Our first hot hike of the year is in steep rough terrain in the HuangDiDian (皇帝殿) area south east of ShiDing (石碇) to check out a trail head seen on a bike ride. It had rained for several days, so the trail was wet in some areas. Tommy, Yoyo bring their son Noah out for his first hike. They decide to stay at the car with their Vietnamese housekeeper when the see how periculous the trail is. Tammy, Philip, and Dan continue in to check out the trail. Tammy went in about 20 minutes before deciding to rest her knee which was a little sore. Philip and Dan went on up towards the HuangDiDian ridge. We walked and climbed (some of the trail was nearly vertical, but heavily vegetated, so no problem) for nearly an hour, and could hear yahoos on the main ridge yelling and carrying on. We estimated that we were another 20-30 minutes from actually hooking into main ridge and trail system. But not having actually passed over the area, it might have been really up and down, and would thus have taken us much more time. The trail definitely continued, but as we had left parts of our party at various points along the trail, we turned back.

Several side trails head down both sides of the steep ridge, on the west probably hooking into the valley south of ShiDing village where most people park. On the east, probably going down between one of the outcrops. Interesting area worthy of further exploration, but on weekends it can get crowded on the main ridge. We saw no one the entire time.

Wildlife

Two signs of the changing seasons were the calls of the cuckoo and the beginning of pervasive barbet warbling marking the beginning of the heat. We heard a strong call in the forest and were unable to decide if was the Sibia or the White-tailed Blue Robin. Dan spots a small Pointed-scaled pitviper (Taiwan habu snake, Turtle-designed snake) 龜殼花 (gui ke2 hua) Trimeresurus mucrosquamatus on the trail.

• Crested Serpent Eagle 大冠鷲 (蛇鷹) Spilornis cheela
• Crested Goshawk 鳳頭蒼鷹 (粉鳥鷹, 打鳥鷹) Accipiter trivirgatus
• Gray-cheeked Fulvetta 繡眼畫眉 (灰頭花翼, 大目眶) Alcippe morrisonia
• Black Bulbul 紅嘴黑鵯 Hypsipetes madagascariensis
• Muller's Barbet 五色鳥 Megalaima oorti (heard)
• Streaked-breasted Scimitar Babbler 小彎嘴 Pomatorhinus ruficollis (heard)
• Oriental Cuckoo 筒鳥 (公孫) Cuculus saturatus (heard)