Lost in the Wilderness
Dan Da Forest Trail

Dan Da Forest trail is the mother of all mountain bike trails in Taiwan. Starting from Shui Li in Nantou County this rocky trail climbs to over 3000metres to Rainbow Lake. From here a steep track descends to Hualian on the East coast.

How does seven days in the mountains exhausted and cold with nothing to eat dragging a bike laden down with heavy gear over rockslides sound as a way to spend your Chinese New Year vacation?
This is how Stephen Jack and I spent our vacation, what started as a three day ride finished up as an epic mountain adventure.

With all our Taiwanese bike companions off on family business over the New Year when Stephen called to arrange a ride I was relieved to have an excuse to avoid family dinners and mahjong. JD, Marie and I had been planning to cross the island off road. I went to have a chat with Mark Chu, a keen adventure biker and author of several books about biking in Taiwan, he told us it had taken him three days to do it on Dan Da forest trail. One minor detail was he had done it two years ago before the 9.21 earthquake.
A trip to Fongyuan police station that issues mountain permits put our minds at ease. We described our plans and they handed us permits for the trip, surely they would tell us if the trail was under disrepair otherwise there would be no reason for having a permit office.

The tough but beautiful Dan Da Forest trail

We began late Sunday morning already behind schedule getting the bus up to Shui li from the Taichung double ten bus station. Mechanical problems struck on the climb along highway 16 up to Di Li where the trail begins, Stephen’s luggage rack snapped and we were forced to backtrack to Shui Li to get another, we ended the first day at Di Li. This pleasant little aboriginal village proved to be a great place for a night.

Being the beginning of the holiday season there was a festive air to the place, as we searched for a restaurant we were invited to join a dinner party. We were soon drunk as we shared countless beers with our hosts. Exceptionally friendly we managed to resist the sexual advances of one of the local girls who we later saw literally rolling down the main street. The generosity of the locals didn’t stop at food; we were also given beds at a local’s house.

The trail winds through an impressive pine forest.

Feeling the affects of the drinking the night before we set off late the next morning. The rocky trail climbs steeply for 30 kilometres, unable to reach the plateau by nightfall we found ourselves camping the night beside the road. The next day we continued the climb and by noon we had reached the plateau. Once past the first tough section the trail flattens out, it winds through an impressive pine forest.

Fantastic views, waterfalls and temples mark this lovely stretch, but soon the road climbs once more. The pine trees give way to shrubs and grasses and as we climbed higher the winds began to blow. By the time we had reached the top with darkness falling gale force winds made us shiver with cold. We spotted a corrugated hut and headed for this shelter. Built for the Tai Electricity pylon workers these shelters have beds, covers and cooking facilities and offer a comfortable hideout from the gales outside. The next morning we headed to the lake down in a little valley a few hundred meters further along the trail. Turning a bright turquoise in the sun it is called Rainbow Lake.

Rainbow Lake

With my girlfriend heading to Hualien to meet me I wanted to start the decent as quickly as possible. The trail was now just a walking track, it passes by the lake andthen heads sharply down the hill. Marie lost her balance and tumbled down a hill, finding it tough going she opted out and headed back. JD reluctantly accompanied her leaving Stephen and me to continue on the uncertain route to Hualien. The trail all but disappeared as it descended almost vertically; a difficult climb on foot we clambered down dragging the bicycles along. We had been told we would find a broken old railway but after struggling down like this for more than an hour, not even sure if this was the right way, no railway was in sight. It already seemed impossible to turn back so we continued on down pedals digging into our legs and cutty grass slicing at arms and shins. When we eventually stumbled on the railway we were ecstatically relieved.

Narrow single track. Marie lost her balance and tumbled down a hill,
finding it tough going she opted out and headed back.

The logging railway wound around the
valley clinging to the sheer sides supported
by a few rotting wooden pillars.

The logging railway built by the Japanese looked as if it hadn’t been used since the war. It wound around the valley clinging to the sheer sides supported by a few rotting wooden pillars. Every 500 meters the tracks had broken and we had to lug the bikes down deep valleys and drag them up the other side. Every rockslide was a mini adventure; with a hundred foot fall below one slip could be fatal. Not easy climbing with bikes and equipment it became a supreme effort. Knowing how hard the trek back would be we went on hoping that each landslide would be the last. One consolation for this hard was the scenery; Waterfalls with crystal clear water pools, dense forest and impressive mountain views with a sea of clouds far below. We reached the end of the railway at in late afternoon where it met concrete stairs that Mark had told us dropped over a thousand meters and connected to the forest trail to Hualien.

After over an hour of clunking the bikes down the never-ending steps it began to get dark. We found a small area of flat ground between two flights of stairs and erected a tent. Without a stove we spent our entire evening blowing on a fire made with damp twigs in order to boil a pan of water for noodles. Spirits were high knowing that we must be close to the trail and an easy downhill ride into Hualien.

The next day our hopes of an easy day were dashed by landslide within the first hundred meters. With the steps washed away we slid down the hill on our backs using the bikes to stabilize ourselves. Down a few more stairs and we arrived at another landslide. With a much steeper slope over loose dirt this was a more difficult obstacle. Removing the panniers and carrying them as a backpack I cautiously crept out onto the face of the rockslide clinging to rocks I made it across to the trees and vegetation on the other side of the slide and dumped the packs. Stephen made it with his bike, and then after crossing back it was my turn with a bike. I attempted to edge across with my back to the slope carrying the bike in front of me. Suddenly my foot hold began to give way under the weight, as mud and rocks crashed down the slope into the river 200 meters below I had to drop the bike to save myself. I grabbed onto a rock to stop my slide while watching the bike turn somersaults as it hurtled downwards. Luckily the bike got caught up on a tree root only 50 meters below. We were able to clamber down and pull it in to the side and then drag it back to where the stairs began again. Scratched and dented but still intact I hoped that soon I would be able to ride the bike instead of carrying it.

Not easy climbing on foot,
with bikes and equipment
it became a supreme effort.

Removing the panniers and
carrying them as a backpack
made things a bit easier.

We had to negotiate several more rockslides before we finally got to the bottom of the stairs. At the bottom there is a modern steel suspension footbridge, ‘lovers bridge, Qing Ren Chiao’ scrawled on it in marker pen."Civilization at last" we thought as we walked across.

‘Lovers Bridge, Qing Ren Chiao’ In the middle of a deciduous forest, river running below, fed by three high waterfalls with water falling from hundreds of feet.Taiwan at it’s most beautiful

The struggle almost over we were able appreciate the beauty of our surroundings. In the middle of a deciduous forest, river running below fed by three high waterfalls with water falling from hundreds of feet above on this sunny day it was easy to forget our troubles and enjoy Taiwan at it’s most beautiful.

On the other side we hoped to find a smooth ride into Hualien, we mounted the bikes and began to pedal east. Within 100meters the trail abruptly ended where it had been washed away. The landslide continued for as far as we could see but what choice did we have but to continue? After almost an hour of struggling first with bags then with bikes to cross the washed out section we continued on the trail. This was not going to be easy as every 500meters we had to cross increasingly difficult and dangerous slides.

Exhausted having covered only a few kilometers on what we knew would be a trek of over forty, food supplies down to half a pack of biscuits and two packs of instant noodles we decided to ditch the bikes and continue on foot. Also ditching a tent, pots, and all excess clothing we slogged on for a kilometer more when we finally met our nemesis, a colossal section of the trail missing leaving an almost vertical drop. .

We finally met our nemesis, a colossal section of the trail missing leaving an almost vertical drop. We decided we had no choice than to return the way we had come.

The rock had changed from slate to a chalky marble, nice to look at it just crumbled to the touch. I edged out nervously on what seemed the best path but no secure hand or footholds and a fatal fall awaiting me my legs began to shake. Only two or three meters separated me from safety on the other side but with nothing to hold onto I could only go back. I tried several times but each time the same two-meter gap proved too far.

No way across or up we tried down. Using the cutty grass to secure me I lowered myself down 15 meters, I was left with a three meter drop then an uncertain way across the slide then back up to the path. Once I dropped down we would be committed to this route with no way back. Looking along the trail we could see several landslides ahead of us and it was far from certain we could even cross the one we were on. We decided we had no choice than to return the way we had come.

Low on food but with a water filter we knew we could make it. Without the bikes it was quick going and we were at the half way up the steps by dusk as the rain swept in. Climbing 1000metres of steps in the rain was not fun but at the top we just off the trail we had seen an electricity pylon worker station. Cold and wet we were relieved to find it unlocked. After a good nights sleep in the comfort of a warm bed we donned our wet clothes and set off in the now driving rain outside. We trudged along the railway taking special care on the now slippy surface sometimes crawling for safety. Without the bikes the landslides were minor obstacles, enduring the wind and rain was the test now.

We finally reached the lake by noon praying there would be someone there to drive us off this mountain to save two days walk. In this wind and rain only the insane would be climbing a mountain and sure enough we found a group of very odd characters. A group of 8 Taiwanese appeared out of the mist, equipped with only flimsy 7/11 raingear. After taking them to the lake and lining up for an hour long photo shoot we finally escaped there clutches as they tried to rope us in on a night in a cave. Three of their number also had had enough and headed down, we tagged along with them for a lift. The three of them were a husband and wife who had to be at work in the morning and the third was the driver, he would have to drive back in the morning to pick up the others. A ten kilometer walk down to the when we finally made it was one of the few times I was glad to see one.

We drove through the rain on the now muddy track for an hour without seeing a sole. In the worsening conditions they decided to turn back, our hearts sank. We had almost given up on ever getting off the mountain when we saw approaching headlights. We jumped out to hail down an approaching four-wheel drive van. Three couples with a bike in the back out for a barbeque, there wasn’t much room but we weren’t going to take no for an answer so they found a way to squeeze us in. Another hour or two and we had arrived at Hai Tian Shi Temple. Opposite this is a hostel that serves food and beer and has a phone. After calling girlfriends and wives to say we were safe, shoveling some hot food down our throats and soaking our cuts and bruises in hot water we had a chance to reflect on the adventure.

Sure we’d left thousands worth of bikes and equipment on the mountain, scratched and bruised our bodies, risked our lives and suffered hunger and cold, but although I wouldn’t rush to do it again in a strange way it was the best Chinese New Year I could have had.