Hiking in Takeng 大坑のハイキング

Pamela, along with Amber, went to visit her relatives today in her hometown of Hsiluo (Siluo), so taking advantage of the solitude and the nice weather, I went for a hike in the Takeng (Dakeng) area. The good thing about living in Taichung County is that, despite the noise, overcrowding and pollution of the urban areas, the mountains are never far away. There are 9 walking trails in the Takeng area. Trails 1-4 make their way up the Touke Mountain system, with Trail 5 going along the ridge top. Here's a map of the system:

 今日PamelaはAmberといっしょに西螺（せいら）の彼女の故郷に行って親戚の人を尋ねたから、ぼくはひまな時間といい天気を有効に利用して大坑とういう山地方でハイキングに行った。台中郡に住んでいるよい事は、都会の騒音、混雑と公害にもかかわらず山が遠くない。大坑地方には山道が９つある。山道１－４番はTouke山の上に登り、山道の５番は尾根に沿って走っている。これに山道の地図がある：

For today's course, I started by climbing up the No. 1 Trail, then walking along the No. 5 to the No. 2, before going down the second trail to the bottom, where I then walked along a mountain road back to the first trail and my scooter. It took less than two hours, and according to the pedometer I was wearing, over 4000 steps. The air quality in Taichung wasn't too good today, so the views from Takeng weren't spectacular, but the mountain itself was blessed with blue skies, with only a few clouds. Butterflies and dragonflies were flying about, and due to the fact that I didn't start the hike until about 1 o'clock, there weren't many people on the trails. The only complaint I had was the sound of karaoke coming up from somewhere below, but these days KTV's are unavoidable in the mountains of Taiwan. Here's a view of a nearby town:

今日のコースは、ぼくは第１の山道に登って始まって、それから第5に弟2に沿って走っていた。次に山道2番の底に下がって、そうして山の道に沿って走って山道の1番とオートバイに戻った。それは2時間以下かかり、していた歩数計によってぼくは4000歩を歩いた。台中の空気は今日あまりよくなかったから大坑からの眺めは晴れなかった。でも山の上には青空があった。チョウとトンボは山の周りで飛んでいた。1時ごろハイキングを始めたから山道には多くの人々がなかった。ぼくの唯一のある不平はどこかに下から聞こえたカラオケの音が、このごろ台湾の山の中にはＫＴＶを避けられないでしまった。これは近くの町：

Some local flora　地方の植物相:

The temperature at the top was 29 degrees Celsius, or 84 degress Fahrenheit. The humidity was a little high, though　上の温度は２９℃だ。しかし、湿気はちょっと高かった:

Two views taken on the way down the No. 2 Trail. The first view is looking back towards the top of the mountain, while the other shows how steep the wooden staircase can get in some places:

Back to the parking lot for the No. 1 Trail:

A last look back at the Touke Mountains on the road leaving the Takeng area:

Y'all come back now!: