoxi Dream Lake at Xinshan Manyueyuan National Forest Recreation Area, Sanxia A Half-Day at Neidong Waterfall, Wulai