Siji Forest Road 四季林道

journal > 2018 > Siji Forest Road 四季林道


Lanyang river 蘭陽溪 valley

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Lanyang river 蘭陽溪
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Lanyang river 蘭陽溪
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Lanyang river 蘭陽溪

The Lanyang river 蘭陽溪 watershed drains the valley separating the Central Mountains 中央山脈 from the Syue (snow) Mountains 雪山山脈 flowing 73 km into the Lanyang Plain 蘭陽平原 the largest plain in northeastern Taiwan, site of the largest cabbage patch on the island and focus of the rapidly developing Ilan 宜蘭 metropolis.

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Hairy Pouzolzia 糯米糰 (nuòmǐ tuán) Hyrtanandra pentandra or Gonostegia hirta (Blume) Miquel

Siji Forest Road 四季林道

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Hairy Pouzolzia 糯米糰 (nuòmǐ tuán) Hyrtanandra pentandra or Gonostegia hirta (Blume) Miquel
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Wild raspberry plant
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Taiwan horsetail with wild raspberry
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Siji Forest Road 四季林道
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Fern spores
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Unidentified vine in flower
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Flower of unidentified vine
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Nettles 咬人貓 (yǎo rén māo) Urtica thunbergiana Sieb. & Zucc.
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Area cleared of wild banana to plant native cedar
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Unidentified plant, possibly a violet
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A series of gabion check dams
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A view of mid-elevation mountains
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Siji Forest Road 四季林道
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Strange pattern of organic matter flow
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Siji Forest Road 四季林道
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snow on Snow Mountain 雪山

As we climb up the lower sections of the Siji Forest Road 四季林道 on Chinese New Year's eve day, we can see snow capping Snow mountain 雪山 to the north and also Nanhu mountain 南湖大山 to the south. The weather is clear but cool and we find a few small patches of snow in cooler spots. The ground is very wet and muddy all along the trail from the leaking water pipes along the trail and also from the melt of recent snow. There are also many broken trees fallen across the trail, broken also from the recent snow.

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Unidentified plant
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Bruce and Philip at the landslide
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Leigonggen relative?
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Japanese aralia, paperplant 八角金盤 (bājiǎo jīn pán) Fatsia japonica
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Back side of a native cinammon
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Taiwan cinnamon 台灣肉桂 (táiwān ròuguì) 土肉桂,山肉桂 Cinnamomum insulari-montanum Hayata (endemic). Note deep grooves
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Unidentified tree with seeds
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Bruce and Philip at the turn off to Jialuohu 加羅湖
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Philip next to an abandoned building

Two Atayal men came in on motorcycles behind us and passed us saying they were going hunting below. We did not take the turn off to JiaLuohu, but continued on the Heping Lindao 和平林道 forest road along the contour of the mountains. Past the JiaLuohu 嘉羅湖 turn off we came across a cache of wire snares on the path and the hunters had gone on ahead. On our way hiking out the hunters rode out with large packed bags behind them the first said he had three boar and the second one.

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Siji Forest Road 四季林道
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Epiphytes: lichen, moss, etc.
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Life on a log
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Green and blue
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Siji Forest Road 四季林道
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Taiwan Macaque 台灣獼猴 (táiwān míhóu) Macaca cyclopis
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snow patch on the trail
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Formosan condor vine 台灣牛彌菜
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Formosan condor vine 台灣牛彌菜 (táiwān niú mí cài) Marsdenia formosana Masam.
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washed out bridge crossing over Chianafu Stream 加納富溪
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natural shape of a cedar
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Chamaecyparis formosensis Matsum. 紅檜 (hóngkuài) Formosan cypress べにひ Meniki
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hunters' snares
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snares prepped on the trail

Tammy slips into the Chianafu Stream 加納富溪 as we approach the turn off uphill toward Chialo Lake 嘉羅湖 at the giant Formosan cypress 紅檜 (hóngkuài). Tammy stays at the sunny stream crossing drying out her footwear as Bruce and Philip continue on the lower contour trail for 30 minutes where they discover the snares of the hunters we met earlier laid out on the trail.

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Buried wood and emerging mushroom
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Sun and water bleached tree
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Red paint indicates forestry claim of wood
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Bruce with snowball
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scat

We hear Reeves's muntjac (barking deer) 山羌 (shān qiāng) Muntiacus reevesi cry several times. We see several different groups of Taiwan Macaque 台灣獼猴 (táiwān míhóu) Macaca cyclopis. We hear the Large-billed Crow 巨嘴鴉 (jù zuǐ yā) Corvus macrorhynchos, White-eared Sibia 白耳畫眉 (bái ěr huàméi) Heterophasia auricularis. Bruce sees a group of female pheasants on the forest floor.

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Chamaecyparis formosensis Matsum. 紅檜 (hóngkuài) Formosan cypress, sometimes Taiwan cypress べにひ Meniki
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Chamaecyparis formosensis Matsum. 紅檜 (hóngkuài) Formosan cypress べにひ Meniki
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Two giants intertwined: Chamaecyparis formosensis being embraced by another large tree, species yet identified.
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Chamaecyparis formosensis Matsum. 紅檜 (hóngkuài) Formosan cypress べにひ Meniki
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Young tree or?
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Siji Forest Road 四季林道 trail is mostly flat at an altitude of 1600 and 1800 meters after the initial ascent from 1200m. Siji forest-road 四季林道 is also known as Chiaping forest-road 嘉平林道, or the trail from Chialo Lake 嘉羅湖 to Taiping Mountain 太平山. After crossing Chianafu Stream 加納富溪, the main trail turns uphill toward Chialo Lake 嘉羅湖 right at a giant Menoki cypress.

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Philip pointing out snow patch
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Bright lichen and green
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Between 1000m and 2900m the coniferous forest is composed primarily of two similar and both economically valuable cypresses: Japanese discovered Formosan cypress around Jade Mountain and extracted them industriously. After the Japanese left, the KMT took over logging operations for 30 more years resulting in the Formosan cypress cypress now being endangered after a century of exploitation. Logging of cypress has been forbidden across Taiwan since the 1980s.

Siji 四季

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Atayal catholic church in Siji 四季

Lanyang river 蘭陽溪 valley

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Lanyang river 蘭陽溪
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Lanyang river 蘭陽溪
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Lanyang river 蘭陽溪
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Bruce buying fireworks
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End of the day through Luodong
Siji Forest Road 四季林道 sijilindao_map
16 k walk from 1150 to 1750m on the Siji Forest Road 四季林道

Trail access requires a Mountain Entry Permit 入山證 which can be obtained on line from the Ministry of the Interior web site or directly from the Siji Police station 宜蘭縣政府警察局三星分局四季派出所. The trail is muddy all year round. Aside from hikers, the purpose of the trail seems to be for hunters and workers repairing the extensive system of water pipes going back down to the village.

Keywords: animal, bridge, building, farming, flower, forest, fruit, fungus, hike, landslide, map, mountain, mushroom, plant, river, road, shop, sign, stream, trail, tree, water
People: Bruce, Philip, Tammy
Locations: Siji, 四季, Yilan, 宜蘭
Date: 2018:02:15